The culprit to the ill fate of both paths is the cost of publicity.  Unfortunately, the vicious circle in the industry is that a publicist is so expensive, commonly several thousand dollars per month to start, that mainly large publishers and those authors that don’t need the sales of the book can truly afford it.

For publishers, accepting authors that aren’t prime publishing material, or are unknown; calls for additional marketing and allocation of other resources preferred for mainstream authors. It’s why big publishers usually do not bother with no-name authors.

The risks of using a smaller publisher are widespread. By far the most common and punishing one is that small or upstart houses usually will not, or cannot, carry the marketing costs associated with publicity, especially for new or unproven authors.  Also, small publishers often are not qualified to provide effective promotions.  The result is that few books get good third party promotional assistance. The publisher sometimes provides basic marketing plans for their books, usually at additional cost to the author.  While these may seem ample to the untrained eye of an author, they actually are inadequate to make a real difference.

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The Traditional Publisher

Large publishers are typically traditional; they have the leverage to attract seasoned authors, and see no need to squander their marketing and human resources on lesser contenders.  First-time and unaccomplished authors often have little recourse.

A large publisher is likely to provide more than enough publicity to get a title qualified for bookstores; but the inherent problem of first-time authors getting picked up by them is further compounded by the need for an agent. With few exceptions, the larger houses will not consider any title without representation.

A big issue if getting past the front door is that the large publishers share little of the royalties with first-time authors.  It is not uncommon to receive from 8% to probably a maximum of 15%, with 10% being the average.  On the other hand, a seasoned author’s starting salary would be at the 15% mark and in some cases more.  The low royalties overall, especially for new authors, are designed as such to pay for the marketing needs of the book, and for any advances offered while also as an insurance for loss profits of fellow new authors.

Another situation is that large publishers don’t provide much feedback, nor will they commonly interact with the author. This may not be a problem to some, but generally it’s good to have the author participate in some of the decisions, or at least be well advised of the events pertaining to him and the title.  The author’s opinion on publicity matters or the particulars of the book (such as title, cover design and/or chapter names) are more likely to be considered by smaller publishers.

Large publishers also have no qualms about dropping a book, or “passing it under,” if the title doesn’t perform as expected with certain reviewers or market tests. Rather than have a publicist continue with that title to maximize its profit potential, it is determined, after certain minimal publicity developments, if it has any appeal to select buyers who will distribute to selected bookstores, a reduced footprint in the national store arena.  Or, the book is dropped completely from publicity and their losses are minimized.  In both cases, the only hope for a better outcome is for the author to hire her own publicist to further promote the title – at her own expense, of course. The publisher will re-assign that original publicist to a new book, hoping this one will more than compensate for any minimized expectations from the one in question. Thus maximum company profits are assured.

Lastly, with traditional publishers who do provide an assigned publicist to a book, the campaign is often limited to a few weeks after the publishing date. To keep his title’s promotion going past that time, the author needs to hire an outside publicist.  Again, the additional profits are not significant enough for the publisher to keep that publicist on it; that human resource is considered too valuable to be used on a title that is presumed expended. He or she is assigned another project.

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When Publicity is Left Behind

Many vanity press houses will allow up to half royalties to authors (while some calling themselves self publishing houses), that’s because there is no real expectation of any sales worthwhile; the sales mainly come from the author and not the readers, so why not boast of top royalties?  Often the sales that the author can provide do not amount to any losses in royalties, but instead the high royalty serves as an added insurance in securing the authors business.

On more legitimate publishing, without the publicist working for the branding and publicity of author and book, first-time authors do not have a viable chance under most of the small publishers out there. Because the publisher thinks in terms of publishing first and then publicity; there is rarely a qualified publicist on staff to carry out the necessary campaign.  This is an anomaly created by the existence of P.O.D. (print on demand), small publishers began to spring up but couldn’t afford the publicity that the large ones could.  If there is publicity available, those services are reserved for top authors only.

Normally small publishers don’t do this themselves because they don’t know how to make the publicity efforts work for them, so it’s often counter productive for them to push efforts, resources and especially expense into something they don’t understand.  The big publishers simply pull the plug if certain criteria does not match up and move their hired publicist to other projects, so still thinking as publishers. In short, the small publishers are publishers first, and that is what hurts them.  This is true of large publishers; they are publishers first, only with deeper pockets.

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Publicity and the Author come First

We are aware that these are predicaments with the mainstream scheme.  What VerveStar is doing is developing the publishing campaign around the publicity, so we can absorb much of the cost of publicity and depend on its dedication for returns when the book starts to sell.  Our fee is a fraction what most publicists would charge, while having the book published at no additional cost.  A publicist offers no guarantee that his/her service will suffice; however, it stands to reason that if the publicist’s proceeds are dependent on the book’s sales, wouldn’t that be incentive enough to maximize the publicity efforts?  It is for us.

The author should get their fair share of the proceeds.  The low royalties overall, especially for new authors, are designed as such to pay for the marketing needs of the book, and for any advances offered while also as an insurance for loss profits of fellow new authors.  Though our royalties do vary and are set under proprietary means, they do start without the assumption that the new author’s title is a liability waiting to happen.

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Publicity to Film, Branding Center Stage

VerveStar is approaching publishing the way the auto industry has done for many years now, because the rest of the literary industry has lagged behind.  The auto industry builds its prototype cars around the race-car driver. Because of it, the efficiency and high output of nearly all vehicles are much advanced, not to mention much safer.  That new technology is utilized by the car makers in its final product.

We are doing just the same, building the campaign around the publicity of the author and his book, and then publishing the book of that ready-made and ongoing publicity.  This will provide authors with a much better outcome no-matter how early the prototype is. Today the final product needs to be the publicity, not the book.  We are publicists first, and then publishers.

In addition, under the umbrella of VerveStar, a Public Relations Entertainment Company, the publishing division can offer further benefits beyond the range of other publishers.  In the book-to-film inclusion of all titles, and in integrated fashion, we can carefully examine all of our options to consider bringing each title to film; adding another dimension to authors allied with us that rivals the publicity and publishing aspect itself all the while complementing it.

It started with Fleeting Pages who opened a store in a former Borders location in Pittsburgh.  WordUp Books “popped up” in a vacant pharmacy location in the Washington Heights district of Manhattan and in Berlin, digital bookshop Dialogue Books got its start for 6 months as a pop-up store. Like Dialogue, most of these pop-ups are temporary and have developed an online storefront to continue the cause.

There is a movement going and more book lovers, authors and activists are uniting together to continue their versions of the pop-up idea in their own towns, but why just temporary? The main reasons are money; time and the fact that it is a crusade in the making.  How can we help? Let’s begin first by applying the awe-inspiring philosophy that Fleeting Pages had on some of their windows and interior walls: “Think outside the Big Box” and “Indies Exist Beyond Borders”.  The increase of eReaders like Kindle and The Nook are in hot demand, but at the same time have led many in the industry to question the future of the printed book.  Yes, I love the technology too…it’s great that we can load our entire library on our iPads and its cheaper to carry it onto the plane than pack your current reads, but nothing beats cuddling up to a good book after being wired to smartphone, laptop and iPod all day…in a heartbeat!  Obviously I’m not alone in this, in fact just a few weeks ago I was being interviewed by a journalist at the Pittsburgh Review in regards to an author of ours, Frank Say that was the featured speaker in a town that loves books and reading, but just lost their only bookstore…that store was Borders, located in Bridgewater, PA and home to the Bridgewater Book Festival.  The journalist informed me that this county doesn’t have any bookstores, not even an independent…in fact the nearest bookstore is miles away in Pittsburgh.  So the solution is that this community could banned together just like those that formed Fleeting Pages and put a popup bookstore in that abandoned Borders location or even some other old storefront.

I plan on following up on this topic, its essential that we keep this buzzed.  The print book is not and will not die, like any business Literary and Entertainment have its lulls, but where there are readers and authors there will be demand. Power of print contributes to society in so many ways:  Job and business creation, Fosters Ideas, Educates, motivates and inspires the mind and really gets you thinking!  There are also too many other reasons to name in this blog entry, but one that I will mention, is that it encourages literacy!  Whatever your niche is…whereas its advocacy, writing, publishing or trendsetting…reach out, follow and help keep this great cause alive.  When Indies Unite, greatness happens and the beauty of it all is that together we can make a difference beyond borders.

Larry Dillon, Terri Ryan and Rick Gillis

“Millionaire Matchmaker meets The Fairy Jobmother” with an Extreme Makeover twist.  The show features the Top Career Coach/Headhunters and HR Professionals from cities in the West, East, South and the Midwest United States as they guide and makeover potential job candidates.  Employment seeking candidates can apply to be on the show.

The Career Matchmakers fills the void that people everywhere and at any age can find their dream job or career path.  In today’s tough economy many HR professionals are seeing career transitioning or people entering careers different from their usual profession and using their skillsets to enter new and challenging markets.  The Career Matchmakers takes some of our nation’s best employment pros and recruiters and we follow them on their magical mystery tour acquiring citizens from real employment to dream jobs in cunning style.  They will coach, offer valuable suggestions and even send the candidate for a makeover so that they find the ultimate career match.

Attention: NYC Female Career Coaches – CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Song Lyrics have meanings but why are they not always so obvious? Carry on Wayward Son has been a mystery song full of awe that is considered a masterpiece by many but it’s meaning still today is rather elusive.

Written when I was barely around in 1976 still today can be listened to from time to time on radio stations around the  world. I never ran across it that I recall until I became an avid teenage rock fan of some sort in the mid 80′s.

I remember when I first listened to Kansas with this song in particular I fell in love with their music and style that was so different than anything else  I heard, not necessarily better than my other favorites, but just uniquely different; and their lyrics were so poetic. I then wanted to know what they  were saying and what they meant… but at the time I had to settle for catching up with their newer music and those for my other band favorites.

These are their Lyrics:

Carry on my wayward son,
For there’ll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don’t you cry no more

Once I rose above the noise and confusion
Just to get a glimpse beyond the illusion
I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high
Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man
Though my mind could think I still was a mad man
I hear the voices when I’m dreaming’, I can hear them say

Carry on my wayward son,
For there’ll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don’t you cry no more

Masquerading as a man with a reason
My charade is the event of the season
And if I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don’t know
On a stormy sea of moving emotion
Tossed about I’m like a ship on the ocean
I set a course for winds of fortune, but I hear the voices say

Carry on my wayward son,
For there’ll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don’t you cry no more

Carry on, you will always remember
Carry on, nothing equals the splendor
Now your life’s no longer empty
Surely heaven waits for you

Carry on my wayward son,
For there’ll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don’t you cry no more

Recently I sought out find the meaning, but ran across dead ends though managed to find a few hints.  From what I understand, there was an ‘official’ explanation by Kansas on this in an interview sometime after the song was a hit.

They stated as it goes that it was about Vietnam and the war there as 76’ was just a few years after it ended; yet, interpretations for the song continue to be a list long. The lyrics do seem confusing (meaning wise) if it was about Vietnam in some instances, as seductive as they are.

There are 2 important scenes in the Lyrics that are unmistakable… The Wayward son and the flight of Icarus, everything else is left for interpretation. Those 2 events drive the story line as well as do some motives.

To understand how this is used, we need to know some history.

Kansas was under a lot of pressure to make a hit for this album as everything else had fallen short. According to Wiki, Walsh who normally would write songs for Kansas was having writer’s block and Kerry Livgren was taking over much of the songwriting for ‘Leftoverture’, their then fourth album.

This was a chance for Livgren to turn everything around. If he could overcome the pressure, there is a lot of strength that comes from within knowing your Lyrics may reach Millions of people… “If you just get it right”. It was up to him to make the difference and he had all the support, marketing expertise from those around him including the Record Company with their producers and PR savvy.

We don’t know what went on behind closed doors, but one conversation I imagine may have happened from their PR experts at the time is for them to try to write all-encompassing hit song/s… this is a big deal promotion-ally speaking. Now that is easier said than done, and back then they had to impress the radio stations that in turn got impressed by listeners wanting them to replay that new ‘hit’ from Kansas. But I believe they knew he could do it.

What I am getting at is that several or more of the explanations are in place here, not just 1; this song was meant to have double/triple meanings! This was done by design. Yes it was Kerry Livgren who made it happen, not the producers, he was a prolific and brilliant writer who could do it… Hotel California was done the same way – no one knows the meaning of it exactly, because there is more than one in my opinion but I haven’t looked into it further… I do believe Eagle’s lack of any full interpretation has helped it stay among the top songs of all time – but that’s a separate story.

There are 3 different explanations I have seen that strike me as would be a genuine intent by Kerry Livgren. The Vietnam War perspective; the religious point of view; and a precarious teenage boy voyager-ism experience. Those together embraces a large portion of audiences that not 1 explanation could possibly do if all else was equal, and I believe that was the motive. This also helps solidify the branding of the hit and album- by cross branding in this way.

I believe Livgren masterfully combined all 3, and had enough experiences to do so. He did it seamlessly, and had to do it with great conviction.

As a rockstar, he may have experiences with LSD or other drugs, same as many Vietnam soldiers had.. maybe not common knowledge then but as a popular figure on some level he probably knew about some information on what and how things happened over there (Vietnam). He also had his own life and rise to stardom to gather from- you can say he was a Wayword son himself. He was very spiritual as well, though not a christian at the time written.

I believe that he did have a main storyline in his head as he wrote this, and it was about his own life and rise to stardom terminating in this song being the ‘heaven’ or where Kansas would actually ‘Breakout’. He was predicting the popularity of the song itself or the album (“nothing equals the splendor” it would bring), and that’s in fact what happened as the song lead them to fame.

It’s important to understand that as he wrote this, he kept in mind to allow for at least the 3 interpretations above.

If you follow the Lyrics from beginning to end keeping in mind that it’s about His life with the true possibilities of failure, including past failures (such as when Jefferson Airplane flopped for him)… while remembering to allow room for ‘encompassing interpretations’ on the song as this time they had to get it right; then you should find that the pieces fit well.

One way to look at it is the motive and how it ties with the song:
The main audience are 3:

The Vietnam Vet (and families); they are understood what they had gone thru by these lyrics.

Teenagers who try at stardom or other dreams only to fall short; they are consoled, and still encouraged, as they were the natural fans of rock then.

The religious populations and their youth especially; self-explanatory with ‘Wayward son’ better known as prodigal son in christian religion…

How does this main chorus ‘not’ fit any one of these groups?:

“Carry on my wayward son;
they’ll be peace when you are done.
Lay your weary head to rest,
don’t you cry no more”

Questionably on some level it may not fit with the Vietnam vets but that is overshadowed by other strong correlations in the other lyrics and the admittance of Kansas- assuming an interview happened saying so as suggested out there. The motive of maximizing the audiences to sell the records needed really is the driving force here.

The Record Company and friends, along with the fear of failing and the thrill to succeed, drove Kerry Livgren to deliver this song. The meanings are at least 3 fold with Vietnam being it’s public interpretation; but he did this using his own personal journey, including his feeling of the times and events of the day, as his main narrative to the storyline of this Masterpiece.

Brake: To stop. Usually refers to a mechanical process, as in “I brake for bears.”
Break: Split, fracture, or another type of stopping. Like, “Let’s break for lunch” or “I didn’t mean to break that lamp.”
So I guess the way you spell it depends on whether your character is yelling at a train engineer or boxers.

These two used to cause me no end of trouble: “capital” and “capitol.”
Capital: assets; essential; main city. “This project needs more investment capital,” or “Austin is the capital of Texas,” or “I say, old chap, what a capital idea!”
Capitol: statehouse. One may refer to “the capitol dome,” for instance.
So what’s in your wallet?

Oh, here are some good ones:
Carat: Unit of weight in gemstones
Caret: A proofreading mark (ˆ) to show insertion
Carrot: An edible root, especially for wascally wabbits
Karat: A unit for measuring the fineness of gold

All of the following are pronounced “key.”
Cay: A small, low island, like Grand Cayman (whose name is pronounced as spelled. Don’t ya just love it?)
Key: A small, low island off Florida (sigh) OR an instrument for opening locks.
Quay: wharf, dock, pier.

And these are all pronounced “chilly,” more or less.
Chile: A country of miner heroes
Chili: A type of hot pepper; a dish containing these peppers.
Chilly: Cool and brisk

This set of homonyms always causes trouble.
Cite: To assert; to quote from; to subpoena
Sight: Vision; the power to see
Site: location or position

Even the dictionary has confused me on this:
Desert: A desolate area, to abandon
Dessert: This gets an extra s for sugar

A tricky one I just learned:
Discreet: Careful, confidential
Discrete: Individual, distinct

Okay, that’s enough for today.

“Missing”

Missing

What a stunning day it is in this scene. I have been to the World Trade Center, but not on the rooftop like this; it was closed to the public at the time. To be as far up in the sky, in open air with such a clear horizon, and still be attached to the ground below, is really the epitome of what is awe-inspiring. On a different occasion this would be a prized opportunity to be envious of.

The man here shows a trace of glee, but maintains his serenity; he could pass for the Mona Lisa’s brother in a way, adding to the eerie peculiarity.  It’s disconcerting to know that his time is soon to vanish dreadfully, yet he himself does not have a clue about the doom to follow. The next few moments will be nothing short of fear, disbelief and terror. What happens next, we can only conclude since he is missing. If we let ourselves, we can even reach a mystic feeling of supremacy with shame; we have this privilege to go back in time for just a moment in this vista, without sharing the same demise. We are watching something that is about to happen and yet cannot do anything to change it if we could, because it already has.

Love and kindness is a common ground value for humanity at its best. But the paradox is clearly seen here in the picture. We all know what happen in the next few seconds.  Well, we know what happened, but could we empathize with how anyone feared and suffered! It would be too overwhelming if we did, but it is clear to say that none died with peace or dignity.

What’s more difficult still to imagine, is the ones on the other side. It’s insulting and even maddening that they may have had some dignity and peace with their actions and suicides.  They have caused so much pain yet did not stand up to the laws of what we feel are common human nature.  What is wrong with this picture?? How could anyone, let alone any group, do anything like this?

As little children we are taught to take baby steps in the horizon of life.  To walk and speak are true accomplishments that we are only too young to celebrate, so it is celebrated for us.  Coloring, playing and pretending are real agendas and fascinating goals that only nature knows how to inspire.  Soon that fascination is interrupted by a constant barrage from those patrons who we believe only have that intrinsic drive to push, while we want to resist -yes our parents.  So then we have to play the part and do those silly things like putting up our toys and washing our hands.  It’s not enough to put on our own shoes, but they each need to be on the correct foot! We have even been conned into thinking some of these things were fun to do; but all with good intentions. These are the times we start learning to form habits.

Learning to share and liking it is a milestone that separates the individual from the child.  Sole Possessions and the obsession of things is a primordial tactic that has its purpose.  A less fierce instinct is the need to belong, but much more commonly and broadly used.  Whether as leaders or followers, we seek that social urge.  Typically the more needy the individual is, the stronger the instinct; left unchecked, in could lead to the force of a runaway train.  That need to belong can be as harsh as to be self-destructive; worse still, it can lead to destroy others.

These individual’s did, in their own thoughts, have reason and purpose to reach this level of confusion; and that’s exactly what it is, because the needy are always confused.  You and me were not born in their town and in their conditions.  We were not born with the prejudice and lack of information of some evil country across the world.  USSR was an opponent, but few Americans would ever imagine targeting the Russian public thinking they are so wicked…yet a few may.  Give a group of ‘needies’ reason to gather; give them a higher cause; give them misinformation, what do you get? – Radical obsessions.  Nazi, terrorists, KKK and every other revulsion group are just that with lessons of hate to drive the cause.

Fear of the unknown is mankind’s internal frontier. Sometimes we have the choice to face it, sometimes we don’t. The horizon in our lives is the uncertainty of the future and yet the reason to live.  It can sometimes be as cold and soul-less as the deep dark ocean trenches, yet still give us hope to fly like an eagle over those bottomless waters.  Respecting and loving fellow mankind, without blindly chasing a dream to belong to him, is needed to give true dignity and worth.  It is what allows us to live with ourselves and be happy.

The man in the picture could have been anyone. It could have been a friend or relative up there. He could have been Catholic, Jewish or even Muslim.  His life purpose may have been to just live and let live.  Either fate or happenstance got involved.  So he has lost his life to whom and for what?  The man piloting that airliner could have sniveled on reasons to justify what he did, but I don’t believe the Universe or his own God will forgive him for allowing hate and ignorance to disrupt all the souls that he did.  In the grand scale of things, the dignity and peace really belong to the man on the tower; the one in the pilot’s seat is now without them, and without a prayer for his own soul.

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This was not the end, but the beginning of my spiritual, and carnal education. My mother daily studied her bible, and would often read to me lessons from it, and a daily devotional titled, The Daily Word.

As I grew older, about the age of 12 and 13, I began searching for that man named Jesus by visiting a different church each week, but never found him. Perhaps it was because He was not there, and I soon stopped searching for him that way, and it wasn’t until 37 years later that I was baptized and began attending church regularly. However, my mother had taught me when I was but 6 years of age to pray a very special prayer of faith which I did, and still do. As I reminisce the various events that contributed to the foundation on which my character and integrity built what I am today, I am humbly grateful, for I realize that I could never achieved successful living by my own efforts. I never, ever, thought that I could, or would write anything worth publishing, or would be worthy for disseminating wisdom for the edification of the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus which is the key to all truth concerning the kingdom of God, and therefore all things pertaining to life.

CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM EDIFIES

MALICIOUS CRITICISM DESTROYS

I recall a lesson I learned at a very young age; it was in the depth of winter, and I was only six years old. I was in the first grade of school where I met a very pretty girl who come to school by bus, and I had a crush on her, and wanted to show off so after school I picked a fight with another boy in my class just to show off. Boy, did I make a mistake, for he did a good job on me, and when I got home I shamefully showed everyone my big black eye. I took a beating in by self esteem as well as my shiner, but I had one more lesson to learn. When my daddy got home that evening you just know I got some strong criticism. He did not physically discipline me, but sat me down to have a good talk. He told me that life would present to me multiple times situations that had to be dealt with, and the manner of self control would dictate the action required, but that I should not use physical force if avoidable, but if necessary I should make sure that I hit first and hard. He implanted in me that fighting, or violence in any way would not gain me any accolades. He was right.

The second lesson I learned about taking criticism was while attending class during my senior year in high school. I had elected to take a course in speech which turned out to be the most valuable confidence building course in my academic years that would pay dividends later in my career. It seems that everything I reported on, my teacher had something to criticize about it, but it was so well formulated to be constructive, and for I needed every bit of it.

There was one other thing her teaching brought forth, and that was when speaking to an audience, bring forth my utterances from my diaphragm, not merely from my voice box, thus projecting the sound of my message from within me.

Throughout my long life this along with God’s revelations of spiritual values pertaining to attaining knowledge of truths have brought forth peace and joy to my living. It is with the greatest confidence that I proclaim I am at peace within my soul, and at the ripe old age of 90 I am not at the least weary, or fearful of the tasks set before me. I know that the predicted future is to materialize at the appointed time, and that emotion, and feelings have no place in it. I have witnessed persons that react to a situation with emotions rather than reason, and they are losers. They are what are commonly identified as one who carries their feelings on their sleeves.

Remember: criticisms can be either constructive, or destructive, and personal feelings or emotional actions can result in the same, so as it is written, guard your heart diligently for out of the abundance of the heart man speaks, and hat so ever you speak you will someday harvest as they are as seed planted that will produce either sweet, good and nutritious crops, or bitter poisonous crops, but no matter which kind you plant, you will someday harvest.

The culprit to the ill fate of both paths is the cost of publicity.  Unfortunately, the vicious circle in the industry is that a publicist is so expensive, commonly several thousand dollars per month to start, that mainly large publishers and those authors that don’t need the sales of the book can truly afford it.

For publishers, accepting authors that aren’t prime publishing material, or are unknown, calls for additional marketing and allocation of other resources preferred for mainstream authors. It’s why big publishers usually do not bother with no-name authors.

The risks of using a smaller publisher are widespread. By far the most common and punishing one is that small or upstart houses usually will not, or cannot, carry the marketing costs associated with publicity, especially for new or unproven authors.  Also, small publishers often are not qualified to provide effective promotions.  The result is that few books get good third party promotional assistance. The publisher sometimes provides basic marketing plans for their books, usually at additional cost to the author.  While these may seem ample to the untrained eye of an author, they actually are inadequate to make a real difference.

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The Traditional Publisher

Large publishers are typically traditional; they have the leverage to attract seasoned authors, and see no need to squander their marketing and human resources on lesser contenders.  First-time and unaccomplished authors often have little recourse.

A large publisher is likely to provide more than enough publicity to get a title qualified for bookstores; but the inherent problem of first-time authors getting picked up by them is further compounded by the need for an agent. With few exceptions, the larger houses will not consider any title without representation.

A big issue if getting past the front door is that the large publishers share little of the royalties with first-time authors.  It is not uncommon to receive from 8% to probably a maximum of 15%, with 10% being the average.  On the other hand, a seasoned author’s starting salary would be at the 15% mark and in some cases more.  The low royalties overall, especially for new authors, are designed as such to pay for the marketing needs of the book, and for any advances offered while also as an insurance for loss profits of fellow new authors.

Another situation is that large publishers don’t provide much feedback, nor will they commonly interact with the author. This may not be a problem to some, but generally it’s good to have the author participate in some of the decisions, or at least be well advised of the events pertaining to him and the title.  The author’s opinion on publicity matters or the particulars of the book (such as title, cover design and/or chapter names) are more likely to be considered by smaller publishers.

Large publishers also have no qualms about dropping a book, or “passing it under,” if the title doesn’t perform as expected with certain reviewers or market tests. Rather than have a publicist continue with that title to maximize its profit potential, it is determined, after certain minimal publicity developments, if it has any appeal to select buyers who will distribute to selected bookstores, a reduced footprint in the national store arena.  Or, the book is dropped completely from publicity and their losses are minimized.  In both cases, the only hope for a better outcome is for the author to hire her own publicist to further promote the title – at her own expense, of course. The publisher will re-assign that original publicist to a new book, hoping this one will more than compensate for any minimized expectations from the one in question. Thus maximum company profits are assured.

Lastly, with traditional publishers who do provide an assigned publicist to a book, the campaign is often limited to a few weeks after the publishing date. To keep his title’s promotion going past that time, the author needs to hire an outside publicist.  Again, the additional profits are not significant enough for the publisher to keep that publicist on it; that human resource is considered too valuable to be used on a title that is presumed expended. He or she is assigned another project.

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When Publicity is Left Behind

Many vanity press houses will allow up to half royalties to authors (while some calling themselves self publishing houses), that’s because there is no real expectation of any sales worthwhile; the sales mainly come from the author and not the readers, so why not boast of top royalties?  Often the sales that the author can provide do not amount to any losses in royalties, but instead the high royalty serves as an added insurance in securing the authors business.

On more legitimate publishing, without the publicist working for the branding and publicity of author and book, first-time authors do not have a viable chance under most of the small publishers out there. Because the publisher thinks in terms of publishing first and then publicity; there is rarely a qualified publicist on staff to carry out the necessary campaign.  This is an anomaly created by the existence of P.O.D. (print on demand), small publishers began to spring up but couldn’t afford the publicity that the large ones could.  If there is publicity available, those services are reserved for top authors only.

Normally small publishers don’t do this themselves because they don’t know how to make the publicity efforts work for them, so it’s often counter productive for them to push efforts, resources and especially expense into something they don’t understand.  The big publishers simply pull the plug if certain criteria does not match up and move their hired publicist to other projects, so still thinking as publishers. In short, the small publishers are publishers first, and that is what hurts them.  This is true of large publishers; they are publishers first, only with deeper pockets.

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Publicity and the Author come First

We are aware that these are predicaments with the mainstream scheme.  What VerveStar is doing is developing the publishing campaign around the publicity, so we can absorb much of the cost of publicity and depend on its dedication for returns when the book starts to sell.  Our fee is a fraction what most publicists would charge, while having the book published at no additional cost.  A publicist offers no guarantee that his/her service will be suffice; however, it stands to reason that if the publicist’s proceeds are dependent on the book’s sales, wouldn’t that be incentive enough to maximize the publicity efforts?  It is for us.

The author should get their fair share of the proceeds.  The low royalties overall, especially for new authors, are designed as such to pay for the marketing needs of the book, and for any advances offered while also as an insurance for loss profits of fellow new authors.  Though our royalties do vary and are set under proprietary means, they do start without the assumption that the new author’s title is a liability waiting to happen.

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Publicity to Film, Branding Center Stage

VerveStar is approaching publishing the way the auto industry has done for many years now, because the rest of the literary industry has lagged behind.  The auto industry builds its prototype cars around the race-car driver. Because of it, the efficiency and high output of nearly all vehicles are much advanced, not to mention much safer.  That new technology is utilized by the car makers in its final product.

We are doing just the same, building the campaign around the publicity of the author and his book, and then publishing the book of that ready-made and ongoing publicity.  This will provide authors with a much better outcome no-matter how early the prototype is. Today the final product needs to be the publicity, not the book.  We are publicists first, and then publishers.

In addition, under the umbrella of VerveStar, a Public Relations Entertainment Company, the publishing division can offer further benefits beyond the range of other publishers.  In the book-to-film inclusion of all titles, and in integrated fashion, we can carefully examine all of our options to consider bringing each title to film; adding another dimension to authors allied with us that rivals the publicity and publishing aspect itself all the while complementing it.

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