Book Publishing Service
Sales Speaker Offers Book Publishing Advice To Aspiring Authors
Author: Dr. Gary S. Goodman
I received a pleasant note from a multi-talented author that would like to self-publish or have a major house do the honor.
This is not an unusual goal.
But today, I decided to spice my reply with a little more sour than sweet, revealing in the process where I believe the book industry is at this point, and what it is requiring. I think these comments are applicable, generally, and I hope you, too will find them useful.
You must be careful in what you reveal to publishers about yourself and what’s occupying your professional plate, at the moment. Is it full with unrelated, but glamorous activities?
If you have varied interests, and mention them, my first impression is, “How cool.”
But if I’m a publisher and I see varied interests, it could backfire.
“Now, it seems this gifted creature wants us to publish her book. Is she willing to dedicate the next two or three years to becoming our slave; to refining it and promoting it? How many copies will she personally purchase?”
That’s right. As an author, you are going to do the heavy lifting, whether you self-publish or a big publisher takes on the project. Chances are very strong you won’t sell many copies, unless you’re the purchaser.
As a sales and marketing type, I find that prospect very disappointing, having sold hundreds of thousands of copies of some titles (to strangers!), while other titles were commercial flops.
Which makes us revert to the most essential question: WHY do you want to publish this book? If that WHY is strong enough, it will be worth the transaction costs of accomplishing the mission, while potentially putting your other interests on hold.
If not, if a published book is just another laurel, an entry on your life’s resume, then WHY becomes WHY BOTHER?
If you seek to get rich from book sales, I would advise buying lottery tickets.
If it is for fame, that’s a surprisingly realistic objective, as a byproduct of promoting a book. With relentless promotion, you can get your 15 minutes and beyond. And it’s FUN being on TV and radio, but does publicity of that type sell books? If the exposure your title gets isn’t on Oprah, then not really.
Publicity sells you back to yourself. It’s a vanity-gambit, a great ego massage. But don’t get carried away. It can become a narcissistic narcotic.
Noting the book publishing industry had changed for the worse, I sold my most recent book projects to audio publishers instead, and they have been profitable, as well as quick-to-the-market. In one case I declined a book contract ($ + royalties) because the publisher was counting too much on me to promote. I wasn’t about to sign a blank check for my time.
But let’s get back to you. While I’ve had no experience with e-books, it seems to me they are a cheap and fast way to get your work out there, and to garner at least a trickle of income. If you are successful in e-books, selling hundreds to say a few thousand copies a month, many publishers will take a look at putting you into hard copy. They may even pay an advance against royalties, and agents should be interested, as well.
If I were to choose any single reference book on publishing, it would be Jeff Herman’s “Book Publishers, Editors & Literary Agents.” It is a practical and continuously updated directory of names, phone numbers, and tastes of the folks mentioned in the title. Plus, there are some useful essays on breaking into the biz. I’ve sold about 4 of my books with the intelligence I gleaned from his tome.
But I broke one of Herman’s rules, which he has since revised: I sold my books to editors by telephone.
Good luck!
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/advice-articles/sales-speaker-offers-book-publishing-advice-to-aspiring-authors-2058484.html
About the Author
Dr. Gary S. Goodman is a top-ranked sales speaker, negotiation speaker, and customer service speaker at Google, and a distinguished, sought-after telemarketing speaker, motivational speaker, and attorney. President of Customersatisfaction.com, he is a frequent TV and radio commentator and the best-selling author of 12 books and more than 1,750 articles that appear in 25,000 publications. President of Customersatisfaction.com, Gary conducts seminars and speaks at convention programs around the world. His new audio program is Nightingale-Conant’s “Crystal Clear Communication: How to Explain Anything Clearly in Speech & Writing.” His web site is: http://www.customersatisfaction.com, and professional speaking, seminar, and consulting invitations can be addressed to:gary@customersatisfaction.com.
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What the others say about the vanity publishing is true. I self-published my first novel and did it the right way. But, it cost me quite a few bucks to do it. Many well known authors have done it and went on to be what they are now.
Don’t use these people.
I had to contact magazines, stores, websites, and set up book signings on my own, but my book was put together by professional people. Lots of leg work when you self publish and lots of money. It cost me close to 4500 dollars. That was the ads and the editing service included, which was about 800 dollars.
If you’re going to find a true self publisher, you’ll need to get yourself a good editor. They cost, big time.
I wish you luck!
The ISBN Agency assigns ISBNs at the direct request of publishers, e-book publishers, audio cassette and video producers, software producers and museums and associations with publishing programs. In other words, it’s up to the publisher to apply for one for you.
first cps is ruining our fam.come by whenever the worker think she can.that is illegal and wrong when no abuse taking place so i commend you.#2. now,i want to say fbeing your own ceo company in this recession is the way to go,find your niche as my great friend is doing for years now she taught me and i help her.we just register yes with legally a company like legal or rocket etc. yes legal zoom atty.right then your set! your only need bank account$$$ if your accepting money in the assume DBA name of tamara or latina book writing service etc. ya know so i will do it myself as we did.attorney want too much but nice he told you about legal zoom and rocket.good luck wow almost 40 orders already at 20 bucks is nice piece of cash that fast.good luck.reach me anytime over at my email here.
from geena.
i’ve heard about publishing online and others can down load for a fee. not all you need but there it is.
be careful, insure you use No names, or addresses other wise you should be OK. However I would seek advice from an attorney before going to a publisher.
Write the book while you are still enlisted…you can have it published when you get out or do it using a different name.
Here are some great resources for getting started, how to write the book, maybe a screenplay for a movie, and how to self-publish your work.
Thanks for your service in the military and take care 🙂
http://www.writestreet.com
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I think that what would interest a lot of people would be the personal stuff, i.e. the little stories that come with each call. You know, like if some nutty person calls and is totally off the wall: what did they say and how crazy was it? Customer service people must get tons of calls from all kinds of weirdos, and short-tempered people who scream and curse on the phone. It would be great to read about what each person said and how weird and strange or mean it was.
veggie dancer (love the name), IIRC there’s a segment in “Nickel and Dimed” with customer service. The author’s not particularly funny, though, so it may not be what you’re after.
I did it for years. Not a fun job.
It’s called Books in Print and used in bookstores by clerks to see if a title is currently in print and where to get it.
What’s the best, cheapest way to get a book published but still have all the rights?
I need a site and what they offer for a publishing service. I also need a place to get books made in bulk for cheap.
Wanting to Publish a book about my Military service in Iraq?
But the thing is, is that I am still enlisted and do not wantto end up charged with something. I am technically in untill Sep 2009. The Book is just a dialy Journal – Nothing knocking on the military or anything. Anyone any ideas?
legality of publishing emails in a book ?
I am curious about the legality of publishing emails in a book. The emails are amusing/entertaining and were sent to the customer service email address that I managed for a company I used to work for. The true intended recipient was not the company, or anyone in the company, or me, but came from people who for some reason thought the person they wanted to contact was at that email. I saved many of them for my own amusement and think that it would be entertaining to others.
I’ve seen other examples of funny customer service emails published with the sender address blacked out.
Anyone know of any roadblocks or issues I might have with the legality of publishing these in a book?
**Please do not answer if your simply voicing your opinion. I’ve already received dozens of opinions. I want answers that have legal experience or publishing experience.**
Thanks!
Have you ever tried a self-publishing book service?
Got a sales call from authorhouse.com
When self publishing a book through a POD service, is it important to supply your own ISBN?
a book about customer service?
if there was to be a book published about telephone customer service (i.e. 800 lines) what would YOU really want to know/know how to do?
what about the inner workings would interest you?
what would make it a big seller?
Is there a non-fiction book out there about working in Customer Service?
I am just curious if anyone has published a book about working in Customer Service (painted in a negative light) that is kinda sarcastic and funny?
What service can I use to know if a foreign book (specially fiction) has been published in English?
I know there must be a kind of index publication or so (just like Ulrich for serials) that counts all the books published in English, but which one is it?
do i need a license or just register my DBA over at legal zoom type service to sell my book on CPS foster care?
i am happy everyone i have 35 book order already online with paying me 20 to 29,95 a pop for my 1st book on trouble cps worker lieing to remove kid then hurtin families happen to my fireman friend so i was inspire now have people want to buy i am happy. so question:
do i need to get a license(i was told by business attorney who want 1000 bucks to register my name then say about legal zoom as rocket etc. who can do this cheaper etc. but get license and to only register my name as DBA etc.(DBA MEAN DOING BUSINESS AS et. latino book service or somethin like this as the atty say NO LICENSE EXTRA MONEY Since i am not having any zoning to my home like a store but sell ALL online my 1st book as well as again writing service for people who can’t type up a medical request form preperation or letter against cps worker for violation of my right or family friend et.
to tell them they are being sued and i also write letter for DMV for 10 years for people so i am now able to just do it online ya know.happy about this so again do i need a license or just to register my DBA name i am going to be doing business under i.e. latina writing book publishing service.Gracia
para(from)tamara.