AUTHOR'S AND WRITER'S NEWSLETTER
The following newsletter is provided for our published authors and authors who have recently contacted us and are in the process of submitting a manuscript for review, or have asked for more information about Petersen Publishing Group. Please feel free to make copies of this newsletter for friends or colleagues who are also interested in knowing more about getting their book published.
In This Issue:
Part 1) The Oprah Show. Read about one of our author's recent appearance on The Oprah Show.
Part 2) Authors' Update. Read about recent success stories from some of our newest authors.
Part 3) Stephen King, E-Publishing Update.
Part 4) Authors' And Publishers' Cruise. Don't miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to be with other authors and publishing gurus while sailing on an exciting ocean voyage.
Part 5) More Bad News For Web Publishing... What The News Media Thinks Of E-Publishing.
Part 6) 60 Minutes Airs Special On Massive E-Business Failures.
Part 7) How The E Crisis Affects Authors Like You.
Part 8) Questions. Authors Ask, How Do I Get My Book Published?
It
has been a busy month around here. One of our newest authors, Eileen Sabry,
has taped The Oprah Show, which aired on January 15, 2001. When we called
Eileen to share the news with her, she literally screamed over the phone
for several minutes. For a new author to go on The Oprah Show, means taking
that author's career from a handful of people knowing about his/her book
to potentially tens of millions of viewers around the world. Oprah liked
the book so much that she named that day's show Wishes in Black and
White after our book title. Go on to Oprah's web site if you want
to hear more about one of our authors and the airing of that show.
Please call us with your fax number and we will fax you a copy of an article called How Oprah Changed Their Lives. Her touch is magic. When Oprah names her favorite books, struggling authors become overnight successes. Meet the many whose lives were turned around by one phone call in the December 20, 1999 issue of People Magazine.
We
receive many calls a year from authors who want to go on The Oprah Show.
We are thankful for the incredibly talented marketing staff that we have
at Petersen Publishing Group. Our experienced publishing professionals
at PPG know how to make those kinds of connections that can change an
author's life overnight. It is sad when we think back at all the times
we have received calls from authors who have submitted their books to
small publishing companies or even worse, placed their books on the web
as e-books, (see e-books below) only to realize that their books were
never marketed. And, of course, once authors have an ISBN for a given
book by an unsuccessful publisher, they can't publish that same book with
another publisher. This is heartbreaking news for many hopeful authors.
We advise authors to ask any potential publishing company if they have
had authors on The Oprah Show or on other high profile shows that are
seen worldwide. Our experience is that only a select few publishing companies
have the necessary marketing needed to achieve this kind of placement.
Again, we are very proud of our staff and our authors have great confidence
in their ability. Be sure to tune into The Oprah Show and watch Eileen.
By the way, Eileen also just received a call from People Magazine for
what we hope will be an incredible interview.
Part 2) News From Some Of Our Other Authors.
Recent success stories from some of our newest authors. Dr. Brad Barris is enjoying wonderful sales on his book When Chicken Soup Isn't Enough. Brad is continually booked as one of the top authorities in the field of anger management. His book is now in its third printing.
Bonnie Nygard received a contract for a weekly spot on NBC for an exercise show for an entire year and Marsha Kamph also landed a TV show. Also, there have already been several reprints of titles we did this year because of brisk sales. And Matt Mattingly just reported that he personally sold 2,300 of his book Long Walk Home. Another exciting event recently was when President Clinton picked up one of our books, Saving the Soul of Medicine, to read at a California bookstore, and it made the national news.
We're all having a lot of fun and hope you will be joining us soon. Give us a call and let us know how your book is coming. We look forward to hearing from you in the near future, and we hope that you too will soon become one of our successful authors.
Part 3) Stephen King, E-Publishing Update.
San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press: King and other greats go back to traditional publishing. E-Books down... Traditional publishing up.
The following information is great news for Petersen Publishing Group as the writing community is finally starting to see what the major publishing houses and, of course, Petersen Publishing Group have been predicting for a long time. The idea of authors making money by publishing their books on the web (e-publishing) just isn't happening. This is primarily due to the fact that with e-publishing there is little or no marketing, advertising, public relations and no one can find the author amongst the hundreds of millions of entries.
Even the great Stephen King, one of the world's most successful authors, couldn't pull it off.
In a recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle, titled E-Publishing's Future in Doubt After King's Online Retreat, a dismal picture is drawn of the recent failure by authors like King, Grisham and others to succeed in publishing their books on the web using E-Publishing. The article talks about how hordes of readers simply downloaded the books without paying the installment. King had warned at the outset that he might pull the plug if readers refused to pay up.
Part 4) Authors' And Publishers' Cruise.
By the way, we are planning a cruise with our authors. It would be a combination of several exciting events, including several seminars given by the Senior Publisher, Robert Daniel, known for publishing over 1,300 books, including the recent Patch Adams. You may have seen the movie with Robin Williams, who also wrote the foreword for the book. In addition to the seminar, there will be a writer's think tank, marketing think tank, and a fun-in-the-sun get away. Let me know if you would like to participate and if so, how many would be in your party? In appreciation of our new authors, we will be making special arrangements. Therefore, the tickets would only be at cost to you. We will definitely select a magnificent place for this cruise. It will not only be a once in a lifetime experience, but each author would finish the cruise with a world of valuable knowledge that could never be obtained in books. Also, you would meet new friends and connections in the publishing business and share stories, ideas and life experiences with each other.
Additionally, this would also be the perfect cruise for those of you who have not finished your book, as the seminars will definitely give you powerful, fresh ideas. And, if you are an author still deciding which publishing company to go with, this is a once in a lifetime chance to be with the Publisher of our company and with me, the President of Petersen Publishing Group, other staff members and surprise guests. You can first handedly experience why over 1,300 authors are published with Robert Daniel and Petersen Publishing Group. You can even bring your manuscript along for a hands-on critique, and pre-editing review. And, of course, there will be experts on hand to discuss ideas for your cover design and discuss what kind of cover designs help make a book sell.
Travel and getting to meet new friends is certainly one of the many great advantages of being a published author, not to mention all that great food and entertainment. This might just be the perfect excuse to get away with a loved one or friend and a chance for you to share a little of yourself as an author with that special person. Both couples and singles are welcome.
Because publishing a book is a business, the cruise may be a tax write-off as a business expense. But, be sure to discuss this with your tax accountant, as we are not tax experts and do not know your particular situation.
We look forward to hearing from you and perhaps sharing the cruise experience with you as well.
Part 5) More Bad News For Web Publishing... What The News Media Thinks Of E-Publishing.
It is not much, if you consider recent articles in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic Monthly's online manifestation, Atlantic Unbound.
"Some people swear by e-books - I swear at them," leads Matthew Rose in his Nov. 27, 2000 feature in The Wall Street Journal. "If only I could have bought a can of New Book Smell, I might not have felt so lost."
Rose goes on to say that the technological advantages offered by e-books such as built-in dictionaries, portability, and storage, doesn't make up for their disadvantages, mainly that they don't "come close to replicating or bettering the experience of reading a real book."
In The New York Times, David Kirkpatrick doesn't stop at finding fault with the form, but goes after its publishers as well in his article of the same date, "There is something not entirely rational about the book industry's current love affair with electronic books," he writes. He apparently assumes that the publishing industry is rational in other areas.
Boston University creative writing teacher Ralph Lombreglia's article of Nov. 16, 2000 in Atlantic Unbound debuted his new column on e-publishing, said, "It seems that smart publishers and writers can turn most perceived digital threats into opportunities." Still, Lombreglia accurately pointed out that most consumers still need convincing that they even want an e-book or a device to read it on.
A marketing study conducted by a press agency of print publication editors, found similar attitudes of those expressed by the above writers among the editors of publications as diverse as The Amarillo Globe News and Hot Rod Magazine.
"The insights are somewhat startling and eye opening," writes iMediaFax CEO Paul Krupin. "There is critical business information here that publishers and book marketers should take into account before proceeding to invest huge sums in electronic books, especially if return on investment and profits are a consideration." (A statement that would sound ludicrous if we were talking about any business besides publishing!)
Krupin, himself, the author of an e-book, Trash Proof News Releases, found that editors viewed the potential of e-books and e-publishing as "endless but unexplored," and won't be widely accepted for two years at least. Disparate formats and device prices stand in the way of consumer acceptance, and the ease of publication raises quality issues, Krupin found.
For the curious, Jeff Koch, features editor of Hot Rod Magazine said, "medium does not matter as long as the information is relevant. Has someone done an automotive e-book? Is it a first?" (It's always about winning with you guys, isn't it?)
Pick up just about any magazine or newspaper, or click onto any news website, and they've probably run an article about e-books. They might be putting down e-books in the survey and in their own articles, but their readers are at least mildly interested in picking them up, or the topic wouldn't rate the space. And remember, that's a print publication limitation.
Part 6) 60 Minutes Airs Special On Massive E-Business Failures.
On Sunday, December 10, 2000, 60 Minutes focused on the thousands of e-businesses that are crumbling like sand castles by wave failures. Like e-books, e-businesses were supposed to be the wave of future business. Thousands of people were becoming millionaires each year, e-business stocks were rising at an alarming rate and investors were realizing unbelievable profits. Now most e-businesses are falling like a house of cards.
Why are so many e-businesses failing? The same reason the e-books or books on-line business are. There simply isn't any substance. Most of the businesses were practically paper only. Imagine a business worth hundreds of millions of dollars in stock that only brought in $600,000 in one year, about the same as a neighborhood Seven Eleven. Millions of investors were simply caught under the promises of quick fortunes to be made from this new rapidly expanding industry.
But, like in the case of e-books, once again, people are proving that they want to be able to touch and feel a product-not just view photos and text on a computer.
60 Minutes stated that only those e-businesses that are connected to giant business stand a chance of survival. Even the largest and most established e-businesses or dot-coms are barely making it.
Part 7) How Does The E Crisis Affect Authors Like You?
As president of the Petersen Publishing Group, I felt it was important to share this information with the many authors who have contacted us recently, because the near demise of the e-book business directly affects you as an author. Fortunately, the hundreds of articles, TV and radio programs that are now addressing the web crisis will save many authors from investing in this unstable and extremely unsuccessful book publishing farce.
There are many ways a book can be published, but only the traditional publishing methods utilized by the Petersen Publishing Group and other "real" publishing companies, will help the author to sell books. In order for a book to get distribution either in North America or world-wide, successful publishers, and in turn, successful authors, must utilize professional and highly experienced marketing, editing, public relations, design, distribution and other mainstream professionals. "There is simply, NO FREE LUNCH." As mentioned above in the article about Stephen King and the various other comments from publications like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, the e-publishing world is risky at best for the author and the publisher.
We receive hundreds of calls a year by authors who went down that road, only to find that their book never sold. Imagine a single drop (your book) in an ocean of other books, literally millions of them. A) No one can find your book, because there is no marketing; and B) If someone does run across it, they still don't want it, because there is no marketing to sell it to them. Almost every human being wants to hold a real book when they sit in front of their fireplace with a glass of wine, or while lying in bed or in a hammock. Even the scholarly science related books prefer something with substance. And the old saying, "Nothing sells a book like the cover, is as true today as it was a hundred years ago.
People still, and always will, prefer to browse through books stores, looking for those exciting covers and titles. The feel a high quality paper and a beautifully printed cover will always sell books. Printing out an e-book on your computer printer on copy paper or staring at a page at a time on your computer screen, is hardly the same as holding a real book in your hands.
It is vitally important that new authors understand this information. You have spent years writing a book. Why after so much effort would you want to see your dreams shattered?
E-books may be cheap, but the means is the end. You get exactly what you pay for-garbage in, garbage out. If you want to be a successful author, whether you are writing a novel, fiction, science journal, law book, essay, poetry, or any other kind of book, you need to approach your book publishing in exactly the same manner that world renown professional authors do. You must utilize mainstream publishing methods.
Part 8) Questions. Authors Ask, How Do I Get My Book Published?
Petersen Publishing Group receives lots of calls and e-mails from authors. The following are a few typical questions asked by these authors. We felt they would be helpful to you.
Q: What are the various ways to get my book published?
A: Method
1, Vanity Press.
There
are only a handful of ways to publish your book. The two ways that can
seriously hurt the author are vanity presses and e-books or books on line.
First we must define what we mean by vanity presses. The common definition
for vanity presses is much different from the authentic or original definition.
Please see below for the true explanation of vanity press- be careful
though. Most true vanity presses that actually offer marketing of your
book by professionals, are the second type listed below.
Today, when a professional person in the publication arena hears the term "vanity press", they typically think of it as meaning a charlatan company or an organization that takes authors' money and gives them false promises in return. Usually, these vanity presses offer to publish a book for an author for a fee that seems relatively small, maybe less then $2,000. They basically offer to review the book, which they usually don't. They offer to print the book, but usually they either print limited copies or sub-standard copies, not acceptable in major books stores. Often they only print the insides plus a handful of covers, knowing the books won't be marketed. And they offer, what sounds like marketing to a novice, but is actually nothing more then of few bios that are quickly tossed.
Usually they receive your manuscript, write you a letter on how much they love the book (of course every author gets the same form letter), they ask you for a check and give you a few books to sell to friends. To cover themselves legally, they might write a biography on each author and/or a synopsis of their book, which is bulk mailed along with many other authors' bios to a handful of publishing companies, knowing very well that the secretaries at these publishing companies will toss the package into the waste basket. The real publishing companies are no fools. They are very familiar with the charlatan type "publishers" or "vanity" presses.
The end result is that the author's book becomes legally owned by some unscrupulous publishing company. The author cannot take the book anywhere else because the ISBN has been issued, and, of course, the author has lost money, motivation, as well as dreams.
Method
1A, The Real Vanity Press, Or Today's Self Publishing Arena.
The following is an article describing the actual definition of vanity
presses in the truest form, not to be confused with the description above,
as often thought of, due to a handful of unscrupulous companies that have
tainted the name vanity.
The Old
Vanity Word Dies,
The New Self-Publishing Idea, Lives!
In the early days of book publishing, most submissions were judged and accepted on the basis of literary merit. While they even then needed to make a profit to stay in business, publishers were proud of their reputations. Decisions to purchase books, by the public, were often based more on the name of the publisher than the author. If authors' works were without merit, and therefore unacceptable to publishers, those authors might decide to pay to have their books printed, to feed their vanity. These early books, paid for by their authors, became known as "vanity" books and were held in low esteem.
Later, many different kinds of books such as family histories or highly specialized topics were also unwelcome by publishers, because of their lack of appeal to a large audience. Even though these books might be of high quality, they were still referred to by the old tag of "vanity," and those who published them as "vanity publishers," and literary snobs thumbed their noses at them simply because they were unsuitable for commercial publishing.
Gradually, the whole complexion of book publishing began to change. Profit potential, rather than literary merit, became the operating principle, which further reduced the kinds of books suitable for commercial publishing. And, as just about every aspiring author knows, the chances of an unknown getting published by a major publishing house are practically non-existent.
But at the same time, advances in printing technology have steadily lowered the costs of printing and binding books. Now it is feasible for individuals of fairly modest means to self-publish, publicize and market their own books. A mini industry of self-publishing specialists has sprung up to guide authors in this endeavor.
The results can be spectacular. Not only has the old tag of "vanity" been discarded, self-published books and especially partnership published books now routinely make the best-sellers lists. A few recent examples are The Celestine Prophecy, Chicken Soup for the Soul, The Bridges of Madison County, and so on.
Far from an object of vanity, self-published books have become an important, recognized part of the industry. In addition to best-sellers, thousands upon thousands of self-published books contribute to the fields of engineering, psychology, medicine, philosophy, religion, music and art. Moreover, self-published books not only contribute books of merit to the overall literary pool, they often make tidy profits for their authors.
So self-publishing has come a long way from the early days of "vanity" books. For many authors, self-publishing is not just a last option, it is a dynamic and effective way to get an important message out and to be recognized.
Method
2: E-Books.
We discussed
e-books earlier in this newsletter. This is the second worst way to get
your book published. Your chances of selling books is slim at the very
best and your financial loss is almost guaranteed.
Method
3: Self Publishing.
The
third method of publishing your book is very legitimate along with the
following other methods. This is the self-publishing method. The author
has the books printed, hopefully by a professional who completely understands
all the ends and outs of the book industry, including the extremely demanding
retail book store specifications. The author takes the book to local book
stores and usually places them on consignment, tries to get on local radio
stations, and of course sell the book to friends and relatives. This method
works on a small scale, but costs the author as much or more than the
partnership publishing method. The end result is the author ends up with
printed books, but not professional marketing.
The only time we recommend this method is in the case of a professional lecturer. A lecturer has a captive audience which will usually purchase some books if they like the speaker. Also, self-publishing is great for seminar speakers if the books are used as seminar materials.
Method
4: Traditional Publishing Houses.
The
fourth method is shopping your book to the traditional major publishers.
This is a good route if you are famous and don't mind typically getting
only 7% to 10% royalty. If you are famous, the major publishers realize
that they usually will make money from your book since people purchase
books by famous people due to the author's name, not the content. Beyond
that, the major publishers only accept a very small percentage of books
written by unknowns.
To get a major publisher to look at your book, you generally need a literary agent. All good literary agents also want famous clientele. The agent also realizes that the publisher won't usually look at the book they are pitching unless there is an immediate name recognition. Millions of books are submitted each year to publishers. Almost all of them are either tossed or shredded with a rejection form letter sent back to the author.
Many times, the lesser known author will be published only to discover that their book is not going to be released. This is called shelving. Usually some underling at the publishing house talked someone into publishing the book, but the big wigs never got behind it-or an executive thought the book would be a winner, but than left the company and someone else shelved the project. Executives at the giant publishing houses are continually leaving for greener pastures.
Method
5: Partnership Publishing.
The last method is partnership publishing. This is what we do at Petersen
Publishing Group.
This method can really work well due to an entire team of dedicated professionals are involved, including the author. Each part of the team or partner, takes a certain amount of financial responsibility. For example, the author might pay for the books and another group might do all the marketing, public relations, etc.
The end result produces beautiful retail quality books and a professional team to market them. Unlike the example of an author self publishing his/her own book with no marketing experience, with the partnership publishing method, the author is aligned with a team of top-notch marketing experts. The team evaluates the book content and makes decisions on the appropriate marketing targets. For example, some of our books are novels. These books are perfect books to send to the best book reviewers at major newspapers and magazines as well as many businesses that buy books.
But lets say the book is a "how to" book like How To Build Fish Ponds. This type of book would be marketed to an entirely different group of book buyers than a typical novel.
Therefore, in partnership publishing, both the author and the book are treated with the highest respect, and the desired end result from the entire publishing group is book sales. Everyone is involved with this process. Usually, the author takes part in book signings, seminars, TV and radio appearances and other grass root campaigns. The marketing team focuses on national and international marketing. Plus, there are the teams for editing, public relations, cover design, research, book layout, and on and on.
Additionally, the author usually receives as much as 60% to 70% royalty vs. the standard 7% to 10% given by the standard publishers. Why? Because the publisher is an active part in the process and has partially invested in the book along with the others involved.
For these reasons, many authors in recent history have made millions of dollars off of their books by working with teams as described in partnership publishing. If the book has potential, it makes all the sense in the world for the author to join together with a team of publishing experts who can market the book to many different types of book buyers throughout the world. Plus, if indeed the author does believe in his/her book, receiving a 60% to 70% royalty can mean the difference between making a very small amount of money versus making as much as ten times that amount for the same book.
Q: How long does it take to get my book published and to market using the partnership publishing method?
A: Because we need to send galley copies to the major book reviewers, and because those reviewers need time to review the book and hopefully write a great review, plus the time to print, design and edit the book, typically allow four to six months from the time you receive a publishing contract to the time it is ready to be sold.
Q: How much does my share of the partnership publishing cost?
A: Simply put, it is not much in relation to the over all cost. The marketing, publicity, etc, that we cover, is by far the most expensive part. Utilizing a staff of professional publishing experts for a period of many months, plus the ongoing accounting, sales, marketing, publicity, day-to-day shipping, distribution, etc. that will last the life of the book, often many years-the part that you don't pay for can be an astronomical cost in both time and labor.
But to try and be a little more specific, your share, which is mostly the manufacturing, is completely relative to the size of the book, the page count, how many photos (if any) are in the book, colored photos vs. black and white, hard cover vs. paperback, how many languages it is printed in, the quantity of the first printing (usually 2,000 to 5,000), how much editing is needed, the amount of design and layout needed, and so forth. All of these questions are answered once we receive the book. At that time, a team of professionals goes through your book to answer all questions.
Q. Can I be assured that I can go on The Oprah show or some other national TV show?
A: You cannot be assured of this. Most authors feel their book is worthy of this kind of publicity, but the truth of the matter is, not every book is right for every TV show. We carefully select the right books for the right show. And, if we feel that your book fits a certain show, you can be certain that we will contact that producer. If your book is worthy, you stand as good a chance as anyone that you will be placed where you deserve to be.
Q: Are there any kinds of books that you won't publish?
A: Yes. It is our company policy to never publish hate related books or pornography.
Q: What are the terms and conditions of your publishing contracts?
A: Every agreement is different. Each author has different needs just as each book has different content. Each book will require its own marketing methods, design, etc. Because of this, if we issue a publishing contract to you. It will be tailored to you and your book. Once we review your book, we will be able to make the proper determination which will be reflected on the agreement we issue to you.
Q: How do I get started?
A: Mail your manuscript to us. We will assign it to the appropriate reviewer according to the subject matter. Shortly after it is reviewed, we will mail you a marketing evaluation and a publishing agreement if the book is appropriate for our company.
Q: What kinds of books do you publish?
Please read the many pages of our web site www.petersenpublishinggroup.com. It goes into great detail and lists some of the over 1,300 books. A few of the types of books that we publish are, self help, novels, non-fiction, fiction, poetry, children's books, table top books, manuals, engineering, psychology, medicine, philosophy, religion, music and art. To contact us with additional questions, you can e-mail or call 530-271-2008. On our web site you will find a convenient form for submitting your manuscript.
Dane
Petersen, President
Petersen Publishing Group
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