The Publishing Answers Blog

My Lesson Can Be Your Lesson & What's Next

2011-01-31T13:45:00.005-05:00

Just about 3 years ago now, I started this blog and my path to helping other authors-to-be on their publishing journeys. Along the way, I have met so many awesome people and it's been fun to be able to see several of you grow in your writing, mission and in your ability to reach your audience. And I thank all of you for the opportunity to share my insights (and ramblings) with you here over the past few years.

All that being said, I've been feeling for a while that something was missing, that something wasn't quite right with where my business was (or wasn't) going. Couldn't quite put my finger on until recently when I took a big step and hired a business coach. As a quick aside, if you're stuck either with your writing or the business of writing, I highly recommend hiring a coach, whether it's me or someone else. Having that outside view, the view you'll likely never see because you're too close to the situation, is worth paying for even if you have to stretch out of your comfort zone just a little. That's the first lesson I hope you can learn from my experience.

The next lesson involves what I learned from the coach. One of the most important things was I realized I didn't have a solid grasp of who my audience really is. I needed to be much more specific regarding what kind of writer I can help the most and best work with. Even though it sounds counter-intuitive, my net was actually too broad. Many authors and business people fall into this and it causes a lot of floundering and un-focused effort.

What came out of that conversation for me was both a new plan for my business and a new website. While I'll still be talking about some of the how-to of publishing, I can now summarize what I do like this:

I help authors and entrepreneurs and other thought leaders create content with confidence. Whether you need to write a blog post, a book, or something in between, I can help you do it better, faster and with less stress.

Notice how it is more focused than "publishing answers"? While publishing how-to will absolutely still be a part of the mix, what I really want to dive into right now is the "stuff" that goes into a book, blog etc-to help people make it the best it can be. The ability to write strong, compelling content gets more important pretty much daily, and I'm really excited to be joining in that conversation.

If that sounds like something you want and need, I invite you to follow me over to my new space at CherylPickett.com You can also go to my new Facebook fanpage. If you're not sure, come by and take a look around and see if it strikes a chord. If it does, I look forward to being able to serve you. If it doesn't, no worries whatsoever. I wish you all the best in your publishing journey and am blessed to have crossed your path. Onward!!

Good Writing & God Bless,

Cheryl

Where Will Your Writing Come From This Year?

2011-01-09T15:20:00.002-05:00

It's a new year and hopefully, for all or most of you, that means new writing projects. Maybe there will be lots of short things like articles, or maybe it's time to write that first or next book. Whatever it is, my question for you to kick things off is where will your writing come from?

When asked, many writers say their writing comes from their heart or their soul but it can be defined a bit further. What is driving those words to the outside from within? Do they come from the pure joy of writing about a subject or because you can't not write? Does your creativity well up to the point where it simply cannot be contained? Does it come from a place of prior suffering and survival? Do they come from a fire that's deep inside that burns indignant over injustice, the state of the world's oceans or someone else's pain? Likely, the answer changes from time to time and from season to season in your life. There's really no wrong answer, it's just useful to know what it is.

So, where will your writing come from in 2011?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Holiday Hopes & Wishes

2010-12-22T14:45:00.005-05:00

As children, how many times did you utter the phrase "I hope I get..." at Christmas? I'm sure we all have, and maybe we done so even more recently and the hope was for bigger things than a toy or special gift. Here's my 2011 holiday version, what's yours?

Whether you've been reading my blog for a day or the nearly 3 years it's been up (can't believe it's been that long!) I sincerely hope you've learned things along the way that have made a difference in your publishing journey.

There are new things on the horizon for me in 2011 so I also hope you'll stay tuned. And if during those "so what are you up to" conversations during the holidays, you happen to speak to someone who's struggling with the book process, I humbly hope you'll send them my way.

Lastly, and certainly most importantly, I hope & pray that you all get these gifts during this holiday season and beyond- the peace, love, joy and contentment that came in a manger long ago. It's not going to be wrapped and under the tree, but it is free and bountiful. Blessings to you & your families now and in the New Year.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

How to Publish a Book: Changing Again

2010-12-08T10:48:00.004-05:00

How to publish a book may finally be changing for the better. If you've been following my blog, or any publishing info at all for the last year or two, you know the publishing world is changing in twists and turns that most would not have thought of even 10 years ago probably. Some of it has helped but there's lots more to do in many people's opinion including mine. True, all of the upheavel remains exciting and somewhat daunting for authors and publishers alike, the thing is thing aren't going to settle down nicely any time soon.

One new project that will undoubtedly cause both encouragement and consternation is coming from Seth Godin, who is known for thinking ahead as well as doing something to fix the stuff that's broken. He has written several books and some have been published traditionally. Now he's going to try something else, a more direct to market approach. If it works, and I know it will to at least an extent, it will allow authors to get messages out in a more timely fashion and eliminate some of the nonsense that the traditional firms still hold to like returns and the ridiculously long time to actually produce a book.

If write non-fiction especially, I advise you to follow along. You can read the intro details to The Domino Project here and then follow along by subscribing or liking the page on FB.

As an author, why should you pay attention? Because the days of handing over a book to a publisher and then sitting down to write the next one while "they" do the rest are over. OVER. You are now a big part of "they" and you need to do your absolute best to play your part on the team.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

You've Got One, Is It the Best it Can Be?

2010-12-02T15:55:00.004-05:00

As an author in 2010 (almost 2011) you have a website. One of the components on that website is an "About" page which is your Bio. If you have a book out already, you also have some sort of short bio on the back cover or somewhere inside. On Facebook and Twitter or Linked in? Bios again, though shorter.

You've got one, so is it the best it can be? Meaning, does it hold the readers interest, does it make them chuckle, or go "ah-ha, that explains a lot" ? Or is it the old cookie cutter experience, expertise & awards-you know the kind. If so, unfortunately, your BIO = BORING.

If that's you, don't worry, many, if not most of us have written one like that. Often it's because that's the example we had. Those kinds of Bios do get the information across basically, but they can certainly be better. Luckily, it's not to hard to learn how to fix them.

Recently, I had the pleasure of reviewing marketing expert Nancy Juetten's newest guide Bye Bye Boring Bio. Not only does she go through the various kinds of Bios (in case you forgot one), she gives lots of before & after examples and other tips to get you on the right track. It's easy to follow and as a writer, you should be able to harness your creativity and kick things up a notch without much difficulty by following this information. If you're still stuck though after reading it, she also offers a Bio makeover writing service as well.

I've read some advice over the past few years about how to make a bio better than average, but in this book I found there's still plenty I can do so I've added upgrading to my plans for 2011.

If this sounds like something you can use (and you most likely can), I'd highly recommend putting Bye Bye Boring Bio on your Christmas list or maybe giving yourself an early treat.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Why Would They?

2010-11-23T13:32:00.005-05:00

The question above can be finished in a myriad of ways. First, you need to know "they" are your readers/potential readers. Now let's consider what "they" might do:

1. Why would they buy your book?

2. Why would they recommend your book?

3. Why would they consider giving your book to someone else as a gift?

Notice the perspective with these questions- it's not why should they...? As authors with a message or point to make, sometimes we (and I include myself) totally see things as why people should buy etc. They should buy because it's a great book, or they should recommend it because "everybody" needs to read my advice. We've all been there in one form or another.

Don't get me wrong, you need to have confidence in your message and the drive to promote it. The issue is the "should" answers are often our reasons, and "they" may or may not think or feel the same way. So the key is to answer the questions above and then tell people how easy it is for them to buy, recommend and give, rather than trying to convince them that they should do so. Better still sometimes, write with the answers to those questions in mind to begin with.

Got the idea? How about sharing your answers or attempt at answers to today's questions. It doesn't have to be perfect, instead let's focus on learning and helping each other get from should to would.

Lastly, I wish you all a safe & most blessed Thanksgiving holiday.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

One At a Time

2010-11-08T20:00:00.003-05:00

How many issues are you trying to overcome or work around in your business at the moment? How many things are you putting off? How many "fires" need to be put out before you can get moving in the right direction?

For many if not most of us, the answer is 'to many'. Some days it just seems like there's so much in the way of the good stuff doesn't it?

A post that I think addresses this situation nicely was shared by marketing expert Cathy Stucker. The gist is when you hit this situation handle it bit by bit. Choose one to do at a time, maybe one a week. That's it-just one. The point being that bite size pieces can whittle down the overwhelm into something more manageable. Keep going bit by bit and before you know it, things are completely different.

So what's it going to be for you? Write one paragraph and get unstuck. Tidy up your workspace so there's actually space to work in. Send in that query that you've been afraid to send.

If you'd like to share what your first or next task is going to be feel free. Either way, take a bite.

Do You Own Your Name?

2010-10-28T13:58:00.003-04:00

This might sound like an odd question, but in the world of the Internet, it's not. If you are in business, or if you're an author, your name is out there, not just the name of your company or book. That means it is in your best interest to own it everywhere possible.

By now, most people know about the popularity of Facebook and usually accounts are in their name or, if female, name plus maiden name is common too. If you've done that, great!

But what about the others? Do you own your name on Twitter? Maybe. How about YouTube? That's right YouTube. I hadn't really thought about YouTube until one of my mentors mentioned it's definitely a place where you want to own your name if you can. So now I do. I will likely promote via YouTube in the future, now I can do it using my own name in the link if I choose to. The next one I need to check is LinkedIn, but I'm pretty sure I've seen another Cheryl Pickett come up in searches linked to that site.

Now some of you might be saying, 'but I don't ever intend to use some of those sites'. That's fine, not everything is right for everybody. If you're building an online presence though, you can help keep continuity by owning your name and not letting someone else build a reputation people might confuse for yours (whether it's good or bad).

If you have a really unusual name, you might not have to worry much about others taking your spot, and if you have a super common name, you're probably out of luck already, but somewhere in between, you might want to do some investigation. If all you do is open an account with the big three (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter), at least you have it for the future, even if you aren't ready to jump in this minute.

So now it's your turn to share- where do you own your name? Did you miss out anywhere with the basic first/last, how did you handle it?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Children's Books Falling Victim to Better Education?

2010-10-08T14:10:00.005-04:00

I found this interesting, somewhat disheartening article in the NY Times recently. Basically, it says picture books are no longer as popular as they once were and that they are actually on a downward trend. The interesting and honestly, surprising part to me, was that this downward trend is not so much due to videos and other electronic media (though that's part of it), but rather people's belief picture books are too easy to read. Many think kids as young as four should be reading simple chapter books, not ones filled with pictures and little text.

While I am in absolute agreement that in general the U.S. education system is severely lacking in many ways, I can't subscribe to this line of thinking at this point. I believe picture books are a valuable, useful tool well beyond 3 or 4. Those that are done well help readers match words and ideas to visual design. Many are masterful works of art and can encourage the pursuit of drawing, painting and illustrating for many age groups. As an adult, I still love finding an artfully done picture book and if the words are secondary, that's not a bad thing. In addition, picture books can be quite complex requiring the reader to understand word play through pictures or to find hidden meanings or solve puzzles.

To say that the only good option to advance kids' reading skills at the preschool and kindergarten level is through books with minimal pictures is misguided in my opinion. Exposing them to a wide variety of things to read throughout their lives on the other hand can only create a well-rounded reader and hopefully a life-long reader too.

What do you think?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

New Garden Makes Books Come Alive

2010-09-17T20:04:00.002-04:00

What do you get when you combine a love of books and gardens? Keep reading & find out!

My friend Barb Techel (who I'm also so proud to say is a client of mine too) finds some of the most interesting places to hook up with to promote and sell her books. I imagine some of them find her too, but either way, she is definitely one to watch to get the creative juices going if yours have dried up.

Her latest adventure involves teaming up with an absolutely beautiful and cool place called Bookworm Gardens located in Sheboygan Wisconsin. It's called a literary garden and it brings to life several classic tales like Charlotte's Web and The Magic Treehouse. Barb's book Frankie the Walk 'n Roll Dog will soon be featured as well. However, it's more than just another attraction for families to visit and look at nice displays and flowers. It provides a place for imaginations of all ages to run free among the trees, flowers, words and rhymes. With so many stories being written about how kids/people are reading less I absolutely applaud this effort to make a difference and to make sure the future is full of book lovers. I hope my imagination and I get to visit soon.

Find out more about Barb and the Gardens at her site/blog Joyful Paws.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Follow Along or Even Participate in a Book Tour

2010-09-09T11:30:00.003-04:00

One thing that's cool about the writing/author/publishing world is that it's often possible to go behind the scenes. You can't do that in just any industry. Try going to Pepsi, NIKE, or Ford and asking them how they do their research to come up with new ideas or if they can give you marketing advice. Most likely isn't going to happen, but author to author, a lot of times it can and does. I came across one such circumstance this week that I found particularly intriguing.

Author Chris Guillebeau recently launched his book The Art of Non-Conformity along with his Unconventional Book Tour. In a nutshell, he is, on his own, planning to go to all 50 states along with the 10 provinces of Canada between now and early January 2011. It's unconventional in that it's organized, but not in the traditional style that most big publishers have used for decades where big bookstores, big media are the targets and it costs quite a bit to do. He's partially planning as he goes and is willing to visit whatever location will have him whether bookstore, gift store, yoga studio or home. Besides selling and promoting the book, the thing is he wants most is to meet his readers whether they read the book, his blog or both.

Sounds like a plan to me and a pretty good one at that. I'll be following along though I don't know if I'll make it to his MI event. If you'd like to as well, click here to find out about the Unconventional Book Tour. If you get to meet I hope you'll pop back over here and share your experience/what you learned as a fellow author.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Great Round Up of Resources for Children's Writers

2010-08-31T09:21:00.003-04:00

One of the things I enjoy about coaching people is providing resources. Sometimes, all someone needs is just that missing bit of information to be able to soar with their book project. Recently, I came across a website that offers way more than a bit of information for children's writers. Logically, it's called Resources for Children's Writers and there's a ton of useful stuff, everything from writing to agents to publishing.

Also, don't forget to take a peek at the rest of her site too. Any time you visit another writer's site, I recommend taking a quick look around. You may find design ideas, things you want to try, things you might want to avoid and, of course, marketing ideas. In general, writers are a bunch that are willing to share and help out so take advantage (in the good sense) whenever you have the opportunity.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Are You Providing a Path?

2010-08-24T09:53:00.003-04:00

A question for you today-once someone has a copy of your book, can they find you if they want to?

For example, you have a website (you do right?), and you want people to go there maybe for more information about you or other products you have. If they have a book in hand, is it easy for them to find your URL? Hint-Many people flip to the back cover to find it.

Here's another scenario: maybe they haven't thought about looking for you even though they like what they've read so far. This time you need to entice them a bit, you want them to go to your site because you have lots more to offer. If they're not looking, how do you get them there? One way is to include a page, likely in the back, that flat out asks them to visit! You'll also give them a few good reasons to do so. Maybe they'll find updates on your blog, where you'll be speaking or what other products you have that they'll enjoy too.

Don't rely on the "because it's there, they will come theory". That doesn't work very often. Instead, give them the trail of bread crumbs to follow, provide a clear path to your front door. Making it easy for your audience to do business with you is a win-win all around.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Survey Says

2010-08-11T19:16:00.002-04:00

Whether you are in the planning/writing stage of your book or marketing your little heart out, surveys can be a very helpful tool.

If you're planning or writing, finding exactly what you audience is looking for (mainly for non-fiction) allows you to make the book more attractive and salable. If you want to create your own survey, Survey Monkey.com is a popular choice. If you blog here on Blogger.com there's an add on that allows you to put a survey right on your blog and it's pretty easy to use.

Another way to use surveys is to look at those you hear about or read online through the lens of how it might help you with book marketing. For example, a survey was done called "How religious is your state?" The results rank the states in various categories pertaining to faith as well as an overall ranking. If you have a Christian book (like I do) knowing which areas may be most receptive to is a useful tool if you want to do mailings or schedule visits etc.

Are you aware of other surveys that could be helpful to other authors? Please share!

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Have You Been Thinking About It?

2010-08-07T12:02:00.003-04:00

Have you been thinking about hiring me as your publishing coach? For those of you who may not know, one of my areas of expertise is helping authors solidify their publishing plans. Do you understand your options? Do you need some direction in choosing a good path? I can help with all of that. In addition, I do developmental editing as an extra pair of eyes for your non-fiction manuscript, helping to make sure your work is clear, flows well and really speaks to the audience you're trying to reach. Note: I only edit Non-fiction, but coaching is open to most any genre (exceptions are anything considered "adult" or excessively violent).

I truly enjoy doing both of these things and please know that I consider it such an honor to be a part of someone's publishing journey.

Have you been thinking about it? There's no time like the present! It's time to get on the right path and whip that manuscript in tip top shape.

One more thing, my business model is going to be changing over the next few months. It's highly likely that I will not offer the exact same services as I grow and look to serve you in new and exciting ways. If you want one of the basically ala carte' style services I offer now, don't hesitate too long.

Ready to go? Contact me via the Publishing Answers.com contact page and let's get things rolling!

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Book Proposal Help from Publishing Company CEO

2010-07-24T11:34:00.005-04:00

There's no doubt about it, getting an agent and then getting a publisher to take on your book is becoming harder and harder. One big reason for this is all of the uncertainty that's going on in publishing today. For example, just a few of the questions publishers are wringing their hands over include: What kinds of books will people continue to pay for and what price point will work? Will e-books gain market share and will they help or hurt sales and profits? And of course, the big one, how can we continue to make a profit?

With all that being the case, publishers aren't taking huge risks on unknowns. New writers can still get published (more likely with smaller publishers) just realize the writing has to be top notch and then some. But before anyone will ever notice your writing, your book proposal will have to grab them and make them take interest.

So how do figure out how to do that? CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing Michael Hyatt offers a lot of help in his two e-book s that I just discovered. There's one for fiction proposals and one for non-fiction. They're based on decades of experience in the publishing world and his generous spirit. If writing a great book proposal is on your list to do before the year is out I'm sure these books would be worth checking out.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

2010-07-05T11:12:00.003-04:00

I just came across this excellent post by Chris Brogan which provides a nice list of how to use sites social media like Facebook or a blog if you have something to promote. Just having a presence and sharing bits and pieces from your day is far from the whole story.

The big take away point is that selling today is mostly about connecting with people. I'm sure you, like your customers, are weary of being bombarded by advertising. It's always been around of course, but with as technology gave us more options, it also gave us the ability to get messages and information, good, bad, useful, useless 24/7/365. We're overwhelmed more often than not. That's why we rarely listen, or give up our valuable attention anymore -unless we connect. That's why "social" media is named the way it is. It's about people connecting to people, sharing what they have to offer and hopefully enriching each other's lives.

How have you used sites like Facebook or Twitter or a blog to connect with your readers and potential readers? Let us know your success stories (however it is you define success).

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Why Bother?

2010-06-22T20:08:00.004-04:00

No matter what kind of book you want to write or have written, at some point in the process you likely had the thought above-why bother? Whether you have a book about Cajun cooking, how to do well on tests, a mystery novel, or a picture book featuring cuddly critters there are hundreds, if not thousands already out there.

Why bother? The short answer is because you're you and nobody else, no one else's voice or story is exactly the same. Two quotes that exemplify this came from two different sources that I respect greatly over the last few days:

1. There are more people out there, waiting to hear from you, who can hear only from you, than you can ever get to in your lifetime- Jeff Herring (Article Marketing & Social Networking expert)

2. People online need and want what you do, the way you do it-Dawud Miracle (Website Consultant, Small Biz Marketing Expert)

So does this mean just because you write your unique whatever it is "they" will come & buy? No, it will still take a lot of hard work, especially on the marketing side because you still have to help your audience find your book/product.

What it does mean though is that your message is needed by someone. Maybe it's one, ten or a thousand people, but someone needs it. Your goal, go find them and tell them.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

New Keyword Tool

2010-06-07T19:27:00.004-04:00

If you write non-fiction, or if you have a website for your book (you do don't you?), even if it's fiction, I hope you are familiar with the term "keywords". Just in case you aren't, keywords are those words and short phrases people type into search engines. The search engine then looks for them on websites as they try to match a request for information. Keywords are also the basis for the ads that show up on the side of the results page. Basically, in the world of the Internet, keywords are everywhere and if you want to attract visitors you need to have at least a basic grasp of how they work and where/when you need to use them.

Over the years, there have been a variety of tools that help people figure out the most popular keywords are on any given subject. That's important to know because if your website has those popular words in the right places, it will come up high in a search. If you write or post and article on a blog, directory, etc. the same applies.

Today, I found a new tool that works a little differently called Keyword Questions It appears to be a new variation from Wordtracker. It's different in that when you put in a topic or potential keyword, it generates a list of recent questions posed by searchers rather than just phrases.

How does this help you? Type in the topic of your current book or book you're planning to write. Here are just a few ways to use the search results:

1. How many of the popular questions are you addressing? If not many, are you sure people have a need or desire for what you're offering?

2. Pose and answer one or two of the questions within your back cover blurb and use that copy on summary pages on Amazon etc.

3. Make sure your website utilizes the questions or keywords within the questions in the appropriate places including in the text.

4. Even if you write fiction, you may be able to enter locations or other central themes of your book and see what people are talking about and also get blog posts or ideas for hot topics to weave into the story.

What are your keywords & why?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Critiqued by an Agent

2010-05-24T20:32:00.002-04:00

Thanks to the wonderful Inter-web, it's much easier these days to know what's going on in the minds of agents and editors. What do they want? What do they consider good writing? Is my work anywhere near good enough? Several agents host blogs that answer these kinds of questions and more.

One of those agents is Nathan Bransford. Recently, he started a neat little feature called Page Critique Monday. He chooses a sample submitted by a reader and marks it up (with red even) to give at least a peek into what makes good writing. Though fiction is much more subjective than non-fiction, the first couple of examples show basic skills that every fiction writer needs to accomplish. You can find this week's example here.

BTW, if you write non-fiction instead and you could use a critique/content editing of your work, that's something I can help with. Contact me via my form at my website and let's see if we can get your project to the next level.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Pitch a Pair

2010-05-06T20:05:00.003-04:00

When I saw this article at the Shelftalker Blog I was immediately impressed by the simple, yet creative book marketing idea it portrays. In a nutshell, an author who wrote a book about salamanders and she let a bookstore know about it. It was such a great fit for the area (that has a lot of salamanders) the bookstore decided to host not only the author, but a naturalist who could bring live salamanders to the event as well. They did a presentation together, a total win win all around for the author, the kids, the nature center and the bookstore.

Whether you are trying to entice a group or venue to host you as an author, think bigger, think beyond one book one author. This author was blessed to have the bookstore so excited that they did the legwork to expand the event themselves, but it won't always be that easy for everyone. It will be more likely that you'll need to at least have tentative ideas (make sure they'll fly if you pitch them) so that the host understands you're trying to eliminate as much hassle as possible.

Have you ever successfully paired up with someone else or pitched a full event around your book? Hope you'll share and inspire the rest of us.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

A Million Titles Published

2010-04-27T20:40:00.007-04:00

According to RR Bowker, the company that compiles and tracks publishing stats, more than one million authors saw their books published in 2009. Though some might be updates of established titles or reprints of titles in public domain, most of the titles are new. Besides that, at least half of those titles were produced by small or micro-publishers (like me) who utilize POD technology.

Think about that for just a minute. If someone wants to buy a new, current book, there are a million titles to pick from. Then there's the hundreds of thousands from 2008, 2007 etc. etc. Then there are the classics that have been on the shelf for decades. Even for the most avid reader and book lover, choosing could become a daunting task.

What does that mean for you the author or author to-be? Whether you are published traditionally, via a "self-publishing/POD" company or independently, if you want to sell books you need to understand you are one voice among thousands.

If you're writing just to write or for friends/family, not a problem. But, if you wish to sell books, to get anyone's attention at all, you and your work must stand out in a big way. "Publish it and they will come" could not be further from the truth for the vast majority of writers and books. There's a lot more to it these days.

Not trying to scare you or discourage you from trying to get a book out. On the contrary, this is the reality of today's publishing world and not being informed is, in my opinion, one of the quickest ways to failure. Learn as much as you can about your craft, put the "wow factor" into your book from the beginning, be a student of marketing and you'll have a much greater chance at success.

Lastly, if you like numbers and want to see how the million breaks down by category etc. you can find the full article at www.bowker.com

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Are We Having Fun...Still?

2010-04-13T19:48:00.004-04:00

When is the last time you really enjoyed writing-your writing? Do you finish a section, an article or a few lines and get joy out of it occasionally, sometimes, often? Rarely? If the answer is toward the rarely scale, that's not good and it's probably time to step back and figure out why.

Even if you must write to make a living, hopefully, more often than not, you like what you're doing. Few of us are lucky enough to love every bit of work we do, and there is a reason it's called work, but with at least some frequency, when we use our gift, it should bring us happiness, joy, maybe a laugh, or at least a job well done, accomplished feeling.

Author Dee Stewart posted about this whole idea the other day on The Master's Artist blog and it made me stop and think about which of my writing I like best (my newest book) and why I stopped writing a newsletter (I really didn't enjoy it, could do something else instead). Take a peak at what she has to say then I hope you'll come back and share what makes writing fun for you.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Authors and Illustrators

2010-04-05T19:09:00.002-04:00

I recently had a mini coaching call with a new author and thought I'd share the information here as well. One of her questions was in regard to illustrations. She loves the illustrations a relative did for the children's book she's written and pretty much assumed that they could be used when she got the book published.

These are just a couple of the tips I gave her:

1. Most traditional publishers have their own team of illustrators and generally match an author with one of them. It is the exception rather than the rule for an author and illustrator to be accepted for publication together.

2. (If going pay to publish/POD or Independent) If the artwork was drawn/painted on paper not using a computer design program, a graphic designer would have to make them print ready by scanning them in and adjusting as needed. Cost would depend on how well the initial scans processed the artwork.

3. Soft cover is the only affordable way to print color at this point for small publishers who can't do thousands of copies at a time. Cost per copy is still fairly high though so that must be a consideration when setting cover price and projecting profit.

Could you use personalized coaching to move your book project along? We can do a "preview" session of about 15 min at no cost by phone or a brief email chat to and then you can decide if a full hour session or more would be beneficial. Contact me via my contact form at publishinganswers.com or find me at Facebook.com/cherylpickett.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

What Does a Traditional Publisher Do for New Authors?

2010-03-24T20:52:00.002-04:00

The world of publishing is changing almost on a minute by minute basis. Marketing strategies that used to work even a few years ago, probably don't now so publishers are shifting their risks and strategies as well.

Newbie author Kevin Daum is currently sharing his experience with a major publisher. I think it's worth following along to get a view of what's happening in the real world. True, it's only one person's experience, but it is still more helpful than looking at the careers of author's who've been at it a long time.

You can find the link here. Anything surprise you? Is it what you expected? More, less? Interested in your thoughts as always.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Which Would You Choose and Why?

2010-03-14T14:22:00.003-04:00

Here's an interesting question (at least I think so):
As a shopper, if you had to choose, which kind of place would you rather visit and shop for books and why?

This one, (Choice A) that is totally unique and a potential destination all by itself even though it carries fewer books, or (Choice B) a B&N/Borders type store with its familiar layout and wider selection?

Now as an author, consider the same thing for where you'd want your books to be sold. Which would you choose and why?

Lastly, if you'd like to take a stab at predicting the future-which do you think there will be more of in 5 or 10 years?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Lots of Effort Goes into a Book

2010-03-11T18:38:00.005-05:00

Most of you who read this blog are writers or authors so your first reaction to the title of this post might have been "well duh..." And you're right, writing a book, any book is usually not an easy, carefree process. There's a lot of work and effort that goes into every piece (if you are a serious writer).
Again, no argument there. However, have you ever thought about the fact that a book can take a lot of effort on the part of a reader too?

This point was brought up on an agent's blog last week one day and it made me stop and think for a minute. He was absolutely right. Even if someone loves to read, and the actual reading comes easy, it still most likely involves a fair amount of effort to make it through an entire book.

First, consider that most people (at least adults) have to carve out time to read for any period of time beyond a couple of minutes. Few have the luxury of just picking up a good book whenever the mood strikes. Getting to read at all may involve putting kids to bed quicker, picking up the house faster or scarfing down lunch to steal a few moments of reading time. Just getting the book in the first place for some right now may mean squeezing a little extra life out of a tight budget. Definite effort involved.

Second, there are those who either like to read, or who maybe need to read something (how-to etc.) but they aren't the best readers in the world. They need to take things slow and getting through a book takes them a bit longer than other people. Lots of effort involved here too.

So what does that mean for us writers and authors? Simply put, what we offer our readers must be worth the effort.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Is Anyone Buying Books? Anyone? Anyone...?

2010-02-27T20:30:00.006-05:00

I read about this survey in Dan Poynter's newsletter this week. What's great about it is it casts aside the notion that no one is buying books anymore. Most of us are buying less these days so to see a decline would be natural, but the chicken little approach to publishing (no one's buying, no one's buying) is likely an overboard reaction.

This kind of information is vital whether you're publishing independently or pitching traditional houses. As you read it, think about the audience you're trying to reach. The survey breaks things down nicely by gender and age. Consider their spending habits and how you think you can reach them best. And just as a reminder, your audience is not everyone. No such book (other than the Bible). If you haven't narrowed down your audience yet, the survey will be a useful tool. Start with a broad category and dissect from there. As a quick example, maybe you'll start with women ages 35-50 and from there go to Christian women of that age with children who also work outside the home.

Who are you trying to reach? Let us know, let's see how our results match with who's buying.

*Note you may have to scroll through the slides yourself with the numbers under the screen, not sure why it's not running in presentation mode.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Outside the Zone

2010-02-17T19:50:00.004-05:00

For many things in life we have comfort zones. We have tasks we're comfortable doing, or a group of dinner time recipes that get repeated, or a certain group of people we tend to talk to at work gatherings. I'm sure you can think of others. And though you might not be aware of it at first, most of us have comfort zones when it comes to marketing too if we've been at it for a little while.

Sometimes that zone is created by what we like to do. Maybe speaking is our thing or social networking or school visits or selling via a particular kind of store. Whatever "it" is we do a lot of it because it becomes familiar and we feel like we're "in the zone" when we are engaged in it.

While this strategy is often logical and practical, there are times when life simply forces us out of "the zone". Sometimes things run their course as there are only so many schools or rotary clubs to speak to within a reasonable travel distance. Stores close or change buying habits. Sometimes our familiar pattern gets upset by illness or a move we weren't planning on.

Then what? As nerve-wracking, semi-scary as it might be, it's time to find or build new comfort zones. After all, your old ones started somewhere and they likely weren't instantly comfortable either, right?

How do you do that? Here are just a few ideas:

1. Consider the kind of marketing you've been doing all along. Can it be adapted with just a few minor adjustments to your new situation rather than a complete overhaul?

2. If you've been marketing based on one particular angle, take a fresh look at all topics or themes within your book and brainstorm who might be interested. You could open up an entirely new audience.

3. Inform your current contacts as to your new situation and see what ideas they might have to enable you to continue your relationship whether you now need to communicate less frequently or long distance.

4. Stay connected. Who knows who you'll find through your new circumstances that you would not have met otherwise.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

I'd Like to Know

2010-02-13T19:35:00.003-05:00

Around the time I launched this blog just about two years ago (my how time flies), I had a survey up asking about what kind of writing people were working on/what their goals were. Tonight I realized, though I know what a few of are up to, I'd love an update from as many of you as possible. Sharing even a few answers will benefit everyone because being a part of a larger community is one of the fun parts of being a writer (at least for many of us) and secondly, because it will help me select topics for future posts.

If you'd take a quick moment to leave a short note in the comments with your answers, I really would appreciate it.

Here's what I'd like to know:

1. Do you mainly write fiction, non-fiction or a little of both?

2. Are you working on a book?

3. If yes to #2, do you plan to publish traditionally, independently, or POD/pay-to-publish?

4. If you're planning to publish a book in one way or another, do you want to make a serious income from it, is it more for friends/family, a ministry tool or something else?

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend & Happy Valentine's Day!

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Extras, Leftovers and Stuff Just Sitting There

2010-02-05T21:21:00.004-05:00

I saw this in Dan Poynter's (Mr Self-Publishing) Newsletter recently and thought it was a good reminder that extra books don't need to sit around your house collecting dust.

Maybe part of your New Year's resolution list included being more organized, or maybe you're planning on doing some serious spring cleaning soon. Maybe you have to stop marketing your books for one reason or another and you've got a box or two sitting around.

The good news is that there quite a few entities that will accept new and gently used books to be sent to those who often desperately need them. Below is just a partial list. You might also consider prison ministries (especially for Bibles and related material), libraries (if your books are relatively new) and even your local school, especially if you live near a low-income school area.

Have you donated to a place not on the list or have other ideas for us? Please share in the comments and keep the list going. Also, I hope you'll tweet, post on FB or otherwise share with your author friends.

* Got Books.com
Pick up service in Maine and southern New Hampshire, accepts used books, CDs, DVDs and sends them to a variety of outlets

* Pages for Children
New and used books mostly for kids and teens who have hospital stays

*Open-books.org
New and used books in saleable condition as they use book sales to fund literacy programs

*Soldiers' Angels.com
Prefer new books in the action, drama, mystery categories for deployed military

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

What's in A Name?

2010-02-01T20:52:00.002-05:00

If you're considering writing a book, whether it's your first or next, in today's world one of the first things you need to do really has little to do with the actual writing. If you plan to sell what you write, one thing at the top of your to do list has to be finding and buying an appropriate domain name. Even if you don't plan to have a separate site for the book, it's imperative that you own the domain that includes your title or as close as you can get.

Why? If you hear about a book, or just about anything else for that matter, and you want to find out more, what do you do? You Google it most likely. You don't check the newspaper, or encyclopedia or hardly the phone book probably. If something else comes up when someone searches for your intended title, try again. Change the title if you have too, it really is that important.

Have you had to change a title in order to get a domain name? Did you get luck and find what you wanted was available the first time you searched? Love to hear your stories (an easy way to plug your title BTW :-)

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

i Will Be Paying Attention

2010-01-26T18:57:00.003-05:00

Those that know me well know the last thing I am is a tech wizard. Yes, I've accomplished social networking via Facebook & Twitter (feel free to friend or follow, I use FB most) but when it comes to the actual equipment needed, I'm not handy. I may be able to figure out something simple if it has been made "click here stupid" enough, but that's about where it ends.

That being said though, I still need to and do pay attention to technology to a point. Why? Because that's where our world, publishing is going and actually has been for a while to varying degrees. It just may happen faster in the next year or two than it has in the past several decades. What will change? If I knew that I could retire on the consulting fees. What is certain is that it will change-it has too. Tomorrow may be one such example and I'll be paying attention.

If by chance you don't know, Apple is releasing its newest gadget tomorrow, some sort of tablet computer which some believe will be a huge version of an i-touch or i-phone, somewhere in the 7-10 inch size range. Many also believe it could change how written media is both presented and read dramatically.

Maybe ebooks will be easier to read than on a Kindle or similar item. Maybe it will be so multi-functional that books will be able to include animation or video, audio or all of the above because that one device will now handle all of it. Even if by some chance people don't fall in love with it immediately, it will certainly make an impact; yet another step on the path where media is headed.

So, as authors/writers you and I have two choices, pay no attention and keep doing what we're doing hoping there's still a way to sell whatever it is we're working on, or pay attention and see where we fit in. Will it mean we have to turn on a dime? Maybe, maybe not. The thing is though, if we're not paying attention we may just get run over and wonder how it happened.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

You Get to Choose

2010-01-19T19:23:00.003-05:00

If you're around my age, you may remember the book series called "Choose Your Own Adventure". Apparently, there's a series out now too so you might also be familiar with that one.They were fun to read because, unlike any other book, these allowed you to take part in creating the story to an extent. Everyone started out in the same place, but then as you read you were given options. Turn to page 20 and X would happen, turn to 14 and it would be something different. That kept happening until you eventually wound up at an ending. More time to read? You could try an entirely different combination. It was and still is a great concept I think.

Now jump forward to 2010 and add in the creative mind of Jon Acuff of the very popular blog "Stuff Christians Like" and in today's post you'll find his version of choose your own adventure-blog style. Seriously. What he's done is decide to have a little fun with the Christian romance novel genre and he's started posting bits and pieces on the bottoms of past blog posts. Follow along and you get a mini-story in 4 or 5 clicks or so (at least in the combination I did). If you can't wait to read click here (but please come back :-)

I think the whole idea is a bit of genius. Not only has he given his regular readers something new and interesting to do (and to share) using the previous posts may get new visitors to read well beyond the adventure part. Beyond what it does for him, think about the possibilities for you, your book, your blog, linking up to other people's blogs, trying out a story line, hooking readers for an upcoming book. Lots of possibilities here. Any ideas strike you right away? Would love to hear them as always. If you didn't click above here's the link again. Enjoy!

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

One of These Things is Not Like the Other

2010-01-16T20:06:00.007-05:00

Okay, so I'm giving away my age probably to some extent, but I'm guessing at least some of you, like me, know what follows the line in the header today. You also know it comes from a song on Sesame Street. For those of you who aren't familiar, the gist of it is that one of four items is not like any of the others. It might be an orange vs three apples or three blue items vs a yellow one for example and the exercise reinforces shapes, colors etc.

Somewhere along the line, that lesson often also turns toward the idea that it's not good to be that one that's different. It's better to be in the group of the same. And there are times when that concept can serve you well. There are times when we don't want to stand out in the crowd, or when we need to go with the flow. However, there are also situations when that strategy is detrimental instead of helpful. I'm pretty confident you've experienced one or the other at some point and likely each multiple times in your life. In publishing, you'll find most of the time you'll need to do a little of both.

First, particularly if you're hoping for a publishing deal, your book needs to be alike in that it falls into a recognizable category or spot on a shelf. If it's supposed to fit a certain genre' it needs to fall within expected norms of what a reader would expect from that style of book. Go to far to one side or the other and you may only have a fringe audience that won't make it widely marketable, which for a publisher means, it won't sell enough.

That said, the crazy thing is at the same time the book needs to be that one yellow one among the blue ones. It's good for it to stand out because it gives a reader who has hundreds of choices an incentive to pick yours over the others. If they like it, they'll also recommend it to others instead of saying something along the lines of "it's like most of the other ones you've probably read".

It's a very tricky balancing act to be sure. Does your brain hurt just trying to understand and apply all that? Here's a little help :-)

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

You Have Permission

2010-01-06T19:11:00.004-05:00

First, a big Happy New Year to everyone! I don't know what this year holds for you, but I truly wish all the best and God's richest blessings for you and your families.

Now on to this week's post:
There are many expert life/biz coach type folks who will tell you that the stuff you do, the actions you take to reach success are only part of the equation. The other part is what goes on inside including your attitude and that internal dialogue we all have going on in our heads. And that second part sometimes is a bigger player than we consciously realize. Many times it motivates, but all to often for many that inner voice questions, discourages, and stops us in our tracks on the way to our goals and dreams.

At this point, you may think I'm going to get all "just think positive" but you and I both know it isn't that simple and I'm not going to insult your intelligence. What I do want to do though is to give you another bit to think about as you head into 2010.

In my last post in December, I encouraged you to start planning what you want to do this year. Some of you got right to it and others are probably still working on things as I am. And at least a few of you are probably stuck somewhere (or you will be at some point).The thing is you're probably not stuck because you don't have the capability or smarts to move ahead, it's because that inner voice has put up a road block of doubt or fear. That's where the title above comes in. To move past those walls, maybe all you need is the permission to do it you can't give yourself so here you go:

You now officially have permission:
To do something different, to say what you've always wanted to say or to do what you've always wanted to do, to change course, to invest a little money in yourself, to act on a new idea, to make mistakes and mess up, to try again, to start over. You have permission to follow your dreams. It's okay, really, give yourself permission and go for it.

Again, a blessed New Year to you. I look forward to walking with you on your journey as an author.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Questions to Get You Going in the New Year

2009-12-17T19:55:00.003-05:00

I don't know about you, but I'm not ready for it to be Christmas yet, let alone 2010. This year flew by for me for the most part. Even though most of us are pretty busy the next couple of weeks, it really is a good time to start planning at least for the first part of the year. Take a few moments sometime around New Year's Eve or Jan 1 to think about what you want for your writing, yourself in 2010.

Here are a few questions to help you jump start the planning process:
Do you have a book in mind to start, to work on, to finish?
Do you want or need to take your writing in another direction?
What did you like about what you did with regard to writing/publishing in 2009?
What didn't you like?
Where would you like to be as a writer/author a year from now?
What will it take to make that happen?

In addition to these, Seth Godin posted a good list earlier this week that relate to almost any career/work including writing and publishing a book. Check them out here on his blog.

Whatever those goals, dreams and plans are, it will be my honor to walk with you on your journey. I thank you for reading, commenting and otherwise supporting Publishing Answers in 2009 and I look forward to learning and sharing alongside you in the New Year.

I also pray that you and your loved ones have a most blessed and joy-filled Christmas.
For Unto You is Born this Day in the City of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Shape Up Your Shipping Budget

2009-12-09T18:54:00.008-05:00

Whether you publish independently or order books from your publisher, shipping costs will be a part of your budget. Until my most recent order, I never really looked that hard at my other options, I just logically chose to ship to my home office. I also wanted the least expensive option which, unfortunately, was non-trackable.

With my most recent order though, I looked more closely at another option-commercial ground. I discovered it was significantly cheaper than residential ground, and similar to the cheapest option in cost. But how to take advantage of that?

Then the though hit me-plenty of businesses, publishers or not, ship to warehouses, central locations etc. so why couldn't I do something like that? After just a bit more consideration, I realized my husband and I have a friend who owns an insurance office that's in an area where we both go on a regular basis for errands etc.Voila! Commercial location, commercial ground shipping prices. I simply asked permission to use his address and he was more than happy to let me send books to his location.

Of course, at this point I've only gotten a box or two of books per month so it won't effect his daily business. If I was getting some crazy amount of boxes that would pile up, that wouldn't be fair to him and I'd need another solution. In thinking about that as well, if I do get to the point where I need a few hundred books at a time, I have a possible solution for that as well. A cousin owns a tool & die shop and told me in the past that I'd be welcome to use storage space if he has it available (unfortunately since he does mostly auto work, he has plenty of space right now). Even if these options fell through, there are so many people with business connections, I'm sure I could make something work along the same line.

As most of you know, publishers and authors don't have much profit margin on most books. Even if tweaking your shipping options only saves twenty or fifty cents per book, it all adds up and can help the bottom line.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Cool Way to Get Some Attention for Books & Reading

2009-12-06T12:32:00.007-05:00

If nothing else, it's a fun example of art and technology worth watching

An Experiment in Book Marketing Worth Following

2009-12-02T12:27:00.004-05:00

Seth Godin is known world-wide for his business sense. He doesn't always follow the rules and in fact, he often makes up his own and other people follow him. If you like comfort and "but we've never done it that way before" thinking, you probably won't like him.

However, if you prefer out of the box, creative, what can we do that's different, by all means check him out. His latest adventure involves marketing another new book. One of the "out of the box" plans is that he will NOT be sending review copies to, as he puts it, the few newspapers and magazines that are left or other normal "industry" outlets. He's going straight to the people who will be interested in the topic and who are willing to spread the word. He even involves charity giving which makes it even cooler in my book.

Want to follow along with me? Find all the info on his website Seth Godin.com

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Selling Books at Craft Fairs

2009-12-01T19:19:00.003-05:00

Over the last few weeks, I tried my hand at selling my new book at a few local craft/holiday shows. Here are some of the high and low points of my endeavors:

High Points
1. My target audience is Christian families with kids ages 5-10 or so, so selling at shows hosted by churches with elementary schools seemed like a logical way to go. Overall, reaction has been very positive and encouraging and sales decent in my opinion for the time frame.

2. One show had door prizes and all vendors were to donate an item. This seemed to generate interest/anticipation because some people put their tickets in before walking the show and then were excited to see and meet me when they got to my table. At least a couple bought the book so they'd have one win or lose.

3. A librarian bought a copy at the most recent show which of course increases the book's exposure way beyond that day. Nice bonus!

Low Points
1. Attendance at the first show was dismal, the second pretty good, the third not dismal, but not great. You never know, that part's never within your control so you have to be prepared to lose money. Not expecting it, but prepared because it does happen.

2.Though most people are prepared with cash, some paid by check and I want to give people the benefit of the doubt. Got my first returned check in the mail today. We'll see if she returns my phone call. (TIP make sure to try to get a phone number if it's not printed on the check).

The last note I have for you isn't really a high or low point, it's just a fact: To have any kind of success at this type of outlet, you must be prepared to hustle (and I don't mean that fun dance you do at weddings :-D).

I'd say 50-75% of my sales have been due to interaction and directly engaging the customer. For example, if they slowed down they were greeted with "Good morning". If they stopped to look or even came close to stopping, I pointed out I was the author. From there, I explained who the book was for and tried to guide the conversation to a sale. Of course, not everyone who engaged bought, but many did who might otherwise not have thought about that person on their list, or who might not have taken the extra time to find out more beyond the cover.

If that type of selling is not your style, you aren't out of the game yet. Find someone who will go with you to do most of the talking. My husband was with me at one show and he's generally even more outspoken than I am so between the two of us, things went pretty well. If you don't have someone to bring along, craft shows might not be for you. At all three shows I saw plenty of vendors leave pretty empty handed because they simply sat there (sometimes reading books etc.) waiting for the customer to make the first move-but they didn't.

Bottom line, if you're up for meeting, greeting and personally sharing your passion for your books and your book fits the right audience (women buying for themselves or family members), I say craft/vendor shows are worth at least a try or two.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

A Creative Way to Present Poetry

2009-11-24T17:19:00.005-05:00

There's no question that poetry is one of the hardest types of writing to sell and few publishers are willing to take it on. But there are still poets among us; writers who have things on their hearts they need to get out, that they simply want to share. So what to do?

Get creative.

All authors need to do this to sell and promote effectively, but poets even more so probably because their audience is harder to pinpoint. Another challenge in marketing is that poetry is often misunderstood and tough for many readers to appreciate.

Two creative ideas crossed my desk in the last couple of weeks.

The first comes from a publisher and involves an intriguing idea of selling poetry via audio. There's a new website coming too. Read about it at Book Business Magazine

You may have read about the second one because the authors have promoted it for a couple of different holidays this year. Here's the current info:

Award-winning poets Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball have developed a new concept for inexpensive holiday gifts--an idea for poetic greetings apart from greeting cards.

They suggest a real chapbook of poetry and have released the first two in a series in time for the holidays. So far the series includes Cherished Pulse (for anyone you love) with artwork from California artist Vicki Thomas and She Wore Emerald Then (for mothers on your gift list) with photographs by May Lattanzio. New booklets are coming for Father's Day and for Christmas 2010.

The small books, a tradition in the poetry world since Elizabethan times, are priced to compete with greeting cards. The poets' idea is that, in general, cards from the rack seldom say what we'd like and that a small book of poetry would be more thoughtful.

Both Cherished Pulse and She Wore Emerald Then may be ordered from Amazon

Do you write poetry? How have you promoted it?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

More Interesting Stats from a Top Selling Author- If You Can Stomach Them

2009-11-17T11:14:00.006-05:00

There aren't many places (at least in my experience) to find out real sales numbers in publishing. There are plenty of people who'll tell you to be traditionally published to make the most of your book and many others who'll say to go independent to do the same. Most do not back up what they say with any kind of hard data.

Author Lynn Viehl is one who has chosen to put it all out there even though it opens her up to both praise and criticism. Her current book is on a New York Times fiction best seller list and I find several of her numbers and stats quite interesting.

For example, the whole allowing of returns still boggles my mind. It continues to amaze me that this business model still exists (though at least some are starting to figure out it's probably not such a great idea). Here are the numbers for that for just her current statement:

Total sales for the novel now stand at 89,142 copies, minus returns of 27,479, for net sales of 61,663 copies.

That's twenty seven thousand books that have been paid to be shipped, shelved, un-shelved, boxed up again and shipped again. The saddest part is they've also all likely been destroyed, which means all the trees and chemicals used to make them were a complete waste of time, effort and resources. Anybody else's stomach turn just a little at that? In my opinion, there simply has to be a better way.

In addition to the above, Viehl also gives information about her income, which many readers/writers will also find surprising and enlightening. Again, I really appreciate her honesty and wish more publishers would do this kind of thing so the rest of us can be better educated in our decision making along the way.

Here's the link to her Genreality blog. Know of anyone else who is this open about their stats?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Book Marketing Opportunity for Fiction Authors

2009-11-10T19:12:00.003-05:00

I wanted to share the announcement below with you for two reasons. First, it looks like a good idea and I know my friend Carolyn wouldn't be involved in anything she didn't truly believe in. Second, it's a good example of authors supporting other authors. Carolyn shares success stories in her newsletter and I'm on her email media release list so that I can share her news when it fits my readers.

For the most part authors and writers help each other generously. If you aren't tweeting, making notes on Facebook, blogging etc. about other writers events or accomplishments, you're missing some wonderful opportunities just to be a part of a community and to feel good about helping others.
I encourage you to try it, pretty sure you'll be hooked in no time. If you're already doing so, how do you support other authors? Would love to hear your ideas.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

ANNOUNCEMENT
Lillian Cauldwell and Carolyn Howard-Johnson invite authors to participate in a frugal and fabulous reading and cross-promotion adventure

Starting March, 2010.
Passionate Internet Voices Talk Radio will feature authors of published books of fiction to join in the first-ever serial weekly literary festival where authors read brief excerpts from their books over PIVTR’s radio network. (Nonfiction and Poetry Weeks will come later in 2010.)

Authors may book a reading on what may be a first-of-its-kind event:
It is only $10 for 10 minutes. Authors may contact lillian.cauldwell@gmail.com before January 15, 2010.
The special will air March 21 thru March 28, 10 to 11 p.m. (New York time) except Wednesday evening when the show starts 10:30 and ends at 11:30 p.m.

Text Lillian at 734-277-2733 Or E-mail: LSaraCauldwell@gmail.com for details!

The planned program also includes:

Authors book reviews will be posted on Carolyn's The New Book Review blog: http://thenewbookreview.blogspot.com. That blog was recently named to Online Universities 101 Best Blogs for Readers list.

A special authors' page will be created on Passionate Internet Voices Talk Radio (www.pivtr.com) Web page.

Lillian will make MP3 streams (html codes) of participating authors' presentations available for $3 each plus shipping. Proceeds from the MP3 streams will go to Mission Socorro and Capuchin Soup Kitchen to help the homeless, migrant workers and recently released prisoners get back on their feet.

Passionate Voices Radio is based on three principles: to market and promote published mid-list and unknown authors to the media; to provide a conduit for voices not otherwise heard in this noisy world; and to provide quality educational and informative content to listeners so they can use it immediately in their spiritual, personal and business lives.

Lillian Cauldwell is an author of one award-winning nonfiction book, "Teenagers! A Bewildered Parent's Guide." She writes multi-cultural paranormal mysteries for mid teens (9 to 14 years) and mentors junior and senior high school students to write their first books. http://lilliancauldwell.com and http://internetvoicesradio.com.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson is an award-winning novelist and poet. She is also the author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. www.howtodoitfrugally.com.

The pair plans future reading festivals for poets and writers of nonfiction

Price Wars- Where Will You Buy?

2009-11-05T18:46:00.006-05:00

I'm sure you've heard by now, but at least for a short time Walmart, Target and a couple other major stores are selling top books for 9, 8 even as low as $7. And these aren't the little cheap paperbacks you'd expect to be in that price range. Many of the offerings are hardcover books with cover prices closer to the $20 range. T

You may know about the sale, but you may not know they're losing money on every sale. Also, you'll notice I didn't say they're losing money on every customer who buys at these bargain basement prices. They will lose on the few who walk out with just books, but for the rest, the books are what is known as a "loss leader", an item that the store knows it will lose money on (or maybe break even) in hopes that while a customer is there they find plenty of other stuff to buy. Maybe it'll be impulse purchases, maybe it will be "since I'm already here I might as well do the rest of my shopping" kinds of purchases but they're banking on making up the difference somewhere.

As far as other retailers, especially independent bookstores, something else you may not know is that some of them started to plan to stock their stores that way once they heard about the prices. Why would they want to do that when they normally buy at wholesale anyway? Because these prices, though they're retail in all reality, are even better than normal wholesale. For example a normal bookstore owner can purchase at 40% off the cover price so they get a $20 book for $12. Walmart may be selling that same book right now for $7 or 8. Buying them for their own stores sounded like a no-brainer except that Walmart (and the others) figured that out and put a quantity limit on those book purchases. So now what's happening is Walmart is buying at the same price as the other stores, but taking a planned loss of several dollars. There's no way independent or other smaller retailers can possibly keep up with that. In the short term, the little guys lose again.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet about this whole scenario is the situation we face as author/consumers. If you've got books on your holiday shopping list where will you buy?Will you understandably try to save on your own budget and buy at the big box stores, or will you pay a few bucks more at the smaller store you normally patronize? True, we've always been able to find bargains, but this is a whole new realm beyond in many ways.

In one sense, the big stores have made these books almost valueless. We expect to pay only a few dollars at used book sales, but brand new, especially hardcover, has always had a certain expectation of cost. Some people have even been known to save up specifically to buy a hardcover version or present one as a special gift. I'm not sure the same feel is there at the cost of a couple of cups of coffee. Will you support your own industry with the higher price point purchase this time around? Can we afford to? Can we afford not to?

Where does the path lead from here for publishers, distributors, for authors? No one knows just yet because it really is uncharted territory for the most part. One thing that is for sure though is it's going to be a bumpy ride.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Sometimes It Only Takes One

2009-10-27T19:09:00.002-04:00

I'm pretty sure that there isn't an author out there who can say they've never been discouraged. Maybe now more so than ever, it's tough to stay positive. Publishers are publishing less, publicity budgets are shrinking and audience/reader attention spans have reduced to that of a few minutes in many cases. More and more stuff tries to get our attention on a daily basis from the Internet, TV and even radio still fits into the mix. Sometimes it's easy to feel that our book will never be found, or if we're earlier in the game, that there isn't much point writing it because no one will get around to reading it anyway. If you've felt or feel that way, don't worry you aren't alone.

Also, don't get too worried overall, there's still good news too. There are still people who get excited about books and meeting authors. I met one via email today. She's a teacher at a local school and I emailed to ask if her school does meet the author kinds of events, if she could point me in the right direction for contacts etc.

Before she answered my questions, she let me know how great she thought it was that I'd written a book. When she did answer, her excitement jumped off the page. There aren't many times in email when you want to see all CAPS, but when someone is saying she really hopes you can visit her class, a sentence of all caps is most welcome.

It just took one email to make my day brighter and to remind me why I go through all the rest of the stuff in writing & publishing. Just one. It may be a while until I get another like that, or it could happen tomorrow but it's wonderful to know there are still people out there who want to write them.

How about you? Have you gotten an email or message like this? Have you sent that note that was "just one" for someone else? Could you?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Do You Carry Books With You?

2009-10-20T17:45:00.002-04:00

Today's book marketing concept is very simple. Do you carry books in your vehicle? I'm guessing at least some of you are able to answer "yes" to that one. Cool! Now how about your spouses vehicle or in any other vehicle you ride in regularly (i.e. maybe you go to lunch with your mom/dad on a regular basis in his or her car).

If you take public transportation, could you fit a copy into your backpack or briefcase? At the barest minimum, do you have information with you that has at least a description or cover art and website/point of purchase?

If not, why not?

One of very few reasons I can think of for why not to is if your book is for such a small niche market that you don't run into your readers during your "normal life" activities. Another possible reason might be if your topic is of a sensitive or particularly adult nature and those you run into regularly needn't know you have it. Fine.

Other than that, if you don't carry books, or at least information about them regularly, I ask you, how much do you really want to sell them?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Borrowing from What Already Works

2009-10-16T17:24:00.003-04:00

I was made aware of two promotional strategies recently and it popped into my head that they have two things in common: the methods have already been proven to work, people already respond. The groups using them just put a little twist on them to better suit their purposes. As they say, "there's nothing new under the sun", and in marketing that's often the case. There are so many successful strategies out there, re-inventing the wheel is really not necessary, especially not when you're first starting out unless that's an area you excel in.

The first one is called The Amazing Book Race and is obviously based on the CBS show, the Amazing Race (which my husband and I happen to enjoy). It was highlighted this week on Sarah Bolme's marketing blog. The show itself has won best reality Emmy for a few years now. The basic concept has proven itself to be popular, why not start there?

The second is called The Spirit of Christmas Catalog and was brought to my attention by Carolyn Howard Johnson (frugal book marketing guru :-) ) Depending on how old you are, you might remember getting department store catalogs before Christmas and pawing through, dog-earing the gifts you wanted. Or maybe like me, some of you used to do a lot of shopping by mail order catalogs. Before the Internet, I did a lot of that. Still get a few now but not as many. Again, a concept that is known to have worked in the past in paper; this one just has a 21st century digital spin. BTW, if you're an author, this one is open for your participation at the moment.

So if you're trying to figure out some new fancy schmancy way to market your books and coming up empty, it might be time to figure out what you know works, put your own style to it, and see what happens.

Have you done this? Let us know.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Major Christian Publishing House Announces POD (and my thoughts about that)

2009-10-13T19:14:00.004-04:00

One of the things I like about the whole social networking phenomenon is that there are opportunities to talk to people you would never likely meet any other way. Case in point, I follow Michael Hyatt CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishing on Twitter, Facebook and I also subscribe to his blog. And while you may get the impression that this sounds obsessive, don't worry, he's amazingly open to interacting with those who wish to (as long as it's done professionally I'm sure).

Today, when he announced his company is teaming up with a major fee-based/POD company to provide those services under a new imprint, I saw it quickly and was able to pop over to see what was going on.
The vast majority of the comments so far are a combination of the angels singing allelujah and "way to go". Those of you who have been following me for any length of time are probably not surprised that I immediately checked out the site to compare it against those companies that are already out there that I've researched in the past. As with most things, good and bad with this new venture.

As far as good, the premise behind starting the POD is good hearted. Hyatt admits there just aren't enough slots at traditional publishers to accomodate everyone who wants to be published and that won't change anytime soon. This is their way of trying to do something about that, to be proactive and that's definitely good. It might not be quite the right answer, but it's movement in a positive direction.

Also in the positive column, unlike most PODs, they are offering a version of full service distribution (see more about distribution in my series on it a few weeks ago) along with the typical online distribution. And that's were the not so good starts. Westbow (the new company) has some of, if not the most expensive packages in that market. Part of that is said to be because of the association with Thomas Nelson and an implied trust factor you don't have if you pick another company just from Google. I'd say that's true unless the POD experience falls apart as it has with so many other firms.

A couple other current issues are that there's no royalty info, nor book price/cost to author info in any of the packages which makes no sense to me. Be upfront, there's no reason to hide it. Don't make people jump through hoops to get such a important info.

Going back to my earlier statement, cool thing about Michael is he really likes interacting, so I made the above comments on his blog where the announcement was made-and he answered within a hour or two. He also asked a rep from Author Solutions to do the same. If you scroll through the comments to about the last third or so (as of now), you'll see the conversation. Pretty much standard stuff from the POD rep which was disappointing. He trotted out the same tired example that's been used for quite a while now as far as a success story. If I didn't respect Michael so much, I probably wouldn't pay much more attention to this, but we'll see how it goes, if they can really be different in a good way.

Check out the whole deal here Would love to know what you think, if you make a comment over there.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

What Business Are You In?

2009-10-09T17:46:00.003-04:00

What business are you in? Well, considering this blog is aimed at writers and authors, your answer is probably going to include something in that realm. Your business is selling your writing, selling books. To an extent that's true, but because the world of publishing, authoring, and even how and what we read has changed quite a bit, it's probably not the full answer.

I've touched on this topic before, but today I came across a video by Seth Godin that puts it in a way I haven't seen before (or if I did see it, it didn't sink in). In case you don't know who Godin is, he's a well respected, world renowned expert on marketing, particularly in figuring out why people do what they do when it comes to buying along with other social trend type stuff.

The premise of the video is this: you're not necessarily in the book business, you're in the souvenir business. To put it another way, some people will buy your physical book because they want to own a part of the experience that is you or your style or your story. Just like you go to a concert, play or Disneyland, love the experience and then want something to buy to take a bit of it home with you. Your job as an author either on your own, or hopefully in tandem with your publisher, is to create that desire.

The video runs 35min but in my opinion it's worth at least one view, maybe even two. Here's the link.

When you're done, let me know what you thought okay?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

The Art of a Cover

2009-10-04T16:41:00.005-04:00

Take a minute to pop over and see the design recently picked for Pastor Rick Warren's newest book about the Lord's Prayer. Don't read the accompanying article just yet please (go ahead, I'll wait...).

Now I've got three thoughts for you:

1. It is widely accepted that today readers take only a few seconds, like less than 10 to decide if they want to pick up or look further at a book based on its cover.

2. On first impression, what do you think of it? Did anything stand out? How about the "O" in the middle? In the article, the comment is made that by design, the "O" appears you could fall right through it. If you didn't notice before, now that you read that comment, look again. I definitely feel that and I find it intriguing how such a simple sparse design accomplishes it. So often designers/authors think the more stuff, the more info you can cram on the better. Sometimes maybe, but a good designer will not only think about the information to be conveyed, but also the tone and feel of the book. If the cover can communicate that from the get go to a potential reader, it's probably a winner.

3. The cover art design was chosen through a contest. Whether you suggest it to your publisher or do it yourself as an independent, or maybe even fee-based, holding a similar contest can help you in at least a couple of ways. First, you can get a wider variety of ideas or new resources. Sometimes the more heads on a project the better. Typically, if you work with a designer you'll only get 2 or 3 unless you pay for more. Next, you can use it to build pre-publishing buzz. I didn't happen to hear about the contest itself ahead of time, but with the ease of Twitter and Facebook, as you asked for entries, it would also alert potential readers to follow you and stay tuned.

Usually, the design for a cover is referred to as "cover art" and as you can see, the term "art" definitely applies.

How did you/will you choose your cover art?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Inspiration for Your Next Book Launch

2009-09-30T10:29:00.002-04:00

Some authors simply decide within themselves or with their family that their book is officially launched and ready. Some, either on their own or with their publisher's help, have some sort of book launch event. I've done both.

For my first book, Publishing Possibilities I basically decided it was available, posted an announcement, sent an email and that was that. For my new book, Creation Inspirations, I was blessed to be able to have a small book signing event after services at my church. What is done as a kick off depends a fair amount on your personality, the type of book and, of course, your budget.

When I do my next launch, I'm considering something along the lines of what Mitch Albom is doing, but on a smaller scale because I'm no where near as connected as he is. In an interview on Good Morning America this morning he basically said authors sometimes have parties, why not do something to benefit charity at the same time. You can read more about it on his blog I think it's a great idea, wish I could go, but speaking of budgets it's not happening this time around. I wish him all the best though and appreciate the inspiration.

Have you held a similar style book launch? If you could do anything for your launch what would it be? I hope you'll share so we can all be even more inspired today.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

What If? Distribution Part 7

2009-09-25T16:27:00.003-04:00

Last time we talked about some of the costs of full service distribution which you'll recall is one of the ways to get books into bookstores. I also shared with you that at this time, getting into a full service program isn't right for me and my book. Down the line though who knows?

Maybe that's not the case for you. Maybe after going through this series so far, getting your books into stores seems like a logical, doable option. What if you're ready financially to get your book into bookstores, or you want a traditional publisher and you want to work toward getting in even the bigger chains? What then?

As I've mentioned before, it's not get it on the shelf and they will come buy it. While it's true, a few people will come in, browse and buy, that strategy won't sell a ton of books. It may not even sell enough to require a re-order or to prevent returns.

So what do you do? Bottom line, you have to have a plan-a marketing plan to be specific. In fact, to submit to be carried by some distributors or store chains, you need to tell them what your plan is as part of the application/submission process. You read that right, you have to tell them before they'll even agree to stock your product, you aren't going to count on them to promote once it's there.

My suggestion-don't even think about pursuing a distributor, or even a traditional publisher, unless you have a good promotion plan because again, distributors get your book into stores, publicity and marketing gets it into the consumer's hands. It is often said, writing is an art, publishing is a business and it could not be more the case in the area of distribution.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

What Does it Cost? Distribution Part 6

2009-09-23T16:41:00.003-04:00

Throughout this series on distribution we've talked about what it is and many of the tasks a distribution program or company can help you with as an author. Some of you may have felt that all sounds good, how do I get started? Before you jump in, there's definitely another piece of the puzzle that needs to be considered and that is of course, cost. The companies who perform these services certainly don't do it for free and they are in business to make money just like any business.

I have personally researched a couple of full service companies in the last couple of months as I was curious to see if it would make sense to try it for my new book or not. Right now the answer is "not". Though it might be beneficial to be in stores this time, the cost is prohibitive at the moment for full service. Even though the two companies vary in their fee structure, the end profit works out to be similar. Here's how one works:

Set up fee $495 (they actually both have this and why it's so high, I'm really not sure)
Wholesale discount 55%
Distributor fee 30%
Warehousing $.03 per book per month

So here's what it would look like for my $12.99 book if a store buys it to stock it

$12.99 - 55% discount so I get 45% put in my account = $5.84
From that they invoice me their fee of 30% = $1.75
I also need to subtract my print cost which is between $2 and $3 depending on how many I've printed but to be cost effective 500 is probably the minimum.

So that leaves me with around $1 give or take per book, again depending on printing costs.

As you can see, this is where larger publishers (or smaller ones with huge budgets) have an advantage. They can get the print costs down further generally and if they handle distribution in house, the costs probably vary from the 30%. However, they may also have more overhead so overall, I'm not sure they really make much more (which partially explains the dire straights some are in right now).

You can probably also see why authors who go the traditional route only get 6, 7 maybe 8% in royalties. and remember, there's often an agent taking 10-15% out somewhere in the mix too.

If you're like me, one of the first things people ask is are your books going to be in such and such bookstore. Right now, my answer is people will be able to special order most of the time but they won't be stocked. Down the line, who knows. BTW, the website for the new book in case you are curious is www.creationinspirations.com

Have you considered full service distribution, have you used it? Please share your thoughts.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Who Are they? Distribution Part 5

2009-09-17T19:22:00.002-04:00

In previous posts in this series, we defined full service distribution and digital or online distribution. It's definitely important to be clear on the differences so that you can either pursue the appropriate company, or understand what's being offered in a particular package. Today, let's talk about what types of companies handle/provide full service distribution.

First, if you go the traditional route and are blessed to be picked up by a major publisher, it is likely they'll handle all, or at least some, distribution. Because they offer so many books, they have enough for an in-house staff to offer bookstore/retail store buyers throughout the selling seasons.

Next, there are specific book distribution companies. Many of these companies only work with publishers with multiple titles and the budgets to print hundreds or thousands of books at a time. Ingram is one of them. Their full service program requires a publisher to have 10 titles before they can be considered (as we talked about last time though, they also offer a digital program for those with fewer titles).

If you are traditionally published, you don't have to worry about this part of the process. It's all very much behind the scenes and most consumers wouldn't have a clue as to the distributor, nor do they need to.

Acquiring distribution is tricky for independent publishers often because of the requirements noted above. It is possible though as there are still a few companies who offer it, even if you only have one book. Atlas Books and Blu-Sky are two of them.

For the last group, those published by fee-based/POD publishers, full-service distribution is rare, if not non-existent.

Questions, comments?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Would You Be Interested?

2009-09-15T13:26:00.006-04:00

Buzz. Word of mouth. Publicity. We all want those things for our book. We want it to get noticed. And if any of that can go viral, we'll definitely be doing the happy dance. But how do all of those things get going? One thing is for sure, it's not "write it and they will come". It will take some effort on your part as we talked about last time.

The good news though is that effort doesn't necessarily need to be herculean nor does it need to cost a fortune. One such strategy is simple, but often at least partially overlooked-simply asking for people to lend a hand.

Even though I've asked for help in a variety of ways throughout both my book projects, I'll admit I didn't really think of doing what Mary DeMuth did recently (Scroll down to 9/1/09 and 9/7/09.

Mary is a respected author published by a major publisher (Zondervan) with an established audience. Even so, she didn't take for granted her fans would help spread the word about her new book. She flat out asked them to help get the word of mouth going. As you'll see in the 9/1 post, she kept it short and to the point and then later added a few other options. Nothing complicated, just "would you be interested?"

I'll also admit that the strategy caught me off guard at first. As I mentioned, she's got a good following, and she has at least some help from her publisher's publicity department as well. I just didn't think of someone like her asking for help with promoting, but it does make sense if you think about it just a bit. No one likes to be taken for granted, even loyal fans. Also, giving people direction makes it easier for them to participate, they don't have to wonder how they can help you if they desire to, and many are waiting to be asked.

How many responded to Mary's requests? I don't know. How many will respond to yours? I haven't a clue though I'm pretty certain you'll get some yes's and some no's and a few will ignore you. But even if it's only one or two in the yes column, it's more than you had if you didn't try to ask at all.

Have you asked for help promoting your book and received an unexpected yes or more than you asked for? Please share with us.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

P.S. More on distribution coming soon!

You'll Have to Market Your Book

2009-09-09T19:25:00.003-04:00

It can't be stated more simply than that. If you want your book to sell, you'll have to participate in the marketing process. There's no way around it, you cannot rely 100% on anyone else. And yes, this is true even if you are traditionally published though there are some who would like you to believe otherwise. If someone says you get to sit back and write, you either have a very unusual situation being taken into consideration or they're lying. The industry just doesn't work that way anymore. It can't afford to.

What is true is that the degree to which you need to participate can vary if you have a traditional publisher. They will (or at least should) have contacts and relationships with the media to an extent, and some may help with an overall plan so you may not have to reinvent the wheel.

But if you're a new author (which most of you reading this are), don't expect to get the bulk of their PR people's attention, especially if it's a bigger house and they carry big name/well established authors too. There simply aren't enough hours in the day or enough money to go around to treat everyone and every book the same. Want to tip the scales in your favor? Be prepared to be the best team player you can be.

Want more proof that you've got to pitch in? Agent Chip MacGregor says it as it is at his blog this week too.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Distribution Part 4 - How Do Wholesalers Fit In?

2009-09-03T17:16:00.006-04:00

If you delve into the topic of distribution, you'll most likely come across the term wholesaler (or sometimes wholesale distribution). Wholesalers are an important piece of puzzle, so let's jump into this topic today.

The main difference between distributors and wholesalers that you need to grasp is that wholesalers do not have reps that contact buyers (stores and libraries); marketing is not their function and most do little beyond having information about titles and maybe telling buyers what's new. They are not in the business of getting stores to place orders-they fill the orders. They serve as a supply point (think "w" wholesale & warehouse). They stock physical copies of books for hundreds if not thousands of publishers. In the case of print on demand, they may just have the title in a database and can get the book from the print source whenever there's an order.

In the U.S., the two major wholesalers are Ingram and Baker & Taylor. While they both serve many outlets, each has a focus. Retailers, including independent bookstores, generally turn to Ingram and B & T serves the library system.

Can your book be in the database or warehouse of a wholesaler if you are not working with a a full-service distributor? Yes. If you print or publish with certain vendors, your package may include a listing. In addition, you can apply to be a book supplier via an application on the B & T website. I don't know exactly how stringent the requirements are, but I am aware that independent publishers with as few as one book can appear in their system.

A couple of other items to note:
1.Ingram also offers full service distribution (and you must have at least 10 books to qualify), it is not the same program as what we're talking about today.

2. Wholesale orders and companies are part of the general concept of distribution which is getting books to the seller or end user. B & T refers to themselves as distributors on their website, however, they also state that they do not provide "distribution services" to their suppliers.

Again, to keep things straight on the most basic level, distributors try to get bookstores and other outlets to order books from publishers and wholesalers fill those orders.

To get a real world glimpse of what the process looks like check out Amber Polo's blog. It talks about author's expectations and interactions with independent bookstores and discusses some of the ordering process. Be sure to read the comments as well for more info.

More on distribution soon.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Distribution Part 3

2009-09-01T19:23:00.003-04:00

In parts 1 & 2 I talked about the basic definition of distribution and about full-service distribution which generally involves sales reps and other strategies to get store buyers to place orders. This time let's touch on the other kind of distribution known as digital or online distribution.

First, the big difference is evident in the name itself-digital distribution. It means your books are not typically stocked physically in stores, but they are available virtually-in a database along with tens of thousands of others.

Generally, digital distribution programs make your book available for special order in brick-n-mortar stores, appear on most, if not all, major online sites (like Amazon, B & N) and in the main database libraries use for acquiring books.The goal of distribution is to get books to customers, and online programs do satisfy that need, it just isn't in the traditional sense of how it has worked in the past.

Still to come: what kinds of companies provide distribution, pros & cons.

Questions, comments?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett.

Distribution Part 2

2009-08-27T16:16:00.002-04:00

In the first installment of this series, we talked about a basic definition of what full service distributors do:they get books to the stores and other outlets that then sell them to the public. Today, let's talk a little about how they do this.

Distributors make life easier in many ways for publishers because they handle at least some, if not all of these kinds of tasks: creating and then taking and fulfilling stock orders from stores, creating marketing materials, representing books at trade shows, processing returns from stores.

In addition, some provide fulfillment for orders directly from the publisher's website or even via phone number they provide. The distributor receives books shipped from the printer, stores them and then packs each individual order as it comes in. If the distributor has collected the funds from a customer as well, they then pay the publisher their portion on a set schedule.

As far as the customer is concerned, all of this happens seamlessly behind the scenes and that's the idea. Once in a while you might here the phrase "distributed by such and such company", but if you're like me, it makes absolutely no difference as long as your purchase experience is good/you get what you want.

One other thing that you should note is that occasionally, the terms distribution and fulfillment are used somewhat interchangeably. Generally though, fulfillment means filling and shipping orders, it doesn't usually involve marketing activities.

Who are the distributors, what does it cost to use their services? More next week.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Distribution- Part 1

2009-08-25T17:08:00.004-04:00

A few months ago, I did a short series on Lulu and the pros and cons of using it. Today, I'm going to start a new series about the topic of distribution. If you have any questions anywhere along the way, please feel free to either email me or put a note in the comment section.

Let's start with the most logical point-what is distribution?

First, let's talk about what is referred to as full-service or traditional distribution.
Consider this: there are thousands of publishers trying to sell thousands of books to the stores that sell them. Imagine the insanity if every store was contacted by every publisher about every book, old and new alike. The paperwork it would entail to fill the shelves would be absolutely insane. That's where the full service distribution comes into the picture.

Distributors catalog the inventory of multiple publishers, their representatives present the information to the bookstore buyers and the buyers place one order through the distributor. The distributor then facilitates getting the books to the stores either via their own warehouse or a wholesale warehouse. Stores may deal with more than one distributor for different lines of products because no one represents everything, but they are still dealing with far fewer entities than the first scenario.

If you walk into a B & N or other major store, the books you see got there via that process for the most part. This process is also generally what's in play when books sell in the thousands or tens of thousands+ copy level. It's definitely possible to sell decent quantities without distribution, but it is certainly a lot more challenging.

Do you want or need full service distribution for your book? Maybe, maybe not. Stay tuned.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Trying to Figure Out How to Get Attention for Your Book? You're Not Alone

2009-08-22T11:26:00.005-04:00

Sometimes, we writers like to dream ourselves into the land of bestsellers. We think about what it might be like to be on the big lists, how we'd be set for our next book and the next one after that. All we'd have to do is write, our publisher would release the book and all is well until the next one is ready-lather, rinse, repeat.

In some ways, it kinda makes sense. If your writing continues along the same path as the first big book, those who bought the first, would likely flock to future books too. Launch it and they will come kind of thing, right? Well, not exactly.

There's a competitive dynamic that occurs even at the bestseller level, that I hadn't thought about until I read this about Dan Brown's upcoming book and what it means to other big name books.

In a nutshell, even the big players worry about whether their book will get attention. That's how much publishing has changed over the years. Readers have so much to choose from, even well-known names are not exempt from a little hand-wringing and stressing out at the point of a book's release. There are no guarantees at any stage of the game.

What does all this mean to you? Be prepared.
Even if you have an agent, or are picked up by a large publisher, be prepared for plans to change and that you may not totally understand why or believe the changes to be fair. Also, understand you may not get all the attention you think your work deserves. Be willing to grow.

If you aren't going the traditional route, be prepared to compete. You may or may not directly be competing with Dan Brown or others in that realm, but you may be indirectly. Be aware of the possibility and prepare as much as you can so that you aren't blindsided if it happens.

And if any of the above does happen, be prepared to be knocked back a bit, or maybe even knocked down. Most importantly, be prepared to get back up and to take more steps forward no matter how big or small.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Do You Write Read-Aloud Books? Take Note

2009-08-18T17:01:00.003-04:00

I was alerted to today's tidbit courtesy of fellow author Barb Techel (BTW, if you like daschunds, you'll want to check out her mission in life www.joyfulpaws.com)

The info she passed along via Facebook is about a new type of e-book reader program called Ripple that's geared for kids. Here's how it works in a nutshell: authors can make their read-aloud books available through the service, an adult purchases the ebook version, and then record themselves reading it via their own computer speaker. They then tell the child their book is ready for them, the child logs on and can hear the story being read to them by the person who purchased the book. The grownup involved might be a grandparent living in another city or potentially a parent working or serving outside the country.

There's a short video clip that describes it in a little more detail .

I agree with the gentleman who posted the video, even if it's not quite here yet, it's something to keep an eye on. In the meantime, if you sell this kind of book, why not recommend/suggest what is available now to potential buyers? Using Skype to read a book live via the net or recording even a short video and emailing a link or uploading it is easier and easier to do, but not everyone will think of doing it, even if they're aware of the technology. Have them try it out with your book!

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Publishing Terms Glossary

2009-08-14T11:14:00.004-04:00

Short and sweet today. There's a lot of unique terminology to know in any industry and publishing is no different. It is also more important than ever to at least understand the basics because these days, an uniformed author can easily be a scammed, frustrated or disappointed author in no time.

To help you out, Agent Nathan Bransford has posted a great list of some of the stuff you need to know. Find it here Still have questions? Post them here and I'll do my best to clarify or find someone who can.
Enjoy your weekend!

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Attention Please?

2009-08-12T17:44:00.004-04:00

If you write a book (or create any kind of product for that matter) and you intend to sell it, you want attention. You want to do radio, have your picture on the front page of the paper. You want to be on TV-maybe even one of the top morning shows or even, (deep breath) Oprah.

Do you want all that or at least parts of it? Really? If you answer is still a resounding "yes", the next question is, are you ready if it happens?

Consider what happened in the last week to the Taviano family thanks to their 52 Zoos in 52 Weeks adventure. First, yes they really did that. Based from their home in Ohio, they put thousands of miles on their van, stayed with people they'd never met before except online and got as far as LA, CA.

When they did their last official stop at their hometown zoo in Columbus, they'd sent a media announcement to local TV and newspapers. TV showed up for the wrap up party on August 1. The segments aired the next day, hit the papers a day or two later.

From there the Associated Press picked up the story. By Mon/Tue there were hundreds of results if you Googled the story. Their story was picked up then bumped for something else several times. Then mom Marla was booked on a nationally syndicated radio show by Wed, then the whole family was flown in on Friday to NYC be on the CBS Early Show on Saturday.

Is your head spinning yet?

Of course they had wanted and sought out publicity. But the thing about publicity is you can't totally control it like you can with advertising. You rarely know exactly who's going to grab on to you or your message and when. A week later, things are calmer, another radio show is scheduled last I read.

You want attention for your book, but are you really ready to handle it if it comes faster or bigger than expected? Are you comfortable giving a radio interview, to be interviewed on camera even if it's your local channel?

The Tavianos were relatively prepared for the attention they got; it's hard to be prepared for everything especially early on. But CBS was "out of their comfort zone" as Marla put it to her friends, family & fans as she asked for our prayers and support. And that's another key, as you prepare do the best you can, and also put together a support system. In this time of the www, there's no reason to even think about going it alone.

So once again, if you are blessed to get the attention you seek, are you ready? If not, what are you going to do about it starting right now?

BTW, if you want to read about cool zoos, and what God is doing through the Taviano family, visit www.52zoos.com or www.marlataviano.com You can also keep an eye out for the upcoming book.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

What Else Do They Want?

2009-08-10T20:03:00.004-04:00

In the last post, we talked about the fact that very often it will be the case that your readers/customers don't need your book and one key to being able to still sell it is to get people to want it.

While you're working on how to do that, another idea to consider is-what else might they want?
If someone buys your book, there's a possibility they'd like something else too that's either directly related or associated with it. Now you probably wouldn't do this if you only sell on Amazon, but if you sell in person at all, it is definitely a strategy to consider to put a few more dollars in your pocket in a very overcrowded book market.

Examples of directly related:
Is there a concept or catch phrase in your book that would work well on a t-shirt, coffee mug or mouse pad? How about your book cover? Does a character wear a unique piece of jewelry that could be custom made for you to sell by a local jeweler or artist?

Examples of associated:
Is your book set in wine country or is a character a wine-lover or a foodie? Could you package your book with wine glasses, a wine scented candle or a cookbook?

Kids books are sold together with other products quite frequently, there's no reason adult books can't be too. Of course you don't have to make or write the things to go with it, but it shouldn't be to tough to find a way to make an attractive package deal.

Have you packaged your book with another product of your own creation or with someone else's? Please share with us!

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Most People Don't Need Your Book

2009-08-05T16:27:00.003-04:00

Did that title statement catch you off guard? It did when I read the same sentiment in an article recently. But it didn't take long for me to understand how true it was.

It might not be the most pleasant exercise, but consider points like this for a moment:
1. If your book is non-fiction, there is a huge chance that all or part of your information is online and it's free. That's a big struggle the whole publishing industry is grappling with right now.

2. People are reading fewer books generally, but there were hundreds of thousands of new books published last year alone. And remember, that's on top of classics and other perennial best sellers.

3. If you are a reader, you may already have a backlog of books on your shelves along with a wish list, and your friends keep recommending more.

4. Decades ago, books were a major form of escape, entertainment and relaxation. Now there are numerous choices to fill free time.

How do you write and sell books if most people don't need them? You have to make them want to buy them. Want is different than need. You need to eat, but you might want chocolate instead of a salad. You need clothes, but you may want a particular brand over another that fills a similar need.

What's to want about a book? Maybe there's information in it they can't find easily for free. Maybe a writing style just hits the spot when they want something refreshing. Maybe it's because they met they met the author. Answer that question and you'll be well ahead of those who never stop to consider it.

So, why would people want your book?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

The View from the Other Side

2009-08-04T10:07:00.003-04:00

You and I are writers and authors (or are at least we're working at it). We have lots of ways and lots of opportunity to communicate, commiserate and celebrate the world we work in. This is good because writing can be a lonely, frustrating and maddening enterprise sometimes.

But what about those who are essentially spectators to this world of words, editors and queries? I'd be willing to bet that most of us do not have a significant other or spouse who share our writing world. I don't. My husband is a musician (and a darn good one too :-)). Luckily for me he does understand and relate to "the arts", but not all areas of writing and music overlap by any means. Maybe some of you are in a similar boat, but others probably have family that aren't into such things at all, which makes what we do completely foreign and uninteresting.

No matter which is the case in any given family though, there is one common thread that exists-writers need support and encouragement. Yes, many of us can dig our heels in and push ahead without it, but life's much sweeter and less stressful when we believe others value what we do verses considering it a waste of time and effort.

Not sure how to make that happen? Or if your situation is going pretty well, can it be even better? Here's an excellent post with some simple ideas that can be used in either scenario. Getting things on track may be as simple as a quick forward to someone you love.

How are things in that place where writers & non-writers collide in your life? Do you have tips/stories about how the non-writers in your family support you? I'd love it if you'd share.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Planning an Event to Promote? Here's How to Spread the Word

2009-07-30T10:34:00.002-04:00

Sometimes planning an event is the easy part. I'm one of those who happens to enjoy the event organizing process (most of the time). The thing is, unless your event is only for family and friends, getting people to come to it can be much harder.

There are lots of ways to try to spread the word, but here's a helpful little list with tips about some of the more useful social media tools from John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing. If you don't have time to do them all, try to figure out which one or two best suits your personality and give those a shot first. If you have time, add another. While it's important to get the word out, it's not important to overload yourself so that when the event does come, you're too stressed to enjoy it or to do well. Do the best you can, see what works and what doesn't and then adjust your strategy for next time.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Another Glimpse Into a Day in the Life of an Agent

2009-07-27T20:16:00.004-04:00

Sometimes, even when you have all the how-to info you can get your hands on, nothing truly compares to a personal story. When someone tells you real life experience (and does it well), I think you can get a much better feel for what you're trying to understand.

If you're considering getting an agent for your book, you'll definitely want to read this post from Sandra, a newer agent in Chip MacGregor's office, for some great insights into real life in the traditional publishing world. Even if you aren't going in that direction, you can find some tidbits that can help you with your decisions too.

Surprised by anything you read? Feel free to get the conversation started in the comments.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

What Was It Like?

2009-07-22T19:45:00.004-04:00

We've probably all asked the question above at some time or another. Usually it comes after someone else has had a particular experience and we want to know the details. Maybe they worked with or met someone famous, maybe they climbed a mountain or they had to give someone else some bad news.
We ask the question because we want to know how they felt, how all their senses were engaged. We want to know if they felt happy, sad, irate or joyful beyond belief. Sometimes we hope to feel the same too if they just describe it well enough.

Have you considered the experience a reader will have with your book? Not just will they enjoy it or learn something from it, but the whole big picture experience. My guess is you fiction writers out there probably give that a lot of thought, but non-fiction maybe not so much. I'll admit I can't say I thought in that depth until recently.

Also, even if you have considered this point for your book itself (and if so good for you!) have you considered it with regard to other touch points you have with your buyers and readers? For example, if they visit or even buy from your website, what's the experience like? If you meet in person or have an event surrounding the book, what do they feel like when they leave? When they share the experience with others? Are they enlightened, wowed, glad, soothed, excited, joyful or maybe even surprised?

If they weren't, should they be?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

A Reminder Most People Need

2009-07-17T17:02:00.003-04:00

I found a link on Twitter today and thought it was just a great post for a summer weekend. It's about the creativity of kids-and how most of us lose it as adults. For example, when was the last time you created just to create whether through writing or anything else? When was the last time you had fun that might be considered less than adult (with or without kids along for the event)?

If it's been a while, I hope this post will inspire you. If it does, I hope you'll share!

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

BTW, I titled this post "most" people need this reminder because there are some who generally don't. Any of you who know my husband will agree with me :-)

How Badly Can You Screw It Up?

2009-07-15T19:41:00.003-04:00

Have you ever thought about trying something but didn't because you were afraid you'd mess something up? Maybe you want to try something completely different than what you normally write whether it was a divergence from genre, topic or voice. Maybe you've thought about moving from articles to a book. Maybe you want to try turning your writing into a business instead of a hobby.

Whatever is is, maybe you wanted to but you didn't because you're afraid of screwing up some or all of it. My question for you today is, how bad will it really be if you do?

As some of you know, I'm working on a new book project that's completely different from my first one. This means I need another website. I decided to try one that's Word Press based this time and found someone to help me get started with it. Well, long story short, while I'm waiting for her to have some time in her schedule, I decided to see what I could do on my own. And what you really need to understand here is that I know nothing about code, or programming. A few years ago, I was shown how to install WP on a site but that's about it, that site never went anywhere. I figured the worst that could happen was my web person would have to hit a few delete buttons and start from wherever she was going to start anyway. And that wouldn't be the end of the world.

On the other hand, if I did at least okay, there would at least be something at my site besides "this site is parked". Well, so far I did okay, what I did shows up at the domain. When my designer does finally get hold of it, we'll see if the tech side was done even close to correctly, but in a worst case scenario, if she can't meet my deadline, what I have will work temporarily.

So what have you been waiting to try because you might screw up? Make today the day you take a moment to think about how bad it could be if you did mess up and, as long as no one's in danger, weigh that against how good it could be if you at least did okay.

If you go for it, let us know! Hope you do.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Dissecting the Book Sales Process

2009-07-07T09:29:00.006-04:00

Dissection-you probably did that sometime in high school to some critter or another. My time at the lab table involved poking and prodding everything from starfish and worms to a mink. As a quick aside, for those of you who don't know, biology was my minor in college and my high school bio teacher was an incredible mentor to me.

Okay, back to books. Dissection is a cold, clinical process for the most part. Certainly, many students have to steel themselves (and their stomachs) in order to be able to do it at all. So what does such a term have to do with the beautifully creative world of writing? If you want to sell books, a lot.

Even though many authors love the magical, muse-inspired part of writing, the book selling part is pretty much at the opposite end of the spectrum of what writers do. Though promotion does involve creativity in planning events etc. (thankfully) the biggest part is number crunching. Sales reps, stores, and the publisher all have numbers they want to see from a book. Bottom line, as cold and clinical as it sounds, the biggest thing they want to see is a profit. It's great if people are happy because of the books they buy, but that's secondary. Of course thinking about it logically, if they didn't look at the numbers the point of being in business would be...?

Besides the cold and scientific aspects, another thing to note about the book selling process is that it is complicated, especially if we're talking about bookstore sales. Sales kits, co-op marketing, and a little bit luck and educated guessing are all part of the equation.

There's a lot to know, and even though I don't expect you to be an expert at selling (if you are great!), I absolutely believe everyone needs to be familiar with the process so that you aren't following blindly.

To help with that, here is the post that inspired me today courtesy of Nathan Bransford and his associate Eric a sales assistant in the book industry. I'll give you fair warning it's a long one, but it's also very eye-opening. I'd also strongly encourage you to read the comments as Eric answers a handful of questions there as well.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Be Careful What You Wish For

2009-07-02T19:02:00.003-04:00

Imagine this:
You decide to independently publish your book. You've done the most professional job you can and you're marketing your little heart out. Sales start to pick up momentum, your Amazon rank is respectable. Life is good. Things continue to roll along and a few days after you appear at an event, you get an email. It's from someone you don't recognize, but the subject says "Would like to talk about your book". You open it and it's from a publisher, a legitimate traditional publisher.

What do you do? What would you say? Are you sure?

Admittedly, this doesn't happen a lot, but if you really do sell successfully it can happen. It did to an author I know personally. In fact, her books sell so well (home school topics) she's been approached more than once. And she turned them down each time. That's not a typo, she turned them down. After she read what they had to offer, she knew it wasn't the best thing for her business.

A lot of authors dream of getting such a phone call, but if it happened to you, are you truly prepared to answer it?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Suddenly (or not so)

2009-06-30T18:58:00.004-04:00

Obviously, you all know a few famous people have died in the past few days and others not so well known have passed too. This morning, another was added from Sunday, it just seems the list is unusually long for some reason.

Some passed suddenly. No one was prepared to say good-bye right now. Others knew their time was short and their families did too. Their families still grieve and it certainly isn't easy, but they do not have to deal with the same "what ifs" and "why now?" Much of that was able to be dealt with already and no one was left to wonder.

Generally speaking, I'm not effected by celebrity deaths. It is sad for the families, but I feel no personal connection the way some people do. Michael Jackson was different. I am a child of the 80's and much of his music was a soundtrack to my life even though I own few tapes and albums. Those memories stand out more than the insanity of his recent years. Either way, he's not supposed to be gone yet. He was older than me but still young, still had stuff to do. Just like me, my friends and my family. I have no idea why I feel this way really. As I said, I didn't hang on his every move.

However, for whatever reason, the feeling is there. I can't help but wonder, what do I want to do before that time comes whether it's, tonight, tomorrow or forty years from now? Am I doing what I think God put me here to do? In some ways, I can answer yes and I'm happy about that. But there's also still lots to do, probably plenty I don't even know about yet, and I hope to have the chance to do it.

Few of us like to talk about death, even if we are Christians and confident in what happens next. However, a few moments of reflection is good now and then. It reminds us that we may not get time to "get to it someday". Someday, may need to be today.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

How Do Readers Choose Books and Where Do They Buy Them?

2009-06-25T18:02:00.002-04:00

That's the million dollar question isn't it? If authors, publishers and booksellers knew the answer to that, there would be no such thing as lackluster sales or returns. As in all sales, sometimes you get the best information just by asking, which is what agent Nathan Bransford did at his blog today. He asks how people heard about the current book they're reading and where they acquired it. At last check, there were over 300 responses.

No it's not a scientific poll, but I think you can definitely see trends and just about anyone who's trying to sell books can glean useful info from it. Check things out here at his blog, and then feel free to post your answer here if you wish, or any other thoughts about the list. Agree, disagree, see patterns? The more we can share only helps everyone involved.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Dislike Change? Don't Get into Publishing

2009-06-23T19:09:00.007-04:00

There are authors and publishers (readers and agents too) who love to hang on to what has always been in the publishing industry. Things like: all real books are dead tree books, POD is the scourge of the industry and nothing good is ever produced that way, that your book must be proclaimed worthy to be published, and if it isn't, it'll never amount to anything.

You can't blame them too much really. Most of us aren't fond of change-just ask my husband how much yours truly likes it (though I think I'm getting better). Unfortunately, few things in life stay the same forever whether we like it or not. The same goes for publishing. It's taken quite a while, but some are finally not only realizing it, they're not afraid to tell others in the inner circle that they see what's coming and they're fine with it.

What are some of the changes that are coming for the publishing industry? Agent Chip MacGregor talks about a handful of them here. They aren't the only ones by any means, but if they don't appeal to you, as the title of this post indicates, I suggest you choose something else besides writing books and trying to get them published to fill your time. If on the other hand, you're willing to see where the road will take you, secure your safety belt as they say, it could be one heck of a ride!

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

The Inside Scoop on Approaching Indie Bookstores

2009-06-17T13:20:00.002-04:00

Here's a great blog post about approaching indie bookstores if you are an independent or pay to publish author. There are lots of helpful tips, but I love that there's also the "why" behind those tips. Another interesting note is the general feeling of encouragement, rather than the old "we don't take those kinds of books attitude that used to be much more prevalent in this part of the industry.

One other thing, make sure you read the comments, a couple of which just blew me away. The blogger, Josie Leavitt, just spent her precious time giving a list of clear guidelines as to how to approach her (and others), yet you'll notice a couple of posts that are completely clueless. Even giving those people the benefit of the doubt that they misunderstood something (though I'm not sure how Josie could have been clearer) also adds the lesson that even if you think you understand the guidelines, read them again and make sure before you contact someone. The adage you only get one chance to make a first impression certainly applies here.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Growing Out of Control or Ready for Pruning?

2009-06-16T10:25:00.003-04:00

Apparently, the theme for life this week is pruning. First, the message at church on Sunday talked about how God often prunes us, clips out the stuff that's getting in the way of our healthy growth. We know that most plants need to be cleaned up and trimmed to grow properly but we forget that we do too. Sometimes God uses the little trimmers and sometimes He chooses to hack out some big stuff with the power tools. As the Master Gardner, He sees the big picture and knows what we can become when we begin to grow again.

I thought about that in regard to how my life and my writing has changed over the past few years. I'm now going in a completely new direction with my current project, and so maybe what I was doing had to be pruned because it was in the way/I was off course.

Then this morning, I saw this post on a blog I subscribe to "Overgrowth & Pruning Shears". This time the writer talks about pruning from a different perspective, one that allows some out of control overgrowth so there's enough plant to shape into a wonderfully sculptured form. She also talks about how this concept applies to our writing lives too.

So where are you in life, as a writer, both? Is someone getting the pruning shears ready or are you sculpted and ready for a full bloom?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

It Says What?

2009-06-12T17:01:00.003-04:00

A couple of posts ago, I talked about the importance of making sure your intended book title is unique online and if people search for just part of it, no nasty surprises come up.

Another consideration along this same line is how does your prospective title read when it's all smashed together as a url? Here's an example: Northwest Ink Slingers: Murder, Mystery and Ugly Tattoos. (Note- I just made this up, didn't check, I have no idea if it exists in any way shape or form).

If you set up a domain to point to a book page or wanted to build a site around the book, a logical shortened form for the url might be nwestinkslingers.com Notice any other words that you didn't intend to be there?

In my opinion, either the book title needs to be reworked or, at minimum, there should be another try at a domain name. In addition, I believe this kind of analysis is particularly important if you write for kids or even young adults. If a four letter or unacceptable word can be found within a url, they're probably going to find it and I doubt that's what you'll want them to focus on.

It has been said that any publicity is good publicity, but I don't think you'd want that publicity to come from people passing around your link just to make fun of it. Take the time to do this extra step and you'll have one less thing to worry about.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

For Love, Romance or Money? An Author's Life

2009-06-11T09:49:00.005-04:00

Last week, I wrote about an interview with author James Patterson (Inside the Mind of a Writer). Reader Jaxpop commented that he'd read about that interview on other blogs which I completely expected. However, what I didn't expect was his comment that on those other blogs authors expressed disapproval and dismay over Patterson's work style. Simply put, he collaborates with others; he does not churn out his sought after pages on his own.

Apparently, some of those other authors were upset because Patterson's method didn't fit their vision of how a "real" author is supposed to work. I'll be right up front and say I agree with the rest of Jaxpop's comments, those basically being "and the problem is where?" As I thought about that, I was struck by how the idea of what an author's life is supposed to be has changed...or has it?

Based on the idea that some writers are upset with Patterson's model and some are not, there are clearly at least two visions of the "author life" alive and well in 2009. First, those who are upset still obviously hold to the romance of it all. They dream of writers gazing at nature as they wrote, or those that poured out the angst of life alone with their thoughts for hours on end. While the rest of the world labored on farms and in factories with barely more than an elementary level education, authors were held in high esteem because their higher learning and ability to mold language into works most people believed they could never achieve. To write a book was a unique accomplishment and uncrowded bookshelves were proof. Some authors made a living, others didn't but they wrote anyway for the love of the art.

Now fast forward 100+ years and author's life version 2. Most people graduate from high school and a large percentage of those go on to college and beyond. A huge part of the population now has the educational skills to write a book if they so choose. If they don't write a book, they can still write columns, essays, short stories, papers and reports. If they do go the book route and get one out, it will join the 200,000 or more that are now published each year. If they want to make a living, they need to be business people, marketers and writers, often all in the same day. They need to understand much more than how to weave words even if they're lucky enough to have an agent or publisher. Writing a book is still a respected accomplishment, but it's no where near as unique a feat as it once was. To actually make a stable living as an author now is to write, at least partially, for your publisher, for your market, for the money.

So where does put us as authors? Is one vision better, right, wrong? I truly hope not. This is just another example of how as authors we need to stick together and support each other's choices (as long as they aren't harming anyone). Want to be romantic and have deep literary discussions over tea? Go ahead. Want to crunch numbers, budget your time and sublet your muse? That's fine too. It has to be, otherwise no one has a dream.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

5 Keys to Effective Communication - A Must Read

2009-06-04T16:56:00.003-04:00

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you know I enjoy sharing resources with you. Yesterday's post happened to fit in that category as well.

I've labeled today's link/resource a "must read" because it is such a succinct formula for how to reach an audience, teach them something and hopefully make it sink in: information, motivation, application, inspiration, reiteration. It comes to you courtesy of Michael Hyatt sharing the wisdom of Andy Stanley on his blog.

If you speak/give presentations as part of your marketing, you'll definitely find it useful. If you don't currently do that, it's also a great tool to help you get started without being overwhelming.

Even if you don't plan to give speeches any time soon, it's still a must read because it also applies to writing a book. No matter what kind of book you write, if you utilize this model (potentially for every chapter or section) you'll have greater clarity within the book as a whole, and/or within individual chapters. Even if you write fiction, you need to communicate effectively, especially again when it comes to promotion. In addition, if you plan to query agents or publishers you can use these points to help formulate your letters or proposal because each of those are about getting the facts across clearly succinctly too.

Can you see how you can apply these tips to your speeches or your books? Have you used them or some variation with success? If so, I hope you'll share.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Inside the Mind of a Writer

2009-06-03T16:41:00.004-04:00

I'm sure you, like me, often wonder how other writers work. Especially the ones that are so prolific if you are not so. I recently came across this cool interview where James Patterson gives us a peak into his writing life.

One surprising revelation to me is that he doesn't write alone. The reasons he outlines make sense, I just never gave it a thought that that kind of author would collaborate. Take a look and see what you can apply to your own publishing aspirations.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Is Your Title Unique? Are You Sure?

2009-05-27T11:14:00.003-04:00

Sometimes as authors we come up with titles for our work early on. Occasionally, the title drives the idea for the whole piece.

Before the days of the Internet, once you had an original title in mind, it was probably usable. Now, who knows. Millions of pieces of content and information are floating around out there and new stuff is published every day including websites and books. What this means for authors is that we must be extra diligent to make sure the title we've chosen is actually available in some way for both the book and the web as a domain. I think most people realize this, but I figured I'd mention it just to be sure.

But besides that there's another step with regard to the web that may be even more important and that is looking at sites with similar names. Why would you want to go through the extra time and effort once you've discovered you can buy the domain you desire? Because you may change your mind about that title after all.

For example, let's say the title you want to use is Blue House Rose ( I have no clue if this exists or not, didn't look). Maybe the exact .com domain is available, that's good. Now comes the extra step, how else might someone logically search for this title? Maybe they reverse it like Rose House Blues, or they forget part of it and search Blue House or Blue Rose book. What comes up then?

Sometime what happens is that the site they reach that way is not only unrelated, it's undesirable or inappropriate to most people-that's not good. To further illustrate how easily this can happen, Here are a couple more examples from publicity expert BL Ochman's blog where this happened to a couple of major companies. If this was you considering a book title, hopefully you clearly see where a little extra research could not only save time, money, but maybe more importantly embarrassment and possibly your reputation.

Your book will hopefully go on to sell for years and maybe even long after you've stopped writing. Make sure the title is memorable for all the right reasons.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

The Rise of the POD People

2009-05-22T16:08:00.004-04:00

Just in case you haven't heard yet, the number of titles produced POD (print on demand) surpassed those printed via offset (also called traditional) in 2008. That really is a pretty big deal.

To clarify a bit, we are talking about print options, not publishing options. As a refresher (or more clarification if you're new to this whole thing) you must keep in mind that print on demand is a type of printing not a type of publisher, even though the term is often applied that way.

POD is used by all kinds of publishers, from those the size of Penguin to the smallest micro-publishers. It simply means that books are printed one at a time or a handful at a time when ordered, using digital technology, like a big copier. The other method, (traditional) is offset printing which usually starts around a 1000 copies and goes up and utilizes ink and plate technology.

So what does this all mean for the average author? Here are just a few points:

1. More small and micro presses use POD technology, so that increase in titles likely came from those sources.
2. The above is good because it opens the door to more authors getting their work out there, the above is not so good because it also means more competition on the shelves whether physical or virtual.

3. In my opinion, the broad assumption that if it's POD it can't be good has never been correct or fair and if this trend continues, "the industry" has to take notice.

4. What will happen next year in publishing? Who knows, but the best way to prepare is to make sure you educate yourself so that you can choose the best path for you, whether it's POD or not.

If you'd like to find out more about the stats, you can find an article on Bookseller.com

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Children's Literacy, Children's Author Resources

2009-05-19T12:01:00.002-04:00

Just had to share this resource I found today via a twitter. If you have an interest in children's literacy, this single post will keep you occupied for quite a while if you pop over to all of the links it shares. The other cool thing is that it doesn't stop there, there's all kinds of useful stuff to help you learn, write and promote any related books or projects.

Grab a cup of coffee or lemonade and enjoy Jen Robinson's Book Page.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

When Do You Want to Get Paid?

2009-05-18T16:16:00.002-04:00

One of the factors that you should consider when choosing a publishing option is when do you want to get paid? This is because not all options pay the same way or in a similar time frame.

For example, traditional/commercial publishing generally pays on a quarterly or semi-annual schedule. Sell a bunch of books in January? You won't see the money for several months. Some fee-based/pay to publish options work this way as well. If you independently publish but you use a distributor, you may hit a similar schedule.

You have to figure this into your publishing plan because if you need to make money relatively quickly, the two options above may not suit your needs. The quickest way to be paid is to sell books yourself directly to your buyers. This might mean you need to independently self-publish, or it may mean you'll buy books from your publisher at a discount in order to sell them at an event where you appear in person for example.

As you are researching your best option, "pay day" is definitely not something you want to leave up to chance or whatever happens happens, unless monetary reward is of little importance to you.

In order to make this decision, here are two questions to ask:
1. What is the pay schedule with this option?
2. When do I need to be paid/make money?

If the two answers don't match well, you'll likely want to move on to another option or reconsider your goals.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Beans, Blooms and Books

2009-05-13T15:16:00.005-04:00

If your book can be tied in to gardening, green/organic/veggie cooking or similar topics, this time of year should give you a bumper crop of promotional ideas. Besides the fact that "green" is THE thing right now, green has always been in for at least one group-farmers/organic markets and the people who shop at them. The other day it struck me, who says you only have to buy beans and beets at green markets? Why not a book?

This topic actually came up a few days ago while I was listening to the radio. A local station (MAGIC 105.1 Detroit) was doing live broadcasts from area hospitals in honor of nurses week. It was mentioned that at the hospital they were visiting that day, Troy Beaumont, it was farmers market day. They explained that every so often the hospital coordinates a farmers market in their parking lot. It makes total sense really; shopping is convenient for employees and visitors and who better to promote healthy fresh food than a hospital?

It didn't take long before my thought turned to books. If you had any kind of healthy eating book, gardening book or a character related to any such topic, there are a ton of ways to put some green in your pocket via a green market:

1. The most obvious, approach the coordinators and ask about either having a booth or passing out flyers. Not sure if a booth fits your budget? Put the word out to other authors and offer to share. With tools like Twitter and Facebook, you can't use the excuse that you don't know/can't at least try to contact anyone else.

2.Got a cook book or is your character a gourmet chef? How about a live demonstration using foods from your neighboring booths?

3.How about asking people to challenge you? Shoppers could buy some ingredients, you pull out recipes from your book that feature them and hand them out on sample cards. Don't have a recipe using spinach and leeks? See what you can come up with on the spot. Best bet, prepare ahead of time, see what's in season and what people will likely buy.

4, Flowers and gardening a better fit for you? Offer a tip sheet for landscape design using flowers available at the market or tips on how to keep planted blooms healthy all season long.

If you don't have a green market in your area, consider greenhouses/nurseries or garden centers. As you can see, the possibilities are about as varied as the fruits and flowers you'll find on any given day in just about any area you can pick.

Got any other promo ideas that fit this theme? Hope you'll share!

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

You Know, THAT Book, the One I Saw on TV

2009-05-08T12:06:00.002-04:00

Have you ever walked into a bookstore or library and had or heard a conversation like, "I'm trying to find a book. I think the author's name begins with W and I'm pretty sure I heard about it on Good Morning America a couple of weeks ago." Unfortunately for our favorite librarians and book store personnel, this happens more often than you might think.

For a little fun to end the week, pop over to Shelf-Talker and see if you can decipher the actual titles being asked for in the various vague and meandering descriptions given by actual patrons/customers. Don't forget to read the comments, plenty of doozies in there too.

Enjoy your weekend!

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl

What Is it Like to Have a Bestseller?

2009-05-06T21:16:00.005-04:00

How many of us haven't pondered this question? What's it like to have a bestseller? Other questions that follow would likely be: How much would I make? How many books do I have to sell?

As with most of the publishing industry, there's a lot of misinformation out there about bestsellers. While I'm not going to attempt to cover all the definitions in one post, I will say that just about every bestseller award is calculated differently. For example, for the NY Times list, bookstore sales are the main qualifier. Even if you sold a huge number of books from your own website (but not in stores) you would not make the list (you'd probably be approached by a publisher, but that's a whole other discussion).

Also, a lot of people, non-authors especially, think that once you hit that list, the money just starts rolling in. Well, depending on how many books you sell to get there, and what your advance was (if any), that's not necessarily the case.

It's not often that publishers or authors give up information about the reality of how bestsellers really work, but recently author Lynn Viehl did just that on the Genreality Blog

Beyond the eye-opening math there are a couple of other points I think are of note:

1. She does next to no promotion on her own because she's an established author and she started when promotion and publicity were handled differently (publishers did a lot more for more of their authors). This will not be the case for most new authors today.

2. Even though she's an experienced, successful author with a following of fans, she still may not earn out her advance.

3. Doing a comparison of the math with smaller sales numbers, but higher profit margins (as you'd have in independent self-publishing) is an interesting, potentially enlightening exercise.

Can you be a NY Times bestseller? Maybe. Now the question is, do you want to be? No matter what the answer is, start mapping your path accordingly. It's a lot easier to arrive at your destination, if you're really clear on where it is you'd like to be.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Book Marketing and Mother's Day

2009-04-30T19:58:00.003-04:00

You may have heard that tying your book to a holiday can be a useful promotion strategy. Of course, that's easy if your book is obviously relates to the holiday you have in mind like 101 Christmas Stories, but what if the relationship isn't that clear? The short answer-get creative. For starters, look at your target audience and figure out what kind of reasons they might have to buy your book beyond the desire to read it themselves.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson, a fellow author and friend, is currently using this kind of strategy around Mother's Day for a book called She Wore Emerald Then: Reflections on Motherhood. The extra creative angle is that she and co-author Magdelena Ball are promoting the book as a substitute for Mother's Day cards. The book has thoughtful, reflective poems about moms, but they aren't super-sugary like those you find in most cards at the store. They are also offering it in paperback, as well as digital format so that people can even email a copy to Mom if that's everyone's preference.

Have you ever thought to use a book as a substitute for giving a card? I know I hadn't until I read Carolyn's press release about it, but I think it's a great idea for the right kind of book. Even if this idea won't work for your topic, hopefully you can see how the sky really is the limit when it comes to connecting your readers to your work.

BTW, if you want to get Carolyn's book for your Mom, there's still time to order if you get right on it. Visit Amazon or contact Carolyn about the digital version at hojonews@aol.com.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Don't Expect Your Local Bookstore to Do Anything For You as an Author

2009-04-28T19:11:00.006-04:00

You read that right-don't expect your local bookstore to do anything for you as an author.
Surprised I would say something like that? At first glance, maybe, but think about the key word for a moment-expect.

While you can take the term expect in a couple different ways, what I mean is even though local bookstores can be easier to work with than say a B & N or Borders, you should never "expect" the owner/manager to help you.

You can ask, suggest, hope for (and potentially beg) them to help you, but never approach the situation assuming because you are both local, they owe you special treatment in some way. In truth, you need them to sell books and they need you to a point to help promote their store. Your relationship needs to be mutually beneficial as much as possible, and it's up to you as the one proposing you work together to make sure that happens.

Whether you're preparing to contact your local store for the first time, you have a long-time relationship to nurture, or you think you need to do some repair work, there's a great example of how to do the right thing at the Shelftalker Blog this week (which also inspired this post).

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Does it Fit in the Front?

2009-04-22T19:24:00.003-04:00

Last time, I talked about the fact that you need to determine where your book fits as far as the category or area of a shelf in a store. When I asked, "Where does your book fit"? a few of you might have thought "on that nice table right up front!" And I'm sure most of us would love to be right by the cash register or proudly displayed on the table by the door.

While it would be nice if everyone's book really could get a shot at that kind of placement, there's only so much of that kind of space available at any given store. So how do you make your book a good fit there? What many authors do not realize is that much of the time, you make it fit by paying to make it fit.

That's right, those spaces are for sale and it's a perfectly normal promotional strategy. One common term for this is "pay for placement". For example, a publisher might buy a space in a big seasonal display, or the end cap of a shelf or other high traffic area. Obviously, big traditional publishing houses have an advantage here as pay for placement is not cheap they usually have more funds to pull off both buying the space and the PR campaign to make the books sell (otherwise they can lose their shirts if they don't).

Is it going to be tough for a small or micro-publisher to get a book into one of these spaces? As far as the big chains go, yes. Does that mean if you aren't published with a big press you should give up entirely on getting good attention in a store? Not necessarily.

What it does mean though is that you need to be realistic. Don't expect your first novel that you independently published to be on that front table at B & N. However, you still have other options. Instead of being upset over what you may not be able to do, put your energy into what you can.
Check out smaller stores, and seriously consider non-bookstores where your book is a good match with the rest of the store's products (think book featuring train travel in a hobby shop). That valuable piece of shelf-real estate might just be hiding in plain sight after all.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Where Does Your Book Fit?

2009-04-20T20:03:00.003-04:00

At some point during your book writing process, you need to answer the question, "where will my book fit?" This means which section or shelf does it go in at a store, or what category will it fit in an online situation like Amazon or B&N.com?

If you intend to do any retail business at all, you must have a precise answer to this question. If you feel your topic/story is very unique, there's nothing like it, this is not a good thing. If a retailer doesn't know how to categorize it, they'll likely pass as they aren't going to create a new section for one book.

Now it is true that there are times when a book may combine genres/topics. If you're in that situation, you'll need to check and see if such combinations are currently found stores/on retailer websites. If not, if you plan to sell via established outlets etc, you'll need to pick the topic/genre you feel will help the book sell best.

If you mainly plan to sell on your own site, the issue is not as critical. However, you'll still need to make sure potential readers understand where the book fits within the topics/genre's they're already familiar with. Saying something like "you've never read anything like this" will only garner so much interest. If you can't quite pin down your category yet, keep writing, keep working at it until you can. This is one of those times where getting it "sorta close" probably won't be close enough.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

What Can Authors Learn From Susan Boyle?

2009-04-18T09:46:00.007-04:00

If you've read or watched the headlines of almost any media outlet this week, you've heard about Susan Boyle, the previously unknown singer with a golden voice who's competing on a TV talent show. If by chance you don't know the details, in a nutshell, this ordinary woman with an ordinary life, walks out on stage for the competition and literally makes people cry. Even Simon Cowell, known for making people cry in other ways with his critiques, was wowed by her voice.

So what does this have to do with authors? I think we can learn two solid lessons here:

1. The show that Susan appears on and many like it are filled with "good" talent. Many good performers move on through the competition and get some breaks later. However, in this time of media overload, what it takes to be noticed, really noticed is being stand-out, stupendous, or amazing. Your takeaway here is simple- is your book, your writing, good or amazing? Based on that answer, what are you expecting when you send it out to agents or offer it for sale?

2. Even though the hoopla has gone on for several days now, this just hit me this morning: what about all of those with "good" talent? Prior to Susan's appearance, I'm sure many were thinking they did a great job when they had their turn. Some may have believed they could place or win the competition. With one performance, the whole game changed without warning. Thoughts of "Oh, I've got this" probably changed to something more like, "Oh, #@!**".

I'm sure this happens pretty regularly in traditional publishing too. An agent or editor has many good, and maybe even a few great titles to consider. Yours may be near the top of the list and a contract almost ready to be offered, but then "Amazing" blows in like a hurricane and everyone's attention shifts and stays there for quite some time.

Should your work still be published, will it be published? Potentially, but which title do you think will get the first or most resources? Obviously, "Amazing" and there's really nothing you can do about that. Your job at that point is to be professional, graciously wish the best for "Amazing" and start looking for your next opportunity to shine. That's the unmistakeable sign of a winner.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Should You Self-Publish? The Conversation Continues

2009-04-16T20:01:00.006-04:00

Thanks again to those who've commented on my post from earlier this week-What is Self-Publishing?" We've got a great conversation going here.

The discussion is a perfect example of why I wrote my book Publishing Possibilities. I believe and build my business around the point that every author and every project is different. This means the way to determine the "right or best" publishing option has to be an individual decision. The only totally wrong choice is something that is a pure scam, that will do harm to someone's business etc.

For example, there are people who will insist until they are blue in the face that authors should never choose fee-based/pay to publish , yet Jaxpop is happy. Might he be happier with another option? Maybe, maybe not, but the point is right now his choice suits his purpose. I don't think anyone should tell him that's wrong.

There are others who say traditional is the only "real way" yet Michael is happy with his decision to go independent self-published. Is he any more right or wrong than Jaxpop or someone who goes traditional? Again, there is right and wrong for him, for his project. If it wouldn't work for someone else, that doesn't need to be in the equation, or if it is, it's a smaller part than his own goals, needs etc.

Now, I'm not saying don't seek the advice of people who have more experience or more knowledge than you do. That's an important part of the process if you are just learning. However, decision by consensus (again except in the area of scams, really poor businesses) is not what you should aim for. Something like 5 out of 7 people liked such and such option, so I'm going with that one, does not do justice to your unique circumstances.

Seek solid advice, and definitely put it in as one part of your decision process, but always remember there's a lot more to the equation.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

What is Self-Publishing?

2009-04-14T20:05:00.003-04:00

This is definitely one of the most common questions I see, especially from writers who are just getting into the publishing part. Sometimes the question comes directly to me, other times I see it on a forum, or it comes up in conversation.

The thing is, a lot of people don't know this term is one of the most confusing in publishing today. There are two different definitions, there's no standard agreement on which definition to use even from expert to expert is some cases and the inexperienced author is often left bewildered. One of the reasons I wrote my book is to help clarify this term as I believe it is also the source for a lot of bad experiences and disappointment.

If you are considering this route, or maybe just investigating your options, here is a short answer to get you started:

1. The original meaning refers to an author who sets up his own publishing company in order to publish his own books. This means he sets up a legal entity and hires out, or does all of the necessary tasks himself that a traditional publisher would normally do. Sometimes this is now called "independent self-publishing" but some people also just say "self-publishing".

2. The most common meaning today refers to being published by a fee-based/POD/pay-to-publish company. Examples of this are iUniverse, Booklocker, and Outskirts Press among dozens of others. If you plug the term into a search engine, you'll likely find such services in the majority of the top answers.

Many people argue that using these companies is not "self" publishing because the author is not the publisher of record in most of these cases etc. Others say it is because the author is not waiting for the approval of someone else to be published, has more control over the product, so the term "self" is appropriate. I'm sure that debate will continue for a long time to come.

What is self-publishing? It seems like such a small question, but I hope you can see how important the answer truly is to you as an author. If you plan to "self-publish, which one of these routes are you going to follow/are you on now? Are you sure?

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

More Help If You're Hoping to be Traditionally Published

2009-04-08T13:15:00.004-04:00

The other day, I wrote about a contest where you the author get to act as agent for a short time. I think many lessons will be learned through that one, both about the process and the real people involved on both sides.

Today's resource keeps the focus at the beginning of the publishing process and helps you with book proposals. You'll not only learn what they are, how they should be done and get examples to work with, you also have the chance to get your critiqued for free. Though I'm not sure how long that last part will last as I'm guessing the person offering this will get quite swamped, but who knows. I'd suggest if you're interested and have something ready to go that you should not procrastinate.

Find all the details at Alan Rinzler's blog

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Wanna be an Agent?

2009-04-06T19:20:00.005-04:00

When it comes to agents, you've all seen comments like:
Agents take FOREVER to respond, all they have to do is read a few pages and make a decision, how hard can it be? Why did they turn my work down? It's AWESOME (and my neighbor thinks so too), that agent wouldn't know a sure thing if it bit him. I could certainly make better choices than those books, and the list goes on.

Merited? On occasion, but probably not as often as we as writers would like to believe.

Well, if you've ever said anything like this or thought it, here's your chance. You can be an agent. Seriously, you can see what it's like through what I think is an absolutely awesome idea for a contest.

Agent Nathan Bransford is holding a contest where anyone who'd like to can be a part of the query and acceptance process. You'll read actual query letters and pick those books you think are worth representing. When all is said and done, he'll let everyone know whose picks matched the real choices of titles that actually were published and crown you Superstar Agent.

Sound like fun? Sound like hard work, a little intimidating? I'm pretty sure that's the point. It's not as easy as it looks I'm sure. If you're game you can find the details here.

If you do or don't think it's a good idea, if you participate, would love to hear your thoughts or how it goes.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett