Excerpts

Hello everyone ….

It’s been a long journey but I’m still traveling it with as much stamina as I had when I started. I will be sending everyone an updated blog soon on exactly how I arrived here (and my novel “Speaking Truths”). I will finish my original dedication to this blog, which was to give an account of a self-published author fighting her way to publish what many have said, “Is a good story.” If you take a look at my website — http://www.DaynaHester.com — you’ll see I’ve im the process of setting up all the promotional aspects of marketing a book. As I ramp up my blog again, if you have any questions as to what’s been going on in the last several months, please email me or ask the questions here!

But meanwhile, here’s a couple of excerpts from the novel … you can check it out on Amazon, BN.com and bookstores!

Excerpt from Chapter 1 …

It had been three days since I showed up to English class. I hated school. I never fit in. Everyone stared at me like they’re better than me. Maybe they were; I don’t know. The kids were getting their folders out of their backpacks, which I forgot to bring. I leaned over to the cheerleader chick next to me to ask for a pencil, but that’s when the teacher, Mr. Sanders, walked up with a slip of paper. “Landon, I’m sorry, but the office needs to see you.” He put the paper in front of me on my desk. He was lying. It didn’t say to go to the office. It was a hall pass to go see the guidance counselor.

“That’s messed up. What the hell?” I bashed my fist against the desk.

Sanders leaned into me like what he had to say was just between us. “If you want to talk about it, let’s go outside.” There was a time when I thought he was cool. It was the first day of school. I learned on the second day that he was just another nerdy prick with leather loafers and khakis. That wasn’t my style. My style was baggy jeans and a hoodie pulled down over my I-don’t-give-a-fuck green eyes.

I looked around the class. Everyone was staring at me. Frozen. Mouths open with their jawbones unhinged. I had been in school with most of the kids since eighth grade because the hellhole village I lived in was so small that they crammed middle school and high school into the same building. I pulled my hoodie back to look Mr. Sanders in the eye. “No way. I came to class to fix things. You said I could make up my missed work.”

“Go to the office and see if they’ll help you, Landon. It’s not up to me anymore.” He was just looking for excuses. He wanted me out of his class.

The stupid, “Yes, Mommy and Daddy” kids just sat there with their blank faces like they’d never done anything wrong, especially the fat-ass slob who sat behind me. I turned my head to look at him. What are you looking at?”

“Nothing.” He jerked his head back so quick it made his double chin double again in size. I wanted to make a stupid joke, but then I got pissed off even more when I saw him look up, over my head, to Mr. Sanders. It was a coward move, like he needed a savior or something. That’s what you found in Nebraska: cowards.

The more I looked around at everyone, the more I started thinking about how I knew they talked about me when I wasn’t in class. I could tell I was gonna lose my cool, and I didn’t care. I was sick of how they all thought they were so much better than me. When my eyes came back to the fat kid behind me, he was still looking up at the teacher. I leaned into him and dropped my voice. “Does your dad know what a coward you are?” That’s when I felt Mr. Sanders’s creepy pedophile hand grip my shoulder. “Landon, please. Don’t disrupt the class.”

I turned around. His bushy unibrow was right in my face. I jerked my shoulder away. “Get your hands off me. I’m done with this shit anyway.” I tried to stand but my leg hit the desktop. It’s not like I’m super-tall: barely six feet. I lost my balance and almost fell to the ground. That’s when the pig-snout kid snickered like he’s all that. My anger exploded. All I remember is flipping my desk over, grabbing a book, and ripping the pages out.

Why can’t people understand me?

Outside the Box Thinking Inside My Community

I used to be a court stenographer (…still can be if my book completely flops, by the way). The beauty of that career was I had to learn how to listen: I listened for a living.

 

I’m seven years out of the career now, but I can still sense my listening skills kicking in, especially when someone gives me advice that I don’t need. My little voice yells out to me, tell the advice-giver, “I don’t need to hear this crap,” but I stop the thought … and listen. I think to myself, after all, if the advice doesn’t apply to me, it may apply to you.

 

Advice from a Barnes & Noble manager:

 

1) Is your book’s ISBN registered with Bowker? First, make sure you understand that Barnes & Noble is not the same as Barnes & Noble dot com (bn.com). It’s easy to get your book on bn.com but you cannot be placed into the Barnes & Noble store catalogue/database unless you are registered with Bowker. I’ll give a hypothetical so you understand the distinction. Assume you told your neighbor that your book is on sale at the Barnes & Noble website and based on that statement, your neighbor assumes that he can walk into a Barnes & Noble store and ask the clerk to order your book — if you’re not registered with Bowker, that clerk will not have your book in the data system and will respond to your neighbor something along the lines, “Are you sure you know the title?” “Could you have the author’s name wrong?” “Are you sure your neighbor really published a book?” … or more likely, “No, that title isn’t in our system. Sorry, can’t help you buy that book.”

 

2) Most books that comes into the bookstore receive a discount sticker in the upper right-hand corner approximately the size of one inch wide by one and a half inch tall. Make sure your title will not be obstructed by this sticker.

 

3) If you use an initial in your name in the place of your first name – J.K. Rowlings (but of course we’re not J.K. Rowlings, people) – think about doing away with it. If a potential purchaser doesn’t remember the initial, doesn’t see the initial, doesn’t think of an initial as representing the first name … it lessens the chances that the store clerk will be able to do an effective search for the title.

 

4) Is your name font clear, visible and placed on the cover so that a potential buyer sees it, but yet it doesn’t compete with the title (unless of course your Dan Brown or James Patterson).

 

5) Don’t write silly things on the front like a blurb saying “This is the first book written by,” and then your name with three initials, last name ”Smith.”

 

My advice based on outside-the-box thinking:

 

Based on my meeting with the Barnes & Noble manager, it is the case that some managers of Barnes & Nobles bookstores and Borders have the “pull” to recommend a book to other stores as well as “push” for the shelving of your book in all stores. How a manager determines this is based on how many sales of the book takes place in their store. Hold that thought.

 

Now, because you’re self-publishing, remember that you are in control. You can make decisions in the blink of an eye. As an example, my storyline involves the identification of a person based on fingerprinting. Several weeks ago, I was driving down the street, saw a sign for a fingerprinting service, with a copy of my manuscript in hand, I walked in and said, “Hey, I talk about a fingerprinting company in my book. Would you guys like to read my book and if you like the context of how I use the fingerprinting services, could I insert your actual name?” 

 

The thinking is that it’s advertisement for them and creates an opportunity for discussion about my book and their company in the local area (I’m also asking them to be quoted on the back of the book). In your case, could it be a local restaurant, grocery store, jewelry store, sandwich shop, hardware store, gym … any place that will help push people to your book signing, push people to talk about what’s in the book. It also gives a second reason for your local paper or community flier to mention your book … Think of it this way (calm the ego down): “My local paper/community flier may find it more interesting to talk about the local restaurant mentioned in the book and indirectly, my book will get attention.” 

 

In addition, when you’re running your errands around town, are you looking around at the different places that stock books? Pharmacies? Grocery stores? Coffee houses? In other words, use to your advantage the phrase “local author.” Ask your community to help you, a member of that community.   

 

Now back to the Barnes & Noble manager recommending your book. What if you could turn your local book signing into a community event? One of two things will happen. Either you will meet and greet those around you and your book will stay in your community. Or, you’ve created a platform that may just allow your book to “take off.”

Wholesale Discounts, Returnability, and Good Friends

Thinking about self-publishing?   

Before you consult, ponder the prospects … or heaven forbid, contractually engage a small press, print-on-demand (POD) or self-publishing company, first and foremost, educate yourself on the necessity of wholesale discounts and “returnability.”

• Wholesale discounts determine, in theory, how much profit a bookstore can make from the sale of your book. Example: you have a book that you set the retail price at $20 (btw, ask if you can set the retail price). The wholesale discount that you offer a bookstore is 40% (this is an expected discount the bookstores want) – forty percent of twenty is $12 (the bookstore’s wholesale purchase price). Purchasing the book for $12 gives them “wiggle room” to determine the retail price in their store.
• Returnability simply means that if a bookstore buys your book to shelf and your book doesn’t sell, the bookstore wants to be able to return the book and be refunded all or a portion of the purchase price.

I believe these are more than fair business practices so as to request that bookstores take the risk on us … after all, no one here is James Patterson or Dan Brown. Although, these authors offer wholesale discounts as well, but of course due to simple supply and demand models, I’m sure it’s significantly less than 40% … or, the 50% that I’m working towards offering as a first-time novelist.

The foregoing was background info on how traditional publishing works, as well.

Now ask… why wouldn’t all POD and self-publishing companies automatically follow this model? Wouldn’t it be in their best interest to allow us to create a wholesale discount and returnability model that all bookstores would find appealing?

To answer this, explore how you think the self-publishing companies see us, the self-publishers. We are not … on the front lines together, people. These companies are NOT our best friends, the saviors of our unrecognized talents. No … they are companies that are out to make profits (which is fair) but some of them “bank” on the assumption that you do NOT have a commercially viable product.

Take for example the following scenario:

I have a dear friend who is a great writer. She wrote a novel and went with a self-publishing/POD company that took NO FEES to publish her book. When she got her book in hand (looks great, btw!) and set out contacting bookstores … PROBLEM - her publishing company WILL NOT offer returnability and/or competitive wholesale discounts.    

You may ask … isn’t this dumb business sense?

No, it’s brilliant for the self-publishing/small press/POD companies that base their business models on the estimated success (or lack thereof) of vanity press writers, which is … on average, we will sell 200 copies (mostly, if not all, to family and friends). Work through the math: assume an author sells only 100 copies of their book at $20 each. The book costs the publishing company $5.00 to POD. The publisher pays the author’s royalty (a tiered structure starting at 8%) on a net sale of book at $15 (Twenty dollars minus five dollars to POD leaves $15 net costs. Then subtract eight percent royalty ($1.20) off the fifteen dollars. It leaves the publishing company a profit of $13.80 per book. Times this figure by 100 books sold and it leaves a conservative profit of $1,380 per author that uses the company’s FREE publishing service.

From a business sense, looking for solid profitability projections, it is in the publishing company’s best interest – the company you’re in bed with linked by an intimate story your wrote – to not offer returnabilty and wholesale discounts and force YOU to buy YOUR OWN books.

(My friend … she’s figuring out ways to fix this. Updates soon to come.)

Meanwhile, please learn to weed out publishing companies (POD, small press or self) that are not in our best interest by asking informative questions:

Will my book have returnability? If no, can you, the self-publishing company, think of ways I can offer bookstores returnability? Help me brainstorm to make my book a commercial success.

Will I be able to set my own retail price? What is the formula for setting the retail price?

What will be my wholesale discount? Is there any way to increase the discount so I am more appealing to bookstores?

If a distributor is distributing my product, why can’t I dictate to the distributor what the wholesale discount will be?

How would it work if I wanted to sell my book on consignment? Will consignment purchases go against my royalty payment structure?

Is the only way to sell my book on consignment if I buy my own books? Again, not working towards reaching my royalty percentage increase.

Why does it feel like the business structure you have in place isn’t working to commercially promote my product?

Asking the right questions shows awareness … and that’s what we need for each other, to show the publishing world our awareness of how we want to see our publishing world evolve.

We are the creators of the story. There are readers who want to read our story.  If you are self-publishing, YOU are building the bridge to link the story to the reader. Share with the rest of us how the construction works. It is this kind of networking that will put the creators in control.

Is Nothing Fair?

I carry in my purse a dictionary because I believe one measure of my sincerity will be that when I speak, the words I say convey my intended meaning (for good or bad). In turn, I measure the sincerity of others when I sense this value system being reciprocated … and therein lies my greatest pet peeve. When someone says a word/phrase that I can’t quite figure out what the meaning is (sarcasm, double entendre, wrong definition, e.g.), I obsess about it unnecessarily. I don’t mean obsess as in bar fight confrontations. It’s more like… well, take today for example. I’m done blogging about the obstacles and impasse that self-publishers must overcome; it’s negative news. Instead, I want to focus on ingenuity, benefits and the hard work it takes to succeed in the publishing world. This is how the visions are manifested. But… I can’t stop obsessing about this one last, little, tiny obstacle I encountered in a telephone conversation because I am baffled by the “meaning.”

Me: Yes, hi there. My name is Dayna Hester. I’m self-publishing my book. I’ve done everything to insure my work will present at a professional level. I’ve been researching how to market my book, and I see that your organization is the presenter of quite a few prestigious literary awards. Do you accept self-published works?

Her: No.

Me: How about if the work were submitted by a credible review source?

Her: No.

Me: Is there any way I can possibly submit my—

Her: No… sorry, we do that to be fair.

Me: Huh? I’m sorry, did you say “fair”?

Her: Yes, the only way to be fair to all self-publishers is to not to accept from any self-publishers.

She hung up first.

I was confused. Can nothing be fair? It is illogical thinking, isn’t it? In a democratic world, isn’t fairness entitled to be challenged? How do you challenge nothing? In loose terms, that was how my obsession started to take off … soon, my stream of consciousness flowed into myopia because I kept picturing in my mind an area of space with nothing in it and someone pointing to the area and saying, “What you have over there (the empty space), that is fair, impartial, just, equitable.”

I pulled myself out of the fog remembering what Edward G. Talbot posted on a previous blog: “The only way to really have an impact is to work towards getting people to pay attention to the places [that do recognize] self-published works. The old models are beginning to break down.”

Here’s one for everyone: http://www.independentpublisher.com.

And awards are important. It is not a process wherein the author should feel shy or pretentious about submitting the work for acknowledgement. Aside from critical attention, many of the awards require category submissions. These are opportunities to reach out to your precise audience.

By the way, “Who is your audience?” The single most important question for a self-publisher who intends on promoting and marketing his/her book.

I herein proclaim that from this blog forward, I will not focus on the negativity of what cannot be done for the self-publisher; instead, I will focus on what is being done … it’s all good news!  

I Struck Gold: My Book is On Amazon.com

What does the statement, “Your book will be for sale on Amazon.com” really mean to an author?

I fear that many authors in the throes of marketing their book (self-published or traditional) may reason out the meaning of that statement by thinking that if their book is on Amazon just like established published authors, then they have accomplished the first important step to marketing their book. This is not solid reasoning. Instead, ask yourself the following questions:

1. If my book is on Amazon, how will people find my book?
2. How will visitors to Amazon know to search my book title?
3. How will my Amazon listing reach out from the abyss of cyberspace and get the attention of a potential buyer?

Plain and simple, your book will not reach out from Amazon. You need readers to become aware of your book so that they will reach into Amazon.

How do I get readers to reach into Amazon to find my book? 

One of the best proven ways of driving potential purchasers to your book for sale on Amazon is EXPOSURE of your book whether in the secular world or cyberspace. Consider the following exposure vehicles:

• The “prestigious” review sources that I blogged about in “My Back Hurts: I Tried to Move a Mountain” (great responses).
• High exposure review sources (TheBookDesigner.com gave a great link: http://www.stepbystepselfpublishing.net/free-book-reviews.html).
• Submit your book for literary awards and/or critical recognition (my next blog).
• Ask your local library to to shelf your book (in the State of New Jersey, libraries will shelf any book a resident of the state requests).
• Set up book signings.
• Network with other writers, asking how they marketed their book (and posting a comment here would be wonderful).
• Solicit retail and indie bookstores, asking, “What will it take for you to shelf my book?”

Short answer: Your book and your design cover are your advertisements.

Do not trap your mind into thinking that the only reason to have your books shelved in bookstores is for readers to purchase. Think exposure in the form of advertisements: in theory, you want the possibility of fifty people seeing your book; ten of those fifty people to look your book up on Amazon; and five of those ten people to buy your book from Amazon. An ideal world is that of those five that buy on Amazon, three end up recommending your book by word of mouth to ten people they each know (30 people)… and we know the formula from there; pretty soon readers are reaching into Amazon to find you (take note how important Amazon reviews are based by this hypothetical).

What if I have contacted book stores and they responded that they cannot shelf my book?

My advice: Combine thinking outside the box with polite assertiveness. Consider the following correspondence:

My e-mail: Dear Bookstore: What will it take to have my self-published book shelved in your store?

The reply: Dear Dayna: Nothing you can do. Sorry. We do shelf self-published books but only if their spines are NOT perfectly bound. If the spine of your book is of a professional quality and you are self-published, we cannot shelf your book. Good luck with your marketing, though.

I started thinking outside the box… should I go to my local craft store, slap my manuscript into a scrapbook and decoupage the front with my design cover proofs? Nah, too difficult to mass produce if I should ever be so lucky.

My return e-mail: Dear Bookstore: Could I send a free copy of my book to an employee of your store. And if that employee feels that the book is comparable to other books shelved in your store, could I then I ask you to entertain the thought of shelving my book? Thank you for your time and consideration.

The reply: Yes, send the book to the attention of [omitted for obvious reasons]. It’s no guarantee, but it may lead to having your book shelved at our bookstore.

***

The journey of self-publishing starts with the self, and we must be resourceful (not aggressive, pushy and/or obnoxious) in the ways we reach out. If you self-publish, you do not have the benefit of a traditional publisher who has the clout and cloud to rain books over every bookstore nationwide in order to push sales. But that’s okay… we all start somewhere.

My Back Hurts: I Tried to Move a Mountain

The definition of “pre-submission” in terms of my self-publishing journey:  To submit your manuscript/galley/Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) to high-exposure review sources before the manuscript reaches publication. An average pre-submission occurs around two to three months before your book reaches publication.

What do I mean by “high-exposure review sources”?  Any review source (journal, magazine, catalogue, online forum, etc.) that is considered within the publishing industry as a credible source to recommend books for purchase.  The following is not an inclusive list but demonstrates:

• Publisher’s Weekly
• Kirkus Review
• BookPage
• ForeWord
• American Library Association
• American Library Journal
• Booklist

Who receives these review sources? As an example, one very influential review source reaches “bookstores and libraries in 48 states.” Meaning, if you submitted your manuscript within the required submission timeframe and your manuscript was selected to be reviewed (regardless of a bad or good review), your exposure rate would be tremendous. The individuals who make it their business to buy books (not readers) would see your title:

• Independent bookstores.
• Retail bookstores.
• Libraries.
• High school libraries.
• Booksellers (who may specialize in airports, hotels, grocery stores, etc.).

Why is it the case that a book must be submitted to most review sources (not all) before the publication? It is the individual policy of most of the review sources. I think it is a fair policy.

Now, many of you may think that these reviews are only valuable because you can print the review on the back of your book; that is NOT where I am headed. The most important reason to have reviews from credible review sources is it allows for a clean and organized marketing campaign to take off; meaning, you submit the manuscript, you give a precise publication date (three months out), you see what sources are going to review your book, and from there you plot out where to target your book marketing campaign (traditional publishers have been known to send out thousands of ARCs to reviewers, booksellers, etc.). As an example, based on the review, you direct your attention towards a bookseller who has connections in high school libraries. In turn, ideally, that bookseller is successful and gets distribution orders from high school libraries nationwide who want to shelf your book. Your distributor (Ingram is the greatest; it is who I am going through) fulfills these orders and ships them out to the high school libraries. This would be successful marketing, in my opinion.

Guess what, Self-Publishers? You CANNOT pre-submit your manuscript to a majority of the credible review sources that I’ve been herein referring. It is their policy. It is their guidelines. It is set in stone. It would take someone who can move a mountain to have it otherwise.

How did I hurt my back? I personally called one of these credible review sources that the American Bookseller’s Association recommends because I needed clarification on the statement that says, “We do not give review consideration to self-published books, print-on-demand titles or books from presses that lack major distribution.”

I thought to myself, Hey, I have major distribution through Ingram … let me give ‘em a call.

THE CALL:

            Me: I’m self-publishing my book. With regard to the policy of not accepting self-publishers who do not have “major distribution,” I’m going to be distributing through Ingram. My publication date is three months out. Can I submit the manuscript for a review?

            Her: No.

            Me:  Really? It’s through Ingram, I’ll be offering a 48% wholesale discount and returnability on my book. Does that change anything?

            Her: No.  

            Me: Oh … okay. How come?

            Her: It’s been our experience that if we give a favorable review to a self-published book and essentially recommend to our subscribers that they buy the book, we have found that the distribution demands cannot be met, and we can’t place ourselves in that position.

            Me: But… could that be the case, distribution demands can’t be met, even through Ingram?

            Her: You’d have to call Ingram about that. But good luck with your book.

I hung up the phone. My back cramped up because, I think, I tried to push against something that’s just not going to move.

How can my sharing this story possibly help you?

1)      Maybe I opened your eyes to how people find your book. This is why online reviewers, Amazon Reviewers, local book clubs, online book forums are so valuable to the self-publisher. People will not simply just “find you” because you’re on Amazon.com, BN.com.

2)      Maybe you didn’t know about these obstacles, whether you think they are fair or not, but you are better informed now.

3)      Most importantly, by hearing this story, I hope it triggers the “problem-solving” part of your mind. Let’s think outside of the box, writers. We need these reviewers; the readers who find out about the books they read from these reviewers need us. How can we offer to build a bridge that benefits both sides – the reviewers and us?  As an example, I thought I had was requiring a submission fee to pay for a “weeding out” process and if a manuscript passes the “weeding out” stage, it becomes eligible for review?

Let’s keep thinking. Let’s keep helping one another.

“Who Do You Think You Are?”

If your answer is, “I’m a self-published author (or soon to be),” I can assure you that ninety percent of you are probably wrong. Needless to say, the publishing world is making it complicated … on us.

Be informed, read the following, and please yell back at the publishing world that “We know who we are.” In this blog, I will set out to define the following identities:

• I’m a self-published writer (or soon to be).
• I’m an Indie writer (and will remain so until I decide my publishing avenue).
• I’m an indie writer publishing with a subsidy press (and I don’t see a problem with this).
• I am a vanity writer … but I would like to apologize to the self-published and indie writers that the publishing world puts my label on you.

“I’m a Self-Published Writer”: Within the publishing world, if you call yourself “self-published,” then you are making the representation that you are publishing your book completely by yourself. Self-publishing a book by yourself means you are doing the following:

1) You have done by yourself (or contracted out) your own impartial editorial evaluation to assess

• That your title or subtitle reflects the book’s content and is appropriate for the genre.
• That you are targeting the appropriate genre category (fiction, general; fiction, psychology; etc.).
• That you know your target audience (mature read, young adult, etc.).
• That the manuscript is suitable for your target audience based on publishing standards.
• That your “back cover” (hardcover back or paperback) entices a potential reader, appropriately “pitches” your book, and that it meets the standards for bookstores.
• That the keywords you plan to use to market your book are appropriate.
• That the author bio contains “regional-interest statements” such as where you live, work, hobbies, etc.
• That the first page, first chapter engages and captivates potential buyers of the book.
• That the overall premise of the book is appealing for its intended target.
• That the language level is consistent throughout the book.
• That the plot structure holds the attention of your reader and progresses in a coherent manner.
• That the story gives an appropriate sense of time and space, without slowing the pace.
• That your characters are believable (dialogue, action, description, etc.) and introduced for a clear purpose.That the manuscript is free from grammar and punctuation mistakes, and that the writing style allows your reader to transcend beyond the typed words.

2) Based on the recommendations of the editorial evaluation, you have performed by yourself (or contracted out) any or all of the following editorial services:

• Copyediting.
• Line editing.
• Content editing.
• Developmental editing.
• “Book doctoring.”
• A “ghostwriter.”
• Proofreading.
• If non-fiction, indexing.
• Cover copy polish (hardback and/or paperback).
• Consult regarding key words, author bio, tag lines, pitch, etc.

3) After the editorial evaluation and the editorial services are complete, you set out to publish your book:

• You arrange for PRE-SUBMISSION reviews (I can’t stress this enough).
• You format your book (both hardback and paper) or contract the service out.
• You register your work with the U.S. Copyright Office.
• You secure an ISBN number.
• You bring together all the front cover elements (cover art, fonts, etc.)
• You bring together all the back cover elements (reviews, bio, pitch)
• You arrange bookseller discounts.
• You arrange distribution.
• You arrange returnability for your book through the distributor.
• Secure a domain name and/or research blog sites.
• You speak with others who have successfully been involved in publishing, because I’m sure I’m missing something.

4) After you have published your book, you set out to market/promote your book (or you contract out a book marketer/promoter):

• You get your book placed on Amazon.com and BN.com (which is EASY, but how will they find you?).
• You move into cyberspace: Twitter, FaceBook, blogging, book forums, online reviewers, your website, etc.
• You submit THE POSITIVE PRE-SUBMISSION REVIEWS THAT YOU NOW HAVE IN HAND, to bookstores (indie and local retail), to booksellers, to any place that stocks books, you post them on your website, blogs, ask and beg your cyber world to take note of them, etc.
• You look into Podcast postings to entice readers.
• You push the book through e-book distributors.
• You push for a traditional publishing house to recognize you (if this is an end goal).
• You try to set up interviews (radio shows, journals, blogs, etc.).
• You ask your community for support.
• You contact indie bookstores for support and to shelf the book.
• You arrange book signings.
• You respond to this blog and tell us what else we should do!

“I’m an Indie writer”: within the publishing world, this means you are independent and maintain control over your manuscript. There are three types of “indie writers”:

• I’m an Indie writer looking for an agent or a publishing deal. When you do land that great publishing deal, many “indie writers” would argue that you are no longer “indie” because you have lost creative control over your manuscript.
• I’m an Indie writer who is self-publishing (see “self-publishing” journey above).
• I’m an Indie writer going with a subsidy press – meaning, your manuscript will go through the SAME JOURNEY as a self-published manuscript but you will be subsidizing the costs in order to take advantage of the subsidy press’s knowledge in the industry. That subsidy press will help guide you and do some of the work that is outlined in the self-publishing journey.

**CAUTION: You CANNOT be an Indie writer AND a vanity writer at the same time.

How do I know that “I am a vanity writer”?

• You set out to self-publish your book without any editorial evaluation or editorial services.
• You engaged the services of a subsidy press but refused to partake in an editorial evaluation or editorial services (and mind you, a previous comment was left on this site about a writers group who provide free proofreading and editing to one another … but you still don’t partake in these support groups).

** BOTTOM LINE, you’re a vanity writer, if, When you read what a Self-Publishing writer does, and you say to yourself, “Jeez, I didn’t have to do that much to get my book published.” If you’re either a vanity writer or involved in the publishing world and have “accidentally” labeled an Indie writer as a vanity writer, please help us “Indie writers” correct the mistake.

We are out here … we know who we are … and we are working hard for the recognition.

Question: Why Can’t I Get Published?

Answer: It’s NOT Who You Know, That’s For Sure.

I’m going to assume that my path into the self-publishing world might be slightly different from most. Why? Because I have a celebrity husband, and one would think that with his Rolodex, his wife would land a publisher regardless of typos, theme content and fragmented sentences. I mean, after all, I’ve seen haggard wives and busty mistresses casted in the movies of A-List directors time and time again. For this “Hollywood” household, though, it didn’t work that way. My rejection was the same as yours: “Great story but we just don’t think its commercial enough.”

I’ve made this my second blog because I want all the first-time novelists, who have a few typos in their manuscripts but strong theme content along with a swift writing style, to believe in yourselves and understand in today’s publishing world what “not commercial enough” means.

Here’s the path:

The Husband: Bruce McNall, a man who’s both famous and infamous. He has own Wikipedia page, biography (published through Hyperion), IMDB listing, about 200,000 Google hits and lots of black-tie invitations. You can read his story; I don’t feel like telling it. I’ve heard it at almost every high-power networking dinner I’ve attended.  It’s old (btw, I do love him) and besides, I have my story to tell; albeit, fiction.

The Rolodex: I did submit my book to my own “one connection.” Well, it was the co-author of Bruce’s biography, Michael D’Antonio, but he’s my friend, too (he wanted to learn about me over a casual dinner with Bruce and me). That contact turned into a “promise” from a top literary agent, made to Michael, that he’d read my book. I turned on my AOL “You’ve got mail” chime so I could hear e-mail arrivals from any room in the house; four months out, that e-mail promise was never fulfilled.  And when my impatience grew into patience, what did I do? I went to Bruce and asked for help. Two top entertainment agents, one TOP literary agent, and a top publishing CEO. There were four e-mails Bruce sent out and four reply e-mails Bruce received the next day saying that they’d accept submission.

August 25, 2009: A very important date relative to my journey. The .pdf file went out to the four “connections” mentioned above. An important side note, just two weeks ago (January 2010) I thought of a tagline for my novel: Catcher in the Rye meets the Jaycee Dugard story, sprinkled with Psychology Today. Back to the importance of the date; on August 26, 2009, Jaycee Dugard was discovered (she had been kidnapped and missing for 18 years). It was an eerie coincidence for me; the protagonist that I had been living with for a year paralleled the trauma of this individual. Headline news story parallels my theme. Does it possibly sound commercial?

The Responses:

• The TOP agent. We heard from his assistant first. Only took a week, maybe a day less. “A powerful story … must be told … narrative voice … not strong enough.” Weird, that was my number one strength pointed out by the impartial readers I had been able to find to read the manuscript.
• One of the top entertainment agents. A great guy (he and his wife both have asked about my life at dinner). Although his literary department felt the same (not commercial enough), yet his response to reading my manuscript developed my confidence and validated my publishing mission.
• Top CEO of a publisher. He forwarded to Bruce his e-mail thread between himself and a staff editor of the publishing company. The editor thought the book was great but pulled sales numbers from similar genres (YA category; I’m hoping mine crosses over but marketed as MA), and again, pointed out as a first-time novelist, the manuscript would be a commercial risk.
• And the last response…

November 2, 2009: While the above three responses came in, their rejections were soothed over by the conversations Bruce was having with the Chairmen of the biggest talent agency in Los Angeles.  Six weeks before this November date, he called Bruce surprised, thinking my manuscript was another “make my wife happy” favor. The readers for the literary department read my manuscript, it came back with such high marks, that “Dayna is in the system. She’ll be assigned an agent.” Three weeks later, Bruce asked, “What’s the status of Dayna’s book?” Answer: “It’s on [blank’s] desk. Don’t worry. It’s a great book.” I Googled the name of the Manhattan agent (aka, “blank”)…. My internal dialogue “oohhh, wow. She’s big time.” A few sprinkles of “don’t worries” came here and there, and then on November 2, 2009, the big “R” came; “Sorry, they didn’t think it was commercial enough … but, we’ll send you a list of other agents that we’re sure will be happy to represent Dayna.”

Guess what, People? Screw that! I signed with a self-publishing company 30 minutes later … why go down the ladder when I can invest in myself?

And guess what Publishing World? If you define “commerciality” based on expected profitability in relation to your overhead, readers and writers alike are screwed! Relying on established writers to insure your overhead is covered leaves little room for unproven writers to grow into established authors. We all start somewhere, don’t we?

Or maybe I’ve just defined the new evolution of publishing, wherein the self-publishing industry weeds out vanity press and ushers in the unrecognized … the unproven.

Follow me in the blogs to come to see what the outcome will be. Until then … cheers!

The Resources for Starting Down the Self-Publishing Path

Welcome.  Please don’t hestitate to critique, suggest, advise and/or comment.  You will be heard.  I will follow-up on any leads that contribute to the success of the self-publising/indie author world.  I’m dedicating this site to help inform writers about the self-publishing path.  Does it work?  Will your work be stigmatized?  How will you promote the work?  How does the book selling world respond to self-publishers?  How much time does it take?  How much money is reasonable to invest?   

To start with, if my self-publishing journey ends in a success, then the Ford Motor Company deserves a huge THANK YOU from all self-publishers/PODs that benefit from my experience.

Question:  What is “success” in this context?

Answer:  I will measure my success based on my ability to do the following:

• Honing in on my target audience and learning how to effectively reach out to them.
• Getting independent bookstores to shelf my book.
• Getting book review magazines and journals to accept my pre-submission (e.g. Library Journal).
• Getting my book shelved in libraries.
• Getting my book reviewed by credible online book reviewers who are willing to blog and post reviews on Amazon, B&N and other high-exposure sites.
• Learning how to set up and successfully promote book signings.
• Getting my book as a recommended read at online book social sites (e.g. Goodreads.com).
• Getting my book listed on e-book sites (e.g. Smashwords.com).
• Getting my book submitted for awards and/or recognitions within my genre.
• FOLLOW UP ON LEADS THAT OTHER SELF-PUBLISHED/POD AUTHORS RECOMMEND IN ORDER TO REFINE WHAT IT TAKES TO SUCCESSFULLY PROMOTE A SELF-PUBLISHED BOOK.

Said another way, create a platform wherein my novel will be given the opportunity to launch (release date March 1, 2010).  Will this ensure that my novel will be a commercial success?  Absolutely not.  But… my readers will be able to find the book and from there, they will dictate my success.

Question:  Why Ford Motor Company?

Answer:  I think it was January or February of 2009 when I heard President Obama say, in response to the auto industry failing, “Ford is an icon for what the American industry stands for.  They will not fail.”  So… I took a chunk of my tax return funds and bought 3,000 shares of Ford stock at $1.78.  It’s gone up… a lot; I’ll leave it at that.

And… why… do we care?  Because I have spent, to date, $8,448.00 on self-publishing my book.  All of which, thanks to ScottTrade.com, came from my Ford stock.

Question:  Are you crazy?  Why so much?

Answer:  I will explain in my next blog how I determined to take the Self-Publishing route.  But for now, let me leave you with my logic in this regard:  If I do all the things a publisher does to promote/market a book (minus industry connections), then in theory I should be able to do for my book what a smaller publishing house would do.  And if I cannot do what (in relative proportion) a traditional publisher can do, then Self-Publisers/PODs, we are being taken for a ride… because financially doing it the right way will not be an excuse.  Instead, there’s obstacles in our way within the industry. 

So I remind you, if my journey is a success, please extend a thank you to Ford.  And then of course revolt that it costs this darn much!

Thanks for reading and I hope learning of my experience works into your own success.

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