Uncategorized « Robin Writes

It occured to me that I hadn’t mentioned our publishing branch lately, so let me update you a bit on that aspect of our bookstore:

RHP is a division of All on the Same Page Bookstore; you can reach our page through the store website. We are accepting manuscripts as of RIGHT NOW, and we’ve selected our first one to be published in 2013. However, I’m not going to announce it until the contracts are signed….

We are requesting an entire manuscript, accompanied of course by a blurb. The ms will be read by at least two individuals. There may be some changes we request before acceptance, but an author is free to make those changes or withdraw the manuscript. We really aren’t unreasonable, but sometimes things need to be fixed. This process takes about two weeks, or a bit longer given the time of year.

Once that is done, the author will receive an email detailing a potential contract. If all the points are agreeable, and authors may certainly request changes, a contract will follow. This part takes approximately three weeks, depending on how much back-and-forth is needed to agree to terms.

Finally, the manuscript (with changes made by the author) is sent to editing. Editing could take several more weeks, based on the schedule of the editor. After that’s completed, the manuscript will be sent back to the author for final approval. During the time, the author and RHP will collaborate on the cover design.

The estimated time from submission to publication could be as short as two months, or perhaps three to four. Most likely, our first book of 2013 will be available in February in both e-format and paperback.

We do want to stress, again, that we do NOT charge our authors. We handle editing, cover design, formatting, printing, and marketing/sales. Authors receive royalties, and are NOT required to purchase a particular number of their own books. Period.

So there you have it: RHP.

Drop us a line…or a manuscript!

In the last year, I’ve hosted a lot of book events. A lot. We have authors in the bookstore almost every Saturday – that means about 50 events, and counting! And every author is different: some bring in a crowd, some have just a few wander in that day; a couple of them haven’t had anyone! Which means, of course, that we sell fewer books – I think the record is somewhere around 20.

And they all do things differently: some authors bring in books, period; some bring cards and bookmarks and posters. Some of them have held giveaways, baskets or books or gift certificates. Once we even had strawberries and champagne!

Now, however, I’m doing my own book signings…and I need some help! It’s a lot different on the other side of the table, so to speak!

Yes, I had a launch party for REDUCED, but that was mostly food and drink and mingle and schmooze. NOT sitting behind a table of books. Yikes. I’m telling you, it’s a whole different…thing.

My first actual book signing was last weekend, at a local book store. For starters, I was a bit late due to car trouble (it died on the way) but I wasn’t by myself – there were three other authors there, thank heavens! And the reason I was there was because of a last-minute invite to fill in for the fourth member of the group. We were also telling ghost stories, so I had scribbled one down that afternoon. And I sold a couple books, always a plus!

The second one was Monday night, at a cafe and wine bar. Small crowd, but they seemed to like that ghost story – yes, we did those again. And I sold a couple books. So far, so good! Learned how to use my new Square on my phone too…more or less.

Now for the Big One.

On November 10, I’ll be down at Shop Around the Corner in Washington, Missouri. They say they have hundreds of people in there on Saturdays. Hundreds. And it’ll be in their newsletter, which goes out to (gulp) THOUSANDS.

I’m a little terrified. A little.

Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?