self-publishing – 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!

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?

The Happy Surprises in Publishing – A Writing Prompt

Day 17 Prompt: What has been the biggest surprise about writing/publishing your book? What has been the most enjoyable or most memorable aspect?

What has been the biggest surprise? Lots of surprises! As most people know by now, I’ve published my grandfather’s manuscripts written under the pen name of Stanley McShane. He also painted and sold various paintings with some dubious success under both his pen name and that of J. Wesley Rose. The paintings I have are on little pasteboard 8 x 10’s and were meant to illustrate his books.

Surprises Include:

Discovering that my mother really knew little about her father’s life, nor had been sufficiently interested enough to ask or get some of the most basic facts.
Reading and writing his manuscripts, discovering the tale we grew up with (that of his being born on board his father’s ship the “Marguerite” off the coast of New York) may not have been wholly true. Indeed, in succeeding manuscripts, he offers two additional accounts of his birth–including the one of his birth in a maternity home in New York while his father’s ship was being loaded as it was mentioned more than once that his mother always sailed on the Marguerite (which was named after her) with her husband, the captain. There are no birth records.
Stumbling over 90-year-old English common of the day and sailing jargon also common during the turn of the 20th Century as he claimed to have sailed into the early 1900s.
Walking in his shoes through streets still dusty from the choking red clay powder surrounding ghost and near-ghost towns where he sought riches.
Among the most enjoyable or memorable aspects would have to be the people; those who’ve bought and shared their stories; authors with whom I’ve created a rapport. Among the latter, I would have to note Michael Reisig, who wrote the “Road to Key West“ series as well as my favorite of his historical swashbuckling, page-turning adventure, the “Caribbean Gold“ series.

But the most amazing and happy surprise?

The discovery of a fella named Gary Long, coincidentally from Idaho where I published the books; claimed he had been in the possession of a McShane painting with one of his poems on the back. The poem stuck with him for the rest of his life, although unfortunately, the painting went missing. He had apparently been researching the name on the internet and wrote me. I was totally astonished and asked if I could use some of his story in the anthology I’ve been working on. I’ll be sending him a copy that includes his story when I complete and release “Sole Survivor.”

This writing thing–sure opens up the world to you–doesn’t it.

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.

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.

Are Amazon Reviews Bogus?

Interesting and lively discussion back on Goodreads.com regarding all those wonderful stars trailing the best-selling books.

Neil (of “Shut Up and Read”) started it all in December 2013 when he ranted, “Are all Amazon reviews bogus???…Some reviews are so obviously fake, shills, they must think the readers are stupid. …”

Having read the posts and feeling fairly strongly about it myself given the degree to which I’d worked to get any stars at all, noted that I spot-read reviews; usually a couple rated 5, but also rely on the lesser rated for some good insight into the book. I felt that the book descriptions don’t always accurately describe the book and the title can be deceiving.

I appreciate honest and detailed reviews for the manuscripts I’ve published for my grandfather and likewise try to be very honest in my reviews of the books I’ve read–and I’ve read quite a few; some good–some not so. In view of the time it takes to write a decent review on the books I thoroughly enjoy, I might rate but will not generally spend the time to review one I didn’t care for. I suspect many do the same, although in reading the reviews left by others, usually find a consensus of the same two or three stars I would give confirming my judgment of the book.

My problem here is that if I don’t leave a review for the book I didn’t care for (and that seems to be the norm), the author is deprived of the problems I perceived. The same applies to the books I’ve published. I didn’t understand the motives behind a two-star rating which left me wondering how to fix a problem I’m unaware exists. Of course, it’s hard to actually print those harsh words for someone else knowing the blood, sweat, and tears that comprise a manuscript. As Ken from Goodreads wrote…“I’ll read the bad reviews first and see if they have anything valid to say. You can usually tell if it’s real. Sometimes a bad review will complain about something that I consider an attribute and that makes me want to read the book. I don’t really trust 5-star reviews anymore.” Continue reading “Are Amazon Reviews Bogus?”

Book Review – What Is So Hard About That?

I’m onto the next phase in the science of marketing, promoting, and publishing industry and that appears to be reading and reviewing books either in your own genre or that of the others in your group. As I’ve mentioned before, I joined the Idaho Author Community (IAC) this year as I’d hit the wall in my limited ability to find avenues to market and promote the sea-adventures I’d published posthumously for my grandfather.

Apparently not the only one lacking years of publishing industry and marketing knowledge, the exchange of thoughts and suggestions at our bi-monthly meetings have been an invaluable source of ideas. It’s okay that I’d exhausted my source; everyone there has another.

Reading voraciously has always come easy, so it was the suggestion of exchanging, reading, and evaluating each others books that came as a welcome solution to the one common problem many of us share–lack of reviews for our own works. The authors in the Community each have a genre of their own from (my own) historical fiction to fantasy to children’s books. Fiction and non-fiction, memoirs, and science fiction all take center stage from time to time depending on the IAC venue.

How can you have a downside to an unlimited free supply of books readily available on most any subject? Uh Oh…..now comes the hard part–the review! Yes, I know most of these authors. We’ve all struggled mightily bringing our books to the market. They are our babies. We powdered, fed, and carried our babies close to our hearts until they were delivered into the hands of the unbiased reading public.

So, to conscientiously deliver a dispassionate, neutral review of another’s book may not be all that simple. I’ve had to employ “tough love” with a consistent, impartial criteria.

What do I specifically look for when analyzing a book? Continue reading “Book Review – What Is So Hard About That?”