James Minter's Blog: Writers do it in Public... - Posts Tagged "self-publish"

The Scene 0/2 underdiscussion is available here: http://bit.ly/15fzHbX
Scene Summary:
Date: February; Day: Saturday; Time: 5.00am; Location: Griggs farm house – bedroom & kitchen.

Colin cannot sleep – it too cold & he’s worried about VAT tax return; Izzy his wife, is disturbed by his absence; she needs to check his VAT calculations – she doesn't trust his ability to use a calculator. She opens post to find a party Invite from Lady Diana Wills ‘come as you are’ party. The RSVP requires a photograph so she can check her guests come as they are.

Scene Role & Objectives:
Jeopardy - VAT return due; introduce notion of extreme cold; remind readers of Colin & Izzy’s exploits in Book 1 - The Hole Opportunity ; introduce Diana’s party; set up reason to have compromising images of guests. Establishing the month, day & location when & where the story begins.

Discussion The first scene in a book is the hook to get you reader turning pages - its a honeymoon period - but it also has to be a scene setter although any preamble has to be brief not wanting to bore them. Readers like to be orientated as to what's going on where and when. Does this scene work for you? Please let me know...

The Ultimate Goodreads Guide for Authors by Barb Drozdowich

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I love ‘how to …’ books. Like most authors my life is very busy reading, writing, editing, re-writing and promoting to say the least. If I can save time and gain knowledge by picking someone else’s brain I’ll do so. I find Goodreads a maze but I know to be a successful author it’s a website I must get to grips with. I’m a visual person too. So ‘The Ultimate Goodreads Guide for Authors’ is up my street.
Like most books of this type it’s not something to read from cover to cover. A useful Table of Contents allows you to jump to your required learning so saving time. Drozdowich includes a significant number of screenshots in this eBook which cuts down on the narrative to its essential.
As an introduction to navigating this large site it’s very useful. I read it on a PC with Kindle software loaded where the screenshots are large and easily read. In addition I loaded it onto an Apple IPad where it’s an excellent read as the images are in colour and can be enlarged as required. I do have some reservations on trying to read it on a Kindle e-reader which is only monochrome and the images cannot be resized.




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Self-Publishing Books 101: A Step-by-Step Guide to Publishing Your Book in Multiple Formats by Shelley Hitz

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Despite what many writers think of publishing house – dinosaurs, commercially driven, old technology- they do many things for authors that, as a self-publisher, you have to do for yourself. Once you go down this path you soon realise to be successful you need a wide range of skills and depth of knowledge on subjects not normal encountered. To have an accessible guide based on hard won experience provided by a pair of successful writers is a real bonus for aspiring, new, recent and seasoned writers. The 'Self-Publishing Books 101: A Step-by-Step Guide’ is just that.

Shelley and Heather have a no nonsense approach to writing. The narrative is tight – no swaths of text to wade through; the information current as an eBook its kept up to date (This book was published in 2012 and heavily revised in 2014); included are many embedded links to useful websites and resources and it covers the whole process including multiple formats.

Personally I like ‘How to …’ books as it saves me time and brain strain trying to work something out or making frustrating mistakes. I've picked up several useful tips from this book particularly in the area of hardback books, oversized print books, audio books and foreign language translation. Okay these topics are on the periphery for many new or recent writers but as you grow your back catalogue you will want to reach more and more readers. This book is a great place to start.




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Discoverability is the word on every indie author’s lips. Book awards are part of your arsenal to achieve discoverability. For example, I live in the centre of one of the oldest wine growing regions in France. There are many small local growers who all produce quality wines and who all vie for my euros. I haven’t the time to buy, sample and compare each and every wine on offer. So when I go shopping for wine, rather than trust to luck, I seek out ones which have achieved an award in a local or regional or national competition. The judges know wines far better than I ever will. I’m drawn towards those displaying a prize sticker.
In this fiercely competitive and teeming book world where readers are overwhelmed with choice, it’s obvious to say, a book with an award immediately stands out from the crowd. It’s all about discoverability. And awards increase your discoverability. Learn from wine producers; make gaining awards a central part of your book marketing strategy.
Awards have a number of benefits:

1. They create interest in your book. This leads to more sales or other opportunities.
2. A book displaying an award may cause someone to pick up your book while browsing.
3. A book award will give you an edge and may be all the difference needed to propel your book into bestseller territory.
4. When you win or get placed, you can say you are an "award winning author." It sounds and is great, and gives the book a magic lift that comes from a third party endorsement.
5. Book awards give your book a seal of excellence unequalled by other forms of media exposure. No reviews, nor articles, nor TV or radio interviews can compete with having an "Award Winning Book," selected from hundreds of competing titles by experienced and professionally-trained judges.

Awards absolutely do matter. They add credibility and give readers / reviewers / reporters / agents / publishers the assurance the book is worthwhile. It takes the risk out of the equation.

About the award list:
These fifty five awards represent a range of competitions from ones that are on-going to monthly, annual or bi-annual for a variety of genres and book types. The details of the competitions are many and varied – submission criterion, deadlines, award dates, prizes, entry fees etc. but they all have one thing in common; they are open to self-publishers. They are listed here – in part thanks to Joel Friedlander – for convenience and are not endorsed by me or the Alliance. As ever on the internet, be scam savvy; check out the writers beware site http://www.sfwa.org/ since competition fees can be quite hefty.
Finally, this list is not definitive. If you know of more awards please email me so I can add them to the list. Personally I’ve entered / am entering eight awards for 2014/15. Good luck.
 
1 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award
https://www.createspace.com/abna?ref=...

2 Axiom Business Book Awards
http://www.axiomawards.com/

3 Beach Book Festival
http://www.beachbookfestival.com/

4 Beverly Hills Book Awards
http://www.beverlyhillsbookawards.com...

5 Book Designer – Monthly eBook Cover Design Award
http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2011/0...
6 Bookstore Without Borders’ LYRA Contest
http://www.bookstorewithoutborders.co...
7 Book Festivals is a way of entering several competitions at the same time.
http://bookfestivals.com/

8 CIPA EVVY Awards
http://www.cipacatalog.com/pages/CIPA...

9 Darrell Awards
http://freepages.rootsweb.ancestry.co...
10 Digital Book Awards
http://www.digitalbookworld.com/the-d...

11 eLit Book Awards
http://www.elitawards.com/

12 EPIC eBook Competition
http://epicorg.org/competitions/epic-...

13 Eric Hoffer Award
http://www.hofferaward.com/

14 First Page Competition 2014
http://www.wordswithjam.co.uk/p/compe...

15 ForeWord Reviews - the Book of the Year Awards.
http://www.forewordreviews.com

16 Global eBook Awards
http://globalebookawards.com/

17 Green Book Festival
http://www.greenbookfestival.com/

18 Guardian Legend Self-published book of the month
http://www.theguardian.com/books/seri...
19 Harry Bowling Prize for Flash Fiction
http://www.harrybowlingprize.co.uk/ab...

20 Harry Bowling Prize for New Writing (bi-annual)
http://www.harrybowlingprize.co.uk/

21 Historical Novel Society Indie Award
http://ofhistoryandkings.blogspot.co....

22 Historical Novel Society International Award
http://historicalnovelsociety.org/hns...
23 Hollywood Book Festival
http://www.hollywoodbookfestival.com/...

24 IACP Cookbook Awards
http://www.iacp.com/award/more/2014_i...
25 Independent Book Publishers Association – Benjamin Franklin Awards
http://ibpabenjaminfranklinawards.com/

26 IndieReader Discovery Awards
http://indiereader.com/the-indiereade...

27 International Book Awards
http://www.internationalbookawards.co...

28 International Rubery Book Award
http://www.ruberybookaward.com/index....

29 International Thriller Writers
http://thrillerwriters.org/programs/t...
30 IPPY Awards
http://www.independentpublisher.com/i...

31 Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize
http://www.fictionuncovered.co.uk/
32 Kindle Book Review’s 2014 Kindle Book Awards
https://www.thekindlebookreview.net/2...
33 Kirkus Indie Best of List 2014
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/

34 London Book Festival
http://lo29ndonbookfestival.com/portal/

35 Mom’s Choice Awards
http://www.momschoiceawards.com/
36 Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards
http://www.moonbeamawards.com/

37 National Indie Excellence Book Awards
http://www.indieexcellence.com/

38 National Literacy Trust Children's Author Prize
http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/autho...
39 Nautilus Book Awards
http://www.nautilusbookawards.com/

40 New England Book Festival
http://www.newenglandbookfestival.com/

41 New York Book Festival
http://www.newyorkbookfestival.com/

42 Next Big Author Opening Chapter
http://www.thenextbigauthor.com/

43 Next Generation Indie Book Awards
http://www.indiebookawards.com/

44 Paris Book Festival
http://www.parisbookfestival.com/

45 Quagga Prize for Literary Fiction (paper books only)
http://www.quaggabooks.net

46 Reader Views Literary Awards (Multiple awards)
http://readerviews.com/literaryawards/

47 Readers Favourite Contest
http://readersfavorite.com/annual-boo...

48 San Francisco Book Festival
http://www.sanfranciscobookfestival.com/

49 Shelf Unbound Writing Competition for Best Self-Published Book
http://www.shelfmediagroup.com/pages/...

50 Shirley You Jest Awards
http://www.shirley-you-jest.net/#!

51 The Living Now Book Awards
http://www.livingnowawards.com/index.php

52 UK Arts Council Funded: YouWriteOn Book of the Year Awards
http://www.youwriteon.com/info/compet...

53 USA “Best Books” Awards
http://www.usabooknews.com/2014usabes...

54 WISHING SHELF Independent Book Awards [UK]
http://www.thewsa.co.uk/

55 Writer’s Digest Self Published Book Awards
http://www.writersdigest.com/selfpubl...

WRITE-LIVELIHOOD: How to Craft a Writer's Business Plan by Ryan Petty

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


First, I fully concur with Petty on the need for self-publishers to create a business plan. Second, I’m a self-confessed “How to …” book junky – I’m very happy to ride on the back of others shared experiences. There is always too much to do and too little time to do it in. Any shortcuts are welcome. With a book of this type I always pick up a nugget or two or three. Third, much of what Petty says in his book resonated with me.
Petty shows great commitment, enthusiasm and self-belief to his idea, and is truly passionate about his proposal. But for me the book didn’t really start until chapter 5. I had the feeling he was spending along time packing for a journey before actually setting off. Most of what was said in chapters 1 to 4 inclusive were, in my mind, the background thought processes he need to go through before being able to put pen to paper. He chose to share them with his audience which to me felt a bit unnecessary. This book is not for the fainted hearted, newbie indie-author but for the more seasoned self-published writer who needs to move their career forward. A good example of know your audience.
The split between writer, self-publisher and business strategist is useful and allows you to look at what you’re doing with three different heads on. I do question Petty’s maths when he suggests, as an author, 80% of your time should be spent writing and then talks about 15 hours per week. Remember this book is aimed at the professional writer who is looking to earn a living from his/her outpourings. I’m in that position and spend at least 45 hours or more per week writing, editing and promoting. Actual writing for me is about one third -15 hours or 33% of my time.
Petty does believe in writing more content – books in all their guises – short stories, novellas, full novels- finished to a professional standard and not striving for perfection. I’m fully behind him since perfection doesn’t exist. As he says “you need clarity in your writing not luminosity,” so stop polishing and move on to your next book.
He does include a couple of useful exercises; in particular the Relative Merits Review, to get you thinking around which book you should be writing and deciding where to focus your efforts. What’s more, the tool is available to download from his website: very useful.
Chapter 19 on Financial Scenarios is very misleading. I wish what Petty is saying was even half true but his starting point – Amazon pay 70% royalty on eBooks just isn’t the case unless you are selling to Brazil, Japan, Mexico, and India (for more info look here: https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A... ) The truth is royalty payments are closer to 35% or half of what he is basing his financial scenarios on.
In conclusion, his style is evangelical and too wordy for me but he is on to a useful thing looking at the future direction of self-publishing and what “professional” writers need to become. Yes worth a read, yes worth following him and his ideas but they need distilling/refining for his intended audience.




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Reader Magnets: Build Your Author Platform and Sell more Books on Kindle by Nick Stephenson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Nick, thanks for your Reader Magnets: Build Your Author Platform and Sell more Books on Kindle book. It's very timely. I've 5 books (paperback and eBook) exclusively on Amazon. One thing I've learnt - do the same thing in the same way and you get the same results - for me the results are poor measured in sales. Good to great reviews but very limited sales. I believed it was all about writing more books (books 6 and 7 are in progress) but in 2015 this will change. I'm planning to follow your advice to the letter. I write in two genres English humour and for children (8 to 11 yr olds) it will be interesting to see how well your techniques work for me. But nothing ventured noting gained and if I see any increase in my average daily book sales I'll be very happy.

This is a must read for all self-published authors. Writing a book is (comparatively) easy, selling it is another very different matter. (My comment about writing a professional quality book being easy is a joke really but compared to successful sales/marketing it is.) Goodread readers as I'm sure you are aware writing a quality book with appeal is not easy. Thanks for your understanding.



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Supercharge Your Kindle Sales: Simple Strategies to Boost Organic Traffic on Amazon, Sell More Books, and Blow Up Your Author Mailing List by Nick Stephenson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


As self-published author with five books already under my belt, I know how difficult the whole process is – especially discoverability. There is no “silver bullet” for success, only a lot of hard work; though the trick is to work smarter and not harder. ‘How to’ books like “Supercharge Your Kindle Sales” are useful as a way of assessing your actives against others experiences and provide an opportunity to find new / better ways of doing things; hence working smarter.

Packed with information, hints, tips and real life examples there is plenty to dwell on and take in. Time is tight for all of us. Nick hasn’t padded out this book just to make you feel you’re getting value for money – never mind the quality, feel the width syndrome, but he gets over the nub of each topic with links for further reading where necessary.
This is a great resource, written in a very open and honest manner – qualities much to be admired. He has, I think, discovered the secret of expanding available time, (which he doesn't share) either that or he hardly ever sleeps! The upshot is we, his readers, have benefited hugely from his efforts. Although assessing and reworking my own approach to marketing my books on Amazon will take some time/effort as a result, at least I know I’m not wasting my energy, money and resources.

Thanks Nick for putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard: an invaluable addition to my collection of self-help books.




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Book Reviews That Sell: Discover the Secrets of Getting a Boatload of Great Reviews by Gary Webb

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I am a huge fan of ‘How to …’ books. Time is precious, as all self-published authors know, so finding a really useful book on such an important subject is very fortuitous. I, like every other author doing self-promotion, have been up many blind alleys, and wasted time and money on activities which yield little or no positive results. Getting reviews is top of the list.
This guide is intended for new authors to steer them away from some of the approaches that violate Amazon’s terms of service. It gives a variety of strategies for getting more and better reviews, but Dr Webb also suggests his favourite one. Incidental, he undersells himself, this is a valuable read for all authors in this constantly changing world of Amazon.
Reviews are without doubt important, but only after reading Dr Webb’s book did I become aware of the subculture surrounding the review process. He has opened my eyes. Indie authors struggle to build their platform, whether it’s on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads or Amazon (more usually all of these) and will tend to do anything that's legal, decent and honest to achieve that end. But through ignorance can inadvertently scupper their chances; a situation best avoided, to say the least. This book is extremely well researched – complete with a bibliography, and packed full of hints, tips, details, and insights which steer the savvy self-publisher through a minefield. Thanks for putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard: an invaluable addition to my collection of self-help books. If you take one thing away from this book then, to quote Dr Webb, “Stop struggling to collect reviews; starting seeking connection with reviewers.”




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Because Self-publishing Works by V.V. Cam

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I’m a self-published author of fourteen books, but my sales are lacklustre, to say the least. To quote V.V Cam “I’ve used sporadic marketing tactics: chasing after reviews, doing a few author interviews and throwing money at promotions with the hope of selling a few more books.” Like 95% of all self-published authors, I lack well-honed, professional marketing skills and knowledge.

For any new, or recent writer whose sales are in the doldrums, this book is for you. If you’ve Googled searched, you’ll know there are tonnes of marketing information on the Internet, but what is lacking is a decent structure to build a marketing strategy and plan. This is where ‘Everything I Learned About How To Market a Book’ scores highly. V.V Cam has a professional marketing background, and she has put her hard-won knowledge and experience to good use to drive the sales of her husband’s book ‘Because’ by Jack A Langedijk, to a respectable level for both paperback and Kindle editions. Now she is sharing all she knows in this very complete ‘how to…’ book. You only have to look at the Table of Contents to see how complete she is.

Note; this book is not for wimps. I love ‘How to…’ books, but it’s one thing to buy the book, another to read it, but it’s a totally different matter putting into practice all the ideas and suggestions. It’s at this stage many authors give up – tenacity, dedication, commitment and a realistic budget are paramount. As V.V Cam points out, there is no marketing silver bullet.

However, V.V Cam has come to your aid with predesigned, downloadable templates, self-analysis questions, a plethora of web links to useful resources, and a copious amount of hints and tips.

I have no hesitation in recommending this book to any serious self-published writer. And if you are a first timer contemplating writing the next best-seller, I suggest you read this book to understand the world you are entering into. You’ll realise writing a book is relatively easy! With Amazon, Kobo, Smashwords, Draft2Digital, etc. listing over nine million books for sale, you soon appreciate it’s a formidable challenge to break into the top 20% where you need to be if you are looking to earn a living from writing. The only real chance you have of doing this is to adopt the strategy so comprehensively laid out in this book. And finally, does the strategy work? Only time will tell. I’m fully on board and will let you know in 12 months.

The author supplied me with a free eBook ARC for the review purposes.



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