Writing and Publishing News from

There are many reasons why a book doesn’t sell:
• The author doesn’t promote it.
• The cover isn’t appealing.
• The author isn’t well-known in this topic or genre.
• There’s no audience for a book on this topic.
• It’s a bulldozer book.

What is a bulldozer book? It’s one designed to change minds. The author’s intent is to push his or her opinions or beliefs onto the reader. He hopes to influence people to change a habit, make new choices, adjust an aspect of their lives.

Doesn’t this describe the self-help book? Well, not exactly. A self-help book generally offers information and instructions in a gentle, but authoritative way. The author of a successful self-help book researches his topic, his audience and the competition and writes a book that is needed.

The authors of bulldozer books see people getting fat on fast foods, they observe more sin than they can tolerate, they have a real adversity to smoking or they’re sick of hearing about cruelty to children, for example. This author has a beef with a segment of the population—a bone to pick. He’s on a mission. And so he writes a book designed to transform fast food junkies into vegetarians. He pens a book on how sinners can find God. He produces a stop-smoking book for the hardcore smoker. Or he writes a book on parenting for druggies.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make the world a better place or for trying to help someone take better care of him or herself or their families. Where these authors fail is in their approach and in identifying their target audiences.

Over the years, I’ve certainly gone on writing missions of my own. I wanted to help save children from abusive parents and animals from cruel situations. I wrote articles designed to teach parenting skills and proper, humane pet care. And I attempted to get them published in magazines that I thought would be read by my proposed audience—those people who needed to hear my message. The gatekeepers to those audiences, however—the editors—kept my articles from them. The truth is, the readers weren’t interested in learning better ways and they wouldn’t have read my words of wisdom, anyway.

Now herein lies the reason why bulldozer books fail. Members of the targeted audience aren’t interested in changing their ways. If they were, they would go in search of a general how-to or self-help book on the topic. They are not typically going to buy a book that is trying to force feed them your perspective—your truth.

Your book designed to shame the lazy, unfriendly homeowner into cleaning up his yard and be more helpful to his neighbors, is not going to be welcomed by this audience. Your book intended to change the hearts of animal abusers, will go unnoticed, at least by this segment of readers. However, this is not to say that you shouldn’t write that book.

• Write it for children—gently and appropriately showing them the way to be responsible or how to care for animals.
• Change the focus so that it will actually attract the audience you want to reach—you can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.
• Go ahead and write it and then promote it to an audience who cares.

This is another excellent reason why you should always write a book proposal before you write the book—to avoid inadvertently (or purposely) writing a bulldozer book.

This is a good time to write, with freezing temperatures and inclement weather conditions keeping us inside. If you dream of seeing your short story or article printed in your favorite magazine or online site, perhaps now is the time to make it happen.

Turn off the TV, stop surfing the net looking for—whatever you’re looking for—and start polishing that old piece or write a new one.

“New writers can’t get published,” you say? I beg to differ. In fact, I know this is a fallacy. But you’ve heard that it is impossible to break in as a new writer.

Sure there’s a hint of truth in this, but only a hint. Let’s change the word, “impossible” to “difficult.” Unfortunately, some hopeful authors and writers think “impossible” when they hear “difficult.” They say, “Heck, I’d better not even try. If others find it difficult to get published, how am I going to break in?”

You hear and read about writers who just can’t get their work published. They say, “No one will give a new writer a chance.” You believe them. What you don’t know is their level of commitment. Is the writer actually submitting anything or is he just making a lot of noise about how he might be rejected? Is the writer paying attention to details? Is he giving editors what they want? Is he following Submission Guidelines?

Don’t believe everything you hear or read about your chances of being published—especially if the information or perspective is biased to the negative. Do your homework, adhere to editorial protocol, polish your story/article so that it shines and step outside of your comfort zone in search of fresh markets.

If you want to publish your fiction or nonfiction by spring, do I have a gift for you. Here are some free online directories containing hundreds and hundreds of magazines and ezines seeking your excellent stories and/or articles:

http://www.duotrope.com/index.aspx
http://www.newpages.com/litmags/index.htm
http://magazine-directory.com
http://dir.yahoo.com/News_and_Media/magazines
http://www.newsdirectory.com

If you need additional help navigating the magazine and ezine market with your great article or story, order my book, A Writer’s Guide to Magazine Articles TODAY. http://www.matilijapress.com

Most writers and authors know something about research—we all have to do it in the course of writing a nonfiction article, book, novel and even, sometimes a poem. But how many of you use—I mean really use—the great reference books you buy to help you write better or navigate the publishing industry?

You order the book and are excited when you receive it. You sit down and scan the book. You may study the parts of it that apply to your situation at the moment or you read the entire book. But then it goes on the shelf with your other reference books, never to be opened again.

I know that some of you do this, because many of you who have purchased my book will come to me with questions that are clearly answered in The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book.

Someone will email me and ask, “What’s the difference between self-publishing and getting the book printed myself?” I’ll answer them, of course, but also refer to Chapters 2, 3 and 10.

I was asked recently, “How can I make sure to have a successful book signing” I referred this client to pages 223-238.

When a customer asks, “What’s a press release—how do I write one?” I refer them to the samples on pages 251-253 of the 2007 edition of The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book.

Someone contacted me this week with questions about distributors and wholesalers (Chapter 11). She wanted to know which distributors to contact. I suggested that she search the directories listed in the Resource Section—page 308.

And you can’t even imagine how often I am asked, “How do I find an agent for my book?” I’ll tell them to go to the Association of Author’s Agents website and peruse the directory there: http://www.aar-online.org (Page 302—in the Resources Section in The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book, as well as 135 in the text of the book.)

Learn how to choose a title for your fiction (Pages 69-70), understand genres (27-28), build promotion into your fiction (57) and write a book proposal for fiction (61-62).

If you own The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book (or any other good reference book) and you have a question related to the book subject, open the book, scan the Index (the last pages in the book—they’re alphabetical), find a reference to the topic and the page number and then go to that page. If you still have questions, contact me.

One customer contacted me several months ago with a question. He wanted to send his completed manuscript to a publisher and asked me if it was okay. I asked if he had checked the publisher’s Submission Guidelines. He said, “Yes, they suggest sending a book proposal, but I don’t have a book proposal, can I just send the manuscript?” I explained the importance of complying with publisher guidelines. He wrote back and said, “But I don’t want to take the time to write the proposal now—if this publisher turns me down, then maybe I’ll write a proposal, but I want to know if you think it’s okay to send the complete manuscript?” I told him again that it is risky and I would not recommend it—that he might mess up his chances of a contract by neglecting to comply with the publisher’s guidelines. He wrote back again with the same question reframed. He didn’t want my honest answer. He wanted me to tell him what he wanted to hear. He wanted permission to send the complete manuscript.

I told him that it was ultimately up to him, but that I did not think he was making a good business decision. I recommended that he read Chapter Four in my book along with pages 138-140 to be reminded about the importance of complying with publisher guidelines.

Don’t let your reference books collect dust while you struggle to understand and navigate the publishing industry. If you own The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book and you have a writing, publishing or book marketing question, the answer is most likely right there at your fingertips.

If you don’t have a copy, yet, order yours at: http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html And be sure to order The Author’s Workbook, too.

Isn’t that the question? Well, for those who want to write fiction, it eventually becomes the question. In fact, authors/freelance writers usually ask that question in a pleading manner—“I don’t have to write a query letter for fiction, do I????? Please say it isn’t so.”

I love to do my own little research studies and yesterday I did such a study related to the number of magazine editors and book publishers who require query letters for fiction. Of the 100 or so magazines I researched, about one-quarter require a query letter for fiction. The magazines were in the Literary, Women’s, General Interest, Religious and Young Adult categories.

Almost all of the agents I researched want to see a query letter first—even for fiction.

As for book publishers—I studied the guidelines for 45 of those who publish fiction. Twenty of them require a query letter first for fiction. One of them even wanted a query letter for poetry. Ten of the publishers I studied want to see the completed manuscript, 7 ask for a proposal—yes, for fiction—and 8 publishers said you can send either a query, a proposal or the complete manuscript.

It looks like you fiction writers/authors are going to have to overcome your query letter jitters. Writing a query letter really isn’t difficult. It’s just a matter of understanding the basic format for a query letter and knowing your project inside and out. (More on how to pitch your wonderful project in tomorrow’s blog.)

Maybe this will help:

For a hardcopy letter to be sent via the post office:
• Use your letterhead.
• Type the date at the top left of the page.
• Type the editor’s/publisher’s name, company/magazine name and complete address in block form under the date.

For either hardcopy or an email letter:
• Address editor/publisher by name.
• Single space.
• Use Times New Roman 12-point type.
• Try to keep your query to one page.

In the body of your letter or email:
• Make it clear that this is a query letter for a short story/fiction book project.
• Use a hook to capture the editor’s/publisher’s interest.
• Briefly describe your story and why you feel it is of value to the readers or would fit into this publisher’s line.
• Give your qualifications for writing this story (your connection to the theme and/or your publishing credits).
• End it. Ask the editor to request the complete manuscript or thank the editor for his/her consideration.

If this is your first query letter or you just want the opinion of someone else, show it to a fellow writer/author. Better yet, hire an appropriate professional to review it before you send it.

If you’d like a couple of sample query letters for fiction, contact me at: PLFry620@yahoo.com. I’ll send them via email.

For additional assistance with the query letter, book proposal or any other aspect of writing and publishing, contact me at PLFry620@yahoo.com. And be sure to spend time at my site learning from the many articles posted there. Purchase some of my extremely useful books. Sign up for my online courses. http://www.matilijapress.com

Query Letter DON’Ts
• Do NOT use a general salutation, “Gentlemen,” “Dear Editor” or “Whomever This Concerns.” Do whatever it takes to get the name of the acquisitions or managing editor.
• Do NOT tell the publisher or editor his/her business. Don’t say, for example, “This is the best story you’ve seen all year,” or “If you don’t publish this story, you’re missing out on millions of dollars.”
• Do NOT try to play coy with the publisher and conceal important aspects of your story. This will only result in his rejection.
• Do NOT say that all of your friends love your story and so does your mother.

If you want to publish your fiction, use the 3 “Ps” Be well-Prepared, Persistent and Patient. And there’s a 4th P word that’s also important. Always use your Professional persona when approaching an editor or publisher, follow the rules of etiquette and protocol and you’ll have a much greater chance of becoming a published author or a freelance writer with publishing credits.