Tag Archives: so you wanna write a book?

Advice from Acquisitions: Part 8

August 12th, 2009 in Industry & News
By Susanne Woods

susanne

This is the last in a series of eight blog posts where I hope I have offered some sensible advice for those who may be thinking of writing a book. Below, is my top ten tips:

Top 10 Do’s and Don’ts

#1 Don’t let concern about your writing skills prevent you from submitting. We have Developmental Editors to help with that.

#2 Don’t wait to complete the book before submitting your idea. At C&T, we just request a sample chapter, an outline and photographs of a representational project for the book.

#3 Do create a strong presence through teaching, blogging, pattern writing, craft fairs, Etsy sales, creating a fabric line and anything else that might both show your commitment and demonstrate interest in your style, your creations and yourself. Create publicity about yourself and your business to make the marketing and sales departments drool.

#4 Do ride the wave. The best time to publish and establish yourself is when you are busiest—when you are working on a fabric line or when your pattern business is really taking off. The more components you can coordinate to be advertising at the same time, the less time it will take you in the long term. It’s a lot easier to really gain a groundswell of excitement about your work if you can juggle all the balls at once.

#5 Do your homework with regard to the publisher you want to work with. The more you know about their list of titles they currently publish, the better able you are to sell yourself as a natural fit. Think of it in the same way as you would applying for college.

#6 Don’t submit to multiple publishers at once. Publishing is a funny old animal. There is a lot of unspoken etiquette, and this is one.

#7 Don’t tell. In such a small segment of the publishing industry, any editor prides themselves on finding the next success. Competition is high. Friends and family-fine to talk to. Blog and industry shows-not fine.

#8 Don’t expect to make a million dollars. Publishing is not a high profit business, so really look at how a book will increase your profile, not create it.

#9 Do be prepared for the project to take a year. Right now, I am acquiring for our Fall 2010 list with finished projects due in Fall 09.

#10 Do be afraid of self-publishing. Free up your time and capital to grow your business in other ways. Take advantage of the marketing, publicity and fulfillment of a publisher. If you feel your idea is that good, just negotiate a better contract. Talk to your acquiring editor about having a big input in the design if that is the concern.

And a bonus #11 is the show-me-the-money advice: When deciding on a publisher to submit a proposal to, look at the retail prices they charge for their books. The money you see from your book will be based in part on the retail price. A lot of publishers try to keep their prices low, like $25 for a 256 page book. Because C&T is a premium publisher, we would set the retail price of $25 for an 80 page book. Same money, ½ the work.

I hope this helped. If not…I love questions, I love my job, I love book publishing and would be thrilled if my 15 years in the illustrated book publishing industry could benefit anyone out there.

Email me with anything specific and I will try my best to help.

Related Posts:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

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Advice from Acquisitions: Part 7

August 5th, 2009 in Industry & News
By Susanne Woods

susanne

As part of an ongoing series on the acquisitions process, I am going to talk about what you can start doing today if you do want to submit but just aren’t ready yet. You can be working on some things to help you prepare.

First of all: Have a plan! Take the time in the beginning to really do a proper business plan. This doesn’t have to be a big formal 30 page document with 5 year projections of profit and loss statements (but if it is, that’s great too). Just sit down and really concentrate on what you think you are willing to invest—both time and money-wise—and what kind of financial return you expect to see.

If you see yourself only being able to spend 2 hours a day, then budget out that time in terms of what you can achieve for what return and stick to it, unless something changes. You could decide to hire a babysitter, get a housekeeping service, cut back your day job hours, etc. to free up more time to develop your business. Look at what you are going to have to sacrifice in order to get that done.

This doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of opportunities as they come up, but if you know that teaching locally is really what you love, then having to sacrifice teaching time to write a book (or a magazine article or lots of tutorials on your blog) can cause you to burn out. In this scenario, you aren’t doing what you love, and you are being reactive.

There comes a point where most really successful artists have to decide between (1) running a business and managing the brand that they have created and (2) continuing to be creative. That progression can happen really quickly where all of a sudden you see that you can’t possibly get everything done yourself. So, sitting down in the beginning stages and taking the time to project the seemingly improbable is crucial. Once you determine how you will maintain a balance between the business and creative sides, you can help promote yourself in a much more targeted and controlled way.

Next and last time…top ten tips for publishing a craft book!

Related Posts:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

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Advice from Acquisitions: Part 6

July 29th, 2009 in Industry & News
By Susanne Woods

susanne

As part of an ongoing series on the acquisitions process, I am going to talk a little bit about self publishing.

A lot of people are attracted to this, but self-publishing is a lot of work and very (very) few do this well with either patterns or with booklets. Lots of errors, long hours of fulfillment, and a lot of money up front. Much better to have a team to help you along the way, that have a reputation for quality work…it’s kind of like the Verizon network. You give up some money for that, but I’ll touch on this a bit later about diversifying your business.

I see that self-publishing is a big risk, and even if it is done well—it’s a tremendous outlay with almost none being able to get into the bookstores and into the craft chains and specialty shops which are C&T’s main areas of sales. Anyone can self-publish. It doesn’t add a lot of prestige in the same way as saying that a publishing company has signed you up because that means that a lot of people got in a room together, discussed your work and decided that it was worthwhile spending their money to create something with you.

Another point that has come up a lot (and always surprises me) is that potential authors I’ve approached always ask how much it will cost them to publish a book. It’s a fair enough question but is always the ‘ah-ha’ moment when I tell potential authors that there is no money of theirs involved. It’s the publishing company who is taking all of the risk in creating a book with their team of designers. They put together a marketing plan and promote the book in their catalogue with nothing but a leap of faith—it’s actually a pretty exciting concept, and you can see why C&T considers it a really collaborative process. There are some publishers who take your work and don’t offer the same level of consultation with the author with regard to the design and the packaging, but we are really interested in working with our authors for years to come so we want you to promote your book because you love it and it’s a piece of you. It’s great to have so many people on your team to turn to for advice. So free up your time and your money to concentrate on other areas of your business and work with a publisher who know what they are doing.

Next week, I’ll talk about what you can start doing today if you aren’t ready to start working on a book.

Related Posts:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

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Advice from Acquisitions: Part 5

July 21st, 2009 in Industry & News
By Susanne Woods

susanne

As part of an ongoing series on the acquisitions process, I am going to talk a little bit about how to use a book as part of a business plan to start making a career from your craft.

One of the questions I received from the Etsy Virtual Lab was whether it was possible to make a living from writing craft books. While I comically responded that it totally depended on where you live, the reality is that the answer is “not really”. I suspect that her real question, was:  Is it possible to make a career from my craft and the answer to that is “definitely”. How can a book help with that:

What publishing a book does is really give you more credibility to expand your platform. It will be much easier to secure magazine articles, become contributors to collaborative projects, spin out products related to your specific craft, gather teaching and lecture appointments with shops and guilds, secure a fabric deals, produce DVDs and on it goes. It’s all about building a groundswell of publicity as none of those things I mentioned are going to make you a living wage on their own, but if you are savvy with your focus, realistic with the time involved, dedicated to the industry you are crafting within, and have a reasonable head for finances, then there is real money to be made by coordinating all of these opportunities and each is contributing a few thousand a year.

Next week, I’ll share some thoughts on self-publishing…

Related Posts:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

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Advice from Acquisitions: Part 4

July 17th, 2009 in Industry & News
By Susanne Woods

susanne

As part of an ongoing series on the acquisitions process, I am going to talk a little bit about the money. I stress that every publisher works differently in this regard but there are a few things that are true of all of us:

When most people see that there is a book selling for $25 they think that the author is getting a big chunk of that. The reality is that the money an author sees is depends on a lot of factors:

  • The percentage of royalty of that net receipt you negotiate
  • The retail price of the book
  • The discount the publisher offers to booksellers
  • How many copies the publisher sells

So, one of the biggest factors to consider when selecting a prospective publisher is how much money you will receive for how much work. In plain English, this means that working with a publisher who sells a 256 page book for $25 is not the same as working with a publisher who will charge $25 for a 100 page book. Same money, less work. That is why working for a premium publisher, like C&T, makes a lot of sense.

Next week, I’ll offer advice on how to use a book as part of a business plan to start making a career out of your craft….

Related Posts:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

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Advice from Acquisitions: Part 3

July 9th, 2009 in Industry & News
By Susanne Woods

susanne
As part of an ongoing series on the acquisitions process, I am including the two biggest issues regarding what you can expect from the publishing process so that you can choose the right time in your career to begin the submission process.

Writing a book takes about a year of your life. And it is a lot of work. C&T is very collaborative in their approach with first time authors with lots of little milestones in between so that it’s not like you are being sent to a cabin in the woods and have to be locked in there until you complete your 300 page life story. We can help as much or as little as possible with everything from a product suggestion to a technique to try to resolve a construction issue to advice on colors. Be sure to ask an editor before you submit to them, how involved they are in the process and just be sure that their level of involvement really suits you.

You won’t be able to talk about or sell similar things on your etsy site so be sure you are comfortable with weighing how that will impact your bottom line as well as your time. A few authors have suggested that they stop their blog for the time that it takes them to write, but this is a bit of a slippery slope because keeping that audience they have built up over the years is really key seeing that they are the people who are probably going to buy your book. Staying connected with your customer/fan base is important which involves a lot of time. I call it “riding the wave.” When you are the busiest, it is going to be a bit of a juggling act with everyone wanting a piece of you. Don’t underestimate that commitment.

Next week…”What you can expect to make”!

Related Posts:
Part 1
Part 2

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Advice from Acquisitions: Part 2

July 2nd, 2009 in Industry & News
By Susanne Woods

susanne

I recently did a virtual lab for Etsy on the subject of getting a craft book published. I had already started a series of postings talking about the acquisitions process so, I’m using my notes from the lecture to highlight what are hopefully useful tips. In my first post, I encouraged people to try and put the negative thoughts aside that may prevent you from submitting a proposal in the first place. But perhaps you aren’t even there yet and just want to know how to give your proposal the strongest chance of success before you submit. Here are some tips to get an editor’s attention:

Well thought out design on blog, etsy store, website etc. Take some time to create a brand that you are happy with and stick to it.

Excellent craftsmanship/quality of work.

Knowledge of and dedication to the marketplace. This can be established through trade shows, magazine features, and any other ancillary projects that may be related to your particular craft. Show them you’re there to stay. Publishers don’t want to invest all that time and effort if you will have moved on from beading to woodcarving by the time the book is released.

Know your publisher. This is like applying to college, and you need to do your research. There are a couple of ways to go about this. First, see who publishes most of the books on your own shelf. Go to the library/bookstore and see which titles you’re attracted to. Keep on top of publishing trends within your craft area. Watch for who is advertising in the publications you are reading, the fairs you are attending and the blogs you follow. Remember that we want to find you as much as you want to find us—the rest of it is just a bit of a matchmaking process.

Follow the rules Most publishers have a set of submission guidelines that can be downloaded from their website (here’s ours). Make sure to complete all of the steps they are asking for. Don’t think that more is better and wait to write the entire book when all the publisher is requesting is a sample chapter. Unlike literary publishers, C&T and most craft publishers don’t expect you to have the whole manuscript completed.

Potential authors shouldn’t be intimidated about their writing abilities (that’s what your editor is for) since most craft books are really led by their imagery. It’s much more important to be on trend with the design and theme of the book. The purpose of a sample chapter is to show you can write well with a sample project to show that you can teach. You should include a Table of Contents with a list of the projects you would like to include. If you are proposing a process based book, then definitely describe the process and show step-by-step examples. (Don’t worry, it’s all confidential!) Make sure you follow the publisher’s submission guidelines to the t—there is really no excuse not to do that.

Next up…”What to Expect from the Process”

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Advice from Acquisitions: Part 1

June 10th, 2009 in Industry & News
By Susanne Woods

susanne

Back in January, I did an interview for the Sew Mama Sew blog with a focus on the process of publishing a book.

I was so surprised to receive over 400 responses to my interview! Some wanted my job, some just enjoyed a view into the world of quilting, but mostly I heard from people who were intimidated about submitting a book proposal.  As the Acquisitions Editor here at C&T, I thought it would be helpful to start a series of articles for our blog in the hopes of demystifying the process.

Part 1: How do you know if you’ve got what it takes to write a book?

The world of both publishing and quilting can seem very small and tight-knit, so the combo may feel like a double whammy. I don’t argue that it can feel intimidating. Much of the intimidation may come from our reluctance to have confidence in our creative work. When you create, it is often so tied up in representing a part of who you are that the merest hint of criticism can be crippling.

I also admit that the reality is that, as in all types of publishing, C&T reject more proposals than we accept because we only publish a certain number of titles every year. It’s also true that an author with an established profile gets our attention, and that part of our list is comprised of repeat authors. However, both the publishing and the fabric industries thrive on innovation, creativity and, more often than not, fresh inspiration.

So, my advice is: don’t listen to the naysayers who tell you that you don’t have enough experience or that you aren’t a big enough name in the industry. You really won’t know until you try it. Everyone has to start somewhere. Today, I called three wonderful fabric artisans who haven’t been to Quilt Market, have never taught a class, and aren’t even showing you a new technique…and I invited them them to be three of our brand new C&T authors because what they do have is creativity and a fresh vision.

So what is stopping you?

Here is the link to our Submissions Guidelines

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C&T Publishing is a group of quilters and crafters dedicated to publishing products tailored to our audience. This blog is where we break away from book schedules and marketing campaigns to focus on what drives us to be creative and how this creativity manifests itself in our every day lives.

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