Author Archives: Deatri

Proper Planning Testimony: A Key To Publishing Success by Deatri King-Bey

DeatriI began working in the publishing industry over a decade ago in editing and marketing departments of various publishers where I learned the business from the inside out. Whether you choose to go the traditional, small publishing and/or the self-publishing route, one of the keys to building a successful career is planning. I know you’ve heard a million times that publishing is a business and you should plan, but what does that mean?

To give you a better idea of how planning plays a key role in the success of your writing career, I’ll show you an example using myself. Don’t worry, I won’t tell you every detail of my plan, but I’ll give you enough so you can see the benefits of planning.

Full disclosure: I write under several names. The only names associated to Deatri King-Bey are Deatri (romance and women’s fiction) and L. L. Reaper (suspense).  As Deatri my debut novel was released early 2006. A little over a year later, I left the author side of publishing as Deatri with four titles released. I was just getting a following as Deatri but decided to be a reader. Thus Deatri the author went into early retirement.

In 2009 I decided I wanted to learn about eBooks and ePublishing. So I signed onto a small ePublishing company as an editor and author to learn ePublishing. I didn’t like it there. That company turned out to be a rip off, but I learned about the eBook process. My books were out a few months there. Needless to say, I got my rights back quickly (which isn’t always easy) and took the knowledge I gained about eBook publishing with me.

Why did I give I give you so much background information, because it all went into my preparation to self-publish. So there I was. I had knowledge about ePublishing, traditional, independent and small press publishing and marketing. I had a stock of books that were submission and publish ready. My pen name L. L. Reaper didn’t come into existence until mid-2011 so that was a non-issue.

When I went on what I thought was early retirement but turned into a three year hiatus back in 2007, MySpace was popular. When I decided I’d step back into the game in 2009, Facebook was quickly becoming king of social media.  So there you have it.

I hadn’t had a real release since 2007 and I didn’t have a web presence. I was starting over. I’m sure there were readers who remembered me, but they weren’t looking for my titles any longer. They were probably like, “Where did that girl with the odd name go?” LOL.

The first order of business was to plot out a five year plan for my brand and individual books and set realistic goals. I took into account marketing, production costs (ie: editing, distribution, ISBN, copyright, cover design, printing…), timelines, schedules (including a writing schedule)… everything that goes into advancing my publishing career.

Again, even if you are going the non-self-publishing route, you should still plan. If you don’t self-publish, the production costs are in the hands of the publisher, but you are the main one responsible for every other facet of your writing career.

Notice I said I was plotting a five year plan for my brand (Deatri King-Bey), not my publishing company or my imprint. Though imprints and publishing names are important to authors, in general, readers don’t care. They don’t care who the publishers of Nora Roberts, Beverly Jenkins, James Patterson or Steven King’s books are. They buy the books because they enjoy the author’s writing. Now don’t get me wrong. Companies such as Harlequin have done an excellent job at training their reading base to pick up just about anything with the Harlequin brand on it. Good for them, but I encourage authors to self-publish and publish through legitimate publishing houses. You want readers to look for you by the author name (your brand), not by who produced the title because the producer can change several times over your career.

Let’s talk about costs. Why is it important to know costs and include them in your plans?

  • Needing additional funds is one surprise we can all do without.
  • If you are self-publishing, you need to know how much money it will take to release your titles. This will help you set the price of the final product and help you gauge how many titles you can afford to release (eBook/print) in the coming year. So if you can afford three titles in the next twelve months, then you can plan your production, marketing, writing, editing schedule and cost and for three books.
  • Your plan will have estimates on costs. I choose to overestimate by 10% for each step. You will need to record actual costs of everything you spend on your titles so you can calculate your return on investment. For example, let’s say your production, distribution and marketing costs for one of your titles was $1,000. A positive return on investment is everything you make after the $1,000 investment in your title has been earned. Now how long it takes you to make a positive return on your investment is a topic in itself.
    • Once you have actual costs, be sure to go back into your plans and make adjustments.
    • When I calculated the various costs, I did not estimate how much I’d take in for the first two years. Instead, I pretended that I’d make nothing. So if I didn’t sell one book, I’d still be able to afford to release titles for two years. There was method to my madness. Stick with me and you’ll understand in a bit. Please note. What works for me will not work for others. Make a plan that works for you.

So I’d done my research and knew which professionals I’d hire for what, and I got on their schedules and/or made note of how far in advance I’d need to contact them for each project.

I had a marketing plan for each title I would release and also one for my brand. In less than a year, I planned on releasing my first title, and I had no web presence and the small following I’d had from previous years had no idea I’d be coming back more terrifying than before.

The first phase of my plan was online presence. I set up a Facebook account, re-launched my website as a blog, attended reader events for my genre, started building an opt-in mailing list and networked with readers through my book club. By the way. I am an avid reader and always will be. I read an average of a novel a week. As a “reader” who also happens to be an author, I participate in a few groups on Facebook.

I have very limited time, so I chose Facebook as my main online hangout. Join as many networks that work for you, but I encourage you not to spread yourself too thin. You should spend more time writing than anything else.

Whatever spots you hang out in, be sure to actually participate. You’ll get much more bang for your “time” buck than if you hop from place to place and the readers don’t connect to you, thus ignore your posts.

So let’s fast forward to Oct. 2010, when my first release was to come out. Along with always releasing a high quality product, I encourage authors to self-publish and publish through a legitimate publisher (traditional, independent, small press…) This is the fastest way to reach pockets of your target audience you may not have otherwise. Once you are happy with the size of your loyal reader base, you may decide to only self-publish.

I chose to only self-publish as Deatri. Do what works for you. Nothing is set in stone and you can always submit to publishing houses while you grow your base through self-publishing. I often tell authors that self-publishing has become the new “agent” of the industry.

Back to my brand and novel plans. I set measurable goals such as:

  • Number of titles released
  • Size of opt-in mailing list
  • Number of guest post on my blog
  • Number of guest appearances (online and in person)
  • Number of Facebook followers
    • On followers in general. I am not a big hound on quantity. I want quality. That is why I do not request friendships. That is why I do not add people to my mailing lists or groups.

Do you see anything missing? How about sells numbers? I barely promoted any of my releases for my first ten months and did not have sells goals for the first two years. Sounds crazy, but again, there was method to my madness.

Sells numbers go back to return on investment and the knowledge I have about readers’ buying habits. If a reader picks up a book by an author that is new to them and they love the book, the reader has a tendency to go back and look for the author’s previous titles.

As a new author, you don’t have a back list (previous titles). Now what works for me, will not work for everyone. My five year brand plan has phases and my second phase was to become a master of self-publishing, to put what I had learned into practice and fix any holes in my system. This went for print and electronic titles. I released quality work and knew readers would go back and purchase the back list eventually.

Sounds crazy, but again, there was method to my madness. I’m in this for the long haul. Unlike many authors, I had a reserve of titles. Some had been released, others not. So I could take the ten months to get the lay of the land, experiment with different marketing techniques and make adjustments to my novel and brand plans as needed. I released high quality titles and allowed minimal promotion and word of mouth to make sells.

So did I have a sells goal? Yes.

  • By Oct. 2012, I wanted my royalty checks for eBook sells to be up to $2000 total per month. I went in knowing my first year of sells would be low, and I was okay with that. Again, there was method to my madness. Though I was wading through the self-publishing side of the world, I still released high quality products. With little promotion, I slowly built a reader base and a buzz started about this author named Deatri. About my brand.

July 2011 I planned to release the first book of a four part series. This would begin my next phase where I stepped up marketing a little. By stepping up marketing, I don’t mean I joined a million social media groups and posted “buy my book” type post numerous times in the groups. Did I do some promotion in social media? Yes. I participate in a few groups and I have Facebook and Twitter accounts.

I had connected with readers before I started talking about my books. With the series, I literally allowed the readers to decide what order I wrote the series in. I also increased blog appearances (for various titles). Organized “Sale” events with other authors and used cross promotion. I continued increasing my opt-in mailing list and meeting with readers.  Sounds like a lot, but it doesn’t take a lot of time when planned properly. And yes, you do need to keep track of how much time you spend on promoting/marketing/ non-writing activities and make adjustments where needed.

Part of my promotion budget is free reads. I know many of you think giving away titles is a sin, but publishing companies have been giving away books for years because it’s one of those promotion tools that work. Before eBooks, many authors kept free reads on their websites. This is nothing new.

I’m not saying give away full length novels. But consider writing a few short stories and/or a novella to give away. Ensure they are properly edited and have great covers. Something your brand can be proud of give them away on your website and in any online store you can get them in to.

I use Smashwords for my free titles. I upload there and allow them to distribute. It took months, but Amazon and Barnes & Noble eventually matched the free price on the titles I’d submitted through Smashwords. Note that Amazon goes back and forth with having the titles free at times and .99 at others, but that’s out of my control. I have three free reads (well, free most of the time. Dang blasted Amazon) that are a short story, compilation of short stories and a novella. In December 2011, my titles became free on Barnes & Noble. It took until May 2012 (almost a year) before they showed free on Amazon. I didn’t think it would take that long. Lesson learned.

So let’s look at the numbers. Do you think I’ll be paid $2000 in Oct. 2012 for my eBook titles? I published my first eBook Oct. 3, 2010, so received my first royalty December 2010. Did minimal marketing until Jul. 2011, then stepped it up a little.

I’m rounding down to dollar amount. Rows in bold are the months I released a title (new, re-release of back list, and/or a free read). FYI: Currently, I sell my titles at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I have other options, but did not want to pursue them in the first two years.

Amazon

 Barnes & Noble
Oct. 2010

 

  
Nov.
Dec. $34 $1
Jan. 2011 $40 $9
Feb. $31 $20
Mar. $39 $11
Apr. $17 $32
May $503 $33
Jun. $396 $33
Jul. $213 $30
Aug. $154 $28
Sept. $145 $58
Oct. $108 $42
Nov. $89 $12
Dec. $88 $15
Jan. 2012 $85 $72
Feb. $128 $298
Mar. $686 $269
Apr. $966 $241
May $562 $239
Jun. $715 $275
Jul. $1245 $284
Aug. $1059 $238
Sept. $2944 $414
Oct. $2735 $408

As you see, I met my two year ebook royalty goal. I love the saying: Work smarter, not harder. I created a plan of action and followed through with adjustments here and there as needed. I don’t do a lot of promotion, but I do promote. My main focus is releasing a high quality product.

Wrap Up

I won’t tell you how your brand and novel plans should look or how many titles are the key to success.  Here are a few items to remember when you write your plans.

  • Do your research and learn the publishing business. Besides being a downright excellent author, you need to become an expert in production, marketing and distribution. Especially where it pertains to your company so you can incorporate these elements into your plans. I chose to only release my ebooks on Amazon and Barnes & Noble because I wanted to learn the ins and outs of the two largest eBook sellers first then expand.
  • We all may have madness, but have method to your madness.
  • Do not cut corners. Always release high quality products (books) and indicate the cost into your plans. This method will cost you more up front, but in the end, it usually pays out nicely when accompanied with a good marketing plan.
  • Return on investment (ROI) is extremely important.  You are in the publishing game for the long haul. Use all three types of marketing: those that show results short, mid, and long term.  ROI also counts for your time. How much time are you spending on your various marketing campaigns? Are you getting your bang for your buck (ROI)? What about your editors? Are they qualified? Covers anyone…?
  • Know your product and your target audience.
  • Formats of your title(s), print run and distribution
  • Set sells and marketing goals
  • What markets will you sell in?
  • Create action plans to reach your sells and marketing goals.
  • How many titles will you release and when?
  • Where are the pockets of your target audience and how will you find/reach them?
  • How will you market yourself?
  • What makes your title(s) different than others in the genre? What sets your brand apart?
  • Will you write under one name or numerous? For example, many readers who enjoy traditional romance do not enjoy horror. So if you write both genres, you may want to have pen names by genre.
  • What are your expansion plans? How will you reach new markets and when should you begin expansion?
  • How will you maintain contact with your loyal reader base?
  • How will you grow your reader base?
  • What is your continuing education plan?

Do an Internet search on “book marketing plan” and I’m sure you’ll find lots of examples. Initially, planning is time consuming, but in the long run it is time well spent.

Good luck

Deatri King-Bey

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for?Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $9.99(print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

Kisha’s Literary Jewel by Kisha Green

Self Publishing can be a truly rewarding experience but only if you take the NECESSARY and PROPER steps to fully understand all of the responsibilities a author takes on when deciding to self publish instead of seeking publishing with a traditional publishing houses.

RESEARCH is so vital because without this you will always be at an disadvantage, with the popularity of social media, authors can now access a lot of information that at one time they would have to pay for.

All information is not good information so you must research who is giving you that said advice in publishing. Everyone does not understand it or even implement it in their own business practice.

Asking a bunch of people from various sources is not effective especially when the sources don’t know much more than you do. This is a potential train wreck waiting to happen with the blind leading the blind. Conducting your own extensive research will be more beneficial and rewarding to you in the long run.

By asking many questions does show your eagerness to learn but also shows your peers your aren’t willing to take on the simple task of basic research yourself but instead accustomed to relying on others for source of information.

As a publisher your are not looking independent and this might make a potential author seek publishing elsewhere. Remember GOOGLE is your friend.

Kisha Green

www.divabooksinconline.com

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for?Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $9.99(print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

Keep An Eye on the Trades by W. Terry Whalin

W. Terry WhalinIf you want to know the inside scoop about publishing and how it works, I encourage you to read trade publications.

The weekly magazine of the publishing world is Publishers Weekly. If you’ve thought about subscribing, it is not cheap. I’ve been taking it for years and read it cover to cover each week. I absorb a great deal of information because each week covers a different type of book as well as current news about books and authors.

For many years, I made a weekly trip to the library and read Publishers Weekly from the reference librarians. Smile and engage the librarians because they will not have PW in their magazine section. The librarians read this trade magazine to keep up on the publishing world but also to know in advance about books from bestselling authors. It’s how your library always has a copy on order before it releases.

The PW magazines are kept behind the counter and you may have to read it in their sight because the librarians don’t want you to walk off with their resource. For many years, I read this publication in my local library.

Also subscribe to the free newsletters from Publishers Weekly and read them when they arrive in your mailbox. I have read this information for years and it’s been a great education about the business of publishing.

Several years ago, PW started a feature for the back page called Soapbox. Often authors or publishers or publicists will write something inspirational and insightful on this page. It’s well worth reading online (if available some of their material is only for subscribers) or in the print version. The most recent PW (Sept. 24, 2012) has a Soapbox column from first-time novelist Rayme Waters called Promote, Promote, Promote. She includes 10 tips on guerilla marketing. Every novelist (or nonfiction writer for that matter) can gain from these tips. Whether you’ve never published or been published many times, I learned a great deal from this article.

Another trade resource is to subscribe to Publishers Lunch. They have a free version and a paid version of this publication. I get the paid version because of the additional information and publisher access. Yet for many years, I read the free version.

Shelf Awareness is another terrific resource which is targeted to booksellers and librarians—yet includes valuable insights for writers. It’s free and comes five days a week. Most of the writers on this publication are former PW writers.

Trade publications are an important resource. Each of us needs to continue to grow in our craft and using this resource is a solid path of education.

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W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing, lives in Irvine, California. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com.

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for?Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $9.99(print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble


Conquering Writer’s Block by Renee Flagler

Renee Daniel FlaglerI’ll start off by saying, “There’s no such thing as writer’s block.” Come on, say it with me, “There’s no such thing as writer’s block.” Now you’re wondering that the heck was the issue you encountered when you thought you hit a wall in that story you were working on. There are several things you can call it, but don’t call it writer’s block. It doesn’t exist! Read on and I’ll make you a believer.

You’ve been working on a story and have come to a point where you just can’t seem to move forward or you’re not sure what your character is going to do next. You put the manuscript aside and then came back to it and…still nothing! Several things can happen when you’re working on a story. You lose motivation. You get distracted. You find that a story has gone into a direction other than what you intended. You’ve decided that you want to shift gears.  Whatever the problem is, it’s an indication that it’s time to exercise and expand you writing muscle. Here are few tactics that get past that thing that you think is writer’s block.

Break the Mold

It may be time to do something different. If your writing ritual is to wake up, get a cup of tea, and write for two hours every morning, then try writing at night. Perhaps writing at a different time of day will allow your experiences for that day to impact your writing. It’s possible that you could be in a different mental space depending on the time of day. Break out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself by doing something new. Change your scenery. If you write at home most of the time, try going taking your laptop to the park, the beach or your local Starbucks. Use the scenery, people, or other external influences to add a different spin to your story. Perhaps your character takes a trip to one of these places. What can happen next? Who can they run into?

Re-Enter the Room from a Different Angle

More than likely, you’ve been viewing your story from a certain perspective. When this happens, think of your story as a room. If you’ve been getting to the story through the front door, why not sneak in through the back window. For example, try a new angle. Allow your character to experience a change of perspective and see things differently for once—even if it’s temporary. Think about how their change in perspective can spark new life into the story.

External Inspiration

This is one of my favorite tactics and one that I find works very well when I conduct workshops on this subject.  Cut out interesting words, headlines, and titles from newspapers, ads and magazines. Store them in a box or envelop and when you find that you’ve hit a wall or feel like you’ve run out of ideas, pull one out of these headlines to help ignite a little fire under your story. For example, you’ve clipped the words “moving sale,” perhaps it’s time for one of your characters to make a move, either literally or figuratively.  In one of my sessions, an attendee used a clipping that read “house calls.” She used that to move her story along by having the antagonist show up at other character’s houses.

There are more ideas where this came from. However, for the sake of keeping this post from turning into a short story, I’ll provide those additional tactics in the next issue. In the meantime, if you find yourself dealing with the thing you call ‘writer’s block’ put some of these tactics to the test. I’d love to hear how they work out for you.

Happy writing!

Renee Daniel Flagler

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Renee Daniel Flagler is an award-winning freelance writer, marketing professional and the author of four novels, including the newly released title, Raging Blue. Connect with Renee via Twitter or Facebook, or visit her website at www.ReneeDanielFlagler.com.

Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for?Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $9.99(print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

A Tale Of Four Reader Groups by Deatri King-Bey

DeatriI enjoy four reading groups on Facebook. I participate in them and have gotten to know the other participants well. Three of them focus on my favorite genres and one of them is for people who love their Nooks (Yes, I’m a proud Nookie). Do I promote in these groups? Not much. I’m mainly there because I’m a read-aholic and have always liked to talk book.

Of the four groups, two of them had restrictions on promoting and two didn’t.  All four had great member participation until recently. A few months ago, the two groups that didn’t have restrictions gained a few members who loved to post promo after promo. A new trend in social media is authors hiring “readers” to promote their titles in reading groups, so the promos increased even more. Why do I bring this up?

Because the readers in both of those groups began complaining about… Guess what? Yep, you’ve got it, too much promoting in the readers’ groups. It didn’t matter if it was authors filling up the groups or surrogates of the authors filling up the groups, readers were turned off and slowly stopped participating. So about two months ago members of one of the groups that had become overrun with promos began posting threads complaining about too many promos and they contacted the admins. The admin listened to the members and set up limits on posting promos. Slowly the group began to come to life again.

Let’s move on to the second group that had a drop in participation (non-promo participation). Again, the members began to complain. They missed how much fun they used to have in the group before it became overrun with promos. Calls to “Take Back Our Group” rang out loud and clear. Next thing you know, the admins decided it was time to start limiting promotions.

Seeing what was going on in the two groups that didn’t have promos limited, I decided to take a little tour of the numerous reader groups I belong to on Facebook but rarely enter and guess what I found. In the groups that didn’t limit promos, quite a few of them were having some form of the “too many promos” discussion.

I do not want any of you to be caught in the backlash that is coming. I know you have to promote, but readers are tiring from promos. They want interaction with authors without feeling bombarded by “buy my book,” “review my book,” “like my page,” “read my blog,” “listen to me on blog talk radio,” … and image after image after image of your cover.

Promotion is a necessity, but you must also be mindful of how your promotions are being received by the readers in the group. You know, the people you want to purchase and spread the word about your titles. Bad news spreads much faster than good news, and you do not want to be known as bad news.

So what to do, what to do? How do you promote in groups without becoming bad news.

  • When you join a group, read the guidelines and follow them. You’d think this was a given wouldn’t you? Unfortunately, it isn’t.
  • Look at the membership of the group and watch the group posts for a while. If the group is mostly authors, is this your target audience? Probably not. If the group feed has more promos than reader related posts, then if the readers haven’t pulled away yet, they probably will soon.
  • Know your genre and only join groups that fit your target audience. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard authors say, “My book is for all readers.” News flash, the majority of readers like certain genres and group together by those genres. Can you join a group with a focus on women’s fiction and find a few horror lovers in there. Of course you can, but why waste your time trying to find those few horror lovers or trying to convert the women’s fiction readers when you should be spending that time in a horror lover’s group?
  • When you join a group, actually join the group. I know we are all busy, so don’t join 100 groups. Instead join a few groups in your genre and actually participate in them. Get to know the readers and let them get to know you. Talk about more than yourself and your book(s). Join discussions and start them. That way when you release a title, the group members will be more willing to purchase your book and spread the word about it. You’ll get a lot more bang for your buck by joining a few groups you enjoy than doing drive by promos in numerous groups and you’ll save time.
    • Don’t fake the funk (SMILE). I’ve read in a few groups that readers do not like it when authors come in with “fake” participation questions. It’s really bad when the authors use programs such as Hootsuite to post the questions and promos in groups.
    • Though I write fiction, I’m realistic most of the time (SMILE). Even I have joined groups that I have no intention on participating in. When my new title is out, sometimes I do a promote by (that’s like a drive by shooting except you go from group to group and post your promo). This only takes a few minutes so you may get lucky and pick up a sell here and there. From speaking with readers in groups, they would rather an author do this than the fake participation questions and bombarding their groups with numerous promos.
    • When it’s time to promote your title in the groups you’ve been participating, show restraint and don’t be redundant. Don’t continually post the same promo over and over (especially on the same day). One day maybe post a blurb and purchase links to your title. Another day a review, Another day a blog appearance. Another day an excerpt… There is also no need to put down someone else’s book to promote yours.

So there you have it.  There’s no big secret. Now go join groups in your genre and have a good time.

Deatri King-Bey

As Featured On EzineArticles

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for?Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $9.99(print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

 

Writer’s Block Blues by Kisha Green

You have this awesome idea for a great novel and you can see it being written, published and then the ultimate…A movie…That’s right move over Terry McMillan there is a new sheriff in town and she likes stilettos, expensive mascara and designer bags.

You sit down at your desk for a writing session that is sure to go down in history as one of the best stories ever told.

Yeah…That was what was supposed to happen. All I knew was that I wanted to write to get these stories out of my head, not factoring my head and fingers had not consulted with each to see if that is indeed the direction I should be going in.

What has happened to poor ole Kisha and her future best seller???? I will tell you, I caught the dreadful disease called Writer’s Block and unbeknownst to me it had decided to take up space in my head while I go crazy trying to bring the story to fruition.

How did I get diagnosed with this right before I was due to complete a novel? Well…It is called distraction and time management or in this case lack thereof.

Let’s examine the time management part since that is a major requirement to complete ANY task.

Time management is hard but if you can dedicate at least one hour a day you should be ok. You just have to be doing something constructive whether it is outlining or simply researching for the outline. If you are ready to write then commit to at least 350 words and before you know it you will be complete.

Give yourself a deadline and if it is ultimately important enough to you, you will make the time. This is the basics when you have a bunch of ideas floating in your head, otherwise your thought will be rambled which produces rambled writing that will lose your reader within the first chapter. So avoid this make an outline and refer to it often or you be stuck sitting in front of an open document and a blinking cursor!

www.Literary-Jewels.com
www.DivaBooksIncOnline.com

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for?Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $9.99(print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

It’s Who Follows You, Not How Many by Stacy-Deanne

Stacy-DeanneYou know what I’m talking about. How many authors do you see scrambling to gather online supporters like their lives depend on it? It’s a waste of time to focus on “how many” and not “who”. The amount of followers you have mean jack squat when it comes to book sales. Instead authors should focus more on who they reach because word of mouth depends on it.

The truth is that it does not matter how many Facebook and Google Plus friends or Twitter followers you have. IT DOES NOT MATTER. Nine times out of ten the amount of people who follow or friend you will not buy your book. It might be hard to hear but it’s true.

Authors are confusing expanding their readership with expanding their FB and Twitter following. What is more important, gathering real fans who will read your book and follow your career or stacking up the names of strangers just to say you have 10,000 fans on your FB page? How many of those 10,000 fans even remember they are members of your page let alone visit it within the year?

I’m guessing not many.

Now it’s cool to add anyone you want if you just wanna be their friends and interact with them. But if you’re gathering people for the sake of selling books only, you are in for a rude awakening. It takes a lot more than sending out friend requests and Twitter invites to make someone interested in your book.

You: So who the heck do I target then?

Stacy: True followers and true friends.

Let me break it down.

So You Got 30,000 Twitter Followers? And?

So you got 30,000 followers on your Twitter! Good for you. That is an accomplishment. Yet you had a book signing last week and not one of your “followers” showed up.

Ouch. That one stung didn’t it? Don’t feel bad because it happens more often than you think.

You gotta accept the fact that whether you have 30 followers or 30,000 that does not mean that any of them will buy your book or care about it.  Please. If only it was that easy. You think all those people actually go to your links or pay attention to your book tweets?

Sorry to bust your bubble but unless you’re famous or the latest Internet sensation I doubt that anything close to half of 30,000 people even pay your tweets any attention.

I know the truth hurts but that’s how the Krispy Kreme crumbles.

You’re Not the Twitter Rock Star You Think You Are:

You do realize Twitter is a melting pot of authors and literary professionals don’t you? There are gazillions of authors hocking their books on Twitter. You have to first make followers care about you before you expect them to care about your books. This takes interaction and participation on your part. And even then it won’t be 30,000 that care. You’re lucky if you can get 100 people on Twitter to pay your book tweets any real attention let alone actually buy the darn thing.

The little fish often gets lost in the big sea.

Wouldn’t you rather have a list of 100 people who will actually buy your books than a list of 30,000 who won’t?

Earth to Writer: People Are Lying to You:

Yep let that sink in for a minute. While social networking you might run into many who claim they will buy your book and can’t wait to read it. Most of these “supporters” will not buy it and neither do they intend to. That’s just the doggone truth. It’s something polite folks tell authors because they don’t wanna hurt our feelings when we’re slaving to promote our books.

Pay attention to folks who actually bought the book and read it. Anyone can say they will right? We all say a lot of things we don’t mean sometimes. I admit I’ve lied and told a few authors I would get their books and yes I had no intentions of getting them when I said that.

Sue me.

Too many authors bank on what folks say they are gonna do when they need to concentrate on readers who have actually proven their support by reading your book.

The Amount of Friends and Followers Mean More to You Than Anyone Else:

This touches on the insecurity of a lot of authors. This reminds me of the people back in high school who had to always be with the popular kids or else they didn’t feel important. Some authors treat social networking like a popularity contest. Well let me tell you that the amount of people on your lists does not make you popular nor does it impress anyone but you.

Let me share a secret. Most of the folks on your lists don’t even know who you are.

This is why it’s so hard to attract readers on social networks. You’re competing against so many other things for someone’s attention.

How many of these people on your list actually look at your profile page? Do you ever wonder if any of them ever check out your website? Do they like the type of books you write? Heck do they even read?

If you don’t know the answers to these questions than most likely your friends don’t know the answers when it comes to you as well. Nor do they care.

You have to make them care and honey it’s easier shooting a bumble bee with a rifle.

That’s the hard part. A chimpanzee can send out friend requests but can he be engaging enough to make someone wanna look into him further or buy his book?

Better yet, what would make someone be interested in the chimp compared to the giraffe? The giraffe is out there pumping her book as hard as the chimp. But does either of them spark interest within the jungle of all the other animals who are hocking their books?

The one who does will walk away with readers.

Recognize and Value True Supporters:

Actions speak louder than words. When someone takes the time to help you spread the word about your book without you asking, you know they are a true supporter.

They do things to help you because they enjoy your work and want you to succeed. They aren’t the ones expecting favors in return or kissing up to you in hopes they can get a free copy of your book or writing advice. They aren’t the ones making an excuse as to why they can’t get your book every time you see them. Supporters are those that truly care and it’s a blessing for any author to have them.

So stop looking at people as objects to collect. Believe me you don’t wanna collect everybody.

It’s about quality, not quantity.

Stacy-Deanne

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for?Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $9.99(print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

Work At Your Titles By W. Terry Whalin

W. Terry WhalinYou can’t underestimate the value of a good title for a magazine article or a book manuscript. Many writers don’t put much energy into those few words since they figure it will be changed in the editorial process. That’s not true. If you choose a good title, I’ve found it will remain and appear in print for the magazine article or the book.

Those few words are the first thing an editor will see with your submission so don’t slap something on the top of your manuscript then never revisit the title before you send it to the editor.

For some writers, the title can be a stumbling block–since it’s the first thing on your manuscript. To get around this difficulty, often I will throw the first thing that comes to my mind into that spot on the page. BUT I always revisit it at the end of the process, create several titles, and then select the most appropriate one before I send it off to the editor.

Titles come from many different places. Sometimes they are a play on words and for other titles, they are buried in a phrase inside the actual article or book. When I was on the staff of Decision magazine, we spent hours in Title Meetings where we debated the merits of a particular title for an article. Why? Because at the time the magazine had a circulation of 1.8 million copies and we knew a good title would draw readers. Each of us would suggest possible titles, and then we selected what we determined as the best title for that article. If the writer proposed a good one, then it stuck.

Some of my personal favorites are: Two Words That Changed My Life, the title of my personal testimony, http://www.terrylinks.com/TWTCML  A Strange Place To Sing, a children’s book I wrote about Paul and Silas in jail; Never Too Busy, another children’s book about Jesus and the children and finally Lessons From the Pit which I wrote about the Eurodollar Pit of the Chicago Mercantile.

Titles are definitely worth a bit of your creative thinking. The title might make the difference whether you get the editors’ attention or not.

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W. Terry Whalin is a former magazine editor, book editor and literary agent. He is the creator of an online course to teach writers how to create excellent book proposals, www.WriteABookProposal.com (http://bit.ly/wbkpro) and an Acquisitions Editor at Morgan James Publishing, a NY based publisher (http://terrylinks.com/mjp1s).  Get his free Ebook, Platform Building Ideas for Every Author: (http://bit.ly/wtwsite) Terry has almost 40,000 followers on Twitter: www.twitter.com/terrywhalin

Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for?Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $9.99(print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

Amazon KDP Select Experiment by Deatri King-Bey

DeatriMany have asked me why I haven’t hopped on the Kindle Select bandwagon. That’s because the majority of my titles have nice Nook sells and I want my books to be available to my supporters. Granted, I know you just pull your books off other vendors for 90 days (minimum), so be sure to take that into consideration. You can always go back to selling your books everywhere. Anywhooo, I just don’t find the program is good for me. I still received numerous questions about the program, so I decided to do a KDP Select Experiment so I can give you first-hand experience instead of just opinion.

For those of you who don’t know, if you enroll your eBook in the Amazon KDP Select program, you say that you will sell and give away your eBook on Amazon.com only. You give them complete exclusivity. You can’t even give the eBook away on your website. In exchange for your making your eBook exclusive to Amazon, you are allowed to give your book away for free for five days and your book is placed in Amazon’s library for its Prime Members. When a Prime Member borrows the eBook, you are paid a certain amount.

When KDP Select started, the units downloaded for free counted toward your sales ranking when the book went back to regular price. The result, traditionally published books were being knocked out of “Best Sellers” list left and right. They lost visibility, thus sells, so I knew the publishing industry wouldn’t let that last long. Publishers complained and now free downloads barely count towards paid download ranking. That’s not the end of the story. You can still make money using the Amazon KDP Select program.

I think the Amazon KDP Select program is especially great for authors who don’t have many sells outside of Amazon, have a series (I suggest putting the first book of the series), multiple books out or have older titles that aren’t selling as well anymore. I think the program can give LOTS of exposure and the possibility of numerous new readers.

Onto the experiment.

I have decided to place two titles on the KDP Select program. Neither of these titles have sold a copy on Barnes & Noble in over a month, so though I’m still uncomfortable about being exclusive to Amazon for 90 days, I’m going to suck it up and do it. I just need to remember that this will increase the visibility of these titles and that’s the whole point in making them available to the public.

Step One (May 28): I logged into Pubit and took my two titles (The Other Realm and Picture Perfect) off sell. I’ll admit, that hurt. It’s processing and I should probably wait until the process is over before enrolling into the KDP Select, but let’s see what happens. I also updated my webpage to take off the Nook direct buy links.

Step Two (May 28): I logged into KDP and contemplated if I truly wanted to have my two titles exclusive on one site for 90 days. I’m not happy about this, but it’s only 90 days—at least that’s what I keep telling myself. It’s not the 90 days that bothers me. It’s the exclusivity. I don’t like that for even a second. Get over it. I read through the FAQs, several times. I’m anal about this type of thing and you’d best believe I’ve spoken with authors who are in the program.  A few new items I learned from the FAQs:

  • KDP Select-enrolled titles are automatically renewed for another 90 days unless you opt not to automatically renew. So you know I will hop on over to the “Edit book details” page and uncheck the box next to “Automatically renew this book’s enrollment in KDP Select.”
  • You can un-publish your KDP Select-enrolled titles at any time during the term. So if it is really driving you crazy that your book is only available on Amazon, you can remove it from there also. BUT you still cannot sell it other places either for the 90 days. So your book will not be available anywhere until the 90 days is up.
  • If you get cold feet, you have 3 days to get out of the program. I think all contracts work like that, don’t they? You get a 72 hour cooling off period.

There’s a lot more information on the FAQs. Be sure to read them.

I enrolled my two titles into the KDP Select program.  I looked at my term date and have to leave my books exclusive until 25 August. If these two titles were the same genre, I wouldn’t have done them at the same time, but since one is fantasy and the other women’s fiction, the target audiences (though overlap at times) are different enough. Now I’m off to uncheck that auto-renew (into the program) feature. Okay, I’m back and didn’t see where to not automatically enroll. I still have three days to get out of this program, so maybe that option will appear after that time. I’ll be back.

I’m back (June 5). Did you miss me? I am now able to uncheck the auto-renew.

Step Three (May 28): I’m not in a hurry to select my free days.  I know that I will do the free reads promo in three sets. Two Wednesday/Thursday sets and one Thursday set. I choose to do it this way because I’ve been told numerous times that the free downloads increase your sales ranking. No one knows how much. So let’s see if how much of a bump my numbers get just before the weekend. I’ll do the free day promos three weeks in a row because I’m trying to get it over with. Yep. I said it. This is an experiment and I just don’t feel like spreading the five free days spread out and having to report on each one. So I’ll group them and report on each group. If you are serious about the KDP Select program, I think it would be best to spread your five free days out.

I’ll be on vacation the second half of June, so I reckon I’ll start my free day promos then. There’s also another reason I’m choosing June to do the free promos. The 4th of July is vacation time. Lots of summer reading will be going on so this is a good time to have my books out there. Here are the dates I’ll schedule the free days for:

  • June 13, 14
  • June 20, 21
  • June 28 (FYI: I ended up cancelling this date for both)

Originally when the KDP select program started, it was said that the free downloads would count toward your rankings, but from what I’ve seen, that doesn’t seem to be true. I’ll let you know for sure at the conclusion of this experiment.

First I need to create a plan on how to promote my free days. My Facebook, Twitter, reading groups I belong to and mailing lists are givens, but there are other online avenues that promote free reads. I hear they are hit and miss. Let’s see what happens.

Here’s a tool that submits your promo information for your free days to various websites:

http://authormarketingclub.com/members/submit-your-book/

Step Four (May 28): My followers who wanted the titles I’ve entered into the KDP Select program have most likely already purchased them, so it’s time to maximize on the exposure and find new pockets of my target audience. Sounds like a great time to set up a blog tour. I only have the one fantasy book, which I entered in the KDP Select program, and in all honesty have neglected it. Thus I need to find places to be a guest blogger or be interviewed. I’d do my women’s fiction title also, but I just don’t have time to do it with all the other things I have going on in my life.

(June 4) I did some research into the sci-fi/fantasy/paranormal romance world and have sent blog appearance request to nineteen to appear on their blogs near the end of June. They’ve probably never heard of me before but oh well. Nothing beats a failure but a try.

(June 4) I’ve already heard from several of the authors I emailed this morning and have four guest posts lined up (fantasy) and one blog talk radio. Cool. I did receive an odd email from one of the authors. I’ve been in the business a long time, and I know some authors can be a tad bit snobbish, but such is life. One of the replies to my request was from an author who said something on the lines of, “I rarely allow guests authors on my website, and when I do, they are my peers.” Did that sound snooty to you? I’ve been turned down many times for interviews and such. It’s no big deal, but that seemed like the author’s nose was high in the air and stick stuck way up her behind. Authors, remember tone is important when responding to people. For one thing, you should always be polite because it’s the right thing to do, and also because you never know who you’re speaking with, especially online.

(June 13-14) I forgot all about my books being free until I checked my KDP stats this morning, which I do every morning. Only 6 a.m. and already a few hundred downloads for both books. Cool. My next step was to go onto Facebook and announce the free books in the reading groups I belong to and also on my author pages. By the way, I ended up with a seven spot blog tour for The Other Realm. Not bad, huh?

Next I’m off to see what locations ran my free tour. I know some places must have since I already have so many downloads and it’s early in the day.

I did a search on Twitter for “The Other Realm by Deatri” and BAM, @FreeEbooksDaily had indeed posted it. Thank you, Mom, for giving me an uncommon name. Next I searched for “Picture Perfect by Deatri” and BAM, @sylviahubbard1 had Tweeted it. It’s still early so I’ll check again later.

Next I moved onto Google and did a search of “The Other Realm by Deatri” and BAM, I saw both books on http://ereadernewstoday.com/free-kindle-books-17-free-books-for-6-13-12/6714313/

The Other Realm also made it to: http://www.facebook.com/kindledailydeal

Picture Perfect: Kindle Daily Deal

http://thekindledailydeal.com/bargain_preview.cfm?bargain_id=804

Wednesday 13 June I got 4262 downloads on Picture Perfect and 2536 downloads on The Other Realm.During the course of the day, The Other Realm ended at #4 on the free downloads for fantasy. Picture Perfect ended up #56 in free downloads overall.

(June 15) I was anxious to see what the ranking of the titles would be after the free promotion. I had been told that Amazon counts the free downloads towards your actual sales ranking. Not one for one, but they do help substantially. When I would ask for what substantially or a lot meant (I’m a numbers person. Those I understand), I could never get what they meant. Before this experiment started, both of my titles were over a million in the sells ranking. If you sell, one or two books, your ranking can go to around 150,000 range, so let’s see how “substantially” the free downloads worked on my rankings.

Picture Perfect finished with 8112 free downloads.

And the ranking this morning is: Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #69,829

 

The Other Realm finished with 3984 free downloads

And the ranking this morning is Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #364,856

Let’s put this into perspective. The Picture Perfect ranking is okay. It would translate to I’d sold a few books in the past couple of days. The Other Realm ranking looks as if I sold a book or two a few days ago.

This is very good information to know because I’ve read and been told numerous times by those in the program to run your free days Thursdays so your rankings will be higher come Friday when people purchase.  Keep it in perspective folks. From speaking with others who have participated in this program, and looking at the ranking on Amazon, I did extremely well on the download volumes. So well that Picture Perfect was the 56th most downloaded book of ALL of Amazon’s free titles, and though The Other Realm didn’t break the top 100 list for most downloaded free books on Amazon, it did get to 106 of the thousands of free books offered on Amazon. So you’d need a heck of a lot of free downloads to really increase your sales rank. Side note: Here is an excellent article about Amazon Sales Ranking. Please note that the ratio of Frees that count toward your sales ranking is not 10 to 1. It’s not even 1000 to 1.  Meaning for every 1000 free downloads that would count as 1 sell in the rankings.

You may now be thinking, what’s the point in giving away 12,000 books. Exposure. If even 10% of these people read the books, that’s up to 1200 people who have been exposed to my work who had probably never heard of me or considered reading my work. Hopefully, they will enjoy the titles and go back to purchase more. This is why the KDP Select program works better for people with a few titles released and those with a series (I suggest putting the first installment of the series in the program).

But more importantly, and an item I haven’t seen discussed in any of the articles I’ve read about the KDP Select program, is the Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought element of product pages. Over the years, I’ve had readers contact me who said they’d never heard of me but discovered my books through that Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought.

Picture Perfect had a total of 8112 downloads. That means 8112 Amazon customers’ book purchases are now linked to Picture Perfect. So on some of the product pages of books they have purchase, Picture Perfect will show in the Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought section. That is a heck of a lot of free advertising and a major strength of this program that I believe many overlook. I believe the Customers Who Bought section is one of the main strengths of the KDP Select program.

I need to write a few articles and submit the interviews for the mini blog tour I set up for The Other Realm. I’ve been neglecting this poor little title so long. Shame on me. Optimally, I would have set up a tour for Picture Perfect also during my free promo period, but I have a new romance coming out next month and will be touring then so just don’t have the time to promote both of these titles as I should. Be sure to always take into consideration your time constraints.

By the way, when I announced the free days in social media groups I belong to, I asked people to like the product page. People rarely hit that like button on anyone’s page, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask. I ended up with 20 additional likes on both pages.

(June 16) I’ve had a few sells of both titles which I shall credit to the KDP Select program since I hadn’t had sells for these titles in over a month. FYI: It looks like borrows count as sells in the ranking.

As of this morning:

Picture Perfect (Women’s Fiction) –  3 sells and 1 borrow, Amazon ranking: #33,650

The Other Realm (Fantasy Romance) – 3 sells, 3 borrows, Amazon ranking: #39, 586

(June 17) I haven’t been promoting either title but still received a few sells. Since the sales rankings for the books aren’t high enough to be placed on any list, I think the sells stem from the Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought section of the product page of Amazon.

Picture Perfect (Women’s Fiction) –  5 sells and 2 borrows, Amazon ranking: #36,365

The Other Realm (Fantasy Romance) – 7 sells, 4 borrows, Amazon ranking: #29,650

I’m curious how people find out a title is available to borrow unless they happen upon it while browsing Amazon. I’ll have to ask someone in the program I guess.

(June 18)

Picture Perfect 7 sells, 3 borrows Amazon ranking: #33,041,

The Other Realm 8 sells, 4 borrows, Amazon ranking:  #43,921

Don’t worry, I’m done giving the daily report. I think the borrows and sells will go down between free days because I’m not promoting the books. I suggest you promote the books for additional sells so you’ll, hopefully, get on some of the best seller list on Amazon to be more visible

June 19 Evening

The Other Realm #109,392 Paid in Kindle Store

Picture Perfect # #65,904 Paid in Kindle Store

August: Okay, I think you get the picture of how the KDP Select program works. The virtual tour of The Other Realm that I went on started near the end of June and went nicely, but by the time I’d started the tour, the bump in ranking I’d had was gone. So take that into consideration when you schedule your free days.

In conclusion, I think the KDP Select program is a good marketing option to boost your sells of older titles. If you have a new title, I do not suggest you place it into this program. FIRST, get the majority of the sells from the eBook, then enter the program so those who are downloading it for free wouldn’t have bought it anyway. You want to use this program to gain new readers, which is also why you want to have more than one eBook out (preferably in the same genre) when you enter this program.

Has this experience changed me into a KDP Select person. Nope. Don’t get me wrong. The titles I entered have received at least 20 sells each since I ran those free days and it is a way to get your work out there to people who may not know about your books. Once readers begin reading those free downloads, I’m sure many will come back for more. This program just not for me, that doesn’t mean it’s not just right for you.

Deatri King-Bey

If you found this post helpful, please use the Share buttons to spread the word about it.

Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $9.99 (print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

Description: The Season Salt of a Novel by Stacy-Deanne

Stacy-DeanneDescription can bring your novel out or it can kill it. It’s the season salt of a novel. In some dishes it works well and brings out the flavor. Some dishes are salty enough on their own so adding tons of season salt is not necessary.

It’s all about the particular dish. When I say dish, I mean scene.  As a novelist you should look at books in terms of their scenes because it’s best to tackle things one scene at a time.  You learn to do that and it helps you retain knowledge to become a more effective writer.

The biggest thing I notice with a lot of newbies is that they tend to over-season their novels. They pour on the description whether they need it or not. Every scene does not need a bunch of description. What you want to do is give enough for the audience to form the image in their minds. You don’t have to describe every single thing in a scene.  Some do it because they think they have to but using description excessively produces novels full of boring filler. This only bogs down the reader scene after scene.

It’s 2012 and readers these days just don’t have the patience to sit through a slow, filler-stuffed book.  Remember not only are there other entertainment options to compete with but also tons of other novels that might be more fast-paced and compelling than yours.

So don’t give a reader more of an excuse to put yours down.

Once you learn how to use description it will help you to write satisfying books of substance minus the filler.

When To:

Use description when it’s important to the particular scene.

If readers knowing Jason’s outfit is important to the scene or what he is doing, describe it. If not then leave it out. Don’t describe an entire outfit just to do it. If it’s not an important fixture then stick with conveying action and bringing out character development through Jason’s dialogue and his actions. This will give readers a much better understanding of Jason and you won’t waste time with unnecessary description.

Note: Sometimes describing a character’s style of dress can be vital if it shows the type of person they are. If Louis always wears a flannel shirt and jeans with holes in the knees then say it. This type of description helps paint a picture in the reader’s mind about Louis because we identify the way someone dresses with the type of person they might be. How? Well in the case of Louis, he might be a blue-collar man. Maybe he works in a warehouse or construction. Add vivid descriptions throughout scenes to show this. His fingernails are always dirty. His Timberland boots are so scuffed up you can’t tell how long he’s had them. This is a great way to describe a character!

In my latest mystery The Season of Sin, one of my main characters fixes cars at a junkyard. Every time I showed him I made sure to relay some type of detail about his appearance. Not only does it help people form an image of Bruce in their heads, but it also sets the tone for his scenes. I brought attention to Bruce’s dirty fingernails, his oil-stained overalls and the fact that he smelled like gasoline even when he wasn’t working on a car.  Some have even said they actually could smell gasoline off the pages during Bruce’s scenes.

These tiny details that I used for Bruce allows the reader to embrace the type of person he is. Description of clothing can be useful as a device to show someone’s profession or even their personality. And don’t forget smells! Does the person wear a certain type of perfume? Are they always smelly and musty?

Describe only particular things of importance.

If your setting takes place in Miss Lonny’s old country home by all means describe it but don’t go overboard. I like to describe only a few items in a room at a time. If this is a place the audience will see many times then don’t sit there and describe her home from top to bottom in the first scene. Why? You not only bog down the reader but the reader will not remember every single thing in Lonny’s home by the next time another scene takes place there.

Don’t add too much seasoning at one time.

So what kind of things should you describe? Don’t describe walls or floors unless they matter. I mean don’t just do it to say what color they are unless the color is important to the scene or informs us about the character.  Stick with things that would stick out. If in your head you see a regular living room with a crooked TV stand, describe the crooked TV stand, not the entire room. The TV stand is what will also stick in readers’ heads. It conveys more than enough because the readers’ minds will wonder on their own just with the mention of that one stand.

Stick with things that stick out.

If Lonny has black walls then mention it because it’s not normal for someone to have black walls.  The first thing the audience will say is, “Black walls? Why in the world does this woman have black walls?”

What else makes Miss Lonny’s home standout? Does she have an Oriental rug by the front door even though she’s living in this little country home? That would be something that sticks into the readers’ heads because they wouldn’t expect someone living in a country home to have an Oriental rug. It would make Miss Lonny more interesting. Black walls, Oriental rug in a country home? Who would have a home like this? It’s amazing what simple details can do.

Details, people. Details!

Practice: Look at your own home. Look at your living room or den. What sticks out among other things? What’s something you think visitors might notice the first time they come to your house?

Use vivid description in sex scenes and love scenes if you intend on writing out the scene.

If you decide not to do a close-the-door thing and wanna show the characters making love, show us. Look this is not the time to fudge on details.

And I mean show. If he is licking her navel, tell us how it feels so we know how it makes her feel. How does it feel when he sucks her toe or she plants kisses down his chest? Speaking of his chest, is it hairy? Is it smooth?  When she kisses him do his chest muscles ripple under her lips when he arches his back?

How do the characters smell to each other? People smell when they make love. And no I don’t mean their privates necessarily. I mean people naturally have a scent especially to the opposite sex.  It’s amazing how skin smells when you’re close enough to someone. Mention this stuff!

How are the characters feeling? Are they comfortable, horny or anxious? Do they have butterflies? Is one so nervous about making love that they might be a little nauseated?

Incorporate sounds. People don’t just make love silently unless it’s not good. (Little joke there). Sounds are an important part of love scenes. They further capture the emotions for the reader. Some people talk while making love, people instruct, people moan and groan.

Incorporate this!

Now admit that those little details got something churning inside of you from curiosity didn’t they? They immediately thrust you into the scene and you feel like you’re there.

That’s what you are supposed to do. It doesn’t come down to how many words you use or how long the scene is. You can have an effective scene with description that’s only a few paragraphs long. The shorter you can get your point across, the better.

And I don’t care how long the people are making love; a love scene should never be boring. If it seems boring to you then most likely it will be to readers.

The When Not’s:

Don’t stop action just to describe something

If Max’s plane is falling to the sea and he’s fighting with the controls, this isn’t the time to remind readers what Max is wearing or the color of the knobs on the plane. You might think this goes without saying but some writers do this. Never interrupt the tension for lame description.

Don’t waste time describing secondary characters

We don’t need to know what the prostitute who witnessed the murder looks like. Who cares? Just let her say what she saw and move on. There is no point to wasting time describing a character no one will see anymore.

Don’t describe for the sake of impressing readers

Some writers think that showing how well they can describe a canister (over four pages) will impress readers or it makes them look more “writerly” and intelligent. Wrong. Less is more. Look you aren’t writing Gone with the Wind.  You need to make sure someone gets through your book without being bored to tears.  Focus on your plots and pacing and not on trying to show how fancy you can describe something.

Stay away from clichés

Look anything you’ve heard a million times before in terms of describing someone or something is probably something you should overlook. Be creative and come up with your own way to describe. On the flipside don’t try to be too clever. It’ll come off as pompous and arrogant if you use a million big words that seem out of place.

Stacy-Deanne

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The Story Doesn’t Write Itself By Shelia M. Goss

It seems only another writer will understand the plight of an author when they are trying to juggle their everyday life with a writing career. If you decide to write when you have time, you will never write because there will always be something that will interfere with your writing.

Below are a few tips to better manage your time in order to complete your writing projects:

1. Make an appointment with yourself.  We schedule doctor’s appointments, hair appointments, school events, etc, so why not add “writing” to your schedule. Not only schedule it, but keep to the appointment.
2. Set boundaries. Inform those in your inner circle (family and friends) that you need X amount of solitude time to write. A story doesn’t write itself and in order for the story to be written, you, the writer need the solitude time to write the story.
3.  Limit your social networking time. This is a catch-22 because if you’re marketing, social networking is a must. In order to write however, logging off Facebook, Twitter, etc era is a must. Social networking is a  time zapper and if you don’t be careful, you’ll spend hours and hours without writing one sentence on your writing project.
4.  Set word count/page writing goals. It helps to set goals on how many pages or words you want to write.  Most importantly, when you set these goals, stick to them.  Write them by any means necessary. If it means less time watching TV, being on social networks, getting up earlier or going to bed later, do so.
5. Set mini-goals.  A lot of times we get frustrated because we don’t see an end to what we want to accomplish. One way to avoid this is to set mini-goals. Once you reach the mini-goal, then go on to the next goal.

What are some other tips that you use to help manage your time?

Shelia M. Goss is a national best-selling author and a 2012 Emma Award Finalist. She has over fourteen books in print and numerous of ebooks available. She writes in multiple genres. With unique storylines, her goal is to create “stories with a twist.” For more information, visit her website at http://www.sheliagoss.com/

Shelia M. Goss

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Build Your Presence with a Blog by W. Terry Whalin

W. Terry WhalinBook editors and literary agents are looking for visible authors. I’m talking about authors who have an already established connection to their audience and communicate with that audience on a consistent basis. The buzzword that is commonly used in publishing is called “platform.” What is the author’s platform?

Many authors are chagrinned to hear this news. They thought the publisher was going to be the one to promote and market their book. These authors want to focus on storytelling and creating the best possible novel or nonfiction book. They don’t want anything to do with marketing. Because these authors resist being involved in marketing, their pitches are consistently rejected and they struggle to find an editor or agent to champion their project.

One of the simple yet effective ways to build your market presence is through blogging. On a consistent basis, I’ve been writing my blog since December 2004. The experience has been valuable in dozens of different ways and I’ve learned a great deal from it. Also I’ve increased my presence in the marketplace through blogging.

Whether you have a blog or not, as an author or would-be author, you have some questions about how to build your presence (platform) with a blog and also how to you make money with a blog? I want to provide you with some answers but first here’s

Five Ways Not To Blog

1. No focus. The word blog is short for a weblog and you start your blog with a literal use of this word. You write whatever comes into your head with no focus and no particular topic and audience in mind. In the process you crank a bunch of words into your computer. Yet are you drawing an audience?

2. No consistency. Sometimes you blog several times a day. Other times you go weeks or months without a single entry. You put information into the blog without any constant flow. And if you look at your viewing statistics, you see the results—lame.

3. Not picking a niche with passion. While this relates to focus, as a blogger, you need to select a particular niche that you will write about for a long time—with passion. Many bloggers fail to account for this element and they blog for a while then run out of steam. My blog has been going strong for years because I am passionate about the area I selected. Are you?

4. No email updates or RSS feed. Readers are different and you need to appeal to many types of readers. Some people like reading the entries on the site while others prefer to receive updates via email or their favorite blog reading tool which picks up on the RSS (really simple syndication) feed. You are missing out if you aren’t using these simple resources with your blog.

5. No links to other resources. No one contains all of the information about any particular topic. People who read and love blogs like to have other resources within a blog post. You need to include links to other people’s materials and resources as you write your entries. It will broaden your base and help you in countless ways.

I’ve just listed a few of the countless mistakes that people make in setting up and maintaining their blog. They do not attract readers nor make any money from their blog and quickly lose interest. They chalk it up to a wasted experience. You can avoid these mistakes with a little forethought and consistency.

I want to help you build your presence in the marketplace with a blog. Whether you are a blogger or not, I have some insights for you.

On Tuesday, August 7th, I will be answering your questions in a FREE live teleseminar at www.askterrywhalin.com I encourage you to ask your questions. Hopefully your question will be one that I will answer during the 70–minute event. If you can’t make the exact event, go ahead and register because it will be recorded and everyone who signs up will receive an email to the recording after the event.

To encourage your blogging efforts, everyone who signs up for the event will receive a free copy of my Ebook, Bloggers Guide to Profits, Discover the Little Known Secrets to Making Money with our Blog. If you scroll down the right side of my blog, you will see that I sell this book for $9.95. During this event, I’m giving away this valuable resource to everyone who registers. Please feel free to pass this information along to others and have them come to this live event.

I look forward to answering your questions on August 7th.

 W. Terry Whalin

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $9.99 (print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

BLING! Can You Pimp My Website by Deatri King-Bey

DeatriA few days ago, an author friend of mine asked if I could help pimp his website. The reasoning—little to no traffic because it was boring and in major need of jazzing up. He found a really snazzy looking template he wanted to use and needed guidance.

In one of my other lives (yes, I have several), I’m a web coordinator for the second largest employer in my state. I maintain high traffic websites, and I know a little about web optimization and all that techy web-stuff. I also maintain several websites of my own and have built websites for others. Enough about me, let’s get back to adding BLING to his website.

I had to be honest with my friend. What good would I be if I weren’t honest, right? Before he went through all of this work and shelled out dollars that could be used elsewhere, I had to ensure he understood the true reason why his website had little traffic—stale content.

He had his website/blog up for two years and maybe did three posts in all that time. And those posts looked more like Tweets than posts. When he had a new title come out, he’d place the new cover up, but beyond that, nodda-dang-thang.

I pointed out that my personal websites are nowhere near jazzed up, but are simple sites that have ever changing content that users return to see. Don’t believe me, here are a few of my websites:

I asked him how many websites he visited to see the bling on the site as opposed to the content. He couldn’t name one. Does this mean your website needs to be as simple as my websites? Of course not. I just want you to keep in mind that content is more important than BLING!

Back to the template my friend had chosen (a template is a premade design for websites you can customize for your needs).  The template was nice, but the service provider also had lots of bells and whistles he could add to the site. Bells and whistles are a good thing, when used in moderation. You don’t want to add so much “stuff” to your website that it distracts from the most important part—your ever changing content that keeps your readers coming back for more between your releases and for new releases. My friend had music, things flying across the screen, videos, pop ups, animations… I couldn’t even find the purchase links to his books. YIKES!

What to do, what to do? Before you pimp out your website, make sure you have your content ready. Below are not “pages” but types of content.

  • Author Information – Who are you—the author? Tell something interesting about yourself.  OK, so come of us are more interesting than others. What do you write? What is your writing known for? If you are writing non-fiction, what makes you qualified to write whatever it is you write? What are your literary accomplishments… I know a few authors who write under a pseudonym, and their About page is completely made up. I have a few pseudonyms, and I don’t do an About page for those.
  • Contact – How will your readers reach you, and how will you stay in contact with your readers? Will you use some sort of contact form for your readers to email you? Will you have readers subscribe to a mailing list using the services such as Mail Chimp or Constant Contact. If you have a blog, will your user be able to sign up for the blog? Don’t forget about social media. Make it easy for your reader to link to your Twitter, Facebook and other social media.
  • Purchase – How will your readers purchase your books? Where will you have links to purchase your books?  On every page, a dedicated page… Note: Make it easy for readers to find your purchase links.
  • Showcase – Will you have a page to showcase all of your titles? How will you organize this page? Will you have book blurbs, covers, videos, purchase links, reviews…
  • Repeat Offenders!—What will you do to keep your readers coming back for more? This is extremely important. You must keep the content on your website fresh. Most of us do not have a new book come out every month, so how do you keep your readers coming back for more between books? Are you going to have feeds to your Twitter, Facebook and or other social media? Will you be running contest? Are you going to blog? Will you have guest interviews or posts? Keep your content fresh if you want people to return.

Once you get your content together, figure out how you will organize it on the site and a way to continually draw readers to your site, you may now add the bling. There is nothing wrong with the bling, but don’t ever allow it to overshadow your content.

So did I pimp my friend’s website? Nah, once he stepped back and put things into perspective, he reorganized his website and added enough bells and whistles to jazz it up without turning it into a circus.

Here are a few other quick things about websites I’d like to touch on before I end this piece.

  • Try out several free website service providers such as Weebly, Wix, WordPress.org, WordPress.com, Blogger and Tumblr and see which one you are most comfortable using. Be careful, not all providers have full functionality on all internet platforms. Meaning, some people use browsers other than Internet Explorer. You want to read a wide audience.
  • Once you decide on who will host your website, purchase your domain name. Do not stick with the free one because it usually requires you having the companies name in the URL (web address). This is your business. Do not have someone else’s name in your business’s URL address.
  • Utilize the statistics functionality of your website. Keep track of where your traffic comes from and what links within your site are being clicked and when, then adjust accordingly.

Whew, I think that’s enough for now. Now go pimp your website.

Deatri King-Bey

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $9.99 (print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

Mr. Me Too by Kisha Green

I have been spending the last few weeks just thinking and basically analyzing my literary life and my offline life in general.

Anyhow, I have felt mentally drained from all of the projects that are currently on my plate. I initially wanted to help people and thought that my projects would be a good thing as well as bring exposure for my publishing company and myself.

What I failed to realize is that not everyone shares my views.  That is not a bad thing, but let me clarify before someone misunderstands what it is that Kisha Green is trying to convey.

Well, in this literary world there are Writers and Authors. Wait; before you ask where I am going with this rant, there is another category called “aspiring.” These people will never publish a damn thing, but they are all in every literary mix.

They will post a million and one notes on Facebook and let you read snippets on their blog, but a published book will NEVER happen. They may even send you book cover samples, but they are not ever going to be anything but aspiring.

Writers are people who simply write as a hobby and are content just W-R-I-T-I-N-G—nothing more and nothing less. They don’t care if they are going to be published or possibly ever become a NY Bestselling author. They write because it is their passion; they do not want any monetary compensation or notoriety.

Authors are those who love to write any and every chance they get and live, eat, and sleep literary. They want to have their work published whether it is self-publishing or even getting a literary agent, and shopping his or her book around for a traditional publishing house book deal. They write books, articles, short stories, and whatever else they can get their hands on.

“OH…you wrote a book?”

“Oh ok—yeah me too!”

“You wanna self publish?”

“Yeah, me too!”

“You’re working on your next book?”

“Yeah, me too!”

When I initially decided to publish anthologies through my DivaBooksInc  publishing company, I thought that I would be meeting authors, but have come to the realization that all people aren’t ready to be authors and are rather happy just being writers. This was a hard pill to swallow since I know myself that I love the literary world.  I love, meeting and networking with newbie authors, like myself, as well as seasoned authors.

Anyone who has had the pleasure of talking to me on the phone knows that I can go on for hours about LITERARY HOLLYWOOD!!

I completed four anthologies and the screening process was…exhausting, LOL!

“OH,you wrote a book?”

“Oh ok.  Yeah, me too!”

“You wanna self publish?”

“Yeah, me too!”

“You’re working on your next book?”

“Yeah, me too!”

You can see where I am going with this—LOL—I am sure you have had this conversation with someone at some time or another.

“Oh, you wrote a book?

“Oh ok.  Yeah, me too!”

“You wanna self publish?”

“Yeah, me too!”

“You’re working on your next book?”

“Yeah, me too!”

Yeah, Mr. Me Too is too funny and the reasons for this rant today. Plus, I was listening to the Clipse song called “Mr. Me Too” and said to myself, I have to write about this because there are a lot of those people out there in literary. So, basically, what I am ultimately trying to say is, SOME PEOPLE FAKE MOVES…WHILE OTHERS MAKE MOVES!!

The few who do are the envy of the many who only watch. ~Jim Rohn

Never regret. If it’s good, it’s wonderful. If it’s bad, it’s experience- Victoria Holt

Kisha Green

www.Literary-Jewels.com
www.DivaBooksIncOnline.com

 

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $9.99 (print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

Seven Deadly Sins of Self-Publishing

DeatriThe publishing industry is a dangerous place. I read an article the other day that stated the overwhelming majority of self-published authors don’t even sell 500 copies of their titles. Scary huh? What can authors do not to be in that number? I have my opinions on the subject, but called in additional experts (self-published authors) to give their two cents on what self-published authors’ worst enemy is. I received lots of great responses that pretty much fell into the below deadly sins.

Arrogance ­– There are authors out there who have done decent to quite well selling books and get to smelling themselves (as my grandmother would say). What these authors see as confidence, others often perceive as a funky and/or dismissive attitude. As my good friend author J’son M. Lee would say, “It’s best to keep it humble.”

Distribution Issues –  Unfortunately, many authors do not know or understand what their different distribution options are. This goes deeper than just who is shipping your book where (electronic and print). Many also do not understand how ISBNs work and why your publishing company should own its ISBNs. Yes, it takes research. Start with Bowker, the only official source of ISBNs in the United States, and learn everything you can about ISBNs. Don’t be afraid to contact their support if need be.

Know exactly what your distributor can and can’t do for you. Will they offer marketing of your title to regional book sellers and libraries? Will your print titles be returnable? What seller and warehouse catalogues will your title(s) be listed in? Are they print on demand? What is print on demand? Are they taking a percentage of each sell…?

Speak with authors who have distributed in different ways and ask what worked and didn’t work for them. Research, research, research then make informed decisions. It’s okay if you change your mind later on in the game. You may do it this way for now and another way later, but at least you truly know what you’re doing.

Doubt – This one came up a lot. Not only self-doubt, but the doubt of others in us that we’ll make it. Fear of failure and of disappointing our loved ones has stopped many from reaching for their dreams. There is no easy way to say this, so I’ll just put it out there. If you do not try, you have failed yourself. The desire for this dream is in you for a reason. Nurture it by writing, learning the craft and business and doing your best to see your dream to fruition.

Gullibility – It breaks my heart every time I hear an author has been taken advantage of by a supposed editor, publisher, distributor, book seller, cover artist… The list goes on and on, including fellow authors. I have been in the business for over a decade, but don’t listen to every word I say. Do your own research. Same goes of other experienced authors, industry insiders and those who are supposedly in the know. There are a lot of good people out there who truly want to help you, but there are also a lot of cons who do not want you to succeed for whatever reason or who want to take advantage of your dream. Be careful.

Instant Gratification – There are self-published authors who want their book out there now, now, now. They don’t want to wait until they have enough money to properly produce their books. Many don’t want to take the time to have their book properly produced. Many don’t want to invest time in learning the craft and business. Many don’t want to invest time in creating and implementing marketing plans. Many don’t want to invest in the time it takes to have reviews (from legitimate review teams and publications) before their book is released. Many don’t want to invest the time in truly building a relationship with their base. Many won’t even decide who their base is… It goes on and on.

Laziness – There are authors who just want to write the book. Forget about the research that goes into writing their book(s) or learning the craft or business. Money is tight so everyone is trying to save costs, but some authors are so lazy that they won’t even learn how to properly format their book (which is easily found online).

Poor to No Planning – You’ve written this book, now what? Many have not set aside production and marketing budges or created a marketing plan. They haven’t been nurturing their relationship with readers and networking. They haven’t pinpointed how to connect with their target audience or even know where or what their target audience is… Publishing is a business. For a better chance at success, it pays to have plans for your business and each product you release.

There you have it. The Seven Deadly Sins of self-publishing, but as I went through them, I think some of them carry over to traditionally-published authors also. Be careful out there. The publishing world is dangerous!

Deatri King-Bey

As Featured On EzineArticles

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $9.99 (print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble