When You Use My Services to Get Your Book Written or Ready for Press
YOUR BENEFITS
1. The talent and know-how of an experienced professional will be applied to your project-by a writer who has written, coauthored or edited over fifty books. My track record includes a 2-million copy bestseller, two PW topsellers, and a book club selection. For more details about my credited work, see BOOK CREDITS.
2. Writing a publishable book is a large and complex endeavor that requires someone to put in a considerable amount of time doing exacting work. By delegating this work to a professional writer, you save an immense amount of your personal time.
3. The book you’ve needed and have been thinking about creating-perhaps for years-gets written promptly.
4. Within a few months (if you self-publish) you begin reaping your book’s rewards in the form of enhanced credibility and expanded stature in your chosen field.
5. Your book will open new opportunities for you by reaching people who otherwise might never know what you can do for them to make their lives better.
6. Your book will remain in the offices or homes of readers for years, offering instant access to your contact information and details about your services as described on the book’s promo pages. However, the entire book works as a highly cost-effective permanent advertisement of what you can do for your readers. They pay you for that ad instead of you paying to have a few words appear briefly in the media.
7. Additional opportunities to serve others, plus the additional earnings involved, will come your way via two streams: (a) indirectly through new contacts and new opportunities and (b) directly from the book’s revenue. Self-published books usually retail for at least 7 times their per-copy cost. One of my clients has a 110-page book that sells briskly for 20 times per-copy cost at seminars and workshops. (Per-copy cost slightly under $1.00; retail $19.95.) Such gigantic markups are unlikely when the per-copy printing cost is higher, as is the case with POD.
DISCUSSION
Projects reach me at all stages of their development, ranging from a book concept (an idea for a book) to a complete manuscript that only needs line editing. In all cases, my contribution can be stated simply: I do whatever the project requires.
For self-publication
When the primary author wants books quickly, it’s my responsibility to develop the concept by writing a manuscript that meets or exceeds the primary author’s expectations. When he or she approves the work, I will supply a computer-printout of the final version in manuscript format. That is, it will be double-spaced on one side of 8 1/2 inch by 11-inch paper. The manuscript will also be supplied on a CD if desired.
At nominal additional cost, I will convert the manuscript into a single-spaced, justified printout in whatever sized type-page is desired (such as a 3 1/2 inch by 6 1/4 inch type page for a 5 x 7 1/4 inch book). This is commonly called “typesetting.”
My printouts do not yield the same quality that professional typesetters provide with their specialized typesetting equipment. I urge you to have your book designed by a professional book designer and typeset by a professional typesetter. Nevertheless, books have been printed from my type pages. The difference between their quality and that of professional typesetting doesn’t seem to have hurt sales. In addition to what I supply, you will need:
ISBN number
Copyright registration (www.copyright.gov/)
Testimonials for the back cover
Front and back cover artwork by a cover specialist
For trade publication
Trade publication takes at least two years-if everything goes well. The steps are:
1. Identify at least five legitimate literary agents who have sold books like yours. (Eliminate any who charge a reading fee, or any upfront fee. Paying for representation guarantees that your book won’t be sold. Reading-fee agents don’t sell books, they make their living from fees ripped off of hopeful writers.)
2. Write (or have a professional write) a strong book proposal (BP).
3. Have personalized, powerful query letters written and sent to each agent.
4. Repeat steps 1 and 3 until you receive a request for your BP.
5. Repeat steps 1, 3 and 4 until you receive an acceptable offer of representation from a legitimate agent.
6. Wait for the agent to sell your book to a trade publisher. This can take anywhere from two weeks to forever. In other words, agents are not able to sell every manuscript they take on.
Book Proposal
Nonfiction is usually sold to a trade publisher before the book is written. Publishers pick a few from the flood of Book Proposals submitted to them. However, major publishers won’t look at a BP unless a literary agent they know and respect submits it. Using a BP makes sense for authors who are only interested in trade publication because doing a BP is far less costly and time-consuming than writing the entire manuscript.
Writing a viable BP is an art in itself. Writing an amateurish BP is useless; competition is far too keen. You want one that has a good chance of succeeding. Several of my BPs have been successful in obtaining representation and finding a publisher. The necessary facts-and no others-must be presented with verve, talent and understanding. Most literary agents and acquiring editors at publishing houses feel severely overworked-in any case none of them have any patience with incomplete or unconvincing BPs.
Success for a BP is busting through two barriers: first, it must interest a reputable agent who actively sells the particular niche the book occupies; second, it must be sold to a publisher of similar books. The range of publishing is so vast that agents and publishers are forced to specialize in only a few of its segments. While considerable knowledge of the industry is essential to overcome both barriers, success is never certain. Anyone commissioning a BP must understand that it may not find a publisher. No BP should be better than its book concept. In fact, you don’t want the BP to offer more than the manuscript will deliver because the disappointed publisher will cancel the project. Oh, yes, they can do that at any point.
A book proposal is a business plan that shows publishers how they can make money publishing your particular book. (Never forget that publishers are in business to make money.) Writing a BP that stands a good chance of finding an agent and then a trade publisher is a demanding task.
The usual practice is to commission me to research and write the BP, which is done under terms of a written agreement. When the BP is sold to a publisher, the first installment of the royalty advance is paid to the author.
Since trade publishing takes so long, many authors have the book written while the BP is circulating among agents and publishers, which can take many months. This way they can self-publish if trade publication does not materialize soon enough for them.
Self-publishing does not rule out trade publishing. Rather, it tends to vastly increase the likelihood that a trade publisher will take the book on, particularly if the author has sold several thousand copies. Publishers like to publish a proven product because it’s less risky for them.
A new collaboration agreement (CAG) will need to be initialed between you as the primary author, and me as the writer, assuming that both of us want to work together to complete the manuscript. The new agreement will spell out my responsibility to make the manuscript as salable and successful as possible in consultation with the publisher. Almost always, the publisher’s input is helpful, often very helpful. But it’s not unknown for the project to be assigned to an editor whose input has the opposite effect
The work of completing the manuscript will fall into one of three catagories. The first two require that you already have a substantially complete manuscript in need of polishing before it will be ready for the press or marketplace.
Line editing
A few of the many things line editing corrects are:
Homophone confusion-two, too, and to mixups; through for threw; their for they’re or there; principal for principle, its for it’s. The English language has hundreds of such traps.
Doubled, Omitted and Misspelled Words. A manuscript peppered with these errors-commonly called typos-has little chance in today’s marketplace either as a trade book or a self-pub. At best, typos are distracting; at worst they confuse readers and cause them to dump the book.
A complete list of all the other raw manuscript characteristics that are corrected in line editing would fill a large book. A few of the most common ones are:
Passive voice. Most passive sentences will be converted to the more interesting, vivid and readable active voice.
Some other problems that are corrected in line editing:
Verb/Subject Agreement
Wordiness
Awkward Sentences
Formatting Inconsistencies
Factual errors
Comprehensive Editing
This involves reorganizing and restructuring a complete but rough manuscript to improve flow and sequence and make it more readable and therefore more salable. This work category includes line editing. Comprehensive Editing and Line Editing are done on a Work For Hire (WFH) basis. For your protection, this should be spelled out in a written agreement. WFH is a term from the copyright law meaning the writer, when paid the agreed amount, has no further rights in the work, and therefore does not share in the book’s revenue provided this understanding is stated in a written agreement.
If you don’t have a manuscript ready to be edited-and don’t want to write it yourself-your project calls for collaboration.
Collaboration
Delegating the writing of your book differs significantly from editing. Your book’s subject, its content, and your slant on the topic, will still be chosen by you, as would be the case if you had already written it. However, the actual writing may not be a good use of your time. Whatever the reason, writing your book is something you can delegate. If you do, it becomes my responsibility to write the manuscript in your voice, slanting it in the direction you choose.
In order for collaboration to work, the primary author (you) needs to supply the writer (me) with an ample amount of Primary Author’s Input (PAI). Ideally PAI will consist of a preliminary outline, an initial table of contents (usually revised many times as the work progresses) and a rough draft in digital form of what you want the book to cover.
PAI can be recordings of your speeches or workshops. In fact, two of my most successful collaborations drew all their PAI from such recordings. PAI can also be your dictated tapes about anything you want to appear in the book. These will usually be based on your experiences, expertise, and beliefs relative to the subject.
Supplying the PAI in digital form is your responsibility. By “digital,†I mean transcribed on a CD or sent to me via email. Alternatively, and if more convenient, you can send tapes. I will outsource the transcription and bill you for that service.
My collaboration agreement (CAG) is about a dozen pages. It covers several vital boilerplate items as well as the economic issues. What you are probably most interested in right now are those financial arrangements.
Collaborating on a book is a large undertaking; it demands a major investment of my time. I bring outstanding talent, experience and publishing know-how to the creative writing the project requires. In return, I expect to share in the book’s future revenue and also to receive upfront money to help meet current expenses.
One of the world’s two best professional writers’ organizations, the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) records the splits between writers and primary authors that are reported to them. In every case except one, the writers’ share of royalties was at least 50 percent. My feeling is that if the primary author isn’t worth 50 percent, then the project probably isn’t worth doing. I say this because I’ve been offered projects on up to a 95/05 percent division of hoped-for proceeds. I’ve never taking any such on because 95 percent of nothing is nothing.
Marketing plans should be developed well before pub date. Although many PAs use my consulting services regarding marketing, the book’s success largely depends on how strongly the PA markets his or her book through public speaking and via media appearances-phone-in talk show interviews and TV appearances. Other marketing methods are available. I consult with clients to organize marketing programs for their books.
Upfront investments are based on my standard hourly rate. When the retainer is nearly exhausted, I will bill you for the next investment since I don’t write on speculation in accordance with ASJA’s rules and ethics. Work will start on your project as soon as I receive the following from you:
1. Your check for the agreed retainer as your initial investment.
2. My copy of the executed collaboration agreement.
3. Ample input material.
Would you like to see the collaboration agreement tailored to your situation? Before we take this step, we should have an exchange of emails and or phone calls to clarify several issues:
To establish the scope of the book you want and whether the topic is one I feel competent to work with, and want to work with.
To determine the current status of the project and how much material you have captured either in written or recorded form.
To ascertain whether I will be available to complete your book within your preferred schedule.
Please include your complete contact information when contacting me.
w@jamison.org, phone: (503) 636-7575.
