The Cost of Publishing

     

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

It is a common question I get from writers, “Does your publishing program have a financial cost?” The answer is not simple and the reality is every type of publishing costs--even self-publishing. Thousands of new books are published every day through the Amazon Kindle program. The costs can be minimal but then you have to reach your audience and sell the book. I often say that making books is easy but selling books is a completely different story.

As an author, you will have to weigh the cost for your path. I’ve met authors who have paid over $10,000 to self-publish. By the time, they hired an editor, a cover designer, a layout designer the pages, it cost to get their book into the market. As this friend who spent $10,000 told me, when he looked back, he wished he had gone with Morgan James Publishing because then his book would be in bookstores and not just on Amazon but over 1,800 online bookstores. If you go the traditional route, you will need to create a book proposal and possibly find a literary agent (unless you meet a publisher at a writer’s conference). 

Even if you traditional publish, you will need to spend time marketing and reaching your audience. Whether your publisher gives you this information or not, understand the majority of the marketing (80%) will be up to you.

As you make your choice about the publishing path, I encourage you to get advice and help from others but be aware that advice could cost you. Recently an author emailed me who had three independent publishing contract offers and wanted my help in a phone call. I responded and was willing to help--but not for free. 

Admittedly I have a lot of free online information through my blog, free ebooks, my newsletters and other places. Yet when you are looking for my specific help for your contracts or publishing advice, I encourage you to expect to pay something for that help. From my decades in this business, the cost is minimal for the savings and value you will receive.

I compare such a request to having a friend who is a physician and you’ve gotten ill and need a prescription, you would not expect this friend to help without charging. Why would you expect it for a publishing question? Yet this author wrote me assuming I would call her, freely giving my counsel without charge. It is not a realistic expectation. Even if you publish with an independent publisher like Morgan James Publishing, it will cost you.

The road isn’t easy but success and selling books is possible on any of these paths. The exploration process costs nothing other than your time. What process do you use to count the cost of publishing? Let me know in the comments below. 

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A Cautious Tale About Recommendations

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

As a writer, I am constantly looking for tips and insights to improve my work. In this process, I read books, blogs, articles and many other things. When I find a recommendation, I will track down the recommendation and sometimes buy the book.

 

Recently a long-term source of reviewing books strongly recommended a writing how-to book. This source said it was filled with practical tips for every writer. I went to the book's page on Amazon and ordered the book. I ignored the fact that this book was published a couple of years ago—and has zero customer reviews. The lack of reviews and customer feedback should have been a warning sign but I ignored it and purchased the book.

 

Last week I received and read the book. It turned out to be a lengthy rant with almost no valuable tips or advice. I wasted my money on this book and didn't find anything valuable. I will not be giving the name of the book or writing a review or promoting the book. I believe my recommendations and reviews have value and I want to recommend books—and not write about books I don't recommend. It's my personal stance on reviews. My experience with this book has tarnished my respect and appreciation for the source of the recommendation. In the future, I will check and double check those recommendations before I purchase the book.

 

When you get a recommendation for a book or an online course or a product, I encourage you to look for validation from another source. Does the book have customer reviews? How many reviews does the book have in relation to the date it was released? What is the overall ranking of those reviews? As I look back at my poor writing how-to book that I bought, I should have been clued into the poor content from the lack of Amazon customer reviews since the book has been out a couple of years. Yet I ignored this warning sign and purchased the book—a waste of my time and money.

 

When I teach at writer's conferences (which has been limited with this pandemic), people can easily look into my background and see that I've not just written one or two books but worked with a wide variety of publishers as an author. I've also been on the inside of three publishing companies as an acquisitions editor and for a season I ran my own literary agency. Just reading those sentences, you can see that I have had a wide variety of experiences in publishing and also in the magazine area (not just books). This type of information gives weight to my recommendations.

 

How do you validate recommendations? In particular, what adjustments do you make when you buy a recommended book or product and it doesn't meet your expectations? It's why I wrote this cautionary tale and I look forward to your comments and insights.

 

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Why I Don't Follow Some Common Advice

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Do you follow every bit of advice from others? I don't and if I did I would be chasing after every new and shining object that comes into my mailbox or email box. In this article, I want to address a common bit of advice that I've heard then tell you about how I handle this area and other advice.

 

In blogs and books, I often read, “Don't read your email first thing. Focus on your main priority first and decide to read your email on designated times throughout the day.” Statistics have shown most of us check our email at least 85 times a day which admittedly is excessive. I've learned the importance of responding with short emails which gives the receiver a response but maybe not a lot of detail. If an email requires a longer response, I've learned not to immediately send it but to wait a bit then re-read it to make sure it s complete.

 

I don't follow this advice about not reading my email because these emails are the lifeblood of publishing. It's where I get work. It's where I communicate with editors. It's where I get my contracts from my colleagues at Morgan James Publishing which I send on to authors. It's where I receive signed contracts from authors. There are many other bits of information that come through my email. I've learned to process it quickly.

 

Another bit of advice I see regularly is about social media. “Use a timer when you log on to Facebook or LinkedIn or _____ and begin reading. Otherwise you can waste hours.” I see the truth in this statement but again it is something I do not practice or follow (using a timer). Instead I am keenly aware of the traps of social media and how you can waste lots of time on it. My social media time is limited. Admittedly I do not see every post from every person. My time on social media is focused and with a point.

 

As writers, each of us have a careful balancing act called life. We juggle work and family and fun (yes we make time for fun). We have longterm and short term projects. I network with others and I am moving forward with my current book writing project at the same time I am looking for looking for long-term work, answering email and returning phone calls. The list is endless but these are some of the elements and give you the idea. I also have interruptions and unexpected things that spring into my schedule.

 

In a recent how-to writing book I read, reviewed and promoted, the author called out Amazon as evil. I understand many booksellers and publishers do not like the controlling dominance of Amazon but I respectfully disagree with this author. Amazon is not evil. This company is a huge player in the publishing industry and requires some of our attention at writers. 

 

My principle point in this article is each of us have to find our own path. My path within publishing and life will be different from your path. I can learn from you and you can learn from me. I hope I've given you some ideas in this article. 

 

What common advice do you not follow? Let me know in the comments below.

 

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Use Caution with Advice from Editors & Agents

Some times new writers will hang on my every word. If I think about what is happening I can be frightened with that responsibility. Yes I've been in the book business for many years and worked in many different areas—yet I do not always get it right. In fact, no one does. 

I understand that some new ideas are fragile and at a conference, a writer takes a risk to present their idea and get your feedback. At these meetings, we often have seconds to size up an idea and look over a few pages of writing, then give some feedback. I've been in this situation many times in the past and will be in this situation a number of times in the coming weeks at different conferences. I understand the serious nature of my responsibility in these situations yet I also know that I'm not always on target with my advice. 

At some conferences, I have a day full of back-to-back 15 minute sessions with different writers. I'm eager to help these writers with their questions and book ideas. As an acquisitions editor, I'm actively looking for the right nonfiction or fiction books that I can champion to my publication board at Morgan James Publishing and eventually bring into print. Other times I'm giving the writer some encouragement or insight into their proposal or their book idea.

As a writer, I can recall hanging on every word from a respected editor. I wrote down the feedback and went home then carried out each instruction. Then when I returned to this editor, he did not recall that he had ever seen the project in the first place. I appreciated his honesty but at the time I didn't understand it because that brief conversation meant so much to me. 

Here's some keys as you get advice from different publishing professionals:

1. Who gave you this advice? Are they new to the profession or have they spent years in the trenches of publishing?

2. What time of day did you receive it? If at the end of a long day of meetings, maybe it was not perfectly on target.

3. Are you hearing the same counsel from others? If you hear the same general advice from several people, then it may be worth taking and changing.

4. What is your own mind and heart telling you about the advice? Some people stumble around with a manuscript for years because they are blind or do not accept the advice they have been given about it. Others are swayed with every bit of advice to move in different directions and never get published because their perfectionist tendencies make their material “never good enough.” 

My overall insight is for balance. Sometimes you will take the advice and other times you shrug it. Every editor and agent is off the mark at times and you should not hold that over the person but understand and move on. You have to take the advice with a grain of salt.

Recently I received a lengthy email from a writer who recalled in great detail a fifteen minute session with me from at least six or seven years ago. As I read his description of the details, I didn't remember anything about that session—yet I could see that it was significant to this writer. My only response was to apologize and encourage the writer to move forward. To my knowledge, that book idea was never published. 

Every writer needs to follow their passion for their story and their writing—yet be open to learning something new along the journey. Continue to grow in your craft and storytelling, and be willing to shrug the advice from an editor or agent. It might be the difference between getting your book published or keeping it on your computer.