Writing and Publishing News

I’m still focusing on promoting Catscapades, True Cat Tales. I discovered yesterday that the book is up on the welcome page of Catnip Etc. website. Nice. And I’m getting more orders.

I don’t know if I’ve ever done this, but I am going to plug someone else in my blog. Catscapades is full of kitty cat photos. Some of them are old and our photographer (also responsible for the cover photo) took them all and restored them so that they are sharp and clear. In fact, one reviewer commented about how the photos in the book are not your usual home-generated snapshots, they are really quality photos. That is thanks to Ruth at Nature Studios Photography.

If any of you need photos for an article or a book or you want your photos enhanced so they look their absolute best, I recommend Ruth. Contact me for her contact info. PLFry620@yahoo.com.

Now, you’ve been following along with me as I promote this new book of mine. I’ve put in many hours, I’ve worked hard and I am starting to see definite results. So can I rest now? Can I start working on my next book? I actually have a book in the wings—one that a publisher is interested in. I’ve promised to do some revisions for him and I’m on deadline.

But will I shift gears now from marketing manager to writer? No! In order to keep the orders coming in—to rev sales up even more—I need to keep doing more of what I’m doing. There is no resting for someone who is promoting a book. You’ve heard/read me and others say that your book will sell for as long as you are willing to promote it. If you don’t think you want to keep up the hard work—if you really, really dislike practically begging for each sale—you need to make a change. You need to hire someone to handle promotion, sales and distribution, lower your standards for success with your book or give up your dream, altogether.

I hope that by sharing with you some of my real-life experiences while promoting my latest book, you are coming to understand what it takes to succeed as an author. And I hope that, if this lifestyle does not appeal to you, you will decide not to publish.

I think there should be a whole separate category and process for non-serious authors—those who want a “trophy” book. And there actually is. Only seldom does the non-serious author recognize him/herself, so they enter into publishing alongside serious authors and clog up the system.

Now that’s a whole different rant!

Let me just end by saying that I meet and work with many authors every year and most of them are definitely serious authors—or they go into the field from the perspective of a professional. They work hard and they make all of the right commitments along the way. Some of them, however, fall by the wayside under the pressure of promotion. It is not easy. And I don’t care how wonderful your book is, it will not sell itself. Will those of you who have experienced the task of book promotion agree?

For articles and resources for authors and freelance writers visit my website: http://www.matilijapress.com. Also check out my online courses for authors and writers and my array of books. If you need editorial assistance—and most of us do, contact me for a free evaluation and estimate.

The reviews are coming in—check out Steve Dale’s comments about Catscapades, True Cat Tales here:
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/lifestyle/stories.nsf/pets/story/708A0506FF9111D68625771700053A81?OpenDocument

I had another three review copies requested yesterday. And a friend of a friend has placed an order for four copies. I notice books disappearing from the displays downtown. So is it time to relax, sit back and wait for things to really start popping? Absolutely not! It’s time to rev up my efforts now that I have begun to establish a pattern of reviews and sales.

As many of you know, I’m the executive director of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network). One of the perks we offer for members is a monthly teleseminar with key players in the world of publishing and book marketing. This week, we had Penny Sansevieri of A Marketing Expert. One thing she pointed out is how important exposure is to sales. And in the beginning weeks and months of a book’s life, the author’s focus should be on getting exposure. If you seek only sales, you will soon experience tremendous disappointment. For some authors, when sales don’t materialize at the volume they expect within a certain time period, they step off of the book promotion train and give up.

Selling copies of your book to people outside of your circle of friends, family and acquaintances, can take time and lots and lots of exposure. But each book project is different. Certainly, some take more time, effort and exposure than others. Sometimes we have misjudged our audiences. For example, I thought that members of the Cat Writers Association would clamor to get copies of my book of cat stories. But this has not been the case. Most of them have written cat books of their own.

I often tell authors something that I am, once again, experiencing myself: you must pretty much hand-sell each and every book, especially in the beginning, when you are establishing your audience and developing your array of exposure.

What is exposure, anyway? Your exposure is your coverage. Getting exposure means introducing your book to your audience. It means bringing it to light, making it known, getting publicity for it. And you can do this in any number of ways—depending on your particular book. Here are some basic methods of getting exposure for your book.

• Get book reviews in a variety of appropriate online and print publications.
• Write articles for or submit stories to publications read by your audience.
• Blog and Tweet about your book. Post at your Facebook page.
• Comment at other blog sites.
• Arrange for book signings, demonstrations and other presentations.
• Distribute promo material (postcards, flyers, announcements).
• Create and distribute spin offs such as related booklets, advertising items, etc.

How are you getting exposure for your book? Leave your comments.

In the meantime, be sure to check out the wide array of helpful tools I offer for authors. They include books, courses and tons of free articles and resources.
http://www.matilijapress.com

Don’t you love it when your efforts start paying off—when you start actually seeing the fruits of your labor? And this is especially true when your efforts are going toward book promotion.

As you may recall, I’m in the process of promoting my newest book, Catscapades, True Cat Tales. I’ve spent a lot of time these past weeks contacting pet/cat book reviewers, cat newsletter editors, cat website owners, cat-related gift shops, independent bookstores and so forth. It’s time-consuming work. First, you have to find the appropriate opportunity and contact info. Then you must devise a meaningful email/letter. And then you wait. It’s a joyful day when you stumble across a directory or listing of merchants, reviewers, etc. But beware, many of them are outdated.

I think I told you that I came across two large lists of cats only gift shops. I checked each one online to see if I could find out their current contact information. Even so, I am now getting letters returned with notes stating, “No such address…” It has been my experience over the years, however, that you really do have to sift through a lot of bad leads in order to find the gems. And those gems can be worth the effort.

I belong to the Cat Writers Association (CWA). And I have announced my new book to their discussion group in a variety of ways. Most of you probably use a “signature,” right? This is a sort of mini-bio or promo that is automatically added to the bottom of all of your email. Here’s how mine reads:

Patricia Fry, freelance writer, author and editorial consultant.
www.matilijapress.com
Executive Director of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network)
www.spawn.org

Patricia is the author of 31 books including,
The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book
The Author’s Repair Kit (e-book)
The Successful Author’s Handbook (e-book)
and her newest book, Catscapades, True Cat Tales
www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html

Visit my informative writing/publishing Blog often:
www.matilijapress.com/publishingblog

Well, many CWA members saw this and other less subtle mentions of my new book in the discussion emails, but no one responded. Last week, I located the member directory for CWA. During the last several days, I’ve been contacting those members who review cat books, those with newspaper pet columns, those with cat newsletters and those that recommend cat-related books at their sites and I’ve been telling them about my book. Guess what? The response has been astounding. So far, I have enthusiastic promises of four reviews and one member has already posted news of my book in her newspaper column.
http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-9729-Cats-Examiner~y2010m5d6-Catscapades-offers-a-collection-of-40–true-cat-stories

Now, I am going through the CWA list to locate other members with cat books and I’ll check their appearances and book tour pages as well as their press releases and book review pages. How will this information help me in my promotional pursuits? I may discover new book review opportunities for my cat stories book. I might get some new ideas and leads for promoting this book.

If you’ve been involved in book promotion, you know that there are ups and downs. You feel defeated and depressed one week—when nothing seems to be happening—no one is noticing—no one cares. And then you’ll hit upon a goldmine of resources or a brilliant idea and your efforts begin to spark some definite interest in your book. Has this been your experience?

Or have you given up on promoting your book. Over 75 percent of authors do, you know. They sell maybe 50 or 100 copies mostly to people they know. And then, when sales slide or become nonexistent, and promotion gets harder, they quit.

I hope to encourage you, through this blog, my writing/publishing books, my many articles posted all over the web, the resources and information at my website, my online courses and my presentations, to properly prepare yourself for your publishing adventure. And I hope that by telling my blow-by-blow experiences promoting Catscapades right out of the chute is helpful to your project. And, for those of you who are still in the writing stages, I hope it gives you some idea about what comes after you finish writing that book.

I met a writer recently who expects to be published by a traditional publisher because then they will take care of promotion. But I’m here to tell you, it does not work that way! The author is responsible for promoting his/her book no matter which publishing option they choose.

Okay, now that you are becoming a believer, maybe it is time that you did a more in-depth study of the publishing industry, your options, how to choose the best option for your project, the possible consequences of your choices, your responsibility as a published author and so much more. Go to http://www.matilijapress.com. Seek out the mode of learning there that most appeals to you. Contact me with questions: PLFry620@yahoo.com

I speak and write often about the benefits of getting your book reviewed many times over. I encourage authors to get proactive and submit their books to numerous book reviewers. And that’s exactly what I’m currently doing with Catscapades, True Cat Tales.

What I forgot to tell you and what I am relearning as we speak is how much patience and persistence it can take during the book review period. I’ve contacted dozens and dozens of potential reviewers of cat-related books. This includes editors of cat magazines and ezines, owners of websites related to cats, pet newspaper columnists and so forth. Sixteen of them requested the book and only one of them, so far, has reviewed it.

Are any of you aware of pet columns in your local newspapers or regional pet mags or ezines? Maybe you frequent a pet blog or know about a cats only gift shop. I would love to receive contact information. If the contact turns out to be useful—if it results in a good review and/or sales, I will send you a copy of the book. How about that? Contact me here: PLFry620@yahoo.com.

I did hear back from the editor of one well-known national cat magazine yesterday. She asked me to send a review copy of the book. Well, she had already requested the book and I’d sent it two weeks prior. She said that it must be in the office somewhere and that there sure are a lot of people writing cat books these days.

I will be following up with her and each potential reviewer in a few days.

I review books related to writing and publishing for SPAWNews. Even subscribers who know this rarely think to contact me with their books. Mainly, I stumble across books, contact the author or publisher and request a copy. And then the author may wait for several weeks or a few months to see his/her review posted. That’s because SPAWNews is a monthly e-newsletter. If I happen to receive two or three books at once to review, the third review won’t appear until three or four months down the road. I imagine this is the case with some of the reviewers I’ve contacted to review Catscapades.

But I always ask before sending review copies. And I recommend that you do, too. People send me review copies of their books without permission and sometimes they simply are not appropriate for our readers. We do not review mysteries, memoirs, science fiction or children’s books, for example. We review only books of interest to authors, writers and artists who want to sell their work.

Book reviews can sell books. But, as with every other aspect of book promotion, the process of getting your book reviewed can be time-consuming, in fact, all-consuming. You must first locate appropriate reviewers and then, in so many cases, follow through with them. The hardest part might be the waiting. Sometimes it seems that no one is working but you. I can tell you that no one cares about your book as much as you do. And no one is going to go to any lengths to promote it, review it, recommend it or sell it without some incentive. Maybe that’s why some book reviewers charge for reviews now.

Do you have a book review story? Have you attempted to get numerous book reviews for your book? Have you landed book reviews—how did this affect your bottom line? I can tell you that the book reviews I solicited for my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book, when it came out in 2006 (revised in 2007) really affected sales. I noticed an upsurge in sales with every new book review. So I am definitely a fan of getting book reviews. And I enjoy helping other authors of writing/publishing-related books by reviewing them (let me know if you have a book in this category). But holy cow, is it ever getting more and more difficult to get meaningful, timely reviews. Has this been your experience?

Frankly, I keep expecting the volume of books on the market to dwindle. With over 75 percent of all published books failing, it seems that only the strongest books and the most savvy, persistent authors would remain. But there are so many more people encouraging authors and offering services to help them enter into this fiercely competitive field of publishing whether they are ready for it or not. I guess hopeful authors will continue to live out their dreams of holding their published book in their hands even though most are not at all ready.

It’s like allowing grade school kids to adopt babies. Many authors are no more near ready or qualified to see a publishing project through than a child is to become a parent. Authors need more education and more experience than most typically enter into this profession with. That’s why I wrote The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book—which, by the way, received at least thirteen 5-star reviews. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

Why did I write Catscapades, True Cat Tales? This was my treat for myself as well as my audiences. I’ve been working hard to earn a living through my writing for many years. When hopeful authors began coming to me asking for help with their publishing projects, my focus shifted to working with others on their books. After 35 years, I decided that I wanted to do some fun writing—write something light, but meaningful—entertaining, but enlightening and also informative. And Catscapades, True Cat Tales, which had been on the backburner of my mind for a long time, was finally given wings. Learn more about this delightful book here:
http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html

Do you blog—keep a web log? Why? How often do you post?

It’s not at all uncommon for writers to maintain one or more blogs. It is a reason to write, after all—and, perhaps, even be read. And a blog is a perfect way for writers to justify spending time writing. Right? Some writers simply can’t not write

A writer might not have any writing jobs lined up, no books in the works and no assignments on the horizon. But if she has a blog, she has a reason to write. Thus, her life has meaning.

Writers use their blogs in different ways—for different purposes. Some ramble and/or philosophize. Some share their love of words in any number of ways—through poetry, a discussion about word use, lessons for other writers. Some writers actually use their blogs in order to write a book. And I’m told that publishers are following some of these blogs (what in their spare time?) and actually issuing contracts. How’s that for a slap in the face?

Here you have been shopping your book manuscript around to publishers for eighteen years without a bite and other writers are quietly blogging and being discovered??? I guess it really IS time to toss out everything we old-time writers cut our teeth on and start viewing the world of writing and publishing anew.

As most of you know, I blog in order to share and teach what I know and what I’m still learning about writing and publishing. My daily blog also keeps me focused and sort of balanced. Writing a new post each day is so much a part of my routine that I don’t know if I could function without it.

This publishing blog is also a way for me to promote my books and services.

Why do you blog? Or have you given up on blogging in favor of some of the social media choices out there? And speaking of Twitter, Facebook, etc., how do these sites serve your purposes to promote your book and to become known as a writer?

I’m now on Twitter and Facebook and I have two blogs. I don’t see much benefit from the social media craze—but, perhaps, I’m just not fully invested in it, yet. My second blog is Catscapades, designed to share stories and information about cats and to promote my newest book, Cascapades, True Cat Tales.

By the way, you have barely enough time to order copies of this charming book of cat stories for Mother’s Day gifts.
http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html

There’s probably no other industry where so many people have become self-appointed CEOs as in the publishing industry. What other field has become so seriously infiltrated with mom and pop operations as publishing? Where have you seen as many start-up businesses as within the publishing industry?

If every published author in your city had a storefront downtown, your town leader would be inclined to rename your shopping district, “Publishers Row” or “The Authors’ District.”

Publishing is HUGE and authors are not your grandmother’s or even your older sister’s authors. Back in the early days, we recall hearing about and reading about (not actually knowing) authors. Authors were placed on pedestals to be admired. They were mysterious, bright, creative and, of course, wealthy celebrities. It was rare to meet one. They all resided in gorgeous estates behind carved gates. And they all relied on their New York or London publishers to promote them and their books.

My, how things have changed. Now anyone, whether they can write or not; whether they can think or not, can become a published author. And today, every author is also a businessman/woman. Some modern day authors don’t even know the names of the major publishing houses. And they live in all states in every kind of neighborhood and housing.

Instead of a few hundred, authors number in the thousands. And new books are flying off of printers everywhere daily! There are currently way more books than there are readers. Where do they go? You might think you have seen every book available when you visit your local mega-bookstore. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Those bookstores have room for just a percentage of all published books.

If you are an author, you’re probably nodding your head as you read this. And you’re reading it in hopes that I’m leading up to a solution to sluggish book sales—that I will reveal a miracle key to bookselling success.

The thing is, long-time authors and publishers and modern day authors and publishers are all scrambling to find that key. Everything has changed and many things continue to change. Each new author must, to a degree, reinvent the business as it relates to their project and their skills, energy level, time-commitment and so forth.

The one constant is that the author must promote his/her own book and the more well-prepared he is for this incredibly difficult process BEFORE he becomes an author, the more successful he (or she) will become.

As you look out over the sea of authors in your community, throughout the Internet and so forth, you will see a wide range of successes and failures among them. You’ll observe authors who are hiding away in their writing rooms selling 0 books in hopes that someone will find them and their wonderful book. And you’ll notice authors who are highly motivated to sell books and highly skilled in marketing who have branded themselves, created impressive companies around their books and are selling books like crazy.

What is the difference between these two very real examples? Knowledge, education and preparation! Successful authors are also willing to stretch and grow rather than stagnate in strictly familiar territory.

There are many ways to become educated about the world of publishing and authorship. It’s a matter of scouring the Internet and being discerning as to the models and proposed professionals/experts that you choose to follow.

Here are my recommendations: Read The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book by Patricia Fry, 30+ year veteran in the writing/publishing business. I learned about this industry from the trenches. Order this book through amazon.com or here:
http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

If your book needs a boost, read my ebook, The Author’s Repair Kit. http://www.matilijapress.com/author_repairkit.html

Join SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network)
http://www.spawn.org

Sign up for one of Patricia Fry’s online courses:
http://www.matilijapress.com/courses.htm

Two new courses added this year!

Catscapades Update
There’s still time to order your mother, mother-in-law, grandmother or someone who has been like a mother to you a copy of Catscapades, True Cat Tales for Mothers Day.
http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html