Around the Word

Self-pub skeptic: While there is a lot of enthusiasm for self-publishing as a "bright spot" in our changing media industry, not everyone is so convinced of its merits. Novelist and writer for The Millions Edan Lupecki gave her "Reasons Not to Self-Publish in 2011–2012: A List," highlighting several problems with self-pub enthusiasm, such as overlooking small presses, finding an audience, and signing yourself over to the all-mighty Amazon. Does Lupecki have a point? Or is she just a luddite?

Non-required readings: Author readings used to be the bread and butter of a book tour, but with shortening attentions spans and higher expectations for author engagement, many audiences aren't happy to sit through several chapters read aloud. The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the changing nature of the book tour, which now often includes extras like a lecture, presentation, interview, or panel discussion. Is this change for the best, or do you miss the old-fashioned readings?

WordPress to printing press: Social media guru Chris Brogan turned his attention to digital publishing this week, highlighting a new company called PressBooks. PressBooks lets authors create books using WordPress and format them for print, e-books, and tablets. Check out an interview on his site with the founder of PressBooks where they discuss the publishing e-volution.

Collapse of the E-uro? The European debt crisis and fragility of the Euro have been grabbing headlines for weeks, but Publishing Perspectives has taken a narrower view of Europe's economic woes: Would a collapse of the Euro slow European e-book adoption? The Euro is attractive for e-book distributors because it facilitates easier transactions and eliminates foreign exchange fees. Do you think the end of the Euro would also end the e-book?

Guest Post: 5 Book Proposal Musts by Ally Peltier

Today we bring you a guest post by writer, editor, and publishing consultant Ally Peltier. She's here to help you write your book proposal—the right way!

Most publishers don’t expect or want nonfiction authors to complete their manuscripts before submitting. Instead, such books are often sold to publishers based on the strength of their proposals. With so much riding on this one document, you have to be prepared to make the best pitch possible to agents and/or publishers. Make sure to do these five critical things, and you’ll be well on your way to landing that book deal.

Must #1: Research the submission requirements. Submission guidelines are usually found on a publishing company or agent’s website. These will explain how you should prepare and submit your proposal materials, including specifications for format types, snail mail vs. electronic delivery, reading dates, and more. Some agents/publishers will want a query letter first; some will ask for sample chapters right off the bat. Some want one chapter, some want three. Guidelines can be very specific, so you will likely need to create multiple versions of your proposal to suit different agents/publishers. Always defer to your target audience’s expressed preferences.

Must #2: Answer the question, “Why am I the right person to write this book?” Your “about the author” section is more than just a bio. It should highlight the specific experiences and professional credentials that have uniquely prepared you (or your client) to author this book. If you've been published before, provide information about the book's publisher, publication date, and sales figures.

Must #3: Address why this book needs to be published now. Your proposal needs to make a strong case for urgency. Perhaps your book touches on a growing trend or satisfies a burgeoning need. Maybe there’s a newsworthy aspect, or you might be presenting new research or updated information. Even evergreen subjects must be justified with regard to timeliness: Has it been a decade since the category bestseller was published, or do new technologies or philosophies provide a fresh approach to an old problem? You have to convince publishers that readers will shell out cash for your project today.

Must #4: Include plenty of market research. Your proposal must highlight a thoroughly developed book concept, show that you’ve researched your intended audience, and demonstrate that you have a platform appropriate for your book. Effectively illustrating these things proves that you understand book promotion, which is increasingly an author’s responsibility. Marketing and publicity departments will look to your proposal as a resource for developing a promotion plan, so it needs to indicate where they can expect sales and valuable attention. Use your imagination and make your agent/publisher see dollar signs.

Must #5: Distinguish your project from the competition. The claim that a book has no competition is very rarely true; more often, this reveals a lack of understanding and effort, and can even hint that the author might be a “problem child.” Agents/publishers will expect you to list two to five competing or comparative titles and to positively distinguish your book from them. If there are no direct competitors, list books on topics that come closest or address a similar audience. This gives publishers an idea of how robust the market is for your book, and how to position it among existing titles in the category. Get sales figures if you can, and note which books are bestsellers, have gone through multiple editions, have been translated into other languages, etc. If the publisher or agency you’re approaching has similar books on its list, be sure to include those so you can point out differences and explain why they should still publish your book.

A well-developed book proposal takes a lot of the guesswork out of a seemingly risky process. It needs to be well-written, organized, and complete. You may have the greatest idea for a book ever, but if your proposal is poorly conceptualized or lacking critical information, no agent or publisher will feel confident betting on you. So put the same effort into your proposal that you will ultimately put into your book, cover these five "musts," and increase your chances of getting that publishing contract!

Ally E. Peltier is an editor, writer, and publishing consultant who loves using her insider knowledge of the publishing industry and more than a decade of experience to help others reach their publishing goals, whether it’s showing a writer how to improve his manuscript, get an agent, or self-publish, or ghostwriting a book to help an entrepreneur skyrocket her business platform to new levels. Grab Ally’s free white papers and learn more about her services at www.ambitiousenterprises.com and www.allypeltier.com.

Around the Word

Cure for your shopping hangover. How was your Black Friday? We hope you didn't get trampled, looted, or pepper-sprayed. For those who stayed home—or those who wish they had—Huffington Post has a list of dystopian novels that seem rather apropos. As Madeline Crum says in the article, "What would Aldous Huxley or Ray Bradbury have to say about a society willing to fight for 40% off a dress or a complementary tote? Or did they already say it in their books?" 

The tweeting gene? The Guardian has started a new series where science writer Anna Perman deconstructs a complicated genetic theory for us lay-readers. The inaugural post is about the gene FOXP2, which is responsible for communication. It affects many different animals; a mutation on the gene in a human leaves the person with dysphoria, and "knock out this gene in birds and they have problems with – well – tweeting."

Famous rejects. Rejection letters are a fact of life for any writer, no matter how famous. Don't believe us? Check out Flavorpill's compilation of some of the harshest rejections in history, send to luminaries like Gertrude Stein, Vladimir Nabokov, Kurt Vonnegut, and more.

Delicious mashups. Did you hear about #LiteraryTurducken? Doubleday started a new Thanksgiving tradition with this tweet: "The #LiteraryTurducken combines not one, not two, but three classic works into one, in the spirit of the turkey+duck+chicken creole classic." We got pretty excited about the game here at GG; here's what we came up with:

• From GG's president @DanGerstein, continuing the bird theme: "The Maltese Falcon Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to Kill a Mockingbird."
• From our associate Oriana, "The Devil Wears Prada in the White City of Glass," and, via her Brooklyn blog @brooklynspaces: "A Tree Grows in the Last Exit to Motherless Brooklyn."
• From our writer friend @kerryzukus: "Rich Dad's Chicken Soup For Dummies."

Got any to add? Or maybe you want to save 'em for next Thanksgiving...

Around the Word

Copycats: Inspired by the recent plagiarism scandal involving Brooklyn thriller novelist Q.R. Markham, Stuart Kelly at the Guardian takes a look at the history of plagiarism. In our constantly shifting new-media landscape, sometimes it can be hard to tell what is a mash-up and what is a copy. As Kelly points out, at least it was fans who detected Markham's misdeed and not a computer program -- showing that "real reading still exists."

Just the right recommendation: One inventive bookseller is combining the popularity of online shopping with the personal touches of a brick-and-mortar store. Roxanne Coady founded the website Just The Right Book, where subscribers can take quizzes, get personalized book recommendations from Coady's staff, and often earn coupons toward purchasing the books. Is this digital-analog combo the way of the future?

To link or not to link? One topic of hot debate in the e-book world is the pros and cons of including links. We've written about the anti-link position before, but now another author has weighed in on the side of links. David Meerman Scott tells GalleyCat, "It means you can check out the Twitter feed of the expert cited in the text. You can see the cool picture that was once worth 1,000 words." How do you feel about e-book links?

Literary locales: Looking for a vacation with some literary inspiration? National Geographic has picked the ten most literary places in the world. Although New York doesn't make the list, Portland, Oregon and Washington, D.C. are the two most literary cities in the U.S. Which city do you think has the most word nerds?

Writer Profile: Erin Martin

We're starting a new regular feature here on the BloGG: Writer Profiles! As you can imagine, Gotham Ghostwriters knows a lot of writers, all of whom are working on exciting projects. If you're wondering what goes on in a writer's head on a typical writer's day, this series will give you some insight.  

Our inaugural profilee is longtime GG friend and writer Erin Martin, a former reporter for the Hartford Courant and deputy press secretary to U.S. Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut. A graduate of Stanford University, Erin has managed political development programs in post-apartheid South Africa and Namibia. She also worked for The September 11th Fund, a World Trade Center relief organization, and for a Madison Avenue communications consultancy. She lives in New York City.

GG: What's a typical "writer's day" for you?

EM: The only certainty in my day is that first cup of coffee.  After that, it all depends. Thankfully, no two days are the same!

GG: What's the most rewarding writing project you've done?

EM: As someone whose livelihood depends on versatility in writing, I try to find something rewarding in every project. I don’t ever want to feel that I’m writing something for the paycheck, or that the final product doesn’t matter to me. Not caring about the project = poor product and bored writer.

That said, the most rewarding projects have been ones in which I felt that my writing captured the essence of a person, place, or situation. Two leaders in that category are the newly released Fit to Serve, the book I did with Jim Hormel, America’s first openly gay ambassador, and another memoir I did through Gotham, a rags-to-riches story about a Bombay woman who came to the U.S. and made a fortune in radiology.

What do you do when you're not writing?

I support my writing habit with short-term communications consulting. Interesting recent gigs included a project in Bosnia to promote intellectual property rights, and another in Kosovo to explain and drum up support for the country’s new tax system.

What's the toughest thing about being a writer?

Discipline. The tiniest of writing roadblocks can prompt my socks to yell from their drawer, demanding re-organization, or cause cookbooks to throw themselves off the shelves and open to a must-make-this-tonight recipe.

What are some great writer resources you depend on?

I used to find inspiration in hearing authors discuss their work, until one afternoon at Lincoln Center I heard a Peruvian short-story writer counseling artists to cancel their magazine and newspaper subscriptions, cut off their cable television, and shut themselves off to all outside voices. His suggestion was extreme, but the ideas of eliminating extraneous chatter and looking internally for guidance appealed to me. What that means, I guess, is that I strive to let my own voice be my number one resource. 

Around the Word

Libyan unbanning day: To great fanfare, Libya had a ceremonial book-unbanning last week, reports The Star. Accompanied by bagpipes, intellectual and political heavies gathered for the celebration. The ground floor of the palace-turned-library was lined with books, and tables were piled high with more. "This is a major moment for us because this is where we reclaim our intellectual freedom," said one attendee, human-rights activist Hassan al-Amin. "We say goodbye to an era where free thinking was forbidden, where ideas were dangerous."

Freelance tweeting: Everyone's trying to find the best, most effective ways to use social networking. For a freelancer, Twitter can be an invaluable tool. MediaBistro's AllTwitter blog has a great primer on the benefits Twitter offers to freelancers, from networking to marketing to finding work, as well as gaining some insight into the daily lives and schedules of other freelancers. How have you used Twitter in your freelance career?

Speech stunner: GalleyCat calls our attention to the standout speech at last week's National Book Awards. Nikky Finney, whose book Head Off & Split won the poetry award, spoke beautifully of history, slavery, and the people who have inspired her throughout her writing career. The whole of the awards are watchable on the site, and you can find Finney's speech around minute 17.


Navigating self-publishing: If you're a new writer, or a writer unfamiliar with the weird and wonderful world of book publishing, it can be quite overwhelming to decide how to proceed. If you're thinking about going the self-publishing route, check out Wicked Tricksy's roundup of great resources for newbies. In addition to the blogs of several self-publishing stars, they offer a reasoned argument against getting your data from writer forums. Do you know of any great self-publishing sites not included in this list?

Around the Word

Novel dysfunction: If the prospect of spending Thanksgiving with your family makes you feel less than grateful, consider turning to some literary inspiration for dealing with dysfunctional families. In honor of the holiday, Ploughshares Literary Magazine put together a list of the books about the darkest, craziest and unhappiest families. What's your favorite book about family feuds?

Fired up: Amazon's newest e-reader -- the tablet-style Kindle Fire -- has finally arrived, and the reviews are lukewarm. Slate technology writer Farhad Manjoo gives his take on the Fire, characterizing it as "underachieving" but priced low enough that it could successfully compete with the iPad. Manjoo also predicts that the Fire will lead to even more book sales than previous Kindles. Will you be buying a Fire this holiday season?

Unreasonable lending? In other Amazon news, the Authors Guild is pretty unhappy with Amazon's other new feature: the Kindle Owner's Lending Library. The AG issued a statement arguing that the lending library falls outside the realm of most publishing licensing contracts. They also have some tips for getting your book taken out of the library if it's there without your permission, GalleyCat reports. Is the Lending Library a good thing for authors, or a backhanded move by Amazon?

Best of the web: As any web-surfing word nerd knows, there's tons of writing advice on the Internet -- some of it good, and some if it not so good. Over at the Writing Resource, Erin Brenner compiled a list of her favorite advice on the writing process, from getting started to keeping your readers' attention. Do you have an article on writing that you refer to again and again?