| Publishing Coach Weekly |
| Page: Writing, Publishing, Promotion Tips from Your Book Publishing Coach |
by Diane Eble
"How do I get published?" is a question I'm often asked as a publishing coach. People have an idea for a book, and dream on being on a talk show like Oprah''s. So, how do you take those first steps toward the dream?
The first step is to have a great idea. This may not be as obvious as it seems. Your book has to be a combination of a couple of key ingredients:
1. It has to have great appeal to a certain audience (not everyone, but certain specific kinds of people). A book on fitness in general is not as publishable as a book on fitness for working moms. The more general audience books are for the well-established names in a field, not for new authors. (This tip alone could make you more publishable.)
2. Your approach to your topic has to be fresh in some way. "What makes your book unique?" is a key question.
The second step is to understand publishing today and how it works.
Basically, it boils down to: Having a great idea, and building a following of people who like you and your idea. If you have enough of a following, a traditional publisher will take the risk of publishing you. Or, you need to publish it yourself, and glean a following through marketing.
Publishing has been undergoing a massive sea change, especially in the past 3 years. These days it's very difficult to take the traditional publishing path, in which you get a publisher to take on all the costs of publishing and pay you a royalty (percentage of sales--usually 7.5% of what they get after they give the bookstores their 55% discount). Publishers just don't want to take the financial risk of publishing an author unless the author can practically guarantee they can sell a lot of books, because the author already has a large following (called an author "platform").
But while that old way of publishing is crumbling, a lot of alternative ways of getting published are springing up. More publishers are offering "publishing services" in a sort of partnership model of publishing whereby publisher and author share the costs. That's one of the things Terry and I talked about in the interview I mentioned, which you can listen to after signing up at www.askaboutpublishing.com. (I send you to the Ask page to sign up just so you'll see how a cool way to market books works. It's call the Virtual Book Tour, and I do these for publishers and authors.)
In our teleseminar on blogging (see below), Cathy Perkins told the true story of a friend of hers who has a blog and wrote a post that the Los Angeles Times contacted him about. The LA Times interviewed the blogger, and his name and blog url were included in the article. Traffic to his blog increased ten times, and who knows where that exposure will lead.
Nowadays, to the media, it's less important if you have a printed book than it used to be. If you have a well-visited blog that looks professional and people visit and comment on, you are seen as an expert.
If you are or want to be an author, you must have a blog. There's just no way around it. Your blog needs to be the hub of all you do.
The blog--not the book.
As I said on the teleseminar, the blog is going to be your primary means of showcasing your expertise. As Cathy said, quoting Alex Mandossian, "An author does not make money writing books. An author makes money explaining books."
If you have a book, you're really fortunate. Use snippets from your book, and let people know there's more in the book.
If you haven't written a book yet, you're still fortunate. You can write your book on your blog, getting feedback along the way, testing which pieces are most interesting to people. Cathy also mentioned another person who is writing her book on the blog, a chapter a week (over several posts), and people comment that they are eager for the next post. The author is also changing what she is going to write, because of the feedback from her blog readers.
Welcome to the world of Web 2.0, folks, where the rules are being rewritten. Why not be one of the people determining what those rules are?
Get yourself a blog--now!
For more help on blogging:
If you're not sure where to begin, I highly recommend taking Cathy Perkins's Wordpress Workshop. But hurry--because of the personal attention each student will receive, class size is limited. Also, it starts soon--January 18. Check out the details here.
Special Guest:
Cathy Perkins, "The Wordpress Wizard"
In this interview with Cathy Perkins, "The Wordpress Wizard," Cathy and I discussed how blogging offers a special opportunity for authors. Find out why every authors needs a blog, what's involved with blogging, how you can make money from your blog, and more. We also answered questions. Listen in, and do check out the resources mentioned!
Special Bonuses when you sign up for The Wordress Workshop:
|