Book Publishing is Changing
By Jerry D. Simmons | July 28th, 2009 | 1 Comment » (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
Know Your Reader
By Jerry D. Simmons | June 19th, 2009 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
I received some questions from a reader about a blog I wrote two weeks ago entitled Know Your Reader. The questions were: How do I know my reader? Does it mean who I’m writing to, or the group I would like to read my book, or whom I think would buy it? Great questions Kim, thank you for sharing with other writers.
Writing instructors will tell you to write in your own voice. Never try to mimic another writer, try to write to fit a style, or match a hot cateogry that seems to be selling books. Your story and writing are unique because of who you are and how you write. Know your reader does not mean write to fit what you think is your audience. Know your reader equates to knowing your market, knowing your audience, knowing who are the likely consumers.
If you visit bookstores on a regular basis, and if you read authors in the genre in which you are writing, and you read books similar to the one you are writing, you should begin to get a clear idea of your market, and in turn who your reader will be. Your reader defines your audience, the consumer who buys books like the one you are writing.
For example, if you were writing a manuscript with spiritual overtones, the questions about knowing your market would be: Spiritual in terms of religious, or spiritual in terms of the supernatural? The answer would help to define your reader, your audience, the end consumer. It tells your publisher how to focus their marketing. The importance in knowing your reader is related to the marketing of your book, not the writing.
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Sales, Booksellers, Editing, writing
Take a Break if You Need One
By Jerry D. Simmons | February 6th, 2008 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
We all need to take a break from writing once in awhile. Even though authors say that writers need to write everyday, sometimes the words just don’t happen….at least for me. I’ve been on a hiatus of late and haven’t been writing like I want. I just had to take a break. Now the transition time is over, it‘s back to reality.
In a recent interview, John Grisham told a reporter than he didn’t start writing until late in life, he never took a writing class, he learned how to write from reading lots books. Now he writes at least one page a day. Of course John Grisham is the exception in many ways, but his book wasn’t published until he was 30 and, we wrote about things he knew.
Authors with whom I’ve traveled over the years have similar stories. Many didn’t start writing until they were adults, they had no formal training, and they try and write something every day. Regardless of whether or not they ever use their daily writing, they write. The best way to learn to write is to write, as much as possible.
A very close friend of mine told me the other day that if you encounter writers block, change your environment. Move to another room in your house or even go to the park or a library. Don’t allow your surroundings to create a block to your writing.
If you want to read a really great book on writers block, read WRITE. 10 Days to Overcome Writer’s Block. Period. Written by Karen E. Peterson, Ph.D. The quote on the cover is from Kurt Vonnegut, “As well researched and helpful a book on writing as I’ve ever read.”
Bottom line, take a break if you need to take one. Don’t force it, for me, that didn’t work. Hopefully I will continue to be energized by all of you. If you have a writers block story you’d like to share please send it to me.
This blog is unedited, please disregard mistakes in spelling and grammar.
Book Reviews
By Jerry D. Simmons | May 9th, 2007 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
There was an article in this past Sunday’s New York Times Book Review written by Motoko Rich and originally published on May 2nd, titled Are Book Reviews Out of Print? The article heading states that “All across the country, newspapers are cutting book sections or running more reprints of reviews from wire services or larger papers.”
The author notes that the Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently eliminated the position of Book Editor, the Los Angeles Times merged their once stand alone book review into a new section reducing their page count from 12 to 10, and the San Francisco Chronicle’s book review was cut from 6 to 4 pages. “Author’s and critics claim this is one more nail in the coffin of literary culture.”
The problem with that statement is that from a purely commercial standpoint, the literary culture has been eroding for years, barely registering a blip on the page of book sales for a long time. Publishing today is about movie stars, high profile court cases, political high drama, the kind of things that stand out on the nightly news and in the tabloids. Literary culture? I don’t think so!
Newspapers are suffering as they try to hold onto readers while more and more people are tuning to blogs for information about books. The old guard book reviews are seen as nothing more than an forum where the big publishers can advertise their books. Thus blogs have replaced the stodgy old line newspapers for readers attention and information about books.
Another thing the article points out is that this “Inevitable transition toward a new and more democratic literary landscape where anyone can comment on books,” is a good thing. I agree, and also know it is time for blogs to write more about Independently Published books. If that seems like a tough hill to climb, then we just create our own blogs about Independent Books. Why waste time joining them when we can create our own book reviews, do you think readers really care which blogs write about books?
This blog is unedited, please disregard mistakes in spelling and grammar.
Book Sense
By Jerry D. Simmons | April 25th, 2007 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Last week I encountered an angry Book Sense executive. I was emailing an author from NothingBinding.com and accidently hit the reply button which sent the intended email not to my colleague but to the Book Sense office. In case anyone is not familiar, Book Sense is an organization designed to offer Independent Bookstores news, reviews, and information about titles from small publishers.
My comments went something along the lines that Book Sense would never promote Independent titles because they are funded by the big six publishers and have become a mouth piece for the big publishers and thus would not be interested in promoting Independent titles to Independent bookstores. Well I quickly received an email response from Book Sense intended to clarify my position.
First off the gentleman I spoke to was upset that his name was used in the private email and that I was spreading false and misleading information. He did tell me he would send corrected information to me to clear up the misinformation. He seemed to think the fact that I have been away from NY for over four years had a direct impact in my lack of understanding.
Well here is what I do know: (1) I have yet to receive corrected information, (2) I made a mistake including the name of a former colleague, and (3) It does cost an Independent Author to “place” his or her title in the Book Sense newsletter. Aside from that I stand behind my earlier comments until I hear different from the Book Sense staff.
Why am I telling you this? And why should you care? Because it is not my intent to mislead anyone with my writing, I try to be as accurate and honest as possible about what I write, whether in a private email or blog for everyone to read. In this case I stand behind everything I wrote earlier until I hear otherwise from a respected and credible source.
This blog is unedited, please disregard mistakes in spelling and grammar.
Contractions in Publishing
By Jerry D. Simmons | March 28th, 2007 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
As many of you may have heard, a very large book customer that represented a large share of the market for all publishers filed for bankruptcy a short time ago. Their business of supplying books to retailers quickly jumped to two other large book customers. This was by any stretch of the imagination an extremely large contraction of the bookselling and distribution marketplace.
This kind of reduction in the number of book customers serving the market has a ripple effect throughout the industry. Fewer large customers mean fewer sales representatives and national account personnel. It means the business is concentrated in the hands of even fewer companies which will squeeze the razor thin margins of publishers and drive smaller competitors out of business.
On top of that already gloomy news is the fact that one of the two largest retail bookstore chains is considering closing stores around the country because they simply cannot make them profitable. All of this means the supply of books to retail will shrink and the prices of the copies that do make it through will rise. Publishers will be less willing to try new genres and new authors. Fewer quality writers will get the opportunity to publish their manuscripts and the business will continue to contract.
There is no new or creative thinking in the world of major publishing. All the top executives are products of the system they helped create and they will continue down their path of destruction until they break. Now that five of the six major publishing companies are foreign owned, the industry still has a pulse but the growth for writers and their books is fading. Thinking outside the box is an oxymoronic statement in the world of major publishing.
This blog is unedited, please disregard mistakes in spelling and grammar.
How to Create a New York Times Bestseller
By Jerry D. Simmons | March 13th, 2007 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
This is not an advertisment but an editorial comment. There is a well known national book marketing expert that is selling tickets to a teleseminar where he will describe a step-by-step proven method for getting “A book on the New York Times bestseller list, and by extension, onto the front shelves of every bookstore in America.”
He goes on the explain that “To protect the viability of this proven method he will be limiting the number of people who can listen and one sure way to do that is charge a big fee of $497.” For those less than willing he explains that this teleseminar will not be a rehash of his previous teleseminar titled How to Create a New York Times Bestseller Without Breaking the Bank because this is filled with great “real-world information.” And for those of you requiring some hand-holding there will be a follow-up program for “an additional fee.” The best part — this can be accomplished in less than three weeks from the publicaiton of your book.
Now please, for one moment stop and ask yourself: If there was a proven method wouldn’t every publisher in America be using it? Do you really think this man has the answers? Many of you probably own his book! Save your $497. As I’ve said before and will continue to say, there are no guarantees in publishing.
Trust in the Community
By Jerry D. Simmons | February 21st, 2007 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
The past two years I have become keenly aware of how difficult it is to be a self-published author. The term “self-published” is often used and misunderstood because major components of the publishing industry, including publishers, have been successful in attaching “poor quality” to the term “self-published.” I prefer the term Independent Author because I feel it best describes the decision many authors have made to publish on their own.
Being an Independent Author is hard, doors slam and there are plenty of “do not enter” signs, which is the reason many Independent Writers give up in their quest to sell books. The fact that someone decides to become an Independent Author does not mean their writing is not good enough, even if they have been rejected in one form or another and eventually made the decision to publish Independently. It has nothing to do with “settling” for that form of publishing.
Many Independent Authors feel strongly that their pay-for-printing publisher does not care whether they sell a single copy of their book, their profit is made when the printing begins. These authors cite instances where messages are sent proclaiming, “Buy this and add another service and you will sell books,” only to find the statement hollow and without merit or success. In the end the only thing the Independent Author has is each other. Information from other parties is treated with skepticism and mistrust.
The hope for reclaiming some of that trust, while exposing Independent writing to the reading public is through banding together as a single community of Independent Writers and Authors, speaking with one voice. Authors creating their own market for readers looking for new voices and interesting stories. As an Independent Writer and Author you’ve got to trust that this community will be an opportunity for the Independent Writer and Author to sell books and gain respectability in the marketplace they so richly deserve.
This blog is unedited, please disregard mistakes in spelling and grammar.
Authors Leaving Big Publishers
By Jerry D. Simmons | January 16th, 2007 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
There was a December 16, 2006 article in the Wall Street Journal titled “The Hot New Advance” $0″ written by Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg. I bring this to your attention to illustrate not only how most authors are clueless about the marketplace for selling books, but also how many journalists lack a basic understanding of the business.
The crux of the article was that some former bestselling authors have switched publishers, from the big to the small imprints for a reason: “To embrace new ways of finding readers.” By forgoing the advance, these authors “Have been promised that their latest works will be promoted more substantially to readers in stores, online and in the newspapers.” They also “Receive a higher-than-normal royalty rate and have a bigger say in how and where their books are marketed.”
One author turned down a six-figure advance from his New York publishing house to join a small company who promised to rekindle his career. The author, David Morrell said “Traditional publishing functions as an assembly line.” The article states that big publishers are often forced to concentrate on each season’s biggest bets and do not have the time or inclination to spend marketing dollars on the mid-list titles.
Dennis Loy Johnson, publisher of Melville House who landed one of the authors states “Avoiding the upfront advances, (means his company) can spend more money promoting its books, and thereby increase sales for its authors.” Author Eileen Goudge says “I have sympathy for the bigger houses; they have bosses who are focused on the bottom line, and they publish lots of books. I wanted a more aggressive marketing approach.”
All great points, but they miss the most important aspect about publishing. Read in my next installment, entitled “What Authors Are Missing.”
This blog is unedited, please disregard mistakes in spelling and grammar.
What Authors Are Missing
By Jerry D. Simmons | January 16th, 2007 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
In my previous blog I highlighted a Wall Street Journal article about why some big name authors are leaving their major publishers for the greener pastures of smaller imprints. (Click here to read). Several good points were made in the Journal article with one big exception: Regardless of who publishes your book, big or small company, the fact remains that the marketplace for selling books, the booksellers themselves, have sales history that determines how many copies to purchase for their stores. They will not buy a book by an author who has a poor sales history simply because some small publisher decided to focus their marketing on the new book. When an author turns down a six-figure advance for $0 with promises of a rekindled career, this tells me they needed some education on how the business of publishing really works.
Certainly the bigger New York publishers spend money on the top titles and concentrate their efforts on those books that generate the highest revenues for the company. In turn, if an author was once high upon the seasonal list of titles in a top position and found him or herself slowly dropping down in priority, the only reason is lack of sales. This means fewer net copies were being sold with each successive title. That has little to do with the amount of marketing, promotion, or support simply because when successive titles by an author drops in sales the marketing expenditures typically increases for one or two books before that author is relegated to a lower position on the list. This fact holds true for authors who have several published books and a proven track record of sales.
There is nothing wrong with switching publishers but please understand, both large and small publishers drink from the same well. They sell to the same booksellers and sales history speaks the loudest, regardless of how concentrated and focused the marketing effort. It boils down to which author sells more books, no matter who publishes them. It pays to be informed about the facts of the business before you make a career change.
This blog is unedited, please disregard mistakes in spelling and grammar.
