Lana Pecherczyk's Blog, page 11
November 8, 2015
S is for Strategy – Self-Publishing from A to Z
So, you may not know this but even published authors need to manage their own book marketing. That’s right, you heard me. Unless you’re Stephen King or the next Pulitzer prize winner, you will have to manage your own book marketing. So why not learn what you can anyway?
How are you going to make your book stand out?
Strategy is like spear fishing with your eyes open. Trying to self-publish without strategy is like trying to spear a fish with your eyes closed. That’s a total random metaphor but I hope you get the drift; you need to see your goal in order to obtain it. And I’m not talking about goals like ‘make a million bucks’ or ‘get my book to the top of the bestseller list’. These are too general. The pond is too big. You need to break down those massive goals into smaller ones, make them specific, make them attainable.
There are a two different strategies I think revolve around self-publishing: The strategy before you hit the publish button, and the one after.
Before you publish
You need to look at things like:
Efficiency of writing – How fast and well can you write quality work?
Appeal of writing – Are you writing something people want to read?
The product design – Are you producing a quality product that catches people’s eyes?
After you publish
Then you have the things to look at after you have your product, so how are you going to sell more books?
Place – Where are you going to sell them?
Price – How much are you going to charge for them?
People – Who are you going to sell them to? Who is your ideal customer?
Promotion – How are you going to get the book in front of your ideal customer?
10 Quick and dirty promotional tips
Write in a niche genre you know has a voracious readership
Write a series
Release your series in short succession, e.g. one month after each other.
Put your first book in the series permanently free.
Advertise on Facebook to your direct customer
Use your email list
Offer something for free at the end of the book to entice them to read more
Do blog tours with competitions to get readers onto your list.
Put your book on review sites
Contact bloggers in your genre, offer them your book for free in return for an honest review.
About the Author
Lana Pecherczyk Facebook TwitterLana Pecherczyk is an author, artist and bookshop marketer from Perth, Western Australia. She's the Webmistress for Romance Writers of Australia (and no, that's not Spiderman's lover), and is a fan of 'pro-caffeinating,'. She infuses her mash-ups of romance, fantasy, adventure and sometimes spooky horror with comedy because everyone loves a bit of fun in their lives, right? She also loves Sailormoon. No judgement.
Lana's latest novels are the Rom-Com Suspense, Robin Lockslay, and the Urban Fantasy, Hunting for Witches.
Learn more about ...
Books | Blog | RWA |E-Newsletter for Books
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November 2, 2015
Romance Writers of Australia and Me
I joined the RWA less than a year ago because as a new writer I needed to find like-minded souls. I’m not a huge romance writer so was a little uncertain considering the standard stereotypes of what constitutes a romance novel. Surprise, surprise, I found that the genre of romance encapsulates a broad range of styles of writing. Yes, you have your Fifty Shades of Grey style, but more commonly, romance writing focuses on the relationship building and can be short and sweet, long and hot, suspenseful with a little dash … the examples could go on and on. I like to infuse my action stories with comedy and romance, so it’s not the major draw card of my story, but a small element. As I become a better writer, I want to eventually grow the romantic influence in some stories.
What I’ve found by joining this group is the most welcoming individuals I’ve encountered in writing so far. I’m self-published, as you know, and enjoying it. At first I wasn’t too sure if there would be a place for me, but sure enough, the RWA helps everyone. From aspiring novelists, to experienced and traditionally published.
I liked the organisation so much that I put up my hand to volunteer as the next Webmistress and was accepted. (And, no, webmistress is not Spiderman’s lover, it’s the person who looks after the website) So, there you have it. I’m the RWA Webmistress and loving it. YEY!
Becoming a member of the RWA costs less than $100 a year and there are many benefits for the writer. Namely the yearly conference, contests, mentorships, critique partners, Hearts Talk newsletter, Facebook closed group, online workshops and more. If you want to see more about this group, visit the website here.
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October 12, 2015
R is for Reviews – Self-publishing from A to Z
Because people make purchases based on peer validation. Think about what behaviour you go through when sourcing a new book to read. You type in your key words, find your book, then check the star rating and reviews. You want to make sure its something you will be happy reading before you buy, because god forbid, you buy the book and waste a few hours of your time trying to get into a story that is just not your cup of tea. People these days have less and less time to spare, and we form opinions quickly. There’s no use paying all this money for advertising if buyers are discouraged from clicking that ‘buy’ button when they see no one rates your book.
How to get reviews for your book
Family and friends. This is probably your first port of call and the least expensive. Hand out your book to your acquaintances and ask them to provide an honest review. Stipulate that it can be anonymous if they are worried of offending you. But it’s good to think of this as getting ‘feedback’ for your writing. A negative of this way is that sometimes it’s a little obvious when your first reviews on your page are all five-star, lol, but at least you have something there.
Other bloggers. This can also be cost-effective if you offer your book for free. You can do a blog tour, which you pay a company to facilitate, or google blogs in your genre and contact the bloggers individually.
Bargain book sites. Sites like Freebooksy, and Bookbub are sites that offer customers bargain deals for books. Downloads can end up in the thousands and you are guaranteed a few reviews as a result. The only thing with Bookbub is that you have to apply to have your book accepted, and it’s expensive, but worth it.
Book review sites. Netgally and StoryCartel are sites that ask you to upload your ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) and they will connect you with bloggers who actively read books and review them for a living. I’ve found that the only downside to this option is that you are also inviting critical review opportunities along with positive ones.
Your email list and social network. Give the opportunity to your followers, beta readers, social friends to receive a free e-book in exchange for an honest review. You can keep track of the people you have given the book to and if they don’t hold up their end of the bargain, just don’t offer the opportunity to them again.
Do you have a technique you have found successful in gaining new reviews? Please share below.
How to deal with bad reviews
About the Author
Lana Pecherczyk Facebook TwitterLana Pecherczyk is an author, artist and bookshop marketer from Perth, Western Australia. She's the Webmistress for Romance Writers of Australia (and no, that's not Spiderman's lover), and is a fan of 'pro-caffeinating,'. She infuses her mash-ups of romance, fantasy, adventure and sometimes spooky horror with comedy because everyone loves a bit of fun in their lives, right? She also loves Sailormoon. No judgement.
Lana's latest novels are the Rom-Com Suspense, Robin Lockslay, and the Urban Fantasy, Hunting for Witches.
Learn more about ...
Books | Blog | RWA |E-Newsletter for Books
The post R is for Reviews – Self-publishing from A to Z appeared first on Author Zoo.
October 10, 2015
Rachel Aaron’s 2k to 10k – Shout Out Sunday
As a writer who’s learned most techniques from a mix mash of research, formal education and random blog and pinterest posts, I found this book easy to understand, valuable and memorable. I’ve just recently posted some tips on writing quicker. This book featured in one of the steps as an example on how to increase your writing output.
why I like it
Rachel has a great, concise and memorable way on how to do mini plots.
For only 99 cents, you can’t go wrong.
There’s also editing advice
It’s good for people who don’t like plotting (pantsers)
She uses easy to understand terminology and metaphors (think Star Wars to talk about the Three Act Structure or Harry Potter about characters).
It’s great to help you prepare quickly for NaNoWriMo
Visit Rachel’s website for more details on getting this book.
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October 7, 2015
Weird Word Wednesday – Fling Cleaning
Haaa aha ha hah. What it is like to be young and single … I think I saw an episode of New Girl about this.
Fling Cleaning:
(n.) when a bro cleans his room solely because he thinks he might be getting laid that night.
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October 5, 2015
Q is for Quick – Self-publishing from A to Z
Over the last year I’ve discovered many tidbits of advice that seem to work differently for traditionally published authors versus self-published authors. In fact, it’s probably more to do with what works for you as an individual, and not how you publish. But, one common theme among successful self-published writers is that they publish frequently. Some up to one book a month! Wowzers. I’m nowhere near that, but it’s certainly a long way off my old preconceived notion that authors only publish once per year. It’s also a bit exciting, to know that it’s possible to write more often. I have about a gazillion stories floating around in my head, and it feels devastating to think I’ll never get around to writing some of them.
Try these seven tips.
So, writing quick will mean that there are more books for readers to find, more streams of revenue and more ideas getting put onto paper. Here are some tips I’ve found that work for me:
Think about what to write the night before. Even if you’ve plotted your story, giving yourself a quick run through in your mind prior to writing will help work out some kinks. So by the time you get to the computer, you are ready to let the words flow.
Try a mini plot. Even pantsers get value out of a small frame-work. I’ve enjoyed plotting in bullet points on a word doc. This book by Rachel Aaron is awesome and it’s only 99c.
Challenge yourself to a word war. I sometimes skype another writer friend and together, we talk about our plot, then race each other to write the next scenes. If you are doing NaNoWriMo this year, join our facebook group where we have weekly challenges starting from now.
Book your writing time in, and defend that time. Even if you have to say no to social outings or giving up that favourite tv program. It’s hard to stick to your guns, especially when some people may see your writing as a ‘hobby’ and not that important. Only you can make this choice, and only you will be accountable for not making the target.
If you get writers block, jump to another project that you are inspired to write. You can even jump ahead in the story.
If you haven’t already, do NaNoWriMo. It teaches you to get past that inner editor and just write. There’s one starting in just a few weeks.
Give yourself a deadline and make it public. I’ve published the schedule to my Robin Lockslay serial, and while towards the end, I found it difficult to keep, I wasn’t far off the publication date. This is a lot better than what I would’ve done if I had no deadlines.
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Do you have any tips for writing faster? What’s worked for you? Please comment below.
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September 30, 2015
Weird Word Wednesday – Datenapping
Datenapping: When you find yourself in a date with someone who bores you to the point that you find yourself asleep with your eyes open.
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September 28, 2015
The end of Season One for Robin Lockslay – Street Urchin Rules Recap
Well, it’s been a fab ride. I’ve enjoyed writing Robin Lockslay so much that I’m sure I will be writing more in the future. Episode Ten (the finale) is almost done and before it hits the big-little screens (the Kindle, in case any of you were wondering), I thought I’d share some of my favourite Street Urchin Rules from the story. Each rule revolves around a scene of fun times in the story. If you’d like to read more, the first episode is free.
Get Episode One Free
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September 27, 2015
Shout Out Sunday – D.B.Wimmer – Freelance Editor
This is a shout out to Douglas B Wimmer. A freelance editor from the US of A with an amazing attention to detail and an endless supply of friendly advice. He’s edited, and reviewed both of my books, and every time he’s come back with suggestions and typos that at least four other readers have missed. I can safely say you won’t be disappointed in using his services. He offers many levels of editing from beta reading, copy editing and line editing and most of all … drum roll please … he’s very affordable. So, if you’re starting out, give him a crack. You can find him here: http://www.douglasbwimmer.com/editing-services/
He’s also in the middle of writing a book – Sakura Softworks is a fast-paced, action-packed journey across the Land of the Rising Sun that will make you laugh, quicken your pulse, and maybe even make you go “ew” a time or two.
Sound awesome? Check him out to follow him for updates.
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September 24, 2015
Is being a pantser or a plotter linked to whether you’re right-brained or left-brained?
Image source – OnlineCollege.org
Scientists long ago discovered a link between which side of your brain is more active compared with how you think and process information. They claim that a person who uses the left side more, is inclined to be more rational, use logic, ordered and systematic. And those that use the right side more are meant to be more creative, divergent and intuitive.
The validity of the link between creativity and brain hemisphere has since been up for debate. You can be creative and be more of a logical ‘left-brained’ person, as much as you can being an intuitive ‘right-brained’ person and be super creative. Read this article to find out more. This article points out that although, there are definite links to which side of your brain coincides with different functions, the entire creative process uses the entire brain. I think the important thing is to recognise is the metaphors we use to distinguish what kind of way you learn, and apply them to the writing process:
The Plotter is the ‘left-brained’ person, and write their book by organising their thoughts first.
The Pantser (flying by the seat of your pants) is the ‘right-brained’ person, and writes their book on intuition and impulse.
Despite whether or not you believe this link between the brain hemispheres and creativity is in fact true, the tests involved are designed to determine whether you are a more logical, or intuitive person. The tests may be able to help you figure out whether you are writing your book all wrong.
Try this …
If you feel like your hitting your head against a brick wall every time you write a book, maybe figure out which ‘side of the brain’ you use more and take a stab at writing in the method that matches. There are a number of tests on the interwebs that claim to be able to help you discover this.
Here are a couple of tests I’ve found across the web:
http://testyourself.psychtests.com/testid/3178
http://braintest.sommer-sommer.com/en/
What happens if you use both sides equally?
For me, I’ve just discovered the best way to write a book – exactly fifty-fifty. Half plotting, then a bit of pantsing, then some more plotting, and so on. When I did the tests, I discovered I use my brain exactly fifty percent each side. Coincidence? Perhaps. I always thought because I was creative, that I was purely right-brained. But I wasn’t the case. When I adjusted my style of plotting, I discovered it worked better. I was less stressed and I spent less time finding a way to fit in with the norm.
Why don’t you try a test for yourself and see what results you get? I’m curious to know. Are you a left-brained plotter? Or a right-brained pantser … or a plantser like me? Or is this theory a complete waste of time? Either way, it’s worth a wonder.
About the Author
Lana Pecherczyk Facebook TwitterLana Pecherczyk is an author, artist and marketer from Perth, Western Australia. She makes a mean chocolate cake, is a fan of 'pro-caffeinating,' and plays make believe with her two little balls of energy (a.k.a. sons). She infuses her mash-ups of romance, fantasy, adventure and sometimes spooky horror with comedy because everyone loves a bit of fun in their lives, right? She also loves Sailormoon. No judgement.
Lana's latest novels are the Rom-Com Suspense, Robin Lockslay, and the Urban Fantasy, Hunting for Witches.
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