The Book Doctors Workman Pitchapalooza in the Wall Street Journal
“One time, I only held a job for three hours. I hired as a lighting technician at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in the early 1970s,” recalled author Steve Turtell. “I nearly killed someone when I lost my grip on a ladder that I was holding up—it just started falling and I froze! Luckily, a lighting cable stopped it from falling all the way over. After that, the guy who hired me asked me to leave.”
Mr. Turtell was in the sunken auditorium at the office of Workman Publishing, an independent publishing house in the West Village on Thursday evening, ready to pitch his book “50/50: 50 Jobs in 50 Years, a Working Tour of My Life.” (He has also worked as a nude artists’ model; a research assistant at PBS; a janitor at Gimbel Brothers; a fashion coordinator at Joyce Leslie; a butcher; a baker; and the director of public programs at the New-York Historical Society.)
Click —> HERE to read the full story on the Wall Street Journal.
Irvine Welsh on Scagboys, Elitism, Writing, Drugs & Scottish Football
The Book Doctors, book editors and friends to writers everywhere, & David Henry Sterry, interview Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspotting & Skagboys, on Huffington Post http://huff.to/135K8zB
Swedish Writer Uses The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published to Land Major Swedish Publisher
The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published – A Surrogate Agent
The Swedish publishing industry differs from the American in one fundamental way: except for handling foreign rights of already established authors, we don’t do agents. As an unpublished author, you send your unsolicited manuscript directly to the publishing companies, and in the rare an unlikely event of being accepted by one, you’re on your own. The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published helped me navigate in the strange and uncharted waters that are having your book published, acting all the way as a sort of surrogate agent.
Before submitting my manuscript, I red the chapters on The perfect package and Locating, luring and landing the right agent and worked hard on perfecting my pitch and writing the perfect personal query letter – eventually eliciting comments from my publisher on how refreshing it was to read such a professional personal query letter.
After having signed up with one of the major publishing companies in Sweden, The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published kept me informed through all the different stages of the process. It allowed me to relax, secure in the knowledge of what would happen next, and made it possible for both me and my publisher to focus on the important issues – namely, making sure my book was everything it could be. Above all, it helped me to be professional and friendly in my dealings with my publishing company: delivering on time, doing slightly more than what was expected of me, and acknowledging the hard and dedicated work several people did for my book. It resulted in an incredible support and personal commitment from my publisher, editor, publicity and marketing team, and sales representatives. If you’re only going to read one section – it’s Agent Relations.
Katarina Bivald is the author of The Readers in Broken Wheel recommends about a Swedish book nerd suddenly stranded in a small town in Iowa. It will be published in Sweden in September 2013. For more information, please contact Judith Toth on Bonnier Group Agency – Judith.toth@bonniergroupagency.se
Workman & The Book Doctors Pitchapalooza June 27 5:30
PITCH YOUR BOOK TO ONE OF AMERICA’S TOP PUBLISHERS
LIMITED TO 65 WRITERS
For the first time ever, The Book Doctors are hosting Pitchapalooza in the offices of a New York City publishing house. On June 27th, writers will be invited inside Workman, one of the country’s great independent book publishers to pitch their books to a judge who could green-light their book deals on the spot.
Pitchapalooza is an American Idol for books (only kinder and gentler) in which twenty writers are selected at random to pitch their book before a panel of judges. Each writer gets one minute—and only one minute! A panel of seasoned book industry professionals responds to the pitches with constructive advice that will actually help you improve your pitch (instead of just pointing out how bad it is). The judges critique everything from idea to style to potential in the marketplace and much, much more.
Authors come away with concrete advice, as well as a greater understanding of the ins and outs of the publishing industry. Many writers who’ve come through Pitchapalooza have made the transition from talented amateur to professionally published author—take Genn Albin, the Kansas City winner who got a three-book, high six-figure deal. Whether potential authors choose to pitch, or simply listen to trained professionals critique the presentations of fellow authors, Pitchapalooza is educational and entertaining for one and all.
At the end of Pitchapalooza, the judges will pick a winner. The winner receives an introduction to an editor at Workman who will review his or her manuscript or book proposal.
Practice those elevator pitches, because you might get to try yours out on the editor-in-chief of Workman Publishing!
Spots are limited, and an RSVP IS REQUIRED for admission. So click here now to sign up!
EVENT DETAILS
ADMISSION: FREE! Plus, anyone who purchases a copy of The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published at the event receives a FREE 20-minute consultation with The Book Doctors ($100 value). Click here to sign up!
WHEN: June 27, 5:30PM
WHERE: Workman Publishing, 225 Varick Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY.
GUEST JUDGES: Susan Bolotin, Acting Publisher, Workman; Elisabeth Scharlatt, Publisher, Algonquin Books;
ABOUT THE BOOK DOCTORS
Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry are co-founders of The Book Doctors, a company dedicated to helping authors get their books published. They are also the authors of The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published: How to Write It, Sell It, and Market It… Successfully! (Workman, 2010). Arielle Eckstut has spent 18 years as a literary agent at The Levine Greenberg Literary Agency. She is the author of eight books and the co-founder of the iconic brand LittleMissMatched. David Henry Sterry is the bestselling author of 13 books spanning a wide variety of genres including memoir, sports, middle grade fiction and reference. They have taught workshops on how to get published everywhere from Stanford University to Smith College, and have appeared in a variety of media outlets including The New York Times, NPR’s “Morning Edition,” and USA Today.
David Henry Sterry on Public Radio w/ Tips on Pitching
Me on Public Radio with tips on making a great pitch at Anderson’s bookshop http://bit.ly/WZe2gf
The Book Doctors on Public Radio @ Anderson’s Naperville
Thanks to Public Radio, , Rebecca Kruth, Becky Anderson, and all the great people at Anderson’s Bookshop. Here’s the piece!
Richard Nash on Small Presses & the future of publishing with The Book Doctors on HuffingtonPost
Richard Nash, publishing savant, on how to get love from independents and the future of the book business with The Book Doctors on Huffington Post
FridayWritingTips: Self Publishing Secrets They Don’t Want You to Know: The Mysterious ISBN
Those famous black lines, the compilation for numbers that make no sense, the coding that is on almost every book out there… This is the allusive, little understood but weirdly all-important ISBN.
The ISBN or International Standard Book Number started some thirty years ago as a way to create a computerized system for cataloging books. The number is not actually a code but literally just a number that has evolved from a 10 digit number to a 13 digit number. Although you don’t have one to print a book, it is nearly impossible to successfully publish and market without one. The number is the universal identity of the book and allows for instant recognition in bookstores, libraries, online sales platforms and databases.
When assembling your book, it’s important to obtain one for yourself. The U.S. ISBN Agency issues the numbers and purchasing one from them makes you the “publisher of record” as well as gives you all the rights to the number and your book.
(http://www.isbn.org/
Many self-publishing companies also are willing to give you a free (or cheap) ISBN if you choose to work with them. However, this makes them the “publisher of record” and does not allow you to your print book on your own. Or much worse, be published by anyone else. The “publisher of record” automatically retains the rights to your title. Although this may not seem like a problem if you plan on sticking with the company, it can cause trouble if you decide to leave…and you don’t want to ever be stuck. Look, if your book blows up and Harper Collins/Random House/Penguin come calling, waving a checkbook, you want to be the ““publisher of record”.
Another thing to keep in mind is that ISBNs do not carry with the title across format boundaries. Print and e-book versions of the same title each need their own ISBNs.
When it comes to self-publishing and help with things such as ISBNs or topography, the self publishing guru, Joel Friedlander, “The Book Designer”, can be a great resource for information. His blog http://www.thebookdesigner.
Happy writing! See you at the bookstore. The Book Doctors
David Henry Sterry on Dawn Smith: How to Get Published, Reading, Writing & Confessions of a Sex Maniac
Interview about how to get published, reading, writing, sex and life on Dawn Smith Books. Buy the printed version of my new novella Confessions of a Sex Maniac for $4.99 & get a free 20 minute consultation for your writing worth $100 from The Book Doctors. (with proof of purchase)
The Book Doctors & Pitchapalooza Reviewed on Randa’s Fans
sweet review of pitchapalooza from randa’s fans, by a total cynic skeptic