Why Not Suck and See
Monday, June 13, 2011 @ 10:18 AM
A potential client’s concerns suggested to me that his problem might be commonplace. He could stretch to the ghost-writer’s fee but didn’t fancy hawking his masterpiece around ‘unsympathetic publishers’ and risking his outlay. It was a fair point.
Every time someone puts pen to paper it’s a gamble. This includes famous name authors. Writing is an act of faith but thanks to the internet; e-books now outsell conventional books. It has never been easier for new authors to be published. The market is massive and is now worldwide. There is also potential for spin-offs such as your book providing source material for documentaries or better. One of my clients is looking for television dramatists; another has signed a contract with a movie producer.
PUBLISHING IS EASIER TODAY
Things have improved immensely for aspiring authors. Today, instead of the enormous cost and effort in compiling weighty sheaves of manuscript; synopsis and specimen chapters to expensively post, authors use the internet to identify and approach publishers. If your book is marketed online there is outlay but effortless sales and financial returns are far better than the miserly 10% offered to authors by conventional publishers. Tens of thousands of people are now making a good living by selling their books, advice paperbacks, potted biographies online. A book that sells at €9.95 may have cost as little as €2 to publish.
Publicity for your book is important. A good ghost will provide an introductory letter and synopsis for potential publishers and publisher’s agents. These can be printed and used endlessly as can the publicity review for newspapers.
WHY GO ALL THE WAY
You don’t have to go all the way. Let me suggest an idea by which you can test your book’s potential. Why not place your finished work with your ghost with instruction that he work only on the first and a random chapter? This is all a potential publisher wishes to see before making a decision. In this way you pay for example 10,000 words plus €40 one-off fee for the introduction, synopsis and publisher / book agent’s letter. Your risk is reduced by as much as 90 percent.
While your ghost is getting on with it you can spend your time drawing up a list of potential publishers and book agents e-mail addresses. When your e-package arrives from your ghost you can then start your mailing. Hopefully a publisher will show an interest and at that point is unlikely to mind waiting whilst the rest of your book is ghosted. By doing it this way you reduce the risk of total outlay investment whilst at the same time achieving what the full length fully committed MSS author has always been able to do. In effect you have committed only effort and a few hundred euros. Check out
www.michaelwalsh.es.