Publishing Poynters
Book and Information-Marketing News and Ideas from Dan PoynterFebruary 01, 2001. Copyright Para Publishing. ISSN: 1530-5694
DanPoynter@ParaPublishing.com; http://ParaPub.com; 1-800-ParaPub
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IN THIS ISSUE
1. ParaNews=============================================
2. ParaTips
3. ParaResources
4. ParaThoughts
5. ParaFreebies
6. ParaCalendar
7. ParaHumor
A. Copyright Office is Slowing Down. We mailed a copyright form to the Library of Congress on March 28, 2000. It was marked as received on April 13 and it was mailed back to us on January 17, 2001. Fortunately, the effective date of registration was the date it was marked as "received".
B. The New Book Model is a new way to write, produce and promote books incorporating new technologies and a fresh approach. While the New Model provides more choices and covers more bases, getting into print just became faster, easier and cheaper. See ParaCalendar, below, for an explanation.
C. Newsletter schedules. Too many ezines are sent on Mondays and most (smaller/newer) publishers do their reading on weekends. So we try to send Publishing Poynters before the weekend of the publication date. This edition of the newsletter is coming out a few days earlier so that I can escape to San Diego and the International Parachute Symposium. We expect some 900 parachute people from 35 countries. On January 29th, we will be skydiving into the back parking lot of the Town & Country Resort on Hotel Circle. Don't you love being in an industry where the pursuit of your dreams is deductible?
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A. The Publishers' Page at Amazon.com is at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/publishers.html. See the bar on the left for information on submitting your promotional copy and cover art.
B. Some of the URLs mentioned here will not click through. The longer URLs flow to 2 lines. Some email programs fail to connect them so when you click on the underlined part, the next line is not included in the address. In that case: Do not click. Copy and paste the entire address. And check the pasted address to make sure there is not a space where the line ended.
A. Want to translate an email message or a web site page? See http://www.freetranslation.com/
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Please forward this newsletter to writers and publishers
in your address book. They will thank you for thinking of them.
B. To track your UPS packages with your cell phone or PDA, see http://www.ups.com/wireless/. Ever ship packages to yourself at a hotel only to find the "haven't arrived"? Now you can whip out your cell phone or palm device to get the tracking information.
C. Media coaching. There are many ways to get on radio and TV (see http://parapub.com/getpage.cfm?file=resource/promote.html and scroll down) but what do you do once you get there? How do you take maximum advantage of the media opportunity? Joel Roberts is a dynamic, caring, sharing coach who can turn you into a media star. For a list of his classes, contact him at JDRob36@aol.com or (310) 286-0631.
D. Cover Designer for your book
Robert Howard Graphic Design, Robert Howard, 631 Mansfield Drive, Fort Collins, CO 80525. Tel: (970) 225-0083; email: rhoward@frii.com. http://www.BookGraphics.com. Book covers, book design, brochures.
Phillips Design, Kathy Phillips, 42 Caray Hill Road, Suite A, Sharon, CT 06069. Tel: (860) 364-1121; Fax: (860) 364-1127; e-mail: renfrew@ct2.nai.net. Book covers, interiors, ads, brochures, layout through finish.
Pro-Art Graphic Design, Robert Aulicino, 2031 E. Holly Drive, Prescott, AZ 86305-5154. Tel: 520-708-9445; fax: 520-708-9447; aulicino@primenet.com. http://www.aulicinodesign.com A complete book and cover design studio for each publisher.
Arrow Graphics, Inc., Alvart Badalian, PO Box 291, Cambridge, MA 02238. Tel: (617) 926-8585; Fax: (617) 926-0982; e-mail: arrow@us1.channel1.com. Complete book production. Serving the publishing industry and self-publishing community.
Dunn + Associates, Mary Jo Jirik, PO Box 870, Hayward, WI 54843. Tel: (715) 634-4857; Fax: (715) 634-5617. Mjirik@win.bright.net, http://www.Dunn-Design.com. Hundreds of covers designed for self-publishers and publishing giants - many bestsellers. Since 1985.
Lightbourne, Gaelyn Larrick & Shannon Bodie, 2565 Siskiyou Blvd., #1-G, Ashland, OR 97520. Tel: (800) 697-9833; Fax: (541) 482-1730; Lightbourne@opendoor.com ; http://www.Lightbourne.com. Extraordinary cover designs, fair prices and helpful guidance.
Quest Press, Pamela Terry, 1858 So. Crescent Heights Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035. Tel: 323-935-6666; Fax: 323-934-2881; pam@atwtraveler.com. Designer of book interiors, book covers, web sites, plus auxiliaries.
Knockout Design, Peri Poloni, 2584 Greenwood Lane, #11, Cameron Park, CA 95682. Tel: 530-676-2744; Fax: 530-676-2741; peri@KnockOutBooks.com ; http://www.KnockOutBooks.com. Specializing in all areas of book design. 18 years experience.
For more suppliers to the book industry, see /supplier.cfm?
Make Sure You Can Locate Your Reader.
Where is your potential customer? And your answer is not "I'll reach them in bookstores".
Go into a bookstore on any given day. How many of the customers do you suppose are interested in a SCUBA book? Not many. What is the profile of the bookstore browser? It is the "recreational reader," someone used to plunking down $24.95 for hardcover fiction. But check out a dive shop and how many customers are interested in a book on SCUBA? Now the thinking-gears are turning.
Your book must have buyers and you must be able to locate them. Where will you find a high concentration of customers?
What type of stores do your potential customers frequent? Ask yourself, "What magazines do they read, what associations do they join and what annual events do they attend. Where are they?"
You want your books to be sold in bookstores but you will sell many more nonfiction books in specialty shops, to associations, through magazines and to specialty catalogs. Bookstores are the frosting, not the cake.
Make sure there is an audience for your book. Then promote your books where there is a high concentration of your potential customers.
"To have great poets, there must be great audiences too." -Walt Whitman (1819-1892), American poet.
(Excerpted from Successful Nonfiction by Dan Poynter. For 108 more inspirational tips, See /getpage.cfm?file=resource/writing.html#successful_nonfiction)
A. How to Succeed In the Speaking Business. FREE teleclass - February 21, 2001 at 8:00 PM EST. In a content driven one-hour class, Coach Sandra Schrift discusses the 4 speaker hats, setting fees, the distinction between selling and marketing, hot topics, and more. Join Sandra and learn what her 13 years as a speaker's bureau owner taught her. Sandra@Schrift.com http://www.Schrift.com
B. Checking email. You can gain access to your e-mail from any computer on earth with internet access. Just go to http://www.mailstart.com. Type in your e-mail address and password. Viola, it will retrieve your e-mail. Many thanks for this tip for (Fire) Captain Bob.
C. Automate your shipping with free programs from UPS and FedEx. Call UPS: 800-742-5877. Ask for online Worldship information. FedEx: 877-810-9425. Ask for Ship Manager software.
A. Dan Poynter is criss-crossing North America to spread the word on eBooks, pBooks and The New Book Publishing Model.
Authors and publishers are discovering an innovative way to write, produce and promote their books and the new way is faster, easier and cheaper. New software accelerates typesetting, new machines automate printing and the Internet streamlines promotion. These technological improvements have spawned a fresh way to look at book publishing. The New Book Model covers all the bases and is a refreshingly innovative route for anyone with a manuscript.
Today, books are written in page-layout format instead of double-spaced courier typeface. Then the pages are converted into Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format for printing and conversion.
Just 500 books are printed using computer-driven high-speed laser printers. The softcover and hardcover books are indistinguishable from traditional ink-printed books. Prices are just slightly higher, per unit, but the quantity (and invoice) is much lower.
PDF and LIT files are generated for reading on eBook readers such as the Pocket PC.
Then finished books are sent to two or three selected agents, a few more are sent to publishers with a track records for that type of book, 3-400 are sent for review to genre-specific magazines, four or five are sent to specialized book clubs, about ten are sent to foreign publishers suggesting translation and a handful are sent to opinion molders in the author's field.
If an agent or publisher comes in with a good offer, the author sells out. If not, all the bases are covered: the book is out for review and the orders are starting to come in.
Most of the book promotion is done via email; the author's web site replaces brochures. The media kit is replaced by a Press Room on the web site. For an example, see /getpage.cfm?file=pressroom/pressroom.html. Avoiding printing and postage reduces promotion costs tremendously.
So, the New Book Model is a way to conserve time, inventory space and money while testing the market. More books are not printed until after they are sold. It is no longer necessary to tie up a lot of money and inventory in printed books.
More specifically:
1. The New Book Model: Writing. How to set up and build your book rather than just write it. Discover how to qualify the project, research on the Net, organize the project, draft the content and convert it into a PDF file for printing.
2. The New Book Model: Producing print and electronic editions. Typesetting, layout, book design, PDF files and POD/PQN (pBooks) printing. eBooks: Downloads, CDs and handheld readers.
3. The New Book Model: Promoting. Getting your books into bookstores, book clubs and making nontraditional sales (catalogs, premiums, fundraisers, specialty stores). Using broadcast email. Radio/TV interviews, autographings, review copies and other promotion.
See /getpage.cfm?file=newbook.html Come to meet Dan and hear his vital book writing-publishing- promoting message. See the props and get the handout.
2001
February 15: Writing & Publishing Nonfiction, a seminar by Dan Poynter at the Learning Annex, Los Angeles. 6:30 to 9:30 PM. fmi (310) 478-6677. http://www.LearningAnnex.com
February 27: TeleClass on The New Book Model. Call in, listen and take part in this update since the last TeleClass. Moderated by Susan Levin. 5 Pacific, 8 Eastern. Fmi, register and/or get the tape from the last one, see: http://speakerservices.com/teleclasses/ebooks.html
March 14: Writing & Publishing Nonfiction, a seminar by Dan Poynter at the Learning Annex, Los Angeles. 6:30 to 9:30 PM. fmi (310) 478-6677. http://www.LearningAnnex.com
March 17: eBooks and the New Book Model. Writers' Forum. Pasadena (CA) City College. Fmi: Meredith Brucker, Mbrucker@nccf.org
April 4: Building Your Writing & Speaking Career. A special presentation with Dottie Walters. Book Publicists of Southern California, Sportsman's Lodge, Studio City. Book Publicists of Southern California. Fmi: Ernie Weckbaugh CasaG@wgn.net
April 10: Writing & Publishing Nonfiction, a seminar by Dan Poynter at the Learning Annex, Los Angeles. 6:30 to 9:30 PM. fmi (310) 478-6677. http://www.LearningAnnex.com
April 21-22: Book marketing/promotion/distribution seminar in Santa Barbara with Dan Poynter. For details, contact Para Publishing, PO Box 8206-896, Santa Barbara, CA 93118-8206. Tel: (805) 968-7277, Fax: (805) 968-1379. Workshop@ParaPublishing.com
April 27: Magnificent Marketing Symposium, Queen Mary, Long Beach, CA. The extraordinary annual Dottie Walters Soirée. Fmi: Michael@Walters-intl.com. http://www.walters-intl.com
May 9: Writing & Publishing Nonfiction, a seminar by Dan Poynter at the Learning Annex, Los Angeles. 6:30 to 9:30 PM. fmi (310) 478-6677. http://www.LearningAnnex.com
May 12: Turning Speeches into Books. Oklahoma Speakers Association. Fmi: John Irvin, 918-583-4308.
May 30-31: Publishing University. Publishers Marketing Association. Chicago. Fmi: 310-372-2732. Dan Poynter on: Non-traditional Sales Selling to Catalogs Selling Books Directly to the Customer Spin-offs
June 12: Writing & Publishing Nonfiction, a seminar by Dan Poynter at the Learning Annex, Los Angeles. 6:30 to 9:30 PM. fmi (310) 478-6677. http://www.LearningAnnex.com
A. Computer gender
A language instructor was explaining to her class that in French, nouns unlike their English counterparts, are grammatically designated as masculine or feminine. "House," in French, is feminine - "la maison." "Pencil," in French, is masculine "le crayon." One puzzled student asked, "What gender is a 'computer'?" The teacher did not know, and the word wasn't in her French dictionary. So for fun she split the class into two groups appropriately enough, by gender and asked them to ecide whether "computer" should be a masculine or feminine noun.
Both groups were required to give four reasons for their
recommendation. The men's group decided that computers
should definitely be of the feminine gender ("la computer"),
because:
1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;
2. The native language they use to communicate with other
computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;
3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long-term memory
for possible later retrieval; and
4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself
pending half your paycheck on accessories for it.
The women's group, however, concluded that computers should
be masculine ("le computer"), because:
1. In order to get their attention, you have to turn them on;
2. They have a lot of data but they are still clueless;
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the
time they ARE the problem; and
4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you'd
waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.
------------------- B. Dear Abby
Dear Abby,
What inspires you most to write?
Ted
Dear Ted,
The Internal Revenue Service
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