Post #96 – Women’s Memoirs, Book Business – Kendra Bonnett and Matilda Butler
Big News at She Writes
On June 29th, Kamy Wicoff, founder of She Writes, and Brooke Warner, former executive editor at Seal Press, announced their new She Writes Press. And after carefully reading their press release and all the material on their new website, and given what Matilda and I know about working with She Writes…I can honestly say that this is not your mother’s publisher–and I’ll explain why in a minute. Kamy and Brooke have really thought this through to create a fabulous new publishing option for you.
First, many of you know Seal Press. It’s long been a great house for women writers, and well-known for the memoirs it publishes. Whenever any of you ask us where you should try submitting your manuscript, we always suggest Seal. Second, if you have followed Matilda and me over to She Writes during any of the four weeks when we were guest blogging, then you’ve had the pleasure of discovering what is probably the largest and most active social network for women writers. Combining the best of these two worlds, you know you can expect great things.
High Standards for Self Publishing
But here’s the thing that really jumps out at me. While She Writes Press is a pay-for-service publisher, and it’s convenient for me to say that it’s somewhat in the tradition of Lulu.com, that’s about where the comparison ends. Simply put, She Writes Press is not your press of last resort. Yes, you can buy their services, but you also must meet their standards. This keeps the brand strong, so you can be proud to have She Writes Press as your imprint.
Also, Kamy and Brooke have sharpened their pencils, as we say, to create a strong service that is affordable. Visit their site to read about their publishing package. You can also select services a la carte. And if you need a service She Writes Press doesn’t offer in-house, they can provide resource referrals. And another big plus: You’ll also keep more of the profits on the back end.
Okay, that’s all I’m going to say about She Writes Press. Go to their site and read all about it. I’m rushing because I want to turn the rest of this post over to Brooke Warner. She was kind enough to entertain a few interview questions from us, and I think you’ll find her answers interesting.
Women’s Memoirs: Brooke, congratulations to you and Kamy on your new venture, and thank you for agreeing on very short notice to this little interview. I am quite sure that Women’s Memoirs readers are going to enjoy hearing from you as well as learning more about She Writes Press. Okay, first question. Based on your years of experience at Seal Press and with your own coaching program, what’s the biggest challenge writers are facing today in either publishing or marketing?
Brooke Warner: I think the biggest challenge writers face is two-fold. There are the writers who struggle to take their writing to the next level. They love to write, have a manuscript-in-progress, but they are writing in a bubble. Oftentimes when these writers attempt to shop their manuscripts, they get rejections but they don’t know why. A lot of my coaching clients fall into this category. They need a push or support to take their writing to the next level, to make the work the best it can be, and to get it into publishable shape.
The second problem facing writers has to do with their platform, or lack thereof. Lots of writers with very good manuscripts get rejected by traditional publishers because they have no platform to speak of. At this point, in the publishing industry, writers are required to have so much in place: Facebook and Twitter fans; a popular blog; public speaking; networks; connections to industry and organizations; and more. I see a lot of writers struggling with the balance between working on their writing and working on their platforms. But today the two really are equally important for the writer hoping to get published on a traditional press.
Women’s Memoirs: In Kamy’s first blog post about She Writes Press, she described your original vision, “a press for authors who want to try their hand at publishing outside the traditional system, but who also want to be part of a high-quality, curated imprint.” Did you and Kamy recognize a need that you felt was not adequately met among other publishing services and that you felt needed to be addressed?
Brooke Warner: Yes, definitely, and it has to do with the vetting. We specifically wanted to provide a publishing model that mirrored a traditional publishing model, including providing authors with an assessment of their work and recommendations for next steps if the work is not ready to publish.
Most self-publishing companies simply take writers’ money. They aren’t true publishing partners, and they’re not invested in the success of their authors. Because She Writes Press serves the SheWrites.com community, and because Kamy and I are both so invested in seeing women writers succeed, our model aims to help them do just that by making sure they’re publishing something that’s truly ready to be published.
I’ve worked with lots of writers over my thirteen-year publishing career, and many aspiring writers simply aren’t objective. Writing is such an exercise in vulnerability, and oftentimes we share our writing and get feedback that our friends and family love it and we think our work is ready to publish. While many writers understand they need an objective opinion about their writing and want to hone their craft, others jump the gun and either shop their work or self-publish before it’s the best it can be. The result, unfortunately, is that they get rejected, or that their self-published book doesn’t sell.
We’re not guaranteeing we can make books sell better by ensuring the work is up to a certain standard before we publish it, but we can guarantee that our authors will not later regret having published too soon (a common complaint I hear in my coaching practice, after the fact), and we believe that She Writes Press authors will be given the benefit of the doubt by booksellers and reviewers and even by consumers as a result of having been vetted. Kamy and I consider ourselves to be author advocates. I anticipate that our feedback to authors who need extensive work or editing might be difficult for some of them to hear, but I also know that writers appreciate honest feedback. Those who want to sell books and have a writing career will benefit from knowing that She Writes Press will only publish their work when it’s ready.
Women’s Memoirs: I read with considerable interest about the Passion Project. I also followed a link to a description of a Passion Project contest, which appears to be something She Writes did about two years ago. I’m curious if the current program will use the same contest format to receive entries. Or will you just keep an eye out for a good candidate as manuscripts and queries come in?
Brooke Warner: We are not going to set up the She Writes Press passion project in the same way the contest was held at SheWrites.com. Every prospective author is a candidate for the passion project, and yes, we will be keeping an eye out and choosing at our own discretion. Carrying on the passion project was important to Kamy, and it’s such a great way to support the community and to give back. We’re excited about this and already we’re keeping this in the backs of our minds as we review these early submissions we’re receiving.
Women’s Memoirs: Finally, what, in your opinion, is the most important component of any book marketing program…something that authors should absolutely not overlook?
Brooke Warner: For me, when it comes to the marketing campaign, after the book is published, the most important component is figuring out where your readers are and then getting yourself in front of them. This is the key to all good marketing and publicity. Many authors cast their nets too wide. The value of knowing your target audience and identifying where they hang out is that you can then direct your marketing efforts toward showing up where they hang out.
Authors should be identifying blogs where they can guest post, pitching excerpts or articles to journals and magazines their target readership reads, and being active on social media sites where they actually have the opportunity to engage potential readers. In terms of something not to be overlooked, it’s the value of having a home base. All authors need to have a good and functional website, and it should have a blog component, even if the author is only blogging once a month. It should also have social media icons that lead readers to Facebook and Twitter (at least), if not LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, and others.
Women’s Memoirs: Thank you, Brooke, for agreeing on such short notice (July 4th) to doing this little interview. Matilda and I wish you and Kamy all great success with She Writes Press. And we look forward to having a more extensive conversation with you both in the future.
Brooke Warner comes to She Writes Press as its publisher with 13 years experience in publishing. She spent seven and a half of those years as executive editor at Seal Press. She is also president of Warner Coaching Inc.
