Preserving Future Predictions

What reading device will my great-grandchildren be using in a hundred years? Will they still read books — you know, the ink on paper kind? Maybe a Kindle 23.5? Probably not. Whatever it will be hasn’t been invented yet.

But what of the documents, books, letters, family histories — to say nothing of photos — that exist solely in digital form on zip drives, thumb drives, hard drives. servers and such? Will those survive? Who will “move them forward” to each new generation of storage and viewing devices? How many of you have manuscripts, journals, stories and important documents saved to 5.25, and 3.5 inch “floppies” or residing on old computers that won’t boot up any more?

Last week, the Clark County commissioners presented their chosen memorabilia to be placed in a time capsule to be unearthed 100 years from now in 2109 –- the county’s bicentennial. The collection includes newspaper clippings, photos, DVDs, and books. I was honored that two of our Stephens Press titles have thus been preserved as future relics: Education in the Neon Shadow: The First 50 Years of the Clark County School District and Springs in the Desert: A Kid’s History of Las Vegas.

I was pleased, too, that this preservation for future generations is in book form. When the time capsule is opened, they’ll be able to immediately turn the pages and read the text. Meanwhile, the DVDs that were included may leave historians a bit befuddled as they figure out how to view them — maybe the descendents still starring on the reality TV show Pawn Stars will have a working DVD player somewhere in a back room.

For our books, we won’t be concerned. If time has proven anything it is that words on paper have endured for thousands of years. Reporters at the time capsule event were told that today’s news stories regarding the capsule would be included. As such LVRJ reporter, Scott Wyland, sent in his article this humorous message to future readers: “If it’s 2019 and you’re reading this, kudos if Lake Mead hasn’t dried up, the Strip is powered by the earth’s magnetic waves and you’ve found a way to travel between here and LA in 20 minutes. And oh, this is what a newspaper used to look like.”

In 2005, when we published Springs in the Desert, we invited the children of Clark County to predict the future. I’ll leave you with a few optimistic and perhaps telling predictions. And to Chris, Mitch, MacKenzie, Gaby, Serretta, Matteo, Mai Lyn, Kristen, Alyssa, Daniel, James, Michael, Trevor, Karina, Anthony, Samatha, Kenyada, Jose, Tara, Jesse, James, and Cass — your words, too, have been preserved for the future.

“Famous scientists will make a collar that can fit any animal. The collar has a big knob on it that you can spin, and then the animal can speak human languages.” — Jesse

“There will be no business in the future. Scientists will come up with gadgets that can give you everything you want, so there will be no need to spend all your time at work getting paid so little.”

– MacKenzie

“Las Vegas will become the capital of the United States, since it will be the center of attention for the world. The President will even want to move the White House to Las Vegas.”

– Jose

“To save more space and to attract more tourists, there will be hotels that float in the sky. There will also be a few lower hotels for people who are afraid of heights.”

– Alyssa

“Everyone will have a robot that goes to school for them while you stay home. Then, when school is over, it transports everything it learned into your brain.”

– Daniel

Note: Springs in the Desert (and the accompanying activities guide) can be found at www.kidshistoryoflasvegas.com and Education in the Neon Shadow is at www.educationintheneonshadow.com.

How to Format a Book Manuscript

They come at us in all shapes, sizes, colors, and even smells (we don’t much care for the cigarette and kitty scents).

They shouldn’t.

The publishing industry has standards for manuscript submissions, and if you follow them, you’ll look like a pro from first glance. Nothing screams amateur like incorrectly prepared manuscripts.

The Rules:

1. One inch margins all around (top, bottom, sides).

2. Twelve point Times New Roman or Courier.

3. Double spaced (using the paragraph toolbar to set — never hit <enter> twice to achieve double spacing).

4. Entire manuscript in one document with page numbers turned on. These page numbers are for organization of the manuscript and have no bearing on final page numbers in book.

5. ONE space after sentence periods. I know, I know, you were taught two in high school typing. Unlearn it. Or use search>replace to get rid of them when your manuscript is completed.

6. Insert a page break at the end of every chapter.

7. Indent paragraphs using one tab or your computer’s auto indent feature. NEVER indent using the space bar. Add two extra hard returns <enter> for text breaks.

8. Title page with word count on upper right. Title in center. Your contact information at botton.

9. No underlining. Anything. Ever.

10. Use italics when called for (publication titles, minimally for emphasis, first use of foreign word not in today’s lexicon — taco is not a foreign word in this context).

11. No hyphenation, no justification, no fiddling with leading or other typographic elements. Keep it simple!

12. Use two hyphens for em dashs. Never one, never three, only two. Our layout programs will convert two hyphens to a proper dash. Space on either side, please.

13. Chapter titles may be centered and bold at top of each new chapter page.

14. Include a table of contents for non-fiction. You don’t have to include the actual page numbers — we just want to see the book’s organization at a glance.

15. Dedication and acknowledgments aren’t needed until you have a publishing contract.

16. Most important of all? Do not try to make it look like a finished book. Resist all temptation to “show us” what you think it should look like and “do the work for us”.

All agents and publishers have submission guidelines on their websites. However, these simple rules will be what’s used by 95% of them. You can find ours
http://stephenspress.com/submissions.html
.

It’s Foreword, NOT Forward

Spell it right!

The number of manuscripts I’ve seen — and even printed books — with this common misspelling is staggering.

Sometimes they’re long. Sometimes they’re short. But they’re always written by someone other than the author — preferably that someone is SOMEONE.

Someone well-known. Foreword writers can be an expert or authority in field that is the subject of the book or a celebrity who enjoys a relationship with the author or a passion for the book’s topic or purpose.

First Lady of Nevada, Dawn Gibbons, wrote a gracious foreword for 100 Years in the Nevada Governor’s Mansion. Siegfried and Roy were naturals to ask to pen a foreword for our book on the history of the legendary Stardust. Former governor Kenny Guinn was honored to write a foreword for civil rights activist Bob Bailey’s memoir and we tapped former Governor Mike Huckabee to write the foreword for Bayou Country about southeast Arkansas. Boxing champ George Foreman contributed the foreword for Fight Town. One of my personal favorites was visiting composer John Williams at his Los Angeles film studio bungalow to discuss his foreword for More Than a Parade, our pictorial history of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid provided the foreword for Silent Heroes of the Cold War. I would say that these and other luminaries have unfailingly been honored to be asked and very helpful and interested in the process.

Give some thought to who you know, or who you know who might know the person you wish to approach. If you have a noble cause or a subject close to their hearts, many famous folks will listen to your pitch to write a foreword. Don’t be shy — it can’t hurt to ask.

Once an agreement has been reached to provide a foreword, you should offer to send your manuscript for their review. At this point, you can gingerly feel out your SOMEONE as to their intention to write the foreword themselves, or if they prefer to have the author or editor write for their review and approval. Yes, that happens.

Can your SOMEONE be NO ONE? Sure. While your publisher is looking for any and all advantages to help sell your book — and the credibility or star power from a famous expert or celebrity may help — forewords can be written by anyone. A foreword’s purpose is to give the reader some perspective on the subject and/or the author before they delve into the text. Nor do all books require a foreword.

But if you have one, spell it right!

The Non-Case of the Stolen Manuscript

“How do I protect my work?” is a question that comes up at every conference and the writers groups where I speak. Having one’s manuscript stolen seems to be a huge concern among new writers. Many would-be authors, upon having an editor or agent ask for a manuscript to be sent to them, go into spasms of anxiety that their 100,000 hard-won words will be swiped and sold to a publisher under someone else’s name.

Your work will not be stolen. Honest. When have you ever heard of a reported instance that this actually happened?

If you are submitting a wonderful manuscript, full of sales potential, editors and agents are going to want to make money by getting it published. Believe me, it would dreadfully complicate their business model to go to the trouble of stealing your work and pretending someone else wrote it, than to just publish your work in the first place.

If your book isn’t so wonderful, well, that’s a different problem than worrying someone will steal it.

You’ll want to submit to reputable publishing houses and literary agencies, of course. Even the disreputable ones are not likely to steal your work, but they may inudate you with offers for “self-publishing” packages or writing contests. Preditors and Editors is an excellent online resource to check up on the reputation of agents and publishers.

No matter how uniquely you’ve told your story, there are only so many truly original ideas in the world, and it IS possible that another author has written a similar story. This is a literary coincidence, not story-swiping.

The second question I’m asked is “Should I register the copyright?” and the answer is no. Registration provides no additional copyright protection. It does give you legal standing to sue for infringement, but this isn’t something you need to worry about at the submission stage. Someday, when you’ve got a publishing deal, your publisher will register the copyright for you.

In the United States, copyright is a form of legal protection granted to authors of ‘original works’ and this includes both published and unpublished works. Your copyright protection exists from the time you create it (unless you created it for an employer, which is called “work for hire”). A common misperception among authors is that they should register their work with the U.S. Copyright Office, or have it “published” in some form to protect it.

“No publication or registration or other action in the Copyright Office is required to secure copyright.” according to the US Copyright Office. Putting a copyright notice or the (c) symbol all over your manuscript, or proudly declaring it has been registered in your query letter, is the best way to announce your inexperience at the publishing game. It just looks amateurish. If it makes you feel reassured, go ahead and add “Copyright 2009 + your name” at the bottom of your work, but make it very subtle.

The United States Copyright Office has an excellent website for further information.

Sixth Chapter Posted

Restless City, the serial novel from CityLife Books and the Vegas Valley Book Festival, has reached the sixth chapter. Constance Ford  moves the story forward, while the final seventh chapter will be revealed by a reading from author Vu Tran at the festival.

With the final “reveal” on November 7th, the completed book will be available in print as a trade paper edition and an e-book edition.

For now, our friends who have been following along can catch chapter six hanging out with the dudes from CityLife at here. Enjoy!

Technology Changes Book Manufacturing

Q: I’m particularly interested in how the digital revolution and easily available print-on-demand services are affecting the book world.—Megan, Las Vegas

A: That’s a big subject, Megan! The digital age has certainly impacted the book industry, by enabling short runs of bound books. The downside is that unit costs of digitally printed books in small quantities are typically too high to allow for wholesale distribution and market competitiveness. If you want 25 copies of your book to share with family, or to print 100 at a time for sell at your speaking gigs, this isn’t a problem.

Most traditional publishers (including Stephens Press) use POD (print-on-demand) to print ARCs (Advance Reading Copies) which are printed in small quantities and sent to book reviewers ahead of publication of the printed book. This helps us acquire those “blurbs” (testimonials) on the back of the book jacket before going to press. In some instances, we may use POD in place of offset printing to test the interest in a book before committing to a larger quantity, or to keep a small number of copies in inventory in place of declaring a title out of print.

The high unit cost, coupled with the typical low quality of books published by POD service providers, has led bookstore chains to routinely decline to shelve these books in their stores. Their issues:

Low Quality — Digital printing (which is akin to photocopying) isn’t the quality of ink-on-paper printing (especially for photos), POD books are known for poor editing and design as well. Self-publishers must arrange for their own editing and book design. Too often they either don’t recognize the need or get less than stellar help.

Non-returnability — Throughout the book retail environment, bookstores purchase at wholesale on essentially a consignment basis and the inventory is completely returnable for full credit. Throughout the POD publishing services industry, the books they distribute on behalf of their author-clients are not returnable. This impasse means virtually no self-published books are stocked by book retailers (although they can be special ordered).

Unrealistic Pricing — Many POD providers set the retail price on behalf of the authors at prices that make them unsalable in a competitive market. Or if the author can set their own prices, that high unit cost makes it impossible for them to offer the typical 50-65% discount required of distributors and wholesalers and cover their expenses, much less make a profit.

Digital manufacturing has changed book publishing — and like most technological advancements — both for better and worse. I can’t say it has leveled the playing field, but it has made the prospect of becoming published more accessible for all writers.

I’ll cover other digital advances such as audio and e-books in future posts. Want to know more about book publishing? Email your questions to cuber@stephenspress.com or leave a comment below.

Crowd-Sourced Story to Launch on Twitter

Authors have been collaborating for years. Close to home, seven local authors have been writing a serial novel as a signature project of the Vegas Valley Book Festival. RestlessCity chapters have been released one-by-one by CityLife in the past two months, with the final chapter to debut at the Festival in early November.

Now the immensely popular fantasy writer Neil Gaiman is taking the concept to the masses. Starting tomorrow, October 13, at Noon EST, Gaiman (known as @Neilhimself) will launch a special round-robin interactive storytelling experience. He’ll tweet the first line of the story and then the rest is up to the crowd.

You can read the opening line of the story tweeted by Neil (or catch up with it in progress by visiting BBC Audiobooks America. Follow instructions on the site if you want to make your own contribution to the story which must be 140 characters or less.

When roughly 1,000 contributions (Tweets) are logged, they will be edited and compiled into a script which will be recorded as an audiobook. The final audiobook will be downloadable free on the BBC site and also available as a digital download at iTunes and other audiobook retailers. There are no plans to release a print edition.

Michele Lee Cobb, marketing director for BBC Audiobooks America, said the project is “a fantastic way to get more people excited and actively engaging with audiobooks.” Cobb said BBC was inspired to initiate the project following Britain’s Royal Opera House successful creation of a fan-twittered opera last month. “There’s a misconception still that audiobooks are only for a small, elite niche of book lovers and we want to explode that myth and tap into the possibilities of digital storytelling in a whole new way,” Cobb said.

Neil Gaiman is the author of the novels The Graveyard Book (New York Times bestseller and winner of the 2008 Audie Award for Best Audiobook of the Year), Coraline, Neverwhere, Stardust, Anansi Boys, the Hugo-and Nebula-winning American Gods, the Sandman series of graphic novels, and several collections of short fiction. Visit his blog at www.neilgaiman.com.

This Time, Next Year: Steinbeck Country

Our book designer, Sue Campbell, and yours truly have both been invited to be on faculty for the bi-annual East of Eden Writers Conference for 2010. Held in Steinbeck Country of Salinas, California, this is one of the premier conferences in the country, attracts hundreds of writers and a really top-notch faculty. The conference is sponsored by the South Bay chapter of the 100-year-old California Writers Club.  So honored!!

As attendees of my workshops and programs know, I heartily endorse writers conferences as one of the best ways for authors to learn the ropes about the publishing biz, meet fellow writers, learn tons about the craft of writing, and make important connections. How often do you get the chance to sit next to a literary agent at lunch? Conferences are held all over the world (I’m still waiting for an faculty invite to a conference in say, New Zealand or Iceland) and www.shawguides.com is a great resource for checking them out. Closer to home, the Las Vegas Writers Conference is held every April, and features a fine line-up of presenters.

Off to Press!

The Voices in My Head, by Danny Gans and R.G. Ryan went to press this morning. Whew! Danny’s very personal biography will debut in a trade paper edition later this month while a special collector’s hardcover edition (with an audio CD) will be out in December. More on both to come. Danny poured his energy into everything he loved, from his family to his faith, from baseball to his career in entertainment. When it came time to document his life story, he poured his energy into this project as well. Sadly, Danny passed away the day after the manuscript was completed. His inspiring story remains, offering a compelling mix of touching tales and life lessons. Danny’s story, told in his own voice, from his own heart. We’re honored to publish The Voices in My Head.

Coming Soon to an iPhone Near You!

Stephens Press and iTunes Producer Michael Bloom have inked a deal to convert Stephens Press books into audiobooks for download at the iTunes store. First to be produced is Sinsational Celebrity Tales, to be read by the author, Norm Clarke. Plans are in the works to also produce SP children’s picture books as iTunes apps. These books can both be viewed and read on screen or the child can press an arrow to have each page read aloud. As parents and grandparents know, having an entertaining book or game at hand can be a lifesaver for a squirmy or bored toddler forced to wait in a line or for service in a restaurant. My four-year-old granddaughter Reese knows how to operate my iPhone better than I do!

Final Rules Announced for Lead in Kid’s Books

The Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act went into effect on August 14, 2009. The CPSIA, which governs all products for ages 12 and under and was spurred by recalls of lead-containing toys, is intended to protect children from harm, particularly from lead and phthalates. It was enacted in August 2008 and its first major provisions went into effect in February 2009.

Problematic for publishers of children’s books was a requirement for component testing of every print run (testing of all of the elements that make up the book — ink, paper, board, glue) which, for a small publisher and short print run, could cost more than then book itself.

Lead levels in children’s books must be 300 parts per million or less, down from the 600 ppm level that went into effect in February. The publishing industry has argued that new books are uniformly far below these limits, (modern children’s book test out at less than 10 ppm) and should not be subject to the law’s testing and certification requirements. “Regular” ink-on-paper or board books printed after 1985 were granted a stay of enforcement. Books that contain special elements like attached toys will still require testing.

While no one wants unsafe books or toys in the hands of tots, the over-reaching requirements of the Act could have put a lot of smaller publishers out of business and greatly reduced an already risk-adverse publishing industry from taking chances with a short run for a promising new author or illustrator. Still problematic are books published before 1985 that sit on library shelves and used bookstores. Those books will likely have to be pulled and pulped.

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The Google Settlement . . . Isn’t Settled Yet

Surprisingly few authors have asked me about the Google Settlement, perhaps because most articles about the digital scanning/copyright infringement issues are mind-numbingly written in legalese. I’ve prepared a couple of letters to send to our authors, only to have the status change overnight. While waiting patiently for the “real and final deal”, here’s today’s update from Publishers Weekly.

In a nutshell, some years back, Google started an ambitious plan to scan every single book ever published and making them findable online via key search words. They invited Stephens Press to participate and we agreed, providing copies of our books for scanning. The results of a search offers a small section of a book that includes the search term — a few paragraphs or a page at the most. The search results also offered links to where to buy the book, starting with the publisher. We thought it was a good way to further our reach and help people find our books. We don’t really have any mechanism in place to track a search all the way to a sale, but we’re eternal optimists and assume some books have, in fact, been purchased as the result of a Google search.

The waters got murkier when Google acquired the rights to digitize the holdings of several major libraries, including many out-of-print books. Now it was the libraries giving Google permission to scan these books — but the libraries don’t own the copyrights, just physical copies. Some are out of copyright but others aren’t. It may well require the tracking down heirs and long-defunct publishers in order to acquire permission to scan. Google argues that it is for the greater societal good that these books be made available to the world via their vast, well, vastness.

So you can see the sticky questions that have popped up. Certain entities, including the Authors Guild, took Google to task, and to court. Google agreed to a settlement, but the so-called settlement hasn’t been settled and seems to morph into new complications daily. The Department of Justice ruled on September 18 that the settlement is flawed and all sides need to return to the table.

The issues are complicated and strike at the heart of current copyright law. We can’t very well say no one can help themselves to someone else’s writing without permission except for Google. And what will Google do in the future? Once it “owns” essentially all the books of the land, will it start selling them? On the other hand, should researchers and ordinary folks have access, at least in some limited form, to everything ever written? Weighty questions.  Stay tuned.

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The People’s House

Great article in the Reno Gazette Journal today about our newest title, 100 Years in the Governor’s Mansion by Jack Harpster*. The book will debut in Las Vegas on Thursday night at the First Lady’s autism charity event and on Saturday in Carson City at the Mansion’s centennial celebration. More soon on both events. The book is BEAUTIFUL, lavishly illustrated, and tells the history of the Mansion and Nevada from the POV of the families who lived the the grand old house (some would say, fishbowl).

*To our R-J friends, yes, this is “our” Jack Harpster, retired ad director and now Reno resident and book author.

A Year in the Blogosphere

The days flip past, faster and faster. (Image by flowers&machinery CC)

August came and went in a blur, and with it, my first anniversary as a blogger. Keeping my intended audience in mind — authors, our own authors, other publisher’s authors, wannabe authors — I’ve posted on a wide variety of book-related subjects. Everything from agents to book design, editing, marketing, and lots of tips. News, of course, about Stephens Press authors, books, awards, events and publicity. A few personal stories too, like learning to read, my first typewriter, collecting old books and the joys of presenting the first copy of a book to a new author. Blogsite #1, www.CarolynHayesUber.com morphed into blogsite #2, www.WorkingTitlez.com. Both having many of the same posts, but CHU includes more personal items while WT is more business-oriented. I love WordPress because it allows you to create “pages” so I’m building a repository of downloadable reports, interviews and papers that are useful to writers. If you know of someone who’d benefit from news and advice about the publishing world, please refer them. The easiest is to click on the Subscribe By Email link on the right, which will put each new post in your mail box. Q&A articles are popular, so questions from my readers are welcome.

Internships Available

Looking for an Internship in Book Publishing?

If you’re still working on your degree, an internship may be the perfect way to experience the inner-workings of a publishing house and build your resume.

Stephens Press, LLC is a book publishing company headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada specializing in regional non-fiction titles and part of the Stephens Media company. Stephens Media is the owner of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and other newspapers in eight states.

As a smaller-sized firm, Stephens Press gives interns the opportunity to get hands-on experience in multiple aspects of the publishing process.

The intern position is on a part-time, volunteer basis. Past interns have received course credit for their time. For more information about Stephens Press visit StephensPress.com. To apply: please send a resume, and/or any other materials that help present your qualifications, to khawkins@stephenspress.com. Candidates with an English studies background or interest in literature preferred.