First Word

Chapter 4 Self Publishing, Vanity Press or Do-It-Yourself-ers “ Vanity is my favorite sin .” ~ Al Pacino Self publishing, publish on demand, traditional, and now the New Publishing. Publishers everywhere and so many choices what’s a writer to do? Before you get all quivering and quaking with fear and a need to pop a Xanax to calm your nerves, keep reading. We want to help alleviate a quick trip to the pharmacy to consume anti-depressants to manage your publishing anxiety. First, like the warning label on any good prescription bottle or Diet Coke can, we want to not just warn you, but beg you to educate yourself before you sign on the line on any contracts you may have placed in front of you. And this may be hard to control yourself too. Any time a so-called publisher or someone with the title of publisher calls and says they want to publish your manuscript refrain from the happy dance just yet. Our sad cautionary tale comes from a 95-year-old World War II veteran we’ll call...

Chapter 3 The Book as Platform – A Winning Outlook on Publishing By Michelle Gamble-Risley, CEO, 3L Publishing ( www.3LPublishing.com ) “The free-lance writer is the person who is paid per piece or per word or perhaps.” ~ Robert Benchley There is one thing we consistently see across the board. We constantly educate our authors on how their book is  not  a singular passive revenue stream; but we inform them how their book can become a business with multiple revenue streams. When our clients come to us with such tunnel vision we educate about the “business-in-a-box” business model and slowly light up the tunnel until, “ta-da,” the realization of a business opportunity hits them smack on the side of the head. They finally understand the concept and then they run with it. When you write a book, it is a platform and opportunity to do many other things such as speaking engagements, workshops, and increase your current business activities. Smart Girls “The answer...

Most authors have big dreams about receiving a major advance and winning the lotto big time with their best-selling book. It's a nice dream, right? Well in today's ever-changing publishing world, you now have many options to chose from, but realize that hitting the NY Times Best Seller list is just as difficult as it is to win Lotto no matter what method you chose. I thought I would take a moment to distill three important things every author should know about going the traditional publishing route: 1. You have to get an agent -- and that is just the first layer of qualification. It can be quick and easy to get a literary agent or it can be just as tough as getting a publisher. You might be weeks or months away from getting an agent. 2. Once you get an agent, you're still playing the time game -- the agent then has to shop your manuscript to the publishing houses. This is a game of waiting for one person to read and vet and pass to the next person to read or vet. Then...