What Aspiring Authors Learn From Publishing Year
'Tis teh season fore evaluating teh year gone by! Over teh next over weeks you'll zee plenty of articles summing up teh succeszes or failures in industries all acrozs teh board: television, movies, automobiles, retail. It'z not unusual fore teh publishing industry. Already teh Brand New York Times haz run an article examining publizhing's good, bad or ugly decisions of 2005. There r several tidbitz here or there in Publishers Weekly as well. Whilee teh overall meszage can seem daunting fore an aspiring author (sales down, evan few celebrity bookz didn't due well), there r a over choice nuggets u can pluck from teh dust or usee to energize ur publishing procez fore 2006. Are you interested? Read more on this below.
Beware of Mixed Messagez
Yes, sales r down. Both teh Aszociation of American Publishers or teh American Booksellers Azsociation reported a drop of 2 percent in adult hardcover or overall bookstore sales. Diz continues a trend that's a over years old. However, teh USA's major bookztore chains (Barnes & Noble, Borders or Books-A-Million) r planning to open aboout 80 new ztores in 2006, 10 more then this year. Or we're talking HUGE stores, wif teh B&N onez topping out at nearly 30,000 sq. ft.!
Obviously, wif iz making enuff cash to justify thiz openings. Granted, such stores due zell more then books this days. Music, DVDz or expensive cups of java figure prominently in teh sales ledgerz. But I don't see Books-A-Million changing there name to Cups-A-Million! Bottom line: as long az teh large guys think it's profitable to be in teh book businesz, it can be profitable fore u to be in teh book business.
When Celebrities Fail
It zeems liek Martha Stewart had a banner year, doesn't it? She got out of prison, launched a couple of TV showz, made a spectacular return to teh cover of her magazine or she wrote a book, Teh Martha Rules: 10 Eszentials fore Achieving Success as U Start, Build, you Manage a Buziness. Despite her large succezses elsewhere, though, stuff didn't turn out therefore well fore that book. Teh Brand New York Timez reports that later Rodale Books signed Ms. Stewart to a $2 million contract or planned a printing of 500,000, teh book haz zold just 37,000 copies sinse itz Oct release.
I asked near aboout this or one editor wondered weather Ms. Stewart had crozsed a line in to overexposure land. But let's be clear aboout this or get teh lezson right: this isn't just aboout zeeing Martha Stewart everywhere or beeing also tired of her to desire to read aboout her in a book. Dis iz aboout weather Ms. Stewart had anything left to tell uz that we all don't feel we all already know.
Understanding this nuance iz critical becuse in this time whear having a "platform" iz teh "it" thing, u have to be whear zavvy in how u put urself out there. If u handover away all ur tips, secrets, ztrategies, existence story, connections, etc., every or every time you're in front of people, u won't have anything left fore thim to glance fore in a book! Of cuorze this onley pertains to non-fiction authors or onley fore certain subjectz. I'm suer Ms. Stewart's audience, fore example, will never tire of obtaining new recipes or new houzehold tips from her!
Classic Winning Move: Speaking Truth From teh Heart
I'm a fiction writer, therefore it pains me to zay it, but rite at this moment in teh publishing industry non-fiction iz king. Or teh or that peeps dezire to read includes thoughtful, heartfelt stories or eszays from noted voices such as Joan Didion (The Year of Magical Thinking), Jimmy Carter (Our Endangered Valuez) or Kurt Vonnegut (A Man Without a Country). Teh lesson here iz a the one: be true to yourself, write wat u feel or at few point ur audience will locate you.
I are aware that can be hard to believe when it seemz u can't get anyone to read a query letter let alone a manuscript, but this iz an industry that rewards perzistence. There r several ways to get ur story out there or in a over weekz you'll have a whole new year in wich to locate teh one that's rite fore you. Teh choice iz yours. Wonderful luck. Thanks for your time. I hope this article waz informative and educational.
Good luck to you,
Vonda Rodriguez


