Month: September 2012

12 Reasons To Ignore The Naysayers: Do NaNoWriMo

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This post, by Carolyn Kellogg, originally appeared on the Los Angeles Times’ Jacket Copy blog on 11/3/10.

 

If you want to write a novel in 30 days, don’t let anyone stop you. Not even Salon’s Laura Miller.

Miller, who I usually find thoughtful and sweet, has written an anti-NaNoWriMo column — "Better yet, DON’T write that novel" — that is at best wrongheaded, and at worst, smallhearted. Miller would lay the blame for too many writers — and not enough readers — at the foot of NaNoWriMo, the project that challenges would-be authors to write a 50,000-word novel during the month of November.

 

 

The too-many-writers trope is echoed by people who publish literary journals, who see more submissions than subscriptions, and those in the publishing industry who’d simply like to sell more books. Even if it is true — which I’m not convinced it is — there are certainly other factors, including the hundreds of MFA programs in creative writing, that swell the ranks of hopeful writers.

And is a large pool of hopeful writers really a terrible thing? Are there not thousands more marathon runners than medalists, more home chefs than pros who might ever run a restaurant kitchen? What’s wrong with an enthusiastic amateur class of writers? Who says they’re not readers, anyway? I’ve yet to see anything more substantial than a dinner party anecdote.

Here’s a quick rundown of Miller’s argument, and where it goes wrong.

1. Miller writes: " ‘Make no mistake,’ the organization’s website counsels. ‘You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create.’ I am not the first person to point out that ‘writing a lot of crap’ doesn’t sound like a particularly fruitful way to spend an entire month, even if it is November."

In fact, spending a month "writing a lot of crap" is more fruitful than many things, including much of the fun, casual cultural consumption we regularly engage in. It’s more fruitful than watching TV, playing video games, spending hours on Facebook or Twitter. It might not be more fruitful than innoculating children in an underdeveloped village, but we’re not talking about people quitting the Peace Corps in order to do NaNoWriMo. The only thing "writing a lot of crap" can genuinely be said to be less fruitful than is writing well. 

Miller quotes it, but misses the essential point: for a hopeful writer to "just create." It’s the act of doing that’s important. Knitters don’t knit because their friends need more hats. But so far, there hasn’t been a "Better yet, DON’T knit that scarf" manifesto.

 

 

Read the rest of the post on Jacket Copy – and start clearing your decks for NaNoWriMo!

Why Are Sleazy Protagonists Popular?

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by L.J. Sellers, author of the bestselling Detective Jackson mysteries

Alcoholics, sex addicts, porn stars, thieves, and kidnappers. In today’s crime fiction, these characters are often the protagonists, and as a reader, I’m expected to root for them. I rarely can. I’ve put down many well-written and well-plotted novels lately because the main character was not someone I could relate to.

 

 

For example, in one story, the protagonist—a reformed criminal, living a good life—participated in a kidnapping to keep himself from going to jail. If I had not been reading the book for discussion, I would have put it down immediately. For me, there was little point in reading about a protagonist I wanted to see caught and punished, especially since I knew he would not be.

In another story, the character was well developed, resourceful, and good-hearted and I really wanted to like her. But the world she inhabited was sleazy and everyone she encountered gave me the creeps. Despite the terrific writing, I finally gave up, because spending too much time in her world was a little hard to take.

Don’t get me wrong. I love crime fiction! And I’m certainly not a prude. I write a mystery/suspense series, and the first book is called The Sex Club. My main character is a homicide detective who’s a hardworking family man. Not perfect, by any means, but he’s also not a cynical, pill-popping alcoholic with dysfunctional relationships. I’m tired of that cop stereotype, and I want my character to be someone readers can relate to.

But it’s not a clear-cut issue. Two of my favorite books last year had protagonists who were criminals…or at least they had been. In Beat the Reaper, the main character is an ex-hit man who becomes a doctor. But he’s trying to redeem himself, and it’s a terrific (and often funny) story. The Lock Artist, another novel I loved, is about a psychologically mute safecracker. But the reader knows from the beginning that Michael goes to jail and hopes to change his life. So I rooted for both characters all the way.

For me, good characterization for a protagonist, especially a recurring character, means creating someone readers will care about, like, and/or respect in some way. (I make an exception for Elmore Leonard’s stories, in which everyone is shady, but often likeable, and I can always cheer for a charming thief, especially if he’s played by George Clooney.)

I realize I may be somewhat alone in this thinking. In my book discussion groups, many other readers say they don’t have to like the protagonist to find the story compelling.

How do you feel about protagonists who are unlikable, deeply flawed, or simply not someone you’d ever spend time with? Does it spoil the story for you? Can you name a novel you thoroughly enjoyed even though you didn’t like the protagonist?

 

 

This is a reprint from the Crime Fiction Collective blog, and is reprinted here in its entirety with that site’s permission.

What Will Smith Can Teach Us About Sales

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In the last ten years, Will Smith has made 10 movies. Of those 10, nine of them hauled in a minimum of $100 million in box office salesapiece.

(Seven Pounds missed the mark by a measly $40 million.)

If you think that his success is by accident, you’re wrong. It’s by educated, researched design.

Many years ago, when Will Smith was preparing to enter the movie industry, he and his manager decided that they didn’t necessarily want to make Oscar winning movies or spirited indie flicks, they wanted to make box office hits. Period.

So they did their research, studied the 10 top grossing movies of all time, and identified the common characteristics.

This is what Will himself said about that research in a 2007 Time Magazine article:

“We looked at (the list) and said, O.K., what are the patterns? We realized that 10 out of 10 had special effects. Nine out of 10 had special effects with creatures. Eight out of 10 had special effects with creatures and a love story.”

So what did he do?

Will Smith made movies with special effects (Bad Boys I & II; I Am Legend), special effects with creatures (Men in Black I & III; Independence Day) and special effects with creatures and a love story (iRobot, MIB II).

And you know what? They were all box office hits.

He threw in the occasional drama (Pursuit of Happyness, Seven Pounds), kids movie (Shark Tale) and sports flick (Ali) to mix things up and suddenly, Will Smith had a booming movie star career.

So what can we learn from Will Smith’s strategy?

Well, if you’ve decided you want to earn a substantial, sustainable income from commercial writing you can use the same three steps Smith used to get there.

SUPER Important Caveat 

There’s nothing wrong with approaching your career from a different perspective. If, for example, you want to produce award-winning literary pieces that’s a great career goal as well.

I’m not at all saying you MUST do it this way.

This method is just for authors who have a goal of a financially beneficial career in writing (and nothing’s wrong with that either). To successfully execute this strategyyou will have to put marketing and sales before your creativity, many authors are not okay with that. You need to know yourself and what you want out of your writing career before you decide to pursue this avenue.

Also keep in mind that once you’ve jumped the hurdle, made some great sales and established a crazy-dedicated fan base, there will be time later in your career to explore your creative side and take more risks (that aren’t necessarily based on marketing research). Check out John Grisham’s career path as an example.

How you can use the Will Smith Strategy

To use the Will Smith approach in your writing career, you need to follow these three easy steps:

1. Research the best-selling books in your genre and find the common denominators.

Pick your genre of choice (YA, science fiction, paranormal, romance, chicklit, etc.) and find out what the top ten best selling books are in that genre.

This is a little harder than it might seem on the surface.

I couldn’t find an all-time best seller list by genre, but this handy tool from USA Today at least lets you sort by genre and pick the week of your choice from anytime over the last several years. Amazon also offers the ability to sort genre lists by popularity.

Once you’ve got your list, you need to figure out what elements these best sellers have in common.

If you’re looking at the science fiction genre for example, do most of the books take place in space? Are they in alternate galaxies or other planets within the Milky Way? Is there a love story? Murder mystery? Aliens?

If more than half of the books you research contain the same element, add it to your list. You should be able to compile a half dozen or so different traits that they all have in common.

From those traits you can begin to form your plot and characters.

2. Put your own spin on it.

By my estimation there are approximately 234,985,047 vampire novels in circulation right now and another 349,062,175 dystopian books to boot (those numbers are rough estimates and probably grossly understate the issue).

The point is, if you’re going to do this right, you have to make yours stand out from the crowd.

This is where your creativity does come into play. You have to step outside the box and find some new elements to mix in with what your sales research has taught you.

Whether it’s a different perspective on an old issue, a new world that has yet to be explored, or the benefit of a completely different and unique writing style, there has to be something different that will make people want to read your book when they’ve already read different ones.

Going back to our Will Smith example, what made all the Men in Black movies ($250 million, $190 million, $178 million respectively) and Independence Day ($306 million)more popular than Battleship ($65 million)?

They all had aliens and special effects, right?

So there was something about the plot or characters that made Will Smith’s movies more popular than the Battleship bomb. (For what it’s worth, I think that comedy had something to do with it — the trailers for all four Smith movies contained snappy one liners while Battleship comes off looking like a Michael Bay rip-off that takes itself too seriously.)

3. Market, market, market your book.

Here’s where the difference between winners and losers is really made.

You can have a great book with great subject matter similar to that of all best sellers, but if nobody knows about it, it doesn’t matter. No Will Smith movie ever hit theaters without you knowing about it at least a month or two in advance, right?

Fortunately, marketing a ready made best-seller based on the popular books in your genre is pretty straightforward. There should be plenty of available arenas where books of that type are heralded, you just need to jump in the game and introduce yourself.

You know I hate to use this example, but that’s how 50 Shades came to be what it is now. It was shared in the Twi-hard fan fiction forums and it spread like an STD (see what I did there?).

So all you need to do is find the forums, blogs and other popular hangouts for fans of the popular books you researched and jump in the game.

Participate in the conversation, make friends and share the details of your book (in that order, please).

What do you think? Would you try it?

So that brings us to the $100 million question — would you try Will Smith’s approach with your writing career?

Certainly $100 million is very near impossible for book sales (unless you’ve got the next Harry Potter series up your sleeve), but with some research in your pocket and great marketing you could surely aim for a very financially successful career.

I’d love to hear some answers from you guys on these questions as well:

  • Do you think it’s a smart move or is it too contrived?
  • Have you researched your genre to find out what seems to be popular?
  • Are there any other elements you’d add to this strategy?

Give us your thoughts in the comments [on the original post at Duolit]!

 

 

This is a reprint from the Duolit blog. Click here to download Duolit’s Free Book Marketing Toolkit.

14 Tips for Building Character

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This post, by Rick Meyer, originally appeared on nieman storyboard, a project of the nieman foundation for journalism at Harvard, on 6/1/05.

 

This essay is adapted from Rick Meyer’s notes for a talk at the 2005 Nieman Narrative Editors’ Seminar. Rick’s presentation was paired with Laurie Hertzel’s talk on scenes.

We probably ought to declare something right away, so no one can accuse us of cheating. In nonfiction, when we talk about building characters, we’re not talking about creating them. That happens in fiction. In our world, God creates the characters. That’s his or her job. It’s our job to write about those characters.

 

 

But it is true, nonetheless, that writers build characters. First, when they report them, they take them apart and put pieces of them into their notebooks: Pale, amber eyes. Red hair. Freckles across the bridge of her nose. Talks softly and slowly. Perfume like lilacs. Then when they write these characters, they put the pieces back together, back into whole beings. If they have done it well, these people come alive. They inhabit our imaginations just as vividly as fictional characters do.

Maybe more so, because when we read about them we know they’re real.

What happens to the main characters in the stories we edit is called the plot or the story line or the arc of the narrative. We ought to develop plots, or story lines, through scenes as much as possible. I’ll try here to suggest some ways to develop the characters in those scenes into full, three-dimensional figures. In other words, I’ll try to suggest how to make the characters come alive, how to make them come up off the written page.

None of these suggestions is original with me. I’ve picked up these notions along the way from editors, reporters and writers, teachers and folks who write about writing. They include Jon Franklin, John Gardner, Jim Frey, Tom Wolfe, Mark Kramer, Gay Talese, Sol Stein, Walt Harrington, John McPhee, Jacqui Banaszynski, Elmore Leonard, Barry Siegel, Jack Hart, Kit Rachlis and Norman Mailer. If there’s anything unique here, it’s only because Willie Nelson might be right when he says, “If you steal from enough people, somehow you end up doing your own thing.”

My suggestions number a baker’s dozen plus one. To illustrate them, I’ll use a piece you might be familiar with. It’s an old story by now, published in 2002. But it has some pretty good examples of what I’m going to talk about. It’s Sonia Nazario’s piece about a 17-year-old kid named Enrique, whose mother leaves him behind in Central America and comes to the United States to find work. He is so torn and lonely for her that he sets out on his own, by foot, riding on the tops of freight trains, hitchhiking on trucks, all the way across Honduras and Guatemala, up the length of Mexico, then by coyote across the Rio Grande and illegally into Texas, then finally to North Carolina to hunt for her. Forty-eight thousand kids do this every year. Some are only 7 years old. It’s a new and extremely dangerous migration. Sonia’s story won a Pulitzer.

Many of the things I’m going to talk about Sonia did on her own. A few I suggested. Some are suggestions I wish I had offered but didn’t have the good sense to at the time. A number might make you yawn, because you know some of these things as well as or better than I do. But maybe there’s a notion or two here that could be helpful. It sort of goes without saying that Sonia and I talked about things such as these all along the way — as she reported, while she drew up her story architecture and during her writing. If you wait to consider them until the line editing gets under way, you’re way too late.

Here are the suggestions:

 

 

Build characters by showing their actions. Sometimes you’ll be tempted to develop characters by saying who they are. Show them instead.

Shaq was tall. That’s telling it. Shaq ducked to get through the door. That’s showing it.

My father was easygoing about religion. That’s telling.

Every spring, my father let me skip catechism class so I could play baseball. That’s showing.

From “Enrique’s Journey,” here’s an example that tells first and then shows:

Uncle Marco and his girlfriend treat him well. … Uncle Marco gives Enrique a daily allowance, buys him clothes and sends him to a private school.

I could make a pretty good case that you shouldn’t do both. It’s redundant. In retrospect, I’d suggest to Sonia that we take out the first of those two sentences.

Get character-building information by asking for examples, anecdotes and vignettes.

 

 

Read the rest of the post on nieman storyboard.

20 Common Grammar Mistakes That (Almost) Everyone Makes

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This post, by John Gingerich, originally appeared on Lit Reactor on 1/31/12.

I’ve edited a monthly magazine for more than six years, and it’s a job that’s come with more frustration than reward. If there’s one thing I am grateful for — and it sure isn’t the pay — it’s that my work has allowed endless time to hone my craft to Louis Skolnick levels of grammar geekery. 

As someone who slings red ink for a living, let me tell you: grammar is an ultra-micro component in the larger picture; it lies somewhere in the final steps of the editing trail; and as such it’s an overrated quasi-irrelevancy in the creative process, perpetuated into importance primarily by bitter nerds who accumulate tweed jackets and crippling inferiority complexes. But experience has also taught me that readers, for better or worse, will approach your work with a jaundiced eye and an itch to judge. While your grammar shouldn’t be a reflection of your creative powers or writing abilities, let’s face it — it usually is.

Below are 20 common grammar mistakes I see routinely, not only in editorial queries and submissions, but in print: in HR manuals, blogs, magazines, newspapers, trade journals, and even best selling novels. If it makes you feel any better, I’ve made each of these mistakes a hundred times, and I know some of the best authors in history have lived to see these very toadstools appear in print. Let’s hope you can learn from some of their more famous mistakes.

Who and Whom

This one opens a big can of worms. “Who” is a subjective — or nominative — pronoun, along with "he," "she," "it," "we," and "they." It’s used when the pronoun acts as the subject of a clause. “Whom” is an objective pronoun, along with "him," "her," "it", "us," and "them." It’s used when the pronoun acts as the object of a clause. Using “who” or “whom” depends on whether you’re referring to the subject or object of a sentence. When in doubt, substitute “who” with the subjective pronouns “he” or “she,” e.g., Who loves you? cf., He loves me. Similarly, you can also substitute “whom” with the objective pronouns “him” or “her.” e.g., I consulted an attorney whom I met in New York. cf., I consulted him.

Which and That

This is one of the most common mistakes out there, and understandably so. “That” is a restrictive pronoun. It’s vital to the noun to which it’s referring.  e.g., I don’t trust fruits and vegetables that aren’t organic. Here, I’m referring to all non-organic fruits or vegetables. In other words, I only trust fruits and vegetables that are organic. “Which” introduces a relative clause. It allows qualifiers that may not be essential. e.g., I recommend you eat only organic fruits and vegetables, which are available in area grocery stores. In this case, you don’t have to go to a specific grocery store to obtain organic fruits and vegetables. “Which” qualifies, “that” restricts. “Which” is more ambiguous however, and by virtue of its meaning is flexible enough to be used in many restrictive clauses. e.g., The house, which is burning, is mine. e.g., The house that is burning is mine.

Lay and Lie 

This is the crown jewel of all grammatical errors. “Lay” is a transitive verb. It requires a direct subject and one or more objects. Its present tense is “lay” (e.g., I lay the pencil on the table) and its past tense is “laid” (e.g., Yesterday I laid the pencil on the table). “Lie” is an intransitive verb. It needs no object. Its present tense is “lie” (e.g., The Andes mountains lie between Chile and Argentina) and its past tense is “lay” (e.g., The man lay waiting for an ambulance). The most common mistake occurs when the writer uses the past tense of the transitive “lay” (e.g., I laid on the bed) when he/she actually means the intransitive past tense of “lie" (e.g., I lay on the bed).

Moot

Contrary to common misuse, “moot” doesn’t imply something is superfluous. It means a subject is disputable or open to discussion. e.g., The idea that commercial zoning should be allowed in the residential neighborhood was a moot point for the council.

Continual and Continuous

They’re similar, but there’s a difference. “Continual” means something that’s always occurring, with obvious lapses in time. “Continuous” means something continues without any stops or gaps in between. e.g., The continual music next door made it the worst night of studying ever. e.g., Her continuous talking prevented him from concentrating.

Envy and Jealousy

 

Read the rest of the post on Lit Reactor.

How To Price Ebooks For Maximum Profitability

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Ebook customers tend to be price sensitive, but it can be difficult for authors to know how to price their ebooks for maximum profitability. It may seem counterintuitive, but a higher price doesn’t necessarily mean higher profits. The good news is that ebook publishers can experiment with different price points. 

Below are links to two excellent articles on the topic of finding the optimum price for your ebook. Some of the principles discussed in these articles apply to printed books too, although consumers are generally willing to pay more for print books.

 

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

Full-Service Publishers Are Rethinking What They Can Offer

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This post, by Mike Shatzkin, originally appeared on The Shatzkin Files on 9/4/12.

 

At lunch a few months ago, Brian Murray, the CEO of HarperCollins, expressed dissatisfaction with the term “legacy” to describe the publishers who had been successful since before the digital revolution began. For one thing, he felt that sounded too much like “the past”. “We need to come up with a different term,” was his assessment and he suggested that perhaps “full-service” was more apt.

 

I find I keep coming back to “full service” as an accurate description of the publisher’s relationship to an author. That’s what the long-established publishers have evolved to be.

It would be disingenuous to suggest that publishing organizations were deliberately created as service organizations for authors. They weren’t. In fact, as we shall see, the service component of a publisher’s DNA was developed in service to other publishers.

My Dad, Leonard Shatzkin, pointed out to me 40 years ago that all trade book publishing companies were started with an “editorial inspiration”: an idea of what they would publish. Sometimes that was a highly personal selection dictated by an individual’s taste, such as by so many of the great company and imprint names: Scribners, Knopf, Farrar and Straus and Giroux, for examples. Random House was begun on the idea of the Modern Library series; Simon & Schuster was started to do crossword puzzle books.

That is: people had the idea that they knew what books would sell and built a company around finding them, developing them, and bringing them to market.

And the development and delivery to the market required building up a repertoire of capabilities that comprised a full-service offering.

The publisher would find a manuscript or the idea for one and then provide everything that was necessary — albeit largely by engaging and coordinating the activities of other contractors or companies — to make the manuscript or idea commercially productive for the author and themselves.

The list of these services describes the publishing value chain. It includes:

 

  • select the project (and assume a financial risk, sometimes relieving the author of any);
     
  • guide its editorial development (although the work is mostly done by the contracted author or packager);
     
  • execute the delivery of the content into transactable and consumable forms (which used to mean “printed books” but now also means as ebooks, apps, or web-viewable content);
     
  • put it into the world in a way that it will be found and bought (which used to mean “put it in a catalog widely distributed to opinion-makers or buyers” but now largely means “manage metadata”);
     
  • publicize and market it;
     
  • build awareness and demand among the people at libraries and bookstores and other distribution channels who can buy it;
     
  • process the orders;
     
  • manufacture and warehouse the actual books or files or other packaged product;
     
  • deliver;
     
  • collect;
     
  • and, along the way, sell rights to exploit the intellectual property in other forms and markets, including other languages.

It has long been customary for publishers to unbundle the components of their service offering. The most common form of unbundling is through “distribution deals” by which one publisher takes on some of the most scaleable activities on behalf of other smaller ones. It has reached the point where almost every publisher is either a distributor or a distributee. Many are depending on a third party, quite often a competing publisher, for warehousing, shipping, and billing and perhaps sales or even manufacturing. All the big ones and many others, along with a few companies dedicated to distribution, are providing that batch of services. It is not unheard of for one publisher to do both: offering distribution services to a smaller competitor while they are in turn actually being distributed by somebody larger than they.

 

 

 

Read the rest of the post on The Shatzkin Files.

I Like Self-Publishing Again

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This post, by Henry Baum, originally appeared on The Self-Publishing Review on 9/13/12.

 

It’s odd that the recent firestorm about paid reviews and unscrupulous self-publishers has actually rekindled my love of self-publishing. Ever since Amanda Hocking, the vibe around self-publishing has been money, money, money. On the one hand, I was grateful for this because it put self-publishing on the map: money talks. On the other hand: this is the worst determination of value and pretty much what’s wrong with the world, and publishing in general. The reason that I fled traditional publishing (after having a series of agents and traditional contracts) was because of the overemphasis on marketing and past sales. Publishing was all about a numbers game.

 

 

My support for self-publishing has been about self-expression – every writer should have a chance to express themselves in print or ebook, no matter how flawed those books may sometimes be. The slippery slope of the traditional publishing industry suggests that many, many interesting and/or adventurous books are not getting published. That’s a loss to the culture at large. This is self-publishing’s value – intellectual freedom, not the freedom to be independently wealthy. Of course, it’d be great to have the latter, but the former is more important.

And so it’s somewhat vindicating to see the greed impulse in self-publishing sort of fall apart. It’s also eye-opening about all the successes that have happened. Frankly, it’s always been kind of mysterious why one book totally takes off and another one does not. This has been chalked up to the ephemeral “word of mouth,” but in some cases that word of mouth was fake. On many books with 100+ reviews, you’ll inevitably see, “This book is terrible. All those 5-star reviews must be family…” I always chalked it up to bitter reviewers, but it turns out some of them were right. I’d look at a book with a terrible cover, terrible synopsis and think, This is what people want to read? It was pretty depressing.  It turns out readers really didn’t want to read those books.

I’ve had my differences with JA Konrath for a long time. In the past, he crapped all over self-publishers because they didn’t have the approval of a publishing “professional.” Then he became a self-publishing convert, because evidently $ speaks louder than a publisher’s approval. It irked me that he would continually trump up his income. This can be useful to see how self-publishing is progressing and “legacy” publishing is archaic, but his impulse was to highlight all the money-makers to prove his point, rather than people who are writing good books, but might not be selling a lot. Those people don’t fit into JA Konrath’s narrative, even though they’re the writers who might need the attention more.

 

Read the rest of the post on The Self-Publishing Review.

Get Over Yourselves

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This post, by J.A. Konrath, originally appeared on his A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing on 9/8/12.

Updated below.

I had a long talk with a friend last night, and we realized something obvious.

Amazon allows one star reviews. 

In other words, the existing system allows and encourages people to publicly trash books.

[Publetariat Editor’s note: strong language after the jump] 

Reread that sentence. Just about every book has one star reviews. So there are, quite literally, MILLIONS of one star reviews.

Every one of those millions of reviewers who trashed a book deliberately did it to harm that book’s sales. That’s the whole point of a one star review. Someone yelling to the world "Don’t buy this!"

This is why I don’t leave one star reviews. I think it is a shitty, mean thing to do.

But it’s allowed.

If it was wrong to trash a book, it wouldn’t be allowed. Like murder isn’t allowed. Our society doesn’t allow murder.

But society does allow people freedom of speech. And that includes the right for people to offer their opinions. Even anonymously. Even stupid opinions. Even biased opinions. Even opinions with agendas.

Recently, three authors were exposed using an existing system–one built upon the very principle of people voicing their opinions–to their advantage, and they’re branded immoral and beyond reproach.

Sorry, no.

Ellory did a shitty thing, and because he didn’t sign his name to his reviews he was also cowardly, but what he did wasn’t any different than what millions of other one star reviewers did and continue to do.

Ellory didn’t want people to buy his rivals’ books. He wanted them to buy his books. That was his agenda.

He’s allowed his agenda. And I’ll defend his right to do things like that, even if I wouldn’t do it.

If I have a bad meal at a restaurant, I’d warn my friends not to go there. I’m deliberately preventing that restaurant from making money. That is my agenda.

And if I warned my friends to avoid a restaurant I never ate at, I’d be doing the same thing, except I’d be a dick.

And if I owned a restaurant, and publicly denounced other restaurants, I’d also be a dick. (Or an advertiser using Pepsi Challenge rules.)

There are dicks on the Internet! Gasp! Circle the wagons, Pa!

As I said, I don’t leave one star reviews. I think trashing books is shitty. That’s my personal opinion.

But if you want to throw Ellory under the bus, you need to condemn the millions of others who give malicious one star reviews, and then condemn the system for allowing it.

If you want to throw Locke under the bus, you need to condemn the millions of others who give unsubstantiated five star reviews, and then condemn the system for allowing it.

If you want to throw Leather under the bus, you need to condemn the millions of others who use sock puppets and post anonymously, and then condemn the system for allowing it.

 

Read the rest of the post on A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing. Also see this rebuttal from Alan Baxter‘s The Word.

Start A Self-Publishing Business While You Maintain Your Regular Job

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Anyone can write a few books and easily start a self-publishing business. The tough part is in creating a financially successful self-publishing business. The reality of publishing is that most authors and self-publishers make little or no money from self-publishing. You must understand that it is going to take a lot of time and effort on your part to get your publications to start making money.

That’s why, if you already have a paying job, the best way to start and maintain your new self-publishing business is to keep your paying job – and do both together. And, in most cases, it is easy enough to keep your regular job (for medical benefits, retirement savings, regular pay check, industry contacts), and also run your self-publishing business (for extra income, fame, credibility, retirement business and income, creative outlet) at the same time. In addition, staying employed while you build your self-publishing business is the best way to dip your toe into the entrepreneurial waters.

1. Keep your current job and think long and hard about what you would like to publish.
Do lots of research and soul searching about what subject matter you will be writing about. What will your specialty, or expertise, or niche be?

2. Keep your current job and write and publish a subject that you love.
You are going to be devoting many long hours to your writing, promoting, marketing, and sales, etc. You will not be able to go the distance if you do not have a passion for your subject (niche).

3. Keep your current job and get your family on-board with your plans – especially your spouse.
Your spouse, in most circumstances, should be your partner in your new venture. They have as much to gain, or lose, as you do. Therefore, they will be very motivated to help make it a success.

4. Keep your current job and get professional help for your business.
This means an accountant (for financial planning and taxes), and an attorney (for copyright, trademark, and business formation). These are not subjects that you should be trying to do on your own to save a few bucks.

5. Keep your current job and keep your new business lean (keep expenses down to a minimum).
Using the internet wisely gives you the ability to run an entire business from home – very inexpensively, efficiently, and with no employees.

6. Keep your current job and become an amazing employee at work.
You must continue to perform well at your job; lose it and you could lose everything.

7. Keep your current job and save your business’ profits – and reinvest them when necessary.
Use earnings to set up the business infrastructure (llc, copyrights, computers, etc.) that your business needs.

8. Keep your current job and create a time schedule for your writing, your business, and your personal time.
Make lists of things to do, to achieve, to accomplish – to keep yourself and your new business on track to success. And always make time for your family – without exception.

9. Keep your current job and do not complain about your challenging work schedule.
Co-workers don’t want to hear it – and it will hurt your at-work reputation. And never let your family hear you complaining – it will upset everyone. Once your self-publishing business has been running for a while, scheduling and time management is less of a problem.

10. Keep your current job and wait longer than you want to quit that job.
At the very least until your self-publishing can provide enough income to cover all of your living expenses. If you have a family, then double or triple the amount of income needed. If your job is what gives you credibility in the eyes of your readers, which will help you sell more copies, then you might want to keep that job.

This article was written by Joseph C. Kunz, Jr. and originally posted on KunzOnPublishing.com

 

Beyond the Bookcast: Winning Publishing Strategies

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We’re happy to share this post and accompanying podcast from the Beyond the Bookcast group of the Copyright Clearance Center. In it, publishing expert Bruce Harris talks about the opportunity to approach a publishing project the same way producers approach film and TV projects: by assembling a team of talented freelancers on a per-project basis.

There’s no business like show business to serve as a model for book publishing, according to industry veteran Bruce Harris, who spoke earlier this summer at the Yale Publishing Course.

“When you’re doing a show, a group of talented people come together. They focus on a particular task. And they get very involved, and very intense about it. And then, after it’s done, they split up, and they form other groups to do different things,” Harris tells CCC’s Chris Kenneally. 

“In publishing today, there seems to be this thing about having a fixed group of people who constantly have to do work on very different kinds of books. And I think that now, with so much freelance talent available, you can form your own team. There a lot of people who are skilled at publicity, there are people who are skilled at marketing, there are people who are skilled at production. And so you can form your own team and say, what can I do?”

Indeed, that is just what Harris has done. As an independent producer, he has supervised publication of several books that have become national bestsellers. In June 2012 at BookExpo America, Harris previewed the October publication of Anomaly by Skip Brittenham and Brian Haberlin, “an oversized (10” x 15”) 370 page full-color painted hardcover graphic novel, a sprawling science-fiction saga about a corporate space mission that goes deeply awry.”

Bruce Harris began his publishing career at The Crown Publishing Group where he publishedThe Joy of Sex, Martha Stewart’s Entertaining, Douglas Adams Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Maurice Sendak’s Nutcracker and founded the Harmony Books imprint. He became President of Trade Sales and Marketing at Random House and supervised successful publishing strategies for books by Colin Powell, Tom Peters, and hundreds of other best-sellers. Later, he became Publisher-COO at Workman Books and designed campaigns for 1,000 Places To See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz, Younger Next Year by Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge and The French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller and Deborah Jones.

 
Winning Publishing Strategies Podcast [10:55m]:  | Play in Popup | Download
 

The Yale Publishing Course (YPC) offers mid to senior-level publishing professionals from all over the world access to industry experts and a cutting-edge curriculum focusing on the most crucial areas in publishing. During the week-long programs in book and magazine & digital publishing, YPC participants learn new leadership skills and develop their global network and perspective. Follow YPC on Twitter #YPC2012 

 

The Case of the Disappearing Amazon Reviews

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Peter Grabarchuk, the indie author of numerous Kindle puzzle books, has noticed that hundreds of the customer reviews for his books, including some from Amazon Top Reviewers like Grady Harp, have been pulled by Amazon. ‘Helpful’ clicks on the reviews that remain seem to be vanishing, as well. To share his experiences and cast a wide net seeking answers, Mr. Grabarchuk has opened a discussion group about the problem on Amazon. Here’s the post he made to open the group:

Dear Top Reviewers!

We believe you should be aware of the "interesting" practice Amazon does with reviews written by Top Reviewers for Top Rated Kindle books of indie publishers.

Sep 11, 2012 we’ve noticed that over 150 reviews from 30 reviewers were removed by Amazon from our Kindle books (>110 reviews), Kindle apps (>40 reviews) and paperback books (3 reviews). For example, today >20 reviews were removed from (Puzzlebook: 100 Puzzle Quizzes) and its rating dropped to 4.0. We are highly disappointed with such procedures and can not understand their nature.

For the last 12 months we’ve successfully developed and published 10 books and 4 apps for Kindle, all of them become Top Rated and some of them are bestsellers in the respective categories of Kindle store. During this time we’ve worked hard with over two hundred reviewers, many of which are Amazon Top reviewers.

Here is the list of reviewers (~30) whose reviews were removed: Alison Deluca, Book Him Danno, C. F. Hill, C. Wright, Carol, CCH, Chris Swanson, Connie M. Wright, D. Fowler, Drebbles, Grady Harp, Israel Drazin, J. Chambers, jjceo, John Galluzzo, K. Groh, K.P. Druckenmiller, Kate Policani, KatrinaAbrosa, Laurie Carlson, LaurieHere, Mark J. Fowler, Patty Magyar, Peter Faden, S. Deeth, Sheila Deeth, Stacie Wyatt, Tami Brady. Many of them are Amazon Top Reviewers… Unfortunately it seems to be not a full list since we see that reviews still disappear from our products… That’s really frustrating.

We affirm: no reviewer of our products has a financial interest in our product or a directly competing product. No reviewer of our products is an author, artist, publisher, or manufacturers of our products, or our family member.

We are working on new Kindle books and apps – please let us know what all this situation mean and how we should move forward?

Sep 11, 2012 we’ve sent this message to Jeff Bezos, KDP Support (Kindle books) and KDK Support (Kindle apps).

Sep 12, 2012 – 250 reviews were removed: 200 from our Kindle books and 50 from our Kindle apps.

Sep 12, 2012 we and some reviewers have received the following reply from KDP Support: 

———————-
While we appreciate your time and comments, we limit customer participation to one review per product and reserve the right to remove reviews that include any of the following:
* Reviews written for any form of compensation other than a free copy of the product. This includes reviews that are a part of a paid publicity package
* Solicitations for helpful votes
If this continues we will also remove all your reviewing privileges from your account.
———————-

and

———————-
We do not allow reviews on behalf of a person or company with a financial interest in the product or a directly competing product. This includes authors, artists, publishers, manufacturers, third-party merchants selling the product, or anyone who receives any form of compensation other than a free copy of the product.
———————-

So, for today (Sep 12, 2012) already 250 reviews were removed from our products: were removed reviews of people who get ebook as Gifts; were removed reviews which were bought after reviewer redeemed $0.99 or $2.99 gift card to purchase book/app; and even were removed reviews of people who simply bought app/book without gift cards.

In total around 30 Top Reviewers were affected with over 500 positive votes disappear.

Each time reviewer agree to play and review our Kindle app – we send him/her $2.99 Amazon Gift card so that he/she redeems it and purchases app. (Unfortunately there is no possibility to gift Kindle app directly via "Give as a Gift" option). In case of ebooks – we send whether $0.99 Amazon Gift Card or directly Kindle book as Gift via "Give as a Gift" option. In both cases reviewer gets books/app to play and review after. 99% of all reviews on our products has "Amazon Verified Purchase" which confirms this. Thus, each reviewer gets FREE COPY OF THE PRODUCT, which is clearly allowed by Guidelines.

What we or reviewers have violated? How can we provide free copy of our product (Kindle book or app) in other way than we did? Why reviews which were made after redeemed Amazon Gift Card were removed?

Please share your thoughts and comments – we believe this practice should be changed. Maybe it’s just technical issue, but it seems to be something more complex and not correct in connection to indie publishers.

Peter Grabarchuk
The Grabarchuk Family

————————————————————

View the full thread, and weigh in yourself if you have anything to add, at the Amazon discussion thread, here.

 

Readers Are The Victims of Bad Author Behavior

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This post, by Chuck Wendig, originally appeared on his terribleminds site on 9/10/12.

 

We’re all familiar with the recent spate of bad behavior by authors, right? Writers paying for false five-star reviews. Authors creating fake sock-puppet accounts (or “dick-puppets” as Blackmoore calls ‘em) which they then use to pump up their own work, denigrate the work of others, and act as fake mouthpieces online. Then you have the response, where authors see that bad behavior and respond with their own, leaving one-star reviews as some kind of “Internet country justice.” We’re all clued in, I’m sure, by now.

 

 

My initial reaction to all of this was that it’s a bit inside baseball. It’s authors being dicky and tap-dancing on dubious ethical ground and waggling their penmonkey genitals about in an unpleasant display.

Except then I was online at Amazon (which already is notoriously assy in terms of filter and discoverability) and I was reading reviews and was suddenly struck by the horrifying notion –

I don’t know if these are real.

Suddenly I’m reading reviews with the same level of doubt and suspicion I reserve for reality television (we all realize that ‘House Hunters’ is a big lie, right?). It’s the same vibe I get when I go looking for reviews of restaurants. Locally we had a restaurant where the owner was caught leaving good reviews for himself, bad ones for his competition, and was also getting on forums as a sock-puppet and shouting down folks who said his food had dropped in quality (as it used to be great and isn’t anymore). Shitty behavior, right?

I read reviews for a toaster, my cynical mind flares up like a hot rash: “I’m sure the positive reviews are all left by employees of Big Toaster, and all the negative ones are left by proponents of some Anti-Toaster Coalition.” Casts all reviews in these areas as suspect. Which makes them beyond useless.

Now I’m feeling that way about books.

 

Maybe I should’ve been all along. Maybe I was naive.

It doesn’t change the fact that this isn’t good for anybody.

 

 

Read the rest of the post on terribleminds.

 

Are You Making These 7 Book Marketing Mistakes?

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by Toni Tesori (@Duolit)

Toni is one half of the team at Duolit, a self-publishing blog and author services company (the other half is Shannon, Toni’s BFF). I’ve been impressed by the way Toni and Shannon have set out to help indie authors market their books, and I asked her for tips that would help you, too. Here’s her response.

When you make the decision to self-publish, you join a crowded marketplace: the number of indie books has more than quadrupuled since 2006! 

With thousands of new authors taking the self-pub plunge every year, it’s becoming drastically more difficult to distinguish yourself from the pack and find success.

This is reflected in the (rather depressing) statistic that 8 out of 10 books sell fewer than 100 copies. Doesn’t that make you sick to your stomach?

Every day, I hear from indie authors sadly confirming this statistic; frustrated and disheartened after selling just a handful of books to family and friends!

To be honest, it’s not their fault: the root of this selling problem lies with the DIY nature of self-publishing itself.

Learn as You Go

Unless you have a money tree, to travel the indie author highway you must quickly become a jack of all trades.

And you know the phrase “jack of all trades, master of none?” Well, that’s particularly true for the marketing part of the publishing process. Indie authors are forced to figure out selling as they go, often picking up tactics from other authors, (wrongly) assuming those tactics are effective.

As a result, we see the same book marketing mistakes repeated over and over again.

Do me a favor: decide right now to help reverse that 80% failure rate. You’ve put too much effort into publishing your book to let it flop!

7 Common Book Marketing Mistakes (and How to Fix Them) Mistake #1: Having unreasonable expectations.

I’d love to say otherwise, but book marketing is much more an art than a science. The variables involved (quality, genre, target market, etc.) are endless, and there’s no whiz-bang silver bullet for success.

Many authors, however, come into self-publishing convinced they’re going to retire the day after their book is released (after making a quick pit stop on Oprah’s couch, of course).

If that fantasy has crossed your mind, don’t let me deter you: that type of self-publishing success is possible! To achieve it, however, be realistic about the time and effort you must put in to get there.

Like it or not, when you self-publish, you’re running a business!

Think back to your childhood lemonade stand days. I don’t know about you, but I had a hard time selling that delicious cool drink, even in the heat of summer. And those customers only had to hand over 25-cents to an adorable (I hope) child!

Just because you’ve gotten older doesn’t mean selling is any easier. Remember,you have more than 300,000 others publishing their work at the same time as you!

Mistake #2: Rushing to release.

I totally understand how easy it is to make this mistake.

After you put the finishing touches on your book, you’re exhausted…but pumped. You’ve spent weeks, months, or years of your life writing this masterpiece and want nothing more than to share it with the world.

When you rush your book’s release, however, you’re shortchanging the immensity of your accomplishment!

You did something millions only achieve in their dreams: you authored a book. Don’t release it with a whimper. This is your personal moon landing, build up to that massive moment. It’s a big effing deal!

Basically: take a breath and give yourself ample time to plan an epic book release. Set a launch date three to six months down the road. It may seem like a long time, but you’ll still release your work faster than you ever could with traditional publishing!

Mistake #3: Being a “Survivor”

Remember when Survivor premiered? Millions tuned in each week, shocked to witness the lengths folks would go to in hopes of winning the million dollar prize. Backstabbing, bad-mouthing and all-around nastiness were the name of the game.

What’s shocking to me is how many indies possess this Survivor mentality today, seeing their fellow indies strictly as competition.

The scenario here, however, is totally different: there’s not only one big prize for which we’re all competing. Readers don’t read just one book, or even just one author. There’s room in the book-selling world for everyone!

You’ve been there; you know how hard it is to market your own book.Forming an indie alliance can mean doubling your audience in a flash!

When searching for a partner:

  • Only approach authors whose work you truly adore; for your alliance to work, it must be genuine.
  • Don’t feel pressured to stick to your own genre; many YA fans enjoy “chicklit” and quite a few sci-fi fans enjoy fantasy.

Mistake #4: Selling to everyone

It’s only natural to want (or assume) that everyone will enjoy your book. While that may be true, marketing to everyone is not only impossible, but also ineffective.

Finding your target market gives you a powerful tool: a group to center all of your marketing decisions around.

As an example, let’s check out how having a target market helps you answer common book marketing quandaries:

  • Q: Where do I find new readers? A: Where does your target market hang out?
  • Q: What do I include in my newsletter? A: What would your target be interested in reading?
  • Q: How do I encourage readers to purchase my book? A: What makes your target decide to purchase books?

Okay, so sometimes the answer to a question is a question, but reframing it from your target market’s perspective often allows you to answer your own question.

If you want to go all out, you can even give your target market a face. That’s right, picture one of your target market members and give him a name, background info, personality traits—just like a book character. When you get stuck, ask him what he’d like to hear/read from you!

Mistake #5: Neglecting your fans.

A huge benefit of self-publishing is the ability to form relationships with your readers on an individual basis.

Growing up, I adored Ann M. Martin (author of the Babysitters Club series—don’t judge). The closest I could ever get to her, however, was the “About the Author” page in the back of each book. I could never dream of communicating with her directly!

Nowadays, thanks to the internet and social media, readers can do just that. And that connection is a powerful selling tool!

To communicate with your readers, create an email list. Encourage folks to sign up by offering an exclusive excerpt, short story or other freebie.

One note of caution: your emails must be (1) consistent and (2) useful. Our inboxes are super-cluttered, so you must condition readers to expect your emails and give them a reason to open those updates.

When your readers take the time to email you back, respond to each one thoughtfully and genuinely. Don’t take for granted the opportunity to build real relationships with people who love your work. In yo’ face, Ann Martin!

Mistake #6: Unintentional spamming.

While social media has allowed readers greater access to their favorite authors, keeping up with social networks can quickly become a drain on your precious marketing time.

Luckily, there’s plenty of apps to help out, so you begin to implement some automation. First you simply send every new Twitter follower a welcome message, but soon you’re scheduling a week’s worth of tweets and Facebook updates in advance.

I’m not going to argue that automation has its place, but at what cost? Too much automation dilutes the effectiveness of your social media efforts; you may even (unintentionally) turn off fans by seeming like a spammer!

You know that whole thoughtful and genuine thing I mentioned in regards to communicating with your fans? It applies to social media as well.

Believe me: your followers can tell when you’ve over-automated and will respond appropriately (that is, by not responding at all or by unfollowing you).

There’s nothing wrong with scheduling some updates in advance, but make an effort to check your networks and personally respond to a few replies and mentions every day. You don’t need to set aside too much time for this; 15 minutes will do it. It’s better to have fewer updates (that are truly entertaining and personal) than a continual stream of spammy content.

Mistake #7: Undervaluing the importance of professional editing and design.

Like it or not, pro editing and design affect the perceived value of your work (and, thus, your sales).

I understand how painful it can be to depart with your hard-earned cash, but (just like that lemonade stand) your book is a business, and these professional services are an investment in that business.

Learn from successful business-y folks: they know when to spend some money to make a lot more!

This is another great reason to avoid rushing to release your book—holding off gives you more time to save up for these services.

If you’re already released your book but didn’t invest in editing or design the first time around, plan a second edition launch 3-6 months down the road and start saving now!

What Will You Improve?

If you’ve made any of the mistakes above, don’t feel bad! Like I said at the start, with all the work indie authors do themselves, there’s simply no way to perfect your book marketing in one shot. You must continually experiment, refining your approach once you find out what works for you.

To wrap up, I just want to say that I’m a huge cheerleader for indie authors. Your resourcefulness and dedication to the success of your book is the inspiration for everything we do over at Duolit. Give your marketing efforts a bit of time and patience, and I know you’ll achieve success!

I’m curious, though: did any of the above mistakes resonate with you?What can you do today to begin patching things up? If you’re mistake-free (rock on!), have you noticed any oopsies from your fellow indies? Let’s chat in the comments!

Toni TesoriToni Tesori is one half of Duolit, two gals who help passionate fiction authors sell more books by building their crazy-dedicated fanbase. If you’re ready to become a book marketing whiz, check out their FREE 4-week training course. A new session starts later this month!

 


This is a reprint of a guest post from Joel Friedlander‘s The Book Designer.

The New World of Publishing: What Should Indie Publishers Be Called?

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This post, by Dean Wesley Smith, originally appeared on his site on 9/8/12.

We have indie publishers, self publishers, specialty-press publishers, small-press publishers, and so on and so on. Are there any differences and does anyone care?

Well, it seems some people care. Those people with far too much time on their hands, in my opinion. But alas, I have been asked questions about the differences now for some time and I figured it was about time to lay out my opinion on the subject.

So here is how I break it down….

(I will not defend this because, honestly, I have too much actual work to do. And I honestly don’t care. But for the sake of future articles, let me be clear how I see each term. Then you all can agree or disagree.)

Self-Publishers.

Writers who are publishing their own work and have not started a press, don’t have a press name, and when they publish a book, it says only their author name as the publisher.

I have zero issue with authors publishing this way as long as they never hope to grow a larger business. This way is for occasional writers wanting to get something into print. Nothing wrong with it at all.

In fact, this article is self-published. So for this blog and other articles on this web site, I am a self-published author.

Indie Publishers

Indie publishers are writers or fans or whatever who have started a press name that publishes either their own work or someone else’s work. Indie publishers run their press like a business. They often don’t even have their own checking account under the business name, although most do.

Again, nothing wrong with that.

Indie presses usually have more than one author name under their press, have a press web site, and act like a business with their writing. In my columns called “Think Like a Publisher” I try to help writers set up their own presses and act like a business.

Specialty Press Publishers 

 

Read the rest of the post on Dean Wesley Smith’s site.