One of the most common questions I get asked when I go to a book signing, fair, tradeshow, etc. goes something like this, "I have this great idea for a kids book and I wanna get it published. Who should I call?" Some of the questions are more like, "I have this great book… When will the publishers come find me?" and some are more like, "What can you (meaning me) do to get my book published?"
I love these questions. I have also spent hours answering these questions. The reason I can answer these questions is because if there was a mistake to be made, I have made it…
Let's start at the beginning. You have a book that you have written. Chances are you did not illustrate it yourself, or, you have a "family member" who poorly illustrated it, or, by the grace of God, you actually have some artistic talent or someone in your family does. Presuming the more likely scenario, you need an illustrator.
Join the SCBWI. This stands for Society for Children's Bookwriters and Illustrators. The cost is nominal, I think like $75 a year or something like that, and there is scores of opportunity in it for you, including a GREAT list of illustrators for you to thumb through. There's also other things like local workshops in your area that allow you to meet agents, editors, publishers; you know, people in the biz that you MUST know to make it in the biz.
So; now that we have the horse WELL in front of the cart, lets back the ponycart up. You have written a book, you may even have an illustrator for your picture or chapter book. Now what? You've sent out galleys to the big six (Simon Schuster, Random House, Penguin, Scholastic, blah blah blah) and nobody is interested. That is because… nobody wants to be interested. They are inundated with material, in excess of 1000 new submissions per week.
At this point, you've probably asked, "What's a galley?" Here is secret number one… nobody wants to review your book after it is published and released! NOBODY!!!
That's just plain stupid you are thinking. Guess what; you're absolutely right! But it doesn't make it not true… There is a protocol to getting a children's book released and I will walk you through that. Otherwise, you will wind up with a garage full of books you can hardly sell… Trust me… been there, done that.
So, stay tuned… there is a method and I will teach you the method.
Back Up…
ReplyDeleteO.K. Maybe I had a little bit of a flight of thought yesterday. Let's start at the beginning. That way, I can walk you through what got me into the business and the natural path of tragedy and terror that I accidentally took. Then, maybe we can keep you off that path.
I wrote and illustrated a book for my youngest son when he was born. It was intended for an audience of two… me, and him. He is now eighteen years old (as of August 2011). At the time, my two oldest sons were eight and ten years old and though they loved each other dearly, they also hated each other, as only close brothers can, and consequently I wrote about sibling rivalry because…I knew it inside and out. I also fashioned the characters after creatures from the Pacific Northwest, something that I thought Chase would relate to home, later in life, when he was off to see the great wide world, but naturally occasionally thought of Idaho, and now Washington.
Here is the other slice to this story. I was a twin. Her name was Vonnie, and she was the bomb! I have never encountered someone so alive and in touch with their own delicate mortality as she was. Now I'm not just being biased (although I am 100%) because anyone else that knew her, also knew this about her. Vonnie had a childhood illness, so could not have children. She lived very vicariously through my sons, and they adored her. She was the "cool" mom to them. Looked just like me, only not such a drag at times. Anyway, Vonnie loved the book and said, "You know, Sharon–you should really think about getting that published…"
And then she died...
O.K. So I'm getting this blogging thing figured out. The previous post from unknown was me, but you've probably figured that out already.
ReplyDeleteSo, Vonnie died, in her sleep, at the age of 37. This plummeted my world into chaos as you can imaging. When I finally pulled out of despair into plain old depression, I took the book and shelved it. It was too raw to look at, and so it sat in a closet for nearly ten years. It doesn't mean I quit writing or painting, I just didn't have the motivation to follow up with thoughts of publishing.
Ten years later, I pulled the book out of the closet and reconsidered what Vonnie had thought about it, that I should publish it. So, in a very backwards fashion, I pulled up the resource that most of you have probably discovered by now, the Children's Book Publisher's Directory. I was so sure that one would be thrilled to pick up the book that I figured out which one's accepted e-submissions and sent query letters to almost all of them… Then I waited for nothing…
Time passed and I ran across Tate Publishing online, sent them a query letter, and they were so excited about the book! IF I sent them a big wad of cash. First things first, NEVER accept an agent or publisher or editor that wants money up front. Tate Publishing is what is called a vanity publisher. They will accept ANY manuscript as long as you pay. Avoid vanity publishers like the plague; they feed on your vulnerability and desire to have your book published. So here I was, with a whole lot of nothing for my efforts… What next?
I decided to just try to print the books myself, and started to check into local printers and bindaries. I found one who referred me to a press company called Gray Dog in spokane. They are a very small publishing company as well, work almost entirely with local authors, but can only bind in glued paperback as they are really just a kinkos print franchise called Gray Dog.
ReplyDeleteThey agreed to take Lost and Alone on, and printed the books, about a hundred of them. It was expensive for me, roughly $6.50 a copy for me, and not very brightly done or accurate to the original artwork. I thought, oh well; at least their printed in the United States. I started to sell a few books at the local Hastings and at art and street fairs, etc. and then to my dismay, when I introduced the follow-up book, I'm Just Like You, I noticed the books were falling apart! Literally, pages falling out.
I bagged Gray Dog instantly, was terribly embarrassed about the books I already had out, and checked into online book printing like Zulu and Snapfish, and they do a nice job, if you do all the work, and charge you way in excess of what MSRP will be.
I was in a pickle. I had two books, and no way to make them. It was then that someone mentioned to me a site called www.alibaba.com. You can go there and find very competetive prices for ANYTHING, worldwide. I went there and started to search for a company that could make my books. Most of them were in China, India, Korea, etc. but I found one that was competitive in Post Falls, Idaho, right next door and in driving distance, so I went and paid them a visit.
Wow… where did yesterday go? I dunno… anyway, So, I did two things at once. I went to Crown Media in Post Falls and talked to them about book production. I was stunned at how cheaply I could get them made, then disappointed that THEY send the work out to their factory in China. I was at a dead end, however, so ordered books.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time, I started media work. I built my own website on my mac (that is a daunting task in itself) and realized that to be reputable, I needed a publisher to. I am, technically, the author/illustrator. I still didn't feel I needed an agent, and certainly didn't want to give away all the precious proceeds I would make to a publisher, so I opened a small, independent publishing company. Then, I did a very smart thing. I joined the IBPA (Independent Book Publishers' Association). This did two things, it authenticated my Publishing company, and it gave me avenues to advertisement.
As I was waiting for book hard copies, I started researching awards competitions and book-fairs and shows that I could go to. Now right about now you are asking yourself, "How did she fund this?" That is a great question, and the answer is simple. I worked a full time/plus job and threw everything I had into the books, writing an painting in the evenings and on the weekends. Life was a grind...
I started to notice that people in the industry meet up at intervals at important workshops, seminars, etc. and I thought I'd go to one. It went for the biggest fish in the ocean, Book Expo America, in New York City, or as people in the biz call it, BEA. More about that experience in a little bit, but keep it in the back of your mind… that was a book publishing changing event…
ReplyDeleteLet me back up a little bit too. Prior to me getting Crown Media to produce hardbound/smythesewn copies of my books, I was going to book events with my crappy little paperbacks that were falling apart. I tried to glue the pages in myself at one point and finally abandoned the paperback copies of my books all-together and terminated all representation from the printer that was making them. BUT… I did take one copy of the smaller book, that seemed to be holding together, and sent it off to the Mom's Choice Awards, hoping to at least get some good feedback or a review. Low and behold, it won a silver medal for Children's Picture Book dealing with family values!
This was crucial for me. It was a form of validation outside of my friends and family. That brings up this whole new topic of awards competitions. Should you enter? In my opinion, yes, and I'll explain. Shortly after I won the MCA silver medal, I got books! Hardbound, smythesewn, books. They weren't production perfection, but the average person wouldn't notice the small flaws in production.
SOOOooo, with a stack of books, I Googled awards competitions and promptly entered the, what I perceived as the better of the two in the series, into awards competitions. I WON!!!… nothing…
However, I exposed a LOT of people to my little book, unknowingly, and when I surfaced later at BEA, it made me more aware of where my book had surfaced in the big sea. But more on that later too. You can google search for children't picture book awards and literally, there are dozens out there. It is a royal pain to write (I made a draft and just inserted addresses and names) for each one, and expensive to mail (use media mail btw for your every day shipments. MUCH less expensive, but you can't confirm shipment so don't use it for your MUST RECEIVE shipments like Caldecott submission). I have a folder on my desktop that is just award competitions to enter. You should start one too.
At about the same time that the books came out in hardback, actually, just a few months before, I went to the annual SCBWI meeting here in Spokane. There was an agent, publisher and other published authors who spoke and gave small seminar classes. Also, for a fee, I was able to have one of my books reviewed. This did two things for me. It exposed me to people in the business, and it gave me a strong, critical analysis of my writing and illustrations. This made me take a good look at myself abilities and challenge myself. It also made me want it even more…
ReplyDeleteSo I had books on December 1st, 2011, and paid somebody to develop my website so that it had a professional look to it and shopping carts so that people could buy my books from me. I then decided it was time to get my books out there as e-books. I did a little research and came up with a site called smashwords. It allowed me to download my e-books and post them online. Through smashwords, they became available for download from virtually any site, including amazon, barnes and noble and borders. A word of caution at this point. Smashwords is not necessarily a "secure" site to download from. Meaning material can be confiscated and pirated. There are companies that will place your e-book online for you for a very minimal price.
Here is another important pearl…don't charge anything! When you publish it (and I also recommend placing it on amazon kindle as a seller too) pick the price to be $0.00. You are not known and until you are, you need people to see your book. So, make it free. Just let them have it. Hopefully, after they download the e-book, they'll want the hard copy too and will go to your website and order it.
So, this is what I did; I put it out there as an e-book, and then did another thing, I recorded it as a video/audiobook on garageband and downloaded the video onto youtube. I also had my webdesigner link the youtube site to my webpage and made it free for people to view. When I sell books, my website is printed on the back of the books, and I make sure to tell people they can visit the website and click on the book for their child to listen to me reading it set to music and sound effects while they are read it.
I want to step backwards for a moment, to when I was talking about entering the different awards competitions. Here is a little slice of info that I wish I had known then, that I know now. I touched on it before. Once your book has been officially released, it is old news. Nobody wants to review old news. There are roughly 25-30 major review networks that make review of books a priority. They want to see new books 4-6 months before their official release date in order to review it prior to it being "old news." If you book is already out (and mine were) they are not interested. So here I was, with a nice shiny stack of new books, and nobody to review them. I didn't know the "protocol", but I do now…and that's a big one. Write that one down.
ReplyDeleteIt is important that you have a warehouse and distributor when you get your books. A big room in your house will work, or a shed (as long as it's dry and not too hot) or your garage, but it is quite possible that whoever printed your books (for me it was crown media in Post Falls, Id.) and they warehouse for me. They charge me $15 a pallette. I have 3 pallettes so I pay $45 a month to store my books. I was having them do distribution for me as well (packaging and shipping out orders) but their handling costs wound up being more expensive than the profit margin, so now, I handle that for myself, from myself. I order bulk shipping boxes (Louvered hard shell so I can ship up to one inch thick worth of books) for about 30 cents apiece. This works for me until my ordering gets so big that I need to figure something else out. I run to the post office about three times a week, and like I said, use media mail rates. It's much cheaper than priority. The only drawback to media mail is that you cannot confirm delivery, but the hassle of having one not make it is worth the savings (for now). I will chat with you about distribution companies in our next session...
ReplyDeleteI have fallen off the planet for a bit… unacceptable. So, where were we, oh yes, distribution companies. Distribution companies are important. They distribute, to chain stores like Cosco, Barnes & Noble, etc. There are two big ones; Ingram and Baker & Taylor. It's fairly easy to get in with them; Inram anyway. There is an application process. You need to fill that out, pay a one time fee, and you are in with them. Baker & Taylor is a bit more complicated. They require a business and marketing plan. Be serious about this. There are tons of free templates online. I think I used Business in a box. 58 pages later and 8 copies, spiral bound and copies at kinkos, I had a contract with Baker & Taylor. The first thought I had was, o.k… now what. Months later, I am getting orders from Baker & Taylor, for bookstores. The down side is, they require a 55% markdown, so I about break even. The good news is, I'm getting books out there. So, get in with at least Ingram. (try them first, they're a bit easier.) We'll talk a little bit about getting orders through them too, but it's my first night back and I need some chocolate… I will blog tomorrow, I promise.
ReplyDeleteOkay, two steps forward… time for the step back. You need a webpage. First, I designed it through a site called intuit.com. It was fairly easy really. The hard part was getting the domain name and linking it to a host. I went through godaddy, I think. This can be difficult, especially if you're going through a program that requires you learn html (a futile act for this stage of the game in my opinion). Then I got a little mac laptop. I had a program on designing webpages, and so I redesigned it, linked it by only a stroke of luck to my same host server, and was up and running. I was able to go to my paypal account and develop a button for sales even. However, in retrospect, I wish I'd spent my time working a few extra shifts at the hospital and just paying a professional to do it right the first time. They can set up a nice multi-tiered shopping cart and make sure you don't have any glitches. Now hold your breath, when I say a few extra shifts, I mean just that (at least three, which technically is a few). It is not cheap. Plan on spending at least $1,000.00 doing this, and if you can get it done nicely for less, than bravo! And if you have a nerdy friend that can whip one out, that is a blessing! Save those auto mechanic and computer geek friends! They are invaluable! Pick a name that you want to stick with. In other words, if your first book is The adventures of Buggy Bear, don't name it buggybear.com. Then when you right wimpy wabbit, where will he go? Pick a name that encompasses your philosophy, your creativity, that says who you are. My nickname is Birdy. I like to write, I like to talk. I'm TalkingBirdBooks.com. Perfect...
ReplyDeleteAlright… I just learned, just now, that if you post a comment more than a few words long, copy it. That way, if it doesn't post, you can just repaste your cleverness and not have to retype the whole damn thing.
ReplyDeleteWhat I was going to blog about yesterday was editors. If you have written a masterpiece, and are ready for the world to see it, you need an editor. Before you click next page, hear me out. IF your have self-edited your work, even if you ARE and English major, or, if you have a friend or family member that is an English major or just very smart, that is not…I repeat…NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!! A professional editor is trained to recognize not only the routing, like grammar, punctuation, sentence and paragraph structure and flow, they are trained to recognize what other publishers, agents and critics will judge you on, including POV, head-hopping, redundancy of words, comments, repetition in paragraph starts, accuracy of place, time and event for a time period, and superfluous material that does not contribute to your piece. My second children's picture book was short, rhyming, and fairly easy (I thought) to self edit. When this book was critiqued at BEA by Foreward Magazin (a major review magazine), while they liked the story and art, I was dinged for editorial content, including overuse of ellipses, and a few punctuation errors (that I just missed! even though I read over it many times!) You have poured your heart into your masterpiece. Now, send it to an editor, and when you get it back, go through the changes. Remember, YOU have the final say on whether an editorial change is accepted or rejected. You go through it and hit accept or reject. Then, RESEND it back to your editor and do it again, then a third time. Only THEN is your baby ready to grow up and walk into the big, wide world. Also, a word of caution, make sure your editor is actually reputable. Get references, make sure they have been in the biz, and can be trusted. Just in case you DO have the next best-seller, there are editors out there that would slice and slash your manuscript out of jealousy. Sorry; it does exist. And, if you DO find an editor that you trust, stay with them. You will develop a wonderful relationship. One last thing; they are not expensive, but not cheap. Ordinarily, they are from between $1.50 and $2.50 a page, and worth every penny! Also, have a drink or two before you open that first edit. All the red can be alarming and you will feel as though your manuscript committed hari-kari on itself. With time, you will welcome it as a loving and therapeutic blanket, but until then, happy editing! Writing your piece is only a fraction of your work, but after you edit and re-edit and re-edit, the final result is also your creation, only more magnificent!
ReplyDeleteSo… you have decided to jump in. Why? What is your goal if you want to offer up the jugular (technically the carotid will kill you faster) to the world? It's scary; what is the tradeoff? and it better be good… This business of self publishing can take you many of directions. Let me tell you about a gentleman I met at Book Expo america in NYC. He is a publisher. I went there looking for a publisher. He seemed perfect, and in truth he was, but he said something SOOOOoooo amazing. He said, "Sharon… why would you do all this work just to give it to somebody else?" His name, by the way is Taylor Dye, exaltpress.com. A big shoutout to him. Anyway, his comment was earth shattering for me… Do I want to give this away? Do you? I can't answer this for you. This is so much work, you are wearing so many hats, what if a publisher comes along and wants to assume your title? What if it takes off as an e-book and then an agent contacts you? Or an editor? There is a little voice in the back of your head; it's called your instinct (but I call mine Vonnie). When you listen to it, you will almost always do well. ignore it and that is usually the times that you end up in a pickle. What am I doing with it all? I'm keeping it to myself… for now. I've had a publisher in China ask for the chinese publication rights. I didn't do it, for now…
ReplyDeleteI've been away for a bit (chuckles deeply…) I had a new book released January 1st, and have been up to my eyeballs with it and some other stuff. I'm involved in a "blog tour" right now. You know what? I didn't even know what a blog tour was. You know what else, I love these people! My PR company, who I pay a LOT of money to (and I think it is paying off) enrolled me in this. Essentially, bloggers talk about the book and do a giveaway if they want. It's awesome, and has launched The Sneezy Wheezy Day into the top 100 amazon free e-book downloads! You may ask, "so what, what's the point of a free download?" Exposure…let me say that again…EXPOSURE! I am not well known, and neither are you or you wouldn't be here, and so any exposure is good! And here's another thing, If you see that someone has reviewed the book, even if it's a bad review, be gracious and thank them! You can even say, "Thank you so much for reviewing my book, blah blah blah, and I'm so sorry you hated it, but seriously, thank you for taking the time to decide that! Sincerely, so n' so." A little bit of humility goes a long way in a world that is a lot smaller than you think it is.
ReplyDeleteHi Sharon,
ReplyDeleteI would love to know more about what your PR company does for you and how much you pay them. Also if you have figured out what things actually lead to increased sales and what things not to waste your time on.
Thanks!
Hi Mary, The PR company that works with me I met at BEA (Book Expo America) a year ago. BEA is a great way to network and meet publicists, publishers, media specialists, etc. and I met PR by the Book at the awards ceremony, as a matter of fact. PR is not cheap. During the non blackout months I pay $2,500 a month (usually 3 months straight) and then follow up with a few months of followup ($1,000/mon) but good PR is worth it. They get you the TV spots, radio interviews, and online reviews from not just your everyday 'can't write so I'll criticize' bloggers, but reputable people and companies in the business. That is important. Will I use PR by the Book again? Probably (I'm in the middle of a campaign as we speak for Marlow and the Monster) but I am always scouting for fresh assets that can bolster Talking Bird Books. I'm always on the lookout for good team members. I have someone who designs my webpage, an electronic media company, a great editor, media company, printer and several good distributors. I also employ some short term online media campaigns, and jump back and forth with these. Some months it will be through IBPA, sometimes independent firms, whoever is running a deal. They ALWAYS have specials, so ask them for it, even if you are firsttime. It will usually save you at least a few hundred bucks! I also do Facebook ads, small campaigns on my business site that pimps the latest post. That brings traffic to my website. Like I said, PR is expensive, so I look for the bargains. They will ALWAYS have you back. Cheap PR? your best is facebook and twitter. If you aren't on, get on. But read above–you don't want to just gratuitously pimp yourself out. Be involved and interested and people are interested back. Learn about it, hashtags, your wall, updates, "likes". Get into it…that's where a huge audience is.
ReplyDeleteSharon,
ReplyDeleteBefore I write an in depth page to you, I want to see if this gets to you.
Larry Keough
www.fragilly.com
Yes Larry, It got to me :)
ReplyDeleteSo, I've been carrying most of my posts directly on the webpage, but am going to try to be more consistent here on the blog. I've had a ton of stuff going on. Large error on a print this week. I have a great media company, they're called Crown Media & Printing and they're in Liberty Lake, Washington. So, I've had a few books printed through them, and they were produced in China. The books were fine, but I feel strongly about having stuff done in the US whenever I can, and after the first couple books, I was in a position to pursue this. So, I kinda put the pressure on the media company and they were exceptional about coming up with a solution that was more expensive than China, but not by much. The production occurred in Texas and the rendition was beautiful, the quality definitely above the first two. Paper quality was lovely, cover exquisite, etc. Then book four comes along, and we go with this same company, and get several thousand books in the first order, and the paper quality was dismal…the printer was unwilling to reprint, said my media company signed off on it and even though we indicated "same paper as the previous book" that is not what was written on the order. SOOOooo, my media company has been fabulous. They absorbed the cost of an entire reprint, assumed responsibility for the mistake and we are getting a new shipment. Here is what I learned, first…I have a great media company and I can't speak high enough about them. Second, know your details. I now know paper quality and weights (this I had assumed my media company would ensure just by me saying "I want it pretty".) They do, to some degree, but it only helps for me to know it too. Information is power, so they say. And if I hadn't had Crown step up to the plate, this project woulda been trashed, and released as digital only…which would have been a shame as it is the best one so far.
ReplyDelete