Thread: Get a book deal.

Hi everyone. You may have seen me knocking about the site.

As you may know I got my book published this year. I then started motivational speaking on the back of my story. What really shocked me was the number of people in the speaking world that said that self publishing was the only way to go for speakers trying to get a book published.

I know it's not easy. But it really isn't impossible to get a book deal.

This constant pushing of self publishing in the world of speaking wound me up enough to put together some resources for people looking to get their book published. I mean get published, with the possiblity of an advance!

Nip over to Get a book deal for more info.

(Oh yes it may be .co.uk but the info applies across the world)

Of course having an agent makes finding a publisher easier. That's never been a secret.

Some writers sell their books to publishers without an agent because the publishers do dig into the slush pile and sometimes lightening strikes.

Some writers with agents never sell their books, which reflects badly on the judgement of the agents involved.

My first book sold with no agent involved, but I had been writing for the publisher's periodicals for a few years. They knew my work, and when I proposed a book project it was accepted. Having that book published led to finding an agent ready to represent me, and we worked together for many years.

So having an agent can make getting published easier, and having a book published can make finding an agent easier. It can work either way.

Originally Posted by Bigfella

Hi everyone. You may have seen me knocking about the site.

As you may know I got my book published this year. I then started motivational speaking on the back of my story. What really shocked me was the number of people in the speaking world that said that self publishing was the only way to go for speakers trying to get a book published.

I know it's not easy. But it really isn't impossible to get a book deal.

This constant pushing of self publishing in the world of speaking wound me up enough to put together some resources for people looking to get their book published. I mean get published, with the possiblity of an advance!

Nip over to Get a book deal for more info.

(Oh yes it may be .co.uk but the info applies across the world)

That's very useful information for inexperienced writers wondering about getting their work into print.

Many writing websites are down on self-publishing and even continue to refer to self-publishing (I call it "DIY books") as "vanity press".

In my opinion that "vanity press" bit was the case long ago, when putting out a paper book was a complicated and expensive process. That maxim--that DIY or "do it yourself" publishing is just for "vanity", meaning that it's not going to make the writer any money but just so he/she can have his name in print--is no longer true.

Traditional book publishing is dying a slow death. So far as I know there have been no blockbusters to come out of epublishing, but it's early days yet.

One direction the industry might go is the replacement of publishing houses with marketing firms. Such firms would have readers scanning the ebooks being published, and offering the pr and market promotions now provided by traditional publishing houses. That's the area that today is the weak side of epublishing. So I publish my book. Now what? Had it been published by a traditional publisher their marketing department would do all they could to ensure sales. But I'm an elderly gentleman (hush - I got it half right) with no marketing department. How do I sell my book?

So traditional publishing houses will be replaced by marketing firms geared to promoting ebooks, all for a slice of the pie.

My two cents from what I've read about about self-publishing...

If you want to be a well-known fiction author with books in libraries and book stores, self-publishing won't work. There's no way you can publish and convince stores to carry your work and have your items put in libraries. It's too much work and there's a protocol that is generally followed. If you've got a target audience to which you can market directly (people/businesses who are searching for motivational help, for example) then self-publishing or e-publishing can work. The variables end up being, (1) How hard do you want to work to get your book in others' hands? (2) And how good a salesperson are you? (3) How much time do you have on your hands?

Let's look at those variables.

(1) As marketing replaces printing and distribution, writers will find firms willing to work hard to get the writers' books into the hands of readers, for a price. Instead of taking a big enough percentage of sales to cover printing, distribution, and marketing, plus a profit, all these firms will need is enough percentage to cover marketing, plus a profit. If some really savvy people get into this, they will be able to make more per book than traditional print publishers, and give the writers' and the writers' agents more dollars.

(2) How good are the salespeople at the major publishing houses? Pretty darn good, even as they fight a rear-guard, losing, action against epublishing. As they shift from trying to sell ink and paper to selling words and ideas, they will find whole new markets and a virgin field of clients ready to be harvested.

(3) Once emarketing catches up with epublishing, the writer can go back to writing and leave the selling to the people who know best how it's done. In the not too distant future we will see a blockbuster novel published electronically. Word up.

'People will never be able to fly', preached Bishop Wright, as his sons Orville and Wilbur built their first gliders. 'Get a horse' was the cry of the buggy whip makers in the early days of the automobile. 'Print your book' is the advice today.

'The library as we know it will be gone one day' said the elderly librarian 40 years ago in Meridian, Mississippi as she demanded that the city's new library have only movable shelves, computer flooring to allow for data and power cables to run from anywhere in the building to anywhere else in the building, air conditioning and electrical service well beyond what the architect had asked for, and the elimination of any architectural features that took away floor space that should be available both for books in the short term and computers in the future.

Bookstores will be as popular in the future as video tape rental shops are today. My grandchildren have used far fewer books in university classes than I used. Their grandchildren may never know what a book is, outside a museum. This idea frightens people. Some people.

Movable type frightened people. The steam engine frightened people. The automobile, the airplane, radio, television, all frightened people. Now, with the advent of electronic publishing, the eventual end to traditional publishing frightens people.

Give it up, Bishop. The boys made it fly.

Garza is right on. Why do people even really want to get a major publishing deal? Is it to satisfy a feeling of comfort or prestige?

I believe that is the wrong intention. It should be to get your work out there to as many people because you believe people will benefit from it. You can do this now more than ever before.

Yes you have to put in some work, but so what. If I had the next blockbuster I'd bust my butt to do everything to get people to see it.

if you don't have the next blockbuster then work on it now!

I find the idea of self publishing being about vanity (the implication being that having others publish your work not being about vanity) laughable. I'm vain if I publish my work, because I want others to purchase and enjoy it, thus validating me as a writer, but if some other human beings decide to publish my work, in an effort to make money off of me/it, and I agree to it, because I want others to purchase and enjoy it, I'm not vain?

Riight....

Originally Posted by Scarlett_156

That's very useful information for inexperienced writers wondering about getting their work into print.

Many writing websites are down on self-publishing and even continue to refer to self-publishing (I call it "DIY books") as "vanity press".

In my opinion that "vanity press" bit was the case long ago, when putting out a paper book was a complicated and expensive process. That maxim--that DIY or "do it yourself" publishing is just for "vanity", meaning that it's not going to make the writer any money but just so he/she can have his name in print--is no longer true.

Beware of vanity presses. Many of them are fraudulent. If any publisher asks you to pay them to publish your book, run.

Guardian37 - That was true as late as ten years ago. It's not true today. There has been a climate change in publishing along with the changes in weather patterns. Today you want to be cautious, but ready to consider all options. Get the advice of people who have published their own work in different ways. Study the pages of Preditors and Editors.

There are many ways to publish today, and self-publishing no longer carries the stigma it did in years gone by.

Useful reading guys, thanks.

The biggest downside to self-publishing is that it decreases the perceived literariness of your work. I'm working on a contract for a book now (getting paid for it) that will be self-published by the guy who is paying me. He offered to put my name on the cover as author, but I'm starting to wonder if I should just take the role of a ghost writer or take a nom de plume. I have literary aspirations, after all.