This video comes courtesy of Money Talks News
“Is it possible to buy two copies of your book?”
Special
Delivery
It was a special day when John’s first 500 books were delivered from the printing company, but the most surprising day
came a week later. At his local
coffee shop, a woman took note of the beautiful children’s book in John’s hand
as he waited in line. She asked where he had bought the book and with a grin
John admitted that he was the author. She paused dramatically and John had his
first taste of being a celebrity. “Is it possible to buy two copies of your
book?” she asked in awe.
Promoting your own book can seem
frightful or overwhelming. But once your book is released you must be willing
to do a lot of marketing. The most important task of a publishing company is
marketing. Many new authors expect their publisher will handle all the
promoting while they stay home writing the next book. But in fact the
publisher’s most valuable marketing tool is the person who wrote the book. The publisher expects the author to do
the marketing dance of book signings and interviews — it’s in the contract. So
even if a writer is lucky enough to find a traditional publisher, they will
still be sent out to market the book. The outcome is the same amount of work,
no matter which path the author takes.
# # #
Traditional Publisher or Self-Publisher?
Which
Route:
Tradition Publisher or Self-Publisher?
Traditional
PROS: the big time,
worldwide distribution and marketing, best opportunity for fame and fortune. An
advance payment up front, no investment by the author except time. Publisher
pays marketing costs.
CONS: Tons of
competition, a Literary Agent is almost a must. Hard for a new author to get a
good deal. Author gives up all rights and only makes about 5-8% of the income
from sales. The publisher decides about the look of the cover, the marketing
program and will expect the author to make story and text changes as requested.
Self-Publish
PROS: Fulfill your
dream, your book definitely gets published. You are the creative boss, making
the book exactly as you imaged. You own all the rights. Your profit per book is
much greater (50-70% rather than 5-8%), so if your book becomes popular you have
a chance to win big. When a traditional house wants to buy the rights to your
book, you will be in a powerful bargaining position. Writing a book, no matter
how many copies you sell, is an excellent way to jumpstart your career.
CONS: You pay for
everything. You coordinate everything. Fear can stop you. Marketing can become
time-consuming if you are ambitious. While a few strike it big, most
self-published authors don’t make very much money.
###
On KWMR Radio Talking About the Future of Self-Publishing
When my dad asked what my college major was going to be I said, "Dad, I want to be a Radio Disc Jockey." He said, "Math, science, business, math, science, business." And he was probably right. But I had a fun time learning about the world of radio, and then television, film, and photography.
Radio is unique in the media world because it is live. Sure, TV is live and so is the Internet but those sources mostly run pre-recorded material, as do some conglomerate radio stations. TV news broadcasts are live but they are heavily scripted and always look the same. Sports broadcasts on television are live, and I love watching them for exactly that reason. No tape-recordings or Tivo for me. I don't want to learn the world has ended from a message posted on my Facebook page.
I want to be there. I want to be listening to a radio and hear a living human being with an unscripted speech and a chatter like Garrison Keiller's that says, "All is well, though the world will be ending this evening, those of us in Lake Wobegon will carry on as we always have, the only way we know how…"
Radio happens right now. It's like the difference between a movie and a stage play. The movie is more realistic but the stage play IS real, with real people telling a story in real time. No one flubs a line or slips up in a movie. When a radio microphone accidentally gets left on the disc-jockey is just naked in the breeze. No do-overs in radio, just keep moving forward. It's alive, being experienced right now. No rewind.
Vincent van Gogh would have been smart to do some radio interviews. If people just heard him speak, without having to look at or smell him, they might have understood his genius a little and gained an interest in his art. Our voice alone is an excellent first impression. The audience fills in the rest and makes us look good. Every time the show's host, Lyons, said, "We're speaking with consultant Michael Saint James" I was impressed, then I remembered it was me and it made me laugh.
# # #
How Many Words in a Novel?
Word Count of a Novel
A flash fiction is generally defined as a piece of prose
under a thousand words.
A short story is more than 500 and less than 10,000 to
20,000 words.
A novella has a count between 20,000 and 50,000 words.
A work of fiction containing more than 50,000 words falls
squarely into the realm of the novel.
Novel idealica is 80,000 to 100,000 words.
Over 120,000 words is epic.
# # #
Only Six Publishers
There are only six major companies in the world of publishing. Without independent publishers these few corporations would control the knowledge-base for the entire world!
THE BIG SIX PUBLISHERS
· Random House
(owned by German Bertelsmann AG, largest English-language publisher)
· Penguin Group
(owned by British Pearson PLC, largest publisher in the world)
· Simon & Schuster
(owned by CBS, one of the Big Six media conglomerates)
· HarperCollins
(owned by Ruper Murdoch’s News Corp., one of the Big Six media conglomerates)
· MacMillan Publishers Ltd
(owned by the German Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group)
· Hachette Book Group
(owned by French Lagardére Group, formally Warner Books of Time-Warner)
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