To drive home my point about needing a competitive cover price, I spoke with an author I'm representing today and he told me about getting a letter from Barnes and Noble's stocking division. In summation, the letter told the author his book's cover price was too high and the topic was over done.
I agree that his topic is popular but he put a unique spin on the topic which makes me think the person reviewing the title didn't even open the book but that's not here nor there. The point that is irrefutable is the cover price is too high!
This author's book is over 400 pages with a cover price of $31.95. You may be thinking that's not so bad but the book is paperback. If you were in Barnes & Noble looking at books and you see a book that is the same size for $20.00 along the same topic, which one are you going to buy?
He asked me if he should ask his publisher to lower his cover price. My response was that I will never discourage an author from asking for a more competitive cover price but not to set his hopes too high. His publisher doesn't think he'll sell many books so they are going to keep the profit margin as high as logically possible to earn money. It's harsh but true.
I am proud of this author for hiring an editor. Unfortunately, he hired a line editor but not a copy editor. While the manuscript is clean of typos, the flow of the book needs a little help. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy reading his book and since it's a reference book, I am still re-reading sections. The problem is he jumps between topics in a very distracting way.
I wish he would have read my blog before publishing!!!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
The Most Frustrating Part of My Job
The most frustrating part of my job is when I represent a book I truly believe in and can't many media to care. I just finished representing two authors this week who have a very timely and applicable book that I believe in on a personal level.
I called and called but I couldn't get their local media to do much. I got many media across the nation interested but Oprah didn't knock on my door asking to meet my client. I think the hardest part is they had stars in their eyes thinking that since they wrote a book (and a good one at that) Oprah, David Letterman, Regis and Kelly and everyone would have them on their show. While I did my best, those shows simply have too many bigger names to choose from.
There's always the voice in the back of my head saying, "There must be something more you could have done!" It's self defeating and won't help me get results and no matter how hard I try to ignore it, the voice is still there. I recognize that the clients could not have garnered as much attention by themselves but it's still hard when I know my clients were expecting more.
Sometimes, the good ones still slip through the cracks and that is the most frustrating part of my job.
I called and called but I couldn't get their local media to do much. I got many media across the nation interested but Oprah didn't knock on my door asking to meet my client. I think the hardest part is they had stars in their eyes thinking that since they wrote a book (and a good one at that) Oprah, David Letterman, Regis and Kelly and everyone would have them on their show. While I did my best, those shows simply have too many bigger names to choose from.
There's always the voice in the back of my head saying, "There must be something more you could have done!" It's self defeating and won't help me get results and no matter how hard I try to ignore it, the voice is still there. I recognize that the clients could not have garnered as much attention by themselves but it's still hard when I know my clients were expecting more.
Sometimes, the good ones still slip through the cracks and that is the most frustrating part of my job.
Friday, April 20, 2007
POD vs POD
There are 2 different PODs floating around in the literary world. One POD stands for print-on-demand. The other stands for publish-on-demand. They are two different processes but rather closely related.
Print-on-demand is when a company like Lightening Source keeps a book stored electronically then prints it whenever there is a request for the book.
Publish-on-demand is when a company will publish just about anything sent to them by authors regardless of editorial standard.
How are they related? Generally, the publish-on-demand companies use a print-on-demand company to fulfill orders for books. Traditional publishers have been known to utilize print-on-demand companies but not for new releases. Traditional publishers use print-on-demand for books that people are still buying once in a while but not enough to justify printing another run of books.
My issue with publish-on-demand should be transparent. Generally publish-on-demand gets authors' hopes up then sets them up for extreme disappointment when they aren't a best-seller. I think there is a definite place for print-on-demand in the literary world so that classics are still accessible to the general public. I don't think print-on-demand will ever be able to match the cover prices of traditional publishers for new works and should be avoided for a new release.
Print-on-demand is when a company like Lightening Source keeps a book stored electronically then prints it whenever there is a request for the book.
Publish-on-demand is when a company will publish just about anything sent to them by authors regardless of editorial standard.
How are they related? Generally, the publish-on-demand companies use a print-on-demand company to fulfill orders for books. Traditional publishers have been known to utilize print-on-demand companies but not for new releases. Traditional publishers use print-on-demand for books that people are still buying once in a while but not enough to justify printing another run of books.
My issue with publish-on-demand should be transparent. Generally publish-on-demand gets authors' hopes up then sets them up for extreme disappointment when they aren't a best-seller. I think there is a definite place for print-on-demand in the literary world so that classics are still accessible to the general public. I don't think print-on-demand will ever be able to match the cover prices of traditional publishers for new works and should be avoided for a new release.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Publicity Guarantee
Should a publicity company guarantee increased book sales with their help? Never. No matter how hard a publicist works, they cannot guarantee sales from their efforts. Sales is driven by the market and consumers, not by publicity.
Does publicity increase the CHANCE of sales? Absolutely. Sales and publicity is a numbers game. The more people that hear about a book, the higher the number of people that might look for more information about the book. At that point though, sales are based upon the merits of the book. The whole point of publicity is to get people talking about the book. If reviewers are saying bad things about it, the reader might look for something else.
If a publicity company is assuring you that you will have more sales by working with them, you need to reconsider working with that company.
Does publicity increase the CHANCE of sales? Absolutely. Sales and publicity is a numbers game. The more people that hear about a book, the higher the number of people that might look for more information about the book. At that point though, sales are based upon the merits of the book. The whole point of publicity is to get people talking about the book. If reviewers are saying bad things about it, the reader might look for something else.
If a publicity company is assuring you that you will have more sales by working with them, you need to reconsider working with that company.
Monday, April 16, 2007
When is a POD/self-publishing/vanity press OK?
There are some situations where printers like Publish America have their place. These situations are when the authors are not looking to sell a lot of copies or only sell copies to family members. You may want to write your memoir for your children, your children's children, your children's children's children and so on. In this case, you don't necessarily want to sell thousands to strangers but you're not interested in paying thousands to a publisher either.
Maybe you just want to write something, print it then have a book with your name as the author. This is a good time to choose companies like Publish America.
I strongly encourage serious authors to avoid these options even if they want to retain editorial control. If the book idea is good enough, the editor lets you keep control. If your idea is close but not close enough, that's when you run into editors that take over and bring other people in. If you are serious about your idea, fight for the traditional publishing route first. You'll never regret it.
I honestly have never understood why an author would choose a company like iUniverse where you pay between $300 and $1000 to see your book in print, usually get pressured into mediocre editing services, end up with a high cover price and find out it's nonreturnable (which is a no-no for bookstores) when you try to set up a book signing.
I know, if I didn't work in the industry, I wouldn't know any better. This is exactly why I am posting this blog. I hope authors will enter the industry knowing what to look for and avoid these common traps.
Maybe you just want to write something, print it then have a book with your name as the author. This is a good time to choose companies like Publish America.
I strongly encourage serious authors to avoid these options even if they want to retain editorial control. If the book idea is good enough, the editor lets you keep control. If your idea is close but not close enough, that's when you run into editors that take over and bring other people in. If you are serious about your idea, fight for the traditional publishing route first. You'll never regret it.
I honestly have never understood why an author would choose a company like iUniverse where you pay between $300 and $1000 to see your book in print, usually get pressured into mediocre editing services, end up with a high cover price and find out it's nonreturnable (which is a no-no for bookstores) when you try to set up a book signing.
I know, if I didn't work in the industry, I wouldn't know any better. This is exactly why I am posting this blog. I hope authors will enter the industry knowing what to look for and avoid these common traps.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Not all publicists are equal
Say you decide you want someone in your corner promoting your book for you. How do you pick a good publicist that will get the job done while not taking your first born as payment?
First: What are your goals? What is your budget? How much do you want to participate? Do you have a media focus (examp. radio more than newspapers)?
Get a good idea of what you want to accomplish before you ever approach a publicity company.
Before I go further, understand the difference between a publicist and an agent.
Publicist: Only gets free publicity (they do send out review copies you are responsible for providing)
Agent: Spends your money to get targeted responses.
A publicist will set up book events but will not cover the expense to rent a hall and and advertise hoping to recoup expenses at the door. A publicist will contact every media they can think of for a review or interview, but will not purchase an ad space to do so. A good publicist will sell their soul to get you results but an agent will sell yours for you instead. (OK, I'm actually kidding on that last one.) I'm not anti-agent but I think free is a GREAT thing.
When looking at publicists, look at the company's provided information but also do a web search and find forums and posts that talk about the company. If you find a large amount of complaints, walk away. If you don't find many posts that isn't necessarily a bad thing. People are more likely to tell a million people they didn't like a company than brag about one that got results.
What is the publicist going to do for you? Keep in mind they can't guarantee results but who are they going to target and why? If it isn't spelled out for you in the proposal, the publicity company isn't bound by law to do those things. The publicity contract should be tailored to your book. If it doesn't talk about the hooks specific to your book the company is intending to use, it's not specific enough. If it doesn't have a general time line spelled out, it's not specific enough.
A contract can get too specific. Avoid demanding an exact number of media contacts a publicist is going to contact for each media hook. Doing so burdens the publicist with counting contacts which takes up campaign hours. Also, this hampers your campaign because the publicist is inclined to meet the number in each hook and not contact a single media past the numbers set in the contract just so they are assured they will meet the minimum by the time the campaign is over. Also, media contacts change on a daily basis. When your proposal was written, there may have been only 132 media who are interested in the history of ear wax. By the time your campaign starts that number could have jumped to 165 or dropped to 5. Forcing your publicist into constraining themselves by numbers is simply frustrating when dealing in the dynamic world of media.
Some publicists run their companies by a set amount for each ad or interview they arrange for you. You simply choose how much publicity you want and POOF! The reviews and interviews appear! Be wary of these companies. Check the prices. Usually, they are purchasing ad space and you can purchase the ads yourself for the same amount and probably less.
You should always ask for references from a company but take them with a the knowledge you might be writing to or calling their sister/brother/mother/father/best friend. You can't always assume you are getting legit references. I strongly encourage the tactic I mentioned above and do a google search with the company name. If people are feeling scammed, they are going to say something about it.
How much is the company going to contact you? A good publicist stays in contact with the author regularly as in once a week at the minimum. I usually stay in contact with my authors daily so we're on the same page. My company represented a client who hired a publicity company before us. He didn't hear from them for a MONTH after his campaign started. He didn't know if they were doing any work on his campaign so he stopped paying them. He sure heard from them then!
He started a campaign with us shortly after the other company realized his checks weren't coming anymore. Within 2 weeks we had 3 events lined up, 4 review commitments and a radio interview in the works. His campaign was hampered by the fact that he was a POD author but he had a timely book with media worthy content. Bottom line: get a commitment from the company on how often you will hear from them.
Cost is a big factor in many publicity campaigns. Publicity companies that traditional publishers employ are typically in the 5 digit range. Since you don't have a big publisher's money behind you, this might not be the option you want to pursue. There are many companies that charge in the $5,000 per month range. The company I mentioned above is one of those. There are other companies like the one I work for that charge in the $2,000 per month range.
Why the great spread in price? I was about to give you a snide comment but I'll stay professional here. It's all about overhead. If the company is in a penthouse suite, they have to charge enough to pay for said suite. Also, if the president wants a Jaguar to impress the opposite sex, the authors are paying for that Jaguar.
If you're not a traditionally published author, those companies typically won't work for you period. The publicity companies in the $5,000 range charge as much as they do for the same reason though. It's all about overhead. If the company is in California, they have to charge more to live out there. If the company is based in rural Kentucky, the overhead is considerably less. Does a higher cost validate a publicity company's results? I don't think so but if an author really wants to pay for me to buy a nicer car, I'll sure take them up on that offer!
Good publicity companies will offer a couple different options for your involvement. The only two I would consider is all or nothing. A full campaign means you show up and smile where ever they send you. They do all the leg work, they get all the rejection, they send out all the review copies. Your responsibility is to make sure you are available for the interviews they set up for you (you do approve the dates before the dates are set) and show up to sign books. This is ideal for the busy person.
Maybe you don't have anything better to do and want to be really involved (and save money). Some companies let you purchase targeted media names and it is your job is to contact them, take all the rejection (it's inevitable), send out review copies, do all the follow up and set up all interviews. If you choose this option, you really can't go back to a full campaign. By the time you figure out you might be over your head, the leads are cold and no publicist wants to find out that a media contact already turned down a client but the author forgot to pass that along.
Do your research and ask lots of questions and you should be fine with whomever you choose. Above all, trust your instincts because it's your money.
First: What are your goals? What is your budget? How much do you want to participate? Do you have a media focus (examp. radio more than newspapers)?
Get a good idea of what you want to accomplish before you ever approach a publicity company.
Before I go further, understand the difference between a publicist and an agent.
Publicist: Only gets free publicity (they do send out review copies you are responsible for providing)
Agent: Spends your money to get targeted responses.
A publicist will set up book events but will not cover the expense to rent a hall and and advertise hoping to recoup expenses at the door. A publicist will contact every media they can think of for a review or interview, but will not purchase an ad space to do so. A good publicist will sell their soul to get you results but an agent will sell yours for you instead. (OK, I'm actually kidding on that last one.) I'm not anti-agent but I think free is a GREAT thing.
When looking at publicists, look at the company's provided information but also do a web search and find forums and posts that talk about the company. If you find a large amount of complaints, walk away. If you don't find many posts that isn't necessarily a bad thing. People are more likely to tell a million people they didn't like a company than brag about one that got results.
What is the publicist going to do for you? Keep in mind they can't guarantee results but who are they going to target and why? If it isn't spelled out for you in the proposal, the publicity company isn't bound by law to do those things. The publicity contract should be tailored to your book. If it doesn't talk about the hooks specific to your book the company is intending to use, it's not specific enough. If it doesn't have a general time line spelled out, it's not specific enough.
A contract can get too specific. Avoid demanding an exact number of media contacts a publicist is going to contact for each media hook. Doing so burdens the publicist with counting contacts which takes up campaign hours. Also, this hampers your campaign because the publicist is inclined to meet the number in each hook and not contact a single media past the numbers set in the contract just so they are assured they will meet the minimum by the time the campaign is over. Also, media contacts change on a daily basis. When your proposal was written, there may have been only 132 media who are interested in the history of ear wax. By the time your campaign starts that number could have jumped to 165 or dropped to 5. Forcing your publicist into constraining themselves by numbers is simply frustrating when dealing in the dynamic world of media.
Some publicists run their companies by a set amount for each ad or interview they arrange for you. You simply choose how much publicity you want and POOF! The reviews and interviews appear! Be wary of these companies. Check the prices. Usually, they are purchasing ad space and you can purchase the ads yourself for the same amount and probably less.
You should always ask for references from a company but take them with a the knowledge you might be writing to or calling their sister/brother/mother/father/best friend. You can't always assume you are getting legit references. I strongly encourage the tactic I mentioned above and do a google search with the company name. If people are feeling scammed, they are going to say something about it.
How much is the company going to contact you? A good publicist stays in contact with the author regularly as in once a week at the minimum. I usually stay in contact with my authors daily so we're on the same page. My company represented a client who hired a publicity company before us. He didn't hear from them for a MONTH after his campaign started. He didn't know if they were doing any work on his campaign so he stopped paying them. He sure heard from them then!
He started a campaign with us shortly after the other company realized his checks weren't coming anymore. Within 2 weeks we had 3 events lined up, 4 review commitments and a radio interview in the works. His campaign was hampered by the fact that he was a POD author but he had a timely book with media worthy content. Bottom line: get a commitment from the company on how often you will hear from them.
Cost is a big factor in many publicity campaigns. Publicity companies that traditional publishers employ are typically in the 5 digit range. Since you don't have a big publisher's money behind you, this might not be the option you want to pursue. There are many companies that charge in the $5,000 per month range. The company I mentioned above is one of those. There are other companies like the one I work for that charge in the $2,000 per month range.
Why the great spread in price? I was about to give you a snide comment but I'll stay professional here. It's all about overhead. If the company is in a penthouse suite, they have to charge enough to pay for said suite. Also, if the president wants a Jaguar to impress the opposite sex, the authors are paying for that Jaguar.
If you're not a traditionally published author, those companies typically won't work for you period. The publicity companies in the $5,000 range charge as much as they do for the same reason though. It's all about overhead. If the company is in California, they have to charge more to live out there. If the company is based in rural Kentucky, the overhead is considerably less. Does a higher cost validate a publicity company's results? I don't think so but if an author really wants to pay for me to buy a nicer car, I'll sure take them up on that offer!
Good publicity companies will offer a couple different options for your involvement. The only two I would consider is all or nothing. A full campaign means you show up and smile where ever they send you. They do all the leg work, they get all the rejection, they send out all the review copies. Your responsibility is to make sure you are available for the interviews they set up for you (you do approve the dates before the dates are set) and show up to sign books. This is ideal for the busy person.
Maybe you don't have anything better to do and want to be really involved (and save money). Some companies let you purchase targeted media names and it is your job is to contact them, take all the rejection (it's inevitable), send out review copies, do all the follow up and set up all interviews. If you choose this option, you really can't go back to a full campaign. By the time you figure out you might be over your head, the leads are cold and no publicist wants to find out that a media contact already turned down a client but the author forgot to pass that along.
Do your research and ask lots of questions and you should be fine with whomever you choose. Above all, trust your instincts because it's your money.
Self Promotion
Since I have never promoted myself, I do not consider myself an expert. I found a website that has general information that is dead on when it comes to publicity in general.
http://www.hodrw.com/selfpromomistakes.htm
Read through these even if you don't plan on doing your own promotion. You won't regret it!
http://www.hodrw.com/selfpromomistakes.htm
Read through these even if you don't plan on doing your own promotion. You won't regret it!
Read this resource on agents!
I just found this resource online. Anyone who is an author or wants to be one needs to read this whole web page as well as follow each and every link.
http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2005/01/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about.asp
I'm laughing at myself right now because some of the points in there are how you shouldn't just take anyone's advice on the web and yet I am sitting here posting a link that kind of invalidates my blog. Does my invalidation validate my blog? :)
Anyways, there is a lot of really good information on agents on the link and more links to even more information. What are you doing still reading this blog? Get over to the other link to find out what you need to know about agents!
http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2005/01/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about.asp
I'm laughing at myself right now because some of the points in there are how you shouldn't just take anyone's advice on the web and yet I am sitting here posting a link that kind of invalidates my blog. Does my invalidation validate my blog? :)
Anyways, there is a lot of really good information on agents on the link and more links to even more information. What are you doing still reading this blog? Get over to the other link to find out what you need to know about agents!
Not all publicity is equal
Imagine stepping onto the stage to sit with Oprah and discuss the topics you covered while in your book. She smiles as you are a pile of nerves trying not to look and sound like a fool on national television.
Now, wake up and realize that it will take on HECK of a book to make that happen. Oprah is inundated with so many show ideas that it truly takes something spectacular to catch their eye. You have to be revolutionary if you want to be on her show. The same goes for Regis and Kelly, Good Morning America and any other national television show.
Obviously, television is the ideal market to be on. There is a broader audience and people relate better to a face than a name. Non-fiction books have a much better chance of having a good match for television coverage. It is easier to find a show that deals with health and fitness than it is to find a show covering magic. That's just reality.
Television is also centered around the hot topics of the day. If your topic is yesterday's news, you're not going to find a television media contact that is willing to interview you.
What about radio? Radio can be a lot of fun because radio interviewers tend to be very easy going and polite. There are many who aren't but a good publicist will stay away from those interviewers. Radio stations differ in coverage areas and wattage but you can do a radio interview in your bathrobe at home in your spare time.
The only draw back I have found to radio is someone may be very interested while listening in the car but be distracted by the time they get to work so they forget about your book.
Newspapers: These are a good format for people to remember the information and have a reminder. Generally, your local press will cover the release of your book with a small blurb unless you are from a huge city. Cities like Los Angeles and its suburbs have an author in every other house. It's not news there. You can find smaller publications geared towards your neighborhood to contact so don't overlook those.
Magazines aren't printed as regularly as most newspapers and generally are more niche than newspapers but they are still worth looking into.
Syndicates are a resource that the average Joe or Jane isn't aware of. Syndicates gather their own stories and sell them to newspapers, magazines and internet sites. If you can get a syndicate to feature your book, you immediately have exposure to hundreds if not thousands of media outlets who can choose to print something about your publication. Does this guarantee coverage? No. It definitely ups your odds though.
A typical author doesn't have access to syndicate contact information mostly because they do not know where to look. This is a place where you need a publicist.
The world wide web is a beautiful place where anybody and everybody can make a website and sell or say almost anything they want. You can find several review sites from the huge with hundreds of reviewers to the small with a single person posting their opinions. Generally, they will all request a complimentary copy of your book and post a review after they have gotten around to writing it. Some websites will post your press release (if you have one) and cover art with out reading your book. This helps increase the presence of your publication and shouldn't be sneezed at since it is free.
Now, if you have read my past posts, you know that the goal of publicity is free exposure. In all of the above formats you can find venues where you can pay for advertising or time slots. The real goal is to get as much as possible for nothing though. A review will get more credibility than an ad any day.
Now, wake up and realize that it will take on HECK of a book to make that happen. Oprah is inundated with so many show ideas that it truly takes something spectacular to catch their eye. You have to be revolutionary if you want to be on her show. The same goes for Regis and Kelly, Good Morning America and any other national television show.
Obviously, television is the ideal market to be on. There is a broader audience and people relate better to a face than a name. Non-fiction books have a much better chance of having a good match for television coverage. It is easier to find a show that deals with health and fitness than it is to find a show covering magic. That's just reality.
Television is also centered around the hot topics of the day. If your topic is yesterday's news, you're not going to find a television media contact that is willing to interview you.
What about radio? Radio can be a lot of fun because radio interviewers tend to be very easy going and polite. There are many who aren't but a good publicist will stay away from those interviewers. Radio stations differ in coverage areas and wattage but you can do a radio interview in your bathrobe at home in your spare time.
The only draw back I have found to radio is someone may be very interested while listening in the car but be distracted by the time they get to work so they forget about your book.
Newspapers: These are a good format for people to remember the information and have a reminder. Generally, your local press will cover the release of your book with a small blurb unless you are from a huge city. Cities like Los Angeles and its suburbs have an author in every other house. It's not news there. You can find smaller publications geared towards your neighborhood to contact so don't overlook those.
Magazines aren't printed as regularly as most newspapers and generally are more niche than newspapers but they are still worth looking into.
Syndicates are a resource that the average Joe or Jane isn't aware of. Syndicates gather their own stories and sell them to newspapers, magazines and internet sites. If you can get a syndicate to feature your book, you immediately have exposure to hundreds if not thousands of media outlets who can choose to print something about your publication. Does this guarantee coverage? No. It definitely ups your odds though.
A typical author doesn't have access to syndicate contact information mostly because they do not know where to look. This is a place where you need a publicist.
The world wide web is a beautiful place where anybody and everybody can make a website and sell or say almost anything they want. You can find several review sites from the huge with hundreds of reviewers to the small with a single person posting their opinions. Generally, they will all request a complimentary copy of your book and post a review after they have gotten around to writing it. Some websites will post your press release (if you have one) and cover art with out reading your book. This helps increase the presence of your publication and shouldn't be sneezed at since it is free.
Now, if you have read my past posts, you know that the goal of publicity is free exposure. In all of the above formats you can find venues where you can pay for advertising or time slots. The real goal is to get as much as possible for nothing though. A review will get more credibility than an ad any day.
Publicize yourself vs hiring a publicist
This is a hard question many authors struggle with because they do not have the resources to pay thousands of dollars to publicize their book. Some people wrote their book just so they could MAKE money.
Unfortunately, paying a publicist will not guarantee sales no matter what a publicist says. The sales are based upon the market for your work as well as the merits of the content. Hmmm . . . maybe I should write a book on this . . .
Anyways, here is what you can do:
You can tell everyone you know about your book coming out.
You can contact your local media through general viewing routes.
You can pass out fliers to organizations you think might be interested.
You can contact online resources to get reviews and posts about your book.
You can approach local bookstores about hosting book events.
Here is what a publicist can do:
A publicist can contact your local media through specialized routes focused on the right media contact for your book.
A publicist can contact organizations that are interested in the information listed in your book.
A publicist can contact online resources to get reviews and posts about your book. Honestly, publicists aren't going to do much better than you can on this one.
A publicist can approach local bookstores about hosting book events. The ammunition a publicist has is knowledge about the book industry and the ability to give bookstores options you may not be aware of.
A publicist can use the contacts he or she already has to get you interviews and articles from a media outlet that may say no otherwise.
If you are traditionally published by a large publishing house, you don't have to worry about these differences. If you have a small publishing house, the better ones do all of the above steps for you.
If you have a subsidy publisher, POD publisher or a vanity press, you aren't going to make millions. Period. You typically aren't going to even make thousands. Most authors are in the minority when they make hundreds even after hiring a publicist.
I have represented an author who was an exception selling thousands of books and picked up by a major publishing house. This would not have happened had he not hired a publicist for one very simple reason:
If you follow the suggestions I posted before about where to start and editing, there is a better chance you can be successful. However, you're not going to get the amount of exposure a publicist can get you when you do it on your own.
You have to decide how good you think your book is and how many copies you want to sell.
The unfortunate side to publicity is no matter how good your publicist is, if your book isn't top notch, you are not going to have good results from your campaign. The hardest thing you can do is step back from your emotional attachment to your book and say, "this thing needs more work." Get lots of outside, agenda-free opinions before ever publishing your manuscript.
Unfortunately, paying a publicist will not guarantee sales no matter what a publicist says. The sales are based upon the market for your work as well as the merits of the content. Hmmm . . . maybe I should write a book on this . . .
Anyways, here is what you can do:
You can tell everyone you know about your book coming out.
You can contact your local media through general viewing routes.
You can pass out fliers to organizations you think might be interested.
You can contact online resources to get reviews and posts about your book.
You can approach local bookstores about hosting book events.
Here is what a publicist can do:
A publicist can contact your local media through specialized routes focused on the right media contact for your book.
A publicist can contact organizations that are interested in the information listed in your book.
A publicist can contact online resources to get reviews and posts about your book. Honestly, publicists aren't going to do much better than you can on this one.
A publicist can approach local bookstores about hosting book events. The ammunition a publicist has is knowledge about the book industry and the ability to give bookstores options you may not be aware of.
A publicist can use the contacts he or she already has to get you interviews and articles from a media outlet that may say no otherwise.
If you are traditionally published by a large publishing house, you don't have to worry about these differences. If you have a small publishing house, the better ones do all of the above steps for you.
If you have a subsidy publisher, POD publisher or a vanity press, you aren't going to make millions. Period. You typically aren't going to even make thousands. Most authors are in the minority when they make hundreds even after hiring a publicist.
I have represented an author who was an exception selling thousands of books and picked up by a major publishing house. This would not have happened had he not hired a publicist for one very simple reason:
His self-publishing publisher did NOTHING to promote his book and he was too busy to do it himself.
If you follow the suggestions I posted before about where to start and editing, there is a better chance you can be successful. However, you're not going to get the amount of exposure a publicist can get you when you do it on your own.
You have to decide how good you think your book is and how many copies you want to sell.
The unfortunate side to publicity is no matter how good your publicist is, if your book isn't top notch, you are not going to have good results from your campaign. The hardest thing you can do is step back from your emotional attachment to your book and say, "this thing needs more work." Get lots of outside, agenda-free opinions before ever publishing your manuscript.
How does this affect my book?
You may be wondering what all of this has to do with publicizing you book. The way your book is published is going to affect the results you get from your publicity and whether you need to hire someone to do your publicity or if the publisher will be doing all of that work.
A large publisher will have in-house publicity experts that handle setting up the events schedules, submitting your book to newspapers, magazines, radio and television. If you have a small publisher, they will still do most of this but on a smaller scale. A POD, self-publisher, vanity press or subsidy publisher does little to nothing for your publicity.
Once you know what is being done, you can then concentrate on what you are responsible for. Typically, you aren't going to be able to sit back and watch the big checks start pouring in. Be active in promoting your book to anyone and everyone you meet.
How do you know if you need to hire someone and what is the window for hiring someone?
If your publisher asks you for a list of names so they can send a post card, you can pretty much bet you are on your own for publicity. The benefits of hiring someone else to do your publicity for you is the time it takes, the names and addresses they can access and the established relationships they have established. the draw back is you are going to be paying anywhere from $2,000-20,000 for your publicity.
You should always hire a publicist as soon as humanly possible. There are many media that will not look at a book if it is past the publication date. There are some who will not look at a galley if the publication date is within 3 months. Also, some authors try to do their own publicity and figure they can hire someone later. This is crippling to your publicity campaign because of redoubled efforts and good leads gone cold because the author did not know how to promote their own book.
Can you hire a publicist if your book is already out? Yes. The idea is depressing though because you simply aren't going to get the results you are looking for.
Plan early and decide if you want to publicize on your own or if you want to hire a professional.
A large publisher will have in-house publicity experts that handle setting up the events schedules, submitting your book to newspapers, magazines, radio and television. If you have a small publisher, they will still do most of this but on a smaller scale. A POD, self-publisher, vanity press or subsidy publisher does little to nothing for your publicity.
Once you know what is being done, you can then concentrate on what you are responsible for. Typically, you aren't going to be able to sit back and watch the big checks start pouring in. Be active in promoting your book to anyone and everyone you meet.
How do you know if you need to hire someone and what is the window for hiring someone?
If your publisher asks you for a list of names so they can send a post card, you can pretty much bet you are on your own for publicity. The benefits of hiring someone else to do your publicity for you is the time it takes, the names and addresses they can access and the established relationships they have established. the draw back is you are going to be paying anywhere from $2,000-20,000 for your publicity.
You should always hire a publicist as soon as humanly possible. There are many media that will not look at a book if it is past the publication date. There are some who will not look at a galley if the publication date is within 3 months. Also, some authors try to do their own publicity and figure they can hire someone later. This is crippling to your publicity campaign because of redoubled efforts and good leads gone cold because the author did not know how to promote their own book.
Can you hire a publicist if your book is already out? Yes. The idea is depressing though because you simply aren't going to get the results you are looking for.
Plan early and decide if you want to publicize on your own or if you want to hire a professional.
Small Publishing Houses
This is a gray area between a traditional publishing house and self-publishing. The best small publishing house to find is one in your genre. I know of a couple small publishing houses that only publish religious books. They are set up as large publishers where you pay no upfront fees, they have high editorial standards, they do as much publicity as reasonable within budget and they print runs of books.
Upfront fees:
If a publisher is asking for upfront fees they are either subsidy publishing or they are a vanity press. If you want to be a best seller, run away from vanity presses. You really want to find a smaller traditional publishing house if you want to make sales but short of a good one, a subsidy publisher might be OK if you ask them the hard questions and they have satisfactory responses.
High Editorial Standards:
This means they don't accept your book then tell you there are editorial problems later. Beware in-house editors of self-publishers, POD publishers and vanity press editors. They have motivation to let many typos and storyline problems slide just to keep moving authors through the printing process. Am I saying that all of those editors poor editors? No. I'm sure those companies find budding talent but they are hampered by the pressure their employers put on them to meet the bottom line.
The proper response should be something along the lines of, "You have a very interesting story idea. Unfortunately, there are many grammatical and storyline problems that need to be addressed before we can consider working with you." They may refer you to some editors and they may not. Their in-house editors should be busy with repeat authors working on another manuscript.
Think of it this way, how many typos do you find in the Harry Potter series? Until your manuscript is that clean, your book should not go to press. I said in another post, "Edit, Edit, Edit!" Don't take the company's word you have a clean script. Hand it around and make sure!
Publicity:
Now we are touching on my area of expertise. Publicity is FREE advertising in different media venues. This ranges from radio interviews to newspaper and magazine reviews or articles to online reviews to television appearances and book events.
If you found a genuine small publisher, they are going to send out press releases to different papers in your area as well as papers that have sections dealing with your topic. Then they FOLLOW UP! I can't tell you the number of times I have heard an author tell me that a publisher sent their press release to the New York Times Book Review and they are waiting for a call back. First of all, if you are a first time author, you have to write something earth shattering for the New York Times Book Review to take notice.
This is where a pristine manuscript makes a difference. If you possibly have a revolutionary new idea that catches the notice of a top reviewing article, they may excuse one typo. They may even be lenient with a second but if you have more than that, they are going to lose interest. Typos make you look like an ameature and you want to be a professional as possible.
Don't waste your time with a company who is going to waste your publicity time. If they ask you for a list of your friends and family to contact, they are wasting your time. You are perfectly capable of telling people you know about your book. The publisher/publicist needs to be spending their time contacting people you don't know. Smaller publishing houses don't have the huge budgets that large houses have so expecting them to fly you to Hawaii for a book signing is unreasonable. They are going to send posters, review copies, bookmarks and press releases.
Printing a run of books:
If you are dealing with an actual small publisher, they are going to print a small run of books because they think they can sell all those books. It saves them money to print that way and they can always print another run if they run out of books.
The major reason you want runs of books printed is because there is usually a lower cover price which means more people will buy your book. POD and vanity presses bump the cover price 2-3 times what competitive books are selling for. They do this because they expect fewer sales and they want to make the author think they're making a lot of money. A typical POD author makes about $1.00 a book. Publishers also need to make it worth their while so they take at least $10.00 of the cover price of the book. A traditionally published author is lucky to make $0.25 per book. It's worth their while because they will sell thousands if not hundreds of thousands of books.
Upfront fees:
If a publisher is asking for upfront fees they are either subsidy publishing or they are a vanity press. If you want to be a best seller, run away from vanity presses. You really want to find a smaller traditional publishing house if you want to make sales but short of a good one, a subsidy publisher might be OK if you ask them the hard questions and they have satisfactory responses.
High Editorial Standards:
This means they don't accept your book then tell you there are editorial problems later. Beware in-house editors of self-publishers, POD publishers and vanity press editors. They have motivation to let many typos and storyline problems slide just to keep moving authors through the printing process. Am I saying that all of those editors poor editors? No. I'm sure those companies find budding talent but they are hampered by the pressure their employers put on them to meet the bottom line.
The proper response should be something along the lines of, "You have a very interesting story idea. Unfortunately, there are many grammatical and storyline problems that need to be addressed before we can consider working with you." They may refer you to some editors and they may not. Their in-house editors should be busy with repeat authors working on another manuscript.
Think of it this way, how many typos do you find in the Harry Potter series? Until your manuscript is that clean, your book should not go to press. I said in another post, "Edit, Edit, Edit!" Don't take the company's word you have a clean script. Hand it around and make sure!
Publicity:
Now we are touching on my area of expertise. Publicity is FREE advertising in different media venues. This ranges from radio interviews to newspaper and magazine reviews or articles to online reviews to television appearances and book events.
If you found a genuine small publisher, they are going to send out press releases to different papers in your area as well as papers that have sections dealing with your topic. Then they FOLLOW UP! I can't tell you the number of times I have heard an author tell me that a publisher sent their press release to the New York Times Book Review and they are waiting for a call back. First of all, if you are a first time author, you have to write something earth shattering for the New York Times Book Review to take notice.
This is where a pristine manuscript makes a difference. If you possibly have a revolutionary new idea that catches the notice of a top reviewing article, they may excuse one typo. They may even be lenient with a second but if you have more than that, they are going to lose interest. Typos make you look like an ameature and you want to be a professional as possible.
Don't waste your time with a company who is going to waste your publicity time. If they ask you for a list of your friends and family to contact, they are wasting your time. You are perfectly capable of telling people you know about your book. The publisher/publicist needs to be spending their time contacting people you don't know. Smaller publishing houses don't have the huge budgets that large houses have so expecting them to fly you to Hawaii for a book signing is unreasonable. They are going to send posters, review copies, bookmarks and press releases.
Printing a run of books:
If you are dealing with an actual small publisher, they are going to print a small run of books because they think they can sell all those books. It saves them money to print that way and they can always print another run if they run out of books.
The major reason you want runs of books printed is because there is usually a lower cover price which means more people will buy your book. POD and vanity presses bump the cover price 2-3 times what competitive books are selling for. They do this because they expect fewer sales and they want to make the author think they're making a lot of money. A typical POD author makes about $1.00 a book. Publishers also need to make it worth their while so they take at least $10.00 of the cover price of the book. A traditionally published author is lucky to make $0.25 per book. It's worth their while because they will sell thousands if not hundreds of thousands of books.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Irony or poetic justice?
I am sure you are all aware of the Google Ads that webmasters post to earn revenue by directing people to others' websites. The webmasters don't have much control over which ads are posted.
I've been watching the ads that pop up on my blog and I am extremely amused by the companies that are popping up on my blog. Some of them have been the very companies that spurred me to post this blog!
I can't decide if it's irony that I get paid (although it's a pittance) for each click someone makes to one of these companies or if it's more poetic justice. What do you think?
I've been watching the ads that pop up on my blog and I am extremely amused by the companies that are popping up on my blog. Some of them have been the very companies that spurred me to post this blog!
I can't decide if it's irony that I get paid (although it's a pittance) for each click someone makes to one of these companies or if it's more poetic justice. What do you think?
Hard questions to ask publishers
Is my book returnable to the distributor?
Big bookstores like Barnes and Noble, B Dalton, Walden Books and Borders order through distributors, not the publisher. The main distributors are Baker and Taylor and Ingram. For bookstores to consider stocking your book, they must be able to order through the distributor AND return through the distributor. If the bookstore can't sell your book, they want the option of packaging up the books and sending all the ones that didn't sell back to one location. There are hundreds of book publishers and the stores don't have the time or desire to pack a box for each publisher.
Book publishers sometimes will claim their books are returnable but they mean that the store can send it back to them and not the distributor. Bookstores don't like that so you will not get signings and you will not get books on the shelf. Get it in writing that your book will be returnable to the distributor.
Are you printing a run on my books or are they print on demand?
A run of books is when a large quantity of the same title are printed at one time then stored. Print on demand books are stored electronically then printed as there is demand. Books are printed in smaller quantities.
Why does this matter? In the end, it affects your cover price. A run of books is less expensive to print so the publisher can set a lower cover price to be competitive and still make a profit.
What will my cover price be?
Get the cover price in writing before you sign anything. Now go to your local bookstore and find books in your genre that have the same number of pages. What are those cover prices? If there's a difference of 10-20% you're still in a competitive range. If your book is double or triple the price of similar books in the bookstore, your publisher thinks you aren't going to sell many books and they are jacking up the cover price to compensate.
If you want to be a best seller, run away from jacked up prices. If you just want to sell to family and friends, this is OK if your friends and family are comfortable financially. For a high cover price, make sure you're not paying any upfront fees like a subsidy publisher asks.
Are you going to charge me for editing?
A traditional publisher will either turn you down because of your editing or they will cover the expense to clean up your manuscript themselves. Publishers that offer in-house editing services offer it to make more money.
How will you publicize my book?
A traditional publisher will put a lot of time and money into publicity. The amount will depend on the size of the publisher of course but they have a vested interest in high book sales.
The first thing I suggest is getting in writing whether through email or directly in your contract the detailed steps the publisher takes for publicity. This is insurance for the future if you find out they aren’t what they claim to be.
If the publisher asks for a list of your friends and family to notify about your book, expect little else from them. This is the first sign you will be doing a lot of your own legwork and should consider an outside publicist. Honestly, have you not told everyone you meet that you are publishing a book? Why do you need the publisher to duplicate your efforts?
If they tell you they are contacting your media, make them be specific in writing. A particular publish on demand company declares they are traditional but the only media contacts they perform is sending a flyer to your local media notifying them of the book. There is no follow up. There are no targeted media groups. Most authors find themselves told after publication they should consider hiring an outside publicist if they want to see more sales. By that time, it’s too late for great publicity.
What are the distribution responsibilities of the publisher? What are my responsibilities?
I represented an author who published through a supposed traditional publishing house. It would stand to reason that the publisher -who should have a lot of experience with distribution -would guarantee that the book was listed correctly with all major sales venues including Amazon.com,BN.com Barnes and Noble stores, both distributors Ingram and Baker and Taylor before the release date.
The book wasn't listed on Amazon on his release date. It was not correctly listed for a week after his book was released. The book wasn't listed with the distributor Ingram at all and Baker and Taylor had incomplete records until I started giving the author ammunition to get the publisher to do something about it.
Two months into his publicity campaign you still couldn't go to Barnes and Noble and order the book much less find it on the shelf. His whole campaign was crippled because the publisher did not do things correctly. Unfortunately, there was no clause in the contract stipulating the publisher's responsibilities.
The publisher needs to have distribution set up and ready before a publicist is ever involved. Make sure you have a stipulation in the contract detailing what the publisher is going to do for you. Ask questions to find out what the leaves for you to do.
What if I am unhappy with your services? Are you going to sue me if I complain on a public forum?
I have been hearing dirty little rumors that some contracts stipulate you cannot complain about the company on any public forum. This includes internet forums or blogs. Unfortunately, you don't read about this sort of thing because the writer is liable to be sued if he or she makes defamatory remarks. Watch closely for anything in the contract impeding your first amendment right to state your opinion about your experience with a publisher. (Of course don't take that as the right to spread lies.)
Another facet to this (in my mind at least) scam is companies trying to intimidate authors who complain about their services. I worked on an author who published through a publish on demand company. She didn't read the fine print or research the company so the realization that she wasn't going to sell millions of books was hard for her. She complained to the company and she got an email demanding an apology for her opinions! I'm proud to report that she didn't apologize for stating her mind. Intimidation to keep authors in their place is not a flattering tactic for a publisher to use.
Make sure you don't sign anything with any language implying you can be sued for stating your opinion on their services.
What will the quality of my finished product be?
This is a very important question but a hard one to get a straight answer that you will understand. I am discussing with an author about his book that was subsidy published and the margins are horrible! You can't read the book without breaking the spine. Remember: your margins matter.
I worked with another author that thought he had a traditional publisher but it was actually an imprint of a larger label that I'm not sure is all that large. I read through his final book and the printing quality was horrible to the point that letters were missing. Remember: the printing quality matters.
If you choose an in-house cover designer, you may not be getting a professional. Once you and he or she decide on a cover, get outside opinions from people that will give you honest answers. If your cover doesn’t excite people, tell the cover designer to redesign. People still judge a book by its cover. Remember: the cover design matters.
Big bookstores like Barnes and Noble, B Dalton, Walden Books and Borders order through distributors, not the publisher. The main distributors are Baker and Taylor and Ingram. For bookstores to consider stocking your book, they must be able to order through the distributor AND return through the distributor. If the bookstore can't sell your book, they want the option of packaging up the books and sending all the ones that didn't sell back to one location. There are hundreds of book publishers and the stores don't have the time or desire to pack a box for each publisher.
Book publishers sometimes will claim their books are returnable but they mean that the store can send it back to them and not the distributor. Bookstores don't like that so you will not get signings and you will not get books on the shelf. Get it in writing that your book will be returnable to the distributor.
Are you printing a run on my books or are they print on demand?
A run of books is when a large quantity of the same title are printed at one time then stored. Print on demand books are stored electronically then printed as there is demand. Books are printed in smaller quantities.
Why does this matter? In the end, it affects your cover price. A run of books is less expensive to print so the publisher can set a lower cover price to be competitive and still make a profit.
What will my cover price be?
Get the cover price in writing before you sign anything. Now go to your local bookstore and find books in your genre that have the same number of pages. What are those cover prices? If there's a difference of 10-20% you're still in a competitive range. If your book is double or triple the price of similar books in the bookstore, your publisher thinks you aren't going to sell many books and they are jacking up the cover price to compensate.
If you want to be a best seller, run away from jacked up prices. If you just want to sell to family and friends, this is OK if your friends and family are comfortable financially. For a high cover price, make sure you're not paying any upfront fees like a subsidy publisher asks.
Are you going to charge me for editing?
A traditional publisher will either turn you down because of your editing or they will cover the expense to clean up your manuscript themselves. Publishers that offer in-house editing services offer it to make more money.
How will you publicize my book?
A traditional publisher will put a lot of time and money into publicity. The amount will depend on the size of the publisher of course but they have a vested interest in high book sales.
The first thing I suggest is getting in writing whether through email or directly in your contract the detailed steps the publisher takes for publicity. This is insurance for the future if you find out they aren’t what they claim to be.
If the publisher asks for a list of your friends and family to notify about your book, expect little else from them. This is the first sign you will be doing a lot of your own legwork and should consider an outside publicist. Honestly, have you not told everyone you meet that you are publishing a book? Why do you need the publisher to duplicate your efforts?
If they tell you they are contacting your media, make them be specific in writing. A particular publish on demand company declares they are traditional but the only media contacts they perform is sending a flyer to your local media notifying them of the book. There is no follow up. There are no targeted media groups. Most authors find themselves told after publication they should consider hiring an outside publicist if they want to see more sales. By that time, it’s too late for great publicity.
What are the distribution responsibilities of the publisher? What are my responsibilities?
I represented an author who published through a supposed traditional publishing house. It would stand to reason that the publisher -who should have a lot of experience with distribution -would guarantee that the book was listed correctly with all major sales venues including Amazon.com,BN.com Barnes and Noble stores, both distributors Ingram and Baker and Taylor before the release date.
The book wasn't listed on Amazon on his release date. It was not correctly listed for a week after his book was released. The book wasn't listed with the distributor Ingram at all and Baker and Taylor had incomplete records until I started giving the author ammunition to get the publisher to do something about it.
Two months into his publicity campaign you still couldn't go to Barnes and Noble and order the book much less find it on the shelf. His whole campaign was crippled because the publisher did not do things correctly. Unfortunately, there was no clause in the contract stipulating the publisher's responsibilities.
The publisher needs to have distribution set up and ready before a publicist is ever involved. Make sure you have a stipulation in the contract detailing what the publisher is going to do for you. Ask questions to find out what the leaves for you to do.
What if I am unhappy with your services? Are you going to sue me if I complain on a public forum?
I have been hearing dirty little rumors that some contracts stipulate you cannot complain about the company on any public forum. This includes internet forums or blogs. Unfortunately, you don't read about this sort of thing because the writer is liable to be sued if he or she makes defamatory remarks. Watch closely for anything in the contract impeding your first amendment right to state your opinion about your experience with a publisher. (Of course don't take that as the right to spread lies.)
Another facet to this (in my mind at least) scam is companies trying to intimidate authors who complain about their services. I worked on an author who published through a publish on demand company. She didn't read the fine print or research the company so the realization that she wasn't going to sell millions of books was hard for her. She complained to the company and she got an email demanding an apology for her opinions! I'm proud to report that she didn't apologize for stating her mind. Intimidation to keep authors in their place is not a flattering tactic for a publisher to use.
Make sure you don't sign anything with any language implying you can be sued for stating your opinion on their services.
What will the quality of my finished product be?
This is a very important question but a hard one to get a straight answer that you will understand. I am discussing with an author about his book that was subsidy published and the margins are horrible! You can't read the book without breaking the spine. Remember: your margins matter.
I worked with another author that thought he had a traditional publisher but it was actually an imprint of a larger label that I'm not sure is all that large. I read through his final book and the printing quality was horrible to the point that letters were missing. Remember: the printing quality matters.
If you choose an in-house cover designer, you may not be getting a professional. Once you and he or she decide on a cover, get outside opinions from people that will give you honest answers. If your cover doesn’t excite people, tell the cover designer to redesign. People still judge a book by its cover. Remember: the cover design matters.
Publishing Houses
If you are wanting to be a best seller, your publisher will have a lot of say in whether that dream will be a reality or not. You should have read about agents already and I strongly encourage everyone that wants to top the best seller list to find an agent and refuse to publish with any company that does not go through an agent.
BUT... Say you don't want to wait the 2-3 years before seeing your book in print. Maybe you aren't interested in selling to anyone beyond your group of friends. Maybe you just want to print something for your grandchildren to have. Now we enter the part of the industry that I deem the most wrought with scams.
The first thing I suggest when looking into publishers is to realize that the big publishing houses are not going to be actively searching for submissions. They are only going to look at ideas from established agents with non-disclosure agreements in the ready. If you are determined to make it to the top of the literary industry, you don't need to continue reading this post.
OK, you don't feel the need to submit your book to the top publishers for whatever reason. Maybe you have been told by an agent that the idea is good but you have to prove sales and the drive to make your book succeed before they will pick you up. What you need to find is a smaller publishing house, a print on demand (POD) publisher, a self publishing company or a subsidy publisher to bring your words onto the printed and bound page.
Of all these options, look for a smaller publishing house first. There are many good ones but look into them in detail before signing on ANY dotted lines.
BUT... Say you don't want to wait the 2-3 years before seeing your book in print. Maybe you aren't interested in selling to anyone beyond your group of friends. Maybe you just want to print something for your grandchildren to have. Now we enter the part of the industry that I deem the most wrought with scams.
The first thing I suggest when looking into publishers is to realize that the big publishing houses are not going to be actively searching for submissions. They are only going to look at ideas from established agents with non-disclosure agreements in the ready. If you are determined to make it to the top of the literary industry, you don't need to continue reading this post.
OK, you don't feel the need to submit your book to the top publishers for whatever reason. Maybe you have been told by an agent that the idea is good but you have to prove sales and the drive to make your book succeed before they will pick you up. What you need to find is a smaller publishing house, a print on demand (POD) publisher, a self publishing company or a subsidy publisher to bring your words onto the printed and bound page.
Of all these options, look for a smaller publishing house first. There are many good ones but look into them in detail before signing on ANY dotted lines.
Finding a good editor
This is a tricky subject to broach. It's not hard to find editors. Simply do a google search and you will find many, many results. It's hard to determine if you've found a good one without seeing how many errors they find and what kinds of suggestions they make. Also, an editor that is good for a romance author might drive a history author to homicide in effigy.
If you are planning on being a best seller, find out who big authors suggest. Big authors probably have in house publisher editors but they had to start with someone. Ask around and you'll find names of people to contact.
One factor of course will be the budget. If you don't have money to put into your book, you can't hire Tom Clancey's editor. You can find other good editors for less and you won't necessarily get less results. There are top notch editors just breaking into the field who charge reasonable fees.
Do keep in mind that you are not going to have a perfect manuscript after one edit. Remember to budget for 2-3 edits at the minimum for a top notch manuscript. The first edit should always be a line edit so the copy edit can concentrate on storyline.
If you go through one edit with an editor and you just don't feel like they are staying true to your story or they take too long or the drive you nuts or you just don't get a good "vibe" from them, get rid of them! Don't commit yourself to the long haul with someone that makes you uncomfortable.
If you are planning on being a best seller, find out who big authors suggest. Big authors probably have in house publisher editors but they had to start with someone. Ask around and you'll find names of people to contact.
One factor of course will be the budget. If you don't have money to put into your book, you can't hire Tom Clancey's editor. You can find other good editors for less and you won't necessarily get less results. There are top notch editors just breaking into the field who charge reasonable fees.
Do keep in mind that you are not going to have a perfect manuscript after one edit. Remember to budget for 2-3 edits at the minimum for a top notch manuscript. The first edit should always be a line edit so the copy edit can concentrate on storyline.
If you go through one edit with an editor and you just don't feel like they are staying true to your story or they take too long or the drive you nuts or you just don't get a good "vibe" from them, get rid of them! Don't commit yourself to the long haul with someone that makes you uncomfortable.
The difference between copy and line editing
When I discuss with authors editing, there is always confusion between these two important but separate aspects to editing. In a nut shell, copy editing looks at the whole copy and line editing searches line-by-line for errors.
Copy Editing:
This editor look at the whole story. Does your plot line flow evenly? Do your characters make sense and are they completely fleshed out? Does the story end well? Does it engage the reader from the beginning? These are the subjects a good copy editor will address. Basically, this editor looks at the big picture.
Line Editing:
This editor reads the story for spelling errors, grammatical errors and structural errors. This editor's job is to make sure words are spelled correctly, the correct word is used (examp. since vs sense), the correct punctuation is used, there are no run on sentences, there are no redundancies, and the topic stays the same in each paragraph and the paragraph before and the paragraph after cohere. The line editor looks at the individual pieces that put together the big picture the copy editor reviews.
These jobs sometimes over lap since a copy editor definitely can catch spelling errors and such but you want the copy editor focusing on the flow instead of tripping over little errors. The line editor can give you suggestions on the story line but you really need him to be focused in on making every line perfect.
Copy Editing:
This editor look at the whole story. Does your plot line flow evenly? Do your characters make sense and are they completely fleshed out? Does the story end well? Does it engage the reader from the beginning? These are the subjects a good copy editor will address. Basically, this editor looks at the big picture.
Line Editing:
This editor reads the story for spelling errors, grammatical errors and structural errors. This editor's job is to make sure words are spelled correctly, the correct word is used (examp. since vs sense), the correct punctuation is used, there are no run on sentences, there are no redundancies, and the topic stays the same in each paragraph and the paragraph before and the paragraph after cohere. The line editor looks at the individual pieces that put together the big picture the copy editor reviews.
These jobs sometimes over lap since a copy editor definitely can catch spelling errors and such but you want the copy editor focusing on the flow instead of tripping over little errors. The line editor can give you suggestions on the story line but you really need him to be focused in on making every line perfect.
Finding a Literary Agent
This industry is filled with scam artists hiding behind reputable sounding names. You will read many success stories and reasons you should choose this person over that person. There is a rule of thumb I have learned and I find very logical for deciding on an agent.
Don't pay any upfront fees.
Agents with connections will be willing to stand behind your work without upfront costs because they believe they can sell the idea to a major publishing house. Agents that don't think they can sell an idea or don't have connections still need to eat so they charge fees. You don't need to pay a "reading fee", any sort of representation fee and they shouldn't have any expenses that you need to reimburse them. The only money they should receive is their percentage from the publisher's advance.
The best place I can suggest starting your search for literary agents is again the world wide web. Do a google search for "literary agent" and start looking at links. Try to find out the agents for successful authors in your genre and start there.
Good luck!
Don't pay any upfront fees.
Agents with connections will be willing to stand behind your work without upfront costs because they believe they can sell the idea to a major publishing house. Agents that don't think they can sell an idea or don't have connections still need to eat so they charge fees. You don't need to pay a "reading fee", any sort of representation fee and they shouldn't have any expenses that you need to reimburse them. The only money they should receive is their percentage from the publisher's advance.
The best place I can suggest starting your search for literary agents is again the world wide web. Do a google search for "literary agent" and start looking at links. Try to find out the agents for successful authors in your genre and start there.
Good luck!
The next step
So you have a few chapters completed? Now's the time for big decisions. Where do you really want your story to go and who is your audience?
Do you want to be a best seller?
Do you want to make a few sales on the side of your regular job?
Do you want to have something to pass along to children and friends but aren't interested in
appealing to the general population?
These are very important questions to ask yourself because this is where you make choices to determine the future of your book.
I want to be very clear on this next statement. You will only be a best seller is a MAJOR publishing house chooses to print your book under their traditional imprint.
This next statement is very important as well. Major publishing houses' traditional imprints will only look at manuscripts submitted by reputable agents.
If you want to be a best seller, right now you need to take the 3 chapters you have hammered out and make the chapters perfect. Edit, edit, edit! Once you are done editing, take it to your friends and have them make suggestions. After you gather all their suggestions, edit some more! Then, find a writing group and have the people in your writing group make suggestions and edit your chapters again. Once you think it's perfect, hire a top-notch copy editor (I'll discuss different editors and how to find them in a future post) to go over your work and make more suggestions. Then, edit your book again. Are you sensing a theme here?
I am jumping on my soap box for a minute here. I'll do this from time to time in my posts, so please bear with me. I work with many authors with all ranges of books. My biggest pet peeve in this industry is when an author says to me, "There's typos but they don't matter."
They DO matter especially to the people who you want to put their reputations on the line for you. This on top of the rudest thing I think a writer can do it care so LITTLE about their book but still expect some hard working Joe to spend money to read it or expect a member of the media to care enough to print something.
OK, stepping off the soap box...
My point is make sure you have the cleanest, most engaging 3 chapters you can possibly manage to write ready. I mentioned before you need an agent. I'll write another post on what I have learned about finding a reputable agent in a minute. Right now, you need to prepare a package to submit to agents. Agents get many submission and I am not an expert on what literary agents look for since I am not one. I only have a general rule.
The general rule is to have a well prepared cover letter with an outline of the book's story, why it is unique and your contact information. (Don't forget to tell them how they can get a hold of you!) Add that to your perfected first three chapters and send it off. Please don't forget details like printed submissions only and make sure each page is clean.
There are many services that will help you prepare a package, find agents and give addresses to top agents nationwide. I don't have those contacts to give to you but you can find them on this world wide web. I would do a google search for "literary agent" to get started.
Maybe you don't want to be a best seller but maybe sell some books or simply have something to pass on to posterity. Those are options as well.
Tune in soon for more information!
Do you want to be a best seller?
Do you want to make a few sales on the side of your regular job?
Do you want to have something to pass along to children and friends but aren't interested in
appealing to the general population?
These are very important questions to ask yourself because this is where you make choices to determine the future of your book.
I want to be very clear on this next statement. You will only be a best seller is a MAJOR publishing house chooses to print your book under their traditional imprint.
This next statement is very important as well. Major publishing houses' traditional imprints will only look at manuscripts submitted by reputable agents.
If you want to be a best seller, right now you need to take the 3 chapters you have hammered out and make the chapters perfect. Edit, edit, edit! Once you are done editing, take it to your friends and have them make suggestions. After you gather all their suggestions, edit some more! Then, find a writing group and have the people in your writing group make suggestions and edit your chapters again. Once you think it's perfect, hire a top-notch copy editor (I'll discuss different editors and how to find them in a future post) to go over your work and make more suggestions. Then, edit your book again. Are you sensing a theme here?
I am jumping on my soap box for a minute here. I'll do this from time to time in my posts, so please bear with me. I work with many authors with all ranges of books. My biggest pet peeve in this industry is when an author says to me, "There's typos but they don't matter."
They DO matter especially to the people who you want to put their reputations on the line for you. This on top of the rudest thing I think a writer can do it care so LITTLE about their book but still expect some hard working Joe to spend money to read it or expect a member of the media to care enough to print something.
OK, stepping off the soap box...
My point is make sure you have the cleanest, most engaging 3 chapters you can possibly manage to write ready. I mentioned before you need an agent. I'll write another post on what I have learned about finding a reputable agent in a minute. Right now, you need to prepare a package to submit to agents. Agents get many submission and I am not an expert on what literary agents look for since I am not one. I only have a general rule.
The general rule is to have a well prepared cover letter with an outline of the book's story, why it is unique and your contact information. (Don't forget to tell them how they can get a hold of you!) Add that to your perfected first three chapters and send it off. Please don't forget details like printed submissions only and make sure each page is clean.
There are many services that will help you prepare a package, find agents and give addresses to top agents nationwide. I don't have those contacts to give to you but you can find them on this world wide web. I would do a google search for "literary agent" to get started.
Maybe you don't want to be a best seller but maybe sell some books or simply have something to pass on to posterity. Those are options as well.
Tune in soon for more information!
Where to start
Obviously, every author must start with an idea. You need to have an original idea that has interesting twists and engaging characters.
Original Ideas:
Every story has a general genre. Figure out what your genre is and then start reading. Read the classics in your genre as well as the modern releases in your genre. When you have read enough, you can get a feel for what paths have been taken already and sometimes over done. The best part of this "research" is new ideas can spring into your mind. A new idea is not the same story with a different name for the lead character but instead a whole new way to handle the crisis part of the story.
For example: There are MANY fantasy stories. Why is Harry Potter successful? There are several new ideas J.K. Rowling brought in to make Harry a household name. The main ideas of finding out you have magic and the struggle between good and evil are old ideas. They aren't enough. Harry found out that he had magic and there was a MODERN school he could go to. Most children secretly wish they would receive a letter of invitation to Hogwarts tomorrow. Most adults secretly wish they received one while they were young. While there are many stories of magic in ancient times or on other planets, this story appealed to the masses because it was a here and now twist on old themes. Of course, this was not the only aspect that made Harry Potter a revolutionary idea but it serves its purpose for illustration.
When you have a new idea, tell a few people about it that enjoy the genre. I had an idea pop into my head for a science fiction story but once I started to explain it to my brother who is a big sci fi fan, he told me that the story line had already been done on a TV show I don't watch. Yes, it was a let down but I'm glad he told me before a heartless editor did. (They're really not heartless but I'll get to that in another post.)
OK, now that you have done your extensive research and found an original idea that your local "experts" have checked off, you need to think about the characters. Until you become best friends with your characters, you really don't know them and can't write about them effectively. Why does the hero wear a watch? Does your villain have a tic? Maybe you don't need to know the life story of the bartender that serves one drink in chapter 13 and is never seen again but delve deeply into the inner psyche of the main people you are going to follow around in your story.
Once you have your characters figured out completely, think about the scenes. Think about what they are going to do in your story and when. Visualize the locations. Is there a signed picture of Marylin Monroe hanging on the wall of the office of the private eye? How many columns in the front of the castle your prince resides in? Until you have a clear picture, your readers will not have the visualization needed to immerse themselves in a story.
You're probably thinking, "When am I going to write?" This is the point. You know your characters, you know where your characters are. Now write the first few chapters of your masterpiece.
After this -move onto the next step.
Original Ideas:
Every story has a general genre. Figure out what your genre is and then start reading. Read the classics in your genre as well as the modern releases in your genre. When you have read enough, you can get a feel for what paths have been taken already and sometimes over done. The best part of this "research" is new ideas can spring into your mind. A new idea is not the same story with a different name for the lead character but instead a whole new way to handle the crisis part of the story.
For example: There are MANY fantasy stories. Why is Harry Potter successful? There are several new ideas J.K. Rowling brought in to make Harry a household name. The main ideas of finding out you have magic and the struggle between good and evil are old ideas. They aren't enough. Harry found out that he had magic and there was a MODERN school he could go to. Most children secretly wish they would receive a letter of invitation to Hogwarts tomorrow. Most adults secretly wish they received one while they were young. While there are many stories of magic in ancient times or on other planets, this story appealed to the masses because it was a here and now twist on old themes. Of course, this was not the only aspect that made Harry Potter a revolutionary idea but it serves its purpose for illustration.
When you have a new idea, tell a few people about it that enjoy the genre. I had an idea pop into my head for a science fiction story but once I started to explain it to my brother who is a big sci fi fan, he told me that the story line had already been done on a TV show I don't watch. Yes, it was a let down but I'm glad he told me before a heartless editor did. (They're really not heartless but I'll get to that in another post.)
OK, now that you have done your extensive research and found an original idea that your local "experts" have checked off, you need to think about the characters. Until you become best friends with your characters, you really don't know them and can't write about them effectively. Why does the hero wear a watch? Does your villain have a tic? Maybe you don't need to know the life story of the bartender that serves one drink in chapter 13 and is never seen again but delve deeply into the inner psyche of the main people you are going to follow around in your story.
Once you have your characters figured out completely, think about the scenes. Think about what they are going to do in your story and when. Visualize the locations. Is there a signed picture of Marylin Monroe hanging on the wall of the office of the private eye? How many columns in the front of the castle your prince resides in? Until you have a clear picture, your readers will not have the visualization needed to immerse themselves in a story.
You're probably thinking, "When am I going to write?" This is the point. You know your characters, you know where your characters are. Now write the first few chapters of your masterpiece.
After this -move onto the next step.
First Post
I guess it makes sense that I finally post something online and pray that authors -especially starting authors -read this and learn.
I have been working the publicity business for a while and there are so many trips and traps to avoid that most authors don't even know where to start. I hope to address several of those topics and educate the reader from a stand-point of not trying to sell you anything.
Join my journey down the confusing and scam-filled path to publishing a book.
-Sabrina
I have been working the publicity business for a while and there are so many trips and traps to avoid that most authors don't even know where to start. I hope to address several of those topics and educate the reader from a stand-point of not trying to sell you anything.
Join my journey down the confusing and scam-filled path to publishing a book.
-Sabrina
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