Using A Book To Market Your Blog

Many people start blogs to market books, but lately I've been hearing about it the other way round, using a book to market a blog.

Derek Haines writes about this in his latest blog post, Why Is This Book So Popular?

I continue to be astonished when I look at my book sales each month. There is one book that stands out, and it sits at the very bottom of my KDP bookshelf. I compiled Vandalism of Words a long time ago as little promotional idea for my blog. At around 200 pages it is a decent length collection of bits and pieces that had appeared on my blog over a number of years. Originally released in paperback, I then published it in ebook on both Kindle and Smashwords.

I offered it for free on Smashwords and then Amazon picked up the free price and matched it. So for the last two years or more, it has been free on both sites. Now without fail, this book is downloaded at least 600 times each month, and surprisingly, even sells a few paperback copies.

If you'd like to download Derek's book, here's a link to the Kindle store: Vandalism Of Words.

Happy reading!

Joe Konrath's Letter To The Department Of Justice

Joe Writes:

Dear Mr. Read,

I’m writing to you as the author of forty-six books--eight legacy published, two Amazon published (with three more on the way), and thirty-six self-published, all of which inform the views I express in this letter.

As you doubtless recognize from the mail you’re receiving, there is currently underway a letter-writing campaign coordinated by the Association of Authors’ Representatives, the Authors Guild, and other parts of the publishing establishment attempting to persuade you that the DOJ’s suit against five of the Big Six and Apple is without merit, and that the Agency model is, at best, good for everyone, at worst, harmless.

I’m writing to tell you that these organizations did not solicit the views of their members, that they in no way speak on behalf of all or even most of their members, and that (as I imagine is obvious) they are motivated not by what’s best for consumers, but by what they see as best for themselves.

I recognize that the heart of the DOJ’s suit is collusion, not high prices. But it’s clear that the legacy publishing industry’s strategy is to keep the prices of ebooks high so as not to cannibalize high-margin hardback sales. If the prices of legacy published books are kept artificially high it could be argued that my lower-priced self-published books are made more attractive by comparison, but I believe that a regime of higher-priced books is bad for the industry overall because it slows the growth of the global book market, which indeed hurts all sales. I also believe it’s obviously bad for consumers, especially lower-income consumers, who could buy more of the books they loved if those books weren’t priced so high.

When prices of media are high, they’re a barrier to entry. Many are avoiding buying an ereader because the ebooks they most want are $9.99 - $14.99. If prices came down, more Kindles (and Kobo readers and Nooks and Sony readers) would be sold. That widens the market, which leads to more ebook sales. This is good for authors, and for readers who can get more for their money.

Read the rest here: Joe's Letter to the DOJ

Go Joe!

I'd just woken up when I read Joe's post -- last night I stayed up late getting my short story A Night In The Country ready for publishing on Amazon -- but I hope I managed to write something marginally coherent in the comments.

Very well said Joe, but it was strange to see you write in a more subdued tone.

Anyway, I agree. One thing that has always irked me when folks complain about Walmart artificially lowering prices is that ... well, sometimes I think it's easy to lose sight of how cash poor some folks are, especially families. Getting something for 50 cents cheaper can make a difference.

Of course one doesn't need books in the same way one needs food, but -- and I hope this doesn't sound cliche -- books do feed the soul and, as I said, 50 cents (or less!) can make a dig difference.

Even though I think the Big-6 inflating the prices of books makes lower priced indie books more attractive, you're right. It hurts the book business and that hurts everyone. Writers, booksellers and especially readers.

In any case, wonderful letter Joe, thanks for sharing. :)

Of course now I'm looking at my comment about Walmart artificially lowering prices and thinking about all the mom and pop shops which went out of business because they couldn't compete against the big chain.

Is that what is happening with Amazon? Will the act of Amazon selling books for lower prices drive indie, or self-published, writers out of business?

No, I don't believe so. Amazon is the self-published writers' biggest business ally. That's true right now and I don't see why it would change in the foreseeable future. That said, Amazon isn't a friend to publishers who want to sell ebooks at inflated prices.

Some publishers complain that if they don't have the kind of monopoly control they need to do this, that they'll go out of business. Further, they say that if they go out of business that the world of publishing, the world of books, will be a poorer place and, ultimately, readers will suffer.

Personally, I don't buy it.

Yes, I do think that if publishers are prevented from fixing ebook prices artificially high, or if they are forced to give authors better ebook royalties (a topic for another post), that many of them will go out of business.

Let's say that's true. I believe that although some, perhaps many, publishers will fold that there will be many publishers who will survive and thrive. These publishers will be the new Big-X.

Publishing won't be dead, it'll just be different.

Further Reading:
17 More States Join The Class Action Suit Against Apple et al
The Fungibility of Books

"Joe Konrath's Letter To The Department Of Justice," copyright© 2012 by Karen Woodward.

How To Find The Right Freelance Editor For You

India Drummond recently shared her experience selecting a freelance editor. Her methodology makes so much sense that after I read her suggestions I thought: Of course! Why didn't that occur to me? All the truly good ideas are like that, they seem self-evident after the fact but a complete mystery beforehand.

India Drummond's Suggestions On How To Select An Editor

1. Ask everyone you know this question: Do you have an editor you can recommend?
I thought this was a stroke of genius. Rather than asking for editors to recommend themselves, ask other writers to recommend editors whose work they liked.

2. Narrow this list down to 12 people.
How? Go and look at the website of each prospective editor. They don't have one? Cross them off the list. Their website looks unprofessional? Cross them off the list.

3. Write a letter to each prospective editor.
In your letter let them know that:

a. This is a professional relationship you would like to enjoy for years to come.

b. Ask your prospective editor whether they are familiar with your genre (if you write genre fiction), and its conventions. For instance, if you write romance novels you don't want your editor to complain that the happily-ever-after ending was predictable!

c. Make sure your prospective editor is available to edit your book. Sometimes editors have a full plate and can't fit in new work in a certain time period.

d. Ask for references from their clients.

e. Make sure your prospective editor is comfortable with your style of writing. For instance, if she is American would she be comfortable with you using British spelling and conventions?

f. Make sure your prospective editor understands what services you would like from them. What one person means by "copyediting" another means by "proofreading" and vice versa. Also, if you would like your editor to indicate when they found a paragraph wordy or confusing, you need to make that clear up front so she or he can give you an accurate representation of her fees.

g. Ask your prospective editor to recommend another editor if they feel your work wouldn't be right for them.

h. Ask your prospective editor what form(s) of payment he would accept.

4. Based on the replies your prospective editors send you, narrow the list down further.

For instance, India eliminated any editors whose grammar wasn't up to snuff, who did not wish to provide references, who simply pointed her to their website, etc. She also rejected any who wouldn't accept PayPal. I thought it was very smart of her to address this detail. How frustrating it would be to finish the arduous process of picking an editor, have them edit your manuscript and then find out she doesn't accept your preferred method of payment! I wouldn't have thought of this, so thanks India.

5. Check references.
Write to the authors your perspective editor gave you and ask them:

* What did you like most and least about working with her? (Gives them an opening to give something other than glowing praise)
* Does she communicate clearly about issues in your manuscript? (Very important!)
* How does she handle follow-up questions?
* Do you generally use all her recommendations, or do you take some and leave some?
* Would you say her main strength is flow, structure, pacing, grammar/technical, spotting errors…or something else? (This allowed me to find out if the type of editing I needed was the same type this person had received.)
* Is it easy to book a project with her, or do you find you’re having to be squeezed in around a busy schedule?
* What do you receive on a full-length manuscript? A report? A document with tracked changes, etc? If a report, how long/detailed is it?
* Do you recommend her and plan to use her again?
- Hiring a Freelance Editor

6. Ask your prospective editors for a sample of their skills
Each of India's three prospective editors agreed to edit the first chapter of her next book. She writes:

Honestly, I expected them all to come back with virtually the same results. After all, a mistake is a mistake, isn’t it?

Well, no, it isn’t. Editing is incredibly subjective.

I was truly surprised at the difference in the marked-up manuscripts I got back, but so glad I went to the trouble of doing this. As I said, all of the editors were qualified, but comparing these was very useful in making my final decision.

Wow! India went to a LOT of work, but I bet it paid off. After all, a writer's relationship with her editor is, arguably, her most important professional relationship.

By the way, Susan Helene Gottfried is India Drummond's new editor.

Thanks to The Book Designer for his May 2012 issue of The Carnival of the Indies for leading me to India's marvelous article. Cheers!

To read India Drummond's complete article (something I highly recommend!) go here: Hiring a Freelance Editor

How Many Books A Year Should I Write?

Author Elizabeth S. Craig talks about how many books a year she writes (3 or 4), why she writes at that pace, and what her schedule is like.

I just don’t think we can make a living off a book a year if we’re midlist authors. (Actually…I know we can’t. Unless your book deals are a whole lot better than mine are.)

Elizabeth's article is fascinating on its own, but especially when read in the light of what Kris Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith have been saying for years, that in order to make a living as a writer one needs to write more than one book a year, a lot more. But, practically, what's that like?

I wanted to let you know that writing several books a year doesn’t take that long. As I mentioned in this post, if you can write 3 1/2 pages a day, you can write three or four books a year. Even if it takes you a long time, thoughtfully considering each word and making each word resonate with meaning, you can probably manage a least two if you stay focused during your writing time.

Good to know!

So what’s it like to write that many books a year? I can let you know what it’s like for me. This is the first time I’ve really analyzed it, so it’s interesting to break it all down (for the record, since the start of 2012, I’ve written one full book and I’m now passing the halfway mark of the second. I do edit quickly and I do have either my publisher’s editors or freelance editors go over my work after I edit it.)

Elizabeth even gives us a list of pros and cons:

Good things
*You write every day and you don’t lose any story continuity.

*You don’t forget or stumble with your character’s individual voices.

*You think about your story more during the day. Plot ideas, small scenes, even just words occur to you during the day in reference to the story.

*You don’t ever get bored with what you’re writing.

*You just jump right into the story every single day. No wondering where you left off. No feeling like you’ve lost the story thread.

*Frequently you’ll get story ideas for the next book in the series while writing the book.

*Readers don’t have to wait very long between books.

*Obviously, your income is higher.

For her lists of not so good things and downright lousy things, read the rest of her article, here: What Happens After Writing 3 or 4 Books a Year

Related reading:
The Business Rusch: The “Brutal” 2000-Word Day

Ann Rice on Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Series

Thanks to Passive Guy for posting about this.

Marigny: The Making Of My First Audiobook

Gerard de Marigny writes:

... I went to ACX and followed their simple directions. Within a few hours I had posted my first two novels to the exchange. Next, I had to be approved - probably just a authenticity check performed by the ACX team, but I was still excited to be accepted. I began receiving auditions from some wonderfully talented actors and production companies.

Yet, I had my heart set on one particular actor - Elijah Alexander. I contacted the production company that Elijah used for previous audiobooks he narrated, but they weren't interested in royalty-share deals. Then, in a MOST BLESSED act of kindness and support for a neo-pro writer like me - Amazon/ACX offered a stipend for the production of my audiobooks! What that means is - on top of my royalty-share deal with the narrator/production company of my choice, Amazon was willing to PAY a stipend to the narrator/producer as an incentive to get the audiobooks made! Amazon/ACX wrote to me that, because they felt my novels would be popular in audiobook form, they were willing to pay for their production.

That act may have only been a business decision on the part of Amazon but from my prospective, it was a great blessing! I'll tell you this - I have n-e-v-e-r seen or dealt with a better (super-mega-enormous-big-successful) company than Amazon, especially when it comes to partnering with small entities, like my little indie publishing house.

The stipend allowed me to contact Elijah and offer him a direct r-s deal. The stipend allowed him to record it outside of the big production house he normally utilized. The end result ... just over a month later, my first audiobook has been published! And the audiobook edition for the 2nd novel in the series (CRIS DE NIRO, Book 2 - SIGNS OF WAR) will be released in a few weeks.

So without further ado - the audiobook edition of (CRIS DE NIRO, Book 1) THE WATCHMAN OF EPHRAIM is available at Amazon here. Narrated by the fantastic actor, Elijah Alexander - it's an awesome 9 hours of action thriller entertainment. Please check it out and spread the word about it.

... And hey, thank you all for being a part of the greatest community of talented artists in the world - the Indie Publishing community. Whether you create or support, I'm humbled to be part of the family.

Read the rest here: Journey to my 1st Audiobook, THE WATCHMAN OF EPHRAIM!

Wow! I'm sure Amazon's act of kindness was motivated by business considerations but, still! Time and again Amazon has made decisions that have helped indies earn a living.

As readers of this blog know, I've flirted with the idea of creating an audiobook. I think it would be amazing to be able to listen to Until Death as a series of audio files but, for me, the hurdle to clear is to find a narrator with a voice that works for my protagonist, getting her to agree to undertake the project (always a plus!) and arranging appropriate payment. After reading what Neil Gaiman had to say about ACX I'm seriously considering going that route.

Neil Gaiman's words of advice to authors:

[I]f you are an author, Get Involved in Your Audiobooks Early. Get your agent involved and interested. Talk about them at contract stage. Find out if you're selling the rights, and if you are selling them then find out what control you have or whether you are going to be consulted or not about who the narrator is and how the audiobook is done.

Also, make sure that your publisher has worked out a way to give you free copies (obvious if it's out on CD, much less so if you're on download-only platform).

If you're an agent, notice that we are not living a decade ago, when audiobooks were expensive bells and whistles that meant very little, that normally wouldn't be done for anything outside of major bestsellers, when abridgments were often the order of the day: we're entering a golden age, in which there is no reason that any book shouldn't be available in professionally produced audio. Unless you know that the audio rights are going to be used and used well, keep them for your author. And if they are being sold with the book, then guard your author, and make sure that she or he gets rights of approval.

I love, am thrilled with, and am getting a huge kick out of the ACX way of doing it, where authors (or rightsholders), producers and voice talent sign up and get together and make audiobooks that Audible put up. It's there for you if you're an author, an agent, a publisher with lots of rights you don't know how to exploit, a director/producer/studio engineer, or an actor, and interested. (Right now, it's US only, but they are working on that.) (Find out more at http://www.acx.com/) (End of plug.)

But this isn't an ad for ACX, either. Honestly, you can do it on your own, if you want: Find a narrator or a studio; you can release it through the web; you can give it away as a promotional item, or because you can. Or you can make sure that if your publisher is putting out an audiobook that you have a say in it, and it's the book you want it to be.

Because otherwise it might be you writing to friends telling them not to listen to the audiobook of your book. And that would be a terrible thing indeed.

Read the rest here: Audiobooks: A Cautionary Tale

I won't quote from it, but here's a great article about Neil Gaiman over at Salon: Neil Gaiman’s audiobook record label.

I think sometimes the best advice is to stop thinking about doing something and just do it. Whatever you decide, best of luck!

Related reading:
How to record an audiobook at home
Milton Bagby talks about recording an audiobook
Auxiliary Rights: To Keep or Not To Keep?

"Marigny: The Making Of My First Audiobook," copyright© 2012 by Karen Woodward.

A must read: 12 Most Quirky Commencement Quotes

In the middle of writing I decided to check my email -- never do that, by the way, it greatly reduces ones productivity -- and came across one of the funniest posts I've read in a long time: 12 Most Quirky Commencement Quotes.

Here's my favorite:

3. Stephen Colbert to his alma mater Northwestern University in June 2011

In 1986, our commencement speaker was “George Schultz,” secretary of state, fourth in line to the president. You get me — basic cable’s second most popular fake newsman. At this rate, the class of 2021 will be addressed by a zoo parrot in a mortar-board that has been trained to say “congratulations.”

Read the rest of the article here: 12 Most Quirky Commencement Quotes.

Writer Beware: Undead Press & Editing Clauses

Edited: June 23, 2021:

Hi, I just received this comment:

"Hey, it seems that actually refers to something about our domain name from 2012.. Way before we bought this domain name, that is not related to us in any way. We bought the domain a few months back. Somehow this ended up as a comment about our site on Facebook now."

I don't want to remove this post because I think history is important. However, (and I haven't researched the claim being made) I see no reason not to believe that the domain name has been sold. Please do keep this in mind when deciding whether to submit your work to Undead Press. And, please, ALWAYS read the terms of service of any publishing company before you submit your work to them.  Here is a link to the Terms and Conditions of Undead Press.

Here is the original post: 

Imagine getting your work accepted for publication, waiting on pins and needles for your copy of the work to arrive, ripping open the package, and finding it had been substantially altered without your permission. Mandy DeGeit sent her short story to Undead Press, it was accepted, but on publication not only was her title misspelled but her story had been substantially altered. She writes:

Let’s see: They turned a non-gendered character into a boy, they named the best friend, they created a memory for the main character about animal abuse. They added a suggestion of rape at the end… I feel like they ruined the suspense in the story.
- When publishing goes wrong…Starring Undead Press

After bringing this to the publisher's attention (Anthony Giangregorio) this is what he had to say:

wow, i truly cant believe that e,mail. you go girl. this one one hell of a story about dealing with unstable writers
lets see.
on the contract, it clearly says publisher has the right to EDIT work. you signed it. are you saying you are a dishonest and immoral person and will now try to deny you signed the contract? well i have a copy right here and as for the story. the editor had a hard time with it, it was very rough and he did alot to make it readable. despite what you think, your writing has a long way to go before its worthy of being printed professionally. we did what we had to do to make the story printable. you should be thankful, not complaining. ah, the ungrateful writer, gotta love it the contract also says any disagreements you have about the contract must be filed legally in Massachusetts and when you lose, you must pay all court costs. so, we are done here. any more correspondences from you must be from your lawyer. i will then send any of those letters to my lawyer and they can hash it out as i dont waste my time arguing with writers over legalities. thats what lawyers are for. you are so funny. thanks for this email, it truly made my day.
- When publishing goes wrong…Starring Undead Press

I don't know where to begin, this reply lacks any sort of professionalism, any sort of respect for the writer. But that isn't the worst of it. This is from the folks over at Writer Beware:

Ms. DeGeit's bad experience with Mr. Giangregorio, unfortunately, doesn't seem to be an isolated incident. Similar complaints are appearing in her comments thread, and other writers have reported the same kinds of problems with Undead Press and other publishing ventures run by Giangregorio--who, among other exploits, has apparently published and sold several unauthorized sequels to George Romero's Dawn of the Dead.
- Editing Clauses in Publishing Contracts: How to Protect Yourself

PG, from The Passive Voice Blog, is a contract lawyer who specializes in contracts between writers and publishers. Here's what he has to say:

PG will add one more piece of general advice concerning all types of agreements: Don’t do deals with crooks or jerks.

Even with the best contract in the world, if the people on the other side of the agreement are crooks or jerks, you’re going to have a difficult time. On more than one occasion, PG has told a client something like, “With some work, I can probably get your contract whipped into shape, but this guy is still going to drive you crazy and figure out some way to steal from you.”

PG has read enough contracts so he sometimes picks up hints of jerkiness in the way the contracts are worded or assembled.

He can think of one contract from a romance publisher that included all sorts of short clauses about minor items he doesn’t usually see in publishing contracts. The net impression for PG was that the owner of the publisher was a control freak who was going to tell the author exactly how every little thing would be and expected no back talk. The answer to any question or objection by the author would be, “I’m the publisher and you’re not.”
- Editing Clauses in Publishing Contracts

I think that Kris Rusch's advice about reading a contract line by line is terrific. Keeping in mind, of course, that taking someone to court can be an expensive and time consuming ordeal even if you know the other party clearly broke the contract and you're sure to win.


Further reading:
- Unconscionability


"Writer Beware: Undead Press & Editing Clauses," copyright© 2012 by Karen Woodward.

Nathan Bransford On Self Publishing

Nathan Bransford writes:

There is no "us" vs. "them." Traditional vs. self-publishing is a false dichotomy. It's an illusion created by people who either have let their frustrations get the best of them or are trying to sell you something. We're all writers trying to figure out the best way to get our books to readers. We're all on the same team.

No, the traditional publishing industry is not a hive of retrograde monsters out to steal and eat your newborn children. No, self-publishing is not a gang of unwashed crap artists trying to poison the literary well forever.

Publishing is a spectrum of choice, from traditional publishers who pay you, will handle most things for you and assume all risk in exchange for certain rights to your book, to self-publishing where you handle everything yourself, pay your own way, and adopt your own risk. And there's a whole lot more choice in between those two poles.

What's the right way? There is no right way.

Read the rest of Mr. Bransford's post here: Traditional vs. Self-publishing is a False Dichotomy

I woke this morning, rubbed the sleep from my eyes, and trundled over to Dean Wesley Smith's blog where he raved about the fantastic post former agent Nathan Bransford wrote (Holy Smokes, Batman. I Agree With Nathan Bransford). And (as always!) he was right, it was a fantastic post.

In the past couple of months the flood gates have burst and record numbers of traditionally published writers have self-published their work. We're also seeing indie authors, even wildly successful indie authors, choosing NOT to go with one of the Big-6 publishers.

For instance, Hugh Howey, author of the runaway bestseller Wool, chose to continue to self-publish in the US and only sold Random House UK his overseas writes. Howey writes:

Now, this is still new enough to me to leave me in a daze simply from typing the words, but it gets even better: The same book--self-published, mind you--has been picked up by Random House in the UK for a major hardback release. And while domestic publishers have made offers that would have had me swooning mere months ago, I have chosen to remain independent here in the States.

I currently enjoy the best of both worlds: The ability to write what I want and enjoy the generous royalties inherent with self-publishing domestically, while also working with a major publisher overseas to hone my craft and produce the best physical books possible. Because of this avalanche of good news, I've been blessed by IndieReader to come here today and thank you all for turning what once was a fanciful dream into a mind-numbing reality. Yeah, I'm thanking you.

Hopefully Hugh Howey's success is only the tip of a very large iceberg.

Related articles:
- Hugh Howey Writes About The Phenomenal Success Of Wool


"Nathan Bransford On Self Publishing," copyright© 2012 by Karen Woodward.

Difficult Directors

Werner Herzog

I'm doing research for a short story. One of my characters is a persnickety director and since I know little to nothing about directors, persnickety or otherwise, I googled "difficult directors" and came across this article: Top 10 Craziest Directors. It's quite entertaining.

For instance, did you know that Akira Kurosawa, one of the most influential artists of the 20th century (Seven Samurai, Rashomon, Ikiru, The Hidden Fortress),

... was known as a stern taskmaster and a devoted perfectionist. His nickname was “Tenno,” which is Japanese for “Emperor,” reflecting his dictatorial control and command over his projects. There are many stories about the lengths that Kurosawa would go to in order to get the perfect shot. For a scene in Rashomon where there was a great rainstorm, he had water mixed with ink sprayed from fire trucks onto the set so that it would show up on the camera lenses. In Throne of Blood (1957), a Japanese retelling of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Kurosawa didn’t use fake arrows when the main character is executed by a firing squad of archers. He literally had professional archers fire at the main character as he ran around trying to dodge them. At any moment he could have easily been killed [emphasis mine].

Really!!?? Firing real arrows at actors during a scene to increase authenticity. The insurance company must have had kittens, not to mention the actors.

Oh, and here's a tidbit about Orson Welles and Citizen Kane:

[H]e [William Randolph Hearst] almost succeeded in completely suppressing the film [Citizen Kane]. It is said that if it wasn’t for Hearst, Citizen Kane probably would have won all eight of its Academy Award nominations, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor. Instead, Hearst’s opposition was successful enough that it basically established Welles as an enfant terrible, making it almost impossible for him to get his films financed within the United States.

In any case, Top 10 Craziest Directors, is definitely educational and entertaining. 

Okay, enough procrastinating, back to it. #amwriting

Cheers.

Photo credit: Top 10 Craziest Directors