Tag Archives: Writing

Marketing/self publishing with Harry Steinman

by

Doors & Windows 004When you first begin anything, there is cause to be frightened of the unknown. Searching out unfamiliar territory and trying to get everything you need lined out for a new book project is no exception. Usually, if a door closes a window will open. Harry Steinman is here to give you some ideas about how to bypass the window and the door and knock out a wall instead. Need funding to get that book going? Here are some ideas.

The Kindness of Strangers:

How To Fund a Self-Published Novel With Kickstarter

By Harry Steinman, a One-Hit Wonder

Like it or lump it: self-publishing costs money. Every element of your book must be excellent. You must spend your hard-earned shekels or your book will look amateurish.

Good things are rarely cheap, and cheap things are rarely good. Don’t skimp on buying the expertise you need, and don’t publish unless your writing is as good as the work of the design and production experts you hire. You’re book is up against almost 2 million eBooks and nearly 30 million hard cover and paperback books—and that’s on Amazon alone. If you’re going to go head-to-head against 32 million other works, yours has to be letter-perfect.

First, a quick review of what I spent. Some of my purchases were ill-considered—I didn’t follow my eBook-focused strategy and wasted money on printing. (I should have handed paper books to a POD printer.)

1. Structural edit: $1200
2. Line and copy editing: $740
3. ISBN #s (purchase of 10): $250
4. Bar Code (for point-of-purchase price scanning): $25
5. Design and print bookmarks: $70
6. eBook conversion: $150
7. Print ARCs: $100
8. Cover and interior design: $1500
9. Shipping: $220
10. Print 500 books: $1873

Total: $6128.

My original budget was $5000 and I set out to raise half that through a program called Kickstarter.

Kickstarter http://www.kickstarter.com/hello is a website that helps people raise money for creative projects. Each creator—artists, writers, sculptors, inventors, filmmakers, musicians, and others—provides potential sponsors with information about his or her project, including a brief video pitch. Sponsors make pledges on the Kickstarter website. If the artist meets the funding goal on time, pledges are collected and transferred to the artist, less a 5% fee to Kickstarter. Amazon Payments charges a fee of 3 to 5% for collection and disbursement of funds. Sponsors enjoy the security of knowing that pledges aren’t collected if the funding goal isn’t met.

On July 13, 2012, I launched a $2500 Kickstarter project. During the 30-day pledge-raising period, my project that raised $3,027. Direct contributions raised an additional $1,185 for a total of $4,212. After fees, I grossed $3,909. After paying for the rewards to backers, collateral materials, and shipping, I netted about $3400—a bit more than half the cost of self-publishing Little Deadly Things. http://littledeadlythings.com/

So, how do you use Kickstarter to raise funds for your self-publishing project? Hard work plus a few basics is all you need. Here’s what I learned.

Write a damned good book and a perfect Kickstarter pitch. Twelve percent of my funding—one out of every eight dollars—came from strangers browsing Kickstarter for interesting projects. Indifferent pitches produce few pledges. Here is mine: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/littledeadlythings/help-publish-little-deadly-things

Aim low. Set a funding goal that you can attain or exceed. If you fall short of your goal, your project will not be funded.
End your project on the second weekend of the month. The first paycheck of the month pays the bills. The second check is more disposable. Don’t end a project at month end, when the money’s spent.

Short projects work better than long ones. Maintain a sense of urgency, and stay focused. Most successful projects are open for thirty days.

Backers help people they like. People you know won’t care about your project so much as they will care about you. They don’t have to like your book to support you. You’re looking for a pledge, not a pat on the back.

Everybody likes a hero. Nobody likes a mooch. Use social networks wisely. For months, I posted daily on Facebook about my novel’s progress. The posts were very brief, always with a photo. I worked very hard on writing short, interesting entries. People experienced my journey vicariously and, by leaving comments and “liking” my posts, followers developed the habit of being supportive. That meant that I needed to mention my Kickstarter project only three times—not enough to annoy, but enough that one-third of my pledges came through the Little Deadly Things’ Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/LittleDeadlyThings
You must have a project video. It doesn’t have to be fancy. Check out the LDT video. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/littledeadlythings/help-publish-little-deadly-things It’s clearly home grown, but it worked. An extremely simple video from writer Kelly Thompson, raised over three times her $8000 goal. Check it out: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/532638631/the-girl-who-would-be-king

Keep your video short. 238 people clicked on my five-minute video, but only 20% watched to the end. Your video should be well under three minutes.

Communicate well. Successful projects require strategic Updates. Too few, too many, or overly long Updates can mean failure. Short sentences and paragraphs are easier to read, and photos draw the eye. Here’s an example: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/littledeadlythings/help-publish-little-deadly-things/posts/296142

Rewards rule! The perceived value of the reward should approximate the size of the pledge. Browse Kickstarter to see what other project creators offer.

Rewards, II. You must include low-dollar value rewards. Nearly one out of three of my Kickstarter backers pledged $10. Their reward was an eBook, (which carried no inventory or shipping costs).

Rewards, III. International backers prefer eBook rewards due to extra shipping costs and customs fees. If you ship print books internationally, indicate “Gift” on the customs form to avoid customs fees charged to the backer.

Rewards rule, IV. Shipping is the tail that wags the dog. I underestimated these costs. Also, I offered posters as one of the rewards. I had to purchase mailing tubes and extra postage. Wish I’d thought that through!

Do NOT kick in your own money in order to hit your goal. It may be considered money-laundering. Get caught, and your project will be taken down and the pledges cancelled.

Compliment Kickstarter with direct mail. One-third of my support came from people who do not frequent the internet. Bone up on how to write a fund-raising appeal. Ask local shopkeepers how they handle requests for donations. Six percent of my proceeds came from shops I patronize.

Support one of the nation’s premier young writers program. Read Little Deadly Things. Little Deadly Things funds a quarterly scholarship for the Grubstreet Young Adults Writers Program. http://www.grubstreet.org/index.php?id=22 You can help YAWP—and read a damned good novel—with your purchase. Buy from the LDT site, or from Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Little-Deadly-Things-ebook/dp/B0093O0UBI Or borrow the Kindle version free, from the Amazon Prime Lending Library. (Amazon pays me a royalty for each loan. It’s a good deal!)

Kickstarter is a heckuva lot of work. But it’s worthwhile. Best of all, it will make you a better writer.

Next week: the magic and mystery of cover design and interior design. Don’t miss it!

cover

A Kindle best-seller

on sale on Amazon or www.littledeadlythings.com

Every purchase supports the Young Adult Writers Program at grubstreet.org

Stonefly by Scott J. Holliday

by

I do a lot of book reviews, but choose to preface very few with a personal message. This one I have to. This is one of my very favourite books of the year so far. If you have not checked out this book yet, you are doing yourself a disservice. I highly recommend this and am seriously looking forward to the next book!

You can find Scott here:

http://www.scottjholliday.com/

Here is the description from Goodreads:

Jacob Duke has come back to Braketon­—a sleepy, backwoods town bordering Dover, the mental institution where he spent his formative years. Jacob’s intention is to enjoy Braketon’s woods and water for the first time as a free man, but he soon discovers that Dover isn’t through with him yet. Driven by a curse that compels him to grant any wish he hears, Jacob is drawn back into his disturbing former life by a young boy’s desire to see his own father dead.

Complicating things are Lori Nelson, Jacob’s friend-with-benefits who continues to put new boyfriends in his path, and Motown, Jacob’s friend from his years at Dover, who carries a secret that rocks Jacob’s foundation and makes him question his own morality.

Stonefly is a suspense thriller that rockets to a surprising, but satisfying end. Stay tuned for the second book in the series, entitled Broken Horizon.

ebook
Published June 1st 2013 by Haley Road Publishing
ISBN13
9780988555426
edition language
English
original title
Stonefly: Book one of the Jacob Duke series
series
Jacob Duke #1

Here are my thoughts on this lovely novel:

This book may have the most original plot that I have seen so far this year. When I first read the blurb for this, I was a bit concerned that it might go off in the sillies since the character would more or less be like a genie. Thankfully, I was wrong. Not only was it not silly, but it was gripping, well written and engaging from start to finish.

One of the things that made this book so enjoyable for me was the quirkiness of the main character. He is dealing with a blessing/curse situation that he inherited and has no control over. He has spent years trying to hide from the power he has to no avail, and it has created a pretty sad life for him to have to endure.

There is a lot of good humour in this book and after getting to know the main character for a couple of chapters, you can’t help but love him and feel bad for his unfortunate situation. He was such a realistic character that at times I forgot I was reading and felt as if I were walking in his shoes. It was easy to care for him.

The one thing I did notice about this novel that I thought could have been worked over a bit was the places where the main character flashed back to earlier events. The writing was still good, but the timing was often bad. Just when another scene would get interesting it would cut away, therefore dissolving the tension somewhat of what would have otherwise been a stellar scene.

Overall this was a very fun and exciting book that gripped at my emotions, made me laugh and had a very surprising ending. I am very much looking forward to the next book in the series.

This Review is based on a digital Galley from Netgalley.

Author of the week

by

My featured author this week is S.K. Nicholls. You can find her blog here: http://redclayandroses1.wordpress.com/

 

She is a very nice person that has a lot of interesting things to talk about.  Go say hello to her:)

 

She has written a novel called

Red Clay and Roses

 

Here is the description:

 

 

Red Clay and Roses is a fictional account of a true story.  Hannah is led down a trail of tears of sorrow and joy in 2012 as she uncovers the ledger’s mystery and her own cousin, Sybil’s, deep, dark, well kept secrets.  In a world that belonged to the white man, Sybil’s diaries and story reveal that she was an unconventional, independent, high spirited young white woman in the 1950s-60s who dreamed of going off to Hollywood to star in movies.  In her reality, she dares to deviate from the norm to open her own business.  Sybil becomes the love interest of Nathan, an African American, whose father works for a criminal abortionist.  Nathan is deeply involved in the Civil Rights Movement and Sybil is torn between living the mundane life of her peers or a life that involves fastening herself to a taboo relationship.  The seeds of prejudice have been sewn by a society that seethed with bigotry.  Nathan is in medical school.  His sister is missing and he cannot know why.  His parents are grief stricken.  The community doesn’t seem to care.  Heartache mounts as he comes to realize he may never know what has become of her.  Sybil’s pain is greater as she is forced by society to accept a marriage to a man she does not truly love.  She is haunted by her past.  Her troubles deepen and her path crosses Nathan’s again.  The pain is swifter and sharper this time.  It is in the light of modern transition that Sybil’s lover is redeemed and she finds her peace at the age of eighty years with Hannah’s help.  Future generations are offered an opportunity to experience a harmony that was not available only a short time ago.

Marketing/Self Publishing with Harry Steinman

by

Sometimes Self Publishing can make you feel like a tiny boat in a big ocean. It is always a good idea to be prepared and know what you are getting yourself into before jumping into anything, and Harry Steinman is here to help you navigate. He makes a rather funny looking compass, but he always points you in the right direction. He missed last week, so quiet your applause and give him some crap before you tell him how helpful he is. I do.

 

 

Pantser or Planner? Part Two.

Preparing to Self-Publish

by Harry Steinman, a Guy Who Did a

Few Things Right

 

     Last post described tasks that an author seeking to self-publish    must consider.

                      This post covers a few more.

Quick review: if you self-publish, you must develop a publishing strategy that distinguishes between eBook and print. You need a budget and should read the fine print of any vendor agreements. Pay heed to the requirements of major reviewers such as Kirkus or Publishers Weekly. Understand the significance of ISBN ownership.  Cover design is crucial and I promised more on that topic shortly. I promised suggestions on how to create an Amazon strategy that includes the Kindle Select Program. I promised to share a copy of my timeline and budget…in exchange for an honest review of Little Deadly Things on Amazon. (Contact me for a review copy.)  Finally, I promised another post, due last week.

I missed my deadline. Apologies. There was the matter of oral surgery, a periodontist and a trowel. Two days later, I endured a spinal injection that involved a hypodermic needle the size of a turkey baster. Then I packed seventeen years’ possessions into a 17’ moving truck, drove an hour, unloaded and collapsed.

No exaggeration, except the trowel.

            Back to your self-publishing to-do list. You should include the following tasks in your planning timeline:                     

           

1.     Solicit blurbs for your back cover from writers and from experts on the topic of your book. For example, one of my back-cover blurbs was from a PhD in chemistry since LDT deals with nanotechnology. Most contributors will not mind if you edit or punch up their blurb, but do review those edits with the contributors.

2.     Use a professional photographer for your author photo. You’ll need a high-resolution version and a lower-resolution version, and color and B&W. Remember that the photo will appear on some websites as a thumbnail, so size and clarity is vital.

3.     Manage your electronic presence, Part I. Acquire a URL for your book title so that no one else takes it. But concentrate your web efforts on an author site, not a site for a specific book. I didn’t do this and now I have a nice site, for my novel.  www.littledeadlythings.com  But what happens when I publish the next book? I’ll need a site for each novel, or have to migrate the LDT site to an author site. I should have created an author site. That way I could have different pages for different books.

4.     Manage your electronic presence, Part II. Create a Facebook page for your book, one that’s separate from your personal FB page. Love it or hate it, Facebook is the center of the social media universe. My novel’s FB page had measurable commercial value. (My Facebook ads produced no measureable effect on sales.)

5.     Manage your EP, Part III. Set up an Amazon author page with a brief bio and that professional photo you created. (Ditto for Goodreads if you wish to inhabit that world.) For inspiration, browse other writers’ author pages on Amazon. Look at the “Book Descriptions”, and, “From the author” sections. Format yours using lots of white space to make it easier to read. Nobody reads unbroken hunks of text. Ditto, long paragraphs. Be aware that you will need to use some HTML for line breaks, bold, italic, etc. It’s pretty easy to learn the basics. Check out LDT for one example of formatting. While you’re on the page, purchase a few copies. http://www.amazon.com/Little-Deadly-Things-ebook/dp/B0093O0UBI

6.     Manage your EP, Part IV. Set up Google Alerts for the topics covered in your book. This will help you identify constituencies with which you may wish to begin conversations as part of your marketing. Set up Google Alerts for your name and your book’s name. It’s pretty cool to see your name.

7.     Print bookmarks and hand ‘em out like candy. Note well! Do not forget contact info on the bookmark. (I did!) Carry bookmarks with you and give ‘em out to everyone you meet. I invariably ask people, “Do you like to read books?” then present a bookmark and 15-second spiel. Have fun with it.

8.     Arrange for the conversion of your novel to eBook format, MOBI for Kindle and EPUB for the rest of the universe. There are expensive and inexpensive vendors. I chose a very good, very fast and very inexpensive vendor ($150) and was very happy. Proof your book after conversion. There are likely to be a few errors in translation. For example, the title of one of my chapters is, “Gray Goo”. The converted version read, “Gray God”.

9.     Hire a second copy editor to find errors that your copy editor missed, and to find the mistakes you introduced because you just couldn’t leave the final manuscript alone. Some readers are intolerant of errors and their reviews highlight typos in unequivocal language. Sheesh!

10.  Plan your Launch Party. You deserve one helluva celebration. Some launch parties are obligatory events with forced gaiety—think, baby showers—so make yours special. I invited experts from fields that were mentioned in my novel to speak at my launch. Some of the themes in Little Deadly Things included child abuse, nanotechnology, water pollution and cleanup, animal behavior and dog training. The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals allowed me to use its training room, a very large and inviting space, at no charge, for the launch.  I’d volunteered for the organization, so they knew me, and I was happy to share my publicity. A popular radio personality MC’d as a favor to me because I’d done some favors for his family. A local restaurant chain catered at a discount and provided a few freebie coupons as door prizes. I purchased a couple tee shirts from the MSPCA for door prizes.
 The speakers will draw their own followers—and that means book and Amazon reviews from the party-goers.

If you do these tasks, and the ones mentioned in my last post—and if you do them more skillfully than I did—you’ll do an excellent job of self-publishing.

Next week: how to finance the whole megillah.

info@littledeadlythings.com 

www.facebook.com/littledeadlythings

cover

A Kindle best-seller

on sale on Amazon or www.littledeadlythings.com

Every purchase supports the Young Adult Writers Program at grubstreet.org

Great Free book for writers (and undeserved praise for me)

by

First of all, I would like to say that I actually asked the following author to do this so you aren’t allowed to be too hard on him. Unless you were planning on being hard on me, then by all means, take your rage out on him. :) Please welcome the amazing Dean Orion to Readful Things. I read this book a few months ago, and it has become one of my writing bibles. Seriously, if you are an author or hopeful, you want this book!

This is my shameless plug for an author that deserves it

and also my admission

that I am his groupie. Really, I got the T-shirt to prove it.

Greetings to all my fellow Readful Things devotees!

My name is Dean Orion. After twenty-five years in the trenches of writing in the entertainment business, I recently wrote a book called “Live To Write Another Day, A Survival Guide for Screenwriters and Creative Storytellers.” The idea behind it was pretty straightforward. I simply set out to share my experiences and at the same time offer what I hope to be helpful advice and inspiration to my fellow writers.

*He is too nice and humble to say this but I’m not…find his book

HERE

The book has been out a couple months now and has received some very nice reviews, not the least of which came from our wonderful Ionia, who is now officially my new best friend.

And now she’s giving me the floor on her blog yet again, to plug a free promotion for my book that’s running on Amazon this week, May 29-31. I hereby proclaim her the patron saint of writers everywhere!

If you’d like to learn more about me or my book, please visit my website or my Amazon or Goodreads author page. (I’m sure Ionia has put a couple of easy to find links around here somewhere.) website: http://www.thewritergene.com/the-book

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6982439.Dean_Orion

I could go on of course, but in the interest of being a polite guest, I will leave it at that. If you’re a writer (or any type of artist who’s serious about the creative process), please download “Live To Write Another Day” while it’s free this week on Amazon. I’d love to hear your feedback and continue the conversation.

Write on!
Dean

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheWriterGene

twitter: https://twitter.com/TheWriterGene

Through the dark of night

by

 

She woke on tender angel wings
like dew drops after mist
a nameless, faceless lover
with a tender, haunting kiss

his breath her only warmth
many nights without a flame
and when his shadow was no more
he took with him his name

now she wanders lonely through
darkened forests of despair
searching for his heartbeat
Breathing poisoned air

though not a witch who cursed her
nor ancient evil spell
not the siren’s symphony
to create this hell

Stumbling through brambles
bloody feet and loss of sight
screaming at her lost reflection
in the infernal night

What is this curse upon me
she searched the sky above
it has a name, a purpose
this evil known as love

at once a rushing strength
overwhelming desire
what started as a simple spark
grew into raging fire

from this fire he sprang forth
her new muse was born
and love became a gentle thing
repairing what was torn

A hilarious kick in the saddlebags

by

As a book reviewer I tend to get overwhelmed at times and the reviews come a bit slowly. What usually annoys me is when people get in a hurry for me to get to their book and start asking me about their position in my book list. In this case, rather than be annoyed, I laughed myself silly. In case you have not heard of him yet, may I introduce Mr. Mac Black. He is working on a series of books about Derek and the various trouble he finds. You can check out the books

HERE

HERE

and

HERE

So in my email inbox this morning, this is what I found. You can’t argue with his logic.

Ionia, dear Ionia, is it possible that you
Have forgotten about dear Derek – still standing in a queue?
Your multi-tasking well-filled day I know must keep you busy.
The things you do (so few you don’t) are inclined to make me dizzy!
Being a bloggerextraordinaire @ readfulthingsdotcom
Should be more than enough for any sane person, but you go on and on…
You cannot stop, it seems to me. If you aren’t writing tales
Of fiction, then it is verse that rhymes. The tempo never fails.
Pianoforte is then combined with running a marathon!

Are you sleepless daily from daybreak until the next day’s dawn?
Taking and sharing photographs, done while running, book in hand,
Achieving shots with no sign of blur: that I cannot understand…
But being a mummy with four kids – is that what gets you through?
Are they the ones who do the blogs? Is it nothing to do with you?
How can you achieve the impossible and still have time to eat?
Absorbing all the books you read, and that is no mean feat,
With each one reviewed eventually, dissected oh so well,
An author waiting hopefully for whatever truth you tell.

The only thing I find that’s odd is to do with books you keep
For future reading and review – it must be quite a heap!
And to have a stack of books upstanding taller than yourself
Must be a danger! Have you thought of buying yourself a shelf?

A final word from Derek T: he knows you are working well.
You’ll get around to mentioning him, and help his books to sell?
From me, a special thanks for all the things you blog each day
It makes Scotland and America seem not so far away
Forgive my little try at verse. You don’t have to answer back
But I know that you cannot stop yourself. Yours, so sincerely: Mac.

 

 

***It appears he has me pegged. I did answer him. I also nearly giggled myself into oblivion. I would like to thank Mac for giving me another reason to enjoy doing this each day, and you too Derek. Also, I’d like to take a moment to remind everyone that authors are some of the hardest working people there are and ask that you check out Mac’s books.

Blogger of the Week

by

  It is Tuesday, but I missed Monday’s blogger of the week, so this week it is going to be late, better late than never. :)

This week’s blogger is always kind to everyone else out there in bloggerland. She is smart, funny and a great person to get to know. Her blog features a variety of interesting topics, many about writing, reading, books and her love of the literary world.

 

 

 

Please take a moment and visit Rachel’s lovely site here: http://wordlander.wordpress.com/

A blog to check out!

by

As I am currently supposed to be staying away from my computer for the moment and enjoying Tahoe, I will make this short. I got some reblog love this morning from a truly awesome blog. If you are a writer, you want to go here. Go check it out. This is one of those blogs you could dig through for hours and never get bored!

 

http://getmerewrite.me/

My Life After Now by Jessica Verdi

by

Lucy just had the worst week ever. Seriously, mega bad. And suddenly, it’s all too much—she wants out. Out of her house, out of her head, out of her life. She wants to be a whole new Lucy. So she does something the old Lucy would never dream of.

And now her life will never be the same. Now, how will she be able to have a boyfriend? What will she tell her friends? How will she face her family?

Now her life is completely different…every moment is a gift. Because now she might not have many moments left.–Description from Goodreads

Paperback, 287 pages
Published April 2nd 2013 by Sourcebooks Fire
ISBN
1402277857 (ISBN13: 9781402277856)
edition language
English

My Thoughts:

This book is heartbreaking, beautiful and the kind of novel will stay with you possibly even forever. I do not think I will ever hear about this subject again without thinking of this character.

I wasn’t sure what I would think of this book when I first started reading it. This is difficult subject matter and I thought it might be too sad to read. It turns out that it is pretty realistic, but it is written in such a way that it offers you hope for the young woman that is the main character.

You struggle with her as she learns the truth of her situation, learns about her options and the disease itself. You are there as she discovers that her life may not end abruptly and without warning as she first feared. This is an incredibly moving book with many different facets that make it interesting.

The family dynamic is wonderful. The parents are supportive of her and try to improve her situation with understanding and compassion, yet the author also gave them time to grieve and react to the news of their daughter’s illness. I thought the relationship the main character shared with her birth mother was tragic, but also resulted in a beautiful gift that made this story even more worth reading.

The romance is plausible and the author did a superior job of making the here today gone tomorrow feeling of high school relationships shine through. It takes talent for an adult to write as a teen, and Jessica Verdi did it wonderfully.

The only thing I would say that I would have liked to see and perhaps wasn’t quite explored enough, is that it is not always the one night stand or the creepy guy who sleeps around that can be the cause of this disease. I felt it would have been important to focus on the possibility of her ex boyfriend being someone who should have been tested for the disease. I also found it very hard to believe that one of the characters would have kept her mouth shut about what she knew in a certain situation when she had been built up as a spoiled brat who hated the main character.

All in all, this was an amazing book. It deserves a read. If you have a teenager, it might be a good choice. This book covers some harsh reality, but in a way that I think would speak to a teen audience in such a manner that they could not only understand, but also relate to.

Very well done.

This review is based on a digital ARC.