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What YOU Can Do To Sell Your Book

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Dire Days For Publishers - What You Can Do To Sell Your Book

By Wendy Keller

What can YOU do to sell your book anyway?

Publishing industry pundits and publications proclaim dark days dawning. As American economics teeter, even giant Barnes and Noble recently predicted a terrible holiday buying season. While we all hope our new president will wave a magic wand and restore our economic faith, the realities of the publishing industry right now, today, demand that savvy authors, agents and publishers take action.

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Simple Steps To Surviving A Slumping Economy

  • Most books are called "B-list" books. This means the author doesn't have his or her own national tv show, is not a celebrity and is not best friends with Larry King AND Oprah. Chances are, if you're reading this, your proposed book is a "B-list" book. Alert: Now is NOT the time to sell your book! Petrified publishers are paying paltry advances. Agents are hoarding, much like the squirrels in your front yard.


  • Not selling now is GREAT news for nonfiction authors! This means that rather than nail-biting, now's the time to do the two crucial things that will do more to increase the size of advance you eventually get than anything else.


  • Grow your platform - write articles for the local paper, start a blog, grow a newsletter, improve yourself as a professional speaker, get syndicated, do SOMETHING that will make you look appealing to a publisher when the money starts flowing again (which I predict will be late January).


  • EDIT! I know your manuscript was likely chaneled by the Archangel Gabriel or Michael. Those guys send me literally dozens of queries every year (along with Princess Diana, Gandhi, Mother Teresa and Elvis - I only wish I was kidding!) However, even archangels need to edit. If it's been more than 2 weeks since you're read your book manuscript (fiction writers) or your proposal (nonfiction writers), snuggle up with a comfy blanket and a red pen some night soon. Viciously strike out anything that is murky, anything illogical, that isn't lyrical, that could said more succinctly, more poetically or more clearly.


  • In December, do it again. And in January, start querying agents with your new, improved project - you'll find a whole different reception awaiting you.


For more information on How To Sell A Book To A Publisher, visit http://www.KellerMedia.com.

To read more articles like this, sign up for literary agent Wendy Keller's free e-Newsletter.

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  • acopson Feb 1, 2009 @ 10:39 am | delete
    I reated you 5 stars for the very useful info, also you are our featured lensmaster and featured lens for this month in the group Online Earning, so congratulations.
  • daria369 Jan 15, 2009 @ 4:42 pm | delete
    Thank you for joining my Squidoo group!

    "Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful."
    -- Buddha
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wendykeller

Hello. I'm Wendy Keller. In 1989, as a writer myself and award-winning journalist, I decided to create a literary agency that would be based on candor,... more »

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