Expectations
By Jerry D. Simmons | December 19th, 2006 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
A few years ago I was sitting at my desk in New York when the phone rang. I answered and began getting an earful from someone that was extremely upset and talking fast. As I furiously scribbled notes to the one sided conversation, I began to realize that I was listening to an agent whose identity was still unknown. When I managed to collect my thoughts and ask a couple of questions, I was able to put a name with the voice of my caller and finally recognized his author client.
Turned out the author had written a book that received a very small distribution and was currently on sale around the country. Like most authors published for the first time by a New York publisher, he was of the opinion that he deserved “special” attention. He had been traveling to cities around the Midwest with hopes of drawing attention to himself and his book.
While flying into one of the country’s largest airports he was dismayed to find multiple copies of the nation’s current #1 bestselling title on display in airport bookstores while at the same time he was unable to find a single copy of his own book in the same stores. He immediately phoned his agent who somehow managed to find my name and number and called to “rattle my cage” a bit. Unfortunately I had received numerous such phone calls over the years and the best you can do is tell the caller you will look into the situation.
One of the biggest problems that authors have, regardless of who published their book, is their own personal expectations of how many copies they should sell and what kind of attention a book deserves. I’m of the opinion that you should under-promise and over-deliver. You need to start with realistic expectations of how your book will perform in the market. Authors need to take the same attitude and become involved with the publicaiton of their book. If they would do this publishing would become a much more congenial place.
This blog is unedited, please disregard mistakes in spelling and grammar.
Tightly Controlled
By Jerry D. Simmons | December 13th, 2006 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
The next time you venture into your local bookstore and browse, stop for a moment to consider the following: Less than 100 people decide what books Americans read. Hard to believe, but if you consider all the heads of the various imprints working for each of the six largest publishers, and then add the individual book buyers from the biggest booksellers across the country, you’ll come up with a number less than 100.
Now that is certainly not 100% of the traditional market, but roughly 80% of all books occupying space on shelves and sales at the cash register have been selected by a small group of people. Hard to believe that so few individuals tightly control approximatley 80% of all the commercial books published in the United States. It begs the question: Why is this possible?
This week I read an interview of an author who decided to self publish because he was tired of the New York companies telling him his manuscript was “not suitable to current needs.” What makes these 100 the gatekeepers to the world of traditional publishing? The fact is that these people remain in this position because the reading public continues to buy what they print and everyone wants to become a member of the club. Problem is, what are the alternatives?
How aggressive do you think Amazon, the largest online bookseller, is at promoting the books of Independent Authors? Do you realize in their most recent publicly-filed annual report to shareholders, the word “author” does not appear once in the 50,000 word document? How supportive do you think this online retailer is of Independent Titles written by Independent Authors?
It’s about time that the Independent Authors of the world had their own forum where they could market their book(s) totally independent of the traditional world of publishing. There needs to be a voice. Its about time this tight control over the publication of books came to an end.
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Legitimacy
By Jerry D. Simmons | December 6th, 2006 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
In the world of publishing the word “legitimate” is often used when discussing options with writers who have a desire to become an author. The reference is used mostly to describe New York publishers as being “legitimate” as opposed to the other choices available to writers. The options for getting a manuscript published are: Self-publishing, print-on-demand, small or university press, and large New York based publisher. In my opinion, all are legitimate.
I’ve realized that legitimacy is important to writers who fear that anything less than having their manuscript published by a New York company is somehow less than “legitimate.” Webster’s online dictionary defines “legitimate” as lawfully begotten, being exactly as purposed, accordant with law, and conforming to recognized principles or accepted rules and standards. If you have a manuscript that is produced and printed in a book format, who is to say that is not legitimate?
The term Vanity Press is old and referred to writers who paid to have their manuscript published, because they couldn’t achieve success at the New York level. Technology today has made it possible for anyone to pay to have his or her writing published at a reasonable cost. This is legitimate! Although the traditional marketplace has decided to stigmatize any book not having a New york publishing heritage, this is illegitimate.
Authors today do not have to conform to anyone’s standards other than their own. Let the old school traditional market place false labels on whatever they want, the business is full of dinosaurs whose existence, as we know it is fading fast. There are new and exciting possibilities on the horizon for authors of all types. Do not allow a group of old school traditional publishing elitists describe you or your book(s) as anything less than “legitimate.” Who decided they were the standard bearers? All authors are legitimate and it’s going to be proven in the marketplace of public opinion.
This blog is unedited, please disregard mistakes in spelling or grammar.
