Why Book Size Matters

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

Our growth as writers and authors is a combination of experience, learning about the marketplace then putting what we learn into practice. In this article I’m writing about a detail of publishing which can be easily overlooked yet can be significant for your book and how you use it. I’m going to tell you why your book size matters.

Recently a publishing friend reached out to ask me about this size detail. She heard me talk about it but didn’t recall the specifics. I’ve written in the past about how your word count affects the size and acceptance of your book with publishers. Follow this link to read this information if you haven’t. Space is limited in every bookstore and most books are spine out in the bookstore. Your book has to be large enough to take your space inside the bookstore (provided you have a way to even get your books into that space).

Some authors will not be able to do anything about the size of their finished book because they are publishing with traditional houses. Whether true or not, these traditional houses do not include the author as they plan the size of the book because whether right or wrong, they believe they know these details better than the author and there is no need to include them in the decision process. Education and knowledge is a key part of the publishing process. When you learn this detail, you may be able to have some influence on your own books during the production process--at least that is my hope and why I’m writing this article. 

In the area of adult books, there are two common sizes: 6 x 9 and 5 1/2 x 8 1/2. If you do get a chance to discuss and influence this book production element, I prefer the slightly smaller size of 5.5 x 8.5. My reason is “unusual.” The smaller size will pack perfectly into the free priority mail boxes from the US postal service. The larger size does not pack as well in this process.  

This detail is important if you ship boxes of books because there is a flat rate priority mail box. There are different types of priority mail boxes and to get the best rate, make sure you get the right one). Then you can pile your books tightly into these containers and get the maximum use from them. The other reason that I prefer this smaller size related to my frequent travel to conferences. 

When I travel to a conference, I often have the opportunity sell some books in the bookstore. In my carry on bag, I will put two of these priority mail boxes and pack them with my books. Because they fit perfectly into these boxes, with no extra effort, the books arrive in pristine shape and no bent or damaged covers. 

Admittedly this size decision seems small but it can have big implications for your future if you don’t consider it. 

this small decision can be significant later on. These small details are important as you create, market then sell your book. What other details are important to know about during the production process? Let me know in the comments below.

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Where Do You Get Educated About Publishing?

By Terry Whalin @terrywhalin

For years I've been studying the publishing world. A key part of the process is building relationships with editors and agents and others in the community such as publicity people. Something you can't control is timing but you can continue to be submitting or pitching and building relationships. Then you can be at the right place at the right time with the right material.

 

The publishing community is always changing and I can illustrate it with one of my 21 “secrets” in the first edition of Book Proposals That Sell: always enclose an SASE (self addressed stamped envelope). At that time, there was no electronic submissions. Publishers received thousands of submissions (as they do today) and if you didn't include the return postage, then your submission was thrown away and not returned. Today everything is electronic and if an editor is interested, they will request you to send the full manuscript as an attachment.

 

How can get educated about publishing? It is an on-going process but in this article I want to give you several resources. My first resource is to read the articles in my Twitter stream or that I post on LinkedIn. It is a steady stream of information about various aspects of publishing and education. I read all of these articles which are in this steam and learn from them.

 

The second way to learn about publishing is to study how-to-write books. For years I've been reading at least one how-to-write book a month and learning from them. You can get them from your public library and read them. I've written three how-to-write books. Originally I self-published Jumptart Your Publishing Dreams but now the revised edition is available in bookstores online and brick and mortar stores. Follow this link for a free sample. This book has helped many writers learn more about publishing. Check out the illustration from a reader who marked different sections to study with post-it notes.

 

I also wrote 10 Publishing Myths to help writers have a realistic view of publishing. You can get my book for only $10 including shipping plus over $200 in bonuses if you follow this link. Or you can get it at any bookstore whether online or brick and mortar. I encourage you to get the 11th myth as a free download.

 

Finally the revised edition of Book Proposals That Sell will help you understand the book publishing world and many authors have used this book to find a publisher or a literary agent. At the book website, you can get a free book proposal checklist (the pop-up when you go to the book site).

 

Another means to get educated about publishing is to attend a writer's conference. There are some excellent events and opportunities for you to meet personally meet editors and agents. I'm headed two two of these live events next month and would love to meet with you during these events. 

 

The publishing world is full of opportunity for every writer but you must take action, learn what the editor or agent wants and expects, then make appropriate pitches. Each of us can get educated about publishing and I've given you some seasoned places to explore and improve your possibilities.

 

In this article I gave you a number of different means to get educated about publishing. Are there other ways you would suggest? Let me know in the comments below.

 

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Where do you get educated about publishing? This prolific editor and author gives a number of different action steps in this article. Get the details here. (ClickToTweet)

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In Praise of the Educated Writer

While I've been in the publishing community many years, I continue to learn new information all the time. I'm committed to a life-time learning process. I've watched several of my writing friends who stop learning and figure they have reached their level in the market. 

From my experience, this attitude of arrival is self-fulfilling for them as I also watch the stall of their careers. Authors with this attitude only get to workshops when they are teaching and don't read how-to magazines or books. I encourage you not to fall into this attitude trap—no matter where you are on the spectrum of published authors.

There are many ways for writers to get educated and here's a few of them:

--conferences
--online groups
--writer's groups
--critique groups
--books
--magazines
--one on one mentoring or coaching
--blogs and other online articles
--online courses like my Write A Book Proposal course

From my experience, I know a great deal of publishing is about being in the right place, at the right time, with the right material—timing is crucial. As someone who has reviewed thousands of manuscripts and book proposals, I can read a few paragraphs and know whether the writer is educated about the market and publishing.

The opposite is also true. I can tell whether the writer has sprayed their proposal far and wide without any thought about what our publishing house is producing. Recently an author mailed a self-published book to the Morgan James office in New York City. A little online research would tell you quickly that I work remote and live in Colorado. Our office forwarded the book to me and I opened it. First, I was amazed at the size (over 700 pages) then I looked at the title and the contents (targeted to the New Age market). While Morgan James publishes some Christian books (about 30 each year), they are not a “Christian” publisher yet this view is across the board in the published books (i.e. our fiction has no sex or curse words and the publisher would not publish a New Age book). While I admire the enthusiasm of this writer, he had not taken the few minutes to get educated and targeted with his submission. I read numerous books outside of what I do at Morgan James and often write book reviews. Yet this book would not be one that I would even read a few pages.

What steps are you taking to get educated as a writer? 

Literary agents and publishers receive thousands of submissions. The standout ones that get published come from thoughtful, educated writers.

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A Cover & Title Education

Where do you get educated about how to create a great book title? Or how do you learn what makes a bestselling book cover? From my experience in publishing, people seem to learn this information through trial and error or years of experience.

At least ten or twelve years ago, I wrote a series of back covers for a small publisher. As a freelance writer, the publisher sent the manuscript, the book title and information about the author. Often on a tight production schedule, I skimmed the manuscript, crafted a headline, then some bullet-points of benefits for the book and sent it back to the publisher along with my invoice for the copywriting. I probably wrote twenty or thirty of these back covers. Besides my payment, I received a copy of the finished book. Often I pulled my submitted copy and compared it to the printed book to see what I could learn from the comparison. With few changes, my words appeared on the finished book. I worked in isolation with almost zero feedback from my connection at the publishing house. No one kicked back my words and asked me to rewrite them. From what I know now about the internal process of publishing houses, I suspect the overloaded production person simply took my words, tweaked a few things and pushed it ahead in the process.

Most recently at a publisher, the editor who did the developmental editing for the book also did the copywriting for the back cover material. Yes, the marketing department had input into the final version but the initial draft of the copy came from the editorial department. There are many different ways this part of the process is handled within the publishing community. From my experience it is learn-on-the-job, thrown-off-into-the-deep-end-and-start-swimming sort of effort with little education and instruction. Yet each day customers make critical purchasing decisions about the books from these efforts.

Within traditional publishing situations, the publisher titles the book and designs the cover along with the words on the back of the cover. Many authors feel powerless and out of control of this particular part of the book production process--yet they don't have to be. I've told authors for many years if they propose an excellent book title and subtitle then that title will remain throughout the publishing process. It is the same way with your back cover copy. As the author, you can propose language and if it is excellent, it will be used in the creation of the book.

Back to my original question about training in this area, where do you get it?

I'd like to suggest an unusual yet in some ways expected suggestion. Turn to experts in design and creating book titles to get the right one for your book. I've recently listened to Cover That Book which in several hours of education gives incredible value and ideas for any author. Whether you plan to self-publish or go to a traditional publisher. Why pour this type of energy into the title of your book? Because when you send a proposal to an editor or literary agent, you have seconds--and I mean that--to grab their attention and the first thing they will see if your title and subtitle.

I can hear the authors protesting this information about the cover design. Yes, within a traditional publishing arena, the cover design is the responsibility of the publisher. But I suspect even a major publishing house would carefully look at cover designs from an author they want to publish.

Finally I want to suggest that editors and literary agents in the publishing community will also benefit from Cover That Book. It's an area of the marketplace where most of us have learned through trial and error. There is huge value (and earnings potential) if you get the right training. Susan Kendrick writes a valuable blog called Book Cover Coaching. Whether you get their valuable package or not, I recommend you subscribe to this blog and follow her writing. It's another means to get educated about covers and titles.