We all have our strengths and our weaknesses. And, yes, it’s important to maximize our pluses and work around our limitations. But, when you decide to enter the competitive publishing industry, your failings or frailties might just create roadblocks that, if not checked, will halt your potential success.
This is no time to reveal your perceived shortcomings and hide behind your fears. You’re playing with the big boys (and girls). Once you’ve become a published author, in order to succeed, you must push your strengths to the limit and shore up your weaker areas. Now, you must tell the world (or at least your target audience) that your book exists. And this could mean jumping, with both feet, outside your comfort zone.
Unfortunately, publication doesn’t come with automatic public awareness that your book has come into being. Telling two dozen of your closest friends and family about it probably won’t result in thousands of sales. Hiring a service to send hundreds of press releases doesn’t mean that even one of them will be published or acknowledged. Getting any book noticed takes a concentrated and constant effort. Selling it to even a small portion of the public is way more difficult. This is not something you can do solely from the comfort of your home office. It’s not a task for a self-proclaimed anti-social introvert.
You believed enough in your book to invest a lot of time and money producing it. Now you must reinforce your commitment to your project in a much bigger way. Folks, it’s show and tell time! Some might consider this truth or dare time—will you dare to spread the truth about your book to enough people? Can you commit to creating the success you have dreamed of ever since you sat down to write this book?
Publishing success is not random. Whether you land a traditional royalty publishers, self-publish (establish your own publishing company) or go with a fee-based POD “self-publishing†company, you have the power to make or break your book. So stop looking to others for your success. Don’t expect your book to sell just because it’s what you think people should read. Give promotion just a lick and a promise and forget about selling books in this publishing climate.
So what if you hate and/or stink at public speaking, you can’t get out to do book signings or to hand-sell books, you don’t have time to or interest in sending press releases or soliciting book reviews, you have no desire to or talent for writing articles or submitting stories for publication and you’d just rather write than be bothered marketing a book? If you are unwilling to change any of the above, go ahead and write, my friend, but stay out of the publishing realm. You’ll only become one of the 75 percent of authors who fail.
Wait, you could hire a publicist. Sure, you can. But, as one author said after a whirlwind of TV appearances, book tours, book signings, etc., “I’ve never been so busy promoting my book until I hired my publicist.â€
If you have a truly good, viable, useful, valuable, highly entertaining book to publish, you know your target audience, you understand your responsibilities as a published author and you are willing to do whatever it takes to promote your book, welcome to the world of publishing.
No matter which of the above categories you’re in, you’ll find my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book and the companion Author’s Workbook extremely helpful in the process of writing, publishing and promoting your book. Read the 366-page book and you’ll begin to understand more about the publishing industry, your publishing options and the possible consequences of your choices. You’ll learn how to practically guarantee the success of your book before it is a book. The Author’s Workbook will walk you through the important process of planning a more potentially successful book, preparing yourself for the daunting and competitive world of publishing and establishing a viable marketing plan. Order both books at a savings now: http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html. Do you need help establishing your target audience, writing a book proposal, editing your book, creating a marketing plan? Visit my consulting page: http://www.matilijapress.com/consulting.html. Contact me at plfry620@yahoo.com. Sign up for my online book proposal, article-writing and self-publishing courses-on-demand. http://www.matilijapress.com/couses.htm.