As you may know, Angela and I have recently reached the unbelievable milestone of having sold a million books.

I say “unbelievable” because this was never in our sights. We started out as two writers with no formal education in the field. We had no publishing experience. What did a couple of stay-at-home moms really know about succeeding as authors?

Needless to say, when we sold our thousandth book in 2012, we were over-the-moon excited. And then we hit the 10,000 mark. Then 100k… With every milestone, people asked us how we had done it—because I think a lot of writers can relate to our feelings of uncertainty, of having a goal but not knowing how to get there, and not wanting to dream too big.

But here’s the truth: if we can succeed, you can succeed. Full stop.

Granted, it would have been easier with a little more information when we started. So we’d like to share some of the things that have worked for us, because we believe they can work for you—no matter what you’re writing or what goals you’ve set for yourself.

Give the Readers What They Want

Some of you may not know that the very first thing we blogged about in 2007 was The Emotion Thesaurus. As critique partners, we had both struggled with how to show emotions in new and realistic ways, and we knew it was also a problem for the other members of our group. So we thought: maybe this is something other writers need help with, too.

That suspicion was confirmed almost immediately. We started putting up a new emotion post each Saturday, and our readership just blew up. Before long, people were asking for the content in book form. And that’s when we knew we had something people wanted to read.

Takeaway: Whether you’re writing nonfiction, cozy mysteries, thrillers, steamy romances, or a memoir, you have stories that people want to read. Write what excites you. Hone your craft so you can write those stories well. And start building connections with the people who want to read what you’re writing.

Take Risks

Angela and I had always dreamed of being traditionally published, so when it came time to turn The Emotion Thesaurus into a book, we assumed we’d go that route. Then we started seeing our thesaurus content popping up on other people’s sites, and being distributed as a PDF. Suddenly, we couldn’t afford to wait two years or more for our book to be available; we had to get it out quickly before someone else did, and that meant publishing it ourselves.

But this was 2011. Self-publishing was openly poo-poohed in the industry, with many people bemoaning the substandard quality of self-pubbed books (and some asserting that authors only went this route if they couldn’t get a traditional contract). Oh, and we had zero idea how to publish a book. Going down this path was a huge risk for us, but Ange and I knew we needed to do it, so we got to work figuring out file formats, and distributors, and cover designers, and the logistics of co-authoring a book. And we made it work, and in 2012, we launched The Emotion Thesaurus.

Takeaway: Don’t be afraid to take risks with your writing. Try new things. Dive into uncharted waters and educate yourself. Sometimes, the scariest opportunities have the biggest payoffs, but you won’t reap the rewards if you don’t try.

Put Your Own Spin on Your Work

Another thing that made us nervous was the unconventional format of our books. Instead of the typical narrative structure, our thesauruses consisted mostly of two-page entries full of lists and phrases. It was a risk to deviate from the norm, but we went for it because our blog readers liked it.

Not only did readers love the “user-friendly” structure, other writing books with lists soon began popping up all over Amazon.

Unfortunately, it’s also led to copycat covers and many books that have similar titles to those in our series. We feel bad every time someone tells us they bought a book they thought was one of ours only to discover it wasn’t. So if you are trying to find our thesaurus guides, just look for the Writers Helping Writers® logo.

Takeaway: Always put your own spin on your writing. Infuse it with your unique voice. Explore the themes that interest you and the subjects you’re passionate about. Write as your authentic, one-of-a-kind self and you’ll end up creating books that will stand apart from the others in your genre.

Make Your Books Available to as Many Readers as Possible

Because readers have their own preferred storefronts and formats, we wanted to reach as many of them as possible by going wide and making our books available in lots of places. We also offered PDF versions, since people like having their book files open on their computer while working. We even created a Character Traits Boxed Set to sell directly from our website.

The bulk of our sales do come from Amazon, but by distributing through many digital storefronts and independent bookstores, and making our books available in PDF, we ensured that readers could get our books where they liked to show and in the format that worked best for them.

Takeaway: Make it easy for people to buy your books. Sell through multiple distributors, in different formats. Listen to what your followers are saying about how they like to read and make those options available to them.

Explore Every Opportunity

As you grow, opportunities are going to come along that you never considered. Ange and I had published three books and were working on the fourth when we got an email from a publisher asking if the Korean rights to The Emotion Thesaurus were available. Foreign translations weren’t on our radar at all. We didn’t have an agent, couldn’t negotiate an international contract ourselves, and couldn’t market a book overseas if we wanted to. So it would’ve been easy for us to dismiss the request as being too far outside our wheelhouse and something we just didn’t have time for.

Instead, we looked into it. We found an agent who specialized in negotiating rights deals with foreign publishers. We talked to her about the email we’d received, and we realized this was a gift that had fallen into our laps. So we sold those rights. And, boy, was that the right decision. We now have books in 9 languages that have sold almost 400,000 copies to date in markets we never would have reached on our own.

Takeaway: No matter how busy you are, explore every opportunity that comes your way. You don’t have to invest a ton of time. Just do some basic research, keep an open mind, and see if it’s something you should pursue. When in doubt, see Point #2.

Run Experiments

It can be hard to know if an opportunity is a good one or not. In those cases, it doesn’t hurt to experiment.

In 2018, KDP started contacting us with requests to highlight our Kindle books in their daily and monthly deals. We were skeptical about how this would affect our sales. Sure, more people might buy our Kindle book if it was priced at $1.99. But wouldn’t we end up making less money that way? Would those discounted sales cannibalize our paperback sales?

So we ran an experiment and started participating in those deals. It became clear that while we made less per book, our revenue still increased. Why? Because it lowered the barrier to test out one of our thesauruses, and if the person found it helpful, they would often collect more volumes in the series. Also, because we have observed our readers prefer print to digital, some kindle deal buyers would go on to pick up a print copy also. So this experiment has really paid off for us.

Takeaway: New opportunities don’t have to be permanent. If you’re not sure about something, set aside a prescribed period of time to test it out. Setting a timeline and recognizing that the experiment is temporary can ease your mind about trying new things.

Know When to Cut Bait

But remember that not every experiment is a success. Prior to 2019, we hadn’t utilized ads on any platforms. Sales were flagging a bit at Amazon and a lot of people were finding success with ads there, so we decided to give it a shot. After eight months, we realized that the investment just wasn’t paying off, and we stopped.

Takeaway: Accept that some experiments won’t pan out. Keep a close eye on those trial runs and the risks you’ve decided to take. And do the same with your day-to-day tasks—you know, the processes and systems you’re using because that’s the way you’ve always done them. Be deliberate about monitoring what you’re doing and assessing if it’s worth the ROI. If it’s not working, stop doing it or find a new way.

Seek Out Multiple Revenue Streams

Let’s face it: it’s hard to make a living from book sales. But Ange and I learned early on that our skills as writers lent themselves to other ways of bringing in money. So we branched out as speakers, running workshops for local writing groups and at larger conferences. Then we explored another collaboration that resulted in One Stop for Writers, a subscription-based website that contains all our thesauruses (not just our books) and writing tools and resources designed by us that help writers in a new way.

Workshops and One Stop for Writers have provided additional revenue for us in and of themselves, but they also generated more sales by introducing us to new people who had never heard of our books.

Takeaway: What additional career opportunities could you pursue that utilize your writing skills? What else could you be doing “on the side” while you’re writing books? Here are some options you may not have considered.

Partner with the Right People

If there’s any one secret to Angela’s and my success, it’s that we found each other. It’s really, really hard to do this job alone. I can’t imagine having to handle everything by myself. At some point, most writers will need to partner with other people, be that a business partner, editor, agent, cover designer, copy editor, bookkeeper, etc. Those partnerships can save you—as long as you choose wisely.

Takeaway: Research potential partnerships carefully. Look for people who complement you, people who are strong where you’re weak. Find people who share your values and work ethic and are pulling in the same direction.

There’s more we could share, but this post is long enough already, and we’d rather hear what has worked for you. Let us know in the comments!

More quick facts about the books
Enter our celebratory giveaway

BECCA PUGLISI

Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and its sequels. Her books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post Selling a Million Books: What Worked for Us (and Can Work for You, Too) appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

In our current climate, you’ve probably heard that piece of trivia about Shakespeare writing King Lear in quarantine roughly a thousand times. You’ve also probably noticed tons of people taking up new hobbies to stay busy — baking, knitting, or (you knew it was coming) finally getting started on that novel they’ve always wanted to write.

According to anecdotal evidence hitting us from all sides, now is the perfect time to tackle a new creative project. But I’d suggest a slightly different undertaking than writing a whole new book: translating your existing work(s) into a different language.

If you’re already multilingual, this could be just the challenge you need to stay productive (not to mention sane) for the next few months. But if not, researching the book translation process, weighing your options, and hunting down the right translator should still occupy you for a solid week or so! That said, if you’re unsure whether translating your book is a good idea, here are five reasons to consider it — plus some helpful resources for those who decide to take the leap.

1. You’re missing out on the global market

This one might sound obvious: if you’re not publishing in any other languages, you won’t be able to reach every corner of the international market. But what you may not realize is just how sizable that market is! While the US and UK account for 34% of the global ebook trade, the other 66% stems from non-English-speaking countries. And if you can get your book into print translation, you’ll access an even greater proportion of readers in each country, potentially gaining mainstream recognition there (more on that in a bit).

However, you should choose your new language(s) carefully, as each separate translation comprises a new project in which you have to invest. So before you do anything else, check to see how other books in your genre or on your subject perform in any country you want to target. If you can’t find many books similar to yours, there’s probably no market for them. Conversely, if you’re overwhelmed by results, the market may already be over-saturated.

Also keep in mind the demand for ebooks in the specific country you’re targeting. For example, it might seem like a good idea to translate your book into French, Spanish, or Italian, but did you know that China’s ebook market is larger than all those countries’ combined? Lastly, you’ll want to think about the relative popularity of translated works in each country. As foreign rights agent Marleen Seegers points out, literary translations perform much better in some countries (such as Poland!) than others.

An international book tour is probably the last thing on your mind right now, but there’s no time like the present to start contemplating where you might go. And planning that book tour could be particularly relevant if this next reason turns out to be true…

2. Your work might be more popular other countries

Ever heard the expression “big in Japan”? Though it’s taken on ironic connotations in recent years, back in the seventies it was used to describe bands from the US, Sweden, Germany, and other countries that were better-known in Japan than in their homelands. And believe it or not, a similar thing sometimes happens to authors who have their works translated: for whatever reason, their stories are much more interesting to readers in languages other than their own.

In other words (no pun intended), not only can you access foreign markets via translations of your work, but you might become even more celebrated within them than in your own language! This is exactly what happened to Edgar Allan Poe, whose work was deemed unremarkable in America during his lifetime, but who found immense literary acclaim among French audiences — all thanks to his brilliant book translator, Charles Baudelaire.

But while the translator often deserves the lion’s share of credit, this unexpected success can ensue for other reasons as well. Sometimes, without even meaning to, an author taps into some element of style or storytelling that simply works better in another culture. This was the case for Laura Kasischke, who’s a well-known poet in America, but whose novels have become wildly successful in French translation; Kasishke hypothesizes that French readers are more accepting of unlikable characters and obscure endings, both frequent elements in her books.

Of course, you can never completely predict how readers will respond to your work in other languages. But if you suspect that certain elements have been lost on your current audience, it’s worth giving translation a shot (especially if you can find a translator on par with Baudelaire).

3. If you’ve written a series, readers won’t have to wait

Another compelling reason to consider translation is that, if you’ve written or are currently writing a series with multiple installments available, readers in other languages won’t have to wait too long between books. This can go a long way toward maintaining momentum and acquiring new readers, especially in new countries where you’ll have to build your brand from the ground up.

Though it may not have been an intentional strategy, this was likely part of what made the Millennium series by Stieg Larsson such a hit in the United States, despite the fact that it was originally published in Swedish. With three books already written, Reg Keeland and Alfred A. Knopf were able to translate and publish The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its sequels in less than two years — enough kindling to stoke an English movie and three additional books.

The Millennium series was published traditionally, but this is still an important lesson for self-publishing authors who control their schedules: the less time you take between titles, the better. And though you can only cut writing time down by so much, translated books can usually be released in fairly quick succession.

You might even hold off until you’ve had all the available books in your series translated to release them in foreign markets, as a bundle. That way, readers won’t have to wait at all between finishing one book and starting the next! Of course, if you do this, you should be 100% sure that your book will sell well enough to justify translating multiple installments (hence why the aforementioned market research is so crucial).

4. It’s an impressive detail to flaunt when marketing

Though you shouldn’t get your book translated for the marketing cred alone, there’s no denying that having “Now translated into X languages” in its blurb makes your book seem pretty damn cool. Even if it’s only because you wanted to translate it, readers will assume there’s enormous demand for your work abroad and that you are a Very Important Author — never a bad identity to cultivate.

And your book description isn’t the only place to drop this impressive info! Once you’ve gotten your book translated, you could write a whole newsletter or blog post about it, detailing your experience and humble-bragging about how awesome it is to have your book available in various languages. You might try using it in ads as a headline — it’ll grab readers’ attention and, again, give them the impression that you’re a culturally significant writer. And of course, the next time you attend a writing conference or any kind of networking event, you can casually say: “Oh, did I mention my work has recently been translated into German?”

Basically, any way you can incorporate your translation(s) into your book marketing plan, you should go for it. For example, an indirect bonus of translating your book is that it gives you the excuse to commission a new cover, which can be an excellent marketing tool in and of itself. If you can afford it, look for a designer who specializes in creating covers in your genre and target language, ensuring the translation appeals to readers the second they see it.

5. Translation services today are better than ever

Finally, you should consider translating your work because book translation services today are more accurate, accessible, and affordable than ever before. There’s a plethora of options, including translation service companies where you pay a fee in exchange for a complete, anonymously translated manuscript, or in-house translation services for those who choose traditional publishing.

That said, if you’re an indie author who’s committed to getting high-quality, individualized translation of your work, your best option may be to hire a literary translator. This allows you to ensure their talents are suitable for your project, and to keep them personally accountable throughout your collaboration. And though you won’t be able to read their previous translations unless you know the target language, it’s easy enough to Google Translate the reviews of those and get a sense of their aptitude. (Needless to say, using Google Translate to translate your own book is a no-go for any author with even a modicum of self-respect.)

Only you can decide whether translating your works into other languages is a viable course of action. But again, there’s no time like the present, especially with all the time you likely have on your hands right now. If you do end up taking the translation route, buena suerte and bonne chance — here’s hoping you’ll be the next Poe, Kasischke, or Larsson of your generation!

Savannah Cordova is a writer with Reedsy, a marketplace that connects authors and publishers with the world’s best editors, designers, and marketers. In her spare time, Savannah enjoys reading contemporary fiction and writing short stories (and occasionally terrible novels).

You can read more of her professional work on the Reedsy blog, or personal writing on Medium.

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post 5 Reasons to Consider Translating Your Work appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Have you self-published a novel you had originally intended to send to literary agents (to see how it did)? Or, did you self-publish a novel, decide that publishing path wasn’t for you, and now want to send that book to literary agents?

Let’s talk about why sending previously self-published books to literary agents (or publishers) may not be the best idea.

As you are probably aware, there is no “right” or “wrong” way to go about publishing. Meaning, you can self-publish books, send unpublished manuscripts to agents, you can publish with an indie press… There are so many (great) publishing options in 2019 that weren’t available in previous years.  >> Check out my previous blog, How Should I Publish My Book?, to learn more about the publishing paths available to you.

In addition, with so many high-quality books being self-published, the stigma around this publishing path has been slowly fading over time. Though, I wouldn’t say it’s gone away entirely (yet).

However, there is one persistent question I see in the comments for almost every YouTube video I publish, and that is: “Can I query a book I’ve already self-published?”

The short answer is: No. Or, I don’t recommend it.

The long answer is one I’m going to attempt to get into today.

When I worked at the literary agency, the authors who queried me with a self-published project usually were querying that manuscript because the book didn’t sell well.

If a book didn’t sell well—meaning, readers had a chance to check out the story and decided they weren’t interested in it—why would industry professionals be interested in that book (again, if readers weren’t)?

The role of a literary agent is to find books they think they can sell to editors at publishing houses. Agents only make money when an author does. Once a book is sold, agents take a fifteen percent cut of what the author makes. (And good agents earn that fifteen percent!)

The role of an editor is to find books they think they can sell to readers. They want to find a fantastic story that they think they can edit, package, market, and hopefully make a profit on. If publishers don’t make money on the books they publish, they will have to downsize or eventually close their doors.

Therefore, if you have previously self-published a book that didn’t sell… well, most publishers won’t be interested in it for that very reason. 

The typical response I get to this is: “BUT BUT BUT I’m not good at marketing. If this book had been traditionally published and had marketing support, it would have sold better.”

Perhaps. But, then again, perhaps not.

While a good marketing strategy can absolutely help spread the word about a book, it’s not just about marketing.

Publishers considering whether or not they want to purchase a book will look at: 

1. The quality of the writing: Because, obviously!
2. The uniqueness of the story: Has it been done in a similar way before? If so, how is this story unique?
3. The marketability of this book: Do readers want to read this type of story?
4. Trends in the marketplace: Where do they think the market will be in two+ years?
5. Whether or not the publisher can make a profit

Most publishers also want rights to first to market. Meaning, they want to be the ones to introduce a story to the world. By an author previously self-publishing a title, the book has lost its “newness.” People have had a chance to see it. If they didn’t purchase it before, why would they purchase it in two+ years after a publisher has published it? 

In addition, even if a book is published traditionally, authors are still expected to participate in the marketing efforts. A common misconception writers have about traditional publishing is that they only have to write stories and the publisher does the rest (including marketing). While that may have been true in the past, it’s no longer true today. Therefore, if the book didn’t sell well before (with your marketing efforts), why would publishing it now be any different?

Now, if a book performed well and sold many copies, you will likely have agents and/or editors knocking at your door (without having to query them). Don’t forget that publishing is a business. Publishers are always looking for books that will earn them a profit. If a self-published book is selling thousands of copies, all bets are off for everything I said before. Again, if a title is doing well, industry pros will likely be coming to you (rather than the other way around).

An alternative approach to querying a previously self-published title would be to write a new manuscript and query that. You can always write another book and send it to literary agents in the hopes of getting it published traditionally (should that be the publishing path you’d like to pursue). Just because you previously self-published books doesn’t mean you can’t traditionally publish titles later on. (Hello, hybrid publishing!)

It’s always going to be sticky territory (and likely a big fat “no thanks”) if you try to garner interest from a literary agent (and ultimately a publisher) on a title that has already been published.

*Please Note: This conversation doesn’t apply to self-published authors who work with literary agents for foreign rights and sub rights. Everything mentioned above is geared toward authors who want to remove a book from the market (for example, North American, English rights) and try to sell those rights to a publisher. 

MEG LATORRE

Meg LaTorre is a writer, YouTuber (iWriterly), creator of the free query critique platform, Query Hack, co-host of the Publishable show, blogger, and she formerly worked at a literary agency. She also has a background in magazine publishing, medical/technical writing, and journalism. To learn more about Meg, visit her website, follow her on Twitter and Instagram, sign up for her monthly newsletter, and subscribe to her YouTube channel, iWriterly.

The post Why Writers Shouldn’t Query Self-Published Books appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

In January, Becca and I hit 10 years of blogging. TEN YEARS. That’s a lot of time, but also not a lot of time, because we all know time flows differently in the book business. It’s all hurry up…and wait. Repeat. Forever.

Writing, publishing, book selling…it is one crazy roller coaster ride. As much as we can sometimes hate parts of it, we also love it. Deeply.  (If not, we all would have gotten off by now, right?)

So much has changed in 10 years, including us being busy to the point where we didn’t even realize it had been 10 years. *facepalm*

That’s also something we all understand: the writing roller coaster isn’t just a maze of loops, drops, and cloud-touching peaks, it also forces a person to contort and twist constantly. Being a writer these days means thinking on the fly, mastering business skills, navigating deadlines, building a brand, and becoming a subject matter expert in many things. You need a live example of adaptability, persistence, and grit? Look at any writer who is steering their career.

Rewinding the Clock

Fact: when Becca & I started blogging at The Bookshelf Muse, we were clueless. Utterly. No idea what we were doing, no idea of where the roller coaster was leading. We just had a dream of publication.

That blog is only a landing page now because we moved everything to Writers Helping Writers. But, thanks to the Wayback Machine, I was able to find an archived version of that first welcome post.

We chose the name “Bookshelf Muse” because we liked the idea that maybe something we did could inspire writers and help them see they could succeed at this book thing we all love so much.

We started with a feature called “Thesaurus Thursday” to explore different emotions and the body language that went with them. We struggled with this and thought if others did too, it might bring some traffic our way. Our first post was “FEAR.”

(Note our “Esteemed Bookshelf Stalkers” list: 24. We were thrilled that 24 people read our blog!)

In 2012, we took a huge leap of faith and decided to turn the Emotion Thesaurus on our blog into a book. *whispers* A self-published book. We did it because people were pirating our content and selling it. Plus, we felt that a) traditional publishing probably wasn’t ready for a “book” made of lists, b) finding a publisher willing to take on two newbies to teach others about writing was unlikely and c) it would take too long to publish. The industry had a pretty negative attitude toward SP back then, and we knew we were half-crazy to do it, but we uploaded the book anyway.

Our hope, factoring in the long tail of self-publishing, was it might sell 50,000 copies in its lifetime. That would put us over the moon.

Never did we imagine it would become a staple for writers, or be used in university programs or analyzed in thesis papers. Never did we fathom it would be translated into 5 other languages or lead to a series of 6 books. We never thought it would also kick off an entire website filled with tools we helped to design so writers could write stronger fiction faster than ever.

Something else happened in January, another milestone that still hasn’t quite sunk in.

We sold our 300,000th book. (About 180,000 of those are The Emotion Thesaurus.)

Ten years ago, we were two writers grappling with how to get our fiction published. We were trying not to make utter fools of ourselves by blogging. We had 3 comments on our first emotion thesaurus post.

We never could have imagined this. Our gratitude to you, our supporters, champions, biggest believers…off the charts. We have no words (oh, the irony for two thesaurus-makers!).

But this post is more than a thank you…it’s a message, too: 

You’ve got this!

Don’t get caught up in where you are (or aren’t) right now, or how steep the roller coaster incline is ahead of you.

We believe in you. Always have, always will.

Thanks for joining us, and we hope you’ll stick around for the next ten years, too.

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post Milestones that Provide a Valuable Opportunity to Look Back appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

200,000. Books. Sold.

Back in 2012 when Becca and I dipped our toes into the self publishing waters we never imagined it would lead here, but it has…because of all of you. Again, I can’t think of the appropriate words! All the kind ways you have helped and supported us…Thank you seems so unworthy, but it’s all we can say, a thousand times!

When we started down this road with our crazy idea for an Emotion Thesaurus, I had told Becca I would be ecstatic if it sold 50,000 copies in its lifetime. We underestimated just how many other writers struggled with emotion. What a thrill to know this book, and our others, are helping writers all over the world!

It’s been a long time since we shared numbers. I know some find sales transparency helpful and hitting this milestone seemed like a good time to update ours.

 So here’s where we’re at, as of Feb 2017:

The Emotion Thesaurus, English only, Pub date: May 2012 (Print, ebook, PDF): 120,101

Foreign rights: Japan, Korea, Romania, China, Taiwan

The Positive Trait Thesaurus, English Only, Pub Date: Oct 2013 (Print, ebook, PDF): 31,659

Foreign rights: Japan, Korea

The Negative Trait Thesaurus, English Only. Pub Date: Sept 2013 (Print, ebook, PDF): 34,874

Foreign rights: Japan, Korea

The Rural Setting Thesaurus, English Only. Pub Date: May 2016 (Print, ebook, PDF): 7,206

Foreign rights: Japan

The Urban Setting Thesaurus, English Only. Pub Date: Oct 2016 (Print, ebook, PDF): 6,734

Foreign rights: Japan

Excluded from overall count: Emotion Amplifiers, a $2.99 companion. Pub Date: Dec 2014 (ebooklet & PDF): 37,306

About these numbers:

• Print outsells digital (I think this is common with reference books)
• No books were set to “free” except Emotion Amplifiers. (EA downloads are not part of the overall count)
• No books have been enrolled in exclusive programs to date
• We didn’t play with ebook pricing (instead we chose a reasonable price and stuck with it)
• But we did try a one-day “group book sale” of the ET at .99 to experiment
• To date we’ve tried only one ad in a high-volume newsletter (we lost money)
• No accurate numbers for foreign sales yet (but we will update once we do)
• Our books are at Amazon, Createspace, Kobo, B & N, Smashwords, and Apple, and available as a PDF using Gumroad. We don’t use Ingram Spark (yet)

Rather than re-invent the marketing wheel…

We’ve talked about the marketing approach we’ve taken in greater length in other posts and interviews, so if you like, visit this tag to find other numbers & data posts, look through some of our past events we’ve run, and check out our marketing tag for extra help.

Also, we strongly encourage you visit our tool page for more marketing help, including social media handouts, marketing interview links, a VERY helpful swipe file from our last book launch.

GIVEAWAY (Open Worldwide)

20 Thesaurus eBooks (Winner’s Choice)

5 one-month subscriptions to our writing web app, One Stop for Writers

How could we celebrate such a terrific milestone without a little giveaway? So, if you’ve been looking to test drive one of our books, or have been itching to try One Stop For Writers, just enter using

THIS FORM

Contest is now over–thanks everyone!
Congrats to Paul, Rachel, Robin, Ellen, Wendy, Janet, Kara, Sandy, Silvana, Denyse, Allison, Sussu, Kimberly, Gaye, Donna, Reana, Gifford, Vicky, Tara, Carol, Anna, Susan, Traci, Melinda & Anne

(And all the fun pictures posted to social media. THE BEST!)

We hope our books continue to supply ideas and help push your writing to the next level. Look for The Emotional Wound Thesaurus to make an appearance later this year. 

Legal stuff is here, and prizes will be drawn Monday, March 6th, 6 PM EST.

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

Save

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post Help Us Celebrate Our 200,000 Book Milestone appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Because of this, it is our pleasure to welcome Marleen Seegers, Foreign Rights Agent for 2Seas Literary (& our FR agent). Marleen has sold our books in many different countries and I asked her if she could peel back the curtain on what a FR agent does, and the process of finding the right match. This is really valuable info, so please read on…

Give Your Book a Second Life: Get It into Foreign Markets 

Tens of thousands of books are translated into another language each year. The most translated author is the Queen of Crime Agatha Christie, followed by Jules Verne and William Shakespeare who occupy respectively the second and third positions.

Looking at the global market, roughly 60% of all translations around the world are books originally written in English. It comes as no surprise, then, that only 3% of the books that are published in the US are translations—in the UK, this is even a mere 2.5%! By comparison, in Poland a smashing 46% of books published are works in translation, in Germany over 12%, in Spain around 24%, and in France about 15%.

This leads us to conclude that, particularly as an English-language author, it can be lucrative to try selling your book into foreign markets. Besides the additional income, isn’t it wonderful to show your friends and family a copy of your book in French or Korean?

 Selling foreign rights is just one of the many possibilities to give your book a second life and create an extra revenue stream. Movie/theater/comic strip adaptations, audio books, and merchandising are other examples of the so-called “subsidiary” rights umbrella.

“Primary” book publishing rights include hardcover, trade paperback, mass market, and digital editions of your book in its original language.

As a foreign rights agent, I work with authors, publishers, and literary agents from all over the world to help them get their books published in foreign languages.

So what does the work of a foreign rights agent consist of? 

First of all, I read—a lot. Yes, a good foreign rights seller has to LOVE reading! Even though Pierre Bayard wrote an entire book on how to talk about books you haven’t read, it’s virtually impossible to pitch a title to foreign publishers without having read (at least part of) it—which can be frustrating, as I have so many titles to read that sometimes I don’t even have the time to finish books that I’m really enjoying!

That brings us to the second stage of foreign rights sales: pitching titles! As soon as I’ve decided a title has enough potential abroad, we include it in our online catalog. We then send out a newsletter to present the title to our network of foreign publishers, literary scouts and co-agents.

You might think foreign rights sellers are rather invisible actors of the publishing scene, but let me introduce you to an even more obscure job: literary scouts. They try to discover possible bestsellers as early as possible and alert the foreign publishers they work for. This enables the latter to acquire the translation rights before everyone else knows about these titles, usually for a relatively low advance. You can find more information on scouts here. They are very important contacts for foreign rights sellers, as they can make or break a deal.

Additionally, we work with co-agents in territories other than our “specialty markets,” which are Holland, Scandinavia, Germany, France, and the English language. They are often locally based, know their specific market through and through, and handle submissions, rights inquiries, and negotiations on our behalf.

After our initial newsletter, we take the initiative to send the book and further information to those publishers who are likely to be interested in the title in question—because they have published (one of) the author’s previous titles, or the title is a great match with their catalog, or we know they are personally interested in the subject, or all of the above.

How do we know what foreign publishers like/dislike? 

We’ve built relationships with them for many years, meeting with them in person during international book fairs, talking to them on the phone and via Skype. Interpersonal skills are extremely important in foreign rights sales, as personal relationships can (will!) make a real difference. Speaking another language besides English is also very helpful, as you connect more easily with the publishers of that specific language territory.

Attending international book fairs is truly indispensable, since that’s where most of the action happens! I visit two not-to-be-missed book fairs each year: the Frankfurt Book Fair which always takes place in October, and the London Book Fair in April. While I’m in Europe for these two fairs, I also like to visit publishers in Amsterdam and Paris, two of our “specialty markets.” Furthermore, I attend at least one other, more “local” book fair such as this year’s Rio de Janeiro and Gothenburg Book Fairs.

The Frankfurt and London Book Fairs can be compared to massive speed dating events: every 30 minutes I have meetings with different foreign publishers to whom I show our print catalogs and pitch specific titles. These meetings start at 9 am (sometimes even at breakfast) and last till 6 or 7 pm. In the evening I attend dinners and cocktail parties, which are great networking opportunities in a more relaxed atmosphere.

While these two fairs are the highlights of the international publishing calendar, we receive requests for titles and offers throughout the year.

When a Publisher Offers

If a foreign publisher offers for one of our titles, the first thing we do is check which other publishers in that specific country are also considering this title. Foreign rights agreements are always signed on an exclusive basis, which means we can only sign one contract with, say, a French publisher for the French translation rights in a specific title. This French publisher then owns the exclusive French rights for the duration of the agreement (between 5 and 10 years).

So it’s important to give the other French publishers who are also considering this title a chance to offer as well. We give them a deadline, usually one week to 10 days, to make a decision. If no one else offers, we start negotiating with the offering publisher.

If we receive one or several other offers, we organize an auction—that’s very exciting! We ask all offering publishers to send us their best offer, usually three or four days later. Note that “best offer” doesn’t always mean “highest offer.” Of course we take the advance they propose into account, but we also look at the other conditions like the proposed royalties, other titles and authors in their list, the publisher’s reputation, our previous experiences with them, etc. We submit the information about all the best offers to the rights holder of the book (our client), who will have the final say in which offer to accept. We do of course give our opinion!

After the Deal

Our involvement doesn’t end once a contract is signed: further activities include closely following the publication process, making sure due payments are made and complimentary copies are sent (so you can show off that French or Korean edition of your book!), and receiving and checking annual sales reports.

You get it, being a foreign rights agent is an incredibly varied job! Every day is filled with different activities and challenges, and that’s what I love about it. You make books travel and authors happy, get to travel yourself, meet interesting people from all over the world, and get to read some of the most inspiring books around!

If you want to know more about my activities, please check www.2seasagency.com and join our international community of authors and publishing professionals at http://www.facebook.com/2seasagency.

WOW, great to see how it all works! Thank you very much, Marleen. This is such great information to have on hand, and demystifies the process for all of us. 

Your Turn: Do you have a Foreign Rights Agent? Have you looked into getting one? Which language would you love to see your future book translated into? Tell us in the comments! 

BECCA PUGLISI

Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and its sequels. Her books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post Foreign Rights Agents: Everything You Need To Know (& Why You May Want One!) appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.