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What's Your Biggest Challenge with Your Book?

I'd be interested to learn what authors/publishers on this network think their biggest challenges are with their book. I wonder if there's any common, pervasive challenge we all face.

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Hi Tannia,
Have you tried contacting church groups or publishers who specialize in religious publications? Maybe they can help you find where your work fits best. I wish you all of the luck. Marketing any type of book is challenging today, and frustrating.
Keep trying,
Kristin Callender
The Truth Lies in the Dark
My biggest challenge is getting out to thw world!
Kristen—
Do you mean getting your book out into the world? Or do you mean getting publicity for your book?
My biggest challenege lies in getting my fellow writers to understand the importance of keeping an open mind when it comes to their marketing strategies... and that most importantly, they should not write off self publishing or POD from the outset.

Honestly, there is so much misunderstanding about these methods, so many myths.

Sometimes it feels like banging my head on a wall!
I agree. There is plenty of misunderstanding about self-publishing and POD publishing (such an unfortunate term). I don't agree about banging my head against a wall, however.

Now is the renaissance of publishing for the small/self-publisher. There has never been a better time to publish a book. New printing technologies make it affordable to print small quantities of a book for small, niche markets. The Internet has made it easy for authors to get noticed, even to compete with the large publishing houses. Add to these advantages the financial difficulties the large publishing houses are having, and it's a prescription for success.
For me, it's technical research. If I can't describe some thing or situation using accurate terminology, place-names, etc., then my confidence is undermined. Once the objective, externally-verifiable issues are resolved, I feel that the homework has been adequately completed. Then, the subjective aspects of the story (narrative, emotions, etc.) are easier to generate...
I GUESS THE HARDEST PART IS THE MARKETING. IT IS SO HARD TO BELIEVE THAT THE PROJECT THAT WE HAVE SPENT SO MUCH TIME AND ENERGY ON, IS WORTH INVESTING, AND AT THE SAME TIME WE ARE NOT SURE WHEN IT IS GOING TO BOOM.
Omid—
There's no knowing when a book will boom, but there are always things you can do to move things forward. If an author does five things a day to market & promote a book, at the end of a year there can be remarkable results. Five marketing tasks a day are 1,800 marketing activities a year (allowing five days off for major holidays). Imagine what can be done with 1,800 marketing tasks a year!
NorLightsPress is experiencing great success with our recent releases. Sea Fare, a delicious memoir featuring exotic recipes from a young chef who joins a yacht and travels the world, finding love along the way, is filled with colorful characters and food-driven escapades.

Although our company is fairly new, those involved bring over 30 years of publishing experience to this endeavor. Our greatest challenge right now is gaining visibility and attracting submissions.
Hi Nadene,

I wish I had seen your information a week ago. I never heard of your company. Yesterday, I just mailed my manuscript, bookcover, etc. to a self-publisher. It's my second memoir titled Someone Stop This Merry-Go-Round; An Alcoholic Family in Crisis. It's about losing my husband in 1985 at 45 years of age to this demon.

The sequel is being completed titled Please, God, Not Two; This Killer Called Alcoholism. It's about losing my daughter in 2006 at 39 years of age after she had followed the same path as her father.

I sent letters to agents and publishers but had to move on because of my speaking engagements were growing and everyone wanted my books. I talk at rehabilitation centers, half-way homes and a Catholic Woman's Ministry. I plan to contact the school system and businesses next.

I do have author friends in our writer's group trying to contact publishers. I will definetely pass your info along to them.

I also teach writer's workshops and will add your company to my material for writers to contact. I think you discounts to booksellers are really great!

Again, I wish I had you for the first memoir. I had a huge magazine that wanted my book, do a write-up about me and advertise my book in their monthly magazine. The POD publisher would not work a deal out. Charged outrageous shipping changes and little discounts.

This is not a query letter to you. The reason I'm writing is to let publishers know how sad it is when writers have a good book and have no idea which publisher to contact or one that may not be given the publicity that they should be getting for us to know about them. I will try to help get you known in our group.

Good Luck!
Thank you for your kind words, and I wish you well with your book.

As a new publisher, the biggest challenge right now for NLP is becoming known in this new world of publishing. Although big publishing houses are crumbling, I believe publishers willing to embrace change and are in tune with authors have a bright future.

I appreciate you for helping us get the word out about NorLightsPress!
I hate to sound mudane but the biggest challange to most authors is getting their books known and sold.

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