by Jaden Terrell
There's been quite the uproar of late about authors using "sock puppet" accounts to review their own books and, in some cases, to trash the books of their competitors. Other bestselling authors paid for positive reviews to raise their visibility on online bookstores, particularly Amazon. Both practices seem to me like clear violations of a reader's trust, though some might say it's a tough world out there, and that whatever an author can do to call attention to his or her work is A-okay. "It's just the way things are," they say, and "Everybody does it," and "All's fair in love an publishing."
Some have suggested that the recent scandals call the entire review process into question. I don't know. While it certainly makes me think a little homework might be necessary before I take a review at face value, I like to think the number (or at least the percentage) of people who post dishonest reviews is fairly small, and I would hope the number who would post negative reviews of competing titles is smaller still.
The discussion spread all over the internet, bringing out a number of responses criticizing authors for other behaviors like trading blurbs or reviews, and reviewing books by friends or books published by their own agents or publishers. For me, those lines are a lot grayer. After all, while I consider Tim Hallinan a friend, I was a fan of his books months before I met him. Does our current friendship negate the fact that I adore his books--and would adore them even if I'd never laid eyes on or exchanged an email with the man? How about Chester's books? I have always enjoyed them, so much so that I always buy three copies, one for myself, one for my mom, and one for my mother-in-law. Should I refuse to review a book I enjoy just because I happen to know the author?
What about author collectives, in which members of the collective like each others' books and collaborate to promote each others' work?
What are your thoughts on sock puppets? Buying reviews? How about reviewing books by people you know?
Showing posts with label publishing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label publishing. Show all posts
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Is this Ethical?
By Jaden Terrell
Last Friday, I was reading a post from the ever spectacular Nathan Bransford, as I do as often as I can. It was his "week in publishing" post, where he sums up all the big stories of the week, with links, so those of us who are busy with those pesky things like day jobs can keep up with what's going on in the world of publishing.
One of his links was to this post, by Penelope Trunk. In this post, she talks about how she sold her book to a mainstream publisher, whose book marketing efforts were so unsatisfactory to her that she kept the part of the advance she had been paid and withdrew her book. Later, in this follow-up story, she said, "I’m lucky I did. That was really fun for me,” she said. “But that’s not germane to [the rest of her argument] . . . When’s the last time you heard about a publisher going after someone in court?”
There was quite a lot of discussion in the comments about how badly Big Six marketing departments suck and how stupid they all are, but I've only seen a little commentary about the ethics of Trunk's actions. I can understand keeping the advance if you've kept your end of the bargain and they drop the title. But when the author withdraws her book of her own free will, isn't she obligated--morally, if not legally--to give back the money they paid her for it?
Is it really okay to take money for a product, decide not to deliver the product, and then keep the money just because the odds are they won't come after you in court?
Isn't that a lot like dumping the groom at the altar and keeping the ring?
The articles do mention that the publisher said if she didn't stop berating their marketing team, they would not publish the book, but that doesn't seem the same to me as dropping her. They told her she needed to be less confrontational with the marketing team, or else,and she chose "or else." (Their phrasing makes me wonder if she would have gotten more cooperation from them had she started by thanking them for their work on her behalf and then made her suggestions in a spirit of cooperation rather than attacking them. Who can say? Maybe they're just jerks, or maybe they just don't like to be condescended to.)
Here are Penelope's own words:
Is this legal? I have no idea. I would have thought not, but maybe some of you attorneys out there (Ben?) can help me out on this.
But legality aside, what do you think? In what's fast becoming a bitter battle between self-publishing authors and traditional publishers, is this acceptable behavior?
Wouldn't it have been more ethical to honor the contract and do more promotion on her own (as she will end up doing anyway), or to cite irreconcilable differences and give back the advance?
Are we're going to see more of this in the near future?
In her place, what would you have done?
Last Friday, I was reading a post from the ever spectacular Nathan Bransford, as I do as often as I can. It was his "week in publishing" post, where he sums up all the big stories of the week, with links, so those of us who are busy with those pesky things like day jobs can keep up with what's going on in the world of publishing.
One of his links was to this post, by Penelope Trunk. In this post, she talks about how she sold her book to a mainstream publisher, whose book marketing efforts were so unsatisfactory to her that she kept the part of the advance she had been paid and withdrew her book. Later, in this follow-up story, she said, "I’m lucky I did. That was really fun for me,” she said. “But that’s not germane to [the rest of her argument] . . . When’s the last time you heard about a publisher going after someone in court?”
There was quite a lot of discussion in the comments about how badly Big Six marketing departments suck and how stupid they all are, but I've only seen a little commentary about the ethics of Trunk's actions. I can understand keeping the advance if you've kept your end of the bargain and they drop the title. But when the author withdraws her book of her own free will, isn't she obligated--morally, if not legally--to give back the money they paid her for it?
Is it really okay to take money for a product, decide not to deliver the product, and then keep the money just because the odds are they won't come after you in court?
Isn't that a lot like dumping the groom at the altar and keeping the ring?
The articles do mention that the publisher said if she didn't stop berating their marketing team, they would not publish the book, but that doesn't seem the same to me as dropping her. They told her she needed to be less confrontational with the marketing team, or else,and she chose "or else." (Their phrasing makes me wonder if she would have gotten more cooperation from them had she started by thanking them for their work on her behalf and then made her suggestions in a spirit of cooperation rather than attacking them. Who can say? Maybe they're just jerks, or maybe they just don't like to be condescended to.)
Here are Penelope's own words:
In the middle of the meeting, the high-up guy who had come in to make peace got so fed up he said, “If you don’t stop berating our publicity department we are not going to publish your book.”
I said, “Great. Because I think you are incompetent. And also, you have already paid me. It’s a great deal for me.”
Is this legal? I have no idea. I would have thought not, but maybe some of you attorneys out there (Ben?) can help me out on this.
But legality aside, what do you think? In what's fast becoming a bitter battle between self-publishing authors and traditional publishers, is this acceptable behavior?
Wouldn't it have been more ethical to honor the contract and do more promotion on her own (as she will end up doing anyway), or to cite irreconcilable differences and give back the advance?
Are we're going to see more of this in the near future?
In her place, what would you have done?
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Cozies and Thrillers and PIs, Oh My!
By Jaden Terrell
Tonight, two fellow Sisters in Crime and I spoke to the Nashville WNBA (Women's National Book Association) chapter. The topic was women who write crime fiction. My two cohorts were Bente Gallagher, who writes cozy mysteries, and JT Ellison, who writes psychological suspense. I was there to represent the private detective mystery/thriller contingent. After a brief, panicked, period of tugging at the locked doors of the wrong building and (who knew the library had moved since I'd last been there?!), Bente talked me in to the parking lot of the new Green Hills Library building, where I was met by a fellow Sister in Crime, who shepherded me to the meeting room where we met with a group of intelligent, engaged women with a shared passion for the written word.
It was a comfortable, conversational panels with a lot of give and take, a few nuggets of knowledge, and a few witty comments. Bente and JT are both talented writers and consummate professionals who write full time and know all the ins and outs of the publishing business; I brought to the table some knowledge of squeezing in writing around an often-demanding full-time job. Here are a few things that came up during the discussion.
Mysteries are primarily who-dunnits, while thrillers are how-dunnits. The mystery looks into the past; a murder has been committed, and the sleuth's challenge is to find out who did it. The thriller looks into the future. We may know from the beginning who the villain is and what his or her motivations are; the protagonist's challenge is to stop the villain before [insert terrible consequence here] occurs. (Suspense, Bente said, was in the present; something dangerous and mysterious is happening in the life of the protagonist, who is trying to figure out what is happening.) By these standards, Bente writes mysteries and JT writes thrillers. As for my books, Racing the Devil is more of a mystery--Jared is framed for murder and has to find out who committed the crime of which he's accused, but A Cup Full of Midnight has strong elements of both. It begins with a crime, which Jared strives to solve throughout the book, but the primary thrust of the story involves stopping a killer--known to the reader--who has targeted someone dear to Jared.
We each talked about the tropes and challenges of our chosen genres and how we each stretch those boundaries to make our books unique. Cozies have no graphic sex, no foul language, and no graphic violence, but Bente slips in clues about the intimate relationship her multidimensional protagonist, Avery, shares with her boyfriend, Derek. JT has a strong, capable heroine whose strength comes from her own character rather than as a response to a traumatic event in her past. This is a breath of fresh air in a genre where the "damaged heroine" is ubiquitous. My strong, lone-ranger PI has much in common with those who came before him, but his emotional life is more multifaceted than is common in the genre. He has a son with Down syndrome. He's still in love with his ex-wife, with whom he has a tender, respectful relationship. His best friend and housemate is a gay man with AIDS. He's the kind of man we send off to war, or off to keep our streets safe, or off to save innocents in jeopardy, often at a terrible cost,and who we then expect to come home unscathed and be good fathers and husbands and friends. And like most of those men, he does.
Bente and I talked about the challenges of finding believable ways for our protagonists to keep getting embroiled in murders, while JT, whose homicide detective protagonist has legitimate reasons for investigating murders, said one of her biggest challenges was overcoming the readers suspension of disbelief: "How many serial killers can there BE in Nashville?"
The last topic of the evening, broached in response to a question from the audience, was digital publishing and its implications for the current industry. We discussed the current upheavals, with successful. traditionally published authors going to a self-publishing model and successful self-published authors signing contracts with traditional publishers.
"What will publishing look like in five years?" someone asked. "In ten?"
No one could answer; the possibilities are limitless. As the Magic 8-ball says, "Answer hazy. Try again later."
Tonight, two fellow Sisters in Crime and I spoke to the Nashville WNBA (Women's National Book Association) chapter. The topic was women who write crime fiction. My two cohorts were Bente Gallagher, who writes cozy mysteries, and JT Ellison, who writes psychological suspense. I was there to represent the private detective mystery/thriller contingent. After a brief, panicked, period of tugging at the locked doors of the wrong building and (who knew the library had moved since I'd last been there?!), Bente talked me in to the parking lot of the new Green Hills Library building, where I was met by a fellow Sister in Crime, who shepherded me to the meeting room where we met with a group of intelligent, engaged women with a shared passion for the written word.
It was a comfortable, conversational panels with a lot of give and take, a few nuggets of knowledge, and a few witty comments. Bente and JT are both talented writers and consummate professionals who write full time and know all the ins and outs of the publishing business; I brought to the table some knowledge of squeezing in writing around an often-demanding full-time job. Here are a few things that came up during the discussion.
Mysteries are primarily who-dunnits, while thrillers are how-dunnits. The mystery looks into the past; a murder has been committed, and the sleuth's challenge is to find out who did it. The thriller looks into the future. We may know from the beginning who the villain is and what his or her motivations are; the protagonist's challenge is to stop the villain before [insert terrible consequence here] occurs. (Suspense, Bente said, was in the present; something dangerous and mysterious is happening in the life of the protagonist, who is trying to figure out what is happening.) By these standards, Bente writes mysteries and JT writes thrillers. As for my books, Racing the Devil is more of a mystery--Jared is framed for murder and has to find out who committed the crime of which he's accused, but A Cup Full of Midnight has strong elements of both. It begins with a crime, which Jared strives to solve throughout the book, but the primary thrust of the story involves stopping a killer--known to the reader--who has targeted someone dear to Jared.
We each talked about the tropes and challenges of our chosen genres and how we each stretch those boundaries to make our books unique. Cozies have no graphic sex, no foul language, and no graphic violence, but Bente slips in clues about the intimate relationship her multidimensional protagonist, Avery, shares with her boyfriend, Derek. JT has a strong, capable heroine whose strength comes from her own character rather than as a response to a traumatic event in her past. This is a breath of fresh air in a genre where the "damaged heroine" is ubiquitous. My strong, lone-ranger PI has much in common with those who came before him, but his emotional life is more multifaceted than is common in the genre. He has a son with Down syndrome. He's still in love with his ex-wife, with whom he has a tender, respectful relationship. His best friend and housemate is a gay man with AIDS. He's the kind of man we send off to war, or off to keep our streets safe, or off to save innocents in jeopardy, often at a terrible cost,and who we then expect to come home unscathed and be good fathers and husbands and friends. And like most of those men, he does.
Bente and I talked about the challenges of finding believable ways for our protagonists to keep getting embroiled in murders, while JT, whose homicide detective protagonist has legitimate reasons for investigating murders, said one of her biggest challenges was overcoming the readers suspension of disbelief: "How many serial killers can there BE in Nashville?"
The last topic of the evening, broached in response to a question from the audience, was digital publishing and its implications for the current industry. We discussed the current upheavals, with successful. traditionally published authors going to a self-publishing model and successful self-published authors signing contracts with traditional publishers.
"What will publishing look like in five years?" someone asked. "In ten?"
No one could answer; the possibilities are limitless. As the Magic 8-ball says, "Answer hazy. Try again later."
Thursday, March 24, 2011
The E-Revolution
By Jaden Terrell
For the past few years, writers, agents, and others in the publishing industry have been engaged in a dialogue about whether e-books were the future of publishing, whether the new e-book technology would make self-publishing the smart way for writers to go, and whether digital publishing and internet marketing heralded the end of traditional publishing. While it seems likely that traditional publishing is here to stay--at least for the foreseeable future and at least as a niche market, there are some signs that the ease of digital publishing has shaken the industry to its core. Joe Konrath, who, as J.A. Konrath, writes the Jack Daniels thrillers, became the first author to sign a publishing contract with Amazon and is making much more with his electronic books than he ever did with a traditional print publisher. Of course, Joe is a marketing genius and a fiend at promotion. There was no proof that his success could be duplicated.
Then along came Amanda Hocking and the Kindle Millionaires. People were making big money at this self-publishing stuff. Big, big money. Now, thriller writer Barry Eisler has turned down a $500,000 print deal in favor of self-publishing his new stand-alone. I got the link to this dialogue between Barry and Joe from two people on the same day: fellow Murderous Musings blogger Pat Browning and former literary agent Nathan Bransford. Barry says that, while traditional publishing has been kind to him, he can make much more money over time with digital self-publishing. From someone who was just offered half a million dollars, that's staggering. He has compelling numbers to back up his argument. Whether his numbers (or Joe's or Amanda's, for that matter) are any indication of what the rest of us might make is uncertain, but there's no doubt the opportunity is there.
Of course, there are still advantages to the traditional model as well. Currently, it's still the easiest way to get reviews and contracts for subsidiary rights, such as film and foreign. It will be interesting, though, to see how the landscape will change over the next five years. Some publishers are already reporting e-book sales that are higher than their print sales. If that doesn't bring about some major changes in the industry, I don't know what will.
I like Chuck Wendig's take on the subject (warning: Wendig's post contains some adult language) on his blog, Terrible Minds. Why choose one, he says? Why not choose both? Wendig says if you can write two books a year, why not write one commercial blockbuster for the traditional publishers and one niche-market book for the digital self-publishing market? I kind of like the way this guy thinks. While you're there, take a look at his post on the 99-cent pricing of e-books and jumpstarting a stalled novel. You won't be sorry you did. Only . . . did I mention the adult language?
So where do you think the e-revolution is taking it? Has it affected how you read and/or publish and/or market your books?
If a traditional publisher offered you a $500,000 deal, would you take it, or would you turn them down flat?
For the past few years, writers, agents, and others in the publishing industry have been engaged in a dialogue about whether e-books were the future of publishing, whether the new e-book technology would make self-publishing the smart way for writers to go, and whether digital publishing and internet marketing heralded the end of traditional publishing. While it seems likely that traditional publishing is here to stay--at least for the foreseeable future and at least as a niche market, there are some signs that the ease of digital publishing has shaken the industry to its core. Joe Konrath, who, as J.A. Konrath, writes the Jack Daniels thrillers, became the first author to sign a publishing contract with Amazon and is making much more with his electronic books than he ever did with a traditional print publisher. Of course, Joe is a marketing genius and a fiend at promotion. There was no proof that his success could be duplicated.
Then along came Amanda Hocking and the Kindle Millionaires. People were making big money at this self-publishing stuff. Big, big money. Now, thriller writer Barry Eisler has turned down a $500,000 print deal in favor of self-publishing his new stand-alone. I got the link to this dialogue between Barry and Joe from two people on the same day: fellow Murderous Musings blogger Pat Browning and former literary agent Nathan Bransford. Barry says that, while traditional publishing has been kind to him, he can make much more money over time with digital self-publishing. From someone who was just offered half a million dollars, that's staggering. He has compelling numbers to back up his argument. Whether his numbers (or Joe's or Amanda's, for that matter) are any indication of what the rest of us might make is uncertain, but there's no doubt the opportunity is there.
Of course, there are still advantages to the traditional model as well. Currently, it's still the easiest way to get reviews and contracts for subsidiary rights, such as film and foreign. It will be interesting, though, to see how the landscape will change over the next five years. Some publishers are already reporting e-book sales that are higher than their print sales. If that doesn't bring about some major changes in the industry, I don't know what will.
I like Chuck Wendig's take on the subject (warning: Wendig's post contains some adult language) on his blog, Terrible Minds. Why choose one, he says? Why not choose both? Wendig says if you can write two books a year, why not write one commercial blockbuster for the traditional publishers and one niche-market book for the digital self-publishing market? I kind of like the way this guy thinks. While you're there, take a look at his post on the 99-cent pricing of e-books and jumpstarting a stalled novel. You won't be sorry you did. Only . . . did I mention the adult language?
So where do you think the e-revolution is taking it? Has it affected how you read and/or publish and/or market your books?
If a traditional publisher offered you a $500,000 deal, would you take it, or would you turn them down flat?
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Why (Some) Authors Fail
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By Penny C. Sansevieri
Sorry for the buzz kill title of this article, but instead of spreading pixie dust as many marketing articles do, I thought I'd take a hard look at the realities of self-defeating behavior and some of the things authors might buy into that will sabotage their careers. Over the years I've written a lot of articles on how to be successful, but to be successful you must first learn how to fail up, meaning that you learn from what you did wrong, take full responsibility for it and move on. Lessons in publishing are often costly, both in time and dollars. I don't presume to tell you that you should avoid making any mistakes, but many of them are avoidable. Here are a few for you to consider.
Not learning enough about the industry
The first piece of this is simple: get to know the market you are in. This is a bit of a dual message because I'm not just speaking of the market you are promoting to: your area of expertise, but also to the publishing industry at large. Who else is publishing in this area? What are they publishing? Is your area of writing hot or a fading trend? These are all good things to know before you jump headlong into your area. Getting to know your market can help you not only avoid expensive errors but also possibly incorporate trends into your book that could help to leverage its success. How to learn about the industry? Read up on it at sites like Publishersmarketplace.com, subscribe to the free or paid newsletter the site offers. This will give you a good sense of what's selling, who's buying, what's being published. Publishers Weekly is another good resource. If you can't afford a subscription try their online site at publishersweekly.com, or check out your local library to see if they carry any copies. This is a great industry resource.
Not Accepting Feedback
A couple of weeks ago an author who has sat in on a number of my classes, both online and off, asked me numerous times how she could get onto Huffington Post as a blogger. I told her I would try to pursue a Huffpo blogger for her to get feedback on her work. I did this as a favor because, well, she was relentless in her pursuit of this and I had to admire that. So, I finally got a blogger to review her work and the critique came back not so good. In fact, it was terrible. I sat on it for a day, wondering if I should share it with her. I finally decided that if she was so relentless about her career, she would be equally relentless about crafting a perfect message, right? Not so much, actually. When I forwarded her the feedback she shot me off an email saying that many other people loved it and that astrologically this was a terrible time to accept feedback so she would dismiss it. Some moon phase or something. I honestly can't recall. No, I'm not making this up. OK, listen, full confession time here. I have a friend who calls me whenever Mercury is retrograde. "Don't buy anything electronic," she says, and I listen. Well, sometimes. Anyway, point being that I get that we're all driven by a different drummer, but if someone takes the time to critique your work why would you not try to learn from that? Look, I know not everyone is going to be spot-on with their feedback, but take from it what you can and move on -- better yourself, better your writing.
Feedback is a crucial part to any writer's career. If someone who is more knowledgeable than you about the industry you are in is willing to give you feedback you should listen. Really. In a room of one hundred authors I can pick out the successful ones. You know who they are? They are the ones who aren't so wrapped up in their egos that they aren't willing to listen and learn.
Not Surrounding Yourself with Enough Professionals
Let's face it, your mother and immediate family will love anything you write. These are not the people who will offer you the kind of guidance that will further your career. Yes, they will (and should) love and support you through this work, but you need professionals you trust by your side giving you advice, wisdom, and direction. You don't need to keep a group of experts on retainer, but you need to know who they are so you can call on them when you need help.
Not Doing Their Research
What would you think of a store owner who opened a yogurt shop in downtown San Diego only to find that five other stores were opening within months of his, one of them a very successful franchise with a huge following? Wouldn't this make you sort of wonder why on earth this store owner would do that, I mean open a store without doing the proper research? Then why on earth would you launch head first into publishing without knowing your market -- I mean the publishing market? So many authors learn the ropes after their book is out, and by then it's too late. Well, not too late really because you still have a book, but late in the sense that you can't really do anything about mistakes made and the money it's gonna cost you. There are a ton of online resources out there. Get to know them, I've listed a number of them in this article and there are more, many more. The Internet is abundant with free content. Use it.
Measuring Their Success in Book Sales
Many of you might be shaking your head wondering how I could possibly say this, but it's true. Book sales, even in the best of economic climates, are sketchy and planning your success or failure around them is a very bad way to market your book. Here's the reality: exposure = awareness = sales. The more exposure you get, the more awareness there is for the book, the more sales you may get. But this equation takes time and in the midst of this marketing many other really great non-book-sale-related things may happen. An example of this is an author who didn't really sell a lot of her books as she was marketing, but found that her speaking gigs started to pick up. Each speaking gig netted her about fifty book sales, and because of the market she was in, many of those book sales turned into individual consulting gigs that brought in much more revenue than a single book sale ever could have. Get the picture?
The other reason I say this is because book sales can be tough to calculate, many reporting agencies don't report sales for three to six months. I know this sounds crazy but it's part of the reason why publishing is such a tricky business. So, if you're doing a huge push in December and you look at your statement in January and find that you've only sold 3 books, it might be because you're looking at sales figures from September or October when you weren't doing any marketing at all.
Still not convinced? Then let me share my own story with you. As of today, Red Hot Internet Publicity has been out since July of 2009. I suspect to date it's sold 5,000 or fewer copies. Not impressive, is it? Does that number bother me? Not at all. Want to know why? Because out of the copies sold I have probably brought twenty to thirty new authors on board who will likely be authors for life. Also, I got a teaching gig at NYU because someone handed someone at NYU this book and all of a sudden -- there you have it. So if I measured my success by book sales, you bet I'd be depressed. Thank God I don't. Book sales aren't what drive my success. The same should be true for you. Start measuring your success in other ways and book sales will come. I promise.
Seth Godin, aka brilliant marketer, addressed this in a recent blog post too.
Not Understanding How New York Publishing Works
We may not like how the corporate publishing model works, we may find fault with it, but to understand it is to understand how the industry works. For example, knowing the publishing seasons and why Fall is the biggest time for New York publishers to launch a book and perhaps the worst time for you to send your book to market if you've self-published.
Also, know that that corporate publishers don't publish to niches, or rarely do, so if you're publishing to a niche, you may have a real leg up.
As for bookstores, the big six in New York pretty much own most of the shelf space in your local Barnes & Noble, so if you're vying to get in there, you are going to have to do more than show up with a book in hand and a winning smile. You're going to have to promote yourself to that local market and gain enough interest for your book that people start asking for it in bookstores.
Understanding the corporate publishing model means knowing and researching your industry and again, not just the industry you are writing for, but the market of publishing in general. Knowing what's selling, what's not -- who's buying, who's closing their doors. Knowledge is power. Arm yourself with it and you'll have a much more successful campaign.
Playing the Blame Game
If something goes wrong, own it. Unless it's really not your fault, unless you were taken for a ride somehow, swindled or whatever. Own it. Take responsibility. Here's an example. Recently an author came up to me after a class I taught and said she'd pitched 200 bloggers and only 5 of them wanted her book. What was wrong with them? Well, maybe it wasn't the bloggers at all. Bloggers are busy, busier than they've ever been so your pitch has to be strong and your book exactly right for the blogger you are pitching. If you're not getting a lot of pick up on your pitch you might need a new pitch and/or you might need a new set of bloggers. Don't assume it's someone else's fault. Investigate what happened and take a critical look at the results. If you don't feel you can be objective, hire someone to sift through the data. Assuming success eluded you because of someone else's lack of interest or follow through might be undermining your campaign and you could be missing out on important data that could really help turn your campaign around.
Believing in the Unbelievable
There are no guarantees. No one can promise book sales, fame, or Oprah. Period. End of story. If someone is promising you these things, run, or if the offer seems too good to be true it likely is. If all else fails ask someone you trust. I get folks asking me all the time about campaigns, programs, and marketing opportunities. Feel free to do the same. Whether you are working with us or not, now or in the future, I will always give you a fair and honest answer. If you'd rather go to someone else, great - but find someone whose opinion you trust and ask before signing on the dotted line.
Success is not about hard work alone. It's also about making smart, savvy choices and not being blinded by your own ambition, creativity, or ego such that it undermines your work. To be successful you need to be relentless, believe in your work and your mission but you also need to be objective, realistic, and humble. That is a successful mix for any author and in the end, isn't really about getting the book out there? Focus on what matters. Good luck!
Helpful Resources:
Some great and helpful books:
Dan Poynter's Self-Publishing Manual, Volume 2: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book (ParaPublishing, 2009) Dan Poynter's The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing: Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish, Promote and Sell Your Own Book (Writer's Digest, 2009 or 2010) Marilyn Ross & Sue Collier's Doing Business by the Book: How to Craft a Crowd-Pleasing Book and Attract More Clients and Speaking Engagements Than You Ever Thought Possible - Sophfronia Scott (Advantage Media Group, 2008) 1001 Ways to Market Your Book - John Kremer (Open Horizons, 2009)Red Hot Internet Publicity - Penny Sansevieri (Cosimo, 2009) Get Published Today - Penny Sansevieri (Lulu Publishing, 2010)
Great Publishing Blogs
The Self Publishing Review http://www.selfpublishingreview.com/%20
POD People http://podpeep.blogspot.com/Nathan Bransford http://blog.nathanbransford.com/%20
Penny C. Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert. Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the innovative Social Media/Internet book marketing campaigns. She is the author of five books, including Red Hot Internet Publicity which has been called the "leading guide to everything Internet" AME is the first marketing and publicity firm to use Internet promotion to its full impact through The Virtual Author Tour™, which strategically works with social networking sites, micro-blogs, blogs, book videos, and relevant sites to push an authors message into the virtual community and connect with sites related to the book's topic, positioning the author in his or her market. AME has had nine recent books top the bestseller lists including New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal. To learn more about Penny’s books or her promotional services, you can visit her web site at http://http://www.amarketingexpert.com/. To subscribe to her free ezine, send a blank email to: mailto:subscribe@amarketingexpert.com
Copyright 2009 Penny C. Sansevieri
Sorry for the buzz kill title of this article, but instead of spreading pixie dust as many marketing articles do, I thought I'd take a hard look at the realities of self-defeating behavior and some of the things authors might buy into that will sabotage their careers. Over the years I've written a lot of articles on how to be successful, but to be successful you must first learn how to fail up, meaning that you learn from what you did wrong, take full responsibility for it and move on. Lessons in publishing are often costly, both in time and dollars. I don't presume to tell you that you should avoid making any mistakes, but many of them are avoidable. Here are a few for you to consider.
Not learning enough about the industry
The first piece of this is simple: get to know the market you are in. This is a bit of a dual message because I'm not just speaking of the market you are promoting to: your area of expertise, but also to the publishing industry at large. Who else is publishing in this area? What are they publishing? Is your area of writing hot or a fading trend? These are all good things to know before you jump headlong into your area. Getting to know your market can help you not only avoid expensive errors but also possibly incorporate trends into your book that could help to leverage its success. How to learn about the industry? Read up on it at sites like Publishersmarketplace.com, subscribe to the free or paid newsletter the site offers. This will give you a good sense of what's selling, who's buying, what's being published. Publishers Weekly is another good resource. If you can't afford a subscription try their online site at publishersweekly.com, or check out your local library to see if they carry any copies. This is a great industry resource.
Not Accepting Feedback
A couple of weeks ago an author who has sat in on a number of my classes, both online and off, asked me numerous times how she could get onto Huffington Post as a blogger. I told her I would try to pursue a Huffpo blogger for her to get feedback on her work. I did this as a favor because, well, she was relentless in her pursuit of this and I had to admire that. So, I finally got a blogger to review her work and the critique came back not so good. In fact, it was terrible. I sat on it for a day, wondering if I should share it with her. I finally decided that if she was so relentless about her career, she would be equally relentless about crafting a perfect message, right? Not so much, actually. When I forwarded her the feedback she shot me off an email saying that many other people loved it and that astrologically this was a terrible time to accept feedback so she would dismiss it. Some moon phase or something. I honestly can't recall. No, I'm not making this up. OK, listen, full confession time here. I have a friend who calls me whenever Mercury is retrograde. "Don't buy anything electronic," she says, and I listen. Well, sometimes. Anyway, point being that I get that we're all driven by a different drummer, but if someone takes the time to critique your work why would you not try to learn from that? Look, I know not everyone is going to be spot-on with their feedback, but take from it what you can and move on -- better yourself, better your writing.
Feedback is a crucial part to any writer's career. If someone who is more knowledgeable than you about the industry you are in is willing to give you feedback you should listen. Really. In a room of one hundred authors I can pick out the successful ones. You know who they are? They are the ones who aren't so wrapped up in their egos that they aren't willing to listen and learn.
Not Surrounding Yourself with Enough Professionals
Let's face it, your mother and immediate family will love anything you write. These are not the people who will offer you the kind of guidance that will further your career. Yes, they will (and should) love and support you through this work, but you need professionals you trust by your side giving you advice, wisdom, and direction. You don't need to keep a group of experts on retainer, but you need to know who they are so you can call on them when you need help.
Not Doing Their Research
What would you think of a store owner who opened a yogurt shop in downtown San Diego only to find that five other stores were opening within months of his, one of them a very successful franchise with a huge following? Wouldn't this make you sort of wonder why on earth this store owner would do that, I mean open a store without doing the proper research? Then why on earth would you launch head first into publishing without knowing your market -- I mean the publishing market? So many authors learn the ropes after their book is out, and by then it's too late. Well, not too late really because you still have a book, but late in the sense that you can't really do anything about mistakes made and the money it's gonna cost you. There are a ton of online resources out there. Get to know them, I've listed a number of them in this article and there are more, many more. The Internet is abundant with free content. Use it.
Measuring Their Success in Book Sales
Many of you might be shaking your head wondering how I could possibly say this, but it's true. Book sales, even in the best of economic climates, are sketchy and planning your success or failure around them is a very bad way to market your book. Here's the reality: exposure = awareness = sales. The more exposure you get, the more awareness there is for the book, the more sales you may get. But this equation takes time and in the midst of this marketing many other really great non-book-sale-related things may happen. An example of this is an author who didn't really sell a lot of her books as she was marketing, but found that her speaking gigs started to pick up. Each speaking gig netted her about fifty book sales, and because of the market she was in, many of those book sales turned into individual consulting gigs that brought in much more revenue than a single book sale ever could have. Get the picture?
The other reason I say this is because book sales can be tough to calculate, many reporting agencies don't report sales for three to six months. I know this sounds crazy but it's part of the reason why publishing is such a tricky business. So, if you're doing a huge push in December and you look at your statement in January and find that you've only sold 3 books, it might be because you're looking at sales figures from September or October when you weren't doing any marketing at all.
Still not convinced? Then let me share my own story with you. As of today, Red Hot Internet Publicity has been out since July of 2009. I suspect to date it's sold 5,000 or fewer copies. Not impressive, is it? Does that number bother me? Not at all. Want to know why? Because out of the copies sold I have probably brought twenty to thirty new authors on board who will likely be authors for life. Also, I got a teaching gig at NYU because someone handed someone at NYU this book and all of a sudden -- there you have it. So if I measured my success by book sales, you bet I'd be depressed. Thank God I don't. Book sales aren't what drive my success. The same should be true for you. Start measuring your success in other ways and book sales will come. I promise.
Seth Godin, aka brilliant marketer, addressed this in a recent blog post too.
Not Understanding How New York Publishing Works
We may not like how the corporate publishing model works, we may find fault with it, but to understand it is to understand how the industry works. For example, knowing the publishing seasons and why Fall is the biggest time for New York publishers to launch a book and perhaps the worst time for you to send your book to market if you've self-published.
Also, know that that corporate publishers don't publish to niches, or rarely do, so if you're publishing to a niche, you may have a real leg up.
As for bookstores, the big six in New York pretty much own most of the shelf space in your local Barnes & Noble, so if you're vying to get in there, you are going to have to do more than show up with a book in hand and a winning smile. You're going to have to promote yourself to that local market and gain enough interest for your book that people start asking for it in bookstores.
Understanding the corporate publishing model means knowing and researching your industry and again, not just the industry you are writing for, but the market of publishing in general. Knowing what's selling, what's not -- who's buying, who's closing their doors. Knowledge is power. Arm yourself with it and you'll have a much more successful campaign.
Playing the Blame Game
If something goes wrong, own it. Unless it's really not your fault, unless you were taken for a ride somehow, swindled or whatever. Own it. Take responsibility. Here's an example. Recently an author came up to me after a class I taught and said she'd pitched 200 bloggers and only 5 of them wanted her book. What was wrong with them? Well, maybe it wasn't the bloggers at all. Bloggers are busy, busier than they've ever been so your pitch has to be strong and your book exactly right for the blogger you are pitching. If you're not getting a lot of pick up on your pitch you might need a new pitch and/or you might need a new set of bloggers. Don't assume it's someone else's fault. Investigate what happened and take a critical look at the results. If you don't feel you can be objective, hire someone to sift through the data. Assuming success eluded you because of someone else's lack of interest or follow through might be undermining your campaign and you could be missing out on important data that could really help turn your campaign around.
Believing in the Unbelievable
There are no guarantees. No one can promise book sales, fame, or Oprah. Period. End of story. If someone is promising you these things, run, or if the offer seems too good to be true it likely is. If all else fails ask someone you trust. I get folks asking me all the time about campaigns, programs, and marketing opportunities. Feel free to do the same. Whether you are working with us or not, now or in the future, I will always give you a fair and honest answer. If you'd rather go to someone else, great - but find someone whose opinion you trust and ask before signing on the dotted line.
Success is not about hard work alone. It's also about making smart, savvy choices and not being blinded by your own ambition, creativity, or ego such that it undermines your work. To be successful you need to be relentless, believe in your work and your mission but you also need to be objective, realistic, and humble. That is a successful mix for any author and in the end, isn't really about getting the book out there? Focus on what matters. Good luck!
Helpful Resources:
Some great and helpful books:
Dan Poynter's Self-Publishing Manual, Volume 2: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book (ParaPublishing, 2009) Dan Poynter's The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing: Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish, Promote and Sell Your Own Book (Writer's Digest, 2009 or 2010) Marilyn Ross & Sue Collier's Doing Business by the Book: How to Craft a Crowd-Pleasing Book and Attract More Clients and Speaking Engagements Than You Ever Thought Possible - Sophfronia Scott (Advantage Media Group, 2008) 1001 Ways to Market Your Book - John Kremer (Open Horizons, 2009)Red Hot Internet Publicity - Penny Sansevieri (Cosimo, 2009) Get Published Today - Penny Sansevieri (Lulu Publishing, 2010)
Great Publishing Blogs
The Self Publishing Review http://www.selfpublishingreview.com/%20
POD People http://podpeep.blogspot.com/Nathan Bransford http://blog.nathanbransford.com/%20
Penny C. Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., is a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert. Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the innovative Social Media/Internet book marketing campaigns. She is the author of five books, including Red Hot Internet Publicity which has been called the "leading guide to everything Internet" AME is the first marketing and publicity firm to use Internet promotion to its full impact through The Virtual Author Tour™, which strategically works with social networking sites, micro-blogs, blogs, book videos, and relevant sites to push an authors message into the virtual community and connect with sites related to the book's topic, positioning the author in his or her market. AME has had nine recent books top the bestseller lists including New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal. To learn more about Penny’s books or her promotional services, you can visit her web site at http://http://www.amarketingexpert.com/. To subscribe to her free ezine, send a blank email to: mailto:subscribe@amarketingexpert.com
Copyright 2009 Penny C. Sansevieri
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
The Long Goodbye for Publishing
By Chester Campbell
Mystery fans are well aware that The Long Goodbye is a Philip Marlowe story written by the iconic Raymond Chandler. It won the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1955. Interestingly, it appears in a quite different context in the headline for an article in The Nation by Elizabeth Sifton, a senior vp at Farrar, Strauss & Giroux.
The article appears under the heading The Long Goodbye? The Book Business and its Woes.
There has been a lot said and written lately about the state of publishing, or should I say the sad state of publishing. Ms. Sifton’s article covers the history of the business and the practices that led up to the current scene as well as anything I’ve seen. She has spent nearly half a century in the field, working for several different book publishers as they merged into conglomerates. Re the latter, she had this to say:
“As the megapublishers tightened their grip in the 1980s, I was dismayed to see a number of once good firms of markedly different publishing style or literary taste make foolish, overpriced mistakes; they seemed to be losing their bearings as they paid ever more money for ever more questionable properties, entrusting the sewing up of these sow's ears to not very experienced practitioners.”
She quoted this from one publisher: "Businessmen never learn from their mistakes because they always find someone else to blame for them," he said. "Businessmen only learn from their successes. Except publishers can't do that."
Ms. Sifton says the arithmetic on how publishers calculate their income and outgo has remained unchanged since the middle of the last century. “Of the roughly $10 a publisher took in on a $20 book, say, 10 to 15 percent of the cover price was allocated to the author, leaving only the remaining $7.50 or so to cover the fixed, make-ready costs (coding, proofing and correcting the author's original disk, press preparation and such); the varying paper, printing and binding costs; the cost of sales and marketing; the overhead; and maybe some profit, 4 to 5 percent if all went well. No wonder they longed for bestsellers, the income from which would allow expansion of staff, or staff salaries, or the size of the list--or profits.”
Regarding authors’ royalties, she observes, “Their ever more powerful agents have successfully decoupled the size of the royalty advances they receive from any estimate of the books' eventual earnings, and routinely assure them that if Knopf or Norton or Morrow fails to earn back the upfront money, it's because their masterpieces were badly published, not because the advances were implausibly high.”
After discussing Amazon and Google and the current state of affairs, she bemoans, “I, for one, don't trust the book trade to see us through this. Wariness is in order.”
I highly recommend the article, which you can read HERE.
Mystery fans are well aware that The Long Goodbye is a Philip Marlowe story written by the iconic Raymond Chandler. It won the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1955. Interestingly, it appears in a quite different context in the headline for an article in The Nation by Elizabeth Sifton, a senior vp at Farrar, Strauss & Giroux.
The article appears under the heading The Long Goodbye? The Book Business and its Woes.
There has been a lot said and written lately about the state of publishing, or should I say the sad state of publishing. Ms. Sifton’s article covers the history of the business and the practices that led up to the current scene as well as anything I’ve seen. She has spent nearly half a century in the field, working for several different book publishers as they merged into conglomerates. Re the latter, she had this to say:
“As the megapublishers tightened their grip in the 1980s, I was dismayed to see a number of once good firms of markedly different publishing style or literary taste make foolish, overpriced mistakes; they seemed to be losing their bearings as they paid ever more money for ever more questionable properties, entrusting the sewing up of these sow's ears to not very experienced practitioners.”
She quoted this from one publisher: "Businessmen never learn from their mistakes because they always find someone else to blame for them," he said. "Businessmen only learn from their successes. Except publishers can't do that."
Ms. Sifton says the arithmetic on how publishers calculate their income and outgo has remained unchanged since the middle of the last century. “Of the roughly $10 a publisher took in on a $20 book, say, 10 to 15 percent of the cover price was allocated to the author, leaving only the remaining $7.50 or so to cover the fixed, make-ready costs (coding, proofing and correcting the author's original disk, press preparation and such); the varying paper, printing and binding costs; the cost of sales and marketing; the overhead; and maybe some profit, 4 to 5 percent if all went well. No wonder they longed for bestsellers, the income from which would allow expansion of staff, or staff salaries, or the size of the list--or profits.”
Regarding authors’ royalties, she observes, “Their ever more powerful agents have successfully decoupled the size of the royalty advances they receive from any estimate of the books' eventual earnings, and routinely assure them that if Knopf or Norton or Morrow fails to earn back the upfront money, it's because their masterpieces were badly published, not because the advances were implausibly high.”
After discussing Amazon and Google and the current state of affairs, she bemoans, “I, for one, don't trust the book trade to see us through this. Wariness is in order.”
I highly recommend the article, which you can read HERE.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
The "It" Factor
By Beth Terrell
This past weekend, I had lunch with a friend who works in the publishing industry. She's a publicist who sometimes acts as an acquisitions editor. Our conversation turned to a member of my critique group, a man who had pitched his novel to her at last year's Killer Nashville conference.
I don't know what 'it' is," she said, "but he has it in spades. I know he's going to make it, bigtime."
I know exactly what she means, but I'm no more able to say exactly what "it" is than she was. All I know is that my friend has it. But what exactly IS it? Maybe it's a kind of charisma, or the way he's genuinely interested in other people and genuinely wishes the best for them. Maybe it's a sense that he is man of very real integrity. Maybe it's his intensity, hidden beneath a shy, boyish demeanor. You can tell he won't run over anybody to get to his goal, but that he won't give up until he does get there. Maybe it's all those things rolled into one.
Is 'it' something that can be cultivated, or is it inborn. like the color of your hair or the ability to curl your tongue? Maybe, like so many things, it grows through a complex interplay between nature and nurture.
Maybe "it" is something different for each of us. For some, like my friend, it shines like a sun to everyone he meets. For others, it's more understated, less visible. Maybe it's a dynamic, dramatic energy, like J.T. Ellison's, or a quiet, humble generosity like Mary Saums's. What about your favorite writers? Do they have "it?" Is "it" the same thing for all of them?
Maybe "it" is just being the best, most genuine you you can possibly be.
If you think of your favorite or the most popular authors, do they all have something in common? And do those somethings combine to create the indefinable "it?"
I don't know for sure, but I do know that the most successful authors I know have some traits in common. One is focus. They are extremely good at "keeping their eye on the ball"--at setting a goal and heading straight for it without being derailed by things like unmade beds and Minesweeper. They are also, more often than not, gracious and generous people who are willing, within reason, to offer help and advice to others. A friend once met Stephen King at a local science fiction convention at which King was the speaker. After his speech, Mr. King spent the evening in the hospitality suite chatting with my friend about books and other common interests. Stephen King didn't have to be so generous with his time; he gave it anyway.
In my opinion, the "it" factor is something that draws others to you and makes you memorable. Something that gives people a good feeling when they think about you.
How about you all? What do you think "it" is? And how important is it to a writer?
This past weekend, I had lunch with a friend who works in the publishing industry. She's a publicist who sometimes acts as an acquisitions editor. Our conversation turned to a member of my critique group, a man who had pitched his novel to her at last year's Killer Nashville conference.
I don't know what 'it' is," she said, "but he has it in spades. I know he's going to make it, bigtime."
I know exactly what she means, but I'm no more able to say exactly what "it" is than she was. All I know is that my friend has it. But what exactly IS it? Maybe it's a kind of charisma, or the way he's genuinely interested in other people and genuinely wishes the best for them. Maybe it's a sense that he is man of very real integrity. Maybe it's his intensity, hidden beneath a shy, boyish demeanor. You can tell he won't run over anybody to get to his goal, but that he won't give up until he does get there. Maybe it's all those things rolled into one.
Is 'it' something that can be cultivated, or is it inborn. like the color of your hair or the ability to curl your tongue? Maybe, like so many things, it grows through a complex interplay between nature and nurture.
Maybe "it" is something different for each of us. For some, like my friend, it shines like a sun to everyone he meets. For others, it's more understated, less visible. Maybe it's a dynamic, dramatic energy, like J.T. Ellison's, or a quiet, humble generosity like Mary Saums's. What about your favorite writers? Do they have "it?" Is "it" the same thing for all of them?
Maybe "it" is just being the best, most genuine you you can possibly be.
If you think of your favorite or the most popular authors, do they all have something in common? And do those somethings combine to create the indefinable "it?"
I don't know for sure, but I do know that the most successful authors I know have some traits in common. One is focus. They are extremely good at "keeping their eye on the ball"--at setting a goal and heading straight for it without being derailed by things like unmade beds and Minesweeper. They are also, more often than not, gracious and generous people who are willing, within reason, to offer help and advice to others. A friend once met Stephen King at a local science fiction convention at which King was the speaker. After his speech, Mr. King spent the evening in the hospitality suite chatting with my friend about books and other common interests. Stephen King didn't have to be so generous with his time; he gave it anyway.
In my opinion, the "it" factor is something that draws others to you and makes you memorable. Something that gives people a good feeling when they think about you.
How about you all? What do you think "it" is? And how important is it to a writer?
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