Kelly Speaks

Two Paths to Becoming a Children’s Book Author

Do you dream of publishing a children’s book? Well, your dream can come true easier than you may have thought.  Here are two ways you can become a children’s book author whether or not you have the ability to create your own illustrations:

1. Do-It-Yourself

If you are extremely talented, you may choose to write and illustrate your own children’s book. This DIY option allows you to fully engage your creativity and bring the story in your head to life. However, do not attempt this route if you do not have the skill or talent to illustrate your own book. With children’s books, the pictures are just as important as (if not more important than) the words you’ve written. You do not want your story corrupted by amateur illustrations.

2. Get Some Help

If you have a great story for children, but are not able to do your own illustrations, you can simply write your story and hire an illustrator. While there is a cost to this option, you are guaranteed quality illustrations which you would not otherwise be able to produce on your own. You may choose to hire an illustrator you find online or through a friend.  Be sure to consider whether this will be a one-time cost to you or if you will need to share a portion of the royalties with your illustrator.  If you prefer royalty-free illustrations, check with your self-publishing company for their illustration options.

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the 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 at http://kellyschuknecht.com.
Jodee Speaks

Famous Self-Published Author: Henry M. Robert

Henry M. Robert is the author of the famous book, Robert’s Rules of Order. (The full length title of the original version was Pocket Manual of Rules of Order for Deliberative Assemblies.) To this day, the book remains the most widely used text by parliamentary authority in the United States!

A self-published author was able to write and publish a book that continues to strongly influence our government. That is powerful, and you can do the same thing. If you have ideas you need to share, speak up and self-publish your book!

ABOUT JODEE THAYER: With over 20 years of experience in   sales and management, Jodee Thayer works as the Manager of Author Services   for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department   is composed of knowledgeable customer service reps and publishing consultants;   together, they all focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process in order 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, Jodee Thayer can put you   on the right path.
Wendy Speaks

How Long Should Your Self-Published Manuscript Be?

Many new self-published authors ask my opinion on page count. They look at books in their genre, notice that many are similar in length, and try to figure out how many pages to write to make their book fit the mold. While it is great to look at books in your genre to determine what is considered the norm, there is another way to approach this issue of length.

First off, don’t think about page numbers; think about word counts. Page numbers are influenced by the size of the font and page as well as page breaks and illustrations. Therefore, this is not always an accurate way to compare books. Instead, publishers prefer to discuss books in terms of word count. (There is a Microsoft Word feature that easily tells you how many words are in your manuscript.)

Most publishers prefer first time novelist to have a manuscript between 50,000 and 100,000 words. (Yes, that is a wide range.) However, you don’t need to obsess over word counts. If your novel is 40,000 words and is already great, don’t (I repeat DON’T) keep adding information just to reach 50,000. Readers hate fluff, and you can ruin a great book by trying too hard to make it long enough.

Also note that there is no one size fits all when it comes to publishing. Some stories can be told in less than 50,000 words. Others may need more 100,000 to convey the story. Be knowledgeable of industry norms, but do not worry about trying to fit in. Often, the best books are the ones that stand out from the rest.

ABOUT WENDY STETINA: Wendy Stetina is a sales and marketing professional with over 30 years experience in the printing and publishing industry. Wendy works as the Director of Author Services for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department is composed of knowledgeable customer service reps and publishing consultants; and together, they all focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process in order 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, Wendy Stetina can put you on the right path.
Elise Speaks

Big Book to Big Screen: Arranging Your Story for Your First Screenplay

Writers already know all the vital elements of storytelling: antagonists, protagonists, the inciting incident, plot points, character development, and all that juicy conflict that makes for a compelling page-turner. Book authors explore these elements in great depth over dozens, even hundreds, of pages of prose. What stymies many accomplished authors is how to adapt these often lengthy tomes to the much more concise screenplay format.

There’s no question — a movie must tell in roughly 120 script pages what an author usually tells in several times as many pages of single-spaced paragraphs. Paring down that kind of volume can seem like an insurmountable task, but if you organize your book a different way, you’ll be off and running before you know it.

Many writers find it useful to begin the screenwriting process on notecards. This is essentially another way to outline your script, but notecards allow you to rearrange, add, and remove elements easily. Start by writing the title and brief summary of each scene in your book on a notecard. (A scene is a short, self-contained segment of a story that takes place in a specific time and/or place.) If you’re a beginner, consider writing down even those scenes you don’t expect to include in your final script. These may prove useful to you as you determine what other scenes to drop, add, or combine.

Next, decide whether you want to tell your story in chronological order or some other fashion and arrange your cards in that order. Once this is done, you can begin paring down.

Paring down your scenes for film format may be the most difficult part of the process. Writers fall in love with their own words. Cutting them or telling the story without them (using visuals instead) can make a writer feel as though the heart and soul of their work is lost. But the Big Screen is a different animal.

Flip through your notecards and pull out all scenes that don’t a.) advance the plot or b.) develop your main characters – all of them. Be merciless. If that charming café scene does little more than look pretty and show verbal prowess, it has to go. Your visual story will be all the better for it.

Elise Connors ABOUT ELISE L. CONNORS:
Elise works as the Manager of Author Support of Outskirts Press.  She also contributes to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com.

Elise and a group of talented book marketing experts assist self-publishing authors and professionals who are interested in getting the best possible exposure for their book.
Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week

Weekly Self-Published Book Review: Life on Grayson Island

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 by Midwest Book Review:

Life on Grayson Island

E. R. Champion

Publisher: Outskirts Press

ISBN: 9781432765798

Reviewer: Charline Ratcliff

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I asked to review “Life on Grayson Island” by E.R. Champion, but having found it listed in the “Humor” section, I did expect it to be funny. It was funny…just not as much as I had hoped. Don’t get me wrong; I’m sure there are those who will find this book hilarious, but unfortunately, I am not one of those people.

The premise of “Life on Grayson Island” is this: Brent Williams has just recently moved to Grayson Island in lieu of completely retiring from the police force. However, Grayson Island is a private island, which means that all of the standard infractions that would normally cause some form of citation, ticket or even an arrest do not apply to the “natives” of Grayson Island. Needless to say, most of the training and experience that Williams acquired during his stint as Lieutenant for the Department of Defense cannot be applied in his new position as “Special” Policeman of Grayson Island.

Grayson Island is also a crazy island. The people who live there are extremely wealthy and amazingly eccentric. Opinions are provided on an over-the-top regular basis to be made into the island rules for the non-natives to live by, and each resident seems to have their own reality that doesn’t mesh with anyone else’s. In summary, two hundred and eight pages of inane antics by the mainly over forty crowd and the question you have to ask yourself is: how long can Brent Williams and his wife deal with the idiocy before they decide enough is enough and move back to a more “normal” part of the country?

All in all, “Life on Grayson Island” was a decent read. To be fair, the book did manage to hold my attention/keep me occupied on the two-hour flight from Oakland to Phoenix. “Life on Grayson Island” was well-written, and due in part to the craziness of today’s society, the characters were totally believable. At times, there was a little too much innuendo/cynicism for my taste, but I do understand that’s kind of the premise of the book.