I told you in yesterday’s blog that I would continue the theme in today’s entry.
Here are the stories of two authors. Which one most closely describes you?
Author #1:
He decides to write a book about how to live a better, more carefree life without alcohol, drugs and other self-medication. He holes up in his home office every chance he gets and works on his book. After 18 months, he steps outside his writing room, groggy from the constant work, trying to adjust his eyes to the light and announces, “I’ve written a book. Now I’m going to get it published!”
Immediately, he goes online and does a Google search using the keyword, “Publisher.” The results are mind boggling. He starts visiting publisher websites. He becomes even more confused. “These publishers seem to want me to pay to have my book published? That isn’t what I expected,” he whines. Then he starts looking for the publishers he’s familiar with: Simon and Schuster publishes a lot of the books he reads. He finds their website.
“What’s a query letter,” he wonders, “and a book proposal?” “Marketing plan—what do they mean by that?” “Heck, what’s this about an agent?”
Our Author #1 keeps searching for other authors, for writers’ groups, for random publishers he can contact to ask if they will look at his manuscript. He is really shooting in the dark at this point—frustrated and impatient. He is at high, high risk of making some very poor decisions.
Author #2
She decides to write a book based on her expertise as a child-guidance counselor for a major agency. But first, she studies the competition. She wants to know what books are out there similar to the one she has in mind and what concept hasn’t been addressed—what is needed in the marketplace.
Aha! She discovers a need and decides to fill it with her book. But first, she takes time to learn something about the publishing industry. She joins a publishing organization and reads everything they produce. She gets some good leads on books she should read before getting involved in the publishing field. She attends a local writers’ group when the speaker topic relates to publishing and she asks a lot of questions.
She does a study to determine which publishers might be interested in the book she will propose. She keeps the list of publishers and their submission guidelines on file.
In the meantime, she writes a complete book proposal. This helps her to refine the focus for her book. In fact, based on the research she does in order to write the book proposal, she actually changes her focus a little. Then she begins the writing.
This author is writing a book in her field of expertise, so she has a platform. But she adds to it by writing and submitting articles to appropriate (meaning related) magazines and by getting personally involved in appropriate websites.
While the book is with an editor, she starts sending out query letters or the book proposal to appropriate publishers (depending on what their submission guidelines require).
Who has the best chance of succeeding as a published author? Which of these authors reflects your approach to getting published?
If you hope to succeed and you need more information, resources and guidance, please order my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book today. Nearly 1,000 hopeful authors have used this book as their reference guide to writing, publishing and selling their books.
http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html