Tough Times for Book Publishing

To anyone thinking about books right now, please print and tape 2 and 3 to your computer screen.

A publisher is only going to buy/sell/promote so many books. Why should yours be one of them? Why is your book worth the blind investment of an advance, the manpower behind the editing and production process, the cost of manufacturing, the sales and marketing effort?

In the end, publishers make those decisions based on a mess of intangibles, but the one thing an author can do is offer up a solid idea and professional proposal. It absolutely crushes me when a great writer with a great idea just can't or won't do the work to get it on paper. If your agent tells you he/she needs more, do more. Those editors are seeing dozens of proposals every day. Help us get yours to the top of the pile.

Last night, I got a couple of notes from clients who read and post here, thanking me for depressing the hell out of them. Not my intention. It's just a good time to remember that publishing is a business, and it's up to you to show why your book will be good for business.

 

Also, make sure you convince them that you understand storytelling. Not writing. Storytelling. They will be skeptical of a newspaper writer, and they should be. I told them about narrative arcs and dramatic needs and everything else you would read about in a screenwriting how-to book, because a book needs those elements. You are telling a story, not just relating facts.

 

As someone who has recently been booted out of the newspaper biz and is attempting to scribe his first fiction novel, I appreciate the info on this thread. I'm trying to cling onto the idea of writing for a living, because it's the only thing I can really imagine doing. I have an "in" of sorts...my uncle is very close friends with a married couple who both happen to be best-selling authors and pretty big names in fiction. For those who have already traveled the book route, it would be great to get some more advice on what I have ahead of me.

What is the best manuscript form (font, spacing, etc.)? And do you keep it digital or go hard copy when presenting it to an editor/agent?

 

Mitch -

Read this:

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/36781/

 

thanks

 

You have to make use of times like these to work on your craft, regardless of everything else. During the early 80s recession I read more than at any time in my life, late 80's I taught myself how to write a book proposal, so when the cloud lifted, I was prepared. The only silver lining during times like these is that it weeds out both writers and editors who are either not quite up to speed or not quite committed to what they do. Then, when things start gearing up again, there is generally more opportunity than before.

One thing for sure is that you will discover if you really want to do this. If you don't, you'll stop and never start again. If you do you'll write your way through it, whether you sell anything or not.

 

Settling on a great book idea you are erally passionate about, researching and writing a spiffy proposal that shows depth and an understanding of marketing, getting a contract with a publisher, writing the book, going thtrough the extensive editing process and then doing all the publicity after the book coems out is hard, hard work from start to finish. It is a total paradigm shift from the newspaper world and it means turning your ego into a punching bag. All that for a 5-figure advance, if you're lucky.

If you are ready for that, go for it. One more thing---having an uncle who is good friends with a married couple of successful authors is next to meaningless.

 

People think this is a lottery. It's not. You write a great book, you show how you can sell it, and it'll eventually sell. Even tremendously successful authors have finished books they'll never let see the light of day. Nicholas Sparks got a million-dollar advance off of "The Notebook," but still has a completed novel he tried to sell that he'll never publish because he doesn't think it's good enough. I think Tom Perrotta has one like that, too, stashed somewhere. They say no one ever sells his first novel.

 

Everyone has that novel in the drawer. A couple of years ago at a Super Bowl, sitting around with a bunch of well-known sportswriters, most of whom had VERY successful non-fiction adventures, every single one said they had a novel they couldn't sell, despite their big names and resumes.

Doesn't mean we shouldn't keep trying, but first-time fiction is really really hard no matter who you are.

 

Having a pair of repeat NYT best-selling authors review my manuscript and maybe pass it on to their agent or editor wouldn't be beneficial? I don't hold any illusions of getting a five-figure advance or anything and I will be writing for myself if nothing else, but can't see how taking a shot with them won't help somehow, especially if they enjoy what I've put together. Even getting solid advice from them would be enough for me. Heck, it worked for their son and his first two books, although his success has been rather subdued thus far.

 

First time novelists might as well hang a skull and crossbones around their neck.

That would include---perhaps to a lesser degree---published non-fiction authors.

Most of the time this stuff doesn't cross over very well and publishers often regard releasing these writers' first attempts at a novel a favour --a notch above vanity publishing.

In a lot of cases, the book will probably never earn out, regardless of the previous non-fiction publishing successes

Right now publishers aren't in the business of building careers. They're worried about the next quarter.

 

Unless your ms is close to a publishable state, the only person who should be reading it is your agent or your editor.

If you don't have an agent, that's your first step.

Book publishing is a notoriously small and incestuous world. If you send out something that's only half-finished, even on a casual basis, you may find that someone you never intended to see it, reads it and gives it the kiss of death.