Tag Archives: publishing

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.

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Posted in Blatherings, Business, New Book Releases, Recognition

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You’ve Got to be Kidding!

Posted on April 21, 2010 | 9 comments

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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.

Okay, more than ten, but I was on a roll. This doesn’t even touch the list. I would very much like to make a very general statement to authors.

IT IS YOUR BOOK!!!!

 

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Posted in Blatherings

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Bad News Be GONE!

Posted on March 13, 2010 | 4 comments

Here it is Saturday morning, I woke up at 6:04…yeah, A.M.  Who the hell gets up at 6 A.M. on Saturday morning? I try to sleep until at least 7:30, otherwise I begin to wind down by 2 ish.

This past week has been plagued by one bad thing after another, a few of the highlights are the five bombings in Lahore, Pakistan where we have family, my ISBN Log (where I assign ISBN’s to our books and keep track of the titles and authors, cause each book and format has to have its own ISBN) got corrupted and ate all the info, and my Plantar Fasciitis is in full major pain mode (like I have time to soak my foot.)

But while these and a myriad of other things have been hell on my stress level, there have been some good things to mention.

  1. We have completed and are sending the adoption papers to INS. Yup, hubby and I are adopting a baby from Pakistan. We are certain he will grow up to be President of the world. I’m just sayin’.
  2. I got a person at Borders Corp. who is actually going to help me get the money Borders owes me for books. Woohoo!!!
  3. The snow is all melted here in Laurel, MD. Okay, it took a lot of rain to do it, but you can see the grass! Yeeha!!

If those things aren’t enough to make you smile, then here are a few links to get the ol’ happy juices flowing. I leave you with the good…

A Haiti adoption with a happy ending   *this is especially interesting to me since we are adoptig internationally. All children deserve happy and loving homes.

Alex on track with its first childhood development centre *being a former PreK teacher it warms my heart to see that South Africa is doing so much to help raise the next generation for success and happiness. Go South Africa!

Charming Prince gives monarchy a boost Down Under *This young man has so much of his mother in him. He will make her very proud.

Building free homes for wounded vets *I have nothing but love for those who give back. This man is more than a hero, he is a role model!

Have a HAPPY HAPPY Saturday!

 

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Posted in Blatherings

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