First Word

  Good question, right? If you want to go the traditional or independent publishing route, you need to understand what is marketable to publishers. Just because you’re a great writer won’t get you published. Publishers want more than great writing. They need a concept that will sell. Always keep this key thought in your mind: publishers want to make money. They are a business, and like any business they need to stay in business. What are they in business to do?   If you think like a business person vs. a writer then it will help you understand how to sell your book to a publisher. Too often writers are only thinking that they want or love to write. They are thinking about craft. In fact, when I’ve done an informal survey with writers from my writers’ group, the majority aren’t thinking with their business hats on. When you fail to think like a businessperson then you’re less likely to sell your book.   When I researched what publishers want these days, the number ...

I just finished the final edit on my new novel The Abused . Thanks to DB Stearns for lending a hand on this project. Even given his adept input and fixes, I still found numerous mistakes, which just goes to show even the editor needs an editor. I always find it a reflection of either enormous egos or just inexperience when people contact me to publish their books and strongly say, "It doesn't need to be edited. My (fill in the blank with "English" professor, librarian, or best friend who is obsessed with grammar) edited it. It's fine.   These folks either don't understand that I'm 200 percent positive it won't be fine or they just don't want to make the necessary investment to really make it fine. Once I worked with an author who absolutely insisted every mistake had been caught. I challenged her and said, "I promise you there are mistakes. It has absolutely nothing to do with editorial prowess." She still challenged ...

No. 1 -- We started as a marketing and public relations firm. Yes, I have a BA in public relations. I began my career working in a public information office. I was the editor of an internal and external magazine, which gave me the experience in publishing. Ten years ago when I became an independent consultant, I focused on marketing and public relations campaigns. I am a marketing specialist who understands the various sales channels. No. 2 -- I am a technical writer and can provide technical writing for white papers in the information technology market. Most people think I am creative, which I am. What most people don't know is that I spent 20 years in the IT marketplace. I was an early innovator in web content when the web wasn't much more than a bunch of hyperlinks. I've authored dozens of white papers for IT marketing support, including papers for UPnP, HPNA, enOcean, 2Wire, and others. I also was publisher of California Computer News for almost 10 years....

You may wonder what is the difference between a writing coach and an editor. A writing coach is an editor, but his/her process is different than just editing. Why would you use a writing coach? Accountability -- some writers (and people for that matter) benefit from the accountability of having someone to answer to about their projects. An effective writing coach is there to ask, "Hey, when do I see the next chapter?" Many people achieve goals more effectively when they have someone to push the process. Professional and Personal Guidance -- a writing coach will analyze and critique your work. It's different than attending a class. Your coach is exclusively focused on your work. An involved coach will sit down and explain the changes or suggestions made for your manuscript. They will go over it with you. You get the benefit of that one-on-one attention to help create a publishable piece of work. Editing -- your coach is really an editor packaged differently. An e...

What is a hybrid publisher? Our company 3L Publishing (www.3LPublishing.com) is a hybrid publisher. Hybrid (means combines both) publishing takes traditional publishing and crosses it with self-publishing. What does this mean? You get everything a traditional publisher provides (editorial, graphics, and book distribution, which many of those services are not available to individuals ... for example, our printer who provides competitive pricing does not work with individuals) at higher royalties. Royalties range from 35 percent to 100 percent (you sell it yourself). Now compare that to a traditional publisher that provides 8 to 10 percent. Why are the royalties higher? Because the author (much like a self-publisher) pays to have the book created. The payment is a one-time fee. Higher royalties enable the author to enjoy return on investment at a faster rate and become profitable AND be the one who enjoys the profit if the book becomes a best-seller. What is the average cost to pub...

We work with new and emerging authors, and we find authors often have perceptions that are inaccurate or sometimes even misguided. So what are some of those ideas? Professional services are valuable and will cost . If you understand that writing, editing and graphic design are professional services, it will help you place value on what we provide. Professional services are provided with people with higher education, knowledge and most importantly experience. You can't compare our services to walking into a retail outlet or Kinko's and getting behind-the-counter assistance. Each book is handled and worked on for hours and hours. As you know a professional like a nurse, doctor or lawyer doesn't make minimum wage -- and neither does a publisher's staff. If you want your book done right, you hire professionals. Mistakes galore, money spent, and upset . So many authors come to us with their books loaded with mistakes and complain. Inexperience and three editors later, an...

The big revelation in storytelling ... pacing! How you pace your story can either absorb your readers or bore them. It's easier to define pacing when it comes to a screenplay. In a screenplay you have a short space to write either dialog or action. You also have to write these things in the average of 120 pages. The action cannot be bogged in minutia. You set the scene simply and quickly and move on. In books, you have a much wider berth. But if you want to keep the story moving and well paced then don't get bogged down in narrative or exposition. Yes, you do want to paint the scene with the right colors but you don't want to describe every last detail down to the color of the kitchen sink unless that is somehow important to the story. How can you pace your book? Move the dialog along and don't have random discussions about things that don't belong in the story or reveal anything interesting about your characters that the audience needs to know. Keep the scenes...

I was talking to a fellow writer about character development, and she said the funniest thing: "Sometimes I almost feel embarrassed to be a voyeur in my character's lives." Many writers talk about how their characters take on lives of their own. I always chuckle and think we're a bunch of crazy people with imaginary friends. It's true. My characters imbue their lives in my mind with all the facets of who they are. As I tell a story it unfurls much like life. In this case, I typically have an end in mind while most of us don't know our "ever after". It's like sitting as fortune teller and seeing the future in the crystal ball of my computer. You know where the story is going but what happens in-between is a bit of an enigma until you actually get to that point in the story. Writers write stories in different ways. A friend of mine uses note cards and says his desk looks like a serial killer's shrine. I write stories straight from my mind...

I saw an ad: How to publish your book for free. I found this annoying. I would imagine that it's how many graphic artists might feel when someone says I can color therefore I am a professional artist. We all run into those people who devalue your profession and think "anybody can do it" and then add to insult to it by suggesting it can be done FREE. I will just say one thing: free is as free does. Ever heard there is no such thing as a free lunch? There is no such thing as a free publishing service. Let me debunk some myths and then you'll see why it's never free if you want it done right. Anybody can write . Yes, it's true we're all taught in grammar school how to write. In every writing profession (and yes many different levels of writing exist, from technical to journalistic) there are specific rules and structures to follow. Do you know what are those rules? I always like this one (it's true): you can't break the rules unless you know the rul...

Does anyone really agree on the use of the comma? Today on HARO (Help a Reporter Out) there was a link about comma usage. Just the other day my editorial intern discussed the Oxford comma usage. Do you have any idea how many different style guides exist? Just to name a few: Strunk and White, AP Style, Chicago Style, Masters of Language Arts ... and probably others. And yes, there is the Oxford too. I always chuckle when the infamous Grammar Police go nuts about certain complaints that are style-related. It is the comma though that has the most "proper" usage rules (and naturally the rules conflict). If you're running a publication, the rule is simple: be consistent . Some publications have their own style guides. You can make up certain rules that are your editorial guidelines and the preferred style. The key is to apply the rule the SAME way every time. In that case you can easily point to your own style rules if someone says something. Believe me, the Grammar Police ...

Last night's joke was about how so many writers say, "I'm writing a book," and then nothing is produced. Do you know any writers whose books have never been published or finished? I often get asked if I'm a serious writer, too. I think it's because so many would-be writers never write or finish what they write. The other common cliché about writing in general is: don't we ALL have a book we want to write ? The part about that comment devalues my profession. Truth is we cannot ALL write a book. Another woman walked up to me (she was an English teacher) and said, "I bet you've seen some of the worst writing." Funny thing is I typically don't see horrible writing too often. Why? you ask. (And I told her this answer.) By the time a book comes to my desk it generally isn't written by a high school student trying to pass an English paper. The English professor was quickly enlightened and acknowledged that seemed like it would be true ... an...

Why do I always know the answer to that question? Want to know the number one blunder smaller self- and traditional publishers make? (I can actually name the offenders, too, but I'll be polite.) Littering the books with editorial mistakes. I can't tell you how many authors (and this applies to the big overseas publishing houses, too) show me their books only to have earmarked dozens of mistakes. In my opinion though the worst mistakes are the egregious and "ew-producing" back-cover mistakes. I'll be fair, a small handful of interior mistakes I can halfway accept, but the minute I see a back-cover with mistakes galore, I am always flabbergasted. The editors couldn't even take two seconds to ensure the most-read part of the book and THE most important part of the book didn't have mistakes? The only word that comes to mind is "sloppy" ... well, I can think of some other words too like "lame," but you know let's not digress. Why does th...

Up with the rainstorm and noticed the white blossoms on the trees outside of my window ... beautiful! It's spring or wait! I think it's really winter. Oh wait ... no ... it's spring! LOL ... well, that just shows how confusing the weather in California has been these days. So let's move on and discuss something that might actually matter to you. Last night we had a small meeting of Writers Who Mean Business , and we had an interesting discussion about publishers. I have to share something: I find it shocking how many (how shall we say) "low-rent" publishers exist in the business. I can't tell you how many times authors show me books just loaded with mistakes. In the early days of 3L Publishing we faced some of these challenges, so I do understand. But in business you cannot create a business, especially a publishing business, around lack of quality. Your "low-rent" publishing mistakes catch up with you in the form of a bad reputation. Let...

A novelist friend of mind mentioned she had writer's block. So I thought it was time to once more explore how to overcome writer's block. Before I discuss the subject, I do want to say something about accepting the "blockage" versus battling the clog. I didn't write anything major for two years after suffering some major losses in my personal life. Writing is a creative, intellectual and mind-intensive process. If your emotional house has been emptied of the furniture, so to speak, maybe it's time for you to sit Zen-like in that house and accept it. I wanted to say this because writer's block due to a pure emotional depletion isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's your mind's way of saying, "Whoa! Wait sister or brother give me a vacation. I don't have anything left to give." I just couldn't write anything major simply because I lacked heart and motivation. My distraction and life re-build took front and center. I was focused o...

When writers go to self-publish and they don't have experience with actual publishing, I see so many common mistakes. I always encourage writers to use professional services vs. do-it-yourself attempts that visibly fail and make their products -- whether books or brochures -- look unprofessional. The following are some common mistakes I see with self-published books, brochures or anything that requires professional service to get it right. Poorly Trimmed Children's Books or Graphics --while an author may not be overly bothered about his or her illustration being cut off because of misaligned template specifications, this mistake jumps out every time. I will casually thumb through one of these children's books or graphic-intensive flyers, brochures, business cards, etc. and notice the graphics are cutoff. I've seen many children's books with these problems. Illustrations cutoff right along the edges. Print alignment is math. You need a graphic artist who knows prod...

Like relationships, sometimes book success is dependent upon hitting the mood of the readers at just that right moment. I get asked all of the time how to create a best-selling book. I don't have a formula. I've come to the point where I simply admit it's a crapshoot, do you want to play or not? Many factors can influence or derail a book's success. The mood of the readers is one of them. Perhaps you've written an amazing action-adventure but everyone is reading fantasy and action-adventure literally overnight became passé. You're about to release your book and its publicity and potential success is suddenly eclipsed by the release of a mega-seller that everyone wants to buy, and your book has absolutely no relationship to that subject matter. Maybe the cover is off-beat somehow. We had one book where it's about vacations, and everyone thought it looked like summer and it was released for the Christmas holiday vacation season. This misconstrued thought about...

"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...

I run into writers who are also professional editors. I'm sure they're all very good at their jobs. These same writers often get it into their heads that they don't need an editor -- they're editors. Most of the time I can talk them out of the "I-know-how" tree and back down to the ground and their best interests. These writers are often skeptical of my intentions since they falsely believe, "Well, she's just trying to make money." I am naturally in business to make money; but I'm not telling people they need an editor because I'm trying to make money. I'm telling them what I'll just call a "flat fact," which goes like this: even the editor needs an editor . Here are the reasons why even if you're the queen or king of editing, you, too, need an editor: Snow blind AKA computer screen blindness -- I think of it as snow blindness since the screen background is white. Time and time again our minds insert words wh...

I see authors fall into this problem: writing not just cliche characters but cliche scenes. Let me give you an example: a scene in a police department. Every single element is exactly what you would expect. The hot-head police captain, the lesbian police officer, the heated argument over the case. These kinds of staid and expected scenes lower the quality and originality of the storytelling. They accomplish critical negatives: the reader is non-plussed with the lack of imagination and knows exactly what to expect with the outcome, because it all so "been there done that". In fresh and original writing, the scene becomes less obvious and unexpected. In building originality, the writer decorates the canvas with new and colorful interactions. For example, instead of the hot-head police captain we have the soft-spoken maybe even effeminate leader who gets his way with a softer, kinder and more important unexpected approach. The female officer is a bohemian goddess who wears ina...

Some writers have a bad habit of doing what we call "telling and not showing". They will do this in two different ways: #1 Underdeveloped scenes aka as impatient writing -- to progress a story faster than an ice melting on 220-degree pavement, writers will in one sentence or less tell you a major plot point. I call this impatient writing. The writer is often much more excited to get to the action and climax then to develop important plot points. For example, telling us a character got summoned to the police station for questioning and then just skipping to the after scene and briefly saying what happened. A police questioning scene is ripe for drama. Why would you skip over it, especially if it's an essential plot point. Sometimes writers just aren't as fascinated or excited about the scene so it's easier to just jump over it. This leads to... #2 Lack of story development -- when you skip really fast over important plot points, you are making your storytellin...