Tag: Elizabeth Javor

elizabeth speaks, in your corner, Uncategorized

In Your Corner : Building Anticipation Like a Pro (or maybe like Patrick Rothfuss?)

I’m not exactly what you might call a “film buff,” but I really and truly love the movies.  And some movies are more noteworthy than others, right?  Some even seem to be noteworthy before I have a chance to see them in theaters.  Case in point: last year’s Oscar nominees for Best Picture.  Whenever I sat down to marathon some streaming video on my iPad, the fifteen-minute ad breaks were the same Brooklyn trailer on repeat.  The local movie theater (and I’m talking small-town movie theater, here) had posters up for The Revenant a full year in advance, and I’m not even sure how they got ahold of those posters!  Articles on low-budget indie faves Room and Spotlight were cropping up everywhere that I get my word fix online–news engines like The New York Times and genre specific conversation forums alike.  The local public library put up a display featuring all of the books that inspired the movies (and this year, most of the Best Picture noms were based on books) long before celebrities lit up the stage in Hollywood to dole out those little gold statues.

I guess what I’m saying is: we all know what anticipation looks like.  It’s the six months (or year) before the Academy Awards.  It’s the year (or two years) before the Presidential Elections.  It’s the half-decade before Patrick Rothfuss or George R.R. Martin each release the next book in their series.  It’s the “buzz” we hear in day-to-day conversations, the flurry of visual displays going up in our public spaces, and the ticket reservations sold out long in advance.

Kingkiller chronicles patrick rothfuss reddit
[ anticipation looks like a Reddit thread about any of these examples! ]
And here’s another thing: self-publishing authors often sell themselves short on anticipation.  It’s almost as if we don’t think we deserve it, that we’ve earned the “buzz.”  Or perhaps, it’s that we’ve internalized the message being preached by many traditional publishers and their ancillary believers–the message that we indie authors are somehow “not good enough,” or that the work we produce is itself somehow “not good enough.”  Which, by the way, is complete and total garbage.  We are good enough.  Our work is good enough.  If it wasn’t, would traditional publisher’s be so eager to poach Andy Weir and Christopher Paolini and others like them out of our ranks?  No.  But there is definitely a corporate benefit to sowing a sense of self-doubt amongst self-publishing professionals.

So here’s the deal:

Building anticipation is a real, tangible, achievable goal.

And there are any number of ways that you can start to generate interest in your books before you publish!  Put together a blog which features short excerpts from the book–amongst other things, of course–and seed your existing social media accounts with excerpts from the book–author Mirtha Michelle Castro Marmol is a great example of a self-publishing author doing just that–and gather interest in a book signing event!  These are not new concepts, but we often approach them as, quite simply, items to check off of our checklists.  As work.  But if you keep in mind that the end result isn’t actually just “SELL MORE BOOKS” but rather, “Hey, this might start a conversation!  This might generate some anticipation!” then your work may end up feeling a lot more like a healthy, sustainable, enjoyable conversation with potential readers and fans.

The decisions you make now to start conversations will build your audience and customer base before your book is even published.  Kelly Schuknecht, one of my fellow writers on Self Publishing Advisor and fellow advocate at Outskirts Press, has often spoken about how we often wait until after a book is published–through Outskirts or Amazon or some other means–to start marketing.  And how this is actually far too late.  The same is true of building anticipation–which kind of makes sense, right?

anticipation clock

Anticipation relies upon the simple fact that the thing we desire is a thing presently out of reach, that is in the works or on its way.  If the thing is already here, people might be interested … but they won’t be anticipating.  So if there is one thing I can recommend to you today, it’s that you get out there and think about suspense, and desire, and anticipation as something worth building.  Think about the Oscars if it helps, or the next season of Orange is the New Black (because let’s face it, you already marathoned the entire fourth season and now you have to wait another year to find out what happens next!), or the next book in that series you really love that isn’t here yet.  That is the feeling you want readers to have about your book–and you can make that a reality!

 

You are not alone. ♣︎

ElizabethABOUT 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.
Advocacy in Self-Publishing, elizabeth speaks, in your corner, Marketing Your Self-Published Book, Uncategorized

In Your Corner : The Side Benefits to Starting Early

I woke this morning to grey skies and a half-mowed yard.  As I write this, the rain keeps coming down in a steady drizzle, leaving the roads slick with oily puddles and my lawn thick and green and completely wild-looking, with weeds poking up through the grass in some kind of chlorophyll-rich reminder something along the lines of you really should have thought this one through before we got to this point.  It’s not that I haven’t put thought and a little muscle into mowing my yard–I picked up one of those engine-less little reel mowers that require a lot more pushing because I thought it would be a good and simple way to incorporate a little more exercise and a little less carbon exhaust into my routine … but the end result has been I mow a lot less, it takes a lot longer to finish the yard, and the lawn looks like an overgrown mess.  Sometimes a retired neighbor of mine will even take pity on me and use his ride-on lawnmower to take care of my jungle while everyone else is away at work.

mower

You might be thinking, what’s the big deal?  Why the long monologue about your yard, Elizabeth?  How could this possibly relate to self-publishing?  The answer lies in the planning:

Making publishing decisions early will help your end result.

I’m talking about editing and putting together a strong, custom cover design.  These things will make a book far more successful than a book without–and putting them together at the last minute or even in the frenetic rush of the middle of your publication process can hamstring your ability to create a truly high-quality, attractive final product.  But your book’s appearance isn’t the only beneficiary of planning ahead: as others have said before–and no doubt with more panache–you simply can’t wait to start marketing until after you’ve published your book.  I mean, you can wait, but your plan is likely to fall apart under the pressures of the day-to-day realities of working, writing your next book, promoting your current book, and managing all of the other intricacies associated with sales … if you don’t have a sound plan and well-established marketing strategies.

Your marketing plan will help you to determine if your targeted audience is going to want a paperback or a hardcover, for example–and this knowledge creates a feedback loop to how you approach the publishing process which is far easier to exploit if you’ve started your marketing and planning process in advance.  What kind of cover design would appeal to your targeted audience?  You’ll know a lot more about them if you’re already in contact, before your book rolls off of the (digital, sometimes) printing press!

Perhaps this subject is only on my mind because I’m staring out my window at my soggy excuse for a yard, and wishing I’d had the foresight to have a plan for days like today–days where I don’t have the energy to mow a large lot with a little reel push mower, and when the weather exacerbates all of my finest procrastinatory tendencies.  Or perhaps it’s part of a larger whole–a larger set of decisions that I, and every other person working in the self-publishing world, face every day.  We can either let life get ahead of us, or we can feed those parts of ourselves that give us the foresight and energy to get ahead of it!  Some days its harder than others, but I hope you always feel convinced that …

 

You are not alone. ♣︎

 

ElizabethABOUT 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.
elizabeth speaks, in your corner, Uncategorized

In Your Corner : Want to win big at marketing? Unleash the wisdom of “Game of Thrones”!

Oh, I bet I could get myself into a lot of hot water for this kind of headline–from fans and the show’s detractors alike–but I can’t help it!  This paradigm shift of an HBO show (based, rather loosely at times, on George R.R. Martin’s bestselling book series) changed the way we watch television … for better or worse.  It ramped up the intensity of on-screen cruelties, particularly against women but sparing no one in the end, and has sparked some of the most interesting conversations about human nature and power that I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening in on–and yes, it has spawned its own raft of political memes during the current American presidential election season.

Game of Thrones isn’t the only pop culture machine to be churning out this kind of material … but it’s the show that everyone seems to be watching.  Or have an opinion about, as it were.  (A very very strong opinion, at that.)  So why do I love it–and what could Game of Thrones possibly offer a self-publishing author in respect to marketing acumen?

It’s all about consequences.

The similarities just about end there, but that’s plenty of food for thought.  Just about every five minutes, some character of other in the Game of Thrones universe makes a decision along the lines of:

game of thrones

Cersei Lannister (above) often serves as the show’s mouthpiece for raw human instinct: strive, dominate, circle the wagons, protect family, etc etc.  But the best part about her character’s storyline, and the narrative arc of the television series as a whole, is in the nature of action and consequence.  There’s no escaping the laws of physics: what goes up must come down, that sort of thing.  It might only take fifteen minutes of screen time for these actions-and-consequences scenarios to play out … but sometimes it takes five, or six, seasons to unwind the implications and effects of a decision some character made years back … and that George R.R. Martin probably made to write into the story over a decade ago

Which is … kind of like life.

And is kind of like … marketing!

Here’s the self-publishing parallel: it’s vitally important to consider how you plan on marketing your book, even before publication.  (Actions have consequences!)  You have an opportunity prior to publication to make decisions that can either help or hurt your marketing efforts after publication … sometimes long after.  And I guarantee you don’t want to be sitting in a room somewhere (in front of a roaring fire, with perfectly styled hair, and a mug of honeyed mead or whatever they drink in Pseudomedieval England With Bonus Dragons) thinking:

game of thrones

Which isn’t to say you should constantly battle to outpace regret.  There’s no such thing as a mistake-free life, just as there’s no such thing as a healthy parent-child dynamic in the Game of Thrones universe!  But you’re not a character in a niche television drama.  You’re an author, dangnabbit!  You’re not blind to the benefits of foresight … and you’re not trapped in the midst of a story you have no control over.  Every decision you make, from start to finish, drafting to publication, will have long-term consequences.  You can predict these consequences by being the most informed, educated, and responsible author you can be.  In a world of traditional publishing, this conversation wouldn’t be possible.  But in the world of indie, hybrid, and self publishing–it is.  You are in control of your book’s long-term success!  And …

 

You are not alone. ♣︎

ElizabethABOUT 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.

 

 

Advocacy in Self-Publishing, Choosing a Publisher, elizabeth speaks, in your corner, Uncategorized

In Your Corner : Shopping for a publisher? Three lessons from a lingerie counter.

No–I promise the title isn’t just for clicks!  One of the critical components of a conversation about lingerie that should be a part of a conversation about publishing–but often isn’t–is that of support.  How does your publisher affect your book sales?  Does your publisher offer support before, during, and after publication?  Does your publisher offer marketing solutions to help your book sell?  Making an informed decision prior to publication will help you long afterwards, as you transition into the life of a published author and begin to weigh some of the risks … and, hopefully, the rewards.

***

So what’s this about underwear and support?

lingerie

Lesson One:

Your publisher should be your advocate and ally, not just a platform.

In today’s competitive world, authors have more choices than ever in terms of where they take their manuscripts for publication–whether traditional publishing, hybrid publishing, or self-publishing.  We’re still in a somewhat weird place where the market is flexing, and where supergiant corporations like Amazon can afford to be monolithic and self-absorbed, but the paradigm is shifting in favor of the reader.  How do I mean that?  More hybrid and self-publishing companies are serving as fierce advocates for their authors above and beyond basic tech support.  The term “support” has come to mean a dedicated band of professionals working together to find a marketing solution for your specific book, and companies are sitting up and realizing that they need to do better.  Even traditional publishers have begun to realize that they need to be better, especially in respect to their treatment of their authors.  The downside of being a traditional publisher or massive corporation (like Amazon) today is that it takes a long time for even the clearest of realizations to trickle down into actual corporate behavior.  It’s like turning a behemoth around–smaller, more nimble companies will leap ahead of the curve…and this is what we’re seeing with small presses, hybrids, and completely self-sufficient self-publishing authors.  Don’t settle for mediocre support!

Lesson Two:

You’re paying for support–support–and that means highly structured, organized assistance.

Here’s another fundamental fact of the universe: when you pay someone to publish your book (according to the hybrid and self-publishing model) or allow someone to take a cut of your book’s royalties (according to the traditional publishing model), you are not paying for therapy.  You have the rightful expectation of seeing more than a tepid response to your book, a lukewarm attempt at promotion, or a scattershot approach to marketing.  You have every right to expect–and demand–meticulous, highly structured support.  Even if you choose not to pay for a full-fledged marketing campaign, you are the beneficiary of the best work of each professional you engage with over the course of the publication process.  And if you’re not getting it?  Here’s where feedback is important.  There are two ways to go about giving feedback: asking for better treatment, and actually taking your money elsewhere.  Realistic expectations are important, but if you’re worried that you’re not getting real advocacy from your publisher, it might be time to start asking the tough questions.

Lesson Three:

A good publisher + good marketing + your book = good sales.

The implications are clear, right?  If one of these components is broken, every other element in the formula for success will fall out of joint.  If sales are not strong, apply a microscope to the work done by your publisher.  Are they showing real dedication?  Do they display a sense of organization and interest in your work, specifically?  A half-baked marketing plan will only ever produce half-baked sales figures, and a haphazard publishing package will take you to the exact same place.  It’s hard to strike the balance as a self-publishing author paying for a minimalist publishing package, but there are still options.  Don’t be content with the first bare-bones self-publishing website you stumble across!  Read the fine print.  Call up the help center.  See what all is available to you as an author in terms of targeted support and guidance.  Only you can decide how much of the marketing process you want to take on, and how to spend your money effectively.  Don’t let a company decide that for you!

You are not alone. ♣︎

ElizabethABOUT 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 Reviews, elizabeth speaks, in your corner, Marketing Your Self-Published Book, outskirts press, Uncategorized

In Your Corner : Putting the Pieces Together

Figuring out how to navigate the world of book marketing can be a hazardous task, with many unmarked dangers–and shortcuts to safe passage–awaiting the self-publishing author. Over the last three weeks, I have introduced some of those campaign components which I happen to think are vital and important:

The problem, of course, is that while all of these probably sound like good ideas, they also require a lot of work.  And by “a lot of work,” I mean they require both time and a fairly discrete set of skills––each.  That is, the skills and even equipment required to craft that polished press release may have very little natural overlap with the skills and equipment required to craft an impactful video trailer.

“Well, what about Google?” you ask, and fairly.  “What about YouTube?  Can’t I look up some tutorials and put something together myself?”

Yes, yes you can!  And there are some really fantastic free guides out there.  I always recommend looking to the “making-related” articles in peer-reviewed periodicals like Publisher’s Weekly and WIRED throughout the year, even when you’re not working on a specific project, to see what sorts of new ideas and tools are being put out there.  And the quality of instruction on YouTube videos has improved greatly!  I’m not going to lie: the Internet is my go-to place when I need to learn how to do something for the first time, whether it’s to refine my (practically nonexistent) origami skills or how to snake my toilet.  (Don’t ask.)

But some of the “barriers to entry,” as we like to call them, are still up–even with the Internet and YouTube and Google in play.  I successfully snaked my toilet … after an hour of “practicing.”  (Read: “flailing wildly.”)  I know I didn’t have an hour to burn that day, but the toilet needed to be done.  And snaking is a relatively simple task compared to some of the many involved in, say, acquiring the rights to an audio file you want to play behind your book trailer video.  Or tracking down email addresses for booksellers, reviewers, and other industry influencers to create an email distribution list.  Templates and virtual instructions can sometimes fail us at crucial moments–or inflate the time required to accomplish what needs accomplishing beyond what we can spare.

If only there was somewhere we could turn that provided professional insight and assistance with our marketing campaigns!  Okay, okay, I know it’s a little on the nose, but I really do recommend paying for at least one consultation with a PR Publicist when you’re looking to put out a press release, a graphic designer or videographer when you’re crafting your book trailer video, and someone on the inside–with real experience–when it comes to tracking down credible book reviewers.

There are, as always, several ways you can go about this–you can contact these people individually, or you can opt to pay for a bundle of services that put all of these professionals under one roof (digitally speaking, at least).  Do your research, shop around for the best deals, and weigh your priorities against your marketing budget.  (Yes, you need one of those!)  Do what needs to be done to get you back to what you really love–writing–and cuts down on the time you spend fumbling around with that toilet snake.

You are not alone. ♣︎

ElizabethABOUT 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.