The Story Behind My “The more you. Know…” Motto
Making Publishing Decisions the Frugal Way
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson, novelist, poet, and
author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers
The internet spreads a cruel notion among new authors. They are led to believe the well-respected publisher they are “sure” to acquire employs a magical entity who will apply literary voodoo to their manuscript and come up with the perfect book they dream of. The truth is authors might achieve that dream better by publishing their book themselves like Faulkner or Hemingway did or hire someone (or many someones) to achieve that goal. To carry that idea a little further, they might have to do much of what they think they’ll avoid with traditional publishers anyway. The stories we hear about the does, don’ts, and what ifs are often fairy tales borrowed from the centuries before this new millennium.
A more practical way to make publishing choices is to make a list weighing the suitability of the title of your WIP (Word in Progress), the author’s preferences, personality, and pocketbook and then break each of those categories into as many as an author can determine are applicable to their project. The graph you build will not make the decision for you—the idea that it’s always your choice is usually a bit of a fairytale, too. But it will give you a more realistic expectation for your WIP as well gaps in learning you still need to do. That process is never ending.
Your list would look something like this.
1.The title.
a. Some genres—even some writing styles—are simply
more difficult to get into print; that range of difficulty can
vary with the different aspects of publishing process from
covers to formatting, to interior design, to developing
index that librarians expect in nonfiction books.
b. Some titles depend on publication within a current
timeframe that cannot wait for the traditional search for an
agent or publisher. Once a contract with a publisher is
signed, it can easily take a year to get a book to library and
bookstore shelves.
2. The author’s personality.
a. How honest can the author be about their own strengths
and weaknesses.
b. How willing is an author to learn what it takes to partner
with publishers or those they must hire.
2. The author’s preferences.
a. How flexible can the author be when they meet unexpected exigencies.
b. Can the author welcome input/demands regarding their creative work, or—minimally—be willing to ask or negotiate with a publisher’s team or those they must hire.
c. Some authors go in search of an agent before they are aware that most take about 15% of the royalty a publisher allots to what they think will be the author’s “share.”
3. The author’s pocketbook.
a. In any publishing scenario, there will be unexpected expenses—sometimes insurmountable. The most disappointing is ending up with a publisher who isn’t a true publisher, that is, it doesn’t cover important needs like marketing or charges hefty fees for what the author could better do themselves.
4. Time Considerations. That would be for the tune the author needs to invest to learn more about the different aspects or the process they believe is right for their situation as well how quickly the book must be available to the public to accommodate current or coming news cycles.
a. This list is long on possibilities and includes most
everything from marketing and PR skills like speaking,
making videos, etc. to the basics of writing a successful
query letter.
b. Most experts strongly suggest that the book cover not be
one of those you hope to do yourself, even if the author is
an artist. Book covers require a graphic artist with
marketing knowledge, knowledge of printing in color and
the delicate mathematics needed to make the cover fit
many elements of a book from book dimension to weight
of the paper to width of the spine.
You can see that both the success and joy of your publishing journey will depend on what you know. I borrowed the phrase “The more you know…” from the hours of TV I spent watching MSNBC on a cruise when their own ad campaign took place of paid ads to meet cruise system parameters. It started to make more sense when I finally turned my computer on to tackle the self-editing project I had planned for sea days. I had already spent a few years trying to sift through rumors at expensive writer’s conferences and critique groups populated by others as new to the publishing industry as I was. I could feel the truth to that MSNBC adage through to my bones.
The two best ways for authors to learn is to eschew how-to books written for everyone. To learn what I needed to know to avoid the publishing potholes I had been falling in. I now tell my clients to take specific classes in writing and other aspects of publishing at accredited universities which is also expensive, but their instructors and information are usually carefully vetted. I also tell them to read books—even used paperbacks from Amazon—written by those same instructors or experts—people with lots of experience learning the stuff our traditional industry expects of us! Eventually I became one of those instructors myself (at UCLA) and started to write texts for my classes and for everyone else including the emerging do-it-yourselfers. You know, not for everybody but books precisely for the needs of publishing authors.
Here is a list of those books and there are more recommendations in the appendixes of each one:
The Frugal Book Promoter, The Frugal Editor, The Great First-Impression Book Proposal, Great Little Last-Minute Editing Tips for Writers from Modern History Press as well as
How To Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically that was self-published and will soon be available in a second edition from Modern History Press. Hurry! Amazon was showing a 46% discount on the Book Proposal paperback!
MORE ABOUT TODAY’S COLUMNIST
Carolyn Howard-Johnson brings her experience as a publicist, journalist, marketer, and retailer to the advice she gives in her HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers and the many classes she taught for nearly a decade as instructor for UCLA Extension’s world-renown Writers’ Program. The books in her HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers have won multiple awards. That series includes The Frugal Book Promoter and The Frugal Editor which won awards from USA Book News, Readers’ Views Literary Award, the marketing award from Next Generation Indie Books and others including the coveted Irwin award. How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethicallylaunched to rave reviews from Jim Cox, Editor-in-Chief of Midwest Book Reviews and others:
“How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically [and other books in the series] could well serve as a textbook for a college Writing/Publishing curriculum.”
Howard-Johnson is the recipient of the California Legislature’s Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment Award, and her community’s Character and Ethics award for her work promoting tolerance with her writing. She was also named to Pasadena Weekly’s list of “Fourteen San Gabriel Valley women who make life happen” and was given her community’s Diamond Award for Achievement in the Arts.
The author loves to travel. She has visited nearly 100 countries and has studied writing at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom; Herzen University in St. Petersburg, Russia; and Charles University, Prague. She admits to carrying a pen and journal wherever she goes. Learn more about her books for writers and her creative work in the media room on her website.
