Writing and Publishing News

Did you see the news in Publishers Weekly this week? Print sales are up—yes, again. Those of you who prefer the ease and thrift of publishing only ebooks, take note. Those who stubbornly produce print as well, rejoice. The print book is not dead. According to Nielsen BookScan, sales were up 2.8% in 2015. Sales rose 2.4% in 2014. Trade paperback, including adult coloring books, increased 5%

See the interesting breakdown and the full story here: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/65172-print-is-back.html

“How can I possibly take time to promote a book?” “I have a life, you know.” “I wrote the book, isn’t that enough? Now it’s time for me to take my life back and collect royalties, right?” “Anyway, this book will sell itself!”

This is the mindset of many, many new authors. In fact, this is the reason why so many books fail in the marketplace. The figure used to be “nearly 78%.” Now, I understand the failure rate is closer to 98%. Shocking, but true.

Actually, this is not so shocking to those of us who work with authors. Why? Because we know that most authors today enter into the publishing business with a hobby mentality. Everyone knows someone with a book in the works or one or two published books. Every celebrity, business guru, retired teacher, housewife, immigrant, former victim, extreme sportsperson, and ditch digger has a book out. There have always been people with life-changing experiences, and now, they’re all writing their stories. Millions of men and women over the years have thought up stories for children or full-blown adult novels. But now those stories can easily become published books. There’s nothing lacking in the ability to get a book idea into print or on a digital reader. It’s as easy as slipping on a banana peel. What is lacking in most authors today is a business head.

Finding and paying a printer or a publisher is a piece of cake. It’s what comes after, that stops most unaware authors in their tracks. PROMOTION!

I maintain that promotion should start the moment you decide to write that book. The first thing you should think about is often the last thing you consider—your audience. Most authors write the book he or she wants—they write for themselves. Once the book is published, THEN they begin thinking about their audience. It doesn’t work that way, folks. You wouldn’t open any other type of business without first knowing something about the business, your potential customers and their needs/desires, your competition, your distributors and suppliers, as well as what it will take to reach your particular customers.

Well, news flash: Publishing is a business and those who succeed are those who step into it with a business mindset.

Those authors who often fail first are those who write something they hope will change minds—they are bent on forcing their opinions on readers. Another group whose failure rate is high are those who write their memoir, giving a lot of uninteresting facts and family history that readers can’t connect with or learn from.

To learn more about publishing and book promotion read my books, “Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author,” and “Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author.” http://www.matilijapress.com. Also available are a series of ebooks for $1.99 each. They include “50 Ways to Promote Your Book,” “50 Ways to Promote an Ebook,” “50 Reasons Why You SHOULD Write That Book…”

I’ve been writing for publication for over 40 years. I earned my living as a freelance writer for decades and I’m the author of 48 books. I established my own publishing company in 1983, before it was fashionable. While many of my books are self-published—through my publishing company, Matilija Press—I’ve also published with traditional publishers. I was President and then Executive Director of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) for over ten years and I now work for and with other authors on their writing projects. I’ve also begun dabbling in fiction. Check out my Klepto Cat Mystery series—there are 8 published so far. http://amzn.to/1kAI8I2

Once you have created a viable product (a clean, well-written manuscript that is wanted/needed by a segment of the population), it is time to consider your publishing options. And today they are in-your-face plentiful. Ads for “self-publishing” companies follow you around everywhere you go on the Internet. And if you connect with one of them, they woo you relentlessly.

But the pay-to-publish company is not the only game in town and they can be as different as apples and strawberries when it comes to dealing with them.

Whether you choose to pursue a traditional royalty publisher on your own or through an author’s agent, produce the book yourself (become an independent publisher), or go with a pay-to-publish company, take it easy. Patiently research your options. Carefully dissect and compare your ultimate choices. Make educated/informed decisions, not emotional ones.

For the education you need before entering into the publishing field, read my book, Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising author. Available in print, for your Kindle, and audio at Amazon.com. Order a print copy here: http://www.matilijapress.com

Never before have there been so many options for the author. Not only must you select from a startling array of genres and subgenres for your proposed book, and dozens and dozens of editorial services, there are countless more publishing options available. How do you—the eager hopeful author—make the right decisions on behalf of your publishing project?

It all starts with something few of us have when it comes to producing a book—patience. Here’s a checklist that could make the difference between a successful venture and failure:

• Take the time to think about the future of your project even before you write it. Is your nonfiction book idea viable? Is there truly an audience for it? Are you writing it to benefit the reader or to massage your own ego? If you’re writing fiction, does the genre you’ve chosen have an audience? Make it your business to find out what this audience wants and plan to write for them.
• Along with this, consider what sort of marketing efforts you can and are willing to provide. If you aren’t sure what book promotion and marketing entails, please stop the writing process now and study this vital aspect of publishing. Gather the tools and examine your skills related to promoting this book. This is a good time to hone your skills and develop new ones (public speaking, for example). Read my book, “Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author.” Remember that your book will sell only for as long as you are willing to promote it.
• After clearly identifying how your book will fit into the marketplace, go ahead and write it—keeping your audience in mind throughout. For nonfiction, make sure your instructions and information are presented in an organized and clear manner. For fiction, have you included all of the elements necessary, does your story flow logically, does it fit within the boundaries of the genre you’ve chosen?
• Once you’ve finished the book—generally after going over it with a fine-tooth comb numerous times—turn it over to beta-readers. Ask people you can trust to respond truthfully and thoroughly to read your book.
• When you are completely satisfied with your manuscript, go in search of a book editor. You may pay anywhere from $500 to thousands of dollars for an independent editor, depending on the magnitude of your project and the nature of your editorial needs. I’ve edited book manuscripts that were so clean, they required little from me other than a stamp of approval. I’ve also been faced with editorial nightmares that took months to untangle. Typically, the fee for editing a fairly well-written 150-page book (60,000 to 70,000-words), is around $1,500 to $2,500.

To be continued in the next post. In the meantime, order your copy of “Promote Your Book,” here: http://www.matilijapress.com or at Amazon.com. Learn more about me, Patricia Fry, here: http://www.patriciafry.com.

Just like dogs, horses, artists, fingerprints, personalities, no two publishers are alike. They produce different material, have different requirements, and their submission guidelines are different.

Why consider submission guidelines? Why not just present your material to the publisher of your choice?

Even though there are hundreds more publishers, there are also thousands more hopeful authors seeking publication. In order to save time and streamline their operations, most publishers have created guidelines requesting specific items from authors presented in a certain way. If you want to land a publisher in this highly competitive publishing climate, you are wise to seek out each publisher’s submission guidelines and follow them.

Locate Submission Guidelines

Excerpted from Patricia Fry’s book, Publish Your Book. http://www.matilijapress.com/PublishYourBook.html

Once you have found several appropriate publishers, visit their websites for more specific information. Print out a copy of their submission guidelines (or “editorial guidelines” or “writers/authors guidelines”).

Sometimes the guidelines are difficult to find. If you don’t see a link button to the submission guidelines, click on “About Us” or “Contact Us.” If you don’t see the guidelines on either of these pages, look for a new link on that page. Sometimes there will be more link options available to the left or across the top of that page.

No luck? Go back to the home page and search links within links. Put your cursor on the available link buttons and see if a menu appears. Read the selections on the menus.  Also check the links that sometimes appear at the bottom of the home page.

If you cannot locate the guidelines at all, email the editor and ask for a copy. Or send a letter of request for submission guidelines in the mail along with a self-addressed-stamped envelope (SASE). That is, an envelope with your name and full address as well as enough postage for the return trip.

Before you can attract a publisher’s attention, you should know what he or she requires. You have a better chance of being noticed when you send the publisher exactly what he wants in the manner he wishes to receive it. In today’s highly competitive publishing industry, it is not easy to stand out from the crowd. One way to do it is to follow policy. Each publisher sets his or her own policy and standards. While some are certainly lax, others want authors to jump through hoops. If it is important to you and your project that you land a publishing contract, you must conform to each publisher’s requirements.

The first step to choosing the right publishing option for your particular project is to know what your options are. Here’s a link to an article I wrote that clearly and completely outlines publishing options and how to proceed through each. http://www.matilijapress.com/articles/pod-publishing-alternatives.htm

I suggest you study this article and let me know if you have any questions.

I also want you to take a close and objective look at your project to determine the best route to take. Ask yourself:

• Is this book actually best-seller material?
• Who is my market and where will I find them?
• What is the best way to reach my readers?
• What are my best marketing tactics?
• How much help will I need to promote this book?
• What kind of assistance will I require to get word out about this book?
• Has my book been professionally edited?
• Do I have a reasonable publishing and marketing budget?
• Am I the best person to produce this book or should I turn it over to a publishing house?
• Do I understand enough about the publishing industry to make the right choice?

If you are unsure about the answer to some of these questions, I recommend you continue studying the industry you are about to enter. It is more complex than you might realize. Read “Publish Your Book” for a greater understanding. Available at Amazon.com in print, audio, and for your Kindle. http://www.amazon.com/Publish-Your-Book-Strategies-Enterprising/dp/158115884X/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1415271146&sr=1-2&keywords=publish+your+book+patricia+fry

Yesterday we presented the first in this publishing series. The topic was landing a major traditional publisher. Most authors today will not seek out agent representation or publication with a major. Most, in fact, will go the quick and easy route—hire a self-publishing (pay-to-publish) service.

Are you one of the thousands of authors who just want to get your book published as easily and quickly as possible and you fall for the sales pitch of the first friendly self-publishing company representative who contacts you? Or maybe you do your homework and carefully choose the company you want to work with.

If you decide to go the self-publishing route, please, please study your many options. There are no standards for these companies. Some offer straightforward contracts for a reasonable fee and do a good job. Others charge exorbitant fees and continue to gouge your pocketbook at every turn.

What some of you don’t know—because you didn’t bother to do your homework and study the publishing industry—is that there are other options. Besides the major publishers and the self-publishing companies, there are hundreds and hundreds of medium and small traditional publishing companies eager for a good project. Some of them specialize—they produce only young adult novels, science fiction, self-help books, or romance, for example. There are presses that publish only books on a particular malady, or books for pilots, parents, hikers, hunters, quilters, pug owners, etc. Many of these less-known publishers also accept manuscripts on a wide range of topics and in many genres.

What are the benefits of going with a small to medium-sized publishing house?

• Many of them accept queries and proposals from authors—no agent representation required.
• They don’t receive as many submissions as the larger companies, so your chances of publication are greater.
• The smaller companies are generally easy to work with.
• You still have the prestige of publishing with a traditional publisher at no cost to you.

Where can you find these publishers? There are numbers of publisher directories.

• Writer’s Market. Around $30 at most bookstores.
• Literary Market Place. Use the online directory for a fee.
• http://www.publishersglobal.com/directory
• http://www.publishersglobal.com/directory/media/book-publishers
• Locate additional directories by doing an Internet search.

Another good way to find an appropriate publisher for your book is to locate other books like yours and see who published them. Contact those publishers.

I also urge you to do an Internet search to check the reputation of any publisher you might choose. You should do this for agents, self-publishing companies, editors—anyone or any company you are considering. Here’s how to do a search: At the prompt, type in the name of the individual or company and “complaint,” “warning,” etc. If there are a lot of negative comments from a variety of people, reconsider working with this company.

For an understanding of the publishing industry and many tips, resources, and information, be sure to read Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author. Available in print here: http://www.matiljiapress.com. Also at Amazon in print, audio and formatted for Kindle.

In the next post, we’ll discuss how to choose the right publishing option.