Ian McEwan Believes The Novella Is The Perfect Form Of Prose Fiction

The Novella Is The Perfect Form Of Prose Fiction

Ian McEwan recently wrote a piece for The New Yorker entitled Some Notes On The Novella in which he eloquently and passionately argues that the "novella is the perfect form of prose fiction".

Some might find this surprising. As McEwan himself notes, many view the novella as something lesser. He writes:

When a character in my recent book, “Sweet Tooth,” publishes his short first work of fiction, he finds some critics are suggesting that he has done something unmanly or dishonest. His experience reflects my own. A novella? Perhaps you don’t have the necessary creative juice.

To counter this, McEwan points out that the tradition of writing novellas is "long and glorious" and points to the work of writers such as Thomas Mann, Henry James, Kafka, Joseph Conrad, Albert Camus, Voltaire, Tolstoy, Joyce, Solzhenitsyn, Orwell, Steinbeck and Melville, only to name a few.

Novella's "don’t ramble or preach, they spare us their quintuple subplots and swollen midsections"

What is it about the novella that makes it the perfect form of prose fiction rather than the novel? McEwan writes:

[T]he demands of economy push writers to polish their sentences to precision and clarity, to bring off their effects with unusual intensity, to remain focussed on the point of their creation and drive it forward with functional single-mindedness, and to end it with a mind to its unity. They don’t ramble or preach, they spare us their quintuple subplots and swollen midsections. 

Swollen midsections, indeed. I'm reminded of Jim Butcher's instruction about how to survive what he calls The Great Swampy Middle (I picture it as something like the Fire Swamp in The Princess Bride, the home of the ROUSes--Rodents Of Unusual Size. But I digress.)

Be masters of the form, not slaves to the giant

True, this November we're writing 50,000 words and McEwan defines a novella as being between 20,000 and 40,000 words. Still, McEwan's characterization of the novella is one we're all familiar with--in fact I don't think I've seen a better description of what most writers are trying to do when they craft a story. Certainly I've never read one more concise or eloquent. He continues:

I suspect that many novelists clock up sixty thousand words after a year’s work and believe (wearily, perhaps) that they are only half way there. They are slaves to the giant, instead of masters of the form.

Been there, done that. (When I was reading McEwan's column I actually sprang up from my chair at this point and yelled, "Yes!" ... Or at least I felt like doing it. ;)

McEwan goes on to compare the novella to watching a play or movie and remarks that:

[T]here’s a strong resemblance between the screenplay (twenty odd thousand words) and the novella, both operating within the same useful constraints of economy—space for a subplot (two at a stretch), characters to be established with quick strokes but allowed enough room to live and breathe, and the central idea, even if it is just below the horizon, always exerting its gravitational pull. The analogy with film or theatre is a reminder that there is an element of performance in the novella. We are more strongly aware of the curtain and the stage, of the author as illusionist. The smoke and mirrors, rabbits and hats are more self-consciously applied than in the full-length novel. The novella is the modern and post-modern form par excellence. 

NaNoWriMo and the novella

Perhaps, as we go through NaNoWriMo this November, we should think of ourselves as writing, not novels, but slightly overextended novellas and take McEwan's advice to heart. Rather than aspire to turn our masterpieces into a "rambling, bloated ill-shaven giant", after NaNoWriMo is completed, strip off 10,000 (or so) words and attempt the creation of what could be "the perfect form of prose fiction".

Everyone's gotta have a goal. Right? ;)

Best of luck to my fellow NaNo-ers! Right now my manuscript is at about 2,200 words, I'm hoping to add at least another 2,000 tonight.

Other articles you might like:
- Jim Butcher On Writing
- Making A Scene: Using Conflicts And Setbacks To Create Narrative Drive
- Dialogue: 7 Ways of Adding Variety

Photo credit: "a walk in to the woods" by VinothChandar under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

How To Write 10,000 Words A Day

Yes, that's right, 10,000 words a day. It's not a typo.

Google+ is terrific! For the past few weeks I've been busy meeting a gaggle of fellow flagellants writers planning on going through NaNoWriMo this year.

One of these wonderful people, Joanie Raisovich, posted a link to Rachel Aaron's article How I Went From Writing 2,000 Words a Day to 10,000 Words a Day. Of course I had to go look!

How To Write 10,000 Words A Day

I was skeptical. 10,000 words a day. Really? But I read Rachel's article and her method made sense.

I don't want to spell Rachel's method out in great and gory detail--she does that in her wonderful article--but I don't think she would mind if I touched on two things I believe are at the heart of it's success: creating a detailed outline (I call it a 'micro outline') & turning the scientific method loose on yourself.

1. The Secret To Writing 10,000 Words A Day: Create A Micro Outline

In the following when I talk about an outline I don't mean the traditional kind of outline (Mary Robinette Kowal and The Mysteries of Outlining). By all means, have that too, but don't stop there.

Let me give you an example. In one of the first scenes of my NaNoWriMo story a little girl climbs into the tiger enclosure at a game preserve. My heroine, Robyn the park administrator, not only needs to save the little girl from the normally placid tiger (Shadow), but needs to save Shadow--the game preserve's most popular attraction--from being killed.

An ordinary outline of the scene might read like this:

- Robyn enters park
- Food missing
- Girl in enclosure
- No tranquilizer gun
- Hank going to shoot tiger
- Robyn steps into tiger cage

That's the first chapter. The incident is resolved in the next chapter.

Here's what I'm calling a Micro Outline. We take the ordinary outline and break it down further.

- Robyn (heroine) arrives at her office in the game reserve. Setup character.

- Jane, head trainer, tells Robyn all the food for the animals has been stolen. Describe how dangerous this will make the large cats. Start to develop the character of Shadow, the golden tiger. There's something different about this tiger. He seems almost ... human.

- Robyn sees a crowd gather around Shadow's enclosure and knows something is wrong. Receives call from Jane. Robyn runs to enclosure.

- Robyn told young girl is in cage with Shadow and that the tranquilizer gun is missing.

- Child's parents are hysterical, police have been called.

- Hank, a park worker who was a sniper in the military, is set up with a rifle and told to kill Shadow if it looks like he's going to attack the child.

- Jane tells Rod to bring over the tranquilizer gun from the elephant enclosure but it'll be at least 5 minutes before it arrives.

- Robyn doesn't want Shadow killed. She doesn't believe Shadow would ever hurt a child but she can't take chances with her life.

- Shadow moves and Robyn sees Hank make the decision to kill Shadow.

- Robyn enters the tiger's cage and places her body between Shadow and the little girl as well as between Shadow and Hank's bullet.

I suppose I could just have called the above a detailed outline, but generally I don't write even detailed outlines with this depth of description.

The Point: Writing A Micro Outline Eliminates Surprises

When I read the two outlines, the traditional outline and the micro outline, I get much more of a sense of the scene from the micro outline. It also lets me work out timing problems and helps me decide where I need to insert tidbits of backstory.

For instance, when Jane and Robyn are discussing the stolen food I can include something about the most famous occupant of the preserve, Shadow the rare golden tiger, and how if the game preserve ever lost him they'd have to close their doors. The reader also needs to sympathize with Shadow, they need to know he's not an ordinary tiger and that this factors in Robyn's decision to risk her life for his.

Anyway! Getting back to the point of this post. (grin) You see what I mean about a micro outline. You're basically stepping through the scene talking in some detail about what is going to happen, but you haven't done any of the writing yet. When you DO get down to writing, it's all there, on paper and (much more importantly!) in your mind. You know what you want to write.

Once again: I think the key to success here is that in mapping out your story at this level of detail you now hold pretty much the completed scene in your mind so, when you sit down to write, the guessing, and the writer's block, is gone. You know what happens in the scene, all you have to do is write the darn thing! :)

2. Know Thyself: Use The Scientific Method To Make You A More Productive Writer

The second great thing Rachel Aaron discussed, and like all Great Things when I mention this to you you'll roll your eyes and say, "Well, that's just common sense!" But, honestly, have you ever done it? I haven't!

Here's what I'm talking about: Rachel thought she worked best in the morning, then she started keeping track of: 

a) the time she started writing,
b) the time she stopped writing,
c) her word count,
d) where she was writing.

Rachel collected this information for a while and discovered, among other things, that she wrote most in the afternoon. Huh! This allowed Rachel to hire a sitter for the afternoons--the time she knew she was most productive--and go write in the place she knew she was the most productive--a coffee shop with no wifi. She also found that she wrote more words per hour when she wrote for over 5 hours (and less than 7) than when she just wrote for an hour or two.

Good to know! Of course Rachel stresses that what works for her may not work for anyone else. Her point is that we each need to find what works for us.

It really is incredible how often great innovation is driven by great need. I think Rachel's system is brilliant and am, today, going to begin keeping track of my writing sessions.

Once again, Rachel Aaron's article is called How I Went From Writing 2,000 Words a Day to 10,000 Words a Day. She has also written a book, 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love, currently available in the Kindle Store for 99 cents.

#  #  #

What is the most you've written in one day? I think my top word count is around 6,000 words. Of course I was slightly batty by the end of it and didn't continue at that rate. I think Rachel's article came at just the right time for all of us! :-)

Other articles you might like:
- World Building & Story Creation: Use What You Know
- Does Amazon KDP Select Drive Away True Fans?
- NaNoWriMo: A Survival Guide
- SEO Tips & Tricks: How To Make Google Love Your Blog

Photo credit: "Atlas, it's time for your bath" by woodleywonderworks under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

World Building & Story Creation: Use What You Know

1. Pattern your created world on this one

Don't try to re-invent the wheel. Re-purpose as much of this world as you can when you create your new one.

An example is Frank Herbert's invention of the Bene Gesserit. It has been a long time since I last re-read Dune, but I always thought Herbert may have modeled the sisterhoood loosely on the Catholic Church, but instead of only men being allowed to be priests, in the sisterhood only women are allowed to be reverend mother's.

Naturally the differences between the priesthood and the sisterhood are many and profound, but the similarities between the two are as defining as the differences.

2. Pattern your created world on an existing mythology

I was introduced to Greek Mythology in grade four and instantly fell in love. Use what you know.

Zeus (though you probably wouldn't call your character that!) could be a powerful, controlling, licentious CEO of an international corporation married to an incredibly strong, jealous, powerful and spiteful woman. As you can see from the description, many writers have mined the rich stories the ancient Greeks gifted to us.

Story Creation and Orson Scott Card's MICE Quotient

Just because you create the world in which the events of your story will take place, this doesn't mean the world itself will be the focus on your story. In MICE terminology, it doesn't mean you'll write a Milieu Story. That said, having created this marvelous place, not to mention the people who inhabit it, chances are the world, it's quirks, how it differs from our culture, our societies, will be an integral part of your story.

Like Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, you will have subplots involving Idea Stories (Is the King under a spell? How can we break it?), or Character Stories (A girl doesn't want to live the life her father planned for her, instead she desires to wed the man of her dreams--and her father's nightmares), or Event Stories (some guy who lost a ring wants to take over the world. Again.). Or perhaps some combination of all three!

Despite these subplots, though, your main focus will likely be the milieu in which the events occur, it will be the workings of the world itself. Typically, your story will begin when your main character enters the alien world and will end when they leave it.

#  #  #

This post was inspired by Lori Devoti's excellent article A No Stress Guide To World Building. Thanks to Elizabeth Spann Craig (website + blog) for tweeting a link to Lori's article.

Have you ever written a Milieu Story? How did you come up with the characteristics of your new world?

Other articles you might like:
- NaNoWriMo: A Survival Guide
- SEO Tips & Tricks: How To Make Google Love Your Blog
- Making A Scene: Using Conflicts And Setbacks To Create Narrative Drive

Photo credit: "Tagged!" by JD Hancock under CC BY 2.0

Does Amazon KDP Select Drive Away True Fans?

"Turn into something Beautiful" by Courtney Carmody under CC BY 2.0

For a while now Kris Rusch, among others, has been saying exclusivity is a bad thing. I never doubted Kris had a good reason for her opinion but, honestly, I had a hard time agreeing with her and felt there must be something, some aspect of her argument, I was missing. (See: Amazon's KDP Select: The Best Long-Term Strategy?)

There was. In her latest business column, Kris ties her opposition of exclusivity--for instance, Amazon's KDP Select program--in with the notion of 1,000 true fans. Now I understand. And, you know what? It makes sense.

Exclusivity Alienates True Fans

Here's Kris' argument (as I understand it) in a nutshell:

Exclusivity alienates true fans.

What is a true fan?

Kevin Kelly, in his famous post 1,000 True Fans, writes:

The gist of 1,000 True Fans can be stated simply:

A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author - in other words, anyone producing works of art - needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.

A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can't wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.

Exclusivity is to true fans what Kryptonite was to Superman

Kris' point is that restricting your readers accessibility to your books will cost you a lot more than sales, it will cost you true fans.

In order to acquire true fans you need to show them you care about them. Having your books only available through certain outlets, outlets they may be cut off from, is NOT a good way of showing your readers--and your potential readers--you care about them.

Kris writes:

Yes, there is occasionally a marketing reason to be exclusive for a month or two. But only for a month or two and only for one project.

Because to do otherwise pisses off readers. Readers don’t avoid a writer because they get angry at the writer. Readers have short attention spans. If a friend recommends a book at midnight, and a reader can’t find that book online or in her favorite bookstore, the reader might not remember the name of the author or the name of the book a week later.

The sale is lost.

And not just a sale. A potential true fan. Kris continues:

As someone who has fought for more than twenty years to get her books to as  many readers as possible, I find it sad to watch newer writers limit their sales from the get-go. These writers are doing to themselves what I railed at my publishers for doing to me against my wishes and those of my fans.

If you’re thinking about short-term numbers, if you’re thinking about reviews and marketing and “online presence,” then you’re thinking the way that traditional publishers do. And traditional publishers have never been reader friendly. ....

Why follow a model that alienates your fan base when you’re trying to grow your writing business? It makes no sense to me.

Of course, new writers haven’t had the sad task of writing back to fans who can’t find books ...

Kris' article (The Business Rusch: No Reader Left Behind) is a must-read for anyone considering whether to enroll their books in Amazon KDP Select--or any other program that restricts an authors ability to sell his or her books in other markets.

What do you think? Are you convinced that exclusivity is inimical to attracting true fans?

Other articles you might like:
- NaNoWriMo: A Survival Guide
- How To Get Honest Book Reviews
- How To Record Your Own Audiobook: Setting Up A Home Studio

The 10 Best Halloween Films

"Pumpkin carving" by Kennymatic under CC BY 2.0

Okay, maybe not the 10 best films, just 10 of my personal favorites. :-)

Tomorrow NaNoWriMo begins and free time will be a fond memory. I propose we take a break tonight. Feed the trick-or-treating monsters then go to a Halloween party or settle in for your own film festival.

1) Fright Night (1985)

I saw Fright Night on TV when I was a kid and fell in love with the idea of vampires. I must have watched that movie 20 times. (Kids can be a little obsessive.)

2) Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

The only thing I didn't like about this movie was that Dracula dies at the end. I would have had Mina transform and the two of them live happily ever after. Literally!

Gary Oldman gives, as always, a great, eminently memorable, performance.

3) Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)

I LOVED this book. The movie wasn't bad, but there's no way anyone could do justice to Ray Bradburry's book. That book swallowed me whole and changed the way I experienced Fall. He made it magical.

4) Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Awesome movie and awesomely creepy. (Yes, I know, like Dean Winchester, I overuse that word!) I need to watch this movie again. Soon.

5) Army of Darkness (1992)

Complete cult hit. I love horror with a little (or a lot) of humor.

6) Tucker and Dale versus Evil (2010)

Originally this list was going to be of my 5 favorite movies, then I realized I hadn't mentioned Tucker and Dale versus Evil so the list became my 10 favorite movies. :p If you haven't seen this movie, I urge you to. It's hilarious. Especially the first half.

7) The Cabin In The Woods (2011)

I can't believe I waited until a few months ago to see this film. If you haven't seen it GO WATCH IT NOW! Especially if you like Joss Whedon's work. Harkens back to hemes in Buffy and especially Angel.

8) Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

John Carpenter directed Big Trouble in Little China and, if I remember correctly, it was his last big-budget film. Roger Ebert did not like this movie, but it stands out for me as one of the most entertaining two hours I ever spent. (Well, more than two, since I've re-watched it many times over the years.)

9) Scream (1996)

A modern--or maybe not so modern--classic. It takes a tongue-in-cheek attitude toward its subject matter while still scaring the bejeebers out of you. Well, okay, out of me.

10) The Amityville Horror (1979)

There are so many movies I wanted to list but I have to mention the very first horror story I ever ... well I didn't read it. In grade 4 my teacher read The Amityville Horror to my class before lunch.

It was great!

Of course I never told my parents, they would have been appauld.

I'm not saying it was the best story or the best movie, but it as a special place in my heart because it was my first horror.

Okay, one more movie then I'll stop:

The Princess Bride (1987)

Hands down my favorite movie of all time. If you've never seen it you really must. Orson Scott Card used The Princess Bride as a text in his freshman composition and literature class the year he taught at Notre Dame (Orson Scott Card, Characters & Viewpoint). Not to mention that it's the funniest, freshest most heart warming, vengeful, (Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die), movies. Period.

Okay, that's it. Go out and celebrate your freedom for tomorrow we write!

Happy Halloween!! :-)

Other articles you might like:

- Dialogue: 7 Ways of Adding Variety
- Kristen Lamb: Don't Let Trolls Make You Crazy
- How To Record Your Own Audiobook: Setting Up A Home Studio

NaNoWriMo: A Survival Guide

"November dreaming" by mpclemens under CC BY 2.0

A few months ago one of my friends recommended Jim C. Hines' blog, and I'm so very glad she did! Today, on the eve of NaNoWriMo, Jim gave us all a pep talk.

Before I get to that, though, let me wish you all the best of luck during NaNoWriMo. I'll be right there beside you, down in the trenches, scribbling away. At the end of this post I've compiled a list of links that I call my "survival pack". Now, back to Jim's pep talk.

Here are the highlights:

"Nobody is born knowing how to write"

So true! Although I'm reminded of something Stephen King wrote in "On Writing":

[W]hile it is impossible to make a competent writer out of a bad writer, and while it is equally impossible to make a great writer out of a good one, it is possible, with lots of hard work, dedication, and timely help, to make a good writer out of a merely competent one.

I'm sure that Mr. King meant to be encouraging, but after I read that paragraph, for a whole week, I lay awake at night terrified I was a Bad Writer and there was no hope for me. I suppose it goes without saying I had a raging case of writer's block!

As a kid I was told there was an Unforgivable Sin. If anyone committed this sin they could not be redeemed and were doomed to hell. That worried me. A lot! Then someone said, "Look, if you're worried about committing the unforgivable sin, you haven't committed it".

Back to Bad Writers. If you want to get better, then you can. The only people who can't get better are those who don't try. If someone isn't a good writer (and, as Jim Hines points out, none of us come into the world that way) but they think they're awesome ... well, that's a problem.

So, never give up! All it takes to be a good writer is honesty and practice. Lots and lots of practice. (At least that's what I believe. I'll let you know how it goes. ;)

"There's no one right way to write a book"

Jim Hines writes:

There’s a lot of advice out there. Try different things. Experiment. Figure out what works for you. Anyone who preaches the Gospel of the True Right Way to write (or sell) a book? Smile and back away as quickly as possible. All those readers out there don’t care how you wrote the book. They just care if the end result is worth reading.

What he said.

"Give yourself permission to write crap"

I've found that if, on my first draft, I don't give myself permission to let it all hang out I'll wind up with something lifeless--if I'm able to write at all. Apparently I'm not alone. This is what Stephen King has to say:

If you're a beginner ... let me urge that you take your story through at least two drafts; the one you do with the study door closed and the one you do with it open.

With the door shut, downloading what's in my head directly to the page, I write as fast as I can and still remain comfortable. ... There's plenty of opportunity for self-doubt. If I write rapidly ... I find that I can keep up with my original enthusiasm and at the same time outrun the self-doubt that's always waiting to settle in.

This first draft--the All-Story Draft--should be written with no help (or interference) from anyone else. (Stephen King, On Writing)

Stephen King goes on to say that, after you write the first draft, you should put it in a drawer for a few weeks. Forget about it. Write something else. When you come back it's no longer your baby. At that point you put on your editors cap, open the study door and let the world in.

But the first draft is just for you. Write crap if that's what it takes. Just write.

"Do edit and rewrite"

I would add: Join a writer's circle/critique group.

A number of years ago I wrote my first full-length book. I hadn't intended to write a book, I started out writing a short story for my parents at Christmas. I was a university student and wanted to give them something from the heart. Well, that and I couldn't afford anything else!

The short story morphed into a book, my first, and--gleeful at my achievement--I wrapped it up and gave it to them.

I waited impatiently while my parents read it. (Are you done yet? Are you done yet? Are you ...) When they had both finished I asked what they thought (something writers should never do! If someone loved your book they'll tell you). They were polite but it was obvious they hadn't cared for it. I was crushed.

Well. A few months ago I re-read that story. It was truly awful.

I'm not sure if my story would have turned out better if I'd put it away for a few months and come back to it with a fresh perspective. I think, often, our first attempt at a novel is just not very good and we need folks, other pairs of eyes, to examine it and give us a fresh perspective. Especially in the beginning.

A great way to meet people willing to read your work and give you their honest opinion is to join a writer's circle/critique group. If there isn't one where you live there are many online. I can recommend Critters.org. I was a member of Critters for a number of years and benefited enormously.

Write Every Day

This tip comes from me and is about life after NaNoWriMo. If you have a day job and kids and a life it can be excruciatingly difficult to write every day. But you don't have to write thousands, or even hundreds, of words. Some days life is going to overwhelm you. That's okay. But try to do a little bit.

If you're working on a first draft, try to write a couple hundred words. If you're editing, try for half a page. 

I'm a great believer in Jerry Seinfeld's Chain Method (How To Write Every Day: Jerry Seinfeld And The Chain Method). Try for that unbroken chain of X's. It will keep you from walking away from your novel for a week or two and forgetting were you were; losing the mood of the piece.

Of course, during NaNoWriMo you're not going to have to worry about this. It's kind of like a month of Write or Die.

#  #  #

Best of luck to everyone on the cusp of NaNoWriMo, the caffeinated month!

I've put together links to a few articles that might be of use:

The NaNoWriMo Survival Kit

- NaNoWriMo: 5 Tips On How To Get Ready

Jim Butcher: The art and craft of writing:

- Jim Butcher On Writing
- Jim Butcher: How To Write A Story
- How To Build A Villain By Jim Butcher

See also:
- 8 Ways To Become A Better Writer
- Writing Resources

Outlining:

- Orson Scott Card & The MICE Quotient: How To Structure Your Story
- Mary Robinette Kowal And The Mysteries Of Outlining

Characterization:

- 3 Ways To Create Incredible Characters

For when you're stressed and need a timeout:

- Helping Writers De-Stress: Meditation Apps

For those "butt in chair" moments when you just need to write:

- Write or Die: The App
- Aherk! Makes Writing App 'Write or Die' Look Tame

The postscript: Finding A Home For Your Book

- Query Tracker: Keep Track Of Your Stories
- 10 Reasons Why Stories Get Rejected

How To Get Honest Book Reviews

"workstation" by striatic under CC BY 2.0

Tonya Kappes has written a fantastic article on how to get honest reviews for your books. It's a must read. I'll summarize her points, below, but Tonya's article is one you're going to want to read and bookmark.

1) Do a Goodreads Giveaway

I've never tried this, but Tonya has. Hold a giveaway, get requests, then send a copy of your book to the winners. The winners promise to give an honest review of the book, AND you might get reviews from the people who didn't win but went ahead and bought your book anyway.

2) Create a press kit for each of your books

A press kit should include:

- your bio,
- a head shot,
- the cover of your book,
- the blurb for the book,
- a summary of the book, and
- all the links to where it can be purchased or downloaded. 

 The easier you can make things for potential reviewers, the better.

3) Amazon: Ask top reviewers to review your book

Tonya thoughtfully gives the link to a list of Amazon's Top Customer Reviewers. She cautions that you'll want to read each biography carefully to find out which people might like reading the sort of book you've written. Chances are a person who hates horror books, even if they agree to read your zombie novel, won't like it.

4) Announce your book launch to your community

Your loyal readers are going to want to know you've come out with a new book and chances are some of them would love to write a review of it.

As long as authors make it clear they want honest reviews, good or bad, I don't see anything wrong with this.

#  #  #

I love Tonya's tips! Great ideas that (hopefully!) don't take a lot of time to do. :)

Once again, this information is from Tonya Kappes' excellent article How To Get Reviews For Your Novel.

Other articles you might like:
- Book Review Blogs That Accept Self-Published Work
- 5 Ways to Spot a Trustworthy Amazon Review
- What to do if your book isn't selling: Tips from Johanna Penn

How To Record Your Own Audiobook: Setting Up A Home Studio

"I Giovani e la Musica" by SuperUbO under CC BY 2.0

I've wanted to make an audiobook for close to a year. I think it would be a great way to introduce my work to a new audience (I heard that only 95% of books are made into audiobooks) and some folks like it when authors read their own work.

I think I need to just jump in and DO IT. Go through the short stories I've written and record one. If it turns out ghastly I don't have to inflict it on the world, but if it's half decent it might make a good blog post or podcast. :)

Anyway, what has gotten me thinking about recording an audiobook again is a recent blog post by the singular Elizabeth Spann Craig, Getting the Hang of the Business End of Things in which she shares a link to Jeff Bennington's post, Creating Audio Books is Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy. (What a great blog title!)

Audio Creation Exchange (ACX)

Jeff talks about ACX.com. (If you know what ACX is, or you don't care, skip to "Making An Audiobook," below.) ACX stands for Audio Creation Exchange and was launched by Amazon-owned Audible in May of last year.

What is ACX.com and what can it do for you? This is from their website:

ACX is a marketplace where professional authors, agents, publishers and any other Rights Holders can post audiobook rights to both new frontlist titles and to backlist titles that were never published as audiobooks. At ACX, those rights get matched with Producers, which include audiobook publishers, narrators, engineers, and recording studios. The result: More audiobooks will be made. (The Basics, ACX.com)

I first became aware of ACX because Neil Gaiman has his own line of books over at Audible: Neil Gaiman Presents. His audiobooks are sold through Audible and produced through ACX. Neil Gaiman has written a number of articles about his experience:

Neil Gaiman's audiobook record label (An interview with Neil Gaiman)
ACX - if you’re a writer, an actor, a producer (A Tumblr article by Neil Gaiman)

Making An Audiobook At Home

Before a writer can take advantage of ACX, or any other technology designed to help us sell audiobooks, we have to produce the darn things! And ACX will help with this, by either matching you with professionals (you either pay them outright or share royalties) or through umpteen tutorials on how to do the work yourself.

Since I'm a do-it-yourself kind of gal I'm going to try doing the recording myself. But it's nice to know that, if I fail miserably, I can turn to the talented folks at ACX.

Now onto the good stuff: How to record an audiobook yourself in a studio you cobble together.

What you need to make an audiobook at home

The number one thing you want to do is cut down on noise. Here are some tips on how to do that from the professionals over at ACX:

Reduce noise
- NO fridge nearby.
- NO heading system nearby.
- Hang blankets over the walls and put a rug on the floor to minimize sound reflection.

Office Equipment
- Desk for your computer.
- Stand for the script.
- Something--for instance, a blanket--to absorb the sound on surfaces.
- A chair that's comfortable and won't creak.

Recording Equipment
- Laptops get noisy when they heat up. Whemn this happens shut the computer off, take a coffee break, and let it cool down.
- Don't record directly to your computer's hard disk. Use a fast peripheral drive with lots of capacity.
- Become obsessive about backing up your work.
- Use a pop filter or shield. This deflects and minimizes sounds that can distort the recording. Sounds such as t's, f's, th's and w's. It will run you about $40 but you can also make your own.

Microphone
You have a choice here, high tech or low tech.
- high tech: A large diaphram condesor mic is the standard for the industry and costs between $400 and $600.
- Low tech: A USB powered snowball mic will do the job if you want a lower cost solution.

The bottom line:
Research it and find out what is available in your area. Go to audio stores, try out their microphones, ask questions, and find a balance of price and performance that suits you.

These tips have been taken from: ACX: Setting up a Home Studio and Want To Narrate Your Own Book?

I've concentrated on setting up a home studio cheaply so I didn't mention some higher priced options a home narrator may want to consider. I highly recommend ACX's series of YouTube videos on how to record your own audiobook.

Here are the first two videos in the series:







This series continues on YouTube here: AudibleACX.

I hope you've been inspired to do an audio recording of your work! Or, if you have done an audio recording, I'd love to hear about your experience. Did you set up a make-shift studio at home, and, if so, perhaps you have some tips you'd like to share. :-)

Links to articles on recording an audiobook:
- Podcasting on the iPad
- How to record an audiobook at home
- Joanna Pen: How to Podcast (I love Joanna's advice: Just start!)

Other articles you might like:
- Making A Scene: Using Conflicts And Setbacks To Create Narrative Drive
- Building A Writer's Platform
- SEO Tips & Tricks: How To Make Google Love Your Blog

SEO Tips & Tricks: How To Make Google Love Your Blog

"Morpho peleides wings closed (blue morpho butterfly)" by Armando Maynez under CC BY 2.0

Yesterday Bob (that's not his real name, but he doesn't want me to use his real name) asked me for pointers on how to improve his blog's position in Google's search results. His goal: he wants a link to his website to be among the first five results returned when someone searches on a particular phrase.

I started to give Bob advice and then thought. Wait! This would be a great idea for a blog post.

First off, though, I want to assure you that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is falling-off-a-log EASY. Well, the beginning stuff, the stuff that can make a huge difference, is. A SEO expert could fine tune your site and your SEO presence would (hopefully) go from good to awesome, but if good is good enough, read on.

1. What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

This is the basic question of Search Engine Optimization:

How do I optimize my site so that links to my content are served up when users search on certain keywords? 

Here's another way of putting it: You want your site to be to search engines what catnip is to felines.

Ideally, you want your content to be returned first but I've found simply being on the first page of search results generates a lot of traffic, depending on how popular the search phrase is that your link is paired with.

An Example

Let's say I want to look at recipes. Using Google Search, I type in "recipes". Here's what I got back:

First result: from allrecipies.ca
Second result: from allrecipies.com,
Third result: from foodnetwork.ca,
Fourth result: from readersdigest.ca,
Fifth result: from kraft.com

All things being equal, the first result returned will get most of the traffic, but all the links returned on the first page will do okay, especially the ones on the upper part of the page.

As you can see, there's a lot of competition to place high for "recipes". All of those sites get a lot of traffic and are maintained by many professionals. They're going to place better in the search results than you are since you're not an expert and you're only one person.

The solution: focus your content on one small area of cooking such as recipes that are quick and easy to make. Then you can try to get your site noticed when people perform searches like "recipes for writers" "recipes for the rushed", and so on. When you write a post for gingerbread cookies--cookies twice as good ready in half the time!--you can use keywords that will help Google identify what it is and return it if someone types in something like "gingerbread molasses cookie quick".

Summary: You likely have a chance of getting your site onto the first page of search results for less popular (long tail) terms and, using this method, you can still get a fair amount of traffic.

2. Why should I care about SEO?

If it doesn't matter whether your site gets traffic from search engines then SEO isn't going to be first on your list of priorities. That said, much of what I'm going to discuss is part of 'best practices' and, who knows, one day search traffic may be important to you. There's no harm in laying the foundations now.

So, why would someone care about optimizing their site so that it attracts search engine traffic?

- You're selling something. If you're selling anything on your site, or thinking of one day selling something on your site, you will want a lot of people to come look at it.

- Growing an audience. If you're not selling anything but want your writing to be read by someone other than your great aunt Edna, getting more eyes on your site is a good thing. It's one way of building an audience, a platform, a community.

- Best practices. Most of what you'll do when optimizing your site for search engines is clearly and accurately labeling your content, and this is something you probably should do anyway since it's part of best practices for site design.

3. SEO: Optimizing Your Site For Search Engines, What They Look For

Google (and other search engines, but in the following discussion, for brevity, I'm going to talk about Google) wants to give people the information they are looking for when they conduct a search and Google wants that information to be accurate, relevant and of good quality. Here's what that means for me as a blogger:

Accurate: I need to get my facts right. For instance, I can't say that dogs are felines. (You'd be surprised!)

Relevant: If you write a blog post on what substances are toxic to cats (chocolate, for instance) you want the post to be categorized as being about cats, not dogs, not sloths, not giraffes. You also want the post to show up on searches for toxic substances for animals, so keywords like "cute" and "kitten" aren't your friends.

Good quality: Don't ask me how Google determines this, but it's gotten very good. Books are written on this subject so I'll just say that you want to bring your A-game to your posts, while keeping in mind that a more informal style is the norm and an occasional typo is tolerated.

Okay, back to my friend Bob and what I would advise him to do to optimize his site to attract search engine traffic.

a. Use categories and tags

Bob runs Wordpress on his own hosting site, but what I'm about to say applies (I believe) to websites over at Wordpress.com as well.

When you're writing a post in Wordpress, on the right-hand side of the screen, you'll see a place where you can select various Categories and Tags. Fill these in! You don't have to use many. Choose one or two categories and then refine it with two or three tags.

For instance, if you're blogging about Amazon's Kindle Fire HD tablet then your categories might be "Retail" and "Tablet" and your tags might be "Amazon" and "Kindle Fire HD". If your blog is on Blogger.com you don't have categories and tags, you just have labels, in which case I would just use "Retail", 'Tablet", "Amazon", and "Kindle Fire HD".

b. Use images and give them meaningful names and descriptions

Early on I found I got a lot of traffic because of the images I used on my site (of course "a lot" in those days was 100 pageviews a day!).

 Name. My camera automatically names my photos with (really long) numbers and, early on, I didn't bother changing the numbers to something more descriptive. Search engines look at things like names to determine what kind of content is on a particular page. The more consistent, accurate, cues you give the search engines the better they are at serving up your pages at appropriate times.

Alternate Text. If you have access to this field don't leave it blank. If you've turned off images in your browser then what gets shown is this alternate text so it is best practices to include it. But even if your visitor never sees the alternate text search engines do. This is another way of telling them what sort of content is on your page.

Caption. Same idea. Though since I use the caption to give copyright information I don't have a lot of leeway here.

Description. Again, very important for telling both search engines and humans what your image is about.

The rule of thumb: If there's a way for you to tell search engines about the content on your page, do it!

c. Choose a descriptive domain name

The more descriptive your domain name the better. For instance, if you're a horror writer a great domain name would be horrorwriter.com. Naturally that one's taken, but you might try something like zombiewriter.com or scarystories.com. You get the idea.

If you don't have a descriptive domain name but you have already built up a community then I wouldn't worry about it. If it works, don't fix it.

The only time I would think about changing a domain name that had been in use for some time was if it was misleading to both people and search engines.

For instance, a horror writer specializing in zombie stories probably wouldn't want to have goodcooking.com or fingerlickinggood.com as a domain name. An exception to this might be ilikebrains.com. It might mislead search engines but it is memorable and fun. Humans get the implication and, in the end, that's what matters.

d. Choose descriptive blog titles

In university one of my English teachers gave me heck because the title of one of my essays was too descriptive. He said I should be more creative, less literal. Perhaps he was right about the title of my essay (though I never thought so) but if he takes that attitude toward blog titles he's dead wrong.

Search engines aren't creative. They don't understand tongue-in-cheek commentary or puns. Which isn't to say you should never have a whimsical title. You have categories, tags, labels, etc., to let search engines know what your post is about. Just be aware that these kinds of titles are harder for search engines to make sense of.

Search engines also don't like vagueness. For instance, I could have titled this blog post "How to create a better web page". That's more or less what I'm talking about, but I used the words "SEO", "Google" and "blog" because they're more specific and so give search engines a better idea of what content is on the page.

e. Echoing: Repeating keywords throughout your post, your tags and your categories.

Here's a rule of thumb:

Try and work in two or more of your keywords into the title of your blog, the body of your blog and also use them in your categories and tags.

 Do this sparingly since it can feel spammy if overdone.

For instance, in this post SEO is a keyword. I have it in my title, I have it as a label, and I've repeated it several times within the body of my post. But only where appropriate. Google is smart, you don't have to repeat the world dozens of times to pick up on the fact that you're writing a post having to do with search engine optimization.

f. LEGITIMATE links back to your site are good, the more the better

Legitimate links, or backlinks, are those which folks put up on their pages because they like your content. If anyone tells you they can arrange it so that a lot of other websites will link to yours, run away. Run very very fast.

This trick used to work--some folks would have networks of hundreds of websites that would do nothing but link to other websites--but after Google's Panda and Penguin updates having these sort of links point to your website actually hurts you.

So how does one get legitimate links to your website? Here are a few options:

Flickr

Bloggers love pictures so upload a few and make them available for others to use if they like, they just have to attribute the photo to you. Although it's not strictly necessary, it's best practices to include a link back to your site.

Guest Blog

Ask other bloggers if they accept guest posts. Most do. (I do!) As a courtesy, a guest blogger is allowed to leave at least one link back to their website. (7 Tips On How To Get Your Guest Post Accepted)

Blog Directories

There are various blog directories such as Technorati that you can register your blog with. I did this a year ago. While I'm not sure how much it helped I am sure it didn't hurt. Bottom line: it's another place for people to learn about my blog and it only took about an hour of my time.

Social Media
I'll be honest, I have a Facebook account but I really only use Twitter. Perhaps I should use Facebook. If I could magically squeeze more hours into the day I'm sure I would, but I love Twitter, I (think I) understand Twitter and I get a significant amount of traffic from Twitter.

Twitter is an awesome way of getting links to your website in front of people who would be interested in your content. How? Hashtags (eg: #). Using hashtags you can get your tweets in front of people who don't follow you. Folks who've never heard of you. (I talk about this more in 19 Ways To Grow Your Twitter Following.)

g. Create Great Content

Hands down, the single best way of making Google Search love your blog is to regularly post great content. That is, content that is accurate, well marked up and well written. Google is biased to favor new articles, so try to blog at least once a week, but if you can't manage it, try for at least once a month.

h. Google Analytics & Google Webmaster Tools

Google has developed many tools it provides, free of charge, that will provide you with valuable feedback on, for example, which search terms are bringing visitors to your site, how many times a particular article has been accessed, the average length of time a visitor spends on your site, and so on.

I highly recommend using both Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools, but if you're only going to use one I would say use Google Analytics. It's easy, vastly informative and takes only 15 minutes or so to set up.


I've only covered a fraction--a fraction of a fraction of a fraction!--of the material on how to optimize a site to attract search engines. If you have any questions, or you'd like me to say more about a point I addressed, please leave a comment and ask. I love hearing from you. :-)

Other articles you might like:
- Chapter Breaks: Where Should They Go?
- How To Attribute Artwork Licensed Under The Creative Commons
- Making A Scene: Using Conflicts And Setbacks To Create Narrative Drive

10 Questions: The Next Big Thing Blog Hop

"Edgar Allen Poe - The Raven" by Ian Burt under CC BY 2.0

Kim Neville tagged me.

She emailed a few days ago and asked whether it would be okay to tag me for The Next Big Thing. I wanted to ask her what being tagged meant and what The Next Big Thing was but it seemed like a cool adventure, the sort of thing close examination might spoil--and, besides, I felt I should perhaps know what 'being tagged' meant--it felt Facebooky--so I just said, "Okay, sure!".

I can't sleep--bad cold--so I decided the perfect thing to do at 4:30 in the morning is The Next Big Thing.

1. What is the title of your work in progress?

"Spiderman" by Alan Turkus under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

It's been so long since I worked on my novel I had to look up the name. And then I had a moment of absolute panic when I realized the name of the file was the working title. Is that ironic or just bad planning?

I did find the file, finally. Samantha.

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?

"Put on your Sunday best" by Kevin Dooley under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

There's a very personal answer for that but I think it would be To Much Information so I'm just going to say I started writing it as a way to come to grips with something I learnt about someone who was close to me.

I hadn't intended to start a novel but my scribblings morphed into something more.

3. What genre does your book fall under?

"Premade BG 75" by Brenda Clarke under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

Urban fantasy, but that category is large and very accommodating. It is interesting that Kim (who has been known to write stories about faeries from time to time) was the one who tagged me. My WIP is about faeries, but I don't think she knows that (yet)! :-)

My faeries are different from the ones you meet in Celtic lore, but I think they're enough like those faeries to be worthy of the name.

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

"Morena Baccarin" by Alex Archambault under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

Ohhh, decisions, decisions. Antagonists first. One of my favorite actors is Gary Oldman, but my Big Bad is a gal, so maybe not. Helen Mirren? She would do an excellent job. Or Deborah Ann Woll (Jessica on True Blood).

As for my heroine ... I think I'd choose Morena Baccarin from Firefly. Come to think of it, she would also make a great Big Bad. Hmm....

Actually, though, if I'm going to daydream ... This isn't an acting choice, but I'd want Jane Espenson to do the screenplay. I know she writes for TV (Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, Game of Thrones, Once Upon A Time, etc., etc., etc.) but if she could be persuaded I'd be over-the-moon happy.

5. What is a one-sentence synopsis of the book?

"Vintage Brass Celtic Knot Circular Brooch Pin - 1970s" by Grannies Kitchen under CC BY 2.0

Samantha comes into possession of an object that could destroy humanity or bring peace to a world torn asunder.

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

"Sharing Silent Moments" by Cris under CC BY 2.0

I will likely self publish. I would like to mention, though, that even if I traditionally publish I would try to avoid getting an agent. Many traditionally published full-time writers do not have them.

One of these writers, Laura Resnick, has excellent articles on this subject: The Author-Agent Business Model & Agents.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript.

"Isabella!" by Tricia under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

My first draft is only 25,000 words or so and I wrote it in about three weeks.

8. What other books would you compare this story to in your genre

"Weta Cave wonders - who are you looking at Precious" by W J (Bill) Harrison under CC BY 2.0

Lord of the Rings meets Harry Dresden. Or perhaps Rachel Morgan.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?

"FREEDOM" by Luz Adriana Villa A. under CC BY 2.0

My inspiration for the book ... Well, my idea for the book and the inspiration for the book are wrapped up in one another, but let me try to reach beyond that. One of the main themes of the book--although it's only in first draft form at the moment--is freedom and the price of freedom.

In mentioning the cost of freedom I don't intend to conjure up images of war and the cost of war. I'm talking about freedom on a painfully personal level. Friendship, community, being in relation with another, puts constraints on you; there is an expression, "the ties that bind". Cut the strings, all of them, and the individual is completely alone ... and completely, terrifyingly, free.

10. What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

"Fossil Sitting In Sun Light" by A Guy Taking Pictures under CC BY 2.0

I think writers write about concepts that fascinate them, concepts that some small (or large) part of them wishes were real. I had the idea of an artifact changing shape, form, depending on the person who was responsible for it. It turns out that the shape the artifact takes tells something about the person bearing it.

Include the link of when tagged you and this explanation for the people you have tagged.

Kim Neville tagged me. Kim is an awesome writer who has a wonderful, and wonderfully intimate, blog. She is a magician with words and I love her stories.

(I'm reading Kim's blog post as I type this) I guess people who are tagged have a week to respond with their own posts. Good to know!

I've sent out emails but won't put up the names of those I offered to tag until they accept.

Thanks for reading!

Other articles you might like:
- Chapter Breaks: Where Should They Go?
- How To Attribute Artwork Licensed Under The Creative Commons
- Mary Robinette Kowal and The Mysteries of Outlining