NaNoWriMo - You are a fickle, fickle, whore. And so is your mother.

I was going to say bitch in the title but I'm trying to keep this blog PG.  Quick update on my writing this month – it is sucking.  Literally.  It is sucking the life right out of me.  Why is one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening so hard?  I'll tell you why – because if you don't accomplish it, you fall behind very quickly.  Then you begin to question your very skills as a writer, and motivation is fleeting.  The first week went well, the second week – not so much.  A few things I have definitely learned:

1 – The month of October needs to be WAY busier than the month of November.  Meaning, October should be filled with researching, planning and plotting.  It is fine if you write well on a whim, but it is soooo, soooo necessary to have a plan for when your muse fails you.  Additionally, if you already have books out, October should be spent pre-marketing for November.  This means blog posts, interviews, giveaways and blog hops all planned in advance so it is a quick copy and paste exercise in November, allowing you to return to your wonderful cocoon-like writing world.

2 – They should shut down Twitter AND Facebook for the month of November.  Unless you are counting your tweets and posts toward your 50,000 word goal, which I do.  The trick to writing is setting aside time, but the secret to productive writing is turning off all the gadgets during your time.  I firmly believe there are little 'time' demons running around, that have some sort of agenda against NaNoWriMo, who cause your phone to buzz when someone @mentions you on Twitter or makes the little red circle next to the Goodreads mail icon to pop up.  In fact, I may write a book about these demons.  The nemesis of whom, will be the angels sending e-mail notifications alerting you someone has bought your book on Smashwords.  Those are interruptions I welcome. 

3 – December is going to suck worse than November.  I am not looking forward to the many hours ahead of reviewing, editing and revising the crap I am producing.  But, I will march on, and at least turn it into polished crap.  Then my editor and critique group will march on and turn it into the most wonderful piece of writing forever and ever.  Well, maybe not forever.  Forever is a long time and I just can't be sure.

4 – Hate mail works!  For some reason, giving myself an outlet to spew curse words at NaNoWriMo about how much this sucks, has allowed me to break though that writer's block.  I was able to churn out this post in less than 10 minutes.  Ain't blogs grand?

So my goals for the third week?  Catch up on my goals for the second week.  And for the fourth week?  This will be the week I use writing as an excuse to avoid holiday get-togethers with my in-laws as much as possible.  I take what I said about you back, NaNoWriMo, perhaps you aren't so bad after all.  Are we still friends?  No?  Fine - you take the bed tonight.  I have writing to do anyway.  

And now I can add another 558 words toward my 50,000.  Score!

Pitch-Slapped, yay.....

Finally got some attention from sending out review requests.  Granted, it wasn’t the kind I was hoping for but I’ll take it.  At this point I’m so starved for attention I would even attend a book-burning of my own book – which would be rather expensive considering it is an ebook.   Check out:  http://thecanaryreview.com/2011/09/09/pitch-slap-on-why-we-missed-the-point-completely/, where every Friday the canaries tear apart, analyze and revise pitches authors have sent to their book review site.  I was lucky enough to have them pick my pitch:

It was brutal, but will ultimately help me revise a better pitch/review request and hopefully generate some traffic, at least on my blog.  I might actually have to use their ‘suicide by sexy’ line in a future book.

Thanks to my previous post, Creative Marketing, Indie Snippets Bryan Dennis tweeted it to his 2,000+ followers.  Hasn’t resulted in any more blog followers, but maybe at least views?  Not sure how I can tell. 

So far I have still only sold six copies on Amazon, two on B&N, and five via Smashwords.  However, 14 copies were downloaded from Smashwords using the free coupon I generated and sent out to review sites.  That means at least 14 out of the 75 sites to which I sent my request were interested enough to download the short story.  

My list of review sites can be found under the resources section on the right hand side of my blog, I will be adding to it occasionally.  In most cases, I provided a link directly to their review policies and the contact name.  I didn’t include the e-mail address as it is VERY IMPORTANT you take a minute to look at their site and see if your book is right for them.  Otherwise you are just wasting your time.  I have also come to the realization that starting out your e-mail with, “I was just on your blog and *compliment, compliment, compliment* or *relate to the blogger in a personal way*” is twice or possibly thrice as likely to illicit a response from the blogger.

My first review requests were sent out at the beginning of August and most reviewers are taking 2-3 months to post reviews.  This means by the end of September my nightmares of a bunch of 1 and 2 star, scathing reviews posted will hopefully cease either because they finally happened and I manage to survive somehow, or I was able to actually gain several respectable reviews.  

A note on the review request – I have learned to paste the image I use directly into the review instead of adding it as an attachment (many reviewers don’t like opening attachments) and including direct links to my book.  My current review request looks like this (click to enlarge):

If you have lists of review sites you can add, or additional comments/suggestions on review requests and marketing, please don’t be stingy – share!  Especially with me.  

Creative Marketing

Marketing is the bane of my existance; and I am not being overly dramatic.  Ok, maybe a little.  Isn't it enough that I write?  Now I have to be a salesman too?  I am pretty sure those skills come from two different parts of the brain, so if you excel at one you surely suck at the other.  However, there are many who have managed to find unique ways to promote themselves:

Bryan Dennis and his Indie Snippets site features 200 word excerpts from the latest indie novels and short story collections.  As of 9/7/11, his stats are as such: 198 blog followers, 2,538 Twitter followers, 17 reviews on Amazon for his book, An Epitaph for Coyote, (this is good, or better than me, because his release date was July of 2011).  I asked him about his sales, and he reports a few per week.  He said he didn’t expect much sales due to the genre (literary and satire), but is hoping his next book, Saw a Rainbow (suspense, speculative genre) will result in more sales.  In July he participated in a blog hop, giving away his book to two winners which resulted in two Amazon reviews and increased blog traffic and membership.  He plans on participating again, putting his blog to his advantage.

What Bryan has done is creative marketing.  He is providing a great service to fellow Indie colleagues by promoting their work, and is still able to market his books via non-traditional means on a site that garners a lot of traffic.

Of course, many writers have started their own book review services.  Check out my book review blogs list under the resources section – many people who run these sites are authors as well, and are able to market their own materials on their site.

Another great small press publisher, Ridan Publishing, has a blog specifically geared towards small press and Indie publishers, www.write2publish.blogspot.com.  Robin Sullivan hosts lectures and provides guidance to hopefuls like me; all which I am sure has boosted the book sales of her nine authors.  As of 9/6/2011, Robin has 265 blog followers and 238 Twitter followers.  I haven’t found the stats of her book sales, but I’m sure they are great.

A few days ago, Mark Coker (Founder of Smashwords), tweeted this link: http://www.youtube.com/user/melissaconwaywrites#p/u/3/3G-vQ8YhoJo.  Melissa Conway’s The Indie-Author Laments video, no doubt produced a lot of buzz.  She has three books released plus four more written under a pen name.  Her blog has 18 followers and 234 follow her on Twitter.  She also has a newly created a website where Indie Authors can exchange unbiased reviews.  Right now, there are at least 25 books listed on the site.

Each of these authors/publishers have gone beyond the traditional e-book marketing methods, creating their own niche to attract an audience, all of them brilliant ideas or simply a case of hard work.  So the question is, what do the rest of us do?  Or more importantly to me, what do I do?  One idea that comes to mind is to create a self-publishing event that follows right on the heels of NaNoWriMo.  This could occur over a 3 – 4 month span of time where followers take their newly written novels (created during NaNoWriMo or otherwise), and as a group follow a step by step process through the self publishing nightmare.  As a creator of the possible website, forums, etc., I would get some ‘discoverability’ (as Robin Sullivan would put it), but oh man – that is a lot of work.

Keeping that idea on the back-burner, I will stick with sending out my review requests for now, hoping to gain enough momentum to generate higher sales.

The Technology of it All

Following up with my last post.  Yes - emailing five review requests per day have proven to be too much work, as I have yet to meet that goal for any day this past week.  A large problem with this is getting sucked into a blog.  Many are funny, have good advice, or are just plain addicting (http://www.thebloggess.com/).  Some of the best advice I've seen in a blog is to stop reading the blog and start writing.  And yet - I read on...and so are you.  Not to mention the usual distractions of kids, a full time job, dinner and east coast earthquakes.

No matter - even five reviews a week is something.  I also continue to edit my full length novel, Water, and have set a goal of getting the ebook published by mid-September.  This would allow me to hopefully have a few reviews generating buzz in time for the biggest e-book buying season  - November/December.  I am all still working with a graphic artist to get the cover done.  It is going slower than I would have hoped; I should probably say something to her at some point.  Although, if she follows this blog, mission accomplished.

Another unanticipated kink in the self-publishing process is technology.  RSS feeds, hash tags, links, different formats (.epub, .mobi, .prc), pixels, ebook converters; the sheer amount of technological know-how I now have to know is blowing my mind.  Since I tend to retain very little, I will probably have to re-learn it when I publish Water.  As both books are the first of a series to come, I have resolved to start documenting step-by-step processes and will hopefully one day have them posted here.

Yes, one day, this blog will be great...

Future Fans?

Blogging again for several reasons:

1 – I am addicted to my laptop.

2 – Testing new Amazon Author Central Page to see if my blogs post.

3 – Alerting followers to my twitter account: harmonygirlit.  I still only have one follower (me) despite the fact that I even told my mom about the blog.  Geez mom – sign up already!  Maybe twitter will be a different story – I do have one follower on Twitter, stephenkruiser, but he is following 139,051 other people so I can’t be that special. 

 

3 – Finished uploading to Smashwords and want to make a few comments about that while they are fresh in my head.  I’ve seen comments that you should format according to the Smashwords format guide first.  This is probably a good idea as it is the most thorough I’ve seen out there and very user friendly.  However, if you are going to publish through Amazon (Kindle) and B&N (Nook), there will be subtle differences in the formatting.  One thing mentioned on the Smashwords guide that I’d wish I’d done elsewhere (and still technically can, I guess), is include an author bio, website and picture at the end of the text.  Duh!  The reader just got done reading your amazing piece of work and wants to learn more about you and/or see your other works – this is a good way to do it.

Smashwords will publish to Kindle and Nook but I opted out of the .mobi format (which will prevent Smashwords from putting my work up on Kindle).  I did this because I’ve heard having your book up by two different mediums on Amazon may split your sales reports – not a huge deal but it is always best to simplify – and purchases on Amazon through Smashwords equals less payout for me rather than purchases directly through Amazon.  Please, someone correct me if I am wrong.

4 – A few important steps in the publishing process I failed to mention.  First, get an editor.  Wait – first, write a good book THEN get an editor.  Your spouse, best friend, coworker and child don’t count.  They probably like you too much to be honest, or they have no idea how to edit.  Besides, most of them (as I have found out) won’t even finish the book.  Don’t pay out the a$$ for an editor.  Put an ad on Craigslist describing the job.  You’ll get a hundred e-mails (make sure to take ad down after you get overwhelmed), pick 10 you liked and have them edit a sample chapter.  Choose from there.  I paid $150 for my 80,000 word novel.  It was one of the better deals but also one of the better editors.  I lucked out.  Hint – your editor can also help with your query letter, bio, book blurb, synopsis, etc.  2^nd, or I think we are on 3^rd – pay a graphic artist to do a cover.  I asked my editor for some referrals, but you could again do Craigslist.  You should only pay between $40 and $100 for this service.  Make sure you and the artist sign a release so you are legally able to use the cover art in advertising, for print, etc.  Send them format guidelines (i.e. dpi, pixels, etc.) so they know what to do, make sure they are willing to work with you until you are happy, and ensure they are willing to send revisions in regards to format even after the job is over.  Finally, ALWAYS acknowledge your editor, cover artist, and anyone who contributed professionally to your piece of work.  I did it on my copyright page.

5 – SALES UPDATE – I have 4 sales on Amazon and 2 at Barnes & Noble.  About half are family I can account for.  The other half – I don’t know.  Future fans, perhaps?  I am so excited!

OMG this is the longest blog I’ve EVER seen (I haven’t seen many).  Certainly the longest I’ve written…

My Advice Doesn't Suck

A long weekend on the laptop, and I have my short story published via the Amazon website, Kindle and Nook for $.99.  Next step is Smashwords (will distribute to iPad, Sony, Kobo, Android, Stanza, Aldiko, etc.).  After, that I can stop ignoring my family and the pile of dirty laundry that is trickling out of bedrooms and down the stairs.

So glad I decided to use a short story as a test run for ebook publishing.  I was constantly going back through the text making changes and I can't imagine having to do that with a full length novel.

For those about to pursue the same endeavor, a few bits of knowledge (disclaimer: 'knowledge' should not be presumed to be preceded by 'good', 'useful', or even 'slightly helpful'):

- Format for Kindle first (larger audience, in my opinion, and much user-friendlier instructions plus a more populated help forum).
- Use MobiPocket Creator to turn a .doc into a .prc format
- Use the Kindle Previewer before uploading to Amazon.  Trust me - there will always be something you need to go back and revise and it is much easier to do before you publish.
- For publishing to Nook, use Calibre to format your book.
- Upload the .prc file you already created for Kindle into Calibre to create the epub document.  The transition is much smoother than using .pdf and it won't allow .doc.

Of course, my e-publishing saga is still in the beginning stages, and by the end of it my best advice might be 'don't follow my advice'.  Either way, hopefully my books prove to be much better than my advice.  I used the word 'advice' way too much just now.  Not so in my books - I have an editor.  Speaking of good editing, here is an excerpt from my short story, Gleaming White:

             The vampires reacted with a loud, synchronized hissing but did not move towards her.  Their gazes slid over her shoulder.  She didn’t have to look to know something was there; in fact, she dare not look.  Her blood forgot all other vampires, and began to ebb and flow like the tide, beating itself against her veins.

            “What do you want, brethren?”  A vampire finally spoke, but he had a tremble to his voice. 

            “I’ve been summoned.”  His voice was like warm liquid, washing through her and back out again, taking pieces of her with it, beckoning the rest to follow.

            “No one here is in need of your assistance.”

            The powerful being spoke again, “Your thoughts are not yours alone.  I heard the call for protection through your own thoughts.  I have to assume it came from the only human among us.”  - End of Excerpt 



I know - right?!