First Word

The publishing industry is in transformation with the eBook revolution changing the business model. The value of eBook publishing offers many positives to buck publishing industry trends -- one being the ridiculous book-return policies practiced by book distributors. Book distribution into the bookstores is a literal joke. The other day I got a bill for $2,000 from Baker and Taylor. I said I haven't even had $2,000 in royalties paid to me, why do I owe you this money? They replied that I had accepted an agreement to take all returns from all sources. Not understanding obviously what that had meant I became disgusted. How can any business make money under the weight of such nonsensical policies where I'm obligated to pay for books returned from any source. With no tracking on which books were returned, I couldn't even reconcile that information on the royalties. Now I'm wondering how to revise the business model. Authors still expect bookstore distribution. The ability...

1. This is a great exercise (one of my favorites): sit down and just write a sentence or better yet take a sentence you already wrote somewhere else. Remove a word that probably isn't necessary. Now do this five more times. Compare the results. Read the first sentence out loud and then read the second sentence out loud. Which sentence is better written? 2. If you want to do a thorough edit, read your manuscript backwards. It can be tedious, but what you're really doing is looking at it word by word. 3. Another excellent technique to edit is to take a piece of paper and cover up the other words. Our eyes has a tendency to wander without us realizing it. Covering up the other words keep your focused. 4. Really great writers typically don't make this mistake, but it's my pet peeve: ending a sentence with a passive verb like is, are, was, would, etc. 5. The infamous passive voice. When you avoid writing in the passive voice your writing will improve. Active voice gi...

As a traveling publisher, I meet all kinds of readers and people in general. So for your entertainment, we're going to use our Friday Morning Musing to quote the funniest things or comments I hear from readers. "I don't like books." -- book festival patron(s) "Do you read a lot?" -- someone wondering about my love of reading (I'm a publisher and editor) "Is this a real publishing company?" -- I am inevitably asked this in my booth space with about 50 books in my display. Now here are the funniest things authors say. I want to give you a preemptive strike. If you get the actual publisher on the phone, don't say any of these things. It will be a huge strike against you, and a publisher's time is precious. It's a deadline-driven business. "My first chapter sucks." "I don't know what my book is about." "I don't think it will sell." "It's not very good." I realize you prob...

Before we publish any book, I always have to have the "talk" with authors. No, the talk isn't about the birds and the bees or "It's not you, it's me." The talk is about what I'll refer to as "Amazon World". In Amazon World all the rules of customer service and effective communication are obsolete. In fact, Amazon World has no such rules or cares to have them. You have to think of Amazon as this other planet where the laws of gravity do not apply. In Amazon World, the sign "Out of Stock" hangs on the doorknob to turn customers away. The irony is the more sales your book attracts, the longer the signs hangs. The ugly outcome is the same sign also repels sales, too. I give authors the Amazon World talk. I warn them. I explain, "It's not us, it's them." But no matter how many times I give the talk, the authors' frustrations ultimately override my words, and I always receive "the email". The email is a...

It's not easy at a table full of authors to have to state the most unpleasant reality of self-publishing tools like Lulu or Lightspeed or even Smashwords or Createspace. No one wants to hear it. They especially don't want to hear it with their self-published, print-on-demand book in their hands. Now you might construe my points as self-promoting, but I'm being honest and blunt, it is what is ... First and foremost, those "tools" ARE NOT publishers. They do not provide professional editing, proofing (yes, proofing is a whole other process), graphic design, or even truly "publish" your book. Second (and people especially don't want to hear this one), I can tell a self-published book just at a glance. I don't have to scrutinize or even analyze. Lulu looks a certain way as do all of the others. Third, unpleasant truth: if I can tell it's a self-published, print-on-demand book within seconds, the critics (who have equally critical and experi...

This morning is my own self-pep talk. I am almost finished with my new book Body in the Trunk , but I have procrastinated on getting it finalized. I don't know why I have been so reticent about releasing my own book. I give other writers the positive talk and the push -- and yet I can't seem to push myself? What is up with that? I'm the CEO of a publishing company. And what is the lesson for other writers? Even the power behind the publishing gets insecure! ;) Do you know I have never met a single writer who doesn't get insecure? Not a single one. Why is it writers have "insecure-syndrome"? Crazy I know. So if it makes any of you feel any better even the publisher on her 6th book gets insecure.

Traditional publishing is the premiere way to publish for authors, so goes the myth. But did you know that many big name authors now self-publish? Do you know why for some authors this has become a more desirable route? 8-12 percent royalties -- when you use services like my company 3L Publishing , royalties range from 35 to 100 percent. If you sell 10,000 copies at 10 percent, say, for $10 books, that is a $1 a book. You've made $10,000. If earn 35 percent of that same $10 it's $3.50 per book, which is $35,000. You can quickly see why some big names decide to publish independently. Agent Fees : Now let's take that $10,000 and pay the agent who got you the traditionally published deal. Most agents take between 10 to 20 percent. For the sake of easy math, let's subtract your agent's fee of $1,000 for your $10,000 and now you have $9,000. The self-published author with a name, still has his/her $35,000. Which would you rather have? $9,000 for selling 10,000 ...

I am constantly having my company 3L Publishing compared to what I call "distribution mechanisms" that are not true publishers. Authors think that many of the new eBook distributors are publishers. I try to dispel this misconception. Some of these "tools" include Create Space and Smashwords. Now some of these services will provide what I call rudimentary services such as editing and graphics, but the prices are so low that you have to understand the difference between the perceived value vs. true value. Create Space is primarily a distribution mechanism for eBooks. You follow their parameters for the eBook formatting and then it's distributed via their systems. Now I am not an expert on Create Space, but also I do caution authors who believe Create Space is their publisher . These groups, and this includes Smashwords, are in the group of self-publishers, but typically don't provide any substantial assistance and real publishing methodologies. For example,...

Okay, it's Friday -- and we'll call it "not-serious-day" ... because I am not in a serious mood. So, here we go "Ready to Ramble". All right so I think I should share some of the most common grammar and spelling mistakes I see perpetrated by the masses -- and I'm just itching to correct them. Since I can't correct a billboard, I guess I will just share here on my blog and hope the news spreads throughout the land ;). Alright vs. All right -- it's not all right to be alright! Are you smiling yet. No, my friends alright is incorrect. I know this may shatter a glass house or two, but it's always "all right" ... all right? Toward vs. towards -- guess which one? It's America, is it not? Yes, I believe I am blogging on American soil. British usage sanctions towards. American usage embraces toward. Fair enough! So given that I own an American publishing company (www.3LPublishing.com ... plug), we will go for toward. Backwards, ...

We do book coaching here at 3L Publishing . We see manuscripts in the early stages, and we see common mistakes. Here are some of the most common. Exposition and storytelling via dialog . Have you ever heard the phrase show don't tell? New writers often use dialog to tell their stories vs. telling the story. They will give their characters paragraph-long speeches. How often do you talk to someone in paragraphs? I would suggest most conversations go back and forth -- that is a more natural flow. And it's far more compelling and interesting to read the story told via narrative not dialog. Formalism in dialog . These days have you ever heard a generic conversation sound formal? Probably not. Most people use idioms, slang and colloquial expressions. If you are telling a story about certain age groups of people, go out and listen to how those people really talk to each other. Use dialog to develop your characters and show who they are; don't use it as a storytelling device, b...

I was talking to my operations manager, Bo Bradley, yesterday about my blog, and we laughed about how on some days I start off by saying ... "I don't know what to blog about ..." and here we are -- and I don't know what to say. How about thank God it's Friday? Nah, overused and trite LOL. Isn't there a restaurant called TGIF? Yes, there is. Okay, how about this: life is good and it's Friday. Okay, better and only marginally trite. Speaking of trite, did you know the worst writing is loaded with trite cliches. Sometimes even the most professional writers fall back on the overused and overcooked cliche. Here are some of my favorites: Caught like a deer in the headlights. White as a ghost. The sky's the limit. Happy as a lark. Okay, I could continue with a list of ever-annoying cliches. Cliches don't do anything but show me as a reader the writer lacks imagination. If you have an inclination to use a cliche, turn it on its ear. Here are some...