I've never written a book before. What are the major challenges that I will face?

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James Frey
Owner, American Literary Press
www.americanliterarypress.com  
410-882-7700, 800-873-2003

James V. Frey is the current owner of American Literary Press, a Baltimore, MD-based book publisher that has published books written by more than 1,300 first-time authors during the past 20 years.

Jim is a Cum Laude graduate of Dartmouth College. Following graduation from Dartmouth, he served as a high school teacher in Southern New Hampshire. Subsequently, he spent 15 years with Xerox Corporation in various Sales and Marketing capacities, accountable as a senior manager in his last two assignments. During the 1990’s, he was a General Manager for several large office technology firms and served as a director on five companies’ Board of Directors. Since 1999, he has been an owner of/investor in six entrepreneurial ventures, including American Literary Press. 

In 2001, Jim self-published his own industry-targeted “how to” book, based on his experience with both big and small business, that generated $25,000 in sales. In his estimation, Jim considers the publication of his 86 year-old father’s autobiography by American Literary Press in 2006 to be one of one of his major professional accomplishments.

With nearly two decades of experience, American Literary Press has the knowledge necessary to produce books exactly as our authors envision them. Our ability to adapt to the wishes of our authors is one of the primary reasons our company has been chosen by more than 1,200 aspiring and first-time writers. Not a single book is published unless it is one that we can proudly claim as our own, for we require that our books meet the highest standards for editorial accuracy, design and production.

American Literary Press provides authors with a wide variety of options from which to choose, including author-marketed publishing and programs that include professional marketing services. One of these options is certain to serve your needs. First, let’s evaluate your publishing project.

American Literary Press is your best solution if:

You want a book of first-rate bookstore quality and durability perfectly suited in design and format to your work and its market.

You want to see your work published in an edition you will be proud to present to the literary marketplace.

You want to work with a publisher you can trust to stand behind its commitments.

No other company can do more to satisfy your expectations because publishing is our only business. We are a full-service publisher, not simply a printer or bookseller with a high-tech copy machine.

We can show you how to save money without compromising on quality.

We offer cost-effective alternatives designed for your specific needs.

We use our extensive database of current marketing and sales contacts to ensure that your work will get the kind of exposure you seek.

I've never written a book before. What are the major challenges that I will face?

In this video, Jim Frey answers many questions surrounding how to write a book and get it published.

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This series: 16,173 views

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Host: I have never written a book before. What are the major challenges that I will face?

Jim Frey: One major challenge we touched on earlier in this video is having the personal dedication and commitment to seeing your project through from beginning to end, keeping that schedule, keeping that dream in your head of why you want to do this and actually executing it. A second challenge that many authors can find is their inclination to thinker with what they have put down on a piece of paper or typed into a computer. We would encourage you to write and keep writing before you do any major revisions, editing, adding, deleting information in your book. The biggest challenge if you want to market your book is the fact that you were an unknown author, you're not a household name like authors that all of us know and if you want to market your book, have the realism to understand that it's going to be a tough arena to break into in the bookselling marketplace, whether it be by internet or booksellers. Fourth, you have to look at various options for publishers and make sure you hook up with a company that meets your needs and requirements as well as you are being comfortable with your programs that help you see your book in print. Many authors will submit manuscripts to all different kinds of publications. The final challenge is the ability to handle rejection. All publishers no matter what variant a publishing may do, reject manuscripts. Don't take that personally. It's your book. You have put a lot of effort into it and given the content that you have that probably is an option available for you to get your book in print.

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