Q&A a La Ann Landers: Self-Pubbing a Picture Book

You probably already know I often use a question and answer format in my newsletter and that sometimes I recycle them here.  That doesn't mean you wouldn't benefit from the newsletter, but I sometimes worry if I think you might have missed something important.  So what's so important about this one? It's an example of how--without credible resources--new authors can waste a whole lot of time and money getting in over their heads.

 

QUESTION:

 

Dear Carolyn,

I have a project that the idea is still in the cradle not developed yet.  I want to publish a picture book and text about people taking public transportation in Los Angeles.  What kind of transportation is available.  Why people are using it.  Where they are going, etc. A photographer friend and I are taking the Metrolink to Oceanside. We want to interview people and take their pictures. Do you have tips for me?

 
Catherine

ANSWER:

Catherine, here is something to consider before you start on a project like this. Picture books are either very expensive to produce or very difficult to produce. So there is either a high cost of hiring the work done or a huge learning curve if you want to do it yourself. My advice: This is one time where it would pay to write a book proposal first--before you do a lot of work on the book itself--to get an agent and let him or her get a publisher for it. You want an agent who has contacts with publishers who have published excellent picture books in the past. You want a publisher with a catalog of books that attest to their expertise as well. 

Here are three advantages to approaching it this way:
1. You don't have to do ALL the work until you have a contract in hand. You'll only have to have the book proposal 
2. You end up with a book you can be proud of 

3. A good publisher will help you market it.

By the way, if you need a fast and easy guide to writing a great book proposal, consider my The Great First Impression Book Proposal. It's only 6.95 in paper (http://budurl.com/BookProposals) and 2.99 as an e-book.

 

-----
Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second edition of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use the little Green widget to let them know about this blog:

As the Newsboys Used to Holler...

As the newsboys used to holler out, "Get it here! Get it here! Late breaking news!"

But there is no late-breaking news. Only an edition of my interactive newsletter filled with tips for promoting, editing, and the craft of writing. No articles. Just tips. The first was so popular I brought it back, as they say, "by popular demand." It only comes out once or twice a year. So, I guess it is still news. (-:

It's a perfect time to subscribe to get these letters in your e-mail box and get a FREE copy of The Great First Impression Book Proposal to boot. Learn not just how to write a great book proposal that showcases your title and your voice, but learn to do it in 20 minutes or less! Go to www.HowToDoItFrugally.com and find the subscription window in the top left side of the home page (and every other page in the site!).-----
Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of This Is the Place; Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered; Tracings, a chapbook of poetry; and how to books for writers including the award-winning second ediction of, The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The Great First Impression Book Proposal is her newest booklet for writers. She has three FRUGAL books for retailers including A Retailer’s Guide to Frugal In-Store Promotions: How To Increase Profits and Spit in the Eyes of Economic Downturns with Thrifty Events and Sales Techniques. Some of her other blogs are TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog where authors can recycle their favorite reviews. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor . If your followers at Twitter would benefit from this blog post, please use the little Green widget to let them know about this blog:

10 Marketing Myths That Can Kill Your Book and Career (And Their Remedies!)

Here are excuses many authors use not to promote, killers all. Each includes advice that will help a writer salvage his book and career from wrong thinking.

 "My book is doing well enough. My career is on an upturn. I can easily take a year off from promoting to write." Advice: Cut back if you must but slot in some time to keep the efforts you've already made at least at a simmer.

 "I hear everyone is cutting back on promotion so why shouldn't I?" Advice: Didn't your mother ever ask you, "If Johnny jumped off a cliff, would you do it, too?" Look at those authors. If they're selling lots of books, it's because somebody (their publisher, bookstores, their publicists) is promoting them. I'll bet, though, that most of the authors saying this aren't selling very many. Look at your situation. If you don't do it, who will do it for you?

 "I like Carolyn's Frugal Book Promoter idea so I'm going to only do things that cost no money at all." Advice: Hey! Frugal is one thing. Cheap is another. Some of the best things you can do cost some money. An example is American Booksellers Association Advance Access program. Find it at www.bookweb.org. Careful though. Always weigh the "rightness" of any program for your particular book.

 "I'm gong to examine everything I'm doing and only continue what I can prove is working." Advice: You may not be able to prove much, if anything. That's not the way marketing works. Judge how well your entire campaign is going only after you have given it plenty of time to work. If one thing is working well, maybe it is because your title or name is being seen elsewhere. Balance your campaign, yes. Try new things, yes. Cut back on a few only if you must. Keep in mind that book sales are not necessarily the most valid way to evaluate your promotion.

 "Nothing I've tried works. I'm giving up." Advice. You may be on the brink. Or maybe you've been giving up on each aspect of your campaign too early. Any marketing plan must be many-pronged, frequent and long-term.

 "If I cut back on promotion and find my sales slipping, I can always gear up again." Advice: Yikes! Good publicity and promotion build. It's like skipping rocks on a pond. With each stone, ripples wave out, out, out. Eventually, after you've skipped lots and lots of stones, the results start coming back to you in waves. If you stop whipping those stones into the water, the results dissipate. It will take a long time to get enough stones dancing across the water again to match what you've done and, once you lose momentum, you may never get it back.

------
Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the author of The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won't, The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success and an Amazon Short, "The Great First Impression Book Proposal: Everything You Need To Know To Sell Your Book in 20 Minutes or Less." Learn more at www.howtodoitfrugally.com.