by Bobbie Christmas
Q: I wrote a book about fifteen years ago and sold the rights to a publishing house. The book sold slowly, but it finally sold out. The publisher would not commit to printing a second edition, so I had the publisher return my rights. When I looked the book over, I saw that it could benefit from more work, so I created a second edition. Should I try to sell the second edition to another publisher, or should I self-publish it?
A: The question of whether to self-publish or seek a traditional publisher is one that many of us face today. In “olden days” self-publishing was considered vanity publishing and was not highly regarded. Because of the difficulty of finding a traditional publisher willing to pay all expenses, much less give an advance as well, and because of technological advances, self-publishing has become mainstream and completely acceptable. In addition, self-publishing is considerably speedier than traditional publishing. The latter may take years, because you may have to go through the tedious process of trying to land an agent who then spends time trying to sell it to a publisher, and if the agent is successful in finding a publisher willing to buy your book, it still may be a year or more before the publisher actually prints and releases the book.
I had a similar situation when my publisher of Write In Style decided not to go to a second printing after the first printing sold out. After Union Square Publishing returned my rights, I upgraded, updated, and expanded the book and self-published the second edition. I’ve already made more money on the second edition than I did on the first, despite the fact that the traditional publisher paid all the expenses and paid me an advance as well. The key is that I invested in the book, so I’m keeping all the profits rather than a publisher taking the biggest chunk out of the profits.
The subject of self-publishing versus traditional publishing is too broad to cover in a short column, but send me an email at Bobbie@zebraeditor.com and I’ll send you a full report that covers the advantages and disadvantages of both traditional and self-publishing. The report may help you create a pro-and-con chart based on your wants and needs, and then you will be able to make a firm decision.
Q: I know that when using Chicago Style for book manuscripts I shouldn’t uppercase an office, such as “the president.” How about when I address the person by title, though, such as the following: “Tell me, General, how did that happen?” Should it be lowercase, instead?
A: According to Chicago style, a title used alone to replace a personal name is capitalized only when it is used in direct address, a toast, or a formal introduction. In the case of your sentence above, your usage is correct, then, because it is direct address: “Tell me, General, how did that happen?” If the sentence read differently, it might be lowercased, such as in this case: “Tell the general how it happened.”
Q: Someone asked for a detailed query about my nonfiction book. I have written one with a hook, a second paragraph briefly describing the contents, and a third saying I contacted professionals in my research. Does this information sound right, or are some things missing?
A: It’s difficult to say without reading the actual query, but it sounds like it’s a good start. You’re right to keep it short. A query is not the same as a full book proposal.
Remember to tell the genre and subgenre of the book—if the genre is informational, explain if the subgenre is self-help, travel, or history, for example. Vital too is the word count, or if the work is not yet complete, give the estimated final word count. One more step might be to refer to a specific book the agent or publisher has handled and say why your book is better or different. In this way you show that you’ve done your research and know you’re querying an agent or publisher that handles your type of book.
Bobbie Christmas, book editor, author of Write In Style: Use Your Computer to Improve Your Writing, and owner of Zebra Communications, will answer your questions, too. Send them to Bobbie@zebraeditor.com. Read Bobbie’s Zebra Communications blog.