Publishers: The Promise You Don't Want to Hear
"I guarantee an Amazon best-seller," is the promise that should a publisher make run for the hills. In a recent meeting with a prospective author, he asked me what I thought about that promise. Could I do the same? I stared at him and thought about what I wanted to say, but the look on my face must have given away the sarcasm waiting patiently on my tongue to escape. I finally relented and said, "I too can make that promise. I'll have my staff buy up 10 copies of your book in one afternoon. Boom! How's that -- you're an Amazon best-seller. Does that work for you?" Any publisher that suggests their group can make your book and Amazon best-seller, or more like "promises" they can do so can only deliver with a guarantee what I just suggested. The value of the contract this author was looking at was $10,000 and a promise. I smiled and told him, it would cost probably $150 for that publisher to deliver his/her guarantee. He nodded and agreed he th...