Rejection – it’s not something anyone finds fun. And in the world of book publishing, there’s a lot of rejection to be had. Writers’ submissions are turned down by agents; agents’ submissions are turned down by publishers; books which do make it out into the market may get a frosty reception from reviewers and readers generally. . .
A week ago I got an email telling me a friend’s first novel had been longlisted for the Booker Prize. The Booker is the pre-eminent prize for literary fiction written in English, and winning it is generally reckoned to be career changing. Just getting as far as the long list is pretty major, especially if, as is the case in question, you have never published a novel before, and it has taken you twenty years to get publisher. It certainly came as a surprise to my friend. Read more “Prizes, Surprises – and Persistence”
EXT. DESERT. DAY.
That didn’t take long. Scene directions never do. And yet to realise it, the producers will have to fork out thousands of dollars, recruit the film crew, the actors, the people who look after the crew and the actors, and the people who organise getting large groups of people into any location indicated in the script, however remote. And then there’ll be the stunt men and women, the catering corps, the tent people, the props department, the wardrobe department, the people who teach the actors hopefully not to fire live rounds at each other. And so it goes on. Most people have left the cinema by the time the last make-up artist has been credited near the bottom of the scroll of honour.
Your book is written, your manuscript typed-up and the next phase is production and publication. It’s time to take your pages from typed-up to typeset, then out into the world into readers’ hands. But how do you get your book printed and distributed? Do you self-publish or try to secure a deal with a traditional publisher?
You’ll need to make this decision before the final words are penned because, if seeking a publishing deal, publishers will have required you to submit a book proposal with sample material much earlier in the book writing process. Indeed, your decision may well be influenced by whether your pitch is accepted or rejected. Or you may opt from the outset to go the DIY route to remove the pressure of the pitch, retain control of the design, content and the lion’s share of the royalties too.
So, which option is right for you? Well, the good news is, the choice to go it alone is more readily available now than it has ever been.
A decade ago, self-publishing was expensive, complicated and inferior to professional publishing. You’d pay a publisher a fee to print a large print run of your books and would often end up with a lot of stock to shift, boxes of books gathering dust. Back then, the DIY option was associated with ‘vanity’ rather than ‘validity’ whereas traditional publishing gave the stamp of approval and the necessary credibility sought by budding authors.
Anyone can self-publish a book now. And therein lies the reason why books published by professional publishers tend to have greater credibility, because it’s not so easy to secure a publishing deal, making it less accessible and thus more highly respected. Certainly, in the world of literary fiction or narrative non-fiction, having your book picked up by a mainstream publisher lends the book greater credibility in the marketplace and, as such, often a greater chance of success.
Yet, this is not the case for every book. If you have a large media platform or personal network or your book is a business book or practical guide in a topic you’re an expert in, most such books tend to be self-published these days and still well-received by their audience. A book provides a chance to position yourself as an expert in your field, however you publish it, so it’s great news that the self-publishing option is so much more accessible today.
Thanks to the rise in print on demand and greater access to an army of reasonably priced freelancers who can turn your MS Word document into a fully laid-out book with cover designed and ISBN number assigned, you don’t even need to hold any inventory. The almighty Amazon even has its own direct publishing arm, with printing costs subtracted from your royalties, so you don’t have to pay any costs upfront and a high quality book can make it onto Amazon within a week of hitting the ‘publish’ button.
What’s more, you can generate more revenue per book when you self-publish (for example, you might expect a few quid per book compared to the more meagre 35-60p per book that you might earn in royalties from publishing houses based on net profit).
However, the downside with self-publishing is that you are wholly responsible for promoting and marketing your book and you won’t have the same access to global buyers, bookshops, libraries and so on that a traditional publisher has. They will often turn your book into an audio book as part of their publishing process and, depending on the publisher, their publicity people could help shout about your book from the rooftops, helpful in a busy marketplace.
Traditional publishers will strive to sell the rights to your book worldwide and bring out foreign language editions. And, if you do find a publisher with a great publicity team, they’ll secure you radio interviews, author talks and coverage in magazines. That said, good publicity is never guaranteed and it’s down to you to secure as many book reviews as you can, to get permission to use quotes and to generate endorsements for the book cover. And even with the backing of your publisher’s marketing department they will move on to the next book so you’ll need to keep momentum going yourself.
So how do both publishing options work?
With traditional publishing you’ll need to persuade a publisher to publish your book by sending them a book proposal with an outline of your idea, a synopsis of the content with a breakdown of chapters, plus an explanation about how your book will stand out from the books already out there. You’ll also need to build your case in terms of distribution by offering a clear definition of your platform as an author. Professional publishers want to de-risk the project and invest only in books that they believe will sell well, so you need to persuade them that yours will do just that, without relying on them. In general, this means you either need a big ready-made audience or an outstanding book concept.
If they like your idea and sample material, publishers will offer you a publishing contract with a small advance upfront, (although advances are less guaranteed these days and can be meagre). You’ll need to earn out the advance before you start collecting any annual royalties. It can take many years to earn out your advance and some publishers don’t even offer royalties, just a fee for writing the book.
Self-publishing gives you a far greater reward for your efforts and full control over how you use the material, with no need to sign any ‘non-compete’ clauses. It’s also much quicker too, because you don’t have to wait for a deal or for the long-lead production schedules. The trade-off being that you are responsible for everything. As such, once the manuscript has been written, it must be edited and proofread, then typeset into a book format, so you’ll need to hire a freelancer to do that and design a cover for which you’ll need to write the back cover blurb and add an ISBN number to. You can then upload the laid-out book on to Amazon’s direct publishing platform or use another self-publisher, such as Lulu.com. Alternatively, you may simply wish to have a handful of books printed to hand out to family members, in which case a local printer would suffice.
Whichever publishing route you opt for, United Ghostwriters can help with everything from writing compelling Book Proposals to submit to our own publishing contacts and ghostwriting the book itself, to helping you source good quality proofreaders, typesetters and printers.
Each of us have many years’ experience in both types of publishing so can advise you every step of the way. You can find out more about each of us and our specialist areas here. And read more about how to pick a ghostwriter here.
Good luck!
According to Shakespeare, “Brevity is the soul of wit,” meaning more may be said using less language. Certainly a lot can be conveyed in few words.
During the pandemic, The New York Times invited readers to send them six words describing what made them thankful in 2020.
The ‘six-word memoir’ style of writing was popularized by founder of SMITH magazine, Larry Smith, who in 2006 asked his community to describe their own lives in six words for a Six-Word Memoir project. He’d been inspired by Ernest Hemingway who, when challenged to write a story in only six words, came up with the poignant: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
Larry’s community responded to his invitation with hundreds of stories, from the poignant, “I still make coffee for two”, and the bittersweet, “Cursed with cancer, blessed with friends”, to the inspirational, “From migrant worker to NASA astronaut”, and the amusing, “Married by Elvis, divorced by Friday”.
The New York Times similarly received thousands of responses to their invitation for six-word tales of gratitude, all so telling of this period of pandemic:
“Saved a lot of lipstick money.”
“Braless at home? No one cares.”
“I am bored, but not dead.”
“Solitary Thanksgiving means no turkey. LOBSTER.”
“Zoom Thanksgiving beats an ICU Christmas.”
“Fell in love six feet apart.”
“I have someone I can hug.”
“Lost job. Lost boyfriend. Found happiness.”
“It’s just a cold, not Covid.”
“Vaccine is coming, Trump is going.”
“My parents did not get it.”
“I held my dying husband’s hand.”
“My wife gave me her kidney.”
“Wasn’t too late to say sorry.”
“Pandemic baby after years of trying.”
“Healthcare workers. Healthcare workers. Healthcare workers.”
And, my personal favourite:
“Windows have never been so important.”
Each of these six-word stories tells a tale and sparks our interest. They capture a moment in time, a feeling; from love and hope to appreciation despite hardship.
Yes, stories can be told in minimal words, but how many work for a good book? One of the first questions we hear as ghostwriters (after “How much is this going to cost me?”) is “How many words should the book be?”
Book length will partly depend on how much there is to say but will also depend on commercial implications. Most of the books I’ve written have ranged between 60,000 and 80,000 words. However, in the self-help category there is currently a trend for shorter books ranging from 25,000 to 40,000 words.
But why is wordcount so important? Firstly, it may impact what a ghostwriter will charge. However, a complex yet short book that requires extensive research on a difficult topic may take longer (and therefore cost more) than a longer yet easier book.
Secondly, there are commercial considerations in terms of production. The more words (and thus pages) a book has, the more it will cost a publisher to print. The same goes for self-publishing.
I’ve written and ghostwritten a total of 25 books and word selection becomes all the more important during the second draft, as editors working for publishers will often ask for expansion on key points while simultaneously requesting text be cut to keep wordcount down.
My personal view here is that quality always matters more than quantity, so reducing overall wordcount is less important than getting the text to be the best it can be. I’d rather go slightly over wordcount and have the book be optimally useful than cut out crucial text that would help the reader. Yet that desire to write helpful text must be balanced with some consideration of the commercial implications around wordcount. In this way, the reason for writing the book (to help others and equip them sufficiently with the tools they need to help themselves) often becomes the most important determinant of wordcount requirements.
Take my most recent book – Navigating Loneliness: How to connect with yourself and others – which was initially going to be 30,000 words. Halfway through the writing process it became apparent that 35,000 words was a more reasonable wordcount. I was able to persuade the publisher to find the right balance between commercial considerations around page numbers and price point with the importance of including everything that would help the reader. We were then able to focus on making every word earn its place.
Indeed, when it comes to wordcount, you need to make every word count. As is the case with the six-word memoir.
So consider this: Which six words might you use to describe the story or message you aim to share in your own book?
This exercise can be a great way to gain clarity about what you have to say. When you boil it down to a few words, you not only practice being selective with your choice of words but can also fine-tune what matters most about your story or core message.
In this way brevity can, to paraphrase the playwright from Stratford-upon-Avon, provide you with the soul of your book. And that is as good a place to start as any.
Cheryl Rickman’s six-word summary:
Helping people fret less, flourish more
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