Category Archives: Publishing

Warren Buffet Pays Cash for Newspapers

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If you’ve ever even dabbled in finances, you surely know Warren Buffet’s name. He’s built an empire worth billions by utilizing ideas that tend to fly in the face of conventional financial wisdom.

His most recent annual letter to investors talks–for three pages out of nearly 30–about the value of newspapers. A few years back, he said he wouldn’t pay anything for any newspaper. Now he’s buying them up at a rapid clip.

What has changed? In our globally connected world, the one thing that is missing is the community connection. Newspapers that are tightly tied to a specific region are the ones he’s most interested in.

This is something publishers have been doing for years. Find your niche. A niche market doesn’t have to be big…it just has to be tightly knit. That means readers who want what you have to offer.

Will you sell over a hundred thousand copies or make a million off each book in a niche market? Probably not. But those aren’t the only markers of success. Providing dedicated fans with a satisfying read…now, that’s something to be proud of.

Publishing Short Stories as Single Downloads

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Earlier this week, I wrote about the rising interest in short stories. Check out this article for more on singles and how they can impact your writing career.

Short Stories are Gaining Popularity

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In the New York TImes, Leslie Kaufman says,

“Story collections, an often underappreciated literary cousin of novels, are experiencing a resurgence, driven by a proliferation of digital options that offer not only new creative opportunities but exposure and revenue as well.”

The resurgence of short stories as a viable book form has been growing steadily for the past three  years. A combination of factors impacts this trend.

First, publishers have been adding more short story collections to their catalogs because they recognize that a portion of dedicated readers want to be able to pick up a book for a shorter period. Reading one short story in a collection allows them to read for a brief time. They return later, sometimes much later, to the same story collection without having lost the threads they have to remember when reading novels.

Second, stories can be marketed directly to readers through programs like Amazon’s shorts. Publishing a short story as a single download allows readers to sample an author’s work…thus having the added benefit of potentially driving new readers to their novels.

Third, although the internet allows for individual stories to reach certain audiences, they are still within the walls of that magazine’s readership. Collections and single downloads can reach broader audiences.

Finally, short stories have traditionally had an upper limit that doesn’t necessarily serve every story. Electronic publishing of singles and print publishing of collections allows for very long short stories that might otherwise never be published to be disseminated.

Query Letter Workshop Reminder

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Here’s a reminder about the upcoming query letter class. The usual rate to write a query letter for a client is $295. Revisions to existing query letters often cost $225, so this workshop is a great bargain!

Did you know that your query letter is every bit as important as the opening pages of your novel? 
It’s your first opportunity to show your writing skills to a prospective agent or editor, and you need to make it count!

Laine CunninghamLaine Cunningham’s clients consistently garner attention from the nation’s top publishers and agents.

During this workshop Laine discusses the three important elements to inject into your query so you can get published. Fiction and nonfiction authors writing books, stories or articles will benefit from this class.

Location: Center for Excellence,
3803-B Computer Dr. Suite 106,
Raleigh, NC 27609
Saturday, March 9     Time:  1:30-4:30pm
Fee:  $55 (Early Bird till March 1st)/$75 after

Register TODAY!
Click the link below to register for this awesome class.
Get more information
Register Now!
I can’t make it
Laine has presented workshops and lectures for The Loft, the nation’s largest independent literary organization; the National Writer’s Union; The Writer’s Workshop in Asheville and writing conferences across the country. If you want to learn how to impress an agent or editor, I will see you there!
Cheers,

 

 
Alice Osborn
Write from the Inside Out

What Book Publishers Can Learn from the Music Industry

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The New York Times, in the article Music Industry Sales Rise, and Digital Revenue Gets the Credit, noted that revenues rose for the first time since 1999 for the music industry. The industry was hit hard by the availability of downloads, which became popular earlier than e-books. 

The lesson book publishers can learn is that e-books are not destroying their own market. Instead, they’re just providing readers with a new format.

Historically, the same thing happened when movies threatened the radio shows people relied on until then for entertainment.

Now book publishers are changing the pace at which they respond to new technologies. They have to become more nimble than ever before in order to ensure that their market share is distributed across new and old formats. Some publishers, who at first thought e-books were a fluke or were simply not worth investing in, are pulling as much as 27% of their annual profits from the sale of e-books.

Print is not dead. It’s simply now electronic ink!

Historic Details

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Here’s an article discussing the historic facts and fiction of several recent movies.

Even if you’re writing historic fiction, you do have some leeway to change things. Consider whether the changes will enhance the story or the character development. If they will, generally it’s all right to make some adjustments to actual fact.

Something for Everyone

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A Norwegian show on firewood has caused controversy.

If you’ve ever wondered whether your particular topic, genre or category has an audience, the answer generally is yes. It might be a small audience but passion, even for firewood, can make for a success. You might have to redefine success, but the controversy over whether the bark should be placed up or down when new logs are added apparently has sparked the most responses!

The lesson: Don’t worry about your audience. Write what you’re passionate about and the audience will follow.

Essays

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Here’s a great article on essay writing: what to keep in mind, goals for the author, and a bit on what to expect after your essays go out into the world.

Short Stories

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Over the past five years, there has been a resurgence in popularity for short stories. Usually authors have had to work with a book-length collection before getting a publisher’s eye. With digital technology, though, there’s a much bigger market for shorts. Check out this article from the New York Times for more.

Funding

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If you’ve ever considered funding a project through Kickstarter or similar site, check out this article. It talks about the community involvement and personal connections needed to create a successful campaign.

The Backlist

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Ever wonders what happens to books that are no longer in the forefront of readers’ minds yet don’t go out of print? They’re on the publisher’s backlist. Usually anything more than a year old (and sometimes things less than 12 months old) are backlisted.

Think of it as a backwater where the already scant marketing assistance is even more rare. Yet if you want to get your hands on the rights so you can self-publish it and market it yourself, you’ll often meet opposition.

Here’s an interesting take on a trend to buy up backlists and redistribute them with fresh vigor.

Used E-Books

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Amazon announced that it’s poised to start reselling used e-books in this article by Publisher’s Weekly. This is a tricky thing…e-books don’t have a physical presence so it’s difficult to ensure that the copies aren’t pirated.

And of course it’s problematic because it means authors get cut out of yet another revenue stream.

On the up side, of course, every sale means another reader who might become loyal enough to buy your latest the moment it comes out…as a freshly pressed e-book, not a used copy.

What do you think of this trend?

Travel into a Novel

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In recent years, several books set in beautiful or popular places have had “book tours” build up around them. Not book tours where authors show up but tours where readers travel to the places mentioned in their favorite novels.

Now a start-up business is working to make that process easier to implement. Click here for the article.

Query Letters

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I work on query letters for a variety of fiction and nonfiction book authors. Every query has to have the following:
1. A great tagline. This is a single sentence that sums up the conflict and the protagonist’s journey. It’s one of the toughest things to get right…but it’s the grabber that keeps agents and publishers reading your query.

2. A short description of the book. This is 2 or 3 paragraphs long. Although it contains some plot highlights, it’s really about the character’s journey. The conflict and any antagonist come into play enough to enhance the protagonist’s journey…and you have to give an idea of how it ends.

3. A paragraph about you. This of course includes your credentials like other publication credits (even if unpaid) and editorial work at a newspaper or magazine. It should also include any awards your work has won. Also tell them why you wrote the book. The human connection is important!

4. Information on the current market trends that support your book, the manuscript’s length, it’s category and/or genre, and the fact that it’s finished. If you have a sequel or are already working on the next unrelated novel, they need to know that, too. They want to sign career authors, not flashes in the pan!

Let me know if I can help with your query letter.

5 for the Writer’s Bucket List

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Here’s a list from Writer’s Digest listing 5 things for your bucket list.

When I posted this to Facebook (find Writer’s Resource under CreationToContract), I noted that I liked the “Do something bizarre” tip best.

Also of interest is the “Self-publish something” tip. They’re not necessarily talking about a book, either. Blog posts, ezine submissions, and other short bits can be great for the author’s soul. And enhance your platform. And provide potential readers of your books with another way to find out about you.

An unbeatable combination!