If you need to get a book written, edited, published, marketed, promoted, translated, or sold, all the resources you want are available here.
Becoming a Successful Mainstream Author
By Jeff Davidson MBA, CMC
To become a successful mainstream author, first realize that the success of any book is 10 percent content and 90 percent marketing.
Unless you have a five-figure promotion budget (and even if you do!), you're going to have to make sure that the publishing house is behind your book. There are only two seasons in publishing, fall and spring, and most publishers "push" only a handful of books. If your book is among of these three or four, it will be clear to you. They'll ask you to tour cities, and be on talk shows.
If the publisher isn't behind your book, you'll have to devise your own strategies and spend your own funds to give your book the push it needs--the topic of another article.
An Agent-Driven Industry
The book-publishing industry is agent-driven. How do you find an agent? Get your friend's agent and have your friend walk you into the agency, literally or figuratively. You may be among the lucky few who is able to avoid months of scrounging around for the right agent.
Also, these directories, available in the reference section of any library, list the names of reputable agents: The Literary Marketplace, Writer's Market, and The Working Press of the Nation.
Editors Are Risk Averse
Most editors are afraid to take risks. If you have a unique topic or some unexplored area, the acquiring editor is going to have to get approval from a committee or the publisher. Publishing houses think they routinely offer ground-breaking books. Yet, most editors wouldn't know a ground-breaking book if it landed in their laps. And if they did know they had a ground-breaking book, they'd find some way to reject it quickly. To bridge this gap, show them how a built-in market/readership already exists for the topic.
In essence, editors and publishers are print-oriented. You must convey to them, on paper, why your idea is a winner. If you're a celebrity or temporary media phenomenon you may be able to wrangle a big contract without developing a superior proposal. Usually, these are one-shot deals. If you're a rank-and-file author -- certainly something to be proud of -- you're going to have to submit a superior proposal.
All told, the quality of your proposal, the reputation and connections of your agent, and your background are the key elements in gaining early acceptance.
What if it's accepted?
If your proposal is accepted, and you're offered a contract by the publishing house, dozens of terms and clauses will foil you. Don't attempt to negotiate your own contract underinformed or misinformed.
Can you receive too large of an advance? I know of many authors falling into this trap. If the book doesn't earn back its advance, and books seldom do, the author seeking to sell a second book is in a awkward position. The first publisher is not likely to extend another contract like the first, and may not extend another contract at all. Other publishers will wonder why the author is not doing the second book with the first publisher since the first book got such a big push.
Still, you're entitled to the largest advance with which you feel comfortable.
Key Players in the Publishing House
Who will handle book club sales, serial rights, foreign translations, trade paper, and mass-market sales at your publishers? Most of these rights are sold in advance of publication.
The marketing department must comprehend your book immediately if they are going to be able to sell it to book stores. The old axiom, "if a book can't be described in a sentence, it's probably not going to sell," is too true.
My first book, Marketing Your Consulting and Professional Services, just passed 52,000 copies sold in hard cover although I consider it my least well-written book--the writing is somewhat formal. It continues to sell because the title literally describes the ultimate benefit to the reader. My other early brisk sellers, Getting New Clients, Marketing on a Shoestring, Blow Your Own Horn: How to Get Noticed and Get Ahead, and Breathing Space: Living and Working at a Comfortable Pace in a Sped-Up Society, just from the title, each give readers a clear sense what kind of information they'll learn. So, give the reader the benefit in the title!
A Parting Observation
We live in a media-driven society. Are you frequently interviewed by national newspapers? Do you have a regular newsletter or magazine column? These factors help. The unfortunate reality of our times is that those who have "star" power gain advantages in life and in business, and this is true in publishing, too.