Book Proposal Help from Publishing Company CEO

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-books 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

What Does a Traditional Publisher Do for New Authors?

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

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

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

You'll Have to Market Your Book

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

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

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

Another Glimpse Into a Day in the Life of an Agent

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

Dissecting the Book Sales Process

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

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

Dislike Change? Don't Get into Publishing

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

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

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

The Rise of the POD People

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

When Do You Want to Get Paid?

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

What Is it Like to Have a Bestseller?

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

What Can Authors Learn From Susan Boyle?

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

More Help If You're Hoping to be Traditionally Published

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?

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

Three Reasons for Choosing Traditional Publishing

If you look at the state of publishing today, sometimes it's hard to see why anyone would want to go the traditional/commercial route. After all, it takes forever to get a manuscript accepted if at all, returns are higher than ever and big names have prime shelf space at stores.

Even though all that is true, there are still reasons to choose this option and many people who support it. Here are just three:

1. Budget: If you have little money to put toward the process, traditional will likely be your choice as the publisher takes on the financial risks. You might have to pay for some early editing, but other than that your book will be produced without your investment.

2. Handling Business: If you do not have either the skills or desire to handle all of the business aspects of the process, your choices include finding a partner who will or trying to get an agent and commercial publishing deal.

3. Marketing: While the author is more and more responsible for promoting his/her book, if you have no idea how to go about it, a good traditional publisher will at least do a few tasks, have some media contacts and guide you through the process.

Is traditional right for you? These three points are just a small part of what you need to consider. If you'd like to go through a more detailed process to figure out the best option for your book project, consider picking up a copy of Publishing Possibilities or scheduling a coaching session at www.publishinganswers.com


Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Agents and Queries and Proposals, Oh My!

Sometimes new authors are under the impression that traditional publishing is the easiest of the options. They believe in order to get published, you send a simple email to an agent or publisher that asks them to consider your book and that's that. After all, business is so much more informal nowadays right?

While that may be true in many industries, in publishing not so much. Agents and editors may be open to email vs snail mail, but there are still plenty of formal rules/procedures that really need to be adhered to in order for your book to have any shot at acceptance.

Some of those rules include sending a proper query letter and if you get past that stage, a book proposal of some sort. You need to work at least as hard, if not harder at these items because you only have a short space of a page or two to make your case especially in the early stages.

The good news is that because of social media, it's easier than ever to learn what you need to know. A great way is to follow agent blogs. For example Pub Rants by Agent Kristen offers tons of the "how-tos" authors need. Her blogroll also lists other agents' and published authors' blogs and I'm sure there's a wealth of information to be discovered on those as well.

And just in case you need a little extra inspiration, you can always pop over to Chip Macgregor's Blog where he occasionally posts some of the best of the worst of the stuff he sees on a regular basis. The March 8th entry has some at the end of the post. If nothing else, smile and be glad in the fact that you know better.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

What Makes a Good Book in the Eyes of a Publisher?

That is one of the magic questions isn't it? So many authors ask some version of it every day.

In all reality, there's not a lot of magic. If you want a publisher to sign you and your book you have to have a book they think will sell. What kind of book is that?

Quill Driver Books founder/acquisition editor Steve Mettee provides an answer in this month's Book Business Magazine:“People ask me what works,” he says. “The No. 1 thing you have to have is good books. If you are competing with the big guys out in New York, they’ve got good books—well-thought-out, good content, well-edited, well-written, easy to read. If you don’t have that, it’s just not going to sell.”

So simple, yet so elusive. While no one can guarantee something will sell or be selected for publishing, following this list is certainly a huge step in the right direction. Does polishing take time, effort, maybe a fair amount of money (to pay an editor for example)? Probably, but if you want to compete, it must be 100% and sometimes more. The competition is just too great to do anything less.

The rest of the interview with Mettee is informative as well, I encourage you to check it out here.


Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett

Author Success Story- From POD to Tradtional

The story of Lisa Genova's book has been floating around the web for a few days, but I hadn't seen this version of the story until now. I like it and chose to share it because it's a clear example of:

1. How fiction authors can publish outside of the traditional channels to get things moving (in fact she even used a fee-based publisher instead of going independent)

2. How to tie in a non-fiction theme in your fiction book to get recognition, publicity and support

3. How not to give up

Now, I know there will be a few who read this story who'll say, "but she's one in a million". Maybe. But does that mean what she did can't be accomplished by anyone else? That she took the only such slot that will ever be available? Or does it rule out the possibility that someone else can't follow her example adding their own spin and also be successful? I don't think so and I hope you don't either. One thing I can guarantee though, as the saying goes- You definitely won't hit the target if you never take a shot.

Good Writing & God Bless,
Cheryl Pickett