The Writing Life

It happens...

51- Book Covers

Listen to the companion podcast episode.

News:

Audible audiobook borrowing program

Great on Kindle program
 
The Terry Goodkind book cover controversy.


About Book Covers:

The cover is a marketing tool.

It serves to:
-Entice the readers.
-Convey the genre.
-Convey the general tone of the book.
-Bring to mind the works of other favorite authors/books in the genre.

The cover:
-Serves a similar purpose as a movie poster.
-Is also is a bit like a movie trailer. (Sometimes there are elements in the trailer that aren't in the movie.)

Authors and Book Covers:
-Authors are usually bad at cover design.
-Authors are often more concerned with "reflecting the contents of the book" than marketing to readers in the genre.

-Authors often want too many elements included in the cover.
-Authors tend to worry too much about minor differences in cover elements and the descriptions/settings/scenes in a book.


Trad pub authors:
-Ultimately, the publisher makes the decision.
-Sometimes they accept suggestions from the author. Usually they listen then immediately forget.
-Typically, the author is contractually entitled to a consult about the cover, but the publisher still makes its own decision.
-On rare occasion, an author has been able to suggest a particular artist, design, or complete cover. I know of one instance in which the author made his own cover because the publisher dropped the ball.  In another instance, an author submitted a cover to the publisher and they hired someone to make something almost exactly like it.

The Indie Paradox ("Help! I don't have an art department!") 

-An indie must make her/his own decision about the cover.
-One option is to hire the same cover designer that other successful indies in your genre uses
-Another option is  to emulate the cover designs of successful indies in your genre.
-Don't dream up a design and then search Amazon for a cover that looks like your idea as a way of rationalizing it. Make sure the book is selling and the cover appears to be a part of it.
-Really study the genre. Know what designs would place you in the middle.
-Sometimes an author's name is enough to sell the book in spite of the cover.
-Browse cover design websites. Find pros whom you can afford.
-Just because someone is a graphic designer doesn't mean (s)he knows what makes a book sell. Help them. Guide them.
-Don't be afraid to experiment. Try different designs.
-Test designs through Facebook ads.
-Try not to end up on Lousy Book Covers :)

48- The State of Indie Publishing

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As the year winds to a close I polled a variety of indie authors to get their thoughts on the current

state of indie publishing from their perspective. I got feedback from a wide range of authors, from those who are just starting out all the way up to authors earning six and even seven figures. Here are some quotes and common themes:

-KDP 50 % royalty?

-Concern about obvious book stuffers and other scammers sucking up a large part of the KU pool and clogging the bestseller charts in certain genres.

-Concern about Amazon's tendency to unjustly punish legitimate authors for suspected TOS violations while turning a blind eye to obvious scammers.

-Some authors feel that permafree first book in series isn't as effective as it once was. Others still find them effective, but usually find it necessary to advertise those free books on a regular basis.

-Discovery continues to be a challenge. Being productive is no longer enough.

-With Amazon deleting reviews and Facebook suppressing so many posts, how effective are street teams these days?

-Cross-promotion is still effective. Work together with other authors. Multi-author boxed sets are great!

-Posts in Facebook groups seem to get better visibility than posts on author pages.

-The quality of the product being put out by some of the top indies is virtually indistinguishable from that of top publishing houses.

-Urban Fantasy is becoming a tough, tough nut to crack.

-There's a glut of books in the romance genre. Lots of authors trying their hands, lots of miscategorized books, lots of stuffed books and scam boxed sets.

-Miscategorization in general is a concern. Authors are putting books in categories where they don't belong just to try and get some visibility.

-Marketing is essential, but in some ways more challenging than ever. Every time something works, lots of other authors copy the technique and it soon becomes ineffective.

-Facebook Ads are no longer of much value. AMS ads are better. Not great, but better.

-Barriers to print sales make it difficult for indies to do well in that format.

-For authors with a lot of titles, it's important to regularly promote back-list titles. The books are "old" to you, but to a reader who has never read them, they are "new" books.

-Blog tours can be fun but aren't particularly effective for selling books.

-Bookbub is getting harder and harder to get into and the results have diminished, but it's still worthwhile. Keep trying to get one!

"It seems to me that indie fantasy is stronger than ever. Great new talents are on the rise and the veteran indies continue to put out wonderful material. With new and increasingly better resources, it's getting more difficult to tell the difference between indie and traditional publishing as it pertains to quality."

"I'm rowing twice as hard to go half the distance in the thriller genre." 

" I think authors who got in 2012-2014 and established a core readership with a good-selling series are still doing well. However, I think it's harder to build a new series if it's a different genre than what you're already known for."

"Those who have paid attention, and have embraced marketing and other realities of the market have done far better than those who just did the same thing over and over. For example, KU has become virtually mandatory for space opera or mil sci fi. There are times when literally every book, or 95 books, of the top 100 are in KU. Without KU, you simply can't rank unless it's a book with a movie or a real classic getting a resurgence."

"Main obstacle as I see it is discoverability. I have yet to draw any real attention to my works."

"There seem to be quite a few authors out there making a good living off of self publishing, but it is hard to stand out among the huge amount of other books out there."

"Too many indie authors think they’re competing with other indie authors, so instead of networking and cross-promoting, it’s a shouting contest."

"It doesn't help that many people still consider independently published works to be sub-standard."

 "My single biggest gripe is with physical books. There is still a huge barrier to entry, there, and it's stacked against the smallest players."
 
"There are things I still haven't worked out. My mailing list has 1 (yes, one) person on it, and that took a while. I've only been at this fiction publishing lark for 3 months, so I'm not too worried, right now."

"My one novel is making enough to buy coffee now and again. I expect when I keep putting out books I can buy more coffee. Then when I have more coffee I will be able to write more books. Eventually, I will buy enough coffee that I will own the coffee shop. I'm not SURE if it works that way, but that's what my hat told me last Thursday."  

 

47- Waiting for a Series to Be Completed

Listen to the companion podcast

Today I discuss lessons learned from re-publishing books after a rights reversion.

Then, a few thoughts inspired by this blog post:

Unfinished Series by Mark Lawrence

Why do so many readers refuse to start an unfinished series?
-Robert Jordan
-George RR Martin
-Patrick Rothfuss
-Scott Lynch

If readers won't try new series before they're finished, what are the implications for new or midlist authors?

What lessons can an indie take from this?

44 In it for the Long Haul with Joanna Penn

Listen to the podcast episode

Gryphonwood/Adrenaline Press Holiday Sale

My fundraiser with indie author promo opportunities

JF Penn/Joanna Penn Links

JF Penn's Amazon page

Joanna Penn Amazon page

JF Penn Website

The Creative Penn

 

39- How Many Boots Should a Bootstrapper Strap?

Listen to the podcast episode

Taking a break from the indie author interview series. This week I discuss the concept of
"bootstrapping" (essentially, publishing when you have no budget.)

This episode was inspired by a forum post in which an author advocated basically doing everything on your own for free. Because I have, at times, mentioned free or cheap publishing options, I wanted to re-examine and clarify my thoughts on the subject.

From the post in question:

You don't need fancy software to write your book.
Agreed. If you're operating on a shoestring budget and you already have a program like Microsoft Word at your disposal, don't spend money on Scrivener or other writing software. At this stage in your career, your limited funds are better spent elsewhere.

Create a free website and learn to manage it.
Mostly agree. Well after I was earning a full-time living as an author, I was still using a Blogger site as my website. Heck, that's what I'm using for Wood on Words. You might also consider a site like Wix. Free sites aren't ideal, mostly because they tend to come with banners, ads, or popups that call attention to the fact that it's free. Typically, readers don't visit your site until they've already read your work and want to know more about you or your catalog, so a slick website is a great thing, but probably not your top priority.

You don't need to pay for formatting.
Agreed, IF you are willing to learn how to do it and do it well. You can format both ebook and paperback in Microsoft Word. It's not difficult to do once you've learned it, but there is a learning curve.

Don't pay someone else to set up your KDP/D2D/Kobo accounts and upload your books.
Agreed. It's not difficult to do this, and if you don't learn how to manage the dashboards, you'll find yourself in a position in which you have to pay someone every time you want to update price, keywords, product description, etc...

Search for free cover art, download it, and use Paint to add text
No. Just no. It's not 2005 anymore, and Paint wasn't a good option even then. And you can't just snag any picture off of Google and legally use it for your cover. If you want to try your hand at cover design, I recommend a free program called GIMP, which is essentially Photoshop. Download watermarked comp images from stock photo sites to practice on, and see if you develop a knack for it. Odds are you'll be better off paying for cover art. Browse premade cover sites in your spare time, look for good covers, watch for special sales. You can find affordable, professional cover art at very reasonable prices. This is something that's worth setting aside money for.

Editing/proofreading
This was not discussed in the post but it's the other biggie. I don't recommend hiring an editor from the top price tier right off the bat, but do set aside money for quality editing. Also line up as many beta readers and volunteer proofreaders as you can. Whatever you do, don't try to do it all on your own.



What if I literally have no money?
Take your time writing and start saving in the meantime. Look for corners to cut. For my "super secret project" I decided not to use money from my other publishing endeavors, but instead to lok for ways to set money aside.

A few things I did:
Save all my loose change.
Save dollar bills when possible.
Skipped the occasional Starbucks coffee or fast food meal and set aside the money I would have spent.
Cut back my cable plan.
Cut back my cell phone plan.
Cancelled a couple of small subscriptions I wasn't making full use of.

These might not all apply to you, but start setting aside what you can. In the meantime, work on your books, work on your craft, practice your webmaster skills, practice formatting. Don't get in such a hurry that you blow your first launch. You only get one chance (per pen name) to make a first impression.

37 The Art and the Business with Russell Blake

Listen to the podcast episode

Today we chat with NYT bestselling thriller and adventure author Russell Blake.

*Sorry for the squeaky chair and telephone interruption.

Highlights of our chat


"You'll make more money creating content if you're creating content for which there's a demand."

"I try to let myself be artistic when I'm creating content and then I take off my creative hat. Now you're in the retail business."

"The one guarantee is nothing is going to stay the same."

"From a production standpoint I find it much faster if I already have an idea of where I'm going and what I'm going to write."

"Figure out what you want to be and go be that. If you want to be a bestselling author, that's a full-time job."

"What's the hook? Why would anyone give two shits about your book?"

Russell's Links

Website

Facebook

Amazon

Russell's method of outlining 

Are Contests Worthwhile?

Listen to the companion podcast.

Contests are on my mind this week for a couple of reasons:

-I just entered Primordial in the International Thriller Writers annual awards.
-I received an email from an organization inviting me to pay $75 to enter a book in their indie book contest.

Are these contests worthwhile? Let's take a look at some different types of awards:

Organizational Awards/Awards with a Solid Reputation
-Many writers organizations offer awards: ITW, SFWA, HWA off the top of my head. These awards typically don't cost anything to enter and should you win, they carry some name recognition.

Contests that don't cost anything to enter
-These come in different shapes and sizes. Some have a bit of a name attached to them, others don't. While the odds are that winning won't do anything of consequence for your career, they cost nothing but your time to enter, so there's no harm in entering if it's of interest to you. What's more, you might win or be selected as a finalist. That's a nice boost to the ego. It's a good feeling!

Contests that charge an entry fee
Here's where we need to engage in some critical thinking. There are a few reputable contests that charge an entry fee, but most are contest mills for whom the contests are a source of revenue. Things to consider:

Warning Signs
-How did you hear about the contest? Does it have enough of a reputation that you learned about it by word of mouth or did they spam you?
-Who is sponsoring the contest? Is it a reputable publisher/organization or is it attached to a vanity publisher or contest mill?
-Who is entering the contest? Any successful authors or just hopeful indies?
-How many categories do the awards offer? Most reputable contests are tightly focused. If a contest is offering a lot of categories and is charging to enter, that can be a warning sign.
-How often are the awards held? More than once a year?
-What's the prize? Is it basically a lottery ticket structure?
-Are there more costs later? Some contests charge to enter, and then charge the winners an additional fee to display their "winner medallion/badge."

Business Considerations
Let's suppose we've done our due diligence and concluded a contest is not a scam. Now we need to decide if  it's worth our time and money to enter. Things to think about.

-Consider your own consumer behavior as a buyer of books. When you're looking for an new book to read, how many times in the last year did you google "indie publishing contests," found the title of a winning book in a contest of which you've never heard, and then bought that book? Probably never. If you don't do it, the average book buyer probably doesn't do it either.
-Check the sales ranking of the most recent winner. When I received the invite to enter the $75 contest, I looked up last year's winner. The book's ranking was in the millions, meaning it hasn't sold a copy for months.
-Have you even heard of any of their recent winners? Did winning this contest bring the books/authors to your attention. This is especially true if they're in your genre.
-Readers don't care that you're an "award-winning author" unless it's an award of which they've heard, and probably not even then unless you have an enticing book cover, engaging product description, etc...
-Do you really have the money to spend? If so, would it be better spent on advertising? Should you save it toward publishing expenses for the next book?

Cautions
-Google might not be your friend. Many of these contest mills publish articles that, on the surface, look like valid defenses of for-pay contests. Be careful. Use your own critical thinking skills and look to sites like Writer Beware, or forums where authors gather, for guidance.
-If you enter your book into an open contest, for the love of all that is holy, don't jump on social media and announce, "My book has been nominated for the XX Award!" At best, it makes you look like an insecure, attention-seeking idiot; at worst it makes you look deceptive and fundamentally dishonest. (If you enter your book in a contest and it's later selected as a finalist, that's different. Feel free to talk that up!"

Conclusion
Winning one of the many run-of-the-mill contests is a good feeling, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it's probably not going to help your career at all. If the contest is free, or it's a for-pay contest that isn't a scam and you have the money, go for it. Just don't expect results beyond the good feeling you get from winning.

Finish What You Start

Listen to the companion podcast


Today's post/episode was inspired by a meme I created and posted this morning. This particular stock image has been the subject of many different memes recently, so I thought I'd create one to reflect something I see often in the writing world.

 

Does this remind you of anyone you know? We've all had those times when we're in the "mushy middle" of our work in progress when an amazing idea hits us. No matter what we do, we can't get that new idea out of our head. We might even abandon our WIP, telling ourselves we'll "get back to it" and jump into this new idea. More often than not, our excitement over the new idea only lasts until we get another new idea. And on and on...

Imagine taking your car in for new tires. The technician brings your car back to you with only one new tire. "Sorry. I got the first tire on, but I'm really excited about that new jaguar over there."

You hire a house painter. He finishes one wall. "Sorry, but I'm bored with this color, and frankly, your house is taking longer than I thought to finish. I'm going to stop here and hope the next house I paint is more exciting."

You wake up in the recovery room after surgery. The nurse says, "The doctor did remove your kidneys, but she didn't do the transplant. She just wasn't feeling it today."

You get the picture.

Too many aspiring writers treat their careers the same way.

This is a problem, because:

• If your goal is to sell your fiction, you might want to, you know, finish something.

•  It's a bad habit. The more you quit, the easier it gets. What's more, you're training yourself to associate writing with that feeling of excitement we all get when we dive into a new novel. Inevitably, that feeling wears off and we incorrectly assume there's a problem with the WIP when that real problem is inside ourselves.

• If you're abandoning your novel for the sake of an exciting new idea, there's some underlying problem you need to identify and address. Maybe it's the excitement factor we discussed above. Maybe the story is broken and you need to fix it. Maybe its fear or insecurity. Maybe it's a lack of planning. Maybe it's simply a maturity issue. Whatever the reason, we'll never be successful if we don't learn to identify our problems and meet them head on.

•  Finishing a novel is a process. It's hard work. It means working even on the days we don't "feel like it."

•   Reality check: that new idea is almost never any better than the idea that inspired the book you're already working on. Wait six months and return to that idea that excited you so much. I'll bet it now seems no better or worse than all of your other ideas.

•  Ideas are of little value. It's about the execution, and that's what we learn to do when we finish our novel. 

• People might be relying on you. Collaborations, work for hire, contract writing all require that an author deliver a quality product on time. If you develop a reputation for not finishing, you're finished.

On the positive side:

• Completing a novel, even a flawed one or one about which we're not all that excited, feels amazing. Best of all? You can fix that novel through subsequent drafts.

•  Just like quitting tends to feed on itself, so does finishing. With each finished novel, our confidence level and our skill set grows and we find it easier to finish subsequent books.

• We can actually start selling fiction!

What can I do?

Stop believing in the "muse."
Stop using the word "can't" when it comes to writing. (Unless your arms have been cut off and you don't own a dictation program.) Stop telling yourself that you have to "feel" a certain way in order to write. You're the same writer with the same tools at your disposal no matter how you feel that day or what your attitude is about your WIP.

Treat it like a relationship.
Writing a novel can be like entering into a relationship. It starts out new and exciting. There's an exploration process. At some point, familiarity sets in and the excitement wanes. Now comes a decision point- Do I stick with it, ride out the difficult parts, delve deeper, and make it work? Or do I walk away?

Stop walking away.
If you're someone who keeps abandoning your manuscripts, stop walking away. Ride it out. Finish it. You'll learn and grow from the experience. Occasionally there will be a valid reason to abandon a manuscript, but if you're a serial quitter, you don't yet have the requisite experience to make that call.

Get real about what's holding you back.
If you're a pantser who is always abandoning manuscripts, maybe you need to become an outliner until you've developed the instincts to write without one. If you're an emotional writer who only works on ideas while they're exciting, try making yourself work a little bit every day. Or, start with short stories, move up to novelettes, then novellas. Get the experience of finishing something as you work your way up to longer works.

But what about my great idea? I don't want to lose it.
I sometimes get an amazing new idea that sets my heart racing. Here's what I do:

• Open a Google doc.

• Write down every single thing I can think of relating to that new idea: the concept,  characters, plot, theme, setting, flashes of scenes that have already come to mind. Everything.

• Then I close the doc and get back to my work in progress.

That way I don't lose the idea. I might lose that overwhelming feeling of excitement that comes with a new idea, but that's actually a good thing, because that feeling never lasts. It won't get you all the way through a novel. It's critical that we detach our work habits from that feeling of euphoria.

I recommend everyone do the same thing. Don't be sucked in by the new idea. Write it down, save it for later, and see if you're still excited about it once you've finished your WIP.

Finish what you start!

$100K Authors

Listen to the companion podcast

 
Written Word Media recently published a survey titled "What Makes a $100k Author?"

You can read the write-up here.

They shared 8 major conclusions:

1- The vast majority of  authors earning $100k per year or more have been writing for more than three years.

88% of the $100k authors have been at this for over three years. No surprise here. It takes time to build a catalog and and audience. This shouldn't be construed as a negative; only that patience is often required.

While I technically started self-publishing in 2004, the first several years were paperback-only, and then paperback plus Kindle in its nascence. If you include the first year Kindle was open to indie publishers, I was in my fourth year when I had my first $100k year. I was working full-time and busy with family and graduate school at the time, so it's doable even if you have a day job.

2- The majority of $100k authors responding to the survey were indie authors.

72% were pure indie, 28% were hybrid, although the numbers are skewed by the fact that almost all the respondents to the survey were pure indie. None of the traditionally published authors who responded to the survey earned $100k last year.

Struggling writers often like to dismiss the accomplishments of successful hybrids by saying, "You springboarded off your trad-pub career." These results demonstrate that pure indie is a viable path to publication.

3. The Wide vs Exclusive debate continues

Survey data indicates that 64% of 100k authors were in KDP Select, and the other 36% were "wide." This would seem to indicate that Select is the more viable path, but it's difficult to draw that conclusion without knowing other factors. For example, some genres perform much better  than others in Select. What we can say is that both are viable avenues to success, and KDP Select performed well for many authors in 2016.

4. $100k authors pay for cover art, but they don't pay through the nose


42% of authors earning less than $100k spent between $0 and $50 per book cover.
88% of $100k authors pay more than $50 per book cover
68% of $100k authors pay $250 or less for a book cover.
Only 20% of $100k authors paid more than $500 for a book cover and none spent over $1,000.

Some of this is chicken-and-egg. As an author earns more from publishing (s)he can afford better cover art. That said, I recommend at minimum budgeting for affordable, pre-made covers.

5. $100k authors use professional editors, but they don't pay as much as you might think

96% of $100k authors paid for professional editing.
44% of lower earning authors paid nothing for editing.
52% of $100k authors paid between $250 and $500 for editorial services and 68% spent $500 or less.
Only 12% of $100k authors paid $1,000 or more for editorial services.

These data points ruffled a lot of feathers among editors and elicited a variety of angry and or condescending comments. A few thoughts:

All authors don't need the same sorts of editorial support. Depending on the skills you're bringing to the table, your knowledge and experience, and the expectations of your readership, you might not need things like developmental edition. If you write clean and really know the rules, you might not need several rounds of proofing.  I've corresponded with and seen early drafts from successful trad-pub authors who have great ideas, tell fairly good stories, write engaging characters, but absolutely need that kind of support. They leave plot threads hanging, have continuity errors, are clueless about spelling, grammar, and usage. It all depends on what you need.

The average reader in most mainstream genres is looking for a clean, entertaining read with engaging characters. Most will forgive a few errors. Many won't even recognize most errors. (And an annoying few will complain about errors that aren't actually errors.) That's not to say you shouldn't try to make your book the best it can be, but you can enjoy commercial success without paying through the nose for the most expensive editing options.

6. $100k authors handle their own marketing, and use paid techniques

59% of $100k authors purchased paid advertising from Facebook, Amazon, and discount newsletters, as did 45% of lower earning authors. 
Lower-earning authors made 50% more in-person appearances/promotions/signings than did $100k authors.
Lower-earning authors made greater use of book giveaways than did $100k authors.

While the article did not specify, I think it's fair to assume that, while the percentages of authors using paid advertising are not substantially different, the dollars spent are likely skewed heavily in the direction of $100k authors.

It's interesting to me that two strategies I've found ineffective for generating sales (in-person appearances and book giveaways) are favored more by lower-earning authors. 

7.  A surprising number of $100k authors still have a day job

20% of $100k authors reported having a day job to help support their writing.

Earning $100k from writing isn't all it's cracked up to be. Taxes are a killer. You have no health insurance. Those two factors alone take a large chunk out of your income. If you're paying for cover art, editing, and advertising, that's a consideration as well.

There are, of course, other reasons to keep a day job. Some people enjoy their job and don't want to quit. Others like the security of a steady paycheck, given the uncertainty of publishing as a vocation. Some people don't like the solitary nature of the writing life, and enjoy having a job to go to. The findings illustrate that you can have both a job and a successful writing career if you wish.

8. The more hours you spend writing, the more successful you will be.

$100k authors spend 46% more time writing than lower income writers, yet they devote an almost identical amount of time to marketing (12 hours a week compared to 10.)

The average $100k authors has 33 books published, compared to 7 for lower earning authors.

-This probably doesn't need explanation. More books=more products for sale=more income. 
-An author needs to earn a little less than $274 a day to make $100k. That's a lot more attainable with 33 books than it is with 7.
-Before you freak out and wonder "How am I going to earn $275 a day?" remember- your new releases will have substantial sales at launch, meaning your back-catalog doesn't need to earn nearly that much a day, especially if you are publishing regularly.
-Remember that $275 figure includes all formats: ebook, audio, paperback.
-The article doesn't specify, but based on my observations, it's likely that the $100k authors with 33 or more titles are writing a lot of novellas and short novels. They aren't cranking out 30+ epic fantasies.


In summary:

I'm a big believe in patience and determination. It might take time to achieve commercial success, but you can do it. And, you can do it without breaking the bank. Don't be discouraged by those who will tell you that you have to spend thousands on cover and editing for your first book or subsequent books. Depending on your strengths, skills, and resources, you can work within a budget and improve your product as you go. Keep writing, and keep striving to improve.

Greedy Authors?

In my circle of authors, we sometimes discuss the negative emails and comments we receive from readers. Again and again, no matter how low we price our books, how many we make permanently
free, how often we offer special discounts, we are accused of  "being greedy."

One of the oddities of today's publishing world is an author has a choice:

Your books can be available on all the various ebook platforms, and you get to enjoy nasty emails from readers who accuse you of being "greedy" because they can't borrow your books via the Kindle Unlimited program.

or

You can have content that's exclusive to Amazon (Kindle Unlimited, Kindle Worlds, Amazon publishing imprints) and enjoy nasty emails from readers who accuse you of being "greedy' for making the business decisions that will best support you and your family.

or

You can split the difference, have some exclusive content and some non-exclusive, and enjoy complaints from both sides.

Maybe the problem isn't with "greedy authors," but with readers who will drop $4 on a fast food meal or a cup of coffee, but balk at paying the same for an ebook?

To Indie Press, or Not to Indie Press?

Listen to the companion podcast episode.

Yesterday, I was reading another of Chuck Wendig's fantastic "rambles" about the publishing industry. One of his topics was "Beware the Small Press." He isn't entirely opposed to small press, but he advises the author to proceed with caution. Given that many indies go the small press route, I thought it a topic worth exploring.

What is an indie/small press? 
They come in all shapes and sizes. For the purpose of this article, I'm going to say it's almost any press not associated with the "Big 5" and not any of the top-notch houses like Angry  Robot.

Why do some authors choose to publish with a small/indie press?
There are many reasons. Some good, some bad. A few common ones are:

-The author has failed (or chosen not) to secure a literary agent, and most small presses will accept submissions directly from authors.
-The author doesn't have the money to hire a cover artist, editor, book formatter...
-The author doesn't have the requisite entrepreneurial spirit or aptitude to independently publish.
-The author just wants to write.
-The author is independently published, but also works with small press in order to reach new readers, or to grow as an author by working with a different set of professionals.
-The author doesn't know the difference between a Big 5 publisher and any other publishing house (this happens more often than you'd think.)
-The author just wants the validation of "being a published author."
-The author has been taken in by a vanity press masquerading as a legitimate company.
-The author is in a hurry to see her or his book published by somebody, anybody.
-The author has done her/his research, found a reputable small press that does a good job, and is enjoying a positive working relationship with that press.

What can go right?
In an ideal situation, there can be many positive aspects to working with a small press.
-The small press bears the entire financial burden.
-Handles all the aspects of the publishing process.
-Highly responsive to the needs of the author. You don't have to wait days or weeks for a reply.
-The author has greater involvement in the creative process.
-Faster publishing schedule.
-Has cultivated relationships with capable professionals who will make your book as good as it can be.
-Has access to channels to which you might not easily gain access, or might not be able to access at all.
-Has a brand identity and an established audience.
-Will put time money into marketing your book.
-Flexible, willing and able to try new things.


What can go wrong?
Lots of things.
-The publisher has good intentions but doesn't know what it's doing.
-The publisher lacks the resources to do a quality job.
-The publisher ends up doing nothing for you that you couldn't have done for yourself.
-The publisher goes out of business (this happens all the time), or mismanages its money and can't pay you (also happens all the time) and sometimes won't release rights to your book even when it hasn't fulfilled its contract.
-The author's book wasn't very good, but (s)he stumbled upon a publisher that would publish just about anything.
-The publisher does a poor job on your book.
-The publisher sets the price of your book very high, counting on making money from sales to your friends and family. Perhaps it even pushes you to buy author copies at a ridiculous price, or tries to sell you "publishing packages."

What to look out for.
There's no complete answer to this question, but I'll hit a few high points:
-How long has the press been in existence?
-What is its reputation? A simple internet search should turn up problems if there have been any. And if there are problems, please don't ignore them. Don't tell yourself, "I'll be the exception."
-How well are its books selling? Know what the sales ranking mean and check to see how their books are doing.
-Assess the quality of their product. Good cover? Good editing? Is the price in line with other indie books?
-What does this press actually have to offer me? Am I certain that I want to give them up to half of my royalties for a job I can do myself?
-Has this press ever asked me for money?
-Has this press ever said, "We normally charge X but we'll publish you for free because we believe in you."

In summary
Overall, I think that the right independent press can benefit an author. If you've been following this blog and podcast, I suspect you have the indie publishing spirit, and are probably leaning toward doing it on your own. That's my preference, but I believe the right small press situation can be a good supplement to your indie publishing career.

Finally, examine your goals and your reasons for publishing. If, deep down, you want the validation of "being published" or you want to see your books on shelves, don't go with the average indie press. Keep aiming for traditional publishing.

Indie Publishing Success- Pre-Publishing Decisions

Click here to listen to the companion podcast episode

You've written a great book. You've laid all the groundwork. Your plans are in place. Now it's time to publish. It's time to make some decisions.

Ebooks

Kindle Unlimited vs Going Wide

•  Kindle unlimited requires Amazon exclusivity but can be an excellent revenue stream
• Risk of losing your account
• Know your genre
• See how others are doing
• Limited "wide" periods?

Other vendors:

• iBooks 
• Have to be a Mac user?
• Nook 
• Poor customer service experiences
• Lack of commitment?
• Kobo Writing Life
• Can take advantage of advertising options
• New lending program
• Sales reporting limitations
• Google Play 
• Discounting policies
• Open to new authors?

Distributors 

The advantage of these services is you can upload a single set of files and they will publish it to a variety of platforms on your behalf. The trade-off is  you will get a slightly lower royalty, although at certain price levels you might make out better.

• Draft 2 Digital 
• Easy to use
• Responsive
• Fast
• Can go free to Nook
• Sometimes get better Nook customer service through D2D
• Reaches a few vendors others do not
• Advertising and promotions
•  
•  
• Pronoun
• Distributes to five majors including Amazon
• Better Amazon royalty on books below $2.99 and above $9.99

• Smashwords 
• Also reaches a few vendors D2D does not
• Improving
• Variable compensation depending on the type of purchase.
• Doesn't support co-authors

Selling from your website

• Limited success. 
• The average customer values convenience over price. 
• Better for non-fiction?
• Sites
• Selz
• Gumroad

Paperbacks

Likelihood of  selling into bookstores.

Createspace

• Free setup and revisions
• Pricing for expanded distribution
• No flexible discounting
• No annual listing fees 
• Poor quality gloss covers

Lightning Source

• Expensive setup and revision fees
• Flexible discounting
• Annual listing fees
• Good quality product 
• Makes returns possible, but...
• Only accepting publishing houses?

Ingram Spark

• Accepting individuals
• Very similar to Lightning Source
• Lower setup fees. Coupons.
• Same listing fees.
• Fewer discounting options. 

KDP

• Still developing, working out the kinks.
• Doesn't seem to be as good a deal as CreateSpace

Nook Press

• Run in the opposite direction as fast as you can 
• Overpriced, no distribution, not a good deal.
• Basically an expensive printing service.

Audiobooks

ACX 

• Connects publishers with narrators/producers
• Distributes to Audible, Amazon, iTunes
• Whispersync program
• Pay for production vs Royalty Share
• Exclusive vs Non-exclusive
• May provide your own files
• Flat percentage
• Promo codes
• No gifting
• Problem finding narrators

Other distributors are cropping up if you have your own files to provide. No opinions on any of them. Do your research.

Translations

Babelcube

• Works like ACX.
• Is the translator any good?
• Promo/marketing limitations.

Indie Publishing Success- Best Practices

Listen to the companion podcast episode

This post is going to be very beginner-oriented, but hopefully vets will find something of value.

If you spend time on indie publishing forums or in author/publisher groups, you'll likely hear the term "best practices." While there's no hard-and-fast definition, "best practices" are the things indie authors can do that are generally a good idea, and have often proved effective for commercially successful authors. Obviously, there are no guarantees, but it's my belief that emulating the best practices of successful authors improves your odds of success greatly. Here are a few:

Produce a Quality Product 

Pay Attention to Craft 
 We covered this topic in detail here
*Attending to craft includes, but is not limited to things like:
*Writing Workshops
*Critique partners
*Reading widely

Identify and Study Your Genre/Subgenre 
*Make sure your work fits the tropes
*Study the bestseller lists and learn from the successful indies.
*Figure out what's selling and what isn't. Mass market readers don't necessarily want "unique," "new and different," or subversion of tropes. Most of the time, they want "more of the same."

Have a Good Book Cover
This should go without saying, but it doesn't. Take a look at Lousy Book Covers.
*Emulate the bestselling indies in your subgenre.
*Remember, the book cover is a sales tool, not an artistic reflection of the contents of your book. The cover needs to entice the reader and capture the general spirit of your book and subgenre. Don't pass up an amazing book cover because the cover model's hair is too short, etc...
*Don't clutter your book with a bunch of images from your book.
*If you can't afford a custom book cover, look for premade book covers. Lots of professional designers are making high-quality covers for a very reasonable price, and the price is only going to get lower as more and more artists offer premades. (I won't list sites here. A simple Google search will turn up plenty of results.)

Product Description
Some people call this the "blurb," "synopsis," or "back cover copy." In short, this is the description/summary of your book that will appear on your book's Amazon (or Nook, iBooks, Kobo...). There are many things that could be said about this, but in general:
*It's an ad, not a summary.
*Open with a hook. A couple of examples:
-A lost world has been found again... and no one is getting out alive. (The Valley by William Meikle.)
-Sometimes, the legends are true.(Primordial by yours truly and Alan Baxter.)
*Keep the description snappy and not overlong.
*Focus on what the story is about and what the character will face.
*This is not the place to load up on back-story. Don't tell us the history of your fantasy world, your character's life-story, etc...

*Learn from bestselling indie books in your subgenre.

Proofreading and Editing
*There are many editors professional content editors and proofreaders doing freelance work nowadays. Many are working both freelance for indies and traditional publishers. If you can afford it, it's possible to get trad-pub quality editing for your work.
*If you can't afford the best editors and proofreaders (yet), take steps to make your manuscript as clean as possible:
*Before making your final pass over the manuscript, change the font and font size. Some authors find this helps put them in different headspace and helps them catch errors.
*Read the book aloud to yourself.
*Read the book page-by-page beginning with the back page. This prevents you from focusing on the plot.
*Use a text-to-speech program to read the manuscript back to you.
*Use a program like Grammarly to help check for errors. (Note- a program like Grammarly will identify possible errors, but you will still have to be the judge of whether or not what you've written is incorrect. It will be of little help if you don't understand the rules of grammar and punctuation.)
*Get as many eyes on your manuscript as you can. Perhaps you can find people among your street team who are skilled editors.
*Network with other indies to find affordable editors and proofreaders. Check the Kboards Yellow Pages.

None of the above is intended to suggest you shouldn't hire an editor or proofer. I simply recognize that, for some people, it might be years before they can afford those services. I believe that if your book is well-written and you make it as clean as possible, readers will forgive a few mistakes. My first books had many mistakes and I've had them re-edited and proofed. It's not ideal, and I might have lost a few readers along the way, but that's my journey and it's turned out all right. I do encourage you to engage the services of good editors and proofers as soon as you can afford them.

Models/Mentors 
*Learn from the indie authors who are enjoying success in your subgenre. Look at how they go about their business. See if they've written blog posts or articles, or have given interviews in which they talk about their best practices. Understand and emulate those practices. (Please, do not contact authors and ask them to be your mentor. The successful authors are almost certainly too busy to take on a mentee and they'll feel guilty about saying "no.")
*Listen to podcasts like The Creative Penn, Self-Publishing Formula,  and Sci-Fi Fantasy Marketing Podcast for info and advice on the business and shows like Writing Excuses or The Roundtable Podcast for advice on the craft.

Be Careful About the Advice You Take
*Give greater consideration to those who are where you want to be in terms of commercial success. especially those who are succeeding in your genre.
*Does the person giving advice share your goals? If your goal is commercial success, the person whose focus is elsewhere might not be the best person to offer guidance.
*When it comes to business decisions, take the advice of indies who have "made it on their own" rather than "name" authors whose brand identity can overcome their publisher's bad marketing decisions. Also, if an author whose small-to-midsize publisher has cultivated a solid niche audience, beware when that author tells you "I don't worry about branding or marketing." In short, look for apples-to-apples publishing circumstances.
*Before handing money over to advice-givers, check to see if they're actually making a living selling fiction, or if they're actually making their living selling advice to authors in the form of workshops, books, etc... (It's a red flag if they say- "I make all my fiction money through my super-secret pen names.)
*Don't believe every indie conspiracy theory you read, especially about Amazon/algorithms.
*It's not all about luck. This could open a can of worms, so I'll cut to the chase: the harder I work, and the smarter I work, the luckier I get. Focus on what's within your control. Using best practices and learning from successful indies is no guarantee of success, but it gives you your best chance.

Publishing/Writing Considerations
*Be productive! Producing regular content is essential
*The longer you go between new releases, the sharper the sales decline.
*Writing novellas is a great way to keep a series going and produce regular content. My novellas sell almost as well as my full-length books, and the occasional "this is too short" review doesn't hurt sales.
*Short stories have their uses, but aren't particularly effective as tools for generating new sales/keeping momentum in the sales rankings.

*Writing a series tends to be much more effective than writing a variety of disconnected works.
*Putting out a new book in a series tends to lift the sales rankings of previous books in the series.
*Don't believe the old publishing "truism" that an author's books compete with one another. The opposite is actually true. Some indies have even found they can put out a book a month without detrimental effects on their catalog.

Consider Your Own Consumer Behavior
*Before spending money (or time) on a given strategy, ask yourself: has this particular strategy ever led me to buy a book? If so, how often?

*Here are some things that have never persuaded me to buy a book:
-Bookmarks
-SWAG (stuff we all get) bags
-Book Trailers
-Author TV/Radio appearances
-A Facebook ad proclaiming a given author as "better than..." This is an automatic "no" for me.

*Here are some things that have often persuaded me to buy a book:
-Recommendation from a friend who shares my reading interests.
-A sharp-looking book cover
-Finding the book in the also-boughts of my favorite authors.
-Finding the book in the besteller lists of my favorite genres.

Whew! This was a lengthy post. If you've made it to the end, thanks for reading and I hope you've found something useful. 

Writing is Not a Job

Click here to listen to the companion podcast episode

Writing is not a job.
No, really, hear me out.
It's not a job, at least, not in the way most people think of jobs, and in the way most writers talk about them.

First, let's get a couple of things out of the way:
-As always, I'm addressing writers whose goal it is to earn a full-time living writing commercial fiction.
-When I say writing isn't a job, I'm talking about the idea that writing is an endeavor for which you should expect a living wage merely by showing up and putting forth effort, as you might in many vocations. 

     

Let's take a look at some of the definitions of "job:"

job: a piece of work, especially a specific task done as part of the routine of one's occupation or for an agreed price:

As an author, a work-for hire agreement, in which the writer is paid an agreed-upon price for a specific task, is sort of a job, but it's a contract arrangement; you're not an employee, and you don't necessarily expect a living wage from that specific task. The traditional "Here's your advance; let's see if this book sells enough to earn it back" is not a "job" in the traditional, "full-time job" sense.

job: a post of employment; full-time or part-time position.

You are not an employee. You're an independent contractor producing a product that the people who have -jobs- at the publishing house will attempt to sell.

job: anything a person is expected or obliged to do; duty; responsibility.

This doesn't really fit either. My daughter washing the dishes fits this definition of "job." And even though writing a book is something we're obliged to do, the obligation is a contractual agreement between parties, not an employer/employee relationship.

What I'm getting at is, when you have a "full-time job" in the traditional sense, you almost always know how much you'll be paid, either per hour or year, or at least what your baseline pay will be. As long as you show up when you're expected, put forth something that approximates reasonable effort in the eyes of your superiors, and don't screw up, you'll get paid your agreed-upon wage. Furthermore, employees doing the same job will generally make about the same living wage  (although, certainly with some variation.) The author life bears little resemblance to that arrangement, and it's folly to discuss author compensation in those terms.

At this point, you';re probably wondering why I'm wasting our collective time on this topic. Here's why (and again, I'm talking about commercial fiction, not literary):

-I'm discouraged by authors complaining about how little their writing "job" pays them.
-I frequently roll my eyes at writers who produce one book a year (or maybe not even that) complaining that they're underpaid at their "job."
-I'm discouraged by writers who make the choice to surrender 50%-90% of their potential income to publishers and agents complaining their "job" doesn't pay them enough. If you're an author for whom indie publishing just doesn't fit, there's nothing wrong with that, but don't be surprised when you're making the same sort of income as others in your genre.
-I'm weary of writers bemoaning the low average and median incomes of authors, when we all know those incomes include unproductive authors, authors who dip their toes into self-publishing and fail...
-I'm weary of authors who think it's impossible to produce multiple quality books a year. (That's another post entirely, but it's been thoroughly debunked.)
-I'm puzzled by "full-time" writers who act like 500 words a day is a Herculean task, and then wonder why they aren't earning a living wage.
-I'm tired of hearing about muses, or hearing the word "can't" applied in silly ways to so many aspects of the act of putting words on the page.
-I'm worried for writers who quit their actual jobs (you know, the ones that pay the bills) because they believe unemployment is a magic pill that will turn them into writing machines, churning out loads of commercially-appealing prose.
-I'm baffled by writers who ignore all the readily-available data on what traditional publishing pays, quit their day job, and are surprised when they aren't  the exception to the rule.
-I'm frustrated at seeing writers who can't make a living at traditional publishing make a half-hearted effort at indie publishing (publishing a short story collection, a novella disconnected from the interests of their established audience, not taking the time to learn best practices of indie pub), predictably failing, declaring "indie publishing might work for some, but it doesn't for me," and then putting their hand out for donations.
-I'm tired of people who think they should be paid a living wage simply because they engage in the act of writing for a few hours, most days of the week, most weeks of the year.


So, if writing isn't a "job" in the traditional sense, what is it?

An author produces a product for sale. That's it. As I said in a previous post, we're paid for the product, not the process.

Also as previously discussed, an author's compensation will therefore be determined by:
-Commercial appeal of the product.
-Effective pricing and marketing strategies
-Work ethic (more products=more income)
-How much of an author's potential income is surrendered to agents and publishers (or, in the case of indies, investment in the production process, cuts taken by distributors...)

So, what's the point of all this?

I believe it's in our best interests to change the way we think about writing. Instead of thinking about ourselves as employees slaving away at a job that pays poorly, let's start recognizing ourselves for what we are: producers.

When we accept that our compensation hinges on quality and quantity of our products, and the wisdom and effectiveness of our business decisions, we begin to see writing in a different way, and we begin to focus on what really matters:

-Work on our craft
-Strive to be more productive and efficient
-Stay on top of the business aspects, best practices, and realities of the publishing industry.

Let's stop sapping our time and creative energy fretting about what everyone else is being paid, and figure out how we can make our own careers work for us. On that note, I'm going to get back to work.

Good luck on your writing and publishing journey!

"Fair Compensation" for Your Work

Listen to the Companion Podcast Episode

Something I see regularly discussed in writing and publishing circles is the subject of a writer being

"fairly compensated" for her/his work. Often this takes the form of a pricing discussion, or perhaps in the context of reports on authors' average or median income. There are many common refrains I think are misguided. They include:


"I set my ebook price at $9.99 [or other high amount] because I want to be fairly compensated for my work."

In indie publishing, seeking "fair compensation" on a per-unit basis is the wrong strategy. You're not flipping a house; you're creating a work of which you can sell an unlimited number of copies. Your strategy should be what any competent businessperson does: find the price point at which sales*price= maximum revenue. The ability to offer books at a significantly lower price than traditional publishers and still make a solid royalty per-sale is one of an indie's most effective tools. We'd be foolish not to use that to our advantage.

I recently participated in a pricing discussion in  which an author advocated for the $9.99 price point, cited the length of her books as a deciding factor, and claimed her readers "thanked her for charging a fair price for her work." Her book was ranked around 1,000,000 on Amazon, which means she probably hasn't sold a copy in more than a month. We'll give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she's selling a copy a month. Is the (a little less than) $7 she earned last month a "fair compensation" for her work?

"I'm going to set X price point and train my readers to expect that price for my work."

Bad news: your readers aren't exclusively yours. They're reading lots of other authors in your genre (and probably in other genres) and those other authors, if they're indies are most likely pricing according to the market. In commercial fiction, our work is fungible. Fans of George RR Martin don't go on a "book fast" in between new installments of A Song of Ice and Fire. If I stopped writing tomorrow, readers who love Dane Maddock will be disappointed, but they aren't going to give up reading forever. They're going to keep enjoying all the other thriller and action-adventure authors in their TBR pile. If I were to start charging $9.99 for an ebook, a fraction of those readers would come along for the ride, but most will simply spend their money one more reasonably priced indie authors, or will buy books from better-known trad-pub authors.

"I'm not going to charge less than X for my book. I worked too hard on it for that."

The level of effort you put into your work has no bearing whatsoever on what price point will maximize your revenue. If you want to be compensated for your hard work, charge a price that the market will bear, and earn as much as you can from your book.

"I'm not going to be a part of the race to the bottom in indie book pricing."

There's no race to the bottom. The indie ebook market is fairly stable, with $2.99-$4.99 being the price points (according to Data Guy) at which authors are maximizing revenue, and that's been the case for a while. Thanks in large part to Bookbub, 99 cents is no longer "special," and is now typically used as a special sale price. The same with free books- authors offer them as part of a larger sales strategy.

"X author charges X and earned X last year!"

- Are you sure?
- Even if that's true, the exception doesn't prove the rule.
- I'll wager I can point to many, many more authors who are pricing according to the dictates of the market, and are making a lot more money than X author.
- If you're new to publishing, or haven't yet reached the level of success you're aiming for, X author's income probably seems like a lot, but remember, your best chance of earning that much (or much more) is to follow the examples of those authors who are enjoying the most success.

"Oprah says, 'Don't accept no from people who don't have the power to say yes.'" 

I saw this comment in reply to a debut indie author who was planning to charge $9.99 for his book. (Side note- Oprah's a badass and, in context, that's a great quote.) If your goal is to succeed in indie publishing,  it is absolutely your prerogative to ignore the experience and advice of the authors who have worked their way to the level you hope to reach, but do so at your peril. No one's telling you "no:" they're saying, "I wouldn't do that if I were you." (Side note #2- the author did, in fact, price his book at $9.99, and it's not selling.)


"It's so awful that the average author only earns X per year. People need to value our profession more than that."

While I won't dispute that the vast majority of authors don't earn a substantial income from writing, let's face some harsh realities:

-A commercial fiction author is creating a product for sale.  The author's compensation is dependent upon that product's commercial appeal, the pricing and marketing strategies applied to that product, whether or not a publisher and an agency are taking cuts of the author's work, and how frequently an author generates new products.

-We are compensated for the product, not the process (and not the effort we put into it, nor the 'intrinsic value' of our work.)

-Author earnings reports tend to be skewed by authors who: don't put out books regularly;  write bad books; write good books but use bad business practices; are fully invested in the traditional publishing model (meaning they're earning pocket change per book sold, and then giving an agent a cut too) but have midlist, or lower, sales figures.


At this point, there are several rabbit holes down which I could run, but instead, I'll save those topics for another day and underscore my main points:

The best way to be fairly compensated for your work is to use the best possible pricing strategies.

While luck plays a part, your compensation as an author will be determined by the commercial appeal of your work, your business decisions, and your work ethic. The time we spend grumbling about underpaid authors is time we could spend writing. Get to work!