Uncategorized – Page 2 – EMPIRE PUBLISHING

February 25 2017

From the blog post of Francesca M.B an Author Representative for Empire Publishing Company.

The topic of book publishing is something that about 30,000 people a year endeavor themselves to obtain the proper information, and may try to self-educate by going to Google or many websites and blogs, or even attend seminars or classes to understand how to publish a book, and the options that are available to them.

I decided today, that I would write about the main topics in the circles of Authors and Editors and Publishers, in hopes that I may be of some help to anyone seeking advice or knowledge in book publishing.

I am an Author Representative, for Empire Publishing, that means in my own paraphrase, that I am “The Gatekeeper” to the Publisher. I am the liaison, the person who communicates in cooperation and helps to facilitate a close working relationship between the Author and the Publisher.

If anyone has ever tried to get a hold of the actual Publisher of any decent or reputable Publishing Company then they know that it is nearly an impossible thing to do. Publishers are busy, they do not have time to listen to people try to verbally pitch their story to them over the phone, nor do they have time to sit and explain how the publishing process works. So, that makes me (and other’s like me – Publishers Gatekeepers) the one who must maintain the abundance of patience that is required to repeat myself over and over again all day long every single day. I will be honest when I say, that 89% of the phone calls I get are from people who really have no clue how to get their book published, and do not understand even the basics of becoming an Author. However, they all have a passion or a desire to learn and to find a way to get their story published.

I feel sorry for some people who finally call me, after they have been calling all over God’s green earth for 6 months to a year, and they almost sound shocked when they get a real person on the other end of the phone line. In fact, some are so use to getting a recording they did not prepare their self to have a dialog about their manuscript. Then there are those, who made their first call to me, and have no idea how fortunate they were. Many think that they can find something better, or cheaper and so they hang up the phone rudely. Only for them to call me back a year later with their tails between their legs and feeling rather beat up from trying to find exactly what they are looking for, and for a price they are willing to pay.

It doesn’t matter if you are looking to self-publish using a self-publishing company, or if you are looking for a traditional publisher to publish your manuscript. Either way, it is important to be polite, and have respect for the person who may be the one helping you to turn your dream into a reality. Being nice will get you further than being pushy. And whatever you do, do not treat your agent or representative as though you do not trust them. If you do not trust them, then go find someone you do. I like what Emily Harstone wrote in the February issue of Authors Publish blog. In her post called “The Seven Most Common Manuscript Submission Mistakes” where she address the issue of politeness. She states “Politeness and Formality Is a Must” she also noted that announcing that you have a copyright on your work is suggesting that you do not trust the Publisher. She is right. Look, if you are a serious writer then you need to find a Publisher or an agent, and if you have already put a copyright on your work, you are only hurting yourself. The way Emily explains it sums it up pretty well… “Never say you have copyrighted your book with the Library of Congress. Your book is copyrighted the moment you put the words on paper. To have it done officially, dates your material–forever. Let the publisher do that. A book with a copyright date of 2013, and submitted in 2016, speaks volumes to an editor or agent. It means it’s been shopped around, a lot! If you are really worried someone will steal your material, register it with the Writers’ Guild, East or West. For a small fee they will record the work, proving when you wrote it. And then, unless you are submitting to an entertainment agent or producer, keep your mouth shut. Copyright marks and WGA numbers suggest you don’t trust us.”

Enough said on that, let’s move on to the next part of this discussion.

Once you find the person or company you want to work with, do not waste their time, make sure you have your manuscript polished up in a Word Doc and ready to send. You should already have a book cover idea ready. You do not need to design your own cover unless you want to – but you need to at least have a description of something you would like to see developed into a cover the same day you send your manuscript.

Also, make sure you have written a synopsis of your book, because it will also need to go through the editing process along with your manuscript. Ideally, by the time you have made the decision to move forward with publishing your book, you should have all your ducks in a row. If you want to include an Author picture, please already have those done and ready to send over with your manuscript and your synopsis. You should have already have written your Author Bio and submit that at the same time. This helps everything to go smoothly. It makes you look more organized and you will not be frustrating to every department in the company. Lean on your agent or your representative to help you get through the steps, but do not expect them to babysit you or hold your hand.

How to write a Synopsis:

In order for you to write a good synopsis you must understand what it is and what its function is. From the standard dictionary, a synopsis is:

1. a brief or condensed statement giving a general view of some subject.

2. a compendium of heads or short paragraphs giving a view of the whole.

3. a brief summary of the plot of a novel, motion picture, play, etc.

Where is your book synopsis used?

Well, usually it will be on the back cover of your book, it will also be on your Author page and AMAZON.com will use it as a description of your book.

The whole idea behind writing a good synopsis is to capture the attention of the reader and entice them to want to read more. I suggest to my Authors to go on AMAZON.com and look for the number one best sellers under the same genre of their book and read their synopsis. It works as good inspiration to help you get a good idea of how and what to write.

If you think you are a good writer and that your book doesn’t need editing and choose to not pay for professional editing, then at least invest in Grammarly or another reputable downloadable grammar program, that will help you miss mistakes that spell check and grammar check in WORD will miss. It will also help with sentence structure. It is very important to have a well written book. There are professional avid readers out there who are very verbal in their reviews. They will catch any mistake and will even go so far as to publicly point them out in their review of your book. You want to strive for 5 stars, because when people go to buy a book in your genre, they will compare it to the other books and are more than likely going to go with the higher rating book. Keep that in mind.

Next let’s talk about cover design.

Everyone wants the amazing cover that will grab peoples attention. Face it, the facts are you have 3 seconds to capture or intrigue a person enough to take a closer look at your book. People have gone to college to learn how to do that. It is called visual marketing.

I know I have heard the graphic design team scream in horror when they see what an Author sends over to use for a cover. First of all, DO NOT TAKE ANY PHOTOS OFF OF GOOGLE. We see this all the time. It is a major no-no. If you cannot present a decent cover design, then allow the professionals who do it for a living to come up with something for you. Even a basic cover design can look good when they add in the special fonts and design tweaks. Also you can purchase designs for very cheap at Colorbox.com and then you will have an image that is yours.

Let’s talk about the color of your cover. I come across some first time Authors who have an idea in their head, and they do not think it all the way though. If you have ever looked through any simple cover design program, and they give you a color scheme to choose from, you will notice that white is never a book cover option. There is a reason for that. Because most books are being marketed and sold online, and white on white does not stand out. Even if you have brightly colored words and a bold font, it just will not be good for marketing purposes. Not only is white a poor option for a book cover, due to marketing reasons, but it is a poor color due to dirty fingerprints and dust, and smudges.

The absolute best seller book covers are almost always, red, green or blue, or a combination of these colors with black or white font. These colors are eye appealing and they work well for marketing too.

For more information on Book Publishing, subscribe to my blog here

Literary Tipsempirepublishingblog.wordpress.com

And also check out all the information that is available for you atwww.Empirebookpublishing.com

By Francesca M.B.

January 6 2017

Many of you reading this may have already figured this out and are shopping around for a micro-publisher. Be careful as well, as you search the Internet for options, you will run across organizations trying to sell you the so-called secrets of publishing and false promises of making you into a bestselling author. Most of them are scams designed for their own profit, not yours, and prey on those without any knowledge of the publishing industry. Then you will come across micro-publishers advertising that they take on all genres, they do not turn down any submissions, and the author will have no out of pocket expenses. Their sales pitch sounds very appealing to first-time authors, but please remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. If a large publishing house requires an author to build his or her platform to generate sales, why would anyone think that a small publisher, which is most likely operated in a person’s home, would be able to get a book sold? In reality, writing a book is the easy part. As an author, you are going to be the key salesperson regardless of which company publishes your book, so don’t be led astray or fooled into believing otherwise.
The literary publishing industry is rapidly changing and shifting in a new direction. What was the in the past regarding publishing is no longer what will be in the near future. Digital publishing is on the rise, but for those that love books, do not fret, printed books will never go away, and are slowly climbing back up the ladder. Self-publishing and micro-publishers was frowned upon in the past, which was rightfully so due to the poor quality of the product, but not anymore. Small publishers are printing high-quality books that are equal to those by the large publishing houses. Nowadays, independent publishers are the ones that are making the money, and large amounts money! However, be cautious when choosing a micro-publisher because there are those that prey on first-time authors. I have seen a few that offer services that are simply bogus. One, in particular, offers celebrity endorsements for your book for a fee of $190.00. Looking deeper into it, all they do is supply you with addresses for celebrities, some that may not even be valid any longer as noted in the advertisement, and it is up to you to make contact with the celebrity. This is just stupid… anyone can find the address for a celebrity, and even if you pay for that information on the Internet, it is only $25.00.
Agents will mislead you by saying that large publishing houses will not offer a contract if you originally self-published. That’s a lie! 50 Shades of Grey by E.L. James is the perfect example of a self-published success story due to an author’s determination. The book was originally titled “Masters of the Universe” and was self-published as an e-book. It acquired massive amounts of horrible reviews, mostly noting its very poorly written qualities. As you know, it eventually became a bestselling novel boasting 70 million copies sold worldwide. Literary agents are still to this day publically bashing the book that they all turned down. This proves that they have lost touch with what the public wants to read.
There is no reason to sit and wait wasting valuable time as you receive one discouraging rejection after another as you keep changing your proposal trying to get an agent’s attention. If your dream is to be published in the future by a large, well-known publishing house, by all means, continue to pursue it. You may have been told that a large publisher will not touch a self-published book – that is a lie as they have taken on previously published books such as Fifty Shades of Grey. You are not under any contract with us nor do you have any obligation to Empire Publishing after you are published. Remember, you own 100% of your rights. Empire Publishing is a company created by authors for authors. We’ve been through it all and are here to save you many headaches.
You will want to have your manuscript as polished as can be before publishing. Every writer knows this. Unfortunately, not everyone can afford to pay an editor $20 per page to edit his or her work, and editing your own work is almost impossible to do. We offer professional editing services in our packages that are not going to break your bank account.
The best books from top authors released by major publishing houses have mistakes in them. This comes to one of the most dreadful aspects of going with a large publishing firm that no longer has proofreaders and one of the best aspects of publishing with print to order. There is no large, costly inventory in stock, and an error can be quickly rectified. If you happen to find a mistake at a later date or need to make a change, those changes can be made within 48 hours.
As the industry changes and is evolving, micro-publishers are becoming a force to reckon with. However, many of them only accept specific genres, which limit their manuscript acceptance and overall sales power. Some overcharge and prey on those that do not have the knowledge of publishing, printing, graphic design, and marketing. Many of them offer services that are unnecessary and a waste of money. We feel a successful business is achieved through honor and providing the best service possible. We have even seen contracts where the author is required to order 500 copies of their book. That is insane! Using our sources, you don’t need to order a single copy if you choose not to.
We have seen publishers offer a website and e-store to the author, only to have them disappear after a year. You own and have full control over everything you do with Empire Publishing. You are in the driver’s seat. Actually, we are so confident about our services, we encourage you to shop around before deciding how you want to go about making your publishing dream into a reality. We do not discriminate and believe everyone has a unique voice. With passion and a commitment to excellence, our agency brings heart and precision execution to each of our tailor-made marketing campaigns.
After you have poured your heart and soul into a story that you want to share with the world, your publishing experience should be an exciting adventure, not one filled with one disappointment after another. We are here to make that journey easy and rewarding. Do not be led down the wrong path as so many others have before. If you look around, you will see that micro-publishers are sprouting up like weeds. On one end of the scale, some are charging outrageous fees, and on the other end, some are charging such low rates that it almost seems too good to be true, which in most cases, they are. We are a team of authors and publishing professionals that have been through it all. We are here to help you, and not take advantage of you as so many others do. Inside our website, you will notice our brutal honestly and not flowery sales pitches to get you to spend money. Our goal is to dominate the self-publishing industry, and we will do so by providing the best services available at a reasonable rate. We are a publisher/service bureau that you can trust, and we will be around for a very long time.
What are you waiting for? Look around our website, shop around with others to see what they offer, and then let us turn your dream of being a published author into reality. We make it easy, quick, and hassle-free. We stand beside our authors and will be there to assist you long after your work is published. We are constantly experimenting with unconventional methods of marketing, and as an Empire Publishing author, only you will be privy to that information. When you are ready, contact us, and we will get the ball rolling in the right direction for you.

reading book