It's Not About All The Money Right Now

I love listening to authors talk about how much money they plan on making with their books. Unfortunatly, I think this talk of money they dream of, these ultimate contracts and quick money is far from a reality. I am sorry to say this, but making money in publishing is not something that happens overnight but takes a while. You build your readership and with every new book, the sales should go up (assuming you know how to constantly produce).

I was thinking about this recently when I read an article about (once again) another multi-published author throwing in the towel on traditional publishing and turning to a straight out electronic self-published business. Their comment all of the time is the money. They will make more money this way than with traditional publishing. But...

It is important to remember a few things about this.

First of all, these are multipublished authors and they are selling their backlists. Who will buy the books? Probably the same people who bought them first in a print format. These people are simply re-stocking their book shelves electronically.

Second, my question is always, what is wrong with the sales of their current books? I did look into a couple of these authors that have made this move, and what I found out wasn't a shock. Their last several books didn't do well. In one case, the author wasn't given a new contract from the publisher. Hmmm?

Thirdly, why not stay in the traditional publishing business, take the bigger money from the print book sales, keep those people happy and then when those sales drop, sell the backlist to the self-pub e-pubs.

I bring all of this up because many of the unpublished authors out there are getting the wrong impression from all of this media hype from the bigger authors. These new authors may get the "quick money" and the "higher percentages on royalties" but that only comes with sales and a following. I am sorry to say it but the friends in your neighborhood, and those you have added to your blog's readership on what ever you do will not get you to the sales you want.

Don't get me wrong. I am not against e-publishing. I am certainly in favor of higher royalty rates for the authors out there. But please, think before you leap.

Scott

Deadlines - Start Working With Them BEFORE You Are Published

Honestly, I do believe deadlines, or I should say, working with deadlines is one of the key reasons why many writers fail in this business. They simply cannot keep up with the constant pressure of having to produce on someone else's time line. Unfortunately, deadlines are a must.

Think about it. Having your book in on time is not just for one person. You have many other departments that require your book to pass through their hands. Your editor has to really look it over one more time (along with all of her other authors). But more importantly, you have readers. Keeping your name out there on the book shelves is one of the biggest keys to success. It's all about name recognition and you simply cannot do that with only one book.

Successful writers have been using these deadlines during their entire writing career. They used deadlines religiously during their unpublished life. The question is, are you? A writers simply cannot sit around and wait for someone to create a deadline to have something produced. It takes a personal discipline to say, "I will have X project finished by this date." Even more so, the disciplined writer will work with smaller benchmarks during the writing process:

• I will have the proposal sent to X by this date.
• I will have the first three chapters sent to CP by this date
• I will have the first half ready for editing by this date.

...and so on...

There are no "...but's..." with deadlines.

So, if you haven't started yet, start today. Create those deadlines and stick to it.

Scott

It's Catch Up Day At Greyhaus

I'm playing hooky from the Blog today (sort of since you can see I am posting anyway).

I'm starting the weekend early, not so much to play, but to play catch up on a lot of paperwork floating around my desk.

See you all on Monday. I expect to hear great things from all of you then about the quality of writing you have been working on.

Scott

You Have Your Elevator Pitches, Now What?

I love this time of the year on all of the loops. Everyone is busy prepping those "elevator pitches." You know what I'm talking about and you know who you are. These are those brief pitches you plan on giving to every agent and editor you find in the hallway and meet in the elevator.

But why do I laugh? Because the majority of you writers out there, who have spent countless hours writing and memorizing the darn things, and who have likely spent chapter meetings in practice sessions will end up "chickening out" in the end.

You will say:

• It wasn't the right time.
• The editor/agent was just heading to a meeting.
• I had to go to the bathroom.
• The sun was shining.

Oh, you know who you are.

But let's talk about these for a second. There are actually two things I want to talk about today when it comes to the elevator pitches.

First of all, if your gut is making excuses as to why you won't "pitch on the fly" it's probably telling you that right now is not the time for you to make the jump to professional writing. I don't care how long you have been writing or how many manuscripts you have finished, your brain has to be in the game. This has to be right for you and I applaud you for not doing it.

Now, let's assume you are ready. There are countless opportunities for a writer to talk to editors and agents at a national conference. Take advantage of it. You don't have to start with a pitch but talk about the business. Show your interest. Show you know what is going on. The odds are the conversation will turn to around to a chance for you to talk about your story. Who knows. This might be the chance you need and want.

Although writing a story is a solitary business, writing, in general is not. You have to be able to talk to people and discuss the things you have in common. You have to be agressive and skip the wall-flower bit you have been using for so long.

There are a few rules though:

• If we are heading to the bathroom, no pitches.
• If you see we are seriously heading some place, no pitches.
• If an editor says they will not take unagented submissions, don't pitch.
• If you have an agent, talk to him or her first before heading out on your own.

Now for my annual challenge. I go to conference to talk to people. I go to conferences to meet writers and hear stories. If you see me out and about, come over and talk. I dare you to pitch to me.

And again, for those of you who have writing chapters meeting at nationals, I will visit and I will listen to what you have to say.

So, are you up to the challenge?

Scott

Sometimes It Is Better To Start Over

I've been working with one of my writers on a project of hers. After a discussion with her yesterday, we both came to the same agreement about some of the writing. It is better to trash it and start from the beginning.

This is certainly something no writer wants to deal with, but in this business, sometimes we have to face the truth. The darn story simply cannot be fixed. In many ways, it's like having that car of yours, the one you love, run into problems and the cost to fix it is much more than the cost of getting a new car.

I think, in all honesty, many writers simply try too hard to fix something that can't be fixed. They revise and they edit. They delete sections and write new sections. And all of this work continually yields the same response from editos and agents -"The story isn't right."

The problem further becomes painful when you think of that story as your little baby. You saw it grow from a little fragment of an idea jotted in the margins of your business department weekly agenda to the completed story with a "THE END." You love it and it is just too hard to say goodbye. But you have to.

The simple truth is the story was likely DOA from the beginning. No matter how many revisions and edits you would have done to it, nothing would have helped. But this is a fact of life and something all writers have to deal with.

So, if you are stuck in a situation like this. Smile. Give the story a big hug. Find a great box that you would have for Christmas or a birthday and wrap that prized possession up. Sit it next to your desk in a wonderful place so it can get all of the light from outside and inspire you with your next project.

Scott