nanowrimo – Rosepoint Publishing

Self-Pub or Indy Author? How Many of These 14 Ideas Are You Using?

Back in June 2015, I was finishing up the proofreading for “Sole Survivor” which was both sad and relieving at the same time. At that point, I believed most of Patrick John “Stanley McShane” Rose’s quality manuscripts, paintings, and poems had been integrated into his posthumously published works.

Once released, of course, comes the hard part for any author—marketing and promotion. I wrote this article then as a small testament to what I’d learned the hard way in self-publishing his manuscripts and thought I’d refresh it now as it still appears relevant with a little updating.

While it seems that most of the hints and ideas I read were incorporated into my marketing plan, it’s always an uphill battle particularly for a debut author.

Start a Blog, Gather a Mail (subscriber) List

Does it really help to have a blog or is it just adding to the write pile? Be aware that keeping an active dynamic blog is a big job in itself.

Twitter Traffic

The twitter thing–millions are using it to their advantage. It is commonly supposed to be a productive back alley into contacts and communications with interested, supportive persons. I have to admit that early on (back in 2015), I was getting new followers most every day. However, it takes a lot of work to keep it active or to accumulate a valid list of book buyers.

Book Trailers

Book trailers–caveat here is to view hundreds of them to determine what represents a quality piece of professional work. Take a hard look at your submission as an amateurish book trailer is worse than none. I like this one by @Delia Owens author of Where the Crawdads Sing. Not exactly short, but sweet!

Special Promotions

Run special sale promotions–announced through all your established social mediums from blog subscribers to Goodreads and Facebook friends. Unless you pay big bucks, don’t expect anyone to find your special sale.

Book Signings

Look for opportunities for book signings, craft fairs, or public events. Search for new book signing venues or related community events in which you may participate. Some mom and pop book stores look for opportunities to promote an author and their new book—especially if they’ll handle the local promo. Some of the larger bookstores do that as well; and yes, Barnes & Noble.

Hashtags

Learn how to use #hashtags and other appropriate tags or links in your communications, especially through twitter and Instagram.

Pictures—Videos

Utilize pictures and quotes. Used to be that appropriate pictures were the good thing—now seems to be leaning heavily toward videos and those formats that support videos. But the point appears to be to keep the momentum of your name moving in front of your targeted audience.

Read, Read and Read

Read, read, read! Support and promote other authors, post reviews for them. Follow book-loving websites, author communities, get involved.

Reciprocated Reviews?

Used to be you could gain a few good buddy authors who would reciprocate reviews. However, Amazon appears to be cracking down on “friend” reviews. Still, you might glean glowing forewords and quotables from their reviews. Ask permission to quote and post those editorial reviews on your book listings. #Michael Reisig, author of the “Caribbean Gold“ series, did that for me in the form of a beautifully written Foreword for “Sole Survivor”.

Infographics-Pinterest

Create #infographics–they are a proven interest draw. And yes, there is still interest in Pinterest, although it is a time sink.

Links

Link your blog, twitter, and social accounts to appropriate websites such as Goodreads and LinkedIn. Write a detailed but succinct bio and ensure it is included on websites where you can post an author page.

Join

Join like-minded author organizations or critique groups who are sharing content and offering valid suggestions. Check for an appropriate local #MeetUp, library groups, and/or find and join K-Board.

Editing Team-Readers

Gather a team of early readers, beta readers, and editors. It takes a village. More eyes on the script. Edit, then edit again and again. Having accepted books to review from debut and self-publishing authors, it’s obvious why there might be a stigma. Don’t publish your manuscript before it’s had a comprehensive correction, rework, rewrite, and clean-up by your team.

Where to Start?

What is possibly the number one lesson I learned about marketing? Start your marketing and promotion efforts long before you publish. Once thrown into billions of titles out there, your title is a mere drop in the ocean.

What do you think? Do you have additional suggestions to add to the list? Ideas for sources? Did you participate in NaNoWriMo? Start promoting that upcoming bestseller right now!

You only THOUGHT writing a book was the tough part–now the job really begins!

#AuthorsTalkAboutIt – 2018 Book Award Contest

Whether or not you are heavily embroiled in your NaNoWriMo quest at the moment, you will finish your manuscript. What will you do when that WIP is finished? What is your next step?

You worked hard and put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into writing your book. In fact, you may have already invested a good deal of money into an editor, cover designer, online marketing and more.

Remember those book award contests I wrote about last year? I wrote one in January about the ATAI 2017 Book Award Contest! I wrote again in February about a number of additional book award contests. There will be LOTS of them surfacing and each vying for your attention after the first of the year. Most will cost money. Every contest is different; therefore, it’s important to do some research and make sure that you’re entering a valid contest, especially if there’s an entry fee. (However, free contests may not benefit you as much as those with an entry fee. You get what you pay for–right?)

If your pulse quickens with a touch of excitement mixed with a hint of fear, you are not alone! It’s akin to laying your soul bare to put your work out there. What’s next in your journey to publish? What will it really do for you? Continue reading “#AuthorsTalkAboutIt – 2018 Book Award Contest”

Life Jump Starts After NaNoWriMo*

Right now you are still pounding the keys, spilling out those words (even if chaotic), to attain that 50,000 word goal to complete your quest on NaNoWriMo. But what happens after you complete the goal and you have a rough draft of your manuscript? Lucky for you, NaNo has you covered!

Interesting when you look at the worldwide map that tracks the word stats: I looked at Boise, Idaho where I began the publishing odyssey and discovered there were 470 novelists who were at an average word count of 8,753. We moved to Indiana from the Phoenix area this year, and there are 1,022 novelists striving to make only 8,699 words in Arizona. (Way to go, Idaho!) Unfortunately, this is almost the middle of November and those numbers are way under half. GLEEP! I’ve written before regarding my experiences with NaNo and am always happy to recommend or promote it for budding novelists. *National Novel Writing Month Continue reading “Life Jump Starts After NaNoWriMo*”

It’s Almost NaNo Time Again–Get Ready!

On Sept 27, 2015, I wrote regarding my introduction to NaNoWriMo, the National Novel Writing Month website created by Chris Baty in 1999 and succeeded by Executive Director, Grant Faulkner in 2012. Think you still have a book in you? November is the month to find out. Just 50,000 little words, only 1,667 words per day in 30 days. Think you can do it? How about if you had help, a coach, or several coaches, hints, information, word count, encouragement, and other participants pushing to complete their book in the same month? It’s a band of engagement–join the fun!

National Novel Writing Month is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. The experience is free–yes–they’ll accept donations and getting into the spirit of the thing, you can order NaNoWriMo mugs, clothing, books, and posters. And it’s so simple: Continue reading “It’s Almost NaNo Time Again–Get Ready!”

Books Are Books? Print, eBooks, or Audiobooks?

Books Are Books?

DAY 20 PROMPT: Did you publish your book as a traditionally printed book, an eBook, an audiobook, or all three? How did you come to your decision?

When I worked in graphics creating flyers for gospel concerts, I had a boss whose mantra was “they don’t know what they are doing.” That went for some of the most successful acts he engaged as well as anyone in his band who displeased him in rehearsal and upon occasion included me.

I certainly had my share of bluffing my way into jobs or events, his position being one, but probably the biggest and most recent was the publishing of my grandfather’s manuscripts. Talk about clueless….

It wasn’t like I came to a decision whether or not to create a printed book, eBook, or audiobook as much as I was steered into making a simple stock print book, soft cover, 6 x 9. The biggest decision there was glossy or matt cover? It was only with the fifth book that I chose not to do a print book as the total word count created a novella-length book and I saw no reason to go to the expense of creating a formally printed book.

Also, having no other experience than the one NaNoWriMo steered me into–CreateSpace–I came to appreciate the quality of their binding, if not the cover paper (which tends to curl slightly at the corner) and the speed with which they completed orders. CreateSpace also steers you into distribution, so there again it’s not as if you are making any big decisions.

After having created those print books, it was (again) a natural progression to find the road into “Kindle” and from there eBook formatting, becoming ever more complicated entering the world of Smashwords. While it was felt that Smashwords gave me a far greater reach for the eBook version than did Kindle, I’d yet to see a big sales advantage (and eventually dropped it in favor of Amazon).

One of the first notices I had of the choice of eBooks over print books is that I’d used the stock format for CreateSpace which uses a font less friendly to older folks. The common complaint until I got that first book into the second edition with larger print was that the font was too small and difficult to read. I suspect as we see the progression of the aging population the push to eBooks will become ever more popular as they discover the option of making the print as large as needed for comfortable reading. Rather than getting bigger and better bookcases, we’ll be looking for ever larger eBook storage capacity or flash storage. Perhaps the bookcases will hold thousands of books–but on Kindles, Cruzer’s, SanDisks, or the Cloud?

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.