My blog post two weeks ago shared insights into how traditional publishing works and noted that if you want to pursue a traditional publishing contract, you’ll probably need a literary agent.

A literary agent’s primary job is to sell your book to a publisher for the most favorable terms possible. Sometimes they help shape your proposal or manuscript to make it as marketable as possible before they “pitch” it.

Contrary to what you might see online or in groups, you don’t “hire” an agent. You “contract” with one. An agent works on commission, which means they aren’t paid until both parties sign a contract and the publisher pays the first amount due.

Because this is typically a commission-only sales job, literary agents need to be very, very selective about the people and projects they take on.

With this in mind, I asked literary agent Amy Collins to talk about what she does and offer advice on working with agents.

Introducing Amy Collins

Amy Collins, now an agent with Talcott Notch Literary Services, is one of my absolute favorite people in life and in the publishing business.

Amy has more than 30 years of experience matching books with readers. A former book buyer, publisher, sales director, and owner of New Shelves Books, she now represents many authors who have signed deals with major publishers.

Amy also teaches classes on querying and creating great proposals for Writers Digest. If you’re at a conference where Amy’s speaking, get to her session early and be prepared to take notes. She’s an entertaining and engaging speaker with something important to say to authors.

Behind the scenes with a literary agent

I know you love being a literary agent. Tell us why.

I have always enjoyed research, making new friends, and matching books with readers. For 30 years, I sold books to bookstores and libraries. Now, as an agent, I use my sales talent to help an author find a perfect fit at a publishing house. It is a joy to help authors achieve their dream of a publishing deal.

As an agent, I am constantly getting to meet talented editors and work with them to find clever ways to get my author’s books in front of as many people as possible.

What sorts of authors and projects do you represent — what’s your sweet spot?

My main focus is science fiction, fantasy, and speculative fiction. As for nonfiction, I work with books in the following categories: cookbooks, pop culture, and cultural reference.

I caution authors that I would not be a great agent for memoir, children’s, or business books. I have some clients who also write mystery, thriller, and children’s books, but I tend not to look specifically for them.

What’s your best client success story?

I love TikTok, and while scrolling one day, I was charmed by a young woman named Devrie Brynn Donalson. She was looking straight into the camera, telling the viewer that they were a hot mess and “good for us.” She raved and ranted and had me laughing so hard I had to catch my breath.

I sent her a message and asked if she had ever considered writing a book. Well, she had. She wanted very much to write a book. She and I spent a few months getting to know each other and developing book ideas. After a while, we felt confident we would work together well.

I put together the proposal, Devrie wrote the book, and I started pitching to publishers. We had interest in less than a week, and within a month, we had a wonderful offer. Blackstone will publish the book early next year.

How about a project disappointment — a book that didn’t find the home you thought it would, or that everyone had high hopes for but it didn’t find its audience?

Two years ago, one of my first clients had a terrific book. We got an offer and publishing deal that thrilled us all. I was sure the book would be a bestseller and sell like gangbusters.

At the same time, another client wrote a gorgeous novel, and I started pitching it that same month, expecting to have an offer within six months. In both cases, I am afraid that my expectations were way off. The nonfiction book sold well, but not enough to make the publisher or author happy. The novel is still one of my favorites, and I will not give up until I have found it a home.

But it is quite disappointing for the author to see my other clients get offers and published while she waits.

What do you look for in an author and a project — what makes you think you’ve got a winner?

I look for an author who has a LOT of books in them. I love the idea of helping an author navigate their career, not just one book. I can tell within a few moments if the writing is “my style.”

I need to really love the book I am working with, or it will not be a good fit.

I do not charge for any of my time or work. Agents only get paid once the book sells. If I am going spend months and years working with authors on a book’s editing, pitching, contracts, marketing, launch, and series as well as audio and international rights? I had better love it.

That being said? I do not depend solely on my personal taste. I love books I discovered when I was 30. I read and reread them and love them. But they would not sell today to 30-year-olds. I have to remember that my taste is not everyone’s taste.

My job as an agent is to match my client’s style with the right editor and publishing house. Thank goodness not everyone has my taste in books.

What’s the one thing you want to see in a message from an author who wants you to represent them?

I love to see in the message that the author understands how publishing works. If they mention a conference they attended or organizations they belong to, that is great. I love to see the word count and genre early in the email.

But mainly? Less is more. I do not need much to become willing to read a few pages. If the genre and premise fit the kind of book I represent? I will happily read a few pages.

What are some of the common mistakes authors make when approaching literary agents?

Not knowing the current successful authors in their genre and making claims that their book is unique. (It rarely is.) Another misstep is when I ask for a plot synopsis or plot outline; they do not have it ready. (Agents will need this eventually, so have it ready.)

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

The advice I give most often is to read books that are being published today and in your genre. Book pacing and writing styles change over time, and staying current is essential. If you are selling a book in 2023, your book needs to appeal to readers in 2023.

Thanks so much to Amy for sharing her insights with us!

Years ago, I generated so much global publicity for a subscription newsletter I created that I didn’t have to look for a literary agent for the book version of the newsletter – agents started calling me. That media exposure generated my first agent and book contract.

That’s just one reason why I’m always nudging you to get media attention. The exposure can be priceless.

To help with that, my author publicity course, Get Quoted: A Journalist’s Strategies for Using HARO to Snag Book Publicity, focuses on the single easiest way to get news media attention that can help build your author career. Get the details at https://build-book-buzz.teachable.com/p/get-quoted .

I also created Build Book Buzz Publicity Forms & Templates to help you write and use the most common publicity documents – pitch letters, press releases, sample Q&As, etc.– that you’ll use when seeking author and book publicity. Learn more about this collection of templates and real-world samples at https://build-book-buzz.teachable.com/p/build-book-buzz-publicity-forms-templates .

Get out there and get known. It can help you and your work be discovered by the right people … people like literary agent Amy Collins. 

Got questions about working with a literary agent? Please ask them in a comment. 

That question is a social media staple in author circles.

Sometimes, the author offers up a couple of completely different looks.

Other times, the cover choices have only subtle changes – different ink colors or fonts for the book title, or slight changes in the background image intensity, for example.

There’s no question that this is a popular cover selection strategy.

But is it the only one?

I asked a couple of cover designers and a book sales pro to weigh in with their time-tested advice for making a book cover decision. Here’s what they had to say.

1. Take it to a librarian or bookstore clerk.

“Ask bookstore employees. They know what sells,” says designer Michele DeFilippo of 1106 Design.

Amy Collins of New Shelves Books, a company that places books in libraries and stores, agrees.

“What’s more important than the opinion of friends and family is what your local bookseller or librarian thinks,” she says. “Librarians see thousands of new books every month – along with their checkout rates.”

2. Get opinions from your target audience.

“That’s who you will be marketing to,” says designer Peggy Nehmen of Nehmen-Kodner.

“I see a lot of people posting cover options on their Facebook profiles or to book marketing Facebook groups, but the people who see it might not be in your target audience,” she says.

You’ll get a lot of feedback, for sure, but it might not be the right feedback.

3. Ask the people on your email list.

Your email subscribers are most likely in your book’s target audience, making them the right people to provide feedback on cover options. After all, when they added themselves to your list, they were saying, “I like what you write about.”

“If you’re a new author without a list, seek out writing groups and editors who have experience,” Nehmen says.

4. Take the opinions of friends and family with a grain of salt.

“When you ask friends and family to weigh in, you’re asking people to set aside human nature and a lifetime of conditioning to ‘be nice’ to share an honest opinion, and that’s asking a lot,” says Collins.

What’s more, DeFilippo adds, opinions from people outside your target audience and the publishing industry can backfire.

“Often, their well-meaning suggestions can completely unravel a good design,” she says.

5. Ask someone else to gather opinions for you.

Many people are reluctant to provide negative feedback directly to the author, so Collins recommends taking yourself out of the voting process.

“Ask someone you’re not close to to gather opinions,” she advises. “People will be more honest when they don’t have an emotional connection to the person asking for an opinion.”

One of the best ways to do this is to trade covers with another author. When you do this, be certain to provide specific direction on whose opinions to solicit – don’t expect your representative to know this.

6. Leave your opinion out of the book cover decision.

Unless you’re an avid reader of the genre you write, don’t focus on what you like. Focus on what your readers like.

The author of a self-help book for women asked me to weigh in on several possible cover designs. All were decidedly masculine; none would appeal to me as someone in his target audience. I explained why I couldn’t select any of the choices.

When I saw that he used one from the batch I had rejected, I suspected that he picked his favorite after all. I’ve been guilty of doing that, too, but it’s the wrong approach.

“The cover isn’t about the author. It’s about attracting buyers,” says DeFilippo.

7. Have a little faith in your designer.

An experienced and successful cover designer researches genre styles and current trends to create a cover that looks like a best seller.

If you’ve hired someone who knows what they’re doing, let them do it. They’re one of your best resources when making a book cover decision.

How do you decide which cover to use when they all look good? Please tell us in a comment. 

Tip of the Month

I like to share a “Tip of the Month,” a free resource or tool for authors, on the last Wednesday of the month.

This month’s tip — or tips, really — should save you a little time when using your smartphone. Heather Lutze at Findability University introduced me to these voice command cheat sheets for both Apple’s Siri and Google Voice:

• Siri for iPhone
• Google Voice

Use these to become a phone boss!

No  more looking for your contacts icon, then typing a name into the search box. No more pulling up your calendar, looking for the date, and manually adding an appointment.

Review your list to become familiar with the possibilities, then tell your phone what you need. You’ll make things happen more quickly.

Is library distribution in your book’s future?

By Amy Collins

As we turn our attention to back to school and stores fill up with autumn displays, this is a great time to create and launch your plans to get library distribution for the rest of 2017 and into 2018.

Most librarians are looking for books like yours — presuming it’s a good book. According to the Public Library Association 2016 survey of more than 5,800 librarians, more than 90 percent said they do buy print-on-demand – POD – and self-published books.

Library budgets are up

Unlike a lot of the market, budgets and traffic at public libraries are increasing. Budgets for book purchases have been increasing for the past three years according to the Library Journal and American Library Association Materials Survey. And, the Public Library Association reports that foot traffic at public libraries has increased 6.5 percent over the past year.

Smart authors and publishers are using this steady growth to find new readers and increase their sales. Libraries attract avid, enthusiastic readers, making them the best place for these rabid book fans to find their next favorite author (you?).

Library book purchases are almost always non-returnable. What’s more, getting books onto the shelves of the almost 12.000 public libraries is an amazing way to promote your book to the most sought after readers in the world.

Library distribution can be profitable for you

But it’s more than placement and marketing for authors. Libraries are incredibly profitable. They buy books and share book information with other branches that will then buy even more of your books. Paperbacks are the most popular format, but e-books and audiobooks are growing at a wonderful rate.

According to the Library Journal and American Library Association Materials Survey for 2017, money budgeted for book and material purchases rose 3.7 percent. Over half of the responding libraries—58 percent—budgeted an increase in materials dollars.

Here are the budget and population breakdowns for 2016. (Learn more in Library Journal’s Materials Survey results article.)

Media materials purchases and borrow rates are going up, with downloadable e-books leading the way.

Popular categories

It’s not just the format of the book or e-book that librarians are looking for. The order of the top 10 fiction genres has remained constant over the past three years. Mystery, general fiction, and romance still lead the pack. (Not at all coincidentally, those are some of the top e-book categories across all sales channels in the industry.) Cooking and biography/memoir were the top categories in 2014, 2015, and again in 2016.

Do you know how to sell to libraries?

It’s time to stop merely thinking about getting your book into libraries and start creating your public library plan so you’ve got library distribution.

The key to getting onto their shelves is understanding what librarians are looking for. It’s important to understand that:

1. Libraries license e-books (which means repeat income).
2. Libraries will buy books from self-published and indie authors (which means this lucrative market is open to all).

Watch the free video training on how to sell to libraries and discover:

• The types of books libraries buy the most in both fiction and nonfiction.
• Why you don’t have to be a best-seller to get your book into libraries.
• The “tipping point” where your library sales go viral and your library book sales spread like wildfire.
• The step-by-step process involved with getting your book into libraries.
• How to discover who’s in charge of buying books at your local library.
• When you should call your local librarian to talk and what you should say to get them to buy your book.
• Ways to create local demand for your book, which is absolutely key to your success.

Don’t miss out on this lucrative market. If you’ve got a good book, it deserves to be in libraries so you can reach, help, and entertain more people.

Is your book available in libraries? If you’re self-published, what’s the most important thing you did to get it there? 

Several gift shops in national parks, nature reserves, information centers, and tourist destinations plus a popular independent bookstore sell Australian indie author Sandra Bennett’s children’s books.

And she’s the one who made it happen.

Sandra, the author of two picture books and two chapter books, is proof that once you know the rules of the game, you can get your book into independent gift shops and bookstores.

Before making store sales a priority, most of the Aussie author’s book sales were coming from her website, word of mouth marketing, and school visits. Now, Sandra’s selling out at stores and getting repeat orders from the retailers, who enjoy providing an indie product that customers love.

How Sandra got her indie book into stores

What’s her secret?

It starts with a quality product. Then she’s selective about the stores she offers her books to.

“My advice is to think about your particular niche and research places where you think your books will be a good fit,” Sandra says. “I have walked into some gift shops thinking they would be ideal, then looked around to see what they are selling and decided not even to ask. I could see they would not be interested in carrying them as there are either no other children’s books in the store or books only specifically targeted to a particular region.”

But she’s got one more important tip, too: “Never give up. You will be surprised by who will say yes, particularly if your books are good quality. The manager at one tourist destination said my books ‘sell themselves,’  ” she says.

Want to get your indie book into stores?

If you’d like to enjoy Bennett’s success in Australia — if you’d like to see your books on shelves in independent bookstores and gift shops — then you’ll be interested in the video replay of a free webinar I hosted on November 9.

In this replay video, my guests Amy Collins and Daniel Hall teach you “How Indie Authors and Publishers Can Sell Tons of Books to Independent Book Stores, Gift Shops, and Specialty Retailers.” (The replay video is available for just a few days, so watch it soon.)

Amy is president of New Shelves Books, one of the best-known book sales and marketing agencies in the U.S. She is a trusted expert, speaker, and recommended sales consultant for some of the largest book and library retailers and wholesalers in the publishing industry. In the past 20 years, Amy and her team have sold more than 40 million books into the bookstore, library, and chain store markets for small and mid-sized publishers.

Daniel is an author, speaker, consultant, and coach who has created the popular “Real Fast” training programs designed to help authors, speakers, coaches, consultants, and entrepreneurs effectively grow their businesses faster.

Free training takeaways

In the video, Amy and Daniel teach you what Sandra and others have done to enjoy success with retailers, including:

• What kinds of books independent book and gift stores want to see (coloring books, anyone?)
• What they’re buying – and when
• How stores get the books they want (and how to make sure one of them is yours!)
• How to determine if your book is a good fit for any given store
• Why you should be looking past bookstores to other indie retailers
• The specific questions you must ask yourself before approaching stores
• What to write in your first email so the book buyer opens that store’s door wide for you (and escorts you through it)
• How to turn “No” into “Yes”

If you’ve dreamed of seeing your self-published book in stores, watch the replay for How Indie Authors and Publishers Can Sell Tons of Books to Independent Book Stores, Gift Shops, and Specialty Retailers now.

Big thanks to Sandra for sharing her success story with us! She’s an inspiration and excellent role model.

Do you have questions about getting your book into independent bookstores and gift shops? Share them here. 

Why you need both CreateSpace and IngramSpark

By Amy Collins

I have been asked one question more than any other: “Do I need IngramSpark if I have CreateSpace?”

I know it’s tempting to avoid the extra expense and hassle of taking on a second print on demand (POD) provider, but I want to take a moment and share some of the experiences we’ve had at New Shelves Books with our POD work.  I hope these statements help you determine if you need one or both.

So . . . do you need both?

Yes:

• CreateSpace does a terrific job with Amazon.
• CreateSpace charges less for printing and set up fees than IngramSpark.
• CreateSpace does offer “extended distribution” for bookstores and libraries (sort of . . . more later).
• IngramSpark charges set up fees and a lot more for proofs than CreateSpace does.

But:

• CreateSpace’s “extended distribution” is only fully available to those books using a CreateSpace ISBN. (You should always buy your own ISBNs and have a direct relationship with your book’s brand and ISBNs.)
• Even if your book has extended distribution and can be bought by bookstores, it most likely won’t be. Bookstores do not relish the idea of giving their biggest competitor money.
• In addition, the extended distribution offered by CreateSpace is actually IngramSpark! CreateSpace uses IngramSpark for the distribution. It does not, however, offer competitive discounts to the bookstores, further narrowing your chances of being stocked.
• You will be instantly relegated to the pile of “self-published” books before the buyer has a chance to review the quality.
• IngramSpark allows your book the chance to be ordered in many countries and formats that CreateSpace does not.

So:

• Use CreateSpace for Amazon. It does a great job and takes less money for each sale.
• Use IngramSpark in addition so that your book can be ordered by the bookstores and libraries from the large wholesalers with which they prefer doing business.
• Use your own (Bowker-provided) ISBN so that you have the benefits of your publishing company’s brand on all databases.
• Don’t cheap out. IngramSpark and CreateSpace are two different tools for two different markets. If you don’t want to be in the retail store and library market, then you don’t need IngramSpark. But if stores and libraries are your goal, then spend the money to provide the books to them in the manner that gives them the best chance of saying “yes.”

Finally

If you really cannot stand the thought of using more than one POD provider, go with IngramSpark. It will allow you access to more venues even if it makes you less money per unit.

IngramSpark and CreateSpace take all comers.

Do you still have a question about this? Ask Amy in a comment. 

That’s right. 7:05 on a Saturday morning.

I wasn’t the only one there consuming caffeine and taking notes – there were many others who thought the topic was important enough to set the alarm for an early session.

The topic?

Understanding Amazon so you sell more books on that powerful platform.

Becoming a best seller isn’t the hard part

Presenter Amy Collins of book distributor New Shelves pointed out that becoming an Amazon best seller in your category isn’t as hard as you might think.

Noting that you don’t need to sell a lot of books to see your ranking improve dramatically, she told attendees that to become a best seller for one day, you just need to:

• Make sure your book is in the right category.
• Give 12 friends an Amazon gift card.
• Tell them to use it to buy your book on a specific day.
• Remind them the day before that they’re supposed to buy your book the next day.
• Remind them on the designated day to buy your book.
• Watch your ranking climb to the top.

“Ranking feels good, but doesn’t mean much,” Collins says.

That’s because you don’t need to sell a lot of books to reach the top. Does it give you something to brag about? Oh, sure. Does it generate large deposits of Amazon cash in your checking account? Not necessarily.

Getting found in searches is more important.

You want searchability

Strategies for showing up in Amazon searches include:

• Knowing the right keywords to select and how to find and use them.
• Figuring out the right category for your book (there are more than 60 for just “Antiques & Collectibles”).
• Presenting readers with a thorough Author Central profile.
• Getting lots of reviews (“You get no love from Amazon until you hit 35 reviews,” she says).

Collins also recommended using the Listmania function to create lists that include your books (learn now to do that in the May 13, 2015 issue of the free Build Book Buzz newsletter – get the issue by subscribing) and creating wishlists that include your books.

Webinar shows you how to do it

Want to learn how to do all these things — and more? The upcoming Build Book Buzz webinar, “How to Sell More Books on Amazon,” will show you how (visit the “How to Sell More Books on Amazon”  registration page for  details.) Amazon expert Shelley Hitz will demonstrate the must-dos and must-knows in a presentation that will include answers to your real time questions.

How are your Amazon sales? Do you think you’re selling as many books as you should be?