Writing and Publishing News from

May 16, 2011

Education is Key to Successful Authorship

Filed under: Authorship — Patricia @ 5:03 am

I compiled the SPAWN Market Update yesterday. (This is the meaty newsletter for members of SPAWN.) I included quite a bit on travel-writing for freelance writers as well as authors who are seeking publishers. I was surprised to find that when I did a search for publishers for travel books, or even novels, children’s books, young adult books or books on gardening, relationships, etc., several pay-to-publish companies came up first.

They are primed to be listed first on most all searches involving book publishing, whether your search is specific or not.

No wonder so many people are signing with these companies. Authors who are just emerging from their writing rooms don’t know any better. We are all programmed to glom onto the items appearing on the first page or two of an Internet search. Unaware, hopeful authors do this when they are eager to share their wonderful writings with the world. They follow the obvious links to these pay-to-publish companies. They are ecstatic to have found a publisher that actually wants to publish their book and they make it sound so easy. Most authors today sign with the first company out of the chute.

One such author told me, long after the fact, that he thought this company was the answer to his publishing prayers. This man is out of the authorship business now—one of the three-quarters of authors who fail every year.

And it is not necessarily because the company did anything bad or unlawful. It is because he didn’t take the time to do his homework. He made decisions before studying all of his options. He neglected to educate himself about the vast and highly competitive publishing industry.

Here’s my recommendation.

Study the publishing industry before you publish with anyone. Understand your options, the possible consequences of your choices and your responsibilities as a published author. If you didn’t do this before you wrote your book or before you completed it, then stop the forward motion NOW. Set your book aside and take a few months to learn about the industry.

Read my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. This book gives you an overview of how publishing works and explains all of your options. It also gives you a clear idea of what is required of you as a published author. Herein, you’ll learn that you are totally responsible for your success.

If you are contemplating the “self-publishing”—pay-to-publish route, read Mark Levines’ book, The Fine Print of Self-Publishing.

Join writers’ groups and organizations, attend writers’ conferences, read books by the experts, subscribe to publishing newsletters and magazines. Enmesh yourself in this industry, making sure to enter into it with an open mind.

http://www.matilijapress.com
http://www.patriciafry.com

May 8, 2011

Be a Proactive Author and Become More Successful

Filed under: Authorship,Publishing — Patricia @ 5:23 am

You hear/read me say often, if you want to experience success as a published author, study the publishing industry and write a book proposal. And this was my mantra all weekend as I spoke with hopeful authors at the recent Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.

One thing that occurred to me, as I spoke with dozens and dozens of hopeful authors, is that our message to them (from the SPAWN booth) had more power and relevance than did practically anyone else’s. By this, I mean that when an author stopped off to talk to another author, he received the perspective and, in some cases, the advice of one person. He heard the experiences of one author. That author either recommended his publishing path or condemned it, depending on his experiences.

The published author might say, “Self-publishing with XYZ company is the only way to go.” However, the next author he spoke with had a different story and made different recommendations: “You must get an agent,” or “Publish your own book so you are always in control.”

When the hopeful author visited a pay-to-publish company booth (yes there were several of them represented), he got a spiel designed to entice him to sign with them. The representative has one agenda—get business for his company.

But when this author came to the SPAWN booth (that’s Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network), his power was returned to him. We urge authors to be proactive—to gather information, facts and opinions before making any decisions. We talked about their options and how to discern which one is best for them and their project. We stressed that not every option is right for every author and every book.

Most authors, upon completing their manuscripts, emerge into the daylight eager for direction. They believe (at least for a scant moment) that there is one way to write a book and one way to publish it. They step outside of their writing room ready to ask the first person they see, “Which way to successful publishing?” They expect a simple answer to their straightforward question. But there is no simple answer.

The author might as well have asked, “How do you raise a child?” or “How do you get to Florida from California?” The answer to the publishing question is every bit as complex and diverse as is the answer to either of these questions. Just as in child-rearing or traveling, you have options and decisions to make. Everyone you talk to will give you different opinions, directions and resources.

So how do you make a decision about publishing? By studying materials and resources, by talking to others. It boils down to research and observation. And this takes time, an objective point of view and an open mind.

When you take the time to study the publishing industry, your options, the possible consequences of your choices and your responsibilities as a published author and if you can look at the facts objectively, you will make better decisions.

When you write a book proposal for your fiction or nonfiction book, you will develop a greater understanding of your project and how it fits into the scheme of things. You will maintain that sense of intimacy with your book that you experienced during the writing process. You will become aware of your book’s true audience and true value, thus you’ll learn more about your role as its marketing agent.

If you want to produce a more successful book, start the process now. Stop writing and start studying the publishing industry. Write a book proposal. Line up those ducks. Put the horse in front of the cart. And give your project a better chance to survive in the fiercely competitive world of publishing.

Sign up for my online book proposal course and let me help you get the ball rolling in your direction. http://www.matilijapress.com/course_bookproposal.htm

May 7, 2011

Common Authors’ Questions Answered

Filed under: Authorship — Patricia @ 6:08 am

I’m getting a lot of emails from people I met at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and some who just picked up my promo material. Most of them have questions about publishing, book promotion and so forth. And few of them seem to know much about conducting research.

Certainly, asking someone is a form of research. But, when the question is very broad or even very specialized, almost anyone would have to either conduct research in order to respond to the question or provide resources for the individual so that he or she can do the study.

Here are the types of questions I get and my responses.

Q: “Can you recommend a publisher for my science fiction thriller (romance adventure, memoir, historical novel, self-help book for parents of autistic kids, children’s book or business book)?”

A: I suggest to this hopeful author that he seek out books like his, see who published them and contact those publishers. I recommend that he study Writer’s Market and other publisher directories to find publishers in this genre/topic.

If he is looking for an agent, he can read the “acknowledgements” pages in books like his as an author will often thank or mention his agent.

Q: All I receive is rejection letters from publishers. I’ve decided to go with a “self-publishing” company. Which one would you suggest?

A: Before choosing a pay-to-publish company, let me ask you how you are approaching publishers. Are you sending a professional query letter? Do you have a complete and detailed book proposal written? I recommend stopping your forward motion now and writing a book proposal. The main purpose of the proposal is to help you determine whether you have a viable product, who your target audience is and how you will reach them. If you do your homework, you will learn volumes about your ability to market this book—your platform (skills, connections, etc.), what you can do to strengthen your skills and add new ones and strategies for promoting your book.

Most first-time authors are not well-prepared to make a good case for their projects when approaching publishers. They enter into the publishing arena without sufficient information and strategies. A weak query letter, even for a potentially viable product, will be rejected when other authors are approaching the publisher with more professional packages. In case you haven’t noticed, competition for authors is fierce.

Start by running your query letter by a professional for suggestions. Get professional help writing a strong book proposal. Make sure that you are approaching appropriate publishers for your particular project. Spend time studying the publishing industry so you have a greater understanding of what is involved.

If you decide to go with a pay-to-publish company, read Mark Levine’s book, “The Fine Print of Self-Publishing,” to make sure you are choosing one of the good guys. Get the e-book FREE when you join SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) http://www.spawn.org

If you have a question, contact me here: PLFry620@yahoo.com. Or leave your question in the comments section of this blog site.

April 21, 2011

Don’t Let Your Emotions Kill Your Book’s Success

Filed under: Authorship — Patricia @ 5:40 am

We all operate through our emotions—we can’t help it. Emotions are built into us to be experienced and expressed. But we’re advised not to allow our emotions to drive our book projects. And there’s good reason for this.

Sure you are excited about your book projects. Passion is an emotion. The sense of joy you feel while you’re writing and when you think about helping others or pleasing others through your book is an emotion. At the other end of the spectrum, the disappointment you feel when your manuscript is rejected or when you get a bad book review is also an emotion. It is impossible to get involved with the writing and production of a book without some sort of emotion.

Even staunch business-minded people experience some emotion throughout the process of creating and producing a book. But the most successful authors keep their emotions in check and even override their emotions when common sense and logic make more sense.

But how many of us become so attached to our book projects that we make emotional instead of logical decisions on its behalf? I can tell you that it is way too many of us. We write from an emotional place, which can be a good thing. It’s when we decide to publish and we start making business decisions from an emotional place that we find ourselves in trouble.

Here are some of the things we might say to ourselves in order to justify our decisions. Can you see how they are emotionally-driven?

• I don’t want to spend time trying to find a publisher so I’m going to sign with this pay-to-publish company whose representative seems as excited about my book as I am.

• I can’t wait to get my book published—I want to give a copy to my dad for his birthday. So I’m going to accept the pay-to-publish contract. I don’t actually know how to go about finding a regular publisher anyway and this seems like a good solution.

• I read over the contract and it seems okay. There are a few sections I don’t quite understand, but they tell me they have published hundreds of books for authors. They must know what they’re doing. I just want to live my dream and finally publish this book.

• I heard a speaker at my writers’ group talking about book promotion. Heck, I don’t want to get all involved in marketing my book. I just want to publish it and make a little money back selling to whoever wants it. I have a website. My pay-to-publish company said they would make it available to bookstores all over the country. I should be able to sell at least 10,000 copies without even trying.

• I wrote in my query letter to a major publisher that this is going to be the next bestseller and that it is a book for everyone—not just a specific niche audience.

Some would call these authors short-sighted. Some would consider them arrogant. I suggest that they are somewhat delusional, but that’s because they are not looking at publishing as a business. They have not studied the industry so they don’t know their options, the possible consequences of their choices and their responsibility as a published author. Some of them do not want to know. They simply want to fulfill and/or live a dream. They want to create their own reality without tuning into the reality of the industry. Their decisions are driven by their emotions.

And then they wonder why their dream sizzles—why they don’t experience the success they desire.

If you are pouring more emotion into your book project than thought, be sure to order my book TODAY at a discounted rate. Read The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book and learn more about the publishing industry and how to more successfully navigate it on behalf of your book project. The best time to read this book is BEFORE you even start writing your book. But it is never too late to study it.

What you learn in my book could dramatically change the direction of your book. And this could be a good thing.

Order The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book NOW.
http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

If you need editorial help, check out my personal website:
http://www.patriciafry.com

April 20, 2011

Prepare for Your Author Appearances NOW

Filed under: Authorship,Public Speaking — Patricia @ 5:18 am

Do you listen to talk radio? Do you notice that all of the guests on every show and on every topic have books? A book has become as common as the business card and it is used as casually to establish credibility, to give individuals an identity…

Whether I am listening to a radio program or watching one on TV related to spirituality, religion, parenting, politics, gardening, health or writing, every guest is promoting a book on the subject. In most cases, however, these individuals did not speak on the topic until they came out with their books. They were not considered experts in their fields until they became authors. Now the former bank teller is doing radio interviews and TV appearances to talk about her book on childhood abuse; the homemaker/homeschool teacher guests locally to share her book of tips for homeschool teachers; the retired accountant travels around talking about his novel; the long-time tax preparer provides information from his book on family budgeting and the extensive traveler shares stories and lessons learned from her travel memoir.

If you’re writing a book (and millions of people are these days), do you plan to join the parade of ordinary people turned performer in order to promote your book? Are you honing your public speaking skills and are you coming up with ideas for programs you can present on radio and TV, at bookstores, conferences and so forth? Or would you prefer to just remain in the shadows with your book and hope it will sell through your website?

Yes, there seems to be a real flood of authors guesting on every talk show around. If you attend conferences in your area of interest, you see no lack of speakers on that topic. At writers’ conferences, for example, every imaginable subject and angle related to writing, publishing and book promotion is covered by savvy experts—most of them with books of their own.

Do authors sell books through live presentations? Absolutely, they do. Some people are impressed or inspired by the program and purchase the book on the spot. Others will take a brochure or business card and eventually buy the book online. Still others will hold off on the book until they read an article or two by this author, hear him or her speak at another event, discover their blog and/or have another professional in this field recommend him or her.

This is how it works. And, if your book is conducive to live presentations, you really should be thinking about how you’re going to go about them. What will you talk about? How can you make a presentation featuring the topic/theme of your book fascinating and/or informative? Do you have what it takes to effectively speak in public? Can you come up with a variety of interesting programs?

Here’s what I suggest:

1: Join a local Toastmasters Club. Find one near you:
http://www.toastmasters.org

2: Put yourself in situations where you have the opportunity to speak up in public. Join a networking group or a writers’ group, perhaps. Volunteer for a project at work or for a committee outside of work.

3: Practice pulling sub-topics from your book and developing potential programs from them.

4: As you consider your live audience, this might give you some insight into your readership and assist you in fulfilling your obligation as an author during the writing of your book.

5: For more about honing your public speaking skills, read some of the articles at my website under “Book Promotion.”
http://www.matilijapress.com/articlespublishing.htm

Download your FREE copy of “50 Reasons Why You SHOULD Write That Book,” here http://www.patriciafry.com

April 19, 2011

Hiring Staff for Writers and Authors

Filed under: Authorship,Writing — Patricia @ 6:23 am

I’m thinking again about hiring someone to help me out around here. But I’m not clear yet as to what kind of help I need or want. I’ve hired a friend in the past to do typing for me. She typed an entire book into the computer one year. I wrote that 360-page book on a typewriter and, twenty years later, when I decided to do a revision, there were no computer files or disks to extract it from. We had to start from scratch.

I suggested an article to a writers’ magazine once about hiring help in your freelance business. The editor laughed at me. She rejected the story by saying how unrealistic it is to even consider that a freelance writer could afford to hire anyone to help. This is such a short-sighted, narrow-minded view—and inaccurate!

When my bread and butter came from freelance article work, I hired someone to send out my query letters. I did the research as to which query letters I wanted to go out to which publications and she typed the correct name/address on each letter, printed them, prepared envelopes (including my SASE) and mailed everything out for me. That left me free to write articles, come up with new article ideas and so forth.

I hired my grandchildren to do filing for me at various times over the years. They’ve also helped me with large mailings.

Now I am considering hiring someone to arrange for my speaking gigs, maybe produce a newsletter and help me to get more exposure for myself and my products and services. I’d like this person to be more technologically savvy than I am. I have more to learn within the realm of ebooks, for example. This simple concept has become a strong industry with many facets and I would like to be brought up to speed with it all.

I realize that my colleagues, who seem to stay on the cutting edge of the industry, all work with a staff. I need to start building a knowledgeable staff.

I welcome your advice and suggestions. PLFry620@yahoo.com

If you would like to see more of my blog posts related to freelance writing, editing, book marketing, writing a book proposal, etc., use the “categories” list at the lower right of this post to locate all of the entries on that topic. Let me know if you have questions.

http://www.matilijapress.com
http://www.patriciafry.com

April 17, 2011

Finally Finish That Writing Project

Filed under: Authorship,Writing — Patricia @ 1:58 am

A new season is upon us. Are you ready to finally complete that novel, memoir, children’s or other book in 2011? Despite years of putting off your dream, you can succeed. You can experience the joy of authorship. Here are some suggestions to help you move closer to your writing goals.

1: Schedule time each day to write. Make writing a priority just like you do feeding the dog, working out and going grocery shopping. You might be surprised at how much you can accomplish in smaller pockets of time. I once wrote a 200-page book in eight months while writing for only two hours per day.

2: Do five things every day toward your writing goal. For example:
• Write five paragraphs or five pages of your novel.
• Make five contacts with regard to research or expert interviews.
• Self-edit five pages of your book.
• Check out five resources to help you in your publishing journey.

3: Stay positive. As a writer, you are constantly setting yourself up for rejection. Your articles are rejected. Your writers group is critical of your work. You criticize your writing. It’s hard to come by positive feedback.

Here’s how I conquer this writer’s curse.

• I display things in my office that make me feel accomplished and loved. I have my published books around me, of course, and then there are family photos, treasured gifts from friends, certificates, plaques and ribbons I’ve won and some of my best photography.

• I connect often with my most positive and supportive friends and family via brief emails and phone chats.

• I take mini-vacations almost every day. I spend an hour walking amidst stands of oaks, along a nearby river, around a lake or at the beach. Go out and ride your bike, walk the dog, sit and read an uplifting book or play with a kitten or a child, for example.

• I frequently engage in something creative outside of writing. I spend time in my garden or working on a needlework project. Other authors I know paint, draw, do woodwork or participate in little theater.

If you’re tired of looking at that unfinished manuscript, make this your year of achievement. Incorporate these ideas into your lifestyle now and you, too, will do yourself proud.

http://www.patriciafry.com
http://www.matilijapress.com

April 12, 2011

Tips for Choosing and Working With An Agent

Filed under: Author's Agents,Authorship — Patricia @ 5:07 am

The Association of Authors’ Representatives website provides valuable information for the author seeking agent representations http://aaronline.org/FAQ Here, you’ll learn how to connect with an appropriate agent, what an agent can do for you and what questions to ask an agent before getting involved.

Some agents, like some publishers, specialize. Match your project to their expertise.

Beware of the newbie or wannabe masquerading as a literary agent. There is no licensing of agents, thus no industry standards. The screening at the Association of Author’s Representatives provides the most reliable method of choosing an agent today.

Many publishing authorities recommend soliciting an agent before you begin showing your manuscript around. They say that an agent will reject manuscripts that have already been submitted to the prime publishers.

On the other hand, sometimes it pays to distribute your proposal to a few appropriate publishers before contacting an agent. If you get positive feedback from a couple of publishers, you may have a greater chance of engaging the services of an agent. Tell the agent, for example, “ABC Publishing has asked to see my sample chapters. Would you represent this project for me?”

You approach an agent in much the same way you do a publisher—with a query letter and/or a book proposal representing your current project. Read the agent’s submission guidelines for authors and comply. Generally, you will send a query letter to appropriate agents once your book proposal is completed. If yours is a novel, you might wait until the book is finished. Send the same query letter you would send to a publisher, only address it to the agent and refer to your desire for representation rather than publishing.

As with any query letter, keep it brief, professional and to the point. The job of a query letter is to pique the agent’s interest. If you adequately do this, she or he will ask to see your proposal and/or manuscript.

Working with an agent is similar to working with a publisher. You should strive for mutual respect and an air of professionalism.

I am planning to teach one of my newest online courses for FREE starting in May. Which would you prefer: Build Your Author’s Platform or Memoir Writing? See the descriptions of these courses here: http://www.matilijapress.com/courses.htm Leave your comment here or contact me at PLFry620@yahoo.com.

April 6, 2011

An Author’s Blog Post for a Drizzly Wednesday

Filed under: Authorship — Patricia @ 4:20 am

Book Festivals and You
If you are planning to participate in a book festival this spring, be sure to read my article in the Book Promotion Newsletter this morning on “How to Work a Book Festival so it Works for You.” http://www.bookpromotionnewsletter.com

If you aren’t planning to take your book to a book festival, read it anyway and maybe you will be convinced to do so—it’s a great way to sell books and get exposure.


An Author With a Professional Attitude
Oh there is just so much going on here in the Patricia Fry and Matilija Press offices…

I am proud to say that I am working with a most savvy author. She is taking my book proposal course. Right off the bat—right out of the chute—she has recognized that the book she wanted to write may not be the most useful or potentially successful book she could write. Because of the material in the course, she realizes that her original idea isn’t such a good idea, after all. And she is now putting energies into researching the market to determine which direction she could and should take her book. Now this is a professional attitude.

No matter the direction she goes with her project, it is still going to be a niche book. But she now understands something about how to evaluate the potential for a book and is working hard to discover what is lacking in her niche and where she could bring the most value.

Patricia Fry’s Attitude About Editing
I’ve been asked to write something about how I got into editing for a book that will come out probably in the fall. I thought you might be interested in something I wrote for this piece. Here is one of my insights:

“I love editing. There’s a sense of satisfaction in calming chaotic sentences, creating a better flow in a story, giving thoughts and ideas more power, discovering the real meaning in a disorganized presentation and giving authors’ messages more clarity. I delight in helping the author shine.”

Learn more about me and my work here:
http://www.patriciafry.com

Check out my array of books and find tons of resources here:
http://www.matilijapress.com

April 5, 2011

The Little North Carolina Writers’ Club That Could

Filed under: Authorship — Patricia @ 4:46 am

I spent the weekend in North Carolina. I had the pleasure of attending the Carolinas Writers Conference in Wadesboro, which attracted somewhere around 150 writers.

Have members of your writers’ group ever thought about putting on something like this—an event that offers information for hopeful authors and supports literacy in your area? Maybe you don’t believe you could pull it off because you have no money in your treasury or because you lack wo/man power. Let me tell you that this successful, well-attended conference was organized by a writers group of ten members. They went out and got sponsors and were able to rent a conference hall, do some advertising, arrange for a little food, pay keynote speakers’ fees, compensate their workshop leaders and even take care of the cost of housing for out-of-town presenters.

Ten enthusiastic, hard-working men and women pulled off a highly successful program in a very small community and managed to help fellow writers to become more informed, meet other writers at all stages of their craft and, hopefully, make fewer mistakes along their publishing paths. And registration for these writers and hopeful authors was free.

It was a good group of people. The presentations and workshops were varied and valuable. There was even one young man of 16 who talked about his experiences as a published author. He published his first in a series of fantasy stories when he was 14.

Omar Tyree spoke eloquently about his publishing path and on behalf of literacy. Robert Macomber talked about authorship. There were workshop leaders speaking on how to become number one at Amazon, history writing, memoir writing and many other topics. I held the attention of a group totaling around 40 for nearly two hours as I spoke about steps to successful publishing. (By the time I had completed my talk, there were around 120 in the room.

Today, while sitting around at the court house with other members of the jury pool (yes, I’m doing jury duty today), among other things, I’ll be writing a note to the members of the small club who made a big difference for many hopeful authors in North Carolina over the weekend by providing them with the information, networking opportunities and resources they need in order to succeed. Thank you Karen, Beverly, Rufus, Sandy, Katherine, Dorothy and the other hard-working members.

If you would like to have a copy of the handout I present for my presentations, let me know: PLFry620@yahoo.com.

Also visit my websites, sign up for one of my online courses, buy a book (I wrote them for YOU), sign up for a FREE copy of 50 Reasons Why You Should Write That Book, check out my resources pages…

http://www.matilijapress.com
http://www.patriciafry.com

« Newer Posts — Older Posts »

Powered by WordPress