I\u2019m getting a lot of emails from people I met at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and some who just picked up my promo material. Most of them have questions about publishing, book promotion and so forth. And few of them seem to know much about conducting research.<\/p>\n
Certainly, asking someone is a form of research. But, when the question is very broad or even very specialized, almost anyone would have to either conduct research in order to respond to the question or provide resources for the individual so that he or she can do the study.<\/p>\n
Here are the types of questions I get and my responses. <\/p>\n
Q: \u201cCan you recommend a publisher for my science fiction thriller (romance adventure, memoir, historical novel, self-help book for parents of autistic kids, children\u2019s book or business book)?\u201d<\/p>\n
A: I suggest to this hopeful author that he seek out books like his, see who published them and contact those publishers. I recommend that he study Writer\u2019s Market<\/em> and other publisher directories to find publishers in this genre\/topic. <\/p>\n If he is looking for an agent, he can read the \u201cacknowledgements\u201d pages in books like his as an author will often thank or mention his agent.<\/p>\n Q: All I receive is rejection letters from publishers. I\u2019ve decided to go with a \u201cself-publishing\u201d company. Which one would you suggest?<\/p>\n A: Before choosing a pay-to-publish company, let me ask you how you are approaching publishers. Are you sending a professional query letter? Do you have a complete and detailed book proposal written? I recommend stopping your forward motion now and writing a book proposal. The main purpose of the proposal is to help you determine whether you have a viable product, who your target audience is and how you will reach them. If you do your homework, you will learn volumes about your ability to market this book\u2014your platform (skills, connections, etc.), what you can do to strengthen your skills and add new ones and strategies for promoting your book. <\/p>\n Most first-time authors are not well-prepared to make a good case for their projects when approaching publishers. They enter into the publishing arena without sufficient information and strategies. A weak query letter, even for a potentially viable product, will be rejected when other authors are approaching the publisher with more professional packages. In case you haven\u2019t noticed, competition for authors is fierce.<\/p>\n Start by running your query letter by a professional for suggestions. Get professional help writing a strong book proposal. Make sure that you are approaching appropriate publishers for your particular project. Spend time studying the publishing industry so you have a greater understanding of what is involved. <\/p>\n If you decide to go with a pay-to-publish company, read Mark Levine\u2019s book, \u201cThe Fine Print of Self-Publishing,\u201d to make sure you are choosing one of the good guys. Get the e-book FREE when you join SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) http:\/\/www.spawn.org<\/a> <\/p>\n If you have a question, contact me here: PLFry620@yahoo.com. Or leave your question in the comments section of this blog site.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019m getting a lot of emails from people I met at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and some who just picked up my promo material. Most of them have questions about publishing, book promotion and so forth. And few of them seem to know much about conducting research. Certainly, asking someone is a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"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