Tips for Authors - 200 or 400 pages?

Back in 2000 when I was thinking about publishing my first book, I had the opportunity to send the manuscript to a friend's book agent. My friend had used his connections to get my book looked at and I was thrilled. The agent told me up front that he didn't work with book's in my genre (pre-teen) but he'd be happy to read/comment on it. A month later, I received a call from the agent. He was very nice, gave me lots of compliments, but said that my book was too long. "Too long," I asked. "Yes, you need to cut it by about half." How was I going to do that? But after getting over my disappointment, I set to work on my manuscript and realized the agent was correct. I'd put in too much information. It all seemed important when I wrote it, but going back through the text, I realized much of it had to go. And go it did. I worked (chopped, really) on that manuscript for another several months. Eventually, my book was published and the story had a happy ending (20,000 sold of that one title and winner of The International Reading Associations 'Children's Choices').

We get a lot of books in for review that are just too long. This doesn't mean that it takes the reviewer too long to read, that we'd rather have a shorter book. Instead, it means that the author, like I did back in 2000, put too much into his/her book. After you've got a first draft, go back through and see if you've included too much extraneous information. For example, if you're describing a minor character, unless it plays an important function in the plot, does the reader need 5 pages of background history on that character? You might feel it is important but your reader(s) may feel a big yawn coming on and put the book down. Keep the writing crisp and keep your reader turning the pages.

Tips for Authors - Adding Reviews to Your Book

When your manuscript is finished, consider sending it out to several experts in your field to get pre-publication reviews for the book. These are different from the five or so pre-publication journals (such as Publishers Weekly) that post reviews in their journals. These experts may never have provided a review for any book, but they are well-respected members of the field in which they study/work. You don't need a full-blown, several paragraph review. Rather, ask them to provide a paragraph or so to be used either in the front or back of your book. I've found that including them in the front works best because I've noticed buyers at book signings notice the reviews right away.

Do you need to send them a finished, edited version of your book? No. Since you'll probably be on a tight schedule, it's okay to send the manuscript before it has been visited by your editor. Just be sure to let the reviewer know that the text is going out for editing at the same time so they may find some typos, etc. in the manuscript. You don't want them to think that the finished product will have errors or they may decide not to send you a review.

How do you get well-respected, busy, and perhaps famous people take the time to read your book? Ask them several months prior to publication so that you have plenty of time, but give them a deadline a month or more (if possible) before you need the review. There are always one or two people who take forever and need numerous reminders to write their comments. Make sure you make the deadline date clear! It's amazing how many people will forget and wait until the deadline is past. It's also a good idea to give a follow-up call a week or so after you mail the manuscript to make sure they've received it. There's nothing worse than waiting a few months for a review only to find that your reviewer never got the book. You've just wasted two precious months!

When you ask them, mention where your book will be sold, tell them it will mean national exposure for them/their business. In short, sell them on the idea of writing the review, saying it will help THEM. It also helps if you tell them you only need a few sentences to a paragraph. Readers don't expect longer review quotes inside the book.

Once you have the quote, DO NOT change the text, or reword it in any way with the exception of fixing typos. If there is a problem with the quote (perhaps a character was mentioned in the wrong context), contact the expert and ask their permission to fix the error (although it's best not to use the word "error."). Set the quotes up so that you have the quote followed by the expert's name and his/her claim to fame (business, award-winning author, etc.). Readers will be very interested in these quotes and they DO help sell books!

Self-Promotion or Death: PR Tips from Sara Dobie

Be a speaker and an author. I know we “writer people” like hiding behind glowing computer screens, Facebook, and Twitter. However, in order to become an author with impressive book sales, you have to be a speaker AND an author. Get a presentation together. If you’re a children’s book author, have a presentation for kids with props and craft activities. Also, have a presentation for educators! The educators are the ones who buy your book, so have a presentation revolving around literacy tips and getting kids excited about reading. If you’ve written an adult novel, host workshops and speak at conferences. Build your reputation. Become an expert. By becoming an expert, people will want to learn from you. They will want to buy your book and invite you to events to SPEAK. In order to SPEAK, you have to be a speaker and an author. So learn the tricks. Take a public speaking course if you need to, but learn fast! Because half the battle of “Best-Selling Author” is “Available for Speaking Engagements.”

Feel free to stop by my blog, too: Saradobie.wordpress.com. You'll find all sorts of useful information and interviews there.