A Forward 4
The Power of the Book 5
Why Are You Doing This? 7
How Should You Publish–the Four Ways 8
What to Expect from Your Publisher 11
A Best-Selling Author
-Marketing Your Book by Marketing Yourself 12
“Writers Write.” 15
A Guarantee: You Win 16
What’s Last? 17
If You Want the Right Answers,
You Should Ask the Right Questions. 18
Biographies 21
Whenever I travel with Steven E, I’m struck by the number of people who will stop him to ask about publishing. Sometimes I think, “Does everyone want to publish a book?”
The answer seems to be, “Yes!” A published author has enormous credibility in our society, and many of us believe we have important insights, lessons and examples to pass along to others. Those ideas can be important and valuable gifts that can change lives – and even entire cultures. It has happened before.
Yet, many well-intended people seem to believe that the book is the end product; that books tend to sell themselves, and that publishing is closer to photocopying than it is to industrial manufacturing. As CEO of the Wake Up . . . Live the Life You Love organization, I know better. To paraphrase Mark Twain, the difference between having and idea for a book and having the published book itself is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.
And, even though he knows it better than I, Steven E will still stand in airport waiting rooms, seminar hallways and hotel lobbies to explain the book business, as best he can, to excited writers. After all, he learned the publishing business the hard way: by making all the mistakes possible. Happily for us, he never forgot his errors, the sources of help, or the joy of becoming a published author.
In this small volume, we will try to provide you with the basics on the subject of publishing your book. There are as many reasons to publish as there are authors, and more ways to publish than most people imagine. Our hope is that these few pages will provide enough information to help you ask the right questions and make the best decisions. If it is your desire, we hope you join the ranks of those who can say, “I’m a published author.”
I’ll see you in the bookstore.I awoke in the night with a revelation that I should write a book to help others. I had discovered my purpose! My dream soon became a reality, but it took years before I could publish a book that would accomplish my mission. Eventually, with the help of others, my dream evolved into the Wake Up... Live the Life You Love book series. Now, by publishing more than 30 titles, I have been able to help countless people find their own paths to peace, love and service by becoming published authors. These blessings have returned to me a hundredfold. Nothing brings me greater joy than helping others find ways to serve, and in turn, find peace.
I could never have imagined that publishing the stories of others had the ability to change lives. I want to invite you to embark on this journey into the world of publishing, as I did. Publishing is a bit like opening a restaurant; every new owner thinks he has a unique idea that will lead to fun and fortune. Many are rewarded by this confidence, and go on to enjoy the fruits of their imaginations, discipline and hard work. However, they couldn’t have done it alone. They needed the assistance of others: cooks and servers, bookkeepers, advertisers and menu planners to get going. It is the same with publishing.
The world of the published author is a very exciting place. The admission price is sound research, a good idea and a great deal of effort. No one who tries is a failure: The simple act of putting your ideas in print helps you sharpen the image of your belief. The thought that goes into making any book is part of a life-changing process. This process alone may produce profound and unspeakably valuable insights for the writer.
Successful writers rely on a team of editors, proofreaders, designers and critics, who test their works and lend a hand in the expression of the authors’ unique idea. It is my hope that you will come to know the joy and fulfillment of putting your own valuable ideas into print and the satisfaction of seeing that first beautiful, printed copy. When you realize that your ideas are out there, changing the world for the better, you will know the power of the book.
Let’s assume you are considering a book as the best medium to establish your name and to get your ideas out into the minds of others. Remember: There are various methods you could use to communicate ideas—you could make a video, start a Web site, send out e-mails or give a lecture, but these formats all have major downsides. While they are useful, they do not provide the ability to say you are “published,” and they don’t give the satisfaction that comes with saying, “Here, read my book.” To have a Web site requires a measure of technical savvy not all of us possess, nor are we are all talented public speakers. A book, then, is the perfect overall marketing tool.
Your message is the core of what you have to say. A professionally edited and proofed book has the virtue of permanence—it sticks around and can be referred to. With a team of practiced editors and professionals, a book in print can become a great marketing resource with a power like no other form of communication. This is exactly what Wake Up Publishing does—puts a professional team to work for you to bring your written ideas to industry standards.
The written message differs from spoken language in that it is much more restrictive: You cannot write a smile or a friendly, knowing tone of voice. You cannot punctuate with a shrug, nor can you increase the volume of your writing by using capital letters or underlining. You need help! A published author enjoys just that—other professionals who help organize, format, edit and proofread the manuscript, just as a mechanic works on a person’s car to make it run perfectly. The full service publisher is able to provide writers with these valuable resources so authors can, in turn, have an invaluable marketing tool—just like this book!
But, I bet you’re wondering what a “full-service publisher” might be. Let’s learn.The world is full of writers. They keep journals and write letters and e-mails that readers often find truly delightful. However, of these many writers, very few are actually published. For most of us, there is an aura that surrounds published authors. We assume that published authors are very profound and have some great message to give the world. If this weren’t the case, publishing houses would not have chosen their works, right?
While the above assumption and the view that one must have a book to achieve a key objective in the 21st Century may be correct, those ideas are shortsighted. In fact, there are many ways one may become a “published” author. In the digital age, there are means to publish your ideas, from video to print to Internet. The critical issue is the form your message will take—the way it will be distributed.
If we limit this field of choices to print, it’s easier to understand. For the sake of simplicity, there are four major ways an author can have a book-length set of ideas put before the reading public: through the traditional publisher, selfpublishing, the equity press and the full-service press.
The Market and the Traditional PublisherThe total number of books published in the U.S. is difficult to estimate. Some 250,000 new titles enter the market each year. About 55,000 of them come from traditional publishing houses such as Random House and Simon & Schuster, as well as the many “imprints” associated with each. The traditional press receives hundreds of thousands of inquiries (query letters) and manuscripts each year. Of the much smaller number of books actually produced, only a few will make a profit for the publisher. This explains why the traditional publishers want to work only with authors who have agents, a proven track record of sales, and are “marketable.”
Self-PublishingSelf-publishers account for most of the remaining books. Only about two to three percent of these will actually make money for the author or publisher. This is because “the press” is often simply a manufacturer of books. The responsibility for editing, marketing, promotion and sales falls on the individual author. Sales and marketing are often beyond an author’s range of experience. The end result is usually dusty boxes of books stashed in a garage.
Don’t misunderstand: Some of the most famous literary works of the modern era have been self-published, such as Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. However, in our day, a poor image of self-publishing remains. This is because the printer is often concerned primarily with whether your check clears—not necessarily the quality of the material or its marketing. The company may not check your grammar, syntax, choice of words or cover design. There is no one to assist the first-time author with marketing strategy, title selection, distribution, title registration, and so on.
Equity PressThe third option, the equity press, is for those who can express their messages in less than book length. In this method, a number of authors may join together to split the costs of publication. They enjoy the benefit of editors, market advisors, designers and publicists. They may also enjoy the benefit of a large press run without each author having to buy 5,000 copies. Multiple coauthors in a work also means more than one person will be promoting the book. The downside, again, is that the chore of marketing rests on the shoulders of the authors. There may be money saved, more books and more people involved in promotion, but the marketing task is still the primary responsibility of the writers.
The Full-Service PressFull-service publishing may be the best overall possibility. It falls between the traditional press and self-publishing. Here, the author’s work is juried as if it would be submitted to a traditional press. However, where many works are unsuccessful with the traditional press, the full-service press (FSP) provides specialty editors to bring the manuscript to industry standards. The traditional press is working for its owners; the FSP is working for the author.
The author support services are designed to create a book interior that will lead to the fulfillment of the author’s personal or business objectives. The FSP can also produce a custom exterior cover as well as media kits to get you started in marketing the book. In that way, it is similar to the traditional press.
The goal of this method is not just to get a book to press, but also to educate and partner with the author along the way. An FSP offers courses that follow the publishing industry and the writing and marketing of a book. Utilizing an FSP allows the author to maintain control of the work before, during and after the publication. In short, authors can publish according to industry standards while maintaining the rights to their works. While authors are responsible for the payment for services, many are more successful in transitioning to a traditional press after their FSP books reach a certain sales level.
“The term publishing means, in the broadest sense, making something publicly known. Usually it refers to the issuing of printed materials, such as books, magazines, periodicals, and the like. There is, however, great latitude of meaning, because publishing has never emerged, and cannot emerge, as a profession completely separate from printing on the one hand and the retailing of printed matter on the other.”
– The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.A good publisher is invaluable to the author. This can’t be stressed enough. A good publisher will provide you with the necessary services to make your good writing even better. The full-service publisher provides the author with tremendous advantages, and you need to know what to expect.
You want to produce longevity for your name, which becomes a brand as soon as you have a book that is a marketing tool. It’s of central importance, then, that your book be professional and up to industry standards. Because most of us do not have skills in marketing, editing and design, your publisher can provide all of this for you.
For instance, at Wake Up Publishing, your manuscript is received and read by the staff. After a thorough reading and content consideration, your work will go through several edits, with dialogue between you and our editors to discover the best options to fit your goals. After necessary alterations and edits have been made, your piece will be go to the proofreading and design stage, where our designers will give the book the best look available.
Compared to the traditional press, this is a relatively simple process, with few strings attached. It allows you and the editorial team to work together in order to allow your work to keep your unique “voice,” while the traditional press would retain full rights to your work and change it as the publisher deemed necessary. The vanity press will publish your work at your command, but may not provide you with a team to help make your work “top notch.” In short, you can expect the full-service publisher to be the simplest, most certain way to assure you are an established author, in print, with a book you are proud to use to market yourself.
“ Anyone who believes he can edit his own writing also believes he can remove his own appendix.”
– Robert Valentine11
As an author, you are not merely selling a book; you are marketing yourself and your services. Your book is a marketing tool that will allow you to establish brand equity. In this section, we will explain marketing and help you define your target market, your “product,” and what will benefit your book in regards to your target market.
Too many authors end up with only a book – or thousands of them, sitting in the garage, gathering dust. If you have no idea how you will be personally involved in actively distributing your book, you have made a serious miscalculation before you start to write. All authors, no matter whom they select as a publisher, must be actively involved in selling. That’s why they are called “best-selling authors.”
There are four “P’s” of marketing. These four elements are sometimes referred to as the marketing mix, which are used in the development of a marketing plan.
ProductThis refers to the specifics of how the good or service addresses the user’s wants or needs. This is important, because most people think the book is the product. In fact, your product is you. What can you do that would fit a specific want or need? How can someone benefit from you?
PriceSet a price for the book. An excessively high price for a book can limit sales; a low price may suggest lack of value—or you may sell all your books too soon for too little. Your publisher’s marketing division can advise you, but a walk through any good bookstore will give you sound ideas. 12
PlacePlace is the channel through which the product is sold, including the sales environment, region and segment. Where will you sell your book? How will you sell your book? A corner location is good for a market or bookstore, but with the advent of online selling, your “store” might be a Web site with complete information and reliable service.
PromotionMethods of promoting the product include advertising, sales promotion, publicity and personal selling. Your book will promote you. How will you promote your book?
According to the American Marketing Association, marketing is “the activity, set of institutions and processes for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners and society at-large.” In terms of defining the target audience, don’t waste time and money advertising to people who will not buy your book. Find out who your market is.
Target marketing is identifying and communicating with groups of prime prospects. Know them. Define your market as far as circumstances allow and necessity requires. Reliable marketing research explores age, gender, income and net worth, ethnicity, geography, lifestyle and family status. When you sat down to write, of whom were you thinking?
The final consideration is the product itself. A product is a set of ingredients that comes together to create a bundle of benefits for the consumer. The product is not just a physical object: It is the embodiment of ideas and satisfactions that a user experiences. In this situation, you are the product and your book is the tool to reach your target audience. You are a unique individual with many facets, talents, ideas and experiences.
How can someone benefit from knowing you and the bundle of benefits that encompasses your unique self ? Your book is your chance to really show your talent, experience and life-lessons you have to share. Your book is the physical embodiment of those intangible parts of you and your personality. Your book will allow others to benefit from you.
Who will benefit? Those people are your target market.How will they benefit and will they understand the value of the benefit? That is your brand equity.
And you? You are the brand.
If you have not developed the habit of writing every day, you have cheated yourself of the challenge and the benefit that comes from “working the craft.” Challenge yourself to be disciplined to put words on a page. The simple act of writing, and writing regularly, helps to develop your skill as a communicator. Greater skill in expression leads to a greater ease with which you generate coherent thoughts, creative ideas and clear organization.
Writing every day is a habit, and it is one which every good writer must develop. Writing coach Kimberly Holland Tetrev tells her authors that it takes 21 days of repeating an action to modify behavior and to create the consistent, mission-connected conduct that we call “a habit.” A good editor will not only encourage you to write regularly and purposefully, but will help you to develop the skills, the outlook and the behavior patterns that will make you more successful.
Once you finish a work—perhaps even an entire book—the job of writing has only begun. A successful book will need your help as a publicist, a reviewer and as a good business communicator. Once the book has made you known in your market, you will need to write articles that may be requested by magazines or Web sites. You will have to write lectures or seminars, and the supporting materials that accompany such opportunities to spread your message. Soon, your new opportunities will lead to new learning, and another book may tax your writing skills—and habits—even further.
So, don’t miss any opportunity to write. Create the necessary time by waking a half hour earlier than you are used to doing, or by disciplining yourself to forego unproductive TV time. It may seem difficult at first, but I challenge you to ask, “Am I a writer, or a TV watcher?” Will extra sleep spread my message to a wider world?” Finishing a book is just the start of your writing career.
Writers write; end of story. 15You have not failed. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. You have now expanded your skills into a greater arena and put your name in public view. Rather than failing, you have succeeded in creating a work that expresses your own unique view of the world. That is exactly what you set out to do when you determined to be published.
Even if you never went ahead with publishing your work, you would still have an incredibly precious prize: You would have gone through that most important part of the publishing process—thinking, researching, writing, editing and revising your message. You would have engaged in all the steps that enable you to perfect your message. Then, in whatever form you choose to make it public, your most valuable product – your message – would be substantially better than when the process began.
Surprisingly, that seems to be the response of many of the authors with whom we work. They thought the “big payoff ” from all this work would be a publication. What they discovered was this: The benefit of working with editors and designers is almost impossible to calculate. It tests the truth of your message and opens new windows of expression for complex thoughts. There is no substitute for the variety of perspectives and the experiences of others.
Once you assemble your publishing team, you will find yourself to be a better writer, a better marketer, and a more powerful agent for change in the world.
Huckleberry Finn concluded the record of his adventure by saying, “...if I’d a-knowed what a trouble it was to make a book I wouldn’t a-tackled it and ain’t a-going to no more.” Mark Twain’s young hero learned what so many authors have learned since his time: Publishing without the assistance of others is a daunting task! That’s why the full-service publisher is here to give you the tools you need to put your ideas in print.
We hope our little book has given you the knowledge and confidence to ask questions. As Lee often says, “You need to learn enough to ask the right questions and do enough to understand the answers.” If you are considering publication, Wake Up Publishing wants to answer the questions probably running through your mind, such as “What challenges will I face? What is the process, and how long does printing the book take? What are the costs? Who retains the rights to my work?
We are confident we can assist you to achieve the recognition you deserve—by becoming a published author. Feel free to contact us to learn more, but whatever you decide, don’t give up the dream. Make your message public and watch the world change.
If you send it as a finished design, that’s how it will be printed. If the cover designer did not design the interior of the book, you are bound to have a few “fit” problems. You should establish a relationship with a publisher or printer, and then make technical decisions.
2. How much will it cost?Who knows? It’s like asking, “How much will a house cost?” There is a large number of matters which influence the cost of the book – such as How many copies do you want? What kind of binding? Are there illustrations? Is it professionally edited? Is the cover to be designed, and is it color? If color, is it two, three, or full process color? What about paper quality? What is the book’s size? What is your production schedule?
3. How long will it take before I get my book?There’s an old saying in publishing, “A book is like a baby– it’s going to take at least nine months.” Until you answer all these questions, the printer cannot answer yours: Is the manuscript finished? Edited? Proofed? Illustrations provided? Permissions secured? How long will it be before you stop making changes? How long before you pay for the printing in full? That’s the tip of the iceberg.
4. How much will I make per book?How much you will receive from a purchaser depends on whether the book is sold in retail, to a wholesales or jobber, or to a book club. How much you “make” depends as much on your costs as it does the retail price on the cover. For instance: How many will you give away as review or promotional copies? How far do the copies have to be shipped (distribution can be up to 50% of printing costs)? What discounts will you offer for bulk purchases? Will you pay a commission on sales? How much will advertising cost you? Promotional travel? There’s more.
The Questions Authors Should Ask Most frequently
1. Do I retain all rights to my work?
3. What is my role in the publication process? 4. What are the steps in the process by which my writing will become my book?
5. What could delay my book’s production? 6. What will the publisher do to help me market the book?