Author: selfpublishingadvisor

Conversations with a Self-Publishing Writer, Royalene Speaks, Uncategorized

Conversations: 11/25/2016

THANKSGIVING FEEDS
THE WRITER’S IMAGINATION, TOO!

As the month of November reaches into December, most of the world will be celebrating a seasonal time of Thanksgiving. Even though many years have passed, I can still smell the aromas coming from our kitchen as my Mother created the holiday meal. November 1st was her scheduled day to call the poultry shop and order the turkey. By the 15th, all the ingredients were stocked (and stacked) in our kitchen. Then two days before “Turkey-Day” she would wash and drain the turkey, set aside the “innards,” and bring out the electric counter-top oven, slow-cooking that bird for close to 48 hours. Are you hungry yet?

thanksgiving

As one of those “pinch of this and dash of that” cooks, my Mother had a collection of handwritten recipes from family and friends. However, wanting to experience different tastes she began collecting cookbooks. Today our local and online booksellers offer us exciting options on their cookbook shelves, so that we can appreciate the creativeness of chefs and the designers of unique recipes.

By now, you’re asking WHY is this blogger talking about FOOD, and Thanksgiving turkey on this Writer’s Advice site? Answer: Every time I see a table “set” for family celebration, I barely notice the beautiful place settings, the napkins, the water and wine glasses, the candles and flowers or any of the other special touches. I see the characters of my current novel seated at the table. Like my Mother, who added “a pinch of salt and a dash of garlic” to almost everything, my writer’s imagination wants to do the same with (and for) my characters. Maybe the following points will feed your imagination, too, and help you add more meat (detail) to all of your characters—even the supporting “actors”—as you view them around the table. (Draw a rectangle on a blank piece of paper)

  • Place your Protagonist and Antagonist at opposite ends of the table by writing their names at each end of the rectangle.
  • Place the name of one main supporting character of each of those two characters next to them at the edge of the rectangle.
  • Then begin adding the other characters from your story along both sides of the rectangle/table.

At this point, I hope you’re having a little difficulty in deciding which of the supporting characters “fit” as true associates of the main characters. Not every antagonist or protagonist ally will be on their side—which is where writers begin to have a clearer understanding of the complexities of the specific characters. I like this exercise of Character Development because it allows me a different perspective of each person as they look into the eyes of the person seated across the table. It also helps me famerica's favorite recipes uma aggarwaleel the intrusion, comfort or discomfort levels felt when one characters is seated between two others. I do hope you’ll try this technique as I believe it will give you a great amount of material to help you create believable people who will share the story you’re writing.

AND, if you’re still hungry, try one of the meals from the delightful collection of America’s
Favorite Recipes by Uma Aggarwal. Her focus upon our U.S.A as being a “melting pot” nation that incorporates cuisine from all the different cultures among us, will tickle your taste-buds. Better yet! Start collecting recipes from all the folks at your Thanksgiving table and publish a book of your own! ⚓︎

Royalene

ABOUT ROYALENE DOYLE: Royalene has been writing something since before kindergarten days and continues to love the process. Through her small business—DOYLE WRITING SERVICES—she brings more than 40 years of writing experience to authors who need “just a little assistance” with completing their projects. This is a nice fit as she develops these blogs for Outskirts Press (OP) a leading self-publisher, and occasionally accepts a ghostwriting project from one of their clients. Her recent book release (with OP) titled FIREPROOF PROVERBS, A Writer’s Study of Words, is already receiving excellent reviews including several professional writer’s endorsements given on the book’s back cover.  

Royalene’s writing experience grew through a wide variety of positions from Office Manager and Administrative Assistant to Teacher of Literature and Advanced Writing courses and editor/writer for an International Christian ministry. Her willingness to listen to struggling authors, learn their goals and expectations and discern their writing voice has brought many manuscripts into the published books arena.

elizabeth speaks, Holidays, in your corner, Uncategorized

In Your Corner: The Spice of Life

Last week, dear readers, I wrote at length about how Thanksgiving isn’t just a holiday for giving and receiving things–if it were, then it would be no different from Halloween and Christmas, save for the stitching and embroidery–but I have to be the first person to own up to the fact that what I wrote wasn’t the whole picture. Yes, Thanksgiving is about doing things and not just about a fantastic dinner spread. Yes, Thanksgiving was borne as a tradition out of a time of real need and desperation–of near starvation, to be specific.

Everything I wrote last week remains true. But it’s not everything that ought to be said about Thanksgiving. And today, the final Thursday of November and Thanksgiving Day itself, I wanted to leave room for reflection. For gratitude. For joy unmixed with lingering doubts or fears over what’s to come, if that’s possible in today’s hectic world. (Oh, let’s face it: It’s always been a hectic world. Maybe once it was safe to eat those candied apples in our Halloween buckets, but by and large life has always delivered challenges in equal measure to its happinesses.)

Ugh–let me start over.

thanksgiving spice

I want to leave the door cracked for thankfulness untouched by everything else that’s happening or going to happen. For you, dear reader. For sticking with us for so many years, for your likes and your comments and your feedback and, occasionally, for calling us out on what we need calling out on. Thank you for being loyal, for being so smart, for recommending us to your friends (or at least, we’re assuming our newer followers are here because they heard about us from someone). For being writers. For bearing the torch and mustering the determination to slog forward through thick and thin. For being ours, and for being yourselves. I know I speak for everyone else here at Self Publishing Advisor when I say thank you, dear reader, for joining us as we all walk down this road together–a road that leads to new challenges, new joys, and a new year.

You are the spice of life.

~ Thank you. ~

You are not alone. ♣︎

Elizabeth

ABOUT ELIZABETH JAVOR: With over 18 years of experience in sales and management, Elizabeth Javor works as the Manager of Author Services for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department is composed of knowledgeable publishing consultants, pre-production specialists, customer service reps and book marketing specialists; together, they all focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process to help them publish the book of their dreams. Whether you are a professional looking to take your career to the next level with platform-driven non-fiction or a novelist seeking fame, fortune, and/or personal fulfillment, Elizabeth Javor can put you on the right path.
from the archives, NaNoWriMo, Uncategorized

From the Archives: “Seven Ways to Make NaNoWriMo More Enjoyable”

Welcome back to our Tuesday segment, where we’ll be revisiting some of our most popular posts from the last few years.  What’s stayed the same?  And what’s changed?  We’ll be updating you on the facts, and taking a new (and hopefully refreshing) angle on a few timeless classics of Self Publishing Advisor.

∗∗∗∗∗

[ Originally posted: October 31st, 2012 ]

I am so proud of all the self-publishing authors who are beginning the NaNoWriMo challenge TOMORROW! It takes courage and dedication to commit to writing a book, especially when your timeline is only 30 days. To make the task easier, it is important to stay organized and focused. Here are seven tips to make the NaNoWriMo experience more enjoyable for all self-publishing authors.

1. Get in the “write” mindset. Before you begin each writing session, prepare yourself mentally. Everyone has a different approach that works for them. If you aren’t sure what is best for you, try different tactics. Some ideas include reading a few pages written by one of your favorite authors, listening to inspiring music, or doing a few yoga poses. The goal is to clear your  mind and get focused on your book.

2. Create a schedule and write it on the calendar. Decide exactly when and where you will write, and make sure friends and family know when you’ll be unavailable. You may have to pass on a few social events this month to fit in extra writing time. If you do have events you have to attend, schedule writing time elsewhere during that day.

3. Don’t forget about your outline. While your story may morph into something you didn’t expect, it is a good idea to keep the outline you created prior to NaNoWriMo on hand at all times. It is your road map to finishing your book and will keep you from getting off course. There will be time to make changes to your manuscript after NaNoWriMo has ended. For now, your goal is to finish the manuscript.

4. Keep an idea notebook with you at all times. As you write your story,  you may think of ideas for later chapters. Be sure to have a spot where you can joint down any ideas that come to mind. It is a good idea to keep this notebook with you even when you aren’t writing. Sometimes the best ideas appear when you aren’t working on your book at all.

5. Give yourself a break. Writing a book in a month is time-consuming. This is not the month to hold yourself to unrealistic expectations. It is okay to order take-out for dinner, accept your mother-in-law’s offer to switch your laundry, and let the kids watch an extra hour (or two) of TV. For now, focus all of your energy on your book.

6. Get moving. Sitting at a computer all day is tough on your body, so be sure to schedule in some time to exercise. Go a for a short walk, or do some stretches. Not only is it good for your body, but exercise can else help clear your mind and break through writer’s block.

7. Reward yourself. When you reach your writing goals each day, acknowledge your success and reward yourself. Treat yourself to a bubble bath, ice cream sundae, or other special reward. You deserve it.

Writing a book can be challenging, so you need to have a plan, be surrounded by supportive people, and take care of your mind and body. Doing so will help you stay on track and focus on your book. It is when we let ourselves become overwhelmed and exhausted that we aren’t able to stay organized and successfully finish our manuscripts.

I’d love to know, how do you plan to make NaNoWriMo more enjoyable?

– by Kelly Schuknecht

By  now you’re more than halfway through November and your NaNoWriMo challenge—congratulations!! I couldn’t be more proud to be part of this fantastic community of authors than I am today, in November of 2016. Let’s talk a little about how it’s going!

nanowrimo

(That badly, huh? Well, let’s hope not. There are a gazillion “Keep Calm and …” memes out there and I will use all of them if I have to in order to cheer you up and keep you motivated. I say “you” but really I mean “me, too.”)

What are the challenges we face most often in the midst of November? I can’t necessarily speak for you, but I can speak for myself and those writers who I keep in close contact with—and we all seem to suffer most from three concrete struggles:

  1. Low energy.
  2. Lack of direction.
  3. Low confidence.

You’ll note that all three of these issues are touched on, even if only obliquely, in my original post from 2012. The ways to conquer low energy include getting up and moving around and giving yourself a break. The ways to find a sense of direction include putting yourself in the “write” mindset and working from an outline (if you haven’t written one ahead of time, it’s still a good idea to set aside an hour or two to sketch out something mid-November). And the ways to combat low confidence? Let’s just say one of the first things I write in my “idea notebook” each year is a list of quotes and facts about authors I love, many of whom have faced the exact same challenges and overcome them.

There’s no one way to “Keep Calm and Carry On”—instead, there are many, many ways. Not all of them will work for you, and even the ones that used to work for you four or five years ago might not work now. I find that the older I become, the more I struggle with maintaining my sense of focus and direction, which puts the related coping mechanisms under a lot of strain. Take a moment this November to evaluate where you’re at and what struggles you face, and tailor your approach to those needs—objectively, and with an eye out for how you’ve changed. Consider it the writing equivalent of your yearly physical exam at the doctor’s!

Thanks for reading.  If you have any other ideas, I’d love to hear them.  Drop me a line in the comments section below and I’ll respond as quickly as I can.  ♠

Kelly

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com.
Kelly Speaks, news from the self publishing world, self publishing news, Uncategorized

Self-Publishing News: 11.21.2016

And now for the news!

This week in the world of self-publishing:

Ben Arzate provides a unique perspective as a self-publishing poet. Arzate felt that rejection from publishing companies was inevitable after his first, “Sorry, but no,” afterwhich he made the conscious decision that he would prefer to pour his time directly into crafting his book, rather than soliciting companies who (he thought) had no interest.

What I most enjoyed about reading Arzate’s first-person account of his experience with self-publishing what that it reminded me of the naivete a lot of us are forced to come to terms with when it comes to actually putting a book together. I found myself laughing at the idea of Arzate formatting his book according to Microsoft Word, which is based on an 8 ½ x 11 inch page, not because it was ridiculous, but because most of us are so enormously and entertainingly ignorant about the intricacies of formatting a book before we’ve had a hand at it ourselves. Arzate’s piece provides an informative, amusing and honest look at a first go in the self-publishing world.

Hank Quense has been an author for over 20 years, and a successful self-publishing author at that. The simple errors that can be made on someone’s first go at self-publishing (see previously reviewed article) are the subject of Quense’s ebook, “The Complete Self-Publishing Guide.” Quense says, “My books are dedicated to providing clear, concise information and procedures on the publishing process,” which is great for those of you new to self-publishing who are feeling overwhelmed by all of the pieces to the publishing puzzle.

It is easy to be overwhelmed by the prospect of self-publishing, Quense admits that it’s hard work that people often want to find some easier way around, but he insists that there is no easy way out and that good results come from hard work. Quense bemoans the authors who simply upload their manuscripts to Kindle or Amazon without proofing or providing cover art, and he insists that your sales will suffer from that sort of indolence. Putting in the time and money to publish something that you can be proud of will result in better sales, according to Quense. While an editor and an artist cost a fair amount of money, they are a necessary investments, according to Quense. In this vein, Quense compares books to companies; with that comparison in mind, the talk of investments, marketing strategies and customer base become more relevant.

Jonathan Kile taps into the unspoken issue of what he calls “editor’s block.” As far as he’s concerned, there is no writer’s block, this is merely an excuse people use to procrastinate writing. Writing, as far as Kile is concerned, is the easy part–just get words on the page, or more likely, on the computer screen.

Kile makes a candid political reference to pre-edited writing saying, “while the initial draft can be a Trumpian stream of consciousness making little to no sense, editing requires the quality of the prose and the ideas contained within to be compelling and tell a great story.” Providing some great advice for getting over “editor’s block,” Kile says that we should look at our work as if it isn’t our own. Obviously this is a pretty difficult mindset to enter; you wrote the damn manuscript and assuming you haven’t suffered from amnesia, then you presumably know it all too well. However, Kile wants to implore that you try to get into the shoes of your readers. Will they wish you had developed a certain character more? Will they have longed for a different ending? These questions, among others posed by Kile, are the types of questions you need to ask yourself when editing.

spa-news

As a self-publishing author, you may find it helpful to stay up-to-date on the trends and news related to the self-publishing industry. This will help you make informed decisions before, during and after the self-publishing process, which will lead to a greater self-publishing experience. To help you stay current on self-publishing topics, simply visit our blog every Monday to find out the hottest news. If you have other big news to share, please comment below.

Kelly

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com.
Book Reviews, Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week, Uncategorized, weekly self published book review

Saturday Book Review: “Paradox Effect”

Book reviews are a great way for self-publishing authors to gain exposure. After all, how can someone buy your book if he or she doesn’t know it exists? Paired with other elements of your book promotion strategy, requesting reviews is a great way to get people talking about what you’ve written.

When we read good reviews, we definitely like to share them. It gives the author a few (permanent) moments of fame and allows us to let the community know about a great book. Here’s this week’s book review, courtesy of Amazon reviewer faience:

Time Travel and Purified DNA Merge to Halt the Collapse of Human Existence gabriel koch

Paradox Effect: Time Travel and Purified DNA Merge to Halt the Collapse of Human Existence

by Gabriel F. W. Koch

Publisher: Outskirts Press

ISBN: 9781478756224

Synopsis:

In 2554, the World is Coming to its End, unless an impossible mission through 600 years of time travel succeeds. Maternal instinct knows no boundaries, including the nano-neural-net intravenously installed in Dannia Weston’s mind to repress her identity, allowing her to perform a mission 300 years before her time. Transported to the year 1954, Dannia becomes a woman with a mid-twentieth century persona, college educated with an aptitude for mechanical invention. Due to her work during the war, she is employed by the U.S. government on a secret project. But what no one knows-including Dannia or those who sent her back to tinker with the mechanical past to reduce future pollution-is what might happen should she become emotionally involved in 1954. The 2254 science team programmed the nano-net to prevent the possibility of pregnancy, but each person reacts to strong emotional stimuli differently, and using birth control not available in 1954 is out of the question. When Dannia falls in love with Peter Hersh and becomes pregnant, her hormones erode a small section of the nano-chained network that stabilizes her new identity, triggering a mild memory rebirth…and threatening her mission and the fate of the world.

Critique:

I’m picky about science fiction, but this time travel novel does three things that won me over. It willingly faces the question of whether changing history is an absolute wrong. The plot and the characters are complex. And the heroine is awesome.

In the year 2254 CE humanity has had a brush with near-destruction. The surviving remnant of political order decides it’s not only right, but vital, to develop time travel and use it to tweak history. Carefully chosen people with skills that can nudge humanity toward a better end are sent back to various times in history where they can make a difference.

One of those people is Dannia Weston, a government researcher working a top secret technology project in 1950’s America, and thank heaven the novel does NOT dredge up cliches about gender roles in the ‘fifties. Dannia, and the people she encounters and works with, are still the generation that worked together during World War II and earned each other’s respect.

Transplanting people from 2254 CE to the extinct culture of 1954 is tricky business. Their own memories are suppressed and replaced with personal histories that fit in the historic period to which they’re sent, and their knowledge is tailored to the period as well, advanced enough to dial back the doomsday clock, but not spectacular enough to draw dangerous attention.

Dannia’s particular assignment is an invention that will advance energy efficiency. If it can be implemented in the 1950s, the benefits for both environment and world peace are huge.

But a glitch occurs in this little interference with history. Dannia’s suppressed memory begins to awaken. Why? The answer – her unplanned pregnancy – comes early in the book, but produces more dangerous paradoxes that need delicate handling. Can this child be born? Can Dannia be extracted and brought back to 2254? Can her child? The passage in which the project directors talk about the paradox that would create was a mind-bender.

The other thing I liked is that the story doesn’t build its plot on stock-character bad guys. At worst, the man sent to hunt her is overzealous and ill-equipped to make the judgements he has to make, and his commanders are naive. What seems like a simple question of conflict between Dannia’s two lives in different centuries is actually a multi-layered, multi-century problem in which authorities are flying blind.

The book raises questions about fate and choice, about how many of the cards we deal ourselves and how many are dealt by an unseen hand. The story is exciting, mind-expanding, and often funny, with some amusing cameo appearances by historic figures, and the secondary characters are as unpredictable and interesting as the main ones. It’s a fun read.

[ reviewed on Amazon by faience ]

2016 CIPA EVVY Awards

3rd Place Winner in the Science Fiction/Fantasy Category!

CIPA EVVY Award 3rd place

Book Trailer

saturday self-published book review

Thanks for reading!  Keep up with the latest in the world of indie and self-published books by watching this space every Saturday!

Self Publishing Advisor

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