Great advice on writing Historical Fiction.
Tag: books
Being of Service
I’m no expert, but I do know that writing is a unique career. It’s the same as other businesses, and yet it is not the same. It requires the same level of dedication, professionalism, and hard work. However, it is also a lot different than lets say, selling your neighbor a bar of soap.
Reading takes a lot of time. It is on a level that is a lot more personal. Readers actually get very sensitive when it comes to buying a book that sucked than buying a bar of soap that also sucks. People are also easily bored these days, so as authors we have to constantly keep our ears to the ground, discovering what’s trending and what’s throwback. It is for this reason that readers tend to find an author they love and stick to him or her. If you’re that author, great, but the story does not always end this way. As I thought about this, I started to really think, not about selling books, but being of service. As I babysat these thoughts, I ran across some great advice from one of my subscription blogs:
“Don’t SELL to your readers, SERVE them. With the changing dynamic between readers and writers, authors need to listen, gather knowledge about readers, foster communications, collaborate, and build long-term relationships.”
We have to be realistic. Authors are constantly told not to sell. But full time authors, those who don’t hold secondary positions elsewhere or receive money from additional sources, have bills to pay, food to put on the table, and needs that require monetary investment. So we can’t just tell writers that they should not sell their books no more than we can tell bloggers not to get excited over new readers. Despite how we gloss it up, the reality is that an author’s end goal is to sell you this book. But here is where being of service comes in:
For me personally, anything that I bring into my space should teach me something. This just means it should advance me in some way. Will it make me laugh? Cry? Think? Discover? Will it inform me? Teach me? Show me? What does this book, more than any other book, do for me? This is the same way that I look at Blogging. I am more than likely to bond with blogs that have something to offer.
Now, back to soap:
When you’re selling soap, I want to know that it’s because the benefits of this particular soap outweigh Irish Springs; not just because you’re trying to make a quick buck. If you can convince me that your product is of some significance to my life and you can back this up, then I will be more than happy to become a dedicated supporter. I have enough sense to know that you have bills to pay, but I also see that your purpose is bigger than dead presidents on paper. Why does this matter to authors?
Because people want to matter.
I believe this is true in everything that we do, and not just writing. But specifically, the first clue to readers that they matter, is the amount of hard work we put into the end product. Our professionalism, or lack thereof, speaks volumes far before these books hit the shelves. So I just want to encourage my writers out there to do the best you can, because it doesn’t get any better than your best. And I believe this is the difference between selling a product and being of service to the people. Readers (and bloggers) want to know that they are getting something out of the process. So I wouldn’t say don’t sell to your readers, instead I would just say to be of service to them.
Writer’s Quote Wednesday – George Orwell
For today’s segment of Writer’s Quote Wednesday, I take inspiration from George Orwell:
“When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself, ‘I am going to produce a work of art.’ I write it because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention (to)….” —George Orwell
I think this is a great way to sit down and write a book or article or poem. If you think more about your purpose for this particular piece, or you engage and have fun with the writing process in general, then I think you will unintentionally create something unique. Because you’ve put your all into it, you have the potential to create something really beautiful and powerful for readers. I do not believe the best songs were built under the notion that they will become hits, they were just written from the heart and that’s what makes them great. Anyone can write a book, poem, or sing a song, but when you can feel the passion, really feel it, and you know that it’s truly coming from the heart, that’s what makes it art.
About The Author:
I was first introduced to Orwell about seven or eight years ago when I read his book, 1984. I wouldn’t say he’s my favorite author but I did enjoy the book. At a time where I was just coming into a proper understanding of both myself and the world around me, it was an enlightening read.
Orwell was born June 25, 1903 in Bengal, India. His birth name was Eric Arthur Blair in Motihari, and he was a novelist, essayist and critic who went on to become best known for his novels Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. Speaking of Nineteen Eighty-Four, the title sounds like a throwback to us, like something old but for Orwell it was the future. He wrote 1984 back in 1949. In short, it is a look into the future of the world which is divided into three nations. In the story, Orwell gives us a look into what would happen if the Government controlled every aspect of a person’s life, all the way down to his private thoughts. It was the first time, before Minority Report (the movie), that I had ever heard of something called thought crime.
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And that’s it for my portion of Writer’s Quote Wednesday. As always, don’t forget to check out the links or the pic to see how you can join the fun. Don’t forget to also Like or Comment on the post of other participants. You get support by giving it :).
Audio Books: Yay or Nay?
I experiment with recording myself reading my own stories sometimes, (mostly for promotion of a new book) but I admit, I’ve never actually listened to a book. Seems kind of awkward for a book worm like me; I’d much rather read it. I have this image in my head that I may discover to be stereotypical in the future, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. You see in my mind, audio books (with the exception of poetry of course) are made up of mostly old people (no offense) who sit in rocking chairs narrating stories. But it’s not like the exciting person to person, face to face stories Grandma used to tell. Instead it’s long and drawn out. I don’t even know if there’s music involved, maybe. Makes me wonder: What components are necessary to make an audiobook something more desirable than reading the actual book? I do know that auditory learning, a learning style in which a person learns through listening, is one of the most effective teaching styles. Just look at music itself and how easily it is to learn something new just by adding a beat to it. From that end, I can see how audio books can help the auditory learner who depends on hearing and speaking as their main way of learning. I can also see how an audio book can come in handy for someone with an extremely busy schedule or for multitasking. I hear of some authors who offer an audio book version of their book in addition to the hard copies. With busy summers, I can see how this could be useful, even fun. But what if the story is super long and the reader’s voice is monotone! That’s scary. Listening to the book while reading it on the other hand, now that may prove an exciting experience I wouldn’t mind trying.
What are your thoughts? Would you offer an audio version of your book if given the chance? Are you for plugging in or turning pages? Yay or Nay?
5 Horrible Mistakes Self Published Authors Make
Saw this on twitter, thought I’d share. These are some good points:
The Following is by Laurence O’Bryan:
Self publishing is a golden opportunity. For the first time in history authors can reach readers without going through the traditional publishing system.
But many self published authors are making horrible, beginner-type-mistakes, which will cripple their book sales. Here’s my take on these mistakes:
1. Not getting outside help. Writers can’t generally be editors, cover designers and marketing experts, as well as being writers. Not if they want to do these jobs well. And asking a relative or close friend to do these jobs for you is probably worse than doing it yourself. Your judgement typically goes out the window when someone close to you does something for you. If you won’t spend money on getting experts your sales will be poor. I know there are occasional exceptions to this, but they only prove the rule.
2. Having unrealistic expectations. Most books, up to ten years ago, sold hundreds of copies. Only 1 in 300 traditionally published books, which got good editing, covers and marketing support, became bestsellers in the past. Publishing became a giant game of throw-it-up and see-what-sticks. With printed books it became ever growing and almost criminally wasteful, when you consider the dirty secret that most of the books you see in book stores are destined to be pulped. Now that game is in decline. If you do get editing, covers and marketing right, you might expect reasonable sales, but publishing is always a gamble, so never risk more than you can afford to lose. Great books don’t always sell well. And Print on Demand is way better than ordering books to store in a front room and then a back room – forever.
3. Not building an email list of people who might be willing to read and review your book on Amazon. This is one of the main reasons traditional publishers take so long to publish a book. They often send review copies out to a large group of their reviewers three months in advance of publication. This policy ensures that positive reviews will be posted day one after the book goes up on Amazon. Self-published authors should consider the day a book goes live on Amazon as a soft launch. The day you have five reviews is the day your book gets launched. The day you have ten is when it can hold its head up. The day it has fifty is the day you can expect Amazon’s algorithms to start presenting it to readers near the top of a list of books someone searched for. Congratulations!
4. Not focusing on what makes your book different. Whatever you write, you need to find something unique about your book. That you’ve written a good me-too book, like many others in its genre, is simply not good enough, unless you are happy with poor sales. Sensational writing, words that jump from a page, a heart-stopping plot, and real recipes from your grandmother in a village in Sardinia, where many people live to be 100, are all potentially unique aspects of a book, which will help you find readers.
5. Not believing in yourself. Self-belief is critical to long-term success as a writer, as in many walks of life. Writing is a profession where those who believe they can and who don’t give up, succeed. Perseverance and a willingness to learn, to edit the whole book again, for the twenty-seventh time, are necessary characteristics for a writer who is determined to become a success. Adopt these characteristics and your path will open up. In the past, it took most writers about ten years to find a publisher, from starting to write. Each year was spent improving, honing, learning. Be prepared for a long journey. If you love being creative with words, don’t give up because the road is hard. Use the journey to prepare for what lies ahead.
Finally, when you have done all of the above, you will know that you can move on. To the next book. And then the one after. Most books lead to another. One of the joys of writing is discovering what else lies inside us, waiting to be born.
Story Time…
… with EC 🙂
So, Stella has gone through her first stage of editing and I am now in the rewriting stage, so I thought I’d have some fun and engage in a little reading. Speaking of which, I’ve thought about an audio book. Well, more like a passing thought in which I’ve lingered slightly, but what if? As a reader, do you find audio books helpful or harmful? Would you’d rather listen or read? Hmmm, perhaps I’ll do another post about just that. Until then, I hope you enjoy my acting skills….
This Summer…
Go “Beyond The Colored Line” (a short story)
A Short Story, coming August, 2015: Available in Print, Amazon, B&N, Kobo, and the Apple iBookstore. Visit my author website to see the Book Trailer or to learn more and to Sign-Up for the Newsletter. More information about the pending launch campaign, to include contests and free promotional products, will be available soon.And thanks so much for your support.
The PBS Blog 