August 2, 2007
Should Writers Worry about Blacklisting (At Writer Beware)
Writer Beware has a great post, Should Writers Worry About Blacklisting, a practice I've never really heard of beyond the over-the-top and infamous Joe Eszterhaus/CAA imbroglio where Michael Ovitz was quoted as telling Eszterhaus “You’re not going anywhere. You’re not leaving this agency. If you do, my foot soldiers who go up and down Wilshire Boulevard each day will blow your brains out.” I guess that's a little more hardcore than blacklisting when your agent actually hunts you down and blows your brains out, and so it remains Michael Ovitz's most memorable quote!
In the real world, there's no blacklist kept by publishers or agents, though I would caution writers that editors have long memories and they migrate everywhere, meaning the editor you cursed at five years ago may suddenly appear at the house you're pitching today. My advice: be smart, be kind and be thoughtful above all, but don't allow yourself to be bullied. Of course at Writer Beware, the context is always in the realm of "legitimate agents don't blacklist you." That's right, legitimate agents most often say no, sometimes may beg, but they probably won't threaten you :-)
Posted by matt at 2:39 PM | Comments (0)
March 20, 2007
Chris Webb: 10 Simple Ways Authors Can Help Increase Sales at Amazon
Wiley editor Chris Webb has launched a new blog. One of his first posts is Crowdhacking: 10 Simple Ways Authors Can Help Increase Sales. Check it out. This should be required reading for anyone who's about to publish a book, whether they self-publish or go with a big publisher.
In a word, to succeed at Amazon you need to help people find your book. So it's good to create lists and "so you'd like to" guides, and it's also a good idea to actively solicit reviewers. Your first reviewers needn't be limited to your mom and cousin, most of Amazon's top reviewers do this as an active hobby. Track someone down who reviews similar books and send them a copy.
Also, although he's buried down in the comments, if you'd like to find a great primer on how to promote your book online, using not only Amazon but also through your own blog and on social networks like MySpace and YouTube, check out Steve Weber's book, Plug Your Book: Online Book Marketing for Authors, Book Publicity through Social Networking. You can get a great sense of what's in Steve's book from his Amazon page.
There's a lot that you can do to help your book even if you feel like your book is treated like only one of hundreds from your publisher (it is) and often overlooked by your PR department (unless you're Michael Crichton it probably is).
Posted by matt at 9:04 AM | Comments (0)
January 29, 2007
Sending an eQuery? Add the agent (or publisher) to your approved list!
I just sent out a rejection regarding a really neat idea that wasn't right for me. And I received a nice form letter in response, to whit:
I apologize for this automatic reply to your email.
To control spam, I now allow incoming messages only from senders I have approved beforehand.
If you would like to be added to my list of approved senders, please fill out the short request form (see link below). Once I approve you, I will receive your original message in my inbox. You do not need to resend your message. I apologize for this one-time inconvenience.
No, that's okay, really, but thanks for the query!
Seriously, do you really want potential agents and publishers to jump through hoops to contact you?
Posted by matt at 1:43 PM | Comments (0)
January 25, 2007
Great Advice from Cory Doctorow on Creating an Author Web Page
Cory Doctorow suggests that authors use blogging tools as their most basic web page management tools, in Blogging Without the Blog, in Locus Magazine.
He writes --
The secret is to have the site redesigned around a blogging tool, like Movable Type or WordPress. These run on your ISP's server — most ISPs offer one or both. When set up correctly, they can do more than just serve as a publishing platform for your online journal or blog: they can serve as a powerful content management system comparable to the ones used by newspapers, universities, and online stores like Amazon..
Well worth reading and worth trying for any tech phobic authors.
Posted by matt at 4:20 PM | Comments (0)
December 4, 2006
Prison time for bogus literary agent Martha Ivery
Via Publishers Lunch, check out this article from Writer Beware, Martha Ivery Sentenced.
I had heard about Martha before but I wasn't aware of how much money she scammed. It turns out it was a lot, more than $700k from over 300 victims. For that she was sentenced to 65 months in Federal Prison, plus restitution.
Your best bet for avoiding scam agents? Legitimate agents don't typically advertise and they don't charge you reading fees.
If you do some research you'll learn to recognize scam agents when you see them: they often have the most generic names, no recent book sales listed, or no sales at all, and a long disclaimer about fees somewhere on their site (thou doth protest too much). They may advertise via Google Ads or in the back of Writer's mags. (Here's a hack which, unfortunately, is probably click fraud: if you want to fight scam agents, click on their ads, they have to pay for each click!)
You can research agents at Preditors and Editors or Writer Beware. Just be sure to check your references because an internet posting from one unhappy client does not necessarily mean an agent is a scam artist.
If you're not sure about an agency, read their website, google their authors, make sure they have a track record of sales to royalty paying publishers. For instance, I've started posting a few of my sales at Publishers Marketplace, but not all of them, but you can always find out more about my books at my website and you can even find links to my authors' websites and contact them yourself if you're so inclined.
I'm okay with companies that purport to do "research" on agents for a fee (except when they call during lunch) but much of this info is free or available at your local library. Plus it turns out that their research actually comes from the sites or books linked below.
Your best bet for finding a suitable agent is scouring sales data at Publishers Weekly, Publishers Marketplace, AgentQuery, or several of the great reference books available, such as Jeff Herman's Guide To Book Publishers, Editors and Literary Agents, which I'm no longer in since I've been on my own!
Perhaps your best strategy? Make friends with other writers. Although I read plenty of over-the-transom submissions, most of my clients come from referrals.
Posted by matt at 9:48 AM | Comments (0)
November 1, 2006
Do you have a "literary will?"
Perhaps you should. Who owns your publishing rights when you're gone?
Read Neil Gaiman's great post about this. Found via Boing Boing.
You can download a pdf of the sample will here --
http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/SIMPLEWILL.pdf.
I've finally subscribed to Neil's blog. I meant to months ago.
Posted by matt at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)
September 18, 2006
Miss Snark on The Sobol Prize
Being out, I missed a few things, but I'm happy to see that Miss Snark did the Sobol numbers Friday in her post The Sobol Prize is More than a Crock of Shit.
Yeah, save your money.
Posted by matt at 1:36 PM | Comments (0)
Prize for undiscovered, unpublished, unagented novelists?
On the face of it this is kind of an interesting idea, for an $85 entry fee you can apply for the Sobol Award, a $100,000 cash prize for a novel basically selected from the slush pile and then "represented" by the prize giving agency.
Neat idea, huh?
The Sobol Agency is committed to helping "top-ranking" writers find publishers. I didn't know writers were ranked, but if they were, don't you think they'd be published? The creators of the prize don't acknowledge that the entire publishing world is always on the hunt for that unique, brilliant, unpublished novelist.
I'm sure there are books that sneak through the cracks, but there is not a clique of editors and agents who are trying to keep you from publishing your novel because they're conspiring against you. They just don't think what you've written is marketable.
I tend to agree with the critics cited in this article, which likens this contest to a lottery.
Maybe I'm wrong and they find the next Confederacy of Dunces, but I'm not optimistic. In the meantime, if I were an aspiring novelist I would be writing, reading the best, and working on my craft. And when I was ready I would query reputable, established agencies far and wide for the price of one postage stamp per query.
Posted by matt at 11:55 AM | Comments (0)
August 8, 2006
Miss Deadline, lose sales?
Re my last entry, Beat Deadline, Faster Publication? Chris Webb asked "I'd be interested to hear your advice on the more common occurrence - when an author misses the deadline. As you know, this can really complicate matters with our bookstore partners - monthly open to buy dollars, promotions, etc."
The answer is worth its own entry. I blogged about some of this last year, You've Signed a book contract, now what?.
Let me say up front that this is a more critical issue with tech books because we're dealing with tighter schedules all around (in both writing and production), and often dealing with software that's in a state of flux itself, not to mention a crowded market of competitors.
With most non-tech titles the writing cycle is usually longer, the pub date is further removed from the manuscript deadline, and there's generally more room for correction throughout the process, which either gives an author enough room to deal with problems or enough rope to hang himself.
Tech publishers and writers are underappreciated for being the sprinters they are.
If a client is struggling with deadlines, my advice is to take the bull by the horns. Tell your publisher and agent what's up. Be honest and proactive, and ask for help if you need it. Suggest an alternate, more realistic schedule, and if it doesn't work for your publisher, by all means find help -- otherwise that's likely to be your last book with that publisher.
If you can be proactive and find a solution, you're ahead of the game. And if you can find good help, and you're a capable collaborator (i.e. play well with others, some don't) it's better for your cause if you can manage the co-authorship yourself (or with your agent) than to rely on the publisher. You may earn a rep as a great administrator, which in itself can earn you some future books (or series).
The only way some authors can pick up as many books as they do is because they think are able to delegate quickly and efficiently when it's needed.
Underpromise and overdeliver. If you feel an advance is too small to carry you through a project and that the deadline is unrealistic, say so at the start, not two months in. Saying no is often healthier than saying yes. And it's much easier to push back at a deadline before you have a signed contract.
At bottom, if you're late and you lose your promised ship date you always lose orders, you waste co-op money, you waste everything that your sales and marketing folks may have made possible for you. Now, if your publisher hasn't promised books to the stores, you may have a publisher who's content to wait for your book, but once you're in the catalog there's a certain amount of pressure.
And with a book that's time-sensitive, any sales you lose on the first edition are sales you will lose on all subsequent editions because the bookseller buy-in will be smaller as a simple matter of course (we sold "x" last time, we'll order "x" this time)
I represent a number of writers who are great at helping others in this predicament. So, for them it's an opportunity and they always have work if they want it.
Late deliveries are certainly a bigger problem with new authors, one reason it's often easier to work with professionals.
Publishers can also help this in some instances by being more realistic about the dates themselves, by paying proven high quality authors high quality advances, or by signing books further ahead of time, and not over-committing to customers based on bad data (see any recent blog entry on Vista or MS Office). In most cases I think quality trumps timeliness, but that only helps you when you haven't already promised books to the retailer based on a flawed or missed schedule.
Posted by matt at 6:56 PM | Comments (4)
August 4, 2006
Beat deadline, faster publication?
it looks like I'm going to beat my deadline, will my publisher move up my pub date?
Probably not. It might happen if there was a compelling reason, a breaking news story, for instance, but for the most part your publisher's resources are allocated among any number of books, and your publisher has to coordinate editorial, author review, production, and sales and marketing for every title (and staff is finite). Not to mention that the retailer expects to see you on a specific date as well.
It doesn't hurt to be early: you get a great rep, you have plenty of time for editorial development, but you probably won't speed up publication.
Posted by matt at 12:02 PM | Comments (2)
August 3, 2006
More great advice from Seth Godin for non-fiction authors
No sense in repeating what Seth can say better.
Posted by matt at 8:53 AM | Comments (0)
August 2, 2006
Worthless Agenting, from Jason Pinter
Young-gun editor, novelist and blogger, Jason Pinter, blogs on agents who can't keep up with his recent move. Linked.
Ouch. *
I've missed some folks who've recently changed houses by a hair here or there myself, it happens, but not like this. And I'm the prototypical agent from podunk, so if I can keep track of this anyone can.
With the advent of a little something called the Internet we have all sorts of tools at our disposal, should we choose to use them.
When I started out 16 years ago we kept everything on index cards and charted moves from Publisher's Weekly. Now, Publisher's Marketplace has become the gold standard for keeping up with moves, and you can always check Vista Publishing Industry Moves for free (!) updates and a free (!) newsletter.
* a client asked if this was me. No, I don't know Jason and I haven't pitched him anything, but I can still feel a little pain for the agent in question. The way I work I almost always send an email query ahead of the actual proposal, so I haven't actually mailed a hardcopy to someone who was gone already, but I have pitched folks by email who may have just moved. Many agents don't send queries ahead of time but I find that it saves time and I can focus on the editors who are truly interested in a project. It used to be that email was verboten but not so much anymore. Caution: don't do this at home, find yourself an agent.
Posted by matt at 8:27 AM | Comments (0)
June 28, 2006
How not to find an agent, part 2
You'd think these tips would be obvious but both came up for me today.
1) Please use only one email address, preferably something that sounds professional, ala "yourname(at)yourIsp.com." It looks bad if your email address keeps changing, and maybe even worse if your preferred email is "hotmama(at)hotmail.com. Try not to confuse prospective agents or publishers first thing out the gate.
Use the same sort of email address you would use if you were applying for a loan. You want people to take you seriously, right?
2) If you're sending equeries to multiple agents or publishers, please use common sense and add their addresses to your spam blocker ahead of time.
I'm sorry but I won't fill out the form online just to tell you I'm passing on your idea. And if I'm on the fence, having to jump through hoops will definitely kill any buzz I have for your project.
Posted by matt at 11:40 AM | Comments (0)
June 26, 2006
Five reasons I haven't responded to your Bookblaster equery
I'm entirely okay with equeries.
Feel free to email me a query any day of the week and I'll get back to you pretty quickly, though usually with a no, I'm afraid.
That's our siren song, you can hear agents in the distance whispering "it's not a good fit for me, perhaps another agent will feel differently..."
But if you Bookblast me, you won't hear even my no. Here's why --
1) You just sent an email to hundreds of agents, meaning
2) you have no clue who you're submitting to, meaning
3) you're not willing to do the research yourself to find an appropriate agent for your work, meaning
4) you're unlikely to find an agent who gives a damn what you're writing about, meaning
5) I'm not going to take the time to send you a personal email either, meaning,
special bonus #6) you've probably just wasted $95.
Hey, Writer Beware blogged about this earlier this year.
I think it's great that writers can use the web to find an agent. Our contact info and preferences litter the web, from Everyone Who's Anyone, to Preditors and Editors, to Agent Query. Best of all is probably Publisher's Marketplace.
Lots of these sites are free. My advice is to use them.
Posted by matt at 8:23 AM | Comments (1)
June 22, 2006
The Unconference for Dummies Authors has a web-site
The Unconference for Dummies Authors.
Fun idea. It will be great if they can generate some media for the authors in attendance.
I'm speaking Saturday, November 4, from 1:15 to 2:15. I'm to explain my "services and answer author questions."
I'm looking forward to it, I'm born to schmooze. Unfortunately, I'm just there for the day as we'll have a new arrival here and my "services" will be required at home.
Posted by matt at 8:09 AM | Comments (0)
May 24, 2006
The "for Dummies" Authors' Unconference
A murder of crows? An exclamation of editors?
When it comes to collective plurals you can add an "unconference of Dummies authors," scheduled for November 3-5, 2006 at the Hilton Hotel in San Francisco.
Conference organizer, "for Dummies" author Dr. Alan Rubin, has spearheaded a unique event that will include multiple author book-signings (limited to 45 authors overall) and informational panels (how to land a Dummies contract? What goes with yellow and black?). The schedule is sure to be filled out soon.
I'll be on the agent panel Saturday November 4 (I'm told the topic is "What are agents good for?!?").
If you'd like to attend and/or participate in book signings and/or sessions, please contact Alan asap. His contact info is here. Alan has specifics on cost but it sounds to me like they're only charging enough to book the venue.
I'm told that multiple Wiley execs and editors will also attend.
I like the idea that these authors are banding together to create a sort of media magnet and PR opportunity for the brand. Good luck!
The rough schedule --
Friday, November 3rd
8-9:30 PM No-host cocktail reception
Saturday, November 4th
9-10:30 PM Titles, contracting
10:30-10:45 Teas and coffee break
10:45-12:15 Marketing
1:15-2:15 Agents
2:30-3:30 Breakout sessions-5
3:30-4:30 Breakout sessions-5
4:30-4:45 Tea and coffee break
4:45-5:45 Breakout sessions-5
2:30-3:30 Groups of authors at bookstores
3:30-4:30 Groups of authors at bookstores
4:30-5:30 Groups of authors at bookstores
6:45-7:30 No-host cocktail reception
7:30 Supper
Sunday, November 5th
9-10:30 Ask the Expert
11-12:30 Ask the Expert
Posted by matt at 8:16 AM | Comments (0)
April 26, 2006
Amazon 2.0 -- Amazon Forums
I left out Amazon Forums yesterday, and most of the forums I've looked at recently were relatively quiet, but on listening to Bart Ehrman discussing his Misquoting Jesus on Fresh Air this morning I had to check out the Amazon page, and found a relatively active forum discussion, pretty much what you'd expect for a book that is sure to raise some controversy.
I haven't seen any authors participating on the forums yet but I'm sure they're out there.
Posted by matt at 8:15 AM | Comments (2)
April 25, 2006
Amazon 2.0
I spend lots of time at Amazon and I can see that the web 2.0 features keep coming. It's a good time for all authors to think about what "web 2.0" means and what they can do to foster their own success in a world where user generated content and user interactivity rule the web, and more importantly, the web-store. (Here's O'Reily's definition of Web 2.0, link)
Amazon has an increasing number of features that authors can take advantage of to sell more books and create a bigger "footprint" on the site.
Amazon Blogs
More authors are creating Amazon blogs and I'm sure the good ones are generating sales as a result. The main key to writing an Amazon blog is not overdoing it: that is, you have to understand that your readers are here to buy a book not read a blog, and you need to write accordingly. This is not the place for long drawn out entries about your personal life or about the process of writing your next book. This is the place to put your book in context for readers who might be looking at your competition. A great place to start is "Why I wrote this book."
Noah Lukeman, the literary agent, has a good one for his new book, A Dash of Style: The Art and Mastery of Punctuation.
The Amazon blog really gives you an unprecedented direct connection to your reader. This is your chance to stand next to your reader at the bookstore. The key is to be polite and not screw it up!
Don't like the cover copy? fix it in your Amazon blog. Feel that you're seeing malicious or wrong-headed reviews? address them in your blog. But one caution, take your time when you post to Amazon and treat it much more formally and carefully than you do your regular blog. The last thing you want to do is create a flame-war on your Amazon author page.
Personally, I don't like the fact that they've emailed any blogs, I think it's better that blogs stay where they belong, on the customer page and out of the customer's in-box.
Who's your competition?
Amazon has a relatively new feature that tells you what your customers are ultimately buying, although it's not enabled on all pages. Joe Wikert blogged about this recently and I think he has a good point: this feature may work to the greater benefit of bestsellers as shoppers may instinctively buy the book that others have already purchased with the feeling that other shoppers have some better info, and otherwise act like lemmings. (Here's Joe's post, Amazon's "What Do Customers Ultimately buy..." Feature link)
Customer behavior info also gives you a good sense of what you need to address in your Amazon blog. It's critical that you look at the books that your lost customers are buying and try to figure out if you're losing customers for reasons intrinsic to your book (your book really isn't the right book for that person) or reasons due to presentation (your blog might be able to address those issues, deal with malicious reviews, etc.).
Listmania, and "So You'd Like To"
This is one place where Amazon was an early Web 2.0 pioneer. By allowing their customers to post reviews, lists and essays on the site, Amazon enabled a huge source of free content and free advice. Likewise, except for maybe wanting to avoid appearing too mercenary, there is nothing preventing you from creating your own lists or "So You'd Like To" essays on Amazon. The more impressions your book makes, the better you're going to do. Again, the trick is to transcend sales and marketing hype and give customers information that is ultimately useful.
AmazonSpace?
Okay, this one is kind of cheesy and Amazon isn't about to overcome MySpace as a social networking site anytime soon, but I've noticed an increase in "AmazonFriends" and I note that AmazonFriends often review the same books or albums. If you find a tight community of AmazonFriends that review in your category it might not be out of line to reach out for a review.
AmazonShills
There are plenty of these too, reviewers that review for the sake of free books, paid PR programs, and the like. Sure, they can boost your stars and most readers probably don't notice them for what they are but as customers become more educated I think they will. I almost always check a reviewer's background to get an idea of where they're coming from, what else they've reviewed, etc. and you should assume your customers are doing the same. it's great to start out with five star reviews no matter what, but long term reviews from relatively disinterested reviewers are the best.
Amazon Shorts
I don't see these taking off yet but again this is another way to improve your footprint and presence at Amazon and certainly ebook sales will increase at some point. The tech market at least is seeing an increase in ebooks and pdf beta books and this is a good sign of things to come....eventually. (I consider this a 2.0 feature because you don't really need a publisher or agent to get to your readers through Amazon shorts, you can publish here directly.)
Wikis and Tags and Bears, Oh My
Areas where I haven't seen much activity yet but they bear watching. I'm still confused by tags but it won't surprise me if Amazon comes up with some sort of cloud view soon, and I do tend to surf clouds when I see them. The wikis seem underpopulated and underutilized so far, but this also could change again too as customers become more accustomed to wikis (and consider the ramp up to blog usage so far).
Added after my post: this link will take you to Amazon's "most-edited" wikis.
Posted by matt at 8:57 AM | Comments (0)
February 21, 2006
I can't help myself
I don't know what makes me do it: An intrinsic need for order? My undergraduate job at the library? My former job as a bookseller and clerk? Or the fact that I'm your agent and want your books to sell?
Whatever the reason, if I rep your book and it's currently in stock at the Borders in Folsom, California, it's definitely sitting FACE OUT on the shelves today.
Not only that I probably tidied up the entire section. Heck, I do that anyways. I worry that the clerks are going to ask me to "step away from the books."
What struck me yesterday, some wonderful backlist placements: about 25 copies of The Elegant Universe, and about the same for Into the Wild. I love both books and think that's just great.
Tell all your friends to visit your books in the store often, and if there's room, take advantage, shelve them face out!
Posted by matt at 11:00 AM | Comments (3)
January 23, 2006
Bummed out with "Grossed up" 1099s
File this one under Naked Conversations. We all live and learn in our first year of business, and I'm happy to share.
This post is for any agented author who in the past received 1099 amounts based on "net" receipts paid to the author by their agency. I know that many agencies have reported only net payments and that some may continue to do so, but in 2004 the IRS ruled that middlemen such as agents must report the "gross amount of royalties received from the publisher."
Therefore, each 1099 I send out will report gross amounts received from the publisher and will include a short note detailing total commission charged.
When you do your taxes you will have to deduct the cost of commissions or expenses paid to your agency from the gross amount reported on your 1099-MISC. I know that some of my clients have already experienced this.
Of course, like many IRS rulings, this seems to be a waste of time (accounting software is geared to net payments of checks actually cut) that creates more paperwork for everyone for little purpose.
As a sole proprietor, and even after talking to my accountant, I believed that I might simply be 1099ed by the publisher and in turn 1099 my authors on their net receipts, but once I got into the nitty gritty of creating my 1099s I learned that we must add another 1099 from the author back to me for any commissions deducted ($600 and over).
Every author who paid me more than $600 in commissions will receive a short email statement in the next day, ahead of their 1099, so that they can plan to 1099 me. I'm not overly concerned that I receive these before January 31 since everything's accounted on my end already, but the government must receive the 1096 form accompanying the 1099 by February 28.
I'm truly sorry for this inconvenience, and for anyone who has to 1099 me (or anyone for that matter), Gail Perry sent me this link to Filetaxes.com where you can submit a single 1099 with a 1096 at a cost of $3.79. For any of my clients who aren't generating 1099s already and that want to take this option, I'll repay you for any associated costs.
I was already planning to incorporate as an LLC after my first year and once the business was well established (it is) so this won't recur in the future.
If your agency or agent is incorporated, you needn't worry about reporting the commission payments.
Happy taxes everyone, and thanks for your patience.
Posted by matt at 3:55 PM | Comments (1)
December 7, 2005
Fraudulent Agent Pleads Guilty
By way of Publisher's Marketplace, here's a link to the story of Martha Avery, an "agent" who bilked at least 200 aspiring writers of $700,000 in fees.
For more info on agent and publishing scams you can always check out Writer Beware.
Bottom line: beware of agents who ask for reading fees, editorial fees, or marketing fees. It's relatively easy to do your research, online and off, and find an agent with a demonstrable track record.
Posted by matt at 9:26 AM | Comments (0)
October 19, 2005
How many copies do you have to sell to make a book worthwhile?
I just finished my teleconference with the folks at the Guerilla Marketing Association.
It was a great way to speak to a group of aspiring authors and reminds me I need to do so more often because it always brings up a number of good questions.
Besides the very common go-round on what goes into a proposal, how much your platform matters, and how can you protect your ideas, someone asked about the absolute metrics a publisher uses to decide on whether to do a book or not.
My answer was that "it depends."
For a big publisher of trade hardcover fiction (depending on the advance and marketing put into it) you're probably shooting for books that have the potential to sell 100,000 copies. But again, that depends on the initial investment and a title from more literary house may be considered successful at 20,000 copies.
For a computer book with a company like Wiley or O'Reilly, once you sell 20,000 copies I'd say the publisher is pleased and the author has made some money, no windfall, but enough to keep writing, and it's a book probably worth revising, especially as revisions typically take less effort that the first edition. For these publishers it's the books that eke out 10,000 copies per edition or less that are hard to justify, though they certainly break even from the publisher's perspective.
For a small house like Countryman, a Norton subsidiary which publishes travel guide books and outdoors titles, they may pay a commensurately small advance, but can do okay if a book sells 2000 copies in the first year and keeps ticking at that same rate for ten years. I don't mean to imply that an entire program can work if every book sells at this rate, but a publisher can support a backlist of many titles that sell modestly. Every successful publisher -- and agent for that matter -- needs hits and franchise titles or series to really grow.
For the author, the question is -- what do these figures mean to your life? If you write to make a living you need to shoot for books that sell well and create repeat publisher and reader business. But some of my clients are passionate about a topic and want to write a book that fulfills their hobby and passion in life, and are perfectly happy to do a book that will sell only 2000 copies per year but will backlist well.
That's the answer I gave on the call at any rate. Some books that may not be profitable for a professional writer may certainly add plenty to the life of a passionate writer who may find many intangible benefits in being published.
Posted by matt at 3:31 PM | Comments (1)
September 15, 2005
Dealing with Downtime
Ideally, you're moving quickly from book to book and you have very little downtime between projects, but sometimes professional writers will find themselves with a few weeks off. I strongly encourage my clients to do something with this downtime and I thought I'd share a few ideas.
Work on your wish list
Maintain a sort of "Bible" of ideas you'd like to tackle in the future, and be sure to share this with your editors and agent.
Market yourself as a technical editor
Let your editors know that you're open to tech editing. The pay isn't great but it's a good way to understand the tech edit process, make more contacts within a publishing house, and you might even find a gig helping another author finish his or her book. I sometimes help to find tech edit gigs for my clients, so be sure to tell your agent if you're up for this.
Work on your website
Blog, update your site, add an Amazon store, add a FAQ for readers, update your bio, or write bonus material and errata for your books. If you spend too much time head-down in your book projects, you may not be spending enough time marketing yourself and your site.
Attend a conference or expo
Some writers are conference regulars, others hardly get out of the house. No matter what you're doing over email, voice mail and on the web, it really helps to see editors face to face, and it's also a great way to network with other writers. If you haven't attended a conference in the last two years, you're probably overdue. Microsoft has a regular Publishing Summit, and O'Reilly has a great series of open source and emerging technology related conferences. You can always hit MacWorld, C.E.S. or larger expos as well. Even a local writer's conference can be a great way to get your creative juices flowing. But if you're planning on attending, network ahead of time, find out who will be there and be sure to set up meetings.
Read your competition
Spend time in the bookstore and read various authors and series. Find out what they're doing well and learn what you might do better. It amazes me the number of times I've asked a client about a notable competitor and find out they haven't read the book. You might find that your agent has an opportunity for you in the "X" series, and if you're already familiar with the series the entire process will be much easier. You might also find there are publishers which you've overlooked.
Pitch an article
Have an idea that might be a book but you're not sure there's a market for it? Pitch an article to a magazine or newsletter. At the least, write it up on your website, blog about it, or find some way to demonstrate that you've got a great idea and that people want to read about it.
Do a work-for-hire
"Work-for-hire" is rarely an agent's favorite phrase, but if you can put yourself in a position to help an editor on a book that's in trouble, you'll have a great long-time ally.
Network and teach outside the industry
If you've been focused exclusively on books, do some research and try to find some related teaching gigs: online training, video training, or teach an extension class at your local community college. Even your Chamber of Commerce needs speakers. Anything you can do to become a better teacher and speaker will pay off that day when you find yourself on the dais at MacWorld, Photoshop World, or even YogaWorld, for that matter (made that one up).
Spy on the future
You don't need to be Faith Popcorn to spy on the future. If you've been networking all along, take some time to talk to the product or marketing managers at your favorite software companies, find out what's coming down the pike, and work to add yourself to future product betas whenever possible. It helps to be the first person out of the gate with a proposal on a new product, so do everything you can to be there first. One of my favorite memories this year was sitting with a Peachpit editor at MacWorld while her cell phone went crazy with calls from writers just back from the keynote: these writers were in the right place at the right time, and even better they had their editor's cell phone number and knew when to use it.
Learn something new
Expand your interests, research a book on your favorite hobby, do something new. Enough said. Variety of interest and focus keeps your mind open.
Insert your ideas here
These are all pretty straightforward ideas. If you've got some good tips, please feel free to comment. Thanks.
Posted by matt at 8:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 29, 2005
Tip: your agent loves to be acknowledged
This is a puff piece, and contains details that may be embarrassing to the author.
Agents have a reputation as a necessary evil, or, as one friendly editor put it to me, "necessary weasels." And, though we live in great anticipation of every contract, advance check and royalty statement, there's nothing that quite warms an agent's heart like a sincere acknowledgement of his efforts.
I was reminded of this today when I had the pleasure of reading a gracious acknowledgement in a soon to be released book. As always, I'm tickled pink. And more importantly, I'll work hard to keep my client's regard.
Your agent loves publishing -- many of us are frustrated writers and editors ourselves -- and it's great to see our own names in print. So, yes, it's an ego boost. I have to admit that.
It's good advertising, too: potential writers often comb the acknowledgements to find just the right agent for their project.
If your agent did a good job, acknowledge her. You needn't be verbose, sincere will do just fine. I guarantee you that your agent will notice.
And be sure to thank your editors. I don't care how much you fought over the manuscript, preferential edits or delayed checks. Be polite and professional and give credit to your editor.
There's plenty of tussling in this business, good manners go a long way.
Posted by matt at 2:08 PM | Comments (0)
July 11, 2005
Fighting Writer's Block, part two
David Boles weighs in on the "myth of writer's block," quoting his mentor Dr. Howard Stein who urged his students to follow the "ass on chair" approach! Good stuff.
Posted by matt at 9:06 AM | Comments (0)
July 7, 2005
Dave Taylor on the "Myth" of Writer's Block
Dave has a short article on what he calls the "myth" of writer's block. he writes
Okay. Here's my key piece of advice for all new writers:
GET OVER THE WRITERS BLOCK MYTH
Really.
It's a job, you're a professional writer, and your task is to type, to put words down, to produce. Writer's block is for fiction writers and hobbyists who enjoy the anguish and angst of "the creative process". One of the very best things I ever learned about writing was from NJIT professor Peter Elbow's books, that WRITERS WRITE.
It's good advice. He suggests you sit down and write no matter what, and he suggests that blogs are a great exercise in this regard.
As an agent I see "blocks" that fall into a few categories, and this list doesn't include large life changes such as divorce, death in the family, depression and the like, which can derail or delay any book project:
Anxiety
It's one thing to pitch a book, it's another to actually sit down and write it. Authors are unique in that they work very much alone and can be their own worst critics, anxious about every little detail. Anxiety can be a great tool that spurs you on to wonderful things in your life, but if you let it overwhelm you, you won't get far. Save your anxiety for the re-write. Don't over-edit while you're writing your first draft, but be sure to edit it well before you send it along to your editor.
Know Your Audience
If you don't know your reader you'll be at sea. John Steinbeck once suggested to a young writer that he choose a specific person to write to, and he himself often wrote with his agent in mind. If you have a specific reader in mind you can engage in a much more meaningful connection, and with a more casual, direct voice. Pick your reader and you may find that the words flow more freely. Some of my clients have written to their mothers, isn't that a nice thought?
You Need an Outline
If you don't know where you're going, you're going to have a hard time getting there. If you're stuck on a chapter but have a great outline you can work on sections that are working for you and work back to the section that's troubling you.
Master Your Sample Chapter
If you do everything you can to nail your style and voice in your sample chapter, you'll have fewer problems along the way. If you're working with a house that requires a unique style or approach, do your best to understand what your editor needs from the get-go and the entire process will be much smoother, and you'll have a leg up on understanding your audience as well.
Posted by matt at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)
June 28, 2005
Non-fiction tip: Pitch your book before you write it
I see lots of pitches from writers who have written complete non-fiction manuscripts for all variety of books.
Sometimes that works out fine, and I've certainly repped and sold complete manuscripts. But for the most part, considering that the great majority of proposed books are not placed with a publisher, writing your book before you have a publishing contract can be a misuse of your time and energy. Most agents certainly think so.
I always encourage prospective non-fiction authors to focus their attention on first writing a strong book proposal and sample chapter, a process that in itself than can be a long haul, but very useful in terms of clarifying your purpose and answering the kinds of questions a publisher will have for you.
Don't kid yourself, a great idea or manuscript goes only so far, and publishers will look as closely at the market, the competition, your platform, and your credibility as they do at your writing sample. Not only that, even if your idea is just right for a particular house, you may find that they've already signed something similar from someone else who got in the door first with a proposal while you toiled away on your manuscript. Or you may find that an editor loves the concept but wants to tackle it in an entirely different manner, and so you end up re-writing anyways.
If you write for love -- and maybe even if you've pitched your book once and it didn't fly, but you're determined to see it published one way or another (on demand for instance) -- feel free to work on it, but don't assume that a finished manuscript is any more marketable than a great proposal.
The exception proves the rule disclaimer: there are a number of books that have defied this wisdom and were ultimately self-published before making it to the big time, The Celestine Prophecy, and Mutant Message Down Under among them.
Posted by matt at 12:45 PM | Comments (0)
June 20, 2005
The Varieties of Co-Accounting
Author Michael Thomsett posted a comment in a previous entry about cross accounting, he says--
I would recommend every author cross out the infamous "cross collateralization clause" - a mouthful, but important stuff. This is usually some reference like, "Author agrees to that any amounts due on this or any other agreements may be withheld from earnings..." This means that if you write two books and one doesn't earn out its advance, the publisher can apply earnings from the second book to the first.
This is good advice and it's probably one of the best tools in an agent's arsenal, something that authors might not learn on their own until they see lots of royalty statements. I thought I'd offer a little more perspective on co-accounting (a.k.a. cross accounting or cross collateralization) because it comes up in a variety of scenarios.
What is co-accounting?
Just what Michael said. You might have two books with $10,000 advances, but if one does great and the other poorly, you still won't see any money until the entire $20,000 advance earns out. The "tell" is when you see the words, "under this or any other agreement" in your contract.
Co-accounting is a tool publishers use to reduce their risk, and we all want to reduce risk so it's not really a surprise that it's in your contract. You should be able to remove or modify this clause, but some publishers will balk at this with a new or unproven author. If you decide you can live with it on your first book, you should certainly address the issue before you sign a second book with that publisher. You might also ask that co-accounting be limited to future editions of that book only.
Co-accounting of advances
Co-accounting of advances is usually a bad deal. There are rare circumstances where it might work okay: for instance, an author and agent may agree to cross accounting on a series contract because they are sharing the risk on a full list of titles, but this is usually balanced by a strong royalty and large advance.
Co-accounting and returns
Even if you strike the co-accounting of advances, your publisher will want to keep the right to take "overpayments" from future earnings. You can make sure that "advances are not considered overpayments," but it's unlikely that your publisher will say the same of returns. In general I think this is fair. Returns hover at 20% for computer books, and most authors don't expect to be paid for books that were subsequently returned.
Co-accounting and subsequent editions
If you're dealing with books that are revised and re-released every few years -- something that invariably triggers returns -- you'll find that your publisher may want to reserve the right to co-account your first edition against your second edition advance, and so on. Again, this protects a publisher from the cost of returns on the first edition.
What about reserves, don't they cover returns?
Sure, over time they should. But something funny can happen when you have both co-accounting of editions and a certain reserve clause. Ideally, a publisher would deduct the returns from your reserve, but some will try to deduct the returns from books with positive sales, and keep the reserve pool flush for a period of time. This invariably delays your money. 20% of your sales are held in escrow, as it were, and your returns are debited against your other books. It doesn't mean that you won't get paid, but it forestalls that payday.
Publishers without reserves
A few publishers don't hold a specified reserve unless they see a wave of imminent returns, but they do typically co-account advances and royalties against future editions to protect themselves from the returns on the first edition.
Success is your best weapon
In the best scenario, your books are doing so well that your returns are more than offset by multiple streams of income across multiple books that are not co-accounted. If you're successful as an author, you can convince your publishers to limit co-accounting and also to release reserves when they climb too high. Cross accounting clauses hurt the mid-list authors of oft revised books most of all, since some of these books are only eaking out their advances before they need to be revised and updated. It's worth asking whether they're really worth the effort.
At the very least, make sure you understand what your contract says, and ask your editor as many questions as you can about the royalty accounting and payment system up front, especially before signing that contract for book two if you didn't already manage it with book one. Otherwise you may not learn what your contract really says until you see the royalty statement in your hands.
Standard "I don't know everything disclaimer"
Your mileage may vary. This post is most germane to computer books, textbooks, and reference titles. Every publisher's system has its own wrinkle, and I'm sure I've missed a few points here. Please feel free to post your comments, questions, or pointers to other resources that may cover this topic as well.
Posted by matt at 8:30 AM | Comments (1)
June 10, 2005
You've Signed A Book Contract, Now What?
I'm stealing Wiley Publisher Joe Wikert's "Author Tip" category because it's a good one and something I should have been using already. Thanks, Joe!
It's sometimes a long road to signing a contract, but reaching a deal is probably the easiest part of writing a book, you still have to write it. (This goes for reference and tech and much narrative non-fiction, novels are usually finished before they're pitched to publishers, with few exceptions.) Here are a few tips for staying on track.
After you sign your contract, make sure that you have your publisher's guidelines, specs, templates and contact info. Ask for some sample books as well, this will help you to understand the series or approach your editor has in mind. Make sure too that your signing advance has been requested (it will take up to another 30 days to reach you), and that you get your countersigned contract asap.
Be proactive. Ask to be introduced to your project editor as soon as possible. Some acquisitions editors do double duty, and so you might skip this step, but make sure you know who you are supposed to deliver material to, and find out exactly what is expected of you. This isn't rocket science but sometimes an author will tell me that nobody has contacted him, he "didn't know what to do." Don't let that happen, if you don't hear from your editor make sure your editor hears from you.
Look closely at your schedule and decide, with your editor's input, how you plan to tackle the deliveries. Some publishers may want to see chapters delivered sequentially, especially for a tutorial, but if you're writing a reference you can often juggle your chapters and tackle the book in an order that makes more sense in terms of research and time management. One client of mine does this religiously and feels that he can cut several weeks from projects if he manages the sequence of chapters right. Some chapters require research that will inform the rest of the book: tackle those first if you can.
Review your outline, take your subheads down one more level if you can. Good planning and foresight at this point will save you lots of time on the back end. Some publishers like to revisit the entire outline at this point anyways.
Make sure you understand how your publisher tracks your delivery benchmarks. Some publishers go by page count, others by element (which includes chapters, front matter, back matter, appendices, etc.).
Be sure to remind your editor or agent when you hit your advance payment benchmarks.
Ask about author review. Will you see chapters back as you're writing? Or will they wait for the full manuscript before getting back to you? It's helpful if your publisher can at least tackle two chapters and give you feedback on those as you're writing. This can save a lot of time later and it's very common with tech books, especially with series like "for Dummies."
If you're drifting from schedule, even if you're only a day late, be pro-active and contact your editor and agent right away. Explain the delay and explain your strategy for catching up. Once an editor feels that a project is drifting unaccountably, they're much more likely to red flag the book and this will impact not just your current project but the next you bring to this publisher.
Schedule matters. If you lose ground you can lose valuable editorial resources, not to mention your planned pub date. It's a complicated job for a publisher to schedule editorial resources for twenty or thirty books in process. If you're late and your publisher can't adjust their internal resources, you're wasting time and money. If it's so dire that your pub date slips, you can lose pre-orders from the bookstores and often a publisher will simply kill the book at that point.
Agents are often credited with the work that goes into getting a deal but most of our work takes place while a book is being written: managing schedules, finding help, soothing egos, chasing money, and planning for the next project. Be sure to connect with your agent, no matter what. Although rare, after over 1000 books, I've had a client or two disappear into the ether, probably so depressed about their failure on a project that they can't face me, or their editor. That's no help. If you burn bridges in this industry you'll think that maybe you soured your relationship with one publisher, but you'll find that your project editor or acquisitions editor will work at many other houses before you're ready to give up your career.
Not to mention, if you don't finish the project you'll have to repay your advance. Stay in touch no matter what, the worst thing that can happen is that a book is killed quickly, before wasting everyone's time and money, and you may find that with your agent's and editor's help your project is back in the fast lane.
As you near the end of your manuscript you should start planning for publication. Ask your editor who you can talk to about sending out review copies, pitch the publisher some promo ideas and give them any ideas you have for selling your book.
While you're working on a book, always treat your publisher as if they were your only publisher. It will pay off.
Posted by matt at 8:51 AM | Comments (1)
May 20, 2005
Advice on writing a "for Dummies" proposal
Steve Hayes has posted several useful articles on wrangling a book with the "for Dummies" series. In part three he adds some excellent proposal guidelines.
Steve's on the tech side. The process is similar on the general trade side of the company, though it seems to take longer to get to the contract.
Posted by matt at 8:38 AM | Comments (0)