Internet Marketing Presentation

Publishing Alternatives Presentation

Show me the Money! Presentation

To All Muggle Writers’: 

I’m bringing up this topic. Breaking the barriers of publishing is so frustrating!  It seems traditional publishers are intent on making it harder for yet to be published literary talent to make it into the foals of their limited-by-design industry. In other words, don’t give up your day job cause the odds of reaching a tradtional publisher with news of your talent is now way more than a good bookies long shot. My advice is to buy shares in the shredding businesses who pick up all the discarded, never opened query letters and book proposals sent daily to publishers offices located on both coasts. Unsolicited is the word of the century.

What is going on in this industry? Good question. Under the new rules of Hogwash Guidlines for aspiring writers, the big guys of the publishing world are bashing heads trying to land the next “celebrity” for their book list.  If you’re not a Talk Show Host, a friend of a Talk Show Host, a Movie or Television Star, a Stand Up Comic, a Cooking Show Host or a Politician the sign posted at their mail box is: Please don’t bother us! Celebrity Status ONLY need apply. If you don’t believe me, check out the flood of book titles now on the shelves of your local bookstores. 

And what about getting an agent?  Agents make their living through the bottom line of book sales.  I understand that very well.  I also know that writers are their own worst enemy when it comes to making a judgement call on their writing abilities and what the market will support in the genre they have chosen for their story.  I could add to this list the unbelievable way writers submit their queries, letters, phone calls and emails to agents, but enough said.

Agents at big houses are bombarded to present at writers’ conferences. Agents are enticed with free travel to great locations, a small fee (sometimes), room and meals to work a 20 minute platform, which consists of delivering advice to those in attendence. Sometimes they are put in a position of giving writers a five minute opportunity to pitch their stories directly to them.  Most writers are not prepared for this kind of a quickie presentation. It’s no wonder they fail. And to be honest, agents are not thrilled with this kind of set up either–at least the one’s I have spoken with on this subject.  Most agents don’t want to be a dream crusher.  It’s the business and how it’s set up in today’s market.  Time to develop talent is not on the menu list of services for an agent who wants to succeed in this fast paced and complex traditional publishing world. That’s why agents now work within the confines of mile high barriers constructed to keep out all those “unsolicited” queries from the average Muggle writer.  But, all of us have to keep in mind one thing: agents are completely and grossly outnumbered.

Another peeve: If you are a serious writer, have you ever investigated how Best Sellers are established.  I invite you to look at this process and see the incredible journey a book and it’s publisher must go through to end up in this category. The lists of  The New York Times and USA Today are clones of each other.  Let me know if you spot a book published by a regional publisher.  Fair and balanced?  I wish Fox TV would do a hard news story on this process and that of the distribution process, which has sucked the life out of  independent bookstores.  Only a few are still standing as most simply can’t make a profit after the “mafia required discount” is stamped on the contract for distribution. Trust me when I tell you the profit level for national bookstore chains is an elephant in the room for them as well.  Have you ever looked into who owns these distribution sources?  Do a Google.   It’s not amusing or seemingly ethical.  The scent of monopoly is attached to this subject.  But as writers and publishers do we raise our voices and cry FOUL?  Not a peep.  We suffer in silence and for some, lose the desire to continue writing.  This is criminal to me.

What options do we have? A few. Just a few. With the coming of new, alternative publishing operations such as custom printing and Print On Demand publishing, writers have a crack of fresh air coming in, especially since these operations are for the most part working within the rules of bookstores who have demanded they play by the same distribution rules that fall under the category of the dreaded publisher Return System.  This is fair, but the process is still in need of repair and redevelopment.  These new resources allow many writers the only path to seeing their work come to life in the form of a book.  But the partnership is not perfect and writers still need to better understand the process and how THEY are the principal carrier for the finished product they will pay for in their contract agreement.  The biggest hole in this process is story development and professional editing. These services are indeed extra, but without them, an author could spend the rest of their life embarrased about the final product they approved.  The hope of all these new resources are promising.  The education of how to make them work is still unfolding, shredding through layers of development in the name of publishing partnerships. And that’s exactly what it is, a partnership.  Dollars are involved.

These new resources are not perfect–nothing is in this industry. But it’s a foot in the door and a step to where I believe publishing is going in our lifetime.  The Internet and it’s overwhelming popularity is driving a new market for book sales.  Young readers are hitting the Shopping Cart button of Amazon and other such sites in incredible numbers.  Where will this all lead to?  Perhaps the consolidation of industry giants such as Borders and Barnes & Noble and other like industry’s.  Smaller niche retail outlets that cater to specific genres who deal directly with the publishers, cutting out the discount demands of ”those distributors whose names we never mention…”  Digital printing will replace the need for publishers to pay room and board for large storage sites and empty out space in a lot of writers’ garages.  See a book you like on the Internet or a publishers site, push a button and it will be delivered to your door in a couple of days or in some cases, overnight.  With the price of gasoline today, it might end up be the preferred method of sale.    

So you say, “What can we do about any of this, Andy?”  Fair question especially since I’m the one who brought it up. I’ve thought about it long enough.  I’m working on a new system of publishing. A fair and balanced system.  What’s it going to take to make it happen?  A million or so writers’ voices backing me up.  Impossible?  Don’t bet against it.

J. Andy Murphy

PS: Check out my latest photo from my new book “Caddy Caddy Ways of Women in the Workplace.”

As promised, here are the winning entries as they were submitted (note, we did not change any of the grammar or punctuation).

Money Hungry Parents

By Tara Brugh, McCordsville, age 9

I was playing around the train depot in Fishers one afternoon when I noticed an old wooden box under a bush near the railroad tracks. I bent down, pulled it out and opened it to find…

$1,000,000! I couldn’t believe it. It was the best day of my life. Then I remembered something, my parents are addicted to money. They have to have a lot of money. If they find out that I found $1,000,00 it’s going to be the best day of their lives. I sat there for a minute and decided what to do. I finally thought I should just tell them I found the money and it’s mine. That didn’t work out too well though. When I went home and I told my parents I found $1,000,000 they freaked out! This is what they said, “You found $1,000,000, give me, give me, give me.” They started running after me and saying, “Tara, give me that money or you will be sorry.” That didn’t stop me though. It was my money and they weren’t getting their hands on even $1.00. It was all mine, mine, mine! I was sounding ridiculous. They finally caught me and did something I never thought they would do. They ate my money! My money, what did you do to my money, you rotten no good money eating parents.” I said. Who needs parents anyway. Maybe I should… wait, I’m… “We ate your money. We were just so hungry. We couldn’t control ourselves,” said my parents. “Well, why didn’t you eat something like a sandwich?” I asked. “Because we don’t have sandwich ingredients”, they said. “do you forgive us?” they asked. Well, come on please?” they asked. “Well, okay. Only because you’re my parents and you can’t control your money eating habits,” I said.

The End!

One at a Time

By Alexander Zoumbaris, Fishers, age 11

I was playing around the train depot in Fishers, Indiana one afternoon when I noticed an old wooden box under a bush near the railroad tracks. I bent down, pulled it out and opened it to find…nothing! “Huh?” I said. It was just an empty wooden box. “What a waste of time,” I said. I kicked the open box back into the bushes. Then, I checked my watch. It read 3:00 p.m. That was impossible! Just two minutes ago I had checked my watch and it read 5:00 p.m. “No way,” I exclaimed. Then I remembered the box. I fished it out of the bushes, and closed the lid. Now my watch read 5:00 p.m. “Amazing! This box gives me the power to travel back in time!” I decided to travel back five hours to when I’d accidentally eaten a moldy sandwich. I opened the lid. Then I looked around. Suddenly a bullet whizzed inches past my shoulder. “What?” I said. I looked at the culprit. The man who shot at me resembled Abe Lincoln. Oh no! That stupid box had taken me back to the Civil War. “Okay, too far back in time” I sputtered as I opened the lid to return to the present. When I looked around seconds later, I saw rocket ships, cities floating in midair, and robots. I tried opening the box again, but there was a sign on the lid, “Out of Order.” “Rats” I muttered grimly.

My Strange Train Journey

By Mary O’Leary, Fishers, age 10

I was playing around the train depot in Fishers, Indiana one afternoon when I noticed an old wooden box under a bush near the railroad tracks. I bent down, pulled it out and opened it to find that I got swooped into the box which took me back in time…to 1859. I knew it was 1859 because I was sitting in a train that I had read about in a book for school. The part of the train that I was sitting in was called a caboose. The caboose was bright apple red and smelled strongly of coal. The train I was in was moving and I could see other trains out my window. The people around me were not passengers, they were workers. They were wearing black suits that looked like tuxedos. The workers were very nice and offered me some food. They showed me where the conductor of the train sat, and they showed me how the train worked. The conductor was very kind; he showed me what he did and how he managed the train. The conductor told me that we were on the Monon Route, also called the Hoosier Line, and that we were headed for Fishers. As we were slowing down I said goodbye to all the considerate people that helped me on the journey. I got off the train and ended up back behind the bush and found the same box I’d had before, but it looked brand new. I opened the box and got swooped back into my own time. As I was walking back to my house, I saw a little boy walking toward the bush and I started laughing thinking about the adventure he would have.

But the very thing I loved writing was frozen in time due to a trauma that hit me to the core. My brilliant sister in the 60’s was misdiagnosed as a schizophrenic and was sent to a hospital when she was in 11th grade. She read the NYTimes at 2 yrs and at 4th grade was already reading at college level. Today they probably would have said she had Asberger’s Syndrome but in the 60’s there was no such thing.

At 11yrs old I asked to visit her this brilliant, funny, ecentric soul. I brought here a valentine’s card saying I hope you get on the 2nd floor where the doors are not locked. And I was carrying a cheese sandwich that got all melted. I remember the perfect manicured hilles and walking a long walk. And arriving where a nurse with bright orange lipstick brought out my sister Karen and helped her walk as she was a little shakey. She tried to talk but you couldn’t understand a word. And she was wearing this grey dress that she kept in the back of her closet because she hated it. She looked so pale and drugged all the magic and the miracle of who she was as a human being was gone.

At that age I was in 6th grade and my writing began to stand out. The teacher would read them in class nearly every week and then I stopped. Because I thought I would go to one of those places that karen when to because I was different. It wasn’t logic, it was how I felt. And so I wrote in private like a Jewish person hiding from the Nazi’s.

And I want to come out but I lost so much time. But no more I am giving it all I got. And I am expect to fail but that won’t bother me. Its never have tried to persue the one thing I love most in this world.

Melinda Khan

Here is what WriteStuff iPR can do for you:

• Customized blog development: WriteStuff iPR will create a custom blog website and train you how to use it. Each blog website comes with the following:
  • Your own domain name (www.yourname.com)
  • Up to 5 email accounts
  • Upcoming events calendar to promote your appearances
  • User administration, know who is blogging on your website
  • Search engine optimization
  • Built-in blog link exchanges
• Virtual book signing video: You can’t get into every bookstore, but you can get into every computer. WriteStuff iPR will shoot and edit a 2-minute video trailer for your book(s) giving potential buyers an opportunity to see and hear you talk about your work.
• Audio podcast interview: Through the WriteStuff Radio Show, you will be interviewed via phone or in person and available for podcast download on the WriteStuffWriters.com and your website blog. Interviews are limited to 10 minutes in length per book.
• E-commerce store: Books can be sold through your website for self-fulfillment or be linked to a 3rd party retailer (i.e. your publisher’s website or amazon.com). All moneys are managed by you directly; WriteStuff iPR takes no commissions on sales.
• Search engine marketing: We will market your website singularly and collectively with other WriteStuff iPR publishing clients. Using proven pay per click programs through Google.com, Yahoo Search Marketing, and other paid placement venues, we will bid on search phrases relevant to your website/book(s).
• E-mail newsletter development: When applicable, WriteStuff iPR will create an e-mail newsletter campaign and manage your opt-in contacts for you.

WriteStuff iPR Pricing Guidelines

Every book is different, every author is different, and every campaign is also different. Therefore, pricing for the WriteStuff iPR services varies depending on the scope of the author’s needs. WriteStuff iPR must pre-approve each new client prior to engagement of services. Each project will be quoted separately, but each will follow this general format:

First month set-up: Includes blog development and set-up, domain registration,
e-mail set-up, content development for blog, link development, search engine optimization and submission, pay per click (“PPC”) strategy and set-up, web analytic set-up, video book signing(s), audio podcast interview, e-commerce set-up including PayPal or other online merchant accounts, and two hours of blog training. Variables include number of books, genre of book, and author’s existing web knowledge.

Six-month start-up retainer: Includes weekly blog postings to build traffic, higher than normal PPC budget, affiliate program development and implementation, and one hour of coaching/training per month. Variables include depth of affiliate development, PPC budget, and nature of blog content for postings.

On-going retainer: Includes web hosting, maintenance, PPC and other online marketing fees, one hour of coaching/training/support per month.

Estimated first year annualized fees: $4,500-$8,500

WriteStuff iPR will be very selective about which clients they will/won’t take for this all-inclusive service. Please fill out the form below with as much information as you can.

1st Place Fiction: Kristin Thomsen, “A New Era”
Hot Springs, Arkansas

1st Place Memoir: Daniel Burch Fiddler, “Growing Pains”
Idyllwild, California

1st Place Young Adult (12-17 years): Kristin Thomsen, “A Tribute to Oscar”
Hot Springs, Arkansas

1st Place Children (6-12 years): Jan Shaffer, “The Big Blue Monster”
Plainfield, Indiana

The Second Place Winners in categories of entry were:

2nd Place Fiction: Jan Didra Stubbs, “Little Frustrations”
St. Paul, Minnesota

Memoir: Lovelyn M. Marquez-Prueher, “A Journey Toward Understanding and Acceptance”
Torrance, California

Young Adult 12-17 Years: Kim Vignola, “What Does The Lamb Say, Jacob?”
Victoria, Canada

Judges Recorded a TIE for 2nd Place in Children 6-12 Years! Winners were:

Children 6-12 Years: Jodi Diderrich, “Sam’s Day”
Kenosha, Wisconsin

Julia Contreras, “The Tooth Fairy…Is Not Real”
Wausau, Wisconsin

Third Place Winners in categories of entry were:

Fiction: Betty Jo Williams, “I Need To Know That You See My Yellow Rose”
Fishers, Indiana

Memoir: Holly Gooding, “My Idea of Beautiful”
Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Young Adult 12-17 Years: George Schulz, “City Boy Troy”
Winter Springs, Florida

Children 6-12 Years: E. Loreen Flory, “Whispers”
Mount Pleasant, Michigan

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