P.H. Solomon's Blog, page 323

Novel Revision: Twenty-page Sessions

PHS:

Revision tips re-blogged on Archer’s Aim

Originally posted on jacksmithwriter:

You can handle novel revision in many different ways—probably too numerous to mention.  One method: You can rework pages one at a time, trying to get everything right before going on.  A second: You can take the novel section by section, attempting to get everything right.

Or how about this third method?   Once you have a fairly complete draft, just commit yourself to twenty-page sessions of revision. 

Unless you hit real snags, you can do this in about two hours.

Here’s the kinds of things to look for/work for:

-Characters that seem rather flat.  What can you do to spice them up a bit?  Maybe some interesting description?   Maybe an interesting remark in a scene?  (If this changes the nature of the scene too much, this will of course require more time and effort.)

-Plot details.  Did…

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Complete DIY Self-Publishing Pt. 2: The Toolbox

I’ve done my share of minor DIY projects at home over the years. Some were larger than others but all required tools. Screwdrivers, hammers, drills and saws are common to most building projects.

Like home projects, an ebook project needs tools to be completed. You’ll need a cover, various software for development and formatting instructions. Here are some tools that can help you get started in your DIY self-publishing project though this is certainly not an exhaustive list.

1. A word-processing editor. You could use Microsoft Word to develop your text nicely. I still use it for editing and shorter projects at times as well as journaling. But I’m increasingly finding that Scrivener is infinitely more useful for developing writing projects of various lengths. I’ve written a few posts regarding this software an its value to writers but I find its organizational tool, the binder, highly effective – you can read my blog about it here as well as my first blog here.

2. A formatting guide. Once you have a manuscript ready you will need to verify that it is formatted for e-book usage. Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords, has written the very helpful e-book, Smashwords Style Guide, which he offers for free. This book details how to format an e-book. I have to admit that I was apprehensive about this task but with the help of Mark’s book I was able to complete this task well.

3. You will need cover art. I will discuss this in more detail in another post but there are numerous locations to inexpensively obtain a photo worthy of a cover. I’ve written a previous post which lists several of the many sites available (be aware of licensing and copyright). Also, you should be ready to do a little cover art editing using several tools I’ll discuss in detail in another post as well. I haven’t written about these yet but I will soon but the include Gimp, PowerPoint and Online Photoshop. Gimp is free as is the use of free Online Photoshop. PowerPoint comes with Microsoft Office though. However, don’t absolutely need Powerpoint.

So there are all the basic tools and jobs you will need to completely finish a minor DIY e-book self-publication. You don’t have to get all these yet but be aware that I will be referring to much of this in future posts in this series. Otherwise, all you need is moxie and some virtual elbow-grease to see your book in publication for little cost. As a bonus, here’s the link to my post on why I specifically chose to publish my short story, The Black Bag, as an e-book. Part one of this series appeared on Tuesday and I also have a post on my lessons learned as well as a post of my list of photo sites

Available at Amazon, Smashwords and All Major E-Book Vendors!

Do you have a short manuscript you would like to self-publish? Do you want to learn and know what to expect when you pay for services on longer writing projects? Have you ever self-published an e-book on your own? If so, what tips can you share. I’d love to hear from you so you are welcome to share in the comments section.I’d also love to connect with you over social media so check my contact page for that information. See the News page for announcements and remember to sign-up to receive news and posts by email. I’ve added a new sign-up tab on my FaceBook page to simplify the process. New followers can download The Black Bag via free coupon today!

Thanks for reading!

PHS

 

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Filed under: Archer's Aim Digest, Blogging, Indie Publishing, Self-publishing, Social Media, Tips, Writing Tagged: Coverart, Facebook, Indie Publishing, P. H. Solomon, Scrivener, Self-publishing, Smashwords, Social Media, The Black Bag, Tips, writing

What Readers Look for when Buying a Book

PHS:

These are interesting insights regarding what sells books – love the graph. Re-blogging on Archer’s Aim

Originally posted on Nicholas C. Rossis:

Tara Sparling recently wrote a couple of blog posts about  self-publishing; namely, What makes people buy self-published books, and What Puts Readers Off Self-Published Books. I loved them both, and confess to a tiny bit of envy at her excellent material.  However, being the gracious author and blogger that I am, I will share Tara’s findings with you and urge you to visit her blog, which is filled with interesting posts, beautifully written.

Tara interviewed readers and writers regarding what makes them buy a self-published book, thus giving us invaluable insight into how to better market and promote ourselves.

Heavenly graph by Tara Sparling

cover, blurb and sample: I will not go into the known cliché, since we DO judge a book by its cover. From my day job as web developer / web promoter, I know for example that certain colours work better than others (blues, oranges) and that people like seeing faces in ads…

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What Was That?

It all whizzed past me so fast I’m not sure what happened. I coughed in the smoke which also got in my eyes. The blaze of light got in my eyes. What was that? O yeah, that was the week!

I can’t believe it’s Thursday already! I hope everyone is having a wonderful week. I have one more post tomorrow but I wanted to take time today and fill everyone in on some progress related to a few recent posts as well as re-cap the week so far.

Last week, I announced I was starting a email digest for this blog. That effort was launched yesterday with list members receiving a sneak peek at my cover.

The sneak peek on the digest leads me to another topic – the upcoming cover reveal. The Bow of Destiny cover will be revealed to the public on Monday, 11/10. The reaction so far from my digest list has been very positive. Check back on Monday and see it for yourself!

Monday’s post, “You Blog With What?”, received lots of views on Tuesday in some sort of delayed reaction. At any rate, check it out and see if its as useful to you as others found it to be.

Tuesday’s post which also received plenty of associated attention is here. I will continue writing about complete DIY self-publication ideas in the near future.

Yesterday was a guest post from Daniel Adorno entitled, “3 Ways Authors can Get Exposure for Their Recently-published Books“. This post was also well-received so check out Daniel’s thoughts on the subject.

Once you’ve finished Daniel’s post you can read my guest blog on his site entitled, 8 Tips to Grow an Email List.

Available at Amazon, Smashwords and All Major E-Book Vendors!

Since I’ve got a blog hosted somewhere else today that’s all I have. I’m looking forward to sharing the cover on Monday but come back tomorrow for another post I’ve prepared too. I’d love to hear from you so won’t you leave a question, idea or strategy in the comment section? I’d also love to connect with you over social media so check my contact page for that information. See the News page for announcements and remember to sign-up to receive news and posts by email. I’ve added a new sign-up tab on my FaceBook page to simplify the process. New followers can download The Black Bag via free coupon today!

Thanks for reading!

PHS

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Filed under: Archer's Aim Digest, Blogging, Cover Reveal, Daniel Adorno, Fiction, Guest Blog, Indie Publishing, Marketing, Planning, Self-publishing, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, Writing Tagged: Announcement, Coverart, Facebook, Indie Publishing, Launch, Marketing, P. H. Solomon, Planning, Scrivener, Self-publishing, Short Stories, Social Media, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, writing

Guest Blog: 3 Ways Authors can Get Exposure for Their Recently-published Books

Today’s post comes from fellow epic fantasy writer, Daniel Adorno. He is the author of The Blade Heir which was released just a few months ago. Take it away, Daniel!

So you’ve spent months, maybe years, writing and editing your book so you can self-publish. The moment finally arrives when you decide to hit that Publish button and send your masterpiece off into the world, but once you’ve done that, you first thought might be similar to mine: “Now what?”

You’ve done an amazing thing by completing a novel and the accomplishment should never be understated, but as you’ll hear many veteran authors tell you, completing the book is only the first step in a really long journey. After the book is published, you’ve got to market and promote it otherwise nobody except your family and friends will ever know it’s out there swimming in the overcrowded sea of self-published works. There are no shortage of methods and strategies online for you to follow in promoting your book, but I want to focus on three simple ways you can get the word out about your book and maximize exposure.

Create a Goodreads giveaway or event

Goodreads is the social media equivalent of Facebook for readers. It’s the place to be if you’re an author because the discussion is always centered around books. You can easily connect your Facebook account to Goodreads and create a user profile from their homepage. Once you’ve done that, join their Author Program and get access to an author profile on the site. The author profile allows readers to connect with you and add your book to the site. It also gives you the option of creating a blog or syncing an existing blog to your profile, so readers can see the latest posts on your website. The best thing about Goodreads though is that you can create giveaways or events that readers can see.

Creating a giveaway involves offering up one or more physical copies of your book to readers who sign up. You add your book, set the length of time the giveaway is good for, and then Goodreads advertises it (for free!) on their Giveaways page. The benefit of giving away copies of your book is that readers will usually add it to their reading lists and this activity will be shown on their feeds for all their friends to see, so it exposes your book to a larger audience. Alternatively, the winners of the giveaway might review your book which will also increases visibility, but don’t ever expect this since it is entirely optional.

If you only have an ebook copy of your book to giveaway, don’t despair, you can still offer it to readers through an event. Creating an event is as simple as creating a giveaway. I would recommend you always create events for author signings, blog tours, etc. But you can also use the events feature to give away a free ebook. Invite everyone on your friends list who likes the genre you write in and set it up for a week or less. You can randomly choose a winners from your RSVP list and send them copies of the ebook. Whether you create a Goodreads giveaway or event, both options will significantly boost your book’s presence on the site and garner readers’ attentions. Refer to this video for more in-depth details on how to maximize engagement on Goodreads.

Host a Twitter party

Twitter is a bustling social media marketplace and one of the easiest places to create valuable connections that benefit authors. If you’ve never hosted a Twitter party before, I would recommend you at least attend a few parties before you tackle hosting. The concept is simple: you invite guests to Twitter to tweet about your book or its genre and give away prizes to attendees. Create invitations for the party at least a week in advance; use a program like Photoshop or GIMP to make a compelling graphic that can be posted on social media sites like Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. You’ll also need to create a unique hashtag that your partygoers can use in their tweets. For example, at my debut novel’s party I used #BladeHeirparty. Having a hashtag will allow everyone to keep track of the discussion on Twitter and it will get the attention of your guests’ followers.

During the party, try to have discussion questions written out so when there’s a lull in the conversation you can spur more tweeting with a thoughtful question or comment. Don’t try to control the tweeting too much though. The tweets will come quick and there will be lots of side discussions going on, which is a good sign that people are enjoying the party! Try to have a set time for the party to start and end (usually an hour or two will suffice) and before its over, give out prizes to a few guests. Prizes can include a free copy of your book, a gift card, or something promotional like a signed poster of your book’s cover art. There’s no expectation to have an extravagant prize like a trip to Maui, just provide prizes relevant to your book and worth coming to your party. For more info on Twitter party strategies, read this insightful article.

Bundle your ebook with BitLit

One of the growing trends in the music and movie industries is the act of bundling. You rarely see a new movie released on DVD that isn’t bundled with a Blu-Ray disc and a digital copy for all kinds of devices. Similarly, more music albums on physical media are being bundled with vinyl records or iTunes download codes. So why not do the same with books? One company called BitLit is doing just that by allowing readers who own physical copies of a book to download the ebook version for free or at a reduced cost. Amazon provides a similar service under the MatchBook program, but if readers buy a paperback copy of your book at an independent bookstore or directly from your website, MatchBook is useless to them. This is where BitLit comes in with their wonderful app, whereby a reader can take a picture of the book’s copyright page and receive a link to download the ebook.

Why is this beneficial for an author?

Because it’s a simple way to promote your books and provide value to readers. Imagine being at an author signing selling paperbacks and encountering attendees who admit they read exclusively on their Kindle, Nook, or iPad and don’t buy physical books anymore. You can easily persuade them to purchase a paperback by informing them of BitLit and how they can get a free ebook by owning the physical copy. I think both BitLit and MatchBook provide unseen potential for authors to give readers more options and sell more books. If you want more info on BitLit and how to participate, check out this informative post on Pubslush.

Incorporating these three simple strategies after releasing your book into the world can move your new book from an obscure position in a crowded online marketplace to a visible blip on readers’ radars.

——–

Daniel Adorno is an indie author who loves to write fantasy and sci-fi stories. He enjoys sharing writing tips and publishing advice to writers on his blog. His debut novel, The Blade Heir, is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

Thanks for providing today’s blog, Daniel. You can also find him on his blog and his contact information here.

What are your ideas for marketing your books? What venues have worked or not in gaining your book exposure? I’d love to hear from you so won’t you leave a question, idea or strategy in the comment section? I’d also love to connect with you over social media so check my contact page for that information. See the News page for announcements and remember to sign-up to receive news and posts by email. I’ve added a new sign-up tab on my FaceBook page to simplify the process. New followers can download The Black Bag via free coupon today!

Thanks for reading!

PHS

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Filed under: Daniel Adorno, Fiction, Guest Blog, Indie Publishing, Marketing, Planning, Self-publishing, Social Media, Tips, Twitter, Writing Tagged: Daniel Adorno, Facebook, Indie Publishing, Marketing, Planning, Self-publishing, The Blade Heir, Tips, Twitter, writing

End to End DIY Self-Publishing: 4 Reasons to Give It a Try

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Self-publishing is DIY by definition, however, there are different levels of this when presenting a book to the world. There are those people who write and then pay for the editing, the cover and formatting in order to release it into the wide world. Then there those writers who do most if not all of the work themselves.

Before I go further, let me address the issue of editing. Unless your work is short you should get another set of eyes on your manuscript regardless – even if you pay for it. I know I am with my upcoming epic fantasy novel, The Bow of Destiny. Novels and full-length non-fiction are just too large to get into solid condition for readers without some professional help. For shorter works, some input from fellow writers may help you get the project in good shape. Usually, you can’t pay for someone to edit a short story or other short books so it becomes DIY unless you know someone willing to take a look at the grammar.

What are the benefits to publishing as a DIY project? Here are my 4 reasons to give it a try – at least on a shorter project:

1. It’s inexpensive – you can publish a short book without spending lots of money on a cover, formatting and editing

2. You learn something from the experience – I know with my own efforts with The Black Bag I learned how to make a simple cover that was usable on Amazon and Smashwords. Also, I learned that formatting is not that scary with a short writing project.

3. You learn what to expect – by the time I uploaded The Black Bag I had gained a great deal of insight on actually publishing. When I am ready with my next book, I will have an idea of what I am doing and how it links with promotion.

4. Some exposure – you may not gain tons of readers from a short project but you do gain some exposure which helps in building your writer platform.

Available at Amazon, Smashwords and All Major E-Book Vendors!

These are some of my reasons for attempting a complete DIY self-published project. In future posts for this series, I’ll discuss my experience with the various aspects of my effort as well as share the tools that helped me. Have your tried this for yourself? Is formatting a scary subject for you? If you have experiences and ideas of your own please share them in the comments section. I’d also love to connect with you over social media so check my contact page for that information. See the News page for announcements and remember to sign-up to receive news and posts by email. I’ve added a new sign-up tab on my FaceBook page to simplify the process. New followers can download The Black Bag via free coupon today!

Thanks for reading!

PHS

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Filed under: Blogging, Creativity, Editing, Fiction, Indie Publishing, Marketing, Planning, Self-publishing, Social Media, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, Tips, Twitter, Uncategorized, Writing Tagged: blogging, Coverart, creativity, Editing, Facebook, Formatting, Indie Publishing, Launch, Marketing, P. H. Solomon, Planning, Self-publishing, Social Media, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, Twitter, writing

Editing psychosis: recognize the signs

PHS:

Editing makes me crazy too! Re-blogging on Archer’s Aim!

Originally posted on Belinda Williams:

It’s time to shed some light on a severe disorder that is rarely discussed in writing circles. Usually because the poor sufferers don’t recognize the signs themselves.

The signs of editing psychosis: is this you?


Able to go for long periods of time without moving from your computer. Hours may slip past unnoticed.
You stare intensely at your computer screen at the same passage of text or even a single word. To outsiders, you appear to be achieving absolutely nothing.
Commas annoy you. Repeated words annoy you. In fact, you start to obsess about tiny things on the page. Repeat the point above.
You have issues recalling important details about your life. You may forget appointments. You may neglect to cook dinner. Or your husband. Or your children.
Other work may suffer. (Pete, if you’re reading this, the editing is almost done and I’ll get you that quote tomorrow…)
You also…

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You Blog With What?

Scrivener is a widely used software among writers and people who write frequently. Since it is used for a wide variety of reasons the software is extremely versatile. It can be used for developing fiction and non-fiction books. Also it can be used for short stories, articles and other forms of shorter writing projects. You can download a trial copy here.

Additionally, the software can be used to manage writing projects so it’s up to the user to adjust their development habits to suit what they are writing. Scrivener easily allows writers to break their books into chapters and scenes using the Binder. But not only can these be divided easily they can also be moved around in the scheme so that it serves as a functional outline tool which allows an author to re-organize edit by simply moving containers around. This makes for great structural editing on a book.

Among the uses some people put Scrivener to is blogging. After all, a blog is really just an article written for a website. With the research folder in the Scrivener’s Binder writers can develop their ideas with references, artwork and a host of other files that can be added for use later or just reference. I, and many other, use this to “cast” characters with photos of real people to help visualize their fiction.

But as a blogging tool, Scrivener is much more powerful than just developing a blog. If you are planning a blog series, Scrivener is very handy for the reasons noted above. Folders can be created in the Binder that represent individual blog posts. It’s a great way to write a post which is what I’m doing now. I’m also using Scrivener in just the way I’m describing to develop two new blog series which I will start this week. I anticipate the work-flow to be very organized and organic so that my posts will flow into one another and read consistently throughout each series.

However, there’s more to this organization than just a simple way to develop a whole series of posts. I can also look ahead with this basic organization to develop the content further than the blog. If I see that the posts are useful and there is more information to cover I can easily add more posts than I’ve already planned – or reduce as needed. Additionally, I have a ready-made outline to further develop these into short e-books for publication. Since Scrivener also compiles content into e-book formats I can save the blog posts as Word, pdf or full e-book formats. Of course there is other pieces to fit with the content such as cover and proper formatting but with Scrivener I have my content ready to develop into something else beside blogs.

Available at Amazon, Smashwords and All Major E-Book Vendors!

If you haven’t tried Scrivener, why haven’t you? If you already use this powerful software what other tips to you have for its usage? I’d love to hear from you so won’t you leave a question, idea or strategy in the comment section? I’d also love to connect with you over social media so check my contact page for that information. See the News page for announcements and remember to sign-up to receive news and posts by email. I’ve added a new sign-up tab on my FaceBook page to simplify the process. New followers can download The Black Bag via free coupon today!

Thanks for reading!

PHS

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Filed under: Blogging, Creativity, Editing, Fiction, Indie Publishing, Marketing, Planning, Self-publishing, Social Media, Tech Tips, The Black Bag, Tips, Twitter, Writing Tagged: blogging, creativity, Facebook, Indie Publishing, Marketing, P. H. Solomon, Planning, Scrivener, Short Stories, Social Media, The Black Bag, Tips, Twitter, writing

How to twist a psychological thriller into something new and different

PHS:

Interesting tips on writing psych thrillers – and in general! Re-blogging on Archer’s Aim.

Originally posted on C h a z z W r i t e s . c o m:

If you’ve read This Plague of Days, you know I go for unique takes on familiar genres. This is how I cut new grooves in an old record and made new word music.

1. There are no new ideas, but I have novel ideas that play with reader expectations. Always do the unexpected (usually within the confines of the genre, but certainly not always.)

2. Make it meta, commit and have fun with it.

3. Break the fourth wall and talk to the reader. Sure, Italo Calvino did it plenty. Why not you? (But not so much there is no story.)

4. Focus the psychological in psychological thriller on the protagonist. Done right, the reader will share in the pain and therapy.

5. Be the main character (yes, you!) and put ‘em through the Poisoned Corridor of Shame and Rusty Carrot Scrapers. 

6. Sift in some weird facts readers won’t think are true…

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The Bow of Destiny Cover Reveal

Photo used in The Bow of Destiny book trailer

I finished a crowdfunding campaign in September which was intended to complete my first novel entitled, The Bow of Destiny. Here’s the sample trailer I used for campaign.

As you can see, the artwork conveys a message but as stated in my campaign I needed high-quality cover-art for the book. This is one of my milestones for the book so I decided to use what I raised for artwork since the book won’t go to my editor until late November.

I contacted Chris Rawlins to work on my cover-art since I liked a similar piece by him entitled “Robin of Loxley”. I felt this image suited my concept very well so I teamed with Chris to develop a similar piece that fits The Bow of Destiny. Take look at some of Chris’s work which I think is fantastic. Before I post the actual cover, I’ll share an interview with the artist so look for that on November 7th at a later time to be announced.

I’ll reveal the newly designed cover on November 10th so be sure to check in on that day to see the cover. Want a sneak peek? Sign-up to receive my blog digest via email where the cover will appear early. As a bonus you can receive a free e-book copy of The Black Bag by liking my Facebook page and using the “News and Blog Signup” tab there to join my email list. By being on this list you will receive the digest of my top posts and latest updates and much more.

Photo from the book trailer for The Bow of Destiny

It’s exciting to finally meet this milestone and I’m happy to share it with you. Make sure to check back on Nov. 10th to see the cover where I’ll also share some details about the book and links to my prequel series – What is Needed.

I’d also love to connect with you over social media so check my contact page for that information. See the News page for announcements and remember to sign-up to receive news and posts by email. I’ve added a new sign-up tab on my FaceBook page to simplify the process. New followers can download The Black Bag via free coupon today!

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Filed under: Cover Reveal, Creativity, Crowdfunding, Crowdsourcing, Fiction, Indie Publishing, IndieGoGo, Marketing, Rave Review Book Club, Self-publishing, Social Media, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, Twitter, What is Needed, Writing Tagged: Announcement, Cover Reveal, Coverart, Facebook, Indie Publishing, Marketing, P. H. Solomon, Pinterest, Short Stories, Smashwords, The Black Bag, The Bow of Destiny, Twitter, What is Needed, writing