Writing and Publishing News

Authors everywhere claim that their book is “award-winning.” What exactly does this mean? Some say they are an “award-winning author.” Heck, I guess I could say that. I have won many awards in my lifetime and I am an author.

I think that most people are somewhat impressed by the term “award-winning.” I used to be, too. But now, not so much.

Sure, there are legitimate contests and definitely some prestigious awards. But there are also many rather inconsequential contests with numerous meaningless awards. I’ve judged some of them.

I’ve judged contests where there were only three books in a category and two of them were junk. Is first place in this case really worth anything? Well, it’s enough for the author to legitimately slap an “award-winning” sticker on the front of her book and present herself as an award-winning author.

The other two books, even if they are awful, may automatically win second and third place. So now you have authors touting their crumby books as award-winners.

Some authors enter their books in several categories—including some that don’t even apply to their genre/topic. If entries are sparse and the book is beautifully done, they might get an award in some obscure, non-relating category. And they can legitimately claim that their book took first place in the humor or ethnic category even though their topic is a somber one and there is no mention of ethnicity whatsoever.

My point is, you can’t always judge a book by its award status.

http://www.patriciafry.com
http://www.matilijapress.com

For the last few days we’ve been talking about the 5 P’s of successful authorship. We talked about the importance of adequate Planning, thorough Preparation, expert Proofing and informed Publishing. We also touched on the importance of using Patience throughout the process. Today we will cover another major P word—Promotion.

Do not even consider producing a book for publication if you do not have the money, time, experience, interest, enthusiasm for and/or knowledge about book promotion.

In order to sell copies of your book, you must turn practically all of your attention to promoting it. This means identifying your audience, locating them and finding ways to effectively approach them with information that will entice them to purchase your book.

There are numerous ways to approach book promotion and, in my articles, courses, workshops and books, I outline various activities for each type of promoter—the bold and the bashful. Do not expect to sell books without promoting them. Your book will not sell itself. (Don’t laugh. I’ve met authors who believe that their books will do just that.)

One of the things you will learn from studying the publishing industry is that the competition for books is fierce. You may have already noticed that everyone is writing a book. Did you know that over 75 percent of all published books sell fewer than 100 copies? And lack of promotion is only one reason why so many books fail. What are the other reasons?

• Lack of appropriate planning.
• Improper preparation.
• Inadequate proofing/editing.
• Ineffective publishing methods.
• Lackadaisical promotion.

Put your P’s in a row before you even put your pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and you will have a much greater chance for publishing success.

http://www.patriciafry.com
http://www.matilijapress.com

Yesterday, we talked about some of the P’s of authorship. We covered Planning and Preparation. One astute author suggested that I add “Product.” Yes, you should have a viable product (a book for which there is an audience). And this takes us back to planning and preparation. The results of your book proposal should reveal whether or not you have a worthwhile product in the book that you plan.

Today, we’re adding a few more P words.

Proofing/Editing
Once you’ve completed your manuscript, you’ll become involved in self-editing. Proof and edit as thoroughly as you possibly can.

• Check for inconsistencies and repeated material and words.
• Make sure your spacing and punctuation is correct.
• Examine your manuscript for muddy writing and run-on sentences.
• Eliminate those sneaky mistakes that aren’t picked up by spellcheck.
• Correct any misuse of apostrophes or words.

Once you have done your self-editing, hire an experienced book editor for your final edit. Yes, this is necessary and the expense must be factored in. Hiring a good editor is an investment in your publishing success. Repeat—hire an experienced book editor.

Plan to pay an editor from $800 to $3,000 (or more). This depends on the size and scope of your manuscript as well as the condition of it (how much work it needs).

Publish
You now have a choice to make—you have options. Will you try to land a traditional royalty publisher for your piece of fine work? Will you go with a pay-to-publish company? Or will you self-publish (establish your own publishing company)?

People ask me, which is the best publishing option? My response is, “It depends on you and it depends on the project.” Your job is to study the publishing industry so that you understand all of your options and the possible consequences of your choices. My book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book, provides a good start in that direction. If you are considering a pay-to-publish company, also read Mark Levine’s The Fine Print of Self-Publishing, wherein he rates and ranks several of these companies and scrutinizes their contracts for you.

Publishing is not free. If you land a traditional royalty publisher, you may not be required to put any money up, but you’ll receive only five to fifteen percent of the selling price of the books and this doesn’t typically add up to much.

If you go with a pay-to-publish outfit, you could end up with as much as $10,000 out of pocket. And in many cases, you still have to purchase your books. Read and understand any contract before signing.

If you self-publish, you could spend anywhere from $1,000 (for a few copies produced at a business center) to $10,000 or more. My first self-published book cost me $25,000 to produce in 1983.

Both the pay-to-publish option and self-publishing require that you hire a page layout and cover design experts, unless you can do this work yourself. Here, you could spend another $3,000.

I’ll share my last P word in tomorrow’s blog post.

Today, I’m part of a panel at the Ojai Writer’s Conference in Ojai California. I look forward to sharing with and learning from authors at this event.

In the meantime, do consider the all important P’s when you are dreaming about or writing your next book or considering your publishing options.

Planning
Preparation
Proofing
Publishing
Promotion

Also use Patience. I’ve known authors to rush their projects and ultimately produce books that were not quite ready—it lacked editing, they didn’t wait for final expert critique, they went with the first publishing service that came along without appropriate and thorough scrutiny. And continually look at your book as a Product rather than simply your creation.

Learn more about Patricia Fry, her services and her books:
http://www.patriciafry.com
http://www.matilijapress.com

What does it take to become an author? Notice that I didn’t even insert the word, “successful” in this sentence. Success is relative anyway, isn’t it? I know authors who don’t believe they are successful until they sell 100,000 copies. And then there are authors who celebrate their success if they earn back enough to pay their printing costs.

But what does it take to become an author—to accomplish the requirements of authorship? During my thirty-some years as a career writer and author; after 34 published books and after having worked with dozens of clients on their book projects, I’ve narrowed it down to 5 P’s. Ask any author who has been around the block and they will tell you that it takes:

• Planning
• Preparation
• Proofing
• Publishing
• Promotion

There are no shortcuts. One cannot deviate from this established path to authorship. If you want to become an author and experience whatever measure of success you desire, you must consider each of these 5 P’s. (It wouldn’t hurt to throw in the word Patience, either.)

Planning
Before you start writing the novel or the nonfiction book of your dreams, put some thought into the potential for your project—a lot of thought. I suggest writing a book proposal. You wouldn’t open a business without a business plan. Consider the book proposal a business plan for your book. At the same time, look at your book as a product. If you view this project any other way, you are already starting down the wrong path.

Before proceeding, ask yourself, “Why do I want to write this book?” and “What is the purpose of this book.” If your responses are valid and reasonable, move forward. If they are frivolous and emotionally-driven, reconsider your project.

What you learn from a well-researched, well-developed book proposal will guide you in making your next decision. Is your original idea a good one or do you need to tweak it a bit in order to make it more marketable?

This could be an important turning point in your project. Make an emotional decision (I love my idea and I’m sticking with it even if I can’t justify producing it) and you may fail. Make an educated decision based on the facts revealed in your book proposal, and your book has a fighting chance.

What about a book proposal for a novel? While the book proposal process is designed with the nonfiction book in mind, I recommend preparing one for a novel, as well. You should establish your genre, have a plan for your story, know something about your audience and how to reach them and you must be prepared to promote your book once it is a book. The fact is that no matter which publishing option you choose, you—the author—are responsible for promoting your book. So you’d better start building your platform—your following, your way of attracting readers.

Preparation
Once you establish that your book is a viable product, begin outlining, organizing and writing it.

Also work on your platform:
• Create a massive mailing and emailing list.
• Become known among leaders in your book’s genre/topic.
• Write and submit articles or stories to appropriate publications.
• Develop workshops and seminars on your book’s topic and present them.
• Publish your own newsletter.

This will be a busy and enjoyable period in the process of becoming a published author. You will sometimes think that these eight to thirty-eight (or so) months are the hardest you’ve ever experienced. But I want you to hold this thought: You ain’t seen nothing yet! Most authors say that they thought the writing process was hard until they got involved in promoting their books.

It is for this reason that I recommend working on your platform while you are in writing mode. You’ll be more well-prepared for what is to come.

This is part one in a series of posts about what you need in order to become a successful author. Watch for more P’s to come your way.

In the meantime, download your FREE copy of my ebooklet, 50 Reasons Why You Should Write That Book.
http://www.patriciafry.com

Yesterday was a day of stretching for me. Someone contacted me with some suggestions for making my tweets more effective. She offered an enormous amount of information and told me about aspects of Twitter and my blog function that I did not know about. After attempting to absorb the most generous offerings from Toni (thank you!!!) I spent some time in study mode. And then I contacted my webmaster to ask additional questions that are more specific to my website and blog site. Hopefully, I can apply some of what I learned.

Later, my photography/photo-shop expert friend came over and she showed me a thing or two about an aspect of managing my digital photos that I didn’t know. Much appreciated, Ruth.

In the evening, I received an email from a client who shared some information with me that I can use.

Yes, it was an educational day for me.

I have two comments:
1: It’s not easy to stretch. But, it is something an author must do. As soon as we become comfortable, we (and our projects) stop growing. I’ve experienced times of complacency in my long career and I’ve experienced enormous spurts of growth through stretching. I want to challenge you to learn something new that will help move your book and/or your business forward. How about starting today?

2: Networking is vital to our forward motion and, of course, that of others. As the executive director of SPAWN (Small Publisher, Artists and Writers Network) and as a publishing consultant, teacher, etc., I am in constant networking mode. I field questions from authors and others almost daily. When I come across a resource or information that I think would benefit or be of interest to an author I know—perhaps a client—I pass it along. And oh, how I appreciate people who bring me tidbits that I can use—that make my world better. So I challenge you to also reach out and do a little networking today.

Note: It’s fairly easy to contact someone and ask for information, advice or a resource. Today, how about giving something of value to another author, a coworker, a friend or acquaintance?

I love it when you report back to me once you’ve taken on an assignment.

Again, thank you, Toni for rattling my cage. Let’s see if I can follow some of your suggestions today. This is a test. Those of you who are not following me on Twitter, that’s where the evidence of my lesson will be apparent.

http://www.patriciafry.com
http://www.matilijapress.com