Comments on: How Do I Know If My Idea Will Sell? An Intro To The World of Agents, Editors and Publishing, Part 2 http://www.scribophile.com/blog/how-do-i-know-if-my-idea-will-sell-an-intro-to-the-world-of-agents-editors-and-publishing-part-2/ Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:25:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Ariadne President http://www.scribophile.com/blog/how-do-i-know-if-my-idea-will-sell-an-intro-to-the-world-of-agents-editors-and-publishing-part-2/#comment-40 Ariadne President Sat, 15 Mar 2008 13:47:29 +0000 http://www.scribophile.com/articles/how-do-i-know-if-my-idea-will-sell-an-intro-to-the-world-of-agents-editors-and-publishing-part-2/#comment-40 I find this article to be completely true. This reminds me a whole lot like when I wanted to share my works with other reading and literature teachers. The principal saw my work one day and said that it was fabulous. Also what you said about the bestseller, that had really gotten much of my interests too! I want to become either a popular novelist or a New York Times Bestselling Author. This is a great insight of marketing and publishing!  I find this article to be completely true. This reminds me a whole lot like when I wanted to share my works with other reading and literature teachers. The principal saw my work one day and said that it was fabulous. Also what you said about the bestseller, that had really gotten much of my interests too! I want to become either a popular novelist or a New York Times Bestselling Author. This is a great insight of marketing and publishing! 

]]> By: Katica Locke http://www.scribophile.com/blog/how-do-i-know-if-my-idea-will-sell-an-intro-to-the-world-of-agents-editors-and-publishing-part-2/#comment-39 Katica Locke Fri, 14 Mar 2008 06:57:15 +0000 http://www.scribophile.com/articles/how-do-i-know-if-my-idea-will-sell-an-intro-to-the-world-of-agents-editors-and-publishing-part-2/#comment-39  Excellent information. Thank you both. I hadn't made the connection until just now, but I submitted my first novel to five small press publishers over the course of a year. The first four rejected the work, I assumed, and this is probably mostly true, on the fact that the work wasn't ready yet. What I just realized is, in the cover letter that I sent to the fifth publisher, I said specifically what demographic I was writing for. I did my homework. I told them I knew who I was marketing to. They eventually accepted my manuscript and now I think it is partly because of that. Anyway, thanks again.  Excellent information. Thank you both. I hadn’t made the connection until just now, but I submitted my first novel to five small press publishers over the course of a year. The first four rejected the work, I assumed, and this is probably mostly true, on the fact that the work wasn’t ready yet. What I just realized is, in the cover letter that I sent to the fifth publisher, I said specifically what demographic I was writing for. I did my homework. I told them I knew who I was marketing to. They eventually accepted my manuscript and now I think it is partly because of that. Anyway, thanks again.

]]> By: Bob Onnie http://www.scribophile.com/blog/how-do-i-know-if-my-idea-will-sell-an-intro-to-the-world-of-agents-editors-and-publishing-part-2/#comment-37 Bob Onnie Thu, 13 Mar 2008 18:19:24 +0000 http://www.scribophile.com/articles/how-do-i-know-if-my-idea-will-sell-an-intro-to-the-world-of-agents-editors-and-publishing-part-2/#comment-37 There's a lot of good points in this article, and Brittany raises good points too.   I guess the takeaway is that successful writers keep marketing in mind when they write, but marketing isn't the only thing that makes a writer successful.  Thanks for the great insights! There’s a lot of good points in this article, and Brittany raises good points too.   I guess the takeaway is that successful writers keep marketing in mind when they write, but marketing isn’t the only thing that makes a writer successful.  Thanks for the great insights!

]]> By: Momo Okayasu http://www.scribophile.com/blog/how-do-i-know-if-my-idea-will-sell-an-intro-to-the-world-of-agents-editors-and-publishing-part-2/#comment-36 Momo Okayasu Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:44:46 +0000 http://www.scribophile.com/articles/how-do-i-know-if-my-idea-will-sell-an-intro-to-the-world-of-agents-editors-and-publishing-part-2/#comment-36 Russell and Brittany, thank you so much. You two are amazing! Not long ago, I thought about sending a story idea for a PopFiction novel into my favortie graphic novel publisher, TokyoPop. They had all these guidelines about what was required of you to send in and almost half of it was based on marketing: What audience are you trying to reach? What other books are you competing with? I honestly just did not have the answers, but then, when I say 'not long ago,' I mean about two and a half years ago. How many 15 year olds have the answers to questions like that? This article and Brittany's comment were extremely informative, though. I'll be keeping an eye out for the next article in this series and in the mean time, when I have more free time, maybe I'll get around to finding the answers to those questions. Russell and Brittany, thank you so much. You two are amazing! Not long ago, I thought about sending a story idea for a PopFiction novel into my favortie graphic novel publisher, TokyoPop. They had all these guidelines about what was required of you to send in and almost half of it was based on marketing: What audience are you trying to reach? What other books are you competing with? I honestly just did not have the answers, but then, when I say ‘not long ago,’ I mean about two and a half years ago. How many 15 year olds have the answers to questions like that?
This article and Brittany’s comment were extremely informative, though. I’ll be keeping an eye out for the next article in this series and in the mean time, when I have more free time, maybe I’ll get around to finding the answers to those questions.

]]> By: Brittany http://www.scribophile.com/blog/how-do-i-know-if-my-idea-will-sell-an-intro-to-the-world-of-agents-editors-and-publishing-part-2/#comment-35 Brittany Thu, 13 Mar 2008 08:08:16 +0000 http://www.scribophile.com/articles/how-do-i-know-if-my-idea-will-sell-an-intro-to-the-world-of-agents-editors-and-publishing-part-2/#comment-35 Here's something to chew on before you decide to start writing from a marketing perspective: <blockquote> *Half of all books sold today are to people over the age of 45.   *As of 2005, romance fiction is responsible for 48% of all paperbacks sold, bringing in $1.41 billion a year.   *Women buy 68% of all books sold.   *It takes an average of 475 hours to write a novel. Fiction is considered successful if it sells 5,000 copies. Writing a nonfiction book requires about 725 hours. A nonfiction book is deemed successful when it reaches 7,500 copies sold.   http://www.selfpublishingresources.com/Booknews.htm </blockquote> If you are writing to make money, here is your niche audience: Women, 45+ who read romances. <blockquote> "Of the 1.2 million titles tracked by Bookscan in 2006, only 2.1% sold more than 5,000 books, 16.6% sold fewer than 1,000, and a terrifying 79.6% <b>sold fewer than 99 copies."</b>   http://marketingsellingbooks.suite101.com/article.cfm/book_publishing_a_horror_story </blockquote> Despite all that goes into marketing a book, the reality of it is pretty grim. Writing with the sole expectation of money from a best seller has as much luck in it as winning a lottery. <blockquote> "There are 5 colossal publishing conglomerates that control 80% of book sales. They are: Bertlesman (Random House), Time Warner, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, Disney, and Viacom/CBS. Four of these are foreign owned. They won't take on a title unless it will sell at least 50,000 copies." </blockquote> In my research, the numbers for fiction being 5000 and non-fiction being 7500 in sales popped up again and again. This data shows you another reality: Big publishers aren't looking for that kind of success. They want profit, so of course they rely heavily on marketing and the like. They're also not going to pick up an unsolicited manuscript from any ol' writer, even if you set up in the first paragraph your genre and marketing audience to a T.  <blockquote> *In 1996 and 1997 the American Booksellers Association, the Book Industry Study Group, and Publisher’s Weekly, asked adult book purchasers what were the most critical factors for buying books. Most people expect that the top reasons people buy books are book covers, marketing, price, reviews, etc. However, the three answers that stand-out beyond all others are:    1. The subject of the book    2. The author’s reputation    3. The informational content about the book on the inside flaps and the back cover were most critical"   "A book by the average author--that is, the average author who manages to find an agent and land a deal--sells just 11,800 copies, according to the Book Industry Study Group, a nonprofit research organization, and RR Bowker, a provider of bibliographic information." (Source: Getting on the Same Page, Fast Company, November 2005 | Page 86 By: Lucas Conley)   http://www.authorinsider.com/insightfulstatistics.php </blockquote> Again, a lot of the marketing does not involved the content inside of the book. A few of the Web sites I looked at had a statistic that the average number of pages read out of a bought book is 18 pages. Most don't get farther than that. But hey, if it looks good, grabs attention, and ithey buy it, who cares they don't read past your first 18 pages of work? ^^ Second quote just gets to the rock solid truth: books on average do not sell. It takes a small publisher like the one here locally about 800-1000 books to break even. If they break even, they're happy. <blockquote> Under the Radar:  A Breakthrough, In-Depth Study of the Book Industry's Underreported Segments and Channels shows that, contrary to conventional wisdom, smaller regional and niche publishers contribute significantly to the overall industry. The report, released in April of 2005, reveals that approximately 63,000 publishers with annual revenues of less than $50 million generate aggregate slaes of $14.2 billion. A subset of that group, roughly 3,600 publishers with annual revenues of $1 million to $49.9 million, is responsible for $11.5 billion on the total. The study divulges that small and midsize publishers have been using routes to readers beyond the bookstore arena, often selling more books outside normal trade channels than within them. As the Davids prosper, the Goliaths consolidate.   http://www.selfpublishingresources.com/Booknews.htm </blockquote> This is where you should seriously consider submitting your manuscripts if you are a literary writer. If you want your work to be published, but not commercialized, you can do some self-promotion marketing on the side once you have your work published. As I have said before, small presses generally do not use marketing as their number one decision breaker. A lot of them, due to the overwhelming 80% market share of bigger presses, survive off of art grants and contributions. Some publish works in chap-books, cheaper compilations, that give you a way to distribute your novellas and poetry. If you're the kind of writer who writes because you want to connect with readers, small presses are great for that. A lot of  "successful " authors tour around the country, reading selected works, and connecting with readers. Try to be a little practical-is your novel really going to be the number one best seller of America? Probably not. But hey, once a work is published, if it is a great piece of work, it will get out there. Case in point, as written on one of the sites: <blockquote> Many famous authors and their books were rejected multiple times. Publishers turned down Richard Bach’s <em>Johnathan Livingston Seagull</em> no less than 140 times; Margaret Mitchell’s <em>Gone With the Wind</em> received 38 “no’s,” while Stephen King’s <em>Carrie</em> was turned down 30 times. J. K. Rowling’s original work was pooh poohed by 12 publishers...guess who’s kicking themselves now that they passed on <em>Harry Potter</em>? And E. E. Cummings first work — <em>The Enormous Room</em>, now considered a masterpiece — was ultimately self-published...and dedicated to the 15 publishers who rejected it. </blockquote> Hmm, I guess I don't have any real credentials for this information, except being taught by my professors how to deal with the publishing world (They're a little brighter than this article accuses them of). But I did find these interesting statistics down below!:P <blockquote> Wonder about America’s most literate cities? Here they are ranked from 1 to 10:          Minneapolis, Minnesota          Seattle, Washington          Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania          Madison, Wisconsin          Cincinnati, Ohio          Washington, DC           Denver, Colorado           Boston, Massachusetts           Portland, Oregon           San Francisco, California </blockquote> Here’s something to chew on before you decide to start writing from a marketing perspective:

*Half of all books sold today are to people over the age of 45.
 
*As of 2005, romance fiction is responsible for 48% of all paperbacks sold, bringing in $1.41 billion a year.
 
*Women buy 68% of all books sold.
 
*It takes an average of 475 hours to write a novel. Fiction is considered successful if it sells 5,000 copies. Writing a nonfiction book requires about 725 hours. A nonfiction book is deemed successful when it reaches 7,500 copies sold.
 
http://www.selfpublishingresources.com/Booknews.htm

If you are writing to make money, here is your niche audience: Women, 45+ who read romances.

“Of the 1.2 million titles tracked by Bookscan in 2006, only 2.1% sold more than 5,000 books, 16.6% sold fewer than 1,000, and a terrifying 79.6% sold fewer than 99 copies.”
 
http://marketingsellingbooks.suite101.com/article.cfm/book_publishing_a_horror_story

Despite all that goes into marketing a book, the reality of it is pretty grim. Writing with the sole expectation of money from a best seller has as much luck in it as winning a lottery.

“There are 5 colossal publishing conglomerates that control 80% of book sales. They are: Bertlesman (Random House), Time Warner, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, Disney, and Viacom/CBS. Four of these are foreign owned. They won’t take on a title unless it will sell at least 50,000 copies.”

In my research, the numbers for fiction being 5000 and non-fiction being 7500 in sales popped up again and again. This data shows you another reality: Big publishers aren’t looking for that kind of success. They want profit, so of course they rely heavily on marketing and the like. They’re also not going to pick up an unsolicited manuscript from any ol’ writer, even if you set up in the first paragraph your genre and marketing audience to a T. 

*In 1996 and 1997 the American Booksellers Association, the Book Industry Study Group, and Publisher’s Weekly, asked adult book purchasers what were the most critical factors for buying books. Most people expect that the top reasons people buy books are book covers, marketing, price, reviews, etc. However, the three answers that stand-out beyond all others are:

   1. The subject of the book
   2. The author’s reputation
   3. The informational content about the book on the inside flaps and the back cover were most critical”
 
“A book by the average author–that is, the average author who manages to find an agent and land a deal–sells just 11,800 copies, according to the Book Industry Study Group, a nonprofit research organization, and RR Bowker, a provider of bibliographic information.”
(Source: Getting on the Same Page, Fast Company, November 2005 | Page 86 By: Lucas Conley)
 
http://www.authorinsider.com/insightfulstatistics.php

Again, a lot of the marketing does not involved the content inside of the book. A few of the Web sites I looked at had a statistic that the average number of pages read out of a bought book is 18 pages. Most don’t get farther than that. But hey, if it looks good, grabs attention, and ithey buy it, who cares they don’t read past your first 18 pages of work? ^^
Second quote just gets to the rock solid truth: books on average do not sell. It takes a small publisher like the one here locally about 800-1000 books to break even. If they break even, they’re happy.

Under the Radar:  A Breakthrough, In-Depth Study of the Book Industry’s Underreported Segments and Channels shows that, contrary to conventional wisdom, smaller regional and niche publishers contribute significantly to the overall industry. The report, released in April of 2005, reveals that approximately 63,000 publishers with annual revenues of less than $50 million generate aggregate slaes of $14.2 billion. A subset of that group, roughly 3,600 publishers with annual revenues of $1 million to $49.9 million, is responsible for $11.5 billion on the total. The study divulges that small and midsize publishers have been using routes to readers beyond the bookstore arena, often selling more books outside normal trade channels than within them. As the Davids prosper, the Goliaths consolidate.
 
http://www.selfpublishingresources.com/Booknews.htm

This is where you should seriously consider submitting your manuscripts if you are a literary writer. If you want your work to be published, but not commercialized, you can do some self-promotion marketing on the side once you have your work published. As I have said before, small presses generally do not use marketing as their number one decision breaker. A lot of them, due to the overwhelming 80% market share of bigger presses, survive off of art grants and contributions. Some publish works in chap-books, cheaper compilations, that give you a way to distribute your novellas and poetry. If you’re the kind of writer who writes because you want to connect with readers, small presses are great for that. A lot of  “successful ” authors tour around the country, reading selected works, and connecting with readers. Try to be a little practical-is your novel really going to be the number one best seller of America? Probably not. But hey, once a work is published, if it is a great piece of work, it will get out there. Case in point, as written on one of the sites:

Many famous authors and their books were rejected multiple times. Publishers turned down Richard Bach’s Johnathan Livingston Seagull no less than 140 times; Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind received 38 “no’s,” while Stephen King’s Carrie was turned down 30 times. J. K. Rowling’s original work was pooh poohed by 12 publishers…guess who’s kicking themselves now that they passed on Harry Potter? And E. E. Cummings first work — The Enormous Room, now considered a masterpiece — was ultimately self-published…and dedicated to the 15 publishers who rejected it.

Hmm, I guess I don’t have any real credentials for this information, except being taught by my professors how to deal with the publishing world (They’re a little brighter than this article accuses them of). But I did find these interesting statistics down below!:P

Wonder about America’s most literate cities? Here they are ranked from 1 to 10:
         Minneapolis, Minnesota
         Seattle, Washington
         Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
         Madison, Wisconsin
         Cincinnati, Ohio
         Washington, DC
          Denver, Colorado
          Boston, Massachusetts
          Portland, Oregon
          San Francisco, California

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