| I'm the best-selling author of 12 books, all with major | | | | That entire process of pitching, negotiating, writing, |
| publishers, and I've written well over 1,000 articles. | | | | editing, proofing, printing, and promoting was done by |
| I just want to say that for the record; to establish | | | | the time the sluggish outfit got around to |
| my bona fides, and to alert you to the fact that I'm | | | | communicating its disinterest. |
| actually one of the few "winners" in the publishing | | | | I have more war stories to tell you, but for now, |
| lottery. | | | | just remember these points: |
| So, when I tell you that the absurdity of traditional | | | | (1) Traditional publishers are generally clueless. They |
| book publishers simply grows worse with each | | | | don't know what will sell and what won't. |
| passing year, you might want to take note. | | | | (2) They're curiously impervious to instruction and |
| I've decided to share with you some of the most | | | | improvement. Surrounded by "knowledge" they're |
| stupid rejections that I've received, and continue to | | | | drowning in ignorance. |
| get. | | | | (3) Despite being in a dinosaur industry, without a |
| For instance, the other day I received a form letter | | | | clue about how to charge for information in an |
| from a fairly big business book publisher that said, | | | | Internet age, where so much of it is free, they're as |
| more or less, "We have such a pile of submissions | | | | arrogant as they have ever been. |
| that yours just doesn't matter, but here's a goofy | | | | Don't hitch your wagon to this falling, or is it imploding |
| quote about rejection that might inspire you." | | | | star. |
| What's interesting about this letter is it arrived nearly | | | | Self-publish, use the e-book format, write articles, |
| a year after I WAS INVITED TO SUBMIT MY | | | | and if you can, transform your ideas into more |
| PROPOSAL. My pitch didn't come from the "slush | | | | exciting media such as audios and videos that can |
| pile," as the uninvited stack is so ingloriously called. | | | | fetch much larger royalties and profits than books |
| This publishing house is improving. | | | | that are priced at $17.95. |
| It took these wunderkinds a year and a half to say | | | | If you do any or all of these things, you'll be faster |
| no to my last offer, which by the time I got their | | | | to market with your ideas, and you'll deal with fewer |
| "Sorry!" letter, the underlying manuscript had already | | | | dumb intermediaries that hold keys to castles made |
| been purchased by a different publisher and the final | | | | of sand. |
| product was about to hit the bookstores in 30 days. | | | | |