On Publishing Archives - Page 15 of 17

Timing Woes

May 31, 2013 By JPMcLean 2 Comments

Timing Woes

This time around, I thought I’d be better at predicting the timing of certain events in the course of publishing a book.

Apparently not.

Today I thought I’d be revealing the cover for Book II, Revelation. And I would have, except I wasn’t happy with the way the title looked on the final proof. So I chose to have it re-done rather than settle, which is the cause of my timing woes and why I’m writing this post instead of the “ta-da” post I’d envisioned.

As disappointed as I am with the delay, I’m keeping it in perspective. The cover will be all the better for it and anticipation is a sweet seduction.

Keep your eyes peeled for that “ta-da” post next week (I think).

Meantime, this is what readers are saying about Book 1, Secret Sky:

Photo by Nathan Shively on Unsplash

How NOT to Market a Book

April 1, 2013 By JPMcLean 7 Comments

How NOT to market a book

I made a rare visit to Vancouver last week. It gave me an excuse to wear heels and “city clothes.” It also gave me an opportunity to practice the elevator pitch for my book.

I’m an introvert.

Marketing is outside my comfort zone. However, when you publish a book, if you want people to discover it, you have to market it. That’s why I keep a supply of business cards at hand. I use them as an opening to talk up the book when I’m out and about.

Last week, I met my sister-in-law downtown and we poked in and out of stores for most of the afternoon. While we shopped, I handed out a few cards to sales clerks who looked like they might be in my target readership. Their quick smiles and easy acceptance boosted my confidence.

At just past six, we called it a day and stopped for a drink and to rest our feet before heading back to her place. We settled into a comfortable window seat in a busy bar in an old hotel on Georgia Street. Our waiter was an interesting young man who took the time to make sure we had the perfect drinks. He shared his personal history in the bar business and checked on us often. The service was a real treat and I was enjoying my visit to the big city.

Buoyed by happy endorphins and confident that our waiter would be receptive, I decided to give him my book pitch on his next visit to our table. I reasoned that even if an urban fantasy thriller didn’t appeal to him, he might have a girlfriend or sister who would be interested.

As he approached our table, I held out my card. He frowned as he took it, and before I could explain myself, we were interrupted. He half turned as he spoke to the person who’d interrupted, and jammed my card into a pocket. I watched him morph from our relaxed, happy-go-lucky waiter to a visibly stiffened young man shuffling from one foot to the other. He finished his conversation then quickly excused himself and beetled away before I could deliver my elevator pitch.

He never came back.

I didn’t catch on at first, mostly because I’m daft. And then a completely different employee came by to present our bill. I looked around for our waiter and spied him on the far side of the room serving another section. That’s when it dawned on me: He thought I was trying to pick him up.

At first, I was just embarrassed about the misunderstanding. But then the reality sunk in: He’d literally run from our table. Talk about a humiliating eye-opener. Suddenly, it was me who couldn’t exit fast enough.

Apparently, I’ve officially entered cougar country. I must say, it’s not my favourite place. It takes the shine off of all kinds of delusions that I was rather fond of.

In future, I’ll be more careful about handing out business cards – especially in bars. My ego might not be able to take another mad dash from a handsome young man with his pants on fire.

Want to know how I got into this mess? Check out How it Started.

After The End

March 14, 2013 By JPMcLean 2 Comments

I’d been writing for months before I told anyone. It would be many more months before I typed “The End” and found the courage to let someone read what I’d written. I say courage because it felt like exposing myself, as if I were admitting I’d developed an embarrassing fetish.

After my secret was out, I felt less guilt about choosing to plunk away at the computer rather than weed the gardens, but where was I going with my writing? When I finished writing Awakening, I went looking for the answer.

It thrilled me that I’d written a book, but what did I do with it?

Most publishers won’t accept unsolicited manuscripts. You have to submit through an agent. My research showed that getting an agent, let alone getting published, was a long shot. Nonetheless, this is how it was done. I researched potential agents, prepared the required submission material, and sent out a dozen query letters.

While I waited for their responses, I began to question the sanity of the process.

I’d already made a considerable investment in time and money: a manuscript evaluation, several manuscript printings, postage back and forth to cold readers, an editor, and cover art.

Did I want to invest more time on the minuscule chance I’d find an agent? And if I got an agent, did I want to wait again for them to sell it to a publisher? And if my agent had the good fortune to sell it, did I want to wait a year or more for them to publish it?

My research also showed that most new authors are paid a pittance, get no marketing support, and being untested, don’t have the negotiating clout to improve their contracts. Some of those contracts include language that makes it difficult to get rights back. Additionally, if the book doesn’t sell well in its first few months, it fades from bookstore shelves.

I don’t begrudge agents or publishers their right to whatever business model works for them.

But is their business model a good fit for me?

The answer is no.

After further research, I decided to indie publish. Because I don’t (yet) have the technical skills to navigate the process, I partnered with a local company. They handle the formatting for hardcover, trade paperback, and ebook editions, and make it available at multiple retailers.

It’s a compromise. I don’t have full control, but I haven’t signed away my rights. Indie publishing isn’t for everyone, but so far (for me at least) the pros outweigh the cons.

I’m investing in me and I’m not finished yet. The second book in the trilogy, Revelation is on the verge of publication, and I’m indie publishing again.

As it turns out, “The End” is just the beginning.

Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash

Please Release Me (Let Me Go)

October 19, 2012 By JPMcLean 2 Comments

Release Date for Awakening. What made me think publishing a book meant I’d have a release date? Maybe it’s all the release date announcements I’ve seen for other people’s books. And music. And movies. Even cell phones have release dates.

A release date is supposed to be part of the fun: a “Ta Da!” moment. Adults don’t get enough of those, and I’d been looking forward to Awakening‘s release date moment. But, as you can probably guess, my Ta Da! moment fizzled like a damp sparkler.

I’m still learning the publishing ropes, so not having a firm release date came as a surprise. The indie model is very different from the traditional route. I’ve partnered with FriesenPress, so I have even less control. Regardless of where you are in indieland, a release date is not so much a set date as it is a process that rolls out in dribs and drabs.

Coming Soon

For me, it started when I returned my final proof to the publisher. FriesenPress worked their formatting magic, and a few weeks later, the book moved to the “coming soon” shelf. It wasn’t quite a Ta Da! moment, more like a “yippee” but it was right up there – felt a bit like graduation.

With my business hat on, I figured I should take advantage of the book’s “coming soon” status to raise awareness. I knew I had some time – I’d been told it could take two weeks for the book to hit the “available” shelf. So, I got busy, sent out a newsletter, posted on my blog, and Facebook. Splashed the “coming soon” status around wherever I could.

Two days later the book was published.

That I learned about it after the fact, and that it happened without ceremony, is not quite what I had imagined for my big “Ta Da!” moment.

Regardless, published is good (yippee!). It was time to make my big announcement, right? Not so fast. The book is available, but only from the publisher at this point.

The publisher now hands it over to their distributor. Once the distributor has it, they make it available to retailers. Ta Da! Not quite. Retailers need anywhere from one day to three months to upload the details to their websites and make it available for sale.

As the process unfurled, the book slowly leaked out. Amazon’s American site picked up the book in all three formats right away (yippee). Within days I had sales on Kindle in the US. It didn’t take long for Barnes and Noble to offer the hardcover and trade paperback on their website (yippee), but it’s not yet available for their Nook. The Canadian Amazon site now carries it and friends have reported successfully ordering it at independent retailers (yippee x 2). Both iTunes and Kobo have listed it (yippee, yippee) and I’m anxiously waiting for Chapters to pick it up (pending yippee).

So, I may not have had my big Ta Da! Release Date moment, but I’ve had a number of smaller yippee moments along the way. As I said, it’s been a learning experience and I’m learning to really appreciate the yippees.

Yippee!

Update: The release date for Awakening has long passed. and the Gift Legacy is now widely available. You can find it here.