The Challenges of Publishing

In an earlier interview, local author (and new book club member!) Leslie LaMarr spoke about some of the challenges of publishing. Of these challenges she said, "There are too many gatekeepers in the lit industry." Many of our local authors have stated similar challenges so I asked Leslie if she would be generous enough to elaborate on just who some of these "gatekeepers" were. What follows is her response.



The gatekeepers for authors are as follows:

Interns (They work for agents, but are still given the same autonomy as agents. Which means if the intern is having an "off" day, reads your query, and doesn't think much of it, it will get tossed and an agent will never see it.)

Agents (They are generally also struggling writers, but now that they have deemed themselves agents, they seemed to have forgotten the struggles of their peers. Agents will harshly shred any query letter that enters their office, for any reason they can find. I have heard from several agents that they will read a query word by word looking for the one word that will give them a reason to dismiss the query. Because most publishers will not review unsolicited manuscripts (it reduces the litigation factor) agents must submit manuscripts to major publishers for an author to receive a decent book deal. It is also a well known fact that it may take querying hundreds of agents before you find that one agent who will connect with your writing and support your career. So don't give up if you are rejected.)

Publishers (If you are a first time author, with no platform, or pedigree, then it's unlikely you will be published by a large publisher. If you are a second time author, you may get a break, unless you self published your first book, in which case you will be considered on the same par as a first time author with no platform. The only exception to this stigma of self publishing, is if you sell more than 5,000 copies of your first, self published book. If your self published book sells a significant number of copies, you will become a more desirable literary property. If you expect an advance with your publishing deal, rethink that expectation, as most publishers have reduced or eliminated advances for anyone except for salacious celebrities like Tori Spelling or for confirmed authors, who equal sales, like Stephen King.)

Editors (Initially their job is to pitch salable books to the board of directors at the publishing house. They only want to pitch books that will sell. So unless your agent can convince them that your book WILL SELL, forget it. They are not interested in another Catcher In The Rye unless it's going to make Harry Potter money. Also, once you start literally working with an editor, hold a memorial service for the book you once wrote, and check your ego at the door. Editors will restructure a book to meet the demands of the board who are making demands based on their own statistical consumer knowledge. i.e. what people are buying.) FYI, I once heard Anne Rice's first editor complain that Interview With A Vampire would have been a far better book if she had been given the opportunity to edit it. (Anne Rice is notorious for rejecting the "constructive criticism" of her editors.)

Publishing Board of Directors (See also Editors definition. Generally, they only meet twice a year to review books for publishing. They're THAT busy. So if your editor misses one meeting, expect to wait awhile for the next meeting to take place.)

Promotions (Additionally, once your book is published, your publisher will expect you to do WHATEVER YOU CAN to promote your book. The publisher may or may not book readings for you in bookstores. They may or may not place ads. They may or may not contact special interest groups who will benefit from buying and reading, or in implementing your book. But the publisher WILL expect you to do all of this! So if you thought editing was hard, try booking yourself on talk radio, or onto talk shows to promote your book, or garnering press in a world where print publications thrive on paid advertising and not on gratuitous reviews. Pay for ads if you think that will help you get a review. Think out of the box on promotions. Talk about your book at every chance you are given. Carry copies of your book with you to hand to any important people you meet. A simple and easy way to promote your book is this: once your book is registered on Amazon, ask ALL the people you know to go to Amazon daily - for months - and click on the title of your book in the search results. That action alone will push you up in the Amazon search responses. Next, ask anyone who LOVES the book to write you a favorable review on Amazon. That too, will encourage better placement status with Amazon. Whatever you do, wherever you go, PROMOTE YOUR BOOK and PROMOTE YOURSELF AS AN AUTHOR. This will increase your platform to leverage better book deals in your future.)

Bookstore Owners (Show them that your book WILL SELL and they will stock your book. Leverage better placement chances with bookstores by letting them know if you are a local author. Show them that your book WILL SELL during a reading, and they will book you to speak. Ask them to give you a CHANCE to reach readers and you will receive a lecture on how they don't have enough space in the store to stock all the books by struggling independent authors that they would like to stock. Show them an empty space where your book would fit in nicely, and they'll show you the door.)

Readers (When I first went to print, I did the math. Over 300,000,000 people in the U.S. Eliminate children, men and those people who just wouldn't be interested in my book, and I was left with at least 3 million possible readers!!! What an easy sell! Except that sales don't happen like that. Not as many people buy books as the lit industry would like you to believe. On Amazon, I sold 32 books in one month and I was kicked into the top 2% of booksellers, out of over 3 million titles listed. Does that give you some idea of the ebb and flow? It is hard to get people to commit to reading. Harder still, to get readers to commit to buying books. One book club in Stockton bought ONE COPY of my book to pass around! And my book only costs $7.99. Getting readers to read is a constant challenge. However people do read and writers are reaching readers. So once you start selling your book, find joy in each book you sell. Because that means that someone has chosen to invest an hour of their paycheck in your thoughts. The bestselling books of all time reach millions of readers, but only just, over a designated period of time. Take the book, A New Earth as an example. It sat on bookshelves looking for readers for TWO YEARS before Oprah decided to champion it on her show. So don't be discouraged if your book only sells a thousand copies while you wait for it to find an audience. Be encouraged by any sales you make because selling a thousand copies will mean you will rank somewhere near #44 on Amazon's top sales list. Selling even a few hundred copies will probably push you into the top 200. Out of over 3 million books, those aren't shabby statistics at all.

Overall, this can be an industry not unlike the emperor's new clothes. Transparent and devoid of any glowing truths. But for the time being, it's still managing to hold firm as the great Oz hiding behind the curtains too many people are afraid to pull open. Success in this industry can belong to anyone who has enough heart to write. It's that easy. But if you've tattooed a $$$ sign on your heart, then forget it. You'll fail under your own definition of success. Success in this industry needs to be measured in appreciation of your work and the paths that open up to you because people have read what you have written, and have liked reading it as much as you liked writing it.