Want to avoid the slush-pile and give your book the head-start it deserves? Top publishers and literary agents are receiving up to 1000 manuscripts per week. They reject around 95% of these without so much as reading them.So you need to do everything possible to avoid costly mistakes when submitting your work.

Poor Layout and Presentation

Publishers don’t want single-spaced pages in 10 point typeface. They don’t want fancy fonts or coloured paper. You may think it will grab their attention. It will, but for all the wrong reasons.

Use double-spacing and 12 point typeface. Number your pages and include a word count. Put your book title at the top of every page. This will ensure your manuscript looks professional and businesslike.

Failing To Research Your Market

Do a couple of days’ research before sending out your book. Who are the best agents and publishers to send it to? Who is likely to be most receptive?

It’s no good haphazardly sending to every agent listed in The Writer’s Handbook or The Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook. You need to make your targets as precise as possible.

Sending Out Work Before It’s Ready

If you send your book out before it’s ready, you’ll end up doing yourself more harm than good.

Make sure someone with a credible reputation has read your manuscript before you post it. If possible, get professional endorsement. This means finding a reputable author or editor to read your book. You can then use their comments as part of your pitch.

Getting Bogged Down By Small Detail

Often when writers revise their books, they focus on deleting sentences or tweaking paragraphs. They change colons to hyphens, and full-stops to commas. They get swamped in the small detail.

When revising your manuscript, remember the bigger picture. Ask yourself: is there enough drama or intrigue? Are there enough challenges, conflicts or questions? Are your chapters logically structured? Do you open your book with a bang rather than a whimper?

Pestering

There’s a fine line between pestering and perseverance. Writers sometimes forget that agents are giving their services for free up until the moment that a book is sold. This means they’re covering the considerable costs for staff, time and paperwork, with their own money. This is a tremendous privilege, not an automatic right.

Making a nuisance of yourself by hassling agents – or publishers – is unlikely to result in anything positive. No matter how frustrated you feel, make sure you’re always pleasant and polite.

It can be overwhelming when you first start sending out your book to agents and publishers. As with any new skill, it takes practice and repetition before you get it right.

Remember that few dreams are achieved without massive action. By reading this report, you’ve already taken the first step towards writing a professional pitch.

Are you killing your chances stone dead before your book even lands on an agent’s or publisher’s desk? In all likelihood, you probably are. Top agents and publishers are getting in the region of 1000 submissions per week. They’re taking on less than 5% of these books.

It’s no secret that publishing has changed. Increasingly, publishing houses are led by sales teams with commercial aims. Literary agents have had to adopt these values too. Even professional authors are struggling. Writers have to develop new tactics to keep abreast of these changes. If you don’t, you won’t survive in this unforgiving climate.

If you keep getting rejection letters, it’s time to time to change your methods and learn new skills.

Forgetting Your Reader

If a publishing house is going to the expense of printing your book, they want to know they’ll be able to sell it. It will help you no end if you can show them why your book is going to sell and who they are going to sell it to. What is special about your book? Who is likely to buy it? Why should they choose your book rather than someone else’s?

Weak Sales Pitch

Most authors fail to flag up the selling points for their books. They sometimes use jargon or academic language that only appeals to a small minority.

Try to make your synopsis and introductory letter as accessible as possible. Put some sparkle into your pitch to arouse curiosity or engage interest. If there’s a bestselling book that’s similar to yours, point this out.

Uninspiring Synopsis

Your synopsis is probably the most important page you’re going to write. Get this wrong and you won’t even be allowed on the starting block, let alone allowed to run the race.

Put twice as much effort into your synopsis as any other page in your book. Check out the blurbs on bestsellers to get help you get this right.

Long-winded Submission Letter

Publishers and agents are busy people. They don’t have time to read a long introductory letter detailing your professional career, or telling them that your friends all love your book.

Your submission letter should be no longer than two pages of double-spaced A4. If you can make it shorter than this, even better.

Dull Sample Chapters

Imagine yourself in a room filled with thousands of books. All these books have white covers. There’s little to distinguish them. How would you choose the best one?

Would you read every book cover-to-cover, patiently waiting for the plot to unfold? Or would you skim through the opening pages, tossing aside anything that seemed too ordinary?

Start your book with something startling, memorable, or original. This can be a challenge, a question, or a crisis. Grab the reader’s attention. Make them want to keep turning the pages.

If you’re making any of the mistakes I’ve mentioned, take heart. It’s something that can be fixed. These simple marketing tricks can help you create a pitch that will have agents and publishers clamoring to read your book. You may even be taken on by someone who has previously rejected you.

The average reader spends less than eight seconds looking at the front cover of a book. An agent or publisher spends even less time on the front cover of a manuscript.

Your title has to grab them by the collar, so that they’re compelled to keep reading.

Be provocative

Provocative statements jolt our attention like electric shocks. They make us curious. They make us angry. Most of all, they make us want to read on.
Eg. So You Don’t Want To Go To Church? / So You Think You’re A Great Mom?

Use ‘key words’

Key words grab reader’s attention. However, in the Internet age, here’s another good reason why they’re important. If you’re planning to sell your book online, it’ll help readers to locate your book via subject searches on sites like Amazon.
Eg. Secrets of the Millionaire Mind / Bend It Like Beckham.

Be outrageous

Take a risk. Write without fear of judgment or prejudice. Break boundaries. Challenge taboos. Make people sit up and take notice.
Eg. Sex in a Tent / The Nigger Factory.

Use words that intrigue or arouse curiosity

Books and films offer escapism and fantasy. They provide a chance to experience larger-than-life characters and experiences. A title that hints at a life less ordinary is bound to arouse curiosity and interest.
Eg. The Life & Loves of a She Devil / The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat.

Use pictures or strong visual images to provoke your audience

Use the strong words, colours, or sensory images to stir your audience’s imagination. Use a picture or metaphor to get started.
Eg. The Color Purple / Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow / Chocolat.

Use alliteration, rhyme or repetition

People respond to words or phrases that are catchy and memorable. This is why pensioners can still recite the nursery rhymes they learned when they were toddlers! It’s why you can find yourself singing along to jingles, TV ads or pop music even though they irritate you! Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they stick in your head.
Eg. Rich Dad, Poor Dad / What To Expect When You’re Expecting.

Try testing titles on your friends and family, then pick from the ones that are most popular. You’ll be a lot closer to sales success than by just guessing.

It’s worth devoting considerable time and energy to getting this right. Remember that many authors and publishers have used this knowledge before you, to turn sales disasters into phenomenal success stories! Your efforts may be rewarded in the same way too.

As I mentioned in my earlier blog – Do iPad or Do I Kindle? – the iPad delivers something very specific for authors that ereaders don’t…

- quite simply, it’s the ability to write.

Will I be getting one? You bet!

Will I wait a while? Yes too as I specifically want it do act as my mobile writing toolbox and want 3G.

Also the apps, I need aren’t quite yet available in iPad format.

So apart from the obvious ability to write, here’s what I plan to use it for and my app shopping list for developers to step up to the plate with …

… some of which I know are ‘appening

Killer app #001 : Mind Mapping

The iPad will be brilliant for being able to brainstorm and plan. If I currently Mind Map with clients I use pen and paper as a laptop creates an uncomfortable barrier. Having an iPad will sort that once & for all.

For authors, Mind Mapping is brilliant for not only coming up with initial concepts but also project management of the whole book production process.

Apps on my shopping list:

• iMindmap
• iThoughts
• Mind Manager

Killer app #002 : Audio recording

I encourage many of my clients (especially those that have dyslexic tendencies) to use audio recording as a means of “writing” their books. Transcription to text can either be semi-automatic or done cheaply through a number of human-based services.

Apps on my shopping list:

• Griffin iTalk
• Voxie ProRecorder
• Dragon Dictation

Killer app #003 : Research

It might sound obvious but a real bonus is being able to search without opening up a laptop and on a bigger screen than your iPhone.

Apps on my shopping list:

• Taptu
• QuickFind
• Early Edition RSS Reader

Killer app #004 : e-Publishing

Having Pages on your iPad will allow you to write and edit your book. Imagine though an app that allowed you to publish directly into the iBookstore or on the Kindle or Sony Reader. Well I will make a prediction that either Apple will make ePub an output format for Pages and/or a third party app will come out soon to do exactly that.

Apps on my shopping list:

• Pages (with Save as … ePub)
• Calibre (not available but soon please)

Killer app #005 : Producing your own apps

ePublication into the iBookstore will become as easy as submitting an MP3 file to iTunes within a few months. Publishing of read-only titles will become trivial and publishing will be in the hands of authors.

At the same time, great opportunities will open up to create interactive titles that make full use of the iPad environment.

Take my latest book Blocks which comes with six guided audio visualisations and several Mind Mapping exercises. Imagine listening to the audio at the appropriate point in the book and then opening the Mind Map app up to complete the exercise.

I am currently writing the sequel to Blocks with the iPad in mind as a target platform (as well as print).

Here’s a few more ideas to get your creative juices flowing:

• Embedding live web components
• Embedding tests and surveys
• Tasking and reminders
• Geo-coded based content
• Interaction and chat with the author
• Upselling of products and services

This decade is going to be an amazing time to be an author, a publisher and a reader…

…. Happy Scribing & do add your killer apps below

Incidentally, if you want to know more about all of this, I will be covering all aspects of ePublishing (and more) on my 3 day Author’s Retreat

Details and booking here …

The prize is fabulous and, as far as we know, a first for any literary competition anywhere in the world.

The winning entry will be converted into an iPhone app that can be either read or listened to – we call these Commutabooks.

The entry will be judged on its ability to engage the reader (or listener) such that, if you were commuting, you might even miss your stop – or even stop commuting forever !!!

Entries only have to be 7000 words or length in any genre including inspiring non-fiction or even poetry.

The winner will be announced during the Festival in October this year.

The winning entry and iPhone app will have a narration recorded by a professional voice over artist (or the author themselves) and an embedded video interview with the author.

The winner will also get an e-publishing contract and receive royalties from sales. With 10’s of millions of iPhones and over 1 million iPads and counting, the exposure alone is worth entering the competition for.

So if there is a story inside you waiting to get out, visit the Guildford Book Festival site for details on how to enter.

How to Enter

100 Years of Ermintrude – narrated poetry with soothing background musical

Soulwave – an example 7000 word short story

Note that Soulwave is also available free on the Google Nexus phone …

The impact of a bestselling title on book sales can be little short of dynamite. Top titles create anticipation, excitement and enthusiasm. They express the passion of your message. They connect emotionally with your reader.A top title helps you avoid the slush-pile. It gets you on publishers’ desks. It attracts media attention. Most importantly, it will helps you with book sales.

It’s a simple trick, but an effective one. So don’t waste this opportunity to help your book shine.

Here are some tips to help you get started with both fiction and non-fiction titles:

Include ‘How to’ in your title

People love to learn with simple and easy steps. They like miracle solutions and ‘quick fix’ answers. In today’s busy world, they like anything that suggests they can shave off time from their learning curve.
Eg. How To Write A Bestseller / How to Become a Forex Trader

Make a big promise

If you have a big-gun promise, don’t be afraid to use it. However, use your promise sparingly, and be ready to deliver. Your readers will remember if you fulfill your promises, and will come back for more. They’ll also run a mile from hype ~ so give careful thought to what you’re promising!
Eg. The 4-Hour Work Week / Lose A Stone In Six Weeks

Command your readers

The command has an immediate effect. It makes the reader think: “Yes, I want that!” It also reassures them that it’s possible to achieve this and helpful advice will follow.
Eg. Tame Your Toddler / Buy Your Dream Home in Brazil.

Offer your top benefit in your book title

If you have a non-fiction book, tell the reader how they’ll benefit from reading it. What’s the problem your book is going to solve? Readers buy books for something that will help them grow, profit, improve health, solve relationship problems or gain more time.
Eg. Think and Grow Rich / The One-Minute Millionaire.

Ask a question

Most times, your reader will answer your question in their minds. They’ll be hooked in. The key is providing the answers in your book.
Eg. When Did You Last See Your Father? / How Good Is Your Sex Life?

If you’re still struggling for ideas, use other authors’ books as inspiration. Check out the bestsellers’ list in book stores or on Amazon. Is there anything that makes you want to buy a book right now? Aim for something that has magnetic pulling power.

It doesn’t matter if your title is just one word. It’s worth devoting the time and energy to getting it right.

The Idea

It was January 1995. Muscat, the Sultanate of Oman. Sue Valentine and I sat outside beneath the stars at a farewell dinner for their friend, Susie Evans.

“Look at the palm trees silhouetted against the sky,” said Susie wistfully. “I’ll miss them, but I wish I’d had a cookbook telling me how to cook with dates.”

“I’ll write one!” I said, after all I had written a cookbook before, French Tarts, a decade earlier. French Tarts had been published by Octopus. I thought I knew the ropes.

“I’ll help you!” added Sue, with enthusiasm. A fabulous cook with a PhD in food science, she was the perfect partner.

My mind raced into overdrive. Muscat was a small place, we could target our market easily. Forget finding a publisher, we’d do this one ourselves. “And I’ll publish it,” I added. I did not admit that I had no clue how to do that, but I knew I’d figure it out.

The Plan

In 9 months’ time it would be the Sultan’s Silver Jubilee. With all those opportunities for celebratory gifts and an endorsement, we had found the perfect time to launch our book. It would be out in November 1995.

Sue and I divided the work:

• I would create half the recipes, handle production, form a publishing company called Summertime Publishing, edit it and do all the desktop publishing.
• Sue would create the other half of the recipes, handle local legalities, find a sponsor and organise the food styling, photographs and cover design.

What Happened

Sue found a sponsor, Dateflake (later Tamoor Oman), a factory turning dates into syrup and fibre would underwrite our printing costs in exchange for several hundred gift copies. They would also fund a launch party. The Al Bustan Palace hotel would host a press launch. We signed contracts with local companies MCBS and Al Roya, who would make us legal and do the printing. We did it!

In November, Dates was published.

Dates is On Sale

This is the first edition of Dates…

• We sold several thousand copies in just one year.
• We had tee shirts made that said ‘Make a Date with the Middle East’ and wore them around town.
• A cookbook makes a great gift, so many people bought more than one copy.
• We packaged the book in a basket with a jar of date syrup and a pack of dates to show what a great gift it would make, just before Christmas.
• We organised to have a stall in each of the shopping malls in Muscat, gave away samples of date flapjack and date brownie and sold lots of books.
• We took a stall to the playgrounds of the local expat schools and sold books to the parents as they collected their children.
• We took a stall at Christmas bazaars. We sold hundreds of copies there.

How We Promoted Dates

• We could visit the bookshops and retailers in person.
• Every local newspaper ran our story.
• The English radio station interviewed us.
• We lived in our market. It was easy to target everyone, so we did. But . . .

Sales Dried Up

Just six weeks after Dates was published I was posted with my family to Norway. It was almost impossible to buy dried dates and I was new in town with no network (this was pre-Internet). In 18 months I sold one copy.

Books continued to sell well while Sue was in Muscat, but, a year later, she was repatriated to England. Sales dried up.

Without us there, in our market, actively promoting Dates things went downhill.

Dates is Reborn

In 2003, when I too was living in England, I had a lucky encounter with a man on a train. He spotted I was using a Macintosh laptop and asked me what I did for a living.

• “I’m a writer and author,” I said looking up from my keyboard.
• “I’m a publisher,” he said. “What do you write?”
• “Well, I used to live in Dubai and Oman and . . .”
• “I used to live there too . . .”

Well one thing led to another and it transpired that Zodiac publishing had offices in both the Middle East and England. We drew up in Peterborough just five minutes into our chat and only had time to swap cards before we separated. I held onto his card. Three years later, and after I had published many more books, I recognised that it does not make any difference how good your book is or how brilliant a writer you are. If you can’t target the market easily you’ll have an uphill struggle selling it. Zodiac could be just what Dates needed. I sent them a copy on the offchance that they might like to republish it.

Republished, Relaunched, Revived

In March 2007 Sue and I signed the contract and in May 2008, I travelled to Dubai to attend the launch of the new, updated, Dates, at the Oasis Beach Hotel. It is now on sale in bookshops throughout the Middle East, not just Muscat, as before and elsewhere in the world too, including Harrods.

What I Have Learned

• That you cannot underestimate the importance of being able to target your market yourself.
• That you can sell thousands of copies of book that has local appeal in a small market, like Muscat, if you are THERE.
• If you can find a sponsor to underwrite your printing costs – do!
• Sometimes it makes sense to publish yourself, and sometimes it doesn’t.

Writers are often taken by surprise when they’re asked for a “detailed marketing plan” before a publisher has even taken them on.

It’s a skill worth developing – as many successful authors write their marketing plans before they even set pen to paper.

In Part 1 of my article, you learned how to get started with a marketing plan for your book. Today, you’ll be finding out how to complete it.

Add this extra information to the plan you’ve already created:

Target Readers

List the people most likely to buy your book. (eg. women aged 18-25).
List the types of organizations, associations and clubs that might be interested in your book.
List schools, colleges, universities, charities and specialist libraries, etc.

Potential buyers:

List the types of organizations, clubs and associations that might bulk-buy your book.
List business websites; membership sites; clubs.
List retail outlets (such as Waterstones or Barnes & Noble) and book clubs.
List schools, colleges, universities, charities and specialist libraries.

Reaching target readers:

Suggest ideas for bookshop promotion. (eg. End-of-shelf posters).
Suggest a targeted PR campaign. (eg. a press release for local and national media.)
Suggest a public event you could hold to tie in with your book. (eg. a quiz, a seminar, an awareness day.)
Suggest promotion via social media. (eg. YouTube; Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc.)

PR/Awareness Raising:

Offer a free incentive to promote your book. (eg. An MP3; an online interview with the author, etc).
List seasonal events or anniversaries that could tie in with your book. (eg. Halloween; Mother’s Day; Remembrance Day, etc.)

Offer audio extracts or free books for the many sites that offer services and content to your target readers – in return for a link to publisher’s shopping cart.

List some of the organizations, clubs or magazines that may be interested in your book.

Brainstorm ideas for publicizing and promoting your book with a couple of friends. Write down anything and everything you can think of. Try not to censor the ideas or rule anything out. When you’ve finished, set your list to one side for a couple of days before going back to it. You’ll be surprised at the number of great ideas you can come up with when you combine creative energy.

Increasingly, agents and publishers are asking authors to help with the marketing of their books.

Many writers are taken by surprise when they receive a request for a “detailed marketing plan” – often before an agent has even taken them on.

Don’t be daunted. Treat this as an opportunity rather than a hurdle. Many successful authors draw up a marketing plan before they even start work on their book.

Your Marketing Plan requires research and creative energy – skills you already possess in abundance!

To get started, list your Marketing Plan under the following headings:

Book Category:

What genre/s does your book fall under? Choose books similar to yours at Amazon and see which category they are listed under.

Sub Categories:

What are its sub-categories? Again, use Amazon for this.

Market Summary:

Provide a convincing argument that there is room for a new entrant in the market.
If you can, obtain sales figures for your particular genre or subject area. (eg. 10 million romance novels were sold in the UK last year).

Is there a book similar to yours that has sold well? (eg. My book is aimed at the same market as xxx by yyy which sold zzz copies last year). Often, you can find this information using Google, as well as authors’ and publishers’ websites.

Closest competitors:

List your ‘competitors’ (in terms of content, focus & title) giving title, author, publisher, year, price.

Unique selling points:

Identify what is unique and different about your book.

In Part 2, I’ll show you how to add more detail to your marketing plan. Don’t be daunted. Break down the plan into simple steps and you’ll find it much easier than you expected.