By Bruce W. Marcus, Contributing Editor
Recently, a well known professional firm's consultant told a lawyer that the way to market is to write a book. Sure. Just like that. What he didn't tell the lawyer was that while a book might give him some cache, and perhaps a fleeting bit of reputation, it was no slam dunk.
After explaining a fairly complex marketing plan, a client once said to me, "Sounds easy." I said it depends upon the definition of the word "easy". Mine is that you walk to the edge of the water, you take off your cloak, you strike the water with your cloak, and you walk across. Easy.
My book, Client At The Core was finished in February of 2004. Another book of mine, Competing For Capital was finished in August of 2004. Two books in one year. My 14th and 15th (I think). Easy.
Selling Your Idea And Yourself
OK, here's the drill.
First, you have to have – or think you have – something to say. Something useful to a large target audience. Something that springs from your expertise, your experience, your successes, your reputation, your ability to cover the subject in ways that a dozen other authors haven't more than adequately covered.
If you are deeply moved by the strength of your own wisdom and talent, you write a book proposal. A tough job, even for professional writers. It's a selling document. You have to get your point across in the first few lines of the first paragraph. Remember, publishers – and agents – see dozens of proposals a day. You have to spell out your idea logically, reasonably, compellingly.
Define your target audience, the benefits to that audience from your book, your competition in existing books on the subject and why yours is different, your experience and reputation. In doing so, you will also be demonstrating something of your ability to write. You may even include a sample chapter. Then you give a chapter by chapter outline, demonstrating not only the book's content, but its logical progression of ideas.
Then you have to find a publisher. Publishers are a strange breed. They don't care if you have the cure for the common cold. If you're not with the Mayo Clinic, they're not likely to talk to you. You have to persuade a publisher that you have the experience, the reputation, etc. – and access to a very large audience.
Unless you're already a published author, leave room in your drawer for a large collection of rejection slips. (Of course, if you really believe in yourself, keep submitting, unto the 20th rejection slip. You may really have the cure for the cold, but the publishers are too dense to know it.) Buy Jeff Herman's Writer's Guide to Book Editors, Publishers & Literary Agents. It's worth it.
The best way to go, of course, is to get an agent. If you can. They're tougher to get than publishers. If agents don't deal with your subject – they usually specialize – forget it. If they know as much about your subject as they think they do (they don't always), you still have to convince them that your idea is saleable, which is not always easy. To agents, you are a commodity. Salability, not inherent talent, is all that matters to an agent. Frankly, I don't use them. But without a track record, you'll have a hard time getting to a publisher who'll listen to you on your own.
Reading And Negotiating The Fine Print
If the moon is in the right phase, a publisher may say yes. Then comes the contract. A book contract is an arcane form devised by the Devil, or the Devil's assistant in charge of rapids, shoals, thunder, and lightning. It's the nearest thing to a New York City landlord-tenant lease, which goes on for pages about the rights of the landlord. Buried somewhere in there is a clause that says that if you pay your rent on time, and remain invisible, you may be allowed to occupy the premises.
A publishing contract goes on for page after page describing the rights of the publisher. Buried in there somewhere is a clause that says if you deliver the manuscript on time, and they like it, they may publish it. Don't be fooled by the standard contract. They will make reasonable changes if you insist. If you're too eager to sign it without reading it and putting up a fight, you will ultimately find yourself picking weeds in a publisher's garden, planted with land mines.
Creating Your Masterpiece
And then you write the book.
Writing a book, I've often said, is like digging your way out of Alcatraz with a purloined spoon. Even for professionals, it's that tough. And if all the writing you've done has been articles, then you're in for a shock. Writing a book and writing articles aren't the same. There are lots of differences.
In an article, you can skim the subject. In a book, readers expect more. An article is fleeting in the minds of its readers. A book is expected to have more heft, more value, more staying power. The logic and information in a book's chapter is a substantially farther throw from the chapter heading to the end than is an article. Trust me, writing a book is not the same as writing an article.
You hand the final manuscript in to the publisher, have a glass of champagne, congratulate yourself, and think it's over. It isn't.
The Edits
Two or three weeks after you give the final manuscript to the publisher, it comes back to you with the copy editing. The manuscript is covered with corrections. All those typos. All those inconsistencies in style. All those its that should have been it's, and vice versa. All done by a compulsive English major for whom the language froze on graduation day. Or by someone who doesn't understand that some things have changed since they were in 7th grade. Or by someone who thinks that their grasp of the English language is better than yours. (In a book I wrote some years ago, I wrote that, "Gone are the days of this and gone are the days of that – all gone, gone, gone." The editor took out two of the gones.)
They should use the Chicago Style Manual (latest edition only -- for example, in the latest 15th edition data is no longer plural. It's a group, which is singular. California isn't the only place in America where the language changes to meet the needs of the reader.) My advice is to not take it sitting down. Unless you've done something flagrantly stupid or wrong to the point of being obscure, write stet, which means leave it alone. Oh, and you might read that wonderful new book Eats, Shoots and Leaves. Delightful, and a must read for writers.
After that frustrating tussle, the manuscript goes back to the publisher. And then a few weeks later come the page proofs. After you've gotten over the thrill of seeing your book in type, you have to proofread it. Word by word by bloody word. And you'd better do it, because even though they've set type from the disk you've given them, there will be mistakes. Don't decide, by the way, to add a lot of stuff after the book is set in type. These "AAs" (Author's Alterations) will be deducted from your royalties if they exceed 15% of the text.
In the meantime, the promotion department will have written catalog copy and book jacket copy that in no way resembles what the book is about. You'll have to do it yourself. They'll also give you a questionnaire designed to help them market the book. There goes a nice weekend. Unless you like filling out pointless forms for fun.
Marketing, Marketing, Marketing
In the final analysis, you'll have to do most of the marketing work yourself. That's when you read How To Get Happily Published, by Judith Appelbaum, a guide to marketing your own book. The publisher will send out press releases, and send out form letters to people asking for blurbs, and review copies, but you've got to tell them who to send this stuff to. The initiative will always be yours.
Good publishers can publish a hundred or more books a year, and not have the staff to do much for each author. You've got to do it yourself – which means, ironically, putting as much of your time and effort in promoting your own book as you would -- and should – put into other, perhaps more effective, marketing activities.
The Fruits Of Your Labor
In the end, after you've done all that work, you have a book on your resume. And some cache. But you've spent a year or more doing it. And unless you're lucky, and have really done a book that makes a substantial contribution to the literature, you still have to do all those terrific things that comprise a decent marketing program. And if you're lucky, you may even have made a buck or two, but not enough to buy that villa in France.
But don't let that stop you. If you really want to write a book, and understand everything I've just said, then by all means, do it. If you're a real writer, nothing in the world is going to stop you.
And in the end, striking the water with your cloak may work. The water may part, or your cloak may get wet. But at least you will have written a book.
RainToday Note: Writing a book is hard work, but it can have a substantial positive impact on your firm. Check out RainToday's research on publishing (including an interview with notable literary agent Jeff Herman) and learn how to get the most out of it for your business.
Bruce W. Marcus is a Contributing Editor for RainToday.com. Bruce is an author and consultant based in Connecticut, and co-author of Client At The Core: Marketing and Managing Today's Professional Services Firms. He is editor of The Marcus Letter on Professional Services Marketing and The Marcus Perspective. E-mail Bruce at marcus@marcusletter.com.
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