It happens way too frequently. I\u2019ll meet a disgruntled, disillusioned, almost bankrupt author who admits to making most of the mistakes listed below. He might have a wonderful book in hand, but little understanding of the publishing industry and even less marketing savvy. Typically, they learn too late that the time to ask questions and study options is BEFORE they begin to make publishing decisions. <\/p>\n
First-time authors are eager to see their books in print. I know this. I\u2019ve been there and I\u2019ve made mistakes. As authors, we work long and hard on our projects. The last thing we want to deal with after finishing a manuscript is the learning curve. Rather than spend weeks, months or years searching for a publishing opportunity, we\u2019d rather sign with the first \u201cpublisher\u201d who extends a friendly hand.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m on a mission, folks\u2014a mission to help hopeful authors become more well educated and informed about this industry so they will make more appropriate choices on behalf of their publishing projects. <\/p>\n
Following are 7 mistakes that many new authors make\u2014mistakes that can cost you large sums of money and dramatically diminish your opportunity for publishing success. <\/p>\n
1: Inexperienced authors write a book as the first step. Why is this considered a mistake? If you aspire to have your book published and widely distributed, this may be the wrong approach. Whether you\u2019re writing a how-to book, biography, self-help, romance novel, children\u2019s story, mystery, memoir or dictionary, write a book proposal first. <\/p>\n
In the process of writing a book proposal, you will:
\n\u2022\tLearn if you have a viable book at all.
\n\u2022\tDiscover whether there is a market for this book.
\n\u2022\tDetermine your target audience.
\n\u2022\tAscertain the best way to promote your book.
\n\u2022\tBe prepared to establish your platform.<\/p>\n
Write a book proposal as a first step and you\u2019re more apt to write the right book for the right audience. How better to snag a traditional royalty publisher than with a promising project?<\/p>\n
2: Eager new authors often go with the first publishing opportunity they stumble across. You don\u2019t make other business decisions this quickly. You research the possibilities and study your options. Many authors forget that publishing is a business. We get so attached to our projects and so eager to see our books in print that we act emotionally rather than logically. <\/p>\n
Learn the difference between a traditional royalty publisher and a pay-to-publish company. You\u2019ll find hundreds of traditional royalty publishers listed in Writer\u2019s Market (available in the reference section of your library or for sale for about $30 in most bookstores. A new edition comes out each September). <\/p>\n
Visit bookstores in search of books like yours. Find out who published these books and contact those publishers.<\/p>\n
As an author, you have many options. Research them, understand them and scrutinize them in order to choose the one that is right for your project.<\/p>\n
3: New authors believe that they don\u2019t have a chance with a traditional royalty publisher. This is simply not true. If you have a viable project, you arm yourself with knowledge and you approach the publisher in a professional manner, you have a definite chance of landing a traditional royalty publisher. <\/p>\n
Find publishers who produce books like yours. Study their Submission Guidelines. Follow these guidelines in approaching them with your project. If they request a query letter first, do NOT send your complete manuscript. If you don\u2019t understand what goes into a query letter, study books and articles about writing a query letter.<\/p>\n
There are hundreds of small to medium-sized publishers eager for good, marketable books. For example, everyone knows that poetry books are a hard sell. Yet, the 2010 edition of the Writer\u2019s Market lists over 40 traditional royalty publishers who publish books of poetry. There are at least 125 publishers of mysteries and about the same number who produce historical novels. There are over 200 traditional royalty publishers that publish biographies and more than 175 who produce children\u2019s books. Encouraging, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll post the remaining four publishing mistakes in tomorrow\u2019s blog. In the meantime, I hope you will take the time to digest the material here and please ask any questions you might have PLFry620@yahoo.com<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com<\/a> It happens way too frequently. I\u2019ll meet a disgruntled, disillusioned, almost bankrupt author who admits to making most of the mistakes listed below. He might have a wonderful book in hand, but little understanding of the publishing industry and even less marketing savvy. Typically, they learn too late that the time to ask questions and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n http:\/\/www.patriciafry.com<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"