Archive for June, 2007

My Blog: My Contribution to Authors

Friday, June 29th, 2007

I can hardly believe that I’ve been blogging since November of 2005 and this is blog number 88. Five years ago, I didn’t even know what a blog was? Did you? Heck, the term blog wasn’t coined until just 10 years ago. Do you know how many blogs there are now? In May of this year, a whopping 71 million of them were recorded.

Everyone manages his/her blog differently. I typically add entries to my publishing blog every week or 10 days. While I sometimes get personal, I try to share, teach, inform, guide and otherwise coach my blog visitors on writing and publishing. My topics during 20 months of my blogging career have included 42 entries on writing, 19 on book promotion, 17 on publishing, I used 5 entries to flaunt my new books and there were 4 entries that I forgot to categorize.

You can visit my blog site once a month and be treated to anywhere from 2 to 4 new entries—you can count on it. Put it on your calendar. You can also search through the blog archives and pull up entries on book promotion ideas, how to sell books at a book festival, tips for operating a freelance writing business, warnings related to fee-based POD “self-publishing” services, how to write during the summer heat and the holiday hustle-bustle, how to hone your organization skills, how to more effectively use the subject line in your email messages and my trip to Dubai. Yes, you went to Dubai with me. I wrote fascinating blog entries about my experiences from my laptop in my plush hotel room in Dubai last year.

If you want information, encouragement, resources and my perspective (after over 30 years in the business) on writing and publishing, visit my blog often, surf through the archives and also check out the articles I have posted at my web site http://www.matilijapress.com/articles.htm There, you’ll find about 75 articles related to writing and publishing. You might also enjoy reading some of the articles I’ve written for general magazines such as, Cat Fancy, The World and I Magazine, Woman’s Own, Entrepreneur and others.

I apologize for not allowing comments at my blog site—the spam problem just became too time-consuming to deal with. But I welcome email comments, questions and suggestions. Email me at: Plfry620@yahoo.com

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Authorship: Your Publishing Success Depends on Your Platform

Saturday, June 23rd, 2007

Patricia Fry’s blog

Call it popularity, prominence, visibility or expertise. In publishing, it’s what you need in order to succeed.

How many people will rush out to buy your book as soon as it lands in Borders and B&N? Why would anyone choose your novel, cookbook, poetry, children’s story or self-help book over the competition? Before you produce that book, you really must answer these questions. If you can’t come up with answers, I suggest that you start creating some. How?

Even before writing the book, if you don’t have a following, start attracting one. If your name is not known in your field or genre, take steps to become known. If you are not already an expert or authority, begin the process of establishing yourself as such.

Start now, building your platform.

Don’t suddenly emerge from your writing cave into the bright lights of publishing with a manuscript and hope to get it produced. Publishers, today, care more about what you can bring to the promotional table than whether you’ve dotted all of your i’s and crossed all of your t’s. What is a hopeful author to do? Take your responsibility as promoter as seriously as you do the task of writing an excellent book. Here are some tips:

• Write about what you know. This long-held rule is even more important now because your expertise in the topic and your visibility can mean a big difference in sales.
• If you are not known in the subject or genre of your book, take steps to become known before you attempt to publish. Build a web site, start a blog, present workshops and circulate a newsletter, for example.
• Launch or become involved in an organization related to the topic or genre of your book—a poetry association, a national medical support group, a therapy dog organization or a major horror/thriller web site, for example.
• Make news and report it. Start a charity or a contest related to the theme of your book. If your novel features a child with Downs syndrome, create an annual fundraiser for the National Downs Syndrome Society, for example.
• Write articles on your topic or stories in your genre for appropriate magazines, ezines and web sites.

For more about establishing your platform, book promotion, locating and working with an agent/publisher, how to get your book into major bookstores, distribution, etc. read The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. http://www.matilijapress.com

Sign up for Patricia Fry’s Courses on Demand. Choose from courses on self-publishing, article-writing and writing a book proposal. http://www.matilijapress.com/courses.htm

Posted in Book Promotion | No Comments »

When Query Letters Go Awry

Thursday, June 21st, 2007

I’m always surprised when I receive a query letter from a hopeful author through the SPAWN website (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) or my Matilija Press website. Why does this surprise me? First, SPAWN is not a publishing company. It is a networking organization. We don’t do any publishing; we provide the resources and tools for those who want to become published.

Visitors to my site (matilijapress.com) should be able to see that I publish just my own books. And I don’t publish fiction, at all.

I wonder if some of these (mostly) poorly written e-queries are sent out by query services. That would explain why they are not targeted emails and why they are usually addressed, “Dear Sir.” Or are individuals sending the e-queries without doing the necessary research?

The hopeful authors whose e-queries happen to land in my personal or my SPAWN email box have one bit of luck going for them; I will respond. I’ll take the time to explain that the scattershot method of sending out a hastily-written e-query rarely results in a publishing contract. And I’ll offer some information and instructions designed to guide the hopeful author successfully through the query/proposal process.

I give these authors some basics about the proper way to locate and approach publishers. Then I recommend that they read my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book—which includes everything a hopeful author needs to know in order to succeed as a published author. But I rarely receive a reply. In fact, sometimes my email comes bouncing back because my address is not recognized by their spam alert program.

It’s sometimes frustrating to be a relentless mentor—to continually attempt to guide hopeful authors through the publishing maze. Some authors just don’t want to go to any trouble to live their publishing dreams. Others don’t believe that the basic rules apply to them.

Once in a while, though, an author of genuine desire, reasonable expectations and a refreshing willingness to learn, will reach me via email and actually heed my recommendations. I love when that happens.

If you are a struggling or new hopeful author and you are seeking the pathway to publishing success, you really must read my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. This book does more than teach you how to write. It does more than reveal your publishing options and help you to choose the one that’s right for you. And it does more than educate you about book promotion. Plus, if you email the author of this book (me), you will receive a reply. http://www.matilijapress.com

Posted in Publishing, Writing | No Comments »

Are You a Write-a-holic?

Friday, June 15th, 2007

Do you head for the keyboard every morning even before having your coffee?
Do you sometimes turn down invitations so you can stay home and write?
Would you rather work on your book than join neighbors for a pool party?
Do you even enjoy writing lists, emails and thank you notes?
Do you sometimes work right through mealtime?

If you answered yes to these questions, you could be a write-a-holic.

I don’t believe there is a cure. But then, I’ve never met a write-a-holic who wanted to be healed. There’s just too much pleasure in writing for those of us with the passion.

Having enjoyed the process of writing for around 45 years and writing for publication for over 30, I can give you a few reasons for stepping away from the keyboard a little more often than you actually want to.

• Repetitive stress syndrome.
• Eye strain.
• Stiff neck.
• Electromagnetic hazard.
• Deep vein thrombosis or e-thrombosis dangers.

We’ve known for years that exposure to an electromagnetic field might not be good for us and that repetitive movement and poor posture for extended periods can cause stress and damage to our bodies. But now, add to that list of dangers, the one that airplane passengers face—deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or, for computer users, e-thrombosis.

What can we do to avoid these dangers?

• Get up at least once every hour and move around for 10 minutes.
• Keep hydrated—drink plenty of water.
• Test your computer to find out how much radiation is seeping.
• Reconfigure your work station so it is ergonomically correct.

Part of the problem results from our habits and patterns. Take these additional steps toward better health:

• Cut long fingernails which can interfere with your natural way of typing.
• Uncross your legs.
• Move equipment so that you have to get up and walk in order to use it.
• Get a headset to use when on the phone so you can walk around while talking.
• Wear compression hose.
• Play music while working. You’ll tap your feet and keep the blood from pooling.

Sites where you can get more information about these issues:
http://www.office-ergo.com
http://www.mercola.com/article/emf/emf_dangers.htm.

Changing long-held habits is not easy, but I think we should all try to take better care of ourselves so that we can continue enjoying the writing life.

Would you excuse me? It’s time to jog around my office.

If you’re a writer/author, you really must check out my list of writing/publishing-related books. My latest and greatest is: The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. You should read this book if:

• You are thinking about writing a book for publication.
• You are in the process of writing a book for publication.
• You know nothing about the publishing industry.
• You are considering self-publishing.
• You want to go with a traditional royalty publisher.
• You are considering a fee-based, POD “self-publishing” company.
• You are promoting a book.
• You are seeking an agent or a publisher.
• You want to know how to write a book proposal.
• You have any questions about the publishing industry or process.

Learn more about this book and my others at http://www.matilijapress.com

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The Changing Face of Publishing

Friday, June 8th, 2007

I’ve been almost totally immersed, lately, in revising my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. As some of you know, I’m planning to release the second edition (revised) in August. This has been an enlightening and educational experience, as the publishing industry continues to shift, transition and change.

I pride myself on keeping a finger on the pulse of the industry, but I’m always astonished to learn what’s new in the world of publishing. Here are just some of the changes and additions I’ve become aware of in recent months:

1: Anyone can access Ingram’s database to get bookstore sales figures on any book that’s in their system. I actually knew about this, but had never dialed the number. I’ve recently discovered, however, that it is easy to use and most enlightening. Use it in the following ways:

*Check on sales for competing titles when preparing your book proposal.
*Find out how your colleagues’ books are doing.

I was surprised to learn that my writing/publishing-related books are selling more through non-bookstore markets than many of my competitors’ books are selling through bookstores.

Here’s the number—have fun and let me know how you used this service and what you found out: plfry620@yahoo.com.

Call: 615-213-6803. (You’ll need the ISBN for books that you are checking.)

2: Over 76 percent of books in America sold fewer than 100 copies in 2004. Wow! The next highest category didn’t even come close. Just over 16 percent of books sold as many as 100 to 999 copies that year. And the higher the number of sales, the lower the number of titles in that category. Do you want to know how many titles sold a million copies or more in 2004? 10! That’s it, 10.

3: There are over 1.2 million books in print and the largest mega bookstore carries only 150,000 titles. Yes, only a mere 12.5 percent of books in print are sold through bookstores.

4: I have just discovered Google Alerts (www.google.com/alerts). Sign up to receive information about your book topic or genre. Or ask Google to send you alerts related to your own book, name and/or publishing company. What a great way to find out what the competition is doing and where your articles, interviews, book reviews, etc. are showing up on the Internet.

5: More and more traditional royalty publishers are stating in their Author’s Guidelines that they expect you to promote your own book.

6: Book videos (or trailers) really are the latest in book promotion and they are being shown at My Space, YouTube, movie theaters, cable TV and art centers as well as on the authors’ Web sites. Simon and Schuster plans to launch a new site for book trailers. Watch for Video Channel.

7: I discovered a new online book festivals directory: http://www.loc.gov/loc/cfbook/bookfair.html

8: The first three Espresso Book Machines are being tested. They are programmed to print and bind a 300-page book in three minutes. You can choose from 200 titles.

All of this is included in the revision of The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book along with about 100 additional new and updated information bites and resources.

I’ve also added dozens of suggestions and resources specifically for novelists, children’s book authors and other fiction writers.

You’ll find information about fulfillment companies.

And I’ve included the word platform in the index with 10 entries.

Exciting, isn’t it?

But wait. There’s still time to put in your two cents. Is there something you missed seeing in the original version that you’d like to see in the revision? Let me know: plfry620@yahoo.com

One customer asked for more about bookstore consignment agreements. It’s now in there.

Oh yes, and I’m also working on a workbook to go along with the revision of The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book.

We’re busy here at Matilija Press this spring. But never too busy to hear from you.

Here’s the best news, yet: I’m offering a 20% discounts for two categories of customers:
*Those of you who purchased the first edition.
*New customers who order and pay for the new revision before August 1, 2007.

The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book (revised second edition) will sell for $19.95. If you qualify for a discount, your cost will be $15.96 (plus shipping and CA state tax, where applicable.)

http://www.matilijapress.com

Posted in New Books, Publishing | No Comments »