A few days ago, I promised that I would continue with my “lecture” on how to succeed as a published author. If you missed the July 15th post, be sure to backtrack and read it. Here is what I suggest to serious authors who want to succeed in the competitive publishing field.
Continue reading this and other publishing blogs, pertinent books such as The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book, and newsletters for authors. Attend writers’ group meetings and writers’ conferences. Sign up for appropriate online courses. And follow up with the speakers/authors whose messages resonate with you.
I often say that successful publishing depends on knowledge and understanding. I’d also like to add “strategy.” Here’s my formula—it’s simple—but not always easy. Study the publishing industry and write a book proposal.
As part of your learning path, let me say that publishing is not FREE. It requires that you produce your very best piece of work. I recommend saving up (or setting aside) money early on to pay a good book editor to put the polish on your amazing manuscript. You’ll need anywhere from $500 to $3,000 (or more), depending on the size, scope and shape of your manuscript.
I have charged as little as $700 for editing and as much as $3,500. I issued a quote of $12,000 recently. The author was nowhere near prepared to pay that much, but it was a HUGE manuscript (actually the size of three typical novels) and there were many, many problems with sentence structure, grammar, punctuation and such. The author, for whom English was her second language, also had a deadline. She wanted me to complete the work in a mere few weeks. That just wasn’t going to happen. I did my best to negotiate a lower fee, but the author chose to do her own editing (argh) and then call it good.
Okay, so put money aside for a good book manuscript editor. You may decide to self-publish (establish your own publishing company) or go with a pay-to-publish service. Set aside another $1,000 to $5,000 for a cover designer and page layout person. Depending on which company you choose and how many copies you want, it may cost you an additional $1,000 to $10,000 to produce your book.
And then there is the task of book promotion. This will require your time, commitment, creativity, imagination and, most likely, some money. It costs to travel, to reserve booths at book festivals, to set up a website, to hire a press release service, to have brochures and posters made, to have your book included in catalogs, to join important organizations…
These are the kinds of things many authors do not want to hear or to deal with. And that, dear readers, is the reason why so many authors fail each year.
Questions: Contact me here: PLFry620@yahoo. (I apologize for being silent for the last few days. I was traveling and had limited Internet access.)