I’m not exactly sure what is being taught in school these days but how to write effective letters and inquiries must not be one of them. When I was growing up, we were indeed taught this in school (and I’m not that old). So let’s say you are my age and you skipped school those days or you are younger and are a victim of modern substandard schooling and you find yourself writing gems like this (Yep, I’m using a few real e-mail messages):

Your e-mail:
“I’d like to be a part of “XYZ” film. Thanks, Some lazy person”

“Interested in working on “X” film and “Y” film.”

My Response:
So what?

*And let’s not forget the messages sent entirely in capital letters.

Your e-mail:
“Hi, I have a book proposal for “XYZ” book for “ABC” audience. It’s serious info. presented in a slightly comical manner. Are you interested in hearing more?”

My response:
Why on earth would I? You’ve given me little or no reason to be interested.

I’m typically all about anti-conformity and pro-creativity, however, when it comes to getting someone to invest in you and your craft, you have to get their attention. That means being both professional and creative at the same time. If you are professional and creative in how you present yourself and it is clear that you value your craft and its place in your life then you are on the right path, even if others still choose not to invest in you. *If your art (writing, acting, and/or film crew member) is all about business than you are on a hustle plan I can’t help you with (for example, if the only way a filmmaker can make a film (i.e. do their art), is to get funds from investors for which they have to pay this money back and then some, then your art has become a business deal. Whereas if you make the best film you can make with your own money or from “gift” money, then your art remains art (and this art may become financially viable as well).

I find that people who do not take time to present themselves in professional and creative ways such as with the examples listed, usually lack the energy, commitment and drive that is vital to a working relationship and to their craft. Publishers and filmmakers see far too many inquiries from short-term energy sucking individuals and are conditioned to weed them out based on a set of warning signals. I personally feel these are valid warning signals unlike those used in 99% of standard job interviews (yes that’s a little jab. *smile*).

Ok, so now that you’re face has been ripped off, let’s put you back together here. It’s all about being helpful. At the least, you want to practice BASIC letter/inquiry writing. That means picking up a book or two or surfing the web and finding info on the correct elements required in your basic professional letter or inquiry. You also want to always use your spell check and double check your grammar. An e-mail or written letter is not an instant or text message conversation. Do not use “web” or “mobile talk” outside of your cell phone or instant message. This is the bare minimum to at least get people to respect your inquiry (now there is a word no one seems to be familiar with anymore).

If you are an author looking to be published there is absolutely no excuse for making unprofessional inquiries. The Writer’s Market and many other books have provided step by step instructions on how to write query letters for the publishing market. The Writer’s Market also provides information on how to contact publishing companies to obtain their guidelines for submissions. In addition, publishing companies with websites, usually list this information directly on their sites.

Those serious about acting should always write a professional letter to gather information about the production and to provide some information about your abilities. If possible, send a demo and resume and definitely a head shot. For acting talent, I’m personally less interested in the resume and more interested in a demo. I definitely put a high premium on a demo. Demos help filmmakers visualize how you might fit into their production. In this case the professional letter is a formality that commands attention and respect. From there, your demo helps me make a tentative choice.

Do not take rejection personally when you have done the right thing. Not everyone will be interested in what you love to do. That is a simple, unavoidable reality. Even if NO one is interested, it does not mean you have to change how you feel about your craft. You should be doing it for yourself anyway (no matter how cliche that is).

None of us can afford to give in to lazy people with power. Have you ever, in searching for a job, happen to read any of the contradictory articles about how to write a resume? The US is relatively the only country that uses what I call the “lazy man’s” resume. Whereas most other countries require a Curriculum Vitae to apply for jobs or universities. Upon reading the contradictory articles one thing stood out. The bulleted resume is for lazy people with power. CVs can and are concise but at the same time give the most accurate level of information for making hiring decisions. We must always present ourselves with the most accurate level of information. Period. Before you shift into powerless mode, ask yourself… Do I really want to develop a working relationship with anyone who can’t spend 20 minutes reading about me and my craft? (because just like how not being professional and creative says something about you, not taking the time to choose the best talent and crew or new author says a lot about them). In addition, presenting yourself to publishers and filmmakers with the best level of information will also give you an opportunity to review your accomplishments. This is always a good thing.

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1. Do not over-think the process of writing a book. Writing a book should be tackled just like any other task. Decide what you are doing and how you are going to do it. Then get it done.

2. Decide what subject/topic you are passionate about and write about it. *Note: Unless you have an extraordinary life story, do not try to write some autobiography about the “trials and tribulations” of your life.

3. Write yourself an outline. You can use whatever method is comfortable for you. A simple “bullet point” system works wonderfully. *Note: All stories should have a purpose but they do not have to follow any specific format. Write from your heart and you will end up with novels you will be proud of.

4. Create your chapters using this outline. This is part of what will help you complete this book in a timely manner. This is also a danger zone for over-thinking. If you have 10 bullet points for your outline then you should have 10 chapters based on those bullet points.

5. Decide from your outline, how many pages you would like your book to be and how many pages you would like in each chapter. This is a very important aspect of writing a book in my opinion. This is where things get fun. What you come up with are just guides. Your book may be more or less pages, as well as your chapters but you do need a guide for you own sanity. But here is the thing … When you are thinking about how long you would like your book to be, consider this, if you are writing a novel that will most likely be in its final form a 6×9 (or smaller) trade paperback, then there will be double the pages in the printed version of your book than what you have decided to write.

What? – For example, lets assume you are writing your book in Microsoft word or some other word processor and the page size is 8 1/2 x 11 (standard size) and you want your final printed book to be 300 pages. You only have to write 150 pages at 8 1/2 x 11. When the book is formatted at 6×9 or smaller, you will end up with double the pages. So if you wrote 300 pages at 8 1/2 x 11, you would end up with a 600 page book.*Based on single spaced typed pages.

So lets say you want a 300 page printed book and so you are going to write 150 pages at 8 1/2 x 11. You can determine from this how many pages you’d like in each chapter. Again this would be just a guide. If upon finishing your outline you see you will have about 10 chapters then you can play with the numbers a little bit depending on how much material you think you will have to write for that particular chapter. For instance you many not think you need as many pages for the story setup chapter that you need in the middle chapters or vice versa.

Lets put this to work shall we? – If you have 10 chapters and you are writing 150 pages then you could set a goal of 15 pages per chapter. That is 15 pages at 8 1/2 x 11. That is a typical college paper. You can do that! Give yourself a week or a couple of weeks to write the 15 pages. This time frame depends on how busy your life is. At the very least, try to write a page a day! If you can write 15 pages in a week then it would take you 10 weeks to finish your book. That is 2 1/2 months!

6. Once you create chapters using your outline, only tackle one chapter at a time. If your outline is “plot driven” you won’t have to worry too much about your chapters not making any sense in relation to one another. Also only work on chapters you are “in the mood” to work on. It makes little since to fight your way through chapters you aren’t interested in writing at the time. For many writers, writing involves a great deal of emotion. This should be your guide to writing. So take care of your emotional self and you will have less “stalls” because you aren’t “in the mood” to write. Just be sure to write something every day. Even if you have to sit in your bathroom for an hour to write a page… do it!

7. Once you have your book written to your satisfaction you have a few choices:

1. You can get someone you trust to read it over and give you feedback. This should be someone who will give you honest feedback and who will not just tell you what you want to hear. You should also be prepaired to accept feedback and use it to your advantage. This doesn’t mean you have to change everything they say to change but try to understand where they are coming from and see if you agree with it.

2. You could start sending query letters to publishers about your book and possibly sample chapters to trusted publishers if your goal is to have a publishing company publish your book.

3. You could send your book to an editor to be edited. Make all the necessary changes then self-publish your book by obtaining your own ISBN numbers.

Happy Book Writing!

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Once you know what subjects you are interested in publishing, you should set up guidelines for submissions. This will not deter motivated writers from sending you inquiries and manuscripts that have nothing to do with your guidelines but it does allow you to respectfully reject their submissions with ease as well as help you stay focused with your publishing goals. Not only will you have to reject submissions that are not within your guidelines, but you will also have to reject submissions that are within the guidelines for various reasons.

So what are some of the reasons you may have to reject submissions within your guidelines?

1. Poor quality – This is the #1 reason for my own publishing company. For me, it isn’t so much an issue with writing/grammar, etc. (because after all, we do have editors), but more so an issue with subject quality. You may have several submissions where the subject just isn’t interesting or it isn’t presented in a way that would interest readers.

2. Same Story/Different Author – This simply means you may find submissions from writers featuring a storyline that has simply been overdone (i.e. many authors writing about the same thing over and over again). I find this more prevalent in fiction and particularly romantic fiction. I mean, you can only publish a story about a cheating husband and broken-hearted wife so many times.

3. Author/Publisher incompatibility – Do not overlook this! Even if an author has a fantastic manuscript, do not compromise yourself and your business by working with an author you can not manage. If you find yourself bumping heads with an author (especially from the get go), move on. Get to know the author before any contracts are signed. The problem with working with authors you can’t get along with is that the contract is usually for a number of years. Think about that. I have had such an experience and it simply isn’t worth it. *Note: This goes for writers with unrealistic expectations for their books, those who don’t understand they have to do their own marketing or at least help, and those who simply can not get past their own ego to make the publisher/author relationship work.

So what are some reasons you should publish a title?

1. You should publish a title if when you read it, you can’t put it down. Period. Regardless of your marketing/business plans, if you have a manuscript that is compelling, publish it. You are a publisher, you can have as many titles in your catalog as you want. Your main goal is to make sure they are of the best quality.

2. The title is well written, draws the reader in and covers a subject you are passionate about.

It is really this simple. Do not let someone hustle you into publishing a title you are not passionate about. *Note: There are some titles you can publish that you know will sell on their own (i.e. self-help & how-to books). These can create a bit of a constant cash-flow for you. But there should be more titles in your catalog that you are passionate about than not.

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ISBNs have helped publishers, libraries, schools, and retail outlets keep tract of all items that can make use of ISBNs (written & audio titles, etc.). For instance, having US ISBNs entitles you to have your book listed in the “Books in Print” directory maintained by Bowker. This is the database used by libraries, schools and retail outlets to find books that are in print, soon to be in print, and out of print.

Getting Your Own ISBNs:

When you obtain your own ISBNs, registered to yourself or your own company, you are a Publisher. Those ISBNs belong to you and only you. You can not transfer ownership of ISBNs to anyone. You can assign them to titles written by various authors, but the authors will never have ownership of your ISBNs.

If you decide to become a publisher and publish your own work and/or the works of others all you need to do is obtain your own ISBNs. There are several ways to do this.

You can purchase ISBNS from Bowker, the US broker for ISBNs. You can also purchase ISBNs from other countries if you meet their requirements for obtaining ISBNs (Tip: You can get an unlimited number of ISBNs from Japan for the same price as 10 US ISBNs). There are also countries that will assign your company ISBNs for free if you meet their requirements. One such country is Sweden.

Bowker – US ISBN Agency:
http://www.isbn.org/standards/home/index.asp

International ISBN Agencies:
http://www.isbn-international.org/en/agencies.html

Traditional & Vanity Publishing:

Traditional publishing is pretty straight forward. A Publisher (a person or company who owns their own ISBNs), offers to publish your title. They will negotiate a contract with you. You pay NOTHING for them to publish your work. They may or may not PAY YOU an up front advance (it depends on what you negotiate with them). They assign your title an ISBN from the ISBNs they own. *I will go over what a traditional publisher’s responsibilities are once you have signed the contract in another post.*

It is important for self-publishers to understand the various workings of “Vanity” publishers. These are usually companies that CHARGE YOU money to “publish” your book. These aren’t terrible services if you understand and agree with the arrangement. The primary goal of these companies are to make money off authors. No matter what they claim they will do for you in terms of sales and marketing their goal is to make money off authors. If you keep this in mind, you can make an informed decision about using a “Vanity” Press. *I will go into detail about these services in another post.*

Another important thing to note about using “Vanity” Presses and Self Publishing Services:
“The ISBN identifies not only the specific product to which it is assigned, but also the publisher to be contacted for ordering purposes. If an ISBN is purchased from a company other than R.R. Bowker or through the special programs of the companies listed here (Aardvark Global Publishing Company, Bethany Press, Espressio, FilmMasters, Instantpublisher.com, Lulu.com, PPC Books, Publisher Services, RJ Communications, RKD Press, Signature Books, WordClay), that ISBN will not identify you as the publisher of your title. This can have implications for your business in the publishing industry supply chain. ” – Bowker – US ISBN Agency

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First things first; when being a creative person, you must rid yourself of the social conditioning that may hinder your creativity. It is a delicate balance. On one hand you want to use the experience of others to avoid the same pitfalls and mistakes but at the same time allow yourself to go beyond what others are comfortable doing. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that little social conditioning voice in my head that says “you can’t do that” or “that can’t be combined with that”. I’ve had to consistently ignore those messages until they no longer pop into my head. You have to get to that point too if you aren’t there already. Your creative projects will go much faster when you start trusting yourself and your own ability to create fabulous artwork.

With that having been said, lets take a look at the following book covers I created in fifteen minutes or less (there are several more but for the sake of time, I will go over these three). Also these are only the front covers. I use size templates provided by my printer (and you should too), which also help making creating full covers faster. So the back covers already have the are for the subject genre, publishing company info, and barcode. I don’t usually get too fancy on back covers (or I use a stripped version of the front cover design so the back cover text can be placed over it). :

 This title published by blue ocean press took about fifteen minutes to create. It is a fairly simple cover, yet very effective. Funny things is I acquired a series of royalty-free photos that were processed like you see in the photo used for this book cover. When I got the series, I did not like the photos at all. I didn’t like that over processed look. But I knew this image was perfect for this cover. When it was complete I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked out. I find it challenging to create book covers with predominately white backgrounds. I think it is hard to find images that work with all white backgrounds if you don’t like clutter or you have to have perfect matching. But I think this image worked very well on the white background because it is over processed.

What I did here was simply decide what image I was going to use for the cover. I like using images that cover most if not all of the cover. Because this image dealt with Japanese Kanji Radicals, I opted to use a photo of a Japanese man instead of using just text or Japanese characters which would also have been a good alternative.  I moved the image to various different spots to see which I liked best. I don’t like the hard edge created when a photo ends and the background begins. So I will usually cut it with something. In this case, the orange stripe in the center. All colors used on this cover were matched to the image. I don’t always do this (using complimentary colors instead) but for this particular cover, it was necessary.  I felt the title should be in the middle and it fit perfectly under the photo of the man. The most challenging part was deciding what to do with the subtitle. I offset it to make sure it used as much of the front cover as possible.  I put the author name next to the man and as you see it, to create yet another interesting element to draw attention to the cover. There is an acceptable amount of white space above the subtitle. I didn’t put the author name in the space where the subtitles are because when I did, it looked like “too much” text in that area.

When you noticed things that just don’t “look” right, go with your instinct. If it isn’t sitting well with you, change it! That’s very important. Make your changes and move one. It’s when you start debating with yourself about if you should put something here or there, that your projects may take a long time.

This cover took about 8-10 minutes and is one of my favorites. The book is about Micronesia (Islands) so a royalty-free image of a nice island beach was perfect. But there is nothing interesting about yet another pretty picture of an island on a book cover. I wanted to add to the book cover without covering up any of the image and I love using transfer modes in Photoshop. I think transfer modes are the best thing since Cuban sandwiches. I learned a while ago that strips of color are very useful when creating any graphics design work. I added some strips of color (all on different layers). I left the top and bottom strips black where the titles would go and used an overlay transfer mode for the two middle strips. Then I could easily add the author names in-between the two strips. I also like that blue ocean press uses all lower case for their company name. This works well on book covers as well. But this is also where those little social conditioning voices pop up saying you can’t use all lower case or shouldn’t , etc. But you can and it works well when used at the right time.

 The Last Chamorro on Guam is another favorite cover of mine that took less than fifteen minutes to create. I chose to make this book cover simple because the author wanted to be listed as anonymous. I thought “what would be a great looking cover for a book written by an author that doesn’t wish to be known”? And I came up with this all white cover that would look a bit academic and personal. The word “Chamorro” has a texture applied to is using “Layer Options” in Photoshop. The biggest challenge for me when creating any book cover is how to arrange the text. It’s quite an art.

We watched with delight as person after person slowed down or stopped to look at our books and book covers. I have to admit we had the most colorful and eye catching booth in our area because of our covers. Several people stopped just to say how amazed they were at our book covers and countless fair-goers wanted to know more about the books because the covers caught their eyes.

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If you are considering having your work published, you may want to think about becoming a publisher. It isn’t as hard as you think. If you are willing and able to handle most aspects of getting your work in print, then becoming a publisher may be right up your alley.

The truth is, you become a publisher when you own your ISBNs. Period.

If you are tempted to become what is known as a self-publisher in the industry, I’ll let you in on another secret. ISBN ownership can not be assigned to any company or person other than the company or person who registered those ISBNs with Bowker. You will be classified as a self-publisher if you do not own your ISBNs but use a service to make your title available using someone else’s ISBNs. If a publishing services says you will own the ISBN they assign to you out of their pool of ISBNs, they are not telling you the truth. It is not possible. Those ISBN numbers are forever theirs and can not be reused, transferred, or reassigned. *You can use their ISBNs for your title but should they choose to retire the ISBN they can. Then you would no longer be able to use the ISBN. Some self-publishing services state in their contracts that should you decide to discontinue using their services, you can not continue using the ISBN they assigned to your book.

Once you decide to obtain your own ISBNs, then you become a Publisher. It is as simple as that. It doesn’t matter if all of your titles are written by you or by other people.

So what are some good reasons why you should get your own ISBNs and become a publisher?

1. Complete Creative Control – When you own your own ISBNs you are completely in control of every aspect of your title(s). You get to write about subjects you are compassionate about and don’t have to worry about being told what to cut, what to keep, what to change, or what is going to be done with your work.

2. ISBNs Are FREE In Some Countries – That’s right. Some countries do not charge for ISBNs. For instance, Sweden doesn’t charge for their ISBNs. In Japan, you can buy an unlimited amount of ISBNs for the same amount you have to pay for 10 ISBNs in the US. Wow! And you do not have to live outside of the US to obtain ISBNs from other countries!

3. ISBNs Are Universal – This means it does not matter what country your ISBNs are from. Your titles will be just as available worldwide as if you had US ISBNs.

4. Off-set On-Demand Printing – Many on-demand printing services offer only digital printing. This is OK but it is better to have your books printed via traditional off-set printing. There is at least one service that I am aware of and use that offers off-set on-demand printing along with some fantastic, unbeatable services at ridiculously low costs (I will talk about this service in another post). With this service you can offer top grade books, with low setup and order fulfillment costs, international distribution, and no inventory.

5. You Can Publish The Work of Others – How about helping other writer’s achieve their goals? With your ISBNs you can become a traditional publisher. You can review the work of others and determine if you would like to publish their work. This will help you build your publishing catalog and help other writers who may not otherwise have their work in print.

6. Be Your Own Boss – You get to make your own hours and answer only to yourself. How could it be any better?

7. It Opens Up A Whole New World – I found the publishing industry to be the most open industry I’ve ever encountered (having also been exposed to the film, music, and IT industries). When publishers come together at book fairs and other industry events it is as if everyone is on the same level. It is just as easy to talk to major publishing houses as it is to talk to one title small publishers and just as easy to talk to publishers who have been the business for over 20 years as it is to talk to ones who just started yesterday. Because of this, it is easy to make great industry contacts as well as find wonderful new authors to publish.

8. It Gives You A Reason To Travel – There are many international book fairs going on year round. Being a publisher gives you a good reason to travel to new places, experience different cultures and meet new people. Besides the obvious tax benefits, you will also benefit from discounted lodging, business services and other perks.

9. FREE Stuff – When you setup your publishing business do not be surprised when you start getting free stuff. This includes free books, free offers, free office supplies, etc. Of course these items are an attempt to sell you something but it’s still free!

10. Multiple Income Streams – Best of all, it is a great way to create multiple income streams. Each title you make available has the potential to contribute to your financial growth. It’s not always the best thing to hope to have one or two bestsellers in your catalog. How about several bestsellers, or just as good, several books that sell well. The potential to make a comfortable living publishing books is a nice addition to feeding your passion for publishing.

The bottom line … If you are willing to do some work, there is no reason not to become a publisher.

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