The Hardest Thing I've Had to Learn About Publishing

One thing I did not expect to learn about when I decided to publish my book is how much, desperately, I would HAVE have to learn PATIENCE.

Rome wasn't built in a day.

Here is a list of things you have to be patient about:
1. Getting through your first draft:
When you have ideas in your head, and maybe they're all jumbled up or maybe they're in a specific and planned order, you want to get them down quickly or you feel like they'll blow away in the wind.  But it takes time, and sometimes it does blow away with the wind and you stare at your computer screen with major writers block.  And sometimes you have to watch the kids or clean the house or, you know, shower.

2.  Your first draft will never be good enough:
When you finish the last sentence of the first draft you can't help but think, "Brilliant!  Georgous!  I just wrote the best book that's ever been written."  Believe me, you haven't.  What you think you've written is not what's actually on paper and you must revise revise revise.  Don't even bother sending it to anyone, not even your mother.  Edit it first and then send it to your beta readers.

3.  You have to figure out how to portray with words the story that is in your head:
Have you ever read a book that is a decent book but needs just a bit more editing?  I have.  In fact, recently I read a book where the whole plot of the book is about a boy and a girl who, after years of desire, finally decide to get married.  And then, suddenly the guy does something bad and now she can't trust him and they don't get married.  And the last chapter is about her getting married to this guy's best friend.  What?!  So why wasn't the book about their story?
One thing I have to work really hard on is writing.  Haha, I know that sounds funny, but listen, I am a good storyteller.  I've got great stories in my head.  But actually using words instead of ideas is a different thing altogether.  So you may think you've written a good story, but really you have to have other people's opinions to find out if you've been able to put down on paper what's really going on in your head.

4.  As soon as you hit 'Publish', hoards of people will not rush out to buy your book.  No matter how many friends and family you have:
Unfortunately, just because it's easier these days to publish, doesn't mean that people will buy your book.   I remember reading a great article by Brandon Sanderson.  He'd written 8 books and sent queries out and, after no word from agents, was feeling very discouraged.  But he pushed through his discouragement and started writing the next one.  And, finally!, an agent called him about his manuscript and wanted to buy it immediately--a whole year after he sent out his manuscript.
I'm so grateful that I didn't have to wait so long to publish TRISTEN.  However, even though you don't have to wait forever to get noticed by an agent (if you're self published), you still have to pay your dues getting noticed by readers.

5.  Amazon is like the popular girl at school who doesn't even know your name.  Yet:
This was one thing I wasn't sure about when I started writing.  I thought that Amazon would help market my book.  And only when when a sweet friend and author opened up about her experience did I realize that they don't really.  I decided to publish anyway.  I must be a masochist.

6.  Marketing is pretty much pointless until you have a few books out (unless you write nonfiction):
I've got some great ideas in mind for marketing, and would love to attend some conferences, but I think it's kindof silly to pay money to market 1 book, when I can pay the same amount of money to market 3 books.

7.  You have to publish your books in order:
Ever since I wrote the first book in the TRISTEN series, Book 4 has been screaming at me to write it.  But dang it, I have to write the others first cuz I'm not sure what exactly is going to happen before then.  And now that I'm done with the second one, the third one is jumping up and down, "My turn!" it screams.  But, once again, I'm in the middle of writing Book 2 and 1/2, which is a novella and is important to have a preface (in my mind) of Book 3.  So even though I've got major plot points and action scenes just dying to come out, I MUST WAIT.

So if you think that you're going to spit out a book and become an instant success, there is a small possibility that you just may.  However, don't get discouraged if you don't.  What percentage of authors attain that kind of success that quickly?  I can really only think of one or two.  And yet, there are so many out there who are successful, so don't give up, keep writing, and just BE PATIENT.

My name is Fleur.  And this is my blog.

Self Publishing vs Traditional (My Journey, so far)

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a marine biologist and work with dolphins.  As I grew older, I wanted to be a lawyer and then when I decided that I didn't want to do that, I discovered that my true passion was International Affairs.
Notice that not once did I say I wanted to be an Author?
I never wrote much as a kid.  Occasionally I wrote poems, but they were more an expression of my emotions that go in my journal and not something written for others to read.
The story of Tristen... well, I don't like to put it like that, "The Story of..." Rather, I feel like it's more like:
Tristen came to me.  Because really Tristen is very much a real part of me, probably a manifestation of something in my subconscious, but the person, Tristen, is real.  And when I don't write about him, give him his story, he bugs me.

So anyhow, I never really gave it much thought if I would try to find a publisher or not.  When I decided to be serious about publishing TRISTEN, I had to decide which route to take.  If you know anything about me at all, it's that I like to research things to death on the internet.  So I read and read and read.  I decided to give a querying a try (for those of you who aren't sure what a query letter is, it's basically a letter convincing an agent that they will like your story and want to sign you on).  I found 2 particular agents that I was interested in, both extremely busy and very well known in their industries.  I queried one of them, he (very nicely) told me that it wasn't his thing and we both moved on.  I queried a couple more agents, without success, and that was that.
You see, this whole thing wasn't really the route I wanted to go.
I didn't like bugging agents, being the desperate author, trying to get a book deal.  That's just not MY thing.
So I decided to self publish and haven't looked back.
 Later on, I read an article where some emails had been read that were written by elite book agent that, embarrassingly, joked between 2 assistants who had BATCHED rejected authors, without even looking at their query letters.  They were found out when one of them had hit "reply all" on accident, replying to all the authors they had just rejected.  Whoops!
For me, being able to do everything, good or bad, is comfortable.  I like not having to wait a whole year after my book is complete to publish it, having complete control over my cover and title.  I love not having to deal with snobby assistants (usually I find the assistants are much more snobby than the agents themselves -- do those guys even get paid?)
I especially love having to work hard, even thought it might look easy, it's not, and really knowing that I'm accomplishing something I really want.
This might not be the route for you, many authors are both self pubbing and using publishers these days, and you have to do what is the most comfortable.  What works for you is always the best.

My name is Fleur.  And this is my blog.

7 fool-proof marketing tips to promote your blog

So, you want to promote your blog? Here are some blog marketing tips on how to do so.

1. Have good content, posted regularly. It’s best if this has a narrow scope. Since I write mostly genre fiction – fantasy and sci-fi – I post things of interest to fans and fellow authors. Use a catchy title for your posts.
2. Don’t be afraid to reblog. Be nice about it, though. Summarize the post you liked, adding a “to read more about this, visit…” link, with the original address. Mention the original blogger by name. They will be grateful, and your visitors will think of you as a portal that links to interesting information.
3. In the same manner, encourage people to reblog your posts and link back to you, ideally using your post’s title. Google loves external links, and the title contains your keywords.
4. Respond to comments on your blog and thank your readers for taking the time to comment.
5. Follow other blogs and comment on their posts. 
6. Be real, be yourself. You should only be doing this if it appeals to you; not as a chore. Neil Gaiman says it best: “I’m not sure if any [of what I do online] is networking. I mean, if it is, I never did it to Network. I did it because it was fun, and because writing can be a very lonely profession. It’s fun to have people to talk to, fun to have people who talk to you, and great to have people who will answer your questions (even if they’re wrong). I also feel that it levels the playing field, which I like.”
7. Publicize your posts across your social media platforms. I do this automatically; having connected my blog to my Twitter, Facebook, Google+ etc accounts, every time I post something my followers are informed, leading them back to the blog.

You may wonder if the above is enough. Yes, if you are the patient kind, looking to develop a loyal fan base. This kind of growth, called organic growth, does not require that you pay anything for ads, but it is slow.

So, although content is king, there are  still a couple of things you can do to speed things along. These have to do with Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and deserve some in-depth analysis.

7. Search Engine Optimization

You want to choose a keyword or short keyphrase (“long-tail-keyword” in the jargon) and use that throughout your post, ideally starting with the very title. Make sure it’s repeated a few times (say 2-5) in your text, including in the first paragraph, and add it to the post tags (in some platforms, “SEO Title” or “Meta Description”).

Your keyword/keyphrase has to be something a prospective reader will type into Google when they are looking for just the kind of thing you have written about. The more competitive it is, the less likely your blog post will make it to the top ten or twenty on the SERPs (search engine results pages). The prevailing wisdom regarding SERPs is, if your page does not make it into the top 20, it will likely never be discovered via the search engines, because the vast majority of searchers stop browsing after the second page of results. In this case, your best way to be discovered and read is probably by regular old word of mouth.

Remember that all this is a long term plan for your blogs, aiming at appearing in searches that people make. The traffic you then get is free, and consistent, however it can take months to really take effect.

The above information was gleamed, in part, from a conversation on LinkedIn.

Read more about Nicholas Rossis here.

5 Writing Tips from JK Rowling

Who doesn't want writing advice from this chick?

I think that most writers admire J.K. Rowling.  We’ve heard how she spent hours writing her books in an Edinburgh café (I vote for Nicholson’s, but Edinburgh café owners seem entangled in a heated debate regarding which one she actually preferred, and I have heard a number of possible options, never quite sure as to which one is the true one. Could it be she frequented more than one??). We know how her manuscripts were declined by an astounding number of publishers (something that most writers experience), how she was broke but still wrote and how eventually she managed to turn things around for herself.  The rest is history, and I guess that most authors, whether self-published or trad-pub, pray night and day that they will have her good fortune (I know I do).

Therefore, it comes as no surprise that anything she suggests in terms of writing tips, this time on E-books India, is taken pretty seriously.  As you know, I am not one to follow rules but I think that in this case, she makes some good points:

• Write strategically: don’t advertise or disclose details that are tell-tale regarding the rest of the plot. Make your story mysterious, leave tips but do not reveal how you are planning to end the book.  Especially if you are writing a series of books, you really want your readers to be anxious to see what happens next, so telling them the plot from the first book misses the point.  Yesterday night, a very good friend called me and said –after having read books 1 and 2 of my series- that I was despicable for killing a hero (whom I had not killed, but my friend assumed I had) and that he hadn’t slept all night, wondering what happens next?  Naturally, I felt very proud of myself and offered to send him book 3 so that he could read the next installment – and let his wife sleep.

• Make your characters flawed: we all like to read about people that are amazing – but not too much so. We still need to be able to relate to them, even if we find them incredible.  Part of our relation to them includes their flaws.  Characters cannot be perfect because that is unrealistic.  I think there is an important balance to be maintained, with a realistic character that borders on the boring on one end and a character that is absolutely astounding, but practically impossible to identify with on the other.  So, make your characters interesting, stimulating, capable of doing admirable things, but also flawed.  Characters with a twist!
  

• Background characters have to remain in the background: choose which characters are vital to the story and develop their background – as long as it’s relevant to the story. Writing pages upon pages of background stories about secondary characters will exhaust most readers, especially if they don’t see the significance to the general plot.  I know that my previous post was about how long books sell better than shorter ones, but let’s not abuse this rule guideline!

• Be fearless: Let’s face it: if we write about what we know, we will write about ourselves. And most of us are common, normal, boring, ordinary characters. The trick is to use our imagination to give this conventional character the wings to fly with. Have them do something incredible without making this act appear out of place.  Complexity being part of our life, two-dimensional characters are uninteresting.  Three-dimensional ones are the ones people like to read about.

• Write for yourself. I know that you have probably heard this one about a thousand times and are raising your eyebrows going, “oh, not again!”, but it’s true.  If you write for yourself, readers will see the authenticity of your writing and will love it.  If it has worked for J. K. Rowling, I guess that it’s bound to work for other people too.  Hence, write about what you feel comfortable with. For example, I would probably be lousy at romance or historic novels, as I’m not comfortable with the genres. I would probably be better at mystery, but I love writing children’s stories and fantasy/sci-fi.  Having defined the writing area within which I feel secure and confident, writing anything else would appear false.  Therefore, I plan to follow J.K. Rowling’s tip on that one – at least for now!

Photos by Debra Hurford Brown and from these websites here and here.

Read more about Nicholas Rossis here.

Six Things That Will Sell Your Book

I had the opportunity to work with Tara Sparling, who interviewed readers and writers and asked them what makes them buy a self-published book.  These interviews gave us invaluable insight into how to better market and promote ourselves.  Here are the top 6 things that can make or break your book:

1. Cover, blurb and sample: I will not go into the known cliché, since we DO judge a book by its cover. From my day job as web developer / web promoter, I know for example that certain colours work better than others (blues, oranges) and that people like seeing faces in ads, for instance.  The sample is a good way for a to-be reader to see the writing style of the author; it’s also an easy method to detect if there are any spelling or other off-putting mistakes, hence revealing the author as a rookie, whose writing is still unpolished.
2. Reviews matter, but not as we expect them: Negative reviews are what prospective readers want to read.  They want to see what annoyed people or what was wrong and made them give it a one or two stars.  I can identify with this point.  Be it for hotels on Tripadvisor or reviews of a car, I want to read what’s wrong with it.  A hotel might be perfect for some, but I want to see what irritated others.  A car can be very sexy, but I want to read about what exasperated a professional driver.  Same goes for a book:  unless a negative review is completely off and written out of spite from someone who has a grudge against you (aka a troll), you should study what people didn’t like about your book and see whether their points make sense.
3. Having the right platform can work: (if in an unexpected way)  Readers might hear of a book first. Then, they will check out the author and see his/her presence on Twitter, Facebook, blogs and how he/she presents him/her self.  People like to feel a connection with the author, therefore being engaging on Twitter will work much better than bombarding people with ads to buy your book.  A point that I have already realized: Facebook doesn’t work if you want to introduce a new book of yours to readers.  Prospective readers will go into Facebook once they already know the author –which obviously misses the point of introducing a new book on Facebook alone.  As I have said in the past, Facebook has not really worked for me, but it’s a good way to discuss and share book-oriented info (and a few funny cat pictures and dog videos). Also, it means that “buy my book” ads won’t work, but “free book” ones may do much better.
4. Genre: People know what they like and they generally stick with it. Preaching to your choir is a good way to sell your book.  I have found that out the hard way: doing promotions on non-fantasy oriented blogs and book-reading clubs simply brought no results.  People who like historic or romantic novels will probably not take a look at my book.  Advertising to them simply means spending money on the wrong type of audience (think of advertising Pampers to an under-20 clientele, pretty much misses the point.).  So, learn who your readers are and focus on them. If in the process you sell to a few other readers that are not part of your standard audience, it’s bonus points for you (or cookie points, as my wife calls them!)
5. Recommended: Potential readers will read your book if it has been recommended to them (either by friends or, for instance, by Amazon through its recommended list of books based on your preferences and wish list). Again, this means that going up on Amazon’s list is good because you will eventually climb up to reach the coveted ‘recommended’ status.  A cousin of mine –who had already read my book- called me one day and said that she was browsing through Amazon and my book was recommended to her, based on her wish list.  Needless to say, I was thrilled!  Also, selling books (or giving them away during give away promotional days) means that some of the people who read them will hopefully recommend them to friends and relatives.
6. Price: People are divided in 2 categories: ones that will not buy a book over a price or who have a specific price range within which they want to stay; and ones that will not buy a book below a price. The second category thinks that books that are too cheap are bound to disappoint them (I guess in terms of mistakes, lack of editing, lack of plot or generally work that seems amateur rather than professional).  The first category has set a price and will buy even out of impulse books that are within that range.  A few years ago, I had a conversation (which had absolutely nothing to do with books, by the way) regarding wine with a friend, who is a food engineer.  He said that there is no real point in buying wine that is extremely expensive, because wine is basically wine.  At the same time, he would not shop below a certain price either –considering cheap wines unpalatable.  I guess that many people think the same way when it comes to books.

  To read more about this, you can visit the original blog here. 

Read more about Nicholas Rossis here.

Does Amazon's Hot List help out?

So, as many of you may know, I released the pre-order of my (amazing!) debut novel, The Last Seeker.  That is the day I became a pusher.  I pushed my friends, I pushed my family, I pushed the people who read this blog, I pushed any one and everyone to purchase my book.  I priced it low ($1) so I wouldn't feel bad about asking them ("even if you don't like my genre - just buy it!!") so that I could get on one of Amazon's list.  This is supposed to be the magic list that, once you're on it, it will bring you book to height-dom and everyone will see it and will be compelled to buy it because it's on that list.

Well, guess what?? I made the list.  I mean, I couldn't believe it.  I didn't think I would, honestly, and didn't check until a few days after I released it, and to my surprise, there it was.  (Did I mention that everyone else on the list has more than one book out, i.e. an already established fan base)

See, there I am at #7

Isn't that soo cool!!?? I'm way excited.

However, the question begs, is it helping me sell more books.  And the answer is
… it's hard to tell.

My numbers have not gone up exponentially.  And Amazon doesn't tell you who  bought your book (I'm sure that's a huge privacy issue) so I don't know if it's just my friends, etc buying it, or if I've made some sales from being on the list.

So here are some things to think about.  This list is: Hot New Releases in new and future Teen & YA Historical Fiction.  Why haven't my sales jumped by being on the list:

1. No one actually looks at this list.  

2.  No one scans through the 'historical fiction'.  They're all too busy looking at the romance, paranormal or lit sections.

3.  My book cover isn't good enough compared to all the others.  (I wish there was a way I could see how many people click on my book vs how many buy it)

4.  My blurb isn't interesting enough to get people to buy it.

5. People are impulsive.  They want to read now, not in the future.  If they've never heard of me before, they don't want to pre-order and wait.  They think, they'll remember to come back later.  

It could be any one of these things or a combination of these things, who knows.  I'd have to experiment to actually find out, any many of these things I can't experiment with (don't think Amazon would release any numbers based on my simple, "I would like some more, please." :D).

One point that I'm trying to say is that, if you don't make it to the 'list' then it's okay.  We don't always need to have everything off the "I'm doing a perfect job promoting my book" list in order to be successful.   

In any rate, I'm just happy to be on it.  I am thankful for what I have right now and that's good enough for me.

This is Tristen.  Hero in my novel.