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. ;)

There's No Shortcuts in Writing/Editing

So, I can be a bit disorganized. And, given the fact that Multiples of Six has been…gasp!…7 years in the making…I’ve moved files from one computer to another and created various backup files. So, when I realized this week that I might have been working on a version that was not the most recent, I became a bit dismayed…to say the least.

In my what was supposed to be my “final” revision, I came across a chapter that seemed out of place…then another…and before long, with about 10 chapters to go (out of 40), I was ready to throw it all away. How had I gone back to an older version!? I mean, it had been over a year since I had worked on it (spent writing another novel), but in my mind, at least, it hadn’t been this bad when I left it. Rummaging through some old files, I came across a file that contained all of the chapters of my novel, with a text note to myself: “These chapters are based on the order conceived in the spiral bound notebook with the typewriter on the front.” Knowing that I would have no clue…I had left myself one. Go me.

Now, here’s where it went bad. I stopped the editing process altogether…obsessed with finding said spiral bound notebook that held the magic key to finish my edits. A week went by…ten days...almost two weeks before I finally found "The Holy Grail." This was the answer! This notebook would set me back on track. It held the brilliant reordering that was necessary for the ending to make sense. Hmmm…not so much. Instead, it had new plot conveyances and changed some of the ending to make what I had work, instead of trying to fix what was really wrong. Two weeks of trying to find the easy way out, and I was no better off than when I started. I was working on the most recent version. I had left it in a bit of a shamble and there was no magic notebook containing the solution to my chapter timing issues (which really aren’t that bad…but I do have to cut a couple superfluous scenes).

So, it’s back to reality and back to editing.

Do you have organizational techniques for keeping your files in order? Do you use a particular software for your writing? How do you back up your work?