Writing and Publishing News

Today’s blog entry is excerpted from my latest book—an ebook: The Successful Author’s Handbook

Do you have an amazing life story that’s just burning to be told? Did you overcome a major obstacle and hope to share it with the world? Are you an expert in your field and you want to educate others? Or have you always dreamed of writing a novel?

According to a Jenkins Group 2002 survey, eighty-one percent of Americans believe they have a book in them. And technology has made it possible for more of us to actually write and produce our books. Sadly, most authors fail. Why? They approach the publishing industry all wrong.

Few first-time authors understand that while writing is a craft, publishing is a business and a published book is a product. As an author in today’s highly competitive publishing climate, it is imperative that you follow some measure of publishing protocol. What if you disregard this advice and bring your book out on a whim, hoping for bestseller status? It could happen. But it is highly unlikely. Here are some statistics to help you see the bigger picture:

In 2006, RR Bowker, the keeper of publishing data, recorded 291,290 new books published that year. There were around 1.5 million books in print. Ten of those titles in print sold a million or more copies in 2006. A whopping 948,000 of them (or over seventy-six percent) sold fewer than 100 copies. (As I understand it, these figures exclude self-published books, those published through “pay-to-publish” companies, text books and other books that are not in the mainstream.)

For the 2008 tally, Bowker announced that there were 560,026 books produced. This includes self-published and pay-to-publish books. Only 275,232 of those books were from traditional royalty publishing houses.

The sad truth is that, while technology makes it easier for ordinary citizens to become published authors, it has created an arena of failure for most of them.

A typical hopeful author will spend months and sometimes years writing his memoir or the novel of his dreams. He lovingly completes it and then turns it over to the best editor he knows—a high school PE teacher, a 1957 college graduate or a neighbor with a large vocabulary. He then jumps on the Internet in search of a publisher. Bingo! Google brings up a whole list of publishers seeking manuscripts—any manuscript. These publishers offer to help authors “self-publish” their books. His is accepted right away. All he has to do is send money—in some cases, lots of it. And when the book is finally published, the author is invited to purchase as many copies as he wants. I refer to these as “pay-to-publish” companies. You might know them by names such as iUniverse, AuthorHouse, Xlibris and Infinity. (This list represents just a fraction of all pay-to-publish companies.)

It doesn’t take this disillusioned author long to discover that, contrary to what he remembers reading in the publishing contract, his book will not be sold through bookstores. In fact, the only books that sell from this point on, are those that he hand-sells to family, friends and a few neighbors. If he’s lucky, sales will number around 200, or so—maybe generating enough revenue to pay the publishing bill. Most are not that fortunate.

This example, fellow authors, is a good representation of the thousands of authors who fail every year.

So how does one experience success as an author? There are two simple steps.

Step Number One: Study the Publishing Industry.
• Read books by publishing professionals such as Patricia Fry, Dan Poynter, Brian Jud and Marilyn Ross.
• Read magazines about the industry, in particular, Publisher’s Weekly, (subscribe to their free ezine, www.publishersweekly.com) and SPAWN Market Update (for members of Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network, www.spawn.org.)
• Attend writing and publishing conferences. Locate conferences at http://shawguides.com or do a Google search to find conferences near you.
• Join publishers’ organizations, such as SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) www.spawn.org; IBPA (The Independent Book Publishers Association) www.ibpa-online.org and SPAN (Small Publishers of North America) www.spannet.org.

There’s much more where this came from. Let me know if you’d like to see more excerpts. And keep in mind that, while this news seems a little disheartening, it is nothing compared to how disheartened you will feel if you take your book project down the wrong publishing road without a reliable map.

Order your copy of The Successful Author’s Handbook (an ebook) here:
http://www.matilijapress.com/successful_author_handbook.html

Leave your comments or questions here.

It’s Super Bowl Sunday. I’m not a football fan, but I’ve enjoyed some fun gatherings (and food) around the event over the years.

These parties remind me of some of my book launch celebrations. Once my three daughters threw me a party on the large patio of a local outdoor bookstore and invited around 100 people. That was super fun.

These days, however, releasing a new book simply means shifting into higher gear with promotion. The only semblance of festivity is a high five or a few “atta-girls” as the neighbors (or my grandsons) help us unload boxes of books from the freight truck.

There is no fanfare with the publication of an ebook, however. The fact is that ebooks are fairly obscure/invisible. There’s no excitement of a big shipment arriving at our doorstep. There’s nothing to show off in person or to place on bookstore shelves. Producing an ebook is kind of a silent victory except where the computer is concerned. When you hatch an ebook, the Internet becomes your very best friend and a hard-working tool. And the author must work even harder than ever to get the word about the secret he doesn’t want to keep.

Have you all checked out my latest ebook or any of my ebooks? If you are a successfully published author with extreme knowledge about the publishing industry, then I probably do not have a book for you. If, however,

• you hope to someday become an author.
• you have one or more books that aren’t selling very well.
• you are about to come out with your first book.
• you are working on a book,

you really must take a look at two of my ebooks—The Successful Author’s Handbook
and The Author’s Repair Kit. http://www.matilijapress.com

If you’re not accustomed to purchasing and handling ebooks, here are a few suggestions:

1: Print the ebook out on 3-hole punched paper and store it in a binder for easy reading and reference.

2: Save it in your computer where you can read it and refer to it at any time.

3: Purchase a handheld reader.

There’s still a lot of controversy about the current and future popularity of ebooks. What is your experience/feeling about them? Do you buy or publish them? How do you use them? What do you believe about the future of ebooks?

I have not refreshed my blog content as frequently this week because the promotion for my latest ebook, The Successful Author’s Handbook, has been attracting hopeful authors. Order your copy at http://www.matilijapress.com/successful_author_handbook.html

We’re down to the wire with the new print version of Catscapades, True Cat Tales. My goodness, how things have changed within the world of self-publishing since I produced my last print book just three years ago. Every entity requires (or at least strongly encourages) that their forms be filled out online and then they make it so doggone difficult to even locate the form, let fill it out. I now know why so many people choose the pay-to-publish (vanity publishing) option. Donahue will accept payment for the PCIP only through PayPal. I was finally forced to get my first PayPal account. I’ve been relying on my partner’s account when we had to use PayPal. But Donahue insisted that the payment has to come from me personally through PayPal.

The copyright office wants you to use their online forms and then make it practically impossible to locate the form. Bowker prefers that you use their online form for Books in Print. Even our State Board of Equalization has a new policy that requires using an online form to file for paying your sales tax. And I don’t have a problem with any of that, except that they make something that could be so simple, so difficult. Are you struggling with this, as well? Or is it just me? I guess all of these entities will get us trained eventually.

We’re just a barcode and a PCIP away from sending Catscapades, True Cat Tales to the printer. Exciting!

In the meantime, while working on the revision of Over 75 Good Ideas for Promoting Your Book (now to be Over 100 Good Ideas for Promoting Your Book), I’m also in book promotion mode. Of course, any author knows that you’re always in book promotion mode, but when you have a newly published book, you kick it up a notch or two. While promoting my new collection of 50 of my best articles for authors (many of them revised and updated), The Successful Author’s Handbook, I’m just about to launch my prepublication promotion for Catscapades. It is a busy period in the Matilija Press offices.

Want to help? Here’s how. Let me know if you want to receive information about Catscapades. And go ahead and place your order for The Successful Author’s Handbook.
PLFry620@yahoo.com

Sales are brisk for my latest ebook, The Successful Author’s Handbook.

Many of you have my first book in this series—The Successful Writer’s Handbook. This is a collection of my best articles related to writing. The Successful Author’s Handbook is a collection of 50 of my best articles written over the years for authors in the areas of:

Authorship
Is Publishing a Bad Idea for Your Book?
Authorship is a Business and You Are the CEO
What is the Purpose of Your Book and Why Does it Matter?

Writing
7 Rules for Crushing Writers’ Block
Write a How-to First
How to Write a How-to

Publishing
Which Publishing Method is the Right One for You?
8 Publishing Mistakes and How to Avoid them
There’s Danger in Believing Publishing Rumors

Publishers and Agents
How to Choose the Right Publisher for Your Book

(These are just some of the articles posted in these sections.)

Also included are sections on Editing, Query Letters, Book Proposals, Book Promotion, Public Speaking for Authors, Press Releases, Tip Sheets and Book Reviews. I’ve also included articles on Genre and Book Titles.

This ebook contains the information and support you need in order to write the right book for the right audience. If you have a book in hand, The Successful Author’s Handbook will guide you in developing a marketing plan.

I actually had a client say to me the other day, “I don’t have a clue about how to promote this book.” Yikes! This client has read my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book (at least he owns it—maybe he didn’t read it). Together, we wrote a book proposal which included information about his platform and how he would promote this book. His book has been published. But now he is paralyzed by the thought of book promotion—doesn’t know where to begin! I suggested that he read my latest book—an ebook—The Successful Author’s Handbook.

The information in the articles have been updated, so the material is current.

Order your ebook today:
http://www.matilijapress.com/successful_author_handbook.html

It is finally posted at my website and ready for purchase. What it is? The Successful Author’s Handbook. It’s a collection of Patricia Fry’s best articles UPDATED, organized by topic and all related to the process of writing, editing, publishing, book marketing, public speaking and more. Here are some of the things you’ll learn:

• When is publishing a bad idea for you or your book?
• How to determine the purpose of your book and why this is so important?
• Self-editing tips.
• How to write a stronger query letter.
• Why your novel needs a book proposal.
• Which publishing method/option is right for you and your project?
• How to choose the right publisher/agent.
• When does an author need an agent?
• How to select the perfect title.
• Book promotion ideas and techniques galore.
• How to get one book review after another.
• How to establish rapport with your audience when engaged in public speaking.
• And so much more…

The 50 updated articles in this 143-page e-book could make the difference for you, between a successful publishing experience and a failed one.

Here’s your opportunity to learn from an expert with over 35 years experience in the publishing field, who is:

• the author of 30 books on a variety of topics
• a small publisher (owner Matilija Press, established in 1983)
• the leader of an international publishing organization (SPAWN)
• a publishing and editorial consultant
• a national speaker
• still highly involved within the publishing field.

The Successful Author’s Handbook is only $9.99. If you are a new or struggling author, the carefully selected, organized and updated material in this e-book will afford you the insight and give you the tools and information you need in order to succeed in this highly competitive publishing climate.

But then, if you’ve ever ordered one or more of Patricia Fry’s books, you know the quality of information you are getting.

Order your copy of The Successful Author’s Handbook today: http://www.matilijapress.com/successful_author_handbook.html

If you’re not accustomed to reading e-books, let me help. You have choices in how you handle an e-book. There is the handheld reader, of course, which few of us own, yet. You can read the book on the computer and store it there for quick reference when you have a question. Or do what I do when I download important material or e-books I want to have handy for reference purposes. I load my printer with pre-punched paper (3-hole), print the e-book and secure it in a binder. (This book will take a one or one-half inch binder.)

Here’s the ordering site once again:
http://www.matilijapress.com/successful_author_handbook.html

When is the last time you had quiet time to sit and write whatever you wanted for an entire morning or afternoon? Do you ever get free time to just write without interruption?

It seems as though, for most writers, life gets in the way and writing takes a backseat to work, family, entertaining, travel as well as events such as relocating, changing jobs, family illness, volunteer projects, extraordinary family demands or exhaustion. Do you see yourself in this paragraph? Does it make you sad to think that you don’t have the time to write?

What would you write if you could? If you had the uninterrupted time to sit and write all afternoon even one day per week, what would you write? Do you have an unfinished novel, business book or children’s fantasy you would LOVE to finish and publish? Or do you enjoy whiling the hours away writing poetry?

Do you have plans to someday get back to your writing? How is that plan shaping up? Do you see the light at the end of the tunnel leading to your writing desk? Or have you nearly decided to drop this dream along with those about marrying a rich bachelor, winning the lottery and becoming a famous athlete?

I’m blessed in that I can write every single day. Oh, there are days when it’s nearly impossible to tend to business (and my writing has become a serious business) because there’s a 3-year-old in the house or a sick cat has my attention, for example. But I’ve managed to weave writing into my life so that it is as much a part of my existence as is daily exercise, eating and pursuing my close relationships. There are times when I write probably forty hours per week. I love when that happens. When you have created a writing-related business, however, you have to pursue a lot of other tasks that don’t directly involve the act of writing. And I spend an additional twenty hours per week on those activities.

When life happens, those numbers are reduced or my sleeping hours are interrupted so I can put in the time and get the work done. And I generally do work seven days per week, with some time off for good behavior. For example, it’s 5:15 on a Sunday morning here in California as I complete my blog so I can get back to work on the revision of my Over 100 Good Ideas for Promoting Your Book. This morning, I’ve already designed an order form to tuck in with the new perfect bound version of Catscapades, True Cat Tales—to be produced, hopefully, by the end of March. (Let me know if you want to receive an announcement.) I also crunched some numbers in an attempt to determine how many copies of this book to have printed.

I am self-publishing both of these books through Matilija Press, my own publishing company.

So how much time do you spend writing each week? I hope it is enough to fill your soul and respond to your deepest creative needs. What do you give up in order to write? Is it worth it? Do you see hope for a more active writing future? Let’s talk about it. Leave your comments here at this blog site.

And if you want to discuss your writing or your writing project with me, contact me at PLFry620@yahoo.com. In the meantime, I provide an enormous amount of help and resources for writers and authors at my website: http://www.matilijapress.com

It may seem contradictory, at times—what you hear from publishing professionals. But this is only because we each have different areas of strengths, interest and passion. We have varied backgrounds—some professionals come directly from publishing houses or literary agencies, others are relatively new to the industry, but they’ve learned rather quickly, others, like me, have trudged around in the industry muck experiencing it from an author’s point of view for over 35 years.

While we all might offer different messages—we’re rather adamant on certain things—most of us agree on some important points. For example, you must have some money designated toward your publishing project. You’ll need it for a good book editor. PLEASE, don’t turn your manuscript over to a retired professor, your son’s English teacher or a coworker of a friend who is “good with words and spelling.”

In fact, plan to run your manuscript by your book editor of choice twice, especially if there is quite a bit of rewriting after the first edit. Plan to spend anywhere from $800 to $3,500. In some cases, more.

You might need money in order to get your book published. Hundreds of authors, each year, self-publish and countless others go with pay-to-publish companies. By the way, Ron Pramschufer just came out with a new FREE ebook called, Publishing Basics, Navigating the Self Publishing Minefield. Check it out. I haven’t read it yet, but I believe that Ron has the same mindset as I do with regard to self-publishing. We’d rather see you self-publish (establish your own publishing company) than to turn your book over to a pay-to-publish company.
http://www.selfpublishing.com

Also be sure to read my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. It will help you to sort through your options and make the right decision for you and your particular book. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

Here are a few other things that publishing professionals generally agree on:

• Publishing is a business and should be approached as such from the moment you decide you want to become a published author.

• It is imperative that you know something about the publishing industry before making any decisions. In other words, study the publishing industry before getting involved.

• You’ll have a more positive and possibly successful experience if you make decisions based on knowledge rather than emotion. You may love your book and are eager to see it in print, but this doesn’t mean that publishing it is a good business decision for you.

• Authors who expect to sell copies of their books outside of their circle of family and friends MUST be willing to promote their books.

• Your book will sell for as long as you are willing to promote it.

• There is an exercise that, if seriously pursued, will help authors determine whether or not they have a viable product. This exercise also shows authors how to create a more viable product. This exercise is called “writing a book proposal.”

The truth that most professionals understand is that not every author is cut out for the world of publishing and not every book is a viable product. (The pay-to-publish people don’t seem to have learned this, yet—or don’t care.) We see hundreds of authors fail every year. The rate of failure used to be 76 percent. Now it is being quoted at 79 percent. I was pretty sure that this figure was rising with the influx of authors who enter into publishing with crummy books, and who have the freedom to publish even if they aren’t ready, educated about the publishing industry or able to understand the difference between a good book and a bad one. (The failure rate is determined by the number of books sold—I believe that 79 percent of books sold less than 100 copies in 2004—when this statistic was documented. And I imagine that now, in 2010, the rate is even higher.)

Professionals work diligently to educate authors and the good news is that there are also more excellent books being produced and there are more savvy authors entering into the world of publishing.

For those of you who are new to publishing, don’t avoid these publishing professionals. Read what they write. Visit their blogs often. Listen to their teleseminars and attend their workshops. Ask them questions. Follow their recommendations, hire a good book editor, write a book proposal and you may be one of the 21 percent who sell anywhere from 1,000 books per year to 100,000.

Contact me with your questions and concerns. I also do editorial manuscript evaluations. PLFry620@yahoo.com.

I listened to Mark Levine, author of The Fine Print of Self-Publishing, in a teleseminar yesterday. The teleseminar was presented FREE for SPAWN members—just another benefit of joining SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network). I’m sure that our members who listened in learned a great deal about the publishing industry—at least from Mark’s perspective and based on his research and experiences. Quite informative. Members of SPAWN can listen to the recording of the teleseminar at our website. We may also sell CDs of the teleseminars we present. Check back at our website for information about this. And, while you’re there, sign up for our FREE enewsletter.
http://www.spawn.org

As most of you know, the publishing industry is changing and it is innovative authors, cutting-edge publishers and creative book promoters who are facilitating so much of the change. It is also the small independent publisher of one or two books and the pay-to-publish author who are responsible for the changes. The excellent books being published and the awful, unedited, meaningless books are causing the changes in the industry. It’s the aggressive book promoter and the timid author who doesn’t know how to promote who are creating the statistics and blazing the trail to wherever the industry is headed.

One thing that Mark said yesterday really struck me and it is SO true. He said that authors must spend money on an editor. He said the same thing I often say, “The local college professor is not a book editor. You need a book editor to edit your book.” And he suggested what I know, as well—your project needs to go to the editor at least twice. Once the editor edits your book, you will be doing some rewrites here and there, you’ll be making changes—probably more than you realize. So it is absolutely crucial that you send that manuscript back to the editor for a final edit. He said that if you don’t have the money to hire a good book editor and to follow through with the editing work you need, you might as well not publish at all. If you do, you could be affecting the publishing industry in a negative way.

What are you doing this week to make a positive difference within the publishing industry? Are you making good choices with regard to your book? Are you striving to produce an excellent product or do you just want to get your book published without concern for the quality? Remember, you are affecting the publishing industry no matter your decision.

Contact me for a free editorial evaluation of your manuscript. PLFry620@yahoo.com. Learn more about me and my services here: http://www.matilijapress.com/consulting.html

As I said in a recent blog post, I am rewriting my book, Over 75 Good Ideas for Promoting Your Book. It will now be Over 100 Good Ideas for Promoting Your Book.

You may wonder if there are more ways to promote a book now than there was in 2000, when I first produced that book, or is it that I’m aware of more of them. I have to say, it’s a little of both. I can tell you for certain that this book will include book promotion activities that you have not, yet, tried. I can also promise that there will be book promotion activities that, if pursued, will definitely help you to sell more books.

The answer to your book’s success lies in this book—but it is up to you to recognize it, commit to it, implement it and follow through with it. Without appropriate and committed action on your part, your book will not succeed in the marketplace.

But don’t wait for this book to come out. If you have a book that is struggling and on the verge of failing—if your book just isn’t gaining the respect and interest you had hoped from your target audience—you may need to read my first-aid book for authors. The Author’s Repair Kit helps authors to breathe new life into their struggling books. Check this ebook out at
http://www.matilijapress.com/author_repairkit.html

I can tell you that there is nothing else out there like this book. This book features a concept that no one else has come up with and it is credible. If you are willing to take a new, perhaps more realistic, look at your book based on the concepts and techniques in this ebook, you could move it off dead center and into the mainstream of selling activity.

Order The Author’s Repair Kit NOW and your book may be ready for the Valentine’s Day sales frenzy. Read this book to discover if you are promoting to the right audience. If not, it will help you to find your true target audience and it will guide you in approaching them.

If you neglected to write a book proposal before turning your book over to the first pay-to-publish company that expressed an interest or if you just gave your book proposal a lick and a promise, here’s your opportunity to right any wrongs you may have perpetuated on behalf of your book.

You may read my book, The Author’s Repair Kit, and learn that you have made a lot of good choices, but you just need to change some of your promotional ways. If you can increase the sales of your book even by 10 percent this year, the $5.95 you paid for this information and these concepts would be well worth it, right?

Order your copy of The Author’s Repair Kit today. By this evening, you’ll have a pretty clear idea of what you need to do in order to create the measure of success you desire with your book.

http://www.matilijapress.com/author_repairkit.html

If you’re in the process of writing a book—you have a manuscript completed or nearly completed, send it to me for a quick FREE evaluation. Email me to discuss this offer: PLFry620@yahoo.com.

How many of you could write a fresh, informative blog post every single day of the year? I take it for granted. I write my blog entry every day as part of my morning routine. And I try to do so with you in mind.

When I mention this to people, they give me a shocked look and say, “What? Every single day?”

So I’m asking you, does it seem so difficult to you? Could you (or do you) post to your blog every day or at least every few days? Why does it seem so difficult for some to imagine? Is it the problem of coming up with something meaningful to write? Is it finding the time to write? Is it the discipline aspect—being scheduled enough to do this day in and day out?

This is my blog number 692. When I first started blogging in November of 2005, I was posting around 10 times per month. It wasn’t until 2009 that I started cranking out a blog per day.

So how does this serve me? I guess I enjoy meeting a challenge and a blog per day, when you have a busy schedule, is challenging. I like helping and I believe that if hopeful and struggling authors and freelance writers are paying any attention to what I write, they are being helped. And I must write, so this commitment to my blog keeps me writing and it keeps my fingers and brain nimble.

Are you pursuing a writing project that enriches your being as a writer and/or that provides the opportunity to give, share and just dream? I’d like to hear about it.

In the meantime, be sure to check out my showcase of books posted at my website http://www.matilijapress.com

If you are thinking about writing a book, you’re in the process of writing a book, your book is ready to be published or you’re promoting a book and, if you don’t have extensive knowledge of the publishing industry and your options and responsibilities, you may need to study some of my books before you proceed. You see, I wrote them specifically for you. If you don’t have a qualified mentor or guide walking you through the processes, please take responsibility and get help before you follow in the footsteps of so, so many failed authors.

If you have questions or concerns or just need direction, contact me, Patricia Fry here: PLFry620@yahoo.com.

FYI, I have been writing for publication for over 35 years. I earned my living as a freelance article writer for decades and I have 30 books to my credit (numbers 31 and 32 are in the works as we speak). I am the executive director of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network). And I work with other authors and freelance writers on their publishing projects as an editor and/or consultant.