A New Way To Publish

How many people are opening book publishing companies or book stores these days?  Not many, but one book store is now becoming a publisher. Why not?  Everyone seems to be crossing into other businesses these days.

Books and Books, a great independent bookstore in the Miami area, launched Books & Books Press over a year ago.  It makes sense that every business leverage its assets like that.  Maybe we’ll soon see Publishers Weekly publishing books, Random House selling the titles of other publishers on its Web site, and the editors of major publishers writing their own books instead of editing those of others.

Or perhaps publishing will just be crowd sourced.  You can create a company, get funding, and find customers through the same means:  online.  Pubslush Press uses crowd funding to let readers choose what gets published. They launched in September looking for books to publish – but only if 2000 readers agree to buy it after sampling 10 manuscript pages along with a summary.  So far, no books have been published, but the concept is intriguing.

I have a better idea, but I’m not sure how it would be implemented. What if we had a reverse stock market approach to a book?  Instead of buying a stock and hoping a finite number of shares goes up in price, a book’s price would be dictated by how many people sign up to purchase it. 

Let’s say an author agrees to earn $100,000 for his or her book.  The book gets listed at $100,000.  Each time someone commits to buy the book, the price drops. If two people sign on, they each pay $50,000.  Four people?  $25,000 each.  Four thousand people?  $25 each.  40,000 people/ $2.50 each.  You get the point. 

By a certain date, those who pledged to buy the book would be allowed to back out if the price is too high; otherwise they buy in.  Once a book settles on a price, future sales would be only at that price or perhaps would be free – or all future sales would support a charity.  The idea is that others would encourage friends and family to buy the book to get its price lowered and the author, assuming he or she picked a good amount of money to make for his/her work, would be happy both with the money made and the fact so many people read his/her work and that excess sales would fund a charity.

It’s a little like reverse Ebay, where more people who sign up can bid the price down – and everyone wins!

Interview With Jessica Haberman, Acquisitions Editor, Globe Pequot Press, FalconGuides

1.      Jessica, as the acquisitions editor for Globe Pequot Press | FalconGuides, what are you looking for in the authors you decide to publish? FalconGuides is known for its cadre of outdoor experts who are active in their local communities and can help pinpoint the very best outdoor recreation information—the best hiking trails, climbing routes, bike trails, camping sites, surf spots, and more. In addition to authors with outdoor expertise, we value authors who can effectively market their work, whose enthusiasm doesn’t end when the manuscript is turned in. And we’re looking for traits that make outdoor experts great writers: an engaging voice, attention to detail, and a desire to exceed expectations. Authors who thrive on tight deadlines are especially attractive.  

2.      What do you love about being a part of the book publishing industry? I love being part of a community that adores books and that appreciates a dog-eared, cover-ripped, spine-cracked volume as much as any pristine copy shipped from the printer. I also love the way industry professionals have found ways to turn big challenges into opportunities to try new things and succeed with different types of projects and formats.

3.      Where do you see the book world heading? While I was speaking with our app developer partner, he shared a quote from Alan Kay that I think accurately describes our role in the book world right now: “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” I’m working on an app right now with authors of a field guide, and we’re finding many fascinating features of an app that actually make the content better and easier to search. Does it mean the end of the printed book? Definitely not. It’s difficult for me to imagine an outdoors industry, for instance, without printed books. Books get dirty and wet, pages get ripped. Climbers aren’t bringing their iPads and Kindles while they scale El Capitan. Kayakers aren’t taking their devices with them while paddling through the New River Gorge. Books can withstand a beating, and when they’re beyond repair, you spend $20 for a new one. Furthermore, when you’re in the backcountry, you don’t have a cell phone signal to download the latest hiking guide. That’s why we love printed books—but I expect they will decrease in number as many folks move toward electronic books and apps. Printed books will be around, but they’re going to be more expensive as the quantities decrease and cost of printing goes up.

4.      Do you intend to release enhanced e-books, and if so, what do you hope to add to them? We are examining different ways to package our content, and we are looking into enhanced e-books—specifically, e-books that contain video. We’re working on an initiative to acquire more video content, and we’re looking at lots of different ways it can enhance our written content. Although video is by no means a new format, it’s a new way for us to think about promoting our content.

5.      What advice do you have for struggling writers? It’s such a cliché these days, but “write what you know.” This is why our books work—our authors are writing about and researching (aka hiking, camping, climbing, etc.) their favorite activities. Thorough research is important. When I get stuck or I have trouble focusing, I dig back into the research. Chances are there is something I missed, something I can dissect a little deeper, or an interesting fact that inspires me to think about something a different way. Good research means a better book. With the amount of competition for printed books, yours really needs to stand out. In my work, it doesn’t mean it needs a fancy hook; I care more that the information is accurate and well-presented. I do look at unsolicited submissions. In fact, I just signed two books from the slush pile. If you do good market research and you have a good sense of what the publisher’s key areas are, you can craft a great proposal. Think broadly (readers want more than the hikes in your backyard) and know the competition. Show us your enthusiasm.

Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer, Planned Television Arts. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person.

Study Reveals Book Buyer Habits

Publishing research firm Codex Group released a study recently that showed how people are using bookstores as showrooms to browse, discover, or sample print books – and then leave the stores empty handed to buy the book online, either for less somewhere else, or the lower-priced e-book version.

Barnes & Noble will be happy – provided Nook owners browse its shelves and then buy the e-book through bn.com.  Apparently 43% of Nook owners browse in store and then buy the e-book.

But B&N and other stores don’t like that 33% of Kindle owners survey a store and then purchase the e-book via Amazon.

The study said 40% of those surveyed read books equally in print and digital formats, though, I find it hard to believe. I  think once you go e-reader you’re inclined to travel that path.  In any case, as more people get e-readers that number will likely change.

24% said they “only read in print.”

Could a delayed release of an e-book help publishers stop the showcasing practice?  A Book Industry Study Group report said an increasing number of consumers would wait three months to buy the e-book.

Though stores don’t like the showroom practice, it does show that e-book sales come as a result of the book stores existing, so if few stores are around to showcase, will that hurt e-book sales?

Interview With Author Jeff Rivera

1.    Jeff, you have written a number f books. What inspired you to pen the latest one? My latest book that is out, Forever My Lady was first inspired when I met a young man who became the model for my main character. I had just gotten out of living in my car with my family and my first job was working at Kmart. I knew the moment I met him that his personal story was amazing so I decided to create my own story with my own personal history and that's what sparked the idea. I self-published it, then it sold to Grand Central Publishing.

2.    What do you love about being a published author? I love the validity it gives you and I created a whole lucrative business around helping other authors both published and unpublished take it to the next level.  I love doors it opened and the friendships it created. It was truly a blessing.

3.    What advice do you have for new writers? Yes, if I could do it all over again, I would have written the sequel and the three-quel before I got the first book published. My advice is to stock pile as many books as you can and write each of them as series. Make sure they're the very best they can be before you launch them. Who cares if you land an agent or a traditional publisher anymore. You don't really need one anymore and if you want one, they'll come chasing after you after you've sold enough eBooks.  The other advice, I wish I had known was to build that mailing list of fans and keep in touch with them once a month. That list is gold and it's something even the Big 6 haven't been doing until recently.

4.    Where do you see the book publishing industry heading? 99% digital is where I see it heading. There will be still a few mega bookstores open in 5 years and there will always be those nook and cranny great indie bookstores that somehow crept under the economic downturn radar and stayed in business no matter what but in 2 years, half the books bought will be eBooks in 5 years, it'll be at least 70-80%. Some publishers won't tell you this on-the-record, but off-the-record, some will tell you that already, half their sales are eBooks. 

Libraries will continue to thrive and of course the Amazon direct to your door step businesses. 

Also, the really smart agents will shift to creating ePublishing departments, become coaches that get paid by the hour, and publicist-marketer-manager hybrids that take care of an author's career as a whole not just trying to hock their next book.  Some of the agents will become brand name personalities so that readers will know that if an author's book came from Agent X then "it's gotta be good". The more forward-thinking agents are already doing this. They have to, in order to survive and they'll do it with or without the AAR's cooperation.  

Now, don't get me wrong, there will be still a few of the 15-percenters left but those will be people who represent the Stephen King's of the world and the James Patterson's but even James Patterson only works through a flat-fee/by-the-hour publishing attorney. He doesn't have an agent anymore.  Pretty soon the James Patterson's of the world will experiment with an indie book "for charity" and when it takes off like gang busters, they'll slowly but surely start to wean themselves away from the Big 6 and just do it on their own, only licensing the print rights to them but ePublishing themselves.

5.    Why do you feel self-publishing has a better payoff than going with a mainstream, traditional publisher? It depends on the book. For now, YA, middle grade and children's books are better of with mainstream but as another Christmas wave of hand-me-downs comes down the pipe, kids will get into it. It'll take another 3-4 years before it becomes the norm, maybe a good 30-40% of kids will read it that way; depending on how quickly the Kobo's and Kindle's and Nooks of the world practically give away their readers in the schools for next to nothing.  Other genres, even celebrity books in the right case are often better of ePublishing and selling the foreign and pBook rights and film rights traditionally (for now).  I don't think physical books will ever completely go away. They'll be gift items and there will be print on demand and Espresso machines but I do think kids in ten years will laugh at us because we used to cut down trees, ruin the rain forest just to make books. (Maybe they'll start making them out of plastic that feels like paper or elephant poo books like one of Seth Godin's recent books)

Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer, Planned Television Arts. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person.

Book Reviews: The Good & The Bad

Every author and publisher wants reviews.  Good reviews help sell books and the ego of the author balloons. Bad reviews don’t help a book, though most reviews have a pull quote that one can retrieve something positive to use.

But don’t you wonder why two respectable reviewers can completely disagree over a book?  What value does a review have if two professionals can draw equally opposite conclusions?

One of my clients at Planned Television Arts recently received a glowing book review from one major book industry publication.  Another similar publication completely lambasted the book.  How is that possible?  Is one reviewer a fool for praising what another says is garbage or is the reviewer who claims the book is worthless missing its true value?

I guess the truth is reviewers are just readers and no one review or reviewer is the final judge.  Collectively, the majority of reviews should concur on whether a book is a win or a dud. Can you imagine if you have 10 bloggers who love a book and 10 who hate it?  It seems unlikely, but I guess it can happen.

There are really no official standards used to judge a book. Even the criteria used to decide what gets reviewed is a mystery to most.  With thousands of new books published each week, how does Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Choice, New York Times, Library Journal and others even decide which books to review, let alone recommend?

Interview With Leona Bodie, VP, FL Writers Association

1. As the vice president of Florida Writers Association, how do you assist writers?  The Florida Writers Association (“FWA”) is a totally volunteer-driven organization. As an officer, my two-year term encompasses leading, advising and supporting FWA activities. In principle and tradition, our mission is writers helping other writers. Like all other volunteers, I’m pleased to give back to this community of 1,200 members.  Whether it's articulated or not writers need the vision of using their gifts to make the world better. That’s the foundation of personal and commercial success. 

Besides serving on the Board, I’m a regional director for seven counties, including Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and the Treasure Coast. My association involvement began as a writers’ group leader for the Palm City Word Weavers, the local chapter I founded to concentrate on peer editorial reviews. Before too long, I took on several other roles that have brought me a great deal of satisfaction as well: being the public voice of the FWA website “contact us” inquiries for nine months and working for the past three years as a dedicated annual conference volunteer in the agent interviews area.

Yes, my roles are varied, but they have a commonality. They’re opportunities to stay connected to a statewide, nonprofit organization dedicated to the support and networking of both aspiring and published writers in any genre. I urge all writers to join the FWA. No matter whether they’re just starting, have finished a novel or have been published. Even if they live in another state! All writers are invited to experience the member benefits of social networking on our free FWA Network site, attend the annual conference, receive our quarterly magazine and our monthly e-Newsletter, and enter our writing contests. At our monthly meetings we offer: writing critiques, industry and FWA news, marketing and book promotion discussions and guest speakers. All writing levels and genres are welcomed.

2. Leona, you have a new book coming out, Fear the Whispers. What is it about?  This story, set in Miami and the Caribbean, has a strong sense of place. It’s about a murder on the high seas.

Madeleine Nesbitt works for the Island Windsong Cruise Line and sails the Caribbean. On the tall ship, she discovers more than unspoiled beaches. Submerged in the water and tangled in the anchor chain, is a male passenger, the body nearly decapitated.  On deck is the severed hand belonging to that corpse, a dark-haired man dressed all in black. A ring, an engraved pocketknife and unusual tattoo are Madeleine’s only clues, but they’re enough for her and forensic expert Vanessa Vidal to make a startling discovery: This violent death had a chilling prequel.

Ten years earlier, a horrifying double murder in the Bahamas leaves two people dead. Madeleine is the one person connected to that massacre still alive. A mysterious politician who knows a secret he dare not tell, a secret that lives and breathes in the shadows. Now Madeleine’s the target of someone, relentlessly evil. Cracking this crime, she must outwit an unseen enemy with years of cunning.

3. What do you love most about being a published author? It’s the fulfillment of a dream I’ve had since I was 5. Today’s options only make it more exciting. My books have taken me to places where I’ve never gone before.

4. What advice do you have for struggling writers? I like Sylvia Plath's advice, ". . . everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.  The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt." To this I'd add, today’s technologies level the playing field, but there’s no substitute for hard work. Whether you’re 6 or 106, as long as you’re doing your due diligence, you’ll succeed.  Stay connected, know the trends, take no shortcuts, hone your craft and write, write, WRITE. Be yourself and follow your dreams. Last, recognize that social media is a valuable tool, use it wisely.

5. Where do you see the publishing industry heading? Although the publishing industry is dramatically changing, how is technology rewriting the rules?

• E-Book sales will outpace print book sales. However, I don’t see the printed book format disappearing in the next 20 years. My perspective though is a bit different from my son’s. He advocates we ditch printed books in favor of digital alternatives. I still want the option to have both or at least the right to choose between print and eBook formats. However, when 2084 rolls around, I’d wager it’ll boil down to no choice at all.

• Recently, a 90-year-old fan surprised me when she flashed out her Kindle and downloaded my title with the flair of a twenty-something. For sure, the eBook revolution is cross generational, here to stay and its launch has upended the publishing industry. For way too long, just a few guided what came to market. Now everyone has equal access to publishing.  New devices and the means of consuming content are changing the industry. Today’s technologies mean mass market exposure is easier and faster with less investment for readers, authors and publishers. Another upside is more royalties.
• Between the Kindle and Nook e-Book readers, I see Barnes and Noble’s product eventually lagging in the doldrums with Kindle surging ahead in popularity. The latter will capture the market share. Thanks to Amazon’s focus on the continuous improvement associated with technology advances, their e-Reader capabilities will evolve. That innovation will be the key to growth, competition and sustainability.

• Consumers also want portability, a.k.a. convenience. So all future book content must be adaptable and accessible, no matter whether the public’s choice of delivery is via PCs, laptops, tablets or smart phones, e-readers, iPods, iPads or any other gadgets out there. I also predict digital publishers are racing toward multimedia content. To capitalize on tomorrow’s bleeding edge technologies, more traditional publishers and individual authors will partner with integrated media companies to release digital editions that are more akin to software than anything we seen thus far.

• Ever since the creation of this tagline, “CreateSpace makes publishing fast and easy with no setup fees,” Amazon now competes with print on demand companies. But Amazon is poised to become an even bigger player fueled by their Kindle sales and their intrusion into what’s always been traditional publisher territory. Amazon.com has already taught readers that they don’t need bookstores. Now it’s encouraging writers to cast aside their publishers.

• Is Amazon signing up authors, writing publishers out of the deal? New York Times journalist, David Streitfeld says, “Amazon will publish 122 books this fall in an array of genres, in both physical and e-book form. It is a striking acceleration of the retailer’s fledging publishing program that will place Amazon squarely in competition with the New York houses that are also its most prominent suppliers.”

Where do I see the publishing industry heading? My best guess is technology will continue to revolutionize the book industry!

Leona Bodie is currently Vice President and serves on the Board of Directors for the Florida Writers Association, a statewide, nonprofit organization of 1,200 members. Her career took her from high school English teacher to a biotechnology executive and president of the Greater Miami Society of Human Resource Management before she shifted to writing books. She’s the author of the digital short “Cocooned in Darkness,” the upcoming book FEAR THE WHISPERS, and her debut thriller SHADOW CAY, is the recipient of 4 literary awards. For more details about Leona Bodie and her books, please visit: www.leonabodie.com.

Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer, Planned Television Arts. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person.

10 Publishing Websites To Watch In 2012

      1.      www.writing-world.com

2.      www.writersdigest.com

3.      www.thepublishingschoolforwriters.com

4.      www.publishersweekly.com

5.      www.bksp.org

6.      www.publihsersmarketplace.com

7.      www.writing.shawguides.com

8.      www.pw.org

9.      www.selfpubexpert.com

10.  www.createspace.com

Print-on-demand service provided by Amazon.com

Other PODs include:

www.DorrancePublishing.com

www.InfinityPublishing.com

www.Morrispublishing.com

http://www.printondemand.com/

www.Authorsolutions.com

Interview With Author, Former Business Week Book Reviewer Hardy Green

Hardy Green is the author of two books, including most recently The Company Town: The Industrial Edens and Satanic Mills That Shaped the American Economy (Basic Books, 2010), which The New York Times called “a collection of important, well-told stories about the contradictions, inequities and possibilities of American capitalism.” A former BusinessWeek associate editor, his articles have appeared in Fortune, Reuters.com, The Boston Globe, Publishers Weekly, and the French newsweekly Le Point. He has taught history at Stony Brook University, from which he holds a PhD in U.S. History. He lives in New York City and blogs at www.hardygreen.com. His interview with Book Marketing Buzz Blog is below:

1.      Hardy, you are the former associate editor at BusinessWeek and from 1995-2009, you were the steward of the magazine’s respected and influential book review section. Do you miss reviewing books for them?   Yes, indeed, and I feel that I should have reviewed more books personally, rather than assigning reviews to other folks. Book reviews seem to be an endangered species these days--such a shame. Since my time at BW, I have written some reviews or book-related features--for Reuters.com, Fortune, AOL, and others. But it seems that the number of outlets is dwindling rapidly. Until recently, I have pitched reviews to various publications, and they often don't even have the courtesy to respond with an e-mailed form letter.

2.      What do you do now? I have become a full-time author, having written a well-reviewed (!) book, "The Company Town," and worked on several other projects. I am laboring to put together another project, either as a ghost writer or on my own. As with many, many people, the future remains uncertain.

3.       You are also a published author, so you know what it is like to promote a book. what do you see as the challenges/rewards for authors these days? Everything, I'm afraid. I suspect those who prosper will have conquered social networking, although that's a bit like organizing a political campaign from the grassroots. (I always think of George Washington Plunkett.) Good writers can get positive reviews in such places as The New York Times or The Economist, but may wind up with little visibility in the bookstores that remain. Meanwhile, I will admit that it's very fulfilling--at least in the short term--to be interviewed on television or NPR or call-in radio shows. It's a funny irony: Certain news outlets depend on book authors to generate content--meanwhile, their listeners have short attention spans, less money to spend on books, and overall are less inclined to purchase books.

4.      Where do you see book publishing heading, as an industry? Maybe to a better place. E-books, boutique publishers, niche audiences--as with the Web, there is the possibility that book authors will find more readers once there's clearly less emphasis on mass audiences. As with independent film-making, which has flourished with everything from The King's Speech to the plethora of currently available documentaries, it could be that book authors will be freer to find audiences that truly suit them in decades to come.

Information Fills the Future

The New York Times’ science section yesterday had an interesting story about reader predictions for the future. Predictions were made by various experts and the readers added their own and pushed the timeline of when such predictions would come true. None of the predictions specifically involved books, but many of them discuss how information will be found, used and stored. Here are some of the predictions from the article:

·         Google will invent a way, via the smart phone, to create real-time language translation so that anyone can communicate with anybody, face-to-face or from around the world.

·         Scientists will learn how to map a person’s brain and download their memories, knowledge and wisdom – and it may be that people can transfer this information to another body.

·         Electronic ink will become as flexible and as thin as paper.

·         Enhanced intelligence will come to humans with embedded processors and nanotechnology, a little like The Bionic Man/Woman or The Terminator.

·         Personalized descriptions of what and who is around you will be available, perhaps on a smart phone.  A “halo of data” will constantly accompany us, much like we can observe one’s size, color, height, age only if the information would be far deeper and more like life’s resume.

·         Perhaps the one concept, if it came to pass, is the one predicted for 2259:  collective learning that would make at least non-fiction books nearly obsolete;

“Old knowledge will not have to be learned; only new knowledge will need to be created.  Learning will become obsolete.  All known knowledge will be contained on a supercomputer. Individuals can download all known knowledge pertaining to any subject directly to the brain.”

Some predictions seem likely to come true.  It’s just a matter of when.  After reading these predictions you conclude that some will eventually happen, and they will be game-changers, making life today seem like the Stone Age.

Making predictions is almost as much fun as seeing them come true.. The tricky thing here is that predictions are made based only on facts of today’s world and fail to take into account what will exist in a few years, for those new inventions of say 2016 will then radically alter our development of other inventions.  How can one predict, with any accuracy, how something that never existed will not only exist but then will be expanded into something even bigger and greater?  My guess is that too many factors can weigh in on our potential progress – it’s not just our ability to think and create that will limit or boost us – it will be factors such as disease, war, economy, and natural disaster, and politics that will greatly influence (enhance or stifle) the kind of world that will exist in the future.

I do predict one thing that will come true: We will always make predictions and some of them will eventually come to fruition. Which ones and when is anyone’s guess.

Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer, Planned Television Arts. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person.

Holiday Cheer For Books

Barnes & Noble, America’s largest bookstore chain, announced Thanksgiving weekend sales in stores that were open a year ago were up 10.9%.  The independent bookstore trade group, American Booksellers Association, claimed a 16% increase for the week that included Turkey Day.  Most experts attribute this to the absence of Borders, which closed its doors earlier this year. 

PW Daily today said bookstore sales for the first 10 months of 2011 were up 2.0%, to $12.91 billion. For all of retail, October sales rose 7.2% and were up 8.0% in the January-October period.

Meanwhile, e-books continue to grow by leaps and bounds. In 2008 they only accounted for about half a percent of the marketplace. By 2010, they grew by 1000 percent and accounted for 6.4% of the marketplace. That is expected to surpass double digits for 2011. There is a bit of a gold rush now with e-books. The average price of an e-book that was purchased in 2010 was around $7.50 – based on 114 million e-books sold for 878 million dollars, but many books sell for a few bucks or pennies. USA Today reported today on some successful best-selling e-book authors. One author this year sold 800,000 books but only earned about $300,000, based on a cover price of just 99 cents.

Now, making more than a quarter million dollars for a writer is great, but considering the number of books that were sold is cause for alarm. It seems selling a book for cheap can work for some, but overall, it doesn’t bode well for the industry because there will come a saturation point where people can only buy and read so many books in a given month or year and the only books selling will be e-books for 99 cents, killing off the marketplace for many writers and publishers. It remains to be seen if new models will develop. Right now amazon, bn.com, Apple and /Sony are the main players, but if a new company and a new pricing model emerges, we’ll see new sales patterns.

Interview With Literary Agent Grace Freedson

1.  What does the Grace Freedson Publishing Network do?  Grace Freedson’s Publishing Network is a full-service literary agency, working with authors in all adult non-fiction categories—parenting, business and career, health/diet/fitness, cookbooks, animals and nature, science, etc. Because of my early experience in book publishing I also have a very extensive niche in the education and test preparation category.  I am well connected with all major publishers and they will routinely approach me with their internal wish-list because they know I represent high level authors with excellent credentials. I will work with authors from the inception of their concept until their proposal is ready for submission.  Once a contract is in hand I will review it thoroughly with the author and try to make any and all improvements that are in the authors best interest. Since my early years were in PR departments I will advise authors on PR and marketing opportunities as well.

2.  You have been helping authors for many years. What do you enjoy most about working with them? I never get tired of telling an author we’ve found a publisher for their work! I enjoy working with writers to shape their proposals and the fact that I deal with non-fiction allows me to learn something new every day.

3.  Where do you see the book publishing industry heading?  I think we must reconcile ourselves that books and their content will be available to the consumer in multiple formats. People learn in different ways. They want to be entertained and enlightened in different ways. As an advocate for the writer I want to make sure they are compensated for their work, their knowledge, their talent in an equitable manner, no matter how their material is being used.

4.  What advice do you have for struggling writers? Struggling writers must keep sharpening their skills and talents and be mindful of the changing publishing culture. They must work hard to establish their expertise in their field and cultivate a following. It’s also important to know your competition and what is already on the market in your genre.

5.  You used to acquire books for Barron’s Educational Series. What can authors do to convince an agent or an editor to convince them that their book should be published?  Authors must take great care in crafting a query letter and then a proposal indicative of the quality of their work. They must also be responsive to criticism and show a willingness to consider different views and perhaps revise accordingly.

Grace’s 5 Things Authors Need to Know

1)      Many authors will come to me and say that if they had a book deal they would then be able to get so many speaking appearances and interviews. In today’s publishing environment that no longer works. Authors must be establishing themselves as speakers and bloggers and involve themselves in all aspects of social media before they will get any attention from a book publisher

2)      It’s important to know your competition and position yourself appropriately.  Publishers actually like to see that there are books in your category that are being published successfully. You just have to provide the hook to make yours standout.

3)      The book publishing process can be very slow so authors need patience. Proposals can sit on the agent’s shelf or in the inbox for several weeks before it is read; it might sit with a publisher for months before it is read.

4)      Trends tend to change every six months. A category that is hot at the beginning of the year can lose steam in the heat of the summer. Authors need to monitor and anticipate trends.

5)      An author will receive differing and often opposing comments from every agent and every publisher that is contacted. Don’t keep trying to reinvent yourself each time this happens unless you truly agree with the comments.

Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer, Planned Television Arts. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person.

Class Is In Session

The new marketplace demands that authors and publishers pursue all possible ways to sell a book to and beyond bookstores.  One avenue is to approach schools and seek out sales opportunities. Though it can be a time-consuming process, reaching out to schools can yield benefits. Here are some things to consider:

1.      Contact the school’s PTA to offer an opportunity to present a workshop or reading of your book at a school function.  You may interest them in buying your book to resell as a fundraiser.

2.      Contact the school librarian to see if he/she will order your book.  Even better, align with a wholesaler, such as Overdrive, who sells to libraries.

3.      Contact the principal or school board to see if they will include your book either for class adoption or a recommended reading list that circulates to parents.

4.      Contact teachers to see if you can present to the students in their class.

5.      Send your book for review to School Library Journal, a key publication that reviews and recommends books for the school market.

Barbara Techel, an author who successfully sells books to schools, penned a book on the subject, Class Act:  Sell More Books Through School and Library Author Appearances. One of her ideas is to help teachers apply for a grant so they can fund the purchase of dozens or hundreds of books.

She writes:

“If you’re working with a school to bring your books into a program they offer, you may want to consider suggesting they apply for neighborhood, regional, state or national grants to help fund their efforts.  Better yet, do a bit of research for them to identify possible funders and offer to help in the process of grant writing.  You ARE a writer, they’ll appreciate your proactive stance, and you stand a good chance of selling more books for use in their school program. What’s not to like?

Resources to Locate Grant Funding

·                     Grants.gov-government funding sources

·                     FoundationCenter.org/findfunders – International grantors

·                     TGCI.com – The Grantsmanship Center

·                     Foundations.org – Alphabetical list of foundations and grant makers

Other tips to hit local school libraries include:

·         Go to the school library web site and search for the “Library Media Specialist” and contact them.

·         Contact a group called Friends of the Library, a non-profit organization with a mission to assist librarians, including finding speakers.

·         Set up a Google Alert for the following search terms, in hopes of finding new leads:

“Classroom author visits”

“Author visits classrooms”

“Author school appearances”

“Author talks at school”

“Author speaks to students”

Interview With  Fitness Author Loa Blasucci

For more information, see http://www.gotoloa.com/

1. Loa, what inspired you to write All Health’s Breaking Loose: The Handbook?  I just couldn’t find information that was complete, that told the truth about real beauty--managing the aging process and living with energy--out there. This book needed to be written. There are lots of books that compartmentalize our bodies using THIS vitamin or THAT exercise but, our bodies just don’t work that way. The truth is that beauty and health are two sides to the same coin. It started out as a beauty book and along the way turned a corner to “All Health’s Breaking Loose.”

2. What was it like working with Hollywood royalty such as Bob Hope, Sir Anthony Hopkins, and Raquel Welch, as well as Hugh Grant, Courtney Cox, and Christopher guest?  I’ve flown in Lear jets, stayed in the finest hotels in the world, groomed some of the most beautiful faces of our time, Oscars, Grammys, galas--it was an adventure I will always be grateful for. Some clients were lovely, some were annoying and exhausting—we all have our moods. Always the driving force—and what stayed with me more than anything else was, they--all of them--always expected the very best. Nothing less. I had to continually raise my own bar to keep pace. It’s a great way to work.

3. What do you like most about being a published author?  Being able to hand it to someone and say “it’s all in here.” And then seeing them again a few months later and finding a whole new person, almost unrecognizable—it’s so wonderful!

4. What has been the highlight of your 30-year career in beauty and fitness?  I love doing TV programs, talking about the body and the aging process and demonstrating fresh ideas on camera. So, after having spent so many years in film and TV production, it’s wonderful to step out from behind the camera and share what I learned—that beauty and health come from how you feel and what you carry around inside, then with food and science—you really can have the body you’ve always wanted.

5. Do you have any advice for wannabe authors? Writing a book is no doubt, an endurance test. Even for die-hards--capable of plugging away for years on end—but without self discipline, your writing project can go on for too long, your initial themes,/meanings/ ideas can grow stale or wear out rendering your material irrelevant. Set aside time to write daily. This will keep your mind tuned to creative ideas and they will flow more easily. The effect is exponential. This “flow” is what makes the book happen.  Writing daily increases the flow.

6. I watched your DVD, Mind Body Sculpting with Loa. You look half your age. How do you manage to stay so young? I eat super foods daily. Food really does create the body you have and I love to eat and eat well. I drink fresh juice and take a shot of wheat grass as often as I can. These two things really make a difference in the "brightness" of your complexion. I think of my body as thriving, I don't worry about aging--it is truly possible to feel better than you ever have and every day some part of you gets better. I focus on getting better rather than breaking down. The mind is the most powerful tool to reverse aging. But there is a lot to be said for self care! I put it all in the book so it was a complete guide to feeling and looking fresh. I have some in depth videos going up on YouTube that give tutorials about the care of the skin, etc. And thank you for the compliment.

Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer, Planned Television Arts. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person.