Tag Archives: authors

A Word to the Wise

Posted on May 26, 2010 | 4 comments

Okay, for those of you who have recently had some kind of interaction with me or one of my staff at Echelon Press, please read this in the spirit it is intended. How is it intended? It is a gripe, not a rant. I am not angry, I am just frustrated. I don’t dislike you, but I did experience moments of annoyance with regard to you if you did what I am about to discuss.

Free editorial service. Yup, there I said it. When you submit your work to a publisher it it supposed to be the very best that it can be.

It should not need to be reformatted to fit our guidelines.
It should not need to be spell checked by our editors.
It should not need to be grammar checked by our editors.
It should not need to be rewritten to resolve major issues.
It should not need to be rewritten to resolve minor issues.
It should not need to be rainbowed (some of my auuthors call that the great was, were, that hunt)

Seriously. This is how MOST of the manuscripts we are getting have to be addressed. I understand and will accept some flaws, you are after all human. But let’s be serious folks. It is NOT an unwritten rule that you must send a fully edited manuscript to a publisher for consideration. It is written all over the place. 90% of our submissions need to be 50% overhauled.

Now, the free part. My editors are very considerate. I have always had a policy that if your work is rejected, you know exactly why. This means notes, suggestions, advice. You can take it or leave it. But I feel that it only serves to help the author better his craft. It is a courtesy.

Well, it seems that Echelon has gotten a reputation for being really easy! We have had an influx of authors who submit to us, I should say submit work that needs serious work, with the notion that we will edit it. Okay, we will HELP.

But those same authors are getting all kinds of input and help with revision suggestions, notes on grammatical and spelling errors, stuff like that BEFORE they have a contract. Okay, that stops here! Right now. From this point on, Echelon will only give editorial comments and the like on contracted materials. Why?

In the last month, we have had about a dozen submissions where a pending offer was made, the editor began working with the author, time was spent, MONEY was spent, and then when it came time to actually sign and mail the contract, the author decided to go with another publisher or in the case of five different authors, they decided to self-publish.

For pete’s sake people, you can’t make this decision BEFORE you submit and get a gander at our contract which is not for public viewing? You wanna self-publish, good for you. And I don’t mean that in a snarky way. If you are willing to make that commitment and follow through, then I applaud you. Sincerely. But do I have to pay the price?

I am, after all, a publisher, not a FREE editorial service. I have to pay my editors and when you get their work and then don’t sign the damn contract, I still have to pay them, or they quit. Are you following what I’m saying?

For those of you who fit this bill, I’m really not mad, but I am disappointed because we do put a lot of work into what we do, and when it is for nothing, that means you have taken the time we could have been devoting to someone who really did want to be published by us.

Be courteous. Is that too much to ask?

4 Comments

Posted in Blatherings, Business

Tagged authors, Echelon Press, editing, money, publishing, self-publish, submissions, writers, Writing

Why I do this!

Posted on April 27, 2010 | 1 comment

There are days when I can’t help but wonder why I do this. Don’t get me wrong, but I love publishing. I love everything about books. I have for as long as I have actual memories. As a child I didn’t care about toys or clothes, I craved books. Still do, in any form I can get them in.

But then there are days like today. I am trying to learn how to format our titles for ePub, you know, the new “standard” eBook format. This is no easy task. There are so many details that I have to watch for and then after an hour or three of tweaking, I load it up to view it and there is one stinking line that just isn’t right. But I can’t just leave it because this is a business and I have to give the best possible product, so I spend another 45 minutes making that one stinking line right.

Anyways, then there are the phone calls from authors who want me to do something for them. Then there are the stores calling to ask if they can get a bigger discount because they are trying to stay in business and things are tough…uh, yeah…running a business myself. 🙂

So just when I am about to call it a day and crawl into a big hole of self-pity. I get this e-mail…sorry for breaking privacy rules here, but you have to see it…

Hi Karen,

The books arrived and there was much screaming going on as Katie and her sister helped to surprise Kier. Unfortunately Brynna is sick but she wanted to be screaming. Thought you might enjoy a few pics.

The colors look fine to me. Everyone agrees with your push for the bold title color. YOU ROCK!

Mara

This is the mom of one of my Quake authors, Kieryn Nicolas–who just happens to be 15 years old. I met Kieryn at a writers conference and I have to tell you this kid is something else. The photos are the reaction, Kieryn’s and her support system’s. Kieryn received her first batch of books today, the nearly 300 copies they have pre-sold over the last month. These folks are on fire!

Their enthusiasm and zest for this business is inspiring and it reminds me why I do this. They are not the only authors who work hard and sell lots of books, but I am reminded that Kieryn is just 15 years old, still in school, living her life as a teenager, and still managing to begin her career as an author.

I hope that every author out there who has forgotten or has doubts about why they got into this business will look at this post and these photos and remember the thrill of that first book and how tremendous it feels to be a part of something that offers so much to so many.

And to all you readers out there, we love what we do and we do it for you.

You can order RAIN by Kieryn Nicolas at Kindle or you can e-mail Kieryn kieryn.nicolas@gmail.com and order autographed copies. I happen to know she has some about.

1 Comment

Posted in Blatherings, Business, New Book Releases, Recognition

Tagged author, authors, books, ebooks, Echelon Press, karen syed, kieryn nicolas, publishing, rain, readers, reading, writers, Writing

You’ve Got to be Kidding!

Posted on April 21, 2010 | 9 comments

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Okay, I have been participating in a thread on the Murder Must Advertise Yahoo group about what authors think their publishers should do. This morning, after much deliberation, I went ahead and posted some of the things I, as a publisher, do and some things that I won’t do any more.

I had someone ask me privately (concerning a different post) why I get so frustrated and complain about my authors when they work so hard. This question actually came from one of my authors. They also wanted to know why I don’t do more for my authors. It seems to them that I make excuses for not doing things. Okay, fair enough. I answered, even kindly since this author has sold a total of 113 books in the last year.

But this made me think. How come my excuses are bad and an author’s are not? With that in mind, here are the last ten excuses I have received from authors hen I asked them about their personal marketing efforts. They are in no particular order and are very real.

I have family and I have to put them first. I don’t have time to call stores or travel around for nothing.
No one is going to come to a books signing anyway so I don’t bother.
I wrote the book and am writing my next one for you, so the least you can do is market it for me.
I sent out 100 post cards when it first came out and no one contacted me back, so I am not going to waste my time or money.
I didn’t get in this business to be a salesperson. I am a writer and have no desire to have to sell.
All of my money goes on my family, I never expected to have to pay to market my own book.
The economy is really bad and people are not buying books anyway.
I work a full-time job, take care of my family, and I need down time. That doesn’t leave time for me to market, that is why I got a publisher.
It would seem to me that you would have a lot more time to market my book since you don’t work a full-time job. (this is my personal favorite)
If I market it myself, why do I need a publisher?
Bookstores and libraries never pay attention to the author, all that marketing stuff has to come from the publisher.
No legitimate author does their own marketing.
I don’t know how to find readers. If you find them for me, I will talk to them.
Nobody sells books from promoting on the Internet, it is a huge waste of time.
Social networking is not going to reach readers. It never does.
If you want your business to succeed, you are going to have to prove to your authors that they should even bother with you.
It is not my responsibility to fund your publishing house.