Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 105

An Update on a Pre-order Experiment

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Last year, I decided to try listing a book as a  pre-order. That’s to say, I decided to try out a pre-order for my self-published series.  My trad-published books had long been offered for pre-ordering, but that wasn’t anything I had any control over.

I remember, years ago, on the trad-published email loops I was on, authors were concerned about pre-ordering. Specifically, they were concerned that the books would ship early, retailers would put them out early, customers would purchase early, and then the pre-orders wouldn’t count toward the title’s release day. This would mess up their chances with the New York Times list, either extended or short.

I was never very worried about the list.  I don’t know anyone who finds their books that way, so to me it seemed like more of an ego thing or maybe a bragging rights thing.

But what I am worried about is confused readers.  And what I can tell you is that my pre-order for a future Myrtle book has resulted in some confused readers.

A bit of important backstory here: I did not put the book up as a pre-order on Amazon.  There are a couple of reasons why I didn’t.  Reason #1: The pre-order sales dilute the sales ranking on release day. In other words, Amazon doesn’t just allow those sales numbers to accumulate and mark them all toward release day, making the book more visible to customers when it’s available.  Instead, they mark each sale toward the ranking that day for the title.  Amazon, naturally, tries to spin this: “ Also, pre-orders will contribute toward sales rank and other Kindle Store merchandising even before your book is released, which can help more readers discover your book.”

This didn’t really appeal to me, although I did read with interest Lindsay Buroker’s piece on why she did put a pre-order up on Amazon for her 5th book in the series (one compelling reason was that it helped her show up in the ‘also-boughts’ section of recommended reads. )  Yes, this is my 10th book in the Myrtle series, so putting it up as a pre-order would make some sense–more so than it would with a book one. But then, there’s an extremely important Reason #2: Amazon doesn’t have ‘asset-less pre-orders’ (as of the writing of this post). In other words, you’ve got to put a manuscript up there. As of right now, not only do I not have a manuscript to put up, I don’t even have a fully-fleshed out outline for the book.  I know some folks put up a rough draft or perhaps their grocery list or whatever, but this, again, makes me leery.  The final version, according to Amazon, must be uploaded ten days before publication: “Your final version must be uploaded and republished at least 10 days before the release date you set, with the last day for upload starting at midnight, U.S. Eastern time. For example, if you were releasing a book on September 20, you would need to upload and republish it by 11:59 PM Eastern time on September 9 (4:59 AM UTC the following day).”

First, the good stuff.  I’ve gotten the word out that there is an upcoming Myrtle Clover book this summer.  Readers have emailed me about it, they recognize the cover, they know it’s on the way.  That awareness of the book is there.

But, unfortunately:   This awareness has not translated into sales.  Maybe this is unique to my readers, but they seem to want to buy it when they can read it.  Also, most of my readers are Amazon customers (as is apparent from my sales). The fact that it’s not available on this channel is really cutting into potential sales.

Also unfortunately: The fact that it’s not available on Amazon means that I’m getting a good number of emails.  I’ve gotten several that were complaint letters.  I’ve gotten several that expressed confusion.  I’ve even gotten one from a concierge on a cruise ship (they have those?) who was completely exasperated by her futile efforts to get this future release for her passenger.

What if I promoted the pre-order, as recommended as a best practice by Mark Coker and others?  That resulted in an uptick of confused emails.

An additional concern:  I’m also a bit worried that some readers, having seen the cover for the upcoming book for such a long time, will think it’s an older title that they’ve already purchased.  If they’re newsletter subscribers, I can fix that by announcing the release in August.  If they’re not?  They may stay confused.

Would I do this again?  No.  Not the same way I’ve handled it, at any rate.  I’d either make it a very short pre-order period with a rough draft uploaded on Amazon (still unlikely because I’m not sure the diluted sales figures are worth it, even considering the also-boughts) or else I’d scrap it altogether.  But a long pre-order period (this one stretches from October 2015 to the final August 2016 release… a tactic endorsed by Smashwords’ Mark Coker here, slide 264)?  I won’t do it again.

But is the same true for you? Not necessarily.  If you decide to pursue pre-orders, there are some excellent resources available. One is Andrew Lowe’s post on the ALLi blog: “How to Set-Up Pre-orders for Self-Published eBooks.”  One on promoting pre-orders is from Ruth Ann Nordin in “Promoting a Pre-order.”  And, if you’re interested in pursuing pre-orders on Amazon, Penny Sansevieri’s post, “The Best Way for Authors to Use Amazon’s Pre-order Feature” will help.

Have you tried pre-orders?  How did it work for you?

An update on a pre-order experiment:
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Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 30,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

8 Ways Creative Types Can Increase Focus And Productivity:  http://ow.ly/10nz2d  @colleen_m_story

How to Develop the Discipline of a Professional Writer:  http://ow.ly/10nyV6 by Brian DeLeonard

Setting as Character:  http://ow.ly/10nzjO @judithkeim

3 Top Tips For Delivering A Sensational Speech:  http://ow.ly/10nzb0 @Writers_Write

How to Take Charge of Your Novel’s Symbolism:  http://ow.ly/10nyZc @BetterNovelProj

10 Tips to Pitch Your Book to Review Bloggers:  http://ow.ly/10pcVn @missriki

The Pros and Cons of Offering Preorders:  http://ow.ly/10pdbu @ceciliaedits

Hero Archetypes:  http://ow.ly/10pdzl @kylieday0

How not to talk about African fiction:  http://ow.ly/10pdL6 @brittlepaper

Emotional Wounds Thesaurus: Being Raised by Overprotective Parents: http://ow.ly/10pe02 @beccapuglisi

Write What You Love and Still Sell:  http://ow.ly/10pe6T  @Rachel_Aaron

15 Instagram Book Marketing Ideas from Publishers:  http://ow.ly/10pecT @DianaUrban

How to Title Your WIP (video):  http://ow.ly/10pdph @Ava_Jae

The easy way to launch a book (with a list):  http://ow.ly/10pel5 @Creativindie

Adding Humor to Our Writing Using The Rule of 3: http://ow.ly/10pcI7  @cyleyoung

Why you shouldn’t pull all-nighters:  http://ow.ly/10pdGC @pubcoach

How to Rock Out on Goodreads: http://ow.ly/10pcR0 @Bookgal

The Most Dangerous Writing App Lives Up To Its Name: http://ow.ly/10nyDi @helpfulsnowman

Why Traditional Publishing Takes So Long:  http://ow.ly/10lHUm @sjaejones

Learning from Failed Movies:  http://ow.ly/10nyGv @dougeboch

Creating a Supporting Cast of Characters:  http://ow.ly/10nyjJ @AJHumpage

Sell More Books in More Formats in More Territories:  http://ow.ly/4mJzYO #IAF16  @Thecreativepenn @pbackwriters @tobymundy

The Future of Publishing: 7 things an Author Must Know: http://ow.ly/4mJzpE @JaneFriedman @IndieAuthorALLI #IAF16

The Trouble With Reactive Protagonists:  http://ow.ly/10lH8E @Janice_Hardy

Reader-based: on Virginia Woolf and writing a novel readers will read:  http://ow.ly/4mJxDf  @lynnsstrong  @CatapultStory

The Basic Author Platform:  http://ow.ly/4mJrEk

Tropes in Literature: ‘This is My Story’ Openings:  http://ow.ly/10lHGz by Melinda Brasher

4 Reasons Most Authors Fail at Book Marketing:  http://ow.ly/10nymU @RachelintheOC

9 Reasons To Index-Card Your Manuscript:  http://ow.ly/10nyoR @NatePhilbrick

What Works & What Doesn’t: ‘Citizen Kane’:  http://ow.ly/10nyuI @chris_shultz81

How to Write a Novella: 6 Essential Tips:  http://ow.ly/10nyzs @nownovel

5 Questions New Writers Ask:  http://ow.ly/10nytc @monicamclark

Elements that give crime fictions series longevity: http://ow.ly/4mIWBt @mkinberg

Translation as Activism:  http://ow.ly/4mIWah @OliviaSnaije @pubperspectives

10 Ways To Write a Self-Rejecting Query to a Blogger, Agent or Publisher:  http://ow.ly/4mITqP @annerallen

Tricks for writing fast-paced action scenes:  http://ow.ly/10lHoY @RayneHall

How To Write Like J.K. Rowling:  http://ow.ly/10lHgY @Chris_Kokoski

An Author Shares her Top 10 Items For a 2016 Marketing Plan:  http://ow.ly/4mHDNV @mollygreene

7 Vibrant Publishing Markets:  http://ow.ly/10EOP3 @erinlcox @pubperspectives

The Pathetic Fallacy Made Flesh: Edgar Allan Poe’s “Fall of the House of Usher”:  http://ow.ly/10lI0t  @r_emrys @AnneMPillsworth

Stairway to (copyright) Heaven:  http://ow.ly/10EsGI @PassiveVoiceBlg @VolokhConspirac by David Post

How Writers Can Create Continuity in Showing the Passing of Time:  http://ow.ly/10iU4M @CSLakin

Life Problems Only Writers Understand:  http://ow.ly/10iUND @DianeDeMasi

A look at the success of @OpenRoadMedia and @JaneORIM in maximizing backlists:  http://ow.ly/10ENRg  @chgreig @Porter_Anderson

3 Common Qualities for Science Fiction Lovers:  http://ow.ly/10iUnv @PeevishPenman

Kobo Expands Kobo Writing Life Services:  http://ow.ly/10EsyN @DigiBookWorld @KoboWritingLife

Post apocalyptic or Post-apocalyptic or Postapocalyptic?  http://ow.ly/10iUzh @PeevishPenman

A site that helps children’s lit and YA writers find agents:  http://ow.ly/10EuMe @LyndaRYoung

The Writing Lessons of Hamilton:  http://ow.ly/10lHRc  @theladygreer

Supernaturally Dysfunctional Towns:  http://ow.ly/10lI7d @tvdotcom

Settings and the Romantic Novel:  http://ow.ly/10lHvP  @Ella_Carey @romanceuniv

Tropes In Literature: Mr. Exposition and Captain Obvious:  http://ow.ly/10lHMW by Melinda Brasher

Initials in Author Names:  http://ow.ly/10lIby @DebbieYoungBN

Sourcing and using photos for self-pubbed books:  http://ow.ly/10lIe4 @writerjeangill

10 Great Teens In Contemporary Fiction: A Reading List http://ow.ly/10lHcR @JonLeeWriter

A blog dedicated to writing and resources centered on racial & ethnic diversity:  http://ow.ly/10DICJ

Imperative character questions:   http://ow.ly/10DzJJ @wendypmiller

“On Prescribing Poems for the Sick, the Dying, the Grief Stricken”:  http://ow.ly/10iV1D

@ronnabloom @thelithub

How to write several narrators and make them sound distinct:  http://ow.ly/10DwZd @Roz_Morris

How to Attend Online Author Conference Indie Author Fringe this Friday:  http://ow.ly/10DwBA  @IndieAuthorALLI

10 Questions About The Authority Figures That Can Beef Up Your Conflict:  http://ow.ly/10iUhg @10minnovelist

The Self-Hating Book Critic:  http://ow.ly/10iV92 @thebookslut @coppernickel

5 Steps to Great Cover Art:  http://ow.ly/10iUeP @jayonaboat

How to Write a Novella:  http://ow.ly/10iU7m @EvaDeverell

1 Key Question for Worldbuilding: http://ow.ly/10iU1E @HeatherJacksonW

How to Declutter Your Writing Ideas and Finish More Projects:  http://ow.ly/10iUJa @danasitar

192 Publications That  Pay Freelance Writers:  http://ow.ly/10iUGa @marisoldahl

Working For Exposure:  http://ow.ly/10g2ZP @jimchines

Writing a Novel Within a Novel:  http://ow.ly/10g2Lu by  Yona Zeldis McDonough

Writing YA: Reflecting the Emotional Age of the Reader: http://ow.ly/10g1J8 @MJDougherty33

Spring Ahead: Poets’ Close Relationship to the Season:  http://ow.ly/10zfBz @Poetrywithc @PoetryFound

Why Your Story is Getting Rejected: Language: http://ow.ly/10g2Sl @ChelseaLHenshey

102 Indispensable Works of Literary Criticism:  http://ow.ly/10g2hY @jrc2666 @thelithub

After self-pubbing: book promo:  http://ow.ly/10g37D @Bookgal

Tips for drafting a plot:  http://ow.ly/10g33C by Kathy Edens

Common Sense Marketing:  http://ow.ly/10g2yC  @PBRWriter

The right way to torture our characters:  http://ow.ly/10g2Vw  @Brianna_daSilva

A Panster’s Guide to Planning:  http://ow.ly/10e4Wg @tmtysinger

Another way to monetize ebooks:  http://ow.ly/10z9bT  @jwikert

Can’t get to #LBF16 ? Follow @Porter_Anderson for the play-by-play on this important conference.

Some indie bookstores found new ways to improve online print sales:  http://ow.ly/10z8R3 @Judith2dogs @PublishersWkly

Free, downloadable magazine on worldwide rights opportunities: http://ow.ly/10zwTF @hannahsjohnson @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Do Artists Still Find Inspiration in Literature?  http://ow.ly/10g2cR by Catherine Talese @VOLTAshow

How to Use Life Experience to Write Better:  http://ow.ly/10e4GB by Reagan Colbert

The Unfunny Plight of Women in Comics:  http://ow.ly/10zeDU @OliviaSnaije @pubperspectives

5 Books with Snarky Magicians: http://ow.ly/10e4O8 @DanKoboldt

9 Free Tools That Can Help Build Buzz for a Book:  http://ow.ly/10e4Nk @DianaUrban

Showing vs. Telling: Character Emotion:  http://ow.ly/10e4WO @ceciliaedits

Welcome Spring with a @StoryTellers10 Cozy Mystery Giveaway. Enter to win 35+ great books: http://bit.ly/CozySpring

Picking a Category to Write In:  http://ow.ly/10e50p @Kid_Lit

Give Your Latest Book a Boost With Home Page Branding:  http://ow.ly/10e4Ms  @cksyme

Writing in two categories and querying agents:  http://ow.ly/10e4Zv @Janet_Reid

At Home in Deaf Culture: Storytelling in an Un-Writable Language:  http://ow.ly/10xSqV @NovicSara

The What, Why, and How of Author Platforms:  http://ow.ly/10e4Yg @JasonGracia

7 Steps to a Happy Revision:  http://ow.ly/10cWso @j_s_brown

A publisher with tips for submissions and queries: http://ow.ly/10w9FQ @SpunkOnAStick

Resources for Writers: Ink Pageant:  http://ow.ly/10wnqI @AlexJCavanaugh

Lies & Secrets: The Lifeblood of Great Fiction:  http://ow.ly/10cWmg @KristenLambTX

6 Well-Meant (but Bad) Pieces of Writing Jargon:  http://ow.ly/10e4Xc @HistoireLolita

Will Work For Hire Hurt my Novel? http://ow.ly/10e51v @Janet_Reid

Public Speaking Hacks for Writers:  http://ow.ly/10e4Py @Chris_Kokoski

Confessions of a Reluctant Memoirist:  http://ow.ly/10e4IX @LucasWMann @thelithub

Revision method: rewriting:  http://ow.ly/10e4HR from The Character Comma

What Does Your Genre’s Theme Promise to Readers? http://ow.ly/10cWiU @JamiGold

Publishers’ Rights Corner at Frankfurt Book Fair:  http://ow.ly/10sDAr @Porter_Anderson

Music for Writers: David Harrington: “There Is No Such Thing As Easy Music”:  http://ow.ly/10vsmu @kronosquartet @porter_anderson

5 Twitter Tips for Publishers and Writers:  http://ow.ly/10vshP  @Porter_Anderson @IngramSpark

Crime fiction: when sleuths don’t work well with others: http://ow.ly/10u7eb @mkinberg

9 Ways to Improve Your Poetry:  http://ow.ly/10cW9o from Citysqwirl

6 Ways To Spring Clean Your Writing:  http://ow.ly/10cWt9 @adearinthewoods

How to Write a Great (and Not Schmaltzy) Love Scene:  http://ow.ly/10cWow @JRHwords

Why stories need themes:  http://ow.ly/10cWeT @thisgirlclimbs

The popularity of books on the ‘female lived experience’:  http://ow.ly/10cVYJ @wrightallison

Writing Fan Fiction Can Prepare Us for Becoming an Author:  http://ow.ly/10cWqm  @AshleyHearn

The top writing links of last week are on Twitterific:
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The Basic Author Platform

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’ve made a lot of marketing and social media mistakes, especially when I was just starting out.

And since the author who inspired this post is just starting out…I’m not going to reveal his identity.  I did love his debut novel–there were parts that made me laugh out loud, which is unusual for me, as a reader.

I decided I’d give him a little publicity, if I could.  He was already getting great reviews on Amazon, so I thought I’d find him online, find a worthy blog post, and send out a tweet or two.

You probably know where this is going.

So…I started out at Amazon, which has (somewhat sadly) become a hub of author info.  And…yep, his author page wasn’t filled out.  So he wasn’t on Amazon Author Central.  The publisher (his is a trad-published book) did a good job with everything else on the book page, but he wasn’t there.

I turned to Google and the author did come up.  He was miraculously on Twitter but his avatar was his book cover.  I know most of y’all know this—branding ourselves to our book cover is a bad idea.  We want readers to remember our face. Because, hopefully and with any luck, our face will change slower than our most recent book cover.

The author had no content online that  I could tweet.

And…his website, lovely though it was?  It was one page.  With the cover of the book, the (starred) Library Journal review, and links to  the novel.

It’s so easy to find ourselves in a similar situation, starting out.

If you’ve got a book or if you’re in that stage where you’re getting ready to release a book, there are a few marketing basics that I think everyone should set up.

The absolute bare minimum:

An Amazon Author Central profile

A website (even a free one) with your name as the site name.  On that website, there should be a buy-link to your books at every retailer, a bio, and (important!) a way of contacting you.

Still bare minimum, but taking it a step farther:

Reserve your name on all the popular social media platforms, even if you don’t plan on having an immediate presence there. You may need those profiles later on.  Make sure those social media platforms are in your name, not your book’s name.

Create a newsletter signup for your readers on your site.  MailChimp is free for up to 2,000 subscribers.  Link to this on your website, any social media, and your email signature. Even if you’re not ready to send anything out, you should still be collecting names and addresses from readers who want to sign up .

Add a tagline/signature to your emails.

Have a picture of yourself if you plan on writing more than one book.  That way you’re centering your branding on yourself instead of your books.  The covers will change, your face…well, it will change too. But hopefully slower than your covers will.

Again, just to reiterate…it’s so easy to get caught up and overwhelmed with all the information on book marketing.  Maybe that overwhelming amount of information makes it easy to freeze up and procrastinate starting on an author platform.  But a little effort goes a long way.

What do you think are the basic elements for an author platform?

Basic elements of an author platform:
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Submissions & Queries

by L. Diane Wolfe, @SpunkOnAStick

Writers have many options when it comes to getting stories in front of readers. If you’re seeking a traditional publisher or an agent, you’ll need to submit your manuscript for consideration. A lot of work goes into the process, so you want to do it right and not waste your time.

As the owner of Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C. and Freedom Fox Press, I’ve seen a lot of queries over the years. What’s sad is how many I reject without ever getting to the story itself. Most of the issues could be avoided by taking a few simple steps.

1 – Learn to do a proper query letter

There are websites and books dedicated to query letter writing. Study them and practice. Understand the format and keep the query to one page. Polish your pitch and focus on the basics – who, what, where, when, and why. Learn how to write a proper synopsis (a brief encapsulation covering the key plot points) and an outline (an exhaustive summary of an entire manuscript, with a descriptive paragraph devoted to each chapter.)

2 – Research the publisher/agent

Check what genres they publish and what they are currently accepting. The submission guidelines on their website will have the most current information. Examine the books they’ve published in the past. Once you’ve made a list of potential candidates, locate them on the Preditors and Editors website.  If you see red, run away.

3 – Read the submission guidelines carefully

What do they want you to send? Query letter only? A synopsis? An outline? The first three chapters? Only send what they request. Also note if they ask for a marketing plan or any other specific information. Address the proper person in the query letter. Most publishers and agents accept email queries now and you’ll want to paste your information in the body of the email, as emails with attachments are often deleted without being read.

Remember, a query letter is an editor’s first impression of a new writer. It’s the first test a writer must pass in the submission process. And there are many reasons why submissions are rejected:

Improper formatting
Addressed to the wrong person
Omission of requested information.
Poor attitude—writer comes off as cocky, overbearing, insolent, or just a jerk.
Querying a genre they don’t accept
Author isn’t marketable
Synopsis doesn’t intrigue or grab the editor/reader
A similar book is already in production
Manuscript isn’t marketable or it doesn’t fit their current needs
Editor was having a bad day

The first five items send one of two messages – either the writer can’t follow directions or he/she will be difficult to work with. Those will result in a rejection every time no matter how good the story. An unmarketable author might be someone with no means to promote the book or someone highly controversial. The remaining items all have to do with timing, quality of work, and sometimes back luck. Whatever response you get, address the issue and move on.

Follow those steps and avoid the pitfalls where possible. Make your submission stand out in a good way. Believe me, nothing makes me happier than receiving a proper query letter!

Diane Wolfe owns Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C. and is the author of seven books, including two non-fiction titles and a NA/YA series, The Circle of Friends. Known as “Spunk On A Stick,” Wolfe is a member of the National Speakers Association. She conducts seminars on book publishing, promoting, leadership, and goal-setting, and she offers book formatting and author consultation. She travels extensively for media interviews and speaking engagements, and contributes to the Insecure Writer’s Support Group website.

Dancing Lemur Press, L.L.C.

Spunk On A Stick

Spunk On A Stick’s Tips

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group

A publisher with tips for submissions and queries:
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Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 30,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

5 Reading Pet Peeves:  http://ow.ly/103X4g @RobinStorey1

On Selling Direct:  http://ow.ly/103Xut @carlaking

Can I Fit 900 Words on the Back Cover?  http://ow.ly/103WJ4  @WriteandCover

How Targeting Genre Can Make a Difference in Your Writing Career:  http://ow.ly/103Xau @CSLakin

10 Apps to Help You Be More Efficient as a Writer:  http://ow.ly/103Xiz @CaballoFrances             

15 Steps to Self-Pub and Record an Audiobook for $85: http://ow.ly/103WAi @Miles_Anthony

The Bard Gets a 21st-Century Makeover (Cover Art by Manuja Waldia):  http://ow.ly/107VeI @TheAtlantic  @kschwabable

StoryDrive Asia Powers On: Announcing a Singapore Debut:      http://ow.ly/10sCPO @pubperspectives  @Porter_Anderson

Shut the Door and Write Your Story:  http://ow.ly/107WjN  @BlueSunDeb

Indie Author Marketing: Analyzing Facebook and Twitter:  http://ow.ly/107Wuc @sabsky

6 Qualities of Bad Writing:  http://ow.ly/107Wg8 @MarcyKennedy

Presentation Essentials for Writers:  http://ow.ly/107WZ9 @carriebeckort

Using a Montage to Handle Time in Fiction:  http://ow.ly/107Wbx @MarcyKennedy

To Be A Mother, To Be A Writer:  http://ow.ly/107V7X @lynnsstrong  @thelithub

Amazon Themes and Keywords: http://ow.ly/107WEK @bookgal

3 Scrivener Tips to Become a Master Outliner:  http://ow.ly/107W4r @jslauthor

On ‘They’ as Singular:  http://ow.ly/107VKh @amandahess @NYTmag

Optimizing Your Amazon Book Page:  http://ow.ly/107WAx @Bookgal

Why Every Writer Needs (at Least) One VIP: http://ow.ly/10cWkW @RuthHarrisBooks

When is a Book “Out of Print”? http://ow.ly/10cWu0 @SusanSpann

Getting Creative with Disclaimers:  http://ow.ly/10cWuT @HelenSedwick

Tracking How We Read:  http://ow.ly/10cW4W @ClareLangleyH

What a Writer Learned Working At A Bookstore: http://ow.ly/10cW3s @maryannfraser

Notes On The Sacrificial Ending: http://ow.ly/10cWke @jamesscottbell

Instagram vs. Twitter Advertising for Indie Authors:  http://ow.ly/103Wvf @roncallari

Tips for book signings:  http://ow.ly/103XF3 @LoriRobinett

Create a Dedicated Book List for Non-Amazon Retailers:  http://ow.ly/10rS3Z

Breaking down the 98 Bookbub tips:  http://ow.ly/103XgI @zackheim

Free poetry coloring book for National Poetry Month: http://ow.ly/10r72x @lwlindquist @tspoetry

3 Ways to Increase Your Poetry Reading:  http://ow.ly/10r7AC @TaniaRunyan @tspoetry

Pricing ebooks in 2016:  http://ow.ly/103XMy @LPOBryan

Crafting Loglines:  http://ow.ly/103Xm6 from Fix My Story

Find Your Readers Using eBook Bundling:  http://ow.ly/103Xz5 @K8Tilton

Amazon Sales Rank: Taming the Algorithm:  http://ow.ly/10pnuz @JohnDoppler

How to Write a Love Triangle Like Jane Austen:  http://ow.ly/102iRL @ink_and_quills

On Designing A Judy Blume Book Cover (for Adults): http://ow.ly/102i3e by Kelly Blair @thelithub

How Professionals Elevate Indie Publishing:  http://ow.ly/102jg9 @LindaYezak

Handling numbers in our books:  http://ow.ly/102iK8 @_FYWH

Kishōtenketsu For Beginners: –An Intro To 4 Act Story Structure:  http://ow.ly/102iyt  by Nils Ödlund @mythicscribes

3 Comma Splices and How to Repair Them:  http://ow.ly/102knA @writing_tips

The purpose of alter-egos:  http://ow.ly/102j3c by Linda Wilson

The IWSG blog features a different writing resource for each letter of the alphabet this month:  http://ow.ly/10ovSV @AlexJCavanaugh

ISBNs, Barcodes, Copyright, Book Design: http://ow.ly/102a1r @JFbookman

Writer Conference Pitch Pro Tips:  http://ow.ly/1029Up @agentkristinNLA

Shakespeare First Folio Discovered on Isle of Bute, in Time for an Anniversary:  http://ow.ly/10ozZP @jennyschuessler

The First Rule Of Novel-Writing Is Don’t Write A Novel:  http://ow.ly/ZZveB  by Elizabeth Percer @thelithub

4 Things Learned About Blogging:  http://ow.ly/102jWn @MCristianoWrite

7 Ways To Rekindle The Joy Of Writing:  http://ow.ly/102jPl @RuthHarrisBooks

The Best Energy-Efficient Light For Improving Productivity:  http://ow.ly/10nz7l  @colleen_m_story

Is it Time to Quit Working From Home? One Writer’s Adventures in Coworking http://ow.ly/ZZtAr @meetedgar

Strategies for Fast Blogging:  http://ow.ly/ZZueb @Cara_Putman

Pros and Cons of Using Facebook Profiles vs. Official Pages:  http://ow.ly/ZZuaD @JaneFriedman

HarperCollins France: Newest Step in ‘Global Publishing Program’:  http://ow.ly/10lG4z @Porter_Anderson

On Writing Violence:  http://ow.ly/ZZtNp  @authorbethrevis

How Romance Writers Woo Readers Through Facebook:  http://ow.ly/ZZujo @rcutlerSpark

From alright to zap: an A-Z of horrible words: http://ow.ly/ZZuL7 by Rebecca Gowers @GuardianBooks

Creating Promotional Copy That Works: Tag Lines:  http://ow.ly/ZZuqw @MarcyKennedy

How A Non-Fiction Writer Finds His Next Subject:  http://ow.ly/ZZuXT @exlarson

Putting Short Stories into Multi-Author Anthologies for More Exposure (and money): http://ow.ly/ZZutB @GoblinWriter

Leaking Havoc: 4 Books to Understand the ‘Panama Papers’:  http://ow.ly/10lG9A @MattStaggs @SignatureReads

Spring cleaning: decluttering inboxes, bookmarks, and Evernote: http://ow.ly/ZZrW1 @lawlitta

How to Start Blogging: A Definitive Guide for Authors:  http://ow.ly/ZZu2n @JaneFriedman

Another Look at Amazon Advertising (with someone who is having success):  http://ow.ly/ZZuCc @GoblinWriter

10 Reasons Your Guest Post Pitches Get Ignored:  http://ow.ly/ZY3qC  @jenn_mattern

Crop circles and worldbuilding: http://ow.ly/ZY5E2 @sacha_black

Narrating Dreams and Visions:  http://ow.ly/ZY5Gw by Chris Winkle @mythcreants

The Extroverted Writer: A Survival Guide:  http://ow.ly/ZY3a2 by Kiersi

3 Ways to Find Out Who Your Readers Are:  http://ow.ly/ZY3uf @DaveChesson

6 Things to Consider After You Write Your First Draft:  http://ow.ly/ZY3td @Shhhman

7 Ways a Writer is Making the Most of a Grant:  http://ow.ly/ZY3eh @Writeitsideways

Think Your Book Has Too Many Characters? Think Again:  http://ow.ly/ZY3lc @WhereWritersWin

23 Authors Using Pinterest for Book Marketing and Inspiration:  http://ow.ly/ZY3nJ @DianaUrban

How a Writer Lives with Yearning:  http://ow.ly/ZY3gx @msheatherwebb

How to Set a Novel in an Unfamiliar Location:  http://ow.ly/ZY3hW @LeighRussell

When a Standalone Turns into a Series:  http://ow.ly/ZY5I4 @LynnCarthage

Stealing Versus Inspiration:  http://ow.ly/ZSgvb by Shawn Coyne

10 Ways To Deal With Writer’s Block: http://ow.ly/ZSgeo @10minnovelist

How To Boost A Sagging Writing Career:  http://ow.ly/ZSg9k @colleen_m_story

Pen Names (And How to Go About Finding One):  http://ow.ly/ZSfWY @PDSimeon

How To Write Conditional Sentences Correctly:  http://ow.ly/ZSfJs  by Alice Sudlow

Making Changes to a Published Book:  http://ow.ly/10fGVA

Erased from history: Too many women writers:  http://ow.ly/ZQcOJ @AnneBoydRioux @Salon

What We Can Learn from J.K. Rowling’s Series Grid: http://ow.ly/ZSg0A @BetterNovelProj

Take the Leap: Embracing the Power of Zero:  http://ow.ly/ZSfsP @writingrefinery @DIYMFA

How Writers Can Get More From Facebook: http://ow.ly/ZSfce @WriteOnTrack_L

Should Self-Publishers Use Publishing Imprints?  http://ow.ly/ZSf8y @DebbieYoungBN

How Has the MFA Changed the Contemporary Novel? http://ow.ly/ZRwnt @RichardJeanSo @_akpiper  @TheAtlantic

How To Maximize Goodreads Giveaways:  http://ow.ly/ZSfEx @Bookgal

Portugal’s Book Market: http://ow.ly/10eTBH @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

When the Author Isn’t Dead: Teaching the Work of Living Poets:  http://ow.ly/ZQcn5  @jmvanwyck @jwindholz

What Adult Coloring Books Show Us:  http://ow.ly/10eSJy @Porter_Anderson @MikeShatzkin

Neither Mad Nor Motherless: On Emily Dickinson’s Self-Creation:  http://ow.ly/ZQcgQ @jeromecharyn @thelithub

8 Tips for writing in college: http://ow.ly/10e3W9 and http://ow.ly/10e3X0 @HistoireLolita

Top 10 Dip Into Poetry Lines:  http://ow.ly/10e59B @lwlindquist @tspoetry

Manuscript Style Sheet Template:  http://ow.ly/ZQ6OR  @JeriWB

5 Legendary Swords of Fantasy Fiction:  http://ow.ly/ZQ8yu @helenl0we @FantasyFaction

Writers should think about how much they can give away for free:  http://ow.ly/ZQ7Em @kcraftwriter

Formatting Interiority:  http://ow.ly/ZQ8hp @Kid_Lit

The top writing links of last week are on Twitterific:
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Create a Dedicated Book List for Non-Amazon Retailers

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

For Monday’s post, I mentioned that I frequently amend published books with updated back matter.  I do this for both Amazon and non-Amazon retailers.

Author Deborah Nam-Krane stated in the comments for the post that she had run into some trouble while updating back matter on Smashwords. Which reminded me that I had also run into trouble there for the same reason.

My updates had kicked a couple of books temporarily out of the Smashwords catalog because I’d linked to Amazon with my buy-links. Accidentally. Because, by default, nearly every buy-link I’ve got goes to Amazon…the retailer where I make the most money.

I do get steady income from non-Amazon retailers, also. Why make it more difficult for readers who are interested in my books to find them?

But when I thought about the fact that I had 19 published books, the idea of going through and making separate book lists for Apple or Kobo (because, really, who knew where it was going to stop? Would I get kicked out of the catalog because Kobo was upset by a random link to Apple?) it seemed like a more time-consuming project than I could possibly invest in.

At the same time, I was also hearing advice about making sure we link to all the retailers on our websites. And my website ‘Books’ page was already looking unwieldy with the number of published books I’ve got and all the different formats and retailers.

I kept reading that we should have a dedicated page on our websites for each of our books: I’ve heard this from everyone from Tim Grahl to Jane Friedman.  To be honest, I never quite caught the why with this, but after repeatedly hearing this advice from people I trust, I stopped wondering why.  I’m sure it’s got to have something to do with SEO and our book titles. At any rate, I created a page for each book and links to each retailer/format on my website.

Then it was easy.  I typed up a list of my published books with hyperlinks leading back to each book’s page on my site, giving readers their choice of retailer and format for my books…audio, print, ebook, kindle, epub, etc.

Most importantly, I keep this list handy.  I’ve got it backed up to clouds and servers and can easily copy-paste it when I am uploading books to distributors like Smashwords or Draft2Digital or individual retailers.

It’s one of those things that cost me a chunk of time to set up but has saved me time later and has hopefully also provided readers an easy way to find the rest of my books.

How do you handle linking to your other books on non-Amazon sites?

Create a dedicated book list for non-Amazon retailers:
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Making Changes to a Published Book

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

One of the things that delights me about self-publishing is the ability to go into a published book’s files and make changes.

For my traditionally-published books, I can’t do a darn thing with the files.  I’ve alerted both Penguin Random House and Midnight Ink to reader-reported problems with both digital and print files that have resulted in missing pages, duplicate pages, and–in one particularly horrifying example–a completely different book from a  completely different author that Penguin Random House implanted in the last half of one of my mysteries. Problem at the printer? I’ve no idea, but I knew that the chance that I could get it fixed was iffy.  I ended up sending these readers signed copies of the book from my personal stash at home.

For my self-published books, I’ve made changes to the finished files quite a few times and for different reasons.

Changing a cover.  I’ve learned that the most important thing we can do to brand a series is to have covers that clearly show a connection between the books. I had one book in my Myrtle Clover mysteries that definitely didn’t look like the others.  There was nothing wrong with the cover, it just didn’t fit in.  I was in-between designers and couldn’t really articulate to the new designer what I was looking for.

Finally I decided to make a change.  I contacted my current cover designer, Karri Klawiter and asked her to recover the book for me (which she did…new cover is above). Once I’d changed it, I wished I’d taken care of it earlier because I had no issues at all involving customer confusion.  That’s mainly due to the fact that Amazon will not allow us to purchase the same book twice without alerting us that we already own the title in question.

But there were several things I did to try to avoid reader confusion. For one, I  didn’t announce it on my newsletter,  or call attention to it in any way.  And on Amazon and my website, I noted that the book had a new cover.

Formatting changes–Amazon’s request.   You may remember my saga with Amazon over problematic formatting.  If not, here’s the post on it.  Suffice it to say that we can easily reformat a file (I had mine reformatted professionally by my current formatter, Rik Hall, but we can also handle our own formatting using tools like Calibre and Draft2Digital and Reedsy).

Updates to a file to make it more current.  I’ve already gone back in to a couple of old files and updated references to make them more current/ageless.  I’ve removed technology references (specific to older tech) and I’ve also removed references to things that were in the news at the time.  Now I’m trying to focus on writing fairly timelessly in the hopes that I don’t date my books too much for the future.

The occasional typo.  I’m not going to lie and say these don’t happen.  They’re also in my Penguin books, but aren’t being corrected.  It’s nice to know I can correct the ones in my self-published books.

Updating back matter.  I’ve gone back into book files to update my bio, list of books, and to plug my newsletter.

When problems occur. Sometimes, issues occur with updates.  I’ve found that, when they occur, it’s usually at Amazon (no problems with the other retailers for me). Remember, if you change the title of your book, it will likely be listed as a completely separate book with Amazon’s ASIN system and your reviews won’t automatically connect to the new book/title.  You might also find that your print books and your digital books are listed as different stories because a new title means you’ll need a new ISBN for a print file.

You can link to your new books through Amazon Author Central and ask Amazon to unlink the old books (with the old covers/titles).

If you don’t get changes quickly, you can always contact Amazon: https://kdp.amazon.com/contact-us

Have you updated any book files? Have you ever run into any problems?

Reasons to change a published book file:
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Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 30,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

What Comes Before You Start Writing: Premise, Execution, World:  http://ow.ly/ZGxkM  @mileconnors

Quick tip for selling more books on Pinterest:  http://ow.ly/ZGwon  @sandrabeckwith

.@KillerNashville offers awards for pubbed and unpubbed writers:   http://ow.ly/106BxM and http://ow.ly/106BGm (Deadline Apr.30)

The importance of LinkedIn:  http://ow.ly/ZGxIh  @lisajjackson

10 Types of Apostrophe Errors to Avoid: http://ow.ly/ZGxMh @writing_tips         

Trunked manuscripts after you’re already published:  http://ow.ly/ZGxvY @jodimeadows

Why Repeating Yourself In Dialogue Can Be A Good Thing:  http://ow.ly/ZGxOj @MiaJouBotha

5 Common Problems With Middles:  http://ow.ly/ZGxAQ @Janice_Hardy

10 rock-solid reasons why authors should build an email list:  http://ow.ly/ZGwhB @PublicityHound

5 Quick Ways to Warm Up Your Mind Before Writing:  http://ow.ly/ZGwUf @paperblanks

3 tips for seamless scene setting:  http://ow.ly/ZGw82  @Sonja Yoerg

5 Reasons NOT to Attend a Writing Conference: http://ow.ly/ZGyua @lthomaswrites

3 Mistakes to Avoid With Your Social Media Strategy: http://ow.ly/ZGyD4 @a3forme @susanrstilwell

Plot Don’t Preach: The Art of Picture Book Writing:  http://ow.ly/ZM6mj by Sue Bradford Edwards

5 Obstacles to a Realistic Interstellar Empire:  http://ow.ly/ZM6gw by Oren Ashkenazi

3 Steps to Your Perfect Writing Life: http://ow.ly/ZM5RL @suddenlyjamie

Editing Hacks:  http://ow.ly/ZM5dE @AJHumpage

On Not Writing: An Illustrated Guide to Anxieties: http://ow.ly/ZM5EJ by Ingrid Rojas Contreras @ElectricLit

How Reality TV Can Make You a Better Writer: http://ow.ly/ZM5X4 @WomenWriters  @perfectpen

Real Life Diagnostics: 2nd Look at a Sci Fi Historical Opening:  http://ow.ly/ZM5rR @Janice_Hardy

Pacing: What Plot And Poker Have In Common:  http://ow.ly/ZM4YI  by Codey Amprim

Writing Crime Fiction: 10 Years Later:  http://ow.ly/ZM55o @libbyhellmann

Script Analysis: “Gone Girl” : Scene By Scene Breakdown:  http://ow.ly/ZM5iw @GoIntoTheStory

The Key to Finding Your Why (and how to block out the noise):  http://ow.ly/ZM596 @BlotsandPlots

The Perils Of Omniscient POV:  http://ow.ly/ZNf9A  @kellysimmons

5 Tips To Become A Better Blogger:  http://ow.ly/ZNg19  @verylastpaige

6 Hot Tips for Putting Soul Into Your Setting: http://ow.ly/ZNgBl @SGarberGirl

High Fantasy Vs. Epic Fantasy:  http://ow.ly/ZNg6g  @SaraL_Writer

5 Tricks To Kicking Down The 4th Wall:  http://ow.ly/ZNgR0 @sacha_black

34 Reasons to Stop Writing Forever:  http://ow.ly/ZNgvV  @NathanielTower

Writers must follow their hearts and their heads:  http://ow.ly/ZNeV0 @nicolamorgan

The Power of Positive Writing:  http://ow.ly/ZNgmN @WordDreams

Why Putting Books in Print is Worth the Hassle: http://ow.ly/ZNfgP  @kayelleallen

Exposition in screenwriting:  http://ow.ly/ZNeHD @GoIntoTheStory

Scenes as Capsules of Time:  http://ow.ly/ZNh2d @CSLakin

A Simple Author Metadata Audit in Less Than 30 Minutes:  http://ow.ly/ZRw0g @Wogahn

17 Tips for Successful Facebook Contests:  http://ow.ly/ZQ8Jg  @shortstackjim

How to Write a Book Description:  http://ow.ly/ZQ6jD @JeriWB

How to Book Your Own Blog Tour: http://ow.ly/ZQ9bE  @Saboviec

10 Lessons Learned Behind the Scenes of a Book Deal: http://ow.ly/ZQ7y4 and http://ow.ly/ZQ6X8 @jessicastrawser

Validating the Reader’s Concerns:  http://ow.ly/ZQ81A @SeptCFawkes

Beloved: The Best Horror Novel the Horror Genre Has Never Claimed: http://ow.ly/ZQ8q8 @grady_hendrix  @tordotcom

Indie Authors: Focus on What Matters Most and Take Action Now:  http://ow.ly/ZGx0E by Judy Baker @jfbookman

Free #podcast series for #writers from @FolioLiterary and Salt Cay Writers Retreat:   http://ow.ly/106ziX @KarenDionne

R.U.E.:  Resist the Urge to Explain:  http://ow.ly/106ehT @authorterryo

The Power of Free: How to Sell More E-Books:  http://ow.ly/106e9X @markcoker

Age Categories for Children’s Books:  http://ow.ly/ZECNM @lwreyes

28,000 French-Language Ebooks Are Newly Available in the US:  http://ow.ly/106cud @Porter_Anderson  @albertinebooks @franceinnyc

The Top 55 Apps for Writers in 2016:  http://ow.ly/104UhA @TheExpertEditor

Hype Cycles and Book Wars: Nielsen’s BookInsights Conference:  http://ow.ly/1029M0 @RogerTagholm @Porter_Anderson

How to Market Yourself at Conferences:  http://ow.ly/ZEDr9 @jameslrubart

An Agent Analyzes a Successful Query: http://ow.ly/ZECQu @SaraMegibow

How to write a book fast: 5 Musts:  http://ow.ly/ZEDA9 @nownovel

Publishing Your First Book? Follow These Steps:  http://ow.ly/ZEDjV @CaballoFrances

10 Screenwriting Errors To Avoid: http://ow.ly/ZEDwT  @NormanArvidsson

11 Reasons Authors Need Social Media (And How to Get It Right:) http://ow.ly/ZEDfN @CaballoFrances

7 steps to a good reading:  http://ow.ly/ZECWV @gigirosenberg

Writing: Getting Into Other People’s Heads:  http://ow.ly/ZECL4 by Dave King

11 Tools to Boost Your Writing Productivity:  http://ow.ly/ZECB9  @wework @leona_hinton

Getting in Character: Deep POV:  http://ow.ly/ZECGW @kristenlambtx

Discover your next step so you can start walking towards your goal: http://ow.ly/ZEDnm  @jccabel

Tips for starting your book:  http://ow.ly/ZEBID @JamesTuckwriter

How To Keep Writing Even When You Feel Like a Fraud:  http://ow.ly/ZEBqO @TRYbizschool

10 Tips for Reading Through the Eyes of a Writer: http://ow.ly/ZEBkX @tessaemilyhall

Top 10 tips on how to write like William Shakespeare:  http://ow.ly/ZEB3U @mrsdebspatters

Write, Erase, Do It Over: On Failure, Risk and Writing Outside Yourself (Interview with Toni Morrison):  http://ow.ly/ZEAIs

1 Word Leads To The Next: Unconventional Conjunctive Devices:  http://ow.ly/ZBfMi @chuckpalahniuk

7 Tips on How To Write a Better Open Letter:  http://ow.ly/ZBfCv @helpfulsnowman

The Logistics of World Building: Algebra for Fantasy Writers: http://ow.ly/ZBfub @brianstaveley @tordotcom

Top 3 Submission Errors and How to Fix Them:  http://ow.ly/ZBfj8 by Ann Leslie Tuttle @RomanceUniv

Radius Book Group: International Self-Pubbing: http://ow.ly/1029eM @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Bean Counting for Authors: http://ow.ly/ZBeUT  @cwritebuzz @RomanceUniv

This App Deletes Words if Authors Stop Typing:  http://ow.ly/Zztje @initialskh

Australian-Canadian Funding Goes to Digital Storytelling Projects:  http://ow.ly/1028YP @Porter_Anderson @katepullinger

6 Illustrations That Show What It’s Like in an Introvert’s Head:  http://ow.ly/ZzsT4 @fosslien @molliewest @livequiet

Jo Nesbø’s Perfect Writing Room (That He Never Uses): http://ow.ly/ZyR6F @thelithub

Keep readers’ interest by creating unique posts for your blog tour (by @rxena77) : http://ow.ly/ZZmyM

The Ultimate Story Checklist: Rushmore:  http://ow.ly/Zx1CL @cockeyedcaravan

The Importance of Religion in the Horror Genre:  http://ow.ly/ZyRJv @movieguyiguess

Should you write the book of your heart? http://ow.ly/ZyRUn @stephmorrill

Determined to Meet Your Writing Goals? Set Up a Production Schedule: http://ow.ly/ZyQLo @mridukhullar

4 Ways to Optimize Your Facebook Ads:  http://ow.ly/ZyPFA @CarolynBerk

Lists of descriptive words:  http://ow.ly/ZyQqk @tamsinsilver

Storytelling Across Media: Q&A with Laurie McLean,  @AgentSavant: http://ow.ly/ZyPOj @JaneFriedman

High Stakes Are Tricky:  http://ow.ly/ZyS4t  @Kid_Lit

Imagining your future projects is holding you back. http://ow.ly/Zx0vu @jccabel

5 Valuable Writing Tips from Madeleine L’Engle:  http://ow.ly/Zx09q  @ladieswhowrite

6 Lessons from ‘Still Writing’ by Dani Shapiro:  http://ow.ly/Zx1In @karenmarston

3 Paths To Publishing and What You Need To Know: http://ow.ly/Zx1yE @writersedit

7 Reasons You’re Not Living Up to Your Potential: http://ow.ly/ZwZZj @JenGresham

Getting the Work Done by Setting the Bar Low:  http://ow.ly/ZY2O9  @hwrightwriter

The links I shared last week: http://ow.ly/ZY0kI . All the links I’ve ever shared (30K+, free and searchable): writerskb.com

What 1 Writer learned by Playing a Victim in a Live Shooter Training: http://ow.ly/Zx1QQ @FionaQuinnBooks

Are These The 4 Most Neglected Pages On Your Blog? http://ow.ly/Zx1jJ @MiaJouBotha

Terrible Writing Advice From Famous Writers:  http://ow.ly/Zx0JN by Danielle Dutton @thelithub

Too Late to Start Writing? http://ow.ly/Zx04V @KeithCronin

The Diversity of Today’s Cutting Edge Sci-Fi:  http://ow.ly/Zx1X5 @soniagracelm @fantasyfaction

The top writing links of last week are on Twitterific:
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Spring Cleaning for Writers

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Although I like to declutter and organize at intervals year-round, I do make a more focused effort in the spring.  That’s because my RSS feed is full of spring cleaning tips.

Frequently these tips address cleaning dirty windows or dryer filters, but there are also a few reminders out there to spring clean our digital content and sites.

I decided to make a list to consolidate the electronic spring cleaning I’ve done in past years. 

Update my website.  This is more than just spring cleaning for me–I’ve got a monthly reminder on my Google Calendar to ensure my site is up-to-date.  But I’m more thorough in the spring.  I check for broken links, consider dropping or adding content in my sidebar and header/footer,  look for old ‘updates’, ensure my bio and contact info is updated,  backup my site, install any software or plugin updates, check page load speed,  and make sure my site looks good on mobile and all browsers (sometimes browsers update and our site may not look good in the browser after the update).

Email.  Even though Gmail and other programs hold lots of data, I do like to go through and unsubscribe to unneeded newsletters, archive old material, and delete emails I no longer need.

Word.   I make sure most documents are in folders, delete old drafts of long-published books, and tag files to make locating them easier in the future.

Catch up on my scanning.  I’m trying to go as paper-free as possible. I use the free software Evernote and One Note to help me keep information organized.  I also use a free app, CamScanner, to take pictures of documents with my phone and then email them to myself for a quick digital copy.  Again, tagging the documents helps to locate them later.

Social media.  Are my bios up-to-date? What about my privacy settings and contact info?  Have I changed my passwords recently? Are there people I should be following back?  What apps am I allowing to access my accounts (review and either keep or revoke access)? Should I refresh a header/cover/background?  Are there any groups that I want to leave?

Amazon author page and individual book pages.  Is my bio updated?  My photo?  Are all my books linked to on my Amazon Author Central page?  Am I still happy with the book descriptions on my book pages?  How do the editorial reviews look now–should I add any positive reviews?

Backup.  Backing up our data, websites, etc. doesn’t have to be a major chore or an expensive one.  I like to have at least two locations I back data up to–one in the cloud (emailing files to ourselves counts), and one in an external hard-drive (the prices are way down.  You can get 1 terabyte for about $50 on Amazon).

What else should I add to my list?

A checklist for writers of social media and website spring cleaning chores:
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Image: MorgueFile: Pippalou

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Why Stumble at the Finish Line?

by Roland Yeomans, @rxena77

Yes, it is another stop along my “Don’t You Hate Blog Book Tours?” Book Tour.

Me?  I’m Roland Yeomans: teacher, dreamer, writer.

We writers are observers: how we interact with one another; how hard we labor for our dreams … how we shoot ourselves in the foot with our impatience.

“Impatience kills quickly what took so very long to achieve.”

– Samuel McCord {Narrator of The Not-So-Innocents Abroad}

Over long months, we pour our hearts, our imaginations, our creativity into our novels …

… only to imply our finely crafted narrative is long, boring, and unimaginative with a bruising string of cookie-cutter blog book posts.

Think Movie Trailer:

Don’t you get tired of seeing the same one over and over and over again?  Don’t you perk up when you see a different one with new scenes, new dialogue?  Don’t you groan when trailers give away the whole story or the surprise twist of the ending?

Same with our blog book tour posts:

MAKE each one different.  Hard?  So was writing a fine novel.  Get over it and do it.

MAKE the posts funny.  (No, don’t do it by talking about your love life!)  The ghost of Mark Twain just swatted me with his white bowler.  The old scoundrel wants to hear about it!

MAKE them memorable in some distinct fashion.

Readers will take away from those posts that your novel will be the same: Entertaining – worth their money and their time.

And talking movie previews …

When the Xanadu, the first Air-Steamship, appears above the dark horizon, the rising sun hits the particles of aluminum embedded in its painted surface.  It blazes like a miniature sun.

The inhabitants below know its legend, and their hearts leap with the hope that The McCord and his alien wife will somehow make their burdens lighter.

Here is what I think of as the theme of the Xanadu’s Voyage:

Think Telemarketers:

They have their patter down pat and spew it like tobacco auctioneers.  Don’t be them.

Don’t repeat the same synopsis of your novel from one blog to another.

Bored visitors will fly from your next book tour post faster than Taylor Swift from an old boyfriend.

Some Blog Lists put up the image that starts off the post …

MAKE each book tour post begin with a different image to make each post of yours different.

If you have a wordless image for the cover of the sequel as I used on this post, use it.

If you have a wordless image of the cover of your present book, use that one for the next visit.

If you have a wordless image you were considering for your cover but discarded it, use that image for the third visit.  Shuffle as you go, so that your reader is always looking forward to the next stop.

Think Strip Tease:

Mark Twain just swatted me with his bowler again … and here he peeked through his shielding fingers at the Can Can in Paris…

but you’ll have to read my book to find out more about that.

You may have been wondering why I kept writing “Wordless” about your beginning images.

 

Don’t hand everything to your readers at once.  Tease them with wordless images, making them wonder what the finished cover will look like.

Your Cover:

It is not a painting by Monet.  It is a sales tool … that simple, that essential.

Your title must stand out in thumbnail.  Your name must do the same – after all, you are in the process of creating a Brand of your name.

The Blub must be legible in the thumbnail.

If your cover does not do those three basic things, your cover is an ineffective sales tool.  You have wasted your money.

The Not-So-Innocents Abroad:

Hey, let me say a little something about my own book!

In a 1867 only a layer of reality from the one we knew, global kingdoms of revenants (vampires) vie for control of this world.

It amuses the Empress of an Alien People cast down to this dimension from one whose air it is death for humans to breathe.

Her sister is not amused …

for she loves the human the Empress has married.  McCord, alone, has seen through the icy façade to the hurt younger sister lost in the shadow of her regal sibling.

An insane Abraham Lincoln and crippled General Sherman hate both McCord and the Empress for reasons you will have to read my book to discover.

Cost of Passage?  Only $9.99.  A bargain … unless you run into the vampiric Abigail Adams and Benjamin Franklin!

Now Available on Amazon

Roland Yeomans was born in Detroit, Michigan. But his last memories of that city are hub-caps and kneecaps since, at the age of seven, he followed the free food when his parents moved to Lafayette, Louisiana. The hitch-hiking after their speeding car from state to state was a real adventure. Once in Louisiana, Roland learned strange new ways of pronouncing David and Richard when they were last names. And it was not a pleasant sight when he pronounced Comeaux for the first time. He has a Bachelor’s degree in English Education and a Master’s degree in Psychology. He has been a teacher, counselor, book store owner, and even a pirate since he once worked at a tax preparation firm. So far he has written thirty-five books. You can find Roland at his web page: www.rolandyeomans.blogspot.com or at his private table in Meilori’s. The web page is safer to visit. But if you insist on visiting Meilori’s, bring a friend who runs slower than you.

Keep readers' interest when writing posts for your blog tour (by @rxena77)
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