Q & A

I get lots of questions from prospective authors about writing books, the business of publishing, agents, whether to self-publish, how to create great book content, etc.  Here are my thoughts on some of the most commonly asked questions.

Why are there so many new books being published all the time? It seems that the number of books being published has increased hugely in the past few years?

There is a statistic I read recently that there is a new book published every 30 seconds in North America. There definitely does seem to be a trend toward a large increase in book titles out there.  One main reason for this is that there are now so many pathways to publishing. Increasing numbers of authors are choosing to self-publish.  So while trade publishers appear to be pulling back in terms of the numbers of books they will acquire, the availability of easy technology to produce books has led to self-publishing as a growth industry.

Is this a good thing? Don’t self-published books have a bad reputation?

I tell my clients that if they choose to self-publish, they have to pay strict attention to quality. You are right that self-published books still do have somewhat of a stigma in the publishing world. That’s because many self-published books are amateurish, cut corners, and are carelessly done.  If you’re going to self-publish (and there are many reasons why this could make sense for an author to do this), your book has to achieve the same standard of writing, design, and editing as any trade published book.  If your self-published book cannot meet that standard, you shouldn’t publish it.

What corners do self-published authors tend to cut?

Editing. Every good book, whether trade published or self-published needs a good editor. Too many first-time authors seem to think they can do the editing themselves.  Well, they can’t. Every good book needs that second pair of eyes.  If you’re investing your time in writing a book, then you should invest some of your money to get a really good editor. Don’t use Aunt Milly who happens to be an elementary school teacher or a local English major from a university–these may be good literate folks, but professional editing is a skill unto itself, particularly as it pertains to books.

Another way self-published authors cut corners is they get really bad design on their covers. If you’re self-publishing, your cover has to be really good, really professional, so some kind of Photoshop thing is not going to cut it.

And the other big bugbear is the printing process itself. Too many self-published books have poor quality paper, are badly laid out, and the glue that binds the book starts wearing off.  Find a book printer who has experience with your type of book. Don’t just go to a local printshop that prints brochures or flyers. You need a printer and layout expert who know about BOOKS.

What is the best way to get an agent and attract a publisher?

The best way to get an agent and/or publisher is to have a really good book idea. Then you have to distil that book idea into a powerful proposal.  The book proposal is crucial to your ability to arouse an agent’s interest.