Publishing Your Own Book – Advice from SARK

I discovered SARK three years ago and fell in love with her books that allow you to be yourself and own who you are.

I stumbled upon her website and had to share her publishing advice. It’s simple and inspiring; hope ya’ll enjoy and check out her work. She’s fabulous.

SARK’S PUBLISHING ADVICEPlanet Sark

Dear creative soul,
I wanted to put together a brief letter for you to have as a guideline to publishing. I know this process is somewhat daunting and scaling this wall is brave. It takes strength and endurance, but It can be done. Above all, stay centered envision and don’t give up. You will make your dreams reality if you continue to believe in your work.

"We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?"
-Marianne Williamson

If you wish to publish use this affirmation:
"A Publisher will be lucky to find me!"

Continue believing in your own writing and message. Use this expression for your benefit:
"If I’m not getting rejected, I’m not reaching far enough."
Visualize your published book and keep going!

Here are some simple things to keep in mind as you stroll into the world of publishing your work

Make it real
Take your idea, and turn it into a physical book with a cover, art and a table of contents. Make it look as much like what you’ve seen in your imagination as possible. Lay out the design, add some writing. Give life to your book. Does it not have a life of its own anyway?

In the Beginning
Choose safe, gentle souls who are willing to not criticize, but support you in this state of your publishing journey. Share your book with them. Let them be thrilled with you. Listen and hear what they are saying to you. Do not dismiss their compliments or encouragement.

Read
Study and read everything about publishing you can find. The library has a lot of resources. Bookstores are good places to check out the newer books. Start to pay attention to who publishes books you like and admire. Read books that inspire you to continue writing. Read anything that helps you to stay close to your vision, encourages you, makes you laugh, makes you cry and feeds your soul.

Start a List
Start keeping track of publishers you like. Ask questions. Call a publisher you like and ask for submission guidelines or who you could talk to, to get this information. Be gently persistent and wildly curious. Check the current year’s Writer’s Guide for more submission information. They also have current editors and phone numbers.

Remember this:
The only reason publishers exist
is because of authors

How to Cook Your Daughter

Author: Jessica Hendra with Blake Morrison

Published by: HarperCollins Publishers (2005)

Jessica Hendra recounts her tale of surviving childhood sexual abuse from her father,well-known satirist Tony Hendra. The book starts in action: her father’s book, Father Joe: The Man Who Saved My Soul is published and upon a friend mentioning the reviews about the book, she reads the book herself. Then all those painful memories flood back as she writes an Op-Ed piece to The New York Times about the missing sections from her father’s book.

Cocky unpublished authors

Last week at my internship, the first few lines of a query letter read like this:

“I have no desire to permanently join your current stable of writers. I have written this one novel and I’ve said everything that I care to say within it.”

Who sends this to a literary agent? Who does this? Is this person seriously thinking he will receive a response from the agent? I was shocked and wondered how so many unpublished authors can be so cocky.

There is a certain assertiveness and confidence that writers should have with their writing but there should be a balance when they want an agent in order to be published!

This isn’t the first I’ve read. Others have discussed profits upfront and other madness.

The best advice for authors is to be humble; no one likes to deal with arrogant people, especially those that don’t have anything to show for being arrogant.

Be easy and be humble. If you get a super big fat advance, then there’s a little room to be overconfident but that’s after you get in the door. Make a good first impression. Publishing is a very small world.

The Writer Magazine

I bought The Writer Magazine once and fell in love with the articles and advice about writing. Did I subscribe to the magazine? No. I hadn’t taken myself seriously then. Will I subscribe now? Frak yes!

A friend of mine recently sent me a link on an article recently published titled, “50 simple rules for making it as a writer.” I don’t want to be sued by anyone so I’m posting the link here.

For writers confused about the self-publishing and the logistics about becoming published, this article should answer those questions.

I hope this article helps!

Housing Works Bookstore

When I walked into the Housing Works Bookstore, I fell in love with the quaint atmosphere and the books being sold there. I’ve always appreciated bookstores and have to contain myself when I want to purchase more books than I have the space for in my home.

This weekend, I will be attending an event there called the The Giant Lit Mag Fair which happens on Sunday, June 20th, 2010 from noon to 5pm on Crosby Street in Manhattan. Apart from the opportunity to subscribe and buy literary magazines, the editors from some of these magazines will be there to talk to. Can you say networking?

I urge any writer available this weekend to attend this fair. Networking is the best way to get your foot in the door in any industry. I’m also unemployed so I could meet some folks and talk about vacancies. Either way, it’ll be a win-win situation. I need to be reading more about the industry anyway so this is the best way to do it.

A big shout out goes out to my girl, Laurel, who put me on to this fair in the first place. I’ll have to thank her in my acknowledgements when I get published.

Of course, I’ll discuss the fair after the fact so even if you don’t attend, I’ll provide a play by play.

Cheers!

Publishing Primer and Book Fair

Just recently, I attended a panel hosted by In Good Company Workplaces (IGC)  and New York Women Social Entrepreneurs (NYWSE) in Chelsea.

The panelists were from different arenas in the publishing world:

Fauzia Burke  - President of FSB Associates, a marketing company.

Marcela Landres – author of ebook, How Editors Think: The Real Reason They Rejected You and the ezine Latinidad.

Alexandra Machinist – a literary agent at Linda Chester Literary Agency

Diane O’Connell – owner of company Write to Sell Your Book which aids writers to brand themselves

 

The hour panel was truly eye-opening. Being a published writer is no easy feat. Obtaining that literary agent is already tough, as you all already know. There are other avenues to be published like self-publishing. Diane mentioned self-publishing as a way to be published as well as selling one’s book via ebook format.

One misconception unbeknownst to rookies like us is that publishers no longer do all the publicity for your book once it’s published. Most agents and publishers are looking for writers with a platform; someone with a built in audience that will go out and buy your book. This is especially important for non-fiction writers because the market has become so saturated with celebrities who are selling based on their name.

Additionally, some writers think the only way to spread their message or have their work be distributed is through the big publishing houses like Random House, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster and so on but this is not the case. There are many small publishing houses sprouting up every day unknown to us publishing many authors. This is another way to be part of the “published author” club.

The one thing that resonated with me was Fauzia Burke’s advice on writing. She said that writing a book should be an add-on to your already bustling life and not your everything because that one book will Not pay the bills. Alexandra mentioned that this ideal of receiving a huge advance for your first book is all in your dreams. The most that can be paid is about $5,000 and that’s a good deal.

I sat with that and had to evaluate what I was doing, what I would do with my MFA degree, and if I really truly still wanted it. No one is going to pay me to sit in my pjs and write my novels; I’m not Stephen King! I’m still sitting with this and figuring out what else I’d like to do with my life other than writing.

The rest of the panel had great information tidbits. Marcela Landres mentioned competitive writing conferences that are not only ways to hobnob with published writers but also to have them write blurbs for your published work.

The workshops are:

VONA (Voices of Our Nation), a program for people of color was co-founded by Junot Diaz

Macondo, a writing program for published writers to expand their writing founded by Sandra Cisneros

Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference one of the first and oldest writing conferences in the United States started by John Farrar of publishing company Farrar, Straus, and Giroux Inc.

In terms of self-promotion, across the board, they mentioned that the usage of social media will become more prevalent for publicity and marketing and writers should take advantage of that. Because publishing houses will not do all the work, writers have to step it up and promote themselves. If they find they cannot because they are too introverted, they can hire people who do it for them, like Fauzia.

Overall, a very informative panel. I look forward to attending more panels and writing about them for others.

Cheers!

Informational Interview with Production Editor

Friday afternoon, I had a conversation with a production editor at Simon and Schuster. She was pleasant, helpful, and very sweet. I forget that people in publishing can be nice despite the competitive and cutthroat nature of the business.

I asked her about her journey to her current position which started after her college degree (don’t know what year and i didn’t ask because some people are touchy about age) in which she obtained her first job as a production assistant at John Wiley and Sons. From there, she excelled into different positions and landed employment at Simon and Schuster where she has been for a decade.

From this informational interview, I culled the necessary pieces missing from my applications. First, attitude. I know I can rock any job I get. I’m a damn good worker and why shouldn’t someone hire me? I’m quick on my feet, I love being utilized, and I love learning new skills all the time. I was a rock star on every film production set I worked on which is why I was always getting phone calls to work; I was great! As for office jobs, I was able to focus that same energy and make things happen by giving it my 150% all the time, even when my colleagues weren’t doing the same.

Second, skills on paper. Since I’ve worked in different industries, I’ve managed to acquire different skills including coordinating, scheduling, editing, quality control, and everything in between. I’m like the Jack of all trades here. And the best way to sell everything I’ve done is in my cover letter which, funny enough, is the hardest thing I ever have to write when applying to publishing vacancies. I don’t know how to frakking sell myself in the best way. I can’t write like this, because it’s too informal but when it’s too formal, I come across as having no personality (which is totally false). I wish I could write my cover letter here and have potential employers read this and go from there. Well, employers may end up reading this so I should keep it classy.

All in all, the interview went well and I will put her advice to good use. I am a writer and I need to work with what I got.

Wonder Boys

Author: Michael Chabon

Published by: Random House (1995)

Grady Tripp is a professor and a writer at a Pittsburgh university. His friend and editor, Terry Crabtree, visits for WordFest, which is a college sponsored weekend for agents and publishers to speak to aspiring writers on campus.

One of Grady’s students, James Leer, is a shy and quiet boy who is obsessed with moving pictures and almost kills himself but Grady stops him. From then on, James, Grady, and Terry are involved in wicked shenanigans all weekend long.

Publishing Employment Opportunities

As a writer, working in publishing is like a conflict of interest, right? I think not. Who says you can’t do both? Below are the websites I frequent when looking for jobs and/or internships.

The Publisher’s Marketplace has a job board I check every so often. The descriptions are clear and the jobs are easy to apply to. I recently applied to a job posted on the site and it was easy as pie. Will I receive a phone call from the agency? Only time will tell.

I plug Mediabistro all the time because the resources on the site are extremely helpful. You only have to create a free account on the site to apply which doesn’t take more than five minutes. At times, some postings have an external link to apply on the company’s website.

Book Jobs has a large quantity of employment opportunities as well as an exhausting list of internships as well. This site has postings updated weekly.

Now for some company career sites:

Simon & Schuster is such a huge company with many imprints. There’s no hurt in searching the jobs they have available. I peruse the website once a week, just in case something comes up.

W.W. Norton and Company has openings that range from 0-2 years experience to 5+ years experience. They currently have paid internships available.

Harper Collins presently has many New York opportunities available.

Random House constantly has job vacancies which I also peruse once a week.

Penguin Group is another site that offers employment opportunities.

There are many more publishing companies (smaller and other educational) but these are the ones I have bookmarked that I wanted to share for those who don’t know.

Enjoy and happy job hunting!