Is it easier to get a book published now? Part 1

Is it getting easier or more difficult for an unpublished writer to get their first book commercially published? We asked nearly 60 literary agents about the outlook for the next generation of authors. Their comments are in quotes.

Agents do not envision a great deal of change on the horizon. They are mildly negative about the next 12 to 24 months. When asked the reasons behind their forecast, the most common responses were:

Industry Consolidation, Changes Within the Publishing Industry Itself
Changes in Book Retailing
Publishers are Becoming More Risk Averse
The Pessimists
The Optimists
The Impact of the National Economy

Industry Consolidation, Changes Within the Publishing Industry Itself

“Editors no longer rely on their instincts and passions as selection criteria; instead they go by such formulas as, Bad Numbers, Author has no Platform etc.”

“Continuing consolidation and conglomeration of industry.”

“For non-fiction works, in particular, publishers need credentialed writers, which leaves out the many individuals who have great ideas but nothing to back it up. With fiction, they are more likely to take a chance on an unpublished writer IF it is in an area (genre) they are seeking at the time and the writing is passable enough.

Changes in Book Retailing

“Because of the pressure of the chain buyers, publishers are increasingly locked into publishing only the brand new authors with no record, and best selling authors.”

“Because as long as the retail market continues to consolidate in the hands of fewer and fewer retailers, the entire industry becomes dependent on the taste of a small handful of 'buyers' who choose which books get shelf space.”

End of Part 1

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About The Authors
Brian Hill and Dee Power have written several nonfiction books including The Publishing Primer: A Blueprint for an Author's Success and The Making of a Bestseller: Success Stories From Authors and the Editors, Agents, and Booksellers Behind Them. Read Dee's blog or Brian's blog The Packer Literary Corner

As you know I've been looking at different websites, blogs and discussion forms to see how I can better promote our books and our writing.

In my searches I stumbled upon a pretty nifty site SwitchPlanet.com. If you've ever wondered what to do with the books, CDS, videos, games, and movies you don't read, listen to, play, or watch anymore this site is going to interest you.

Joining and switching is free, no membership fees, or transaction fees. After you've joined, you list the items you want to switch. When someone wants, what you have, you ship it to them. You then earn switchbucs for the item you switched. You can use the switchbucs to get what you want.

No money changes hands between the switcheroos. If you're dying to get the DVD for King Kong, say, but are a dollar or two short, you can use your credit card to make up the difference. Everything is processed through SwitchPlanet.com

What's nice is that SwitchPlanet.com encourages its members to make donations to support several charities, like the Boys and Girls club, and the Red Cross.

Okay back to marketing and promotion. If you'd like me to review your website, book , or services just let me know.

Dee
capital-connection.com
brianhillanddeepower.com
Over Time the novel

Last week I said I was going to experiment with my squidoo lenses and I did. I was able to get the traffic to Dog Friendly Vacations up to about 1500 and 2500 to How to Get a Book Published

The Dog Friendly Vacations also received 20 ratings (people who gave stars) and 14 people posted in the guest book. The overall ranking increased to #77 overall and is still hanging in at #93. That's right I got in the top 100.

Interestingly, How to Get a Book Published lens had 1000 more visitors but only 10 people rated the lens and only 5 people posted in the guest book. The highest the lens got was about 130, it's at 255 currently.

It would seem that people rating lenses and posting in guest books is more important than traffic as far as improving ranking.

There was one sale from the how to get a book published and none from Dog Friendly Vacations It doesn't seem that a squidoo lense is effective in generating sales, at least not for me.

I'd like to see if ratings will boost the ranking of the how to get a book published lens, so if you have a few moments could you rate How to Get a Book Published

I'll report back in a few days.

In the meantime I'm going to see if social book marking will increase traffic to the website of our novel, Over Time. Currently we get about 50 visitors a day.

Dee
Brian and Dee's website

Capital Connection