An interview with Ed Peppitt, publishing consultant
There has never been a better time to be an author. Self-publishing has come into its own and technology offers myriad opportunities for connecting with your readers. At the same time you can still go the traditional route and look for a publisher. That said all this choice can feel daunting.
I’ve been speaking to publishing consultant Ed Peppitt about how you decide whether to try for a traditional publishing deal or go it alone and self-publish.
- Ed Peppitt
Leda Sammarco: Ed, I know that you have a very traditional publishing background having worked for many years at Letts and Hodder and you are a published author yourself. How did you also come to be interested in self-publishing?
Ed Peppitt: Well, having long been involved in the world of publishing, I could see this coming and was interested to find out more. Plus I could see the opportunities that this was opening up for authors.
LS: Many people struggle with knowing whether to self-publish or try for a publishing deal. They can seem equally daunting.
EP: There has been complete polarisation in views with some saying that no-one needs a publisher or an agent any more and others that people only self-publish because they can’t get a publishing deal and that it is all poor quality and badly-edited.
LS: I suppose it’s about finding a middle way. We still need publishers, but at the same time self-publishing has come into its own and is no longer vanity publishing. Some self-published authors have even gained book deals. I guess you need to decide what is right for you.
EP: Absolutely! Traditional publishing is right for some people and self-publishing is right for others. If you know exactly who your audience are and you are able to target them directly, then self-publishing would be the way to go.
For example if you are someone like Nick Williams, author of The Work You Were Born to Do and co-founder of Inspired Entrepreneurs. Nick has a great following and a large mailing list and speaks every week. He is in constant contact with his audience so self-publishing is right for him.
LS: That makes complete sense. If you have a tribe, then it would work. Plus you have complete control over the self-publishing process.
EP: Yes, that’s right. Depending on how quickly you write it, you can have your book within three to four months (as opposed to 18 months or more), you keep all the rights yourself and you are likely to make more money than you would from a publisher. Of course, you will also have to manage the entire process yourself and then market your book.
LS: Yes, that’s right. You need to be willing to do that. What about if you have a small mailing list and are gradually building a profile for yourself or if you are hoping to use your book to build your profile? After all, some publishers don’t like non-fiction authors to be a complete unknown do they, but at the same time if you don’t have a big tribe, then you have to invest in the self-publishing and hope that you can find your audience.
EP: I think it’s a myth that unknown authors are unattractive to a publisher. Although publishers want a guaranteed return all authors have to start somewhere and there are always opportunities for new authors to be discovered.
LS: Ed I know you run courses to help people decide if they should self-publish or find a traditional publisher and you said that you often find the room literally splits in half over this issue. Do you have any examples of people who have decided which way to go and been successful?
EP: Certainly. One lady knew at an early stage that self-publishing was right for her. That’s because her book was aimed primarily at teenage and young adult women – and she was regularly being invited to speak at secondary schools, so she had access to her potential clients. Also, she is a born marketer and seller herself. She loves getting her books stocked in all sorts of locations. For example, her book is on display at Claire’s Accessories in her home town, as well as in two local florists. She never misses a trick! So I think she decided to self-publish because selling her book came naturally to her.
Equally, a lot of people who attend my course conclude that they need a mainstream publishing deal. One man was an expert on stress management. Following one of my events, he wrote a really good proposal, which was accepted by Hodder. At the last minute he got a better deal from Icon Books, and went with them. This book was successful, and his follow up book has been commissioned by Random House.
LS: Yes, but you still need a platform don’t you, if you are going to approach a publisher they will expect you to be proactive about promoting yourself?
EP: Yes, they will expect that, but there is a difference between having a platform and being well-known. You may well have a mailing list, but that does not mean that a publisher will have heard of you. If you decide to try for a publishing deal, then don’t give up too quickly – just because you’ve had four rejections!
LS: What about the fact that traditional publishers are being squeezed by the recession and are publishing less titles, how can you be sure that what you come up with has a reasonable chance of being commissioned even if you put a fantastic proposal together, come up with a great concept and so on?
EP: I think it’s a myth that mainstream publishers are rejecting more than ever, and are focusing only on the most commercial. It’s a myth in that this has always been the case! The job of a decent proposal has always been to ‘sell’ a book to a publisher. I guess that the only thing to have changed is that agents and publishers are less willing to work out the commercial possibilities of a book for themselves – there is a greater than ever need for a book proposal to spell it out.
LS: Why else might someone consider trying to get a publishing deal?
EP: Well, sometimes when I ask people about writing a book they say that they would love to see their book on the shelves in Waterstones. If so, then they need a publisher. It is rare for someone who has self-published to see their books widely sold in the retail trade. You can conquer the local market, but you are unlikely to get your book into stores UK-wide.
LS: An editor at a well-known US publishing house once said to me, ‘Platform, platform, platform’ otherwise the book won’t ‘pop on the shelf’. However, I guess that’s the case whatever route you go – you need to be visible and proactive.
EP: Absolutely. If you are writing a non-fiction book then building a platform is essential either way, as you are less marketable to a publisher without it and you will struggle to sell it even if you self-publish.
LS: So, do you have any final suggestions for someone who is considering which way to go?
EP: Well, you can ask yourself the following three questions:
- Who am I writing for?
- Could I access those target readers on my own?
- Do I need the high street?
Ed Peppitt was Publishing Director at Letts and has worked as a consultant with many leading book publishers including Hodder, Harper Collins and Oxford University Press. He has written seven books, all published by Hodder & Stoughton and one for the Chartered Management Institute, ‘Six of the Best’ all about management and leadership skills. Ed also runs his own publishing company, Balloon View, specialising in self-help, personal development and motivation. He also publishes a home study course and runs workshops on how to get published and how to market your book. For more details, check out his website and you can connect with him on Twitter
An interview with Nick Williams,
author and co-founder of Inspired Entrepreneur
If you really want to do something but just can’t seem to, then you are probably in resistance. It can show up in all areas of your life and in many different guises. If you are thinking about writing a book or have begun writing, then you are highly likely to experience it at some point in the journey.
- Nick Williams
I’ve been speaking to Nick Williams, author of seven books and co-founder of Inspired Entrepreneur to find out what resistance is, the ways in which it shows up and how you can overcome it and achieve your dreams.
Leda Sammarco: Nick, I know that you have written seven books. It doesn’t sound as though you’ve had much trouble with resistance or have you?
Nick Williams: On the contrary! I’ve spent most of my life in resistance and didn’t even realise it. I thought that I was being sensible and playing safe. It wasn’t until I read a book called ‘The War of Art’ by Stephen Pressfield, which explains what resistance is and how it operates, that I became aware of it and then everything made sense. Most things I have done that have worked have caused me to beat my resistance.
LS: Can you define resistance in a nutshell?
NW: It is our personality’s reaction to our soul’s call to do something great.
LS: Nicely put! Tell me how this showed up in your writing.
NW: Well, when I was a kid I thought I would like to write a book one day, but I didn’t write my first book until I was nearly 41! I used to focus on how eloquent everyone else was and how everything had already been said. I thought if Aristotle wrote about finding your vocation 2,000 years ago and people like Wayne Dyer have an audience of millions, who will want to listen to me.
LS: Well, you’ve certainly battled the resistance gremlins. So, how did you get over it and write your first book?
NW: Whenever I gave a talk or did a workshop I had a positive response and I began to think that maybe I had a voice and a message worth sharing after all. Julia Cameron, who wrote ‘The Artist’s Way’, said that being creative is as much about being audacious as it is about your talent. Sometimes you have to just step up and do it. So I did! I was also very bored and fed up resisting my own soul – I yearned for a bigger, truer, more creative and more authentic life, so I chose to say ‘yes’ to my calling to write.
I had some ideas and I understood what publishers were looking for and the rules of the game. I put together a proposal and a sample chapter based on my ideas. At this point I still wasn’t sure if they had the potential to make a book or whether it was just a stream of consciousness.
I approached six of the major publishers and then Element offered me a contract and I went, ‘Oh ****!’ I think I needed permission from a publisher that I actually had something worth saying. But then I experienced huge resistance about actually accepting the contract. It made me question whether I really wanted to write the book and put myself under all that pressure. In a sense, the publishers were taking me more seriously than I was taking myself!
LS: That sounds like a pivotal moment. What made you decide to accept the contract?
NW: I did a meditation and talked to my soul and asked, ‘Is it time for me to write my book or am I just on an ego trip?’ My soul replied, ‘You are here to write, so get on and do it.’ It was a pivotal moment indeed. When I signed the contract it was a true act of commitment not just to the book but to my life and part of my soul’s purpose. A layer of resistance melted away. It felt like a door had opened and it has remained open ever since.
LS: Then you actually had to start writing the book. What was that like?
NW: The writing process was actually very smooth – it felt like a coming-home. I wrote between 3 and 13 hours a day and 3 months later I had completed the book.
LS: What about while you were waiting for the book to come out in print. Did your resistance resurface then?
NW: Yes, it certainly did! I was afraid that nobody would like it and that I’d made a fool of myself. Someone said to me, ‘Well, yes you’ll have to live with whatever you’ve written for the rest of your life.’
LS: No pressure, then! But, as we know, your first book, ‘The Work You Were Born to Do’, was a huge success. Did this make it easier to write your second book?
NW: No, I still had resistance to doing that. I thought what if my second book isn’t as good as my first. Maybe it’s better to be a one-hit wonder and quit while I’m ahead. That resistance, it is so tricky and persuasive!
LS: You did go on to write other books, but then you took a break for a while, didn’t you?
NW: Yes, that’s true. I didn’t write for five years. This was partly because I was worried about being greedy and felt I should let others have a chance. It was also because I wanted to wait until I had something to say. When I finally wrote ‘The Business You Were Born to Create’ it felt like a sequel to my first book. I enjoyed writing it so much.
LS: And I really enjoyed reading it. You chose to self-publish this one. What was that like?
NW: I felt that it was the right thing to do. I didn’t want to go the traditional publishing route again and also I was developing an audience through my Inspired Entrepreneur community. But I still had fears and resistance to the book itself and wondered if I was being self-indulgent and just writing what interested me and was able to get away with that because I was self-publishing it.
LS: And now actually you’ve written a book called ‘Resisting Your Soul: 101 Tips to Free Your Inspiration’. You’re playing it at its own game!
- Balloon View
NW: It feels like I’ve overcome a major hurdle and symbolically closed the door on resistance. It is about unmasking and exposing the enemy, as resistance often stays out of our awareness and works behind the scenes. I have to say though that I did experience resistance when writing it and wondered if I was just sharing my own neurosis and whether I was the only ‘struggling artist’ out there.
LS: What are the most common ways that resistance shows up?
NW: Well, there are seven that tend to appear most often. You may recognise some of them.
Simply procrastinating: ‘I’m going to write my book. I know I’ve been incubating it for ten years, but I’ve been so busy with my business and everything else. But I will write it.’
Striving for perfection: ‘As soon as I have it all mapped out, with no mistakes, feel credible to write it and have found my voice, I will do it.’
Having too many ideas: ‘I keep getting new ideas every day, but I will settle with one sooner or later. I just want to be sure it is the right one.’
Comparing yourself with others: ‘I could never write as well as (input author of choice), so what’s the point of trying.’
Going it alone: ‘I don’t really need any help. I’m sure I can manage if just keep going – it will all come together. I don’t want to discuss it with anyone until then.’
Being a perpetual student: ‘I just need to go on one more creativity course and then read all those books on how to write a good book and then I’ll be ready to do it.’
Putting on the pressure: ‘I want my book to be a bestseller, build my business and change the world.’
LS: I can certainly relate to some of those. Now tell me, how can you overcome these different types of resistance?
NW: Well, here are some ways that I have found really helpful in writing my books.
Make a distinction between journaling or general scribbling and the writing that you want the world to see. Around 95% of my writing is never seen by anyone, but it is what enables me to write my books.
Start small and write articles and blog posts as this will help you build up to a book.
Write regularly and really commit to it, whether this is general scribbling just for you or writing a blog post or article that others will read.
Be aware that there is writing and there is editing. When you write, let it flow. You can’t edit what you haven’t written. One perfectly honed paragraph is not a book! The first draft won’t be perfect, so don’t even try to aim for that.
Be aware of ‘First Book Syndrome’. Looking back at my first book, ‘The Work You Were Born to Do’, I wish that I hadn’t written so much. You don’t need to share all your information in your first one.
Recognise that you are the instrument or channel. Stay open to receiving ideas; your writing has its own creative energy and will take you on a journey if you let it.
You don’t need to do it alone. Writing can make you feel vulnerable, so find a support group, a coach or even a trusted friend with whom you can share the process.
Be willing to start where you are and learn as you go. Remember that all even bestselling-authors were novice writers once.
Separate out the authentic or spiritual reason why you want to write from the outcome. If you have a desperate need for the book to become a bestseller, bring in new business or raise your profile, then you will lose sight of the book’s true purpose in the world and this will stifle your creativity.
LS: These are wonderful strategies, Nick. Have you any final words of encouragement for someone embarking on their first book?
NW: Yes, indeed. Remember that resistance is all about the ego wanting us to play small, but we all have a responsibility to step up and be visible. Your voice is needed in the world. I think we are all expressing universal ideas in our unique and individual ways. There is room for us all and the world wants what you have to offer, so don’t hold back.
Over the past two decades, Nick Williams has travelled the world sharing a life-affirming and profoundly spiritual vision of work and entrepreneurship. A sought-after international speaker, author and broadcaster, Nick is on a mission to help people move beyond their fears, play a bigger part in their lives, and turn their passions into profitable businesses. The author of seven books his latest is called, ‘Resisting the Soul: 101 Tips to Free Your Inspiration’ and includes the five keys to overcoming resistance. Nick is co-founder of the Inspired Entrepreneur Community in London. You can also connect with Nick on Twitter , Facebook and Linkedin
- Julia Lloyd Design
I have now written and self-published my first book, Finding the Gold: One girl’s search for her purpose in life. It is an inspirational memoir with self-help elements.
It is the story of how I became a writer’s coach. On holiday in San Francisco I look back at experiences that led to finding my life purpose. I discover that there is a grand plan even if you can’t see it, that you need to make the most of your experiences along the way and to listen to your inner voice.
It includes ‘Little Nuggets‘ – tips, questions and things to do – to inspire you to find your life purpose.
I’ve always considered myself a reader first and a writer second and when I first started my business I had no plans to write a book. However, I got the itch; that nagging desire to write that simply won’t leave you alone.
Writing my book was a real labour of love. Note the juxtaposition of those two words! Seriously though, it was such a joyful process.
To begin with I made a note of every idea until I had a series of random jottings, which initially appeared unconnected. Sometimes I meditated for ten minutes before engaging in a stream of consciousness flow on to the page. At other times I did mind-maps to see if I could discover the connections between these ideas and events. I even had a few months where I simply didn’t want to write. I knew it wasn’t fear or procrastination; I just didn’t want to do it, so I respected that. That said, my enthusiasm and overall desire for writing my book never left me.
Then I had an ‘a-ha moment‘, a huge burst of clarity when I realised that my book was all about how I found my life purpose. This galvanised me into producing a first draft. That said all the preliminary scribbling and musing and even the time out had helped me to prepare for this more formal stage of writing. Producing the completed manuscript involved much redrafting. Some chapters flowed easily, whilst I had to persevere with others, redrafting them up to eight times to get to the essence. I literally had to ‘write it out‘!
During the earlier planning and scribbling stages, I decided which of the places I had visited in San Francisco would suit a particular chapter and theme. However, during the redrafting I had to go deeper and did some additional background research on some of those places. Each time I discovered a hidden connection, an interesting fact, anecdote or piece of history, which revealed just how appropriate they were for a particular chapter and confirmed my initial intuitive impulse about them.
The entire writing process took me about a year and a half, although I wasn’t writing continuously during this time. Now it is possible to write a book faster than that, but I believe the creative process can’t be rushed and know I produced a richer, deeper book because of that.
Of course, I didn’t do it entirely alone. There were a number of wonderful people who supported me at various stages along the way in terms of coaching, editing and design. They opened me up to new possibilities and made it look great.
Now it’s out there and I hope that it will create change and inspire people as well as being enjoyable to read. If you would like to read it, then you’ll find it on Amazon.
Enjoy!
