Writing and Publishing News from

I’m off to speak to a group of writers this morning.

I love my work. I’ve discovered over the years that if you choose to exercise all of the possibilities within the writing/publishing realm, there’s such variety of things to enjoy. I’m sure this is true of many professions. You can choose to sort buttons in a warehouse all of your life or you can also learn how to select the buttons that will sell that season, find out where they are available, travel to exotic places to purchase them, explore different ways to display and promote buttons, establish a sales route and go in person to sell the buttons, give demonstrations for ways to use the buttons, learn to sew, design clothing and other items using buttons, teach sewing and crafts using buttons and/or come up with new markets for buttons—button art, for example. Pretty soon, you are designing buttons from your mansion and traveling worldwide with your wares.

Does this scenario resonate with you at all? Do you see how you can develop a more interesting, challenging life just by expanding on the topic of your book, for example? Maybe you wrote a young adult fantasy and paid to have it published. Don’t stop there. If you enjoy writing and you love the story you created and your characters, take your interest to other levels. How?

• Go on a book tour—arrange book parties at interesting bookstores and other venues where you can meet your readers. Have fun with these—hire magicians, involve the audience in acting out scenes from the book, etc.

• Write short stories for fantasy and young adult publications.

• Establish a national fantasy book club or organization.

• Teach fantasy writing workshops.

• Work with a group of homeschooled children on their own fantasy book.

• Write one or more sequels to your book.

• Create a brand and produce related items—games, toys, figures, etc.

• Run contests related to the theme of your book.

• Ask young people to help edit your next book—some of them have amazingly keen eyes for inconsistencies in a story.

• Launch a fantasy conference or festival where every booth represents some sort of young adult fantasy book or other item.

• Turn your book into a play and produce it locally.

Not only will you have fun pursuing some of these activities, these are all excellent ways to promote your book (or your series of books), as well.

So what will it be for you? Will you continue to sort buttons or will you break free of the mundane tasks and establish some sort of fascinating life around your love for those buttons?

In the meantime, let me help you through the writing, publishing and/or promotion processes of your book. Perhaps I can guide you toward your dream life. PLFry620@yahoo.com. Visit my website: http://www.matilijapress.com

Yesterday, I gave you a list of 7 concepts that I took away from a teleseminar with public relations expert, Milton Kahn. You’ve read about some of them in my articles, books and this blog. You’ve heard me talk about some of them during my presentations. As I said yesterday, they’re each worth a blog post of their own. Let’s start by discussing the first two on the list as they strongly relate. By the way, here’s the list again:

• Be in the flow of publishing.
• Read the Sunday New York Times.
• Public relations is not an exact science.
• Most book publicists specialize.
• Some books are not promotable through a PR company.
• Personality sells books (and, by the way, helps land a publicist).
• Media kits are out of style.
• Don’t go it alone, find the right people to work with.

Be in the flow of publishing. What does this mean? It means that you really must take the time to look around and find out what this publishing business is all about before jumping in with both feet. I consider it jumping in with both feet when you publish a book, whether you self-publish (establish your own publishing company), go with a pay-to-publish company or land a traditional royalty publisher (large or small). There is no little bit of publishing. You are either in or you’re out. You’re either involved or you’re not. And if you plan to be involved, you are doing yourself and your project a great disservice if you neglect to educate yourself beforehand.

Milton Kahn recommends reading the Sunday New York Times because, he says, there’s a tremendous education each week about the publishing industry and bookselling.

I recommend adding to that by reading the book I wrote for new authors—The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. Also attend writers’ conferences—in particular, those that cater to authors and hopeful authors. You won’t generally learn much about the publishing industry if you sign up for a writers’ retreat or a novel-writing conference. Make sure that at least some of the workshops are directed toward book publishing. These conferences usually also include meetings for attendees with agents and publishing company representatives.

Join organizations such as SPAWN, IBPA and SPAN and then participate in their discussion groups and forums, read their newsletters, listen in on their teleseminars and so forth. We, at SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) constantly provide many opportunities for our members (and even visitors to our site) to learn about publishing. But the education goes on. It is ongoing. http://www.spawn.org

I also recommend subscribing to AND READING several other credible newsletters, researching your area/genre, visiting writing/publishing forums and more.

What do you need to know about publishing before getting involved?

• What are your publishing options?
• What are the possible consequences of your choices?
• What are your responsibilities as a published author?

You should understand completely that publishing is a highly competitive business and how it works. You need to know enough to make good decisions on behalf of your project. You need to establish relationships within this industry with the right people who can actually contribute to the success of your project.

But first, you must have enough information and savvy to know whether or not your book idea is even a viable project. In other words, you need to take control of the situation way before you dare to write a book for publication. One way to start the process—and one that I, and other professionals, highly recommend—is to write a book proposal as a first step.

Not only will you learn volumes about your project and its potential, but you will be gaining insight into the publishing industry, as well. You’ll begin to understand what other books have to do with the one you are writing. You’ll learn the importance of building a platform. And, hopefully, you’ll find out what it takes in order to succeed in this field.

There must be several new and struggling authors reading my blog and the articles that are appearing in newsletters and online everywhere because sales for The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book are up. Amazon is ordering nearly every other day. But I prefer that you order books from me at
http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html.

Once you are a published author with books to sell, you’ll understand why. Basically, amazon takes a HUGE chunk of your profit. We love amazon. The exposure is great. But gosh it’s nice not to have to share my profit with them. I already paid to have the book proofed, designed and printed. When I sell books through amazon, I’m actually losing money. They take 55 percent per book AND there is an annual fee for belonging to the Amazon Advantage program.

And you thought that authorship was glamorous and profitable.

At SPAWN, we have free monthly teleseminars for members. If a member can’t listen in to the teleseminar, they can download a recording of it from the SPAWN website later.

So far, we have had some giants in the industry—each giving us an hour of their time and they have shared an enormous amount of valuable information. We’ve welcomed Sandra Beckwith, “Build Book Buzz,” Mark Levine, author of The Fine Print of Self-Publishing, Peter Bowerman of The Well-Fed Writer fame, and this week, book publicist, Milton Kahn.

Coming up are Hobie Hobart, on book cover design, Penny Sansevieri, A Marketing Expert and Stephanie Chandler, “Publish, Promote and Profit From Books, Ebooks and Information Products.”

Quite a line-up, don’t you think? Any author or hopeful author who has the opportunity to hear any of these experts for FREE, ought to take it. And they can by joining SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) http://www.spawn.org It’s only $65/year.

Also at SPAWN, our new Catalog of Members’ Books and Services is completed and posted here:
http://www.spawn.org/catalogofbooks.htm Be sure to take a look—the catalog is available to the public.

And visit us at Facebook.

Today, I wanted to share a few concepts that Milton Kahn presented in his teleseminar Thursday. Each of these deserves at least a full page of commentary. But I’m going to bullet them here. If you want more on any of these topics, leave a comment or contact me at PLFry620@yahoo.com and I’ll devote a blog post to the topic.

• Be in the flow of publishing.
• Read the Sunday New York Times.
• Public relations is not an exact science.
• Most book publicists specialize.
• Some books are not promotable through a PR company.
• Personality sells books (and, by the way, helps land a publicist).
• Media kits are out of style.
• Don’t go it alone, find the right people to work with.

There is some food for thought in these brief comments, isn’t there?

I spend time every single day trying to give you something you can use—information and resources as well as concepts that will help you to succeed as a published author. But you have to do your part. You have to show up here every day. You have to be present. You need to consider the information, do your own research, check out the resources and put those things that make sense to your project into practice. If you choose your own path based on emotions rather than education and knowledge, you may be one of the majority—authors who fail.

Oh, let’s not end on a sour note. Know that you have the power to create the level of success you desire. But it starts—not after your book is published, not once you’ve entered the world of book promotion—but before you begin your publishing project. Start your successful publishing journey when your book idea is a mere concept in your imagination.

The key to publishing success is, first, an excellent idea that you mold to fit—not your heart’s desire—but what your audience wants/needs. Always keep your readers in mind from the very beginning. Be realistic. At the same time, groom yourself as a keen representative for your book—work on your public speaking skills, build a platform, study the world of book promotion, engage your audience so they know you even before you have a book. And when you get to the place where you need help marketing your book, you will be able to attract a professional PR person, if that’s the route you want to go.

For more about how to prepare yourself and your project for success, what to expect once you are published and so much more, read the book I wrote expressly for you: The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

Yes, this book is also available through Amazon.com.

Have you noticed that most authors make publishing decisions based on their perception of the time element? We may come up with all sorts of excuses during the writing phase—“I can’t write today, I just had my nails done,” or “I don’t feel like writing this evening; let’s watch The Bachelor.” Many self-imposed deadlines may pass before the writing of a manuscript is finished.

But, when an author decides that it’s time to publish—when he turns the manuscript over to a publisher or printer—he gets in the biggest rush of his life. He insists, “I’ve gotta have my book for the event next week,” or “I need copies for Grandma’s 80th birthday party.”

It may have taken the author 23 years to write a 125-page book (or even 18 months), but he must have it published right away. Now, he’s in a hurry. And it is this hurry-up frame of mind that can interfere with the success of a book.

Some authors admit to choosing the first pay-to-publish company that approaches them just so they’ll have books quicker. They don’t take the time to learn their options, study the possible consequences of their choices or even to understand their responsibilities as a published author. And most of these authors are either immediately or eventually disappointed.

The thing is, publishing is not an exact science. You can’t randomly choose one of the three main publishing options and experience success. Nor can you turn your manuscript over to just any pay-to-publish company and expect the same results. Successful publishing requires the author to be present, knowledgeable, discriminating and patient. Rush in unprepared and uneducated and you’re apt to run into major (and usually, expensive) obstacles.

Let’s see if I can paint you a clear picture depicting the dangers of rushing your publishing project. Okay, here’s one—you want to have a baby, but you have no wife or even girlfriend, so, around Halloween, you randomly approach a woman at a diner. You ask her to have your baby. You tell her that you live with a group of guy roommates in a small house at the moment, but that you think it would be nice to have a child by Christmas, so you can surprise your parents.

Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it? Because you know something about having babies, caring for one, preparing for the birth and planning for a child’s future, you realize how absurd this is. Well, although you’re not dealing with a human life when you publish a book, I can tell you that the way too many authors’ approach publishing is almost as absurd.

Here’s another example: You decide one day that you would like to be a chiropractor. You use a chiropractor, so you know something about what they do. So you go out and rent an office, purchase some equipment and start promoting your business. It’s laughable, isn’t it? But that’s because you know that chiropractors must be educated in the anatomy and structure of the human body…there are requirements for becoming a chiropractor. There are standards in place.

While there are no rules for entering the world of publishing and no real standards in place, common sense tells us that publishing is a business and one should understand something about it before getting involved.

The problem is that too many authors look at publishing as an extension of their writing. They see people they know getting books published. They hear stories of successful publishing experiences. But, unless an author takes the initiative to find out something about the publishing field, he or she knows nothing other than, “publishers produce books and I want my book published…whatever that actually means…”

The fact is, it is relatively easy to get published. Being successfully published is the challenge because publishing success depends on the author making educated decisions.

Make your decisions based on knowledge not on emotions. If you hear nothing else before you start scrambling to get a book published, hear this! And if you read nothing else, read this, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book.
http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

I wrote this book for authors who are entering their first publishing venture. It is designed to give you exactly what you need in order to succeed with your publishing project.

Are you pleased with the books you turn out? Have you ever received a book from the pay-to-publish service, printer or even business center and felt a touch (or a slap) of disappointment?
You didn’t like the cover, the inside design isn’t as you expected or you feel your story or your nonfiction book is lacking something? This isn’t unusual. And do you know why? Because we tend to rush our book projects.

As we near completion, we start projecting a publication date—the date we will get the book back from the publishing service or printer. If there is a holiday or special family birthday around that time, for example, we get attached to that date—“Gotta have it ready to promote at that time,” or “It would be so cool to have it ready for Uncle Frank’s 80th birthday.” If we start telling friends and colleagues about the pending book, our attachment to that date becomes even more intense.

When we allow this to happen, we are approaching our projects through emotions rather than a business sense and this can be a dangerous way to go. What’s the answer? How does an author establish the right pace for his or her project?

1: From the beginning, consider your book a product.

2: Make all decisions with regard to your book from a business and not an emotional place.

3: Educate yourself about publishing and keep your finger on the pulse of the industry.

4: Write a book proposal and prove to yourself what you may already know—that this is a valid project. Find out who your true target audience is, how many people this encompasses, where you will find them and how to approach them. What is the best way to promote to this audience and what can you bring to the table in this regard? In other words, what is your platform?

5: Hire a good book editor. And don’t write over him/her once they have cleaned up your manuscript. If extensive rewrites are recommended, always, ALWAYS take the work back to your editor for a final look.

6: Hire a cover design expert. While good writing, a good story and/or good information is highly important, you also need a cover that will grab the attention of your readers. If they avoid your book because of a dull cover or the title doesn’t spark an interest, they may never take a chance on what’s inside.

7: Move slowly and methodically through the publishing process. Be clear as to your options, the possible consequences of your choices and your responsibilities as a published author. Choose your publishing option using business sense and make all of the decisions throughout the publishing process based on knowledge, not emotions.

Successful publishing is much more than a dedication to writing. While writing is a craft—a heart thing—publishing is a business. What other business can you start that doesn’t require a measure of business sense, knowledge of the field, an outlay of money (investment), clear-headed decision-making, affiliation with experts in various areas related to your field and a business plan?

How much money do you need in order to produce a book? It could be anywhere from $500 to have 50 copies of your tiny book of poetry printed at a local business center for family and friends, to thousands of dollars for a substantial novel or nonfiction book scheduled for wide distribution.

Before you sit down to write a novel, a children’s book or a nonfiction self-help, how to or business book, for example, read my book. I wrote it for new and struggling authors. It is your ticket to publishing success. It’s The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. This is your guide to understanding the publishing industry. It walks you through the book proposal process and it prepares you for the huge job of book promotion.

Don’t short change yourself when you decide to enter into the business of publishing. Buy your copy of The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book now!
http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

Update on Catscapades
If you love cats or you know someone who does, you’ll enjoy the stories in my upcoming book, Catscapades, True Cat Tales. The book is scheduled to arrive from the printer around March 15, 2010. I’m offering a prepublication discount through that date. Order prior to March 15, 2010 and you pay no shipping. PLUS, you get a free gift.
http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html

I actually prefer keeping a positive attitude—looking on the bright side of things—turning a frown upside down—seeing a glass as half full… But I try not to bury my head in the sand, either.

The fact is that anyone who has been involved in publishing for any length of time (and some who are just starting out) has a horror story to tell. Of course, one reason that I spend an hour or so every day posting to this blog, that I write and submit a dozen or so articles every month, that I produce books on publishing and that I travel around and speak to you personally is to minimize your instances of negative publishing experiences.

Some of them, however, just sideswipe us when we’re innocently standing by. But all of them should be learning situations and, where possible, teaching opportunities. Here are a few horror stories from my own experiences and those of others:

• Just this week, I heard from an author who received her shipment of books from the publisher only to discover that their editors had made changes without consulting her. And this was a book of poetry! Yes, the editors took license with her poems, changed some of the words and then the company published it without getting her okay. This happens with nonfiction books, with novels, but with a book of poetry? There is just something terribly wrong with anyone who would mess with a creative work like this without express permission from the author.

• What about contracts? How many of us actually study the publishing contracts we’re issued and completely understand them? I know one author who signed a contract with a fulfillment company after a personal conversation with the representative. He believed that the company would do as the representative promised, even though this wasn’t in the contract. The company did not live up to their promises. In fact, they denied that they ever made them. He ended up selling 0 books and losing $3,000.

• I think we all know someone who, upon receiving their new book from their pay-to-publish company (or printer) found numerous mistakes. One author told me that there was a comma in the title where one was not called for and a misspelled word on the front cover. Others have been disappointed in the way the text looked on the pages. This is a lesson in responsibility. We MUST take more responsibility for our projects so we know that we are getting an excellent product. In this case, since the author was not familiar with how to do page layout and cover design, he should have hired professionals. The pay-to-publish publisher and, in some cases, the printer, may not care enough about your project to alert you when something doesn’t seem right. Their job is to print what you give them. Thankfully, on an upbeat note, our printer for Catscapades, True Cat Tales, 360 Digital Books, has contacted us twice this week telling us that something wasn’t right with our file. They’re working with us to get the right resolution for the photos with the program they require that we use to transport the files to them.

• You’ve heard me complain about clients writing over my carefully placed edits and then crediting me as editor when they publish it. This is a rude slap in the face and an embarrassment, especially when the author is a terrible writer. It’s going to be an embarrassment to the author, as well, when people start critiquing this book.

• Speaking of editing—another huge mistake authors make is not to hire an editor at all. Some authors aren’t particularly savvy. They aren’t aware that they need an editor and they just forge ahead with their books. But when the book is published (with numerous grammatical, punctuation and semantic errors) and friends, book reviewers, etc. point this out, he realizes his mistake. Don’t make this mistake—always hire an editor and always allow him/her to review the last revision.
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to publishing horror stories. If you have one, leave your comment here.

If you are entering into the world of publishing, invest in insurance against some of these horror stories by reading books by experts in the field of publishing. Start with my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book.
http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

And if you are interested in supplementing your income (or promoting your book) through article writing, sign up for my online course—in progress now. Every Wednesday, for 6-weeks, I send a lecture and assignment to your email box.
http://www.matilijapress.com/course_magarticles.htm

And if you love cats and cat story books, order my NEW book, Catscapades, True Cat Tales at the prepublication discount (free shipping and free gift). This offer is good through March 15, 2010. http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html

The promotional postcards for Catscapades have arrived. They are beautiful. The magnets with the cover photo on them have arrived. But there is a problem with the book file. We have worked with this printer several times before, but never on a book with color photos. Catscapades, True Cat Tales has 46 color photos of cats and kittens. And there seem to be problems with the way the files we sent the printer were set up.

I don’t do the page layout for my books and I don’t work in PageMaker or any other design program. Thus, I don’t understand the various programs that different printers use for receiving book files. But I guess the folks at the printing company forgot to tell us to turn off some of the options in the particular program they use to accept book files and our photos were coming out fuzzy. The resolution was way low. They’ve sent us back to the drawing board twice so far with different instructions for fixing the problem. Hopefully, we have it right now. We’ve never had this happen with this printer, but we’ve never using color photos in a book before. So I guess it is a little different process in the transfer of the files.

It’s making me nervous, I can tell you. But I’m always nervous about what might happen while a book is at the printer and how it will come out.

I’ve been disappointed only once. And that was when a group of employees at my printing company of choice, including the people I’d been working with, broke off from the main company, bought some inferior machines and started their own company. (This was not the company I am currently working with.) This project was a 360-page local history filled with black and white photos.

About the time I expected shipment of the books, they contacted me to say that the first printing of the book was a failure as all of the photos turned out black. When I received the 3,000 books, I was not happy with the quality of the photos, still. They were flat and dull with little depth. Disappointing. Not only that, as I pulled books from the boxes to deliver and ship, I began to notice defects—creases on the covers, pages cut ragged, corners of pages turned under, etc. We decided to do what every author/publisher should do upon receiving a shipment of books—we went through every box of books and checked every book.

Well over half of the books had major or minor flaws. I called the company head. He ended up coming out here from Kansas (or wherever it was) to look at the books and to discuss compensation.

I ended up getting money back for the books that we agreed were a total loss—books that actually had to be trashed. And I got a slight discount on books that were slightly damaged—books that I would donate. I still had additional books that were not perfect, but that could be sold at a reduced price. And the issue of the awful print job on the photos was pushed under the rug. The representative (actually the owner of the company) would not acknowledge that there was anything wrong with them.

Not only that, but two boxes of these books were damaged beyond recognition when a forklift ran through them. So the trucking company paid for that loss.

I guess anyone who produces any number of titles is going to have a nightmare experience with a printer at some point. And I hope that ours is in our past. Cross fingers for us, would you, with regard to Catscapades, True Cat Tales.
And be sure to order your copy at the prepublication price now. http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html.

The cover girl on this book is Lily. She was born in an abandoned Volkswagen and raised with 14 other kittens in the attic of an old home. The three mother cats were wild. No one could touch them. And no one spent any time with the kittens. So how did Lily turn out to be such an affectionate, friendly “greeter” cat? We can only guess. Read her story and about 40 others in this delightful book of stories. As an aside–we considered Lily a rescue because how in the world were those people going to find homes for 15 kittens. Turns out the kittens were gone–had all gone to homes–in one day! How? In two words, Craig’s List.