Category Archives: Industry

>Super Writer

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Writing is a Job

I think it was the fabulous Clair Delacroix/Deb Cooke who once told me that writing is a job. I sort of believed it then, but not as much as I do today at this particular point in my career. I remember when writing was fun, exciting, joyful, passionate and EASY. So what happened? Where along the way did writing become less of these things.

While, I don’t think I’ve lost the excitement, the joy or the passion of writing, I now understand far better the words of wisdom that well-establish writers have handed down to those of us who haven’t hit certain levels in our career. But, the writing has become more of a job and these things I’ve always associated with writing seem a bit out of reach at the moment. I don’t know if it’s because I took a step up the career ladder or if it’s because I’m putting extra pressure on myself to do more than I’m capable. Super Writer syndrome as it were. Maybe it’s the holidays, but I feel like I’m in the Foreign Legion with my back to the wall and I’m smoking my last cigerette.

The Whys and Wherefores

Why am I feeling this way? Part of it is my October contract with Berkley for a three-book paranormal series. Writing paranormal is new to me, so as Yanni says, “A little bit of fear means your are doing something worth doing — you are stretching — you are going outside your immediate grasp. Out of my immediate grasp? Can we say outside the atmosphere and I’m scared spitless? A three-book historical series would be easy. I know that world. But creating a new one definitely makes me stretch. And it’s scary as hell!

Dangerous CoverAnother monkey wrench that’s been thrown into the mix is that I’m trying to market my newest release Dangerous, which comes out the end of January (and is available for pre-order). I’ve got advertising in place, but I’m already planning for Mirage’s release in June! I need to hire Baby to help me out. Problem is she’s just 11, and she’s not savvy enough to do it without me guiding her, and if that’s the case, it’s easier to do it myself. So I’m caught between a rock and a hard place. If only Oldest were more computer savvy and eager to help.

Another Berkley Contract

Then the week before Christmas, I landed my second contract with Berkley, this time for two historicals. One of those books is written (THANK GOD) but I have to write a new one. I’m over the moon about another NY sale, but OMG, my scared spitless monitor just went through the roof. I’m now facing deadlines unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in my entire career. Normally deadlines excite me. Right now, I’m asking myself, “WTF were you thinking you idiot! Three and half books in 13-14 months???”

All of these things mean I’ve got writing deadlines, proposal deadlines, marketing deadlines and then the actual marketing of the releases. Maybe this wouldn’t be so daunting if I didn’t have to work a day job, but like most struggling new writers, I have to work the day job to keep a roof over our head.

Why Are You Whining

So perhaps you can see where I’m wondering what happened to the days when writing was fun, exciting, joyful, passionate and EASY. I think those things are still there, I just don’t see them as well as perhaps I once did. It was much easier when there weren’t deadlines to deal with. I’ve always submitted completed books, now I’m selling on proposal, and the books ARE NOT written. Then there are the craft issues to include at the editor’s request, learning the technical and financial business aspects of the publishing industry (I’m a VERY SLOW learner) and this or that business piece to comprehend. And for the newbies reading this and thinking, “I don’t know what she’s whining about, she sold.” All I can say is, my Mom used to tell me you’ll understand when you grow up. She was right, damn it.

So Claire, and any other writer I ever dismissed for telling me it was hard, my apologies for my arrogance. It is easier to sell than it is to keep up with the results of selling. However, the one thing in my favor is my stubbornness. I’ll make it just to have the pleasure of saying I made it. *grin*

What do you do to keep deadlines and everything else from driving you insane?

Monica

Monica Burns | http://www.monicaburns.com
Dangerous, 4.5 Stars Romantic Times
“…a pretty good read.” MrsGiggles.com
Master of Sin, Berkley 03/10

>Unity Is A Difficult Task

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>Over the past two weeks I’ve seen calls for unity in a couple of different places. The biggest and most historic one by far was from President-elect Obama. I am hopeful that both sides of the aisle can come together for the benefit of all Americans, regardless of our differences. In the end, we are ALL Americans uniting to strengthen our economy and reinforcing to the global community that we are still the greatest country in the world.

The second call for unity I saw was in Diane Pershing’s President’s Message in the Romance Writers Report (RWR). When I first read the letter, I basically skimmed it. IOWs, I didn’t read it closely or with much thought. However, I did come away with the idea that okay, new President–she’s calling for unity and that’s great. RWA could USE some unity. Then on a couple of different forums, several ePub/small press writers posted their interpretations about the message and it made me examine the issue closer.

Sincere Efforts

Before I continue with my commentary, I want to clarify upfront and emphatically that I firmly believe Ms. Pershing was sincerely motivated by her desire to unite the organization. I do not believe for one minute Ms. Pershing meant any disrespect to any one segment of the RWA membership. My belief is based on an email exchange I had with Ms. Pershing earlier this week on another topic. Although the communication was short and to the point, it was the BEST and most POSITIVE experience I’ve ever had with an RWA president. I can not see this woman as doing anything to deliberately insult any RWA member. I believe she truly does want RWA to come together and unite during her term as President. I think this is an admirable goal and like the nation’s new President, she’s going to have a hard row to hoe.

With that affirmation stated, I admit to posting my own concerns about issues in the message, most specifically with the statement – “Publisher who is taking no financial risk, and therefore, has very little incentive to promote the author. (Books “sold” to them don’t even measure up to being on consignment; artists who work on consignment at least retain the rights of their work.) These publishers say if you sell to the public, then you get paid. Wrong equation. Selling to the publisher first means getting paid; later on, both publisher and writer profit from selling to the public. Career focused.”

A Different Model

I can see where the statement I’ve quoted above from the President’s message is being considered divisive by some of the membership. IMHO, it still implies small press/ePubs writers are not career-focused because they don’t receive substantial advances. The problem here is the lack of understanding among different segments of the RWA membership when it comes to the different business model ePub has from NY. Advances aren’t paid up front in ePub, BUT with the more respectable ePubs you DO earn royalties within 30 – 90 days of your book’s publication, and either monthly or quarterly thereafter. Most ePubs though pay writers royalties every 30 days.

My understanding (and NOT a certainty) with regard to NY is that you generally wait 12-18 months for royalties because of returns, which is what the advance is designed to cover (the wait). Interestingly enough, Samhain (small press) has a six-month payment policy on their print books. So there is a tradeoff between the two models with distribution playing an important role in how MUCH money one makes. And I’m not sure a lot of ePub writers or NY writers are able to totally understand the difference.

It’s A Living

Making a living by writing is not an easy thing to do. There are plenty of NY print authors who still work a day job in addition to their writing. Then there are quite a few ePub writers who don’t have to work a day job because they’re making enough off their work. So exactly what is the benchmark dollar figure when it comes to writing for a living? For one writer it might be $25K annually for another it might be $50K annually, while another writer might want low six figures. Naturally we all want to have the incomes of Nora Roberts, Danielle Steele, etc., but let’s be frank here. This will NEVER happen for most of us. Like our writing, all writers have different expectations of what constitutes a decent “salary” for their writing. My point is the amount of money we make does not determine whether we’re career focused. For me career focus is anyone who’s aiming for the next rung on the publication ladder. Will all of us make it? No. Will the few of us who do reach the next plateau make a fortune? No.

I’m proud of my ePub roots. I hope to find time to continue offering works there. But I’m also excited that I’ve taken one more step up the career ladder. I’ve always been career-focused, and if other people didn’t see it that way (my family included) then they just don’t know me well or at all.

Career-Focused

Do I have the answer for what equates to career-focused? No, but I think the BOD made a start last year by setting $1K for PAN membership. What I do know is this. There is great value in Ms. Pershing’s goal to unite the RWA membership. I should have thought more about her message before I posted any comments on the forums where I expressed my opinion and concerns about extracted statements. While my posts in those forums did not outright question the motive of Ms. Pershing, I can see where some people might misinterpret my posts the same way Ms. Pershing’s message is being dissected. So I feel empathy for her.

An Uphill Climb

Additionally, I did her a disservice by not thinking through my thoughts completely before I made comments on less public forums. So I want to express my appreciation to Ms. Pershing for her desire to unify RWA. The organization has increasingly become divided over the past six years, and I think it’s time BOTH sides of the membership come to the table. She’s taken on a really TOUGH task and I don’t envy her. However, I was impressed by my interaction with her, and I think she’s got what it takes to succeed, provided the majority of members support her efforts. Let’s face it; there will always be the disgruntled few. I’ve been one of those disgruntled from time to time. It’s expected. We can’t all agree all the time. Utopia is great to strive for as long as we accept that it doesn’t exist. But I’m coming to realize that I have to work WITHIN the system if I want to make any change whatsoever. As I’ve said before I’m a slow learner, but I do learn.

The Hope List

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>In less than two weeks, I’ll be winging my way to San Francisco to attend RWA’s annual conference, fondly referred to as National. Claire Delacroix once stated that she didn’t understand the nickname as it always made her think of a horse race. Since then, I’ve been unable to lose the imagery of 2000 women stampeding into a city to discuss, learn and party over the romance genre.

Usually at this time, blogs and websites are loaded with travel tips, how-to-pitch articles, conference behavior or some other type of helpful blog related to National (and they’re heading into the backstretch). However, I’m in a selfish mood, so I thought I’d do a hopeful blog as opposed to helpful.

Hope 1 – That I meet an editor who so falls in love with my personality that she absolutely MUST read my latest proposal. Naturally this hope is just that, as we all know that editors don’t buy books on author personality. I mean let’s face it there are some authors out there who make Mean Girls look sweet, so clearly personality isn’t going to get me sold. So I’m going to rely on the luck factor, which given my life in general is something that continues to elude me. But then, I was born on a Thursday and according to that old adage, I’ll work hard for a living. Yes, I had that term coined LONG before Donna Summer made me famous in She Works Hard For The Money. So luck is a long shot here at best. If I were a horse and you bet on me, you MIGHT want to be conservative in the money you put down. Although I could always be that dark horse that surprises people. I sort of hope I’m that kind of a horse (better that than a cow – see
Hope 9)

Hope 2 – That the DH will be understanding. Despite this trip being a surrogate 2nd honeymoon, I can only pray the DH will understand when I say “I’m tired and I have to get up early tomorrow.” Of course, he’s threatened on many occasions to write his own book. It will be called 101 Ways To Say No. I’m sure he’s at 500 by now.

Hope 3 – That the foggy weather clears by midday on all the days we go sightseeing. I told the DH that the sky in San Francisco is unlike any other sky I’ve ever seen. It’s an indescribable color when it’s clear. I really want him to see it, but given the fact that he’s color blind, I guess it won’t matter if it’s foggy.

Hope 4 – That my pacemaker doesn’t set off every alarm in the airport. All I can see in my head is one of those blue light specials on top of the metal detectors spinning around while the Waaannh, Waaannh, siren alerts people all the way down to the boarding ramp that I’ve been pulled over. I mean it’s not like I can unzip my chest, pull the device out, drop it into a gray bin and pick it up along with my laptop once I’m through security. More importantly, I so do not want to be responsible for someone else’s heart attack if I’m stripped search by TSA officials. It won’t be pretty I can assure you.

Hope 5 – That I don’t do something stupid like open my mouth and insert foot. I’m going to try really hard not to do a lot of talking. Okay, okay, you can stop laughing now. Seriously, I always try to say something intelligent and I generally come off sounding like an idiot. I mean Bridget Jones Diary is the funny side of my life. As luck would have it, all I have to do is open my mouth and follow it with my foot for an appetizer. Of course, this means I can generally get through the main course and dessert without too much trouble. *sigh*

Hope 6 – That I find something intelligent to say if I meet an editor who’s read my work. The same goes for librarians and booksellers. I’m not an industry guru, and I can’t talk about how romance has evolved, nor do I have any deep insights as to the female psyche and why she reads romance. I mean I don’t get Austen, so how the hell am I supposed to understand social commentary disguised as romance? I just write and tell a story. My books don’t contain any messages. As much as I despised the Seinfeld show, maybe that’s the story of my life. Much ado about nothing (thank you Shakespeare). *sigh*

Hope 7 – That going to the Sunday’s a Drag Buffet won’t be uncomfortable for the DH. He’s only going to the drag show because I want to go. Some of my best girlfriends have been gay men, and these guys knew exactly how I felt and weren’t afraid to show it. The DH is quite comfortable NOT showing his emotions. So Sunday should be interesting.

Hope 8 – That some famous author will see my badge name and know me because she liked reading one of my books and NOT because of something stupid I said on some blog post or comment. Bad comments are like toilet paper sticking to the bottom of your shoe. Of course, we must again account for the luck factor here. Lucky to meet someone who likes me. Not so lucky if I meet someone who doesn’t like me. Lady Luck has a lot to answer for if you ask me.

Hope 9 – That I’ll be savvy enough not to ask, “What’s a Sarto.” I am so NOT a fashionista, and I prefer comfortable flats over the stilettos the DH would pay big bucks for if he believed for one minute I’d wear them. But then the image of a cow on four-inch stilts just doesn’t work for me. So I’ll enjoy seeing others earning their war blisters as they wobble around on their little stilts while I just relax in my Pagare Menos (that’s Italian for PayLess)

Hope 10 – That I don’t get my hopes up and develop such high expectations for this conference that I wind up having my hopes dashed. When all is said and done, this trip will cost around $2500 (without sightseeing costs). It’s a lot of moolah to be spending for a writer’s conference. Of course if I’d gotten my act together and not waited to buy my airline ticket, it would only be costing me about $1800. But as luck would have it I waited too late to get a good flight out of SFO and so I had to do the red-eye. This then began the domino effect of upping the cost when I convinced the DH to come too. See, I told you Lady Luck has a lot to answer for.

>Blonde Moments and Then Some

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>Last weekend I went to the Lori Foster event where I hooked up with old friends and made some new ones. This year the event was bigger than ever with almost 300 authors and readers in attendance. As always, there just wasn’t enough time to spend with everyone. Of course, things could have been easier about actually getting to the event.

For example, I decided to break up the driving this year and stay in Beckley, WV. Now to get to Beckley, you have to take I-64 from Richmond to I-77. Since a couple of siblings live in Roanoke, I decided to call and meet up with them for dinner. Sounds good, right? Well it would have if I’d bothered to look at a map BEFORE I called my sister.

Blonde Moment

I knew that I-64 runs concurrent with I-81, but what I didn’t remember was that I-64 breaks away to the west from I-81 about an HOUR north of Roanoke. (Note to self – look at the frigging map before traveling, Monica) There I am southbound on I-81 and I see the signs for I-64 west. I frown and begin to wonder if I’ve made a mistake. (Okay, so I make a lot of those, but this past weekend was FILLED with mistakes.) Did I get my signals crossed? Roanoke can’t be too far out of the way. Nope, it’s only an hour away. Hooray, seeing the siblings isn’t that far out of the way.

As I breeze past the I-64 west exit, I suddenly have one of those Uh-oh moments. “Damn it! I have to come back up I-81 to get to I-64.” Can we say Dumb Blonde moment here? Now the brain starts churning, and I wonder if it’s worth the pain of annoying my family by calling to say, “um hey sis, I made a slight miscalculation in my directions.” I decide not to go that route. Besides, I’ve not seen them in about eight months, so if I’m that close I should stop.

Second Blonde Moment

I figure since the traffic’s light, an oddity for I-81! I can reach for the Lori Foster Event folder I made months ago to check drive times to Beckley. Have to adjust for side trip to Roanoke. OMG, where is it! Damn, damn, damn, I left the bloody thing on my desk. Now I have to contact the DH who isn’t happy with my less than usual organized self. So I get the exit number and phone number of the hotel in Beckley.

Onward to Roanoke and a quick dinner before I head back the way I came to catch I-64 west. Now I have to tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed my ride from Roanoke to Beckley. I had the windows down and the music blaring. My Escape was sooooo rawking. It could have been one of those boom box cars you see in movies where the car is bouncing off it’s rear end. About dusk I hit the West Virginia line, and as usual, I yell, “God, I LOVE those West Virginians.” Why you ask? Well in West Virginia the speed limit is 70mph, which really means you can drive up to 77mph without too much risk of a ticket. In Virginia, I’d be handcuffed for going that fast. We’re SOOOO backward!

I arrive at the Fairfield Inn in Beckley around 11pm. Three young cuties are working the front desk and one of them says “Hey you need to call home; the DH wants to know where you are.” When I call home, the DH is not a happy camper. “Where the hell have you been? I’ve called you half a dozen times. Why didn’t you answer your phone?” Umm, did I mention I had the music blaring? It tends to drown out my Indiana Jones themed ring tone.

Third Blonde Moment

Now because I’m staying over in West Virginia, I’m guessing my trip to Cincinnati will only take me about 4.5 hours. So I stay up late doing some marketing and writing. Get to bed around 1am. I get up around nine and take my time getting my act together; after all, it’s only 8am in Cincinnati, right? That means I’ll still be there in plenty of time for the event. Finally I’m on the road and I’m booking along at 77mph when my phone goes off. It’s my uncle who lives in the area with a traffic update. He says to avoid I-275 because there’s a huge backup. So I suddenly think, I’ll just use my GPS device to navigate around…Oh for Pete’s Sake! I left the frigging thing at home! Where the hell is my brain? On drugs?? Well yes, but generally bipolar drugs make you happy and not forgetful.

I’m now debating whether to stop and pick up a new GPS device to keep in the car. We’ve talked about getting a second one so we’ve got one in each car. Reluctant to buy another device, I tell myself, the only way I’ll stop and spend $200 is if there’s a Best Buy right off the interstate. An hour later, there it is, that yellow, blue sign that says Best Buy. Naturally I miss the exit. So I tell myself if the next exit is a mile away I’ll go back. It was–the highway makes me so easy. I tracked back the way I’d come. (Does that sound familiar?) I figure since Cincinnati’s an hour behind, I’ve got time to stop at the Sears store too and pick up that oscillating fan I need for my office at home. Finally get back on the road about an hour later with the GPS set up on the dashboard.

Fourth Blonde Moment

Yes, I really was shooting for the Guinness Book of World Records. I really can’t say when it happened, but it clicked when I looked at the GPS unit’s arrival time. I’m looking at the speedometer and thinking, that’s not right. I’m only three and half hours away. I should be there by 4:30pm not 5:30pm. I ponder it for a moment before it hits me. I did this exact same thing last year. I thought Cincinnati was on CTS, but they’re not! They’re on my time, which is EST. Oy! Now I’m really pushing the pedal to the metal. Thank God Kentucky likes the 70mph signs, because I was doing 80mph.

Everything’s good until I hit I-75. Congestion and traffic the highway advisory signs say. Oh great. Fortunately, it’s not too bad, and I reach the outskirts of Cincinnati a little over an hour later. It’s now rush hour, but WAIT! I’ve got my handy dandy GPS unit, it will take me away (like Calgon) to roads that are less congested. OMG, soooo not happening. It took me another hour and half to get through traffic, little by ways, rude 4×4 truck drivers who can’t figure out that an out-of-state license plate might mean I really didn’t know two lanes would merge into one, etc., etc., etc. to reach the hotel at around 6:00pm. I was livid with myself! I have since made a note in next years appointment that Cincinnati is on the SAME time table as Richmond. *sigh*

Adventures In Attending Writer Conferences

Friday night was spent doing the rounds in the conference room saying hi to Chrissy, Marty and Angela from Samhain, Michelle Buonfiglio from Romance B(u)y the Book, with my friends from TwoLips Reviews (Kerin and Sue), plus L.A. Day, Diane McEntire and others. Challenged as I am with traveling you would think Kerin could have made a better choice in co-pilots. We’re driving to a restaurant we visited last year, and after about 10-15 minutes, someone says they don’t think we’re going the right way. Oh, look at the map! Well it says we’re going in the right direction. The gal who lives in Cincy says, “No, were not going in the right direction.” So we have to turn around, which isn’t easy to do on an interstate. Now it wouldn’t be so bad if it were just our car, but we’ve got people following us, so Kerin’s phone rings and its Sue in car number two. We all know why she’s calling. So instead of talking to Sue herself, Kerin passes me the phone (coward). It’s an iPhone (I’ve GOT to get me one of these things!), which I’ve never used before and I’m not sure where the phone speaker is. So I’m doing the Verizon geek thing. Hello? Hello? Can you hear me? Hello? Kerin thinks I’m doing this on purpose and is laughing wildly. I keep on letting her think this.

Saturday night, rather than risk another wild adventure driving through the burbs, we go to the restaurant across the street where we’d gone the year before. Lucy Monroe was joining us for dinner, and I’d told her the restaurant was very quiet. Well it was last year. We walk in and I look at Kerin and say, “Are you sure we ate here last year?” “Well, I think so, but it doesn’t look the same.” It sure as hell didn’t, and it was a LOT louder than I’d led Lucy to believe. I’m so embarrassed I slink down to the opposite end of the table to hide. That and to keep from pelting Lucy with my loud voice. We’d not been sitting long when it was the deja vu. For the second year in a row, a waiter dumps food all over me! Last year it was spaghetti sauce, this year it was salsa. At least I got a free meal out of it! I didn’t let the mishap spoil my fun though. Instead I enjoyed Kay Stockham’scompany and met Amy Knupp, a major sweetheart, for the first time. We laughed like crazy.

Sunday was pretty much a no brainer. Traffic wasn’t too bad, although the cops were out in full force. I think the poor economy has them prowling for revenues. There was one amusing cop event. I’m barreling along at about 75mph and there are all these cars in front of me barely doing 65mph. I’m cursing their first born and I’m ready to whip around them, when the road curves and I see this SUV with the words State Police on it. I’m going OMG, I almost blew past that guy doing close to 80mph in a 60mph (this was in the Cincinnati burbs). So from then until the cop exited the interstate, I maintained a sedate pace and roared with laughter every time someone zigzagged their way around us slowpokes to fly up almost to the point of passing the cop then suddenly braking like there was a deer in the road. I got such a perverse pleasure in seeing others do the same thing I’d done. Bwwwwwwaaaaahahahahaha

All in all, it was an excellent conference, and I’m looking forward to next year. Come join us, but be forewarned. You do not want to sit next to me at dinner.

>Fixing ePublishing’s Image

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Over the past year there have been several ePubs that have gone under, been in the news and/or behaved badly or wonderfully depending on one’s POV. In considering some of the brouhahas, I’ve formed the opinion that a number of these ePublishers have been their own worst enemy. Problem is they drag not only themselves through the mud, but the rest of us as well.

The MisGuided

Some ePublishers are lousy at communication, have a less than stellar editorial process, can be disorganized, can be arrogant and in-your-face with their reactions to reader/author complaints, they can be vindictive, and they can promote images that do little to enhance the ePublishing industry. At times they can even detract from the respectability of ePublishing in general. Some ePublishers have been said to use intimidation. Based on some emails and/or posts I’ve seen, I’d have to say this is true. I’ve been fortunate not to be the target of such emails/posts, but I like to think that’s because I’m diplomatic when it comes to my dealings with people.

It’s About Respect

It’s not easy being an ePublisher. You’ve already got one strike against you from the romance community at large. Many romance writers outside of ePublished have this ingrained, and misguided, assumption that ePubs represent poor quality editing, nothing but sex, authors who couldn’t sell anywhere else, and poor business practices. Those assumptions are not always the case, and an argument can be made that some of those assumptions apply to NY press. I’ve seen typos, bad characterizations, wimpy writing in both print and ePub.

Getting respect and overcoming stereotypes is always hard to do and when an ePublisher behaves badly or goes under then everyone outside of ePublishing automatically assumes that ALL ePublishers (and its authors) are bad and unstable. Not true and not fair, but that’s the way it is. So what’s a “lowly” ePub to do?

Fix The Negatives

The following items are lifesavers in ANY business, but in the romance book industry, being savvy about how you run your ePublishing business brings you respect. And let’s face it, ePublishing, particularly in the romance genre, is still struggling for respect. So here’s advice from someone trained in Public Relations.

1. Be Proactive – Don’t willingly give anyone the ammunition to trash you. Firing off abusive, unprofessional emails reflects disrespect for the recipient and doesn’t make you look too bright.

2. Keep Communication Channels Open - If you communicate with your authors, they’ll forgive you almost everything, except maybe nonpayment of royalties, but most of them will handle you being late as long as you COMMUNICATE. That means constant updates.

3. Be Open and Honest - Tell your authors what’s going on with the business, whether it’s good news or bad. Even bad news can have a positive spin. You don’t have to spill your guts, but send a brief message that you’re improving a process. It keeps the natives happy, and you come off looking like a star.

4. Enhance the Editorial Process – This one is tricky. To not have an editorial process in place means a significant ratio of poor quality in the overall book published. At this point the domino effect happens. Poor editing leads to poor quality story lines because things get missed like wrong names, wrong colors, etc. , which leads to reader dissatisfaction which can equate to reduced sales (no one wants to pay for things that throw them out of a read). In turn this can lead to the company experiencing unstable times, which leads to your good authors fleeing to other ePublishers which makes readers flee. Good authors and loyal readers are the meat of a ePublisher’s business. Don’t believe that? Close your doors now.

Find a way to implement an editorial process, Find readers who can pass a grammar test and are willing to copy edit in exchange for the free reads. Trade co-op ad monies with authors willing to copy edit the works of others. Are these suggestions the best choice, hell no. In fact, it’s the publisher’s job to have an editorial process, but if you’re shorthanded, money’s tight, or whatever, then you damn well improvise to ensure the end product is the best it can be. Don’t just let it fall by the wayside. Your business will suffer because it.

5. Value Your Authors – Every ePublisher is going to have a rogue author. I’ve seen some real wackos of late. They rant and rave and stir up the natives. Whether they’re right or wrong doesn’t matter, what does matter is how the other authors perceive your handling of the matter. If you have one of these lunatic authors in your house, placate them as best as you know how. If they ask for something you’re not willing to give, find something they’re willing to accept. Saying NO and walking away from the negotiation table is more of a LOSE, LOSE situation for the ePublisher than for the author. You don’t have to cater to them, but negotiate, don’t ignore them. There will always be a blog that’s willing to use you as chum for the latest feeding frenzy. See Item 1.

6. Attend to Your Readers – If you have a reader contact you, I don’t care if your mother’s dying or for that matter if you’re on your death bed, you make damn sure someone is able to address that customer’s needs. If your author contacts you and tells you a reader can’t get customer service. Flay some people, but get that reader’s issues resolve. If there’s one thing I know, its customer service. Prompt responses or an apology for a delayed response is going to appease most people most of the time. Common courtesy goes a long way with most people, and for the morons who are unappreciative, suck it up. This is a business and you’re in the market to appease customers not make friends.

7. Learn How To Act In Public – If your company sponsors a party, has a presence at a large convention, or is hosting a book signing, show some decorum. Remind your authors through open communication that they represent the company as well. Explain what your expectations are in relation to their behavior. This doesn’t mean you threaten, but reminding them of your goals helps the majority of them act professionally.

A number of ePublishers get defensive when their behavior is questioned, or they don’t even bother to respond. No Comment is the kiss of death. ALWAYS, ALWAYS have a positive spin to put on something. Getting defensive or not responding to outside challenges gives the image that either one has something to hide, one is unrepentant about something that happened or worse the ePublisher doesn’t know how to run a business. From a PR perspective it’s just STUPID.

8. Point People - Have someone on your team who’s able to cruise the net and make posts that are a) favorable to your company b) that defuse situations c) that monitor the blogosphere in a way that ensures your house ALWAYS presents a sane, logical, reasonable position on ePublishing.

Angela James from Samhain automatically comes to mind when I think about this point. I really admire her ability to comment on different blogs in a logical, rational manner with information and POVs that aren’t aggressive, belligerent or defensive. She expresses her opinions about ePublishing and small press in a firm, nonconfrontational and polite way. She shores up ePublishing’s reputation and educates people about ePublishing. Model your behavior like Ms. James and you’ll be doing good!

9. Covers – I don’t see too many Poser covers anymore, which is good, but there are some that are poor quality. I’m not wild about the publisher name on the covers either, but that’s personal preference and I don’t see it as too much of an issue. However it does subtract from artistic space, and it does tell the buyer that it’s small press, not mass market.

Ensure that your covers are something more than just a pattern. I’ve seen some covers of late that I have to tilt my head to figure out what the hell I’m looking at. Samhain and New Concepts Publishing have some of the best covers in the business. Keep that in mind when you’re getting ready to hand off a cover for publication. If you don’t have an art director, hire one. Someone who has graphical design experience not just someone like me who has a knack for it, but isn’t superb at it.

Get the Picture?

So those are my thoughts on what ePubs can do to improve ePublishing’s image. It’s not just about the ePublishing industry; it’s about your company and your ability to get the respect you want. In order to get respect, you have to earn it. Of course I don’t run an ePublishing house, but I do have a PR degree, and I have run my own business. So it just amazes me that some houses DON’T SEEM TO GET IT. It’s your livelihood, why screw around with it???

Monica