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Category: Self-publishing

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Published on 2 Comments on The Goodreads Revelation

Like many writers, the lion's share of my marketing efforts is directed at Facebook and Twitter. But the focal point of my recent engagement efforts has added a third leg to the marketing stool: Goodreads. It's not as if I've mastered the other two - I certainly haven't. But when another writer friend mentioned I hadn't set up an author presence on GR (thanks, Matt!), I did some checking and realized I was overlooking an important piece of the marketing puzzle.

As an avid reader, I've been enjoying Goodreads for years. It's a great way to organize reading lists and find book recommendations. Turns out it's also a great way to network with other readers. More readers mean more reviews. More reviews (even if they're not five stars) are better than no reviews.

In the process of setting up my author presence there, I discovered I had never invited my Facebook and Twitter friends to befriend me on Goodreads as well. This was a simple click that grew my GR friends from 60 or so to 350+ and counting. Investigating some of these new GR friends' profiles, reaching out via GR's email function, and joining special interest groups has already led me to some wonderfully generous authors who have shared some great tips with me, like Susan May. Thanks to her cogent explanation of how and why to use Goodreads, I am committed to making GR an equal partner in my social networking efforts.

By now I hope I've convinced you to include Goodreads in your engagement strategy. How much time, you may be wondering? On a recent day, this is how I spent the time I apportioned to marketing/platform:

  • I selected a page of Goodreads friends, around 30 names or so.
  • I clicked on each name to view their profile. 
  • I reached out via GR and introduced myself. 
  • If they had written any books, I selected at least one as Want To Read. 
  • I noted their Twitter handle and made sure I was following them. 
  • Ditto their Facebook page. 
  • If they had a website, I visited it. 
  • If they had a blog, I read a few posts and commented if I had something relevant to say. 
  • I subscribed to their website. 
  • I shared any posts I thought fit into my platform. 

This cost me nothing in actual dollars and cents, and took about one hour of my time. With over 300 friends on Goodreads, working through one page of friends per day, I estimate it will take about two weeks to complete this project. Once I'm caught up, I hope to stay current as I add friends, rather than doing them in batches.

If there are any programs or apps out there that will show me the social media info of people I already follow on Goodreads or Facebook or Twitter, please let me know what they are. I know you can invite FB and Twitter friends to GR, but I don't know of any way to do the reverse other than manually.

Let me digress (and it just wouldn't be one of my blog posts if I didn't digress, now would it?) and thank all of you who place your social networking gadgets in a prominent place near the top of your website. Hunting and gathering for links is the number one time waster in this whole platform/engagement endeavor. I can't tell you how many times I had to go searching manually for authors' Facebook pages because there was no indication on their website they the had ever heard of FB, much less set up a page there. But when I clicked over to Facebook on my own, just to double check, and typed in the author's name in the FB search bar, lo and behold! There was a perfectly nice FB page, all up to date with current posts and lots of likes and everything, just waiting to be discovered. People, for the love of all that is holy, please keep your websites updated with live links. If I hadn't been in OCD mode, bound and determined to track them down, I would have done the BOTH and zoomed on to the next author's site. That is all.

The Brushing Of The Hands (BOTH)

Being engaged is a good feeling. Human interaction can be a lot of work, but also very gratifying. I'm enjoying working with Goodreads. It's a nice change of pace from FB and Twitter, which, let's face it, can be something of a cricket echo chamber. And here's the requisite CTA: I hope you will take a minute and follow me on Goodreads. I follow back.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed reading this, I hope you'll take a minute to subscribe to my newsletter.

6

Published on 6 Comments on Want Writing Success? Just Push That Button

Here at the Johnston household, we're beginning Week 5(!!) of mostly total self-isolation (by choice; no health issues, thank dog) during the Covid-19 kerfuffle. Some of us are losing our minds (yes, extroverts, I'm looking at you). Others are making hay while the sun shines, baby! I've finished the first draft of the second book in my current WIP trilogy, and have begun Janice Hardy's most excellent 31-day DIY revision workshop. I've used it before and highly recommend.

Image by @clarktibbs via Unsplash

If you're having trouble getting inspired because of all the other craziness going on, I feel ya. Here's a handy trick I use when I'm having trouble getting motivated to write: nothing brings me out of a writing funk like a great success story. Specifically, a writing success story.

I've put a few of my favorites together for you. There's a variety of genres here, but they have a few things in common - not the least of which is BIC time (Butt In Chair). So what are we waiting for? Read this, get inspired, and get busy.

Fantasy

Amanda Hocking - my favorite line from Ms. Hocking's experiences: she wrote constantly, took writing classes, and marketed her booty off, 'only to be rejected until she was already a self-made millionaire'. The self-made millionaire part resulted from her decision to e-publish her stories. They have since been purchased by St. Martin's Press and are available in traditional paper format as well.

Kid Lit

Rachel Renee Russell - Russell began writing in middle school but gave up her dream after being told by a writing class teacher she had no talent. She took his advice, got a law degree, raised a family. But after a mid-life dumping by her (now ex-) husband, she returned to her passion and submitted a manuscript. Bam! The Dork Diaries were born (Simon & Schuster).

WhoDunnit

Kerry Wilkinson - perhaps the most nonchalant backstory ever. Wilkinson's detective story e-books topped Amazon's e-book sales for 2011. Wilkinson claims he simply turned 30 and decided to do something with his life, so he wrote a story. After he finished the story he noticed a 'publish your book with us' button on his computer screen, so he pushed it. And the rest is hi$tory. Now why didn't I think of that?

Romantic Suspense

My favorite part of this podcast is at about the 41' mark where Marie Force talks about the difference switching to indie publishing made for her. 80,000 books sold. In ONE YEAR, people! Cha-CHING!

Here's hoping you are making the best use of the unexpected excess time you may or may not have on your hands now that most of us are doing our part to battle Covid-19 by staying at home as much as possible. Your Future Self will thank you.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, I hope you'll take a minute to subscribe to my blog (the subscribe box is near the top of the right sidebar).

Published on Leave a comment on And The Winner Is: MailChimp

A few posts ago I mentioned one of the things I was slowly coming around to (against my better judgment) was reverting to email as a communications tool. I prefer social media, but the numbers don't lie - more interaction occurs from email than just about any other online tool, even Facebook.

I am of an age that email is a faithful companion. I don't mind going back to it if it means improving communications. I'm on the fence about it mainly because I don't like having an overstuffed inbox myself and am constantly looking for ways to cut down on receiving them. Whenever I see advice urging us to use email more as part of our branding/marketing, I want to say, 'Didn't you get the email? People HATE email!' Maybe I'm in the minority, so I'm willing to keep an open mind.

The two email managers I tried out were FlashIssue and MailChimp. I chose them mainly because they offer free versions. In addition, I wanted to spruce up the weekly email into a more professional-looking newsletter.

Please note:  features may have changed between the time I tried these products and the publication of this post.

FlashIssue
FlashIssue is an app that works within my Gmail program. Once installed, it appears as one of the mail folders. When you want to send a group email, you just click on the FlashIssue folder. A screen within Gmail opens with all the gadgets you need to create or replicate a quality newsletter.

FlashIssue has several templates to get the process started. You can move bits around, play with fonts, add photos, and so forth. I also really like the feature of clipping articles as you browse the Internet, then saving them for plugging them into a future newsletter. Once plugged in, you get a nice-looking preview of the linked article including a photo if the article has one. FlashIssue also makes it easy to create and manage email lists, including hints on how to avoid spam filters. And of course you can schedule emails in advance.

However. A couple of weeks into using and enjoying FlashIssue, I got the dreaded warning that my free period was up and it was time to start paying for the service. That means it's time to start looking for another program!

MailChimp
MailChimp is a standalone program. It had more of a learning curve. I had to import or input my contacts. There are more templates to choose from. They also offer a scheduling feature in the free version. Unfortunately it doesn't have the cool web clipping feature, or if it does, I haven't discovered it yet - it may be offered in a paid version. However, it does have some amazing analytics. I know when someone opens their weekly email. I know when they unsubscribe. I  know exactly what percentage gets opened each week (around 50%). I know when emails bounce. I know when I have entered a duplicate contact. It is really quite amazing considering I have the free version.

Both programs create a much more polished newsletter than my amateurish emails. And I like using a program that helps me stay out of the spam filters. If FlashIssue had a truly free version, I would probably still be using it. But MailChimp just feels more solid and reliable, so I am glad I was motivated to look beyond FlashIssue. Plus, I love the little Rock On! graphic whenever I schedule a newsletter. It's the little things.

Now that I have the means to create some regular emails, on to generating the content that will attract subscribers. Who wants to be first?

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, I hope you'll take a minute and subscribe to my email list.

Published on Leave a comment on It’s Official: I’m Engaged

After my baby was born, I decided to get engaged.

My baby.

Before you start your pearl-clutching, let me explain. Since it should be obvious to all that I'm far too old to reproduce biologically (thank the heavens), the 'baby' I am referring to is my first self-published book. And since it's self-published, that means I don't get the writer's version of maternity leave - that post-publication downtime when I toss my working files into a drawer and do that wonderfully evocative brushing-of-the-hands gesture (aka the BOTH). Nope. As with producing a human baby, the birthday is only the beginning. Now it's time to feed and nurture and protect my literary offspring forever and ever amen, otherwise known in the writing biz as Marketing.

Which brings us to my engagement.

You may have heard something about building a platform to help you market your book. I like to think of the platform as a PR machine built of the writer, by the writer, for the writer. It's about networking and getting your name out there and making connections. There's a tremendous amount of marketing advice out there for newbie self-publishers. I'm drinking at the fire hydrant of information daily, trying not to drown in the process.

Marketing your book is not just about creating a presence on Facebook and Twitter and Blogger and what have you. It needs to be a two-way street. It needs to be give and take. To have a meaningful and productive marketing experience, you must Engage.

The Brushing Of The Hands (BOTH)

Think of it this way. Imagine attending a gathering, or party, or convention, or other function where you will have the opportunity to interact with people in person and it is appropriate for you to promote your book in the process. Marketing is hiring someone to walk around the event wearing a sandwich board with a picture of your book on it. Engagement is you, walking around, shaking hands and talking to people about lots of things - their book, your book, your kids, the weather, how cool it is you both used to live in Albuquerque, how the addition of pumpkin flavor to craft beer is a sign of the apocalypse, and so forth.

I imagine at this point you are trembling with trepidation, because you know what this means. If you are to have meaningful engagement, it's going to take some time. Probably time you don't feel like you have. You might be wondering, why can't I just set up Hootsuite to blast out my perfectly worded Tweet splash every twenty-three minutes ad infinitum until I sell a thousand copies so I can do the BOTH, and leave it at that? I suppose you could. From the looks of my Twitter feed, many of you have chosen to do exactly that. I think of this marketing strategy as the used car commercials of the writing world. And of course that's what programs like JustUnfollow are for.

As in real life, true engagement takes a whole 'nother level of commitment. You have to buy the flowers and remember the birthdays and watch television programs together that you would never otherwise watch. You have to subscribe to blogs and comment on posts. You have to share and Like and retweet and read and review.

Primarily I use Twitter, Facebook and more recently Instagram for engagement. I'm learning to use them in concert. For example, use the handy feature that automagically invites friends and followers from other social networks as well as your email contacts. This is a great way to broaden your outreach, but is a little too sterile to qualify as engagement. You have to take it a few steps further. Once you have built up your friends/followers, reach out to them individually. Visit their profile and spend some time scrolling through. If you see something that genuinely interests you, say so. If it's worth a share or a retweet, do it. Here's some examples of how to take your engagement level from *yawn* to Yowza!

Facebook

  • Ho Hum: hit the Like button
  • Passable: hit the Like button and leave a comment
  • Next Level: hit the Like button, leave a comment, and share it publicly to your page

Twitter

  • Ho Hum: mark a tweet as Favorite
  • Passable: Retweet
  • Next Level: Retweet with a comment and/or reply to the sender to start a conversation

Instagram

  • Ho Hum: add your FB and Twitter friends/followers on IG
  • Passable: Like the posts you feel a genuine connection with
  • Next Level: comment organically on posts that resonate with you; tag a friend/follower in the comment if applicable; use an app like Repost to share

A word to my fellow introverts who are viewing this engagement thing as about as enjoyable as being forced to make small talk with the strangers at your table when you're a plus-one wedding guest: this too shall pass. Sure, you may get ignored. So what? Wouldn't be the first time, would it? But as the great Wayne Gretzky says, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Put yourself out there, start engaging, and I guarantee you the positive results will far outweigh the negative.  It won't be long before you, too, will start to feel fully engaged.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, I hope you'll take a minute and subscribe to my email list.

6

Published on 6 Comments on It’s Self-Published, And It’s Spectacular

Drum roll, please: on July 17, 2015, I achieved a personal goal by a) completing my first fiction manuscript, and b) successfully navigating the self-publishing process.

Both are goals I have been working toward for some time. Now that I see how the process works, I have several more works in progress that can hit the e-shelves as soon as I finish them off. As a self-publishing newbie, I thought I would share my experience with the nuts and bolts of it for those of you who are considering doing the same.

Composition

I have been working on this book for a shamefully long time. Originally I began composition using Word 97. I transitioned to OpenOffice, which also worked great. I had a short-lived experience with Google Docs which I don't recommend for longer documents. Let's call that a learning experience aka FAIL. No harm done, thank goodness - I kept the .doc file somewhere safe and was easily able to go back to using it.

Toward the end of the Dala project, I saw some references to the Scrivener word processing product. Specifically I was interested in what several users had to say about the ease of converting your manuscript to a format used by the major e-book publishers. I also liked some of its organizational features. Long story short, I bought it and used it and love it. I run it on a PC, so it's not even running full bore (apparently it works best on Mac products) and I really enjoy using it. Although - full disclosure: I am a computer nerd and enjoy the inevitable little puzzles and problems that come up from time to time. The compilation process was no exception. If you don't enjoy troubleshooting computer programs, you may find a few bumps in the road when it comes time to publish. But I think you might experience that regardless of whether you have Scrivener compile your file or let the e-pub sites do it for you.

Editing

I have seen all the advice out there to hire out the editing. I was very tempted to do so, and may do so in future if budget allows.  But as luck would have it, Janice Hardy's Fiction University was running her 30-day editing series around the time I was ready to edit. As a devout DIY-er, I jumped on board. If only I could have completed the job in 30 days! It was a very grueling couple of months, not gonna lie. I have much to learn on the grand concepts of writing such as plot development and story arc. If I ever hire an editor, that's what I will be looking for help with. But I have a decent grasp of grammar and spelling. Couple that with spell checking technology and St. Janice, and I felt confident my manuscript was in pretty good shape when I pushed the Publish button - as good or better than many I have seen.

The Cover

I have also seen some wonderful advice regarding cover design. I will definitely be applying it to my next project which at present has absolutely no concept for a cover. I especially like this site for DIY designs. But some time ago I happened upon the most adorable piece of art on Etsy that I thought perfectly evoked the tone of The Dala Horse. I contacted the artist, bought the piece, and secured her gracious permission to use it on the cover. I am very happy with the look and really never considered using anything else. I do need to improve my photo editing skills as the image looks a little grainy depending on what I am using to view it.

UPDATE: I could've edited the above paragraph to reflect subsequent changes to my viewpoint on the subject of covers. But I left it here as a stark reminder of what a doofus I was early in my self-pub journey. This post gives the humbling details of the rest of the story about my book's cover.

Publishing

At last the finish line came into view and I started investigating the various self-publishing outlets. I found this article to be particularly helpful, and chose to go with Kindle Direct. It costs nothing up front, it pays well, and the publishing process was fairly straightforward. Initially, Dala was only available as an e-book. Eventually I added a paperback version via Createspace as well as an audio book via ACX.

Marketing

Part of the reason it has taken me so long to get this project completed is that I allowed myself to use 'building a platform' as an excuse not to work on my manuscript. I wouldn't say a platform is a waste of time, exactly, until I read this eye-opening article by C. S. Lakin about genre vs. platform. I did purchase KDSpy and you better believe I have already used it to confirm my next project will be in a little better position to market itself when it comes out later this year. Yes, you read that correctly: market itself.

I haven't completely abandoned my so-called platform. This website + blog, obvs. I am a Twitterholic. I love the advice on how to use Pinterest to complement your book with lots of fun visuals. After much back-and-forth, I set up a separate author Page on Facebook and am actually enjoying working with it as a marketing tool. I also enjoy Instagram.

Ephemera

I had a really hard time deciding when to stop the editing and just publish the damn thing. I still have days when something occurs to me that I would like to change or check on. The nice thing about e-publishing is that if it were a glaring error, I could fix it and upload a new version. But I am resisting tinkering with anything now unless it is something ridiculously embarrassing. It's sort of like the writer's version of empty nest - it feels weird when that part of your life is over, but also very satisfying.

Now that The Dala Horse is live on Kindle,  that's by no means the end of the project. As a self-published author, I am also responsible for marketing, marketing, and more marketing. I spend mornings on straight-up marketing (via social networking, mostly) and brainstorming ideas for more marketing. Afternoons are devoted to the new project and the occasional blog post. The two main takeaways from Dala that I am applying to the new project are story structuring/scene maintenance on the front end, which I learned in Janice Hardy's editing program, and the importance of genre positioning (on Kindle, anyway) learned from C. S. Lakin's article above. These two elements combined should make for a smoother and more successful outcome on my next self-pub.

Note: I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

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Published on Leave a comment on The Oversight Committee

It's all about that link

So I'm minding my own business, happy to be through with at least one of my writing projects and moving forward with the next. As per my usual, every evening before I go to sleep, I read. Lately I've been reading more e-books by self-published authors. I'm doing this to improve networking, write some reviews, and hope my fellow authors return the favor.

And this is how I stumbled upon some previously overlooked features of the e-book format itself. I realized I had omitted an important part of the book. It wasn't one of Campbell's famous 12 stages of the Hero's Journey. No, I had those covered. It was something one could argue was equally important to the success of my book: the end matter. It was a little skimpy. I had some end matter, just not enough and not the right kind.

My book is a middle grade reader, a chapter book for older elementary students. I included a glossary of the Norwegian words that turn up in the book. I also included a discussion guide for teachers or parents. I had the requisite title page, and a throwback from my grad school days, a bibliography. So far, so good. But as I read Susan May's Deadly Messengers, and later, this post by Joel Friedlander on the Book Designer blog, I realized I had overlooked some equally important end matter.

It's all about the format, you see. A traditionally published book, a paper book, could easily still contain this information I initially omitted. But in an e-book, the links are live, just sitting there waiting to be clicked upon, thus making the process of connecting reader with author, of promoting and reviewing said book, ever so much easier. You can thank the reader and ask them to 'click here' to review your book. You can invite them to visit your website and subscribe to your email list. You can meet on Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest or whatever else floats your social networking boat.

Insert large sigh and groan here. I wasn't looking forward to going through Scrivener's Compile process again. I hated the idea that some books had already been purchased and the buyers may never notice the update. But I knew in my heart it must be done.

That screen shot up there is a little small, so let me 'splain to you what I added to the end matter. It wasn't a whole lot. Took me part of an afternoon.

  • One page giving some details about how I came to write the book. Ms. May and many other authors included this. I think it gives a nice personal touch.
  • One page thanking the reader for their purchase and outlining all the various ways they can connect with me. In my case, I gave them my website as well as email address. I reminded them to subscribe to my blog if they liked. I included a link to my Facebook and Twitter pages. Last but certainly not least, I included direct links to Amazon and Goodreads for both my author page as well as where to leave a review.

Most of these links I grabbed by visiting my home page at my website/Facebook/Twitter account, then copying and pasting the URL from the URL bar in my browser. The review links at Amazon took a little more doing. If you have trouble getting this right after you read the Friedlander article, hit me up and I will see if I can help. One thing I did differently from the article: they had some pretty sweet icons for the various social networks that they used for the link, rather than a hyperlink associated with some plain text. I fooled around with that for a while, but I had a hard time finding the size and look of the icons I wanted to use. Plus, I didn't want to overload my project with graphics and as a consequence possibly earn less money per sale.

Now, I know many e-books will take you directly to a review page as soon as you finish them. But I personally have never taken the time to write the review immediately upon completion of the book. I like to ponder on it for a while first. So I think it's nice to have these links available in the end matter for convenience if a reader wants to leave a review in future. Handy tip from Mark Dawson: make sure your review link URL takes them right to the review page, not just your book sales page. Sometimes readers aren't clear on exactly what to click on to leave a review.

I've set up these extra documents as templates in Scrivener so that I won't make the same mistake in my future projects. It's impossible to know if they'll actually result in additional clicks. But I feel better knowing they're included.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, I hope you'll take a minute and subscribe to my email list.

Published on Leave a comment on November News: NaNo!

cautionnanoFor many people, mention 'November' and their faces light up with thoughts of juicy turkey dinners, splurge desserts, warm toddies by the fireplace, football, family, falling leaves, and many other sensory delights.  But if you get a reaction more similar to PTSD, or having been tasered, that person is probably a writer.

November is known to many aspiring as well as established writers for its 50,000 word National Novel Writing Month challenge, or NaNoWriMo.  If 50,000 words sounds like a lot to you, but you're thinking it must be a snap for writers, think again. It's the writing equivalent of a marathon. It takes preparation and skill, and a lot of folks who start, don't finish.

I've done NaNo several times. I've completed, or 'won', as they say, more often than not. I have a hard time equating the dumpster fire manuscript I've created with 'winning'. I prefer the term 'survived'.

As with marathons, one wonders: if it's so unpleasant, why do it? For similar reasons, I suppose. I like a challenge. I do it to improve my skills. And even if my project is light years from being ready for publication, it's a great 50,000 word start.

Every year, I swear I will plan better before the start. I haven't done very well with that. Massive procrastinator, massive pantser. Funny how those things tend to go together! But I've taken a run at an outline this year. I will be drafting the third book in a trilogy, so I have a better idea of story, characters, and so forth, than I usually do. I'm actually looking forward to getting started.

Many participants claw their way to December 1, gasping for a break, and end up not writing anything else for months. Totally understandable. I guess since I've survived NaNo so many times, I've grown some writing scar tissue. I no longer feel the need to take a big break. Although it is outstanding to not compulsively check word counts every five minutes once December rolls around! I plan on spending December and January editing the three books. I want to have the first book self-published by my birthday, which is the end of February. That will be my gift to myself.  It's a little ambitious to get them edited that quickly. And I will also need some cover art. But that's the plan.

Anyone else out there crazy enough to try NaNo this year? My NaNo user name is DoFo. Look me up and add me as a Buddy, and I'll do the same. Misery loves company.

Published on Leave a comment on Self-pubbed, and now self-hosted

Little by little, I am evaluating the Smaug's hoard of self-publishing advice out there in the wide world and cherry-picking the tips that make sense (to me, at least).  I'm finally getting around to transitioning from Blogger to self-hosting. I had no beef with Blogger. It just seems the logical next step in my journey as a self-published author to graduate to self-hosting as well.

Here's the upshot: I watched Jane Friedman's video on how to transition to self-hosting and followed her instructions. Unfortunately, a few things have changed in the process since she posted the video, and I wish I had a take-back on one or two of the steps that caused me some angst before they sorted themselves out. The main thing you might want to consider is to just point your domain to Bluehost instead of transferring it. In hindsight, it seems a little easier. But I wanted to be free and clear of Go Daddy, where my domain had originated many years ago, because the whole elephant hunting thing really rankled and I was looking for an excuse to stop doing business with them. I won't bore you with the tech nerd details, but if you want those details, reach out to me in the comments.

I'm still in the honeymoon phase of learning a new interface. I've always been a DIY fiend and tinkering around with customizing this site is loads of fun for me. But I need to set some boundaries on the tinkering since November is fast approaching and I will be participating in NaNoWriMo again. I expect I will futz around with the theme options indefinitely. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Also if you have any comments about your experience with Bluehost or WordPress, chime in. I look forward to hearing from you.