Writing to the Market
By Jerry D. Simmons | March 17th, 2010 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
This is a big mistake. Write the story that you want to write, not what you suspect the market wants. Whether it’s a novel or non-fiction, your background, experience and insight are what make your story unique. No other writer anywhere on the planet can duplicate your own writing!
Book sales are cyclical. If you look at the past 30 years you’d see the highs and lows of category sales. What publishers try to do is catch the rise to the top and avoid the dip to the lows. As an author, there is no way you can try to match or write to that cycle.
Forget about market timing. It won’t work. Write the story you were destined to write and focus on making it entertaining, enlightening and informative. Consumers will always buy good books so make yours as good as possible.
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Sales, eBook, writing
Self-Editing
By Jerry D. Simmons | March 1st, 2010 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
I’ve been fortunate to have toured with lots of authors and I was always fascinated with how they wrote. How they created stories, characters and pulled together the information for their books. The one constant that came from these discussions was the fact that self-editing is a very slippery slope.
Authors have told me time and again that going back to correct the little things in your writing is a never ending process. The manuscript will never be as good as you want. That is why you need an editor, someone who can help you with the process of laying the manuscript out in a logical sequence and help with character or story development.
If you’ve never worked with a true professional, then you need one. Editors help writers establish their voice and improve their writing, self-editing is a long road that never ends.
Tags: writing
Be Your Own Best Editor in 5 Easy Steps by Diane O’Connell
By Jerry D. Simmons | February 15th, 2010 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
If you’re like many writers, getting that first draft down can give you a rush of excitement. The words flow freely, the ideas come at lightning speed, the book seems to be coming together just as you had in your head. But then you read it back and — oh, boy, does it need fixing! The thought of cleaning up the “mess” you created is about as appealing as cleaning out a garage stuffed with a quarter century of accumulated stuff — and just as overwhelming.
Many first-time authors begin the revising process by going through their manuscript line by line and painstakingly “editing”: correcting syntax, adding some things, taking out other things, cleaning up punctuation and spelling. Often, this process can seem like torture. And there’s a good reason why.
Revising and editing is a multi-stepped task. You may clean everything up and make it look pretty, but your manuscript may still not work because you haven’t addressed the underlying issues that need to be fixed. To be your own best editor, you need a plan. Here it is:
1. Read your entire draft. Grab a cup of coffee or tea, and have a pad of paper at your side. As you read, make some general notes and impressions on the pad — what things are working for you, what things don’t, places that seem overwritten, others that need beefing up. Avoid the temptation to correct anything on the draft; that will only slow you down. What you’re looking for is the big picture.
2. Identify the problems. Take a look at your comments and see if a pattern emerges. Do you have problems with structure, character development, awkward writing, point of view, length, plot, subplot, etc.? In all probability, there will be multiple issues that need to be addressed. Make a list of these.
3. Brainstorm new ideas. Take each element that needs fixing and at the top of a piece of paper, write it out (e.g., “Shelly’s motivations for leaving her husband are weak”). You can also do this on a chapter-by-chapter basis. Next, draw a line under the problem. Then brainstorm all the possible solutions to the problem. Write more than you think you’ll need. Write some crazy ones, too. Don’t censure yourself. When you’re done, review what you’ve come up with and circle the solution you think will work best. You might even end up circling two and trying both to see which one actually works better. Determine how you’re going to tackle these revisions: One at a time? Or more organically? There’s no right answer – just whatever makes the most sense to you.
4. Rewrite — don’t tinker. If more than one-third of your manuscript (or of a section) needs to be revised, put it aside and start fresh. Yes, I know that sounds like a lot of work, but believe me, this is the most effective way to revise a manuscript that needs more than just simple polishing. The problem with trying to fix what’s already on the page is that your brain becomes wedded to what’s already there. It’s difficult to come up with a fresh way of thinking when you’re faced with what already is. Somehow, the very fact that words are put on a page in black and white lends a certain legitimacy to them. Plus, you know how hard you worked to get a particular passage right, which makes it really hard to let go of. (This is why the “director’s cut” of films is never as good as the released version; because directors can’t separate the work they put into a scene from whether it serves the story. That’s why we have film editors.)
5. Make it sing. Now that you’ve fixed the big-picture problems, it’s time to go back over the revised manuscript and polish your prose. Look for redundancies, too much reliance on adjectives and adverbs, clichés, weak nouns and verbs, dialogue that goes on too long, paragraphs that need to be broken up, poor word choice, problems with syntax, punctuation, and spelling.
Putting in the time to revise your manuscript the right way will pay off — with a better, leaner, more marketable story or nonfiction book. As any successful writer will tell you: Writing is re-writing.
Diane O’Connell Literary Services
Specializing in Working with First-Time Authors
Fiction and Non-Fiction
Find out about her very affordable Express Coaching service: http://www.docls.com
Or call (718) 268-9282
“I can state categorically that my first novel would never been published without Diane.”
— Cody McFadyen, international bestselling author of Shadow Man, The Face of Death, and The Darker Side (Bantam).
Tags: Book Publishing, Hybrid Publishing Model, Self-Published Author, Self-Publishing, writing
Publishing Without Editorial is a Bad Idea
By Jerry D. Simmons | February 4th, 2010 | 1 Comment » (Click to add yours!)
Writers should publish their manuscript according to their own individual goals. Some want to set the bar as high as Oprah, a major motion picture, or the New York Times bestseller list. All fine as long as that goal is grounded in reality. Meaning, authors must understand the market for their books. They need to recognize that books are published according to a set pattern, a formula, that encompasses many parts. The biggest problem with most Independently published books is that they leave out many of these parts and the result is a book that does not fit the market. The biggest omission is failure to work with a professional freelance editor, before publication. It doesn’t matter how much money you spend on marketing or top quality production, if your book is not edited, your marketing will not be effective.
Tags: Book Publishing, Hybrid Publishing Model, Self-Published Author, Self-Publishing, writing
When Your Writing Is Attacked — How to Cope With Soul-Crushing Rejection by Diane O’Connell
By Jerry D. Simmons | December 15th, 2009 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
At the beginning of my online writing seminars, the students each introduce themselves. On more than one occasion, a student will reveal that he or she is coming to the class after having experienced a devastating rejection. By that I mean, not the standard rejection you get when you send your work out to get published, but the more personal kind that rips apart your writing with no constructive feedback, the kind of rejection that feels as though you are being personally attacked, and leaves you wondering if you were crazy to ever think you could write.
One of my students had entered her manuscript in a contest. As she said, “two of the judges had really helpful critiques, but the 3rd really ripped me to shreds. I’ve been having a hard time writing and revising since, wondering if I even have any talent, if I’m just wasting my time, etc, etc.” My heart goes out this writer. I know exactly how she feels, because I’ve been there.
In my case, the nasty rejection came from a teacher I had revered. I was utterly and completely devastated. I stopped writing. I became completely blocked. The worst part of it all was that I allowed another person to take away from me something that gave me joy. It was only after reading Julia Cameron’s wonderful book, The Artist’s Way, that I healed myself and began writing again.
Here are some ways you can cope with this kind of soul-crushing rejection:
Step away from the emotion. The natural response to getting a nasty rejection is to want to jump out a window, burn the manuscript, cry into a pillow. It’s okay to feel that way, and crying can be cathartic. But before you do anything more drastic, allow your emotions to calm down.
Keep it in perspective. If you look at the quote from the writer above, you’ll see that she got helpful critiques from two judges, but it was the nasty critique that had the greatest impact on her. Don’t shut out the positive or helpful responses or put too much credence in the negative ones.
Ask yourself what else might be going on. Sometimes people are jealous and attack you. Others are looking to make a mark and go about it in the wrong way. Some may have suffered devastating criticism in the past and are really getting back at the person who hurt them. Still others are looking to stroke their own egos by bringing someone else down. And some just want to be Simon Cowell.
Read between the invective to see if the critique has any validity. Easier said than done, I know. But sometimes people get really ticked off over a particular thing and allow their feelings to run away with them. For instance, let’s say your spelling and grammar are not up to par. Well, it could be that your characters are well drawn, your story compelling, your dialog sparkling, but the reader goes ballistic over writing mechanics. So, maybe that’s something you need to work on.
Get back on the horse. Don’t stop writing – not even for a day. Write because you love to write, because you have to write, because writing brings you joy. Don’t ever allow anyone to take that away from you.
Diane O’Connell Literary Services
Specializing in Working with First-Time Authors
Fiction and Non-Fiction
Find out about her very affordable Express Coaching service: http://www.docls.com
Or call (718) 268-9282
“I can state categorically that my first novel would never have been published without Diane.” — Cody McFadyen, international bestselling author of Shadow Man, The Face of Death, The Darker Side, and Abandoned (Bantam).
Tags: Book Publishing, writing
When You’ve Hit a Wall: Five Ways to Get Unstuck by Diane O’Connell
By Jerry D. Simmons | October 22nd, 2009 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Eventually all writers — even the most experienced ones — hit a wall in their writing. Rather than staring at the computer screen with your stomach tied in knots and cursing the writing gods, do something to break the cycle. Here are five things to try to get you unblocked and writing again:
1. Take a break. Get up from the computer and do a few stretches, walk the dog, phone a friend, empty the dishwasher. It doesn’t matter what you do, just do something other than writing. Activity will help clear your brain so you can come back refreshed.
2. Get more information. Usually when I get stuck, it’s because I don’t have enough information to move forward on whatever I’m writing. Instead of struggling to find the right words, do a little research. Search the Internet, call an expert, refer to a book, or review your notes.
3. Do a journal entry. Sometimes it helps to simply step away from the story and write about what’s getting you stuck rather than trying to write the perfect words. Write what you want to say and perhaps why you’re having trouble saying it. The more you stay with this, the better chance you’ll have of finding your way out of the rut and into something fresh and telling.
4. Try a different angle. Write from the point of view of a different character, or write a letter from one of your characters to another character if you’re writing fiction. If you’re writing nonfiction, try a completely different approach. For instance, let’s say you’re writing a how-to book, and you get stuck on describing how to do something. Try writing the instructions from the viewpoint of your family pet or as your favorite TV or movie character. This will generate some fresh ideas that you can adapt to your piece.
5. Rapid write. In this technique — also known as freewriting — you write continuously without stopping — no matter what. You either keep your hand moving across the page or your fingers typing without pausing for corrections or thoughts. If you don’t know what to say, then write that or keep repeating the last thing you’ve written until something new comes to your mind. Do this for at least 10 minutes without stopping. This will allow the right brain to take over, giving your left brain a much-needed break. When you continually write without letting the left brain interfere, then fresh, original ideas will come to the surface.
Diane O’Connell Literary Services
Specializing in Working with First-Time Authors
Fiction and Non-Fiction
Find out about her very affordable Express Coaching service: http://www.docls.com
Or call (718) 268-9282
“I can state categorically that my first novel would never have been published without Diane.” — Cody McFadyen, international bestselling author of Shadow Man, The Face of Death, and The Darker Side (Bantam).
Tags: writing
Book Publishing is Changing
By Jerry D. Simmons | July 28th, 2009 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Forced by the economic downturn and declining unit sales over the past decade and a half major publishers are scrambling to reinvent themselves. Finding their dire situation mirrors that of General Motors but without the possibility of a large bailiout, these guys are not too big to fail. Lagging sales, increased cover prices, and the unwillingness to publish more first time authors or take chances on new sub-genres, the majors are destined to find themselves trailing the quality self-published titles that are emerging.
The fact that quality writers willing to self-publish now have access to major booksellers means their opportunities have never been greater. Taking the production standards of the large traditional publishers and combining that with the rights, ownership and control of a self-published author, this change in book publishing is a major step towards respectability for the self-published book.
For the first time there were more self-published titles in 2008 than the traditionally published ones. Certainly there are still large quantities of these books that will never find their way onto bookstore shelves because they are poorly written and lack an editor’s hand. There is a publisher that provides a comprehensive editorial screening and publishing philosophy that allows for the finest written manuscripts to be self-published in a manner that provides direct sales and national distribution, just like the traditional New York publishers.
For years the self-publishing industry has profited by creating a volume approach to publishing which welcomed any and all titles. This model is sufficient for most authors with a desire for a published book but is not adequate for those quality writers looking for a new approach. A publisher has emerged that will combine production standards with editorial review to create an imprint acceptable to major booksellers while still allowing authors ownership of their work.
Book publishing is changing and for the self-published author, it’s for the better.
Tags: Book Distribution, Book Publishing, Book Sales, Booksellers, Self-Published Author, Self-Publishing
How To Take Some Control Away From the Publishers
By Jerry D. Simmons | July 21st, 2009 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
It astonishes me that publishers refuse to release sales information to their writers. When I worked in New York, there was never a hesitation to release information to those authors and agents who made such a request. Of course we always tried to make it as confusing as possible, but if questioned, we were willing to explain. Problem is, we were never questioned.
Nothing would please me more than to see authors take away the outrageous control that publishers have over the information they share with authors. It’s your book, your product; yes they control the rights but not the information. What would it take to regain the upper hand on these publishers? A unified front from published authors at all levels, demaning a consistent reporting structure from publishers.
I have no experience as an organizer of this type but if anyone has the background and desire to start such a campaign to spread the word among all writers, please let me know. What we want is for publishers to provide their authors with a strict reporting structure following the guidelines we establish, of information about the sale and distribution of their book(s). This is the only way authors are going to be able to hold their publishers accountable for treatment detrimental to their careers.
I’m tired of hearing about publishers who refuse to give their authors basic information. This is unacceptable to me and should be to everyone reading this blog. Authors need to stop allowing this to happen and quit accepting treatment that is designed to keep you in the dark. Start making some demands of your own. We could make some big changes in the publishing industry if we could organize the efforts of all authors. Remember, they need you a lot more than you need them because they need product!
Opportunities For New Writers
By Jerry D. Simmons | June 17th, 2009 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
There was a recent article in the Arizona Republic on the front page of the Arizona Living section about a mass-market publisher that was launching a new series of books. This particular series happened to be a romance line, but the category is secondary to what happens to the marketplace. Having experienced the launch of several new series over the years, I thought it would be good to give writers some insight into what happens inside a major publishing house when a new series or imprint is launched.
Anytime an editor ventures outside the mainstream of a particular category, no matter how small, a sub-genre is created. If two or three of these new titles within the sub-genre sells through better than the other titles in the main category, the publisher starts to evaluate the launch of a new series. In mass-market, a sell through above 50% is reason for such consideration. Without the confirmation of additional market research, the sale of these new titles can be the source for a new line of books, or in the publishing world, a new imprint.
Armed with a new name, logo, cover designs, and new and much more aggressive goals, the publisher creates a package of incentives that will entice book buyers and retailers to give these books space on their bookshelves, all as part of the launch. The booksellers, taking advantage of every opportunity to earn additional incentives, will take a chance to improve their operating margins and will buy these books.
The marketplace has not suddenly grown to accommodate the new titles, so the competition takes notice. They begin their own search for writers who can fill this newly created phantom demand for the sub-genre, merely as a means of meeting the competition and reducing the erosion of shelf space or market share. Suddenly, editors are calling agents who are scrambling to meet the demand. In the meantime, books for the launch are flooding the marketplace.
At the retail level, when such a launch is being made, returns begin to flow back to the publisher in greater numbers as booksellers are forced to make room for the new titles. The shelf life of category books drops from an average of three weeks to less than two, and the returns begin to build. Typically the imprint will initially distribute three or four titles in the first two or three months and ship all copies in a floor display to gain the attention of the consumer.
For the first time author, this is a terrific opportunity to break into the business and get your first book published. However, there are some pitfalls that you should be aware of. Anytime the launch of a new imprint takes place, the number of copies distributed or shipped will far exceed what is possible for the market to absorb. As a result, the returns during this period may astound you! The publisher has total disregard to the consequences if the new category fails to sell copies.
Certainly they want the new imprint to succeed, but the real goal is the gain of additional market share from the competition. In doing so, the publisher will knowingly flood the market with large numbers of copies, paying additional advertising or promotional dollars in the process. The actual increase in net copies sold at retail should increase slightly, but not anywhere close to the proportion that are returned, resulting in an overall lower sell through percentage.
As a writer, you want to make absolutely certain that your publisher is committed to making this new imprint work. The publisher may not have properly researched the market before the launch of new books, but you can bet they know how long they can offer retailers incentives and continue to absorb returns before this new category becomes just another chapter in the company history.
If you feel this is your chance, then you need to properly evaluate the opportunity. Your name and your book associated with returns greater than 60% could spell doom for your career. You’ll be a published author, but you may have sacrificed your future for the whim of a publisher who will live to launch a new imprint the next time they feel the need to increase distribution or gain market share. And if the new imprint fails, what happens to the authors?
If this is your opportunity to finally get your book published, know some of the questions to ask: What are the marketing plans for the new imprint? How much advertising, marketing and promotion dollars have been committed? What is the expected distribution of the books for this new imprint? Is the publisher offering incentives to their customers to purchase large quantities of books? How long will these incentives last? What is the acceptable return percentage before the publisher decides to pull the plug?
The launch of a new imprint is just one of the areas that writers and authors need to be aware of, thus preventing their publisher from taking advantage of the situation and creating a sales history for them and their book that buyers may shy away from the next time a new title is sold. Authors who are serious about their careers need to learn more about the basics of the business and how to take some control away from the publishers and place it back in the hands of the authors.
Writers spend an enormous amount of time perfecting their craft; they also need to invest a small portion to learning the business of publishing. Understanding how to avoid the pitfalls of trade publishing can pay huge benefits when it comes time to sign your contract. Learn the basics and you will be much better informed to deal with agents, editors and publishers as your career as a writer takes off.
New Imprints, New Problems
By Jerry D. Simmons | June 17th, 2009 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Writers and authors beware. The launch of a new imprint causes a ripple effect with other major publishers. Editors will be on the lookout for writers to fill the phantom demand, but the marketplace has not suddenly expanded, and there are no new spots on a bookrack of the mass merchants (Wal-Mart, Target and supermarkets) to place these new titles. Instead, the publisher will offer massive incentives to get a large distribution for their new books in hopes of making an impact during the launch phase.
The competitive forces in the industry will note the press releases and articles in the trade magazines in which any publisher announces their intent and describes the new market. Soon others will follow suit, and the so-called new category niche will be flooded with new titles, new looks and, most likely, new authors.
It is a terrific opportunity to get published, but the number of copies being distributed will far exceed capacity. The returns for some publishers would astound you! The problem here is publishing on instinct, without proper research and with total disregard to what happens if the new category fails to sell copies.
Many publishers are willing to take this first step with positive results. Now, with nothing more than a hunch, they will make a massive launch with new looks, new books and many new authors. The competition will not sit back and allow anyone to take away market share, so they in turn will also offer new incentives to keep their books on the rack.
In truth, the retailers will accept the new incentives, order even more books, and the marketplace will turn over much faster. Rather than a group of titles receiving four or five weeks of placement on a bookrack, they may now only get three weeks. This forces the product to get rotated out. Even books that sell will not be reordered, and the returns on individual titles will skyrocket.
A good scenario if you are a writer looking to get your first book published, but potentially fatal if you are not aware of what is happening behind the scenes and understand to what extent this publisher will go to make this launch successful.
If this is your opportunity to finally get your book published, know what questions to ask your publisher about the new imprint. What are the marketing plans? How much advertising, marketing and promotion dollars have been committed? What is the expected distribution of the books? Is the publisher offering incentives to their customers to purchase large quantities of books? How long will these incentives last? What is the acceptable return percentage before the publisher decides to pull the plug?
As a writer, you want to make absolutely certain that the company is committed to making this new imprint work. For example, let’s say the distribution on each title is usually in the 200,000-copy range, which is huge for a non-bestseller. With a retail price of $5.50, these titles are mass-market paperbacks. At that price and taking into account the kinds of incentives needed to get the imprint off the ground, they cannot be offering their authors much in the way of an advance.
They need to commit a minimum of $100,000 to the advertising, promotion and marketing budget. If the pub schedule for these titles does not extend out at least twelve to eighteen months, this would show a lack of long-term commitment. The publisher may not have properly researched the market before the launch, but they know how long they can offer retailers incentives and continue to absorb returns before this new category becomes just another imprint.
If this is your chance, then ask the right questions and evaluate the opportunity. Your name and your book associated with returns greater than 60% could spell doom for your career. You will be a published author but you will have sacrificed your future on the whim of a publisher who will live to launch a new imprint the next time they feel they need to increase distribution.
