Archive for the ‘Publishing’ Category

Sending your work out for review by agents and editors is a big and important step in the publishing process. Many times, what you send is the only basis for the big decision that has to be made. In most cases, the person on the other end doesn’t know you and can only judge your work by the contents of the package.  So, how do you make a good first impression? Review this handy checklist before you send out your work.

• Believe in your work. Be able to sum it up succinctly and passionately. If you’re not enthusiastic and confident about your project, you’re not ready to submit.
• Prepare your manuscript professionally. That includes using good paper, printer and standard formatting. Then package it per submission guidelines. Send only what is requested.
• Perfect your pitch/query letter.
  • Don’t try to sum up whole book in the letter. For fiction, describe your character, setting and obstacle. For nonfiction, present the problem and how your book offers a solution or new information.
  • Why you are uniquely qualified to write this book? What is your training, education and related experience?
  • Who is your audience? (Tip: Anyone who can fog a mirror is not the right answer.) Be as specific as possible.
  • Why have you selected this agent or editor? Do not send out submissions en masse with the same letter to everyone.
• Understand what an agent does and does not do. Understand publishing is a business, and the agent makes a business, not a personal, decision.
• Know the industry lingo: platform, competing books, audience/climate.

Demonstrate that you are knowledgeable about the publishing process. Contacting agents is more than writing a letter. You are expected to know how to format your letter and all the parts of the submission package.

Remember, the agent is not responsible for coaching you in the basics of the industry. The job of the agent is to sell your manuscript to a publisher and then negotiate the best possible rights and deal for you. If you can make the agent’s job easier by sending the material he or she needs to get that job done, you will increase your chances of acceptance.

You’ll find detailed instructions on how to write a query letter and prepare a submission package in 4Ps to Publishing Success: Get Your Manuscript Off Your Desk & Into Print. Available as a workbook or ebook, 4Ps to Publishing Success is a complete step-by-step guide to getting published. Or, you can purchase only the information you need in Chapter 7 of 4Ps Buy the Chapter.  Get a full description of all the 4Ps Products here>>>

I’ll admit to using the title question as a play on words. The “one sheet” I’m referring to is a marketing tool, not a single page of manuscript. Speakers have been using one sheets for years, but it’s a relatively new item for writers who traditionally have relied on bios, summaries, reviews and press releases to promote their work. If you’re not getting the results you want from your promotional efforts, you may want to try a new format for presenting your material.

A one sheet can actually be two-sided, but essentially it’s a brief summary that encapsules the essence of the author, book and topic or message. It’s a handy-dandy item that can be faxed (least desirable), emailed or downloaded from your website. You can mail or email one sheets to introduce yourself to the media, bookstores and/or any audience that you want target.

The content you include in your one sheet will vary according to your specific purpose, but it should contain the following:

1. Book cover image, ISBN number, retail price and ordering information.
2. Short synopsis or summary of the book.
3. Your photo, brief bio relevant to the book and contact information (website, email, phone number, publicist’s or agent’s info, etc)
4. Quotes or excerpts from reviews, testimonials or endorsements.

Additionally, you can tailor the one sheet to represent your other functions. Are you a coach, speaker or consultant? Add a section with the titles and descriptions of services, seminars or presentations you offer.

One sheets can be created in Microsoft Word or in graphic programs such as Adobe Photoshop or InDesign. The final document must be converted to pdf so it can be easily be read online, downloaded or emailed. Making a pdf also preserves your fonts so that even when the document is opened on someone else’s computer, it will still look the same as you intended. (A pdf is read online in Adobe Reader, a program that anyone can download for free and most people already have installed on their computers.)

Adair Cates, author of Live Your Intention: Ten Steps to Creating the Life of Your Dreams, has three one-sheets, each tailored to a specific audience. Adair has become a master at promotion on a shoe-string budget, doing much of the work herself. It’s paid off in a big way for her and the response she has garnered has paved the way to creating a video featuring her book and speaking. She has also posted video clip and photos from the many media interviews she has arranged.

Adair is not trained as a graphic designer or media specialist, so she invested the time to find out what other successful authors and speakers were doing and then did what she needed to do to get the same results. More often than not, publishing success requires learning new skills, stepping out of comfort zones and experimenting with new strategies. If you need assistance with the graphic presentation, hire a graphic designer to help you produce a document with a professional flair.

So, spice up your presentation with a new look. One sheets are a simple, inexpensive and effective way to transmit your message. And you may find that the new approach can make a big difference in the response you receive.

Who doesn’t like to hear the story of an individual succeeding in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds? Some like to call it The American Dream, but truly such accomplishments are examples of The Universal Dream, because the spirit that enables unlikely dreams to come true knows no geographical boundaries.

Next to author interviews, my favorite articles to clip and save (although today it’s more like print and save–or bookmark and save) are author success stories. I have real-time and virtual folders stuffed full of great things that have happened to writers and literature lovers.

Sometimes I flip through the articles and wonder, “Why them?” or “How are they different?” as I try to find the common denominator for success. I know from years of writing advertising and marketing copy that the key to success is tied to making yourself or your work stand out in the crowd.

One way to stand out is to start believing in your dream. Most people give up before they even begin. Don’t buy into the naysayer “wisdom” and “facts” that run rampant in publishing. Learn the difference between facts and truth.

Facts: Less people are reading books. Less people are buying books. Newspapers are eliminating book review sections. Small, independent booksellers are being swallowed up by the chains.

Truth: This is the best time to open an independent book store. As reported in The New York Times, Jessica Stockton Bagnulo graduated with an English degree from New York University in 2001 and went to work for a publishing company. Not feeling the joy she hoped the publishing position would bring, she went back to work part-time at an indie bookstore in the West Village where she had worked during college. Realizing that she was happier there than in her full-time position, Jessica decided to open her own bookstore.

But, in addition to all the facts stated above, Jessica also had no funds or connections that could help her raise the money she would need. So she took a class from the Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation. While researching how to write business plans at the Brooklyn Public Library, Jessica saw a Citibank-sponsored contest for business plans. She entered and took first prize–$15,000.

Unbeknownst to Jessica, a business group in another part of Brooklyn surveyed their residents and discovered what people wanted most in their neighborhood was a bookstore. When the group read of Jessica’s contest win in The Daily News, they contacted her and the meeting led to a fundraising party in the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Food and drink were donated by local merchants and the party was staffed by volunteers from the neighborhood as well as celebrities who read about the event and wanted to offer support. During the celebration, Jessica announced that she had a new business partner, a sales rep for Random House, who was making a sizable personal donation to the cause.

Perhaps Jessica was referring to “the facts” when she said, “Maybe I’m an optimist, but I see the other side of it. Which is that only a bookstore can inspire this kind of passion.”

Why does everyone love a bookstore? Because it’s filled with good stories! Love stories, adventure stories, how-to stories, fantasy stories, life stories and success stories. Support your local bookstore. Attend a book signing and buy the book. Then go home and write. Read in your genre and take time to learn about publishing. And if you believe (remember Tinker Bell), before long I’ll be cutting out the article about you and putting it my success folder.