Category Archives: Publishing

Seven Deadly Sins of Self-Publishing

DeatriThe publishing industry is a dangerous place. I read an article the other day that stated the overwhelming majority of self-published authors don’t even sell 500 copies of their titles. Scary huh? What can authors do not to be in that number? I have my opinions on the subject, but called in additional experts (self-published authors) to give their two cents on what self-published authors’ worst enemy is. I received lots of great responses that pretty much fell into the below deadly sins.

Arrogance ­– There are authors out there who have done decent to quite well selling books and get to smelling themselves (as my grandmother would say). What these authors see as confidence, others often perceive as a funky and/or dismissive attitude. As my good friend author J’son M. Lee would say, “It’s best to keep it humble.”

Distribution Issues –  Unfortunately, many authors do not know or understand what their different distribution options are. This goes deeper than just who is shipping your book where (electronic and print). Many also do not understand how ISBNs work and why your publishing company should own its ISBNs. Yes, it takes research. Start with Bowker, the only official source of ISBNs in the United States, and learn everything you can about ISBNs. Don’t be afraid to contact their support if need be.

Know exactly what your distributor can and can’t do for you. Will they offer marketing of your title to regional book sellers and libraries? Will your print titles be returnable? What seller and warehouse catalogues will your title(s) be listed in? Are they print on demand? What is print on demand? Are they taking a percentage of each sell…?

Speak with authors who have distributed in different ways and ask what worked and didn’t work for them. Research, research, research then make informed decisions. It’s okay if you change your mind later on in the game. You may do it this way for now and another way later, but at least you truly know what you’re doing.

Doubt – This one came up a lot. Not only self-doubt, but the doubt of others in us that we’ll make it. Fear of failure and of disappointing our loved ones has stopped many from reaching for their dreams. There is no easy way to say this, so I’ll just put it out there. If you do not try, you have failed yourself. The desire for this dream is in you for a reason. Nurture it by writing, learning the craft and business and doing your best to see your dream to fruition.

Gullibility – It breaks my heart every time I hear an author has been taken advantage of by a supposed editor, publisher, distributor, book seller, cover artist… The list goes on and on, including fellow authors. I have been in the business for over a decade, but don’t listen to every word I say. Do your own research. Same goes of other experienced authors, industry insiders and those who are supposedly in the know. There are a lot of good people out there who truly want to help you, but there are also a lot of cons who do not want you to succeed for whatever reason or who want to take advantage of your dream. Be careful.

Instant Gratification – There are self-published authors who want their book out there now, now, now. They don’t want to wait until they have enough money to properly produce their books. Many don’t want to take the time to have their book properly produced. Many don’t want to invest time in learning the craft and business. Many don’t want to invest time in creating and implementing marketing plans. Many don’t want to invest in the time it takes to have reviews (from legitimate review teams and publications) before their book is released. Many don’t want to invest the time in truly building a relationship with their base. Many won’t even decide who their base is… It goes on and on.

Laziness – There are authors who just want to write the book. Forget about the research that goes into writing their book(s) or learning the craft or business. Money is tight so everyone is trying to save costs, but some authors are so lazy that they won’t even learn how to properly format their book (which is easily found online).

Poor to No Planning – You’ve written this book, now what? Many have not set aside production and marketing budges or created a marketing plan. They haven’t been nurturing their relationship with readers and networking. They haven’t pinpointed how to connect with their target audience or even know where or what their target audience is… Publishing is a business. For a better chance at success, it pays to have plans for your business and each product you release.

There you have it. The Seven Deadly Sins of self-publishing, but as I went through them, I think some of them carry over to traditionally-published authors also. Be careful out there. The publishing world is dangerous!

Deatri King-Bey

As Featured On EzineArticles

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $9.99 (print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

My Adventure as a Mainstream Author Doing Self Published ebooks: Part 2

Shelia M. GossLast month, I discussed why I, a mainstream author, decided to self publish ebooks too My Adventure As A Mainstream Author Doing Self-Published eBooks Part 1. This month, I’ll share my experience with using the Amazon KDP Select program.

I decided since The Commitment Plan and VIP were two of my older titles re-released as ebooks that I would try the KDP Select program and see what the hype was about.

One of the drawing factors to the program was being able to offer the title for free for a limited amount of time. Free? How does that benefit the author financially if the book is free?

Several ways. There are millions of people with Kindles. Unless you’re a Jackie Collins or James Patterson, you may not have a million readers so being able to offer the book for free is a good way to give readers an opportunity to read a book with no strings attached by an author they are not familiar with or who’ve they’ve always wanted to try but was unsure.

Will offering the book for free guarantee future sales? Nothing is 100 percent but from my experience being a part of the KDP program, my sales not only increased for the book that was offered for free but also sales for some of my other titles increased.

I saw sales triple for both The Commitment Plan and VIP after being put on the program. What gave it the boost? Believe it or not is offering the book for free over a one to two day period. I don’t know what the magic is about increasing sales after a free promotion but yes, folks, it works.

When the books were offered for free there were enough downloads to place the books in the top 100 Amazon best sellers list which brought more awareness to the books. Another thing that happened is the books were also offered as a “recommended” read after a customer makes a purchase of another book in that same category.

I experienced the most sales the first six weeks after being in the program. Although sales have waned some from the first six weeks, they are steady.

When is a good time to put your ebook in the KDP program?

  • If your book is an older title being re-released as an ebook, then it may benefit you.
  • If your book is part of a series and you want to get people interested in the series, then it may benefit you.
  • If you noticed low to no sales and need a boost, then it may benefit you.
  • If you only have one title out, it may or may not benefit you.

Another feature of the program that is either a plus or minus is people who have the Amazon Prime Membership will have the option to borrow the book. Authors get paid when the book is borrowed, but the amount paid per borrow will fluctuate. Members are only able to borrow one book per month but can extend the borrow. There aren’t any limits on how many people can borrow one book though.

In my opinion, the only negative I could find with the program is giving exclusive rights to sell for a period of 90 days. That means you can’t sell it on your website or at any of the other online retailers for the specified 90 day period. So people who don’t have Kindles, will not be able to read your book until after you offer it on the other devices after the 90 day period.

Overall, participating in the program has worked for me. Remember, my journey is not every author’s journey. If you decide to try it, put forth your best effort. Stop back by next month when I talk about writing under pen-names, the pros and the cons. 

Are you an author using the Amazon KDP Select program? What have been your personal pros and cons?

Feel free to ask me any questions in the comments field.

Shelia M. Goss

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For a full list of the books in the Shelia Goss eBook Collection go to: http://www.sheliagoss.com/ebooks

Shelia M. Goss is a national best-selling author and a 2012 Emma Award Finalist. She has over thirteen books in print and numerous of ebooks available. She writes in multiple genres. With unique storylines, her goal is to create “stories with a twist.” For more information, visit her website at http://www.sheliagoss.com/

ANNOUNCEMENT: Deatri will be conducting a FREE Character Development workshop for people who are signed up for my monthly newsletter. Workshop: Character Cake Cost: Free Date: Apr, 28 2012 Time: 4-5 p.m. Central Location: Become A Successful Author Website (link and password will be given the day before the event)


Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $9.99 (print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

Open Every Door of Opportunity

W. Terry WhalinAs an author, I want to knock on lots of different doors of opportunity then be prepared to march through any of them when they open. It takes courage to often knock in the face of rejection but the opportunities will never come if you don’t continue trying. I know those last statements are not real profound. You would be surprised how many would-be authors give up during the journey. They should continue growing in their craft and ability to write. Plus they need to continue knocking on the doors of opportunity.

As an illustration, I’m going to use my Book Proposals That Sell. This proven book continues to help various writers with their dreams of getting a traditional publisher for their book. Last week I heard from another author who had used the information in this book and received a book contract. I’d much rather have someone pay me to write a book through writing a book proposal than self-publish (or pay someone else) to get the book into print. There are many reasons to take this route yet many have not found the right keys to open that door.

If you’ve read some of my work in my blog called The Writing Life, you know I’ve worked hard (and continue to work hard) to get the word out about the results from Book Proposals That Sell. I continue to sell and promote the trade paperback through different channels. This promotion will continue as I speak at different conferences in the months ahead and other means. Many readers have encouraged their friends to purchase the book. A number of my editor and agent friends will hold up the book at other conferences and I use a number of other resources to spread the word about this product.

Some time ago I opened another door of opportunity for this book. Now anyone reading these words can promote Book Proposals That Sell to your own Ezine or your own audience—and profit from it financially. I hold the exclusive electronic rights for this book. I’ve created an electronic version of the book and created an affiliate program. You can see my promotional page for this book at this link. You can join my affiliate program here. The affiliate program is a simple registration form (three minutes or less to complete). You will have access to various promotional tools such as advertising you can use in an email or your Ezine or banner ads you can use in HTML newsletters or on your personal website. Why would you do it? I’m going to send you 50% of the profits for any sales from it (much higher than Amazon.com’s Associate program or almost any other means). My affiliate program has a number of products and promotional tools which are free for anyone who joins the program.

In the past, I’ve attempted to get publishers and literary agents to include the book as a recommended resource. A few people (not many) have taken this step and included the book on their websites. Now I’ve increased their motivation because they can actually earn money from the recommendation. I was trying to appeal to their noble nature and get better book proposals—which I know firsthand comes from someone reading and applying this information. If you have an Ezine or a website or an email list of people who dream of getting a book published, go over to this link and sign up for the Affiliate program, then apply the information wherever you can do it.

I want to knock on every door of opportunity and help as many people as possible to create an excellent book proposal. After reading thousands of proposals and even writing two proposals that earned a six-figure advance, I understand that you have seconds to grab the attention of an agent or editor. My goal is for you to be successful as a writer. Some people say that traditional publishing is over and it is impossible to get a royalty book deal. That’s not true. Every day agents and editors are actively looking for excellent projects. The truth is that many of the pitches need more work and refinement.

What can you do to produce an excellent proposal? The absolute best step in my view is to join my 12 lesson three month online Write A Book Proposal course. You will gain my current teaching about how to create an eye-catching proposal. My goal is for every writer to produce a better proposal because with a better proposal, you will have increased opportunities from literary agents and editors. I wish you every success.

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and editor, lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com.

If you found this post useful, please use the Share links to spread the word to other authors.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Hello All, Dee here. I’ll be conducting a FREE eBook formatting workshop for people who are signed up for my monthly newsletter.
Topic: eBook Formatting Basics for Fiction Titles Cost: Free Date: March, 24, 2012 Time: 3-4 p.m. Central Location: Become A Successful Author Website (link and password will be given the day before the event)


Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author (eBook) for only $4.99 from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble  or print copies for only $7.99 by using the Contact page of this website and tell Dee know how many copies you’d like and shipping address. She’ll email the ordering information. Or you can purchase the print version from any book store for $9.99.

My Adventure as a Mainstream Author Doing Self Published ebooks: Part I

Shelia M. GossMany may ask the question, if you have a publisher, why are you doing independent ebooks? My response is why not. I love writing and have been blessed that it’s not just a hobby, it’s a career. I am the Shelia Goss corporation and I have several divisions within the Shelia Goss corporation. I treat my brand like a business and for longevity in this industry, you must do so.

For example, if this was corporate America, I would work full-time for Company A, but I also have the option to do part-time work if I want to. Working part-time for Company B doesn’t interfere with my full-time job at Company A.

Why limit yourself as an author when you can have the best of both worlds.

Other mainstream authors, such as Stephen King, J.K. Rowling and most recently, Jackie Collins are doing it as well. It’s a win for the author and for readers.

I’m glad I did it. My ebook, LOVE UNEXPECTED, has been on the Amazon Best sellers list under the multicultural romance category every day for over a year. I got readers excited about my newest ebook release, The Commitment Plan by having a contest where readers helped come up with the ebook title.

In order to succeed at doing your own ebooks, you must make sure your ebook is professionally done. Readers should not be able to tell your ebook is self-published. Your ebook should be able to stand up against traditionally published ebooks. To accomplish that, make sure your ebook has a professional edit, professional looking cover and it’s been formatted correctly so it doesn’t look crazy on the various e-readers.

When it comes to pricing, make sure your prices are competitive. There are countless of debates going on about ebook pricing. Some are in favor of higher ebook prices while others frown on it and think all ebooks should be less than $2.99 or free. My best advice to you is to play around with the price and find a price structure that works best for you and your books because what works for Author A might not work for Author B.

Having said that, here’s my personal take on ebook pricing. I try to look at things from both the author and reader’s perspective. If the mass market paperback version can be purchased from the store at $4.98, then the ebook version of that book needs to be a little lower, which averages around $2.99. As a consumer, if it’s the same price, then I would rather have the paperback version. If the paperback version sells for $9.95. I would knock $2 off and sell the ebook at $7.95.

What about those books that are straight to ebook format and are not available in print? Now this is where it gets tricky.

For short stories, the price would depend on how short. If its 5000 to 6000 words, as a consumer, I think $2.99 is too much so the most I would pay is $1.50. I don’t think that devalues the work of the short story. I’ve sold short stories to magazines in the past and you only get paid once—average $250 for the life of that story as opposed to a continuous steady income. You would still make more than the $250 selling the short story yourself at even the low price of 99 cents.

If it’s a full length novel, and its new, maybe do an introductory price at a lower rate, but I think your regular price shouldn’t be lower than $4.99 for a full length novel.

Well, some may say, “Your novels that you have available as ebooks are $2.99.” True. Why? Because they are older novels that I re-released as ebooks. My newer books are with a traditional publisher.

I opted to do both traditional publishing as well as do my independent projects. I like to write short stories and have found my niche in that area. I also like having my older novels available to readers who only read ebooks and may not have ever read any Shelia Goss books.

The bonus, selling my ebooks independently has brought in a steady monthly income. I have the 1099 to prove it.

My journey is not every author’s journey. If you decide to try it, put forth your best effort. Stop back by next month when I share my experience with using the Amazon KDP Select program.

Feel free to ask me any questions in the comments field.

For a full list of the books in the Shelia Goss eBook Collection go to: http://www.sheliagoss.com/ebooks

Shelia M. Goss is a national best-selling author and a 2012 Emma Award Finalist. She has over thirteen books in print and numerous of ebooks available. She writes in multiple genres. With unique storylines, her goal is to create “stories with a twist.” For more information, visit her website at http://www.sheliagoss.com/.

If you found this post useful, please use the Share links to spread the word to other authors.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Hello All, Dee here. I’ll be conducting a FREE eBook formatting workshop for people who are signed up for my monthly newsletter.
Topic: eBook Formatting Basics for Fiction Titles Cost: Free Date: March, 24, 2012 Time: 3-4 p.m. Central Location: Become A Successful Author Website (link and password will be given the day before the event)


Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author (eBook) for only $4.99 from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble  or print copies for only $7.99 by using the Contact page of this website and tell Dee know how many copies you’d like and shipping address. She’ll email the ordering information. Or you can purchase the print version from any book store for $9.99.

Do Novelists Need A Book Proposal?

W. Terry WhalinOne of the great misconceptions in the publishing community is that novelists do not need to write book proposals. As a former fiction acquisitions editor, I know the storytelling skills for a novelist is central. The writing must be riveting from the opening sentence to prevent rejection. The craft of storytelling is not easy but it’s something that a skilled editor can easily spot.

Industry experts have said a million proposals, manuscripts and queries are in circulation at any given time period. For a moment, I want you to pretend that you are an acquisitions editor looking for the best material to bring to your publication board. You have a limited number of projects to present at the next meeting and you’ve found some great stories. It is natural that you are going to gravitate toward the writer who not only has a powerful story yet also has a complete book proposal. That proposal includes information which never appears in the manuscript yet is critical for the voting members to make a decision about offering you a contract. Don’t you want to give yourself the best opportunity for them to make that offer?

The skill to put together a book proposal is one that every writer needs to learn—whether they are writing a novel or a nonfiction book. I’ve sold numerous nonfiction books on the basis of a book proposal and a sample chapter. In fact, two of my proposals receive six-figure advances. Yes, it can happen and it can happen to you.

Some writers assume they can avoid the research and some of the skills that a nonfiction writer needs to possess by writing fiction. They believe since the story comes from their imagination that it is easier to write. It’s simply not true. As someone who has read tons of poorly crafted fiction, I know firsthand that writers need to learn the storytelling craft. You will have to create an excellent manuscript to write fiction yet you also need a book proposal with your manuscript.

When it comes to making a book proposal, I’ve read every book I can find about book proposal creation. Plus I’ve read thousands of book proposals. With that experience, I created a step-by-step series of lessons to guide you into making an excellent book proposal. My course is on autoresponders and comes to you like clockwork. If you sign up on a Tuesday, then seven days later you will receive the second lesson. You can learn more at Write A Book Proposal.com.

To experience some of my teaching on proposals, go to www.AskAboutProposals.com and you can get a free 24-page Ebook, Book Proposal Basics, and also catch an hour teleseminar where I answer writer questions about book proposal creation and marketing book proposals. This resource is completely free.

Another resource to learn more about book proposal creation is my blog on the Writing Life: www.thewritinglife.ws I have over 1,000 searchable entries and a search tool in the right-hand column. Scroll down and you can see the search tool. Use a word like “proposals” and you will see many entries on this topic.

Whether you take my course or not, invest in learning the skill of creating a book proposal. Novelists need to understand the competition to their idea. They need to write a practical marketing plan for their book and learn how to tout the value they bring to the book beyond their storytelling skills. It could make the difference whether your next pitch is accepted or rejected.

W. Terry Whalin

Please help your fellow authors by sharing posts you find helpful.

________________________________________

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and publisher lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. A former acquisitions editor, former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry has written more than 60 nonfiction books. To help writers, he has created 12-lesson online course called Write A Book Proposal. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com.


Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author (eBook) for only $4.99 from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble  or print copies for only $7.99 by using the Contact page of this website and tell Dee know how many copies you’d like and shipping address. She’ll email the ordering information.

How to Pick the Best Small Press

Small presses are a wonderful option for many writers. They’re like having your cake and eating it, too. You get the benefit of professional editing, distribution and promotion while keeping creative freedom. Small presses are more open to new writers, but it is a myth that it’s easy to be published by a small press. Because they have a limit on what they publish per year, it can be even harder to get accepted. But overall, a new writer especially might find it worthwhile to try.

There are many reputable small presses out there, but there are also many sharks. If you are looking into small presses, electronic or print you need to be careful. You should always do your research on the company and never sign a contract until you’re absolutely sure the publisher is the real deal. You could end up signing away more than your book.

What to look for when searching for quality small presses:

1. Distribution

If it’s a print pub, make sure the publisher has solid distribution. Not all small presses have books in stores, but their books should be available to retailers for order. You want your book in as many places as possible to give it the best chance. A publisher without distribution will make it harder not only to get your book out to readers but for you to secure book signings and events. Most stores will not allow you a book signing if the book cannot be ordered. You can always check retailers and see if they carry titles from a specific publisher. Stay away from publishers who offer books only through their site. This is a huge red flag.

2. Research the Publisher Thoroughly

Don’t just sign with someone because they seem to be nice people who love your work. Desperation only causes problems in the end. Check out the staff. Who are the editors? How long have they been in business and what publishing expertise do they have? Who is the head of the company? What is their background in publishing? What makes them qualified to publish your work? The best way to find this out is to ask the staff themselves. If they don’t wanna answer then most likely you don’t want them publishing your work.

3. Contact Publisher’s Current Authors

The best way to get a true feel for any publisher is by speaking to authors with the company. Most authors will be glad to answer your questions. Beware that not all opinions are the same. Look at how long an author has been with the company. If they have only been with the publisher a few months and have only glowing things to say they might be in the honeymoon stage and cannot be objective. Try contacting authors who have worked with the company a while and have multiple books out to get a valuable outlook.

4. Check out a Publisher’s Books

Always check out the books of publishers you’re thinking of working with. Are the books properly edited? Are the covers made up of tacky stock photos? It is standard practice for some small presses to use stock photos but the covers should still look professionally done. Is the binding cheaply made? You can check out books from ebook sites, too. Read online samples and check out ebook covers. You don’t want to be stuck with some cheap-looking, unedited book.

5. Beware of Author Mills

Don’t be desperate and settle for author mills. Author mills publish anything and everything. A monkey could type up a manuscript and an author mill would publish it. Most do not pay authors their royalties and use underhanded business practices. They don’t promote and once you’ve given them your work the staff often treats you like you’re none existent. The biggest sign of an author mill is a publisher that accepts books quickly and also gets their books out unrealistically fast. Decent publishing takes time even with epublishers.

6. Be Cautious with Brand New Presses

New presses are tricky because they haven’t been around long or established a reputation. You can’t be sure if they are good or bad. Be careful. Check out the staff. You need to know what makes them qualified to publish your work.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to research. You cannot afford shortcuts when selecting publishers. Another thing to remember is money flows to the author not from them. Unless you’re seeking out self-publishing companies or vanity presses, steer clear from any publisher that asks you for money.

http://www.stacy-deanne.net


Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author (eBook) for only $4.99 from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble  or print copies for only $7.99 by using the Contact page of this website and tell Dee know how many copies you’d like and shipping address. She’ll email the ordering information.

Formatting Is Your Friend

DeatriI’m a read-a-holic and always looking for new authors to feed my addiction. I’ll read just about anything, but have come to the point where I refuse to purchase another horribly formatted eBook. Don’t get me wrong. I understand that when manuscripts are converted to eBooks, the formatting can have issues here and there, but what I’ve been seeing is way past the limitations of conversion programs.  I’d also give a free pass to authors if instructions weren’t readily available online for free, but they are. So as a reader I feel that the if an author doesn’t care about his/her work enough to take a few minutes to format it correctly, then chances are this author didn’t take the time or expense to invest in proper editing. Instead of complaining—well, just complaining—I want to be part of the solution. Below please find instructions for formatting a manuscript so you’ll have fewer issues when you convert it to an eBook.  Following the eBook formatting are instructions for print book formatting.

Formatting
The steps below are for Microsoft Word 2007, but the same principles apply no matter what word processing program or version you use. The Help feature in your program is your friend. Please note: There is more than one “right” way to format a book. This is one of them. With minor tweaks, you can update your eBook-formatted manuscript for other purposes. Always check with the publishing houses and/or agents you send your manuscripts to. Each may have their own guidelines. It’s simple to change margins and spacing (most want 1-inch margins and double spacing).

eBook Formatting

  • Set your margins 1 inch around.
  • Font: Georgia is currently my font of choice. I find it easier to read, but my version of easier may not be your version. Other widely used fonts are Times New Roman and Veranda (some find this clunky). Not all conversion programs (programs that convert your word processing file into an eBook) are created equal. Some will automatically convert fonts it doesn’t recognize to a font it does recognize. To minimize worries about font type, I believe Times New Roman is accepted by just about all of the eBook converting programs (ECP) out there.
  • Different ECPs accept different font sizes. To be safe, stick with 10pts, 12pts, 14pts, 16pts, and 18pts. I skipped the odd sizes on purpose because there are ECPs that only accept these sizes. If your font size doesn’t work for the ECP, most will either increase or decrease the font size to one the ECP accepts.
  • Feel free to use bold, underline and italics with most ECPs
  • With ellipses (…), the Chicago Manual of Style recommends using a space between each period (. . .). In my opinion, it’s best to not take them up on this recommendation and should be ignored when formatting your manuscript to keep from ending up with a manuscript where two periods can be on one line and the third period on another line. And for those of you who say you MUST follow the Chicago Manual of Style or publishing houses will not accept your manuscript. This is one recommendation many publishing houses also ignore. And if you are still worried about using the word processors ellipses, the good old folks who maintain the Chicago Manual of Style even say it’s okay to use the word processors ellipses: Chicago Manual Of Style reference. Just be consistent.
  • Justify the text (Ctlr+j), which gives it that clean even look on the right side of the margins.
  • You may Center chapter headings.
  • Use Page Break to start a new page for your chapters. Place the curser on the new line, then from the main menu go to Insert, then Page Break.
  • Most ECPs will create a new page if you have more than three consecutive blank lines. I know many of you like to start your chapters a few lines down the page, just don’t start that line more than three lines down or you may insert a bunch of blank pages into your manuscript.
  • Use something physical instead of a blank line for scene breaks, and Center your scene breaks.
  • You can use an image (be sure to center it), but some ECPs have issues with images. For my eBooks, I just use keyboard characters to avoid this.
  • Do a search on the Internet for free decorative scroll. Ensure they release permissions for commercial use. Select a few you like, then resize them and use them for your books.
  • You can also use characters available on your keyboard. I’ve seen some publishing houses use something as simple as … Yep. An ellipsis. But if you have to use characters, I say go for it. The greater than and less than sign may not be the most beautiful, but I think they are better than an ellipses, or use a tilde. For example: <><><><><><>, <<<<<<>>>>>>, >>>>><<<<><<>><<>>, ~~~~~~~ or * * * * * *. Stay away from special characters in eBooks because some of the ECPs won’t recognize them and you may end up with a bunch of squares or whatever to replace them in the conversion. Trust me when I say I learned this the hard way.
  • With eBooks, the best practice is to indent the first line of a paragraph (without using tab). I say this because some ECPs will automatically place a blank line between paragraphs and others won’t. By indenting the first line, you won’t need two different files to submit. Don’t worry. It is acceptable to have that blank line and indentions in eBooks. Just ensure your manuscript is consistent.
  • Do not use the “Tab” key. Instead, set your Paragraph setting.
    o Right click your mouse
    o Select “Paragraph” from the menu
    o In the Indention section, for Special select “First Line,” then for “By” make it .3. Now .3 is my preference for eBooks and print, but I don’t suggest using more than a .5 or less than .3.
    o While you are in the Paragraph settings, decide if you want a blank line between paragraphs, and for Line Spacing select “Single.” On Line Spacing, some people prefer more space between lines. I like single-spacing because sometimes the ECPs adjust the spacing for some paragraphs and not others when I use more than “Single” spacing, which makes the manuscript look sloppy. It’s not consistent and seems to have no rhyme or reason, which annoys me, so I avoid that issue. I don’t suggest you use more than “Double.” From what I’ve seen, if the ECP doesn’t accept the Line Spacing you have selected, it will select what it determines is the closest to something it uses. Now when you send your manuscript out for editing and as a submission, be sure to change this to double- spacing.
  • Do not include page numbers, headers or footers in your eBook versions. If you are sending it out for submission or for editing, be sure to include the heading information (book title, author name and page number).
  • This post is about fiction, but if you venture into nonfiction, most ECPs can’t handle bulleted lists very well. Okay, let’s be honest, eBooks have quite a few limitations formatting wise. You won’t hit many of the issues when you release fiction.

That’s it. If you’ve already written your manuscript, reformatting margins and such is easy. The most complicated part is if you’ve used Tabs in the manuscript. To clear the Tabs out and set indentions:

  • Highlight the entire manuscript (Ctrl+a)
  • Delete all Tabs
  • Find and Replace all
    o Ctlr+f : On the replace tab, Find what:^t
    o Shift+6 = ^
    o On the Replace with:
    There is nothing in the replace, thus you are replacing the tabs (^t) with nothing. This removes the tabs.
  • Highlight the entire manuscript (Ctrl+a)
  • Follow the instructions in the eBook formatting for setting the indention.
  • Anything centered will be indented, so you need to scroll through the manuscript and correct that.

My eBook conversion programs of choice are MobiPocket (to create the Kindle file) and Calibre (to convert the Kindle file to ePub)

Don’t worry; it’s much easier than it sounds. Once you get in the groove, you’ll be amazed how fast you’ll have a good-looking manuscript. Now when you convert your manuscript, be sure to scroll all the way through and check for paragraphs that may not be indented or indented too much or items not centered and such.

If you don’t have an eReader, be sure to view your converted eBook in Calibre or download Amazon’s and Barnes & Noble’s eReaders for your PC to view the eBook file you create, then make adjustments as needed before you upload into the online stores.

ePublish with Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iStore

Print Book Formatting
You’ll like this part. Take the file you formatted for eBooks and update it for a print book. First, you need to decide what size you want your book to be. If you read the print version of Become A Successful Author, it’s 6 x 9. Go to the library and/or bookstore and take note of what the popular sizes of books in your genre are. While you are there, pay attention to the price also. I’ll come back to price later.

Now that you know what size you want your book to be, you need to know how to set your margins. Just about every print company I looked into had templates you could download for the basic size books they offer or they’d email one to you. If you want a custom size, you may have to contact the company and ask for a template or specifications for that size and ensure they’ll print the size you want.

A template will show what your margins should be, the header, the gutter, all that good stuff. Many times the template will be a blank Word document that you can just copy all of your manuscript (Ctlr+a) and paste into the template (Ctlr+v), then you change the header accordingly. If you use a template, don’t be afraid to make adjustments.

Here are a few additional items to consider when converting to print format.

  • The more pages, the greater the expense. The larger the size, the greater the expense.
  • You get to have more fun with the font. Don’t get too wild and crazy with the body of your text, but why not make the chapter headings and scene breaks something snazzy.
  • You don’t have to start chapters at the top of the page. I wouldn’t suggest going more than a third of the way down to start. Be consistent.
  • I know the smaller the font size the fewer pages, therefore, the lower the cost, but say no to eyestrain. Don’t go smaller than 8 pts. I like 11 pts and feel that’s plenty small enough. But that’s me. If you are creating a large print book (16 pts or greater), be sure to indicate Large Print on the cover and in your product description.
  • Front matter (the pages before the novel starts, such as title page, copyright page, acknowledgments) has a specific order. You can refer to the Chicago Manual of Style (most libraries carry this) or look at the front matter of a book from any traditional publishing house. Yours should be similar.
  • Be sure that the manuscript portion of your print book starts on an odd page.
  • If you are using a template from a company, it may use the same header for each page. I like my headers to have the the book title on the even pages and my name on the odd pages. If you don’t know how to create headers, in the Help area of your word processor, look up header, footer, section breaks, section headers.
  • Have your front matter be the first section of your book and the manuscript start the second section. Do not have page numbers in the first section of the book. Some people use Roman Numerals, but that’s more common in nonfiction titles.
  • Using Microsoft Office 2007 or later, save the file as a PDF to send it to the printer.

Just say no to poorly formatted manuscripts.

Deatri King-Bey

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author (eBook) for only $4.99 from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble  or print copies for only $7.99 by using the Contact page of this website and tell Dee know how many copies you’d like and shipping address. She’ll email the ordering information.

 

Starting A Publishing Company—Really? Okay!

Iris BollingSo you want to start your own publishing company. Believed it or not it really isn’t that difficult to do. Keeping it going and profitable is the challenge. Starting your own publishing company is not for the faint at heart. Go into it knowing that every decision made is on you. Your company will succeed or fail based on the decisions you make. Also know, you may not see a profit right away. In fact, it will probably be three to five years before you see green. However, the joy and pride you experience every time you put a book on the market is unbelievable. Each book is like your baby, from inception to birth. Here are the steps I took to establish SIRI Enterprises, my publishing company.

1. First I knew I wanted to self-publish. You need to determine if you want to publish just your books or publish other authors work.
2. Once that decision is made, write a business plan. I used, The Ernest & Young Business Plan Guide by Eric S. Siegel, Brian R. Ford and Jay M. Borstein, as my resource.
3. Apply for your business license with your local city or county. Contact the IRS to obtain your EIN (Employer Identification Number @ http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=98350,00.html). Also, set up with your state tax department.
4. Go to the US Copyright  Office @ https://eco.copyright.gov/ to establish an account
5. Do the same with The Library of Congress @ http://pcn.loc.gov/ to establish an account
6. Purchase a set of ISBN @  http://isbn.org/standards/home/index.asp (you can purchase from 1-1000 at a time)
7. Determine if you want a Vanity Press or Print On Demand to handle your packaging (ie: LULU, Smashwords, Create Space, etc…) Or if you want total control you can hire a consultant to handle page design and covers design. I use http://judithwansley.com/default.aspx
8. Research printer and/or distributor for your books. You can use just a book printer or one that does both. I use http://www1.lightningsource.com/
9. Establish a relationship with editors to use when needed.
10. You don’t have to do this, but I did set up an account with Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble to handle eBooks sales.

There are pitfalls in everything you do. It is no different in the publishing world. There are Vanity or Independent presses out there that will promise you the world, but will not tell you the cost until the end. Do your research before you sign up for anything. Take your time to establish your company Do it right the first time. I spent thousands of dollars that was wasted because I did not do my research first. Are you anxious to get your book into print, of course, so was I. And I paid the price. I hope my knowledge will save you time and money. Some things a company will offer you for a price, you can do yourself, such as obtaining Bar Codes, ISBN numbers, or Copyrights for your books. All of these things you can do yourself, for just the cost of the product.

Now, if you still want to start your own publishing company, I have to tell you, it has been a very exciting endeavor. While I still would like to be published the traditional route, doing for myself has been most rewarding. It has prepared me with the knowledge and skills it takes to get a book to print. When I do decided to submit to a traditional publisher, I go in with a little more knowledge about the process than some. By the way, I’ve only submitted to one publisher. I like being in control.

Well, that’s all I have. Good Luck and remember, Believe in yourself and you can accomplish anything.

Iris Bolling

http://www.irisbolling.net/ or http://www.sirient.com/

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author (eBook) for only $4.99 from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

Successful Writing, Editors, Publishers, And The Fine Art Of Compromise

Rob ShelskySuccessful writing is not easy. As authors, we already know this much. And, of course, there are a number of factors in being a successful writer. Included among these is a willingness to edit and cut your work as needed. This last means you have to be willing to be an editor in your own right these days, but also to listen to professional editors of various publications to which you might send your work.

This last is hard to do. I don’t mean the sending part. I mean putting up with others editing our work once it’s been accepted. Whereas we might not mind editing our own work, we tend to hate it when others try to do it for us. This tends to be a truism of all writers. We just don’t like people touching our work, not after we’ve put so much personal effort into making it “just right” already.

However, in order to be a successful writer, you must put up with editors. That is, you must if you actually want to get your story published. Yes, the burden of editing falls ever more heavily upon us as writers these days, but even so, publishers have the last say, and most still have editors read your work. This is especially true of “pro” publishers.

And here we come to the crux of our discussion. In order to be a successful writer in the traditional sense of the term, we must first be published somehow, someway, somewhere, and not just in a vanity press. So that usually means going through some sort of editing process to “get there.”

Even if we strictly self publish, we still need the benefit of an “outside” editor. But if we do send our manuscripts to some publisher, is there anything we can do to sway them, to make them want to publish our work, in particular, over the thousands of other manuscripts they receive on a monthly basis?

Yes, there is. There are a number of things we can do to improve our chances. Some of these things may seem incredibly obvious to many writers, but you would be surprised, perhaps even amazed, at how many authors do not use all of them, or simply don’t use any of them at all! Why this is so, I can’t say. But it’s true.

Perhaps, it has something to do with the number of publishers out there. There are so many and all of them seem to want a different type of format for submissions. Although many say they want standard manuscript format, in reality, this doesn’t really seem to be the case at all. Each one usually adds certain requirements to this basic demand. One of the things you can do is to give them exactly what they want.

The same holds true for cover letters and synopses. While all of them seem to want short cover letters, it is amazing how many seem to want you somehow to fit almost the entire contents of the book, your biography, synopsis, and any marketing plans into that one-page, cover letter. I know this to be true, because I have come up against this many times. What can one do? You have to give the publisher what they want.

Or do you? Often, we send in a manuscript that is close in style to their demands, but not quite on target as far as formatting requests go. We simply use the same version we’ve already sent to someone else.

Is this okay? No, generally, it isn’t. As a submissions editor myself, I can assure you we are very interested in getting through our slush piles as quickly as we can, because there are always new piles growing. This means we don’t like wasting our time. Therefore, rightly or wrongly, we try everything we can to weed out manuscripts and shorten that pile to a more readable level.

How do we do this? The answer is simple. We do it by getting rid of those manuscripts that do not conform to our formatting specifications. That’s the first thing we look for. Yes, it’s an easy way to shorten the pile quickly, but we also do it because the wrong formatting tells us the author will probably not be a good one for us. If writers won’t do the basic things we ask up front in order to get their work published by our company, we don’t want them! Again, it’s that simple.

In other words, if authors don’t format exactly as we want, often it’s a sign to us they aren’t bothering to listen, or worse, are ignoring our requirements. This means, usually, it will be a battle to get them to do what we ask. Likely, they may be troublesome to us down the road. You see, the guidelines are not just to make it easier for us. They are often a test. If you fail that test, we simply move on. There are plenty of other good writers out there besides you!

So to be a successful author you must not only be a good writer with all that this entails, but you also must be willing to compromise as to how you send out your submissions. You must be willing to change them for each publisher demanding this. And yes, it can be tedious to do. But to do it right is necessary. I, personally, have had to write any number of versions of a particular synopsis, for example, because some publishers want very short ones, others, one-page ones, and still others, comprehensive ones. Again, it is tedious!

As a side note, something else to consider—you must send the right work to the right publisher. Always read the publishers’ submission guidelines carefully. For instance, under the horror genre, publishers can still be very fussy. Some don’t want anything to do with vampires. Others don’t want anything to do with fantasy. Still others don’t want anything to do with science fiction. So you had better read those guidelines closely. Don’t try to force your manuscript into a publisher’s hands who does not want your sort of story. You will get rejection letters. Do you remember in school when your teacher would mark you down for poor penmanship? Publishers do much the same thing, only they do it with regard to the submission formatting of the manuscript.

Now, let’s say the publisher/editor has read your story. What’s the next step? Well, they will contact you and say they are interested in your work, that they’d like to publish it, and are you willing to sign a contract? Of course, you’re going to jump at that, and answer, “Yes!”

I imagine that many of us do this without really reading the fine print of the contract before doing so. And that’s a mistake. Always read the contract through several times! That’s a given. You must consider various aspects of the contract as you read it, of course, but here we’re concerned principally with the terms and conditions regarding editing.

The next step is the publisher will want to edit your work to his or her own specifications for their publication requirements. These specifications may include the size of the work (it may need to be shortened), and/or content altered, etc. Under content, it may be the type of language you’re using (adult language?), the grade level you are writing to (this may need to be lowered, but is usually never raised), and edited for various other factors the publisher may feel is their God-given right, to demand of you.

And this is where the problems usually start. Do you remember how we mentioned earlier that writers do not like their work edited—at all? They will resist every way they can. How much dare you resist, as an author? How far can you go? Well, the answers to these questions may lie in your contract. Again, the contract usually states the publisher’s rights with regard to editing your work.

Often, if the author refuses to agree to make the changes the publishers require (even if the author has the final say according to the contract), then the publisher usually has the right to refuse the work and not print it. If you have received a cash advance on your novel, they will most certainly demand it back under the terms and conditions of the contract you signed. So beware! Even if you have final say on editing written into the contract, for practical purposes, you may not really have that final say. You will have to compromise, maybe big time, and give in on certain points.

Something else to remember: the publisher/editor selected your work because they thought it might sell and make money for them. This is their single strongest criterion. They also have a very strong idea of what works to make money, based on past publishing experience. They usually go with that. So, like it or not, whether you have your own experience in this way, or not, you should listen to them on this one point. Remember the old adage, “he who pays the piper, gets to call the tune.”

Yes, to a certain extent, you can argue with them. But a warning here, if you argue too much, they may decide not to publish your work. They simply may not want to bother with yet another unwieldy, recalcitrant author. What’s more, they may not even warn you about this. The publisher may just send you a notice saying they do not want to work with you any further and so they are cancelling the contract. You will then just be out of luck.

So to be a successful writer is not only to be a good writer, a persistent one, one who produces work on a regular basis, but also one that is willing to compromise on many issues. Of course, if you are J. K. Rowling, you can say and do pretty much what you want. They’ll let you. If you’re not Ms. Rowling, then you had best listen to this advice: compromise with your editor(s). Listen to his/her advice and requests. Try to do what they ask of you with regard to editing your work to the best of your ability, and hopefully without damaging the quality of your work. It might even improve it, you know…

In conclusion, I can only say as a submissions editor, as well as a writer, one of the key ingredients in being a successful author is to listen to your editors and publishers. Perhaps, unbelievably, when it comes to marketing and selling your book, they actually may know what is best.

Your only other option is to seek a different publisher or self publish your work, if you haven’t already signed a contract. If you try to renege, the publisher may just sue you. Or at the very least, they will never consider your submissions again. And publishers have power. Editors have power. Like it or not, they talk to each other. Sometimes, they may be talking about you and not in a good way! So tact, diplomacy, and a willingness to listen and above all, compromise, are a must for all authors who want to be successful.

And finally, these are just my personal words of advice. You can take them or leave them. But if you leave them, you may find your publisher may just choose to leave your work as unread or unpublished. The choice is yours. To be independent, to stand your ground, is fine—to a point. Push this right too far, and you may become the world’s greatest unpublished author. Get it?

Rob Shelsky

http://robshelsky.blogspot.com/

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author (eBook) for only $4.99 from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

 

Are You Emotionally Prepared to Become A Career Novelist?

You can walk from here to the ends of the earth and you’ll find tons of articles and advice telling you how to improve your writing or how to develop skill to become a novelist. But how many resources focus on the mental and emotional aspect of this increasingly difficult career? Not many.

I’ve been a novelist for a long time and I’ve learned that it cuts to the core of your soul. Why isn’t this addressed more often? Why don’t more writers share the impact, good and bad that writing can have on you emotionally?

Why? Well it’s not glamorous to discuss the not-so-perfect side of things. I’m writing this to nurture the novelist’s soul. You must be emotionally prepared to dedicate your life (and it could be your entire life) to turning writing one book into a career.

No one is fully prepared for the rocky road to publication. But there are ways you can stay sane, grow a thick skin and not let even the harder times affect your mentality. It takes becoming smart in mind and realizing that nothing in life is promised no matter how hard you work.

Not sure if you are emotionally up for this forever-changing jungle I call the writer’s life? Check out the points below. These mental exercises will not only give you a thicker skin but can effectively prepare your confidence for a realistic journey of seeking publication.

Define Your Personal Idea of Success and Goals for Inner Peace
Success means different things to different writers. Some think of success as gaining a publishing contract. Others want fame and riches. Others want to be revered in the industry as a literary pioneer and win a slew of awards for their hard work. Some just want to say they followed their dream. Do you even know what you consider success? If you don’t then you need to sit down and figure it out.

Train Yourself to Be Realistic
You might not wanna hear this but no one is guaranteed a publishing contract. You could write for decades and decades and not get a contract. You could be the best writer in your genre. You could go to every writing workshop, read every article and talk to every expert in the business and you might not get a contract. You could become friends with agents and NY editors, have them over to your house for the holidays and you still may not get a contract. Why? That’s just how life is. Becoming published is not something you can control. All you can control is your writing and your determination. So unless you are willing to look down a tunnel of uncertainty and can truly claim you are happy enough with writing to pursue it as a career anyway, you are not emotionally ready. Point blank.

Throw Away the Image in Your Head of a Career Novelist
One of the most damaging things for a new writer is fantasizing too much about what being a published novelist is like. You see writers on movies and the life seems so glamorous. They all have big NY publishers and agents. All of their books get on the best seller lists. Their agents fly down to meet them. Their publishers send them on elaborate book tours with the paparazzi in tow. They became a sensation overnight.
Now real life…

If this is how you think being a real-life novelist is than throw that idea out right now. Even the most famous of today’s novelists don’t live this way. The average novelist is a person just like everyone else. Most have their full-time jobs for the rest of their lives while writing books on the side. True? True. Some are unemployed and struggling and can’t pay their bills. Do you realize just how tiny a royalty check can be sometimes? Sometimes you’re lucky to be able to buy dinner with the size of a royalty check. Full-time novelists have all types of jobs and they live all types of lives but most do not live the glamorized life that’s portrayed on movies. So throw this idea out and if you are still attracted to becoming a career novelist, have at it. I wish you much luck.

This article might seem discouraging but it should to a point. You must be strong and thick-skinned beyond belief to wanna be a writer and take it on as a career. If you are lacking in that area you won’t have a chance at making it. So take the salt of my words along with the sugar. It’s all about wanting to be a novelist bad enough. If you do, then nothing I say can dissuade you.

If you are having second-thoughts about the importance of writing compared to the hard work put into it, maybe this career choice is not for you.
How much do you want it? That’s the question.

Stacy-Deanne
http://www.stacy-deanne.net/


Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author (eBook) for only $4.99 from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

What’s Your Book About?

W. Terry WhalinI could feel the intensity increasing among the other editors involved in acquisitions. I felt it as well because we were facing a deadline to turn in our material for the next publication board meeting. We typically set deadlines several weeks in advance of the actual meeting, then the various participants could read our background materials before the meeting and come prepared with their questions and comments. Besides the author’s proposal, we had internal documents to get ready for the meeting. An editorial assistant prepared an agenda which gave the order for the editors to present their books for that particular month.

Tensions in our editorial group always tended to run high the day of the publication board meeting as no one could predict what would happen in these sessions. There is an old saying about editors that it depends on what they had for breakfast. Reality isn’t that subjective but the mood of the room can swing to different extremes. For some meetings, the questions were minimal and the reaction was positive about the authors that I championed for the publishing house.

On other occasions it was different. I walked into the room filled with publishing staff, armed with my stack of folders and paperwork. As an editor, I prepared a series of short presentations on the key details of each book. Another editor on our editorial team had worked at multiple publishing houses and appeared before different groups of these publication boards. This colleague told me, “Our publication board is different and a bit crankier than some of the others.”

Waiting for your turn in the room can be a nerve-racking feeling for an editor. Finally my turn came and I walked into the large board room. Key leaders from the publishing house—including sales, marketing and editorial personnel—sat around a conference table. It was almost certain that several of these leaders had only skimmed your paperwork or not read it at all or they read it during your presentation. Some days it was like sitting on the hot seat trying to defend your titles to a room full of skeptics. Other times they were supportive of your selections. As a book is accepted for publication in this meeting, the various groups such as sales and marketing are held responsible for their support of a particular title. Key business decisions for the life and future of the publisher are made in these meetings. You, as the author, aren’t present but your view is represented from your work on the book proposal and the voiced words of support from your acquisitions editor.

Your words on your proposal become elevated in importance. How will your book be represented through your words? What is the hook? This should come in the first sentence or two of your overview—the first section for any book proposal. This section defines the topic of your book in a few words. I’ve already explained the difficulty involved in getting an editor to read your material. Now you have a few seconds to grab the editor’s attention. What hook will you use to entice him to keep turning your pages? Your first responsibility is to reach the editor who is thinking about his readers and book buyers when he reads your initial words. He can then use your overview material to hook his publication board.

The overview should be a maximum of one to three pages in length and should clearly explain what the book is about, why it is necessary and what makes this book different than others on the same topic. Normally this material is written in the third person.

If you are looking for a way to concisely tell the idea of your book, I’d suggest that you first write it on paper, but also work with it in an oral format. It’s one of the reasons to read your writing aloud after you’ve finished it—because the ear is less forgiving than the eye. Using this process, you will pick up on all sorts of ways to improve your manuscript.

W. Terry Whalin
W. Terry Whalin, a writer and publisher lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. A former acquisitions editor, former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. To help writers, he has created 12-lesson online course called Write A Book Proposal. His website is located at: http://www.terrywhalin.com/


Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author (eBook) for only $4.99 from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

 

Evolution of eBooks

Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, I’m sure you’ve heard about the dramatic changes happening in the publishing industry. Independent and chain bookstores are closing at an alarming rate. Borders, the second largest U.S. bookstore chain, recently filed for bankruptcy and went out of business. Sales of hardcover books are down 40%. Editors at the Big 6 houses are reserving contracts for their big moneymaking authors, as the mid-list shrinks. The current situation has become so dire that Huffington Post, the Internet newspaper, now includes “bookstore obituaries” as a regular feature.

At the same time, the sale of e-books is up 400%.

Nine years ago, when I started writing, my only goal was to get an agent and sign with a New York publisher. During the first few years of my writing career, I had conversations with writers that had or were considering self-publishing their books. The idea of handling the details of publishing my own book turned me off to say the least. I knew self-published books couldn’t get shelf space in the major book chains. Many reviewers wouldn’t review them, and I’d heard stories about authors ending up stuck with boxes of unsold books stacked in their garage. No way did I want any part of that.

Fast forward to 2007. The first rumblings had begun about Amazon.com’s newest electronic gadget – the Kindle e-reader. At that time no one, except perhaps for Jeff Bezos himself, imagined this little gadget would be the game changer in an industry already plagued by antiquated policies and procedures, ridiculously long wait times between contract and release, decreasing sales, and increasing competition from tablets, smartphones, video games, DVDs and all things electronic.

As an author trying to break into the business, I kept my ear to the ground, fascinated by what I was hearing about the possibility of getting my books directly into the hands of readers. I submitted to editors and agents for several years and even signed with two well-known agents but received no offers. The whole process had begun to wear me down.

By 2009, with Kindle dominating the e-book market, authors were beginning to take notice, and many had taken the plunge into the electronic world. The financial perks of direct e-pubbing were a definite lure, along with the fact that e-books are eternal. They have no limited on shelf life like paper books, which eventually go out of print.

Traditional publishers generally pay authors 6-17% of the cover price of their books. E-publishers like Kindle offered 35% at the outset and subsequently raised that royalty rate to 70% for all books selling for $2.99 or more. The increase in electronic books has sparked a very loud and fierce debate among readers, writers. Many in the publishing industry stand by the necessity for gatekeepers (editors and agents) to protect readers from an in influx of bad books. Those on the other side of the debate insist that gatekeepers aren’t necessary, because readers are smart enough to determine for themselves what is good and bad. They believe, as I do, that what’s good will sell and what’s bad won’t. Simple.

The other debate increasing in intensity is what I call “the cold, dead handers” versus the “e-people.” These are the folks who staunchly declare that their paper books will have to be pried from their cold, dead hands before they switch to electronic reading. They melodramatically pontificate about the feel and smell of paper books and fight anything hinting of electronic progress.

Personally, I don’t think books will disappear completely, but as I look back at my vinyl albums, 8-track tapes and cassettes packed away in the garage, I’m not so sure. What is important is the ability of authors to be able to sell their stories to readers. It’s the words that make the story, not the paper they’re printed on. All of the current flap about the smell and feel of books will eventually fizzle out. Honestly, when was the last time you saw anybody sniffing and hugging a vinyl LP with tears in their eyes?  Change is hard for some, but change will eventually come whether we like it or not. We might as well embrace it and enjoy it.

In July 2010, I took the plunge and joined the ranks of electronic authors and published my debut novel directly to Kindle and Nook. I have since released three of my previously written novels with another due out in late December.

This is an exciting time for authors, but e-pubbing isn’t for the faint of heart. This isn’t a deal where you simply take your Word manuscript from your hard drive and toss it into cyberspace. The preparation is very much the same as getting a paper book ready for release. Professional editing is a necessity. The quality of the cover is a determining factor in the success of the book. Formatting of the manuscript for each of the different e-book sites can test the patience of a saint. Promotion and marketing is a never-ending chore.

But for those writers with the fortitude to learn the language and requirements of this new market, the doors are wide open.

Guest Blogger: Chicki Brown
http://www.chicki663.webs.com/
http://sisterscribbler.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/chicki.brown
and @Chicki 663 on Twitter

Dee here: I’d like to thank Chicki for being a guest blogger this month. She is a self-publishing queen and has always been very helpful to others. THANKS.


Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author (eBook) for only $4.99 from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

Self-Publishing – Is it for you?

Shelia M. GossI’m an author who has experience being with a traditional publisher and as a self-published author. In fact, right now, I do both. For my full length novels, I continue to go the traditional route, but with my short stories or novellas, I self-publish those. As a writer, you may be asking yourself what route you should go. The beauty of being a writer right now is that you do have options.

I will be using HOW TO SELF-PUBLISH & MARKET YOUR OWN BOOKS by Mack E Smith and Sara Freeman Smith as a reference in today’s post. If you don’t have the book now, this is one book to add to your MUST BUY list. It has been helpful in more ways than one.

Writing to most of us is fun.  Somewhere along the way, we decided we wanted to share our thoughts with the public. Where do we begin? Some of us pursue the traditional publishing route of trying to find an agent and/or publisher. Others may decide to self publish outright. Either way, we all have one common goal: To see our book IN PRINT.

Before we go any further, realize SELF PUBLISHING IS A BUSINESS.  Besides writing the manuscript, you will need stamina to handle the “business side” as well.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

  • Am I ready to be a sales rep, an accountant, a publicist, an inventory analyst…etc?
  • Am I prepared to do research and determine who’s the best editor, graphic designer, printer, distributor, etc for me?
  • Am I prepared to promote, promote and PROMOTE my book (s)?
  • And last but not least, am I willing to learn as much as possible about the publishing industry?

Keep in mind a lot of today’s best selling authors may have started off self-published. Self-publishing is another way to get agents and major publishers to notice you. I don’t know if you’ve read the books,  MY BROTHER’S KEEPER by Reshonda Tate Billingsly or Momma’s Baby Daddy’s Maybe by Jamise Dames. Well, they both started off self-published and are now with major publishers. I remember seeing MOMMA’S BABY, DADDY’S MAYBE as an Essence Bestseller for several months prior to it being picked up by a major publisher.

I mention those two books to show you that although you may self-publish, you don’t have to give up hopes of being with a major publisher. There’s a popular author who has several books out with a major publisher, but they also self publish other titles. So in actuality you can do both.

WHAT IS SELF-PUBLISHING AGAIN?

To self-publish means that you deal directly with editors, graphic designers, printers, and handle the marketing and distribution of your book.

Here are a few advantages of self-publishing:

  • You are in total control of the input (your manuscript) and the output (the finished product–YOUR BOOK).
  •  After expenses and distributor and book store discounts, you get to keep the profits. You don’t have to give the publisher and agent anything, because YOU’RE THE PUBLISHER.
  • You determine when you want your book released. If you want the date of your release to be your birthday, then that’s the date you can release your book. With a traditional publisher, they TELL YOU when it’ll be released.

There can be other advantages, but those are the main ones.

Now to some of the disadvantages:

  • Limited resources can be a hindrance. However, don’t fret, because if you don’t have the finances to outright self-publish, you do have options – Print on Demand (POD).
  • A limited distribution channel is another challenge self-publishers face. Thanks to the Internet and the success of those who came before us, you now have more options.

What is Print on Demand (POD)?

This is printing small quantities of books upon request within a short period of time using digital technology and minimum upfront costs.

If you choose the POD route, I advise you to read the fine print and use the one that best fits your needs. I also caution when using some of their services. The link I’m about to provide is the best resource I’ve seen on the subject.  http://www.sfwa.org/beware/printondemand.html.

Hopefully, this post gives you a better view on the pros and cons of self publishing or at least sparks your interest to find out more about it.

Is your head spinning yet? Smile. Feel free to jump right on in and start asking questions, if you haven’t already.

Shelia M Goss
http://www.sheliagoss.com/

Shelia is giving away a copy of her “Query EBook Workshop.” For your chance at this excellent workshop, you have to leave a comment here or on her What’s In A Synopsis post between now and Sunday Oct. 9, 2011. I’m (Deatri) also giving away a copy of Become A Successful Author to someone who comments on any of the site’s posts between now and Sunday Oct. 9. 2011. Winners are announced on the Winners page of this website.


Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author (eBook) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

Shocking News To Authors: The Book Business Is A Business First

W. Terry WhalinBefore I began working inside a book publishing house, I had written more than 50 nonfiction books, ranging from children’s to adult books. I have never self-published a book and always worked through traditional publishers. However, I was unaware of the financial production numbers for nonfiction books and I found it shocking—and something critical for potential authors to understand. The author never sees these figures for their books as the publisher doesn’t reveal them throughout the contract negotiation process. A publisher will produce these financial calculations as simply a part of good business practices.  As an author, understanding this helped me see publishing as a business. Authors have huge amounts of time and emotional investment in their words. When I saw these production numbers, I understood that the publisher, not the author, has the largest out-of-pocket cash investment in a book.

Inside the publisher, the editor will gather a sales projection about how many copies the sales department believes they can sell of your title the first year. That sales figure will be used to calculate the production costs of ink, paper and binding for various amounts of printing (5,000, 10,000 or 15,000 copies). As the initial print number is raised, the cost per book decreases. You may ask, So why not print a large volume each time? The answer is, if the publisher prints a large number of copies, then he has to store those copies in their warehouse (read cost and expense), plus make sure they actually sell those copies within a year’s timeframe. The cost of tying up financial resources in storing and warehousing books that aren’t selling is large. Also the federal government taxes publishers on each copy in storage. These tax rules have forced publishers to think long and hard about how many copies of each book to print.

Inside my former publisher, we calculated the overall printing details of the book (paperback with general publishing look or hardcover with jacket) and the number of books to print before offering a book contract. In short, publishers pour a great deal of work into their books and financial projections before they call you and offer a nonfiction book contract. Understanding this process helps you see some of the reasons it takes such a long time for an author to receive a publishing contract…

Often the publisher returns to an author with whom they have already published a book. If the publisher takes a second or third book from the same author, they are investing in that author’s career and trying to build that author’s audience and market. If the author’s books are selling well, then the publisher will be eager for another project. Each week, publishers monitor sales numbers on their books to see if particular authors merit another book contract.

Many writers focus only on the creative aspects of writing a book and getting it published, but the executives inside a publishing house are business people who want to sell books and turn a profit at the end of the day. It’s a delicate balance between creating the best possible product and assuring that each product has the best opportunity to sell into the market and reach the target audience.

W. Terry Whalin

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and publisher lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. A former acquisitions editor, former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. To help writers, he has created 12-lesson online course called Write A Book Proposal. His website is located at: http://www.terrywhalin.com/

Deatri here. I’m giving away a copy of Become A Successful Author to someone who comments on any of the site’s posts between now and Sunday Oct. 9. 2011. Winners are announced on the Winners page of this website.


Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author (eBook) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

Navigate The New World Of Publishing

Anyone with access to a word processor and the Internet can become a published author, but most do not become successful authors. We all know the publishing industry has changed drastically since the introduction of eReaders, but how many authors (traditional, self, or aspiring) truly understand the changes and how to navigate this new world?

Step Away From The Treadmill

I belong to a few writers groups and am amazed at what great shape many of the authors are in. They run on the publishing treadmill like nobody’s business, so I reckon they should be in great shape.

With each book they pump out, they follow in the footsteps of Amanda Hocking and John Locke (authors who self-published and sold over a million copies of their eBooks) by working Facebook, Twitter and many other social networks to get the word out about their books. They combine resources with other authors to find low to no-cost ways to promote each others’ work. Run, run, run on the treadmill they go. Again, in excellent shape, but unfortunately, they are so busy running, they don’t realize they aren’t getting anywhere.

But aren’t they doing as Amanda and John did? No, not really. It’s time to step off the treadmill. There are proven, less exhaustive ways to become a successful author that actually get you to where you want to go.

The Field of Dreams

A decade ago I started in the publishing industry as an editor for Third World Press. This 40+ year old publishing house has released numerous NYT bestsellers, has a few million-plus-books-sold authors, and has way too many awards to count. Over the years, I’ve bounced around between publishing houses and become friends with authors who have nice-sized backlists and a good reader base. Ready to capitalize on the electronic age, many of my author buddies have self-published their backlists and—CRICKETS.

Well, not that bad. But their backlist and newly self-published titles don’t sell nearly as well as they expect. There are three teeny, tiny items they didn’t factor into their projected sells:

  1. With a backlist, their reader base likely already has these titles so they are marketing to the wrong target audience.
  2. When they self publish a book, they no longer have the reach of the traditional publishing house behind them. Publishing houses keep track of orders from their website and have extensive mailing lists and other opportunities to promote new works of authors who publish through them, not the authors’ self-published works.
  3. They market as if the book is from a traditional publishing house or they join authors on the treadmill.

This is not the field of dreams. If you build it—well, write it—they will not necessarily come. It’s a new world, learn how to navigate it.

Now does this mean they can’t sell a decent amount of books? Nope. But they often join the treadmill and are so busy running they don’t realize the opportunities they are missing.

Divide And Conquer

I read publishing industry and author blogs daily, and lately I’ve come across quite a few self-published authors who bad mouth traditional publishing. There are pros and cons both ways, but this sounds more like sour grapes. Then you have the traditionally-published authors who have had it pounded into their heads (usually by the publishing industry) that self publishing is only for authors who aren’t good enough to sign book deals, that self-published books are low-quality and thus, so are the authors.

I need for everyone to take a step back, inhale, exhale and release. It’s a new day and age, folks. Do not allow insecurities or the industry to divide and conquer. Authors, you need to capitalize on the strengths of self and traditional publishing to build your own high-quality brand.

Number Crunching

Self-published authors love to point out Amanda Hocking’s success story as evidence of why they don’t need traditional publishing. I like to use her example to show why all authors should go both routes. Let’s break out the numbers. For argument’s sake, let’s say Amanda sold her million copies in one year. At $0.99, that would be approximately $333,000 in royalties from Amazon’s digital services. Wow, that’s great.

With her doing so well, why do you think she signed a traditional publishing deal? Here are a few reasons: James Patterson, $80 million, Danielle Steel, $35 million, Stephen King, $28 million, Janet Evanovich, $22 million, Stephenie Meyer, $21 million in sales last year. Self publishing is the new “agent” of the industry.

I’m sure I’ll have traditionally-published authors saying, “Wow, I need to stick with my publishing house.” Yes and no. The publishing world has changed so quickly that many traditionally-published authors aren’t in the position to self publish their books and keep all of the profits. This is more than not knowing how to put out a high-quality product, but also includes reaching the market they’d gotten used to their publisher reaching for them and finding new members of their target audience. Now don’t get me wrong. Many of them do have a direct connection to a portion of their base, but not a large enough reader base to reach multi-million dollar paydays.

Bring It All Together

So where do we go from here? What to do? What to do?

It’s time to bring the traditionally and self-published authors together. Whether you go the self or traditional route (you should do both), you need to release high-quality books and grow your loyal reader base. You need to become a brand.

But how?

There are no guarantees, but there are proven steps you can take to help you become a successful author. With the advances in technology, anyone can be a published author, but not all authors are successful. This is not a traditional or self-publishing issue. Keep your focus: Increase quality, credibility and visibility of your brand. Become a successful author.

Deatri King-Bey
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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author (eBook) for only $4.99 from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble or print copies for only $7.99 by using the Contact page of this website and tell Dee know how many copies you’d like and shipping address. She’ll email the ordering information.