I’ve recently received questions about publishing, so I thought I’d address the topic here in a series of posts. While I have been having my books published (24) during the past 20 years, I DO NOT consider myself an expert on publishing by any means. Just when I think I have it figured out, something changes and I’m back at square one. And changes are happening now more than ever. As a result, I am a continuous student.
The fact of the matter is, anyone can publish a book. That’s pretty much a good thing since it means big publishing houses have less than total control of the market, but it can make it challenging for consumers to sort through an increased number of books of varied quality (which we have always had to do, so no big deal!).
Here’s my thinking process when approaching a publishing project: First, I start with, What am I interested and curious enough about to want to spend a good deal of time with and write about it? When I have something in mind, I think about the market. Will other people be interested in the topic and want to read what I write? If the answer is “yes” I’ll write with a particular audience in mind. If “no” I’ll write it for myself and not bother to market it for publication.
Checking the market is a very important step. Are there similar book on the market? Who is the publisher? Knowing this is especially important if you have a specific genre (e.g. biography) or topic (e.g. teaching autistic children) in mind. Knowing what’s currently available and who publishes what can save you a lot of time and effort later on when it comes to marketing your work. It can also help you decide whether it’s worth it to pursue a project.
The first manuscript I completed was called Positively Peppermint and was a nonfiction book for children all about…yes, peppermint, it’s history, how it’s grown, what it’s used for, etc. I was so excited when I discovered there were not kids’ books on the topic. None! However, as my rejection notices from publishers piled up -25…30…50…75 – I realized that maybe there was not much interest (read market) for this topic. What I did, though, was take a slice of that manuscript (peppermint oil is used to flavor chewing gum) and use it as a spark for another project, which became my first published book, The Chewing Gum Book.
Next post will be cover “Do you write it first or do you sell it first?”
Stay tuned.
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