Category Archives: Publication

Decisions, choices, and sacrifices.

There May Be Trouble Ahead 2 (c) B Cleary

There is no right way to get where you want to go. At least, not when we’re speaking metaphorically. There are methods that make the most logical sense, but there’s always at least one story about someone who went in the complete opposite (and seemingly roundabout) direction and ended up being wildly successful. The point is, you have to find the path that works for you.

This is good, general advice for life, but right now I’m thinking about it more in the context of writing and the choices writers have to make early in their careers. Most authors will warn you not to quite your day job too early, but what about switching jobs? Cutting back? Giving yourself something with fewer hours and less stress and making do with less money for a while? That’s what I’m considering right now. Cause, in the end, being happy is a lot more important than extra money, yes? Plus, I’m counting on the possibility that one day what makes me happy will be bringing in my extra money. 😉

The Story Of How Crashing A Party Changed My Life

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Once upon a time there was a girl who absolutely loved Manhattan (aka, me). Manhattan had Broadway and amazing museums and an energy that made me happy every time I visited. Then, one day, I learned that one of the world’s largest book conventions was held in this city I loved and my friend Lani invited me to go. Plans were made and hotels were booked and I waited anxiously until I could finally fly to New York.

The convention was everything I imagined it would be and the people I met were just as obsessive about books as I was. I collected more books than I could carry, made some new friends, and generally had a fabulous time. On Wednesday night, after the final full day of the convention, Lani was invited to this incredible party on a rooftop in Tribeca. Lani tried to get me an invite as well, but alas the party was full. However, Lani didn’t know New York very well and wasn’t comfortable traveling the city by herself, so I tagged along anyway, planning to sit in a cafe and read while Lani attended the party and enjoyed views like this:

By the time we arrived at the party, Lani was convinced they could sneak me in. I wasn’t too keen on the idea of spending the night in a place where the fear of getting kicked out hung over my head, but I also really had to use the bathroom, so I let Lani talk me into it. We made it to the roof (and I was able to use the bathroom) but then I was so entranced by the views from this spot that I stayed to take some pictures. And then I kinda just never left.

This is NOT from the party, I just like this picture. 🙂

Although I enjoyed taking pictures and talking to people (I even met a British girl who happened to be best friends with someone I went to middle school with in Florida! O.O!), I tried to stay under the radar and out of the way. Lani, however, wasn’t having that. Because she’s an amazing person (and should consider a second career in PR or marketing), Lani began raving about a book I wrote to an editor she’d met. The editor, whose name was Danielle, was intrigued and wanted to hear more, so Lani called me over from where I was admiring the city’s skyline and shoved me into a conversation where I probably said “Um…” about fifty-three times. Which is what happens when I’m in no way prepared to pitch my book to someone. But it still went well and Danielle dragged me across the roof to meet someone else, another editor at her press named Patricia.

“Tell Patricia about your book,” Danielle said.

So, I did. And then this happened:

Patricia (looking at Danielle): “Oh my God!”

Danielle (grinning): “I know, right?!”

At that moment, I was very glad it was dark outside because I swear I was blushing and grinning like an idiot. They gave me their cards and asked me to send them the full manuscript, which I did as soon as I had a stable internet connection.

It’s only been about six weeks from that night, but in that short amount of time they both read it, loved it, offered on it, sent me a contract, revised the contract, planned a marketing strategy for my entire series, and–now–officially announced the acquisition of Sing, Sweet Nightingale by Spencer Hill Press. 😀

I am thrilled to be working with Danielle and Patricia who both love my novel and my characters as much as I do and will help me make it the best it can be. Publication is currently slated for Spring of 2014, but you’ll be able to find new information here as it is released and, eventually, on a site solely dedicated to the series. Stick with me over the next year and a half! I can’t wait to share all the details with you!

Also, a huge thank you to Lani who honestly made this all possible. <3

News: Coming Soon!

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There are big things brewing in my world. Big, BIG things. As soon as it all is tied up all nice and pretty with a bow on top, I will be making an official announcement, hopefully next week, but I can’t resist saying now that I am so excited about absolutely everything involved in this news!

Check back on the blog in the next two weeks for the breaking headline! 😀

Debuts: Why Publishing Your First Novel Is Like Running For Student Body President

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Because this is a topic much on my mind lately, I found this post on Writers Digest extraordinarily timely! I also loved the comparisons and the fresh way of looking at things. I enjoyed it so much I’m reposting the entire thing here. 😀

Why Publishing Your First Novel Is Like Running For Student Body President

By Michelle Haimoff

Guest column by Michelle Haimoff, writer and blogger whose writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Christian Science Monitor, PsychologyToday.com and The Huffington Post. Her first novel, THESE DAYS ARE OURS (Feb. 2012, Grand Central, starred review from Publishers Weekly), is available nationwide. She can be found blogging on genfem.com and on Facebook and Twitter.

Picture being a new student at a high school where you don’t know anyone (1). And now picture dementedly wanting to run for school president (2). Lord knows why you want to run for school president, but maybe you think you’d make a terrific president. You have really good ideas and if people would just give you a chance you could make this school the greatest school the world has ever seen (3). You know it’s a long shot but it can be done, so you set out to do it.
1 – writing your first novel
2 – publishing your first novel
3 – it is possible that your novel doesn’t suck

You start making signs (4) and trying to get student groups (5) to let you talk at their meetings . But nobody knows you so they tell you that they don’t have time for you to talk at their meetings (6). The kids on Yearbook (7), Model UN (8) and Debate Team (9) won’t even look at you (10) when you approach them. The ones in Band (11) and Chess Club (12) say no way, but the Community Service Committee (13) says they’ll think about it. You make sure to say hi to all Community Service Club members in the hallways (14) anytime you pass them. They never say hi back.
4 – writing emails
5 – newspapers and magazines
6 – review your book
7 – The New Yorker
8 – New York Review of Books
9 – The New York Times
10 – respond to your emails
11 – Daily Beast
12 – Salon
13 – The Atlantic Salmon Journal
14 – retweet their tweets

Your signs (15) are made out of loose leaf (16) and graph paper (17) because you’re paying for them with your own money and you can’t afford oak tag (18). But you notice that other candidates, the jocks maybe, have signs (19) that are professionally laser printed (20) and hang as banners in the hallways (21). You look at your dinky graph paper sign and then at the enormous sign in the hallway and you wonder how you’re ever going to get anyone to vote for you (22). Also, you wonder where they got the money for those signs. But you shrug it off and keep your head up because you’re an optimist (23). An unrelenting optimist (24).
15 – publicity
16 – Facebook status updates
17 – tweets
18 – a publicist
19 – personal websites
20 – really fucking well designed
21 – come up first in a Google search
22 – buy your book
23 – an idiot
24 – an idiot with an inflated sense of self

Every so often you stand at the entrance to the cafeteria (25) and take an informal poll to see how many students are planning to vote for you (26). One day two students tell you that they’ll vote for you (27)! But moments later the captain of the football team trips you (28) causing you to run and hide (29).
25 – go on Amazon
26 – check your ranking
27 – you were ranked lower than #400,000
28 – Amazon recommends that you check out the Fifty Shades Trilogy
29 – close all tabs

At this point you have a moment of sanity and wonder what the hell you were thinking running for office. There’s no way you’re going to win (30), you should just be focusing on your homework (31) and graduation (32). It is at that moment that French Club (33) tells you they want you to speak at their next meeting (34). You have tried so hard for so long and you are overjoyed by this minor victory. You come out of the meeting knowing that you got more votes.
30 – make any money doing this
31 – getting an office job
32 – saving up for retirement
33 – a blog you’ve never heard of
34 – is going to review your book

The election comes and goes and you don’t become student body president, but you don’t get the least number of votes either (35). The kids that voted for you (36) wish you better luck when you run next year (37). And now you actually have some friends in this school, or at least more people to say hi to in the hallways (38). And because you really don’t know when to quit, you think, “Hmmm. Maybe I will run again next year (39)… maybe I will (40)…”
35 – some books aren’t even in the top #400,000 on Amazon
36 – your readers
37 – tell you that they’re looking forward to your next book
38 – Twitter followers
39 – there is this other book idea I have…
40 – and my second novel will definitely sell better than my first…

Bestsellers: Behind The Scenes

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Before I say anything else, I have to make a statement: I can only go clothes shopping if it happens spontaneously. Otherwise I find NOTHING. Last night I went to Sports Authority for a new backpack for my trip and decided on a whim to stop by the clothing section. I end up walking out of the store with seven (yes, seven) dresses. Oh, and the backpack. Luckily, the dresses were all FIFTY PERCENT OFF! And I didn’t know this until I made it up to the register. Best surprise ever! And so I took the money I thought I was spending and went to Target where I bought four pairs of shorts and a bunch of shirts. And now I probably won’t shop again for about a year. 🙂

Anyway, moving on…

Have you ever wondered how some books take off like a rocket and others only drift along like a helium balloon? The hows and whys of this are changing, but right now it still has a lot to do with bookstores, booksellers, and book addicts. People who don’t read often are probably going to take their book buying advice from someone in one of those positions, so if a local bookstore employee loves a certain book, suddenly that book is selling like ice cream in the middle of summer. Seriously. I’ve seen it happen. I’ve done it during my time as a Borders bookslave.

Not too long after the release of the Hunger Games movie, I found a detailed article online about the behind-the-scenes efforts to make this book fly. Obviously, it worked. The article on Salon.com gives a detailed look at the life cycle of this book from proposal to publication to bestsellerdom and lets us peek behind the curtain at what can happen when you have the influence of a really excited industry behind you. Read it. It’s worth the time.

Promoting: Don’t Ignore Social Media

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With a new site popping up every day (or so it seems) trying to keep up with your many social media profiles can feel like a full time job in and of itself.

Building your “platform” is becoming more and more important. It used to only be key
in nonfiction proposals (especially self-help books) where the audience usually didn’t buy a book from a name they hadn’t heard before, but now more and more agents are expecting debut authors to be working behind the scenes on building up their platform. Now, in this case, platform almost always translates to web presence. This is looking at a very narrow part of the actual meaning of the word platform, but it’ll work for today. Plus, it’s usually all agents and publishers expect from a non-published author.

From the agent’s point of view (according to a recent interview I heard), you can get away with having a simple, free website with your name, email adress, bio, and a little bit about what you write, but you should still have something with your name on it floating out in cyber space. You can do this very easily through free platforms like Blogger, but you have to be careful about this because people expect a blog to be active. A “dead” blog is usually seen as a bad sign. Also, consider buying the domain name for your name (or pen name) before someone else does. You can set up a Blogger or WordPress blog to redirect to a custom domain name (which is what I’ve done on my site). Even if you don’t know how to set up the website, the cost is minimal and you’ll have it down the road when you need it. But if you don’t want to mess around with websites and domain names, try to at least set yourself up on popular social media sites.

I mentioned Robert Brewer’s blog My Name Is Not Bob the other day and how much fantastic advice he had on that blog for writers. One of the topics he speaks about is self-promotion and online web presence, especially through social media. A relatively recent post called The Ultimate Guide To Social Media For Writers is a pretty detailed look at, well, social media for writers.

A caveat. While you should definitely make time to set up profiles on multiple sites and visit them all at least once a week, don’t let your entire day get eaten by the interweb. Your main job is to write, so that should still be your focus. No matter how popular you are online, you can’t get published if you don’t have anything to publish!

Domain name sites (a few of them, anyway):
Domain.com
GoDaddy.com
Melbourneit.com

Instructions on setting up your domain name

Happy promoting!

Format: Will Availability Limit Your Readership?

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A lot of writers are–usually by necessity or natural inclination–up to date on the latest technology. What you have to be careful to remember, though, is not all readers will be as tech-savvy as you. Depending on your genre, your expected readership may prefer one format over another, or may be split evenly down the middle. Whatever the case may be, it’s something to take into consideration, especially if you’re considering self-publishing.

Jody Hedlund, who I’ve quoted a few times on this blog already, recently posted about this very issue. Her personal experience with the question is why I’m posting it here.

the truth is, not everyone is moving at the same technological speed we are.

I’m reminded of this from time to time when I interact with readers. I often get handwritten notes in the mail from readers. And recently I received TWO letters from women who said this:

“It was nice to see your P.O. Box included in your book, as we do not have a computer.”

“I don’t have a computer (not good at it). Let me know if you write any other books—the titles, etc.”

No computer? That may sound archaic to those of us whose fingers are super-glued to a keyboard. But it just shows that not everyone is as bonkers about computers and the internet as we are.

Recently, I was speaking at a library in Bay City, Michigan, to a group of 50-60 people at a lunch program called “Booked for Lunch.” I shared about my writing journey, research process, and had a power point presentation giving some of the background information of my books.

At the end of my talk, I left time for questions and answers. In the course of the conversations, I mentioned that my eBook of The Doctor’s Lady was on sale on Kindle (at that time was a part of Amazon’s ‘What’s the Big Deal’ promotion). I asked for those who had eReaders to raise their hands. And as far as I could tell, NOT ONE person raised his or her hand.

Jody explains this more, breaking it down into three reminders:

1. Know your genre readers and their demographics.

2. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

3. Stay humble and don’t burn bridges.

She goes into more detail within each bullet point on the main blog post, but even as simple reminders, they are points all writers should keep in mind. The world, your readership, and the industry are constantly changing. These days, adaptability may be key to long-term success.

Sales: What’s Average And What Should You Expect?

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When some people make a publishing deal, they can convince themselves all their worries are over. The publisher will take care of everything and then a royalty check will magically appear in their mailbox. While this is not an impossible scenario, it is an unlikely one. You don’t get a royalty check until you earn more than your advance and book sales vary widely, even when looking at the average.

Steve Laube, agent and one-time publishing insider, posted a couple of times about book sales, averages, and what these numbers mean. In this post, he gave some examples from real life authors:

Author 1: novelist – 3 books – avg. sale = 8,300

Author 2: novelist – 12 books – avg. sale = 19,756

Author 3: novelist – 3 books – avg. sale = 7,000

Author 4: novelist – 7 books – avg. sale = 5,300 (Two different publishers)

Author 5: non-fiction devotional – 5 books – avg. sale = 10,900

Author 6: non-fiction – 2 books – avg. sale = 5,300

Author 7: novelist – 4 books – avg. sale = 29,400

Author 8: non-fiction – 3 books – avg. sale = 18,900

Author 9: fiction – 7 books – avg. sale = 12,900

Author 10: non-fiction – 5 books – avg. sale = 6,800 (three different publishers)

As you can see, averages vary between authors, publishers, topics, genre, etc. In a second post on average book sales, Steve explained in a little more detail.

If a publisher has controlled their costs in production, editorial, and the author contract, they should be profitable if they sell 20,000 copies.

One publisher said the other day that they won’t consider a book unless it can generate $200,000 in net revenue in its first year. I paused for a second and “did the math.” If a paperback book retails for $14.00 and the publisher receives a net of $7.00 per book, then this publisher is saying that they have a threshold of 30,000 copies in projected sales before they consider publishing a book.

That seems high, but for that publisher that is their base…. their average. Every publisher is different in that regard. For others that number is lower.

Some writers find this type of discussion depressing or claim that publishers are unfair. But others find this exhilarating because they now know how high the mountain is. And once you know the nature of the summit you can plan your path and your training accordingly.

Managing your expectations on things like book sales is incredibly important before signing with any publisher or even deciding to self-publish. If you don’t have a realistic view of what is likely (instead of what is possible), you’ll probably end up disappointed even if you gain what the industry considers moderate success.

Research is key! Don’t forget to check out various resources before jumping into any contracts or life altering decisions.

Publishing: Publishers And The Path To Success

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As an unpublished author, publication is almost always on my mind. This means I usually stop and read articles I stumble across that have anything to do with publishers, successful publication, etc. One post I found recently was written by author Chris Eboch about midlist authors and their departure to the world of self-publishing.

Chris starts off by saying:

They often start with their out-of-print books and then do well enough that they consider self-publishing their new work. The numbers may not be huge yet, but they are growing, and if the publishing business doesn’t change, publishers will lose their midlist – books that don’t make a fortune but sell enough to pay their expenses and help keep everybody in business.

This is a valid point. I’ve heard from a few midlist authors who have essentially given up on their publishers because they aren’t given the attention, recognition, or marketing backup they deserve. Do their books sell millions of copies? Not usually. But they do sell enough to pay the rent and that position deserves respect. Holly Lisle is one author I know of who has taken her fate into her own hands and is publishing stories the way she wants. JA Konrath is another and he’s been doing very well for himself in self-publishing. How can publishers combat this exodus? Chris Eboch had an idea.

These days, you’re probably hearing a lot about “brand building” for authors, the idea that you should stand for something specific. Yet many publishers haven’t embraced the concept themselves.

If you know that a certain publisher always produces well-edited and well-designed books with a specific, narrow focus that matches your interests, you’ll trust them and look for their books. You might even buy directly through their website, which means higher profits for the publisher.

Small publishers can keep a narrow focus more easily (such as a regional focus), but bigger companies could do it as well. Tor, for example, is known for fantasy and science fiction, while Poisoned Pen Press focuses on mystery, as you could probably guess from the name. “Harlequin is Romance” as their tagline says, and specific Harlequin lines follow clear guidelines on subject matter and tone. But who goes out of their way to pick up a book by Simon & Schuster or HarperCollins? What do those names mean?

Big publishers publish too great a variety to brand themselves by genre, but many include imprints with a narrower focus, though few of those are known outside the business. If publishers develop imprint brands with a clear, narrow focus, and promote those, they might build customer loyalty.

And if they promote the brand rather than promoting a few titles each season, that would also be an advantage to mid-list and new authors, who’d benefit by the association even if they get no individual publicity.

The simple brilliance of the idea is kind of amazing. Why haven’t the publishing companies thought of this? Establishing these brands in the public mind would be challenging, but not impossible, and it would definitely be more cost effective than individually promoting a large number of debut and midlist authors.

Publishing: More Opinions

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Today was a busy day, so I didn’t have the time to get something up here. Still don’t actually. So instead, I’m going to link to two articles you may be interested in.

What are the pros and cons of traditional publishers?
Almost like someone looked over the posts I’ve done and pulled out a highlights version. A quick, simple look at traditional publishers. The post also links to a pro-con list for print on demand and self publishing.

Five editors and authors discuss the role of the editor
This also links to the actual radio interview the brief recap article is based on. It’s always interesting to hear from people with actual experience in the industry, although of course editors are going to think their role is important. 😉

Work may be as crazy tomorrow as it was today, but hopefully I’ll be back with a full post. If not, definitely one in the next few days. Just in case I’m not, though, enjoy your weekend!