Writing and Publishing News

I had a great day at the local library yesterday talking to a group of 20 hopeful authors about publishing. I couldn’t believe how fast the 90 minutes went by. I didn’t even take my planned break.

My focus was the importance of approaching publishing as the seriously competitive business that it is. And this is a hard pill to swallow for most writers who want to publish their memoir, their children’s book, their novel or even the how-to or self-help book they’ve been working on. I explained to them that publishing is not an extension of your writing. And that publishing cannot be approached using the same skills and mindset as one uses during the writing process.

I stressed that education is key. It is vital that you go into publishing with some knowledge of how the industry works and that you understand your responsibilities as a published author.

There are two basic ways you can enter into the publishing realm. You can ease in with your project, taking the first opportunity that comes your way to produce the book and then meekly wait for the success you desire.

Or you can take charge—become the CEO of your project. Learn as much as you can about how the industry works, so you can make educated decisions. Be proactive on behalf of your book.

Publishing is a business and your book is a product. The minute you decide you want to publish the book you’ve been writing for one, five or even twenty-five years, you should shed your creative skin and become an executive in charge of your project.

Think, what would the CEO of a company do when he or she has a new product to produce and market? They would find out as much as they could about the industry, make educated (instead of emotional) decisions on behalf of the product and devise a solid marketing plan.

Yes, the author is in charge of marketing, too. Authorship is a huge role to take on when you consider that you must be the creator/designer, the production manager, the research manager and the marketing manager. Does it sound rather intimidating? Does it sound like publishing is way different from writing? It absolutely is. Are you up for the experience or are you still in denial about what it actually takes in order to succeed as a published author? Do you still live in the fantasy world that says, “My book is different. I know people will buy it. All I have to do is somehow get it published.”

Sure, you’ll make a few sales, if your book is at all decent. But even the most well-written book in the most popular genre or topic will stagnate without a marketing plan.

How do you define success, anyway? Are you in touch with exactly what you want to accomplish with your book?

There’s not much to think about when you are in your writing room enjoying the process of writing a book. That is, unless you are already planning to publish your book and offer it to the masses. Then, you should be writing explicitly for your audience. But that’s another blog post.

Start the process of studying the publishing industry by reading my book: Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author. http://www.matilijapress.com.

It’s also at Amazon.com, Allworthpress.com, BarnesandNobel.com and other online and downtown bookstores.

So you have an idea and you want to write about it. Most of us immediately think, “book” when the light bulb goes off above our heads.

“Gosh, that would make a great book!” or “I’d like to write a book on that topic or concept.”

Sometimes, however, your idea isn’t worthy of an entire book on the subject. That’s why I advise writers to consider writing an article, instead. If it is a worthwhile topic, the writing is good and the audience is eager to get this information, you should be able to sell the article to a high-paying magazine market. If not, perhaps it isn’t a great idea, after all.

Sometimes articles evolve into books. I’ve had this happen a couple of times. After seeing the response to my article on long-distance grandparenting, I wrote a book on the topic. Likewise, there was an interest in my articles on youth mentoring, which encouraged me to reproduce them in book form.

Some of my book publishing/promotion articles also evolved into full-blown books. In fact, article-writing is a good way to test your potential book ideas.

Another option, especially if you want to distribute the material you’ve written on a particular topic, is the booklet. Professionals and experts often produce booklets to test a concept or to bring attention to their work or business, for example.

If you think you have a great idea for a book, here’s what I suggest:
• Write an outline in order to determine just how substantial this book might be.

• Consider writing an article for an appropriate publication to see what the level of interest is in this concept.

• Test the idea by producing a booklet to give away or sell at your website or hand out at trade shows, conferences, etc.

What can you expect from the process of testing the market? You might find that you have a strong niche market for a full-blown book on the subject. The feedback you receive might prompt you to alter your original idea to suit a larger or more targeted audience. You may discover that this isn’t such a good idea, after all and you’ll save yourself money and time.

Have you ever done a test market on a book idea? How did you proceed with that? How did it go? What did you learn from the process? Leave your comments here.

If you are determined to produce a book, be sure to educate yourself first about the vast and fiercely competitive publishing industry. Read Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author. http://www.matilijapress.com/PublishYourBook.html

It’s also at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and others. And it is on Kindle and Nook.