Tag: authors

4 Reasons Why a Book is Still of The Utmost Importance in a Digital World

Great posts on hardcopies vs digital. I will always be of the opinion that Authors should have hardcopy versions of their books as well.

keithogorek's avatarThe Indie Book Writers Blog | Self Publishing | Get Published

As digital media has expanded at a dizzying pace and social media outlets have grown, certain pundits have suggested books would diminish in importance.  Mobile devices and shorter attention spans would create an environment where books would not matter as much as the onslaught of information and innumerable choices available at our fingertips every moment.  Certainly reading habits have morphed as digital options have increased, but despite these changes, books are as important as ever because their very form enables them to impact lives in ways no digital media can. Here are four reasons why I believe that is so.

A book is permanent

With so many media forms today, like Snap Chat or Instagram, the information or images conveyed are instantaneous, but soon forgotten after the next tidbit fills the feed. Not so with a book. The very form of a book means it can be preserved and revisited…

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Just Write the Damn Book Already #MayChallengeDay23-24

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I really debated on whether to publish this or not. I definitely wanted to, but I was not sure I wanted to hear anything else about book publishing, let alone you. Of course, this is what I do so that boat has sailed for me. I opened my email this morning and there was confirmation that I needed to indeed hit this publish button on this. In that email was this quote:

“Book writing tip: For every 1 hour you spend marketing your book, spend 100 hours writing something worthy of being marketed.” —Jon Acuff

The secret is this: Good books market themselves.

I didn’t have a plan for The Stella Trilogy. I’m not saying you shouldn’t, you definitely should. But to be honest, I didn’t! And yet, these books have turned out to sell more and to be my greatest work to date (far as reader interest is concerned). Sure, I could use more  reviews, but the big picture is that I did it and in my humble opinion, it has been successful so far. Not by way of numbers. I didn’t make Amazon’s #1 spot (I made #17 though!) let alone NYT. What I did however is make an impact on peoples lives. Don’t get it twisted, I’ve worked very hard (your not getting off that easy!), but almost everyday there’s a testimony from a reader about how the books changed them. One European woman messaged me to say that before reading Stella she didn’t know what the NAACP was (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). The young woman doesn’t live in the United States by the way so before you judge understand that whats prevalent over here isn’t in other places. The point is that the books have touched people and that’s what has made it succeed. Though I didn’t have much of a plan, the books are genuinely good stories so they market themselves.

Everyone has an opinion on what you should be doing. Funny thing is that most of what you read about Self-Publishing is not entirely the case, no longer accurate, or just completely untrue. Advice itself is subjective. Personal. It “could” be true or maybe its not. Maybe the moon is really made of cheese.

The Industry is changing faster than you can finish writing one book, let alone several. By the time you finish that book, chances are the research you did will have a different face to it. What works for one author may never work for another. Interestingly enough, this means we really only have our experiences and expert opinions which is a fancy word for “I tried this and it worked. Maybe it will work or you too”. Like I said, there’s LOTS of advice out there, and while some of it is awesome, at the end of the day you have to write a good book. What I love about Self-Publishing is that with each new project I learn something new. This year, I am learning the value of writing a great book. Whether marketing, promotion, or whether or not there are green men on mars, at the end of it all I need a story that will keep readers reading AND keep them talking about it. (Maybe the men aren’t green. Maybe they’re grey. Or maybe they have skin suits).

Authors across the board, Indie or Traditional, simply must produce engaging content. When I review a book I read, for instance, its as if I’m a reader because I am. Meaning I’m not a grammatical geek with glasses on the tip of my nose saying a series of “Ah ha”, “Hmmms” and “Isn’t that Interesting?” I’m just a reader looking for a good story. I’ll leave the editing (OK so maybe you do have one too many sentence fragments) to the editor. For me? I just want to enjoy what I read and you know what? This is the mind of the reader as well. The sob story for Self-Publishing is not Self-Publishing. The sob story is that people are not writing good stories. It (SP) got its stigmas because with the increase in technology, people became so fascinated with the idea of book publishing than producing a good book. Everyone wanted to know what it felt like to hold a book in their hands that they wrote. Everyone forgot that writing is still a skill and we had people to enter this industry who never knew how to write but saw On Demand Publishing as an opportunity to publish a book. This can’t happen in other fields. You can’t walk into a doctors office and start to diagnose people. You don’t have the skill.

Indie Publishing is the IT thing right now. All of the cool kids are doing it but writers are driving themselves crazy with all the information out there. “What should I do?” “What should I not do?” “What’s fact?” “What’s fiction?” “Should I outline?” “Should I not?” “Should I promote this way or that way?” “Should I pay?” “Should I not pay?” “Am I doing it wrong?” Just write the damn book already!

Curiouser Author Society – Official Member!

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Imagine my excitement when I opened my email this morning to find Shayla’s email that I had been invited into The Curiouser Author’s Society! Whoo hoo! For those of you with your noses in the air let me clarify that this is not some ritualistic sell your soul to the devil type thing (You can breathe, no oaths were taken). Curiouser Author Society is an invitation only group of authors, editors, reviewers, and just an entire team of professionals and aspiring professionals who are serious about perfecting their writing. Below is a brief description of our mission, purpose, and goal:

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“The Curiouser Author Society is an exclusive community for serious indie authors who want to write better books and put them in the hands of voracious readers while creating a distinctive author brand.  ” – Curiouser Author Society

I’m really excited to learn all I can from Shayla and her crew. This is the perfect platform to help me to get my publishing goals off to a great start. Here’s a word from Shayla:

“Having come from inside a publishing company to starting my own editing service that quickly grew to be a means of indie-author support, I saw firsthand how badly authors needed to grow and learn and educate themselves in the process. For example, many authors struggle with marketing. No one will know an indie author has written the next great classic if it’s never visible enough in the literary community to be read. The Curiouser Author Society is here to provide that support so authors can educate themselves and sell more books.”

— Shayla Eaton, President of Curiouser Editing and Curiouser Author Society
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The Author Media Kit and Other Forms of Self-Promo #MayChallengeDay13

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The idea of marketing your work and promoting yourself, to most Self-Publishers, seems a bit daunting. They don’t want to appear prideful, conceited, self-absorbed, and narcissistic if you will. However, Self-Promotion is not the same as being prideful and NO Indie can get by without some level of Self-Promotion and marketing. It is, after all, part of the whole “Self” aspect of Self-Publishing.

The Media Kit

Some time ago I added an Author Media Kit to my blog. The purpose of the kit is to make it easier for editors, book reviewers, and beta readers who are interested in my work to discover more about me without having to Google me. I think its important for every Indie to have both an electronic Media Kit, as well as a hard-copy version for those on the go marketing campaigns and book signings. Why? An Author Media Kit provides your readers with general information about you instantly. You don’t have to write a book, but should include information that is crucial to getting to know who you are. It also establishes you as a serious author who means business and can be step one in getting you used to promoting yourself. Some of what you can find in my media kit is:

Author Photo

This should be a professional head shot of you. Mine is not that professional but it will do for now. I have this picture attached across my social media so that I’m easy to find. All except Good reads which for some reason won’t let me add that particular pic but the one I have up there will do. Its the Author Photo I used before adding the current one. Like I said, it’s not perfect but it will do. It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money to be organized and professional.

Short Bio

No, not your life story, but enough information to satisfy our need to be nosy. Your full name, origin, and some of your past achievements is good. Any awards you’ve received as an author and your number of published works is also good to list.

Social Networks

Be sure to add links to all of your online social pages, your author website, email and a possible contact number if your feeling really brave. (I usually have people to contact me via email).

Author Website

Once you get going in the wonderful world of writing, I think its important for Indies to have an author website and no, I’m sorry but I do not mean your blog.

The Difference:

A blog is a blog. I don’t know how much simpler this can get. A blog with a domain name is also not necessarily a website; it’s just a blog with a domain name. Blogs are designed as weblogs in which a post is published regularly in chronological order, in which readers can like, comment, or share. Take a look around my site. What do you see? Even though it looks like a website, the regularly updated posts are what make it, not just a website, but a weblog. Technically.

WordPress is actually a great foundation to build an Author Website but make sure its not just another blog. This is my blog but THIS (YES, CLICK HERE) is my Author Website. See the difference? I hope so. It’s not perfect, or as I want it to be just yet,  but I’m sure we get the point here. Benefits of an Author Website are numerous. Primarily, it’s your readers’ introduction and entry into the wonderful world of you, the author. It gives them direct access to your store, where you can sell your product directly from your website. You can also link your blog to your Author Website. There’s a reason I do not sell product on this blog. I have an author website for that. You can surely combine the two if you like or sell from both your blog and Author Website.

Other Ways to Self-Promote. Basic Elements Include:

– Blog

– Facebook Page

– Twitter Account

– LinkedIn

– Author Website

– Bookmarks and Business Cards < Yes Authors. Make sure you have business cards! Or get funky with it and make the Bookmark the business card. This means you need to add your contact info. Otherwise, yea, its just a bookmark.

Everything is a BIG Deal: Let’s Have Some Fun!

Before you stone me, hear me out. First and foremost I’m as introverted as they come. For those who know me personally, I hate attention. OK, hate is a very strong word. Let’s just say I dislike attention very much. I don’t care to stand in the limelight and I’d rather the attention go to someone else. I’m pretty relaxed and laid back. I actually don’t say very much if it’s not something I’m passionate about (obviously I’m passionate about writing). So TRUST ME when I say I completely understand not wanting to do this. BUT, when you find something you love doing and that thing is BIGGER than you, you become more generous in your social interaction. Or at least that’s what happened to me. I’m still very shy (Yes, it’s true), but when I can talk about what I love it’s not so bad. Actually, it’s not bad at all. This next part may only be exclusive to me but I think it’s important: Everything is a Big Deal!

Get people excited about EVERYTHING! My brother has a saying: “If you think like a peasant then a peasant you will be” and I totally agree. What it means is that everything exist in your mindset. You may be poor financially, but you do not have to be poor mentally. Stop thinking less of yourself and think bigger. If you think BIG then you get BIG in return. That’s not being arrogant, its just natural. You are only as strong as your mind is. What you think is what you become.

The thing that I do that may be exclusive to me is that I hype up everything I’m a part of. I want it to be special and I want it to feel special. Every single public interview or appearance, every blog feature, every book cover reveal, everything that may seem small I enlarge so that you are just as excited about it as I am. Why shouldn’t you be? A new book is exciting! Let us FEEL it. A new Book Cover Reveal. That’s exciting! Make it over the top. Don’t just publish it as “Hey, look everyone. Here’s my new book. Its got this really cool cover”. No, build excitement. Set a date and do a count down where your cover will be revealed. Make it sound EXCLUSIVE! And then publish it to ALL your social media pages. That’s right. Make sure EVERYONE knows about this OFFICIAL Book Cover Design to this AMAZING NEW BOOK!

*I mean, don’t be spammy with it. People can tell if you’re being phony. Keep it genuine and have fun. Otherwise, if your not excited about your work forget about it. We don’t care either.*

I mean, its not like you have get all big headed and start to think your King Turd on Boo Boo Mountain or anything, its just about taking advantage of the small things and placing a value on them that SHOULD be there. Don’t sell yourself short people. No one takes the time, sweat, and tears to pour their heart and money into a book they don’t care if anyone reads. If your that shy about it, why write the book? I mean, even if its just family members, I’m sure you do want SOMEONE to read it. Right? OK so hype it up!

Even though this is just me, I think every Indie should take into consideration to make every milestone a special one. Every interview or Author Blog Appearance, every giveaway, every sale, make it sound exciting. When you are preparing to release a new book withhold some of the details. Make everything an exclusive. This makes us readers curious as to what the big deal is. We want to hear you, read about you, and get to know you. Eventually, we want to read your books!

The Winners Are In: Stella Trilogy Spring Giveaway

Good Morning!

The winners are in! Here’s how it works:

Starting today, I will publish the winners of the contest starting with the 3rd Place winner and ending with the 1st place winner Wednesday.

*Disclaimer: All winners were randomly picked by Promo Simple. I had no clue who the winners were going to be*

file(1)3rd Place Winner:

Entry #29

tjaneen.jt@gmail.com < If this is your email Congratulations! You’ve won paperback autographed copies of my Stella Trilogy with matching Bookmarks and my special author seal! Please email me at ahouseofpoetry@gmail.com to claim your prize!

The 2nd Place winner will be announced tomorrow! Stay tuned and look for your email address!

A Good Review on Basics: Avoiding Writing Scams

Must Read Information For Self-Publishers On Promo. / Marketing Scams / Request For Manuscript Submissions From Scammers

vanderso's avatarJust Can't Help Writing

This piece from Just Publishing AdviceBlue computer distills some important basic considerations to attend to for those of us trying to learn the book-publishing and marketing process. I get “requests” to submit manuscripts quite often and have usually wondered who it is that’s so desperate to see my work when traditional agents turn down hundreds of submissions each week. This article helps to put the situation in perspective.

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SICKER by Christa: Released Today!

Please help me to congratulate my friend Christa Wojo on the release of Part Two of her Psychological Suspense Series. SICKER is now available on Amazon Kindle. Review coming soon.

51OT0Njc6ML._SX311_BO1,204,203,200_About SICKER:

“How did John Branch get so sick? Part II of the gruesome psychological suspense series continues from the mind of John Branch.

John Branch’s sickness has dominated the lives of all those around him, consuming all it can from well-intentioned doctors, compassionate strangers, and trusting loved ones. His chronic illness also bonds him intimately to his wife Susan, trapping them in relationship of unhealthy psychological attachment.

But John’s disease isn’t the only blight in the Branch family.

Injured and loaded with Demerol, John Branch tells his life story from his filthy sickbed. He confesses the horrific secrets of the past. Most disturbing of all, he reveals the philosophy he’s constructed around his condition and tries to indoctrinate Susan. Will she stay with him now that she finally nows the truth, or will she put and end to the madness.”