Scammers and selling and email bots, oh my!
On screen: Jackie French, Meeting emcee: Rebecca Sheraton; Image credit: Karen Tyrrell
Current and past Write Links members have been published, many multiple times. The rest of us bask in the glory of what that means, and take those filtered, dusty, and sometimes fleeting rays of sunny light to hold tight against our own chests as a symbol of hope that we, too, can get there.
But breaking into the publishing industry has never been more challenging, and kidlit (especially picture books) seems to be the hardest nut to crack. Still, we persist.
More and more, scammers and bots are invading the spaces those rays of light shine. Book Links Vice Patron and multi-award-winning Australian author Jackie French offered some information and advice around the glut of scams that continue to pop up, and considerations around getting your work published and into the hands of readers.
Emails claiming to have read your book (yeah, but what’s it called?), wanting to do an interview (to promote what, exactly?), or offering representation and a chance at publication (just kick us while we’re down, why don’t ya?) are filling inboxes more frequently. Their language is gaining in sophistication, the creativity (and irony) becoming more apparent, and the offers looking more appealing. Especially to those of us who haven’t been able to get that first break.
Amidst all the rubbish and other day-to-day spam inundating our inboxes every day, how are we to weed out what may be a lone, genuine (maybe, one day??) offer?
Reign in your excitement at the subject line. There will be signs.
- The email address it’s from. Gmail, Yahoo and other generic providers aren’t used by industry professionals. A genuine email will match something readily available on the company website – check Contact pages on actual business websites.
- The content of the email. Do they waffle? Have they expounded on the excellence of your impressive grasp of the literary arts for more than a few lines? Do they get to the point before your eyelids droop, even while your heart pounds with excitement? Anything genuine will be short, sharp and succinct.
- Can you contact them without hitting reply? Find the website for the legitimate business they claim to be from and get in touch with them. Use a published email address or give the general number a quick call. Chances are, you won’t be the first or last person to ask, and they’ll be happy to confirm if the email was from someone in their office.
Does it all feel too much? Not ready to sit back and wait for a response from all those submissions and competitions and feedback sessions? Think you’re ready to dive right in and do it on your own? There are options out there for self-publishing, but there are things to be aware of with this path as well.
Professional teams often see things the author has missed, since we’ve spent far more time in our words than they have. Editors are important: from structural to line editing to proofreading, there will always be something a fresh set of eyes will pick up on.
Gone ahead and done the deed? Getting your book onto shelves is another challenge. Physical books need shelf space, and selling it to booksellers isn’t any easier than selling it to publishers. Bookstores are harder to keep open these days, and sometimes the risk of an independently published book is just too high. And even if your book matches the curriculum, it’ll always be harder to get it into schools without the backing of a publishing house.
What about illustrations? Cover art? Layout and design? They might look easy when you open a book, but that’s because of the incredible talent of the illustrators and designers who have dedicated themselves to honing their craft in the same way you’ve done with yours.
Publishing an ebook on Amazon or other online retailer can be great if you’re publishing for teens and adults. But getting an ebook into the hands of a young reader who doesn’t have access to their own screen at all hours, and who will need a physical copy of the book if it’s used for school, can be incredibly difficult. And a picture book? I certainly didn’t want my kids looking at screens when they were small, even if it was to read.
Whether you wait for a break in the traditional route or go it alone by self-publishing, keep in mind that it’s not just the book that sells – it’s the author, too. whether it’s your brand, speaking at schools and festivals, or your willingness to stop by bookstores just to say his, YOU are the secret weapon to boost sales.
It’s not all doom and gloom. Hard as this industry is to worm our way into, we only need to look to other members of our wonderful group to see that it is possible to get there. It might be a long, hard, winding, rocky, potholed road, but it definitely leads somewhere, eventually. Right?
By Alison McCaffrey
Follow Alison McCaffrey on Instagram at a_mccaffrey_writes_and_life
Find out more about Jackie French at jackiefrench.com
Image credit: Karen Tyrrell, child empowerment author karentyrrell.com
