Scott McCloskey's Blog: RainHand Books (Goodreads Digest) - Posts Tagged "help"

So I've been meaning to add some diversified and useful content to the Journal of Ord. I've added an author support page, which currently has some tips on running free promotions as well as a bevy of links to helpful sites. This has mostly been pieced together from my own experiences and information I have gleaned from elsewhere, but all are welcome to give it a look. Maybe you'll learn something new. While you're there, maybe you can teach the rest of us something new -- feel free to comment and provide your ideas!

I will be updating that section from time to time as I encounter new ideas. I hope it proves helpful!

The Journal of Ord Author Support

I recently posted my opinions of the idea of offering your novel to readers for free on my blog, ordonline.net. I would love to hear the opinions of others in the reading/writing community. If you have two-cents you'd like to share on this issue, please share and make yourself heard!

Original article can be found here.)

So you've written your masterpiece. Your characters are perfect, your plot has no holes, you've proofread and edited over and over again, had your friends and family do the same, and now, finally, your book is ready for its day in the independent publishing sun.

But wait.

You have no cover! Ack!

It's been said many times before, but I'll say it here again. People do judge books by their covers. Saddling your opus with a melancholy cover is like the Rolling Stones performing MacArthur Park. If you didn't understand the talent of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards already, you probably wouldn't want to hear song number two.

Most articles about ensuring you have a clever cover for your book will continue from this point to say the following: "Hire a professional to design your cover. You need to make this investment." I agree that's actually good advice if you can manage it, but suppose your advertising budget is a big, fat goose-egg? Contrary to popular belief, not everybody who has some talent with writing always has thousands, or ever hundreds of dollars just laying around to pour into design and promotions. I myself have read more than one article from people who are very good at sounding like they know what they're talking about, insisting they know the best advice for the author on an extreme budget...and then they throw in an anecdote about the seven grand they paid in total for their advertising campaign, or a helpful quip about how a friend of a friend of a friend got their manuscript in front of one of the big six.

I for one believe books with no money initially behind them are potentially just as good as books with small fortunes backing them, the former just happen to have a longer, harder road ahead of them.

But, I digress. Back to the cover issue. What can you do if you can't afford to pay an artist, and you don't know any who'd be willing to pass some Pro Bono Publico work your way? Well, how about GIMP? GIMP is a free (and in my experience better) alternative to Photoshop. If you can't make your own art, manipulate some existing images to create something new! I'll use my own cover as an example:



First of all, you'll notice that the unicorn-like creature has six legs and two horns. (It's an escarot, a creature that appears in the story.) He was originally just a unicorn. A free clipart unicorn. A little manipulation here and there made him what he is today. In the background is the Gossamer City (a location in the story) glowing with the colors of prismastone (a mineral in the story). The city is a bit more free clipart, while the colors are a conical gradient fill over an aqua blue fill. The stars in the sky are stipple brush work, and the title text was outlined in a very thin layer of black just to be sure it would stand out.

Whether or not you think it's a success is your call, but I'm happy with it. And it did it myself, in my own home, with no investment other than my time. Alright, I'll admit I do have a bit of experience with image manipulating programs, but the point I'm trying to make is that given a little dedication, anybody can learn to do something like this. Will professional cover artwork make your book look snazzy and appealing? Of course it will. But if you can't go that route, don't despair. Improvise.

Oh, and if you're having trouble and weren't able to find help on the internet, feel free to hit me up with questions. I've been working with GIMP and Photoshop since that ancient era known as "highschool", and while I'm no pro, I might just be able to help you out!

(Original article can be found here.)

Here's a topic for all you writers out there (and I mean anybody that writes, publishing notwithstanding):

How do you create a scene?

What do you start with? Do you plan everything out meticulously with an outline and pie charts, or do you thrust your characters into a new situation and let the chips fall where they may?

For me, I find that coming up with a new scene, chapter, or even entire story starts from the smallest point, and expands out in a "big bang" of ideas that all eventually congeal into something worthwhile. Call it an unpolished way of thinking, but that's just what works for me. For example, if I was writing the arrival of Dorothy in the land of Oz, I might start with the Lollipop Guild. First I come up with the concept of a few munchkins with a song on their lips and a sailor-like attitude. Perhaps I like them, but what can I do with them? Ah, perhaps I can create an entire race of similar beings with a city -- the perfect place to start my protagonist (Dorothy, who I have already come up with in a previous scene) on her journey through the curious land of Oz! From here, I create the other munchkins and their personalities. I'll also need a reason for Dorothy to travel to the Emerald City...ah, here's where we can add the good witch Glinda. She'll conveniently get the plot moving forward after her appearance in this city, but...hmm...what's she doing there? Oh! The wicked witch, of course!

Like I say, sounds a bit convoluted, but that's how I work. Start at the finer details, and paint the overall picture from there.

How about you?

(Original article can be found here.)

(This article will be copied to the author support section.)

As any indie author knows, reviews are the life's blood of your work. You can sing your own glories all you want, but reviews, whether they are good or bad, at last show that people are reading your book. Of course you want those reviews to be good ones, but even if they aren't, at least you will know just what gripes people have.

So how do you get those glorious gems called reviews?

Well, you can pay for them. There are a few review services out there (Kirkus Indie is one) that will produce an polished, professional review for a fee. These reviews carry weight which is of course a good thing, but bear in mind that most of these services have a reputation to think of, so before you plunk down the somewhat scary prices these reviews can cost (hundreds of dollars -- owch!) keep in mind that they will be impartial (as they should be). If you're not confident in your work, you might be purchasing a big old bucket of well thought out, influential...negative pain for your book, and potentially your reputation as an author.

I have nothing against going the above route, but this blog has always been focused around the idea that anybody with talent and a dream can become a writer, regardless of their bankroll. So that's as far as we're going to touch on shelling out money in this article.

How else can you get reviews?

There are several methods, but this article is going to focus on one that a lot of authors start out afraid of initially. Plain and simple? You can get reviews by asking for them.

It seems pretty simple, doesn't it? Maybe you already do this and can't imagine why people wouldn't, but you'd be surprised. Writing can be a solitary trade, and the result can sometimes be a skilled author who's shy and modest to a fault, and wouldn't dream of troubling people by contacting them directly to ask for favors. After all, won't you just annoy the people you are hoping to impress by nagging them over basically doing your promoting for you? Well, you could annoy people, but the fact of the matter is that in the literary world, asking people for reviews is a perfectly kosher thing to do, so long as you do it with a certain level of tact.

First you'll need to identify potential reviewers. I'll be going into that in more detail in a future article, but for now the best thing to keep in mind is that it's best to stick with people who are already interested in the type of book you've written. Did you write a horror story that's inspired by Needful Things? Why not pop over to the Amazon page and check out who gave your inspiration novel good reviews? Look up their profiles and see what sort of books they're interested in. Did they post an email address on their profile? (here's a hint -- people don't usually post things like email addresses in public places unless they are expecting to be contacted). Don't stop there -- is your book listed on goodreads, shelfari, or similar sites? People who use these sites typically make a note on them once they have read the book. Is anybody out in the world talking about your book, even just in passing? Google your title along with your own name, and find out! Don't forget to search on Twitter, too!

There are plenty of ways to find potential reviewers. When you're ready to write a message to ask for a review, make sure to include the following:

-How did you find this person? Start out by telling them what profile/review/et cetera of theirs you read, and be sure to say what about the content you read makes you feel as though they would be interested in your book.
-Explain your purpose. Be direct. You are looking for unbiased reviews of your book. We'll talk about the word "unbiased" a bit more in a minute.
-Include a very brief bit about your book. Remember to keep this sort and sweet - "Harry Potter is a story of a boy's adventures in a magical realm, where he enrolls in a school that teaches magic and encounters a myriad of unique people and places." Can you keep this to one sentence? Great, do that.
-Include an even briefer bit about something they've already read (and liked) that is similar to your book. This shouldn't be anything more than "this story is told in a vein similar to [blank] book". If you can't find anything to fill in the blank with, you might want to consider contacting somebody else.
-Provide a link to a sales page for your book, where the person you are contacting can read a description of the book and see what other people (if any) had to say about it.
-Offer a complimentary copy of your book. Yes, this is pretty common etiquette for this type of review hunting. To save on costs you can certainly restrict your offerings to digital copies which cost pretty much nothing to produce, but what would you say if somebody wrote you a letter asking you to read their book, and then requested that you buy it? Right, whatever you're thinking is the same thing they are thinking. Some people think that providing free copies of a book in return for reviews is compensating the reviewer, but I disagree. If they didn't want to read your book to begin with, a free copy is hardly of any value to them. You're simply providing them with the tools they need to complete the task you've asked of them.
-Thank them for their time and consideration.

Did you read all that above? Great. Now, do you think you can do all of that in less than six sentences? It's more challenging than you think, because you're going to be tempted to say too much about your book, flatter them too much, or add in too much irrelevant jargon. Pinch yourself every time you start writing anything like that and make yourself stop. It's not helpful. Writing a review request is a lot like writing a query letter -- you need to get to the point quickly and efficiently, or you will lose your reader and that will be the end of it.

At any rate, that's a crash course in review etiquette. A few other things to keep in mind:

-Don't ask twice. Some people who aren't interested might be so kind as to let you know this, but most won't. Let it go.
-If people do show an interest, tell them that you appreciate their interest in the book or words to that effect. Don't gush or overdo it with gratitude, as it makes you look desperate (not to mention "overthanking" is often a good way to make people feel uncomfortable). Tell them you look forward to reading their opinion (stay neutral on this, so it does not appear as though you are expecting them to write a positive review just because they are interested in writing one at all).
-NEVER NEVER NEVER ask people for a positive review! You're worried about being annoying? That's annoying. Don't ask people to compromise their professionalism and do a disservice to the community by talking about how wonderful your book is, if they didn't think it was wonderful. Keep in mind that if your book is available for sale to the general public, anybody and everybody can potentially purchase your book at any time, read it, and then write whatever they want about it. If you lack that much confidence in your work, you might want to consider going back to the drawing board for a bit.

Have you ever tried directly asking for reviews before? Share your experiences here!

So, I've decided to enter The Goldenwealth Light into the 2013 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. I thought the 10,000 entry spots would fill up fast so I stayed up until midnight on opening day to ensure a spot, but it appears five days later they are still taking entries. Don't procrastinate much longer if you plan to enter, though!

What should I expect? Can't say. I think it's best not to "expect" anything from a contest, but ABNA at least has the kind of noteriety to walk away with a feather in one's cap, just for making it as far as the quarter finals. Can't hurt to try, right? I have always been a believer in the addage that the worth of a book cannot be judged by its author, but...well, so far so good. People seem to like The Goldenwealth Light. That's enough of a push to give it a go. I've heard some horror stories about excessively harsh reviewers trashing people to tears, but I've heard just as many reports from people who were still eventually eliminated that it was a worthwhile experience. Maybe the reviewers are harsh. Then again, maybe the writers making those claims were poor writers. Who can say?

I can't. And so, I throw my hat in the ring.

You can't look away from an opportunity just out of fear of a poor review. You know what? Some random person you never met could buy your book at any moment, read it, hate it, and then write a bad review. There's nothing you can do about that, unless you plan to only sell you book to friends and family. Sometimes, the odd critical review (if thoughtfully written) can actually add credibility to your work, because it helps people make an informed decision, and it keeps the impression of (Atlaria forbid) "sockpuppeting" away when people see nothing but a bevy of glowing five-star awesomenes. Still, like dark chocolate, bad reviews are only healthy if taken in small doses.

How do you keep them away? Just write the best book you can write, and let the people speak. They'll tell you if you knocked it out of the park.

The only negative reviews I won't take seriously are ones that include swearing (if you need to use foul language your point is probably weak to begin with), defamatory remarks that have no bering on reviewing a book, remarks that state something was disliked but don't say why (useless), or remarks that show the reviewer missed the point of the story - for example, disliking Harry Potter because it's too juvenile, when the book was intended for younger readers to begin with.

Bu then...who says it will go badly? Gotta put your heart into it and hope for the best!

Those are my two cents on the issue. What do you think?

I've decided that I like the pitch I've come up with for the ABNA competition enough to make it the new "official" description for the Goldenwealth Light. Updates will show up on the amazon sales site soon, but for now, I welcome comments!

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"Rather than being a hero with the fate of an entire word on his shoulders, Theodore Ellsworth spends his miserable days suffering merciless humiliation at the hands of prep-school bullies. It just so happens that an ancient prophecy, a shimmering city, and a herd of six-legged horses are about to change all that.

When a mysterious book transports Theo and his overachieving little sister Marie to a world full of wonders that defy anything he’s ever read about before, Theo finds himself accused of a crime he didn’t commit that carries the ultimate penalty. A reluctant princess, a winged gnome, and a hot-tempered young sorceress are there to help, but will they be enough to prove to an arrogant knight and thousands of fanatical citizens that the Ellsworth children aren’t an evil that must be destroyed?

Told in the tradition of classics like The Chronicles of Narnia and The Neverending Story, The Goldenwealth Light is the first book in a fun-filled romp through the unique realm of the Traveler of Ord, blending high adventure and deadly intrigue in a fanciful tapestry that will keep readers from ages ten to adult turning pages for hours."

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One of the biggest troubles an author runs into while writing a pitch is to not include too much information. You want your potential readers to know "everything they need to know about the book", when in actuality a pitch is just designed to give people the "gist" of it, so to speak. I've chopped about a hundred words off of mine, which I'm hoping will draw more attention to it. My personal rule of thumb is this -- if you have to click "read more" when looking at your pitch/description on Amazon, you've written too much.

What are your thoughts?

I think I've discovered the trickiest part of writing. It's not the character development. It's not smoothing out the plot inconsistencies. It's not even editing and proofreading (though I am a firm believer in the fact that you can only achieve 99% on this -- even professionally edited books from the big six will always have a few small problems).

What is it?

Microsoft.

Your opinion may differ from mine and that's just fine, but I find that the only part of the writing process that leaves me arguing with my computer screen and wanting to just walk away is making programs like Word, Libreoffice, and all the other assorted clones out there (I've tried a few) that have become the namesake of modern word processing do what I ask of them. And I'm not computer illiterate, either. I've been opening up CPUs and rooting around in them since I received my first 100mhz Pentium back in 1995 for $1400. I can build a working system from a pile of parts, and though I am not exceptionally proficient with software, I can follow directions with enough competence to create my own basic programs.

Yet despite that, I find battling with modern word processing to be exceptionally tedious. Even with the exceptional help of Gregory Mahan, it took me three solid days to get the paperback version of The Goldenwealth Light up to the point of proper polish for something you might find on a shelf at your local bookstore. And don't even get me started on translating that back into a workable Kindle version!

Well, things are a bit easier now that I've figured it all out, but at some point I think I'm going to have to write notes just so I can remember what I did. Once upon a time when I was young, I wrote down story ideas in a notebook. I doubt Hemingway would have had much use for filling papers with Word formatting reminders, and though modern convenience is a wonderful thing...I can't help but have a bit of envy for the way he probably did it.

What are your thoughts?