Fellow Tate Publishing and Enterprises author, Cliff Graham posted this article on the Tate Author Forum Blog today. He has a fantastic book about to be released, "Lion of War", (First book, "Day of War" - Lion of War series--novels based on King David's Mighty Men.) Get your copies at Tate Publishing.com or at his website. (I will post the address here soon.)
I am humbled that he chose my experience as a first time author for his post. Thank you Cliff and good luck and great sales for you series!
Persistence and Battle: The modern world of book publishing
My first order of books arrived today, and we have been busy getting orders ready to ship. Since the release of the book to distribution (bookstores, online retailers like Amazon) is not until October, it is up to me, and only me, to get the word out about my product.That's the right word, after all: product.Gone are the days when a writer could just sit back and wait for someone else to do their work for them. The industry does not operate that way anymore, and if you still labor under the illusion that an unknown author with no platform has any prayer of magically striking rich with the debt-ridden and tanking traditional publishers, you might need to take a deep breath.This blog is operated by a career literary agent, and look at how dour a picture she presents for those who are trying to write nonfiction. If you don't have a platform, your blood, sweat, and tears alone will sell that book.This is a report on the transformation of publishing as we know it, in the form of a Q/A with a notable Writer's Digest figure. It has fantastic analysis on the state of publishing.This is a blog post about how even fiction writers need platforms nowadays.
All of this is interesting reading. One of the complaints I have heard about Tate is that no one likes to talk about their sales figures for their books if they aren't a famous author because it can be a bit embarrassing. True enough. But did you know that only 2-3% of all books published in the world sell more than 5,000 copies? That is sobering. It tells us two things.1) Only 2-3% of authors are ever looked at again by publishers in New York, even if they get good contracts for their work.2) Even less than that actually make a living writing books. Even if you sell 5,000 copies and succeed in becoming one of the 2-3% of authors who do so, that does not add up to a full-time career. Let's say that your contract gives you 7% of distribution royalties (the standard rate for New York publishers--Tate offers 15%, by the way). 7% of every copy from that 5,000 copy run will not pay your mortgage for 30 years. It might get you a new garage door or help repair your roof from hail damage, but it won't guarantee milk in your refrigerator. Especially if the books sells only 5,000 copies, and it sells them through distribution, for which the author only gets a tiny amount of the royalties. It won't sell more than that unless word of mouth is powerful (which can happen, see The Shack) or you work your tail off marketing, sacrificing writing time.
There is a happy medium to be found. I am not able to list the specific sales numbers for other authors I have spoken with, but I know that Tate author Elaine Littau had a counter on her blog that was well over 1,000 copies sold when I checked it last. 1,000 copies for an unknown first time author in just 2 years is a remarkable figure, especially considering that she did not get heavy television promotion and her novel did not appear on shelves nationwide. Many books do get that kind of attention and never even sell 1,000 copies.
The Gargoyle, a book whose marketing I frequently point to as the standard for everything wrong with the industry, coughed up just 15,000 in sales after months on prominent bookstore shelves, and that unknown author was paid over a million dollars in an advance. Elaine's perseverance and belief in her book (call it a product) are driving sales. She has built a loyal fan base of genuine fans and not just people duped into buying because of a corporate marketing scheme. She recently published her next book in the series, and the first wave of fans will be getting the sequel they have been waiting for.Elaine's story is fascinating because it is quintessentially American: hard work, dedication, and driving faith will see better results than haunch-sitting. She has been dramatically effective at self-promotion, and she still found time to write another novel in her series while working at a job. Now that's efficiency.
Tate is doing what other publishers are just now starting to understand: they set their authors up for success. They don't guarantee it. I had a drill sergeant when I first joined the army who always shouted to us, "None of this training will guarantee that you will survive battle--it just guarantees that you will be in the battle."An author in the modern times is in a battle, and it is better to have a publisher who provides tools and training to equip that author for battle than a publisher who just hopes on a wing and a prayer that something will be the next "Purpose-Driven Harry Potter."It's all about incentive. Do we have what it takes to swallow our pride, realize that no one likes us or cares about our book, certainly not enough to spend money on it, and go from there? That's how Rick Warren, John Grisham and J.K. Rowling started. Persistence won the day.
Posted by Cliff Graham at
No comments:
Post a Comment