Chip MacGregor .com

Kindles, Advances, and Self-Publishing Questions

I've been out on the Left Coast, enjoying some sunshine and renting a house, but neglecting my little corner of the blogosphere. (Hey -- we've now had more than a half-million people check out this blog. Pretty cool, considering I have very little actual "talent" for anything.) Some of the questions that have come in lately...

Andrew asked, "Why does everyone in publishing prefer the Sony Reader to the Amazon Kindle, when it seems like the marketplace prefers the Kindle?"

It's true. The publishing houses all got Sony Readers for their editors. In this age of green thinking, editors no longer have to lug home a big sack of dead trees. Instead, they download everything to a Sony Reader, and can take home all those bad proposal ideas in one small tool. But why the Sony over the Amazon Kindle? Three reasons, I think... (1) Price: the Sony is $299, though you can find them on sale for $250 fairly easily. The Kindle is $359, with no discount, ever. (2) Design. The Sony looks and feels like a book. It has a nice cover to it, and the device is metal. The Kindle is plastic and ugly. It feels like a toy. Thank God they got rid of the stupid plastic cover, since all they did was break off. (3) Formats. The Sony will give you Word documents, PDF's, RSS feeds, and  blogs for free. The Kindle will charge you for each of those. (Though they will give you that bastion of ignorance Wikipedia for free! Barf.) So publishers went with the Sony.

The Kindle has two big advantages to it... (1) Wireless technology. Since it works like a cell phone, you don't have to hook the device up to your laptop, log on, and download book as you do with the Sony. Great advantage. (2) Marketing. Amazon has spent millons selling everyone  on the advantages of the Kindle. I like them both, though I use the Sony. It's been said that the Kindle is basically a portable bookstore, whereas the Sony is more of practical a tool for readers. I don't think you'll go wrong with either.

Laura wrote to ask, "Are advances on the way out? I read that publishers are going to stop giving author advances."

To say that book advances are out is an overstatement. This crappy economy has certainly affected the world of books. Publishers have trimmed their lists, are taking fewer risks, making fewer deals, and offering less money. In addition, we're seeing a few imprints try to change the way they're doing business, so we're seeing things like non-returnable books and no-advance deals happen as a way to find some successful strategies to spread the risk. This is a time of change in publishing -- we saw the distribution patterns for books change significantly over the past six or seven years, and now we're seeing the production and economic patterns change as well. That's to be expected. My guess is that we'll see more no-advance deals in the future. But no, publishers have not stopped the practice of offering a writer an advance-against-royalties as any sort of widespread policy.

Carol sent this: "If someone chooses a 'no advance' deal, does the publisher refrain from pushing sales as they would with a book that had a healthy advance?"

Here is a perfect example of the way publishing economics have changed. Traditionally, I would dissuade an author from taking on a no-advance deal. In a situation like that, the publisher had very little at stake. They had their hard costs (ink/paper/binding) and overhead (editorial salaries, etc), but there was no advance to earn back, and therefore no real motivation to push the book very hard. After just a few thousand copies, the basic costs are covered and the publisher is earning money. While I realize most publishers will deny this, I've seen it happen where publishers would basically refuse to put any marketing efforts into a book like that. As my former boss Rick Christian at Alive Communications liked to put it, "There's nothing keeping the publisher awake at night, wondering what he's got to do in order to make a profit." When a publisher has taken a risk, he or she HAS to work overtime in order to make the book successful and have the risk pay off.

Yeah, that may be overstated a bit, but the basic truth is that I think it's hard to find a no-advance deal that has received a lot of marketing and sales effort aside from bestselling authors who felt they didn't need an advance. (One publisher I know used to crow to prospective about his bestselling author never asking for an advance, which basically glossed over the fact that the author already had a loyal readership and had earned hundreds of thousands from previous books, so "paying the light bill" wasn't exactly an issue for her.) Again, an advance is an investment the publisher makes in your book. In my experience, the smaller the investment, the greater the tendency for there to be less commitment to making the book succeed.  

Gwen wants to know, "What do you think of authors sending proposals to online-only book publishers, rather than traditional book publishers?"

I haven't been a fan up to this point, since I don't see any of the online-only book publishers having much success. However, I expect that to change. The dwindling number of slots with regular publishers, combined with the growing interest in e-books, means that we'll probably see some online-only book publishers find some success in the next few years. But no, I don't know who that will be yet.

Gene wrote this: "So help me out... I can send in my manuscript to a regular publisher, wait 12-to-18 months, and have it release from a publisher who just axed his marketing staff. Or I can finish my manuscript, get a decent-looking copy self-published at Lulu, and have it for sale on Amazon in a couple weeks. Can you convince me to be patient and go the traditional route?"

Here's my response: Most self-publshed books fail to make the author any money because the author doesn't know how to market and sell what he or she wrote. You may be an expert in crime scene investigations, and able to put your experience into an interesting manuscript, but if you can't get word out to prospective buyers, all that expertise will not get noticed and will go to waste. (And, in my view, simply posting another book to Amazon's list of more than three million titles doesn't qualify as "marketing.") The issue usually isn't with the book itself, but in the marketing and distribution of the book that causes it to fail.

On the other hand, if you have a big online following, or you regularly speak to large groups of people, or you have media opportunities like a daily radio or television show, then you might be able to self-pub and do fine. However, that's not usually the case. Instead what happens is that an author talks to publishers about his sure-fire idea, but gets rejected. He then turns to agents and tries to sell them on his wowzer manuscript, but gets rejected. He shows up at conferences to pitch editors directly on his wonderful project, but gets rejected. So... he assumes that everybody in the industry is wrong, that his idea and writing is too brilliant for the average fenderhead working in publishing to recognize, and he self-publishes. He turns in a manuscript, the vanity press up-sells him to hardcover, and one happy day he receives 1000 copies of his book to place in his garage. After giving away 25 copies to relatives, and selling 15 to friends at church, he then waits for the stampede of readers to purchase the remaining 960 copies. He chats it up, maybe buys some ads, and does what he can to move all those books he paid for. Three years later, he wonders what he'll do with the 922 copies still collecting dust, since the cover and tone of the book is beginning to get dated. They get donated to garage sales, offered as free giveaways, and eventually turned over to a recycler to be turned into pulp.

I've noted on here that I have successfully self-published a few books. But I only did so when I knew exactly how I was going to sell them. The huge majority of self-pubbed titles lose money for the author. Sometimes large quantities of money. And then the word doesn't get out anyway. That's why you may want to consider sticking with a publisher who knows how to market and sell books.

In a similar vein, Caroline wrote, "What if I'm doing a book on a very current subject and don't want to wait two years to see it in print? Let's say I'm dealing with a political situation or a new technology -- something that's actually NEW and not a re-hash of old ideas andI don't want an agent querying and showing it to others. Should I consider self-publishing?"

In my view, the same rules apply as my previous answer. If you have a very current subject (let's say you want to do an instant book on Rush Limbaugh's speech to the RNC, or you're planning to do a handbook on "how to get the most out of your Kindle"), you might ask yourself if a book is the best way to get the word out. Would an article on the web be better? What if you created some sort of handbook and sold it on your site? Publishers can handle the occasional drop-in book, but there has to be a reason they're going to surprise bookstores with that sort of title. You can do the book yourself, but again, if you can't reach the buying public with effective marketing of your title, then it doesn't matter how good your manuscript is.

As for the implied concern you've got about secrecy, my experience is that those concerns are usually overblown by authors. I've had writers ask me to sign confidentiality agreements before showing me their manuscript (I declined) and tell me things like, "You've never seen anything like this before" when in fact they've just created a novel that turns the Book of Revelation into a novel. Whoopie. If I've got a good idea, I'm probably going to sell it. I work with good authors, so I don't lose much sleep over the worry that somebody else is going to steal the idea.

Before I go, let me point you to a couple things you should check out. Lisa Delay's blog at lifeasprayer.wordpress.com gave me much to think about as I've been reading it lately. I always seem to learn something when I go to Rachelle Mee-Chapman's magpie-girl.com. And the latest words from both Jenny B Jones blog and Jon Acuff at Stuff Christians Like (links for both can be found to the right) made me snort coffee through my nose. 

The Dumb Stuff:

1. So I had two letters this week that started with the words, "After taking hours to research agents, I came to the conclusion I needed to send this to you..."  And they are both children's books. We don't represent children's books. We state clearly on our website (which you can link to here: www.macgregorliterary.com) that we don't do children's books.  Are people really so dumb as to think I'll believe they took hours to research this?

2. This week's hot book concept came from a guy who wants me to represent his "cross between Stolike and Schmerna." Um... I have no idea who Stolike and Schmerna are. None. Polish authors, perhaps?

3. And you'll be happy to know that creative packaging still works. Somebody sent me a chick-lit novel in a Jimmy Choo shoe box. The novel didn't work, but I loved having the box to hand to my wife. (And no, I won't send it back.)

Resources for Writers

I've got a bunch of notes and questions regarding writer resources, so let me try to get to several of them today...

On MONEY: Patricia wrote to say, "Thanks for your recent blog post about earning money. So if a book doesn't 'earn out' its advance, is the balance applied against the next book?"

It is if your contract is cross-collateralized -- that is, if all your various book advances are "basketed" into one deal. If not -- if each book is on a separate contract -- then no, your advance cannot be applied to your next book. 

On REMAINDERS: DeeAnn wrote me to ask, "What does it mean to 'remainder' a book?"

That's when the publisher sells the remaining copies of your book to a book wholesaler for less than the cost of printing. It commonly happens when your book is going out of print, or when they're down to the last 1000 copies or so, and the publisher wants to be rid of them. The books might have cost $2 to print, but they'll sell them for $1 apiece to somebody who will buy the entire remaining stock, just to get them out of the warehouse.   

On SELF-PUBLISHING: Gene wants to note, "The latest issue of Writers Digest is filled with ads for self-publishing. I'm on my second agent, still trying to get  published, but it takes SOOOO long. How can you convince me not to go to lulu.com and have my book for sale on Amazon tomorrow morning? When will the traditionalists speed up the process?"

You're right -- there are a ton of self-publishing companies. Some are good, some are not. Be careful. The problem with self-publishing is not the speed, it's the sales. If you write a book, you have to make sure the book is good (and if publishers are all turning you down, there could be a message there, Gene). You also want to ensure the cover is good, the editing is good, the title is good, and that you know how to sell it. The biggest problem with self-pubbing is that usually the author doesn't know how to market and sell his own book. Listing it on Amazon isn't really a marketing strategy -- there are two million books on Amazon. If you can't market and sell your self-pubbed book, don't go that route -- you'll lose a lot of money. As for the speed of traditional publishing, it's not the production side that is slow -- it's the retail side. It's March as I write this, and right now book sales people are walking into bookstores to show everyone the coming Christmas titles. The catalogs they're using were put together a couple months ago, so they could be used as sales tools, so that stores could order the books and get them in time for Christmas, AND the marketing people can begin their push before the book actually arrive. All that takes time. Publishing is a slow business.

On PROPOSALS: Martha wrote, "I've been told it's customary for a nonfiction proposal to include two sample chapters. So why has a publisher asked me to send all the material I have finished? I've sent 9 of the 12 chapters and have still not heard a decision."

It's true that a standard nonfiction proposal generally included a thorough description of the project, table of contents, author bio, and two sample chapters. But standards can change. In these competitive times, we're often seeing publishers ask for more of the writing. They want to see if you have enough to say, if your message can carry a manuscript, and if you're close to being done. The fact that a publisher has asked to see more of your work is a good sign, Martha. There's certainly a risk that you could complete the work and the publisher still says no -- but that's true with any book. In fact, if you're so close to being done, I'd probably encourage you to finish the book so that you have the added selling point of being able to tell publishers, "The manuscript is complete."

On CONFERENCES: Lee Ann wrote and asked, "What are the best Christian writers' conferences?"

Christian writers these days have a plethora of great conferences they can attend, and I'm a big fan of them. I think conferences are a great place to network with other writers, hear from experts, and get face-to-face with editors and agents. My favorite conference is probably the one put on by the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW). It floats, but this September will be in Minneapolis. The Write-to-Publish conference at Wheaton College is a good choice -- it takes place the first week of June (and though the ads say I'll be there, I had to cancel due to my daughter's college graduation). Other good options include the Blue Ridge Writers' Conference in Asheville, NC, and the Colorado Christian Writers Conference up in scenic Estes Park -- both of these take place in May, and both offer excellent speakers in beautiful settings. There are a bunch of other big ones with good opportunities to learn and network -- Florida, Philadelphia, Oregon, Glorieta (NM). Jerry Jenkins' Christian Writers Guild puts on a conference that I'm told is very strong (though pricey), but I've never attended. The Mount Hermon conference in California is coming up in a week, and, though expensive, is one of the good ones. Reg Forder's American Christian Writers organization puts on smaller one-day conferences in cities around the nation, and many colleges will have excellent writing conferences in the summer (I'm speaking at the Harriette Austin Writer's Conference at the University of Georgia this summer, for example).  There are also many excellent general conferences not focused on CBA, and a couple of speciality conferences to consider. Next month Calvin College will be hosting their bi-annual Festival of Faith and Writing, and ACT ONE out in Hollywood offers a special conference for Christian screenwriters. Finally, there are retreats and smaller gatherings going on all the time. There's really no reason for a writer to not find a conference where he or she can learn, network, and get inspired.

On NON-CONFERENCE RESOURCES: Bev wrote to ask, "Aside from a writing conference, what sort of other resources can you recommend to those of us who want to learn more about writing and marketing?'

I encourage you to check out Randy Ingermanson's material at www.AdvancedFictionWriting.com. He has some great things to say about writing articles to promote your books, and offers a teleseminar on how to promote your writing through speaking. And a newer site to visit is www.wannabepublished.blogspot.com, created by my friend Mary DeMuth. Some good stuff for those looking to break into the business. If you're looking to network with other writers, novelists should connect with the afore-mentioned ACFW, and many writers would appreciate a yahoo group called "The Writers View." You'll probably want to be reading Publisher's Weekly to find out about the industry, and the web-based Publisher's Lunch and Publisher's Marketplace are two sources I cannot live without. If you really want to stay on top of the CBA market, you should be looking at Christian Retailing magazine and buying a copy of Sally Stuart's excellent book with Random House, Christian Writers Market Guide. Finally, consider Writer's Digest Magazine, and especially their annual Writers Market, which tells you everything you probably need to know about book publishers. Hope this helps.

More on Self-Publishing and Ghostwriting

After our last discussion, Steve wrote to ask, "So is there anyone making money at self-publishing?"

Absolutely. I have successfully self-published books in the past. If you're planning to self-pub, you need to (1) write a great book, (2) use a professional editor, (3) pay for a great cover design, and (4) work with a quality printer. However, creating the book is only the first part of the process. You also have to (5) know how to market the book, (6) spend a lot of time and money marketing it, and (7) have a plan for selling copies. The fact is, most self-published books lose the author money because he or she had no plan for selling books.

There was a lot of discussion after my last post from people who wanted to defend self-publishing, and I found it completely off-topic. Of course you can find a good printer who will do a quality job. And you can certainly find ways to keep it inexpensive. But the facts are that most people lose money on the deal. I think self-pubbing is great, assuming you know what to do once you have the books in hand. Most people don't. So if you self-pub, you need to have a workable plan for selling quantities of your book.

Donna wrote to say, "You've often said every author should take charge of their own marketing. After having paid your dues and learned all those valuable lessons while publishing your book, why not self-publish from then on? If you have to do all your own marketing anyway, why not just sell your books yourself and make ten bucks per book instead of the dollar per book you'd get in royalties?"

You know, some people decide to do exactly that. They figure out how to sell books, who their readers are, and how to reach them. There are plenty of ministries and companies who self-publish and make more money than if they had sold the books through a regular, royalty-paying publishing house. But there are three caveats to what you're suggesting. First, you've got to warehouse and ship your own books. For some people, that's a pain -- warehousing may not be worth the hassle. Second, your book won't make it onto store shelves if it's self-pubbed. There's money to be made for a good self-publisher, but there's little fame or glory. Your book won't reach beyond the people you can talk to, unless you study and figure out how to sell books via ads and the internet. So don't expect to impress your friends with your self-published title. And third, you've got to market and sell ALL the books. There's no waiting for someone else to come through -- it's all on you, as the publisher. If you're not into that type of responsibility, there's no way you'll enjoy self-pubbing. Again, the chief reason self-pubbed books fail is because the author doesn't know how to SELL her own books. She might know how to write them, maybe how to edit them, and possibly how to talk about them. But she doesn't know how to sell books to prospective buyers. If you don't know how to do that, you should learn before you make any publishing decisions.

Janice wrote to ask, "How much can a ghost writer expect to get for his or her first book? And if the writer gets his/her name on the book, what percentage of the profits should he/she ask for?"

There are a number of variables at play -- How much time do you think will it take you? How big is the project? Did the author give you any materials, or are you creating it from scratch? Is the author a pain in the rear? All of those have to factor into your decision. Every year Writer's Digest issues a report on how much money free-lance writers and editors make. They generally break it down to how much per project and how much per hour, and they typically offer a high, a low, and an average amount. They noted that last year the low was about $1500, the high was $75,000, and the average fee to ghost a book for someone was $22,000.

That's a big chunk of change. Most authors start small -- it wouldn't surprise me if you were paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $2500-to-$4000 for your first ghosted project. If this is your Great Aunt Edna, who wants you to write her life story as "Garden Queen of Dubuque," or the Rev. Ernest Angree, who wants you to write up the notes from his sermon series entitled "How to Be Holy As Me," you're not going to see much green. So ask some questions: What are their expectations? What do they want you to create? How long do they want it to be? People who aren't writers and have never created a book generally don't have a frame of reference, consequently they don't realize how hard it is to create 100 pages filled with words. You may want to offer to start on an hourly basis (say $25-to-$35 per hour), or to write up the first two chapters for a flat fee of $300, just to test the waters. Of course, asking for a flat fee up front is the plan all freelance writers come to eventually. When I was making my living as a collaborative writer, I quickly figured out I much preferred sure cash to potential cash.

Walter asked, "If I decide to ghostwrite a book for a friend, what should the key contract points look like?' 

I'd say the key points to clarify are (1) an overall description of the project, (2) word count, (3) due date, (4) compensation, (5) who covers expenses, (6) copyright, (7) what credit you'll get, (8) the fact that this is a binding contract when signed, (9) the fact that if there is a disagreement you'll go to arbitration rather than hiring lawyers, (10) the fact that the contract is under the laws of your state, and (11) a warranty in which you promise not to plagiarize any material or slander anyone. That about covers it.

Margaret asked me, "Do you get the sense that CBA publishers are becoming more receptive to Catholic authors? If not, will they ever?" 

Yeah, I do. I think Baker, Zondervan, Thomas Nelson, and other publishers are becoming more receptive to Catholic authors. And, of course, I now expect to get letters from nutcases who will want to explain to me why the Pope is the Antichrist, and how saying anything nice about the people we share historical Christianity with is compromising my faith, etc. And I've got to tell you, I am SICK TO DEATH of so-called believers wanting to explain why nobody else is ever quite "Christian" enough for them, so that their religious club consists of a handful of true believers holding onto the faith that the rest of us must have abandoned.

Bernice aksed, "What do you do when your writing friends and critique partners are not experienced enough to help you get to the next level? I guess the obvious answers are to study the craft, go to conferences, meet more writers...is there anything else?"

Lots of writers are in that situation, Bernice. I'm a huge fan of critique groups, I encourage people to attend conferences, and I think hanging out with other writers is great for your career. But the BEST thing you can do is find a mentor -- somebody with some good experience, who can help you improve your writing. That individual doesn't have to be perfect. He or she just needs to be a bit further down the path than yourself.

One last note: Carol saw the "worst titles" note that I mentioned in a previous post, and she tells me she found this book for sale on amazon: "How to Good-Bye Depression: If You Constrict Anus 100 Times Everyday. Malarkey? Or Effective Way?" I didn't believe her, so I looked it up. Turns out she's telling the truth. That is a title you can buy on amazon for $14.39. Grab your credit card and go visit -- looks like a huge winner to me!

Self-Publishing, Ghosting, and Other Expensive Ideas

Denise wrote and asked, "What do you mean when you say someone 'self-published'?"

Normally an author sends his or her agent a proposal. The agent shops it to a royalty-paying publishing house, who signs a contract, produces the book, and sells it to stores. The author licenses the sales rights to the publisher, so instead of actually "selling" the book, the author's job consists of chatting it up, helping promote it, and complaining that the publisher isn't doing enough marketing.

That's the "normal" route a book follows. But sometimes an author will choose to go directly to a printer, have his or her own copies of the book produced, and then try to sell the book directly. Under this arrangement, the author pays for all the production costs (editing, cover art, ink, paper, binding, shipping). Therefore, the risk is great. However, if the author can actually sell some copies, his earnings will be much greater. Instead of making a dollar in royalty for each book, the possibility exists that he can make ten dollars for each book sold.

Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! I was able to say that with a straight face. Okay, in reality, the author knows NOTHING about producing books. So he (we're going to assume a male author, since nobody can tell most men anything) pays too much for a bad cover. (Self-pubbed books are notorious for bad covers.) He sends it to the printer who says they'll edit it, but don't. (Self-pubbed books are similarly notorious for poor editing.) He hopes for good quality ink and paper. (Take a guess at what goes in this parenthetical note.) He pays too much for each book, has no contacts for marketing it, and, worst of all, doesn't know how to sell them after he's talked with his relatives, neighbors, and steadily shrinking network of friends. He goes in debt $12,000, but he can puff his chest out at his 20th high school reunion, since he's now "An Author." That's the game, Denise.

Of course, there are two reasons people continue to self-publish... First, because there's a sucker born every minute. If you want to throw your money at a project in order to feel better about yourself, who am I to stop you? Second, because occasionally an author will educate himself. He'll invest in a real cover artist, send his manuscript to a legit editor, and team up with a quality printer. He'll find a great marketing company to help get the word out on his book, then throw himself into promoting it. And, above all, he will research and invest in sales channels, so that he stands a chance of earning back his investment. The few who do this often speak to groups, so they can sell them in the back of the room, or they know their audience extremely well, and understand how to reach potential readers. But this doesn't happen very often. Short of playing the ponies, pulling the handles of slot machines,  or buying stock options, I know of very few ways to lose money as fast as self-pubbing. More power to you!

Mary wrote to ask, "I have a friend who wants me to write his autobiography. He wrote a few pages -- they were poorly crafted, but sweet. I told him there's no market for this, but he insists I write it for him, and he has family money to finance it. How do we determine payment?"

Wow. If he's writing out checks randomly like this, ask him if he needs a consultant. I'd be happy to have him send some of that money my way, Mary. Okay, here's a quick way to determine payment... Look at the project and figure out how long it will take you to write. If you can create about four or five pages per day, and he wants 100 pages, you should be able to get it done in a month. (It takes a bit of experience to look at a project and figure out how long it's going to take, but let's say a month of full-time writing.) Now you have to figure out how much you want to make in a month. If you had a normal job, and worked for a month, maybe you'd make $4000. Since you have to pay your own taxes out of this, charge him $5000 and you're all set. (And yes, the $5000 price tag will probably scare away most people anyway.) Having told you all that, you should know the $5000 figure is low. 

Not everyone charges by "time on project." Some charge by the word  or by the hour. Last year, the average hourly ghostwriting fee in this country was $73 (it ranged between $50 and $100). It's hard to determine the average overall project fee for this type of thing, but I can tell you the average fee for an "as told to" book in this country was about $22,000...but it usually ran about four months, so my $5000-for-a-month estimate is pretty close to being spot on.

Of course,  you may want to heed my advice from an earlier post: If anyone asks you to write their memoir and they are not a celebrity, run the other way. Some day you'll thank me for this bit of wisdom.

And Linda wrote with the question, "What do you think of the services of The Writers Edge and ECPA's First Edition? Do these work?"

For the uninitiated, "The Writers Edge" (writersedgeservice.com) is a private company that solicits author proposals, then produces a printed report that is made available to Christian publishers. You list the title and genre, write your own short book description, and can use up to 75 words to explain your credentials. For that, they charge you $95. They claim that last year they placed 18 books with publishers, though they don't list the projects or the publishers.

The people at Writers Edge are very nice. They mean well. But I'm not a fan. I don't know of many editors who have the time to wade through a monthly report of unsolicited ideas on various ideas in random genres. In fact, I don't know of any significant editor who has contracted a book from this service. I'm not saying this is a bad idea, only that, in my experience, it hasn't been a boon to authors. I still think an author with an agent is much more likely to get his or her project reviewed -- in fact, I believe a well-rehearsed pitch at a writing conference would make a stronger impression than a brief description in what amounts to a printed slush pile.

ChristianManuscriptSubmission.com (formerly known as "First Edition") is run by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). It's similar to Writers Edge in that you list the title and genre, but they allow you to give a 500-word description of your book, a complete Table of Contents, and a 3000-word sample chapter. Rather than producing a printed brochure, they post the proposals on a web site available only to the publishing members of ECPA. The cost is $98 to have your book listed for six months.

In theory, this is a better deal -- you get more words, and you would think that ECPA members would be checking the site. But in truth, the same criticisms hold true. I know of no editors (at ECPA houses or elsewhere) who are short on proposals. So put yourself into an editor's shoes... Would you prefer to contract with someone you don't know, or with an agent you know and trust? Would you rather be reviewing random pieces on a web site sent in by anyone who can afford the fee, or a handful of polished proposals sent in by agents you've done business with in the past? There are thousands of unpublished authors trying to peddle their manuscripts, so this has created the biggest electronic slush pile on the planet. I just don't see that it's an effective tool.

I'm sorry -- I'm an agent, and I know this sounds completely self-serving. But I used to be an editor, a senior editor, and a publisher, and I can tell you with certainty that the publishing business has moved away from the do-it-yourselfer and toward the professionals and specialists.

Does it hurt to participate in The Writers Edge and/or Christian Manuscript Submission? Of course not. And maybe you'll be the one who gets noticed. But using that logic, you may want to also buy a lottery ticket, so that after you win, you can purchase your own publishing house. Business moves from less sophisticated to more sophisticated -- from amateurism to professionalism. It's why most houses only review agented submissions.

A Heaping Hunk o' Questions

Lots of reader questions today. Cheryl wrote to ask, "Who writes dialogue worth studying?"

My response: Elmore Leonard. Ross Thomas. Ann Tyler. Larry McMurtry.  Stephen King. Pat Conroy.

Denise wrote to ask, "On average, how long does an agent allow a writer to stay on board if they're not selling any books?"

It depends on several factors: the relationship between agent and author, how ready the author was when they began working together, what sort of talent the author has, etc. I would say in our industry that people are losing patience. Everybody wants something right now. But books aren't always created right now. If I agree to work with a writer, and believe in his talent, and come up with some sort of plan to help him get his book done, I can be awfully patient. I figure we're working together for the long term, not just for this one book. Sometimes the writing will come more slowly than we'd hoped. Other times life events will intrude, further slowing things down. But as long as it feels like everyone is trying, and we're really moving forward on things together, I'm generally okay with waiting -- I'd rather take longer and do a great book than rush through things and do a bad book. But I know that sounds like I'm begging your question, Denise. So I'd say if an agent is representing an author, they've been together more than a year, the agent has tried a couple times with different writing projects, and nothing has sold...well, it's possible the agent will simply come to the conclusion, "I'm not the right person." Or maybe, "I made a mistake in my evaluation." Or even, "I've put enough time and energy into this and received nothing in return -- time to cut my losses." I find it's tough to fire friends. And, as any management book will tell you, the best time to fire a person is when you don't hire them. Because nobody likes to make that "it's not working" phone call and cut someone loose. Of course, keep in mind the reverse can also be true: An author can feel as though her agent has tried several times to sell her work, and decide it's time to seek new representation -- someone who understands her better, or brings a different perspective, or has a different set of relationships in publishing.

Jim wrote to ask, "Whenever I read that authors are responsible for marketing their own book (rather than the publisher, the sales team, the publicist, or the marketing director), I scratch my head and wonder what it is these people do. Why not just go ahead and self publish?"

Okay...that's an attitude that is sure to keep you from ever selling many books, Jim. I firmly believe YOU, as the author, are responsible for marketing your own book. You know your message best. You are the most committed to it. You have the most at stake. You understand the power of your words better than anyone else. If you want to simply take your message and hand it over for someone else to take care of, you're going to be disappointed. A publishing house has hundreds of titles it is managing, with perhaps 30 to 70 titles it is trying to market right now. Unless your book zooms to the top of the bestseller list based on your name recognition, past sales history, current events, or an act of God, the publisher is going to do what they can -- then they're going to chase media for their bestselling authors, because publishing is an 80/20 business. (That is to say, 80% of the revenues come from 20% of the titles. Maybe it's more like a 90/10 business.) The days of saying, "I just write the manuscript and hand it over to the publisher to take care of" are gone (if in fact they ever existed). What publishers and their marketing staffs do are print and sell books. Any marketing they do for you is to be considered an added bonus. And, of course, you're welcome to self-publish -- but without the opportunities to sell into stores, you're bound to sell even fewer copies than if you publish with a regular publisher. More on self-pubbing in a moment...

Stevie Ray wrote to ask, "What do you think of self-publishing, and are there any companies that clearly stand above the rest in the services they offer?"

I think self-publishing is a great way to feel like a big shot while losing a lot of money very fast. The problem with going to a vanity press has little to do with your message and everything to do with your methods, so let me start with the most important lesson of self pubbiing: if you don't have a method for selling your book, you're going to lose money. There are other lessons -- like "surround yourself with professionals" and "do some comparison shopping," but the whole money scenario is the key point. Let's say you pay five bucks a book, and you order 5000 copies -- that's $25,000 you've sunk into this venture. You'd better have a plan to make it work. Most don't. They think their wisdom and writing excellence is going to be readily apparent to readers, so all they have to do is pull them from the trunk of their car and -- voila! The books magically turn into money!

And that's completely stupid. Most self-pubbed books are a complete joke. Some vanity presses will take whatever crap you give them and print it -- you'll get a bad idea that's poorly written, printed on cheap paper, offering a lousy binding and a godawful cover. AND you get 5000 of them, delivered to your garage. On the upside...you feel like a big shot! You're now an author! You can walk up to somebody at church, hold out your book, and reveal what a brilliant human being you are. You can leave copies out on your kitchen counter, so that when friends drop by, you can effect your "aw shucks" attitude and admit that, yes, your book has come out. You can send a copy to each of your siblings -- THAT will teach 'em for calling you "Zit Face" in high school. And then, after you've sold a copy to each of your aunts, you begin to wonder what to do with the remaining 4946 copies. This brings to mind an old publishing adage: You can't eat books. So they just stay there, taking up space and gathering dust. You don't want to throw out your life's work. There's a definite hit to your ego to watch your own words get turned into landfill...so you leave them, in hopes that a miracle will happen, you'll get discovered, and all those books will sell.

Okay, so a couple thoughts. First, if you've taken your writing around to several agents and editors, and they've all said "this sucks," those publishing professionals may have a point. Second, if you are hoping for a miracle...well, God bless you, but you've got no more brains than a gerbil. I certainly believe in miracles (An example: Patti is still married to me after 25 years), but I don't build my business by hoping for one. Third, if you plan to self-publish, surround yourself with a professional editor, a real-world book cover designer, and a publicist. Fourth, work with somebody who will put a bar code on your book, get you an ISBN number, and do a quality job of printing. But most important, put together a plan for how you're going to sell your self-pubbed book.

I've self-published some books, but they were aimed at a specific audience (card magicians) that I know well (I'm a longtime member of magic organizations and a former associate editor of a national magic magazine), and I knew how to sell to them (buying ads in the four big magic magazines, contacting magic store owners, and connecting with members of the two magician's organizations). I put a plan together, complete with a budget, for how I'd market and sell the books. It worked -- sold them all, and made a nice profit. But without this sort of clear plan, you'd be better off simply shortening your message to a few words and writing it onto dollar bills you give away. It would attract more interest, and, in fact, would probably be cheaper.

There are some companies who can do a good job for you -- the best one I know of is Wine Press, headquartered up in Seattle. They use professional editors, they can link you with publicity people, and they even have ties to a sales group that can present your book to stores. Miles ahead of the companies that just take your manuscript electronically, then barf it out onto paper. (I don't work for Wine Press, nor do I get anything for promoting them. I've just found they do good work.)

Last item: You may not believe this. In fact, I can't use the individual's real name, so let's say that "Melvin" wrote to ask, "Will you look at my work? I have great novels and if you want to make harry potter type money you will. But you have to have an open mind my novels are not for children they are  adult novels that aren't written for today they say something and create worlds that you have to figure out which one is real. Are you a real agent? A real agent can sell anything. They make money when they sell the novel. I HAVE A COLLEGE DEGREE AND AN IQ OF 180. SO HELP ME OR BE RESPONSIBLE FOR MY DEATH."

Um...Melvin, I'm normally interested in adult novels that aren't written for today. And I'm certainly interested in making "harry potter type money." But...I'm really busy right now wrapping aluminum foil around my head, so that the aliens won't be able to eat my brains. I'll just have to live with your blood on my hands. Sorry. But have a nice day.

Oh, and you may want to talk to the doctor again about upping your meds.

Self-pubbing

Someone wrote to say, "I'm not published, but I'm considering self-publishing a nonfiction collection of some old columns and newer musings in the same vein. One of my writer friends is appalled and says I will forever damage my writing reputation and future publishing potential. Some agent sites say that writers should not reveal they've self-published unless it's a successful venture. What's your take on this matter?"

Self publishing is great way to have the fun of seeing your name in print while losing lots of money. As somebody who has successfully self-pubbed three books, I can tell you that I'm a fan, so long as you do it right.

First, I don't think self-pubbing automatically hurts you. The fact is, there are several speakers who have self-pubbed a book, sold a bunch of copies, showed a track record of sales to publishers, and landed a deal with a royalty-paying publisher. If you can create a book and sell copies, chances are a publisher will notice and appreciate that.

Second, keep in mind there are lots MORE people who self-pubbed, created a lousy book, added a REALLY lousy cover, couldn't sell them, and eventually boosted their local economy by investing in the magic of recycling. (Or, if they were smart, gave them to some nonprofit when they weren't looking, then took a tax deduction. See US Government Form BAFS2007 -- Bad Author Filing Singly.)

In my view, this isn't a tough choice: ONLY self-publish if you can sell the books yourself. ONLY. End of story. If you can't sell them, don't do it.

I'll say it another way for all the slow readers: If you have a venue (like you're speaking and can sell them in the back of the room), or you have access to a group (like you're the chairperson of the Mel Torme Fan Club and you've just written "The Life of the Velvet Fog"), or your Great Aunt just turned in her soup ladle and left you big wads o' cash that you don't know what to do with -- go ahead and self-publish. Otherwise, stay away. Because I can guarantee you that your self-published book is not going to get noticed, it isn't going to be sold by others, and it isn't going to turn you into writing's version of an overnight sensation. Trust me on this. It will simply be an expensive way for you to "feel sort of a like a real writer."

I once helped a guy who had started his own chain of restaurant to create his company saga. He printed them, sells them in his restaurants, and gives them away to senior staff. I also wrote an invest book with a guy who teaches people how to buy and sell stock options (speaking of ways to lose money fast). He sells them to his seminar participants. I have written and sold my own books of card magic, because I know that every card magician in America subscribes to either Genii Magazine, Magic Magazine, MUM, or The Linking Ring. I took out ads in those mags, sold a thousand copies of my book, and made out like a bandit.

BUT the majority of self-published books are weak, mainly because they are done by people with too much ego to recognize the reason their book isn't getting published is because (a) it's a bad idea, or (b) it's bad writing, or (c) there's no audience for it, or (d) all of the above.  My experience is that many self-published books are poorly edited because that person with too much ego can't see the value of professional editing, and won't listen to it even if they heard it because to heed editing advice would mean the publishers were correct. And, of course, lots of self-published books have lousy covers because that big ego won't allow the author to admit that he or she knows as much about art design as they do about piloting the Space Shuttle. So that means there are a bunch of self-published books that are poorly produced because the amateur doesn't know any better.

Still, the biggest problem with self-published books is that THEY DON'T SELL because the author who wrote it had no idea how he or she was going to sell them once they showed up in the garage. So hear me again: If you don't have a method for selling your self-published book, turn and run the other way. Even if you think your book is brilliant. Even if your mom tells you it's a great idea. Even if all the people in your English class say you've got the chops to be a fantastic novelist some day. Otherwise you're going to spend a lot of money for what will eventually turn into land fill. You'll have boxes of books sitting in your basement, and you'll be wondering why the rest of the world doesn't wake up and come buy them from you, and the whole thing will turn into a bitter disappointment.

(Note to all poets: Yeah, yeah...you're all sensitive. And you have every right to self-publish your deep and meaningful poetry about how sensitive you are, then sell it to your friends. But let's face it...your friends are buying it because you're their friend and, as I already noted, sensitive. So don't write me a bunch of whiny letters stating how "Shallow American Readers Don't Like Poetry." The fact is, if you can only sell your words to people who know you, then you don't really have a book -- you have a family.)

There are a bunch of rip-off companies out there masquerading as publishers -- to read about them, pick up a copy of Ten Percent of Nothing, a wonderful expose of fee-based agents and vanity publishers. But there are some companies who know what they're doing, do it well, and won't cheat you. The folks at Winepress, for example. They get you an ISBN, use real editors, actually work on marketing with you, and in the end give you a nice product. I know the folks at Xulon can produce a nice-looking book. There are others -- but be aware that many places will simply produce whatever you give them -- so if you haven't listened to my earlier advice about editing, you may end up looking stupid. (Of course, if you're planning to publish a book because you are, in fact, a great writer, perhaps the second coming of Ernest Hemingway, and a misunderstood genius to boot, and all those publishers are completely wrong in their assessment of you, it's too late -- you already look stupid. Sorry to have to be the one to tell you.)

Again, I'm a fan of self-publishing if you do it right, have a plan, and can actually sell the books. I had two good-selling magic books, and I worked with magician Andre Kole to self-publish a book we wrote together that had gone out of print -- we went on to sell another 20,000 copies of our own version at his performances. It can work. So if you want to put your columns together and sell them at speaking engagements or workshops, it's a fine idea. If you are invested in internet marketing and have a way to reach your audience, go for it. But self-publishing your own novel, for example, probably isn't going to make a difference one way or the other when a publisher is making a decision on your manuscript, unless you self-pubbed and sold ten thousand copies, got noticed by PW, and got nominated for some big writing award. (And if that's the case, you should call me right away!)

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