Jane Friedman's Blog: Jane Friedman, page 228

How to Spot Questionable Writing Advice

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Today, I'm a guest over at Writer Unboxed, where I detail how to identify what might
be "bad" writing advice:

How
to Avoid Being Fooled By Bad Writing Advice

Usually what constitutes "bad" advice is merely extreme advice. Go
check out the full story!


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Thinking Beyond the Book: What's Your Demand Curve?

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At the Writer's Digest Conference, Richard
Nash delivered an inspiring keynote. Writers loved it.



Deep in his talk, a slide flashed up on the screen that, to the untrained eye, might
not have seemed like much. It was a piece of innovative and critical business advice
that spoke to the transformation of how authors should envision the growth and profitability
of their careers.



Thinking Beyond the Book


Nash's slide shows all the things that authors might do to earn money beyond just
selling a book. It speaks to the famous 7 intangibles that Kevin Kelly once wrote
about—the factors that now
drive the so-called "new economy" in our digital culture.




Immediacy (priority access, immediate delivery)

Personalization (tailored just for you)

Interpretation (support and guidance)

Authenticity (how can you be sure it is the real thing?)

Accessibility (wherever, whenever)

Embodiment (books, live music)

Patronage (paying simply because it feels good)


Findability (when there are millions of everything requesting our attention, being
found is valuable)

The trick is think of all the ways that you can deliver special experiences or unique
products to your audience that carry a high value. You will sell or offer fewer of
them (because they make greater demands on your time, energy, or resources), but you
will also charge more for them.




The curve Nash shows is not the only or final curve, just an example. Here are the
categories I'd pull out and order as most common:



E-books (cheapest)

Limited edition books

Personalized or customized books

Classes & workshops



One-on-one experiences (most expensive)



See how these take advantage of the 7 intangibles that Kelly outlined? Personalization?
Authenticity? Embodiment?




Yes, this is, in part, a marketing exercise. But just as much it's about being creative
and imaginative—about doing things that fit with who you are, and what your readers
want.



Cory Doctorow experiments with a curve of offerings, and has
reported on his efforts at Publishers Weekly.




OpenSky is a popular and emerging merchandising
model that is part of this curve. Take
a look at this author's "store."




Teaching Sells helps
all types of experts turn their knowledge into income. (Admittedly, this works better
for nonfiction than fiction.)



There are many other high-powered models you probably know about, like The-Book-Is-a-Souvenir
Seth Godin or Hugh MacLeod.



You won't be Seth Godin overnight. But always think beyond the book when envisioning
how your career will grow.



Your turn: What have you seen authors do that take advantage of the 7 intangibles,
and go beyond the book? Share examples in the comments!

 

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Are You a Renaissance Soul? Use It to Your Advantage

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Today's guest post is from Michelle Ward,
aka The When I Grow Up Coach, who has worked with over 100 creative types to help
them with their career goals.




--



Are you a Renaissance soul? To find out, answer the following questions:



Do you find a lot of different things interesting/worthwhile?


Do you have a tough time choosing just one thing to work on?

After a few weeks working on one piece, do you get the itch to move on?

If you answered yes to at least 2 of these questions, it doesn't mean that
you're flaky, unfocused, or are bound for failure. You're, instead, a Renaissance
Soul—like about 90% of the other creative types I talk with and coach!




It simply means that, as described here,
you have too many passions/interests to pick just one—just like Michelangelo and DaVinci!
Not bad guys to compare yourself to.



You may not believe me, but being a Renaissance Soul ain't a curse. I know—you've
been told that you need to Finish What You Start or Pick Your
Niche in order to be a successful writer, but to that I say: Hooey!




It's still possible to have a kick-ass career—and even be known as an expert—without
feeling like you have to put yourself in a box. Here's how:



Determine Ideal Conditions for Your Renaissance Soul


I have a client who discovered that her Renaissance Soul is happiest immersing herself
in one project until completion, but only if that project has an end date no more
than 3 months in the future—and she knows in advance the next project to switch to.
Because of those quarterly goals, she knows she'll complete 4 projects every year,
which is a high (and motivating/exciting!) number for her.




Personally, I enjoy having my hands in 2 or 3 projects at a time, working on them
each for about an hour a day or longer (when inspiration strikes). If I had to work
on 1 project continuously until it's done, I might go insane.




To figure out how you work best, ask yourself:




How long can I work on something until I get antsy?

How would I react if I was told that I had to work on 1 thing until it gets done?




What about 2 things? 3 things? 4 things? Find your optimal number.

Where do you feel the biggest sense of accomplishment/happiness/growth: starting a
project, working on it, or finishing it? When you have the answer, do some brainstorming
as to what type of structure will let you live in that place the longest.




I had a client who started projects to prove to herself that she could do it, but
once she got to that place ("Knitting a scarf is so easy! I can so do this!"), she
abandoned the project and made herself feel guilty in the process. Once I asked her
to get her half-finished projects out of her sight, her Guilty Vampire left her alone.
She even finished the next project she started by ensuring it was challenging at the
start and that it had a purpose (to give the scarf to her sister as a birthday gift)
until the end. She's also able to start and abandon projects guilt-free, to scratch
that I Can Do It itch anytime she wants.





Do a Brain Dump RIGHT NOW


Set the timer for 3 minutes right now, and do a big brain dump of everything that's
buzzing in your head that you wanna write about. Once they're all there, prioritize
them. If you don't know where to start, then rate them by excitement from 1 ("meh")
to 10 ("THIS IS AMAZEBALLS!"). Then, rank them based on the excitement number. If
there are any ties, then go by which project feels easiest. Yes, easiest.




How to Get Unstuck


Working from the optimal place you discovered above, you can ask yourself the following
if you find yourself getting stuck:



Why do I want to change directions?

What am I afraid of?

Is this something I still want to explore? If so, how much time/energy do I want to
give it?

Do I want to revisit this at another point in time? If so, mark a date in your calendar
a month from now and switch gears. Then, on that date, reassess again how you'd work
best and don't feel guilty about taking that project entirely off your plate.

What's the one consistent thing that comes up in your writing no matter what? Is it
your infectious energy, your eternal optimism, your sarcastic streak, your descriptive
prose? Dig deep (or go directly to the report cards, the feedback from teachers and
classmates, and/or the blog comments) and see what's consistent. Now, make sure you
bring that strength into whatever you write.




What can you be counted on to provide? Instead of focusing on the actual genre or
project, focus instead on the traits that come with it and make yourself known by
your uniquity. Then, it won't matter if you're writing children's books and short
stories—the fact that you're the writer will be apparent no matter the format.



So forget the stress of becoming boxing yourself in, or having to write one piece
until it's done or you're torturing yourself (whatever comes first).




Instead, focus on learning how you're most productive, enjoying what you do and using
your specialness as a Renaissance Soul to share your awesome writing with the world!



--



Michelle Ward is a certified life coach by the International Coach Academy and
a musical theater actress with her BFA from NYU/Tisch. She can be found coachin',
bloggin' and givin' away free stuff at whenigrowupcoach.com,
and encouraging everyone to claim their uniquity at The
Declaration of You.




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MASTER Recap of 2011 Writer's Digest Conference

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This post is a collection of:



Best tweets from the 2011 Writer's Digest Conference

Links to official live blog posts of selected sessions



Best recaps of the event by attendees & presenters





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BEST TWITTER TIPS BY CATEGORY


Search #wdc11 to view all
tweets from the event. (Pictured above: Me hunched over at WDC11, tweeting, alongside
Guy Gonzalez and Kevin Smokler.)

Craft/technique

A hero must show glimmer of humanity or a flaw in 1st 5 pages.
—Don Maass




Avoid "happy people in Happyland" when starting a book. Readers don't connect with
that." 


—James Scott Bell




Commercial women's fiction: premise should have something that couldn't happen to
most people."


[Ask Agent panel, unattributed]



At about 20,000 words, I stop and ask, "Is my lead character sympathetic, as I wanted
him to be?"

—James Scott Bell




[Collection of tweets on the revision session]

After a draft, take at least two weeks' break. Then read. In first read, I put in
check marks where the story is dragging and parentheses around bad phrases. Circles
go in the margin for where emotions aren't working. Question marks are for confusing
passages. After the first read, I ask, "Does this story make sense?" Do characters
act as people really would?" Characters in a novel have agendas, they don't just take
up space. What do they want in each scene? Look for coincidences that help a character,
and cut them out. You don't want a deus ex machina effect. Novels should be like a
chess match. There has to be a purpose for the characters to act. After draft revising,
do a polish. Polishing involves looking at scene openings and chapter endings.

—James Scott Bell






Self-publishing




Biggest problem for self-publishers is visibility. If you can achieve it, the money
can rival traditional. 


—agent Richard Curtis




If you're going to give your writing away (e.g. Huffington Post) do it on your own
platform instead.

 —Guy Gonzalez




Major keys to success are good story & true editing. Self-pub cannot be lower
quality than traditional.

—agent April Eberhardt






Blogging




[Collection of tweets on blogging session]

The more you work your blog, the more value you build for readers over time and the
more they find you. Your blog is a body of work, not just some marketing channel.
Don't think: "I'm going to create blog (a thing)." Think: What is my purpose? What
are my goals? Before you start blog, think about who'll send you traffic. Know community
players, who you'll build relationships with. Cannot overstress how important headline
writing is in your blog. It's your hook. Make it descriptive, compelling. Comment
on other people's blogs. Create a post as a response to someone's blog + tweet + comment
+ e-mail. Guest-posting builds credibility with partnership. And a weekly digest /
newsletter on your topic builds value.

—Dan Blank






Marketing, platform & social media




The book is not your whole brand. It's about connection to readers. Brand starts before
a book and resonates. Brand means you've ID-ed your audience, learned its needs, gotten
a clear vision of how you connect to that. Where you hang out online can say a lot
about your brand—without you having to say it, per se. —Dan
Blank




Rather than think of platform as an economic leverage point of misery, think of it
as what makes you happy.


—Richard Nash




I use Twitter to focus on certain people. Prior to this conference, I was watching
Twitter for who was coming to wdc11. … But it's not about the platform you use, it's
about the quality of the connection. … What's the ideal number of followers? There's
isn't an ideal number. It's all about quality. You want the right people more than
big numbers.


—Dan Blank




It all seems like a waste of time until something happens.—unattributed [Social Media
panel]



You analyze connections between people, not just topic but person-behind-topic. Then
build relationship.


—Dan Blank




Blogging on existing sites can be a good addition to building a topic-specific blog
of your own. Also consider participating in forums, writing guest posts.


—Kate Rados




Don't expect to make money with the 1st book (no matter how you publish); use it to
build readership, move onto 2nd. … Your job is to get your name out there. That's
how you become successful as an author.


—Patricia V. Davis






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Pitching/queries


(Pictured above: WDC11 pitch slam!)




In pitching agents, don't mention "blockbuster," Oprah, or the fact that God or aliens
told you to write.


—Chuck Sambuchino




Should an author get a pro edit before submission? Start with beta readers for affordability.


—Chuck Sambuchino




In nonfiction, platform often more important than in fiction. In fiction, story &
writing may trump other issues.


—Jud Laghi



"When is your project is ready to query? If beta-readers see more you need to do,
do it. Often, it takes years."


—Donald Maass




"If you're not published, don't apologize! No pub credits? Just leave that info out
of query. Focus on that book!"


[Ask Agent panel, unattributed]



"Editors are constitutionally unable to say 'no' to nice people at conferences. No
answer after submission means: no (rejection)." —Janet
Reid




On persistence in querying: If you're not getting the right response to your work,
something isn't working. If you're getting rejections, look at your novel and query.
Don't exhaust all queriable agents before you rework things!

—Donald Maass




Single biggest problem in queries: What's the book about? Start where the book starts:
a choice that illustrates the stakes. Don't reach for publishing credentials! If in
doubt, leave it out. Don't need to mention sequels/other work in your query. Agents
sign you for your whole career, so focus on the book you're querying.

—Janet Reid




Pitch: Who's the main character, what decision do they face, what will happen if he
chooses A vs B? One or two sentences max! Your pitch is comprised COMPLETELY of your
main character (name, age) and what CHOICE they face. Drop backstory/situation. After
those two sentences, stop talking! The agent will ask you questions—have a conversation!

—Janet Reid




Nonfiction writer: If your blog is your platform, you've got to have THOUSANDS of
hits. If that's not the case, don't bring it up! —Janet
Reid

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WRITER'S DIGEST OFFICIAL CONFERENCE BLOG


Many sessions were covered live during the conference. Here are recaps.



The
Future of Publishing (opening talk) by agent Richard Curtis

Keynote
address by Richard Nash

Closing
talk by Benjamin Leroy




Pitch
Perfect by Chuck Sambuchino

10
Things You Must Know to Craft an Effective Query by Janet Reid

Ask
the Agent panel



Branding
Yourself by Dan Blank

Your
Publishing Options by Jane Friedman

Marketing
Yourself in the Digital Age by Guy Gonzalez



Author
101 by Kevin Smokler

DIY
Publishing panel



The
Art of the Page Turner by Hallie Ephron

Putting
Fire in Your Fiction by Donald Maass

Building
the Perfect Plot by James Scott Bell





EXCELLENT COVERAGE & REACTIONS ELSEWHERE


Go read what others had to say (both attendees & presenters):



Agent Janet Reid's coverage on her session at the conference, on how
to write effective queries




Digital Book World's Guy Gonzalez's slide deck from Marketing
Yourself in the Digital Age




Recap
& thoughts from attendee Julie Weathers (I don't agree with everything she
says, but that's mainly because conference tweets almost always deliver a message
out of context, and can be interpreted to mean things they really don't … so she takes
different meaning from the tweets than what was often intended. Hard to avoid, though.



Here's a great recap of Richard Nash's keynote, titled How
Reading Can Change the World




And, by the same person, a recap of the agent panel: Quit
Obsessing




A Publishers
Weekly blog-reporter gives her take




Here's
one attendee who didn't participate in the pitch slam, and offers reasons why attending
such a conference is still helpful




ScriptChat hostess Jeanne V. Bowerman offers a
comprehensive recap at WriteOn!




This attendee tells some good
anecdotes from the pitch slam




Finally, read Chuck
Sambuchino's wrap-up at Guide to Literary Agents, and catch a few great photos





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A Writer's Platform: How to Make It Natural and Happy

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The following guest post is by writer Erika Robuck,
who attended the Writer's Digest
Conference on Saturday and generously offered to recap the sessions she attended.






"The business of writing is the business of reading."


—Richard Nash


 

These words from Richard Nash's keynote address have been sitting in a quiet space
in my writer's heart since I heard them.



They seem so simple, but the meaning is profound. If I think about what reading is—the
intimacy of the act of bringing someone else's words, thoughts, and imaginings into
my brain, often while I'm in bed; if I reflect on the weight of that as a writer and
apply it to all areas of the publication process (from words on the page, to editing,
to marketing, etc.)—I can transform the entire experience into something I'm eager
to do, every step of the way.




The breakout sessions I attended communicated this same idea, over and over again,
in new and varied ways: the importance you and your passions are as a writer to the
business of writing.



Your Publishing Options


I began the day at Jane Friedman's session,
"Your Publishing Options," outlining the various forms publication takes in the present
day.




Jane focused on the three major avenues: traditional, small press, and DIY/self-publishing.
What was striking about Jane's presentation, aside from her warmth, humor, and knowledge,
was her emphasis on writers carefully reflecting on the best publishing avenue for
them, individually—really asking ourselves as writers what's important to us, who
will read our work, and the best placement for its success.




If you seek an avenue suited to your personality and writing goals, you will be infinitely
more likely to achieve it. When I left her session, I truly felt empowered to choose
the best path for my own efforts.



Building the Perfect Plot


Following Jane's session, I attended James Scott
Bell's workshop on "Building the Perfect Plot." In addition to doing a mean Dirty
Harry impression, Bell discussed the strengths of the three-act structure in writing
and his "Lock System" for solid plots. His emphasized character as the means by which
readers connect to the story, which helpful in preparing my pitch because it showed
how I must emphasize my protagonist to invite agent connection.



Richard Nash


Richard Nash's keynote address was powerful. His words on the importance of writers
as readers—and on the publishing industry understanding that and treating them as
such—clearly resounded with the room. 




He emphasized that building platform should not be thought of as an "economic leverage
point," but as a natural extension of your work and what makes you happy. This was
revolutionary, and illustrates why so many author and publisher efforts at spreading
the word in a one-size-fits-all approach lead to failure.


 

Pitch Slam


I found myself in awe of all of the writers in the pitch lines so passionate about
their books, and ended up scratching out my own pitch (which I'd been obsessing over
for weeks) and just speaking clearly and authentically from the heart. It was received
very well, and I have the session leaders and conference organizers to thank for that.


 

I no longer think of writing, reading, and the business of writing as separate facets
of my career, but as parts that work best when integrated.



 

[image error]Erika
Robuck is an historical fiction author, blogger, and voracious reader. You can catch
up with her on Twitter, Facebook (Erika
Robuck, Author), or her website.




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Best Tweets for Writers (week ending 1/21/11)

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I watch Twitter, so you don't have to. Visit each Sunday for the week's best Tweets.
If I missed a great Tweet, leave it in the Comments. Want to know about the best stuff
I read each week? Click
here to subscribe to my shared items.




This week's installment is more abbreviated than usual due to the Writer's Digest
Conference. Look for the best lessons/advice on this blog in the next few days!





















Getting Published, Agents/Editors

How to Write a Synopsis When You Have Lots
of Characters in Your Story


@inkyelbows



Great piece by @andrewtshaffer on why complaining
will get you nowhere fast in publishing


@ColleenLindsay



Beware of Agent Solicitations


@elizabethscraig

Craft & Technique

Tension vs. Just Plain Old Annoying

@elizabethscraig



An additional post on openings--defining our characters
at the start of our book


@p2p_editor



Interesting article about the difference between edits
and revisions


@BubbleCow

Marketing & Promotion

WSJ: How authors move their own
merchandise: "Sometimes, you have to throw sex toys."

@dbschlosser



10 free online tools every PR pro should master


@TonyEldridge



Marketing Yourself in the Digital Age


@glecharles

Looking for more?




Want to know about the best stuff I read each week?


Click here to subscribe
to my shared items.




Follow me on Twitter (@JaneFriedman)







List of Tweeps most
often included in weekly Best Tweets for Writers (always under development)



Follow Writer's Digest editors on Twitter: @writersdigest @brianklems @robertleebrewer @jessicastrawser @chucksambuchino @psexton1 @kellymesserly




Become a fan at the Writer's Digest Facebook
page (nearly 10K fans)

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Glimmer Train Monthly News

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Glimmer Train has just chosen the winning
stories for their Short Story Award for New Writers.  This competition is held
quarterly and is open to all writers whose fiction has not appeared in a print publication
with a circulation greater than 5000.  The next Short Story Award competition
will take place in February. Glimmer
Train's monthly submission calendar may be viewed here.

First place:  Clayton Luz (pictured above), of Chicago, wins $1200 for "When
the Wind Blows the Water Grey."  His story will be published in the Spring 2012
issue of Glimmer Train Stories. 




Second place: Joseph Johns, of Decatur, GA, wins $500 for "Strange Birds." 
His story will also be published in an upcoming issue of Glimmer Train Stories, increasing
his prize to $700.




Third place: Jonathan Tucker of Mwanza, Tanzania, wins $300 for "The Coffin Makers." 





A
PDF of the Top 25 winners can be found here.

Deadline soon approaching!


Very Short Fiction Award: 
January 31



Glimmer Train hosts this competition twice a year, and first place is $1200 plus publication
in the journal. It's open to all writers, no theme restrictions, and the word count
must not exceed 3000. Click
here for complete guidelines.


 

--



If you didn't know, Writer's Digest partnered with Glimmer Train to publish two compilation
volumes of the best stuff from their Writers
Ask newsletter.




Check them out: Volume
1 and Volume
2.



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A Luddite Enters the Digital Marketplace

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Today's guest post is from author Nath Jones.
In 2011, Nath Jones will finish an MFA in creative writing at Northwestern University,
where she was a nominee for The Best New American Voices 2010.



Nath's work is influenced by small towns, small business, the army, the ocean,
and cornfields. She is in the process of releasing four collections of short works
and offering them to readers as e-books. The first of these, The
War is Language: 101 Short Works, is available on Smashwords, Kindle,
and Scribd.
Nath Jones lives and writes in Chicago.




--



I never thought I'd self-publish a book, let alone commit to releasing four e-books
over two years.



Even as I opened my mind to the world of electronic literature, I could not believe
how much I had to learn to publish The War
is Language: 101 Short Works .




Too often we stall out and stop working when we don't know how to approach a new goal,
have no experience with a new technology, or have a critical view of the next stepping-stone.
But publishing e-books can be a boon for a writer's career even for Luddites stuck
in a traditional publishing mentality.  



In 2001, I found myself at an impasse that may be familiar. I thought, "Why couldn't
I have been born a hundred years ago? How on earth is this logistical publishing nightmare,
this incomprehensible tangle of old and new publishing technologies, central to my
entire life's purpose?"



When the writers went on strike in 2007 in relation to residuals for new media, I
just gave up trying to understand publishing at all.  



Confronted by the seeming lack of literary formality of many blogs, the mushrooming
options of e-readers, and the conversion of many literary journals from print to websites,
I completely stopped trying to reach any audience of readers beyond friends and family.



It's not that I held fast to old-guard ways of print or was completely resistant to
the world of digital content. It's that I have an incapacitating fear of the unknown.
Paralysis ensues. Flailing in ineptitude is not a favored pastime so I avoid it.



There are countless reasons to publish your own content as e-books.



Success is determined not only by sales but by artistic satisfaction in the statement
one makes. The sense of accomplishment and validation one gains from producing an
e-book can help maintain motivation for larger more traditional works.

E-books give writers the ability to experiment with content. Writers
are often typed into market sectors. Publishers may not risk something different but
with e-books the writer can.

Publishing e-books forces a writer to practice the professional aspects
of a writing career: marketing, sales, design, web presence, legality, and deadlines.
Writers learn the process of publication as they enter the marketplace and implement
their ideas.



But if you've written a book and are conversing about it over dinner, I still feel
you should discuss things like the book's bearing on culture and the reception of
novel ideas. I don't think that a play-by-play of how you were finally able to comprehend
Calibre, LaTex or Amazon's DTP (after they each in turn very nearly annihilated your
ego) has much of anything to do with litrachur.




Yet the fact remains that while a writer must struggle to attain aesthetic satisfaction,
that same writer may benefit from learning the intricacies of today's publishing technology.
As much as I resisted learning about digital content, there are three things I learned
in the process of publishing my first e-book that I might like to have known in advance.



Formatting short works for reflowable content is different than formatting content
on paper.

Epigraph rights may require permissions contracts and fees for usage.

Neither libraries nor bookstores will help with marketing.



 

FORMATTING


I thought that a collection of ultra-shorts and flash fiction would work well as an
e-book. Commuters with smart phones could conceivably enjoy a piece or two on their
way to or from work. Every time I tried to offset content with blank areas in the
reader's viewing field, the manuscript would not convert correctly. As I became more
familiar with the Smashwords Style Guide,
I learned that formatting short pieces for e-readers is much different than designing
the presentation of words on pieces of paper.



The format needs to be simple as possible so it can be read in a reader's preferred
font on a reader's chosen device. Page breaks, tabs, and spaces are completely different
concepts in reflowable content. Alternatives to using white space to break up the
work are numbering pieces or centering their titles.



PERMISSIONS


If an epigraph is not in the public domain, it may be necessary to contact the publishing
company that holds the rights. The title of The
War is Language: 101 Short Works is taken from a line in Allen Ginsberg's
1966 antiwar poem "Wichita
Vortex Sutra." In order to include the epigraph in the front matter, I had to
pay HarperCollins a nominal fee.



It is not just the length of quoted material that determines whether payment will
be required. It is also the intent and purpose of the work. Reviews of books and academic
articles about published material usually do not require that a writer pay to use
quoted material (if within fair use guidelines). But if the work being published is
a commercial product, which my e-book is, then even five lines of a poem require a
rights agreement and a fee for usage.



Usage fees are still determined by a book's print run. So it may also be necessary
to estimate a minimum number of sales of an e-book when working out a permissions
agreement.



MARKETING


Marketing tools run the gamut from Twitter to BookBuzzr to BookTour.
Still, those of us more reluctant to technology may hesitate to dive in. The blogosphere
is an intimidating place for an outsider. Reviews may be hard to come by as so many
reviewers still do not consider e-books.



In an effort to get the word out about my e-book in a way I understood, I contacted
both bookstores and libraries about hanging regular old flyers. I soon learned that
neither kind of establishment is in a position to assist self-published writers with
marketing.



While readers seek new content in both these locales, bookstores are not interested
in promoting your original electronic work, as they have no profit motive to help
you, and libraries are bound by their existence as nonprofits to avoid active solicitation;
they can't help you advertise since your e-book is a commercial enterprise.



Community centers and art galleries might be good alternatives to contact when posting
notices about a self-published book. I even contacted a grocery store and a dance
studio, since both places had community bulletin boards related to current events
in the area. But often there are strict arbiters that control the content posted on
such bulletin boards. Most establishments—profit or nonprofit—want material that relates
to their establishment's core values.



But even for someone who cannot easily fathom the changes that have occurred in publishing
over the past ten years, creating e-books is still a great way for a writer to stake
some claim in the digital market.





[image error]Find
out more about Nath by visiting her personal homepage,
or by visiting the site for The War Is Language.


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An E-Publisher That Specializes in Original Short Works

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The digitization of publishing has spawned many new presses and publishing models,
and one of them is 40K Books. 40K takes advantage
of the e-book format by specializing in novelettes and focused original essays. Based
in Milan, Italy, they handle world rights, translating and selling their e-books in
different languages (English, Italian, Portuguese, French and Spanish).



What follows is a chat between Livia Blackburne and
40K editorial director Giuseppe Granieri, several months after their launch. [Full
Disclosure: Livia
has published an essay with 40K.]





You focus on short stories and essays. Do you have any more
specific criteria beyond that?

Our fiction and our essays have the same nature (they entail 40 minutes
to more than an hour of reading), but they come from two totally different logics.



Our novelettes are the result of a need that the print market cannot satisfy: 
e-books create a new market for relatively short fiction. I've always liked this form
of fiction because it's more difficult than novels. It's a great challenge for a writer.
Novels can have pauses, faults: a long story wins by points. A novelette, as Julio
Cortazar wrote, needs to win by knock-out.



Our essays, relatively short and strongly focused, are a solution for another functional
limit of paper. With digital books you don't need to fill hundreds of pages with the
same concept, and you can better filter the information you give to your readers.
It's a matter of value: you can transmit a strong concept while requiring a lower
investment from the readers in terms of reading time. Time is always valuable—in many
cases, more valuable than the price. Nobody can read everything; we have to choose.
So if you can explain a complex concept while requiring a manageable time investment,
it's a very good thing.

How do you find your writers?

We apply a mixed criteria to select our authors, balancing award winners
(including Hugo and Nebula winners Bruce Sterling, Kristine Rusch, Mike Resnick, etc)
or famous thinkers (Derrick de Kerckhove, Peter Ludlow, Tom Stafford) with a selection
of young authors we believe in.



But it's more complicated than that when working in different markets. For example,
we were the first to translate Jacob Appel into Italian. And in the future we hope
to introduce American readers to authors they currently cannot appreciate because
these authors write in other languages.

What challenges have you faced since the launch?

The big thing is that the publishing market still isn't as global as readers
want. For example, Amazon gives the publisher a royalty for e-books sold "geographically"
in the USA and UK. So, if you live in Italy, you can buy the e-book because we own
worldwide rights. But you will be charged more (for international wireless delivery)
and our profit is also cut by 50%.

It's a paradox: we sell Italian e-books on Amazon, but we
need to discourage Italian Kindle owners (and there are many of them) from buying
our e-books directly from their Kindle. The majority of Kindle owners in Italy buy
.epubs from our Italian storefront and convert the file with Calibre to
Kindle format.

In simple terms, the market works with old rules that do
not match the actual reality. Or, to quote Paul Biba, the current sales model is just
not adapted to the current purchasing model.




But I think it's only a matter if time. Old models, built on the functional limitations
of paper books, will soon be updated. It would be foolish for the market not to follow
the readers' needs, starting from geographical restrictions.

Your contracts are subject to renewal after 3 years, rather
than for the duration of copyright. Why that approach?

Our perspective is to build a partnership-in-profit with the authors.
In the actual landscape, both the author's platform and the publisher's work are important.
Our goal is to build a collaborative work, a system that can share opportunities.
Then, if the contract period works for the author and for the publisher, we can contract
again.

What else do you want to know about 40K Books?
Leave your questions in the comments! (You can also join 40K on Twitter or GoodReads.)




Yes, 40K Books is open to queries.



About the interviewer: By day, Livia Blackburne is
a neuroscience graduate student at MIT. She also writes fantasy for young adults.
She explores the intersection of neuroscience and writing in her essay, "From
Words to Brain," (published by 40 K books), as well as at her
blog.


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How to Find a Direct Line to Your Readers

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On tap today we have a Q&A with author and independent publisher Patricia
V. Davis, who will be a featured speaker at the Writer's
Digest Conference in NYC.




I first met Patricia at a Writer's Digest event, before her first book was released.
Since then, her publishing career has steadily grown, culminating in the recent announcement
that she's heading up indie publisher Harper
Davis.




Given Patricia's experience in the trenches, as well as her background in sales, she
offers a unique and valuable viewpoint for anyone looking to build a career as an
independent author.



--



An independent press published your memoir, Harlot's
Sauce, in late 2008. I'm sure you shouldered most of the marketing and publicity
burden for that.  What strategies and tactics have proved most effective in getting
the word out?

The key for an author hoping to connect with as many readers as possible
is that she should look to connect with specific readers who'd be most interested
in what she's written. So, what you need to do first is sit down and think about who
those readers might be. Which group or groups might enjoy and benefit from reading
what you've written?

In my case, Harlot's
Sauce was about how being raised first generation Italian-American affected
my worldview and attitude about myself, then how these both changed as a result of
my marrying a Greek national and moving to Greece with him, in an attempt to save
our failing marriage. It's a tragedy written as a black comedy.




Well, who'd be most intrigued by a story like that?



I contacted Italian-American groups, and philhellenic groups (groups of people who
love Greece).




I contacted websites, magazines, blogs that focused on female empowerment and personal
growth.




In short, I made a list of the topics I visited in my story, and worked from that,
writing articles to appeal to those readers in particular, and posting them on sites
that had already cultivated a readership catering to those interests.




My reasoning was that if someone read a blog post or article of mine that appealed
to her, she might then be interested in ordering my book.




This was my most effective strategy—it gave me a direct line to my particular readers.
And it also prevented me from wasting time contacting (and probably annoying) readers
who had no interest in my work.

If you could go back and do it over again, what
would you do differently?

I'd do even more research than I did before my book came out,
and my research was already extensive.




It's extremely helpful to know every aspect of the publishing process from first draft
to finished project—what it takes to get your book into, or blocked from, being in
a retail book outlet, how to approach booksellers, which books will be most sought
after by agents and publishers, the editing processes, the graphic art of book covers,
social networking, press procedures … everything to do with publishing, even if it
doesn't seem to be significant or to have any bearing on your book. 




Because it all goes hand in hand, and if you're not apprised of it, you can end up
making some costly mistakes.




Too many authors are in a rush to get their books published, and that's a recipe
for disaster.




Be patient, do the investigating first, whether you're going to be traditionally or
self published. All the information you need is readily available, too, either in
book form (Writer's Digest publishes a number of them), or online, like at this very
blog, for example.




If you don't do the research, and instead "learn as you go," it'll not only cost you
sales of your first published work, but might also cost you any interest publishers
may have in your future works.

Your second book is just about to be released—The Diva
Doctrine: 16 Universal Principles Every Woman Needs to Know. Tell us how that
book came about.

Well, it's a great illustration of my earlier point!




I wrote a blog post for one of my young female readers in response to something she'd
written on her own blog. (Yes—it helps if you have a genuine interest in your readers'
lives.)




She was smart, beautiful, and kind, but her blog posts indicated that she just didn't
see herself that way. She suffered the anxieties a number of us suffer when we're
young, and I so identified, because when I was her age, I'd had some of the same worries
she wrote about, only to discover as I grew older that I'd stressed over things that
weren't the life-or-death situation I believed them to be. 




Ironically, she and I shared a birthday, too—I was turning 52 on the day she was turning
21. So my birthday gift to her was a blog post listing a number of the things I'd
learned that I didn't know when I was 21. I told her in that post that if she remembered
these things, they'd save her some valuable time, hopefully helping her to enjoy her
youth instead of being crushed by it. 

Well, that post got over 200 comments! And then something
happened that I didn't expect—it started appearing everywhere online. Websites like The
Frisky and Divine
Caroline picked it up.


It came up in my Google Alerts for tweets and retweets. 




I honestly don't know why it hit the nerve it did with so many, especially because
I think any fifty-year-old could have written it. But it did, and the next thing I
knew, Your
Time With Kim Iverson (a super cool radio show about sex and relationships) contacted
me to read my blog post on their program.



The day after Kim interviewed me, I had dozens of Facebook friends requests from people
who'd heard me on her show. (One man actually wrote down what I read and posted it
on his own Facebook page.)




All this hullabaloo piqued the interest of an agent, who asked me if I'd like to write
a book that expounded on the points I'd made—a self-empowerment type book. That's
how The Diva Doctrine came about.

How are you preparing for the launch of The
Diva Doctrine in terms of marketing/promotion?

In marketing this second work, I'm involving as many readers of my first
work as possible. Since it appeals to the same demographic, why shouldn't I ask them
what they'd like to see discussed in a book like this?




This is why social networking is so powerful. I honestly feel this was a group effort,
a book created in part by me and in part by my readers—women I know from Facebook,
women who blog, and women with whom I've exchanged e-mail addresses.




I asked them: "If you could go back in time and tell your younger self one thing,
what would it be?" 




The responses I got were enlightening (and a bit heartbreaking). The bond I felt with
the women who responded (who were from ages 16 up into their seventies) was authentic
and wonderful. I'm now about to make a book trailer using photos, names, and occupations
of the women whose responses I'm using.




That's where I am right now—in a collaborative outreach to my core group of readers
and supporters.




But the next part of my marketing plan is to repeat what I discussed in question number
one: Jot down everyone else who I think might be interested in this work, and touch
base with them, too.

A few years ago, you started Harlot's
Sauce Radio, a podcast program and magazine. How has it impacted you and your
career?

Well, HS Radio started for an entirely different reason than as a self-marketing
technique, believe it or not.




I've been sick to death of what's going on in mainstream media—the negativity, the
theatrics, the polarization, and the fact that no matter what station we're tuned
into for our TV news, what news website we're reading, we're getting opinions, not
facts. Ted
Koppel said it best in this article.




We're also being fed the repulsive outlook from reality shows that most of us are
vapid, vain, selfish, and apathetic. I refuse to believe that's the case, and I think
the writers on my podcast/magazine, not the people in those reality shows, are the
true examples of who the average human being actually is.




All those on staff or who guest write for HS Radio are of different mindsets, yet
they're smart, open-minded, and compassionate in their response to readers when they
disagree, and stick to facts when they're making their wide range of points.




In short, you can really learn something from reading what they write, even if you
don't necessarily agree with them. Many are novice writers who gain exposure and get
to work with editors who help them improve their writing without destroying their
spirit or enthusiasm. Some have even gotten gigs after being published by us and I
love that—that we're giving new writers, poets, and even photographers a chance to
shine.




We also get some seasoned professionals who guest for us, such as Joyce Maynard and
David Corbett, and it's a thrill for the newer writers to have their work appear alongside
these successful authors.



As for the podcasts, I'm lucky because I interview only inspiring people, such as
Neil deGrasse Tyson (and
you, too, Jane!) who are changing the world for the better, whether they're doing
so quietly or not so quietly.

You just announced your next big endeavor: You'll
be serving as president of Harper Davis, the indie press that published your memoir.
Describe the business model of Harper Davis and how it differs from other publishers.

Sit back and watch for the answer to that. We're working on two conference
formats, which will include a unique way of selling books and add to the bottom line
of any booksellers who host events with us. We're building incentives for authors
to decide to publish with us instead of with a bigger publisher, where they might
get lost in the avalanche of books.

Is Harper Davis now considering unsolicited
projects? How many books do you plan to take on in a year? What genres?

Currently, we'll be taking submissions only through our affiliate, The
John Galvis Literary and Media Agency, which in itself is a unique setup. Any
of your readers can find submissions guidelines on that website, along with the other
services they offer.




That proviso is going to stay in place for the first year, while we find our footing,
and then we'll be taking submissions from other agencies as well.




For 2011, we already have our quota of projects, so we're looking at projects for
2012, as well as distributors. We've got nonfiction so far, and we'll be publishing
novels and YA titles as well. 




We plan to start small and enhance our tiny list. But rather than put it on a milkshake
diet so that it just looks more impressive, we really want it to be impressive. If
we love it, and we think the author is forward-thinking enough to fit in with the
plans we have for our house, we'll publish it. 

You've had experience in so many different aspects
of the book industry—acting as salesperson, author and publicist, and now as a publisher.
What's the key lesson (or two) of the business that all authors need to learn?

This is a tough industry because everybody—and I do mean everybody—wants
to have a book published. I'll bet there are probably as many writers as there are
readers.




For me, that means you enter into this as a profession only if you are truly, madly,
deeply in love with it.




Now, if writing is your hobby, go ahead and have fun on your blog, or self-publish
a family memoir to leave behind just for your kids. Nothing at all wrong with that.
Quite the contrary.




But if you want to write for a living, you have to be thick-skinned, dog-headed, dedicated,
and extremely well-organized with your time—because for the first ten years you're
probably going to be writing PLUS working that other job you have, the one that pays
your bills.

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My thanks to Patricia for taking the time to answer my questions. Be sure to check
out Harlot's Sauce, as well as Patricia's memoir.
(And if you're at the conference this week, you'll love her session Book
or Bestseller?)


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