Literary Agents, Beware!

In the months after completing my second novel—a process that included writing, editing, rewriting, and even more editing—I queried more than 150 literary agents. I received outright rejections from 80 of them; most of the rest completely ignored me. A handful of agents asked to see an example of my work, but that's all. My quest to get representation actually had a happy ending as you can see here, but for most aspiring writers, queries and the manuscripts they represent end up in an agency slush pile.

What would happen if a writer, one who believes he has completed the best novel ever written, started stalking the literary agent who rejected him? And what would happen to that agent if her agency becomes target of a nasty email campaign, and then things take a turn for the worse when her best friend and leading client end up murdered? When the agent fears that she could be the next victim, she unwittingly discovers that the publishing business can be murder.

This is what happens to Jo Donovan, the protagonist of A Dangerous Fiction (Viking, July 2013) by Barbara Rogan. Donovan, the owner and principal agent of a boutique New York literary agency, learns that someone has hijacked the company's email account. All of Donovan's clients are told the very exciting news that their books have been accepted by publishers for publication, when this is far from the truth. Another even more damaging prank is yet to follow.

Announcement: I Sign with Golden Wheat Literary

I am proud to announce that Jessica Schmeidler of Golden Wheat Literary (Twitter: @GoldenWheatLit) will represent me and my books as I strive to achieve the next level in my literary career. Jessica, previously the Acquisitions Editor at Anaiah Press and currently a freelance editor and ghostwriter, originally launched the agency to help connect Christian writers with the vast market of both Christian and secular publishers; however, she has expanded into representing legal thrillers and suspense novels of both adult and young adult readerships.

I am encouraged by Jessica's insider knowledge of the publishing industry, her enthusiasm for new authors, and her true desire to be part of an author's career development from the very first book and beyond. The fact that Golden Wheat Literary is a small, boutique agency is, for me, a big plus, as it ensures that Jessica will be a true partner to my writing and marketing efforts.

Jessica and I will look for an appropriate home for my new novel, THE BURGAS AFFAIR, in which a Bulgarian policeman is teamed up with an Israeli woman from the Mossad as they work a case involving international terrorists and local criminals in both Bulgaria and Israel, while confronting the traumas of their pasts. The novel is currently on submission.

We are very excited about this book, and we hope to share it with the world of readers very soon. Wish us luck!

Why I Offered My Book for Free. Again.

47,531. That's the total number of copies of my novel Valley of Thracians that were downloaded during its five-day promotion at the beginning of March. 47,531. That number is so huge, so unbelievable, that I'll probably repeat it a number of times in this article. If I had a dollar for every copy that was downloaded, I would be a rich man. Well, a bit richer. But the thing is this – the huge number of downloads was a result of my offering the book for free. Again.

In March 2013, just two months after I self-published the novel, I ran a free promotion. At the time, I was amazed that 8,440 copies were downloaded. The book peaked in 27th place on Amazon's Free for Kindle bestseller list. In October that year, I ran a discounted book promotion, offering it for sale at $0.99, and 910 copies were sold in one week.

After all this time, why did I decide to again offer the book for free? How did I manage to get 47,531 downloads? And what did I achieve with this free promotion?

The Kindle Author Who Has Never Seen a Kindle

In January, I self-published my suspense novel, selecting to include it in the KDP Select Program and making it available exclusively on Amazon. In the month of March I ran a five-day free promotion, one which resulted, temporarily at least, in the book's achieving bestseller status. Over 8,000 people all over the world downloaded Valley of Thracians to their Kindles, and some of them have actually read the book.

All of those potential readers have seen something that I haven't - what my book looks like on a Kindle device. I don't own a Kindle. I have basically written a book for a medium that I have never seen.

If You Self-Publish, You Must Self-Market

Adapted from the Jerusalem Post

"No matter what channel an author takes to publish a book - via an agent and publishing company or self-publishing, almost all the marketing today falls on the author," said American-born Israeli Ellis Shuman of Neveh Ilan, who has published two books on his own - 2003's collection of short stories The Virtual Kibbutz and the brand-new suspense novel set in Bulgaria, Valley of Thracians.

"Agents and publishers are looking for authors who already have a following, whether via a popular blog or a big Twitter following. That's why many prospective authors - who have already made their effort to gain a following - have decided that if they have to do the marketing on their own anyway, they might as well be in total control of the publishing process and the destiny of their book."

Why I Left iUniverse

I published The Virtual Kibbutz, my collection of short stories about life on the kibbutz, with iUniverse in April, 2003. At the time, iUniverse appeared to be the most professional publishing-on-demand option for my book. I paid my fees, received a number of free copies, and purchased many more to send off to Jewish publications with hopes that reviews would encourage future sales.

This week at my request The Virtual Kibbutz was removed from the iUniverse book catalog. It is still possible to order the one or two remaining copies at Amazon and other online retailers, but soon the original edition will become a collector’s item.

I plan to republish The Virtual Kibbutz independently in the coming months. For now, here is the reason why I left iUniverse.

Author Interview with Kim Wright

Last year I read and reviewed a debut novel, Love in Mid Air - a story of American housewives that can best be classified as “chick lit”. I began corresponding with author Kim Wright because her follow-up book had nothing to do with that genre, but rather with the path authors must take in order to get their books published. As an aspiring novelist I have been following Kim’s advice for some time, and I’ve watched as her writing has gone off in new directions. I interviewed Kim to learn about her books and her plans for the future.

Self Publishing in the Days of The Virtual Kibbutz

As I work towards the completion of my novel, I have begun considering how to get it published. The world of publishing is evolving. More and more authors are deciding to self publish and self promote their books. While that will work for some, others continue to search for literary agents and traditional publishers with hopes that their book will be one of the few that make it onto bookstore shelves.

At this stage I plan to go the traditional route with my manuscript, as I don’t have the time or resources to self promote my work. It’s funny to think that I’ve already traveled the self publishing road, but that is indeed how my collection of short stories, The Virtual Kibbutz, was published in 2003.

Naomi Ragen and Edgar Allan Poe

The Jerusalem District Court this week ruled that author Naomi Ragen plagiarized the work of writer Sarah Shapiro. The court found that Ragen, in her 1992 novel Sotah, uplifted sections from Shapiro’s Growing With My Children: A Jewish Mother’s Diary, published in 1990. The case had many similarities to recent charges of plagiarism against the author of a novel about Edgar Allan Poe’s child bride.

According to media reports, the Jerusalem court determined that Ragen’s actions constituted a premeditated act. Ragen, the court noted, as reported in Haaretz, “testified that work written by the plaintiff served as 'raw materials' for her, and that her method of writing is based on drawing from a 'well' and 'imagination' in ways that include the works of others, including those rendered by the plaintiff."

Let’s Get Digital, a Review

The publishing industry is undergoing a rapid transformation. Hardback sales have collapsed. Sales of trade paperbacks and mass market paperbacks are down. In July last year, sales of ebooks on Amazon outnumbered sales of hardback books for the first time. In February this year, ebook sales comprised 29.5% of the market, more than paperbacks.

The Borders bookstore has closed its doors. Amazon has begun publishing its own titles. The Kindle is the top-selling item in Amazon’s history. Authors are expected to market their own books. And self-publishing no longer carries the stigma it once had when it was considered solely a vanity press.

In this changing landscape, prospective authors have a new option available to them. Instead of turning with a manuscript to a literary agent to search for a publisher, authors can publish their own books. According to self-publishing advocate David Gaughran, if a new author has “the technical capability to operate an email account and download [his new] book, [he/she has] the capacity to learn what it takes to become a publisher.”