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Money, Money, Money Wednesday, Feb 18 2009
Uncategorized money, publishing, self-publishing, writing 4:26 pm
When you live in a capitalist society, it’s hard sometimes to appreciate the value of things that don’t come with a price tag. But if you’re willing to put dollars and cents aside for a moment, here are some things you can do:
Write every day—even though it doesn’t earn you a dime.
Finish the draft of a novel, a screenplay, a poetry collection, an article or essay.
Take you Starbucks money for a week and make five copies of your manuscript to hand out to friends.
Make five more to hand out to strangers.
Congratulate yourself: you’re now a published author!
Take the feedback you get and revise your draft to make it stronger.
Write a children’s book, get your artistic neighbor to illustrate it (the one who also understands the value of willing to work for free), call the librarian at your local elementary school, and make an appointment to come in and read your book out loud to the kids.
Congratulations! You just gave your first reading.
Take your vacation money and instead of going away for a week, stay home and publish your book through a print-on-demand service. Give copies away to six of your friends. When they’re done reading it, invite them over for wine and cheese.
Congratulations! You’ve just hosted your first book party.
Tell your friends to list your book on Goodreads.
Congratulations! You just got your first reviews.
When the summer comes, pack the kids in the back of the car and drive them to Florida/Arizona/North Dakota to see that aunt/cousin/college roommate you’ve been meaning to get around to visit for years. While you’re there, ask your aunt/cousin/college roommate to hold a barbecue so that you can meet all of her friends. While you’re all together eating chicken and ribs, tell them about your book.
Congratulations! You just gave your first book talk.
Be sure to have a few copies in the trunk of your car to sell. . .just in case.
Congratulations! You just made your first sales.
Well, we never said money didn’t matter—just that it shouldn’t stop you from doing the things you want to do.
When you get back home, start on a new book. Congratulate yourself! You’re part of a new grassroots movement made up of writers who have decided to take their destiny into their own hands and bring their work to audiences on their own.
There are people out there waiting to read what you have written. All you have to do is find them. So put your money where your mouth is. Get your work out there. You know that you want to. What are you waiting for?
Double double, toil and trouble Thursday, Feb 12 2009
Uncategorized HarperCollins, publishing, self-publishing 4:48 pm
Double, double toil and trouble;/ Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
First the trouble.
According to yesterday’s New York Times, HarperCollins has just announced the closing of Collins. In the last six months of 2008, Harper Collins saw a staggering 75% loss in its income, leading to lay-offs among editors, sales, marketing, and publicity staff–and now the closing of the entire Collins division, despite the fact that it has several blockbusters on its list. HarperCollins joins a long list of publishing houses that have had lay-offs in recent months, including:
Random House
Simon & Schuster
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
St. Martin’s Press
Meanwhile, bookstores continue to struggle, with sales down in double-digits in recent months, and this past holiday season the worst in memory. The decline of commercial publishing, which has begun in recent years to look like a train wreck in slow motion, has accelerated in our worsening economy. Close your eyes. It’s painful to see.
But all is not lost.
Now for the bubble.
Despite the bad news, there is one sector in the publishing world that has shown growth in recent months: self-publishing. Author Solutions alone grew by 10% in 2008. By all accounts, readership is up, but the way readers are getting their books—and the way writers are getting them to them—has changed.
Here’s how Time Magazine put it in their recent article on “Books Unbound”: “[M]ore books, written and read by more people, often for little or no money, [are] circulating in a wild diversity of forms, both physical and electronic, far outside the charmed circle of New York City’s entrenched publishing culture.”
The result? Instead of being handed down to readers by a self-selected priesthood of editors from above, books are bubbling up from below, in a delightful, chaotic stew, everything from the best new literary fiction to fan fiction and Cell Phone novels—which have reached the bestselling lists in Japan.
Hang on to your hats. The new world is here, and the only question left is: How will you fit into it?
No Longer a Dirty Word Monday, Feb 2 2009
Uncategorized dirty words, in memory of John Updike, self-publishing 2:34 pm
It’s official. Self-publishing. It’s no longer a dirty word. Don’t believe me? Read about it in the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/books/28selfpub.html?em
The judgment comes from no less a publishing luminary than Louise Burke, publisher of Pocket Books. Self-publishing, she says, “is no longer a dirty word.”
Now I don’t want to brag that here, at Screw Iowa!, we’ve been ahead of the curve, but let’s just say we’re firmly a part of it. The world is changing. Traditional publishing models no longer satisfy readers or writers. Instead, more and more authors are deciding to go it alone, either by using existing print-on-demand services or by creating entirely new presses.
Granted, neither route is likely to make you rich or famous. According to the Times, the average number of copies sold by print-on-demand services is only 150 copies. If you measure your book against blockbusters that reach millions of readers, 150 copies can seem like a paltry number. On the other hand, in comparison to the zero readers your book will have if you leave it unpublished, sitting in a box in your garage or under your bed, 150 is huge.
Think about it for a minute. If you put your book into print, there is every reason to expect that over one hundred people will read it. Not only that, but since you will be marketing it on your own, the chances are that you will be in contact with most—if not all—of those readers. You will hear back from a good number of them, as they tell you what they thought of your book and what it meant to them, and you will have the pleasure of watching your audience grow.
What more could a writer ask for?
From where we sit, self-publishing is one grassroots movements that is bound to keep growing, because of its ability to be both personally and socially transformational. A dirty word? We never thought so. It’s nice to see the rest of the world take note.
In memory of John Updike. You set the bar so high, we knew we would never reach it, but we were bound to become better just by trying. You will be sorely missed.
How to Find an Agent Saturday, Jan 17 2009
Uncategorized for writers, how to find an agent, publishing advice 7:04 pm
Here it is, for everyone who’s asked: our best advice on how to find an agent.
I. When you write to an agent, you want to have a specific reason for doing so. This will be stated in the first sentence of your letter. The reason could be:
–because someone recommended you (i.e. Dear Agent, John Smith suggested I write to you. I have written a novel he thinks you might be interested in.)
–because that agent has clients who write fiction like yours (i.e. Dear Agent, I am writing to you in the hope that, as the agent who represents Jane Doe, you will be interested in my novel.)
–because in general that agent represents your kind of fiction. (i.e. Dear Agent, I am writing to you in the hope that, as an agent who has had great success representing literary mysteries, you will be interested in my novel.)
–because the agent has had success representing debut authors. (i.e. Dear Agent, I am writing to you in the hope that, as an agent who has had great success representing debut writers, you will be interested in my first novel.)
The more specific you can be in your reason to writing to that agent, the better. But never write to an agent unless you have a specific reason for doing so, and make sure you state that reason in your first sentence.
II. Research agents to find out who is likely to be interested in a book like yours. Here are some options:
–find out who represents authors who write books similar to yours. Begin with writers you like. Sometimes they will credit their agents in the acknowledgements of their books. They might mention their agents on their websites—if they have one. Or, you can find out who represents them on the Publisher’s Marketplace website: http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/login.shtml. This website has a feature where you can find out who represents whom. You will have to join to be able to access this feature. It costs about $20/month but is well worth the price, especially since you can use this site in another way as described below—
–find out who represents debut authors. Use your membership at Publisher’s Marketplace to scan through recent deals. You can search under debuts, or under specific genres. You will find which first-time novelists have books that are coming out soon, and also out who represents them.
–find out in general who represents fiction like yours. Use the agent query site, which is free, and gives you the option of searching by genre: http://agentquery.com/. This site will also tell you if the agent is currently taking new clients.
—another useful site is the Assoc of Authors’ Representatives: http://www.aar-online.org/mc/page.do?sitePageID=9693. You can find out if the agent is a member of their organization, and so subscribes to their guidelines.
III. Find out how to contact the agents you are interested in.
Once you have identified an agent as someone who is likely to be interested in your book, you will need to find out how they like to be contacted. The best way is to go to their website and read about their submission guidelines. Some agents want to be emailed; others accept only snail mail. Some want synopses, some sample chapters, some only a cover letter, etc. etc. Find out, and then be sure to follow their guidelines exactly. It’s also useful to check agent websites because they will have the most up-to-date information. Other sites are often outdated. When in doubt, go by what the agency website says.
IV. Compose your letter.
The first sentence, as discussed above, will state your reason for writing to that agent. After that you will want to include (the order is up to you):
– previous publications if you have any
–your reason for writing this book, i.e., if you’re writing a book about fire prevention, mention that you’re a fireman with 30 years experience
–a brief summary of what your book is about
–other books like yours that have sold well
–if your book has been workshopped, and where
–endorsements, if you have any
Conclude by asking the agent to contact you if he/she would be interested in seeing your book. And be sure to provide your contact info as the agent website requires.
You have a lot to talk about, but the agent letter cannot be more than one page. So work hard on honing your letter and be sure it is succinct.
V. Start sending your letters out.
Nowadays most writers contact 100+ agents before they get one. So be prepared for the long haul. There is also a lag time between when the agent will respond to your letter, request more material, read it, etc. You might want to send out your letters in batches of, say 10 or 25. Also, keep in mind that the publishing industry has its own rhythms. Agents are less likely to read during the holidays and many take off time in the summer. A sample schedule for sending out letters might be: Sept, Jan, March. If you send out 25 letters each time, that will be 75 in the space of a year. In between, while you are waiting to hear back from the agents you have written to, you will be researching the next bunch etc.
Good luck!
Dance to that Tune Wednesday, Jan 7 2009
Uncategorized 5:03 pm
Want to know what the future of books is going to look like? Just look at the music industry. In the old days, if you started a new band, you had to hope that someone at Sony, RCA, or one of the other big record labels would sign you. They controlled access to the radio waves and record stores, where music was heard and bought. Then came the internet, and musicians everywhere began creating their own audiences by posting their music online. Technology transformed the industry. Instead of buying an entire record or CD to hear the one song you really liked, Apple’s iTunes made it possible for you to buy one song at a time, load it on your ipod, and create your own personal playlist. What could be better than that?
Or worse.
On the one hand, this change in the music industry is good news. Instead of being controlled by record executives at the top, music has become a grassroots movement, driven by individual musicians from the bottom. Because of the internet, more musicians than ever have the opportunity of building audiences for their music. The bad news is, their chances of making money are rapidly dwindling. Those old-time music executives may have ruled the industry with an iron fist—but they also knew how to squeeze money out of it. Nowadays, as music gets shared—legally and illegally—over the internet, the profits, and royalties, are lost. Bands sell T-shirts and posters at concerts to make money. Their music, for all intents and purposes, is free.
What about books? All you have to do is look at recent publishing news to see the writing (ha!) on the wall. For the first time ever, an electronic reader, Amazon’s Kindle, is beginning to take off. Sales of electronic books are still a small share of the market, but they are rapidly growing. With the help of major libraries, Google is scanning every book available to it onto the Web. Readers have come to expect that what they read on the internet is free, so don’t be surprised when they view books the same way. Even the value of books themselves—those paper and ink objects writers adore—is being driven down to zero. Why pay full price for a new book when you can buy a used copy on Amazon for as little as a penny?
What’s a writer to do? Well, you could do what I do and be brave—or foolish enough—to start a brand-new publishing company. Kind of like deciding to breed carriage horses just as Henry Ford’s first Model T rolls off the production line. I still believe in the value of books—but it’s not money that I’m talking about. It’s the value of personal expression, and of connecting with others. I don’t expect to make much—if any—money from my writing, but I’ve already experienced the joy of hearing from readers who were moved to tears by my work, who stayed up late at night reading because they couldn’t put my book down. It’s the same joy, I imagine, musicians feel when they play their music and watch people dance to the beat.
So get out there. Xerox your book at the closest Kinko’s. Post it online. Stop thinking of writing as a way to make you rich. If it’s money you’re after, there are certainly easier ways to earn it! Accept yourself for what you are: an artist. Your readers are out there, waiting for you. All you have to do is blow your own horn, and let them know you are there.
Stigma Sunday, Dec 21 2008
Uncategorized marketing books, publishing industry, self-publishing, self-publishing stigma 3:26 pm
Shh. Don’t tell anyone. Here at Screw Iowa! we’ve started publishing books. That’s right, we’re actually putting our books into print and finding readers for them, without the help of an agent, a publicist, or even a commercial press. We’re doing it . . .all on our own.
Wait a minute, you say. Isn’t there a stigma associated with self-publishing? Isn’t self-publication for writers who aren’t good enough to make the grade? And isn’t it just a one-way ticket to a dead-end?
Interesting question. It’s something that, up until a few months ago, we were asking ourselves. But now that we’re actually (shh . . .don’t tell anyone) doing it, we have some answers, too.
Is there a stigma associated with self-publishing? You bet there is—at least as far as many agents, editors, distributors, and booksellers are concerned. Some of them grant a self-published writer as much respect as well, let’s just say, the stuff they scrape off their shoes on their way in the door. But among readers—the actual living, flesh and blood people who like to read books? Not at all. They’re just delighted to meet you. An author with a book? Do tell. They can’t wait to hear more.
What about the quality of self-published books, you protest. Aren’t they just awful? Well, it’s true there’s a lot of fluff in the self-published world, but there are a lot of hidden gems, too. Just like the shelves of Barnes and Noble. If the major publishers put out nothing but quality books, they’d have the right to look down their noses on people who choose to go their own way. Otherwise, as the saying goes, people in glass houses . . .
Did we mention that in some publishing circles writers aren’t even called authors anymore? They’re content-fillers.
But surely all those self-published books end up in the dustbin, you say. You mean just like all those new books on the shelves of major bookstores that end up being returned or remaindered because their publishers won’t spend the time or money to back and promote them? At least when you publish your own book, you can take as much time as you like to build your audience. And your book will never go out of print, unless you want it to.
Who will read your book if you publish it on your own? The same people who will read it if you publish it through a commercial press: people who know you, people you reach out to, and people who like books like the one you have written.
It’s almost enough to make you wonder if the self-publishing stigma isn’t perpetuated by commercial publishers for a very good reason: to keep down the competition, and to ensure their monopoly—deserved or not—of the people who read.
Organic Books Sunday, Dec 7 2008
Uncategorized 8:51 pm
Three recent news articles prompt this blog. Call it a perfect storm. Here they are, with links:
“Publisher of Houghten Mifflin Harcourt Quits.”
“Fought over any good books lately?” by Joanne Kaufman
“Typing without a Clue,” by Timothy Egan
Why focus on these three? Because taken together they give us a pretty good idea of what’s going on nowadays in the publishing world.
Let’s start with Houghten Mifflin Harcourt. The very name of the company gives you some idea of the direction in the industry—all those mergers taking what once were respected houses and glomming them together into one business. Well, it turns out that the mergers aren’t yet over, and that HMH will likely soon be sold. But it gets worse. HMH—the publisher of such luminaries as Philip Roth and Guenter Grass—recently stopped acquiring manuscripts all together—except for education, children’s books, and a mystery imprint. So I guess all you mystery writers out there can breathe a sigh of relief. As for the rest of us? If HMH has given up on publishing books—what chance do we have? And what does that tell us about the publishing world?
For one thing the old model just doesn’t work anymore. And publishers face competition from authors who are going it alone—from print on demand to electronic book readers to the internet.
Next we have Kaufman’s article, which focuses on the battles that take place in book clubs, forcing members to drop out, form their own groups, or give up on clubs altogether. Ouch. Just when we thought readers might actually find safe refuge among like-minded booklovers in their own living rooms.
And finally we have Egan who utters a plea—who shamelessly begs—for publishers to at least publish books by people who can write. “I know,” Egan writes, “publishers say they print garbage so that real literature, which seldom makes any money, can find its way into print. True, to a point. But some of them print garbage so they can buy more garbage.” Just because you happen to be friends with a celebrity in rehab doesn’t mean you deserve a book contract. “Stop soaking up precious advance money.”
My conclusion? If you’ve been reading my blog, you’ve heard it before. Get your head out of the clouds. Stop thinking that writing a book will bring you riches or fame. But don’t stop writing! Think local, and think small. Work hard to tell your story the best way you can—and then work just as hard at finding the people who want to read it. They’re out there, it’s just that they’re in places that may surprise you: your local dry cleaners, or coffee shop, or hardware store, or veterinarian’s office. After all, if you love gardening, and you have the best organic vegetables in town, you don’t measure your success by how many Safeways in the nation stock your tomatoes. You craft beautiful baskets of your vegetables and hand them out to all your friends. You might even have a stand in front of your house or sell at the local farmer’s market. You get the satisfaction of making a little (emphasize little) money, and the even greater pleasure of meeting the people who actually eat and enjoy the fruits of your labor. It’s time for organic books. Enjoy.
An interview with C. Allyn Pierson Wednesday, Nov 26 2008
Uncategorized iuniverse, print-on-demand, self-publishing 5:16 pm
Today we’re talking with a C. Allyn Pierson, a writer who has successfully used a print-on-demand service: iuniverse.
Congratulations on your new book, And This our Life. Tell us a little about it.
Thank you, it is exciting to finally see it print! And This Our Life is a sequel to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. The book follows Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy through their first year of marriage. The other main plot which entwines the story of Darcy and Elizabeth is that of his much younger sister, Georgiana, who was a relatively minor character in Jane Austen’s story. Georgiana has reached the age at which she must be presented at court and make her debut in London society, and, ultimately, find a suitable husband. The story is set against the background of the Napoleonic Wars and the defeat and exile of Napoleon to Elba.
What brought you to write this book?
I have been a fan of Jane Austen for many years and was aware that there were many sequels, and I decided to look at some of them. As I read the descriptions it was immediately clear that the authors had scribbled them down without any regard to historical accuracy or even consistency of the characters with Austen’s original work. After reading a series of books I realized that I ‘knew’ what had ‘really’ happened and sat down and started writing. I guess you could say that I was motivated by annoyance to finally sit down and write!
Did you do any special research for it?
Yes. I think it is very important in historical fiction to fit the story into the historical context, rather than the other way around. I began my research with Wikipedia for an overview and then looked for specific online and printed references, some of which contradict each other, requiring that I make my best guess about what the truth was. I now have two entire shelves on Regency society, medicine, customs, etc!
It sounds like your book would be a great hit with Jane Austen fans. What kind of response are you getting so far?
As is the case with most self-published authors, my difficulty has been getting my book into the bookstores. The large chains, such as Barnes and Noble, have a nationwide policy of not carrying self-published books. I am well known in our community because I am a practicing physician so I have sold quite a few books locally. In addition, I have purchased ads on a Jane Austen fan website called the Republic of Pemberley (www.Pemberley.com), and I have also accumulated a few reviews on Amazon.com which were all positive, so, all-in-all, I am pleased with how sales are going.
You published your book with iuniverse. Not all writers know about this company. Could you tell us a little about it?
iUniverse is a subsidiary of Barnes and Noble which provides print-on-demand services. In past times writers would have to purchase a certain number of copies of the book, but print-on-demand allows writers to publish without this minimum purchase requirement. Each book is in the computer and when books are ordered they are printed, which takes about three days. Publication costs are paid by the author up front and are very reasonable. They also have secondary services available for purchase, such as author websites, publicist services, marketing services, etc.
What made you decide to use iuniverse?
I liked the way iUniverse advertised their services, and their service representative was very knowledgeable and explained the different packages available so that I could purchase the one that was right for my goals. Lastly, iUniverse makes it very clear in their contract that the rights to the book belong to the author, who may sell them to a traditional publishing company if they are able to.
What do you see as the advantages of this kind of publishing service? Are there any disadvantages?
The advantages of self-publishing are that you can start on the publication process as soon as you want, and every aspect is under your control. The disadvantage of self-publishing is the difficulty placing it in bookstores. IUniverse guarantees availability at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com, but it is very difficult to get it in the bricks and mortar stores.
Do you have any advice for aspiring writers who might want to use iuniverse, too?
Make sure that you follow-up any e-mails you send if you do not hear back within a couple of days—I had a number of instances where I sent e-mails to my publishing service associate (PSA), who is the only person you have direct contact with, and she did not receive them.
Would you publish with iuniverse again?
Absolutely!
Thank you so much! And best of luck with your book.
