When Interesting is Deadly

For nonfiction books, one of the Great Divides between what sells and what doesn't, is:

NEED to know

vs

INTERESTING to know

Gee, you can almost feel the difference just saying each one. Guess which one flies off the shelf?

Let's say you're in the bookstore perusing the health shelf because you always have a sore back. There's one prominently featured book titled A History of Back Pain: Medical Advances for Those in Pain. The book next to it is titled NO MORE BACK PAIN. Which one do you pick up?

Or, you're a constant dieter. You're addicted to that shelf in the bookstore. One title: WHY ENDLESS DIETS DON'T WORK. Next to it: YOUR LAST DIET: You Can Finally Meet Your Goals. Which one do you pick up?

Or, you're still trying to learn to budget after all these years. You go to the finance/business bookshelf. One book titled THE ESSENTIALS of BUDGETING catches your eye: Next to it is HOW TO LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS WHEN YOU NEVER HAVE.

The "need to know" combined with a promise to you is almost irresistible. First, the title speaks to you directly about the problem you want solved. As soon as you see the title, you know you need to know what it has to say. Second, it makes a promise to truly solve your problem, once and for all. Whether it ultimately does or not, it's the title and the promise that make you buy THAT book instead of the others. You can buy the "interesting" ones some other day. Today you'll buy the one you NEED to have.

If you're working on your nonfiction book, outline, or proposal, stop and make sure you are casting, titling, and writing the book that solves the NEED TO KNOW. You can have "interesting" things sprinkled throughout the book, but you're only going to get your potential readers to choose yours if they NEED to know it and want what you promise.

And this is as blessedly brief as I can be on the topic. :-)

Laurie

http://www.authorbiz.com/

Photo credit: famousreadingcafe.blogspot.com

Speaking Into Silence

For an author, the publishing process can be like an awkward conversation with a stranger; filled with clumsy silences.

When you write a book, you are initially having a conversation with yourself; a very deep and exciting conversation. But when this conversation eventually extends to the publishing community--writers, agents, and publishers--suddenly the conversation may make you feel like you're on a blind date. Awkward. Foreign. With fits and starts, and enough silences to drive you mad.

In the normal course of life, we're all used to communication being relatively immediate; with text messages, emails, and phone calls returned. In publishing, however, it's "take a number."

Isn't this rude? Yes.

Isn't this unprofessional? Not really. It isn't personal--really.

When you give your manuscript to a friend to read, they might read it in two days, for you. They know how excited you are and how much work you have put into it. They know you are waiting to hear from them.

When you give your manuscript to a freelance editor, they will tell you their schedule and when to expect their feedback. Fair enough. But then you get to the Agent Stage.

While it's natural to expect that when you have done your homework and sent off your query to the agents--exactly as stipulated in their agent listings--that you will receive a courteous acknowledgement of your query, perhaps, and certainly a timely response. . .you probably won't. Instead, what you'll get is silence. The first really clumsy and painful one.

Hey, did you get my query? you want to ask. Two weeks go by. Four weeks go by. While your brain is spinning with What did I do wrong? Can I call them? What should I do?, the agent is fully and legitimately occupied with the daily work for his or her existing clients (selling, negotiating, meeting/calling editors, managing and problem solving, licensing rights, etc).

Agents are always interested in new clients and fabulous new books, but incoming unsolicited non-referred queries are not high on the daily priorities. The hard truth is that agents typically set aside a particular time during the week to look at new queries. Sometimes they get through five queries that week, sometimes twenty. But an agency will typically receive between 50 and 100 queries a week. . .hence, the delay in responding to you.

Publishing house editors have an even steeper time challenge. The editor's daily life consists of meetings (editorial, sales, title and positioning meetings, production, etc), phone and emails with agents and authors, negotiations on new books, agent meetings...they are lucky to have one hour of any day to edit. Most reading and editing is done at home in the evenings and weekends. Remember, each editor is managing new books bought, books delivered and now in production, books just launching at publication, and books previously published. It isn't a stretch to see how they might not respond to a query for three weeks, even at the best of times.

As has always been the case, the sheer volume of manuscripts funneling in to agents and publishers prohibits timely response. Count on it and put the periods of silence to best use.

While waiting for agents or publishers to reply:

• Work on your website, content and search engine optimization. Make sure it showcases the work you do, your speaking and workshops (including your schedule). Don't showcase your book until it is near publication date--people only want to hear about a book they can buy in the next two weeks. Potential agents and publishers look at your website and blog to see how effective you will be at driving your audience to the book, how many people are you getting in front of,your client base, your following.
• Build out your network for speaking, workshops, seminars, panels, conferences, etc. It is never too early to build the network. READ and FOLLOW GET KNOWN BEFORE YOUR BOOK COMES OUT by Christina Katz (and no, I don't get paid to recommend it).
• Write more chapters of your book, if you have not completed it--even if you're largely drafting them or completing the research. If you are selling your book via proposal, outline and sample chapters only, you will speed up the delivery time for final manuscript and possibly get an earlier publication date if you get ahead now.
• Get a jump on Permissions, if you're going to need any for your book. Permissions can take months to complete and they are due along with your final manuscript, which becomes a big hassle for many authors. Get organized: source all your material/locate your files, determine what permissions you will need, and locate the copyright holders and contact information for them.
• Continue to research agencies--online and in resource directories. As you find those whom you think are a good match for you, read a couple of their authors' books. Don't lose time waiting while five or ten agents have your query or proposal/manuscript. Be prepared to send the next queries if necessary. It only takes one agent to say YES.
• Note about Form Letters: We all bemoan the use of form letters, but honestly, they are essential to the sanity of the agents. You are basically asking, Are You Interested In Me or This Book? It is perfectly okay that they say No -- if they aren't. Fair enough. A form letter is annoying but you still got your answer. Move on. Don't let it stop you. Do more research. Ask more agents.
  

While your book is in production and your are waiting for it to be Published!

• Work on endorsements. Endorsements can take a long time because not everyone says yes, and when they do, they need long lead times. And the bigger the Name Author, the less likely you are to get your request to them without connections. You may need friends-of-friends, or your agent, or your editor, to help you make contact to get to them. Start early!
• Switch your brain to marketing. Read RED HOT INTERNET PUBLICITY by Penny Sansevieri; 1001 Ways to Market Your Book by John Kremer; and The Frugal Book Promoter: How To Do What Your Publisher Won't by Carolyn Howard-Johnson. These are going to give you more ideas than you'll have time or energy to do, but spend the time to weed out the best of their advice for your book and your goals.
• Start work on the Author Marketing Questionnaire (which you'll get from your publisher). Write up a synopsis of your book in three ways: 250 words; 500 words; and one sentence. You will need to do this once your book is sold to a publisher, and now you have the time to do it right. This Questionnaire will be used by the publisher to sell your book to booksellers and distributors, as well as by publicists to the media. Think of these summaries as sales pitches that can be used in different ways by different people on your team.
• Do your Blogger research. Research bloggers so you know before publication which bloggers could be helpful in spreading the word about your book. Who has your audience? Who is a logical connection for you? Study who, what, where, when and why...how will you approach them? How can you partner? What do you have to offer them? Figure out the strategies and do the prep work.
• Research magazines you want to contact, to either excerpt your book, or have you write for for them (using your by-line to promote your book). If you know nothing about selling to magazines, start studying! Magazine presence is extremely helpful for driving sales of your book(s) and people to your website. They have a big reach.

Perhaps one of the cruelest silences is when your book is published. It's The Moment. It has shipped to the world. It is Available. And there is the Silence. You start checking Amazon sales maniacally. You go to your local bookstore; they have two copies. You turn your copies cover-out on the shelf, or better yet, swap them onto a table display on your way out!

There is generally about a a 3-month lag time for all the pre-launch and launch marketing work to show up in sales figures. Galleys have gone out for reviews, pitches have been made for radio interviews, perhaps magazine excerpting. The books have physically shipped to distributors and bookstores, it's listed online, you have your website cooking along, and perhaps are blogging. And still the silence.

The good news? Your book is out--you don't have time to worry about the silence anymore. You have a marketing plan to execute, goals to reach, and you know how to use your time wisely.

Your agent and publisher love you because you spend your time telling the world about our book. The more you do, the less silence there will be.

Laurie
www.authorbiz.com

Photo credit: Spacewall/Hubble