Pratap Divyesh's Blog, page 25

How to write Outreach Email to get Bloggers and Influencers to Promote your Book

The world of marketing is changing at a significant pace.

Seeing a great review of your book in a prestigious newspaper might be the dream for most authors, but, not withstanding the ego-boost you’d get from seeing 5 stars in a publication like The New York Times, it’s not the only way to get a huge amount of exposure.

Let me explain:

Take the New York Times – or, if you’re UK based, The Guardian. Each paper sells somewhere around 1m copies each day. The chances of getting a review as a relatively unknown author is extremely low.

Now look at YouTube. There are around 5000 channels on the popular video sharing site that have in excess of 1m daily followers. Your chance of talking to someone with a newspaper sized YouTube following who’d review your book? Much higher.

Okay, so a YouTube review might not be the kind of the exposure you’re looking for – but hopefully you can see my point. Digital media opens huge possibilities for people who want to market their book – and there is an almost unlimited number of sites that would review your work.

In fact, I’m going to be bold and say that based on the pace an average person could work at, there is an unlimited amount of sites. You’ve got tens of thousands of sites with hundreds of millions of readers – if you do happen to get through them all you can call me to tell me I’m wrong from the private island you’ve bought with the money your bestseller has brought in!

How to bloggers and influencers work?

If you’re not already familiar with the terms, the 21st century has firmly cemented ‘blogger’ and ‘influencer’ as legitimate job titles.

Essentially both are people with some authority knowledge about their chosen field – and there are lots of people who’s knowledge and influence could be used to promote you book. They don’t just have to be people who review books for a living – they could be people who have an audience who crosses over with the demographic your book is aimed at.

Writing for teens? Why not have a ‘gaming’ blogger promote your book?

Writing romance? Why not talk to people who blog about holidays and recommend you book as a perfect holiday read to hundreds of thousands of people?

The possibilities are endless.

Getting in touch with bloggers and influencers

Now, you’re not the only person who’s going to be getting in touch with these people in the hope that they’ll promote something – so you’re going to have to stand out in a crowded inbox.

My business has been built around doing exactly this though – so I can give you some tips on how to cut through the noise this person experiences and maximise your chance of getting that all important mention, link, review or promotion you need.

Write good subject lines

The subject line is the first thing a person’s going to see of your email – it’s also the last thing they’ll see if you don’t do a good job of it.

Don’t be tempted to try to catch their attention by writing in upper case or with lots of exclamations – this sort of ‘trick’ is actually pretty standard so a real subject line is going to stand out a lot more. Consider something genuine and concise, like:

“I’ve written a book you might like”

“Please could I send you a copy of my book?”

People don’t like to be hoodwinked into doing anything, so the truth is always better than a ‘tactic’.

Do your homework

When a person opens your email they’re going to hit delete immediately after if it’s addressed to ‘Dear Sir/Madam’ or ‘Dear Blog Owner’ – or similar.

As such, you’ll want to work out who’s going to be reading the email. You should be able to find this information out with a little research – using Facebook or LinkedIn can be helpful here.

A name isn’t going to be enough though – I like to find out a little more about a person before I get in touch, try to establish:

What their site or blog is about
What ideals, values or principles they have or promote
The tone and method they like to communicate with
Some general details about them as a person

If you have some or all of this information you can make a genuine recommendation based on what you know about them and their audience.

What’s more, you’re taking advantage of some fairly sophisticated psychology here. By explaining that you know a little about what this person does or their audience – you establish rapport by showing some empathy. A person is far more likely to reply and work with someone they think is like them or understands them – over and above someone who’s just coming with a thinly veiled marketing proposition.

Don’t ask them to reply

While we’re on the topic of empathy – you can take things a lot further by omitting the “I look forward to hearing from you” or “Let me know what you think” from the end of your email.

The reason is fairly simple – by adding these things you’re imposing yourself on the person’s agenda – even in a passive way. More often than not, the person will feel slightly aggrieved that you expect them to reply – and thus, won’t reply.

If on the other hand you explain to a person you don’t expect them to reply – you’re more likely to get a reply!

Think about what this communicates:

“I understand you’re busy with your family, blog and other work commitments – so there’s no reply needed – I just wanted to extend the offer!”

You’ve gone from expecting a reply – to communicating that you understand this person – and as such, the person is more likely to reply because they’ll warm to you and the way you communicate.

Following up

Now, you will still get a lot of no replies –but don’t let that put you off. In fact, you’ve positioned yourself well for a follow up.

Next time you’re in touch (whether that’s on social media, the phone or via email again) you can remind the person that you’ve emailed before – and in doing so, there’s some familiarity and a small hint of a working relationship there. Neither of these things will hurt your chances of getting a favourable reply.

Keep following up until you get an answer – and remember, don’t worry if it’s a ‘no’ – the internet is an endless pool of blogger, website and influencer opportunities!

This post is contributed as Guest post by Tom Buckland.

Tom Buckland owns a marketing company that specialises in helping individuals and businesses connect with influencers, bloggers and websites. His company, Ghost Marketing, has connected with thousands of influencers – helping his clients promote a huge range of products across the internet.

The post How to write Outreach Email to get Bloggers and Influencers to Promote your Book appeared first on Being Author - Book Promotion & authors BLOG.

Top 7 Tools Every New Freelance Writer Should Be Using

As the number of Americans who freelance writer reaches a record-shattering 53 million people, it is safe to say that this industry is booming like never before. Courtesy of online marketing campaigns, product reviews, and blogs, people can now write thousands of words per day without worrying about the next source of inspiration. Nevertheless, to stay consistent in an environment so susceptible to burnout effect, one must possess some basic tools that will make life easy.

A Proofreading Software

Writers are no strangers to grammar mistakes. Although they tend to possess an admirable vocabulary knowledge, they make an abundance of spelling and punctuation errors while writing. After all, considering thousands of words that get typed every day, it comes as no surprise that a few commas get displaced. An easy fix to this problem, however, is any grammar proofreading software. Grammarly, for example, is one of the leaders in this market due to its simplicity and effectiveness. It is loaded with hundreds of grammar rules that are automatically applied to the text in question. Anything that seems out of order will not only be pointed out, but the software will further offer ways to improve it through replacement.

Plagiarism Checkers

With so many writers competing for freelance opportunities, most things written are bound to have been said before. Nevertheless, people who are in this industry possess different perspectives which should be reflected in their pieces. Taking a shortcut and blatantly plagiarizing another author opens up one to liability caused by theft of intellectual property. Sometimes, however, an author may be overstepping boundaries of reasonable citations without even knowing it. This is why it pays off to use plagiarism checkers like Copyscape. Those tools enable someone to analyze their article for any parts that might match some other piece in the market.

Respectable Sources

Generally speaking, one may not always be assigned work on topics that they are highly familiar with. This is natural since the freelance writing community revolves around the needs of clients. So, whenever a writer with a background in criminal law gets assigned a piece that applies to civil law, it is no shock whatsoever. Of course, that minor deviation might require hefty research in order to dissect the topic in the best way possible. Fortunately, writing high-quality pieces based on respectable sources and thorough research often result in good customer retention. Meaning, getting familiar with some topic once might be all it takes to fulfill multiple articles related to it.

Peer Editing and Critiques

Ordinarily, no person can rate the real value of an article unless they are an expert in the field or a writer themselves. Getting constructive criticism is probably one of the most useful tools that exist in the freelance writing community. It enables other authors to evaluate the writing style of a beginner and provide input accordingly. Most often, it is the fastest way to improve and get over persistent mistakes. To be eligible, the author must welcome feedback with an open mind no matter how positive or negative it is. So, if a qualified individual has twenty reasons why someone’s article is a complete miss, the receiving party should be attentive and make the necessary adjustments.

A Planner

As with most freelance jobs, writing has no set hours of operation. In order to be successful, however, some schedule must be obeyed. Authors who dedicate themselves to this profession often partner with multiple clients that need a constant inflow of material. The only way to keep up with such demand is to write consistently. This includes juggling numerous deadlines, research projects, and countless hours of typing. One of the easiest ways to stay on track is to have a planner. That way, the writer can keep all of their current engagements in one place that is easily accessible.

Microsoft Excel Tracking

Though many people are unaware, freelance workers are a subject to self-employment tax and estimated tax payments. This means that writers will have to keep fluent tract of all of their revenues and expenses so that they can file taxes in the following year. Since a lot of clients will not issue forms like 1099, the writer may oftentimes be liable for knowing exactly what the amount earned is. Furthermore, keeping track of any expenses related to the writing career will help deduct them as long as this endeavor is not merely a hobby but a profession. The best way to do this is an Excel spreadsheet.

Cloud Storage

Lastly, writers should always save their work! With the way that this industry is set up, most payments do not occur until the client has explicitly accepted the material. The problem with that system is that authors are exposing themselves to uncertainties of buyers rejecting their work. A way to prevent that is to save every article and, if indeed rejected, try to use it later on with some improvements (if needed).

These tips are some of the basic tricks of the trade that come in handy when starting a career in freelance writing. The list goes on and people frequently discover their own methods that help them grow.

This post is contributed as Guest post by Saleh Stevens.

Saleh Stevens is an expert on cryptocurrency and block-chain technology. Having followed Bitcoin since its early beginning, Stevens is very knowledgeable about the progress it has made and what tools are useful for trades that happen in this market. His main objective is educating people about the current technology trends.

The post Top 7 Tools Every New Freelance Writer Should Be Using appeared first on Being Author - Book Promotion & authors BLOG.

Focus, the illusive muse that craves discipline

A lack of focus can be more stifling than a creative block. There are elements that need to come together to make creative energy a finished product.

For years, I have worked on multiple paintings and writings simultaneously. I’ve always described the problem as being so close to the project that all the details compete and confuse. Starting something new refreshes my perspective but the result is many unfinished bits of creativity that go nowhere.

I’ve learned a valuable lesson teaching painting, when the details overwhelm, I still need to work through them because a student is depending on me. I discovered the ability to find focus; discipline was a byproduct.

I’ve also realized that if you can work through being overwhelmed and not divert your attention, you will learn to lengthen the time you can focus and spend more energy and passion directed in one place.

Once we finish one thing, we have energy and drive that leads us to the next work. Focus allows the creative to persevere through being overwhelmed and a sense of accomplishment builds confidence and feeds excitement.

Learning and Growing: I have realized there is a connection between the feeling of being overwhelmed and learning. Learning something new and complex can be overwhelming; often we read the same thing over and over without comprehension. It’s when we push through the discomfort that the new knowledge starts to make sense.

I think when we avoid the overwhelmed feeling we are delaying our growth and learning potential. Since I have worked through the feeling, I have become more productive and gained confidence.

Discipline is Fuel: Any endeavor we pursue demands some sort of discipline. The creative mind can be the wandering ship that never arrives at any port; discipline is the schedule we set for ourselves.

I’ve heard of writers that write a certain amount of pages each day religiously. I realize now that if there is an excuse or any division in the will, the pages and writing will dwindle as our lives and distractions insist we don’t have time.

Much like working out, at first it is a foreign process, uncomfortable and easily delayed but the more we works through the process; it becomes a habit hard to break.

Challenge Yourself: We need to have goals and than we need to discipline ourselves to meet those goals. When we climb a mountain we don’t put off the summit for another day, we will never get to the top, instead we work through the pain and difficulty.

Arriving at the summit will fuel the next peak and drive us the next time we think of quitting. Being creative we need to grow and work to produce what is often an unseen and obscure peak of some great height we can barely imagine, failure is not an option.

Focus on Tomorrow: I read something about writers on writers and the premise that we don’t write to simply write, we write to learn has always inspired me. I believe every time we as writers put out thoughts and ideas we are learning simultaneously and building our own view of the world.

We need focus and discipline to put all the thoughts we decipher together and the result is knowledge and wisdom for tomorrow’s writer.

This post is contributed as Guest post by Steven Linebaugh.

About the author:

An artist and writer who writes about the creative life. With a passion for nature, I attempt to connect the creative and how they fit into a world that is not often friendly to the processes of being creative. I am continually perfecting the process of making ideas kinetic, often a daunting task.

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10 Reasons to Write the Ending of the Book before the Beginning

Have you started a long and complicated journey of writing a book? Well, good for you, but beware – this is a really difficult path! However, we have at least one tip for you – you should write the end of it first. Why? Are you interested? Then read our very interesting article on ten reasons to write the ending of the book before the beginning.

1. You Would See the Whole Story Clearly

Only knowing how the story is going to terminate, you would clearly imagine it. It might seem weird, but it is easier to develop the story backward. If you are aware of the fact that the story ends up with the main character becoming a princess, you already imagine the steps that she would take to achieve it. First of all, she has to go to the capital; then she has to be employed in the palace or get a good job in general; she has to have a friend who is connected to the prince; she is going to have a blind date with him; finally, they are going to get married. Bingo!

2. You Would Develop Your Characters Better

When you are aware of what your characters would look like in the end, it would be much easier for you to develop their personalities throughout the story. The evolution would be logical, and when the reader finishes the book, he will admire your talent because it would feel as if it was meant to be. Of course, it was because you knew how the book would terminate.

3. Your Storyline Would Be Logical

You might easily lose track of what you are writing if you have no idea where the storyline is leading you and how it would terminate. You have no idea how much more logical the stories with predetermined endings are – everything that is going on in your book is going to influence its end somehow. On the contrary, if the writer creates the story from the beginning, there is a high chance that there would be parts that, in fact, do not matter.

4. Retrospective View

Have you ever noticed that looking back to the past, we usually see the chain of events that led you to where you are now? It is amazing how all the events in our lives are interconnected! The good story has to reflect life – if the girl from the poor neighborhood becomes a princess one day, no one would believe in it! However, if you wish her to become the princess, you have to show the chain of events that made it possible for her.

5. You Will Have a Goal

One of the best tips for writing is to have a particular goal. Compare two situations – the first is you write aimlessly and lose interest in your book at some point, and the second is you have a goal you are moving to. Which one is better? Having a goal would motivate you to finish the book because you already have the end of it.

6. You Save Your Precious Time

Knowing the end of your story will save you an enormous amount of time. Why? Because you will focus on the things that would not influence the ending. It’s as easy as finding a reliable coursework help service. You concentrate on what leads you to a spectacular ending instead of thinking how to make the ending as good as the rest of your book.

7. The Storyline Would Be More Realistic

If you are not aware of how to write a book, remember this – it has to be realistic no matter what genre it is of. If you write the story from the beginning, you have no idea where it is going to take you, and thus, you are not aware of what parts are important and what – not. Knowing the end would add reality to your book and would thus become more attractive to the reader.

8. Ending Is Important

The end is, in fact, more important than the beginning. It is the ending that motivates your readers to visit the shop and look for your second book. This is why you have to spend a good amount of time reflecting on how your story would end.

9. Your Message Will Be Clearer to the Audience

Having in mind how your story is going to terminate, you will be leading the reader step by step to your main message. How will you do it not knowing the end? The finishing part contains your main idea, and it will be clearer to the reader what it is.

10. Your Book Will Have a Symmetry

The end will add a symmetry to your story because all the parts will be interconnected. Each part will explain another even if you choose to tell the story in the chaotic order. The puzzle will get together in the mind of the reader in the end. Following these simple rules, you will get the best book review from any critic.

This post is contributed as Guest post by Joshua Robinson.

Joshua Robinson has been working for the custom writing service for less than a year, but he has already become one of the favorite writers for the customers. His hobbies are traveling and mobile photography, and he successfully combines them with his job.

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Slogging -The Long Road Continues

Best question asked when I whined about 31 rejections on my first novel: “What’s your second book about?”

The second one didn’t sell either. Nor did the third, or the fourth, or….

Publish America was a brand new publisher in 1999 when they offered to publish my eighth manuscript. I had written the first in 1982, and was working on No. 12 when they contacted me. I was ecstatic. They assigned me a great editor, paid a $1 token advance, and produced a nice book, even paid royalties as due.

They paid a $100 advance on the second book, actually my ninth. The first editor had left, but the second turned out to be even better than the first. Publisher Wilhem Meiners sent me a bouquet for contributing to A PUBLISHED AUTHOR’S GUIDE TO PROMOTION. And they paid nice advances for books 3 and 4, before the company’s reputation tanked.

My initial experience with publishing, was good. Of course, after 17 years and a dozen manuscripts, I was pretty well softened up.

Five Star/Cengage was the next publisher to offer. Husband Bill and I went to Waterville, Maine for Author Appreciation Day where we were treated like royalty and hung out with other wonderful Five Star authors. Five Star did three books in a series for and with me, provided excellent editing, great covers, promotional help, etc., plus $2,000.00 advances. Again, the experience was great. I was disappointed when they dropped the romantic suspense line.

Unable to find an agent that suited me or I, her/him, and refusing to self publish, I continued to submit to small and medium sized publishers. A former newspaper reporter, I know how vital a good editor is for me. Critique groups help, but no one eagle eyes copy like an experienced editor.

Happily I found small publishers that provided great editors, paid small advances, and sent royalties as agreed. AWOC produced CHIK-LIT FOR FOXY HENS, an anthology with novellas from four authors, including me, and AFTERMATH, a stand-alone.

NIGHTINGALE, my only historical romance sold to Adams Media, a medium-sized house with a good reputation. Again, I found myself in the hands of a marvelous editor. There is nothing more important for me. Kindle chose NIGHTINGALE for a special offering. The publisher and I split $2,500.

Other publishers stepped up. Oak Tree Press produced JINGO STREET, before the publisher herself had a series of strokes. The company went down, at least temporarily. I requested and got my rights back.

The Wild Rose Press assigned me yet another terrific editor on two more manuscripts. MEMORY came out in March (2017) and JACK SPRAT COULD, in August. Also, this editor liked JINGO STREET, so The Wild Rose Press produced a new edition of that one, also.

Then a big surprise. Adams Media sold to Simon & Schuster. I had scored a New York publisher without an agent and with no effort on my part. Amazing. S&S asked to run a 99¢ special on NIGHTINGALE from June 26 to July 9. They expected to sell between 1,300 and 2,300 copies and we’d split the proceeds. Again, this happened without any effort from me. The editor emailed on July 9. NIGHTINGALE had surprised everyone. It had sold 6,600 copies.

Meanwhile, another small press, Intrigue, contracted for DO YOU LOVE ME. It will be out next spring (2018). They provided another able editor. It will be my fourteenth published novel. All are In print and ebooks. Some also are audios.

I am working on manuscripts 25 and 26. There are no guarantees more will sell, but my writing is improving. I still have no agent. The editor who moved from Adams Media to S&S has agreed to read what I believe is the best book I’ve written. We’ll see. With a history of books now, other publishers are more receptive.

My advice to writers who threaten to quit, “if I don’t sell this one” is: If you CAN quit, do. For those who cannot, try for a good editor, believe in yourself, and keep on keeping on, doing what you love. Many raindrops make a pond; many keystrokes, a book. What have you got to do that you enjoy more?

Good luck,

Sharon Ervin

This post is contributed as Guest post by Sharon Ervin.

About the author:

A former newspaper reporter, Sharon (Thetford) Ervin has a degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma, is married, has four grown children, works half-days in her husband and older son’s law office, has 14 published novels, dozens of articles and short stories, and is working on Novel No. 28. She lives in McAlester OK.

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10 Things to Know Before Deciding to Become a Freelance Writer

So you have reached the point where you trust yourself enough to make the big and somewhat scary decision of making a career out of freelance writing. Kudos to you because the industry of freelancing is not a platter of bread and honey. Thus making such a decision means you are strong enough to leverage your income and career span on your solely on temporary gigs.

Whiles many people will kill for permanent jobs, you are confident enough that you can survive on contracts. Contrary to the name, which may sound like an easy thing to a layman because of the word “free”, freelancing needs as much or even more seriousness in order to succeed than the permanent gigs.

Freelancers are kind of self – employed individuals who go out to seek for temporary contracts to work on independently so I like to view freelancers as entrepreneurs. I am not wrong in thinking in that line, right? So just like entrepreneurs assume the risks in their job and keep their guard up with precautionary measures against these dangers, so do freelancers.

Precautionary measures are in so many forms but the effective ones are those hidden up our sleeves ready for combat. In the freelancing business, some effective precautionary measures are certain things you need to know about the industry once you have decided to be a part of it.

Nobody wants to get hit in the face or thrown off course by unexpected events because they are not fun at all and I know you have been there and have experienced it. Bet it still tastes like bile to somebody somewhere.

If you have certainly decided that you will become a freelance writer knowing well that you may face inevitable money issues, battle anxiety and work by yourself, then the following factors won’t frighten you into retracting your decision.

Struggles of the Freelance Writing Domain

1. It’s a Lonely World

Freelance writing is a solitary kind of work and requires spending time alone to work on all the assignments you have. In the starting stages, it will be exciting since you will have no boss to answer to and there will be no pesky colleagues to bother you. But what happens on the days when you have no assignments, no personal engagements or literally nothing to do? This is where it gets tough because times like this for a freelance writer will come.

2. You have to work hard to get good writing Contracts.

Ever heard that the best things in life require hard work and grits? In the freelancing industry, you need to make this saying your mission and vision. Of course amazing and well-paying contracts will fall into your laps by chance sometimes but majority of the time, you will need to get up and work towards it. In this business, remember that you are accountable to yourself so all meetings, calls, negotiations and proposals have to be made by you.

3. Assignments and Clients may be Awful

There will come a time when you may meet some clients who will become a nightmare in your life and give you assignments with impractical targets or expectations. If you can deal with them fine. But if it becomes too much to bear, they are not worth the money, move on. You don’t want a client badmouthing you to others even though they were responsible for creating the bad work experience.

4. You’ll Need to Know the Art of Self Marketing

Who knew that a freelance writer needed to have marketing skills? Freelance writers have to talk about themselves a lot. That’s one of the ways to promote and market themselves. Therefore as a freelance writer, you can’t be all private and quiet. You have to put yourself out there for business. Also, consider putting up your profile on top employment websites to be headhunted.

5. There will be a point where you will be broke

In the initial stages where you do not have enough clients to keep you afloat, your income pool may run dry. But once you strive to build a client base and do well in marketing yourself, your finances will shape up nicely.

6. Payments may delay or not come at all.

Some clients you work with may not pay you on time due to whatever issues may arise or some may try to find faults with your work not meeting the mark and withholding your payments. This is the reason why you have to save from all payments you get no matter how small they are to fall back on in case you find yourself in such unpleasant situations. Also, you will have to adopt some toughness to demand and take what is due you.

7. You will have to learn to say NO

As a freelance writer who is handling all aspects of the business by yourself, it could become overwhelming considering all the things you will have to juggle. When things are too tight, beware not to take on more writing gigs since it is highly possible you will mess up and anger your clients. Don’t think too much of the money, your reputation and consistency is much more important to keep since they are some of the indicators of your success as a freelance writer.

8. You are responsible for Motivating Yourself

In this kind of lonely job, you will have to constantly learn new ways to motivate yourself to work hard. If you don’t want your freelance writing career to be short-lived, this is a department you have to invest in. Merely switching up your workspace from home to a coffee shop could be the answer on certain days.

9. You have to master the skill of Communication

If you don’t communicate well with your clients, you may end up missing deadlines or producing wrong work. You don’t want to be at the other side of a misunderstanding so do well to avoid this by listening well and being assertive.

10. Be ready to face the Physical Effects Associated

As a freelance writer spending loads of time typing away or poring over research, the physical effects of this may manifest. You can have headaches, back, shoulder and neck issues including mental fatigue. What you can do is to find ways to avoid these by exercising, taking breaks to rest and eating properly.

These are 10 things you may have to face as a freelance writer but now that you know this prior to starting out, I am sure you will be riding over them when they arrive. And there are some you will totally swerve.

Have all the fun freelancing and use the free time you get to pick up a fulfilling hobby.

This post is contributed as Guest post by Dela Asiome.

Dela is a warm christian lady who likes to share her thoughts with others through writing. Her passion for guiding people through life with bits of knowledge rule her world.

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Getting published: Find your way to the right publisher

Now that you’re done slaying with your pen, and the tedious process of writing, proofreading, and editing has ended, you feel proud enough to show the world your creative writing output.

The question now is, how do you get your manuscript out there?

As I am in a circle of fellow writers and book agents, we all know that there are several ways of getting your written stuff printed into a book and read by the public. This has been a regular topic in our gatherings, especially when one has just finished a manuscript. Any writer who eyes having a publication in his or her name should know that there are three ways he or she can go about it–traditional, subsidy, or self-publication.

Here are a few nuggets of information and insight that stuck to me from our conversations. These tips might help you decide on how to pick the publisher that’s right for you.

Think two times over, and then decide.

I’ve already mentioned that there are more than one ways of getting published. Now, look at the pros and cons of each.

Do you want a publisher that would give you editorial help at some point? How much control over your book and content are you willing to share? On the financial side, is the lack of a monetary advance alright for you? And how much time are you willing to risk before seeing your manuscript bound into a book?

These are just a few considerations you’d want to ponder on before making a move. Think about what would work more for you. Discern, and then decide.

Traditional: If you ever dream of being published by Penguin Random House, this the way to go. This entails finding a publishing agent, who can link you with a publisher. Once the publisher accepts your manuscript, you’ve got to deal with giving up ownership of your content’s copyright. They give monetary advance, though! While traditional publishers normally won’t lift a finger to help you market your book, they already have traditional media coverage to offer.
Self-Publishing: When you opt to self-publish, you retain your control over your copyright and content, and you get to have publishing royalties to yourself! The trade off though, is that self-publishing requires you to have the money to get published. You also need a lot of time learning about the whole publication process; and effort in establishing distribution channels for your book and marketing it.
Subsidy Publishing: If you’re trying to find a middle ground between the first two options, you can choose to have the publication process subsidized by what they call subsidy publishers. They usually take charge of the publication and distribution, and give out royalties to authors depending on book sales. Authors, in turn, pay them for the costs of publication, and get to have a voice in certain aspects of marketing and promotion of his or her book.

Review the publisher’s record with other books.

When comparison among the types of publishers doesn’t satisfy you, take a look at a publisher’s history in publishing books similar to what you envision for your manuscript. This way, you can have concrete examples of how the publisher handled other books of the same genre.

Inspect even their printing quality, so you would get a glimpse of how they handle even the looks of the actual book. Find out if the publisher also had any bestsellers, or how many units of a book they have sold for you to gauge their marketing and promotional strategies. You can use your observations when it’s time to make decisions.

Polish your manuscript.

After putting much thought on the type of publisher you want, go back to your manuscript, and give it another read. You can even give it to others for proofreading. Make sure it’s pretty much error-free before you hand it out to your agent or editor.

Note that editors and publishers will not be kind at all to manuscripts that shout low quality or rushed. Even the way you present the printed copy must be remarkable–high quality, readable ink on crisp, white bond paper will do the trick.

Consider also the type that you will be using in your manuscript. Make sure it’s readable, and of a decent font size. Use double space, and have an inch margin on all sides of your text. Place page numbers as well to guide the manuscript reader accordingly. Read it again and again to make sure there are no misplaced punctuation, or misspelled words. Simply using the spellchecker won’t do, trust me.

THIS POST IS CONTRIBUTED AS GUEST POST BY LAURA BUCKLER

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Why Writing Time-Travel Novels is Easier Than You Think

It was brought to my attention (not so subtly)  that I must be insane to attempt to write a time-travel themed fiction novel as the dynamics of such a task would be just too complicated; like the inner mechanism of a pocket watch, everything would have to sync and flow in tandem.  I grew up admiring Jack Finney for his eloquent prose and subsequent tale that follows Simon Morley in Time and Again (1970) and its sequel, From Time to Time (1995).  In fact, both novels still occupy a prominent place on my bookshelf.  As an author of romance/suspense fiction, I never wanted to limit myself to one genre and attempting to write time travel was the next logical choice (in my mind, at least.)

When would-be naysayer tried to rain on my parade, I simply nodded and smiled in a creepy sort of way that suggested the very insanity they were accusing me of.  Really, though, it’s like this: Writing fiction is a remarkable trek though “Freedom Park”.  It’s not supposed to be realistic, hence why it’s categorized under fiction.  Granted, there are certain things to be careful of when writing about things in the past.  I am meticulous about researching (a.k.a Googling) every minor detail.  If my male protagonist is popping a Tic Tac, am I sure the one-and-a-half calorie breath mint was available in 1967?  Other than that, creative license belongs with the author.

I weaved my tale by marrying an old relic with the appropriate setting and words and thus, a time travel novel was born.  (Along with its sequel and subsequent third and stand-alone time travel novel.)

It’s not scientific. We’ll keep science where it belongs – on the shelves of college bookstores.  With an open mind and a heart that aches to get the underlying love story told, writing time travel is as easy (or as difficult, whatever your stance might be) as writing any other fiction novel.

Just be sure that if the present day is in the year 1986, the word “smart phone” stays out of your book.

This post is contributed as Guest post by Barbara Avon.

About the author:

Barbara Avon is the author of six novels. A romantic/suspense trilogy, a two part romance/time travel story and a stand-alone time travel/suspense romance. She is also the author of three children’s books. Avon won second place in FACES Magazine “Best of Ottawa” award in 2017.

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An author writes about book reviews

Beware! Reviews get reviewed, too.

Although it might be presumptuous of me to speak for other writers, I think I can safely say that the vast majority of authors love getting reviews for their books. The sad statistic is that only about two out every thousand readers take the time to write a review on Amazon about a book they have read. That constitutes about 0.2% of readers

Harold MacMillan, publisher (and once Prime Minister of the UK) once said that a writer wants naught but praise for his work. There might be some truth in that, but it is not all of the truth. I know that I, and many writers of my acquaintance, tend to very quickly skip over complimentary reviews and spend more time with the critical ones. It is, of course, gratifying to hear words of praise for one’s work, but in those words, as well as the critical ones, the author always wants to know, “Why?” Why was it that you liked it? Why was it that you didn’t like it? Answers to these questions by reviewers who appear to have some idea about writing and prose, are often very helpful to a writer both in terms of how he approaches future work, and in terms also of whether he feels he should rewrite parts of already published work. I received well over 100 reviews for my last mystery book, close to 90% of them between four and five stars. But there were some criticisms that hit home, and I contacted my publishers with significant rewrites and corrections of errors pointed out by readers. The book has benefitted enormously from these changes.

However, does that mean authors jump to attention at all critical comments (or, indeed, complimentary ones)? Some reviewers are articulate and take a lot of care to structure their reviews and present them to Amazon (or wherever) error-free. Such reviewers command respect and writers would tend to take careful note of what they say. Other reviewers contribute lazy, poorly expressed reviews that often attempt present the author’s work in a poor light. I never quite understand why they do that, particularly when these reviews tend to indicate that the reviewer has limited awareness of what the author was actually writing about. I have had a couple of reviewers downgrade my rating because they had to turn to the dictionary too many times, while others compliment me on the clarity and simplicity of my prose. Who does one believe? And what do both critiques say about the people who wrote them? Indeed these kinds of contradictions turn up quite a bit, leaving writer mildly confused.

So what constitutes a good review? Does it matter whether the author likes it or not? Are there objective criteria that can ensure that a review is good (or bad) in its own right? I have seen lengthy reviews which spend most of the time simply retelling the story (and generally not very well). Some book clubs have affiliated reviewers who seem to have been trained to go through the plot first, then characterisation, then writing style, etc. It all looks very obvious but such reviewers are generally okay so long as the review doesn’t spend 90% of its time regurgitating the plot and only the other 10% on the aspects that would be of most interest to the author and future readers.

I have to confess that as a writer who reads all of his reviews, I skip all attempts, however lengthy, at retelling the story. People who have read it already know it; people who have yet to read it want only a brief indication of what they are about to read.

I suppose my advice to anyone writing a review would be to ask themselves two simple questions. Did I enjoy this book? What was it about the book that made me (or did not make me) enjoy it? Was it the story, the writing, the characters, the excitement, the plot and how it was contrived, the sub-plot(s), the humour, the climax? A couple of these? All of these? Such thinking will give a reviewer something specific to focus on and write about, and the result will be useful both to the author and future readers.  The review doesn’t have to be very long.  A paragraph or two would do, so long as you focus on what most appealed to you about the book and/or about some glaring faults in it that hampered your enjoyment. But your paragraph(s) will have to be well written, free of errors, and free, too, of unnecessarily harsh and destructive comment. Be fair to the writer.  It takes a deal of time, effort, and sweat to produce a book. Make sure your criticisms are justified, and offset them with some remarks about the areas of the book that did appeal to you.

There are loads of essays available on the net about how to write reviews, so I am not going to spend any time on that aspect of the subject. I will confine myself to one final comment that will resonate with many writers:  Review the book that you have just read, not the one that you wish the author had written.

 

This post is contributed as Guest post by Brian O’Hare.

About the author:

Brian O’Hare, MA, Ph.D., is a retired assistant director of a large regional college. He graduated, in retirement, from academic writing to fiction and is currently writing a mysteries series, some of which have won awards.

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I Won’t Apologize For Being A Logophile

I am a full blooded, totally committed Logophile. It’s something I practice everyday and everywhere. In fact, I am so addicted to Logophilia  that I carry a small floral notebook in my purse at all times to support my addiction.

Not familiar with the term? Neither was I. However, I was searching for the right word that would clearly define something that I do daily. The term Logophile comes from two Greek words – Logos which means words or speech and Philos which means dear or friendly. In short, a Logophile is someone who likes words very much. And I do.

However, my addiction to words centers more on the gathering of names. I am a dedicated name collector; not just normal names, but rather the unusual, ear catching ones. Whether I am in the airport, the hospital, the grocery store or my doctor’s office I am always listening for and recording unique names. I’ve even been known to collect a name or two off the billboards that overhang the Las Vegas Strip. As a writer, I use these names when I am searching for the perfect moniker for one of my characters.

For instance, Dr. Barleycorn is the nickname of my character, Matt Maxwell, who is a horticulturist in my book, Morning Magic. He’s an expert in growing things and since barley and corn are grown in the fields I decided to retrieve this name from my Book O’Names. I actually heard the real Dr. Barleycorn being paged at my local hospital years ago and I wrote his name down. Of course, I had numerous other options like Dr. Peachbottom, Dr. Driven and Dr. Robust – also names I heard during my long visits to the hospital. But none of them seemed to fit Matt just right. I can’t wait to use the name Penelope Pendergast in my next book. I instantly fell in love with that name when I heard it in the airport in Europe. Penelope, if you’re out there – I love your name!

In one of my last books, Sea Dreams, one of my central characters is named Thor Hudson. I adore the name Thor and was hoping that someday one of my kids would name one of their kids – Thor. We had a rousing discussion one night during which all but one of my children voted down the name. Since I guess I won’t have a grandson named Thor any time soon, I can at least have a favorite character with that name.

I also love to play with names by not spelling them in a traditional or expected way. I don’t do this to confuse, but rather to draw attention to the character themselves. Brady is a rather boring way of spelling a last name but Braidie certainly draws your eye and attention and that’s what I wanted my character to do.

My quest to gather names continues. As I was walking by the beach last week I heard a guy call out to his friend whose name was Templeton. Hmm, I like it. Not sure when I will use it, but it now holds a place on page 12 of my floral Book O’ Names notebook. Can’t wait to dream up a character that will step up and own that handle!

This post is contributed as Guest post by Meriam Wilhelm.

About the author:

After spending 35 years in education I retired to create my own mythical, magical beach city – New Moon Beach. I had a blast writing the first five books and just now published my first cozy mystery – Murder By Magic.

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