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Dee Power
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Post Number: 175
Registered: 05-2004

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Posted on Friday, February 10, 2006 - 03:10 pm:

How Do Books Get on the Bookstore Shelves?

2004 (the latest info available) saw a record of 195,000 new books released in the United States, a growth rate of 20,000 from the previous year. But not all of these books are meant for readers who shop in bookstores and online. The types of books not suitable for bookstore placement is about 50% of the new titles and include: medical resources, text books, and corporate publications. But that still leaves 97,500 hopeful titles and their authors waiting for bookstore placement.

How difficult is it to get a book published by a commercial publisher?

Well the odds are better gambling in Las Vegas. It has been estimated that 25 million people in the United States consider themselves writers and only 5% have been published anywhere.

Most major publishing houses, and many small presses, will not accept submissions that aren’t represented by a literary agent. During the research of "The Making of a Bestseller: Success Stories From Authors and the Editors, Agents and Booksellers Behind Them," we asked literary agents how many unsolicited query letters/proposals/sample chapters, they receive. For the typical agency it is close to 5000 per year. On the average these agents accepted only 11 new clients, that’s about 1out of every 500 submissions.

Of course writers submit to more than one agency in the hopes of obtaining representation which makes the odds a little better, but not much.

It has been estimated that the five large publishing companies, Random House Inc., Penguin USA, Simon & Schuster, Time Warner and HarperCollins, account for nearly eighty percent of all book sales in the US. This has occurred for the same reasons any other industry goes through consolidation: by combining certain administrative or staff functions, costs can be reduced and profits increased. Publishing, relative to many other industries, has not enjoyed a high Return on Investment (ROI) for investors. Now, publishers are much more focused on having every single book they publish be profitable. This means a more risk averse philosophy, with a preference for publishing authors with successful track records--a sound business strategy.

Marketing Comes First

After the book has been written and acquired by a publisher the marketing and public relations departments work together on developing a promotional plan for each title. That plan can be as simple as sending out review copies and a couple of press releases, or as complicated as arranging a book tour, media appearances, radio and TV interviews and advertising.

In any case every title has one thing in common. It appears in the publisher’s catalog. That catalog is developed five to six months prior to the season, sometimes the title is included in the catalog and the book hasn’t even been finished by the author yet. The title description includes a blurb about the content, the author’s bio, and any special promotions, such as a six city author tour, or significant first printing. The catalog is mailed to the book buyers, or in the case of the major publishers, taken to the stores buyers by the sales representatives.

You can read the rest of the article at

http://www.BrianHillAndDeePower.com/howbooks.html

Dee

Dee

Dee Power is co-author of several books including
The Making of a Bestseller, Dearborn Trade, April 2005
http://www.BrianHillAndDeePower.com

Sharon D. Martin
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Post Number: 213
Registered: 03-2002

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Posted on Friday, February 10, 2006 - 03:23 pm:

Thanks for the info.

Sharon

Pacwriter
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Post Number: 2246
Registered: 04-2002

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Posted on Friday, February 10, 2006 - 03:26 pm:

Ain't it nice that most of the folks here are in the 5%?
those who haven't as yet been published soon will be :-)

http://www.perrycomer.com

Fred Dungan
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Post Number: 1426
Registered: 10-2002

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Posted on Friday, February 10, 2006 - 09:21 pm:

There are bestsellers that don't fit the mold. The Christmas Box was originally distributed by the author from the trunk of his car. Likewise, The Motorcycle Diaries is published by an independent foreign publisher. I can recall a self-published, spiral-bound book from the 1970's on how to repair Volkswagens that sold millions of copies to wannabe do-it-yourselfers.

There is a danger in thinking that the beaten path is the only way to go. If you like to schmooze and are immune to ulcers, it may well be the path for you. But if you believe yourself to be a person of character and integrity with unshakable faith in his/her work, then possibly the less-traveled path is for you. For some of us, writing is a job. For others, it is our mission in life, our raison d'être.

http://www.dunganbooks.com

Dennis Collins
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Post Number: 1735
Registered: 06-2002

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Posted on Saturday, February 11, 2006 - 05:05 am:

Last weekend I had the chance to have a one-on-one sit down with Judith Guest and I asked her point blank if the stories about how her first book got published were true. Here is what she told me...

She submitted her unsolicited, unagented manuscript to a major publisher. It's known as an "Over the Transom" submission and goes directly into the "Slushpile." Back in those days publishers had larger editorial staffs and the most junior editors were assigned to combing the slushpile for publishable manuscripts. It was a very junior editor who brought "Ordinary People" to the attention of higher management. It was a long process and we never discussed how Robert Redford entered the picture but she was awfully happy to have him on board. (The Acadamy Awards didn't hurt either.)

The odds of backdoor success are a lot longer these days. Since the Anthrax scares most publishers refuse to accept anything that they didn't specifically request. (Everybody knows that publishing houses are major terrorist targets, right? Well... maybe Salman Rushdie's)

I suppose that you can still submit your manuscript electronically but the guy on the other end has this "delete" key that leaves less ashes than the incinerator and less of a mess than the shredder.

My personal strategy is to work my way up to a point where I look marketable to a New York agent. I started with PA, moved up to Behler (a marked improvement) and hope to take one more step to a nationally recognized publisher then clean up my act and take it on the road (or street).

Dennis Collins
Moderator
www.theunrealmccoy.com

Bill Bob (Unregistered Guest)
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Posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - 07:35 pm:

testing

Jake Elmore (Unregistered Guest)
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Posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - 07:40 pm:

Even books from the major publisher's like DeCapo and St. Martin's fail to make it onto shelves. Of course the author has the advance at this point so it's still a done deal. Anyone who promotes a PA book as a credit is DOA. Don't do it. It's a tough business.

Jake Elmore (Unregistered Guest)
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Posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - 07:43 pm:

"For others, it is our mission in life, our raison d'être."

Then do it right and attempt to get a real publisher. Belief isn't enough, only rewriting and persistence will cut it.

Fred Dungan
Unity Member
Post Number: 1439
Registered: 10-2002

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Posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - 10:39 pm:

That's exactly what we need to do. Nor should we limit it to pre-publication. If there is something you don't like about the First Edition, it should get changed in the Second Edition.

http://www.fdungan.com/vigilantes.htm

DaveKuzminski (Unregistered Guest)
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Posted on Wednesday, February 15, 2006 - 03:53 pm:

While there are successes such as The Christmas Box and The Motorcycle Diaries, it should be remembered that those are exceptions. When you consider how many other books were born in the same manner and didn't make it out to large-scale public notice, it becomes more clear that only very notable works are capable of surmounting those kinds of odds.

Fred Dungan
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Post Number: 1441
Registered: 10-2002

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Posted on Wednesday, February 15, 2006 - 10:14 pm:

Look on the discount table at your local bookstore and you will find that large publishing houses have their share of duds. I almost feel sorry for them. They remind me of large U.S. auto makers who failed to change with the times and, consequently, lost market share. To them, the internet is just another passing fad. They are still living in the age of filing cabinets and snail mail.

http://www.dunganbooks.com

guest (Unregistered Guest)
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Posted on Thursday, February 23, 2006 - 05:52 pm:

You'll never get on a shelf with a POD book that's for sure. Even the remainder table under a mainstream press is preferable to attempting that feat.

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