Rosepoint Publishing

Launch That Baby!

Launch That Baby!

Day 16-Author Blog Challenge: What has been the most challenging part of your book process: writing, building the book, printing, distributing, marketing, etc.? What do you wish you’d known before you began?

So it took 6 months, a year, 4 years to write the book–all that time, effort, sweat. Finally, the baby is born, but so new, so fresh, so full of undiagnosed problems and ca-ca. Then it’s the editing portion of the manuscript–ripping and tearing. Whether you go through the book the prescribed 4 or 5 times yourself, or you are able to pay for the sharp, professional eyes of an editor, this entity almost becomes akin to that of a teenager. Are you really sure you birthed this thing??! Is it beginning to wear on you?

Well, get used to it, as in this analogy, you’re literally responsible for this baby until one of you perishes, and it’s not supposed to be the baby! It really is up to you to mold and shape what happens next–hopefully–to maturity.

The mature creation stands ready to be released into the world. Then the fun begins! No one mentions that marketing will be a life long journey. The learning curve is steep and too easy to make mistakes. Missteps can literally set you back in marketing, making sales more difficult. Marketing begins to take on monumental proportions. The snowball effect kicks in as you realize you must first master the elementary task to proceed to the next level and this adventure is multi-layered, each getting successively more difficult. Can you actually present a live presentation? Publishing doesn’t necessarily equate success.

Whether self-published or through one of the big six, you’ll be responsible for promoting and marketing–nurturing and cajoling. Marketing demands education beyond those creative writing classes or the employment of a cadre of professionals. Fortunately, as with parenthood, there are those who have been there/done that and can lend a detached and unemotional but firm and guiding hand. Thank heaven, as there are times when I feel like the babe here and I can use all the help proffered.

Seeds for NaNoWriMo

An author preparing for NaNoWriMo and a few of her exercises! Super!

A Journey of Words

Writing a novel is a daunting task, even when one is not trying to write it in a month. The important thing to remember is that you don’t have to sit down and immediately start writing it. Planning out a story beforehand, in broad measures or tiny details, can make all the difference to how well NaNoWriMo will go.

With just over six weeks until November, this is the perfect time to start generating ideas. That gives us plenty of time to come up with a lot of seeds from which to pick. Over the next several days, I’m going to post a series of images, prompts, word lists, and other such things that are meant to inspire ideas. I’m going to try to include a variety of stimuli, because everyone’s brain works differently. Some may be more visual, while others work well with words.

Below are today’s ideas to…

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NaNo What?

NANO What?

It is said that everyone has at least one book in them and it seems now with the heightened awareness and climbing popularity of self-publishing, most would-be writers are trying their hand at it.

Indeed, November was designated, “National Novel Writing Month” to take advantage of dreary winter days with forced indoor occupation and came to be known as “NaNoWriMo“.

The project was originated by freelance writer Chris Baty of the San Francisco bay area in 1999 with the help of a friend who developed a website to accommodate 140 participants including several internationally. The idea is to push 50,000 words in 30 days, which would average 1,667 words per day. The website’s motto is “No Plot? No Problem!” Quality is not the issue, plot is not the issue, characterization is not the issue. The issue is the uninhibited flurry of getting words on the (figuratively speaking) paper. There is always time after November during the succeeding winter months to develop the characters and plot more fully and/or expand the manuscript to 70k+ words. While there is no fee involved, registration is required in order to verify word count, award winners, and they do solicit and happily receive donations.

While Baty hoped his idea would grow, he was not prepared for the onslaught of eager writers who registered in subsequent years, which he credited to word-of-mouth bloggers and, of course, the event being picked up and reported by news agencies including the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post.

Given the wild growth of the event, Baty found himself launching an organized panel setting out rules and by 2003 a NaNoWriMo team began sending out pep talk emails, writing hints, and opened socialization between participants. By 2011 the website had undergone some major improvements in handling registrations, word count updates, and winner verifications. The following January found Baty stepping down to pursue a full time writing career with the installation of a new Executive Director, Grant Faulkner, and by 2013 claimed over 400,000 participants.

It was in 2011 that one of my motobuddies casually noted she’d be registering for NaNoWriMo and that she hoped to finally complete her first novel. That got my attention and researching the website quickly signed up myself! Finally, a way to begin! AND to boot, if the 50,000 words were completed and declared a winner, the participant would be eligible to receive five (yay!! Perfect! One for my daughter, son, cousin, sister, and myself) free (YEAH–free!) printed paperback copies of their books through CreateSpace, providing a natural feed into Amazon.com.

Whoa! Was I really ready for Amazon?

No! But the happy answer was that they were ready for me–from format templates to free cover (template) ideas. The rest is–as they say–history. In this case, historical fiction actually. There’s a learning curve here, no question, but one that leads to success and it began for me with one simple facebook post: “I’m going to register for NaNoWriMo”. If you’re new to the game, check it out. It works.

Book Trailers Are Way Too Much Fun!

Book Trailers Are Way Too Much Fun!

Book Trailers–I love them! Like Movie Trailers, they can take myriad forms and while many are professionally created by artisans who know their craft, many others are created by you and me on a PC with little more than Power Point, Movie Maker, or other program such as Animoto (the latter of which is limited to 30 seconds. Consensus steers towards the shorter trailers, usually 1-2 minutes.

When I began researching book trailers, most have the caveat that they are best left to the professional as a poorly produced trailer can illicit the opposite effect desired. I’ve seen many a really remarkable book trailer that catches the attention, fires the imagination, and stirs the desire to see, read, and know more! WOW is that hard to achieve! But beauty is, indeed, in the eye of the beholder. Most artists love their work and it’s extremely difficult to step back and view your baby with an objective eye, or for that matter, even know how the current public taste runs. Award winning book trailers have been produced by middle schoolers–and that’s some pretty stiff competition!

Since we’re talking about a simple D-I-Y project, this article will focus on Power Point Presentations. Your subject matter will no doubt dictate your target audience and that narrows somewhat the target age. There are simple book trailers that merely include text along with a slide presentation. Other movie trailers include video, fireworks, and fast action. You may include your own narration with or without a sound track behind it that you’ll verify is free through public domain (cannot use copyrighted material) or that you’ve properly licensed.

You create a storyboard by using your own photos or video clips or those free (or licensed) you’ve gleaned from appropriate public domain. Edit each slide individually adding text and timing (approximately 4 seconds per slide–keeping your text to the minimum). You may include transitions between slides, artful effects, or graphics. View lots of book trailers–tons of them on YouTube–get some ideas, decide what will appeal for your book, style, and timing.

Convert the presentation to video format and upload to your host, either your website or YouTube. YouTube is arguably among the top ranked social media sites (depending which ranking list you prefer). As with the description of your books, you’ll need a brief but powerful book trailer description as well as appropriate keywords.

Coastal Book Tour

Coastal Book Tour

If your book is about sailing or the ocean, doing a coastal tour might be a good idea. Long before you start logging miles, however, you’ll want to pave the road with book store destinations. Hopefully, you’ll find a number of agreeable mom and pop operations along your route where you can stop and actually do a guest book signing. If not, I discovered it can be quite rewarding to cold call appropriate locations and simply ask for the manager. As difficult as cold-calling may be for you (and was for me!), it actually proved quite successful.

In Washington state, Hastings Book Stores support their authors and are always willing to host, though these do require some time to set up preparation. After securing a date with a particular location, you’ll need to forward press releases to local newspapers, as well as flyers and posters to the store.

Besides your generous book inventory, you’ll need to offer peripheral hand-outs, whichever your preference, from book marks to postcards or author/book flyers.

Owner Mark Wilson of the Puyallup Book Mark was very accommodating, and it was obvious his delightful store and assistant had a strong client base.

From Puyallup, south to Long Beach and Ilwaco; a delightful port city where Carla of Time Enough Books had told me, “stop by!” Carla has a beautiful spot right on the bay with picturesque fishing boats moored just outside her front window.

You can get a real taste of the coastal book market for historical sea adventures in Cannon Beach where we were referred to the Cannon Beach Treasure Company. Owner Robert Knecht has a gorgeous, upscale shop! Check out his website, browse his treasures, and watch his videos on YouTube–a real treasure trove!

The lesson learned here is to find your target audience! Go where your book has interest. Find the area, the people, the subject–you won’t have to “sell” it. The venue may even be as simple as a Gun and Doll Show or perhaps a boat show. Winter doesn’t have to be a down time–seek out winter havens such as Yuma, Arizona, and you’ll find lots of locations for craft fair shows. The cost is very nominal and can be quite successful.

Consider the location or subject of your book and you’ll find the interest!

Writing-The Short Of It-Is There Anything Faster Than Flash Fiction?

Writing-The Short of It

Every occupation has its own buzz words, general or common to the specific endeavor and writing is no different. Whether writing for fun or profit, fiction or non, there are terms–probably too many to try and cover here–that pertain to the profession.

The subject of this particular article is the word length given to those published documents that denote the specific type of creation. It used to be anything that was not a book or full-blown novel was a short story. Not any more!

Now we have:

Flash Fiction
Short Story
Novelette
Digital Novel
Novella
Book

They break down roughly as follows:

The format that holds the fascination for me is “flash fiction.” Just the word “flash” immediately conjures the imagination. The internet is so full of flash these days, why not coin a new term to apply to that little story which is generally thought to be a minimum of 100 words but no longer than 1,000.

Gee, seems deceptively simple, huh? But you know in your heart nothing is simple. This must be a novel with a plot, characters, dialogue, and climax. It has to contain a complete story: a beginning, a middle, and an end.

It is said that the story should be contained within the time it takes to smoke a cigarette. WOW! The possibilities! Read a flash fiction story on the elevator, before your next stop off the subway or bus, or in a bank line; not while waiting for the doctor.

There are contests now for flash fiction such the Flash Fiction Competition by Pigeon Review as noted on Reedsy.com. Entry fee is $5 and first place wins $125.00. This one with a July 31st deadline. Another with a free entry. There are whole books containing flash fiction or very short-short stories on Amazon.com–what they are, how to write them, or anthologies of the best.

We’re in an age of instant. It has to be fast to hold our attention, keep us in a movie, riveted to a book. Does it get any faster than FLASH?

Ever Interview a Ghost?

Describe the research process for your book. Did you interview people? Travel? How prominent a role did the Internet play? If you didn’t do new research, how did you learn what you needed to know to write your book?

Disclosed yesterday was the massive amount of time involved in searching the internet for names, places, and details noted in my grandfather’s manuscripts. So obviously, the internet played a major role as it confirmed that of which he wrote, but beyond that pointed in directions that would include interesting contacts–or locations worthy of physical inspection.

Yesterday I mentioned travel for scouting locations that would have interest in these particular historical narratives or mining exploits and locations–some still functioning towns–some merely ghost towns.

One of the interviews that stands out in my mind was the accidental interview we did with the owner of a vintage shop directly across from the Goldfield Hotel and next door to the Goldfield Consolidated Mining Company. She was retelling the story of Elizabeth, the favorite prostitute of George Wingfield and the modern day encounter of an accountant’s unfortunate meeting with her ghost who warned that she “was in danger and to leave immediately.”

Elizabeth was said to become pregnant by Wingfield who for a time paid her to stay away. He later lured her into room 109 where he chained her to a radiator, kept her in food and water, until she (according to one account) died in childbirth. The baby was then thrown into an old mining shaft. Rumors abound that Elizabeth can still be heard in the halls crying for her baby and that the sounds of a crying child can sometimes be heard from the “depths” of the hotel.

There have been so many sightings and other unexplained phenomena at the hotel that it has gained wide media attention and has been featured on Fox Family TV’s World’s Scariest Places. In addition, it has also been the subject of a couple of paranormal investigation television series, including Ghost Adventures in 2004, 2011 and 2013, and Ghost Hunters in 2008.

Interviews with people associated with venues cited in his manuscripts have both been rewarding and eye-opening and certainly the greatest impetus in the development of the manuscripts.

What Was The Research Process?

Day 10 of the Author Blog Challenge: What was your research process?

More than likely, even the most prosaic of fiction books will require at least a modicum of research. Historical fiction probably requires scads of investigation.

Sailing into “Cocos Island Treasure,” the first manuscript chosen for publication, I spent a LOT of time researching the internet, first discovering there really was such a place!

The journey has been fascinating because unfortunately he passed away before I could ever pick his brain about his youth; his sailing adventures, his mining or exploration adventures, or his actual birth location for that matter.

I would have benefited hearing about all these exciting tropical locales wherein he apparently enjoyed some pearl diving as well as hunting for pirate treasures. As I recently posted regarding pirate treasures on Cocos Island, William Thompson purportedly loaded one of the largest pirate treasure troves aboard the Mary Dear in Peru in 1820. He and his crew killed the Spanish guards and buried the treasure said to be worth well over $160,000,000 (now known as “The Loot of Lima”).

Each book after that, because they are classified as historical fiction, mandated many, many hours of research, either because of the location of adventures, the names contained in the plots, or the procedures or practices of his day–especially with his narration of the capture and rendering of whales.

Probably the most time spent researching was the fourth book, “Hot Air Promotions,” which involved the penny mining stocks of the twenties and thirties. It was HUGE! The language of the stock market, the mines, the business practices and papers, and the people–how could you ever win? And I quote, “When you win, you lose.”

The most fun, however, in the examination of the chronicles of the mines was chasing down the locations–many now ghost towns–some still thriving with history reading stranger than fiction. You can’t make this stuff up! I discovered that the University of Nevada, Reno, maintains a massive library containing the history of gold, silver, and mineral mines of the west–where they gladly accepted a copy of the book. Goldfield, (NV) a former mining town, enjoys many a chilling ghost story that contains notorious names included in the book as well.

The odyssey has been a lesson in history: Of places, people, and practices. As the saying goes, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”