Help for Self-Published Authors

 Publishing takes lots of determination and a little luck, too.

Anyone who has read my February 2020 post knows that I had bad luck with a “vanity” publisher and closed my account. I’d been working with the publisher for two years. So, I suppose losing sleep only two nights fits. Two days isn’t that long for an author to think the world had come to an end. On the third day I began writing emails to my colleagues asking for advice. Immediately, I found the help I needed and haven’t looked back since.

First Concern: The Book Itself
In the throes of feeling like a swimmer lost at sea, I realized that I could quite possibly turn this experience of what seemed like an extreme case of bad luck—witnessed by the condolences I received from people who have been waiting for this book to be published for years—into a silver lining.

What better time to take advantage of a professional edit to get any kinks out of the book, if there were any. Ha! There were plenty. So, already I saw one big advantage of having my book cut loose from the publisher.

My professional editor: Chris Eboch, a prolific author and editor: https://chriseboch.com

Kinks Out. What Next?
Viewing progress in stages, I thought the next feat would be to create a website that would shine. I had admired the website of an author who is in my Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators chapter, SCBWI-NM, Kit Rosewater. View Kit's website here:

https://www.kitrosewater.com.

I contacted Kit’s website designer, Danika Corrall, and the rest is history. It was great fun working with Danika. Fortunately, I already had artwork that had been created by the illustrator of my book, Tiffany Tutti. And I had created a website with the help of Karen Cioffi. Danika and I worked together to use what we already had and for her to create the look I wanted. She did a terrific job and was wonderful and fun to work with.

My website designer: https://www.danikacorrall.com
My website: https://www.lindawilsonauthor.com 

Companies Willing and Able to Help
Now I was on my own. So, I turned to the self-publishing company I knew: KDP. Luckily, the files from my publishing company are my property and I have them all, front and back covers and interior illustrations. The first brick wall I encountered was not being able to use these files. I tried to fit the illustration files into the interior text pages. They didn’t fit! I needed a formatting company who could create the interior using my files.

My rescuer: Karen Cioffi, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Writers on the Move,
Children's Author, Ghostwriter, and Online Marketing Instructor.
How to get in touch with Karen: kcioffiventrice@gmail.com

Karen told me of two companies who could help:

https://www.formattedbooks.com and https://www.100Covers.com.

The team at Formatted Books has created files complete with the illustrations and front and back matter for the paperback and eBook. The team at 100 Covers has re-created the front and back covers and the spine. Both companies’ customer service is exceptional.

So, Who Will Publish My Book?
The book, Secret in the Stars: An Abi Wunder Mystery, paperback/eBook, is not yet ready. But it will be soon. I’ve opened accounts with three self-publishing companies and as soon as the files are ready, I plan to get started:

Draft2Digital, a print-on-demand company, recommended to me by author and editor, Chris Eboch. D2D offers self-publishing with support. I’m very excited to begin working with this company. Any questions I’ve emailed to them have been answered immediately even though I haven’t sent them my files yet. D2D hosts a YouTube channel (among many other services they provide) that is chock-full of information.

IngramSpark, a print-on-demand self-publishing company that offers many benefits, including a large global reach.

Amazon’s KDP: From what I read it is a good idea to publish with KDP as well.

Since I haven’t started this last process of working with the self-publishing companies, I can’t speak to that. But I can tell you what I’ve learned so far.

ISBN Numbers: A Big Subject!
I spent an entire Friday evening studying what to do about obtaining an ISBN number for Secret in the Stars. Don’t worry, it was fun! KDP offers a free ISBN when you publish with them, however, author beware. From what I read this number is not transferable. In other words, KDP does not allow the number to be used with other publishing companies. So, I decided to purchase my own ISBN number, and went with the 10-number option, as these numbers never expire and can be used for different editions of your book, and for future books. Please note: ISBN numbers are not required for eBooks, and for books that will not be available in stores or libraries. Acquiring an ISBN number for your book is a study in itself. I opted to purchase my numbers from the ISBN source, Bowker.

While filling out my purchases with Bowker, I included with the ten ISBN numbers, one bar code, and one other item: a Book2Look Biblet. There are additional options you can purchase such as registration of a copyright, a QR code, and more.

Book2Look: Learning about this marketing tool was better than watching TV! I am very excited about creating my Biblet for Secret in the Stars. The caveat for me was that the children’s author who is featured on the YouTube video about Book2Look is Karen Inglis. I didn’t realize I knew her—she’s from England—until the Biblet for one of her books, The Secret Lake, was described. I have read that book and found it on my bookshelf. It truly is a small world!

Though the process for publishing my book took more time than if I had published with my original publisher, the time has been well spent. And it’s been a fun learning experience only to be matched, I would imagine, when my book is finally published!

Credit for introductory image: http://www.clker.com/clipart-522460.html

Credit for the social media image: 100Covers

 Linda Wilson, a former elementary teacher and ICL graduate, has published over 150 articles for adults and children, and several short stories for children. She has recently become editor of the New Mexico SCBWI chapter newsletter, and is working on several projects for children. Secret in the Stars: An Abi Wunder Mystery, Linda's first book, will be out soon. Follow Linda on https://www.lindawilsonauthor.com.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson Tells Truth About Why You Need to Get Reviews for Your Book Yourself

I thought I'd share an excerpt from my newly released How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically with you Writers on the Move subscribers and visitors. It's all part of its launch celebration. Learn more about it athttp://howtodoitfrugally.com. 

Why Getting Great Reviews Is Your Job

In spite of a contract or even an advance your publisher may not be a true publisher. True publishing includes the marketing of a book. Think big names like HarperCollins and Knopf. They assign a marketing budget to your book and an actual marketing department complete with actual human-type marketers who are trained in the specialized field of not just marketing, but marketing books. Except for those who write only for pleasure, there is no reason to publish a book that doesn’t get read. 

And here’s more: Big publishers are relying on bloggers for their review process as print journals and newspaper book sections shrink or disappear and as they begin to understand that grassroots publicity—reviews or otherwise—can produce a very green crop. Bloggers, you say? Well, that’s a resource pool you can easily plumb yourself

Some publishers—even traditional publishers—may not respect tradition, be uncooperative or goof. One of my writing critique partners was published with a fine press. When she learned they had not sent advance review copies of her literary novel to the most prestigious review journals before their strict sixteen-week deadline, she was naturally upset. They explained it was a snafu that could not be fixed. That was no comfort at all. It did help her to know that because thousands of galleys sent to the important review publications lie fallow in slush piles, the chances of having a book reviewed by a major journal—even one published traditionally let alone getting a glowing review—is remote. Because she had me to nag her, she moved on to alternative marketing and review-getting strategies found in Chapter Six of this book. Using those methods, she was still able to schedule several major bookstore appearances that tend to favor established names and rely on big-journal reviews in their decision-making process. Nevertheless, it’s not the kind of loss any author wants to face.

These days most small publishers have no marketing department—or marketing plan. In fact, many admit that when it comes to marketing, you are on your own. No offense, publishers. I know many of you do a terrific job considering the profit margin in publishing these days. Let’s face it, you can use help, and you don’t need to deal with disappointed (irate?) authors. And, authors! We are ultimately responsible for our own careers. Sometimes when we wait to take responsibility, it is too late in the publishing game.

Some publishers charge the author an additional or separate fee for marketing. Many who offer marketing packages do not offer a review-getting package. If they do, the review their authors get is a paid-for review, which is definitely not the route you want to go. More on that later in this chapter.

Many publishers do not even have lists of people to contact who might help your marketing with endorsements or reviews. Further, many big publishers are relying on bloggers for their review process more and more as print journals and newspaper book sections shrink or disappear and as they begin to understand that grassroots publicity—reviews or otherwise—can produce a very green crop. And bloggers? Well, that’s a resource pool you can easily plumb yourself. 

My first publisher supplied review copies only upon written request from individual reviewers. They did not honor requests generated by their authors’ initiatives. This meant that I could not count on them to supply books to reviewers I had successfully queried for a review. Unless the reviewer accepted e-copies (and many reviewers don’t!), I had to order copiesdirectly from the publisher and then reship them to my reviewers. This method is slow, cumbersome, unnecessarily expensive, unprofessional, and discourages authors from trying to get reviews on their own. 

Publishers should offer review copies to a list of reviewers—even unestablished grassroots bloggers—who have been responsive to their authors in the past. And they certainly should not charge an author for review copies. Publishers have a profit margin and publicity obtained by their authors (including reviews) affects their bottom line, too. They should send their author a thank you (or a red rose!) along with encouragement to keep up the good work

Publishers should also market their books. That means that even if they are too small or underfunded to have a marketing department, they should have a list of reviewers to query for reviews, a list of influential people to provide blurbs for your cover, access to book cover designers (not just great graphic designers) who know what sells books, and a whole lot more. Ask potential publishers about their marketing process before you sign, but—even if you feel assured after having that conversation—it’s best to assume you may be on your own. 

So, the marketing part of your book that includes finding the right reviewers to read and comment on your book will—in most cases—be up to you and well within your skill set after reading this book. And even when you have the luxury of a marketing department behind you, those authors who know how to get reviews on their own can keep a book alive for an infinite amount of time after their publishers relegate their books to a backlist or their contract expires.

Note: If it is too late to apply this information to the process you use in choosing a publisher, tactfully take hold and guide the publisher you have through the review process. There are lots of ways to do that in this book. I love Nike’s advice to “Just do it!” only I add “yourself” to the motto. Many publishers are in your employ. You may be paying them for services. At the very least, when your book sells, it makes money for the publisher. You don’t have to ask for permission (though it never hurts to listen to their reasoning before you make a decision).

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Carolyn Howard-Johnson brings her experience as a publicist, journalist, marketer, and retailer to the advice she gives in her HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers and the many classes she taught for nearly a decade as instructor for UCLA Extension’s world-renown Writers’ Program. The books in her HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers have won multiple awards. That series includes both the first and second editions of The Frugal Book Promoter and The Frugal Editor won awards from USA Book News, Readers’ Views Literary Award, the marketing award from Next Generation Indie Books and others including the coveted Irwin award. Her next book in the HowToDoItFrugally series for writers will be How To Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically.

Howard-Johnson is the recipient of the California Legislature’s Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment Award, and her community’s Character and Ethics award for her work promoting tolerance with her writing. She was also named to Pasadena Weekly’s list of “Fourteen San Gabriel Valley women who make life happen” and was given her community’s Diamond Award for Achievement in the Arts. 

The author loves to travel. She has visited eighty-nine countries and has studied writing at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom; Herzen University in St. Petersburg, Russia; and Charles University, Prague. She admits to carrying a pen and journal wherever she goes. Her Web site is www.howtodoitfrugally.com.