You keep hearing (reading) me and others nag and advise on the importance of studying the publishing industry. Do you really need a whole bunch of information about the industry when all you want to do is produce one book as quickly and easily as possible? Absolutely, unless you have a death wish for your book.
Nearly 80 percent of books produced these days sell fewer than 100 copies total. Now what do you think is different about the 20-some percent of authors who are selling anywhere from 1,000 to a million or more copies of their books? They were more well-prepared to enter the world of publishing. They are making better decisions on behalf of their books. They are actively promoting their books.
And how did they know these things were necessary? You guessed it! In most cases, they learned something about the publishing industry before getting involved.
Sure, there is the rare (and generally well-publicized) circumstance where an unaware author falls into an amazingly successful situation. There are what appear to be the occasional overnight success. For most of us, however, we must pay our dues. And if we want some measure of success as a published author, it’s imperative that we do our homework.
How does one adequately study the publishing industry?
• Read books by publishing professionals. Let me suggest my latest book, Publish Your Book. It’s at Amazon.com and most other online and downtown bookstore. Also read other books by me (Patricia Fry) as well as Mark Levine, Brian Jud, Dan Poynter, Marilyn Ross, Penny Sansevieri and others
• Subscribe to newsletters, magazines and enewsletters related to the publishing industry. Here are my faves:
Publishing Basic
http://www.publishingbasics.com
Book Marketing Matters
http://www.bookmarketing.com
Book Promotion Newsletter
http://www.bookpromotionnewsletter.com
SPAWNews
Free for anyone
http://www.spawn.org
SPAWN Market Update
Membership in SPAWN required
Join SPAWN at: http://www.spawn.org
• Join writers groups that lean heavily toward book publishing and marketing. Also join online groups such as SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) http://www.spawn.org
• Attend writers’ conferences. At least attend one—two is even better, if you can manage it. Do an Internet search using keywords, “writers’ conference” and “your city.” Also use the following conference directories to find those that are appropriate. Note: A writers’ retreat is different from a writers’ (or authors’) conference. Check the workshop list and presenters to make sure of the conference’s focus.
http://writing.shawguides.com
http://www.allconferences.com
http://www.newpages.com/writing-conferences
• Follow blogs posted by publishing professionals and successful authors in your genre. Here are a couple of directories that might help you locate blogs that are meaningful to you: And be sure to frequent this blog, as my whole focus is to inform, educate and teach authors and writers.
http://www.blogs-collection.com/directory/writing.php
http://blogs.botw.org
http://www.blogdirectory.net
• Listen to/watch webinars, teleseminars, blog talk radio, podcasts on various aspects of writing, publishing and book promotion. They are all over the Internet.
http://podcastdirectory.com
http://metamosis.com
http://webinarexplorer.com
As you can see, there is no reason why any author should go into the business of publishing without ample knowledge, resources and a healthy understanding of the industry. Sure, it’s going to take time. Definitely, research and study are not the most creative things you could be doing. But if you desire some measure of success as a published author, it is your duty to educate and inform yourself about the industry and your responsibilities as a published author before you take the plunge.