JOY DEJA KING  (October 2010) | Interview By: Chad Kiser

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IInterview was done in October 2010

Questions Asked By: Chad Kiser

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Dubcnn Exclusive – Joy Deja King
By: Chad Kiser


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Dubcnn: If I have a book I want published, what are my steps? How do I find a publisher?

You first need to decide if you want to self publish, go with a major or with a boutique publishing company. Once you made that decision there are varying steps. Typically with a major publishing company you need to obtain an agent as they don’t accept unsolicited manuscripts. Make sure you do your research on finding the right agent. You need an agent who is looking for manuscripts for your genre of writing. You also want to make sure the agent understands your vision in terms of the direction you want your career to go. With a boutique publishing company, you don’t need an agent. They will let you know their submission guidelines and you can submit the manuscript yourself. However, if you receive an offer, please have a literary consultant or attorney review your contract carefully as you don’t want to sign away your career before it even has a chance to get started.


Dubcnn: How long did it take you to get your first book published?

Initially I self published my first book, ‘So Pretty In Pink’ in October 2004. Within a month an editor at St. Martin’s Press, Monique Patterson, reached out to me after picking up my book from a vendor in Brooklyn. She made me an offer to contribute to an anthology while negotiating a book deal with me. In April 2005 I signed a two-book deal with St. Martin’s. They bought the rights to ‘So Pretty In Pink’, which was later published as ‘Dirty Little Secrets’ in June 2006.


Dubcnn: How long of a period is there from when the book manuscript is delivered and to the book being published?

It tends to be anywhere between 9-12 months, especially with a major publishing house. The process tends to be a little longer because they have sales reps that go to different distributors trying to get as many orders as possible for upcoming books.


Dubcnn: When a book is published, what is the typical first printing?

I’m glad you asked that, because it’s a lot less then what people think, especially now with most book sales being very slow. With a major, it can be anywhere from 5,000 books to 20,000 if they believe the book has a huge buzz surrounding it. With smaller publishing companies it can be a little as 1000 books which is really a waste from a business perspective. The fewer books you print the higher the print cost. They key to having a book that generates money is for it to have a long shelf life. Meaning you want the book to stay in demand and keeping it in print. Most publishers are on to the next book after six months, which makes it impossible for an author to earn out their advance or make any real money off of royalties.


Dubcnn: What are the usual requirements for someone getting an advance for their book from a publisher?

Right now boutique publishers aren’t really giving an advance and the majors are giving so little that it’s basically nothing. Nevertheless, here’s the thing with an advance, you don’t get it all at once, it’s broken up in three different instalments. You get an on-signing check, delivery and acceptance check and then a upon publication check. If you have an agent they get 15% of whatever advance you get plus whatever royalties.


Dubcnn: What is the largest advance you have heard an author receiving?

In my genre of books, I would say the largest I’ve heard of was about 1.3 million.


Dubcnn: Most people are fairly familiar with music industry royalties (industry rule #4080...lol), how do book royalties work in comparison to record royalties?

Some publishing companies only give authors 60 cents a book; the majors typically give $1.07 -- or around that amount. So say you get a $50,000.00 advance, you have to earn out your advance selling $1.07 per book. You get a royalty statement twice a year and a check if you’ve earned out your advance.


Dubcnn: How would I know how many copies of I book I wrote sold, is there a SoundScan for books?

There is something like a book scan but it’s not very accurate when it comes to African American books. Reason being is that most African American books aren’t sold the conventional way via the bookstores and the bookstores are what book scans use to track sales. That’s why it’s so important as an author that you sign with a publisher that you truly trust because there are so many ways sales of a book can be manipulated, and not in the author’s favor.


Dubcnn: Is there much of a difference between music distribution and book distribution?

Not that much of a difference, maybe with the outlets. With majors, there are regulations put in place where they can only give certain discount rates to distributors which doesn’t apply if you’re a self-publisher. Vendors on the east coast are a huge source of distribution for urban-lit books. Flea markets are also a huge market in different cities all over. The difference with books and music is that their actually purchasing the books and the music is bootlegged. It’s very difficult and normally not cost effective to bootleg a book.


Dubcnn: Does the book-publishing world have an issue with downloading as bad as the music industry?

Books are just now really moving in the direction of downloading and so far it seems to be very structured. It’s a great new way for author’s to get their material out there and another streamline to make money. I don’t think the book-publishing world will ever have an issue like the music industry because I believe the majority of readers will always prefer to have an actual book in their hands.


Dubcnn: What methods are used for book promotion?

With major publishers the conventional way of promoting is still mostly used. Unfortunately that doesn’t work well for urban-lit books. That’s why it’s imperative that even when you get a book deal that you still invest some of your own money and time promoting your material. Nothing will ever beat word of mouth but you do have to get people know about your books. Bookmarks and promotional flyers are still extremely effective. Get those in nail and beauty salons or wherever your market is. Online promotion is awesome because Amazon is so huge and that is a great source of selling books. If you can, get an outside publicist. Most publishing companies have an in-house publicist but they do the very basic.


Dubcnn: When writing a book, when does the editor come into play, and where can you find them?

If you have a deal with a major publisher the editors are the people who actually make the initial decision for the most part to want to publish a book. Then they take it to the higher ups and try to sell them on the idea. It’s great when you find an editor who loves your work because that means they won’t try to change your voice of writing. I great editor will offer you ideas and ways to make your story flow better and character development stronger. Then you have a copy editor. They tend to focus on the grammar/technical part of writing. If you’re self publishing then again do your research. You would need to find a freelance editor. A lot of times an editor is given credit in books. If you read a book that you think had great editing, try to get in touch with that person.


Dubcnn: Out of all the genres of books out there (poetry, non-fiction, Mystery, etc), what is the toughest one to sell?

Poetry by far. It’s crazy because so many people write poetry but nobody wants to buy it. When I do speaking engagements, people always want to know about getting their poetry published. I never like to rain on anyone’s parade but for the most part poetry doesn’t sell…at all.


Dubcnn: Tell us about your upcoming book?

Rich or Famous…Rich Because You Can Buy Fame, is my upcoming book. It will be released February 15, 2011. What really struck a cord for me to write this book was seeing the whole Kanye West/Amber Rose relationship play out on the blogs and in the press. I personally believe it started off as a way for Kanye to further stroke his own ego by taking a nobody with questionable talents and see if he could make her famous. It was almost as if he was laughing at ‘us’ saying, ‘you all are so stupid. I took a gutter chick who nobody would ever think twice about, but because I dressed her up in some designer clothes, put her on my arm walking the red carpets and cosigned that she’s hot, I was able to make her famous.’ So technically because he’s rich he was able to buy Amber Rose fame. With that, Kanye started a trend in the entertainment industry. But because he’s so meticulous with everything he orchestrates, he has been the only man in the hip-hop industry who has been able to get it done right. So in my upcoming book Rich or Famous I explore how low people will go because of their thirst for fame and also how it destroys them.


Dubcnn: Can you speak about your Sean Combs and Kim Porter controversy?

It’s so funny because when I did that interview I was just giving my viewpoint on certain issues when it came to their relationship. Never did I believe it would turn so crazy especially since the foolishness of their relationship has played out in the media so much. But the day quotes from my interview showed up on Mediatakeout I got a phone call, waking me up early in the morning from a friend of mine who is also a friend of Kim’s, and she told me how pissed Kim was and supposedly said, “Can somebody put a muzzle on that bitch.” So I’m like did Kim try to put a muzzle on Misa when she put her trifling behaviour and the whole Sarah Chapman situation on blast. So please, I stand by what I said and it is what it is.


Dubcnn: Last words for Dubcnn?

I always try to be honest and give the good and the bad when it comes to the literary world. But if you have a story to tell by all means do whatever you have to do to see your vision come to life. You can accomplish amazing things if you believe in yourself and you’re willing to do the work, but make sure you’re ready to grind.

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