How to Make Painful Edition Changes into Pure Publishing Gold

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson

I have been very busy launching two new editions with Modern History Press lately. Some of my other projects have slipped, notably my #Sharingwithwriters newsletter. I hope to get back to it by this fall, but I ran across an old issue of that newsletter . . . the feature based on the Ann Landers columns I remember from my first job in journalism. Occasionally my editor would ask me to edit what was then called the “society” page (meaning it was pretty much a women’s-only section) and I found myself having to edit parts of Landers’ column to make it fit into the space allotted to her after the paid advertising had been slotted in. They took precedence! After all, they paid the bills.

But I learned to appreciate Landers’ “Question and Answer” format. It allows communication between reader and the printed word. It lends itself to personal kind of sharing and storytelling. And, yeah. It’s easy to cut to fit space requirements when needed. So I adopted “Q and A a la Ann Landers featuring question my subscribers sent to me. This is one of my favorites because it  involves two subjects that seem to interest authors most--Amazon sales and getting reviews. Even though it was published years ago when I was publishing a new edition!

It is still useful for anyone who might be considering a second or third edition. I updated it, because I now have third edition of my The Frugal Book Promoter—yes the same one mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph! Ta da!

A a La Ann Landers

QUESTION:

Do you lose your Amazon reviews when you publish a second edition of your book?

ANSWER:

As difficult as second edition challenges feel, you’ll find the advantages far outweigh the challenges that seem so grim. You mentioned reviews. Yes, in spite of what you may have heard, you can get Amazon to post reviews from the first edition to the next edition and the next through Author Connect (now called Author Central). Amazon will put a referral widget from the first edition to the second, or—I’ve learned—third or beyond. They tend to move this widget around, but it's always been near the top of the first edition buy page (though not as prominent as I'd like to see it!).

You can see what it looks like on the buy page of he Frugal Book Promoter (first published in 2004) at bit.ly/FrugalBookPromo. Scroll down just a bit to see it. But please don't buy this edition! The new edition is expanded, updated and, if I do say so, lots prettier! and thisxthird edition is updated in still more important ways, like new advice on copyright and some useful backmatter with new recommendations, etc.

After you have asked for your forwarding widget at AuthorCentral.Amazon.com either in person or by email you can then ask the amazing Amazon elves to forward your old reviews. However, Amazon transfers all the reviews; you can not pick and choose. So if something in the first edition has been criticized and you fixed it in the second edition, they won’t discard that earlier review.

Luckily, you can still do a couple things that fit Amazon’s requirements and your concern that your readers get new, updated, more complete information or whatever else you added to or changed in your next edition.

- First, you can unpublish your ebook edition or have your publisher unpublish it. Amazon won’t let you unpublish the paperback and hardcover edition because they may still be available on Amazon’s new and used feature and that is a valuable income stream for Amazon. Unpublishing the ebook, though, makes it impossible for your reader to mistakenly get the wrong edition for their reader.

- You can also use the comment feature that is found at the end of each review on your buy page to dispute the inaccurate (or now-inaccurate) claim made by the reviewer. You might include —a thank you to the reviewer for helping you correct that in their review of the earlier edition.

There are some other ways to help fix the problem listed in the newest of the #HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers, How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (bit.ly/GreatBkReviews). Since my first edition was published, Amazon has added many benefits on books’ buy pages that authors and publishers are very nearly in complete control of. They include the ability to add your own most prestigious reviews (several of them!) yourself as long as you have permission from the reviewer to use them. You can also add back cover copy, author bio, and even a message from the author. I kid you not. You access that through your AuthorConnect.Amazon.com page. If you don’t have a list there, you definitely should have one! In one of the sections of this feature, you or your reviewers may suggest that readers will benefit from your newest edition.

Just an extra here: If you just update your old edition rather than publish a new one, you may be losing more marketing opportunities than you ever dreamed of.  Of course, a second edition should have something new about the cover (like the words “second edition” or a whole new cover and at least 10% new content).

-----

Carolyn Howard-Johnson, is the author of how to books for writers including the award-winning The Frugal Book Promoter: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher; now in its third edition. Don’t miss the multi award-winning second edition of The Frugal Editor; and Great Little Last Minute Editing Tips for Writers . The booklet, The Great First Impression Book Proposal is now in its second edition.  How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically helps you take full advantage of magical book reviews to keep your writing career move faster than you have imagined. Carolyn also offers free review services at TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com. Explore the opportunities for your book in the tabs at the top of the home page. She also blogs at all things editing, grammar, formatting and more at The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor .

Building a Writing Career Takes Practice and Focus

A few years ago, my grandson, 10 at the time, was trying out for the All County Band in his area. He told me the piece he had to play was difficult. I told him that practice is a powerful tool. Just 10-15 minutes a day will help tremendously.

Obviously, the more practice the better, but my grandson, like so many kids today, has ADHD. Reducing the amount of time on practicing doesn’t make it seem overwhelming – it’s doable.

This philosophy will work for anything, including writing.

What does it take to have a flourishing writing career?

1. Learn the craft and practice it.

To be a ‘good’ writer, an effective writer, a working writer, you need to know your craft. The only way to do this is to study it.

If you’re starting out, take some courses online or offline or both. You should also read a lot of books on the craft of writing. Get a strong grasp of the basics.

We’re all familiar with “practice makes perfect.”

There’s a reason that saying has lasted. It’s true.

Writing coach Suzanne Lieurance says, “Writing is a lot like gardening because it takes constant pruning and weeding.”

You need to keep up with your craft. Even as your get better at it, keep honing your craft. Keep learning more and more and practice, practice, practice

So, what does it mean to practice?

Simple. Write. Write. Write.

An excellent way to improve your writing skills is to copy (type and/or handwrite) content of a master in the niche you want to specialize in.

This is a copywriting trick. You actually write the master’s words and how to write professionally mentally sinks in.

Now, we all know that this is just a practice tool. We should never ever use someone else’s content as our own.

A second way to improve your writing skills is to read, read, and read some more. Read books in the genre you want to write in particular. Study the books.

2. Focus in on a niche.
Have you heard the adage: A jack of all trades and master of none?

This is the reason you need to specialize.

You don’t want to be known as simply okay or good in a number of different niches. You want to be known as an expert in one or two niches.

This way, when someone is looking for a writer who specializes in, say, memoirs and autobiographies, you’re at the top of the list.

I would recommend that your niches are related, like memoirs and autobiographies or being an author and book marketing.

Along with this, focus produces results.

According to an article in Psychology Today on focus and results, Dan Goleman Ph.D. says, “The more focused we are, the more successful we can be at whatever we do. And, conversely, the more distracted, the less well we do. This applies across the board: sports, school, career.”

So, practice and focus your way to a successful writing career.

This article was originally published at:
 http://karencioffiwritingforchildren.com/2017/02/12/building-a-writing-career-practice-focus/ 

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children’s author and successful children’s ghostwriter/ rewriter. She is also the founder and editor-in-chief of Writers on the Move and an author online platform instructor with WOW! Women on Writing.

If you’d like more writing tips or help with your children’s story, check out: Writing for Children with Karen Cioffi.

You can connect with Karen at LinkedIn:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/karencioffiventrice




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A Book Signing with Author Ransom Riggs

"Stay Peculiar"

When Ransom Riggs came to town, I knew I would have to go see him. And I wasn’t disappointed. Riggs is the author of Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children #1 New York Times bestselling series; the fifth book in the series, The Conference of the Birds, just came out on January 14th.

Our Albuquerque Barnes & Noble hosted Riggs in grand style. While the “events” that were set up for ticket holders were presented mostly by Riggs’s traveling crew (our stop was the 9th on his whirlwind book tour in a van decorated with lively Conference of the Birds artwork), B & N employees helped, too. I’m not sure who provided the chocolates, cookies and sweet drinks, but it didn’t matter. In the hour before Riggs danced in, the guests, numbering approximately forty by my count, had a great time. One woman sitting in the front row, a gold ticket holder, even came dressed as a character from Riggs’s stories.

There was so much to do: tattoos stamped at the tattoo booth, photos taken by the participants themselves in front of a giant poster backdrop, and a mysterious event known only to gold ticket holders (my ticket was silver, which included a hardcover copy of The Conference of Birds). Three notebooks, signed by Ransom Riggs, were given away.

Riggs grew up in Florida. When he was twelve, he found old photographs with his grandmother at a collector’s store in town. His fascination grew and he soon became a collector himself, scouring old photos at swap meets and flea markets. He especially liked the photos that had writing on the back, such as an old photo of a young girl named Dorothy who, on the back, said that she had died of leukemia at his age. He’d never before thought that anyone his age would die. Photos then were ten cents a piece; later, as he grew more serious, he paid more.

He would find creepy stuff, such as a collection of men with blank eyes (these poor souls either had cataracts, were blind, or came from another world, not sure), which appears in The Conference of the Birds, war time photos, and Gothic photos, to name a few. He kept his photos into albums. No permission was necessary for these unclaimed photos (I had to ask). And then he came to a photo of a peculiar child. Hmm.

When he was thirteen, he joined a writer’s group called Inklings. He wrote Stephen King-like stories alongside old ladies writing their memoirs.

After a stint at film school, trying his hand at screenwriting, and other jobs, he was encouraged by the editor of a small publishing company to write a novel, and his novel of an island full of kids with strange abilities was born. He thought the novel wouldn’t get any attention, but it slowly gathered momentum, and was made into the movie, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. The ending of the novel was a cliff-hanger, and two more novels followed, a trilogy. The end. He thought. But now he is in the middle of another trilogy, writing the latest novel, half-way done and slated to come out in 2021, while on the road in his van, traveling on his book tour across America.

Riggs’s wife, Tahereh Mafi, is also a bestselling author, with six books in her New York Times and USA Today bestselling YA Shatter Me series, and her novels A Very Large Expanse of Sea, longlisted by the National Book Award for YA, and Furthermore, Gr 5-7. They share an office, write side-by-side, and he shared with his characteristic terrific sense of humor that she very kindly and gently reads his early drafts.

Riggs’s Wisdom
After Riggs blew in front of the crowd, seated by tickets, I was struck with his attitude. He thanked B & N for having him, expressed his gratitude that his readers have stuck with him through his six-odd year writing journey. He said knowing that his readers were waiting for this book was a big shot in the arm for him.

He began his talk by answering questions that are usually asked, which I thought was a big time-saver. This way he covered a lot of more territory than might have been missed by having to save time for a lengthy Q & A session, though he did allot some time for Q & A at the end.

• He said writing is a great escape; channeling whatever feeling—sadness, joy, etc., into good fiction is a good way to get our feelings out.
• In the beginning, he used his photos to inspire his characters, but now the story has its own momentum, and he goes with that.
• He listens to music, not while writing necessarily, but music helps him to think up ideas.
• Writer's Block strategies: Writer's block is a sign that the author is trying to force the character to do something that doesn’t come naturally, or the author is too attached to the plot. Any author suffering from writer's block needs to back up and think about what they’re trying to write.
• The most important thing Riggs has learned? Writing faster doesn’t make it worse! Just write the book instead of all that other stuff!

I left elated and motivated to get back to work. Riggs put on an interesting, refreshing and highly invigorating talk. If he comes to your town, I recommend that you go see him. Before I attended Riggs's book signing, I was not familiar with his work. Now I can't wait to dig into his books, and his wife's, too.
Introductory photo: From Ransom Riggs's Facebook Pages

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. Follow Linda on Facebook.

Book Review: Write Smart Write Happy

Cheryl St. John is the author of Write Smart Write Happy, How to Become a More Productive, Resilient, and Successful Writer

Cheryl St. John’s book title intrigued me. And, when my accountability partner recommended it, I bought it—sure glad I did. As an award-winning published author of over fifty novels, Cheryl is qualified to coach writers as she shares her lessons-learned throughout the book. Her advice is compassionate, straightforward and encouraging. Write Smart Write Happy, has had a significant influence on my outlook as a writer. I kept a notebook to record the volume of important points that stood out to me in each chapter.

I particularly enjoyed fostering a positive view for my writing journey, creating a routine, counting all the good things, and defining action steps to improve self-confidence.

The Goal of the book is to impress writers with the importance of creating a productive writing practice that survives the vulnerability encased within writing. This book addresses career-planning goals, motivation, overcoming hurdles, holding onto who you are, conquering fear and managing priorities.

I whole-heartedly recommend this book. It is candid, it’s comprehensive, and it will motivate you no matter where you are in the writers' journey.

Thank you Cheryl St. John much appreciated!

I am working on my next post series. What writing craft topic would be most useful to you?  i.e. Crafting Essays, Time Management, Motivation. Please add your comment below.  

Deborah Lyn Stanley is an author of Creative Non-Fiction. She writes articles, essays and stories. She is passionate about caring for the mentally impaired through creative arts. 

Visit her writer’s website at: https://deborahlynwriter.com/   

Check out her caregiver’s website at: https://deborahlyncaregiver.com/ 

and a book for caregivers at: https://deborahlyncaregiver.com/momandme/  

Facebook: Deborah Lyn Stanley, Writer    https://www.facebook.com/deborahlynwriter/?modal=admin_todo_tour

When Your Book Isn't Selling

By W. Terry Whalin (@terrywhalin)

I used to cringe when I saw the mail or email from one of my publishers. It probably contained a royalty statement and experience told me many of those numbers would begin with a minus (negative balance).  I’ve written for many different traditional publishers and have had this experience from a broad spectrum of types of books including how-to, self-help, biographies, gift books and children’s books.

When your book sales are off, it’s a natural tendency to want to blame someone. Maybe my editor has left and my book was orphaned inside the publisher with no champion or advocate. Maybe my publisher didn’t market the book to bookstores. Maybe they changed the title between what was printed in the catalog and what was published. Or _(fill in the blank). I’ve had all of these things happen to my published books. Good publishing involves a cooperative process and working with many different people. Much of this process is outside of the author’s control. I’ve also learned there are many pro-active steps authors can take to change their situation.

1. Take 100% responsibility for your own success. In The Success Principles, Jack Canfield makes this the first principle. Over ten years ago, I heard this principle and adopted it in my publishing efforts.

2. Be active in the promotion and marketing of your book.  As the author, you have the greatest passion for your book—way beyond anyone else including your publisher. The great promoter, PT Barnum said, “Without promotion, something terrible happens—nothing.” Consistent promotion of your book is important.

3. Be Generous with your book. Reviews sell books but many authors have few reviews for their book on Amazon or Goodreads or Barnes & Noble. Give books to people who are willing to write a review. If they’ve never written a review, give them a tool to help them like with this form.

4. Ask for others for help. In the New Testament, James 4:2-3 says, “You do not have because you do not ask.” If you need endorsements, ask but make it easy for them to say yes (offer to draft it). If you need social media promotion, ask but create possible posts. Here’s an example of a page, I created to help others help me spread the word on my latest book.

5.  Take the long view of publishing. Publishing and promoting a book is more like a marathon than a sprint. With the huge volume of published books, someone has to hear about your book seven to twelve times before they purchase it. What actions can you take every day to give your book this exposure? My Billy Graham book trailer has been seen over 11,500 times in the last five years. http://bit.ly/BGBookT

6. No matter what happens in your life, keep going. In Perennial Seller, New York Times bestselling author Ryan Holiday writes, “The hard part is not the dream or the idea, it’s the doing.” If there were a simple formula to create a bestseller, every book would be a bestseller. There are practical actions every author can take. Each part of the publishing process has challenges and as writers your persistence and consistency is critical. As #1 New York Times bestselling author Jerry B. Jenkins wrote in the foreword of my book, 10 Publishing Myths, “Only one of a hundred writers literally make their deadlines.” If you meet deadlines with quality writing, it’s an easy way to stand out from the crowd. I wrote 10 Publishing Myths to give writers realistic expectations and practical steps every author can take to succeed. Today, you can get the 11^th Publishing Myth as a free ebook.

When you point a finger at others because your book is not selling, just remember: when you extend your pointer finger, four more fingers are bent back toward you. Take action today. Let me know in the comments below what actions you are taking on a regular basis and we can learn from each other.

Tweetable:

What actions do you take if your book isn't selling? Get ideas here from a prolific editor and author. (ClickToTweet)

________

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor lives in Colorado. A former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams and Billy Graham. To help writers catch the attention of editors and agents, Terry wrote his bestselling Book Proposals That $ell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success. Check out his free Ebook, Straight Talk From the Editor. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com. Connect with Terry on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Literary Magazines with Themes--On the Premises

If you're looking for a short story contest with no entry free and quite good pay, try On the Premises.

As indicated by the title, this e-zine always has themes.  The current contest, running until March 6, is "More Than One."

"For this contest, write a creative, compelling, well-crafted story between 1,000 and 5,000 words in which one or more characters face this problem:  there is more than one of something that there should absolutely, positively be only one of."

Sounds fun!

Guidelines:  https://onthepremises.com/

They also have mini contests between regular contests.  The mini contests require VERY short prose, and the themes are often quite interesting.  For example, in the fall I entered one about purposely bad world-building.  The results were quite fun.  You can read them here (including my winning entry):  https://onthepremises.com/minis/mini_43/ 

Melinda Brasher's fiction and travel writing appear most recently in Hippocampus, Deep Magic, and Twenty-Two Twenty-Eight.  Her newest non-fiction book, Hiking Alaska from Cruise Ports is available on Amazon.    

She loves hiking and taking photographs of nature's small miracles.  

Visit her online at http://www.melindabrasher.com

How to Write Faster & Work Smarter

If you're a freelance writer you probably have a variety of projects going at any one time.

And sometimes it seems that every project you accept takes much more time than you would like.

In fact, if you are a successful freelance writer, the projects you accept can start to eat up all of your time.

Here's how can you write faster and work smarter, so you'll have more free time for other things:

1. Focus on one project at a time.

If you're constantly thinking about all the things you need to accomplish each day, your mind never settles down to the writing project at hand.

Let everything else go when you sit down to write.

Just write.

Don't answer the phone.

Don't check your email.

Don't try to multitask when you write.

In fact, I find it helpful to block out a apecific amount of time for each writing project.

Then, when it's time to work on one project, it's much easier to stop thinking about everything else because I know I have blocked out time for all those other projects, too.

2. When writing nonfiction, it helps to come up with a structure for your article, topic, paragraph, etc. before you sit down to write.

Start with a jazzy title for your article, then create the lead sentence.

Next, figure out how you will structure the article by coming up with a few subtopic headings.

Once you have all those things in place, all you'll need to do is fill in the information under each of the subtopic headings.

3. When writing fiction, chunk the action out into scenes.

When you sit down to write, tell yourself you are going to write only a certain number of scenes that day.

Outline the scenes ahead of time, then when it's time to sit down and write out the scenes, you are good to go!

4. Every day when you get ready to finish that day's writing session, be sure you KNOW what you will start writing the next day.

That way, you won't have to sit down and stare at a blank computer screen tomorrow.

You'll be able to get to work immediately because you'll know where to start.

5. If you find you're spending hours at the computer with nothing to show for it, stop.

Get up and do something else.

Take a walk, take a bath, do some stretches, go out for a cup of coffee.

Your subconscious will still be working on the writing project that is giving you trouble.

Come back to it in an hour or so and you'll probably start to make some progress.

Follow these tips and you'll not only be working faster, you'll be working smarter, too!

And you will have more free time for other things you love to do.

Try it!

For more writing tips, be sure to visit writebythesea.com and get your free subscription to The Morning Nudge. Once you're a subscriber, you'll also have access to a Private Resource Library for Writers.

Suzanne Lieurance is the author of over 35 published books, a freelance writer, and a writing coach.