Dennis Lowery

The impact of small/flexible indie publishers and self-publishing

By Dennis Lowery

What would a Random House/Penguin merger mean for science fiction and fantasy?

Consolidation in the publishing industry is something I (and many others) have expected. I agree with the following quote from this article but, in reality, big/mainstream publishing has to do something to consolidate and lower operating costs/absorb overhead burden and find some economy of scale. It remains to be seen if merging actually helps them stabilize (there's too many variables and the impact of small/flexible indie publishers--like Adducent--and self-publishing will continue to roil the 'water' the big guys swim in).

"... it's not a great time for traditional publishers to become even more monolithic and unwelcoming."

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The "Great" Idea...

By Dennis Lowery

I wholeheartedly agree with the statement above.

I'm a writer and ghostwriter and get at least two people a week that contact me to say, “I have a book idea that's sure to be a bestseller.”  And some act like that mere fact is akin to 'hitting the mother lode.'  I usually answer them with, “Great! You should start writing it.”

They often respond, “I don’t have time for that…” And I understand about time constraints... sometimes there is just not enough time in each day for everything you want to do (but you can manage your time to take care of the things you need to do or that are important).

I also hear, “I’m creative and just have these great ideas.” Implying that someone else can just “do the writing” as if the value is their idea and the writing (good writing) is mere unimportant mechanics… you know…. “Writing is the easy part… coming up with ideas is hard.” Riiiiight.

I say to them, “If it’s really important to you and you think it’s that valuable you’ll make enough time for it or do the best you can with the amount of time you have to spend on it.” And if they say, “I'm not a writer; I don't know where to start.” Or, “I can't afford to pay a professional to help me.” I give them some guidance on how to overcome feeling they can't write and how to get started on their own and make progress. (Not everyone is a great writer but even non-writers can learn and if they work at it, they'd be surprised at what they are capable of. Even a very rough draft and writing notes can help lower the cost for having a professional help them to polish and finish their story for them.)

Sometimes they want to press their point with me and some have copped an attitude… they seem to want me (or some other writer) to tell them, “I’d love to spend dozens or hundreds of hours of my life writing that for you. What an opportunity you’re so graciously presenting me.” And if they want to retain me to write it for them... they balk at the price and expect I'll be willing to work for less because of their 'idea' or 'story.' I don't mean to come across as harsh to them but that won’t happen (from me) because I understand where the true value is and most importantly, what my value is. They need to understand that, too.

Good ideas and story concepts abound. Experienced writers with talent always have more than enough ideas to explore and develop into stories. (I have many and come up with more on a regular basis.) So having a great idea or concept for a book doesn’t mean a whole lot. Being able to write it – and then actually getting it finished and published – does.

Those who have a skewed perspective about their story idea(s) need to understand having an idea is not the value-added part of the equation.

The actual writing is.

Getting it written is.

Being excited at your great idea is fine but when it’s turned into something real… something tangible… into good writing that someone will actually read and appreciate… that’s when it becomes of value. Understand that premise... about getting work done and you’ll get farther along in much of your life. So much further than just talking about it.

So if you have a great idea for a story… get started writing.

I encourage you to take your idea's destiny in your hands and make it happen.

When you’re finished and you've done a wonderful job of telling your story, then it’s time to celebrate that you took an idea and made it something great.

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Excerpt from "The Forbidden Journals"...

"What should the book you write be like?"

Some “truths” about publishing a (your) book...

By Dennis Lowery

A true picture of "self-publishing". Using the Gutenberg press.

I read an excellent article, from David Carnoy, on self-publishing that actually states clearly several things that are true about publishing in its entirety (whether self-publishing, the publishing-assistance or conventional publishing business models). I’m going to bullet point these for you and snip and add a piece of David’s observations that I absolutely agree with:

• A truth about conventional/old-style mainstream publishing: “Worse yet, the traditional book-publishing business has fallen on hard times, with layoffs and news that vaunted old publishers such as Houghton Mifflin have literally put the freeze on acquisitions.”
• A truth about the merits of self-publishing: “The basic premise is anyone can become a small publisher. And you take home a bigger royalty than you'd normally get from a traditional publisher--if you sell any books.”
• A truth about self-publishing companies:“What I found was a veritable minefield with roads that forked in every direction and very few clear answers.”
• A truth about using, Print-On-Demand, POD (either yourself or through a small publisher/publishing assistance company with POD capability): “The key to these companies is that books are printed only when someone orders a copy; neither author nor publisher is forced into buying a bunch of books and having to hawk them.”
• A truth about the publishing landscape (opportunity) for new fiction writers: “In short, it's ugly out there, particularly for new fiction writers.”

In the article David has fifteen points he makes about self-publishing and POD (and about publishing companies big and small). I’ve listed the top ten below and my own thoughts about them. To read what David has to see about each of them, please read his full article.

 On his top ten:

1)      Self-publishing is easy. I agree. It is if you put in the time to learn how and are willing to take care of all the things you need to do to self-publish. If all you want to do is write (or have written) and want someone else to take care of the other things—that can be done but there is a cost associated with that. I self-published and know all about it. And that’s what led to the creation of my own publishing/publishing assistance operations.

2)      Digital, not print is your best bet. I disagree. Yes-publishing just digitally is the easiest method but you can and should do both. You get a broader sales appeal and credibility for having published a “real” book (that’s part of what helps drive sales broadly).

3)      POD quality is good. It’s actually better than good now. With only rare exceptions I find it hard to tell POD apart from mainstream/off-set print production… and I know what to look for. And I disagree with him – you can get color matte covers now for trade paperbacks and glossy hardback dust-jackets and they look fantastic. Over the past two and a half years I’ve published 32 titles (in hardback and/or paperback) and had many people tell me they “love” the way their books look and feel in their hands.

4)      Everybody’s doing it. Many authors and writers, both bestselling/name-brand and unknowns, are doing it – some are combining both approaches though (self-publish and more traditional publishing). I believe that all writers/authors should explore self-publishing themselves or work with a publisher/publishing assistance whose business model is based on something other than the legacy/old-style publishing model. It’s about giving the creator (author) more control and profitability for their work.

5)      Good self-published books are far and few between. I agree. But this will change as more quality authors and writers begin to take control of their publishing destiny (and in some cases profitability of their work).

6)      The odds are against you. I agree. Most self-published books or books from unknown authors sell only 100 or so copies, when they are released. For long-term and much higher sales you must have quality writing coupled with a dedicated, consistently engaged promotional and marketing plan and effort for a book to have a chance at commercial success. If you do and especially if you continue to write more to build your author brand… you can carve out success that will be financially rewarding.

7)      Creating a “professional” book is really hard. I agree. It is very hard, is cost and time intensive and takes procedural iterations for the publisher or self-publisher to fully refine a book to make it the best it can be. That is true for the writing of the book, too.

8)      Have a clear goal for your book. I agree. Too many people have vague goals/objectives or have developed some serious misconceptions that give them a distorted sense of expectation for their book. If a book is pushed into the market based on some artificial “need” or flawed logic then it will not perform well and may require “re-booting” or re-launching once a clear and concise plan and expectation is established.

9)      Even if it’s great, there’s a good chance your book won’t sell. I agree and this is an absolute truth that most people (who are first time writers/authors and just don’t know any better) fail to comprehend.

10)   Niche books tend to do best. I agree—especially with fiction. With a niche you have the ability to carve out space (if your book is good and you have the promo and marketing push to get visibility for your book in the genre/niche).

One note that David adds after #10 is most important for people to understand about writing and publishing books:

“If it's any consolation, the majority of fiction books -- even ones from "real" publishers -- struggle in the marketplace. That's why traditional publishers stick with tried-and-true authors with loyal followings.”

--David Carnoy

He has another five points to offer that might be interesting to you as well so please check out his article.

All of the above being said; I believe that writing well, creating a good product (a good book) and working to get it visible in the market is worthwhile on both a personal and, in many cases, a financial level. It depends on understanding more fully what publishing does for you and your story and managing your expectations as you work at helping people discover your book. I write every day -- I work on book projects (my own and clients) every day. As someone who has been in business for himself for two decades and started/bought and owned different companies in different industries--I can't imagine a more rewarding profession than being a writer and author... and in my case, a publisher as well.

 

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"What should the book you write be like?"

True, long-term and meaningful, success is like...

True, long-term and meaningful, success is like this picture.

Book publicist, Paul Krupin, who I'm working with on one of our nonfiction books sent me this picture. 

I also liken true success to how bamboo grows -- a lot of work done that doesn't have a visible result for some time and then the growth hits -- or as Malcolm Gladwell puts in his book of the same name, "The Tipping Point" is reached.

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"Biting the hand that feeds"

I call this "biting the hand that feeds":

Publishers “blindsided” by 25 per cent increase in Indigo co-op fees

Excerpt from the article:

A representative from one publishing house, who asked not to be named in this piece, describes the new Indigo reality this way: “The orders are way down, the returns are up, and we have to pay more for the privilege of having very few copies in the tiny book space they have left.”

Read the complete article

THOUGHTS | on the kitchen wall

From Dennis Lowery

I believe that businesses reflect their owners to a large degree. After all the philosophy and direction of the business is shaped by what’s in the owner’s heads and hearts. And that philosophy is not always segregated between ‘business’ and ‘personal‘ beliefs.

On my home’s kitchen wall is something my daughters have memorized — and is very important to understand about life and people. I could type it here. You’d read it, and if it resonated with you, and you really inculcated its meaning… and applied it in principle. Then you would be much improved in ways beyond telling. But no need to type it out. Here’s the picture–and it’s worth far more than a thousand words. (My hope is that all that read it comprehend the truth of it.)

 

A lot going on...

 From Dennis Lowery

There's been a lot going on for the past several months--books written--books published--new projects and even some developments internationally for my writing and publishing projects.

These things have taken all of my focus causing me to not write for this blog as much since most updates and posts are now centered on my company website Adducent. I invite you to visit that site and learn more about what I'm up to:

News & Reviews

 New Fiction Series

Serpentauria: Ark of Extinction

Mirabella and the Pearl of Chulothe

Nonfiction books - Fortis

Fiction books - Escrire

Business/Career Education - Booknology

Children's Books - ONEWorld

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Excerpts from "Serpentauria: Ark of Extinction"

"What should the book you write be like?"

Working Hard versus Working Smart | A Cautionary Tale

From Dennis Lowery

I heard a story once. It went like this:

Once upon a time there was this quaint little village.  It was a great place to live except for one problem.  The village had no water unless it rained.  To solve this problem once and for all, the village elders decided to put out to bid the contract to have water delivered to the village on daily basis.  Two people volunteered to take on the task and the elders awarded the contract to both of them.  They felt a little competition would keep prices low and insure a back up supply of water.

             The first of the two people who won the contract, Ed, immediately ran out, bought two galvanized steel buckets and began running back and forth along the trail to the lake which was a mile away.  He immediately began making money as he labored morning to dusk hauling water from the lake with his two buckets.  He would empty them into the large concrete holding tank the village had built.  Each morning he had to get up before the rest of the village awoke to make sure there was enough water for the village when it wanted it.  It was hard work, but he was very happy to be making money and for having one of the two exclusive contracts for this business.

             The second winning contractor, Bill, disappeared for a while.  He was not seen for months, which made Ed very happy since he had no competition.  Ed was making all the money.

             Instead of buying two buckets to compete with Ed, Bill had written a business plan, created a corporation, found investors and the right people to team with, built his management infrastructure and returned six months later with his team and a construction crew.  Within a year his team had built a large volume stainless steel pipeline which connected the village to the lake.

             At the grand opening celebration, Bill announced that his water was cleaner than Ed’s water.  Bill knew that there had been complaints about dirt in Ed’s water.  Bill also announced that he could supply the village with water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Ed could only deliver water on the weekdays … he did not work on weekends.  Then Bill announced that he would charge 75% less than Ed did for this higher quality and more reliable source of water.  The village cheered and ran immediately for the faucet at the end of Bill’s pipeline.

             In order to compete, Ed immediately lowered his rates by 75% bought two more buckets, added covers to his buckets and began hauling four buckets each trip.  In order to provide better service, he hired his two children to give him a hand for the night shift and on weekends.  When they went off to college, he said to them, “Hurry back because some day this business will belong to you.”

             For some reason, after college, his two children never returned to the business.  Eventually Ed had employee problems, they wanted higher wages and more benefits for what seemed like less work.

             Bill, on the other hand, realized that if this village needed water then other villages must need water too.  He rewrote his business plan and went off to sell his high speed, high volume, low cost, and clean water delivery system to villages throughout the world.  He only makes a penny per bucket of water delivered, but he delivers billions of buckets of water every day.  Regardless if he works or not, billions of people consume billions of buckets of water and all that money pours into his bank account.  Bill had developed a pipeline to deliver money to himself as well as water to the villages.

             Bill lived happily ever after and Ed worked hard for the rest of his life and had financial problems forever after.

The End.

 

The questions all professionals and business owners must ask themselves:

 “Am I building a pipeline or hauling buckets?”

 “Am I working hard or working smart?”

Adducent (my publishing company) News & Developments

From Dennis Lowery:

The new site for my publishing company is now live at www.Adducent.co (that's right, it's not a .com). 

In the coming week or so we'll announce more details about our teaming agreement with ArkWatch Holdings LLC, which includes publishing (print & ebook) for their current and future projects and their backlist of children's titles (we'll create a new children's imprint for that). We will work with them to develop interest in movie rights for some of our titles and other books in development.

Failure is an option and can be learned from

By Dennis Lowery

There’s a lot of emphasis on trying to accelerate the path to success by spending a ton of time studying the methods of those have succeeded before us in the hope that we’ll be able to avoid many of the mistakes they made. And, there is a certain logic to that.

But, what it doesn’t take into account is the fact that the thing that led them to be able to do what they do is that they, themselves, messed up, over and over and over, and it was that repeated intimate relationship with the mistakes that led to a deep enough understanding of “why” it needed to be done differently that led to their success.

From Make More Bad Stuff by Jonathan Fields via www.jonathanfields.com

I loved this--mostly because I know from personal experience how what Jonathan Fields says is true. You learn the most by being willing to fail.

The thing is that most people look at the unknown or something new--especially something creative and fear rejection--the fear failure. They worry that what turns out won't be what they hope for. So they put it off, they wait for the right time--or worse yet they never do it. They never give it a shot. And that's tragic.

Hemingway said "first drafts are crap"... I've written and ghostwritten several books and helped clients publish another two dozen--and I can tell you for certain. First drafts are awful. But they are a beginning and without a beginning you will surely never get to the end.

All in life is a process of refinement and adjustment.

My personal philosophy is that you have to be willing to fail and to deal with it if that is the outcome and keep moving forward in order to achieve the things you dream of.

“Green Thinking”... is the right thinking...

Not only a writer, I am also a publisher.

Our business model as a publisher focuses on the use of print on demand (POD) technology. This offers significant environmental advantages over traditional offset manufacturing, which is the primary method of most traditional publishers.

Technology is at the point where POD offers comparable quality and economic production costs as an attractive alternative to offset manufacturing.

With offset manufacturing books often go unsold and are destroyed, usually after being shipped and handled multiple times. This is tremendously inefficient and environmentally irresponsible. Wasted paper, wasted energy, greenhouse emissions, pulping, and landfill overflows can result. The environmental advantages of utilizing POD technology allow books to be printed to fill an existing demand. POD lessens the possibility of returns, reduces supply chain waste, greenhouse emissions, and conserves valuable natural resources.

Any business that uses forestry derived materials in their business operations or as a product should follow environmentally responsible forestry practices. For which, our production facility for book manufacturing received these certifications:

• Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC®) 
• Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI®) 
• Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification™ (PEFC™) 

That facility has also received Chain of Custody (CoC) certification from:

• The Forest Stewardship Council™ (FSC®)
• Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification™ (PEFC™)
• The Sustainable Forestry Initiative® (SFI®).

Chain of Custody (CoC) is an accounting system that tracks wood fiber through the different stages of production: from the forest, to the mill, to the paper, to the printer and ultimately to the finished book. For publishers, and ultimately consumers, CoC ensures the integrity of the paper supply chain and that the paper used in our printed books are from responsibly managed forests.

If you are a writer with plans to publish, when you work with a publisher, please ask them about what environmentally responsible book manufacturing practices they comply with.

It’s important.

"A mere thread… or a thick rope…"

By Dennis Lowery

A new client (a very successful global business executive and owner of several companies) emailed me and included the following comment:

Thanks also for your shared experience in Hawaii.  It sounds like your business, like mine, takes on its greatest meaning in the form of relationships with new and old friends.

What he said made me think, and I’ve never articulated it before but responded to him with this:

As I get older, I’ve realized that it’s the relationships you develop that add depth to your life (and to business). I know a lot of people that have lives that span a continuum of contacts and transactional one-and-done events or experiences… and that’s part of everyone’s life. But I can’t imagine having a life that is completely like that… a long thin line. A mere thread. I know people that have that kind of life and I guess it works for them. Me, I’d rather have a thick rope that can bear weight.

I think many people (at least I know I do) get the most enjoyment and value out of things that are more than one layer deep. It could be the richness of a color (like you could dip your finger in it), the texture of a fine wood and look and feel of its grain, the savor of the food or drink, the subtleties and nuances of a well-written book, well-scripted/written movie or TV show, the joy of an intelligent discussion/conversation.

It’s the same for me when it comes to the quality of interaction with another person and clients and I very much appreciate the quality of the person I work with and hope to know and work with them for a long time to come.

I hope that we all appreciate the special moment(s), appreciate the person... appreciate the truly valuable things we have and experience in life.

Failure... It's often what leads to success

By Dennis Lowery

As most will attest... life is not easy. It's full of peaks and valleys, good and bad, people that give up or give in... and those who keep moving forward over and around any obstacles no matter what setbacks are encountered.

To succeed sometimes you have to break things down, tear them down, beat them down so you can rebuild something better--something that is right for you. As Kipling put it, "...stoop and build... with worn-out tools...".

Or as J.K. Rowling so aptly puts in the following (and watch the video for her full speech on the subject):

“…why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life."

- J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.

 

 

A Story to tell... Author Donna McAleer

By Dennis Lowery

When you have a story to tell—perhaps your own or maybe it’s a fiction piece—you look for places to tell that story. If you’re a writer of course the first place is in a book. That’s a given. But even writers use and need other means to let more people know about their story (and indirectly their book). That is how an author helps drive sales of their book. And the means to do that, are many and available through radio and TV both offline and especially today online via the Internet.

One of my clients is author Donna McAleer and she had a story that needed to be written. It needed to be told. And she made that happen. Donna is a 1987 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, a former Army officer and business executive and an advocate for the importance of military service and veteran's rights. Along with writing, she is an active speaker and recently was a guest at TalkRadioOne, where she talked about women in military service and what military service can mean to an individual and to our country. You can listen to that interview by clicking here.

When Donna talks, she resonates with her love of country, her respect for fellow veterans and her belief in service. And as you listen, you sense the toughness in her. A good tough. The finest kind of tough.

As a father of four daughters, I am particularly pleased and proud to know Donna. I share with them what Donna is doing, how she takes charge of her life and makes things happen. I tell my daughters about Donna’s way of carrying and presenting herself and how the women she profiled in her first book epitomize the traits, character, discipline, determination and “toughness” that I want them to have.  I feel that is the best “gift” that a parent can give their children. 

If you are moved by stories of service, sacrifice and honor then you’ll find her book Porcelain On Steel | Women of West Point’s Long Gray Line the type that is hard to put down. Every daughter and son—America’s youth, and their parents in search of stories of inspiration and setting an azimuth for the future should read this book.

Additionally you will enjoy Donna's Honored Role profiles.

You can find links to articles Donna has written or that are about her, along with book reviews and other interviews at: http://www.porcelainonsteel.com/publicity. 

The Line... "free coffee & donuts"

By Dennis Lowery

There is a line. But sorry. There is no free coffee. No free donuts. That was then. This is now.

I’ve told friends and family for two years now that many of the jobs lost in this current recession are not going to come back. Companies that are sitting on a lot of cash are not going to rush to hire once they’ve discovered they can do more with fewer people and once an economic catastrophe has forced them to re-think, re-engineer and reconfigure operations into a more efficient, or different, business model.

The underacknowledged truth is that many of the jobs that were lost over the past three years are gone forever. Americans who held them will not be rehired to do the same jobs, no matter how much the economy grows.

… More and more U.S. companies can grow without hiring workers, at least American workers. Don't assume that economic growth will generate employment growth.

From “Many jobs are gone forever: What now?” CNN Opinion by Jason Thomas

It is hard to compete when there are sources (whether foreign or domestic) that produce (services or products) for less because their cost of doing business is less. Face up to the reality of that. Artificial subsidies for specific industries are a band-aid and a lame one at that. Make our industrial base and the employees within them stronger by training (or re-training) them to become more capable or more innovative. We need to create and retain a foothold in industries (whether new or reconfigured from old) that apply current technology in new or better ways. Or with new technologies that result from increased Research & Development efforts.

We need to re-think the whole nature and system by which we try to help people when they lose their jobs. As Jason Thomas puts it in his excellent article, that I mention above,

“…unemployment insurance was designed for people who are temporarily out of work and need a financial bridge to the next job. It does not work well for a worker whose job is obsolete.”

It will be even harder to compete when the future workforce will be less educated and capable as the preceding workforce generation. This is a fact. America continues to slip in education, this means a less capable, and intelligent workforce in the future—and the future is now! There are things we can do to change this and organizations like StudentsFirst.org, that believe in doing them. (I am a supporter of StudentsFirst.) We all should work towards replacing our broken education system with one that works.

For those of us no longer a student that doesn’t mean the “learning” is over. I have a personal saying that I absolutely believe in, “the more you learn… the more you can earn”. Notice I said, “Can earn” … It’s not an automatic that a college degree will lead to a happy and financially secure life. I know highly educated people that don’t have a pot to piss in or have struggled greatly over their life and especially the last two years and will probably continue to struggle. Those that are in that situation need to be willing to take a hard look—at themself for the root cause.

But success is not about what you know. It’s about how you apply what you know. I’m an autodidact, a polymath, if you will and know this to be true. Education is crucial and knowledge can empower you... but you have to use it to get things done and to make something of and for yourself.

And if what you know isn’t working for you or can’t be applied as it could in the past—then you need to come up with an actionable plan to make a change.

Throughout life, I believe we need to be willing to refine… and in some cases… redefine ourselves so that we as individuals can compete in the job market; so that our knowledge and experience can be applied in new ways, so that our businesses are competitive and viable in all market conditions.

Not everyone can pull that off.

Some people are lazy.

Some want to point the blame for their situation at everyone and everything but themselves.

Some have just plain old bad luck.

Some have responsibilities that are so heavy… they feel they can never lift them again.

But…

Some people get up one more time than they’re knocked down. I’ve been dropped like a rock at different times in my life (literally and figuratively) but I always got back up. And I always will. That’s what successful people do.

Some carry the load. No matter how heavy they come up with a way to bend their knees... get their shoulder under it. And lift.

Some don’t sit on the pity pot. They get moving and make things happen. It’s hard to do but the alternative is too bitter to contemplate.

Be willing to re-make yourself if you have to.

The truth is that we live tomorrow based on the decisions we make today.

Decide that you don’t need free coffee.

You don’t need free donuts.

You just need you... (that's right, you…).

And to get back up every time you get knocked down.

Only a "few" left...

By Dennis Lowery

Recently I had a question about Amazon asked of me. “Do they order copies of all the books they sell to have them on-hand and in inventory when a customer orders the book.” 

My answers to that explained some things that most people don’t know and you may find my answers enlightening as well:

With the exception of best-sellers and books by popular authors that are marketed/promoted aggressively by major publishers (which means they will probably sell well) an online retailer such as Amazon is not likely to order a title to hold in inventory or stock. And holding a title in inventory, with its associated carrying cost and expense has become less necessary for retailers like Amazon. In the future, it may go away completely.

The reason being is the technological capability to cost-effectively print high-quality books on demand in individual order quantity and with 24-hour turnaround (order to shipment). As an example: through my publishing capabilities, my book production facility and agreement with Ingram (my distributor and one of the largest in the world)—and Ingram’s agreement with book retailers such as Amazon—is that they can print and ship a copy of our titles within 24 hours when they are ordered. And the majority of the time they are actually shipping the order directly to Amazon’s (the retailers) customer so Amazon never touches the book.

So when Amazon or B&N online show the book “In Stock” … technically it is not physically on-hand but can be produced and shipped so quickly that they can safely say it is in stock. And that type of turnaround enables a retailer to not have to invest capital in carrying inventory. The retailer does not have an upfront expense and in fact is paid before they have to pay for the book instead of the other way around.

2009 was the first year that more books were sold online than were sold in physical storefront locations such as bookstores, etc. And this will become increasingly lopsided in favor of online sales. By all industry accounts, Amazon has 65-75% of the market for online book sales. With that advantage, they have complete control of their fulfillment. And the numbers they generate make it very cost-effective to get the type of turnaround I mention above—to receive an order for a book that has not been printed yet, print it and ship to the customer in 24 hours. That’s powerful.

 So if you view a title at Amazon and it says something like this:

Only 1 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

It's a bit disingenuous.

Chances are they may not, in fact, have the book physically on-hand. They say this to prompt people to make a buying decision. It’s called “artificial scarcity” to make the consumer think, “I need to order now, so I don’t have to wait for new copies to come in.” … Or “I better grab it now before it’s gone.”

By how they word things, they build a sense of urgency in the consumer.

Buy Now!

The Moral of the Hot Dog Man

By Dennis Lowery

The following appeared in the February 24, 1958, issue of Newsweek in an ad.

It speaks for itself:

A Man lived by the side of the road ... and sold hot dogs.

He had no radio.

He had trouble with his eyes, so he had no newspaper.

But he sold good hot dogs.

He put up a sign on the highway, telling how good they were.

He stood by the side of the road and cried, “Buy a hot dog, mister,” and people bought.

He increased his meat and bun orders, and he bought a bigger store to take care of his trade.

He got his son home from college to help him. Then something happened.

His son said: “Father, haven’t you been listening to the radio? There’s a big depression on. The international situation is terrible, and the domestic situation is even worse.”

Whereupon his father thought, “Well, my son has been to college. He listens to the radio and reads the papers, so he ought to know.”

So, the father cut down his bun order, took down his advertising sign, and no longer bothered to stand on the highway to sell hot dogs.

His hot dog sales fell almost overnight.

"You were right, son,” the father said to the boy. “We are certainly in the middle of a great depression."

Moral of the story:

If you focus on the quality of your work and let people know about it so they can discover what you do and how well you do it—you will find customers and clients and can build a business. This is true for any type of business or profession… tinker, tailor… plumber, painter... or writer. Be good at what you do and work steadily at honing your craft. If you do you can carve out space for yourself.

It’s when you doubt yourself… that you lose.

Client, Harvey Horn's - The Story of a World War II Prisoner Of War

By Dennis Lowery

This is a unique book; a quick read accompanied with pictures and documentation that gives the reader a first person perspective on a life-changing event for a young American airman in 1945 near the end of World War II.

I'm very proud to have helped Harvey get this story down for posterity, for his family and several veterans organizations:

 Goldfish Silver Boot | The Story of a World War II Prisoner Of War

By Harvey S. Horn

 Now Available at Amazon

Paperback: 108 pages
Publisher: Fortis Publishing
ISBN-10: 0984551190
ISBN-13: 978-0984551194
Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 0.2 inches

My story is about 36 days that changed my life. It is the story of a Jewish boy from Brooklyn who dreamt of flying and enlisted in the Army Air Corps to fight for his country. It is about survival. It is about walking, riding in trolleys, carts, and trains to go from Fiume, Italy to Nuremberg, Germany. It is about war. It is about the resiliency of the human being and the ability of the body to adapt to conditions beyond one's control. It is the story that all POWs keep replaying over and over and over and over. Could I have done more? Could I have done better? Did I perform as trained? Each day was a harrowing experience. I was the navigator in John Lincoln's Crew 11-30. We were attached to the 772nd Bomber Squadron, 463rd Bomber Group, 15th Air Force based in Foggia, Italy. On March 20, 1945, we were assigned to Flying Fortress B-17G "Pretty Baby's Boys." Our mission was to bomb the marshalling yards south of Vienna at Amstettin, Austria. We were hit by flak over Zagreb, Jugoslavia, and had to ditch into Quarnaro Bay off Fiume, Italy (now Rijeka, Croatia). We became prisoners of war of the German Navy.

Being captured by the Germans is not the best of times; being Jewish and being captured by the Germans is the worst of times.

 - Flight Officer Harvey S. Horn, 15th Air Force, 463rd Bomber Group, 772nd Bomber Squadron.

If you know of anyone interested in "slice of life" personal history pieces of World War II, this is a book to recommend to them. It takes a week or so for Amazon's system to integrate the book data so at first you might not find it by title or author so please use the following link to go directly to the book's page:

http://www.amazon.com/GoldfishSilver-Boot-Story-World-Prisoner/dp/0984551190

 

Building an Author Platform from Scratch

By Dennis Lowery

This is an excellent article on how writers/authors can build their platform (the basis from which to market/promote their books).

Read how author and self-publisher, Isobella Jade, created hers.

• Publishers want to work with authors who have an existing audience.

via publishingperspectives.com

 

New Fiction Title - "Worst Nightmare" | The Al Andalus Operation

Combining actual events with a fictional plot, this suspense-filled thriller unfolds as a global chess game, with exciting moves and countermoves. The hijacking of an oil supertanker off the coast of Indonesia in the strategic Strait of Malacca opens the tale, which darkens as the clever sale of the oil and a dramatic ransom for the vessel, creates an unsurpassed cash windfall for al Qaeda. But for them this is not just about the money—it’s about what can be done with that money! 

via fortis-publishing.com

By Dennis Lowery

I just finished with a new client, a new fiction title with Fortis Publishing.

Available in December at Amazon and Barnes & Noble 

Seeking to attack America with a nuclear device, the terrorists plot to recruit a disgruntled Pakistani nuclear scientist to their cause. The lure? Piles of money and a gorgeous woman. What does he have access to that they want? Alerted belatedly to these events and unsure of the details of their intent, a counterterrorist center in London made up of CIA and MI6 experts, with the help of Dutch intelligence, attempts to discover the terrorist's purpose and thwart it.

From North Waziristan near the Pakistani-Afghan border, through the ultramodern financial center of Dubai and the enticing bars of Vienna, the action continues relentlessly unabated to the Caribbean. In hot pursuit of the, CIA and MI6 agents follow their trail, but are one-step behind. Will they stop them in time? This debut novel concludes with a dramatic climax that will stun most readers’ imagination.

Behind enemy lives... a unique perspective on the Vietnam war

Behind enemy lives...

For many Americans who fought in the Vietnam War, the enemy was a faceless symbol of Communist aggression — and a target.

via www2.dailyprogress.com

By Dennis Lowery

This article (link above) is on an interview with one of my clients (and good friend) James G. Zumwalt and one of his upcoming events for his book "Bare Feet ~ Iron Will | Stories from the Other Side of Vietnam's Battlefields".

So You Want To Be A CEO

 

via fortis-publishing.com

So You Want To Be A CEO...The Path from Middle Management to the Top Job

By Dennis Lowery

I've been in business for many years and have encountered all kinds of business people since entering the business world when I got out of the Navy in July of 1982. The author of this book, Tom Faught, epitomizes the ethical executive. I've met Tom personally and had many phone conversations with thim. My wife would tell you that I am kind of a prickly bastard and that I don't like a lot of people (which is true). But I like Tom--more importantly I respect him.

In his book he gives some of the best advice I have seen in over 25 years of reading all types of business books--dozens if not hundreds of them to educate myself to become a better business person and how to create more opportunities for me and my family. 

I wish I had read this book 25 years ago, 20 years ago, 10 years ago, 5 years ago --- there is so much in it worth learning even for an experienced business person. If you're just entering the business world--it contains priceless information and guidance on how to build an ethical career that has staying power and rewards you on many levels.

You can find Tom's book at Amazon.

I'm a writer & ghost writer and often get asked about rates...

By Dennis Lowery

I'm a writer and ghost writer and often am asked by people who want to become a writer or need help to write a book, "what do you charge to help someone write a book?".

For those of you interested in becoming a ghost writer or have that question--"what do ghost writers charge?"--this article gives you a good idea of rates in the marketplace.

Ghostwriting rates (without royalty or credit): $70 an hour, with a per project low of $5000, high of $100,000, and average of $36,000. The per word costs are 50 cents low, $3 high, and average $1.65.

via deardrfreelance.com 

Freelance ghostwriting rate