POSSIBLY INTERESTING COLLECTION OF MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION ABOUT THIS BLOG SITE (Reading is completely optional.)

Apologia to Miss Snark
First let me say right up front, I kifed this idea from Miss Snark, the literary agent. Her blog is very informational and funny. It also contains the occasional swear word and/or idea which offends my delicate sensibilities. For those reasons, I am uncomfortable whole-heartedly recommending her to LDS authors. However, there is a wealth of good information on that blog that applies to publishing in general and I think most readers should be able to glean the good and overlook the rough parts. (I realize that mentioning her here is a backhanded recommendation. If you choose to read her blog, don’t say you weren’t warned in advance about the language.)

Like Miss Snark’s blog structure, most of my postings will be in the form of answers to e-mailed questions from you (see e-mail address in my profile). Some will be in response to incorrect submissions and other author mistakes which I encounter in my day job (see reference to foot shooting below). Others will be a response to issues raised on the dozens of writers blogs, websites, and forums where I silently lurk in the cybershadows.

LDS vs MAINSTREAM
You may have noticed that I’ve stressed LDS authors and publishing. You may be wondering if there is really a difference between publishing in the LDS market and in the mainstream market. The answer is yes and no.

Basically, it’s the same, but there are things unique to the LDS market. Authors submit straight to the publisher and don’t usually go through an agent. There are regional issues and unique requirements for getting product to the consumer.

Another difference is the comparably large number of self-published books that do reasonably well in the LDS market. It is nearly unheard of for self-publishers to make it in the big leagues, but it is not as uncommon for an LDS author to self-publish and, if they find a good distributor, sell an impressive number of books. Since this is the case, and since several LDS publishers (including me) also distribute for small publishing houses and/or self-publishers, I will also address issues unique to the self-publisher.

Short Credentials
I am a small but growing LDS publisher.

Over the past 27 years, I have experienced nearly every aspect of the publishing industry: published author, book doctor, ghost-writer, editor, graphic designer, typesetter, printer, author relations, marketing, advertising, manuscript acquisition, bookkeeper, slush pile reader and janitor. (For more details, see ‘Long Credentials.’ They’re at the bottom because they are both boastful and boring; two habits I’m trying to break.)

James Frey Clause
Every comment in this blog is based on my real-life experience. The principles and events described are absolutely true. The people mentioned are real. However, I have changed the particulars to protect the privacy of those I use as examples of what not to do.

Long Credentials
I list these credentials so you will know that I know what I'm talking about. I didn't just read a book about publishing and decide I should share the knowledge. I've worked in the trenches and I have the battle scars to prove it. That doesn’t mean I know everything about this industry, but I do know a good deal and I’m willing to share everything I know with anyone who’s interested.

I believe I was born loving words. I learned to read very early. I read fast; I read a lot; I read a wide variety of genres. It is not unusual for me to read 80 to 100 books a year (my record was 113), unrelated to those I read for my job. As a child, my favorite place was the library. I am, plain and simple, a book nerd. With that fact well established, here is a short list of experiences to which my love of words and books has led me:

Published Author: 7 books and too many articles to count in a variety of genres and mediums, including book reviewer for a community newspaper.

Editor/Book Doctor/Ghost Writer (who can say where one job stops and another begins): Children’s and YA fiction, adult fiction, adult non-fiction, self-help, magazines, software user manuals, educational text books, newsletters, contracts, ad copy.

Graphic design, layout, typesetting and all other areas of pre-press work: Creating from start to finish magazines, newsletters, full-length books complete with covers, and a bunch of other stuff.

Printer: Getting files ready for press, pre-flight, listening to pressmen swear.

Author relations: Liason between authors and editors, lots of hand-holding and phone calling and e-mailing.

Marketing/Advertising: Creating ad campaigns, setting up book signings, all the other stuff that influences the bookstore to put the book on their shelves and the reader to take if off said shelves.

Manuscript acquisition/Slush pile reader: Ahh, the ecstasy of finding good stuff; the agony of writing those dreadful rejection letters. (I hate writing them almost as much as you hate reading them.)

Janitor: Somebody has to clean the bathrooms and empty the trashcans.

Miscellany: Library assistant, document shredder, publisher/editor/writer of an ‘underground’ newspaper in high school, warehouse worker...