Book Sales - Bucking the National Trend

It's been awhile since anyone around here has blogged, tweeted, or facebooked. All of us have been hard at work preparing Lee Anderson's forthcoming Developing the Art of Equine Communication for upload to our printer! (Photo by Allen Patrou)

So, here's our latest!

BOOK SALES STATISTICS

Nationally, it looks like the sale of "paper" books is plummeting, and plummeting in just about all categories. Most people who are into technology are probably not too surprised by this. Ebooks are currently all the rage among the reading public. (The following is from Moonlight Mesa's monthly newsletter.)

According to GalleyCat, an online publisher daily newsletter, sales of paper books are reported to be generally down and,you guessed it, sales of e-books have skyrocketed over the past year.

GalleyCat claims the only two categories that saw an increase in book sales were E-Books with an increase of 123.4%, and the All Religious category, which had a rise of 8.9%.

In 2011 adult hardcover sales dropped a staggering 18.9% from 2010. Adult paperbacks did not fare much better, falling 16%. Overall, the adult mass market fell 35.4%. Even Children’s/YA paperbacks fell 6.08%.

Interestingly, physical audio books fell 9.4%, while downloadable audio books rose 25.9%.

So, what’s that tell everyone? One might believe that if a publisher/author doesn’t have his or her work available as an E-book, they are losing out on a rather lucrative market. However, this is only vaguely true, if true at all. Apparently only very few e-book authors sell more than $100 worth of their book(s) in a month.

What should it tell a publisher/author instead? It should be as clear as the print on this page that writing a book, or publishing one, is not the easy road to riches. Maybe painting, or pottery, or weaving would be more lucrative.Still, a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do…and so does a woman!!


DESPITE NATIONAL TREND - MOONLIGHT MESA HAS STRONG SALES

Desite the national trend mentioned above, Moonlight Mesa, Western Book Publisher, enjoyed strong sales in 2011 even though several of the publisher's book events were total duds. Revenues for 2011 matched 2010, the publisher's best year ever, and so far 2012 is off to a sizzling start.

Moonlight Mesa participated in two events in February and had record sales at both events. The company's next big event is Mule Days in Bishop, CA. over Memorial Day weekend. Unless sky-rocketing gas prices keep people home, the publisher expects great sales there also.




CANYON OF DEATH IN LARGE PRINT SOON

The third book in Jere D. James' trilogy, Canyon of Death, will soon be available in a large print edition. "Both Saving Tom Black and Apache, books one and two of the trilogy, are available in large print, and they are selling," the publisher said. "We'll get Canyon of Death out there next."

Publisher Becky Coffield expects to have Jere D. James' fourth book in print by the end of 2012. "Well, the book must be written first, but I think the book will be ready for us in time to get it out in 2012. We've already had requests for it," Coffield said. "Jere is doing A LOT of research for this book, I know that."

Publisher Expectations

My small staff is constantly deserting me when it comes time to blog or tweet or facebook. So, you're stuck with me again for this blog.

Today I'd like to discuss two things: loyalty and walkin' the talk. In some ways these are both the same topic, but I'll divide them up because that's how I think.

AUTHOR LOYALTY:

What do I mean by author loyalty? Author loyalty is crucial to a small publishing house like Moonlight Mesa. Big houses probably don't give a rip, but a tiny publishing house like mine depends on author loyalty.

Being loyal means an author is not on the hunt for another publisher once the author's book is selected and published. We put A LOT of time, energy, and money into people's books. We don't appreciate it when an author that we've invested heavily in decides to go with a subsidy/vanity press with their next title because they've been sold a bill of goods from some big-talking sales rep. from the vanity houses.

However, let me be perfectly clear, IF we were ever approached by a "big house" to buy out one of our authors, we would not hesitate to pass that author on IF the author wanted to do so, and if we thought it would be of benefit to the author.

One of our goals in getting into this business was to do the BEST we can by any author we represent, and if that means sending them on their way to a house that can give them better marketing and sales, we're proud and happy to do so. And we do have authors whose books warrant that kind of attention.

Author loyalty means the author approaches us first with his or her new project - not last. We may not want to go in the author's direction, and then we feel fine about the person going in search of another publisher. No problem-o!

Author loyalty means if you have a problem with us, you talk to us, not bad mouth us to your pals. We are always open to conversation...just not ranting and raving and temper tantrums (and we try not to do that, too!).


WALKIN' YOUR TALK

Great. I just sent this out half-done. That's why my staff needs to do this blogging stuff for me.

Anyway, back to "walkin' your talk."

PLEASE don't submit a marketing plan that you can't, or won't, follow through on. Honestly, we have one author who STILL does not have a website, who has not done one promised thing! Don't make crap up. We won't like you, and quite honestly, once we get our investment back on your book, we won't work so hard at selling your book.

We make it very clear that we expect authors to participate in the selling of their books. NO ONE CAN SELL A BOOK AS WELL AS THE AUTHOR. We are MORE than generous with our author discounts and our royalties. Nowhere will you get a 50% discount or a 20% royalty. NOWHERE! (Except with us.)

Loyalty and Walkin' the Talk are two biggies to me.... Don't waste my time, energy, and money if your handshake isn't worth the time of day.

Meanwhile...

Sam's Desert Adventure was recently re-uploaded due to some undetected errors. Grrr. That was SPENDY and annoying. But, it should be letter perfect now, although I still wonder about two commas...I'm told I need to get a life.

Looks like Developing the Art of Equine Communication by C.L. "Lee" Anderson will have an official pub. date of June, 2012. Layout and formatting will begin next week most likely. If not then...the following week for certain. Pre-pub copies could be available as early as April.

LARGE PRINT EDITIONS of Saving Tom Black and Apache are selling! They are actually selling! The third novel in the Jake Silver trilogy, Canyon of Death, will be in a LARGE PRINT EDITION this summer.

Gold Rush Days was this past weekend in Wickenburg. This was Moonlight Mesa's first event of 2012, and we were definitely in the mood for it. The weather cooperated, too! All things came together and this ended up being the BEST event we've ever had. We had our best one day sales, and best event overall!!

Next weekend we're doing the Wickenburg Gun Show. Hmmm. I don't expect a repeat of last weekend, to be honest. I'll be happy with even moderate sales. Yippee!!!!!

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