Book Publishing Research

Good afternoon, I had intended to write earlier this morning, but like most of the country I was up late last night watching the results come in for the Presidential Election. I have been getting a lot of questions from authors about how to search for the best book publishing company. This is an excellent question and that very search for a book publisher is what lead to the founding of Tate Publishing many years ago.

As you have probably read in past posts, Tate Publishing was founded to provide the only real opportunity a first-time or unknown author has in the book publishing industry. Most authors begin their search for a publisher by going to the internet and using Google or other internet search engines and looking up keywords like "book publishing", "get published", "publishing companies", or other keyword searches to help them find a publisher. While this start makes since, the problem is that you will be instantly bombarded by countless self-publishers claiming they want your book and want to publish your book for almost no money. This is when you need to become very selective as an author!

First, make sure the publisher is selective. What I mean by this is that you need to make sure that the publisher doesn't accept every author. Selectivity makes sure that the publisher's product line and services will be good and you will have an actual chance to compete in the book publishing industry.

Second, look at the services the publisher offers. Many self-publishers require you to purchase books, purchase services or simply print books. You need a partner, you need to know that if you sign with a publisher the end result and the final product will be truly ready for the marketplace.

Third, distribution is the most important part. Please make sure that the publisher has actual distribution and doesn't simply list titles in a database like a self-publisher will. Your product must be warehoused and inventoried with stores and distributors and product must always be 100% returnable, if it isn't, bookstores and buyers won't even look at it.

Fourth, customer service is a must. Does the publisher answer your calls, return them and treat you like the asset you are, or is it cold and you feel you are going to be doing everything yourself? That would be a bad situation and almost gaurantee the failure of your book.

Once again, Tate Publishing is the best in the industry and offers services, products, distribution and customer service that is second to none. I encourage you to read my blog about our services and what to expect and about what book distribution should be in order for your book to actually have a chance to succeed!

During your journey ask a lot of questions and always make personal contact. You need a partnership to succeed and people make the difference. An established publisher is very important in this industry. As always please feel free to contact our offices or respond to me with any questions you may have. Don't forget, I am praying for you and your success and the exciting opportunities in our book publishing industry, especially for Tate Published authors.

Sincerely,

Ryan Tate

Tate Publishing Author Reviews

What a week! It is Halloween at Tate Publishing and I am shocked at how creative our staff can be. Each year gets better, last year a Man Eating Ant won the contest, but this year is a whole new level. As I walk the halls there is about every super-hero you can imagine, the world's tallest man and I even saw Teen Wolf", yeah from the 80's!!! We will post some pictures of the costume winners next week and you won't want to miss them.

As we are ending the month of October I wanted to let everyone know about a new blog for Tate authors that has been launched by our authors. The website is www.tateauthors.blogspot.com and is going to be a great place for current Tate Publishing authors to chat and exchange ideas. We are so proud of our authors and the incredible accomplishments they make everyday. On a daily basis we prove how successful a publisher and author can be working together in a true partnership. I mentioned in my last post that we have had the highest quarter for royalties in our history and we expect more of the same as we continue to market and push Tate titles.

Just last week we started a new niche marketing program with our author pool to help generate even more market penetration and sales opportunities. This is sure to deliver another level of success for a Tate Published author. We love the fact that if a Tate author ever needs anything all you have to do is call. Whether it is a frustration, you want us to set up an event or present your book to a specific buyer, regardless of the request we are here. From that level of service, to our new author blogs, production and products that are second to none and the incredible success of the current Tate titles, we are looking forward to an amazing finish to 2008 and the best year ever in 2009.

As always let me know if you have any questions and thanks for reading.

Sincerely,

Ryan Tate

Tate Publishing To Start Making Movies!

Good morning, I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend already. I am actually getting ready to head down to Norman, Oklahoma to watch the Kansas Jayhaws play the Oklahoma Sooners in football this afternoon, after getting beat by Texas last weekend we sure need the Sooners to bounce back!!!

I wanted to get everyone an update on the movie situation. Tate Publishing has been searching for manuscripts and screen plays to turn into a move for over a year and we believe we have some great stuff we are choosing from, but we have also just finished reaching an agreement with Critical Mass Productions to provide the production on the film. We couldn't be more excited and in addition to a feature film we will also be turning probably 15 to 20 of our released books into short films.

As you know Tate Publishing offers production, services, marketing, and distribution that no other publish can provide. One of these products and services is that every Tate tile has a :30 second video book trailer or commercial produced, but this agreement takes it to the next level. To have our books made into short films and movies will once again help Tate authors succeed and have opportunities they can't find anywhere else.

I will keep you posted and get more updates your way, but this is a wonderful and huge step, aside from the screen play and script, the production house is the next most importance part. We couldn't be happier and as always, let me know if you have any questions.

Ryan Tate

Why Does Tate Publishing Cause Such a Buzz?

Well, it is raining here in Oklahoma today, but I love this time of year! Football season and colder weather mean the holidays are just around the corner and with a four year old daughter at home nothing is better than the holidays!!!

It is funny because I was on the phone with one of our account representatives from Google yesterday morning and we were discussing the volume of people who search for information on Tate Publishing. It is amazing how many people want to know what is going on here, I even read blogs where people can't believe our success or how we are achieving what we are for our authors. We were then discussing how all of our competitors use the Tate Publishing name to try and promote their own companies. To me, it is probably one of the greatest compliments when your competitors use your name and reputation to try and get some business for themselves. I have even seen a company named after a dog post untrue statements on their website about us, it never ceases to amaze me the level people will stoop to! However, we have succeeded on a level that no one can come close to. In the radio business there is a saying, "The top dog never barks back!" and that is true. Many people often ask me if negative comments or lies about who or what we do frustrates me and the answer is two fold.

First, when companies like Dog Ear or other smaller publishers make up information or when I read a blog that is just mean in tone or spirit I hate it and my first instinct is to rebut and correct. Now, we all know that usually gets you nowhere and I believe that the best way to silence a critic is to succeed. That has been our model at Tate Publishing, help our authors succeed.

Second, there is no such thing as bad publicity. While this is hard to believe it is true, when individuals or groups try to attack it only ends up promoting us because it causes people to do more research or contact us. Personal contact changes opinions and we are always eager and happy to help our authors in achieving their goals and educate people on all the options they have.

In our main campus in Oklahoma I office just down the hall from our marketing wing. I love it when I can open my door sit back and hear the entire hall full of the sound of marketing reps setting up events and assisting our authors. It is something that many said couldn't be done and many still can't believe is being done. Tate Publishing is holding over 25K events every year for one of the smallest authors pools there is for large publishers. Most of these authors are first-time and unknown, yet they can succeed. That brings me great joy knowing how hard we work for our authors!

I am also proud of the fact that while it is impossible to make everyone happy, we will always do our best. If I run into an author that is frustrated or upset they are surprised to see that regardless of the situation we are always ready to continue to promote them. That will never end for us at Tate Publishing, we have signed up for a partnership with our authors no matter what and we will always just be a phone call or an email away for more assistance or solutions.

We are a Christian company and many people think I shouldn't openly state that. This in no way implies that we are perfect by any means, but is does speak to the resolve of our convictions to serve and offer services, products and opportunities that we believe are good and in accordance with our beliefs. Romans 8:28 & 31 says that "all things work together for good to those who love God... and that if God if for us who can be against us?" Now at the risk of sounding like a crazy Bible beater, I do believe this with all my heart and this is how I run our business. I am held accountable to God for the service we provide and the integrity by which we conduct our business, our spiritual side frustrates many and I have made so many mistakes in my life I am amazed God didn't give up on me a long time ago, but we always strive to get better and serve better everyday. I believe that is why there is such a buzz about Tate and why we succeed, we believe in what we are accomplishing.

Aside from the fact that we provide a level of services, products and marketing that is second to none and we truly don't have a competitor in this, we believe in the dreams of an author or artist alike to have a chance at success. I only wish we could help everybody and didn't have to be as selective as we are, but we must protect the bottom line to succeed in this difficult industry.

Please continue to send your questions my way and link to this blog. I always appreciate everyone helping us get the word out.

In Him,

Ryan Tate

What does distribution for your book really mean?

This is one of the questions that our acquisitions team is asked the most.  It is also probably the most misunderstood question for first-time authors.  

First, understand that most self-publishing companies will claim that they have bookstore distribution.   The truth is that these companies only list their products with a retailer or distributor.  You will not find the titles in a store, only titles listed in a database that if you pay for it they will have a book printed and shipped off.  In most cases self-publishers even use print on demand companies or print on demand distributors like Lightning Source to print a book as it is ordered, the products are never warehoused.  

Second, self-publishers don't offer returnable product.  For a bookstore to stock titles or a distributor to inventory a book for sale and availability the books or products must be returnable.  This simply means that if the books don't sell they can be returned to the publisher at no cost to the distributor or bookstore.  Self-published authors and their books are not returnable and are not able to compete in a retail environment.  

Third, self-publishers don't pay for books sold or put into distribution.  When a publisher is actually trying to sale product in bookstores they must have product inventoried and warehoused.  This is a huge risk and very costly because if you're are putting books into stores or retailers and distributors warehouses you must be prepared to accept the product that doesn't sell as a return.  This means that you could lose a lot of money if a title doesn't sell well and that is bad business.  At Tate Publishing we just recently had a book titled, "From Pulling Weeds to Picking Stocks" that went to number one on Amazon.com.  It is also being watched for the New York Times Bestsellers list and has had purchase orders from stores like Barnes & Noble, Borders, Books A Million and wholesalers and distributors like Ingram and Spring Arbor for over 30,000 copies in the first 6 weeks of the release.  A self-published author would have to pay 10's of thousands of dollars to simply print this many books and then assume the risk that the product won't sell out and have the returns come right back to you.  This is not a risk any author should have to take, that is a risk your publisher should take.

At Tate Publishing our authors books are set up for distribution as a traditional publishing house and product is 100% returnable, product is warehoused (not simply listed in a database) and all product sold into distribution is paid for by Tate Publishing, not the author.  In addition, Tate Publishing works with and provides product to every major distributor and retailer, but we also have direct relationships with the largest retailers in the country which means we provide product directly to them for in store sales.  Check out our events page to see our distribution and event strengths.

Once again, as you are searching for options and trying to learn this industry make sure you ask your publisher or potential publisher these questions about their distribution system.  If all of these elements aren't in place you cannot compete against the traditional publishers or expect to have great success from a retail standpoint.  

As always, please send any of your questions or additional topics you would like me to discuss, I would love to help answer them for you.  

Ryan Tate

President, Tate Publishing