I whinge about the heat (sorry, the last 3 novels I’ve read were British!) like everyone else. The poor folks at our little post office (fortunately not one scheduled for closing!) have suffered more than a month with lack of air conditioning since their system went down, and are forced to wait for a service man to travel this far to repair it. And of course there’s no way to leave the windows open at night to cool down the building as those of us without AC do at home. By contrast, last winter one of the women at the post office mentioned that when she came in to work one morning it was 30 below outside and 70 inside, a 100 degree temperature difference! As I said, “it’s always something.”

We were fortunate this year and had a beautiful and unusually long spring, one that caused some of us gardeners to wonder if our veggies were ever going to get growing in the cool temperatures. (still, we loved the treat of mild temperatures!)

Somehow this weather has been good for my chili crop, so far the plants are bigger than they’ve been in 4 years and I look forward to a good harvest and a kitchen smelling of green chili in the fall as the freezer fills to tide me through the winter. You can take the girl out of Santa Fe but you can’t take Santa Fe out of the girl! And while my chilies and tomatoes are doing well, my neighbor across the street, a much more prolific gardener than I am, complains that her veggies aren’t doing much.

So the chilies are loving the heat, me…not so much. I’ve recently decided I’d like to live somewhere where the temp ranges between 20 and 80. While there must be a few places like that (maybe in the South Pacific…and I doubt it get’s below 50 out there!) there is another requirement that renders the possibilities moot: No humidity.

I’ve lived in the dry “square” states (Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming) for many many years now and cannot tolerate humidity. I was born in Virginia but moved to LA when I was 11 and grew up with beaches and smog and mild temperatures. I hated the lack of seasons and the air that was so thick not only could you not see through it, it now feels to me—my high-and-dry-plains self—as though it requires chewing. The smog, I hear, has improved. And there are many many great things about southern California, but I could never live there again.

I’ve gotten used to living far away from everything, even if it means driving 50 miles to a larger grocery store, Walmart and the nearest movie theater (I tend to wait for cable of NetFlix these days!) or 140 miles to box stores and small shopping centers, the multi-plexes and live music and theater. I like the simple life in a small town where most things I really NEED are within walking distance. (The things I WANT are, for the most part, available online!)

I miss the arts community and being around creative people, liberals who enjoy trying on different ideas for size and who want to share their experiences. That’s the most limiting thing for me in this part of the world, and I do miss it. It’s a trade off. If I can manage to travel a couple of times a year it seems to be enough, and I look forward to that again when the economy finally recovers.

Meanwhile, we work on the new website and I’m suddenly in the middle of 4 book projects, all to be done before the end of the year. When I need a break from the computer screen I go outside and water the chilies!

Enjoy your summer…the holidays will be here before we know it, even though I wish it was fall all year round!

What are you reading?

Whew! What turned out to be my “Self Publishing 101” blogs are finally over. Are you relieved? I know I am! Of course I now have to scrounge around for a topic and there are a lot to choose from when it comes to publishing-related things whirling around in my head.

The economic situation has been hard on everyone, workers and business people alike. And particularly hard on publishers of all sizes, if the conference call I was on last week is any indication! Everything is shifting and the fluidity of the marketing spectrum has confused all of us, I think.

Personally, I was hoping the recession would turn more people to reading but now, if both sales and the readers I talk to are any indication, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Many of my friends—which, by the way, include several librarians—tell me they’re just having a hard time finding books they can really get into. And it seems to be less a problem of available material than one of focus. I know it certainly is for me.

I usually read a couple of books a month beyond all the manuscripts I read for work. Sadly, that hasn’t happened since the beginning of the year. For the first time in many years I haven’t been able to find a book to dive into that allows me to immerse myself in the experience. There are almost 200 books on my “to-be-read” shelf (plus a few waiting on my Kindle!) and though I have probably started at least a dozen of them, I haven’t stuck with a one, something very unusual for me. It’s rare I start a book and don’t keep reading.

Many of my very favorite authors are waiting for my attention—Pat Conroy is there and Margaret Atwood. Elizabeth Cunningham is there, too, and I’ve always found myself immediately captivated by her work. There are several historical novels I was anxious to read when I bought them, yet they languish along with three memoirs and even a few non-fiction titles that enticed me in the beginning. They all wait, and not without subtle accusations of neglect.

You know, it’s embarrassing to admit, but I haven’t read the Harry Potter books yet. (I HAVE seen all the movies!) My friends love them and from the movies I can tell how brilliant they are. I started the original book when it came out. In those first minutes I found the meter annoying for some reason and quit. Haven’t picked them up since and maybe that would be something to try right now. A whole series to read through, which ought to keep the personal enjoyment part of my mind occupied for the summer.

I miss it, that joy of escape and involvement which creates a mini-vacation from the real world and allows your brain to completely shift into another reality, whether it be Dragon Tattoos, Hunger Games, or the “real” story behind Rumpelstiltskin. Where is the big “summer novel” I can lose myself in? I’m sure it’s out there, but I suspect that even if it were waiting on my Kindle, I wouldn’t be switching it on.

Meanwhile, I slog through manuscripts, red pen in hand and wonder what people think when they write these things and supposedly get them ready for a publisher. And I only agree to look at manuscripts that sound interesting and demonstrate some degree of writing ability through the samples. Sad to say that most don’t come through on their initial promise. I don’t know if it’s the result of instilling too much self esteem in a generation that has this sense of entitlement, i.e. I write therefore I should be published.

I even received a book in the mail the other day that the author had self-published. She informed me via email that she’d sent it. She hadn’t sold many and now wants me to publish it. She obviously hadn’t bothered to check the website and learn that we don’t accept unsolicited manuscripts. She never bothered to query. And I’m not sure why She thinks I could sell her book if she can’t. Still, every once in awhile that diamond in the rough emerges and keeps me going!

Dare I say that I have some writing I want to do myself? I’m about a third of the way through a novel I started quite awhile ago and long to get back to. I’m contemplating releasing it a chapter at a time through the website for those interested in following a work in progress. I figure forcing myself to a deadline to make new chapters available will get me writing again and I’d enjoy some comments from readers as it goes along. Look for that when the new website is up in the coming weeks.

I have been doing a little editing on my French novel, BEYOND THE WORLD, trying to pare it down just a bit before the digital and hardback versions are published. I confess I’ve really enjoyed that process since that book is so close to my heart. It’s unfortunate that Amazon could never manage to get it to come up by title (despite many, MANY MANY complaints on my part!). Barnes & Noble made the correction in 24 hours, yet Amazon remains deaf to my pleas. It will only pop up on a search by by my name…and who can spell that? Perhaps I should re-release it under another title, since so few people have found it as is.

I wonder if the stress of day to day life is having an effect on our concentration. SOMETHING is certainly affecting mine and my friends share my complaint. Time feels like it’s speeding up. Things seem to be changing so fast it’s hard to keep up. Rising gas prices and food prices, natural disasters affecting people in our country and all over the planet, jobs, the economy… We’re trying to juggle things on so many different levels and I know that—for me at least—I seem to be having trouble keeping so many balls in the air. Half of them could simply vanish and I’m not sure I’d even notice. (I might even be relieved!)

I think we could all use a really good book to curl up and relax with! We need to take those little mini-vacations as often as possible so we can return to the real world refreshed and destressed!

I shall make another attempt tonight! I’ll try Harry first and if he fails, I might attempt to fall back into JANE EYRE. And by the way, if you haven’t read Jane since some teacher forced you to in school, give her another shot. It’s a real page turner and there’s a new movie version due out sometime this year. I’m not the only one who has and will be rediscovering her story!

So now, tell me, what are you reading?

Alas, there’s more work to be done. What? More? After all the blood sweat and tears, the effort, time and frustration the actual writing cost you, not to mention the harrowing trip to publication, how can there be more?

Consider your journey: Undaunted by the seemingly impenetrable walls of the Great Courtyard of Publishing, you found your way around those walls via the danger filled back alleys that teem with predators anxious to take advantage of an author. With a lot of dedication you found people you could work with and, at long last, you reached the end of that irritating wall. Now you find yourself in the Marketplace.

And what a Marketplace it is! Everywhere you look people are selling books! Books everywhere! There are brick and mortar stores—big chains and corner independent booksellers. There are books on the shelves in gift shops, truck stops, chambers of commerce, convenience stores, grocery stores, superstores, hospitals…they’re everywhere! And online sources seem endless. Tons of specialty sellers can also be found online who focus on particular genres such as vampires or mysteries.

If your head’s spinning, sit down with a café mocha and take a deep breath while I tell you I’ve always found that discovering effective methods for getting the word out about your book is the most difficult part of the process. Even as a small press,( or maybe particularly as a small press!) it has been a struggle to get our titles noticed.

The way books are marketed today is fluid and changing faster than you can imagine for everyone from the top down. As we all scramble to exploit the internet, social media, and Twitter it’s becoming more a matter of “word of mouth” (or text on a digital page) than ever before.

Some of you may be old enough to remember a favorite bookstore with knowledgeable employees who had actually read some of the books they sold, had a genuine love of reading and were happy to talk about books and recommend things you might be interested in. While that level of customer service is very hard to fine these days, the gauntlet has been picked up by Amazon. Have you noticed the amount of email their customers receive these days with recommendations? And when you pull up any title on their website you will get the box with “People who bought this book also bought…”

The reviews from Amazon customers are becoming more sophisticated and some are developing their own following. Customers also receive emails recommending books (and movies and products) based on past purchases. And I admit Amazon seems to be pretty good at this if what they recommend to me is any indication!

Many people set up websites for themselves as authors or for their book itself. If you do this you will have to continue to update your site in some way that will encourage people to return to see what’s new.

Book bloggers and online reviewers are springing up all over the net to fill the void left by many newspapers and magazines who have stopped reviewing. (I suspect the volume of submissions became too overwhelming with the explosion of new titles and they just didn’t want to deal with it anymore!)

New websites for book lovers are popping up along the lines of Shelfari where readers can rate and discuss the books they’re read and can sometimes even get free pre-publication copies from publishers when they agree to review them.

Facebook has become a way to get the word out when you have a new book, but will only be valuable if you have cast a wide net of “friends,” and if you spend a lot of time regularly posting to keep people interested. You can set up a page there for your book but you need to convince others to “Like” it. And again, you will have to “work” it regularly.

Twitter can be valuable if you have followers or can acquire some. I admit I’m only just starting to delve into this so can’t give you any suggestions based on experience at this point.

The online promotional possibilities are exploding and no one (that I can see) has a sure fire solution yet. Everything is very experimental at this point. The bottom line is figuring out how to reach people who have a interest in what you’re offering, and that is a very old key to successful advertising.

There are also the traditional routes of acquiring media exposure on radio and TV and the new venue of YouTube. You need interviews, press releases—any coverage you can manage to get the word out. You can do book signings at bookstores and other venues such as libraries, book clubs, reading groups, writers groups and organizations. Many smaller and diverse groups are happy to have an author come and speak.

From the practical side, if you intend to sell some of books yourself, you will need to get a sales tax license from your state and report regularly and remit the taxes you’ve collected. If you don’t have distribution for your books you will need to set up billing and invoicing to the retailers who buy from you. If you are working on your own with distributors, be sure you understand your contracts and that you stay on top of them to get paid.

Well, that seems to be the end of this mini course of self publishing. I wish I had a solid multi-step program you can follow to success but, unfortunately for all of us, it just doesn’t work that way. Like the rest of us, you will just have to step out onto the marketing path and see what you can learn. Work hard and you’ll find a path that works for you book! And don’t forget to enjoy the trip!

What I’m hoping to point out to authors preparing to publish their own work is the responsibilities, liabilities and costs of doing it yourself and at the same time highlighting why you may end up deciding to work with a publisher. It also pinpoints the advantages of working with a small press like Pronghorn to take you through the process.

And make no mistake. Publishing is a business and even if you have only one book, you will have to approach the business of printing and marketing and all the attendant chores as a  professional if you hope to succeed.

So, for those wishing to publish traditionally—that is to use traditional printing methods (offset printing)—and who are willing to assume all the responsibilities of a publisher, here’s what you need to know:

First you need to get bids from printers. Be sure that the printers you work with are used to printing books. The corner printshop is not likely to be up to the job and working with them often ends in disaster. I know of a group who gave their book project to a small printshop that did not usually print books and within two years all their books started to disintegrate due to a glue problem! They had a lot of very unhappy customers.

When requesting bids, you need to be very specific on what you want and to give the same information to each printer. Apples and oranges comparisons do not work here. And please keep in mind that it takes time and effort on the part of the printer to prepare a bid. It’s not something they will want to refigure for you as you change your mind about what you want.  Be clear on what your asking BEFORE you contact them.

So here’s what need to be able to tell them:

•  The finished size of the book you want such as 5.5″ x 8.5″, 6″ x 9″ and so forth.
Depending on the printer and what they’re set up for, there are certain sizes that are more economical than others. You should get a feel for this before asking for bids, as it can make a huge difference in cost. You can, of course, have anything you want made by someone, somewhere, as long as you can pay for it.

•  The final number of pages. This will have to match with the size of the printer’s signature sheets, which is the sheet a number of pages are printed on which is then folded and cut in the trim. Usually a number of pages divisible by 4 works but check to be sure. This may mean you have to allow for blank pages at the front or back of the book.

•  Will the binding be “Perfect” (paperback) or “Cloth” (hardcover)?

•  Type of paper for both cover and content.
You will need to visit at least one printer who does books so you can see samples and get the names and weights of the papers for your bid information.
*If you are going for a hardcover, printers will offer you color choices and types. You can go for anything from traditional cloth to simulated leather and a great deal of options in between. You will need to know what sort of text and/or design will be on the cover and spine of your book as well. Hardcover binding generally adds $10 and up per copy to the cost.

•  Generally (and least expensively) your paperback book will be printed in just black on the inside and in 4 color on the outside cover. You must know if you want printing on the inside of the cover, which is an additional expense.
•   Color on the inside of the book may require that either the entire book be printed in color or that color pages will have to be printed separately and inserted into the book. Either option is expensive.

•  If you’re going to print a hardcover, you will also probably want a dustjacket, which is a separate part of the bid, a separate printing, and an additional expense.

•  You need to ask for bids for a specific number of finished copies. In the bid you can ask for several prices.  Example: 1,000, 3,000 and 5,000.  This will help you better to see the per copy savings in a longer run. There are a few printers specializing in short runs of 500 copies or less but your per copy price will be far more than it will be if you do a traditional run of 3,000-5,000 copies. (and keep in mind how many boxes of books you’ll be storing and how long it will take to sell them!)

And a reminder at this point: You have to consider your retail pricing against your cost and remember that retailers will be expecting a 40% discount and if you can find distributors, they will want 55-60%discount and may well expect you to pay shipping, too! Be sure there’s something left for you, and be sure you’re not pricing yourself out of the market. Remember, no matter how good you novel is, people are not going to pay $35 for it in paperback!

So, let’s assume you’ve found a printer you trust and have accepted their bid of $16,000 for 2000 copies of your book. (don’t forget there will be shipping/delivery charges in addition—books are heavy!) They’ve told you what format they want your files in (print ready PDF, InDesign File or?) and now you have to prepare the files.

Unless you have skills in digital design, I strongly suggest you hire a book designer to handle your content and cover files. They will also manage your photo conversions if you have them. If you’re determined to do this yourself, then be sure you know exactly what your printer requires. Please do not think you can simple give your printer a Word document and expect it to go straight to print.  They will charge you to make a book out of it if they provide that service, and if you’re not sure how you want it to look until you “see” it, the process can be very expensive. Just be aware.

Have you chosen a name for your publishing company, as you must in order to proceed? It’s a good idea to register it with your state as a “Tradename.” Costs for this vary from state to state but it’s a simple process. You want to be VERY SURE someone else isn’t already using that name as it can lead to legal problems. Within your state they will tell you if the name you’ve chosen is already taken, but you need to look more broadly before settling on your new identity. You can research this on Google. Be sure to check all varients of the name.  While there may not be a Star Publishing, there may be a Star books, or Star Publications, or Star Press.  You’ll be surprised how many people may already be using the name you’ve come up with!

You need an ISBN number for you book. You buy these from Bowker, who are the Books-in-Print people. Unfortunately you can’t buy just one. The smallest package includes 10 numbers and currently costs $275.00 (larger packages are available at lower per number prices) Other companies sell them individually but those companies will be the publishers of record and I don’t recommend using them for that reason.

Once you have your ISBN number, you may want to get a PCN from the Library of Congress. This is not necessary but is a good thing. There is no charge but you will be required to send a copy of the book to the Library of Congress when it’s published. Details of the process is available on their website.

You will need a barcode for your book and you will have to decide if you want either the price or the ISBN number imbedded in it. These are easy to obtain and your printer or designer may be able to do that for you. The cost is around $30. Retailers will generally not accept your book without barcoding.

I highly recommend that you hire a professional proofreader to do a last check on your proof version of your book. This is BEFORE the printer gives you a proof and changes are expensive to make. A professional proofreader will catch mistakes you and your friends (no matter how well-read or smart) just won’t catch. We often read the word we THINK is on the page, not what’s actually there, especially if we’ve written it or typed it ourselves. A proofreader is a good investment.

At this point you should be good to go. Send your materials to the printer, check your printer’s proof carefully, get out your checkbook and make room to store those books.

Next time we’ll look at where you go from here.  Just as there are brick walls around the Great Courtyard of Publishing, the entrance to the Marketplace is similarity fortified!

As always, your comments and questions are welcome!

The array of reasons for wanting to publish remains the same for most writers. Most dream of that big advance that will allow them a chance to write full-time. Most have spent years trying to work their writing into a schedule with the work that actually pays the bills. They long for writing to pay the bills so it IS their work and so they can write all those things that have been swimming around in their heads for a very long time. Oh, to have the opportunity to get them down on paper (or into the computer!) while still keeping a roof over their heads!

Others feel their work is important enough to gain them recognition. They see themselves at signings with a long line of devoted fans who appreciate what they’ve done, doing interviews and admiring store windows filled with displays of their books. They may feel they only had this one book in them and it deserves notice as the glowing culmination of their efforts.

Some writers have much more modest ambitions. Perhaps they only want to share their work with family and friends. Some have written something that has a targeted audience—say a children’s book, a new crafts technique, health insight, spiritual or political message—and they know their audience will be interested, but they also know their book and the New York Times bestseller list will never meet.

Still others simply believe in what they’ve done and want to share it with people who will appreciate it. For them it’s not about fame and fortune, it’s simply about “the work.”

Before our writer decides to investigate the world of self-publishing, she needs to be very clear about WHY she wants to publish. If she’s dreaming of that big advance she will have to let that one go and shift to knowing that if she self-publishes, 100% of the marketing will fall on her shoulders. It’s still possible that she’ll be able to make money, but her marketing efforts will be eating into her writing time as well as her “real-job” time.

I think this is the biggest mistake new writers make and it can lead to deep disappointment and, in some cases, financial disaster: Only the darlings of the big publishers get widespread promotion these days and they represent LESS than .001 percent (yes, POINT ZERO ZERO ONE) of the new titles published each year (which is currently nudging one million). Even the big publishers expect their non-star authors to do a great deal of promotion on their own (and at their own expense). If you do manage to get a big publisher there are ways to work their system to your advantage and get some help with promotion, but we are talking about self-publishing here and the writer, in effect, becomes the publisher.

So our writer begins researching the online publishing opportunities. Most of these companies produce their books with POD (Print On Demand) technology. This allows books to be produced as they are needed (ordered/sold) rather than the traditional print run of 1,000 to 5,000 copies. (I will address the traditionally printed books next time around.)

POD has gotten a bad rap because of the proliferation of self-published titles. Though many of the big houses produce their less prominent titles this way, many book stores and reviewers refuse to consider POD titles, failing to make the distinction between “self-published” and “press-published” and using, instead, production method to guide their choice. They never consider that much of what is on their shelves from the big publishers is produced POD.

So, the online publishing companies: There are a great many of them and you must be very cautious. Be sure that you understand exactly what they offer and how much to will cost. Several say they will publish your book for free, but we all know “there is no free lunch” and there is no really “free” publishing, either.

Many of the online companies start their publishing packages at a low price (maybe $600) and then begin adding additional charges for editing packages, cover design packages, promotional packages, distribution packages—the list expands with the creativity of their marketing department and can easily exceed $15,000.

For an author wanting 25-100 copies of a book for friends and family, who is not interested in having distribution or promotion, who just wants their manuscript turned into physical books for them to personally distribute, online companies can provide the perfect solution. What they cannot do is turn a book into a national bestseller through what they offer. That work falls strictly on the author’s shoulders.

So, our author has studied her motivation, her expectations and the amount of money she’s willing to spend. She’s made herself a realistic and practical marketing plan and a budget that will allow her to follow it. She has carefully studied the various online publishers, looked at the books they’ve published and determined the range of observable quality of what they’ve produce for their authors evidenced by the titles, subject, book covers and descriptions, (which are most often written by the authors) that they feature on their websites.

At this point (if not long before she began sending out those original queries) she must decide if her ms. needs professional editing and proofreading. If she had a professional evaluation done, it may have indicated some of the problems that needed to be addressed, which could be as minor as punctuation and typos that needed correcting or as complicated as problems with the plot or POVs. If this step has not been taken, it must be if she’s to have any hope of selling her books.

And this is admittedly dicey. You need to understand that you mother or your best friend might not be the best judge of your work and whether it’s ready to go to print! How can you know whom to trust (and pay) to evaluate or edit or proofread your work?

Many of the online publishers will offer packages for these services, some quite expensive, but regardless of the charges, many will not actually read your book, or will simply wait awhile, then tell you what you want to hear (“this is great, the book has a lot of potential, perfect for today’s market,” etc.). They may simply run your work through some sort of editing software and charge you for “editing,” having never read it or noticed that the name of one of your characters changes halfway through the book because you forgot to do the “find & change” on all of your chapters.

Only you can decide how important this is to you. If you’re convinced what you have is ready to print, then go for it. Bypass all the services offered and get your book produced. Just be aware that when people read your book, consider carrying it in their store, review it on Amazon (assuming they have somehow learned that it exists and have looked for it there), these things, uncorrected will come back to haunt you.

The ideal solution is to find an independent editor that is a good fit with your work, one you will be able to discuss the book with, who is familiar with your genre (romance, poetry, history, fiction, childrens’) and who you believe will offer a fair and meaningful evaluation. It will be money well spent. While you may not agree with all their observations, you will at least have a valuable second opinion that deserves consideration.

Before I finish, I want to recount my own interaction with an online publisher that I decided to experiment with as far as marketing is concerned. This was a number of years ago when the online self-publishing was just beginning to attract attention. I’d already published the book and it was my own work I offered up to see if any of what they promised was true.

I first corresponded first with the “president” of the company, explaining that the book was already published, that I was a small press and that if the service they provided was as promised (in particular “reaching more than 5,000 book club members”), that I had a number of books I would be interested in promoting. He (naturally) assured me it was a great idea, hoped we could work together, was anxious to see my book, etc. So I paid my money and waited for the first step to be completed: an “editor” would read and evaluate my book, then write a description that would be used to present my book to the various markets (which included reviewers and radio markets as well as those book clubs.)

Months passed. I heard nothing so emailed to find out what was going on. I received a form reply saying they hadn’t gotten to it. Two more months passed and I contacted everyone there that I could to say that because I had never heard anything from them I expected a refund. I got a terse form letter from the accounting department (!) saying it wasn’t their problem if I didn’t like the evaluation they’d given me!

I finally reached someone on the phone and explained that my problem was not with what they had provided, but rather that they had provided nothing!

Finally, I received a badly reworded (and not even grammatical!) rendition of my existing cover copy. The book cover and description (I insisted they use my original) was going to go out to all the supposed “book club members.” I then learned—through searching online—that they had their own “book club” which apparently consisted of their existing mailing list. I complained to the “president” and received no response.

In another month or two I got an actual letter from a supposed “Christian Book Club” saying they just loved my book, it was perfect for them and for another $600 they’d offer it to their members. This was a surprise when I considered that my book, while set in the 18th century, involved graphic sex, homosexual relationships, sodomy, violence, sexual abuse and no fondness for the Catholic Church (it’s not as bad as all that, but it is certainly not suitable for a supposed “Christian” book club!)  I pointed this out to them, which made them huffily reply that the letter had been a “mistake.” Gee…ya think?

I finally got in touch with the president again and he offered several services to make amends, which I suspect were never completed. And by the way, if my book was actually presented to 5,000 people of any sort is it REALLY possible that not even one person was interested enough to buy a copy?

Already-long-story-short, the company went out of business and emerged (with the same “president”) under another name—due to an abundance of lawsuits, no doubt—and surprisingly he had the nerve to contact me and suggest we work together under the new company!

I offer this embarrassing bit of personal history in a effort to caution you to be very careful with your own expectations and when selecting the services offered by some of these companies. I’m sure some do exactly as promised, and some have been around for a number of years and are still in business. Investigate. Google complaints against the company. Check out the websites of some of their authors. Check the reviews on Amazon of the books, or if they are even available there. You just want to be sure you have a clear understanding of what you will get for your money and be sure it’s what you need or want to make your publication dreams come true. When you are self-publishing, the buck stops with your SELF!

Next time: How to actually become your own publisher and if that’s really what you want.

Comments as always, are welcome!

So…I’ve been thinking this week about the challenges writers are confronted with every day. I’m a writer myself and my biggest challenge is finding time to write as I scramble to keep Pronghorn Press moving forward in this mystifying market.

But for most writers I think the actual writing (and finding time to do it) is the easy part of the equation where—when all the variables fall into line—ends with a sum of success. Don’t get me wrong. I know many writers struggle for ideas, for ways to express them, through many revisions and endless questions about characters, plots and decisions that tie them all together. But once that painful process is complete—and it may take years as many of us know—once a writer is satisfied with what she’s created, she then finds herself standing before the formidable fortress of publishing which is surrounded by a high wall. It’s a wall many of us visualize as always in the construction phase, adding height, brick by brick!

The wall is thicker than writers can begin to imagine when standing on the outside for the first time and there are very few entrances to the “courtyard of consideration.” I liken it to the structure of any ancient monarchy: a series of minor bureaucrats whose notice you must somehow attract in order to work your way up to someone with the power to assist you. Come to think of it, this seems to be the business model these days in many areas of commerce. Have you noticed? Everything from computer troubleshooting, to online ordering, to your local shopping center seems to have adopted this method.

But I digress.

So, does my metaphor for the publishing industry sound fanciful? Overly dramatic? Ask any writers you know. The frustration of being unable to actually reach and communicate with anyone is a common thread.

At the other end of the business, where the actual readers are, I also see frustration. I’ll address this in another blog. For the moment we are looking at the creative end where something is brought out of the void and into manifestation through the efforts of the writer.

So our writer sits with finished manuscript in hand. There are still doubts, if not at this moment then in the near future when she begins to second-guess herself. Nonetheless, she’s ready. But is the world—read “world of publishing”—ready for her? She’s attended the lectures and seminars, she’s bought the books, she feels she has a reliable map for the next step on her journey, i.e. finding a publisher All the information out there is basically the same. How hard can it be? Uh…sadly she’s about to find out! NOTE: Those how-to books become outdated almost as soon as they hit the shelves in this current market which is morphing so quickly these days, and in ways impossible to predict at the moment.

If she’s absorbed what she’s heard and read, she might begin by checking The Writers Market for publishers accepting unagented work. (This too could be outdated by the time it reaches the shelves.  Best check online!) Through that research she may decide she’ll need an agent after all, depending on what it is she has to sell. (HINT: Try Googling “agents actively seeking”) Either way, agent or publisher, her next step is writing a query letter.

Now, on the other side of the in-out box, as a publisher I can tell you that I receive a bewildering array of query letters—emails being my preference for ease of response (yes, I actually respond!). These range from business-like and to the point to absurd. I can understand why big publishing houses can become disgusted by the amount of really sub-standard queries they receive, the volume of which must be unimaginable. But from my double perspective (writer AND publisher) it seems to me that if those big boys in New York say they accept queries, the least they can do is respond to them. Can’t those mega-corporate budgets find room for some low level people to hand this task? The struggling writers often feel they’re just sending those queries out into the ethers where they must all end up in some sort of black hole (along with those missing socks from the dryer!).

And excuse me writers, but if you can actually write a book, could you make an effort with those queries?  Nothing fancy, just the facts. Forget trying to make it overly exciting and flashy (as many books suggest).  A good idea is intriguing in its own right. The proof comes in the execution. If the publisher can instantly understand what it is you have, you’re more likely to receive a response…at least from those of us who actually respond.

Something else all writers have to remember is the importance of matching your queries to the right publisher. It does little good to query a romance novel to a publisher who specializes in books on the Civil War. Target your approach. And remember, even a good match may not be what the publisher wants or needs at that time. You have to harden your artistic little hearts to rejection. (Believe me, I know how difficult that is!) I did read a great article quite a while ago where one writer had papered her power room with rejection letters! Others save their rejection letters so when they succeed, they can wave them in the faces of those who refused to acknowledge their talent.

And so query letters flow out from writers to publishers and from writers to agents. This is an amazingly one-way stream with only an occasional backwash of a response. When I first started sending my own manuscripts out (a very long time ago) many of the big publishing houses still accepted unagented manuscripts. I sent queries. Some agreed to read my work. And then came the wait. The how-to books in those days said don’t dare to contact anyone to see what was going on until after six months. I remember one publisher had my book for 2 YEARS before they finally responded by rejecting it. And of course you could only submit to one publisher at a time, so my enthusiasm faded, as I’m sure it does these days for many others. Mind you, I never stopped writing, but the slowness of the submission process meant very little happened. I have to say that experience did influence the way I work now. I schedule the reading of individual manuscripts so that writers receive a response in 4-6 weeks. This let’s them know their work won’t end up on the bottom of a pile. and at the same time keeps that pile off MY desk!

So now we find ourselves in the second decade of the new century and many things have changed in the publishing world. For a start, media giants like Time-Warner have absorbed most of the big publishing houses in New York. As an example, a German conglomerate now owns Random House, along with their associated houses like Knopf, Crown, Doubleday, and DelRey. They distribute for another fifteen or so book producers like National Geographic Books and the New York Review of Books worldwide. Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation purchased Harper Collins, along with William Morrow, Hearst and Avon. You all have a vague notion of the size (and direction) of Murdoch’s holdings. I feel these mergers in the publishing industry account for the change we have been feeling for a very long time but which, to me, seems to be coming to a head in this strained economy. What has happened to books we actually enjoy? Another topic for another blog.

So back to our beleaguered author. As the big houses morph into media giants, many opportunities for smaller and even very small presses have emerged. Finding them is not always easy, but it is worth the effort. Many specialize in certain genres and others, like us, have eclectic interests.

The advent of the internet and all the online opportunities for self-publishing offer many alternatives for authors. These options require authors to really focus on what it is they want to achieve (hint: fame and fortune is not the right answer) and then, how much they are willing to spend to do it. The opportunities for self-published authors are many and varied and success is dependent on commitment and follow through and the opportunities for exploitation of authors are many and can be devastating. They keyword is CAUTION!

Please feel free to share this with your writing friends. I’ll address the benefits and pitfalls of self-publishing next time around.

Meanwhile, enjoy …!

Well, I’ll tell you who and what I am and you can define me any way you like. I was born in Virginia, grew up in LA, have lived in Colorado and Wyoming, then spent 18 years in Santa Fe before returning to Wyoming (and yes, I SO miss Santa Fe!). I’m a writer and an avid reader, a lover of books since childhood. Now, I’m the publisher at Pronghorn Press, a small press (or micropress?) in northern Wyoming established in 1998, with a list of 82 titles going into this year.

Three months ago we launched a new website,  PronghornPressAudio.com offering professionally recorded downloadable audio versions of some of our titles and have more in the works. We are also just beginning to convert some of our titles to e-books for all the many devices people can read books on, though I confess I can’t imagine reading a book on a cell phone! (Please Note: I’m not completely out of the mainstream—I’m an enthusiastic Kindle user-so maybe you can just think of me as clinging to the bank of that stream!)

My background is commercial art and advertising design. I found my way into the publishing business by dint of necessity. Throughout the 1990s I designed a number books and catalogs in my freelance work.  When an illness in the family forced a move, it also necessitated recreating a career and Pronghorn Press was born. We began with anthologies (Hard Ground, Writing the Rockies) linked to a writing contest that included all genres, but was required to deal with contemporary life in the Rocky Mountain region. (My distaste for the whole romantic concept of things “Western” will be discussed in a later entry!) The contests and subsequent anthologies continued for several years and two regions were added, Dense Growth, Writing the Pacific Northwest and Dry Ground, Writing the Desert Southwest. We even produced Foreign Ground, Travelers’ Tales.

I started the contest/anthology concept for two reasons. I was looking for a first book with a broad appeal and the hope that the authors included would help create a demand, and I also wanted to give authors a chance to acquire some publishing credits that were becoming increasingly necessary for those seeking an agent and a leg up toward the giants of the industry.

The anthologies and contests are behind us now and our focus is on good books in a number of genres. I crave more good fiction—it’s where my heart is—but it seems not much of it comes my way, either through submissions or what I can find to buy!

We have imprints for children’s books (PrairieWinkle), for self-help/human potentials (Higher Shelf Books), and for SciFi/Fantasy (Antelios). I also do a series called Women & Words. Because I’m small and have to work so hard at what I do, I decided from the beginning to only publish the things I liked and to work with people I enjoyed. It’s been an interesting ride.

And now, in the midst of the current economic situation, I find myself facing the same problems that the big houses in NY are said to be facing: changing markets, multiplying formats, software changes and a diminishing number of book review venues—and if THEY can’t find reviewers, you know I’m having trouble! The marketing difficulties walk a tightrope between the market itself and the glut of new titles available, Anyone and everyone can now publish with one the large number of online vanity presses, some reputable, others preying on aspiring writers. And don’t misunderstand. I’m a writer myself and I believe everyone who wants to write should be encouraged, and that people who want to self-publish should be free to do it. But, I would like to see a better understanding of what it takes to sell books—and what books sell—before the authors commit to self-publishing their work. (This, too, I will wax both practical and philosophical on in another blog.)

I have never been accused of being short on opinions, for better or for worse. I hope you might be interested in some of mine and I’m certainly interested in yours. Living where I do, I struggle to remain in some sort of loop that connects me to the thinking of the wider world, so feel free to comment. I’d love to hear what interests you, what you might like to know about publishing on a small scale, book marketing, your favorite books.

Put me in your loop and let’s see what happens.

Annette Chaudet
Publisher
Pronghorn Press