"There are few more satisfying experiences for a writer than getting published and being able to walk into a bookstore anywhere in America and find copies of your book on the shelves. And there are few experiences as frustrating as feeling disconnected from your publisher...and out of control once your book is published."

─Stephanie Gunning, bestselling author, editor,

and publishing consultant

 
 

You have to be a proactive author, if you want to succeed. I have seen many, many authors fail to thrive because they don't "get" one simple point: authors write and market books, whereas publishers manufacture and distribute. If you are confused on this point, you're setting yourself up for a big disappointment! Fortunately, there is a lot you can control.

The month or week before your book is printed is not the time to first get actively involved in its publication. No one knows as much about your book and how it fits into your business plan than you do. You have to shine a guiding light for your publishers beginning on the day you sign your publishing contract. My new audio program, Partner with Your Publisher: How not to Feel @#%*!ed When Your Book Comes Out, describes step-by-step actions you can take to be your own best advocate!

Order Partner With Your Publisher Today!

In the past six years, I have coauthored or ghostwritten 16 books that have been published by mainstream publishers and, in a couple of instances, by clever, innovative independent publishers. After a 20-plus year career working first as an acquisitions editor, then as a book doctor and freelance editor, and most recently as an author, a nonfiction book proposal writing coach, and a publishing consultant, I've personally had every kind of publishing experience you can imagine. Good. Bad. Superb. Mediocre. What I've discovered is that much of the success of a book─if not most─depends on the steps the author takes.

Fortunately, a self-empowered author doesn't have to live with frustration. There's a lot that can be done to improve your working relationship with your publisher, and there's a lot you can also do to self-promote.

The industry has changed since I originally got into it in 1985. In one respect, it's tougher today for everyone involved... on both sides of the table. On the other hand, technological advances and sheer human adaptability afford us many incredible opportunities now that we didn't have back in the days before home computers, satellites, and the Internet came along.

I Have Been In Your Publishers' Shoes... And They Were Worn Out

Challenge: In-house staffs are overworked and can't always keep up with the projects they're assigned or have taken on. They don't have enough time to educate their authors about the internal systems and multitude of tasks they have to cope with on a daily and seasonal basis─or don't even understand that this need exists. Wouldn't you like to know what you can you do to overcome this dilemma, and be savvy about the industry?

“I have rarely worked with an editor who is so adept at content editing, copyediting, structure, and maintaining an author’s voice . . . while managing to enhance the entire project. I’ve used Stephanie Gunning on book projects that were very difficult and complex, and she was able to decipher the authors’ intent and create beautiful final manuscripts (which ending up being bestsellers, too!).”

—Jill Kramer, Editorial Director, Hay House

“Stephanie Gunning is a publisher's best friend. She is someone who really cares about the authors she works with and the books they write. Her desire is to contribute to the project, to fully understand it. Her goal is to bring out the best in the author. Her end result is a work that is truly of service to the reader—and a wonderful writing experience for all concerned. It just doesn't get any better than that.”

—Debbie Luican, Publisher, Jodere Group

I Have Been In Your Shoes... And They Gave Me Blisters

Challenge: Authors are not always clear about how to get the support they need, what their books' publishing timelines are, or when and how to best communicate their promotional activities to their publishers. Many authors are remarkably passive as a result. My guess is that, if you're still reading this letter, you're not going to be satisfied with passivity. So...

What can you do to ensure that your partnership with your publisher results in the maximum advantage for your book?

Order Partner With Your Publisher Today!

“Stephanie was a dream to work with on The Sedona Method. She is bright, professional, and great at what she does. She made the whole project fun. I highly recommend her for any writing or editing project.”

—Hale Dwoskin, author of the New York Times bestseller The Sedona Method: Your Key to Lasting Happiness, Success, Peace, and Emotional Well-being

 

“Stephanie Gunning was my editor for The Code God, as she previously was for The Isaiah Effect. Through our conversations to flesh out the book, she always asked just the right questions in precisely the right way to lead us to the clearest choices! I am grateful for her professionalism, and for the dedication and skill that she embodies in all that she does.”

—Gregg Braden, bestselling author of The God Code and The Isaiah Effect

“Stephanie Gunning is quite simply a writing Goddess. She is a total professional who is also incredibly fun to work with. And I should also mention, she is intuitive, insightful, and brilliant. I owe much of the success of my Hot Chocolate for the Mystical Soul series to her editing skills.”

—Arielle Ford, President, The Ford Group, cofounder of Dharma Teamworks, creator of the Hot Chocolate for the Mystical Soul Series

Let Me Tell You Straight Out What This Audio Program

Will And Will Not Give You

  • You'll learn everything that happens inside a publishing house during the months before bound books arrive, so you'll be able to anticipate important turning points and build your publishing platform on a clear and appropriately-timed schedule.

  • You'll be introduced to the key players on your publishing team, people whose jobs exist in the editorial, manufacturing, marketing, sales, and publicity departments.

  • Specific action steps are outlined that you can take right from the moment you sign your publishing contract until bound books are on bookstore shelves─steps that cover everything from properly formatting your manuscript, to communicating well with your editor and publicist, to outreach to your target readers.

  • Strategies that have been proven successful by esteemed authors in boosting sales are explained, along with some of the reasons why they succeeded in this industry.

  • Core elements of a well-developed author marketing plan are described, such as blogs, newsletters, websites, teleseminars, Internet articles, press releases, and much more.

  • You won't receive instruction in writing a book proposal.

  • You won't be taught how to query literary agents and publishers.

  • You won't be subjected to an info-marketing pitch.

  • Partner with Your Publisher lays out a roadmap, but it's going to be your job as an empowered professional to take the measures you need to follow the map.

“I love Stephanie Gunning! She is an amazing editor. I came to Stephanie after struggling with a book proposal for over a year on my own and getting rejected by LOTS of agents. She took my jumbled inspiration and made it into a cohesive, organized project. She saw my vision of the book and helped me create it, step-by-step. Stephanie made me a better writer. Writing a book can be a lonely and overwhelming process, but having Stephanie on your team means you are never alone and you have the best coach cheering you on, and pushing you to do your best work. I can’t say enough wonderful things about the Fabulous Stephanie Gunning!"

—Sandy Grason, author of Journalution! Journaling to Heal Your Life and Manifest Your Dreams

What Can Partner With Your Publisher Give You

That Other Publishing Programs Can't?

 

After coauthoring 16 published books, I can confidently assure you that timing is everything. If you, the author, don't take responsibility for understanding your publishers' internal systems, interests, schedule, and workload and satisfying those needs, right from the start, then you're not going to have as happy an experience as you will if you connect with your editor in a respectful, direct, and timely manner, and are open about what you are bringing to the table. Because of my past experience, I am able to bring you inside the modern publishing house in a way that few seasoned authors could, unless they had worked there.

 

You'll receive insight on the publishers' limitations. Most editors have never written their own books and don't fully understand what it takes. Many believe, for instance, that writers write sequentially from page 1 until page 455. They're unaware that we often jump around and write the beginning last. They aren't 100 percent on board with how to inspire their authors' best creative work.

 

Some acquisitions editors don't really respect writers. Such individuals view us as "problems," so they don't want us involved in their publishing efforts. And they're probably right to feel that way, at least to a degree, since most authors aren't educated and have unrealistic expectations. An ignorant writer can be a nuisance.

 

In Partner with Your Publisher: How not to Feel @#%*!ed When Your Book Comes Out, you'll be advised to take care of your own creative needs, seek guidance, but forego it if necessary, and be the kind of author that acquisitions editors, publicists, and other in-house personnel go to bat for, feel enthusiastic about, and hold in high esteem.

 

Why My Clients Begged Me To Create This Program

 

They are sick and tired of feeling abandoned, ignored, confused, lost, overwhelmed, frustrated, violated, disappointed, cheated, and otherwise generally pissed off. That's why!

 

No matter how knowledgeable an author is about his or her subject matter, and no matter whether or not the author has been previously published, unless that individual has worked inside a publishing firm he or she won't know exactly how it feels to be an acquisitions editor and why the outcome is shaping up to be less than the pleasurable dream authors feel they've been promised. Fortunately, the nitty-gritty daily life of a publishing firm is a mystery that, once penetrated, reveals the outline of a path to a book's success.

Order Partner With Your Publisher Today!

I am truly honored to share my professional insights with you through this audio program.

 

Sincerely,

Stephanie Gunning

Stephanie Gunning, "The Publishing Insider"

Best-Selling Coauthor and Editor of Several New York Times Bestsellers

Publishing Consultant and Author Advocate