A seminar I presented recently at the San Francisco Writing for Change conference, addressed many of the issues raised by other speakers at the conference, and provided some solutions to writers. Here are some of the challenges which face writers when submitting proposals and some of the comments from editors, agents and publishers on those same challenges:

Editors Panel key points:

• “Many writers are not able to articulate what their book is about in a concise way.  Rambling means that the writer is unable to conceptualize and this will discourage an agent or editor.”
• “Often, we receive a proposal where the first 20 pages of their book seem more about the author explaining the story to themselves.”
• “If your material is too unripe you will never be able to get the attention of an agent, editor or publisher”, don’t expect to come to an agent and say “will this work?  We’re not in the business of re-imagining your work”
• “What do you promise your reader and are you fulfilling that promise?”
• “An educated author is a publisher’s greatest asset, pass your work through an expert first, team up with authors who have already published.  The author needs a platform and to make a business case for their book”
• “Your book is not the frontline, it is the author themselves that sell the book, you have to prove your ability to promote your book, your book should be a believable extension of what your are already an expert at, the author is the publishers agent”
• “70% of books published don’t earn back their advances, now days the promotion plan is more important than the content, we’d like to see more authors test marketing their own books using Print on Demand publishers”
• “Self-publishing is not the kiss of death, if an author has proven themselves and is at a highly polished level we would never turn down a successful author”
• “Often a manuscript falls apart because the writer isn’t ready, become a scholar, get help to get it right!”

Would you like to be published by a mainstream New York Publishing house?  Want to know the secret to getting your manuscript considered?

Carefully follow the submission guidelines, here is an example from Morgan James Publishing in New York:

You need to answer all these questions

• Why do you feel compelled to write this book?
• Why will someone want to read it?
• Is there a particularly timely nature of the subject area?
• What are the specific benefits of your book?
• How do you plan on marketing the book?

You must mention any:

• workshops
• teleseminars
• speaking events which will give you the opportunity to sell back of room
• newsletters
• networking groups
• websites where you can sell your book

Now describe the contents of your book in plain English. Be as precise as possible, providing both a general overview and a rundown of subjects treated in detail. Indicate how in-depth your coverage will be.

We all have a book inside of us, but for so many, time, money and a general lack of understanding of the publishing industry stops us from even starting the process.

Back in 1998 when I left England and started my journey around the world, I promised my 92-year-old grandma I would write letters to her every 2 weeks.  The next time she saw me was in 2001 when I came back for a visit.  She presented me with a suitcase full of my letters and postcards and told me “now write that book”

That planted the seed that maybe I could write a book, even though I had no writing qualifications.  I did not consider myself to be particularly good at grammar or spelling, but everyone kept telling me I had an interesting life and it would make a good book.  Anyway, I had heard how difficult it was to get your book published as a first time author and that seemed like a lot of hard work.

While I procrastinated my Grandma continued to receive my letters and I continued to travel.

In April 2005 I attended a workshop in Singapore on “how to write your book” and that turned out to be the inspiration and motivation I needed to get me started!  By the end of 2005 I was at the final editing stage and by Feb 2006 I self-published my book.I dedicated my book “A seven year journey around the world – discovering my passion and purpose” in memory of Bea, my grandma who inspired me to write my book.  Not only did she pass away before she saw the book in print, she didn’t even get to know I had actually started work on it, thanks to her.

Don’t let this happen to you!  Write your memoirs before its too late, write that fiction book you’ve been dreaming about, write that business book to promote your business and give you credibility, put all those poems and essays into a book, turn your thesis into a book!  Just start.

Remember, you don’t have to be an expert at grammar or spelling or sentence structure, that is what editors are for!  It is just up to you to tell your story from the heart and get started and take the time to educate yourself with the many resources available to make the task  easy and enjoyable!

How will your story make a difference to others?

I hope to inspire some of you to realize the gift hidden within you and give you the tools you need to spread that message and give new ideas and knowledge to make this world a little better for everyone. If you have a unique gift or ability, a book is the easiest way to spread that message to as many people as possible.

I would like to share with you the stories of some of the authors who I have helped to recognize their gift and spread the “word” with their published book.

One of those authors, Annie Hopper, has discovered a cure for Fibromalgia, MSC and Chronic pain syndrome and she is sharing her story to help other sufferers so that they can learn how she cured herself.  She hopes that if one sufferer can find a cure by reading her book, she has been successful in reaching out to other people who are going through the pain of the illness that once made her homeless.  Annie also offers workshops and since writing her book she has been able to spread her message to a much wider audience by giving radio interviews and being featured in the press.

Dr Daniel Scott is helping people to self-defend themselves in the workplace from verbal abuse with his book “Dr. Scott’s Verbal Self Defense for the Workplace.” He demonstrates how Neuro Linguistic Programming can be used against the workplace bully. His book will guide the reader through a detailed process of learning and practicing all the skills necessary to verbally defend themselves effectively in a professional manner. The exercises will include learning how to properly consider other people’s perceptions while still respecting and adhering to their own personal morals and principles, all within the structure and expectations of the company. Dr. Scott’s Verbal Self Defense for the Workplace is written primarily for general office workers and service industry staff; anyone who deals with individuals that become angry or confrontational with an organization’s employees and volunteers. He is providing a service to other people by helping them to overcome workplace bullying, something many of us have been the victim of. More information on this book at www.VerbalSelfDefenseBook.com

Another example of a book that was written to help other people is “Care of the Caregiver” It is an easy-to-follow and practical working guide to help families and friends navigate the vital details of everyday life while caring for a loved one at home during a chronic or debilitating illness. When Lynn Longmuir’s husband Niall was diagnosed with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis in 1996, Lynn gradually found herself in a full time care-giving role with limited resources and no way of knowing how to deal with her own grief and pain. Taking care of someone you love is difficult and taking care of yourself in the process, without help, is practically impossible. After discovering how difficult to access and few resources existed for caregivers, she dedicated herself to ensuring that others in her situation have both the practical and emotional tools to be strong for themselves and their loved ones. Lynn is able to bring a voice of experience and compassion to this important topic. She can be found at www.CareForTheCaregiver.ca

Many entrepreneurs I know are inspiring and helping other entrepreneurs by offering insightful business leadership tools, sharing their knowledge to help. So ask yourself now…

• How will your story help others?  How can you be of service to others with your book?
• How can you help other people with the knowledge and experience you have?
• How can you best get that knowledge across so it is easy for the reader to understand?

How will your story make a difference to others?

I hope to inspire some of you to realize the gift hidden within you and give you the tools you need to spread that message and give new ideas and knowledge to make this world a little better for everyone. If you have a unique gift or ability, a book is the easiest way to spread that message to as many people as possible.

I would like to share with you the stories of some of the authors who I have helped to recognize their gift and spread the “word” with their published book.

One of those authors, Annie Hopper, has discovered a cure for Fibromalgia, MSC and Chronic pain syndrome and she is sharing her story to help other sufferers so that they can learn how she cured herself.  She hopes that if one sufferer can find a cure by reading her book, she has been successful in reaching out to other people who are going through the pain of the illness that once made her homeless.  Annie also offers workshops and since writing her book she has been able to spread her message to a much wider audience by giving radio interviews and being featured in the press.

Dr Daniel Scott is helping people to self-defend themselves in the workplace from verbal abuse with his book “Dr. Scott’s Verbal Self Defense for the Workplace.” He demonstrates how Neuro Linguistic Programming can be used against the workplace bully. His book will guide the reader through a detailed process of learning and practicing all the skills necessary to verbally defend themselves effectively in a professional manner. The exercises will include learning how to properly consider other people’s perceptions while still respecting and adhering to their own personal morals and principles, all within the structure and expectations of the company. Dr. Scott’s Verbal Self Defense for the Workplace is written primarily for general office workers and service industry staff; anyone who deals with individuals that become angry or confrontational with an organization’s employees and volunteers. He is providing a service to other people by helping them to overcome workplace bullying, something many of us have been the victim of. More information on this book at www.VerbalSelfDefenseBook.com

Another example of a book that was written to help other people is “Care of the Caregiver” It is an easy-to-follow and practical working guide to help families and friends navigate the vital details of everyday life while caring for a loved one at home during a chronic or debilitating illness. When Lynn Longmuir’s husband Niall was diagnosed with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis in 1996, Lynn gradually found herself in a full time care-giving role with limited resources and no way of knowing how to deal with her own grief and pain. Taking care of someone you love is difficult and taking care of yourself in the process, without help, is practically impossible. After discovering how difficult to access and few resources existed for caregivers, she dedicated herself to ensuring that others in her situation have both the practical and emotional tools to be strong for themselves and their loved ones. Lynn is able to bring a voice of experience and compassion to this important topic. She can be found at www.CareForTheCaregiver.ca

Many entrepreneurs I know are inspiring and helping other entrepreneurs by offering insightful business leadership tools, sharing their knowledge to help. So ask yourself now…

• How will your story help others?  How can you be of service to others with your book?
• How can you help other people with the knowledge and experience you have?
• How can you best get that knowledge across so it is easy for the reader to understand?

What is stopping you from sharing your knowledge and experience? Don’t let Fear and Ego get in the way of writing and publishing your book.

The biggest obstacle for writing your book always comes down to fear and ego, these are the top 3 objections:

• Is my story interesting enough?
• Will people be interested in reading it?
• Is my writing good enough?

When in reality you should be asking yourself:

• How can I be of service to others with my book?
• How can I help other people with the knowledge and experience I have?
• How can I best get that knowledge across so it is easy for the reader to understand?

Asking these tough questions up front will help you organize your book with the benefits to the reader always at the forefront of your outline.  The most challenging questions I always ask are at the beginning of my InspireABook™ workshops are:

1. Who is your reader? (i.e. age, sex, demographics, customers, friends, family or specific group i.e. cancer patients, entrepreneurs, parents etc,)
2. What will they learn by reading your book? (i.e. educational, inspirational, motivational etc)

Once you can answer these questions we have learnt the focus of your book and from here we organize your content to always reflect the lessons you want your reader to learn in a way it is easy for them to learn.

I’ll give you some specific examples from my clients in the next post – so stay tuned!

What is stopping you from sharing your knowledge and experience? Don’t let Fear and Ego get in the way of writing and publishing your book.

The biggest obstacle for writing your book always comes down to fear and ego, these are the top 3 objections:

• Is my story interesting enough?
• Will people be interested in reading it?
• Is my writing good enough?

When in reality you should be asking yourself:

• How can I be of service to others with my book?
• How can I help other people with the knowledge and experience I have?
• How can I best get that knowledge across so it is easy for the reader to understand?

Asking these tough questions up front will help you organize your book with the benefits to the reader always at the forefront of your outline.  The most challenging questions I always ask are at the beginning of my InspireABook™ workshops are:

1. Who is your reader? (i.e. age, sex, demographics, customers, friends, family or specific group i.e. cancer patients, entrepreneurs, parents etc,)
2. What will they learn by reading your book? (i.e. educational, inspirational, motivational etc)

Once you can answer these questions we have learnt the focus of your book and from here we organize your content to always reflect the lessons you want your reader to learn in a way it is easy for them to learn.

I’ll give you some specific examples from my clients in the next post – so stay tuned!

1. We take the financial risk to produce, edit, typeset, design and publish your book. That means we only get paid by making your book a commercial success and not by selling services or overpriced copies of books to our authors.
2. We play by new publishing rules and reward our authors fairly for their talent. This means you get paid 20% to 40% royalties from day one.
3. As an Influence Publishing author you get access to Lean Marketing’s Publishing Academy as well as exclusive book promotion training courses, materials, templates and hands-on support as well as InspireABook™ one-on-one coaching.
4. Your book will benefit from full international distribution via all the major wholesalers including availability to USA, Canada, UK, Europe and Australia simultaneously.
5. Your book will be distributed in all the popular eBook reader formats via the major wholesaler for this channel meaning increased income potential and reach.
6. We will actively seek out foreign language rights deals for your book and share 50% of any resulting profit.
7. You get the kudos of a mainstream publishing contract (we only publish books with potential) plus the income of self publishing with none of the risk.

Authors: Submit Your Book Proposal Here…

Four Reasons Why Influence Publishing is Not the Right Publisher for Everyone

1. Compared to the big name publishing houses, we’re small and relatively unheard of. The benefit of this is that your book really makes a difference to our bottom line – it counts! The downside is that we don’t have the gravitas of the big publishing houses. So, if you’re looking for a way to include the name of a big London or New York publishing house on your business profile then you need to fill out our general inquiry form and we’ll direct you to one of our other partners…
2. Although full distribution is in place to serve all the major retail channels we don’t accept the outdated and unfair terms dictated by many bricks-and-mortar bookstores still playing by the old rules. We expect retailers to share a fair amount of the risk for a fair reward. In the past bookstores took none of the risk for most of the reward while authors got paid a pittance – our terms put the author first. This means your book, unless it’s very successful, is unlikely to take pride of place on the retailers’ bookshelves.
3. We use Print on Demand (the printing technology) to reduce risk and take on books that may not have the same wide commercial appeal that mainstream publishers using a print-then-sell model will require. This means we only publish books in a limited number of formats and print/production quality is equivalent to a mass-market paperback rather than a premium new release with matte covers and laminated letters. We truly believe, however, that the content is what people are paying for and the exact format of that content is becoming more and more secondary. Plus, if you love trees you’ll be glad to know that books only get printed when somebody buys them. No waste. No pulping.
4. We give you every opportunity through the InspireABook™ program and one on one coaching to hold your hand through the entire writing, editing, publishing and marketing process.  However, like any educational service, we expect you to be willing to invest in your education to be an informed successful author. We offer 30 minute or one hour coaching sessions by telephone as required.  Once your book has been accepted, we work together on your marketing plan and you no longer pay for coaching to assist in the marketing of your book (since we would have already coached you to the highest standard and we will be an established team working towards your success.) However, any additional marketing or advertising expenses will be your responsibility.

Authors: Learn More About Your Full Range of Publishing Options Here…

Authors: Submit Your Book Proposal Here…

1. 40% of any resulting profit.
2. You get the kudos of a mainstream publishing contract (we only publish books with potential) plus the income of self publishing with none of the risk.