By Douglas Kruger
THE strangest thing once happened to an author. Neil Gaiman spent years working on his novels, only to have them pirated by unscrupulous thieves. His books were even translated into Russian, then disseminated for free. Not a penny back to the author.
It was blatant, wholesale intellectual theft. And it turned out to be the best thing for him.
He began to notice that sales increased markedly in the places where he was being pirated. Legitimate copies of his novels started flying off the shelves. And each time he brought out a new book, the uptake in those regions jumped again.
So he tried an experiment. He convinced his publisher to give away more of his books – simply flood the market with his own bootleg copies. And it worked again. Sales went up 300%.
It turns out, he’s not the only writer who has experienced the strange phenomenon. Call it prosperity-via-theft. It also happened to the author of The Valley of the Dolls, as well as several indie writers, Sun Tzu, and JD Salinger, with Catcher in the Rye. Oh, and Bill Clinton, somehow.
The reason it works is simple. It’s also the first tip I’d like to share with you, dear aspiring Jersey author. More readers equals increased word-of-mouth, even when they are not paying customers. If they enjoy it, a percentage of those who read your book then recommend it to others, who then go out and buy the book, and recommend it to others still. Bootleg copies became a highly effective form of marketing for these writers, and the anonymous pirates, their best sales reps.
It’s a strange insight, I grant you, but it appears to work.
So I decided to try it myself. In a month from now, a London publisher will launch my new thriller novel. But Jersey readers can have it for free, right now, for the duration of summer. If you’re keen, just email contact@claretpress.com, and ask for your free digital copy of House of the Judas Goat. Let’s see if Mr Gaiman is on to something.
Now, let’s discuss how you might break into the publishing world.
Last week, a friend at church asked me about the merits of self-publishing, versus seeking out a commercial publisher. It’s a harder road going the commercial route, but the advantages can be immense, chief among which is that you won’t have to distribute the books yourself. If your manuscript is accepted by a commercial publisher, they ensure that copies end up on bookstore shelves. It’s nigh on impossible to achieve that via self-publishing.
When should you consider self-publishing? The two most compelling scenarios are:
- When you have extremely strong online networks, with loads of followers who would be likely to buy your ebook.
- If you regularly speak at events, and can sell your own hard copies when you appear in person.
So let’s assume that you want to go the commercial route. Here are some insider secrets that I picked up in direct discussions with publishers.
A commissioning editor once told me that, based on her 20 years’ experience in the industry, she can now tell from just the first paragraph whether or not a manuscript stands a chance. And that’s the test she applies, rarely bothering to read beyond that. Fifteen times out of 20, she will reject a manuscript after reading that opening paragraph alone. Four more of the manuscripts will merit a half-page reading, before they, too, get the toss. One goes through to the next round.
That information is incredibly useful. The manuscript that goes through to the next round does so on the strength of its opening paragraph. It’s a powerful reminder that it doesn’t matter how good your novel eventually becomes. The test is page one. The first five or six lines. If they don’t do the job, the undiscovered brilliance beyond becomes irrelevant.
So polish that paragraph. Make it utterly irresistible. Does it make the reader feel something, and think: “I have to know what happens next”?
What else do they use to exclude manuscripts?
The same commissioning editor told me that formatting functions as a disqualifier for them. They sometimes have to exclude up to 50 manuscript submissions per day. And so, on their website, they detail exactly what they want you to submit. For instance, they might ask for the first three sample chapters only, along with a one-page synopsis, in double-line spacing. “If they couldn’t be bothered to follow such simple instructions, we already know we won’t be dealing with them,” the editor explained.
So be sure that if you submit a manuscript, you stick to their exact requirements. This applies whether you are submitting directly to a publisher, or indirectly to a literary agent.
Finally, a different commissioning editor once told me that aspiring authors commonly make a weird mistake. They do not write their query letter like a sales pitch for the book.
Instead, most send what sounds like a polite apology.
Editors want a sales pitch. They want your strongest imaginable argument for why this book will sell. Literary types tend not to think that way. Instead, they intuitively – and wrongly – guess that publishers want to meet an intellectual purist, who is not interested in money. Publishing is a business, with a profit motive. Commissioning editors actually want to meet someone whose book will sell in large numbers.
That doesn’t preclude artistic merit. A great deal of deep and life-changing art is commercially successful.
So, can you point to a similar book that has sold in good numbers? If so, do. And punt any other factors that might make you a potential revenue-generator for them. For instance, do you have social media channels? Write a regular newsletter? Are you known to the public in some way? Add it in. If not, find other ways to argue that they will make money by saying yes to your book. Has this type of book become popular lately? Is there a new trend? Are stories of this kind simply strong sellers, traditionally? Say so.
Your initial approach to them must be a sales pitch, and a strong one.
One more? OK: if you have the equipment to do a decent-quality audio recording of your own book, you give publishers yet another reason to say yes. For under £100, you can buy a podcasting mic and a foam box, then record your own books. It’s a slog, with a learning curve, but given that there is no production cost to the publisher, the final product becomes a source of free money. Would you know, publishers like free money.
It’s a tough road, but a fulfilling one. Given my familiarity with the frustrations of becoming a writer, I hope this helps. Oh, and I hope you’ll enjoy my dark and twisty little thriller, House of the Judas Goat, free to Jersey for the rest of the summer. See if you can guess the identity of our traitor…
Douglas Kruger is an author and speaker, based in Jersey. His books are all available via Amazon and Audible.
