Writing and Publishing News from

Merry Christmas. I hope you’ve noticed that I haven’t been blogging daily this week. It is good to be missed—to have people disappointed when they get up and head to their computer for words of publishing wisdom, only to find nothing new posted. It’s not that I want to disappoint you. Rather, I hope that you find value in this blog effort of mine. I’ve been posting here for 7 years and one month. For most of that time, I have posted daily. This is my 1,693rd post. I will hit the 2,000 mark sometime in 2013. Who else do you know who has posted anywhere near that number?

Okay, so it is Christmas day. It has been busy in the family arena and I’ve been enjoying every minute of it. But I am eager to get back to my client work and putting the final touches on my second novel. It will also be nice to feel as though everyone else is back to work. Some of you know what I mean. During the holidays and sporadically throughout the summer, you find it difficult to communicate with editors, publishers, reviewers, your publicists, program directors and so forth. Why? Because they take time off—they leave out-of-office-replies to your earnest emails. You are ready to move forward with your project. You want to set up speaking gigs, submit an article or a book manuscript, get your book reviewed, move your marketing program forward, etc, and they are taking a “much needed break.”

Well, you’ll probably have to wait a little while longer. On the heels of this holiday, of course, is the tradition of seeing in the New Year. Maybe you’ll connect with the person or people who can help you move ahead around January 2. Although, some of the key people may have been waiting for the holidays to be over before heading out to snowboard, ski or maybe vacation in a warmer climate. Sigh!!

If you are a freelance writer or author, you know about obstacles and challenges. If you’ve been earning your living for many years through writing like I have or even just enjoying the writing life for a long time, you’ve experienced many different roadblocks—or potential roadblocks. Here are some words of wisdom from earlier generations: “This too will pass.” Yes, the obstacle may diminish at some point, but what about the opportunity? Often, timing is everything. But as writers who must rely on others, it is difficult to know or have control over the timing of events and activities related to our projects.

It is up to us to do the research in order to learn whether our book, story or article is timely. And when we think we’ve nailed the time element and we move forward with our gut, to have doors to what we believe are the opportunities we need, close is…well, rather disheartening, don’t you think?

But we will survive. As writers and authors, we are creative. We know how to do the research necessary to move our projects forward. We understand the importance of filling many baskets with eggs (possibilities, opportunities, potentialities…).

And here’s another cliché I’d like to remind you of today: “When one door closes, another opens.” But be ever aware because the next door might be a window—a small, nearly invisible window.

If you are a bit out of sorts because you have business you want to conduct this season and you are finding many closed doors despite your attempts, stay calm. Stay focused. Either take a break of your own and enjoy an aspect of the season or move to plan B and see what transpires.

In the meantime, good luck with your current project. May it bring you great joy throughout the process and beyond.

If you are an author in any phase of writing, producing or marketing one or more books, be sure to check out my most current array of books for authors:

Publish Your Book
Promote Your Book
Talk Up Your Book

All available at Amazon.com and most other online and downtown bookstores. You can also order your copies here: http://www.matilijapress.com

Download my FREE ebook, “50 Ways to Prepare for Publishing Success” at http://www.patriciafry.com

Where do you want to be a year from today? What do you hope to be doing with regard to your writing career this time next year? The decisions you make now may have a direct correlation to whether you reach your immediate or long-term goals.

Successful people—that is, people who are where they want to be (or heading that way) in life—usually have a plan. They know what they want and they take steps to achieve their goals.

For example, you might see yourself with enough money in the bank by next December to afford you the luxury of writing another book. So how will you get from point A (having just published a book, perhaps) to point B (being able to spend most of your time writing)? Here are some possibilities:

• Create a serious book marketing campaign so you can sell enough books to bring in enough money to help support your future efforts.

• Write articles for paying publications as one of your promotional activities. This is a good way to promote your book while making a little money.

• Hone your public speaking and communication skills so you can more effectively talk about your book to groups and one-on-one. This may mean joining a Toastmasters club and/or signing up for a college speech course. Certainly read books on the topic such as my, “Talk Up Your Book.”

• Study the topic of book promotion so that you come to understand what it entails in general and how to best promote your particular book.

• Sign up for webinars and other programs related to book promotion.

• Consider hiring a publicist to help you get publicity and to get organized.

But do all of these things and more using a plan and a timeline. As we exit 2012 and approach 2013, this is a good time to look to the future and set a plan in motion.
Let me know how you proceed. It might help others. You can leave a comment here or contact me at PLFry620@yahoo.com

Tomorrow, we will talk about your basic plan if you hope to produce a potentially successful book next year.

Today I’m starting a new series for serious authors. First, I’ll start by giving a common scenario. So many of my clients and the SPAWN members I meet spend months or years writing a book—the book they want to write. When it’s finished, they stress over the cover design—often turning the task of creating a cover over to their publisher, which is usually the first pay-to-publish company they find. And then they expend a great deal of energy into getting that book produced.

Some of these authors know nothing about publishing, their options or their responsibilities as a published author. They simply see others producing books and a pay-to-publish company representative has convinced them how easy it is to be published. So they just go for it. They have not opened one book, read one article or attended a writers conference. They may have visited a writers club meeting, but decided that wasn’t for them. So they know nothing about the business of publishing. They only know how to write and some are shaky in that area.

If you were to follow these authors around for the weeks and months after their book is published, you would probably see them looking confused. They would appear to be hoarding the box of books they ordered from the pay-to-publish company because there they sit in a corner of their living room waiting. Waiting for what? The author may be waiting, too—for customers to contact him, for a check to come from the pay-to-publish company… What most authors learn at some point is it just doesn’t work this way.

To do publishing up right—you must be proactive from the very beginning:
• Write the right book for the right audience.
• Know who your audience is.
• Know who your competition is.
• Save money to hire a competent editor.
• Study the publishing industry.

In order to have a good experience with your book project, you must write a book that is needed, wanted and that hasn’t been duplicated numerous times. You need to know where your audience is, how to reach them, how to approach them, how to entice them with your product, because, as we will discuss later this week, it is up to the author to promote his or her book.

You have to know who your competition is—this is how you learn whether or not your book is a good idea. If others have tried presenting a book like yours and it didn’t work out for them, find out why. Maybe your book isn’t a good idea. If there are many, many books like the one you plan out there already, maybe the market is saturated and you should look for a new angle. If you’ve already spent a year closed up in your writing room writing the book YOU want to write, you would never know until you publish it whether it is a book that is wanted/needed. Do your homework and do it early on.

That’s why I want you to study the publishing industry before you ever decide to write that book. Read about it—“Publish Your Book” (by Patricia Fry) is an excellent resource for all authors. Subscribe to enewsletters related to publishing and book promotion. Most of them are FREE. Attend at least one good writers conference. And participate!! This will give you a great opportunity to get a healthy perspective on publishing and book marketing.

Don’t expect publishing a book to be a way to make easy money. In fact, be prepared to spend money. If you aren’t in a position to pay a good book editor to fine-tune your book, go get a side job, sell something, put a portion of your earnings away. You need an editor before you can present your book to the public and I mean an established book editor—not a friend, a former high school teacher or a coworker who is good with words.

Producing a book is not a free way to make money. First of all, as you will learn when you study the publishing industry, few—very few people make much money from publishing a book. Sad but true. And those who do make some money, don’t just jump in with both feet and haphazardly go with their gut. They study the industry, take the initiative, understand the industry and take steps based on education and information, not unrealistic hopes and dreams.

Your assignment today is order “Publish Your Book” and begin learning about the publishing industry. Look at publishing a book like you would establishing a relationship. You should have an intimate relationship with your book by the time you finish writing, rewriting and self-editing it. Honor that relationship and foster it by following through—as you would with a child—commit, see it through all of the steps. But first, you must be aware of and understand all the steps.

And I’m not letting you off the hook if you are producing “just an ebook.” You have the same responsibility to your public and to your project as those who produce print books.
http://www.matilijapress.com
http://www.patriciafry.com

Today is America’s annual day of giving thanks. However, as authors, we should express our appreciation more often than once a year. We should thank those who give to us as we journey through the tough process of writing, producing and marketing a book.

I actually received a lovely expression of thanks from a client yesterday, she said, “Thank you for always being so helpful.”

Who should we remember to thank? I’ve listed 20—you can probably think of more.
• Those who take time to review our books.
• Experts and professionals who respond to our questions and concerns.
• Contributors to our books and articles.
• Our editors who go above and beyond—and many of them do.
• Publishers who are wonderful to work with.
• Friends who read our manuscripts and respond honestly.
• Members of our critique groups.
• Mentors, even if they are not officially recognized as such.
• Colleagues and other authors who reach out to help.
• Directors of the organizations and groups that have been helpful.
• Organizers of conferences we attend or speak at.
• Program directors who invite us to speak.
• Fellow writers/authors who support and help us.
• Magazine and web site editors who publish our works.
• Bloggers whose posts help, support, touch us.
• Authors whose books entertain or teach us.
• Our teachers.
• Those who read our blogs, articles and books.
• God for giving us the skill, desire and opportunity to write.
• Our families for tolerating our obsession to write.

That ought to keep you busy today, silently or verbally thanking everyone who has helped you along your writing/publishing path.

I have so many people to acknowledge. Let me start by thanking those of you who faithfully read, occasionally visit or who happened to stumble across my blogsite today. I appreciate you!

Enjoy your day; your family and friends. Happy Thanksgiving.