Before we get into today’s subject, I’d like to share with you a link to my most recent podcast. As I understand it, this link will take you directly to my podcast and you can listen to me talk about publishing. I haven’t heard it yet. Let me know what you think. PLFry620@yahoo.com.
http://www.authorsonthenet.com/component/option,com_jd-wp/Itemid,84/p,59
I’d also like to remind you that if you are at any stage of writing or publishing, you will have a better chance at the success you desire if you will educate yourself. Read The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book—a 360-page print book filled with information, tools, instruction and resources for the author no matter what type of book he is writing, where he or she is in the process, which publishing option he hopes to pursue or how masterful he or she is at marketing and promotion. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html
If you are a published author and your book sales are less than brisk, order my brand new ebook, The Author’s Repair Kit http://www.matilijapress.com/author_repairkit.html
I chose to talk about emotions in publishing today—a topic that many authors struggle with on a daily basis. You’ve heard me and other professionals say it many times: “Publishing is a Business.†And, if you’ve been an author for any length of time, you are a believer. Then why are your emotions so often involved in the course of the publishing process?
The truth is that there are emotions in business. We’re human, after all. We are made up of emotions and we can’t shut those emotions off when we enter into the realm of business. We gleefully celebrate our successes and we mourn our losses and disappointments. This is natural/normal. Where emotions can trip us up is when we go into publishing with a writer’s heart.
You pour your heart into your book during the writing phase. Once your manuscript is ready to show around or to publish—you have put the finishing touches on it, all of the facts and stats are correct and you’ve had it professionally edited—it’s time to start thinking with your brain. How can emotions interfere with your success as an author?
• You balk when an editor you trust suggests that you change your story from second person to first person and create a more dynamic opening.
• You fire your book proposal coach when she recommends that you put your book on hold and start building a platform before submitting it to a publisher or agent.
• You’re so attached to your project that you reject a contract with a valid publisher when he wants to change your title and pare your manuscript down to 225 pages.
• You have such faith in your book that you believe it will sell itself. You see no need to learn how to promote your book.
• You become despondent after half dozen publishers reject your manuscript and give up altogether.
Emotions are useful and even necessary. They can even be involuntary. But when you decide that you want to be a published author—when you want to share your words with a portion of the world—some emotions are best set aside. Write from the heart, if you must. But, don’t complete your manuscript until you’ve viewed it from a place of knowledge. Look at it from a consumer’s point of view. Understand what publishers want and conform. Cross the threshold into the publishing realm with a clear idea of the business and what is expected of you. Make sure you have realistic expectations. Approach publishing with a businessperson’s mind, not a writer’s heart.