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{"id":16380,"date":"2023-04-05T07:00:54","date_gmt":"2023-04-05T12:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buildbookbuzz.com\/?p=16380"},"modified":"2023-12-07T21:33:40","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T21:33:40","slug":"finding-the-good-guys-in-author-services-meet-open-door-publications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sandra.oddjar.com\/finding-the-good-guys-in-author-services-meet-open-door-publications\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding the good guys in author services: Meet Open Door Publications"},"content":{"rendered":"
The best way to avoid publishing predators is to learn more about how legit author services providers operate. Here's a Q&A with one of them.<\/em><\/pre>\n
Writing about publishing predators<\/a> here recently made me realize that I could do more to highlight the good guys in the indie author side of book publishing — the legit author services providers.<\/p>\n
Yes, there are a lot<\/em> of bad guys waiting to pounce. But there are also many legitimate professionals who do good work for a fair fee. Their mission is to earn a living while helping people like you bring your book to the people you wrote it for.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why when a book marketing coaching client<\/a> connected me with the woman who helped polish his book, I was more than open to a telephone conversation with her. That discussion led to this Q&A about her work as an author services provider and how she does it.<\/p>\n
Introducing Karen Hodges Miller<\/h2>\n
\"author<\/a>Karen Hodges Miller<\/a> is CEO at Open Door Publications<\/a>, a company that specializes in helping authors navigate the world of publishing in today’s environment. The company assists both published and first-time authors with the wide variety of skills and tasks needed to successfully write, publish, and market a book.<\/p>\n
She is also the author of eight fiction and nonfiction books and has written countless newspaper and magazine articles in her 30-plus-year career. Her most recent books about book marketing techniques are Authorpreneurship<\/em> and How to Sell Your Book Today<\/em>.<\/p>\n
Karen is also creating an online course on how to self-publish a book<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Learn how one author services company does business<\/h2>\n
I talked to Karen about her company to help us better understand how businesses like hers operate. While Karen contracts with specialists for tasks like proofreading, she is very hands on with the company’s book projects.<\/p>\n
Please tell me a little about your publishing business. <\/strong><\/h3>\n
Open Door Publications assists writers in navigating the sometimes murky waters of self-publishing. We work on a custom basis, starting wherever the individual writer is, whether it is at the \u201cI want to write a book and I\u2019ve never written anything\u201d stage to \u201cI\u2019ve published a book\u2014now what do I do?\u201d<\/p>\n
In short, we offer book coaching, editing, proofreading, formatting, cover design, and marketing plan assistance.<\/p>\n
Many authors struggle to finally finish their books. Why is that? What are common obstacles to completing a manuscript? <\/strong><\/h3>\n
I think the biggest obstacle to publishing is fear: fear of failure or fear of success.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve found that the author who becomes frozen and unable to \u201cpull the trigger\u201d and upload the book when everyone is telling them that it is good is worried about one of these two things.<\/p>\n
The second biggest obstacle to finishing a book is time management.<\/p>\n
[novashare_tweet tweet=”The biggest obstacle to publishing is fear: fear of failure or fear of success. ~ Karen Hodges Miller” hide_hashtags=”true”]<\/p>\n
It takes time and creative energy to complete a book.<\/strong> Planning to write three hours a day every day when you already have a full-time job and a family is unrealistic \u2013 but I\u2019ve heard many authors tell me this is their plan.<\/p>\n
First, sit down and look at your schedule. When can you write? How long can you write productively at any given time? Look at your obligations, then add your writing time to your calendar and make it sacred. Only a true emergency should keep you from writing at that time.<\/p>\n
You’ve developed a system that helps authors finally get their books done. Please tell us a little about it and why it works. <\/strong><\/h3>\n
My system goes back to the five Ws of journalism: who, what, when, where, and why.<\/strong><\/p>\n
1: Who<\/strong><\/p>\n
First decide who is your target market<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Describe them in detail, including age range, gender, income, other activities and hobbies, and where you will find them on social media<\/a> and in real life.<\/p>\n
2: What<\/strong><\/p>\n
What do you want to write?<\/p>\n
Whether fiction or nonfiction, write down your subject and your theme. Your subject is the topic of your book. Your theme is the final message you want your reader to take away when they are done reading.<\/p>\n
Try to write your theme in one sentence. If it takes an entire paragraph to explain your theme, you need to go back and refine it.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Next, create a simple outline defining your chapters. Don\u2019t spend too much time perfecting the outline. This is a simple guide that will help you throughout the writing process and make sure you have kept to the points you wanted to make, and have not forgotten anything.<\/p>\n
This outline should be made for both fiction and nonfiction and can take any form from a traditional outline to 3×5 cards to a mind map.<\/p>\n
\"author<\/a><\/p>\n
3: When<\/strong><\/p>\n
As I mentioned, if you have not scheduled time into your week to write, you\u2019ll never get around to it.<\/p>\n
Writing is hard work. Schedule realistic times when you are fresh enough to have creative energy.<\/p>\n
If you have worked all day, made dinner for the family, helped with homework, and done three loads of wash, it is unlikely that you\u2019ll be fresh enough at 11 p.m. to write. You may need to get up an hour early to write in the mornings.<\/p>\n
4: Where<\/strong><\/p>\n
Where will you write? You need a quiet place where you can think to write. You also need a place where you can securely keep your notes, research, and any other documents.<\/p>\n
If you must take out and put away all of your information before each writing session, it will be demotivating. Or, if you have your notes where anyone might move them, it will become a problem.<\/p>\n
And finally, make sure you have a secure backup for your work!<\/p>\n
5: Why<\/strong><\/p>\n
If you don\u2019t know why<\/strong> you are writing a book, you\u2019ll probably never finish. Write down your goals for your book. Place them into two categories:<\/p>\n