First Word

I just got off the phone with a prospect. She saw a presentation I recently gave. She said she was so impressed. She cited one thing I said as important, " 3L Publishing's mission is to strive for excellence in everything we do." My desire for excellence is driven by my passion for publishing and books. I know what I like. I know what I as a consumer want to see. What I don't want to see is a low-quality book where no care was given to the quality of the product. I want not only the experience of working with my company to be a great relationship with our authors and clients, but also I want our final products to shine and reflect handsomely on the author and my company. I want every author or client to know that regardless of anything else, their books or marketing materials will be well-done. They will show off their final products with pride. They can feel good about it. When I've achieved those goals I've done what I set out to do -- strive for excellence...

Sometimes we just want to write the book we want to write, damn it! It's my story, I'll write it if I want to. You can, of course, write whatever you like, but just don't assume a publisher will want to publish it. So many things go into selling that first manuscript, and the first thing you should do is find out whether or not your idea is wanted or needed. Research the marketplace. Do some searches on Amazon. If you do find a similar book, is it selling? Look at it's Amazon ranking. If it's up in the millions chances are people are not particularly interested in that subject matter. If you want to work with a particular publisher, look at what they publish. If you want to sell a book on hunting deer, going to sell your book to a Vegan publisher is a bad idea. Now while I'm kidding here, you get the point. Also, do look at that publisher's products. You are always in the driver's seat so you should not desperately accept whatever offer comes your way. O...