Authors On The Net

If not, you can find a lot of videos, podcasts and blogs by people who attended. Click on the link below to listen to a podcast with publicity expert Rick Frishman:

Rick Frishman BEA Podcast

Here’s a message I received from novelist Tracy Cooper-Posey about how she is challenging the status quo of publishing:

I’m a novelist, which means I always have a lot to say. In this instance, I’ve been challenging the status quo about the publishing industry for exactly a year, in particular about the hidden niche of authors that I’ve dubbed “anchored authors” – the huge slice of published fiction authors who can’t earn enough from their fiction and have to keep a day job to survive. (http://www.anchoredauthors.com). Lately, my challenge has been that fiction authors shouldn’t be aiming for New York publication, and the best sellers lists. Nor should they be aiming for Kevin Kelly’s “1,000 True Fans” model. Instead, they should be carving their own niche out of the long tail – one that suits their brand of fiction, and provides them with a comfortable income. It’s the only way fiction authors in particular are going to survive the fracturing of the publishing industry.

I’ve been hammering this message for a while now (as the archives on the blog will testify). On the 20th I will be posting a long summary/overview on this theme that rounds up the year on Anchored Authors (yesterday was the anniversary).

Also as part of the anniversary, I’m running a survey to try and collect some demographic data about anchored authors. Everyone who completes the survey goes into the draw for a $100 Amazon gift certificate. Everyone who encourages another anchored author to complete the survey also goes into the draw for the gift certificate. So yes, you can have multiple entries in the draw, and you can be in the draw even if you’re not an anchored author.

Every author who completes the survey will also get a copy of the final results. The survey is here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=mwYdPhyh_2blzZ3jFqipx77w_3d_3d. Perhaps you would be kind enough to let your readers know? The more solid data we get about anchored authors, the more relevant the survey will be.

What are you doing to transform the publishing industry?

Authors are both artists and entrepreneurs. Authors absolutely need to be paid for their work, but it seems this new digital age we are in is creating the mindset that if it’s on the web, it should be free.

What caught my attention the other day listening to NPR’s All Things Considered story about Pirate Bay losing its case in court, is the answer one of the Pirate Bay’s founders gave to Laura Sydell. When she asked him point blank if he thought artists didn’t need to be compensated for their art, he said that artists are not entrepreneurs and that his battle was with the corporate world.

In fact, here’s a direct quote from their lawyer:

Sunde’s lawyer Peter Althin said he was confident that higher courts would dismiss the case against The Pirate Bay, which he described as a battle between the corporate world and “a generation of young people who want to take part of new technology.”

Umm . . . “a generation of young people who want to take part of new technology.” Now there’s a nice euphemism for copyright infringement.

Pirate Bay says it’s battle is with the corporate people - the record labels and distributors. Yet, they haven’t made any efforts to ensure that artists get paid for their work.

I’m convinced that ebooks are on the verge of a tipping point. When this happens, I think we’ll see similar issues in the news about pirate sites for ebooks like we are seeing with these pirate music and movie sites. Also, how we use ebooks as marketing tools, how we price ebooks, the levels of protection we apply to ebooks and so forth are all issues we entrepreneurial authors must understand and then make opportunities for ourselves.

I think our dependence on publishers, book stores, book distributors and even Amazon will change. How readers find our books will change. When we know how to leverage social media and get our ebook in front of our target audience, we can revolutionize how we sell books.

To listen to the NPR interview, click here:
All Things Considered, April 17, 2009 · In Sweden, four men have been convicted of violating copyright laws for running a Web site that connected people who wanted to share files illegally over the Internet.

As we think about the publishing status quo and how it might be changing, think about the following statements and see if they ring true. I’ll be taking each paradigm set on in future posts:

Old Paradigm: Authors are artists, publishers are entrepreneurs/business owners/venture capitalists

New Paradigm: Authors are both artists and entrepreneurs.

I’ll be discussing a recent report I heard about Pirate Bay. I couldn’t believe the mindset of the operators of this site.

Old Paradigm: Information comes as hardcopy media.

Current and New Paradigm: Information comes as hardcopy media AND all forms of digital media: ebooks, audio books, Blog posts, ezines, Facebook, Twitter, Podcasts, Internet Radio and who knows what’s coming next.

I’ll be discussing a recent Wall Street Journal feature (among other things) on how ebooks will change the way we read and write.

Old Paradigm: Customers have longer attention spans, can read longer articles and books.

New Paradigm: Customers get information in snippets – i.e. Twitter, short articles, Blog posts and shorter books.

I’ll be searching for research to back this up so if anyone has any information on this apparent trend I’d love to hear it.

Old and Still Current Paradigm: Majority of authors write the book inside them and then look for a market to sell to.

New Paradigm: Authors will be plugged into their target audience before, during and after writing their book and they will write books that fit their target audience.

Successful publishers look for books to fit a “buying” audience. Authors will need to be just as market savvy to compete.

Old Paradigm: Authors need to write the right book at the right time for the right audience.

New Paradigm: Authors need to be leaders of a tribe they create around their book; they pull people into their cause rather than pushing their book onto an audience.

Maybe the whole idea of a target audience will change . . .

Old Paradigm: A published author is someone who receives money from a Royalty publisher like Random House and signs a standard royalty contract.

New Paradigm 1: A published author is any author who has an ISBN and a bound book, an ebook, an audio book or any other version of a book.

New Paradigm 2: A professional author is a published author who earns his or her primary living by writing and selling books.

We’re decades into the self-publishing revolution. I think it’s time to discard the whole discussion on what it means to be a published author. The question is whether or not you make a living as a published author.

So these are a few of the paradigms I’ve identified. If you have others, please share.

An article I read today makes a case that Self-Publishing is not a last resort for authors. I absolutely agree. Landing a contract with a royalty publisher like Random House is a great ambition for many authors, but it may not be the best option for every author.

Every author and every book is unique and authors today have many options to choose from, from POD publishing to self-publishing (starting your own publishing company) to royalty publishing. The key is getting people to read your book and as Adam Balkin says in his article, if your book is good, people will read it. I will add that you also need to know who your primary audience is and how to reach them.

Social Media is, in my opinion, the key to connecting with your target audience and getting people to read. Check out Adam’s article by clicking here.

To learn more about social media check out our new on-demand coaching program at The Author Platform.

Every week I get great articles from Chris Webb on the Publishing Industry in my inbox. Today’s article is on ebooks and is extremely interesting. In the article he compares digital music to digital books. I’ve thought for years that all the digital book industry needed were better reading devices and while this is part of the solution for ebooks, the point author Reto Meier makes in this article is that people just need to get more comfortable with ebooks and the suggestion I like and recommend to our authors is to give away an ebook copy with all hard copy sales. Not only is this a great enticement to get people to buy your book, it will help people get comfortable with the new technology. Here’s the article:

This week I had a lively conversation about Amazon’s recent Kindle mobile phone announcement with Wiley Author Reto Meier. I invited Reto to share his thoughts with readers on why he believes digital books have a very long way yet to go.

The future of publishing may be digital, but costly Kindles and eBooks on iPhones aren’t enough to trigger a digital book revolution. It’ll take more than the promise of a portable library to convince readers they’re better off without paper.
The iPod heralded a seismic shift in content distribution. Music downloads now seem as obvious as they were inevitable, so it’s reasonable to expect written content to follow music, movies, and TV down the path towards digital distribution. But to get consumers onboard, eBooks will need to supply a superior reading experience and better value for money than they currently offer. Read the rest of this entry »

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Today we have a Q & A with Wendy Burt-Thomas. She is a full-time freelance writer, editor and copywriter with more than 1,000 published pieces. Her third book, “The Writer’s Digest Guide to Query Letters” hits stores December 2008. To learn more about Wendy or her three books, visit www.GuideToQueryLetters.com. If you have a writing-related question, you can post it on http://AskWendy.wordpress.com.

1. Q: Can you tell us about your book?

The book was a great fit for me because I’d been teaching “Breaking Into Freelance Writing” for about eight years. In the workshop, I covered a lot of what is in this book: writing query letters to get articles in magazines, to land an agent, or to get a book deal with a publisher. Since I’m a full-time freelance magazine writer and editor with two previous books, this was incredibly fun to write because it didn’t require tons of research. I was lucky enough to receive lots of great sample query letters from writers and authors that I use as “good” examples in the book. I wrote all the “bad” examples myself because I didn’t dare ask for contributions that I knew I’d be ripping apart!

In addition to the ins and outs of what makes a good query, the book covers things like why (or why not) to get an agent, where to find one and how to choose one; writing a synopsis or proposal; selling different rights to your work; other forms of correspondence; and what editors and agents look for in new writers.

It was really important to me that the book not be a dry, boring reference book, but rather an entertaining read (while still being chock full of information). I was thrilled that Writer’s Digest let me keep all the humor.

2. Q: Why are query letters so important?

Breaking into the publishing world is hard enough right now. Unless you have a serious “in” of some kind, you really need a great query letter to impress an agent or acquisitions editor. Essentially, your query letter is your first impression. If they like your idea (and voice and writing style and background), they’ll either request a proposal, sample chapters, or the entire manuscript. If they don’t like your query letter, you’ve got to pitch it to another agency/publisher. Unlike a manuscript, which can be edited or reworked if an editor thinks it has promise, you only get one shot with your query. Make it count!

I see a lot of authors who spend months (or years) finishing their book, only to rush through the process of crafting a good, solid query letter. What a waste! If agents/editors turn you down based on a bad query letter, you’ve blown your chance of getting them to read your manuscript. It could be the next bestseller, but they’ll never see it. My advice is to put as much effort into your query as you did your book. If it’s not fabulous, don’t send it until it is.

3. Q: You’re also a magazine editor. What is your biggest gripe regarding queries?

Queries that show that the writer obviously hasn’t read our publication. I’ll admit that I did this when I was a new writer too – submitted blindly to any publication whose name sounded even remotely related to my topic. One of the examples I use was when I submitted a parenting article to a magazine for senior citizens. Oops! A well-written query pitching an article that’s not a match for the magazine isn’t going to get you any further than a poorly written query.

4. Q: There’s an entire chapter in the book about agents. Do you think all new writers should get agents?

Probably 99% of new writers should get an agent. There are lots of reasons, but my top three are: 1) Many of the larger publishing houses won’t even look at unagented submissions now; 2) Agents can negotiate better rights and more money on your behalf; 3) Agents know the industry trends, changes and staff better than you ever could.

5. Q: You’ve been a mentor, coach or editor for many writers. What do you think is the most common reason that good writers don’t get published?

Poor marketing skills. I see so many writers that are either too afraid, too uniformed, or frankly, too lazy, to market their work. They think their job is done when the write “the end” but writing is only half of the process. I’ve always told people who took my class that there are tons of great writers in the world who will never get published. I’d rather be a good writer who eats lobster than a great writer who eats hot dogs. I make a living as a writer because I spend as much time marketing as I do writing.

6. Q: What are some of the biggest misconceptions that writers have about getting a book deal?

That they’ll be rich overnight, that they don’t need to promote their book once it’s published, that publishing houses will send them on world book tours, that people will recognize them at the airport. Still, you can make great money as an author if you’re prepared to put in the effort. If it wasn’t possible, there wouldn’t be so many full-time writers.

7. Q: What must-read books do you recommend to new writers?

Christina Katz (author of “Writer Mama”) has a new book out called “Get Known Before the Book Deal” - which is fabulous. Also, Stephen King’s “On Writing” and David Morrel’s “Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing.” Anything by Anne Lamott or my Dad, Steve Burt.

8. Q: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned as a full-time writer?

Seize every opportunity - especially when you first start writing. I remember telling someone about a really high-paying writing gig I got and he said, “Wow. You have the best luck!” I thought, “Luck has nothing to do with it! I’ve worked hard to get where I am.” Later that week I read this great quote: “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” It’s absolutely true. And writing queries is only about luck in this sense. If you’re prepared with a good query and/or manuscript, when the opportunity comes along you’ll be successful.

9. What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

Writing the “bad” query letters. I’ve read – and written! – so many horrible ones over the years that it was a little too easy to craft them. But misery loves company and we ALL love to read really bad query letters, right?

10. Q: What do you want readers to learn from your book?

I want them to understand that while writing a good query letter is important, it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. You can break it down into parts, learn from any first-round rejections, and read other good queries to help understand what works. I also want them to remember that writing is fun. Sometimes new writers get so caught up in the procedures that they lose their original voice in a query. Don’t bury your style under formalities and to-the-letter formatting.

I was listening to a radio show the other day and they were discussing this horrible economy we find ourselves in today and, more specifically, they were discussing the lousy sales figures the publishing industry posted in October. They were speaking with a lady who works for one of the large publishing houses and when they asked her to comment on the poor state of the publishing industry she said, in effect, that the publishing industry is an old model that needs to be changed.

She was referring to the distribution system that allows bookstores to return books. This puts most of the bookselling risk on the publisher’s shoulders. She also said that the days in which a publishing house is willing to take on an unknown author and invest promotional dollars are long gone. Most of the large publishing houses actually say on their submission guidelines that they are not accepting books from new authors. Just click on the link at the end of this post if you don’t believe me.

This interview, rather than depressing me, got me excited. It also got me thinking that if the publishing industry were to really undergo a transformation, how would the industry look five or ten years from now. What do you think?

Here are a few things to consider:

1. Authors can make 35% royalty from Booksurge (owned by Amazon) if they use their Print-On-Demand service. That’s considerably more than a publisher will pay per each book sold.

2. You can take a book idea and not even write a “book,” but rather you can take the contents of your book and put it on a subscription-based website and charge $4.95 a month and if people only pay for one month, you’ve made more profit from that sale than if you had sold 5 books the traditional way.

3. You can take your book and break it into several ebooks and charge $4.95 an ebook. Again, 1 book nets as much as 5 books sold the traditional way.

Today, the traditional publishing method is still, in most cases, the best option for making money. But I think it is changing. This change has been going on for several years and once it hits a tipping point, the transformation will be swift I think. So here are some questions I have and would love to hear from others on what they think:

1. Is POD - Print-on-Demand - the future of publishing? If not, why not?

2. Are people making money from subscription-based content websites/blogsites? If so, can this be the new model going forward?

3. What will it take for ebooks to overtake traditional books?

Let us know what you think. Here’s the link to the article I mentined above.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6617241.html?rssid=192

Great article by Judy Cullins here. Not only does she give authors a glimpse into the difficult task of coming up with the right title for your book, she introduces the modern need to make sure our titles are fitting relevant keywords to help the search engines bring the right people to our blogsites/websites.

Selecting the right title has a lot to do with how you market and promote your book and keeping the fact that most people find what they are looking for online is critical.

How to Write a Book Title That Brings Best Book Sales
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Judy_Cullins]Judy Cullins

You want a great book title, one that will have sizzle and steak. Sizzle says something shocking, original, metaphoric, even cliché. See the feedback below to actual clients and you too can know how to write a book title that sells. Read the rest of this entry »