In Publishing, many of the worst roads traveled lead to Bloomington, Indiana

An author friend called recently to say she had just received a call from West Bow Press which, she informed me, was a division of Thomas Nelson (a Christian publishing unit of HarperCollins Publishers which itself is part of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp media empire). She went on to say that even though West Bow is a self-publishing company, Thomas Nelson regularly chooses books published by them for traditional royalty contracts. 

For those in the publishing world the mere mention of West Bow, or one of the other affiliates of Bloomington, Indiana based Author Solutions, brings shudders. While there are many successful stories involving self-publishing over the past several hundred years, big companies like Author Solutions imply, through their marketing, that the odds of success are much higher (and the tasks easier) than they really are. 

Having been involved in the publishing of hundreds of books, it is my experience that it takes something special to make a book a success. By something special I mean that the book has to command a niche or be seen as an essential tool by prospective readers. Sadly, books do not sell on their own. Simply floating a book out there into the marketplace will not yield positive results.

Often I look at a book much as I would an investment into a business startup. To find success see how well can you answer the following questions: 

Who exactly is going to buy your book? 

Saying a book will appeal to anyone age eight to eighty shopping in conventional bookstores is not a good answer. 

How will your book find its intended customer? 

A nonfiction book that has a distinct market niche that is easily googled often works. In fiction and memoir, because the genres are not search engine friendly, the ability of an author to hand-sell their book at events is paramount.  

Is your book content professionally edited and designed? 

For a book to have any chance of success the fundamentals of having a world-class cover design and top notch editing are essential.

Do you have the wherewithal to engage the marketplace?

Good publicity and promotion are costly endeavors if done by professionals and time-consuming if done by the author.

Is there an experienced team assembled to properly produce and market your book?

Having a publisher with a knowledgeable team that is experienced in all aspects of publishing cannot be overstated. 

One issue (among many) I have with large corporations like Author Solutions are that their support team generally has no real-world experience publishing successful books. One salesperson from Author Solutions’ imprint Author House once admitted he had worked at a fast-food restaurant just prior to being hired a month earlier. 

As a prospective author, you have worked very hard to research and write your manuscript. You only will have one opportunity to successfully release your book. Mistakes and poor design cannot be assuaged by attempting to use “brute force” to push a book onto an unsuspecting public. Readers today are far too sophisticated to purchase something that appears second rate. 

Whether you publish with us or with another publisher, be sure you are dealing with people who are straight shooters who explain all potential publishing options available to you. If a publishing program offers so-called packages, be wary. In my many years of experience I have yet to see a one-size-fits-all program that serves the author well. At Principia, when we evaluate an author proposal we use the same process as top New York City publishing houses. After all, doesn’t your book deserve the very best?

By Dirk Wierenga, Principia Media Director of Publishing and owner of Fox River Press