8 Regrets to Avoid When Self-Publishing Your First Novel

Guest post by James A. Rose

We all have regrets. They are inevitable in some form throughout life. The goal though is to restrict regret as much as possible either through learning from our own mistakes or from the mistakes of others. The process of self-publishing a novel is no exception.

This task is a complicated one with a rather high learning curve. Unfortunately many authors become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of work that goes into the management and promotion that follows the launch of their first self-published book. This can happen to the best of us. The skill set required to sell a lot of copies is different from the skill set needed to write a great novel.

Let’s go over some of the common regrets we in the publishing industry have heard from authors, so you can circumvent the mistakes and get it right the first time.

1. Don’t underestimate the importance of a great book cover. Perhaps no aspect of a book screams amateur more than a low quality book cover. Don’t even try to make your own cover. Research the vital components, hire a professional designer and provide your input. A good designer should work with you until you are satisfied with the outcome.

2. Learn the art of writing a superb jacket copy. Those two paragraphs are so important to get right and because the jacket copy will also be used as a description in marketplaces, mastering this task can be a driving force to at least decent, if not great sales numbers.

3. Don’t fall for marketing scams. Once your email starts getting spread around amongst the business community you will undoubtedly begin receiving spam from marketers claiming to get your book on some bestseller list for only $3,000. Don’t buy it.

4. Proofread your book with a failsafe, compound eye, OCD precision. After you proofread it, give it to someone you know, then an editor, then a professional proofreader, then a beta reader, then you check it two more times, etc. Simple mistakes have more impact on perceived quality than you might think and a couple mediocre reviews from people calling you out on this can certainly be a detriment to sales.

5. Diligently check references for any contractors you hire to work on an aspect of your book. I don’t know if there is an Angie’s List for author services but if not, there should be. Too many authors have been burned by shoddy services rendered.

6. Put a delay on launch advertising. It might be best to wait a few weeks after your book release before you splurge on advertising. This will give advance readers a chance to post their reviews and point out any mistakes your already ‘manic proofreading’ overlooked.

7. Properly formatting an eBook is not as easy as it sounds. Let a pro handle it and be sure to preview the book on a variety of e-readers before posting the book for sale. Another great tip is to include a link at the end of the eBook where a reader can go to leave a review.

8. To print or not to print, that is the question. Well, the answer is sort of both. Print, but don’t print too much up front. Print 25-100 copies to send out as advance reader copies or promotional giveaways. This is important because some reviewers will only read a print copy and fans will get more excited over receiving a print copy in the mail rather than a free eBook download. It also couldn’t hurt to have some copies to put in a few local bookstores. Just make sure the store has agreed to accept them before you have them printed. On the flip side you don’t want 1,000 copies getting moth eaten in a spare bedroom.

Hopefully, these tips will help you avoid some costly setbacks and put your new book on the fast track to success, if there is such a thing. Marketing a book is a skill that must be mastered just like any other. Don’t obsess too much over it or let the job distract you from writing your next masterpiece. Most authors don’t find success until their second or third book anyway. Be content to let this first book be your jumping board.

James A. Rose is a writer for InstantPublisher.com, a full-service self-publishing company with 100% of all work performed in-house. We have been helping authors realize their dreams for the past 14 years. Whether you're printing a novel, how-to book, manual, brochure or any type of book you can imagine, our step-by-step instructions make publishing your own book simple and easy.
You can also find James at Facebook.com/InstantPublisher

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Three Reasons Why You Can't Afford Not to Go to Writers Conferences

If you follow my blog, you'll know that I've been waxing lyrical over the past month over the Newcastle Writer's Festival, a writer's conference that has now taken place twice in my locale. I've been extremely enthusiastic about the festival, not only because it was easy for me to get to (very few of the big festivals are), it was supported through my local Writer's Centre and it was full of people I knew well enough to enjoy hanging out with, but also because it was seriously good for my writing career.  I know that, for some of us, our writing time is limited, and networking is often tiring, time consuming, and expensive, but attending a writer's festival, maybe once or twice a year, can make a huge difference to your work itself, the opportunities that present themselves, and your public profile in a way that nothing else can.  Here are three reasons why it's worthwhile making time. 

1.  The courses.  You can attend courses at a writer's conference for a fraction of the price that you'd pay anywhere else and they're often the kinds of courses you won't find anywhere else.  I'm thinking of the masterclass.  Most conferences hold these, and they're usually taught by very high-profile authors in small groups where you can get extensive one-on-one criticism. For example, at the upcoming Sydney Writer's Festival, you can attend masterclasses on such things as writing for young adults, writing comedy, writing a memoir, screenwriting, and writing for digital media.  Most tickets are around $75 for a full day of it.  The learning is invaluable, but you can also then say that you've "studied with..." which is a nice thing for a literary resume, promo kit, etc.

2.  The networking.  Writing is such a solitary profession that it's very enjoyable to come out of the cave and hang with other writers.  But it's also very healthy for your career. If you're seen, and known, then you'll be invited to participate in projects. You can spend time trading notes with others working in your genre, which will give you perspective and a greater understanding of the market.  You'll create an impression that you're a writer, and although an impression is no match for an excellent piece of writing, it's a critical part of promotion.  If you're a relative newby, shy, or broke, you can always volunteer to help (volunteers get plenty of perks, like free admission to many events, free food and drink, direct exposure to the guest writers, and a lot of appreciation - plus you'll learn from every event you help out at).  It may be that you volunteer to help at the first one, but you actually offer to run a session at the next.  Getting known to the organisers is the first step towards being a direct invited participant.

3.  The Pitch.  Most writers conferences offer the opportunity to pitch your work directly to agents and publishers.  In a noisy world where getting noticed is hard, this can be a very worthwhile exercise.  Make sure you do your homework, perfect your elevator speech, and come very prepared if you intend to do this (and make the most of the rest of the conference too).  Don't bother pitching to a publisher who doesn't publish your genre (pitching your work as a 'cross-genre' manuscript is probably doomed to failure unless you're already famous, in which case you don't need to pitch), don't go in without a prepared and super-concise pitch, and above all, appear relaxed and professional (even if you don't feel it). 

There are plenty of other reasons to give writer's conferences a go, not least of which because they're utterly fun and if you pick your sessions carefully to match your own writing challenges and interests (as a reader too!), can be very energising, providing you with ideas, material, and inspiration that you can carry with you into your solitary work, so you produce better writing.  That's what it's all about.

Magdalena Ball is the author of the novels Black Cow and Sleep Before Evening, the poetry books Repulsion Thrust and Quark Soup, a nonfiction book The Art of Assessment, and, in collaboration with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, Sublime Planet, Deeper Into the Pond, Blooming Red, Cherished Pulse, She Wore Emerald Then, and Imagining the Future. She also runs a radio show, The Compulsive Reader Talks. Find out more about Magdalena at www.magdalenaball.com.

Grammarly and #GrammoWriMo – Join In

Grammarly has a great idea. If you’re not aware of what grammarly.com is, it’s “an automated proofreader and your personal coach.” And, it corrects “up to 10 times more mistakes than popular word processors.”

But, as I mentioned, Grammarly has a great idea and it goes beyond proofreading. Grammarly is introducing a new take on NaNoWriMo with it’s own verson, #GrammoWriMo.

Here’s the gist of it, taken right from the Sign Up page:

If two heads are better than one, imagine what a whole community of writers can do! Let’s find out together. In November 2013, Grammarly will organize the largest group of authors ever to collaborate on a novel—we’re calling the project #GrammoWriMo.

How cool is that!

When Grammarly’s Nick Baron sent me an email asking if I’d help spread the word, I immediately jumped on board. I love the idea.

In NaNoWriMo each author writes his/her own novel. In #GammoWriMo a large group of authors will create one book. Imagine the collective juices flowing, the muses flying!

If you’d like to join in on this unique writing journey, the submissions cutoff date is October 25th.

To learn more and to sign up today, go to: http://www.grammarly.com/blog/2013/nanowrimo/

This is not an affiliate thing, it’s just a unique idea.


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P.S. To keep up with writing and marketing information, along with Free webinars, join us in The Writing World (top right top sidebar).

Karen Cioffi

Should You Self Publish or Not

Whether to self publish or vie for traditional publishing is a question brought to the forefront because of the direction publishing is moving today. Ultimately, the author must make the final decision.

With fewer traditional publishers, more books written, and fewer readers reading books, many traditional houses aren’t willing to work with unknown authors, or don’t have a following.

Authors need a platform with followers, a book marketing plan, and more laid upon the shoulders of authors, many authors feel that self-publishing is the way to get their book into the hands of readers.

If you self publish your book, how will traditional publishers look upon your book if you decide to vie for a traditional publishing house in the future is a question only the publishing house can answer.

Experiences from some writers is that self-published books are akin to what we call vanity press books, pay and they will publish anything as Amazon found out with blatant plagiarism of many titles that Amazon published, and then had had to remove when they finally found out what some so-called authors were doing just to make sales. Amazon’s reputation was hurt, and rightly so.

Why have reviewers been complaining about the quality of self-published books? The complaints range from editing to grammar, and poor quality.

Publishing houses once employed editors to clean up these problems for authors; this is no longer the case. Self-published book editing is now the purview of the author; and authors need professional editing. Don’t rely on software like spellcheckers and grammar checkers to find the errors because they will not find subtle errors. Grammar checkers will vary depending on the individual program.

A literary agent may cost writers thousands to have their book shopped to publishers. Many authors can’t afford these costs, and opt for self-publishing.

Ultimately, it is up to the individual author how to publish their baby. First, is to hire an editor that has no interest in the book other than making sure that they edit for typos, grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, redundancies,  over use of words like “and”, “or”, and “but”. Editors will notice these because they have no stake in the book other than making it the best book for the reader.

If authors such as James Paterson, David Baldacci, or Orson Scott Card want to publish a book with a traditional house, most houses will take a chance, but they are probably not willing to take a chance on previously self-published authors, or unpublished writers. Authors need to find creative ways to convince publishing houses to take a chance. One creative way is to create a well-written, well-edited book. Don’t forget a well-crafted proposal.

Robert Medak

Freelance Writer, Blogger, Editor, Proofreader, Reviewer, Marketer

http://rjmedak.wordpress.com

http://xeeme.com/RobertMedak

Writing Tip: Critiques are Essential

Having been a moderator of a children's writing critique group and a reviewer for multiple genre as well as an editor and ghostwriter, I read a number of manuscripts and books. Reading both well written books and books that lack polish, it's easy to tell which authors haven't bothered to have their work critiqued or edited.

Seeing the unnecessary and unprofessional mistakes of writers publishing unpolished work, I always stress the importance of belonging to a critique group. Even experienced authors depend on the unique perspective and extra eyes that each critique member provides.

The critique group can catch a number of potential problems with your manuscript, such as:

1. Grammatical errors
2. Holes in your story
3. Unclear sentences, paragraphs, or dialogue
4. The forward movement of the story
5. Overuse of a particular word, adjectives, and adverbs
6. Unnecessary words to eliminate for a tight story
7. Unnecessary or excessive scenes that should be eliminated to ensure a tight story
8. Character continuity
9. Manuscript formatting
10. Head hopping

The list goes on and on. And, there are even more potential problems to be watched out for when writing for children. It's near impossible for even an experienced writer to catch all of his or her own errors.

Your critique partners will also provide suggestions and guidance. Note here, it is up to you whether to heed those suggestion and comments, but if all the members of your group suggest you rewrite a particular sentence for clarity, hopefully a light will go off and you'll pay attention.

Along with having those extras sets of eyes to help you along, you will begin to see your own writing improve. You will also be able to find your own errors and those of others much quicker. This will help you become a better and more confident writer.

Now, while the critique group does not take the place of an editor, they do help you get to the point where you think you're ready for submission. At this point, it is always advisable to seek an editor to catch what you and your critique group missed. And, believe me, there will be something in your manuscript that wasn't picked up on.

When looking into joining a critique group, be sure the group has both new and experienced writers. The experienced writers will help you hone your craft through their critiques of your work.

If you haven’t already, join a critique group today.

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author and children's ghostwriter. She is also an author/writer online platform instructor with WOW! Women on Writing.

You can check out Karen’s e-classes through WOW! at:
http://www.articlewritingdoctor.com/content-marketing-tools/

And, be sure to connect with Karen at:

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Journaling

Do you begin the day journaling before you begin writing? Is there some other ritual you perform before writing?

By doing so is one way to get the gunk out of your head and clear your mind for the writing at hand.

In addition, just getting the words down, then editing later is one way to create your story.

While journaling, interview your characters to make them real in your mind and learn more about them. If they are real to you and you know them well, so will you reader, and the reader will develop empathy for them as well as their life and trials in your story.

Empathy for characters in literature is what matters most for the read to become involved and having an experience with the story rather than just reading something to kill time.

As an author, we write for ourselves first, than we hope others will read us and get something from what we write. If we don’t write for ourselves first, then we are little less the writing whores, and writing for nothing more than the few bucks we can make.

As authors, we should stand for the craft and something in which we value what we do. Writing should not just be about making some money, but we should writing something to engage the read for the period of time they spend with us in our book, article, or any copy we write.

Before writing for the day, or whenever you write, journaling is a great way to clear your mind of the stuff that is rolling around from life and prepare yourself for the writing job at hand.

You should also have your ducks lined up for the writing task at hand and a clear direction to advance the storyline. Can the writing change along the way? Possibly, but that is what editing is for, to check the finder points, and make the story stronger in the editing of the words on the page.

Robert Medak
Freelance Writer/Editor/Reviewer/Marketer
http://rjmedak.wordpress.com

Pierre Dominque Roustan

I'm pretty sure this is VBT's first author interview and it's my pleasure to welcome Pierre Dominque Roustan, author of The Cain Letters. Pierre and I are members of the Facebook group Red River Writers and are participating in their organized tours.

Pierre, I know this is an exciting time for you - you are now published! Please tell us about you and your book.

Wow, this is a nice place you got here, Karen. It’s not every day I get to step out of my pad at the Writing and Reading Universe and explore. Allow me to introduce myself then! Pierre Dominique Roustan. Yes, you readers out there can say it: it’s a cool name. And that’s because I’m cool. I’m a 2nd generation Hispanic, born in Chicago, Illinois, son to a fiery Puerto Rican woman and a tough-as-nails Nicaraguan man. And, yet, you ask why I have such a French name…. Because my dad’s half-French. Yes. It’s true.

I’ve been writing ever since I remembered being able to walk. It was one of those things you just couldn’t get away from, you know? My parents had me tested for giftedness, and the results came back showing I was gifted. What gift(s) I had? Wasn’t sure. Didn’t care. So much so that I sometimes omit the pronouns when I write. However, my parents cared, teachers cared, others cared; and they saw something in me. It didn’t take me long to realize that I loved to write—poetry, fiction, nonfiction, anything. I just had this need to fill the white space on a piece of paper with some sort of manifestation of my imagination (that’s a mouthful there), so much so that I followed my heart and earned a B.A. in Creative Writing at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

As I stand now before you, I’m a published author. My debut will be released in December. The number of people I could thank outnumber my fingers and toes and the fingers and toes of my family. I’m not exaggerating. I think it’s fair that I give you some insight into my journey of publication, though….

I write urban fantasy and thrillers (and sometimes those two genres go together for me). My debut is a fast-paced thriller known as THE CAIN LETTERS. Look for it. However, it wasn’t my first finished manuscript, nor my first project.

I actually wrote my first ‘story’ at the tender age of 10, I believe. It was about 20 pages long. The next ‘story’ I wrote landed me a 200-pager. I can’t remember exactly how old I was, but I think I was a freshman in high school. I then wrote another story that stretched to 300 pages long. Here’s the real kicker, though; the next project I took on actually pulled in about 540 pages…. 154,000 words, and the best part about that was I, initially, thought that was too short!

Go figure. I guess I was long-winded.

And then came THE CAIN LETTERS. At 74,000 words, it moved fast. I had learned a lot about storytelling, about pacing, about plot, about character. THE CAIN LETTERS is a culmination of all that I’ve learned.

For those aspiring writers out there, let me tell you: following a dream kills. The good thing, though, is your passion for writing makes you reborn every single time. Through every rejection, every bout with writer’s block, every setback, anything getting in your way, that desire to write brings you back up. Every single time. Let me tell you how dreaming kills: I received over 100 rejections for THE CAIN LETTERS, about 97% of them from literary agents. And those 100 rejections were spread over one year, almost to the day. The middle of March, 2008, was when I finished the manuscript. I just signed my contract with Eirelander Publishing about four days ago—without a literary agent. Funny how time flies.

You never know what’ll happen. I just learned to keep trying. It paid off.

Those who’ve followed my blog might know a bit here and there about the book and the characters, but let me paint a picture for you real quick:


Enter: Alexandra Glade.

An auburn-haired, gray-eyed beauty of a woman, black trench coat, turtleneck and tight pants, armed to the teeth with all kinds of weaponry. Think “The Matrix”, “Underworld”, “Blade” with a little bit of sex appeal, and there’s Alexandra for you. There are days I regret a little bit creating her in my head, because I worry that she might beat the living hell out of me. Because she can. She’s essentially a trained killer.

Only she kills vampires. For a living.

With her team, an organization known as the Berith Lochem, Hebrew for ‘Divine Covenant’, she hunted rogue vampires and other abominations for the sake of God alongside her comrade Kyan Tanaka, a Japanese man bred into the world of a mercenary until he found God. With remarkable resources, the Berith Lochem served the Vatican and other clients looking for a cleansing of some kind. They were like bounty hunters.

It was easy, you know? Hunting vampires. The life was so linear. And simple. Until a strange book surfaced that seemed to be of some interest to many of the damned—most notably two master vampires of cunning strength and power, two of the strongest in the world, actually—a Russian known as Nikolas Stahl and a savage Los Angeles native named Mason Richter. The book had ancient knowledge regarding something that had been locked away, secret, since the beginning of time—

The origin of the vampire. How it all began.

No longer was Alexandra’s life so linear. Her journey suddenly came upon forks of all kinds. And obstacles.

The book, dating way back to the times of the Exodus, revealed the origin. And it was a shocking one. One that would shake the pillars of the world, of faith—

The world’s first vampire was the world’s first murderer. Fitting. And terrifying.

Cain, brother of Abel, son to Adam and Eve, had struck a deal with Satan to cleanse himself of the guilt, the shame, the despair of a dying world and the mark of banishment on him. The cleansing took away his humanity, took away his soul even—and made him into what was commonly known as…vampire.

Driven by blood, as a reminder of Abel’s blood on his hands, Cain walked the earth. Immortal.

What Alexandra realized was that Nikolas and Mason planned on finding Cain. The secret book revealed his hidden location for so many centuries. What Alexandra feared was what they intended to do once they found him—

It didn’t take her long to realize that they were planning on killing him. These two master vampires, countless ages apart from a man of the book of Genesis, were going to silence the father of the damned.

Now on any other day, Alexandra Glade, Berith Lochem vampire hunter of vengeance, she wouldn’t have a problem with the idea of the father of the damned dying. But she knew Scripture. And what she knew terrified her even more than Cain….

She couldn’t allow Nikolas and Mason to kill Cain.... For the sake of the world hung on the balance that Cain had to live. All her training, all her scars, everything, anything that made her who she was, a hunter, she had to forsake and leave, protecting the very first vampire from death. All to save mankind.

Could she make such a decision? With her duty, her need to hunt and kill vampires, her fierce vengeance…. Could she reject all of that…. And save a fierce killer like Cain?


I’ll let that simmer in you a little bit. I can’t give all of it away, people. Come on! You’ll have to read the book when it debuts.

THE CAIN LETTERS is, indeed, a beginning of what is most definitely a series for me. Having landed a contract, you’ll see a few more continuations, following the adventures of Alexandra Glade and the Berith Lochem. But until then, face the fear that is THE CAIN LETTERS. And believe. Believe in evil.

That’s all I got for all of you, readers. Give it up for Karen Cioffi as well! Put your hands together. It has been an honor being her guest, and do give her the honor of reading her work as well. Feel free to make as many comments as you like! Karen and I will be checking. Questions? Concerns? Coffee? Cupcakes?

Well, that's not quite all, Pierre will be back tomorrow with a questions and answers interview.

Don't forget to stop back tomorrow,

Karen

Meet an interesting author and his novel, by Vivian Zabel

Kirk Bjornsgaard, an acquisitions editor for the University of Oklahoma Press, trusted his novel to 4RV Publishing. Before the revisions could be done, cancer returned causing Kirk not to be able to make them. However, we finished needed revisions with my doing the work and his approving or giving suggestions, and the novel, Confessions of a Former Rock Queen, was released this week.

The book, set mainly in Oklahoma and New York, grabs the interest of “Boomers,” “Sooners,” and music lovers, especially of old time rock ‘n roll.

Bjornsgaard weaves his knowledge of music and rock ‘n roll into the book, giving a realistic taste to the plot and characters. As John Wooley, author of Ghost Band and From the Blue Devils to Red Dirt: The Story of Oklahoma Music writes, a person can always tell when a novel about music is written by a musician. Such is the case with Confessions of a Former Rock Queen. Bjornsgaard, “a rock ‘n roller for almost four decades, expertly chronicles the life of an unsophisticated small-town Oklahoma girl tapped on the shoulder by fame in the swingin’ ‘60s.”

Copies of Confessions of a Former Rock Queen can be purchased through most bookstores or on line, including on the 4RV Book Store.

Vivian Zabel
Brain Cells & Bubble Wrap