Consumer Behaviour

It’s been a while since I updated my series on getting a book published, partly because I’ve been so busy with book-related activity!

The publishing industry works backwards.  That’s not a slur on their approach, just an observation.  They set a publication date based on a number of factors:

• Is there an event they can associate the book with? If you’ve written a book on space travel it probably makes sense to time the launch to coincide the publication with a large space conference or the intended publication date of the latest Mars pictures, or whatever.  There are two reasons for this: firstly, the human brain works by associations and if the media are developing the neural paths to space-related thoughts your book is going to feel more relevant and is more likely to get noticed.  Secondly, journalists looking to cover the event will appreciate an angle from you that helps them make their piece more interesting.
• What other titles the publisher has scheduled and whether they have an obvious position in the calendar: with limited resources you want to be published when the publisher can give you it’s full support, not be fighting with every other new book author for limited internal resources.
• The lead times for publicity and submission to catalogues: some media have very long lead times (such as monthly magazines), some are much shorter.  It’s no use being on radio today if your book isn’t going to be published for another two months.  Equally, it’s no use being in next February’s magazine if the book is going to feel like old news by then. 

I was expecting more of a break between final editing and initial publicity, but that’s not been the case.  I’ve already done a handful of interviews, articles and contributions to articles.  For me, this process will probably be a little more drawn out because the US launch of Consumerology is the month after the UK launch.

Mind you, even when things seem quiet your publisher will probably be working in the background, trying to sell the translation rights to your book.  I believe that the Spanish rights have now been purchased for Consumerology, which is fantastic news!

The role of the publishers publicist is critical.  I am incredibly fortunate to have Nadia; an enthusiastic, experienced and dedicated publicist working on my book.  I was given some incredibly good advice by my unofficial literary agent Francis: “Get on well with your publicist – if he or she doesn’t support your book enthusiastically you won’t get anywhere.” 

Fortunately, I haven’t ever  had to try hard to get on with Nadia, it’s easy because she is the sort of person who oozes integrity: she’s a credit to her profession.

I’m also lucky that my publisher has recently taken on an internet publicity manager, Dan.  I’ve not been able to support his efforts as much as I would have liked in the last couple of weeks because of other projects, but in the next week or two I hope I’ll be working with him to make sure the world wide web gets to hear a little more about the book.

Philip Graves Getting a Book Published Consumerology, getting published, published

The path to writing a book and getting it published is, without doubt, one that winds a lot.

On the way there will be plenty of dead-ends and no shortage of obstacles to circumnavigate.

However, what makes all the anguish worthwhile, are the moments that result from starting out and that are every bit as gratifying as the writer’s block, rejection letters and suggested revisions are aggravating.

I find there are usually three ways to deal with virtually any situation in life: ignore it and carry on regardless, take it badly or use it for inspiration.  It’s no coincidence that there really was something to learn from each ‘bad’ moment along the way.

Writer’s block: (which I hardly ever got) you’re trying to hard, go and do something else for a bit, or skip this section for now, it’s obviously not flowing.

Rejection letters: there’s always a lot of luck involved, but are you sure you’ve sent the book to the people who are most likely to have an interest in it?

‘Suggested’ Revisions: the biggest benefit of having a publisher is someone else who cares about your book almost as much as you do looking at it objectively.  Every single one of the suggestions my publisher and editor put to me have made the book better.  I confess that, once or twice, I had to count to ten, because I thought the book was finished.  Fortunately I made it to the last finger on the second hand, started to look at what they were advocating without the frustration from the process and the book was better for it.

And what about those moments that make it all worthwhile?  I’m reliably told that having the first copy in your hand is one of them, but I’ve not reached that point yet.  Thus far the highlights have been:

• Realising I had the structure of a book that excited me: you’re going to be working on it for a while, so you need to keep yourself interested!
• Every five thousand word threshold as I wrote.
• Finishing the first draft and seeing that I had written a book (even if I did have no clue whether anyone would be interested enough in it to publish it).
• Getting a meeting with a publisher.
• Walking through the door of the publishers.
• Receiving a contract.
• Getting a cheque for the first part of the advance.
• Seeing the cover for the first time.

And here is that cover….

Consumer.ology

It’s still making me smile….

Philip Graves

Philip Graves Getting a Book Published book, consumer behaviour, consumer.ology, market research

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve updated you on the trials and tribulations of getting a book into print.

Just to recap, I’d opted for the route of getting a publisher for various reasons, and since that time have been submitting my book to a number of publishers and some literary agents.

I submitted the book to just three literary agents and three publishers.  With hindsight I think the decision to move from pursuing literary agents to publishers was an astute one: publishers have, by necessity, a broader interest sphere than literary agents. 

From what I gather, I have been extremely fortunate in finding a publisher after so few attempts – I hope some of what I’ve learned along the way and covered in previous blogs helps any of you looking to have a book published.

No doubt I’ve been extremely lucky.

I was lucky to be inspired to write the book by my friend Jay Wright, who showed me that it was possible to decide to write a book and then go ahead an do it: his book GAS is self-published through Lulu.com. 

I was lucky to be encouraged and mentored by Kevin Hogan – an established author.

I was lucky to find Francis – my benevolent literary adviser.

I was lucky that someone I sent my book to recommended I send it to Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

I was lucky that Nicholas Brealey Publishing wanted to publish it and luckier still, given some of the stories that one hears, that the team I’ve met there are nice people who challenge me to make my book the best it can be, whilst being supportive of what I’m doing.

My book will be published in June.  It’s called Consumer.ology: The Market Research Myth, the Truth About Consumer Behaviour and the Psychology of Shopping.

As you can probably imagine – I’m absolutely delighted.

Philip Graves

Philip Graves Getting a Book Published

Getting a book published shouldn’t be like going to the doctors, but it is.

You know how it is; something doesn’t seem right so you go to the doctor and part of you thinks, “I’ll ask him (or her) what’s wrong and then I’ll know.”

But of course that isn’t what happens.

The doctor isn’t sure. So you get sent for tests.

“When I get the test results I’ll know…”

Except the test results are inconclusive, or else they point to something that there isn’t really anything they can give you.

And so it goes on.

There I was thinking there would be a “we love your book” moment from a publisher and a big party, but it hasn’t worked out that way.

Instead I got a very nice email saying that a publisher would like to discuss my book with me.

Don’t get me wrong, this is GREAT NEWS, but it’s not a ‘moment’ of revelation.

So having met them and discussed the book they’ve asked me to consider putting a slightly different slant on it.  It would mean more writing, but I happen to think this publisher is right, the changes would make for a better book.

I need to work on a revised submission.

That moment isn’t here yet, but it could just be a little bit closer!

Philip Graves

Philip Graves Getting a Book Published

OK, I’ve used a little hyperbole in the title of this blog, I’ll admit.  There is no perfect submission letter because each submission you send is going in front of a different pair of eyes.

But I think there are some very important points to consider and at the end I’ll tell you my own idea of what might help tip the balance when you send your dream off to a publisher.

Firstly, and most importantly, check whether the publisher you are writing to has a preference for what a submission contains.  Many of them do.  Of course, you don’t have to follow it slavishly, but you need to work within their parameters and find a way to stand out without appearing to have ignored their wishes.  When you get published you’ll be working with your publisher and demonstrating you can’t pay attention to their needs isn’t a recipe for success.

Next make sure the working title is clearly stated.  I suggest describing it as a ‘working title’; if someone has a better one you should be open to it even if it does feel like the equivalent of renaming your child.

Then say how long the book will be (A4 double spaced pages and word count) and whether or not it is finished yet.

Your synopsis should be short; think in terms of the back cover of a book.  If you can’t wrap it up succinctly perhaps it isn’t clear enough.  You need to get the idea over in a paragraph or two – no more.

It might also be helpful to say why the world needs your book – what will it do.

Make it clear who the book is targeting and be clear in your own mind how attractive a market this is likely to be to your publisher.  Look at the titles they currently publish and who they are targeted at.  Hopefully the fit is good, otherwise expect a rejection letter: publishers like to play to their strengths (a sensible approach if you think about it).

Don’t be afraid to point out your books competitors.  In the world of publishing competing titles are often a good thing rather than a bad one.  They show that there is a market for the subject matter and publishers, like the rest of us, are fundamentally risk averse.  Of course it will be helpful to point out why your book is adding something new or different.  But be warned, even if your breaking new ground, saying that there are no other books out there isn’t as an appealing proposition for a publisher as you might think.

Outline your credentials for writing the book.  This is no time for false modesty.  If you’ve written the book you will, by definition, know a fair amount more than the average person about your subject.

Finally, and arguably most importantly, explain what you can and will do to market your book.  Imagine you’re a publisher reading a submission.  You want to be interested in it yourself, you want to feel you know the market (it’s an area you have experience of publishing before) and someone says “I will market the heck out of this”.  There is a very good chance they can feel confident about selling most of the first print run. 

That probably doesn’t mean they break even, but it’s a good step in the right direction.

The internet provides countless opportunities for marketing your book:
- through your blog and /or website
- through twitter
- through other peoples ezines
- through article marketing
- by emailing everyone you’ve ever met (who are currently clogging up your Microsoft Office contacts)
- LinkedIn contacts and groups

But what about going a step beyond these?  After all these are mostly time-based rather than cost-based.

My top tip is to put your money where your mouth is.  Decide how much you are prepared to invest in marketing your own book and include some examples:
- placing a full page ad in a relevant trade journal or two
- sending the book to key individuals at your own expense
- even undertaking your own PR work (via a specialist book PR company)

Clearly you need to be careful that you don’t commit to something without having a clear idea of the costs involved: do that research first!

Then get a good quality envelope, print your book’s first 30 pages (or whatever is required) on good quality paper, and put a couple of drops of lemon oil in the envelope just before you close it (heck, you didn’t expect me not to leverage appealing subliminal associations did you?).

I’ll let you know how I get on…

Philip Graves

Philip Graves Getting a Book Published book, Marketing

Make no mistake, getting a book published is tough.  Some of that is for the right reasons; after all there are a zillion people who would like the idea of having a book published and there isn’t a market for that many books – it’s no bad thing that the publishers and literary agents of this world act as something of a buffer between all the prospective junk and the ones that make it into print.  And, of course, lots of those won’t sell particularly well.

But some of the reasons getting your book published is tough aren’t good ones.

One publisher that I sent my book to took twelve weeks to reply (and only then after I had called to enquire about its progress, which is something they say you shouldn’t do).

In fact, I would agree that you shouldn’t do it.  I happen to know that the rejection I received was simply a way of getting me off the phone.  Because two weeks later I received a letter that also rejected my book, but for an entirely different reason.

This was the same publisher who, when I was speaking to someone to ask how long they were taking to review submissions said, “We’ve got a lot backing up at the moment, but we have someone coming in next week to go through them all.”

Now, they probably meant they were employing an experienced freelance submission reviewer (or whatever they are called) but it had the air of, “We’ve got this kid coming in from the temp agency for a couple of days just to get the rejection letters sent out.”

I remember reading an interview with a publisher who was asked why they never gave writers much by way of feedback when they were rejecting their work.  The answer was extremely honest: he explained that if you give feedback you risk the writer thinking that they can get into a dialogue with you or, worse still, making the changes they think you want and expecting you to read it again and say ‘yes’. 

The implication is that, if a publisher thinks a book has sufficient merit, they will commission it and work on it with the writer.

One of the many advantages of having Francis on my side is that when he has spoken to someone about my book they are responding to their relationship with him, not to some complete stranger.

He spoke to someone he used to work with who is now the sales director of a medium-sized publisher and she said she would pass my book on to the managing editor; that’s particularly handy when you’re dealing with a publisher who doesn’t invite unsolicited submissions.

It was, regrettably, another rejection.

But not only did I receive an explanation of why - my book just wasn’t a strong fit with the titles they publish – I also received a suggestion of a publisher who she thought would be interested in my book.

That means I have a pretty good idea that the publisher fit is strong, so what this publisher thinks really matters.  If they reject it I will need to reconsider things because they should be interested in the subject matter.

I’m going to review my submission carefully, tune it up so that it gives my book the best possible chance and write the most important letter so far.

It just goes to show… having a Francis is immeasurably helpful for all sorts of direct (advice) and indirect (relationships with the industry) reasons.  It also shows how difficult it can be to pinpoint the publishers who will be most interested in your work. 

Next time I’ll tell you more about what I’m putting in this submission.

Philip Graves

Philip Graves Getting a Book Published book, published, publishers

Forgive the provocative title, I’m sure your book is wonderful, but I’m guessing that the self-doubt the writing process is riddled with isn’t something only I have experienced!

In fact, Francis, my ‘fairy book father’ (I really must find a better way of describing him) reassures me that self-doubt is pretty much inevitable.

The process of writing is, for the most part, a solitary pursuit.  Every now and then some clever soul conspires a way of writing that involves other people; co-writing, basing a book on interviews or… well there must be a third way that escapes me now (and writing being what it is, there’s no one here to ask).  Even these people will be faced with a fair amount of editing or compiling that is shared only with the computer keyboard.

And it’s hard to sustain that initial resolve that you have something to say 100% of the time.  Sometimes, when you get stuck, you find yourself questioning whether that’s because you’re just a bit stuck or because you’ve completely lost your way. 

The good news is that, provided you keep on keeping on, you’ll get to the end eventually (and if you’re like me you’ll find the habit of writing kicks in and then you accelerate towards the end rather than stutter and stall).

But then the nature of the submission process rears its head and if you were anything less than certain about your work before there’s every chance the spectre of doubt will reappear.

Of course it’s perfectly possible that your book will be rejected because it’s a bit less than good, or possibly entirely awful.  On the other hand there are a myriad of other possibilities.

Think about it from the other end.  In order to be taken on by a publisher or literary agent the following events must conspire in your favour:

• The postal service do what they should and deliver your submission (some kind of tracking is advisable to mitigate against this).
• Someone actually reads your submission (I’m not suggesting anything else would ever happen, well, OK, I know this does happen).
• It fits with the type of book they are interested in publishing.
• The person reading it likes it.
• The person reading it believes there is a market for it.
• That person doesn’t have another book or books that they are fully occupied with so, much as yours looks interesting, they’re already committed elsewhere.
• That person hasn’t just read another book that they find fractionally more interesting than yours (most things are relative after all) and to which they’ve just committed themselves.
• That person isn’t having a bad day that means, despite meeting all of the above criteria, they’re too grumpy to say yes.

So when the first rejection drops on your mat there’s no reason to be disheartened after all.  That’s what I’m telling myself and Francis agrees.  He’s swiftly directed me towards another publishing contact and the journey continues…

Philip Graves

Philip Graves Getting a Book Published book, publishing, writing a book

Last time I promised I would explain more about Francis and so I will (although a little later than I’d planned because of a very pleasant summer holiday in France).

Having finished my book and received some truly excellent advice on how to approach publishers from the course I took with Kevin Hogan, I still found myself with something of a problem

The publishing world is large.  It’s more than large.  It’s massive.  And it’s not just a matter of there being companies that publish books, there are also literary agents to consider.

Do I need a literary agent?  Good question (and one I’ll answer further next time). 

I have discovered that many publishers won’t accept an unsolicited manuscript.  This, it seems, is their way of telling you not to bother.  They presumably work on the basis that if your book was any good then a literary agent would want to represent you and they prefer to deal with them. 

This is understandable, I suppose. With all the books that are published representing just a tiny fraction of those that are written, publishers need to find some way of stemming the tide of manuscripts dropping through their letter boxes.

On the subject of the number of books written I discovered something that surprised me.  Apparently – and I should point out this is from Wikipedia so, you know… – the United Kingdom tops the list for the most numbers of books publisher (over 200,000 in 2005).   The US is in second or third… China were ahead in 1996 but no statistics have been produced more recently.

Even though the population is only one fifth of America’s the UK publish more books!  So if you’re an aspiring writer in the US perhaps you should consider moving to the UK to improve your chances.

Of course, this also means that I’m living in the country that, when population is taken into consideration, gives me the best chance of getting published, which is good news.  But if I fail it will have been at the lowest hurdle (gulp)!

Be grateful you’re not trying to become a writer in Oman.  Admittedly they only have a population of three million people, but according to the Wikipedia article (which sites UNESCO as its source) they managed to publish just seven books in 1996.  Blimey!

All of which brings me, in a round about kind of a way, to Francis.

You see as I sat there with my manuscript, an envelope and a handful of stamps I didn’t have the foggiest idea where to start.  Who should I send my book to first?  A publisher or an agent?  Which publisher or agent?  Should I carpet bomb the publishing world with my book?

In a moment of what I’m immodestly prepared to acknowledge was complete genius I decided I would ask people I know if they knew anyone who could help point me in the right direction.

A couple of potentially promising leads eventually led nowhere but then my mother-in-law, who it has to be said seems to know someone in every walk of life, mentioned an acquaintance of hers called Francis.  He was, she told me, a writer and thoroughly nice man, and provided me with his phone number.

She was wrong about him.  Not the ‘thoroughly nice man part’ that was, if anything, an understatement, but about the writer part. 

Francis isn’t just a writer.

He is a publisher author, who used to own a publishing firm, and who was managing director of a company that developed the book reference system that is used throughout the publishing world to provide details on available books.  He is also a respected industry figure who chairs literary panels and advises university writing courses.  I’ve probably not covered everything that he is or has been involved in of a literary nature, but you get the idea.

And when I called Francis and explained about my book and what I wanted to do he said he would be delighted to help me.

Things are looking up.

Philip Graves

Philip Graves Getting a Book Published writing

As readers of my previous blogs will know, I’m condensing the first part of my journey in trying to get my book published because some stages have taken weeks, during which all I’ve been doing is waiting for replies.

This raises a really important point: how do you find the energy to keep plugging away when things get tough, either when writing or when attempting to get published?

My solution is to keep half an eye out for inspiration all the time.   I received a signed photograph of my favourite guitar player (Eric Clapton) for Christmas and, remarkably, a Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilt Clapton Stratocaster from my family and friends for my 40th birthday.

The presence of both of these in my office inspire me.

Clapton is a genius in my mind, but that genius was achieved by him playing guitar for hours because it was something he was passionate about.  These symbols of him are reminders about what can be achieved through passion and perseverance.

On Sunday I found another source of inspiration; the documentary ‘Man on Wire’.

It’s the astounding, moving and poignant story of Philippe Petit’s attempt to put a tightrope between the twin towers of the World Trade Center and walk across.

The documentary has no footage of his incredible walk; instead (and I think the documentary is enhanced by this) we have the photographs taken by Jean Louis Blondeau, a photographer and friend of Philippe who did a whole lot more than simply take photographs (but I’ll let the documentary tell you that story).

After a mistake by Philippe, Jean Louis spent seven hours hauling the very heavy cable up into position on the second tower – a task one of the others in the group had given up on because he thought it was impossible.  When it came to taking the photographs he was exhausted and barely able to operate the camera from his exertions with the cable and yet he still managed to document this incredible feat.

I can’t begin to relate to what Philippe did – the thought terrifies me beyond words.  Nor can I appreciate what drove Jean Louis Blondeau to bear what he did to make the tightrope walk possible and document it afterwards.  But I can be inspired by the passion and perseverance that drove these men to do what they did.

If you have a moment, take a look at some of the images of the Man on Wire walking between the Twin Towers at Jean’s site here.  Who knows, perhaps it will inspire you too.

Philip Graves
P.S.  I know I said I would tell you about Francis next time I posted; sorry I got swept along by this post.  I promise I’ll tell you about him next time!

Philip Graves Getting a Book Published Jean Louis Blondeau, Man on Wire, Philippe Petit, photographs, World Trade Center

So, having decided that I wanted to try and get my book published by a ‘proper/established/traditional’ publisher how do you decide who to send it to?

I had undertaken a course (run by Kevin Hogan) that helped enormously with the development of the book and how  I should approach getting it published, and which included some very good suggestions about what to say when you contacted a publisher, but that still leaves a very big world of publishing and me without much of a road map about where to start.

One of the things I discovered quite quickly is that publishers and literary agents ‘prefer’ to have the chance to consider your submission on their own; in other words they aren’t keen on the idea of me carpet-bombing the industry with my book.  It’s easy to see why this solus approach is in the interests of the publishers and agents and perhaps the risk of ignoring their preference is small, but it only takes someone interested in your book to speak to someone else that you’ve sent it to, and you’ve put that relationship at risk.

Perhaps naively I’ve opted for a ‘one at a time’ approach; I suppose I’ll never know if that’s right or not!

Another question to consider is, should I go straight to a publisher or should I get an agent?

It seems likely that an agent would have more chance of being heard by a publisher than an unknown author, and a good one should provide expertise on marketing and promotion too: along with the publisher it’s another person on the team supporting your work.

Of course, that comes at a price.  A percentage of your percentage would have to go to pay their commission.  At this (optimistic) stage I’m inclined to think that this would be a virtuous addition so I’m happy to pursue that route.

But that still leaves an awful lot of literary agents, so how do you know which of them to approach?

Received wisdom is that you should look for books like your own and see who represents those authors.

There is an alternative.  But it requires networking and the most extraordinary good luck. 

Next time I’ll tell you about Francis; every aspiring author should do their level best to find a Francis (although I fear they are extremely rare).

Philip Graves

Philip Graves Getting a Book Published, Uncategorized