Authors Access » Nonfiction

Mark Long – Getting Published by a University Press

Victor Volkman — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 01:19:40 +0000

On August 4th, Irene Watson and Tyler R. Tichelaar spoke with university press publisher Mark Long. He has a BA from the University of Texas at Austin and an MA from the University of North Texas, both in English. In 2004, after teaching for ten years, he oversaw the formation of TSTC Publishing, the publishing arm of the Texas State Technical College System. Mark Long shared his wisdom about:

Manuscript/project acquisition (what we look for in proposals): market analysis, author credentials, ease of marketing/sales efforts
The textbook sales cycle: summer (research), fall (pre-sell), spring (adoption season)
Printing considerations: offset vs. POD
Marketing/Sales: how we publicize and sell books: facebook, blogs, email newsletters, trade shows, direct mail pieces, inside sales/cold calling
How authors make money: royalties vs. work-for-hire agreements (plus, as well, what publishers pay for vs. authors
Future of college (textbook) publishing: ebooks, enhanced ebooks, and apps

Mark Long / TSTC Publishing

With a list comprised of academic and technical textbooks, technical career guides, and technology forecasts, TSTC Publishing’s mission is to provide low-cost yet high-quality materials to institutions of higher education and private industry.

TSTC Publishing offers faculty throughout the USA the opportunity to initiate and participate in a variety of textbook development projects. Of course, in the 21st century a textbook is no longer ‘just’ a textbook, so TSTC Publishing projects now include such ancillary products as instructor guides, student workbooks, CD-ROMs, DVDs, e-books, and companion Web sites. In addition to offering editorial help and guidance to faculty, assistance is also available in the areas of materials production, distribution, and sales.

TSTC Publishing is based in Waco, TX

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Jonathan Maxwell – Arranging Public Appearances

Victor Volkman — Fri, 07 May 2010 16:14:08 +0000

On May 6th 2010, Tyler R. Tichelaar and Victor R. Volkman spoke with successful nonfiction author and speaker Jonathan Maxwell. He is the author of Murderous Intellectuals: German Elites and the Nazi SS (2009). Jonathan has tirelessly promoted his books at bookstores, libraries, museums, colleges, and K-12 schools. Today, he shared his wisdom about

The Importance of Making Public Appearances (sales, marketing, buzz)
Alternatives to Public Appearances (reviews)
Obtaining Public Appearances (libraries, schools and colleges, museums, bookstores)
Charging Fees (why, when and how much)
Becoming a great speaker(tips and tricks)

Jonathan Maxwell is an Atlanta-based writer, editor, and critic. He holds a BA in English from Berry College in Rome, Ga., as well as a psychology minor. He also holds a paralegal certificate. Murderous Intellectuals: German Elites and the Nazi SS is his first book. Released in November 2009, the work has since received considerable critical acclaim. Maxwell’s next book- Piltdown Man and Other Hoaxes- will be released late this year. This book is a lighthearted examination of scientific frauds through the centuries. In addition to book-writing, he has composed op/ed pieces in newspapers great and small, penned reviews for literary journals, and has written chapters for history textbooks. As a freelance editor, he was worked for the publishing giants Harcourt and Pearson.

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Donna Kakonge – How to Turn Your Writing Career into Journalism

Victor Volkman — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:32:13 +0000

On November 5th, 2009 Tyler R. Tichelaar and Victor R. Volkman spoke with Toronto-based educator and print, radio, and TV journalist Donna Kakonge about how any writer can successfully refocus their work into the freelance journalism marketplace. She believes that you CAN break into the journalism business without having to have a specialist bachelor’s degree in the subject. Donna has been involved in the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and Radio Canada International (RCI) on and off for 15 years at the local, national and international levels of both television and radio. She has also worked for the Discovery Channel and Discovery Channel International, Vision TV, the BBC and various publications around the world. Key talking points of tonight’s talk were:

How can I educate myself to start a career in journalism?
What important trade associations can help me on my journey?
Besides book writing, what other kinds of journalism are out there now today?
Should I establish some sort of business identity?
Can I make money just form my blogs?
What about rejection, how do you deal with it?

Donna Kakonge started writing seriously at the age of seven. Her grade two teacher, Mrs. Chen, had the whole class keep a journal. She wrote a story about dinosaurs that Mrs. Chen deemed “outstanding.” Ever since then, she has been hooked.She went to journalism school at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada where she graduated with the Marjorie Nichols Award for being the student with the most promise of becoming an exceptional journalist. She has also been nominated for a Gemini Award (the Canadian version of the Emmy) for work done with the Discovery Channel and has been part of a W Network project “Tell it Like it Is” that won a Hugo Award.Her education continued with a master of arts in media studies and communications from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. Her thesis was on the politics of black hair. She has written 31 books, one of them called What Happened to the Afro? that gives a different side to Chris Rock’s docu
mentary Good Hair. She has also edited Being Healthy: Selected Works from the Internet and has a book called How to Write Creative Non-fiction is published by Lulu. You can find her books on Amazon.com and other fin e-tailers.She can speak both French and English, a bit of Italian and Spanish. She has received a Quebecor Documentary Fellowship from DOC Toronto. She currently teaches at Seneca College and Centennial College in Toronto. Her subject areas are writing and broadcast.

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Moira Allen – Writing For & Reaching the International Market

Victor Volkman — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:31:16 +0000

On September 21st, 2009 Tyler R. Tichelaar and Irene Watson spoke with international freelancer and editor Moira Allen. Allen is the host and editor of Writing-World.com, one of the world’s most popular websites for writers. She helped us understand key points that freelancer must know to enter this lucrative market, including:

Why target international markets?
Where do you locate international markets?
What do you need to consider when targeting an international market?
What about format and language issues?
How do you contact/pitch to an international market?
What are the rights issues you need to keep in mind?
How do you get paid?
What are some pitfalls of the international marketplace?

Moira Allen has been writing professionally for more than 30 years, and is the author of several books on writing, including Starting Your Career as a Freelance Writer and The Writer’s Guide to Queries, Pitches and Proposals, both from Allworth Press. Moira has been dealing with international writers and markets for many years, and was the editor of Global Writers Ink, a newsletter geared toward the international writer.

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Irene Watson – Target Marketing for NonFiction Writers: Why Some People Won’t Read Your Book

Victor Volkman — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 18:43:35 +0000

On August 28th, 2009, Alan E. Smith, author of the award-winning “UnBreak Your Health: The Complete Guide to Complementary and Alternative Medicine” spoke with book marketing guru Irene Watson on the importance of considering target reader personas in the book writing process. Irene is the owner of Reader Views, a full-service book reviewing and marketing agency in Austin, TX. Irene’s psychology background and constant study gives her the ability to understand people and how they think, live, and for today’s interview, how they read. Some of the things we considered:

Importance of knowing your target market before writing your book
Understanding reading preferences, temperments and personalities of potential readers
Creating a profile of the potential readers/target market
Fully understanding why some readers like your book and others don’t.

Irene’s career took her from career counseling, to business ownership, to working for a police force, to psychosynthesis counseling, to teaching at a college, to retreat/seminar/workshop design and facilitation to her most recent – owning/managing Reader Views and its branches. She obtained her B.S. in psychology at St. Edward’s University in Austin, TX and her M. A. in psychology from Regis University in Denver, CO.After retiring in 2003 Irene authored an award winning memoir, The Sitting Swing, which was originally published in 2005. Having a hard time getting reviews for her book, she started Reader Views on a whim. Within a month it exploded to a full time business. So much for retirement! Since then she has pioneered many other innovative marketing sites including Inside Scoop Live, ReviewThe Book, BloggingAuthors, and many other services from press release writing to book videos to an international award contest now entering its 4th year.

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2009 Book Marketing Roundtable – Part II

Victor Volkman — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 15:53:13 +0000

On March 30th, 2009 we convened the 2009 Book Marketing Roundtable to talk about industry “best practices” with authors, marketing experts, and publishers Irene Watson of Reader Views, Tyler Tichelaar of Superior Book Promotions and Victor R. Volkman of Loving Healing Press, Inc. This is a free-for-all discussion on many critical book marketing aspects including: social networking, public events, book videos, professional appearances, co-op flyer mailouts, websites for authors, and marketing mistakes. Don’t forget to listen to Part I of our podcast too!

Irene Watson is author of The Sitting Swing: Finding the Wisdom to Know the Difference, the proprietor of Reader Views Inc., Blogging Authors dot com, Inside Scoop Live, and many other publicity and marketing related activities. Tyler Tichelaar is the owner of Marquette Fiction and author of the Marquette Trilogy, a saga of 150 years on the shores of Lake Superior, and is the proprietor of Superior Book Promotions, a full-service literary and editorial consulting firm. Victor R. Volkman is the publisher behind Loving Healing Press Inc. and Modern History Press and publishes a full line of books on trauma recovery, personal growth, and coping with disabilities as well as the editor of numerous anthologies including More Than A Memory: Reflections of Viet Nam

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Sites mentioned on today’s show (for your clicking pleasure)

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Lynda Goldman – Turn that Book into a Course or Workshop!

Victor Volkman — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 20:02:26 +0000

On January 22nd, 2009, Irene Watson spoke with Lynda Goldman on how to turn a non-fiction book into a course or workshop. Lynda shared key answers with us including benefits of turning a course into a book, how/where to sell the course, other revenue streams, what does it take to create the course and how much will it cost me? Lynda Goldman is the author of 31 books, including textbooks and business books for major publishers such as Prentice Hall, Houghton-Mifflin, and Oxford University Press. As well, she ghostwrites books for busy industry leaders, and is currently ghostwriting three different business books.

She also has 15 years of experience in creating training programs and seminars on business topics such as selling skills, business etiquette, cross-cultural communication, and leadership. Along with these courses, she has created more than 75 instructor’s manuals and participant workbooks.

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Alice B. Acheson – Publicity for Pennies

Victor Volkman — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:18:01 +0000

On September 4th, 2008 Tyler Tichelaar and Victor R. Volkman spoke with publicist and industry veteran Alice B. Acheson about marketing on the cheap. Alice has been an independent marketing and publishing specialist working with large and small publishers since 1981.
Alice answered some tough questions including, Is there really any publicity that costs pennies? How do I get started with publicity plans? What are some publicity ideas that truly cost nothing? How can I find organizations interested in hearing me speak? What about awards, postcards, bookmarks, tradeshows, and mailings?

Alice has worked as both editor and publicist, negotiating book contracts, and selling subsidiary rights. Four recipients of her publicity prowess have appeared simultaneously on the The New York Times bestseller list.She is particularly proud of her efforts for OLD TURTLE by Doug Wood, the author’s first book from a publisher who had never published a children’s book and never nationally marketed any of their books. It won the American Booksellers Association Book of the Year and sold 800,000 copies prior to its sale to Scholastic. For her efforts Alice was given the Literary Market Place Outside Services Award for Advertising, Promotion, and Publicity.

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Yvonne Perry – How to Become A Freelance Writer

Victor Volkman — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 18:57:45 +0000

On August 21st, 2008, Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman spoke with Yvonne Perry of Writers In The Sky about the subject of freelance writing and how to get started in this rewarding field. She and her team provide ghostwriting and editing companies and individuals. With her wide variety of writing experience that includes résumé writing, personal and professional bios, high-quality press releases and articles, as well as business documents such as case studies. Yvonne shared with us many insights as an entrepreneur and owner of a small
business that does a variety of freelance writing assignments. Specifically, how to get started as a freelancer, the most common challenges you will face, typical misconceptions about the process, writing successful query letters, and how to be a ghost writer.

Yvonne is also the author of eleven children’s eBooks, a humorous book titled Email Episodes, which is about mid-life crisis, a paperback book titled More Than Meets the Eye: True Stories about Death, Dying and Afterlife, which provides comfort to those who are grieving the loss of a loved one; and Right to Recover Winning the Political and Religious Wars over Stem Cell Research in America.She is the host of the Writers in the Sky Podcast a weekly show about the craft and business of writing in which she interviews guest authors, publishers, and book marketing experts about writing, book publishing, marketing, and a variety of topics to assist freelance writers.

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Robert D. Reed – Writing and Publishing Nonfiction

Victor Volkman — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 21:05:40 +0000

On Thursday, December 13th, 2007 Irene Watson and Victor R. Volkman spoke with author and publishing veteran Robert D. Reed about how to be successful in writing and publishing non-fiction works. Bob is the publisher of nearly 1,800 books and co-author of more than 50 books and resource guides on a wide range of subjects, including: environmental issues, current affairs, health, business excellence, responsible leadership, education, effective parenting, psychology, ending domestic violence and child abuse, homelessness, and much more. He spoke with us about key issues of the nonfiction market including pre-publication publicity, sizing of print runs, finding distributors and wholesalers, and what an author has to do to be successful — where self-published or not.

Profits from one of his cookbooks fed millions of children worldwide through the C.A.R.E. Organization in New York City. Many of his authors have been featured on television and radio programs, and in newspaper and magazine articles throughout the world.
The founder of Robert D. Reed Publishers, Bob has produced and distributed over 165 titles, including House Calls: How we can all save the world one visit at a time by Patch Adams, M.D. – the compassionate and humorous doctor portrayed by Robin Williams in Universal Picture’s hit film, “Patch Adams.”

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Liz Carmack – Tips for Planning and Organizing Research for Your Nonfiction book

Victor Volkman — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 15:57:24 +0000

On Thursday, October 25th, 2007 Tyler Tichelaar and Victor Volkman spoke with writer, journalist, and researcher Liz Carmack. Her love for heritage travel and her desire to provide travelers with a practical reference to Texas’ historic hotels inspired her to write Historic Hotels of Texas: A Traveler’s Guide. Liz shared her hard-won experience and real-life stories of how to define your topic and its scope, identifying and exploiting research and information sources, how to work with an archival library, planning your time to be most effective, developing a useful information filing system, and how to maintain a sense of fun and curiousity about it all.

During her research, Liz traveled more than 20,000 miles across Texas to visit the 64 hotels featured in her book. Liz interviewed local historians, innkeepers and hotel guests, and uncovered historic hotel details in archives, libraries and museums.Liz is a freelance technical and business writer for the public and private sectors in Austin, Texas, and is principal of Liz Carmack Communications. Her travel articles have appeared in Texas Highways, Austin Woman, A, and Heritage magazines. A former newspaper journalist, she is the Austin City Expert for homeandabroad.com.

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