Episode 22

Get Your Book Published with Stacy Padula

Get Your Book Published with Stacy Padula. Welcome award-winning author and publisher, Stacy Padula, to Saturday Soundbites. She brings her extensive experience in bringing her creative works to market. Stacy works with many authors and will share her knowledge of both the traditional publishing world and the self-publishing world. Briley & Baxter Publications Stacy has new and exciting ventures in the works and has a great visibility strategy that she uses to continue the excitement and interest in her books. Be sure to tune in and take notes, you will learn all you need to know to get started! Learn more about how to get your book published at www.brileybaxterbooks.com

Transcript

Veronica: [00:00:00] Hello. Hello, welcome to Saturday soundbites. This is Veronica Sofer, and I'm so excited to be here for another fantastic show. You guys are going to love today's episode and thank you for tuning in. We get together every Saturday and we talk about all things, visibility strategy, including branding, marketing, public relations advertising.

[00:00:22] Right. And messaging. We talk with book authors. We talk with producers of shows. We talk to reporters and, and everyone in the news business. And at the end of the day, our objective is to give you tools and strategies that are going to help you spread the word about your business, what you're doing, projects, your, your nonprofit, your passion projects, and, you know, we want you to engage with us.

[00:00:45] So if you are watching on Facebook, make sure that you drop us some comments. So we know you are watching and hashtag replay if you're catching us on the replay. And if you're listening to our podcast, make sure you hit subscribe because we want to make sure that you don't miss any episodes. So today's episode is just going to be fantastic.

[00:01:02] I've got Stacy Pedulla here. She is in. Award-winning best-selling author, her projects are fantastic and she's also a publisher. So for those of you who have always wanted to publish your own book, write a book, not quite sure which route you want to go, what what's all involved. She's the person you need to connect to.

[00:01:19] So I'm going to go ahead and bring her up right now, Stacy. Hello. There you are. 

[00:01:26] Stacy: [00:01:26] It's great to be here. Thank you 

[00:01:27] Veronica: [00:01:27] so much. Awesome. Awesome. Well, tell us a little bit about who you are, your book series and all the fantastic projects that you've got in the works. 

[00:01:36] Stacy: [00:01:36] Sure. So I'm, so I'm the author of three different books series to our young adult.

[00:01:41] One is called grips. The other is Montgomery late. Hi, gripped is the young adult realistic fiction and Montgomery like highest Sandel Christian fiction. And then I'm also the author of on the right path, which I co-authored with NBA coach. Reckoning from Houston. So some of you guys may be familiar with him.

[00:01:58] And our first book actually just came out for that last week. It's going to be a six book children's series. So we've got a lot going on with the books I'm working on the fifth grip book now. 

[00:02:07] Veronica: [00:02:07] That's so exciting. And how did you decide it was time for you to be an author? I, you know, some people are debating.

[00:02:15] Do I write a fiction book? I do. I have a story in me. Do I write a nonfiction book? How did you decide when it was time for you to start writing? Cause I think this origin story is fantastic. 

[00:02:26]Stacy: [00:02:26] So it's funny. So writing was like so deeply ingrained in me naturally that I started writing little stories that became much longer books when I was a child.

[00:02:35] So I was six years old when I wrote my first book my parents, and then I just kept writing. So by the time I was in high school, I was writing 100, 200 plus. You know, pH books. So my my first book series, Montgomery Lake high, which is a five book series, I actually wrote three of the books first drafts when I was a high school student.

[00:02:56] And ultimately the inspiration was entering high school and realizing that. The books like sweet Valley, high babysitters club, things like that, that I have read to hopefully prepare me for high school just were not realistic at all. I was so let down I'm like, this is not what happens. There's so much bullying here.

[00:03:15] There's peer pressure. People are so mean to each other. There's tons of drugs and alcohol in high school. Why didn't these books address this? And ultimately I said, That's it, kids need realistic books and I'm going to have to jump in and start writing these. So that was why I started writing my Montgomery, like high book series.

[00:03:33] And after college I found those books and I said, wow, you know, these could really help some kids. You know, basically I was thinking kids before they even enter high school or kids who are ultimately. In high school and just needed advice or just needed to feel like they weren't alone. Something that was realistic and relatable.

[00:03:52] And that's when I actually said, let me try to get these published and I'd be in that journey of editing. I actually wrote two additional books to kind of finish the series. And then I started the hunt for a traditional publisher, and that was an adventure of its own because it is not easy to get traditionally 

[00:04:10] Veronica: [00:04:10] published.

[00:04:11] Yeah. And that's really the question people have. I've written this book, I've shown it to a few people. I've gotten feedback. I've had it edited. How do I find a publisher? What's the traditional route. And tell us what you discovered in that 

[00:04:24] Stacy: [00:04:24] process. So I had to rate. Honestly about 70 different query letters before I got a literary agent most, you know, agents would write back, sorry, we're not taking any unsolicited writers or no new authors.

[00:04:39] And I'm like, how does a new author break into this? Because, I mean, this was. Over 10 years ago. So this is before the days of self publishing, really. I mean, it was around, but no one really did it. It was before the days of like Amazon publishing, Kindle, like anything like that. So, you know, I'm like, well, if no, one's going to accept a new author, how does them B break into this industry?

[00:05:00] But I just felt it in my heart that. Nope, this is what I'm supposed to do. And I just kept trying, and I just kept finding more and more agents and just sending out more query letters and explaining my mission. And then finally I did get an agent and then they did shop me around to the publisher who originally published my Montgomery, like high books and my first script book.

[00:05:20] And it was a process though. I'll never forget that. I'll never forget the feeling of like, Getting all those rejections and just being like, well, I know I'm supposed to do this, so I'm just going to keep trying and not let it get me down. But I feel like if I didn't have that deep conviction, you know, if I hadn't been up after the 30th rejection, where would I be today?

[00:05:40] I don't 

[00:05:40] Veronica: [00:05:40] know. Right. Yeah. And I guess rejection is probably something people aren't prepared for. When you think about putting a book together or a package or drafts and manuscripts. I hadn't really thought about that, but in the traditional. Publishing path that's often the story is rejection is a huge part of it.

[00:06:00] Stacy: [00:06:00] Even just to get an agent, even just an agent. I mean, these, they weren't even looking at my book yet. It was just a query letter that I wrote that explained what the book's about, why I wrote it, who I was and so forth. And just even that the agents were like, we're just not taking on any new, so it can be yeah, certainly disheartening to try to go the traditional route, unless, you know, somebody that can connect you to somebody in the industry.

[00:06:26] It can be very, very daunting and difficult and heartbreaking, I would think too. 

[00:06:31] Veronica: [00:06:31] Yeah. So tell us, you, you got your books published and then you did something really interesting, which is the cracks of, of what I'm hoping people will get out of this. You kind of changed you, you pivoted your model a little bit.

[00:06:44] Tell us about that process and what you learned from it. 

[00:06:48] Stacy: [00:06:48] Sure. So so I was already a business owner, so I know how to start a business. I also have a degree in design, so I knew how to design book covers. There was so much that my publisher was doing for me, that I was like, okay, in the back of my mind, I'm like, I know how to do all this.

[00:07:03] Right. So when it came time for my second gripped book, come up to come out to backtrack a little bit gripped is Series about a college football player who had, who was injured and he ends up developing an opioid addiction. And it's sort of about. What happens to him as a result and his family and like the town he grew up in and how it affects people.

[00:07:26]It's a very important message. I feel that needs to get out there. And the series has done very well and very blessed. But then it's on so well that I actually had interest at the time Hollywood producer who wanted to turn it into. A TV show. It was you know, a lot of talk about that. So I went to my publisher and I was like, I already have grip two and three done.

[00:07:49] I'm almost immigrant four. Can we please put these books out? Maybe like every two months? One or two months, the readers are waiting for the next one. I need this copyrighted. I need the IP. I need it to be done before I go meet with anybody out in Hollywood, like the books are done, let's just get these going.

[00:08:08] And even with Hollywood looming, my publisher was so set on. Nope, we published series six months apart. So I was like, Oh my gosh. So if I wait for two, three, and four, We're looking at what another year and a half at a minimum. And like that just won't do so I started to think I'm like, okay, well, how do I start a publishing company?

[00:08:32] How do I work? I already run a business. I already know how to lay out the interior of a book and design covers and things like that. I'm like, how do I work with distributors? How, how can I just start my own company? And then perhaps make it easier for other authors to get published. So they don't have to jump through the hoops.

[00:08:48] I had to go through to get a publisher and I found out, you know, With my specified background and my experience, I mean, because I had at that point, but in the industry for nine years, so we had learned a lot along the way, and I'm like, this isn't going to be too difficult. This might actually be a lot of fun.

[00:09:03] So in 2019 Briley and Baxter publications was born and it was initially, so I could just get my own books out there in time for anything Hollywood related and it worked out great. And then shortly after I started taking on other authors books and growing my team and yeah. Now we have a great running publishing 

[00:09:23] Veronica: [00:09:23] company.

[00:09:24] Yeah. So exciting. And so tell us about what, what your model is. Oftentimes it's called a hybrid model. You'll see it out there. And, and I know there's a couple of different ways people do it, but like you mentioned Amazon and Amazon publishing and the different. Tools that are now available to people who want to write a book that weren't, that didn't exist five years ago.

[00:09:47] You know, I've actually read that Amazon is the largest distributor and seller of books globally, and that just blows my mind. So what is, you know, fast forward? What does that look like today now? 

[00:10:00] Stacy: [00:10:00] That doesn't surprise me about Amazon at all, because that's where my books saw the best for sure. I mean, I've had made books in Barnes and noble on the shelves in the stores and the books that I am like.

[00:10:10] The online sales blow, the in-person sales out of the water. So that's like one thing too. Just a little bit of an aside for aspiring authors and stuff. Everyone's like, Oh, it's such a big deal to get your book in the stores. Bookstores. I love them, but like, They might be on their way out. And the thing is with bookstore, it's very hard to get a store to stock your book.

[00:10:35] You have to offer a very high wholesale discount in order to even get that shelf space. And it's might not necessarily be worth it because they just, the bookstores just don't have the traffic that they once had because people are shopping on Amazon mostly, or even Barnes and noble online or Samilian or any of the other big outlets.

[00:10:55] Walmart target. I mean, they all. So these books and especially with COVID on top of it. So what you said about Amazon is it makes perfect sense. It definitely lines up with what my experience has been with selling books. But for me with publishing so my model I've recently become familiar with the term hybrid publisher.

[00:11:11]I wasn't really even sure. Fully aware of that when I created what Briley and Baxter offers. But ultimately I decided to offer a variety of publishing contracts just because of what I went through and what I know I would have liked as an author, I would have liked options. So when you were traditionally published, you typically make 10% royalties and publisher at the publisher will take 90%.

[00:11:34]You make, make 50 cents to like a dollar a book. That's it? I remember when grip came out, I think the way my contract was set up, I got like 25 cents a copy for the first like hundred books. And then it bumped up to like a dollar, a dollar 50 or something, but like, I was like, Oh my gosh, I did all this work.

[00:11:50] And the publisher's getting. All the money, bookstores and Amazon and stuff. I was like, this isn't really fair. So when I created the contracts for Briley Baxter publications, I kept that in mind and I still do offer traditional route, which is, you know, no money down the publisher solves the cost. The author makes 10%.

[00:12:10] We at Briley Baxter, we get 90% and so forth. So we do offer that, but it's so funny because it, it doesn't really, that's not what a lot of people choose. The, I offer three other contracts where people can pay upfront different amount of money to pay towards not the publishing, but the marketing costs.

[00:12:27] And then they can earn a higher rate of royalty. So they might be able to earn 25% or 50% or possibly, you know, 75 to 80%, depending on the book. And I, I have it on a little bit of a sliding scale. But I've, I've found that this works so well because people, it gives them a choice. You know, what's best for them.

[00:12:45] So I have some authors who don't want to put any money down and they're like, no, let's just go the traditional route. And there we go. You know, and then I, I take on the cost upfront and I make it back in the royalties. Whereas you know, the author, it costs them nothing upfront versus someone who might feel like they have the money.

[00:13:02] Right. They want to put a thousand dollars down towards it or something, and then make higher royalties. They're basically betting on themselves in their book. They're like, I'm going to get it back. So by offering four different contracts, three of which offer more than what's industry standard. I think the authors really can be more in the driver's seat and have the freedoms that I didn't have as a traditionally published author.

[00:13:23] Veronica: [00:13:23] Wow. That's fantastic. So for those of you taking notes and if you have any questions, I'm going to definitely put more information on how to reach out to Stacy about contracts and Stacy, would you say that this is true in this model works for both fiction and nonfiction books? What's the distinction for you as a publisher?

[00:13:41] Stacy: [00:13:41] Oh yeah, no. I mean, we've published probably an equal amount of fiction and non-fiction, I think they, it works perfect for both 

[00:13:50] Veronica: [00:13:50] completely. Oh, good, good. Cause I know we've got a lot of coaches and folks in the professional development space that listened to our show and we've also got some super creatives who have wonderful stories that they're ready to put out there.

[00:14:03] Talk to us a little bit about what happens once the book is published. I mean, you mentioned working with some Hollywood folks. What are some other ways books can expand your brand and your reach and what should people be thinking about besides just the paper book? 

[00:14:19] Stacy: [00:14:19] Oh my gosh. I mean, I think. Once you have a book published, it just opens up a gateway of opportunities.

[00:14:26] I mean, if you want to be a public speaker, write a book, right. That can give you a platform. If you want to go work with kids at school. So you have a book, right. You can go speak at the schools. Yeah, sure. I mean, it can get to Hollywood. Right? So my grip series right now, I am working with an Emmy award winning writer, producer Mark Blattman.

[00:14:48] He is. Taking the charge with this. He wants to turn gripped into a TV show. We're going to be collaborating together on this for the foreseeable future. And you know, it's turned me into a producer now I have a, now I have a production company and you know, I'm going to be flying out to Hollywood and meeting with directors and all this exciting stuff.

[00:15:07] So I mean, a book can open up the gateway. So limitless opportunities. It's, it's, you're thinking of doing it, just do it. There's no harm in getting your thoughts out there. And for me, it was always, I wanted to help. People, right. I want to help teenagers, help kids. So that was always my motivating factor.

[00:15:26] All this stuff is just like an added bonus. 

[00:15:29] Veronica: [00:15:29] Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's probably something that a lot of our viewers and listeners connect to most is it's an expression of what they're already doing and it's. Yeah, it's getting that creative out there. And I think that there's a market for it.

[00:15:45] You just have to have to find it and then connect with people like you, who can help deliver it. Cause that's at the end of the day, the goal kind of share with us what are like. If you could come up with two or three tips for someone who's thinking about it or who has started the process, what are some things that you've learned along the way that will help them with either writing or with publishing or, you know, marketing it afterwards?

[00:16:11] Stacy: [00:16:11] So, I mean, with writing, they just, just keep writing, like, don't worry about, should I say this or should I say that? Just write it all out and then go back after and cut things out. The most important thing is to not interrupt your train of thought. So don't agonize over it. Just like write and then edit later.

[00:16:29] Right. I mean, it's just very freeing. Nobody needs to see what you're right. And so you're ready. So just write it all out and let the creativity flow with publishing I'd say there's so many options out there now. I mean, for anybody who wants to go the self-publishing route I mean, Amazon has a wonderful self-publishing tool.

[00:16:49] I mean, even just with a Kindle book, right? If you want to first start out With Kendall. And then once you get some royalties and make money off your ebook, then use that maybe to put down, to do more of do a hardcover, do a paperback or whatever. I mean, there's just a lot of different options. With Ingram's IngramSpark, there's, there's a lot out there.

[00:17:08] So self publishing you have to know, like you have to know people. So that's the downfall at self publishing. It's like you who helps you market it? Who. Illustrates it, who does the cover, who edits it, who lays out the interior, things like that. But for somebody who has those skills, self publishing is definitely a viable option.

[00:17:26]But then for somebody who might want a publisher to handle that, but doesn't want to jump through hoops to have to get an agent, then they should look for a hybrid publisher who might say, okay, you know, We could offer you this contract or this contract or this one, similar to what Briley and Baxter publications does.

[00:17:43]And then that might be the better fit, or if you want to be traditionally published and get an agent and do all that. I mean, go for it. It's very, very difficult. It's not impossible though, by any means. I mean, I was very young when I went through that process. I mean, I had just graduated college and it worked out, so I think.

[00:18:05] Thankfully now a much more versatile industry. And I think the sky's the limit. 

[00:18:11] Veronica: [00:18:11] Yeah. Sounds like it. And it sounds like you're up to amazing things. How can people connect with you? What does that process look like? If they're interested in learning about your different contracts, what does a, a call look like with you and what are the kinds of things they need to be prepared to answer, to help you figure out if they're a good fit for Briley Baxter books?

[00:18:31] Stacy: [00:18:31] I love it when people just submit like summaries or, or query letters through my website, you can just go right to the contact us form and submit it. And then I'll respond with an email where they can reply back with just any more information or answer any of my questions. But what I'm usually most interested in is I want to see, you know, a summary of the book.

[00:18:50] Kind of like, get a feel for that, the writers writing style, just how they write the query letter, how they write the email or so forth. And then what we do is we review every single manuscript. So I have a team of editors who work for me and what they will do is they will read. Through the manuscripts we get, they summarize it.

[00:19:08] They give me notes on how well it's written, how marketable it seems and so forth. That's also something that's important. If you are an author or an aspiring author and you are interested in getting published, make sure you're ready to outline the marketability because ultimately publishers do want to make sure.

[00:19:27] Your book's going to sell. So we need to know, well, what's your background? What qualifies you to write this book? Especially if it's nonfiction. So what's your profession, you know, in your experience, why is somebody going to want to read what you have? I have to say. So that is something important to include in that initial query as well.

[00:19:44] So after my editors go through the manuscripts and summarize everything for me, then I, I read over everything and then I decide, do I want to offer them contracts? Do I want to. Offer them all four of our contracts, do. I think I'm only more comfortable with one or two of them and so forth. And then I propose, you know, my offer and then we go back and forth figuring out what makes most sense for the project.

[00:20:07]And then the process starts once they sign. Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:20:10] Veronica: [00:20:10] That's awesome. And so once they sign, how long does it usually take? Like what should people expect in terms of timeline from signing the contract to having a copy of their book in their hands three to six months? 

[00:20:23] Stacy: [00:20:23] Oh, wow. Okay. It's not, it's not that long.

[00:20:26]I remember my first book, my gosh took like a year to come out. I think I signed my contract in, in September with my former publisher and it came out in August of the following year, but no, we're able to get them out in three to six months. 

[00:20:37] Veronica: [00:20:37] That's exciting. That's so exciting. And have you seen an uptick in COVID?

[00:20:41] I mean, have you felt like people are using this downtime or time of more isolation to write more. 

[00:20:47] Stacy: [00:20:47] It seems so. Yeah. I mean, there have been a few authors that whose books, you know, I'm one of them you just put out earlier. I think it was on the fourth. It just came out Kathy Hickey's book and she wrote it during COVID quarantine.

[00:21:00] You know, she was, I think a re a retired teacher had always said, Oh, I'm going to write a book some day. And then COVID gave her the perfect opportunity for that. So she wrote Penny's Island adventure. 

[00:21:10] Veronica: [00:21:10] That's so exciting. And yet people can learn about all the books you publish on your website. Right. 

[00:21:14] Stacy: [00:21:14] Yes.

[00:21:15] Yes. We've actually just in the past. Week and a half, we've had three of our books become number one, new releases, and there's a Panera on Amazon. One of them just became a number one bestseller and it's drawn her. So yeah, there's all information about all that, but it's very exciting stuff. 

[00:21:30] Veronica: [00:21:30] Very, very good.

[00:21:31] Well, thank you so much, Stacy. This has been fantastic. I hope that anyone who is watching or listening, who has. I thought about writing a book or has started writing a book, reaches out to you because I think there's some fantastic opportunities for you to help open the door for them and get their books out there.

[00:21:49] Stacy: [00:21:49] That's what I love to do. I just want to make it easier than it was for me. I just think people have a message and it's so important to be able to share it. So I get a great amount of joy of helping other writers. Do that like it, I love it. And I feel like everyone who's employed by Brian Baxter has a passion for literature too.

[00:22:06] So it's, it ends up being a really fun process. 

[00:22:09] Veronica: [00:22:09] Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you so much, Stacy. And I'll make sure that we put your contact information in the show notes so people can reach out. 

[00:22:16] Stacy: [00:22:16] Thank you. Awesome. Great fear. 

[00:22:18] Veronica: [00:22:18] Great. All right. Well, thank you so much, guys. I hope you learned a lot. I know I did lots of opportunities for those of you who have thought about writing a book, started writing a book, or really just want to get more information about how the process works now is the opportunity, right?

[00:22:33] What you create, what you have to share with the world is important. So put it out there, get, give people the opportunity to learn and grow from you. So I hope you take advantage of everything you learned today from Stacy Pedulla. So we're going to go ahead and wrap up this episode of Saturday soundbites.

[00:22:49] I hope you connect with us next week. If you're listening on the podcast, make sure you hit subscribe. We want to make sure you don't miss any episodes that are released. And if you're watching on the replay on Facebook hashtag replay so that if you have any questions, Stacy and I can. Follow up with you.

[00:23:04] And with that, I'm going to wish you lots of positive energy and light, and we will see you next week.