There Are No Shortcuts on the Road To Publishing Riches
The term “overnight” success, especially in publishing, has taken on a whole knew meaning since the onset of Print-On-Demand and Ebook industry a little over one year ago. Writers saw this new “Electronic Publishing Revolution” as a way to avoid painstaking submissions and endless rejection letters while seeing their works in print and available to the reading public.
“Overnight” almost everyone who could pick up a pen and write a check, could also pick up a pen, write a book, and become a “published” author. And, with over 30,000 titles from one POD company alone, it seems that almost everyone did.
At the start of this new industry, Print-On-Demand publisher iUniverse promoted a few select authors in book review sections of major newspapers. Although the quotes were meant to entice new authors, their implication was the opposite. One of the first quotes was of a woman standing with her arms folded under the words “iUniverse saw something in me no one else did, a successful author.” The implication being that she had been rejected by everyone in the publishing industry, and if she could get published, anyone could…for $99.00.
Promises of seeing their novel on the bookstore shelf, fans lining up for a signed copy, their name on the New York Times Best Seller list, and, dare I say, a guest spot on Oprah’s book club had hundreds of writers submitting their life’s dream to the one place they knew couldn’t and wouldn’t reject them, as long as their manuscript was accompanied by a signed contract and a signed check.
The content wasn’t important. POD was a quick, easy and fast way to go from day-job Joe, to “published author”.
With dreams of becoming the next Stephen King, or Danielle Steele, wide-eyed POD authors with their just-off-the- press novel in hand, walked into book stores expecting to be greeted with open arms. Instead, what they found more often than not was a closed and locked door.
“Overnight” bookstore owners, both large and small were inundated with requests from unknown authors for booksigning events. What had once been a dream, quickly turned into a nightmare as store after store began to refuse to stock POD titles. Barnes and Nobel, once in partnership with iUniverse.com, recently issued a new policy for all stores not to host events with POD authors. Mainstream writers organizations such as the Authors Guild and Romance Writers Association will not recognize POD or ebook authors as qualified for membership. Newspaper book reviewers won’t touch a POD publication, and most independent book stores refuse to host a POD author event. Bookstore owners, especially small independents would rather dedicate their resources for known authors who have gone the more traditional route and have a large publishing house stamp of approval. (The traditional publishers also take returns, one thing POD’s do not)
Any successful author knows that “overnight” success takes years of hard work. Hosting book signing events nationwide and having fans line up around the block for autographed copies of your book may be your end goal, but unless you’re willing to pay your dues to get there, it’s not going to happen. Unfortunately, there are many POD authors who expect to be treated as if they had. It doesn’t and it shouldn’t work that way. If you wish to be treated like a professional, you first must learn everything you can about the profession, especially now when the competition is fierce.
POD is a totally different process from traditional publishing, and any writer who chooses the POD route for publication should understand that they are not going to be treated as if they were a traditional author, not without a great deal of hard work and even harder effort. If you wish to be treated as a professional author, you must begin to act like one. This means do your homework before approaching anyone to promote your book.
Having your title listed on Amazon.com and a variety of on-line bookstores is only the beginning. The kind of exposure you’ll need to create the necessary buzz about your book is going to require almost as much time and energy as it took for you to write it, maybe more.
The Internet has hundreds of web sites dedicated to POD authors. Start with is your POD publisher, they usually have the best reference material available. Join several POD egroups, especially the ones that are specific to your genre. Ask other authors what methods they use to promote and market their books and learn how to use these techniques to boost your book sales. There are several very good articles right here on the Amazing Authors Showcase, and they also have their own egroup and web ring available at no charge.
If you have the finances, hire a professional public relations firm, but be sure they have good knowledge of the Internet as well as enthusiasm for your book. But don’t fool yourself into thinking just because you wrote a book, agents and publishers will be beating down your door.
The POD industry is both a blessing and a curse. With thousands of titles being published at an alarming rate, getting your book noticed is going to be a long journey and there are no short cuts. For authors who believe otherwise, the road leads to nothing but a disappointing dead end.
Running Out of Gas on the Road to Publishing Riches
With every two steps forward we take as writers, it seems we get pushed back three. It’s hard not to get discouraged and harder still to continue writing when the odds are being stacked higher and higher against us.
Author Raven West 
Keep Your Eyes On The Road to Publishing Riches
Raven West ♦ October 17, 2010 ♦ Leave a comment
There is a card posted on my computer which persistently asks: “Is what I’m doing right now taking me closer to or further away from my goal?” It’s an inspiration, and a curse. As a writer, the path to that goal on the “Road to Riches” is not always clearly marked. And many times, we find ourselves heading in the wrong direction.
I have a bumper sticker on the back of my car which reads: “I’d rather be writing”. Of course, if anyone sees it, it means I’m doing anything but. Until recently, many other authors have been reading this message as my car sat in various parking lots while I attended writer’s clubs and association meetings in an effort to publicize and sell my books.
When I first began on this very bumpy “Road to Riches”, I joined every writer’s club I could find, locally, nationally and in cyber-space. My membership cards filled my wallet, replacing the cash which I had spent on dues.
I joined SPAWN, the Small Publishers, Authors and Writers Network. The organization threw “mixer” parties, we “networked” like crazy and I met a number of creative writers, but never sold a single book.
I joined a local writer’s organization and spent one Tuesday a month listening to a barrage of publishing “experts” who knew less than I did about current trends. They were paid a hefty fee, which was a good thing, because without too many exceptions, no one in attendance purchased a single copy of their book. Not from them, or from the thousands of other authors whose works lined the shelves of Borders, where the group met.
I joined the National Writers Union and attended several meetings where we discussed legal issues of copyright laws, but very little on sales and marketing. I’m also a card-carrying member of the Author’s Guild, the International Women Writers Guild, the National Association of Women Writers and the National League of American Pen Women. All excellent sources of information, support and motivation, but little sales potential.
The “road” was slowly approaching a dead end, so I turned off at the next exit and attended a dinner meeting of the Southern California Book Publicist Association. Thinking it was the perfect opportunity to make some great contacts or, at the very least, learn more about marketing and promotion of books. I drove through Los Angeles rush hour traffic, which is any hour on the 101 freeway, paid twenty-five dollars for an unappetizing dinner and started introducing myself to members whom I assumed were publicists.
Much to my surprise, everyone I met was an author. Not a publicist in sight. On the table was a huge display of books, all non-fiction and all for sale. And not a single book sold. Although I did enjoy the guest speaker, somehow I knew Shelly Berman wasn’t going to help sell my novel anymore than the ten people at my table, each of whom were asking me for help in promoting them. I did manage to sell one copy of my novel to some guy who asked for my phone number! I wrote it in the book and charged him for it. Whatever works.
In cyber space, promotional opportunities for authors are abundant. There are numerous promotional sites for authors, all promising to help increase sales: for a fee of course. But, there are also free web-rings and e-groups which are designed specifically for authors to promote themselves. The problem is that most of these sites are directed to other authors!
I’ve spent hours updating my own web site with author’s rings, author’s support groups and links to almost fifty web sites worldwide. This month alone, I’ve received over 2,000 “hits” and glowing e-mails on what a great site I have, but no deposits into my PayPal account!*
I’ve met some wonderful, talented writers from my association with these groups, but I’ve yet to sell more than a few copies of either “Red Wine For Breakfast” or “First Class Male. Yet, at the last book festival I attended, I sold ten copies of each in less than an hour! (If you’d like to read how I accomplished this, please read last month’s column.)
After all the time, effort and energy I’ve spent over the past two years, on-line and off, one thing finally became perfectly clear: authors don’t buy other author’s books!
Author’s write. We’d rather be writing, as my now faded bumper sticker proclaims, than anything else, including reading. But we also need to find other ways to sell our works than to rely on other authors. We need to find readers! And we need to steer the groups and associations we belong to onto the road that reaches our readership and doesn’t veer off into a ditch.
To totally ruin J.F.K’s famous line, “Ask not what you can do for your association, ask what your association can do for you!” If members of your group are only interested in dinner and a show (speaker) rather than helping each other reach out to the reading public, you’re wasting your time. It should be mandatory that anyone who joins a writer’s group must not only purchase a copy of everyone’s books, but sell at least 10 copies to their friends. That’s networking! Anything less is taking us away from, not bringing us toward, our goal. To sell books!
As authors, we must turn off the easy, well paved road with other authors and take the dusty trail towards uncharted territory: readers!
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