On the complete opposite side of the spectrum of work-ethics that contains those authors who are lazy are the authors who have researched too much.  These are the lovely “know-it-alls,” the ones who believe they are correct with any of their actions.  However, they need a huge reality check or a good slap (figuratively, of course).

One of our authors believed that her book should be priced around $30 for a black and white book that is roughly 50 pages in length.  Now, tell me, would you, the reader, buy this?  Even if it contained a direct letter from some higher being, would you?  Slightly doubtful.  The authors need to be very realistic when it comes to pricing.  Most authors have this dream of selling their books for a large amount of money because of how “innovative” or “fresh” that their pieces of writing are.  They believe that, once their book is published, they will become famous and and live lavishly.  This is nothing short of being false.  The best authors (or those that sell the most) are the ones that sell at a consumer-friendly price for the amount of pages they have.  Sure, the subject of the book and the colors or lack of colors come into play with pricing as well.  However, the length of a new book, if written by a generally unknown author, is what the key determinant is.

This leads into an author automatically “knowing” what society wants.  Most authors believe that their book will be a hit and fly off the shelf without taking into account the other million books that also occupy the shelf.  I mentioned it in an earlier blog, but more than likely, the authors book isn’t all that new and is probably similar to a book that is already on a shelf.  Furthermore, that book that is already on the shelf is more than likely lost somewhere far in a back corner of a book store due to poor sales.  Therefore, when authors feel they have a book that has a completely unique plot, it probably doesn’t differ all that entirely with other random books being sold.  Make sure to research books that are similar to the books you intend on sending into publishing companies to ensure your book hasn’t already been published.  If it hasn’t been published by another publishing company, that either means you truly do have a new idea or that your book is not worth publishing since it is overdone.

When it comes to dealing with the publishing companies, the authors need to cooperate accordingly.  The know-it-all authors who believe they have done everything correct need to listen to the rules of the publishing company and know that the publishing company has the final say in terms of the book.  The publishing company’s guidelines need to be followed at all times, regardless of any contempt the author has.

In the end, the publishing company is the one that pays for the book to be published.  Unless the authors are using their money in order to pay for all of the funds of the publishing process, they really have no say in the publishing process.  The author MUST trust the process at all times.  If the publishing company thinks that the author’s desired cover won’t sell, then the author shouldn’t push for it.  If the publishing company is still up and operating, obviously it is doing something right with the marketing strategies and ideas that it uses.

Make sure to cooperate with the publishing company entirely.  Don’t let its beliefs and publishing process diffuse your own ideas regarding your book, but make sure that you mention your ideas with the utmost respect.  If your ideas get shut down, then feel free to keep thinking of new ideas to help market your book.  Just make sure you go into the process knowing that your ideas may get burned away harshly with nothing left but ash, but be positive, optimistic, and keep thinking.  After all, the beautiful and alluring phoenix emerges from ash.

I know that I have stressed this a little in the previous blogs that I wrote, but I feel this is a characteristic I cannot stress enough.  The author being lazy is something that no publishing company wants to deal with.  And, apart from the authors, why would the author even want to be lazy if his or her book was being published?  Being lazy in such an opportune moment creates nothing but self sabotage.  I’m going to blindly assume (accurately, of course) that if the author had enough energy and ambition in actually writing a book, then he or she has enough energy to help in the publishing company in anyway possible.

For example, there are several things that the author should know how to do.  One of our recent authors needed to write a short biography about herself.  However, she did not know what a biography was, and instead, wrote a brief paragraph about her inspiration for the book that she wrote.  As great as this is, it does nothing for an author biography.  No one can write a biography about the author except for the author his or herself.  The publishing company certainly can’t help with this.  The author needs to research what a biography is and not rely on the publishing company to confirm whether or not it is correct.

Another issue that we have recently dealt with is citation.  An author wrote a beautiful book but used various sources to back up his claims.  While writing the book, he looked at the sources without citing anything or leaving footnotes.  When asked to go back and cite everything where needed, he asked us if we could do that with the sources he used.  This is something that, once again, we as a publishing company cannot do.  The author’s thought process is definitely subjective, and we, as a publishing company, cannot cite the author’s claims as accurately as he or she can.  Therefore, the author must pay attention in the writing process when using sources and note accordingly.

Something I have personally seen thus far at ZLS Publishing is the laziness the authors have when it comes to promoting the book.  One would rationally believe that the author would go above and beyond in order to promote a published book.  However, the opposite has been noted thus far to date.  One of the authors consistently complains about how much time is needed to promote the book, refusing to take off their full-time job in order to do so.  As much as a publishing company sympathizes with the author in financial issues during this time, the publishing company isn’t going to go above and beyond  to promote a book if the author isn’t as well.  This laziness also transmits as not having enough heart or belief in the published book, causing the publisher to doubt how profitable and marketable the recently published book actually is.  The author is simply wasting all of the energy complaining instead of promoting the book, and no one likes a complainer.

So, to all of you authors reading this blog, get motivated.  Drink coffee regardless if it stains your teeth.  Eat energy bars even if they make you fat. Drink Mountain Dew even if it lowers your sperm count.  In order to appeal your product to both the publishing company and the rest of society, as Oprah would joyously scream, “GET MOTIVATEEEEEEEEEEED!”

Recently, a manuscript came in that was quite abstract in various ways.  First, the manuscript was for a kid’s book but had only a dozen or so pages.  Second, the language used was quite advanced for any kid that I’ve ever met.  Third, the central idea of the manuscript was one a tad bit involved for a little kid.  Apparently, this manuscript was praised by numerous friends, family, acquaintances that the author had.

It saddens me to say this, but perhaps when submitting a rough draft piece of writing, you shouldn’t let anyone that you have connections with peruse your work.  If you want to be praised in order to boost your ego, then go right ahead.  However, the criticisms that you receive are going to be told through rose-colored glasses fogged with bias condensation.

Ever since being a little kid, the majority of people have been told that they can do whatever they desire to do.  This is true.  You can, given the right circumstances, achieve anything.  However, just because you can achieve a dream or an ability doesn’t mean you’re necessarily spectacular or realistic in doing so.

In the publishing industry, there are a plethora of books with similar plots and endings.  Therefore, your new idea probably isn’t all that new.  If it is new, then you haven’t done enough research in order to discover related books.  Also, make sure that you know your intended audience well enough in order to appeal to them.  With the example above, the length of the book was too short to appeal to children older than four, and the diction used appealed to one at least of ten years old, presenting contradictory ideas.  The author’s idea could have been executed perfectly if only more research was done towards the desired audience.

I strongly suggest having absolutely random people read your rough drafts before sending it to a publishing company in order to acquire an honest critique of your work(s).  The random individuals have nothing to lose from telling you their honest opinions on your work, and it’s the only way as an author to know what needs to be fixed or worked on.  Also, you can find an individual that is in your intended audience and see how it appeals to him or her, providing you direct and accurate feedback.  If all else fails and you can’t find someone who you believe has given you an honest critique of your work, ZLS Publishing is more than welcome to help critique your manuscripts.  You never know, it could even be good enough to get published!

As anything but a professional writer, I don’t look at the story first.  I don’t open up the book in order to briefly scan the diction and the way the narrator speaks within a novel.  I don’t look at the back cover and read the little blurb to find out what it’s about.  I don’t pay attention to the author.  All of this information is completely irrelevant to me.  Reading a little bit of the story or the back blurb isn’t going to grasp my attention initially, and relying on one person to always generate something that I love is quite unrealistic.

The items I look at most are the cover, the back cover, and, of course, the title.  Today, most of the covers are absolutely tacky looking.  They are made out of cheap material, have poor colors or no colors, and have an overused image or no image at all.  Whoever said “Don’t judge a book by its cover” must have been blind.  As horrible as it is, the cover is what grasps the most attention from someone walking by.

If you, the author, believe this isn’t so, then you’re wrong.  How many people in today’s society would call themselves “avid readers” and actually live up to literally being “avid?”  The majority of readers tend to read the more mainstream novels that are in the front of Borders or Barnes & Noble, not the novels that are hidden away in the back aisles.  And, since only so many novels can be in the front, the books pushed to the side must have a desirable effect upon anybody passing by.  Is someone walking by going to simply pick up all of the books and in order to read a little about them, or are they going to pick up only a few books that captivate the eyes?  Therefore, the cover, back cover, and title are extremely important.  And you should obviously want to be a part of executing these three crucial features in order to prompt sales of your published work.

With the cover, make sure it is eye-popping and makes the reader want to look at it.  Also, display some vague interpretation of the content of the book on it.  The cover can reveal hidden symbolism that the book has that the reader won’t necessarily comprehend without reading the entire book, but that doesn’t mean the symbolized image can’t go on the cover.  The importance of colors on the cover is definitely something up to debate, since each color appeals to certain individuals.  For the image or images on the cover, don’t just paste them on the center and call it a day.  By now, in the year 2010, there have been so many covers produced.  More than likely, if you apply some random, mundane image in the middle, your cover is going to be overlooked.  Today’s art is much more modern and is thankfully being appreciated by more people, raising the ceiling of what is deemed acceptable and appealing to society.  With this, new images can be used made from more types of mediums and from different angles.  To only have a cover with an average image(s) shows nonchalance on the author’s part.

The back cover should be handled with as much care as the front cover.  Obviously, it shouldn’t have nearly as many convoluted images as the front cover due to the blurb about the book, but make sure to have one piece of flair on the back to appeal to the average person walking by.

As for the title of the book, be extremely careful.  It should be appealing to everyone and contain universal language.  By this, I mean the language should be easily understood by everybody that you include in the marketing strategy and, preferably, many others outside of it.  I also would worry about emphasizing one aspect of a book too much through the title, since many readers would probably think that stressed aspect isn’t terribly important to other events.  Just make it appealing.  Some of the most known books are the ones with intriguing titles left open to interpretation.

Since starting at ZLS Publishing, I have had quite the experience with everything that I have done.  The most prominent issue that I have come across is the lack of grammar and punctuation that you “writers” appear to have.  I understand that you have innovative ideas with new edges to appeal to society in hopes of starting a revolution, become the next best thing, or pursue the American Dream, but let’s chop the fat off completely and not just trim it.

You, the “writers” and “authors,” seriously need to go back to high school and learn the basic grammar and punctuation rules.  All of these rules can easily be found online through a simple Google search.  The lack of proper grammar and punctuation conveys a lot more than one might just think.

First and foremost, it comes across as pure laziness on your apart.  No publisher is going to be anxious or desire working with lethargic authors.  I mean, if the authors don’t feel the need to perfect all elements of their pieces of art, then why should we as a publishing company?  The lazy authors also make the release date of their books get pushed back since more time is needed to edit and reword the sentences.  No publishing company is going to want to publish a book that lacks proper grammar and punctuation.  Therefore, the book will have to be edited perfectly before it is even thought of being released.

No one knows the story like the author, and, therefore, no one knows the accurate details and descriptions to incorporate or note.  For example, a manuscript came in recently for a very intriguing, but convoluted, novel.  I had to reread the first chapter twice in order to fathom even a little of the plot.  The editors can’t help with these details without possibly changing a huge element with the storyline.

The effect of the lack of details directly corresponds with the lack of punctuation.  Even a sentence absent of commas can create disastrous results.  For example, some authors use names for their characters that are words commonly used in today’s lexicon, such as “Unique” or something similar.  The use of a comma in a sentence with a character’s name such as this one could change whether the word is referring to the noun or adjective meaning.

So far, I honestly feel that you, the authors and writers, have looked at writing without respect.  Most of the manuscripts only provide a vague, yet intriguing, idea to the publishing company.  From there, it is completely up to the publishing company to edit the book and form an overall understanding of the content.  It is a disappointment that half of the authors out there are simply more or less lazy dreamers who try to formulate some cutting edge idea in order to attain more equity but don’t really care how their dreams and ideas play out on paper.  To the other half of the authors who do generate great ideas correlated with ideal grammar and punctuation, I look forward to reading your manuscripts and helping you achieve a solid step towards a rewarding profession.