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.  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

  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

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 post is a case that is just the opposite of the author described last week, but with a similar result. Justifying a contract could not be in the cards because the author so deeply distrusted the process and, one would assume by extension, the people involved. The rhetoric The author's words were so fearful that they were almost painful to read. "I am taking a leap of faith here," he wrote, " in trusting you with my book. Yes, that's true. However, if he had done due diligence in researching the history of the publisher, looking at books published the publisher, checking out "thumbs down" lists of un

  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 addresses a topic that comes into my in-box on a regular basis, at least once or twice a week: a self-published author (either thought self-publication would provide more control and money or was unable to land a traditional contract) does not like the self-publication results and would like a re-do, i.e. start over again with a traditional publisher/contract. To cut to the chase, this is the content of the typical response I send to these queries: Thank you for your submission. We have a policy of not re-publishing previously        published books, so your book would not be of interest to us.  Of the data available from A

  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 post talks to those who use social media and explains the importance of predictability for effectively promoting your book. Specifically, how do we know? Most-Read Posts Our most-read posts come from our regular columns; other posts may be looked it, but the statistics show us that, with some exceptions, it is the regular columns that readers looks forward to and come back to. Here are some of them: The Story behind [a particular book, a different one each time] Sundays Cancer Diary Mondays A Publisher's Conversation with Authors Tuesdays (yeah, today) Posts dedicated to achievement of high levels of foreign language proficie

  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 republishing self-published books. Can you get a traditional contract from a traditional publishing house for a book you have self-published?  Well, that depends. As the acquisitions editor for a traditional press that also offers hybrid publishing contracts for untested writers, the answer is an across-the-board no, but there are some publishers who might. Let's look at the reasons for and against republishing a self-published book, from a publisher's point of view. Why a publisher would not want to re-publish a self-published book -- Typically, an author thinks that he or she has exhau

  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 post is a reaction to a communication last week with a new author, whose proposed contract we just rescinded--and why. The author had an interesting book but one that would not have broad appeal; yet, some kind of narrow niche depth appeal seemed likely or at least possible. The author had no publishing history, no platform, and no clear group of fans. This is not all that uncommon for us because we specialize in helping first-time authors edit their first books into good enough shape to win awards and gather in readers and reviews. As a result, we not only invest time, effort, and money into the production of the book, but we al