Working Titlez

The bane of authors is the lack of personalization when receiving a rejection letter from an agent or publisher. Usually form letters, they say something along the lines of “not for us.”

The author desperately wants to know why. Why was my manuscript so summarily passed? Was it really read? Everyone I’ve shown it to simply loves it. Is it the writing? The plot? The dialogue? The typos and misspellings (don’t publishers have editors to fix these minor flaws)? Was it simply awful? Should I just give up?

The agents, editors, and publishers likewise feel a lot of angst. Their natural inclination is to help and nurture authors. Why do they so rarely offer advice, constructive commentary, or an offer for a resubmission following a manuscript makeover?

Experience.

Anyone charged with reviewing submitted manuscripts and book proposals learns quickly that it is a time-consuming task, often relegated to the “when time” category.

As publishers, at Stephens Press our focus is first our books in the pipeline (editing/production/manufacturing) as these have critical deadlines. Next is the ongoing work on our frontlist and backlist titles. That is where the revenue comes from. Reviewing submissions is a somewhat distant third.

We’ve learned the hard way that some wacky kooks (or scarier) folks submit rants they call “manuscripts.” We’ve had just-released felons taxi from the bus terminal to our office to hand-deliver their pencil-on-notebook-paper manuscripts detailing how they were framed, they didn’t do it, but they know who did. We’ve had “stalkers” who show up at every public speaking engagement and angrily demand to know why their “dark poetry” was rejected during the Q&A (we don’t even publish “light poetry”). I’ve been followed in dark parking lots by a rejected submitter. Well, you get the idea.

Then there are all the “normal” folks who we also had to reject. Nice, earnest, everyday people trying to follow their dreams to be a writer. I so wish we COULD provide helpful insight. But it boils down to our least available commodity: TIME.

We’ve learned that detailing the “whys” of a rejection opens the door to an ongoing dialogue. We really don’t have time to respond with a critique much less an ongoing discussion. We’ve all heard of a great writer who credits an agent or editor with mentoring them when they were unpublishable. Sorry, folks, there just isn’t the time. We’re in business. Our attention must go to the books and authors we are publishing, not an author we don’t intend to publish.

Like many agents and editors, we freely volunteer our time to make presentations at conferences and workshops. This is our way of “giving back” and helping as many authors as we can. We just can’t do it one-on-one.

A word about “not for us.” That truly is the top reason why we reject a submission. It may be a perfectly publishable work. But for one reason or another, it just isn’t for us. While Stephens Press publishes books in many different genres, we still have a lot of criteria we apply in determining what we’ll take. Maybe we don’t think we can market it effectively. Perhaps we have something similar already in the pipeline or we know of another publisher who does. We have limited resources, just like any other business. We may not want to take on another book in a genre, preferring to concentrate our money on other titles.

Then there’s the poor-first-impression submission. Does the cover letter come across with attitude? Does it make me feel the author will be hard to work with? Does the author seem ignorant of the publishing business or have unrealistic expectations? Is the submission package a sloppy mess? Does it look like the editing job will be costly? Did the author follow our submission guidelines? Do they know what we publish?

Not one of these rejection-prone attributes addresses the quality of the writing. Obviously, the writing will be the make it/break it issue if the first impression is a good one AND the subject is a fit for a Stephens Press title.

There are good options for authors to get feedback. Join a writing group. Find or form a critique group. Attend writers conferences. Hire a book shepherd or a freelance editor. Just don’t expect the agents and editors who rejected your manuscript to do it for you.

Front Matter and Back Matter

Every page that appears before the first page of the first chapter is known as “front matter” in publisher’s lingo. Likewise, every page that appears following the last page of the last chapter is known as “back matter”. New authors are often a bit bewildered as to the order of these pages and if they should include them in their manuscripts. Your publisher will decide the sequence and content of your book’s front and back matter, but it is helpful to receive a manuscript that has taken these elements into consideration.  Listed below are the typical front and back matter items we use at Stephens Press and the order in which they appear.

FRONT MATTER ELEMENTS

Half Title Page

1. Page one of your manuscript
2. Main title of book only
3. Sub-title does not appear
4. Graphically coordinates with jacket design
5. Can be eliminated to save space
6. Blind folio (page is numbered but not printed)
7. Always a recto (right) page
8. For manuscript, put your contact information on the upper left and the total word count on the upper right

Blank

1. Normally blank (type “blank” at the top of the page)
2. Can also be used to create a two-page spread title page
3. Can also list information about series or a list of other books by the author
4. Blind folio
5. Always a verso (left) page

Title Page

1. Full title of book
2. Full sub-title of book
3. If sub-title is in a different typeface or size, no colon or other punctuation is needed
4. Name of author (or editor if no author)
5. Name and location of publisher
6. Logo of publisher is optional
7. Graphically match jacket or book’s theme
8. Blind folio

Copyright Page

1. Always a verso (left) page
2. Content varies depending on requirements for specific titles
3. Copyright year and name of copyright holder(s)
4. Books being released in the 4^th quarter of the year often bear a copyright date for the following year
5. Country of printing
6. ISBNs for all editions (hardcover, trade paper, ebook, audio)
7. Credits (editor, designer, illustrator, photographer etc.)
8. Grants (optionally can appear on separate page)
9. LOC (Library of Congress) number

10. CIP (Cataloging-in-Publication) data block

11. Paper durability or environmental friendly statement

12. Reference the Chicago Manual of Style for all other copyright page issues

13. Blind folio

14. The publisher will determine copyright page content, and the author is advised to just type “copyright” on the top of that page to reserve it

Dedication

1. Optional
2. Phrasing to be determined by author
3. Blind folio

Epigraph

1. Optional
2. Quotation that is pertinent to text
3. Occasionally used on chapter openers throughout book
4. Attribute to source
5. Blind folio

Contents

1. Optional but usually helpful to reader
2. Never include “Table of”
3. List everything that follows the TOC, but nothing that precedes it
4. Depending on structure of book, list each chapter (and sections within chapter)
5. Do not insert page numbers — these will be added at the conclusion of the layout
6. Blind folios — folios appear on all pages following

Illustrations and Tables

1. Lists of illustrations, photos and/or tables
2. Generally optional unless there are a large number
3. Used by reader in order to find specific illustration or table
4. See the Chicago Manual of Style for detailed information

Foreword

1. SPELL correctly — the words beFORE the WORDs — never forward
2. Always a statement by someone other than the author
3. Same size and style as text typography
4. Name, title and affiliation of author of foreword appear on a new line, flush right, at the end

Preface

1. Author’s reasons for undertaking work
2. Any other information from the author useful to the reader
3. Optional
4. Books can have a preface, an introduction or both or neither

Acknowledgments

1. Use in front matter only if short
2. If lengthy, place in back matter
3. Some authors incorporate their acknowledgments into dedication or preface or introduction — editor should guide author in this

Introduction

1. The introduction may be written by author or another qualified person
2. The introduction provides needed information or “sets the stage” for the text
3. Appears immediately before text
4. Editor should guide author on these issues

BACK MATTER ELEMENTS

Epilogue

1. Optional
2. Same style as text chapters

Acknowledgments

1. Optional
2. In back matter only if quite lengthy — otherwise in front matter

End Notes

1. Optional
2. If they don’t appear at the end of each chapter

Bibliography

1. Optional
2. Follow Chicago carefully for style and formatting

Index

1. Optional
2. Author should create initial list of index words
3. Professional indexer cannot index until layout is completely finished
4. Any changes to text after indexing can necessitate re-indexing
5. Can be a pricey element

Appendices

1. Optional

Photo/Illustration Credits

1. Optional
2. Discuss with your publisher their requirements for permission documentation

About the Author

1. Optional
2. If the book doesn’t have jacket flaps or room on the back cover, the author’s bio often appears as the last page of the book

Notes

Some publishers use Roman numerals for the front matter pages. Others (including Stephens Press) number all pages, but the front matter numbers on page numbers before the Contents page are suppressed (not printed). Elements following the Contents page have printed page numbers. Regardless, you should just turn on page numbering in your manuscript, which will help keep the pages in order. The page numbers in the manuscript will have no bearing on the final page numbers in the book.

If a book has a large number of meaningful blurbs (testimonials), the publisher may elect to put them on pages one and two, shifting the half title to page three.

Be sure to use a page break at the end of each front/back matter element, and at the end of each chapter.

All these front and back matter items may look overwhelming, but in actuality, most books only use the essential front matter elements.

Few things delight me like discovering a jewel of a book in a thrift shop — made even sweeter when the price is peanuts and the find is rare. A couple of years ago, I hit the jackpot. Alexandre Dumas’s A GIL BLAS IN CALIFORNIA. Yes, the same Dumas of THE THREE MUSKETEERS and THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO.

Not long after I acquired this gem, sister Sue and I were making a road trip from SoCal to our Las Vegas office. I’d showed Sue the book, and got the ultimate audio experience, as she read the book to me during the drive (it took a round trip to complete it). We had so much fun, commenting as we went, and had a lot of questions — like what IS a Gil Blas?

Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) was one of France’s most acclaimed novelists of the nineteenth century. A Gil Blas in California (1933) is an English translation of a work first published in Brussels in 1852, with Dumas presenting it as his rendering of a young Frenchman’s firsthand account of his adventures in the California Gold Rush. The tale covers a voyage round the Horn from Le Havre, life at French Camp, San Francisco fires, California farming and wildlife, hunting trips near Sonoma and in the Mariposa Valley, and a visit to San José.

It seems Dumas was something of the James Patterson of his day. He was was very prolific and wrote with amazing speed. He claimed his Gil Blas was written in less than a week. Which is curious because he alternately claimed to be the author — and not to be author — but experts seem sure he wrote it. He purported it is the story of a young Frenchman, never named, and he simply presented the story for him. Some think the mysterious Frenchman is fiction. But Dumas had not been to California so he had to have considerable input to depict the Gold Rush and early California as he did.

There’s a money angle, too. Dumas had fled to Brussels, where he wrote the book, to escape his creditors in France. He made boatloads of money, but spent it all and then some. Publishers were taxed rather exorbitantly for fiction titles, but non-fiction books were not taxed. Thus it served both the author and the publisher to claim the book was non-fiction. Again, the experts are sure the book is fiction.

So back to what IS a Gil Blas? Back in 1715, Alain-Rene LeSage was known for writing “picaresque” novels, including The Adventures of Gil Blas. Gil Blas was the primary character in the novel and Dumas borrowed the name in a more generic manner. The picaresque novel depicted, in realistic and often humorous detail, the adventures of a roguish hero of low social class who lives by his wits. The genre was very popular.

Although the book provides a picturesque look at an important period in California history, it was not translated to English until 1933. My copy is one of a 500 copies limited run of the 1933 edition from Primavera Press. The translation was also published again in 1947.

The book is a beauty, with woodcut ENGRAVINGS by famed artist Paul Landacre. Each chapter opens with an illustration that would be contemporary by today’s standards. There’s a fold-out engraved map, too. The original proofs of some of the chapter openers are pictured to the left.

The discovery of my $5 treasure (worth considerably more) and the search for answers led to some interesting publishing history.

What do you collect?

Stephens Press (Las Vegas) has announced the launch of a new imprint, LifeStories Books (www.LifeStoriesBooks.com). The new imprint offers writers a unique opportunity to share their memoirs and personal histories. Books will be available directly to readers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, select  bookstores, and online retailers such as Amazon.com.

Stephens Press is a division of Stephens Media LLC, a sister company to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The press publishes primarily regional nonfiction, including genres such as biographies, history, current affairs, travel, nature and outdoors, sports, business, food, and children’s books. CityLife Books, a second imprint, publishes both fiction and non-fiction with an edgy Las Vegas vibe designed to appeal to the readers of CityLife, the Stephens Media alternative newspaper. (www.lvcitylifebooks.com).

Special to the Inland Empire Business Press

by Guest Blogger Tim Sunderland, Gonzo Marketers.

I have a secret: I am writing a novel. Secret #2: I’m learning things that can help businesspeople.

I ‘ll have the rough draft by August. Then it will take a few months to clean it up, do some re-writing, and produce the final manuscript. I’ll find an agent who can sell it to a publisher. Soon afterwards I’ll collect my Academy Award for the screenplay and retire to a home with an ocean view. Ha!

In the meantime I have been investigating the publishing world. For first-time novelists, social media–Facebook, Twitter, blogs, podcasts–are mandatory. A few ingenious writers have even used these new technologies to set the industry on its ear.

Agents and publishers look for writers with a following. A Facebook site with 5,000 fans proves you have one. Likewise for a blog. If people are visiting a blog to read what you have to say, and they know you are writing a novel, then you have something. The same for Twitter.

How powerful is a blog for a writer? www.WritingExcuses.com, a blog/podcast addressing fiction writers, recently mentioned Mary Robinette Kowal, the 2008 recipient of the Campbell Award for Best New Writer, despite having never published a book. In a recent writer’s conference Kowal admitted that the award was based in large part on her popular blog. Her only published works were some short stories. Not only does Kowal have this award, but now she also has the street creds to get the attention of literary agents and publishers and start selling larger works of fiction.

Seth Hardwood, a college writing instructor in San Francisco and a graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, took social media a step further. Harwood wrote a crime novel–Jack Wakes Up. The hero is Jack Palms, a one-hit actor turned has-been. Harwood recorded the entire novel in a series of hour-long podcasts and distributed it through his blog and ITunes–for free! No cost! Soon Harwood was approached by a print-on-demand publisher. Later the book was picked up by Three Rivers Press, a trade paperback imprint of Crown Publishing Group of Random House. We’re off to the races.

But Harwood didn’t stop. He is a shameless self-promoter. Using podcasting and his blog he exhorted his followers to, on one specific day (Palm Sunday, in honor of his character), purchase from Amazon as many copies of his book and electronic downloads as they could.  It worked! Jack Wakes Up skyrocketed to the top of the Amazon charts and search engines. More notice, more recognition, more sales. All because Harwood grasped how he could use social media to manipulate the market and build enthusiasm. Social media bloggers–some famous–picked up on Harwood and gave him props on their pages. Their fans checked out Harwood and many became his fans. You get the idea.

What’s the connection to small business? Mary Robinette Kowal and Seth Harwood, novelists working in anonymity, used social media to find a market and sell a product. They realized that because of the nature of social media, there are no rules. They could make their own. As Randy Lopez of Johnson Gray Advertising recently pointed out at a meeting the AMA-IE, “If you don’t know much about social media, don’t worry. It’s all going to change tomorrow anyway.”

Social media is a way to create markets and customers and change the game. You should be using it.

Tim Sunderland is president of Gonzo Marketers, a strategic marketing firm in Upland, California. He is past board president of the Inland Empire AMA and has held other roles with the chapter. Reach him at 909-920-4537, or email him at tim@gonzomarketers.com. He anticipates a future move to Laguna Beach, funded by the advance on his blockbuster novel–Rules for Giving. This article will also appeared in The Inland Empire Business Press in July 2010.