Welcome to the Site!
by admin on May.04, 2010, under publishing
The publishing field has changed so much over the last decade. Why has this happened? Self-publishing has changed the way big publishers looks at new manuscripts. When I started my first novel in November of 2000, the word was out that Bowker was getting approx 35,000 new books a year. This last year 2009, Bowker announced the number to be 764,448 new books. Remember, the number represents new books and not he ones that are in print from the other years.
Self-publishing has changed the way big publishers look at new manuscripts. It’s easier for a publisher to pick up books moving for self-publishers. Why risk the money to learn if reader like it. Everyday, I receive requests from authors wanting me to publish there manuscript. You get tried of turning people away. It would be impossible to publish every person who comes to you.
This is why we have a website dedicated to publishing?
On the internet, you will find a huge debate on self-publishing compared to going with a publisher. Some authors want or need to be in control of their career. Other authors really don’t care and they just want to write and leave the details up to someone else. Either way, the author needs to market their novel if they want their book to sell. Unless, you are famous. The publisher just places your book in their catalog and hope it moves. If you are not famous, then it’s up to you to make yourself noticed.
What is in your background?
Most of us are not famous before we start to write a book. So what do you have in background that you could use to make yourself famous. Let me give you an example:
I have a friend who is a retired CIA agent. Yes, he really was an agent and he didn’t always sit behind a desk. He wrote a fictional novel about an agent trapped in Russia and he’s hiding from the mob. Are you interested in his book? Of course, you are. He self-published and he has sold over a million copies.
My friend received an movie offer and a deal from a large publisher. He turned down the offer from the publisher. You still have to market, so why give away your control and money? He markets himself by giving speeches about his background. People buy his fictional novel at the end of his appearances besides stores.
This is what publishers are looking for when you approach them with your manuscript. They want to know how they can they use your background to sell books. The other way, you can sell your book if you are a publisher or a self-publisher. A review from someone famous or respected will cause books to off the shelf.
One of the most common way of getting our book out is readers creating a buzz. People start to talk about your book, causing people to want to read it. There are different ways of doing this. Remember, we are talking about fictional novels.
A non-fiction book is easier to write and promote. A lot of people will use the self-publishing, if they write a non-fiction book. The reason why, they are marketing or writing to a select group of people. The background usually goes with the non-fiction book.
These days, you have choices. If you are wondering where you fit in, it will depend on what you want to accomplish. As an author who has turned to publishing, I have learned a lot. When you make a mistake in publishing, it can become expensive and your efforts are fruitless. Many times, self-publishing is the best way for you to go. It’s easy to get your book into print. Creating the buzz, you could find it stretch you. Sometime, it helps to talk with someone who has been through it numerous times.
If you have a manuscript, you want to discuss what would be best for you. Contact me so we can talk! Or if you have a self-published book and you want to discuss ways of creating a buzz. Let’s talk!
You can easily become a published author according to the news. Is it true?
by admin on Apr.13, 2010, under publishing
When I decided to get into the publishing field, I felt like my son who is in the picture at the right. I’m a published author with four books and two more on the way. They say it is easy to become a published author. Yet, it can be very difficult. For this amount of money, we can help make the experience easier for you. What do you say?
People come up to me all the time and tell me that they have a story they want to have published. I see apprehension and excitement in their eyes and I know what they are feeling. When I decided to get my story published, I found it daunting.
As a friend, I want to do something different here. I’m going to be blunt and tell you what it’s really like. If you still want to become a published author, as a friend, I will mentor you through the maze. You can get really hurt emotionally and it is easy to pour money down the drain. I will tell you what it’s like to be picked up by a publisher or to become self-published. You can read the material and decide for yourself.
Many seasoned authors are choosing to follow the self-publishing route. You might want to read why in my free e-book, “What Does it Take to Become a Successful Published Author.” If you really want to become a published author, then you can join me and I’ll mentor you through the process. Before I mentor you, I want you to understand the advantages of both sides of the publishing world. That way you can make an intelligent decision and understand what I’m telling you.
When I decided to enter the industry, it was very overwhelming. For help, I turned to a few books. The first book I read was written by a literary agent and he was very discouraging. According to his book, he receives 5000 requests a week for his services. You can only imagine how many rejection letters he sent out on a daily basis. A literary agent will not take a new author unless they find a publisher first. Most publishers will not look at you without a literary agent.
After reading numerous books, I decided to publish my book myself. With my background, I probably have put more deals together than some literary agents. The biggest problem with self-publishing is you can and usually do make expensive mistakes. This is why I decided to mentor people. I would have loved if someone reached out and talked me through the process when I started. It cost me money and it was very emotional. I never felt so alone in a business as I did during this time of my learning.
Since I love to learn, I decided to go out and see if the books were telling me the truth. I hired someone to get me into some important places. My journey started in New York City. On this trip, I saw and spoke with people who educated me.
The first person I saw in New York City was an associated editor at Scholastic Magazine, named Lisa Feder-Feitel. As we got off the elevator, Scholastic’s offices took me back. I didn’t expect the bright colors and the décor. For a moment, I felt like I was in an elementary school. I had expected to sit in an office. Instead, we sat down at a table where our knees barely touched the edge of it. I expected any minute to have kids join us with their crayons and coloring books. It was really fun and Lisa was very warm and wonderful to talk with.
On this trip, I visited with Mark Schoenwald, an Executive Vice President of Thomas Nelson Publishers. I learned how a large publisher works and how they view new authors. You can read more in my e-book.
My visits didn’t stop with Thomas Nelson. I spent time with Peter Cannon of Publishers Weekly magazine. He was one of their editors and I learned a lot from talking with him. Publishers want to get a good review from Publishers Weekly on their new book. It helps stores buy a book they have coming out. I thought it was interesting to talk with him. For me, I never bought or read a book because of a review. I bought it because someone I trusted recommended it.
From Peter’s office, I went to a meeting with Bowker. They are the source for ISBN numbers for your books. They have other services that are important to the success of your book as well.
After I met with Bowker, I went into an hour-long meeting with Barnes and Noble’s head and regional buyers. Now, I understand how they work. Before the meeting, I bumped into Barnes and Noble Vice President, Robert C. Knowles, and I had a nice chat with him.
Now, I understood how large bookstores handle buying books. I wanted to know if it was different for small family-owned bookstores. I stopped in and interviewed numerous bookstore owners across the nation. Every bookstore owner had the same attitude on how they chose their books.
While I was there, I had some owners give me the names of independent distributors. Then I called them up to learn what challenges they had working with bookstores. They have a hard job and I really appreciate what they do.
Again, I wish that I had someone talk me through the publishing business. You really have no idea what it’s like until you have to do it. When authors come up to me, I listen and my heart aches for them. I know most of them will never get started or they will quit at the first bump in the road. There is so much you need to learn and they have such a learning curve ahead of them.
I love the business side of publishing as much as I do writing. Most authors aren’t wired for business. Since I have so much vast knowledge of the publishing field, I decided to mentor others. It made sense to use the Internet. This way, I can mentor and still have a career and life. Join me today by downloading my free e-book, “What Does it Take to Become a Successful Published Author.” Then we will talk! E-book
One Way of Getting the News out on your Book
by admin on Feb.10, 2010, under publishing
When I started writing my first novel, we had 35,000 new books that year. The year was 2000. Last year being 2009, the figures came in 764,448 new books in one year. How do we cope with this kind of onslaught of new information? How does a publishing industry handle this? In 2010, they expect it to increase.
What has changed in the last decade? It is self-publishing. It has become easier to get yourself published. Even seasoned authors are moving to self-publishing because they were upset with their publishers. Publishers have become callous because it is so important to stay alive and make a profit. They do not have crystal balls that will tell them what books will make money for them. A publishers had a lot of mouths to feed because of their overhead. Getting a book published isn’t cheap. Marketing is the biggest expense.
I remember a story that I read in Reader Digest about a publisher talking about the publishing industry. He told the story without naming the titles of the books or his company. The story started off with him talking about a book that they were really excited about. Six months before they published it, they started advertising the new book. They spent a lot of money on it.
When the book came out, the sells were so, so. They were sick about it because they had spent a lot of money on advertising. Soon after, they published this book. An Argentina leader happened to mention that he really liked a book during an interview.
At the moment, the book wasn’t a big seller. After the interview aired, the publisher had orders of 50,000 in the first month. It happened to be the same publishers who put a lot of money into a book that didn’t take off immediately. They were relieved to have another book pickup and bring in revenue. So they could keep their doors open.
Books sell because a buzz has been created. With self-publishing changing the industry, you can make a lot of expense mistakes publishing your own book. Like a publisher, you can have a book just sit there. Self-publishing does have some down sides to it. Bookstores and Libraries do not buy from publishers. They have a system and they purchase books through it.
One is you can have problems getting your book into the largest wholesalers. Ingram is the largest wholesaler. Bookstores buy from them the most. Libraries tend to purchase from Baker and Taylor. They both are trying to capture both markets. Baker and Taylor happens to be the second largest wholesaler of books. If you want to work with Ingram directly, you won’t be able too. They will only order from publisher with ten books or more in print. This makes it hard when you are a self-published.
Ingram will put your books into their system through distributors but they will not stock your book. It is expensive for you to go through distributors and they do nothing to promote your book. All promotion has to come from you as the author. Even if you go with a publisher, the author promoting their book is everything. This is why previously published authors are moving to self-publishing. If they are doing the work, why not keep more of the profit.
If you are a new author, everything I’m telling you can very intimidating. I haven’t told you everything. I’ve only scratched the surface of what goes on behind the scenes. When you write a novel, children picture book, or a non-fiction book, you really need to know if readers will like your product before you print it.
You always have questions when your book is a manuscript. Can the book create a buzz? Will someone show me how to navigate the system? This is why you want a publisher. You hope they will take you by the hand and mother you through the system. They won’t do it. Publishers have become hard nosed. They have too. It’s business. They can’t afford the time to mother you.
We at Gathering Place Publisher understand the frustration. We understand your desire to test the waters and find out if your book has merit. You’re praying that someone will give you a chance. Today, publisher are passing on manuscripts and picking up books that have been self-published. Why take a chance, when you can pick up a book that the public likes. The guesswork it out of it. This is what Dan Brown did with the Da Vinci Code.
Here at Gathering Place Publishers, we are working on a mentoring program that can help you navigate through the jungle of publishing. Right now, we want to determine how many people want help in getting published and it in what areas. We want to hear from you. The response will determine how we structure our program.
If you are interested to watch it unfold, please sign up for email updates. We’ll be ask you to surveys along the way, so we can determine the best way to structure our program. We need your help first. If you are interested, please tell your friends and sign up. So we can start to send you surveys to determine what you need the most.
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