4 There are only four atrocities in the book industry:
We have all seen books get banned and burned. Usually, those two situations are outside our control. Sad but true. Refusing to print a book after buying the copyrights and take a book “out of print” on the other hand, are two situations completely within our control. Q: Why? A: They involve copyrights. Fundamentally, authors have two choices: 1) Sell their copyright Or 2) Keep their copyright Selling the copyright is usually hard. It is crucial to obtain the correct agent for interacting with a publishing house. Sometimes even with the right agent, it can take years to pursue different publishing houses. Some authors toss all their rejection letters and others keep massive printed piles until they become mountains – like climbing Mt. Everest. If writers are lucky, the rejection notice has advice written on it. The undeniable incentive for achieving a publisher is receiving a check. For new authors, these payments can be for paltry amounts – $50,000 - $100,000. For seasoned authors, they can score 2 million dollars and up. Visualize a whopping $2,000,000 check – for one book in your hands. And still, even the dreamy compensations can be chump change compared to what publishers actually rakes in over time. In the following example, the publisher was expecting to make 40 million dollars over 17 years. But that isn’t even the ugly truth. The ugly truth is that if they have any qualms about the final product, those same publishers will demand that you return all that money back - yep, all 2 million dollars. Can you believe that? If not, just ask my Experts Academy coach, Brendon Burchard. His original publisher, Simon Schuster, called him right after they received his final draft and wanted to know where their book was. Ouch! However, I do not make tangible books. Brendon had built a marvelous book in the American tradition of our Founding Fathers - a style called Rhetoric. He spent 2 years researching the style, discovering why the forefathers chose it, as well as learning to develop the rhetoric style in his own voice. As a result, I believe Brendon’s book, “The Motivation Manifesto,” is one of most beautiful books I have ever read. In fact, I spent the first chapter crying it was so exquisite. Q: Why? A: Well, in many ways it was like having the Declaration of Independence write you a love-letter and remind you why you got into the crazy world of motivating others in the first place. It was so personal and intimate, while I could literally hear Brendon’s voice saying all the words; the reality was more like having an intimate conversation with Thomas Jefferson. To see Brendon treated so horribly was yet another confirmation that while your book matters, my work helping you keep your copyright matters equally, if not more so. No author should go thru such a senseless experience in the modern age. Q: The publisher’s biggest complaint? A: Brendon had not stuck with the typical motivational style of sharing his story and other stories in order to give readers examples of how to implement his material. But why would he? It was a Manifesto! The Oxford Dictionary defines a Manifesto as: “a written statement of the beliefs, aims, and policies of an organization” or group in this case. Paulo Coelho said, No publisher in their right mind would expect an author to insert personal stories in a Manifesto. The mere idea is ludicrous at best, shortsighted at worse, and utterly ignorant somewhere in between. Unfortunately, Brendon had to deal with the sadness, embarrassment, and the financial heartbreak of seeing all his dreams go up in smoke with just one rejection letter. His nightmarish story with a frightened publisher is only one of countless heart-breaking stories I could tell you. To his credit? Brendon cried for less than four hours, then picked up the pieces and figured out what he would do next. To global audiences around the planet, he openly admits to giving himself a “pity-party” then nipping it in the bud and moving on. Most of us sit in awe of his courage and brave-hearted motivation. Brendon truly lives what he advocates and that is why so many of us respect him. When you have a moment, follow this link to learn more: Naturally, Simon Schuster's fear was nonsense and the book ended up on the NYTimes bestseller’s list for 32 WEEKS! Q: What does it take to be on the New York Times bestseller’s list? A: Retailers and authors must sell over 9,000 copies a week. This means that Brendon did well over 288,000 books for more than 2 and a half years. At $19.99, that means he brought in over $6 million. Of course, Brendon is not just an author. He is a motivational speaker who teaches the methods of motivating others all over the planet. He has also learned how to launch books from his friend Jeff Walker. So, he didn’t just throw a book out into the Universe and say, “I hope people find my book.” He did a jumpstart by getting pre-orders with his own email list. He is such a book launching guru he got 65,000 books pre-purchased in 10 days! In addition, the NYTimes Bestseller’s list was not the only list he was on. He also made it on USAToday’s and Amazon’s Bestseller’s list. What's more, the audio versions went viral on iTunes. Fundamentally, Simeon Schuster had no valid reason to be frightened. Brendon had gone out of his way to set them up for success! Q: Which publisher picked him up? A: HayHouse Publishing was gracious enough to pick him up before their founder Louise Hay passed away. However, realize that printing voraciously like that wasn’t easy. Not only did they have to print at an incredibly fast pace, but they had to repeatedly print and ship for almost 3 years. They are top rate performers and a true blessing – just like Louise was. Q: Why am I sharing Brendon Burchard’s story? A: Because the only difference between a nightmare happening or not is the state of your copyright. I do not want you to EVER have that experience. I understand Brendon’s rationale. He was building a classic piece of literature and wanted it to survive the Centuries. A book printed on acid-free paper will, in fact, survive several centuries if kept in a traditional library setting. Kept in a proper, atmosphere-controlled library, it could even survive thousands of years. Since he began with a classic style, his choice for a tangible printing made perfect sense. I still cringe that any author I know personally was treated so badly. Naturally, my recommendation is that you keep your copyright. Self-publishing eBooks and iBooks are wonderful alternative options to tangible books. Readers Love Electronic Books:
Authors Love Electronic Books:
If you want to learn more about Brendon Burchard, enjoy his free podcasts, articles, and academy events then follow this link: If you want to learn Jeff Walker’s method, then go to his website and learn how to launch a book properly every time!
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About the Blog: Why Your Book Matters WYBM is a Blog for self-publishing authors of all kinds. Many people immediately think that all authors write fiction. This is one of the greatest myths in the Book Industry! We work with teachers, business owners, politicians, charity founders and even hospital administrators.
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