Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category

No matter how skeptical or unsupportive of your writing “hobby” your friends and family have been, it seems that they all expect you to provide them with a complementary copy, cheerfully signed no less, when you finally succeed in getting it published.

While you’re probably feeling magnanimous shortly after seeing your words in print, whether it is for the first time or the twenty-first, I would suggest that there are probably better ways to use whatever number of complementary copies of your book you’ve received from the publisher than to give them to friends who aren’t even likely to read it.

How do you decide who should get a free signed copy and who should be refused? Let’s start with the obvious.

Your parents get the first signed copy. Not only do you owe them for your very existence, most parents will be so proud of you they’ll bring out your book for every visitor who arrives at the door. Note: this might not apply if you write hard-core erotica.

Next, give a signed copy to any of your friends or family members who have been consistent cheerleaders, helpers or evangelists. Every writer needs friends like these, so be very nice to them.

But what about friends who snicker about your writing, and make not-so-funny jabs about getting a real job? Those who told you that you’ll never succeed and urged you to give up and be realistic?

It might feel good to give them a copy, proving them wrong, but you know, deep down, that not only do they not deserve a copy, they’ll probably never read it, and if they do skim it, it will be to find mistakes, or something to pick on.

No, don’t give them a free copy. If they ask for a copy, take them to a bookstore, tell them if they buy a copy you’ll sign it for them. If they’re broke and you’re feeling flush with cash, offer to buy the book for them.

Nothing will get the point across to them that your work has value as quickly as seeing actual money exchange hands for the product of your labor.

Your books are merchandise. There is no more reason for you to give away copies to anyone who asks than for the grocer to give free vegetables to all his friends.

As for the fee copies you’ve got left, use them to promote yourself. Give them to local media, send them to potential influencers on the Web that your publisher might not know about, give some copies to your local libraries.

Wendy Woudstra is a frequent contributor to http://publishingcentral.com, where you can find thousands of book publishing links and articles, including many ways to use those complementary copies of your books.

Want to publish this article on your own blog or in your ezine, check it out at EzineArticles.com: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Wendy_Woudstra

Nope, it’s not a joke. It’s a quote I found from Red Smith who was one of America’s most widely read sports columnists. He was also famous for his quip about writing, “All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.”

[T]he crafts of writing and carpentry are deceptively simple. The carpenter has to begin with a plan; the writer must begin with a thought. There must be at least the germ of an idea. Before the first board is nailed to the second board, or the first word connected to the second word, there has to be some clear notion of where we expect to be when we have finished nailing or writing.

In this month’s Publishing Executive, Samir “Mr. Magazine” Husni offers his take on the “print is dead” predictions of doom that are spreading throughout the magazine industry.

Husni doesn’t blame the Internet, or TV, or lack of literacy for the state the magazine publishing industry finds itself in, but rather the business model.

In America, we followed a system that depended on circulation revenues until World War II. After we won that war, we gained a sense of entitlement. We became the world’s leaders, and our industries exploded and were looking for outlets to promote their products. A new publishing model was created. Advertisers picked up the bill for the magazine, and readers-turned-into-numbers paid very little for the content (not even the price of its printing).

According to Husni, publishers need to go back to a business model that relies primarily on circulation revenues in order to survive, and points to Consumer Reports, Highlights for Children, and Cook’s Illustrated as magazines without advertising that survive and thrive with circulation numbers over 1 million.

Will readers have to learn to pay more for their content. Yeah. Most likely.

But magazines still offer a huge benefit to advertisers. Maybe not the massive general interest magazines, but the independent magazine publishers who are giving voice to their passions and connect with their readers will still be able to draw the advertisers they need.

As long as people stop yelling about print being dead.

A final nugget of wisdom from Mr. Magazine:

So when you hear that we live in interesting times, be aware that although we may not know what the future may hold, we should take solace that we are not the first generation—nor the last—to live in interesting times. It is not the times that matter; it is what you do with that time.

The Washington Post has an article comparing independently produced music, and self-publishing.

Where indy music has a certain cache, self-publishing has a stigma.

But that might change, says the Post, because now writers can get readers before they start publishing, just like musicians can play live venues to get fans before releasing a CD.

From the article:

“Maybe that’s where the parallel is,” Paste’s Jackson says. “You have bands going out and playing live shows, and you, as an author, can congregate an audience through a blog. Bloggers are getting book deals all the time these days, but I think it’ll be interesting to see if bloggers start self-publishing.”

John Shore writes in his blog that his Christian publisher requested he take out a paragraph from his latest book that explained that although he used male gender pronouns to describe God, he didn’t really believe God could be “gonadally defined.”

“Trust me on this,” he said. “The average Christian reader can’t tolerate this sort of thought.”

I acquiesced, and cut the passage. What did I know about the average Christian reader? -

Do You, “Average Christian Reader,” Need God to Be a “He”?

Odds are, his publisher was right, at least for a very large segment of the Christian book-buying public. The very fanatical (the ones who would be buying Christian books over secular titles EVERY time), will care a lot. The vast majority of the remaining market won’t care that you use masculine (though some might feel uncomfortable with seeing feminine), and two Unitarians in California would complain that you should have used a gender neutral or feminine pronoun to describe God. And they bought the book from thrift shops anyway.

Overall, you’re much safer sticking with the masculine. It’ll get you in less trouble, and probably sell more books.

Stuff like this is important to keep in mind for any author hoping to nudge in to the large Christian book market. Even if you think that such thinking is simply small-minded fundamentalism, if that’s where the readers are, you might just want to acquiesce and go with the macho flow.