Book Puma Editing Platform: Recent Episodes
Charles D'Amico
We talk about books, editing and the industry as a whole. We talk the way Blue Handle is working to change the industry with an Author centric approach. We also touch base on our new Book Puma Services programs centered around coaching and cultivating authors. Not simply waiting for a finished manuscript.
Libby Duncan Notes
Ave Maria was cut down from our team.
It was originally 130K words, cut to 104 words (first editors NY ones). Then we ran it through our Book Puma Program and cut the book down to 83K.
For example, pay attention to the note on Semi-colons. If it was simply in text, it might lost context. The audio really helps drive home the coaching and context.
So why do we have multiple versions of the audio for Ave Maria?
We re-edited multiple books of mine and our other authors. But I'm not afraid to get massively criticized on a shamingly public scale.
I want you to use these as a way to learn how we give feedback in a different way to allow authors to grow from the editing process.
Here is one Ave Maria's Cover Page
In Audio Format
We want all of our Authors to get the feedback in a digestible format. What better way than to truly hear it from the mouth of the editor. When you can hear the positivity and tone, versus our own internal negativity and judgment, it allows us to focus on the coaching and not our own fears.
This asks the simple question, of what is Self-Publishing at its core.
The answer to that ......... (drum roll)
You are going into business for yourself.
You need to ask yourself this question. Can you get a bank loan based on the business plan you've written for your book?
Probably not...
Let's dig in.
https://BHPubs.com
https://BookPuma.com
If you're looking for a plan to sell a million books, this isn't it. If you are looking for something to explain to you why it's important and the task at hand, then this is for you.
Book marketing is a feat, it's going to take a while. Remember if you can't get a banker to take you seriously with your plan, why are you spending your own hard-earned money?
https://BHPubs.com
https://BookPumaEdit.com
There are so many things I wish I had done, but my choices got me here. If I hadn't made some of the wrong decisions, I wouldn't have learned from them, gotten frustrated or created an amazing company with some fearless leaders.
https://BHPubs.com
https://BookPumaEdit.com
There are pros and cons to every decision. For starters, you will often hear hybrid publishers are just predators on the faint of heart in the industry.
Though we are not a hybrid publisher, I have looked into and invested time going down this route. I was impatient like many others before and after me, wanting to get my story to the world.
I was naive in the understanding of how long it takes to cultivate a story, properly edit it and market it.
If you can find the right hybrid publisher, and you have the funds to do it (without causing financial harm to yourself) then it might be the right choice.
Again, we are not a hybrid publisher. If Blue Handle publishes your work, we invest in the author and their work. We do not charge them, like a hybrid.
Book Puma was created to impact as many authors in the industry as possible.
Is self-publishing for me? That is a tough question with a lot of answers that only you can correctly identify (do you see how hard I tried to not repeat the word answers ;-) ).
For example, what level of control do you want? Are you financially savvy enough to invest and manage a marketing campaign? How driven are you to take this on?
What other options are there?
To no publish?
Hybrid?
Traditional?
https://BookPumaEdit.com
We look at every step of the editing process and look to improve it. From the way the editor handles the manuscript to the way the feedback is given to the author.
Editing that Inspires!!
The answer to that is always yes. The question is when and in what format? We touch on a few basics with this.
https://BHPubs.com
https://BookPumaEdit.com
There are four general forms of editing in the industry (though not all), proofreading (or final read), Copy Editing, Line Editing and Developmental Editing. At Blue Handle Publishing, with our Book Puma platform, we focus on bringing quality services at an affordable price.
Copy Editing is when the editor focuses on the technical parts of writing (often known as grammar).
Line editing addresses the writing style, language and creative content at the paragraph level.
Developmental editing refers to the story, whom the characters interact and the plot development.
Proofreading is the finality of it all. To ensure all the work put in produces a clean and finished product.
https://BHPubs.com
E-books are the digital embodiment of your book. The beauty of E-books is the low overhead and the mass appeal to them. With the proper resources, you can quickly get a book on every major platform and fast. Unlike printing traditional copies, there is little to no cost for an e-book. Giving new authors a chance for their books to grow. You can even do flash deals where they are free or discounted to drive readership.
https://BHPubs.com
An ISBN is simply a way to record your work. To ensure authorship is tracked. Copyright ensures your right as the owner to all rights and privileges of the book. It is very important to understand the difference. Using a site (industry standard) such as Bowker, you can accomplish both items quickly and efficiently.
https://BHPubs.com
The good old Traditional Publishing world
If you are lucky enough to get published by the big 5 traditional publishers, you will fall into the category of 80% of the book sales each year, but only 3% (estimated) of books (titles, not copies) published each year. The big 5 are:
Penguin Random House
HarperCollins
Simon & Schuster
Hachette
Macmillan
https://BHpubs.com
This topic is very near and dear to Charles (our founder) because he went down this road. He decided to build Blue Handle Publishing alongside the new Book Puma Services Platform from this stressful process.
There are many places to access information on how to self-publish or how to do it. There are small groups on social media sites (Facebook), as well as videos on Youtube. The problem goes back to a centralized place to get information and have a customer service platform. If you need help, just a little bit, maybe a few hours (not a month's worth), there is nowhere to find it (you can find gig work, but where is the company to stand up).
https://BHPubs.com
You need to finish your manuscript, polish it up with at least one editor and then shop it to literary agents. The process in which you get an agent is with a Query Letter or a Query submission process.
The query Letter gets you the agent who helps you get the publisher and book deal your looking for.
Let’s first start by recognizing something about Hybrid Publishing, and it used to be called Vanity publishing. Though people don’t like the name “Vanity,” it is where it began. The idea of publishing for yourself is a form of vanity. The industry had become filled with some companies preying on naïve authors, and many bad cases arose. To fix the image, the term HYBRID was born.
https://BHPubs.com
There are plenty of people who simply enjoy writing. To be an author, you need to publish your work. If you are concerned about your manuscript and how it might be taken, start with small steps. Look for short story contests that can give you feedback and confidence. The more you do anything, the easier it gets through repetition. If you keep submitting short stories, it will get easier to submit your manuscript.
https://BHPubs.com
This is a quick general coverage of what publishing is, the options and how to go about it. We will release other short podcasts to cover the specifics, pros and cons of each.
Hybrid (formerly Vanity)
Self-Publishing
Traditional Publishing
https://BHPubs.com
Let’s be straightforward. Marketing is as important as the book itself. If no one reads a book, can it ever be defined as great? Getting your book into the hands of readers, book stores, and critics is a long process. It takes time to read, process and formulate a response on a new author. Reading is inherently personal, which means getting people to decide on a new author, and a new book can be tricky.
https://BHPubs.com
A quick 5 minutes to help you understand the importance of Book Design.
Book design comes down to the inside and outside (cover) and your reader's overall interaction with your book. If you make margins or use fonts that they aren’t used to reading, it can change the experience. Imagine if you watched a movie and someone changed the aspect ratio. Instead of it filling up the screen, it was off-center with black bars on the side. It would change your experience.
https://BHPubs.com
Simply put, the printing of your book varies on factors related to page length, style of the book (pictures or not), format (page size), and how it is bound. These factors and choices can make a big difference in how our book stands out (or doesn't) and the overall profitability of the book once it becomes widespread.
https://BHPubs.com