My pal Rick Frishman, publisher of Morgan James Publishers also

Rick Frishman

Rick Frishman

produces the Author 101 University which was held this past weekend in Las Vegas. Here are notes:

·      Traditional publishing model is antiquated. New models are taking hold that serve the author and reader much better.
·      “You don’t make money with a book. You make money from the book,” Rick Frishman. IOW: The book helps you raise and justify your fee. Also look to create additional products, learning courses, videos, membership groups, etc.
·      Alex Carroll sold $1,526,000 in direct-to-listener book sales from 1,264 radio shows. He created a system for getting on radio shows. Info at www.radiopublicity.com.
·      Perfect Pitch formula: Fill in the template: “How — trick you into — and how to stop them dead in their tracks.” Example: How insurance companies trick you into signing away your rights and how to stop them dead in their tracks. More pitches for free at www.radiopublicity.com.
·      If you provide a list of 10 questions for a radio host, your chances of getting booked are much greater. They don’t have time to create questions.
·      Scott Hoffman, founding partner, Folio Literary Management:
·      Traditional NY publishers are conservative and scared because 7 of 10 books fail, 2 in 10 break even, 1 breaks out.
·      Traditional publishers need to be convinced you can sell 10,000 copies or they won’t be interested.
·      Traditional publishing is a slow process. A book that a publisher buys today won’t be printed until 2015.
·      Self publishing is the way to go for speed freaks, control freaks, narrowly focused topics, and people who need to make sure the book design fits into their brand, people who are going to have higher back of room sales than trade sales.
·      Advantages of traditional publishers, bookstore distribution, publicity, foreign sales.
·      Agents can get you more than 15 percent than you could on your own.
·      Agents can coach you through the process of making your book better.
·      Morgan James gets 5,000 manuscripts a year, publishes 130-140. Yes, they want a platform but they give extra points for enthusiasm. “90 percent of whether we take you or not is whether we fall in love with you. I have great writers and editors who can make it better,” Rick said.

One other great thing I noticed: Literary agents came to this event and were available to listen to pitches. They can open doors and make deals happen. They also can provide invaluable ways to improve a book – either by coaching or farming the work to a seasoned pro depending on the circumstances.

Author 101 University is a very worthwhile event. Lots of great content. Lots of great networking!

The next one will be in March in Los Angeles (not Las Vegas). Stay tuned for info.