Beth Greenslade's Blog, page 66

Why It’s Hard To Get Published

We all know that it is hard to get published, but do we truly understand why? Often it can be easy to get overwhelmed by the mammoth task of trying to get published, and to give up before we’ve even really tried. The seeming impossibility to get a publishing deal can make many authors feel like there isn’t any point, or perhaps do themselves a disservice and not try as hard as they might. Or blame the wrong things when they see those rejection letters start to pile up.

But do we understand the core reasons as to why it is so hard to get published? Is there anything we can do to change our fortunes? Let’s take a look.

Here are some of the most common reasons why a publisher or agent might decline publishing your book:

The writing is not good enough.

There isn’t a market for your book.

The topic has already been written about extensively.

They can’t take on more than one or two new titles at a time.

While these reasons are all valid and truthful, there are also more significant reasons at play. For a start, the competition is too fierce. There are so many people out there who are trying to get their book published that you have to write something truly exceptional to be given a chance. Secondly, many publishing houses simply aren’t willing to take a risk on a new author. They need their books to sell, to bring them guaranteed revenue. They focus on the latest novels of their current, famous authors to make sure that their sales and profits remain high.

Of course, the publishing industry itself is also creating challenges for new authors. If a book makes it into a bookstore, it is up to the publisher to ensure those books are sold. If they aren’t, after a certain period the books get returned, and the publisher must give a refund for the unsold copies. This is a unique operation - and not the case for other types of retailers and manufacturers. People can buy books online, can purchase eBooks and can resell the novels on sites like Amazon once they are done reading them. This creates problems for bookstores trying to sell physical copies of their books.

Many big publishers nowadays can also create their own content. So the distributor becomes the producer. Take Amazon, for example, they produce lots of their own content, market and distribute it themselves, and while they allow other content creators to publish via them, they don’t put any resource into promoting of helping others work do well.

It’s no wonder, therefore, that new writers have trouble finding a way of fitting in and having their voices heard. Perhaps until the day that the industry operates changes, it might continue to be so and always be a genuine struggle for writers to see their work in print.

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

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Can You Be A Successful Self-Published Author?

If you were hoping for a traditional publishing contract, yet can’t find any publishing houses or agents who’ll bite, you might well be considering self-publishing as an option to get your book out there and available to the public. Or perhaps you’ve heard too many stories about how difficult it is to get published, and negative stories about those that managed to get one having their books ripped apart, and so have decided to be in control of your book sales and marketing yourself.

Whatever your reason, many authors wonder whether it is indeed possible to become successful as a self-published author? Well, the answer is yes! In fact, Indie publishing can offer writers great earning potential, and it’s never been easier to get your book onto platforms to sell.

There are many of examples of authors who decided to self-publish and went on to become best-sellers. Need some examples to convince you? Let’s take a look:

Still Alice by Lisa Genova - This New York Times bestselling author went down the self-publishing route and has sold over 2 million copies of her book.

Fantasy author Joseph Malik wrote for decades before he decided to self-publish. The Dragon’s Trail rose to the bestseller lists soon after, and he’d never looked back.

The Martian by Andy Weir started as a blog, was turned into a novel, and then became a huge blockbuster starring none other than Matt Damon!

There are, in fact, many many examples of authors who took a punt of self—publishing and went on to make their fortune, and even more who decided to self-publish and while they aren’t multi-millionaires, still manage to make a decent living because of their book sales.

Back in 2014, self-published books accounted for 31% of all ebook sales in the Kindle Store in, and 27% of books on the ebook bestseller list on Amazon, are, yes you guessed it, indie books.

So how do you do it?

Of course, there is no denying that as with traditional publishing there is an element of luck. Sometimes authors just happen to publish the right book at the right time, sell a few copies, sell a few more and suddenly a snowball effect occurs. However, there are also lots of things that are in within an authors control. The things that you can do to try and ensure your self-publishing book is successful are extensive - here are just some of them:

Write the very best book you can

Build your platform before you publish

Have a great website

Use social media but don’t overdo it

Familiarise yourself with everything Amazon offers to help market your book

Try to get as many positive reviews as you can

Learn how to promote your book using social media and other platforms such as Google Ads and Amazon Ads.

Have your book available as an audiobook too.

So are you ready to begin your self-publishing journey? With some research, planning, and effort this could end up being a lucrative and successful option for your work.

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

The post Can You Be A Successful Self-Published Author? appeared first on Writer's Life.org.

Milestones To Self-Publish Your Book

The journey to getting your book self-published can be a long and treacherous one. By breaking down the different things that you have to do to get there you can help to see more clearly the things that you have to do, and as you reach each milestone, you’ll be able to celebrate your progress and see ever more clearly the final finish line that means you have published your book.

So what are the milestones you need to set up and achieve to ensure self-publishing success? Let’s take a look at some of them:

Understanding that it’s a business

When you self-publish your book, you are effectively setting up a publishing business, and it is essential to treat it as such. Being businesslike about your book from the outset will put you in the right frame of mind to make it as successful as possible. So get organized, be practical, have deadlines and working hours and make decisions with a ‘business hat’ on rather than an emotional one.

Setting up your publishing platform

Every self-published author needs to establish themselves in the marketplace firmly. You are the only person that is responsible for marketing your book, so you need to make sure that you have a robust platform from which to do so. Before you self-publish, you need to explore all different types of marketing and make sure that you have a solid plan in place.

Getting your manuscript into publishable condition

To make sure that your manuscript is presented to your reader flawlessly and professionally, you need to get it edited and proofread by a person whose job it is to do just that. No matter how many times you’ve read it and checked it yourself, and no matter how great your grammar or spectacular your spelling, nothing beats having a talented editor read through your manuscript and give you their feedback before it goes to print. The same, of course, goes for book cover design. Your book will be judged by its cover, and if you don’t take the time to have a professionally designed cover made you could end up putting readers off. You don’t have to fork out massive amounts of money for this either; there are plenty of cost-effective ways to get a cover - just don’t design it yourself, unless you are a book cover designer that is!

Getting it listed

Navigating the various databases to list your book can be a little bit confusing, but it is crucial that you make an effort to get your book as listed as widely as possible. So if you get confused, ask for help, don’t shy away from sorting this out.

Understanding print on demand and organizing distribution

Digital printing is a great way to make sure your book is widely available to the public. Print on demand services are ideal for self-published authors and can ensure that you don’t have to spend lots of your budget printing out books that no one is going to buy. You’ll also need to have a plan to get your book to buyers - investigate different types of distribution and decide what works best for your book.

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These self-publishing milestones are essential to research and plan for to make sure that your self-published book is a success. Is there anything we’ve missed? Let us know in the comments!

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

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10 Quick Tips To Improve Your Writing

We are always looking for ways to improve our writing, and while there are lots of things you can do, sometimes you want some quick wins, so you feel like you are making lots of progress. With that in mind, here a ten quick tips to help you get better, fast.

Write little and often.

The more you write, the better you’ll get. It really is as simple as that. It can be hard to have mammoth, dedicated writing sessions all the time so instead just make sure you write each day. As little as ten minutes of productive writing time can see you finish that novel in no time at all!

Look out for long sentences.

People prefer to read short sentences. They are easier to digest. Make sure you look out for long sentences and think about how to reword them. This can make your writing punchier, more effective, and easier to understand too.

Look out for too many adjectives.

Writing that is stuffed with adjectives can overwhelm and irritate your reader. You don’t need to say that a character looked as someone longingly, lovingly, passionately. Pick one word and stick to that, better still show the reader how the characters think and feel rather than telling them. Writers so often make the mistake of overusing adjectives in a bid to make their writing more descriptive, to paint a picture, but actually, this distracts the reader and detracts from the story — lookout for instances where you do this and rework them.

Do your research

Lazy writing that isn’t adequately researched won’t go down well, and eagle-eyed readers will be quick to point out mistakes and inconsistencies. Take some time to research your book; it will be all the better for it if you do.

Eliminate distractions

Look around you before you write. What is likely to cause you to get distracted? Whatever your weaknesses are, be aware of them and do something to eliminate them, so you know that your writing time will be productive.

Stop worrying about being good.

Not every writing session is going to produce your best work. In the early stages of your book - writing is more important than good writing. Get the story down before you try to make it flawless.

Stop trying to be perfect.

If you try to make your writing perfect, chances are you’ll destroy it in the process. The truth is your writing is never going to be without fault, and you can’t create a book that everyone is going to love. Instead, write about what makes you happy, and write from the heart, be open to learning and experimenting, take feedback well and most importantly - enjoy it!

Write about what you believe in

When it comes to writing well, you need to write about things you are passionate about. If you don’t do so, writing will always be a struggle, and you’ll find it difficult to improve.

Read

One of the brilliant things about being a writer is that you get to read as part of the job. Reading is a legitimate form of writing ‘study’ and will give you inspiration and ideas as well as help you see where your book needs to improve too.

Spend 10 minutes a day building your platform.

If you want your writing to succeed you need to have an ever-growing army of fans willing to buy, share and promote it. While writing every day can help you improve your skills, if you can find time to build your platform, little by little each day too, this is just as important.

So there you have it, next time you need to give your writing a boost, go through these tips, one by one, and see what a difference it makes to the quality of your writing - we bet you’ll be glad you did!

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

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What Kind Of Budget Do You Need To Market A Book?

If you have self-published your book, you need to have a solid marketing plan in place if you want to give it the very best chance of success.

The great news is that there are a number of ways you can market your book, the bad news is that some of these can cost significant amounts of money! Having at least some marketing budget will allow you the freedom to experiment with different methods and try to understand where you might get the best ROI.

Naturally, different people have completely different amounts that they can spend on book promotion, and before you just throw your money at anything and everything you can think of, it is essential to do some proper research.

When it comes to book marketing understanding your audience is critical. Until you have a clear picture of who you are trying to sell to, don’t spend a single dollar. If you don’t, you could end up wasting a lot on campaigns that fall on deaf ears.

Every writer must consider whether they have any budget to hire a professional editor and book cover designer. This is really the minimum if you want to ensure that your story is presented professionally and in a saleable condition to the world. Putting those two elements aside; however, what else could you spend your marketing budget on?

Let's look at some different budgets and what you could do with them.

$5000 +

For this amount, you could invest a lot in your website. Have a professional web designer give it a makeover that helps you encourage more people to sign up for your mailing list and shows off your book in the very best light, piquing peoples interest and inspiring them to buy. Hiring an experienced copywriter who could help you with content marketing could also be useful - this person could ensure that you get subscribers to your blog and newsletter and that your website works hard for you bringing more traffic and providing long term growth of your fanbase

$1500+

Hiring a publicist to help get your book noticed could make a huge difference in terms of the popularity of your book. A skilled publicist will have a pre-established network of relevant contacts and will use these to get your book promoted in the press or by influential bloggers. Media attention for your book launch can help to build a buzz around your book and boost your sales. You could also think about hiring a digital marketing agency to help you improve your content and bring traffic to your website, as well as devise smart, targeted marketing campaigns to make your book sell.

$500+

Using the advertising tools on social media platforms can help give your book a boost. Investing in an advertising package could also help your book get promoted on influential social media channels too.

Of course, there are lots of ways you can promote your book for free too, and making sure that you take advantage of all of these as well will mean that you are covering all your bases and doing everything in your power to get your book noticed, increase your fans and make those sales!

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

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Are You Using These Excuses Not To Write?

It’s amazing how many excuses writers can come up with to delay their writing. While sometimes you might have good reason to push it back, usually you do so because of an underlying cause such as being too self-critical of being scared of judgment and rejection.

Learning to recognize when you are using excuses not to write and not letting yourself off the hook is so important and will ensure you stay productive and stick to your writing goals.

Here are some of the most common excuses writers use not to write:

"It’s not the right time."

Some writers claim they need to be in just the right mood to write. While it’s lovely to write when we are feeling all inspired and where the conditions are just perfect for doing so, sometimes we have to knuckle down and get on with it even if we aren’t feeling as creatively inspired as we’d like. So just because you are not feeling it, doesn’t mean you get to skip your writing session. Often if you stick to your guns and write through it, you’ll come out of the other side pleased that you did.

"I don’t have enough time."

Another writer’s perfect favorite excuse is claiming that they do not have the time to write. Now we’re are not denying that it can be challenging to fit writing into a busy schedule, particularly if you have to work around it. However, there are twenty-four available hours in every day, and by shifting things around and changing priorities, most people find that there s plenty of time to be a productive and prolific writer if they are disciplined and motivated to do so.

"I’ll just get (insert household chore) done."

Is your house spotless? Is all your ironing always done? Is your car sparkling clean? Sometimes writer’s rely on pressing domestic chores to get out of writing. However, being a good writer is all about practice and if you want to improve you do need to put the hours in. So make writing your priority - the household chores can wait!

"I need to plan more/ do more research/ work on the plot."

Another great excuse not to write is that you need to do more background work before getting stuck in. While there is nothing wrong with thoroughly researching, plotting and planning your novel, you know when you’ve done enough and are just using this as an excuse because you’ve got cold feet. Don’t let fear or anxiety get the better of you!

"I’m not good enough."

Writers can be their own worst enemies when it comes to lack of confidence. Telling yourself that you have no talent or that your writing will never come to anything is helpful to no one. You obviously want to write, and you clearly have a story to tell so don’t let anyone, including yourself, stop you!

Writers are masters of excuses, and we often come up with plenty of weird and wonderful reasons to avoid it. Make sure you recognize when you are just making excuses and try not to let yourself get away with it!

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

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How To Recognize When You’re Procrastinating

One of the common frustrations for many writers is the fact that we tend to procrastinate. In fact, there are some days where we’ll do just about anything to get out of writing.

Procrastination is a funny thing; it’s not because we’re lazy, or even because we don’t want to write, yet sometimes losing focus and putting off writing tasks is inevitable. When deadlines are involved this can be dangerous and if you let your procrastinating tendencies take over you can end up feeling demotivated, annoyed, and will do yourself a disservice if you end up having to produce sub-quality work in a mad rush because you left it until the very last minute.

So how do you know when you are procrastinating? Here are some of the telltale signs:

You put off a task because it seems difficult or overwhelming.

You keep reprioritizing your workload or rewriting that to-do list.

You fill the day with tasks that aren’t important but keep you ‘too busy to write.’

You wait to be in the “right mood” to write.

If the above sounds like you, the next, and perhaps most important step is to figure out why you are procrastinating in the first place. Getting to the root cause of the problem will help you get over it much faster rather than remaining in denial!

When you procrastinate in other areas of your life, it might be because you find the task boring or unpleasant, but this is rarely the reason writers do so. The main culprit is feeling overwhelmed, or stuck. You might have come to a particularly tricky part in your story and aren’t sure which direction to take it in. You might not have started at all and found the task of doing so so daunting that you keep putting it off, and off, and off. You might be nearing the end of your story and are worried about what to do with it once you have finished, so you take way too much time to get it done.

There is a myriad of reasons why you might procrastinate - figure out the problem so you can tackle it head-on. Being worried about a task or concerned about failing is entirely reasonable, but you must find a way to get over this; otherwise, you’ll never know.

Decision-making can play an essential part in catalyzing procrastination so whether you are deciding what your character should do next or what to do with your book once you’ve finished it, don’t delay, be decisive and firm and believe in yourself.

Try to focus on how good you will feel once you start writing, or finish that chapter, or get to the end of your novel. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to write perfectly every time and just take your writing chapter by chapter rather than getting overwhelmed by the somewhat mammoth task of having to complete an entire novel.

Every writer has periods where they procrastinate; it’s completely normal. However, if you get to the point where procrastination has a severe effect on your writing productivity, perhaps it’s time to examine the issues more closely, tackle them head-on, and get back to your best writing self in no time at all.

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

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Are Writers Their Own Worst Enemies?

Being a positive writer can be challenging. While I want to start each writing session full of energy, brimming with ideas and excited to see what progress I can make, the reality is this is not always the case. Often I can feel sluggish, it can take a strong cup of coffee (or three) to get my brain whirring into action, and a lot of the stuff I write, I read over and think ‘urgh, where did that come from?'

Writers have a lot of negativity to wade through, and a lot of issues to combat that can get in the way of the task at hand. In fact, it is arguably one of the hardest jobs out there for that very reason. Most people don’t go into their place of work and think about how terrible they are at their job, wonder whether there is any point, criticize everything that they do and use every excuse under the sun not to do it. However, for writers, this can be a daily battle.

Writers can be their own worst enemies, and if we don’t get a handle on our negative emotions, this can lead to self-sabotage, slow progress and even giving up on our work altogether.

So what are some of these common issues, and how can we overcome them?

Jealousy

The green-eyed monster can rear it’s ugly head at any time and can be a complicated creature to battle if we allow it to have too much power. From looking at bestselling authors to someone who's had a bit more success self-publishing than you, comparing yourself to other writers is never helpful. You have to accept that things happen to different people at different times and well it can feel so nail-bitingly, eye-wateringly unfair when someone else has great success, and you think ‘why not me?’ that kind of attitude will get you exactly nowhere. So instead of stay focused on your own progress and remind yourself you can only do things your unique way, and that has to be good enough because it’s never going to change.

Anxiety

Writers get anxious about a whole load of things. We worry that we aren’t writing enough, we fear that we aren’t good enough, we get apprehensive about sending our work off in case it gets rejected, or we worry about self-publishing in case someone writes us a negative review. But fretting about such things is pointless. Either you can do something about it to make it better, in which case do it. Or you cannot, in which case, don’t worry about it. Anxiety can clutter your mind, confuse you and turn you into a nervous wreck. So next time you feel anxious about your writing, try to remember that it really is a useless emotion and try to act instead.

Self-criticism

Being self-critical is something that almost every writer experiences. It’s not always a bad thing. Learning to recognize when it is warranted however is essential. If you let your inner critic take over to the point where you feel like to you are too overwhelmed to write, that’s when you know you have a problem. Practicing positivity in your writing and learning to park negative emotions to enable you to write freely does take time and effort but getting this under control can make all the difference when it comes to your productivity.

By tackling our negative emotions and learning the coping mechanisms to keep them at bay, we not only free up time that would have been wasted dwelling on these unnecessary worries but also make the writing process more enjoyable overall. So next time you are feeling negative about your writing, try to keep them in check, refocus and remember that crafting your stories should be something positive and enjoyable in your life, and only you have the power to make it so!

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

The post Are Writers Their Own Worst Enemies? appeared first on Writer's Life.org.

Why Are Writers In Such A Rush?

When it comes to writing a novel, there are many obstacles that writers must face. There are practical elements such as creating plot outlines, doing research and building your characters and the world they live in. There are also external hurdles such as procrastination, distraction, and, of course, finding the time to write.

The one thing that stops books from being finished than anything else is authors giving up on them before they are done. Most site that they ran out of motivation, or put differently, that they just weren’t able to find the time to write.

So perhaps there is a question that’s worth asking. Why do we find it so necessary to finish our novels so quickly? Why are we in such a rush?

Writers are told that it is essential to have a schedule, to set goals and deadlines, to keep progressing, and to write every day if we can. Of course, this is brilliant in theory, but does it put unnecessary pressure on us to finish our books, not in our own time, but because of some pressing deadline that, when it sails past us, makes us feel like a failure?

Writing in a rush can mean that you do yourself a disservice. Not only will your writing be less considered, less smart. You will also inevitably end up rushing through the editing process, the cover design process, the marketing process -all of it, just to see your book on the shelves. Rushing drains your creativity, makes you stressed, forces you to write when you are not in the best shape, creates more mistakes and can hurt your writing overall.

So what can be done about this need to hurry our writing?

Reconsider your plan. You may thrive on deadlines. However, if you don’t create realistic ones, you’ll see them fly by, and then start to feel negative about your writing and demotivated to continue. Try to figure out where this need to rush it comes from. Does it really matter if you finish your novel this year or next? Wouldn’t you prefer to write well then write to a deadline? A good book writing plan will also consider everything you need to do to create your masterpiece. You need time to think, to brainstorm, to write, to edit, to research, to plot, to plan, to take breaks, to do other things. Factor everything in, not just writing time, and at least you’ll give yourself a much more realistic idea of your timeframe for writing a book.

Don’t compare yourself to others. It doesn’t matter if so and so has already released their third book this year. You need to do things at your own pace and comparing yourself to other authors won’t help you, It will only make you feel as though you aren’t doing a good enough job. Remember, good things come to those who wait, make that your book writing mantra if you prefer to take your time!

Get smarter with your time. It is only through being truly honest about what is important to you, what you want to achieve , and what will make you feel great that you can push yourself in the right direction to use your time effectively. But don’t beat yourself up if you discover that you don’t want to prioritize writing every day. It’s OK to have other priorities and things that you are passionate about in life too.

It’s essential for writers to remind themselves that writing can be a pleasure, a real joy in our lives. So next time you are feeling stressed and pressured to write or to meet a self-set deadline, take a step back and ask yourself if you need to write in such a rush?

Perhaps there is another, better way.

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

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Why It’s OK To Be Negative About Your Writing

We’re all told how important it is to try to stay positive about our writing. How we must silence that evil inner critic that tells us we are no good. How we must pick ourselves up immediately after a rejection and be pleased to be part of the ‘club.’ How a negative review is great as ‘at least it moved someone enough to say something about your work.’

What’s strange about this though, is that it goes against another very solid and tried and tested piece of advice which is to allow yourself to, you know, actually feel your emotions. That bottling up anger, frustration, upset, disappointment, fear and so on can do more damage than good.

If we spend so much time battling with our negative emotions about writing, rather than just allowing ourselves to feel them, perhaps we are doing ourselves a disservice. Instead, maybe we should embrace the negativity, here's why:

You can use that emotion

Trying to stay positive all the time is pretty draining, and unrealistic too. Instead, get right into your funk, explore the way that you feel and use that sadness, fury, jealousy, etc. to write about that emotion in a realistic and captivating way.

Perhaps it's much better to feel it, acknowledge it, deal with it and move on.

The truth is that we can spend so much time trying not to be negative about our writing, so much effort ‘training’ ourselves to be positive, that we can end up wasting a lot of it, and can also end up feeling more guilty when a negative emotion slips through the net! If we just recognize the way we are feeling, have a cry, a yell, a moan, then we might get it out of our systems and be better able to move on and get on with what matters.

Being hard on yourself makes your writing better

This may be controversial, but what’s wrong with a bit of tough self-love from time to time? Is it actually that helpful to keep telling ourselves we’re the best writer ever when perhaps we’re not? Being critical of your writing can help you recognize when you aren’t doing an outstanding job and can help you become more dedicated to making it better, now what’s wrong with that?

It keeps your head screwed on

The writing world can be a little bizarre at times. Allowing yourself to be negative, to have bad days, is okay. Acknowledging that sometimes everything is unfair, to be jealous of other authors success and so on - it all just makes you human and remembering that you are indeed human can help you on those days where you spend 12 hours locked in your basement writing about something weird and wonderful, hilarious, depressing, or heartbreaking. Also, let’s face it, no one likes arrogance, and so being self-deprecating (though tedious at times) will probably be better received at dinner parties than the person that can’t stop talking about how talented they are.

Remember, everyone feels bad about their writing from time to time, and while it is important to recognize when that negativity is taking over and stopping you from being the productive, prolific writer you are meant to be, it’s OK to indulge and wallow in it from time to time. So next time you are feeling negative about your writing, don’t fight it, go with it - it might make things better!

Bethany Cadman - bethanycadman.co.uk

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