Orrin Jason Bradford's Blog, page 18

Book Baby, Kindle or Smashwords?

What a marvelous world we live in and what an incredible time to be a writer. There are just so many opportunities and ways we can get our words and our work out into the world these days.  So many that it might at times be confusing as to which ones to use and which ones to pass on by.

Just the other day, someone posted a great question on Word Journeys: Resources for Writers, one of the

Books by Porpoise Publishing

Facebook groups I frequent. Here's the question:

Should I 'do' my ebook on Book Baby, Kindle or Smashwords? I can do most of it myself, but how best to get to all the e readers….?

Yes, that is the $64,000 question, not that most of us writers have 64K sitting in our checking account. Here's my short answer as to whether it's best to publish through BookBaby.com, Kindle or Smashwords.com — it depends on several factors. Now, let's look at the factors.

I've used all three with different works, though I've only placed a couple short stories out into the world through Smashwords.  Book Baby is probably the easiest way to get your book out to the most ebook readers…if you're willing to fork over 99 dollars for the service.

For most of my books, I've chosen to go the Kindle only route at least for now. I have a 'backlog' of books and other material to publish. I follow the Dean Wesley Smith philosophy that the best marketing a writer can do is to write and publish more. So, my main focus right now is write, write, write, which includes polishing and preparing my work to be published.

Since Kindle is the #1 seller of ebooks, having something like 80% of the market,  then that's where I'm focusing most of my ebook publishing work. It doesn't make sense to spend a lot of time or money trying to get that other 20%…least not yet.

The other publishing focus is to make most of my longer works available as a Print-On-Demand physical book, which I do through CreateSpace.com. After all, there's still more people who read 'real books' than there are reading ebooks though that's changing.

But my situation of having a backlog of work to get out that might not be your situation. If you have just 1-2 books to get out to start, I'd go another route. I'd still want to be sure to include offering a POD physical book, then I'd work to get the 1-2 books out to as many different ebook resources as possible.

Then the question to ask yourself is, "Do I have more of time or money?"  If your answer is time, then you can do work with through Smashwords who will distribute your book to most of the major ebook stores, with the one BIG exception being Kindle.  So, create your own Kindle account and load the book there yourself. So, to summarize, if you have more time than money:

Publish to Smashwords who will then distribute to most of the ebook outlets,
Publish a POD physical book through CreateSpace.com
Publish to Kindle by creating your own account

If you have more money than time, the strategy would be:

Use BookBaby.com who will then distribute to all the major ebook outlets including Kindle, and
Publish a POD physical book through CreateSpace.com

And in either scenario, I'd be sure to include one other important part of the equation — get on to writing that next book, which is what I'm going to do right now.

Read Review and Pass Along

Read, Review, Pass Along Form

Writers know the importance of garnering reviews of their books to draw the kind of attention that will result in more book sales.  But how do you do it when a book first comes out, and hardly anyone has bought it to review it?

You give a few books away, right?  Maybe more than a few, like dozens, but that can be costly especially if you only get one review for every book you give away.  There must be a better way.

That was my thinking a few months ago that lead me to my most recent experiment — the Read, Review and Pass Along Plan. It's really pretty simple.  I created a Read, Review and Pass Along Form and taped it into the back of several copies of Dominion Over All and Seeds of a New Birth. I then offered the books to some of my friends as well at my Freelance Friday group with the request that they read the book in a timely fashion, review it on Amazon, complete the short form on the back, and then pass it along to someone else they felt would enjoy the book and would be willing to also read, review and pass it along.

Now, the experiment is currently still underway, but already I've learned a lot.  One of the main things I've verified for myself once again is that a lot of people mean well but often don't follow through with their agreement. Yes, sad, but true.  And the weaker the connection with the person, the more likely the ball will get dropped somewhere.  So, I've 'tweaked' the instructions a couple of times to make them clearer and more specific.

I'll be passing a few more books out with the new instructions that include asking each person to point out the instructions to the next person and to contact me by email so I can keep better track of the books.

Time will tell if that will work.  So far, I'd give the results I've seen a C-; passable but not great.  Want to play along with this idea.  You can download the form here. If you decide to try the experiment yourself, let me know how it works for you, especially if you come up with any strategies that has it work better for you.

After all, I don't believe in a paradigm of competition but instead one of collaboration.

Got Purpose?

I've start a new series that is cataloged under "The Writer's Life" that explores some of the qualities and attributes I believe are important to becoming a visionary writer (and overall effective human being).

And, of course, being one of the founders of Life On Purpose Institute, Inc. I feel called to explore this one early on:

Purpose

Now, I've gone into quite a bit of detail about the role of purpose in a writer's life in my Manifesto for Visionary Writers (which you read right her under that category) so this is really just to reiterate why having a clear sense of purpose is so important to us writers.  Purpose gives us a sense of direction for our writing that often goes beyond just writing what will sell.

It also allows you to tap into a wellspring of passion that can propel you forward especially when that purpose and passion is focused by a purposeful writing project. Infusing your writing career with purpose can literally inspire you out of bed in the morning because you know at least some portion of your day you will have the opportunity to express who you really are and why you're here on planet Earth.

Key points to remember about purpose:

Your life purpose is more about who you are then what you do. It becomes the context for your life that then has the power to shape all that you do.
Purpose is the key that leads to tapping into the wellspring of passion that then fuels your inspired actions.
Purposeful writing makes a difference with the reader as well as being entertaining.

If you're ready to bring more clarity of purpose to your life, check out my book, Life On Purpose: Six Passages to an Inspired Life, available in three different editions on Amazon.

 

 

The Balancing Act of Indie Publishing

The section of this blog is called The Learning Curve for the simple reason that I want to share with other writers what I'm learning as I continue my journey to become a successful indie publisher. Today I want to explore what I'm learning about the balancing act of being an indie publisher.

First and foremost, I am no longer just a writer or author. As one of my online mentors, Dean Wesley Smith, points out in his blog section I'm learning to "Think Like a Publisher" as well as to continue to think and act as a writer.  So, there's a balancing aspect between these two important part of turning out new books and stories through my publishing company – Porpoise Publishing. So, let's look at the various components that make up both these roles.

Being a Writer

Here are some of the key components that I feel I need to keep an eye on as writer who wants to be not only a good writer, but a prolific one:

Idea Generation: Ideas are the elemental material for all writers.  If you don't believe it, just run out of ideas to write about and see how you do.  I think some new writers take this vital part of writing for granted.  That's a mistake.  While I always have my idea generator turned on, I also set aside specific times to brainstorm. One of my favorite ways to generate new ideas is to take myself on an Artist Date. That might be as simple as scheduling a couple hours to walk around down town, or in some new place where I've never been.  Other time, I might take myself to a favorite coffee shop and spend an hour or two brainstorming new ideas.  In short, I don't leave this important aspect of writing to chance.

Writing New Material:  Another foundational part of being a prolific writer is to be writing new material on a regular basis.  For me, that means daily…seven days a week, at least when I'm in the midst of one of my Write Every Day Games.  As of this writing on Feb. 22, I've written over 65,000 words of new material since starting my Write Every Day Games.  That's a full length novel in about two months. If I were to stay on that pace, I'd have the equivalent of six new novels in this next year.  Of course, that's my schedule. The point isn't to match my schedule but for you to determine what's going to work best for you, and then stick to it.

Rewriting & Polishing:  While I feel I write pretty clean copy on the first draft, I still recognize that it will flow much better and make better sense when I put it aside for a little while then come back to polish it up.  So, this is another activity that needs attention.

Editing & Proofreadering:  This is not exactly the same as the polishing process above, though there is often some crossover between the two.  I prefer not editing or proofreading my polished manuscripts. I simply miss too many little errors.  So, I either have Ann to it or I farm it out to someone else. Still, it's important for me to remember this step.

These are what I consider the key steps of being a writer, but then there's also the activities of being a publisher.

 

Being a Publisher

As one of the two people who currently work at Porpoise Publishing, one of my jobs is to oversee all the various components of the publishing process. Here are the ones I consider most important (and this may not be a comprehensive list so feel free to add others to your own list):  Once a book or story is completed, I take off my writer hat and put on my publishing cap to be sure the following are completed:

Cover Design: Every book needs a cover and it needs to be as good a cover as you can design or have designed.  At the same time, as I've stated before, I don't believe this step should stop any writer from publishing his or her material.  See my other blog post on this step here.

Promotional Copy Written: This is the copywriting that will help sell the book.  Some of it will be found on the back of the physical book as well as on the sales pages of the various online distribution points.  Again, it needs to be as well written as possible and without any typos or grammatical errors.

Manuscript Formatting and Compiling: I know this is a major area that can slow down or stop many new aspiring writers.  I'm a big fan of Scrivener software in part because it makes turning the finished manuscript into PDFs, .mobi files (for Kindle), and ePub files (for Nook, etc.) so much easier.

Distribution Setup: Once all the above is completed, it's time to get your book out into the world so your readers can begin to find you.  There are a number of ways to do this, including going to each distribution point yourself and uploading your formatted files. I often go this route because right now my main focus is to get my material (including years of backlogged writing) out to Kindle and CreateSpace.  My strategy is that getting my work out to these two distribution points will reach the most people for the time invested. Other options include Smashwords.com and Bookbaby.com.

And there's one more area that I feel I need to include so readers of this blog don't jump down my throat.  It's called promotion and marketing.  Right now, my take on this comes once more from Dean Wesley Smith. to paraphrase him, "the best marketing a writer can do is to write some more."  And that's my primary marketing strategy right now.  Of course, there's more that I do that can fall under the heading of marketing. This blog is one of them, though again, notice it's me writing more.  I also maintain a small but growing followers on Facebook, and my Facebook posts are automatically added to Twitter.  Still, by far and away my major marketing effort is to get more and more of my work out into the world, to expand the size of my virtual book shelf.

How to Balance it All

That really is the question, isn't it?  It's a lot to balance, particularly if you have a full time job, or are raising a family or doing both.  Right now, my writing and publishing make up about 50-60% of my work time with the remaining being the other aspects of running Life On Purpose Institute and working with my individual coaching clients.

So, I'm still learning about how to balance it all. Here's what I've learned thus far:

Segment the writing from the publishing:  My best writing time is in the morning when my mind is freshest and I'm most alert, so that's when I write.  It's now 11:05 am as I write this.  I generally work on new material from around 10 am to 12 noon, though the start and ending time will vary somewhat.  I will also spend time before that while I'm on my morning walk brainstorming new ideas as well as determining what of my various writing projects are calling for my attention on that day.

I then take a break for lunch. Upon my return, I'll focus on either rewriting/polishing or some aspect of the publishing.  Segmenting my days out in this fashion works well for me.  It might not for you.

My $5.97 Lottery Ticket

I confess, I've never bought a lottery ticket; least not that I can remember.  The odds just seem too high for it to make sense to my frugal mind.  However, I'm playing a new writing game that feels a bit like buying a lottery ticket, and thinking of it that way is actually quite empowering.

Here's the game, compliments of a blog post of Dean Wesley Smith. (You can read his post here.) While I've been concentrating my writing efforts primarily in the self publishing direction with Kindle and CreateSpace, Dean offers a more balanced approach. As he pointed out, after publishing a book, another direction to take could be down the traditional publishing avenue by writing a "short three page synopsis of the book, then put a copy of the trade paperback book with the synopsis and a cover letter into a flat rate priority envelope and mail[ing it] to an editor with a #10 SASE (self addressed stamp envelop).

When I read this, I realized it would be a simple step to take, not only on future books but on some of the books that I've already published. So, last week I prepared a packet for Dominion Over All, did a little research at the library to determine which publishers I'd like to see pick it up and mailed it out to an editor for Dial for Young Readers.

Today, I did the same thing for Seeds of a New Birth and mailed the packet to TOR. And the $5.97 lottery ticket?  Well, that's how much it cost me to mail today's packet by priority mail.  It feels like I'm playing the lottery because I know both of these publishers receive a ton of submissions every month, so the odds aren't great.  But hey, someone has to win the lottery, and I figure the odds on this writing game are better than the odds of winning the actual lottery.  It's also consistent with my 'both/and' philosophy to life. While I will continue to focus most of my time, energy, and efforts towards indie publishing, I will not include sending some of my work towards traditional publishing outlets.

Once again, thanks go to Dean Wesley Smith for his creative ideas.

 

Got Discipline? It’s Key to Being a Successful Writer

Is this what you're doing to your creative inner child?

As part of my series on the qualities and attributes I feel are important to develop in ourselves that will help us in becoming visionary writers (and effective human beings), today I’d like to examine the quality of discipline.

As I often do when I start making a new distinction, I like to look up the current definition of the term.  Here’s how the Miriam-Webster dictionary defines discipline:

punishment
obsolete : instruction
 a field of study
training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character
 control gained by enforcing  obedience or order b : orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior c : self-control
a rule or system of rules governing  conduct or activity

As I read over these definitions I realized why so many artists and creative folks shy away from being disciplined in their work.  Who wants to be punished, molded or have to follow a bunch of rules or the ‘system’? And yet, I still believe that being disciplined is a valuable asset to acquire for all creative types including visionary writers. Why?  Because it’s key to creating the work that is an expression of your true self and purpose.

So, I’d like to offer my own definition as a starting point to creating the distinction of:

Discipline: the ability developed over time through committed intention to stay true to your purpose in your thoughts, words and actions.

Now, let’s pull this apart a bit so we can really examine what it means.  First off, discipline is an ability that can be developed over time.  It’s not something that is passed on genetically from generation to generation, nor is the lack of discipline something that you have when you’re missing the ‘discipline gene.’   Of course, if you were brought up in a family environment where discipline was missing, then you’ve may not have taken on the process of developing it in your own life, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start…even immediately, like today.

So, how do you start?  Well, that’s where the ‘committed intention’ comes in.  Start by determining who are you and how you choose to express your true you.  In my work as a Life On Purpose Coach I often talk about this aspect of yourself as your Divinely Inspired Life Purpose — that context of being, vision, and core values that has the power to shape each and every moment of your life as you go about doing whatever you choose to do. (You can learn more about the DILP here).

Once you have a clear sense of that true purpose, you commit to living true to it, and in the process you’ve set a powerful intention into motion.  In the process of setting this intention, it’s also useful to become clear what some of the various ways you will express your purpose.  That might be in your profession, as a parent, as a community member.  It could also include as an artist, writer, sculptor, etc. You follow through with that commitment by practicing what I call Congruent Creativity.  (You can learn more about this including the 8 steps to developing it here.)

Discipline Taken to the Extreme

I do think it’s a good idea to look at what can happen if you take discipline too far. (Like I do from time-to-time.) Discipline to the extreme shows up as being inflexible, ruled by your schedule or ‘to do’ list.  You can become rigid and any spontaneity can go out the window.

I share this for the simple reason that if you begin to notice these traits slipping into your life, you can then put in a course correction.  You don’t need to throw the whole idea of discipline out the window, just ease up a little.

Two Strategies for Developing Discipline

One of my favorite way to develop and maintain discipline in my own life is to create games.  Most of these ‘discipline inducing games’ have fairly short time frames. I figure I can take on such a game for a week or a month at a time, and if I like the results the game produces, I can always repeat it for another period of time, often adjusting the rules of the game to make it even more fun and result producing.

One such game that I’ve recently written about on this blog is the “Write 1K Every Day” game. Another one that I created years ago is the Big R Game which was a longer game but that produced great results. You can learn all about the Big R Game (by the way “R” stands of rejection) in my book, From Spark to Flame: Fanning Your Passion and Ideas into Money Making Magazine Articles that Make a Difference. In these ways, the process of discipline can be fun and energizing. I can avoid the ‘punishment’ mentality and as for rules, well they’re easier to follow when I’m the one making them up.

The second strategy is particularly important early on when you first commit to developing discipline. The strategy is forgiveness.  When you stray off course, you drop the ball on what you said you wanted to accomplish, you end up sleeping in late when you vowed to get up at 6 am…in all those times you fall short from what you promised, forgive yourself.  This isn’t to let yourself off the hook but to give you the space to be human — to really go for it and fail, then go for it again.  And we’ll explore that more fully in a later post on purposeful patience and persistence.

Give discipline a try. Before you know it, you’ll have more of it in your life, and your writing will show it. Let me know what you find works for you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Got Discipline? It's Key to Being a Successful Writer

Is this what you're doing to your creative inner child?

As part of my series on the qualities and attributes I feel are important to develop in ourselves that will help us in becoming visionary writers (and effective human beings), today I'd like to examine the quality of discipline.

As I often do when I start making a new distinction, I like to look up the current definition of the term.  Here's how the Miriam-Webster dictionary defines discipline:

punishment
obsolete : instruction
 a field of study
training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character
 control gained by enforcing  obedience or order b : orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior c : self-control
a rule or system of rules governing  conduct or activity

As I read over these definitions I realized why so many artists and creative folks shy away from being disciplined in their work.  Who wants to be punished, molded or have to follow a bunch of rules or the 'system'? And yet, I still believe that being disciplined is a valuable asset to acquire for all creative types including visionary writers. Why?  Because it's key to creating the work that is an expression of your true self and purpose.

So, I'd like to offer my own definition as a starting point to creating the distinction of:

Discipline: the ability developed over time through committed intention to stay true to your purpose in your thoughts, words and actions.

Now, let's pull this apart a bit so we can really examine what it means.  First off, discipline is an ability that can be developed over time.  It's not something that is passed on genetically from generation to generation, nor is the lack of discipline something that you have when you're missing the 'discipline gene.'   Of course, if you were brought up in a family environment where discipline was missing, then you've may not have taken on the process of developing it in your own life, but that doesn't mean you can't start…even immediately, like today.

So, how do you start?  Well, that's where the 'committed intention' comes in.  Start by determining who are you and how you choose to express your true you.  In my work as a Life On Purpose Coach I often talk about this aspect of yourself as your Divinely Inspired Life Purpose — that context of being, vision, and core values that has the power to shape each and every moment of your life as you go about doing whatever you choose to do. (You can learn more about the DILP here).

Once you have a clear sense of that true purpose, you commit to living true to it, and in the process you've set a powerful intention into motion.  In the process of setting this intention, it's also useful to become clear what some of the various ways you will express your purpose.  That might be in your profession, as a parent, as a community member.  It could also include as an artist, writer, sculptor, etc. You follow through with that commitment by practicing what I call Congruent Creativity.  (You can learn more about this including the 8 steps to developing it here.)

Discipline Taken to the Extreme

I do think it's a good idea to look at what can happen if you take discipline too far. (Like I do from time-to-time.) Discipline to the extreme shows up as being inflexible, ruled by your schedule or 'to do' list.  You can become rigid and any spontaneity can go out the window.

I share this for the simple reason that if you begin to notice these traits slipping into your life, you can then put in a course correction.  You don't need to throw the whole idea of discipline out the window, just ease up a little.

Two Strategies for Developing Discipline

One of my favorite way to develop and maintain discipline in my own life is to create games.  Most of these 'discipline inducing games' have fairly short time frames. I figure I can take on such a game for a week or a month at a time, and if I like the results the game produces, I can always repeat it for another period of time, often adjusting the rules of the game to make it even more fun and result producing.

One such game that I've recently written about on this blog is the "Write 1K Every Day" game. Another one that I created years ago is the Big R Game which was a longer game but that produced great results. You can learn all about the Big R Game (by the way "R" stands of rejection) in my book, From Spark to Flame: Fanning Your Passion and Ideas into Money Making Magazine Articles that Make a Difference. In these ways, the process of discipline can be fun and energizing. I can avoid the 'punishment' mentality and as for rules, well they're easier to follow when I'm the one making them up.

The second strategy is particularly important early on when you first commit to developing discipline. The strategy is forgiveness.  When you stray off course, you drop the ball on what you said you wanted to accomplish, you end up sleeping in late when you vowed to get up at 6 am…in all those times you fall short from what you promised, forgive yourself.  This isn't to let yourself off the hook but to give you the space to be human — to really go for it and fail, then go for it again.  And we'll explore that more fully in a later post on purposeful patience and persistence.

Give discipline a try. Before you know it, you'll have more of it in your life, and your writing will show it. Let me know what you find works for you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Creating Your Own Book Covers with Fun & Ease

We've all heard how important it is to have a really great book cover.  Despite the old adage, "You can't judge a book by its cover," we know we all do — right?  Right. And you've probably all read how damn hard it is to create really great covers.  True?

Okay, now here's where the contrarian in me comes out.  I say hogwash to that.  Here, let me

Covers Designed by Ann Swift & W. Bradford Swift

explain. I see many really good authors who end up getting stopped, sometimes for weeks, months or longer, in getting their book published because they don't know how to create a really great cover, and they don't have the funds to hire a professional.

So I say, don't sweat it. Lower your standards just a bit.  Go for creating a good cover — the best cover you're capable of.  And that my friends, is not nearly as hard as you may think, especially with the resources that are now available.

Now, this is where I have to differ a bit with one of my 'indie publishing idols' and mentors – Dean Wesley Smith.  Dean advocates to invest the time, energy and money to learn how to use InDesign — a professional piece of software that the experts use for cover design.  It's an Adobe product that sells for about $500. I'm sure it's very good, and probably worth the time and money…but if you're just started out, I'm guessing many of you just choked when you saw that you'd have to lay out 500 smackers just to produce your covers. This is especially hard to swallow if you only have a book or two you want to publish at this point.

Sure, down the line, such an investment could be the way to go…but I'd like to offer a few other choices that will get you moving forward with much less effort — ie, a much shorter learning curve, and far less money to invest.

(Just to clarify, Dean recommends InDesign for covers to be used for your Print-On-Demand books. For electronic editions, he recommends using Power Point.)

 

Book Cover Option #1 – iWorks Pages

My good friend and fellow writing colleague, Joe D'Agnese turned me on to Pages (and in the process became that much better a friend.)  If you work on a Mac it's a very simple, intuitive program with which you can create quite nice covers.  And at less than $20 it won't break the bank.  Apple even has a 30 day trial so you can test it out before you buy. To shorten the learning curve even further they have a set of short tutorials on how to use Pages. (Some of the covers in my book cover collage above were designed using Pages. Read below for a little contest I'm having.)

The downsize of covers created with Pages is that they're really only good for your e-book editions. But there is a way around this with Option #2.

Book Cover Option #2 – Createspace Book Cover Creator

Createspace has, what I consider to be, a very credible Book Cover Creator. With it and a little imagination and creativity, you can create countless different book covers.  There are approximately 40 different book designs, but each one can be widely changed with different themes, different background colors, back cover content, and front cover images. In fact, by using something like TechSmith's Jing, you can capture the front cover image and make it into a perfectly usable cover for your e-book edition as well.

Sure, there's a bit of a learning curve to deal with, but here comes Shelley Heitz to the rescue with her video tutorial on how to create a cover with the Createspace Cover Creator.

Guess the Book Cover Context

Okay, here's a chance to have some fun and to win a prize for just playing along with me. The image above is of seven of my book covers. One was created professionally, the other six either Ann or I created using either Createspace or Pages. I'll go ahead and let you know that Life On Purpose: Six Passages to an Inspired Life was the one done by a professional book cover designer.

You mission, if you choose to accept it, is to figure out which of the other six books were designed using Createspace and which were designed using Pages.

The first person who guesses it 100% correctly will win a copy of whichever of the seven books they would like.  I'll run the contest until March 16, and announce the winner the following week. Please, one entry/guess only.  Enter your guess by clipping and pasting the names of the book that are below into the comment box (even farther below). Then, if you think the book was designed using Createspace, type next to the title a CS. If you think it was created using Pages, type in a P next to it. Simple, right?  Fun too.

Spiral of Fulfillment

Dominion Over All

Seeds of a New Birth

Clarion Call 1

Simple Living

From Spark to Flame

One Last Tip for Now – Where to Get Images for the Covers

I'm sure there are a ton of options here.  I'll give you the four that I use most regularly:

From my own photo album – This is great because if you took the picture yourself, you know you own the rights to use it (at least in most cases).

Dreamtime.com : This is a great resource for royalty free images that are very reasonably priced.

MorgueFile.com:  Free and royalty free.

Find and Seek Permission: Three of my favorite images that I've used on covers came from my searching the internet for them, then tracking down the artist and negotiating to use the image.  I'd never use an image without the artist's permission – that's bad karma not to mention illegal in most cases. But I have found artists to be quite understanding, generous, and willing to collaborate in this way.

In fact, three of the covers above have such images.  Care to guess which three? 

Use Equal Energy Exchanges to Enhance Your Writing Career

One of the things I'm finding as I focus more of my life energy on being a visionary writer that's both interesting and fun is how many different aspects of being a life coach I can apply to my writing aspirations.  For example, using Equal Energy Exchanges – a self made distinction I've used with many of my coaching clients in the past.

So, what is an Equal Energy Exchange (EEE) and how can we visionary writers use them to our advantage (and everyone else's advantage for that matter)?  Well, an EEE is a way of looking at life that can free us up from the constraints often placed on us when it comes to matters of money.  You see, it's my observation that most people are more than a little nuts when it comes to matters of money and finance…and yes, I'm definitely including myself in the nut bowl.

However, I've come to realize and embrace this truism:

Money is just one form of the infinite resources available to us all that we can tap into to live our life on purpose

Now, granted money is a very useful and convenient form of 'infinite resources,' but still it's just one form of energy.  When we consider it this way, then the idea of Equal Energy Exchanges become quite interesting.  For example, I have over 22 years of experience as a life and business coach.  That's a valuable resource I can offer to others in exchange for something they have that I need, like:

Web Design
Editorial Services
Book Cover Design
Book Marketing and Promotion

Of course, the list could be much longer but you get the idea.  Sure, it takes a little extra work to sort out what the Equal Energy Exchange might be, but I've found the little extra effort is well worth it, for I get to share a valuable service with another while also receiving a valuable service back.

So, here are a few nuggets I've learned about making EEE's work well:

Have a written 'Clarity Agreement': Create an agreement up front that outlines the specifics of the Equal Energy Exchange. This way, down the road, weeks or months after you've started working with the other person, if a question arises, you'll have something to fall back on as to what the actual agreement was.  It keeps matters clean and clear.
Know your worth: I mean this both in the sense of having good self esteem as well as having a dollar figure of your value, and that they both be realistic, as in grounded in reality. For example, I know my value as a coach because many people have paid me well for my services over the last two decades.  So, while I have the freedom to negotiate with someone around my coaching rates if I'm so inclined, I know not to just give this service away because then it wouldn't be an Equal Energy Exchange.
Look Beyond the Obvious: We all have talents and abilities, several of which we probably take so much for granted that we might fail to include them in an EEE negotiation. For example, I love to chop wood. It's a great way for me to relax after a heavy dose of writing or coaching time.  So, recently, one of my neighbors had several large oak trees cut down to protect her house from falling limbs.  We negotiated my splitting the wood in exchange for my receiving some of the wood.  Okay, I realize the example doesn't directly relate to writing, but you get the idea — look beyond the obvious.
Join a LETS Group – LETS stands for Local Exchange Trading System, and there are popping up all over.  Being a member of one of these is like EEE on speed or steroids because here you can trade your services with a much larger base of folks.  Here's how they work, direct from my LETS home page:

"Unlike direct trade (where both parties must want what the other offers and exchange in roughly equal amounts), LETS members exchange services for credits (called, simply, "LETS") which can then be swapped for the services of any other member in the network. Members are able to earn LETS in ways they could never earn dollars and they can get what they need without spending hard-earned cash."

For example, I found a great editor for my writing here. While she didn't need my coaching services, I was able to use her editing services because another member wanted my coaching services. Often times, you can also sell items you no longer have a use for in exchange for LETS. I sold two gumball machines to a member who was thrilled to have them for his studio. Then I turned around and hired my editor for my next book. Check Here for a LETS in your area.

Writer Attracting a Beta Reader

I'm a writer on a mission today — to attract an additional Beta Reader — maybe two.  I've always been a prolific writer…at least for the past 25 years that I've been actively engaged in expressing myself and my life purpose through writing. But I've not always been as prolific a publisher, in large part because as I learned recently I'm more wired up to be a writer than an author. You can read more about this important distinction made by Dean Wesley Smith on his blog, but briefly here's my take on it:

Writers write. Authors are writers who have written, and who often spend much more of their time trying to get what they've written published by trying to find the perfect agent who will then help them find the perfect publisher, etc.  Writers on the other hand prefer using their writing as their primary marketing tool.  We write, polish, edit, publish and then get on with the next story and/or book, then rinse and repeat.

So, as a primary 'writer' who this past year decided the best way for me to publish is as an indie publisher, I now have several works, some that I've written years ago and others that I've started recently, that I want to polish, revise, have edited and then indie publish.

Future Beta Reader?

A key step to this process is to have some other people who can read and comment on the various writing projects.  That's where another important set of distinctions come in — the difference between an Alpha Reader, Beta Reader, and Gamma Reader. This set comes from my all time favorite writing podcast, Writing Excuses.  To learn more about the differences of these three kinds of readers, listen to Writing Excuses fifteen minute podcast on the subject, but basically here's the difference as I see it:

Alpha Readers can see the Big Picture of the story or book even while it's in its formative stage. They can help a writer to birth the idea without taking it off course.  My wife, Ann, is really good at this and is my primary Alpha Reader along with my writing buddy, Cynthia.

A Beta Readers is able to read for the 'Big Picture' as well once it's further along. A Beta Reader helps the writer to  focus on such important elements as:

 

Character Development
Plot
Description
Dialogue
Conflict

A Beta Reader is also able to not get mired down by such details as punctuation, spelling, typos, grammar, etc.  Those are the types of important details that a Gamma Reader and/or editor will pick up and clean up.

So, one of the reasons for writing this post is to attract additional Beta Readers to the team. If you're reading this post, you may either be one of our future Beta Readers or know others who would enjoy being a part of such an endeavor.

So, what makes for a good Beta Reader?

Qualities & Attributes of an ideal Beta Reader

Here are some of the qualities and attributes I feel are most important for a Beta Reader:

A Beta Reader is able to provide constructive comments on books and stories from a Big Picture perspective. They can make useful, valuable, and constructive comments that results in a stronger and more engaging story.
They are able to share what works about the story from their perspective in a possible and specific way focusing on such areas as those listed above.
They are then able to also make specific comments on what could make the story even better. This includes pointing out places in the story where they may have become confused, or where they lost interest, or where the story seemed to ramble.
They are able to communicate their insights in a positive and constructive way.
While being avid readers of many different genres, Alpha Readers for Team Porpoise will particularly enjoy reading speculative and visionary fiction and non fiction.
They are also able to read and comment on a book within a week or two of their agreeing to read the book. The exception to this is in the case they are reading chapters as they are being written, which might happen from time to time.
If something unexpected comes up that prevents them from reading the book in a timely manner, they communicate immediately so other arrangements can be made.

I've also found that for such an arrangement to work well it must work for all concerned.  In other words, there needs to be some kind of an "equal energy exchange."

The Give & Receive of an Equal Energy Exchange

Let's start by listing what you as an Beta Reader should be willing to give. A Beta Reader agrees:

 To read and comment on at least 1-2 books per year. You are also free to read more than 2 books per year if you like.
To read any book you volunteer for in a timely manner — usually within 1-2 weeks depending on the length of the book. The exception to this time frame would be if you're reading and commenting on the chapters as they're being written which will naturally take longer.
To be mindful to make positive and constructive comments that will not only make the books and stories better but will also leave the writer empowered to continue writing.
To make your comments as specific as possible that include highlighting what you like about the book and that you feel works well, as well as specific suggestions that could improve the book and/or story.
To not become overly attached to your comments and insights, knowing that the final say is left to the writer, and that the writer deciding not to make certain recommended changes does not mean the writer does not appreciate and value the comments and suggestions.

Now, here's what you can expect to receive in return:

The satisfaction of knowing your making a significant contribution to help create books that are engaging, entertaining, inspiring, encouraging and enlightening.
Improving your enjoyment of reading as well as learning more about what could make you a more effective writer as well,
You presence on this web site as part of the writing team that will include your photo and bio along with a link to your own web site if you so choose.
A signed copy of any of the books that you are a Beta Reader for once the book has been published.
The eternal appreciation of the writer that includes appearing in the acknowledgment section of the book.

 Ready to Become a Beta Reader?

It's simple to do.  Just send me a message here. Tell me a little about yourself, what kind of stories you most enjoy reading, why you want to join the team and anything else you feel is important for me to know about you. Also include any questions you may have.  I'll get back in touch with you shortly…usually within the week.