PUBLISHING ADVENTURES
Enjoy Your Adventures in Publishing . . .
They are vital to your success!
If you are an established author, or other creative professional selling a mass-produced product, you have probably experienced the lows as well as highs in the production and sales processes.
~ Local, national, and international economic changes affect every aspect of the literary marketplace…and market analysis is key to your success
~ Creating works that meet the changing tastes of the public
~ If you are an author, there is the excellence in editing as well as initial composition(and other tasks), to satisfy your publisher (if you have one)
~ Quality control (QC) in printing that depends on the consistency of quality equipment, ink, paper, and other supplies
~ Distribution planning and implementation…including transport and stocking
~ Book Event planning and execution…with fixed and mobile displays
~Refining Book Promotion to achieve success within your target market
It's a true accomplishment if you have managed to author a published book series. But while you may have been assured that great things would emerge at this point in your writing career, you are facing more than a few challenges. Allow me to tell you about some of the issues I have confronted during publication of The Natalie Seachrist Visionary Hawaiian Cozy Mysteries.
ELEMENTAL CONSISTENCY
One of the first issues I faced was avoiding the possibility of copyright violation in my use of the aphorisms (quotes) that I use to open each chapter. The easiest way to do that is select quotes from writers who have been deceased for a very long time. In the first book, Prospect for Murder, I did use a quote from a friend for a funeral scene; in that case I was careful to have her sign a release that I gave to my publisher. Another concern was avoiding repetition of the same quotes in either the same book or a subsequent one. During pre-publication review of Murder on Mokulua Drive, I discovered I’d reused a quote from Prospect for Murder. My records of aphorisms now indicate when and where a quote is used. Another discovery I made occurred when it was too late to correct…I had changed the color of a primary character's truck. I have since created an expanding document listing aspects of the series as well as individual characters, their work, their home, and even their pets.
CHARACTERS AND LOCALES
~ Initially, I had a male protagonist. Whoops…my writers’ salon found that “voice” more appropriate to a woman.
~ Names, their spellings, descriptions, and pronunciation must all be checked. Imagine my chagrin in realizing I’d changed a name’s pronunciation mid-way through recording PFM’s audio edition!
~ While my protagonist thinks in whole words, she speaks with contractions. I now begin each book by reviewing my chart of persons, places, and their characteristics.
PLURALITY
Promotional text highlighting aspects of a single book must encompass each title in a series. Having multiple titles often means having different editions. For PFM, I had hardcover, softcover, eBook, and physical and a digital audio edition. MOMD and Murders of Conveyance were available in hardcover, softcover, and eBook editions; I had to remember to omit audio references (like “Audible.com”) when describing books after PFM. Sadly, the fourth book, Yen for Murder is not available in hardcover...merely softcover and eBook.
PRINTING CHALLENGES
As a series develops, let alone a change in publisher, there may be a need to shift printers, or even if the printing company is the same, the paper, ink, printing equipment and/or process may change. And that does not take temperature or humidity into consideration. The bottom line is that although I chose to have the covers of the books feature the same gold frame based on Hawaiian heirloom jewelry, and the artwork created by the same talented Artist (California’s Yasamine June), there has been some variation in the layout of text, and coloration between Yasamine’s original work and the final printings. And then there’s the matter of using the images on the internet…but we won’t go there except to say that one should try to make sure images are saved as a RGB color model.
BOOK PROMOTION REFINEMENT
Refining the promotion of an author’s books is a never-ending process. I have never been fond of the term “cozy” as a genre description for my Hawaiian Mysteries. Recently I have researched sub-genres for something more appropriate to the pan-Pacific history, multiculturalism, and visions that fill the mysteries I write. Fortunately, I have discovered a phrase that is more appealing to my readers as well as myself: Visionary Cozy Mysteries! The elements of this sub-genre include: a cozy core; visionary and/or spiritual elements; paranormal features; and a depth of intuition and wisdom within amateur sleuths.
BOOK EVENT PLANNING AND EXECUTION
Whether you work wholly on your own, or with regional/national author organizations, there are many book events through which you can introduce your work.
INTRODUCING YOUR WORK
When you reach the point of making public appearances and giving readings (live or recorded), you will find flaws in your work. There’s simply no way to avoid it. Years after doing a series of oral history interviews in Hawaiʻi, I realized that both my interviewee and I had mispronounced an Hawaiian word…that’s when a Mea Culpa disclaimer became a necessary page in my website!
PRESENTING YOURSELF
If you have a publisher or literary agent, they may have guidelines for authors to present themselves, in traditional settings, online, and in social media. If you’ve never been in the public eye, you may be grateful for their suggestions about wardrobe, hair, accessories, and makeup [yes, men sometimes require makeup]. Remember that how you appear expresses your overall point of view (POV) in your personal as well as professional living.
Having described some of the challenges of the publishing and product presentation process, I will still maintain that it is all worth your effort, and the cost. For if you are fortunate enough to have your work published, you deserve to enjoy your work…and the joy it will bring you readers and listeners!
