Writing and Publishing News from

February 25, 2010

The Stress of Turning Your Baby (Book Project) Over to the Printer

Filed under: Publishing — Patricia @ 6:53 am

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.

February 24, 2010

Listen to What Publishers Want and then Follow What You Know

Filed under: Book Proposals,Publishing — Patricia @ 6:16 am

I’m in the process of writing a book proposal. As you may know, I’m the author of a book called How to Write a Successful Book Proposal in 8 Days or Less. I based this book on my 8-week article-writing course. How do you write a book proposal in 8 days when it is designed to take 8 weeks? You do the lessons daily instead of weekly!

I have been working on my book proposal for a few days and should complete it today. Yeah! See you truly can write a book proposal in 8 days or less.

The book is, Over 100 Good Ideas for Promoting Your Book. You may be familiar with the book I produced in 2000, Over 75 Good Ideas for Promoting Your Book. I’m revising that book. And I’ve decided to seek a traditional publisher so the book will receive greater exposure and added potential for sales. So far, I have had one rejection letter.

My pitch for this book—what makes it unique—is that it is not a huge, intimidating tome. It is brief, compact, succinct, well-organized yet fully packed with ideas, resources and anecdotes. The response to my query letter reminded me that publishers aren’t so interested in what the public wants as they are “how much money can I make.” I teach and preach that publishing is a business and that you must approach publishers with an excellent business idea that will make them some money. But still, there is a mindset within the publishing industry that isn’t easy for an author (even an author/publisher like me) to grasp.

The first publisher to respond wrote a very nice note of explanation as to why they were not interested in publishing my book. They don’t want it for the very reason I thought they would! Because it is small and non-intimidating. They want books that they can price at around the $19.95 mark. They want those mega-books that intimidate authors. Also, this publisher said that they don’t sell many books on book promotion, anyway.

I guess this sort of follows my observation about many of the authors who are just coming into the publishing fold. They want to do things their way and they don’t want to be distracted or side-tracked by the facts of the matter. In other words, they aren’t studying what others write about book promotion. They don’t want to know how to promote their books. They have some ideas about getting exposure for their books—ideas that fit within their comfort zone—and they aren’t interested in complicating their world by learning about book promotion.

Hmmm. It’s looking more and more as if I will be publishing this book through my own publishing company, Matilija Press. I will complete my book proposal and send it out to the carefully researched publishers on my list. I’ll wait to hear back from them and then I’ll make my decision. I know that the first edition of this book is popular with authors everywhere I go. It is the one Amazon orders the most—often in bulk. It sells best at my website. And more people purchase this little 72-page book than any of my more substantial publishing-related books.

Maybe this publisher is dead wrong. Maybe authors would purchase more books on book promotion if they could find books like mine—books that are jam-packed with ideas, resources and anecdotes, but that are not huge and overwhelming.

We all have the opportunity to learn within this changing publishing industry daily. And I just learned that just because a publisher won’t accept your project doesn’t necessarily mean it is not worth publishing.

Catscapades
In the meantime, orders are filtering in for my new print version of Catscapades, True Cat Tales. Most people are purchasing multiple copies. It will make an absolutely marvelous gift. Think Easter! And Mother’s Day! I’ve got many of the birthdays on my list covered for the next year, as well.

I met two cat ladies over the weekend. One has seven cats and the other has five. They shared stories with me that may appear in the sequel to Catscapades, True Cat Tales in a few years. I’ve been visiting cat blogs and websites and meeting some of the people within the cat community. Several of them want to review the book when it arrives from the printer. Yeah!

Order your copy before March 15, 2010 and I’ll pay the shipping. I’ll also tuck in a free gift—something you can use every day for years! http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html

New Article-Writing course starts today. It’s not too late to sign up. $125 for 6-weeks of lectures, assignments and my personal attention to your project.
http://www.matilijapress.com/course_magarticles.htm

February 23, 2010

Tips for Starting Your Freelance Article-Writing Career

Filed under: Article-Writing — Patricia @ 6:19 am

Beginning freelance article writers often set out to establish a niche. They believe that they must choose a topic or area of interest and stick within those bounds. Most of them focus on the things they enjoy, the things they are involved in, the things they know. And this isn’t a bad place to start. But it can be so limiting.

It is also typical for a new writer to get stuck in her own world. She can’t see a story beyond what she has experienced or what she knows. And if her world is rather small—if she lacks imagination—she won’t be able to produce many articles of any real interest or merit.

For example, let’s say that you love to run and you just ran a marathon. You decide that’s what you want to write about. Good start. Only who is going to be interested in your story? What is the appeal? What makes this a good story? This is the place where most writers get stuck. Here are a few ideas:

• Maybe this is your first marathon. Write from the perspective of a beginner. Everyone was a beginner once and this might be a refreshing point of view for a magazine that uses essays or, perhaps, humor pieces on running or sports/fitness in general.

• If you learned a lot on that first competitive run, create a how-to article for new runners.

• Maybe you are in your 50s or 60s or you have a disability—a piece featuring running tips for the older runner or those with handicaps might appeal to an editor.

• What were some of the special challenges of this marathon? Did it take place in a much higher altitude than you’re used to? Was the terrain particularly rugged? Maybe the weather was extreme. Do some additional research and present an editor with a piece on preparing for altitude changes, preventing altitude sickness, training for uneven terrain or dealing with weather changes, for example.

Now this is just a start. What will you write about next? Here’s a hint. Since you’ve done the research on altitude sickness, for example, glom onto this topic and start molding it to fit other types of magazines—parenting (how to help children deal with altitude changes), travel (preparing for altitude change), health (symptoms of and how to treat altitude sickness), horse and rider (caring for a horse in higher altitudes), pet (what about dogs and altitude?) and so forth.

Take your first-time runner piece, slice and dice it to fit other activities—how to develop a competitor’s mindset, tips for shutting out the competition and concentrating just on your personal best, the joy of good sportsmanship, how to make friends with competitors, the psychology of competing…

By taking your topic in new directions like this, you will more readily develop the skill for recognizing article ideas even outside your realm of expertise or interest. In fact, article ideas may occur to you while conducting research for an article and while observing others. The sportsmanship piece might evolve into one for a youth sports magazine, for example. And that might lead to a piece on preventing sports injuries in kids, how to determine when your kids are ready for competitive sports, tips for making youth sports a good experience for your child, etc.

Certainly, write about what you know and what you’ve experienced. But open your mind to article possibilities beyond the obvious. As a freelance article writer, you should:

• Look at an event or circumstance from a variety of angles.
• Stretch your mind and imagination.
• Reach out for additional facts and other information.
• Be highly observant.
• Use creative thought rather than staying stuck in total reality.
• Develop the ability to see beyond what is.
• Know what the reader wants/needs.

I’d like to hear how you used this lesson in your freelance article work. PLFry620@yahoo.com

I Teach an Article-Writing Course
I’m starting a new Article-Writing Course February 24, 2010. Sign up today at
http://www.matilijapress.com/course_magarticles.htm
It’s only $125 for 6-weeks and you get my personal attention and feedback during that time. This is worth around $600, at least.

For Cat People
My latest book, Catscapades, True Cat Tales is at the printer. Order your copy NOW and pay no shipping. You’ll also get a free gift. This offer good through March 15, 2010. Check it out here!
http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html

February 22, 2010

The Seriously Debilitating Block That Plagues Fiction Authors

Filed under: Book Promotion,Writing — Patricia @ 5:24 am

I often hear novelists say to a speaker, “That was a nice presentation, but it catered to the nonfiction author.” Or they will say, “I found your book (or article) helpful, but I wish there was more for the fiction author. Just the other day, someone commented at a blog saying something similar—“Good blog, but what about those of us who write fiction?”

The fact is that most of what I and other professionals write, teach and present in our programs DOES apply to novelists as well as nonfiction authors. The fiction writer just doesn’t want to acknowledge it—they don’t want to hear it. They just don’t know what to do with the information.

Yes, those of you who write fiction should write a book proposal. Many publishers (and agents) require one now. And it will teach you volumes about the world you are about to enter, your project and how to represent it within the publishing industry.

Yes, you need to study the publishing industry before getting involved.

Yes, you can (and should) build promotion into your book and I spend more time talking/writing about how to do it for fiction than nonfiction. You just aren’t listening.

Yes, you need to study publishers’ submission guidelines before submitting anything.

Yes, you should hire an editor before sending your manuscript to a publisher or before hiring a pay-to-publish company.

Yes, you are responsible for promoting your book.

Yes, most of those promotional ideas we give you DO relate to you and your project. When I suggest writing for magazines and newsletters as a way to promote your book, I expect you to pick up on the idea that you should be submitting stories in your genre. When we recommend giving presentations, we’re speaking to novelists, too. When we tell authors to send news releases in an attempt to get interviewed or get your book reviewed, make news, donate books to get recognition, carry books in your purse, talk about your book everywhere you go, etc. we are speaking as loudly to fiction authors as we are to those who write nonfiction.

But you don’t seem to want to listen. Instead, you say, “Everything you say relates to nonfiction.” Yes it does, but it also relates to fiction!

I wonder what part of our message to authors does not apply to those of you who write fiction. Does anyone have a reasonable answer to this question? I think it is simply the fact that fiction writers have a greater block against entering business mode. Your minds are more tightly closed to the hard realities of authorship and publishing than many nonfiction authors.

My suggestion? If you want to become a published author—especially a successful published author—wake up. Open up. Listen, read and learn. Acceptance of publishing truths (knowledge) is the answer to your chances for success.

Catscapades, True Cat Tales
My Catscapades web page is up. You can see the cover for the new book and read a little about the content. You’ll also see a photo of me with our growing kitten, Lily. Lily was born in an abandoned Volkswagen one cool spring morning. She now lives a life of luxury with a doting family and many human and furred friends.

Take advantage of our prepublication discount offer before March 15 and also get a free gift with your order.
http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html

February 21, 2010

Prepublication Promo for New Book of Cat Tales

Filed under: Announcements — Patricia @ 5:21 am

Today I’m going to promote Catscapades, True Cat Tales. Amazon has already placed an order for this book, along with 5 other books. How cool is that?

Check out the book at my brand new Catscapades page at http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html

What is Catscapades? This is a 130-page perfect-bound print book filled with over 40 full-length stories and vignettes depicting many of the cats and kittens I’ve known throughout my life. And it is illustrated with 46 charming photographs of cats and kittens, such as Lily, the adorable kitten on the cover.

If you like cats, you’ll love this book. As you will notice at my website, I’m offering a prepublication discount. Order the book prior to March 15, 2010 and I’ll pay the shipping. I’ll also tuck in a free gift you can use for each book purchased.

I often talk about seasonal promotion. Wouldn’t this charming book make a great Easter gift? And also think Mother’s Day! Do you know a cat person who has a birthday coming up? Or how about presenting your cat sitter, thoughtful neighbor, hairdresser, or your children’s teacher a book as a thank you for something nice they did for you.

Visit my website and see what you think of the new book cover (photo taken by Ruth Miller, a professional photographer friend of mine and cat person). This is actually a revision of my original Catscapades ebook, so I have collected quite a list of testimonials from readers, including professionals. Be sure to check out my testimonials page.

And let me know if you have questions—for example, do you have a bookstore and you’d like to purchase books on consignment? Do you have a large list of friends you’d like to present with copies and you want bulk order price?

If you or your friends love true stories about real cats, you’ll enjoy this book. You’ll meet cats that remind you of those you’ve known and some whose stories will leave you shaking your head. Have you ever known a cat to be catnapped, for example? How many kittens have you scooped up off of the streets or out of a woodpile and socialized? Oh what baggage some of them come with. Have you ever had the challenge of finding homes for 15 kittens at one time? Have you dealt with a cat who received a head injury in a horrific accident? (This story, too, has a happy ending.) Within the pages of this book, you’ll meet cats who stubbornly choose where they wanted to live, a spayed cat who showed up with a newborn kitten, a reluctant babysitting cat, a cat who responded to mind-talk and two kittens who responded to a spiritual healing.

Order your copy of Catscapades today and be sure to buys copies for your friends during the prepublication discount days (through March 15, 2010). http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades.html

February 20, 2010

What Do Authors Need? Help Me to Help You!

Filed under: Publishing — Patricia @ 7:15 am

I’m getting a lot of response to my survey (see February 17, 2010 post) from SPAWN members. That’s Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network http://www.spawn.org. But very very few from those of you who read this blog. So it occurred to me that maybe most of my blog visitors are not published authors who are promoting books.

Perhaps you could help me to more accurately target my blog posts to the right audience by letting me know where you are within the huge, competitive, daunting process of publishing. If you love some of my blog posts—they just resonate with you like crazy—but some of them do not relate, help me to help you in a more meaningful way. Please fill out the questionnaire below and return it to me at PLFry620@yahoo.com.

1: Where are you in the publishing process?

• Are you thinking about writing a book?
• Are you in the process of writing a book for publication?
• Are you attempting to find a publisher or trying to choose a publishing option?
• Are you working with a publisher, agent or publishing service now?
• Do you have a published book and you don’t know what to do now?

2: What are your greatest concerns with regard to your publishing/writing project at this time?

3: What subjects are most important to you at this time? What do you want to see me cover in my blog?

4: Do you have a copy of any of my books? Which ones?

I look forward to discovering how I can best serve you through this blog.
PLFry620@yahoo.com.

February 19, 2010

What it Takes to Publish in 2010

Filed under: Book Promotion,Publishing — Patricia @ 4:53 am

Moving right along. The PCIP came in for Catscapades, True Cat Tales yesterday and the book is now with the printer! Also the promo material is trickling in. Late last evening UPS delivered our advertising magnets. The postcards are on the way. My webmaster has not completed the work at my website. I will let you know as soon as the new book is up.

There’s a lot involved with running a publishing company, isn’t there? And probably the most difficult aspect of running any company is relying on others for the tasks you cannot do yourself. What is the alternative? Learning how to do everything? You’d really be stretching yourself to the limit if you had to do it all—build/maintain the website(s), design the books and covers, take care of the publishing details, such as getting the barcode and PCIP information, chase down the best prices for promo material, etc. PLUS the writing and promotion.

I guess there are authors out there who do it all. I actually hire a web person and I have live-in help with the mundane and time-consuming publishing details as well as the book design work. For the Catscapades book, I worked with a professional photographer. So there are more than just my hands in the pie. I did this book listed at Amazon.com, yesterday. Don’t look for it, yet. The listing doesn’t go live for 10 days or so.

I’m chomping at the bit to start the prepublication promotion for Catscapades. Can’t do it until the book is up at my website. Maybe today. Cross fingers!

I did manage to write and submit 8 new articles to 8 different magazines and ezines this week while in wait mode. Why do I keep writing and publishing articles? It’s promotion. Sure, I thrill at helping people—so many authors NEED so much help. But I also submit articles to a variety of publications in order to keep my name in front of people as a professional in the industry. It is a promotional tactic designed to sell books and to attract new clients.

I’m still fine-tuning the revision of Over 75 Good Ideas for Promoting Your Book. (New title, Over 100 Good Ideas for Promoting Your Book.) I finished the March edition of the SPAWN Market Update. If you have a book to promote or you are a freelance article writer, you really must join SPAWN so you have access to this amazing newsletter. http://www.spawn.org

On top of it all, I’ve had a little client work. I love it when my clients are thrilled with the improvements I provide for their articles, chapters and/or book proposals.

Oh, by the way, I’m starting a new 6-week article-writing course February 24. If you’re interested in learning how to support yourself or you wish to promote your book by writing and submitting articles to magazines, this is the place to start.
http://www.matilijapress.com/course_magarticles.htm

Author Survey
The mini-publishing survey continues. I have had a dozen responses, so far. I’m eager to get many more so I can put together a meaningful article (which I will share here) reflecting what is and what isn’t working for authors today.

In order to do this up right, I need your input.

Please take time to respond to the questions below. The author with the best responses will receive a copy of my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. Deadline March 10, 2010.

1: How many books are you promoting?

2: What type of books are they—titles/genre/subject?

3: What is your primary book promotion activity?

4: What are some of your secondary book promotion activities?

5: How are they working for you? (Details, please.)

6: What has been your best book promotion resource—organization, book, mentor/individual, website, blog site…?

7: Are you open to new book promotion ideas/resources or not?

8: Are there ideas you’d like to try, but you don’t know how to get involved (article-writing, getting more book reviews, public speaking, having a book trailer made…)?

Send your response to Patricia at PLFry620@yahoo.com

February 18, 2010

More Book Promotion Tips

Filed under: Book Promotion — Patricia @ 7:52 am

Be sure to fill out the survey posted February 17, 2010 here at this blog site. Be one of the first five and get a free copy of my book, Over 75 Good Ideas for Promoting Your Book. Have the best responses and win a copy of my hallmark book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book.

I’m in “wait” mode today. I am certainly not without work. But I am somewhat distracted by the fact that I’m waiting for the PCIP to arrive so we can slip it into the copyright page and send the Catscapades book off to the printer. You keep hearing that things are changing rapidly in publishing. And this is true at all levels. The PCIP people are taking longer than usual and they accept only PayPal as an online payment option now. There are different processes for obtaining your copyright and getting into Books in Print. Changes, changes. And the waiting is painful.

Oh this isn’t the first time I’ve experienced my lack of patience when it comes to my writing/publishing career. Those of you who submit articles or stories for publication or a manuscript to a publisher know (as I do) the frustration of waiting for acceptance or rejection. And how many times is waiting for naught because the editor doesn’t respond at all? Frustrating!

Some of you have probably waited for customers to find your book and start purchasing it. Now there’s something that should not happen. Book promotion is all about action. We must be proactive in order to reach our readers. They will not come to us. We (authors) must go to them!

Unfortunately, most of us have only certain things we pursue in the name of book promotion. And if that’s working, I say keep doing it. But if you want to attract even more sales—sell even more books—it is vital that you add promotional activities to your repertoire periodically. Once you get your main 3 (or so) promotional activities going well, start adding more. Step outside your area of comfort and try new ways of attracting new customers.

Here’s something that might work—eaves drop on other authors with books similar to yours. Discover how they are promoting their books. Find out what is working for them and what isn’t? How? Visit their websites. Study their “media” and “appearances/activities” pages as well as their blog sites. Subscribe to their newsletters. Dialogue with other authors. Ask which of their promotional activities is working best for them. Where appropriate, ask about piggyback marketing.

What is piggyback marketing? If your book is similar to theirs, but not in direct competition—maybe even complimentary, approach the author about handing out and sending your promo material along with their book shipments to individuals and you offer the same service for them.

So what am I doing while waiting to finalize my book so I can send it to the printer? I’m collecting promotional ideas and resources. My file is getting awfully thick and that’s a good thing. Don’t you know I’ll be busy once the shipment of books arrives?

You can order your copy of Catscapades, True Cat Tales, pay no shipping (to one address only) AND receive a free gift for each book you purchase if you place a prepublication order. See details at http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades

February 17, 2010

Author Survey–Book Promotion

Filed under: Announcements,Book Promotion — Patricia @ 6:27 am

I’m conducting a survey of authors. Please answer the questions and send them to me at PLFry620@yahoo.com. (Copy and paste this email address—it is not a hot link.)

1: How many books are you promoting?

2: What is your primary book promotion activity?

3: What are some of your secondary book promotion activities?

4: How are they working for you? (Details, please.)

5: What has been your best book promotion resource—organization, book, mentor/individual, website, blog site…?

6: Are you open to new book promotion ideas/resources or not?

7: Are there ideas you’d like to try, but you don’t know how to get involved (article-writing, getting more book reviews, public speaking, having a book trailer made…)?

The first 5 authors who respond to this survey will receive a copy of my Over 75 Good Ideas for Promoting Your Book OR A Writer’s Guide to Magazine Articles. (Please specify.)

The author with the best responses receives a copy of The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book.

Deadline for responding is March 10th, 2010.

I look forward to hearing from you.

PLFry620@yahoo.com

February 16, 2010

Publishing the Right Book at the Right Time

Filed under: Publishing — Patricia @ 5:47 am

You keep hearing and reading that publishing is a business and that one should adopt a business head when contemplating producing a book. But how business savvy must you be in order to successfully launch a memoir, a book of poetry, a novel or a children’s book? Isn’t it enough to just know in your heart that this is what you want to do?

As writers, we are also artists who create with words. We develop a theme for a book and then design it by choosing and then moving words. Of course, those words—the way they are strung together—represent thoughts, concepts, truths and emotions.

Most books start out as emotional projects, wouldn’t you agree? Even the concept of a business book is often conceived within the area of the emotions. The author has a passion for teaching this theory or subject—he has a burning desire to share what he knows in a way that will make a difference in someone’s life.

It is fact, that, despite what you know—publishing is a business and should be approached as such—in most cases, books have their beginnings as an emotional thought rather than a business decision. “I want to help,” is emotional. “I want to make a difference,” is emotional. “I have something to say and I must say it,” is emotional. “I truly want to share what I know,” is emotional. “I have this story running around in my head and I must put it on paper,” is emotional.

Many authors eventually flip over to business mode where their emotional projects are concerned. Once it is written, they begin to justify their reasons for seeking publication. They may write a book proposal and even take note of the truths it reveals—“Wow, there are a lot of books on this subject already,” or “I’m having trouble establishing my target audience,” or “I really don’t have a platform.” And most go ahead and pursue publication anyway. Others will make adjustments to their original plans and try to create a more publishable project.

We each enter into the world of publishing from a different angle—with varied knowledge, hopes and expectations. And each of us have different outcomes. This is due to emotions, as well. For example, if you hate public speaking, you’re going to avoid doing it even if this may be the best way for you to promote your particular book. Maybe you have little interest in hawking your book at all—you can’t get out much, you don’t have the know-how to promote online.

Every book comes with a side-story and, if the author cares to share it, you’ll discover that it is laced with emotion. I believe that it is the nature of the emotion invested, as well as the balance of emotion and business savvy that will determine the measure of success for that book. It is a wise author who detaches him/herself from their emotional grasp at least enough to determine whether this book is the right book for the right audience and whether it is being produced at the right time.

How do you know? If you’ve written a well-researched book proposal, you know. It’s now a matter of having the courage to make the right decision on behalf of your book. This might mean, rewriting it, changing the focus, self-publishing rather than going with a pay-to-publish company, holding out for a traditional publisher or trashing the project and starting over. And this sort of decision certainly does take courage. It’s not easy to stomp all over one’s emotions.

For assistance in determining the potential for your book, read my book—I wrote it for you. The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

If you need additional help producing a pristine, useful, telling book proposal, sign up for my Book Proposal Course. http://www.matilijapress.com/course_bookproposal.htm

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