The Business Side

Ok, authors, I admit it — the editor/author relationship is a weird one. I mean, there is something inherently . . . intimate about working together closely on a book, especially when it’s a novel or a memoir. In a way, it seems natural for us to be pals. Maybe we even have some things in common! I mean, we both sure like words. But there’s a thin but absolutely necessary line between professional and personal. And the thing is, editors and their authors should pretty much NEVER be Real Friends.

More tough love from Unsolicited at Gawker.

Not everyone thinks NaNoWriMo is a cute, fun idea for writers. Writer Beware makes the good point that the new, aspiring writers who make it through the month are great targets for scammers. Read more here.

I tend to be leery of articles that have the phrases “work fast” “pay off big” and have an exclamation point in them, but then again, David Geer wrote this article and I know that he’s a responsible, successful freelancer. So you should never judge an article by its headline. If you have a hard time building up your network, print out this article by him at Writers Weekly, put it on your bulletin board and make sure that you’re accomplishing at least one of his points once a day.

Thanks to a tip from my buddy and colleague Annie Logue, this week’s celebrity financial profile at Bankrate.com is Janet Evanovich, romance author and the creator of several book series like the Stephanie Plum series, the Full series and the Metro Series.

Bankrate: What is the secret to selling books?
Evanovich: You really sell books by word of mouth, more than any other product. You can put lots of product out in the stores and it will stay there and you can slowly build with advertising and lots of other stuff, but when you sell a book, you really sell by word of mouth because you’re only putting that product out essentially once a year, then it’s an old product. So you have to have people talking about it and moving it around. I think it took me six books to get enough people reading me and enough books out there that when the word of mouth started happening, it actually meant something. And that’s still working for us. For two years now, I’ve held No. 1 on The New York Times for three weeks.

Read more about Evanovich’s experiences as an author and investor here.

Good, straightforward advice from Patrice-Anne Rutledge (excerpted from her book The Web-Savvy Writer: Book Promotion with a High-Tech Twist. (Writers Weekly)

Reader Susan Kirkland chimed in with her thoughts on writing on spec based on this previous post:

Whether it’s writing or designing, creative product on spec is always a losing proposition because the process exposes ideas, unprotected ideas, to unethical eyes that may be watching during the process. It’s just a refined version of dangling a carrot in front of a horse. Though my interest is design, every aspect of the No-Spec movement is applicable to writers as well.
And there’s a huge no-spec website.

I’d never heard of a no-spec movement! I hope those working on the website are getting paid.*
*This was a joke that needed to be made, not a reflection of any thoughts against the no-spec movement.

There are several sites out that that gladly ‘out’ the scammy publishers and agents that do less than spectacular work yet don’t mind taking money hand over fist from unsuspecting authors. Angela Hoy at Writers Weekly takes pity on these poor folk–the scammers, not the writers–and gives them advice on what to do when they’re caught being crappy.

Obviously, a good agent is one that makes you money and gets you published and one that you don’t find to be the pinnacle of evil. But is there more to it than that? Are there many intangibles about the basis for a good author/agent relationship, or is it all business? I posted the question on AskMetafilter, and here are some of the responses to my question of what authors love about their agents:

As someone who’s fired two of them, I would appreciate absolute honesty from them. Don’t blow smoke up my butt, tell me that I’m going to be the next big thing, and then not be able to deliver the appropriate (or any) contract. Be honest, be kind, be supportive, be realistic, but most of all, be honest.

Read more

Oh, it’s never too early to worry about taxes! It’s always April 14 as far as freelancers are concerned. Jessica Ramirez at About Freelance Writing chats with tax specialist Julian Block:

If a person decides to file as a business, should they incorporate?
For most people, it’s unnecessary to incorporate. If you’re the type of business where there’s a question of personal liability then by incorporating you shield your personal assets from lawsuits. That’s the generally rule. From a tax standpoint, it’s not going to do much [to incorporate].

More fun time here.

You never know what you can get just by asking. If you receive a contract, don’t assumg you’re supposed to shut up and not question it. Miss Snark doles out advice to a writer who has questions about his representation contract but is too afraid to ask.