How To Respond To Reviews

I have a tiny blog called The Self-Publishing Review in which I consider self-published books from the viewpoint of a mainstream publishing editor. As I read I count all the errors and instances of sloppy writing that I find; and once I've found fifteen problems I stop reading and post details of how far I got in the book, and the sorts of errors I found.

I began the blog because a self-published writer took exception when I wrote that most self-published books were dreadful. He insisted I just hadn’t seen enough of them: and so I decided to start my review in order to rectify that.

Overall, I’ve found it a disappointing experience. Judging by the books I’ve been sent so far, the vast majority of self-published writers are bad writers who have published terrible books. So far I’ve only read one book right through to the end. I’ve not even got half-way through any of the others and some of the writers involved have not taken it too well: a few have tried to engage me in arguments and one author even had the misfortune of having some very argumentative friends who were determined to defend her writing reputation.

I was more than a little pleased when Rosalie Warren, the author of Charity's Child, emailed me to thank me for the review I’d written about her book. It was clear that she had thought about my comments, understood them, and had gone on to apply them to the rest of her book. I had no doubt that her writing would improve as a result of her positive attitude and I wasn't surprised when I subsequently learned that she has a novel called Low Tide, Lunan Bay being published today by a good mainstream publisher, Robert Hale. I shall buy myself a copy with a great big smile on my face—which is much more than I'd have done if she'd argued with me!

Self Publishing: Get Your Facts Straight

Daniel Poynter is a self-styled expert on the self-publishing world. He has written and self-published many books which he claims have sold than a million copies worldwide. He offers a self-publishing consultancy service, and has a web site packed full of information for the aspiring self-publisher. And he's not alone: a quick Google reveals thousands of websites which suggest that self-publishing is a good route to success.

Daniel Poynter offers for sale a list of his own self-published books, and he also sells "My Book Project In A Binder" (you'll need to scroll nearly all the way down to find it), which is priced at $297 and seems to consist of a zippered three-ring binder with a CD, some paper and coloured dividers. He is nothing if not resourceful.

However, in his zeal to promote self publishing as a viable route into print (and, by doing so, to sell a few more copies of his self-published books about self-publishing) Mr Poynter has allowed a few errors to creep onto his site. In this PDF (which will download if you click the link), Poynter lists several authors who he claims are self-publishing successes. But in many cases the writers he names didn’t actually self publish: either publishing was a whole different business when the writers were alive (like William Blake), or they didn't self-publish anything (like John Grisham). And while it's true that Mark Twain did self-publish he almost bankrupted himself in the process, and then had to undertake a lecture tour to pay off the resulting debts which nearly killed him. So when you read sites like Dan Poynter's, be very sceptical about some of the claims you find: and remember The Big Question About Self-Publishing Successes.

Trios: Devil’s Gold, by Julie Korzenco—Marketing The Book

Julie Korzenko, author of Devil's Gold, has been kind enough to arrange a trio of articles for me about the publication of her book. Two weeks ago Julie described how she found a home for her book; last week her editor at Medallion Press, Emily Steele, discussed the editorial process; and this week Paul Ohlson, Medallion Press's Marketing Manager, takes his turn in the spotlight. But first, a brief note from Julie.

My first book signing for Devil's Gold took place on March 7, 2009. I had appropriately threatened, er I mean invited, all friends and family to what I hoped would be a pleasant evening and not the nail-biting excruciating experience of being the only person to show up at my own debut. Much to my relief, it was a wonderful event. But what made it even more special was the additional effort of the book store owner. She had received her monthly copy of Book Page and was thrilled to find Devil’s Gold advertised. When I arrived at the store, right next to my stack of books, was a framed print of the advertisement. It made me feel special and loved by my publisher. So here’s a big shout out to marketing: thanks for being there on my debut night!


Everyone gets the general concept behind marketing, right? Advertise. You have a product; and in order for people to buy the product, they need to know it exists. Wait a minute, though. Is it really enough anymore just to advertise? Have you ever had this happen? You’re telling a friend about a commercial you like, and when they ask, “What company was that for?” you say, “I don’t know. I can’t remember.”

We are so inundated with advertising that little of it is memorable anymore. How can it be when we see it every minute of the day? At some point, we’re bound to tune it out. But studies still show that you can’t just stop advertising altogether, because if you do, consumers will forget about you! Isn’t it odd that consumers can’t remember companies in advertisements, but if you stop advertising, consumers will forget you exist? So what can we do to stay at the forefront of consumer memory? Repeat, repeat, repeat! Consistently, too!

How does all of this relate to marketing books? Here’s how: Your book is a product. It doesn’t do any good for a product to have a big to-do when it’s released and then just drop off the face of the earth (and out of the minds of consumers, I might add).

Typically what you’ll find throughout the publishing industry is a publisher taking care of the big to-do when a book is released, but the author is then expected to take the reins from there and continue riding that big horse until it wins the race. But so many authors want to create this big push the same month their book releases, and then afterwards their efforts stop—and so do sales.

If you’re not an upper-echelon author or celebrity, then the success of your book is a marathon, not a sprint. This means as an author you must find ways to repeatedly and consistently talk about your book over a long period of time.

Luckily for you, the internet makes this all possible. Sign up for as many social media outlets as you have time to consistently update. Get involved in online groups, forums, and conversations. Arrange interviews with local papers and television stations. Join book clubs at local bookstores. Get to know the owner or general manager of the local bookstores, as a consistent patron of their store first; then several months down the line, if the relationship is good, ask them if they’ll host a signing for you. In other words, create relationships. Do this over a long period of time. How long is long? It’s until your next book releases.

And don’t forget to keep writing! You won’t only need to be consistent with your marketing; you’ll also need to consistently put out new products. This is just a continuation of the repetition. Think of it this way: if you put out a new book every year, then every year your publisher is creating the big to-do for you. In the meantime, you’re marketing that book all throughout the year until your next book releases with another big to-do from your publisher. Talk about consistently, repeatedly staying at the forefront of consumer memory!

My thanks to Paul Ohlson for contributing this piece: he might just pay us a visit at some point today, so if you have any marketing-related questions to ask, do please get them in as soon as you can. Thanks too to Julie, for organising this mini-series, and for offering to give away a free copy of Devil’s Gold: if you'd like to get your hands on it, just email her at “jkorzenko at gmail dot com” and answer this simple question: what is P3? You’ve got until 12 May to get your emails in to her: after that date, Julie will select one lucky winner at random from all entrants who answer correctly.

Full Of The Joys Of Spring

What a lovely day I had yesterday!

The clouds parted, briefly, and while the sun shone a sheep gave birth to twins about twenty yards away from my study window. Both babies are now staggering about and feeding nicely, and I have named them Lamb and Lamb. Like all their contemporaries they will grow up into dense and chunky adolescents which are always oddly unattractive: but for now, they look remarkably sweet and for the next few, brief weeks, I shall adore them.

Our daffodil bank is finally blooming (yes, I know they're later than everybody else's but that's what happens when you plant daffodils up on the moors), and it looks glorious. My son took some photos yesterday morning and when he gets back from school I shall attempt to peel them off his mobile phone and post them here, so you can contrast them with my snow picture.

And I noticed that my stat-counter passed the 50,000 mark at some point during the weekend (it hit 15,000 on New Year's Eve, to put it in context). Either my husband has been feeling sorry for me again and has made his secretary sit there and hit refresh two hundred times a day, or a few of you are reading my posts. Thank you, all, for bothering. I am very pleased.

Guest Review: How Not To Write A Novel, by David Armstrong

My thanks to Daniel Blythe for this review.


How Not to Write a Novel: Confessions of a Mid-list Author, by David Armstrong.

"For every JK Rowling there are 1000 David Armstrongs", explains the blurb to this quirky and curmudgeonly addition to the groaning shelves of the How-To genre. I always made a point of never buying one of these by anyone who hadn't had a novel published — and there are plenty of those blind theorisers out there, believe you me. Would you purchase How To Cook by a Delia wannabe who didn't know her way around a kitchen? Or Learn To Drive by someone with no valid licence? Of course not. Thankfully, Mr Armstrong establishes his credentials with a small but solid canon of crime novels, placing him solidly in what used to be called the 'mid-list'.

A loose A-Z follows, covering such matters as Agents, Discipline, Ideas, Quotations and the Xylophone. If you suspect that the latter is a jokey entry designed to address the problem of covering the letter X, you'd be right. Armstrong's style is dry (ironic-dry, not dusty-dry), chatty, personal and engagingly cynical — at every turn he urges his readers not to become novelists, which I find terribly amusing (not to mention very good advice).

This is far from being just a nuts-and-bolts book — it's a worm's-eye view of the industry, a salutary tale of how a talented writer can be left adrift on the choppy seas of publishing with his editor and agent sailing off in a big yacht. But it's also packed full of useful nuggets, gained from his years of experience — and complemented by the experiences of others. This is certainly one writing manual which won't try to convince you that you can have a bestseller and get rich and famous overnight. Armstrong tells you — from bitter experience — all about the indifference of reviewers, the importance of luck and the trap of the vanity press. He covers tips on dialogue and doing your research. He even dares to question the sacred mantra of 'kill your darlings'. But most of all, he keeps a sense of perspective — which makes this book essential not just for the zealous neophyte, but also for the jaded professional of some years' standing.

And always remember - it's a miserable business. Don't do it.


Daniel Blythe hasn't provided me with a biography to include here, probably because I forgot to ask him for one: but he appears to have written a few books (if you want to appear keen you could even buy a couple); according to my eight-year-old son, who is deeply cynical and notoriously difficult to impress unless you make a fool of yourself, have your own sonic screwdriver, and give away sweeties, he does really good school visits; and he has his own website, too.

Book Review Sites

There are all sorts of book review blogs on the internet, but some are better than others.

Dovegreyreader was one of the first and is still very well-regarded; I like her blog but it takes an age to load for me (yes, I'm still on dial-up...) so I don't read it as often as I would like to; and I am constantly amazed by the number of books that she works her way through.

My friend Sally Zigmond has her own book review blog which I do always read. Our tastes are so similar that I know that if she likes a book then I probably will too: in fact, her opinion is so reliable that I might just as well send her the keys to my Amazon account, and ask her to sort out my reading list in the future.

Tania Hershman, who has featured in my Trios series, runs The Short Review which showcases short story collections.

Smart Bitches, Trashy Books is huge fun, and the reviews are rock-solid; Random Jottings is always worth a look; I know a lot of people who like The Bookbag (but it's not a site I've spent much time on, I'll admit); and Juxtabook is just great.

There are a few book reviews on this blog, too: most are writing-related.

And here, thanks to Editor Unleashed, is a wonderful post which lists all sorts of wonderful book review blogs, as well as some great tips on how to best behave if you want to get your book reviewed. Brilliant.

There are plenty more book review sites: but which are your favourites? Post links, and your reason for liking them, and with any luck we'll end up with a useful list.

How Writers Can Beat The Recession

Every day I read stories of cutbacks in the publishing world. Editors are losing their jobs; imprints are being closed; and I’ve heard reports that many signed-up titles are now being held back from publication and all its associated costs.

Writers watch and worry how on earth they can survive in this difficult time.

There is one certainty: publishing houses are going to need new and better books to publish in order to survive. They are going to have to publish their way out of the recession: they have to keep publishing new books with some sort of regularity or their income stream will dry up. But with fewer lists publishing and fewer editors acquiring, every book that is published is going to have to work harder and generate more income; and writers will have to compete harder for the reduced number of publishing slots that are now available.

The writers who produce exciting, consistent work are going to do well: those whose work shows a little less potential, or which needs more work to get it ready, just won’t get published. So how can writers beat the recession? By being completely reliable: and by writing increasingly better books.

There Are All Sorts Of Ways To Fail

When I worked as a full-time editor I was frequently amazed by the submissions that I received. I worked for a book packager which specialised in highly-illustrated esoteric non-fiction: we packaged books about retreat, meditation, religion and myth on behalf of publishers who didn't have the time or the in-house expertise available to produce the books themselves. And yet every day I received proposals for books which simply didn't match our very specific requirements. Among the many submissions I received were illustrated children's books, car maintenance manuals, fiction of all kinds, memoir, graphic novels and pet-care manuals. My favourite was a children’s story which, judging from the illustrations appeared to be about trolls but I couldn't be sure: it was written in Dutch, with no translation provided.

I received a query letter hand-written on scented, fairy-printed paper, with a sprinkling of loose glitter which fell into my coffee as I opened it; and an entire manuscript which must have been a third or fourth carbon copy (remember those?) judging by its feintness and blurring (that one was made even more memorable by the absence of any spaces, punctuation or paragraph breaks, so the entire text was one great big run-on word). Then there was the hand-written manuscript which arrived with a cover letter urging me not to destroy it, as it was the writer’s only copy—but no postage or return address was provided for its return; and one writer sent me a banana, surrounded in layers of bubble-wrap and encased in a cardboard tube.

All of the writers responsible for those ridiculous submissions must have thought they had a chance of publication with us, or they wouldn’t have bothered to send their work in: but because of the nature of book packaging it was very unlikely that we would ever be able to commission their books, even if those books had come close to our requirements. As a result, the writers concerned wasted everyone’s time and money by making a submission that had no hope of getting accepted.

Because the writers failed on so many basic levels, they failed to get published regardless of the quality of the work that they submitted. If they had only researched their market more carefully before submitting they could have saved themselves time, money and disappointment: and instead could have sent their work somewhere it had at least a chance of being considered for publication.

Sales Statistics: A New York Times Bestseller

Have you ever wondered what a bestselling author earns? Or how many copies are sold as a result of chart placement? Last week, I was thrilled to discover that the author of a book which debuted on the New York Times bestsellers list had made a copy of her latest royalty statement available on the internet, for all to see.

Lynn Viehl writes dark fantasy and science fiction and is published by The Penguin Group USA, and Onyx Books in the UK. By her own admission she does very little promotional work for her books, and her personal blog is a lovely, gentle affair with no overt promotion for her books (but a lot of interesting stuff for writers to consider). When her book Twilight Fall was published last July it hit the New York Times bestsellers list in its first week on sale. It went on to sell nearly 81,500 copies in the first four months after its release, and earned Ms Viehl royalties of nearly $40,000 in that period alone. Her publisher held back $13,500 as a reserve against returns, leaving a royalty figure of $27,700—but as Ms Viehl was paid an advance of $50,000, she has a further $22,300 to make in royalties before this book earns out, after which time all royalties—minus her agent’s fees and tax liabilities—will be hers to fritter on what ever she chooses.

Taken alone, this might not seem very spectacular (a couple of people have already commented on various blogs that they expected a place on the New York Times bestsellers list to depend on higher sales and therefore, higher earnings): but appearing on this list will probably have bumped up sales of Ms Viehl's other books, too, and that has huge implications: Ms Viehl is a very prolific writer who has published a staggering forty-two novels across five different genres using eight different pseudonyms—and all since the year 2000.

I am in awe of her, and more than a little envious: and I bet her house is clean, too!

Trios: Devil’s Gold, by Julie Korzenco—The Editor’s View

Julie Korzenko, author of Devil's Gold, has been kind enough to round up a trio of articles about her book. Last week, Julie described how she found a home for her book; this week Emily Steele, Julie's editor at Medallion Press, discusses the editorial process; and next week we'll learn how Medallion Press markets its books. But first, a note from Julie.


As a first-time author, waiting for my line edits was excruciating. I had no clue what to expect and imagined all sorts of nightmarish situations from rewritten plot lines to insertions of killer pandas instead of wolves. Much to my delight, edits were a piece of cake. There was one item, however, that threw me into a bit of a tailspin. My environmental watchdog organization ZEBRA needed a new meaning to its acronym. Originally it was Zoological Ecological Biological Research Agency. I was a bit “ogical” happy which didn’t sit well with my editor. I had no problem changing it and now prefer the new organization name of Zoological Environmental Bio Research Agency. Shortly after submitting my edits, I woke up in the middle of the night in a panic. ZEBRA had to be changed not only in the manuscript but also on the jacket flap (which had already been created and approved and finalized by the art department) and all websites and online bookstores where my “blurb” was posted. Medallion immediately corrected it everywhere, but it was a momentary challenge to figure out exactly where we had the name posted. I still chuckle when I read the reviews written from my ARC’s as they all refer to my “ogical” ZEBRA.



Within every publishing house is a wicked, horrible editor just waiting for the next aspiring author to send a manuscript into her evil lair so she may dash his hopes and dreams to the ground . . .

Oh, wait.

No.

That’s not actually true.

The truth is that editors are always seeking the next great text, and one of our greatest rewards at Medallion is discovering fresh talent. Reading every manuscript we receive is one step we intentionally take to fulfill our mission to publish well-written products.

Julie Korzenko’s story is a great example of the necessary effort involved in becoming a published author. As an editor at Medallion, I bear witness to the fact that every step Julie took toward publishing Devil's Gold brought her memorable character Dr. Cassidy Lowell to the point at which she was ready to engage her audience through print.

At Medallion, our editors strive to discover and produce works written with passion and an apparent dedication to excellence. Currently, we receive approximately thirty-five manuscripts per week, and we read every one. We don’t want to miss a single opportunity to discover a solid manuscript with a unique twist.

When a manuscript captures our attention, we analyse whether it is well prepared and how much editing the manuscript will require. We check grammatical and structural concerns to see whether we have time within our production schedule to adequately edit and produce the manuscript.

Next, we work with the marketing team to determine whether a market exists for the title. We do this by checking whether comparable titles are selling. This task is initially the author’s and ultimately the publisher’s. If research indicates that a book will produce the sales we need, then we begin working with the author to set the publishing process in motion. If you are passionate about creating and sharing unique stories, keep working hard. Research your market by reading comparable titles and discovering how and why they’re selling. Write with passion. Edit your manuscript well to present your hard work in the brightest possible light. Do these things well, and yours may very well be the next great novel on our readers’ shelves!



My thanks to Julie, for organising this mini-series of blog posts, and to Emily Steele of Medallion Press for her contribution: I'm hoping she might be able to drop by to answer any questions, so do speak up if there's anything you'd like to know about Devil's Gold or Medallion Press.

Meanwhile, Julie has kindly offered to give away a free copy of Devil’s Gold. To be in the running, all you have to do is email her at “jkorzenko at gmail dot com” and answer this simple question: what is P3? You’ve got until 12 May to get your emails in: after that date, Julie will select the lucky winner at random from all entrants who answer correctly.

The Problems With Selling Self Published Books

Mainstream, commercial publishers will publish just about anything they think they can make money on. So when a book is widely rejected (assuming it’s been submitted to the right people and places), it’s because the people who know and understand the market best consider that it’s not commercial enough to sell well. That it’s not going to appeal enough to readers to sell in any quantity.

If a writer then goes ahead and self-publishes the book, chances are it won’t sell many copies. Not only do they have a product which has already been judged insufficiently commercial, they won’t have the same support that commercially-published books receive—no editorial advice, no marketing clout, no sales team, and no promotional material or expertise.

Because they have no editorial support, their book is unlikely to be edited as well as a commercially-published title. Sure, they could get the book worked on by an editorial agency: but this edit is unlikely to be carried out in much detail, and might well focus more on typo-hunting than real line-editing.

Because the first-time self-published writer has no reputation for producing good books they are unlikely to be able to attract the attention of any of the major reviewers, and so that particular promotional route is closed to them.

So long as they have an ISBN, their books will be listed with Gardners and other wholesalers: but they’ll stand very little chance of getting any real distribution for their books; and even if they manage that, they’ll have no sales activity other than that which they carry out themselves—which means they’re restricted to sales in local bookshops only, with little hope of national stock placement. It’s not surprising, then, that few self-published books sell more than fifty or a hundred copies.

The suggestion is often made that self-published books might achieve better sales figures if given the same sort of support that is routine for a commercially-published title.

While some might, I doubt that many would. I've seen a lot of self-published books over the last few years and it's clear to me that most were rejected by the commercial presses because they simply weren’t good enough to command a decent level of sales. I don't think they'd sell many more copies if given more support: I'm just surprised that so many have managed to sell more than five or ten copies each, given their general lack of expertise involved in bringing them to publication.

Happy Birthday To AuthorScoop!

The excellent AuthorScoop celebrated its first birthday this week.

It's a wonderful place full of publishing news and book reviews, presented with a large amount of sharp wit and an unerring sense of style. I rely on it to provide the material for a lot of my coverage here: there's always something I can write about, get irked with, or inspired by, and it enables me to seem a lot more intelligent than I really am.

Many congratulations to William Haskins, who started it all off; and to Jamie Mason, who must have more hours in the day than the rest of us to achieve all she does.

What Editors Want

A few days ago this thread was started on the Authonomy message-board. It eventually degenerated into a sodden late-night exchange, but the post which kicked it all off reinforces much of what I've written here and says it all far more clearly than I could manage: so here is that post in its entirety. I've bolded one line, but that's the only change I've made.



It's late at night, I have a job I'm procrastinating on and the wine is open, so I feel a fit of pomposity coming on. Read no further if you are offended by reminiscing and lecturing.

But here it comes.

An central idee fixee among emerging writers is: 'What do editors want?' Much thought is given to this question, particularly in gathering places like Authonomy. Eventually, when the discussion has built up a head of steam, some all-knowing, squelching person will come along and say "editors are looking for excuses to reject your book. Just one comma out of place and – bam! – book rejected". The conversation is thereby killed and the insecure author feels even more dejected.

This is all wrong. At least, it was in my case and still is false as far as editors I know go.

What editors want, more than ANYTHING else in the world, is for someone to delight them.

Most manuscripts that land on an editor's desk – even, believe it or not, the ones that comes through recommendations, agents, personal friends and authors with track records – range from the unfinished-need-lots-of-work to the outright boring. And that's only speaking of work that has been through the filter. Some of these will be picked up, just because the sausage factory has to keep churning stuff out, but they won't fill the editor with excitement about coming to work in the morning.

Publishing doesn't have many pluses. It's poorly paid, the glamorous lunches are few and far between, and the overseas trips heavily contested. The free books pall after a while (a) because you've soon read them all and (b) because they're probably not your genre anyway.

What makes it all worthwhile are the times when a luminous book pops through the post. A book that from the first masterful sentence transports the reader.

Such books are incredibly rare. But they're fun to work on, they're fun to publish, and they add lustre to an editor's career if they win an award or become a bestseller.

How do you know if you've written a masterpiece?

If you're asking the question, then you probably haven't. The more experienced and expert you are at anything – tennis, swimming, painting, computer programming – the more you instinctively know what works and what doesn't. And you certainly know when you have done something outstanding in your field, even if you don't know HOW outstanding it is. If you're still floundering, hoping for approval for your book, go back to the drawing board.

Because the sort of books that enthrall first the publisher and then the public are books written with verve and confidence, and that's something that comes from talent plus a finely honed craft.

And all that came from a bottle of Californian Zinfandel. Whew, that 16% alcohol is a killer.




My thanks to editor, writer and Authonomy member Osiander, for giving me permission to quote him at such length.

A New Model for Publishing?

For decades, the publishing business has worked pretty well. Writers write books; agents sell those books to publishers; publishers make the books available to the market. Money flows through the system from reader to writer via the publisher and agent. Everyone involved makes money, and gets what they want.

The publishing process—and the flow of money through it—begins to break down when the people involved in it aren't up to scratch.

You've written a book but your writing is so poor that you can't get an agent or a publisher to take you on? Learning to write well is the Old Model for writers, and therefore outdated. Publish your book yourself, then you'll have books in your hand within a week which you can sell direct to your own readers, mistakes and all!

You want to be an agent but you lack the expertise, experience and contacts you need to sell books to publishers? No problem! Make your money direct from writers! There are plenty of them and if they’re paying you direct, you can do away entirely with submitting to publishers. This New Model saves you both time and money!

You're a publisher, but can't sell your books to readers? No problem! Sell them to your writers instead! They’ll not be put off by poor writing or mistakes in their own books, so you can do away with editors; and you won’t have to employ sales people to get your books into bookshops (not that they’d stock them anyway, with all those mistakes in them), as your authors will buy their own books online, direct from you. Your New Model for Traditional Publishing will earn you a heap of cash—and you won’t even have to read any submissions. Just stick them out there as fast as they’re submitted, and watch the cash roll in.

Be very wary of new models of publishing. The old one works just fine.



[Note: this piece first appeared on my blog last June but somehow moved itself back into my list of draft posts, along with a couple of others. I will republish them all when the schedule allows. If you have read it before, apologies for the repetition; if you haven't, then please ignore this!]

Self-Publishing vs Vanity Publishing

Self-publishing and vanity publishing can be very difficult to tell apart.

There are marked similarities between them: both often involve little or no editorial selection or input; both usually produce books which are difficult to market or sell effectively; and very few books from either sector make a decent number of sales. But there are differences too.

Self-publishing involves a writer publishing their own book, and controlling everything from the content to the sales. So the imprint on the copyright page has to be theirs, and not that of the publishing service they’re using. The copyright statement refers directly to them, or indirectly by referring to the copyright holder (who happens to be them), and not to the publisher or printer. If a book is published with someone else’s imprint on the title page, it can’t logically be self-published, right? Further, the self-published writer maintains control of the editing, production, PR and sales processes all the way along: while they might pay other people to do some of the work for them—like editing or design—they project-manage the whole thing. This means that at any stage in the process the self-publisher knows exactly what’s happening with their book, how many copies are printed or sold, and how much profit or loss has been incurred as a result.

As I’ve written before, a vanity publisher is defined as a publisher which makes the majority of its money from its writers rather than its readers, whether by up-front charges or through selling books back to them once the book is published (which is how PublishAmerica does business). It’s a question of focus here, and websites are a good source of information: if the publisher focuses on finding new readers to sell to, chances are it’s a mainstream house; if its focus is on impressing writers and getting them to submit then chances are it’s a vanity press. Writers who use a vanity publisher have little or no control of the publishing process, they usually don’t have easy access to sales or royalty figures, the imprint on the copyright page is rarely theirs (although I have seen this happen) and often the copyright statement doesn’t refer to them either. Then you can argue that there’s a question of intent on behalf of the vanity publisher; and a question of the author’s knowledge and understanding of the process—but those two points are much more difficult to quantify and establish, and sound either spiteful or insulting, depending on whether you’re the publisher or writer concerned, so I’m not too fond of them.

This is a difficult distinction to make. It’s made even more difficult by most of the vanity presses insisting they’re self-publishing service providers, subsidy or cooperative publishers, or are working to a new business model or other similar nonsense; and by writers not understanding that there are so many differences between mainstream, vanity and self-publication. Many organisations don’t distinguish between vanity and self-publishing: I remember hearing that the Arts Council, for example, lumps them in together. But I know of several dedicated self-publishers who do very well for themselves; and I know of many writers who have been stung by vanity publishers and have been deeply hurt as a result.

Calling All Book Bloggers: Penguin Wants You!

Penguin's publicity department is keen to forge links with the blogging community and has planned a series of online events to work out how this can best be achieved.

If you'd like to take part in the discussions, here's a link. The next event is planned for the week of 20 April, which is next week: if you review books on your blog, or even discuss them, then email your views to Penguin now.

If you decide to take part I'd be grateful if you'd consider posting your emails to Penguin in the comments here. It should make for an interesting discussion.

Trios: Devil’s Gold, by Julie Korzenko—The Writer’s Story

P3 = Published!

[You might like to know that one lucky reader is going to end up with a free copy of Devil's Gold: just keep reading to find out more. And now, over to Julie.]

First off, I would like to thank Jane for coordinating this event. As an unpublished author, I would spend hours on the internet in search of any glimpse of the life I so dearly longed for. How to get there…what it entailed…what experiences others had. To call myself an author, one of those infamous creatures that have their words set to print and bound for others to enjoy, was my dream. I have a strong belief in the “pay it forward” system and hope that my trip to the “published” shelf offers a small insight and perhaps hope to those writers still seeking their vision.

If you want to succeed as a writer, it is my firm belief that you must have p3. Passion, perseverance, and patience. Lack of any of those qualities will certainly spell failure.

Devil's Gold is my first published novel. Not my first novel by any means, but we won’t discuss what lies in the cobwebbed recesses of my home. I created my characters several years ago and wrote a romantic suspense with a horrible, sappy title that I’m too embarrassed to name. I then queried the pertinent line within Harlequin Enterprises. I was thrilled with myself when an editor requested the full manuscript, believing that this was it. I had achieved my easy 1-2-3 to published nirvana [insert very loud gong of failure].

Rejected and dejected I moved beyond that book. My main character, however, refused to be ignored. No matter what I did. I ranted and raved and shut her in a cave and continued to write, focusing on an entirely different genre. It didn’t work. I was forced to sit back and listen, really listen to that inner voice - that one spark that set me apart from friends and family. You know what I’m talking about… the world within our world that demands attention, demands acknowledgment. Our gift, so to speak, that makes us who we are. Creators. Storytellers. Writers!

My character, Dr. Cassidy Lowell, bluntly insisted I’d paired her with the wrong hero and, much to my embarrassment, stuck her in a boring romance. She wanted more. I fleshed her out, made her who she insisted she was and created this fascinating world for her adventures. Devil’s Gold was born. I wrote furiously, my passion for wildlife infusing every aspect of the book.

After submissions to several houses and an intense rewrite suggested by one editor, it received a rejection from MIRA and with that rejection came an explanation. My heroine wasn’t kick-ass, and she didn’t save the day. I had failed to create a character who was a Buffybot and Buffybots were selling. I was informed by my agent that there was no home for Devil’s Gold, and I was devastated. This news coincided with a growing mountain of concerns regarding my representation; and for an accumulation of reasons, I chose to sever my relationship with this agent.

I learned a very hard lesson at this point in my career. One that I know most writers who have scoured the writing boards have also heard, but one that I feel is worth repeating. A bad and ineffective agent is worse than no agent at all. This is the absolute truth. Take it to heart, add it to your daily mantra, have it tattooed across your forehead, but whatever you do, never forget that advice.

Always persistent, I moved forward on my own. I contemplated editing Devil’s Gold to fit the boundaries of what was selling. It felt wrong. Not just a little wrong…but a lot wrong. Revising Cassidy to be kick-ass would be a desecration of her ethic and moral character. She was a zoologist with a great value of life. At this stage, to add that killer instinct would be to steal her humanity. I knew her strength didn’t lie in the barrel of the gun but in the conviction of her beliefs and battle for a better world. Cassidy isn’t a simpering idiot by any means. She just wouldn’t know how to disable a man in thirty seconds flat or even the difference between karate and jujitsu.

I queried a hundred agents (literally) — no one was interested. I second guessed myself. Hell, I quadruple guessed myself. This story was good. I knew it… knew it deep down to the tips of my perfectly manicured toenails. Then I’d face my writing space and reality seeped in. My desk was nothing more than a foundation for the piles of rejection letters. I didn’t give up. On April 1, 2007, I wrote another query, printed another synopsis, compiled one more partial, and completed another self-addressed, stamped envelope. On September 2, 2007, I sold Devil’s Gold to Medallion Press, Inc. Dr. Cassidy Lowell would get her day in the spotlight, and I would have the privilege of watching my dream unfold.

Devil’s Gold took almost twenty-four months from my initial query to actual publication. Talk about patience! I have to admit, it was worth every second of the wait.

Thank you, Jane, for allowing me to tell my story. And for those of you still paddling to crest the publishing wave, never forget that the key is passion, perseverance, and patience—or p3.

Julie Korzenko


You can read more about Devil’s Gold next week, when we’ll hear from the editor who worked with Julie to perfect Devil’s Gold; and the week after, Medallion Press’s Marketing Manager will discuss his strategy.

Julie has kindly offered to give away a free copy of Devil’s Gold. Just email her at “jkorzenko at gmail dot com”, and tell her the answer to this simple question: what is P3? You’ve got until 12 May to get your emails in: after that date, Julie will select the lucky winner at random from all entrants who answer correctly.

Queryfail Two Is On Its Way!

Following the rather mixed success of the inagural round of Queryfail, which spawned Agentfail and stirred up so many people that even I blogged about it, Queryfail 2: Queries Never Die has been announced. It's going to take place this coming Friday, April 17, and people are already twitching in anticipation. In all sorts of ways.

Just bear in mind that Colleen Lindsay, who organises the whole thing, works in New York, so the timing is going to be a little strange for those of us in the UK. It'll give us all time to have a decent amount of coffee before the fun starts, and to have a few glasses of weekend wine before it finishes.

Guest Review: How Not To Write A Novel

My thanks to Max Dunbar for this review.


How Not to Write a Novel: Sandra Newman and Howard Mittelmark

We have been standing here by the side of the road for a very long time. Had you been standing here with us, you would have seen the same preventable tragedies occurring over and over.

At sixteen years old I was sent a rejection letter containing the immortal lines ‘That there is a vast reservoir of undiscovered talent out there is a delusion.’ It is a view with which, I suspect, the authors of How Not To Write a Novel would agree. Sandra Newman has taught fiction at numerous American universities: you dread to think how much terrible craft she’s ploughed through, how much clumsy laundry-list exposition, lumbering description, scattered exclamation marks and capitalisations like a Victorian adolescent’s diary…

This book begins with the premise that you cannot tell aspiring writers what to write: you can only tell them what not to write. And so begin 250 pages of hilarious dissections of bad writing. Highlights—and there is a highlight in every paragraph—include ‘Zeno’s Manuscript’ (where everything a character does is lavishly described, from mundanities to bathroom functions); ‘Asseverated the Man’ (where authors use elaborate and contrived forms of dialogue attribution), ‘The Auto-Hagiography’ (where the protagonist is nothing more than an idealised version of the author, tall, handsome and sensitive, and inexplicably attractive to women). Newman and Mittelmark break up the text with fictitious examples featuring absurd plots and recurring characters.

Almost every line manages to combine good practical advice with sometimes laugh-out-loud humour. ‘Irony as a word and a concept’, Newman and Mittelmark write, ‘has been so thoroughly stretched and abused by writers published and unpublished that it is now virtually meaningless, routinely applied to any situation in which one thing bears some relation to another thing.’

And in a culture where aspiring writers are treated like pinkish newborn kittens, their tell-it-like-it-is approach is refreshing. I speak as someone who has committed some—perhaps all—of the deadly sins immunerated in this book, and will probably do so again. How Not to Write a Novel should be ranked alongside Strunk and White's The Elements of Style and King’s On Writing in the novice’s canon.


Max Dunbar was born in London in 1981. He recently finished a full-length novel and his short fiction has appeared in various print and web journals including Open Wide, Straight from the Fridge and Lamport Court. He also writes articles on politics and religion for Butterflies and Wheels. He is Manchester’s regional editor of Succour magazine, a journal of new fiction and poetry. Max Dunbar lives in Manchester and can be contacted on "max dot dunbar at gmail dot com".

If you're interested in finding out more about this book before you buy yourself a copy, Sally Zigmond reviewed it very favourably; the book has its own website, which made me laugh; and the authors are interviewed here, on the Penguin website.

What Ever You Do...

... don't let Nicola Morgan click on this link. If she sees those boots she'll get all desperate, and we'll have to up her medication again. Especially now she's read this review of her forthcoming book, Deathwatch. It's due out in June, and you can pre-order it now by clicking on the title.

How Writers Improve

We know that most of the writing in the slush pile is dreadful; and that the less able writers are often simply unable to understand how their writing is bad, or precisely how bad it is.

We know that writers’ message boards and peer review sites can be of questionable value when the writers who populate them aren’t very good at their craft; and while some paid-for editorial and critique services can be useful, others are simply appalling and many writers just can’t afford to pay for them, regardless of the quality.

There are writing groups but the dynamics might not be right for everybody and here we are back to that problem of the general standard of talent and ability of the writers who attend. Writing MAs can be useful but aren’t without their issues either.

Self-help books might be the answer for some: there are plenty of books which offer advice on how to write more books—although you have to be careful here, too, as there are plenty of dubious value.

So how can writers really learn to write well? By reading other people’s books, and plenty of them. The classics, which show what endures; the big sellers, which help us understand storytelling, pacing and plot; and the books which win literary prizes which demonstrate subtlety and depth.

Reading is something that writers just can’t skimp on. While it’s nice to build up your own personal library if you can afford it, there’s no need to buy new books: use your local library, if it’s still open; buy your books second-hand; or use Book Crossing. Just write every day, and read more often than you write, and your writing will improve.

Why Do Vanity Publishers Sell To Writers, Not Readers?

It’s widely accepted in the publishing industry that the difference between a vanity publisher and a mainstream, commercial publisher is that the former makes most of its money selling books back to its writers, while the latter makes its money selling books on to new readers: but why is this the case and why is that distinction so important?

Mainstream publishers focus on selling their books to readers. This is done through the efforts of salespeople, distributors, wholesalers and booksellers, with the assistance of publicity teams which manipulate a vast network of media contacts in order to bring books to their readers’ attention. It’s a two-pronged attack which simultaneously makes the book widely available and makes potential readers aware of the book, and publishers which only focus on one side of this equation rarely succeed.

Vanity publishers focus on selling to their own authors because they know that those writers are keen to see their books sell well, and they provide a guaranteed market for their own books. Vanities don’t attempt to sell to bookshops or to promote to new readers because that’s a complex system which can be very expensive; and because they know that bookshops aren’t likely to buy their books and reviewers aren’t likely to review them.

Book Reviewing Guest Spots

Would anyone like to contribute a book review or two to my blog? If so, I'd be pleased to hear from you. Email me your review of any book about writing, publishing or anything associated (the books don't have to be newly-published), and I'll consider it for inclusion in this blog. There's no payment offered for this; I don't guarantee to use all the reviews that I receive; they must be all your own original work; and don't expect me to edit your work for you: it's got to be good before you send it in. If you want me to, I'll link to your blog if your review appears and I hope that this will increase your hits as well as mine.

My email address is in that right-hand column, up near the top. Put "HPRW review" followed by your book's title in the subject-line, so I don't mistake your offering for spam: include a link to your blog if you want it included, and a brief bio for yourself if you can bear to write one.

And now I'm off for another cup of tea. All this speaking sternly has worn me out.

Authonomy, Blurb And Book Army

As I've discussed before, HarperCollins' manuscript display site, Authonomy, contacted a proportion of its members earlier this year to announce that it was adding a new service to its site: it had teamed up with Blurb.com, an American-based POD printer, in order to enable Authonomy members to download their books to Blurb directly from the Authonomy site and (the implication was) start selling copies of their book straight away.

Is this a good idea? Some people think not, and seem convinced that it's just a cynical ploy by HarperCollins to make money out of writers they have no intention of publishing. And when you link this idea to the worries I have about HarperCollins’ Book Army site you might begin to see the potential for problems here.

It is going to be easy for Authonomy authors to download their books to Blurb; hop over to Book Army and link their books to all sorts of other titles; and sit back and wait for sales to roll in (and your notice, here, more than a little touch of irony to my tone). Authonomy will, I'll bet, earn a commission on those sales, so what we have here is a grab at the Holy Grail of publishing: a way for a publisher to make money out of its slush pile. Funnily enough that doesn't outrage me as much as it does some: HarperCollins is a business, after all, and I have no problem with it making money in this way. What does trouble me is its choice of partner (because, as I've discussed elsewhere, Blurb isn't necessarily the best option for Authonomy authors planning to go POD), and its apparent endorsement of self-publishing as a realistic route into mainstream success. Because despite all the hype, sales of self-published books are notoriously low and very few ever make that leap into mainstream publication, let alone widespread mainstream success.

Ooops.

I thought I had a piece scheduled to appear this morning. It seems to have not, though. And now I don't know where it's gone.

I shall go and rummage around my drafts and see if it's there, or if I've managed to lose it entirely (won't be the first time): meanwhile, does this blog seems any slower to you than it did a few days ago? I've added a little widget which shows my top ten commenters (Buffy Squirrel obviously has too much time on her hands), and it seems to have made things slower for me on my dreary dial-up connection. That could be down to my imgagination, though, and if none of you have noticed any negative effect, then there are another couple of widgets I might just add: I could show the most recent comments, or I could list the top ten most popular posts (pitch party comes first), or I could do other similarly wonderful things. Just let me know if there's anything particular you'd like to see added, taken away, or otherwise rearranged, and if there's a majority vote I'll have a go at making the changes. Once I've found what should have appeared today, and had another cup of tea.

Grammar: Essential References

Here are two lovely books about grammar. Both are really nice and functional: they’re easy to understand, funny to read, and packed full of useful stuff; and since I got my hands on them I've used them both almost every day.

English Grammar for Dummies, written by Lesley J Ward and Geraldine Woods, is an excellent reference to keep by your desk: it’s very thorough and explores just about everything about the subject that you'll need to know.

My Grammar and I is smaller, and so more portable. Don't assume that its small size makes it less useful: Caroline Taggart and J A Wines have squeezed a lot of information between those deliciously textured covers along with a good few jokes too. My only quibble is that this one could do with an index, as the table of contents doesn't quite do it for me: but still. Two lovely books about grammar. Hours of fun for the writer and pedant. If you're a writer, buy them both: you need a grammar reference, and these two are excellent.

Release Forms

Some publishing companies demand that all authors sign a release form prior to submitting their work.

This is not a standard procedure in publishing.

It’s done to protect the publishers against plagiarism charges should they go on to reject a book and subsequently publish something similar. It seems to have crept in from the screenwriting world where release forms are more more common: but with the copyright laws as they stand, publishers don’t really need this extra level of protection.

It is, however, a useful red flag for writers. If a publisher asks you to send a release form with your submission you would be wise to reconsider submitting to them. Because it’s not a standard procedure, it’s a good sign that the publisher might also follow dubious practices elsewhere; and while most of the releases I’ve seen are perfectly benign, some grab all rights to the work, in perpetuity, no matter where it is eventually sold, or who makes the sale.

What Do Editors Do?

There are many different layers to editing a book well.

First there’s the overall structure of the book. Does it work in its current form? Would the book flow better if scenes were rearranged or deleted, or if new scenes were added?

Then there’s the content. Are all those scenes complete? Are there any plot-holes which need filling, or characters which need a little more flesh on their literary bones? Or descriptions which are just a little too lush, and could do with a bit of trimming? Is the tense and point of view consistent throughout, and appropriate for the story? Line-editing aims to get all of this right and is an intense and important process.

Once the structure and contents are taken care of, the focus moves to copyediting—checking the smaller details. Are the grammar, spelling and punctuation correct and consistent throughout the book? Are there any potentially libellous statements which will need to be checked by a lawyer, or removed entirely? And have all facts been checked for veracity? Often this work will be handed over to a copy editor; a fresh view of the book is always useful and usually leads to more errors being discovered and corrected.

Once all of the copy editor’s comments have been incorporated into the book, the designer will flow the text into the layout that has been agreed on and the editor will take another look through, to check that the headings are all in the right places and that no widows or orphans have been created (which are stray lines at the beginning or end of each page); and once all of that has been done a set of page proofs will go to the writer and, ideally, to a proof-reader for final corrections before the book finally goes to print.

Alongside all of that, editors drive their books through the process of publication, dealing with design, publicity and marketing, and production along the way. It’s a complex job. No wonder they sometimes fall behind with their slush-piles.

It's Dangerous Out There

Publishing is changing and with it, some of my favourite places have announced big new changes today.

Absolute Write has been struggling financially for some time now, and it's hoped that its new association with Twilight and the accompanying merchandising deal will raise enough money to fund it in the months and years ahead. While this new deal should allow it to continue to operate at full speed, it does come at a price: the forums have been renamed Absolute Bite, the Office Party area of the forum has been renamed the Twilight Party, and vampires are running rampant throughout.

In an effort to improve its scam-busting capabilities, Writer Beware has teamed up with the FBI. I'd be grateful if someone would explain to Victoria that speaking sternly to big blokes with guns is not likely to make them stop what they're doing, because last time she tried it the powderburns ruined her hair.

Finally, I've decided to self-publish my first novel, Ambush of Shadows. I'm well aware of the many limitations involved in self-publishing, but the book isn't achieving anything by sitting unread on my hard drive, and with this blog getting around 10,000 visits per month now I like to think that a few of you might buy it. I'm in the process of editing it now, and will let you know when it's available.

Now. What news have you read today about publishing? Anything good?