The Twilight Zone's Rod Serling On Ideas And Where They Come From

Rod Serling

When I was a kid I loved Twilight Zone reruns. There was something about Rod Serling's introduction that sent thrills and chills through me. And that voice!

Brain Pickings has discovered a clip of Searling talking about ideas, what they are and where they come from. It's only a minute long and well worth watching, if only to hear that voice again.

Here's the link: Twilight Zone Creator Rod Serling on Where Good Ideas Come From.

You might also like:
- 8 Ways To Become A Better Writer
- Writers: In Order To Win We Must Embrace Failure

Photo credit: People Quiz

Rasana Atreya's Self-Publishing Journey

Rasana writes:

Early this year the unpublished manuscript of my novel, Tell a Thousand Lies, was shortlisted for the 2012 Tibor Jones South Asia prize. I was ecstatic when I was offered a publishing contract soon after, by one of India’s largest publishing houses. Yet, I declined the offer.

Let me explain.

I would have been happy enough to have my paperback published. What I wanted were the rights to my ebook (the electronically downloadable form of a book). I’d been following the career paths of Amanda Hocking and Joe Konrath, the two authors leading the self-publishing charge, and I wanted a chance to apply their marketing methods to my ebooks. The publisher wasn’t agreeable though, so we parted ways, no hard feelings.

Rasana enrolled her book in Amazon's KDP Select program and, while it was free, 17,000 people downloaded it in one weekend! Since then Amazon has changed its ranking algorithm and she has decided to try out Barnes & Noble as well as Smashwords.com. She writes:

If you decide to self-publish, investigate your options carefully. It is easy to get scammed on the Internet. To confuse the issue, a lot of companies are calling themselves self-publishers. Self-publishing is when you upload the book, you set the price, you track the sales, you run the promotions. When someone else does it for you, they are the publisher of record. Horror stories abound about these so-called self-publishers; from manuscripts being stolen, to sales data being fudged, I’ve heard them all. 

If this seems too intimidating, reputable sites like bookbaby.com can help for a one-time fee. If someone is charging you fees upfront and keeping a cut of your royalties, beware. Reputable publishers will never charge you for publication, which is why they take a cut in your royalties. A quick and dirty way to check if the publisher is legitimate is to look at their website. The focus of a legitimate publisher will be the reader. Their website will be in the business of selling books. A subsidy or vanity publisher’s focus will be you — the gullible writer — and how many unneeded services they can sell to you.

I used CreateSpace to publish the paperback in the US (LighteningSource and Lulu are the other options). I’m pleased to report my novel has started to catch the attention of book buyers for public libraries there. My novel shows up on flipkart.com etc. because I had it listed on Ingram’s catalogue, but the international edition is too expensive for India. The time is ripe in India for someone to replicate CreateSpace’s business model, offering printed copies of books for sale, perhaps even distribution to physical and online bookstores. 

Does this mean I would rule out traditional publishers for my next book? Not at all. I am always open to new experiences. 

Read the rest here: My self-publishing journey.

Further reading:
- Helping Writers De-Stress: Meditation Apps
- Writers: In Order To Win We Must Embrace Failure
- How To Sell 100 Books Per Day: 6 Things You Need To Do

The Bourne Legacy: The Story Is Fiction, The Rest Is Real

From the Seattle Times:

"The Bourne Legacy" is a work of fiction, but the scientific, political and corporate partnerships it depicts are very real.

Tony Gilroy, a writer on the first three "Bourne" films, based on the Robert Ludlum series, and writer-director of this latest installment, spent countless hours immersed in military and intelligence research to tell the story of CIA assassin Jason Bourne.

When tasked with expanding Bourne's universe for "Legacy," Gilroy again looked to reality: Hundreds — if not thousands — of secret government and quasi-government programs funded by millions and millions of dollars with little oversight, all designed to build better weapons and better soldiers.

Such advancements are at the heart of "The Bourne Legacy." Jeremy Renner plays Aaron Cross, a super agent who has benefited from the government's top-secret medical research; Rachel Weisz is the doctor who helped develop the science; Edward Norton acts as the kingpin, a sort of corporate-military-intelligence hybrid, who tries to control it all.

Gilroy talked about his inspiration for the story and why truth can be stranger than fiction:

Click here to read the interview with Tony Gilroy: Fictional 'Bourne Legacy' not so far-fetched, says writer-director.

Further reading:
- Writers & Blogging: Should You Host Your Own Blog?
- Fifty Shades of Grey - Oh My!

Photo credit: HD Wallpapers

What To Write About: Fiction That Sells

This advice comes from Elizabeth S. Craig, and it is twofold:

1. For folks who aren't sure what to write about, here are a few points to mull over ...

Your own interests, as a reader: What do you naturally lean toward when writing or reading? Which genre? What do you think you’d most enjoy writing? We have to spend a long time with a book—we need to enjoy the process and pour that love of writing into the book. Which story would you enjoy telling the most?

Analytics of the genre: In that genre, what are some of the factors that make it a good read? Humor, action, strong characters, magical powers, three murder victims, etc.? As a reader, what do you enjoy most about the genre?

Market saturation: Is there an area or subgenre that is currently saturated? Or does it seem like the readers are avidly buying the books as fast as they are written, even if it IS saturated? (Vampires and zombies come to mind.)

Book length: What is the length of most of these books? Have you got an idea that you can develop into that length? Is your idea too broad and can’t fit into one book? Book length, of course, is also going through a change with the digital trend—but you still want to shoot for the right ballpark. Editing a trilogy out of a single book can be a bear.

What are publishers of this genre looking for currently? If you’re going traditional, who represents and publishes this genre? Go online and see what kinds of things they might be asking for on their submissions page.

2. Let's say you have ideas, lots of ideas! How do you decide which one to work on?

Protagonist: Which protagonist can carry my story better? Which is better-developed? Does one have more opportunity for internal conflict? Does one have ample growth potential?

Characters: Which project has secondary characters that are more appealing? Which create depth for my protagonist by interacting with him/her? Which may be a villain that readers will love to hate?

Plot: Which storyline can I easily picture? Which one has more conflict and more depth?

Time: Is there a story that requires more research than another? How much time do I have for the project? How long would I, ideally, prefer to spend on a single project?

Market: Which story will appeal to a greater number of readers? Which has more of a hook to sell to a publisher? Or…which has the better hook for a direct-to-reader/self pubbed book?

Series potential: This may be genre-book specific---but is there a story that lends itself to more than one novel?

Elizabeth concludes:

Again, y’all, this is all in the for-what-it’s-worth category. And…another important thing to remember is that we shouldn’t have our whole writing career riding on one book. The fear of failure has got to be a huge factor in this writer hesitation when choosing an idea. The important thing about failure is dusting ourselves off, learning what it was that we did poorly, and writing another—better—book. Better because we failed or didn’t meet our own expectations. It’s killed me when a couple of great writers that I know have completely given up writing when their books didn’t do as well as they hoped. We’ve got to keep on going.

Elizabeth's entire article can be read here: Writing for an Audience/ the Marketplace. A list of her books is here.

Further reading:
- 8 Ways To Become A Better Writer
- Helping Writers De-Stress: Meditation Apps
- How To Sell 100 Books Per Day: 6 Things You Need To Do

Photo credit: Johan Doe

Bob Mayer: Your Product Is Your Story

This is from Bob Mayer over at Digital Book World:

The product is the story.  Not the book, not the eBook, not the audio book.  The Story.
The consumer is the reader.  Not the bookstores, the platform, the distributor, the sales force.  The Reader.

Read Bob's entire (very short!) piece here: A Simple Concept for Publishing.

I like the idea that, at the most fundamental level, what writers produce are stories. Similarly, what readers read are stories, conveyed in whatever medium--digital, print, big screen, little screen, holograms (one day!). As long as there are readers, writers will be able to make a living. * knock on wood*

Further reading:
- Helping Writers De-Stress: Meditation Apps
- 8 Ways To Become A Better Writer

Photo credit: Unknown

Contracts: Deadly Agent Clauses

I love Kris Rusch's discussions of agent clauses. I'm sure that many, perhaps even most, agents are kind, honest, people who look out for the interests of their authors. That said, perhaps an agent isn't always familiar with all the clauses in the contract they ask their writers to sign.

In any case, reading what some writers have signed has been an eye-opener. My mother always said that to be forewarned is to be forearmed. Let's hope! Kris writes:

[T]he agent clause, which you find in most agent-negotiated publishing contracts, now says things like:

The Author hereby appoints Agent A irrevocably as the Agent in all matters pertaining to or arising from this Agreement…Such Agent is hereby fully empowered to act on behalf of the Author in all matters in any way arising out of this Agreement…All sums of money due to the Author under this Agreement shall be paid to and in the name of said Agent…The Author does also irrevocably assign and transfer to Agent A, as an agency coupled with an interest, and Agent A shall retain a sum equal to fifteen percent (15%) of all gross monies due and payable to the account of the Author under this Agreement.

.  .  .  .

First of all, I’m not assigning anyone anything “irrevocably”—certainly not someone I can fire for cause. Especially if my money goes through their account first. I will not “fully empower” anyone to act for me. (Some agents go so far as demanding legal power of attorney—which is something you should never give anyone. What that means is that they then have the right to be you in all legal matters. No. Do not give legal power of attorney to anyone without good cause—like you’re dying and need someone to handle your accounts (and even then, it might not be a good idea).)

Finally let’s discuss “agency coupled with an interest.” What that means is this: You are giving the agent ownership in your novel. Ownership. They now have a 15% ownership of your book.

.  .  .  .

Through the agent-author agreement and with the agent clause, some major agencies actually take 15% ownership in everything a writer writes, even if that writer never sells the product through the agency at all. This is becoming more and more common.

But let’s assume your agent is a fairly nice person who works for a large agency. Let’s assume that the agency insists on an agent-author agreement, and let’s assume that the agent-author agreement looks fairly benign.

By fairly benign, I mean that the agent-author agreement details the relationship—what you will do, what the agent will do, and even lets you cancel the agreement for any reason with thirty days notice. However, the agreement has one clause in it, one little tiny clause that says something like this:

The Writer agrees that she will abide by the agent clause negotiated by Agent in all of her publishing contracts.

Sounds fine, right? It’s not. Because…let’s assume the agent clause in your publishing contract has this standard little phrase at the end: The provisions of this paragraph shall survive the termination of this Agreement.

This means you’re screwed. You have twice signed legal documents (and maybe more than twice) that says you will continue to pay your agent money on this particular agreement in perpetuity. The first time you signed, it was in the agent-author agreement (stating you will abide by the agent clause), and the second time was when you signed the publishing contract itself.

This is nasty, nasty stuff, folks, and lots of writers have signed it. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of writers have done so.

Don’t you do it.

In fact, if your agent asks you to do so, run from that agent, leave that agency, and don’t look back.

Why? Even if your agent is a really nice person, here’s what these clauses tell you. They tell you that your agent does not work for you. Your agent is interested in his own business and his own profits at the expense of yours.

If you're ever thinking of getting an agent, or have an agent, I heartily recommend reading Kris' article: The Business Rusch: The Agent Clause (Deal Breakers 2012).

Further reading:
- 8 Ways To Become A Better Writer
- Helping Writers De-Stress: Meditation Apps
- Fifty Shades of Grey - Oh My!

Photo credit: Gérald Tibbits

The Richest Woman Writers: Suzanne Collins, E.L. James & J.K. Rowling

James Patterson and Stephen King move over! Okay, maybe not quite yet, but we're getting closer.

Men still top the list of the world’s highest-earning authors, but this year it’s the women on the list who’ve been making the boldest moves, led by a trio of genre phenoms: Suzanne Collins, E.L. James and J.K. Rowling.

With $20 million in earnings, almost all of it from sales of her “Hunger Games” books, Collins didn’t quite make the most recent edition of the FORBES Celebrity 100. But that was only because she had yet to see her full portion of the proceeds from the first “Hunger Games” film.

. . . .

At the height of “Fifty Shades” mania, the erotic novels were estimated to be generating as much as $1.3 million per week for their author, E.L. James. And that’s not counting the $5 million she received from Universal Pictures and Focus Films for the theatrical rights. Add it all up and James is assured of a place near the top of next year’s top authors list.

. . . .

In September, Little, Brown will publish “The Casual Vacancy,” Rowling’s first novel for adults. The reported $8 million advance Rowling received for the book was enough to vault her back onto the Celebrity 100, with $17 million in estimated earnings.

Read more here: Forbes: Women On The Rise Among The World's Top-Earning Authors.

Further reading:
- Fifty Shades of Grey - Oh My!
- 50 Shades Of Alice In Wonderland: Another Indie Success Story
- J.K. Rowling's Next Book, The Casual Vacancy, On Sale Sept 27, 2012

Photo credit: photo by tobym on Flickr

Smashwords Puts Books In Libraries!

Library Direct, a service that allows libraries to acquire and loan out books available from Smashwords, has the ability to put your book in front of new readers.

We have already received purchase commitments from three library systems, each of which will acquire some variation of our top 10,000 best-selling titles.  The purchase commitments approach $100,000 in total.

The first delivery is on schedule to occur next week to Douglas County Libraries in Colorado, which will purchase an opening collection drawn from the top 10,000 best-selling titles at Smashwords.  Douglas Country, under the leadership of director Jamie LaRue, has been an outspoken proponent of what is becoming known as the "Douglas County Model."  The Douglas Country Model aims to replicate for ebooks the process by which libraries have traditionally acquired print books.  The library acquires the book once, owns the book, and manages the checkout systems where they limit the checkout to one copy at a time for each title they own.  Douglas Country monitors the number of "holds" on each book (the number of people waiting to check it out), and if the hold count exceeds a certain number of patrons, the library purchases additional copies.

 .  .  .  .

Like all new Smashwords distribution channels, authors and publishers have the option to opt out of Library Direct, if they choose, from the Smashwords Channel Manager.  Later today we'll notify all 45,000 Smashwords authors and publishers of this new channel.

To read more about Library Direct, go here: New Library Direct Enables Libraries to Acquire Large Opening Collections of Smashwords Ebooks.

Further reading:
- Twylah: Turn Your Tweets Into A Blog
- 50 Shades Of Alice In Wonderland: Another Indie Success Story
- Fifty Shades of Grey - Oh My!

Pinterest: A Writer's Best Friend

Kristen Lamb writes:

Pinterest is a splendid tool for word of mouth. With billions of posts a day on the Internet, we all suffer a discoverability problem. Pinterest (and sites like it) help that problem, so in my book, they ROCK. I hope I at least helped you look at Pinterest in a new way. We can take advantage of this site without a lot of the problems. And yes, it is another social site, but this one is easy and fun because who doesn’t love looking at pretty pictures?

To read Kristen's article, click here: Writers, Why It’s Time to Renew Your Love Affair with Pinterest

I love Pinterest, though I haven't spent as much time on it recently as I'd like. Too much time spent writing. ;-) I'm not complaining!

Here's my page on Pinterest, where's yours?

Further reading:
- Penelope Trunk Discusses Time Management
- 5 Book Review Blogs
- Helping Writers De-Stress: Meditation Apps

Indie Writers: 10 Things Not To Do

Dean Wesley Smith continues his two part series listing 10 things indie writers do to shoot themselves in the foot. My post talking about Dean's first five points is here: Indie Authors: Bad Sales? Redo Your Cover!

6. Don't get hung up promoting your first book, go write another one! 
Sometimes an author will write one or two books and spend most of her time promoting them using social media. Dean writes:

The best way to sell more books is become a better storyteller, to have more product to sell, to work on craft and pacing and cliffhanging and all the thousands of things a professional writer needs.

7. Use different pen names when you write in different genres
Many writers say they don't want to use a pen name because it would take more work to develop two names than one. And of course that's true. But as Dean writes:

Yup, that will kill sales faster than anything I have seen. Why? Because of reader expectations, that’s why. A reader picks up and likes a romance under “Real Name Writer” and then sees another book from the same author name and buys it and it’s a horror novel with ugly guts and blood. Reader says, “I’m not buying anything by that author again.”  And then tells their friends to avoid you.

I see Dean's point, but I think it's probably only a killer in conjunction with a bad cover and a bad blurb. For instance, one of my favorite authors writes two very different series, one is gritty urban fantasy while the other is high fantasy, but it's obvious from the cover alone what genre is under the cover. I haven't bought one of his high fantasy books yet, but I'm still a huge fan of his urban fantasy series.

8. Pricing your work too low
Due to changes Amazon made to their ranking algorithm it no longer pays to sell a book for under $2.99. Sure, offer your book for a reduced price for a limited period to generate sales, but don't keep any of your books at that price.

What price is best for your book? Everyone has a different opinion. Dean thinks the $4.99 to $8.99 range makes sense. He writes:

So if you want to build a long-term career, with fans finding you slowly, over time, who are willing to pay a respectable price for your work, have some respect in your own time and craft. Price your book in the same range as traditional publishers price their works. ($4.99 to $8.99 for most for e-books)

9. Going exclusive 
This issue is hotly debated. Some authors find they sell well over 95% of their books through Amazon so enrolling most of their work in Amazon's KDP Select program--a program which demands exclusivity--seems right for them. Not so for others.

Don't forget about paper books
Many indie authors make the mistake of not putting out paper copies of their work. Dean writes:

[B]y ignoring paper editions, not having them available at least, you ignore 80% of all readers. And also kill a great price comparison on your own books. (I did an entire post on this topic, but say your print book is $15.99, it makes your $7.99 electronic edition look like a deal.)

 Excellent point! And I hear that CreateSpace is easier than ever to use.

10. Hurrying
Take time to practice your craft and stop focusing on sales. Dean writes:

I am not saying you shouldn’t mail your stuff to editors or put your work up electronically and try to make sales. Do put it up, do mail it to editors. I mailed my very first short story to a magazine that bought it. And my second. And after that I got hundreds of rejections before a magazine bought another story from me. If I had been in a hurry, if I didn’t understand at a deep level that learning how to be an internationally-selling fiction writer took time and years, I would have stopped somewhere between 1975 and 1982.

But I didn’t stop. I kept writing and learning and working on becoming a better storyteller. And I kept learning the business, even as it changed.

And now, thirty-seven years later, I’m still writing and still learning and still working to become a better storyteller.

So slow down the worrying about sales, focus on learning, focus on the next story and the next story, and have fun. The sales will come if you put your work out there and keep learning.

These quotations were all taken from Dean Wesley Smith's article: The New World: Publishing: Killing Your Sales One Shot at a Time: The Second Foot.

Now that I know what to do if I could just do it! ;)

Hope you've having a great writing day. Cheers!

Other reading:
- Indie Authors: Bad Sales? Redo Your Cover!
- Kristen Lamb: 5 Steps To Writing Success
- How To Sell 100 Books Per Day: 6 Things You Need To Do

Photo credit: By theexbrit

Writing With Courage

Courage

I love Dave Farland's Daily Kick in the Pants and today's post was especially good: Finding The Courage To Write, Part 3.

I mentioned a few kicks ago, that when you're new as a writer, the fear of criticism is one the greatest stumbling blocks. You don't want to tell people about a dream that might sound foolish or unrealistic. You may not want to risk criticism.

Here are a few things that I would recommend that every new writer try in order to get past those stumbling blocks.

Jim Wolverton mentions joining a debate team or Toastmasters. I know two people who were deathly shy who joined Toastmasters and completely got over their fear. Now they regularly gives speeches to large groups of people, and they are good speeches!

JW also suggests taking writing classes or joining a writers group. If you can find a good group then this is excellent advice. Be careful, though. Many writers haven't been as lucky as I have and it is very hard to grow as a writer if someone in your group is excessively critical. Your goal is to write more and be less inhibited, I believe that unrestrained criticism rarely helps achieve this.

JW tells a great story about how he gained some confidence as a writer. To read it, head over to his article: David Farland’s Daily Kick in the Pants – Finding the Courage to Write, Part 3.

Further reading:
- How To Build A Platform: Why Every Writer Needs A Website
- How To Sell 100 Books Per Day: 6 Things You Need To Do
- The Harlequin Class Action Lawsuit Explained

Photo credit: photo by Emilia Tjernström [Arriving at the horizon] on Flickr

Update On Amazon's KDP Select Program

Edward Robinson over at Failure Ahoy! has written extensively about his experiences with Amazon's KDP Select program. After trying out various things, here is his tentative conclusion:

[R]iding free runs every 30-40 days can be an effective strategy (although ENT now says they won't mention a book within 60 days of the last time it was free, meaning you're basically down to POI, FKBT, and paid ads for exposure). This can last for several months, anyway. But it appears to be less effective the more you do it, and there is a point where a diminished 30 days of sales + a diminished free run isn't going to be enough to prop you up to a significant place on the pop lists. (Edward Robinson)

Although ER's conclusion seems cautiously optimistic, he has decided to pull his most popular book, Breakers, from the program and and explore what Barnes & Noble as well as Kobo have to offer. This should be interesting. He writes:

Over the last few months, I've grown disillusioned enough with Amazon Select to pull my book Breakers from the program. Yesterday, its exclusivity expired. Today, Breakers is available on Barnes & Noble for the Nook reader.

.  .  .  .

I know that Breakers can sell when it's in front of people, so unlike my other titles, if I can find a way to get it some visibility in the other stores, it should sell. Hypothetically. So how do you find that visibility?

Stay tuned.

Read the rest over at Failure Ahoy!: Exploring Bold New Non-Amazon Frontiers, Day 1: Barnes & Noble.

Other reading:
- More on Amazon Select: Is exclusivity worth it?
- Marketing Strategies For Writers
- The Harlequin Class Action Lawsuit Explained

Kristen Lamb: 5 Steps To Writing Success

Writing Success

Kristen Lamb writes the best posts! I love her writing style; it feels as though just the two of us are sitting together, having a cup of coffee, chatting.

Yesterday Kristen came out with another fabulous post, this time about how to unlock writing success.

1) Passion
Obviously writers need passion, but a lot of the time this ingredient is overlooked. Kristen writes:

This should be a, “Yeah, no duh,” but, sadly, it isn’t. I meet a lot of people who say they want to be a professional author, but the second they face any opposition or criticism they give up. Here is the thing, if we really LOVE it, we won’t give up.

2) Self-Discipline
It may seem counter-intuitive, but my experience has been that the more you write the more you can write. For myself, this has become apparent through blogging. Each weekday I post two blog posts, one per day on the weekend/holidays.

Of course, life happens. But, usually, generally, that's my blogging schedule. And you know what? I've found I can sit down and write more fiction! (* knock on wood *) The blank page doesn't invoke in me the horror/anxiety it once did. Kristen writes:

One of the main reasons I am such a proponent of blogging is that it trains writers for a professional pace. It trains us to meet deadlines. Disciplined people work no matter what, and they finish what they start.

I have a feeling that, compared to Kristen I'm something of a wuss, but she's right: Writer's write.

3) Humility
Kristen says it best:

I used to have a problem with deadlines and self-discipline. I had the attention span of a crack-addicted fruit bat. That was why I began blogging. I knew that those character flaws would always limit me. Even though it was embarrassing to admit I had some deep flaws, it would have been impossible to ever combat that weakness if I hadn’t mustered the courage and humility to recognize where I fell fatally short.

I love that description! "The attention span of a crack-addicted fruit bat." Describes me to a tee! So nice to know others suffer from that particular malady.

My theory is that many writers are held back from writing because they feel they must be perfect, that what they write must be perfect. In my view, as long as someone holds on to that idea the act of writing will be fraught with anxiety. It is when we let go of expectations--those of our parents, those of society and, most importantly, our own--that we can be free to express who we really are.

4) Healthy Relationship with Failure
 Kristen writes:

If we aren’t failing, then we aren’t doing anything interesting. Expect failure. Better yet, embrace failure.

Amen! Another person to preach this particular message is Seth Godin, and I couldn't agree more. I think it ties in with what I said above about letting go of the idea that we must be perfect. We need to allow ourselves to fail. Repeatedly. Unless we embrace failure, we'll never succeed.

5) Be Bold: Try Something New
This point is mine, you can't blame Kristen for it! :p If you've been writing mostly in, say, the paranormal genre shake it up and try writing something for another genre, romance for instance. They say that variety is the spice of life, try something new! Often times doing something unusual or uncommon can refresh our daily routine.

To read Kristen Lamb's entire article, click here: Unlocking Your Great Future—5 Keys to Writing Success

Well, that's it! I hope you have a productive writing day. Cheers!

Oh, by the way, Kristen Lamb has set up an archive of royalty free images over at Flickr called, Wana Commons. Nice!

Further reading:
- Query Tracker: Keep Track Of Your Stories
- Twylah: Turn Your Tweets Into A Blog
- How To Sell 100 Books Per Day: 6 Things You Need To Do

Photo credit: The Grant Goddess Speaks

Ewan Morrison's Misconception

Ewan Morrison has made a number of incendiary remarks about the future of self publishing and social media. He believes that self publishing is a fad and that it's day will soon be over. Specifically, in his latest article, Why Social Media Isn't The Magic Bullet, he claims that writers who have published their work themselves will not be able to use social media as an effective means to grow a readership for their work.

My response: Time will tell. It seems to me a number of writers are doing just that, but if Mr. Morrison believes this is a bubble and it's about to burst, well, I guess we'll wait and see.

David Gaughran has a more active and literary response, one much more befitting an indie author. He writes:

This gets to the heart of Morrison’s misconception of how self-publishers use social media. It’s not about selling books, it’s about making connections. The only thing that has ever really sold books is word-of-mouth.

The difference today is that social media can act as an accelerant to the spreading of that “word.” If a reader discovers a book they enjoyed (whether self-published or not) they don’t have to wait until they meet somebody in person to recommend it to them. They can email their friends, blog about it, post it to Facebook, or tweet it (reaching all their friends in less time than it takes to meet one of them for coffee).

Note: I said “a reader” not the author. If you are friends with somebody, and trust their taste in books, you will place value in their recommendations. What happens with social media is that such recommendations can spread much more efficiently.

Authors – whether self-published or not – who attempt to mimic this organic process through relentless tweeting about their own work will soon find that such an approach is ineffective (and counterproductive).

That doesn’t mean that authors don’t do it. You only need to log on to Twitter and Facebook to see plenty of “buy my book” spam.

The problem for Morrison’s argument is that he (a) assumes that all self-publishers use social media in this way and (b) assumes that such marketing is integral to self-publishers’ sales/marketing strategies; neither claim bears any resemblance to reality. In fact, I would wager that there is an inverse relationship between a self-publisher’s sales and the amount of “buy my book” spam they emit.

Precisely! Growing a readership is about connecting with people, as Seth Godin says, it is all about building a tribe. And who wouldn't want to be part of a tribe? I'm part of many tribes/communities.

As David writes:

I don’t relentlessly tweet about my work. I announce a new release, or a special sale, and I might point my followers towards a nice review now and then – but that’s about it.

The rest of my time on Twitter or Facebook is spent connecting with people – hashing out the issues of the day, making friends, joking, sharing advice, seeking help, getting to know each other; you know, just like meeting people in real life.

David mentions that well-known self publisher Joanna Penn has a rule-of-thumb. 80% of the time don't say anything about what you're selling. Less than 20% of your social media time should be taken up with promoting your products.

That seems about right to me. By the way, if you haven't taken a look at Joanna's website, it is full of great articles. You can visit her here: http://www.thecreativepenn.com/

Further reading:
- The Harlequin Class Action Lawsuit Explained
- Helping Writers De-Stress: Meditation Apps
- Writer Beware: Outskirts Press

Photo credit: Alaskan Dude

Indie Authors: Bad Sales? Redo Your Cover!

If you're approaching cover design for the first time, or your book sales are slumping, here are five ways your cover can help sell your book:

1) BIG Author Name
Make sure people can see your name, even on the thumbnail of your cover.

2) Genre Appropriate Cover
Make sure your cover clearly indicates the genre of the story you've written (e.g., sci-fi, western, romance, and so on). DWS writes:

... [C]overs need to scream genre. For example, I had a book I did called “On Top of the Dead” which was a pure science fiction story with aliens and everything. So what did I do to make sure it didn’t sell?  I put the lower half of a dead body in a street on the cover, making it look like a literary mystery. And, of course, it didn’t sell much. I just redid the cover putting alien spaceships hovering over New York City on the cover instead. Duh…

3) Write A Fantastic Blurb
a. Tell your reader what your story is about
Your readers want to know what your book is about, not about the events in the book itself.

I'm re-watching Lord of the Rings. Everyone knows the tag line for this series: Frodo must overcome countless obstacles to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom.

Actually, I just looked it up and here's the official tag line:

An innocent hobbit of The Shire journeys with eight companions to the fires of Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring and the dark lord Sauron forever. 

Here's my take on this. What you talk about in your blurb, your tag line, is the goal, what the book(s) is all about. The blurb isn't the place to talk about Frodo's stay at the Prancing Pony, or meeting Bilbo in Rivendell or Gandalf's amazing scene with the Balrog ("Thou shalt not pass!"). No. It is the place to tell your readers what your story is all about. What are the stakes?

That's one point. Another is:

b. Avoid passive verbs
Avoid them in your blurb and in your writing in general. DWS writes:

[W]hen I write a blurb, I ask myself what would make a reader buy this book? But if you use nothing but passive voice, the reader will automatically think your book is dull and never open it to the sample.

4) Use Common Themes
Have all your book covers for a series look similar and have all your book covers in a certain genre look similar. How do you do this?

- Use the same Name/Pen Name. One of my writer friends has one name for the first book in her series and another, a pen name, for the last two. My friend isn't indie published, a traditional publisher insisted she change names in the middle of the series and then didn't re-issue her first book! That is an extreme example, but try and use the same name for all your novels in the same genre so readers can find your books.

- Use the same font. Make the title font the same for all books in a series.

For instance, here are a few covers from Kim Harrison's Hollows series:

The font does differ slightly from book to book, but there is always a young woman on the front cover and you can never quite see her face. The look and feel of the cover is largely the same from book to book and her name is always pominent.

Here are two of the covers from Kim Harrison's paranormal series for teens:

These books are a better example of what DWS is saying. Look at the title fonts, they're identical AND perfect for the genre. Same model, different poses, subtle difference in the background color, but they are both pastels. Most important, the author's name is clearly visible.

5) Professional Look And Feel
Here are DWS's pointers:

a. Fonts: Make sure you can see them easily, which means they should contrast with the background.
b. BIG author name easily readable even in the thumbnail.
c. Small text near the authors name "such as 'Author of (another book title).'"
d. Put your tag line on the front of your book.
Here's an example:

I don't know if that picture is high resolution enough for you to see, but DWS's tag line is, "A Step-by-Step guide to Publishing Your Own Books". Perfect. Now you know what the books is about and why you should buy it. By the way, Dean's book is available on Amazon.com and well worth the read.

e. The cover art must be genre appropriate, must look good as a thumbnail, and go well with the font you've chosen.

All the information in this post comes from Dean Wesley Smith's article, The New World: Publishing: Killing Your Sales One Shot at a Time, and is well worth the read.

I'd like to add one more thing. When you're starting to put your cover together, when you're still in the 'getting ideas' stage, look at the covers of other books in your genre, especially those that are like your book. Make a list of 5 or 6. You don't want your cover to be too different from these because you want to tell your readers that if they buy your book that they will get a similar story.

Similar but unique! :p But that's a topic for another post.

I hope you read DWS's article, it's great. He's been doing this for decades and knows what he's talking about.

Cheers and good writing!

Other articles:
- Writers & Blogging: Should You Host Your Own Blog?
- Twylah: Turn Your Tweets Into A Blog
- How To Build A Platform: Why Every Writer Needs A Website

Photo credit: Excellent Book Covers and Paperbacks

Amazon UK: Ebooks Are Outselling Paper Books

The Jetsons

From TheGuardian:

Amazon said ... customers are now buying more ebooks than all hardcovers and paperbacks combined. ... [S]ince the start of 2012, for every 100 hardback and paperback books sold on its site, customers downloaded 114 ebooks. Amazon said the figures included sales of printed books which did not have Kindle editions, but excluded free ebooks. (TheGuardian, Kindle ebook sales have overtaken Amazon print sales)

But that's not all:

The company said ... British Kindle users were buying four times as many books as they were prior to owning a Kindle, a trend it described as a renaissance of reading. (TheGuardian, Kindle ebook sales have overtaken Amazon print sales)

That's why Amazon can sell it's ebook readers at a loss. And I'm betting people use them to buy a whole lot more than books.

The World Has Changed
80 percent of the billboards I saw yesterday were for various brands of cell phones, and every single add I saw displayed a domain name. I remember a time when the average person wouldn't have known what to do with a domain name or URL.

The digital revolution has radically changed the world we live in, how much further is it going to go? Are we, eventually, going to order everything from online sites like Amazon? Will stores evolve into storefronts only? When I bought my MacBook Air I was surprised to learn I couldn't have it shipped to my local Apple store, nor could I return my drive there, although the Apple associates were very nice and helped me ship it back free of charge.

Some have envisioned a world where bookstores are subsidized by publishers and kept as storefronts. You wouldn't be able to bring books home from the storefront. You would visit the storefront, browse the books, make your selections, order them online and have them delivered to your home (or wherever). Or your could buy the ebook and have it delivered instantly.

What do you think? Which would you prefer, store or storefront?


Further reading:
- Penelope Trunk Discusses Time Management
- How To Sell 100 Books Per Day: 6 Things You Need To Do
- Writers: Register Your United States Copyright

Photo credit: Wikipedia

J.K. Rowling's Next Book, The Casual Vacancy, On Sale Sept 27, 2012

J.K. Rowling's next book, The Casual Vacancy, will be released at 8:00 am British Summer Time, so no midnight release and attendant parties as with her Harry Potter books.

The Casual Vacancy seems quite the departure from her previous work; for starters, it was written for adults and is described as "blackly comic". Here is how her publisher, Little Brown Book Group, describes it:

When Barry Fairbrother dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little town of Pagford is left in shock. Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty facade is a town at war. Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils…Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations? (Wikipedia, The Casual Vacancy)

J.K. Rowling is a marvelous writer and I admire her striking out into a different area. I expect The Casual Vacancy will be every bit as well written and engaging as her Harry Potter books. I'm looking forward to reading it.

Other reading:
- 10 Tips For Decluttering Your Life and Increasing Creativity
- The Lawsuit Against Harlequin In Plain English
- Ripley Patton: The Self-Validated Writer

50 Shades Trilogy Has Outsold Harry Potter on Amazon UK

Wow! That's when you know you're popular. Apparently in only 4 months EL James has become Amazon UK's biggest selling author OF ALL TIME. Again, wow.

And to think that E.L. James started out as a self published author. Yep, I'm smiling.

E L James Fifty Shades trilogy has out-sold J K Rowling’s seven-book Harry Potter series on Amazon in the UK, the online retailer has announced.

Although James’ erotica books have only been on sale since March 2012, they have sold over four million copies in print and digital, making James the bestselling author ever on Amazon in the UK.

Rowling’s final book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, is being outsold by the first book in the James trilogy, Fifty Shades of Grey, by more than two to one.

To read the entire article click here: James 'has outsold Potter' on Amazon UK.

Related articles:
- Fifty Shades of Grey - Oh My!
- 50 Shades Of Alice In Wonderland: Another Indie Success Story
- 19 Ways To Grow Your Twitter Following


Photo credit: theilr

10 Tips For Decluttering Your Life and Increasing Creativity

I don't know about you, but my life is too cluttered with things I never use that get underfoot.

Part of the problem is I try and see the usefulness in everything; it seems rude to say to the cardboard packing case my wonderful new computer came in: You are no longer useful to me, begone! I mean, with the right tablecloth, perhaps a few flowers, it could be a fashionable side-table. Maybe. (Sometimes creativity can really come back to bite one in the posterior.)

The following tips for decluttering your life and channeling your energy in creative yet productive ways are from Sara Rauch.

1. Say no.

To invitations and purchases, to guilt about disappointing others and items you don’t need. We all have our weaknesses—mine is shoes, my partner’s is helping people—but learning to say no, is really the first step in simplifying your way back to creativity. It isn’t selfish to honor your creative self; it’s self-care.

.  .  .  .

3. Keep the editor away.

The editor has her place in creative “work”—like when I write book reviews or polish stories for publication—but she has no place in the creative sphere. Figure out a way to keep her busy or send her packing, and only call on her when her not-picky voice might actually be useful.

.  .  .  .

5. Expect and embrace imperfection.

Perfection is creativity’s enemy.

.  .  .  .

8. Keep it simple.

Don’t run out and buy anything you think you need to be creative. Creativity isn’t about items—though you may need brushes or a pencil or paper—it’s about the act. Start small, start with what you have.

.  .  .  .

10. Make it a routine.

This might sound anathema to creativity—it’s all about inspiration right?—but it’s actually the key. The grass doesn’t get green from the occasional heavy watering. It gets green from regular tending.
Creativity is the same: Attend to it everyday—the results are worth the effort.

I don't want to list all of Sara Rauch's tips so I've only given 5 here, the rest are listed in her excellent blog post: 10 Tips to Nurture Your Creative Life: Making Time and Space. Thanks to C.G. Cameron for the tip!

Other reading:
- Penelope Trunk Discusses Time Management
- Writers & Blogging: Should You Host Your Own Blog?
- How To Sell 100 Books Per Day: 6 Things You Need To Do

Photo credit: Rebeca Stovall

Non-Compete Clauses And A Writers' Career

Kris Rusch on non-compete clauses:

In reality, it’s a “do-not-do-business-without-our-permission” clause.

I did write about this in last year’s article, but I was a bit more lenient toward publishers than I am now. What changed? I certainly didn’t. I believe that writers should protect their rights as much as possible.

What changed is this: publishers have started requiring non-compete clauses in almost all of their contracts, and are making those clauses a deal breaker from the publisher’s side. In other words, the publisher will cancel the deal if you do not sign a non-compete.  The choice you are given is this: either you let the publisher control your entire career just because you sold that publisher one book for $5000 or you walk.

If that’s the choice you’re given, walk. Hell, run.

You can read the rest of Kris' article here: The Future And Balance (Deal Breakers 2012).

If you're thinking about signing a book contract I recommend that you get an IP attorney to look it over.

Other articles:
- 99Designs.com: How I Solved My Book Cover Dilemma, and How You Can Too
- Derek Haines: Are Free Ebooks A Good Marketing Strategy?
- 50 Shades Of Alice In Wonderland: Another Indie Success Story

Photo credit