Welcome the editor!

[JennaGlatzer]

I have a treat for you.

My favorite editor, Lauri Berkenkamp at Nomad Press, has offered to answer questions writers may have about book publication.

She's been around the boards for a while, so you may have already "met" her. To check out Nomad, visit http://www.nomadpress.net.

To give a briefing, Nomad is a small press in VT. (First word of caution: Do not confuse "small" with "less-than-legit." Small just means that they don't publish hundreds of books every year; it does not mean their books aren't successful!) They publish an "eclectic" mix of nonfiction books for adults and children, so far in the parenting, how-to, sports and adventure, and teaching categories.

Lauri has amazed me because of how well-rounded she is-- she's knowledgable about so many aspects of publishing. She's the one who acquired and edited Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer, so if you liked that book, she's the reason you read it. (They're also publishing my next book for writers.)

Lauri's also an author herself; her own parenting books (the Go Parents! series published by Nomad) have sold remarkably well and won all kinds of awards.

She's fabulous with publicity (have I EVER said that about any other publisher?) and cares a great deal about every book she works on. One of the advantages of writing for a small press, in my opinion, is that they care about making each book successful. (At big houses, if a book isn't doing well out of the starting gates, they often let it drop and focus on other books that might become bestsellers.)

I'll let her do the rest of the introducing and setting up any rules she may have. Really, I just wanted to tell you that I love her and I'm thrilled that she's going to do this. Thanks, Lauri! :snoopy:

[Lauri B]

Hi there,

I'm Lauri from Nomad Press. I've posted on several of the boards, and really enjoy them. I'm happy to answer any general publishing and specific nonfiction publishing/editorial questions you have. One word of caution: my expertise and experience is with nonfiction publishing. I really can't speak about fiction, since we don't publish any fiction and it seems to be a whole different world.

I hope I can help!
Lauri

[Cate]

Terrific Lauri!
What a great offer! I am sure that you will be inundated with questions . . .
I will have some of my own later in the year as I intend to work on a non-fiction book. Not ready yet tho--just thought I would welcome you and say thanks for being here!!

[maestrowork]

Welcome, Lauri! I appreciate your posts here. And I'm sure we'll all benefit from your knowledge and insight! Thank you for offering your time here. And kudos to Jenna.

My own book is coming out later this year, so I'm sure I'll have some questions for you.

[Chacounne]

:) Hi Lauri,

I've enjoyed the posts you've made on other threads and look forward to your contributions here.

I'm curious; what do you think of the following outline for resellers on a
small non-fiction publisher's website?



Books available expedited directly from us or from our distributor, Baker & Taylor (http://www.btol.com/)
Sliding discount schedule based on total books in the order
Payment via invoice (with account), or (coming soon) online via PayPal or credit card
Free (book rate) shipping on orders over $500
5% bonus for prepaid orders on forthcoming titles
Cooperative marketing programs available
High-resolution Adobe .pdf pre-release flyers & title artwork
Very early advance email notification of new titles & recently signed authors
Thanks for your comments,
Chacounne

[Lauri B]

Hi Chacounne,

Well, I think all of the things they are offering are great, except that their setup requires the bookseller to do all of the work. Baker and Taylor is not a distributor, it's a wholesaler, which means that they don't have sales reps out pitching books. B&T orders books from a publisher or distributor (in our case), and then they fulfill orders from bookstores when bookstores contact them. That's fine, but it puts the onus on the bookseller to contact the wholesaler (or publisher) and place the order. It also means that unless the bookseller hears about a new book published by small publisher through a great review in a trade or national publication, they are unlikely to hear about it at all.

The way we look at it, the booksellers are our clients, so it's in our best interest to make ordering books as easy and appealing for our clients as possible. Using a distributor also means getting our titles in front of the buyers, and having sales reps talk them up for us. For small publishers, especially, getting books noticed and placed in the big chains is a challenge, and for us it makes more sense to have dedicated sales reps pushing our books rather than waiting for the stores to contact us.
Hope this helps

[ChunkyC]

Hi Lauri! Thanks so much for doing this. I'm sure us fiction writers will gain valuable insights from what you can teach us about the editor's role.

Have fun!

[John Ravenscroft]

Hi, Lauri:

I recently wrote a piece - Tongue Tied - about stuttering / stammering:

http://www.toowrite.com/toowrite_story.asp?sid=608

... that was published in a newspaper and picked up by the British Stammering Association.

http://www.stammering.org/

On the basis of that piece, I was asked to take part in last year's International Stuttering Conference.

http://www.mnsu.edu/comdis/isad7/isadcon7.html

The level of interest and feedback made me think there may well be a non-fic self-help book lurking somewhere here.

My questions to you are:

1. Do you think the idea is a possibility?
2. If so, who might be the best publishing people to contact?
3. If you were in my shoes, what would be your first step?

Cheers,

[Chacounne]

Thanks Lauri,

Yes, that helps a lot. So I need to ask them which distributor they work with, or is it unlikely that they work with both a wholesaler and a distributor?

Being naive,
Chacounne

[victoriastrauss]

Baker and Taylor is not a distributor, it's a wholesaler
Lauri, since this is such an important distinction (and so many people don't realize that it is a distinction), could you expand on the difference between a wholesaler and a distributor, and why it's important for a small publisher to work with both? Thanks--

- Victoria

[katiemac]

Lauri, thanks a lot for doing this! Already I can tell it's going to be a great help.

[Lauri B]

Hi John,
I can't speak for the market on books about stuttering or whether or not you have enough material for a book about it, but it would seem to me that if you have been asked to speak at a convention on a topic and lots of people were there, it's probably worth investigating. The first thing I'd do is do an Amazon search for what else is out there. If there are books out there on handling stuttering, check out what publisher did them, when they were published, and whether or not they are still in print. That will help give you an idea of how well they were received in the marketplace, and whether or not the market is ready for a new take on the subject. The publishers of those books can be your starting point. If you can't find anything published on your subject, that's usually not a good thing: it often means that while the idea is solid, there just isn't a big enough market to warrant spending the time and money to publish a book on it.
Good luck!

[John Ravenscroft]

Thanks, Lauri.

Useful, practical advice.

I'll take it!

[Birol]

Thank you for agreeing to do this, Lauri. It means a great deal that you are willing to spend the time to answer our questions.

[Lauri B]

Hi Chacounne,
It sounds like they don't have a distributor, but you could always ask. It sounds like they are working to get their books out there, though.

[Kudra]

Welcome to the board, Lauri. Good to have you here. :welcome:

[MacAllister]

wow! Lauri, thank you so much for doing this!

[Lauri B]

[QUOTE=victoriastrauss]Lauri, since this is such an important distinction (and so many people don't realize that it is a distinction), could you expand on the difference between a wholesaler and a distributor, and why it's important for a small publisher to work with both? Thanks--

Hi Victoria!
We work with a distributor (Independent Publishers Group) to sell our books to the book trade. They act as our sales force: they have sales reps throughout the country that call on accounts at independent stores, the big chains, specialty venues (such as museum stores, school supply catalogs, mail order catalogs, sporting goods, etc.), and they also exhibit at all of the major trade shows. They help us with marketing, give us great feedback, and act as our partner to get our books into bookstores and other special sales locations.

Our distributor sells to the big wholesalers, Ingram and Baker & Taylor. The wholesalers take orders from bookstores and ship them out, take returns, etc. The major difference between a distributor and a wholesaler is that the distributor is out there marketing and selling the books actively, while the wholesaler waits to receive orders.

Some small publishers don't have distributors, but rather rely on the wholesalers. That's fine, and it's up to them, but I would imagine they have to work that much harder to get noticed by the book trade, and therefore, receive orders for their books.

However, if you are an author and your publisher sells only through its own website, be wary. It's hard enough to sell books when you have distribution, ad dollars, and good marketing experience. Without it, it's almost impossible, however well intentioned the effort.

[Uncarved]

Hi there and welcome.
I'm a nonfiction writer only and it seems that section is really starving on this forum. I'd like to ask you about marketing and the smaller presses. If you were going to run your own book marketing campaign and limit it to one state, what key sections would you stress doing? I'm limiting it to one state due to the fact that the book is a one state regional title. My other books will require much more, but I'm focusing on the first one to hit the shelves.
I thank you for your time,
tina

[Lauri B]

Hi Tina,
I'm not quite sure what you're asking: key sections meaning media, or sections of the state?

[Uncarved]

key sections of book marketing to focus on, as in signings, ads, readings, a flyer campaign, etc... What top three things would you focus your energy on to get your book's info "out there".
Sorry I was unclear, I don't "Wake up" till about nine pm:)

tina

[Lauri B]

Oh! Sorry--I've been up since 4:30 am and am losing steam.
If you have a regional title, go for the free publicity first: write up a release and send it to all relevant state media. If there's a great local event happening that you can piggyback your release on, do it, or anything else newsworthy to which you can relate your book, do it.

Another thing that really works well for us is to offer free, relevant excerpts of your book to newspapers and regional magazines in exchange for author, book, and publisher credit.

If you're an expert in a subject (and if you've just written a book on a topic, you qualify as an expert), offer to give talks to the relevant associations, organization, book groups, school groups, etc. in your state--and then you can write a release about that for your paper, and the organization will also announce it in their publications, too.

Ads are expensive and it's hard to tell how effective they are--but if you have a venue that you know would be effective for you, go for it!

I have very mixed feelings about readings and book signings. As an author, I think they can be fun or stressful, depending on how many people show up and how much time I've put in to preparing. They don't usually sell all that many books, but they can make you feel good. As a publisher, I have had mixed success. We've had authors do readings/signings in their hometowns where friends, family, and acquaintances have come and bought books, and those work very well. Signings alone are usually pretty unsatisfying.

And even if your book has a regional focus, it's subject matter might also appeal to a much wider audience than you'd think. For example, if you're trying to promote your Georgia Native Plant Guide, send review copy pitches to all of the major gardening mags and publications--they need content, and their readership is national, which would include Georgians! Offer them excerpts, as well. You never know what publications will pick up as filler or sidebars.

Hope this helps!

[Uncarved]

Yes it does. Thank you.
The Georgia Native Plant Guide is suppose to be reviewed by Walter Reeves, Andy and Sally Wasowski, The Georgia Native plant society, the Georgia Botanical Society, and the Georgia Wildlife Federation. The foreword is written by a member of GWF so I am hoping for many horticulture society acceptance if these all back the book.

I am taking all your advice into my marketing plan and thank you immensely for answering so thoroughly.

tina

[Lauri B]

Well, luckily I've had a lot of caffeine. Some days I'm much less manic.:)

[awatkins]

Nice to meet you, Lauri! I look forward to learning a lot. :)

[aka eraser]

Hiya Lauri, glad to have you "officially" with us.

[rtilryarms]

butt who wuld ever need an edditor?

[Betty W01]

Hi, Lauri! Welcome! :welcome:

Aside to Mike: To need an editor, one has to finish a book proposal or book. Ummmm... excuse me while I get back to my writing... :gone:

[Lauri B]

Hi all,
I had an idea: if people don't have specific questions for me about publishing, I'll talk about some things that people tend to ask over and over before submitting, or that we see regularly when people submit manuscripts to us. If this is boring, let me know.

One thing small publishers like us look for in a manuscript proposal is both a competitive analysis and a marketing plan. The competitive analysis is a list of books that would compete with yours, and why yours are different. The reason it's useful is that we can see what else is currently out there, when it was published, who published it, and if the proposal offers something different enough that there is room in the market for another take on the topic. It's also really important not to include books that are out of print when you provide a competitive analysis, for obvious reasons. It might be a great book, but if it's not still available at bookstores and Amazon, it's not relevant.

The marketing plan is primarily to see what ides the author has for promoting a book. Author involvement in book promotion is vital to our success: we ask a lot of our authors (not for a financial investment, but for a creative one). So if you are a good, self-starting, self promoter, or a person who has a regular column, or you speak regularly on your subject, or can be pro-active in pitching publications on complementary pieces to the book you're proposing, that's a much more compelling reason to work with you than to say, "I'm happy to do an author tour." Small publishers like us can't afford to send authors on tour, and it's not a great way for us to sell books. We try hard to work with authors who can help promote their books without us having to do all the work, and the books on our list that do best are always the ones whose authors are excited about coming up with new ideas for promoting. Jenna is a master at it, and I've used her ideas to work with some of our less-experienced authors--and they really work.

Hope this is useful--please let me know.
Thanks,
Lauri

[Nateskate]

I'm working on fiction, but I still enjoy the wonderful information you are sharing. It's much appreciated.

[John Ravenscroft]

Yes - very useful.

Good nuts-and-bolts of the business stuff.

Please keep it coming.

[awatkins]

I had wondered about the out-of-print book thing. Excellent info, Lauri! Thanks. :)

[CACTUSWENDY]

:welcome: ................THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO SPEND IN OUR HUMBLE WORLD OF WRITERS.......AND HATS OFF TO THE 'BOSS'.....

I'M A FICTION WRITER...BUT WHO KNOWS....I MAY SOMEDAY WRITE A FOR REAL BOOK ABOUT FOR REAL THINGS......I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE GANG....I THINK THEY ARE THE BEST.....

I LOVE YOU GUYS......WENDY.........:TheWave:

[Daughter of Faulkner]

Lauri,
This is wonderful of you!
I am a fiction writer but certainly welcome reading your expertise.

[triceretops]

Nomad--took your advice from a previous thread where you advised me to directly submit to a publisher. I gave it some study, researching regional pubs and bang! Heyday, a real nice California outfit, wants to see the partial. The owner stipulated that he wanted to read the title first. That was a real nice feeling--sending it off this morning.

It's not narrative non-fiction. It's journalistic/reporter style with large sections of narrative accounts and true quotes. That seems to be the only weak part of the script. Not a total narrative account.

Tina, I'm non-fiction exclusively too. So is Jenna, Under, and quite a few others. Not to worry. We'll get the non-fic board fired up.

Thanks, Nomad, for giving me that "Doh!"

Triceratops

[Chacounne]

Congratulations Tri!

That is excellent news!

Let us know how it goes :)

Chacounne

[Lauri B]

Yay! Terrific news for you! I hope it comes through for you. My experience with nonfiction is that even larger publishers are open to direct submissions from authors--I have worked with a few different publishers and have always pitched them directly.
Congratulations! Keep us posted.

[JennaGlatzer]

My experience is like Lauri's, too. I sold most of my books without an agent. Never had much trouble getting read-- though I do admit that got easier as I built my credits. When I didn't have any book credits, I did sometimes get the dreaded "We don't take unagented proposals" form letter, but once I had a book or two to my name, I don't think I ever got one of those again.

Lauri: My own questions this time. :D

Can you tell us:

What are some of the most common reasons you reject queries/proposals/manuscripts?

Foreign rights sales: If the publisher keeps the right to foreign sales, how does it work-- you approach publishers in other countries and sell them the rights for a flat rate?

When writers are researching potential publishers for their work, we now know they need to check to see if the publisher has a distributor in place. Other than that, what else should writers look for to determine if a publisher can help them sell a lot of books?

[Lauri B]

Hi Jenna! How's your dad?
Answers to your questions:
1. The most common reason we reject manuscripts is that people submit proposals to us that are completely out of the range of our list, or are books that we haven't had a lot of success with in the past. Most publishers have categories of books they publish: parenting, health, naturopathy, regional history, or whatever. Publishers like having multiple titles in a category for a variety of reasons: you gain a reputation in the industry for a certain genre; your titles are more likely to be reviewed as you gain legitimacy in that particular category; buyers are more likely to buy a new book in the same vein as a previous one if they have sold the first; readers are more likely to buy another book from the publisher if they have read a similar one and enjoyed it or found it valuable; booksellers are more likely to give a publisher more shelf space if they have multiple books in a similar category; and you can get a lot more bang out of your marketing dollar if you are marketing to a specific category audience with multiple titles rather than single titles. And finally, if you've published in a particular category in the past, you know what to do with titles in that category in the future.
Publishing one title in a category is a hard sell (and we've tried, believe me) because the book tends to sit there by itself in a part of the bookstore where your other titles aren't, it's expensive to promote a single title because you can't spread the cost of ads or marketing over several titles, and surprisingly, each category requires a slightly different way to pitching and promoting. Teaching titles need to be marketed very differently from other how-to titles, for example, and parenting books are completely different from health books.

So, that's a long answer to your question, but the bottom line is that publishers like to publish works they know they can sell, are familiar with, and would fit nicely into what they have already done. We used to publish memoir, but have found that it's not an easy sell, so we made the decision not to go that route anymore.

Sometimes we reject proposals because we just don't think there's a big-enough market out there for that particular kind of book. We've had some terrific proposals that have been really tempting to do, but when we did the sales research on competing titles, we found that none of them were selling well enough to make room for yet another title in that field--or to succeed in a market the book needed to be with a big publisher who had tons of money for marketing and advertising and getting high-value shelf space at the big chains. We aren't that publisher, and don't want to take books on that would require that kind of plan to succeed.

We focus our acquisitions on books that we know will sell steadily over time, rather than making a splash in the beginning and then petering out. I know a lot of publishers don't think that way, and would rather sell a lot in the first season or two and then let it disappear, but we work really hard to promote our backlist, and our distributor also works the backlist sales as hard as they can.

I'll be back with answers to other questions in a bit.

[JennaGlatzer]

(My dad's surgery is at 1, so I'm actually keeping myself nice and distracted by hanging out here until I have to leave. He should be fine, but I hate hospitals. Actually, can't think of anyone who much *likes* hospitals.)

[maestrowork]

(Hugs, Jenna. My mom likes hospitals -- because she was a nurse. She misses that environment after she retired)

[John Ravenscroft]

Actually, can't think of anyone who much *likes* hospitals.

Well, I quite like female nurses.

Think it's something to do with the uniform.

But I didn't much enjoy my recent hospital time, watching both of my parents come to the end of the road.

Got some stories out of it, though.

Your father has my best wishes, Jenna.

[Lauri B]

Hi again,
Good luck to your dad!
Here's a much shorter answer to the foreign rights question. We sell all of our foreign rights through a rep: she takes a cut, but we don't have to deal with any of it. A good general rule for foreign rights sales is this: Multiply the total number of copies contemplated for the first printing by the estimated retail price to get the gross revenue; then multiply that by the royalty percentage (somewhere between 5 and 10 percent) to get a figure for a typical advance.
Our rights rep goes to all the big book shows, including London, Frankfurt, and BEA (we are there, too, and when we are approached for foreign rights sales, send them along to her). We've had great success selling rights to our Go Parents! guide series--I think books in this series are in 11 languages now. We've also sold foreign rights to our teaching guides. Usually foreign rights sales follow "hot" trends---parenting books have been very popular the last couple of years, especially those with good graphics.

And final question answered: take Jim McDonald's advice: go to bookstores to see if a publisher's books are there. Check on Amazon (although this is much less reliable, especially if your book is a niche market that might sell better in a special sales venue than a traditional bookstore). Check the publisher's web site to see where its books have been reviewed. Ask about foreign rights sales. You can ask about sales, although most won't give exact figures. And find out what kinds of marketing plans they have done for their books in the past and how they determine a marketing plan for a future book.

Hope this helps! Take care.

[Lauri B]

Oops--I realized after I posted that I didn't explain that most foreign publishers will come to us with an offer of an advance against percentage royalties based on an estimated print run. The formula above helps figure out if the advance is good or not. And the advances really vary, which is why we rely on the expertise of our rep, who knows what the publishing industry is like in any given country, how much they can afford, when to push it and when to accept, etc. Sorry that the previous answer was so vague.

[AncientEagle]

Lauri, you are making a great contribution here! I am in the final throes of writing a non-fiction book and will have questions to ask you in the near future. In the meantime, I am devouring your every word as you respond to other posts. Thank you very much. You are a very welcome asset.

[triceretops]

One of my last books was a consumer warning title, and the other was a How To. Both non-fic quality trade, why did they end up at the library in the "Reference" section?

Triceratops

[Lauri B]

I don't know how libraries catalogue their books. Maybe a librarian could chime in here?

[AmyBA]

Hi there... in my other job, I'm a librarian in a public library, so maybe I can help here...

There are several reasons why your books may have been made reference copies. Librarians get catalogs from book distributors, publishers and trade mags with newly issued and forthcoming titles. It's possible that your books were listed as reference titles in these publications, and the library stuck with that label. Or, depending on who buys the books in your library, it could be the reference librarian who bought them and so kept them in that collection. Books on popular topics are sometimes high theft items, so perhaps your books were made reference copies to try and keep them around longer.

Another possibility is that someone in the cataloging dept. of the library (where they take in the new books and process them for circulation) made the decision to catalog them as reference books, based on the cataloging information provided by the book distributor (the distributors sometimes make odd choices on where they think books should be cataloged) or some other factor.

If your library can afford multiple copies, you can ask if they could order additional circulating copies.

Hope that helps...

Amy Brozio-Andrews
Managing ed.
Absolutewrite.com

[triceretops]

Thanks Amy, for helping to clear that up.

For Nomad: Since I've written primarily non-fiction books sans agents, I too discovered that publishing houses were less resistant to non-fic book submissions. But concerning artwork, and I know it depends on the book subject-- during production, if the author admits to the difficulty in obtaining photo, artwork, tables, and graphs can the editor assist somehow, and do they, to obtain some neccessary artwork? Do editors and publishers (generally) know where generic material can be found that is in the public arena, that might require only a permission to reprint?

Triceratops

[Lauri B]

Hi Tri!
I can only speak for our company and the other publishing houses for which I've written books, but at Nomad we spend a huge amount of time finding (or creating) or seeking permissions for graphics for our books. Some of our books are very illustration/table/chart dependent, and we've recreated sketches or drawings the artist has provided to make proper tables, charts, etc. In other cases we've had to obtain permissions to use the artwork the author has recommended, or we've had to create a lot of artwork since we couldn't find what we wanted elsewhere.

Every publisher puts aside money for an art program for their books. It just depends on how much. It's actually a problem that we wrestle with every time--you want the book to look great, but you have to stay within the paramaters of not losing your shirt. So the answer is yes--every publisher I've worked with has been really helpful about getting material, artwork, and seeking permissions for use for certain material.

[triceretops]

I'm so glad I got that reply. Here I thought I was sitting out on a limb with the responsibility totally on my shoulders. After 75 email/letters and phone calls, I've managed to produce three site photos, and none of the original photos from the excavation. All the major newspapers and sources who'd recorded the event have lost their material, or it has expired somewhere in their archives. I believe I will have permission to go and personally shoot the fossil collection at the curating museum, via permission from the director himself, if that is what it will take in the end. What's so very sad is that I cannot obtain the original photos of the paleontologists actually on the dig--the most spectacular pics in the world. At least I can rest assured that I will gain a little expertise and help from a future publisher. Thanks for a little peace of mind here!

Triceratops

[kaliannah]

Thanks Lauri for answering our many questions. I have a few...

I wrote a non-fiction title that is targeted to a very select group of people (transcriptionists). After a few nice rejections letters, LOL, I decided to self-publish and offer it in eBook form.

How open do you think small presses are to actually publishing books that were once self-published and available as non-printable eBooks? Also, the book I'm referring to is an Eppie finalist for Best Non-Fiction of 2004. Do editors look favorably on writing contests such as this one or would it be best not to mention a contest they may not have heard of? Also, I was lucky enough to obtain permission from the artist to use various customized drawings for each of my chapters. Are authors generally allowed to provide drawings for use, along with written permission from the artist?

Thanks!

[AgentJade]

Lauri,

First of all, I'd like to reiterate everyone's gratitude that you are taking the time to help us all out.

Secondly...as I'm younger than most everyone else at this board, I have a different sort of question to ask. I was wondering if you would mind terribly answering some more general publishing questions I have?

Basically, I'm a college sophomore and I'd like to eventually get into the publishing industry (preferably editing) after graduation. (Basically, do what you do!) Do you have any advice for me in pursuing such a career, in your experience as an editor in publishing? Are certain entry-level positions preferable in working my way into publishing? Are there certain things I should be doing now? The only (professional) editing experience I have so far is an internship I took last summer with the Franklin Institute Science Musum in Philadelphia. I'm working at getting another internship with a publishing company this summer, which I hope would be helpful.

[Lauri B]

Hi Kaliannah,
I think because your market is very targeted, any publisher interested in doing a print version of a book like this is going to want to know how many ecopies were bought. I don't have a good sense of what kinds of sales ebooks generate, but if everyone in the transcription industry has already bought the ebook version, a publisher might be wary of coming up with a print one. Yours is a very close-ended market, with a finite number of potential buyers (which is nice in many ways because the marketing for the book can be very specifically targeted, too). Definitely let the publisher know up front how many copies have been downloaded.

I would definitely include information about the award, if it's relevant and well respected in the ebook industry. And as for artwork, include it in the manuscript submission. If the publisher likes it, they will appreciate that you already have secured permissions for it. If they don't think it's right for the book, they'll let you know.

Good luck!

[Lauri B]

Hi Christina,
Internships are definitely the way to go, and they don't necessarily have to be at a book publisher: magazines, scientific journals, newspapers, etc. You'll learn a variety skills and they are all inter-related. And you'll make some contacts which can be key once you get out of school.

Be aware: publishing is not the path to big bucks (but it's a lot of fun). I started at the bottom as an editorial intern at the world's most boring scientific journal, and was poor and not especially enjoying it--but it almost immediately led to something much better. That's the nice thing about publishing: you can move up fast (primarily since people move in and out of jobs quickly in the industry since the pay is usually pretty bad). Another good idea is to take as many writing and literature classes as you can. Having to do all of those critical analyses of famous works of literature in college will really help you in your editing career. I mean, come on--if you can figure out how to pick apart some famous author's book, you can definitely figure out what's wrong (and how to fix) the manuscripts that are submitted.

Hope that helps!
Lauri

[AgentJade]

Well, that's what I've heard from most every writer or editor I've talked to thus far: the pay's not that great, and you have to suffer through some start-up job that may be less than ideal. lol

But yes, that was helpful information, thanks a lot for your reply. :)

[kaliannah]

Hi Kaliannah,
I think because your market is very targeted, any publisher interested in doing a print version of a book like this is going to want to know how many ecopies were bought. I don't have a good sense of what kinds of sales ebooks generate, but if everyone in the transcription industry has already bought the ebook version, a publisher might be wary of coming up with a print one. Yours is a very close-ended market, with a finite number of potential buyers (which is nice in many ways because the marketing for the book can be very specifically targeted, too). Definitely let the publisher know up front how many copies have been downloaded.

I would definitely include information about the award, if it's relevant and well respected in the ebook industry. And as for artwork, include it in the manuscript submission. If the publisher likes it, they will appreciate that you already have secured permissions for it. If they don't think it's right for the book, they'll let you know.

Good luck!

Thanks for your very quick reply. I'll definitely keep your suggestions in mind when submitting the manuscript to publishers for consideration.

[azbikergirl]

Hi Lauri,

Thanks for taking time to answer questions for us wannabe authors! I posted this question for Mr. Zack, but I thought it'd be cool to have an editor's take as well.

In a moment of self-doubt, I sent my ms to a "book doctor" who is, himself, a published novelist, with a new novel coming out this year and several published in the past. I only requested an evaluation, not an in-depth critique. In his evaluation, he wrote some very nice things and told me that I did not need his critique service because the story was well-written as it was. (I didn't expect him to try to convince me not to hire him for more services!) Anyway, because he's a published novelist, would it be to my advantage to quote him in a query letter? Or would his status as a book doctor make anything he said suspect?

Thanks very much for your help!

[Lauri B]

I think it would depend on two things: is he a well-known or well-respected published novelist (meaning, if he's not well known, do his books get good reviews, or any reviews at all?)? And does his reputation as a writer supercede his business as a book doctor? If he's a well-respected writer, I don't think it would hurt to mention in your query that "X, author of Book Title read the manuscript of My Book Title and said, 'whatever nice thing he said.'" I wouldn't mention to anyone that he's a book doctor, since it's not necessary to do so. You can say you asked him to review the manuscript for a critique (which sounds more like a colleague-to-colleague interaction rather than a "please fix my book--I'll pay you" kind of thing) and then quote his response.

The only caveat I would offer is that if he is a published author that no one has ever heard of, or his books aren't good or have never been reviewed, or most important, aren't relevant to the genre in which you write--don't bother mentioning him at all in your query. It will be totally irrelevant to the publisher you are contacting and could potentially sound sort of desperate.

Does that help?

[azbikergirl]

Definitely helps! Thanks Lauri. Most of his books were written in the 1980s, but got good reviews at the time (and they are highly rated on Amazon and B&N, too). He writes the same genre family (speculative fiction) that I do, although he concentrates in SF and my novel is a fantasy. Maybe by the time I'm ready to submit, his current novel will be out. I'll keep an eye out for its reviews, and hopefully his comments will be more meaningful soon. :)

Thank you!

[Greenwolf103]

I know I'm coming to this pretty late but, WELCOME LAURI!! Congrats on becoming a mod. :) I know you will be handing out some helpful advice to all of us here, as you have so far demonstrated.

--Dawn

[dragonjax]

We work with a distributor (Independent Publishers Group) to sell our books to the book trade. They act as our sales force: they have sales reps throughout the country that call on accounts at independent stores, the big chains, specialty venues (such as museum stores, school supply catalogs, mail order catalogs, sporting goods, etc.), and they also exhibit at all of the major trade shows. They help us with marketing, give us great feedback, and act as our partner to get our books into bookstores and other special sales locations.

Our distributor sells to the big wholesalers, Ingram and Baker & Taylor. The wholesalers take orders from bookstores and ship them out, take returns, etc. The major difference between a distributor and a wholesaler is that the distributor is out there marketing and selling the books actively, while the wholesaler waits to receive orders.

Some small publishers don't have distributors, but rather rely on the wholesalers. That's fine, and it's up to them, but I would imagine they have to work that much harder to get noticed by the book trade, and therefore, receive orders for their books.

However, if you are an author and your publisher sells only through its own website, be wary. It's hard enough to sell books when you have distribution, ad dollars, and good marketing experience. Without it, it's almost impossible, however well intentioned the effort.

Lauri, thank you so much for defining the difference between wholesalers and distributors -- it really sheds light on the process. To follow up, do you hire the distributor, rather like offering a contract to the best bidder? Or is it more like the Cable scene, where it's a monopoly and you get whichever Cable company happens to cover your area? (Boy, I hope this question makes sense...) Does the distribution of an author's book get paid for by the publisher, or by the author via royalties or as a percentage off the advance? Finally, who decides where the books get distributed to -- the publisher, the distributor, or the wholesaler? I have this vague impression that the wholesaler gets wind of a particular title, then places an order for X number of copies of that title through the distributor, who then requests that amount of books from the publisher. Am I way off base?

Again, many thanks.

Best,
Jackie

[Lauri B]

Lauri, thank you so much for defining the difference between wholesalers and distributors -- it really sheds light on the process. To follow up, do you hire the distributor, rather like offering a contract to the best bidder? Or is it more like the Cable scene, where it's a monopoly and you get whichever Cable company happens to cover your area? (Boy, I hope this question makes sense...) Does the distribution of an author's book get paid for by the publisher, or by the author via royalties or as a percentage off the advance? Finally, who decides where the books get distributed to -- the publisher, the distributor, or the wholesaler? I have this vague impression that the wholesaler gets wind of a particular title, then places an order for X number of copies of that title through the distributor, who then requests that amount of books from the publisher. Am I way off base?

Again, many thanks.

Best,
Jackie

Hi Jackie,
Sorry it has taken me so long to reply--I must have missed this post, somehow. Here are some answers to your questions:
1. Distributors are very selective, so in a way it's like submitting to an agent or publisher all over again: in our case, we talked to a few other small publishers who had distribution, looked at what other clients those distributors had, and then contacted IPG and sent them our books for consideration. They liked what they saw and took us on.

2. Distribution costs are paid by the publisher, and it varies but is usually anywhere from 25 to 30% of sales. Whether or not it is taken out of an author's royalties depends on how you have negotiated your royalty contract (although since I rarely deal with contracts, don't hold me to that).

3. Who decides where the book is distributed? Well, the distributor acts as our sales force, so they are out selling to chains, independents, special sales venues, and the wholesalers. The wholesaler is just one account (although a big one) for our distributor. The wholesalers such as Ingram and B&T are actively pitched titles by our distributor, so it's not nearly as static as you make it sound, although the wholesalers aren't out there pitching books to their accounts--rather, they wait for their accounts to request books. So the wholesalers get information about books from both directions, but they really do act kind of like a giant warehouse rather than as a sales force.

Hope this helps!