Be sure to read the great comment left by Phil Davis (of Authors on the Net) at my September 5th, 2008 blog post. He is reading my book—the one I keep nagging you to purchase—The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. And it seems that he likes it. Yeah!
Today, I sent the 4th lesson in the 8-week Book Proposal Course to my students. We’re going to be working on the marketing section this week. You ought to see the great synopses these authors have written. It is exciting to watch a synopsis develop. Sometimes, with a little guidance, they can really change from a homely old, spiky caterpillar into a lovely butterfly.
The synopsis, while generally written with a promotional quality, also requires that the author express the flavor of the book. So there is some creativity and literary freedom allowed. The marketing section of a book proposal takes creativity, too, but from a more business-like, professional stance. The author must convince the publisher that there is an audience for his/her book, that he/she has a platform (a following or way of attracting the audience), that he/she understands the concept of marketing and promotion and that they have important connections and/or a viable marketing plan.
Writing a book and finding a way to get it published isn’t enough. This is not the end of the story. In fact, the saga and your involvement go on and on and on for as long as you want to sell copies of your book.
I’m getting ready to leave for Phoenix this week to present a workshop at the Wizards of Words (WOW) Writers’ Conference Saturday. I’m looking forward to meeting those of you who will be attending. One thing I will talk about is the high instance of failure among authors. You need to know why authors fail so that you don’t follow that path. It is easy to do. It’s much easier to fail than to succeed. Why? Because, in order to fail, you must do nothing. In order to succeed, however, you must do a LOT! Isn’t it easier to do nothing than it is to do everything you need to do? But do you want to take the easy way out? After going through all of the work to write your book and arrange for publication, do you want to quit, now?
If you didn’t prepare a book proposal before producing your book, you are probably not aware of your responsibility as promoter. You will not be prepared to take on the job. And if you don’t learn how to promote your book, it will fail. You will have failed it and your potential readers. If the book is worth writing, for heaven sakes, it is worth seeing that it gets into the hands of your readers.
If you have not done so already, order my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. If you do own it, READ it!
http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html
This book will help you to understand the business you are about to enter—the publishing industry. It will guide you in writing your book. (Authors love the self-editing section.) It will walk you through the process of writing a book proposal. It will show you how to establish a platform and to build promotion into your book. It will help you to determine which publishing option is best for you and your project. It will guide you in approaching your publisher of choice and working within that realm. And it will escort you through the long, but rather fascinating book marketing journey.