geoffwakeling

Premium Friday

May 4, 2012Leave a comment

Some people seem to love it, other’s seem to hate it. Personally, I think that Smashwords is a brilliant tool for e-book self publishing, and though I am yet to make any actual sales through the portal, I fail to see why people don’t utilise it more. Yes, KDP Select limits Smashwords use, and the difficulty of withdrawing previously distributed books so as not to break Amazon’s guidelines can be hard. However, if you’re never going to opt into KDP Select, like so many authors I know, Smashwords can be a great place to sell.

Today, I finally looked at my dashboard and saw the result I wanted – Premium Status. This means that Inside Evil can now be distributed to stores such as Sony, Apple and Barnes and Noble. Unfortunately, as a British resident, I can’t use B&N’s own Pub-It application, so finally getting my work into their ebook stores is a great thing.

Gaining Premium status with Smashwords wasn’t too difficult, and if I’d have avoided a few hurdles, then it would have been achieved far earlier.

Prepare your Kindle document first. I did almost nothing aside from changing the indexing to produce a Smashwords copy for the Premium Catalogue. Kindle’s guidelines are, on the whole, easier to understand. So preparing your Kindle copy first might save you a lot of time and confusion.
Remove your page numbers. This was something I didn’t realise I had to do, and it was flagged up in Smashwords, pushing back my approval but ultimately offering a better publishing format.
Avoid Tweaking. Being new to self-publishing, I’ve tweaked and changed, and tweaked again, several times. Whilst this isn’t so much of a hassle for Amazon as updating is very easy, every time you put a new version onto Smashwords, it’ll hold back your Premium Catalogue approval. If you can, get it right the first time so that you don’t have to constantly put yourself at the back of the queue when uploading a new version to Smashwords.

I’m obviously expecting a great flurry of sales now – not. Inside Evil should appear for distribution sales from one to two weeks depending on the platform. And, whether sales are made or not, I’m glad that the nice bold tick has appeared in my dashboard. It’s fulfilled my Friday.

Utilising Goodreads for book promotion

May 3, 20122 Comments

On many of the forums that I participate in, I repeatedly hear that Goodreads is a great place for book promotion. I’ve never really used Goodreads much before, mostly because I’m normally so busy writing that I don’t read many books. I’m a slow reader. I’m intent on reading every word rather than skimming through pages, to the point that if I feel I’ve missed something, I’ll re-read a paragraph. Thus, I don’t get through many books at all and therefore can’t participate in many of the discussion’s within Goodread’s boards.

Many people seem to warn against simply spamming Goodreads with book links, or risk facing a rebellion of readers and a multitude of one star reviews. I completely agree with this. I’d far prefer to not participate at all, than to simply dip in and out, posting book links all over the place. Communities such as forums and Goodreads are about communicating and being part of the group, and so I feel that you should never look to simply advertise. You get far more out of a community by actively engaging with people, than by being the annoyance who self-promotes and gives nothing back.

Herein lies my issue with Goodreads though because, whilst it seems to be highly populated, I HATE its interface. It’s forum interface must be one of the most horrible things I’ve ever come across, and I find it very hard to want to participate in groups. Not only is finding active discussions near impossible, but trying to keep updated with everything that is going on can be quite hard.

In the next month I’m going to persevere with Goodreads and see if I can get to grips with its horrible UI. If this challenge can be overcome, I’m sure I might be able to find some friends, readers, and even sell a few books. I’ll keep you updated on my findings. In the meantime, if anyone has any helpful pointers, I’d be more than happy to hear them.

Creating Characters

May 1, 2012Leave a comment

There’s nothing more I love than creating characters. Not than I can take the sole responsibility of forming these people. More often than not they present themselves in staggering vividness, and I have only to put finger to keyboard to allow their personalities to start appearing.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been seriously working on the sequel to Inside Evil. For my main character, Roberta Arlington, there’s a great transition to take place and I’m finding that, rather than being the strong willed and determined women I thought her to be, she’s actually decided to be far more fearful than I imagined. This has had a great effect on another major character for book two, who seems to be positively flourishing. Though only mentioned in the first title of the series, this secondary character plays a large role in future titles. However, I’ll refrain from actually writing their name here, for those who haven’t thought ahead and worked out who it is. 🙂

One of the things I love most about creating characters is how they transform and flesh themselves out with little help from me. A small grain of an idea, from a name, a face shape, or a simple spoken word, starts to snowball. Before long, you have this creation who has, by all accounts, pushed themselves into your mind and text on their own. I almost see it as a flashing of images. You never can quite catch their entire face in one moment, but the glint an an eye or the clench of a jaw pushes its way through the subconscious and makes them real.

I’m already loving writing again, rather than being plagued by the long winded editing process. It’s once again shown me just how intense and incredible writing can me. Where pages right themselves, and events which you’d never plotted, burst into animated life and start to shape your book. Though I had a specific idea for Roberta, she’s simply not playing ball. However, her resistance has proved vital for someone else’s growth, and I’m excited to see where this leads.

A Break from Advertising

April 19, 20121 Comment

When writing a book for the first time, you think that THAT is the hard part. However, when you hit that ‘publish’ button, whether it’s on Smashwords, Amazon or the various other places available for self-publishing, you discover that it’s only then that the hard work begins.

Unfortunately, most books simply don’t sell themselves. There needs to be time and effort into promoting, building a fan base, surfing forums (and by this I mean actively engaging in the community and not simply spamming book links) and getting your book and author name known. It’s a hard process. And, it takes a lot of time.

Having read on many forums and blogs that touting a single novel is often a waste of time because though you’ll get sales on one book, there’s no back catalogue for fans to then purchase, I’ve decided to cut back on advertising. Book sales are slow, but having done no real promoting in two weeks, I’m still getting the odd sale here and there. Meanwhile, the extra time means I can plough myself into writing the next Inside Evil book which, incidentally, is coming on rather well.

I think taking a break is probably a healthy option, and stops the advertising wheel from taking over your life. And, if I can put my energies into writing and publishing more work, it can only be a good step to take.

MYO – a new publishing resource

April 13, 2012April 13, 20127 Comments

There are a number of ways for indie writers to publish, including utilising Amazon, Smashwords and Barnes and Noble’s own self publishing kit, PubIt. Another small but growing resource is Make Your Offer (MYO) which offers a sales space to sell and barter for Ebooks.

The premise is quite good. Setting a price point on a book can be quite hard, especially if you only have a small number of titles out and can’t readily create a loss leader to encourage sales on other works. MYO allows the option for users to bid on your book, offering people the chance to read your sample and then make an offer on what they’ll pay for the title. You can specify a minimum approved bid and set the system to auto accept. Or, you can opt out of the bidding system and sell at a set price.

This is a growing community with currently less than 100 books available and a small number of members. But, everything has to start off small. The developers of MYO are constantly striving to make improvements which could see MYO continue to grow exponentially in the future. You can’t expect huge sales here, but you can expect a book community ready to make purchases and offer feedback.

I’m interested in how this website will work out, and for a first time novelist like me, who’s work got lost in the black hole of Amazon’s Kindle rankings almost immediately, the ability to have Inside Evil remaining visible for an extended period of time is welcomed. I’ll report back on how sales go, but any new way of selling and promoting Ebooks is surely of great use to the indie community.

Self Publishing – Providing the Crucial Bait

April 2, 20125 Comments

Today I was told that I had Anne Rice Syndrome. This is a very nice way of telling me that I’m doing something wrong. Anne Rice, the award winning author behind titles such as Interview with a Vampire and The Witching Hour is known for her long descriptive passages, causing readers to skip portions of the book. This is all very well for a well known author who’s work spreads by word of mouth and who doesn’t necessarily need that first paragraph hook. For me, however, changes need to be made to grip the reader immediately, rather than first setting the scene.

I’ve known that the first few pages of Inside Evil go to set the scene rather than jumping into the story. I’m no Tolkien, so I don’t spend 100 pages describing what Bilbo had for dinner, but the first 3/4 pages do set the scene of the craggy landscape where Ridgewood is set. If I were a well known author with lots of five star reviews, then yes, people would probably pick up, buy and read. However, i’m not, so a lack of instant appeal may cause readers to pass me by.

Ebooks, I feel, have a lot to do with this. As does Amazon’s Look Inside feature. Traditionally, if you bought a book, then you’d sit and read and indulge in descriptions. Certainly, I love that sort of written passage. However, with readers zapping through Amazon’s Look Inside feature and making decisions within paragraphs and pages, that instant grab factor has become vital.

So, what does it mean for me? My well meaning critique applauded my writing but suggested a first chapter rework so that readers are grabbed straight away. I’m considering it. I had hoped that the quality of writing would prevail and readers would become drawn into my described world. Perhaps i was wrong. I may attempt a rework, and then compare purchases to see if that first line hook is crucial in the long run. I will update on my findings!

My Newbie Editing Faux Pas

March 30, 2012Leave a comment

You’d think that, as a professional copywriter and blogger, I’d have adequate skills to proofread and edit my own novel. Wrong. The past few days I’ve been hermited away correcting an embarrassing amount of errors in Inside Evil. Luckily, due to my lack of promoting and poor first two week sales, few people have purchased the book. But, this is a rookie mistake that I won’t make again.

Matters first came to light when my sister bought the book and found a mistake on the FIRST PAGE. Talk about trying to get that first 10% sample correct, I’d failed miserably at the outset. As she read further, I became increasingly concerned over the number of problems she was finding. She’s a medical secretary and very anally retentive about her work lest something strewn with errors be placed in front of a consultant. She was very happy to correct my work, and I was glad to have her input, but it highlighted the vital need to EDIT, PROOFREAD and EDIT again.

Part of the problem with Inside Evil is that it’s been in my head for so many years that I know it off by heart. However, this makes editing and proofreading that bit harder as you’re far more likely to not notice mistakes because, though you think you’re carefully tinkering with each line, you’re actually scanning it.

Hiring an editor

There are various people in self publishing who say that using an editor is an essential requirement for any self publisher. Along with using freelance artists to create stunning and eye capturing covers, proofreaders and editors are essential if you’re to rid as many errors as possible and ensure an enjoyable read not stymied by poor writing skills.

Going it alone

However, editors cost money, and there are other self published authors who attest to editing yourself and not having to fork out hundreds of pounds on a novel which you have no idea how well it will do. Money made off the back of sold novels can be used for hiring professionals down the line for later works, but large expense shouldn’t be made at the outset.

I’d love to have the money to hire an editor, but that option is simply not open to me. However, with my sister’s eagle eye, it has proved that using someone else to look over your manuscript is vital. So too, is taking a break between finishing your novel and the final proofread. I wrote, edited, proofed and finished in one straight line; a probable reason for some mistakes. Taking some time out allows your mind to forget a little, and come back with fresh eyes.

If there’s one thing that you want to get right, it’s the editing. Who can enjoy a story when it’s riddled with mistakes? It’s an embarrassment for the author and it could result in a 1/2 star review which could throw your novel into the pit of never being bought again.

I’ll never make this rookie mistake again, and even if you can’t afford an editor, take a few days break before trying to proof yourself. Read your work aloud, tracing your finger along each line to give you even more of a chance to spot problems. As a minimum, also get someone else unafraid of highlighting every error, to take a look; you’ll be thankful to them in the long run.

A New Page

March 27, 2012March 27, 2012Leave a comment

Self-publishing is hard work and it’s very easy to get immediately disheartened when your novel is not a breakout success and you don’t sell 1,000 copies every day. The more I read on forums, the more I realise that many authors trying to break into the market have long periods without sales. This is especially true if you only have a single novel and no ready-made user base to sell to. Combine that with no reviews or ratings, and your novel is floating, adrift from it’s readers. Some selling on Amazon call it the ‘beige wall of shame’, and you’ll know exactly what I mean if you’ve become a sales junkie and keep hitting that refresh button in your Amazon bookshelf tab.

In attempt to try and dispel some of the myths surrounding self publishing sales, I’ve created a new sales tab which will show you exactly how many sales I’m making on various platforms. OK, this may be seriously embarrassing for me, especially if my sales continue at their current level – NIL. But, it’ll be a nice guide for myself and hopefully other newbies to look at. It is with hope that one day I can look back upon this and see that the whole self publishing business was worthwhile. There’s a fun and refreshing thread over at Kindle Boards where many authors not selling 10,000 a month can celebrate their two sales a week. Always makes nice reading when the paranoid gremlins start taking hold.

On a side note, whilst sales just haven’t really occurred, I’m not yet too bothered. From what I’m reading, March can be a quiet month and many newer writers on Amazon are seeing lagging sales too. Combine that with the fact that Inside Evil is still ‘pending review’ on Smashwords, and I truly haven’t got enough exposure to be selling books yet. Onwards and upwards, and lets hope that my sales data doesn’t continue to be horrendously low.