Rob Bignell's Blog, page 273

Writing Inspiration: New year, new location

Try writing in a new location. Even if your current writing spot is perfect for you, sometimes a change in scenery can ignite your creativity and productivity in surprising ways. If you always write at home in your den, try a session at a coffee house or at a local park���s picnic table.

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.

 

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Try pulse-pricing to boost book sales

Once you set the price of your book, it need not remain that number forever. In fact, keeping a static price actually may hurt book sales.

The magic amount that what will pay for you title changes seasonally and is affected by the quality and quantity of competing titles, factors that are constantly evolving.

Most authors who���ve studied book pricing will read that launching your title at a discount is a solid strategy. Doing so can help get your book on a bestsellers list, which in turn can boost your sales. This strategy also is especially beneficial if you have older, related titles. If readers like your new book, they are more likely to purchase your older titles.

You can get your book back on the bestsellers list by lowering its price at a time when people tend to purchase books. Seasonally, this typically means just before Thanksgiving through New Year���s Day. But also think about the kind of book you write and how it might relate to specific holidays. Romance novels sell better in the couple of weeks leading up to Valentines Day while horror novels and books about ghost stories sell well in October before Halloween. Once the season is over, return the price to its usual cost.

Other times to drop your book���s price is in conjunction with other promotions. For example, if you were delivering a workshop or breakout session at a trade conference, that���s a perfect time to lower your price. Another possibility to simply bump down the price then promote it heavily with social media. After the promotion is over, raise the price.

In the short term, price pulsing may adversely affect your profit margin. But in the long run, the strategy will greatly increase sales by keeping you on bestsellers lists. The more frequently you can hit such lists and the longer you can stay on them, the more visibility you have ��� and in marketing, half of the battle is just being in front of people���s eyes when they come looking for exactly what you have to offer.

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.



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Do self-published writers need a business plan?

If self-publishing a book, do you need a business plan? The answer depends on your goals and objectives.

A business plan lays out your financial goals and a detailed action plan for achieving them. For the most part, a business plan is created to obtain a loan from a bank or other financial institution. Even if not seeking a loan, such a plan can be useful in guiding your strategy to grow a business.

Generally, creating a business plan is unnecessary for self-published writers, even then they establish their own ���publishing company��� that owns the ISBN to their books. Such businesses generally are a self-proprietorship, and any royalties coming to the author is considered personal income.

Given this, rather than a business plan, self-published writers ought to be more concerned about creating a simple budget to keep their publishing expenses (for editing, cover design, etc.) in check and about developing a marketing strategy for boosting their sales. Perhaps a timeline for writing and publishing books also would be helpful, though this has less to do with the business than with maintaining good writing habits.

A business plan becomes necessary when you publish enough books with large enough sales that you can quit your day job. By that point, you have a serious small business going, and the writing effort no longer can be viewed as just a hobby or a side job. In addition, a business plan is necessary if the writing leads to the creation of another business, such as consulting, speaking, editing writers��� books, designing book covers, or self-publishing titles the writer didn���t pen. In this case, though, the business plan is geared less for the self-publishing of your books than for the small business you���re running.

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.



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Editing client publishes debut zombie novel

A recent editing client has published her debut novel. N. D. Iverson���s ���This Would Be Paradise��� tells the tale of how the zombie apocalypse changes the life of one young woman who was partying it up in New Orleans with her friend when the infection hits. Far away from home, she is trapped and trying to make sense of all that has happened with the help of new friends and enemies along the way. In this new world, zombies aren't the only thing to fear, after all...The novel already has garnered more than 1.9 million reads online; this version contains new revisions, content and a never before seen bonus chapter. It is available for purchase online.

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Sacramento, California, or a small town like Intercourse, Pennsylvania, I can provide that second eye.

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Not a reluctant tip: Loath vs. loathe

These are two words you���d hate to mix up.

Loathe is a verb meaning to ���dislike greatly,��� as in I loathe my mean grammar teacher!

Loath without an e is an adjective meaning ���reluctant,��� as in I am loath to studying grammar any more. As a sidenote, loth is a variant of loath in British English but is not widely accepted.

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.



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Editing client publishes his next fantasy novel

An editing client of mine has published his latest epic fantasy story.

R.V. Johnson���s ���Beyond the Sapphire Gate��� tells the story of Crystalyn, who indentured to a private artifact collector on a dying world of high technology, naively activates a gateway. Her sister finds the temptation to touch the gate irresistible and upon doing so vanishes into the gateway. Crystalyn follows, stepping into a vibrant world infused with magic and those that Use.

Aided by symbol magic that with each use slowly kills her, Crystalyn soon finds that the defining line between good and evil is not as clear as she once believed. The Dark Users want to help her, the Circle of Light wishes to use her. Can she locate her sister on this new world or will she merely be a pawn in its inhabitants��� power games?

The book is available online.

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.



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Use reversals to increase suspense in story

As your main character attempts to resolve the story���s central problem, he should suffer reversals. Reversals occur when the main character���s effort to solve the crisis actually worsens the situation so that the problem is more difficult to rectify.

A deepening of the problem rather than just a failed attempt to solve it equates to a more suspenseful story. That���s because the dramatic tension is ramped up rather than remaining flat.

There are a number of ways a reversal can occur:
��� New information comes into play ��� The main character might resolve the problem he set out to fix but in doing so discovers that the actual problem is worse than first thought. This creates an opportunity to show that the main character has various talents and skill while at the same time allowing for the problem to become more critical.
��� Main character realizes he has been deceived ��� As implementing his solution, the main character may realize that he has been deliberately thrown off track, as a sort of diversion from the real problem. This is particularly effective when the main character is up against the clock.
��� Another character gives up on the main character ��� Perhaps the main character���s solution doesn���t sit morally well with a sidekick, who then refuses to help our hero. This isolates the main character, who needs the sidekick���s help or expertise to solve the central problem.
��� Another character turns on the main character ��� Rather than just give up on the main character, the sidekick might even switch sides. He may try to stop himself or even share information with the villain, further decreasing the odds that the main character will succeed.
��� Main character doubts values of solving problem ��� Sometimes the main character senses that the cost of implementing his solution will be too great. This is a good strategy to use when the main character���s solution is only partially effective, and he recognizes the true scale of what must be done to stop the villain. He then might then decide to sacrifice himself to stop the villain.

There are many, many other ways reversals occur, but these five are quite common. As reading novels, note how the author places the main character in a more dire situation with each passing scene of the rising action, and see if you can utilize the same reversal in your own writing.

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.



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Five Great Quotations about ���Write What You Know���

���The man who writes about himself and his own time is the only man who writes about all people and all time.��� - George Bernard Shaw

���You can���t write a sory until you've felt. Breathe it in. Walked with your characters. Talked with them. That���s why you come here. To live your story.��� - Angelica Banks

���Write what disturbs you, what you fear, what you have not been willing to speak about. Be willing to be split open.��� - Natalie Goldberg

���When it comes to being a writer: getting out of your own way, and getting rid of the countless negative thoughts that tell you what a hopelessly uninteresting specimen of humanity you are.��� - Pam Grout

���No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.��� ��� Robert Frost

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.

 

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Writing Inspiration: Your serene setting

To be a writer, you must find a place where you can write with few distractions. That means no new magazines or books in easy reach, no TV, email or Internet to take your focus off the task. It must be a place where others will not carry on a conversation with you. For some, this place is the kitchen table, for others a den, for yet more the coffee shop. Examine your writing space. Is it a peaceful, serene setting where you can be creative? If not, transform it into such a place.

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. Whether you come from a big city like Daytona Beach, Florida, or a small town like Rabbit Hash, Kentucky, I can provide that second eye.

 

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Bundle ebooks to boost your online sales

One of the tried-and-true ways to move retail goods is to give a ���2 for 1��� or a ���Buy 1 get 1 free��� deal. People can���t resist a bargain, and the same strategy can work for your ebooks. This ploy in self-publishing is known as bundling.

As online booksellers such as Amazon.com don���t allow you to choose which individual titles to bundle into a sale (though Amazon.com will do so of its own volition), you have to do a work around. That���s easy enough with just a little extra effort on your part.

First, decide which books to bundle together. For example, if you���ve penned books about the craft of writing, you might combine your titles on plot, setting and character into one package. The idea is that the books in the bundle make sense when combined. Copy and paste those formatted ebooks into a single document.

Next, you���ll need to create some new material. First, you���ll need a new cover (one just for an ebook), a new half-title page, a new title page, and a table of contents that links to the start of each book in the bundle.

The cover should state that this is a bundle of books and perhaps even list those titles. The photo/illustration might be of those books��� covers, but usually a new image that ties all of the titles together is best.

You���ll also need a new description that states you���re selling a bundle and gives a summary of the titles included within it. This description is posted on the webpage selling your bundled title.

For the marketing ploy to work, the bundle must be less expensive than the price of the three books if they were purchased separately. So if each title is $1 ��� or $3 total ��� then the price of the bundled book should be about a third less, or $2.

Of course, you then will need to promote that this book is available. But you stand to gain more sales for less effort if you promote a bundled book rather than three separate titles.

Bundled ebooks mark a good way to stoke a resurgence in sales for your older titles. And if you have a new book coming out, the bundled collection is a great method of generating interest in you as an author and your upcoming title (be sure to include a page in your bundled book about the new title coming out!).

Professional Book Editor: Having your novel, short story or nonfiction manuscript proofread or edited before submitting it can prove invaluable. In an economic climate where you face heavy competition, your writing needs a second eye to give you the edge. I can provide that second eye.



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