Hi everyone!
The winner for the free book ‘Sea of Iron Hands’ is Danielle Stewart. Thanks so much Danielle for responding to the post! I will be packaging your book and sending it your way.
For those of you who want a chance to win this book, there will be one more opportunity soon.
For now, you can head check around my newly themed blog for helpful writing tips, book reviews or free stories!
We wish there were more self published authors that are striking gold and platinum in the news but there remains the very few who have made.
We wish even more that we make it ourselves. All of our time spent publishing on CreateSpace, Amazon, Smashwords, Lulu.com and other sites seem to be bringing in very little if any money at all. After working on self publishing my own books and reading some online articles, I find there are a few things that will keep you from popularity and/or earnings and these same few things can be your saving grace.
Having a Classic, but Unique Storyline.
Romance, romance, and more romance.. Guys won’t admit it but action flicks with love interests are cool too. According to Guardian’s report on books that earn well:
Romance authors earned 170% more than their peers, while authors in other genres fared much worse: science-fiction writers earned 38% of the $10,000 average, fantasy writers 32%, and literary fiction authors just 20% of the $10,000 average.
Networking…On the Networks.
Another blockage could be that you are not really talking about your book. If not you, then who? Personally, I don’t like having too many social media places to visit, yet its fun and addicting at the same time. One thing I do is frequently let people know that I have free items. I love free. You love free. We all enjoy free stuff. Why not offer free copies of your book? Make one of your shorter works free to download? Let people know on Facebook, G+, Pinterest, wherever. Hiring someone to do it for you is an option to although I prefer networking on my own. Yes, it can be time-consuming which is why you have to plan.
For instance, most days I am writing or editing anyway. Blogging, social networking, etc. may be done only twice a week or once a week. Or maybe just take a half hour. Either way, I’m trying to network.
Editing, Copyediting, and Professional Looking Covers.
This is spoken from someone who doesn’t always have the professional money for “professionals” but if you would like to see more sells and downloads of your work, having a nice cover for your book and having your manuscript at least copyedited is a must. This will put you right up there with those high sellers of self pubbed books.
Confession: Before, I found editing books from the public library very helpful until I could actually afford an editor for my books. You can practically Bing or Google freelance editors or try C.S. Lakin at livewritethrive.com- I hope to work with her soon Lord willin’.
I hope this has encouraged you as a writer to write more. It is a tough world out there and publishing even tougher. Becoming a published author means facing keen competition and just know I am right here for you. I too am writing my heart out and have actually seen some of the benefits, but to have readers matters more than money.
Even though money is quite nice.
*Other article to consider: “Another Self pubbed Author Strikes Gold” http://thewriteweb.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/another-self-pubbed-author-strikes-the-gold/
Image from Microsoft Office
I have been revisiting poetry again, and as you well know I enjoy poetry and whatever way I can help others with the struggle of poeming, I am more than happy to do so.
Grabbing up books on poetry is one of the best ways to get a better look at how other poets do it before you dive in. Or, if you’re like me, you just dive right in and after the fact you learn about little things like “form, style. rhyme and rhythm, and chapbooks”- you know, important stuff like that. Again, I am happy to have been on that fault line of confusion and am trying to find my way back. In fact, I am thinking of getting a book I checked out before at the library to assist me again in poeming
Right now, all of my focus is on poetry, but am way too shy to give public readings. The last public speech I gave was a an elegy for my father December 2012 and even that was hard. But I know that people will only realize you exist if you speak to them.
Any helpful tips on poetry reading is welcome~ Truly!
Next order of business is learning some traditional forms. I am a free verse type of gal which allows me to spill words on the page without restraints, but lately I am seeing some really great patterns and traditions I’d like to challenge myself more with: specifically Gogyohka and Haiku as well as some Sestinas and Sonnets. Learning to break free sometimes involve learning how your shackles work, no?
As I prepare for Nanowrimo, a few annoying things have been happening and I am wondering if you can identify with me.
First, for the last thirty days of October, new ideas have merged into my old ideas of what to write about. I have notes, character sketches, plot sketches, world sketches galore and it was just a matter of finding and reading them over but I found myself thinking: “Which one can I actually complete with less complications and research and spend all December editing?”
That was my first task.
My next task this month was making sure the notes flowed logically, therefore all I have to do is crank out those words. I know by now that even with notes it can be difficult for most of us and for some reason, every year I stop at 20,000 or so words. Very frustrating.
Thirdly, I have to think about publishing. More than likely self publishing would be best as Smashwords is now in conjunction with Nanowrimo for writers. Totally awesome!
What are you doing today to prepare for Nanowrimo?
Image courtesy of istockphoto
Quick. Think of at least 10 words, or ideas(its okay if its sentences and its okay if you have more words pop into your mind).
Write them down.
What do you see? What are the connections? What do they say about yourself?
Here’s the good part. These are the words and ideas that will be birthed in your brand new poem! The other day some terms just came into my mind. Here’s what the muse gave me:
Okay so maybe I think I’m a hot mama-LOL. It wasn’t the material I was reading, but perhaps a song? Movie? Either way, I’m sure it’ll at least spark an idea for a poem. In some cases you may not need all or any of your muse’s words but the theme could be great foundation.
Try it out and let me know how you do 
Image courtesy of Microsoft Word
Recently I read a blog post by culture watcher and writer Mike Duran. In summary he speaks on how there are ways writers turn off their readers by doing such things as “overtweeting”, “Over Facebooking”, mentioning their own books, recommending their own books and doing giveaways…
Of course I plugged in my two cents, but will expand it more. How much is too much shameless promotion and should this bother most writers and readers?
Let’s look at one aspect of marketing: Social Media. Social Media encompasses those communications involving platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Emails, MySpace, and other avenues that allow you to send links, photos, one line comments, feedback and chat. Now Google+ has jumped on the bandwagon with Hangout, chats, free phone calls from emails, hashtagging(such as on Twitter using the # sign).
Remember traditional methods of marketing? Flyers, business cards, newspapers, word of mouth, radio, and other functions that have not died out are still really good to use.
How does the author factor in all of this?As an author(doesn’t matter what kind), you want your book, your baby to be out there, make it known to the world. This is the least you can do for your work and its fun playing promoter-some days I suppose. But it teaches you the business and new ways to bring in readers interested in your genre.
For example, I published Mark of Fortune this Spring and although I would have loved to market it in a huge way using radio promotion, web promotion and videos- I think it would have been too much for just a free short story. My hope is that I can just tweet about it once in a while and perhaps mention it here or on Google+ as way to talk about it. Oftentimes, people crawling the net will eventually find eBooks anyway if its listed on the web. So in this case, my goal is for readers to know what they want and seek it out, I am only to help steer them to my book, not bombard them with it.
Could that be what people mean when they say “Don’t spam others or “Don’t over promote your book”? For my two book of poems also listed on Smashwords, I would like to do heavy promotion for those and even locally just so people can see it and make a choice if that is their thing. Poetry isn’t dead but it’ll be harder to promote than genre fiction like, say, witches, vamps, and wolves, or Steampunk.
So should Tweeting and Facebooking, etc. be a turn off for readers? My answer is no. I think the only ones complaining are those writers who probably have a good, decent following of fans already and are just very picky. I mean, let’s be honest- It’s marketing. Advertising using social media. Why keep it a secret? James Patterson(an awesome writer by the way) had a commercial on every month I think and I think that was great, although he is pretty much known to many as a commercial mystery author.
Is there a well-balanced solution? I am not you and you are not me, so your way of thinking and of promoting your work is a unique adventure, but here is what I am learning as I go about promoting my own works:
I know that with everything there is a catch, so of course you don’t want to spam folks, over tweet, or do nothing but giveaways. That is why I am offering the well-balanced way to do things that doesn’t “hurt feelings” or cause you to want to go overboard.
You’re welcome
A letter to my Muse:
Just thought I’d let you know that I am grateful for the many, may images, dreams, and small inputs during my writing exercises which formed into these little pillows, usable for publishing. You warned me that its not if everyone likes it- only that I write it. The fragments, like pieces of bone have finally knit together. Adam’s rib, snatched from Eve made her woman. The sinews, the muscle and skin have fully formed and you told me: “Don’t worry. That is the easy part.”
You never told me what the hard part was. I just assume its the part about everyone liking my stuff. But who worries over that? I write to purge and entertain equally, but who am I lying to? I do care about the downloads, the purchaes, the social media, comments, and reviews. You never taught me marketing, I had to go to school or speak with my husband about that.
Writing is so much harder than I thought. Imagining is great. Dreaming- wonderful. But creating from beginning to end, and choosing whether to know the ending or not is merciless to my soul.
I can say this though. Even if I don’t know, I have files, and files saved of stories from my head. They brim over my skull cap and I can’t see during the day as I walk to the library, shop, as I read a book. You throw these heroines in my head who have dazzling hair, or poor dispositions, and then thrust them into possible impossible situations and then I am left wondering: When? I can’t get them down fast enough.
Listen. I like you and I thank you for what you have done for me and will continue to do. Just one suggestion?
Stop pouring all the stories in at once and please if you love me- get some marketing skills and psychic ability!
Just kidding, I’m okay.
No really….
Microsoft Office Image
After one project is complete, another is always or have already been underway. In this case, the seemingly old question btaking over online systems is: Is it possible for books to have too much overt Christian themes? Back in February I wrote post on “Christian Romance and Crossing Lines” which explained what readers truly look for in a book. One of those elements are the bonds that tie human souls.
I doubt if my post this time will help others learn that telling a good story should be the utmost important in any genre, but I’ll have to explain why my new novel will more than likely be hard to classify.
First, the book will have the major plot and a couple of subplots that may be explored later- or not. The main idea is that a woman finds herself lost in more ways than one and she now has to live with a family member and start over. This family member tries to tell the girl that no one is more evil than the other. As humans we all have the capacity to love very much or hate very much and unfortunately some carry out that hate and can become truly evil.
The protagonist, however made some mistakes and those past mistakes are coming to bite her in the butt. In the meantime, a new event will take place in her life where she will discover her purpose during her downfall… could it be her downfall is really her just being human?
I am unsure how to categorize this one. Its not a supernatural, urban fiction but simply a fictional story with some romance in it. The idea of forgiveness and redemption is laced through the story, but for now I’ve been worrying over telling the story clearly.
Here’s my advice on letting the story spill:
Some Helpful Books…
Have you read any of these books? What did you think of them?
Here’s another day of book marketing while at the same time plotting around for my new novel. Its quite stressful wearing two hats but that is what comes with the job in writing and self publishing.
Anyhow, while on my writing and book marketing journey I had a little help along the way and it helps to get some tips from someone a little more experienced than you are just so you can avoid some pitfalls.
If you are self publishing and need to know the ins and outs of eBook creation. You should definitely give Mark Coker’s Formatting Style Guide a try. Mark Coker is creator of Smashwords, a platform for Indie(Independent) authors to create and upload eBooks- free! His books are always updated with the latest to help you clean up your manuscripts before submission anywhere.
I used his style guide and it helped me with all three of my books!
The second book I recommend, is his Book Marketing Guide. There are some helpful tips in there that I never thought of before and I am sure it will help you. there are tips on email signature creation, free places to get publicity on the web about your book and other tips you can do from home at minimum cost.
These are just two of the books that I suggest for traditional and self published authors. Again, it is hard self publishing because when I feel in the writing mode again- which I do, I have to think about my other “baby”- latest book # 3. But its okay its part of the career of writing. Let’s help one another by learning from one another.
*In addition, “Mark of Fortune’s” full length story featuring Stone of the Ice Rings will be coming out later this year. I hope you are as excited as I am!
kevinzim
Authors(self pubbed or traditionally published, or not pubbed at all), have one thing in common: They write.
What they write is what lives on in our hearts for along time. So here are some descriptions of what stories really are…
*Any more descriptions for writing? I’d love to see them
