If You’re Gonna Self-Publish

Writing, publishing, sometimes we don’t know how or can’t decide how to pull it all together. Go the traditional route or self-publish. These days, fortunately for indie writers who choose to go it alone most readers, I’d guess the majority, don’t really care how a book hits the shelves or Amazon or any other distributor.

So, if you’ve considered different methods of getting your work out there and have settled on self-publishing for right now, read on.

Despite the fact that most readers don’t care if a book is self-published, for a lot of reasons (including they don’t actually know it is) if the indie writer is smart he or she won’t allow what has become a big down side of the self-publishing world jump up from the newly purchased work and slap them in the face.

What’s that you say? You're asking what downside? Come on, if you’ve gotten Ebooks (and of course self-published print books) you’ve experience the total crap that can be out there.

Believe it or not, readers are truly turned off by books that look like crap. Books that have awful spelling, grammar, formatting, infantile covers, insanely long and convoluted sentences, links from table of contents to chapters that don’t work, etc. You know, unprofessional. It’s shoddy, it’s messy and it won’t keep or get you any more readers. The one reading will give up and new readers, if they read sloppy samples, will pass you by.

That’s the big plus of professional publishers. They do it all. I know, I know, not so easy to get them to publish your work even if you choose to go that route as opposed to indie. But take note. The books they produce look professional from cover through text. Well, at least most of the time. I’ve seen some doozies there as well (but my guess is the Editor was fired). Still, it’s worth emulating their methods.

Bottom line, you don’t want to look like an amateur.

Another bottom line, too many writers think they can simply crank it out, slap it up and sell a million.

Uh, no.

If you have any self-respect as a writer at all you should be going

for the polished, professional, outstandingly stunning look.  You want a reader to be unable to tell the indie published book from the traditionally published book – until or unless they look at the imprint name in the listing. So the goal is to make the book look very professional so your fantastic story won’t be tossed aside, the reader insisting any self-published book is junk. Not good for you; not good for other struggling Indies.

So, pay attention to your work. Check and double check. Have volunteer readers or an editor, or both, go through looking for all those little mistakes. And throw in a professional formatter versed in the various venues if you just can’t seem to get the hang of it yourself.

If you do that from the very first book, make sure it’s professionally done, your readers will know who to come to for a great story AND a professionally done manuscript. You know, one they can read without being jerked to a stop, pulled out of the flow of the reader’s trance, every few sentences by some glaring error that should never have been allowed to see digital or traditional print.

And let’s not forget the cover. It has to be professional as well. Remember that old saying “don’t judge a book by its cover”?  Well, really, people do. Sorry, that’s life. The reality is if you don’t have a great cover you aren’t going to hook ‘em in the first place and they’re not going to read your truly fabulous story.

I suspect it’s always been true, but modern life has only exacerbated the problem. With all the distractions we have, work, cell phones, the net, video games, hardly any free time in between, you want to give your reader some eye candy to lure them in.

The take-away here is check and double-check. Everything. Twice.

Don’t let something stupid or blatantly obvious slip through the cracks. Don’t think, ‘if it’s there they’ll buy it,’ because they won’t.

And readers, I don’t blame you. I’m a writer in addition to being a reader and I understand. We can all forgive an occasional typo or maybe a left-out close quotes, but if it’s peppered throughout the book it becomes unforgivable.

Writers, I understand your pain as well. There are a whole lot of platforms to publish with out there, Amazon, Smashwords, Create Space and others and every one has a format that claims “It HAS to be exactly my way”. There’s a lot to dead with but that’s exactly why you have to be on your toes and get it right. It’s much too easy to get it wrong.

So get your work out there, but get it right. Thrill your readers and boost your books. And proudly do the work all Indies can also take pride in.

Go ahead, tell us about your good and bad reading and writing adventures in Indie world. Let’s see what’s right and what needs to be fixed.

Writers and Readers Websites Wednesday - Epic Reads

Okay, so this site, Epic Reads, is designed to promote Harper Collins' Young Adult titles and it isn't aimed at improving your writing on any level, but it truly is a fun site. The videos are well worth watching, amusing and will touch a chord with any book lover.Then there's the blog and of course the books.You can join and get newsletters if you want, or just bop in any time and check out what's new.

So jump on in and explore. Entertaining and fun is always good, right?

 

The Future of Reading - for Writers and Readers

With all the changes we’ve seen recently we may well ask what will the reading of the future be like?

Who knows? I sure don’t. But, I’m an experimenter. I got one of those first clunky EReaders a few years back before Amazon and Barnes & Noble and Apple’s iPads  and wide spread PDFs.  Now I have a Kindle HDX 8.9.  Who knew?

Books are great, don’t get me wrong. I still love paper books and I don’t care if there are claims of a ‘war on paper books’.  Personally I think they’ll be around forever in one form or another even if they become ‘collectibles’.

I mean I suspect a lot of writers are publishing their books not only to Ebook format but to print on demand as well. Let’s face it, you can’t put your Ebooks on the shelf. And, for many writers it’s an inspiration to see those books on the shelf. I know I enjoy glancing across my study and seeing the line of books I’ve written and had published traditionally or self, marching across the book shelf in orderly fashion.

There are lots of readers who feel the same way and not just the ‘old fogies’ from years gone by who won’t let go of the ‘old way’.  There are simply many people who enjoy holding that book in their hands and turning the pages, maybe with feet up in front of a fire or just curled up in a chair our out on the beach.

On the other hand think about how much of the reading you do you now do online or on a tablet or even on your phone. Business, articles, magazines and yes, more and more fiction.  E-reading has joined the mainstream.

Heck, think of the convenience of Ebooks. If you travel you can pack up literally dozens of books for your pleasure or business in one small reader you can tuck in your carry-on.  On top of that Ebooks are generally less expensive than paper books (though with some super popular authors you could debate that). Don’t forget the ‘instant gratification’ of the download. You don’t have to order the book and wait for it, it simply appears on your reader after purchase.

There’s also the fact that Ebooks now have all sorts of bells and whistles. You can adjust the size of text. The reader is lit softly so you can read easily in low light. Many, like the Kindle, can also download a music library so you can listen to your favorite music (probably with headphones) while you read your favorite author.

Come on, really, how can the even most die-hard paper book proponent deny the convenience and say no to e-readers?

Not only all that, but I can see the potential where all of this could lead to people reading more and that would be a great thing. How do I get that? Well, think about it. If you run around with your tablet or smart phone your reading material is always in your pocket or purse, plus access to much more. Bored? Read a bit. At a doctor’s appointment and he’s running late – read. Bored on a subway or bus? Read. And there are lots of promotional low cost and free books and articles, even magazines to supplement your favorites you would willingly pay premium for to keep your reading queue full up.

And if you’re a writer, what a boon. You can carry your phone or tablet, read at will and even surf the web for research or fun. You can make notes to yourself on the run and email them to yourself about future projects or writing ideas. Then you can go back to your reading.

So yep, there’s a revolution going on, but I see no reason why the ‘what has been’ won’t blend with ‘what is to come’, sort of like an oil slick swirling on top of water.

And yes, there are things to be better worked out such as with my Kindle – they really need to provide a better way of organizing the books we buy. Right now it’s sort of in on big virtual heap and you have to scroll through to find a particular book. You can do minimal organizing, but it really needs to be in such a way as to allow the consumer to separate fiction from non-fiction, biography from business – and even sub categories like type of fiction; western, romance, SciFi, whatever. My books are organized by category on my shelf. I want the ability to do the same with Ebooks.  C’mon Geeks let’s get this sorted out.

So, tell me how you feel about the book revolution – how you’re utilizing it, or not. Do you take a reader traveling or are you still toting paper books? Or do you use your phone, tablet, whatever just for games and communication? And check out the links below if you’re interested in where we’ve been and where we’re going.

Here’s What The Future of Reading LooksLike 

Reading In The Age of Amazon 

From Papyrus to Pixels 

Writers, Writing and Writer's Gifts For The Holidays

Okay, it’s that time of year – starting to think about what you can get your friends who write or who just spend a lot of time at a desk? I’m not going to beat around the bush with lots of filler and ‘words’ here, I’m going to use this blog to give you some ideas. I usually do this about once a year as we head into the holidays, and I cover some stuff that’s moderately expensive all the way down to free, so here goes. 

Got some cash you can part with? TheVaridesk is fantastic. It’s adjustable so the user can stand or sit easily, and its simple and quick to adjust, a pair of handles on the side and raise or lower.  I got one about a year ago and love it. Spend a lot more time standing and everything I hear points to that being the more healthy approach; a division between sitting and standing.

A new printer maybe? Just got the HPOfficeJet 8600 all in one myself. A Great machine for the money. 

Scriptwriting software for that special someone a possibility? I personally use Movie Magic Screenwriter 6 

If you’re kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel funds-wise yourself you can consider compiling a list of free apps and great websites that special person may not know about. For Example, there’s Adobe Story an online Scriptwriting App. The Writer can set up an account and away you go.  I’ll mention other freebies along the way here.

There are always the old stand-bys like pens, high-lighters, pencils, staplers, anything for the desk top and blank books of various descriptions. You can find those blank books online or locally, sometimes very reasonably or very expensively, depending. I put out a blank journal for writers called Weighty Words  A Quotable Writers and Artists Notebook. Slim and paperback = economical.

Amazon’s Kindles come in a variety of configurations and price range starting at $99 – link in and poke around 

You can get Word and on the freebie side there’s Open Office  It’s a totally free office suite. Mac or PC.

Or YWriter – free software for writers.

Then there are sites you can put on your ‘recommend’ list that are helpful for the Indie writer and self-publisher, a list you can compile with a bit of work and no $ outlay – here are just a few ideas:

J. A. Konrath – Newbie Guide To Publishing 

The Passive Voice - A Lawyer's Thoughts on Authors, Self-Publishing and Traditional Publishing  

Indies Unlimited – Site for Writing, Publishing and Marketing Books 

Don’t forget the Adobe Screenwriting App mentioned above.

The Book Designer – Practical Advice to Help Self-Publishers Build Better Books 

Jane Friedman – Helping Authors Flourish in the Digital Age 

There are lots more out there, websites offering first line story-starters, naming sites of all types, resource sites and a whole lot more. Amazing what you can unearth by doing some searches.

Maybe you’d like some links to Ebooks you can gift. Not necessarily on writing – or maybe on writing:

M Pax’s Backworlds – Sci Fi - starts with The Backworlds free beginning of the series. 

Also M Pax’s The Rifters - Sci Fi/Steampunk/Adventure - also free & beginning of another great series.

 

Or Lorna Suzuki’s Imago soon to be a motion picture and reasonably priced. 

 Romance? You could try a couple of mine:

Cloud Dancer – historic romance 

 

Dark Side of Love – contemporary romance

 

 Television Writing From the Inside Out by Larry Brody - this one’s on writing!

 

 Need books, software and more for that favorite writer – you can visit Writer’s Emporium – an Amazon store 

Whatever you do no doubt it’ll be appreciated whether you can afford a high ticket item or expend your own sweat to do some digging. Get in the spirit and give the gift with the personal touch – something you really thought about.