PUTTING YOUR BEST BOOK FORWARD
A Book Shepherd’s Secrets to Producing Award-Winning Books That Sell
ELLEN REID
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW TO DO IT RIGHT, SMART AND PROFITABLY
With over 500,000 new books hitting the market every year, how do you make yours stand out so casual browsers become committed buyers? Ellen Reid knows, and she shares what she’s learned in her stellar career of creating award-winning books for authors.
Have no illusions; as with anything of quality, it’s going to cost you to do it right. However, if you were going to start a new business, you’d want to save money but you wouldn’t cut corners on the important things. Putting Your Best Book Forward tells you where to spend and how to save.
The book takes you right into today’s book business and:
• Describes the self-publishing process so you can see what you might do yourself and where professionals might serve you best (This is different for each author).
• Guides you in how to work with the individuals you hire so you get the greatest benefit from their services.
• Provides pointers on how to look at your specific situation so you can confidently make the choices for producing a book that will best serve your objectives.
If you have a manuscript and want to get it into print, when you finish this book you will know how to do it right, how to do it smart and how to do it so you will be in the best position to prosper in a growing and evolving industry.
About the Author
Ellen Reid may not have been the very first Book Shepherd, however she is definitely right up at the front of this very small pack. She has distinguished herself by assisting authors, doing the hands-on work for them, creating outstanding, top quality, often award-winning books.
Ellen serves her national and international client base from her Southern California headquarters. She lives in Los Angeles with her dogs Katy and Kiki, and has created a happy family of professionals who come together to serve authors in putting their best book forward.
Smashwords Edition
Copyright © 2010 by Ellen Reid
Little
Moose Press
269 S. Beverly Dr. #1065
Beverly Hills, CA
90212
866-234-0626
First Edition
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews, without prior written permission of the publisher.
Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure the accuracy and completeness of information contained in this book, we assume no responsibility for errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or any inconsistency herein.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2010905568
Publisher’s Cataloging-In-Publication
Reid, Ellen.
Putting your best book forward : a book shepherd’s secrets to producing award-winning books that sell / Ellen Reid. --1st ed. -- Beverly Hills, Calif. : Little Moose Press, c2010.
p. ; cm.
ISBN: 978-0-9841441-5-0
Summary: With over 500,000 books hitting the market every year, how do you make your self-published book stand out? Ellen Reid knows and she shares what she has learned in her stellar career of working with self-published authors to produce their books.
1. Self-publishing--United States. 2. Authors and publishers-- United States. 3. Publishers and publishing--United States. I. Title.
Z285.5 .R45 2010 2010905568
070.5/93--dc22 1006
Front
Cover Design: Chris Collins
Author Photo: Marc Cartwright
This book is dedicated to Dan Poynter, without whom I would never have become a Book Shepherd. My gratitude is boundless... I have found my calling, thanks to you, Dan!
Table of Contents
Setting Up Your Publishing Company
Getting Your Book Into Bookstores
Don’t Just Take My Word for It
The
Seven Deadliest Mistakes New Authors Often Make
Afterword
Thank you to everyone on the Book Shepherding team... you know who you are. So many wonderfully talented people have helped me over the years; a special thank you goes to Laren Bright, Patricia Bacall, Dotti Albertine, Pamela Guerrieri, Pam Terry, Ghislain Viau, Chris Collins, Andrea Howe, Melanie Rigney and Melissa Flamson. Thanks to everyone at Sir Speedy Whittier, Mike Daniels and everyone at Sheridan Books, Kim Hawley and Craig Landers at Taylor Specialty Books and too many more to mention here. I appreciate you all so much. And to my wonderful clients for trusting me to shepherd their book, thank you! No list of acknowledgments would be complete without thanking my son, Doug, who named my company, Smarketing. Thanks, Doug!
I work with people who have written a manuscript and want to publish their book—either by creating their own imprint or self-publishing with another company. They have something important to say and want to get their book out into the world. People want to produce books of excellent quality, so the file (cover, interior, copyright page, etc.) is ready to go to print, no matter which way they decide to go. Independent/self-publishing is the only method I know of where writers retain control of the content and creative elements, and keep the lion’s share of the profits.
The way to successfully self-publish involves putting together a creative team of experts to produce a book that looks good and is produced according to the accepted practices in the book industry.
My calling is to work with authors who want their book to be as excellent as their message.
There are many good books available that tell you step by step how to produce a book yourself: in particular, my mentor Dan Poynter’s two books: The Self-Publishing Manuals, Volumes I and II are the best books to read on the subject, in my opinion. And there are hundreds more. This book will not do that. It is meant to be an overview of the self-publishing process so you can see that it is not only possible, but fun, to start your own publishing company and produce a wonderful book.
Enjoy the ride...
Ellen
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions The Three Publishing Options... and Which Is the Right One for You?
The Author’s Wonderful Fairy Tale
Once upon a time there was an author who had a wonderful idea for a book. So the writer went out and found an agent who got him a huge advance from a big publisher. Then he went on Oprah, sold as many books as there are stars in the sky, and lived happily ever after, writing more books, and hiring a fleet of trucks to take his money to the bank.
I know it sounds silly when you put it that way; however, you have no idea how many people I speak with who have some version of this going on in their minds. Okay, maybe not the part about the trucks, but most authors I speak with genuinely believe they have a great book and think they have a shot at getting on Oprah.
While I am all for supporting people in their dreams, let’s do some math. Over 500,000 books hit the market in 2009. Let’s say only 10 percent of those authors had aspirations of getting on Oprah. That’s 50,000 people. Now consider how many authors will actually get on Oprah’s show. One a week? 52. Three a week? 156. Out of 50,000? So what are the odds? Pretty slim. But that’s just about getting on Oprah. You may have better odds at getting picked up by a publisher. And probably even better odds of getting an agent. The question is whether that’s really the best way for you to go.