Beth Greenslade's Blog, page 36

Need More Book Reviews? Read This!

Getting reviews for your book isn’t always easy. However, if you want readers to read your book, a lot of positive reviews can be a massive factor in how many copies you’ll sell. 

Word of mouth is still a huge factor that can affect a book’s popularity. Readers are far more likely to make the decision to read a book if others have recommended it. If you want to increase your book’s visibility and indeed your sales, you need to ensure that your book has plenty of online reviews, is mentioned in blogs, and comes highly recommended on various social media channels. 

So if you want people to review your book, how do you make that happen? Here are some helpful tips. 

As an author, the best route is to try and showcase your book wherever your readers hang out and to present your book in whichever format they most like to consume content.  Contacting reviewers, bloggers, groups, and influencers is a good place to start, but your book is unique, and therefore it's a good idea to conduct your own research and think outside the box.

Hire a professional marketer

A professional marketer will be able to get your book reviewed by those with influence. If you have a marketing budget and are able to spend some money in this way it could be a great way to boost your reviews and get people talking about your book. 

Reach out to bloggers

Contacting book bloggers is always tricky, however, done right and you can discover those who will happily review your book and this could do a lot for your book sales. Find bloggers who love your genre, craft a carefully worded email and then wait for a response!

Create a buzz around your book

A solid marketing plan where you put lots of energy into creating a buzz around your book before you publish is imperative. Find your audience and market to them, release teasers and snippets, and so on. Do everything you can to make people excited about your work and then they’ll want to buy and review it as soon as he is released.

Offer something in exchange for a review

You can offer freebies in exchange for reviews. You can even pay for them. However, doing this is frowned upon in many circumstances. Offering a free copy of your book for an honest review is different from offering £100 for a positive review. Understanding where the line is s important. Faking reviews only undermines the integrity of your work and you as an author too.

Join writers groups and use social media

Groups on Facebook can be a fantastic way to boost your book reviews and recommendations. There are plenty of very active groups which offer an invaluable resource for support and advice and will give you information and valuable contacts that could lead to more book reviews.

Social media is another great resource. Follow authors, like, and share their work. Offer to write reviews of their books and post them on your website and social accounts. Authors you do this for are likely to reciprocate and return the favor. 

Use these tips to help boost your book reviews and see your sales soar!

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What Is Sustainable Publishing?

In terms of media content, books are one type of content that is increasingly moving online in the digital age. The rise of ebooks may soon overtake the number of those that are physically printed.

While many of us still enjoy the feel of a book in our hands and love being able to turn back the pages ourselves, it is important to recognize the environmental toll that book printing and distribution take. 

The ecological footprint of the publishing industry is worth considering when deciding how you want to make your book available to the public. Authors should consider how they might get their book in front of their readers while causing the minimal amount of damage possible to the natural world. 

The material books are made from - paper - comes from trees. In fact, around 32 million trees in the US are cut down and made into paper each year. 

There are also several other factors to consider including:

Energy and water waste during the book production process.

An inefficient supply chain such as books that never get sold.

Greenhouse gas emissions related when transporting raw materials through to the finished books between the manufacturers the distrusters and the readers. 

Packing materials and the environmental cost of producing these.

The impact of producing and using digital reading devices, however, also causes environmental damage so it is important to weigh up the pros and cons of each when considering how to publish and distribute your work. It is estimated that if a reader reads 50 books on their device, it will become carbon neutral.

So what can authors do? 

Being traditionally published means your book will be available in print. For more established authors you might want to consider choosing a publishing house that has a commitment to protecting the environment. A company that is vocal about its good environmental practices can give authors who want to minimize their environmental impact peace of mind.

Doing some research will help you establish which publishing houses are more environmentally friendly. 

You could also consider asking about limited initial print runs as well as using a print-on-demand service where your book will only be printed if someone wants to buy it.

The Green Press Initiative is a body that is trying to conserve resources and reduce emissions in the print industry. They suggest lowering the initial print runs and then supplementing these with print-on-demand services to help keep waste down. Many indie publishers are already taking this on board. 

Other questions to consider asking publishers include:

Do they use recycled paper?

Do they have an established environmental policy that they could share?

Are they using print-on-demand technology?

Do they try to source environmentally responsible retailers to work with?

Self-published authors can also help by choosing to go digital first. This is a far cheaper option with greater scope to make money as an author too. Of course, self-published authors often have the desire and the right to see their books in print too. Using a print-on-demand service keeps costs down and minimizes waste. 

You could also consider changing the format of your novel to ensure that you maximize your use of paper. Reducing the use of title pages or end sheets can be helpful. A professional book designer could always make some suggestions to ensure your book remains looking great!

If you send out books sold yourself consider using recycled/recyclable packaging too. 

The above are just some of the small starting points for authors looking to be more environmentally conscious. We can all do a bit, however small to reduce our carbon footprint, so these things are well worth taking into consideration. 

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Should I Hire Someone To Market My Book?

If your sales aren’t what you wanted them to be, or you’ve got to the publishing stage of your book but feel completely out of your depth when it comes to marketing it, handing over the reins to a marketing expert could be a good idea.

Many writers love to write, but when it comes to getting exposure for their work, they feel overwhelmed and lack the experience and knowledge to do so successfully. 

A book marketing company can help writers develop their brand and raise their profile and platform to the next level.

Writer’s are business owners and treating your writing like a business is so important. Hiring a professional marketer to promote your book is not something you should do unless you can be committed to doing a lot of the additional work that will occur as a by product of that.

Expecting a professional to be able to do all the hard work for you is simply not feasible. While there is lots they can do, if the writer themselves is not prepared to do some of the leg work they won’t get very far.

A decent book marketing company should be very honest about what they can offer and clear about what they can and cannot guarantee. 

Before you hire someone you, therefore, need to set out your current and long term goals, be honest about your achievements so far, and about the timescales you have in mind. 

A reputable marketer should be able to offer you exposure via multiple channels. They should be able to deliver multiple strategies, because of their industry knowledge and access access to readers that you just don’t have. 

Before you hire a book marketing company, you should already have several things in place. Yours author website should be up and running, you should be engaging with your current fans, you should be reaching out to book reviewers and have a solid social media presence. You should also attend events, write a newsletter and run regular giveaways to boost engagement.

After you hire a book marketing company, you should still do all these things.

In short, if you are thinking of hiring someone to market your book, you should recognise that while they can help get your book in front of more readers, and come up with tried and tested strategies for helping yearbook gain attention, there is still lots that the authors must be willing to do, otherwise no matter how effective, the interest will peter out.

Book promotion is a never ending game, and the most successful authors will recognise that. A professional book marketer can help raise your profile, but there is no getting out of he fact that marketing comes with the territory if you want your book to be a success. So the more you are willing to push your work yourself, the better received it will be.

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Self-Publishing Vs A Book Deal

Many authors struggle with the decision to self-publish. Many dream of landing a lucrative publishing deal, but also must face the knowledge that this is unlikely to become a reality. Preparing a book to submit to publishers takes a lot of work and energy, and having to face the likely possibility of rejection is challenging. But preparing a book for self-publication and having to deal with possible criticism and poor reviews is also a daunting prospect.

The truth is, there are many pros and cons to both traditional publishing and self-publishing. The best thing any author can do, therefore, is to arm themselves with as much knowledge as possible about both routes, so they can decide which is best for them.

What is self-publishing?

Self-publishing means that you as the writer will be responsible for everything. You will be in charge of editing your book, the book cover, deciding when to release, and then promoting your book. Of course, you have to hire professionals to help you but arranging and paying for these services will be down to you.

If you self-publish you own the rights to your book and royalties will be all yours (minus any fee deducted by the platform on which you are selling).

What is traditional publishing?

Traditional publishing means that you will enter into a contractual agreement with a third party who will take on these responsibilities. All the editing and marketing and design decisions will be made by them and they will decide how and when to release your book via one of their imprints. You will earn royalties based upon a percentage of the total. This is usually quite small.

Let’s break down the main differences between self and traditional publishing

Money

If you self-publish you have to pay for any professional services you enlist such as book cover design. If you get traditionally published this is all taken care of. It costs around $1500-2000 to self-publish. However, once you do, you then earn around 50-70% of the money made from each book sold. Traditional publishing percentages are usually between 5-15% - so you need to sell a lot more books to make the same amount of money. But you will have a professional team backing you to do so.

Creative control

If you self-publish you are in complete control of every decision made surrounding your book. When you’ve poured your heart and soul into something, having to relinquish control of editing, cover design, and so on can be very difficult. A traditional publisher might entertain your thoughts, but ultimately, all the creative decisions will no longer be within your control once the contract is signed. 

Readers

If you want to get your book in front of as many pairs of eyes as possible, traditional publishing might well be the way to go. A good publisher will invest heavily in the marketing and promotion of your book and hopefully will ensure your book sells well. Self-publishers know all too well that getting your book in front of readers isn’t easy. There is so much competition and without a big marketing budget, a huge amount of continual effort, and an excellent marketing plan, this can be the biggest challenge.

Literary prestige

If you want to win the Man Booker Prize, traditional publishing is important. The vast majority of book prizes and literary competitors are only open to writers with traditional publishing contracts. However, there are some great indie author prizes to be won such as the Eric Hoffer Book Award, the Independent Publisher Book Awards, the Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Award, so there is still hope.

If you care about having control over your novel Self Publishing is definitely the right route for you. However, if your dream is to become a famous, well-read author, you might want to try landing a traditional publishing contract first. It’s a big decision and a personal one, so taking the time to consider your options will help ensure that you make the right one.

 

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Self Publishing Success – Here Are The Authors That Made It

It used to be that being a self-published author was always regarded as the ‘lesser’ publishing route.  The one reserved for authors who weren’t good enough to land traditional publishing contracts. However, nowadays more and more authors are actively choosing to self-publish and have become incredibly successful because of it. 

If you can’t decide whether indie publishing is right for you, here are some of the amazing self-published authors who might well inspire you to take that leap. 

LJ Ross

Louise Ross whose pen name is LJ Ross created a hugely popular crime thriller series, DCI Ryan. Based in Lindisfarne, a small island in Northumberland, the rugged coastline and tough-talking detective had everyone hooked from the opening lines. She’s sold over 5.5 million copies worldwide. She turned down offers from publishers opting for the self-publishing route because she loves the process. Dubbed “the Queen of Kindle” by the Sunday Telegraph she really shows what a writer can do - all by themselves. 

Mark Dawson

Mark Dawson did have a publishing contract but then decided to opt for the self-publishing route after he wrote his third novel as he was unimpressed by the publisher's commitment to his work. 

He’s now sold over 4 million copies of his books worldwide and has a seven-figure income.

He’s a massive fan of the self-publishing route saying: “self-publishing has enabled me to build the career that I always dreamed of having, with the ability to make decisions for my own books that might not necessarily have been taken by larger organizations. Traditional publishers print thousands of new titles every year, and there was always the danger that my stories would be forgotten — that proved to be the case, and, with no sales, there was no appetite for any more books from me.

My choice to go it alone hasn’t closed down other avenues for reaching readers, either; I have a print-only deal that sees thousands of my books in stores and I have licensed most of my books to audio specialists who can do a far better job of selling in that medium than I can. I’ve also sold film and TV rights and will have a comic adaptation of one of my franchises coming in the next twelve months. My decision to self-publish in 2012 has proven to be the best I’ve ever made.”

 Howard of Warwick 

Howard of Warwick is the pen name of Howard Matthews and before he became a massive hit was told by agents and publishers alike that he shouldn't bother. His work is unique and he crosses the genres of medieval/crime/humor - which is one of the reasons traditional publishers didn’t believe there was a market for it. However, they couldn’t have been more wrong and he’s now sold over 100,000 copies of his Chronicles of Brother Hermitage series, showing that even unusual niches can be highly profitable. 

Rupi Kaur

Poet, Rupi Kaur writes and illustrates all his own work. His debut collection, milk and honey, she self-published at the age of 21. It was later picked up by a traditional publisher.

In an interview, she said that self-publishing empowered her to overcome her socially marginalized status: “The literary world didn’t even see me. I was a 20-year-old, brown, Punjabi Sikh woman from a working-class immigrant family”.

Rachel Abbott

Rachel Abbott (real name Sheila Rodgers) sold over 3 million copies of her books and has the incredible claim of being the first indie author to get to the  #1 spot on Amazon. In 2015, Amazon revealed that she was the UK's bestselling independent author of the last five years. About claims she only wrote her first novel as “a bit of fun,” but her success does show just how much indie authors can achieve if they are prepared to put the work in.

These success stories prove that indie authors can make money and become bestsellers without the help of a traditional publisher. So if you are sitting on the novel and no sure where to go for it, use these stories to inspire you to take the plunge, you never know, the next big thing could be you!

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What Are SMART Goals And How Could They Help You Write Your Book?

Writing your first book can be a daunting task, and by breaking it down into various stages, you can help make this seem more manageable. Using SMART goals to help you write your book can give you clear objectives, reasonable timescales, and a far better understanding of what you need to do to achieve your objective.

So what are SMART goals and how can they help you write your first book?

SMART goals are goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. If you set objectives that help guide you, you will find it much easier to progress, stick to your deadlines, and overcome obstacles as and when they arise. 

The first thing you should before any specific goal setting is to create a clear objective for yourself. Ask why you want to write your book in the first place. Write down one sentence that accurately sums up your objective and keep this near you so you can refer back to it during the writing process.

Your SMART goals should all support this objective and each one should follow the acronym. For example.

Specific - I will finish my novel by the end of 2021.

Measurable - I will spend three hours a day writing my books.

Achievable - I will achieve this by dedicating three evenings a week to writing.

Relevant - Writing this book is a lifelong goal of mine.

Time Bound - I will complete the book by the end of the year.

Do SMART goals make a difference?  

Writing down your goals in this way, and considering how to make them SMART goals means you are more likely to achieve them. If you just write down your aims without giving thought to how specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound they are, you aren’t being clear with yourself, you aren’t setting parameters and you will find it much easier to delay your goals or become overwhelmed by them and put them off. 

Adding a monetary goal can also be a good idea. If money is a motivator for your writing ambitions then you should include goals around publication, marketing, and money-making. 

A financial goal could be something like: I will make a 25% profit on my book above the investment of writing, publishing, and marketing it within 2 years. This goal follows the SMART objectives and will help motivate you to create a business and financial plan for your book. 

Once you have decided on your goals that relate to all different parts of your book, i.e., the creation process, the editing process, the marketing process, and your financial goals, you should aim to pull everything together into an action plan.

Why do writers need SMART goals

Every writer who desires to see their finished, published novel, especially those attempting to finish their first book, needs SMART goals.  We all have other commitments, be that other jobs, families, and so many other tasks and chores that can distract us and take up our time.

When are able to sit down and write, knowing exactly what you need to focus on helps you stay on the right track. Creating a plan and mapping out your goals will get you there!

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Ingredients Every Book Series Needs

Writing a book series can be a fantastic way to make more money as a writer, and to engage the interest of agents and publishers (because if your series does well, you’ll be making a lot more money for them too)!

If you have an idea that you think has the strength and longevity from which to create a book series, there are some things you should consider before you dive right in. So what are the things that you need to think about? Here is a brief guide on how to create a successful book series. 

Finding a concept that works

A book series must have a robust concept at its core, one that will be able to last several books. If you know that you are stretching your idea for the sake of it, don’t do it. There are specific genres that tend to lend themselves more favorable to series creation, namely fantasy and adventure stories. That’s not to say series can’t work across other types, but it is important to note the rules and confines of the genre you are writing in, and decide whether your concept is really so brilliant that you feel confident you can break them successfully. 

Work on your structure

Doing lots of work on your structure prior to any actual writing is usually a good idea for the series author. Your most important objective is to develop your outline and to feel assured that the plot will unfold over several books. Define topics and themes for each book. If you are a new author, a trilogy is usually the aim because this is the most popular number for series novels. Plan a structure that works over three novels and make sure that you have enough material to write them.

Know your ending

You don’t have to work backward, but it’s a good idea to have a clear understanding of exactly where you intend your novel to go before you begin. The ending should be mapped out beforehand so you can understand how to construct your story to get you to that point. By creating a rough draft of your entire plot, you are less likely to get stuck or run out of juice before you get to the end. 

Develop robust characters

No book works without great characters, but for the characters in a series, there is even more pressure to be engaging and relatable. Readers need to fall in love with the characters in your book and be thoroughly engrossed in their lives. Every character needs a reason to be part of the story, every character must be unique. You must also be able to write consistent characters across the series. While characters may change and grow, their personalities must adapt seamlessly and believably.

Loose ends are key

Winding everything up at the end of each book won’t work in a series. You need there to be loose ends and unanswered questions to motivate the reader to buy the next book in the series. Build curiosity and keep them hanging to ensure they come back for more. As you move into the next book, tie up some of the loose ends and create new ones. 

With passion, perseverance, commitment, and creativity, and by following the above tips you can be well on your way to creating a gripping and immersive book series. Good luck!

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How To Land A Book Deal In 2021

If you want to land a book deal this year, you need to get organized, get smart and learn exactly what is required of you to give yourself the best chance of success.

So let’s get to it! Here are some valuable insights that will help authors find publishing success!

Write a book that’s fit for the market

One of the most important lessons that writers must learn is that not every book is going to find an audience. Early on, you may have to decide whether you want to write a book for yourself or a book for your readers. If it’s the former that’s great, but you can’t expect to sell your book to the masses. If it’s the latter, do your research, find out what readers are hungry for, and align your book so it meets your reader's demands. Publishers won’t take on a book unless they are very confident it will sell. So if you want to land a book deal, make sure you can prove that your book has an eager audience already primed and waiting for the next exciting book in that genre to drop.

Self edit then professionally edit

Learning to edit your own work thoroughly is key. Self-editing involves looking at the big picture elements, weeding out plot holes and inconsistencies, fixing grammar and spelling errors, and learning to cut parts that just aren’t working. Being a good editor is a skill and the better you are, the more success you are likely to have. Saying, that, hiring a professional is also always a good idea.

Get feedback early from your intended audience

Your story will go through several drafts before it’s ready for publication. The sooner you get feedback from readers, the better. Having insight into your story's strengths and weaknesses from a reader’s perspective is invaluable. As many fresh pairs of eyes on your book as possible is also helpful as often the authors themselves are far too intertwined with the story and involved with the characters to see what’s not working. 

Create a perfect pitch

Your pitch is your one chance to get agents and publishers interested in your work. You shouldn’t take this lightly. They are inundated with queries every day. Make yours stand out for all the right reasons. Taking the time to craft a truly sensational and persuasive pitch could make all the difference. 

Research publishers and agents

Make sure you aren’t wasting your or anyone else’s time and send your book to publishers and agents that might actually be interested in it. Doing your research early on will ensure that you have a solid list of contacts that might take on your book. 

Submit, refine, persist!

After you’ve submitted your novel, the grueling waiting process begins. If you get rejected time and time again you need to go back to the drawing board. Keep refining and experimenting and above all, don’t give up. Persistence is really critical. It might take years, it might take writing many books, but the more determined you are to achieve your goal, the closer you’ll inch towards it. 

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What Makes A Story Interesting?

Writing an interesting story isn’t as easy as you might think! No matter how good your initial idea, the art of storytelling has many parts and if you want to ensure your story captures and captivates your audience, there are certain things that you must include.

So what are the elements that make a good story? Let’s take a look.

Drama and action

Every good story must be full of drama. Drama is what brings stories to life and stops them from being dull and uninteresting. Things need to happen in your story, it needs engaging action that moves forwards and takes the readers on an exciting journey where they are always excited to see what happens next. 

Familiarity and resonance

People must be able to resonate with your story. Even it is otherworldly and about things they have never experienced before, clever storytelling can evoke a certain sense of familiarity and can help to draw the reader in, to make them feel closer to the characters and the world you have created too.

Simplicity and clarity

Simple stories are often the best kind of stories. There is often an urge from authors to create unnecessary complications that lead to the story being overwritten and confusing. Strip your story, think about how to simplify sentences, be clear and direct and get to the heart of the story right away. 

Immersion and emotion

Readers want to be able to get lost in your story and fully immerse themselves in the world which you have created. You should also aim to evoke emotion and drive your readers to engage with the story on an emotional level. 

Meaningful and relatable

Your story needs to be relatable otherwise the readers will have trouble achieving many of the above points. Make your characters relatable so that readers can feel empathetic towards them. Your story also needs to have some meaning. Without meaning, you may wish to ask yourself, why am I writing this story? What is the point in it? If you can’t clearly state the meaning of your story, you might wish to rethink the plot.

If you can include all the above elements in your book, you are more than likely to have a pretty awesome story on your hands. So next time you have an idea for a story, ask yourself if it includes all of these things, and if it does, get writing pronto!

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When Is A Prologue A Good Idea?

Deciding to start your book with a prologue is a bold move. There is lots of debate in the writing community as to whether prologues are a good or bad idea. Some editors openly hate them but done right and they can add uniqueness and a sense of intrigue to your book.

Knowing how to start your novel can be tricky, and inserting a prologue can be a helpful device to make this easier for us. A prologue is a chance to begin your story before the beginning, but before you decide to use one you should ask whether it’s really necessary and whether the one you’ve created is really doing what you intended it to. 

Does your novel really require a prologue? 

An unnecessary prologue is a dangerous and costly mistake. They could not only squash your chances of getting published but could also put your reader off too. In short, if the prologue doesn’t contribute to the plot, what is the point in it at all? What your prologue reveals has to be both significant and relevant. It needs to supply vital information. It needs to have a point.

So what kinds of information might require a prologue? There are lots of reasons which could work such as disrupting the point of view, or if the information revealed occurs in a different location, time zone, or universe. Perhaps they are necessary to reveal essential backstory that would kill the plot if inserted into the main story. 

Your prologue doesn’t work if you can remove it and the story still stands. Your prologue doesn’t work if you change the word prologue to 'chapter one' and the story still stands. 

Some of the typical uses for a prologue might be the ‘future protagnoist’ where your story’s hero speaks to the reader from a time well after the main story has taken place. It might reveal the end of the story at the beginning. Similarly, the ‘past protagonist’ might have a role in a prologue where a significant event is revealed that defines the character or explains something they do in the main story. You may wish to use the prologue to reveal a vital separate point of view which could result in an epic plot twist later. Or perhaps your prologue reveals some background that is essential for the reader to understand before the story begins. 

A prologue should be rather like a short story, except the ending doesn’t need to resolve everything as a good short story would. Rather the resolution can be found in the main part of the novel. It must be unique and obviously stand out from the rest of the novel somehow.

Creating a prologue must be necessary for both content and form. Use the above to help determine whether writing a prologue is a good idea for your story and if it is then make it as exciting and intriguing as you possibly can.

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