I asked published authors to comment on what their biggest mistakes and regrets were when getting published the first time around… and here is a compilation of their mistakes- so you don’t have to learn them the hard way by make them yourself!
There are some really good, aggravation saving nuggets worth thousands of dollars here, so make sure you read them all!
Books around your ankles? Order of Authors Names making a difference? What is harder then writing a Book?
Once this blog post gets 50 or more comments, I’ll share some of my own secret strategies with you that I have helped clients use to grow their book sales… they will blow you away.
Here we go!
| “My name is Martin Yate, and I’ve been down around your ankles in the bookstore for 25 years and it has cost me millions of dollars. Might sound crazy but this is a big one: you want your books ideally about chest height so the majority of people can see them.
I’ve sold a fair number of books over the years, but had I known, I absolutely would have changed my name to John (my middle name) Martin and been at chest height. Honestly believe I could have sold 50% more books…” Martin Yate CPC |
| “I have a book coming out this summer (“”Bread for the Pharaoh”", a middle-grade adventure set in ancient Egypt) under the pen name Jerome Asher. I wrote it in late 2006, and did my revisions on it in 2007. It was only the second manuscript I’d ever finished.Just about a month ago, the publisher sent me final proofs to approve.They were fine, but going through them forced me to re-read the book after having been away from it for a long time.
Re-reading my older work was a humbling experience. Literally, it has been three years since I looked at that text in any depth (I’ve been working on other books in the meantime), and I was shocked at the difference between how I felt about that book when I submitted the final I loved the book when I wrote it (and I still love the characters and the story) but I look at that writing now and it strikes me as very rough. Almost amateurish. I’m kind of embarrassed to have my name–even just a pen name–on it, because I know I could write it so much better now. So my one regret is that I couldn’t go to the publisher and beg them for the chance to do it over. I couldn’t go to them and say “”Please, don’t send it to production like this! Just give me a month to line edit the heck out of it and I’ll make it beautiful. I promise!”" I wished I could, but that’s not how publishing works. I regret that I wasn’t as good a writer then as I am now. I should be gratified–I have three more years worth of experience under my belt, so I darned well ought to be better now–but instead I am horrified. I never understood, until that moment when I cracked open page one of that advance proof, why so many writers speak ill of their early works. But I get it now. It’s because we’re always striving to improve, as we should.
But publishing is slow, and condemns us to being eternally faced in public with works from earlier, more immature points in our careers. Jason Black / Jerome Asher |
| “I regret not thinking bigger. There was (and still is) a huge market for my book, however, I thought too small and hired people who didn’t understand how to market my book properly.
Thanks To: Lisa Ann Schreier |
| “My biggest regret is not doing more to publicize the book myself when it first came out.
Being a novice, I thought the publisher would be much more aggressive in promoting the book, and my role as author was simply to respond to outlets once the publisher had made contact and set things up. I wish now I had taken the initiative to reach out to media, bookstores, schools, libraries, promo tie-ins, etc. to boost the book’s profile and — ultimately — sales. If I had it to do all over again, I would be out there pounding the pavement even before the publication date! That’s my advice to other authors — be your book’s best publicist and most enthusiastic advocate from day one. I hope this helps — we authors can use all the help we can get! |
| “After thinking about writing a book for ten years, once I had a publisher interested in the book, I didn’t take enough time to properly edit. So thrilled with the thought of my first book going to print, I failed to take the time to let it simmer for awhile before trying to re-read for clumsy sentences and errors, and excitedly sent the manuscript off for printing. OOPS.
I recently re-read parts of my book on a long flight, and I was horrified at the simple errors that kept the book from being as good as it could have been, as good as I thought it was. Next flight I’m taking a red pen and MARKING those errors, hoping not to make them again. I’m also going to wait before giving the ‘finished product’ to my publisher! Sometimes autobiographical writings can reveal a bit too much, and when enmeshed with trying to portray the most honest information, sometimes self-disclosure could use a bit more self-editing. I suppose one might use personal experiences to ‘get back’ at folks, I just wanted those experiences to honestly reveal the raw thinking processes of emergency services workers, and might have considered making the principle characters a little more vague or used pseudonyms. Or not. The cover art was basically my design, but the final product was a compromise. I had a different view than the publisher, who wanted a ‘wanted poster’ type of font. The little girl with the sardonic grin on her face was perfect, found through a paid public stock site. I wish I knew who she was, as she reflected me and what the book relates completely. I’d send her a copy. |
| * You don’t need to spend a lot of money on a pricey publishing process–it’s easy to do yourself if you have the skills and it’s very low cost if you use a good quality, low-cost cost publisher. I’ve had great results with Lulu.
* Do a website just for your book. Do a blog. Do radio. Do ads. Market a lot! * Get a great cover, use photos (which I did myself) and use design and colors to make it jump off the shelf. * Don’t be “tricked” into spending tons of money on reviews, publicity and things that may dazzle you in a vanity mode. If you do grass roots marketing, market strong to your list (pre-marketing in key) and give incentives for buying, you can move a fair amount of copies. |
| “I wish we’d stuck to our guns and written about the subject we’d originally intended, rather than the one our publisher suggested would be more in demand.
Hmm.. maybe I should still write it.. Thanks To: Alexander Martin |
| “At first, I was going to do with the “”Idiot’s Guide”" people. Got caught up worrying about the perfect outline and keeping them happy.
Finally said “screw it” and published on my own. Have a following and I’m a marketing guy, so why not? Ended up being a great decision. And it worked so well for me, I kept writing. The one mistake I made with the first one was not going with an established editor. Instead, I had about five people read through it and let me know about errors…and plenty of stuff never got caught. This was a bit of an embarrassment and I’ve fixed that part of the problem since, but was nothing I couldn’t move on from. Had I waited for everything to be perfect, I’d still be working on the outline for the IG people. Also… When I decided to self publish, I went from making about $2/book to $21/book. That amount is the $25 price minus the $4 it cost me to print it. Not everybody will have numbers like this, as it includes me going direct to customers, but if you’re like me and can do that, why not? Start there and get in stores (and work to an expanded audience) later. |
| My first (and only, so far) book was Online Marketing Inside Out, which I wrote with a coauthor. My only regret was the timeframe we wrote it in… we were working on a really, really tight deadline and as a result I feel that I didn’t get a chance to write everything I could about some of the topics. I wish we could have spent a little more time and fleshed out a few more ideas and have gotten more content in the book.
Overall I think it’s turned out to be a great book, and was a great experience for me as a first-time author. On the promotion side, what Thom said about marketing your book is 100% accurate. I have spent 10x as much time promoting my book in the last year than I spent writing, editing and working with the publishers before it launched. Thanks To: Brandon Ely |
| “I have no regrets about my first book… There are some layout things I would have done differently and a repetitive phrase or two in a section that I should have caught…
At the end of the day, the book was a vehicle that opened up too many other doors for me. It’s hard to regret anything about that.” Brian Kannard |
| “I published my book with an online publisher. They did a great job at the editing stage and it went downhill thereafter.
I regret buying their marketing packages…lots of money for aggravation and no return. “ |
(don't know how this box got here. but getting rid of it is turing out to be too much trouble. Keep reading for more..... |
| “I am a true crime writer living in New Hampshire. At the suggestion of my agent, I worked for two years on a book for an ongoing case (the case took two years, not necessarily my writing it). She said we should wait until the case goes to trial before sending out pitches. There are about 12 major publishers who print true crime. When we finally went to market, 11 of them expressed some degree of interest. The 12th used the occasion to announce they had already signed an author to write about the same case. The other 11 dropped out immediately.
I never would have been published if a small independent publisher had not taken a chance on me. In a couple of months, they re-sold my story to St Martins (one of the 11 who originally backed out). My second regret is the cover. I absolutely hated the cover. I showed it to graphic artists I knew and nobody liked it. I was told there was nothing I could do, the editors don’t like to fight with the marketing people when it comes to 1) titles and Fortunately, the paperback version had a fantastic cover that finally made my work look legit…” |
| “Like most first time authors I did not know all the things I should ask for prior to signing a publishing agreement. For my next book, I would insist on getting an ISBN number and getting the book on Amazon. I would also want to be in at least 1 national book store chain that has a store here in Cleveland…”Robert Arnoff |
| “I regret that with my first two books, i did not give them ISBNs, nor did i put a photo or any blurb on the back cover…”Judith Lawrence |
| “I regret having known so little about marketing before my book (Waltzing Australia) came out. A few months before the book came out, I’d started up a blog to support it, and I worked hard at driving traffic to it, but that was all I had in place at the beginning. I’ve discovered that there is little correlation between blog traffic and book sales (though the blog has sold some books, so it’s still a necessary part of the puzzle).As time has gone by, I’ve learned more — I’m now on several authors/readers sites, I’ve got a Facebook fan page and a book-trailer video, and I’ve sent out press releases.
It was two years after the book came out that I discovered book awards (other than the Pulitzer, that is). I immediately sent the book off to one prestigious competition, and I won in my category. I excitedly started to look for other competitions, but I’ve found that they all want books that have come out within the last year, or even that are still in galleys, so I’ve missed that opportunity. The book has gotten great reviews and won the one competition I entered, so it’s not the book’s fault. I just didn’t know enough when I started out. I’d advise writers to do everything they can to become marketing savvy before a book is in print, and get things lined up so they can really take off the minute the book is out. I admit that at first I naively believed that simply writing a great book was enough. It’s not. If you don’t have thousands to spend on a publicity team, you have to be prepared to do it all yourself — because no one is out there looking for you. |
| “I hadn’t thought of the audience it was meant to address. I hadn’t thought through the fact that political humour has a small market that is difficult to crack. I wasn’t prepared to promote the book, didn’t really know how. As a result, it sold something like three copies.Getting a book published in print is easy; all it takes is money. Getting your book read, on the other hand, takes a tremendous amount of work. When I published my first book in print, I really didn’t have a clue what promoting a book entailed. (I’m still not that great at it – I don’t have a pushy personality – but I am trying.)
I now approach marketing my books in the same way I tell my students (I teach part-time at a University) to approach their art: everything you do can be a means of expressing your creativity (I wrote my own press release in the style of writing of my books, and the Facebook group is uniquely creative, to cite but two examples). If I knew then what I know now, I would have approached the publication of my first book in print very differently. |
| “I have several regrets about my self-published book , The Fall Garden Guide To Your Best Spring Garden Ever.The book sold out and I did make some money, however, it could have been easier and better in several ways.
1. I did not think it was important to get an IBSN number, plus I thought it was too expensive to do. 2. I picked a silly size. The book was 8.5″” x 11″” and too thin. 3. The binding was just staples and not “”perfectly bound.”" 4. There was no marketing information on the cover, the back cover was blank! What a missed point-of-sale opportunity. 5. The Title was ridiculously long and too narrow in focus. Now, a revised edition has been renamed “Garden Magic In Your Backyard!” |
| “I have written six books and my first one was with a small publisher over a decade ago. It’s still in print, but barely. I had no idea that I was responsible for my own marketing and I was shocked (shocked, I tell you) to find it wasn’t available at my local Waldenbooks. I took virtually no responsibility for my book once I handed over the manuscript. Now my books are published with Simon and Schuster and even with a dedicated publicist, I still take a very active role in marketing. Of course it’s much easier now than it was then… |
| “I’ve published 2 books now, and the 2nd was a much better experience than the first… LOL Probably my biggest regret on the first one was not taking more time in editing. I still feel it could have been a much more polished book had I invested more time. Having a co-author on that project added to the difficulty, but was manageable to be sure. One other big regret was not pushing my publisher to do more marketing. Big name publisher and limited marketing support. Still the same today with the second book. Duane Forrester
In my first printing of my first book I trusted a man who I had known through several connections but he hired a designer who did not embed the fonts so different chapters had different spacing of the letters. I also printed too many copies as he convinced me the breakdown in cost gave greater profit…” Marilyn Barnicke Belleghem M.Ed. |
| “(My regret is that my book was that…) I should have written it years ago”.
Lynn Seiser Ph.D. |
| “Looking back, I would have researched the title more thoroughly, and used author’s name differently. My name as used is easily confused with another similar author’s name, and the title selected is a common title for a number of books, differentiated only by the subtitle.” C. Warren Ellis Author of Resurrection of America |
| “My book regrets:1. Listing the authors of our book in alphabetical order on the cover of the book. Big mistake, because the author who contributed the least amount to the book wound up being given top billing. We had no idea (that) the first name listed on a book cover is treated as “lead” author and this is the person the PR and marketing people focus upon regardless of the expertise or knowledge of the subject matter the other authors may have too. It took quite a bit before the second and third author were taken as seriously as the first.
2. Our contract was silent on ” cover approval.” The photo used on the jacket of our book wound up being a stock photo and the same photo appears on a completely unrelated book.” Devra Renner, MSW and Aviva Pflock |
| “My first book Second Bloom won several awards; however, I regret overspending the budget and doing a hardcover.
With my second book Smash, I had learned those lessons and it was instantly profitable; however, to this day Second Bloom still has not been paid off. The break even on the print run of the first 1,000 did not pay the basic expenses to produce the book. What is good though is that I parlayed these experiences and apply them to my publishing company so that when I speak to authors I have very specific case studies to reference and show them what works or fails… |
| “My biggest publishing regret was not doing enough research and signing a contract with Publish America. I have head the hardest time getting a real person on the phone when I have questions, friends have bought the book but I haven’t received royalties and it takes two months to receive a book order. First time authors are so excited to get their manuscripts published that they jump at the first offer that “sounds” good but buyer BEWARE! |
| My #1 regret on my first book, “”Career Sudoku: 9 Ways to Win the Job Search Game”" was hiring an inexperienced book formatter.
For a book being published in 6×9 paperback for retail distribution, it’s critical that the format be on target and impeccable. I consulted a trusted resource who had authored 7 books and opened a publishing firm for a referral; based on her recommendation I hired a gentleman to format my first book. Welcome to my #1 first book regret. From the project schedule to communication to margins and paragraph indents, the entire process was tragic. The only good part about it was the initially negotiated price. Normally I would caution that you get what you pay for however, I was paying industry standard rates, albeit on the lower end, for formatting and getting nowhere near industry standard work. When I contacted him on the day after the manuscript was due to inquire why it was delivered without the standard 400 words per page and 35 lines per page his response was that wasn’t how we worked and his brochures typically didn’t need to follow those guidelines. Brochures? Uh oh. Big error #2 was when I noticed that my original 154 page manuscript sent in 8 ½ x 11 layout was now 149 pages in 6 x9 layout. What happened I asked? He removed some of the “”extra”" pages in the back and reduced the font size. What? First book regrets? Hiring a recommendation that had less experience than a New York Publishing house expert. It took twice as long and caused weeks of headaches. Adriana Llames |
| “What do I regret? Well, I regret trying to sell The New York Publishing powers-that-be on my idea. (It was an account of my solo bicycle travels in the U.S. and Canada.)
They weren’t the least bit interested, and that was depressing. I could have avoided the entire trip to Downer Land if I’d just ignored New York, saved up the money, and published the darn book myself. Which is what I ended up doing anyway.” Martha Retallick |
| “The only thing I regret is not starting to promote it much earlier in the writing process.
Even though it’s selling well, I’m sure if I would have started aggressively promoting it about 6 months earlier, I would be way ahead of the game. “ http://GetMoreClientsOnlineBook.com |
| “The one thing I should have done was take the success of the book more seriously, and utilized more aggressive marketing efforts. I published the book for my own purposes and realized that I perhaps under-estimated its appeal.Sydney Morgan Diamond CFO/Controller at Sound Answering & Business Svc (DBA Sound Telecom) |
| “The single biggest cause of failure in publishing (self- or otherwise) is overprinting before there is proven, objective evidence of public demand.Authors and publishers are all too often seduced by the lower per-unit cost of mass printing, only to see a garage (or warehouse) full of unsold books gathering dust at the end of the day. The same is true of mainstream booksellers, who routinely overstock… only Fortunately, “”Print-on-Demand” (POD) methods solve many of the problems faced by authors and publishers in the past. Personally, I wouldn’t dream of printing more than a hundred books at a time, unless there is a pre-paid, non-returnable order. And I do everything I possibly can to sell books at outlets other than The day is coming when most books other than Harry Potter and its ilk will Danny O. Snow, |
| “Regrets?
My picture. But then again, I picked it.My humorous how to book, “35 Things Your Teen Won’t Tell You So I Will”" came out several months ago. At the time I provided them with a photo of myself without any makeup. Usually I wear makeup and when I wear makeup I am pleasant enough looking but I had a makeup allergy and thus, I arranged to have a photo taken of myself sans makeup. While I wouldn’t say I look ugly in the photo in the back of my book, I know I had other, far more flattering photos. So why did I give them that one. Stupidity, I guess. When everything’s new, sometimes the first-time author doesn’t think straight. all the time. That was one of those times…” Ellen Pober Rittberg |
| “The only regret I have is not publishing the book that I spent years completing. My current one is ready for publishing in a couple of weeks and will be self-published.”Peter B. Giblett CITP, LLB |
| “The only regret I have is hiring a small printer in a small town in the Midwest. I thought I would be supporting a small business, but the way they handled business was not cool.
Many copies came out misprinted. I had the boxes at their warehouse and would have a few boxes sent whenever there was an event where I needed them. Every box of 60 I received had at least 3 misprints and up to 7. Rather than admit they made a mistake and offer some sort of recompense for the shipping I paid for these books, they claimed there were no more bad books and reprinted them without telling me. As a New Yorker, this infuriated me. (I know they reprinted the books, because the warehousing numbers were different between shipments.) Can’t trust any company who won’t admit to their mistakes...” |
| • I did not fight my butt off for the cover I wanted. Do not settle… throw a fit, make sure you love the cover!
• I do not regret self publishing, which has now grown into a whole publishing company (New Year Publishing). • Never regret what you write. Even if things change, respect that you believed what you believed at the time! • Writing a book is hard, promoting a book is 1000 times harder. Do not write a book unless you are committed to promote it for years and years. • If you are not famous, do not put your own picture on the cover. |
| “With my first book, Novembers Child (a novel), I was unaware of how it’s a good idea to check out publishers and shop your book around to find a legit publisher.
The publisher I ended up having a contract with was a co-op publisher: Northwest Publishing, Inc. People familiar with that saga will understand what happened next. But those not familiar should note that I received a very painful lesson in the risks of signing with a co-op publishing company. These days, this kind of company is seriously frowned upon in the publishing world. But at that time (mid-1990s), I had never heard of the various publishing models or that a co-op publisher was a bad idea. The people in charge ended up gambling away all the money they took from authors who came to them with dreams and hopes of being published authors, only to have those dreams trampled to pieces. In the end, the people running that company went bankrupt, and authors were left with a dark stain in the book world. Trying to regain rights to the book was a long and tiring struggle. Trying to get the book republished has been just as challenging. I still remain hopeful that the new version of my “”failed”" first book will find new hope and a new life in the book world someday. I actually have two regrets from this experience. 1. That I did not research book publishers adequately or network with other writers to understand what the publishing world was all about. And 2: That I did not get my book professionally edited before publication. Northwest had terrible editors, I never asked for a crit from writers on my book, and it ended up being a terrible piece of writing that makes me cringe when reading it. But, live and learn. Dawn Colclasure |
“What I regret about my first book, the novel, Legend, is that I didn’t do far more to publicize it myself, leaving it all up to the publisher. Thus I never capitalized on the excellent press and word of mouth it received.Which is a least partially why the book ultimately ended up on the UPI’s Ten Most Underrated list for that year: along with the New York Knicks, who never even made the playoffs and a Meryl Streep movie about a gingo that ate a baby…” |
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