Tag: publishing tips

I Want To Self-Publish – Now What?

by Allie P., posted in General Tips and Tricks, Writing and Publishing Tips

I recognize that not all of my readers are also writers, nor are all my reader-writers considering the self-publishing path. However, for those that are, I thought I’d peel back the curtain, so to speak, and provide another glimpse at the wild and wonderful world that is taking control of your literary destiny. The next few articles are for you.

self-published: now what

So you’ve made the decision to self-publish. Congratulations! You, like me, are now in control of your book’s publication. Unfortunately, that was only the first of a number of decisions you still need to make before you will get to see your book on the shelf. So perhaps I should be offering my condolences instead.

You may have decided self-publishing is for you before you’ve finished writing your manuscript. If so, nice work! This means you are already thinking about how you want to go to market, which will only help you build your author platform well before your launch date.

That said, if you don’t have your manuscript ready it’s probably better if you simply bookmark these instructions for future reference as there is little that you can do with them until you have a completed (and preferably edited) manuscript. Bonus points if it is formatted too, but I digress.

Now, if you have your completed manuscript, fantastic! That’s an enormous accomplishment and I hope you took at least an evening to celebrate.

So now what?

From here, it is time to familiarize yourself with publishing terminology while answering a number of questions. This will, in turn, help you determine what your next steps are. Luckily there are no wrong answers—just some answers are more work or more costly than others.

Some of the most basic questions you need to answer for yourself are these:

What do I want to publish?

A book, sure. But let’s get more specific. Exactly what kind of book do you want to publish and what format do you want that book to take? There are three different formats you can choose for your book: Ebook, paperback, and hardback, although paperback and hardback are fairly similar. Each have their own audiences, benefits, and drawbacks.

How do I want to distribute my book?

Amazon, or simply the ‘Zon as it is called in some circles, pretty much owns the book market at this point. Therefore, your best chance of earning a living wage off your writing, and your writing alone, is to publish on their platform. However, you don’t have to have an exclusive relationship with them if you don’t want to. Some authors take advantage of their Kindle Select program for ebooks, which offers things like countdown deals and enrollment in Kindle Unlimited (their subscription reading program), while also publishing the print version of their books on other platforms. Others publish ebooks and print books alike on multiple publishing platforms.

Who do I want to list as the Publisher of Record?

If you are only publishing an ebook, then this question isn’t as important. However, if you want your own name or brand name to be listed as the publisher of record for a printed book, then you will need to purchase an International Standard Book Number (ISBN) for each version of your book before you publish. In other words, if you want to have a paperback and a hardback version of your book, you will need to have two ISBNs.

How do I want readers to find me?

ISBNs help booksellers keep track of which book sale belongs to which author, but if you want readers to find you, you will need to hone up on your SEO knowledge. SEO stands for search engine optimization and it is just as important for improving your search rank on retail sites as it is on Google or Bing.

How much do I want to charge for my book?

Some authors set their first book in a series at an extremely low price point, knowing it might cost more to advertise the book than they expect to make off the sale because they expect readers to buy the follow-up books in the series at full price. Others decided to charge full price for all of their books as they believe it shows the reader that the book is high-quality. The choice, like everything in self-publishing, is up to you.

If this seems overwhelming, don’t worry, I will be expanding on some of these topics so that by the end of this series, you’ll feel a little less apprehensive about the publishing process. It’s only as scary as you let it be – just don’t expect it to be easy. Otherwise, everyone would do it.

Other posts in this series include:

However, if you would prefer not to navigate through a number of posts, I have also consolidated the entire series into a single downloadable PDF, which you can access by clicking here.

How to quickly add some serious credibility to your business or your brand

by Allie P., posted in General Tips and Tricks, Writing and Publishing Tips

How to quickly add some serious credibility to your business or your brand - www.alliepottwrites.comI love quotes. I love reading them. I love using them in my posts as a way to flavor my thoughts with another voice. The trouble is it sometimes takes me ages to find the perfect complement to whatever topic I happen to be writing on at the time.

Then there are the follow-up problems.

How to determine whether a quote is legitimate or not and who really said it? Take for instance the story about the valedictorian in Kentucky who attributed a quote in his commencement speech to one US president only to change its source moments later as a joke that wasn’t viewed as funny by some members of the crowd.

Stories like that prove that no matter how meaningful, empowering, or thought-provoking a quote’s message is, the quote’s mouthpiece also matters. So I try to be careful how I use them.

“With great power, comes great responsibility” – Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben (or was it?)

Up until now, my go-to source has been sites like www.brainyquotes.com and www.tinybuddha.com for when I am need of some additional zen. Both sites have nice keyword searching functions and I’ve created more than one post based entirely on a quote of the day, but there is no way of knowing for sure that the person cited is the first person (on record) to have ever said it. Hence the follow-up homework problem.

I have since found a new way to incorporate direct quotes straight from the source into the world of my other writing job – HARO. HARO stands for Help A Reporter Out (www.helpareporter.com) and it is a free tool for journalists (bloggers, podcasters, and authors too) that helps you find potential sources for upcoming articles.

The rules for journalists, bloggers, and podcasters are pretty stringent as they require your website or media outlet have an Alexa (yes, Amazon’s Alexa – because she’s EVERYWHERE) rating of 1 million or less. This score based on your site’s traffic. However, authors can use the tool to find sources for their books without a media outlet, but it can only be a request for less than 300 words and you must have an estimated publication date as well as a publisher (though I didn’t see anything that said it couldn’t be self) to be considered.

Sadly though, there is no “student” reporter program.

However, if you do meet their guidelines all you do is submit a query outlining your question, what you are looking for in a source, and when you need a response back. You need to be as specific as possible when describing your preferred expert to ensure you get the best sort of response for your platform or outlet. Once your query is approved by HARO, it is then sent out as part of several email blasts that go out throughout the day.

Help Wanted
image courtesy of http://www.flickr.com

But guess what, you don’t have to be a rockstar journalist or multimedia darling.  To use HARO to earn some extra cred for your book, business or brand, all you have to do is sign up as a source.

“And so it became that the quote lover became that which she loved: the quoted.” – so say I, from the book of me

The downside of signing up for the service as either a journalist or a source is the number of emails. There are so many emails. Three per day, and opting out is a frowned upon. But all those emails are filled with reporters just begging for potential interviewees, which are then broken out into various categories. HARO also offers paid plans to help filter by keyword if the emails start to get to you.

While you, as a source, can’t pitch your book, blog, or business outright, you can position yourself as an expert in your field based on how you answer the reporter’s questions. Then if your answer, or pitch, is accepted, you can get featured giving you access to a much larger media outlet, and access to your potential target audience without having to know a guy who knows a guy who knows a gal who used to babysit for the local section’s current editor.

Oh, and at a maximum of 300 words, it is a lot easier (and faster) to do than guest posting.

Though, seriously if you want to write a guest post sometime, that’s cool too.

What do Golfers and Writers have in common?

by Allie P., posted in Life as I know it

Golfing child's play

“Although golf was originally restricted to wealthy, overweight Protestants, today it’s open to anybody who owns hideous clothing.” – Dave Barry

We decided it was time to introduce LT to the salesperson’s staple, golf. Or at least we decided it was time to take him to the driving range. It is an outdoor activity, but one somewhat protected from the summer’s sun. Once there, Lamont placed a ball on the tee and handed LT a child-sized driver. The club might look like a putt-putt club that should consider laying off carbs for a while but it was nevertheless adorable in LT’s hands. Lamont then wrapped his own hands around LT’s and demonstrated proper form. Tap. The club connected sending the ball all of a foot or so. LT, emboldened by such a clear display of his natural talent, announced he no longer needed any additional parental support. “I do it myself.”

Lamont and I moved over to give LT enough space to continue to master his long game while we alternated taking some swings of our own in another stall with the supervision of our budding Rory McIlroy. “Is this right?” LT asked. The ball was on the rubber tee, but LT now gripped the club upside down. Not waiting for an answer, he swung shaft at the ball. Whiff. He swung again. The breeze created by the shaft as it passed was enough to knock the ball off the tee but not much farther.

“No honey. Hold it from this end.” I flipped the club over and handed it back to him. “See? Watch what Daddy does.” Lamont approached his own ball and sent it flying with a whack-ping. LT grinned as I returned the ball to the tee. He then proceeded to run toward the ball, swinging the club as a weapon, as if recreating a scene from the movie, Happy Gilmore. However, I should mention he also did so starting from the wrong direction.

I picked up the ball he’d been so kind to send my way (thankfully, he still has to work on the force of his follow through), depositing it once again in front of him. “No honey. Like this. Watch Mommy this time.” Tap. “Okay. You try.”

“Like this?” The club head was on the ground. His body faced the correct way. But… the flat face of the club head was now pointed away from the ball. Once again, he swung before I could stop him. Chaos theory was demonstrated in real-time as the driver’s curved back-end made contact with the ball. It is appropriate that LT’s age is four.

What do the Golfer and Writer have in common? They both can benefit from a good Titleist. (ba dum dum) Did I not tell you I enjoy bad puns? 

If you are now done groaning over my very creative segue, I am happy to report that I have entered into the back nine of my current manuscript’s draft in progress (actually I am further than that, but back five doesn’t exactly work with my metaphor). This means it is probably time to start considering giving it, at least, a working title beyond PGA2 (not to be confused with the Professional Golf Association).

According to publishing experts, the best titles contain no more than two or three ideas and include at least once PINC component: Promise, Intrigue, Need, or Content. They should also include precise nouns and/or action verbs and the best titles also make you think about their meaning once when you first see it on the cover and again when you finish the book. Finally, you want to make them stand out in their genre, but easy enough to remember (and be able to say) when it comes time for your reader to recommend a book to a friend. However, even when you follow the expert’s instructions, coming up with a good title is harder work than you might think.

The Fair & Foul’s original working title was Progressions of Titan. While I was writing, I thought it was a pretty great title. Less than three ideas? Check. Who or what was the Titan? Initial intrigue – check. My story contained characters who sought to be leaders of industry and improve the human condition only to become modern Titans in the mythic sense. Double meaning – check. Progression is development toward a more advanced state. Precise action verb – check. I performed several google searches and Amazon searches. No other similarly titled books were out there. Unique – check.

Then I said the title out loud to a room of my friends and family.

Always say the title out loud before you settle on it. I thought I’d understood the rules, however, the look on the faces, and awkward “er that’s nice”s of my impromptu focus group was proof enough that, much like LT and his golf swing, my title could benefit from a little more work. It took several more attempts, but eventually I found the one that stuck. Thinking I knew the rules wasn’t enough. I still had to practice.

You never know what you don’t know until you, at first, try.