You Won NaNoWriMo (ie, wrote a book)!? Now What? Part 2

Oi! How the time flies. It's a lame excuse, but work and personal life was just too much over the holidays. I was burnt out. Now, here it is February and it still feels like I'm going 100 mph. Anyway, here's my follow up article to Part 1. So, what follows is the second part of my list of "must haves" for successfully self publishing your first novel.

5. Know Where You Want to Publish

This might seem like a no brainer, but determining where you want to publish ahead of time can save you a lot of headaches down the road.

eBooks

Kindle Direct Publishing (Amazon) - This is an absolute must. They are the largest provider of ebooks in the US, with coverage across the globe as well, and growing
Nook Press (B&N) - Strictly US and UK distribution. Their website is pretty awful and some of the publishing quirks are strange, but it's still got strong name recognition
Kobo Writing Life - Remember Borders Bookstores? Well, this was their Kindle/Nook. Still very popular in Canada
Apple iBookstore - Still haven't jumped head first into the book game, but too big to ignore. Need to have a Mac in order to upload through their service, but there are other options (read on)
eBook Aggregators
Smashwords and draft2digital - Third-party distributors that will, essentially, do the work for you (for a small fee). You submit a single file (formatted to their standards) and they send it out to the various ebook sellers (see above) and then some (eg, Sony, Diesel, Oyster). If you aren't tech savvy, this may be the most logical option, though be warned that Smashwords' formatting requirement may just have you pulling your hair out by the end of the day

Paperbacks

There are many print-on-demand (POD) options out there with CreateSpace and Lightning Source being two of the most popular. Formatting a paperback is very different from formatting an ebook, plus you'll need a different image file. Though both of these services offer create-your-own-cover options, I would recommend asking the artist who created your cover (because bad covers don't sell books, remember?) to create the binding and the back cover as well. It'll cost a little more but, again, well worth the expense. So, you might be asking yourself, "Do I really need a paperback?" Well, do ya punk? ;-) Paperbacks are fun to have and require very little additional expense. It's a tangible token of your accomplishment, they make great gifts, you can use them for marketing at book events (yes, people still buy paperbacks), and believe it or not, folks may even want you to sign it!

6. Build a Platform

Whether you put yourself onto every social media site known to man, or focus your efforts on one, you need to have a place where you can talk to potential customers and colleagues. Create a Facebook page, join Twitter, create a blog, or build a web site. It's important to have a web presence. Personally, I've ventured out to them all and found that I just don't have the time to keep up with all of them. I'm an irregular blogger, an occasional Twitterer, and a fairly faithful Facebooker. Don't even get me started on what an awful Plusser I am (Google+). Even if your book isn't ready to launch, you can build up a fan base. Talk about your writing. Talk about the subject matter. Read other blogs on those subjects and make thoughtful comments.

You too can have a giant too-close-for-comfort face shot on Facebook!

Establishing a platform can build an audience who is willing to listen to what you have to say. Be engaging, start conversations, find a like-minded forum and talk about what interests you. If you become a trusted voice, you may find that folks are willing to help you out when your book launches.

Just don't get overwhelmed. Remember that you're a writer first. Social media can be the biggest "time suck" known to man. Limit yourself to a small time frame every day. Ten minutes here, five minute there, another five minutes to craft a smart response to an article. I recommend picking two social media channels and dedicating yourself to becoming a part of the writing community there. Spamming tweets and Facebook posts about your book will only leave people with a bad taste in their mouth. Make comments, have conversations. They're just people like you.

7. Develop Your Thick Skin
It's going to happen. You're going to put your work out there and someone... some fool... some horse's arse who doesn't know good writing from chicken scratch... will give your pride and joy... your brilliant masterpiece... a nonsensical 1-star review. Be prepared. It happens to the best of us. Deep breath... it'll happen to you too. Go to Amazon and look up the best book you know and you'll find that some snarky troll has slapped it with a 1-star review. Know why? Because they can. Now, are all 1-star reviews the work of trolls? No. But, we're going to pretend that your masterpiece is at least good enough to avoid deserved 1-star reviews.
One of my favorite reviews for my debut novel, Multiples of Six, is a 2-star review. Why? Because it's absolutely honest and well thought out. Plain and simple. You can't argue with the truth. But, that being said, you can't argue with lies in this business either. I can't tell you how many stories I've heard of authors responding to bad reviews. It never ends well for the author. Do yourself a favor... look forward to your first bad review. Cherish it... give it a hug... welcome it into your home... then lock it in the closet and leave it alone. Sure, you may hear it whimper on occasion, but don't be tempted to respond. It'll never go away, but you can only hurt yourself by trying to "fix" it.

8. Get a Head Start on Book #2
Nothing sells a book like another book. I wish I had followed this advice. Apparently, I just didn't have enough of a head start (what can I say, I write my thrillers slowly)! If you're writing a series, it's essential to have that second book ready to come out on the heels of first. If your're not sure you can write the next one quickly enough, you may want to consider holding off until #2 is ready to go. Yes, you heard me... hold off. You'll thank me. In this day and age of quick publication, readers no longer have to wait years to get their favorite (self-pubbed) author's next book. Sometimes, it's as little as a couple months. Russel Blake is cranking them out every six weeks! Sure, we can't all be that prolific... or anywhere near that prolific in some cases, but we can glean from that an important point; if a reader likes book #1, they like to know that they can pick up book #2 right away. Of course, this isn't just for series. This carries over to stand-alone books as well. So, what are you doing reading this? Get back to work!

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I hope you enjoyed my list of what you need to self-publish. Again, I'll reiterate that this is not a comprehensive list and that monetary success with self-publishing is never guaranteed. However, if you've got these things set, you'll be well on your way to self-publishing the best book you possibly can.

What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Am I missing something? Please feel free to post questions or comments on any of these topics below. Thanks! :)

You Won NaNoWriMo (ie, wrote a book)!? Now What? Part 1

So, you're on your way to finishing National Novel Writing Month with a completed manuscript (or already have one). Congratulations! It's quite an accomplishment to finish a novel. Now, the real work begins. Editing, revising, having "real" people read it. Getting it into shape to be published. If you're on the road to traditional publication, my usefulness probably ends here. Good luck to you. If your book ever gets published, I look forward to seeing it on a shelf in a bookstore several years from now (if bookstores are still around). I'm for independent publishing. And what follows is the first part of my list of "must haves" for successfully self publishing your novel. So, here goes...

1. A Finished Novel
Ok, this might seem obvious, but you'd be amazed the time some people waste looking into how to publish when they haven't even finished the story yet! If your manuscript is incomplete, you're not ready to be reading this list! And even if you think you're ready, you might not be. Story finished? You have my permission to read on. Not finished? Get back at it!

2. Honest Feedback
Yep, it's time to seek out some people who aren't your Mom, Dad, Sister, best friend, grandma, etc. Honest feedback is what can really take your writing to the next level. Let's face it, we all get a little blinded to our own writing. It's perfect in our mind and, obviously, what we've put on paper (or screen) is just as perfect. Errr... probably not. So, find a writer friend, a writing group, go out and seek people who are writers (or regular readers of your genre) who are willing to be brutally honest. Even if it hurts, it's an important part of the writing process. Guess what? If you're planning on publishing, you'll get that feedback one way or another. And, personally, I'd much rather have the feedback offline than online for the world to see.

If you can afford it, I highly recommend hiring a professional editor. Even a simple copy edit from professional eyes can make the world of difference. Your readers will thank you. However, be prepared for a bit of sticker shock. A simple edit of a 60k word novel will run you upwards of $500... and that's without really looking at content. Shop around. Preditors & Editors is a good place to start.

3. A Professionally Designed Cover*
*Unless you're an amazing artist with mad Illustrator/InDesign skills

What to not do...

Despite the wisdom of "don't judge a book by its cover," we all do it anyway. With the ease of self-publishing, it can be tempting to make your own or have that "nephew who knows computers" slap something together for you. Don't do it! If you invest any money in publishing your book, make it the book cover. You can get a professionally made cover for as little as $50 (for non-exclusive artwork) and ~$200 and up for custom work. It can make all the difference. And, while I could go on forever about what to not do (see image at right), I have a couple of pet peeves that stand out in what you should do when designing your book cover.

• Big text for all! Your name should be as prominent as the title of the book. Most readers remember the author's name, not necessarily the book title. Make it big
• Use bold colors or striking contrasts. Your book needs to stand out from the crowd. Avoid bland and vague
• Make sure you can still get the gist of the cover when it's super small. Remember, Amazon uses thumbnails that are no bigger than 1"x 1.5" depending on the screen and some people are using B&W Kindles (the horror!). It should scale well and be clear
• If you're going to use artwork, make sure it tells the right story. Readers notice these things. If there's a picture of a desert on your cover, your main character better be hopping camels through the sand (or something like it) or you'll hear about it. A recent example of this was a traditionally published book that had a dog prominently on the cover. Turned out the dog had very little to do with the story

4. A Properly Formatted Manuscript

No one wants to read
                   a poorly formatted                               BOok.

See what I did there? Believe it or not, this is how your book can look if you're not careful. If you're familiar with Microsoft Word, you shouldn't have a hard time. But, if Word seems like it's been written in a foreign language, you might want to seek out help. There are people out there who will format your book for epublication for a nominal fee. Anything over $50 is pushing it. That might seem like a lot, but again, if it's the difference between people making it through your book or returning it because they couldn't get past the formatting errors, the investment is worthwhile. Most epub sites (Kindle Direct Publishing, Nook Press, etc.) have instructions on how to format. Smashwords, which is a mass distribution site has what they call "The Meat Grinder." It takes your manuscript and turns it into whatever format is needed. It's a very strict process, so if there are mistakes, they'll flag it and notify you before allowing it to be published.

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We're half way there!

Be sure to check out Part 2 of my You Won NaNoWriMo (ie, wrote a book)!? Now What? series!

What do you think so far? Agree? Disagree? Please feel free to post questions on any of these topics below. Thanks! :)

eBook Launch Postmortem

Having just completed a full week of having Multiples of Six available online, let me give you some more epublishing tips.

1. Read, read, and re-read your book before you post it. If you've read it X times, read it one more time. One day will no make or break anyone. I know it's an exciting thing, but errors are turn-offs to readers who are used to well-polished traditional books.

2. If you're expecting friends and family to propel your sales, you'd better have a lot of both. Instead, try and find your true audience. That's not to say that friends and family aren't, but you need to seek out readers of your genre. Writers tend to cling to one another like popularity might wear off or trickle down. And, though it's good to have other writers/authors to bounce ideas off of, they also have an agenda of their own (sell their book).

3. If you can handle the monotony of formatting your work for Smashwords, it'll pay off for when you upload to B&N and Amazon. It took a long time to go through and do all of the necessary style changes to get it through Smashwords' Meat Grinder, but the product I was left with made it all the easier to upload to the BIG 2. If you find that you are unable to get it done on your own, there are people out there who will do it for you...for a small fee. Oh, and don't leave this till the last minute. It can be time-consuming no matter how easy you find it and the last thing you want delaying your publication is a formatting error.

4. Make sure your cover looks good at every size, large or small. I've noticed the font on my cover gets a little pixelated at the smaller sizes. But, there are two very important things I can do when it's that small: (1) read the title and (2) read my name. You wouldn't believe how many ebooks I've seen where you can't distinguish either when the cover is 1" x 2". The reason the phrase "Don't judge a book by its cover" exists is because that's exactly what we do...even if we shouldn't! Rest assured, there are readers out there doing just that when they see yours.

5. Don't cry when the sales don't start flooding your Amazon stats. Realize this: your book has no expiration date. There is no point at which it will "sell out." You've got time on your side. If you haven't marketed your release, make a plan to do post-launch marketing. It doesn't have to cost you anything. There are plenty of web sites and blogs out there (this one included) that will post your content for free. Now, whether or not it generates sales is another story. Just remember that you get out what you put in. If your work is good quality, it will eventually gain traction on its own merit.

6. The writing doesn't end when you click "upload." If you're writing a series, it's time to get cracking on the next book! A week in and I've already had several people ask when the sequel to Multiples will be out (tentatively titled Divisible by Six). Folks don't like to wait years for their favorite authors to publish their next book. And, as ebook authors, we have the ability to provide a much more rapid response. I'm hoping to have my sequel out in time for Christmas, but a lot has to happen in order for that to happen.

Good luck with your own book. I'll definitely keep you up to date with how Multiples is doing.

The Importance of Having a Second Set of Eyes

We've all heard it before; two heads are better than one. I recently put the "final" touches on my novel, Multiples of Six, in order to get it to my final beta readers. Even after having read through it thoroughly, I still found that my early readers had caught things I still missed! The trick is, when you're so close to something like a novel, you can miss the simplest of plot issues.

If you plan on self-publishing a novel, it's imperative that you have beta readers who can be objective. It may also help if they have an eye towards editing as well. The fact is, we can't all afford to pay a professional editor to review our work. But, we all know at least one person who incessantly corrects our speech and/or emails/texts/tweets. Seek those people out as your readers and you won't be sorry. As you're finalizing your novel, the last thing you want to do is avoid objective reviews. If you really don't know anyone who fits this criteria, seek them out! Consider joining a local writing group or make connections through Twitter or Facebook. There are plenty of other writers out there and some are more than willing to help out if the favor is returned.

The important thing to remember is to not go it alone. There are just too many variables that exist in the course of a full length novel. And, you only get one shot at a first impression as a novelist. Though self-publishing does allow for the opportunity to fix your mistakes, you don't want those first readers to be put off by sloppy writing.

Luckily for me, the majority of my final beta read team also happen to be talented editors. I'm looking forward to hearing their comments and getting Multiples of Six published by the end off this month (or early July)!

Cover Art for Multiples of Six

So, I'm very excited to show off the new cover art for Multiples of Six.



I'm really quite pleased with it and its creation certainly makes me feel like everything is coming together. There's something a little egotistical about having your name (even if it is a pseudonym) on a book cover. With the new Web site and the cover art complete, it's just a matter of getting the feedback from my phase 2 beta readers in. I'm still aiming for the end of June for my release. But, if I'm not careful (and diligent with what's required of me) it might slip into July. Not a huge problem, but I would certainly like to have it go live sooner.

Looking forward to working on this book over the next month and wrapping up its publication. Then, the real adventure begins and I get to see if anyone actually wants to read it. ;)

Managing the Project of Self Publication

Seven weeks to go. I created a self-imposed deadline of the end of June as my publication date for my upcoming novel, Multiples of Six. Now, as that date begins to creep ever closer, I’m finding that I’m encountering many of the delays one experiences in mainstream publishing (I work in medical publishing). And, I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised!

Self Publication: The Adventure Begins

Sure, it’s easy enough to say you’ll self publish via ebook. The tools and resources to do so are all at your fingertips. But, what you may not realize is that you’re in for a boatload of work if you plan to be successful. Here are a few things to address before you press the submit button.

This list assumes you’ve got a completed manuscript. I would even go as far as saying this assumes you’re past the second or third draft. It’s a manuscript that’s ready to move forward. It’s one thing to consider what’ll happen when you're done, but don’t let the “what I’ll do when I finish” get in the way of actually finishing.

1. Find some honest readers. Whether it’s a writing group, a book club, or someone you’ve become friendly with through their blog. Your mom, sister, boyfriend, wife, just won’t cut it at this point. Sure, they may give you feedback, but how much are they holding back because they don’t want to hurt your feelings? Now is not the time to seek praise. It’s time to grit your teeth and get some criticism that can improve your book.
   


2. Make friends with an editor. There’re lots of them out there. Trust me…I was one. And, I would have loved if someone had asked me to edit their novel. Now, mind you…if you can’t befriend one, you might just have to pay one. If you have any doubts about your ability to self edit, it will be worth the money. No one wants to read a book filled with typos and poor punctuation.
   


3. Research cover designers. Yep, your ebook still needs a cover. Let’s face it, when browsing in the store, if you don’t know the author, you pick up the book because you were drawn to it by something on the cover. And, even if your release date is still a couple months off, you’ll want to have the cover in order to build buzz for the book. It makes a great marketing tool and once you’ve purchased it, it’s yours to use however you like. Now, in my time of due diligence, I came across a wide spectrum of services. Everything from $30 to $900 and up! And, like all things of quality, you get what you pay for. Take a look at what $30 will get you and you’ll understand why it only costs $30! However, having seen some of the examples on the high end, I’m pretty sure you don’t need to buy the Ferrari. Do your homework and find an artist and a price point you can live with.
   


4. Epublication sites like Smashwords.com will upload your book for free to multiple platforms (Amazon, B&N, Apple, etc). However, there’s quite a bit of formatting involved prior to upload, especially if you want to be included on the premium vendors list (this also refers back to #3…cover is required for sales on Kindle et al). Now, you can either go through the formatting guide and probably spend a lot of time cursing at the cruel makers of Word, or pay someone to do this thankless task for you.
   


5. Blog! If you don’t have any sort of web presence, what are you waiting for? How can you expect to generate buzz for an ebook if you don’t have the beginnings of a platform. Blogs cost nothing and are fairly simple to navigate. I use blogger.com, but this is only one of many blogging sites (eg, wordpress, livejournal, weebly, xanga, and yahoo just to name the first few that popped up on Google). Blogging gives you a voice outside of your novel. It allows you to build an audience of like-minded folks. And, it gives you a fairly inexpensive stage to show off your writing prowess.
   

As far as my progress goes, I’ve lined up readers (a few of which are also editors…I know…that’s cheating), contacted a cover artist, and established this shiny new blog. I’ll have to take a crack at #4 before deciding whether I want to pay someone to do it.

Thanks for reading and I hope you’ll join me again as I detail my path toward epublication.