Royalene Speaks

Reposting Royalene Doyle’s Conversation on: INTRIGUE Plus SUSPENSE Plus MYSTERY

Just yesterday, I heard a word I hadn’t heard or seen used for years. The word is Brinkmanship.

My definition for it (from the creative writing perspective) is “to bring Readers to the BRINK of solving the mystery, then strategically pulling them away from that answer, only to maneuver them onto another path.” When writers hone this skill, they produce wonderful adventures that not only challenge our logical thinking abilities but also satisfy the soul. Much like the tapestry illustration shown here, the various color hues (characters) and textures (plot/angles) intrigue us and bring us joy.

Agatha Christie is one of the best and most-read novelists. She instinctively knew how to weave the threads of Intrigue, Suspense, and Mystery into puzzle patterns creating beautiful whodunits that tantalize, frustrate, and bring us to the brink of giving up before they allow us to discover the truth. Here are some of the techniques she used.

Clues: A spot of blue ink is found under the desk. Ah! A clue! Clues provide information to one or more characters and to the Reader. These include tangible objects such as the blue ink pen found on the suspect’s desk, fingerprints, or a letter clenched in the victim’s hand. And, as in real life, other objects might be collected but have nothing to do with the mystery, which become false clues leading our characters (and Readers) to wrong conclusions—for a short time, that is.

Red Herrings: The technique that uses an event or statement to overtly mislead characters (and Readers). However, this allows everyone to deduce (logically) whether this piece of information is relevant to the story. These red herrings keep Readers from figuring out what’s really going on sooner than outlined.

The Suspects: Because I enjoy the complexities of well-developed characters, this is my favorite part of any novel, especially the Mystery. From the tailor to the butler, the undercover police officer to the priest, and the chef to the hobo—almost every character in the book could have a reason to be suspected, even though just slightly.

Disguises: These can also add elements of intrigue and suspense to both characters and the settings (atmosphere/environment) in which we place them. This is a camouflage of either people or places that gives our Readers pause to consider another possible (logical) course in the storyline and keeps those pages turning.

Successful authors who employ these techniques—no matter the genre—often use opening sentences that incorporate several points. Here is an example of the first sentence in a novel that does just that.

“When the car stopped rolling, Parker kicked out the windshield and crawled through onto the wrinkled hood, Glock first.” Richard Stark, Backflash

Immediately, the Reader is presented with several clues, a character/suspect with enough strength to crawl out of a wrecked car with a gun in his hand. When writing skills are honed to create opening sentences like this, publishing success is right around the corner!

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. She developed 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, has received 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. December 2017 marked the end of Royalene’s tenure at Self Publishing Advisor. and we will be spending the next few weeks celebrating some of her all-time hits, her most well-received articles for our blog, in thanks for years of generous service.

Self-Publishing News

Amazon to Close Bookstores: What It Means for Indie Books

amazon paperback

Amazon started as an online bookseller. However, despite these roots, the e-commerce giant has decided for now to fold on their physical retail bookstore chain, Amazon Books.

As first reported by Reuters and later covered by Publishers Weekly, Amazon announced that it would close all 24 of its physical bookstores. The internet giant opened the first of these 24 bookstores in 2015, its premier location making its debut in Seattle. Over the next few years, Amazon opened Amazon Books shops in 12 states, Washington, D.C., and the United Kingdom.

Bookstores aren’t the only locations that Amazon is closing. The company is shuttering a total of 68 locations, which include the aforementioned bookstores, supermarkets, cashierless convenience stores, pop-ups, and locations within its Amazon 4-Star department store program.

Despite these closures, Amazon plans to shift laid-off workers and other resources to soon-to-open locations at its grocery store subsidiary, Amazon Fresh, as well as Amazon supermarket acquisition, Whole Foods.

The withdrawal from book retail is a telling admission of defeat for Amazon, as the company’s success had contributed to the destruction of many book retail stores, most notably Borders. Moreover, it’s yet another sign that success in the online space doesn’t automatically translate to physical retail, even for one of the world’s largest companies.

Who wins from Amazon Books’ loss?

Even as Amazon momentarily forfeits its efforts in the physical retail spaces, other parties will walk away as winners: independent bookstores and self-published authors.

Independent bookstores will benefit from Amazon’s retreat for several reasons. The most straightforward one is competition: while Amazon will continue competing with the indies with cutthroat low margins, broader selections, and fast Prime delivery, at least the e-commerce website won’t be butting heads with indies within the brick-and-mortar sphere.

This windfall is significant for independent bookstores at this point of the pandemic. With the omicron wave plummeting, even the most restrictive places in the US are seeking to lift the last of their COVID-19 precautions as consumers flock back to physical retail spaces. So while Amazon Books won’t close overnight, news of the program’s impending end will give its indie competitors an edge during an anticipated surge of in-person shopping.

Amazon Books’ failure also reflects well upon the strengths of independent bookstores. Amazon attempted to break into retail by leveraging Big Data, a wide selection, and even showcasing Amazon reviews.

However, none of Amazon’s online strength seems to replace the personal, local touch of independent bookstores. What independent bookstores lack in scope, they make up with depth, being more equipped to cater to their neighboring communities than an international chain like Amazon Books.

It may sound less intuitive why self-publishing authors may benefit from Amazon Books’ demise. After all, Amazon’s Kindle Direct Program has been integral to the careers of many self-published authors.

However, self-publishing authors share an advantage with independent bookstores in that indie authors have better access to independent bookstores than big retailers.

Amazon may help self-published authors better in the electronic space, where shelf space is limitless, and the cost of “stocking” an e-book is microscopic. However, this is a different story in brick-and-mortar stores, where major book chains only have so much room for books and usually only stock traditionally published titles.

Furthermore, self-published authors have more barriers to getting big retailers to give them the time of day. You can’t walk into a Barnes & Noble or an Amazon Books store and ask the owner if they can buy some of your copies to sell.

Independent bookstores are a whole other matter. As indie stores survive and thrive based on personal relationships, most are willing to talk with local authors. This opens up opportunities for both parties: you get the chance to have your self-published book sold on an actual bookstore shelf, and they get to show off their commitment to regional authors.

At an independent bookstore, a self-published author has the chance of being featured on a window display or front-door table, and indie bookstores are always looking for local authors to host book signings and other author events. None of this can be done with a big player like Amazon Books.

It’s unknown whether Amazon will reattempt physical bookselling in the future. But for now, the smaller players in the book industry have one less giant to worry about.

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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 each month to find out the hottest news. If you have other big news to share, please comment below.
elizabeth speaks

Why Business People Need to Publish a Book

Why Business People Need to Publish a Book Outskirts Press

Certain professions need to be published. They can go on forever: entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers, journalists, consultants, self-help experts, freelancers, and so on.

Even if your profession is not on this list, read on to evaluate whether publishing a book is right for your job. After all, publishing a book can contribute significantly to your career.

For the typical professional, it’s easier than ever to publish a book. Self-publishing and eBook publishing are both viable. You can release your book without waiting years for publication, keep control of your vision for your book, publish in both physical and digital formats, and retain a larger share of the royalties.

A book can serve as your best form of marketing in any profession, working better than any business card. A piece of paper can be easily thrown away, but a book can remain on your reader’s bookshelf forever.

Any reader who picks up your book becomes a prospective client, attracting attention and increasing your reach and visibility. Your book’s content can also testify to your authority, credibility, and professional expertise. On top of that, it extends your brand by giving you another avenue through which you express and practice your profession.

Finally, a reader-turned-client is more informed about your goods and services, improving the experience for all parties. Of course, any good professional can explain what they do, but having a book do the explaining is neat too.

For another example, take public speaking. If you’re a speaker for a living, you must have a book.

You can publish a book that serves as the companion guide to everything you speak about on stage. It gives you space to expand on topics you cannot discuss at length during your speech, and audience members who buy your book on the way out have another way of expanding on what they learned from what you said.

It’s also smart from the standpoint of marketing. Your speeches will promote your book, and your book, in turn, will open up more speaking gigs: a positive feedback loop!

A book can serve as the linchpin for your online content strategy. If you put in the work, you can increase the opportunity of your book snagging that blue-chip client, sparking word of mouth, or even garnering media attention, reaping you an ongoing stream of new customers. It’s a win-win.

So, how do you sell your book after you publish it? First, consider giving your book a strong presence on LinkedIn. If you’re a professional, you’re likely already using LinkedIn, so why not get more mileage out of a platform you’re already leveraging?

Your book gives you another reason to post regularly on LinkedIn, especially if you’re prone to leaving LinkedIn alone for months at a time. To fuel your posting, you can repurpose content from your book as LinkedIn content. Alongside the standard post, LinkedIn has features to publish an article or create a newsletter. Also, in these various forms, you can include a call to action to check out your book or otherwise begin a conversation with you.

This also applies to other social media platforms. You could even tweet quotes and excerpts on Twitter. You can create short videos for Instagram or microposts for Facebook. You can even launch your own blog or newsletter. The exact platform may vary (as any of these platforms may not exist in a few years), but as a medium, the book will remain.

You can also bundle the book as part of your product, increasing its value for your customer. This is especially effective for digital products, where you can toss in an eBook at no extra cost to you. So while you may give up a potential sale, it’s a worthwhile trade if your main product sells for significantly more than your book’s sale price.

Marketing aside, a book serves as another nifty format for your work, depending on your profession. If you’re a lawyer, you can teach the basics of law without having to sit a prospective client down. If you’re a consultant, a book can be a solid alternative for any client who’s unable to book an appointment with you. The possibilities are endless.

And above all, there’s always the chance that you start writing a book and find publishing to be your calling! As beneficial as the promotional aspect is, a book is also an opportunity to express your thoughts, work, and love of your craft.

Many professional authors start in different professions before making writing their full-time vocation. So now, don’t rush to quit your day job, but do recognize that the act of writing can lead you down a rabbit hole of authoring.

No matter how you’d leverage a book, know that there’s an exciting business world full of books. Will you write the next one?

Over to you: What are some of YOUR favorite examples of professionals who’ve published books? If you’re a professional who’s published a book, how has YOUR book served YOUR career?

Elizabeth Javor Outskirts Press

ABOUT ELIZABETH JAVOR: With over 20 years of experience in sales and management, Elizabeth Javor works as the Director of Sales and Marketing for Outskirts Press. The Sales and Marketing departments are composed of knowledgeable publishing consultants, 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.

elizabeth speaks

The Importance of Securing Amazon Reviews

The Importance of Securing Amazon Reviews Outskirts Press

When I’m looking for a new book on Amazon, I often wish I had the psychic ability to look at a novel and know right away whether I’d enjoy it—or not.

But, sadly, I don’t have psychic powers. But I do have Amazon’s Customer Review section, which is why I’m here to teach you the importance of securing Amazon reviews.

Why in the world do you need Amazon customer reviews? Wouldn’t your book be able to sell itself from the title, the cover design, the blurb, the store category and keywords, and the preview of the first few pages? All of those are important, but they’re NOT enough.

Amazon itself encourages shoppers to leave customer reviews. The power of reviews pans out in practice, as successful self-publishing authors observe that sales increase with positive reviews.

Generally, readers are reluctant to buy the book of an unknown author. It’s understandable, as a reader spends both money and time when purchasing and reading a book. But, conversely, readers love to buy books from their favorite authors—so what can you do when you’re starting?

That’s where customer reviews can bridge the gap. If they see that the book has stellar reviews, customers are much more likely to take a chance buying it.

Now, reviews are a pain point for many self-publishing authors. Reviews are vital for attracting sales, yet they’re one of the factors authors have the least control over. You can write a great story and craft a solid product description, but you can’t write reviews of your own book.

(Seriously, don’t pretend to be a reader and review your own book. Amazon will catch you and kick you off their storefront.)

Don’t know where to begin with reviews? Fortunately, you have several methods for soliciting reviews, and you should employ multiple approaches simultaneously.

  • Ask your friends and family not only to read the book (which they should!) but also to post a review on Amazon. Yes, friends and family are allowed to leave reviews.
  • Run an office contest for your coworkers. The first colleague to leave a great review gets lunch on you.
  • Post on social media channels, especially Facebook and Twitter, asking your followers to leave a review. Emphasize to your readers that reviewing is a fantastic way to support their favorite authors and that you appreciate each review. You could even read some positive reviews and share them on your feed, engaging your most supportive fans in a fun way!
  • Research book reviewers and review blogs in your book’s genre and category, then send complimentary copies. Recurring and professional reviewers have an audience of their own who read their writing, making them a great publicity asset. Just be careful to contact reviewers and bloggers who read the type of book you’re publishing. For example, if you send your steamy, erotic romance novel to a Christian memoir reviewer, she’s not going to be happy!
  • Keep publishing more titles. With more books, you’ll get more opportunities to obtain reviews from regular readers. There are few other people you want on your team than a power customer who recommends all your books!

Don’t be stingy in giving away free copies to potential reviewers. If a reviewer is willing to buy your book, awesome! If they’re not, it doesn’t hurt to be generous to reel in a reader who would’ve otherwise passed up your book.

Keep in mind that under Amazon guidelines, you can’t force a reader to leave a review in exchange for a free copy, so don’t take it personally if some prospective reviewers don’t follow through.

This is an excellent place to emphasize one perk of digital publishing. You don’t have to spend money to produce galleys or advance reviewer copies when you have eBooks. Instead, you can send a reviewer an eBook with a single email. In addition, Amazon provides options for you to gift a reader an eBook to make it easier on both ends.

Nevertheless, it’s a good idea to have physical copies on hand to give away, as Amazon lists the reviews from all a book’s formats under one section. Believe it or not, there are still readers out there who want a physical copy. I certainly wouldn’t turn down a print book!

It can be daunting to ask readers to review your book on Amazon. The ask can be intimidating by itself, and the prospect of a negative review can be outright frightening. However, even with those risks, an author is her best publicist . . . and a self-publishing author more so.

With practice, you will get better at asking for reviews. As your titles grow, so does your audience—and so do the reviews. Over time, more readers will review your books without you asking, and even the dreaded one-star reviews will soon be buried underneath an avalanche of five-star praise!

If you’re in self-publishing for a long and exciting career, you need to secure Amazon reviews right now. Fortunately, you can start today.

Maybe someday I’ll find your book, be impressed enough by its reviews to click that “buy” button, and leave a review of my own. I look forward to the opportunity.

Now, I’ll turn it over to YOU. As a reader, what leads YOU to review a book? As a writer, what tips and tricks do YOU have to secure Amazon reviews?

elizabeth

ABOUT ELIZABETH JAVOR: With over 20 years of experience in sales and management, Elizabeth Javor works as the Director of Sales and Marketing for Outskirts Press. The Sales and Marketing departments are composed of knowledgeable publishing consultants, 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.

Self-Publishing News

How COVID has made self-publishing even more popular than before

How COVID has made self-publishing even more popular than before. Outskirts Press

Yes, the book industry, in general, is profiting from an explosion of sales. The sudden rise of homebound readers has led to them substituting outdoor activities with books. As a result, while other entertainment industries plummeted, the book industry has rebounded from the initial lockdown dip to levels higher than before!

Self-publishing authors, in particular, have thrived the last two years. The first round of pandemic lockdowns upheaved the job situation of many potential self-publishing writers. The circumstances of these writers varied. Some workers were laid off. Others left their jobs for health or family reasons. Many quit as part of “The Great Resignation.” Countless others remained at their jobs but shifted to a work-at-home environment and filled newfound time by taking up another pursuit, such as book writing.

No matter the reason, a number of aspiring authors faced change during COVID-19 and turned toward self-publishing as an even more desirable career path.

The self-publishing model endured when the pandemic forced most workers out of the office. The self-published author can write, edit, and publish a book—and never have to leave home!

For the self-publishing business, work-at-home is an ideal office. Thanks to modern communication, a self-publishing writer not only can make business calls from home but also engage in Zoom meetings. In the previous century, a manuscript sent by snail mail would’ve taken days, if not weeks. Now, you can also upload a manuscript to a book distribution service within seconds with email and file uploading. Readers can click the “buy” button on your book within minutes. You can even log on to the website of a print-on-demand (POD) distributor and list physical copies without having to negotiate a printing quote.

Work-from-home benefits even extend to the other professionals involved in self-publishing, like editors, proofreaders, and cover design artists. For example, one self-publishing author could assemble an entire team of collaborators that span worldwide without any member ever meeting in person!

The story looks different for the major, traditional publishers. When the pandemic lockdowns began, traditional publishers had to pivot hard to work-at-home. Some publishing houses have yet to return to the office almost two years later. A number of them still feel the pains of switching workplace settings after a decades-long tradition of office work. Other publishing houses had to bend corporate procedures to get work done.

The pandemic also hit the areas where big publishers had an advantage over indie publishers and self-publishers. Even with book sales rising, bookstore sales in 2020 were down compared to the year before because much of the sales surge was from online book sales. Tragically, many indie bookstores closed, like many small businesses that were shuttered by the pandemic.

And as we covered earlier in the blog, the supply chain’s congestion has slowed print book deliveries and frightened large publishers to delay new releases. The supply chain situation has grown only direr since then, with companies unable to ship customers their orders before Christmas. Of course, it doesn’t help that the unpredictability of COVID-19’s variants keeps brick-and-mortar stores on edge.

However, self-publishing authors have been able to fill in the gap left by undelivered physical books through the ebook format. Most self-published books are already digital. For many self-publishers, it was a matter of taking advantage of the rise in ebook sales, with digital sales spiking in 2020, and in 2021 remaining higher than the prepandemic.

Furthermore, the self-publishing author is more adept at adapting to work at home than an organization. As a business of one, a self-publisher can leap over the red tape, starting and finishing projects in months when the same title would take years for a traditional publisher to release.

A self-publishing writer also has some perks over traditionally published authors, such as higher royalty rates and instantaneous publication. Most appealingly, should you decide to go into self-publishing, YOU get to choose what story you create and put out in the world. You don’t have to wait to secure the validation of agents and editors when you can get on a computer and let the readers decide for themselves.

This appeal aligns with the main thrust of The Great Resignation: in the face of catastrophe, many workers have looked at their earlier jobs and decided that their dreams can no longer wait. No wonder lots of workers have decided to pursue their aspirational novel, autobiography, or self-help book by going into self-publishing.

It’s important to remember that for all the benefits self-publishing authors receive, we must still remember the losses from COVID-19. Beyond the closed bookstores and the two years spent indoors, the pandemic has taken a horrendous toll on lives and affected many more people’s health and livelihood.

But if you DO decide to take the plunge and self-publish your book, recognize that you are joining a movement that’s making the best of dire circumstances, sharing stories that will comfort readers during the pandemic, and will hopefully continue to do so post virus.