Writing and Publishing News

Yesterday we presented the first in this publishing series. The topic was landing a major traditional publisher. Most authors today will not seek out agent representation or publication with a major. Most, in fact, will go the quick and easy route—hire a self-publishing (pay-to-publish) service.

Are you one of the thousands of authors who just want to get your book published as easily and quickly as possible and you fall for the sales pitch of the first friendly self-publishing company representative who contacts you? Or maybe you do your homework and carefully choose the company you want to work with.

If you decide to go the self-publishing route, please, please study your many options. There are no standards for these companies. Some offer straightforward contracts for a reasonable fee and do a good job. Others charge exorbitant fees and continue to gouge your pocketbook at every turn.

What some of you don’t know—because you didn’t bother to do your homework and study the publishing industry—is that there are other options. Besides the major publishers and the self-publishing companies, there are hundreds and hundreds of medium and small traditional publishing companies eager for a good project. Some of them specialize—they produce only young adult novels, science fiction, self-help books, or romance, for example. There are presses that publish only books on a particular malady, or books for pilots, parents, hikers, hunters, quilters, pug owners, etc. Many of these less-known publishers also accept manuscripts on a wide range of topics and in many genres.

What are the benefits of going with a small to medium-sized publishing house?

• Many of them accept queries and proposals from authors—no agent representation required.
• They don’t receive as many submissions as the larger companies, so your chances of publication are greater.
• The smaller companies are generally easy to work with.
• You still have the prestige of publishing with a traditional publisher at no cost to you.

Where can you find these publishers? There are numbers of publisher directories.

• Writer’s Market. Around $30 at most bookstores.
• Literary Market Place. Use the online directory for a fee.
• http://www.publishersglobal.com/directory
• http://www.publishersglobal.com/directory/media/book-publishers
• Locate additional directories by doing an Internet search.

Another good way to find an appropriate publisher for your book is to locate other books like yours and see who published them. Contact those publishers.

I also urge you to do an Internet search to check the reputation of any publisher you might choose. You should do this for agents, self-publishing companies, editors—anyone or any company you are considering. Here’s how to do a search: At the prompt, type in the name of the individual or company and “complaint,” “warning,” etc. If there are a lot of negative comments from a variety of people, reconsider working with this company.

For an understanding of the publishing industry and many tips, resources, and information, be sure to read Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author. Available in print here: http://www.matiljiapress.com. Also at Amazon in print, audio and formatted for Kindle.

In the next post, we’ll discuss how to choose the right publishing option.

In the last post, I offered to respond to any specific questions you might have about publishing.

Because publishing is a complex topic, I’ve decided to create a blog series in hopes of clarifying the process so you can make the best decisions with regard to your particular project.

When authors ask me, “What is the best way to publish a book?” I always say, “It depends on the book and it depends on you.” However most new authors aren’t aware of all the publishing options available to them. And that’s a shame because, if you don’t know your options, you can’t make the best choices.

Many new authors dream of getting an agent who can land them a contract with a major publisher. They don’t stop to consider the reality of this plan. For example:

• Is the book designed for a large enough audience that a major publisher would invest in it?
• Is it a popular topic/genre?
• Does the author have a reputation that would help sell the book—a wide-spread following?
• Does the author understand the necessity and the process of book promotion and marketing?
• What can the author contribute when it comes to promoting his/her book?

Certainly, the inexperienced author isn’t always the best judge of their own book project. You might think your memoir is fascinating and well-written or that you’ve penned the mystery of the year. If you haven’t studied best-selling books on this topic or in this genre, however, you may not know what elements are actually necessary.

You may adore what you’ve written. Why wouldn’t you? It’s a piece of you. It’s your creation—your baby. You worked hard to produce it, so why wouldn’t others love it, find it useful or entertaining and why wouldn’t a publisher want to publish it?

As I said, you may not be the best judge of your story or nonfiction manuscript. Before you start showing it around to agents, stop and study. Stand back from your project. Review books like yours and determine how yours compares. If it’s fiction, can you truthfully imagine the same readers who devour books by some of the most well-known authors enjoying your story? If it is nonfiction, find out what your book offers that others on this topic do not. Do your best to scrutinize your book from a realistic, detached perspective.

Ask a few professionals on the topic or in genre to evaluate your book. Pay attention to their comments. Learn what actually comprises a viable book and use that knowledge along with common sense to determine whether you should approach an agent or not. Remember that publishers are not in the business in order to make authors happy. They are concerned primarily with making money. It’s up to you to educate yourself about the industry and understand how your book might fit into the scheme of things…or not.

So the bottom line in landing a major publisher is to know what he wants and deliver it.

• Study the publishing industry.
• Scrutinize publishers and agents on your topic/genre.
• Read each publisher’s/agent’s submission guidelines and comply.
• Submit only your best work following the instructions in the guidelines.

Tomorrow, I’ll discuss your publishing options and the possible benefits and/or consequences of each. Questions? Contact me he here: plfry620@yahoo.com or leave a comment here.

Some hopeful authors still consider publishing a hobby or a game. They write a memoir, children’s book, or young adult novel, for example, and then decide they’ll allow a big-name publisher to produce it and share the large profits with them. Some authors realize they need an agent in order to land a major publisher, so they do a little research and contact an agent or two.

The next step in their plan is to quit their boring job and live off the royalties. If they enjoyed the process of writing the first book, they’ll make time to work on a second and maybe a third one. Ahhhh, life will be good.

The hard part of this plan is writing that first book, right? Everyone knows what a huge accomplishment that is. Once that hurdle is cleared, things will get easier. After all, you read about ordinary authors with bestsellers all the time. How difficult can it be?

I’ve been writing for publication for over 40 years. I have 46 published books to my credit. I’ve spent a lot of time during the last 20 years speaking, teaching workshops, and writing articles and books on authorship—the concept, the psychology, and the process. And I’m not the only one offering benefit of my experience, research, and knowledge in this area. There are hundreds of qualified individuals speaking out, teaching, and mentoring. And still there are hopeful authors who are not paying attention.

I still get calls, emails, and comments at this blog site from disappointed authors who can’t understand why their book’s not selling. Many have paid a pay-to-publish company $7,000 (sometimes more) to produce their books and they’re not anywhere close to breaking even, let alone earning a profit.

Why? What did these authors do wrong? What is the best way to land a big publisher? Is the only other option to pay a large fee to a pay-to-publish (self-publishing) company? But how do you actually make sales? Should you sign up for the expensive promotional package these companies offer? What can the author do to become more successful? What is the author’s responsibility?

If you are interested in the answers to any or all of these questions, let me know. Leave a comment here at this blog site or contact me here: PLFry620@yahoo.com and I will cover it in my next post.

The bottom line is, there’s a whole lot more to becoming a successful author than you can even imagine unless you’ve taken the time and put in the effort to study the industry. Publishing is not a hobby or a game. It is a serious business and should be approached as such.