How to Get Published, Part 2: Are You Ready to Be an Author?

Melissa!  I'm only two in and I can't believe how generous and informative this is!  THANK YOU, THANK YOU! 

--Kim Gane of

http://glutenfreegratefully.blogspot.com

www.WestCoastPosse.com

Very inspiring!. Just this morning, I sat down to write which recipe is in the next for shooting. I feel it so true about self publicity. I really have to learn that. Thanks for the tips, I am sure going to have this saved

Cooking 4 all Seasons ( http://www.cooking4allseasons.blogspot.com )

Spice your Life! ( http://spicingyourlife.blogspot.com )
( http://www.srivallis-cosmos.blogspot.com )

Can I be really frank? I think the self-published part is what scares people away in terms of sales. Especially for non-fiction. With fiction, an editor can really polish and make a book shine, but it is possible to write an enjoyable story without an editor--after all, what else is a blog?

I'm willing to pay for self-published fiction, but I'm not willing to stretch that to self-published non-fiction unless it came from a very trusted source. The reason being that self-published books don't go through a vetting process and it's that system of checks and balances, of showing your research and having it fact-checked that makes people trust published books more than self-published books. Which is not to say that a self-published book can't be great and factual, but the reader doesn't have any industry seal to go by.

Is there a reason why you went self-published in the first place? It's actually not too late to go the traditional publishing route and it sounds like that may be a best step if you're not seeing sales where you want them. Many agents and publishers will work with a book that has already been out there in self-published form and proven itself. It sounds like you have an amazing platform and this would be a great next step.

Of course, there could be a multitude of reasons for why you don't want to go the traditional publishing route that I don't know about. So disregard if you've already made up your mind about that. But if you're open to it, I think you should pursue a reprint in a more traditional medium.

Melissa writes Stirrup Queens ( http://stirrup-queens.com ) and Lost and Found ( http://lostandfoundandconnectionsabound.blogspot.com/ ). Her book is Navigating the Land of If ( http://thelandofif.blogspot.com/ ).

This is great information -- I would have loved it before I released my first self published book last year! It's been such a learning experience and having someone to answer questions is so invaluable. I'm finding the marketing aspect to be almost a full-time job (in addition to my regular "day job"!) There are so many avenues to pursue. What have you found to be most effective? I've been interviewed on Lifetime Television, have won a gold award for best new book, am doing my own radio show, am getting paid to speak and have had many, many radio interviews but I don't see the book sales where I'd like them! I'm curious what you think works best.

Beverly Flaxington

Blog: Dealing with Difficult People ( http://dealingdifficultpeople.blogspot.com/ )

Book: Understanding Other People: The Five Secrets ( http://www.understandingotherpeople.com/ )

While not the most important part to writing a book, it's definitely the most important part to marketing a book.

Melissa writes Stirrup Queens ( http://stirrup-queens.com ) and Lost and Found ( http://lostandfoundandconnectionsabound.blogspot.com/ ). Her book is Navigating the Land of If ( http://thelandofif.blogspot.com/ ).

That's exactly the missing link I've been looking for - thank you for your excellent article. I can't wait to read more.

Peace,

Suzann

Print On Demand - Is It Right For Your Book? ( http://tinyurl.com/2fmaxvx )

from

Women-Lifestyles.com ( http://www.women-lifestyles.com )

You have no idea how helpful this is for someone like me! My education/professional background was NOT in writing so I am really starting from scratch. Looking forward to the rest of the series.

http://www.lilkidthings.com

It's not premature to collect agent names or start making a spreadsheet--in fact, in a few posts, we'll talk about doing that and I think people should get a head start and do that on a slow day because once you're done, you're going to want to get moving. BUT I would caution writing any of them until you have either a complete manuscript or a completed proposal. The reason being that if they request the manuscript, you need to be ready to go.

Melissa writes Stirrup Queens ( http://stirrup-queens.com ) and Lost and Found ( http://lostandfoundandconnectionsabound.blogspot.com/ ). Her book is Navigating the Land of If ( http://thelandofif.blogspot.com/ ).

Thank you for your thoughtful response! I do have a few acquaintances in newspaper, local tv type media. I see what you mean about calling in favors. I do have one more question. Is it premature to be thinking about agents etc., before having a book finished? I haven't done a lot of the actual book writing as of yet. It's in there, but not on paper. Do you need a finished product to move forward?

http://www.lilkidthings.com

What's that saying: you got to be in it to win it? I'm not saying that all people who put in 100% will see the realization of all their hard work, but if you step out of the game, it's pretty much a 100% guarantee that you won't see your book on bookshelves.

Media contacts are usually people who write within the media--hopefully movers and shakers. For instance, do you know anyone at a nearby city newspaper? Who works for a morning news show? More the people who get the information out to the general public. But that might be someone who works behind the scenes such as the guest scheduler at a television show. Or your neighbour's sister might work for the magazine that would be the best fit for your book and she offers to introduce you so you can count that as a possible connection.

Bloggers count too, and if you could put together an online book tour, include that and make sure you also add what sort of traffic those bloggers get--seeing the reach of those bloggers will be more important than just listing possible site names. Agents and publishers are working quickly and they want stats they can use to judge vs. having to look up 20 sites and guess the traffic.

I'm going to talk about this more in the future installments, but you're literally trying to make finding information or understanding information as easy as possible to stave off a "no" and possibly get a "yes." When things aren't clear enough, it's easier for an agent to simply say "no."

Melissa writes Stirrup Queens ( http://stirrup-queens.com ) and Lost and Found ( http://lostandfoundandconnectionsabound.blogspot.com/ ). Her book is Navigating the Land of If ( http://thelandofif.blogspot.com/ ).

I have been checking every day for your 2nd post and this gets me even more excited! I've been blogging since 2003 but only developed any kind of readership in the past couple years. I have been expanding my platform and that is my main focus right now. My question is, when you say media contacts, do you mean PR people? How about other bloggers?

Also this? "Rejection shmjection! Who cares what others think as long as I get to that end point of seeing my book at the local bookstore?"

SPOT ON.

http://www.lilkidthings.com

Thanks for the info. I'd much rather an honest response. I have started to investigate getting some articles published into some of the smaller local papers. It's great to get an idea of the kind of steps you need to take to best prepare yourself. Thanks again :)

Michelle Roger writes for Living With Bob (Dysautonomia) ( http://bobisdysautonomia.blogspot.com/ )

Great! I am excited about this Melissa :)

Lynda Lippin - Pilates, Fitness, Reiki

COMO Shambhala Retreat at Parrot Cay Resort, Turks and Caicos Islands

lyndalippin.com ( http://www.lyndalippin.com )

I think you've hit on something here. Just as there is a big difference between book writing and book publishing (book writing is loving the story you are telling and telling it for telling sake. Book publishing is thinking ahead of time if you have a marketable product and then tailoring the writing to fit the market), there is a big difference between blogging for blogging sake and blogging with a goal in mind. You can love blogging in both cases, but if you plan to publish, you will need to either have your blog organically become popular because it's beyond brilliant or helpful OR you'll need to get yourself out there so it becomes popular with a little push.

Melissa writes Stirrup Queens ( http://stirrup-queens.com ) and Lost and Found ( http://lostandfoundandconnectionsabound.blogspot.com/ ). Her book is Navigating the Land of If ( http://thelandofif.blogspot.com/ ).

It sounds like you're in good shape. Keep doing what you're already doing.

Melissa writes Stirrup Queens ( http://stirrup-queens.com ) and Lost and Found ( http://lostandfoundandconnectionsabound.blogspot.com/ ). Her book is Navigating the Land of If ( http://thelandofif.blogspot.com/ ).

yeesh, I'm in trouble.

I may write a lot, more off-blog than on-, but I clearly do *not* have an internet presence to speak of, nor followers, never mind media contacts. I've got thick skin, and am comfortable with self-promotion, and I *make* the time I need to write. But I've got a lot of work ahead of me.

Thank you, Melissa, for the link to your blogging advice. I have been blogging because I like doing it, and it helps me get out of ruts in my off-line projects, but I guess I need to put more into it than words.

I resist that, though, because I don't want to get caught up in worrying about comments and hits and such. I'm not sure how I feel about businessifying (so not a word!) my blog--not in terms of monetization, but simply building my readership.

I need to be thinking about restructuring my mindset and approach to my blog while still paying attention to why it is that I do it in the first place.

~Margaret

Just Margaret ( http://maurhoffbarney.blogspot.com )

So if I have may blogs, websites, platform, celeb testimonials on my site already, and several magazine articles about my work in addition to active twitter, skype, fb, digg that should be good for platform?

Well, blog stats is just one part of a larger platform. The overall platform is the more important part to focus on and blog stats are just one way to show reach. It's also the easiest one to take control of and build.

I'm going to be frank; it needs to be a lot more than that (and again, the number people are looking for differs from publisher to publisher and agent to agent) but what else do you have going into your platform? Could you get articles published in a helpful space (it doesn't need to be the New York Times--it could be a niche magazine that would reach the intended audience for your book)? Do you have a lot of media contacts?

The point is not to get discouraged, but instead to look at what you have, see if it's enough to get started, and if not, to start working on reinforcing your platform so it's strong enough to stand on when you're sending out the book to an agent.

There are people without blogs and few contacts and no writing experience who get books published. But because it's an uphill battle even with all necessary factors in place, I'd still take the time to build that platform.

Melissa writes Stirrup Queens ( http://stirrup-queens.com ) and Lost and Found ( http://lostandfoundandconnectionsabound.blogspot.com/ ). Her book is Navigating the Land of If ( http://thelandofif.blogspot.com/ ).

I have no idea what numbers are good and bad. I have a blog (which I have been transforming into a book) and often get told I should write a book, which although flattering I don't know if anyone would publish it, let alone buy it. I know you mentioned numbers but I have no reference point to work on. I have probably max 10 comments on a post yet if I look at my GA stats I get almost 2,000 visits (excluding all those quick 2 sec veiws where people look and move on) a month and I have had a consistent rising trend over the last 3-4 months. Whilst on a personal level I'm chuffed, I wonder if on a professional publish a book level, it's really just a drop in the ocean of what I would need to even rate a second glance.

Michelle Roger writes for Living With Bob (Dysautonomia) ( http://bobisdysautonomia.blogspot.com/ )