Writing to the Market
By Jerry D. Simmons | March 17th, 2010 | 2 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.
Publishing Changes are Coming!
By Jerry D. Simmons | March 12th, 2010 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
It’s in the wind. There is no doubt that changes in book publishing are happening fast. As we all watch bleary-eyed at the evening news and more talk about the tough economic times we are all experiencing, executives in the New York publishing houses have forgotten about the average consumer. No longer can these companies starve the market for good new writers and interesting new categories by publishing helpless titles and charge $16 to $27. They have to change to survive. Their solution over the past fifteen years has been to publish more of what they know sells, but it’s not working! Consumers aren’t buying it, and it’s about time!
There are quality writers publishing independently and for consumers interested in reading books not typically found in bookstores may I suggest you visit the web site NothingBinding.com then tell your friends and colleagues to join and post their writing. The strength of independent publishing is in our combined numbers. If all 300,000 new authors each year would join forces there is no telling what kind of impact we could have on the marketplace. To capitalize on all the changes in the book business will take some huge effort. Let’s bind together to generate sales for our independent books. Now is the time.
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.
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.
Writers Must Believe
By Jerry D. Simmons | January 29th, 2010 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
The one characteristic that every writer needs to possess is a strong belief that their writing is good. You also have to believe in your ability to become a successful author. It’s important that you believe in yourself as a writer and the story or message you are writing. Publishing is an extremely competitive business and at times can be discouraging. Passionate writers who are excited about their writing are contagious. However, don’t be unrealistic. Set modest goals, be willing to take baby steps, believe in your success but understand that achieving your goals will not be an easy task.
The opportunities for a new writer to receive a huge advance and national book tour are unlikely. That doesn’t discount the fact that a strong belief in your writing and story are necessary for success. Anything in publishing is possible IF you (1) believe strongly in your writing, (2) believe strongly that you will become a successful author, (3) do all you can to distribute your work to as many readers in as many formats as possible, and (4) Learn to become a clever marketer. Don’t follow the pack, learn to blaze a new trail and you never know who might be watching and reading.
My Interview with CNN.com
By Jerry D. Simmons | January 26th, 2010 | 1 Comment » (Click to add yours!)
Several months ago, a wonderful writer by the name of Todd Leopold from CNN.com called to ask questions about the past surge in memoirs, published both Independently and by the big houses. The article recently popped up somewhere on the web and I decided to mention it again, here is the link to the story.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/books/04/15/memoirs/index.html
The most important thing to remember about memoirs is that the writing must be a “recollection” of facts. You cannot fabricate people, places or things and call it a memoir. Memoirs are different from biographies or autobiographies since the facts are not “vetted” for the truth. Biographies and autobiographies are supposed to be scrutinized by their publisher to insure the writing is accurate and truthful.
If you are writing a memoir, keep in mind, it needs to be as factual as possible. Don’t make the mistake of creating people, places or things that never existed.
Book Publishing is a Business
By Jerry D. Simmons | January 13th, 2010 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
Any writer who doesn’t view their work as a business is making a huge mistake. Book publishing for the big New York companies is about generating revenue, occupying shelf space and selling copies. Unfortunately it’s not about “great writing.” If you wish to become a successful author and make a career as a writer, you must create good content that has an audience. It is in the best interest of all writers to view their work as a business. Book publishers are not in the business of taking care of writers, they are in the business of selling books—selling content.
Regardless of how you publish, your writing must be considered a product that is in search of an audience. Every decision you make, from basic marketing, publicity and promotion should center around the idea of creating an audience that is interested in reading your work. New York publishers market an inch deep and a mile wide. As an author you need to market yourself and your writing an inch wide and mile deep. The more you can distinguish your writing form every other author in your genre the better chance you have of becoming successful.
Publishing Your Manuscript
By Jerry D. Simmons | October 29th, 2009 | 1 Comment » (Click to add yours!)
Every time I speak to a group of writers I like to say: it’s very easy to get a manuscript published, but extremely difficult to sell books. There are at least a dozen variations of “publishing” and an even wider array of products and services that promise success. Publishing today offers an abundance of choices but should always be grounded in the author’s motivation for writing.
Each writer that questions me about the best method for publishing their writing gets this response: follow your own personal goals for writing. If you are intent on becoming wealthy or a celebrity and that is your primary reason for writing and publishing then step back and examine the odds of winning a lottery. They are better than becoming a bestselling author.
The business of book publishing is a long and arduous one; there are no secrets or shortcuts to success. However, you can improve your odds of becoming successful—loosely defined as the ability to earn back your investment in both time and money with an opportunity to write again and sell more books—by following a few simple steps: follow your heart, write obsessively, believe in your writing and never get discouraged or give up.
Anything is possible in publishing and that statement is proven every year by the success of an unknown writer who manages to tap into an audience and word of mouth results in thousands of copies being sold. The business is rapidly changing and success is being defined in a number of ways but what is most important is whether or not as a writer you are doing what you want and people enjoy what you have to tell them.
As we often joked in New York, we’re not launching rockets, it’s just books. Write with passion and set realistic goals. You can become a successful author.
Competition in Book Publishing
By Jerry D. Simmons | October 21st, 2009 | 6 Comments » (Click to add yours!)
There have been a couple of interesting things happen in the publishing world lately that I believe is good for the future of our business. The first is the price war between Wal-Mart and Amazon and the second is the introduction of the new eBook Reader from Barnes & Nobel.
Certainly the price war between the two giants of bookselling will not last long. Even though this is a loss leader for both and they can certainly afford to lose money on books for a short period, neither wishes to be seen as the loser in this situation. What it should do, especially during the upcoming holiday season is draw new readers to books and perhaps increase readership. Anything to help increase the net sales of books is a good thing for authors and publishers.
The introduction of a new eBook reader from Barnes & Nobel is great for the future of eBooks and the growth of that market. It is also good from a competitive standpoint but may be a problem for the adaptability of all eBooks to a single download system. Amazon is secretive about their technology as they rightly should be, however if new eBook readers are not compatible with other eBook readers, and consumers who own certain machines cannot download in a single consistent format for all eBook readers, that’s a problem.
Whatever the outcome these are positive developments for authors and publishers, lower hardcover prices will draw new readers to the mix and the introduction of new and affordable eBook readers will greatly increase the number of downloads and continue to expand that market.
The only issue for authors is creating new and exciting content to sell. If you write with the idea of sharing your writing with as many readers as possible, everything else will take care of itself.
Successful Book Publishing is About More Than Good Writing
By Jerry D. Simmons | October 15th, 2009 | No Comments » (Click to add yours!)
It amazes me how any writer who spends an inordinate amount of time to complete a manuscript would suddenly feel they have all the necessary skills to publish on their own successfully without proper guidance. This is foolish. Who would attempt to build a bridge, launch a rocket, or sail around the world without expert help?
It’s more than simply reading about how to do it, there are plenty of experts that will sell you a book or service to make the process quick, easy and relatively inexpensive. But would anyone without publishing experience know what they are getting for what they are paying? Of course not.
Quality writing can be greatly diminished by the poor production standards of the end product. Consumers judge books by their cover, readers search for books by category according to their own personal preference, high prices of books by unknown authors turn people away. Any writer who publishes on their own without proper guidance on cover and interior design, categorization and pricing is making a grave mistake.
Why devote months or years to writing and then turn your back on how to publish? It’s not about creating the next bestseller, it’s about giving your writing the best opportunity to compete with other titles. It’s so easy to get a manuscript published but extremely hard to sell books. Anyone who follows the crowd and uses the mass production POD companies are taking away opportunities for success.
Publishing success is about selling copies, it’s not making bestseller lists. Many titles published by New York sell lots of copies and never make a single bestseller list. That is successful publishing. You don’t have a chance if you don’t follow certain standards and you won’t discover the keys by reading a book. You need expert guidance every step of the way. Don’t take away your chance at becoming a successful author.
