Yesterday, I gave you a list of 7 concepts that I took away from a teleseminar with public relations expert, Milton Kahn. You’ve read about some of them in my articles, books and this blog. You’ve heard me talk about some of them during my presentations. As I said yesterday, they’re each worth a blog post of their own. Let’s start by discussing the first two on the list as they strongly relate. By the way, here’s the list again:
• Be in the flow of publishing.
• Read the Sunday New York Times.
• Public relations is not an exact science.
• Most book publicists specialize.
• Some books are not promotable through a PR company.
• Personality sells books (and, by the way, helps land a publicist).
• Media kits are out of style.
• Don’t go it alone, find the right people to work with.
Be in the flow of publishing. What does this mean? It means that you really must take the time to look around and find out what this publishing business is all about before jumping in with both feet. I consider it jumping in with both feet when you publish a book, whether you self-publish (establish your own publishing company), go with a pay-to-publish company or land a traditional royalty publisher (large or small). There is no little bit of publishing. You are either in or you’re out. You’re either involved or you’re not. And if you plan to be involved, you are doing yourself and your project a great disservice if you neglect to educate yourself beforehand.
Milton Kahn recommends reading the Sunday New York Times because, he says, there’s a tremendous education each week about the publishing industry and bookselling.
I recommend adding to that by reading the book I wrote for new authors—The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. Also attend writers’ conferences—in particular, those that cater to authors and hopeful authors. You won’t generally learn much about the publishing industry if you sign up for a writers’ retreat or a novel-writing conference. Make sure that at least some of the workshops are directed toward book publishing. These conferences usually also include meetings for attendees with agents and publishing company representatives.
Join organizations such as SPAWN, IBPA and SPAN and then participate in their discussion groups and forums, read their newsletters, listen in on their teleseminars and so forth. We, at SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) constantly provide many opportunities for our members (and even visitors to our site) to learn about publishing. But the education goes on. It is ongoing. http://www.spawn.org
I also recommend subscribing to AND READING several other credible newsletters, researching your area/genre, visiting writing/publishing forums and more.
What do you need to know about publishing before getting involved?
• What are your publishing options?
• What are the possible consequences of your choices?
• What are your responsibilities as a published author?
You should understand completely that publishing is a highly competitive business and how it works. You need to know enough to make good decisions on behalf of your project. You need to establish relationships within this industry with the right people who can actually contribute to the success of your project.
But first, you must have enough information and savvy to know whether or not your book idea is even a viable project. In other words, you need to take control of the situation way before you dare to write a book for publication. One way to start the process—and one that I, and other professionals, highly recommend—is to write a book proposal as a first step.
Not only will you learn volumes about your project and its potential, but you will be gaining insight into the publishing industry, as well. You’ll begin to understand what other books have to do with the one you are writing. You’ll learn the importance of building a platform. And, hopefully, you’ll find out what it takes in order to succeed in this field.
There must be several new and struggling authors reading my blog and the articles that are appearing in newsletters and online everywhere because sales for The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book are up. Amazon is ordering nearly every other day. But I prefer that you order books from me at
http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html.
Once you are a published author with books to sell, you’ll understand why. Basically, amazon takes a HUGE chunk of your profit. We love amazon. The exposure is great. But gosh it’s nice not to have to share my profit with them. I already paid to have the book proofed, designed and printed. When I sell books through amazon, I’m actually losing money. They take 55 percent per book AND there is an annual fee for belonging to the Amazon Advantage program.
And you thought that authorship was glamorous and profitable.