How can I get noticed?

We’re sticking with answering a bunch of shorter questions for a few days…

One author wrote and noted, “As I research book publishing, I’m intrigued by the ‘platform’ thing. And as I think about how to build my platform, I’m having a hard time discerning whether publishers would consider my platform attractive or small potatoes. I edit a professional magazines (10,000 readers), help manage an advertising agroup (500 advertisers), am busy with the local Chamber of Commerce (another 500 members), contribute to a popular blog site, have access to a handful of other groups, and have been invited to submit articles to some very popular websites. Is that enough to get an editor’s attention?”

That certainly sounds like the start of a good platform. Of course, some of the “platform” issue will depend on what you’re writing and who you’re writing to. If all of your professional contacts are finance related, and you’ve written a romance novel, publishers may tend to discount the value of all those contacts. But if you’re writing a book that speaks directly to your contacts, I imagine publishers would find your data base of people interesting. There’s not really a magic number that you’re trying to hit — other than to say “the bigger it is, the better they’ll like you.” However, you’re really beginning to think like a publisher when you approach your platform this way. How many people do you already reach? How often? In how many ways? How can you approach them about your book? Those are questions to talk about with a prospective publisher or agent.

Another wanted to know, “If my book is published with a small house, what are the chances it will get into Target or Wal-Mart? Do those companies only buy books from big publishers?”

Wal-Mart and Target use book buyers to select the books they sell. The larger companies have full-time sales staff dedicated just to those accounts (for example, Grand Central has a couple sales people who do nothing but sell to Wal-Mart). That exclusivity, and the size of their lists, gives them a big advantage. They have a lot of products to show the buyers, they’re talking all the time, and they’ve worked to understand what the seller does best. That said, you never know what a Wal-Mart will buy. They like high-concept books that meet the felt needs of blue collar people, so if you’re doing something like that, you stand a chance. And yes, they’ll look at it, assuming your publisher has a sales rep who gets in front of them.

Someone wrote this: “I’ve approached several editors and agents who all say to me the writing in my novel is good, but the topic isn’t right for their needs or the market right now. However, everybody who reads a series of chapters in my book tells me they love the story. How can I get an editor to give me a break?”

Um… I can think of several responses for you. First, your writing might not be that good, but your friends might love you. Second, your writing might not be that good, but your friends aren’t as sophisticated as the editors and agents you’re talking to. (Put another way, who do you want to take  publishing advice from — your friends, or professionals in the industry?) Third, your writing might be good, but right now isn’t the time. If that’s the case, STOP TRYING TO SELL THAT BOOK AND MOVE ON TO SOMETHING ELSE. Most novelists don’t get their first book published — they go through several manuscripts before they find one that hits. Fourth, your writing might be good, and you just need to keep trying until you hit the right editor and the right house. If that’s the case, then you need to go to some conferences, meet editors face-to-face, and ask them to read some of your book. Not just talk about it, and not just read the synopsis, but give them a sample chapter and sit quietly while they read a chapter during your meeting time. Fifth, your writing might be good, and everybody in the industry is wrong… but I doubt it. I  mean, it’s possible. But in my experience over the past three decades, I’ve met a lot of authors who felt their stuff was great, and in fact it wasn’t. Just a thought.

It doesn’t get talked about much, but it’s an issue. US publishers like to have their authors on US soil, so that they’re available for phone calls, media interviews, book tours, and the like. It’s certainly possible to live elsewhere and do well in the States (Ms Rowling did okay, as I recall), but for most beginning authors, living outside the US is just another reason for a publisher to say “no thanks” to your proposal.