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There’s an old statistic that says, “81 percent of the population believes they have a book in them.” I maintain that more and more of those people are actually producing their books.

It used to be that we only dreamed of becoming authors. It was darn hard work to write an entire book using a typewriter, and not everyone had access to one. People who actually managed to complete a book, had no idea how to find or approach a publisher. Information about publishing was not so readily available to the general public.

Now more and more wannabe/would be writers are coming out of the closet, completing book projects and finding ways to get published. Nearly 300,000 books were produced last year alone and a good portion of them came from first-time and one-time writers.

Who are these authors? Why are they writing books? What are they getting out of authorship? The answers are varied. While the traditional author spends his life following his passion for writing, the new author might write a book related to her particular passion. Countless people are writing their memoirs and others love a good novel and want to try writing one. As for the benefits to non-traditional authors… that varies, too. While it’s easy to get published these days, few authors are mentally and emotionally prepared to leave the comfort of their home offices and enter the highly competitive business of publishing. And most of them fail. Here are the figures to back up this statement: In 2006, ninety-five percent of all books in print sold fewer than 1,000 copies. Seventy-six percent of them sold fewer than 100 copies. Of course, if you land a traditional royalty publisher and collect a royalty of $3 per 1,000 copies of your book, you’ll earn $3,000. I guess that wouldn’t be considered failure, would it? If you spend $5,000 to self-publish your book and you sell 1,000 copies at full value (say $19.95 each), you’ve earned $14,950. If, on the other hand, some of those sales were through Amazon, a wholesaler and local bookstores, your profit could drop to around $5,000. But it’s still a profit.

If you sign with a fee-based POD “self-publishing” service and manage to sell as many as 1,000 copies, which is unlikely for most people, your profit may well be nonexistent. You may even end up in the hole. Of course, this depends on the company and your contract agreement.

Is publishing for you? Perhaps, if you are well-prepared. Here’s what I suggest:

• Study the publishing industry so that you absolutely understand how it works. Know your options, the possible consequences of your choices and your responsibility as a published author.
• Write a book proposal for your nonfiction or fiction book. This includes a children’s book, memoir, book of poetry, business book, novel… If you’re still unclear as to why you need a book proposal, read my article and sample book proposal at http://www.matilijapress.com/articles/write_bookproposal.htm And go to my blog archives and look at my August 5, 2007 entry. Also read my book The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html
• Be willing to put as much or more effort into promoting your book as you did writing it. Marketing is a reality that most non-traditional authors don’t want to face. Those who refuse to become active promoters or who can’t afford to hire someone to do this work for them, will surely fail. No book is good enough to make it into the limelight without tremendous effort on somebody’s part. In fact, a large percentage of books being produced today are third rate products at best.

For additional assistance with your book proposal, sign up for my book proposal course. I offer this course on demand, meaning you can sign up at any time as long as you are willing to work through the 6 weeks consecutively. http://www.matilijapress.com/course_bookproposal.htm.

Is publishing for you? It could be if you are willing to put all of your ducks in a row. To recap: Study the publishing industry, write a book proposal and establish a realistic marketing plan. Contact me at plfry620@yahoo.com with your questions and concerns.

Most of us, the first time around the publishing block, have a clear vision of life as an author. We see ourselves holding our new books in one hand while raking in thousands of dollars in royalties or profits with the other. What a shock to discover that your wonderful book—the manuscript into which you poured your heart and soul—isn’t flying off of bookstores shelves into the hands of eager readers. The fact is that you may not even find it in bookstores at all.

If you’ve spent any time around writing/publishing websites and conferences and if you’ve been reading books and newsletters by writing/publishing professionals, you know that producing a book does not automatically grant you space in bookstores. But, then, your book is different. You’re aware of the rules/policies, but you so believe in your project that you can’t bother with these incidentals. These things apply to all of those lousy writers out there with weak books.

Excuuuuse me! Have you surveyed the level of competition for authors, lately? Are you aware that there are many wonderful books going unnoticed while some poorly written books are grabbing the spotlight? And did you know that the number of readers eager for good books is paling in comparison to the number of books currently being produced?

More than ever before, it is essential that you (the hopeful author) plan your marketing strategy even before you finish writing that book. And your strategy must go beyond local booksignings, a mailing to your list, adding your book to your personal website, getting an article in the local newspaper and doing a few speaking gigs.

Develop Your Platform
As I’ve written many times in this blog, in my books and in hundreds of articles, your platform is your following, your way of attracting readers. Who needs a platform? Every author who wants to sell books. Think about it; if you want to buy a book on sports statistics, you would choose one written by someone with a track record in this topic, right? If you had to choose from a dozen novels, you’d probably pick the one by an author whose name you recognize. I would venture to guess that Rachel Ray and Paula Deen sell more foods and cooking books than any unknown cookbook author.

Can you understand the point I’m making here? The competition within the realm of bookdom is absolutely fierce. In order to succeed with your book, you must have a strategy and part of that strategy is a platform.

What should a hopeful author do in order to establish a platform?
• Build on your experience. Keep studying, learning and participating in projects, programs, websites, etc. related to your topic/genre.
• Become an expert. Utilize what you learn and continually expand on it.
• Become widely known. Get your name out there through articles, pamphlets/booklets, promoting your website, speaking engagements, participating in appropriate conferences and other programs and projects.

Timing is Everything
Even though you may believe that your book is ready to be presented to the world, you may not be. I sometimes work with clients who want to put the cart before the horse. Their manuscript is ready, but they are not. They aren’t quite prepared to approach publishers or even to produce the book themselves. Why?

In one case, the author had a wonderfully promising book. I believed that it would interest a major publisher and she hired me to prepare her for her initial introduction to the biggest of the big ones. Her book proposal was impeccable—very well-organized and well-written, except for one thing. She had not proven the process about which she wrote in her book. In her book, she was presenting a completely new teaching technique, but she had never tested it—not once, not even with a small group of people.

Furthermore, the promotions part of her book proposal promised publishers that she would present major seminars world-wide during which she would sell thousands of copies of her book. Yet, she had no proof that she could do this—not even a smidgeon of it. I advised this hopeful author that she was not ready to present her project and that if she did it now, she was facing probable rejection. I strongly recommended that she go out immediately and teach her concept in smaller groups and see how it goes. She may need to perfect the process based on student feedback. Then I suggested she organize a seminar for a large group of people. If this wasn’t successful, she needed to go back to the drawing board. If it was a success, she had the proof she needed to help sell her project to the publisher.

Another client had a manuscript featuring tips for attaining and maintaining sobriety through Christianity. He planned to sell this book through Christian bookstores, hospital gift shops and at the back of the room after his presentations. I suggested, however, that he position himself as an expert before he brings out his book. How? He had battled the bottle for years before choosing sobriety. Why not write his memoir, first? He could build a website, submit articles for publication, go out and tell his story to groups, volunteer with appropriate organizations—in other words, become known within the realm of his topic BEFORE presenting his book to the public.

Do you have a platform for the book you are writing, have written or dream of producing? What will entice readers to buy it instead of any number of others? If you want a guaranteed readership, start now establishing your expertise with your topic. Get the kind of exposure that will align your name with your genre.

Read more about this topic and hundreds of others related to and relevant to writing, publishing and book promotion in my newest book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html And be sure to order the companion book: The Author’s Workbook. http://www.matilijapress.com/workbook.html
Email me at plfry620@yahoo.com.

As a budding or hopeful author, you’re accustomed to going it alone. You hole up in your home office and write in privacy. Unfortunately, some of you consider publishing to be an extension of your writing. Without shifting gears, you envision submitting your wonderful manuscript to a publisher and collecting royalties for evermore. Frankly, this is an old school mentality.

In case you haven’t noticed, this isn’t your grandmother’s publishing industry. Technology has changed almost everything about the processes and the opportunities. I can predict that, at some point in the process of producing your book, you will discover that you need help; and the sooner you realize this, the better.

When should you seek help? In what way will you most likely need assistance? Consider the following:

Before the Writing Begins
• Attend writing classes, join writers’ critique groups and do a lot of writing in order to perfect your craft. Believe it or not, there are some new rules in grammar and punctuation. And today’s readers have different expectations.
• Consult books, read articles and attend writers’ conferences in order to learn what the publishing industry is all about, how to successfully operate within its confines and how your project might fit into the scheme of things.
• Join publishing organizations such as SPAWN, SPAN and PMA and participate. You’ll learn volumes about the industry you are about to enter.
• Write a book proposal. If you’re unsure about how to do this, follow the instructions in recommended books by Patricia Fry, Jeff Herman and Michael Larsen. Take my online Book Proposal Course. http://www.matilijapress.com/course_bookproposal.htm Hire a professional to walk you through the book proposal process. A well-researched, well-organized, well-written book proposal could keep you from making huge and costly mistakes.
• Consult a professional with regard to the potential of your book idea and how to make it more saleable.
• Discuss publishing options and specific publishers with your consultant and make some preliminary choices. (Conduct exercises to determine which publishing option is a good fit for you and your project.)
• Add to or start establishing your platform (your way of attracting readers). If you’re not sure how to do that, read articles and books on the subject. Read The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html. Read my former blog entries, visit http://www.matilijapress.com/articles.htm, do a Google search.

When the Writing is Done
• Hire a qualified editor—someone who is accustomed to editing books. This might exclude your friend who teaches English at the local high school, your employer’s college-bound daughter and your neighbor who is a retired professor.
• Work with your consultant on how to approach your choice of publishers or how to begin the publishing process, if you’ve chosen to self-publish or approach a fee-based POD “self-publishing” company.
• Continue building your platform.

After the Book is Published
• Shift into high marketing gear. If you are not sure where to begin or if you have unrealistic expectations related to book promotion, of course, consult a professional who can work with you. I had two gentlemen come to me this week complaining that they couldn’t get their books into bookstores, nor could they get book reviews. I helped them adopt a more realistic expectation for their self-published books and also advised them as to how to get their book into many bookstores and how to get numerous reviews.
• Continue to read books and articles on book promotion and continue to hone your public speaking, article-writing and marketing skills.
• Keep working on your platform.

As you can see, if you desire success as a published author, you really must reach out beyond the privacy of your home office, seek professional advice, study everything you can get your hands on and network among your peers.

An excellent way to start on this journey is to read The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book BEFORE you ever start the writing process. Use the Author’s Workbook. Sign up for my Book Proposal and/or Self-Publishing online Courses-on-Demand. And establish a relationship with consultant Patricia Fry or another professional who can guide you through the publishing process. http://www.matilijapress.com Contact me at plfry620@yahoo.com.