Sandy Nathan's Blog, page 11

The Magic of Social Networking by Pat Bertram

Pat Bertram

TODAY'S GUEST BLOGGER IS PAT BERTRAM. Pat is the author of four acclaimed novels and a master of using social media to promote one's books and career. Pat demystifies on-line book marketing and presents an array of social media tools for her fellow writers. Be sure and follow the links to her blogs and the resources in the article below. These lead to practical, easy to use information to make you a social media pro.  Pat's easy, conversational style brings out the social in social media.

I absolutely LOVE Pat's attitude. She plunges into an area that leaves so many of us confused and overwhelmed and makes it fun!

Sandy Nathan

Your Shelf Life.com

* * * * *

Writing a book was hard. Editing it was harder, and finding a publisher even harder. Waiting for it to be released after acceptance was murderous, and now promoting the book is . . .

Daughter I Am by Pat Bertram

Ha! Bet you thought I was going to say it was hardest of all — most authors find promoting to be an arduous task, but not me. I enjoy it. What's not to like? I get to meet wonderful people and have wonderful conversations. I get to write articles about anything I want and post them all over the internet. I get to . . . well, those two points are enough. Or should be.

Goethe wrote, "What you can do, or dream you can, begin it; boldness has genius, power and magic in it." So, gather a bit of boldness and begin. Join sites like Facebook and Goodreads. Add friends. Take the time to get to know people by commenting on your new friends' content, by sharing with links to some of your new friends' articles and content. And bit by bit the magic happens.

Let me share some of the magic that has happened to me.

I was a recent guest on Dellani Oakes BlogTalk radio show, "What's Write for Me". Being a bit nervous, I posted articles asking for advice on both Gather and Facebook, and I received the most wonderful tips and suggestions. So when I screwed up, it was my own fault. (I stammered a bit, used too many "actually"s but overall I did okay. The worst thing was when I said, "my books are good, but everyone says that, 'my books are good,' so it really doesn't mean anything." I meant that all authors say it, so it means nothing. But it comes out completely different when you hear it because you don't hear the quotation marks. Ah, well, all part of the learning process, and that learning process is part of the magic of boldness.)

I had the privilege of meeting Bruce DeSilva on Facebook before he became a bestselling novelist. He introduced me (virtually speaking) to his wonderful wife, the poet Patricia Smith. Or is it his wife, the wonderful poet Patricia Smith? Either way, a remarkable experience.

I managed to impress award-winning ad exec Marshall Karp with the way I promoted his stop at Bertram's Blog during his blog tour. Still don't know how I did that. I just thought I was having fun.

I had the honor of hosting Michael Palmer's very first guest appearance on a blog. How magical is that?

More Deaths Than One by Pat Bertram

Am I bragging? Maybe, but the truth is, I am honored to have met these people and to have shared a moment of their lives. But it would never have happened if I hadn't created a presence on Facebook and various other social networking sites.

Creating that online presence is part of the magic. This is one time and place where you can be the person you always wanted to be. What image do you want to portray? Witty, wise, intelligent, forward thinking, funny? Down-to-earth, optimistic, casual, youthful, enthusiastic? Helpful, creative, disciplined, worldly, romantic? By acting as if you are that person, you become it. This online persona is not a fabrication, it is the better part of you, the bold part, the magical part.

You might be shy in real life, but on the internet you can be as social as you care to be, and that is the key to social networking: being social. Spamming people with mass emails is not social. Nor is setting up a profile and expecting it to run itself. You need to add friends and take time to get to know them. Update your status frequently (people love to know what you are doing, and what you are eating). Include interesting links so your new friends seek you out. Reward those who post great content by leaving a comment or participating in their discussions. You need to take an interest in them. It's up to you. You can treat book promotion as an arduous task, or you can be bold, give a bit of yourself, and perhaps create magic.

(If you don't know how to get to know people on Facebook, start by joining the Suspense/Thriller Writers group. It's an active group, and you don't need to be a thriller writer to join, because in the end, we all try to write suspensefully.)

For more information on Book Promotion, see Book Marketing Floozy.

A Spark of Heavenly Fire by Pat Bertram

Pat Bertram is a native of Colorado. When the traditional publishers stopped publishing her favorite type of book — character and story driven novels that can't easily be slotted into a genre — she decided to write her own. Second Wind Publishing liked her style and published three of Bertram's books: Daughter Am I, More Deaths Than One, and A Spark of Heavenly Fire. Her fourth novel, Light Bringer, is scheduled for release in March, 2011. Bertram blogs about writing and the writing life at http://ptbertram.wordpress.com and is the moderator of two online discussion groups that help both new and experienced authors further develop their craft: No Whine, Just Champagne on Gather.com and Suspense/ThrillerWriters on Facebook. Her website is Pat Bertram's Website.

Worth Every Penny: Why Pay for Proofreading and Copyediting? by Kathy K. Grow

Kathy K. Grow

"She's the best proofreader I've ever seen." A prominent editor recommended Kathy K. Grow to me with those words. I followed the editor's recommendation and ended up agreeing with her assessment. Kathy proofread and copyedited my book, The Angel & the Brown-eyed Boy, and I'm exceptionally pleased with the result. I'm delighted to welcome Kathy K. Grow as a guest blogger on Your Shelf Life. When Kathy's finished imparting her wisdom, I'll give you an example of how true it is from my life.

Sandy Nathan, Your Shelf Life

WORTH EVERY PENNY:

WHY PAY FOR PROOFREADING AND COPYEDITING?

Proofreading—correction of typographical, grammatical, and spelling errors

Copyediting—correction of typographical, grammatical, and spelling errors, and basic style (not content)

The much-in-demand executive leadership coach with impressive and impeccable references—let's call her Diana—wanted to put some of her wisdom down on paper. She hoped not only to bring in additional dollars, but also (her real goal) to help clients and other readers benefit from the tough life lessons she had learned.

So, Diana wrote a book, a good one. She was an excellent storyteller, able to pull persuasive and universal messages out of her experiences.

She began with an epigraph, a quotation from a major writer with whom, for many reasons, a person in her position should have been very familiar.

And Diana misspelled that writer's name.

Fortunately, she had decided to spend the money to have her book proofread before sending it on to a publisher. When I returned the manuscript, her reaction was immediate: "Just your catching the misspelling of that name was worth every penny."

But . . .

Are you saying, but I can spell? And I don't make grammatical errors? And by the time I've finished reading my manuscript for the hundredth time, I'll have spotted any typos?

If so, I (self-servingly, you may think) respond: Ha!

That's what I thought, too, until I wrote a 125,000-word regional history. After six other people—a mixture of friends, family, subject-matter experts, and one real live copyeditor—read it thoroughly and marked every problem and correction, I was humbled.

I was also so sick of reading my own words that I couldn't see them anymore. What I perceived at that point in the process was what I knew I meant, not necessarily what I had written or what someone else might understand from reading those same words.

By the time I sent my masterpiece to the printer, I was profoundly grateful for the help of those proofreaders and editors, and the one I had to pay was—yes—worth every penny.

Really?

But, but . . . what if I'm just self-publishing a back-of-room book to sell to people attending my presentations? Or what if I'm getting a manuscript ready to send off to publishers who will have their own editors? Or what if my book's only audience will be family and friends? Do I really need a proofreader or copyeditor?

Self-Publishing for Back-of-Room Sales: Do you want to follow a bang-up presentation with a take-home full of factual, typographical, grammatical, and spelling errors? What do you want your listeners to say about you and your services and products when they talk to others?

Manuscript for Publishers: Over-the-transom discoveries happen less and less often; authors have to send in books that stick out, that grab the attention of those in a position to make them succeed. But they must stick out and grab attention by being beautifully, imaginatively written, full of truth and useful information—not for reading like bad high school term papers. You want to delight professional readers, not irritate them.

Book for Sale to Family/Friends: Okay, this depends entirely on your real purpose and your resources. After all, most readers of such works already have a vested interest in the story being told, and will wade through whatever is there to read it. However, some works originally distributed only to a narrow audience have later been picked up by major publishers. More important, wouldn't you feel better about a book that is the best it can be, for those you care most about?

And right there is the real reason to scrape up those pennies: because writing a book—no matter what kind—is hard work. If you didn't care about your subject matter or your story, you wouldn't have spent all that time and energy, would you? You wouldn't have made all those sacrifices.

After all that, don't you want the finished product to be excellent? To be done right?

Yes, Really

If I've encouraged you to think of the writing you are doing as worth proofreading or copyediting, then I've accomplished my goal.

And, yes, I'll admit that goal serves my purposes as well as yours!

But I wouldn't be doing what I do for a living if I didn't believe I really was providing a service not only to authors, but also to readers. (In fact, I actually think editors are working for readers; it's just that authors pay the original bill! But that's a topic for another day.)

I care about words . . . I love books . . . I want to help others make their words and their books communicate as clearly and engagingly as possible.

The written word should be apt, appealing, and accurate, and professional copyeditors and proofreaders can help that be true of your written word.

Even if they catch only that one, potentially humiliating error.

Believe Diana, the great writer I told you about earlier—getting every word of your book right is worth every penny!

KATHY K. GROW

www.DoWriteEditing.com

FROM SANDY NATHAN:

Here's a true story from my publication history. I once "saved money" by not having the advanced reading copy (ARC) edition of my novel, Numenon, professionally proofread. After all, the book had been edited to death and I'd read it a dozen times.

We had 100 copies printed at very high cost. When I got the ARCs, I breezed through a few pages, then pretty near fell over. The book was riddled with errors no one had picked up before.

Well, okay, it was an advanced reading copy and not the final book. It was intended just to be sent to reviewers.

JUST to reviewers? Who would choose to review it (or not), based on its professional presentation? When would clean copy matter more?

Bottom line––we still have most of those 100 copies. I could have paid a half-dozen proofreaders for what that print run cost. Ouch.

The experience shook me so much that I had Numenon professionally proofread twice before its final publication and public release. Double ouch.

The Most Important Writing in Your Book by Laren Bright

LAREN BRIGHT

Laren Bright of Laren Bright Words is our guest blogger. Laren is an outstanding, amazing writer of book copy and other advertising text. What is book copy? The words that sell your book, otherwise known as the title, sub title, back cover text, and so on. Laren explains in greater detail below. Laren wrote the copy on my books Numenon and Stepping Off the Edge. I'm delighted with what he did. Laren has the ability to create magic from ordinary words.

Please join me in welcoming Laren Bright.

Sandy Nathan, Your Shelf Life

The Most Important Writing in Your Book

So, you've written a book. Or you're writing a book. Or you're thinking of writing a book. If you plan to sell your book, there is something you need to know: The best message in the world won't sell unless it's presented so people want to buy it.

Here's a short outline on what you need to know about writing promo text, which includes title, sub title, back cover, flap text (or equivalent), and your short author's bio. At the end I'm going to tell you why you shouldn't write your own promo text.

Title. A good title, generally, relates to the content of the book, is interesting, and, if applicable, offers or implies a benefit. (This does not necessarily apply to fiction books, but it may.) Of my own work, my favorite title is Soldiers, Scoundrels, Poets & Priests.

Sub title. Where the title stimulates interest, the sub title is a statement of what's in the book. In the above example, the sub title is: Stories of the Men and Women behind the Missions of California. Between the title that piques interest and the sub title that explains more, browsers pretty much know if the book is something they're interested in. If they're not sold yet, they will turn to the back cover.

Back Cover. The back cover is the first place where you have a shot at really selling your book. If you've got a nibble with the front cover, then you can start to set the hook with the back cover. The back cover is the place to describe the benefits; what the reader is going to get out of the book. The back cover presents the promise.

Flap Text. The flap or about the book text takes the promise you stated on the back cover and tells how you're going to deliver it. You want to give solid information that give substance to your claims. But what about trade paperbacks that don't have flaps? I frequently work with a fabulous book producer/book shepherd named Ellen Reid. Ellen recognized that the flaps were key selling real estate that was lost in a trade paperback. So she created the About the Book page, which contains the text you'd normally put on the flap. This page appears in one of the first inside pages of the book so that browsers see it almost immediately upon opening the book. Ellen singlehandedly restored the benefit of flaps to books without flaps.

Author's Short Bio. Start with this awareness: No one cares about you. (Okay, your mom probably thinks you're swell.) Until they get the benefit from your book, things like where you went to school, what your hobbies are, that you're a member of the Lion's Club mean little to the browser. So the whole point of the Short Bio is to establish you as someone who knows enough about your subject that the browser wants to know what you know. Keep your piece short and focus only on what supports you as an expert in your field. Having said that, I generally like to throw in a line to humanize the author. For example, for Sandy Nathan I wrote: She is a writer, a rider, a wife and a mother of three grown children.

Okay, so those are the secrets of book promo writing I've gleaned over the course of more than 10 years writing for authors and 40 years writing advertising copy. Now here are 4 reasons why I think it doesn't serve you to try and write your own promo text – unless you are a professional in sales and promotion.

• Not all the above keys apply all the time. It takes experience to know when they do and when they don't.

• Authors tend to forget what the browser doesn't already know. So what is a clever or clear title to the author may be totally meaningless to the browser.

• You are almost certainly too close to your subject to be able to communicate the benefits in a nutshell. Virtually every attempt I've seen at back cover/flap text by an author tries to give away the whole book instead of tempt and titillate.

• Most people have a really tough time realizing how much they really know that others don't know. So most authors' attempts at writing their author's bio is less effective than it could be, which can make the difference between a sale or a pass.

• Writing a book requires exercising a very different muscle than writing promo text. A professional copywriter spends a great deal of time thinking in terms of benefits vs. features. You need to know which is which and where to apply one or the other.

Getting a book written & into print is one thing. Getting it done so that it's salable is something else. If you have confidence in your book and think you can sell it and make money with it, then it's worth investing money to give it the best shot at selling successfully.

LAREN BRIGHT

Laren Bright is an Emmy nominated, award-winning writer who has been assisting people (and companies) with promo text that sells for more years than he cares to think about.

LAREN BRIGHT

www.larenbright.com

The illustrations on this blog post were made by Laren's colleagues when he worked in animation.

THE ANGEL & THE BROWN-EYED BOY WILL BE AVAILABLE SOON

THE ANGEL & THE BROWN-EYED BOY

Sandy Nathan's new fantasy is in production and should be available very soon. Here's a bit of information about it:

Eliana made her way along the sidewalk, knowing that she was dirty, feeling the grit in her hair and on her skin. When she had reached the planet's atmosphere, clothes and all sorts of things had rushed at her with great force, tossing her over and over. Dirt had come, too. She'd found the clothes she needed and put them on the way her...

Dancing with Butterflies: A Novel by Reyna Grande

MAGNIFICENT –  FIVE STARS!

When I ordered this book, I thought, "Oh, how cool. A book about Folklorico dancers." I love Mexico's beautiful traditional dancers. I envisioned a fluffy read, beautifully costumed. Forget that. This is a serious piece of literature set within a world of dance. It's an ensemble work, centered on Alegria, a Folklorico dance ensemble, and a group of Latino men and women associated with the dance troop. I'm not going to go into more detail about the...

The Lieutenant (Hardcover) by Kate Grenville

A satisfying and beautiful read –– FIVE STARS!

The Lieutenant is one of the best books I've read in a very long time. The author uses a very simple writing style to reveal a powerful human drama. I don't like to reveal plots in my reviews–you can get them from the book's promotional material and other reviewers, but the emotional impact of this volume is stunning. The pacing of her story, her characters, the plot: All form a work of lasting value. This is a very fine piece of literary a...

THE TIME CAVERN (VOL. 1) by TODD FONSECA

Delightful, wholesome, and intelligent reading for young and not-so-young adults  -  FIVE STARS!

I remain charmed and delighted after finishing Todd Fonseca's The Time Cavern. As other reviewers point out, this is the story of two youngsters, a brilliant boy who has recently relocated from the city to the country and an adventurous farm girl. Tom Sawyer-style, they embark upon adventures that lead them to very unexpected places. I don't want to reveal more of the story, though, given...

BOBBY'S TRACE by EDWARD C. PATTERSON

A finely written exploration of grief  - FIVE STARS

A beautifully drawn exploration of a young man's grief at the loss of his partner and his eventual resumption of life. Quite a few unexpected thrills and chills, which I will not reveal and spoil.

As usual, author Edward C. Patterson captures the heart of the emotions of his character and renders a finely drawn absorbing tale. This book has the extra something–magic, haunting (literally) quality–that has me giving five stars.

BUY ON...

THE INVISIBLE MOUNTAIN by CAROLINA de ROBERTIS

EXQUISITE & SATISFYING FROM THE FIRST PAGE TO THE LAST  –– FIVE STARS!

Having read some of its other reviews, I expected to like this book. I was not prepared for the depth and power of its impact. This beautifully written tale reminds me of early books by Isabel Allende. It's easily read and understood, setting it apart from some literary fiction. Yet the prose is so gorgeous that it's like reading music. Every page is loaded with unexpected and scintillating analogies and...

THE SUGARLESS PLUM by ZIPPORA KARZ

I COULDN'T PUT THIS BOOK DOWN

I read this book in one day. It hooked me completely. I felt Zippora Karz conveyed her story with simplicity and elegance. I do have an intense interest in its major subject areas: ballet and diabetes. I was in love with ballet as a young person. Karz brought me back to the world of dance. I could even hear the music my teacher used to play. The Sugarless Plum beautifully illustrates the tensions and competition of the high end of dance. The book reads like ...