A Cautionary Tale...

Several years ago, I was just a writer. I wrote what I felt like writing, and had penned at that point, two complete 97K novels plus two additional novels in progress. I was happy to write as the mood struck, and after completing the first two the two WIPs grew in fits and starts. It kept my mind off the usual business-related stresses and panics.

Then I started thinking about publishing.

The first book became my obsessive focus, editing until I had literally worn out the keys on two keyboards! Then there was refining the pitch, researching agents and small press publishers, and so forth. I learned a lot over the 6 years I was thus engaged, but what I didn't really do, was work on the WIPs much. Especially number four. Conceptually, it was a greater reach, but the writing showed a lot more maturity. Of all my work, up to that point, I secretly believed it had the most market potential.

But, in light of my efforts in bringing Novel Number One to market, I set it aside to wait.

 
The fifth year, 2008, of my publishing endeavor, I had two catastrophic equipment failures. First, my desktop computer system lost a power supply, but when the replacement one was installed, it had an internal flaw, which melted the motherboard, and smoked every component hooked up to it, including the hard drives.

 
I had a regular back-up regimen well established, plus I always synched files to my laptop as well, plus making copies of all books on flash media cards. Then after resurrecting my desktop machine with a complete re-build, I restored my files and went on as if nothing terrible had happened. But, in those few months, before the laptop also failed utterly, I let a level of stupid complacency begin to set in.

 
I still made back-ups, but not so often and I decided that burning CD-ROMs was too slow. I stopped doing the flash media backups at some point. I'm not sure why – it just evolved. The day my laptop died – again, an actual hardware failure, I was so angry at the builder, ACER, that my venom took control of my thinking for enough time to hide potential issues. The old laptop literally went into a dumpster – with gusto! My ears greedily ate up the crunching, shattering sounds as it hit the steel floor.

 
I loaded everything on the new laptop and got on with it, but of course, never checked as to the existence of older backups of my WIPs No. 3 and No. 4. This is forwarning. I neglected to give it a thought.

 
After a few good months, I had a dream which gave me the idea for the plot twist I'd been vainly trying to find for WIP No. 3, and took a few weeks to add chapters and edit those I had already written – it was shaping up nicely. It took my concentration away from Novels 1 and 2 for a while, but soon, I was releasing Novel 1 to the publisher, and wanted to take advantage of my perceived readership's attention span, so I began into more work on Novel 2 to ready it for a 2010 Summer publish date.

 
Now bear in mind, I must also work at my day job in the hopes of making a living, so I was pretty well occupied.

 
Last week, after another expository dream, I decided it was time to add some chapters to Novel 4. My favorite one – remember? I remembered the chapter count had been up to ten or eleven when I last worked on it, or maybe it was fourteen. As it turns out, I'll never know, because it is gone. Nothing remains of either the old, hard-copy backups, or anything on any hard drive, including the ACER drive removed for just such a reason.

 
The moral of the story is simple. Don't take any back-up for granted when it comes to your work. Actively go down the filenames and be sure that everything is there before you abandon a computer or move to a new one. I've been at this for many years. My first work computer was a 286 PC machine, back in the 80s, so I thought I knew what I was doing, but clearly I had gotten sloppy and stupid along the way. Don't trust any machine completely. They are fickle, nasty bitches, who will skewer you if you let them! Back up your backups regularly, and keep them somewhere safe, outside of the box. If you don't want a complicated backup system, then go out and buy a cheap usb thumb drive and use it every time you write, by saving a copy of the current version and overwriting the previous one.

 
Now, after beating myself up all week, I'm cautiously approaching this debacle from a new angle. It's an opportunity. Really. I'll rewrite it better than it was. Oh, and by the way, I have a really inexpensive bridge I can show you that's for sale, in Brooklyn. Interested?

Brain Overload Warning!

I have to apologize to Publetarians out there who follow my blather -- I'm suffering from acute brain overload this week, and will have to postpone my weekly article until next Saturday. 

One really bright happening this week was the considerate reader who suggested I try OpenOffice's word processor and office software.  It is open source code software, produced by Sun Microsystems, and is seamlessly compatible with Microsoft's products, but it is nicely devoid of the cute graphics, odd heirarchy and dumbed-down menu layouts that Word is plagued by.  By the way, it is free for download.  I've used it a bit now, and would have happily paid for it.  It works.  That says a lot, at least to a crusty writer like me.

Thanks to all of you who have left your comments -- I appreciate hearing from you and will fashion future articles, in a curmedgeonly fashion, of course, partly on what comes to me through comments.  Now, back to the keyboard...                                                                                                   [end of article - no need to click through]

Crafting a Cover: A Do-It-Yourself Sermon in Two or Three Parts...

We’ve all worked the keyboards till our fingertips are bruised getting our books into shape for readers to actually read and enjoy.  At some point, towards the end of the editing and rewrite drudgery, I need a break.  I’ll assume we all do, and that’s a good point to start thinking about your cover design, if you haven’t already been carrying the whole idea, or components of it around inside you head for months and months.  Putting together a hard hitting cover design will require a whole different set of tools from writing, although you’ll use some of your well-honed writing skills on the cover, you’ll need to put on a new cap – the graphics designer cap...

When I was fresh out of school, the guys who worked the Linotype machines setting hot metal for newspaper type galleys and the pressmen (very few presswomen at the time) wore hats they made by folding last nighty’s sports section, to protect their hair from ink, etc.  and give them a place to stick a couple of extra red pencils and/or grease pencils.

That’s not what I mean.  I mean, it’s time to start thinking about graphics for your book in a new way.  The way a craftsman thinks about an upcoming project: Who is this for? What will it be made of? What will it accomplish? The answers will help organize the tools and materials that will be used in completing the work.  There’s a bit of design philosophy and some scientific touchy-feely stuff, too, but I’ll hold it down. You can skip it if you want, but it will give you a better idea of why we’re doing what we’re doing.

Depending upon your book’s distribution channels, your book’s cover should be designed for:

1. The book seller
2. The book reader
3. The book’s content

Your book cover is packaging for a product you are going to be selling.  The way in which you will be marketing it will have major implications for the effectiveness of the design.  Let’s say, that you intend to use traditional distribution as your primary marketing focus. That means book stores.  The best place to start the design process is to visit a few, if you haven’t had the time lately.  I don’t expect you’ve had a lot of free time on your hands for quite a while, but take some now.

As you pass the front desk, note any Point of Purchase promotion going on, especially book posters and displays.  If you can, without being too obvious, jot down the titles, and the sizes of the books displayed on the counter for later reference. See if any of these are in a similar genre to your book.  Then, go to appropriate sections to your book, and see what’s in the stacks.  Are there books also displayed flat on tables for your genre.  If either a book spine in the stacks, or a cover on a table attract your eye more than others, pick it up, check out how the cover is put together and try to jot down the first three things about the cover that got your attention, including color, besides the title or author(which may be memorable from marketing and promotional exposure).

The point of this exercise is to begin training your eye to “see” book covers as product packaging, and as individual objects composed of several key elements. In good design, these elements are arranged in such a way that they motivate you to hold the book, open the cover and begin reading the book. Some work better than others. You’ll need to learn what these often subjective attributes are.  Whether you have the right terminology to label these attributes doesn’t matter – you will develop your eye to “see” what works – what attracts and hold your attention and what doesn’t.

Pick it up...

If a cover does the right thing, pick up the book and turn it over. Read and file away what about the cover, back blurb, images, Titling, etc. makes you want to open it up. Notice, especially how your eyes move over the cover. Where is your eye led? Does your eye re-visit certain areas of the cover?  There is an entire science of the study of reader eye movement that has been called into action in the graphic design field, especially in advertising and packaging design.  Most people’s eyes move in predictable ways. These ways can be exploited to create more effective design.

If you’re not motivated to open it, file that fact and ask yourself what distracted you or gave you the feeling not to bother to open it up.  These are important points, and will vary from book to book. Remember not all the covers that held your attention will continue to hold it once in hand. Be sure to remember especially the covers that you put down before opening.

You’ll will need to find as many examples of what works once your attention is held, and the book is picked up, as what doesn’t.  You’ll need to “see” a lot of covers and pick up a lot of books before you begin to notice the graphic elements of the designs as separate from the words set in type on them.  Learning to discern the fine point of manipulating graphic elements for best effect takes years, but getting used to seeing those elements in a book cover is something that will begin to take place after only a few visits to a few different book sellers. 

What we’ve learned...

You’ll come to some conclusions about the designs of covers.  You’ll need to be able to see through differences in size, as larger books (trim-size here, not thickness...yet) will attract and hold your eye longer, so sort out primarily any notes regarding similar sizes to your book.  Not all designs are as effective in every size.  There are a few element decisions which will be influenced a great deal by the finished size alone.

Images...

Color alone is a very important element, as is whether the cover is a photographic, illustrative or typographic design.  In my experience, speaking of novels and some non-fiction historic genres, I believe photographic cover designs can hold a reader’s attention longer than the other two types of covers.  It is a true fact in most product advertising design, that whether the ad is set up to feature the product, or a life-style associated “benefit” image; photos (and now, video) work in print and in broadcast media better, in most case that illustration or typographic only advertising.  The other two types, though have very effective uses in specific areas. I’ll deal with those types as well as additional color considerations, next week.

The ascendancy of photography is based in part upon scores of case and focus studies that have shown that it works.  The idea is to get the prospect’s eyes to linger on the cover image long enough to begin to associate familiar experiences, items, etc., from their own lives.  While this is going on, the “magic” takes over. Key graphic elements, ad copy and headlines have a chance to penetrate the often hard, shell of resistance.  If a tiny spark of familiarity and empathy can be kindled, most of the job of selling has been done. 

Bored to tears yet?  Let's concentrate, right now, upon photographic images. Where can you find them? Should you go through all the shoe boxes of snapshots stored in your closet? Maybe.

Image Resources...

I recommend visiting online providers of stock photo images.  Do keyword searches for images from your book, your intended reader market, even place names and key phrases from your prose. Stock Photo houses, such as Comstock, Veer and Corbis have achieved their high ranking in advertising design circles because of the way their catalogues are organized to provide relevant images.  Each house will have a specialty. For your book, each will probably offer several images that will relate in some way, to creating interest in reading your book. They may show a feeling, a mood, or illustrate a setting, even items used by your Primary Characters. 

Whatever the glue is, stick with it.

If a substance, such as mud, or water is an underlying “glue” throughout your book, then that kind of image may be most appropriate.  Remember, in your cover image choices, you’re not trying to answer all the reader’s mental questions – you’re trying to establish the need to open the book and read it.  A mysterious setting, a dangerous image, all may contribute towards establishing the intended feeling in the viewer, motivating them to pick up your book, turn it over, study the back blurb, then open it up.  Later, they may receive a small, bonus gift in the form of an “Aha” moment as they understand why the image was chosen for the cover!

You may find a handful of appropriate images available from each site, or you may only find a few online across many searches, but the next step will be to consider each of them in turn as potential covers.  Most sites will allow you to download low resolution samples of the images you are interested in for “comping”, which is the term for creating full color mock-ups for presentation.  It can be useful to learn how to use a basic graphics program at this point, or you may have a friend or colleague who can give you assistance in this area.  Oh ...also buy a bunch of high-grade glossy inkjet printer paper, as well (you did run out and buy that printer, didn’t you?). 

A short digression, here, if you’ll prop up your eyelids a bit longer. I have been using CorelDraw graphics suite for many years, which is an image/bitmapped studio system for photo bitmapped images (resolution and size dependant) as well as vector graphics (for graphics elements including typography, which will not be resolution and size dependent: scale-able).  There are several other design and photo software suites from Adobe and Quark among others, but initially I purchased CorelDraw because it was hundreds of dollars cheaper than the others and provided the same capabilities as well as hundreds and hundreds of different type fonts. Of course, I soon learned that I really only use a few of these, but at the time, in 1985, it was exciting! I also couldn’t afford a Macintosh at the time, so my software choices were also limited by the PC platform – no longer much of a limit at all.

I usually create a composite cover image in the vector program using these steps:

1. Set up page layout and trim size, adding any folds or scoring (read: spine and back cover) as needed. Cover Templates can come in handy here, also page count, which will determine your spine thickness..
2. Import all the photographic bitmap elements,
3. Resample bitmaps if necessary (changing size and/or resolution),  and adjust contrast and color balance, using the photo-editing accessory. The final touch, if needed will be to apply unsharp masking at a reasonable level (too much gives image components ghost haklos and harsh edge definitions) after all image editing is complete.
4. Convert all bitmaps to CMYK (process printing color) format if proofing for print. Leave it RGB if proofing for online presentation. If RGB, look at the proof on your monitor, not a printed sample.
5. Add typography and other scale-able vector graphics elements in appropriately valued areas with little distracting texture,
6. Tweak until it looks the way you want it, make all elements align along pre-determined invisible lines, then exporting the whole thing to a jpg bitmapped format for reproduction as a proof on my trusty photo printer.

I always make up rough proofs for opinion gathering, using several different images, but always use the same simple typography (at first) to concentrate upon how effective the image alone is.  The book title and authors name are all I use to proof comps.  If there are nice, light areas in the right part of the image, I use darker, related-color type surprinted over the image. If there are nice, dark areas, I knock out the type (white on a dark background, for example).  I use the same type font on all examples, to make the image the most important single element in the overall design. The type weight, size and placement should be chosen to balance and enhance the natural eye movements that take place on a printed page. Composition is an art in itself, but we’ll suffice to say, work it til it’s right, and if it’s not broken, don’t fix it! Noodling a cover is the same as over-editing a book. You can fix it until all the life is gone from it. Now, back to the selection process...
                           
The Money Part...

At this point, you need to have reality intrude a bit.  Stock photos are sold two ways.  First, at a fixed price, Royalty Free, based upon the size of the finished reproduction.  The other way is to pay royalties for each use and published instance of the image, based upon what kind of use, what kind of media and the expected circulation potential.  If you have unlimited funds, this is the way to go, as usually the best (subjective word here) images are managed and sold this way. I’ve found a wealth of material is out there, Royalty Free, and this is probably the way you’ll want to go.

You always need to pay for the use of the cover image or images, unless you own a photograph that is perfect for your cover.  You may have taken it yourself (in which case, you own the photo rights completely, but if it is of another person or recognizable place or landmark, you may need to secure model and/or property release documents for the cover use. Stock photography is almost always fully released when sold. But not always. Be sure.  You will receive a rights receipt, which you should protect carefully when you have decided and paid for an image.  You will also need to understand that you are only apying for the rights you asked for when making your purchase – most stock images are licensed, when sold, for a single use. Be sure to read your licensing/release agreement very thoroughly before you pay up..

But you don’t need to pay for an image before working up several dummy covers using different photos. It’s a very useful step you should take.  Narrow your selection of potential photos down to three or four that you like equally well, and considering the price, subject, clarity and the purely mechanical ideas of tone and texture fields available for type titling and eye movement considerations.  These should be printed in color and show around to people whose opinions are important to your decision. They should all be readers, and they should all read in your genre.  Record all their comments. A bookseller or two would also be a good idea if they have the time to give you.  A nice technique for bookseller presentation involves finding two or three papervback books of the same trim size and page count as yours, then trimming out your proofs and using rubber cement to glue your cover and spine onto the books to show the bookseller. You can even put your books into the stacks this way, to see how they work spine only.  You want your cover to “pop” off the shelf for someone who has not seen it before.

Image Composition, again...

Most stock shots have been professionally composed, and are either basically a portrait (vertically composed) or a landscape (horizontally composed) image.  Here the orientation of your book trim will influence your image decision. Keep in mind, that in some case, it will work nicely to wrap the image around the spine and onto the back cover, especially if it presents lots of areas of minimal texture and either light value or dark value.  Too much texture underlying typography, even titles and headlines,  will distract the reader and create difficulty, so I would try to minimize texture in those areas where type will reside on your design.  Look for the right spots.

These areas are prime real estate for Title type and text, assuming all other considerations fall into place. Images can also be cropped, but bear in mind the final size of the image you’re paying for when thinking of cropping.  Cropping in “tight” and then having to enlarge a lot to fill the trim size is generally risky if the original resolution of the image is 300 dpi or less. It can create resolution issues in final reproduction and even nasty, fuzzy jaggies along the image areas of high contrast and detail. Keep the need for resolution equal to 300 dpi in it’s final form, hopefully achieved without having to enlarge an image or parts of the image.  Reducing to a smaller cropped size does not usually create issues, and is generally a safer way to go, but larger, high resolution images cost more, so you have to balance cost versus application when considering image costs.

One design that can make use of smaller, tighter cropped images, is a layout that makes use of more than one image along with the type on a color or textural background.  Depending upon how appropriate this may be considering the book’s content, and upon the length of the title, this may actually be a potential consideration and savings if smaller images with less resolution can be used successfully.  My only issue with this idea, is that the design aspects of the cover layout will need to be much more refined to pull all the elements together for maximum attention-holding, attracting value, especially in a trade paperback size. A multi-line title can also prove to be much too distracting. This kind of layout also requires a lot of refinement in image alignment and order.  I generally go for the easier path of a great single image, bled all around (no borders) and simple titling.

When designing for smaller sizes, the key is simplicity and readability.  If you have a smaller space to work your magic, it needs to be very arresting.  Use a very simple concept overall, to get the desired results. A larger scale cover gives you more latitude. Oversized books, especially, usually displayed on sellers tables, carry have a lot more space for your “presentation”.  While simplicity is usually the best approach, there might be certain types of books that need to involve the prospect more – a “how to” book for example.  Men – I’m one of those – tend to like to tinker, so appealing to the tinkerer in potential readers is smart design. In this case, additional image “situations” may pose some additional questions. This may lead to the prospect opening the cover up to look for specific answers. But enough theoretic blither...

Let me give you an example of a trade paperback book front cover design.  Below is the front cover of my first novel, The Red Gate:

It's a very simple cover, but it has been effective, both flat and on bookstore shelves.  I’ve even had some feedback that the cover was the reason they bought the book!

In the next image, I’ve added a grid I like to work with, superimposed over the image. I call this the Rule of Fives. Catchy name, huh?  I divide a page space into thirds (two lines) vertically and fourths (three lines) horizontally. Five lines in all.  The intersections of these lines correspond, roughly to the places the average readers eye will stop, and are prime locations for informative elements such as title, authors name, and subheading, if one is used.  The choice of five lines is based upon which kind of space divisions most people seem visually comfortable with, given natural eye movements. I’ll cover the source of that design philosophy next week, meanwhile...

The idea is to set up natural alignments of necessary elements in your cover design. Some of the individual elements may also be parts of your photo image.  Look inside the photo.  Considering also the typical eye movements of the reader (clockwise, mid-left, around, then ending top right...). Finessing these into an effective cover is the goal.  Let me illustrate:

Here, I’ve added the small primary and secondary circles of eye movement to show how elements within the photograph help support the intended eye movement within the natural inclinations. My main focus is to never lead the eye off the side of the page, but to keep it circling and re-circling.  Try to choose well-composed photographic elements that do this – have clear central emphasis and focus – those whose internal elements won’t introduce lines that lead the eye where you don’t want it to go.

In addition, while in the example, the eye is gently guided to rest on the title and author’s name, the subject matter of the image – the wet, craggy Irish coastline – dangerous looking rocks and the arresting sunset coloring all are directly connected to important elements within my book.  The setting is an important Primary Character, influencing much more than movement of the people in the story.  The orange tones, overall display an arresting color, but only a little intimidating, mostly warm and inviting. 

While generally seen as a cheerful color, in this instance, in contrast with the jagged cliffs, it sets up an immediate conflict adding an air of mystery.  Just what I want the viewer to feel. It’s the way I first felt when viewing the image – and since I’m a reader, and have feelings, my opinion has some weight here., and so should yours. The color also relates directly to the title , adding questions which hopefully will guide the person holding the book to turn it over.  I will mention here, that the image was so good for cover use, I decided to carry it over the spine, leaving an arresting color and simple texture: a strong area for titling. It makes for an easy to spot spine in the booksellers’ stacks!  The wrap around image with the abrupt diagonal line formed by the sheer cliffs edge, encourages the reader to turn the book over to see the back, where my pitch awaits. The image was from Corbis, and my out of pocket was under US$100. 

Next week, we’ll continue thinking about color selection and we’ll decide how to pick a type font or face.  I’ll discuss my take on illustrative or typographical cover designs but I’ll minimize the philosophical and touchy-feely stuff in favor of more Nuts and Bolts – I promise. 

The Curmudgeon is also looking forward to your submission of your cover design preliminaries for comment. Email 'em in!

Create Hard-Hitting Ads for Your Book...

Hard hitting? Well, that particular expression may be a bit dated, but the old idea is to clobber the reader with intent. Nothing's changed.  Any ad, whether it appears in print or online, is intended to motivate the reader to BUY your product, or at least allow themselves to be pitched. We've discussed how important it is in book marketing to define just who your reader actually is. Now it's time to utilize a relatively inexpensive device to reach out and grab their attention.

A simple tool...

Ads are communication tools, nothing more. They are part of a complete marketing plan. Ads can either be designed for a mass market, or targeted to a specific niche. It all depends upon the medium carrying the advertising, and it's positioning in the medium, as to which the ad should be be designed for.  You need to focus on who you intend the ad to reach.

So before you even consider running advertising, do your research to find several different publications, or online sites, including social networking and blog sites where you are pretty sure your market can be found. If you are truly intrepid, you'll take the time to contact the advertisers you see in these locations to find out how effective their experience with that medium has been. If your product is not perceived by the advertiser as direct competition, you may be lucky enough to get some really useful information.

Questions you might ask after the initial introduction and explanation (should you be lucky enough to get a favorable response) run through ad sizes used, positions that were found effective, and any seasonal adjustments the advertiser made or considered making. Was the artwork varied? Did the message vary? Which worked the best? The answers will help you parse your list down to the ones you believe will help you reach your market.

Media Kits...

Once you have made a “list” of potential locations and have some idea of how well they will work for your needs, contact the webmaster or their own advertising department to get their “media” kit. A typical media kit (or advertising insertion page, if online) will usually include some demographic data regarding their readers, which can in most cases be considered accurate (if not spun in whatever direction they intend). Print media must provide factual circulation information by law, but the internet, as you know by now, is not so well-regulated, so proceed with “Caveat Emptor” playing softly in the background.

A media kit will also have the publication, or website's requirements regarding size, image resolution, linking limitations(for online ads) and, of course, cost. I've always looked for the smallest ad space that will effectively stop my own eye when skimming a publication or site. I'm especially careful if the publication or site tends to relegate smaller ads to their own pages rather than inserting them within the content. While a “Buying Guide” page format may work for some products seasonally, being stuck in with a bunch of tiny ads doesn't usually give you the best visibility, unless it is specifically targeted towards buyers of YOUR product. I prefer to run my ads where they can appear with content or editorial material. The reader's attention will be focused on that page longer, so you'll get better chances to grab it. If that kind of position means buying slightly “upmarket” (Oh, how I just love the old jargon...), then by all means do so, unless your budget can't really handle it.

For argument's sake, let's assume you've decided on a specific medium and location, and need to choose your ad's size. One thing to keep in mind is that, unless you have unlimited funds, the right size is the smallest size that will carry everything you need to say, effectively. Effectively means legibly and with as much impact as can be mustered. Even a nice, big ad, if poorly conceived and badly executed will not have any results beyond emptying your wallet.

Never say no...

The idea here is to reduce your pitch to its simplest, most direct terms: “Want to find out?” “Buy this book”. One thing I always do when beginning to conceive ad copy, is to NEVER allow any question you pose to be answered by the reader, “no”. Questions are good things, but they must persuade the reader to respond in the way you intend. So, create a few alternatives and ask friends, other writers, people you meet (all carefully selected to be confirmed “members” of your target reader group, of course) which question holds their attention longer. It should be short, and to the point. It should convey emotion, and be connected – even obliquely – with the subject of your book. Just be sure that none of the possibilities can be answered by “no”, such as “Do you need to know what happened to little Judy?”

To get them to actually read your ad you'll use graphics initially, to draw them in. We've discussed the importance of color in designing a book jacket and expanded that to using cover graphics in collateral pieces, such as bookmarks and flyers (The “One Page” that most book sellers and distributors expect to see). This carries over into print and online advertising as well. If you have designed an effective cover, then the chances are that an element of your cover graphics will make an effective ad. It also creates recognition for your book, by planting the seed, which may be useful later, as your reader browses a bookstore's shelves and tables.

Use what you've already got...

If your cover conveys a particular emotion, as it should, then by all means, USE that in setting up your hook copy. Always bear in mind, however, that the reader of your ad will have less than a second to make the decision to read your copy, so keep it short and to the point. One real benefit of online advertising is that you don't need to use up ad space with contact information. That's what the link does for you.

Do it now: Click!

Just a single click, and your reader is transported to the wonderful world of online retail and sublime pitching. They don't have to write down your bookseller's address or remember a phone number! All they have to do is click that mouse button! That single act is what your online advertising is designed to do – get them to click on your ad. You don't even have to direct them to do so – just make the ad compelling enough and they'll do it.

One really good tool, that most ad responders appreciate, is the use of the link attribute “target”. I use target = “_blank” when setting up ad link codes, so that the link opens in its own new window, making a return to the medium content very easy. Look for it, if you're using an online form for links. Using it, you'll have moved the reader to a new stage where your pitch in all its glory can unfold properly.

Print ads are much more difficult to control and predict response in that they demand a lot of a reader. I believe it is better to use smaller print advertising to simply create recognition for your product. You'll have other ways to draw them in once recognition is established.

For a reader of a print ad to respond directly, they will have to retain or write down the information you direct them to. If you pose a compelling question or make a strong statement in a compelling graphic setting and they see it enough times, your target reader may be motivated to respond when they are in, or close to a retail venue. Or they may respond in other ways leading to an eventual sale such as giving them the idea that your book is a wonderful gift for someone “special” (insert qualifier here).

Track, track and track...

Another device used for ads in print, besides creating recognition, is to offer the reader an opportunity to express themselves. This may be still easier to work into an online ad. Your ad may carry a suggestion that the reader's own opinions or experiences are somehow meaningful to you, and you'd like to hear from them.

Responses from your advertised invitation can lead to your gathering a lot of data regarding the effectiveness of that medium and your ad design, but it can also overwhelm your in-box if you've done your job well, so use it with care. Always be sure to set up a special email address for this kind of response, so that your private in-box doesn't get spammed. You can usually set up several “child” email accounts with most IPs, so that you can easily separate responses by mediums, etc.

Another tracking/response device you can use effectively, that also doubles as a direct sales motivator is the “coupon” code that will save the reader money. Savings appeal to almost everyone and depending upon your target readers, may be an important element to any ad you design. Specific coupon “codes” you create are also useful in tracking which mediums are more productive, so you use your media budget most effectively.

Of course, if budget is no consideration, you can just fill up the available media slots with your pitch, but most of us need to keep our costs down. Consider that each new use of any medium is really a test for that medium and for your ad's effectiveness. Give it a few cycles to get enough exposure to determine if it works. If it doesn't...move on. Find another medium on your list, or if you're absolutely sure that your readers inhabit that medium, change your ad design.

Arriving at the correct mix of ad copy, design and media placement is an art that needs lots of cultivation. That's why the top agencies and marketing consultants make the big bucks, but if you approach the entire process as a learning opportunity, you'll be rewarded for your efforts in lots of ways you won't even think of when you begin. The nuts and bolts may litter the floor when we're finished, and you may have some sweeping up to do, but you'll know where you want to go and how to get there.

Next week: Ad layout: What to keep in, what to throw out. Small can be good!

Introducing a Weekly Diatribe and Toolbox Roundup for Publetarians ...

Labor Day Weekend has come and gone!  I’m so thoroughly re-created that I’m exhausted and rarin’ to get back to work!  Those of you who have been Publetarians for some time now may recognize my writing – cantankerous though it may be.  This serves as fair warning to those of you who don’t need one more online curmudgeon filling your browser page with annoying, endless, self-important opinion.  On the other hand, I’ll be minimizing outright opinion, over the coming weeks to concentrate upon throwing some useful information out there to the hungry masses of Indie Authors and Publishers. 

This column won’t tell you how to write the perfect pitch, or how to hone your books and stories down to where they shine in every agent’s glistening eyes. There’s plenty of good information provided by other Publetarians that covers improving your writing skills.  My aim with this weekly column will be to provide some “nuts and bolts” information regarding how to promote, advertise and sell your work.  The trick, as I see it, is to learn to attack the problem from many different directions at once and to stay “on your feet”, adapting your message to your market as it shifts before your eyes.  A kind of sleight of hand helps keep your audience waiting for the next dove to fly out.

It’s not really magic.  I speak from over 30 years in the trenches of small business management (it’s not pretty in there) and over 20 of them in advertising design, promotional collateral material design and copy writing as well as media placement for the rest of us.  We all should compete upon as level a playing field as possible.  If the rest of us need to roll up our sleeves and get out the shovels, I’m on it. Then watch the dirt fly!

The rest of us are small business owners who can’t afford to hire full time publicists and/or advertising agencies to position and spin our writing into gold.  As I’ve learned, being an Indie-Author or publisher is a full-time, small business – whether you keep your day job, or not! Once we set our goals we have to do our own spinning, and I’m hoping to help other Indies get it right -- or at least as good as we can make it.  My clients over the years have ranged from international aerospace corporations to Mom & Pop retail businesses and a lot of ‘in-betweens’. 

The two considerations common to all of them was: make it great, and keep the cost down. Gratifyingly, there were only two primary considerations.  That’s a joke.

From my years as Studio Director in a wide variety of graphics Bull-pens, I’ve learned one rule in the ad business that has never failed when considering a project (see image below)... cut it out, print it, then fill it out and post it where you can see it every day.
 

So, if good and cheap (implication: inexpensive, not poor quality) sound like a good course of action, I’ll give you a breakdown of tools that you need, how to use them, and what to expect from your efforts.  Of course, I can’t always get it 100 percent spot-on for your needs, but I hope that you’ll all let me know where an idea has failed as well as when it has worked for you. 

In addition, within the above loosely-organized subject definition, if you’d like to get my take upon something specific, let me know and I’ll work with your idea, see what I can come up with or find some foggy memory in the recesses of my brain. Oh, and I’ll let you know what I think about it, too.  Maybe more than once, but that comes with the white patent loafers and flower print Dacron shirt.

I wouldn’t be a curmudgeon if I didn’t throw around my opinion.  Just bear in mind that after 35 years of writing (2 complete novels, 2 more WIPs), with book sales that always need improving  and a roomful of encouraging, even complimentary rejection letters, my opinions can be pretty unvarnished. Lots of ragged edges. If you don’t mind occasional ragged, come on in.

Next Time: One electronic thing Indies can’t do without...

The Indie Curmudgeon is an Indie Novelist, graphic designer, marketing consultant, guitar picker, Indian Trader and online retail merchant since 1995.

 

Learning to Wait...

This is a general, rambling comment covering some of the more touchy-feely components of setting up a marketing plan.  I prefer a more organic approach rather than the nice, crisp document with all the numbers in a row.  They have their place, but if you have an interest in developing your ability to perceive your market better, read on...

“Millions Sold!” Remember the little tag line that used to be seen between the Golden Arches under every McDonalds Hamburger Sign? Just knowing that ...millions...of people had purchased and eaten these “bombes du gut” really made your mouth just water, didn't it? It also made established two implications. First, that the burger was good. Second, that if you didn't scarf one up, you were cutting yourself off from...millions of people. Millions.

I receive the Daily Email from Publisher's Weekly. As an Indie Author, I find it about 50-50 with subjects of direct interest and entertainment. Today, (I'm getting a head-start by actually beginning on Friday for tomorrow's article.) the banner ad running across the top of the email was for “NY Times Bestselling Series” Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead! Then, just below – and I realize the PW is a TRADE publication for those that sell books – ran the slogan, “Over 2 Million Books Sold!” 

Not to disregard the money to be made in the Vampire Genre, by booksellers hungry for every sale, but it really did remind me of McDonalds' advertising. Brings P.T.Barnum to mind. I won't be scarfing up any Vampire bestsellers right now, and I don't care if I'm ostracized from millions of sold readers. I don't write Vampire. After Stoker – good, tasty stuff – I won't be reading Vampire either, no offense intended to Anne Rice, who launched this amazing fountain of gold, then exited holding a huge bag of cash.

So, if you write and enjoy Vampire Genre, my column may not give you any new marketing ideas.  You've been lucky enough to hit upon a trend.  Being light on your feet and enjoy lucky timing is a rare and can be a profitable blend of skills, but it might not be something you can learn.  It may not be sanguine enough, or sexy enough, or....you get the idea. Still, the idea of Millions Sold...Millions! Just the thought makes my mouth water for the griddle-fried goodness!

Most of us who write fiction in niche genres, creating prose with a unique voice know or rather, should know we won't be selling millions. It's not a bad thing, after all – it's just such a distant prospect that we tend to dismiss the possibility. Along with appearing on Oprah every other month.  We have more realistic ideas -- the ones we can actually help create, if we can be patient.

The Zen of Waiting...

It can be tough, waiting for recognition and the resulting book sales, but while we do wait, we should not be waiting idly. Waiting is an activity, after all. I remember when I was in College, investigating whole new worlds of thinking I found Zen Buddhism particularly interesting. One of the major pathways that Zen can use to lead you to enlightenment is to learn how to wait. It was also covered in great detail in Herman Hesse's book Siddhartha, which in the day, was to my generation what Vampire Academy and it's like, must be to the current crop.

There is an important lesson to training yourself to be occupied with the activity of waiting. Waiting allows you to quiet all the background noise and actually observe what is happening around you. If done with deliberate non-focus – deliberate non-attachment, it can lead to all kinds of new awareness. It works in meditation. It works in business. It works in the creative process.

While waiting, we can learn techniques which will sharpen our ability to sense opportunity. Now, I've let a lot of opportunities slip away, over the years – I'm not a master in any way. Yet. As an Indie Author, not everything remotely literary/publishing-oriented will relate to my personal path towards my goals. Some things will. Those are the ones I don't want to miss. I know I'll miss plenty – I just want to pare down the numbers to improve my chances.

Mientras Descansas Hace Adobes

This is an old, New Mexican “dicho” or saying, handed down through the years. It was meant to be a final comment made by a husband, to his wife as he left the family home for a day of work. It's supposed to be a kind of joke. Sometimes, we've seen it inscribed on a tile or embroidered on a sampler, then hundg up near the door. Translated, it means “While you're resting, make adobes!” Adobes being the 40 pound mud and straw bricks that are left to bake in the sun. Not exactly the kind of job done while “resting”, but the saying applies equally well to Indie Authors. While you're resting....

One of the first things you need is a set of goals. Not one. Several. These should be visualized as a series of steps that lead to different places you want to reach. For example, good (insert number here) bookstore sales may be a goal that takes several different paths to reach. Another, better (insert cogent qualifier here) recognition, also may be achieved through different steps and tools. Let's assume here, that you don't have several hundred dollars burning a hole in your pocket to spend on a retained publicist. I can't afford that expense, so it's been up to me to find ways of getting the word out while I'm waiting. That, and making sure that what the word conveys, is what the reader wants to hear.

The first step...

Making sure you understand what your readers want to read is step one. In the same way we tried to visualize and quantify our readers and booksellers (if we seek to sell to book stores) when designing our book cover, we need to hold those ideas close when we wait to see what is working out there. Think: My Book's Niche. How are our readers and potential customers (booksellers, who are also readers) different from those who won't even consider reading our books. Try to answer those questions by observing – at a relaxed pace – what the media is dishing, what the niche-forums are spouting, what “people” (insert appropriate adjective that relates to your readers here) are talking about. What are their concerns? Why are they reading at all, assuming they are.

I have a group of bookmarks in a special folder on my browser named “Book Marketing” in it I put links to forums, book seller sites, publishers sites, other writers sites and anything else whose subject works towards the subjects or settings in my book that may attract potential readers. I visit these every couple of days – sometimes I post a comment, sometimes not, but I try to get a general idea of what's cooking.

I pay special attention to anything which uses keywords also found in my books. If a forum offers a keyword search, I'll use that, along with my trusty list of ten keywords that pertain to my work and I'll limit the time frame to the last two or so days. If I find a lot of activity, I might go back into the threads, but I try not to get too ensnared. I actually do try to remain somewhat disconnected, so my own inner demons don't trip me. Forums that specifically deal with subjects that create dissenting opinion may be entertaining, but the egos fly fast and furious, and the useable lessons may not be as easy to parse through. But, if you have a competitive nature, and like to see the fur fly, this may produce useable results for you, depending on what you write, and who your reader is.

I also like to visit libraries, and ask librarians what's being checked out in similar genres of fiction. Have they noticed any sudden shifts? Do these shifts always follow the marketing pushes from publishers? Try to notice readers, while you're in a library or bookstore. Are they quietly reading, or are they casting around for contact or experience? Do they look at posters or other marketing materials, or do they seem to be on a mission, heading directly to what they want, and then, leave just as fast, book in hand?

Bookstores also now provide coffee bars and cafe environments which can be very useful in catching interesting comments – even if just to see what's being read. If you're not shy, you might even engage readers – and find out many things you can use to train your ability to understand YOUR reader better. Most people, unless engaged in conversation, will react positively if you ask their opinion about something. That's what Marketing Research Firms count on, and so should you. It makes the “subject” feel important. You may get more information than you need, but it may be useful later on – you never know.

Ask 'em Questions...

It's a good idea to keep any interview conversations spontaneous and light-weight and on-target, so that it will be a simple matter to decide when your part of it is over, and you can move on – unless the entanglement is appealing to you. I am a better observer usually than I am an “interviewer”, but you may be better at conversation. Use what you are good at, and improve those areas that need improving, by doing. You should learn to observe and retain information until you are able to spot your reader by sight alone -- probably not possible, but you get the idea.

Everyone has lots of characteristics that betray their inner selves – for example, if you write about driving on the Nascar circuit, your reader may indeed by wearing a specific team hat, or T-Shirt. I'm not sure specifically what your reader would do to betray their interest if you write Vampire Novels, but there would be signs. These signs are often referred to in Poker-playing circles as “tells”. Few players can eliminate all of them, thereby being “unreadable”. Outside of Poker, most folks like their “tells” displayed proudly. Good for them – good for you.

As you learn to wait effectively, you'll begin to amass a great deal of data and understanding. The better you know your prospective reader – customer – the easier it will be to make the sale. As a producer of goods (Indie Author)you have the additional opportunity of massaging your product to appeal directly to any or all of the “tells” your customers display. Specific, salient selling points that will satisfy their needs in a good read. Now, unless you're producing hamburgers, of course, you'll still want to retain your own voice, and your own story ideas, but inserting an occasional piece of juicy fruit or candy into a cake never made the cake less tasty.

The Recipe...

Begin to think of the “ingredients” that your readers will be hoping to discover in your writing. List them. Train yourself to learn to see them in other contexts, in other writer's work, in discussions. If you can do this, then you can gently guide your story's appeal without making it seem false, or over-reaching. The chances are, you already have quite a few of them in your work, as it's come from your imagination – full of the things that appeal to, or are frightening to, or are of interest to....you.

Enjoy the scenery.

You'll learn to wait in different places. You'll learn to wait while engaged in all kinds of other work. Multi-tasking is possible, if you don't try to do too much at once –even for men. Now, in case you think I'm suggesting you become a spy – that's not what we're doing here. You're an interacting human being, not a recording device. Besides, words are your favorite medium. Your interactions, past and present with other humans gives an honest voice to your writing. If you were doing market research for a particular tool, for example, you'd clearly want to know what users liked and disliked about the tools they use as well as the tool you have designed or are trying to sell. Sometimes you ask, other times, you listen. It's a simple matter of quantifying the results to help refine the tool to be positioned properly for the market.

Writing is an interactive, yet singular activity. So is reading. Writers read. Readers ….well, some readers, write. You have a lot in common with your readers, mostly those things are the key to making your writing rewarding, both to you and to your readers. Rewarding writing is appealing to booksellers, even eBook sellers. If all the ingredients are in the mix, and the product satisfies the market, then all you need to do next, is let 'em know. No small task, but made easier by you're having learned that waiting isn't down-time. The ongoing task of selling your book, unless you have a publisher willing to do it for you (pretty small chances out there for that kind of commitment these days) will become easier the more you practice it. Like Zen. Learning to sit and ...be.

Now go out and grab a nice, juicy cheeseburger. You've earned it! Oh, and make some adobes.

Next Week: We learn to narrow down the number of targets while waiting for success to improve our aim and our scoring.

One Electronic Thingie an Indie Author Can’t Do Without....

It’s been another strange week, in a strange year.  The wholesale adoption of the previously (all through the “dark ages”) shunned Print On Demand production model by the mainstream publishing industry continues unchecked.  The last reported Big Publisher to succumb is Hatchette as reported in Publisher’s Weekly.  Soon, I’m sure at least publishers and agents will have to admit that POD alone is not sufficient grounds to disregard a writer’s work!  But then, I’m not here to rant on...

As technology, especially communications technology continues to spin out new and improved ways to spread the word, Indie Authors may face a dilemma.  What gear do I really need to promote and sell my work? 

Now I’ve been called a gear-head by my wife – repeatedly – and something of a luddite by younger friends.  If a Blackberry or I-Phone is on your horizon, don’t let me stop you.  There are plenty of blogs and articles out there explaining how to use these devices along with web-based social networking sites and Twitter.  I don’t tweet.  At least not yet, and not in mixed company.

Today, I want to discuss adding traditional, consumer-targeted promotion tools to your arsenal.  We’ll assume relative computer literacy – you’re reading this online, after all.  You have a computer, can operate some photo editing/design software and probably a laser printer to handle the manuscript printing and submission letters, but do you have a photo printer?

Now I don’t mean one of those tiny, snapshot machines, although they do have some promotional applications.  I’m speaking of an inkjet or dye sublimation printer sufficiently large to handle at least letter sized stock.  The current crop of offerings by most manufacturers produce beautiful results – good looking photo prints, but they can also be used to produce excellent point-of-sale tools and mailers.  Important, for most of us, they are not terribly expensive. Be sure to choose one for which you can get supplies (ink, paper) locally. My favorite online gear seller is Tiger Direct, but there are many out there who discount quality hardware.

I use a Canon PIXMA ip6600D a few years old, which prints up to letter size, full bleed (no white borders) images on up to 10 point (fairly stiff) coated card stock.  It has helped me secure bookstore accounts for my first novel.  Along with a sample copy of the book and a nice, to the point cover letter offering direct sales with a good margin based upon the cover price, I enclose a counter postcard. This is made from the book cover graphic, and includes a very truncated pitch. At the bottom is a space that says simply, “Bookseller’s Imprint Here”.  I offer these, customized with the seller’s logo and contact info, free to the bookseller, the same as a book distributer would offer.  The last part of the package is a letter-sized full color poster of the book cover & blurb for the bookseller to use wherever it fits.  Letter size is actually better than larger for most booksellers as space for display is often at a serious premium. 

By using my photo printer to produce collateral promotional materials, customized for the bookseller, I improve my chances in two ways.  First, it makes my sales pitch more professional and businesslike. It shows that I’m serious about helping the bookseller make money with my work – not a small idea. Most independent booksellers are “Mom & Pop” operations that need any help they can get in stretching their profits.  If your promotional items are used, it will give your book better recognition with readers, and not just while they’re in the book store. 

As readers enter the visual clutter of a bookstore, they’ll be bombarded by images - hundreds of them, from posters to book jackets.  Despite the apparent confusion, marketing tests have shown that our human brains may not recall exact words, but a good image will be retained.  A color image, is retained much better than a black and white or grey-scale image.  An image displaying excellent composition and a clear subject focus are the very best. Like an excellent jacket cover design.  Retained images (of your excellent jacket cover) will come in handy when the shopper passes the table or shelf where your book is displayed, and ..something...calls out to them to pick it up.  That’s where recognition comes in very handy.  Of course, once they’ve picked up the book, your writing skills are put to their biggest test: presenting the pitch a reader can’t say no to.

If they drop your gorgeous, full color postcard into a pocketbook or briefcase, it will surely surface again, often where others can be exposed to its wonderfully insidious pitch and presentation.  Think: Ralphie with the ad for the Red Ryder BB Gun stuck in Mommy’s magazine, heh! heh!. Hopefully, as long as it gets passed around (intentionally or not) it can pitch your book and establish recognition.  This continues until it finally enters the trash bin.  We can discuss the green implications at a later time, if you think it’s important.  For my money, it sure beats a bumper sticker on a Hummer. 

We operate a small – tiny, really – online and mail-order company.  That’s where I got the idea, initially for the cards.  Using 4x6 photo glossy sheets, I began printing postcards years ago, with our store images and information to pack inside of each sale shipment.  Now when one of our customers opens their shipping box, they not only get a nice full-color store promotional card, but another card which offers “A Fine Addition to Your Fall Reading List”. As the seasons change, it will be easily revised to read: Winter, etc. 

My first book sales, outside of immediate friends and family came directly from these cards.  You may have your own business, or not, but you may be able to approach your employer about including a book postcard in shipments or correspondence.  It may not be possible, but it may, and it’s worth the risk to inquire.

There is another use for the photo printer that I’ve found very important.  Business cards.  You can purchase letter-sized sheets of glossy or matte card-stock that are pre-perforated, actually scored.  Each sheet can produce 20 beautiful business cards that you break apart with no ragged edges at all.  They look just like the ones I used to have printed by a color gang press in Texas. The really neat thing is, if I need a card with my personal contact information on it, as opposed to our business info, I can print whatever I need. They even make up fold-over cards that can make nice gift attachment notes, etc.  Small, full-color cards also make excellent postings for community bulletin boards, often found in bookstores and libraries.  I’m not too proud to hang my shingle and promote my book wherever I can. 

Now, you might be thinking that this doesn’t sound like what a successful author should have to do, but Indie Authors must wear at least two hats: writer as well as book promoter and publicist.  Also, try to get used to the idea of being a manufacturer of a product.  Once the writing is over, your job is to sell product.  It will put you in a very exclusive club with members such as Samuel Clements who, writing a short novelette under the name Mark Twain – his first commercial fiction work – resorted to distributing handbills himself to sell copies of The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.

He lost his shirt in the effort, but he didn’t have a color photo printer, did he?

Next Time: My Tips for Designing & Proofing a Cover with Impact! Nuts & Bolts 101

The Indie Curmudgeon is Richard Sutton, Indie Novelist, graphic designer, marketing consultant, guitar picker, Indian Trader and online retail merchant since 1995.

The Old, Mean, Re-formatting Blues

After working on a computer everyday for more than 25 years, I usually feel pretty confident tackling software issues.  I’m a real, nuts and bolts kind of guy anyway, so fixing whatever comes up is really second nature for me.

Well, today I have to be honest – I’ve been laid pretty low by the need to reformat my first book manuscript for wide, e-book use.  Most of the problems I’m experiencing are my own creation. I only have myself to blame, so along with the mea culpas, I’ll share what has led me to the re-formatting blues, so you won’t need to go there yourself.

Sales of E-books, in a range of formats, have increased steadily at a rate eclipsing paper books consistently this year.  The growth figure I recently read in an interview with Smashwords founder, Mark Coker, is 58%.  58% is a number too large to ignore.  Now personally, I’ll probably never read more than a couple of pages online – I’m old school when it comes to pleasure reading.  But, as every writer should know, potential markets can’t be ignored if you intend to sell your books.  So, it’s time for the old guy to embrace some new ideas.

If you’re happily writing away and converting your documents to e-book-useable formats without a care, then you may only find this week’s column mildly entertaining.  If you’re like lots of other writers, pretty set in your work habits and the software you use, then read on...but don’t do as I’ve done. It’s not pretty.

Word Processors are Not Equal

I’ve been working with my trusty, old word processing program for more than 15 years now.  I really like it.  There aren’t any real bells or whistles to annoy or distract me, and for chapter-based writing, the organization has always been very workable.  I’m speaking of Word Perfect.  Now, I’m not a luddite – I keep it updated and use most of it’s rich feature set.  I produced my first book’s print design using it, short stories, articles for press and online media, pitch letters, advertising copy, business correspondence, and the results look good, and read well.  No problems at all.

I just didn’t see them coming.  MS Word is the preferred word processor in use today.  Believe it. For those who grew up in the Microsoft era, there has never really been any other choice.  I’ve always used MS products grudgingly.  I don’t like the cute icons, spinning symbols, or (what I consider) really arcane menu layouts and placements.  I like my basic WP, but all that has had to change.

When in Tome... 

E-book formats like MS Word files for conversion. Many of the E-book formats can be proprietary, and they usually include a wealth of flexibility in how their content may be read on screen.  This is a very important concept, which requires your manuscript to be quite a bit less “linear” than your print manuscript.  Herein lies the problem.  MS Word is set up to format documents -- font, paragraph and chapter -- using specific elements that are easily understood and translated by most E-Book software currently written.  To put it simply, Word Perfect just can’t get there from here. 

WP, like all word processors, has a wealth of included export algorithms designed for sharing documents among a group of different platforms and software.  It, unfortunately – at least with the current iteration -- formats its documents in certain proprietary ways which, when exported to MS Word formats, or Rich-Text formats usually result in unexpected garbage characters, dropped characters, translation glitches and other hair-tearing excercises.

What You See is Not What You Want...

For example, after five separate attempts to upload my exported MS Word files to Smashwords with no success, I sent up a flare for some help.  Mark Coker, personally it turns out, took a look at what I had sent, then summed it up by saying – you’re trying to convert from WP – it really can’t be done.  Select, Cut and Paste the entire document into Notepad (386 pages in trade paperback format, 96KPlus words), supposedly stripping all formatting controls from the document, then import it into MS Word.  Good Luck.

I needed more than that.  I needed a transfusion. After downloading the simplest version of MS Word, with a 60 day trial period, I followed his direction. The document that resulted had gone from a tiny few typos and grammatical/punctuation errors, into a disaster of page-by-page close editing which will require many, many days of hard work.  Here are some of the highlights:

1.  Menus:
It took me two solid days to figure out that the normal menu commands such as Open, Select, Edit, Save, Save As, etc., were hidden under a cute, cartouche icon at the top left.  Like an idiot, I kept running my mouse over the top of the document/tool bar watching as a huge variety of item opened up, usually not what I was trying to find.  Go ahead, click the cute little icon – it won’t bite.  Watch out that you inadvertently leave the “home” page.  Beyond there be dragons.

2.  Redundancies
Unlike my trusty old WP, MS Word is full of command and applet redundancies – you’ll probably find what you want in several places, often at once!  It can get a little confusing.  I might actually have to find a “Dummies” book to learn how to use the program efficiently.  How embarassing! I hope I don’t see anyone I know at the book store.

3. Find & Replace
Probably my favorite function in word processors, after the ability to select and delete entire sections – dispatching all the awful blither into the ether with a single click.  When I saw the awful results of the file conversion from WP into MSW, I first had to stop my hands from shaking.  After a few deep breaths, I thought: No Biggie. I’ll use Find & Replace and deal with it all in a few short steps.  Wrong again.  MSW’s F&R, is not tense sensitive.  At least not in my copy, or with my limited grasp of it’s huge feature set. 

The conversion, among other things, turned all the leading quotation marks in the entire book, in every single instance of dialog, into capital “A”s.  OK, starting with the most numerous instance, I chose to replace the opening of each dialog sentence which began “I....  So I entered “AI” into the Find text box, and “I into the replace box. Click.

Ohmygod! Now every word in the entire manuscript with the letters “AI” OR “ai” in them have been changed to “I.  Like the word ag”In, for example, or the word r”In, or the word refr”In...you get the idea.  F&R had now become my bane, not my buddy.

The rest of the file contained several other cute instances of reformatting-introduced spelling and grammatical errors which has required very careful editing.  Another fun example: all M-dashes have suddenly become capital "B".  There are several more. It’s been more like a complete, page-by-page re-write.  I’m now finished with 20 chapters – only 10 more to go.  It’ll be a hard lesson, but when I’m finished, I’ll have something I should have had from step one any way: an unformatted version of my manuscript. 

Keep it Simple. Keep a copy.

It would have been a simple thing to rename the original, edited, re-written, ready for prime-time file to an easy-to-remember name that implied no formatting.  Instead, I went about my merry way, formatting my manuscript into publication format, including such absolute no-nos (for E-Books) such as drop caps, large bold chapter headings in different fonts, page numbering, footnotes with call-outs and more than three carriage returns to set off chapter headings, which an e-book file will interpret as a blank page! All of these must die for your E-book to live.

Always save an unformatted, current version of your book.  Be sure it also is set up to letter sized page, uses 12 point type and has a 1 ½" margin left and 1" margins all around.  This is what an agent will want to receive along with your pitch, should your desire to be an Indie Author become too much work. Just kidding.

I may not like Courier, but E-Books love Courier.

If you’re going to sell E-Book versions of your work, you’d better get on the band wagon. Like me, learn to love MS Word, Courier, and MS’ other designed for online text fonts. Resist the gnawing temptation to design a good-looking page in favor of a utilitarian ethic.  Learn to enjoy tickling the cute little icons and chasing down the menus.  It’s a new age of publishing and if you don’t learn the new strokes, you’ll sink!  But remember, once you’re in the water’s fine, or at least...wet.

Oh, I should probably add; I wrote the first draft of this article in Word Perfect. I guess some old habits are just too comfortable to change.