Awesome Camp 2010
Monday, 01 February 2010 23:38 | Written by Sabrina Sumsion |
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I presented on "Publishing a Book to Increase Personal and Company Branding". It was a blast. A lot of people had questions so I think the information was well received and valuable. In fact, I didn't have enough time to cover all of the material so the participants requested a part 2. I presented twice on Saturday. I don't know if this picture is from part 1 or 2 but a big thank you to photographer Ross Nelson for letting me post this picture. I have a lot of new ideas for making the presentation even better so if your group is interested in hearing about publishing, contact me. I love educating others about the publishing industry. Add new comment
Interview with Danny Kofke
Monday, 01 February 2010 18:31 | Written by Sabrina Sumsion |
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I am interviewing Danny in about 30 minutes. He wrote a book teaching how to survive on a teacher's salary. What's incredible is the amount of publicity he has received considering his publisher is Tate Publishing. I asked him for a list of coverage to date. If you are an author, you should be drooling about the volume of coverage he has received. I will be grilling him about his marketing tactics that gained so much media attention. Tune in to the radio show at 1PM CT today. Here is Danny's media list: I have been featured in a number of publications including USA Weekend, PARADE, Instructor, Consumer's Digest, Bottom Line Personal, Your Family Today and The Huffington Post. I have also been on a few television shows, on numerous radio shows and in various newspapers. Amazon, Macmillan and the Future of Publishing
Sunday, 31 January 2010 15:11 | Written by Sabrina Sumsion |
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You may or may not be watching all of the debate in the publishing community abut eBooks. There is a lot of drama as the industry professionals attempt to set precedences and standards for the future of digital books. At the forefront of the debate is Amazon.com and Macmillan. Recently, Macmillan informed Amazon that they are setting up an agency model and setting a firm pricing structure that Amazon does not have control over. Amazon responded quickly. They pulled all of Macmillan's titles from their website before the executive could even get back to his office. You can still purchase titles from third-party sellers but not from Amazon's sales channels. That means customers do not qualify for free shipping with orders over $25.00 even if they use Amazon.com to find the seller. For more details on that debacle, read the write up in the New York Times. It looks like Macmillan's books are back on Amazon.com now but I have strong opinions about the current publishing model and many of them revolve around how authors are treated. I am fully in support of Macmillan for several reasons. The main reason is Amazon is actually a negative sales channel for authors. Many authors aren't aware that when a publisher adds titles to Amazon.com's database, the publisher grants Amazon.com the right to sell the books at any price Amazon.com wants. For a typical brick-and-mortar store, setting their own prices is fine. The brick-and-mortar stores pay a set price for the book and if they sell it for a loss, they incur the loss. With Amazon.com, they can choose to sell a book for a dollar but they still make some money. Here's how it works: A publisher sets up a book and lists their cover price. For easy math we'll say the cover price is $10.00. Per the agreement that the publisher made with Amazon when setting up an account, Amazon automatically sets the online price 15% lower than the cover price. The price advertised online is $8.50. When a customer visits the site and buys that book for $8.50, Amazon.com keeps 55% of the sale price ($4.68) and sends the publisher 45% which is $3.82. When the publisher receives the $3.82, they must then subtract the costs of creating the book. Large commercial publishers can probably print, ship etc each copy for around $1.50 since they create a "run" of books. In other words, they print thousands at one time to reduce the per-book cost. After the publisher subtracts the creation costs in this hypothetical situation, there is $2.32 left to split between the publisher and the author. The author's cut is determined by the royalties agreement so varies from author to author. Let's compare to a brick-and-mortar location: Barnes and Noble buys the book for 55% of our cover price set at $10.00. They send the publisher $4.50. After subtracting the $1.50 there is $3.00 to split between the author and publisher. $0.68, the difference between Amazon.com and a brick-and-mortar's payment to the publisher, might not seem like a lot but when you sell 100 books, you make $68 less through Amazon.com. If you sell 1000 books, you make $680 less through Amazon.com. Think about books like the Twilight Series. If a million copies are purchased through Amazon.com, the publisher and author lose $680,000.00. If you're thinking that authors and publishers shouldn't be greedy, consider that money could have been invested in a new author like you! Amazon.com has a direct impact on how many new authors are launched each year. Less money to the publisher = less money for new authors. Now let's take this scenario and apply it to someone who has a publisher with a print-on-demand publishing model (not to be confused with publish-on-demand): That $10.00 book that cost $1.50 from a large commercial publisher that purchases books in a run now costs $3.50 to create using print-on-demand. Amazon sells the book for $8.50 and sends the publisher $3.82. The publisher recoups $3.50 to pay for the printing costs and that leaves $0.32 to split with the author. The cut from Barnes and Noble will not make anyone rich but the publisher and author will share $1.00. Again, as the publisher and author begin to sell volume, the difference between brick-and-mortar and online sales begins to make a large difference. The difference in cut isn't the nefarious part however. Before I mentioned that Amazon gains the right to sell your book for whatever price they want. If they decide to sell your $10.00 book for 20% off, the sale price is $8.00. They send your publisher $3.60. If your book costs $3.50 to create, you and your publisher split $0.10. If they decide to sell your book for 50% off, the sell price is $5.00 and Amazon sends your publisher $2.25. You made no money for that book sale and your publisher lost money. They paid $3.50 to creat the book and only received $2.25 back. They lost $1.25. If a brick-and-mortar store sells your $10.00 book for 20% off, your publisher receives $4.50. Amazon is over-powered. Consumers grant them that power because consumers like to purchase commodities for a lower price. The problem is Amazon consistently under-values items and drives prices down. This causes the creators of the items to receive little to no compensation for each item sold. I stand behind Macmillan because they are protecting authors by taking a stand. Yes, Macmillan is probably mostly interested in preserving their cut but in the end they will ensure that authors see compensation for their products. I hope all the publishers will stand up to Amazon and curb the monopoly Amazon has created online. I urge you all to pass along knowledge about Amazon. Teach people you interact with, post to your blogs and social media sites and generally educate the people you know. Amazon is getting out of control and now are punishing others when Amazon doesn't get their way. Let's make it clear they can't bully authors and publishers anymore. Digital rights is a great place to draw that line. Last Updated (Sunday, 31 January 2010 16:38) Produce, Publish, Publicize Cover
Tuesday, 19 January 2010 23:03 | Written by Sabrina Sumsion |
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The book is getting so close to its spring release! You can do pre-orders already. You can use this website to pre-order a SIGNED copy. The pre-ordered copies will be shipped on the official release date. The PayPal button is live on this page. Info about the book: Did you know that 83% of the American adult population dreams of being an author? More and more people are jumping into publishing because of the numerous promises of riches and fame. Some people would like to publish but their not sure how to start. Several writers create and publish a book then think, what now? How do I make sales? Unfortunately, many authors do not know the right questions to ask and their literary dreams turn into publishing nightmares when they add up how much money they have invested into publishing. Read Produce, Publish, Publicize to learn:
About the author: Sabrina Sumsion hosts a radio show discussing a wide variety of publishing and publicity topics ranging from choosing a publisher to getting media’s attention to marketing tips for authors. An experienced publicist, she has worked on a broad variety of campaigns such as Michael Wilkinson’s Masterful Meetings and Adam Shepard’s Scratch Beginnings. Sabrina travels the nation and presents to various groups on literary publicity as well as how to create and use a book to book personal and company branding. For more details, please visit www.sabrinasumsion.com.
Read some of the book! Preface You found your muse. Maybe she woke you at night, caressing your cortex with a novel idea that you think everyone in the world should read. You spent countless hours pounding away on a typewriter, computer or scribbling across napkins and receipts. You read, re-read, revised and perfected your masterpiece. You sit back and sigh. Then you look at the ceiling. You look at the floor. You look at the cat who stares back at you with an expression that says what are you looking at? I’m just a cat. You have your manuscript so what now? You then hop online and search for hours. You go to the library or bookstore and find books on publishing. You ask everyone you know what steps you should take. Unfortunately, you hear one thing from some people and something completely different from others. Do you listen to the person who’s been rejected by several publishers several times or do you listen to the self-published novelist? Do you listen to aunt Bertha who knows everything about everything? Who do you listen to? What advice do you follow? Many authors either don’t find the answers they are looking for or they find the wrong answers. The literary industry is abundant with misinformation and downright lies. Companies misrepresent themselves to make a buck off the back of hard working and desperate authors trying to see a dream come true. This book evolved because I work as a literary publicist and help authors get attention from media. As I talk to the authors I work with, I find that professionals in the literary industry mislead authors, sometimes unintentionally, but usually uninformed authors are taken advantage of to the tune of thousands of dollars. Sometimes it is an uninformed friend leading the author astray with misinformation read on the Internet but the biggest problems I encounter are from companies implying promises they never intend to keep. When you consider that there are approximately 30,000 self-published books released each month, you understand that taking advantage of authors is a multi-billion dollar industry! As I have been researching authors who self-publish, I have discovered that each author invests an average of $3,000 into publishing each book. If you do the math, that is around 90 million dollars spent each month for publishing services. Unsuspecting authors’ dreams are crushed every day and many times, they don’t even know it yet. One author was sure he would sell thousands of copies of his book with my help. I had to explain to him that his cover price and return status would prevent that from being a reality. In addition, of the authors who spent an average of $3,000 to publish their book, the majority did not make back more then a couple hundred dollars. They added thousands of dollars of debt to credit cards and couldn’t even recoup a tenth in sales. These publishing companies, of course, do not mention on their websites that their authors are struggling to pay off credit card debt and are losing their homes. They only highlight the authors who by luck or intense planning were able to overcome the publishing obstacles the publisher sets up. This situation inspired me to start a blog dealing with the end ramifications of making the wrong publishing choices. My thought is that when authors can go into the literary world with their eyes wide open, I don’t have to break the hard reality of the marketability of their masterpiece to them later. I realize that authors have a variety of motivations behind publishing their writing. I have broken these authors into three categories: the best-seller hopefuls, the make-a-buck group and the writers for posterity. The best-seller hopefuls are dedicated to creating a literary masterpiece to which millions of readers flock. These writers typically take writing classes, join writers’ groups and guilds and refine their craft as much as their life permits. These authors typically edit, re-edit and edit again diligently before even letting another person review their manuscript. Once they feel good about what they write, they take the time to research the industry and find the publishing houses and agents they want to work with. Then best-seller hopefuls approach the companies on their list after researching the key personnel that cover their book’s topic. They wait out the years and years to see their book in print. Make-a-buck authors typically love writing and have great ideas that pop into their heads. There are two main types of make-a-buck authors; Those who have an idea they want the world to hear and those who are developing their product around a lecture series or other income stream. The authors who are spreading an idea are excited about writing but don’t put in the hours, days, weeks, months and years to really flesh out their ideas or their content like a best-seller hopeful. The authors who are basing their product around an alternative stream of income won’t turn down sales through traditional channels like bookstores but focus on marketing to those engaged in the other stream of income. For example, a financial adviser might write a book about retirement or investing. He or she is using the book as a resume and uses it to establish him or herself as an expert. The main stream of income is the financial advising and the book is a tool to gain more clientele and consumer confidence. Writers for posterity are those writers who created a book for their children to read and need a way to bind their creation for their family. These authors are not very interested in sales to strangers. It is not about the money. It is about leaving a legacy so grandchildren and great-grandchildren can know about them after they have passed away. Produce, Publish, Publicize is for all groups of writers. At the end of each chapter, I speak to the different groups and spell out how important each section is based on each type of authors’ goals. Most companies out there will fit one or more group and if you know your goals you will be able to find the correct company that will assist you in reaching those goals. This book is also divided into three sections that break down the essential parts of selling books. They are writing, publishing and publicity. I have searched out and interviewed the top-professionals in the various fields from publishing to book buying. This book is a culmination of several minds working towards a common goal: helping aspiring authors avoid the scams and traps scattered everywhere in the literary industry.
Section 1: Writing Being a published author is the dream of an estimated 83% of the adult population in Either way, to have a book, you need to write. That is a daunting task in itself. In our busy lives, who has the time to sit down regularly and type away at the computer for an hour or two each night? The process of editing is a long and arduous task that takes effort and dedication. I have been asked for three years to write a book and I can attest that sitting down and typing away for hours at a time can be overwhelming. However, I am sure when I am done writing, it will be worth the effort. (I’ll let you know!) I encourage everyone who has something to write to write it. There is technology to assist almost anyone’s handicap to enable them to write. There are special keyboards, voice recognition software programs and even devices for people to type without arms! You can view a few options available through Maltron Keyboards on their website www.maltron.com. The desire to communicate is a universal drive and if there is a will, there is a way.
Where to Start Obviously, every author must start with an idea. For fiction, you need to have an original idea that has interesting twists and engaging characters. For non-fiction you need information that people want. If you are writing non-fiction, it helps if you also figure out a way to communicate the information in a unique, enjoyable manner. For example, Jack’s Notebook by Gregg Fraley (Thomas Nelson, 2007) is a non-fiction book teaching business creativity concepts. Instead creating of a dry, difficult book full of complicated business jargon, author Gregg Fraley used a story line to teach his concepts. Because of his brilliant delivery, his book is used in college and university business courses. If you are writing non-fiction, take the time to find a compelling way to deliver your concepts. Original Ideas: genre 1 : a category of artistic, musical, or literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content Every story has a general genre. Figure out what your genre is and then start reading. Read the classics in your genre as well as the modern releases. When you have read enough, you can get a feel for what paths have been taken already and sometimes ideas that are over done. The best part of this "research" is that new ideas can spring into your mind. A new idea is not the same story with a different name for the lead character but instead a whole new way to handle the crisis part of the story. For example: There are many fantasy stories involving magic. Why is Harry Potter successful? There are several new ideas J.K. Rowling brought in to make Harry a household name. The main ideas of finding out you have magic and the struggle between good and evil are old ideas. They aren't enough. Harry found out that he had magic and there was a modern school he could attend. Most children today secretly wish they would receive a letter of invitation to Hogwarts, delivered via owl, tomorrow. Most adults secretly wish they received one on their 11th birthday. While there are many stories of magic in ancient times or on other planets, this story appealed to the masses because it is a “here and now” twist on old themes. Of course, this was not the only aspect that made Harry Potter a revolutionary idea but the concept illustrates my point. Find a unique twist and set yourself apart. When you have a new idea, tell a few people about it who enjoy the genre. I had an idea pop into my head for a science fiction story but when I started to explain it to my brother who is a big sci-fi fan, he told me that the story line had already been done on a TV show I don't watch. Yes, it was a let down but I'm glad he told me before a heartless editor did. (They're really not heartless but I'll get to that later.) After you have done your extensive research and found an original idea that your local "experts" have checked off, you need to think about the characters in your story. Until you become best friends with your characters, you really don't know them and can't write about them effectively. Why does the hero wear a watch? Does your villain have a tic? Why did your damsel in distress become distressed? Maybe you don't need to know the life story of the bartender that serves one drink in Chapter 13 and is never seen again but delve deeply into the inner psyche of the main people you are going to follow around in your story. Once you have your characters figured out completely, think about the scenes. Think about what they are going to do in your story and when. Visualize the locations. Is there a signed picture of Marilyn Monroe hanging on the wall of the office of the private eye? How many columns in the front of the castle your prince resides in? Until you have a clear picture, your readers will not have the visualization needed to immerse in a story. You're probably thinking, "When am I going to write?" This is the point. You know your characters; you know where your characters are. Now write the first few chapters of your masterpiece. Telling a Story vs. Showing a StoryA concept I have been teaching a friend of mine is the difference between telling someone what happened and showing them what happened. When you tell someone what happened, it can be as simple as: Jack ran. You have communicated the idea you want your reader to have. Jack moved from one location to another. However, the way you communicate Jack’s movement directly impacts the reader’s enjoyment and metal picture. To illustrate my point, compare: Jack saw his mark and ran to catch him. To: Jack crouched in the alley behind a rusty green dumpster. He scrunched his nose and breathed through his mouth to avoid the lingering musk of week old garbage. He scanned the area closely looking for his mark. Jack spotted the man in the black trench coat and red checkered scarf. He surveyed the area around his mark closely looking up, left and right for snipers or anyone tailing his mark. No one else showed any interest in the mark so Jack burst from his hiding place in pursuit of his target. His long, athletic strides quickly closed the gap between the two men.
The essence of both excerpts is the same. They both communicate to the reader that Jack saw his target and both say he ran to catch him. However, the second example shows the reader what is happening and where. It gives the reader a picture to visualize. Look through your writing and find the places that simply tell the reader what is happening. Replace those sections with a narrative that shows the reader. [1] "genre." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. 2010. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/genre>
Last Updated (Friday, 22 January 2010 17:10) The Truth About Self Publishing
Tuesday, 12 January 2010 18:09 | Written by Sabrina Sumsion |
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The truth about self publishing is a rare commodity. Any search related to any aspect of creating a book will spit out many publishing companies who say they want to help authors create their books. Some of them claim to be "traditional" publishers. Some call themselves POD publishers. A sparse few of them are rather upfront that they are little more than glorified print companies. |
Awesome Camp 2010 was . . . well . . . Awesome!
Sabrina Sumsion does not endorse or necessarily agree with everything taught in these programs. These are randomly generated ads. Please research everything before making any purchases.
