Authors and writers want to know—they ask, they inquire, they request information and then, many times, they close their ears and walk away. What do they do next? They go ask someone else the same question. If the response is not to the author’s liking—it seems to require something more of him than he is willing to give—he ignores that one, too.
How do I know this about authors? Because I keep responding to the same questions through my blog, through my writings at the SPAWN website and beyond, through my books, in SPAWNDiscuss, through personal emails, during workshops and presentations. And I hear other professionals doing the same thing. They answer authors’ questions in a variety of ways and still the question comes back time and time again.
I guess some authors are seeking a specific question—one that they feel more comfortable with. Many of them don’t want to take time to study the publishing industry when they have a book written and ready to go. They resist sitting down and writing a book proposal. Many authors especially dislike the idea of having to promote their books. That’s the last thing they want to hear while they’re focused on writing or publishing their books. Consequently, the next question they have for publishing experts, once they hold their, sometimes, inferior book in their hands after signing with the first publisher that woos them is, “Now what do I do?”
If they had studied the publishing industry, written a book proposal, taken time to become familiar with their options and their responsibilities as a published author, they would be prepared for what’s on the other side of publishing.
What’s on the other side of publishing? Promotion! A book doesn’t sell all by itself. And it won’t be embraced by very many people outside of your target audience. Promotion isn’t a science, but it does require some thought, preparation, planning and implementation. In today’s highly competitive publishing field, promotion, for some, has become even more difficult and complex. It only makes sense to know BEFORE publishing a book, what the process of promotion will require of you. And this is not something you can learn by listening to one speaker, reading one article, joining an organization and never participating, sitting in on a writers’ group meeting, having a discussion with another author.
Book promotion is a process that requires an appropriate mindset, creative ideas and a fairly high energy level.
For those of you who didn’t listen or who didn’t have anyone to listen to while going through the publishing process, do I have a book for you. If you are struggling and floundering within the publishing industry, consider reading my brief ebook, The Author’s Repair Kit. It will help you to heal some of your publishing mistakes and start anew with your wonderful, but possibly misdirected, book.
http://www.matilijapress.com/author_repairkit.html
If you’re just starting out–you are thinking about writing a book, you are just about finished writing a book, you have finished your book, your book is with a publisher or you are in promotion mode and things aren’t going well, you NEED my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. I can’t begin to tell you how many publishing projects this book has saved.
http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html
Ask, Listen and Learn!