Susan wrote to ask, "What is your opinion of e-publishing as a means to break into traditional publishing?"

I’ve yet to see this work much. I keep hearing about authors who plan to e-publish their novel one chapter at a time, which is an interesting concept and might be a nice alternative to those writers with a niche readership, but I’m not seeing it translate into regular royalty-paying deals. Stephen King tried selling his novel chapter-by-chapter and it went nowhere. And now publishers are becoming wary of allowing an author to include material in a book that has already been available on a blog or website or e-zine. I still believe the web is a great training ground for authors, but I’m not sure the practice of e-publishing is actually going to get you a traditional publishing deal.

Laura wants to know, "When an author sends an electronic proposal to an editor at a publishing house through a referral or because of a meeting at a writers’ conference, how long should the author expect to wait for a reply?"

It varies on the editor, the house, and the season (some seasons are busier than others), but it’s generally fair to say that an author will probably hear within 12 weeks or so. If you’ve been waiting longer than 3 months, it’s fine to check back with the editor, just to see if they’re still considering it. Be patient — publishing is a slow process.

Lynn writes to say, "I have an article that has been showcased on an online writers’ forum and has proven popular. Now I’d like to find a publication where I could submit my article. Since most magazines have an online edition, would they consider my article already published?"

You’re asking the question many writers are wondering. The fact is, this topic is still being debated, so I don’t have a definitive answer for you, Lynn. Check the magazine’s guidelines — they may state clearly that an article previously appearing on a website or e-zine is considered "published." However, if they don’t clearly preclude this practice, then you can probably assume they’ll consider it "unpublished." Everyone is still trying to decide if blogs and e-zines constitute publication or not.

Janet wrote, "Some authors I know have created promotional videos for their unpublished novels. There are 2-minute videos, combining photos, text, and music — sort of a music trailer for their book, made available online. Do you think there’s any value to doing this and putting it on your website?"

I’ve seen a couple of these videos that were really well done, and I’ve seen some that were hilariously bad (over the top romantic; shoddy camera work; authors taking themselves too seriously). My response? If it’s well done and helps promote your work, it certainly seems like a good idea. I don’t think it will necessarily help you get a deal — let’s face it, even an award-winning video won’t help you find a publisher if your writing is bad. But I don’t see how this could possibly harm your chances, and it might make a nice sales tool.

Rita wrote and noted, "I attend local RWA meetings, and read a number of writing websites. There are quite a few members writing paranormal romances. Is that growing in popularity? And could it survive in CBA?"

It certainly seems to be a growth category, Rita. There are already a number of CBA writers crafting paranormal stories, so its popularity in CBA is already a fact. Whether it has legs is another question — some publishers seem to be moving slowly into the category.

Ashley wrote and asked,  "What sort of encouragement can you give an aspiring writer who over-analyzes everything? I can sometimes have a tough time believing in myself and my writing. I read books on writing, then think too much, get too critical, and start to criticize everything. I end up thinking my writing is just BAD. Help!"

Hey, I understand how you can feel that way, Ashley. But remember something: you do NOT have to get published. I mean, the value of your life is based on something other than getting your words printed somewhere. There is value in writing, not just in being published. So ask yourself, "Why do I want to write?" Is it to make money? To become famous? To change people? I think, for most of us, we simply have stories we want to tell. So tell them. If you’re at a place where you’re over-analyzing things, decide to write more simply. Don’t write for publication — write letters. Write a prayer. Write in a journal. Write a story to a child. Look for a way to write something enjoyable, without the need to be self-critical or to judge it against someone else’s proposed guidelines. If you’re not stuck having to meet a book contract deadline, any pressure you’re feeling is self-imposed, so write something that is freeing, and come back to that Great American Novel some other day.

AND if you’re in the need for some actual laughter today, I urge you to check out the video at www.makemylogobiggercream.com. For everyone who writes or advertises on the web, this is essential gear. Trust me — big smiles or your money back!

I’ve got a bunch of notes and questions regarding writer resources, so let me try to get to several of them today…

On MONEY: Patricia wrote to say, "Thanks for your recent blog post about earning money. So if a book doesn’t ‘earn out’ its advance, is the balance applied against the next book?"

It is if your contract is cross-collateralized — that is, if all your various book advances are "basketed" into one deal. If not — if each book is on a separate contract — then no, your advance cannot be applied to your next book. 

On REMAINDERS: DeeAnn wrote me to ask, "What does it mean to ‘remainder’ a book?"

That’s when the publisher sells the remaining copies of your book to a book wholesaler for less than the cost of printing. It commonly happens when your book is going out of print, or when they’re down to the last 1000 copies or so, and the publisher wants to be rid of them. The books might have cost $2 to print, but they’ll sell them for $1 apiece to somebody who will buy the entire remaining stock, just to get them out of the warehouse.   

On SELF-PUBLISHING: Gene wants to note, "The latest issue of Writers Digest is filled with ads for self-publishing. I’m on my second agent, still trying to get  published, but it takes SOOOO long. How can you convince me not to go to lulu.com and have my book for sale on Amazon tomorrow morning? When will the traditionalists speed up the process?"

You’re right — there are a ton of self-publishing companies. Some are good, some are not. Be careful. The problem with self-publishing is not the speed, it’s the sales. If you write a book, you have to make sure the book is good (and if publishers are all turning you down, there could be a message there, Gene). You also want to ensure the cover is good, the editing is good, the title is good, and that you know how to sell it. The biggest problem with self-pubbing is that usually the author doesn’t know how to market and sell his own book. Listing it on Amazon isn’t really a marketing strategy — there are two million books on Amazon. If you can’t market and sell your self-pubbed book, don’t go that route — you’ll lose a lot of money. As for the speed of traditional publishing, it’s not the production side that is slow — it’s the retail side. It’s March as I write this, and right now book sales people are walking into bookstores to show everyone the coming Christmas titles. The catalogs they’re using were put together a couple months ago, so they could be used as sales tools, so that stores could order the books and get them in time for Christmas, AND the marketing people can begin their push before the book actually arrive. All that takes time. Publishing is a slow business.

On PROPOSALS: Martha wrote, "I’ve been told it’s customary for a nonfiction proposal to include two sample chapters. So why has a publisher asked me to send all the material I have finished? I’ve sent 9 of the 12 chapters and have still not heard a decision."

It’s true that a standard nonfiction proposal generally included a thorough description of the project, table of contents, author bio, and two sample chapters. But standards can change. In these competitive times, we’re often seeing publishers ask for more of the writing. They want to see if you have enough to say, if your message can carry a manuscript, and if you’re close to being done. The fact that a publisher has asked to see more of your work is a good sign, Martha. There’s certainly a risk that you could complete the work and the publisher still says no — but that’s true with any book. In fact, if you’re so close to being done, I’d probably encourage you to finish the book so that you have the added selling point of being able to tell publishers, "The manuscript is complete."

On CONFERENCES: Lee Ann wrote and asked, "What are the best Christian writers’ conferences?"

Christian writers these days have a plethora of great conferences they can attend, and I’m a big fan of them. I think conferences are a great place to network with other writers, hear from experts, and get face-to-face with editors and agents. My favorite conference is probably the one put on by the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW). It floats, but this September will be in Minneapolis. The Write-to-Publish conference at Wheaton College is a good choice — it takes place the first week of June (and though the ads say I’ll be there, I had to cancel due to my daughter’s college graduation). Other good options include the Blue Ridge Writers’ Conference in Asheville, NC, and the Colorado Christian Writers Conference up in scenic Estes Park — both of these take place in May, and both offer excellent speakers in beautiful settings. There are a bunch of other big ones with good opportunities to learn and network — Florida, Philadelphia, Oregon, Glorieta (NM). Jerry Jenkins’ Christian Writers Guild puts on a conference that I’m told is very strong (though pricey), but I’ve never attended. The Mount Hermon conference in California is coming up in a week, and, though expensive, is one of the good ones. Reg Forder’s American Christian Writers organization puts on smaller one-day conferences in cities around the nation, and many colleges will have excellent writing conferences in the summer (I’m speaking at the Harriette Austin Writer’s Conference at the University of Georgia this summer, for example).  There are also many excellent general conferences not focused on CBA, and a couple of speciality conferences to consider. Next month Calvin College will be hosting their bi-annual Festival of Faith and Writing, and ACT ONE out in Hollywood offers a special conference for Christian screenwriters. Finally, there are retreats and smaller gatherings going on all the time. There’s really no reason for a writer to not find a conference where he or she can learn, network, and get inspired.

On NON-CONFERENCE RESOURCES: Bev wrote to ask, "Aside from a writing conference, what sort of other resources can you recommend to those of us who want to learn more about writing and marketing?’

I encourage you to check out Randy Ingermanson’s material at www.AdvancedFictionWriting.com. He has some great things to say about writing articles to promote your books, and offers a teleseminar on how to promote your writing through speaking. And a newer site to visit is www.wannabepublished.blogspot.com, created by my friend Mary DeMuth. Some good stuff for those looking to break into the business. If you’re looking to network with other writers, novelists should connect with the afore-mentioned ACFW, and many writers would appreciate a yahoo group called "The Writers View." You’ll probably want to be reading Publisher’s Weekly to find out about the industry, and the web-based Publisher’s Lunch and Publisher’s Marketplace are two sources I cannot live without. If you really want to stay on top of the CBA market, you should be looking at Christian Retailing magazine and buying a copy of Sally Stuart’s excellent book with Random House, Christian Writers Market Guide. Finally, consider Writer’s Digest Magazine, and especially their annual Writers Market, which tells you everything you probably need to know about book publishers. Hope this helps.

Becky Germany is a Senior Editor at Barbour Publishing, and a familiar face at writing conferences. I recently asked her a couple questions about the industry…

In many ways, Barbour has become a leader in Christian fiction — doing novellas, establishing a book club, focusing on mass market. Where does all the creative thinking come from?

Becky: We’re the leading CBA publisher of fiction categorized as romance. We rank fourth in the number of units produced in fiction in CBA. We started publishing fiction as romance flip books way back in 1983 with authors like Colleen Reece, Irene Brand, and Elaine Schultze. I wasn’t at Barbour then, so I"m not sure how it was decided to settle upon romance, but it’s been our strength ever since. The Heartsong Presents book club began in 1992, the year before I joined the company, and out of that has come a number of stars — Tracie Peterson, Wanda Brunstetter, Lauraine Snelling, Colleen Coble, Cathy Marie Hake, and more (forgive me for not trying to name them all, Chip). Our fiction series have helped us remain open to working with unpublished authors and developing them into strong writers.

Another Barbour strength has been doing series and repackaging previously published material (including Grace Livingston Hill) to extend the breadth and life of the product. Our novella collections were born when we decided we could create new short stories specifically for collections under topics of our choice. So the creative thinking seems to extend from Barbour’s roots, and builds on what we do best. Our team members are, for the most part, people who have been with Barbour many years and who know the company’s success model. We’ve learned to work within our strengths and to keep our product subjects broad, in order to appeal to the widest audience.

What are some of the things that have worked (and not worked) in fiction for you?

When we decided to start doing full-length fiction for the trade, we looked at an area which, at the time, didn’t seem to be well tapped — suspense with broad appeal to include male readers. We left our core readership of women hooked on romance and tried to reach a niche market — and failed. Even with strong authors like Alton Gansky, Nancy Moser, Hannah Alexander, etc., the market didn’t respond to this fiction approach from Barbour. When we swung back to romance, the sales placements and numbers went up significantly. We learned our lesson: For Barbour, having the plot focus on romance is key. Wanda Brunstetter’s Amish settings blended with romance have struck a chord with our readers and generated great sales. We also find that traditional American history settings appeal to our readers. Romance has many sub-categories, and we’ve found that things like chick-lit and suspense really aren’t working for us.

What does the future hold? Are there some new things brewing at Barbour you can tell me about?

Well, we just launched our newest book club, containing cozy romantic mysteries. We sort of created a genre combining our romance strength with cozy mysteries. Light, humorous mysteries fit well with our readership, and the added romance is icing on the cake.

We’ve also increased our focus on building author names. In the early days of Barbour, the majority of our authors were either dead or writing for a set series where the author’s name wasn’t key to sales. Now Barbour recognizes the need to focus on author names when selling full-length fiction. We’ve recently signed six authors to multi-book, exclusive contracts, and we’re putting a lot of effort into marketing them.

It sounds like there’s a lot of interesting stuff happening with your company. So…now that you’ve got all these readers excited about working with you, what advice would you like to offer them? When they see you at a conference, what should they be thinking?

Just today I was reminded of my frustration involving acquisitions at conferences. I received a book proposal that claims I requested it at a writers’ conference 6 months ago. It’s been so long that I have no idea what sparked my interest in it to begin with. I would really encourage authors who attend conferences to have, at the very least, the full summary and three chapters polished and ready to hand over at the conference. If the editor requests your proposal, send that as soon as you get home. Then have your full manuscript ready for the editor’s review no farther out than one month from the conference. Editors work with a heap of authors, and you have to do all in your power to keep yourself at the top of the review pile if you’re going to get noticed.

Thanks for coming and joining us, Becky. I appreciate you taking the time. And now that you have your guard down… what’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever seen at a conference?

My most embarrassing moment came at a writers’ conference. I went to this small gathering up in Pennsylvania. I got there just as it was starting, and we were all gathered for dinner. I got sick. I guess I’d been under a lot of stress, and a migraine hit me hard. I left the table, but only got as far as the cafeteria waste can before losing my dinner. What a way to introduce myself to the group! (An agent, Joyce Hart, took care of me like a mom all weekend. I’ll always be grateful to her for that.) I’ve never been back to that conference.

I’d like everyone to notice that it was an AGENT taking care of Becky. Another helpful, selfless literary agent, putting herself in harm’s way, thinking only of the needs of others, as usual. What an inspiration.

Oh, brother.