Some hopeful authors still consider publishing a hobby or a game. They write a memoir, children\u2019s book, or young adult novel, for example, and then decide they\u2019ll allow a big-name publisher to produce it and share the large profits with them. Some authors realize they need an agent in order to land a major publisher, so they do a little research and contact an agent or two.<\/p>\n
The next step in their plan is to quit their boring job and live off the royalties. If they enjoyed the process of writing the first book, they\u2019ll make time to work on a second and maybe a third one. Ahhhh, life will be good.<\/p>\n
The hard part of this plan is writing that first book, right? Everyone knows what a huge accomplishment that is. Once that hurdle is cleared, things will get easier. After all, you read about ordinary authors with bestsellers all the time. How difficult can it be?<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve been writing for publication for over 40 years. I have 46 published books to my credit. I\u2019ve spent a lot of time during the last 20 years speaking, teaching workshops, and writing articles and books on authorship\u2014the concept, the psychology, and the process. And I\u2019m not the only one offering benefit of my experience, research, and knowledge in this area. There are hundreds of qualified individuals speaking out, teaching, and mentoring. And still there are hopeful authors who are not paying attention.<\/p>\n
I still get calls, emails, and comments at this blog site from disappointed authors who can\u2019t understand why their book\u2019s not selling. Many have paid a pay-to-publish company $7,000 (sometimes more) to produce their books and they\u2019re not anywhere close to breaking even, let alone earning a profit.<\/p>\n
Why? What did these authors do wrong? What is the best way to land a big publisher? Is the only other option to pay a large fee to a pay-to-publish (self-publishing) company? But how do you actually make sales? Should you sign up for the expensive promotional package these companies offer? What can the author do to become more successful? What is the author\u2019s responsibility?<\/p>\n
If you are interested in the answers to any or all of these questions, let me know. Leave a comment here at this blog site or contact me here: PLFry620@yahoo.com<\/a> and I will cover it in my next post.<\/p>\n The bottom line is, there\u2019s a whole lot more to becoming a successful author than you can even imagine unless you\u2019ve taken the time and put in the effort to study the industry. Publishing is not a hobby or a game. It is a serious business and should be approached as such.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Some hopeful authors still consider publishing a hobby or a game. They write a memoir, children\u2019s book, or young adult novel, for example, and then decide they\u2019ll allow a big-name publisher to produce it and share the large profits with them. Some authors realize they need an agent in order to land a major publisher, […]<\/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