My Own Little Reality Blog - The Publishing Biz - Episode 1

I occasionally get asked the question, "What made you start writing a book?" The answer is two-pronged. On one hand, many of the thoughts I have simply take too long to explain in any other way. You only need to see blank faces across the table so many times before you decide that maybe your ideas need a new vehicle. So, for me, the choice was to either let these ideas come and go or to start writing them down. I chose the latter and found that some common denominators starting emerging that led me to the conclusion that I had the makings of a totally unique book. That brings me to the other reason I write - money.

Anyone who's read many of my posts knows that I am all about getting myself to financial independence. I don't want to be rich so I can show off my stuff or so I can pretend to be better than other people. I want to be rich so that my time is...well, mine. That brings me to the basis of my reality blog. I have a book that I am 100% certain has no equal on the planet. There has never, EVER, been a book that has asserted that the human mind was not designed for happiness and that, if we are to obtain it, we must learn to train our minds to think differently. More importantly, the methods discussed in the book work. They really have freed my life of much of the frustration that has crept in since the carefree days of youth. And they have worked for many of the people in my life, as well. So, you'd think that publishing something such as this would be snap, right? Au contraire.

The publishing business is a business, first and foremost, and book sales have been down in the last couple of years. This has editors at publishing houses in precarious positions. All of them are inundated with proposals from authors who believe they have the next big bestseller. For them, deciding what to publish is akin to placing bets. They are investing large sums of money in the acquisition, editing, printing, marketing, and distribution of books that they hope will return a tidy profit. If the book's they choose fail to recoup the initial costs, they face serious consequences, including the possibility of termination. So, they hedge their bets like crazy.

In the nonfiction world, it's all about what they call "platform." Your platform is defined as the audience from which you can draw to basically guarantee book sales. A guy like Dr.Phil is a sure bet because he has a gigantic platform from his appearances on Oprah and now from his own show. If he puts out a book, it really doesn't matter what it says, it sells, and it sells a lot. Similarly, Bill Clinton, as an ex-president, has the mother of all platforms. Though many reviews panned his book, My Life, it is still a major best seller. A good platform means that the publisher doesn't have to invest as much money in marketing the book. The theory is that writers with good platforms generate sales on their own. In most cases, this is true. However, the increased emphasis on platform has led to a serious decrease in emphasis on the quality of the work. It is, apparently, better to sell 10,000 copies of a sure thing than to take a risk on a book that may sell only 1000 or has the possibility of selling 1,000,000. This puts guys like me at a distinct disadvantage.

My book has its basis in science, so the first question I am always asked is, "Are you a scientist in the field of evolutionary psychology?" The answer is no. But the science that underpins my book is not controversial. It's well accepted in the scientific community, and it's been around for more than a decade. So, it doesn't matter if I invented it or if I teach it, as long as I've gotten the particulars right, all is well. But this does not matter in the world of platforms. My book is also very much a self-help book, so I am also asked if I am a counselor or therapist. Again, the answer is no. I argue that counselors and therapists, at least the ones who write self-help books, do not base their opinions on academic science. They base them upon clinical science - the experiences of mental health practitioners with patients. This is how they're trained, so we shouldn't expect them to write something like I've written. This is why my book is unique. Again, however, this does not matter in the world of platforms.

It seems that there are very few daring publishers these days. There was a time when publishers saw themselves as purveyors of valuable information. Of course, it has always been a business, but in days passed, editors who stumbled upon outstanding books were in a position to take risks. They were believers in the power of well-written good ideas. Those kinds of books are viral, in the sense that people talk about them enough to catapult sales into best seller ranges. Even a nobody with no platform could get published if his or her work was good enough. I am convinced that these people still exist. My quest is to find one.

As one of the key draws of blog sites is the opportunity to get inside the head of the blogger, I want to document my experiences in getting published. Up to this point, it has been fraught with emotional ups and downs. I've managed to get to some fairly powerful people in the publishing industry. I've made my pitch and I've gotten some great feedback. On two or three occasions, I have been almost certain that a deal was in the works. Alas, however, all have fallen through. But I am not deterred. I will admit that the disappointment has been agonizing at times, but I press on. Every day, I try to do something that will advance my chances of getting my book into bookstores. One day, something will work. I know it. But for now, I'll have to be content with keeping a journal of my trials and tribulations, all with the vision that I will one day look back and appreciate the journey. More to come...