INTRODUCTION
Many people dream of writing a book. Some actually do it. Then what? You can try to land an agent or publisher and wait around for years to hear something or nothing. Or you can decide you want to do it yourself. You fulfill your dream of becoming an author by empowering yourself to believe you are an author.
ASK YOURSELF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
- Have I perfected the manuscript?
- What sort of help do I need to complete my book? Am I on the right track?
- How do I shepherd it through a publication process?
- Print or E-book?
- How do I distribute my book?
- How do I create an audience for it?
- Do I really want it?
It’s hard enough work writing a book, but much harder to get that book into the hands of readers, particularly if you publish the book yourself, a choice becoming increasingly popular among many debut (and even established) authors. If you are this author, what you need is a high-revving machine, road tested over a million Pacific Northwest miles via 1000 public presentations and successful editing/publishing collaborations with dozens of other regional authors, many of them bestsellers.
NESTUCCA SPIT PRESS AUTHOR MACHINE
I can build that custom author machine for you. Seventeen years ago, I built one for myself. My company, Nestucca Spit Press (NSP) offers a range of editorial and marketing services to emerging writers and poets seeking an independent and innovative approach to finishing, publishing and distributing their books. Since 2002, NSP has a proven record of producing and marketing books through traditional and unconventional channels. Indeed, several titles became statewide bestsellers and sold out their press runs. As of this writing, NSP has sold almost 30,000 books.
NSP helps writers complete their projects and discover new and unexpected audiences for their work. In recent years, I’ve assisted two dozen authors of memoirs and histories, a YA novelist, six poets, a science fiction novelist, essay collections, a Vietnam War novelist and several guidebook writers. Many of these books went on to be published in print or electronic form and several met with critical success and sold-out Oregon press runs. Oregon has been the primary marketing territory for NSP, but its creative promotion and distribution techniques could easily assist an author’s book to reach a regional, even nationwide readership. If you are serious about your book and its potential to inform, entertain or enlighten readers, and want to commit to creating an audience for it, then email me. I can help build your author machine. Seventeen years ago, I was right where you are now.
Matt Love, Publisher of Nestucca Spit Press, author of 19 books about Oregon, winner of 2009 Holbrook Literary Legacy Award, award-winning writing instructor.
AUTHOR MACHINE SERVICES
All these services are offered via a combination of email, telephone and face-to-face meetings. The latter is preferred and always produces the best results. I guarantee a quick turnaround on every project and constant updates on progress. Each client also receives a free copy of my how-to publishing and marketing guide, The Gigging Life: Lessons Learned on the Literary Road.
Manuscript Review and Evaluation: $500-$1000. (Depends on length of manuscript) Your non-fiction, novel or poetry manuscript is completed or barely off the ground and you’re not sure what you have. You need an author, an editor, a publisher, a marketer, a presenter, a real person with successful experience in self-publishing to weigh in on your project. You need that person sitting across the table from you offering advice to maximize the potential for your book, someone who has read your hard work thoroughly and made concrete editorial suggestions. And you also need someone listening to you describe your story, your passion for it. I can provide all of these things. Then together, we conceive your author machine and get your project completed.
Author Coaching: $500. How do you start writing your book? What do you desire from the writing life? What goals do you have for your book? During this multi-session consultation, we will discuss all the realities, challenges, expenses and rewards of self-publishing a book and determine how much its author is willing to sacrifice to achieve success. I will also provide an original writing exercise called “Getting the Writing Going,” that helps an aspiring author consider all aspects of a particular literary undertaking.
Marketing and Promoting Your Book: $500.The book is printed. You spent good money and endless hours having it produced with care. It looks great. Now what? Many first-time authors don’t realize that writing the book was the easy part; finding an audience for it is ten times more difficult and often frustrating. All you really have is yourself, a lot of competition, and a lot of questions, but NSP can help design a novel marketing plan for your book and help distribute it through traditional and unconventional channels. NSP can also assist with the development of your author “brand” through social media outlets and renegade old school ideas. This service provides the connections to all the right people in Oregon to launch your book and fresh ideas on how to get them to care about your book. This service is focused on printed books but would also help with E-book distribution.
Print or E-book Consultation: $500. The first important choice facing many self-published writers is whether to publish books in traditional print or electronic form (or both). If the choice is print, there are numerous critical questions to answer that may play a huge role in determining the success of your publication. The same is true for E-book publishing. There are many ways to go about it. What is the right approach to take? You may only get one shot. I have considerable experience with both publishing platforms and can offer unbiased suggestions based on my successes (and failures), the content of your project, and the willingness to help distribute it.