SWF Publishing Symposium 2011: Day 2

I shall continue with Day 2 of the symposium. Though the content is not so relevant to me, I've still benefited from the session.

1. The Role of the Author

• I didn't jot down any notes for this session as the content is not really relevant to me.
• The most important message that I received from the speaker was that it is very important to remember why one writes.

2. How to Get Noticed by a Commissioning Editor

• The speaker shares with the audience the process of getting a book published.

• She strongly encourages writers to find an agent who will have the connections and experience to find the right publisher and editors to review their manuscripts.
• She also shares insightful tips such as decisions made by the editors are mainly based on a forecast of the market 2 years down the road, and that new writers will usually have their work published from Jan to July (and it is important to time when one's manuscripts should be sent to a publisher).

3. Marketing Your Book: The role of the Publisher and Author

• Kids market: The book should appeal to the kids (on the contrary belief that we should appeal to the parents who buy the books). Words such as cool and funky should be used.
• Teenage market: Market the books as if you are marketing to an older age group as teenagers like to behave as if they are older.
• The speaker claims that word-of-mouth is the best marketing policy and social networking is a good platform to create that.

4. The Future of the Publishing Industry

• It's a dialogue session revolving on the topic: printed books vs e-books.

5. Print and E-book Author Contracts

• The speakers are a lawyer and a publisher pointing out the common terms and clauses to look out for in a contract.
• One e.g. is the difference between assigning a right and granting a right. In the case of assigning, the writer will no longer be the owner of the work whereas granting means that the rights are only licensed to the publisher, the author remains as the owner of the work.

All in all, I think the symposium is a great event for local writers to interact with fellow writers, publishers and agents, and also a platform to promote their work.