Indie Publishing on the Cheap

Interested in a Free Seminar on Publishing???

2012-01-18T19:01:00.001-05:00

I'm thinking about doing a FREE Pay-It-Forward webinar or teleconference call for indie authors and unpublished writers who want to self publish or go the traditional route. As most know, I started out self published (on a shoestring budget) and got picked up by S&S so I have some insights on both paths.

I'd provide some tips on the business and then let you ask all the questions you want for maybe 1 - 1.5 hours.

Would anyone be interested? If I get enough responses, I'll do it. Leave a comment below if you're interested.

Interview with E-PublishaBook

2011-08-11T09:08:00.002-04:00

Check out my interview with E-PublishaBook. I must say I enjoyed it and the questions were very different from most interviews I've done in the past. Hopefully, you'll enjoy it.

K. L. Brady is the author of “The Bum Magnet”, which won the first prize of 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Awards for Multicultural Fiction, as well as the Third Place Grand Prize Winner for Best Fiction of 2010. Currently living in D.C. with her son, working as an analyst for major government contracting firm, she is also an active real estate agent with Exit Realty by day—and writes by night (often into the wee hours of the morning).

Experienced with both self-publishing, creating her own imprint and being published by one of the Big6, K. L. Brady as generously agreed to take the time to enlighten us about the ins and outs of the publishing world...[more here]

Publishing Consulting...

2011-07-11T19:16:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to reiterate for everyone who comes in contact with this blog that it is imperative that you read the blog from beginning to end before asking questions. I created it to follow a natural progression within the indie publishing process...so the posts in the beginning will deal with things you need to know at the outset, and things you need to know at the latter part of the process fall at the end of the blog. Nine times out of ten, your question has already been answered if you just take the time to read the whole thing. This is free, certainly less than the cost of a book, and it's my gift to indie publishers, my way of paying my success forward, however little that success might be at this stage.

This process can be daunting and confusing if you don't have a foundation. This blog was established to give you that foundation if you don't have it already. But it's no good if you don't read it. Please start from the first post and work your way down, it won't take that long and I guarantee you will learn more for free than you will taking some several hundred dollar seminar with someone else. So please take advantage of it. But please read the entire blog first.

Thank you so much for your following. :)

Combatting the Stigma of Self Publishing - Article

2011-07-08T22:50:00.000-04:00

Enjoy!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bryan-young/combatting-the-stigma-of-_b_890000.html

Are You Player Prey? 5 Ways to Break the Cycle

2011-06-29T18:10:00.000-04:00

Are You Player Prey? 5 Ways to Break the Cycle

Hilarious New Relationship Blog!

2011-06-29T13:08:00.004-04:00

Hello Everyone!

For those who might be interested, I just wanted to tell you about my new relationship blog, based on my debut novel, The Bum Magnet. It's called "Get off the Love Short Bus, SistaGirl Advice for the Lovelorn and Relationship Challenged!"

I started some time ago but got caught up in the marketing of my novel and couldn't keep it up. This time around I've got a great new line-up of regular features and the content should be funny, real, and non-politically correct. :)

I hope you'll follow and enjoy!

http://thebummagnet.blogspot.com/

Tips & Tricks of the Trade - Author Websites

2011-06-29T09:00:00.004-04:00

Saw this great article on what should go on author websites that I wanted to share with the crew. I like this article in particular because she breaks it down between what published writers should have on their websites versus unpublished writers. Check it out! I think you'll find it most helpful.

http://kortizzle.blogspot.com/2011/06/author-web-sites-basics.html

For those of you looking to set up a website on the cheap, my suggestion is www.officelive.com. I like their service versus the freeweb service and others because there is no unwanted, distracting advertisements! And you can incorporate advanced features like a blog, paypal, and video for FREE. And did I forget to say that it's FREE!

So set up your author website today and start building your audience!

Self Publishing Expo

2011-06-28T16:48:00.002-04:00

It's back again. The Self-Publishing Expo. I've never attended but have seen the line-up of presentations and such. Seems like it may be worthwhile to attend, even if for just the seminars. Not sure I would spend the money on exhibitor space. Here's more information from Publisher's Weekly:

The third annual Self-Publishing Book Expo will take place October 22 at the Sheraton New York Hotel. The show will feature a forum for aspiring authors to pitch their book ideas to agents, editors, and publishers, as well as one-on-one manuscrpit evaluations, in which professional editors will sit down with authors to assess their work.

SPBE will also feature 16 panels on topics ranging from e-books, social networking, pricing, distribution, website building, and legal aspects of self-publishing. The keynote will be given by slef-publishing veteran Dan Poynter.

Admission to the exhibit hall, which will house offerings from various companies in the self-publishing field, will be free. Last year, the show drew over 450 attendees. For more information, visit selfpubbookexpo.com.

Pimp My Blog - Indie Author Spotlight

2011-06-27T15:50:00.007-04:00

Hello Everyone!

I know it has been way too long since I've posted, but I've been crazy busy trying to finish up TWO novels before the holidays. With that said, if you've sent me your information and I haven't posted it, please send me a reminder (like our next featured author) and I'll get it up as my schedule allows.

Without further adieu, I present Douglas Carlyle!

1. Tell us about your book(s).

The book I released in December is titled, In Search of the Fuller Brush Man. It is mainstream fiction/family saga. In print, it is 446 pages in trade paperback. I self-published using Createspace and the end result is outstanding. The e-book is also available for Kindle, but not Nook.

The back cover reads:

Sean Marcum is driven to find the meaning of his mother's swan song. The last words she wrote in her journal were, "Fuller Brush Man". She always communicated life's most important lessons via riddles, and he is convinced this is her finale. Sadly, Sean was never good at solving riddles, and his quest turns into an obsession, nearly costing him his marriage, and his life.

Sean's high school sweetheart, Kim, had a special bond with his mother. She was also a master at riddles. The one-time lovers have been married to others for more than 30 years. Kim's marriage has been picture perfect, Sean's not so much. Upon Kim's death from breast cancer, Sean receives a memoir she penned celebrating their failed relationship. Her book, The Road to Monticello, contains the secret to a long, happy relationship for which Sean so desperately searches. It is a lesson all of us should take to heart.

“My log line is: Two Women, Both Dead, Save Sean Marcum.” The book is very personal and somewhat biographical. To understand this, one must read my author’s note…

My mother died of pancreatic cancer on March 12, 1987. She kept a journal. In it, her last written words really were Fuller Brush Man. As far as I am concerned, I know what she was talking about.

I was fortunate to have had a relationship with a truly wonderful woman during high school and my first years of college. She died of breast cancer on June 30, 2010. Though we parted ways many years ago, I can’t help but think of how she, along with my mother, perhaps unknowingly, helped shape me to be the decent man, father, and husband that I am today. She married a better man than me, and raised a lovely family. Their life together will be a lesson of love in and of itself for all time.

I will never be able to thank these two women enough. And I can never again embrace them. But as a tribute to them, I hope all who read this book come to understand, as I have, the beauty of a long-term relationship.

My first novel, Boundaries, ended up being well over 200K words. I will rework it to make it smaller, or turn it into a trilogy in 2012.

This autumn, I will release my next novel, Vinegarone.

I will refer readers to my website for more information about these two upcoming novels.

2. How did you go about getting your book published?

Labor, sweat, tears, and more of the same. I was highly motivated to write the book. I had just finished my first novel. It remains to be published, but I learned a great deal about writing, and publishing. As for FBM, I knew the plot, theme, beginning, and end of the book. I completed the manuscript in about three months. Then, I spent about ten months editing, and trying to get an agent interested. I sent out query letter after query letter—all for naught. I attended workshops and conferences with agents. I had many tell me to send them material. Nothing.

Along the way, I entered the novel in the 2010 ABNA contest and was a quarterfinalist. I also entered the novel in contests with the Houston Writers Guild, and Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society. The novel did very well. Createspace sent me an email informing me of their product, and advising me I could get a free copy of the novel. When I held my completed novel in my hands, that was all it took. I have no regrets having self-pub’d.

3. Tell us about your marketing strategies.

I have a website, www.dbcarlyle.com, and I participate in many, many indie author threads. I have contacted several newspapers that in turn published articles about me and the book. The book is presently sold in eight stores, and I am expanding my ‘local’ reach to include San Antonio, Houston, and Austin. The book also is for sale in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, which is one of the primary settings for the book. The other is the Chicago suburb of Lake Forest. I am trying hard to get into the greater Chicago market. That will be my focus after this March when I hope to complete my efforts in Texas (where I live).

The Kindle version of the book is selling, but not briskly. I have sold more paper copies than e-books. I look forward to when the e-book version picks up momentum.

I don’t use Facebook or Twitter. I am one of those grumpy, old hold-outs. I barely have enough time to market the book in my current manner. I don’t want to add more to my plate. I’m sure we could debate this subject vigorously, but you have to sit with me and have a drink to have such a debate.

I am also doing what I can to have my book reviewed, and to have people like you interview me. Here we are!

4. What's the best advice you could give to new writers who want to get published?

Never give up. Believe in yourself. And, be yourself. You do have to work hard to make your book look professional. You have to sweat the details. Commas, scene breaks, points-of-view, character development, consistency, spelling, punctuation. You have to get these correct if you want to compete. The first time you publish junk, that’s all you will be known for. Readers aren’t very forgiving, and the internet will transmit opinions—good and bad—around the world in a split second.

5. What are you reading? (I added this question to give every author the opportunity to lend to support to other authors coming up in the ranks like we are. :)

I don’t read a lot. In the past year, I have read books by Kit Frazier, Sandra Brown, and Paulette Jiles. Kit is from Austin, and a member of the Writers’ League of Texas. Her books are outstanding. I just happened to borrow a Sandra Brown book, and I found it very good. As for the narrative fiction by Paulette, she lives in my town, and has conducted some workshops. I like narrative fiction, though that’s not what I write.

I want to read good books by indie authors. I have spotted some on the indie threads. For me, being a NYT best seller is a kiss of death. I have been so disappointed by so many ‘great’ books. They are all hype, and no better than some of the indie novels that are available.

This past weekend, I bought Blind by Choice, by Suchada Kailey. My first novel takes place partly in Thailand. Her book will help me portray my setting more accurately.

Today, I chose Virtual Strangers by Suzanne O’Leary and Ola Zaltin to be my next read. Since I read so little, I choose very carefully.

For more information, please visit: www.dbcarlyle.com

If you would like your work featured on the Pimp My Blog Indie Author Spotlight please send your responses to the following questions, as well as a jpeg of your book(s) and/or author photos to karla (at) klbradywrites (dot) com. Remember your responses should be geared toward both spotlighting your own work and helping others.

1. Tell us about your book(s).

2. How did you go about getting your book published?

3. Tell us about your marketing strategies.

4. What's the best advice you could give to new writers who want to get published?

5. What are you reading? (I added this question to give every author the opportunity to lend to support to other authors coming up in the ranks like we are. :)

Support the Fundraising Auction for Author L.A. Banks!

2011-06-22T09:08:00.002-04:00

I got the opportunity to meet the prolific, NY Times Bestselling author, L. A. Banks, at the Maryland Writer's Conference in April. She gave a presentation on becoming a bestseller. She was down-to-earth, funny, and let me tell you, she kept it REAL about the industry and how you can become a successful bestseller.

You want to know the secret? Work your ass off.

There's the secret. Hone your craft and write like there's no tomorrow. When you finish one book, don't rest on your laurels. Get out there and start the next.

I learned so much from her that day... and chatting with her after her presentation was over was such a THRILL. I had to pinch myself when I walked into a Target the next day and saw my book sitting on a shelf next to hers. It was such a surreal moment in my life. One that I will never forget.

Well, she's very ill right now, suffering from stage IV cancer. Her medical bills are mounting and she needs help.

Many authors, writers and literary agents have pulled together to host a fundraising auction on her behalf, similar to the Brenda Novak auction I support each year. They are offering a WIDE range of services and goods, such as manuscript reviews, literary agent consultations, query letter reviews, etc. etc. etc. Not only that, but you can bid on a chance to be in Zane's next books, boxes and boxes of young adult, romance and other adult books from publishers and a host of other goodies. There's even an all expense (or most expense) paid trip to the writer's conference in New Orleans.

And for the two individuals from this blog who win the highest priced items, I will give you a free consultation on your choice of ONE the following:

Review and provide detailed comments, line edits, and suggestions on your query letter
A review and line edit of your first five chapters of your work in progress,
Provide consultation and detailed suggestions on your self publishing business or marketing plan, OR
Provide you with a sneak peak copy of The Bum Magnet sequel, Got a Right to Be Wrong! (unedited)

To participate in the auction, please visit: http://www.labanksauction.org/

Auction ends in 10 days. Send the information about the item you won and price you paid to karla (at) Klbradywrites (dot) com and I'll pick the top two bidders.

Best of luck and please support this great cause.

Ask K.L. on VYOU!

2011-04-20T05:55:00.010-04:00

So you may notice a little addition to the top of my blog. I just set up a Vyou account which allows anyone to submit questions to me about the writing process, indie publishing, how to get published, advice about a publishing strategy, books I've published, books you've published, how to find an agent, who are my favorite authors, what I ate for dinner last night...and are the men in The Bum Magnet based on real people??? Hmmm...if you want to know the answer, here's your chance to ask. Forget that pesky comment box, just ask here! Eventually it'll be added to the Simon & Schuster page but you can get started right now and you can ask anonymously if you so choose! :) So, what question can I answer for you today?

Thanks for letting me know about the glitch...Here's the link

Pimp My Blog -- Cheap Indie Author Spotlight

2011-04-07T16:33:00.005-04:00

Okay, okay. Enough about me me me. Let's get back to talking about you you you! Next up on the spotlight is Kristina Meister who would like to share her publishing journey with us. Welcome Kristina!

1. Tell us about your book(s).

As an author, my interests vary. I write lots of different types of things and in many different styles, but if I am forced to pin my work to a specific theme, I would have to say I am a memeticist. I heart philosophy in a big way. I trace ideas, how they propagate, and how to hack them, countermand, them, etc. What questions can I ask to force a person to reevaluate how they've always seen the world? There's a rational explanation for everything, but by no means does rational mean boring or stuffy. Sometimes rational means just as crazy as crazy.

My latest series takes Buddhist and Hindu mythology, links it with similar western myths of monsters and miracles, mayhem and messiahs in a sort of "universal monster apocalypse" story. "Craving" (available on all ebook sites) and the sequel "The One We Feed" trace the evolution of the character Lilith from normal woman, to the second Buddha, to a friendlier, more sarcastic and stylish version of Kali-ma, the Hindu Goddess of destruction and change. The books take advantage of the fact that the same things that frighten one culture, seem to frighten EVERY culture, indicating that perhaps something more sinister and pervasive is happening in the universe. Or it could just be us.

2. How did you go about getting your book published?

As you might have guessed, my books are rather experimental. They read kind of like the Matrix trilogy crossed with Siddhartha, and consequently, there's quite a bit of resistance in the publishing world to take a chance on something that is good, but may not sell. So, my agent, Laurie McLean of Larson-Pomada Literary agency, and I have embarked on our own social networking experiment. The publishing industry is changing, and the universality of information will soon make its filtering for "what is commercial" obsolete. To that aim, we are attempting to self-publish and promote. Laurie said something very appropriate when we began this endeavor, "I used to see e-publishing and standard publishing as two divergent paths, but the more I research, the more I see them as the parallel braces of a ladder, and at any point, you can cross from one side to the other, if you want."

3. Tell us about your marketing strategies.

Currently, we are in the early phases, but our overall idea includes guest blogging, contributing to different information oriented sites, and overall having a huge internet presence. It involves a lot of work, but it can be done. I will take advantage of Youtube, Twitter, Facebook and other sites to host online competitions, and attempt, at every stage, to stay in the open.

4. What's the best advice you could give to new writers who want to get published?

Don't get discouraged. Whenever you hear "No", go back to the work and critically examine it. View each "no" as a challenge to improve upon your art. If you truly and objectively believe there is no room for improvement, then forge ahead - the person you've approached is obviously not the representative for you. Keep writing, keep reading, keep improving. Insulate yourself from negativity and do what you love.

5. What are you reading?

I just finished the fourth installment of the Casa Dracula series by my friend Marta Acosta, "Haunted Honeymoon", and enjoyed it thoroughly. I'm also rereading the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series, and just cracked the cover on Julie Kagawa's "The Iron King"

Kristina Meister
www.kristinameister.com

Thank you, Kristina. Next up on the spotlight is Brian Drake!

For those who don't know. I'm hosting a Kindle Giveaway to commemorate Pub Day for The Bum Magnet. Please check out my Facebook Fan Page (on the right)!

2nd Annual Amazon Kindle 3G Giveaway
Plus a $25 Kindle Gift Certificate
Total Retail Value: $214

30 Days to Enter, 30 Chances to Win!

Here's How:

Step 1: Each morning during the contest period, I'll post one trivia question based on The Bum Magnet on my Facebook FanPage.

Step 2: Email your answer to KindleGiveAway@authorklbrady.com Only one entry per day, per person.

Step 3: You can enter as many days as you want. The more questions you answer, the better your chances of winning.

The contest runs from March 29, 2011 to April 29, 2011
Winner Chosen in a Random Drawing.
The winner will be announced on April 30, 2011.

The Business of Self-Publishing - Maryland Writer's Conference

2011-04-03T06:56:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, I gave a seminar on self publishing at the Maryland Writer's Conference. Of course most of the information I provided can be found right here, but it's always great to engage people and answer questions. I had a really gracious audience which made the experience that much more enjoyable.

As promised, here is the full-size slide presentation. Click Here.

Thanks! We will now return to our regularly scheduled programming...

The Bum Magnet - Back on the Market!

2011-03-30T04:07:00.005-04:00

In case anyone wonders where I've been over the past few weeks. I'm gonna give you a quick update. And Pimp My Blog will return TOMORROW! So stay tuned for the next indie author spotlight.

I launched my YA Novel Worst Impressions, which is doing pretty well all things considered. I haven't had any books on the market in close to a year, so getting my sales up will take time. But the early reviews I've gotten from teen readers has me over the moon happy!!

Urban Teen Reads called it "Awesome!!!" (they added the three exclamation points) and "Amazing!" (only one there).

And another teen reader gave the following review.

Here's my daughters review:

This was so funny I was laughing most of the time I read this. I finished this book in just three hours. Liz was so funny. Her mom was over protective and her dad reminded me a lot of mine. The love story had a lot of drama and boyfriend stealing, and her sisters were funny too. But what I liked most was Liz, who was a good girl that loved her sisters who she thought were more pretty than she was. I give this 5 stars out of 5, because it was just so funny.

Her parent said: It's good for adults too! I read it with her. It's an Urban Romantic Comedy, so there's a bit of slang, but not too much.

And then another adult said: I'd give this 4.5 stars... Things I Loved: The story is laugh out loud funny in parts. Definitely full of humor but her humor is natural and not forced. It follows the Pride & Prejudice closely but not TOO closely--which is a good thing. The author really manages to bring a few new twists to the story--especially with the mother--and even managed to add suspense when I already knew how it would end.

Yaaaay! It's only 99 cents for a limited time on Kindle, Nook, and Smashwords. After that, the price goes to a mere $2.99 so you can still afford it. :)

The paperback is coming out in April. :)

The big big news is that The Bum Magnet is back on the market, but this time it's in stores Nationwide! It has even been spotted on the shelves at Walmart which I was totally not expecting! So, now you can pick it up just about anywhere. Barnes and Noble, Borders (the ones still open), Booksamillion, and Walmart. If anyone has a Target sighting let me know. If anyone sees it on the shelf, please take a picture with it and send it to me on facebook. I'll post it on my page along with a shout out for one of your books if you're an author!

The best news is that for approximately five minutes, give or take a few seconds, The Bum Magnet made it to the bestseller list for Multicutural Romance!

#11,506 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

- #97 in Books > Romance > Multicultural

I couldn't believe it. On its first day back on the market. I used to live on this list as an indie author. I never thought I'd see it again so soon. I'm so grateful for anyone who has supported it. Please spread the word and pick up a copy from your favorite local or online retailer. Sales in the first weeks are so important and I would appreciate any kind of support you want to offer. Rom-Com not your thing? Buy a copy or two and donate them to your local library. :)

Thank so much for everything and I'll get back to Pimping Your Novels and offering more advice starting tomorrow.

Oh...by the way. I will be giving a presentation on The Business of Self Publishing at the Maryland Writers Association Annual Conference this Saturday, April 2nd. It's a one-day event and my presentation will be one of MANY great presentations offered during the day. If you're in the DC, MD, VA area, I highly recommend you attend. You can register at the door I believe. For more information, please visit http://www.marylandwritersconference.org/

Pimp My Blog: Cheap Indie Author Spotlight

2011-02-18T21:15:00.004-05:00

Hello Everyone!

My fifteen seconds of fame on my blog are over. Time to get back to the author spotlight, so I can focus on marketing and my next project for a few days. Next on the spotlight list is Stephen Brayton who has authored what looks to be a great thriller. Welcome Stephen!

1. Tell us about your book(s).

My eBook, Night Shadows, is about a Des Moines, Iowa homicide investigator teaming up with a FBI agent to solve the series of brutal murders. While dealing with personal problems, the unlikely duo find themselves battling malevolent creatures from anther dimension. The book will be released February 15, 2011, from Echelon Press. You can check out the details at www.stephenbrayton.com.

2. How did you go about getting your book published?

I met an editor, Mary Welk, at the 2009 Killer Nashville writers’ conference. She was actually interested in acquiring short stories for Echelon, but in our talk gave me permission to send in submissions for two novels. (By the way, the second novel, Beta, was also accepted for release in July, and recently four of my short stories were accepted.)

3. Tell us about your marketing strategies.

I met another author/editor at the 2010 conference and became part of her ‘posse’. Every week she seeks out various interesting blogs and websites and lets her posse members know about them. We then visit the sites, read the blogs and make comments. Social networking. Plus, I’m part of Facebook and Twitter (of course), and several mystery and author sites. I’ve also been interviewed for a paranormal radio show and have visited colleges for writers’ workshops. Plus, on my blog I do regular author interviews. Currently I’m interviewing Echelon authors, but will soon branch out to others.

4. What's the best advice you could give to new writers who want to get published?

Keep writing and don’t give up. Do your homework on publishing, especially small presses. Attend conferences for contacts. Edit, edit, and edit some more on your story. If you get accepted, promote fellow authors in that company.

5. What are you reading? (I added this question to give every author the opportunity to lend to support to other authors coming up in the ranks like we are. :)

I have hundreds of books in my library waiting to be read. I really like the old Shadow and Doc Savage series. Plus Queen, Stout, and Pelecanos are on my list of upcoming authors to read.

Thanks for the awesome post.

The next spotlight author is Kristina Meister!

Self Publishing...Again!

2011-02-16T19:38:00.005-05:00

Hello Everybody,

So, I bet you thought since I got picked up by a publisher that I was through with indie publishing.

Not so much.

I've always said that if I have a book that I really believe in that doesn't sell, I'm gonna put it out myself and, once again, let my audience decide if it's something that they think is a worthy read. I've had this book on submission for several months now. For the most part, all the editors said they loved the story and concept but they didn't think there was a market for another Pride and Prejudice telling. I felt different...and so do many others as I found out by happenstance today!! A teen blogger who I just LOVE put the word out there on Twitter and she got quite a response...from readers...and a couple of agents and editors who requested my information. We'll see if anything comes of it.

As for me, I'm pressing ahead until a deal is in hand. So, I'll be back on the indie boards promoting the new book and hustling with everybody else. Initially, I'm only putting on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and iPAD and we'll see what happens from there.

A few print copies will be printed for author review copies (ARCs) and maybe I'll sell a few at a festival or two.

With that said, here's my new baby.

Basketball phenom Liz Bennett just wants finish high school under the radar...and without constantly defending herself against false rumors about her sexuality. With two trouble magnet kid sisters and a mother obsessed with protecting her virginity, she’s already dealing with more drama than an Emmy-winning daytime soap opera. But when two popular new guys enter her life, she’s forced from the shadows and onto center stage.

Trent Whitman, Liz’s hot new admirer, pursues and woos her with his silver tongue and hazel eyes. When he turns on the charm, Liz turns off all common sense. Darcell Williams, on the other hand, is a star football player who sticks his cleats in his mouth every time they meet. As far as Liz is concerned, Trent is a dream and Darcell is a devil reincarnate.

During the Back-to-School dance, Darcell spews an oh-no-he-didn’t insult that cements Liz's contempt. Oh yes, their feud is on and poppin'!

Driven by spite and embarrassment, Liz instigates a series of misunderstandings that propel her into an inevitable confrontation with Darcell. But when a Bennett family crisis reveals Darcell’s and Trent’s true colors, will Liz’s pride prevent her from accepting each for who he really is?

WORST IMPRESSIONS is a humorous and uplifting coming-of-age tale about a girl who discovers that misjudgments are a two-way street best left untraveled. Loosely based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, this novel brings a timeless story to contemporary multicultural teens.

With that said, I'll keep you posted on the happenings!

Until then...Keep it real...and keep it real cheap!

Maintaining Control - Revisited

2011-02-12T11:33:00.007-05:00

Hello Everyone,

So, I'm gonna take brief break from posting your novels to address an issue brought up by a follower.

A young lady called me (I won't reveal her name for privacy reasons) and explained that she published through Createspace and had been trying to get her book into a bookstore. The bookseller pulled her book up online and said while he'd love to stock it, he couldn't because they book isn't returnable. Those of you who've read this blog know that while I like Createspace, I'm against using their Expanded Distribution Program for this very reason. Most authors don't really understand the ramifications of signing up with this program until it's too late.

I cannot stress enough depending on your goals for your book, which often includes getting it shelved in bookstores--or at a minimum having book signings in bookstores--your book must be returnable. In this economic time, booksellers do not want to be stuck with a bunch of books that won't sell. If they don't sell, they want to be able to return them.

This requires you to ask the right questions when signing up with any POD company to print your book. Three aspects that are key to getting your books in stores: Price, Returnability, and Discount. The price has to be comparable to similar books in the genre and of the same length, you must offer a reasonable discount, and your book must be returnable. Therefore, here are key questions you must always ask BEFORE signing up with a POD company.

What is your standard discount to booksellers? (If it's less than 40 percent, it is unlikely but not impossible, to get your book in stores. Standard discount is 50-55 percent).
Can I set my own standard discount?
Can I accept returns? (Lightning Source allows you to accept returns).
If I can accept returns, does that option cost me anything? (With Lightning Source and similar PODs the option is FREE. Other company charge hundreds of dollars to allow returns. If you pay that, you're getting taken for your money).
Can I set my own book price? And does that option cost me anything?

I go into significant detail about this issue here: http://cheapindieauthor.blogspot.com/2010/01/what-is-pod-and-maintaining-control-of.html. Please check it out before you make any major decisions about publishing your book.

I'm off the soapbox now. New indie authors will be coming up beginning again on Monday!

Pimp My Blog: Cheap Indie Author Spotlight

2011-02-02T09:18:00.004-05:00

Hello All,

Next on the list is mystery maven Author Wendy Gager (W.S. Gager). Please welcome her to the Cheap Indie Author spotlight. And don't forget to ask questiosns! We can learn so much from each other's experiences. T

1. Tell us about your book(s).

I have two books out in the Mitch Malone Mysteries and a third scheduled for this summer. The first book, A Case of Infatuation, featured crime-beat reporter Mitch Malone. His rules are simple: He never lets the blood and guts he covers bother him. He always works alone. And he hates kids. Mitch breaks all three rules when he unwittingly agrees to smuggle a potential witness out of a suburban Michigan home while police investigate a mob-style-hit that's left two dead bodies. Mitch sends his intern (a real hottie, but nonetheless an interloper) to interview neighbors, hoping to throw her off, but when he finds the pint-sized survivor the killer overlooked, he decides she might be helpful. When the FBI accuses him of the murder, Mitch goes into hiding with the bombshell intern who doesn't talk and the precocious preschooler. Mitch works his contacts to regain his freedom from his roommates only to find they each hold keys to a bizarre story of disappearances, terrorists and the perfect hamburger recipe.

My second book is A Case of Accidental intersection. Mitch Malone hates hospitals, but when a suspicious traffic accident lands a comatose victim in the ICU, he must put that aside to find the truth. The surface looks smooth but the more the crime beat reporter looks the more bodies pop up including a private detectives. Can he get to the truth before the surviving victim is murdered in her hospital bed and an elderly witness has a heart attack? Will he get his exclusive printed before he’s the next victim? A Case of Hometown Blues is the third and Mitch returns to where he grows up and gets arrested for murdering the homecoming queen. In his quest to win a bet with the local news staff, he must get a big story but realizes his career maybe over if convicted. The police chief is his nemesis from high school and enjoys putting the screws to Mitch. Can he get his story, clear his name and get out of the town that haunts him?

2. How did you go about getting your book published?

My path to publishing was a bit different. I entered a contest sponsored by my publisher, Oak Tree Press. I wanted feedback on my manuscript from someone who specialized in mysteries and thought this would be a great way. Turns out I won the contest and A Case of Infatuation took the Dark Oak Mystery prize in 2008 and was published in 2009. My publisher runs a mystery, romance and cop tales contest each year. Deadline to submit is this summer so brush up your manuscripts. You can see more information at www.oaktreebooks.com.

3. Tell us about your marketing strategies.

This is the part that is the most difficult. I try to go to conferences and do speaking engagements to get the word out. I also have a blog, www.wsgager.blogspot.com, and a website, www.wsgager.com. Every Monday on my blog Mitch Malone, my main character interviews other authors. It is a lot of fun and I have gotten good feedback so far. I also try and do a lot with facebook but all the marketing really cuts into my writing time. I'm struggling to balance that.

4. What's the best advice you could give to new writers who want to get published? Start marketing yourself now. Get a author website and blog. Post things. Many publishers including my own look at your presence on the web before taking your work to the next step and offering a contract.

5. What are you reading? (I added this question to give every author the opportunity to lend to support to other authors coming up in the ranks like we are. :)

I just finished a book that was a compilation of mystery writers and put together by Jeffrey Deaver called Watchlist that featured chapters by some of my favorite authors. I have a huge stack of books to be read and received a Kindle for Christmas and have now loaded that. I'm trying to read every night for at least a half hour but it is tough. Some of my favorite indy authors are Marilyn Meredith, Sunny Frazier, J. Michael Orenduff, and am waiting anxiously for Holli Castillo's new book called Jambalaya Justice.

W.S. Gager Author of Humorous Whodunits A Case of Infatuation A Case of Accidental Intersection-Now Available www.wsgager.com Purchase the book today: http://books.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?WRD=a+case+of+infatuation&box=A%20Case&pos=4 http://www.amazon.com/Case-Infatuation-W-S-Gager/dp/1892343584/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246043800&sr=1-1

Pimp My Blog: Cheap Indie Author Spotlight

2011-01-22T11:52:00.005-05:00

Hello All,

We're back.The next brave author to volunteer her book for the blog is Elizabeth Kolodziej. She's written a tempting vampire tale and would like to share it with you.She also offers some great. Please welcome Liz and feel free to ask questions or leave comments.

1. Tell us about your book(s).

Vampyre Kisses is an enthralling story about a young woman named Faith, who was content with her life, but deep down craved more excitement. Then a mysterious man named Trent enters her life and everything changes. Surprising to Faith, Trent is a green-eyed vampire from Ireland. She is even more surprised to find out that she is a witch, and the last of her kind.

Faith finds out that she is destined to restore her witch line and becomes more powerful as she gains confidence and knowledge, but danger lurks everywhere. Especially when unknown assailants steal the most important gems from the vampire master and werewolf royalty.

Now surrounded by a world full of mystifying vampires and werewolves, can Faith gain enough power to help her friends and rescue the stolen gems?

2. How did you go about getting your book published?

I self published my book through Eloquent Books for the paperback and published it myself through amazon, B&N, and smashwords.

3. Tell us about your marketing strategies.

Well there is actually a lot going on there. I have done blog tours, guest posts, I tweet, facebook, have my own website, advertise on sites like vampires.com and nocturnereads. I have sent book proposals to places like B&N and Costco (B&N agreeing to buy 100 copies to put in their stores around the Delaware/Philly area), I am in the middle of trying to get up to 100 reviews of my book on amazon, goodreads, and other numerous sites. I am also trying to promote my work by submitting my short stories for anthology books. One of which I can proudly say was accepted. I try to get involved with as many book/reader conventions I can afford and get to. I have so many more ideas but some are still in the making. I am always trying to take every opportunity to talk about my book and let people know about it in any way possible.

4. What's the best advice you could give to new writers who want to get published?

Learn the business. There are two parts to this whole thing, the writing and the marketing/promoting. All of it is important because you can't have one without the other. I see too many authors who write a book and try self publishing it but think they don't have to tell people there book is out there. Get books on the subjects of this business and talk to EVERYONE you can about it. The writing community is such a big family, the closest and most giving I have ever seen, you can't be afraid to ask questions or ask for help. You won't meet many people that didn't have to start from the bottom and work their way up. They understand your dilemma.

5. What are you reading? (I added this question to give every author the opportunity to lend to support to other authors coming up in the ranks like we are. :)

I actually read more than one book at a time. I get crazy like that. Currently, Marked by Elisabeth Naughton, Tempting Evil by Keri Arthur, and Bitten by Kelley Armstrong.

<3's>

Liz ^_^

www.vampyrekisses.com

www.twitter.com/ejkolodziej

www.facebook.com/kweenkitten

If you would like your book featured on Cheap Indie Author, please contact me at karla (at) klbradywrites (dot) com for details!

Pimp My Blog: Cheap Indie Author Spotlight

2011-01-15T12:49:00.002-05:00

Hello All,

Next on the Cheap Indie Author Spotlight is Daniel A. Roberts, a self-published author who writes about my favorite topic... L'amor. (I think that's "love" in somebody's language. Probably mine.) Please feel free to comment or ask questions about his writing/publishing process.

1. Tell us about your book(s).

Passion Of The Different is a Romantic Fantasy. I wrote this book to tell a fun, loving story about two different people from two different worlds, the culture shock differences and how they resolve them. It has the basic expectations of a Romance and while the book does resolve itself in a happy ending way as expected, this also leads into the upcoming sequel that's being released on 2/10/2011. I enjoy entertaining people, there's a lot to be taken from the fact I've made people smile and laugh all in the same book. Because I created a new world with a new people, my creativity was allowed to flow. There are elements of their society we won't agree on, but then, who lives in a perfect world? Dealing with those differences while doing the right thing as well as falling in love - that's a book I can have fun writing. So I did. (Attached is the thumb picture of my cover)

2. How did you go about getting your book published?

I explored so many avenues and there were so many crazy options, but I eventually found Smashwords. They give an author all the choices and control and they organize the distribution. It's a win-win situation for anybody who wants to publish an ebook. Even the comissions as better and I intend to make a living off of my writing. As an Independent Author, I'm not given a formula and told how to write my story and what limits I have. That is killing creativity in my opinion.

3. Tell us about your marketing strategies.

I use Facebook and my own personal profile. That's an excellent start. I also use Twitter. I have an account with Google Adwords and Bing Adsense. I do a pay per click and I set the budget so I'm not buried in bills. My books show up on Barnes and Noble dot com and the Apple iBook store and Kobo and Diesel and other retailers, I do my best to get this out to the public through my friends as well. I also do Youtube videos promoting my book, as well as my own website at http://www.thepassiontrilogy.com/ And I use the Romance Studio as well. People who like Romance go there looking for things to read, and I try not to let them down.

4. What's the best advice you could give to new writers who want to get published?

Don't be afraid to be proactive. You get back what you put into it. Talk to publishers and agents if you must, but have they yet put your excellent and best work in front of people who will be willing to pay for it? If the answer is no, consider going to Smashwords and trying them out. They have a promotion guide and it's free. Lots of good stuff in there. It's kinda cool to get a letter from an agent telling you why he can't represent you, and then you go to your email and get notified you just earned another hundred bucks in sales. His cut is in your pocket instead. It's a win-win situation for the author.

5. What are you reading? (I added this question to give every author the opportunity to lend to support to other authors coming up in the ranks like we are.)

Special Parent, Special Child by Tom Sullivan. I have an Autistic daughter (very low functioning) and it's good to know my wife and I aren't alone in the drama to raise a child with such a disability.

Politics: http://okc912project.com/
My Fiction: http://www.thepassiontrilogy.com/
My Biography: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/danielroberts

Pimp My Blog: Cheap Indie Author Spotlight

2011-01-12T06:30:00.008-05:00

Hello All,

Looks like we've found our first brave author to take me up on my offer.

Georgia Ann Banks-Martin is a poet who got her book published through a small press. Please give her a warm welcome and feel free to ask questions or comment.

1. Tell us about your book(s).

My book, Rhapsody for Lessons Learned or Remembered, is a collection of ekphrastic(art inspired)poems. The inspiration art represents work created by African-Americans, Americans, Europeans, and Asians. Most of the poems are of a collage nature, blending historical facts, and memoir. It is currently ready for ordering from my publisher's(Plain View Press) webpage:http://www.plainviewpress.net/gallery2/pages/Rhapsody-For-Lessons-Learned-Or-Remembered.html

2. How did you go about getting your book published?

The first draft of my collection was completed as my M.F.A. thesis. While I was working toward graduation I started compiling a list of possible publishers based on ads and listings that appear on websites such as Poets and Writers, publishers I encounter at book festivals, writers conferences, books that were being published which were similar to my collection, and recommendations from friends.

When I was ready to send out my final manuscript I narrowed the list to five and followed the submission guidelines provided by the publisher.

3. Tell us about your marketing strategies.

My marketing strategies include:

Maintaining my author's webpage:http://georgiabanksmartin.com
The creation of a Facebook Fan Page: http://artist.to/georgiaannbanks-martin
Holding public poetry readings at poetry festivals, bookstore, libraries, colleges and universities
Reading and signing books at the The Association of Writers & Writing Programs(AWP) Conference in Washington D.C. next month
Appearing on blogs and blog talk radio shows

4. What's the best advice you could give to new writers who want to get published?

Make sure your work is well edited
Make sure you follow all agent/publisher submission requirements

5. What are you reading?

Leaving Gee's Bend by Irene Latham

Who's got next?

If you're an author (indie, small press, or major publisher) who would like to be featured, please contact me at karla (at) klbradywrites (dot) com. Answer the questions and provide me with your book cover(s) and author photos.

Hope you enjoy. New content is coming up soon so don't delay!

Visit my website at www.authorklbrady.com

Been A While, but...

2011-01-11T20:08:00.012-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted but I've been just a little busy.

First, I finished novel number three--GOT A RIGHT TO BE WRONG. It's the sequel to The Bum Magnet and I happen to love the story. Got it turned into my editor who I pray doesn't hate it, otherwise it's back to the drawing board. I made a faux book cover for inspiration only. If my editor accepts it, then I have ZERO control over the cover.

For those who are wondering where novel number two is, it's called MIZZ UNDERSTANDING. It's on submission right now. Been a while. It been sufficiently rejected but there are still about five hold outs. Somehow I get the feeling the remaining editors are waiting to see if THE BUM MAGNET does well when it's re-released in March. If we do not hear back from folks by next month, I'm gonna put it on Kindle as another self published venture and see how it does. My agent is in agreement. :) Another faux cover for inspiration only.

After I finished GOT A RIGHT TO BE WRONG, I totally lost my mind and decided that I wanted to become a screenwriter. Yes. Do NOT ask me what possessed me to take on that challenge but within two weeks, I adapted my novel THE BUM MAGNET into a screenplay and entered it into the Amazon Studios contest. If you want a lesson on how NOT to write a screenplay, download my first screen play. Script number 4 is much better. Feel free to download, leave a review, or any activity that will let folks know my story might not be total and complete CRAP. I had to change the title so because Bum Magnet had been used already in some Australian movie with a red-headed star whose name I can't remember. So, I picked He's The One? I made a faux movie poster so I wouldn't have a blank page.

After I finished the screenplay, I swore I would take a long long long long break from writing so I could clear my head and get ready for novel number four. That lasted about two days. Now I'm writing a novel that I've been wanting to write for months now. Of course, I made a faux book cover...because I got stuck in the story and made a feeble attempt to inspire myself. The book is called The Bigot List and it features an African-American female FBI agent/spycatcher named J.J. McCall. How cool is that name? Came to me in a dream.

So, that's the update on my writing life and why I haven't posted any good stuff lately. I'm coming around to it though, so please don't give up on me.

Because I've my busy writing schedule I've decided to Pimp My Blog for indie or any author who have books to promote. If you want me to host you on a blog tour, answer the following questions and send me one author photo and book covers only.

1. Tell us about your book(s).

2. How did you go about getting your book published?

3. Tell us about your marketing strategies.

4. What's the best advice you could give to new writers who want to get published?

5. What are you reading? (I added this question to give every author the opportunity to lend to support to other authors coming up in the ranks like we are. :)

Hit me up at karla (at) klbradywrites (dot) com if you're interested.

Author Interrogated (extended)

2010-11-20T09:42:00.000-05:00

Marketing Minute- Activity #2

2010-11-13T08:05:00.003-05:00

I'm back!

You knew I would be.

So, the last time I posted, I indicated that I was doing research on blogs who review novels in my genre so that I could set up reviews and possibly interviews and blog tour stops. Well, I sent out 10 e-mails yesterday. I got three responses and all were positive for reviewing and hosting interviews. Yep, I've got a long way to go, but it's a start. I'll send out five e-mails every day from this point forward until I've exhausted my list. Then I'll compile some more.

How many should you sign up for? As many as you can. Remember, how blogs work. For example, Becky sets up a blog and has 50 followers. Her information appears on their blogs. Among her 50 followers are ten people who have 1000 followers. So, your information not only appears on their blogs, but also their followers blogs. This is how your book goes viral and you start to build the ever important "buzz." You can never sign up with too many. So, find as many as you can and make it a constant process.

A few pointers for crafting your letters:

First, make sure that you at least TRY to personalize each letter to the extent that you can. Take the time to find out the name of the person who runs the blog. This will go a long way toward building goodwill. On some blogs the information isn't always apparent or easy to find, but most blogs who regularly review books have a book review policy page and provide their contact information there.
Include your book's information: Title, name of publisher (your imprint name or your name), ISBN number, format (tradepaper, hardcover), number of pages, back cover copy, and jpeg of your cover file.
Be careful of what you post online--anywhere. This not only applies to reaching out to bloggers but your career as an author. Like it or not, people will do research on you as bloggers, potential publishers, readers, etc. are bound to do. Be careful of what you post and what you say. Avoid negative interaction because it may affect whether people want to work with you. I say this because one blogger agreed to host my book and host me on a blog tour partly because I had a positive interaction with a reviewer who gave me a negative review. You never know how that stuff will play into the future, so just avoid the negative stuff altogether if you can.

Activity #2

For today's activity, I'm going to try and compile a list of book festivals and fairs that I can or will try attend next year to begin setting up my schedule. Now, of course, festivals and fairs are tricky because you have to pay to participate. That means, you need to know if you're gonna have the budget. Even though I'm with a traditional publisher, I doubt very seriously they're gonna pay because I'm not a money-maker yet. But the point of this exercise is finding what you can and listing them on a schedule so that if your budget does allow you to attend in a particular timeframe, you will already have the information compiled if your schedule and budget should allow.

How am I going to go about compiling my list? By leaning on an author's best friend--Google. I will Google "book fair", "book festival", "author pavilion", "book fest" along with my geographic area and see what I come up with. I'll list out fees, application deadlines, and website addresses so I can go back and find the information later. Some time down the road, I'll list the ones I can potentially attend on my website schedule.

Be selective and don't try to book everything because you need to leave room for bookstore signings on your schedule too. This activity shouldn't take too long--maybe an hour or so. Best thing is, you only need to do it once a year if you do a thorough job the first time. And if you retain the information from year to year, then you only need to update it with new events as they are available. This is a good time of year to compile the list because the festival schedules usually start in February and run through November.

So, what are you waiting for? Let's get to it!

The Bum Magnet - Goodreads Book Giveaway

2010-11-12T10:28:00.003-05:00

Hello,

If you're interested in entering to win a free copy of THE BUM MAGNET, check out my giveaway @ Goodreads.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Bum Magnet

by K.L. Brady

Giveaway ends March 29, 2011.

See the giveaway details

at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Implementing Your Marketing Plan!

2010-11-11T17:14:00.006-05:00

Hey Peops! I've been out of pocket writing the sequel to my novel and a YA novel. Now that I'm wrapping up work on both I can get back to blogging more regularly.

Whether you're an indie author or affiliated with an indie or big six publisher, one thing all we authors will have to do is market our books in some way or another. Even though my book has been picked up by a big six publisher, I don't have intention of reducing the level of marketing I engage in with the re-release of my novel. As a matter of fact, I really need to do equal or better because now my sales really count. The sales figures can impact my ability to get my books sold to publishers in the future. So, it's time to get on the ball.

I haven't done much marketing up to this point because it's very difficult to really market without a book cover, and I didn't get my book cover until yesterday. With THE BUM MAGNET release scheduled for March 29, 2011, time's ticking away and I've got a lot to do--from scheduling book signings, to setting up blog tours, to finding reviewers among bloggers and book clubs.

So, every day starting tomorrow until the release of my book in March 2011, I'll be engaging in one or two marketing activities per day and I'll be sharing them with you to give you ideas about how to go about conducting your own marketing. Now, I'm not going to give you very specific details because the key is for you to take the general idea, conduct your own research, and then do the marketing activity yourself. But hopefully, I can give you some direction and help you get your plan rolling.

Activity #1.

My first goal for tomorrow is to do some research to identify blogs that read and review books like mine. I'll make a list of those blogs and email them to ask if they will review my book, and/or host me on a tour, and/or allow me to post an author interview. As long as they agree to post some information (any information) about me as an author or my book, it will go a long way to getting the viral marketing started.

So where am I going to look for blogs? One of my favorite sources is Technorati.com. You go there, put in some search terms, and then find blogs that deal with subject matter similar to your book. It also allows you to see the blog rankings to identify which ones are considered more of an authority than others.

So, hop to it people! Let's find some blogs. If you're successful, please leave a comment and tell us about it.

Guest Post: Debbi Mack's 20 Questions Blog Tour

2010-11-08T06:00:00.001-05:00

Please welcome my very first guest author, Debbi Mack. Indie Publishing on the Cheap is today's stop on her blog tour. (If anyone else is interested, please email me. I'd be happy to host you as I finish up my works in progress.)

Debbi Mack's 20 Questions Blog Tour

Question 8: Where do you get your ideas?

Thank you, Karla, for hosting me on your blog, Cheap Indie Author. It's a pleasure to be hosted by someone who's made such a success by taking the indie route.

As to your question, it's a perennial favorite. It's that question that writers so often dread answering. It's one that authors tend to poke fun at. However, I will try to field it as best I can.

The simple answer is, ideas can come from just about anywhere. Ideas seem to crawl out of the woodwork like bugs.

Wow, that was quite the icky analogy. Let's try this instead. Ideas are caused when you see a situation and inspiration jolts your brain like electricity.

So often, an idea is based on a "what if" scenario. I'll be reading the paper (or a magazine or just about anything) and I'll think "what if this happened to someone and it led to murderous impulses?"

As a crime fiction writer, I seem capable of finding the potential for murder in almost any scenario.

If it sounds a bit scary, well, it's just my imagination. It's not real. (Is it? LOL)

Another aspect of getting ideas for stories is being able to spot the potential for conflict in a situation. Because conflict is the essence of good storytelling.

Who wants to read about a perfectly happy person going about an ordinary day in which nothing untoward happens? I'll tell you who. Nobody.

So, coming up with ideas means finding the conflict in situations. Along with being able to string out a plot that will support a whole novel.

This means that simply getting an idea isn't enough. What makes the idea work is not so much the idea as the execution. You see, they say that all the ideas have been "done" at this point. Perhaps it's true. But it's not just ideas that make a good story, it's also execution of the plot. And this is where all the hard work comes in.

Coming up with ideas is no great trick. Following through and creating a great story based upon them is the hard part.

At this point, I have SO many ideas for stories. They're all sitting patiently in my brain, like planes on a runway waiting for takeoff. I don't even know if I can possibly get to them all, given the time I put toward marketing and promoting, in addition to writing books (not to mention short stories, screenplays and whatever else I choose to work on).

So, when people ask me, "Where do you get your ideas?" my impulse is to say, "Where don't I get them?"

* * * * *

Thanks for reading, everyone! Don't forget to leave a comment with your email address if you'd like to enter the drawing for the 10 autographed copies of IDENTITY CRISIS I'm giving away. (One entry per person, but comment as often as you like.)

The drawing will be held on my blog My Life on the Mid-List after the tour is finished. Check my blog for the entire tour schedule.

And please join me at my next stop tomorrow: Weblog of Zoe Winters

* * * * *

Debbi Mack is the author of IDENTITY CRISIS, a hardboiled mystery and the first in a series featuring lawyer Stephanie Ann "Sam" McRae. She's also a short story writer whose ebook anthology, FIVE UNEASY PIECES, includes the Derringer-nominated "The Right to Remain Silent," originally published in The Back Alley Webzine. Debbi's work has also appeared in two of the CHESAPEAKE CRIMES anthologies.

Be on the lookout for her next Sam McRae novel, LEAST WANTED, which will be published soon (in print and ebook versions).

Debbi practiced law for nine years before becoming a freelance writer/researcher and fiction author. She's also worked as a news wire reporter covering the legal beat in Washington, D.C. and as a reference librarian at the Federal Trade Commission. She lives in Maryland with her husband and three cats.

You can find out more about Debbi on her Web site and her blog My Life on the Mid-List. Her books are available on Amazon, BN.com, Lulu.com, Smashwords and other sites around the Web, and by order at stores. You can also buy autographed copies of her novel from her Web site at http://www.debbimack.com/identitycrisis.

Self Publishing Expo

2010-09-17T09:49:00.003-04:00

This is from the peops at mediabistro.com. I actually had planned to attend this last year but my schedule and budget didn't allow. They are featuring a manuscript critique which I think is great for self published authors. The cost is $125 to attend the seminars and panels, and $350 if you want go as an exhibitor and sell your books. It looks like they've got some great sponsors this year, and with shift in attitudes about self-publishing, I'd be surprised if there weren't an editor or agent or two attending to find some new talent. Might be worth a trip!

Self-Publishing Book Expo Will Feature On-Site Manuscript Critique
By Maryann Yin on Sep 16, 2010 08:23 AM

The Self-Publishing Expo will take place on October 2nd in New York City. The Expo will feature a random drawing, awarding one lucky reader a free self-publishing package from CreateSpace worth $1,798.

Scheduled panels include "Do I Need an Agent?", "Working with Your Local Bookstore", and "Design & Illustration, How Your Cover Can Sell Covers." Industry speakers who will participate include Andy Carpenter (Principle ACD & Co.), Jeff Reich (The Writer Magazine) and Liz Perl (Simon & Schuster).

Besides a packed schedule of panels and speakers, attendees can look forward to "a special one-on-one editorial manuscript evaluation. Participants are asked to submit a 1-2 page synopsis and a 5-page sample in advance of the show. Each submission will be evaluated by a member of the Consulting Editors Alliance and each participant will get a one-on-one feedback session at the Expo."

Self Publishing is...IN?

2010-09-06T05:59:00.003-04:00

A lot has changed in the year since I self published my debut novel, The Bum Magnet in October 2009. And I do mean a lot. When I first considered putting my book out myself, just after the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards Contest had dashed my hopes for an “easy” road to a publishing contract, self published authors were still the scourge of the publishing world. You could hardly speak the word “self-publish” without watching someone’s face curl in disgust. Why in the world could you possibly want to put your book out there yourself when there’s all these publishing houses and big advances to be had in the traditional route? Or…if you can’t find a traditional house, then your work must really suck, so why would you want to embarrass yourself. Or…self published authors, on average, only sell 50-100 books (a few more if you have a larger social network), so why waste your time?

As a matter of fact, the only segments of the publishing industry who didn’t shun self published authors were the authors themselves or the range author support business who wanted to exploit them for the thousands of dollars many were willing to invest to get their masterpieces in book form.

My, my, my how times change. One year later and now even reputable major news papers like the New York Times are touting self publishing as a viable option. Don’t believe me? Check it out for yourself here, here, here, and here. It’s amazing to me how quickly perceptions about self publishing are shifting. Amazing. As more authors come into the fray and find success, industry perceptions shift. Self publishing isn’t a dirty word anymore. As a matter of fact, some authors like J.A. Konrath are making a good living from his titles listed on Amazon’s Kindle book store.

In a time not too long ago, literary agents and industry experts would tell authors that if they self-publish their book, they would NEVER be considered by traditional publishers. Such advice was prevalent…all the way up until traditional publishers started plucking authors from the ranks of the self published, like Lisa Genova, Boyd Morrison Zane, Mary B. Morrison, E. Lynn Harris, and the list goes on and on, giving them advances and turning some into instant best sellers. I know of several deals in the last year where self published authors with Kindle e-book best sellers were offered book deals by big six publishers. Now? Publishers, like Louise Burke at my own pocket books, say that they trawl the Internet looking for self published books that are generating great buzz and reviews so they can snap them up. It’s a win-win situation for them so why not? Self published authors are coming to houses big and small with market-tested material, minimizing the financial gamble that publishers have to take, particularly in today’s sluggish economic climate. As time goes on, I believe self publishing could become the new slush pile.

What’s more? Publishers Weekly, which used to fall in stark opposition to self published authors within industry debates, has recently changed its tune. Not only do they say self publishing is “getting respect,” they are launching a service geared toward self published authors, including a supplement to their magazine that features self published works and a slim chance at getting a their book reviewed…for a “small” fee of course. While many argue that their service should be free to authors, the point is that even PW had to face the hard truth—self publishing not only isn’t going away, it is growing and becoming more legitimate in the eyes of the general public everyday.

So, what’s my point you ask?

My point is simply this…if the so-called stigma of self publishing is one of the reasons (excuses) you’ve used not to put your book out there yourself, scratch that one off the list. If cost is an issue, you’re on the cheap indie author’s blog—use the vast information I’ve provided to help you publish on the cheap. Don’t let your work collect dust in a drawer. Dig it out, polish it up, and publish it.

An Old Funny - Dating in DC

2010-08-19T00:46:00.008-04:00

Okay, I'm trying to design a new, slightly more fancy website so I'm going through my old one to see what I will carry over. As I explore some links to old interviews and stuff to see if they still work, I came across this blog that I wrote last year just after I released my book. I thought since I have a blog that people actually read every now and again, I'd share this with you. I hope you enjoy. It gave me a chuckle (sometimes I don't know where I come up with this stuff. lol)

A Maryland Chick-lit Writer’s Inspiration by K.L. Brady, Author of The Bum Magnet

by Serena on November 25, 2009

Michelle at GalleySmith started this great blog craze about highlighting local authors on The Literary Road Trip. I’ve been a bit lax in participating, but I do have some of these great local authors lined up with guest posts and interviews. I’ve just been slow to post them.

K.L. Brady, author of The Bum Magnet and a local Maryland author; you can check out a list of her appearances or read her latest blog posts. Today, she’s here to share her inspiration, with some local flare. Give her a warm welcome.

As a “chick lit” author—which by my definition means I write about female characters and their relationships using heavy doses of humor—my experiences while residing in Maryland and D.C. have certainly inspired my writing. I lived here during my childhood and for most of my adult life. From Hillcrest Heights in Southeast D.C. to Forestville, Fort Washington, and Cheltenham, Maryland (which is Upper Marlboro with higher real estate taxes). I’ve seen this area through the 1970s gas crunch, a major hurricane, mayoral sting operations, planet-sized potholes, two recessions, political turmoil, a terrorist attack, and the first African-American president. And through it all, one thing has remained constant: women still outnumber men. This condition makes for a, shall we say, “unique” dating experience for the women in the area and provides me with more writing material than I can feasibly use in one lifetime.

If we want to be modern women, we eventually have to adapt to the new times–but I refuse. Unfortunately, I’m a child of D.C’s 60s and still have old-school leanings when it comes to love and dating. I believe men are supposed to call first – and no, a text message that reads “whatchu doin 2nite?” does not constitute invitation. I believe men should ask you “out” on real dates. “Out” means not “in” the house – microwave popcorn and a DVD do not a date make. And no, dinner does not guarantee that you will get “dessert.” When women like me stay committed to our rules, the selection of women is so plentiful that men can quickly and easily move on to the next target, many of whom don’t impose any rules. So, for men in the Maryland-DC area, dating is like an all-you-can-eat buffet. For women, it’s more like a rice cake—dry and unsatisfying.

People often ask me where my sense of humor comes from and why I incorporate so much into my writing. The answer is simple: I laugh to keep from crying. When you haven’t had a decent date since Jesus was a carpenter, you have to laugh to keep from crying. When you’ve reached level of financial success such that your blip on a man’s dating radar reads “sugar mama,” you have to laugh to keep from crying. When your heart’s been stepped on so many times that it can double as a Dance Dance Revolution Mat, you have to laugh to keep from crying. Some might consider such a dating life depressing, sad, or lonely. For me, it’s entertaining and replete with writing material. Without experiencing another relationship, I could write for eternity based on the life I’ve lived until today. And I view that as an enormous blessing–because if I write a hundred books one of them is bound to be a bestseller.

Ahhh, but fret not single ladies in the metropolitan area, there is a small glimmer of hope at the end of the grim, dark tunnel of DC dating. It’s called “relocation.” However, until your big moving day comes, stick to your rules, persevere…and laugh through your tears.

Thanks again K.L. Brady for a great guest post. If you have enjoyed this guest post, stay tuned for my review of The Bum Magnet.

I'm On the Other Side

2010-08-16T17:16:00.005-04:00

Okay... so today I had my first in depth discussion with my editor, so it was really my first chance to get a taste of life on the traditional publishing side. I thought I'd share some of the experience with you.

So, the first thing we talked about was the cover. As a self-publisher you get full control of your cover design. I actually consider that a perk. Right now, I sit here on pins and needles waiting anxiously to see Simon & Schuster's concept of the cover. She kind of eased me into the idea that it's a "romance"- like cover. When you say "romance cover" to me, I picture a half naked woman draped in some kind of scarfy thing, wind-blown hair, and some muscular mandingo type hovering nearby. I don't know if that's what my cover will actually look like, but whatever the outcome, it HAS to be better than what my imagination has conjured up.

Next, she asked me if I had a list of people that I wanted to send the book up. I was like, hold up. Wait! I don't have to send the books out myself? I thought those might come from my author copies. Au contraire mon frere-ette. I will have a publicist that will be assigned to the book who will handle publicity. More than that. They will send out review copies on my behalf and print up galleys. That's a whole lot of different from self-publishing where I would bear the cost of all that stuff myself. And the publicist will actually set up a blog tour near publication time. I had to do that myself as a self-publisher (and I don't think I did it as well as it could've been done).

Soon I will get a log-on for the Simon and Schuster website so that I can set up a webpage on their site...more great PR. They also allow you to use their studios to produce a video which I hope to do as well. It would cost me a pretty penny to do that professionally and the service through the publisher is free to authors (and will ensure I have yet another great reason to roll up to New York!).

The best part about all of this is that it's happening while I'm diligently working on my next novel. Definitely wouldn't have happened as a self-publisher.

So...we'll see how things go on the cover front.

Stay tuned for my next report from the other side where I will discuss...the cover!

Finding Your Voice

2010-07-30T12:20:00.002-04:00

When I was in that frustrated stage of publishing where I was getting rejections from literary agents and deciding whether to self-publish, one realization hit me which really led me to put my book out myself.

I had a voice.

Now, don’t ask me to define exactly what that is because I can’t tell you. But with every rejection I got, all the agents kept telling me that I had great voice and the word “voice” connected with me because I’d heard it before…about 20 years ago.

For those writers who think you must have formal English training, an MFA or the like, to write novels. Let me tell you that I don’t. I’ve written in journals all my life, was pretty much a straight-A student nerd, and did pretty well in English classes throughout school. But one day changed my perspective on my writing.

My English 101 professor, Francis O’Leary (of Irish descent and knew more about African American literature than anyone I’ve met to date—I’ll never forget him) gave the class an assignment. The details are foggy but we had a list of short stories and we were supposed to select two of the stories and do a contrast and comparison—3 pages long. I looked at the list and was completely lost. On the surface, those stories couldn’t have less in common than a chicken and a yo-yo. I mean nothing. We had two days to get the assignment done and I stewed for two days and couldn’t think of a single angle. Talk about frustrated.

Finally, about 2 hours before class on the day I was supposed to turn the assignment in an idea just hit me. I remember selecting The Lottery by Shirley Jackson and The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe. In each story, the protagonist kind of took a morbid laissez faire attitude about other people’s pain…until the pain became their own. Anyway, so I start writing this 3-page piece of fluff crap, pulling words completely out of my butt, talking about some saying that my grandma said, knowing darn well she’d never said it, and just pulling ideas out of thin air…or so it seemed to me at the time. The words flowed like the River Jordan. I couldn’t stop them until I got to 2 and a half pages (not 3 pages as assigned) and then it ended. When there was nothing left to say, I just couldn’t write anymore. No matter how hard I tried to fill in that last half page.

The whole comparison was entertaining but filled with crap that I’d made up. I didn’t care. It was done and I was going to turn the stupid thing in no matter what the consequences were. For some reason, I was most scared because I didn’t write the entire three pages, just 2 and a half. Hand shaking, I passed the last minute job to Professor O’Leary and I prayed and sweated and hoped that I would just pass the dang assignment. I just didn’t want an “F.”

The next day we were in the middle of an in-class writing assignment and Professor O’Leary calls me to the front of the class. I thought, “Oh hell, he’s gonna let me have it in front of everyone.” My stomach dropped through the floor and I was trembling. Keep in mind that as a nerd, grades were my life…especially A’s. So, I get to the front of the class and he pulls out my paper. At the top of it, an enormous “A” circled in red ink. He hands it to me and whispers, “I’d like to read this in front of the class tomorrow if you don’t mind. This was excellent. You have a great voice! Keep writing!”

Voice?

What the hell’s “voice”?

I didn’t know, but I agreed to let him read it. A shy writer (to this day), I showed up 20 minutes late just so I wouldn’t have to suffer through him reading my work to the whole class. I walked in just in time for the light applause.

When I thought about my process later on, I remembered the place I was in, where the words just flowed. I heard voices speak to me and I transcribed. I was a vessel for some imaginary person in my head that had something to say, and I wrote the words the way they told me to write them.

To this day, that’s where my words and my characters come from. That place where the characters speak and I listen and then write.

There is where I found my voice, that ingredient in writing that makes your characters come alive. And they refused to let me put their words in one of my journals. They wanted a book and they wanted it published. And wouldn’t let me stop until I did.

I self-published…and the rest as they say is history.

So fellow writers, when you’re wondering why you’re doing what you persist in this writing “thing,” remember those voices and let their stories be heard.

Question From a Follower

2010-07-22T08:47:00.004-04:00

Hello Everyone,

I know I've been out of pocket quite a bit lately but I'm busy writing. I've finished a YA novel which I think has some great potential. I also have begun the sequel to The Bum Magnet which is really shaping up to be a lot of fun to write.

Not much has been going on in terms of the book deal. The contract has been signed and I'm waiting...waiting...waiting for the next stage. Based on the contract, I don't think anything will really get in gear until late August, early September. I will share as much about the process as I can.

I have a question from a follower that I'd like to address for all involved. Although I've covered similar material earlier in the blog, I think this is an issue that bears repeating again and again.

Great information. My first book was published in 2001 by a company that's no longer in business. My second will be ready for printing within a couple of weeks. I'm looking at both Lightning and CreateSpace but have also had Balboa Press recommended, an arm of Hay House. Do you have any thoughts on them? Thanks!Judith Horkywww.earthshift.net

I checked out the Balboa Press website and their packages and what I can say is that I would not use them, nor would I encourage anyone who asks for my advice to use their services. The cheapest package is $999 and if you've read anything about my blog, you know that you can use Createspace and Lightning Source to produce your book for a whole lot cheaper if you're willing to do some of the grunt work yourself. Some of the package prices are downright predatory as far as I'm concerned.

What their CHEAPEST package offers, you can do for yourself, through Createspace and Lightning Source for less than $500-- and really it's less than that. It can probably be done for about $300-$350.

Two things they don't mention on the site are "Returnability" (whether they accept returns) and "Wholesale" discount, how much of a discount they offer. If they don't offer returnability or at least a 40% wholesale discount (really needs to be 50-55%), then your book won't likely get into major retailers. Plus, what are your printing costs? They say they offer a discount for author copies but they don't say how much that discount is.

My advice is to just say no! Do it yourself. It will take a little more work on your part on the front end, but you'll save money on the backend AND you'll put your book in a position to get out to retailers. I can almost promise you it will be very difficult though Balboa press and the like. If you look at the past blogs, you will see many of the reasons I state for maintaining maximum control of your book, ensuring returnability, and having the ability to set your own wholesale rate. These are key issues to self publishing profitably and cheaply.

For Writers: What to Read and Where to Go...

2010-06-08T08:37:00.003-04:00

Here are two articles I found very useful. I hope you do too.

I have 8 books from this list...and counting.

From http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2010/01/75-books-every-writer-should-read/
75 Books Every Writer Should Read
January 7th, 2010
Whether you want to make writing your career or just want to know how to improve your writing so that you can pass your college courses, there is plenty of reading material out there to help you get inspired and hone your skills. Here’s a collection of titles that will instruct you on just about every aspect of writing, from the basics of grammar to marketing your completed novel, with some incredibly helpful tips from well-known writers themselves as well.
Writing Basics
These books address things like structure, plot, descriptions and other basic elements of any story.
The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers: You can improve the quality of your writing by adding a mythical quality to them with advice and insight from this book.
Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler: Whether you agree with the ideas in this book or not, you’ll find it a useful and informative read for writing.
Word Painting: A Guide to Write More Descriptively by Rebecca McClanahan: Get some pointers that will help you make your settings and characters come alive from this book.
Simple & Direct by Jacques Barzun: Barzun says that his purpose in writing this book was to "resensitize the mind to words" and he does this through a variety of helpful lessons on grammar, word usage and writing that are sure to make your writing better, or at least more thoughtful.
Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell: This book will help you create plots that will draw readers in and make your work more powerful.
Elements of Writing Fiction: Characters & Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card: Check out this engaging book for a little guidance on creating more believable and fully developed characters.
Between the Lines by Jessica Morrell: In this book you’ll learn how to craft a cohesive and layered story through the use of suspense, transitions and more.
Advice from Authors
Who better to give advice on writing than those who have made a name for themselves doing it? These books offer some insights on the craft from those who know it best.
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King: This is widely regarded as one of the best books for any aspiring author to read. Why? King’s book divides it’s time between being an instructional manual for writers and a richly engaging memoir that serves as a great example of how to write and write well.
Letters to a Young Novelist by Mario Vargas Llosa: Readers will not find a true instructional manual on writing in this book, but instead a thoughtful exploration on the the way writing itself works and how it can change or enrich a life.
Zen in the Art of Writing: Releasing the Creative Genius Within You by Ray Bradbury: Many are familiar with sci-fi author Ray Bradbury. In this book of essays he gives his thoughts on the literary and commercial aspects of writing as well as providing motivation for the aspiring writer out there.
Ron Carlson Writes a Story by Ron Carlson: Ron Carlson is often called the "master of the short story," and in this book he shares his process for creating one of these short masterpieces.
The Faith of a Writer: Life, Craft, Art by Joyce Carol Oates: Containing twelve essays and an interview, this book delves into the deeper issues of writing, like inspiration, faith, and failure.
On Being a Writer by Bill Strickland: This book is a collection of thirty-one interviews from Writer’s Digest exploring the work and process of literary greats like Hemingway and Faulkner.
The Best Writing on Writing by Jack Heffron: Check out this multi-volume series to hear advice, recollections and stories from authors both famous and more obscure.
On Writers and Writing by John Gardner: In his time, Gardner was considered one of the best teachers of writing. In this book you’ll be able to read some of his best essays and reviews.
Art Objects: Essays on Ecstasy and Effrontery by Jeanette Winterson: This collection of essays touches on everything from how to look at a painting to how to keep personal and professional lives separate.
Everything I Know About Writing by John Marsden: Writer John Marsden shares his experience and expertise on writing in this book.
Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing: A Novelist Looks at His Craft by David Morrell: Morrell wrote the book that inspired the film Rambo, but he is just as well-versed in classic lit as popular fiction. In this book he’ll explain how to navigate some of the basic elements of writing a great book.
The Believer Book of Writers Talking to Writers by Vendela Vida: This book is a collection of conversations between writers and their mentors, offering insights into their processes and a whole lot more.
How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author by Janet Evanovitch: Get a behind-the-scenes look at how this author constructs her novels about the intrepid bounty hunter Stephanie Plum in this book.
Improving Your Writing
Use the information in these books to hone your writing skills.
Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within by Natalie Goldberg: This easy-to-read book will offer you some tips on writing as well as often entertaining comparisons and insights on the craft.
Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott: Check out this instructional book to get help creating your work from the first drafts to the final publication.
The 10% Solution by Ken Rand: This book helps guide writers through many of the areas of writing that cause them trouble and keep them frustrated.
Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft by Janet Burroway, Elizabeth Stuckey-French and Ned Stuckey-French: Burroway’s book is one of the most widely read and respected books on writing fiction, and in it writers will find tips on everything from creativity to tone.
The Artful Edit: On the Practice of Editing Yourself by Susan Bell: There are few things more helpful to improving writing than good editing, and this book is full of tips to help you tackle scaling back and refining your own work.
Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly by Gail Carson Levine: Are your stories lacking that certain something? Get some tips on finding the missing ingredient from this book.
Edit Yourself : A Manual for Everyone Who Works With Words by Bruce Clifford Ross-Larson: No matter what kind of writing you do, you’ll find tips on trimming the fat in this book.
Keys to Great Writing by Stephen Wilbers: This basic guide will help you improve all aspects of your writing with lessons writers at any level can use.
The Classic Guide to Better Writing: Step-by-Step Techniques and Exercises to Write Simply, Clearly and Correctly by Rudolf Franz Flesch: This guidebook will help you work on organization, grammar, spelling, voice and more.
Grammar
Whether you struggle with grammar or just want to learn to master it better, these books are great reads and reference tools.
Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English by Patricia T. O’ Conner: O’ Conner is an editor at the New York Times Book Review and gives a witty and fun take on the often boring subject of grammar in this book.
A Dash of Style: The Art and Mastery of Punctuation by Noah Lukeman: If you struggle to know when to use a semicolon or a colon, this book can help you conquer any form of punctuation.
Punctuation for Writers: A Thorough Primer For Writers Of Fiction And Essays by Harvey Stanbrough: Make sure your work is free from any major punctuation errors by referencing and reading this text.
Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynn Truss: Where you choose to place a comma can make a big difference in the meaning of a phrase, as this fun grammar and punctuation manual will show.
Grammatically Correct by Anne Stilman: This book will help you resolve some of the most common issues with grammar, spelling and punctuation.
The Grouchy Grammarian: A How-Not-To Guide to the 47 Most Common Mistakes in English Made by Journalists, Broadcasters, and Others Who Should Know Better by Thomas Parrish: If you stink at using grammar correctly, then you’re not alone. This book shows you how to avoid making these common mistakes so you can sound smarter and write better.
The Pen Commandments by Steven Frank: This book will make learning the rules of the English language fun, interesting and maybe even funny.
Reference Books
Keep these books on hand to ensure your writing is mastering the basics like spelling, formatting, word use and more.
The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr., and E.B.White: This book is a must-have for anyone who writes, as it has been the standard model for proper English style for decades.
Writing With Style: Conversations on the Art of Writing by John Trimble: Here you’ll find many of the same writing tips contained in The Elements of Style but in a more accessible and lively format.
Writing Fiction: A Practical Guide from New York’s Acclaimed Creative Writing School by Brett Norris: This guide will help you go from idea to finished product with lessons that writers at any stage can employ.
How Not To Say What You Mean: A Dictionary of Euphemisms by R. W. Holder: Whether you’re trying to dodge using less attractive terms or just want to get creative with the English language, this book can help.
1000 Most Important Words by Norman W. Schur: Improve your vocabulary with this collection of great words and intriguing dictionary definitions.
Dewdroppers, Waldos, and Slackers: A Decade-by-Decade Guide to the Vanishing Vocabulary of the 20th Century by Rosemarie Ostler: Those who like to set their stories in times past can get a quick reference for older slang and now defunct English words in this book.
The Writer’s Art by James J. Kilpatrick: Check out this book for some pretty essential tips on using the English language wisely.
Writing as a Career
If you’re looking to make a career out of writing, these books can be a big help in getting you there.
Telling Lies for Fun & Profit: A Manual for Fiction Writers by Lawrence Block: This book offers plenty of advice for those who want to write better and get their work published.
Making a Literary Life by Carolyn See: Read this book to learn how to look at writing not only as a job, but as a lifestyle.
Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass: Get some advice from this literary agent on how to create a novel that will help you stand out from the crowd.
The Forest for the Trees: An Editor’s Advice to Writers by Betsy Lerner: Learn what editors are looking for when it comes to actually getting your work read and possibly even published from this book.
The First Five Pages: A Writer’s Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile by Noah Lukeman: Thousands of novels are submitted to publishers each year, but the vast majority of these will not be published. Learn how you can tweak your writing to give it a fighting chance in this book from literary agent Noah Lukeman.
The Fire in Fiction: Passion, Purpose and Techniques to Make Your Novel Great by Donald Maass: Learn what makes published authors’ stories so "hot" and what you may be doing that’s making yours, well, not.
Dare to be a Great Writer: 329 Keys to Powerful Fiction by Leonard Bishop: This book will teach you to write fiction that’s not just good but also sellable.
Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life by Terry Brooks: Check out this book from author Terry Brooks to get insight into the publishing industry and the process of writing.
The Marshall Plan Workbook: Writing Your Novel from Start to Finish by Evan Marshall: If you need a little push to get yourself into the swing of writing your novel, then this workbook could be a great motivational tool.
How To Grow A Novel: The Most Common Mistakes Writers Make and How to Overcome Them by Sol Stein: This book will guide you through the process and the necessary elements of creating an engaging novel.
How To Be Your Own Literary Agent by Richard Curtis: If you’re not quite ready to make the commitment to a literary agent, you can still ensure you don’t get swindled by reading this book.
The Well-Fed Writer: Financial Self-Sufficiency as a Freelance Writer in Six Months or Less by Peter Bowerman: Those hoping to work as freelancers can get advice on finding work and making freelancing a steady paying gig in this book.
Genre or Format Specific
These books focus on particular genres like science fiction or mystery or specific types of writing like poetry and nonfiction.
How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card: This Hugo Award winning book will guide you through the ins and outs of creating compelling and believable sci-fi stories.
Writing Mysteries: A Handbook by the Mystery Writers of America by Jan Burke: If mysteries are more your thing, you can learn how to construct plots, characters and build suspense in this book.
On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William K. Zinsser: Those who prefer writing and reading non-fiction will find a wealth of helpful information in this guidebook.
The Poet and the Poem by Judson Jerome: This book will teach you the basics of poetry from diction to verse forms.
The Language of Life by Bill Moyers: This book offers a series of discussions with thirty-four American poets, offering inspiration and insight into what makes poetry great.
The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present by Philip Lopate: This book contains seventy-five personal essays from an incredibly diverse spectrum of writers. It can be a great way to learn about the changes in the medium and how to develop your own essay style.
Classics
These classic books on writing, writers and creativity will get you inspired to write more.
A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway: Published posthumously, this book details the time Hemingway spent in Paris along with other literary greats, like Fitzgerald, as well as insights into the psyche of the artist himself.
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce: This fictional account of the life of Joyce is not only a good read but an interesting insight into the events that shaped the life of one of the world’s most acclaimed authors.
Poetics by Aristotle: This ancient Greek text is all about constructing the perfect tragic drama, but offers invaluable insights into the essentials of any genre of writing.
Walden by Henry David Thoreau: Check out this book to learn what it means to disconnect from society and focus on nature. Thoreau’s lessons on simplicity can be applied to the art of writing as well, where less can often say more.
Creativity and Motivation
Get some tips and advice on finding your creative spark and getting motivated to finally write your own book, essay, or short story.
The Writer’s Idea Book by Jack Heffron: If you’re struggling with writer’s block, give this inspirational and educational book a read to get some ideas on how to move forward.
Writing With Power: Techniques for Mastering the Writing Process by Peter Elbow: No matter how you like to write, this book contains a guide to help you get motivated and move through the process from beginning to end.
How To Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day by Michael Gelb: The aim of this book is to help you reach into your brain and find untapped reserves of intelligence, creativity and ability so you can unlock your own inner genius.
The Write Time: 366 Exercises to Fulfill Your Writing Life by Robert Yehling: In this book you’ll find writing exercises, motivational quotes and loads of resources to help you get writing.
The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles by Steven Pressfield: Novelist Steven Pressfield offers his advice to help writers (or other creative types) break through their creative barriers and get inspired.
Keeping a Journal You Love by Sheila Bender: In this book you’ll find journal entries from 15 poets and writers as well as their own explanations of these entries. Aspiring writers can use the book as a guide to creating a useful and productive journal of their own.
The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life by Julia Cameron: The essays contained in this book detail the drive to create and the many tasks of everyday life that often stand in the way as well as pointers on getting yourself to work in spite of them.
Room to Write by Bonni Goldberg: Each of the writing lessons in this manual are a page long, offering you numerous but succinct opportunities to kick your writing up a notch.
Writers Dreaming: 26 Writers Talk About Their Dreams and the Creative Process by Naomi Epel: Read this book to hear well-known authors talk about the role dreams play in their work and how they inspire their creativity.
Writing Begins with the Breath: Embodying Your Authentic Voice by Laraine Herring: Learn how to connect with your inner voice and become a more fully-realized creative person through the lessons in this book.

And...

The Top 25 Book Fairs and Book Festivals Authors Should Attend http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Top-25-Book-Fairs-and-Book-Festivals-Authors-Should-Attend&id=3372781

Are book fairs an effective way to promote books? As a book publicist and book marketing specialist, I am the first to impress on authors the new and powerful marketing avenues open to all authors on the Internet - from book websites to book trailers to social networks like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. While these are fantastic tools when used properly, authors should never overlook opportunities to meet the reading public face-to-face where they can easily be found - at book fairs, book festivals, trade shows, book conferences and conventions.
Any book event, regardless of size and name recognition, is worth attending by an author who is serious about promoting their book. This requires personal effort and time by the author in person. People don't want to meet the author's assistant or friend; no they want to talk to the author.
Book fairs provide an excellent chance to learn more about the publishing industry, about booksellers, publishers, distributors and marketers. The attending author will also learn a great deal about what readers want and how to reach readers. And while acquiring a vast amount of knowledge about the book industry, the author can also take advantage of the chance to expose their book and name to a new audience - leaders in the book industry who are interested in meeting new authors. While you may not walk away with a book deal you'll make yourself known to the movers and shakers and that has long-lasting benefits. Remember, word of mouth is one of the strongest promotional tools available and authors need to be where the mouths are - the mouths of book publishers, distributors, promoters, agents and readers - at book fairs, conventions and conferences.
Book fairs provide an excellent opportunity to encounter media reps in search of a story. Producers of TV and radio programs, editors of newspapers, magazines, book reviewers and online media outlets attend these events in search of stories that otherwise would be under their radar. Never, never pass up on the opportunity to meet the media. Keep an eye out for small I-phone sized video cameras too as they shoot broadcast quality footage in natural light. If you see somebody using one, invite them over and give them a pitch. They could be shooting for C-SPAN, CNN, a book review blog or the local cable show; you won't know unless you ask.
The major book conferences and conventions involve travel expenses such as airlines and hotel lodging, and a week's investment of your time. But book fairs can be found close to home, easily accessed by car and often are only one or two days. A typical regional book fair will have 1,000 or more attendees and 100 or more exhibitors, providing a realistic exposure of 300 visitors a day. Why would an author not want to spend a Saturday and a Sunday within 100 miles of home to meet 600 readers or a reporter, editor or book reviewer?
At a book fair, just as at a book signing event, the author will want to bring promotional literature to pass out. Passing out promotional bookmarks or book covers is a great way to generate future sales for months and months after the book fair ends. The give-away should contain the author's contact information, the book's name, the front cover artwork, author's website address, and where the book can be purchased online.
I also remind my author clients that book fairs often need speakers. By volunteering to speak, the author not only gains great exposure but can also add that appearance to their resume and press releases. But plan ahead; dates for panel participants, speakers and autograph sessions are arranged months in advance.
Book fairs are often attended by best-selling authors who will be willing to spend time with you sharing tips on writing, on how to be successful, and advice on where to find the help you need.
In summary, book fairs are wonderful places to interact with fellow authors, publishers, network with book industry leaders, locate the help you need such as a publicist or book editor, and learn what's new in the marketplace.
Here is a list of 25 book fairs and events that are worthy of your attendance (courtesy of Noel Griese, Editor of Southern Review of Books,
1. Litquake, San Francisco's Literary Festival
2. Frankfurt Book Fair, biggest book show in the world, October 6-10, 2010 in Frankfurt, Germany
3. Louisiana Book Festival, Baton Rouge,
4. Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, a big festival attracting 150,000 readers, April 24-25, 2010
5. BookExpo America, May 25-27, 2010, Jacob Javits Center, NYC, the premier North American publishing event of the year
6. Ann Arbor Book Festival, Ann Arbor MI
7. National Book Festival, sponsored by the Library of Congress on the Mall in Washington, DC,
8. Self-Publishing Book Expo,
9. Miami Book Fair International, draws hundreds of thousands of people, conducted by the Congress of Writers
10. Vegas Valley Book Festival, Las Vegas
11. London Book Fair, April 19-21, 2010, global marketplace for sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and digital channels
12. American Library Association Annual Conference, June 24-29, 2010, Washington, DC, some 2,000 seminars and events plus a huge trade show
13. International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) Considered the best show for Christian authors according to Sara Bolme author of Your Guide to Marketing Books in the Christian Marketplace
14. CAMEX/National Association of College Stores, attracts more than 7,000 people, including booksellers from more than 1,000 stores
15. Philadelphia Book Festival, attended by 35,000 and more than 50 authors, performers. Third weekend in April 2010
16. Printers Row Book Fair, a large book fair attended by more than 100,000 book lovers in 2009
17. Southern Festival of Books: A Celebration of the Written Word, Nashville, TN, attracts more than 200 authors from throughout the U.S. Second full weekend in October, 2010
18. Kentucky Book Fair, Frankfort Convention Center, attended by up to 5,000 people including 150 authors
19. Texas Book Fair, established in 1995 by First Lady Laura Bush, a former librarian, more than 45,000 attend
20. Delaware Book Fair & Authors Day
21. Baltimore Book Festival, attracts more than 100 authors, Sept. 24-26, 2010
22. Book Island Festival, Feb. 12-13, 2010
23. Harlem Book Festival, May 6-9, 2010, Bermuda
24. Spring Book Show, more than 50,000 book titles offered by vendors, Cobb Galleria Centre, Atlanta, GA, March 26-28, 2010
25. South Carolina Book Festival, Feb. 26-28, 2010, Metropolitan Convention Center, Columbia, SC, more than 6000 attend 3-day festival
The bottom line: Make it a point to include book fairs into your book marketing campaign, you'll be glad you did!
Scott Lorenz is President of Westwind Communications, a public relations and marketing firm that specializes in book marketing and author publicity. His clients have been featured by Good Morning America, FOX & Friends, CNN, ABC Nightly News, The New York Times, Nightline, TIME, PBS, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Family Circle, Woman's World, & Howard Stern to name a few. To discuss how Westwind Communications helps authors get all the publicity they deserve and more call 734-667-2090. For more information visit http://www.Book-Marketing-Expert.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=R._Scott_Lorenz

Indie -vs- Traditional Publishing #1

2010-05-24T18:41:00.004-04:00

Well, as most of you may know (or perhaps some of you don't know), I accepted a two-book deal with Simon & Schuster recently. So, I'm an indie publisher no more, but I will still maintain my blog and share all of my tips until I have no more tips to share.

Of course, I am very excited about the prospects. But a lot of people have had questions about how it happened and why I accepted the deal. So, I thought I would do an initial post on the issue, but as I get further into the process, since I will have the experience of working both sides of publishing (indie and traditional), I will periodically post about the drawbacks and advantages that I see in both processes.

So, what happened?

To this day, I don't know how she found me, but an editor from Kensington send me an email and said that she was interested in talking about my book. Needless to say I was over the moon. I played it cool and sent her a rather official sounding email indicating that I appreciated her interest and that I'd contact her during business hours. lol What a bonehead (ME not her). (I didn't get the email until late that evening)

So, the next day, I stared at the phone until about 11:00 am. I figured by 11:00 am, she'd be done catching up on her early emails and phone calls and she wouldn't have left for lunch. Turned out to be perfect timing. And she answered on the second or third ring.

We spoke for about 45 minutes or so. The details are foggy now. I just thought it was surreal to be talking to her. She has a number of African-American NY Times Bestsellers on her list (Carl Weber, Mary B. Morrison, Mary Monroe). I knew exactly who she was and I knew the publisher well. As a matter of fact, I had sent a partial to her but never heard from her. (For those of you not aware, you can query Kensington editors directly. You don't need an agent.)

So, she asked me about how I got into writing, how I went about publishing my book, what kind of marketing plan I did, etc. etc. In one of the funnier moments in the conversation, she asked me if I'd queried any agents or editors. I said, "Well, as a matter of fact I sent my partial to you." She got quiet and I heard her fish around her desk. She had my query sitting in an envelope right in her overhead. Ha! How's that for coincident. Of course, she was mortified. I told her not to feel bad. I truly believe that things happen for a reason. There was a reason that she didn't read it back then. So, she suggested she'd be making me an offer and we let it go. She asked me for a copy of my manuscript and to see my two works in progress. So, I sent them to her.

I asked an editor and an agent who I'd been in touch with at a writer's conference (I was the coordinator that booked them and she was very gracious) advice on what I should do next. They said get an agent. I sent a note to the editor who called me and asked her if she'd have a problem with me getting an agent. She said no. As a matter of fact, she referred an agent to me. At that point, I knew she was serious.

Anyway, so I queried a few agents, including the one she recommended for me. I went on Publisher's lunch and found agents who worked with author in similar genres. I wanted someone with experience in selling African American (AA) fiction. Within a few days I had a few that were very interested. I ended up picking the agent who represented two female AA best-selling authors who write in different genres. He had great credentials (a former editor for big houses) and he knew how to sell AA fiction. I couldn't go wrong.

He asked me to make a few edits to the manuscript. Admittedly, I was reticent only because my book was already out there. But it came down to the fact that, even though I'd sold a couple thousand copies (ebook and paperback), I hadn't sold enough to the point where changes to the manuscript would impact millions of readers. So, I got over myself and my few measly sales and I made the changes he suggested, and he put it on submission. He submitted it just as he would an unpublished manuscript but in the accompanying letter, we let them know that it had been self published, received great reviews, was building word of mouth, yadda yadda yadda.

So, two weeks go by and the rejections start rolling in. After about 4 or 5 I asked if I should get depressed and he said we had a long way to go. Finally, an editor from S&S said she liked it and was passing it around. The original editor who expressed interest from Kensington was still interested and waiting on her boss to return from vacation. Then another editor from Grand Central (Hachette) expressed interest. After all the offers and counteroffers, we finally accepted the one with Pocket.

Of course part of me felt really really bad because if it hadn't been for the original editor reaching out to me, I might not have even had the opportunity. But she indicated she wasn't able to match S&S offer, so she gave me her best wishes for my career. I felt much better.

That's pretty much the story.

To answer some of the questions I received, no one ever asked about my sales numbers until after the offers were made. I did not query anyone after I published the book. I queried before I published but not after. So, I can't really say whether trying to query an agent or publisher after you've self-published will work for you. I didn't have to query. How do I think she found me. Well, my book had been reviewed on several sites where her authors book were also reviewed. Mine was one of the few self published books to get a 5-star rating, "favorite," or "top read" status. My book also stayed in the Top 100 African American fiction list on Amazon. I went through the list at the time, and I was the only book on the list that didn't have a publisher. I'd also been reaching out to book clubs and stuff like that. So, there are a lot of ways she could've found out.

I was also asked why if an author, such as myself, was doing well in distributing my book and getting good reviews, why would I relinquish control and sell my rights to a publisher?

Ummmmm . . . because it was Simon & Schuster and I'm not crazy??? LOL Just kidding. The thing is, without a whole whole whole lot of work, there is no way I could reach the audience that S&S or another major publisher could reach. That was a fact of life. Nobody knows K.L. Brady; a heck of a lot of people know Simon & Schuster. This is a great opportunity to build my own brand using someone else's brand and expand my audience. It was not about the advance for me. It was about the opportunity this deal offered to build my author brand and I plan to take advantage of every perk the brand and affiliation with a house comes with to market and sell more books. As a new/first-time novelist, I also wanted the chance to work with an editor so that I can improve my craft.

This was truly a business decision for me...and I think it was a good one.

So, that's scoop and the poop.

If you've got questions...let it roll.

And NO...I will not be divulging the amount of my advance. I will say it was enough for me. :)

My Marketing Post Cards

2010-05-17T06:49:00.007-04:00

For those curious about how I designed my postcards. Here they are. I used MS Word. I have two different back designs and one front design. They are simple but they serve the purpose. Show book cover, provide summary, provide some reviews and my website and/or purchasing information.

Marketing Your Book on Amazon

2010-05-10T15:56:00.004-04:00

There are several techniques, built into Amazon's site, that you can use to market your book. Today I'll discuss one of them.

For today’s post, I’d like to begin with an experiment. First, I’d like you to pull up the Amazon.com website. I’d like you to conduct three searches the term “chick lit.” On the drop-down menu next to the search box, I’d like you to use “All Departments”, “Books”, and “Kindle.” Then review only the first page of books on each of those searches. See anything familiar?

Yes, that’s my book The Bum Magnet on the first page of each of those searches. The position may change from day to day, but it typically stays on the first page.

One reason we love Amazon is that it really helps level the playing field for indie authors and publishers. They have a number of tools that can help you get more visibility for your book.
Let’s face, we human beings are a pretty impatient lot. When we are shopping online, we don’t want to have to look through 237 pages of products to find the one that we want. Typically, we give up looking somewhere between 5-10 pages in unless we don’t have anything better to do. Then we go on and search another term we hope will get us there faster. Your goal on Amazon is to ensure that your book shows up within the first 5 to 10 pages of a general search term (i.e., cozy mystery, chick lit, romantic comedy). Any further back and it’s likely that a potential reader looking for something new and different may never find your book.

So, how did I do it?

One thing you really want to ensure that you leverage to the fullest extent that you can is the “Tags” function. The more tags you get in a particular category, the higher your book will place in that category. The key is ensuring that your tags accurately describe or define the type of book you’ve written. For example, if you tag your book as action thriller but people click on it to find it’s a romance, you’re not going to help your cause. No, you want someone looking for a romance read to find your book.

Where are the “tags” on Amazon?

If you look at any book product page, you can find the “Tags” section somewhere between the Product Detail section and the Customer Reviews.

If you don’t have tags yet, then you should get your tags started by listing the terms that accurately identify your book. Now, each time someone clicks a tag on your book, your book will move up higher and higher in that category. Of course, it’s not tags alone that will help your book move up, but they definitely help. Your sales and rankings will also factor into it as well. For example, on my paperback book, I have a very high tag count in chick lit. However, if my sales ranking creeps up too high, my search ranking in the category usually drops. I don’t know what kind of crazy algorithm they use, but I do know that if you keep consistent sales and you have a lot of tags, that helps move you up.

Within the tag section, just to the right of the tags that you select, you can select the “See Most Popular Tags” option and it will show you a “Tag Cloud.” This will tell you which tags are most frequently used among books on Amazon. Although you may be tempted to list the popular tags, don’t! I tend to stay away from the most popular tags because for my book to show up high in those categories, a million readers will have to click the tags to move my books over more popular books. However, if you find a few popular tags that apply to your book, it’s okay to use them. The best strategy is to use those tags that apply to your book.

How do I get people to tag my book?

Well, one way is to ask your friends and family members with Amazon accounts (they must have Amazon accounts) to take a minute to tag your book when they make a purchase.

Another way is to use the services of “Tag My Book on Amazon.” It’s a site for indie authors who want to get their books tagged. It works on a quid pro quo basis, meaning you have to tag other people’s books and they’ll tag yours. The address to the website is http://www.tagmybookonamazon.wordpress.com/ . Createspace and some of the Amazon discussion boards that cater to authors also have Tag My Book discussion threads in them. You’ll have to search for them, but they’re out there.

Make sure you list both your paperback version and your Kindle version on the same post, and they’ll tag them at the same time.

This is a great marketing technique that won’t cost you anything but time!

That’s all for now.

Keep it real…and keep it real cheap!

Neat and Cheap Tools of the Trade #3 - Who's Your Printer

2010-05-01T16:04:00.006-04:00

I did a book signing at a festival a couple of weeks ago, and, on my table, I displayed some 4x6 postcard with pictures of my bookcover on the front and the synopsis and review clips on the back. I also handed out some 2x9 bookmarks. Anyway, an author stopped by my table to pick up a card and I told her to take several and give them to other people that might be interested in them.

And she said, "Oh, I shouldn't. I mean--the cost." And I smiled and said, "Please take as many as you want." Didn't blink an eye. Let me tell you, I have so many postcards in my house right now that I could make it rain postcards over half of my neighborhood for about 5 minutes. And I didn't pay that much for them.

You might ask yourself, how can she do that? If you don't want to have to ration your marketing material, you've come to the right place.

First, I design them myself, right on Microsoft Word.

Then I order all of my marketing materials from GotPrint.com. This is one time you can trust that I have researched just about EVERY SINGLE printing company in this country--at least the online companies. And I can tell you I haven't found any other company that offers prices this low price and for the quality that you receive.

Let me give you a couple of sample prices.

1000 postcards (glossy color front,back ) $36.00
1000 bookmarks (glossy color front, back) $30.40

The more you order, the cheaper it is per piece. And even with the shipping costs (they're located in CA), I still get off cheaper than using other well known services. '

They do have design services which are really cheap. I used them to make a logo some time ago and the price was ridiculously cheap.

So, the next time you need marketing materials printed. GotPrint?

That's all for now.

Until next time, keep it real . . . and keep it real cheap!

Brenda Novak Diabetes Auction

2010-04-19T21:19:00.003-04:00

Each year, author Brenda Novak spearheads an auction for diabetes research. The great thing about the auction is that she offers quite a few auction items specifically designed for writers. For example, last year I won an evaluation from an editor at a major publishing house for $100 bucks. You can't beat that. Below is a list of categories that are available. Check them out and, if you see something that interests you, visit her website and place a bid. It could be the break you need to get the attention of an agent or publisher AND it's for a great cause.

59)-Agent Evaluations
(95)-Author Critiques
(4)-Conventions and Conferences

(49)-Editor Evaluations
(1)-Magazine & Short Story Opportunities
(18)-Networking Opportunities (Meetings & Meals)

(8)-Online Writing Classes and In Person Workshops
(38)-Promotional Opportunities
(18)-Writing Books

Brenda Novak Auction - Stuff for Writers

Getting Your Self-Published Book Reviewed

2010-04-16T20:26:00.001-04:00

This is a great article on places where you can get your book reviewed. I would have recommended many of these same places myself. Keep in mind that some reviews do cost money. There is a general debate with the indie published author circles whether it's right to pay for a review. We can cover that one later. Right now, just enjoy this article and save it for future use.

http://thebusinessofwriting.wordpress.com/2010/04/16/how-to-get-your-self-published-novel-reviewed/

Neat and Cheap Tools of the Trade #2: Write or Die and BookBuzzr

2010-04-14T09:01:00.008-04:00

Well, this is the second posting of the series. (See #1 in the February archive on the Book Design Wizard and a list of graphic artists who create bookcovers for CHEAP!)

Tool #1: Write or Die

One of the hardest parts about writing and publishing a novel, IMHO, is actually finishing it. You get distracted by work, kids, significant others, spouses, errands, Facebook, MySpace, e-mail...life. One thing writers are always advised to do is set aside time every single day to write, give yourself a time limit and a word count. Well, I have tried this several times and usually fail miserably. I always get distracted and rarely get my word limits in. But when I get in a zone there is no pulling me away. I just need to find "the zone" far more often!

Well, this tool is designed to help you do precisely that. There are two versions--an online and desktop version. The online version is free. You set a time limit, a word count, and one of several "negative reinforcements" you must endure if you stop typing.

Gentle Mode: A certain amount of time after you stop writing, a box will pop up, gently reminding you to continue writing.
Normal Mode: If you persistently avoid writing, you will be played a most unpleasant sound. The sound will stop if and only if you continue to write.
Kamikaze Mode: Keep Writing or Your Work Will Unwrite Itself

A second set of selections lets you select how strict the program is. So, it can be anything from forgiving to evil. Then they give you a text box to type in, from which you later cut and paste your text into Word or whatever you use.

I just bought the desktop version which has a few more options (only $10). If you're like me and you need an extra kick in the pants to stay focused. This may work for you.

Tool #2: BookBuzzr http://www.bookbuzzr.com/

In each neat and cheap tool of the trade I'm going to try and include some kind of marketing tool because marketing is so critical. This is among my FAVORITES!

BookBuzzr is a widget that you can put on your blog, website, etc. It looks like a pages flipping on your own little mini book. It is really one stop shopping for everything related to your book. You can include your cover, an excerpt as long or short as you want, your reviews, all the places where you can purchase your book, links to interviews, etc. You name it, you can include it.

One of the best features about this widget, however, is that it is connected to just about every social networking site you could ever hope to find, including Facebook, Blogger, Wordpress, Twitter, DIGG, and a heap more. With Twitter, you can set up automatic tweets that go out periodically. The tweets include the link to your bookbuzzr book. I think I've got about 2500 views so far via Twitter. And I don't even have to do the work. Bookbuzzr and Twitter do the work for me. I just set it up once.

It provides you with a cute email signature (if you can get the ding dang thing to work in your email system). For me the graphic shows up but the pages don't flip. But that's aol. Might work better in other email systems.

Did I happen to mention this tool is 100% FREE???

Anyway, if I had to do it all again, this is one of the first things I would set up. It really helps make marketing easy.

That's all I have for today!

Keep it real...and keep it real cheap!

What Is Your Marketing Plan?

2010-04-11T21:41:00.003-04:00

What’s Your Marketing Plan?

I haven’t had much use for the MBA I spent way too much money getting. Who would have thought that it would be useful for indie publishing? Well, it is. Because of that experience I knew how to operate…but if you want to be pissed about something—find out that you paid $30K to get knowledge you can Google for free. Sucks…totally! If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again…Google is your friend. If you want to know about putting marketing plans together, just Google it. There are so many free resources it’s not even funny. I used a program called Marketing Plan Pro that I was forced to buy with my student discount in school. If you want to put together a really complex one with financial projects, charts and graphs, that is a fantastic tool. But for the most part, you won’t need that.

Why should you take time putting a marketing plan together?

If you’re an indie author or publisher, you must have a marketing plan. To operate without one is like being dropped in a dark forest in the middle of the night, with a moonless sky, and trying to find your way out. You might eventually figure your way out, but you probably could’ve done it much faster if you bothered to get a flash light and GPS. Consider a marketing plan, your flashlight and GPS for promoting your book.

A more practical reason is that if you plan to try and get your book into major retailers, listed with distributors, or—if you blessed enough to attract the attention of a publisher—they are ALL going to want to see your marketing plan. So, get it done VERY early on in your process. If I had to do it all again, as soon as I finished writing the first draft of my book, in that time that I was taking a break from my novel so I could come back to it with fresh eyes, I’d put a marketing plan together, get a book cover designed and buy and ISBN. That way you can start marketing as early as possible.

What are the elements of a marketing plan?

Your marketing plan should include descriptions of the following:

A description of your audience—if you don’t know your audience, you’re going to be in a heap of trouble when it comes to promoting your book. Your description should include an age and ethnic demographic if possible.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT Stands for: Strengths (i.e., you have 50,000 blog followers), Weaknesses (i.e., you’re a first-time novelist, your book has a very small niche audience), Opportunities (i.e., you belong to a fraternity and the national conference will take place around your release date); Threats (i.e., three authors wrote books similar to yours)

This is not analysis that you necessarily want to send to a major retailer, but this is definitely an analysis that you want to conduct for your own edification, so you can minimize the impact of the Threats and Weaknesses.

Promotion

Here you should list all the elements of your promotional plan. Who are you going to target and how are you going to target them? You must keep in mind your audience—step one.

Reviews

To whom have you sent review or promotional copies? Your list should include: reviewers (Midwest Book Review); book blogs; book clubs, etc.

Internet

Make a list of internet sites where you’ve listed your book. What forums will you participate in? Blog Talk Radio? Ads on Book Club Web sites? Book reader sites like Goodreads, Shelfari? Author websites like Authorsden.com? Anywhere and everywhere you can find to post information about your book, you need to target it. Most of the time, it’s free and just takes a few minutes. Every single thing you do will increase your internet presence and make it that much easier for people to find you. It doesn’t matter how obscure you think the site is. If they allow you to post on it, post on it!

Blog Tours

A subset of Internet is Blog Tours. You can visit sites like bookblogs.ning.com and find a plethora of book blogs. They usually provide email addresses for contact information. Email them and ask if they will feature your book. This is a great way to expand your Internet presence exponentially because blogs are linked to other blogs which are linked to other blogs. Get on one and you’ll get one tens or hundreds depending on how popular the blog is.

Live Marketing

Flyers to bookstores? Attending writing conferences and selling your book at the tables? Attending book festivals and book fairs and author pavilions, conducting booksignings? Press, media interviews? Set them up and list them. Show that you have done the ground work and have a specific plan to get out there.

Direct mail

Mailing press kits, letters, or postcards to indie stores, write letters to major retailers. By far the most ineffective part of your plan. Here you are going for name recognition. You will have to send several forms of correspondence, not just one, before they remember who you are. The great thing is, postcards are cheap to mail.

Book Clubs

We love book clubs. These are people who are looking for books to read. They love free books too. And many love writing reviews for indies like us. Google them, list them on your marketing plan, write them sweet letters or emails, offer them FREE review copies, get reviews, and market market market.

Libraries

Some libraries will allow you to place promotional materials like bookmarks and postcards but it is KEY that you DO NOT mention any retailers on this material. You can, however, list your website and then list retailers where your book can be found on your website. List the ones that you've contacted that will allow you to leave materials.

Your marketing plan should be a living document. You should be adding stuff to this as you find more places to market and deleting stuff you find that doesn’t work. You also refer to it frequently, keep it where ever you use the Internet so that when you start promotions, you’ll know what you haven’t done and what you need to do. Also keep in mind what retailers want to see when they receive your marketing plan--they want to see a reasonable plan. Not pie in the sky. Oprah might be in your dreams, but it might not be wise to put that on your plan...unless she's your aunt.

Keep in mind that this plan is NOT all inclusive. There are other things you can add. This is ONLY meant to give you a basic framework and food for thought.

That’s all for now!

Keep it real…and keep it real cheap.

Blogger Comment: Should I use Exlibris?

2010-04-09T18:46:00.002-04:00

Hey Everyone. From time to time, I will address questions and issues from a poster when I think my response might benefit other folks following the blog. This was posted on the blog today. I'm deleting names to protect the innocent.

Hi All!
May I just say once again how useful I find this blog and I dive into it more and more these days as if I were visiting my personal reference library!
I feel that I am getting closer to publishing my children's play and am flirting with the idea of going with Exilibris but I'm picking up that it's not all good with them from some comments here and there. I'm tempted because their offer seems reasonable-for the professional package £799 you get all of the below:

· Choice of eighteen book cover templates – if you are having difficulties in making the design of your cover this will help you, you can actually choose from these and you have 18 to choose from The same 18 they offer to everyone else, meaning your cover will almost certainly look self-published.

· Choice of nine interior templates

· Allowance of cover art (up to 3 images) and author photo (supplied by author) Likely stock photos...the same they offer everyone else.

· Ability to customize certain elements of the interior templates (for $37 you can buy book design wizard and customize everything)

· 20 allotted interior graphics and 5 tables – if ever you will have illustrations inside the book then you can put as many as indicated here (You can do the same for only the cost of printing the book with other services)

Production features: (You can get the same through lightning source for ONLY the cost of a proof of each book--the print cost--probably less than $30 each)

· Availability of your book in paperback format

· Availability of your book in hardback format

· Availability of your book in eBook format

· One paperback and one hardback author copy – these will be given to you after approving the galley or draft (every company gives you proof copies)

· Ability to track book production progress through our website – you will be given a unique user name and a password for your access to this (this is a benefit???)

· Author Service Representative who provides support throughout the publication process – a particular person will be assign to you all throughout the production stage

Post-publication features:

You will only received 10 copies in paperback and 1 copy for hardback, you can make it 5 copies in each book for paperback and the hardcopy on the 1st book
· Assignment of ISBN (See my post on Maintaining Control - The second post for this entire blog)

· Registration with Books In Print database – this database is viewable by bookstores

· Worldwide distribution – this means through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, Waterstones,and other 2500 online resellers

· Registrations with online booksellers through national distributor

· Online book sales and royalty accounting

· Book and author webpages in the Xlibris online bookstore – you control the content – this is the part where your book will be posted in our site, and about you as the author as well

· Quarterly royalty payments

Marketing Features: (This is so overpriced and overrated it's not even funny)

· 50 bookmarks – these are printed materials which includes photo of your book cover, information about you, about the book and ordering information

· 50 postcards

· 50 business cards

· 5 posters

which doesn't seem half bad for the price. The rep is also a hard seller and even though I'm not giving in to her shpeel, I asked about the barcode which she said would be mine for the taking even if I left?? The info on the website seems to offer a good deal. Or am I missing something? ANY input, advice, assistance is welcome as I am very very green!!

My Response:

Let me just say that I am not against anyone using one of these book services but what I am against is getting these packages without really understanding what you're getting. Unfortunately, most authors don't take into account the business aspects when they are looking at these packages.

For example, is it your goal to get into bookstores or just to sell online? What wholesale do they offer? Is the discount 40% or greater (really needs to be 50%)?Do they allow returns? If so, is there a cost to let them accept returns? If so, how much does that cost? I believe with Exlibris, this option costs $699. And you MUST offer returnability to get into bookstores.

Secondly, let's look at the cost. We'll compare the DIY cost with the cost of using a bare bones POD.

Exlibris - With Exlibris your package (with returnability if you want to get into bookstores) is $799 + 699 = $1500 Total Cost: $1500

Lightning Source - To set up your files with Lightning Source it costs $117 - It may cost a little more if you're setting up a hardcover, but not much more. So, I we'll estimate $150 to go on the high end. This includes: uploading your files book files, interior and cover; a proof copy of your book, your book listed with online booksellers and available through brick and mortar bookstores, the ability to set your own wholesale discount at 50% and the ability to make your book returnable. Book listed with Ingram and Baker and Taylor.

Your own ISBN number and price-encoded barcode - $150 (might be cheaper now, prices were supposed to drop this year); book listed in Books in Print.

Interior design - $37 for Book Design Wizard (only takes a couple of hours to format your book)

Fully Customized Bookcover -- We'll set this at $500 (will probably be MUCH cheaper if you're not using a custom illustration)

PDF Software - Use Freeware (Listed on this site)--FREE

Total cost: $837. With most of the cost going into the bookcover.

Now if you add the marketing--You could use Gotprint.com my favorite printer. Design your own postcards on Microsoft Word (very easy--they even have templates you can just plug your picture into) and you could get color front and back--500 business cards ($15), 500 postcards ($38), 500 bookmarks ($51) ($104 total I think)

My point? Well, in the second scenario you maintain full control over your book. You can set terms acceptable to major retailers. When you indie publish, it is imperative that you not forget what happens after they make your book all pretty. Some people find out the hard way that when they walk into a bookstore retailers won't sell them because they aren't returnable and the discount isn't high enough. They list all these seemingly great services as if they are something really complicated and complex---but nine times out of these are things you can do yourself for a fraction of the cost.

So, long story short--this isn't a deal I would accept given what I know today. And do you notice something missing? I do--editing! All that money and they don't even edit your book? Again, if they aren't going to edit it, they aren't doing anything you can't do for yourself.

With that said, you may still choose to go with Exlibris or one of the many other services out there--but just understand what you're getting into. Make sure you're asking the right questions!

That goes for everyone!

That's all I have for today...

Keep it real...and keep it real cheap!

E-Book Publishing

2010-04-02T19:20:00.006-04:00

Ebook Publishing

As an indie author, part of your publishing strategy MUST be e-books. If Kindle and other ebook formats aren’t part of your sales and marketing strategy (Yes, I meant MARKETING), then you are doing your book a huge disservice. I never understood what a vital part of indie publishing that Kindle and other ebook formats would be. But in the interest of telling you the things that I would do differently if I could do it all over again, ebooks would probably lead my marketing strategy—no doubt about it. I’ll tell you how in a minute

What format should I use?

So, people often ask me whether they should use Smashwords or Kindle or one of the many other ebook services out there. I’m gonna cut to the chase and just say use Smashwords AND Kindle. Why? Because I said so!

Okay, kidding. Seriously.

Between these two services they will provide your readers with access to ALL major e-book formats: Kindle (.mobi), Sony, iPad, PDF, HTML, JavaScript. Epub (open industry format, good for Stanza reader, others, PDF (good for highly formatted books, or for home printing, RTF (readable on most word processors, LRF (for Sony Reader), Palm Doc (PDB) (for Palm reading devices), Plain Text (download) (flexible, but lacks much formatting), Plain Text (view) (viewable as web page).

The great thing about using Smashwords is that through their premium distribution program, you will get distributed to Sony, iPad, Kobo, AND Barnes & Noble. My book ebook is listed on Barnes and Noble through Smashwords.

How much does it cost?

It’s free!

Sike!

Nothing’s free. Of course they will allow you to upload your files for free. But you will receive a royalty from any sales. Smashwords, by far, offers the best royalty splits with the authors. You get 85 percent from regular ebook sales. They also offer 42.5 percent for your Kindle sales. Amazon offers 35 percent on each book sold. However, thanks to Apple iPad and, for Amazon, the ever-dreaded iBookstore, Amazon will be increasing royalties to 70 percent sometime in June—but you must list your book at $2.99 or above.

So, Karla, why don’t I just list my book on Smashwords since they have a Kindle format?

Good question. I am going to give you both the business perspective and the Kindle user perspective.

The vast majority of my ebooks are sold on the Amazon side of Kindle. I might make more per book on Smashwords, but I sell way more books on Amazon Kindle. That's because Smashwords has a much smaller customer base than Amazon--a small fraction really. And for me, it's not about the royalties. It's about reaching the largest audience possible, and Kindle has the largest customer base for ebooks, even higher than B&N. As B&N and the Nook catch on, maybe their sales will increase. Right now, Amazon is the way to go. Hands down.

As a Kindle owner, I have another theory about why sales are much higher. When I want to buy something from my Kindle on Amazon and I’m sitting in my cozy spot on the couch and I don’t really want to move, all I have to do is click a button and boom, the book is there in a matter of seconds. If I wanted to buy an ebook from Smashwords, get myself up from my cozy spot, find my USB cord (which could be anywhere), go to my office and plug it into my desktop, pull up the Smashwords site, and download that book to my Kindle, unplug my Kindle, go back to the couch and get in my comfy spot and get re-comfortable (is that a word?), pull up the book, and start reading. MOST kindle owners bought the Kindle, with its Whispernet wireless service to avoid all that. In my humble opinion, until all formats are that easy to access, Amazon Kindle verison will continue to outsell any other. So, you must set your book up on Amazon Kindle!

I sell HUNDREDS more on Amazon than Smashwords. But Smashwords will be great for B&N, Sony, and Apple iPad.

Do I need an ISBN?

Neither Smashwords or Kindle requires you to have an ISBN number to upload your book. As a matter of fact, when they submitted it to Barnes and Noble, B&N assigned one for me. Amazon linked my kindle version to my paperback edition but did not assign it a new ISBN. They have an internal number they use.

If you have a paperback version, and you just want an ISBN number on your ebook, then you'll need to buy a separate number for it. You cannot use the same number as your paperback or hardcover version.

Setting up your files.

I’m going to give you a long drawn out set of instructions on how to format your files for Smashwords and Amazon. This is how I did it.

Amazon

1. I pulled up the paperback version of my book format.

2. I deleted all the fancy formatting (i.e., drop caps, extra returns, extra spacing) –Italics are not fancy, keep them in.

3. I saved it as an .html file in Word.

4. Whew!

Smashwords

1. I pulled up the paperback version of my book format (in Word).

2. I deleted all the fancy formatting (see above).

3. I saved it—as a .doc (Word file).

4. Whew!

Can you handle that?

I think so.

These instructions are for files without any photos or images. If you have anything other than standard text in your book, each site has formatting instructions that will help you through it.

How should I price my book?

When I first published my Kindle version, I was a little delusional. I thought because I worked hard and published a book that could at least minimally compete with major publisher books. They sold theirs at $9.99 so I figured I could go…$7.99. Little discount, right? HA!

My rude awakening came when I visited the Kindleboards.com. Kindle owners were like, “Nuh uh girlfriend, I don’t know you from a can of paint. You betta drop that price if you want me to check out your book.”

I got the hint.

For them, the risk of an indie book totally sucking is pretty high, so the price to get them to try you out must be low low low . I experimented with a lot of prices and, if I had to do it all again, here’s how I would do it.

I’d start out with a price at $2.99 and once I racked up some reviews, I’d lower the price to 99 cents. Why those prices? Well, at $2.99 my theory is that it’s cheap enough to get people to try it out and someone who pays $2.99 probably won’t be strictly an impulse buyer. They’ll probably care enough to read it at that price. After you’ve stacked up reviews (I’d say ten or more), then you should drop the price to get the word of mouth spreading. When people see your book has great reviews, at 99 cents, the purchase requires no thought at all. Let them buy it, read it, tell their friends about, then they’ll buy it and read it and so on and so on.

This is not the perfect strategy nor is it scientific…but I can say it has worked for me…and very well for me. My Kindle version is selling like hotcakes, word of mouth is spreading—and it has even attracted a publisher. If you don’t have a strategy, it certainly couldn’t hurt to try this one. But if you see it’s not working, drop the price and promote to get more reviews. Reviews are key.

Where can I promote?

I recommend Kindleboards.com, booksummit.com, and mobileread.com. Be respectful and keep your posts to the boards that allow indie authors to post. And DON’T SPAM!!!

That’s all for now.

Any questions?

Until next time, keep it real and keep it real cheap!

Baker & Taylor, Createspace's Expanded Distribution Program, and More

2010-03-13T12:05:00.006-05:00

I thought I'd use this next blog to clarify a few things given feedback and questions I received.

First question: You stated that CreateSpace users need thier own ISBN. Does that still hold true in light of the new expanded distibution program implemented in December?

Response: Just to clarify, I did not say that Createspace users need their own ISBN. You are free to use the one provided free by Createspace, just understand that in using their ISBN you lose control over how that ISBN number is used. Remember that all the advice I provide is based on the premise that the author retains as much control and flexibility over their book as possible. So, using the CS ISBN won't have any impact on your Amazon sales but once we get into bookstores things get a little stickier. You can check out my second or third post in January which goes into why authors need to retain as much control as possible.

http://cheapindieauthor.blogspot.com/2010/01/what-is-pod-and-maintaining-control-of.html

Createspace and Expanded Distribution

I must admit that while I use Createspace for Amazon sales and printing services, I am not sold on the effectiveness of the expanded distribution program. I think many authors who use it have not done enough homework to understand how it really works. So here are some key issues that I have with the program.

Expanded distribution does not allow you, as an author, to accept returns. Why is that important? Because one of the key things major retailers expect before they stock your book is that your book will be returnable if your book doesn't sell well. If it's not returnable most won't stock it. So, to offer a program that's supposed to get your books into bookstores without offering returnability is pretty pointless.
Createspace, as I understand it, does not disclose how much of that 60% wholesale discount actually goes to the stores. Why is that important? Because most major retailers won't stock your book unless they receive a wholesale discount of 40-55%--the higher the better. If Createspace is only offering 35%, as an example, then most likely a store isn't going to stock your book. So, again, the program is useless. Even with a higher discount, the returnability issue may hurt your chances. You really need to be able to offer both.
Too many authors think that a listing in Ingram means a bookstores and libraries will just start stocking your book. This couldn't be further from the truth. An Ingram listing only makes your book available through a store's normal distribution channel so that if by some miracle they find it, they could purchase it. But the chances of them flipping through a catalog of hundreds of thousands of books, seeing your independently published book, and picking it up--with all the traditional publisher salespeople beating down their door to get their books on the shelves--has about the same probability as a second virgin birth. It ain't gonna happen. If you enroll in the ED program and you aren't sending out letters and postcards, visiting, or calling retailers to get your book in libraries and bookstores, don't expect your book to magically appear on the shelves. Not gonna happen.

There are a few positives about the program:

You book gets listed on Barnes & Noble.com
Your book gets listed with the International Amazon retailers

These things happen even if you do nothing. And the more places your book can be found, the more exposure it gets.

Baker & Taylor

Okay, so I spoke previously about having a time getting my book listed with Baker & Taylor so that I could be in the Borders Bookstore distribution chain and get my book on the shelves. Another author indicated that there was a way to do it, but suggested I purchase his new book to find out. Of course I wasn't going to do that because I'm the cheap indie author!! But I spent an hour yesterday figuring out a solution and here it goes. So--if your book is already listed with Lightning Source and you want to expedite the listing on Baker and Taylor, here's what you need to do.

Send an email to btinfo@btol.com

In the email, explain that you are listed with Lightning Source and would like to get your book listed on Baker & Taylor. Include in the email your company name, your name, address, contact phone number and ISBN(s) and book titles EXACTLY as they appear on your Lightning Source account.

Once they receive this information, they will list your book in Baker & Taylor's systems as an inactive listing. When they notify you via email that your company information is listed, you will log onto Lightning Source, fill out their help form or call your customer service rep...and ask them to transmit your information to Baker & Taylor. At that point, B&T can pick up your information. But they can't pick it up before they put your information in their system--so the first email is the KEY.

And that's it. It can take up to a week for the listing to go live with B&T (maybe longer). But you'll know your book is available when it shows up on Borders.com

Whew!

I think that's about all for today.

Until Next Time,

Keep it real...and keep it real cheap!

Getting Bookstores to Carry Your Indie-Published Book

2010-03-04T09:54:00.003-05:00

By the grace of God, and with lots of hard work I was able to get my book into Barnes & Nobles stores across the country (see http://www.klbradywrites.com/ for a list). I'm often asked how I did it. First, understand that this starts with a good book. You need to have a marketable cover that doesn't look "self-published," you need a well-edited book with a professional-looking book interior.

The Hard Way...

(Note: This is a repost from another forum. I figured there was no need to reinvent the wheel. This is the method that I used BEFORE I did it the "Easy" way which can be found below. If a bookstore tells you they don't stock "POD" please see my post on PODs for further explanation and don't give up.)

So, I promised to come back and let you know how my experience was getting into bookstores this morning. Keep in mind, everyone's experience may be different but I will just tell you how things went for me.

I woke up Saturday morning, loaded my truck with press kits and copies of my novel, and headed to Borders. When I arrived at Borders I asked to speak to the manager and told them I was inquiring about the process to get my books on the shelves in Borders. I told them my book was available in Ingram, told them the wholesale discount, and told them that it’s returnable. So, the manager turned to me and asked me if my book had a BINC? “What the heck is a BINC?” I asked. She said this is the sticker placed on all books sold in borders stores. Once your book is approved by Borders HQ (yes, it has to be approved), books are purchased from one of the distributors (Ingram or Baker and Taylor), the books are shipped to Borders warehouses where they are stickered, then the books are sent to Borders stores and shelved.

Long story short, your book must go through the corporate to get approved to be shelved. No way around it.

Deflated, I left the store with their standard author-book signing brochure in hand. I got in my truck and read the brochure. Funny enough, the brochure didn’t say anything about needing a BINC to do book signing, so I called another store and spoke with a different manager. Turns out, you don’t need a BINC just to do a book signing, but your book MUST be available through Ingram or Baker and Taylor. What they do is order enough books for your signing, and depending on how your signing goes, they can request to get a BINC and shelve it or they ship your books back to the distributor, which is why your books MUST be returnable. So, then I said, “Ohhhh, well can I set up a book signing? My book is available through Ingram and it’s returnable.” And they said, “Sure!”

This is where I learned the second lesson to apply when querying Borders stores. There are managers and then there are managers. Not all managers can set up your book signing. Moreover, if the manager on duty is not the right manager, they will be completely disinterested in your little press kit and looking at your book. Lesson learned: Save your gas, call first, tell them you’re a local author that wants to set up a book signing, they will either connect you with that manager OR give you an email address to send your information. Ensure that you have a link to your press kit on your website, save some trees.

Barnes and Noble

Barnes and Nobles stores operate in this century. You’re not required to have any special stickers. Once again, the process is the same to conduct book signings and to get your book into stores nationally. Call for the correct manager, ask to set up a book signing, they will ask you whether your book is in Ingram or Baker and Taylor (it must be), then they will fit you into the schedule. Once again, they took no interest in me handing them my press kit or looking at my book at the time. Maybe later they will, but they didn’t initially.

Indie Bookstores

Indie bookstore not only want to your press kit and a copy of your book, but they want to read through your book before they agree to order it. That was my experience when I went to the two Indie stores. They wouldn’t even discuss carrying up my book or scheduling a book signing withou\t reading it. The great thing is, Indie bookstore owners know their inventory and seem to be the best proponent for selling your book. If they like it, they will push it to everyone who walks in the door. I lingered for a while and bought a couple of books and the owner could tell you the plot of just about any book you picked up. That doesn’t happen in the big stores. One author sold 3,000 copies between one of the stores and Amazon alone. You want to be nice, make a purchase, and make them a fan of you and your work.

So, to sum up my advice:

For Borders and BN: · Call first · If your book isn’t in Ingram or Baker & Taylor – Fuhgedabouditt! · Just ask to do a book signing, don’t even bother asking to get shelved initially · Make sure you’re speaking to the right manager. · Make your press kit available on your website!! · Make your signing as successful as possible so they’ll push to carry it on the shelves.

The process is much easier in Barnes and Noble than it is in Borders from an inventory perspective.

Indie stores: · It’s okay to drop by, most of the owners also run the store. · Bring a pretty press kit · Be prepared to leave a (free) copy of your book. · Linger, shop, and make nice with the owner.

The "Easy" Way...

An easier way to get your books into the major bookstores is to send your book to the book buyers at the corporate level. If they approve it, your book will be made a part of the chain's official stock and this makes getting your book stocked in individual stores and doing booksignings MUCH easier.

To get your book approved you need to do several things.

First, for Createspace users, you must own your own ISBN, and you must have the price barcode on your books. You must use an approved distributor. B&N uses Ingram which means you have to use Lulu, Lightning Source, or some other printer that offers Ingram distribution. Borders uses Baker & Taylor. BooksAMillion uses both.

You must send a cover letter, 1 copy of your book to BN or BAM/2 books to Borders, and a press kit (including a marketing plan) to their Vendor/Small Press Department. You should emphasize in your letter what makes your book special, why it will sell, and an information sheet with all the details about your book. The information sheet should contain: a picture of you cover, your book's bio (ISBN, size, type, suggested retail price, etc.).

Most importantly, you need a marketing plan that discusses who you've submitted your book to for review, online marketing strategy, off-line marketing strategy, radio interviews, newspaper articles, tv appearances, etc. etc.

Barnes and Noble: Small Press Department, 122 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York, 10011.
Borders: New Vendor Acquisitions Borders Group, Inc. 100 Phoenix Drive Ann Arbor, MI 48108
BooksAMillion: Director of Merchandising, Booksamillion.com, P.O. Box 19728, Birmingham, AL 35219

I am now working on getting into Borders, which I'm finding is a little bit different. You MUST work with Baker and Taylor to get into Borders. Even though Lightning Source has an established relationship with Baker & Taylor, I can tell you that I have jumped through a gahzillion hoops and still have not been able to figure out an easy way to get listed with B&T, until yesterday. The reason I keep getting the run around at LS is because B&T now has its own POD service-TextStream. If you set up your title through TextStream, you're automatically listed with B&T retailers and libraries, which means that you're taking away some of LS's business (certainly a reason why they keep giving me the run around).

To list your book with TextStream POD, you need to have your print-ready files ready (which should have already done through LS or CS (although their specifications require a .25 bleed which is a bit more than LS or CS). You can find out more info here: http://www.btol.com/supplier_textstream.cfm

This process can take 6 to 8 weeks, so be patient. The faster you get a response, the more likely it is that your book wasn't approved. Also, from my understanding, if they return your book, they probably did not accept it.

So that's it! Get out there and get your books shelved!

Until next time...

Keep it real...and keep it real cheap!

AmazonEncore

2010-02-26T16:54:00.003-05:00

I had to post this link as a little inspiration for self-published authors who might have a dream of getting picked up by a publisher someday. Great inspirational story!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zetta-elliott/breaking-down-doors-my-se_b_473336.html

Neat & Cheap Tools of the Trade #1

2010-02-26T16:17:00.003-05:00

Well, this is a new segment I'll do periodically to highlight some of the neat and cheap tools I've found that have helped me put out a better and higher quality product.

Design Wizard 2.o - Book Interior Design

I don't know how many of you have attempted to design your own book interior but it was one of the MOST frustrating things about putting my book out. My chapter titles kept shifting all over the place. Never quite got the headers or footers right. Couldn't decide what size I wanted to print my book in so everytime I changed the page size, i.e., from 6x9 to 5.5 x 8.5, all my formatting got completely jacked up. In short, the inside of my book looked like a HOT MESS!

I was determined to find some kind of software that would take the pain out of that task. And find that software I did.

With this unbelieveably inexpensive but incredibly useful software, all you need to know how to do to set up a perfect book interior is click a mouse, type a few words, and cut and paste. What took me nearly a month to do--and I still never got it right--Design Wizard helped me do in about 2 hours. This is the best $37 dollars you will ever spend if you plan to self publish more than once.

How does it work?

It integrates into your MS Word program. As I understand, it does not work on MAC (sorry). But it becomes an option in your toolbars. Once you install it and click the option in your tool bar, it literally prompts you through your entire design. It asks you what size you want your book to be, do you want headers, footers, page numbers, what font, etc. etc. Then you just cut and paste your chapters in. And that's it. The great thing is that you can change the size of your book, your margins, etc. and it will reformat the entire book with the click of a button. You can make changes, literally in minutes.

If you're not sold yet, you just aren't gonna be. lol Buy this YESTERDAY! It will take all the pain out of your book interior design.

Book Design Wizard

BOOK COVERS for the Broke Author!

Since I've had so many people ask me about getting inexpensive book covers, I queried a few of the forums I participate in to find folks who will do them at a bargain price.

NOW, first I have to give props to my cover designer, Dee D'amico. She's not necessarily cheap, but if you like cool illustrations, contact her and she'll work with you. And I can personally vouch for the quality and speed of her service. She took my stick drawing and made my awesome cover.

Dee D'Amico

http://dee131040.tripod.com/

These are other designers but I cannot...I repeat I cannot vouch for their services. However, they have said that they are willing to work with indie authors on price. Please do your research and ask to see their portfolios. This is only a public service announcement. :)

http://www.tarangozi.gutensite.com/Design-Portfolio

http://coroflot.com/1013studio

http://barbgallowaybydesign.web.officelive.com

http://www.direatrium.com/ Gallery: http://www.direatrium.com/Gallery.html#starved

http://www.vedicdesign.com (Author said she paid $199 and they gave her three design options)

hetmanpublishing@hotmail.co.uk (Hetman Publishing - $50 for Createspace members e-mail him for details)

http://www.12on14.com or e-mail walton@12on14.com

That's all for today.

Keep it real...and keep it real cheap!

All POD Companies are NOT Created Equal

2010-02-21T10:35:00.005-05:00

Okay, so you've got your book written and editted. Now it's time to find a printer/self-publishing service. I'm going give you some background on print-on-demand so that you'll know what it is--and what it isn't--based on the hundreds of questions I've seen asked on various forums.

What is print-on-demand?

Print on demand is a production model which essentially provides that books are printed according to market demand--or when they're ordered. It's based on Toyota's Just-In-Time production. JIT provided that instead of pre-building thousands of cars and hoping that enough customers would come to buy them, they'd build them as they're ordered. And they'd make their production process SO efficient, that a car could be built according to the customer's specification, in no time flat. The same principal holds true for POD. Instead of, say an author, having to order 10,000 books and store them in the garage, praying they can find some place to sell them, you order the books as you find customers. It reduces the need to stock inventory from every level of the bookselling process. So, if a store wants to buy 5 copies of your book to try it out, they can buy five, see if they'll sell, and then order more if necessary.

That's all print-on-demand is. So when you hear POD, you should not equate that with PUBLISHER.

The big difference between POD and Offset printing is that if when you order books in bulk numbers from offset printers, the more you buy the less it costs per book to produce. With POD, the cost of the book is the same regardless of whether you purchase one or 1,000. This makes POD more expensive than offset printing when you get into "thousands" of books. As a self-published author just starting out, you are probably not going to need thousands of books. Some have problems selling hundreds...and tens. At this stage of the game, POD is probably the best option.

So, what are POD companies?

Again, POD companies are NOT publishers! None of them are. POD companies are, for the most part, middle men or facilitators. They help turn your masterpiece manuscript into book format. That is all they do.

Different PODs, offer different pay-for services, at different costs. Some offer editing services, book cover design, marketing, and distribution. These are services that you pay for that can help enhance your book's presentation. Offering these services does not make it a publisher. With a traditional publisher, you should NEVER have to pay for the services. They will be provided to you for free AND you will receive a royalty.

"Well," you say, "my POD company pays me a royalty." Doesn't matter because the entire cost of producing your book was borne by you...not them.

There are different levels of POD companies. For the sake of this post, I'll call them Full Service, Minimal Service, and Mixed Service.

Full service companies include: iUniverse, Xlibris, AuthorHouse
Minimal Service: Lightning Source, TextStream
Mixed Service: Createspace/Booksurge, Lulu

Now, I've only selected a handful of companies. There are many more that you can Google.

Which company is for me?

Before you sign up for anyone, you MUST assess your needs and your goals. When I got ready to publish my book, I had several needs and goals.

Goals: To get my book onto as many major book retailers as possible. To get my book on bookstore shelves. Getting onto online retailers seemed to be the easiest thing. Getting into bookstores, not easy AT ALL. Through my research, I found out that you need several things to get into bookstores.

You book must be set at a retail price comparable to similar books on the market.
You must offer a standard industry discount typically between 40-55%.
Your book should be returnable. That means, if a retailer can't sell it, they can send it back to you for a refund.
Your book should be available through a major distributor (Ingram, Baker & Taylor)
It should have a professional-looking cover and interior.

Needs:

To be able to set my price.
To offer returnability
A printer
Amazon sales channel
To keep the set up, price, and printing costs as CHEAP as possible.

Now let's turn to the PODs.

Full Service PODs offer everything. They help you set up your files. They send your book to the printer. They set up distribution for you. They offer marketing, book design and editing packages. It's an All-in-One. But remember, for my goals, I want to get into bookstores too, so I want to ask about the following: Discount, Returnability,

Xlibris - Cheapest Package - $399; Wholesale Discount- up to 48%; Book returnability - $699; Set your own price - $249; Distribution/Retail-Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Amazon
iUniverse - Cheapest package - $1099; Wholesale Discount - 36%; Book Returnability - $699; Set your Own Price - No; Distribution-Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Amazon
AuthorHouse: Cheapest package $599; Wholesale Discount - Could not find information; Book Return - $699; Set your own price - No; Distribution - Baker & Taylor, Ingram, Amazon

Minimal Service. These companies provide you with printing services and access to distribution channels ONLY. No editing, no book design, no marketing, no nothing. They are the cheapest because they don't offer these services. You have to format and submit your own files in PDF format. But they give you the most direct access to the distribution channels because they are owned by the distributors. This means, instead of the middle man, you're working directly with the companies and your books get listed much more quickly from the point of signing up. These companies work with major publishers, like the Hachette Group, on a regular basis. So they don't just work with authors, they work with presses of all sizes and prominence.

Lightning Source - $37.50 book interior upload ; $37.50 bookcover upload; $30 for proof (includes overnight delivery); $12 for listing with Ingram; Set your own price - Yes, Free; Set your own wholesale discount - yes, Free; Book Return - Yes, cost to print book +$1.00; Baker and Taylor, Ingram (Listing to Baker & Taylor takes 4-6 months, Ingram - Immediately)
TextStream - $30 file set up; listing with Baker & Taylor; Set your own price - Yes, Free; Set your own wholesale discount - Yes, Free; Book Return - Yes, Free; Distribution - Baker and Taylor (immediately).

Mixed Service Companies: These companies let you do things your way. If you need more services you can get them. But if you don't need the services, you could potentially publish your book for FREE.

Createspace: Cheapest package: Free; Set Your Own Price - Yes, Free; Set your own wholesale discount - No; Distribution - Expanded Distribution With ProPlan ($39) - Yes, Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Amazon. Wholesale discount - 40% Amazon, Bookstores ??? (author gives up 60%, we don't know what goes to the retailer).
Lulu: Cheapest package: FREE; Set your own price - No (typically above market prices); Distribution - Yes (for a fee); Book return - Could not find information; Distribution - Amazon, Ingram, Baker & Taylor; wholesale discount - ???

(Note: I'd always be wary of a company that does not make this information readily available on their website.)

What services did I choose and why?

In a previous post, I spoke about the benefits of purchasing your own ISBN. One of those benefits was getting to work with as many companies as I want to ensure that I'm getting the best (cheapest) deal and widest distribution.

Well, as the cheap indie author, I selected: Lightning Source, TextStream, and Createspace. Why? Because I wanted to be able to offer my book to bookstores while maintaining maximum control over pricing, discounts, and returnability.

I had complete control over my cover design. With many full service PODs, they use templates and stock photos that make your book look "self-published."
I have the technical savvy to set up my own files.
I hired my own editors and got a better perspective because I used someone directly from the publishing industry. With those services, you don't know the professional history of the editors that work on your book.
I could offer returnability at no cost, something most companies charge $699
I designed my own book interior (Design Wizard - $37--Google it)
I controlled my own pricing--for free. Most do not allow you to set your own price. I went to the bookstore, checked out the prices on books similar to mine, and set the price accordingly.
I can set my own wholesale discount for FREE; this allowed me to set a standard wholesale discount.
Createspace is an Amazon company, so they take the lowest discount for Amazon sales (40%); Through anyone else they usually require 55%. So by using Createpace, I'm keeping more royalty.

So, to sum up, before you sign up for ANY POD, if you endeavor to get into bookstores ask the following questions.

Can I set my own price?
Can I use my own ISBN?
Is the agreement non-exclusive? (A MUST--if you want to work with multiple companies)
What wholesale discount do you offer to retailers, Amazon? Can I set my own discount?
Do you offer book returnability? How much does this service cost?
Which distribution channels do I have access to (Ingram and/or Baker & Tayor a MUST)

Unfortunately, many authors who sign up with many of the full service companies don't understand what I've explained today and they set their book up for failure.

For example: One company offers a 36% discount. This is below the industry standard and bookstores probably won't stock it. But this same author might pay $699 to offer book returnability. They've wasted $700 to offer book returnability on a book that a bookstore will never stock.

What does a bookstore mean when they say, "We don't stock POD books."?

First, we now understand there is a difference in PODs and the services that they offer. They are not equal. When a bookstore says they don't stock POD, they mean companies like the example above that offer 36% discount and no returnability.

If your POD company is Lightning Source and you offer returnability and a standard discount (and provided your book is well-designed and priced) you have an EXCELLENT chance of getting your books on bookstore shelves.

How do I know?

Because I did it! On the next post, I'll tell you how!

Anymore questions on POD?

Until next time, keep it real...and keep it real cheap!

Editing: One Commandment, Seven Tips

2010-02-12T13:15:00.005-05:00

If you are going to do any major cash outlays on your book, my suggestion—as I’ve stated before—is that that bulk of your money go into two key areas: your book cover and editing. Today, I'll give you my take on book editing.

First, I can’t even begin to tell you how important editing is, particularly for indie published titles. You may attract a reader with a fancy cover, but you establish an audience by putting out well-written, well-edited, and entertaining stories. Period. If you fail on the latter, I don’t care how fancy your next cover is, people are not going to want to lay out cash for your book. It’s that simple. Your reputation and career in writing is based on what lies between the cover.
With that in mind, one commandment about editing that every indie author should heed.
Thou shalt NEVER be the sole editor for thine own book.

Serving as your own editor, in my opinion, is like representing yourself in court—not very smart. If you don’t know the law, how can you apply that law to defend yourself? By the same token, most of us don’t know grammar rules at a professional level. We can get by, but you have to do better than “get by” when you publish a book for public consumption.

For my day job, I work as an editor for a military organization. And what I can tell you is that, as an editor, with something of a trained eye, ICONSTANTLY miss mistakes in my own work. I’ll read through something I’ve written a few weeks prior and I can’t believe the mistakes I make. Why is it so difficult to edit your own work? Even the best writers have a tendency to read what they MEANT to write instead of what’s actually on the paper. At a minimum, you need a second set of eyes to read over your work. If you’re lucky, that person will also know basic English grammar. But the more eyes on your work, the better for your book.

With that said, when you ask someone to edit your book, what are you REALLY asking them to do? Most of us don’t really categorize editing, we have an idea that you just fix what’s wrong. But knowing the levels editing will help you determine what you can afford if you do eventually hire an editor.

In my experience, there are essentially four types of editing.

1. Proofreading. When you ask someone to proofread, you are really asking for the most basic editorial service. Proofreading really involves fixing the mechanics, such as missing or improperly used punctuation, wrong typefaces and font sizes, mist italicizations, capitalizations, transposed letters, etc. etc. The proofreader won’t change any words, they won’t delete anything you’ve written, they won’t rewrite. Just the basics.

2. Copyediting. In addition to proofreading, copy editing involves ensuring consistent word usage throughout the book, suggesting word changes, fixing language usage errors, etc.

3. Substantive or Heavy Editing. This is the maximum level of editing service that you can get. Everything’s pretty much on the table. They look at everything from grammar to structure, plot, and style. (This service can cost several thousand dollars for an adult-length novel.)

4. Manuscript Review or Editorial Review. This level of editing involves no changes to your manuscript whatsoever in terms of copyediting or proofreading. With this level of service, the editor reviews your entire manuscript and provides you with suggestions on plot, structure, pacing and flow, dialogue, etc. They may say “You use too many semicolons” or “check your comma usage” but they don’t make changes for you. They will answer questions like, such as Does the book have its intended effect (i.e., if it’s supposed to be funny, does it make the reader laugh?) Is the book commercially viable? They will usually provide you with written report that summarizes their findings and you’re left to incorporate those changes on your own.

In addition to the multiple levels of editing, there are also multiple types of editors. For example, I’m an editor in the technical sense. A professional editor too. BUT apart from writing my own novels, I do not have any experience in the acquisition, editing, and sale of books for a major publishing house that will be sold to readers nationally/internationally through major retailers. That subtle distinction sets apart editors from EDITORS. If you hire somebody, make sure you know who you are hiring and what level of service you’re paying for.

With that said, I have a few recommendations for self-editing and what to ask for when you hire an editor.

1. When editing your own work, two things you can do to help yourself find mistakes are read your work out loud and read the chapters and pages out of order. When you read out loud you tend to read exactly what’s on the page. Reading aloud also helps you identify issues with rhythm and awkward sentences.

2. When I edited my novel, I used a software called Autocrit. It is one of the single most valuable tools I used in self-editing. After processing each chapter through this software, my book was noticeably improved and got A LOT more attention from literary agents. You cut and paste blocks of text into the program and it helps you identify such issues as overuse of adverbs and clichés, poorly-worded sentences, and many many many other items that you would not likely see on your own. It does not provide alternatives, however, so the hard work is up to you. I HIGHLY recommend this tool. It’s available by a yearly subscription and the cost is cheap compared to the benefit you receive. http://www.autocrit.com/

3. If you cannot afford to pay for copyediting or proofreading, my suggestion I highly recommend getting a manuscript review from a former acquisitions editor of a major publishing house. Costs vary ($500 and up). Some will allow you to set up a payment plan. I did a lot of my own editing in addition to a friend who is a teacher who helped me proofread for the small fee of an acknowledgement. Then I could afford to spend all my editing dollars on getting a manuscript review. The key is getting someone who will tell you what you need to hear and not necessarily what you want to hear. I hired such a person. She kept it very real with me and gave me very good advice about how to proceed with my career and issues that I needed to keep in mind. If you need a recommendation, please let me know. I have three that I regularly recommend because I’ve had some interaction with them or they were recommended to me by others.

4. When hiring an editor, unless the recommendation is coming from someone you know and trust, ALWAYS CHECK REFERENCES. Good editors will have testimonials available on their website.

5. Critique groups, some which are free to participate in, offer great opportunities to get your work reviewed and most reviewers tend to do some proofreading as well. I’ve heard that AbsoluteWrite.com has a great critique group. My personal favorite is http://www.thenextbigwriter.com/. The reviewers on that site are really amazing and generous with their time and effort. The site is set up like Authonomy.com but unlike Authonomy, you have to give as much as you get. You’re required to review in order to earn points to post your own work chapter by chapter. In this way, they really encourage maximum participation. The cost is $50 a year, but the invaluable feedback I got from reviewers and the friends I made were far worth the price.

6. Buy at least ONE style manual! There are three that I highly recommend for writers: 1. The Chicago Manual of Style. 2. The Elements of Style by Strunk and White (often referred to at the Writer's bible.) 3. A Writer's Reference by Diane Hacker. Those are my three favorite/best reference tools and I own them all. There are MANY others that I'm sure are used that others will recommend. These are the ones that I've found most useful. Strunk and White is very cheap and can be read in a couple of hours. It's amazing all the mistakes that you will pick up in your own writing by just reading that just one time.

7. If you’re in a major bind, on rare occasions, I do proofreading/copyediting for authors who are tight on cash and need a trained eye. My fee is SUPER cheap because I don’t do really do it for the money. I do it to help out broke authors like myself. I only accept a small number of projects (because I’m focused on my own writing) and they have to be pretty straightforward. Contact me at karla (at) klbradywrites (dot) com for more information on that.

Whew! That's about it. What are your big editing challenges?

Keep it real--and keep it real cheap!

Quality Book Covers for the Cheap, Frugal, and Broke

2010-02-04T13:35:00.006-05:00

As I’ve mentioned before, a quality cover is your book’s single-most important marketing tool. You could’ve written the next great novel but if your cover looks cheesy and unprofessional, most people won’t find out. The LAST thing you want is for someone to pick up your book and say, “This looks self-published.” That’s the same as saying, “There is no way in HELL I’m paying my good money for this crap!”

I’m one of those people who will buy a book largely based on the cover and a quick glance over the back cover copy. I’m easy, I know. And I can’t tell you how many books sit unread on my bookshelf because of that. Oh yeah, I’d been snookered, bamboozled, led astray, cast aside…lol. But it didn’t matter because by the time I figured it out they already had my money.

A really good quality cover is sometimes all you need to entice buyers…but to keep those buyers coming back you better have a damn good story too. But your cover and editing should be your two biggest investments when designing and publishing your book—no ifs, ands, or buts about it!

So, you whine, “Kaaaaarla, I don’t have enough money to hire a designer. And I can’t even draw stick people.”

Well, I’m going to give you a couple of money-saving tips that might help.

Tip #1: Check Craig’s List and Writer’s Forums. There are tons of freelance designers, many of them fresh out of design school, who would love the opportunity to design your book cover. Most don’t charge that much and are only looking for a good reference, so they go above and beyond. Always be sure to ask to see their portfolio so that you can see their previous work and whether their style of design fits in with your ideas.

Tip #2: Barter. Exchange service for service (and I don’t mean sexual services so get your head out of the gutter!). I know one writer who got her a graphic artist to design her book cover and in exchange she helped edit his graphic novel. You’ll never know if you don’t ask.

Tip #3: Hire someone to design the front cover only…and you do the rest.

I actually designed my spine and rear cover right on Microsoft Word and paid an illustrator to do the front cover because I didn’t have the money to pay someone to do the whole thing. I’ll admit that my first try really sucked because I didn’t go to the stores to look at back cover designs. But my second version turned out pretty dang decent. Looks like a REAL book. Note: You must have the Adobe Acrobat PDF plug in or the full standard or professional version on your computer to do this.

Here’s how I did it.

1. I opened up a new document in Word and set up my page dimensions by going to “page size” under the page layout menu. My page size is the size of the front and back cover of my book + the spine (6x9*2 + spine thickness). Lightning source, one of my printers, has a free spine calculator. You tell it how many pages your book has and what size it is, and it tells you the spine thickness based on the types of paper they use. (Note: You will usually need to make your length and width dimension about .25 longer to account for what printers call “bleed” around the outside edges. I could go into a long explanation here, but I won’t. Just do it! i.e., each box for the front and back cover is 6.25 x 9.25 and for the spine you only add .25 to the length. .71 x 9.25)

2. I set up two boxes for the front and back cover and one separate box for the spine. So, it should be in three pieces. I simply inserted the illustration in the first 6x9 box, inserted text boxes in the back cover box, and inserted a text box in the spine. Word 2007 has some great pre-designed text boxes that are great for inserting reviews and quotes from readers and reviewers. All you have to do is enter the text.

3. I cut and pasted my barcode into the bottom of the back cover and ensured that I typed in the price. (One tip for inserting your barcode: Do NOT resize after you download it from Bowker. If you do, the picture will come out pixelated and the printer won't accept it. Ask me how I know!)

4. Next, I grouped all three boxes together by holding down the ctrl button and clicking on all three boxes, hitting the right click button, and clicking on the word "group." Voila! My cover was in one single box instead of three separate ones.

5. Then, I used my Adobe PDF plug-in to convert my Word file to pdf. Be sure to select “US Prepress” and “press quality” in the preference section of Adobe to ensure the colors convert to CMYK, which is what most printers use. And that was pretty much it.

It doesn’t have to cost a million bucks for your book to look like a million bucks!

Next, I will cover the all-important topic of editing!

Until then,

Keep it real—and keep it real cheap!