SHALLA CHATS with David Smitherman

“ Writing and Publishing Books”

by Shalla DeGuzman

First of all, who’s Dave?

Dave is the publisher of Palari Publishing, a traditional, royalty-based publishing company that has produced fiction and nonfiction titles since 1998. Dave started as an editor for other publishers and soon formed Palari Books to produce interesting titles by deserving authors, especially first-time writers.

Shalla: Hello Dave, we’re very happy to meet you. Thanks for being here to share your expertise on writing and publishing nonfiction.

Dave: I’m glad to participate. Educated writers are a publisher’s best friend!

Shalla: First of all, please tell us about Palari Publishing.

Dave: Palari Publishing started in 1998 with one title and has slowly grown since then. We have produced both fiction and nonfiction. We like producing books that we find entertaining and intriguing; of course we want them to sell well, too!

Shalla: Do you prefer a writer who is represented by a literary agent?

Dave: If a writer has an agent, we typically consider that they have been “screened” somewhat and that’s mainly because the agent has the same goal of producing a book that sells, and they know what that involves. However, we have published many writers who didn’t have agents.

Shalla: What would you say are the best ways to attract a literary agent?

Dave: Setting yourself apart from others is important. That can mean listing your credentials or demonstrating that you will do what it takes to market a book. Whatever you can do to show that you are willing to work hard to make your book successful would likely make an agent take notice.

Shalla: What are the best ways to attract an editor?

Dave: I think the same advice applies, but more focus would be on the actual project you are submitting. So it would be best to highlight the uniqueness of your work and why readers would find it interesting and useful to them. Providing a market analysis of similar books on the market is also helpful.

Shalla: What are today’s hottest book topics? And how can writers figure out what topics will be hot in a year or two?

Dave: Like any business, books follow trends. Current trends include “chick lit”, books focused on the life and love of young women; “urban lit”, books that focus on street life of African-Americans; even “prep lit” which are books focusing on life in prep schools. It’s difficult to predict what topics will be hot in the future. The safest bet is to try to capitalize on current successful trends and hope they maintain their appeal.

Shalla: How can we determine our book’s marketability?

Dave: Research. The best submissions we get are ones where the writer has provided information on how many similar books are currently on the market, how theirs is similar (and different), and how theirs will appeal to that same audience. While that is no guarantee that a book will sell, it’s a good indication that readers are interested in more books with similar topics.

Shalla: Can you tell us about advances and royalties and how these are handled at Palari Publishing?

Dave: No. Just kidding. We usually provide a modest advance to established authors, not necessarily to first-time writers. Royalties are paid quarterly, on paid orders, for the previous quarter. For example, that means for all orders received (and paid) from January to March would be paid to the author at the end of June.

Shalla: How do you prefer nonfiction manuscript submissions be formatted?

Dave: Double-spaced, preferably in Word with as much supporting documentation as possible. We also have that info on our website: www.palaribooks.com .

Shalla: How do you count the number of words in the manuscript? Do you use the computer’s word-count tool? Or do you automatically count 250 words per page?

Dave: We use the word-count tool. Typical books are around 70,000-80,000 words.

Shalla: About copyright, do we need signed legal papers from everyone we quote/mention in our book? And instead of signed legal papers, is getting an approval over the phone or in an email sufficient?

Dave: All situations are different so it’s best to ask your publisher (or editor) if you have concerns. There are lots of rules about satire and mentioning famous people.

For the most part, we get permission from people who are involved in a book, sometimes it’s a letter or if it’s a minor part of the book, it may be an email. It’s always best to have it in some form of writing, just to make sure. If writers take care of that during the writing process, it will make things easier down the road!

Shalla: Thanks Dave! For more on David Smitherman and Palari Publishing, please go to www.palaribooks.com.

---

Shalla DeGuzman's short stories have appeared in Poetic Diversity, the Mad Hatters Review, etc.; her articles in The Scriptorium and L.A. Freepress; her skits at the Stella Adler Theatre. Shalla, a former writer and producer of a health and fitness cable show, is currently writing a novel. She is President of The ShallaDeGuzman Writers Group where she interviews literary agents, publishers, editors, etc. News! Shalla DeGuzman gets nominated for the prestigious Pushcart Prize! Plus! SHALLA Magazine, which features short stories, poetry and more, is here! For more on Shalla: www.shalladeguzman.com

 

 

 

Who's on SHALLA CHATS?

Know who Shalla has interviewed?

Maybe you'll be next?

Turn up the volume...

 

Hear our musician, Moose (Mooska), with his reggae/ska, other, acoustic blues, roots, leftfield music.

Featuring: Dorchester author, Tess Mallory; Artscape author, Frederick Ramsay; Hallie Ephron; Shara Lanel; Margaret L. Carter; Gena Showalter; Judie Aitken; NY Times Best Selling author, Barry Eisler; Chick-Lit author, Sonia Singh; Brett Battles; Michele Scott; multiple Emmy Award winning TV news producer & author Mari Mancusi; Terry Spear; Andrea Wilder; Tina Gerow; Seamus Cashman; NY Times Bestselling author, Bob Mayer; Patricia M. Terrell and more!

Produced and Directed by Shalla DeGuzman
www.shalladeguzman.com

 

---