Lindsay Buroker's Blog: Lindsay Buroker, page 26

10 Fantasy Romance Novels from Up-and-Coming Authors

With Valentine’s Day coming up, it’s the perfect time to grab a new fantasy romance novel (I suggest you also pick up some good chocolate – just don’t get any on your e-reader), and it just so happens that I’m participating in a group-promotion effort with several other independent authors. We all have fantasy novels with romantic elements (AKA loooove stories), and we’re dropping the ebook versions to 99 cents between February 10th and 12th this year. (Even if you stumble across this post at some future date, the ebooks are still good deals, with most coming in under $5.)

I’ll mention mine first, because, ya know, it’s my blog.

Encrypted

Professor Tikaya Komitopis isn’t a great beauty, a fearless warrior, or even someone who can walk and chew chicle at the same time, but her cryptography skills earn her wartime notoriety. When enemy marines show up at her family’s plantation, she expects the worst.

But they’re not there to kill her. They need her to decode mysterious runes, and they ask for help in the manner typical of a conquering empire: they kidnap her, threaten her family, and throw her in the brig of their fastest steamship.

Her only ally is a fellow prisoner who charms her with a passion for academics as great as her own. Together, they must decipher mind-altering alchemical artifacts, deadly poison rockets, and malevolent technological constructs, all while dodging assassination attempts from a rival power determined the expedition should fail. As if the situation weren’t treacherous enough, this new “ally” may turn out to be the last person Tikaya should trust. Those runes cloak more than mysteries, however, and he’s the only one who can help her unravel them before their secrets destroy the world.

Available on Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords | iTunes | Kobo.

“Tales of Love and Magic” from other independent authors:

The Rose of Shanhasson

As Our Blessed Lady’s last daughter, Shannari must rule as High Queen or the Green Lands will fall into eternal darkness. Her destiny is to shine against the Shadow, protect the land and people with her magic, and keep the Blackest Heart of Darkness imprisoned. Her blood is the key, powered by the love in her heart. However, Shannari’s heart is broken, her magic is crippled, and the nobles must have forgotten the dire prophesies, because everyone wants her dead.

Only love can restore her magic, but her scars testify how love can be corrupted. So when a barbarian warlord conquers her army and professes a love like no other, Shannari’s first instinct is to kill the mighty Khul. Even worse, one of the Khul’s guards used to be an assassin–a very skilled assassin, if the darkness in the Blood’s eyes is any indication. The same darkness festers deep in her heart and draws her to the wickedly dangerous man as inexorably as his Khul’s unshakable honor. Her weakening heart is not only torn between love and duty, but also between two magnificent warriors.

Yet neither warrior will be able to help her when Shadow calls her name.

The Goddess Queen

Queen Onja has called for Shan’s head and her Kezanada agents stalk him with enchanted weapons. For Dreibrand Veta, his growing list of victories has increased his influence in circles of power, but his fame has not endeared him to everybody.

The rebellion proceeds slowly for Miranda who cannot rescue her children until Shan defeats Onja. Shan has learned much since beginning the rebellion. His powers are growing. He has used his magic to kill, and, when the spring comes, his armies will fight the armies loyal to Onja. Despite Shan’s mounting confidence in his battle magic, Onja will tenaciously defend her throne, and Shan will discover that he does not know the powerful secrets of the Goddess Queen.

The Goddess Queen is the second book of The Rys Chronicles by Tracy Falbe. Normally priced at $4.95, it’s on sale for a limited time at $0.99. Enjoy!

Rowena Through the Wall

When Rowena falls through her classroom wall and lands in an alternate world, she doesn’t count on being kidnapped―not once, but twice―and the stakes get higher as the men get hotter.

College instructor Rowena Revel has a magical gift with animals and a huge problem. Gorgeous tunic-clad men keep walking through the wall of her classroom. If that isn’t enough, she’s being haunted by sexy dreams in a rugged land. Curious, she checks out the wall and falls through a portal into the world of her dreams.

After years of war, women are scarce. Rowena finds herself in a heap of man-trouble when she ‘accidentally’ marries distant cousin Ivan. Enter Cedric, who dabbles in black magic and has an even blacker heart. Throw in a Viking, the local wolf-king, a band of brigands and a goth-clad student who follows her through the portal, and Rowena is off on a rollicking adventure.

Unwanted husbands keep piling up, but that doesn’t stop her from falling for the wrong brother. Not only that, she has eighteen year old Kendra to look out for and a war to prevent. Good thing she has the ability to go back through the wall. Or does she?

Dragon Rose (Tales of the Latter Kingdoms)

The shadow of the cursed Dragon Lord has hung over the town of Lirinsholme for centuries, and no one ever knows when the Dragon will claim his next doomed Bride.

Rhianne Menyon has dreams of being a painter, but her world changes forever when a single moment of sacrifice brings her to Black’s Keep as the Dragon’s latest Bride. As she attempts to adjust to her new life — and to know something of the monster who is now her husband — she begins to see that the curse is far crueler than she first believed.

Unraveling the mystery of what happened to the Dragon’s Brides is only the beginning…

The Unfinished Song (Book 2): Taboo

A DEVASTATING SETBACK

Enemy tribesmen attacked during the Initiation. Dindi used the magic of the corn cob doll to protect herself and others but at a terrible price. Now her dreams are in shambles. In despair, she decides to step into the forbidden faery ring, and dance herself to death with the fae. Then she discovers another choice that saves her life…but breaks the ultimate taboo.

A DESPERATE OUTREACH

After being unfairly exiled from his own people, Kavio may have found a new home, but only if he can protect it from another attack by the enemy. He gathers a small group to venture deep into the heart of enemy territory in search of the ultimate prize…peace.But by the harsh laws of their land, they cannot both break taboos and keep the peace. They will each have to choose, what, or whom, to betray.

The Chocolatier’s Wife

ROMANCE, MAGIC, MYSTERY…. AND CHOCOLATE

When Tasmin’s bethrothed, William, is accused of murder, she gathers her wind sprites and rushes to his home town to investigate. She doesn’t have a shred of doubt about his innocence. But as she settles in his chocolate shop, she finds more in store than she bargained for. Facing suspicious townsfolk, gossiping neighbors, and William’s own family, who all resent her kind – the sorcerer folk from the North — she must also learn to tell friend from foe, and fast. For the real killer is still on the loose – and he is intent on ruining William’s family at all cost.

The Chocolatier’s Wife is a truly original, spellbinding love story, featuring vivid characters in a highly realistic historical setting.

The Princess of Dhagabad

THE CURSE OF ABSOLUTE POWER.

THE MAGIC OF TRUE LOVE.

When, on the day of her age-coming, the princess opens a mysterious bronze bottle—a gift from her grandmother—she has no idea that she is about to unleash a power older than the world itself. Worse, she is not prepared for the bearer of this power to be a handsome man whose intense gray eyes pierce her very soul. Hasan, her new slave, is immeasurably older and stronger than anyone she has ever heard of, and he is now hers to command—if she can handle him, that is.“Truly compelling” — Booklist

“A fine recasting of Arabian Nights material into a fable for our times.” — Locus

Once Upon a Curse: Stories and Fairy Tales for Adult Readers

STEP INTO THE WORLD OF MYTH AND MAGIC…

Fair maidens, handsome princes, witches, and fairy godmothers all show their dark and dangerous side in this anthology inspired by myths and fairy tales, retold by some of the best authors in this generation and by some upcoming new talents. Told with a dark twist, focused on the lure of the gorgeous evil, this collection will take the readers on a wild ride through magical realms of Ancient Greece, old Russia, medieval Europe, and modern day America.

Yseult: A Tale of Love in the Age of King Arthur

For the price of a truce, Yseult is sent to a world where magic is dying – to marry the father of the man she loves. Marcus’s son Drystan would have saved her from a loveless marriage, but with her relatives being held hostage, Yseult cannot endanger them and must go through with the wedding. The tragic love story of Yseult and Drystan plays out against the backdrop of a violent world threatening to descend into the Dark Ages – only Arthur’s battles to push back the Saxon hordes can save what is left of civilization.

Yseult is a retelling of the tragic tale of Tristan and Isolde, a story older than Romeo and Juliet or Lancelot and Guinevere; an Arthurian romance with roots going back far into the realm of legend and the undying tales of King Arthur.

A historical fantasy novel by Ruth Nestvold, Book I of The Pendragon Chronicles.

Also available on Kobo, B&N, and Smashwords with the coupon GY28S (good until Feb. 14).

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New Emperor’s Edge Novella Available

5 Facebook Marketing Tips for Authors

Month after month, Facebook and Twitter are the top sources of traffic for my site (after the Big G and its search engine, of course). If we consider that I spend much less time on Facebook than Twitter (I usually post to my FB author page 3 or 4 times a week, versus using Twitter incessantly throughout the day, because I’m become a tweet-happy addict), then Facebook is the clear winner when it comes to time spent versus results delivered. I should also point out that I don’t post links to my site on Facebook very often, so all of this traffic (1,000+ visitors in January out of about 23,000 total) comes via two or three updates a month.

And is getting traffic to my site a win insofar as book sales goes? It’s hard to say if the folks who come in via social media outlets are buyers (I suspect many have already bought), but it’s a rare day that I don’t have at least a couple of sales at Amazon (monitored via the affiliate links I provide to my own books) that originate on my blog. Sales aside, I believe that having an oft-visited Facebook page gives you a lot of brand-building benefits that aren’t easily quantifiable.

So, what’s the trick to doing well with Facebook as an author?

I’m not a guru (though am I dorky enough to listen to social media marketing podcasts), but here are a few things that work for me:

Create a Facebook “Page“ — This is different from your personal FB account, which requires you “friending” people (and perhaps revealing more of your life than you’d wish to relative strangers) so that they can follow you fully. Pages are specifically for businesses, organizations, artists, bands, authors, etc. and can be followed simply by giving a thumb’s up. Once someone “likes” your page, you can keep in touch with them, letting them know about new releases, updates to stories, character interviews or other extras you’ve posted on your blog, etc. (Note: because of something called EdgeRank — see the infographic below — less than 20% of the people who like your page will see all of your updates, but you can pay a few dollars to “promote a post” that you want everyone to see, such as the announcement of a book release. There are also things you can do — keep reading! — to increase the number of people who naturally see your updates.)
Include the link to your page in the backs of your books (especially useful for ebooks, where people can click directly from their e-readers) and ask readers to click like — As an author, this is really the only place you should be asking for likes. These are the people who have already enjoyed your stories, so these are the ones you want following you, thus allowing them to easily learn when you have more books out for them to grab. Many authors get this backward, believing that lots of Facebook likes will translate into lots of new people buying their books. I get lobbied for likes often from authors I’ve never heard of — a like from me would be meaningless because I have no relationship with you or your work. In short, you don’t want likes from people who never plan to visit your page again — due to the way Facebook’s algorithms judge share-worthy updates, this could even negatively affect your promotion efforts. (For those who are trying to figure out how to get more people to buy their books to start with, I’ve done lots of other posts on that topic; try 7 Reasons You’re You’re Not Selling Many Books for starters)
Update regularly — This one’s fairly obvious. If you abandon your Page for months and only start making posts again two weeks before a book release, it’ll be as if you’re starting over from scratch. Because people haven’t interacted with your page in ages, they’ll no longer be seeing your updates. You don’t have to post a lot, but shoot for a couple of entries a week. If you’re already blogging about things that are of interest to your readers, some of your Facebook updates can simply be links to your blog. Here’s my author page if you want to take a look at how I roll.
Make sure some of your updates encourage interaction — More people will see your updates in the future if you get more likes and (especially) comments on your existing updates. You can encourage interaction by ending your post with a question. For example, I got 78 comments last month on a quick question asking people what they were reading. (I got some ideas for new books to check out too!) I won’t do a question every time, as I figure it’s good to mix things up, but this is a great way to get comments, encourage conversations, and start to build a community (sometimes your visitors will start interacting with each other). All of these things make people more likely to visit again.
Keep things interesting for people who have already read your book(s) — Because so many authors are trying to use Facebook as a place to sell their books to new people (I’ve already discussed why I don’t think this is that practical), they often post reviews or sales-pitchy tidbits from their existing book(s). Hey, there’s nothing wrong with throwing a character quotation or something in once in a while, but you should assume that the people who are most likely to follow you on Facebook are already familiar with your work. Think about the types of cool things you can post for fans who’ve already read everything that you have out. They may be hoping for teasers from the next book, links to author/character interviews, updates on how the next book is coming along, etc.

At the end of the day, you want to make your Facebook page a cool destination for existing fans, not a marketplace stall where all you’re trying to do is sell the books you have out. (Don’t worry, if you make your page a fun destination with an active community, the word will spread — i.e. people will share your updates — and new folks will be exposed to your online presence in a way that makes them want to check out your books.)

Bonus material for marketing geeks who really want to get Facebook:

Source: CopyPress

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Apple’s New “Breakout Books” Section Features Many Independent Authors (and me too)

Not that long ago, I posted about some of the changes Kobo has implemented to be more of a mover and shaker in the ebook world (including helping independent authors sell more books); well, Apple has been quietly making some changes too. They’ve been opening new iBookstores around the globe, and this week they added a special Breakout Books section. Numerous indie authors are being features, including yours truly.

Mark Coker, over at Smashwords, has a blog post explaining more about the program and why certain authors were picked to be featured in the first round (apparently, it’ll be updated as time goes on, giving more authors chances to be featured).

“Apple’s iBookstore today launched Breakout Books in the U.S., a new book merchandising feature that showcases books from popular self-published authors, including several that have already achieved New York Times bestseller status… Although the iBookstore has always carried and supported self-published ebooks, today’s launch signifies an escalated commitment on the part of Apple, whose iBookstore currently sells books in 50 countries.”

“The bulk of the titles featured in the Breakout Books promotion were distributed by Smashwords, the world’s largest distributor of self-publishers.  The books Apple selected share several common attributes such as positive reader reviews, author popularity at the Smashwords.com store, quality cover design, sales performance across the Smashwords retail distribution network, and other data-driven factors.”

I know what you’re thinking — huh, kinda cool, but will this mean anything for authors who aren’t being featured?

Only time will tell, but I think we’ll see more indie authors doing well at Apple, if only because they’re making a push to increase their share of the ebook market. More eyeballs in the store mean more chances that people will find your books.

If you’re trying to figure out how to sell more at stores besides Amazon (and Amazon as well for that matter), you may want to check out an earlier post I did, talking about how to improve sales at Amazon UK, Kobo, and Apple. In 2011, my first year in e-publishing, I sold poorly in all of those spots, but things started to turn around in 2012, especially the latter half. Part of that was because I had more books out, along with a free Book 1, but I believe part of it, too, was due to Apple and Kobo, in particular, extending their reach. We have more people, especially international folks, shopping in these stores today. With luck, that’s a trend that will continue to grow, allowing all authors a chance to profit.

In the meantime, I’m certainly curious to see how much of a difference this makes for me personally in regard to Apple sales.

P. S. If you’ve stumbled across this post via Twitter, Google, or by some other random route, and you haven’t read my work, you can check out the first Emperor’s Edge “ibook” for free at Apple. (Yes, it’s free elsewhere too–links in the sidebar.) Thanks for taking a look!

Related Posts:

How to Upload Ebooks Directly to Apple/iTunes with Danielle Bourdon
Beyond Smashwords — My Plans to Upload Ebooks Directly to Apple & Kobo

Choosing Cover Art for Your Indie Book

It’s Monday morning, and I’m editing one book and writing another. Blog post, you ask? Er. Ah, wait. I have one here in the hopper, a guest post by up-and-coming indie fantasy author, C.J. Brightley. She’s going to talk about how she found affordable cover art for her novel, The King’s Sword. If this is something you need to do yourself soon, please give her article a read!

Choosing Cover Art for Your Indie Book by CJ Brightley

One of the great things about indie publishing is that you retain so much creative control. And one of the terrible things about indie publishing is that you retain so much creative control! Choosing cover art can be a nerve-wracking experience.

A few steps can help make the process a little less painful.

First, consider the message of your book. If you’re writing a fiction book, you may not have a “message” the way a nonfiction book might, but you do have a feeling, an emotion, or an overall atmosphere in mind. Think about the genre of your book and genre conventions (although they’re not rules!) for covers. Consider the target audience of your book and their preferences and expectations. Consider your writing style.

The cover is the first thing potential readers see. It’s a chance for you to set the reader’s expectations for your book. If you’ve written a funny chick lit novel, then your cover should have the same flavor as your book – funny, light, maybe a graphic illustration style. If you’ve written a dark urban fantasy, your cover will be completely different – different colors, different typefaces, and a different overall look.

Genre conventions for covers are useful because readers are familiar with them… fantasy novels look different than chick lit which look different than crime thrillers. Sometimes, for the sake of marketing, covers are put on traditionally published books that the author feels don’t represent their work at all… but they conform to certain genre expectations. It’s up to the marketing department rather than the author, even if the cover ends up misrepresenting the book! If you’ve written a fantasy novel but it’s not set in a pseudo-European medieval world, and you don’t have dragons, knights, orcs, or elves, as an indie author you have the freedom to choose a cover that more accurately represents your book, rather than a “stereotypical fantasy book” cover.  But don’t forsake genre conventions completely – readers rely on those general styles to let them know whether your book is something they might want to read.

Second, consider the thumbnail image. If you’re self-publishing, chances are you’re focused more on ebooks than print publishing. Your cover art needs to be eye-catching and effective even when reduced to a tiny thumbnail image on Amazon, B&N, or other major website. That doesn’t mean you can’t have detail and depth to your cover, but it does mean that the design needs to effectively convey your message even in a small format. Consider the fonts used… will your name disappear when the cover is viewed as a thumbnail? Is the title hard to read?

These considerations are still important if you’re publishing in print. But if your primary focus is ebooks, the thumbnail image is critical!

Third, consider whether your book is part of a series. If so, consider having a common look or at least a common element among the covers in the same series. Even if you’ve only written the first book, it’s useful to know you’re preparing for a series when you work out a cover design.

Fourth, think about who will actually make your cover. If you’re experienced in graphic design, you might do it yourself. If you’re not, consider having a professional do it. There are any number of ways you can have a cover professionally made. If you know a talented artist, that’s one option. You can go to a freelance website, where you can peruse dozens or hundreds of portfolios and choose a designer. You can also work with a local designer. Even if you make your cover yourself, you want it to look professionally done – many readers are a little cautious about self-published authors, especially as the price approaches that of traditionally published books. That doesn’t mean they won’t purchase an indie book, but a great cover helps convey that you cared enough about your writing to give it that extra bit of polish both on the outside and on the inside of the cover.

Lindsay’s Emperor’s Edge novels are a great example of covers done well. The covers are consistent across the series, so you know immediately that the books go together. They also convey the general flavor of the books. There’s a fantasy flair, but the look is more down-to-earth than many of the old-school fantasy covers you might see with dragons and glowing magic swords. The covers are graphic enough to catch the eye in small format, but detailed enough that they also look good when viewed larger. The covers are unique, but they’re identifiably “fantasy” so potential readers perusing Amazon can tell whether they might be interested.

For my book The King’s Sword, I used the website 99designs.com to host a design contest. I love the cover, and I will continue to work with this designer in the future. It’s a fantasy, but it’s kind of a fantasy-lite – there’s no magic or anything particularly fantastical about the world, it’s just different. The title is a reference to the narrator, not a particular weapon, so having a figure on the cover was helpful (especially since the title does sound like a “standard fantasy”) to set the stage for a different type of story. Yet I’m not a fan of most cartoon-type fantasy covers with a Fabio figure holding a sword… they wouldn’t fit my book at all! I’m really happy with how the designer worked with me to create just the right look and feel.

If you choose to go this route, I have a few tips to make it work for you. The process is easy, but it does take some work to ensure you get a cover you love.

First, go through the steps above! Part of setting up the contest is writing a design brief that outlines what you want. Really think about your novel and the ideas you want to convey. Write out the general feel you’re looking for, perhaps a particular scene/character/item from the book you might want pictured, and the genre and any conventions you might want to conform to or deliberately break. The more detailed you can be, the better. Remember, the designers can’t read your mind and they haven’t read your book – the design brief is all they have to work with. It’s crucial to be respectful of the designers and their time investment… only the winning designer is paid, so the more information you provide at the beginning, the better. It’s better not to waste their time if they’re not the right fit.

Once the contest begins, designers have a relatively short period of time (in my case it was four days) to submit designs. Some clients kind of mentally check out during this time period and leave the designers to work in an information vacuum. Don’t do this! I got fantastic covers to choose from at the end mostly because I kept giving feedback during this design period. I found it was best to leave public feedback on most designs, especially at the beginning, because it provided clarification for every designer who was interested. I noted font styles that I liked or didn’t like, color schemes I liked, overall impressions, everything I could identify. The designers iterated on ideas and submitted updated designs based on the feedback I gave. Along the way, you can remove designers whose work you don’t like as much, or designers may drop out if they think their work isn’t to your taste.

By the time the final stage began, I had narrowed my covers down to about three or four options from three different designers (with additional minute variations of each design). I emailed friends and relatives who had read my book and got their opinions on which cover they preferred. All of the designs were fantastic – any of them would have made an excellent cover. However, we all agreed that the chosen cover represented my book the best.

I was very happy with the results of the design contest, and I subsequently worked with the same designer directly on the cover for the sequel, A Cold Wind, which will be published by the end of January 2013. If you don’t already have a designer in mind for your cover, a design contest is a great option both to get a cover for your book and to identify a designer you might like to work with in the future. However, keep in mind that the results you get largely depend you – if you don’t give your designers any feedback, you won’t get the iteration required for a refined, customized design. As with any other commissioned artwork, it depends on communication.

I hope the information above is helpful for anyone considering indie publishing. If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to contact me.

Bio:

C. J. Brightley published her first novel, The King’s Sword, in November 2012. The sequel, A Cold Wind, will be published in January 2013. Find her work online at www.cjbrightley.com, Amazon, and Goodreads. Follow her on Facebook.

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How to Promote Your Books on Pinterest

If you’re an author, you’re probably already getting social (and trying to sell your books) on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn, not to mention leaving comments on blogs and writing posts of your own. I know what you’re thinking: it’s just not enough!

Okay, that might not be exactly what you’re thinking. But Pinterest is another place where you can establish a presence as an author and perhaps woo a few more people into checking out your work. I signed up at the end of last summer and Pinterest was the 43rd highest referrer of traffic to my site this month, which… isn’t all that impressive really. That accounted for 15 visitors. Not a lot! However, I spend very little time on Pinterest (as opposed to Twitter and Facebook, where I’m quite active), so I didn’t have to work very hard for those visitors. Also, according to Google Analytics, those folks spent a much higher-than-average time on my site, meaning they actually stuck around and read the excerpts of my books (more on how I know that’s where they went later). Did any of them end up buying my books? Since my sales all happen on other sites (Amazon, B&N, Kobo, etc.), it’s impossible to say, but so much of book promotion is a matter of being in as many places as you can, that you may find it worth it to set up a Pinterest account.

What is Pinterest?

According to the site, Pinterest is a virtual pinboard that “lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.”

Uhm, all right. So what does that have to do with promoting books? Well, there’s a social aspect to the site (people can like, comment, and “repin” each other’s images), meaning that your awesome new book cover could get spread all over the site by people you don’t even know. If you were the person who originally posted the cover, you could have linked it to your sales page at Amazon or (probably better) an excerpt of the book on your site, one that includes links to all of the major stores where the book is available.

Ways to Use Pinterest to Promote Yourself as an Author

We’ve already touched upon one way, so let’s go over that first.

Upload your book covers. If you have multiple titles out (or plan to one day), you can create a special “board” just for your covers. For example, here’s a picture I just uploaded to Pinterest for my novella, Beneath the Surface. I didn’t put the full book blurb in the description, but you could certainly do that, especially if you have a short one. You’ll see I used hashmarks to tag the book with keywords (fantasy and steampunk), the same way you would on Twitter. Hashtag keywords are searchable on Pinterest. You’ll also see that I edited the link, so that clicking on the picture will take people to an excerpt of the book on my site. If you put a price (use a $ somewhere in the description), people will also be able to stumble across your book when browsing the “gifts” section of Pinterest. Put $0 if you want it to be tagged as FREE.
Upload cool artwork related to your books — Remember, the power in Pinterest is in the sharing, and people love to share (repin) cool pictures. If you publish children’s books and you have some fun interior artwork that you can upload, this would be the place to show it off. Again, you can edit the link to point interested parties back to your website. For those of us with adult (non-picture) books, it may be tougher to come up with artwork to share. I have a board where I post the fan art readers create for my Emperor’s Edge world, but if you’re a new author, you may not have anything like that yet. You could also find artwork out on the web that reminds you of your world or your characters. In this case, you should make sure the link goes to the artist or photographer who posted the picture, but you could chat up your story in the comments and mention the title so interested people could investigate further.
Upload interesting quotations or tidbits of advice from your books — If you spend any time on Pinterest, you’ll see a lot of quotations or humorous greeting-card-esque phrases pinned on people’s boards. I haven’t done this yet, but I’d like to go through my books’ popular Kindle highlights and turn some of those into images to share on Pinterest (in fact, if anyone reading this wants to make a few bucks doing this for me, let me know ). You can turn text into images with Word, but there are also some online tools for making things quick and simple, such as Pinstamatic.
Network with other Pinterest users who are “pinning” in your genre/niche. I honestly don’t spend much time doing this, but if you enjoy your first few days on Pinterest and see some results insofar as drawing traffic to your site, you could get more involved. In my case, I might look up active pinners (folks who share a lot of pictures and get a lot of likes and comments from their community) who do a lot of fantasy, steampunk, geekdom humor, science fiction, etc. If you get on these people’s radars, they might be more likely to pin your book covers and other genre-related pictures.
Pin and comment for the heck of it — People aren’t that keen to help out those who are blatantly promoting themselves all the time, so you may want to post some “just for fun” stuff, too, and do some commenting on other people’s pins without an obvious agenda. I keep most of my boards related to my genre and general geekery, but I added a dog one, too, just for kicks. Food boards are very popular too. You probably shouldn’t post so often that people get sick of seeing your stuff, but nobody will mind a little variety.

For those who are already active on Pinterest, do you have any advice that I haven’t touched upon here? Would you like to point out any authors who are doing a good job on Pinterest? Please, let us know in the comments. You can also follow me on Pinterest if you want to keep track of my pins.

 

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Book Promotion Basics — Useful Articles for New Authors
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6 Reasons You’re Not Selling a Zillion Books with Twitter

Emperor’s Edge Audiobooks (1-3) Available at Audible, iTunes, and Podiobooks

I know I’ve made various announcements about the EE3 audiobook on Twitter and Facebook, but I’m not sure I ever made it official by posting links here. The first three books in the Emperor’s Edge series are available for free as podcasts (each chapter is an episode) at Podiobooks and through Apple’s iTunes (scroll to the bottom for the audio versions). If you think you’d like to keep the audiobooks forever (or prefer to listen to them straight through, without intros and outros on each chapter), you can buy the complete files at Audible too.

The fourth audiobook is in the works now and might be ready in the spring sometime. (I’m learning not to put dates on these, since I have very little control over when they’re done!)

Thank you to everyone who helped out with my Kickstarter campaign last year and funded these projects. Most of the goodies (paperbacks and links to download the audiobooks) have been sent out, though I still need to finish the vignettes to send to everyone and include in the USB packages. Feel free to email me if you’re missing anything.

Thanks for reading listening!

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Attending Conventions and Conferences as an Independent Author

I keep saying I’m going to start going to writing and SF/F conventions so I can network, promote books, and pick up hot Klingons, but it hasn’t happened yet. Am I missing out? I invited fellow independent author Dale Ivan Smith to the blog today to talk about his experience in attending (and even being a panelist on) conventions and conferences. Yes, indies can get invited to speak! Here’s the lowdown….

Interview with Dale Ivan Smith

Heya, Dale! Welcome! You’ve blogged about writing conferences, and the benefits of attending them, for us before. It sounds like you’re not just going to them these days but have started to appear on panels. Where have you appeared?

I was a panelist at Renovation, the 2011 World Science Fiction Convention, and at our annual sci-fi convention here in Portland in 2011 and 2012. I had been invited to be a panelist at the 2012 World Science Fiction Convention, Chi-Con, held in Chicago, but had to decline because of scheduling issues, so that makes four conventions so far.

How, as an independent author, did you get invited to appear?

In the case of Renovation I was fortunate in knowing the Convention chair, Patty Wells, who offered, with no guarantees, to forward my name to the head of the Programming department. Literary sci-fi cons like Worldcon, World Fantasy, Norwescon etc. are run by committees divided into departments- programming, finances, PR, gaming, hotel, etc. It can be a bit challenging to find the name of the programming head, check the conventions website and look for committee members–they are often listed. This is important because the programming head is usually the one that decides on who is invited to be a guest or not.

I wrote a short bio listing the stories I had published online, emphasizing that I was working on becoming an indie author. Renovation’s programming department wanted to have a cross section of traditional writers and indies. It’s important to find out who is running the convention. They in turn can point you to the programming department. Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine has a regular convention calendar for North American cons. You can also check to see if your city has a local literary SF/fantasy society. If they do, there’s a very good chance members are involved in helping to run the local convention.

With our local convention, Orycon, I volunteered at the con in 2011 by going to the Green Room on Day 2 of the convention, and introducing myself to the programming chair, explaining that I was an indie author, as well as a librarian, and offering to be a stand-in if a particular panel was short a panelist.  It turned out there was a panel on scams and pitfalls for writing that had an opening.

Pointing out any particular expertise you possess, or background, or career outside of writing can be another way to be invited. If you were in the military, work in law enforcement, the sciences, computer industry, belong to a re-enactment society, etc. this can be of interest to attendees and programming committees alike and is really worth emphasizing.

Bear in mind that we’re discussing literary sci-fi and fantasy cons, and that media conventions and comic cons are different, typically having fewer panels. Literary sci-fi and fantasy cons can have well over a hundred panels in a three day weekend while media cons have fewer, and are usually more focused on media celebrities.

Writers conferences are a different, but a related kettle of fish, dealing with writing and publishing fiction. Check with the organizers about being a presenter — mention publishing credits, and also any related area of expertise. One of the indie presenters at our local writing conference had been an early success at Amazon and was something of an expert on Amazon’s recommendation engine. He spoke to a packed room of a hundred or so, and wound up with many of us on his mailing list.

What sorts of opportunities are opened up by speaking on panels?

You have the opportunity to speak to readers in public, first of all. Literary SF conventions are relatively small compared to Comic and Media cons, but you’re able to reach readers who might be interested in your work. You will have the opportunity to network with other writers, artists and editors that you are on panels with. Moreover being a panelist typically means wearing a ribbon identifying you as “guest”, or “speaker”, or “panelist,” which can be an ice breaker at a book launch or industry party being held at the convention.

There are also numerous networking opportunities with the other panelists, and other guests you may encounter after your panel concludes.

What sorts of topics are common at these panels? It seems natural that indies would be invited to speak on self-publishing, and perhaps blogging and book promotion, but what about the craft of writing fiction itself? Are indie authors taken seriously yet (and permitted to advise) by cons?

At literary SF and fantasy cons there are usually numerous panels on writing topics ranging from characterization to world-building, as well as panels on genre–say urban fantasy or steampunk, science panels, history etc, which is great way to showcase a particular expertise you might have. Writing topics would be a natural–I have been on several flash fiction panels, for instance. Emphasize your publishing credits and experience.

Have you found that some conferences are more amenable to featuring self-published authors than others?

I have! Like I said, I attended Renovation and Orycon and was invited to Chi-con. It really depends upon the organizers at this point in time. This past year’s Willamette Writers Conference featured several successful indie authors as speakers and a full slate of panels on self-publishing, SEO, the Amazon Recommendation engine, etc, much more so than when I last attended in 2009. Clearly Willamette Writers is aware of the growth in self-publishing and its potential.

On the other hand, I’ve heard from another successful indie author friend that her local writer’s conference had decided against having panels on indie topics, and instead focusing on traditional publishing. This same indie author friend was well received at her local literary SF convention, which goes to show how things can vary even in the same city, between organizations.

There seem to be a lot of conferences out there to choose from. Do you have any recommendations for authors?

There are indeed many conferences and conventions to choose from. First off, identify what your goal is in attending as an indie author. Do you want to network with other authors? Possibly meet fans and potential readers? Are you interested in leveraging your self-publishing success into a traditional publishing contract?

I met one successful sci-fi indie author at Willamette Writers who was pitching to agents and editors there. Writers conferences are a great place to network with other writers, as well as angle for a traditional publishing contract. For those staying indie, the networking would be the main reason. Literary sci-fi/fantasy cons can be great places to raise awareness of your writing by appearing on panels, as well as network with other writers.

Save for World Fantasy and Worldcon, agents and editors don’t attend in the numbers they used to. World Fantasy (being held in Brighton, England this year and D.C. next year) is a great place to meet other writers and authors. It’s low key, a limited panel track, lots of readings, and many opportunities to network. I met indie author Lorna Suzuki at World Fantasy San Diego in 2011 and we’ve become good friends since, and was fortunate to be interviewed at Lorna’s site about my indie published SF story “Persisting.” I also made several other friends there, and had the opportunity to meet a few short fiction editors as well as an editor from TOR Books.

Worldcon, held in San Antonio this year, is a great place to appear in front of a larger audience. If you have several books out and have been invited as a panelist it’s another way to raise your profile.

 Great news! Thanks, Dale!

***

 Dale Ivan Smith has his mother to thank for his love of science fiction and fantasy. When he was five, he glimpsed the cover of a paperback sci-fi novel she was reading and was immediately interested. (It had a giant radioactive spider on the cover.) When he was fifteen, she loaned him her collection of Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Barsoom novels and he devoured them in short order.

He got into trouble in grade school for sneaking off to the library during class, so naturally he wound up working as a librarian.

Dale’s stories are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords etc. He is currently working on season 1 of his superhero serial, Weed, scheduled for publication in 2013.

You can find him at: www.daleivansmith.com

And on Twitter: @daleivan

 

 

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Two Year Self-Publishing Anniversary–Thoughts on the Past and What’s Going to Work in the Future

I self-published my first ebook (and poorest seller), The Goblin Brothers Adventures, in December of 2010, with The Emperor’s Edge (the start of my most popular series) following soon after. Encrypted (my personal favorite story to date) came along in January. Those two novels and the MG short-story collection were everything I’d written at the time (that I deemed suitable for human consumption), and I chose to self-publish them all instead of playing the agent-hunt game. It didn’t hurt that I’d learned how well some “indie” authors (it wasn’t cool to refer to yourself as self-published anymore) were doing in the Kindle Store. Until that fall, I hadn’t known how easy it was to submit one’s ebooks to the various stores and how one could compete on a level playing field with the traditionally published ebooks.

As you might guess, I didn’t become an overnight bestseller, but I did have some moderate success, largely as a result of playing with advertising and by making a short story free at Barnes & Noble and Smashwords (I didn’t know how to get a free ebook into Amazon at the time). Here are some of my progress-report posts from the last two years, in case you’re curious about my journey thus far:

Can a “Normal” Author Make a Living E-publishing? (in which I share my sales stats after about five months of self-publishing)
Self-publishing Adventures: 9 Months and 10,000 Ebooks Later…
My Self-Publishing Thoughts After 50,000+ Ebook Sales (published in Fall 2012)

For those who don’t want to dig through the old posts, it’s been a fairly steady increase in sales and earnings over the last 24 months, though there’s definitely a cyclical aspect too (new release months, especially for full-length novels, are the highest earning months with the month before a new release typically being lowest). The overall trend, though, has been upward. This is not, I should point out, because I’m selling so many more copies of each book each month (I’m not), but because I’m continuously writing and publishing more titles. Now, two years into this, I have six full-length novels out along with several novellas and short stories. I’m editing Novel #7 now (Decrypted) and plan to publish it next month.

Here are a few notable milestones I’ve reached thus far:

Quitting the day job — This came about a year ago, though I’d “checked out” of the old job months before. Writing books is just more fun.
Being approached by traditional publishers — Amazon’s 47North asked about the Emperor’s Edge series last spring (you can see the post where I debated things here, asking for opinions from readers), and a lady at Macmillan suggested an independent project to me a couple of months ago. These offers weren’t quite right for me, but I can see a day when I sign on with a traditional publisher, at least for one series. Like many authors today, I’d be interested in pursuing a hybrid approach, so I can get (one hopes) the best of both worlds. AKA, the increased visibility from a traditionally published book series might help me sell more of my independent titles, muhaha! I’m not looking to rush into things there, though, as the industry is in a state of flux, and I’m enjoying things as they are right now, so I’ve yet to approach an agent or publisher of my own accord.
50,000+ ebooks sold (does not include free downloads) — It’s probably more like 60 or 70,000 now, but I’m too lazy busy in an important, authorial way to tally things up. You can read the 50K-sold post I linked to above for more details, but this has been a nice milestone to reach. There are lots of independent authors who have sold many, many more ebooks, but I think it’s cool to realize we can reach these numbers without being #1 bestsellers on Amazon or writing in one of the super popular genres or having a huge “break out” book. I just keep plugging away and trying to write stories people will enjoy.
Having readers start a fan forum, complete with fan art and fan fiction — Seriously, it’s nice to see earnings increase (after all, that’s what makes it so you can pursue your writing passion for a living, not to mention fund the construction of your evil overlord lair) and get emails from publishers, but this is what it’s all about, people enjoying your work enough to share it with others and even form communities around it. I can’t imagine that getting email from a reader who’s loving your series ever gets old.

As far as e-publishing in general goes, here are a few things I’ve seen over the last two years (that doesn’t sound like a long time, but this industry is changing quickly):

Other self-published authors coming and going — Some people work harder when their dreams of bestseller-dom aren’t met right away, but others get discouraged and fade away. When I looked at some of the comments on those old posts I was digging up, I saw a lot of names that have since disappeared from my radar, and when I checked their blogs, I found them lacking in recent updates — their amazon author pages were the same way. It’s true that not everybody can “make it” as an author, and poor sales and getting shredded by strangers are certainly ego-withering experiences, but I think you’d be surprised how many success stories are from people who just kept going after others quit.
Much more competition in the marketplaces — When I got started in December of 2010, I was lamenting that I’d already missed the low-hanging fruit (days when there weren’t many traditionally published ebooks in the Kindle Store, thus leading readers to try indie authors, even those with mediocre blurbs, samples, and cover art). As you can guess, there are many more titles two years later, and a lot of the “tricks” people have exploited to gain visibility at Amazon no longer work. Does that mean you can’t make it if you start today? Of course not, but you have to be prepared for a long, slow climb, not a meteoric burst onto the scene (don’t feel bad — I never got the meteoric burst either).
The end of the one-hit wonder — Oh, I imagine there’ll still be a few exceptions, but most people aren’t getting anywhere with one book anymore. There’s nothing wrong with publishing a single title, but if you want to make an income from this, you need to think in terms of a writing career. You publish a book, market it, collect the emails of those who liked it, publish another book, market it, collect more readers, etc. etc. etc. It might take ten or twenty books before you have enough fans to turn your latest release into a bestseller (if that point even comes), but if you get there like this, you’ve got staying power. Many of the one-hit wonders who were topping the charts when I got started aren’t getting any traction with their new releases today. Why? Because they didn’t follow a path that allowed them to gradually accumulate more and more fans (i.e. didn’t collect email addresses, Facebook likes, Twitter followers, etc.; bounced around in different genres; waited too long to publish new titles, etc. etc. etc.). Today, for those who want to make a career as an indie, it’s about writing lots of entertaining stories, thinking like a publisher instead of an artist, and being patient.

Now, I have editing to get back to, but those are my random thoughts on this Monday afternoon. If you have any comments or questions on my journey or where I think things are going (or, you know, what my favorite color is), feel free to leave them below. As always, thanks for reading!

 

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How the Amazon Kindle Serials Program Works (with Roberto Calas)

I’ve been kicking around with the idea of trying a serialized adventure, but with other projects on the table, I haven’t gotten around to it yet. I’m intrigued, though, especially now that Kindle Serials has come along, creating an organized way to deliver serialized ebooks, so I invited Roberto Calas to talk about the program and how he got involved with Amazon. (I hadn’t realized independent authors could submit to the program without an agent or an invitation.)

Roberto Calas on Kindle Serials

I just wrote a novel. Literally. I finished it this week. The funny thing is, it has been an Amazon Bestseller for two months.

Welcome to the relentless world of serials.

In October of 2012 I was contacted by 47North, the sci-fi/fantasy imprint of Amazon Publishing. They were interested in a work-in-progress I had sent them about a knight searching for his lost bride in a demon-infested, fourteenth-century England. I didn’t realize it, but the clock in my head started ticking that day. (Note from Lindsay: you can read the submission policy and find out how to submit your own work here.)

And it didn’t stop until this week.

47North wanted a serial from me. Eight episodes of a novel. Each episode had to be somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000 words. And each episode would be due two weeks after the last one. It didn’t sound so bad then, and when I think about it, it doesn’t sound that bad to me now. If I can’t write 4,000 words a week, what kind of writer am I?

Except that it wasn’t just writing 4,000 words a week. I had to produce 8,000 words of completely polished writing every two weeks. Imagine writing one tiny novel every fourteen days, with all the angst and joy that goes with it.

Here’s a peek at the two-week cycle of a serial writer:

Write eight to ten thousand words
Worry that it wasn’t good enough
Go over the writing two or three times
Send the episode out to my beta readers and my fiancée
Stress that this episode might be worse than the previous ones
Wait for comments and suggestions
Panic because the episode needs a lot of work.
Consider changing my career. Pipefitter or stuntman maybe
Make edits according to beta-reader/fiancée suggestions
Send the new changes out to be beta read
Make more changes according to beta-reader/fiancée suggestions
Realize that I wouldn’t be making these damn changes if I didn’t send episodes out to beta readers.
Apologize to my editor for the delay
Go over the manuscript one last time
Mentally ask for forgiveness from betas and thank them for making my book rock
Send the whole thing to my editor
Spot a problem on page nine; fix the problem
Send new version to editor
Get edits back from copy editor and make more changes
Rinse and repeat

With all the deadlines and stress and moments of panic and rushing around, you might think the novel would end up as a steaming pile of literary dog feces that readers step on rather than read. And I have to admit, at times I wondered what the hell I was doing scrambling around like a short-order cook. But you know what?

It is the best thing I have ever written.

And I think the readers think so too.

Why do I think this? Because the readers visit the Amazon discussion forums and let me know. Their feedback has been instant and amazing. As a novelist, there are times when you have doubts. When you wonder why you are writing this story. When you wonder if it is any good. And if a reader tells you that she or he loves the book and can’t wait for the next episode, it snaps you out of that funk. It energizes you and makes you realize that your audience is following along and cheering you onward and falling in love with what you are doing.

There can be no greater motivation for any writer.

It makes you work harder, write faster, strive for more, make each line you write the best line you have ever written. Because the words you type will be read by your audience only weeks after you send them in.

Weeks? Oh, lord. I better get started on book two of The Scourge. They’ll probably want the first episode soon!

Welcome to the relentless world of serials.

 * * *

An author of fantasy and historical fantasy, Roberto Calas lives in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. You can visit his blog or find him on Facebook or Twitter, and I’m sure he’d be tickled if you checked out The Scourge at Amazon.

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New Emperor’s Edge Novella Available

Yes, after much talk on Twitter and Facebook, the novella is finally here. The 56,000-word “Beneath the Surface” takes place between Books 5 and 6, and I hope it’ll tide you over until the last book is ready to go. For those who missed it, here’s a preview as well as an interview with Sgt Yara (the secondary point-of-view character in the story).

Blurb:

All Sergeant Evrial Yara wanted was to protect the young emperor from those plotting to kill him. Joining forces with a group of notorious outlaws wasn’t part of the plan, especially not when one of them is determined to charm her out of her uniform at every turn. Working with the criminals might have been worth it if their efforts had saved the emperor, but it seems he’s not the rightful heir to the throne…. Evrial may have thrown away her career for nothing.

To make matters worse, fate isn’t going to give her time to calmly decide what to do next. While she’s traveling back to the capital with Amaranthe Lokdon and the rest of the outlaws, Evrial uncovers artifacts that have been smuggled aboard their steamboat. They’re deadly enough to threaten the entire city, perhaps the entire empire. Oh, and they could kill everybody on board the boat too. These scenarios just weren’t discussed in the Enforcer Academy.

Grab a copy at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords (iTunes link coming soon)!

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