Month: April 2011

Six Months of POD Sales: An In-Depth Look

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This post, by Kelly James-Enger, originally appeared on her Dollars and Deadlines blog on 4/24/11.

Last year I made the leap from a traditionally published girl to POD. I had strong reasons for doing so, but had no idea of what to expect in terms of actual sales. (For point of comparison, I sold about 4,600 copies of Six-Figure Freelancing the first six months after it was published–not bad at all. However, sales after that first six-month period slackened, and I have yet to earn out–though I think I will in the next three years or so.)

After considering a number of possible POD options, I chose CreateSpace for several reasons, including the overall cost, the services it provides, and its ability to turn my book around on an expedited schedule. I spent about $650 upfront (not including the cost of a proofreader, who I hired on my own) for layout, cover and interior design, and limited distribution of Goodbye Byline, Hello Big Bucks: The Writer’s Guide to Making Money Ghostwriting and Coauthoring Books. Obviously I want to recoup my investment, make a profit on the book, and eventually attract more ghostwriting clients as well.

And how do I do that? By selling the book to readers. But I admit that the first six months fell a bit short of my expectations. In the first six months since the book was published in October, 2010, I’ve sold the following:

October, 2010 24 print copies/5 Kindle editions (including one at 35%)
November, 2010 12 print copies/3 Kindle editions
December, 2010 12 print copies/3 Kindle editions
January, 2011 1 print copy/5 Kindle editions
February, 2011 15 print copies (including 3 expanded distribution)/4 Kindle editions
March, 2011 19 print copies (including 4 expanded edition)/6 Kindle editions

That makes 83 print copies (including those sold through expanded distribution) and 26 Kindle editions, for a total of 109 copies in the first six months. Not quite the numbers I was hoping for, but considering that most POD books average this number of total sales, I’m considering it just the beginning.

 

Read the rest of the post, which goes on to talk dollars and cents, on Kelly James-Enger’s Dollars and Deadlines blog.

10 Tips To Improve Your Writing

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Nice to have you visit again.

I am in the middle of wrestling my manuscript to the ground and find I learn something new every day. With that in mind, I thought I might offer all my writer friends some general writing tips on how to improve your writing. Outside of the first tip, these aren’t offered in any specific order other than what came to mind at the time.

Let’s begin with what I think is the secret to success as a writer: persistence. As a father, the mantra I imposed upon my poor daughters was, “Practice, practice, practice.” (Though grown, they still make fun of me about that one.) In any case, as with every profession, the more you do it the better you become.

2. Invade your readers’ senses. This means when writing you find opportunities to have your characters use their five, or as some say, twelve, senses. When your characters smell the honeysuckle, so do your readers.

3. Diamonds are not a girl’s best friend. Well, I think it was Marilyn Monroe who informed all men that diamonds are indeed a girl’s best friend, but for women writers, (and their male counterparts), it’s verbs. The strength and exactness of the verbs you choose is the most powerful tool you possess to elevate your writing. The best verbs bring emotions or pictures to your readers’ minds.

4. Create interactive settings. That is, write in such a way as to have your setting come alive. The first time I took my writing to my critique group, every person mentioned a visual I had in my story. They commented on a scene where a boy reached up to grab his father’s shotgun from over the mantel and I wrote about the glow from the fire as it warmed the boy’s legs. It is those inconsequential images that paint those all important and powerful word pictures that immerse readers into your story.

5. Backstory belongs in the back. When I learned how to write backstory into my novel, I had to rewrite large chunks of what I already had on paper. Those long-winded paragraphs about what happened before my character came into my story became short, concise inserts within the story.

6. Bodies have language, too. Think of a person who has received astonishing news. What might they do at that time? Inhale? Shriek? Curl a lip? So might your characters. And best of all, readers love characters’ body language.

7. Conflict is king. Conflict is much like a drug drip in a hospital. That happy little bottle always hangs around and you get to dial it up whenever you want to. Conflict, not action mind you, but conflict is the power behind your novel.

8. If conflict is king, characterization is queen. Every novel rises and falls on the backs of those people who populate your novels. Effective characterization is a difficult skill to master but when you do, even you’ll fall for your books.

9. Knowledge is power. By this I mean, your writing has more strength if you give your readers the knowledge they require. It’s more interesting if your characters know the bomb is about to explode as this creates tension in your reader’s mind. As Alfred Hitchcock said, "There is no terror in a bang, only in the anticipation of it."

10. Give ‘em what they want. Your readers read for a reason and as a writer you should know that reason and cater to it. The lesson here is to learn your market. Write to satisfy your readers’ needs and not your own.

What tips might you like to share?

As always, know I wish for you only best-sellers.
 

Listen to a PODCAST of this article. 

This is a reprint from C. Patrick Shulze’s Author of Born to Be Brothers blog.

Copyright For Muggles

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This podcast and accompanying transcript are provided with the permission of the Copyright Clearance Center’s Beyond the Book site, where they first appeared on 4/17/11.

Recorded at the recent Publishing Business Conference & Expo, CCC’s Chris Kenneally moderates a panel discussion on protecting copyright in the digital age with publishing analyst Brian O’Leary, Magellan Media Partners; Christoph Brem of Attributor; and Devereux Chatillon who describes her efforts as Scholastic’s General Counsel to keep the last Harry Potter book out of the hands of spoilers.

Brian O'Leary  Christoph Brem  Devereux Chatillon

 Copyright for Muggles [56:21m]: Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download
 
Transcript

 

 

Why Do I Procrastinate?

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I ran across an online discussion today addressing why we procrastinate as writers. My comment went on so long a realized that this was something I should address on my blog. So here goes.

I spent 20 years procrastinating in regards to my writing. Hell, I spent nearly 50 years procrastinating if you start counting from when I determined that I wanted to write historical fiction until the time I successfully published my first novel, Maids of Misfortune: A Victorian San Francisco Mystery.

What I find interesting is that in general I am not a procrastinator. I learned in 4th grade (best grade school teacher ever) that the students who buckled down and did their work first thing ended up with plenty of guilt free time to goof off, and I have pretty much applied that concept through the rest my life as a student, a college professor, a mother, wife, and friend. Not as a writer.

The only area of my life where I procrastinate regularly is as a fiction writer. I think that this is because writing fiction is absolutely personal-it is just for me. In all those other areas of life I have been motivated in large part by my sense of responsibility to others (to make my parents proud, to be the best professor I could be for my students, to take care of my family, and be there for my friends.).

When I do a good job (ie don’t procrastinate) my reward, in my mind, has always been to give myself permission to read fiction (ie goof off.) But even there I was careful not to start a good book unless I knew I could finish it before the next task in my “real life” came due. I was always worried that my pleasure in reading would distract me from my  responsibilities!

Only twice in my life as an adult did I let what I wanted come first for an extended period. The first time was when I was 23, and I quit my first boring job and for a solid year just read (the new feminist body of work was just coming out at this time and I devoured it). This led me to the decision to get a doctorate in history, with an emphasis women’s history.

The second time came when I was 38 and had left my tenured track job in Texas (oh those good old boys were too much for this feminist to take) and I faced the possible future of being a part-time adjunct teacher for the rest of my life. I decided if this was to be my fate, then I was justified in taking the time to fulfill my life-long dream of writing fiction. Oh the bliss! Six months of writing my mystery, my husband at work, my daughter in day-care. But then I got a full-time job at the local community college, and I no longer put myself and my writing first. That book never got published, and I stopped writing anything new.

So now, retired, my daughter grown with children of her own, my husband happily working on his own writing, I have finally put myself first. I rewrote the first mystery, published it, and I now spend day after day writing the sequel. I can spend the hours it takes to let my mind run free (and perhaps even not hear when my husband says something to me-cause I am off in that world of my own.) I can decide to go back to writing after dinner, rather than use that time to make call backs to friends. I can be selfish (listen to the pejorative term I am still using!)

However, I think in writing this I have just had a revelation. When I “procrastinate” by checking my email, or commenting on someone else’s post, or writing for my own blog, it is not because I enjoy these activities more than I do working on my book. It is because these activities are more other directed. I feel more comfortable doing these things because they help other indie writers, or because they will help sell my book (and produce the income needed to keep the family budget healthy).

I don’t think that this is necessarily a totally gendered response. Goodness knows male writers have put paid employment, in order to support their families, above their desire to write for centuries. However, until recently, most women didn’t even see there was a choice. Other responsibilities, financial or not, always came first. And I think that I often procrastinate as a writer because I haven’t yet entirely thrown off the belief that if I do something, just for myself, I am not being a good person.

So, how about you? Why do you procrastinate?

And while you think about it, I am going to go write a couple more paragraphs on my next novel, selfish person that I am!
 

This is a reprint from M. Louisa Locke‘s The Front Parlor.

Take Stock And Think Ahead When You Get Extra Time To Write

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This article, by Iain Broome, originally appeared on his Write For Your Life on 4/25/11.

For most of us, it’s the Easter holidays. If like me, you live in the UK, there’s also another bank holiday next week, for the Royal Wedding. If like me again, you’ve taken the days inbetween off work too, you’re looking at a nice chunk of time away from reality.

What are you going to do with that time?

I’m doing two things. First, I’m going to spend approximately 80-90 per cent of my holiday preparing for my impending wedding, including building a path, raking grass and causing myself untold backache. The rest of the time, I plan to write.

Quick correction. I plan to plan to write.

Take your time

When you have an extended period of free time, it’s tempting to dive straight in and write frantically. I know it is for me.

Because I have a full-time job, I have to work my fiction (and blogging) around my free time. When a big chunk of it comes along, I sometimes get excited and rush to the keyboard.

And yet, I know that this isn’t always the best use of my time. Rarely am I able to simply sit down and write for long periods without an element of planning up front.

When the opportunity arises, it’s natural for us writers to worry less about preparation and want to get cracking – to actually produce some work.

But actually, it’s far more important for us to make sure that we use that time effectively. To make sure that we squeeze every ounce of usefulness out of having more writing time available than usual.

Take stock and prosper

Planning isn’t always about planning, not in the typical sense of the word. For me, planning is as much about what’s gone before as it is about what’s to come. It’s about checking in and taking stock.

Read the rest of the post on Write For Your Life. 

10 Steps to Solving Standard Tech Problems

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This article, by Meryl K. Evans, originally appeared on her meryl.net Content Maven blog on 4/26/11 and is reprinted here in its entirety with her permission.

Being your own tech support person speeds up fixing the problem. While you’re not the expert in whatever fails to work the way you expect it, many companies have set up self-help systems anyway or they’ll ask if you did this ‘n that. So trying to solve the problem — or narrow it — can save you time as you’ll have the answers to standard tech support questions.

Tech support often follows a script. You contact them to report a problem. “Is it plugged in?” “Is it turned on?” They’ll continue down the list from the simple to the complex depending on your answers. Think of it like a flow chart: if yes, go this way. If no, go that way.

These steps are not in a specific order as different problems call for different approaches. The 10 steps will solve the most common problems. 

  • Reboot or shut down/turn back on. This works for almost every computer, accessory, mobile device and other electronics. When my digital video recorder (DVR) freezes or acts weird, I shut it down and turn it back on. This solves the DVR’s problem 99.99 percent of the time. We had to call the service provider once or twice in all these years. With laptops and PCs, try to shut down the computer before rebooting. Sometimes it can take a long time to shut down. Go do something else for a while and if the computer looks frozen, then turn it off. Wait a few minutes before turning it back on. I had a monitor acting weird (the other was fine) and asked my husband about it. He told me to turn it off and back on. (I can’t believe I didn’t even think of this.) It worked. I had never encountered this problem and sometimes we overlook the obvious.
  • Run and update your anti-virus (daily) and anti-spyware software (weekly). I know plenty of successful professionals who don’t have their anti-virus applications automatically checking for updates on a regular schedule (more than once a day). Sometimes a situation requires turning off the anti-virus app and people forget to turn it back on. They forgot they turned off the software and never turned it back on. Most standard anti-virus apps run a full-system scan at least once a week.  Make sure yours does.
  • Check cables and switches. The cable on my printer sometimes falls out. (The cable is barely long enough.) So first thing I do when printer doesn’t turn on — check that cable. My son has a laptop that only works if plugged in because the battery is dead and not worth replacing. He said the laptop wasn’t working. It was the surge protector where he had it plugged that was turned off.
  • Go to manufacturer and developer websites. Manufacturer and developer websites often have forums, Q&As, support pages, knowledgebases and documentation with common problems and their solutions.
  • Search the problem. Some of us forget that people experience the same problems and post them somewhere outside of the developer or manufacturer website. Look at this post I did in 2008 that solves the problem of the mouse not working in Microsoft Word. Notice the latest comment is a couple of months old. This is a three-year-old post. It’s tempting to ask a blogger, writer or expert for help. They won’t all respond or take the time to help because they get many requests like yours. They’re not trying to be rude, but they have jobs to do plus they are thinking “Let me Google that for you.” Be specific as possible in your search by entering error messages (if you get one) and the name of the application. Copy the error message or take a screen shot.
  • Know how to save, export and import files in different formats. Many people emailed me when Office 2007 came out because they couldn’t open the .docx, .xlsx and .pptx files. Two solutions: Have the sender save these files as .doc, xls and ppt, and download the free Office file converter from Microsoft. Make “File > Save as” your friend. Thankfully, we’re seeing more standard formats like CSV files and ical, which you can import into Outlook, Gmail, Apple Address Book and more. Also find a resource (search for them — many free ones out there) that lets you save files into Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format because the reader is free and everyone can open and view them.
  • Narrow down the causes. A new tablet kept posting a notification that the new microSD card may be corrupted. I looked for a microSD card reader so I could test it out to rule out the possibility it was a bad card. Two of my readers were broken! Luckily, I found one and it confirmed the microSD card worked. I also verified there were no files on it. If it had files, I would transfer them somewhere else for safekeeping before reformatting the card. Problem solved. No more notifications.
  • Uninstall and reinstall. After trying everything, remove and reinstall the app unless it’s something big like an operating system. First, back up your data files to a safe place.
  • Test it on another computer or app. A client’s website looked weird in Firefox. Rather than panicking thinking the client’s website had a serious problem, I checked the website in other browsers and it showed up fine. The problem was a small one (it would’ve been a biggie had it happened on all browsers).
  • Backup and sync all data. I have a stand-alone external drive that holds a backup of all my computer data AND I also backup to a cloud service. The cost of various backup solutions have gotten cheaper so there’s no excuse for not having a backup. Remember to backup your devices, too.

 Solving the problem on your own saves time, avoids sugary sweet scripts thanking you for being a valued customers and how they want to help you or waiting for someone to respond to your call or email. Even if you can’t find the answer, you have a list of steps you’ve taken and can get through the script faster.

What tech support tricks do you have?

 

The Author’s Platform ~ Community of Interest

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Every day, over 2,000 books are published.

There’s no way around it. Authors need a platform–a place to stand above the crowd and get peoples’ attention.

If you self-publish and don’t already have a congregation of admirers, there is no other way to sell books than to build a platform.

Well, I suppose, if you had the money and the time, you could have a boat-load of books printed, pack ‘em in a van, and drive all over the place meeting people and convincing them they need to buy your book. Technically, that’s still building a platform, even if it means erecting it in one place, preaching to the masses, packing it up, and moving it to another place 🙂

Even respected agents like Rachelle Gardner can make a case for traditionally published authors needing to build their own platform. Here’s a quote from her post, The Dreaded Author Platform :

“…I almost wanted to announce that I’d no longer accept queries from anyone who doesn’t already have a good solid head start on a platform. (I won’t draw such a clear line in the sand, but consider yourself informed.)”

The consensus opinion about when to start building a platform is well before the book is written.

Obviously, if you don’t have books already published, all you’ve got for building materials is yourself.

So, assume for a moment you have a great idea for a book, you think you can write it, and you want to build a platform.

The most rational opinion I’ve found for how to do it is to start a blog. Write about yourself. Write your opinions about writing, itself. Offer to interview published authors on the blog. Offer to interview authors who have yet to be published. You may want to guest post on others’ blogs and have them guest post on yours.

Study how to increase traffic to a blog.

After that, you may want to (many people say you must) begin linking to your blog on Facebook and Twitter. Many folks point out that being genuinely helpful in these social media spaces is critical–you can’t just go running around and constantly shouting about how great your book is. I agree, but it takes time to find the people who really matter to you.

Facebook and Twitter are, to me, two varieties of wild parties. You arrive and start talking to people. Most of them want to promote their own project. Sometimes you find people you can establish a mutually beneficial relationship with. Still, there a a ton of people and, again, it takes time to find the right ones.

There are other ways to build an author platform. Personally, I have no time for anything but what I’ve just indicated as a well-respected way to build a platform.

Well, no time except for my giving away as many copies of the manuscript of my book as I can. If this sounds completely ridiculous, check out the link to Cory Doctorow’s ideas in my last post…

If you’re a budding author and decide to blog a platform for yourself, I can’t recommend a better site for learning how to shape a blog for maximum effect than Copyblogger!

Show what’s with that phrase in the title of this post: Community of Interest?

Well, one of the principles I try to follow in my life is: to achieve anything of lasting value, a person needs to work with a community of like-minded people. Whether they’re called friends, followers, fans, or associates, they are the key to establishing a project on solid ground.

To me, building an author platform and building a community of interest are the same thing.

Earlier, I said I have no time for anything but blogging and giving away copies of my manuscript. Actually, I was ignoring the time I use from the “extra” hours I have each day, those hours called free-time, when I venture into the virtual world, Second, Life, and participate in my community of interest on Book Island…

I would love to hear your opinions/experiences/questions on this topic in our comments section 🙂
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ROOFMAN: Nail-banger, Librarian & Spy

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Everybody loves a good spy story – especially if it’s true. The ebook I’ve just self-published is a memoir about a roofer with a Master’s degree in library science and his experience as a double agent recruited by the FBI, GRU & KGB in New York City during the 1980’s. That roofer is… ME!
What distinguishes this ebook from every other non-fiction book out there, is the actual wire tap audio files that have been embedded into ten of the seventeen chapters.  Check out my site http://www.roofmanthespy.com ; click on  Free Reads and you will see how nicely the audio fits with the chapters. Click on click on Roofman Bugs the Buggers and have some fun.
What I have published has never been done before. This is an “enhanced” ebook with real conversations of real people. If e-publishing is the cutting edge, then ROOFMAN is a razor on that edge.

John Pansini (Roofman The Spy)

 

Strategic Tweeting For Authors

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This post, by Alan Rinzler, originally appeared on his The Book Deal on 3/20/11.

If you’re an author who isn’t active on Twitter, you’re making a huge mistake, say savvy book-marketing gurus.

You’re missing out on a megaphone that can help blast out your message and attract new readers.

Your readers are wondering: Where are you?

“There’s a conversation going on right now on Twitter about your book, about your topic, about your area of expertise. And if you’re not there, your readers are wondering why you’re not participating in the conversation.”

That’s the gospel according to Cindy Ratzlaff, a 20-year publishing veteran who designed the campaigns of more than 150 New York Times bestsellers and pioneered a strategy of treating authors and books as brands. I listened to Ratzlaff the other day on a webinar about Twitter for authors and publishers, sponsored by BookExpo.

Readers are brand evangelists

“Twitter has trained readers to expect instant access to their literary heroes,” Ratzlaff said. “They want to be your partners in promoting your book.” Authors who understand that communicate directly with their followers on Twitter, allowing them to experience a personal connection and behind-the-curtains look at the author’s life – and that creates brand evangelists, Ratzlaff said.

And speaking of brand evangelists, check out these numbers, which underscore why Twitter is now an essential venue for every author with a book to sell:

Read the rest of the post on Alan Rinzler‘s The Book Deal.

Questions For Your Beta Readers

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This post, by Jodie Renner, originally appeared on the Crime Fiction Collective blog on 4/25/11.

Since I’m a freelance fiction editor, most of my posts here will be advice, tips and resources for aspiring novelists, with an emphasis on thrillers, romantic suspense and mysteries.

So you’ve written your first draft? Congratulations! What’s next? A future post of mine will go over the revision process, but for now, let’s skip ahead to after you’ve revised your first draft once or twice. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot by sending it off to an agent too soon, or self-publishing it yet. That’s the biggest mistake of unsuccessful novelists – being in too much of a hurry to get their book out when it still needs significant revisions and final polishing. To start, get some input from volunteer readers familiar with your genre, then do some revisions based on the feedback, and finally, get a thorough copyedit, preferably by a professional freelance editor.

First, get some trusted colleagues or acquaintances to read your story through (or even the first few chapters) and tell you what they think of it so far. But don’t ask your parent, child, sibling, bff or significant other to do this “beta” reading, as they probably won’t want to tell you what they really think, for fear of jeopardizing your relationship. So how do you find your beta readers? Perhaps through a critique group, writing class, workshop, book club, or online networking such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc.

Be sure to choose your pre-readers from people who already read and enjoy your genre. In the case of a YA novel or children’s book, look around for be age-appropriate relatives, neighborhood kids, or the children of your friends – or perhaps you know a teacher or librarian who would be willing to read some or all of it aloud and collect feedback.

To avoid generic (and generally useless) responses like “I liked it,” “It was good,” or “It was okay,” it’s best to guide your readers with specific questions. I recently polled some author clients and friends about this, and here are their lists of useful questions for your “beta” readers or critique group.

Read the rest of the post on the Crime Fiction Collective blog.

Produce High Quality Articles And Make Them Easy To Read

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This is the second part in my series: Top 5 Ways to Get Your Articles Found and Read Online.

To get maximum readership, it’s important to provide high quality information or entertainment and to make your articles visually appealing. When writing articles and blog posts, first write a strong headline and lead paragraph that conveys the purpose of the article and draws readers in.

Long, dense blocks of copy are hard to read, especially online. When people glance at the article, you want it to look inviting and easy to read.

Tips for Making Your Articles More Appealing

• Don’t get too long-winded. If a blog post is more than 500 words, consider breaking it apart into a series. For other online articles, 600 to 800 words is a good range.

• Use short paragraphs and insert subheads to organize the information and make it easy to scan.

• Bullet points and numbered lists create both visual appeal and interest from readers.

• Use examples and stories to illustrate your points, when possible.

• Add photos or images to draw attention to your articles. You can find free photos and illustrations online or purchase images for about a dollar at sites such as iStockphoto [and] Wordle.

Finally, be sure to spell check and proofread your article. I do that first in Word, then proofread the draft of the article online before I click the Post button. It’s amazing how many times I find another error on my second review.

Read the rest of this series here:

Part 1: Top 5 Ways to Get Your Articles Found and Read Online
 

 

This is a reprint from Dana Lynn Smith‘s The Savvy Book Marketer.

How Amazon Recommendation Algorithms Help Sell Your Book

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A few weeks ago my friend Joel Friedlander sent me an email …that he had been sent by Amazon which recommended my novel Pentecost next to John Connolly whose supernatural mysteries I really love to read myself.

I was absolutely overjoyed by the news! I put it on Twitter and also received the tweet below showing that Pentecost is being shown in the list of books that other people have bought. Subsequently I have seen it come up myself when I’ve gone in to look at other fiction books of a similar type.

This is evidence that the Amazon algorithms are kicking in and they are starting to market Pentecost themselves. These algorithms are top secret and no one knows for sure how to ensure this type of thing happens, but here’s what we can infer.

  • Rankings get you noticed. Pentecost has been in the Religious Fiction rankings since Feb 7th when it launched. It goes up and down but basically has been in the Top 40 or so for that bestseller category and around 2500 overall in the Kindle store. It has also been in the Top 100 of the same ranking in the UK but that site seems to run entirely separately from the US store.
  • Ratings and Reviews make a difference. Pentecost has 32 reviews as I am writing this with 4.5 star rating on Amazon.com. This is more than a whole lot of big name authors and clearly Amazon pays attention when readers are enthusiastic about a book. (THANK YOU so much if you have left a review – it makes such a difference! If you love a book, the author will be very grateful for a review!)

Why is this important?

Amazon have an amazing amount of information on readers. They target you with offers that you often find irresistable! They know the types of books you read and offer you similar ones. This is gold for authors as it means that Amazon can reach people with your book who would never have heard of it otherwise.

Why do Amazon do this?

Clearly it’s not for your benefit! They are a business and want to make more money so their algorithms look for the books that are selling in specific genres and they try to sell more of them. It’s an entirely business point of view but it benefits authors who are selling well – regardless of the publisher! That is a very key point because I can’t hope to get into a bookstore near you with my novel, but I can hope that you’ll get an email from Amazon recommending my book (if you currently buy books in this genre anyway).

As an author, have you seen evidence of this recommendation algorithm and do you have any ideas on how it works? As a reader, do you pay attention to Amazon’s recommendation emails?

 

This is a reprint from Joanna Penn‘s The Creative Penn.

The Website Platform Advantage

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While writing my Platform Evolution post I gave some thought to commenting on an excellent Infographic about content farms. No sooner did I decide against it than I ran across this excellent post on Publishing Trends about content farms. Then, a day later, a good friend sent me an unbidden and timely link to a post on Making Light, which, among other things, talks about — wait for it! — content farms.

If you’re not familiar with content farms you can get a quick overview here. As a writer, what concerns me most about content farms is that they are to writing and publishing what Ebola is to the human body. If I was an astrophysicist I would also add that content farms are to information and knowledge what solar storms are to communications. And if I was a logician I would say that content farms are to accuracy and reliability what tsunamis are to fishing villages.

Which is to say that everything about content farms is bad, but not equally bad. The worst aspect of content farms is not that they’re the new frontier for spammers and swindlers, it’s that producing so much crap at such an incredible rate renders every single aggregating and filtering mechanism useless.

Google as a search engine for retail products and reviews has been beyond broken for years. (Try searching for “best _____”, where the blank is any product you’re interested in.) Amazon is currently the default search for products, but it’s starting to fall apart as well. (Am I looking at the latest version of the CD/DVD/book I want to order? Is it new or used? Does it ship free or for a fee? Is it shipping from Amazon or some fly-by-night third-party reseller?) And of course the idea that all that ballyhooed user-generated social-media content is pretty much crap is also nothing new.

What content farms do that’s new is automate the production of internet crap by exploiting free labor and making liberal use of other people’s content in a plausibly deniable way. For independent writers trying to attract attention, fighting through the noise pollution generated by content farms may seem impossible, and all the more so as content farms begin to pollute e-book retailers like Amazon. The antidote to this virulent hemorrhage of obfuscating web text may seem to be a gated social networking community, but I think the opposite is true.  

The Best Offense
When you own your own website you establish a perimeter you can actively defend. Whatever else might be happening on the wild and wooly web — whatever newfangled social-networking site or app might be setting the masses atwitter, and whatever predatory forces are conspiring to mute your voice — you can control the integrity of your brand and web presence from behind your server firewall.

As the web disintegrates and segregates more and more, and as sites like Facebook and Amazon fight to lock you in to their communities, denying portability to the relationships you establish on those sites, your isolated, solitary website will remain unsullied. As such it will help you accomplish what fewer and fewer netizens are able to do these day: authenticate yourself. Nobody will be confused about who you are because on your own site you control the message and the medium.

Rather than having to fight through other sites or networks, an independent website also allows readers to find you using almost any basic search engine. Yes, people will need to know something about you — your name, the title of your book(s), etc. — but that will be true no matter how you attempt to integrate your platform into the web.

Content farms, by their very nature, and designed to obscure and deceive through sheer volume. Should content farms progress to the level of writing useless articles about every name in the phone book, then yes, that could pose problems for independent authors. But those problems will still be significantly less if you have your own dedicated site.

Why? Because most search engines take the quality of posts into account. In less than a year and a half I’ve managed to turn the keywords ‘mark, barrett, writer‘ into multiple first-page search hits that allow people to find me. If readers learn or remember the word Ditchwalk they can find me even more quickly, either by typing in that word as a URL or searching for it.

In an age when more and more individuals and businesses are determined to exploit and corrupt information, the ability to validate and authenticate your own presence on the web carries a premium. As an independent author you are and must be your own brand, and I believe it’s less important in a platform context to distribute that brand than it is to make yourself easily identifiable and accessible. (You don’t have to join Facebook or Twitter or anything else in order to find and access Ditchwalk.)

The Best Defense
The biggest fear most writers have about not being on Facebook or Twitter — apart from missing out on the markets themselves — is that somebody will poach their name or brand. The fear of brandjacking is actually stoked by social networking site because it drives a considerable amount of registrations: sign up now or someone will steal your identity! (Some websites make this threat part of their business plan, driving registrations by implicit extortion.)

Back in the day it was possible for a sole-proprietor to maintain a presence on one or two social networking sites to make sure nobody was poaching. Anyone visiting those pages could be redirected in some fashion to the brand’s home page. Today that’s not only not realistic, but social networking sites have gotten better at making it hard for people to leave the compound. Trying to integrate with every site that has a market/community — let alone maximize those relationships — could easily leave the independent author with no time to work.

From your perspective as an author, establishing the prominence of your own name probably seems critical, but it’s not. There are a lot of Mark Barretts in the world, but because of my investment in Ditchwalk I don’t have to compete with any of them. Merely by writing a few blog posts using words central to my work I’ve been able to differentiate myself from others who are fortunate enough to have the same great name.

In the same way that I’m not going to play defense in order to protect myself against brandjacking, I’m not going to play defense against namejacking. Even if I thought parents were naming their kids “Mark Barrett” in order to dilute my brand, I wouldn’t bow to that kind of extortion because it’s too easy to get around the problem. (I might consider suing them for trademark infringement however. Or blasphemy. Or something.)

There’s a bit of equity in all this, too. If you’ve got a really common name it’s going to be a little harder to differentiate yourself from everyone else, but you’ll benefit because most people will be able to guess the spelling. If your name is less common it may be harder to spell, but it will be much easier for you to differentiate yourself.

It’s possible that someone somewhere may at some point put up a fan page using your name. It’s also possible some weasel might try to steal your identity by brandjacking. It’s useful to do web searches from time to time to see when and where your name appears, and in what context, but I don’t think there’s any reason to be paranoid. If you do find somebody ripping you off you can probably get the offending account or web page taken down by contacting the relevant admins.

The Signal-to-Noise Test
If you’ve been using the web for a decade or more you’ve experienced the decay. Searching for even simple things has become a chore, in part because of the nefarious practices of a dedicated and growing subculture of spammers and exploiters, but also in part because of a social-networking mindset that says the open web is a threat.

When you’re building your own platform and considering how different applications or sites might benefit you, consider the signal-to-noise ratio. I stopped using Twitter because the ratio of signal to noise kept getting worse no matter what I did. I stopped using Facebook because Facebook constantly abused and confused its own users, while at the same time encouraging a nearly endless stream of meaningless updates and postings.

When you base your platform on your own website, the signal to noise ratio is under your control. Nothing and nobody can get in the way of your message because there is no noise unless you allow it. As a result, the clarity of your site stands apart from the muck spewed forth by content farms and networking sites. And there will only be more muck.

 

This is a reprint from Mark Barrett‘s Ditchwalk.

Publetariat Founder And Editor In Chief April L. Hamilton Offers 'Avoid The Perils Of Self-Publishing' Webinar Through Writer's Digest

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WILL YOU BE A SAVVY, OR SHORTSIGHTED SELF-PUBLISHER?

More and more authors, aspiring and mainstream-published alike, are embracing the benefits they can enjoy through self-publishing. Retaining full creative control, earning significantly higher profits, being able to bring a complete, polished manuscript to market in a matter of weeks instead of months or years, releasing one’s work in as many (or as few) formats as desired, and controlling one’s own intellectual property rights are just a few of the considerable advantages indie authorship and publishing have to offer. However, there’s no single, one-size-fits-all success plan for self-publishers, and there are plenty of costly mistakes to be made along the way. This webinar is about the questions and issues every self-publisher must address if he hopes to avoid these pitfalls, and reach his goals in authorship and publishing as painlessly and efficiently as possible.

 
 
Date and time: 4/28/11, 1pm EST (11am PST) 
Length and price: 90 minutes, US$79

(Each registration comes with access to the archived version of the program and the materials for 1 year.)

 

 
What you’ll learn:
 
·           How to identify your goals as both an author and publisher, and why this is such a crucial first step
·           The 8 most common causes of self-publishing failure, and how to avoid them
·           The 8 traits most successful self-publishers have in common, and how to cultivate them
·           The 5 crucial author platform skills every self-publisher should strive to master
·           Types of books and authors for which the indie path is particularly well-suited, and conversely, types of authors and books for which mainstream publication is still the smarter path
·           Where to go to get more help and information

Who should attend?
 
·               Authors and aspiring authors who are considering self-publishing, but want to learn more about it first
·               Authors and aspiring authors who have decided to self-publish and want to avoid the "gotchas"
·               Authors who’ve already self-published without much success, but want to try again, armed with the information needed to do better the next time 

Speaker
April L. Hamilton is an author, author services provider, blogger, Technorati BlogCritic, leading advocate and speaker for the indie author movement, and founder and Editor in Chief of Publetariat, the premier online news hub and community for indie authors and small imprints. April is also on the Board of Directors for the Association of Independent Authors. She’s been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, MSN Money and The Washington Times, and profiled by ABNA Books and The Writing Cast podcast. Her originally self-published book, The IndieAuthor Guide, has received favorable mention on CNET and recommendations from The Huffington Post and New York Times Magazine; the revised and updated edition, released by Writer’s Digest Books, is currently available from booksellers everywhere in both print and ebook formats. April is also the author of novels available in both ebook and POD form.

Register here.

The Ten Commandments Of The Successful Author

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This post, by Roni Loren, originally appeared on her Fiction Groupie blog on 3/30/11.

So as I go through this whole writing journey, I spend a lot of time observing other authors–be it in person or, more likely, on the internet. I want to know what makes one so successful and the other not as much. What makes one likable and another unapproachable. In other words, what separates the good from the great. And so, based on my very unscientific observations, I’ve come up with my own Ten Commandments. These are the things I’ve seen successful authors do and the things I strive to emulate.  So here we go…

 

The Ten Commandments of a Successful Author
 

1. I will always strive to make the next book better than the last.
 

This is one that keeps me awake at night sometimes. The desire to make this next book better than the first one, to improve on every new project. We put so much effort into THAT book, you know the one to get the agent and the book deal. It’s the best we have to give on a page. Then the dream happens and you’re faced with book two and oh, you have a time limit this time, and oh if this one tanks, there may not be another book deal. *breathes into paper bag* The best authors out there manage to do this, even on tight deadlines, even when the check is already in the bank. They keep topping their own work.

2. I will not fear risk.
 

It’s tempting to be safe, to stick to what you know and what you know works. But the best authors don’t just put out book after book that follow the same formula. They take risks, they push boundaries, hell, some of them even test out different genre waters. With no risk, there’s no challenge. Write the stories you want to write. If some don’t work out, that’s okay.

3. I will never believe "I’m the sh*t." Well, at least not for an extended period of time.
 

We’ve all seen it. The author that hits whatever level and now seems to wear the "I’m the sh*t" tiara. Don’t do it. No matter if you top every bestseller list. It’s okay when you get a good review or hit a list or write a passage that rocks to think to yourself–yep, I’m the shizz nizz, baby. But keep it to yourself–please–and don’t let it go to your head. No one’s that awesome. 

4. I shall not wallow in a pool of self-pity and doubt when someone doesn’t like me or my writing.
 

Someone, probably many someones, will absolutely hate your writing. It’s inevitable. You can’t please everyone. If you let negative feedback get in your head, it will eat away at your confidence like cancer. This goes for rejections too. Feel the sting, eat a piece of chocolate or take a shot of whiskey–whatever you’re preference–and move on. 

 

Read the rest of the post on Roni Loren‘s Fiction Groupie.