How to Publish a Book Readers,

I have a new video that I shot this weekend at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, North Carolina. This "How to Publish a Book" discussion was on the topic of publishing an online audio book, how to publish an eBook, and online book marketing. 

We had a turnout of about 25 folks, and they all asked excellent questions about how to publish a book. Several folks were interested in publishing an audio book at Podiobooks.com, which is a type of eBook. We also talked about more traditional eBook publishing and Amazon's Kindle.

At the very end of the discussion, we talked about how to use Google Adsense Video Units to generate revenue on your website... which reminds me, you probably noticed the YouTube video screen at the top of the homepage here at How to Publish a Book. If you click on the video, we actually make about a dollar per "view" here at How to Publish a Book.

So please click on the video at the top of the page.

Thanks so much, everyone.

Enjoy the site!

Stacey

How to Publish a Book Readers,

This week I interviewed New York Times bestselling mystery/suspense author J.A. Jance. This was one of those interviews where I felt so prepared that I was able to be completely relaxed.

Considering that Jance probably has more books in print (and more books published) than any other author that I've ever interviewed (somewhere in the 10 million+ books in print range), I was happy with how everything came together.

Towards the second half of the interview, we managed to discuss some emotionally-rich territory. It seems like with every studio interview, I learn a little bit more. Enjoy.

Stacey

How to Publish a Book Readers,

I am at the 2008 WorldCon in Denver, Colorado. For the past three days, I've been sitting in on publishing panel discussions with all manner of book publishing professionals: editors, publishers, agents, writers, etc. I'll be here until Sunday.

This is my third WorldCon, and the first where I am actively not promoting any of my own work. I decided to do this one in a sort of low-profile style.

I just wanted to listen to other people at this convention. I figure that if I spend more time listening rather than ramming my book down people's throats, I'll get a lot more out of the experience.

Take, for instance, this insight I gleaned from one of the publishing panels I've just come from. Two of the panelists were executive editors, and I asked the question, "Are editors paid on salary or do they receive a commission on the titles they acquire?" I was fairly well stunned to learn (at least at the house represented on the panel) that they receive no commission. None. Zero.

The panelist who responded clearly would have liked to have been receiving at least, say, 10% commission, and said as much.

To me, as I'm beginning to ferment the idea of starting my own publishing company, it just makes total sense to be paying editors at least partly, if not totally, on a commission basis. What incentive does "Editor A" have to find the hottest new writer on the block over "Editor B" if they're both making about the same amount of money regardless of how well the book does? Other than helping out the company and getting salary increases from time to time, there's no incentive.

This is an astonishing insight.

Do you realize how attractive it would be to the best editors in the business if a publishing company paid them on commission? And I'm not talking about the editors who are flailing around with authors who can't break even. I'm talking about the editor whose recent acquisition just became a New York Times bestseller and sold 3 million copies last year.

If these panelists represent the publishing business as a whole (and I just can't believe that they could), the editor who acquires the million copy bestseller has very little personal incentive (compared to if they were receiving 15% commission on sales of the book) to find such hot new talent.

No wonder the publishing business is completely stagnant.

At any rate, it was just one of those moments in a career, where suddenly the light bulb came on, and I realized, Holy shit, there's one major thing a publishing company could do to energize the acquisition of hot new talent. Pay the editors for discovering that new talent.

Even if it was only as part of a bonus, say, if a certain book hit a threshold of sales that then the editor would receive 15% commission. That would so incentivize editors to really get out there and find the best new talent for their publishing company.

It could only help everything in the long run.

Stacey

How to Publish a Book Readers,

I have a new "How to Publish a Book" panel discussion video online. I interviewed authors Martha Witt and Val Nieman on the subject of literary agents, how to publish a book, and how to market a book. We were also joined by NC Arts Council Marketing Director Rebecca L. Moore.

This is part of a monthly series I've been doing at Quail Ridge Books on the subject of how to publish a book.

This week, I'll be flying to Denver, Colorado for the World Science Fiction Convention. I'm planning to bring my camera, so hopefully I'll have some good footage of that to put online here at How to Publish a Book later this month.

Take care, folks.

Stacey