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The Publishing Process – what it is and what it takes

February 22, 2009 by Patricia Brooks

 

 

 

The purpose of this proposal is to share the benefits of self-publishing with you and to give you answers to questions about why self-publishing is the vehicle for your publishing needs and your manuscript. 

 

This proposal will show you how we will work together to develop your manuscript to a finished product, just the way you envisioned it, and take it through the marketing stage if that is also your desire. 

 

This proposal will show you how we will provide you all the possible services you need with one-stop service, and how we will stay with you until you are ready to go it alone.

 

Patricia L. Brooks, MAOM

Earl L. Goldmann

BROOKS GOLDMANN PUBLISHING, LLC

[email protected]

480-250-5556 cell    

www.brooksgoldmannpublishing.com

 

INTRODUCTION TO OUR SERVICES what we will do for you!

 

BROOKS GOLDMANN PUBLISHING COMPANY, LLC

The author’s answer to guidance and consultation in a self-publishing “partnership”……

Consultation, Coaching, Idea generation, Production, Publishing, Sales and Marketing expertise at your disposal in a win/win relationship……

Answers at various levels and related fees to meet your needs on your timeline……

 

LEVEL ONE CONSULTATION

Being there for you!

 

THE FOLLOWING INTRODUCTORY CONSULTATION SERVICES CAN BE AVAILABLE to you with guidance by

Patricia L. Brooks, president/founder

Earl L. Goldmann, manager/partner:

        I.            Consultation – to guide you in making the best possible decisions necessary to take your completed manuscript to fruition by taking you through the self-publishing process in a clear and concise manner

      II.            Management  – to assist you with what you have in an idea, research and writings by helping you put it all into an outline that will become your book by helping you to conceptualize the theme and purpose of the book

    III.            Coaching – to mentor you in structuring your thoughts and passion into a saleable manuscript ready for a “peer” review and editing while giving you insight into what needs to happen to make it unique and different

    IV.            Idea Generation – to brainstorm with you for more and better ideas for your marketing plan and publicity campaign that are the critical 60% of your future success as an author

      V.            Ghost Writing – to offer a partnership to your writing and to put your thoughts on paper by bringing your work to the forefront of your dreams and an opportunity to be a force in your genre

 

LEVEL TWO flaunting your style!

 

THE FOLLOWING PRODUCTION SERVICES CAN BE PROVIDED to you by our many vendors in a “bundled” package offering to prepare your manuscript:

A.      Photography – enhance your book with a professional in the book photography industry

B.      Art Design – develop your book cover as the “point-of-purchase” with a professional who will design it with your ideas and their vision to attract the public and send the right message

C.      Graphic Design – augment your book so the size and type style of the letters praise your work set the tone of voice

D.     Editing – cultivate a “must read” book with a professional editor that has improved the voice, structure, flow and story line to your liking

E.      Proofreading – mature the book with proper grammar and punctuation

F.       Peer Review – a look at the book with “fresh eyes” and an open heart

 

LEVEL THREE Taking care of details!

 

THE FOLLOWING PRINTING RELATED SERVICES CAN BE PROVIDED to you through the publishing entity of the company for the completion of your manuscript:

1)      Typesetting – proper formatting, spell check and minor corrections

2)      Conversion to PDF format to be sent to printing source

3)      Copywriting – submission of necessary paperwork

4)      ISBN Numbers – submission of necessary paperwork

5)      Barcode – submission of necessary paperwork

6)      Printing – research on best prices and highest quality

7)      Distribution – research and suggestions

 

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

To be considered now: 

v  What size, in dimensions, are the manuscript and the anticipated book? 

v  Is it to be hard cover or soft cover or both; will it be an e-book later? 

v  How many estimated pages now and in the final book? 

v  What paper type will be used, cream, white, acid based, 50#, 60#? 

v  What additional inside graphics, illustrations, charts, photos are required?

v  What type of cover design, photos, artwork, and colors will be used?

 

 

LEVEL FOUR helping to let you shine!

 

THE FOLLOWING MULTI-LAYERED MARKETING SERVICES CAN BE PROVIDED to you through our marketing/PR division:

a.      Successful Value Selling – research and guidance to take advantage of opportunities on websites, newsletters, blogs, E-magazines, catalogs and special promotions to create need

b.      ‘Marketing Plans Made Magical’ – consultation and guidance to develop and write a 12 month/10 part plan of magic to differentiate your book and platform’s branding

c.       Publicity Campaign – consultation and guidance to develop and write a 3-6-9 or 12 month campaign for the growth of your platform and maintenance of your image

d.      Press Kits – consultation on the necessities of a packet that will get attention with the media outlets and help you to be successful in your efforts to obtain critical exposure

e.      Positioning Consultation – overview of how to approach your marketplace, target your market, find your niche and set your goals to “hook” your audience in your genre

 

Please consider accepting this proposal of our company and services.  Please review it entirely and then ask yourself the following SEVEN questions.  If you answer yes to all or most of them, we should proceed to build a working relationship.

 

We look forward to hearing from you and to discussing the possibilities of a partnership to “launch your book out” into the marketplace.

 

Regards,

 

Patricia L. Brooks, MAOM

Earl L. Goldmann

480-250-5556 cell

 

 [email protected]  

www.brooksgoldmannpublishing.com

 

 

 

PUBLISHING “PARTNERSHIP” questions to ask at this time:

·         Do you want to be in “partnership” with the publishing process?

·         Do you want to learn the publishing process?

·         Do you want to go through the process of book publishing quickly?

·         Do you want to have control over your intellectual property?

·         Are you able to look at your book and you as a business?

·         Are you willing to commit to the marketing efforts needed to launch your book and promote yourself?

·         Are you willing to learn more about marketing and PR?

 

Filed Under: AZ BOOK PUBLISHERS ASSOC, Blogroll, brooks goldmann publishing, PUBLISHING PICKS Tagged With: Add new tag, book launch, Book marketing, book shepherd, brooks goldmann publishing company, Copywrite, editing, Graphic Design for Books, ISBN, LLC, Marketing Plans Made Magical, Patricia L. Brooks, Press Kits, printing, proofreading, Publicity Campaigns, publishing consultation, publishing partners, Value Selling of your Book, Warehousing

HONORING the 10 Steps to SELF-PUBLISHING

December 1, 2008 by Patricia Brooks

Good Morning!

This week my author, Michael Lyding, Gratitude a Verb, will be featured here as we talk about the self-publishing process. The process is the 10 Steps we are going through to take his book to fruition and get him on time to the spiritual retreat he is attending in California in January!  He will be using his book at the retreat and with future speaking engagements.

STEP ONE:  Write the manuscript with fierce abandon and revise it over and over again. In the case of the author mentioned, he tags on to his book entitled Grateful not Smug.  If you are writing from a new starting point, you just jump in and get it all out.  Do not go back and look at anything the first year – yes year! You keep writing – yes, write ’till you drop.  Now you are ready to revise and revise and revise.  This is critical because that is not the proofreader’s job and certainly not the editor’s job.  The peer reviewer is not going to want to do that either, but will do some parts of it if that is what you ask of the reviewer.

STEP TWO:  Allow a peer review to bounce your ideas and information off a trusted professional friend before venturing to the editing stage.  I have done several this year and believe a work should be given out for peer review after several revisions.  I did one this year at the first writing stage and it took me 23 hours to review it when it should have taken about 10 hours!  Yes, I did it on a flat fee that was promised and learned something valuable.  The peer review is to be done after several edits to give it a chance to be of greatest value to all involved.  The author Mike noted above writes on a topic I am interested in so I am a great choice for peer review as well. 

STEP THREE: Say yes to editing and/or proofreading as it is paramount to your success and should never, I mean never be skipped or taken lightly.  This is the heart of the finished product, this is what will make your writing work for you and your readers.  This is the area that will be your professionalism shining through loud and clear.  You absolutely cannot afford to avoid this and think that you or your Aunt Madge can do this for you. 

According to my friend and special proofreader/editor, DJ Burroughs, the proof is making sure the sentences make a visual for the author and the words are correct, and correctly spelled, and that the punctuation works.  The editing is all of the above plus knowing the sentences and paragraphs are clear and the reader is getting what the writer wants and intended.  DJ is always asking himself when reviewing a work if he has questions, if he is confused over paragraphs, is there continuity.  The edit takes two times as long as the proofread.

STEP FOUR:  Value your cover design because it is the smile on the book, the sparkle in the book’s eyes and the mystery in that smile.  It is everything and the critical step.  According to our designer Heather Kirk it must be seen quickly by the author and the audience in a sea of book covers or it will not be successful.  No amount of quality and compelling writing will jump through a book without an outstanding cover that excites the reader.  Your cover’s unique appearance should not let the reader put it back on the shelf.  The back cover must be ready too to keep that reader holding on to the book with excitement and wonder.  Yes, this is a big job, but it is the dressing, the frosting and surely the sparkle with a hint of mint!.

STEP FIVE:  Honor the book design and graphics on the interior for they are paramount to the overall readability of the book.  According to Heather Kirk, who did our interior too, the cover is the gloves and the interior is the shoes that match the purse that make the complete outfit stunning.  You can do a little or you can do much in this area, but whatever you do it should match the book, the title and the personality of the author.  These parts carry the reader to the next chapter; sometimes without their knowing it.

STEP SIX:  Seek out an illustrator who is the flower or the lace, the life and the heart for the book. Some books need an illustrator and in the case of our current work, Heather our designer used several in the separation of quotes from the verbiage.  The illustrator may need to do more if it is a children’s book and heavy with characters, animals and scenes or a self-help book that has a lot of expression to go along with main points.  This is a valuable tool to “say in pictures” what you are trying to say in words that needs another level.

STEP SEVEN:  Respect the compliance required to meet the market standards.  Getting your book to market has a business side too and you need to be aware that every book has an ID, an ISBN number and a bar code so yours is a one-of-a-kind book in the marketplace and easily dealt with in bookstores and libraries.  This is handled by the publishing group and is critical at the early stages.  You should also investigate the copyright of the book and the Library of Congress, but these are not absolutely needed.  The copyright is automatic at an immediate level, but copyright is recommended by me.

STEP EIGHT:  Cherish the printing of the manuscript and all its beautiful parts for it is the glitz before the ball.  Selecting a printer who will work with you at a fair price for a quality product, honor commitments and be communicative and respectful of your work is what you need at the last turn.  Customer Care is crucial to your success at the end.  I look for a company I can depend on to take us to the ball on time.

For this project, and others, I selected again Color House Graphics.  They are located in Michigan and have proven to me in the past that they can do the job.  At this time, we have electronically sent all files and have forwarded hard copy of the manuscript, an instruction letter and 50% payment to the printer – we are on our way home!  We anticipate a turn-around of 3-4 weeks even with the holiday week.

STEP NINE:  Jump on the distribution bandwagon of Internet and on ground opportunities.  Today more than ever before, distribution is endless.  The possibilities would take pages, but let me say here that the Internet is becoming the Queen of distribution!  Yes, I am still proposing bookstores and inventory in warehouse, and distributing outlets, and book fairs and speaking engagements.  Always having books in your car is essential, but having Internet sales off your own website and a blog and links to other sites is a must.  It is the business card of the ’60’s, it is the pager of the ’70’s, it is the cell phone of the 80’s, it is the website of the ’90’s – OK you get it!  Yes, I was 12 when I had my first business!

STEP TEN:  Make Marketing Magical and work for you.  Marketing is about 40% of your costs and it is about 80% of your energy and what you will do at all times once you launch your book.  If you have never been a lover of marketing you need to start reading everything you can on the subject.  I can supply many more things to consider and books to read.  Ask me for a copy of my marketing plan to market you and your book.  Yes, you are a product too in this new book business.  You are now in the marketplace and need to be asking yourself a lot of compelling questions. 

Marketing is the wheel and you do not need to reinvent the wheel.  You just need to repair it and oil it and keep it running well so you can participate in the fast paced book industry race.  Marketing is creativity and fun and all of us can tap in to ours with the help of a marketing consultant. 

More blogs to come.  Ask me anything about marketing and I am sure I can answer it or find an answer for you.  Having read a 100 plus marketing books, taught it at the university level for 15 years and consulted in it for about 20 years – especially to small businesses – I am your girl for answers.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of you launching a book in 2009 like my author Mike Lyding.  I wish you all the best of luck and am available for any and all questions.  This is an exciting time for all of us.  Remember, the artists are starving not the authors.  Reading is an inexpensive way to entertain, books are a low priced item for a gift, a gift that keeps on giving.  I love to “re-gift” books.  A book gift is one that is cherished for a long time.  Economic hard times for books and authors  – bah humbug!

 

 

Filed Under: AZ BOOK PUBLISHERS ASSOC, Blogroll, brooks goldmann publishing, PUBLISHING PICKS Tagged With: Add new tag, authors, AZ BOOK PUBLISHERS ASSOC, book cover design, books, Brooks/Goldmann, editing, heather kirk, michael j lyding, peer reviews, proofreading, publishers, publishing, self-publishing distribution, self-publishing marketing, self-publishing tips, write, writers, writing and publishing

WRITING – critique others and gain in critique

November 3, 2008 by Patricia Brooks

Good Morning! 

One of the most important parts of writing is the revision before the editing. When you put in place your writing plan you must include a time to be critiqued by your peers and to give that time to them. We will discuss that critical area here.

My group, the Scottsdale Society of Women Writers, is active in doing critiques outside of our regular meetings. That session has to be a core group of 6-8 or 10 that commit to this challenge which then becomes an opportunity.

My group, the SSWW, meets for critique about every other month for two hours.  The format is different from our regular monthly speaker meetings because the entire focus is the critiques.  All those attending must participate in some capacity and for all to feel welcomed and supported.  We meet at the same place as our regular dinner meeting so there is very little change except the format.  Everyone who is reading brings copies of 2-3 pages for all attending. 

The rules of the game of critique for our group are noted below.  We pride ourselves on being fair and honest in our dealings, yet constructive and helpful.  We are handling the feedback in the Plus/Delta format with the Plus first and the Delta – the Greek sign for change – next.  We have had much success with this format and plan to continue with it.  The group varies each time we meet, but some of the same ones come to every meeting.

The purpose of critique is to help and support your peers, learn from them, listen to their voice, experience other writers, get ideas on writing, stay in the “loop” of writing by the networking and conversation that takes place and to be a part of a vital aspect of the writing community.  Enjoy the handout and best to you as you venture forth on your critique journey. 

 

CRITIQUE GUIDELINES FOR THE SCOTTSDALE SOCIETY OF WOMEN WRITERS

 

The purpose of a critique is to offer constructive criticism to improve our writing.  Please comment on what is good and most effective about the piece (PLUS) and what will improve it (DELTA).  Be tactful and kind.  Do not discourage writing style or content.

 

RULES for a Critique Group:

v  The leader (Patricia) will enforce the rules and keep order

v  The names of speakers/readers WERE drawn ahead of time for their presentation

v  The one being critiqued reads her piece uninterrupted

v  All in attendance, including critique people, listen in respectful silence

v  Critiques are orderly, in turn from names drawn in advance

v  All others to critique wait in silence for their turn

v  All critiques are timed – two to three minutes maximum

v  No comments on the speaker and no discussion at this time

v  No comments from the speaker during any of the critiques

v  Leader asks for comments from speaker after all critiques are done

v  Leader asks for further comments from the attendees at the end

v  Amended copies are returned to the speaker at the end

v  Next speaker/reader is presented with the same format

 

ITEMS to be considered:

v  Do not critique the contents, only the writing

v  Are the characters made real?

v  Is the story believable?

v  Are the five senses utilized?

v  Do the characters and action move the story?

v  Is the dialogue realistic? 

v  Are the descriptions specific?

v  Are conjunctions or pronouns overused? (he, she, it, that, and, so, then, the)

v  Are there grammatical errors? 

v  Are words repeated too often?

v  Are there stacked adjectives? 

v  Are there clichés?

v  Does the title suit the piece?

v  Are there misspelled words?

v  Does the writer tell instead of show?

v  Is there a conflict, a protagonist?

 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION!  PATRICIA, facilitator – 480-250-5556

 

Filed Under: Blogroll, SCOTTSDALE SOCIETY OF WOMEN WRITERS, WRITING TIPS FOR YOU Tagged With: Add new tag, authors, critique, critiques, edit, editing, peer reviews, proofreading, SCOTTSDALE SOCIETY OF WOMEN WRITERS, write, writers, writing

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About Us

BROOKS GOLDMANN PUBLISHING COMPANY, LLC the author’s partner The author’s answer to guidance and consultation in an independent publishing partnership…… Consultation, Production, Publishing expertise at your disposal in a win/win relationship to meet your needs on your timeline…… BASIC CONSULTATION Being there for you! THE FOLLOWING INTRODUCTORY CONSULTATION SERVICES CAN BE AVAILABLE to … Read more

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Scottsdale, AZ 85251

480-250-5556

Contact:
Patricia L. Brooks, MAOM
Earl L. Goldmann

info [at] brooksgoldmannpublishing [dot] com

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