Getting Your Book Published

I am frequently asked how I go about selecting the manuscripts that Moonlight Mesa Associates, Western Book Publisher publishes. Most publishing houses have an acquisitions editor who makes the initial decision on what gets past his/her desk. Who knows where they find these folks. I know for a fact that our authors are far, far better authors than many of the authors that the "big houses" sign. It's a vicious world, the publishing world.

So, how do I chose the manuscripts? What criteria do I have? (Or it is that criterion?) It's always a tough decion, let me be perfectly honest. But there are four items I strongly consider.

First, and most importantly, I must LOVE what the author has written. That's an emphatic LOVE. I'll even consider something I may not LOVE, but that I definitely LIKE. STRONGLY LIKE. Before I look at marketability or anything else, I have to LIKE/LOVE it. If I don't feel strongly, I just won't be able to represent the book well or talk people into buying it.

Second, I try to appraise how marketable the subject is. Do I really believe this book will sell? Is this a niche market book? More than likely the book will appeal to a niche market. We're good with that here. We like niche. I really must feel that the book will sell well without me having to beat myself to death to get it sold. We ask all prospective authors to give us a marketing plan for their books. NO ONE CAN SELL A BOOK AS WELL AS THE AUTHOR! Am I ever wrong in my assessment of a book? Not often, but yes, I have been.

Third, I look at how much money and time I will have to put into this project. We do quite a bit of editing, but if I have to send the book to our editor-in-chief, that gets expensive. In fact, some small publishing houses send the manuscript back to the author and tell him/her to get it edited. If the manuscript is just too much of a mess and going to cost too much and take too much production time, I may reluctantly turn it down.

Fourth, can I get along with the author? Is the author willing to work with us and be a pleasant, nice person? If not, adios. I don't tolerate demanding, yelling, fit-throwing screamers. Period and end of sentence.

So, what are we currently looking for? NONFICTION. Western type nonfiction. In fact, we are most interested in publishing a book about mules...mule training or anything of that ilk. We've even approached two trainers, to no avail. We would strongly consider biographies, historical accounts (Western), all kinds of horse "stuff" etc.

We would also consider something non-western, like a health type publication or a how-to book.

We are NOT looking for cowboy poetry, fiction, cookbooks, children's literature, teen lit., chick lit, erotic lit., gay or lesbian lit., suspense or mystery (unless it's Western in nature).

I can't speak for all publishing houses, only for Moonlight Mesa. Finding a publisher is very, very difficult, and we know that. We try to respond to all queries promptly.


THE BOTTOM LINE:

1. Save your time and postage and don't send us something we're not looking for. In fact, don't send us anything until you read our instructions. PLEASE follow the submission guidelines.

2. Send a professionally edited manuscript if you want to leap to the front of the line. We only do a four or five books a year, and we receive a lot of queries. An edited book is hard to resist!

3. Be nice.

4. Be prepared to SELL YOUR BOOK. We can't do it all, and we won't do it all.



GOOD NEWS

Sam's Desert Adventure is now in stock! And Jere D. James' Apache is now available in a LARGE PRINT EDITION.

Publisher Signs New Author

LEE ANDERSON with CONCHO (PHOTO by APATROU)

Moonlight Mesa publisher, Becky Coffield, met this past week with C.L. "Lee" Anderson to discuss terms of the new contract between the two. Both parties were amicable to changes made to the original contract offer. "The changes were just fine," Coffield said. "I have absolutely no problem with them. It's a much better contract now. It actually protects me more!"

Anderson, the author of Developing the Art of Equine Communication, is a former cowboy, horse trainer, and aeronautical engineer. "He puts on clinics and demonstrations on a regular basis for groups with his horse, Concho. He is, for all intents and purposes, still a highly regarded trainer," Coffield said. Anderson's horse, a thoroughbred and former race horse, was badly injured in a racetrack accident four years ago. According to Anderson, the horse went head over heels a number of times and sustained terrific battering and bruising. Anderson took the horse, which had no further economic value as far as racing goes, and guided the animal into becoming the most entertaining, agreeable, companionable equine imaginable.

"I have seen this horse in person," Coffield said. "He is remarkable. Truly remarkable."

"This is a dynamite book. It's written in a friendly, folksly style, easy to understand, and filled with information and ideas that any equine owner will find helpful and usable, especially the novice horse owner," Coffield said, "or the individual who may be a proficient rider but doesn't understand the horse much."


SAM'S DESERT ADVENTURE EN ROUTE

For all those clamoring for the new Moonlight Mesa young reader publication, Sam's Desert Adventure, the book should arrive by the end of next week. "We've had one snafu after another with this book," Coffield said. "I've never seen anything like it. To make matters worse, there are about 4 commas I question, so we'll undoubtedly have to upload again. Drats. I can't help being obsessive about our publications!"


APACHE NOW IN LARGE PRINT


Jere D. James' highly popular Apache, the second book in the Jake Silver series, is now available in a LARGE PRINT EDITION. The third title in the series, Canyon of Death, should be available in LARGE PRINT by fall.


AUTHOR UPDATE


Author Jere D. James has been loafing, by all accounts, but insists Canyon of Death will be ready for print this year.

Rusty Richards, author of Casey Tibbs - Born to Ride, has had a rough patch and been under the weather for quite a spell. We're all sending Rusty our thoughts for a full and speedy recovery!

Author Paula Silici, A Way in the Wilderness, is making steady progress in her sales. Silici, a professional editor (www.pro-edits.com)also blogs for Talking Writing.



Renee

Publisher Creates New Imprint: Moonlight Writers Press

While it's not final, it's looking like it will be. Publisher Becky Coffield announced earlier this week that she is strongly considering creating a new imprint for Moonlight Mesa Associates, Inc. The new imprint would be Moonlight Writers Press.

"The purpose of this imprint is very simple," Coffield said. "It would be the imprint we will use to publish people's books that are NOT for sale. I get requests now and then from people who want their memoirs/biography/poetry etc. published, but they only want to give it to their family and friends."

In the past, Coffield has turned down these kinds of requests. "I don't want to be known as a subsidy publisher," Coffield said. "Yet, I can see that some people have been horribly ripped off by unscrupulous publishers who have not done right by the authors. I guess my goal is to provide a service that is AFFORDABLE, and that produces a book the person can be proud of. And, by creating an imprint just for this specific kind of job, I don't have to be concerned with Moonlight Mesa Associates being labeled a 'subsidy' publisher."

The publisher is quick to add: "If the writer wants his/her book sold, however, that is a different matter and a different standard the work must rise to."

All books under the new imprint will have a professionally designed cover and will be edited. The books will not be assigned an ISBN, nor will they be registered with the Library of Congress. The author can order all the copies he or she wants, but the book will not be released for general distribution.

"Of course, now that we've come to this decision, no one will probably call for months and months. That's okay, too. I have plenty of work to keep me busy," Coffield said.


SAM'S DESERT ADVENTURE


After a great deal of fussing, fuming, and gnashing of teeth, a proof copy of Sam's Desert Adventure is en route. "Oh my gosh. We had so much trouble with this title. First, the fonts wouldn't embed. Unbeknownst to me, when using Adobe Acrobat Pro X to convert files to a PDF, it appears you have to choose a different file than the Standard file to get the fonts to embed. Well, once I figured that out things got a bit better...two uploads later. Then there was a problem with the cover, and of course my cover guy was in California, not at his computer in Wisconsin...it just took forever."

The proof copy should arrive early next week. If there are no glaring errors, the book will be ordered and will be available by late January.

Also now available in a LARGE PRINT EDITION is Jere D. James' very popular Apache, the second book in the Jake Silver Adventure Series. The third title in the series, Canyon of Death, will be uploaded to LARGE PRINT later this year.


NEW AUTHORS AND TITLES

Coffield is in the process of signing Lee Anderson, author of a book on equine communication. "We're very excited about this book. I think it's wonderful. We have a lot of plans for it," Coffield said. "Lee's writing is very friendly and folksy. It's easy to understand, and the information is invaluable."

Still in the wings is Jerry Tindell, who is working on a book about mule training.




Submitted by Renee

Short Story Contest on for 2012

Moonlight Mesa Associates, Inc. has announced in the company's monthly newsy newsletter that the Annual Cowboy Up Short Story Contest will be sponsored once again.

Details for the contest are on our website: www.moonlightmesaassociates.com. Guidelines for the contest remain largely the same, except this year the stories MUST BE SET in Arizona since 2012 marks the state's centennial. Isn't that clever?

The contest has slowly become increasingly popular, and entries are so good as to be absolutely incredible. Judging is becoming extremely difficult. We really struggle to determine the cash prize winners. Almost every story submitted deserves a prize. In fact, we are considering publishing another Western anthology in 2013, comprised of the top stories from 2011 and 2012.

The contest is open from March 1 to September 1 and costs only $15 to enter. Stories may be up to 3500 words in length, and must be original and unpublished. See the website for more details: www.moonlightmesaassociates.com.


NEW YEARS RESOLUTIONS:

Well for all those who don't get our newsy newsletter, I'd like to reiterate here my highly inspired New Years Resolutions. In my own mind, I figure the more people I tell, the more likely I am to keep to these! I'm a believer in good ol' New Years Resolutions. Why be all excited about a new year if you don't plan to make it any better than the last one?

1. Stop whining when things don’t go my way or sales are down or an event that I’ve paid big money for sucks.

2. Close one sale a day!

3. Make my company’s presence better known in my own home town!

4. Work less, but work smarter.

5. Stop watching so much depressing news on TV.

Now, I’m happy with those things, and I think I can do them, too! I’m not sure how I’ll go about doing some of them, especially number 4, but I’ll have a whole year to figure it out. I’ll report back.


MERRY MERRY AND HAPPY HAPPY

Since neither Renee nor Jered are available to blog over the holidays, I'm not sure I'll get back to a blogpost. If I don't, I'd like to wish everyone the politically incorrect MERRY CHRISTMAS. And, of course, have a very HAPPY NEW YEAR also.


Becky

BASIC BOOK MARKETING 101

How things change, especially in the publishing industry, where every single day brings new MARKETING ideas, gimmicks, markets, and innovations. Some of these new "things" are worth exploring, but the catch is finding the right ones that work for your book(s)or company. The task can be overwhelmingly time-consuming.

The main issue in publishing, as I have said here many times, is not in getting a book published. The issue is in SELLING THE DANG THINGS once they're in print. No easy task for the vast majority of small publishing houses and self-publishers.

Time was when Moonlight Mesa Associates, a Western Book Publisher, worked on a miniscule budget but made a few bucks because we focused on grass roots activities. We depended on our authors to carry their fair share of the workload. Some did. Some didn't, despite their well-laid out marketing plans and promises. As our company slowly expanded, however, we abandoned the safety of grass roots marketing and moved into the big-boy arenas of marketing. We spent lavishly on magazine ads that rarely produced the expected results; we traveled farther and farther afield to attend events that often resulted in marginal profits, and we wasted hundreds of hours meddling in social media and seeking vendors for our products.

After recently spending eleven days lounging in Cabo San Lucas, swimming and watching the ocean ceaselessly ebb and flow, it became abundantly clear that Moonlight Mesa needs to return to its more profitable grass roots marketing progam. Forget the mailings. Forget the ads. Forget the travel. Forget the hours on the net tweeting and Facebooking (something everyone here deplored doing anyway). I guess this is what is sometimes called the KISS method of marketing: Keep It Simple, Stupid!

Grass roots is what made us. Grass roots is what will save us.

We are on our way. :)



Becky, the Publisher

Western Publisher Swears Off Western Events

Moonlight Mesa publisher Becky Coffield vows that she has finally learned her lesson in trying to attend Western shows to sell books. "We have lost money at all events except one, and on that one we barely broke even," Coffield said.

Unfortunately, the latest show, Dr. Cural's Medicine Show and All West Extravaganza in Yuma, Arizona, was the biggest disappointment of them all. "The show was wonderfully organized," said Coffield. "They had charming, entertaining performers, and lots of variety in the acts! Truly the show was exceptionally well put together. In addition to all the professional performers, they had mariachi bands, Indian dances and entertainment, re-enactors, Buffalo Soldiers on site, etc. BUT NO ONE CAME despite the huge amount of advertising the promoters did. It was horribly disappointing to the promoters and to the few vendors who attended. There were never more than 25 people in attendance at any given time, and that's being extremely generous in my estimate."

The Wild West Event in Cave Creek the week before was only marginally better, according to Coffield. "We just lost our asses in both shows. There's no other way to put it. I'd like to paint a rosier picture, but it's impossible to do so."

As a result of the last highly disappointing and financially devastating two shows, Coffield will be cancelling Moonlight Mesa's appearance at the Arizona National Livestock Event in December. "I'll attend it first, and see if it's at all appropriate for our products. I refuse to spend my time, money, diesel, and energy attending shows where we can't turn a profit. Even a modest profit is appreciated!"

The publisher is still planning on Gold Rush Days in Wickenburg and Mule Days in Bishop, California. She says she may throw in a Wickenburg gun show, where books have sold fairly well in the past. And, if she's available in September, she may again do Pinetop. "Those three shows are the ONLY ones we made any money at this past year," Coffield said. "Every other show was a big loss. Bummer for us...and for our authors."

Moonlight Mesa will be closed from November 19 to December 1 while the publisher and her spouse go to Mexico. "I need this vacation more than ever," Coffield said. "I really need time to think about where we are and where we're going...and how to get there!"

Cowboy Up Contest Winners Announced

At long last, Moonlight Mesa Western Book Publisher Becky Coffield yesterday announced the cash prize winners and the runnersup for this year's Annual Cowboy Up Short Story Contest.

1st Place and $250 is Laura M. Gibson of Longview, Wa. for "The Water Men."
2nd Place and $150 is Robert Walton for "The Wreck of the Annabelle Lee."
3rd Place and $75 is Murray Edwards of Clyde, Texas for "Her Final Order."

Runners up:
Bill Starr of Yuma, AZ for "Holy Night"
Bill Wilbur of West Covina, CA for "Faith"
Drew Davis of Martinez, GA for "Tragedy Falls"
Gerald M. Jarvis of Mechanicsville, VA for "Runnin' Blue".

This year the runnersup will also receive a book of their choice published by Moonlight Mesa Associates.

According to the publisher, "These stories were all just so excellent. Every single story listed here really deserved a first place cash prize! I wish we had the $$ to make that happen. There was only a 1 point difference in the top three stories."

In addtion, Coffield said there were some stories that were superb but didn't really fit the criteria of being a suspense or mystery. "We had stories that were worthy of being published in professional magazines, like the New Yorker, or The Atlantic Monthly. Very literary type stories."

Next year's contest will be announced in a few weeks. "We need to decide if we want to place restrictions or criteria for the story like we did this year, or just let people write what they want. I've also considered doing a short-short story contest which would be a story of less than 1200 to 1500 words. That could be fun, and those are very challenging! We've also talked about doing a "novella" contest and then publishing the top three novellas. So many choices!" Coffield said.


THE LITTLEST WRANGLER CHOSEN BY MUSEUM.




J.R. Sanders' award-winning historical Western book, The Littlest Wrangler, was recently chosen by the Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma to be included in their "Traveling Trunks" program. This is perhaps the most prestigous Western museum in the country, according to publisher Becky Coffield. For them to select Sanders' title for their learning program is truly something to be proud of.



MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW WEIGHS IN ON SAM'S DESERT ADVENTURE

MidWest Book Review's Senior Reviewer Shirley Johnson recently sent her sterling review of Moonlight Mesa's forthcoming young reader, Sam's Desert Adventure. "We were positively thrilled with Ms. Johnson's review," Coffield said. "Young reader publications are new to us. We've only done one other, so we are still figuring out how to best produce and market these books. Johnson praised everything about the book, which pleased us to no end," Coffield said.

A blurb from Johnson's review:

"Author Jonah Arizona has done a great job bringing the characters in this delightful read to life. The mischievous, trouble-prone Sam is endearing right from the start. Sam finds out that nothing comes without a price as he learns responsibility in so many areas, and adventure in so many others.

"I especially liked the family atmosphere where rules for the children were enforced with love. I also liked how the author developed a friendship for Sam with a grandfatherly figure, showing children they can enjoy a camaraderie with those older and learn from them.

"All in all, this book is a winner! It has warmth, a great story line, wonderful characters, and a top-notch ending. I highly recommend it."
Shirley Johnson, Senior Reviewer
MidWest Book Review

Look for Sam's Desert Adventure by Jonah Arizona in early 2012. Retail: 9.95.