How to
PUBLISH, PROMOTE, AND SELL YOUR OWN BOOK
Robert Lawrence Holt
ST. MARTIN’S PRESS NEW YORK
HOW TO PUBLISH, PROMOTE, AND SELL YOUR OWN BOOK. Copyright © 1985 by Robert Lawrence Holt. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue,
New York, N Y. 10010.
Design by Mina Greenstein
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Holt, Robert Lawrence.
How to publish, promote, and sell your own book.
1. Self-publishing. 2. Publishers and publishing. I. Title.
Z285.5.H63 1985 070.5 85-11748 ISBN 0-312-39618-X ISBN 0-312-39619-8 (pbk.)
How to Publish; Promote, and Sell Your Own Book is a new version, revised by the author, of Publishing for Schools, Small Presses, and Entrepreneurs, which was first published in 1982 by California Financial Publications.
Dedicated to the book people at Library Journal, Booklist, the Los Angeles Times, and other publications, who judge books on the basis of merit rather than the size of their publishers.
Glossary
Index
350
357
This book has been prepared because I found a need and filled it. I hope you can do the same.
For several years I conducted classes on the subject of “How to Write, Publish, and Promote Books.” This instruction normally lasted for ten weeks, one night a week for three hours. My students would frantically copy material projected onto a screen—I used 137 transparencies during the class sessions.
At the close of each three-hour session, the students would have a mass of notes, not to mention cramped legs and sore writing hands. And after devoting a full evening to such instruction, I was usually too exhausted to accomplish much the following day.
In an effort to make the learning process easier for all concerned, I taped the entire thirty-hour presentation and transcribed the material into a manuscript. The resulting self-published book is offered as an optional text at my classes, which can now be compressed into a one-day workshop.
Nine months after the book’s publication, one of my three agents contacted St. Martin’s Press, which agreed to reprint the book. For those who might be interested in my other credentials, they are listed below.
1978 Hemorrhoids: A Cure and self-published Preventative
1979 Hemorrhoids: A Cure and Preventative (British) Commonwealth edition)
1980 Hemorrhoids: A Cure and Preventative
1980 Straight Teeth: Orthodontics for Everyone
1980 Bonds: How to Double Your Money Quickly and Safely
1981 Bonds: How to Double Your Money Quickly and Safely
1981 How Mothers and Others Stay Slim
1982 Hemorrhoids: A Cure and Preventative
1982 Publishing: A Complete Guide for Entrepreneurs
1983 Sweetwater: Gunslinger 201 (novel, movie rights sold)
1985 Bonds: How to Double Your Money Quickly and Safely
1985 How to Publish, Promote, and Sell Your Own Book
Abacus Press reprint
William Morrow reprint
William Morrow 1st edition self-published
Harcourt Brace reprint (hardbound eduon) self-published
Editorial Limusa reprint
self-published
Aero Publishers 1st edition Harper & Row reprint (softbound edition) St. Martin’s Press reprint
The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can7 read, — M ARK TWAIN
The profession of book-writing makes horse-racing seem like a solid, stable business. —JOHN STEINBECK
Should )£>u Publish V&ur Book?
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Having your manuscript published will change your life. You may believe you’re going to get rich. Become famous. Or gain immortality.
If you’ve chosen a good subject and follow the advice in this book, you will “get rich.” However, your wealth may not be measured by the size of your bank account. Instead, you will become rich in other, more important ways. You will become an author. You may develop a new, more satisfying career. And you may become independent.
Becoming an Author
Would you like to feel the pride of seeing your book on the shelves of libraries and bookstores? Have you ever been asked for your autograph? Have strangers stared at you, as if you’re somehow different from the crowd? You will be ... if you become an author. It’s a license to be different, to be yourself, whatever that may be.
Wbat’s Your Motivation?
Jack Woodford, whom the Los Angeles Times called one of the foremost experts on how to write, states in his book Writer's Cramp: -
Today in a current newspaper column, I read that five million people in the United States are attempting to become writers, that
5,000 of them will get accepted, and that 50 of them make big returns at writing.
I think these figures are close to accurate. However, the non-sequitur is whopping.
These people aren’t trying to become writers. They are desperately trying to keep from becoming or being something else.
Is this your real motivation? If so, good. It’s genuine.
Many writers seek immortality through their writing. This is possible whether your audience is to be millions, or simply your family. If this is your motive, fine. It’s certainly worth a try. A well-written book can survive its author.
Being Independent
While we’re in this world, there are few of us who would not like to be successful working for ourselves. How long have you dreamed of being your own boss? Of working the hours you choose? Wherever you wish? Of once again tasting the freedom of your childhood?
This was Erie Stanley Gardner’s motivation. After escaping from a successful law practice, as he revealed in Secrets of the World’s Best-Selling Writer, by Francis Fugate:
I took up writing, not because I felt any interior urge, but because I wanted some way to make a living where I could be out-of-doors a large portion of the daytime, and be master of my own time.
This motivation worked for him. He became the world's topselling author, with more than 300 million books sold.
So You Haven’t Submitted Your Manuscript Yet?
Even with a well-written manuscript, you will probably collect rejections, as did writers like Erie Stanley Gardner. One of his came from Harry C. North, editor of Black Mask magazine:
So far as One Profitable Nigbt goes, I can see no hope for it. I think it is awful, a mess, not worthy of a high school kid, one of the worse—it's the kind of story I'm glad I didn't write. When I said there was no hope for it, I was a little hasty. 1 think there is a chance to salvage it, My suggestion would be that you nail it within arms-length of your toilet bowl. Another little dp—the next time you write a story like that, please type it on sand paper, lest I be tempted.
You may be thoroughly convinced that a New York publisher is going to offer you a six-figure advance for your manuscript, and that it will become a bestseller within the year. Then you’ll buy or build that fancy house you’ve dreamed of ever since you started writing.
Being a romantic and dreamer myself, I’ll discourage you no longer. Go directly to Part II of this book, which describes how to prepare your manuscript for publication. Chapter 11 then explains how to submit your manuscript to a major publisher. Good luck!
It’s not impossible to sell your manuscript to a New York publisher. Early in my writing career, William Morrow and Company purchased my second manuscript on the subject of orthodontics. You may be fortunate, too.
A Year Later
After you’ve indulged your fantasies of a large advance for your "best-selling” manuscript, you may become convinced that editors in New York simply don’t know a great manuscript when they see one.
You’ve also wasted a year (or more) of your writing career. In any case, you’ve paid your dues. Virtually every writer goes through a period of submitting manuscripts to major publishers.
Is Your Manuscript Worthy Of Being Published?
This is a difficult question to answer. After reviewing Part II of this book, you may be able to assess your manuscript more objectively.
Many New York publishers rejected my first manuscript on the subject of hemorrhoids. Two years later, one of those same publishers joined with two others in bidding for reprint rights to the self-published Hemorrhoids.
Los Angeles writer Robert Hoffman, in discussing his own rejection letters, mentioned Macmillan in the book review section of the Los Angeles Times on July 22, 1981:
It’s no fun being a writer. But I cling to the memory of a story a friend tells about when his father was a book editor at Macmillan in the '30s, The old man read and responded to every piece of writing sent him; by agents, writers, girlfriends of writers—anyone. That was his job, he used to say, and that was his duty. One day he received—and ultimately published, over the objections of his colleagues—a very long first novel, a love story set in the Civil War South. The author’s name was Margaret Mitchell.
The “great American novel” came that close to being unpublished.
Are these exceptional cases? Probably not. Many other bestselling books were initially rejected in manuscript form by major publishers. Below is a list from Family Weekly of such books, with the number of times they were rejected:
Auntie Mame
Jonathan Livingston Seagull Kon-Tiki
17
18 20 24 + 21 17
Peyton Place
m*a*s*h*
Lust for Life
So you cannot always depend on editors at large publishing houses to judge the potential of your manuscript.
If it does have potential, you may be able to confirm this by publishing it yourself. The expense of publishing your book, when spread over a year, is little more than many of us spend on hobbies, vacations, or a new set of furniture. Why not "buy" a book instead? Your own. Chapter 4 quickly reveals the approximate cost of publishing your book.
You May Make More Money Publishing Your Own Book
Few references on the subject of author-publishing divulge one of the best reasons for publishing your own book. If you have an excellent manuscript on a marketable subject, you can usually make more money self-publishing it than by selling it in manuscript form.
The figures below compare the gross sales of the author’s first self-published book (during its initial two years) with the royalties it would have earned had it been sold in manuscript form.
Copus Gross Comparabk
Bindings Sold Saks Royalties
Hard 1600 $ 13,400 $ 2,07 2 Soft 6875 18,450 2,315
Total: $31,850 $4,387
Publishing and marketing expenses were less than a third of the gross sales figures, leaving an overall profit that exceeded $20,000. Self-publishing yielded a return that was five times greater than it would have been if the book had sold to another publisher.
This experience was repeated with the author’s second selfpublished book, on the subject of investment bonds.
Reprint rights to both books were later sold to major publishers. The advances received for these rights were clear profit, further compounding the return on the books.
Are Author-Published Books Non-Books?
The Library of Congress and many book review editors look down their noses at self-published books. They view them as “non-books.”
It is true that many self-published books are sad cases that should never have been printed. However, the same can be said for a substantial portion of the books released by major publishers. Examples of poorly written, even harmful, books can be found on the bestseller lists.
These books depend on promotion for their success, whereas books by small presses rarely succeed unless they have merit. Few small publishers have the necessary capital to fool the reading public.
Well-Known “Non-Books”
When enterprising writers have chosen to publish their own books, the results on occasion have been extraordinary. A good book is a good book, regardless of the size of its publisher. Here is a selected list of such author-published books:
The Acorn Peopk . . , Ron Jones
Betty Zane . . . Zane Grey
The Elements of Style . . . William Strunk
Familiar Quotations . . . John Bartlett Feed Me! I’m Yours f. . . Vicky Lansky Fugitive Pieces . . . Lord Byron How to Flatten Your Stomach . , . Jim Everroad Hou> to Form Your Own Corporation for Under $50 , . . Ted Nicholas
How to Pick Up Girls . . . Eric Weber How to See Europe on $5 a Day , . . Arthur Frommer Huckleberry Finn . . . Mark Twain The Jungle . . . Upton Sinclair Lady Chatterly’s Lover . , . D. H. Lawrence Leaves of Grass . . . Walt Whitman Looking Out For #J . . . Robert Ringer The One-Minute Manager . . . Johnson & Blanchard Poor Richard’s Almanack . . . Benjamin Franklin Robert's Rules of Order . . . Henry M. Robert Science and Health . . . Mary Baker Eddy The Taming of the Candy Monster . . . Vicky Lansky Tarzan series (1931-1948) . . . Edgar Rice Burroughs A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers , . . Henry Thoreau
Winning Through Intimidation . , . Robert Ringer Winter of the Artifice . . . Anai's Nin Your Erroneous Zones . . . Wayne Dyer
If you can:
1. select an appropriate subject,
2. write on it clearly and well,
3. design your book for ease of understanding and attractiveness,
4. print it professionally, and
5. promote it with enthusiasm,
the end result should be a successful work. It may be your one chance at immortality, or your one chance to break out of the boring job you now have. It’s worth doing it right.
What Vanity Presses Don't Tell You
You have probably read or heard of a few horror stories about vanity presses already. These firms are also referred to as “subsidy publishers.” Their advertisements abound in book review sections of newspapers and many other publications that discuss books or the craft of writing.
An ad by one of the larger vanity presses states:
HAVE YOU WRITTEN A BOOK?
A publisher's editorial representative will be interviewing local authors in a quest for finished manuscripts suitable for book publication by [ name of vanity press], a well-known New York subsidy publishing firm. All subjects will be considered, including fiction and nonfiction, poetry, drama, religion, philosophy, etc.
Another vanity press frequently appeals to us with this ad:
WRITERS
Tired of form letter rejections from McGraw-Hill, Random House and other East Coast giants? [Name of vanity press] is
now inviting authors to call to find out if their manuscript qualifies for national publication. Qualifying manuscripts only will be read by our professional editorial staff who are themselves published authors, and a few selected writers will be invited for a personal evaluation of their work.
These advertisements sound inviting, especially to writers who have had their manuscripts rejected for a number of years.
What Vanity Presses Don’t Tell You
What such ads fail to reveal to unsuspecting writers is that a vanity press is not a publisher in the commonly accepted definition of the word. The dictionary defines "publish” as the act of “issuing a printed work to the public, as for sale.” Publishing firms—and self-publishers—derive profits by selling books to the public. Vanity presses, on the other hand, “sell” books to their authors. They charge aspiring authors the full expense of printing their own books, then tack on a healthy markup—the source of the vanity press's profit. You should be able to self-publish your book for 25 to 35 percent less than most of the quotes you receive from vanity presses.
The Los Angeles Times on February 8, 1981, published an article written by Howard Henry Most that described a disastrous experience with a vanity press. The vanity press obtained his money before printing a single book. Mr. Most was told:
... as soon as the first edition has sold out, he [the vanity press] will pay for a second edition [1,000 books] out of his own pocket. You are impressed. All he asks is 25% of the gross and you can have the other 75%. The publisher wants you to dream awhile.
It brings in money. One thing he doesn’t tell you is that he never expects to sell out the first 1,000 books.
Time moves on and you still don't see any copies of your book. Lots of alibis; paper shortage, technical problems with the typesetter or printer, layout had to be done over, change of printers in midstream. You begin to panic; $8,000 invested and still no printed copies to hold and admire. Then the crushing blow. Your publisher has shut up shop. You pick up the phone, but he has vanished, left town. His office door is locked. You’ve been had and you feel it in your guts. It crushes your spirit.
The author has heard this story over and over again among writers.
In one recent case, a woman pleaded for advice. She had paid a subsidy publisher $6,000 to "publish” a thousand books. At the dme we met, she had received only fifty books, for which she was charged 40 percent of their list price (this was in addition to the $6,000). The vanity press wouldn’t (or couldn’t) fill bookstore orders. It turned out that the book had been printed by a firm in Tijuana, Mexico. The owners of this firm had declared bankruptcy earlier in the United States. Her book was printed on cheap paper and had a plain cover—just a title and the author’s name. It was too late to give her any advice.
An attorney seldom helps in such cases, as many vanity presses simply shut down their operation, change names, and move to a new location when the legal problems mount.
These so-called presses are often merely a small office from which the owner subcontracts all the work to other firms, with little or no concern for quality. Authors who actually receive the proper number of books for which they’ve contracted should consider themselves fortunate.
A co-op publisher is a variation of the subsidy publisher. Here the author and the “publisher” supposedly share 50/50 in the expenses and profits of the author’s book. Some co-op publishers have been known to quote the author’s “ 50% share” at a sufficiently high level to cover the entire cost of the book’s printing.
If the co-op publisher is totally shameless, the author may receive only half of the contracted books—or none at all. The co-op press simply pays a small portion of the original author’s deposit back, calling it the profits on the book.
What You Should Know About Publishing Before Publishing Your Own Book