I said NO to a publishing deal in London
**Warning, super honest (maybe controversial?) sharing-post coming – all true too**
Gosh, this book writing malarkey can take you places! Yes, It’s true…I said NO to a publishing deal in the UK on my trip a couple of weeks ago.
Allow me to start at the beginning to explain in full.
Anyone following me for the last few years knows that I have a few books written now – 10 in fact. Yep…that ‘get shit done title’ is proven! I can get books out fast, as I also created my own publishing business a while back. Anyway, semantics…
Two of the books I have written are printed versions and the rest are all Amazon Best Sellers. I have sold thousands of books and in Australia, they do great! Book stores stock them and all is well in that department…but the logistics are tough and essentially it’s just ME and a few helpful people in my life. Plus the added element that I am also doing twenty-gazillion other projects at any one time…I just don’t have the time to clone myself.
In a sentence – I want to get my books sold outside of Australia successfully.
Why? Not for the money…! You won’t get rich quick doing this type of thing! Although, to be fair – I have learnt a good profit thus far, oh yes…being an author does open doors that would normally close in my face. #truestory
I want to get my message further. I want to share my message over the oceans to the UK & Europe…then the US. I want to get my books sold overseas to help more people. I know they help others, I know they can help change lives for the better.
It’s a simple concept. Yet, a tricky one. Publishing deals are out there…yet, the industry is changing (already has a few times too). Lots of ‘smoke & mirrors’ too… the stuff you wouldn’t even consider is happening and essentially MONEY gets you to the top. Even if you get an advance on a book publishing deal, you could potentially forfeit profits from books sold.
Yes, you heard correctly. With some deals YOU DO NOT GET PAID FOR BOOKS SOLD.
AT ALL.
EVER.
Period.
But hey! You get a pretty looking book and your ‘name’ on the front. And your ego will probably love it…for a while.
Other ‘smoke and mirror’ tactics are putting your book on the ‘Best Seller’ list at major book stores/airports.
“Oh, you mean that those books in the top 10/20/50 haven’t had the most sales?”
Nope.
Not even close in most cases. Money gets you there. In some cases, $20,000 to place your book on #1 for a couple of weeks.
BTW you can Google this stuff if you like. For example, did you know in order to get the New York Times Bestseller list…you need to have sold at least 9,000 books in the first week. It’s a known fact that authors will often purchase 10,000 books for themselves to get there. Dr Wayne Dyer (may he rest in peace) openly wrote about this in his later books.
Yeh, yeh – I get WHY they do this. I also get WHY there is this type of stuff going on…this isn’t the point of this blog 🙂
So, what is the point of today’s blog?
Why I said NO to the publishing deal offered to me.
I said no, because it didn’t feel in alignment with how I work. I know who I am, why I am here and what my messages are.
I didn’t say no because it would have cost me over $30,000+ to do a book tour in Europe.
I said no, because I felt that my EGO was being pulled in a direction that might ‘feel’ great for a time. My books are not here for my ego. They are here for other people to create change in their lives.
I didn’t say no because the book publishing process would potentially take up to 2 years from start to finish. #notalotofshitdone
I said no, because they wanted to change some of my sweary language in the books. WTF? Surely not?
Fuck off.
Am I stubborn? Silly? Crazy? Maybe…but I care less.
I know what I want. I know what I am capable of.
I know my message, and I know how I can help people change their lives.
So, stay tuned to the next instalment of this blog. I will continue to search for the right way/publisher for me in other parts of the world. This is all part of the journey…who knows where it will take me?