This excerpt is from 2009 INDIE Finalist, Success, Your Path to a Successful Book, by Maralyn D. Hill and Brenda C. Hill.

We have found a good book on traditional publishing, What Writers Need to Know About Publishing, by Jerry D. Simmons. We mentioned Jerry earlier in this workbook as he understands the publishing world. Since publishing is changing so rapidly, research the internet for current statistics and information.

In a seminar we attended, Jerry pointed out that with traditional publishers, it is the sell through that matters. You have to be able to have at least a 60% sell through or the publisher is not interested. In other words, a publisher ships 1,000 books to a bookstore. If more than 400 are returned, they don’t want you. If for one author, they shipped 10,000 books and 5,000 were sold and 5,000 returned, the second author who had the shipment of 1,000 with 600 units sold is more valuable to the publisher.Jerry pointed out that of the 1500 new titles a year, 150 of the titles generate 90% of the revenue. As the demand goes down in bookstores, the prices go up on books.

If you do want to go the traditional publishing route, we would suggest attending one or two publishing conferences or join an organization of publishers. We gained a wealth of knowledge from attending a two-day program put on by the Arizona Book Publishing Association (AZBookPub), http://www.azbookpub.com. We are sure these organizations of publishers are available in most states.

Maralyn D. Hill, President
International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association
Books By Hills Success Log Global Log

Finalist in the Writing and Publishing category of the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards,
“$uccess, Your Path to a Successful Book,”