Authors were groomed and nurtured in the process; media tours were set up; your editor was your advocate; and you were looked up to when you told others you had an agent.
The good old days are over … Times have changed—today’s author has to be prepared to work their butt off to get his book noticed by the media, the public, you name it; they often are disconnected from the editor who “acquired” the book and the one that does the editing; and advances have shrunk, even disappeared (many authors work for far less than minimum wage). The average mid-list author (that’s the bulk of where authors fall with the traditionally published crowd, by the way–meaning you aren’t the Dan Brown of publishing) sells around 5,000 copies of their book … 5,000 copies! That means that they will be lucky to make $5,000 from royalties … so ugh!
Saying that you are published with a NY house has become a yawn for many—that is unless you got a bunch of money. Be real… when’s the last time you picked up a book, looked at the spine or opened it to the title page and said: “Yes, I see that Random has published another fine book?” Really … books are not bought by the consumer because of a publishing house. They are bought because the topic appeals to them; will solve a problem; or is an author who he or she likes/follows.
Most people who buy books really don’t care who published it … what they want to know is—does it solve a problem I have? Is it a terrific read? Does it look like it has quality to the production (vs. failing apart when it opens—one of the major independent bookstores in the country won’t carry one of the POD publishers because they literally apart.) and can I get it? Do I go to the local book store to get it, buy it online or see if the local library has it–that’s the decision.
Do You Have the Publishing Snob Factor? It’s times to get over it. I know, I’m a formal publishing snob–truly believing that only legit authors published via New York… I did that with 18 of my books. What nonsense. That was before I took the cure in 2000 when a client bought 1000 books –paid for them upfront in two weeks. I became a publisher in name, than learned how to be a publisher … you can too.
Judith Briles is known as The Book Shepherd a book publishing expert and coach. She is the Founder of Author U, a membership organization created for the serious author who wants to be seriously successful. She’s been writing about and conducting workshops on publishing since the 80s. Judith is the author of 31 books including Author YOU: Creating and Building Your Author and Book Platforms, Snappy Sassy Salty: Wise Words for Authors and Writers and a speaker at publishing conferences.
Become part of her inner circle by joining the Author’s Ark and exclusive monthly webinar and coaching event. Her audio and workbook series, Creating Your Book and Author Platform is now available. Join Judith live on Thursdays at 6 p.m. EST for Author U – Your Guide to Book Publishing on the Toginet Network at http://togi.us/authoru. Follow @AuthorU and @MyBookShepherd on Twitter and do a “Like” at AuthorU and TheBookShepherd on Facebook. If you want to create a book that has no regrets, contact Judith at Judith@Briles.com.
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