Face your Publishing future with Blog Books

Among the circles of fiction and non-fiction writers, many feel that our writings make us an open book. Yet the industry of book publishing is guarded like the pentagon. Generations of writers have battled for acceptance into this exclusive industry. Literature, jou
alism, and news has always been the machinery controlled by the aristocracy and moreover a media oligarchy. But the Internet, powered by Web 2.0 and Web 3.0 strategies and technologies, has transformed the publishing industry just as it has transformed the music industry forever. Barriers to entry are suddenly and nearly non-existent.
When I first attempted to get a manuscript of mine published in the early 1990s, I was unsuccessful for various reasons. Back in the 1990s, I attempted to bring a pantheon of science-fiction characters to the marketplace through several book serial pilots. At that time I had no idea of how the publishing industry worked. I also had no contacts in the industry. Furthermore, there were no lightening press programs and the main option for your manuscript to be published was through a traditional book press. This meant that your book had to have plates created for the cover and pages, and then get bound.
A hardbound book could cost $5000.00 as a minimum to make depending on how many signatures (page layout on plates) were required. And a complete first run (of 1000 books) could easily cost $7500.00. Since I did not have the money to self-publish or hire a vanity press (they usually charged on average approximately $9500.00), I would package several manuscripts and send them to literary agents and publishers around the country. Essential to receiving any feedback, positive or negative, was including a SASE (self addressed stamped envelope). I spent hundreds of dollars on various literary services to prepare my manuscripts, but I was dissatisfied with the end results.
As an African American writer of science fiction, I didn’t receive rejections because my ideals and writing lacked sophistication, or my text was an editorial nightmare (Isaac Asimov manuscripts often needed to be rewritten by editors). The most frequent complaint and response that I received was that my books did not have an audience. The literary agents claimed that publishers did not have a market to sell my books because they showcased African American characters and they were science-fiction. I often wondered who was purchasing Octavia Butler’s or Nalo Hopkinson’s books.
The thing about is that, I understood their point and wanted to be a momentum pioneer in this area. There have been several authors to write science fiction and fantasy with black and African themes prior to the 1990s. This wasn’t the point of view that the literary agents were disputing. They were arguing the issue from the point of an established black readership that was prominent and supported titles published in that genre. Of course, I was outraged, hurt, and felt that the reactions were racially charged. But, I lived long enough to learn that what these responses from industry professionals were true at that time.
Evidence of this realization about the lack of a prominent black readership that supported science fiction and fantasy was the fact that in 1993, DC Comics invested in Milestone Media to produce comics targeted to the African American readership. The biggest success that the Milestone Media brand achieved was derived from the Static Shock character and a television cartoon featuring the same character. Despite the awesome array of characters and sound DC marketing and distribution infrastructure, young African American boys and girls were not purchasing the books.
But times have changed. And without spending tremendous amounts of money you and I can find our audience, grow its membership and affiliation. The Internet affords us as writers the opportunity to find an audience. From a publishing point of view, the Internet provides us an opportunity to find the valuation potential of our literary brand.
One of the best ways to maximize your potential as a writer that wants to attract the attention of a publishing house is to create a blog. The power of the blogging technology can help a writer find an audience that stretches around the globe. We have seen the impact of viral videos displayed on YouTube. Instantly videos with attention grabbing humor, irony, or reality receive millions of viewers. Similarly, a well crafted blog can spread virally around the world attracting readers that care about your message.
For the writers that have novels ready for press, I recommend blogging. With your blog, raise attention to the issues that your story covers. Create connections with the themes and characters which speak in your book. Ask for your audience to weigh in on the subject matter covered by your book. This can help you develop serial concepts. Track your blog performance analytics. This will develop your valuation reality. Creating a blog book is the most revolutionary way to bypass the rejections of literary agents and publishers. Because the book publishing craft operates as a business and industry, you need to show evidence of a target market.
Your readership is your target market. Therefore in the scheme of things pertaining to publishing, your writing can be exciting, but if the numbers of your readership or fan base don’t excite industry professionals then you may want to use the Lightening Press services to build momentum for your publishing empire. I recommend tracking your monthly or quarterly blog activity while experimenting with your brand and product concepts. Creating brand marketing campaigns may pay off as the necessary evidence of your sales potential in the global marketplace. Even if you self publish through LuLu.com, or Amazon or other publishing services, focus on growing your readership through a blog that excites readers about your future stories.