publishing – Page 5 – Self Publishing Advisor

Show & Tell: Book Doctor on Backstory

The Book Doctor offers writing advice for the self-publishing author:

Q: What is back story?

A: Backstory (or back story) refers to the background of characters, the biographical information that made them what they became. It explains why they do the things they do or want the things they want. It gives readers an understanding of the motivations and goals of a character. In essence, it tells a story that happened before the one they are reading; hence, backstory.

Backstory can be revealed through flashback, thoughts, narrative, or dialogue. Personally I prefer backstory to be revealed through dialogue, which inherently shows, rather than tells, as you’ll see in my examples.

Let’s say that at age forty, Mary is studying to become a medical researcher, and you want readers to know why. I’ll give a few examples of ways to fill in with backstory. Each of my examples could go on a little longer and give more detail, but backstory is best when it comes out in short bits that do not halt the flow or kill the pace of the story.

Backstory through Narrative:

Mary had an eight-year-old daughter who had died of lung cancer, although the doctors were baffled about how such a young girl could have contracted the disease.

Backstory through thoughts or flashback:

Mary lifted the wilted rose, brought it close to her face, and sniffed it. The powdery texture and sweet scent took her back to her daughter’s hospital bed, the dying roses on the bedside table, while the child struggled for breath. What went wrong? How could an eight-year-old die from lung cancer?

Backstory through Dialogue:

“I don’t talk about it much,” Mary told her school administrator, “but I had an eight-year-old daughter who died of lung cancer. We never knew what caused it, how she could get lung cancer at her age. I want to discover something that will keep others from going through what we went through.”

Bobbie Christmas, book editor, author of Write In Style (Union Square Publishing), and owner of Zebra Communications, will answer your questions, too. Send them to Bobbie@zebraeditor.com. Read more “Ask the Book Doctor” questions and answers at http://www.zebraeditor.com

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Start Summer Right. Write Now toward Publishing

Finishing a book is not as daunting as it sounds. The key is to write something everyday. Then, use the Internet for accountability. Interesting right? Write everyday, and publish everyday—either on a bulletin board, a writing group, or on a personal “blog.”

There are a number of reasons to do this.

1) The public commitment will help motivate you. When you publicly declare that you will add content to your blog every day, or every week, you are more bound to complete your task.

2) If you choose the right forum, people may offer to help you. (Note, if you choose the wrong forum, and find people are being counter-productive, simply change venues).

3) By creating an Internet presence this early in the process, you can start to generate interest in your book when it comes out—either search engine interest, or human interest. Both are good when it comes time to promote and sell your book later on.

You may wish to search Google for some forums in which to participate. You’ll be writing and more and you may make some new friends and/or fans.

Then when you are ready to publish your book, consider all of those things we’ve discussed previously in finding the right self-publisher to meet your goals.

Have fun and keep writing.

Choosing a Publisher

A Few Tips for the Self-Publishing Author

From literary fiction and poetry genres to self-help and how-to, self-published books are finding their way into reader’s hands on a consistently increasing rate. Of course it follows that custom self-publishing companies are growing in number and service options to meet that demand. Here are a few points to consider when determining the best direction for your book:

1. Keep all of your rights and more of the profits

The intellectual property and copyright of your book is very valuable. You should always retain all your rights. When considering a publisher, be sure that you retain all rights to your work and that their contract does not tie you down for ANY amount of time and does not penalize you for leaving early (many do). It’s your book and your future.

2. Set your own pricing

Would you rather control your retail price or leave that in the hands of the publisher? How about the best of both worlds? The publisher should recommend a price based upon market knowledge, but leave the final decision up to you. Look for a publisher that provides this flexibility. A few publishers even provide online calculator to help you estimate and even set your own book pricing.

3. Full-service distribution and flexible print runs

Ingram and Baker & Taylor are the two largest book wholesalers in the United States. Many publishers only submit your book to one or the other. Few publishers distribute through both. Look for one that does. Ideally, your book could sell 50 copies, or 50,000 copies. In either case, you should never have to pay additional out-of-pocket printing costs or manage fulfillment. But do also look for a publisher that allows you to purchase copies at low base prices in small quantities so you can manage an inventory of books on your own for things like book signings and events.

Once you have found the self-publisher that fits your direction and goals let the fun begin!

Self-Publishing

Self-publishing Manuscript Length Information

As you continue to develop your content, consider your market, and research self-publishing options, it might be helpful to consider publishing standards regarding page count.

The most important thing to recognize is the difference between your manuscript page size (which is most likely 8.5 x 11) and your published book trim size (which will most likely be smaller). Whenever a publisher discusses page count, or per-page pricing, it is based upon the size of the published page.

The most common published book trim sizes are 5.5 x 8.5 and 6 x 9, although many publishers will offer several more options.

If your manuscript is 100 pages long at 8.5 x 11, you probably have closer to 200 pages of finished text when the book is published. The good news is, your book just got twice as long, which in many cases improves the perceived value of your published book. On the other hand, some authors will be surprised when they see pricing based upon 200 pages instead of 100. Be prepared.

Keep in mind that production cost is directly related to page count. The more pages your book has, the more it will cost to print. Therefore, most authors keep their books between 100-300 published pages.

Have fun and keep writing.

Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Choosing a Publisher, Self-Publishing

Self-publishing Marketing Tools

Whether you’ve self-published several books or just now penning your first manuscript, elements of book marketing and sales techniques are no doubt on your radar. Quality self-publishing options provide them. It’s never too early, or late, to begin your research into relevant marketing tools and options like:

Amazon Search Inside
Book Video Trailers
Co-op Advertising in places as relevant in as the New York Times Book review.

How are you going to employ those? The possibilities in today’s marketplace are endless.

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