Getting Published

What’s Getting Published and What Can You Learn from The Authors?

October 28, 2014 by Lisa Tener

As I thought about the client books that have recently gone on pre-order, I wondered two things:

1. What can I share with you about their experiences that can help you get published?

and

2. How can I help these outstanding new authors reach readers?

So, let’s start with what you can learn:

1. Research and Be Fresh: All three of these authors looked at related books on the market to assess what has already been said and what they have to offer that’s fresh. Have you? If this questions stumps you, think about why people come to you for help or hire you? What specific information, perspective or qualities do you bring to the table that your clients or community most value?

2. Know Your Market and Think Like Them: All three authors spent time thinking about their core readership. Ask yourself, “Who are my readers? What are they looking for? How can I help them in a way that deeply addresses their needs and speaks to them in a voice that resonates for them?”

3. Offer Solutions to the Problems that Aren’t Being Solved: All three authors solved a problem that was still largely going unsolved in their target markets. In Mike Travis’ case, companies were hiring the wrong candidate for a high level position, or hiring a good match but not supporting them to stay. At times, the companies had not done their homework in assessing the candidate’s needs. In Leslie Shapiro’s case, OCD sufferers were either plateauing or getting better only to relapse due to an aspect of OCD that was not generally understood or treated. In Dr. Dunckley’s case, parents often sensed that electronics were negatively impacting their children’s mental health, but they didn’t know how to address it–and how to get support to make sustainable changes to help their kids. They felt overwhelmed by societal pressures and often had no idea how to take back some of their power as parents. Can you identify the big problem your book addresses or an aspect of the problem that is not generally being solved?

Okay, ready for part 2? Will you help me support these new authors to reach readers? Do you know anyone who can benefit from the important information in these 3 groundbreaking books? Here’s a bit more about the books–please share with anyone who can benefit–or who works with a population who can be helped by these three terrific books:

Mastering the Art of Recruiting: How to Hire the Right Candidate for the Job by Michael Travis will be published January 31 by Praeger, a division of ABC-CLIO, and is currently available for pre-order. Mike Travis is a veteran recruiter at the c-level who knows what it takes to secure great hires every time. You will not only learn how to hire these folks, but the all-important how to retain these great hires.

Understanding OCD: Skills to Control the Conscience and Outsmart Obsessive Compulsive Disorder by Leslie Shapiro comes out Mar 30, 2015, also published by Praeger, and is currently available for pre-order. The book offers a new angle on understanding the suffering people with OCD experience due to the conscience-related symptoms (such as guilt) that are often overlooked in treatment. It is a resource that provides strategies for sufferers and those who support them, students, professionals, clergy, and anyone whose life is touched by OCD. The author is a behavior therapist who has been treating OCD and related disorders since 1989, and continues to provide treatment for patients at the OCD Institute where she has worked and done pioneering research since its inception. Early in her career, Shapiro developed an expertise in addressing the conscience related aspects that underlie almost all types of OCD symptoms.

Reset Your Child’s Brain: A Four-Week Plan to End Meltdowns, Raise Grades, and Boost Social Skills by Reversing the Effects of Electronic Screen-Time is being published by New World Library.

Victoria Dunckley, MD, was treating some of the toughest cases–including kids on cocktails of multiple prescription drugs who were just not getting better. She almost always found that addressing electronics improved their mental health across the board. And many of these patients actually got so much healthier that they no longer needed medication.

The more she looked into research about electronics, the more convinced she became that this was the biggest culprit in affecting children’s emotions, grades, social skills and mental health. However, two big challenges were helping parents understand the research and specific effects of electronics (in order to motivate them to make changes) and providing a program that could support parents to make changes in electronics usage within the context of a society that makes this difficult.

My personal opinion? Every parent should read this book and at least understand the specific effects of electronics on brain development and functioning.

Please share this post with anyone who can benefit from these books–and I hope the author lessons help you with publishing yours. Do you have questions on how to get published? Share them as a comment below.

Questions to Ask a Publisher and How to Negotiate a Publishing Contract

June 23, 2014 by Lisa Tener

As we prepare for the final class of my Bring Your Book to Life® Program–a bonus call with literary agent Jody Rein–a participant sent in one of the most exciting questions you can imagine. A traditional publisher is interested in her book after reading the proposal. They had a few questions for clarification before bringing the book proposal to the editorial board.

She wanted to know what’s next. In particular, she wondered what questions to ask a publisher once you have a book offer in hand. Here are a few questions I recommended:

1. What’s their vision for the book? Are there things they would like to change? If so, what are they?

2. What will they do in terms of marketing the book?

3. Are they placing any limitations on how you can market and promote the book?

4. Do you, as author, have any say in title and cover design? How much?

There are other questions you will want answered–most of them will be spelled out in the contract, such as:

1. What is your advance and how will payments be distributed?

2. What is your royalty percentage and how is it calculated? (Usually it’s 10% but make sure that’s on cover price or cover price minus transportation costs; if it’s on profit, you’ll likely never see a dime!)

3. Are there any bonuses in the contract when sales hit a certain target?

4. Who owns foreign rights, rights to other media? Who own copyright?

5. When is the final manuscript due?

6. What happens if the book goes out of print or the publisher goes out of business? Do the rights to publish revert to you?

I firmly encourage you not to negotiate any of this yourself. If you are going with a trade publisher, try to get an agent first. If you are going with a smaller publisher, an educational press or a professional press, it may be harder to get an agent (particularly for any book that has a smaller audience). In that case, hire an intellectual property attorney who has a good deal of experience negotiating book deals and they can negotiate a publishing contract for you.

book cover favorite child — Dr. Libby’s agent, Regina Brooks, negotiated for a longer turn around time for edits, among other things.

Quite a few of my clients have recently received an offer to publish with a traditional publisher without having an agent and I have either found a literary agent whom I know well, who was willing to negotiate their contract or referred them to an IP attorney. Without such representation, it is too easy to end up stuck in a situation where you have little control over your fate–your book can go out of print, you might just not make any money, despite the book selling well, or you give away rights that an agent or attorney would have kept for you to negotiate at a later time (and likely with a different company).

Years ago, I worked with a client who gave her proposal to a colleague who sent it directly to a major publisher. The publisher immediately made her an offer and my client completely hit it off with the acquisitions editor. She knew this was the person to bring her book into the world.

I strongly encouraged her to get an agent to negotiate a book deal. She felt uncomfortable and asked the acquisitions editor at the publishing house, “Should I get an agent?” Some publishers would have said no and had her sign a book contract that was written in favor of the publisher, but fortunately this publisher said, “Absolutely get an agent. That’s not the kind of relationship you have with me or want to have.”

I asked an agent colleague if she would represent this author and the agent even lowered her own percentage from 15% to 10% since she would not need to do the work of finding a publisher and would only need to negotiate a publishing contract. My client was amazed about how much more of an advance she got, in addition to other points of the contract that got negotiated. Another client shared with me how her agent negotiated for longer turn around times for editing–decreasing the amount of stress my client experienced in the revision process.

I have a colleague who did not have an agent or attorney to negotiate her first book deal. According to the contract, she would get 10% of profits. Guess what? After factoring in “fixed costs,” or overhead, the publisher was able to say that the book never made a profit. The author has published two other books since then and has never made that mistake again!

So, it’s fine to send a query and proposal to a publisher–particularly when you know that your book is unlikely to have a big enough audience to interest an agent (perhaps it’s a small niche market, for instance) or when the trade category is super competitive (a dating book or a diet book, for example) but there may be interest from a smaller or mid-sized publisher. Just be sure that when the offers do come in you, hire a professional to negotiate the publishing contract.

San Francisco Writers Conference 2014: Writing Workshops, Publishing Panels and More

January 18, 2014 by Lisa Tener

The first writers conference I ever attended was offered by the International Woman Writers Guild. It was both magical and instrumental to my publishing success.

There, I met agent Rita Rosenkranz who offered me advice that ultimately got my first book (The Ultimate Guide to Transforming Anger) published. It also taught me the value of being part of a community of writers.

Since then I treasure any time at writers conferences–teaching or participating. I’m especially looking forward to my first experience of the famed San Francisco Writers Conference which starts February 13. Many colleagues have shared what an outstanding writers conference this is and how they look forward to it year after year.

Consider joining me for the pre-conference workshop WRITING IN THE ZONE: 5 Steps to Inspired Flow. I often hear from people years after they’ve taken this workshop that Writing in the Zone transformed their writing practice–or took it to a whole new level. Plus, it will give us an opportunity to work together at the conference–so sign up (or find out more) here.

writing coach lisa tener jumps up — Lift off–write a poem!

Writing in the Zone will teach you to:

Develop an inspired vision for any writing project
Connect with your muse to explore and access your creative guidance
Enter the Flow to experience the joy of inspired writing in a spontaneous way
Consistently write in the zone, any time, any place
Amplify your creativity and write with greater efficiency and ease

While you can attend the pre-conference workshop on its own, I encourage you to attend the entire conference for the breadth of workshops, sense of community, opportunities to network and more.

You’ll find writing workshops to help you fall in love with writing all over again:

WRITING AS A LABOR OF LOVE with Michael Larsen, Brian Felsen, Harvey Pawl and presenters who are authors of books published because of the conference
WRITERS ARE THE PEOPLE WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR: Writing and Nonfiction That Inspires Change with Charlotte Ashlock, Jan Johnson, Brenda Knight. Moderator: Michael Larsen
UNLOCKING THE KEY TO YOUR MEMOIR: Finding Your Voice with Adair Lara
WRITING AS IF YOUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT: Crafting the Prose of Pros with Constance Hale
BRINGING YOUR LIFE TO LIFE ON THE PAGE: How to Make Book Buyers Want to Read Your Story with Regina Brooks, Zoe Fitzgerald Carter, Ann Seymour
DISCOVER YOUR CREATIVE COMPASS: 3 Keys to Overcoming Obstacles and Writing Like a Pro with Dan Millman

Sessions to help you publish, including:

FROM MANUSCRIPT TO BOOK: How an Author and Editor Give Birth to a Book with NoViolet Bulawayo, Laura Tisdel
THE HOW TO OF HOW-TOS: Writing Practical Nonfiction with Bonnie Lee, Shasta Nelson, Jody Rein
FROM HOOKS TO BOOKS: Grabbing the Attention of Agents and Editors with Your Talking Tagline and Platform with Teresa LeYung-Ryan, Elisa Sasa Southard
3 STEPS TO A WINNING PROPOSAL: What Every Author Needs to Know About Selling or Publishing a Nonfiction Book with Michael Larsen, Jody Rein
SELF-PUBLISHING BOOT CAMP: A Step-by-Step Guide to Publishing, Promoting and Selling Your Book with Carla King
THE NEW MASS MARKET BOOK: Breaking into Publishing with Ebooks with Mark Coker, Brian Felsen, Randy Kuckuck, Christine Munroe
PITCHCRAFT: Convincing Agents and Editors to See Your Work with a Dynamite Pitch with Katharine Sands
NONFICTION PITCHATHON
Bring your pitch and a panel of pros will give you feedback on it: with Terry Whalin, Nina Amir, others tba. Moderator: Michael Larsen
MAKING YOUR WORK REJECTION-PROOF: Advice from Freelance Editors with Tanya Egan Gibson, Mary Knippel, Heather Lazare, Wendy Tokunaga.
Moderator: David Colin Carr
FOR WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: Query Letters That Work
with Brian Klems, Rayhane Sanders; Terry Whalin

Sessions to help you grow your platform, reach readers and sell books:

SELLING BOOKS IN THE AGE OF MICROMEDIA: How to Think Like a Media Outlet to Grow Your Platform and Get More Publicity with Rusty Shelton
FROM THE PAGE TO THE STAGE: How to Give Readings That Fill Seats with Brad Henderson, Andy Jones
FINDING AND WORKING WITH A FREELANCE PUBLICIST with Karma Bennett, Frances Caballo, Anne Hill, Rusty Shelton
GETTING ‘EM OFF THE SHELVES: How to Help Your Local Bookseller Sell Your Book with Sam Barry, Bill Petrocelli, Neal Sofman

And sessions to open your eyes to new opportunities:

THE SIX-FIGURE AUTHOR:21 Principles for Making Money Writing, Teaching, Editing, and Doing What You Love with Lisa Tener
10 TRENDS DRIVING THE FUTURE OF PUBLISHING with Mark Coker of Smashwords
THE AGE OF THE HYBRID WRITER: Writing and Publishing in Different Media with Aya de Leon, Peg Alford Pursell. Moderator: Brad Henderson
BEING AN AUTHOR FOR THE LONG HAUL: How to Balance Writing and Marketing
EBOOK PUBLISHING ESSENTIALS: How to Produce, Publish, Distribute and Sell an Ebook with Mark Coker

And this is just a small fraction of the huge list of offerings (I focused mostly on nonfiction but you’ll find writing workshops and publishing panels on poetry, fiction and children’s books on the website).

Of course, some of the most valuable—and fun—opportunities include networking dinners and events, opportunities to meet and pitch editors and agents, Speed Dating With Agents: A Pitch-and-Learn Session and more.

And in the publishing panels, you will have an opportunity to meet nonfiction editors:

Chuck Adams, Algonquin Books; Charlotte Ashlock, Berrett Koehler; Brenda Copeland, St. Martin’s Press; David Ebershoff, Random House; Jan Johnson, Red Wheel/Weiser/Conari; Brian Klems, Writer’s Digest; Brenda Knight, Viva Editions; Caitlin O’Shaughnessy, Viking; Lauren Spiegel, Touchstone/Simon & Schuster; Laura Tisdel, Little Brown; Terry Whalin, Morgan James. Moderator: Michael Larsen

And meet these nonfiction literary agents:

Peter Beren, Regina Brooks, Sorche Fairbank, Jody Rein, Katharine Sands, Stefanie von Borstel, Ted Weinstein, Gordon Warnock. Moderator: Michael Larsen

I hope to see you in San Francisco!

Publishing Decision: How Much Money Can an Author Make?

October 28, 2013 by Lisa Tener

Lisa Tener book coach — Your Book Writing Coach

I recently received this e-mail:

“Dear Lisa,

“I’m wondering if anywhere on your site you discuss money, as in what a typical new author will make per book by signing w/traditional publisher versus what an author will make by becoming the publisher…taking into account marketing budget needed to do marketing regardless of which way you go. I know terms vary by contract, but it’s important. Just wondering because too many authors get that shock too late in the process and regret having signed… ”

It’s a great question, but it’s important to take a step back. When I consult with an author on their publishing decision–whether to self publish or traditionally publish–I first ask them about their goals, vision, what they’re willing to do to meet a publisher’s requirements and how they plan to use the book.

Evana Maggiore self published Fashion Feng Shui in order to get her book to market quickly and maintain control over all decision making. — Evana Maggiore self published *Fashion Feng Shui* in order to get her book to market quickly and maintain control over all decision making.

If you:

Want a book published fast (maybe you need it “yesterday” for all your speaking gigs or to attract ideal clients)

or you

Want control over the project (Can’t part with that title? Want your sister-in-law to design the cover?)

then, self publishing may be the ideal option for you.

In addition, if you can’t meet a publisher’s requirements, or don’t want to, self-publishing may also be best. For instance, if you:

Don’t have a big following and can’t imagine spending lots of time growing your mailing list, blogging and doing social media before getting a book deal.

feel good spaces author sherry ways — Sherry Ways’ Feel Good Spaces is a nice, short book. It’s perfect for attracting clients and speaking gigs.

or you

Have a short book in a category that would generally require a longer book.

or you

Have a book that’s not particularly marketable for any reason, but still has a purpose and an audience–maybe just not a huge audience.

then self publishing is a good option.

On the other hand, if you:

Have a strong following or “author platform” or reach

maureen hancock Author — Maureen Hancock had a strong following and performed for large audiences. She self published and her book sold 16,000 copies the first month it was out.

or you

Are willing to build that reach/following before pitching publishers

and

Your book would appeal to a strong focused audience of a good size (“good size” will vary from type of book and size and type of publisher–it can mean 15,000 people for a small niche publisher or 300,000 or much more in a competitive category and for a larger publisher).

and you

Want the cache and distribution of a traditional publisher

author Vint Virga — The Soul of All Living Creatures had a large potential audience, the author had experience on national TV, and the book was fresh and timely–all good for traditional publishing.

and you’d

Like to get on national TV with your book (not impossible with a self-published book but easier with a traditionally published book)

and you

Don’t want to have to become a publisher and make all those publishing type decisions (cover, layout, distribution, editing) yourself

And you

Want the expertise of a big publishing house

then Traditional publishing may be for you.

Also, there are smaller niche publishers who don’t always require a huge platform, and your book may be a fit for one of them.

Will you earn more per book by self-publishing? Yes, once you make back any investment in design, editing, etc. But is that really the right question to be asking? I would say, “no.” The question to ask is: “Which type of publishing is going to be the best fit for my vision, goals and needs?”

Authors seldom make their money on number of books sold. They make their money from the doors their books open–from speaking to training to consulting to coaching to other opportunities that come their way because they’re published authors.

Now, to answer the question the e-mailer asked, new authors will generally make 10% of the sales price minus transportation costs when they traditionally publish and 30-40% of the cover price, sometimes higher when they self publish.

The Guardian reports that an extensive self-publishing survey shows that half of self published authors earn less than $500. But the average earned is $10,000.

So, sure, look at these numbers, but please don’t stop there in evaluating your options. More important is to look at how you’ll use the book to further business and other goals and determine how effectively each type of publishing–traditional publishing or self-publishing will help you meet those goals, as well as to examine what you’re willing to do to attract a traditional publisher and whether your project is likely to meet their criteria.

How to Get a Publisher: What Every Publisher is Looking for in a New Author

September 5, 2013 by Lisa Tener

I just got an e-mail tonight from an acquisitions editor congratulating one of my clients, Bring Your Book to Life Program graduate Leslie Shapiro: The editorial board had approved her manuscript and they’d be sending a book contract shortly.

One thing that struck me in this process was Leslie’s flexibility. When the editor suggested a title change, Leslie immediately let her know she was open to the experience and wisdom of the editor and the editorial board.

Many authors feel understandably protective when it comes to changes to their book, but the truth is that a publisher has loads more experience in the publishing realm than a new author. Generally, a publisher’s ideas are going to help get your book into the hands of readers and make it a better read. In this case, the editor later e-mailed a compelling title, one which preserved a phrase used by the author in the earlier title.

If you know in your gut that you don’t want anyone else to have control over your title, cover, content and design, self-publishing is a better route. But, in my experience, publishers generally add so much to the process through the collective experience of the editorial and publishing team. And they are expecting you to understand that.Publishers are looking for authors who are flexible and open to their expertise. Authors who “know it all” tend to be a real turn off for publishers.

If you want a traditional publisher for your book, and a publisher is interested, get a sense of the types of changes they are thinking of making up front and see if you can live with those changes before signing a book deal. Be open and flexible to understand why they may want those changes. And once you sign a book deal, be easy to work with! Certainly share a concern about a decision if you have one, but first seek to understand why a publisher wants to make the changes they do.

The Truth About Author Platform

August 19, 2013 by Lisa Tener

Sometimes people feel demoralized when they hear they need a huge platform to get the interest of a large traditional publisher. So I thought I’d provide some myth-busting, clarity and hope on the subject.

Are publishers looking for big platforms in general? Yes. But…

1. There are always exceptions to the rules: don’t rule your book out if you don’t have the platform.

2. Get creative: I’ve helped clients think creatively about leveraging other businesses, connections or opportunities they hadn’t considered, helping them attract an agent and clinch a book deal, even as a first time author with what looked like a meager platform to begin with. Think creatively and you may have more platform than you initially thought.

3. Invest time and money strategically: With the right kind of expertise, you may be able to interest a large national news source or blogging platform, like Psychology Today or the Huffington Post. If you write fabulous posts and network, your blogs may even be featured prominently on page one and promoted by those same sites.

4. Consider mid-size publishers. You may be able to contact these presses directly. Several of my clients signed book deals with mid-sized publishers this summer including ABC-CLIO / Praeger and New World Library. In such cases, a modest platform is often enough, especially if the publisher is looking specifically for a book on your subject, which happened to one client this summer! The acquisitions editor actually told me, “I’ve slated a book on that subject for 2015 or 2016!” Credentials, market analysis and freshness of the book were all important to the publisher, but platform was not as much of an issue at all.

5. Consider self-publishing. There are many advantages–you’ll have your book sooner, you have control, you can make changes more easily, you make more money per book–and the list goes on. Platform never has to stop you from publishing your book. Maybe you don’t even need to sell a huge number of books for your book to make the kind of impact on your life, business and other people’s lives that you are looking for. Bring Your Book to Life Program graduate Martha Rhodes self-published her book, 3,000 Pulses Later. Being self published didn’t stop her from getting interviewed by the New York Times and she’s in talks with a Japanese publisher who does want to traditionally publish in Japan (and they’re talking a 10,000 copy first print run–a very healthy number)!

These are only 5 possibilities–there are many more. In fact, feel free to share your own platform and publishing tips and success stories here–or ask a question.

What’s Getting Published and What Can You Learn from The Authors?

Questions to Ask a Publisher and How to Negotiate a Publishing Contract

San Francisco Writers Conference 2014: Writing Workshops, Publishing Panels and More

Publishing Decision: How Much Money Can an Author Make?

How to Get a Publisher: What Every Publisher is Looking for in a New Author

The Truth About Author Platform

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