Riley Adams's Blog, page 111

Our Author Newsletter–Getting Started

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Industry experts say that our author newsletter is our most important tool for marketing our books. We can communicate directly with readers who love our books and want to hear about new releases.

Today I’m at the IWSG blog talking about getting our newsletter off the ground, and ideas for attracting more subscribers to our list.  Hope you’ll pop over!

The post Our Author Newsletter–Getting Started appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 30,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

I do have an opportunity for my blog readers this week: a New York area conference, The Work Conference.  Attendance is limited to 30 writers because the conference provides access to industry-leading agents and publishers in a small group setting (attendees query first for acceptance to the conference).  Those who aren’t accepted still get feedback on their proposal.  There is a fee for the application, but my readers are offered a $10 discount: $40 instead of $50. That link is here.

How to Become a Morning Person (video):  http://ow.ly/U219Q  @michaelhyatt

A Return to Single-Tasking :  http://ow.ly/U20ui @zen_habits

13 Writer Woes and the Books to Cure Them:  http://ow.ly/U21Fh @roniloren

10 Mistakes A New Author Makes:  http://ow.ly/U21Oi by Nancy L. Erickson

Marketing Your Book on Social Media? How to Avoid Scams:  http://ow.ly/TRyZc @annerallen

Doing the Backstage Work: Self-Publicity in Social Media: http://ow.ly/TRzTG @joncwriter

Helpful Ways to Deal with Dream Crushers:  http://ow.ly/TRA2p @MarcyKennedy

10 Techniques for Getting Tension on Every Page:  http://ow.ly/TRAil @JodyHedlund

Why Book PR Needs Lead Time. Lots of it. http://ow.ly/TRyM8 @SharonBially

3 tools to help boost sales:  http://ow.ly/TRyvE @IndiesBookPromo

7 Simple Hacks to Get Writing When You Just Can’t:  http://ow.ly/U20sr @McgannKellie

Writing Fiction In Scenes: http://ow.ly/U22ap @angee

Write and Finish a Novel in 8 Simple Steps:  http://ow.ly/U21sa  @AmandaPanitch

Authors: Have You Blabbed or Scoped Yet?  http://ow.ly/U21n6 @CaballoFrances

The Fundamentals of Writing a Scene:  http://ow.ly/U226s @Jordanrosenfeld @plotwhisperer

The Frankendraft: Putting Life Back Into Overly Revised Novels:  http://ow.ly/U21en @Janice_Hardy

Head-hopping: How to Make Your Reader Dizzy:  http://ow.ly/U21Kh @roniloren

Can Serials Still Be Profitable in Kindle Unlimited 2.0 (and elsewhere)? http://ow.ly/U22e9 @goblinwriter

How to Write Transitions:  http://ow.ly/TZj8Y @ava_jae

5 Tips for Writers:  http://ow.ly/TZk79 @SteveMcEllis

8 Tips on Creating Single-Author Box Sets to Sell More Books:  http://ow.ly/TZk0g @DianaUrban

Point of View in Writing:  http://ow.ly/TZj6Z @joebunting

Use New Pew Center Results to Better Reach Your Readers:  http://ow.ly/TZkBG @CaballoFrances

How to Fix a Broken Plot: http://ow.ly/TZjc9  @Rachel_Aaron

9 Ways to Make Extra Money by Writing: http://ow.ly/TZjhW @alicecalch

7 Creative Book Marketing Suggestions:  http://ow.ly/TZjm2 @elspethwrites

Creating an Author Business Plan: Professional Development http://ow.ly/TZjeJ @MarcyKennedy

Optimizing Your Amazon Sales Page for Conversion (podcast)  http://ow.ly/TZkX4 @bryancohenbooks

5 Ways to Choose Character Names:  http://ow.ly/TZj0J @spunkymisfitgrl

How our Newsletter can get us More Readers http://ow.ly/TZjF5 @bookgal

Dialogue Tags: What They Are and How To Use Them:  http://ow.ly/TY5w3 @McgannKellie

The Hot Sheet: industry newsletter for authors (30 day free trial):  from @Porter_Anderson & @JaneFriedman:  http://ow.ly/UhgAs

Simple Tips to Set Your Characters Apart:  http://ow.ly/TZ7nM @MadelynKnecht

3 Tips to Beat Procrastination and Get Back to Writing:  http://ow.ly/TZ7ir @JerryBJenkins

Everyone Needs a Writing Tribe:  http://ow.ly/TZ7dS  @Janisnewman @thelithub

How to Create a Bio that Attracts the Right Following (Video):  http://ow.ly/TZ6UG from @SavvySexySocial

Are You Able to Ask for Help, as a Writer? http://ow.ly/TZ76A @jamigold

7 Things 1 Writer Has Learned So Far:  http://ow.ly/TZ71w  @karimdimechkie

5 Things To Do Before Hiring a Freelance Editor:  http://ow.ly/TY5q6 @RachelleGardner

Checklist for “Passive” Book Marketing:  http://ow.ly/TZ7Ic  @111publishing

Character Likability and Subtext:  http://ow.ly/TZ7un @jamigold

How to Create Shareable Facebook Content:  http://ow.ly/TZ7CF @CaballoFrances

Writing Speed Bumps: http://ow.ly/TZ7zA @jamesscottbell

22 Places to Write When You’re Tired of Working at Home:  http://ow.ly/TWffF @Kristen_E_Pope

The Case for Alter Egos:  http://ow.ly/TWfbM @wordsxo

An agent on author input for cover art: http://ow.ly/TWeyA @literaticat

Promoting A Pre-order:  http://ow.ly/TWf21 @authornordin

The Curious Case Of The Book Blurb (And Why It Exists) : http://ow.ly/TWeQw @colintdwyer @nprnews

What Could Happen If We Worked As Hard As We Possibly Could? http://ow.ly/TWfjy @cathryanhoward

The importance of writer email addresses and contact info:  http://ow.ly/TWeG1 @rachellegardner

3 Tools to Work Smarter, Stay Focused and Track Progress:  http://ow.ly/TWfnO @fictionnotes

How to Launch a Thriller Series:  http://ow.ly/TWeW5 @jamesscottbell

How to Evaluate a Small Publisher: http://ow.ly/TWeDK @Janet_Reid

Writing Discipline And Mindset For Authors:  http://ow.ly/TWfBv @thecreativepenn @jamesscottbell

SF/F Worldbuilding: Timeline Adds Crucial Details:  http://ow.ly/TWfwY @fictionnotes

How Writers Can Avoid “Underwriting” Emotions:  http://ow.ly/TVezd @robinpatchen

7 Rules to be Successful as an Author:  http://ow.ly/TVeME @JudithBriles

12 Questions to Ask When Hiring a Book Cover Designer: http://ow.ly/TVfca @DianaUrban.

Insights into the Dreaded First Page:  http://ow.ly/TVevu  @ClareLangleyH

Strengthening Your Creativity Muscles:  http://ow.ly/TVf67  @NeuBon

On Maintaining Suspension of Disbelief:  http://ow.ly/TVeXl @ava_jae

Creative Courage and the Art of Living in a State of Uninterrupted Marvel:  http://ow.ly/TVeTO @brainpicker

5 Reasons You Write and How to Reclaim the Joy:  http://ow.ly/TVeQL @MartinaABoone

A Month’s Worth of Social Media Growth Hacks & Experiments:  http://ow.ly/TVfgi @kevanlee

5 ways to add detail to your writing: http://ow.ly/TVeDK by Ellen Mulholland

Why An Author Should Try Pinterest:  http://ow.ly/TVfa1 @angiedicken

8 Tips on Creating Single-Author Box Sets to Sell More Books:  http://ow.ly/TVfk6 @dianaurban

Community leaders in crime fiction:  http://ow.ly/U80CJ @mkinberg

Query Boot Camp: Querying Thrillers:  http://ow.ly/U8AU3 @RFaithEditorial @ReedsyHQ

5 Steps to Deal with Writer’s Block:  http://ow.ly/U7TkF @LyndaRYoung

The gallop draft: 5 smart tips for writing a useful draft at speed: http://ow.ly/U7KyR @Roz_Morris

How To Plan Your Story In One Day:  http://ow.ly/U7J7G @inkybites

Getting in the mood for NaNoWriMo: http://ow.ly/U7J3t  @ABrennanwrites

Writing: The Art of Turning a Unique Phrase:  http://ow.ly/TTIGs @beccapuglisi

Is being a pantser or a plotter linked to whether you’re right-brained or left-brained?  http://ow.ly/TTJ0T @lansi26

Interior book design:  http://ow.ly/TTJ8t @lansi26

Denying Your Characters. Really, It’s for Their Own Good:  http://ow.ly/TTJs7  @TomBentleyNow

Why Writing Flash Fiction Can Help You Write a Better Book:  http://ow.ly/TTIVb  @drothmanwrites

Tips on Using Blog Tours for Book Marketing:  http://ow.ly/TTJAM @SmithPublicity

What’s the Best Price for Your Next Ebook Promotion? http://ow.ly/TTJEP @DianaUrban

How to Use Periscope to Build Your Writing Brand:  http://ow.ly/TTILY @WillieshaMorris

Top 10 Dialogue Mistakes that Kill a Story:  http://ow.ly/TTJdN @MarcyKennedy

An agent on what ‘unpublished’ means? http://ow.ly/TTJi6 @Janet_Reid

3 Ways NOT to Fail at #NaNoWriMo:  http://ow.ly/TTIzg @joebunting

5 Ways to Promote Your Free Book 1 Series Starter: http://ow.ly/TTIPn @goblinwriter

The links I shared last week:  http://ow.ly/U6orY . All the links (30K+) I’ve ever shared, free and searchable: writerskb.com

Redesigning Our Life’s Interface :  http://ow.ly/TT7fl @zen_habits

3 Steps for Nailing Your Author and Character Voice:  http://ow.ly/TT6t8 @MartinaABoone

Why we are the biggest impediment to selling our books:  http://ow.ly/TT7qQ @pattyjansen

8 Reasons Your Ebook Price Promotion Didn’t Work:  http://ow.ly/TT6Rp @DianaUrban

Check Your “Underwriting”:  http://ow.ly/TT6EH @CSLakin

A Primer to Social Media for Authors:  http://ow.ly/TT7yd @sabsky

How to Develop a Daily Writing Habit:  http://ow.ly/TT6L2  @tanyaboza

The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Getting Feedback and Being Part of a Community

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Self-published writers frequently hear that they need to pass their books by beta readers or critique groups first before sending the stories on to freelance editors (fewer corrections in a book means a less expensive editing process).

Some writers never even get as far as needing a beta reader because they didn’t seek out encouragement and support from the writing community.

But sometimes it can be tough to know exactly where to find these beta readers and online support.  Here are a few ideas.

First Readers/Beta Readers

Online critique groups and beta readers. Sometimes I think we can run into the same problem that we can with in-person crit groups…we might be much better or much worse than our crit partner. But we also have more of a selection to choose from in terms of writer experience.

There are resources to help you connect:

Jane Friedman’s guest poster Brooke McIntyre has a nice list of places to connect with beta readers or critique groups.

Cathy Yardley from The Write Life has 40 places to find a critique partner.

In-person critique/writer groups. I found that critique groups could be tricky, at least the in-person kind. It’s sort of like playing tennis…if you play with someone much better than you, or much worse than you, you don’t get a lot out of it. What I did like was being around other writers and receiving support and encouragement. But eventually, I did drop out of all my in-person groups. Apparently, I’m just too introverted.

I do know of writers who have found some success using MeetUp as a way to mix with local writers.

Wattpad.  Wattpad is a good way to test your story on an audience.  But to get the most out of the experience, we should plan on uploading the full story.  This can mean either serial writing or serial publishing.  We can take our story down at any time, so having the completed book free on Wattpad won’t sabotage our efforts to publish it later on.

I enjoy the feedback that I’ve gotten on my stories on the site. But I do think it would be especially helpful if we’d written a YA book since that’s the primary audience (teens) on Wattpad.  If you want to find out if you’re nailing the voice of that age group, this would be a good place to try it out.

Help from fans.  This would be for the more established writer. Yes, we need help with our drafts, too.  I really dislike the term fan when it’s used to describe readers. I think of my readers as readers, not fans.  But! There are some readers that definitely qualify as fans and even I can’t ignore that. One of mine in particular follows one of my series so closely that I feel she knows my characters better than I do.  She’s my biggest supporter and my biggest critic when I haven’t hit the mark.  Instead of reading her (very insightful) criticism when I hadn’t done as well in a book, I enlisted her support as a beta reader before publishing. Now I email her a copy of my book before publishing and use her comments to make adjustments before the launch.

Support from the Community:

#NaNoWriMo. No matter what people say about NaNoWriMo  (it’s usually that it produces a very rushed product), I do feel that it can help some writers to develop a writing habit and force them to finally move forward with writing a novel.

If you can write 50,000 words in November, I think that’s fantastic. No one is saying that you have to immediately publish that book.  I’ve certainly written that much before (on my own, not as part of NaNoWriMo…under deadline pressure), and I was able to fix the manuscript fairly quickly (I’m practiced at self-editing) and then send it out to my editor. It sold well, too. This doesn’t work for everyone and I don’t think that feeling of pressure works for everyone.  There are writers out there who are slow writers, thoughtful writers, and NaNo is the wrong thing for them to do. But if you’ve wanted to write a novel for years and have procrastinated writing it, the encouragement from that community and the marking-down of the daily count can jumpstart your book.

For the first time ever I’ve signed up.  But because I’m guilty of horrendous cheating, I haven’t put my name to it. I’m starting out with a novel that’s halfway finished.  I decided, though, that I wanted to track my progress using NaNo’s cool charts and word count trackers. November looks to be busy for me (college kid coming home, horseback shows, daughter’s extracurriculars, public speaking for me), so I think this may help me not just keep on track but actually get ahead.

#IWSG. The Insecure Writers Support Group formed by Alex J. Cavanaugh.  Being a writer can be an isolating experience.  This free community offers writing tips and resources for everything from freelance writing to novel writing.  Resources include information on writing contests, conferences,  and courses for writers. And there is a monthly blog hop devoted to outlining struggles and successes that members have faced.

How do you find feedback on your books and support for writing them?

Tips for getting feedback and finding an online community:
Click To Tweet

Image: MorgueFile: LadyHeart

The post Getting Feedback and Being Part of a Community appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Trying New Things for More Visibility

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

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The business side of writing seems to take more and more time.

If I knock out my writing goal first, though, I don’t have that uncomfortable sense of being conflicted. And I remind myself that whatever time I spend putting my content “out there” should be repaid later on by sales. Hopefully.

AmazonCrossing.  Although I think there is still a huge untapped English-speaking or ESL audience out there in the digital reading market, I’ll admit to an interest in translation. After all, if I want to relax with a good book, I sure as heck want to read it in English.  Reading it in French (my high school and college foreign language) would be a struggle and certainly not as relaxing.

AmazonCrossing is the arm of the retailer that’s working on projects for translation.  I pitched them a book and am waiting on a reply.  We’ll see. I have a feeling it’s tricky to get in.

Fiberead. More translation opportunities. This one is for Chinese language translation. The process appears to be a long one here, but I’ve got a project manager for one book that I’m hoping to get translated and uploaded to Chinese retailers.

YouTube. Recently, I’ve definitely been courting the young people.  I’m on Wattpad (see below) and even had a guest post for a millennial book blogger (Richard Denney) with a YouTube channel to try to stir up interest in cozy mysteries for younger readers. It’s just a matter of putting our content or ourselves where they are. They tend to enjoy video, photography on sites like Instagram and Snapchat, and mobile apps like Wattpad.

Wattpad.  I’ve talked a lot about this reading app, so I’ll just link here to what I’ve written: here, here, and here.  Basically, it’s my go-to for reaching out to younger readers and to an international audience.

BookBub.  This is one of those things I’ve heard about (well, ad nauseum, actually).  Although it is a large investment, everyone that I’ve spoken with said that it paid back with dividends. However! It’s apparently very difficult to get a BookBub ad right now, possibly because of the success rate of the ads and the site’s popularity. I’ll admit to being very cynical about this…really? If I offer a business $1,000 to run an ad for me, they’re going to turn me down?  Seriously?  What kind of business owner does this?

But yes! They did turn me down. :)  And now, in typical hardheaded fashion, I’ll probably try again next month. Because, as anyone who’s traditionally published knows, rejection just makes writers more stubborn. This is one of those ventures where it’s worth a try, anyway.  And, if I eventually get a BookBub ad, I’m certainly going to write that sucker off on my taxes.

Self-E.  I’m a fan of libraries. To me, having my book available in a library is a discovery tool the way that a perma-free book is on Amazon.  Self-e is one option for self-published authors to get their books into libraries.  More on the site here. You can explore other options with this post by Andrew Lowe: “Ebook Library Services For Authors: An Alliance of Independent Authors Report.”

Newsletters. This is the most boring but completely effective outreach program I’ve tried so far. If you don’t have many subscribers on your own list, consider linking to your list on your social media, email signature, in your books, and on your Amazon Central page. More on newsletters on Monday, when I guest post on the IWSG site.

What have you tried to put your books in front of a new audience?  How is it working?

7 ideas for ways to get more visibility for our books:
Click To Tweet

Image: MorgueFile: mcconnors

The post Trying New Things for More Visibility appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 30,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Lots of NaNoWriMo posts this week as many writers prepare for the challenge of writing a book in the month of November. :)

Flash Fiction Exercises for #NaNoWriMo Prep:  http://ow.ly/U29kl @_AliciaAudrey

#NaNoWriMo Prep: 6 Tips:  http://ow.ly/U28bP @ceciliaedits

#Nanowrimo Prep: Story Elements for Brainstorming Index Cards:  http://ow.ly/U28sg @AlexSokoloff

3 Tips For Writing Moms To #NaNoWriMo With Success: http://ow.ly/U29O7 @MichelleLim24

#Nanowrimo Prep: What’s the PLAN? http://ow.ly/U29Qz @AlexSokoloff     

#NaNoWriMo: 2000 writers and their most effective tips for winning:  http://ow.ly/U29ZJ  by Stephen Bennett

Stay Motivated for #NaNoWriMo:  7 Ways:  http://ow.ly/U2alK @nownovel

How To Make a #NaNoWriMo Soundtack:  http://ow.ly/U2aEh @_FYWH

Your #NaNoWriMo Survival Guide: Before, During & After: http://ow.ly/U2bMo @grantfaulkner

#NaNoWriMo Prep: 30 Tips for Writing a Book in 30 Days:  http://ow.ly/U2bHo @JessicaStrawser

Advice for First Time #NaNoWriMo Writers:  http://ow.ly/U2aSA @enderawiggin

7 Ways to Use NaNoWriMo to Make You a Better Writer All Year:  http://ow.ly/TSfms @KMWeiland

#NaNoWriMo Prep: Planning Your Novel:  http://ow.ly/TSfp7 @Janice_Hardy

Rocking #NaNoWriMo with Scrivener:  http://ow.ly/U2aZK @Gwen_Hernandez

To #NaNoWriMo or Not to NaNo? http://ow.ly/U2b3j @ava_jae

There isn’t one right way to write a book:  http://ow.ly/TT6V1 @ava_jae

Character Arc In A Nutshell:  http://ow.ly/TT758 @angelaackerman

6 things to help launch our book:  http://ow.ly/TT80p  @SimonePond

Using our own traits to develop a character: http://ow.ly/TT6wi by Ellen Mulholland

Redesigning Our Life’s Interface :  http://ow.ly/TT7fl @zen_habits

Adventures in Amazon keyword padding:  http://ow.ly/TT7Nl @SheerHubris

The Essential #NaNoWriMo Survival Guide:  http://ow.ly/U29eB @paperbackbird

7 ways to supercharge your writing over #NaNoWriMo:  http://ow.ly/U4xha @standoutbooks

A comic for those about to dive into #NaNoWriMo or another writing challenge:  http://ow.ly/U2c0o @inkyelbows

NaNoWriMo is Coming: 5 Tips for Preparing to Write Your Novel http://ow.ly/U2bTI

How 1 Writer is Cheating” at #NaNoWriMo But Really Winning:  http://ow.ly/U29aW @LaurieTomlinson”

10 Ways to Ace #Nanowrimo:  http://ow.ly/U2977 @alisonwells

How to do #NaNoWrimo when you don€™t have the time:  http://ow.ly/U291D @alisonwells

A #NaNoWriMo Brainstormer Worksheet:  http://ow.ly/U28Pb  @MiaJouBotha

3 Easy Ways to Make #NaNoWriMo (Practically) Stress Free:  http://ow.ly/U28L8 @cherylrwrites

#Nanowrimo Prep: The Index Card Method and Story Structure Grid:  http://ow.ly/U28Hb @AlexSokoloff

5 Tips for Reaching Your #NaNoWriMo Goal:  http://ow.ly/U28DW @Magic_Violinist

#FutureChat: 12pET/4pGMT (now):  What makes a good indie book cover? http://ow.ly/U2ndf @Porter_Anderson

#NaNoWriMo: Who Should Try and Why:  http://ow.ly/U29Jw @WordsmithWyle

#NaNoWriMo Prep Series Masterpost:  http://ow.ly/U28jz @enderawiggin

Are You Ready For #NaNoWriMo?  http://ow.ly/U29nZ  @gracefuldoe

A look at the upcoming #AuthorDay conference:  http://ow.ly/U2oVd @Porter_Anderson

Tips for Writing Dialect:  http://ow.ly/U2crw @JudgeHopkins

5 Benefits of Aiming High During #NaNoWriMo: http://ow.ly/U27QZ @besscozby

#Nanowrimo: Elements of Act One:  http://ow.ly/U27I7  @AlexSokoloff

4 Agents on the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of  #NaNoWriMo:  http://ow.ly/U29Bv @MartinaABoone

#NaNoWriMo Outline: Your 30-Day Cheatsheet:  http://ow.ly/U2789  @betternovelproj

A Walk Through Scrivener’s User Interface:  http://ow.ly/TQf0x @mgherron

7 tips for writing faster:  http://ow.ly/TQdsr  @lansi26

How to Edit Fiction: An Example in Real Time:  http://ow.ly/TQfmm @KMWeiland

Understanding Your Book Cover Template (Infographic):  http://ow.ly/TQfxh @LivingLifeInNS

A literary history of ellipses: http://ow.ly/TQf7o by Anne Toner

Don’t get so busy making a life that you forget to make a living:  http://ow.ly/TQd8t @ryancaseybooks

5 Tips for Dictating Your Writing:  http://ow.ly/TQdEh @CKMacLeod

The Joy of Writing: How to Keep it During #NaNoWriMo:  http://ow.ly/TQdhG @RuthHarrisBooks

A Manifesto for Not Working in Your Pajamas:  http://ow.ly/TQeSV  @NicoleLynnBaart @writerunboxed

3 Ways to Ensure Awesome Characters:  http://ow.ly/TQdmi  @Rachel_Aaron

10 Ways to Boost Your Writing Productivity:  http://ow.ly/TQdK1 @fojazz

The Second Book Syndrome:  http://ow.ly/TQde6 @hopeclark

Creating a long-term plan for our writing career:  http://ow.ly/TPIKE @jamigold

The Need for Reformed Writer-Payment Practices:  http://ow.ly/TYw69 @Porter_Anderson  @mariraz

10 Grammar Myths We Learned in School:  http://ow.ly/TPIxM @writerspotlight

What to do when your Amazon reviews disappear:  http://ow.ly/TPIH8 @bookgal

4 Tips on Adding a New Twist to an Old Plot:  http://ow.ly/TPIuw @Janice_Hardy

Working in our worldbuilding:  http://ow.ly/TPI7q @AuthorCoH

Writing: keeping it real with ancient mythology:  http://ow.ly/TPIoq @betternovelproj

How Ingram prints POD books:  http://ow.ly/TPJ3J @DavidPenny_

Formatting eBooks: How to Use the KISS Method:  http://ow.ly/TPIY8  @Route11eBooks

How to Efficiently Write Descriptions:  http://ow.ly/TPIhV  @Weifarer

Self-Publishing: Ebook, Paperback or Both?  http://ow.ly/TPIQu @Belinda_Pollard

An agent on using works in the public domain:  http://ow.ly/TPI0K @Janet_Reid

Tips for writing dialogue:  http://ow.ly/TPID3  @TeddyWayne1999

Book swag for events:  http://ow.ly/TOx4I @Janet_Reid

LA Public Library and @libraryself_e ‘Foster a Community of Local Authorship’ http://ow.ly/TTvQ4 @Porter_Anderson

5 Tools To Help With eBook Sales:  http://ow.ly/TOx94 by Kristen Runvik

Formatting for eBooks: Tips and Pitfalls:  http://ow.ly/TOwRx  @angelaquarles

Staggering US and UK releases: How Can They Still Be So Far Apart? Porter_Anderson ow.ly/TTuWq @ThadMcIlroy @Porter_Anderson

Tips for obtaining an agent:  http://ow.ly/TOwPk  @chucksambuchino

Book Critique ABCs: a How-To for Authors:  http://ow.ly/TOwzE @West1Jess

An agent on typos in queries and manuscripts:  http://ow.ly/TOwMJ @Janet_Reid

When Are You Ready to Publish?  http://ow.ly/TOwAy  @AmiecusCuriae

Why Traditionally Published Authors Are Choosing to Go Indie:  http://ow.ly/TOx1S @IndieReader

Why we should get excited about AmazonCrossing:  http://ow.ly/TOwXu @Roz_Morris

How to Start Your Author Newsletter in 8 Easy Steps:  http://ow.ly/TOxeI  @AuthorRx

How to Find and Select a Cover Designer:  http://ow.ly/TOwWl @MarcyKennedy

Author Marketing Plans that Work:  http://ow.ly/TOx3b @bookgal

#NaNoWriMo Prep: Planning Your Novel’s Middle:  http://ow.ly/TN0nA @janice_hardy

Tricks to Writing Descriptions in First-Person POV:  http://ow.ly/TN0He @lindasclare

Our first book–the ‘how’ of writing:  http://ow.ly/TQbww

Parenting, Creating, Being:  http://ow.ly/TN0D3 @stephanieburgis

Trends in crime fiction:  http://ow.ly/TPNxo @mkinberg

Using Newbie Attorneys in Your Fiction:  http://ow.ly/TN0F3 @WordsmithWyle

Developing Your Story Premise for #NaNoWriMo:  http://ow.ly/TN0oV @farrtom

12 Reasons to Publish with Small Publishers:  http://ow.ly/TN0KL  @MicheleBelisle

The Glorious Insanity That Is #NaNoWriMo: http://ow.ly/TN0q4 @hejames1008

Protecting our creative time: by Y S Lee http://ow.ly/TN0wn

Writing Dialogue: 4 Ways to Avoid Floating Head Syndrome:  http://ow.ly/TN0tq @BrynDonovan

How Authors Can Find Their Ideal Reading Audience: http://ow.ly/TN0Gc @angelaackerman

6 Ways Authors Over-Dramatize:  http://ow.ly/TN0Jq @jodyhedlund

5 Reasons to Seek Out Group Projects:  http://ow.ly/TN0rp @CateEllink

The links I shared last week:  http://ow.ly/TONfz . All the links I’ve ever shared (30K+), free and searchable: writerskb.com

Business Musings: Author Earnings……Again:  http://ow.ly/TL00S @kristinerusch

Tips for research:  http://ow.ly/TL0HM  @LindaCastillo11

Penguin & Author Solutions:  http://ow.ly/TKZMV @ornaross

Are Cozies Morally Reprehensible?  http://ow.ly/TKZBm @hoodedu @LifeSentenceMag

Preparing Images for Your e-Book:  http://ow.ly/TL0Q3  @dkudler

#NaNoWriMo is coming. Are you ready? http://ow.ly/TL095  @Savage_Woman

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How To Write Dialect

by Bill Hopkins, @JudgeHopkins

How many times have you read in an otherwise excellent book that a character “spoke with a heavy accent” or something similar? Too many, is my guess. Everyone (you, me, everyone you know) speaks with a heavy accent. What determines a heavy accent is who is listening! If the person listening speaks the same as you, then you won’t notice an accent. If the person listening has never heard anyone speak like you, then YOU have a heavy accent.

Let me give you an example, using my accent, which is upland south.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Upland-South-map.jpg

The upland south accent can be heard in the hills and mountains of the American South and, in fact, in most of Southern Illinois and Southern Indiana and Ohio. Think of the way The Beverly Hillbillies spoke. (Lowland South, on the other hand, is what Scarlett O’Hara spoke.)

If I want a character to speak the way I do (i.e., like a hillbilly), I’ll write something like:

John said, “I washed up in the creek out yonder.”

I could hear the intrusive r in “warsh” and his hillbilly roots when he said “crick.”

That’s about all I have to say about John’s accent. There’s no use in transcribing it or trying to make it look on paper what it sounds like to your ear.

Nann Dunne, http://www.justaboutwrite.com/A_Archive_Uses-Abuses-Dialect.html, gives us this example of a horribly written dialect from Uncle Tom’s Cabin: “S’pose we must be resigned; but oh Lord! how ken I? If I know’d anything whar you’s goin’, or how they’d sarve you! Missis says she’ll try and ‘deem ye, in a year or two; but Lor! nobody never comes up that goes down thar! They kills ‘em! I’ve hearn ‘em tell how dey works ‘em up on dem ar plantations.”

That’s tortured English or some other kind of language that I’ve never heard of. But let me give a stab at making it more intelligible.

“Suppose we must be resigned. But, oh Lord! How can I? If I knowed anything where you’s going, or how they’d serve you! Missis says she’ll try and deem ye, in a year or two. But, oh Lord! Nobody never comes up that goes down that river! They kills ‘em! I’ve heard ‘em tell how they works ‘em up on them there plantations.”

Still not great literature, but we know for sure that we’re not sitting in Queen of England’s drawing room discussing crumpets. All I did was use a bit of bad grammar (knowed, you’s, never, kills) and one substandard abbreviation (‘em). It’s a lot easier to read than the original and you know what it means, for the most part.

You know that the speaker talks in a way we’d call “dialect” or “accented” by (mostly) the grammar they use. For example, my mother was a stickler for correct grammar and proper spelling. When I was a kid and said brung in front of her, even her Ozark hillbilly raising couldn’t handle it. I said, “If it’s sing, sang, sung, then why can’t it be bring, brang, brung?”

She never did answer me to my satisfaction. Or maybe she thought that “vagaries of grammar” was something I couldn’t understand at my tender age.

Mignon Fogarty (Grammar Girl) says that regionalisms also contribute to making a character sound like (in your head) that they’re speaking in a dialect.

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/regionalisms

What do you call that bubbly drink? Soda? Pop? Soft drink? I remember when I was a kid in Southeast Missouri, we would say, “What kind of Coke do you want?” And we’d answer, “7-Up” or “Coke” or whatever.

Likewise, do you ride on a teeter-totter or see-saw? What do you put on top of a cup? A lid? A cover? Do you drink from a water fountain or a bubbler?

When we use regionalisms or dialect, the way we talk changes the language. American English has no good way to indicate a plural you so we have come up with lots of different ways to say it. It seems (to me) that y’all is winning out, even in the North. It’s a handy word and you know immediately what it means.

With the influx of aliens from all over the globe…Wait. Did that offend you when I said aliens? All it means is a person who belongs to a foreign nation. Canadians are alien in the United States. Americans are aliens in Canada. The word is not bad but some people are offended by its use. Likewise, the word refugee (which is simply a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster) offends some people. Right or wrong, the people who pronounce these dictates may change the language for good or bad. Time will tell.

There no such thing as a “bad” word. Words change almost daily.

I could go on and on with this, one of my favorite subjects. Just remember that if you want to make your character speak in a dialect or with an accent, don’t try to be a court reporter. Instead, give us a hint or two and let our minds do the rest!

***

Note: My  first book,  Courting Murder is now free as an ebook; all ereaders are supported. 

Bill is retired after beginning his legal career in 1971 and serving as a private attorney, prosecuting attorney, an administrative law judge, and a trial court judge, all in Missouri. His poems, short stories, and non-fiction have appeared in many different publications. He’s had several short plays produced. Bill is a member of Mystery Writers of America, Dramatists Guild, Horror Writers Association, Missouri Writers Guild, SEMO Writers Guild, Heartland Writers Guild, Romance Writers of America, and Sisters In Crime. Bill is also a photographer who has sold work in the United States, Canada, and Europe. He and his wife, Sharon (a mortgage banker who is also a published writer), live in Marble Hill, Missouri, with their dog and cat. Besides writing, Bill and Sharon are involved in collecting and restoring Camaros. COURTING MURDER was his first novel and his second novel RIVER MOURN won first place in the Missouri Writers’ Guild Show-Me Best Book Awards in 2014.

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The ‘How’ of the Writing

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

For someone who doesn’t think of herself as much of a speaker, I’ve been very busy with speaking engagements in the last few months.  I’ve got less than two weeks before my next talk, this time at a North Carolina high school.  An English teacher invited me (I have a very difficult time turning down high school English teachers…my father was one) to speak during lunchtime to a group of kids who were interested in creative writing.

I asked the teacher what she’d like me to speak on and she mentioned a variety of different topics.  Then she said, “They mostly struggle with the how of it.”

Which I remember.  I remember poring over writing books and thinking, okay, this is all fine, but how do I do this?

The sad thing is that now I’m in the same boat—the how is no longer a problem, but how do you explain how?

My tips are mainly on process. I have a series of best practices that typically work very well for me: wake up at the same time each day and before anyone else does.  Think about my story before I sit down to write. Write one sentence at the end of each writing session to indicate where I left off and where I need to pick up. Use timers. Write in short sessions. Be flexible as to time and place for my writing so that I can squeeze writing into small openings in my day. Don’t edit as I go.

Those are, I think, good tips.  But does this really address the how?

When I read writing craft articles when I was just starting out, they were definitely helpful for everything from character creation to pace to literary elements. But they didn’t seem to give me the general compass I was looking for. The how.

I read an interesting article last week by Courtney E. Martin called “How the Sausage Gets Made” about creating in life’s chaos.  She makes a great point about progress occurring in “the invisible muck of creation,” the doing of it.  The writing, in the middle of living.  The article reminded me again that I think the most important trait for writers is stubbornness.  But, still, what about the how?

At this point, for me, it’s automatic because I’ve written the same genre for over ten years (counting the time before I first got published).  But how did I do it that first time? And the time after that?  I had to sit down and reconstruct it.

One of the most glib bits of advice for new writers is “read a lot.”  It’s essentially good advice. But it’s really too vague to be helpful.

What I did for that first book I wrote was to read a lot of the genre I felt most able to write.

I asked myself: what if this book hadn’t ended this way?  What if Jim had been the killer instead of Ellen?  How would that have changed the book?  Would it have made it better?

I read cozy mysteries in great numbers and carefully noted patterns in each book.  Did they start with dialogue? Action? Was there a body at the very start of the book? Was it later?  How many authors introduced suspects one at a time?  At once? How did they handle it so that it wasn’t confusing?  What made their sleuth likeable or at least charismatic if not likeable?   What was the pace like?  Does the story work?  What don’t I like about the story?

And, most importantly, what were the best parts, the most satisfying parts of each book and what were my expectations as a reader the more cozies that I read?  How did I feel when these expectations weren’t met?

Then I read reviews of the books.  The most helpful were the bad reviews, the customer reviews on Amazon.  They offered scope to help me see what made readers pleased and upset.

And then, after a while, the rhythm of the genre became automatic. And I had to really figure out exactly how I’d figured out the how.

It was a lab.  A self-created lab on writing this particular subgenre. And it helped me to pattern my own book after the more successful stories.

For me, this is the how of it.  But I’m curious to hear yours.  How did you figure out how to write your genre?  Advice for high school writers?

Our first book--the 'how' of writing:
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Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 30,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

And it was a sad week for cozy mystery lovers.  Joyce Lavene, who wrote cozies with her husband Jim, suddenly passed away this past week. They have about a dozen mystery series written under a variety of different names.  Joyce was a great writer and a good friend.  They live close by and I considered Joyce a mentor… she helped me jump start my writing career about ten years ago.  My thoughts are with Jim and his family.  Joyce will be missed. 

LinkedIn for Authors:  http://ow.ly/TI5v8 @ritesh_kala

Using Myers Briggs for Building Character Personalities:  http://ow.ly/TI4x9 @shesnovel

5 cures for writer’s block:  http://ow.ly/TKZG1 @JennyAlexander4           

Writing a Book in Chaos: How the Sausage Gets Made:  http://ow.ly/TL1aY @CourtWrites

7 Ways to Keep Writing During #NaNoWriMo:  http://ow.ly/TL03L @KMWeiland

5 Steps to Original Character Creation:  http://ow.ly/TL0ZM @krgpryal @womenwriters

Preparing for your first #NaNoWriMo:  http://ow.ly/TL0dA  @brianawrites

A Technique to Get to Know Your Characters:  http://ow.ly/TL0xI @brianawrites

Crime fiction writers: Dreaming of Murder:  http://ow.ly/TI5o0 @LifeSentenceMag @block_sandra

How to Defeat Our Perfectionism in Writing:  http://ow.ly/TI4V7 @RuthanneReid

How To Master Conflict In Young Adult Fiction:  http://ow.ly/TI4Qt  @paperbackbird

Chinese Market for Indie Books:  http://ow.ly/TI5hb @JenMinkman€¦

Character Exercise: 2 Truths and a Lie:  http://ow.ly/TI4Zz from Elumish

5 Bestselling Storytelling Lessons From Jackie Collins:  http://ow.ly/TI59I @AnthonyEhlers

Point of View: Who has the most to lose?  http://ow.ly/TI53y @shalvatzis

Streamline Your Dialogue:  http://ow.ly/TI5zS @patverducci

5 Best Tools for Self-Editing in a Hurry:  http://ow.ly/TI4oM  @ckmacleodwriter

Elements of a Great Book Trailer (And Where to Use One):  http://ow.ly/TI4H2 @WhereWritersWin by Evan Staley

A List of Smells and Tastes:  http://ow.ly/TFqmH @goteenwriters  @JillWilliamson

Reversing Payoff and Set-Up in The Fugitive:  http://ow.ly/TFqhN @cockeyedcaravan

How 1 Writer made 145% Return On Investment with Facebook Ads:  http://ow.ly/TMpxP @SeeleyJamesAuth

How has self-pub affected publishing’s relationship with authors? #FutureChat  11am ET/4pm BST (now) @Porter_Anderson

How to make a newspaper blackout poem:  http://ow.ly/TFysh @austinkleon

9 Writing and Grammar Rules Worth Breaking:  http://ow.ly/TFpZQ @lifeofaworkgirl

36 Poetry Writing Tips:  http://ow.ly/TFyLQ @WritingForward

How to Prepare for Author Events:  http://ow.ly/TFq2d @ceciliaedits

How to market an audio book:  http://ow.ly/TFywQ @rxena77

POV Choices in YA:  http://ow.ly/TFqqX @ava_jae

How to Weather the Ups and Downs of the Writing Life:  http://ow.ly/TFyP9 @colleen_m_story

7 Points To Consider When We Write An Epistolary  Novel:  http://ow.ly/TFqdG @MiaJouBotha

Boost social media success with these 3 image types: http://ow.ly/TFyoF @sandrabeckwith

From Zero to Pitch in 24 Hours:  http://ow.ly/TFq4c  @kaylamacneille

Politics: Inescapable, Infuriating, and a Writer’’s Best Friend? http://ow.ly/TCt9E @jan_ohara

How to Instantly Change Your Mind About Book Marketing:  http://ow.ly/TCtet @FightinBookworm

7 Online Tools To Help You Generate Content For Your Blog: http://ow.ly/TCt4Z @writers_write

5 Publishing Myths :  http://ow.ly/TCtu8 @marthamconway @womenwriters

The Battle of Action vs. Dialogue Tags:  http://ow.ly/TCtLa  @JamiGrayAuthor

Weeding Out Dead Writing:  http://ow.ly/TCtEV @lindasclare

3 Tools to Tune Fiction to An Audience:  http://ow.ly/TCtAw @artofstoriesAB

10 insights on Wattpad:  http://ow.ly/TJhgy @OrnaRoss

What is High Concept? http://ow.ly/TCtNY  @KateMoretti1

Should You Sign Up for a Writing Class? http://ow.ly/TCtC8  @monicamclark

When You’re Stuck In Your First Draft http://ow.ly/TCtIq @stephmorrill

The Impact of Yoga on Writing :  http://ow.ly/TAX8E @swetavikram @womenwriters

Emotional Wound Thesaurus: A Sibling’s Betrayal:  http://ow.ly/TAYqI @angelaackerman

Tension between police and citizens in crime fiction:  http://ow.ly/THjf8 @mkinberg

5 Reasons It’s Not Too Late to Write a Novel:  http://ow.ly/TAZni @Lauramcneillbks

Public speaking for writers and how it can help with our dialogue:   http://ow.ly/TAXwx  @AuthorJKR

5 Ways to Use Pets in Your Story –Without Killing Them:  http://ow.ly/TAXmi by Ariel Anderson @mythcreants

3 Reasons Censoring Your Writing Is Holding You Back:  http://ow.ly/TAYaw @RachelintheOC

6 Consequences of High Magic:  http://ow.ly/TAYiU  by Oren Ashkenazi @Mythcreants

Back cover copy is marketing copy:  http://ow.ly/TAYUC @angee

8 Paragraph Mistakes:  http://ow.ly/TAYzB @KMWeiland

Write a Romance Novel: Choose a Subgenre:  http://ow.ly/TAXWt @nownovel

How to Write a Rough Draft:  http://ow.ly/TAXMG @nownovel

Letting Go of the Practice Novel:  http://ow.ly/TAZhJ  @joeberhardt

Writing Fight Scenes: What an Editor Wants to See: http://ow.ly/TAYKf  @hierath77

On the Rise and Fall of the New Creative Class:  http://ow.ly/TAZ5w @IreneKeliher

Want to use #Wattpad to reach readers? Live hangout with Elizabeth Craig and   @OrnaRoss  at 3 p.m. ET/8pm BST: http://ow.ly/TD925

What Writers Should Do on Social Networks:  http://ow.ly/TxBsU @GaryJMcLaren

Five Great Genre Crossovers:  http://ow.ly/TxBKi @misterkristoff

8 Tips for Writing a Tenacious Teen Sleuth:  http://ow.ly/TxBuP  @KGGiarratano

Planning For Pantsers:  http://ow.ly/TxBmC @ryancaseybooks

Writing Tip: Add Body Parts:  http://ow.ly/TxBCp @KayRaeChomic

Tips for horror writing: http://ow.ly/TxBzG @rxena77

Writing after depression:  http://ow.ly/TxBtM @kseniaanske

3 Most Important Things To Remember About The Dramatic Question:  http://ow.ly/TxBnN @writers_write

A Novel Approach to Fiction: Instagram:  http://ow.ly/TxBqH  @MarkArmao @WSJ

Which Kind(s) of Editing Does Your Novel Need?  http://ow.ly/TxBpc  @KateMColby

Writing Diverse Characters:  http://ow.ly/TxBkQ  @artofstoriesAB

Explore the Layers of Conflict in Your Story:  http://ow.ly/TxBEA @piperbayard

4 things writers need in case of emergencies:  http://ow.ly/TtS4x @robinrwrites

How to Write an Epic Poem: Infographic: http://ow.ly/TtU3U  @lwlindquist

What Can We Learn From Hemingway’’s Implicit Writing Style?  http://ow.ly/TtUmL @cdtunstall @thePenleak

How and why to make our book available for preordering: http://ow.ly/TzqqD

Secret rooms and secret passageways in crime fiction: http://ow.ly/TznAj @mkinberg

Freelance writing: Lists of Markets Open to Writers and Hot Writing Topics:  http://ow.ly/Tzhvl @AlexJCavanaugh

Writing Fiction Based on True Events: Pitfalls:  http://ow.ly/TtVEg @katrinschumann

When in Production is the Best Time for Cover Design?  http://ow.ly/TtUuB @DebbieYoungBN

4 Advantages of Adaptation:  http://ow.ly/TtTd4 @alexmarxactor @bang2write

6 Tasks For Your NaNo Pre-Writing List: http://ow.ly/TtSYE @KMWeiland  #NaNoWriMo

Future Editors: How to Use College the Best Way You Can:  http://ow.ly/TtTEm @llbarkat

Tips for Writing a Novel Synopsis:  http://ow.ly/TtSrl @JaneFriedman

10 Emotional Hurdles for the Newbie Writer:  http://ow.ly/TtSB8 @Blondewritemore

How Limitation is Integral to Good Writing: http://ow.ly/TtUgU  @cdtunstall @thePenleak

Video for Marketing:  http://ow.ly/TtUBw @authordesigner

Did my agent fire me and I just don’t know it?”  http://ow.ly/TrNNE @Janet_Reid”

5 Creative tips to overcome writer’s block for romance authors:  http://ow.ly/TrIjG @writerbreyking

189+ Tips  on How to Write, Edit, Market, and Sell Our Books:  http://ow.ly/TrII1 @sabsky

Define and Attract your Target Audience:  http://ow.ly/TrG96 @writerplatform

How to build your author platform on Google+:  http://ow.ly/TrMOV @tonyriches

Invasion of Privacy: Tricks and Traps of Writing About Real People:  http://ow.ly/TrNSm @HelenSedwick

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Backing Up, Organizing, Managing Time

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Although there are so many things that we can try to help us manage parts of our writing careers, I’ve found that some of the best are the smaller, quieter things.  It’s easy for me to get distracted by trying Facebook ads or working over my metadata…and these are both really good things to do.  But sometimes I need to return to the basics, especially when I’m very busy and don’t follow some of my own best practices.

Here are a few:

Backing up:  I don’t know how many times I’ve heard nightmares about losing content. Too many! It’s like a horror story for writers.  We hear all the time about backing up our work in progress, and that’s certainly important. But it’s also important to have previous projects backed up, covers backed up, contracts backed up. I just went through and backed up a ton of stuff and shuddered when I realized how much time had passed since my last backup.  I usually do it daily.

I use a variety of different methods.  We really don’t have to overthink it. I’ve used USB drives and servers and external hard drives in the past.  At some point, it occurred to me that if my house were destroyed by fire or a tornado or something, those types of backups wouldn’t be enough.   That’s when I started emailing files to myself so that I would have data on a cloud. Now I use various clouds to backup to, including Google and Microsoft.

Tagging and titling documents. Not only should documents, covers, and business papers be backed up, but it helps if they’re listed in a way that we can easily find them.  I’ve stupidly spent the last few weeks pulling up a document by searching for it because I couldn’t find it in my documents folder and I’m uploading it on Wednesdays to Wattpad.  I finally took the extra minute or two to tag the thing and then save a copy to a location on my computer that makes sense. I was just wasting that time every Wednesday (it was 5 a.m. every Wednesday and maybe I wasn’t at my sharpest, but still).

Now I’ve been on a tagging spree.  Sometimes I’ll save documents…all kinds of documents…and not have the slightest idea later what I was thinking when I saved it. I went through and put tags on a slew of documents and pictures this week so that I might save myself a bit of time later on by being able to quickly locate important files.

Another time saving thing that I do is to outsource my memory as much as humanly possible.  And this is one thing I haven’t neglected to do. I’d be sunk if I did, because my memory is abominable and always has been.  I use Google calendar so that I have it with me on both my laptop and phone. I add everything to the calendar…events I need to attend, events that other family members need to attend, chores, the grocery list, and any action items from emails.

When I receive anything in an email that requires an action from me, I put it on my calendar along with a copy/pasted bit from the email in the calendar notes area with the details and the name/phone number of the sender.  Having all the information in one spot helps me complete the tasks.

Timers and clocks and evaluating what’s not working.  I mention this frequently, I know, but it’s the way I keep track of my time and keep on task.  I set a timer (usually on Google…you just put ‘set a timer for ___minutes’ into the search box) and when the timer goes off, I know I need to stop being on social media, or whatever the current task was.

And, sometimes, we just need to assess when things aren’t working.  If something we’re doing is consistently not working (with our writing, our promoting, our accounting, etc.), we need to stop and ask ourselves why and brainstorm new approaches.

That’s what I’ve been thinking about and working on lately.  How about you?

And, if you’re interested in hearing more about Wattpad and best practices there, Orna Ross’s interview with me is on the ALLi site.

Back to Basics: Backing Up, Organizing, Managing Our Time:
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Preorders

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’m not one of the front-runners, ever, on promotion-related things.  I tend to be a lot more cautious.  Or, really, it’s more that I’m super-protective of my time and jealously guard it.  I want to make sure there’s plenty of data that something works before I spend the time figuring it out and pursuing it.

I’ve been hearing for the last year or so about the importance of preordering.  But I didn’t see how it would be something I wanted to pursue. When I was on the trad-published email loops, authors would complain about how preorders killed their chances for the bestseller lists and watered down their release day/week sales.

I also kept reading that preorders on Amazon didn’t make any sense because the visibility we gained on the site was only at the time of the order…not accumulated and toward release day sales.

At the recent NINC conference, I heard even more about preorders, this time from the folks at Draft2Digital.  They acknowledged that it doesn’t make sense for authors to make their self-published books available for preorder on Amazon…but thought it helped to increase sales on other retail platforms.  I’ve heard other authors talk about their successes with iBooks and Kobo through preorders (see the Science Fiction and Fantasy Marketing Podcast for more details) ,so I was inclined to believe that they were right about it giving authors an advantage on those sites.

I subscribe to Mark Coker’s blog (he’s the founder of Smashwords) and a July 2015 post specifically addressed hitting bestseller lists with preorders.  The link to his slideshow on the topic is here and the portion that deals specifically with preorders starts with slide 231.

Of note in the slideshow (for me, at any rate):

Customers’ credit cards aren’t charged until the release date (this, to me, again shows that the sale is technically on release day).

“Allows superfans to start reading and reviewing first.”  Good point.  The people that we most want to get our book first will get it first.

“Preorders can be merchandised inside your other books.”  Interesting. This means modifying our epub files (I wouldn’t be linking to other retailers in the backs of my Kindle books, obviously).

Apple iBooks automatic merchandising.  So they’re listing our preorder alongside our other titles.

“Consider releasing on a Saturday to fully leverage the increased visibility of your sales rank.”  Coker states that weekends have higher volumes of sales.

My thoughts on this:

I’m already getting covers done a year in advance of my even writing a book so that there aren’t any production delays in terms of cover design with my designer.  This means I’ve also already written the cover copy (description) because of the print version. Why not put the book up for preorder on sites where it can make a difference at the launch?

Mark Coker also recommended a best practice being to let our newsletter subscribers know that they could get the book, via preorder, at a reduced price.  My problem with that, though, is that most of my readers are buying through Amazon where the book wouldn’t be available via low price or preorder.  I didn’t really want any negative feedback on that, so I just decided to skip a newsletter mention of the preorder.

Both Draft2Digital and Smashwords say that the release date can be adjusted if, for some reason, we want to change it. That made me feel better, even though I’m used to working with deadlines.

I’ve put two Myrtle Clovers up for preorder on retailers other than Amazon…one is just 2 months away, the other is 10 months away.  I’ll be watching to see how the experiment goes …both in the lead-up to the release and on launch day.  I’m especially curious to see if my footprint at these other retailers increases.

Have you put any books up for preorder?  Also, as a special note, I’m going to be doing a Q&A with ALLi founder Orna Ross Tuesday, October 20 at 3 p.m. ET about Wattpad. It will be live on Google Hangouts at this link. 

How and why to make our book available for preordering:
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