Yesterday’s blog post featured what it takes to be an author. Today, I’d like to say a few words about how to get that training, those skills and the information you need in order to move more comfortably and successfully through the publishing process.
By “publishing process,” I mean the writing, producing and marketing of a book.
It sounds so simple when contained in a brief sentence like this. “No big deal,” you might say. “People publish books all the time. What could be so hard about writing, publishing and selling a book?”
If you are still in this stage—where you are only thinking about becoming a published author or maybe you are in the process of writing a book and you think this is the hardest part—you really need a reality check. Talk to some published authors. Ask what it was like to produce a book. Inquire about marketing the book. Most of them will tell horror stories to match any scary Halloween tale.
Authorship isn’t for the weak. And I am an advocate for hopeful authors starting their training very early in the game. I teach that there are two keys to publishing success. I just gave a talk to the Redwood Writers Group in Santa Rosa, California yesterday featuring these two keys to publishing success. And what it all boils down to is knowledge, education and a keen understanding of the entire process of publishing and book marketing as well as a keen understanding of your particular book—your product.
What are the keys to publishing success? If you’ve been visiting this blog often over the years, you know that they are:
Study the Publishing Industry.
Write a Book Proposal.
Two simple, although not easy, tasks.
Start the process of studying the publishing industry by reading my book: The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. I wrote it for new and struggling authors. I wrote it because I meet so many authors at various stages of the publishing process who do not understand anything about the industry they hope to pursue. They have erroneous views and unrealistic expectations with regard to what’s ahead in publishing for them. They have very limited knowledge and this limits their progress and success.
They also lack understanding when it comes to their books. Most people write a book for themselves. It’s true. They get an idea in their head and run with it. Sometimes it’s based on what they perceive as a need among a certain segment of people. But, until the author writes a complete book proposal, he/she probably has no idea as to their target audience, what they actually want in a book, whether or not there is a market for this book, whether they have what it takes to promote their book or how to get it published and sell it.
A book proposal teaches the author volumes about his/her book and how to proceed with it.
The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book also has a large section on how to write a book proposal. Or purchase my book, How to Write a Successful Book Proposal in 8 Days or Less. http://www.matilijapress.com
Neglect to study the publishing industry, reject the idea of writing a book proposal and you are more likely to end up a statistic. More than 76 percent of authors today fail. Most of them did not study the publishing industry, nor did they write a book proposal.
If you don’t want to be part of this statistic, then I suggest becoming proactive on behalf of your book project. Become an author in training and start studying and learning what it takes to succeed as a published author before simply stumbling into the world of publishing completely void of skills and tools.
The fact is that there are numerous companies out there quite prepared to shove you through the publishing process in conveyer-belt fashion with your cookie cutter book. But I want you to rise above that. Take charge. Be proactive. Be successful.