{"id":739,"date":"2010-02-24T06:16:24","date_gmt":"2010-02-24T14:16:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/publishingblog\/?p=739"},"modified":"2010-02-24T06:16:24","modified_gmt":"2010-02-24T14:16:24","slug":"listen-to-what-publishers-want-and-then-follow-what-you-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/publishingblog\/?p=739","title":{"rendered":"Listen to What Publishers Want and then Follow What You Know"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m in the process of writing a book proposal. As you may know, I\u2019m the author of a book called How to Write a Successful Book Proposal in 8 Days or Less<\/em>. I based this book on my 8-week article-writing course. How do you write a book proposal in 8 days when it is designed to take 8 weeks? You do the lessons daily instead of weekly!<\/p>\n

I have been working on my book proposal for a few days and should complete it today. Yeah! See you truly can write a book proposal in 8 days or less.<\/p>\n

The book is, Over 100 Good Ideas for Promoting Your Book<\/em><\/strong>. You may be familiar with the book I produced in 2000, Over 75 Good Ideas for Promoting Your Book<\/em>. I\u2019m revising that book. And I\u2019ve decided to seek a traditional publisher so the book will receive greater exposure and added potential for sales. So far, I have had one rejection letter. <\/p>\n

My pitch for this book\u2014what makes it unique\u2014is that it is not a huge, intimidating tome. It is brief, compact, succinct, well-organized yet fully packed with ideas, resources and anecdotes. The response to my query letter reminded me that publishers aren\u2019t so interested in what the public wants as they are \u201chow much money can I make.\u201d I teach and preach that publishing is a business and that you must approach publishers with an excellent business idea that will make them some money. But still, there is a mindset within the publishing industry that isn\u2019t easy for an author (even an author\/publisher like me) to grasp. <\/p>\n

The first publisher to respond wrote a very nice note of explanation as to why they were not interested in publishing my book. They don\u2019t want it for the very reason I thought they would! Because it is small and non-intimidating. They want books that they can price at around the $19.95 mark. They want those mega-books that intimidate authors. Also, this publisher said that they don\u2019t sell many books on book promotion, anyway.<\/p>\n

I guess this sort of follows my observation about many of the authors who are just coming into the publishing fold. They want to do things their way and they don\u2019t want to be distracted or side-tracked by the facts of the matter. In other words, they aren\u2019t studying what others write about book promotion. They don\u2019t want to know how to promote their books. They have some ideas about getting exposure for their books\u2014ideas that fit within their comfort zone\u2014and they aren\u2019t interested in complicating their world by learning about book promotion.<\/p>\n

Hmmm. It\u2019s looking more and more as if I will be publishing this book through my own publishing company, Matilija Press. I will complete my book proposal and send it out to the carefully researched publishers on my list. I\u2019ll wait to hear back from them and then I\u2019ll make my decision. I know that the first edition of this book is popular with authors everywhere I go. It is the one Amazon orders the most\u2014often in bulk. It sells best at my website. And more people purchase this little 72-page book than any of my more substantial publishing-related books. <\/p>\n

Maybe this publisher is dead wrong. Maybe authors would purchase more books on book promotion if they could find books like mine\u2014books that are jam-packed with ideas, resources and anecdotes, but that are not huge and overwhelming.<\/p>\n

We all have the opportunity to learn within this changing publishing industry daily. And I just learned that just because a publisher won\u2019t accept your project doesn\u2019t necessarily mean it is not worth publishing.<\/p>\n

Catscapades<\/strong>
\nIn the meantime, orders are filtering in for my new print version of Catscapades, True Cat Tales<\/em><\/strong>. Most people are purchasing multiple copies. It will make an absolutely marvelous gift. Think Easter! And Mother\u2019s Day! I\u2019ve got many of the birthdays on my list covered for the next year, as well.<\/p>\n

I met two cat ladies over the weekend. One has seven cats and the other has five. They shared stories with me that may appear in the sequel to Catscapades, True Cat <\/em><\/strong>Tales in a few years. I\u2019ve been visiting cat blogs and websites and meeting some of the people within the cat community. Several of them want to review the book when it arrives from the printer. Yeah!<\/p>\n

Order your copy before March 15, 2010 and I\u2019ll pay the shipping. I\u2019ll also tuck in a free gift\u2014something you can use every day for years! http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades.html<\/a> <\/p>\n

New Article-Writing course starts today. It\u2019s not too late to sign up. $125 for 6-weeks of lectures, assignments and my personal attention to your project.
\n http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/course_magarticles.htm<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m in the process of writing a book proposal. As you may know, I\u2019m the author of a book called How to Write a Successful Book Proposal in 8 Days or Less. I based this book on my 8-week article-writing course. How do you write a book proposal in 8 days when it is designed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12,3],"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