Thursday, November 9, 2017

How Can Authors and Publishers Make Better Decisions On Books?



Publishers, authors, editors, and other experts in the book industry make major decisions daily.  Literary agents determine whom they will represent.  Publishers decide which books to publish.  Book marketers strategize on the best way to promote a book.  Authors determine the best book to write and how to pen it.  But what informs these decisions and how do we know if their logic is flawed or not?

There’s no clearinghouse or government agency that can track such things.  Really, there’s no database kept to record how often a good choice was made.  Yet, decisions are made by professionals every day that could mean the difference between profit and loss, success and failure.

Often the key influencers on such decisions are based on:

1.      Desire to do something.
2.      Fear of failure.
3.      Potential pay-off vs. loss.
4.      Research and data.
5.      Analyzing the wrong or incorrect information.
6.      One’s track record.
7.      Seeing a model for what you plan to do.
8.      Ego and envy.
9.      Poor judgment.
10.  Something other than facts – intuition, passion, desperation.

Probably the number one driver of most decisions in life is whether one, by nature, is an optimistic or confident person or a negative-insecure individual.  Their level of education, street savvy and wealth will also play a key role in how choices get made.  Another factor is age and maturity – and overall experience in the area under discussion.

Do we test things out before greenlighting them?  Do we consult other experts or people we trust for advice?  Do we look to validate information that we come across or seek a new perspective on something we’ve done before?

History is littered with stories of underdogs who rose to the top -- and of leaders who seemed invincible but got toppled. Who is to say what works or what doesn’t?  Sometimes we need to take a chance and experiment – while other times we should stick to the odds and be realistic about how things typically play out.

It’s a delicate dance we each must undertake – to fit the facts and emotions into a soup to determine what is relevant or applicable to any specific circumstance and to then make the best decision at that moment.

Too often we make decisions based on relationships. Sometimes, we work with someone who was recommended to us, or to whom we have a connection, which is fine, but do we cloud our judgment based on these relationships instead of the merits?

Authors and publishers will make better decisions when they:

·         Really collect the right data and analyze it fear- or greed-free.
·         Take a chance and then support that decision.
·         Look to help each other and work together towards a common goal.
·         Stop demanding better results from poor choices.

Writing, publishing and promoting books can be fun, rewarding, and fulfilling.  It can also be subjected to tough decisions.  You can make better choices – all that you need to do is step back and look at things a little differently from how you had been.

There’s probably a book you can read about making better decisions.  Or maybe you can write or publish such a book.

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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog 2017©. Born and raised in Brooklyn, now resides in Westchester. Named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs

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