January, 2012 - Writing and Publishing News

Archive for January, 2012

Help Your Audience Members Form a Bond

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

When you speak to a group about the topic or genre of your book, you want to make a connection with your audience and you want them to connect with one another. If they sit apart from one another, they are individuals either for or against you. Yes, against you. Some people come to your presentation with a chip on their shoulder and they are daring you to knock it off. In other words, “Tell me something I don’t know and that I can actually believe.”

Note: I find that this is actually rare. It happens and I think it is important to mention. But, unless your book and your talk cover something quite controversial, you’ll find most of your audience members congenial, alert and eager to hear what you have to share.

I suggest that you try to bring audience members who are spread all over the room closer together—invite them to come forward and take some of the seats toward the front, for example. Some will and some won’t. A few people will move one row closer. Others won’t budge.

Even if audience members sit apart, you can still pull them together and create an atmosphere of camaraderie, which will greatly enhance your presentation. Here are a few ideas:

• For a smaller group, ask them each to introduce themselves and their projects related to the theme of your talk or their interest or experience in the topic.

• Ask what they’ve come to learn from the session. Some might reveal a problem they’re having. Encourage audience input.

• If someone asks a question or expresses a desire for additional resources or information, respond, but also consider solicit comments from the audience. People will begin to connect. I’ve seen it happen so often.

• If there is time, at some point in the program, assign an exercise that requires audience members to come together in groups—something that depends on teamwork. Try to make it fun.

• Present a challenge to audience members at large—something that requires discussion among the entire group—again, something light, so you get them laughing together.

• Once some of the audience members have revealed something about themselves with relationship to the theme of your talk, mention it a time or two throughout your presentation. Say, for example, “Just as Sonny said earlier, ‘some cats are more trainable than others.’ Does anyone have a cat as stubborn as the one he described?” or “Angie told us that she plants her sweet peas in December—does anyone else have success doing this?” This will endear the individual to you and, again, help to create a connection between him or her and the rest of the group.

This is excerpted from the book I am currently working on—Talk Up Your Book. In the meantime, be sure to order your copy of my newest book, Publish Your Book at Amazon.com or at my website: http://www.matilijapress.com

Posted in Book Promotion, Public Speaking | 1 Comment »

The Process of Writing a Book

Monday, January 30th, 2012

I’m on day 35 of the book I’m writing for Allworth Press on public speaking for authors—give or take a few days I lost due to a family emergency earlier this month. I have around 30 more to go in order to meet my strict deadline. Book-writing is an interesting process and we all approach it a little differently. Of course, what I do is write, so I don’t have to juggle taking care of little kids or working at a full-time job with the writing. And deadlines, while I complain about them, really do keep me focused.

I get up somewhere between 3:30 and 4:30 a.m. as a rule. (Yes, I go to bed with the chickens—well, not in the coop…). I start my mornings taking care of office and SPAWN business—shipping books, returning emails, communicating with new SPAWN members, handling bookwork, and writing this blog, for example. And then I get right to work on the book.

For me, it has been a process of writing, interviewing, organizing and reorganizing the material and a lot of rewriting to make it all work. It’s rather interesting to watch a book grow from a few thoughts and jotted notes to an 80,000-word manuscript and transform from a garbled, disorganized, meaningless jumble to something actually useful and worth reading. I love watching a book take shape, don’t you? Sometimes it seems as if it is by magic. Other times—well, if you’re a writer, you know—it can be torture.

They say that it takes an average of 725 hours to write a nonfiction book. That’s 90 eight-hour days or eighteen weeks or four and a half months. I’m putting in mostly eight and ten-hour days seven days a week in order to complete this one within approx. two months. And I’m doing it without having received the advance, yet. I hear it’s in the mail, though.

How long does it take you to write a book? I know people who have spent twenty years to finally finish a book. Some never finish. For some, it’s like putting a book away to read someday. The book doesn’t seem like such a good idea now. My bookshelves, for example, are full of books I thought I would someday read and now I don’t have much interest in them.

I once completed a sixteen-chapter book for a client (a book on how to get credit) in around three weeks. They wanted a rush job and were willing to pay for it.

Well, I’d better get to work on the book. I’m in a more enjoyable stage of it. The organization process drives me crazy—which quote should I put where? How should I divide the chapters, etc. Now I have the book pretty much set and I’m doing some preliminary fine-tuning to make the transitions work and to create continuity and flow in the material. I still have a few chapters left to write in some coherent manner. And then it is on to the last fine-tuning stage.

Sometimes I get bored during the last stage of writing the book. I become tired of looking at it and ready to move on to something else. That’s usually when I will drive down to the beach and take a walk to clear my head, refresh my brain and seek a renewed sense of joy for the project.

If you are writing a book or thinking about writing one for publication, don’t miss out on the opportunity for clarity with regard to the complicated and complex world of publishing. Order my latest book now—it’s a rewrite and revision of a 5-star book I wrote in 2006 and rewrote in 2007. The latest version—completely revised and updated—is out now. Order your copy at Amazon or at my website.

Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author.
http://www.matilijapress.com/PublishYourBook.html

Order the companion book, Promote Your Book—also at Amazon and my website.

Posted in Publishing, Writing | No Comments »

What’s the Best Publishing Option for YOU?…Part Two

Sunday, January 29th, 2012

Yesterday, we talked about the fact that you have publishing options and we covered traditional publishing. Today, we’ll discuss reasons why you might consider the self-publishing or the pay-to-publish options.
You may be a candidate for self-publishing (establishing your own publishing company) if:
• Your book is designed to fill a niche—your audience is clearly defined.
• You are in a hurry to bring your book out.
• The book would do better if hand-sold through personal appearances, your website and/or through specialty stores.
• You want to run the show rather than sell out to a publisher.
• You write a complete book proposal—your business plan for your book.
• You understand your responsibilities as a publisher and author.
• You are willing to take on the full responsibility of book promotion.
• You have a platform: your way of attracting readers—your connections.

Consider a pay-to-publish service if:
• You do not have a business head or any desire to run your own company.
• You want only a few copies of your book printed so you can give them to friends and sell them to a few colleagues and acquaintances.
• You want to bring out a book within weeks instead of months.
• You have studied the concept of pay-to-publish services: you’ve read and understand the contract. You have no concerns or questions.
• You have a platform: your way of attracting readers—your connections.
• You are willing to do whatever promotion is necessary to meet your sales goals.

As I said yesterday, when it comes to publishing a book, there are no maps to follow. There are no one-size-fits-all charted courses for authors. But there are books to help you make the best decisions you can on behalf of your project. I recommend that you check out books by the experts: Dan Poynter, Patricia Fry and Marilyn Ross (Self-Publishing), Brian Jud, Patricia Fry and John Kremer (Book Marketing), Mark Levine and Dehanna Bailee (pay-to-publish companies), Jeff Herman and Patricia Fry (Book Proposals)

If you only purchase one book this year, make it Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author. This book covers everything you need to know in order to become a more successful author. Available at amazon.com and at the website below:

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

Posted in Publishing | No Comments »

What’s the Best Publishing Option for You?

Saturday, January 28th, 2012

This is part one of a 3-part post:

I get the question quite often. And my answer is always, “It depends on you and it depends on your project.”

There’s nothing about the task of producing or marketing a book that is easy or straightforward. There are many decisions to make during the writing phase of your book: how to handle dialogue, which research material to include, whether or not to kill off the heroine and when to end the book, for example. These are mechanical, technical and creative decisions. Once you decide to publish your book, your decisions become pure business. You must decide:

• Who are you writing the book for? Is this audience large enough to support another book on this topic/genre?
• How can you make your book more valuable to a segment of readers?’
• What can you add to make your book more marketable?

When the book is completed, you will be required to make new decisions. One of your first questions should be, “What is the best publishing option for me and my book?”Use the guide below to help you find your best publishing option.

Perhaps you should seek out a traditional royalty publisher if:
• Your book is well defined and of interest to a large segment of people in the mainstream.
• Your book would do well in bookstores and is appropriate for libraries.
• You thoroughly understand the responsibilities of a traditional royalty publisher.
• You completely understand your responsibilities as a published author.
• You’ve written a complete book proposal (for fiction or nonfiction).
• You’re willing to turn over control of your project to a publisher. (They will most likely change your title, edit out your favorite parts of the book and create a cover way outside your expectations.)
• You don’t mind waiting months for your book to be produced.
• You have established a platform—your way of attracting readers—your connections.
• You are ready and willing to spend most of your time promoting your book for months and maybe years after it is published.

To be continued in tomorrow’s post…

When it comes to publishing a book, there are no maps to follow. There are no one-size-fits-all charted courses for authors. But there are books to help you make the best decisions you can on behalf of your project. I recommend that you check out books by the experts: Dan Poynter and Marilyn Ross (Self-Publishing), Brian Jud and John Kremer (Book Marketing), Mark Levine and Dehanna Bailee (fee-based POD Publishing), Jeff Herman and Patricia Fry (Book Proposals).

Posted in Authorship | No Comments »

Intimacy Can Sell Books

Friday, January 27th, 2012

I thought I’d share something from my book in progress this morning— Talk Up Your Book, How to Sell Your Book Through Public Speaking, Interviews, Signings, Festivals, Conferences and More.

It seems that celebrities and well-known authors sell books without even trying. Why? Because they are known—their reputation precedes them. Their fans and curiosity seekers are already familiar with who they are and eager to know more about them. They buy these authors’ books simply on name alone. This is an example of personality selling books.

You and I are among the nearly seven million less celebrated authors who are competing with one another (as well as the celeb authors) for book sales in the US and beyond. And competition is fierce. Every year around a million new books and ebooks are produced. And every year, thousands upon thousands of those newly published books fail. The latest statistics indicate that just under eighty percent of all books produced each year sell fewer than 100 copies; and their authors wonder why.

I say it is a lack of personality. Many authors are not willing or able to practice a hands-on approach when it comes to promoting their books. The intimacy the author experiences with his book during the writing process fades once he faces the overwhelming task of marketing it. Yet, you should know that intimacy is at least as important to your project after publication as it was during the writing phase of the book—intimacy with your book and intimacy with your audience.

The first step toward a relationship with your audience is knowing who they are. You hear publishing experts tell you, and you read in books by professionals, that you must write for a specific target audience. Your audience might be comprised of those who read mysteries, romance or young adult novels. Your book might address avid cooks, other writers, educators, parents of preschoolers, dog owners, pilots or people who are interested in World War I, fitness, home decorating or self-help for adult victims of child abuse. A primary rule of successful authorship is to identify your audience early in the process of writing your book and keep them in mind throughout. When you truly understand who your audience is and concentrate on writing expressly for that audience, not only will your book have a stronger audience base, you will have begun the process of establishing a relationship with each and every one of them.

Some of you haven’t created this sort of intimacy with your audiences while researching and writing your book. And many of you don’t even know who your audience is. I can tell you this—it is NOT everyone. Not even close. Your book has a target audience and, if you hope to approach them with live presentations, through social media and so forth, you’ll have to discern exactly who they are.

I’ll include a table of contents in a week or so. Watch for publication of this book in the fall through Allworth Press.

In the meantime, for books with excellent information, fascinating perspective and useful resources for the author, order your copy of my latest two books today:
Promote Your Book (Allworth Press, 2011)
Publish Your Book (Allworth Press, 2012
http://www.matilijapress.com
And Amazon.com

Posted in Book Promotion, Public Speaking | No Comments »

Promote Your Book by Strutting Your Stuff

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

Do you write articles to promote your nonfiction book? If you don’t you’re really missing out on an opportunity to strut your stuff. Your informative, educational articles help to position you as an expert in your field. Each article can also serve as a vehicle to promote you, your book and your services.

What if your book is a memoir or a novel? You can still write articles and stories designed to promote it. Here are some suggestions:

1: Offer book excerpts to appropriate magazines, newsletters and websites. Be sure to represent your material as an excerpt when you submit it. You may need to do a minor rewrite so that the piece has a beginning, middle and end.

2: Write new stories related to your topic/genre. For example, if your memoir or novel takes place in Nashville, come up with an article about a recent occurrence in that city or one featuring a little-known aspect of Nashville history. Maybe your memoir or novel features struggles with MS. Write new stories or articles with this theme. I write articles and this blog for writers and authors for two reasons. Because I know I can help you better navigate the murky waters of publishing and in order to get word out about my books on publishing and book promotion because they have even more to help new and struggling authors.

3: Multiply your ideas. You will be amazed at how one idea, theme or topic can grow into hundreds once you get the hang of this concept. Let’s say that your story involves an eccentric woman with lots of cats, publicize your book through articles and stories on many aspects of cats: caring for a cat, unusual cat stories, how a cat colony works, profiles of cat people. Now take each of those topics and watch your list of article/story ideas grow: Under caring for a cat, there’s how to prepare when bringing a new cat home, cat-proofing a home, introducing the new cat to the resident pets, traveling with your cat, grooming the cat, the aging cat and so forth. You should be able to come up with at least a dozen article/story ideas related to your theme or sub-themes in just one attempt.

4: Look for ideas everywhere. Here’s where your observational skills will come in handy. Did you notice a cat wandering through the aisles at your local independent bookstore? Interview the bookseller about his shop cat. Maybe you saw someone walking a cat on a leash. Hey, there’s an idea to research and write about. I met a woman at a cat show once who had her cat dressed up in a little coat, hat, glasses and the cat was even carrying a cat-size purse. Wouldn’t cat lovers be interested in an article or even a fictionalized story about playing dress-up with your cat?

5: If you are promoting a novel, you probably have drawers full of short stories that you’ve written over the years. Dig them out, polish them up and start sending them to appropriate magazines.

Remember, the reason that you are writing these articles and stories is to position yourself as an expert in your field, gain credibility in your topic or genre and generate a following (readers) for your book. Make it your goal to write highly informative and/or entertaining articles or stories. And then include information about your book and yourself in the bio at the bottom of the article.

For details on submitting articles and stories for publication, read my book, A Writer’s Guide to Magazine Articles. I also include a section on magazine article-writing in my BRAND NEW book, Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author and Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author. Amazon.com or http://www.matilijapress.com

Posted in Book Promotion | No Comments »

Create Presentation Topics Based on Your Book

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012

Do you have a repertoire of live presentations you do on behalf of your book? When you schedule a speaking engagement designed to promote your book, can you provide a list of possible speech topics? Most program organizers appreciate having choices—topics of interest to their group that they can choose from. And it would behoove you to create such a list.

Post this list at your website to demonstrate your range of possible programs for those who are seeking speakers or for those you have contacted and who want more information about you.

I go out and speak on book promotion, aspects of publishing, writing a book proposal and freelance writing. But I make it easier for a program director to choose an appropriate program by listing more specific topics and even giving the presentations titles. For example:

• Two Key Steps to Successful Publishing.
• How to Write a Killer Book Proposal.
• Book Promotion for the Bold and the Bashful.
• Get Your Book Reviewed Many Times Over.
• Promote Your Book Through Magazine Articles
• Platform-Building Tips and Techniques.
• How to Write the After-Publication Book Proposal.
I’ve recently added, “The Psychology of a Book Proposal.”

For a book on selling real estate, your list of presentations might look like this:
• How to Establish Curb Appeal for Your Home or Office Building.
• Tips for Choosing the Right Real Estate Agent.
• Understanding the Real Estate Market.
• Just What can you Expect From Your Agent?
• Simple Steps to Selling Your Home.
• When to Buy and When to Sell Locally.

For a historical fiction novel, your list of speech topics might look something like this:
• From Banker to Novelist in Five Years. (Your story.)
• How to Research for a Historical Novel.
• Little Known Historical Facts About New England.
• One Family’s Journey Out of the Darkness.
• The Real Story About Self-Publishing.
• So You Want to be a Novelist.

For nonfiction, your chapter titles and subheadings might be appropriate titles and topics for presentations. For fiction, you might tell the story of one particular character—perhaps offering some back-story that is not included in the book. Get into the psychology of why someone would behave in a certain way, as depicted in your story, for example. Do a program on some disease or dysfunction and what you learned about this during research.

You’ll book more speaking engagements if you are well-prepared with potential programs that are of interest to your reading audience. So go to work this weekend creating your topic list and then start contacting program directors for civic organizations, your local garden club, church groups, business conferences, pet trade shows, etc.

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

Posted in Book Promotion, Public Speaking | No Comments »

No One Buys Books They Don’t Know Exist

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012

What is the primary enticement that causes you to purchase a book? Think about that as you write and design your book, and as you start promoting it.

Is it word of mouth—a recommendation? Is it the amazing cover? Is it the fact that you know and like (or trust) the author? Do book reviews sway you? Is it strictly need and chance—you spot a book while web surfing or shopping that meets your current need for specific information or a good read? Are you a fanatic about new mysteries by new authors? Do you have a hunger for books related to your hobby or interest? But how do you find out about new books on your favorite topic or in your favorite genre? Or is it when you meet the author that you are most interested in reading his or her book?

This is definitely something you should be thinking about as you write, design and promote your own book.

One thing is for sure, you don’t buy books you know nothing about, do you? And this is true for your book’s audience.

If I’ve given you something to think about this morning, let me know. Leave your comment here or email me at PLFry620@yahoo.com

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

Posted in Book Promotion, Bookselling | No Comments »

The Pressure of Publishers’ Deadlines

Monday, January 23rd, 2012

I have five weeks left to finish a 78,000-80,000-word book. I’m sharing this with you because only another writer understands the pressure of a publisher’s deadline—stringing together at least 78,000 words coherently to form a viable book in two and a half months? Is it humanly possible?

There’s the research, the organization, contacting experts for quotes—waiting for the quotes to come in, editing the quotes to fit and the writing and rewriting and more rewriting. Throw into this mix the fact that I lost virtually two weeks when my brother died. And it wasn’t like I was sitting around twiddling my thumbs before this assignment came along. Oh no, I have books to promote, a blog to write, bills to pay, domestic chores to handle, an organization to run and a monthly newsletter to write, for example.

How long does it take to write a book, anyway? The average, according to statistics someone collected, for a nonfiction book is four and a half months (ninety 8-hour days or 725 hours). Some people take years and years to write a book. I once wrote a sixteen-chapter book for a client in three weeks. What is your longest term and shortest term book-writing record?

While I know I can complete this assignment and probably pretty close to schedule, the pressure is on and I am still pushing and doing a little worrying about if it will actually come together in a coherent way within the deadline.

You ought to see my desk full of note—things I want to be sure to add—some that I don’t know quite where to insert… The book keeps changing before my dazed eyes. I have some moments where I want to exuberantly high five my trusty computer and others when I wonder, “What was I thinking when I agreed to do this book?”

Sure this is my book number thirty-six. I’ve been around the block a few times with book projects. But there is nothing quite as intimidating and as exhilarating as the one you are currently working on.

The topic is public speaking for authors. It covers book signings, live presentations, webinars, radio/TV, getting paid gigs and even casual conversation with people about your book. Should be a worthwhile addition to your library of books on book promotion, right?

Well, I’d better get back to work. The deadline is looming.

In the meantime, both of my latest books include information and resources related to public speaking and communicating verbally with your potential readers as a way to promote and sell books, as well as everything else you need to know about publishing your book and promoting it. What a dynamite duo these two books are. Purchase them both at Amazon today.

Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author (Allworth Press, 2011)
Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author. (Allworth Press, 2012)

Are you an enterprising author? If you visit this blog site often, I’d say you are. And these two books are excellent tools to aid you and guide you in achieving the publishing and bookselling success you desire.

Posted in Publishing, Writing | No Comments »

Your Author’s Resource Shelf

Sunday, January 22nd, 2012

How many books can you write on the same basic topic? Do you ever wonder? Are you the author of one or more nonfiction books on a topic of your expertise or interest? Are you like me—always coming up with new book ideas, new themes?

If you write articles for magazines, newsletters, epublications, websites, your blog, etc., you probably come up with new topics and new twists on older topics all the time. You manufacture article ideas in your sleep, while at the gym, after talking to a client or friend, while working on your blog or another article. You have a plethora of article ideas on paper, on the web and still in your head.

So how many books can you legitimately write related to your topic. I’ve come up with my eleventh book related to writing, publishing and book promotion. I wonder how many more I could write? Right now I’m too busy to think about it, though.

My articles and blog posts related to this subject probably number in the hundreds, when you consider the angles, twists, sub-topics, sub-sub-topics. I mean there are the nuts and bolts articles, those driven by emotions or the psychology of the theme, bits on various resources and decisions made by myself and others that have affected publication or book sales, and so many, many different directions I’ve taken the theme of writing and publishing.

My latest book launched this month by Allworth Press has probably 50 books inside. When you study Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author, you are getting material that you can’t get anywhere else under one cover. You might have to read a dozen other books to get the education available in this one book.

I can envision your desk. There, at arm’s length, are your reference books. Among them are

The Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition); Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author; Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author; a good dictionary and, in some cases, a current edition of Writer’s Market.

What more do you need? You have information here for style and grammar questions, self-editing, writing a book proposal, finding a publisher or agent, choosing the right publisher or agent, working with an agent or publisher, book promotion, distribution, bookkeeping, copyright, how to write a query letter and press release and just about any other question that would occur to a hopeful or published author.

So clear your shelf today and order these standard reference guides for a cleaner, more orderly look and more efficient research.