conference where regina brooks writer serendipity literary agency, linda duggins, multi- cultural and my similar founder undergrad on press, johnny temple, editor-in-chief at a catholic books and cheryl woodruff come associate publisher and president of smiley books tape part in a panel discussion titled the insult or selling ourselves. black writers in the marketplace. this is about an hour and a half. [applause] >> thanks much. just a little introduction for myself. i'm a senior news editor at publishers weekly. they create news for the industry. excuse me, let me get my act together.

but the first thing i want to talk a little about and introduce our panel and then i want to just a little bit about the market wherein. i work for publishers weekly and i worked there for quite a few years as the people out there who know me, we are in and amazing. right now. but publishing is changing dramatically. even my own magazine, which as many print magazines are these days, facing a difficult business climate as print magazines and particularly treat her magazines have, we had then in the last two years actually was kind of issued a turnaround. i was choking ratio that hopefully pjb you is an indicator in some ways that the book business than the print i do that as well. but the digital side of it has been incredibly important actually in the pjb rebounding. digital side and actually new owner who acquired a in 2010,

moved us to new offices and transferred has transformed us from a small part of a gigantic national public operation to really a small startup, really focus on the book publishing industry and focused on how we can reinvent the magazine for the 21st century. before our panel today, and being sold or selling ourselves, black writers in the marketplace. we have a terrific panel and i am going to start off right now. i've got a list here, but i'll indicate who is due. regina brooks at the end there is the founder and president of serendipity literary agency based in brooklyn, new york and she's the cofounder and the publisher right here, johnny temple. she is an author and has held positions at john wiley and mcgraw-hill before coming a literary agent.

she represents a diverse race award winning clients an adult and young adult fiction and nonfiction, children's literature and nationally acclaimed and award-winning offices is mailing nelson, and all right. sheila pulled around as she put it in her pile, she is a weight women. who is also an author and that it is an tv producer is social entrepreneur working on issues of social desperation gender. she's authored four books including that white girl, which is an option for film and won numerous awards for her activism on behalf of peace and moderation for all people. she is also a work. she's finished her latest book on the occupying privilege, conversations on love, recent moderation though the cells published by jay lo. linda duggan. there she is.

she is the director of multicultural and the cofounder of the harlem book fair, creator and producer of the international women's history month literary festival, never the board of directors of the national book club conference peer she's received numerous words for social and a special accomplishment and she has worked with such authors as shaquille o'neal, pam grier, can the rest of the and many, many others. lisa seymour. there she is. founder and editor of red on press, which published worth celebrating that and men and promoting understanding between the mainstream. she is the editor of a number of anthologies and executive producer and writer of the united but alder project in a feature documentary of black

elders. johnny temple right here is a publisher and editor-in-chief and award-winning indian company to literary fiction and political nonfiction. partnered with regina brooks, mark alan, maria brown to launch the open print which i'm sure we'll hear much more about. in addition coming is published randal robson, bernice mcfadden and i'll send urgently this guitar in the band girls against boys and has toured and recorded extensively. last but certainly not least, cheryl woodruff, the president and associate publisher of selling books and imprint launched at a house in conjunction with tbs broadcasters. she is a pioneer african-american publishing executive who founded the one world ballantine books in print from the first multicultural

imprint of the mainstream public health among her best-selling authors are a kind of smiley, cornell west and many others. both publishing right now -- what the -- this is the best of times the worst of times in publishing? it's kind of a little of both. in the early 1990s african-american writers were in the forefront of using both. in the early 1990s african-american writers were in the forefront of using both. in the early 1990s african-american writers were in the forefront of using to bypass publishers and deliver books directly to black readers. nearly 20 years later thanks db has been attacked knowledge he is the growth of social media, popularity of e-books and self-publishing has exploded in all backgrounds seen as a viable alternative to conventional publishing, especially if you're getting rejected anyway. today it's easier and more effective than ever to publish. if you're serious about it. it's hard as it's ever been to

get it to the conventional book publishing way. our panel will take a look at the challenge facing the african-american bookmark it and how it relates to broader trends in the business and give us insight into how they go about doing their job at a time when pretty much everything in the publishing is changing. so what i thought we do right now as i wanted to go down the list of panelists and each of you from your days, could you tell us a little about what are the challenges cc in the market for african american writing and today quite chilly start with you, cheryl? am i picking on you? you're the closest to me. >> well, i think one of the greatest challenges -- i think one of the greatest challenges is connect team authors at their core audience because no author appeals to every reader and

deals scattershot approach of trying to connect doctors and readers no longer works. so i think the challenge that publishers face is how do i find the reader that wants to read a coat both? had wi-fi and the reader that wants to read a health improvement book? had refined the reader that wants to read romance? targeting those readers, even in the age associate media is very challenging because followers and fans don't necessarily translate into the buyers. just in the same way as a publisher i experienced, you know, 10 years ago you could have a favorite author, to a local independent or chain bookstore and you could be guaranteed a large turnout and large sale. that is no longer the case. we find even with the most popular authors any people come to hear the author did not purchase the book.

one of the challenges even in the new digital age in all the opportunities to get information out is how do you make it stick? had to turn those people who adventurist? had he get them to take that interest all the way to the purchase of the book and the support of authors? >> thank you very much. i would like to start by thanking brenda greene and clarence reynolds of the organizers of this fine conference who do such a great job with it and it's a real honor to be participating in this event and the work of the center for black literature is extremely impressive year after year and it's a pleasure to be here that also like to thank calvin reid who has been a very, very consistent supporter not just of black writers and thought publishers, but independent publishers, graphic artists and various oddballs along the way.

[laughter] but calvin has been at pw for a long time and i know personally he akashi books he was one of the earliest helped us get some recognition in a speech and due this month after month with others for the fledgling publishing endeavors and it is a constant cerda voice of encouragement. so i'm really appreciative of that. i think it's a really exciting time to be in the business right now. of course the economic landscape in america like much of the world right now is very discouraging. a lot of people don't have very much money, so of course that impacts all of us. but i think within not somewhat gloomy context, it's a really great time for business. i am independent. did when i was a musician, my heart was always with the independent record labels and as

a publisher, my heart was with independent bookstores, independent publishers. but i'm no purist and they certainly really admired the work above the big publishers as well. however, i feel like in a time when everyone is trickling financially, in some ways the big publishing companies have been hit the hardest because they have the biggest sort of infrastructure and day sort of tend to move this lowest because they're big companies. for this reason, the flexibility of independent publishers, the ability of independent publishers to make fast decisions and be creative in decision-making is empowering to the publishing community. anas big companies have been shrinking event as large

corporations have swallowed up smaller publishing companies and the power of the business has been concentrated in what could be argued fewer hands, it is nice to see a lot of upstart publishing companies. and for writers, one unfortunate side effect of this is a very serious issue is when you work with independent companies, the advances that the the companies pay ours more. that is definitely a real challenge for any writer, anyone earning a living and buying health insurance in their life. putting that issue aside, there's all sorts of wonderful energy and lifeblood the independent publishers are bringing into the publishing landscape and night and never before has there been such an incredible diversity of voices being published, whether self published by independent companies are major houses.

i never pining for the good old days of publishing whenever that was. i'm too young to really have that for no or experienced it. but i don't know if i believe it ever did exist, especially thinking that if it did exist, it was when straight white men controlled the business in straight white men got published and everyone else could just sit there and admired their largess and brilliant. and i think we are in a much more favorable publishing climate now than this elusive good old days. >> as a publicist, like johnny, i do believe it's an exciting time. i'm always that the mind set that offers have to do a heck of a lot of work to get their name out there, get their work out there, even when you're published like a big house. i work with a lot of different authors and i see the

differences in how they approach what they would like to call success or greatness or whatever they want to call it. there's so many bookstores closing it to many other places where we used to send the op orders to sell the books, there's a lot of rethinking that has to take place. these kinds of events. brenda and team and clarence has done a wonderful job, but all day long yesterday was lamenting, late where all these writers who often won't complain about people don't know me. my name is not out there. they are not my book. we sat here last night and it was the most wonderful, beautiful, loving event paying homage to sonya sanchez and ishmael reach and nikki giovanni and all of these authors who literally sweat for the authors have today to get their work out in the forefront.

so the changes are massive, yes. it's crazy exciting. i love to work with authors who clearly understand, this is not for the faint of heart. you have got to get down and get dirty and get the work done. yeah, you want your book to be purchased, but how much are you really putting into getting that lookout air? there's a whole lot of stuff going on. but folks have to get real, real, real and quickly. >> hello, everybody. linda, yes. i think for everyone as a writer and publisher for small publisher and the bottom line is you to be a hustler. you cannot just be a writer, thinker, creator. you have to get your business on. it doesn't matter who you're with. you have your own book. only you care the most about your book.

and there's a fantasy. we need access to information. correct, accurate information. as a fantasy land if you give it a big machine house come you get to sit back and relax and everybody knows who you are. the royalty checks start coming in. it's a fantasy for the 1%. i think it's actually 3%. the bestsellers get that. they do get that it's a beautiful thing. the rest of us committed to your book comes out nothing changes. your book -- you know, you still have your day job. i promise you. unless you have hustle, unless you have heart, sometimes it's as if you go to sleep and wake up and say that that really happened? did my book it published or was that all a dream? so what i say tackling what linda said, you have to be serious writer to want to get into the publishing game.

if it is a hobby for you, cool, they just do the quick little things to get the fight looks out to your family and it's over. but if you want to be a successful author, you have to get your hustle on. that means one access to accurate information and to, access to relationships. if called relationship current fee. it is as important as green current t., a.k.a. money. it's all about who you know and who can support you on your journey to success. so you know, you can do it them right now you can do it more than ever. but you have really assess, you know, what am i bringing to the table? how much do i really, really want this? am i willing to go full out for the next five years and really push this baby out and support that baby until it feel like genocide candidate. so please think about it really

serious way. it's not for the faint of heart. it's for the house is he saying something to say. i want large impact and i'm about to do the work to get it done. [applause] >> i heard that. >> i know i heard it. [laughter] i have to echo what everybody else said. i'm an independent publisher. i'm what's called a niche publisher. i published black gay and lesbian books opportunities for education and editing, or professionalism. opportunities for the hustler. there opportunities for marketing. i mean, my challenge is a publisher is finding my readers. there is no demographic that says a black gay reader. most of the people who bought the readers are straight black women. only straight but i'm in ibooks. that's not true. we were talking about that this morning. black men buy books, but a lot

of times you find them in the library. i think the challenge in the opportunities for black writers in today's market is to stay on top of the information. the nation is changing so fast right now. you should educate yourself about the history of publishing. you should make sure that you know that writing is a business. it's not just a hobby. if you want to write, you need to learn about how to write. you need to learn about how to get your work i did it coming peer-reviewed. should be as professional as you can to make sure you write every day if that's the way you write. you should make sure you're doing all the things you need to do to become what is called a writer. it's not something you do in your spare time. educate yourself how to get published. you should know how to write a book or postal and approach an agent or a major press or independent press. you should read the books the independent press publishes so you know what kinds of books are really good at marketing.

if you are going into romance publisher, that's not going to work. i think the opportunity is finding out what you can do in being the best at it as a writer. if you are a writer and you know you're no good at business, don't try and sell at publisher your work. it is hard as housing to do. i self published the first book i did the self published and then i fell in love with it so i now have 17 titles. i say the challenge is to educate yourself as much as possible about what you're getting into. if you really love it, do it. >> i name is regina brooks. i want to also thank brenda greene and parents for allowing me to be here and just being at the national black writers conference is maybe my fifth fifth year of participating in various forms. earlier today i did a talk on how to develop an undeniable but

proposal. it's one thing to have an undeniable book or postal. i have -- american and a number of different facets of the publishing industry. i'm a literary agent, so i hope people get their books published. i usually say what i do is shape and shop. i hope you treat your proposal, treat your manuscripts and also shop it to publishers. i think we have all talked about this a little bit, but this is definitely working with the big fix, and best-seller business. so what is it that i look for when i'm looking for those potential bestsellers? they say that as an opportunity for people so there's three things you should consider. you need incredible writing,

irresistible writing. you need to have a platform and you need to have a wonderful hook. when i talk to others about this, they typically don't know what a platform is a knowledge is quick briefly mention what it is. it's basically showing you have an audience that is 90 or what what you have to say. so if you develop a book, they are going to go and buy the book. it sure was talking about the fact that in the past decree books and go to the bookstore and people would be there to buy the books. so the publishers are now saying okay, we want to see you have a platform. it's not just enough to have incredible writing. i see this as an opportunity for me as an agent because i doctors treat platform. if you are too out of those three things i can help you with the third. most agents and our editors will help you with the third thing.

that is an opportunity for authors. it can be a challenge because there's a lot of wonderful stories out there. even for fiction you kind of need a platform, too. i often times will call and added her and say, you know, i want to hear what you have to say about the book and they might love the book and want to publish it, but they'll say we don't know how to position the book. but basically they are saying is they don't know who the audience is or how to get to the audience. so even with fiction writers and encouraging authors to know who your audience is and know how to get to them. assaulting a platform in being a best-seller business coming in now come in the past also i knew if i took on a project and helped the author tweet their manuscript or proposal, that at some .6 months down the road i be able to sell it. that is no longer the case anymore. to the major stakes. and i for such such a small publishers or independent

publishers and i think authors should not get so focused on working with big houses because there's a lot of opportunity outside of the opportunity to make money. the way that the financial structures are set up are often times in your better interests. i wish they can advance this kind of a fools paradise. i'll stop there. >> on tonight -- to authors and specifically to block off this evening conventional publishers anymore just on the basis of some of the comments you've made now? cheryl. what can you offer an author in this new area, which also suggest the authors are going to be doing different names now than in the time in the past. >> well, i think because i've actually worked that one of the

big six, but now i run a small price, i think one of the things that is a small press publisher is able to do that was always harder at the big six is to really focus the marketing and advertising an understanding of our market. i think often even with the best of intentions if you don't have experience in the community really have a sense of who the market is. and again, there is no one single black illegal temperament. you know, there's no one single religious experience. we are heterogeneous people and i think sometimes that lurcher publishing enterprises, they really don't have the same level of connections, so it's harder for them to use some of the marketing opportunities available. i think one of the reasons that it's exciting for me is to work with authors and to develop them within a small price context is there is much more opportunity for collaboration. i really see my authors of many

business partners. we're in this together. still publishing model in a think a lot of people don't often have the frame of reference. you'll publishing model is when the publisher gives you an advance, that's really an interest-free loan. it is a loud. it is not free money. it's a loan. we are investing in your business. the reason most publishers ask for really good proposal is just that is your business plan. whether your self published are publishing with a larger publisher, unique to do an excellent proposal because that defines your business end of this year and the drivers seat of saying, i am responsible to run my business. i am responsible to make

decisions. i would say that writing is an art, but publishing is a business. if you're going to be successful as an author, whether that success is coming out of print the truth of the puppies are puppies, you have to understand your rule your business. if you deal with it as a business model, you're going to be able to identify the different elements they need to make my business successful and how much of that going to be required? there's always the equity in a starter. how much sweat equity do you have time for to invest in your business? the opportunities are only limited to a large degree by the amount of sweat equity. jay loved but it perfectly. it requires a real total commitment and you do have to hustle because you're competing for people's attention. and where not only competing against other books. were competing against other mediums that even in the 90s we didn't have that competition at the level we do now because there were no dvr's review could

record the show and watch it again, which is taken away from the tiny magnets that reading in the past. i think for people who are really passionate and committed and willing to invest in a business and see the writing as a business, there's a tremendous opportunity because the small presses there is also the opportunity to renegotiate the traditional publishing deal. maybe you'll take that smaller advances johnny talked about, but maybe that gives you a bigger royalty. at the end of the deal larger royalty if you really approach your business for some commitment could have much greater financial rewards. >> i'm going to get to you. i would love to hear a little more investigation. platform, relationship and something another, but will associate media. but to hear someone talk a little more about how these concepts really all kind of work together in terms of there being

an audience waiting for a boat when the book arrives as opposed to. >> you know, i work with different authors and listening to sheryl talk about smaller presses and the author understanding that this is their business is exactly how i work. i work with my author and we sit down and we have a plan. and i crack that whip like this is no joke. sometimes they love me and oftentimes they don't, but that's okay. as it relates to platform and social media and that relationship, there is an author i work with and kimberly lawson roby. i've never seen an author work so diligently. she truly approaches her writing career as her business. she is the type of author the

own best from the love she gave, she takes out ads on cable and radio in conjunction with the publishers doing. she does this call out on and twitter. her fans by her boat. her fans call me and say hey, i know kim has a book coming out. she think i can get a copy because i want to spread the word for her. it's like for our church thing on. i think it's a beautiful thing because she gets it. it's her business. she uses every avenue that she can and their other authors out there who know her, who work with her and she promotes other authors. when you look at camera bsafe hypatia to you so-and-so has it coming out of one month. if the relationship she has with her fans, other writers and all the different platforms. she's really very shrewd. >> whether of a conventional public arrangement or not. >> embrace social media.

i know that some of us don't want to. i hear all the time from france and authors, i do want to be unfazed. i don't want to do this twitter thing. >> facebook and blogs and tumbler in interest in the list goes on. >> the bottom line is it is not an option. there are natives now who grew up on these things and this is how they communicate. you have to have a buzz factor. it doesn't matter how incredible your book may be if nobody knows about it. so you have to embrace social media whether you like it or not. it goes back to if you really want to jump in the game. if you want to jump in the game it's a must-have. it's also called transmedia, which means as writers we are creating original content.

the content now lives many different places. so if you live in book form. it can live on twitter, lived on a web tv, film, to her. but think of yourself as a content creator. to my place of the platforms are content lives, the more access and impact you as an author of. so if you care deeply about your message, you have to see it as an opportunity and bustle that helps you get out to people that want to hear you. if you're not good at it because i hear you. you want to still living your passion. you don't want to overcome and be bogged down by this. if you're not good at night and find someone who's it is their strength. there is college kids for this comes so naturally to them that if you gave them a little something in exchange, they would gladly be your pr person because this is so easy they would just do it when there's weeping. to an exchange with them. they could benefit from you, you benefit from them.

you have to embrace it if you want to be successful in getting your message out there. >> this is super fast. i promise. about we are going to go with in terms of large publishers, medium-sized and mall. its strategy. if you want to be an author for the long haul, you have to admit a large publishing contract still matters. we can pretend like it's so great, so many new opportunities. the bottom line is to get more attention if you're with a major publisher. fascist the truth right now. right now it opens more doors with a major publisher. my advice is try that first. go to the top, do everything you can begin a major contract. if that does work, but your next step in next step next. to understand than the self publish because i don't want to -- it's too hard or whatever. see if you can get in the door because the door opening can impact you for the rest of your life. i'm sorry if i took too long.

>> at love for you to try do it justice. what have independent publishers when you have a very targeted market, what are you offering authors that they can in terms of being a publisher? >> i have grown in the past couple of years a little weary of self-publishing. i think it is very exciting and it remains very exciting because, you know, self-publishing and the relative ease of it ensures this great diversity of voices that needs to be out there. however, there was this notion that kind cutting out the middle person and why do you need a publisher why does it danita record label within the age of the internet you can sell direct to the consumer.

but anyone can publish a book or put out a record, but it's the audience. we have the publishing come any -- too many self published books that i pick up you can find mistakes on the back cover. like i would venture to say that more than half the self publish books that i pick up, you can find typos. and what that says to the reader is i haven't taken enough care to fix typos on the back of my book. you don't even need to bother reading because you know what you're going to get. regardless of whether or not that's actually true. a publisher plays an incredibly important role in quality control. the cover design, too. the average self published book is not as good as the average book published by the established company, which is a shame because the technology is there for anyone to make a quick justice beautiful as any other boat. it really is fair. however it is not that you don't have the tools. it's that you don't necessarily

have the quality control mechanisms of the book publisher has and more significantly were significantly significantly necessarily touched upon. for publishing companies. we are experts at promoting books. it is what we do. we do it as well as they possibly can and it's very interesting because this idea definitely for every writer who writes about, you do have to see it as a business. but i know when i started my own but publishing business and i think for anybody who starts a new small business in any field, you quickly discover running a business is a lot harder than you thought. i think that is universal everywhere in the world across the board. i was always -- you know, as a citizen has always been very

skeptical of business and big business and big business interests and i still am. i think the business corrupts our social and political world. however, might be some businesses had to be greatly tampered once i was in a position of running my own small business. i was like i cannot begin to understand republicans. [laughter] i'll stop there. >> what he said. >> you ask what i offer an author, a relationship with brad brown press that has a lot of success in reaching its audience. we have a track record. we win awards and were on this path together so we have this

relationship over both promoting the work. bmi authors collaborate on what the coverage design is going to look like. that's a publisher and make sure the work is edited to the best of its ability. i mean, the best he can be, copyedit, make sure that every little thing is perfect as it can be before it goes to the printer. so yeah, we have expertise in a sort of thing. like jeremy said, i look at books and i go my god, why didn't they let copyedit or see this? why did they pay somebody with more of what they're doing to make it look like a boat. when people pick up a book they want to go wow, great book. they don't want to set okay. so we have quality control of the expertise. >> one thing i expected you to say was distribution.

i mean, that is something -- you know -- an understanding of how distribution works. >> for me it's a niche market. i could talk about distribution for ipod distributors for bankruptcy. i distribute books myself. have a small press distributor out vertically. i run the gamut and sell books online as well. but the previous panel talked about social media and distribution in how anybody can distribute a book these days. it depends on who your audience is and where you're trying to get to because the booksellers are closing. that said, there's this new interest in people opening bookstores as community centers, which is kind of like what they were in the first place. people are missing community centers, just like the books are sold there, so you have to figure out how to make that work as a community issue came

tailfin. but yeah, reaching the readers, i think i'm pretty good at that. >> my next question and this is really kind of aimed at johnny and cheryl and robin -- excuse me, do we need new kinds of publishing? and i'm saying that because there's interesting partnerships semantics is interesting in how it picked up. we can talk about using these partnerships, unconventional models let's say to get books to market, books in front of the readers. >> well, i think distribution is key. you can have a wonderful book, but if it never reaches the audience all the effort and time goes tonight. when travis decided to expand smiley books, one of the things he was really clear on was that

without working with a distributor who really had a proven and diverse track record, that it would be really to go to lunch a new publishing venture. we specialize in quality nonfiction and we need the mechanism of traditional distribution to get into bookstores, to be with the top online booksellers and to make sure that the books are distributed throughout the country. i mean, that is the key. you're not bringing that the new york. you want to make sure people in california and minnesota in alabama cannot get your book and that's a distribution does. there is of course coming in now, all of the successful self published authors who sold books out of their charm and created a tremendous base platform.

it is impossible that can be done. the question is can you maintain a day job and maintain an income by doing not? it takes a tremendous amount of work. people often forget that some of the biggest best-selling authors, you know, one of my favorite stories is they basically took a second mortgage on his home to underwrite his coast-to-coast tour and that was how he created his authors and they are created to do that. you have to have someone who can get your book to readers around the country and the distributor is the key person in the relationship. a lot of the distribution enterprises have gone belly up and that was sent and that in the old days you really felt if you had a good distributor your

books are protected and they got out there. they had contracted everyone has taken a hit. >> i certainly don't have any solutions. i think that new models in both publishing are extremely important and i think the next five or 10 years bergenfield suits a very, very interesting brand-new model for publishing. i don't know, you know, what is going to work in what is not going to work. we have a few ideas of our own, but i do know this is hearken back to what i said earlier about this idea of the good old days of the publishing is that so many people in the publishing business are scared change. and most of us prefer printed books to e-books because printed books is a superior reading experience. however, e-books are a hugely important part of the future of the publishing business. i think there's too many people

in the business that get caught up lamenting no one reads anymore, no one buys books anymore. it's like the business is aging and it's an old models that are starting to dk a little bit in the business needs fresh blood. any new people with creative ideas and it also means a greater diversity of people entering the publishing business. i've commented a few times on this wonderful diversity of voices being published and that's very much true. but if you look at the people running the company is and i don't mean this in a way people, [laughter] but it is an unbearably white business. and this isn't even a comment on

egalitarianism. i'm talking about the golf business. the less the publishing business looks at the world around us, but more and more it's going to continue to atrophy. so it's very, very important people from the diversity of backgrounds. ..

person and there are so few opportunities, it is a very frustrating place to be. can i say a little bit about it? [talking over each other] >> that is the idea. >> out of this frustration, a literary agent, mark alan, the three of us got together and started open lens. it is designed to publish books throughout the digest for up but looking at things through a prismatic lens and to see opportunities for writers of color. it is about the quality of the riding in both commercial and literary fiction. they will be some narrative

nonfiction as well. what makes the organization a little different. people work closely with the author's. and understanding what our expectations are and how much money we are going to towards the project. how much equity we are expecting with them in terms of putting forward the project. you go about two or three titles the year because you want to focus on one author. a lot of times publishers take a six to 12 authors and we focused on two or three authors and we give them a one hundred% or 150%. often times i give book proposals from authors and they have standard thing they put in

their proposal. we will try to sell the book to the churches. we also try -- the make it happen. and we also have a book store. we are able to bring the book club into the store to talk about our titles. when working with open when you are working with professionals who are not just in house but also booksellers and agents and publishers. >> open lens is a good idea. it is one of my favorite books. i urge you to buy that book. a comment about the diversity in

publishing houses across the board has been in a publishing house 11 years and what i have always been taught growing up is wherever you go you learn the culture when you walk through the door. what i have noticed with some of my brothers and sisters when you come into these houses sometimes you don't take the time to learn the culture. for me, my responsibility and privilege is also to bring folks up behind me and looking to the offices that are brought into the publishing house but as a black woman in a major publishing house i know the culture. it has behooves to me to pay close attention and to give it my best. i am not suggesting lack of diversity in some of the houses, we always do to ourselves and

the authors we bring in we have to take care of them. we have to pay attention and we have to work just as hard as i am suggesting. >> i am going to jump in now and let you know we want questions from you guys as well. we have microphones set up. you have a great panel right here. don't be shy. . i know there are questions out here. there is more coming. this is about the audience too. >> everyone is talking about fiction. is anyone doing anything with poetry? >> i am a published poet. i don't want to say that too loud. >> i do represent poetry but i need to be very clear.

i have two appellates i represent currently and they don't just write poetry. a lot of the poet's eye work with, i try to get them to work in the children's category because there's a lot more opportunity writing poetry for children. one of my authors is the poet laureate and she writes novels in the form of poetry. >> i say i publish poetry but i have to fall in love with it myself in order to publish it and put everything i have behind it and as i said, i have to do small print because poets are good at selling their own work better than i could most of the time but they always have books with them. people sold them. we set up reading this but they

always have books. as far as marketing we work closely. >> thank you for being here and sharing your wisdom. i am a newbie published author leader still very excited about that. [applause] >> i was published by a small press. the support, ability to own your own work and your own ability to work -- even the font of the book was an amazing experience for me. my question is where do i go from here. here i am, small press, limited resources. i got my facebook page and web site. what should i be focusing on now? should i be trying to hire or

get a literary agent? what are your thoughts in terms of where do i go from here? >> what. did you publish? >> fiction. women's literary fiction. it was a small press, washington writers publishing house in d.c.. >> congratulations. now you need to be seen and heard. in my humble opinion this is not the time for an agent. it is time to sell as many copies as you can and build your platform. we need to hear you on the radio and see you on tv and hear your blog talking about your book. even if you have to pay for it yourself. it is about every single day you should be doing five things minimally to get the word out. i hire publicists, they bring expertise i do not have.

they know what they are doing so i go to sleep knowing somebody else is helping me and not just fall on my shoulders. you have the resources, absolutely do that. it is about continuing the journey on finding people who will fall in love with your work and show you that by purchasing your book. >> anyone else? any more questions? step right up. >> thank you for sharing. i fall into a different category because i'm not trying to be an author for a living. i do additional workshops and cooking classes and a lot of information that i find i can put in a book and sell it rather than saying the same things over and over again. self publishing would be the best way to go but i don't know

how to go about doing it. there are websites and i don't have any idea how much of an investment this is in myself for someone not doing this for a living. >> there's a lot of information online. >> i started out self publishing. it is dan poynter. self publishing manual. might be called a self publishing manual. how to self published. you can google that the 15, 1607 team or something like that but that tells you how to get an idea that they sold in blocks of 10 and tells you how to get fringe quotations or how to

write a book proposal in case you decide at the end of reading that that is too much work. have somebody else do it. i recommend it to anybody who wants to self published. >> i do book publishing workshops because it is my obligation to give back to the community. earlier access is challenging. and to my support to help me become a successful author. there's a lot of different seminars that you can afford, the information is invaluable. i do want to suggest you have a little money for your book. i don't care how good writer you are you will make mistakes. you must have a copy editor. one of the reasons health publishing is not looked at by everybody as something good is

the quality of a lot of self published books is poor. typos leaders the grammar, not tightly put together so people don't want to put money out for that. you have to make sure you have your support team support you. you need to create a budget, this is my graphic designer. you have to hire somebody to do that. it is like a small mini project. handle your business correctly. have a budget and make sure you do it right and he will make your money back if you do do it right especially with the seminar series. you can go on the road the whole time and every time you do a seminar you can make your money back by selling your book at the seminar. it is a great avenue for you. [applause] >> can someone tell me what would be the steps to

establishing a small press? >> a couple people up here who have done that. go for it. >> that is a hard question to answer. the main thing, i would say, you need to go into it, you need to enter into the endeavour with incredible stick to itiveness. a tremendous commitment. i came from a music background and i found there was a book i happened to come across that was self published that was a great book. it was clearly self published. was a clear to me that the offer wasn't doing a very good job of promoting the book.

so i basically printed up a new edition of the book and just made it up as i went along. i have 1,000 votes in my apartment. i need to get rid of them. that model worked really well for us. you just have to be dogged and you have to be smart about it. one of the great things about independent publishing is independent publishers are very supportive of each other. what i did was i contacted other independent publishers because i had a music background. i contacted other publishers with a music angle. they immediately started giving me contact information. publishers weekly, this is a good printer. there was incredible willingness to share information. i am committed to sharing information for those starting independent publishing companies. we don't need to know hole lot.

you just have to be ready for a long, long, of hill, fun, rewarding but chronically uphill battle. i personally don't think -- i have a punk rock background. i don't think there's anything wrong with making the road by walking. there is something kind of exciting about that. there are other ways. universities offer publishing programs. that is a more sensible way to answer, to learn some of the nuts and bolts but not required to know much about anything. i am not sure that came out right. >> as a self published author, the book was -- this is what it looked like. they said oh while, can we get five copies? i call on my friends and they go

to the bookstore and they by the mother and two days later it is selling. can we get ten more? i would do the same thing. cereus. and in these chat rooms took about the book in their names and i haven't. what is that? the strategy. doing your own pr like that. it was after that that other people said would you consider publishing my work? so i did read the point of the book but started looking at books on book contracts. and start a press. and took the name and accounting software. and independent presses and the council of literary magazines

and presses. the information is tightly held among statewide men with big publishing companies. mary club, the information on how to run a press. unless you find it out, keep it close. i used to do self publishing workshops all the time and people would ask how to do this and the information is there and how it is. and those are outdated. you have to keep up with and talk to independent publishers and how they started. >> we have not mentioned enough about what that means for all of you today as well as for authors of self publishing. >> should i go into that?

too far from what she is thinking about but the woman who was talking about doing the vegetarian or vegan book. one thing agents have started to do is the agency is shifting so much. as a point of clarification how agents have historically gone uncompensated in their work is they get a percentage of the advance and royalties for an author's project for their book. they typically work until the book sells. a lot of agents working with different models, many publishers than the e-book market only. in 2004 i sold their books but

retain their e-book rights. and sell them to a publisher. and publish the e-book version. and many e-book publishers, we go direct to amazon, and we get 70% of the money made and amazon will get 30% and we meaning of the author and myself, we share the funds we make from the book. if you want to do an e-book version you can approach agents doing e book only projects. >> this is an interesting phenomenon. of the follow-up question, are

there ethical ramifications? i have been encountering agents who see themselves as publishing consultants rather than calling themselves a publisher. that runs into a dilemma. you are representing who you are publishing. >> a number of models are coming to the 4. i am a part of the association of author representatives and that organization is the canon of ethics for agents. there are a lot of things people are trying. a lot of experience asian -- experimentation being done. the challenge legal i could call myself a consultant. in the past if i did editorial work for an offer that was just something i did. i didn't get compensated for that but there are people coming to me asking how do myself publish a book? i can't give that kind of

consultation. it is a long process and i can't give that compensation away for free. it is consulting work. no longer agency work. is a different type of business and a lot of agents are now agents, consultants and many publishers. the pending -- u.s. depending - clear up front -- >> thank you for the incredible advice. i published three books and thinking of my fourth book. but what about those of us in the academy? self publishing is not an option for profs. we can't self published. what advice would you have for those in the academy, people

need help with -- what advice would you give to faculty who need to be aware of the industry and its changes? >> i work with a lot of professors. i work with university presses quite often. in number of our books are with university presses. the process is similar and pretty much the same. however, how we work with those books are a little different. for example what i was telling you about the one book where in 2004 i retained the rights, that was university press. now we are going back and trying to publish that book as an e-book. the process for those of you who don't know. with academic books, the offer will send a book proposal and the book proposal is said to the publisher and the publishers

that that proposal peer reviewed. usually three or four people, experts in the area, they will then give feedback to the publishers to determine whether they should buy the book. that process has not changed and is pretty much the same. >> the academic books you handle. are they aimed at a more general audience? >> academic publishers, yale university press for berkeley press, they are getting pressure from the university to make money. before it was non-profit. as long as you didn't lose money you were okay. but now the academic publishers are being asked to be self sustaining and in order to be self sustaining that means there has to be some trade opportunity as those books are sold. >> while maintaining the academic --

>> absolutely. exactly. if you don't understand the knowledge regina is giving you that means you need to have a lawyer or an agent. a publishing house, you don't know what she's talking about that is how you get it. you have to be really mindful. when people own your rights they literally can take all the intellectual property and have control of it forever. if you don't understand what she is talking about that means if you go traditional publishing, either have an agent or an entertainment lawyer who knows about the literary field. even as a self publishers you need to understand what rights are as well. >> the guide to publishing law, and the book contract, most of those books go clause by clause through standard book contract and talk about what you can negotiate and what the language

is. particularly academic. i publish books from professors that are on the ten year track to get tenure. and the platform for the first or second book before they are protected and it publishers and i didn't know this until a few years ago. if you publish with an academic publisher or academic press, they don't and your right. you don't know your rights. so many professors don't do that. they say i got publishers and i can get tenure. i have tried to reprint stuff from academic presses and is like oh no. >> don't go. you got to go? now is your chance. [talking over each other] >> right now. we got a question. she has been waiting patiently. >> guide to the book contract. the other is the guide to

publishing law. >> next question. >> some advice. >> now is your chance. >> as we were mentioning earlier, i wanted to give free advice to those talking about pr and how to be out there. in the same way you wouldn't have a conversation with someone in real life and only talk about your life, your children and your projects you will be in a conversation of the 2 way street. if you are promoting your book, what every genre you take that approach, virtual communications as well. it is not a good thing whenever you are on facebook only talking about your book project every day there's a new chapter and you are not engaged with other people's lives. brazil other writers leader still doing the kind of give-and-take. it is over the top. you might get people to listen and then they will stop

listening because it is too self indulgent. i would recommend what i say to my clients is just be a good citizen in your community. share information and act as though the communication you have is in the same way as if you were at a cocktail party or an event, let someone else talk or share information that is very important as well. otherwise people will tune you out. i would also say-and a lot of artists are scared or overwhelmed about social media, facebook or twitter. it is not as scary as you think. you don't have to do all the new technology or social media that come out. you have to do one. i recommend facebook or twitter. if you had to choose one. or you can link the two. free advice for those who might be trying to figure out how to i

promote myself? do it responsibly. you want to know what is going on in the world around you. >> she is absolutely right. social media is not a club and not a panacea. it is the relationship. it is a way to talk to people and let people talk to you as well. another question. >> that was a really great panel discussion. i google literary agents three weeks ago and visited some and the culture you are talking about i completely picked up on. it through me a little bit because i used to work with artists. i wasn't expecting that as much. my main question really is from what i understand, book readings are the main way to promote books and get the word out but with more bookstores closing

down is that something that is a common trend for more online book readings and the second kind of question was relating to the books, the trend to bringing in different readers or transferring one type of reader shipped to another or any thoughts on that? >> who wants to take it? >> there are some authors still doing the traditional non traditional book tours. libraries and bookstores. but definitely changed quite a bit. in terms of what i am seeing with the evokes -- e-books they're buying both. the science fiction genres a lot of the books. when you have your favorite author you buy everything they do. >> most of the surveys showing

black people in particular access the internet. i am assuming books as well, through a smart phone. the whole landscape is shifting. even as physical bookstores are disappearing we also -- easier than ever to buy a book whenever the thought crosses your head. these contradictions to look at all the time. >> evokes -- than having to -- make a decision i want a book and going to the bookstore to buy it. >> i lost track. go-ahead. >> i will reach out to the writers conference staff and other perennial attendees like myself. in philadelphia, tanya, somebody fill in the blank, that has a book for black writers. tonya marie evans from philadelphia has a book specifically directed towards black writers and literary law.

if you are looking at that, the mention of it, you have a book. >> next question. >> thank you for coming out, sharing your wealth of knowledge. i appreciate that. i am a publishers. i didn't publish the work but i do understand the struggle authors go through as well as the importance of having a lot of information on this for the general public. a friend of mine told me if you are able to turn your book into a grand it would be successful. when he said the brand, it put my head against the wall. how the light turn a book into a brand? i designed the cover and came up

with the gee card. from there i believe in the book, then i came up with a vision for the book. now i turned the book into a brand. also audio book as well. mixed sound track for the book. t-shirts and even a possible board game. >> let me hear some love. that is what i am talking about. >> the authors and publishers have to believe in the content of that which you are publishing or writing. you have to have a vision. if you don't have a vision or a passion no one will put their money behind it. that is where i am. in my limited resources, what i did was i got 1,000 books

printed and a friend of mine, i knew he would invest with me. i end up quitting my job which i should never have done. [laughter] >> don't do it. it has been a struggle. i do believe i had the right project to sell probably a few million copies of this book. but right now i am still at the point that i need to get it to a big publishing company or even partner with another publishing company to express that vision. >> i was with you until that last line. with our panel has been about is you have a lot of options. to go to a big publishers to sell a lot of books. you can bet you don't have to.

that is what it is. >> i don't want to get screwed. that is the whole thing. [talking over each other] >> fiction or nonfiction? >> fiction but very nonfiction. >> what i commend about this is multiple streams of revenue. that is a successful sustainable business model. a lot of people put out a book and the book will not be where you make your money. where you make your money is the speaking engagements for the personal workshops, the product line. the book is the new business card. so don't think -- this is for the 99%. not the 1%. the book is not going to pay your bills. don't quit your job yet. if your strategic about it you don't want to be stressed out

because you can't pay your bills. then it becomes a really negative situation and that is one of lot of people give up. keep your day job until you start to bring in enough revenue. in order to -- if you are successful you will be able to become a full entrepreneur and author and do that full time. that can take years. multiple streams of revenue and how you bring revenue from diverse sources to be sustainable and successful. >> could you talk a little more about things that you are doing with your book and trying to produce a film and your message is presented. >> definitely. i do a lot of work on white privilege and white supremacy and racism working towards really having liberation for all people and the planet. you can see why i didn't get a book deal.

that is all right. at the end of the day i want to control my contents. i don't want anybody else dictating what i can or cannot say. i was not willing to make that compromise although i did make that compromise for my first book because it was about strategy. for me, privileged conversations on liberation, self published so i could keep content how wanted to. 100% of the proceeds go to nonprofits to fight for racial justice. i am getting sponsorship from socially responsible businesses and individuals for helping me underwrite the cost of the book which is tambrands to create a professional book and helped propel me on tour to get my message out and i am also partnering with celebrity artists who have a similar message and contributing to the book and i am starting to have a

book and and for that can hit millions of people. for me it is about impact. i am trying to get to white people who care but don't know what to do about racism in america so i need to get impact. i am looking at social entrepreneurship coming together full circle. that is the strategy i employing with the next project. [applause] >> question here, then you. >> i just completed my first book. the business plan is what is wicked, the self publishing business plan but i am glad you mentioned dan poynter. i met him at the cat writers conference. i will write about my cat too. i appreciate this forum. as writers we are in the publishing capital of the world, new york city. it doesn't cost a lot to go to these conferences. i appreciate the conference

weekend. i have been having a ball. [applause] >> i would like one of you to know what that means so i can keep eating what i write the next book. is a digital world. i have a $25 for cap for that one. get forward passes and free passes. volunteered to help out a little bit because i have been on board for a couple months and one day, for the business of pet writing be my guest and come. >> is a memoir? >> for 14 years. [talking over each other] [laughter] >> this is the place to get the

information. the writing groups and i appreciate the fact that your contact information is there. the information they get is priceless and information to share. one last thing besides the adoption papers in my bag. self publishing coming up -- i forgot where is. [talking over each other] >> expo america. some of them are free. they can sneak into the other ones. thank you very much for everything you have given us. continued success. >> we got another question right here. >> the national black writers

conference always had ethnic connotation, consciousness, the internet is the new playing field. do you foresee ten years from now that the black writers conference will have dissipated into multi-cultural consciousness and what does that do for the consciousness part of the black writers conference? >> note. i say that because i have put on a conference myself which is a black gala screenwriters conference. when we first started in 2000 to the question was will this become a multicultural conference? the history of racism in this country being what it is we still need to hash out things, period. so i don't think it is a

national black writers conference to eventually become a multi-cultural writers conference. there is room for both. you can have a national black writers conference and multi-cultural writers conference. i don't think we as black people or latino people, every body needs their own space to hash out whatever is so if they don't feel like it -- people who say you are writing today. put something there or you are writing too black. talk about the gay stuff. you can't divorce parts of yourself just like black people need to be able to come together and talk about their writing. >> we are going to wind down right here but i would like to ask my last question down the panel. what does the black reading market one? what do readers one?

are you able to find the type and quality of the material you want to publish for the publishers? >> if a publisher of quality nonfiction, we receive a lot of material and one of the greatest challenges we face, people come was with a lot of really terrific ideas but they haven't fully formed them. they are great ideas to start with but ideas to execution, going to take a lot of work and structure and thought and care. i invest a lot of time in writing with authors. when i see a good idea that i believe needs to be good editorial shaping and commitment i am willing to do that but i think on the nonfiction end, doing your homework, there is no

substitution for reviewing books in the category that would be your competition or 4 runners or books that have been very successful in the same category. by doing your homework and coming to a publisher or even if you self published, bringing that idea to full formal guarantee of an audience that will stay with you. >> i think i would say to the question of what do readers want, able to find -- am i satisfied with what i find? i am oversatisfied with what i am able to find. publishing is a hard business. i have a shelf near my desk that shows the books we publish so when i look at the shelf, it has

sunk for night liberal kathryn waters, black walk blues by persia walker. so i feel like on a certain level my list speaks for itself. you just look at that shelf and agree or disagree that we are publishing good work. i know how i feel about it. i know i have done something right. nelson george has options. randall robinson did a book with open lens. robinson has options. that is extremely encouraging. we don't bother too much with thinking too much about what readers want. we are just working for good books. what we think is really special, that is the publisher's challenge.