MSI Press Blog

  (photo by Frank Perez) It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. Today's topic addresses prolific authors as well as authors working on their second book. Who should publish subsequent books by an author -- the publisher of the first book or another publisher? This is not always a simple question, but there are simple ways to make a decision about where your next book gets submitted. Consider the following: What does your contract with your publisher say? Some publishers require authors give them the right of first refusal for any subsequent books. This is more especially true for novels than for nonfiction books. What your contract says you are beholden to d

  It is Tuesday. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side.  Today's topic look at finding a publisher from a different perspective, not the one that advises authors how to prepare proposals and cold-approach editors. This approach, well-done, can work. That is often, however, not how a publisher is found. Sometimes, it is through serendipity. More often than not, it happens through networking. A few examples should be enough to illustrate the principle. Attending a conference, meeting a publisher     This is probably the most traditional "warm approach" way to land a contract. If you are hoping to impress a publisher at a conference, come prepared. Know why you would like to publish wit

                                                                                                                    ( photo by Frank Perez) It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. Today's topic is about choosing a publisher. Of course, you do choose a publisher, but also a publisher chooses you. It is a two-way affair. So, let's take each approach separately. How do you choose a publisher? Decide what you are looking for in a publisher. Do you want a large publisher with big pockets who might be able to get your book on the NYT best seller list, give you a large advance, or get you attention from a national television show? (You better have one whale of

  It is Tuesday. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side.  This week we consider the frequently asked question, "I have written two books; do I need two publishers?" The answer, of course, is "that depends." The books are part of a series. If the books are part of a planned or ongoing series, then it is best to stay with the same publisher (unless, of course, something about how the publisher handled the first book was disappointing). Series need to have a similar look-and-feel among the books. That is easier to effect if the publisher is the same. Series also benefit from marketing that develops mailing lists of the earlier book(s) to promote the later books. If, however, the di

  (photo by Frank Perez) It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. Today's topic is about the publication process itself. You have a manuscript in hand, now what? There are several stages. So, let's take each stage separately. Stage One. Completion of the Manuscript You have finished writing the manuscript and have carefully proofread it, but you are NOT ready to move to Stage Two. There are a few things you need to do first. If not done, this is the stage that often dooms a manuscript never to move to Stage Two and on into becoming a book. You proofread, right? For what did you proofread? Spelling? Ran it through the spellchecker? Certain your own eyes wil

  It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. Today's topic addresses effective communication with acquisitions editors. Does it make sense to p it them against each other? To create a sense of competition in order to get one of them to move? Here are the ways in  which authors have tried to tempt me to offer them a contract by alluding to another publisher -- and my reaction and response.  Just a note to say that the book submitted to you is being seriously considered by a United States Publisher. Please let me know how you would like to move forward. My reaction: The author comes across as pushy (trying to take the upper hand), arrogant (assuming that I would e

  It is Tuesday. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side.  This week's conversation points out the reason why many authors get rejection after rejection with only the note that "it is not a fit for us." Chances are that is really, truly the reason, and it means that the author did not do his/her homework. Authors should only be submitting work where there is an apparent "fit." To do otherwise is a waste of the publisher's time and a waste of the author's time, efforts, hopes, and, often, money. So, how do you know that there is a potential fit? Check out the kinds of books that the author publishes. It is amazing how many fiction submissions we get. We do not publish