Making the transition from writing as a hobby to a career as an author involves a lot of decisions. Today at Ottawa Romance Writers, we were offering advice for those who want to publish independently and I wanted to share it.
I will assume that a manuscript has been completed, professionally edited and that a cover is ready to go. But now what?
First decision: do you want to distribute widely or stick with Amazon's Kindle Unlimited?
This decision will determine a lot of the choices that follow. What tends to be currently popular on Kindle Unlimited are shorter stories (50k or less) with a frequent rate of publication (at least once a month). Kobo and iBooks are claiming increasingly large shares of the publishing market, but going wide means not being able to participate in Kindle Unlimited.
If you decide to stick with Amazon and Kindle, then you only need to work with Amazon KDP. If you would like to go wide and want to keep things simple, then I recommend Direct 2 Digital, which allows you to use one platform to access all of the online publishing options. Personally, I also recommend publishing directly with Amazon, Kobo, and iBooks (though only if you have a Mac) but if you're just getting started, only having one spot to check can help to keep things manageable.
Second decision: set up your online presence.
First things first, I recommend setting up your website and your mailing list. I use Mailchimp but I know authors who prefer Mailerlite. For websites, you can go directly with Wordpress or a company like Wix or GoDaddy. But your website is going to be the base for your presence online and, unlike social media, your mailing list is something you control.
After you have a website and a way for readers to sign up for your mailing list, then you'll need to decide how often you'll send out a newsletter or do a blog. The book Newsletter Ninja has some great recommendations for creating an engaged newsletter audience. And for authors who don't publish rapidly, a regular blog can be a good way to keep yourself in your readers' minds. However often you decide to publish a blogpost, make sure it's a schedule you can keep up reliably.
Social media is still a good way to connect organically with readers, though most platforms now require you to pay in order to advertise. There are lots of choices, so choose the ones that work best for you and match your interests and personality. I find Hootsuite makes it easy for me to manage my social media feeds by scheduling posts in advance.
Third decision: what's your promotion strategy?
The biggest challenge to making sales as an author is discoverability, letting readers who would love your book know that it exists. Increasing your discoverability takes both time and money, so it will be up to you to make a budget for both.
When I first began publishing, blog tours and bloggers were one of the best ways to introduce yourself to new readers. Unfortunately, that's no longer as effective as it was. A number of review sites require a fee to submit your book (which is fair, given how much time bloggers spend reading books, writing reviews, and promoting authors).
Paid advertising on Bookbub, Amazon, and Facebook can help you to reach new readers, but it will be up to you to decide how much you want to spend. Kobo runs promotions for their directly published authors, but you need to apply for them. Which means you need to apply regularly, which takes time.
Multi-author promotions can work, but often require an investment in swag or book giveaways. Conferences will also give you an opportunity to connect with readers, but again require a substantial investment in time and money.
Finding a strategy that works for you will be a matter of trial and error and it will be constantly evolving as the market evolves. Tracking which promotions you try and your sales can help you to figure out which strategies were most effective.
I wish I had a guaranteed "this will always work" option to offer, but sadly, what works for one author won't necessarily work for another. This is one of the reasons why we spend so much time complaining about how hard writing can be. Because it can be a frustrating challenge to spend so much time crafting a story that means so much to you, and then have to spend your time coaxing readers to give it a try instead of writing new stories.
But even with the frustration, it's still the best job I've ever had. And I'm thrilled and honored with every new reader who decides to give me a chance.
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It's almost Valentine's Day and I've got great news to share!
First, I'm part of a massive romance giveaway. The grand prize is a High Def Kindle Fire and more than 50 romance novels covering every genre, trope, and heat level. I guarantee you'll be able to find some new favourites in the selection. Two other entries will get Amazon gift cards.
For every author from the giveaway that you follow on Bookbub, you get an entry in the contest.
And I've also got a Kindle Deal running on Amazon, so you can pick up my latest romantic suspense release, Deadly Potential for just 99 cents! Don't miss it!
How can anyone stop a killer who can make everyone forget he's in a room? That's Investigator Ben Morgan's job, but he didn't count on falling in love with the supremely confident and competent Katie Ballard, who is far too busy managing a global concert tour to let a killer throw her off her game. Ben will need all of his skills to keep Katie alive.
Getting readers to discover you as an author is one of the hardest parts of launching a writing career. Indie, small press or traditionally published, no matter what your career path, no writer can afford to ignore promotion opportunities.
I've found conferences to be a good place to interact with readers. A lot of them are eager to try new authors and books. So how do we get them to pick up our book? Here are a few tips that I've found very helpful:
1. Be approachable. Conferences can be stressful, particularly for introverts (which seems to include most writers). But as tempting as it can be to spend your time chatting with your booth-mates, or checking your phone or computer, being occupied sends a signal that you are not available to talk or interact with readers. At the same time, don't be overly desperate or eager, trying to drag over people from across the room. Smile, make eye contact and say hello.
2. Have a lure. People need to spend some time at your booth in order to decide whether or not to buy your book. If you have swag to give away or a prize draw or something else which brings people to your table, that gives you an opportunity to pitch your book to them.
3. Sharing details and finding common ground. If a reader can relate to you personally, then he or she is more likely to pick your book out of the multitude. It takes some time to talk to people and find out what they're interested in, but that gives you a chance to personalize your pitch. At Ad Astra this year, I discovered one reader had special needs children, so I mentioned that the hero of my first book used his psychic powers to help developmentally delayed children. Another expressed interest in the fact that my heroine was a burlesque dancer, so I shared some of my stories about researching with different burlesque troupes. The goal is to make you and your book stand out from the crowd.
4. Get people's hands on the book. This was a tip that I got at my first conference from another author and it's proved to be invaluable. If people are holding the book, they're more likely to take the time to look at it and, hopefully, end up buying it.
5. Be gracious. Good impressions are everything. At one of my first conferences, I watched an author scowling at everyone who came near his booth. If someone picked up one of his books, he would shout at them that he wasn't a library and they better be ready to buy it. I still don't know what he wrote, but even if it was my favourite sub-genre, I wouldn't have been willing to buy from him. On a subtler level, I've also watched authors lose interest in talking to people once the reader has said they're not interested. But it pays to still take the extra time. If a reader isn't interested in my work, I try to recommend someone else at the conference. At a minimum, I wish them a good day and try to have them leave with a smile. Because even if they personally aren't interested, that doesn't mean they don't know someone who might be.
6. Get to know your neighbours. Conferences are a community. Taking the time to get to know the other vendors at the conference gives you the option of referrals (and hopefully also gets you some). And it can be invaluable for those times when you have to leave your booth for a time. I went to a panel once and came back to discover that my booth-neighbour had sold five books for me. She didn't have to, she could have told them I would be back later. But since I had sent several readers to her table, she didn't want me to miss a sale.
7. Know your conference. Every conference has a difference flavour. Some are very business-like and precise, others are more go-with-the-flow spontaneous. If possible, before you arrive, talk to other people who have been vendors. They can give you invaluable information about the type of readers to expect (for example: do they tend to prefer ebooks or print?). How many authors will be giving away swag or books? For example, at romance conferences, my experience has been that many authors are giving away free books and almost all of them will have some kind of swag. On the other side, at speculative fiction conferences, there aren't many giveaways but authors are more likely to be offering a discount on their books.
8. Always be on the lookout for new ideas. Figure out what is working for you and what isn't. For example, I've discovered that a significant proportion of readers would like my book but want it in an e-book format. I've been giving them postcards with my book cover and blurb as a reminder, but when I get back home, I'm not seeing a corresponding sales bump. So I've been researching ways to directly sell the ebooks at conferences (unfortunately, much of what I've discovered so far only applies to conferences in the US).
I've really enjoyed my experiences at conferences so far. Even though I have to overcome my own introverted tendencies, getting to meet readers and seeing complete strangers pick up my book has been a real thrill. Even better, when I've done the same event the following year, I get returning readers who have come to pick up my latest book. That is a real ego-boost to me as a writer. My next conference is Limestone Genre Expo on June 3rd and 4th in Kingston and I can't wait.
Weekly word count: 2150
It's a slow start but an improvement nonetheless. I realized I hadn't ordered some of the swag that I needed for Ad Astra so I put in a rush order for more bags and buttons. Unfortunately, 4imprint didn't have the royal blue bags that I ordered last time but they had a lovely light blue.
In other life news, I'm still having trouble due to complications from my surgery last month and my doctor has put me on medical leave from my day job for a month to see if reducing my stress level can help get things back on track.
I'll have to keep reminding myself that I'll need to take this time to rest and recover, not take on more projects. I've been so used to working, working, working all the time that it will be a challenge. But since I don't want to end up in a more severe state, I'll have to find a way to relax.
Weekly word count: 3050 words
As part of my draw this week, I asked my readers to share something they'd learned. This week I have learned that I was crazy when I thought I could combine a family road trip with writing.
Writing while sitting in the car for hours on end. Sounds like a great idea, until factoring in that I can't see the screen with my sunglasses on. And the constant interruptions for music changes, snacks and other challenges just made it incredibly hard to concentrate.
But there's still the option of writing at night. It's not my most productive time but even a few hundred words is better than nothing. I'm limping along but still making progress.
On to other news, I was blown away by Book Partners In Crime's tour. They had 30 sign ups and 28 blogs ended up featuring my book. And my twitter feed has been exploding with retweets. That is much better than the tour I did for Metamorphosis, which had 5 sign ups, and the only two which ended up actually posting were two blogs which I referred. It's comparable with the tours I do through Xpresso Books, (which had 50 posted out of 100 sign ups), however those blogs tend to be aimed at a younger crowd than my ideal audience.
I was also excited to be chosen for an author spotlight on Eskie Mama and Dragon Lady Reads. Again, their readers promoted the heck out of me.
I'm starting to get preliminary reviews back for Inquisition, and so far, people seem to love it. Including those who don't know me personally and have no reason to be nice about it.
All in all, it was a good week. Now, on to recovery mode.
Weekly word count: 3100
Not quite the 4000 that I'm aiming for, but still an improvement, especially given that it's been a difficult week with a surprise meeting at work and two summonings to see the teacher at my son's school due to a behaviour issue. The latter is going to take some serious thinking about the best way to handle it and prevent future problems, but at least the school and I are on the same page.
I've been trying to get started on making sure I have everything set up for the conferences I've planned. I did inventory of my various swag items to see what I have and what I'll need. And I'm taking advantage of the fact that several of the promotional sites have sales on right now.
One of the things I decided that I needed was a tabletop banner and a large vinyl poster of my book cover. I've been using a mounted poster sized cover, but it's bulky and difficult to move around. Something flexible will be much easier to deal with. And for situations where I don't have a convenient wall to mount the poster, a tabletop banner will help.
One tip I've learned from going to conferences, always make sure to have scissors, Scotch tape and either painter's tape or duct tape. There is always something which needs to be opened and things which need to be fastened.
I want to pick up a set of tablecloths to use for when the tables aren't covered by the event. I was hoping to find a set in royal blue, but it's apparently not a common colour. I'll have to decide whether or not to get one in black and one in white (which would be a nice contrasting setup), two in black, or two in gray. I think I'll have to go to a store and actually have a look at some combinations rather than shopping online.
And now it's time to go back to work so I can make my word count for next week.
Weekly word count: none but I got the line edits finished and back in to the editor for the next round.
It's a big week coming up for me. From the 16th to the 20th, I have Revelations on sale in the U.S. and U.K., and I'm running a giveaway for a $25 Amazon card. And on January 17th, I get to share my cover with everyone.
But I have to admit, the thing I'm looking forward to most is getting back to writing. I've got scenes for book four floating through my head that are desperate to get out.
I've been trying to spend some more time with my boys. After the stress of the holidays, I feel like I've spent more time correcting than connecting. I took my oldest son to an orchestral concert of eighties' music (he adores Madonna, Bon Jovi, classic Michael Jackson, Toto, Phil Collins and all those great hairbands and power ballads). I went with my younger son to the Ottawa Museum of History because he's into nature, geology and science. It's nice to have some non-pressure time to have fun. It's too easy to get caught up in work, work, work and only have a break in doing different work.
I always feel better when I'm writing. All of the other work to put out a book is necessary, but it's the writing which feeds my soul. The same with my family. There's a lot of work in being a parent, but it's the special moments which keep me going.
Weekly word count: 2000
Editing countdown: All chapters done, 7 days until deadline
First round of edits are done and I think Inquisition is now solid. Next is the line edit, which will go through the manuscript with a fine-toothed comb and catch any errors.
It will take 3-4 weeks for the line edit to get back to me, which means I should get it back after the holidays. Which gives me a month to concentrate on the new manuscript, as well as begin serious plotting on Book Four of the Lalassu.
Now comes my least favourite part of the whole book creation process: doing all the incidental writing: back blurb, legal disclaimer, front matter, back matter, etc. But at least it's offset by also getting to set up ARC reviews and other promotional stuff. It's nice getting to hear back what people think of the story and I know there are a number of people who have been eagerly awaiting it. It's almost there. Promise.
Weekly word count: 3100
Editing countdown: 7 chapters edited this week, 37 total done, 10 to go, 3 weeks to go
I pushed myself a lot this week because I know next week is going to be very busy for me. There's already one day where I know I won't be able to edit at all and three more where it's going to be a challenge. I don't want to fall too far behind my deadline but it's nice to have the end in sight. Also nice that the deeper I get into the manuscript, the fewer changes are necessary. Mostly I'm having to do minor tweaks and seeing comments of enjoyment from the editor.
I also went through a bit of a confidence crisis for my new manuscript. When I begin a manuscript, I usually give myself the first ten chapters as a pantser rather than a plotter. I know roughly where I want to go for my main plot and the romance plot, but discovering the other subplots is the fun part. This time, about halfway through chapter six, I hit a roadblock and had no idea where I wanted to go next.
I took 3 days to recover and research and get my head back in order.
I went back and I'm rewriting the first chapters with a much stronger setup. I like where this story is going and it's giving me an opportunity to explore some new territory. I've done 2 days of writing 1500 words each in a very short period. To feel the words flow so smoothly is a great feeling.
I've been doing some thinking about the monthly Heroine Fix feature. I've been paying for Facebook ads to get some publicity for it each month since July and I'm not seeing a big boost in people coming to my blog page. Originally I planned to try it for six months, which gives me another two months, so perhaps I ought to just keep going and see if the numbers build. Promotion is not my area of expertise and it's not an intuitive skill for me, so I'm just trying different options to see what works.
That was one message which came through loud and clear in Eve's workshop last week. No one has a guaranteed path to promotion success anymore. Any tactic with the slightest success quickly become saturated and useless, leaving authors with the choice of trying to shout in a crowd or try a wide variety of different options and hope to stumble on something new.
Weekly word count: 2200
Editing countdown: 6 chapters this week, 23 chapters done, 5 weeks to go
I've hit the halfway mark for editing Inquisition. Which feels pretty good because I've also hit the halfway point for my time available to edit. Barring catastrophe (looking at you, Universe), I should be good.
I've also been busy getting my kids' costumes ready and the Hallowe'en decorations. The costumes are good to go. There are still a few bits and pieces to be done for decorations.
Next week is ORWA's November meeting with a workshop on building your readership with Eve Langlais. I'm looking forward to that one.
My Kindle Countdown deal for Revelations went well. I got a nice spike in sales as well as a spike on Kindle Unlimited. I'm also getting good interest in Rose on the Grave, which is nice.
I'll have to start doing some serious thinking about whether or not I want Inquisition to be part of the Kindle exclusive program. Having the first two books available on Kindle Unlimited is a good way to gain readers, but do I necessarily want the whole series on there? I don't have a good answer to that as yet so I think I'll put out some questions to ORWA and get some opinions.
Last week, I talked about the "race to the bottom" for media attention, when the splash of sensationalism is more important than accuracy. There are plenty of sites which still focus on delivering quality, but the reality is that the more people are shouting, the harder it is to get anyone to pay attention to any one individual. Or author.
A friend forwarded a rather harsh article which blamed self-published authors for the fall in revenue for digital books sales, claiming they had glutted the market with crap. His solution was that all self-published books should be segregated until they reach a certain sales level, thus "proving" their quality.
Both of these things have gotten me thinking about the difficulties authors have in getting attention for their books. I started wondering: if Amazon or Kobo or Apple began segregating self-published authors, what would I do to haul myself out of that particular dungeon?
Kozlowski has a valid point in his article: the number of poorly-written books out there is huge. It does get overwhelming trying to pick out the few good seeds from the mass of garbage. And unfortunately, the majority of those books are self-published (although I have seen a number which come from small presses and even the Big 6, so a publisher isn't a guarantee of quality).
Authors have to promote. There's no question about it. Either we pay someone to do it for us or we do it ourselves or a combination of both. But even if one is willing to dedicate a substantial chunk of money each month to promotional services, there is still a limit to the number of purchasable opportunities (at least, if we stick to the effective ones).
But looking at the other options available, we quickly find people who will tell us either not to bother or that a particular tactic will backfire. So I'm going to take a look at two of the most controversial options, the pros and cons and my own view on the matter.
Posting reviews: People who read reviews are looking for books to read. By creating those reviews, an author can get their name (and sometimes cover) in front of potential readers. Since most authors are also readers, this seems like an easy solution. We're going to read anyway, and we're going to judge what we read, so why not post that judgement?
I've had a number of authors tell me that I should never post reviews, particularly not within my genre and with my author name (the two things I have to do if I want to use reviews as a promotion tool). They point out new authors who have gone down in flames for having dared to criticize someone popular. The popular author's fans began a campaign to bury the reviewing author's work in one star reviews and fill their social media with hateful comments. Even being complimentary can backfire, as those who dislike the books can launch similar campaigns. Or an author can find themselves losing credit as they give "good" reviews to horrible stories.
Personally, I take a middle ground. I post reviews of romance novels in a local arts blog and sometimes on Goodreads. I try to be fair, but I also focus on what I enjoyed about a book rather than on nitpicking. If I can't find anything complimentary (which is rare), I let the editor know and I simply don't do a review. Thus far, I haven't had to handle any flame wars, but I'm aware of the possibility. I take the view that those sorts of actions are more reflective of those posting than of me but it's a risk I have to take if I want the opportunity.
An "Open" and interactive Facebook page: This applies to all social media, but Facebook is still the most popular option. By allowing people to friend you and like your page, an author can gain followers in an organic way. By interacting with them, your name and books stay in their minds, making them more likely to pick up the next installment once its ready.
This is one of those tricky balancing acts. How friendly and interactive should an author be on social media? How much should they reveal? There is a risk of attracting the wrong kind of attention: someone obsessive who won't respect the author/real life boundaries. There is also the challenge of having people use your openness for their own purposes. Scammers will 'friend' romance novelists to gain access to their readers, who are assumed to be vulnerable to love scams,
I've had a number of new authors say they won't accept a friend request from a man, since they assume he is a scammer. I find that sad. I know I have a number of male readers and I don't want to pre-judge anyone. That said, I don't respond to private messages from those I don't know personally and if any of my followers tell me that one of my "friends" is harassing them, I will remove that friend immediately. I keep strict boundaries on my personal vs my author life, particularly when it comes to protecting my children's privacy. But I will share information about my life, without identifying details. It's not terribly interesting, but has the advantage of being genuine and thus easy to keep track of.
There are always going to be risks in promoting. When you shout for attention, it's not possible to control the kind of attention you'll receive. Some will be good and some will be bad.
I respect those who stay courteous, who offer balanced opinions without vilifying their opponents, who offer insight and who are open-minded. They may not attract as much attention as those trolling for scandals and shock, but I'd rather take a slower approach and still respect who I am than find myself caught up in a whirlwind.
I've been reading Ryan Holiday's Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator about how he used to use bloggers to get free promotion by falsely "leaking" information, creating controversy and protest movements and starting rumor and whisper campaigns. Using fake email addresses, he would get the blogs interested, knowing that if he could get the right ones involved, the story would move up the media chain with little to no verification.
One of the most interesting and depressing points that Holiday raises is that the modern Internet model of news is set up to discourage balanced and accurate information. Since it measures success by clicks, pageviews and shares, the most controversial and distorted information is more likely to be seen as "successful" than more accurate stories. Deliberately misleading and inflammatory headlines and shortening articles into soundbytes and Tweets make it much harder to have a balanced conversation. And the pressure to produce "scoops" on a daily or hourly basis discourages research and checking sources, making it more likely for inaccurate information to be circulated.
I want to believe that quality has its place, that there are those who see the circus for what it is and will seek out accurate and balanced accounts. But I see how that can't compete with the ease of sharing something which generates outrage and shock value.
This has been a long running issue in the publishing world, particularly with self-publishing. Amazon has traditionally rewarded rapid and frequent releases, promoting authors who can release multiple works within a 90 day period. There has always been a backlash from those who point out the difficulty of producing quality stories in such a limited time, but the business model was created to reward "new" over "good".
Which led to the same challenge in both news-blogging and books: more and more people tried to cash in on the market, flooding it with more and more poorly written material, making it harder for consumers to find something of quality. Ultimately, consumers give up in disgust, unwilling to waste their money, which threatens to collapse the entire system.
Amazon is fighting back, saying they will remove books which deliver an unsatisfactory customer experience and offering to promote books with positive customer reviews. But the system is still weighted towards frequent contributions.
Perhaps history will record me as a fool, a dinosaur unable to adapt to the new conditions of reality, but I'm going to stick with quality, even though it means a lot of my work gets swept under by the currents of constantly churning new material. But I believe that quality has anchors that other material doesn't, letting it survive the tides.
Weekly word count: 4100
It's been a rough week for writing this week, but I managed to chug through. I've been working my way through a knotty plot point for the main confrontation in the middle of Inquisition. I know where I want to go, but it's taking me a number of rewrites to figure out the best way to get there. I think I've figured it out and now hopefully I can start moving forward a little faster again.
I had a great research evening looking into Mexican culture, food and festivals. I was grateful to discover that my initial research was on track, but I'd missed a few points of emphasis. Lesley and Rosa were both very gracious and open about their experiences and gave me some great material that I can use for Inquisition.
I've also been working on getting my swag together for Prose in the Park on June 4th. I've been trying to decide whether to go with Hershey's kisses (could be tricky if the weather is warm enough to soften the chocolate) or chocolate heart-shaped snap cookies, more weather resistant but won't let me offer people "a kiss from a pretty lady". I suppose I could offer them my heart, but it's not quite the same.
The national Romance Writers of America conference is coming up in July and I want to have something to put in the Goody Room. I can't afford really cool swag so I was thinking of getting new postcards done up for Revelations with Deborah Cooke's endorsement on them. I'll have to look into how much it would be to get 150 or so done up through Vistaprint.
Weekly word count: 4200
Another good week of progress. Chapter 10 done, about a third of the way through the projected story for Inquisition.
I also put together a short story for a blog post looking for fractured fairy tales and did an article for 613 on ORWA and how I joined. I'm working on a article on the upcoming Romancing the Capital event in May. I didn't count them toward my weekly total, but that's another 3000 words.
I'm feeling fairly good about myself. And we had an awesome time at this month's ORWA meeting. Lots of good editing tips from Laura Byrne Paquet and a great visit at the pub afterwards.
On the promotion side, I'm trying to find a nice tote bag that I can put my book cover on. Something I can carry around the various events I'm going to. I'm going to spend a lot of time in line at Comiccon, so I might as well be a walking billboard for my book.
Weekly word count: 5500 words
This week was one of those good weeks where the words just flow. I had two 2000 word days and a 1500 one. Unfortunately, I had to lose two of my writing days due to appointments and wanting to not get fired from my day job. (My boss is pretty good, but even she's going to notice if I get more than a week behind on returning calls.)
The second Spirit Sight short story is nearly done for the first draft. Hopefully I can get it all wrapped up for next week and get back to Inquisition.
Sales for Metamorphosis are going well and I've even had my first successful Square transactions, using my phone to process credit cards. This really makes it easier to deal with more spontaneous requests (although I have to make sure I have the reader accessory with me). I've got a bunch of friends and family coming over next weekend to pick up their copies, which should be a lot of fun.
I've still been having a lot of challenges finding stock photos for my RWA workshop handout (I can only use photos I own the rights to). I think I'm going to have to do something with my own photos. I caught myself looking at my husband's eighteen inch fully articulated Tron action figures and wondering if I could use them to demonstrate different types of hugs. My kids have a lot of toys, surely some of them could be stand ins ... we'll see.
I've also been setting up the final details of my promotion campaign with Pub-Craft. I've got my quote cards done, my blog posts written and a selection of tweets and facebook posts ready to share.
And last but not least, I got my provisional membership in PAN, the Published Author's Network, with Romance Writers of America. This entitles me to take the specialized PAN workshops when I'm at the annual conference in San Diego, as well as access to some special events. All in all, it's been a pretty good week.
Weekly word count: 0
Editing countdown: 23 of 23 chapters done
The chapter by chapter editing is done but I still have some search and destroy scans to run on words which the editor identified as overused. Then I also have some polishing work to do. I've got until December 9th to get the draft in to the editor for line edits.
It's gratifying to be one step closer to having Metamorphosis ready for release.
Once I've got the final run-throughs done, I can send the Advanced Reading Copies out to the bloggers who've agreed to do early reviews.
I've been doing a lot of thinking about promotion strategies. Initially, I'd been thinking of doing a book blitz with Xpresso Book Tours and another one with Pub-Craft, which does promotional work with various romance authors. The question is whether or not to do both promotions for Metamorphosis or do one for Revelations and one for Metamorphosis. I've heard different theories. Some say it's best to continue focusing on the first book of the series, since that's where most people will want to start. Others say it's best to promote all the different books to try and cast as wide a net as possible.
I've entered Revelations in some contests, and I think that's probably a good strategy for now. But I need to do some thinking on other options. There's only so much time and money I'll have to spend on promotion, so I need to try and be effective with it.
To be clear, I don't mean getting creative with anything which leaves the government or local law enforcement annoyed. Instead I mean the eternal juggling act of balancing time, money and other commitments with the creative impulse and business necessity.
Whew, it's exhausting just to write out.
This is something which kept coming up at Can-Con: finding the time to write, finding the time and money to promote and the intimidation of dealing with dozens of potential independent contractors. So I decided to put my two cents out there.
First and most important rule: Write Your Book. Or Draw Your Picture. Or whatever else gets you going creatively. No matter how brilliant your business plan, it means nothing without actual product to put out there.
I've got a full time job and a household with kids to run. I've had to teach myself to write in the cracks of my life. Kids have a swimming lesson? Score! Forty five minutes of writing time if I pack along my laptop and plot book (a photo album with my ever expanding mass of index cards). One trick I've learned is to spend the last five minutes of each session writing out notes for where I want to go next in a scene. That way when I next get to write, I can get right back into it.
Another trick is to pawn off whatever work you possibly can. I get a cleaning service in to deal with the major housekeeping issues (wash the floors, clean the bathrooms). I know authors who trade work with other moms (one does the cleaning, the other cooks meals for both families). And there's always the classic option of roping your spouse and kids into doing more work. Figure out what someone else can handle to give you time to write.
Final advice on writing: figure out what environment and tricks work best for you to get creative. If I have my music and an outline, I can do a thousand words in under an hour. If I'm trying to write where people will be interrupting and bumping into me, not going to happen. For some people, they need quiet. For others, they need noise and interaction.
Next rule: Promote! Promote! Promote! Books sell by word of mouth, so your job as an author is to start as many word of mouth chains as you possibly can. Some will fizzle out but you never know when one will take off.
Set your budget for promotion. Don't plan to make back your money in sales every time. Odds are good that you won't be able to recover costs, particularly in the first few years. But that doesn't matter, because you're creating your platform to grow your business. Figure out what you can afford both in time and in money. There are a lot of services which will help you promote in exchange for a fee and there are a lot of free services which will cost you time. Free services tend to be saturated, requiring a lot more effort to be noticed. Paid services can get expensive in a hurry and results are never guaranteed.
I chose to join KDP Select through Amazon, even though it meant I couldn't submit my book to Kobo, Apple or Barnes and Noble to take advantage of those marketplaces. I did it deliberately because Amazon offered promotional opportunities in exchange for exclusivity. My book in front of more eyes was worth the potential loss of income. I'm hoping to reach a point where my sales are sustainable even without Amazon's support, but that's probably several years off at this point.
I also do a lot of blog visits and posts. I have a number of blogs where I'm friendly with the person who runs it and some of them are starting to have quite the following. By being available, polite and professional, I've built up a relationship where they're willing to give me better placement and support when possible.
Final bit of advice for promotion: Plan for a marathon. The work never really ends so don't burn yourself out trying to do everything.
The last key issue of intimidation is choosing the team who will work with you: editors, cover designers, beta readers, tour managers, promotional team, and distribution, to name a few. There are lots of people out there with slick sites but maybe not much experience and there are also some real gems.
I found recommendations through my writer's group (thanks ORWA) and I'm pleased to say I've rarely found myself in a position of wasting my money on a service I didn't like. I probably could have found the same services cheaper, but I knew the people I was dealing with were reliable and professional. I didn't have to spend weeks and months searching and researching, which left me more time to write.
No matter whether you traditionally publish or go independent, you are still working with a giant corporation when it comes to getting your book out there. Amazon wants to make money, not nurture the dreams of every author who submits a book. Ditto for the traditional big six. Know what you're getting into with every contract and read the fine print.
It's scary from the outside but it's not something you have to master instantly. There's time to figure things out and figure out what works for you. Some people will be able to publish quality work rapidly, others will have to plan for a longer term approach. Some people have time and money for lots of promotion, others will have to choose to focus on one or the other.
Figure out what works best for you and you'll be surprised at how quickly the barriers between you and your dreams come tumbling down.
Weekly word count: 1500
Weekly edit countdown: 3 chapters out of 23
I made my editing goal but not my writing goal. I'm still pleased with my progress though.
But enough stalling, it's time for the big reveal:
Love it, love it, love it! Full congratulations to Streetlight Graphics for another job well done. I can't wait to see this cover on my actual book!
I'm also beginning my giveaway for a $20 Amazon card. It runs for this week only, so enter now!
I'm also getting into the final preparations for Can-Con in two weeks. I've got my swag-bags packed and my fellow tablemates, Eve Langlais and S.M. McEachern and I, are preparing a surprise for everyone who stops by our table. The schedule is up and I'll be sharing on 3 panels: New Revenue Sources for Self-Published Authors, Romance Reader's Panel and Portrayals of Autism in Fiction.
Weekly word count: 2000
Not my best week but considering how much overtime I ended up doing in my day job to catch up, I'm not going to be too hard on myself. This week will be better.
We had a great presentation at Ottawa Romance Writers this weekend, a representative from the Ottawa Public Library came to talk to us about how to add books to the collection. It's relatively easy for those who have traditionally published books but for self-published, it's a little trickier. I got a chance to speak to her about Revelations and discovered that it may not have been rejected. The English fiction acquisition supervisor has been away on maternity leave. She asked me to email her and she'll let me know where things stand. (Yay!)
There is also apparently a Suggest to Purchase form which Ottawa Library card holders can complete if there is a relatively new book published in the last two years which they would like to see added to the collection.
I also began ordering my swag for Can-Con and I'm tempted to get so many things. I'm trying to keep things simple and affordable though. I'm putting together little treat bags for the trick or treating on Saturday. I'm really looking forward to it.
I'm getting antsy about getting my developmental edits back for Metamorphosis. I'm reminding myself to have realistic expectations (I will not receive back a manuscript which says either "You are a writing god!" or "Don't quit your day job!"). I'm looking forward to finally getting to share it with everyone and it's hard to wait through this process, even though I know it will result in a better book.
Weekly word count: 1200
Not great but a productive week on many other fronts. I sent in proposals for two workshops to Can-Con, a speculative fiction conference over the Halloween weekend here in Ottawa. I'd already booked a table for the weekend but I like the idea of giving a workshop as well. My first proposal was for how to craft a romantic subplot for different genres (sci-fi, fantasy, horror, etc) and my second was on indie publishing and the business of being a writer.
I'm also putting together a workshop for ORWA (Ottawa Romance Writers' Association) for their January meeting. That will be on the different non-verbal ways we express what we're thinking and feeling. I've got that one almost done, except for the Powerpoint presentation.
This week I also booked a cover reveal blitz. I'll be revealing the cover to Metamorphosis on Monday, October 19th. If anyone is interested in signing up, they can talk to Xpresso Book Tours.
