Author: selfpublishingadvisor

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

Conversations: 10/7/2016

INTRIGUE…

The Tapestry That Awakens Reader Curiosity

I don’t talk politics with friends—unless they bring the topic into our conversation and then I temper my words not wanting to cause upset for them or me. However, I really enjoy the novel that fits in the genre of political thriller and often find that talking about fictional situations and characters can be a bridge to (shall I say) rational discussions. These are the times when I greatly appreciate the time and effort authors expend in researching details. Those “facts” present a quality of authenticity that not only makes for Best Sellers, but also leads inquiring minds to consider what might be happening in the World we live in.  So it is that I believe doing a bit of research into this genre of fiction novels—what media folks call the thriller—will support writers in developing the books within our own chosen genre.

Author Tom Clancy is definitely one of the best writers in this field. When I read his quote on the back cover of his novel, The Teeth of The Tiger, I thought: THIS is the perfect statement for encouraging writers to PLOT (plan) the story from start to finish—biggest to smallest detail! Clancy said: “If you want to kick the tiger in his ass, you’d better have a plan for dealing with his teeth.” The paragraph Clancy provided to for his Amazon page—to intrigue his Readers—are also a look at how he plots the story.

“Jack [Jack Ryan, Jr.] has grown up around intrigue. As his father rose through the ranks of the CIA and then to the White House, Jack received a life course in the world and the way it works, from agents, statesmen, analysts, Secret Servicemen, and black-ops specialists…. He wants to put it all to work now—but when he knocks on the front door of “The Campus,” he finds that nothing has prepared him for what he is about to encounter. For it is indeed a different world out there, and in here…and it is about to become a lot more dangerous.”

First: Writing a novel in any genre is much like facing a Tiger. It is a BIG job and at times scary with sharp “teeth” that turn around and “bite” you IF you haven’t given the Readers what they want and expect.

Second: DON’T allow the cute “kitty” to frighten you! As you complete each step of the story-development-process you’ll tame that tiger and welcome the future you’ll share together.

Third: Let’s dissect Clancy’s paragraph as he defines his main character.

  • His main character has “grown up around ”
  • Used as a verb, the word intrigue means to make someone WANT to know more about something; to peak their interest in people, places, events and possibilities.
  • As a verb, there is also the element of making secret plans.
  • As a noun, the word intrigue adds the definition of a mysterious or fascinating quality and the secret planning of something illicit or detrimental.
  • Clancy gives his readers a look at his plot outline! (1) Jack’s Dad rose through the ranks of the CIA and White House; (2) Jack received a life course in the WAY things worked; (3) Jack goes to a secret place called “The Campus;” (4) he encounters something he didn’t expect—a different world that is even more dangerous.

Every writer and published author I know has used this element of intrigue in the development of their novels. Whether the genre is Romance, Western, Science Fiction, True Stories or most any other genre, it helps us all write an excellent story—moving us toward that Best Seller list! ⚓︎

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, in your corner, Uncategorized

In Your Corner: Choosing a Cover

Welcome to the fifth entry in our current and ongoing series–a series in which we examine some of the many choices which you will have to make as an author entering the world of self-publishing: choices ranging from the all-important “Choosing a Self-Publishing Company” to the nuts and bolts of “Choosing a Trim Size for Your Book” to figuring out how (and when) to “Know Thyself (& Thy Genre).” Last week, we felt our way through the topic of “Settling on a Price,” but this week we’re going to take a slightly different tack.  We’re going to look at the book as a physical object–and in fact, we’re going to look at the most defining feature of a book as a physical object:

Choosing a Cover

Piqued your interest yet? Good.

Here’s the thing about covers: we know a good one when we see one, and a bad one too, but we don’t often know the reasons why–we just … do–and knowing why a cover design works or doesn’t work is a crucial skill to develop as you yourself set about designing a book cover of your own.

GOOD NEWS FIRST. OR MAYBE GOOD COVERS INSTEAD.

Take a look at these, a few of my favorite covers from my time working at Outskirts Press:

Does anything jump out at you?  They’re all rather different, which makes sense given the fact that they’re appealing to different audiences.  Remember talking about audiences when we talked about genre?  Book covers are all about expressing the essence of your book’s content, and doing so in a common language shared with your ideal readers.  And readers are smart.  They’ve been reading a long time, and they know the visual cues that indicate a book’s atmosphere, or aesthetic.  Books of a self-help or nonfiction nature, for example, often present uncluttered, minimalist covers with people enacting some behavior connected to the theme (see Surviving Divorce God’s Way and Do You Know the Story of Superman?, above). Young Adult (YA) books, on the other hand, are targeting an age group interested in adventure and often romance, so the rich colors and exotic lettering of The Avant Champion are attuned to these expectations.

So much for expectations–what about execution?  A good book cover is more than just the sum of its parts, isn’t it?  There’s something to the way the parts are put together visually that matters.  That matters a great deal.

BAD NEWS NEXT. OR RATHER, BAD COVERS.

Everyone loves a bad book cover–the same way everyone loves a terrible audition for American Idol–in that we only enjoy witnessing someone else messing up badly.  When we mess up as authors, sales do not go well for us.  And sales are important.  And so, without being uncompassionate or trite, take a look at these covers:

Pretty bad, right?  But why?  Is it the hazy images or the busy backgrounds or the lack of contrast or the obnoxious font choices or the general impression that someone put these together using Microsoft Paint?

The thing is, we get it.

Making covers is hard, and not everyone has an eye (or software program) to make a brilliant, eye-catching, solidly designed cover.  So we’re not laughing behind our hands at bad covers; we are, however, wiser for exposure to some of the ways in which we might go astray.  Using a sub-par program or manipulating already poor quality images can never give us the perfect cover, and not having the time or expertise to download the perfect font can put us under, too.

The critical components to an eye-catching cover don’t come naturally to most of us.  But if you see yourself in this sentence, I have good news.  There are actually quite a lot of resources out there to help you, from self-help guides built in to self-publishing website like Amazon to the professional services offered by companies like the one I work for.  I’ve even known a couple of authors to make personal contact with illustrators and graphic designers on their own and see some success that way.  The key is to know your strengths and to be realistic about your weaknesses, and to accept help when you reach the end of your own capabilities.

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.
Book Design, Kelly Speaks, Uncategorized

The Book Beautiful: Summary Edition

The past six weeks we’ve been looking in depth at all of the steps that it takes to turn a manuscript into a polished, professional, finished copy of a book. As we’ve learned, this is a complex process full of choices such as whether or not to go with hard or soft cover, what cover illustration to use to draw in your readers, what information to include in your front and back matter, how will you format your text and your back cover, will you illustrate your piece, etc. etc. This process can be long and daunting, especially as a self-published author, which is why we at Outskirts Press want to assist our authors through it with our advice on this blog, but also with our hands-on services as a company.

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I’d like to wrap up the last six weeks by evaluating what it is I think authors should take away from each in depth look we took at the different aspects of bringing a text to life. It seems critical to note that each of the choices you make while publishing all answer to a reader’s unconscious sensuous experience of picking up your book in a store. Each choice you make when formatting or designing the final copy of your book is something that a reader will be assessing from the minute they walk by it on the shelf, to the first time they pick it up in their hands, thumb through the pages, read the back, and decide whether or not to bring it to the counter to purchase it. This is really about first impressions, and we all know how important it is to make a good one when someone’s approval is important to us.

first impressions
[ first impressions matter ]
What is the first thing a potential reader will notice about your book when they walk by? Presumably if it is hard or soft cover. Do you need to go with a hard cover to look professional? Certainly not. In fact, it seems that the chance of selling your book in soft cover is much higher. The next thing to make an impression after someone has read your title and pulled the book of the shelf will most likely be the cover illustration. I feel I gave some entertaining examples of what not to do, but the best advice I feel I could give is again, use something that embodies your theme and draws in your target audience. Also, remember that less is more, don’t clutter the cover with unnecessary or flamboyant text or illustrations.

As far as formatting the interior of your book is concerned, remember that the status quo is usually the way to go here. You don’t necessarily want the formatting of your book to stick out, but to ‘fit in’ to what people expect to see when they open a book. That’s not to say that you don’t have some creative freedom when it comes to formatting the text and illustrations (the standards of which often vary from genre to genre), but going out on a whim with a bizarre font choice is not necessarily a wise idea either. Remember that you have creative liberty with which front and end matter you want to include, such as a personalized dedication, epigraph, acknowledgements, bio, etc.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, don’t forget how critical the back cover of your book is. With the 150-200 words you have to sell a reader your story, you get more space than let’s say…a Tweet, but not much more. Make it exciting without giving anything away.

Remember that these aren’t decisions you have to make alone. If you have questions beyond what has been provided in these blogs, don’t hesitate to contact one of our professional, knowledgeable representatives at Outskirts Press. Our experience as writers helps us guide new authors toward the best decisions. We will always put our authors first.

Thank you for reading!  If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or contributions, please use the comment field below or drop us a line at selfpublishingadvice@gmail.com.  And remember to check back each Wednesday for your weekly dose of marketing musings from one indie, hybrid, and self-published author to another. ♠

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 Marketing, from the archives, Kelly Speaks, Marketing Your Self-Published Book, Uncategorized

From the Archives: “Determining What Book Readers Want”

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.

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[ Originally posted: July 20th, 2010 ]

Your book content – fiction, non-fiction, children’s, religious – naturally presumes a value to readers intending to be entertained or learn something from your work. How do they decide they want to read your book?

They don’t. You do. Sound like an incredible power? It is. Its name: Marketing

When Thomas Edison turned 16 do you suppose he wanted a Tesla Roadster? Probably not. In order to want something you need to know it exists. One definition of marketing is convincing a a mass of people to want what you have. That puts you, the author of your book, in the cat bird’s seat. Who knows your book better than you, after-all.

How readers know about books has changed a great deal over the past decade, and my guess is that trend will continue. With Amazon, Twitter, Podcasts, Bookfinder, etc. we no longer rely on a single-minded source for telling us about books. A good CEO (the self-published author) knows how to leverage the expertise of others and delegate work. Consider the long-term. Research self-publishers with ongoing marketing support and services. Being published is rarely even enough.

– by Kelly Schuknecht

“Readers are not sheep, and not every pen tempts them.”
― Vladimir Nabokov, Lectures on Literature

“Why are we reading, if not in hope of beauty laid bare, life heightened and its deepest mystery probed? Can the writer isolate and vivify all in experience that most deeply engages our intellects and our heats? Can the writer renew our hope for literary forms? Why are we reading if not in hope that the writer will magnify and dramatize our days, will illuminate and inspire us with wisdom, courage, and the possibility of meaningfulness, and will press upon our minds the deepest mysteries, so we may feel again their majesty and power?”
― Annie Dillard, The Writing Life

***

When we talk about knowing what we want and making our readers want it to, it’s not quite the same thing as the sales pitch for selling a car. (Although sometimes I envy car salesmen their confidence.)  When we talk about selling our readers on our book, we’re talking about something more grand and with farther-reaching effects–we’re talking about selling that reader on a dream.  We’re not simply marketing, as nice and simple of a descriptive term that might be. We’re in the business of changing the trajectories of peoples’ interests … with nothing more or less than the power of words.

know what you want

Which is not to discount the profound importance of marketing in the world of self-publishing! Marketing isn’t optional for the self-publishing author–it’s absolutely vital. How else will new readers know that your book exists? How else will they know where to track it down and buy it?

You can’t sell readers on a dream if they don’t know it exists.

So how do you keep your marketing strategy from dipping into the hazardous waters of the car salesman’s sales pitch? Several thoughts:

  • Be authentic. We dislike car salesmen as a stereotype at least because we’ve been taught to perceive them as fake.
  • Actually care. Care about your reader. Remember, writing and selling a book isn’t just about your bottom line. It’s making sure your book is received by its ideal audience at the ideal moment. Money is great, but it shouldn’t be the sole purpose of what authors do–and your readers can sense when it is. Prioritize your readers’ needs by putting yourself in their shoes. What is their native habitat? Where do they feel safe? How can you reach them where they already live?
  • Be engaged. You might not be able to respond to every tweet and Facebook comment you receive as an author, but making an effort to respond to readers regularly on the platforms they love is a great signal that you’re not some aloof writer who’s out of touch with the world you live in.
  • Give back. There are a lot of fun ways to do this that drum up your marketing base, too–giving is, in fact, necessary to receive. Consider giveaways, donations, free webinars or live chats, and all of those other ways in which you as an author can interact with your readers in a way that’s fresh and honest and mindful of their needs.

Remember, too, that marketing doesn’t have to be boring. You’re not selling a car. You’re selling your book. And your book is amazing!

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: 10.3.2016

And now for the news!

This week in the world of self-publishing:

“I’ve got an agent. So now what?” asks William Kowalski as he opens this October 1st article for AuthorLink.  You wait and you wait, but nothing happens.  “If your agent hasn’t managed to sell your book within a year or so, you may be justified in moving on,” he writes before urging authors not to wait that long before opting to go with self-publishing.  He acknowledges the checkered past attributed to authors choosing this route (“It was the last resort of the unpublishable, the illiterate, the hack, and the crank who couldn’t get anyone to take him seriously.”) before moving on to defend it as anything but:

There is nothing inherently wrong with self-publishing.  It does not mean the author is devoid of skill; it means that the commercial publishing world does not yet see a market for it.  There’s a big difference.

[…]

I think that writers are on the right side of the historical tsunami that is currently sweeping over the publishing world.  As of this writing, it is no exaggeration to say that the publishing industry is on life support, and is not expected to recover.  It’s really that simple.

And it is.  Kowalski gives ample attention to authors of genre fiction as well as hybrid and experimental works, “literary fiction,” and the constant struggle to make peace with traditional publishing and all of its attendant demands.  An all-around fascinating piece, you can check out Kowalski’s article at the link.

A lot has been made recently of Rupi Kaur’s self-publishing blockbuster success with milk and honey–yes, that’s all lower-case in e.e. cummings fashion–a collection of poetry with a firm grip on the bestseller list despite its complete lack of traditional connections.  “Forget Wordsworth, Whitman and Yeats. A new generation of inspiring young female poets are changing the way we look at the form, using social media to reach their rapidly growing fanbase,” writes Stephen Russell in his October 1st piece for The New Daily.  Because Kaur’s not the only young female poet making a mark in the world this year, and she’s not even the only young female self-publishing poet.  Although Kaur’s book has been picked up by AMP after proving it had legs, she’s just one of several “insta-poets” AMP’s publisher and president Kirsty Melville says to watch out for, according to Russell: “These young poets write as a way of communicating their inner lives in a very relateable way, and in a form that is readily shareable.”  By choosing to self-publish on Instagram and other social media websites, Melville says, readers are given “immediate access to poets’ written and performative work and this immediacy engenders a closer emotional connection.”  Kaur is in good company, with “insta-poets” Lang Leav, Cleo Wade, Hera Lindsay Bird, and Alicia Cook round out Russell’s list of authors to watch out for.  To read more, click here.

The people behind Indie Author Day 2016 are spreading the word of a new opportunity related to their upcoming event in this press release posted to Digital Journal on September 28th.  The event, taking place at the Montclair (N.J.) Public Library, is one to watch!  It will feature Jane Tabachnick, a book promotion consultant (with her own website and everything!) and take place on October 8th along with all other IAD2016 activities, the featured online streaming element of which is scheduled to begin at 2 PM EST.  According to the organizers, Tabachnick “will outline the key components for publishing and promoting your book successfully,” and will focus on “best practices for self-publishing and book promotion”:

While the industry often speaks about the two sides of publishing – tradition and self-published, Ms. Tabachnick will speak about the complexities of self-publishing, which underscores that it is more than one single method, in contrast to traditional publishing. She will cover the range of options for authors to consider within self-publishing, going over the pros and cons of each strategy, so that authors will be better informed about how to position themselves for success She will also cover top book promotion strategies including no cost, low cost and premium options.

Tabachnick’s panel will take place just before the main event, from 12 noon to 1 PM, and while there’s no word yet on whether any of the on-site interviews will be archived for public access, the Montclair Public Library encourages drop-ins and last-minute registrations.  So if you’re in New Jersey on the 8th of this month, consider swinging by their website to learn more!

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.