Amanda Luedeke is a literary agent with MacGregor Literary. Every Thursday, she posts about growing your author platform. You can follow her on Twitter @amandaluedeke or join her Facebook group to stay current with her wheelings and dealings as an agent. Her author marketing book, The Extroverted Writer, is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

It’s nice to think that there’s some kind of publishing instruction manual that you receive once you get a book deal. It’s even nicer to think that your agent or editor, are on top of every detail, ensuring that nothing slips through the cracks and that you can proceed with confidence every step of the way.

But as with any part of life, there’s no manual. First-time authors many times feel as though they’re fumbling through their book release, and try as we may, we agents and editors aren’t always able to stay ahead of the curve. Things get missed. Time slips away from us. And what’s even harder to admit is that this is the kind of business in which the squeaky wheel really does get the grease.

In some cases, so, so much grease.

Marketing departments operate in a similar fashion. They try their best to plan a head and give every book time and thought. But their focus is largely spent on only a handful of titles. These are the titles guaranteed to make the company money (meaning everyone will be able to keep their jobs and continue to take risks on new authors while continuing the careers of mid-list or low-list authors). So, these titles get the team’s focus. And the result?

Marketing teams tend to be reactionary. Their days aren’t spent brainstorming strategies and researching the market. When not in meetings, their days are spent doing a few things for the big-release books and then responding to the dozens if not hundreds of

Someone wrote me to ask, “Can you explain how money is paid on a traditional publishing contract? I’ve got a contract in front of me, and I don’t understand it.”

Happy to explain it. First, when you sign to do a book with a legacy publisher, most authors are paid an advance against royalties upon signing the contract. There’s a long tradition of publishers paying advances to authors, since it allows the author to survive while he or she is working on the book. This isn’t free money — it’s sort of a no-interest loan that will be earned back after your book releases.

Let’s say the contract calls for a total advance of $20,000. Typically you’d get one-third of this on signing, another third upon turning in the completed work, and the last third upon publication. (That said, there are a million ways to divide the advance. Some pay half on signing, some pay a percentage when the author completes the bio and marketing forms, Random House wants to pay a portion when the book flips from hardcover to trade paper, etc.) So when your book releases, you’re now in the red $20,000 with the publisher. You’ve been paid that amount, but you haven’t earned anything back yet. Again, that’s not a loan that needs to be paid back, but it’s advance that needs to be worked off — or, in the parlance of the industry, it needs to be “earned out.”

Second, as your book sells you are credited with money for each sale. That’s your royalty money, and with each sale it slowly reduces that $20,000 debt. Most trade publishers in the general market (that would include Random House, HarperCollins, Penguin, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, etc.) pay a standard royalty on hardcover books: 10% of the book’s retail price on the first 5000 copies sold, 12.5% on the next 5000 copies sold, and 15% thereafter. Royalties for

A woman I met at a conference wrote and asked, “Is it really possible to market yourself as a novelist?”

I definitely think it’s possible for a novelist to market himself or herself. Over the past couple years, I’ve tried to share some thoughts on how novelists can market themselves, so you may find it helpful to meander back through my posts in order to look for ideas. But here’s the big picture: In my opinion, a novelist has to begin seeing herself not just as an artist (which you, as a writer, most certainly are), but also as a brand name or commodity that deserves marketing. And that means creating a well-thought-out plan for marketing yourself and your work. (Okay, I’ll admit that part of me hates writing that. I don’t like talking about words as “commodities,” and treating the writing arts as though they were cans of corn. But let’s face facts — I’m talking with writers who want to make a living writing, and that translates to selling books.)

Non-fiction writers find it easier to do some basic marketing, since they have a topic or hot-button issue that is clearly discernable. If you were to write a book on losing weight or making money or raising kids, the potential audience for such a topic is easy to recognize. You can go onto radio programs and talk about the problem and the solutions you’re offering, or write articles for magazines and e-zines that explore your particular approach to the issue. With fiction, it’s tougher. Good stories are not about one topic, but explore numerous threads. And no radio or TV program wants to invite you on to re-tell your novel. So instead of focusing on the story, most fiction writers find they have to focus on the author or the genre. In other words, you and your voice becomes the focus of your marketing. This is why

Amanda Luedeke is a literary agent with MacGregor Literary. Every Thursday, she posts about growing your author platform. You can follow her on Twitter @amandaluedeke or join her Facebook group to stay current with her wheelings and dealings as an agent. Her author marketing book, The Extroverted Writer, is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

A bestselling author wrote us to ask about the usefulness of TV and radio spots in today’s multimedia culture. The question was something like this:

 I’ve been approached by a number of radio and TV shows. They want me to go on air for an interview or guest spot. With radio this isn’t a problem, though I certainly am questioning the effectiveness of such a marketing strategy in today’s culture, but with the TV opportunities, they never want to help me with travel costs.  And I’m simply not going to spend $1000 in travel costs for nine minutes of air time when I know for a fact that my sales have never spiked after such an appearance. Am I wrong in my thinking here? What’s the value of this kind of old school marketing?

TV and radio spots on well-known networks or shows seem to make publishers happy. They like the notoriety, and frankly, authors like it too. But you’re right. It can get very expensive and like most marketing, there isn’t a guarantee that your sales will increase. In fact I’d say that in nearly all cases of the author going on TV or radio to promote a book, the sales stay relatively the same.

I blame this on a few factors:

1. Readers are being more stingy with their book money, and
2. This kind of marketing doesn’t carry the weight that it once did because we live in an age in which consumers are being targeted nearly every single moment of every single day.

It’s that

After some recent blog posts, it was pretty clear some readers thought I was bashing Amazon. A word about that… I love Amazon. They are the single largest seller of the books I get to represent. The are fast, inexpensive, and innovative. Amazon created the first e-reader, the Kindle, thus setting up an entirely new market for books. Their customer service is usually great. And they help me make money for the authors I represent.

Think about this for a moment… According to a Codex Group report that was distributed at BEA last week, Amazon sold 41% of all new books in the month of March. They sold 65% of all ebooks that same month. And, not to swamp you with numbers, but that study revealed that of ALL book sales in March of this year, 41% were sold via e-commerece, and 22% were sold in bookstore chains. (If you’re interested, 3% of all book sales came from religious bookstores, 3% from independent stores, 3% from Costco & Sam’s Club, 2% from supermarkets, 2% used book stores, 2% were sold direct-to-consumer, 2% nontraditional bookstores such as craft and health food stores, 6% book clubs, and 8% from mass merchandisers.) So in other words, two sales avenues dominate book sales — bookstores chains and e-commerce. And there are only TWO companies that have a significant chunk of both the e-book and print market: Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I’d like to see them both survive. Consumers win when there is competition.

Amazon has been incredibly well run, and they have some advantages over other booksellers, including the largest list of books of any bookseller on the planet, and a huge scale of operations to make it succeed. I own a Kindle, and I love the fact that I can go on, any time, find several million titles to browse through, then download the ones I want with the click of a

Since my blog post on Wednesday, there have been several new developments in the battle between Amazon and Hachette…

1. After delaying orders on Hachette titles, refusing to discount them as they have other publishers’ titles, and sometimes not even listing the ebook version on their site, Amazon is now using a new tactic: Halting all pre-orders of Hachette titles. That prevents authors from getting out of the gate fast with a big first-day hit — and it effectively will keep some titles from hitting the bestseller lists.

2. Amazon then released a statement in which it defended its tactics (http://tinyurl.com/k4ax3wd). If you take a look, it will strike you as odd, since they argue they’re doing to “on behalf of customers,” and they propose some sort of “author pool” to help authors hit hard by their tactics. Um… I don’t mean to sound like I’m taking sides here, but if Amazon is delaying books or not making them available at all, how is that working on behalf of customers? And Amazon is worried about authors losing royalties? I don’t know if that’s EVER been on their list concerns in the past. Anyway…

3. Hachette then responded by rejecting that idea and sniffing that Amazon treats books as just another commodity, like everything else they sell on their site. You can read the response here: http://tinyurl.com/ljslu4n .

4. Talk show host Stephen Colbert, who is a Hachette author, chimed in by telling viewers he had a “little package” for Amazon (he opened a box, stuck his hand into it, and flipped them off), then told readers how they could get a free sticker from his website that reads “I didn’t buy it on Amazon.” And, try as I might, I can’t seem to import that sticker into this blog post. Sorry. But you can watch the clip here: http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/ukf9gv/amazon-vs–hachette

5. The debate has largely put authors into two camps

Amanda Luedeke is a literary agent with MacGregor Literary. Every Thursday, she posts about growing your author platform. You can follow her on Twitter @amandaluedeke or join her Facebook group to stay current with her wheelings and dealings as an agent. Her author marketing book, The Extroverted Writer, is available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Well, I’m at conference (again!) and so this Thursday, let me leave you with an FYI that The Extroverted Writer is now available in print!! (Not everyone knew this!). 

And here are some places around the web, worth checking out:

Estimating Kindle Sales from Amazon Rankings

Are You Boring Your Social Media Followers?

Nine Unconventional Writers Residencies

Just got back from a week in New York, seeing all the books and publishers and figuring out what direction the industry is moving. There was a great spirit at Book Expo this year — none of the angst and worry that has dogged the show the past few years. They tried something new this time at the Javits Center — opened up the floor to the public on Saturday, sold tickets at $20 a pop, publicized a ton of author signings, and watched 10,000 people buy their way into the show. (For the record, it was apparently all teen girls, looking to get their YA and romance novels signed, or to catch a glimpse of a celebrity like Cary Elwes signing copies of his latest tome.) But the biggest topic of conversation? The dispute between Amazon and Hachette. No question.

You may or may not be familiar with the issues, so let me offer an outsiders perspective…

1. There is some bad blood between Amazon and Big Six publishers. On the one hand, the publishers know that Amazon is their biggest account, so they want to keep the relationship healthy. On the other hand, the publishers know that Amazon is predatory, and is on record as having said that they could live in a world without publishers. So while they’d like things to continue, the relationship is not without some problems.

2. If you’re an author who doesn’t pay much attention to the news, the Big Six publishers were all taken to court last year for using an agency model (and, in essence, for looking suspiciously like they were colluding to keep ebook prices high). The Department of Justice sided with Amazon, the publishers all paid big fines, and agreed to modify the way they do business.

3. Each of the Big Six publishers have some sort of term contract with Amazon, that clarifies things like discount rates, returns,

A friend wrote to say, “You’ve said several times that an author should ask a prospective agent some questions in order to get to know him (or her). I’m going to a conference in a couple months — what sort of questions should I ask?”

I’ve talked about this question a couple of times, and I think the answer keeps changing as the industry evolves. Here are some thoughts to get you started…

-How long have you been doing this?
-How many contracts have you negotiated for authors?
-Who do you represent?
-What publishing houses have you worked with in the past year?
-Which editorial personnel have you done deals with?
-How many deals have you done in the past year?
-What sort of authors and projects do you represent?
-What do you like to read? (Ask for titles.)
-Can you give me a couple book titles you sold that you loved?
-Can you give me a couple book ideas you sold that you loved?
-Do you offer editorial input to authors?
-How often will we be in touch?
-What would you say are your best skills?
-What’s unique about your agency?
-What percentage do you earn on a book deal?
-Are there any hidden fees or charges? Any up-front costs?
-Do you charge back your expenses?
-How do you handle legal or accounting issues?
-In what ways do you get involved in marketing?
-Have you ever worked in publishing or done any editing or writing?
-How do you approach career planning?
-Do you work by yourself?
-Are you full time?
-Are you a member of AAR?
-How long have you been in business?
-How many people work at your agency?
-About how many books do you contract in a year?
-Will you be handling my work, or will someone else?
-What are your expectations of me as a client?
-Can you help me if I want to self-publish?
-How

I recently had someone say to me, “My novel needs an edit — but I don’t have the strength to listen to someone bash it.”

Ack! An editor’s job is to help authors readjust, smooth and polish but never to be condescending. The edits are meant to help. And the majority of today’s successful writers use editors and rely on their feedback, grateful for another pair of eyes, an outside viewpoint. It’s important to take your ego, put it in a little box, and forget about it for awhile — especially if you are self-publishing or querying with a manuscript.

Easier said than done, I know. I understand the insecurities that come to light in this situation. I’ve birthed a few of my own book babies. I’ve suffered the angst of waiting for an editor to tell me if my kid is worthless drivel or not. But I early on came to the realization I am not always a clean writer . . . my babies can be messy. I know what I meant to say and that’s how my brain reads it. I’m a terrible self-editor in the long-form. I can spot a homonym or a typo or a repetitive phrase a mile away in anyone’s work but my own.

And, of course, there are the bigger developmental issues to consider. A handful of authors are able to craft a perfectly developed story, from plot to theme to character arc. But in a 360-page document, is it likely there are no sentences that can be worded more succinctly or a scene tweaked for more impact? No subplot that loses the thread? A character with weak motivation?

A book is a living creature, always capable of change . . . growth. It is never finished. Now, I do believe at some point an author must put down her pen and exclaim, “Welp, I’m done.” We’d go crazy if we were