Archive for December, 2011

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Busy Year for Me: Opportunity For You!

Saturday, December 31st, 2011

My plate is full as we sail into 2012. I am writing a new book for Allworth Press on a tight deadline. I got word yesterday that my latest book is finished. I’ll receive author copies within the next few weeks. It is so new that Amazon isn’t even up to speed with it, yet. That should occur momentarily. As it is, they are still listing it as having pre-order status.

The new book is a revision of The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. It’s now called Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author. Take a look at it at Amazon. You’ll find it by putting my name in the search prompt. I’ll provide additional information once we get it up on my website and Amazon opens it up for sale. As I understand it, it will be on Kindle, too.

This morning, I received an invitation to submit a proposal to do a workshop up in Oregon later in the year. Got that off to the organizer this morning. Also responded to a couple of email questions, wrote a note of condolence to a friend who lost a beloved cat yesterday and charged a credit card paying for one of my online courses. It is just 6:30 a.m. The day hasn’t begun for many of you.

I’ve developed the habit of rising early so I can get some of the tasks that commonly show up practically daily off of the cluttered desk and clear the way to the major project of the day. For the next sixty (or however many it takes me) it will be continuing to interview for and write my latest book.

Opportunity For You
Hey, here’s an opportunity for you. Would you like to be a part of this book? Can you share something about your experiences promoting your books using communication, personality, public speaking (including book signings, book festivals, live or Internet presentations, etc.)? I’m seeking anecdotes and advice focusing on promoting books through some form of communication. Have you signed books at a unique venue, had an interesting experience while selling books at a book festival, experienced uncommon success pitching your book to someone, had an unexpected opportunity materialize as a result of one of your speaking gigs? Have you negotiated for free passage on a cruise ship in exchange for presenting a workshop on the theme of your book? Have you sold books while hiking in the Alps, traveling cross country by Vespa or???

Contact me with your story and you may get a slot in my latest book on how personality sells books. PLFry620@yahoo.com

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How to Sell More Books in 2012

Friday, December 30th, 2011

What are the five things you are going to do different in 2012 to help boost your book sales? Let me offer some suggestions?

1: Spend more time promoting your book. If you are like most authors, you promote in blasts. You do a book signing or write an article and then go back to life-before-your-book and wait for the results of your efforts. This year, why not set aside an hour or more each and every day for book promotion. And stop waiting for results. Promote daily and results will appear more regularly.

If you already spend several hours each day blogging, using your social media accounts, writing articles or submitting stories in appropriate publications, seeking book reviews, etc., and you are not exactly thrilled with the results, add an hour or two of intense promotion per day.

2: Change up your promotional activities. If what you are doing is working, keep it up and add one, two or more activities to enhance your repertoire. If you feel as though your book is dead-in-the-water, it is definitely time to get creative and try some new things—take a trip with your book and schedule some book signings and radio gigs along the way, revamp your website so it showcases your book better, get more involved with your social media sites, etc.

3: Seek new ideas. Sign up for teleseminars and conferences designed to help you promote your book. Read my book, Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author. Subscribe to some of the best publishing and book promotion newsletters. There are oodles and scads of help out there. Buy into some of it and give your book a boost this year.

4: Develop new skills. If you have been timid or unsuccessful as a public speaker, join your nearest Toastmasters club, check into a storytelling group. Accept and even manufacture opportunities to speak—take a leadership position at work, agree to head up your club, etc. Practice, practice, practice your speaking skills every chance you get.

5: Hire someone to help you get up to speed as a book promoter. There are publicists, voice teachers, people who can groom you for media appearances, editors (who can clean up your book for the next printing), etc. You can even hire a friend or relative to take care of the mundane tasks you dislike or just aren’t getting done, such as, creating press releases and circulating them, researching newspapers and other outlets, visiting independent bookstores with your book throughout their communities and so forth.

If you are not pleased with your book sales, there is much that you can do. And the place to start is with you. Do you want to be more prosperous in 2012? Take more responsibility this year with regard to your book.

If you are like many new authors and you’ve discovered that your book is not the best that it can be—you hurried it through the publishing process before it was ready—it’s not too late to make it right. Use what you’ve learned—that reviewers, the media and the public are not kind when it comes to books that lack editing, an interesting cover, etc. Go back to the drawing board. Hire an editor and a cover designer and then present the best book that you can in 2012

Send me your book for a free evaluation: PLFry620@yahoo.com
http://www.patriciafry.com
http://www.matilijapress.com

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Message to Hopeful Authors Everywhere

Thursday, December 29th, 2011

I frequently get questions from hopeful authors about writing a book. Most of these authors are writing a memoir. Many feel they’ve been wronged and they want to make it “right” by exposing the culprits (often a major company or the government). These people contact me for writing help. But I generally give them a lot more than what they ask for. And I’m pretty sure that I give them quite a bit more information than they want. All they want is to write that book and start circulating it to the masses. I attempt to give them a reality check and try to get them to see the whole picture, not just the part where they write a book and live happily and prosperously ever after.

Here’s what I generally say to the author who seems to be starting off on the wrong foot with the wrong book, those with minimal writing skill and those with unrealistic expectations:

“Before you go head-long into writing a book to publish, please seriously consider two things. What is the purpose of this book? And what is the reason you are writing it? If it is for revenge, for example, this might not be a good enough reason. If you are expecting to make a lot of money, this is highly unlikely. There is MUCH more to producing a book than just getting the writing right.

In this regard, however, I would suggest that you join a writers’ critique group. Share your work and pay attention to the feedback. If you allow yourself to and if the group is made up of even fairly good writers, you will learn volumes.

I also recommend that you read my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. It is a good education for first-time authors. It is important that you know what goes into a good book, what it takes to get a book published and, most importantly, what the author’s responsibility is after he or she produces a book. Whether you self-publish, go with a pay-to-publish company or land a traditional publisher, it is up to the author to promote his or her book. And most authors fail. Nearly 80 percent of books sell fewer than 100 copies. Publishing is a fiercely competitive business.

It has been my observation (backed up by statistics) that readers are not all that interested in reading memoirs by unknown authors.

I know this sounds awfully discouraging. My intent is to help you gain more understanding about authorship. It is not generally a way to make a lot of money. As I said, only a little over 20 percent of authors make any money and a large percentage of those make only around $1,000 in a year.

In order to be successful, you really have to come out with a good product that is wanted in the marketplace. And you have to know what you’re doing when you enter into the world of publishing. Read my book. And then decide what to do with regard to your book.”

Many of you are nodding your heads vigorously as you read this because you’ve come into the world of publishing either with or without the appropriate education. And you know what a difficult business this can be.

Those of you who continue to harbor unrealistic expectations, tend to ignore the wisdom in messages like this one.

If you have not done so already, begin NOW studying the publishing industry, your options, the possible ramifications of your choices and your responsibility as a published author. Read my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. This is your education into the publishing industry. This is your college course in preparation for the major, major decision to publish. And this book is currently discounted at my website.

http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

Posted in Authorship, Publishing | No Comments »

Go Into Research Mode and Sell More Books

Wednesday, December 28th, 2011

Are you constantly in research mode? If you are a freelance writer or journalist, you most certainly are. How else would you come up with enough ideas for articles to bring in those paychecks?

But as authors who are promoting our books, we must also be in research mode all the time. Here’s what I mean:

• You should be always on the look-out for new book promotion opportunities. You might read in the newspaper that a new kitchen store has opened in the next community—see about signing your cookbook in conjunction with their grand opening. You notice that there will be an upscale flea market in the spring—contact the organizer and secure a booth. You read in SPAWNews that SPAWN has a booth at a major Southern California book festival where members can sell their books—you’ll be in California that week, time to make a call. (This is true—read the January edition of SPAWNews after January 1, 2012 here: http://www.spawn.org

• Watch for news in your industry. You heard on a news station that there has been a possible breakthrough or changes in regulations related to the theme of your book. Find out more about this so you can give a report to your newsletter subscribers and live audiences. Aspects of your industry are in major transition. You’ll want to follow this news and share it in a follow-up book or at your blog.

• Become aware of new concepts in your field or genre. It is important that you pass along current information and findings with regard to your book. Your readers will have more faith in a nonfiction author who keeps up with trends and a fiction writer who understands the genre.

Shifting into research mode is as easy as paying attention. But it requires effort. You must make it a habit to subscribe to and read pertinent material and to find ways to use it. Scour the Internet, including blogs on your topic/genre, the daily newspaper, nightly news, etc. Listen to talk radio when you are running errands in your car or delivering books to bookstores, etc. Attend lectures by your professional peers. Listen to teleseminars, podcasts and so forth. Read books by your colleagues and marketing experts.

If you are not doing these things, you are missing out on opportunities to expand your knowledge. If you can’t offer your audiences, blog followers and readers something fresh and pertinent on a regular basis, you are falling down on the job. And if you aren’t out there finding new and interesting ways to approach your readers, you could become one of the nearly eighty percent of authors who fail each year.

Here’s an idea: Order my newest book, Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author and step up your marketing efforts. If you use what you learn in this book, you could earn the cost of this book back 25, 50 or even 100 fold within the first few months.

http://www.matilijapress.com/PromoteYourBook.html

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How to Score BIG as a Published Author in 2012

Tuesday, December 27th, 2011

Are you thinking about writing a book, are in the process of writing a book or have completed one? Maybe you’re right on schedule with your project—you figure your big year is 2012. Perhaps this is the year you’ll meet those publishing goals. Well, there’s a lot to consider before you head off into parts unknown within the vast and fiercely competitive publishing field. And if you don’t believe me, ask a few published authors at your writers’ group. Attend book signings and question the authors about their path to publishing. Chat with authors at the writers’ conferences you attend. Most will tell you that there’s a lot of preparation necessary before you launch out into the wild blue yonder of publishing. And the more well-prepared you are, the more successful you will be.

So take it easy. Don’t rush into anything. Don’t make rash decisions. Here’s what you should be doing, instead. If you have a book in mind, you are writing a book, you are finishing up a book or you have a completed book and are seeking publication, whether it is fiction, nonfiction or a children’s book or book of poetry:

1: Study the publishing. Read books by me—Patricia Fry, Dan Poynter, Marilyn Ross and other professionals. I recommend my book, “The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book.” I wrote it for authors who are new or relatively unfamiliar with the publishing industry. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

This book will tell you what your publishing options are, how to choose the best option for your particular project and exactly what your responsibilities as a published author are. You’ll also be more well-prepared to enter into the publishing arena if you understand, beforehand, all aspects of book promotion.

2: Write a book proposal. Yes, even for fiction or a book of poetry, etc. Many publishers today want to see a book proposal. But there is an even greater, more important reason to write one. It is for you—the author.

• You must know who you are writing (or have written) the book for. Who is your target audience? Few new authors actually realize how important this is.

• In order to make the best decisions on behalf of your book, you need to know something about your competition. Is there a need for another book like this? What will make your book standout (in a good way)? Why will people choose your book over the others in this category? If your book is fiction, is the genre a popular one or a strong niche genre?

• What can you bring to the table as far as marketing ideas and the skill, energy, time and, in some cases, money for implementing them? It is always the author’s responsibility to promote his or her book. And successful book promotion is all-encompassing.

3: Hire a good book editor. This is highly important whether you plan to seek a publisher, go with a pay-to-publish company or self-publish (establish your own publishing company). It could cost you anywhere from $800 to $3,000 depending on the scope of your project and the condition it’s in. It is so important that you present a perfectly edited manuscript to a publisher as well as to the public that, if you don’t have the money to do it now, I suggest holding off on your book until you can save it up.

You’ve just been presented with a valuable New Year’s gift in the form of valid information here today. It is up to you whether you embrace it or not. If you are way too eager to move forward with your project to “waste” any time following this advice, let me remind you that, while writing is a craft, publishing is a fiercely competitive business and it should be approached as such.

You should also know that the percentage of failed books (those that sell fewer than 100 copies) is on a rise. I understand that it is now eighty-percent. Eighty percent of authors fail. These authors enter into publishing with the same dreams and goals as you have. But they neglect these three points, ignore them or don’t bother to learn them. And they fail.

Remember that: Publishing is NOT an extension of your writing.

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How to Get a Book Deal From Your Blog

Monday, December 26th, 2011

Yesterday, we talked about the phenomenon whereby publishers go visiting blog sites looking for potential book projects. So how could you fall into one of those sweet deals—where a publisher comes to you and says, “Love your blog topic. Would you consider writing a book for us? I can give you an advance that would pay your rent while you write it.” Oh yes, wouldn’t that be a nice way to start the New Year?

How could you make that happen? It seems like a completely foreign concept to you if you already have a book idea and especially if you have been showing it around to publishers and keep getting shut down.

The problem is, sometimes we write the wrong book. Your true book—the one publishers and readers want—might be imbedded somewhere within the book idea you are currently pitching. If you were blogging about aspects of your topic and getting a lot of notice, a publisher might find you and suggest a direction for your book that you hadn’t even thought of.

For example, your how to live off the land book might be more popular as a memoir—a, “this is how I did it” story. Your book featuring “my favorite world-wide hikes,” might be more appealing to a publisher if it featured famous world hikers or some of the more challenging hiking stories related to some of the most treacherous mountains in the world. A publisher might prefer seeing your book of humorous poetry transformed into a children’s story book. But the publishers you are approaching might not see the possibilities. Publishers don’t often make these sorts of suggestions when they are already inundated with submissions.

But if there is someone in their employ whose job it is to seek good book ideas by talking to writers at writers’ conferences and by keeping an eye on blogs, you could possibly stumble into a sweet deal simply by maintaining an interesting blog and getting plenty of publicity for it. It’s going to take work for some of you to move beyond your ego, though. If you want to break into the world of publishing as an author, you’ll have to omit the following from your vocabulary:

“But I wanna write about MY experiences.”
“That sounds like a whole lot of work. I’d rather not do all of that research.”
“Write a children’s book? But my poetry is serious stuff—not frivolous.”
“That isn’t the book I had in mind, so no thank you.”

Are you kidding me? You’d rather be an unpublished author than to strike a compromise with a publisher?

Has anyone reading this blog had a visit from a publisher? Would like to hear about it.

In the meantime, be sure to order your copy of my latest book, Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author. Once you get that book deal or when you decide to self-publish, you will need to know a lot more than you do now about book promotion. Book promotion is the author’s responsibility and this is true even if you land a major publisher for your book. That’s why publishers are so interested in knowing what the author can bring to the table as far as promotion even before they strike a deal.

Order your copy of Promote Your Book from my bookstore or from amazon.com, Barnes and Nobel.com or IndiBound.com.

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

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From Blog to Book Deal

Sunday, December 25th, 2011

It’s Christmas morning. I didn’t expect to give you a blog today—thought I’d be too busy. But Lily (my cat) and I woke up early (must have heard the tiny reindeer hooves outside the window), so I have time to write this before heading over to my family’s house with my homemade cinnamon rolls.

I want to write this morning about the prospect of having your blog noticed by a publisher. I hear over and over that publishers keep an eye out for interesting blogs that would make good books and are actually offering contracts to bloggers. That’s what I keep hearing.

Last night I finished reading a book I got as an early Christmas present. It’s The Daily Coyote by Shreve Stockton. It’s the story of how the author raised a 10-day old orphaned coyote successfully to adulthood. Charlie still lives with her and his best friend, Eli the cat, in Wyoming. It was toward the end of the book that I discovered Shreve was wooed by publishers who had stumbled upon her blog, The Daily Coyote. Several of them offered her book deals. She chose to go with Simon and Schuster.

This morning, I attempted to locate some additional stories around the blogger becoming an author scenario. Here’s what I found. The movie (and book) Julia and Julia started as a blog, as did the book Past Secrets, Stuff White People Like and several food blogs. One blogger was approached by National Geographic with a book deal. She shopped her blog around and ended up choosing another publisher.

Food blogs are especially popular with publishers who are seeking new book projects.

Do you maintain an interesting blog? Are you getting the publicity that could put your blog in line with major publishers’ radar? It wouldn’t hurt to put more effort into your blog if you are, indeed, interested in finding a publisher—or having a publisher find you.

So this is my big WOW holiday gift to you this year. Stop hiding away your wonderful story or book idea. Start blogging about it in an organized, interesting manner. As I said, reach out for publicity in all of the most obvious and not so obvious ways. If you truly do have a knack for writing and you have a good story, valuable information or a new twist on something we all enjoy reading about, you just may lure in a publisher.

In the meantime, if you actually have a book in mind, don’t wait for a publisher to show up. Establish a blog and maintain it. But also get busy writing a book proposal. Flesh out your idea, reveal your marketing plan… Study the publishing industry. Evaluate publishers, select a few that are appropriate and go for the gold.

If you need help with your book proposal (most first-time authors do), consider signing up for my online book proposal course. http://www.matilijapress.com/course_bookproposal.htm

Merry Christmas Everyone

Posted in Authorship, Publishing | 2 Comments »

Sell Books Through Excerpts

Saturday, December 24th, 2011

I’m wildly busy this week and will be for the next eight weeks or so working on my latest book for Allworth Press. So I want to share with you an excerpt from my book about sharing excerpts from your book as a way to promote it.

Excerpted from Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author. http://www.matilijapress.com/PromoteYourBook.html

“Some magazines publish excerpts from nonfiction books on topics that fit their themes. And many of them pay. This is another good way to get exposure for your book. The Atlantic Monthly uses book excerpts as do Bibliophiles, Minnesota Conservation Volunteer, Earth Island Journal, Lake Superior Magazine, Rural Builder, Book Dealers World, School Transportation News, Teachers and Writers Magazine, Faith and Friends, Catholic Digest, Christian Home and School, Inventors Digest, Astronomy, GirlFriendz, Hope for Women, Strut and many others.

How do you find out which magazines use excerpts? Study Writer’s Market. This resource is available in most libraries and for around $30 in most bookstores.”

As seems to be my habit, I couldn’t leave it at that. I couldn’t walk away without giving you something more—even in this crazy busy time. I had to stop and look up what some of these publications pay for articles and excerpts and here’s the results of my brief research: You could earn anywhere from $100 to as much as $1,000 selling excerpts from your book to appropriate magazines, with around $250 to $400 being pretty standard. Of course, it depends on the pay scale of the individual magazine.

Learn more about selling articles and stories to magazines in order to promote your book on pages 112-115. Or sign up for my on-line article-writing course. http://www.matilijapress.com/course_magarticles.htm

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It’s Your Book Your Way

Friday, December 23rd, 2011

How often do you visit your book page at Amazon.com? I try to get over to the page featuring my latest book, “Promote Your Book,” a couple of times each week. I check to see how many books Amazon has left in stock, what they are selling the book for, how the book is ranked, how many people “liked” the book or the page and if there are any new reviews. This morning, I discovered a new review. Thank you Blair from Indiana. This brings the number of reviews up to twenty-four. All are 5-star reviews except for three. Those three reviewers dinged the book a little for one reason or another.

The latest review took a star away because the 250 book promotion ideas weren’t fleshed out enough and some of the resources I offered cost something to purchase—typically other books with additional information, directories, programs for blogging or starting an enewsletter, joining Toastmasters, for example. I emailed the reviewer—who, incidentally, wrote a marvelous review, and I pointed out to him that if I’d fleshed out every promotional activity in this book, it would be the size of a set of encyclopedias.

Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author is not meant to be a complete guide to Internet marketing, public speaking for authors, selling books through Amazon or eBay, giving book signings, speaking at conferences, doing TV and radio interviews, etc. It is a collection of ideas with enough information for each to help an author get started with it and resources if they need to know more about it.

Each of you reading this and everyone else in the world would have written this very same book in very different ways. None of us would ever approach the same topic in exactly the same way. And each of us appreciates certain things about the books we like or dislike. I am saying this so as not to discourage you from moving ahead with your book the way you see fit.

Of course, you want to (you must) consider your primary audience and attempt to meet their needs or desires through your book effort. But beyond that, whether you write a chronicle of your community’s history or focus on early pioneers, businesses, landmarks, wildlife, hiking trails, tragedies or even fountains and art (as one writer I know has done), remember that it is your book and you have the power. It’s your decision.

New authors are sometimes intimidated by their potential readers and have a difficult time deciding which way to go with their books—create a children’s story, one for young adults or write a straight mystery for adults. Should it be an all-about a particular event in your community or a compilation of memorable events and activities taking place in and around your town? You are in charge. You get to decide. But know that there will definitely be people who will criticize your decisions because they simply have different needs and desires than the primary audience you wrote it for.

Interesting concept. I’d like to hear from those of you who have lost sleep over the direction you wanted to take your book or who feel they wrote the wrong book.

This is a good time to purchase your copy of Promote Your Book from Amazon or at my author site. If you’ve already read this book, how about leaving a review.

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

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How to Shift From Creative Writer to Savvy Author

Thursday, December 22nd, 2011

I’ve been commissioned to write another book. The publisher for Promote Your Book (August 2011) AND Publish Your Book (scheduled for February of 2012) has issued me a contract for a third book. Due date for the completed manuscript is February 29, 2012. That’s three books accepted in 2011.

I will tell you more about the book with time. I will reveal that it is related to book promotion.

How is it that my books are getting accepted by a publisher in a time of such intense competition? When authors receive rejection after rejection from publishers, how is it that I (and, of course hundreds of others) are landing publishing contracts? One secret—that isn’t really a secret, if you’d just pay attention to the experts and your sense of logic—is writing the right book for the right audience. Know who your audience is, what they need/desire, and write the book they want.

Another key to getting published is choosing the right publisher. Many hopeful authors go helter skelter using a scattershot method of locating publishers with little regard to what the publisher typically produces. The publisher I’m currently working with is a niche publisher, which is a good fit because my books are niche books. They publish books on the business side of art, writing and so forth. And I write books in that category. There are hundreds of niche publishers and small to medium size publishers seeking good projects in all topics and genres.

And remember that not every publisher produces books for young adults, children, etc.
Some publishers specialize in mysteries/suspense, nonfiction only, children’s books, local history, historical novels set in certain periods, etc.

Another thing many new authors don’t seem to consider is their approach to the publisher. I’ve read many, many query letters and book proposals. I can see why some of them are tossed out, discarded, rejected almost immediately time and time again. Your approach to a publisher or an agent, especially in this time of such fierce competition, is crucial to your chances of landing a contract. I recommend that you have a professional look over your query letter and/or book proposal before you send it out to even one publisher. You may be missing important elements, such as your marketing plan, your platform, your target audience, etc. Your story description may be confusing and incomplete, for example.

Most authors enter into the world of publishing with the same mindset they used in writing the book and, generally, this tactic is going to lead to your book’s failure. You can (and should) use your creative side during the writing phase of your project. But, in order to succeed as a published author, you really must adopt a mindset that’s more about business when you are ready to approach publishers and agents.

Do yourself a favor in 2012. If you are close to finishing your novel or nonfiction book, contact me for assistance in writing your query letter and/or book proposal. Let me help you make the transition from creative writer to savvy author.

PLFry620@yahoo.com
http://www.matilijapress.com
http://www.patriciafry.com

Posted in Authorship, Publishing | No Comments »

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