NJ Creatives Network February 2004 Meeting

Members of New Jersey Creatives Share the Secrets of Their Publishing Success at February Meeting

by Donna Poler

Donna@DonnaPoler.com

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At February’s meeting, a crowd of members and newcomers descended to the lower level of the Bergen Museum of Art and Science to hear featured speakers Cos Ferrara, Sarah Macy, Eileen Watkins and Mary Zisk -- all NJ Creatives Network members -- share the secrets of their publishing success.

It was a night for some S.W.A.N. stars to shine as they shed light on the process of how to become published authors and illustrators. The “rule of thumb” for writer Cos Ferrara and illustrator Sarah Macy, along with their co-collaborator, writer Ed Wilczynski, is to share the “limelight,” cut through all the “red tape” and ascend to “cloud nine” after receiving a desk diary publishing deal.

Cos began the discussion, explaining how his idea for the whimsical desk diary, “Rule of Thumb,” was conceived. One night over dinner, he and a friend talked about the derivation of curious expressions like “rule of thumb,” limelight,” “cloud nine,” “lame duck” and “red tape.” Soon after, Cos decided he wanted to share these expressions with people in a format that was both fun and educational. At the time, he was also influenced by the best-selling book, The One-Minute Manager. Like the philosophy of that book, Cos believed that people would be willing to learn something new and enjoy it if they were able to do it quickly and easily. An expression a day might not “keep the doctor away,” but it could definitely provide some entertainment and education.

Finding the Right Illustrator

He had this great idea, but needed the right illustrator to bring it to life. At the time, he couldn’t find that key person so he “put the project on the back burner.” A number of years later, he decided to check the NJC website to see if any of the illustrators there might be right for the project. Sarah Macy’s style “knocked him out,”and after she submitted samples of her work, Cos was convinced she was perfect illustrator for the project. After completing four sample expressions and illustrations, they were ready to find their publisher.

Cos noted that publishers are particularly concerned with targeting the right market. “The marketing people have to believe your idea will sell,” he noted. Before hopeful writers contact publishers, Cos advises them to “outline who you think your target market audience is and let publishers know that you are the right fit for that audience.”

After sending their proposal out to a number of publishers, Cos got what he calls “an encouraging rejection letter” from Chronicle Books, whose editor said that the work was great editorially, but just not a good fit for them. “I felt encouraged by that letter and knew I was on the right track. We just had to find the right publisher.” Then Cos recalled a beautiful desk diary that his daughter had given him published by TideMark Press. He loved the quality of the product and decided to ask for TideMark’s submission guidelines. After Cos sent several samples, TideMark responded with an offer to publish the desk diary. “When we signed with Tidemark, we agreed to do the work and deliver it and they agreed to give us a percentage of the royalties, which we will split three ways,” Cos noted. He did not ask for an advance with this type of project.

TideMark has asked the team to create another desk diary for 2005 and plans to publish a book of the expressions used in the desk diaries. Cos would like to see a print run of 10,000 copies for the desk diary in 2005. On the smaller run for the 2004 desk diaries, he is not sure how well they have sold and won’t find out until May, when royalty checks will be rolling in for the talented trio.

Cos noted that he, Sarah and Ed own the idea for the desk diary. For protecting ideas, Cos talked about sending a copy of your idea to yourself via registered mail and not opening it. Artists can also register artwork with the Graphic Artists Guild.

Sarah’s job was not “a piece of cake,” as she showed the audience a number of illustrations she submitted for several of the expressions. One of them, “round robin,” has to do with the history of conspirators signing documents in a circle so no one would know who a ring leader was. Some of Sarah’s racier renditions were nixed by the more conservative Cos. But after several writer rejections, Sarah managed to sway them to her way of thinking on some of the illustrations. “She played us,” Cos jokes. “She did what we wanted, and then a month later, she did what she wanted.” Sarah admitted that she loves “loony” humor. “Our story is really about a great NJCN collaboration,” both Cos and Sarah affirmed.

An E-Publishing Star is Born

Writer Eileen Watkins said the title of her talk could be, “How I Used Electronic Publishing to Beat the System.” A former writer for the Star-Ledger with specialties in fine art and architecture, Eileen spent much of her free time over the years writing novels that were a mixture of supernatural thriller, gothic horror and romance. She can recall the strong desire to write books even as a child, when she folded paper into book form and began writing her stories. At the end of high school, she won first place for a short story she entered in a college-wide competition. In her senior year, she wrote her first novel, a spoof on the supernatural soap opera, “Dark Shadows.” And after graduation, she wrote her first serious novel.

Eileen recounted how she wrote or rewrote a novel just about every two years. Whenever she tried to get an agent or publisher, she got the usual round of rejection letters. Like Cos, she got some “positive” rejections from publishers who liked her writing style, but her type of novel was not what they were looking for. One of the drawbacks, she believes, is that her novels never fit neatly into any single genre.

Her breakthrough came when a woman named Josephine Piraneo, who wrote vampire romances, came to speak at her Garden State Horror Writers organization. Josephine explained all about e-publishers, who did not worry about genres. It was content and style that mattered to them. With renewed enthusiasm, Eileen e-mailed her novel to an e-publisher, but never heard back from them. Discouraged, she shared her disappointment with Josephine, who told her that many of the people were leaving that company to form another company that would be publishing both e-books and paperback books. She also mentioned that two of the top publishers of this new company had already read and liked Eileen’s manuscript. “Call them and let them know they can publish your book,” Josephine advised.

That new company, Amber Quill Press, published Eileen’s first novel, Dance with the Dragon, in April 2003. Her second novel, Ride a Dancing Horse, also to be published by Amber Quill, is due out in April of 2004. Recently they agreed to publish Eileen’s third novel, Black Flowers, a suspense novel with a science fiction twist. Explains Eileen, “It's about a woman who suspects her husband's genetic engineering firm is up to no good, and sets out to investigate.”

Readers can order her novel either as e-books or as print-on-demand paperbacks. She noted that the majority of buyers have requested her novel in paperback. Dance with the Dragon, a dark supernatural novel about vampires and the daughter of a United States Senator, who is kidnapped into a dangerous cult, was given high praise by Dark Realms Magazine: “Lovers of classic vampire literature will appreciate the subtlety and finesse with which this tale unravels. (Bram) Stoker himself would be proud!”

Like Cos, Sarah and Ed, Eileen received no advance for her book. She explained that in traditional publishing, a writer could typically expect to receive an advance of $2,000 to $5000 and four to six percent in royalties or 10 percent for hard cover publications. With her e-books, Eileen will earn 30 to 35 percent on royalties and gets some free books and a discount of 40 percent on all her own purchases of her book. She noted that traditional publishers will not do much marketing for writers unless they are already famous, and will only pay for some expenses, not for all of them.

In an effort to boost sales, Eileen sent out press releases to local media and created her own publicity tour, traveling to different regional conferences and local book stores to market her novel. Her best marketing success occurred during the Halloween weekend when she sold 14 books.

The biggest problem about e-publishing, she relates, is people believe publishers are just vanity presses that will publish anyone’s book for a fee. “That’s not the case with most e-publishers,” she maintained. Although she may have smaller sales because her book is not in the chain stores, which require a guarantee that 50 books will be sold before they will accept an author’s book, her publisher has fewer financial risks and can take more chances on new authors. An e- book costs about $5.50 and a paperback $14.95. At the end of the year, Eileen will have the right to either renew or withdraw her book. She never has to worry about her books going out of print. “My books will stay available for as long as I want them to,” she noted. Currently her book is also available on line at both Borders and Barnes and Noble as well as on the Amber Quill website. She also has her own fiction website, which features Eileen, looking dark and mysterious in a long black dress on her homepage (www.efwatkins.com).

“I strongly recommend e-publishing,” Eileen said. “There are maybe eight real publishing houses out there and just a few people deciding what people should read.” She noted that K-Pax, a book that was made into a movie, was rejected 48 times before being published and listed other books like The Celestine Prophecy and Jonathan Livingston Seagull that were rejected many times before becoming best sellers. “Look for the e-publisher that doesn’t charge anything,” she advised.

Children’s Book Writer/Illustrator Finds Inspiration in Own Life

Writer and illustrator Mary Zisk was last in the lineup, advising not to follow her recipe for publishing success: first adopt a little girl from Russia and then lose your job.

Mary, a double threat as both writer and illustrator, had success in what is traditionally a very difficult market to crack – children’s books. She found inspiration in her own unconventional life.

“Being a single, adoptive mother, I saw a need for a children’s book on that subject. Most of the children’s books on adoption featured two parents. I was able to get published by finding a void and filling it,” she maintains. Her book, The Best Single Mom in the World: How I Was Adopted, was published by Albert Whitman and Company in 2001.

Five years after adopting her daughter, she put together a dummy, mostly in black and white, and also submitted two original drawings. Her first rejection by Henry Holt was followed shortly after by a positive response from Albert Whitman and Company, a publisher specializing in children’s subjects. One of the editors there, whose sister-in-law worked in an adoption agency, liked the idea and wanted Mary to rewrite her first draft. After submitting a second draft, Mary still didn’t have a contract. On her third try, after including more dialogue at their request, they offered her a contract.

Although writing and illustrating a children’s book might look simple and easy, Mary noted that the process involved extensive revisions. Everything she wrote and drew, from the name of the book to the hairstyle of the child pictured in the book, was viewed and reviewed by several editors. Holding up a draft she had submitted with countless colored paper tags dangling from its pages, she explained that the papers represented edits and rewrites that she had to make.

Mary received an advance, and once she sold 2,700 books, her advance was covered. The print run was for 6,000 copies. On royalties, Mary collects 10 percent because she is both writer and illustrator. She has also created some artwork objects related to her illustrations in the book through www.cafepress.com/bestsinglemom, which prints products on demand and takes a percentage of the fee. The process, from creation to publication, took her about 18 months, with six of those months spent on drawing illustrations. But she related, “The book was percolating within me for about five years.” Her daughter, now 12, calls it “our book.” Mary has another book in mind, but, she jokes, “To do another book, I need to lose a job again.”

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