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These articles are based on my experience--for more than twenty years--working for a major publisher in New York. For the first time, you will discover what goes on behind the scenes that impacts your future as a writer--knowledge
that is essential to a successful career. These are the secrets of the largest publishers and retail booksellers in the word.
It is crucial that you have a basic understnading of how the business works and what you can do to improve your chances of
getting your work published.
Jerry D. Simmons
Author and former executive with The
Time Warner Book Group
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Writers Must Be Willing To Promote Their Own Book
by Jerry D. Simmons
Writers must be willing to promote
their own book! This is especially important if you are self published. I recently had dinner with an excellent small California publisher who commented on the fact that too many authors are not willing to do what is necessary to help their publisher
sell books. From knocking on doors of booksellers to contacting their local media, most authors are not comfortable with what
is required to make a book successful, meaning sell copies.
My fellow writers, this is a problem! Forget the fact
that my conversation was with a small publisher; let's take the larger New York
houses for which I worked for more than 23 years. If your book is positioned somewhere in the middle of the seasonal list,
you will be expected to do a certain amount of promotion on your own. Obviously, the more you are willing to do the better
your sales. These companies cannot afford to spend resources on every book, so in order for you to be successful as an author,
you must promote your own book.
The competition for book sales is intense, if you sit back and depend on your publisher
to do everything; the chances of your book being successful are slim. Even the best-selling authors, with whom I have spent
time, work hard at writing and generating publicity for their book(s). They are always looking for ways to get their face
in the news and let the public know they have a new book.
Most of the authors that I meet are less than enthusiastic
about walking up to complete strangers and asking for help selling their book. It can be uncomfortable, but necessary in today's
marketplace. If you fit this scenario, please let me know, I will seek out writers who have been successful with making unsolicited
calls to booksellers. I will put together some information that will help you promote your book. However, you must accept
the fact that self-promoting is not only important, but also necessary.
TIP OF THE WEEK -
Book Reviews are
an important ingredient in the success of any book. One way to increase the exposure and success of Independent Book’s
is to develop a system of Book Reviews. This is a non-compensated program,
the reader and reviewer would not be paid for their comments. They would receive a free book and the opportunity to read a
variety of new and interesting titles. Jerry@writersreaders.com .
Up to now, reviews for Independent
books have been difficult to obtain, without paying a fee. That is about to change, Nothing Binding is about to launch a new
Independent Book Review Program, details will be available in next week’s newsletter.
For anyone interested in becoming a book reviewer, send me an email, for those of you
who indicated earlier you were interested, I have your information. For authors, all you have to do to be eligible for a free
book review is become a member of NothingBinding.com. Membership is free.
This is going to give Independent books a huge push and start to elevate our status
to where it belongs, right up there with all the other books on the market.
QUESTION
OF THE WEEK –
Q - I’ve
been reading your newsletter since the beginning and I must admit, I have read an assortment of articles that seem to contradict
what you are telling us. Who do I believe?
A – Excellent
question, there are many differing points of view in the world of publishing. My opinions come from my twenty-five years in
sales and marketing with two of the largest publishers in the world. I have experienced a wide assortment of issues during
my time in New York. I try and share my knowledge with you and even though others
may disagree, what I write is based on my experience and mine alone.
There are not always
right and wrong answers, problems can be tackled in a variety of ways, and my methods may not be a position you agree with
or decide to attempt, that is fine. My goal is your success as an author. I will assure you that I will never mislead you
and never try to guide you in my direction. I want to offer the facts and you can make your own decisions.
If you read something
and you are not sure whether you believe their position or not, simply read their bio, evaluate their experience, and decide
for yourself.
DEAR EDITOR -
Q - Why do I
need an editor?
A - Whether
the work is fiction or nonfiction, an editor can see things in a manuscript that are hard, even impossible, for a writer to
see. Editors are professional readers. They’re objective and unbiased. It’s very difficult for
writers to see their creation objectively, to see what’s there and what isn’t. Editors are a safety net.
There are a lot of pitfalls for a manuscript, even on the surface of things. Let’s take a draft of 100K
words; we’re looking at nearly 750,000 keystrokes. Each keystroke is an opportunity for error. Now, this
same manuscript might be comprised of 10,000 sentences, each one hopefully based on a meaningful construction. An editor
will make sure that the mechanics measure up and the text conforms to current standard usage.
Below the surface, writing is made up of ideas. A book should be based on a single premise and each chapter should support
that premise, each paragraph should support the chapter, each sentence should support the paragraph. At this level,
tangents and lost leaders can add confusion rather than complexity.
In fiction, you might be surprised at how many manuscripts don’t show a clear protagonist and antagonist, and so then
can’t deliver honest conflict. Here are a few questions to consider: Where does the story engine start?
Where does it slip into neutral? Is there meaningful progression? How’s the pacing? Will the readers
want to keep turning pages? Will they know what they’re buying into before the one-quarter mark? Do we have a
goal established? Is it powerful enough to keep your reader caring?
Then we look to characterization. Is it real? Does it work? Are these people believable, loveable, likeable,
redeemable, detestable? Are they multifaceted? Are they human? How does the point of view work? Is
it stable? Does it shift? If so, for what reason? What about the dialogue? Does it sound real?
Does it sound like it belongs to the character who speaks it or does it sound like the same person is speaking, even though
there are multiple characters in your story? How about setting? Are the people anchored in time and place? What
does the setting do for the story? Is it working for or against the tale? Do all these attributes work to support
the main premise?
If the piece is informative nonfiction, an editor can detect if the facts are being released in a timely manner, allowing
for base knowledge to grow and develop naturally. The editor will look for a logical sequencing of information and make sure
the delivery works, if the material is comprehensive enough to cover the promised thesis, and if there are lingering questions
that need to be addressed.
There are any number of attributes—cognitive, imaginative, and developmental—that go into writing a successful
manuscript. An editor’s job is to help the writer create a satisfying experience for the reader—the foremost
hope of any book.
Nancy McCurry
www.NancyMcCurry.com
AUTHORS HELPING
AUTHORS -
Two of my favorite
writers have come up with a terrific idea so I’m adding this as the newest segment in my newsletter. Titled “Authors
Helping Authors,” it’s just that. Information to share with other writers that will help them in their quest to
sell books. You’ll be reading more in the next couple of weeks and if you have ideas on how to help other authors, please
send me an email jerry@writersreaders.com .
THIS IS A MUST
SHARE STORY -
If you’re
a pet lover, dog lover, or someone who just enjoys a good story, then click The Broken Bond by Barrie David. Guaranteed to bring a tear to your eye.
DID YOU KNOW?
PROMOTE
YOUR CHRISTMAS BOOK!
ON DECEMBER 3RD ON MY "ALL THINGS THAT MATTER BLOGTALK RADIO SHOW" I
AM INVITING AUTHORS TO PROMOTE THEIR CHRISTMAS BOOKS!
IF YOU
HAVE WRITTEN A CHRISTMAS STORY THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO PLUG ON THE RADIO, PLEASE SEND ME AN EMAIL WITH CHRISTMAS AS
THE SUBJECT.
THE AMOUNT OF TIME
THAT WILL BE ALLOTTED TO EACH AUTHOR WILL DEPEND UPON THE RESPONSE TO THIS REQUEST. BASED UPON MY RECENT SHOW DEVOTED
TO "NOTHINGBINDING" AUTHORS, I CAN TALK TO ABOUT 10 AUTHORS
WITH ENOUGH TIME FOR YOU TO DESCRIBE YOUR BOOK, TELL WHERE TO BUY AND FOR YOU TO LIST A COUPLE OF REVIEWS.
THE FIRST TEN AUTHORS
TO RESPOND WILL GET THE AIR TIME. SHOWTIME IS 8PM,EST WISHING
YOU ALL MARKETING SUCCESS THIS SEASON!
Philip F.
Harris
http://dickens111.tripod.com/theliteraryworksofphilipharris/
http://www.nothingbinding.com Blog http://philipharris.blogspot.com
WAKING GOD,
www.wakinggod.com. A MAINE
CHRISTMAS CAROL,
http://dickens111.tripod.com JESUS TAUGHT IT, TOO...
RAPING LOUISIANA:
A DIARY OF DECEIT
AUTHOR
PROFILE –
Dr. Cy Vaughn was the first heart surgeon in the world to implant an artificial heart
as treatment for heart transplant rejection. That historic operation inspired his debut novel, The Phoenix Heart (Infinity
Publishing). (See Infinity Authors in sidebar on homepage)
The novel chronicles the race between two titans of surgery who are locked in a race
to develop the first artificial heart: one surgeon for the benefit of mankind; the other for an underworld syndicate linked
to sinister ex-Nazis who sell human organs and art looted during WWII.
"“Artificial hearts and art stolen by the Nazis:
The Phoenix Heart weaves these improbable parallel plot lines in a seamless odyssey through Phoenix cardiac surgical
suites, Austrian salt mines, and Vienna coffee houses in the exhilarating early days of artificial heart implants. Cy
Vaughn knows the pathways well, and his debut novel is a page turning winner.” Taffy Cannon, author of Paradise Lost
Cy is now writing a non-fiction work, Escape from a Glass Coffin, the story
of his wife Barbara’s courageous recovery from acute total paralysis caused by Guillain-Barre syndrome. Cy and his co-writer,
Dr. Katy Vaughn Fielder, Ph.D., will give readers an unprecedented professional and personal account of the impact of this
killer auto-immune disease on the patient and her family. Ron Powers, Pulitzer Prize winner, will write the preface.
The Phoenix Heart
is available on the web: www.cyvaughn.com; www.buybooksontheweb.com; www.amazon.com; toll free phone: (877) BUY BOOK
COMMENTARY
-
If authors and their
agents depend on BookScan for their sales data then they are in a world of hurt. BookScan is the most recognizable source
of book sales but highly inaccurate. BookScan uses a weighted system whereby they “guess-timate” book sales based
on a small percentage of reporting stores. And this is the best that publishing has to offer?
OPPORTUNITIES
FOR WRITERS -
I thought I would
let you know about a new blog site I have recently launched, Conversations with POD, which aims to help promote POD authors and their work. I have noticed in recent
months that many authors seem to be doing what are known as 'virtual book tours', whereby their books are mentioned on various
blog sites and the authors answer a number of questions on their work and aspirations. Most of these however seem to be in
the US, so I thought I would start one in the UK.
Authors are asked
to answer 10 basic questions and then email the responses to me, together with a jpeg of their book cover (maximum size 100
KB) with basic info such as book and authors name, publishers details, genre, price (in £ sterling) and ISBN. The
site is open to all, the only criteria being that the book must be published via POD and it must be available in the
UK. The easiest way to check this is to type the ISBN
into amazon.co.uk (most US books are in fact listed, as ours
are on amazon.com).
I can't promise
of course that it will help sales, but it certainly can't harm ....
Kind Regards
June Austin
june@talismanskull.co.uk
READER FEEDBACK
-
I'm afraid I have
to take issue with your first two articles about getting independent /self/POD published books onto the shelves in the bookstores.
As you know, I am the Marketing Director for Star Publish. Our books are listed in the databases for Barnes & Noble, Borders
and Hastings TO BE STOCKED ON THEIR SHELVES. We do not pay anything for this right. Many of our books have been on the endcaps,
special displays by the cash registers, and on "New Release" front sections. Like the military (I think it's the Marines,
but not sure), "the difficult we do right away; the impossible takes a little longer." As the marketing director, I spend
several hours every day calling bookstores to tell them about our books. When they check their orderability, they find all
of our books available for them to order. AND THEY DO ORDER THEM. I hear from readers across the country every day who are
finding my books on the shelves in their local bookstores and who have bought them and enjoyed them. Many Star authors have
also had very successful book signings in both chain and independent bookstores. One of our authors recently had one at a
big B&N in the Bronx, and the CRM of the store did major publicity ahead of time, including printing posters that went
up all over the store, putting the event on their phone message when you called the store, and ordering the books well ahead
of time.
Is this the norm?
It could be, if we all work at it together. One of the things that has made a huge difference is that Star Publish has all
their ducks in a row, so to speak. Their books are all fully returnable through both Ingram and Baker & Taylor--at no
additional cost to the author as they do at AuthorHouse and XLibris, where it costs about $600/year for that item; they all
carry a full discount (55% going in to Ingram and thus 40% going to the bookstores), thus making them on the same playing
field as those from the big NY publishers; they are very selective about what they publish; and we work hard at letting the
bookstores know about the books that are available. With app. 300,000 new titles being published this year, unless we as authors/
publishers alert the stores to the fine books we have to offer, they will never discover them. Imagine how many new titles
from major publishers never see the light of a bookstore shelf either? One author I know had a book published by one of the
"big 10" NY publishers, and as far as he can determine, he has sold about 16 copies of the book in the 3 years it has been
out. It is now listed as "out of print" on Amazon, but the publisher still holds the rights to the book for another 4 years.
I have lived a long time. I have learned to never say never. It takes work, sure, but my dad taught me years ago that
anything worth having is worth exerting some effort to obtain it.
Janet Elaine
Smith
Your success would
be entirely "out of the norm," in my 25 years experience, what you described happened rarely, and never on a consistent basis.
To know that you were granted "end caps, special cash register displays, and the New Release front sections" without any form
of subsidy is unheard of. So congratulations for your success, you are the exception by all rules of the business that I'm
aware exist.
As for your discount statement, I'm sorry to disagree, but those discounts are not on the "same playing
field" as those from the big NY publishers.
Thanks for the
email and continued success.
Jerry D. Simmons
This might be "unusual"
to some, and many may argue the fact that it is working, but please go to http://starpublish.com and look at the Photo Album. The proof is there. Also, this just shows that it can be done
and if I can do it, so can you. We are making progress, one book at a time!
Janet Elaine Smith
FOR READERS WITH
VISION PROBLEMS -
It's free software
that helps you read your documents if have vision or dyslexia problems. Great resource for writers who are being advised to
listen to their work read aloud. http://www.readplease.com/
This works just
as well for those of us who want to hear their work read out loud, but can't stand to hear their own voice.
Thank you Kathleen
Ewing.
