4 Things You Can't Not Know Before You Self-Publish

Whenever I have a client who’s self-publishing, especially those who are just dipping their toe into the world of publishing for the first time, there is a host of information I want them to know. I can’t communicate all of it, but here’s what you can’t not know:

1.    Editing Process

When a contracted manuscript is submitted to a traditional publisher, the process will typically involve:

·      One or two rounds of developmental editing

·      A round of copy editing

·      Several meticulous rounds of proofreading, looking for the tiniest errors: an extra space after a period, a “zero” that’s really a capital “O,” or a “there” instead of a “their.”

Readers have been trained to expect an error-free product, and even a few errors can cause the reader to lose confidence in the book, and set it down. While this rigorous level of precision isn’t always possible when self-publishing, your readers will be best-served if you put this important work into your book up front.

2.    Book Cover

Whether readers will be browsing through a bookstore, scrolling through thumbnail images on Amazon, or buying from a merch table, the cover matters. It both signals what’s inside and whether what’s inside has value for the reader. Even if you have the technical skills to create a cover using your photo editing software, don’t. Resist the urge. There are tried and true principles relating to images, colors, font styles, and font sizes that make for great covers. Let a professional design the cover of your book.

3.    Book Design

Have you ever noticed that the inside of a traditionally published book, all the pages of content, have been designed? Care and attention have been given to the precise measurements of margins, as well as the size and shape of fonts in the text, chapter titles, headers and subheads. None of this is accidental. Each choice was made to serve the book and serve the reader. Although certain independent publishing options might aid you with book design, it’s up to you to ensure that nothing about the design creates a barrier to a reader reading your book.

4.    Books Are Hard to Sell

Before you sink your own dollars into publishing a book, have a plan for how you will market and distribute the book to your target audience. Don’t just throw it up at Amazon with millions of other books and hope for the best. You’ve been warned.

The purpose of your book is to serve the reader, and a well-written book with a sharp design does that. If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.

I am for you,

Margot

www.wordmelon.com

8 Reasons I'm Cautious About Recommending Self-Publishing to Clients

While some folks have great success self-publishing, many do not. Because I feel protective of my editing/writing clients, I want to make sure they know some of the reasons why I am cautious about pushing them toward self-publishing.

1. Dollars

You are investing your own money into producing a product that you will sell. I don't take that lightly. When you self-publish you (should) pay for developmental editing, copy editing, proofreading, cover design, book design, and other publishing essentials that I don't even know about.

2. Sales

As a creative, I've become aware that creating art and selling art are two different skill sets. Self-evident to many, but I had to learn the hard way. (Selling beautiful cards, magnets, puppets, beads, and even toilet plungers. Fer reals.)

When you publish with a traditional publisher, sales and marketing teams partner with the author to sell books. When you self-publish, you become responsible for selling every single copy of books stored in your closet, attic, basement, or trunk. (Worth considering as you decide how many copies you will buy.)

3. Opportunity

Folks who do well selling their self-published books are folks with lots of opportunities to sell in-person to audiences. These are folks who speak 30-60 times per year.

4. Strategy

Other folks who do well selling self-published books are those who have a smart clear calculated strategy. This may include speaking gigs, facebook advertising, print advertising, publicity, inviting Amazon reviews, etc. Publishing a book and hoping it will sell, or believing it is so great that it will catch on like wildfire, is naive.

5. Advertising

People need to learn about your book. One of the ways that happens is through advertising. I know that there are smartie geniuses out there who have mastered effective advertising--let's say...advertising on social media. They understand how to implement advertising that produces sales. If you plan to invest in advertising, don't drop the cash and hope for the best.

6. Quality Content

As a self-respecting writer and editor, I probably should have led with this one. Traditional publishers have many rounds of edits to ensure they're producing the best possible product. On the front end these include, but are not limited to, one or more rounds of developmental (or content) editing. In this early stage of editing, an editor is thinking about the reader: her felt need, her experience, her life circumstance, etc.  He or she gives the writer feedback, to improve the first draft, that serves the reader.

7. Quality Experience

Further down the line in the book production process, a traditional publisher employs folks who do line editing, and several rounds of proofreading. These latter steps are critical to delivering a book to readers that is as close to error-free as it can be. A reader who finds several errors in a self-published book quickly loses confidence in the book, and may abandon it altogether.

8. Quality Design

While few of us give much thought to the aesthetic of the books we're reading, we are drawn to attractive covers before we buy a book, and we appreciate attractive interior design while we're reading it. When some element of design is "off"--style of font, size of font, space between paragraphs, etc.--our experience of the book suffers.


If you're considering self-publishing, and these don't feel like insurmountable hurdles to you, I commend you. And envy you.

Best wishes as you pursue your publishing dreams!

Crafting Compelling Titles and Subtitles

Don't judge a book by its cover.

Great advice for human interactions. Less useful for actual books.

Not only do we judge books by their covers, but when we read a book's title we decide in an instant whether the book is for us or not.

As you're crafting a title for your own book, keep in mind this general rule of thumb:

1. The title communicates the book's "premise."

2. The subtitle communicates the book's "promise."

Now that I've put it out there, I'm sure you're scrolling through all your favorite titles that break this rule. Fine, be that way.

What can be learned from the thumb-rule, is that the best titles communicate to a distracted book browser something of what is inside the book.

The title lets the reader know the general premise of the book:

• Eat, Pray, Love
• 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
• Rich Dad, Poor Dad

And the subtitle lets the reader know what the book promises they'll get from it:

• One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
• Powerful Lessons in Personal Change
• What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money - That The Poor and Middle Class Do Not!

So as you craft your title, you want to be sure that the reader knows what the book is about (premise) and what's in it for them (promise.)

Of course there will be those bestsellers that no one can account for, like Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz, but it's more likely that you'll serve your readers and your book if a reader who's scrolling through titles on Amazon, or flipping through pages at Barnes & Noble, can know--in an instant--that your book is for her or him.

I learned this rule about titles and subtitles from my savvy friend Jonathan Merritt a few years ago...after I'd published a bunch of books.

Here are my titles (excluding collaborations/ghost writing). If the title is a win, credit goes to the publisher. If it's a fail, probably mine. So judge me...

• The Girl in the Orange Dress: Searching for a Father Who Does Not Fail
• Unsqueezed: Springing Free From Skinny Jeans, Nose Jobs, Highlights, and Stilettos
• Small Things With Great Love: Adventures in Loving Your Neighbor
• Permission Granted: Living Graciously Among Sinners and Saints
• Not Who I Imagined: Surprised By a Loving God
• Overplayed: A Parent's Guide to Sanity in the World of Youth Sports

Which of my titles communicates what you'll find inside and meets a need readers actually have? Too late to change 'em, so hit me with your best shot...

Your Nonfiction Book Proposal: Three Things Every Publisher Must See

In order to say "yes" to a writer's nonfiction book proposal, every publisher needs to see three things:

1. CONCEPT

Your concept is the--fresh, unique, compelling--premise of your book.

A publisher is looking for a book with a unique and compelling concept. The best books serve readers by presenting a timeless truth with a vibrant fresh angle. When publishers read these proposals, they say, "Hmmm...I haven't heard it put quite this way before."

2. PLATFORM

Your platform is how you're reaching audiences.

You must demonstrate that, as an author, you are building a solid platform and is already reaching audiences.

This might be reflected in social media numbers. It might mean you're reaching audiences as a speaker. Or perhaps you write regularly for a popular online magazine.

Although there is no magic formula, an author does need to be reaching readers.

3. WRITING

Your writing is how you organize and express your unique concept.

Your writing captures the reader's attention by engaging him or her with well-organized and beautiful writing.


Could missing one of these three be a deal breaker for a publisher? Unfortunately, yes. While a publisher will occasionally take a chance on a brilliant writer with very little platform, you make it easier for a publisher to say "yes" when you can demonstrate that you are building a platform.

If your book proposal demonstrates that all three of these elements are strong, it will be hard for a publisher to say "no."

If your proposal lacks one or more of these, it will be hard for a publisher to say "yes."

Want to Get Published? A Publisher Needs to See a Compelling Project

Note: This is the second post in a series of 4 posts: 3 Things a Publisher Must See.

 The first post outlines the 3 things!

A Publisher Needs to See a Compelling Project

You’re heard of the fabled “elevator pitch”? You’re in an elevator and are suddenly given the opportunity to pitch your idea to someone who could make it a reality. You have a few sentences to communicate clearly the nature of your project.

Pressure’s on.

And this really is a Goldilocks and the 3 Bears situation:

1.     If you say too little—either the number of words or the impact of those words—you lose.

2.     If you say too much—either the number of words or the impact of those words—you lose.

3.     The way you present your project needs to be “just right”

You could say….

·      “I’m writing a book.” (yawn, check phone) Four words is probably not enough.

·      Or you might spit out, “I’m writing a book on marriage” (There’s no impact, nothing memorable, nothing distinctive.)

·      Or you might go with, “I’m writing an in-depth treatise on the common misperceptions about the mating rituals of married white American evangelical females between the ages of twenty-eight and twenty-nine occurring in suburbs within twelve miles of six major U.S. cities after nine pm…” (Just wrong on so many levels)

Nothing about any of those makes a publisher want to know more.

·      But what about: “The Singular Secret To a Vibrant Marriage”?

Now the editor is curious to know more. What is it?!

A book proposal is really just an expanded elevator pitch. You need to communicate very clearly and efficiently what book is about so that publisher will want to know more. Don’t make them work hard to figure it out.

Exercise: Right now, give the two-sentence pitch for the book that’s in your heart. Out loud. To the walls. Write it down. Then, when there’s a human within range, give them the pitch. Then ask them:

1.     Do you feel like you know what the book is about? Could you communicate it to someone else?

2.     Is it unique? Are there other books like it?

3.     Based just on the hook/pitch, does it engage you to want to know more? Do you want to buy and read it? Why or why not?

With this feedback, work further to articulate what is unique and compelling about your book.

Cheering you on,

Margot

Want to Get Published? A Publisher Needs to See a Compelling Project

Note: This is the second post in a series of 4 posts: 3 Things a Publisher Must See.

 The first post outlines the 3 things!

A Publisher Needs to See a Compelling Project

You’re heard of the fabled “elevator pitch”? You’re in an elevator and are suddenly given the opportunity to pitch your idea to someone who could make it a reality. You have a few sentences to communicate clearly the nature of your project.

Pressure’s on.

And this really is a Goldilocks and the 3 Bears situation:

1.     If you say too little—either the number of words or the impact of those words—you lose.

2.     If you say too much—either the number of words or the impact of those words—you lose.

3.     The way you present your project needs to be “just right”

You could say….

·      “I’m writing a book.” (yawn, check phone) Four words is probably not enough.

·      Or you might spit out, “I’m writing a book on marriage” (There’s no impact, nothing memorable, nothing distinctive.)

·      Or you might go with, “I’m writing an in-depth treatise on the common misperceptions about the mating rituals of married white American evangelical females between the ages of twenty-eight and twenty-nine occurring in suburbs within twelve miles of six major U.S. cities after nine pm…” (Just wrong on so many levels)

Nothing about any of those makes a publisher want to know more.

·      But what about: “The Singular Secret To a Vibrant Marriage”?

Now the editor is curious to know more. What is it?!

A book proposal is really just an expanded elevator pitch. You need to communicate very clearly and efficiently what book is about so that publisher will want to know more. Don’t make them work hard to figure it out.

Exercise: Right now, give the two-sentence pitch for the book that’s in your heart. Out loud. To the walls. Write it down. Then, when there’s a human within range, give them the pitch. Then ask them:

1.     Do you feel like you know what the book is about? Could you communicate it to someone else?

2.     Is it unique? Are there other books like it?

3.     Based just on the hook/pitch, does it engage you to want to know more? Do you want to buy and read it? Why or why not?

With this feedback, work further to articulate what is unique and compelling about your book.

Cheering you on,

Margot