By Lessa Harding
In high school I had a homeroom-type class that contained a mix of students from every grade. There were a number of classic high school characters, as well as some who broke all the molds. There was the kind, handsome senior who’d fit in any Hallmark movie. There was the beauty queen who thought she was better than everyone else. There was the Christian girl who stood up to every attack on her beliefs. There was a soccer star, a basketball champion, a physics wiz, and a math nerd (that last one helped me solve homework problems using dry erase markers on the window). And there was the guy everyone wanted to be. He had a successful business, good grades, and a confidence that somehow removed him from the social hierarchy that is high school. We all knew he’d succeed at whatever he did, and we all looked up to him for it. Recently, my thoughts turned back to him. The reason? I was interviewing Steve Piersanti.
I know nothing about Steve’s high school experience, but I have to admit I felt like I was a freshman again looking up to that most-likely-to-succeed senior in my advisory class. Steve is the kind of guy who gets back up every time he gets knocked down, who accomplishes everything he puts his mind to, and who then helps others do the same. I was amazed to learn that he not only founded LDSPMA but also founded and edited a student scholarly journal while attending BYU, graduated with highest honors, began his career as an advertising copywriter at Jossey-Bass Publishers, and worked his way up to the position of president at the same company. Later, he founded Berrett-Koehler Publishers and served as CEO while also working as an acquisitions editor. He somehow also found time to play basketball, lead an annual gardening workshop, prioritize family functions, and go backpacking. The best thing about him, though, is that unlike the senior in my advisory class, Steve is approachable, is kind, gives encouragement, offers praise when it’s due, and is willing to help others who want to follow in his footsteps. Let me share some of his advice for traveling along the path to success:
- “Most authors are primarily focused on how their books are written. That is important, but what is equally important is the marketing of your book.”
- “The number of books being published annually in the US has tripled in 12 years, while total book sales have not grown.[1] . . . The only way publishers have kept afloat is by shifting more and more of the marketing to the authors. An author today must come to their publisher with a marketing plan…. What publishers look for now is the author’s so called platform. When you submit a proposal to the publisher, you need to include a strong section about what you are willing to do to help market your book.”
- “If you want to get up to speed on how to get your book published, here is how you get started:
- Go to the annual LDSPMA conference, and learn about how to market books.
- Learn what successful authors do, and do it yourself.
- Figure out what your potential assets are (e.g., blogging, social media, connecting with audiences, and speaking).
- Get involved with groups and associations in your genre.
- Then think about publishing your book.
- “You have to pick the right publisher to pitch your book to. Most have a particular area they are interested in. You need to do upfront research about the publishers you would like to pitch to.”
- “When a publisher asks, ‘What are the competing works,’ don’t say, ‘It has no competition’ or ‘My book is unlike any other.’ Those kinds of statements work against you.”
- “Everyone starts at the bottom and works their way up. Figure out what you want to do, and actually start going after it instead of going on your current inertia.”
- “Everyone has many setbacks. I suppose [the best response] is going back and revisiting what you are really trying to accomplish. What really matters and what doesn’t matter? . . . [After a failure] you have to come up with a new game plan and come at it with a new perspective.”
- “Some things are going to take decades. You just have to accept that. You can keep going!”
- On how to balance family and work: “Family commitments that I make, I always came through on them. If I said I was going to be somewhere, I did it. Don’t let something ‘come up.’”
- “Don’t work on Sunday. That is a day for family and church. Same thing with Family Home Evening. . . . Build [your schedule] around [those important family obligations].”
[1] See the article titled “The 10 Awful Truths about Publishing,” https://www.bkconnection.com/the-10-awful-truths-about-book-publishing.
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