Home
Software
Books
Articles / Rants
Consulting
Ordering Info
Good Links
About Us
Contact Us
 Adams-Blake logo


Big Myths that Unsuccessful (i.e. Stupid) Publishers Believe

A Saturday Rant 10-2-99

Because I have been writing this column for the past five years and because
(for some dumb reason) about 7000 people in the industry seem to read it and
like it (not my numbers... provided to me by so-called net marketing experts
who have crystal balls to extrapolate these figures... I think they are full
of crap... I don't believe more the 80 people on the planet reads my
ramblings... and  each one sends me a letter once a week!) I get asked by
lots of people, not so much for advice, but to confirm what they already
believe to be true.

Let me tell you this. I'm not so much concerned (or afraid) of what people
don't know. People can learn. What scares the hell out of me are the ideas
people steadfastly and absolutely in their hearts believe to be true... that
are absolutely wrong!

Here are what I call the 'BIG MYTHS' of small publishing.

1. Covers and Design Don't Count - Take me to the small press section of any
book show (including BEA) and I can point out every cover that was designed
by either the author/publisher, or by a designer who had never done a book
cover before. Publishers don't understand that covers are part of packaging
which is part of marketing. They buy the myth that "you can't tell a book by
its cover." What they fail to realize is that they  WILL sell a book by its
cover. So instead of paying someone like Mayapriya "Vege-head" Long or Pete
"Mac-head" Masterson or some other experienced book designer $2K to get a
professional job, they do the inside design themselves and hire their nephew
or sister-in-law who just finished a Photoshop or Pagemaker course at Podunk
Community College to do their book. And they get something with clip art on
a pink and green background as a cover and an inside looking like a college
freshman's first term paper. On  this "platform" they are going to spend
another $10K on printing. And they wonder why their books are rejected by
every buyer of every wholesaler, distributor, and retailer on the planet.
Dumb, dumb, dumb.

2. I Love the Subject - Unsuccessful publishers suffer from the most acute
case of myopic, egocentric, provincialism that I've ever seen. They print
what they want. Well, that's fine... if they want to lose their shirts and
go tits up. They think that because their subject or philosophy is important
to them, that there are 5,000 others who just can't wait to snap up their
printed ramblings. Every retired doctor seems to think that "they" have a
story. Every ex-political hack think that they have the solution for the
next utopian society. And maybe there are stories and solutions here. But
WHO CARES? I'll tell you the answer. NO ONE! Do these publishers ever bother
to pay a few non-friends and non-relatives a $20 reading fee and ask whether
or not the book might have any market appeal (to say nothing about if the
book is any good in the first place.) I'm telling you, there is more crap,
junk, and nonsense published and as you might have guessed, most of it fails
in the market place and becomes recycled into egg cartons and grocery bags.

3. The Media Can't Wait for My Story - Unsuccessful publishers have bought
into the myth that getting publicity for their titles is easy. I mean, look
at all the space, time, and electrons the media has to fill each day. Surely
they will want to print press stuff about the titles these publishers kill
trees for. What idiot publishers don't understand is that the media does not
give a flying rats ass about books, events, news, or anything else. The only
criteria the mass media applies to any story is "will it grab ears and
eyeballs SO we can package it with more advertising."   Stupid publishers
wait and wait and wait for "their" story to come out... and of course it
never does. And there is a reason...

4. My Press Release is Terrific - Unsuccessful publishers don't know the
first thing about writing media copy, but they THINK they do. They believe
the myth that who, where, why, etc. is all that is necessary. That's what
was taught them in all the media-writing books they read and they believe
it. Idiot publishers don't understand that people like Shel "I'm a cheapo"
Horowitz and other professional copywriters know the one single golden rule
of media.. and how to apply it. The rule is simple. Every editor who looks
at copy asks two questions. "Why me? Why now?" If those questions are
answered in the editor's head, the ink will flow. But what  happens to the
press releases of so many stupid publishers? More grocery bags and egg
cartons.

5. My Distributor Is Really Going to Work For Me - A great and happy day in
the life of a naive, stupid publisher is the day they get the letter
accepting their title into a distributor's "program." They read on an on
about all the wonderful things the distributor is going to do for their
title and they mentally make a down payment on that new Lexus. Unsuccessful
publishers rely on their distributor for their ship to come in... and most
often such publishers end up going down with it. Most distributors have
hundreds and hundreds of publishers and maybe a thousand or so titles. And
it cost them almost nothing (some of them make money) on taking a new
publishers/title.  And what they do is simple. They throw a tiny amount of
money at the title, maybe a press release, or a larger mention in a catalog.
If there is any ripple in the marketplace, they then go whole-hog on that
title and neglect most of their others. If that title is yours, great. But
if it isn't (and most often it won't be) you are going to end up buying the
myth of the distributor "making it happen for you."

6. Sales and Volume Myth - Unsuccessful publishers believe that they can
lose money on every sale but make it up in  volume.  Idiot publishers have
no idea on how to determine a unit price so that they won't lose money on
it. They see that Random House has a similar book on the subject for $10.95
so that's the price point selected. But Random gets better deals from their
printer (and they are owned by a printer!) than you will ever get, I don't
care if you offer your first born, your antique Ford Mustnag, or your body!
Most unsuccessful take the first step to failure when the decide the price
point of their title.

7. It's On My Desk Somewhere - Once a publisher gets past the newbie stage
and are selling more than 500 copies a year, there comes a need for an
organized approach to running the business. There is no quicker way to fail
then to try to run a growing business with the wrong tools. You can't do it
with Excel and Word. Every publisher I've ever met who ended up dancing the
Chapter 13 tango had a "going" operation, but just could not keep up with
orders, returns, and most importantly, had no idea of what their cash flow
was... until they realized that their large customers owed them big bucks...
yet they had to pay their creditors (like printers, publicists, etc.).  And
they didn't even have a method to determine which customer owed them what,
so had no idea on even who to send a late notice (or lawyer letter) to.
There are lots of software packages out there (like PUB123($99) , PiiGs/POET
($1500) , Acumen ($10,000), Cats ($7,000), Merlin $500)) that could have
prevented many failures. But so many publishers believe "I don't need a
computer to run my business." You can bet that the bankruptcy court will use
one to dissolve it!

8. I Can Do It On One Book - This has got to be the biggest myth ever
perpetrated on the newbie publisher community. You see this repeated over
and over in the many (otherwise well done) how-to-publish books on the
market. Sure there are one book success stores. Lots of them. One of my
PUB123 customers is Goofyfoot Press who published a (rather graphic) sex
book. They have made a pile of money on this book ("The Complete Guide To
Getting It On.") And everyone knows about Bear Kamoroff and his "Small-Time
Operator" book.  But that's the myth. The reality is that for every
one-booker that makes it, there are 100 other one-bookers that go deep six.
I have spent years ranting and railing against PMA on all sorts of issues.
But there is one thing that Jan Nathan and company have right.. and have
always had right. She (they) tell everyone that you can't make it on one
book. The key to success in this business is a back-list of books that sell
several thousand (or even hundred) copies year after year after year. When I
ask a publisher who has just come out with their first book,
"Congratulations, now what is the next one going to be on?" and when I get a
blank stare, I know I'm looking at a failure.

MOS: YA GOTTA BELIEVE

What is MOS? Those of you with some Hollywood writing experience will know.
In the 50s and 60s the network executives required every TV show (especially
sit-coms) to have written into the script what was called the "Moment of
Sentiment"... where Ward tells Beaver how honesty is the best policy or
Kitten learns that even if punnished, Father Knows Best. Many (jaded) TV
writers (among themselves) referred to the MOS segment of their script as
the "moment of shit."

After working for six months of 18 hour days, six days a week (Thursday is
golf day), I have raised $197,000 for my burned down temple, finished
PUB123, finished SOHO-123, finished Media123 (all to be released in Nov.,)
written some pretty good Rants (which take longer than you might think,) and
have dealt with the day-to-day grind of running a business.

In addition to all of this (Mayapriya is getting out her violin now!!) many
of you old-timers know that in the past 3 years my dear, first, and current
wife has had both of her hips replaced after spending several years mostly
in bed or a wheelchair. I told Jane that after the operations, when she was
ready, we would go anywhere in the world she wanted to go.

So we saved up our pennies and dimes while Jane went through her therapy
learning how to walk again and gaining strength. There were times when we
thought she would never get off the walker as there were some problems with
the arthritis spreading to her knee and ankle. We had moments of great joy
and moments of desperation.

But we kept at the therapy and even when things didn't look so good, we were
encouraged by the spirit of Eric Anderson's wife (another story that perhaps
one day he might share.)  We walked, we exercised, and we always kept our
eye on the prize... that one day, soon, if we believed, if we had faith,
this would all be a memory. And as the months and years passed, things got
better for Jane... a little at a time, but better. We paid off our medical
bills, and always put a few bucks in the bank for when "that" day would
come. And over time our little vacation fund mounted up to about $10,000.

And finally, after so much work, effort, hope, prayer, and just plain old
force-of will, "that" day is here. This week we leave on a "Celebration Of
Life" trip to Italy. Jane has always wanted to see Italy. I know that when
she walks down the jetway (with her cane that somehow unfolds into a little
seat), there will be a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye. We are on our
way after years of just dreaming.

It can rain in Rome or snow in Venice. I don't care. We have fought this
disease, we have struggled against it, and we will not let it beat us. When
I told her years ago that "as soon as you are well, we'll go to Italy" I
honestly believed that one day we would. And now we are. So this space will
be empty for a few weeks while Jane takes in the wonders of Italian art and
I look for the perfect pizza and gelato.

Growing up a few miles outside New York City (in Great Neck) in the 60s, I
was a Mets fan. They were an expansion team to take the place of the Giants
and Dodgers who had taken the last train to the coast. The early Mets teams
set new records for being terrible. But they kept on going out there game
after game, year after year. And in 1969, they started winning some games.
And they won more. And even more. I remember the motto of the 1969 Mets: "Ya
gotta believe!" They won the World Series that year. It was a miracle.

Walking arm in arm down the jetway will be just as big a miracle to me.

Ya gotta believe.

Ciao,


Alan N. Canton
Vice President
Adams-Blake Publishing

============================
If you are in the publishing business, you must see PUB123, the newest and
most affordable back-office software system available. You can find it on
http://www.adams-blake.com. Email us at: info@adams-blake.com
============================


8041 Sierra Street #102    Fair Oaks, CA   95628   916.962.9296