The Willamette Publisher -- September 2010

by Dick Lutz

The title of your book is extremely important in determining how many copies of your book sell. Here are some tips on how to go about selecting a title.

It's not about the book; it's about the reader. Readers are more interested in themselves than anything else. Pete Bowerman, who calls himself "The Title Tailor," didn't call his first book "A Guide to Freelance Writing," but rather "The Well-Fed Writer." As you can see, the former title is all about the book, while the latter is all about the reader.

The title, or the subtitle, should tell what the book is about. The potential reader browsing in a bookstore will stop and examine a book with a title that interests him. Or, that promises to meet a need of hers. Doesn't “The One- Minute Manager” cause a reaction by those in a management position? Use resources. A good thesaurus can be useful. Some helpful websites are: www.namingnewsletter. com and www.rhymezone. com.

Start the process by listing all the words you can think of that relate to the book's subject. Don’t forget synonyms. All these words in front of you will likely result in results!

Subtitles are important particularly for non-fiction books. If your title doesn't tell it all, e.g. "Exploring Egypt," you'll need a subtitle to further explain. Don’t forget that although you know what your book is about the book browser (and potential reader) does not. I once published a book titled Patagonia: At the Bottom of the World. This subtitle was chosen because my research that many people did not know where Patagonia was located. If you have a confusing title with no subtitle the browser will pass on the book.

Length is important. The shorter the title the larger the words on the cover will be. When your book is shelved with the cover showing the title should be visible from a good distance. Bowerman recommends four or five words at most and shorter is even better. If you come up with a title longer than five words, consider it for a subtitle instead.

Sometimes titles needn't tell what a book is about. Although this seems contradictory to what appeared earlier in this column there are books that do not meet a need. A good example is Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. This comes in the category of Intriguing Title, Clear Subtitle.

Maybe listen to a focus group. I say "maybe": because this is controversial. Asking friends or colleagues to vote on the best title of three or four suggested is, I believe, a good idea. But ask these folks to imagine browsing in a bookstore and seeing these titles. Then, ask them which one they would be most likely to pick out. Be sure to suggest titles that you can live with and, after the vote, make up your own mind.

The problem is that the members of the focus group may have no interest in the subject of the book and wouldn't select it under any circumstance. This diffi culty can be avoided by asking that they role-play as someone who is interested in the subject.

The most important thing is to keep the reader in mind. This also applies to creation of the subtitle and to the copy on the back The 'cute' title that means something to you but to no one else should be avoided.

I am aware that the precepts outlined above apply mainly to nonfiction books but many of the ideas work for fi ction books as well.

Dan Poynter, the selfpublishing guru, has the following comments about titles:

"Good titles make a difference. A good title sells 15% more books in mail order. Sales reps feel the title is 33% of the sales package. (The title) is the "hook" that determines sales. (It) is the single most important piece of ad copywriting you will do for the book. (Good) titles sell books."

Should an Order Form be placed in the back of the book? My answer is yes. The form can be used in several ways:

1. It can be given to a reader's friend who has expressed an interest in the book.

2. If you list quantity prices, groups may order several. This depends on the subject matter of your book.

3. If your book is stocked by a library, the form allows readers to contact you and buy a book. This has happened to me!

Order forms should include the following information:

Your company name and all contact information including mailing address, email address, phone, fax, and website. Specify whom the check needs to be made out to. If you take credit cards, say so and mention which ones. If you have a discount for direct ordering, get this down, too. Mention your returns policy and be sure to include a shipping and handling charge. If you give a group discount either spell it out or recommend that those interested contact you for details. Leave space for customer information including name, address, city, state, zip, phone, email.

On the back of the order form you may choose to list your other books, ebooks, and other services you offer such as speaking and consulting.

USE EVERY AVENUE YOU CAN THINK OF TO PROMOTE YOUR BOOK

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Dick Lutz is an author/ publisher. Free telephone consultation on book publishing problems is available to all WW members.
Please e-mail Dick at dickbook@earthlink.net with a question or to set up a telephone consultation.

Dick speaks about self-publishing on this video posted on YouTube.



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The Willamette Publisher -- July 2010

by Dick Lutz

We book authors, whether self-published or published by an established publisher, frequently don't do everything we should do in marketing. Here are some of the mistakes we make:

We don't learn from our earlier mistakes. For example, if we've tried a particular marketing technique, (say, book signing or radio interviewing) and find we’re not good at it, then why continue to do things that don't pay off? There are lots of ways to market books so why waste our time and effort doing something that isn’t worth doing?

We don't learn enough about the industry. Every author needs to understand how the publishing industry works. For instance, the importance of distributors and wholesalers to the entire industry is necessary to comprehend. If you don't understand this, you may waste your time trying to market to individual bookstores. With the possible exception of your local bookstore, these outlets don't want to deal with you. (I’m not talking about book signings here.)

It's also necessary to learn about how your particular genre sells books. For example, if you've written a gift book you need to learn how gift books are sold and how that target market is reached. Know the publishing seasons and why Fall is the best time for New York publishers to launch a book and may be the worst time for you to send your book to market if you;ve selfpublished. Another fact you'll learn is that you can't walk into your local chain bookstore and expect them to carry your book. The chains buy at their national headquarters (usually in New York) and they probably won't be interested in your selfpublished book unless you've had an impressive sales record—and maybe not then. We don’t accept feedback. As authors, when we get rejection letters from publishers or bad reviews from reviewers, our tendency is to get defensive or even angry. WRONG. We need to listen and learn. If several publishers have rejected our manuscript could it mean that our writing skills need to be polished? If several reviewers comment on our book being poorly edited do we need to get a new editor for our next manuscript? Or are there specific comments from a reviewer that we need to look at?

If someone has taken the time to critique your work why would you not try to learn from that? OK, there are reviewers who don't even read the books they review but most are conscientious about what they do. Listen and learn.

We don't surround ourselves with enough professionals. Be honest with yourself, your family and friends will love anything you write. (At least, they'll say they do even if they actually think it stinks.) This is fine. Your support group should be supportive. But don’t count on them for objectivity. Instead, seek out professionals to evaluate your work. Critique groups can be very helpful if they really critique and don't simply support.

We don't do our research. Not only for the content of our work, but also for the best marketing of our book. Many of us don't think about marketing until after the book is out. Ideally, we should think about marketing BEFORE writing the book. Research your target market and slant your writing to it. For example, if you’re writing a Young Adult novel, don’t write in long sentences, or use abstract concepts, or employ big words.

We shouldn't measure our success only in book sales. "Why not?" you ask, "Isn't that the purpose of the book writing bit?"

That's right BUT there are two facts to be considered here. One is that book sales may be reported several months after they take place. Wholesalers and distributors frequently take 90 days or more to let you know your sales. So if you do some sort of marketing push in December, don’t expect to see the results in January or February.

The second benefit that doesn't correlate with book sales is that once you’re an author, you’re an expert. Having written a book may lead to your being asked to teach creative writing at your local community college.

Or to a paid speaking engagement.

Or being interviewed on TV. Or any number of opportunities that wouldn't have come your way if you hadn't written that book. In my case, five years after I’d co-authored a book on the Komodo dragon, a tour company called me and asked me to go along on a cruise to Komodo Island as the resident expert.

This lead to my writing four more travel books in connection with that tour company.

Another point to remember ber is that the more exposure you get, the more sales you eventually will have. How many people know about your book is more important in the long run than how many have bought your book. We waste our time and money on useless marketing efforts. This is also known as "spinning our wheels." As you will find out soon (if you haven’t already) there are many folks out there anxious to take your money to help your marketing efforts. Probably most are legitimate but the question to ask is "Will they help me to sell enough books to recoup my costs?" Admittedly, this is a difficult question to answer. Talking to another author who has used the service may help but remember that her genre or some other factor may be quite different than yours.

Also remember that the old saw "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is," holds true in this field as in others.

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Dick Lutz is an author/ publisher. Free telephone consultation on book publishing problems is available to all WW members.
Please e-mail Dick at dickbook@earthlink.net with a question or to set up a telephone consultation.

Dick speaks about self-publishing on this video posted on YouTube.





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The Willamette Publisher -- June 2010

by Dick Lutz

This month's column is a collection of items that I've been saving up to share with my readers.

More than 1 million books were published in 2009! In addition to 288,355 'traditional books, selfpublishers and microniche publishers turned out an astounding 764,448 titles. These statistics were released recently by R.R. Bowker and were reported in Publishers Weekly. This constituted an 87% increase over the previous year's total.

But we're not yet getting to the point where there are more writers than readers in thus country.

Much of the increase in books published is due to those titles called by Bowker 'unclassified.' Most of these are reprints of public domain titles. They also include others produced by print-on demand technology, such as CreateSpace with 21,879 titles. Lulu. com released 10,386 titles while Xlibris and AuthorHouse, two imprints of Author Solutions, produced 10,161 and 9,445, titles respectively.

Looking only at the traditionally published titles, fiction continued to be the largest segment with 45,181 titles. This represented a decline of 15%, marking the second consecutive year that fiction production dropped. The nonfiction areas were uneven with growth coming in educational and practical areas such as technology (up 11%), science, and personal finance (both up 9%). But areas that depend more on discretional spending fell. For instance, production of cookery and language titles declined the most at 16% each. The travel and sports and recreation segments had declines of 5% and 4%, respectively. Other major categories where output rose included children's, up 6%, to 32,348, biography, up 8% to 12,313, and religion, up 6% to 19,310.

For many years I've written in this column about the web based print-on-demand printers but I'd never tried one. Now I have. Recently I had Lulu.com print a book for me. I had long worked on a 'for family only' autobiography. It turned out to be a slim volume of only 146 pages. Lulu did a good job and the cost was less than $100 (one hundred dollars) for 15 copies. This amazed me. I had no idea that costs were so low. My guess is that competition has driven down the prices.

Of course, I didn't fall for any of the bells and whistles such as editing, layout, or cover design. I did the cover design myself using Lulu's template.

In last month's column I told of various ways to get rid of surplus books. Marie Gass took advantage of my suggestion and shipped off several hundred copies of one title to an outfit that sends the books overseas to use in literacy programs. She got a nice tax deduction out of the deal, as well as making her 'happy as a writer to know my "babes" will be cared about.' It always makes me happy to learn that something I've written has actually helped someone.

This is an item for readers, not writers or publishers. PaperBackSwap is a web site that enables people to trade books. You simply list books that you are willing to trade and then when someone who is a member of PaperBackSwap wants a particular book that you have listed they request that you send it to them. You then mail the book to them and receive one credit towards a book that you want. When you request the wanted book you pay nothing and it is sent to you.

The name of the web site is a little misleading as they trade hardback books as well as paperbacks. Of course, you have to join but it doesn’t cost anything (yet.) They claim to have over 2000 members with over 4 million books listed. When you join they give you 2 credits so you can get 2 books for nothing! Their URL is: http://www. paperbackswap.com/ index.php

While I'm sharing helpful (I hope) information let me tell you how to mail books and other stuff without having to use postage stamps. What I do (there are other ways to avoid stamps) is to go to https:// www.paypal.com/us/cgibin/ webscr?cmd=_shipnow, register, and then fill out the form. Weigh your book or whatever, select the class of mail you wish to use and print out a mailing label. I haven't gone to the post office in months but I regularly send out books.

This scheme works for UPS packages, too.

Not long ago I put a couple of my books on Lightning Source. LS is a print-on demand printer and is a subsidiary of Ingram, the big distributor. The reason I used them is that two of my titles had exhausted their print run and were still selling a little but not enough to justify another print run. I could have had Lulu or some other print on- demand printer run off a few copies. Instead I chose to try Lightning Source partly because they sell directly to Amazon, Baker & Taylor, and, of course, Ingram. The results have been excellent and I no longer have to fiddle with fulfillment. Also when I need a few copies I can order them at a reasonable price. Their URL is https://www. lightningsource.com/

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Dick Lutz is an author/ publisher. Free telephone consultation on book publishing problems is available to all WW members.
Please e-mail Dick at dickbook@earthlink.net with a question or to set up a telephone consultation.

Dick speaks about self-publishing on this video posted on YouTube.



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The Willamette Publisher -- March 2010

by Dick Lutz

A recent article in Publishers Weekly reported on a survey about e-books. This was different than previous studies. It didn't simply report on the extent of e-book use, but instead focused on how print book buyer's access, purchase, and use e-books and e-readers. Computers remained the preferred device for reading e-books followed by the Kindle. As you know, the Kindle is Amazon.com's electronic book reader. There are several other e-book readers with more to come but the Kindle appears to be the favorite. Whether or not it's the best is another question.

To me this survey was a sort of validation. I don't want to buy a Kindle or any other e-book reader even though I occasionally read e-books. I read them on my laptop computer and I'm happy with the arrangement. Particularly since I discovered a free program called ReadRight (http://www.twilightedge. com.) The problem with reading e-books on a laptop has been that a full page does not fit on a laptop’s screen. That makes it necessary to scroll down each page as you read. Now, with ReadRight it is possible to turn each page from horizontal to vertical. Then you simply hold the laptop sideways so it's like an open book. ReadRight doesn't have all the bells and whistles that the expensive e-readers possess, but it has what I need. Unfortunately, ReadRight is only available for the Macintosh computer. But Josh Freeman of Twilight Edge Software says that (http://www.raymond.cc/ blog/archives/2009/05/03/ how-to-rotate-your- monitor-screen-display/) can do the same thing for Windows.

There are a good many e-books available for free and not all of them are in the public domain. A good site for free e-books is (http://www.teleread. org/free-ebooks/.)

To test whether e-books are really that available I did a little research myself. Taking a list of the ten paperback non-fiction bestsellers, I researched how many were available as e-books. All of them were available through (http:// www.ebooks.com.)

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Recent columns have discussed the value of having a blog if you're selling a book (or books.) But another, and important, marketing tool is commenting on other blogs. Initially, you need to identify the market for your book. Most non-fiction titles are relatively easy to target to a specific market. E.g. if you have a golf book you will aim for golfers.

With fiction titles it may not be so obvious. General categories such as science fiction or historical fiction may need to be made even more specific. E.g science fiction/fantasy or medieval fiction. The reason for this is because there are so many blogs out there.

You may have to do some research to identify the best category of blogs for you. Locate the relevant blogs through blog search engines like Google Blog Search and Technorati. com. Select 5 or 10 that seem most relevant and begin watching them. After you get a sense of what each blog focuses on, you can then begin to add your comments. Resist the temptation to boast about your book and urge people to buy it. That's advertising and advertising on blogs is not cool.

Instead your purpose at first is simply to give the bloggers a chance to get to know you. Be interesting and thought provoking. Don't just comment "wow, great blog." Try to be entertaining and helpful. I recommend commenting on no more than five blogs a week. This keeps you from spending too much of your time on the computer and still you're able to get a voice out there in the blog-o-sphere.

If possible, add insights. Perhaps you've had a different experience than what the blogger cited. If so, politely and intelligently tell him/her your viewpoint and invite other ideas. It's okay to refer to your book when to do so is relevant. You may have raised a point that is elaborated on in your book.

Remember, you are communicating not only with the person who runs the blog but with other commenters and 'lurkers' as well. Try to build a rapport with these folks by being consistent, that's why you don't want to follow too many bloggers. You'll get too fragmented otherwise.

People are impressed and even in awe of authors. You may well find that simply mentioning on a blog that you've written a book will result in some orders. Commenting on blog posts is a sort of social networking. Blogging is even better than using Twitter or Facebook because blogs are searchable.

Remember to always list your web site URL and/or your email address when you log in to a blog. This insures that people can get in touch with you if they want to buy your book. When you have been commenting on a blog for a while you'll get to know some of the regulars. Some may be other authors, but most will be potential buyers. (Of course, even authors buy books).

Try to meet the needs of your fellow bloggers. E.g. don't pitch them a book review if they don't review books. Present the unexpected: it's OK to take chances; it really is as long as you stay on topic. You'll find yourself getting known online. Don't forget that the Internet is one big networking party! Just because you can hide behind your monitor doesn't mean that you're invisible. Everything you write becomes part of your resume and everything leaves a footprint. So don’t be negative or overly confrontational.

Online networking (when done effectively) can benefit you enormously both by selling books and by spreading your reputation. So get out and cyber-schmooze.

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Dick Lutz is an author/ publisher. Free telephone consultation on book publishing problems is available to all WW members.
Please e-mail Dick at dickbook@earthlink.net with a question or to set up a telephone consultation.

Dick speaks about self-publishing on this video posted on YouTube.





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The Willamette Publisher -- February 2010

by Dick Lutz

So you want to turn your book-length manuscript into a book?

How to go about it? Here's a review of the options.

Option #1 - A web-based (so called POD) publisher

Op t i o n # 2 - Self - publishing

Option #3 - Through a mainstream (not web based) publisher

In deciding which option to choose you need to consider your motivation. In other words, why do you want to publish a book? Is it to impress your friends and family? Or is it simply to please yourself? (That's OK). If you have no desire to make a profit from your endeavor and have little writing experience, you'll probably want to contract with one of the web-based publishers such as Lulu or AuthorHouse. These companies are also known as POD publishers. You won't make any money but you'll have a book at low cost. Be aware that these companies make their money from writers rather than readers.

If you don't have many writing credentials but want to try to make money with a book, you'll have to do REAL self-publishing. This involves more expenditure, a learning curve, and a lot of work on marketing. But you'll have total control of the whole process. (This is what appealed to me). Also, any money you make will be yours and yours alone!

If you belong to a critique group, have attended writing workshops, and you've written and published a number of magazine articles, you're now ready to try your hand at a book. As a serious writer, you have a fair chance of placing your manuscript with an established publisher. It will probably be a small or mid-size publisher. You may have a better chance of being accepted if you get an agent first. If not using an agent, you will have to be prepared for numerous rejections before placing your work.

I'm assuming that you’ve already written your manuscript. If you don't have much money or time you'll have to go with either POD publishing or with an established publisher. If you have some money and some time you're better off doing self-publishing. With POD and self-publishing you're certain to get a book out of your efforts, although it will take longer with the latter than with the former. Attempting to place your manuscript with an established publisher means you can't be certain that you'll ever get a book in your hands.

Many writers have tried the established publisher route first and then turned to self-publishing or POD when no publisher would take their stuff.

It's a fact that there is still a certain mount of stigma towards self-published books. For example, Publishers Weekly will not review them. But independent bookstores and online stores will stock them. The chains are more difficult but they have been accessed. POD books are difficult to get into independents but they are accepted at online outlets, such as amazon. com. The prejudice against self-publishing seems to be diminishing. About POD books, I'm not sure.

It used to be that if a writer had her manuscript accepted by an established publisher she could expect that the publisher would handle the promotion. This is no longer true. The author is almost always required to do the bulk of the promotion of the book. This is true regardless of the publishing option chosen.

If you choose to self publish, do some homework first. Probably the best book on the subject is still The Self-Publishing Manual by Dan Poynter. Buy the newest edition.

A good website is www.midwestbookreview.com with its various articles. If you live within driving distance of Lake Oswego you'd be well off to join the Northwest Association of Book Publishers and attend their meetings. Refer to their website at nwabp.org.

You might want to consider joining the Independent Book Publisher Association (formerly Publishers Marketing Association.) Access their website at www.ibpa-online.org.

If self-publishing, I advise having your manuscript edited by an objective professional. By objective I mean someone not a friend or family member. Also, your cover designer should be a professional.

If you contract with a web-based publisher to produce your book, do your research to find the best one for your personal situation. If possible contact several authors who have used that company. Read the company's proposed c o n t r a c t c a r e f u l l y.

These precautions are recommended because there are some scam outfits out there that are only after your money.

I think it best to have your manuscript edited before you send it off. Most of these companies will do editing (for a fee) but those authors I’ve heard from find the editing to be of poor quality.

If your choice is to submit your manuscript to established publishers, it may be wise to obtain an agent to do that for you. An agent is particularly recommended if you have a fiction manuscript. Several of the larger publishers won't even read a nonagented manuscript.

Whether you're submitting to agents or publishers do some research to insure that the recipient will be interested in your type of manuscript. Otherwise, the submission is just a waste of time, effort, and postage.

Dick Lutz is an author/ publisher. Free telephone consultation on book publishing problems is available to all WW members.
Please e-mail Dick at dickbook@earthlink.net with a question or to set up a telephone consultation.

Dick speaks about self-publishing on this video posted on YouTube.

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The Willamette Publisher -- December - 09
by Dick Lutz

Self-publishing a children's book and making money at it has been almost impossible. The reason for this is that the major children's book publishers print in such numbers that they can use overseas printers and lower their costs. They then can set such a low price on their books that the self-publisher can't hope to compete.

Another factor is that color is an important part of almost all children's books and color printing is very expensive.

A recent article in Publishers Weekly describes an idea that just may change the playing field. Three fathers of young children have developed a company called iStoryTime. The men didn't want their kids to simply learn to play video games, but rather acquire the habit of reading books.

As you probably know, there are now things called 'apps' for the iPhone from Apple and Android from Google. iStoryTime is an e-book platform that gets kids' books on apps. The company is including books that don’t have contracts with a publisher or are not in print. Evidently the technology allows color pictures to be part of the books. The company appears to be looking for the self-published children’s book.

There are several books already on the iPhone. If you have an iPhone (I don't) you might give one a whirl. Let me know what it looks like. The article in Publishers Weekly quotes the President of the company behind iStoryTime as claiming that some of the books are selling hundreds of copies a day. I'm always skeptical of these self-reported claims, but who knows? iStoryTime may prove to be the way to market your children’s book.

The apps sell for $1.99 and iStoryTime buys only the rights for electronic distribution. It sounds like a good deal. I did some research (their web site is: http://istorytime.net/) but I couldn't find any information on how to contact them or how much it would cost to put up a book. I did learn that their apps seem to be for preschool kids and the stories are Bible stories. The stories include coloring some pages. I have no idea whether their future work will continue to be similar. Others may be able to dig out more information than I did. Worth checking into!

I don't recall that I've said anything about book titles in the years of writing this column. The title is probably the most significant factor in persuading the book browser to become a book buyer. For non-fiction books I believe the title should convey the main thrust of the book while the subtitle should flesh out that thrust. For instance, one of my books is titled Patagonia with the subtitle 'At the Bottom of the World.' The subtitle was worded that way because of my belief that many people do not know where Patagonia is to be found. Let me stress that I write only nonfiction and my theories on titles are strictly my own. There are titles of many, many books that do not follow these 'rules' and yet have been very successful. One of the most well-known of these is the job search book What Color is Your Parachute?

Despite the exceptions it seems to me a no-brainer that the title should impart the idea of the book. One of the mistakes that the beginning writer makes is to title his/her book with a word or phrase that only has meaning personally. The purpose of the title is to sell the book not stroke the author's ego! It needs to grab your audiences attention, make them question and think and act by picking up the book and start reading and eventually buy. Selecting a title is a very important step and not to be taken quickly. A 'working title' can be created at the early stages of writing the manuscript. Or even before beginning. This gives you a name for the book you're writing. Don’t necessarily use the working title for the published book.

If you're publishing through an established publisher the company may or may not let you have a say in the final title. If you’re self-publishing spend some time on selection of a title. Among factors to consider are the sophistication of your target market. You may not want to use a word or phrase that is unfamiliar to your audience. On the other hand, you may want to use such a word or phrase simply to draw attention and spark interest. There are several ways to approach selecting a title. One way is to write down a bunch of possibilities and have friends, members of your critique group, or even people who read your blog vote, another way is to go through the manuscript looking for 'themes' and writing them down, also any re-occurring words and then haul out the Thesaurus and create a whole other list. Then, start creating phrases of 3-5 words, short preferable. Look at them over and over and keep reworking them until you get what you want. preferable.

If your book is fiction one way to evaluate your proposed title is to go to the web site http://www.lulu. com/titlescorer/index.php. Lulu, a print-on-demand publisher, has developed a way to statistically rate the chances of your fiction book becoming a best seller based on the similarity of your title to the title of best sellers. This can be a fun exercise, but I'm not sure how helpful it will prove.

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Dick Lutz is an author/ publisher. Free telephone consultation on book publishing problems is available to all WW members. Please e-mail Dick at dickbook@earthlink.net with a question or to set up a telephone consultation.

Dick speaks about self-publishing on this video posted on YouTube.



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The Willamette Publisher -- October - 09
by Dick Lutz

E-book sales are up nearly 150 percent this year. Although still tiny in comparison to the book publishing industry as a whole, this rate of increase is phenomenal. Are e-books on the 'tipping point'?

Author/publishers should be aware of this trend and, if they are not selling ebooks already, look into this method of distribution. I discussed e-books and how to get your book re-published as an ebook in a recent column. Also, there's a plethora of information on e-books on the Internet.

Twitter is all the rage these days and it's definitely an avenue to sell books. I came across one way of using Twitter that seems ideal for the one-book author/ publisher. The idea comes from Michael Volkin, author of Social Networking for Authors.

First, go to tweet beep (www.tweetbeep.com), fill out the necessary information-none of the info requested seems to be personal stuff that could cause problems- including the keyword(s) that relate to your book. In a few minutes you'll get an e-mail to confirm, then you're on your way!

You will get tweets (Twitter messages) from anyone who mentions your subject in a tweet. Since my latest book is about Egypt, I listed Egypt as my keyword. Almost immediately I got 15 tweets from people who had mentioned Egypt in tweets written in the last two hours. After the first day I received 50 tweets every day.

Once you select the relevant tweets you can initiate a correspondence with that person by tweeting a reply. Volkin advises not trying to sell your book right away but simply starting a correspondence on the subject. In other words, don't get too pushy! BTW, you have to be signed up on Twitter. Volkin suggests that you mention your book in your profile as he says that many people you correspond with will look in your profile even before responding to your tweet. He claims that some of them will be so impressed by being contacted by an author that they'll buy your book even before replying. I found this suggestion rather puzzling as I couldn't find a place to put my profile. So I entered 'Dick Lutz, author of Exploring Egypt' under my name. Later, I placed more info under Settings in Twitter.

On the Tweet Beep site is the saying, "Tweet Beep is like Google Alert for Twitter." This caused me to think maybe I should tell my readers about Google Alert (now called Giga Alert.) I've been on it for years. What it does is periodically (seems like monthly) alert you to websites that are selling your book. Sometimes it leads to reviews you never knew about.

Giga Alert won't lead to more sales but, in addition to finding new reviews, it is good for the ego to find out your book is being sold in many places. Don't forget to stroke your ego!

As long as I'm writing about computer stuff, let me give you information about another website that may be of help to author/publishers. I assume that many WW members have a blog or read blogs from time to time. If you're into the blogging world this site may be for you.

Blogger LinkUp (http:// www.bloggerlinkup.com/) is a free service that helps bloggers - or those who want to contact bloggers. Once you join you can do a variety of things. One thing you can do is offer your book for review to bloggers who review books. (Be careful here, there are some people who ask for review copies simply to add to their library!) Another feature of this website is the ability to request sources for interviews. This could be either for people to interview on your blog or bloggers to interview you. Also you can ask for guests to post on your blog or, conversely, ask to post on another's blog.

To get on the Blogger LinkUp list simply sign in and you will get e-mails every day, sometimes twice a day. The site only operates Monday through Friday. The e-mails you get will consist of bloggers looking for products (hopefully books) to review, bloggers looking for experts, requests for guest posts, bloggers and web masters offering guest posts or maybe other stuff.

Sooner or later, you'll see a request that you can fill. In that case, simply respond directly to the requester. If you have a request of your own (e.g. someone to review your book) submit a request, and it will be forwarded to the list.

A word of warning is called for to anyone contemplating using these sites or any of the many other sites. As you probably already know, there's a lot of junk on the Internet. Try these sites and others and then evaluate whether they are worth the time and effort involved.

**

Dick Lutz is an author/ publisher. Free telephone consultation on book publishing problems is available to all WW members. Please e-mail Dick at dickbook@earthlink.net with a question or to set up a telephone consultation.

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The Willamette Publisher -- September - 09
by Dick Lutz

When you walk into a bookstore the first books you'll see will be some of the latest bestsellers. They may be displayed on the ends of bookshelves. These are called 'end caps.' The publisher (one of the big boys) of the books has rented these special displays. The end caps and other special displays are seldom, if ever, available to the small publisher.

This is just one example of the marketing advantage the large publisher has over the small publisher. (I realize that some WW members have their book[s] with large publishers, but I'm betting that many more of us are with small publishers). By referring to small publishers I'm including self-publishers.

Because of the marketing advantage the big boys have over us little guys it is necessary for us to work even harder! Thus, we must be creative in our marketing.

For instance, let's look at direct marketing. By 'direct marketing' I mean selling direct to readers rather than to bookstores that then resell to readers. Direct marketing can be accomplished by sending e-mails, postcards, or letters. Now a days you can even send a 'tweet' on TWITTER!

The large publishers do very little in this area. They prefer to sell through bookstores and are happy to share the profits with the two middlemen (bookstores and distributors.) They deal with huge quantities whereas we have to be aware of the profit made with each sale.

If you have a website it can be set up to sell the books direct. Granted, you will need to be prepared to ship the books ordered. I have never found this to be a problem.

Another method of selling direct to readers is 'back of the room' sales. This takes place when you give a talk on the subject of your book to an audience of potential readers. The large publishers do some of this but they primarily focus on bookstores. You can do this as well but the bookstore will take their cut of any sales. You're better off finding some organization that needs a speaker and will let you sell your books and keep ALL the profit.

Large publishers are weak in the area of understanding who their readers are. Demographics are an important consideration in most businesses, but not in publishing. I guess the Random Houses of the world figure the bookstores can look into this area. But the small publisher has the advantage here. He/she can interact directly with readers at fairs and other venues. Probably no New York publisher has ever gone to a book fair. Many times at fairs people will come up to you to tell you of a book of yours that they have read. Listen to what they say about what they liked (or didn't like) about your earlier book. Also, comments on the cover or other aspects of your current book can be helpful.

Another advantage you, the small publisher, has over the goliaths is that you can identify a market and then write to it. The big boys tend to publish a title and then look for the market for it.

Regional or niche markets are another example. Mainstream publishers have no interest in small markets. Their business plans require books that appeal to a wide audience. Thus, if you are writing a biography about an historical Oregon figure, it's very unlikely you'll attract the interest of a large publisher (or even an agent). The biography of a sitting Senator or Governor might be different.

If you're working on a how-to book about a certain type of dental procedure (for example) you may interest a small publisher who is able to market to a target audience. A large publisher who needs to publish books that will sell well in bookstores will not be interested.

Major publishers are also weak in the area of predicting trends. They jump on the bandwagon once they observe a cultural movement, but they don't anticipate that change. If you see something coming (the Twitter phenomenon might be an example) you can publish the first book on the subject and get ahead of the pack.

Major publishers are moving slowly into using the Internet for selling their books. Small publishers have moved into this area aggressively and if you are a publisher you should, too. Mainstream publishing is still pretty much an 'old school' operation although that is gradually changing.

The more you know about the industry, including both publishing and bookselling, the better off you will be. You will be better able to exploit the weaknesses of your competition and to move ahead on new marketing ventures.

Just because you're small doesn't mean that you're irrelevant. If you're a publisher, or an author who publishes through an independent publisher, you can make a difference.

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The Willamette Publisher -- July - 09
by Dick Lutz

In last month's column I wrote that one of the things I don't like about publishing is the tedious task of keeping track of royalties to be paid to authors. Although software exists to make this process easier, it has been too costly for my limited budget.

Now, however, a popular software program is being offered for FREE. For those WW members who are publishing books by other authors this is a wonderful opportunity. Steve Carlson, a well-respected independent publisher, has been selling Publishers' Assistant software since 1989. Its current price is $1,495 but as of June 4th it can be downloaded for free. The download is available at www.pubassist.com/. The program is described as working best for startups through midsized publishers that do up to about 100 titles a year. Offering the program for free is in keeping with the growing practice in software publishing of offering free software.

In addition to keeping track of royalties (once data on invoices is entered) Publishers' Assistant also issues billing statements, tracks promotions, and follows review copies. If it will help your operation, give it a try.

The year 2008 saw a sea of change in the book publishing industry. More print-on-demand books were published than conventional titles. Output from traditional publishers declined by about three percent while the number of POD books grew 132 percent. That begins to raise the question, "Are there more writers than readers in the United States?"

When one looks at the number of POD titles published in 2008 over 2006, you get a 462 percent increase! Another interesting set of statistics is that for books published by traditional publishers, travel books were down by 15 percent, fiction down by 11 percent, and religious titles by 14 percent. On the other hand, education titles were up 33 percent and business titles increased by 14 percent. Perhaps these changes had something to do with the current recession.

When including both on-demand as well as traditional titles the top five subjects are as follows: Fiction, Juveniles, Sociology/Economics, Religion, and Science.

These book production figures are from R.R. Bowker, Inc., the publishers of Books In Print and other resources in the book business. The figures include data from both traditional and POD publishers but exclude audio books and e-books. Books In Print contains information from more than 75,000 U.S. publishers.

Electronic books (e-books) are definitely growing in popularity. In the 90s I was writing columns about how some so-called experts were predicting that e-books would soon replace printed books. This hasn't happened and now these same experts admit that it probably will never happen.

The reason the sales of e-books didn't take off in years past was that the readers for them were clunky, there wasn't much content, and prices were high. Now the e-readers are better, many books are in electronic form, and the prices are more reasonable. Other factors are that e-books are environmentally friendly (no trees are cut down to make e-books), transportation costs are high, and many bookstores are closing.

Although e-book sales are growing rapidly they are still a tiny fraction of the total book industry sales. The public is more aware of the existence of e-books. Even iPhones can display electronic books now.

The reason I write about this trend is not simply because it's an interesting development in the book publishing industry, but because it's one more market for the independent publisher. If you want to make money from the book(s) you've published e-books are something you should investigate.

Unfortunately, there are still a number of formats required. Basically each type of reader requires a different format. The industry has made efforts to standardize, but so far, the hapless publisher has to produce his/her manuscript in a different way for different readers. Or else pay someone to reformat to the specifications of the different reader manufacturers.

The easiest upload of a manuscript is (I've found) to the Amazon Kindle. You need to have your manuscript in PDF. PDF is the format that many printers require so your book manuscript may already be in Portable Document Format. The Kindle is probably the most popular e-book reader at present. If you're already on the Amazon Advantage program you probably have been contacted about uploading your PDF manuscript for the Kindle. If you're not on Amazon or if you've lost the information they sent do these steps:

1. Go to the Amazon website (www.amazon.com)

2. Go to the Features & Services section

3. Click on the Publish on Kindle line

4. Follow the instructions There are several other e-book readers, including: iPhone, Pocket PC, Readius, and Sony Reader They take different formats, but there are companies that can take your manuscript in electronic form and convert it into several different formats. One of these is called Smashwords (www.smashwords.com) and is free and author-friendly. The downside is that it is more complicated to access than is the Amazon Kindle.

Remember, that just because you get your book(s) converted into e-books doesnt mean that you will automatically get sales. You still have to spread the word (this is called promotion.)

Of course, you can do an e-book without doing a printed book but if you want to establish credibility in your field, your book must be in print also.

One place you can get more detailed information about e-books is by downloading Dan Poynter's The Self Publishing Manual, VOL. 2. I downloaded it from Smashwords and read it on my computer. It cost $7.97.

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The Willamette Publisher -- July - 09
by Dick Lutz

What's it like to be a publisher? I can only write about my own feelings so here goes:

I have always been impressed by the fact that, as a very small publisher, I am recognized as an equal in many ways. For instance, at the trade shows (BookExpo America, Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association) I am allowed to roam around as much as a large New York publisher. If I have a booth it may be out-of-the-way and smaller but it's still listed in the directory along with Random House and Simon & Schuster. And the President of Random House may drop by my booth. Art Buchwald once came by my booth.

I am part of the publishing community no matter how tiny my company. That's a good feeling! (Don't we all yearn to be a member of a group that we like?)

I like the feeling of pride I get when I hold in my hand a book that I have published, whether or not I have written it.

I like the praise I get from others for publishing/writing a book. They ask astonishingly, "Did you REALLY publish/write this book?"

I like being considered an expert on the subject of the book I have written.

I like the feeling of accomplishment that comes from having done something that most people can't/won't do.

I like the respect shown by others in the publishing industry. Ingram, the big distributor, periodically calls to make sure our accounts match theirs. Although my wife handles most financial transactions, I feel good that we are treated equally along with major publishers.

I like the physical feel of the book and the smell when I open a new box of books fresh from the printer.

I like working with the computer and doing most of the tasks involved in publishing-getting an ISBN and bar code, laying out (designing) a book, meeting with a cover designer, getting quotes from printers, etc.

As a writer, I enjoyed doing research. For me, research is the most enjoyable part of writing. As for the writing itself I have mixed feelings. I find myself doing all kinds of distracting thingslike readingto avoid writing. And yet when I write I get a warm glow when I've succeeded in constructing a poetic sentence or an effective paragraph. Unfortunately, the poetic sentences are all too rare!

Although I dislike some of Amazon's policies, I like the fact that they pay on time and have very few returns.

I dislike the returns practice that is part of the publishing industry. This is the policy by which bookstores return books that don't sell to the publisher for either cash or credit. The books usually come back through a distributor. I have been lucky to have had very few returns in large quantities. Except for one time that I furnished several hundred copies of one title to a distributor. Almost all of them were returned FROM ANOTHER DISTRIBUTOR! What a bookkeeping nightmare that was.

Speaking of bookkeeping, it's not my favorite part of the business but it's something that has to be done.

I don't like working with the Library of Congress people in attempting to get a CIP. They make the process very complicated. I usually settled for the much simpler LCCN.

My wife and I don't like keeping track of the royalties due to authors we've published. As a very small publisher we couldn't afford to purchase the software that makes it easier to keep the necessary records. Doing it by hand is a nuisance.

Probably my strongest dislike is that there's so much begging involved in selling books. Not only trying to persuade readers to buy your book, but also imploring reviewers to review the book and bookstores (including the chains) to carry your books. A publisher also has to plead with distributors to carry his books and bookstores to schedule a signing.

Years ago, when I had an exclusive distributor, they would request (demand?) that I provide them months in advance with various materials about forthcoming books. The distributor wanted such things as images of the covers and copies of endorsements. This was months before the book was scheduled to be published. I frequently didn't have these things ready. The fact that I was pushed into getting material that I hadn't planned on getting that early in the process annoyed me even though I recognized that it was part of their marketing efforts.

I have enjoyed some of the weird happenings that have occurred over the years. For instance, I remember the time that I was trying to persuade a distributor to carry a book of mine titled The Running Indians. The book was about a tribe of Mexican Indians who are great long distance runners. The distributor's representative turned it down thinking it wouldn't sell. However, the President of the company accepted the book into the company's line. It turned out that the President was a runner himself and so liked the title!

Funny incidents like this one helped me laugh from time to time and, as we know, laughter is good for a person.

These are only some of my personal likes and dislikes about publishing and writing. What do you like and dislike about your literary efforts?

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The Willamette Publisher -- June - 09
by Dick Lutz

A couple of months ago I made the following statement: "Social networks (MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and others) are considered by some publishing experts as an excellent place for promotion, if not marketing." I asked for feedback since I've had no personal experience with social networks. Bill Johnson, informed me that MySpace is NOT a particularly helpful place to promote your book.

Similarly, I also suggested that publisher/authors create blogs. One WW member pointed out that I did not explain HOW to create a blog! To rectify that lapse let me suggest that to create a blog one can start with https://www.blogger.com/start There are several other websites designed to get your blog going, but 'blogger' is the one I've used.

The web-based so-called Print-on-Demand outfit Lulu.com has started a poetry website. (I wouldn't normally write about a new literary website, but Lulu is one of the better companies of its type.) The new site, www.Poetry.com, enables users to get in touch with other poets and publish online their own verse for free. It also provides access to resources where a poet can receive reviews and feedback on their work. Many other links to poetry related sites are provided.

One of the outstanding features of the site is a FREE contest. The winner of the daily contest (judges are the Poetry.com staff) gets $25, the monthly winner $250, and the annual winner $5,000. The announcement of this contest has sparked a bit of controversy because the previous owner of the site was one of those outfits that ran a 'pay to enter' poetry contest. Lulu contends that they are not continuing the same questionable practice. Methinks it's worth a look by you poets.

_____________

In order to be successful at marketing your book you must write a book that a number of people will want to read. If it will only be of interest to a few people, you're probably better off printing it through a POD company and not trying to market it.

If you're determined to market your book and sell as many copies as you can it's important that you focus on these fundamentals.

1. OBJECTIVE - Be clear about why you're writing the book. What do you want readers to do or feel as a result of reading your book? Are you educating or persuading them? Do you want to encourage them to take some specific action? Are you entertaining? In your Preface tell your readers why you wrote the book and your objectives.

2. AUDIENCE - Be clear concerning for whom you are writing the book. As you write try to imagine (even visualize) people reading your book. Specifically, consider the age, gender, and educational level of your readers. Don't target two or more different audiences with the same book. You'll probably fail to reach either. As an example, you may write a book for high school students on how to handle bullies. Thinking about it, you decide to write it for parents, too. This is a mistake! The two groups (students and parents) have different ideas about the problem and you should choose to target one only.

3. BENEFITS - Early on in your book, perhaps in the Introduction, advise your readers how best to use the book. If the meat of the book is in certain chapters or parts, tell them that. The reader (particularly reviewers) may not have time or interest enough to read the entire book.

4. CONTENT - Define your major topics. An outline can be helpful. Write down the quotations, examples, or stories that you will use. Identify any tables, charts, photographs, or other visual tools that you will use. Remember that visual aids can enliven your book. 5. SCOPE - Make sure you have enough good content. It may be that what you have is only enough for a pamphlet. If that is the case and you want to have a book, you may need to do more research. Or expand the scope. For instance, I did a book on Belize and found it quite skimpy until I did extensive research on the Mayan culture of Belize.

On the other hand you may have too much content and need to narrow your scope. Or you may want to do two books.

6. DELIVERY OF MESSAGE - I can't overestimate the importance of the 'hook' at the beginning of the book. It really involves the reader and encourages her to keep reading. Write with the sophistication level of your reader in mind as well as the factors in paragraph 2. Avoid clichs and pay attention to the ending of your book. A summary at the end may be of assistance to the reader in pulling it all together.

I realize that many of the above comments apply primarily to nonfiction books, but the many fiction writers in the WW membership can use much of it as well.

Remember, successful book marketing requires good writing. Learn all you can about writing! I've honed my skill by writing this column for many years. More WW members should write columns.

Dick Lutz is an author/publisher. Free telephone consultation on book publishing problems is available to all WW members. Please e-mail Dick at dickbook@earthlink.net with a question or to set up a telephone consultation.

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The Willamette Publisher -- May - 09
by Dick Lutz

A few columns ago I wrote of the importance of book writers becoming knowledgeable about the book publishing industry. It struck me that it would be helpful to review the various ways in which books get sold. (Usually, this column deals with the publishing of books). Also, I'll review some marketing techniques.

First, let's look at sales through bookstores. Bookstores seldom buy books directly from publishers. Instead, they buy from distributors or wholesalers. These middlemen get at least 15% of the retail cost of the book. Some get an even higher percentage, while the bookstore itself takes 40% or more.

Thus, if you have a book, which retails for $20, at least $3 will go to the distributor and $8 will belong to the bookstore. The publisher will have a gross profit of $9, but he has many expenses and his net profit will be much less than his gross.

Also, books are sold to bookstores on a returnable basis. A number of the publisher's books (perhaps as many as 30%) will come back. Normally the channel is back through the distributor to the publisher. Another significant factor is that bookstore and distributors are very slow to pay for the books they have purchased.

If you examine this simplified version of the financial arrangements of selling through bookstores you'll understand why some experts contend that bookstores are the worst places to sell books! So, while all of us book lovers have emotional reasons to support bookstores, particularly independents, they are not financially desirable. The second channel is the one that has been best for my publishing company. Amazon.com will take 55%. This would appear to be about the same as bookstores, but there really is an advantage the onlines have over the bricks and mortar outfits. This is because returns from Amazon are very few and they pay promptly.

Other online retailers will list your books without any effort on your part, but you'll have to list on Amazon. Go to Advantage on the amazon.com website.

A third technique is direct sales from publisher to reader. There are several ways to accomplish direct sales. The one available to every publisher is sales on your own website. The only drawback here is that you have to be set up to do your own shipping. It's also best to get set up to handle credit cards or, at least PayPal payments. Some publishers use fulfillment services to eliminate this hassle, but such services are expensive.

If you're a public speaker and you speak on the subject of your book (or something related) you can sell your books at the 'back of the room.' This is one of the most profitable ways to sell books since you dont have to share the receipts with anyone. Another direct sales method is at book signings. If your signing is at a bookstore and you have a distributor the bookstore will prefer to order your book from your distributor. What this means is that your sales at the bookstore signing will simply be through the bookstore route and you'll only get a fraction of the retail price. A better deal is for your book signing to occur at a non-bookstore, e.g. library, book fair, or wherever. However, you may have to share the profits with the site.

Another advantage is that with direct sales you can offer a discount, either to encourage sales or simply to be nice. If you offer a discount, I recommend that it be at least 20 percent. Studies show that smaller discounts have little effect on buyers.

A third method of selling books is, unfortunately, not utilized enough by publishers. I'm referring to selling a quantity of books to a company that will use them for their own purposes. Selling to book clubs is an obvious example. As a small publisher you may think that this avenue is only open to the larger publishers. I can testify that this is not true. I've sold to a book club. The profits here are very small, but the bragging rights ("this book is a book club selection") are terrific. Also, Ive sold a quantity of my travel books to the tour company that sponsored my travel. They used the books in marketing their tours. In the arrangements I made with them I specified that the name of the tour company was not to appear on the cover. Thus I was able to sell the book in bookstores and other places.

If you have a book on personal finance, you may be able to sell a quantity to a bank or credit union for them to use as premiums for new customers. Your book on wine could sell through wine shops, for example.

I realize that many of these methods apply primarily to non-fiction books and many WW members write fiction or poetry. Nevertheless, you can sell your book in a variety of ways. Using your creativity (and all writers are creative) you can think of other ways to sell your book.

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The Willamette Publisher -- April - 09
by Dick Lutz

From time to time, I find myself arguing with a PC user over the superiority of my Mac to their computer. This is really a foolish dispute. The important thing is how you use the computer, not what make it is. The Internet is a wonderful tool for the book publisher no matter how small his or her company. A parallel to the PC vs. Mac dispute is the controversy about print vs. electronic books. Many print partisans contend that they would never read a book on a screen while some electronic aficionados believe that print is on the way out.

The truth is that both are important to a book publisher. Every book publisher should get familiar with how to use electronic marketing. When I use the words 'electronic marketing' I include e-books, web sites, blogs, social networks, e-mails, and probably other venues that I don't even know about.

If your book is in print that's fine but don't neglect the Internet in your marketing efforts. Electronic books (better known as e-books) are probably the best known of the several routes. E-books have been around for several years now and they are more and more popular. When they first came on the scene there were some ridiculously grandiose predictions made about how they would take over the book-publishing arena and wipe out the printed book.

This hasn't happened and I doubt that it ever will. (I know I shouldn't make predictions, but I do). Sales of E-books are still a small fraction of total book sales, but they are growing at a rapid rate. One of the chief reasons for the spurt is probably the introduction recently of Amazon's Kindle. The Kindle is apparently the best of the several e-book readers that have come and gone (and most have gone.)

There are several formats for e-books depending on which companies you place them with. Probably the most useful format is pdf, but do your own research.

Web sites are probably the place to start in electronic marketing. If you're a bit sophisticated with computer stuff you can arrange your site to take direct orders for your book. But don't expect to make a ton of money from your web site. Console yourself by saying that it's good publicity.

Social networks (MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and others) are considered by some publishing experts as an excellent place for promotion, if not marketing. I confess that I've had no experience with this technique and I'd be delighted to hear from any WW member who does have such experience. Either positive or negative comments, please.

E-mails are, of course, a tool to use in direct marketing. If nothing else, the independent publisher should send announcements of that new book to friends, relatives, and acquaintances. Sending e-mails to strangers and asking them to buy your book is considered spam and is an ethical (and possibly legal) no-no. However, you can send e-mails to possible review sources and ask them if they would like to see a copy of your book. Although it's time consuming, blogging is an excellent method of electronic promoting. A blog of your book is a good way to start but don't stop there.

Create one or more blogs on the subject of your book or simply a personal blog of your opinions on subjects connected to your book. Add to this (these?) blog(s) at least once a week and, if possible, two or three times a week. Edit your blog posts carefully. Typos will turn off your readers. Don't hard sell but discretely mention your book or the web site where it can be ordered. Posts on blogs don't have to be lengthy (and probably shouldn't be.) Fifty words or so is fine. Set the blog up so you can get comments. At least at first acknowledge every comment. If the comment doesn't call for a reply simply thank the person for the comment. If the person has a blog, put a comment on it. That will be appreciated and is a great way to network.

Be patient! Although some bloggers get comments right away you probably won't. Remember that no comments does not mean no readers. If you so set up your blog you can keep track of the number of site visits. Try to understand what your reader needs and blog on those topics. If your book is related to an industry, learn what's going on in the business and talk to that. If you can, make your blog a resource. A great idea is to interview other experts in your field and/or link to them.

The headline for your posts should be clear. Many people who read blogs may scan several and they will skip the ones with vague headlines. Be aware that what you say on the Internet will exist indefinitely and be available to anyone. In other words, don't dis your boss or it might cost you your job. Think of anything you write on your blog as a postcard that might be read by anyonenow or in the future. Keep your sentences short and edit for readability. Let me suggest some topics for blogging: comments on news items related to your topic, reviews of your book (if positive), talk about your next book, about your experiences at that recent signing, mention other books or movies that are similar to yours, trends in your industry, and whatever else occurs to you.

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The Willamette Publisher -- March - 09
by Dick Lutz

Occasionally I get a question concerning a contract that has been offered to a writer by a publisher. If the writer has an agent (a reputable one) the contract will be analyzed for free. Some writers do not have an agent yet a publisher still accepts their manuscript. Short of going to a lawyer a good way to get the contract reviewed is to join the Authors Guild. Once you're a member Guild attorneys will review the contract for free. They'll let you know if the contract meets industry standards and tell you how it can be improved. Dues for the Authors Guild are $90 a year. To apply or learn more visit www.authorsguild.org.

While I'm writing to writers who have had their manuscript accepted by an established publisher I'd like to make another point.

Make clear to your publisher that you want to participate to the fullest extent possible in the publishing and the marketing of your book. Educate yourself about the business of publishing. Let your publisher know that you know something about the business and want to be as involved as possible. At the same time don't come across as arrogantly telling the publisher how to do his job. But make sure that the publisher knows that you will do everything possible to sell as many books as possible.

Remember, the publisher has limited time and resources and will usually welcome your participation. Unless you're Jean Auel or Ursula LeGuin the publisher will not give you the final say on anything but will welcome your participation in the planning process. Your suggestions could include marketing ideas, names of people who might write a Foreword or a blurb for the back cover. The publisher will have the final say on such things as the title, the cover, and the price (after all, it's his money and he knows more about the marketplace than you do.) Nevertheless, most publishers will welcome your input.

One of the best ways to learn about the book business is to hang out at your favorite independent bookstore. Ask the manager or owner why things are done in the way they are. For instance, why are some books shelved face out and others spine out? Why are some titles kept on the shelves indefinitely and others quickly returned to the publisher? Why can they obtain some special orders promptly and others take weeks? What determines where books are shelved?

The area in which the author's input is most valuable is, of course, in promotion and marketing. Here the author should make clear to the publisher that he/she is willing to do signings, radio-TV interviews, and any other technique that seems relevant. It may be that the author is willing to travel to other cities to sign books if the publisher will make arrangements with the stores. In some cases the author and the publisher may share costs. The author may be able to suggest magazines or journals that should receive review copies and a list (with addresses) of friends, relatives, and others who should receive direct mail solicitations.

Too many authors think their job is done once they have written and sold the manuscript to a publisher. THAT'S A MISTAKE. Many authors have learned to their chagrin that publishers usually do very little in promoting the books they publish. The author needs to work with (sometimes it seems like against) the publisher in promoting his/her book.

From the first contact with the publishing house it is important that the author sell him/herself. From the telephone receptionist to the editor to the sales force, the author should convey an attitude of helpfulness and cooperation. Many authors, unfortunately, come across as arrogant and demanding. If you're nice you will earn a good reputation among the staff of the publishing house.

Depending on the size of the publishing house, you may or may not have any interaction with the sales reps. If you do, it's important that they know and like you and your book.

The author/publisher relationship is an important one and you should do everything in your power to nurture it.

_______

I'm always looking for ideas about how to sell books. Marie Gass has shared the following: "I called the president of Brain Injury Association of Oregon and just asked her if they could use my latest book (The Caregiver's Tale: The True Story of A Woman, Her Husband Who Fell Off the Roof, And Traumatic Brain Injury) for their conference. Told her about all my stage and public speaking experiences. And she scheduled me for the non-medical keynote speech! It was great.

"When I speak somewhere, I sometimes get another invitation because of it, e.g., was then asked to keynote the BIA of CA conference. Also, I'd asked to speak to a smaller group of librarians at their regular meeting, and ended up giving two small talks plus two longer talks at the conference that year."

"One more suggestion--some senior centers have libraries and are interested in having new donated books, which leads to more interest and perhaps sales. Note: Each center has its own rules--some only take paperbacks, some only books on certain subjects, etc."

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The Willamette Publisher -- February 2009

Are you sure you want to be a publisher?

It used to be a complicated process to become a publisher. Both the cost and the complexity were barriers to publication. If an individual didn't have a lot of money he/she would have to get a low-paying job (the mailroom was a good bet) in a publishing house and work up from there.

With the arrival of the computer this changed. Anyone with a few thousand dollars could become a publisher. The chief question was whether the would-be publisher would learn to do the computer work his/herself or farm it out to a layout/design person.

Now with the arrival of digital printing (usually called print-on-demand) publishing became even easier. Anyone with a few hundred dollars can become a publisher. Now every writer of a book manuscript can see his/her book in print. I happen to think this is great!

Oh sure, some purists argue that the present ease of publishing releases a plethora of poorly written, unedited trash on the world. I can't argue that this doesn't happen occasionally, but I believe that the additional knowledge, inspiration, and entertainment that are made available make it worth it. Also, the proud feeling of the author/publisher as he/she holds that first book in hand isn't a bad thing. As a book lover, I'm all for seeing more books in print.

There are those who contend that just because you have a book printed you are not really a publisher. I think one reason they say that is because getting a book out is so easy now. On the other hand, it's true that simply because you have had a book printed doesnt mean that you're in the publishing business. The web-based print-on-demand route is the easy (and cheap) way to get a book in print. The more traditional way of getting your book printed in some quantity by a printer after doing all the preparation yourself is the hard (and expensive) method.

The problem is that it's almost impossible to make back your expenses if you go the easy way. If you choose the hard way you'll stand a good chance of making back your investment.

Depending, of course, on whether youre willing to work hard. Whether you succeed or not depends on your working diligently at the marketing. It's a sad truth that the number of books you sell depends less on the content of your book than on the effectiveness of your marketing.

If you have a quantity of books to sell you'll probably have to deal with distributors. This is because bookstores don't like to deal with individual publishers. (You can hardly blame themthere are tens of thousands of publishers)! Distributors go bankrupt from time to time. Since they have your books on consignment you may have a hard time getting them back. You may simply lose the books.

Bookstores pay when they feel like it, not within the time you allow them on your bill, causing that dreaded phrase 'cash flow problem.' A study some years ago showed that the average time before payment was more than 100 days. Most book invoices call for payment in 30 days.

Then, just when you think you're on top of the business, the returns come in. Some new publishers don't realize that the book industry, especially when working through bookstores, operates on the basis that books can be returned to the publisher if they do not sell. What this means is that most books in bookstores are really there on consignment.

A possible pitfall is the result of the numerous solicitations you'll get by e-mail and by snail mail. You may even get some phone calls. These solicitations will be for advertising, subscribing to direct mailings, displaying your book at trade shows, submitting your books to award contests, and many other things. Apparently when you get an ISBN your name is sold to various companies. Even Bowker, the company that sells ISBN's, will ask you to advertise in their directory.

I say these solicitations are a possible pitfall because you'll be tempted to fall for some of these offers (I certainly have.) The majority of them are a waste of money, but the problem is figuring out which are worth investing in. One of the problems in marketing is trying to figure out where to spend your (always limited) budget.

To summarize, to be a publisher you need to know how to run a business, but you also need the drive to run it. You need to prepare by joining the NorthWest Association of Book Publishers, reading books on the subject, and, possibly, taking classes in running a business. I also recommend joining the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association and attending their trade shows. Consider signing up with the Independent Book Publishers Association (formerly known as the Publishers Marketing Association) and attending the BookExpo Association, the national trade show for the book industry. Much information is to be gained from the Internet. A good web site to start is www.midwestbookreview.com

Given all the work and problems,

Are you sure you want to be a publisher?

The Willamette Publisher -- January 2009

So your self-published book isn't selling as well as you would like? You can blame the economy, but let's be realistic. Books are a low dollar item and likely to sell better over the holidays than the spiffy new iPhone.

You should have set some goals when you began your book project. Don't get grandiose here. If you're going with a web-based POD company and have no distribution set up (other than Amazon) your sales goal will probably be in the hundreds.

If you've set up your own company, had a thousand or so books printed by an offset printer, and are doing all the production and marketing your self it's a different story. Your goal might be at least a thousand. If your marketing will be aggressive you might shoot for 2,000 but more than that is unrealistic for a first book.

As I've said before in this column the POD company is a lot cheaper, but it's almost impossible to make money this way.

The true self-publishing route is initially more expensive but it's not unrealistic to expect to make your investment back. Although it'll require a considerable amount of work after the book is published. I'm referring to your marketing efforts.

In addition to having a sales goal, it's wise to set yourself some mini-goals. A mini-goal might be to do a specified number of book signings or readings. Or it may be to send out x-number of review copies. Another little goal might be to get listed on Ingram. To participate in a direct mailing could be another. It might be wise to put due dates on these goals to minimize the risk of procrastinating.

If sales are not going as well as you think they should you might want to consider talking with another publisher about what you're doing and what else you might try. Membership in the Northwest Association of Book Publishers will give you the opportunity to consult with other publishers. Also, you are invited to e-mail me. (Contact information at end of column.)

Another option when sales seem too low is simply to brainstorm and ask yourself some questions. Are you hitting the right targets? Are you going after your niche market or are you shooting too wide? Are you spending time and money on things that aren't getting results?

Be consistent about your marketing endeavors. For instance, if you have a blog, add to it regularly. If your marketing plans include being on a social networking site be on it frequently. Seeking out radio interviews is another area to be regular in pursuing. Dont simply "dabble" in your marketing efforts.

Do a lot of different things. Don't do just one or two marketing attempts. Try marketing that is appropriate to your book. Examples are creating a web site, blogging, joining a social network, radio interviews, direct mail, sending out review copies, giving talks and doing book signings. These examples are just a beginningthink creatively.

If you do nothing, expect nothing. Buyers won't just beat a path to your door. Some authors still are under the impression that since they've written what they consider a great book then readers and buyers will flock to them. It doesn't happen! Also, most authors sell only a few books to their family and friends. Mom can only buy so many of your books.

Being realistic about your expectations will help keep you on target. You should have a dream, but realism will keep you from being discouraged and help you keep your marketing on track.

Don't spend money simply to feel like you're doing something. Think about what you're investing in and try to estimate its probable results. Where you can, ask other publishers for their experience with whatever you are contemplating. Have a budget for marketing (in mind if not on paper). If you're going to invest in your marketing (and you should), make sure you're investing your money wisely.

Don't invest your time and money simply to feel like you're doing something. Most of the marketing schemes presented to you are a waste of time and money. You probably will get on a number of lists both e-mail and snail mail. Evaluate them carefully. Stay away from anyone offering guarantees in sales. This is a huge red flag, no one can predict this, nor can anyone predict a bestseller.

Advertising almost never pays off. The only exception might be if you have a nonfiction title that has a narrow, well-defined target market. If that market has a small publication with limited circulation the advertising cost will be small and, possibly, you'll sell enough books to pay for an ad. You'll also likely get some e-mails offering to send out news releases to a large number of publications. These sound good but will probably not return your investment. Media blasts like this are widely ignored by those receiving them. If you do participate in a media blast be sure to ask to see the media targets first. You don't want to be pitching your romance novel to Car and Driver.

If, for instance, your book is on a New Age topic, go to web sites, blogs, and even consider attending some conferences. Have a blog of your own, and if youre following other blogs, comment on them. Dont just push your bookcontribute some information.

If you have a social networking site, work it, make friends, comment, and be helpful.

By all means, create a web site but don't expect to make a lot of money on it. In all your efforts on the Internet (except your web site) focus on exposure rather than directly selling books. One of the best things you can do on the Internet is to create a newsletter. This is particularly helpful if you have a nonfiction book on a specific topic. For example, not a topic like American history, but a specific battle of the Civil War. Advertise it on your blog and/or web site to build up a mailing list.

Exposure gets you an audience and an audience gets you book sales. Whatever you use on the Internet be sure to add some value to the reader. It's wise to present interesting facts, tips, inspiration, or whatever works for your book.

Do something everyday to market your book. It may be something as simple as making a call to a bookstore to learn the name of the correct person to call on to set up a book signing. Another example is posting an entry on your blog, but do SOMETHING every day. (Maybe skip Sunday)!

Keep a record of your marketing efforts. You'll be surprised at how much you've done in only a few weeks. Marketing your book may be hard work, but it's usually the only way to sell out your print run. And it needn't be that expensive.

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Dick Lutz is an author/publisher. Free telephone consultation on book publishing problems is available to all WW members. Please e-mail Dick at dickbook@earthlink.net with a question or to set up a telephone consultation.

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The Willamette Publisher -- December 08

In this month's column, I'm not dealing with self-publishing or web-based POD publishing, but only with traditional publishing.

Many writers forget that writing for publication is basically a business. One requirement of being a businessperson is to follow the rules of the industry concerned. As a writer who wants to get his/her work published by an established publisher you need to do certain things and not do others. When submitting a manuscript to a book publisher or to an agent it's important to follow these few simple rules. The following suggestions apply to agents as well as publishers. Usually it's best to get an agent before approaching a large publisher, particularly if you have a fiction manuscript.

Some of the big boys even refuse to read unagented manuscripts. If you're approaching a smaller publisher you probably will not need an agent.

1) GET A NAME: If there's an acquisition editor at the publisher you are approaching, send the manuscript or query letter to that person. If there's no acquisition editor send to the editor. If you don't know the name already you can find it in the Writers Market. If you've been in this business very long you may well have a copy. If not buy one (get the latest edition) or examine it at your local library. Another valuable reference tool is Literary Marketplace. This book may only be available at large libraries and not at branches. You may be able to get more information about the publisher from this source. It may be more complicated to find an appropriate agent but research at the library and/or on the web should be of assistance.

2) SUBMIT TO THE CORRECT PUBLISHER: Don't waste time and postage by sending to a publisher who doesn't publish your kind of book. The research you've done in Writers Market and, perhaps, Literary Marketplace will help you on this project. If you have a children's book manuscript, check out the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators as well. Don't stop there. Visit the publisher's website. In this electronic age, websites are going to have the most up to date information. There you will be able to find the names of editors and frequently manuscript submission guidelines.

3) SUBMIT A CLEAN MANUSCRIPT: That means no coffee stains. Don't mix fonts or include illustrations. Also, don't try to be cute.

4) SUBMIT WHAT THE PUBLISHER WANTS: Some publishers want query letters or book proposals first. With others sending a sample or even the complete manuscript is best. Go by what the publisher or agent wants, not by what you want to do.

5) ENCLOSE AN SASE(Self Addressed Stamped Envelope): Some submissions today can be sent over the Internet but if you're using snail mail you MUST send an SASE. It's common courtesy, and will be taken as a lack of professionalism if you neglect it. When I, as a publisher, used to get manuscripts or query letters they would go directly into the wastebasket if an SASE didn't accompany them.

6) REMEMBER THAT THE CONTENT IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT: If your manuscript needs to be accompanied by illustrations or photographs when turned into a book, please don't tell the editor what they should look like. And, obviously, don't include any illustrations or photos. The editor is interested in your manuscript, and the only thing touched upon in your query should be your manuscript.

You are the writer, not the designer.

7) BE PROFESSIONAL: DO NOT include personal information in your query letter unless it has direct bearing on your qualifications to write your manuscript.

Be sure to tell the editor what you have had published or any other information that indicates that you know how to write, Editors don't want to hear about your pets or your offspring who don't treat you with respect. They don't want to hear about all your other manuscript rejection letters, and trying to make them feel guilty will not up your chances of acceptance. Don't claim that your book will be the next blockbuster or has no competition. Rarely does a book become a blockbuster or have no competition. Don't include what others, particularly your family or friends, think of your manuscript.

The only exception to this would be celebrities or experts who might endorse the book or even write a foreword. Don't bug an editor with frequent phone calls or e-mails. If you haven't gotten a reply in, say, two or three months, then there's no harm in contacting him or her.

The above comments boil down to two basic instructions:

DO YOUR RESEARCH

and

BE PROFESSIONAL

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Dick Lutz is an author/publisher. Free telephone consultation on book publishing problems is available to all WW members. Please e-mail Dick at dickbook@earthlink.net with a question or to set up a telephone consultation.

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The Willamette Publisher -- November 08

Book signing is a book marketing technique that is available to every author. Non-fiction or fiction, print-on-demand, independent publisher, or major publisher doesn't make any difference. It's also the cheapest form of book marketing. The major publishers (and some independents) may make the arrangements themselves but most of us have to make our own connections. Let's look at some of the different places that book signings occur:

INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORES usually have a rather casual approach to author signings. The store will set up a table and chair for the author to sit at and probably make up a poster announcing the author's presence. In making arrangements the author needs to contact the store manager (best not to visit on Saturday when the store is busiest.) Propose a date two or three months in the future to allow plenty of time for publicity.

Also, check on what the store will do. It's likely that you will have to place an announcement in the local paper yourself. If you have a mailing list of friends and relatives who are local use that to send out word of the signing. Consider putting up posters at bulletin boards in supermarkets and other locations.

If possible, do more than just sign books. A reading is a minimum, but a slide show is better. Be creative about what you can do. I know a cookbook author who hands out cookies that she has baked herself. I know an author of a book about the Swedish immigrant experience who dresses in a Scandinavian costume. Costumes can apply to travel books, science fiction novels, historical fiction and other genres.

Have bookmarks about the book and business cards about yourself to give away but be careful not to get carried away on these items. A colorful brochure may be so attractive that the casual browser will take a brochure rather than a book!

CHAIN BOOKSTORES are more formal in their author signings. The person to contact is the Customer Relations Manager (or similar title.) While you simply drop in to the store to talk to the manager at an independent it's best to phone or e-mail the CRM at a chain. Once arranged, the store will publicize the event as a talk on the subject of the book, a question and answer period, and then a signing. On the day of the event a table and several rows of chairs will be set up in a designated space in the store. If you need a slide projector or a computer for a PowerPoint presentation you'll probably have to bring your own. Very few bookstores have audiovisual equipment.

LIBRARIES usually arrange a talk similar to the way chain bookstores operate. However, they will normally have a separate room for the author's presentation. Also, they are more likely to have AV equipment. You may be expected to donate a percentage of your sales back to the library or even pay rent for the room.

OTHER VENUES include churches, specialty stores, museums, retirement communities, service clubs, and a variety of other sites. Use your creativity in searching for a place to sign your book. These places will probably not be accustomed to having authors sign so you'll have to tell them how you want to do it. You probably will want to prepare a talk, as you would for a chain bookstore.

If you have written a book about wine perhaps you can persuade a wine store to host a signing. Likewise with other specialties (golf comes to mind.)

But regardless of where you hold a signing you must be somewhat proactive in reaching out to potential buyers. If there's a lack of people around your table then it's wise to walk around the store and introduce yourself to the browsing customers. If there is traffic to your table then you must stay there but when possible you should stand rather than sit. It helps to be at eye level with the possible buyers. I used to have a Directors chair that enabled me to sit and yet be near eye level of the customer.

Don't knit or read. Stay alert and greet everyone who approaches your table. Make eye contact. Be free with compliments if there is anything outstanding about their clothing or personal appearance. Smile.

Many writers are introverts and reaching out in the above-described manner does not come easily. I've discovered that it becomes easier with practice.

You may have signings that are attended by few, if any, people. Try not to let this discourage you. The publicity about the signing has reached many people and it can only do you good. Another side benefit of doing a book signing is the possibility of getting some feedback about your work.

When you do a signing in a bookstore the store will generally sell the books from their stock. You'll get only a fraction of the proceeds. On the other hand, you'll sell your own books at signings following talks in libraries and before clubs. You'll make a lot more money and you can even offer a discount if you like.

If you're interested in selling your book I urge you to try arranging book signings.

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The Willamette Publisher -- November - 08

Lightning Source is a division of Ingram Book Company, one of the two biggest book distributors. Lightning Source is a printer of Print-On-Demand books and the company supplies these books to Amazon.com, Ingram, and Baker & Taylor (the other large book distributor) as they are requested. This printer is NOT a web-based POD publisher like Lulu, iUniverse, and the others. Lightning Source is a wholesaler/vendor of POD titles.

One of the main uses of Lightning Source is to extend the in print life of a regularly printed book for which the initial print run is running out. This does not apply to books published by web-based POD publishers as those books are printed on demand anyway.

As reported in an earlier column, Amazon.com has recently instituted a policy of not listing POD books unless BookSurge, Amazon's own POD publisher, published them. One commentator thought this was an attempt to prevent Lightning Source from sending books to Amazon. The theory was that Amazon was trying to drive Lightning Source out of business.

I recently had an opportunity to test this theory. Some months ago I had sent one of my books (the Patagonia one) to Lightning Source. My initial print run of 1000 books was exhausted and some orders were still being placed. However, there weren't enough orders to justify another print run. So I had Lightning Source print a few copies for me and also be in a position to print some copies for distributors who needed them. I know the system was working because I received a check from Lightning Source after several months.

But Amazon continued to order the Patagonia books from me. This seemed to defeat the purpose of Lightning Source. (They sent the books to me and then I sent them to Amazon. This was an unnecessary duplication of postage and handling). I finally got around to asking the people at Lightning Source about this and they told me that I needed to ask Amazon to order the book from them rather than from me. I don't know why the Lightning Source people had never told me this.

I contacted Amazon and they agreed to take the title off my list of Amazon Advantage books and, in the future, order the title from Lightning Source. This disproved the theory that Amazon was no longer working with Lightning Source.

An interesting fact resulting from my placing the book with Lightning Source is that it will never go out of print.

I've come across a web site that seems that it would be helpful to authors looking for a place to market your book for free. Atlanta-based Axis Avenue, http://www.axisavenue.com, is a company dedicated to helping authors to market their book while also giving readers a new outlet to creativity. The site provides an online network for both up-and-coming and established authors as well as book fans. Im sure there are other web sites with a similar purpose but this one caught my eye because it is new. This means that an author can get in on the ground floor and not get buried with a bunch of other authors. You're not going to sell thousands of books through this web site but you can (and almost certainly will) hear from readers who are interested in your book and proceed to develop a dialog with them. I guess they call it social networking, like Facebook, but devoted to authors and readers.

Upon signing up, authors create a profile that both describes their book and also tells readers about themselves. It's a site where authors can establish a personal connection with their readers, hopefully turning them from casual browsers to loyal buyers. Book fans can drop the author a line and communicate with them one-on-one about their books.

One of the problems a book author faces (the chief problem is selling the book) is getting feedback from readers about the book. Feedback enables the author to improve his/her writing so that the next book is better. Axis Avenue (and similar sites) is one way of doing that.

Another way is to get as many book reviews as possible. As far as improving the quality of your writing, the negative reviews are probably more valuable than the positive ones.

An author in New England has used an innovative approach that, I confess, is new to me. She went to local independent bookstores and got the names of contact persons for book clubs in the area. She then prevailed on the book clubs to read her books (whether she provided the books I don't know) and attended the club meeting when the book was discussed. This approach not only gave her feedback about what readers found to be good and bad about her book but also created a groundswell of interest in her book. The interest, and subsequent sales, enabled her to sell the rights to her book to a major publisher for a tidy sum. She killed the proverbial two birds with one stone!

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The Willamette Publisher -- September - 08
by Dick Lutz

Some of the disgruntled writers who have contacted me have obviously jumped into publishing with a Print-On-Demand publisher without doing their homework.

Please don't make that mistake! The Web has lots of information on these 'author service publishers' and you are wasting your money if you don't do some research before signing a contract.

A helpful article can be found at the following URL:

http://www.googobits.com/articles/291-how-to-choose-a-print-on-demand-publisher.html

Another good website is:

http://www.sfwa.org/beware/printondemand.html

These sites have a number of links that give you a great deal of information that can be useful to you.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

* * * *

I mentioned in an earlier column that Amazon.com was instituting a policy requiring authors using web-based Print-On-Demand publishers to print with BookSurge (an Amazon company) in order to be listed on Amazon. I also mentioned that the policy was causing some controversy in the book publishing industry.

BookLocker, a web-based POD publisher, has now sued Amazon contending that the policy constitutes a "tie-in" which is a violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. A "tie-in" occurs when a company requires someone to buy one thing in order to get something else. Tie-ins are illegal if the corporation involved has significant market power.

I'm not a lawyer, but it sounds to me that BookLocker has a good case. Apparently the policy has not yet been fully implemented and it doesn't apply to books sold through the Amazon Advantage program. It would not seem to need be a worry to WW members, but, at the same time, I'll keep an eye on this issue to see what develops.

* * * *

As far as I know the following item did not appear in the local papers but it's of interest to all people who are interested in books. Oregon House Bill 2843 makes it a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail to allow a minor under 13 to view or purchase a "sexually explicit" work.

On Monday, June 23, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Mosman denied a request for a preliminary injunction that would block enforcement of Oregon's "harmful to minors" law until a trial could be held. However, the court has set October 3 as the date for a final hearing in the challenge that the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE), six booksellers, and a coalition of groups have filed in an effort to overturn portions of Oregons "harmful to minors."

The six booksellers who have joined the suit are Powell's, Annie Bloom's Books, St. John's Booksellers and 23rd Avenue Books, all located in Portland; Paulina Springs Books, which has stores in Sisters and Redmond, and Colette's Good Food + Hungry Minds in North Bend.

The lawsuit filed by the ABFFE, and others, challenges the constitutionality of the law that restricts the display and sale of books and magazines, which are protected by the First Amendment. The lawsuit challenges the law because it does not include a requirement that a book or magazine be judged as a whole in determining whether it is illegal. The U.S. Supreme Court requires such a test to protect works that contain only a few sexually explicit images or passages. Another argument is the lack of an exemption for material that has serious literary artistic, political or scientific value for minorsanother Supreme Court requirement.

In addition to the constitutional arguments the law creates a logistical nightmare. Michael Powell is quoted as saying, "For booksellers, the new law is vague and difficult to apply. It says a 13-year-old can legally buy these books, but it's a crime to sell them to a 12-year-old. How do I card a 12-year-old?"

The other plaintiffs in the case are the Association of American Publishers, the Freedom to Read Foundation, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, Planned Parenthood of the Columbia/Willamette, Inc., Cascade AIDS Project, the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon and Candace Morgan.

* * * *

In a recent article Paul Krugman refers to a striking prediction made in 1994 by Esther Dyson, a technology guru. She predicted that eventually businesses would be forced to "distribute intellectual property free in order to sell services and relationships."

Her most dramatic illustration of this trend was the Grateful Dead. The band encouraged people to tape their live performances. Dyson commented, "enough of the people who copy and listen to Grateful Dead tapes end up paying for hats, T-shirts and performance tickets. In the new era, the ancillary market is the market." Unfortunately, the Grateful Dead are no longer with us but their idea is gathering momentum.

Whoa! (You say) "This column is getting away from books." Not at all. Krugman thinks that electronic books (usually called 'e-books') may finally becoming a real factor in the book business. E-books have been the coming thing for several years now but this writer says, "We may finally have reached the point at which e-books are about to become a widely used alternative to paper and ink."

Amazon's Kindle is the latest e-book reader and the only one to be well marketed. Most reviewers are positive about it and, again according to Krugman, "It's a good enough package that my guess is that digital readers will soon become common, perhaps even the usual way we read books." E-books may be to print books as T-shirts were to Grateful Dead concerts. In other words, the ancillary product may turn out to be the moneymaker. Krugman writes, "Indeed, if e-books become the norm, the publishing industry, as we know it, may wither away. Books may end up serving mainly as promotional material for authors' other activities, such as live readings with paid admission. Well, if it was good enough for Charles Dickens, I guess it's good enough for me".

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Willamette Publisher - July 08

An interesting website has recently come on the scene. It seems like a good site for a writer to practice his/her craft, get some feedback from other writers, and (maybe) make some money. It's called WEbook (www.webook.com/). The site asks authors, editors, and writing groups to create written works, either collaboratively or individually. If a book gathers enough votes from members, WEbook copyedits, typesets, and publishes the book. The author gets 5% royalty on sales. That's without spending a dime! WEbook makes their money from sales of member written books. They market on their own site and on Amazon.

Apparently the site is well funded and has eleven employees. Thus, it's not just started by some college kid, as are some websites. They've been alpha testing since August and signing up published writers. The free membership allows you to sign up for one of three types of membership. You can keep your work private, share it with a defined group, or list it as public so everyone on WEbook can read it.

I'm not endorsing WEbook but it certainly sounds interesting. Maybe some WW member will check it out, write something, and let me know his/her experience?

There are controversies in the publishing industry but the major ones are reported in the press. So, I don't write about the James Frey or the OJ flaps. But here's one that you probably haven't heard about. It speaks to the question of when is a publisher a publisher?

The Romance Writers Association disqualified Tsaba Press from its award competitions. The RWA decided that Tsaba is a subsidy publisher and therefore not eligible for its awards. The RWA criterion for entry is that "Books must be published by a publisher that is a nonSubsidy, non-Vanity Publisher. An eligible entry must meet these criteria:"

Although it seems clear from the evidence that Tsaba Press is neither a subsidy nor a vanity publisher, the confusion on the part of the RWA is understandable. The recent technological advances in printing, particularly the development of digital printing, has led to some blurring of the lines. Digital printing (frequently called print-on-demand) has made it possible for almost anyone to publish a book.

A few years ago the book industry recognized three types of business models: conventional publishing, self-publishing, and vanity publishing. Today there is a fourth model which some call author service publishers or author-driven publishers. Examples are Author House, iUniverse, Lulu, Book Surge, Infinity, XLibris, and many others. They use digital printing but so do self-publishers and even, on occasion, commercial publishers.

The author service publishers are not in the same category as vanity publishers because they are not exploitative. They provide a legitimate service at a reasonable price whereas vanity publishers charge exorbitant fees and provide no marketing. Author service companies offer Internet marketing.

It is a fact that some WW members have been dissatisfied with their author service publisher, but many have been happy with them. I again emphasize that it is important to read the contract carefully and not have unrealistic expectations.

Self-publishing, as I view it, involves an entrepreneur who establishes a business and either performs, or hires someone to perform, such tasks as editing, layout, cover design, printing, marketing, and perhaps other things. He/she also obtains an ISBN in the name of the company. There is considerable financial risk involved and the self-publisher usually is trying to make a profit.

The author who uses an author service publisher hires another publisher (Author House, Lulu, et al) to do ALL the necessary work. And usually allows the author service publisher to get the ISBN. (More on this point next month).

This is not to imply that the user of an author service publisher is any less legitimate. He/she has simply chosen a route to get a book published that is easier, cheaper, and less likely to make a profit.

The development of digital printing has resulted in the establishment of author service publishers, which, in turn, has led to many more books being published.

Thus, it is understandable that the Romance Writers of America would screen in advance whether candidates had passed professional muster in the industry. The RWA requested some proof from Tsaba that they were a real publisher. Tsaba sent them a copy of its standard author contract, which included the usual provisions that require the author to cover the cost of artwork, indexes, and certain other things.

On that basis RWA denied Tsaba the right to participate in RWA's award contests. But the very provisions that caused RWA to reject Tsaba are in the Authors Guild Model Trade Book Contract and Guide. They are standard provisions of every publication agreement.

From what I know about this controversy the guys in the black hats are the Romance Writers of America and the white hat belongs to Tsaba Press.

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The Willamette Publisher -- June - 08

Amazon.com, in a few short years, has become a major player in the book industry. Like most book people, I have mixed feelings about the online bookseller. Of course, Amazon has expanded to carry more than just books but it's books that I'm interested in.

As a publisher, I think Amazon is wonderful. For several years the bulk of my sales have come through Amazon. (DIMI PRESS belongs to the Amazon Advantage program.) They pay promptly in thirty days whereas others in the industry pay in ninety days or more. They almost never return books and then only because they are damaged. On the negative side if you e-mail Amazon a question, you will likely get a form letter in reply, which may or may not address your question. They make it very difficult to contact them by phone.

As a book lover, I regret Amazon's impact on the bookselling business.

Along with the chains, they have helped to decrease the number of independent bookstores. And all booklovers cherish the independent bookstore.

As a book buyer, if I know what title I want it is much less trouble to buy it from Amazon than to travel to Powell's to save the shipping cost.

As a book seller (of used books) I don't sell through Amazon. Instead I sell through Alibris and Half.com.

Known as a company that innovates, Amazon's latest innovation is the capability of buying books from your cell phone. Their TextBuyIt service makes it possible for customers to buy items direct from their mobile phones.

A customer must first set up a TextBuyIt account. To do this, she must log in to her account on Amazon.com and then activate the TextBuyIt option. Once she has set up her TextBuyIt account, the steps to actually buy a book are as follows:

The customer sends a text message to "AMAZON" (262966) with the title or the ISBN of the book she wants to order. Amazon sends a response confirming the book and stating its price, telling the customer to reply with the text message "1" to purchase the book. Once the customer has done that Amazon then calls the customer with the final details and asks the customer to confirm or cancel the purchase. Thats all there is to it.

Now theres one more way to buy books!

But another new scheme from Amazon is raising hackles among the independent publishing community. It could affect those many WW members who have, or will, print books through POD publishers.

As I mentioned in last month's column, Amazon has a Print-on-Demand publishing arm called BookSurge. The online Goliath has recently notified some POD publishers that if they wish to continue selling books through Amazon they must print their books with BookSurge. At present, Amazon places orders through the distributors for the POD publishers. (There are a lot of middlemen in the publishing business.) Evidently soon publishers will have to convert their files to a format compatible with BookSurge, which will then print the books themselves.

Amazon released an open letter, explaining the move: "Simply put, we can provide a better, more timely customer experience if the POD titles are printed inside our own fulfillment centers. In addition, printing these titles in our own fulfillment centers saves transportation costs and transportation fuel."

Not surprisingly, this new policy has resulted in a storm of protests. Terry Nathan, Executive Director of the Publishers Marketing Association, called on Amazon to reconsider the policy. He pointed out the harm it will do to small publishers.

The Author Guild also criticized the policy and said they were reviewing the anti-trust and other legal implications of Amazons "bold move." They believe the motivation behind the policy is simply to increase the profits of Amazon rather than just lowering costs. The Guild maintains that the policy is a direct assault on Ingram's Lightning Source, which apparently does the bulk of the book printing for the POD publishers.

Just to add to the confusion, some publishing industry commentators are not critical of Amazon's new policy. The CEO of Trafford Publishing in a wishy-washy statement appears to have no problem with it. John Kremer, a book-marketing guru, seems to think it makes some marketing sense.

From what I know at this writing it doesnt need to affect any decisions made by WW membersbut at the same time KEEP ALERT.

Amazon continues to stir up controversy with its every move.

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The Willamette Publisher -- February 08
by Dick Lutz

Book retailers are either destination or impulse markets. Bookstores are destination markets. The individual who goes into a bookstore does so with the idea of buying a book or at least looking for one. (That does not account for people like me who go into a bookstore simply because it feels good to be surrounded by books.)

That reminds me of the newspaper account I saw some years ago of a man sleeping under shelves full of books. An earthquake struck, the books fell on the man and he was killed. All I could think of was "What a way to go!" But I digress

An impulse market is one in which the individual's primary reason for visiting is not to buy a book. This includes discount stores, supermarkets, gift shops, drug stores and many other retail outlets. Here, the books are not the main item but are placed to catch the individuals eye and cause her to buy on impulse.

Of course, bookstores also offer impulse items for sale. Books placed at the ends of racks of bookshelves, called 'end caps,' are frequently locations for impulse items. The right to place a book on an end cap is frequently purchased by major publishers, particularly in chain bookstores. Impulse items (not necessarily books) are also found next to cash registers in stores of all kinds.

As an independent publisher it is unlikely that you will be able to get your book onto end caps in bookstores. But you might be able to persuade the manager of an independent bookstore to place your book as an impulse item. This would be most likely if you offered him a special holder or rack designed to hold several copies of your book. These holders are called 'dumps' in the trade.

But even as a little guy you may be able to get your book into the impulse (non-bookstore) market. For example, some years ago I published a directory that I thought might sell on magazine shelves at supermarkets. I contacted a magazine distributor and persuaded him to add the book to his line of magazines. Another way to go is to contact a gift shop (or their distributor) if your title is attractive to gift buyers. Contact wine shops if you have a book about wines, and so on.

The point of this discussion is that you need to be creative in your marketing, but you also need to be aware of what type of buyer will be interested in your book. Remember, the retailer and the distributor are not interested in carrying your book unless it will sell to their customers

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The following comes under the heading of some facts that are interesting to me and maybe they will be to you, too.

The British Library contains over 13 million books and related materials. Its UK collection is expanding at the rate of 12.5 kilometers of shelf space a year. Parliament, in 1911, decided that the British Library was entitled and required to receive a free copy of every book and monograph published in the UK.

In the United States, the Library of Congress contains some 14 million books and certain other materials. The Library of Congress handles copyright registration. Copyright registration requires two copies of the newly published book to be sent to the Library. However, the LOC does not keep every book they receive. Reportedly, the library gets nearly 22,000 volumes every business day and adds about 10,000 significant books a day to their collection. However, since it is required to submit two books with each copyright registration, it seems that most titles sent to the Library of Congress end up in the stacks.

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The National Endowment for the Arts recently released a study that shows that Americans, particularly adolescents, are reading less. It seems that with the popularity of video games, text messaging, and television, among other distractions, the results of this study would be a no-brainer.

But some of the specific findings are of interest. The average American between the ages of 15 and 24 spends two hours a day watching television and seven minutes reading. Among 17-year-olds the percentage of non-readers increased from nine percent in 1984 to nineteen percent in 2004. Not surprisingly, reading scores have continued to decline. Surprisingly, 9-year-old readers have improved their reading scores. The report doesn't appear to explain this anomaly.

Another unexpected finding was "Literary readers are more likely than non-readers to engage in positive civic and individual activitiessuch as volunteering, attending sports or cultural events, and exercising," the NEA reported. (Personally, I dont find this so remarkable.)

A review of employer responders showed 38 percent found most high school graduates deficient in reading skills. A flaw in the report is that none of the studies summarized took into account Internet reading.

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Amsterdam, the Netherlands, has been designated as the World Book Capital for 2008. UNESCO and international book industry representatives pick a city each year to be proclaimed Book Capital of the World. Amsterdam was selected for 2008 because of its outstanding book promotion program and its involvement in the book sector.

Do you suppose it's just a coincidence that I'm taking my Dutch wife there this spring?

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Dick Lutz is an author/publisher. Free telephone consultation on book publishing problems is available to all WW members. Please e-mail Dick at dickbook@earthlink.net with a question or to set up a telephone consultation.

The Willamette Publisher -- January 08
by Dick Lutz

Some years ago I wrote enthusiastically about the then-new development in the book world called e-books (electronic books). I remember quoting various 'experts' who predicted that e-books would become the next big thing.

That didn't happen. Although e-books continued to exist, the tsunami that was predicted became only a gentle wave. Lately, there seems to be resurgence in the e-book market. Not a tidal wave, something more like a surfer's wave. E-book sales in the U.S. have grown from $30.3 million in 2004 to $43.8 million in 2005 and $54.4 million in 2006. E-book sales are still only a small fraction of the overall $10 billion U.S. book market.

A major development has been the introduction of an e-book reader by Amazon. Although there have been several e-book readers over the years, none has caught on. This time it could be different. Amazon has become a major player in the book industry and they carry a lot of weight. Their new reader (called KINDLE) may have a big impact on the e-book business. (I know I shouldn't make predictions but I keep doing it.)

Another item from several years ago concerned the Federal Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC). This bureaucratic office had required a license for a publisher to publish a book written by an author from an 'enemy' country (such as Cuba or Iran). The requirement of a license to publish something was extremely distasteful to the publishing industry (and probably unconstitutional). OFAC was sued by a coalition of publishing organizations and the regulations have now been changed. No more licenses are required to publish!

Here's another threat to the local independent bookstore.

The Espresso Book Machine (EBM, as opposed to ATM) has been installed at the New York Public Library. It's a relatively inexpensive POD book-producing machine. The machine can crank out a 200-page paperback in six to 12 minutes. Currently, the library is giving away copies of certain books only, mainly public domain titles. But the machine has the capability of producing over 200,000 public domain titles and its makers are working with publishers for rights to produce copyrighted books.

The EBM is also located in the World Bank in Washington and the Bibliotheca Alexandria in Egypt. The patented automatic book-making machine may revolutionize publishing by printing and delivering physical books within minutes. It is priced low enough that libraries and retailers can install the machine and it can potentially allow readers anywhere to obtain almost any book title in any language, whether or not the book is in print.

EBM's will be installed this fall at the New Orleans Public Library, the University of Alberta (Canada) campus bookstore, the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, Vt., and at the Open Content Alliance in San Francisco.

The EBM's proprietary software transmits a digital file to the book machine, which automatically prints, binds, and trims the readers selection within minutes. The quality is said to be indistinguishable from any library-quality paperback book.

From my knowing a good many self-publishers over the years, I've come to some conclusions about them. Many are nave and have refused to educate themselves about the book business. A few think their book will sell well simply because its so good. Almost none realize how hard it is to sell a book. And, of course, a very few think they are going to get rich.

If I were asked to give advice to a self-publisher (and I frequently am) I would say that a good dose of humility, combined with a willingness to learn, and an ability to work hard will lead to success. Perhaps that last verb 'will' should be changed to 'may' as there is a certain amount of luck involved.

On another level of book publishing, let's look at the bestseller list that's published in the New York Times. The NYT is a powerful and mysterious institution that both reports and drives the sales of books. Popular authors make big bonuses for making the list, and their subsequent books carry the words, "By the New York Times best-selling author," leading to more sales.

Actually, there are thirteen lists covering various categories. The lists are compiled from computer reports contributed by various bookstores. The Times does not reveal which bookstores are involved in order to make it more difficult to manipulate the system.

Some publishers and authors attempt to influence the results by arranging for bulk purchases of specific books at certain bookstores.