Halfway through the year, we should evaluate our status regarding the goals we’ve set for ourselves. Back in January, I listed these objectives for the year. I divided them into Writing Goals and Career Goals. Think about doing this if you’re an author. Let’s see how I’ve done in this progress report. If you’re wondering … Read more
Writing a book these days has five stages. It used to be that you wrote the book, polished your work, and submitted it to a publisher. Then you were done, except for edits, proofreading your ARCs, and some promotion. Now you have many more choices in the publishing arena. Many of us face the challenges … Read more
Step 5 Production—Cover Design, Formatting, Uploads Cover Design Decide if you’re going to use stock cover art or hire a designer. I recommend hiring a professional cover artist. You’ll have many things to consider, such as: · Placement, size, and font for your book title and author name · Series logo · Text color · … Read more
Step 5 – Production—Front and Back Materials Continuing our series on reviving your backlist titles, you’ll want to add front and back materials to your manuscript. What should this include? Front Materials Minimize the front end of things so when the reader clicks on Look Inside at Amazon, he gets to see the text of … Read more
Once you get the rights back to your earlier titles, what do you do with them? Try to resell these books to a new publisher? Put them online as ebooks for sale? Offer them in a new trade paperback print edition? Go through an intermediary such as Draft2Digital or publish them yourself directly to vendors? … Read more
It’s annoying, when I’m judging a writing contest or reading a self-published book, to find common mistakes that could be avoided with editorial help. Unfortunately, many beginning writers don’t even realize they need assistance. They’ll ask a friend or an inexperienced critique partner or a local English teacher to proofread their work, and the result … Read more
When designing a book cover, a number of items need to be considered. What is the genre? The mood of the story? The background setting? What type of “look” do you want to get across? Is this best done with photography or illustration? Do you like people on the cover? Can you describe a particular … Read more
Final Advice for Writers from #Ninc14 Novelists, Inc. Conference St. Pete Beach Oct. 2014 To summarize the concluding talks from #Ninc14, here are the final points. If you have a lifeboat or collaborative team, specify your goals. Is it to increase sales or readership, or to reach bestseller status? Series or related books sell … Read more
Working with iBooks Novelists, Inc. Conference St. Pete Beach Oct. 2014 Representatives from iBooks spoke at the Ninc conference. They said their readers like free ebooks, so Apple offers the first free in series promotion. Their readers are also willing to pay more for a book so don’t be afraid to price higher. Pre-orders count … Read more
ACX and Audible Novelists, Inc. Conference St. Pete Beach Oct. 2014 What Sells in Audio? Teen and YA Fiction, Romance, Scifi/Fantasy, Mysteries/Thrillers, Business and History. What do you need to get started? You need a published book on Amazon, audio rights, a manuscript, cover art and rights to the cover. There is no particular length … Read more