It happens fairly often. I meet disgruntled, disillusioned, almost bankrupt authors who admit to making most of the mistakes listed below. They might have wonderful books in hands, but little understanding of the publishing industry and even less marketing savvy. They learn too late that the time to ask questions and study options is BEFORE you 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 5 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<\/strong>. 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: 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<\/strong>. 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 service. 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<\/strong>. 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. Hire someone to help you get it right.<\/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, 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 4: Many authors don\u2019t understand publishing terms.<\/strong> Authors will say to me, \u201cI\u2019m self-publishing with ABC Publishing Company.\u201d What they are actually doing is going with a pay-to-publish company. What are your primary publishing options?<\/p>\n Royalty Publisher<\/strong> Pay-to-Publish Company<\/strong> 5: Newby authors don\u2019t generally solicit advice from professionals until it is too late<\/strong>. Do NOT sign a contract with any publisher or purveyor of publishing services without hiring a literary or intellectual properties attorney. This should go without saying, yet thousands of authors each year bypass this important step.<\/p>\n I also recommend that inexperienced authors talk to other authors who have used the services they are considering. Contact organizations such as SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) http:\/\/www.spawn.org<\/a>, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) and Small Publishers of North America (SPAN). Ask questions. <\/p>\n Further, you should read books such as the one I wrote especially for you\u2014Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author. It\u2019s available at Amazon.com and other online and downtown bookstores. Tomorrow, we will explore another 5 publishing mistakes and how to avoid them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It happens fairly often. I meet disgruntled, disillusioned, almost bankrupt authors who admit to making most of the mistakes listed below. They might have wonderful books in hands, but little understanding of the publishing industry and even less marketing savvy. They learn too late that the time to ask questions and study options is BEFORE […]<\/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\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
\nA traditional royalty publisher puts up the money for the production of your book and pays you royalties on books sold. These publishers are generally very selective in the books they publish
\n
\nSelf-publishing<\/strong>
\nSelf-publishing means that you establish a publishing company (get a fictitious business name, purchase your own block of ISBNs, etc.). You get your book ready for publication, you hire a printing company, you are responsible for distribution and shipping and you reap all of the profits. <\/p>\n
\nYou pay the company to produce your book. Most of these companies will accept any manuscript\u2014they are not generally discriminating. They each enter the publishing arena with very different publishing contracts. It pays to do plenty of research so you know exactly what you\u2019re signing.<\/p>\n
\n http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com<\/a>
\n http:\/\/www.patriciafry.com<\/a> <\/p>\n