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Writology – The Silent Religion

And How Corporate America Makes It A Billion Dollar Business

This document represents the result of my research on the current publishing industry, and it serves as a basis for my next novel, American Male Prostitute. It contains a series of entries from my blog at FrogenYozurt.com plus a few new ones. Please excuse that my comments sound a bit sarcastic at times, but I have been through the tiresome and frustrating process of writing, publishing, and promoting my first novel. I have learned the hard way that promoting a novel is one of the most difficult tasks in the business world. Add to this a great number of dubious businesses preying on the unsuspecting, aspiring writer.

Let me quote author TK Kenyon: “Writing, especially fiction writing, is a tough business to get into and a tougher one to stay in. Generally, neither authors nor publishers make a significant profit until an author’s fifth novel is published. Over 195,000 novels are published by traditional publishers in the U.S. every year. Of those, 70% sell fewer than 500 copies.”

Today’s writing and publishing world is shrugging off the old “exclusive-club” mentality, but it is, by any means, not a friendly place for an aspiring writer. As a matter of fact, the industry has turned into a shark tank. When I refer to “the industry” I mean, among other businesses, the traditional publishers, most of who are struggling these days, but they are not the actual problem. The “shark tank” is dominated by new startups in the industry, mostly vanity publishers, who produce significant profit without delivering the results they promise. It seems that scammers possess a much keener business sense than the traditional publishing businesses, and they are taking the better part of a multi-million Dollar business.

Unfortunately, too many writing sites and especially writers’ magazines (I exclude Poets & Writers specifically from this statement) are too busy spouting wonderful stories about the industry. They live from advertisement and a readership that is represented mostly by unsuccessful writers, the number one target for scammers. These days the best paying advertisers are primarily the previously mentioned vanity publishers, because – Duh! – they do have the means to purchase full page ad space.

In turn – to keep their advertisers happy – the magazines’ task is in motivating their readers to “hang on, because we are confident you will find success eventually.” They continue presenting the good in everything and everybody, and they give you the inspirational tour on a regular basis. My advice to everybody who believes in this motivational nonsense would be to start your own religious sect and call it… Writology. Go and worship yourselves. You’re good at that!

Yes, it is true; perseverance is imperative for the aspiring writer, but I question the reason to provide motivation. Their mission is not about helping writers, otherwise they would post warnings, which they – believe me – do not. It’s all about making profit. There is nothing wrong about making profit as long as you do it with professionalism and dignity, but today’s management is only about profit, profit, and profit without an iota of passion for their readership.

Everything you find in this document is based on my own experience with the writing and publishing world, and any statements made are based on my very personal opinion. I would like to emphasize that my writing is not based on anger, but keen observation of the industry. My narrow view is without a doubt not representative for the entire world of writing and publishing, but I am sure that many new writers had similar experiences.

Seizure #367 – Another Inspirational Offering

Genius is one percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration.

- Thomas A. Edison

Yes, I do number my seizures. When, according to established industry standards, you are diagnosed as an aspiring, but most likely untalented writer, you either have seizures, or, due to absence of effective medication, you fall back into religion. I, personally, chose seizures, because my God told me not to have other gods besides him. The other god would have been myself, but we’ll get to that later (see Seizure #366).

I had Seizure #367 after receiving a flyer in today’s mail, offering yet another writers’ magazine. Now, why should I subscribe to this one? Because it delivers advice and inspiration without risk or obligation. You get your hands on techniques and encouragement. Inspiring details inside…

Here we go again. Hallelujah! More inspiration and encouragement for the aspiring writer. And Hallelujah again. Here’s yet another shark in the writing and publishing business preying on unsuspecting victims.

The current situation is: There are hundreds of thousands aspiring writers in the United States alone, all armed with a word-processor and a high-speed Internet connection, and they all believe they have a talent for writing. The harsh truth is that only a discouraging low percentage of them will ever reach their goal of signing a contract with one of the traditional publishing businesses in the United States. There is a vast discrepancy between the number of aspiring writers and the unwillingness of the publishing industry to take chances in combination with a surprising impotence of discovering new, good writers.

The other option for all these wannabe-writers is self-publishing, a choice that is becoming increasingly popular. All you need is the before-mentioned word-processor and a high-speed Internet connection. Yet another harsh truth is, that the vast majority of self-publishers will not sell more than 500 copies of their work, most of them to friends and family. The problem may not necessarily be the lack of talent; the main problem is effective marketing.

And this is where Corporate America comes into action. Imagine hundreds of thousands of wannabe-writers, all of them willing to spend some major money – up to several thousand Dollars per head – trying to reach their ultimate goal of having their book published one way or the other. If you do the simple math, you will find this is a multi-million Dollar business, and the variation of services offered boggles the mind. The majority of these services – in the following called “sharks” – base their business on deceit on the lowest level up to outright fraud, and I will attempt to prove my not-so-bold statement in the following.

Seizure #1 – Here It Comes. My First Novel.

I love being a writer. What I can’t stand is the paper work.

- Peter De Vries

As you may notice, I don’t record my seizures in the order of their appearance, and I don’t record all of them. Nevertheless, it all started with seizure #1.

A little over two years ago I finally followed my dream of writing a novel. I had written and self-published three technical books before, and they still sell decently well. Let me add that I run my own publishing business. My books are printed and distributed through Lightning Source, an Ingram business unit. Ingram itself is the largest book distributor in the United States. My account with them provides me low printing costs combined with automatic listings on all Online bookstores such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble, but also exposure to the numerous brick & mortar bookstores all over the US.

At the time of seizure #1 I was aware, at least to a certain level, that writing technical literature and writing a novel are two different ballparks, but I was also thrilled by the idea. The writing itself turned out not to be as difficult a task as I had expected. I did, however, thoroughly underestimate the marketing efforts.

Marketing non-fictional literature is a relatively simple task, because, after all, you know your audience, and targeting a specific readership is easy. In case of a novel it is not only difficult to narrow down your readership; you also compete against the heavyweights in the business such as Stephenie Meyer, Dan Brown, John Grisham, Stephen King, and many others. Add to this that you cannot match their book prices. Add to this the vast amount of books that are published in the United States alone in a single year.

Be that as it may, my purpose behind writing my first novel was primarily to get a look and feel of the publishing industry, which, I hoped, would deliver me insights on effective marketing and would help me with writing and publishing my next novels. The result of my research, however, did not produce a solution that I could possibly afford. I now have a much better understanding of the publishing business, but the task of promoting my novel has not become easier.

It was nevertheless surprising to learn how bizarre, if not irrational the traditional publishing industry functions. Add to this the sharks in the business, and we may have an answer what my seizures are all about.

Seizure #366 – Discovering Writology

The more I study religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself.
- Sir Francis Burton

I just received the latest issue of my favorite most useless magazine, Writer’s Digest. Why I still receive it, I don’t know; I don’t keep track when my subscription ends, and it will hopefully end some time soon. It took me an annoying five minutes to page through the magazine to find there was nothing in there that would even remotely interest me. The only purpose I found in this publication was to investigate the fascinating, yet odd world of writing and publishing.

This last issue of Writer’s Digest, however, made me smile. It is a new year, and, accordingly, Writer’s Digest is taking the opportunity to initiate yet another motivational campaign for all those who are trying – unsuccessfully, I may add – to have their book published. Writer’s Digest’s motivational effort, however, is not a Samaritan approach to help aspiring authors getting a book deal. Their business model is based on the assumption that there are a mind-staggering number of untalented writers out there – these times, more than ever – who are buying their magazine.

The equation is easy: No talent, no book deal. Ergo: If you give up, you won’t buy our magazine anymore. So, let’s step up the motivational efforts.

Accordingly, the articles in the February 2010 issue are titled Why Inspiration Matters, Essentials of the Writing Life, Wake Up That Subconscious, and more of the same utter nonsense. Let me just add that I get inspiration and motivation every time I go to church, and I’d rather listen to our priest.

One article in particular, Why Inspiration Matters by Fred White, caught my attention, yet I have to admit I didn’t read it. However, the article’s seven reasons why inspiration matters caught my attention. They are:

1. Inspiration transforms us from creative readers to creative writers.
2. Inspiration heightens our senses.
3. Inspiration develops our understanding of human nature.
4. Inspiration improves our capacity for appreciating nature.
5. Inspiration helps us achieve mental discipline.
6. Inspiration intensifies our spiritual connection to our craft.
7. Inspiration reinforces our commitment to writing.

Wow! While I do not challenge Fred White’s conclusions, I am flabbergasted by the author’s intensity describing a simple matter like writing. In my child-like thinking, if you don’t feel inspired, if you are lacking mental discipline, or if you lack the commitment to writing, maybe writing isn’t your forte.

Maybe it’s just that I am the simple-minded guy. I go with James M. Berrie, who once said, “Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.” If writing is work, and you need to read this inspirational nonsense to write your next novel or poem, maybe you shouldn’t be writing.

My advice to Writer’s Digest, and everybody who believes in this motivational nonsense, would be to start their own religious sect and call it… Writology. Go and worship yourselves. You’re good at that!

Please excuse my sarcasm, but I don’t believe in the nonsense that this magazine publishes on a regular basis. As I said, I am simple-minded. I just sit and write.

Seizure #211 – The Dream World Of Writers’ Forums

To achieve the impossible dream, try going to sleep.

- Joan Klempner

Most of us aspiring writers sign up for online forums, either to pitch new ideas and wait for feedback, or to ask for advice, but foremost to “build a platform.” “Building a platform” is based on a very basic principle: If nobody knows you, nobody will buy your books.

I always put the term “building a platform” in quotation marks, because, in my very personal opinion, there is a lot of nonsense connected with the idea, especially when it comes to forums. Yes, it is imperative for each new – and even the established – author to maintain a web site and create some attention for his/her work. But forums, with very few exceptions, have close to Absolute Null impact on a writer’s career. Nobody else but other aspiring writers will read your entries. After months of playing with various forums I had decided to cancel all but one of my accounts – I’ll keep the one at AuthorNation.com, because it’s actually fun being there (unless their server breaks down, which it does frequently).

But even on AuthorNation.com you will be pestered by what I call the “forum sharks.” Forum sharks “attack” each single new member and ask to be their Online friend, forcing them to read their – usually useless – blabbering about their books and other writings, may it be about infertility treatment, attracting money with your mind, new paths to riches, or even poems that don’t rhyme (Sorry, maybe I am just plain old-fashioned, but, in my world, good poetry rhymes).

You recognize the sharks by the vast number of “friends” they have, a number close to the total number of members on the forum. Their initial message is usually like “Welcome to the forum, and, by the way, please buy my newest novel…” They literally spend several hours a day to send their “friend requests” (without results that would justify the efforts, I may add – I checked them out).

Forum sharks usually do not participate in member communications, meaning they don’t read other members’ inquiries or offer advice, unless the forum is based solely on member communication. In the latter case, each newcomer will be greeted by a great number of members wishing you well in your efforts to become the next Hemingway, and while some of these greetings may be from the heart, most are designed not only to create readership, but foremost to place yet another hyperlink to their web site.

Again, we’re “building our platform,” and search engines love hyperlinks, and an increased number of hyperlinks will help increase awareness of your web site in the Internet community. Well…wrong! Any SEO (search engine optimization) expert will tell you that the mere number of hyperlinks doesn’t count when it comes from the same source, the same web site. Secondly, depending on how the forum is set up, search engines might not even be able to access member communications and thus not see the hyperlinks.

In another forum, that I signed up for and abandoned after a while, you could only insert hyperlinks into your posts after writing at least twenty-five entries. Ergo, some users invented the “word game.” I write an entry containing a single word, you respond with another, related word, I response with yet another, related word, and so on, and so on. Needless to say, but games like this one do not help to increase the quality of the online forum, but the original purpose of the forum is not important to forum sharks.

Another forum categorizes you by the number of entries, starting at “New Member” (less than fifty entries) up to “Premium Member” (more than 500 entries). So, let’s get our hands at that computer keyboard and write something to improve our rank.

Then there are the “semi-gods,” members who either have participated for several years (and at the same time wasted their time writing literally thousands of entries), or they are real, accomplished authors. Some forums are sponsored by one of the sharks in the publishing industry, and some of them hire accomplished authors to “mentor” the newcomers. The advice they offer is, naturally, in line with their sponsor.

In my very personal opinion, the worst writers’ forum in the business is the one sponsored by Writer’s Digest, my favorite, most useless magazine. Writer’s Digest is specifically in the business of maintaining a dream world for aspiring, yet (hopefully) unsuccessful writers. Their online forum, at the time when I signed up, was dominated by two elderly semi-gods, both with a reputation of a long writing career. At the same time, both were incredibly Internet-illiterate and, consequently, were opposed to radical ideas such as self-publishing. They wouldn’t offer any advice in that direction other than not to self-publish. Self-publishing is still considered the equivalent of lack of talent. I once dared to challenge their views, and their tone became increasingly aggressive, even insulting. In one post, one of these semi-gods stated that 99.9% of all aspiring writers – including myself – have no talent at all, which I thought was the wrong message to be sent to the forum’s members.

At another occasion (at another forum) I inquired regarding the effectiveness of paid review services for an author’s career, and one of the semi-gods blasted me for even posting such a ridiculous question. The last line in his entry was “Cut the crap!” His claim to fame was the publication of a Karate-Kid-replica novel that sold decently well on Amazon.com.

On a personal note, I was shocked by the lack of writing skills that far too many forum members, even the published authors among them, demonstrate in public, not necessarily in regards to style, but especially when it comes to the basics such as proper grammar and spelling. I don’t consider my own writing as perfect, but my excuse is that English is my second language.

My advice to the novice writer: First, browse the Internet for information, but avoid forums. Secondly, don’t buy books on writing; they’re just plain useless. Most importantly, read, read, read, and… read. Read online newspapers, read Hemingway, or even Sarah Palin (Yikes!), everything works. This will be time well spent, and, if managed properly, will cost very little money.

Then, after all, write, write, write, and… write. Write about everything that comes to mind, especially topics you are passionate about. Put these writings on a blog. Continuous reading and writing will improve your writing style.

If you are talented and persevere, you will find success eventually. As a logical consequence, if you are not talented (nothing wrong with that), you will not find success. Online forums play no part in either scenario.

Seizure #43 – Vanity Publishers

Winning may not be everything, but losing has little to recommend it.

- Senator Dianne Feinstein

It is time to take a swing at the sharks in the publishing business, in this case so-called vanity publishers. To put it in a nutshell, vanity publishers create income by charging authors for printing and publishing their works.

As part of some research for a new novel I had decided to work through a number of older issues of my favorite, most useless magazine, Writer’s Digest.

In the following I am referring to the March/April 2009 issue, page 11, which contains a full-page advertisement by Outskirts Press. In the ad, an author of four children’s books is quoted as follows: “I have published three children’s books with Outskirts Press and I can say without reservation that each experience has been a pleasure. The quality of each book was spectacular. I am writing my fourth children’s book and Outskirts Press will be handling all the publishing details. I couldn’t be happier.”

Good for him! However, let’s do a reality check. As of the time of this writing I found four of his books on Amazon.com. Three of them come with a price tag of $19.95 for a mere 64 pages. His latest publication is priced at $27.95. Needless to say, but this kind of price range, in view of the competitive market, makes it almost impossible to sell the books, and it shows in the sales ranks.

Publishing with Outskirts Press (or any other vanity publisher), in my very personal opinion, is a lose-lose situation. Initially, you, the author, pay substantial fees to Outskirts Press to have your book published. Then you have no choice but to set a high sales price per book, which limits your chances for success substantially. In order to make any profit you need to set the sales price above printing costs plus the (hidden) Outskirts Press sales fee. Let’s assume you spent about $1,000 with Outskirts Press (You can easily end up much higher than that). Let’s further assume your sales price includes a mere $2.00 profit for you, the author. In order to reach a return of investment you need to sell at least 500 copies. This may sound easy, but, yet again, it is impossible with a price tag of $19.95 for a 64-pages children’s book.

It also struck me as strange that two of the author’s books came with a single customer 5-star-rating written by either the author himself, or his illustrator (A word for the author: First, ask friends to write a review. Secondly, Amazon provides a blog service enabling authors writing about their books.)

All books, but one, showed rankings above the 2,000,000 mark, indicating that he sells probably less than ten books a year, if that much. The one book without a ranking, published in October 2008, had consequently not sold a single copy through Amazon at the time of this writing.

Let me say that I am well aware how difficult it is to promote and sell a book, especially fiction and, even worse, children’s literature. I also believe, judging by the books’ titles and the nice illustrations, that the author is most probably a talented writer. Unfortunately, he trusted Outskirts Press, and he has spent a substantial amount of money (I assume a minimum of $4,000, probably more). The way it looks at the moment, he will never produce any profit, and to emphasize it again, his only mistake was to trust Outskirts Press. For his sake I hope they gave him a break by appearing in their ad.

Nevertheless, shame on Outskirts Press to come up with a misleading advertisement like this, and shame on Writer’s Digest to cooperate with the sharks in the publishing business.

A tip for children’s literature authors: Do not self-publish!

Self-publishing involves Print-On-Demand (POD), which allows the print of small volumes. However, compared to the traditional offset-printing process, POD printing costs are higher. This is especially true for books with colored interior, and children’s literature is usually colored. The POD printing costs for children’s literature will automatically push you outside a competitive range in a market where children’s books are priced significantly lower. The traditional offset-printing process, however, demands a print-run of several thousands of books before it becomes profitable, and this can only be accomplished by going through an established publisher. The process can be tedious, but it’s still your best chance for publication.

Also, as I wrote in another section, I strongly recommend the use of blogs for promoting your written work. It’s still the best way to present your talent to the world.

Outskirts Press is a Vanity Publisher!

Per definition, a Vanity Publisher is a publishing house that publishes books at the author’s expense. A Vanity Publisher does not have any interest in the success of the authors they represent. Their main income comes from the multitude of aspiring authors who choose to publish through Outskirts Press.

Be aware, there is a ton of sharks out there, Outskirts Press being one of the worst, preying on the vast number of wannabe-authors who will never have a chance to sell their work, but are nevertheless naive enough to spend their money with useless services. As I said, it is a shame that a magazine such as Writer’s Digest is in business to support these dubious businesses.

Seizure #42 – The Pain With Outskirts Press

Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity.

- Frank Leahy

If you are in the business of self-publishing your book and you have done some research, you most certainly have found Outskirts Press one way or the other. I was curious enough to sign up for their newsletter and to receive their publishing guide, but I should have known better.

Just a fair warning: Getting in touch with Outskirts Press is the equivalent of inviting a leech, “Please come, suck my blood and don’t you ever leave.”

There is a fine line between aggressive marketing and harassing current or potential customers. The “Author Services” people at Outskirts Press definitely keep in touch with their potential customers, but in my very personal opinion, they also violate some marketing ethics.

I had tried several times to unsubscribe from their newsletter and replied to their other e-mails, trying to explain that their services were not what I needed, but to no avail. Then I received yet another e-mail from the “Author Services” asking to answer their survey, and that was the point where I got mad. I responded to their e-mail, not very nicely, and asked yet again to be removed from their mailing list. I will also put them on my “Black List” setting on my mail server.

The Outskirts Press ”newsletter” is usually filled with testimonies by authors they represent, who apparently had a positive – nothing short of orgasmic – experience with Outskirts Press. Then there are moving comments by the sender of the newsletter of how proud they are of the success of their customers, and doesn’t that convince you to spend your money with them, because we are sure you are the next John Grisham.

Well, give me a freaking break! I personally maintain a mailing list, but I also know that monthly newsletters should contain information valuable to my customers in order to keep their interest. I strongly believe that my customers are fairly intelligent, and I don’t insult them as Outskirts Press does with their clientele.

I also make very sure that my newsletters always contain an unsubscribe feature, because I believe in good marketing ethics (and the unsubscribe feature may even be required by law).

The Outskirts Press “survey” is designed to lure you back to their web site, because if you haven’t thought about the question, please visit our web site by clicking on this hyperlink. The questions are designed very cleverly, but I doubt the survey was meant to produce any results for Outskirts Press other than sucking the last drop of blood from their customers.

Well, all this explains my personal view on what I call Outskirts Press lack of business ethics, but it does not stop here.

Let me address their offerings: Outskirts Press offers a number of publishing packages for a price between $199 and $1099. The $199 package is nothing short of ridiculous, thus totally worthless, because it doesn’t get you anywhere (No ISBN). You can do the same thing at, for instance, Lulu.com for free and no contract is required; you just pay to buy your own copies.

Many features that are part of the more expensive packages (e.g. Author web store) are free-of-charge on Lulu.com. Beyond that Lulu.com does offer similar services for lower fees.

Naturally, Outskirts Press, just like any other publishing service, promises an Amazon listing, but that is not necessarily a sure thing. Until recently I believed that an Amazon listing is a sure path to success, and that is true for non-fiction literature. People will find your book and buy it, whether you promote it or not. That’s just in the nature of Amazon.com. The situation changes dramatically when you’re in the business of writing fiction. In this case you need heavy marketing that can only be accomplished through a vast amount of time and money. Outskirts Press will do nothing for you in terms of promoting your book, unless you pay them heavily.

Now, let’s have a look at the economics (See also my comments in Seizure #43). In order to be competitive, for instance by setting a reasonable list price, you need to apply very low author royalties, which can be as low as $1…$2 per sold book. When you write a novel you will compete with the John Grishams, Stephen Kings, Dan Browns, and others, whose paperback versions go for a lower price than the printing costs charged by Outskirts Press. If you sign up for the Outskirts Press $1099 package, you need to sell a minimum of roughly 1000 books before you make your first Dollar. The truth is, the money spending doesn’t stop here, because each author is still responsible for his/her marketing, and Outskirts Press will be happy to take your money to support you. Another truth is, that the average author does not sell more than 500 copies and that is the business model of companies like Outskirts Press. They live from the many less-than-500-copies-authors and not from the very few successful writers.

The situation becomes even more discouraging when you try to self-publish fully colored children’s literature. If you think you have the talent for children’s literature, get in touch with an established publishing house. I don’t mean to discourage anybody from self-publishing; I still recommend it and I do it myself, but I do it through my own business and not as a freelance author.

The best chances to publish a book is when you are either an extremely talented novel writer – in which case you really don’t need to self-publish – or you concentrate on niche topics (Have a look at Outskirts Press most sold authors and their books). I made my experience with publishing technical literature on subjects like “Controller Area Network” and “Servo Motor Sizing” with higher-than-standard royalties.

I have also been through the exciting adventure of writing my first novel, not necessarily to become the next John Grisham, but because I can. The last thing I would do, would be signing a contract with Outskirts Press. I had some harsher words for their service in mind, but I tried to be as diplomatic as I could justify to myself.

Well, now it’s time to make that setting on my e-mail server…

Seizure #48 – We Only Want Your Best… Your Money!

Advertising may be described as the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it.

- Stephen Leacock

Whenever you log on to one of those web sites dedicated to writing and publishing you will most certainly see numerous Google ads related to the site’s topic. Sure enough, these ads are placed by vanity publishers looking for more victims. Traditional publishers don’t advertise for writers.

The wording is in the nature of “Have you written a book?”, “Find A Book Publisher Now”, “DO NOT Self-Publish”, and the ever-popular “Free Publishing Guide.” Well, here’s the sure path to useless money spending.

The following is a POD (Print-On-Demand) comparison of various vanity publishers. Without doing any research on my own, I used a compilation I received through an e-mail newsletter. My mere intention is to provide information about how much authors are willing to pay to have their book published.

Note: All publishers as mentioned in the following offer distribution through Ingram, the largest book distributor in the US, as well as listings of their titles on all major Online bookstores (incl. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, etc.), and regular brick & mortar bookstores. In all consequence, all of these publishers pay the same low printing prices. Their main income is through the initial fees they charge, but they also add a very good profit margin on top of the printing costs, even for books they sell directly to the author.

• Booklocker.com: $517 – Deduct $200 if submitting your own cover. They claim “no hidden fees,” but they charge authors for inclusion on their web site. If your book does not sell more than 5 copies a month in average, they reserve the right to terminate your contract with them.
• iUniverse: $599 – includes 5 “free” copies. They own the files (content and cover), and they charge the author $300 – $1,500 to transfer the rights. They charge extra to include more than 25 images.
• CreateSpace: $763 (Deduct $259 if submitting your own cover). This is an Amazon business unit, and it is the same as BookSurge. Add $500 if you want more than one color and image on your cover. Charges extra for more than 10 images.
• Lulu.Com: $1,369 (Deduct $650 if submitting your own cover).
• AuthorHouse: $1,468. Charges extra for more than 10 images. Expedite fee of $500 to publish within 30 days instead of 6 months.
• Xlibris: $1,573 – includes 5 “free” copies. Charges $349 for expedited service to publish within 2 months instead of 4 – 6 months.
• Trafford: $2,297. No expedite service offered.

Note: Isn’t it funny, that Author Solutions, a holding company, owns AuthorHouse, Xlibris, iUniverse, and Trafford.

All prices as shown here do not include any extras such as marketing services. These are charged extra.

Seizure #95 – Literary Agents Are Snobby Bastards

The best defense against misguided arrogance is a keen sense of humor.

- Kathryn L. Nelson, Pemberley Manor, 2006

You think the title is a little strong? Well, maybe, but there is a truth behind it. I am sure there are some good agents out there, but I stay with my statement when it comes to the majority of literary agents. As a business man I am appalled by the lack of business sense these people display to the public, especially when it comes to rejecting writers not because they’re not talented but due to primitive reason such as violation of the submission guidelines.

As a background information, I started writing technical literature in 2005 and I never even considered going through an application process; I jumped immediately into self-publishing and my business is now officially a micro-publisher with distribution through Ingram. I self-publish simply because I just don’t have the patience to look for the right agent and find the right publisher, a process that usually takes years before your work is published. The whole process is extremely ineffective and it does not fit with my sense for business.

I developed my case against literary agents after reading my most-favorite useless magazine, Writer’s Digest. Well, maybe not so useless, since the content convinced me that their preference for established publishing did not agree with me.

Okay, back to the agents… The September 2009 issue of Writer’s Digest includes an article Real Queries That Worked, sub-titled Agents share queries that hooked them – and insights on what made them effective.

A remark for the novice: In order to find an agent - Writer’s Digest will gladly sell you a list – you need to submit not only your manuscript – or an excerpt thereof – but also a synopsis, which all makes sense. Through the query – in layman’s terms a cover letter – you need to convince the agent that your novel is the best thing since, let’s say, The Da Vinci Code. There are services - Writer’s Digest will gladly sell you a list – that will write you such a letter, and, naturally, they would like to be paid for it.

Wait a minute, you might say. Isn’t that like writing a cover letter that you include with your resume? The answer is, yes, the process is very similar. I know out of experience that many HR professionals, sitting in front of a pile of resumes submitted by hundreds of people applying for the same job, start their selection process by merely scanning over the cover letter. If they don’t like it, it’s out. After that they look at the remaining resumes and actually check for job qualification. Apparently, literary agents work very similar.

In all consequence, writing a professional looking author query is important, and it makes sense to hire a professional service to help increase your chances.

So, what’s wrong about this process? Okay, first of all, submitting a cover letter with your resume or submitting an author’s query with a manuscript are two very different things. An HR professional looks for one – the best – person to fill a particular job, and, naturally, competition is tough.

A literary agent may end up with the same number of queries on his/her desk, but in the end each of these applications could bring them the next Stephenie Meyer, Stephen King, or Dan Brown. Add to this that each query is submitted by a potential customer who, with the sale of the first book, shares his/her income with the agent. This being said, wouldn’t it make sense to read the query regardless of appearance or if it complies with submission guidelines?

As a businessman I would concentrate on the synopsis and make the educated decision whether or not the submission has enough potential for another bestseller. I believe in looking at the actual result of the artist’s work.

The Writer’s Digest article mentions the example of an actual query praised by a real agent saying, “…I was hooked and knew I wanted to read…” the author’s work.

Let me quote from the letter: “I believe this book to be of broad public appeal in that it combines the scintillating fervor of scandal with the true-to-life detachment of history.” It goes on like this – in best lawyer’s English – and, honestly, if his work is written in the same style I personally wouldn’t want to read it – it doesn’t read like, let’s say, Dan Brown. It did, however, convince the agent, and, apparently it doesn’t matter if the letter reflects the writer’s style or not.

Well, maybe I still got it wrong and agents just prefer to receive a clear and precise synopsis, but will nevertheless have a look at the manuscript.

It also seems that agents are increasingly using “modern” technologies such as … e-mail! Some of them ask only for information without the actual manuscript. Many agents need to be convinced first that the writer can prove a writing experience, can provide a marketing plan, has won several prizes in writing contest, etc.

Personally, I have not won any prizes – didn’t even attend any contest – but, yes, I do have a precise marketing plan. With a good marketing plan in place, why go through an agent and publisher? If you need to provide the expertise, why not publish yourself? And, by the way, does my novel have anything to do with this process?

Let me add to my case by quoting some agents’ comments as listed in the September 2009 issue of Writer’s Digest:

-       We prefer a (e-mail) query before you send us your ms (Manuscript)…Queries sent with attachments will be deleted unread.

-       Only (written) queries with SASEs will receive responses. I generally respond to all queries within four weeks. I now accept e-mail submissions, please include my name in the subject line. (Meaning that person is new to Internet technologies and receives e-mail through another source.)

-       Allow 60 days for a reply.

-       All submissions should be free of spelling and grammatical errors. (Duh!)

-       Due to overwhelming number of submissions we cannot respond to all submissions, we cannot respond to all queries, but we do read them and will contact you if interested. (If not, they don’t bother to respond.)

-       If she’s interested in your work, she will respond within four weeks. Snail mail submissions will not be reviewed.

-       If you haven’t heard from her within eight weeks, please assume she is passing on your project. (Now, that reflects an attitude I wouldn’t want to deal with as a writer.)

-       I always welcome submissions from new authors. Follow the submission guidelines on the agency website. (Oops! That’s a good one! This is how it should be!)

-       Agent responds in six to eight weeks.

It goes on like this.

Seizure #94 – Literary Agents – The Way It Should Be

All you need in life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure.

- Mark Twain

As a businessman and weekend writer I am continually puzzled by the ineffectiveness of the traditional book publishing industry, and there is not enough time to list their shortcomings. I have done quite some research on the topic of writing and publishing, and, consequently, I have made the decision to self-publish through my own business.

Nevertheless, hope is not lost. There are some agents and publishers that have seen the writing on the wall, and they are adjusting their business policies to be more effective by using technologies such as the Internet and digital printing. In this article I will refer to a positive example of how a literary agency should work these days.

However, first of all, let’s have a look at the conventional process a writer has to go through to have his/her work published:

1. We assume you have finished your first novel.
2. You start looking for an agent – There are businesses that will sell you a list of agents because the majority of  literary agents apparently doesn’t advertise.
3. You submit your manuscript to the agent.
4. Your cover letter was not sufficient, thus the agent didn’t even read your manuscript.
5. You hire a professional service to re-write your cover letter – There are businesses that will sell you a list of services that provide cover letters. Go back to 3.
6. Your cover letter was acceptable, but your work was rejected because it didn’t follow the guidelines such as proper font, double-lining, proper margins, etc. – You re-format your manuscript. Go back to 3.
7. The agent has read your manuscript and finds that it has the potential of selling at least 10,000 copies, but your manuscript needs some editing. – You hire a professional editing service. Go back to 3.
8. After one year your agent has found a small publishing house for you, but they don’t do cover work. – You hire a professional service to create a cover for you.
9. You work with your publisher for about a year until, finally, the book is actually available for sale.

10. In order to sell your book your publisher insists you take over the marketing yourself.

As a matter of fact, it is not quite as easy to find an agent the conventional way, because the average literary agent is bound by a ton of restrictions, such as “I do only women’s literature.”, “I accept only from May through June.”, “I will answer in about ten months.”, etc.

Okay, finally, let’s look at a refreshing way to get a deal with a literary agent. Just by chance I found the web site of a literary agency that looked promising, and I actually did submit my information and parts of my manuscript. I was quite pleased with their approach, and it took about twelve days between sending my submission and receiving their contract. The temptation of letting them take care of things was great, but in the end I opted for my own business, but that was a very personal choice. All in all, I was ready to recommend their services.

However… As I learned much, much later, the whole thing is a scam. The “Literary Agency” was not in the business of finding you a publisher. They were resourceful asking to hire further services for editing, marketing, etc. with whom they had “no professional relationship.” It turns out, they owned these service companies and made some good profits. As I wrote before, scammers know much better what an aspiring writer needs.

Their official business model was to find writers, sign a contract with them, and find a publisher for their client. In return they receive 10% of all revenues. The writer keeps the full copyright of his/her work. Naturally, they emphasize that they can’t guarantee success, but they will let you out of the contract if they were not successful within 90 days – if you choose to do so.

In order to submit your work you go to their web site and fill out a form. The information – besides name, etc. – they ask for is the title of your work, a synopsis of your manuscript, a brief bio of yourself, whether your work has already been edited, etc. They say they will try to answer within a few days and in my case it took them only two days.

If they like you and your work (and believe me, they will), they will send you a very long response per automated e-mail. The whole process seems a little sober, but they do explain in detail why they do what they do. They just want to make sure you understand the process, but they also show quite some effort to make you feel comfortable with their services.

In the next step they will ask you for an excerpt of your manuscript. They explain in length that they don’t necessarily expect another Hemingway. The publishing process involves per default a number of steps to improve the quality of your work and guarantee a sales success.

They also ask for a brief response to a few, very valid questions:

1. Think like a publisher. Who would buy the book? Why would they buy it?
2. How long have you been writing, and what are your goals as a writer?
3. Do you consider your writing ‘ready-to-go’ or do you think it needs some polishing?

Yet again, they explain in detail why they ask these questions.

About seven days after submitting an excerpt of my manuscript I received an e-mail that my work had been accepted. They wrote:

“We choose to represent authors that can demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that their work meets or exceeds industry writing quality standards. That’s our promise to our buyers and publishers we work with. If a writer is willing to improve their work, then we think that writer deserves a chance. It is the willingness to improve that impresses us. You have mentioned that your work needs polishing. We agree and we have developed a process to assist you in taking that step, while at the same time giving us what we need to start selling your work to buyers.”

The contract they sent is as fair as they promise; no strings attached. One further request, though, ticked me off just a little bit. It’s only a minor flaw in their process. With sending you a contract they also ask you to get a “critique”, and they should have mentioned it from the beginning. Everybody wants to know upfront what is involved. A critique by a “third party” (costs less than $100) is an overview of your work; it is not a line edit. Let me point out, that the agency is not asking you for money at this point; they just request you “hire a service of your choice.”

I would like to emphasize again, that during the entire process the agency never asked directly for any financial compensation. They skillfully gave me the impression that what they do for you they do on their own expenses, until you successfully sell copies of your book and give them their fair share.

Nevertheless, this was the point where I left the race, mostly due to my intention to have my first novel published as soon as possible. It is now available through Amazon.com, Barnes & Nobles, Borders, etc.

At the time I did not vouch for the agency’s performance, but, despite being a scam, I did like their professional attitude, and I wished the majority of honest literary agents would learn from their business model.

On a side note, whether you self-publish or not, you should always hire a professional editing service before submitting your work. I do, however, recommend you hire local services, someone who is accessible to you. I learned my lesson by hiring an online service. Their changes were mostly professional, but I had a hard time to correct a few misunderstandings of historical facts. In the end I had to re-read the manuscript multiple times, and I still ended up with one embarrassing error planted by the editing service.

In addition, you might still end up doing most of the marketing work, but that is something every aspiring writer should be aware of. The real work starts after your work is finished.

Seizure #311 – The Impotence Of Discovering Good Writers

All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.

- Galileo Galilei

I’ll make this one short. Have you ever wondered what happened to literary agents or acquisition editors who rejected the manuscript of, let’s say, Stephenie Meyer?

Stephenie Meyer’s manuscript was initially rejected fourteen times. Since then, her novel Twilight has sold more than 17 million copies worldwide. It spent more than 90 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and it has been translated into thirty-seven different languages.

I always wonder what happened to these – at least – fourteen people, if they are still around in the publishing business after each one of them failed in such an extreme miserable manner. If they did the honorable thing, they should just end their miserable lives or find another daytime job, something that they actually are good at. Chances are, they are still around and do the one thing they are really good at: Bull-shitting.

Seizure #188 – It’s A Happy, Happy, Happy, Happy World!

To be stupid, selfish, and have good health are three requirements for happiness, though if stupidity is lacking, all is lost.

- Gustave Flaubert

Let’s celebrate Writology! The writer’s world according to Writer’s Digest is a happy, happy, happy, happy world! Whatever is considered “evil” in the outside world, we’ll turn it into a positive experience. Someone gave you a bloody nose? Oh, isn’t Red a lovely color?

Now you may think I am getting a little overboard, but hold your thought for just a minute and continue reading.

In the following I am using the article How Even A Bad Experience Can Make You A Better Writer (WD October 2009) by Elizabeth Sims, contributing editor of Writer’s Digest, as one example of the happy, happy world attitude. Unfortunately, when you read Writer’s Digest you will find a myriad of similar articles, but I am using this one, since it reflects a particularly ridiculous attitude by finding something good in everything, even if it is a malign brain cancer.

So, Elizabeth spent some time at a particularly bad writers’ conference, and she is sharing it in her article. Let’s have a look at the incidents and especially at Elizabeth’s conclusions.

In the first instance she met a literary agent to whom she had sent a manuscript and he claimed to have read it. During the conversation Elizabeth recognizes the man was lying through his teeth. He had no clue who she was, and he had never read her manuscript.

Conclusion: Agents are only human. If they didn’t read your manuscript, don’t whine. Face it and get busy improving your manuscript. After all, it was your mistake, not the agent’s.

Next scenario is about a session with one of New York’s top literary agents, Chanel suit, cougar-lean body, and $100 haircut included. She starts with explaining how to get your book reviewed by Oprah. “You call Dial-A-Prayer,” she laughed into the face of her audience.

Conclusion: Individuals who take pleasure in making fools of others reveal a morbidly fascinating neediness – so, you can benefit from observing them.

The keynote address was a bust, too, and I won’t go into details, but Elizabeth, yet again, finds something positive to write: When disappointed by a speaker, try to empathize, but more important, try to analyze why.

Last, but not least, a word from me to Elizabeth: Liz, you are an incredibly talented writer. I loved your style, and the article was fun to read, but don’t waste your time working for Writer’s Digest. With your talent you can do a lot better. And, by the way, get rid of that submissive attitude.

Seizure #232 – Copyright Infringement? That’s Wonderful!

Sometimes what’s right isn’t as important than what’s profitable.

- Trey Parker and Matt Stone, South Park, Prehistoric Ice Man, 1999

Back in November of 2009 I became aware that two of the books I publish (both in print and as eBook) were freely available as a download through scribd.com (see also next chapter – Seizure #231). Add to the situation another victim like some English author named J.K. Rowling – and many more – and you get a picture of the magnitude of this case of copyright infringement.

I e-mailed several writers’ magazines and newspapers; they all didn’t show any increased interest in the subject, and to a certain degree that’s fine by me. I am aware that I am just a regular guy, and the rest of the world doesn’t listen to me. I can live with that.

I did, however, receive an answer from my favorite, most useless magazine, Writer’s Digest. Melissa from Writer’s Digest thanked me for letting them know.

“You’ll want to take those concerns directly to those sites to resolve the problem,” she wrote. Meaning, we won’t take a stand; that’s up to you.

“Those sites” were their VIP program and the Writer’s Digest community, which in my personal opinion, is even more useless than the printed magazine.

So, first of all, the “problem” was not important enough to be addressed in their magazine, even though it affects writers directly, meaning they loose royalties. But sorry, I forgot, we don’t address controversial issues in the Writology world.

Secondly, Melissa recommended I sign up at their VIP program for roughly $50 per year, but, really, it’s a $198.80 value. Reminds me of those commercials where you wait for the “But wait! If you call within the next ten minutes you’ll get another super-duper wonder cleaner for free!”

All this is yet another indication that Writer’s Digest is not about helping writers, but all about making profit. There is nothing wrong about making profit as long as you do it with professionalism and dignity. Writer’s Digest started off some ninety years ago, I believe, and I am convinced the publisher’s intention was honest at the time. Today’s management is only about profit, profit, and profit without an iota of passion for their paying customers.

Seizure 231 – Copyright Infringement As A Business Model

Obviously crime pays; otherwise there’d be no crime.

- G. Gordon Liddy

The following is an excerpt of an article I wrote for WritersWeekly.com:

There has been a great deal of commotion about Google’s controversial and potentially anti-competitive plans to digitalize millions of books, or the pricing war going on between Walmart, Target, and Amazon. It is surprising that only little attention has been paid to an even greater threat to authors and publishers by Scribd.com, a web site allowing the distribution of copyrighted documents, including digitalized versions of popular works such as J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and The Tales of Beedle the Bard.

J.K. Rowling used the power of her legal team to have her works removed, but her focus was the protection of her intellectual property, not the financial damage. While big publishing houses or successful authors like J.K. Rowling can easily dismiss the financial loss, the situation becomes quickly explosive for small publishing businesses. For instance, BookLocker.com noticed more than 13,000 scribd.com users had “read” their best selling book, Cancer-Free, before the author was able to have his copyrighted material removed. Two of my books were listed for roughly six months – without my knowledge – and the loss of sales is roughly $20,000, with no chance to tackle a heavyweight like Scribd.

Scribd.com is not the only document-sharing web site, but with more than 50 million users and more than 50,000 document uploads per day, it appears they aim to be the YouTube for print. Scribd.com can most certainly be helpful for authors, publishers, and bookstores. They can upload their documents in their entirety and sell them for a good profit, or they can upload only an excerpt to wet the appetite of potential readers. The content on Scribd.com ranges from a majority of dull documents to a number of copyrighted books, fiction and non-fiction alike.

There are two sides to the problem: First, Scribd.com provides the means to upload copyrighted material without “editorial interference or approval”, thus creating financial damage to the publishing industry. Add to this that the majority of authors and publishers are still unaware of the issue.

Secondly, there are a number of publishing businesses – sleeping with the enemy – who believe in a strange marketing policy of allowing the free-of-charge viewing, reading, printing, and downloading of their published books for “a limited time.”

The absence of “editorial intervention and approval” in combination with a highly flawed sign-up process, however, encourages the crime. Scribd.com makes it very easy to sign up with a fake e-mail address. For instance, a user can sign up as johnmccain@thewhitehouse.com and then upload the latest Dan Brown, provided it exists in an electronic format. Scribd.com does not actively verify the users’ authority, and, in case of an illegal upload, they are usually unable to identify the perpetrator. Of course, they pop up a dialog window asking to confirm the rights to the document in question. But, seriously, criminal minds don’t care, and there is a great number of users who may be unaware of the consequence of their actions.

Removing copyrighted documents from the Scribd.com web site is easy, though – they promote this heavily as one of their “helpful features”. Scribd.com provides an e-mail template and the author or publisher fills in the appropriate information. It usually takes only a few days to process the request, but it also means that the document is still available for view, print, or download until the verification process is completed.

And even then, Scridb is still holding on to the document, meaning it is still stored in their database, which posts yet another legal problem because they store copyrighted documents without explicit authorization by the document’s owner. Officially, they use the existing copy to verify it against new uploads and thus prevent further copyright infringement.

I strongly suggest that each author and publisher check out the Scribd.com web site and search for names and titles. If your work is listed on Scribd.com, send an e-mail to copyright-at-scribd.com using the legal form they recommend. You will receive an automated response stating that your request has been received. They also encourage you to leave comments, and I dared doing just that, without being insulting. As a matter of fact, the person in charge at Scribd.com, their Customer Care Director, did not appreciate my feedback and closed the request immediately. I had to re-apply, and my book was finally removed from their web site.

The law firm of Camara & Sibley has decided to take on Scribd, seeking class action status against the site in a lawsuit filed in a Texas federal court. The charge: “Like YouTube, Veoh, and other user-generated content sites, Scribd makes it just too easy to upload copyrighted content without permission.”

Ironically, a copy of the lawsuit is available through the Scribd.com web site (Search for Scott v. Scribd Complaint).

Seizure #88 – Buy My Book On Writing A Novel

As long as people will accept crap, it will be financially profitable to dispense it.

- Dick Cavett

Following the above quote, I should actually charge for this document and have those people who don’t agree with my views steaming about the fact that they spend their valuable Dollars on a crap like this. Been there, done that, didn’t like it. And by the way, so far I had too much fun writing this, and I consider that a sufficient payment.

One of my earliest, negative experiences I made in the novel writing world was with buying and reading literature on writing a novel. The problem with this approach is the vast amount of available literature, and the vast number of titles that contain only motivational bla-bla without any substance. I am very certain there are good books on writing a novel, but the problem is finding them. How many books should you read and/or buy before you’re sure you have the right one?

And no, you can’t necessarily trust the Amazon sales rank, not even the reviews.

Another early lesson I learned is the importance of a catchy book title. I chose books according to their title and sales rank, but found that too many people fell for the same scam (i.e. the title). And, as I found out, a great number of the positive review writers may be at least acquainted with the author.

The problem I have is: How come that most of these authors who write about writing a novel are not successful when it comes to writing a novel? How can you write about writing a novel when the only book you wrote is about writing a novel? Now, that is getting confusing…

When it comes to the basics of novel writing I suggest to go to http://www.dailywritingtips.com/. I found a lot of valuable information there. Another valuable resource for my writing is http://thesaurus.reference.com/.

The most effective help, however, I found was at http://www.essayrater.com, but their service costs a mere $20 per month. There are also software packages that will help improve your writing beyond your word processor’s grammar and spell checker, but so far I haven’t found any that were on the same level as the essay rating web site.

Be aware that these are only tools to support your writing. In all consequence it may not be a bad idea to join a writing class at your local college or even online. This would be money well spent.

Peace Comes Over Me

When we are unable to find tranquility within ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere.

- Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Finally, I am done with my rant! So, now what…?

While it seemed like I was complaining quite a bit about the current writing and publishing industry, I have also learned my lessons, and I have adjusted my business plan accordingly.

I have learned early that the best marketing tool for your first novel is the release of your second. Honestly, I wrote my first novel, The Bleeding Hills, because I wanted to get a look and feel of the industry. Nevertheless, my writing is always based on extensive research, and then I refer to Mark Twain who once said, “Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.” Writing The Bleeding Hills was nothing short of exciting, and I am looking forward to more of the same adventure.

And writing this document represents the research for my next novel, American Male Prostitute, sub-titled How I shamelessly promoted my novel with sex, lies, and deceit – You get the picture. The question is, how far would you go to get your book published?