Alternate Strategy for Book Publishing
By Jerry D. Simmons | September 27th, 2011 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
If your manuscript is complete and edited but the query letter to agents are failing to get attention, there is an alternative strategy for publishing. Many writers in this situation are debating over whether to self-publish or continue to query agents. You can do both.
I’m a strong advocate for writers following their heart and publishing according to their personal goals, yet stories about unknown writers doing it on their own and becoming hugely successful is enticing. If this is your dilemma then beware, if you self-publish and are unsuccessful at selling thousands of copies in a few months, your chances of becoming a known factor will be diminished. This result will negatively impact your perception as a writer in the eyes of both the agent and editor.
If you are set on self-publishing but also sending query letters to agents here is your new strategy. Self-publish under a pen name and not the name you submit with each query. This way if your self-published book is not a success you do not have to acknowledge it and yet if it becomes a big hit you can take full ownership.
This strategy should not be shared with your potential agent unless of course, your book is a success. Finally, abandon the print notion and stick with an eBook for now. Should your eBook become a bestseller you can always follow with a print edition. The key is invest as little as possible in the self-publication, market heavily via social networks and continue creating new content.
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Publishing
Creating Content
By Jerry D. Simmons | September 15th, 2011 | 1 Comment » (Click to add yours!)
Every writer is responsible for creating content. Whether developing characters and stories or sharing information, their written words must meet one of the three publishing requirements: entertain, educate or enlighten. Some writers cover all three, but successful writers must be a creator of content that covers at least one.
Writing is a business, certainly a creative enterprise but none the less, one developed to be marketed and sold. As a content creator, your job is to develop a product that has an audience or at least the potential to develop an audience. Any other form of content creation is an exercise in self expression.
The one factor that is irrelevant to a discussion of content creation is form or genre. The type or form of writing and categorization can be indistinguishable as long as the creation has a potential audience. After all, writing is intended to fill a need for the consumer and is marketed to match the demands of that market.
Content is much more than what goes between book covers and into digital files. In a much broader sense it must entertain, educate and enlighten the intended audience in such a manner that demand for more content is created. The creation of content requires intelligence, insight, creativity, imagination, inspiration, discipline and persistence.
Amazon is becoming a large vertically integrated publisher interested in cornering the self-publishing market while pursuing a strategy of content acquisition and mainstream publishing. Their goal appears to be control of every aspect of publishing, production and sales which would give them tremendous control over content.
This is frightening for anyone in publishing trying to compete with a company responsible for a large percentage of their own sales. However Amazon’s integration into all aspects of publishing will create opportunities for writers who can generate demand for their work resulting in an audience of willing consumers.
These opportunities will become available to the writer who can entertain, educate, and enlighten. Writers who have an audience for their work and understand their ability to create content on a prolific and consistent basis will increase their value accordingly. The market is interested in talented writing, regardless of form or genre.
Successful writers develop a following, often based on a character or theme then fill the pipeline with additional content intended to supply the demand of the reader. No author is more a master of this than James Patterson who writes thrillers, love stories and children’s books with corporate precision intended to do nothing more than entertain. He is so prolific at storytelling that he employs writers to fill in the blanks for his detailed outlines. By maximizing his time this formula allows him to produce upwards of ten new books a year.
Years ago novelists focused on writing more novels. Today with changes in digital publishing, novelists can write short stories and even nonfiction as long as they fulfill one of the three requirements of publishing: entertain, educate or enlighten. The reader is interested in the author name or brand more than the category.
If publishers do what they do best which is develop quality content and Amazon attempts to control all levels of publishing including content, the market will always provide opportunities for talented content creators. Writers need to start thinking of their writing in different ways and focus on supplying what our audience desires.
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Publishing
Plan Your Publishing Future
By Jerry D. Simmons | September 14th, 2011 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
There are millions of independent authors worldwide who operate in a market that is totally fractured and brimming with experts who claim to understand how to publish successfully. The breadth of misinformation is astounding and begins with the idea that everyone has a success formula. This notion is nonsense.
No one on planet earth understands how to make every book successful because if they did, all their published books would become bestsellers. This especially holds true for the bigger publishers each of whom has tons of experience and still cannot get it right each and every time they publish.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion but making false claims and promises of success is wrong. The only way to insure you are making the right publishing decisions is to first establish your personal goals as a writer and then create a plan to follow. Your decisions will not be wrong, but they may not help you achieve your objectives.
Planning your publishing future begins with basic market research. Next you ask questions on a wide range of topics to other writers and publishing professionals. Finally you must learn the basics of the marketplace for selling and marketing books. The last step is essential.
Do not shortchange yourself by making decisions quickly or without proper information. This would be a wrong decision and could be fatal to your career.
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Publishing
Learn the Market
By Jerry D. Simmons | September 13th, 2011 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Any writer who wants to improve their chances of becoming a successful author must understand some basics about the business of publishing and the marketplace for selling books. You reduce your chances of being successful if you fail to do a small amount of market research.
The first step is to visit a bookstore and begin making observations. Stand in front of the category in which you are writing and start paying attention to the titles. Think for a moment, every one of the titles you see were selected, edited, packaged, priced and published to attract readers, sell copies and make money.
One of the first things to pay attention to is the cover. Category books have a certain look and feel; your book needs to look like it belongs on that shelf with the other titles. The next thing is price. You cannot expect an unknown author to sell a book that is priced outside the low and high price range, and especially if it is priced at the top end of that range.
Finally, take a close look at the publishing imprint then turn to the title page (always at the beginning of the book where all the legal information is located) and take a look at the publishing house that owns the imprint. Typically it will state the imprint is a division of XYZ Company. This is important if you decide you wish to query an agent and land a contract, it is a good idea to know the category leaders and who they are.
If you understand packaging, price and category then read as many titles as possible. Go to your public library or used bookstore and find copies of authors you may never have heard of but who has several titles on bookstore shelves. That indicates the author is prolific and sells well.
This is a good place to start your research, after visiting the bookstores visit Amazon and B&N.com for basically the same thing. Observe, stay on top of new titles in your category and who publishes them, all for the sake of basic research. The more market savvy you become the better your chances of making wise publishing and marketing decisions.
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Publishing
How Technology Will Grow Book Sales
By Jerry D. Simmons | September 7th, 2011 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
There was a time when publishers printed books and shipped them to retailers while bookstores focused on merchandising. Readers browsed aisles for their favorite authors eventually paying retail prices and the cycle continued while each company made money. Not anymore, times have changed and the publishing industry is learning to adapt while readers and writers will reap the benefits of a new and different business.
Mobile technology is the future and there are a number of entrepreneurs who are adapting mobility with shopping. The result is a reshaping of the brick-and-mortal retail business for all products which is particularly exciting for books.
Imagine walking through a mall and your mobile phone vibrates or chimes alerting you to the fact that certain book your friend told you about is now available at a discounted price in the store you are about to pass. This is not science fiction or fantasy, this is real.
Recent studies have shown that 78 percent of frequent shoppers at mass retailers use smart phones for product information and pricing. They use apps and location based services to locate what they want and at what price. This eliminates the need for item shopping for those busy people whose schedules are increasingly crowded.
Cross merchandising in the publishing business was a dismal failure before the smart phone and Wi-Fi technology. The reasons are numerous and boring but the basic problem was that books were expected to be impulse items for which readers would drop five dollars for a specific category or niche title. That did not happen and major efforts to cross merchandise garden books in a garden section for example was abandoned.
The new mobile applications allow for the possibility that retailers will agree to book placement could grow and expand the reach for writers of all categories. Surely this is not going to happen overnight nor are major retailers suddenly going to change their footprint to include printed books. However the possibilities are present and when the major publishers figure out how to merge mobile technology with high profit margins, there is always an opportunity.
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Publishing
New Technology Feature for eBooks
By Jerry D. Simmons | September 7th, 2011 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
The online giant Amazon is now making it possible for readers of select eBooks to ask the author questions, while reading. The new @author feature was launched last week with a group of bestselling authors. Purchasers of these selected eBooks, read on a Kindle will be allowed to send a question to the author via their Twitter account and home page of Amazon.
The company stated during the launch they wanted to “create what the company hopes will be a reader community around Kindle titles.” This newest feature is a clear indication that Amazon hopes to diminish the role of the publisher and go directly to the reader where they hope to build relationships directly with authors.
The carefully selected authors who have agreed to respond to reader questions are all very active in social media. Obviously the authors will not be able to answer every reader question but the idea is simple and clever, get other readers to respond to questions as well as the author. The goal of Amazon seems to be to create a social media feature around eBooks that connects readers to authors and eventually eliminates the need for a publisher.
Consumers of Kindles now have the ability to follow other readers the same way you can follow anyone with a Twitter account. This allows readers to see what others are reading and even ask questions in a way of obtaining a pseudo book review or endorsement. Readers sharing their thoughts with other readers of similar titles and connecting with the authors is a brilliant marketing strategy.
All of this is another step in the direction of giving the writer more control over their content and ultimately publishing independently with….you guessed it….Amazon. As hard as it is for this writer to admit, at the present time the online retailer offers writers the greatest number of opportunities for those wishing to publish on their own.
Amazon must get credit for making self-publishing more credible as an option and with their huge resources now have the ability to select the bestselling independent titles for additional promotion and sales. Without the services of Amazon it is unlikely neither Amanda Hocking nor John Locke would have been recognized for their writing.
The balances of power in the publishing business are shifting away from the large and formerly dominate companies based in New York to the hands of the independent author and small publisher. Writers that demonstrate they can connect with readers and build an audience are gaining in strength. Large traditional publishers must continue to adapt and modify their models or writers with the help of Amazon will continue to transform the business of book publishing.
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Publishing
Why Some Books Do Not Sell
By Jerry D. Simmons | September 7th, 2011 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Ask any experienced publisher why a new title by an unknown author was unsuccessful and they can give you plenty of reasons but ask why a similar title also by an unknown author was successful the answers are few and far between. The truth is that publishers rarely know why any title by any unknown author is successful, certainly there are always components that have to work and timing always plays a role but no one can accurately predict when the time is right to publish.
Most titles are unsuccessful for a handful of reasons—overpriced, bad market timing, unidentifiable package, poorly written, poorly edited and lack of appropriate marketing are the most common reasons. For the independent author it could be all of the above plus the method in which the title was produced and the publisher. The marketplace for book sales is a tough one and one misstep can result in bad or nonexistent sales.
Failure to market appropriately or adequately is the single biggest reason why most books fail to sell copies. Marketing a book is a difficult process and the only way to maximize the opportunities for any title is to be consistent and persevere. Under the very best of circumstance book sales are unpredictable, combine that with poor print-on-demand production, bad pricing, wrong category and design decisions and the result is highly predictable.
Self-marketing without understanding your market or potential reader is foolish. You will not only waste time but you are likely to experience a hit on your wallet. The price of simple market research is much less than you might expect. Start with the basics; read all you can and ask questions, then you’ll save time as well as money.
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Publishing
Five Advantages of eBooks over Print
By Jerry D. Simmons | August 31st, 2011 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
There are five gigantic advantages that eBook have over the printed book and the reasons why converting your manuscript or printed book into an eBook is a smart thing to do.
1) Distribution for eBooks is open to just about anyone. Any author has virtual access to all major outlets for sales. This has never been true for the printed book.
2) The cost of converting a printed book or manuscript into all major eBook formats is a fraction of the cost of producing a quality print book.
3) Author royalties on eBooks are substantially higher than for print, as much as 70 percent compared to anywhere from 10 to 20 percent.
4) Size of the content in an eBook is meaningless. In printed book format the size is everything because the economics of publishing makes printing books less than 60,000 words difficult with little chance of profitability. Not the case with eBooks, file size is irrelevant to whether or not the publisher can be profitable.
5) Today’s market for digital books makes it easy for authors to price their work competitively. Now that Amazon and Apple have set the price for major publishers that leaves a huge opportunity for other authors and publishers. This scenario has never been possible in print.
If you haven’t made the jump to eBook now is the time, stop considering and make it happen. The market is growing and the opportunities are present.
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Publishing
Bold Move Creates Opportunities
By Jerry D. Simmons | August 30th, 2011 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Amazon’s bold move into big time mainstream publishing signals their belief in the long term prospects of book publishing. This means the market for new writers, new books, and especially more eBooks is brighter than ever. It still holds true that if you create great content, work with a professional editor, package and price according to market conditions and market as aggressively as possible, anyone has a chance of being noticed and sell thousands of copies or sign a big publishing contract.
As much as any other large publishing concern, Amazon’s publishing business will be seeking quality writing regardless of how or where the author was published. The bottom line is content sells copies and that is all any of these companies care about. If a writer can prove value to a publisher, convince them they are prolific, and can create quality content in a timely fashion, publishers will be interested in acquiring, marketing and selling your work. Anything is possible if you follow the rules of the marketplace, use an editor and create quality content.
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Publishing
Book Distribution Should Follow Demand
By Jerry D. Simmons | August 24th, 2011 | 3 Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Many writers are concerned about book distribution before their manuscript is completed. To be clear, the reference to book distribution for this article is specific to print in bookstores. Issues of how to get your book out into the marketplace is normal but creating demand for your writing should proceed before concerns over book distribution. Getting books into stores ahead of marketing and consumer demand will be costly.
Creating a plan for your book marketing should include distribution but not until you have established yourself on the publicity front or built a following of potential readers clamoring for your new release. In order to make your marketing cost effective you need steps targeting a specific audience in a particular area before you attempt to take your distribution national. Otherwise you will spend a lot of time, effort and money that are unlikely to produce positive results.
Marketing should begin at the local level, followed state wide, then regional. If you live in Atlanta, targeting an audience in Seattle would be unwise unless that is the setting of your book or you went to school and have friends and family in the area. If your writing has a particular narrow niche, especially non-fiction, where the retail outlets may be small or outside of a bookstore, then you can expand your focus but only after you have made a local, state wide then regional attempt.
As difficult and time consuming as marketing has become, doing the little things and following a step-by-step plan is the best approach. The single best way to begin creating demand is speaking to local groups, holding book signings where stores will accept copies on consignment and generating publicity through free media such as print, radio and if possible local television.
This is not easy, as most of you know, but building an audience takes time and patience. The real key is positioning yourself and your writing. The media doesn’t care about the fact you have written a book. The real hook is the story of you and your writing. Media needs a story their audience will be interested in reading about, listening to, or watching. The hook is different for each book and author and depends on many factors. If the thought terrifies you then I’m sorry but publicity is an important component of book marketing.
Attempting to gain nationwide distribution into bookstores for a printed book even if you are successful at creating a large audience through social media is risky. Distributors are in the business of finding ways to charge authors fees for everything. If you are truly concerned about how to get your book in print form to your readers then the best path is Amazon.
Companies such as Lightening Source and Amazon print on demand. They don’t print until orders come into their order system for the book. This is distribution by availability as opposed to what is referred to as access which means the distributor keeps inventory on hand in a warehouse to fill orders. Book distribution by availability is the most common among POD companies, while book distribution by access is much more limited and not common for most self-published titles.
The bottom line is start creating fans, followers and potential readers before you worry about getting your book distributed to bookstores or other specialty outlets. Should you be successful at the local level then state wide and regionally, market demand will take care of national distribution. Working with Amazon is the best choice, both from a cost and availability standpoint. But if you don’t continue to write and create more new content, then the best book distribution in the world won’t help you sell more copies.
Tags: Book Marketing, Book Publishing
