Welcome to another edition of the Publishing Watchdog. If you aren’t sure what we do, please take a look through our blog as well as visit our website: www.zlspublishing.com

It is often said that the book publishing business is often like the music business. If that is the case, then writers need to think like Independent music artist and market at a minimum 10 times a day and take their books everywhere they go. If you look closely at the history of some of the Independent music rap artist such as Chamillionaire, No Limit Soldiers, etc. These individuals and groups believed they had viable music that could do well and so they carried their music with them everywhere they went and sold it everywhere they went. If they went to the grocery store, they had music with them. Even if they walked to the corner store, they had a few cd’s in their pocket. This tenacity allowed them to become known and to do well in sells. They got such a buzz in the streets that they were either picked up by a major label or sold enough records to get them some space, in which they could start their own Independent record labels.

The same tenacity needs to be done with writers. Everywhere you go you need to have your books with you. Books, customized book bags and maybe even pens. Carrying your books with packaged items such as pens and customized book bags serve dual purposes: 1) you can pull out the customized pen (which people always need) to autograph or write down important information; 2) You can put your book in a bag customized with your book cover information on it. You always want to make sure you have a bag for someone because you never know when they’ll need another bag.

As a writer, it is your responsibility to plan for the unplanned opportunities. Whether you’re shopping, paying a bill, or just taking a walk, you must have a few copies of your book on hand along with your bags and pens. If you go out 10 times a day, you are to carry a book with you all 10 times of the day. Carrying these items allows you to present a visual to impress upon someone that you are an author. Talking about being an author is impressive to most people because it looks as if you’re famous and even accomplished. If you take a look at how local people react to local musicians and how they drool over them, it’s mainly because they seem famous. You’ll be surprised how many people will go “Wow” when you hand them your book package. They may even ask to buy two or three, ask more information about you, or even ask you to come and speak. You never know who you’ll meet, but you have to be prepared. Musicians aren’t scared to walk up to someone and tell them about their music or sell them out the trunk of their cars, and neither should a writer. If you don’t tell them, you can’t expect them to know.

10 times a day isn’t a lot when you think about it. You do more than 10 activities in a day, so trying to reach at least 10 people a day is minute. It’s easy to start off with, “What do you do for a living?” You’ll be surprised how many conversations start off and continue with this very easy question. For those of you who are shy out there, you don’t have to think of anything complicated. Just asking this simple questions can encourage a conversation about you without sounding like a saleperson.

People are fascinated with talking to a real life author with a real book in their hands. Having a book in your hand gets the potential buyer excited. It’s fun for them and should be fun for you, as you get to talk about yourself and your book. Marketing is getting people to know you, but more importantly remember you. You have to be ready to have people know you at least 10 times a day and you have to be remembered. Carrying customized book products in addition to your book ensures that you are remembered, and that is important when trying to market your books.

Until the next time!
The Publishing Watchdog

Welcome to another edition of the Publishing Watchdog. If you are unfamiliar with who we are and what we do, please take a look through this blog. Today we will be discussing the biggest mistakes most self-published authors make.

1) Publishing books with unprofessional covers-If you use a self-publishing company and decide to pay for them to publish your books, you will get a book cover template. Read our blog on the author who almost spent 7800 with a self-publisher and nearly got a book cover template with a picture found on the clipart section inside of Microsoft Word.
2) Printing books in large quantities without proof they could sell them-Just because you’ve written the book doesn’t mean everybody is automatically going to buy it. This is why marketing while you’re writing is important.
3) Working without an action plan, book coach or project mentor-Go get help from people that have already done it and have done it successfully. Utilize the internet, go to the library or the bookstore. Just make sure you get the tools and the help necessary to make sure your book is known.
4) Not testing your book cover or title, before it is published-This is one of my personal pet peeves. Just because you like the book cover or title and because you will pick it up doesn’t mean the majority will. Of course, you’ll pick it up because you wrote it, but book sales isn’t about you, it’s about your fans. Ask a group of people from your job, your club, your neighbors, even your enemies if they would pick up the book cover and if the majority say no, then change the book cover. Better yet, ask a bunch of children. Children are brutally honest, even when adults aren’t. If neither the title or the book cover don’t work for people, get over yourself and change it.
5) Waiting until the book is printed before marketing it-(Another pet peeve of mine! I think this is the top of the list of my pet peeves. Nobody cares that you have written a book. They don’t care because chances are they are writing one too. If you want people to care about your characters, your story, you have to make them care from the beginning. I have done so many surveys and focus groups on this, and everyone says the same thing-they don’t care that you’ve written the book after it’s out, they want to know about the book while you’re writing it. Take an example from the big publishing houses, they take 18 months to publish a book because they spend 18 months promoting it. They spend 18 months promoting it while it is going through the editing and rewrite process. Introduce people to your characters while you’re writing, get them excited. Let me say this again-NOBODY CARES THAT YOU’VE WRITTEN A BOOK! NOT EVEN YOUR MOTHER. YOU WANT PEOPLE TO CARE, YOU MAKE THEM CARE AND YOU DO THAT FROM THE BEGINNING, NOT THE END!
6) Pricing the book too high or too low based on what you think it should sell for-Do not be afraid to price the book correctly. Look at what the standard market rate for a book is in your genre and price it accordingly. Too many writers under price because they think that people won’t buy their book and they believe that the industry standard is too high. Other writers, price too high because they think they’ve written something as expensive as a pot of gold. There is a reason why books are priced the way they are: most people will buy at that price. Put your fear or your cockiness aside and be smart with the pricing of your book. If you don’t you’ll only end up hurting yourself, because the publisher or the bookseller is going to make their profit, the problem is you making yours.
7) Self-publishing and naming their publishing company after themselves-(John Doe Publishing Company) To name a company after yourself is a dumb idea. I didn’t say using initials like JD Publishing Company, but actually using a name. Names are as common as body parts and using your name does not make you stand out or make anyone remember you. How many brands do you know, can you name, that are famous with a name of an actual person? My point exactly.
Assuming you know where your book sales will come from-Just because your mother, father or aunt claim they will buy your book doesn’t guarantee that they will. Assume they won’t and get a marketing and sales plan together, ensuring that you will actually get some sales from people other than your family members.
9) Not thinking of a product line to sell in addition to your books- Most writers don’t get rich off their books. The authors who do best have product lines in addition to their books. This means workbooks, dvd’s, coloring books, etc. to sell in addition to their books. Adding product lines to your books, makes your books more valuable or at least seem that way. Also, sometimes people don’t want ot buy the book but want to buy the book products. This is still revenue for you and still helps get your name out there.
10) Solely relying on one marketing model to sell your books-Sadly, most authors aren’t versatile and don’t know how to hit the market from every angle. They either rely on just word of mouth marketing, or just online marketing. They don’t utilize different marketing sources to help market their books, which only hinders getting their name out instead of helping to market it out. Every writer needs to be marketing their books at least 5 times a day, and you can’t do that utilizing just one marketing model, several different kinds are needed.
This is it for Part 1, stay tuned for Part 2.
Until the next time!
The Publishing Watchdog

There is a harsh reality about being an author that most authors don’t want to admit: authorship is a business.  Yes, you can dream and imagine a world of creativity, but if you have any hopes of becoming a successful author, you must realize that authorship is a business.  Once, you’ve decided that you want to be published or even self-publish yourself, you must! must! must! put on a business person’s hat.

What do you mean authorship is a business?

Most writers come into the publishing arena believing that they’ve written the next best thing since sliced bread. They are looking for someone to believe in them and their book and they don’t want to put in the hardwork necessary to make their book a success.  Most authors are lazy: They want to submit their book to a publisher, get the book published and expect the publisher to either do the rest or just tell them what they want them to do, so they can go do it.  They don’t want to create a marketing plan, promote or work on distribution for THEIR book, nor do they want to take any initiative to go out and about to bring their book in front of customers. 

Personally and professionally, I’ve never understood this sort of thinking.  Your book is your baby.  Your baby gets accepted to a great pre-school.  Do you stop teaching or raising your baby because they’ve gotten accepted to this school or do you continue to nurture and teach your baby?  It’s the same concept.  To think that just because your book is or has been published means that your job is done is absolutely ridiculous. 

Whether you like it or not, the reality is that-it is your job to keep nurturing your book.  Nurturing by ways of promoting and marketing it.  The publisher, like the pre-school, is only going to do so much.  As for believing in you-the publisher, like the pre-school, believes your baby has potential or they wouldn’t be bothering.  Now how much potential is between you and the publisher. 

Just like your baby is not the only child in the pre-school, your book is not the only one being published by the publisher.  If you want your baby to stand out, there are certin things you have to work on with your baby to make that happen.  In the world of publishing, it’s marketing and promotions.  So, when I hear writers complain about what the publisher isn’t doing for their baby, I wonder about their parenting skills.

What kind of parent are you?

Hey! It’s your girl Critical Eye, coming to you today to vent. Today’s vent: Literary Trolls

What’s a Literary Troll?

A Literary Troll is a failed writer who stalks the social networking sites looking for successful authors they can pick at and on in an effort to make thesmelves feel better, instead of feeling like the failures they are. Before I go any further, let me define a failed writer: One who has tried for years to get published by mainly the big six, but because their writing isn’t good enough, this hasn’t happened. They’ve tried to self-publish but those sales flopped too and they are angry. While there may be many failed writers, literary torlls hold special characteristics:

1) They are narcissistic.

2) They are sarcastic.

3) They join social groups they have no experience in just so they could look for someone to attack.

4) They don’t have a job or a life and spend every waking moment on social networking sites.

5) They are so bitter that they attack any and every writer they see that has a possible leg up on them.

6) They try to give advice about publishing and writing but half the time their advice is wrong.

7) They attack you if you try to correct them.

They criticize constantly instead of trying to teach and be helpful.

9) They go around spreading lies about you although, they have no personal experience with you.

10) They are so addicted to wanting you to fail, but their curiosity gets the best of them and they buy your book, not realizing they are supporting you and not hurting you.

As writers, we’ve all come across literary trolls. They can’t help themselves. They just have to attack. They are so degrading, that they turn what should be a socially pleaseant marketing experience into a negative one. They are so annoying that we leave groups, just so we don’t have to deal with them. If you’re lucky, the group manager blocks them, but most times you’re not that lucky.

Freedom of Speech and the Internet has drawn out and provided the ignorant with an outlet to annoy us all. We can’t market our books because of these trolls! We can’t voice our opinions because of these trolls! We can’t even give a compliment to a fellow writer because of these trolls! Something has got to give! Sadly, the social networks just tell us to ignore them. Ignore them? That’s like telling me to walk away from someone who just slapped me. It’s not going to happen! Ignoring them is not realistic, espeically once they become stalkers.

So what do you do? Keep being successful. The more successful you become, the angrier they get. Don’t run, don’t hide, instead welcome the hate. The more they hate you, the better they make you. They draw attention to you and your website. Everybody needs a hobby and you’re theirs. I know it’s annoying, but those trolls aren’t going anywhere. Which is just fine with me, because if they can use freedom of speech, so can I.

Until next time-Critical Eye!

Most writers have a dream of being a New York Times Bestselling Author. Most have this dream, but it’s a dream that will never come true. Why? Lack of business skills. Publishing is a business. It has assets, liabilities and deals with gains and losses. It’s not a passionless business, but it’s still a business none the less. Ask a non-author business owner/entrepreneur or author whose turned into a business owner/entrepreneur and they will tell you that one of the keys to their success is having a viable business plan.  I hear you already, “I’m a writer. I don’t care about the business stuff. I just want to write.” Then you don’t want to make any money. You don’t want your books in bookstores, you don’t want anyone other than your grandmother Suzy or your Uncle Joe to read and buy your book.

To even get into a bookstore such as Barnes and Nobles, you need a business plan. They need to know the who, what, when, where, why and how you’re going to makret your books and get them to move off the shelves and into the homes and pocketbooks of buyers. They require a makreting plan and you find a marketing plan inside of a business plan. Try to selly our book on consignment and you will likely find the same requirement. Stores need to make money, you need to sell your books and they want to know how you plan on accomplishing both.

So what is an author business plan?

A business plan is a written statement of business goals that detail an existing or proposed venture. It explains the vision, current status, expected needs, defined markets, the reason why your goals are attainable, the plan for reaching these goals, the plan for raising capital and your estimated profit projections. A business plan will determine not just how much time and energy you put into marketing your book, but how much money it will make sense to spend. If you don an author business plan while you’re writing your book, then you will see whether or not it is wise to spend $700 to publish 400 books. Your plan will help you determine whether or not you can actually sell all those books or whether you’ll be wasting your money.

It also gives you the opportunity to create a startegy for writing and promoting a book that will sell, as it forces you to realize each stage in the book selling process. Creating such a strategy will help you decided exactly how you should proceed. It will clarify what steps to take and the necessary resources you will need to help you. It will also help you realize the weaknesses in your strategy that you must address.

When you write a business plan, you are adding another life line to your books. You are providing your book with the opportunity to live the best life it can. Creating an author business plan allows you to see the possibility of creating merchandise, newsletters, keynote events, private events, info-products, consulting, etc. With an author business plan, your book is no longer the only source of revenue, but a piece of a more significant venture.

With a plan, you are leveraging your book as a tool to drive people to your author funnel that can lead to more revneu. Creating an author business plan is something that all writers can do, regardless of whether you are into fiction or non-fiction. Fiction writers need to figure out how they can make their characters a household name and how they are going to let everyone know that their characters exist. The best way to do this is to create a business plan. Creating a business plan puts things into perspective and not just for yourself but for the Barnes and Nobles bookstore and even the publishing house you are trying to get to publish your book. Nowadays, to get a publishing contract with a traditional publsiher, they need to know who you know, what you now, and how you are going to aid in selling your own books. When a publisher decides to publish your book, they are agreeing to finance your book’s publication by paying the coast of its printing and distribution. They need to feel confident that they are not wasting their time or money. With an author business plan, you can sell them your book idea.

As an author, you spend a lot of time writing your book. You also envision book signing’s and bestseller awards. To get those best seller awards and sold out book signing’s, will require you to get in touch with the business side of publsihing. An author business plan is necessary, regardless of whether you self-publish or traditionally publish. Taking the time to create this plan, can change your career and ensure that you career goes where you want it to go.

ZLS Publishing, LLC

The other day, I came across a request from a writer who had written a book and was upset because no publishers had come running and begging to publish her book. They had supposedly been talking about it all over the net and even sent some publishers a letter of inquiry. No one had bit. They even tried agents and went through the same process and even they didn’t bite. They were truly upset and confused at the fact that neither agent or publisher had begged to see more!

This is as bad as the writers who I’ve heard walk up in some publishing houses swearing they’ve created the next best thing since butter. Can we scream vanity! It’s no wonder publishers don’t take unsolicited manuscripts. Some of you are the worst with your over confident ass attitudes. What happened to being humble? This writer wanted suggestions on how to get the publishers and agents attention aside from throwing a tantrum and getting madder than they were. They swore they had written a book that would:

1) bring world wide attention to the publisher (even more if well known)

2) make both them and the publisher very rich (richer if the publisher is well known)

If they got an agent it would be the same thing. They swore that the world, the publisher and the agent NEED their book. Really? They need your book? No, I think you need to sit down and take a lesson in a few things:

1) Humility. Confidence is one thing, cockiness is another. No publisher wants to work with a cocky ass author. That’s as bad as working with a cocky ass musician. Cocky equals difficult and high maintenance. Nobody wants to deal with that especially if the only one whose sworn and know that they’ve made it-is you.

2) Publishers don’t run, they walk. No publisher is going to run up to you and go, “Oh my God! Oh my God! You did it, you’ve written a book! Can I have it please? Can I have it please?” If they happen to get a wind that you’ve written something great and it fits within their mold, they will approach you, but only do it once. Twice if you’re lucky, after that they will move on to someone else. No publisher is going to beg you for your manuscript. They don’t need your book, they want it. They don’t want it bad enough to go through hoops to get it from you. The attitude is that, maybe your book really isn’t for their company. So come off your high horse with this attitude that a publisher should run to you. Why should they, when there are writers who they can walk to or will run and walk to them.

3) No publisher or agent may want it because it sucks. Yes, I said it: Your writing sucks! This is a hard pill for most writers to swallow but nine out of ten times, it’s true. This is why self-publishing was invented. It was invented for those with crappy books to still get an opportunity to be published. Most writers don’t want to get their books edited properly and they don’t take constructive criticism. They are too emotionally attached to their books and don’t know how to take good advice. So if you’ve sent your book to a publisher or an agent and they didn’t respond or in this case-come running and begging, it’s probably because your writing sucks. Some publishers and agents will tell you, some won’t.

If you want your book to be taken serious and considered for traditional publishing, there are a few things you need to do:

1) Change your attitude. Come to the table less cocky, more humble. Humble does not mean ass kissing, it just means coming to the table a lot nicer and bringing down your ego a huge notch.

2) Get a professional to look at your book before you send it to a publisher or an agent. I said professional! I didn’t say your mother, your aunt, your grandmother or your next door neighbor, I said a professional. One with experience in the business of publishing and books. This may mean you having to spend some money to get it looked at, but if you can spend money on a new outfit or a new hairdo, you can spend money on getting a professional critique of your manuscript.

3)  Make sure it’s professionally edited. Yes, there goes that word-professional-again. There are a few editing services out there, some are better than others. You need to do your research to find the best for your manuscript. The point is that you still need to have it professionally edited. I talked to an author the other day who said that when she submitted her manuscript to the publisher they were excited and took it almost immediately because they saw she had done the right thing and had it edited. They were thrilled at the fact that it didn’t need any more editing and that it was ready to go.

Being humble and being professionally prepared will bring you much further than being cocky and unprepared. While you will not have publishers and agents running to you, it may have them walking. Besides, walking is better than running anway, no worries about tripping and falling.

Until my eye sees again!

As you can see, holding down a blog is never an easy task. It’s been so busy over here lately with the magazine which is out now that I’ve barely had time to write any blogs. So I’ve asked for some help. I’ve been blessed to have gotten not just a magazine contributor but now our blog contributor.  Her name is Critical Eye. She has quite a few years in the business of publishing and knows her stuff. She will be contributing her thoughts and views on things going on inside of the book publishing world. We like her style and we hope you do too.

On behalf of the Z Group, I want to begin by thanking you for entrusting your business with us.  Whether you are a design client, branding client or an aspiring author, it is our pleasure to be doing business with you.  I wish I could be writing this letter in a time of joy, but sadly I am not.  I am writing to apologize for any discomfort and uneasiness your may feel or have felt as a result of recent emails asking you about our publishing deivision policies as well as your personal finances, in addition to any future attacks on us.

It has come to our attention that you have received such emails and for that I apologize.  Recently, we have become the center of a smear campaign because an individual and his entourage has decided that they do not like or understand our business model and so has decided to attack it by trying to find evidence against us or create some false evidency as per this statement received on the web and through our email, “You’ll see what I work up and post on you pretty soon. Here is one thing to think about: from now on ANYBODY you get submitting a book to your company could very well be somebody I’ve sent there as part of my investigation.
So if you tell ANY author they have to pay to get published, it could end coming right back in your face, in public. Like on “Writer Beware” sites and such.So you’re going to be in the position of trying to run a vanity press while denying it, but anybody you get submitting could be a big booby trap for your expose. Tough one to handle. I’ve gotten a couple of other writers involved with this as well. (They also don’t like jackals that prey on writers and lie about it and are happy to help, as I’ve helped them with investigations in the past)You claim to be a publisher but you’re a vanity press that screams that they aren’t…the WORST situation.Meanwhile, you keep saying your not a vanity press and you have real authors, but it’s pretty obvious that you’ve got to be lying.

Try to sue me. I don’t even live in the US. And,I’ve been an investigator for years. I’ve done campaigns that toppled corrupt politicians in LATIN AMERICA for criisakes. I know how to write a story without leaving myself legally vulnerable.Yours isn’t even tricky, you’ve trapped yourself into so many lies nobody has to do anything but quote you and post links. Ya dummy…

Posted by Linton Robinson

This individual has never done business with us or submitted anything to us as per his statement, “Of course I haven’t done business with you or submitted to you. I’m not stupid.” Yet, he is upset because we won’t give him any information as to how we do business, or why we do business the way we have  and as a result of this you have been contacted.  Our website has been used as a means of attack instead of as a marketing tool for you.  As a result, we have had to change the way you are seen and contacted, and for this I apologize. It is a sad day in the world of publishing, when your website which should be a means to get sales and bring attention to you, is instead, used to contact you and harass you.

As a client, I know that this is not something you want to deal with and I apologize that you have too.  I understand from communication with you that you will continue to do business with us and we have your full support.  Thank You! We are about to endure a very trying time and as we fight against any false accusations, made up clients, etc. Thank you for your patience and your support.  It is because of you that we will get past this and become stronger.

Yours in Business,

Lishone’ Bowsky
CEO of The Z Group
“We Create Better”