Tag: Uncategorized

Dear XYZ Publisher;

He fought an elephant and won, saved a man’s life, reunited two brothers on a battlefield and helped stop the invasion of an entire army.

Chetak, the hero of this 2,200 [I’m assuming word] picture book, was a horse.

This remarkable true story is set in India, a land of color and mystery. The bright, colorful illustrations give young readers a fascinating look at another period of time while sharing the amazing and tender story of a horse and the two brothers who loved him.

When the younger brother could not claim the beautiful Chetak for himself, he argued with his brother then left to live in a distant city. Angered, the two brothers did not speak nor write to each other. A few years later war erupted across India and the brothers joined opposite armies.

On the battlefield, Chetak’s victorious battle against the king’s elephant brought the two brothers together again. Their reunion was so powerful and touching that
the invading king refused to harm either brother. Rather, he granted them the peace they finally knew they desired.

The rich, keepsake illustrations and text introduce children to a country and culture that are not well know[n]. The [This] story about Chetak teaches a universal truth: brothers and family love are important.

I am submitting this manuscript to you because of your strong interest in multi-cultural endeavors. I have worked as a freelance writer and artist for years. My writing has appeared in various national and international publications including Parenting, Horse & Rider, and Western Horseman. My artwork has appeared in magazines such as The Friend and Western Horseman, as well as juried shows and private collections.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I hope you enjoy the true story of Chetak.

This is not a bad query letter. I’d ask to see it. There is nothing in it that I’d change.

The only caution I would give, and it may not apply here since you’ve sold artwork, is to be very cautious about sending illustrations with your text. Most publishers have in-house illustrators or freelancers that they prefer to use. Or they want an illustration style different from what you’ve submitted. If you seem too locked in to the idea of using your own illustrations, and the publisher doesn’t like them, they may reject the manuscript as well.

If you are a professional illustrator–as in, you’ve SOLD artwork to someone who doesn’t know you personally–and you absolutely want to sell your art and book together as a set, then go ahead and send the illustrations. But if you lack experience, I’d suggest sending only one or two illustrations with the manuscript and stating in your query that you are sending the samples for consideration but that you are willing to sell the manuscript independent of your illustrations.

I have several questions waiting for answers. If you submitted a question and I haven’t answered it yet, be patient. I’ll get to it.

Today is the last day to send a pitch for the January Pitch contest. I’ll start posting the pitches and my comments tomorrow. So far, I have five.

I got tagged over on Six LDS Writers and A Frog. I think Jeff is trying to trip me up so that I’ll accidentally reveal myself in this exercise. But I’m betting I can come up with 5 absolutely honest and truly revealing things about me that no one knows without giving myself away. Let’s see…

1. I have about 47 log-in name and password combinations that I use online. I never can remember which ones I’ve used at which place, so it takes me almost 5 minutes to log in everywhere. Which may explain why I feel like I never get anything done.

2. My secret wish is to be strong enough to hit a man in the face and make him cry. Nothing against men in general, I’ve just never been very strong and most men laugh hysterically when I hit them.

3. I currently have 29 novels in progress, some of which I’ve been working on for over 27 years.

4. When I’m bored, I plan what I would do differently if I suddenly had $350 million tax-free dollars. I justify this by saying I am creating it spiritually, so that it can someday be created physically. Also that if I come up with a good enough plan, God might actually give it to me.

5. I absolutely hate these tagging games (and chain letters, and dish towel clubs, and recipe games) and I refuse to tag anyone. So this leg of the game stops here. Sorry. But if you’d really like to participate, you can list your 5 Things in the Comments.

January Pitch Contest is closed. Check back later for another contest.

Send me your pitch for an LDS novel. The pitch is the part of your query letter that lets me know what your book is about, who the characters are, the situations they’re facing, the hook that would get me to read it. I will post more about what makes a good pitch during this month.

Rules for the contest:

• The pitch should be for your original unpublished novel (as in, not something you’ve heard about; not something your friend is working on, not something that’s already published).
• Do not send a pitch for a work that has been entered or queried in a previous contest on this blog.
• The novel does not have to be finished to pitch it in this contest because you won’t be submitting it to me.
• No limit on word count, but keep in mind that most good pitches are shorter rather than longer.
• You may pitch as many novels as you like but send a separate e-mail for each one.
• You may send your pitch(es) at any time during the month of January. E-mail must be dated no later than January 31, 2007.
• I will not post submissions as they arrive, but will save them up and post them during the first week of February–with my comments.
• Should a miracle happen and I become deluged with pitches, I will post the first 100 pitches that I receive.
• Everyone who enters the contest wins the prize. The prize is: my commentary on your pitch. I will tell you if your pitch would be successful with me, and why or why not.

I’ve put a few comments on each of the stories–my two cents worth on whether they are publishable. There was a two-way tie on the Readers Choice, but that worked out nicely because one of them was also the winner that I chose.

Publisher’s Choice:
Christmas Story #4–I Believe in Santa Claus

Readers Choice:
Christmas Story #1–Christmas on Mars

If you want to take credit for your story, either post your name in the comments trail or send me an e-mail with the name you’re writing under and I’ll update the post.

Just in case you haven’t heard yet, Deseret Book acquired Seagull (discount retailer) and Covenant (publisher). They made the announcement this morning.

This was a surprise. I knew they were still “talking,” but never in my wildest dreams did I think it would go this way. Well, maybe in my very wildest dreams, but Mr. Kofford has not made it a secret that he enjoys being a competitive pain in DBs side–and so I repeat, this was a surprise.

So now what?

First, I want to say that this is NOT a case of big, bad Deseret Book picking on poor, sweet little Covenant/Seagull. Lew Kofford has enough business savvy that no one is going to walk all over him. This is a wise business move on the part of DB and Kofford seems happy with it. The good news is that DB intends to keep the companies separate and to continue to have Covenant and Seagull function as they have been. That is a better situation than gobbling them up and merging.

But that’s the end of the good news. This is a blow to smaller publishers and independent bookstores who are already struggling to compete in a market dominated by a few giants. I wish I could cry “No fair” and accuse them of doing something bad and wrong, but I can’t. This is the way business works these days. Wal-Mart does it. Colgate does it. The big NY based publishing conglomerates do it. They purchase smaller houses but let them continue to run themselves.

The fact is, in business, you swim with the big guys or you sink and get eaten. Sometimes the big guy will let you ride on his back rather than eat you up. From a small publisher’s point of view, both getting eaten (fast death) or forced to ride the big guy’s back are both better options than getting kicked out of the pond and flopping on the banks for awhile, gasping for air, then dying a long, slow torturous death.

And I can’t say that if DB approached me tomorrow and made me an offer that I wouldn’t sell out. I’d have to think a good long time, but I really don’t know what I’d do.

I know many of you want to know how this will effect you–your chances of getting published. For now, it will remain status quo. There will still be two houses/imprints (more actually, because DB has several imprints). They will each specialize in what they are currently specializing in. You will continue to submit to both houses, as you always have and for the same reasons as before. And then we just wait and see.

It’s time to vote on the five Christmas stories submitted to the contest. To see all five stories, click on the label “December 2006 Contest” link at the bottom of this post. Read the stories and vote for your favorites. You can vote for as many stories as you like, but you can only vote for a story once. (Ex: You could vote for #1, #2 and #5, but you can’t cast two votes for #3).

For your vote to count, you must post the phrase “I vote for this one” (or something very much like that) so that it’s clear you’re voting and not just commenting.

I will tally the votes and post the winners after Jan. 1.

Good luck to everyone.

Christmas Lights

Many people had reported seeing a pattern of lights in the sky, with an unusually bright red light on one end. Naturally, most of the adults dismissed this as passing aircraft, although a few were suggesting UFO’s. Anyone under ten was convinced it was Santa making test runs. Nine-year-old Amelia had her doubts, but wanted to believe.

The previous night, she had been in her backyard hoping to see the mysterious lights when she heard a sound. She cupped her ears, trying to find the source. It sounded like a faint tinkle of metal. Could it be sleigh bells, ringing from the sky? She heard no more that night but did see the mystical lights for herself.

The next day, Amelia discovered her older brother laughing with a bunch of his friends. When she asked what was so funny, they all tried to look serious.

“It’s Guy Stuff; you wouldn’t understand,” Charlie responded in a lofty tone.

The next evening, she went outside to find Santa. She sat and wrapped herself in a blanket and watched the night sky. She felt a little like Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin to arrive. She giggled at the thought of Snoopy joining her. She shivered and searched the stars.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a red flash. She turned to look and saw not just one red light, but several! Then some green and blue lights joined them, and there was one red light brighter than the rest.

“Rudolph?,” she mouthed almost silently.

She rose walked in the direction of what simply must be Santa’s sleigh, until she heard the jingle off to her right. She looked right and then back again at the lights, confused as to how she might hear the sleigh bells over here and see the lights over there.

She cautiously followed the tinkling, still taking nervous glances back at the lights and then heard some different sounds. She approached the tool shed and timidly looked around the corner.

There she saw a mama cat with a belled collar who was giving birth behind the shed. She tried to get a closer look, but the cat hissed. Then, Amelia saw all of the birthing fluid and blood. She shrieked and backed away. As she tried to make sense of what she saw, she noticed that the colored lights seemed to scatter, then wink out.

She silently prayed that her parents would come help, but suddenly her brother Charlie came out of the darkness with his friends. They were all putting something in their pockets, but she didn’t have time to wonder what. Charlie asked why she screamed and she pointed at the litter of kittens.

Later, she retold the story to her parents as they all sat around the living room admiring the mama cat and her kittens.

“I went out looking for Santa and I found these wonderful presents instead!”

LDSP Comments: The connection between what the boys are doing and the lights is not clear enough. Were they fireworks? I liked the ending. I think with some work, this might be publishable too.

Reasons

I put my gift on the table, smiled hello at the people I recognized and scanned the room. I didn’t see him anywhere.

“Have you see him?” I asked Sharon.

“No,” she said with a shake of her head. “But did you have some of the cake? It’s delicious.”

They had cake already? Did they sing and I missed it? It was his party—every year it was his party. So where was he?

Sharon hailed someone from across the room and I moved toward Ren. “Where is he?” I asked, still peering around bodies, hoping to catch sight of him.

Ren shrugged, “I don’t know,” he said with the same lack of concern Sharon had showed.

“You haven’t seen him?”

“Nope,” he said with a shake of his head. “Did you get me anything?”

“You?” I repeated. Why would I bring a present for Ren?

His shoulders slumped and he walked off muttering. I watched him go, perplexed, then looked around the room again. Maybe I wasn’t at the right place.

Everyone was eating, laughing, talking, enjoying themselves. Was I the only one that noticed his absence?

I saw Cloe on the other side of the room and hurried toward her. Maybe she would know. When she turned to me, I didn’t waste any time.

“Where is he?” I asked. “No one’s seen him.”

“Oh, he’s not here,” she said evenly, stabbing her final bite of cake with her Santa-handled fork.

“But it’s his party,” I said as she put the cake in her mouth. “Why isn’t he here?”

“Well,” she said once she swallowed, blinking her big blue eyes and looking thoughtful. “I don’t think he was invited.”

It was my turn to blink. “Not invited?” I echoed. “Why not?

Cloe shrugged. “Don’t get all bent out of shape. The point it we get to celebrate. In fact, we combined it with Ren’s welcome home party and Lisa’s baby shower. Isn’t that great?”

“Why would you do that?”

“Well, it didn’t seem fair to do all this just for him, yah know—I mean what makes him so special? We wanted everyone to feel included.”

That was the strangest thing I’d ever heard of. “But without him? He’s the one that started all this. What about the gift I brought?”

“Just give it to someone else—Lisa maybe.”

“Lisa?” I said, my frustration showing in my voice. “But He’s the reason I’m here at all.”

“Yeah,” she said with a nod. “I get it. It’s his birthday—and Ren’s welcome home and Lisa’s baby shower.” She put a hand on my arm and leaned in, her tone hinting that I should know all this already. “It’s not about him anymore,” she whispered. “So just have a good time, okay, that’s what this is about—oh and the food and the presents.” She laughed. “But don’t make a big deal about it, okay, we don’t want anyone to get upset. It would totally ruin the party.”

LDSP Comments: Another variation on a theme. I’ve heard similar stories. I like this one better than #2 because it does have more originality to it. Also, it made me stop, think and re-evaluate my Christmas behavior. That’s always a good thing. Still, not original enough for publication.

A woman walked into the convenience store, obviously from out of town by her clothing and mannerisms. When she put her purchases on the counter, I asked her where she was from.

“Is it so obvious I’m not from here?” she asked.

I just smiled. “What do you think of our city?”

She hesitated for a moment and then shook her head. “No offense, sir, but it’s horrible. I saw people lined up for the soup kitchen across the street, what looked like gang members lounging outside an old church and with the graffiti and obvious poverty . . . ” She shook her head again. “I came to visit my son for the holidays but it just doesn’t feel like Christmas. I’d rather be anywhere but here”

Several minutes later another woman walked into the convenience store, obviously from out of town by her clothing and mannerisms. When she put her purchases on the counter, I asked her where she was from.

“Is it so obvious I’m not from here?” she asked.

I just smiled. “What do you think of our city?”

She hesitated for a moment and then shook her head. “It’s amazing. I saw people lined up for the soup kitchen across the street, with dozens of volunteers inside to serve them. I saw some teenage boys hanging out in front of a church, holding the door open as people came for holiday services. I saw tinsel and Christmas decorations amid the graffiti . . .” She shook her head again. “I came to visit my son for the holidays and I don’t know that I’ve ever seen Christmas so starkly before. So many people with so little, and yet the Christmas spirit is so strong. I can’t think of a better place to be for Christmas.”

Several minutes later another woman walked into the convenience store, obviously from out of town by her clothing and mannerisms. When she put her purchases on the counter, I asked her where she was from.

“Is it so obvious I’m not from here?” she asked.

I just smiled. “What do you think of our city?”

She regarded me for a moment. “What do you think of your city?” she asked me in return. “I came to visit my son for the holidays and I just don’t know what to make of this place. What will I find here this Christmas season?”

“Well, ma’am, it depends on what you look for.”

LDSP Comments: This is a variation on a theme. I’ve heard similar stories before. Even with the Christmas twist, it’s not original enough to be published.

By Melanie Goldmund

“My cloak is malfunctioning,” Rebekah said, jiggling the controls on her belt. If her personal cloaking device wasn’t working, she’d have to break off the patrol and go back to the ship for a new one. Thankfully, her long iridescent robe disappeared. “No, it’s good now.”

“Keep it that way,” Adam ordered.

They approached the huge domes, the only sign of life on this arid planet, and began to stroll around the perimeter. They’d had to make an emergency landing, desperately searching for a source of talipe to repair their ship, and had found the only deposit uncomfortably close to this alien outpost. Now, everybody who wasn’t involved with the repairs had been assigned to covertly observe the human-like beings while they waited for instructions from Fleet Headquarters on whether they should approach.

“It’s quiet,” Rebekah said. “Maybe they’re observing the Sabbath Day, too.”

“Oh, right, aliens do everything just like we do?” Adam scoffed.

“Look.” Rebekah diverted his attention. A window ahead was hung with small lights of all different colours.

“A decoration?” Adam mused. “No, a child’s toy.”

Feeling bold, Rebekah stopped to stare. On the other side of the window, a child was playing with something on the sill, turning it around to face the outside, and picking up any fallen pieces. It was a kind of three-sided dwelling with a roof suggesting organic grasses, and a star arcing over it. Gently, the child slid animals back into place, and also humans in different kinds of clothing, arranging them around what appeared to be a baby bedded down in a small feeding trough. Rebekah felt a thrill run down her spine.

“Adam,” she said slowly. “Adam, a depiction of the birth of the Saviour!”

“Do you have to bring religion into everything?” Adam peered closer. “Looks like some kind of Family Farm playset to me.”

“The scriptures say the Saviour was born in a stable, and that looks like a stable,” Rebekah countered. “Those four-legged things are definitely animals, and these men with them could be shepherds. And look at these figures on the right. There’s something in their hands, and their costumes look much more opulent than what the others are wearing. Wise men from afar, bearing gifts! There’s even a star on the roof!”

“Rebekah, these are aliens!” Adam protested. “They don’t know anything about your precious Saviour!”

“The Saviour has created worlds without number,” Rebekah countered. “Why wouldn’t their inhabitants know about Him, if He created them, too?”

“Of all the people on board the ship, I get stuck with a Believer!” Adam growled. “Come on!”

There was a buzzing sound from Rebekah’s belt, and her robe flashed into visibility. The child glanced up, and Rebekah caught a glimpse of wide open eyes and mouth. Instinctively, Rebekah jumped away, jabbing at the controls until her cloak faded again.

+++++

Inside the dome, the child ran into the next room. “Mom, mom, I saw an angel, looking at our Nativity set, right here on Mars!”

LDSP Comments: I liked this one. I liked the idea of Christmas being celebrated on other planets. Some of the dialog was a little flat (predictable). It needs to be a developed–but I only gave you a few words so it’s a pretty good start. Publishable? With a little work.

The holidays are coming up and let’s do another contest. I wasn’t going to do one until January, but what can I say? If I don’t have WAY too much to do, then I feel like I’m not doing anything at all.

Rules:
Theme: Unpublished HOLIDAY SHORT STORY, 250 to 500 words. (It doesn’t have to be new writing. You can send something you wrote years ago, but no previously published stories.)

You can submit as many stories as you like, but send only one story per e-mail. (So if you have four stories, send me four different e-mails.)

Paste entire story into an e-mail and send to me.

SUBMIT it any time between now and December 25th.

I will post all submissions.

VOTE between December 26th and December 31st.

Winner will be announced after New Year’s.

Prizes: Reader’s Choice and Publisher’s Choice, both get their choice of any LDS paperback fiction book in print.

Spread the word!

It is the publisher’s responsibility to make every reasonable effort to sell your book. They’ve invested thousands of dollars into producing your book, they are going to do everything they can to get it into as many stores as possible—especially Deseret Book and Seagull. It would be stupid for them not to do so.

Here’s what a publisher can do:
We can send a free sample of the book and promotional materials to the buyer. We cannot force them to open the package or read the book.

We can go to trade shows and put on a dog and pony show advertising your book. We cannot accost them in the aisles, drag them into our booth, and make them listen to our spiel.

We can call them on the phone and talk to them or leave voice mail. We cannot make them talk to us. We cannot make force them to return our calls.

We can try to get a face-to-face appointment to talk to them. We cannot go camp out at their office and hold a hunger strike until they meet with us.

We can send letters, faxes and e-mails. We cannot prevent them from throwing those messages in the trash.

We can offer deeper discounts, special packages or better terms. We cannot use physical force, blackmail them or bribe them into placing an order.

We can run ads targeted to the reader to try to get them into the stores, but those ads are not always effective. (I just spent $250 on an ad that reached a six-figure customer count and it sold 5 books.) We cannot always get your book into Deseret Book or Covenant’s catalogs because those are often “by invitation only.” They are also extravagantly expensive and in my experience, not always successful. (The last DB ad I ran cost $900 and orders did not increase.)

I would guess that your publisher has already done/is doing most of these things. Now it’s just a matter of continuing to do them and hoping for the best. You can only contact a buyer so often before they become annoyed and start avoiding you.

There is very little you can do to get your books into these two stores. Contacting them yourself will work against you. Going into their stores and giving a free copy to the bookstore manager might help, if you’re professional and respect their time. (This means five minutes TOPS!) But it also may not help at all. I have a friend who is a DB manager who loves one of my new books, but DB corporate still hasn’t placed an order.

The best thing you can do to help is to create customer demand for your book. Get a website, blog, develop an e-mail list, advertise your book to the end customer as “available in most LDS bookstores.” If people are interested, they will start going into their local LDS bookstores and asking for the book. (How many friends and relatives do you have that would go into the store and special order a copy?) If enough stores are getting requests for a book, and forwarding those requests to corporate, DB and Seagull will move a little faster to order it.

Was enjoying a leisurely catch-up on blog reading and came across this post. If you’re doing NaNoWriMo, read this and this.

P.S.-
I have tried off and on all day to get these links to work and I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. The first one is to www.accrispin.blogspot.com. Scroll down to her post on NaNoWriMo, dated 11/16.

The second is a comment posted by the NaNoWriMo people at www.misssnark.com
Scroll waaaay down to find it, titled Hey NaNoWRIMo–You’re Doing the Right Thing!!!, dated 11/18.

Today is my last work day this week. I’m taking an extra personal day to spend time with family, so I won’t be posting again until Monday. I thought I’d support the season by listing a few things I’m thankful for, in connection to the LDS publishing industry.

Despite its weaknesses and shortcoming and politics, I am thankful to work in an industry which at its core is dedicated to building the kingdom of God. Not many people can say that. And although few of us will ever get rich by creating and selling LDS books and products, I am grateful that I can feed my family by helping others. I would shrivel up and die if I had to spend my days making widgets.

I am so thankful that I’m in an industry where I can call my competition my friends. Most of us are not cut-throat, back-stabbing, get-ahead-at-others’-expense types of people. We genuinely care about others and are happy to help each other succeed. A lot of us believe that there is room for each of us in this industry. That we don’t have to be better than everyone to succeed. We just need to produce good products that we believe in and bring them to the table. I’ve passed good manuscripts to other publishers and they’ve passed them to me. We look out for each other and help each other, for the most part.

I am thankful to be surrounded by good people who are striving to create solid books that will help, entertain and uplift others. It’s sad when I have to reject a manuscript because I can see how earnest and sincere the author is. And I’m glad for that sadness because it reminds me how many good people there are in this world.

I am thankful to be in an industry where we pray over what we do. Authors pray over their words. Publishers pray over their products. Booksellers pray over their stores. That much prayer has to be doing good things.

Yes, I know that we are not the “Industry of Enoch” yet. There is strife and contention and backbiting and gossiping and cut-throat business dealings happening in the LDS publishing industry all the time. There are those who will take advantage of the weaknesses and ignorance of others. Unfortunately, I suppose there will always be that element–even in a gospel-centered industry. But compared to the other non-LDS publishing industries I’ve worked in, this one is like a little bit of heaven on earth.

And I am thankful to be part of it.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.
LDSP

Things are slowing down at the office, which reminded me about the yearly sales cycles. And since I don’t have any questions in the queue (SEND QUESTIONS!) I thought you might like to hear about this. I’ll be speaking in generalities; there are always situations which don’t follow this pattern, but over all, it’s accurate industry wide.

The last quarter of the year is the largest for sales. Of course, it is. It’s Christmas. But the big sales push of the last quarter ends about now–at Thanksgiving. Bookstores have spent their sales budget already and stocked up for the holiday rush. The only bookstore orders we will get between now and the end of the year is for restocking hot moving products. If your publisher/distributor has a retail site, they’ll continue to do sales through the end of the year. If they don’t, you’re book sales are close to done for the year.

Even with the slow down after Thanksgiving, we do double the sales (or more) than we do any other quarter of the year. Which is a good thing because the first quarter of the year is DEAD, comparatively speaking. I try to plan all my voluntary time off between January and March. That’s also when I’m most active at choosing submissions and getting new releases edited and typeset for the press.

Sales start to pick back up again in March, then build steadily until about the end of June. Then they drop off a bit because some bookstores will hold orders until the LDS Booksellers convention in August so they can take advantage of the deeper discounts and/or free shipping offered by most of the vendors. August sales are always good and then build again until Thanksgiving.

So what does this mean to you? Well, that’s open to interpretation. Depending on your publisher/distributors marketing plan and push, this info can be used differently.

In my company, we never release a new book after mid-October because that won’t give us time to get the word out well enough to get the Christmas sales. It’s just the opposite for some of the bigger companies because they have the machinery in place to get the word out, do pre-sells, and have the general public salivating for the arrival of their new product. If I were DB or Covenant/Seagull, it would make sense to do releases in early December because that would get customers back into their stores for repeat trips during the Christmas buying season. And be honest, when you go into a bookstore, do you ever only leave with what you went in to get?

Smaller publishers without immediate access to a large retailer and public advertising have to figure in a longer press-to-shelf time. But the clock starts ticking* the moment the book is released. We’ve found it’s better to schedule ahead of Christmas sales. For these same reasons, we also don’t release any new books until March, to give the retail customer time to recover from the holiday-induced financial crisis.

This last quarter is the best time to schedule book signings (if you can get agreement from all parties involved) because it includes both October General Conference and Christmas.

*Typical productive life span of a book is 2 years, with the majority of sales happening in the first 6 months of release–this is especially true of fiction.

An anonymous commenter believes they have discovered my secret identity. They left a few clues in their comment that certainly pointed to a particular company–and for that reason, I deleted the comment. I am not going to confirm or deny whether their suppostion is correct. That’s all part of the fun of being anonymous. But I will say this–

“Ha-ha, smarty pants. You aren’t half so clever as you believe yourself to be.”

Just a few reminders to those who think de-cloaking me is a good thing:

1. I am anonymous to protect the integrity of the company I work for and the people I work with.

2. I often use real-life examples of issues and mistakes in this blog. I do it so NONE OF YOU WILL MAKE THOSE SAME MISTAKES! Were I and my company to be identified, I would not be able to do that.

3. Being anonymous allows me to speak a little more frankly about some of the bigger issues, like contracts.

4. If this blog ever interferes with my ability to function at work, or with a wrongly identified colleague’s ability to do business, then I’ll shut it down.

My goal with this blog is to be helpful, informative and fun. The minute it stops being those things, I’m out of here.

(Dooced–definition #1.)

A lot of people think that simply being on amazon.com gives them a better chance at selling their books. Other than the warm fuzzy feeling you get when you say, “Oh yes, you can get my book on amazon.com…” having your book on Amazon is really not going to be worth the trouble to the average LDS author/publisher. Here’s why.

Amazon is not a bookstore. Having your book on the shelf at a store can lead to impulse sales because people browse at a store. They select a topic area, start at one end of an aisle, and drift down to the other end. If your book is on the shelf, it might get noticed. Someone might pick it up, flip through it, and decide to take it home with them.

People don’t generally go to Amazon to browse. It’s too big. They go looking for a specific title. While there, they might browse the first few pages of a topic area, but unless they are specifically looking for your book, they’re not going to find it. Amazon ranks books by sales and being #76, 823 out of 77,851 in a topic area doesn’t mean much. It doesn’t get you face time with the consumer. If you’re not in the top 100, they’re not going to find you by browsing.

People who are looking for LDS books don’t generally go to Amazon. They go to Deseretbook.com. It’s smaller. You can browse there. If your book is 340 out of 750 in your topic area, your chances of getting noticed are a whole lot better.

The only time when getting on Amazon is helpful is if you can drive traffic to the site. If you have a cross-over title that’s not specifically LDS (even if published by an LDS publisher) then Amazon makes sense because non-LDS readers may feel more comfortable going to a non-LDS site to get your book. You want to give them that option.

Now let’s talk finances. I don’t want to be a one-note Nora, but we’ve discussed print runs, cost per book, and profit margins before. In the LDS book world, standard wholesale discount is 40%. Amazon wants a yearly fee, plus 55% for their Advantage program. That’s too much if your print run is under 10,000.

And just to give you an idea of exactly how well a title does when listed on Amazon, we listed Title A on Amazon because we were curious to see if this would be a good avenue for sales. After more than 5 years, we have sold exactly 1 copy. Per book income after Amazon’s discounts: $6.73.

As opposed to over 120, 000 copies sold using other avenues (bookstores, conventions, retail sales, etc.). Average per book income after discounts: $9.46.

I think everyone can do the math on this one.

This is so dead-on MY LIFE that instead of writing a post today, I’m linking to this one.

Go read it please.

This blog has taken me over an hour to write because you’ve unwittingly hit upon one of my soapboxes. I’ve deleted 4 pages of rant and here’s what you get:

My perspective on the LDS market for middle grade and YA fiction is that it stinks right now. While there is a huge need and demand for books at those age levels, there are not enough high quality submissions coming in to meet that demand.

Because it is more difficult to sell to this age group, snooty publishers, like myself, are refusing to accept submissions that don’t meet our high and lofty standards. Other publishers are taking mediocre manuscripts and hyping them up, which leaves many readers disappointed and less likely to buy again.

Yes, there are some shining examples out there now (Wiles, Dashner, Blair, to name a few), and yes, we are seeing a gradual improvement. But it’s not happening fast enough to suit me. I want more, MORE, MORE!! Quit reading this blog and go write some, now!

Seriously, I really would like to encourage any writers who are so inclined to write for this market. Books can make such an impression on young minds. We need a host of titles to compete with what’s out there nationally. When you look at what our kids are being exposed to, it just breaks my heart. They are reading books that are really funny, entertaining, thought provoking and well-written, but then they sneak immorality in through the back door. We so need to balance that with really funny, entertaining, thought provoking and well-written books that are CLEAN and that support our values.

If I were independently wealthy or had some serious investors, I’d leave the company I’m with in a heartbeat and launch an all-out search for quality LDS children’s/YA lit to publish. [deep sigh] If you happen to have a few hundred thousand dollars lying around and would like to contribute to this cause, contact me via e-mail and we’ll talk.

P.S. Since you mentioned Foo [Leven Thumps & the Gateway to Foo], yes, I was excited to see it come out. I thought it was a definite step in the right direction. But book 1 had its problems. My fingers just itched to lay my red pencil to it. Foo was good, but it could have been great. I don’t think it would be selling as well as it is if it weren’t for Harry Potter readers wanting something to fill in the wait between books in that series. I bought book 2, but it didn’t grab me right away. I put it down before I finished chapter 1 and I haven’t gotten back to it.

Two more questions about LDS children’s lit:

I have not seen illustrator guidelines on any of the LDS publisher websites, but then, I’ve never really gone looking for them. I would expect you could find some general guidelines in the Children’s Writers and Illustrator’s Market or through an association like SCBWI . General guidelines will get you 95% of the way, and most of the time that’s close enough.

As for LDS illustrator guidelines, as long as people were dressed modestly and behaving appropriately, I don’t see that they’d differ much from anywhere else.

First, I must qualify my answer to these questions:

1. My professional specialty is not picture books, so I’m not on top of that market.

2. I have a huge collection of picture books, very few are LDS. I bought most of them when my children were younger and there just weren’t that many good LDS picture books out there then. I’ve bought some in the past few years and the quality of the story and the artwork are getting better, but I just haven’t seen any that I absolutely go bananas over. (Admittedly, I have not looked at a lot of what’s out there now, so I may have missed a trend.)

I would like to see more LDS themed picture books that are well-written and well-illustrated. In the history of my motherhood, I have rarely purchased LDS picture books because either the story is too heavy handed (think “morality tales”) or too sappy, or the illustrations were just not appealing to my eye. There are very few LDS picture books out there that are “equally yoked” in story line and illustration. Rachel Nunes’ two picture books come close, but I thought the illustrations were stronger than the story.

Given that, yes, I think there is a huge potential there that is not currently being met. I wanted LDS picture books when my kids were young, and I couldn’t find them. I have family and friends with young children now who have complained to me that they can’t find enough LDS picture books that they like. So, I think the market is there. The question is, is the market big enough?

Children’s picture books in a small niche market (like LDS) are high risk for a publisher. Because they’re full-color throughout and hardback, they are very expensive. Some companies just don’t want to take the risk. But if the right combination of story and illustrations were to show up in my slush pile, I’d think about it long and hard.

And yes, the majority of LDS book buyers are women and yes, they want romance. But most of these women also have children in their lives (their own, grandchildren, nieces, nephews…), so I think if some high quality LDS picture books showed up on bookstore shelves, these women would buy them.

[If your calendar says it’s still Monday, then don’t read this! It’s Tuesday’s post. I will be in meetings and away from my computer all day tomorrow. I’m putting you on the honor system to come back tomorrow and read this one! 🙂 ]

For a picture book, the illustrations are just as important (honestly, more so) than the story line. I’ve seen great stories with illustrations that killed the book. No one would even pick them up to read them because the illustrations were really bad or simply boring. On the flip side, there are picture books with mediocre stories that sell well because the illustrations are so delightful.

Because illustrations are so crucial to the book’s sales, publishers choose them. Just as an author has little to no control over the title, layout or cover design of their book, they rarely have control over the illustrator. They may have input, but that’s generally the best they can hope for–unless they are illustrators themselves and do the work for their own book. But even then, that’s a risk. I’ve had submissions where the author insisted that they illustrate their own work and I’ve rejected them because although the story was good, the illustrations were really bad.

Of course, there are exceptions to the “publisher chooses the illustrator” rule. You have Don and Audrey Wood who write and illustrate together. Sonja (mother) and Paul (son) Linsley are an LDS picture book team that work well together (but I believe the Linsley’s are self-publishers, so that puts them in a different category).

Although the chances are not good that a publisher would keep your illustrations with your friend’s story, you can try and see what happens.

Here are a few suggestions for increasing your chances:

1. If you are a professional illustrator and have past experience illustrating picture books, or creating art work for book covers, have your friend briefly mention this in her query and include a website where the publisher can see samples.

2. I don’t know anyone who has rejected a picture book because someone included illustrations. I do know plenty who have accepted the book and rejected the illustrations. But since there might be someone who would fly into an irrational rage if illustrations were included, read submission guidelines on the publisher’s website. If they say absolutely, positively do not submit illustrations, then don’t do it. However, if they don’t say anything about it, take a chance and send the first two illustrations–1 color, 1 black & white. (Send copies, not the originals.)

3. Do not submit any more than the first two illustrations without an offer from the publisher. It would be a waste of time and effort and might lead the publisher to think it was an all or nothing submission.

4. Have your friend make it clear in her query that she is submitting the story and that your enclosed illustrations are simply samples of what she could get if the publisher would like her to find an illustrator.

5. There is always the slim possibility that the publisher will like your illustrations and hire you to do something else, even if they don’t want to use your work for your friend’s book. I’ve done that before.

Bottom line: If your friend is agreeable, take a chance and see what happens, but don’t get your hopes up.