Cover Art and Interior Design

What to say about covers that hasn't already been said?

Although you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, authors only get one first impression. And that's your cover. You want to make sure it grabs the reader's attention. It should leave an emotional impression on them. That cover should make them want to flip the book over and read the blurb.

A lot of self-publishers don't have the money to hire a professional cover artist. They'll open their art program, paste on a stock photo and add their title and name. The problem with this is most of the time it looks like that's what they did.

Covers require finesse. Let me give you an example.

I purchased the cover for Fade Into Me from SelfPubBookCovers. They had the perfect image. All I had to do was choose the font and color and place my title and name. I used what they suggested. It looked good, but something was slightly off. My wonderful editor is also a cover designer. Even though I wasn't paying her for a cover she made a suggestion about the font color. It was one little change that made everything "feel" right. I never would have figured it out.

Covers don't have to cost a fortune.

Here are a few places you can find great covers. Some will give you more control over the final cover, others are pre-made sites where you only get to add your information.

SelfPubBookCovers
You can find covers as low as $69 here. Once you purchase the cover it's taken off the site so no one else can buy it. It's easy to use too.

Steven Novak (He designed the cover for The Magic Wakes!)

My prices for book covers are pretty straightforward:
$80 ebook
$140 ebook and print
That's it. Those are flat fees. If it takes two days or two weeks to settle on a design you never pay more. No money upfront. I invoice at the jobs completion and Paypal is the preferred method of payment.

Logo work is a slightly different animal and requires a bit more work upfront. Because of that, the cost would be $100.

Zak Whittington (He designed the cover for Stellar Cloud)
You can check out his portfolio HERE and on his Deviant Art page.
Really, go check out the variety of his skills. He can probably match almost any look you're going for between his photography, digital designs and illustrations.

His rates are $45/hour plus the cost of artwork if he has to buy stock photos.

And, Amie McCracken does it all.
Price dependent on project type and size.

Since I already purchased the front for Fade Into Me, she only charged $25 to design the whole jacket cover for the print copy. That might have been part of the package deal for editing and typesetting. Which brings us to the next topic for today...

Typesetting or the interior design of your book.

I'll be honest, before The Magic Wakes was published, I had no idea that you did special things to make the inside of the book look like a book. I mean, don't you just paste your document in and voila! Done!

Sadly, that's not the case. Although you can do that, and Amazon has some decent help pages to teach you, it requires a little more than saving your document as a pdf. A little know how and software! I decided it would be cheaper to just pay someone who already has the software to design the interior. Plus, it saved me valuable time learning how to use that software.

Let's look at some examples.

This first two photos are from Stellar Cloud. I spent countless hours going back and forth between word, the pdf file, and the reviewer on Createspace. I read all the help pages and followed them to a T. The result is not bad, but it doesn't "feel" like a traditionally published book. It's not even something I can put my finger on, but it's there. I couldn't figure out how to have individual pages NOT contain certain design elements that were through the entire book. And it was a major headache. Think a week of going back and forth and not knowing why my document didn't translate to Createspace correctly.

 I tried to make cute scene dividers, but every time I loaded them into Createspace they came across as broken images. So I went back to asterisks. Blah!

The next two photos are the inside of Fade Into Me. Also self-published, but this time I paid Amie McCracken to use her software and make it look oh so much better!

 Look, nice fonts for chapter headings. The first page of the chapter is different in design from the other pages as well, setting it apart even more. 

And pretty scene break elements!

These little photos might not do justice to the difference between the books. However, when you hold both of them in your hand and flip pages you notice it. They are slight, because I think I did a pretty good job myself with what I had to work with, but they are there. 

Interior design isn't a deal breaker with whether or not I buy or enjoy a book. Neither is the cover art. But lover's of books, those of us who still enjoy holding a physical paper and ink book, understand that it's all a part of the experience. The visual enjoyment is just as important as that disappearing book smell. (You can't smell a kindle!) *sigh*

I've rambled on and don't even know if I covered what you need to know. So, ask!

What are your thoughts about cover art?

Share your favorite cover artists, editors and typesetters with us!

Join us at noon for the cover reveal of One Good Catch by Heather M. Gardner!

Author Intrusion and Trust Issues

Author intrusion is one of my greatest pet peeves AND something I've struggled to correct as a writer.

What is author intrusion? Anything that pulls you out of the story and makes you remember that a person wrote the words you're reading. There are several ways this can happen, but there's one that's common in self published novels.

Meaning, the author doesn't trust the reader to make the connections and keeps beating them over the head with:

"Notice this!" 

"Pay attention because this is important." 

"Let me tell you in case you didn't understand what I just showed you in that last scene."

Have you ever done that? I wish I could find some of my early writing to show you what I mean. It was bad. I'd write a lovely showy bit and then ruin it by explaining what I'd just shown though action or good dialogue. Luckily, now that I've noticed it in other books, I'm getting better at cleaning up my own manuscripts.

We must remember that our readers are intelligent people. They're readers for crying out loud! I don't want someone to treat me like I'm stupid, and neither do my readers. 

Here are two other things I've seen that can be avoided. All of them fall under author intrusion because they can jolt me out of the story and remind me that I'm reading instead of living vicariously through the characters. 

1. Distant POV (I'm guilty here in my first drafts!) I want to see and feel right along with the hero. This means getting deep in their head, even in third person. When the writing is like a fly on the wall it's hard to really care. Make me laugh, make me cry, make me sit on the edge of the couch.

Here's a great review of the different kinds of POV.

2. Dropping in a phrase, technology, something that just doesn't fit the world. This happens in historical fiction sometimes. Modern slang or a reference to something that the character shouldn't know anything about. This could include something the reader knows from a different character that the main character shouldn't know about. 

Do your research and then comb through to make sure everything is accurate for the world or time period, as well as double checking your own facts and timeline. 

Best fix?

1. Spend more time on your novel. Don't write it and then hit distribute on Createspace. Let it sit, revise, let someone read it and listen to what they say. Revise it again! Get the picture. Self publishing is faster than traditional, but good publishing still takes time. 

2. When you think it's ready to share with the world, hire an editor. I can guarantee they will be able to help you make it better.

Helpful Links:

Close vs. Distant POV by Annette Lyon

How to use close third person to get closer to your characters

A POV Footnote on SFWA (cause you know I love scifi) This talks about a lot of other things, POV drift, saying something a real person would say, show don't tell and have sufficient motivation. 

POV chart is from another great blog post--Who's story is this anyway?

Plot Holes and Predictability

Let's learn about plot holes and predictability through more fun google images.

And just so you know, those are three of my favorite movies. 

Now, I think movies can get away with plot holes a lot easier than books. We get caught up in the visual impact of the moment and don't catch them or think about them until later. And, sometimes, as in Harry Potter, there were so many things going on that I didn't think about the time turner dilemma until someone else pointed it out. What can we learn from that?

1. You can get away with one plot hole when the rest of the book is amazing. 

2. Sometimes the plot hole doesn't change the overall plot awesomeness because it's not the MAIN thread that has a hole in it.

A really great editor can help you find your plot holes and help you determine how to fix them. They can even help you decide if that little thing you put in (that doesn't make complete sense) because you needed to get your character to a certain physical, mental or emotion place is small enough to squeak by. Or if they're really good, they can help you come up with a more plausible way to achieve the same goal. 

Great beta readers and critique partners can help with those things too, but once again I'm a big fan of hiring an editor after the betas and crit partners get finished. 

So, if predictability is boring and the path to failure, how do we make sure our stories are NOT predictable? I mean, we hear all the time that there are no new stories. That means everyone is familiar with the pattern and will anticipate the end, right?

Come on, where's your imagination? Here are a few more things I'm sure you've heard before.

Put your character up a tree and throw rocks at him.

Here's where you get to make a story you're own. Those metaphorical rocks can be anything! Every person, and therefore every character, is different. Their life experience has given them a unique set of fears and strengths. As writer, you play to those. Find ways to challenge that individual regardless of the genre or conflict formula. 

Think of the absolute worst thing that could happen and do that.

Here's the trick. Don't do the first thing that comes to mind. Those are usually cliche and therefore predictable. 

Note for romance writers:

Readers of romance want want thing to happen EVERY time. You have to have a HEA (Happily Ever After). That's what makes it romance. Make the fact that they WILL get together and have a HEA the only thing that's predictable. Try to find unique ways to keep your lovebirds apart and make them fight for every step to being reunited. 

Questions for You

What are some stories with plot holes that bugged you?

What are some stories where the plot hole didn't bother you and why?

How do you feel when you know exactly what's going to happen in the end by the first third of the book?

Helpful Links:

Checking for Plot Holes: Does your story add up?

How to fix a plot hole by Roz Morris

Why Doesn't the Dog Bark?

How to fix a plot that feels lightweight or predictable

Is Your Plot Predictable?

How to Prevent Predictable Plots

Bad Grammar and Typos

Some self-published books are so full of grammar mistakes and typos that you can't get into an otherwise great story.

This is perhaps the easiest thing to fix for self-publishers.

Hire an editor!

Not your mom. Not your best friend. A real life editor.

It's going to cost money, but will be so worth it in the end.

Let's look at some examples of bad grammar. See if you can catch the mistakes.

Verb Tense Mistakes--
1. I go to church and sang in the choir.
2. I love to drink mild and ate chocolate cake.

Subject/Verb Mistakes--
3. Jesse and Heather is going to the movies on Friday.
4. I likes my puppy.

Noun/Pronoun Mistakes--
5. Maddie and Kennedy forgot her lunch money.
6. Everyone forgot their jacket.

Double Negatives--
7. He couldn't hardly believe she left him.
8. I never wanted none of your lies.

Some people have problems with fragments and run-on sentences. Although I agree they should be used carefully, I'm a big fan of fragments for driving home something with punch. Plus, inside my mind are lots of fragments and tremendously long run-on sentences. :) It's natural...sometimes.

Okay, were those examples really easy to catch?

Of course they were. Those were not your sentences or part of the story that's been taking up room in your head for the last few months. You were looking for mistakes. Some people can train themselves to self edit their own work. I am NOT one of those. When I reread my story I often skim through. I'll never catch all the little mistakes or typos.

Quick word on typos:
Most of my typos come from moving paragraphs or sentences around by cut and paste. Sometimes a word is left behind and it makes for a weird sentence. Other typos are from using the wrong spelling of a word--they're, there, their or to, too, etc.

When you hire an editor, they are coming in with fresh eyes and they know their job is to find the little mistakes.

Why are those little things so important? 

Because they throw your reader out of the story. You want each person reading your book to become immersed in the world and the problems of your characters. They don't want to remember they're reading words someone wrote. I know I don't. I want to escape reality for a couple of hours.

One or two little mistakes are not a big deal. But page after page of them will frustrate your reader and prevent them from forming the emotional connection needed to get lost in your book.

Questions for You:

Have you ever given up on a book because of bad grammar or typos?

Have you worked with an editor that you've loved? Please share their name and website in the comments!

I don't think I've ever quit reading a book simply because of grammar or typos, but those books rarely get more than 3 stars when I rate or review.

Two of my books were edited by Amie McCracken. I love, LOVE, love her! She has an amazing website that details the different types of edits available (if this post weren't so long I'd go over them). She is a professed lover of Indie authors and willing to work out pricing deals.

And one more because I couldn't resist. (Go to google and look up images for bad grammar for lots of laughs)

Other Links:
Grammar Girl
Grammarly.com
Thesaurus.com
Daily Writing Tips
GrammarBook.com
The Elements of Style
Grammarphobia
Common Errors in English Usage
English Grammar
Guide to Grammar and Writing

Self-published author Kathleen S. Allen

Finally Friday! And we close the week of self-published authors with Kathleen S. Allen

17yo Cassie is tired of feeling invisible especially next to her model gorgeous BFF. When she finds a book in a used bookstore on how to be famous in ten days she devises a plan---with the help of her BFF---to do just that. She has hilarious and sometimes serious, almost disastrous consequences on her quest to be "seen." YA contemporary

Tell us a little about yourself, Kathleen.

I wrote my first book of poems when I was eight. I copied out my poems on paper, added an orange and blue construction paper book jacket, punched holes in the side and added a red ribbon to tie it all up. I made ten of them and gave them away as holiday gifts.  

How did you get from being a writer to self-publishing?

I decided to self-publish because my first YA book—AINE—was too short for a traditional publisher.

Did you have a background that proved to be helpful or any experience? How hard was it?

No background. I hired a cover designer/formatter and she did a great job. I have done others by myself, making my own covers and they’ve turned out well.

What did you do wrong? Right?

Not hiring a professional editor was a mistake I made for a couple of self-pubbed books. I did hire one for several of the other books. I’d say hire a professional editor, a cover designer/formatter, and if you can afford it, a publicist. The marketing end of self-publishing is what I fall behind on.

Are you happy with your choice? Do you think you'll stick with self-publishing or are you still keeping your options over?
 
I’ve also published with small presses and been happy with that option. Will I still self-publish? Sure. I enjoy doing it but I would also love to go the traditional publishing route with an agent so I could get that movie deal. LOL.
 
Check out all my books here: http://kathleensallen.weebly.com/

Self-published author Hart Johnson

Hart Johnson aka The Watery Tart (is that not the best name ever?) is with us today, sharing her perspective on self-publishing…

Tell us a little about yourself, Hart...

I'm a social scientist at the University of Michigan by day and a raving lunatic the rest of the time... or something like that. I have a badly neglected family, though my kids are teens (14 and 18) so they prefer it that way, and my husband (HWMNBMOTI=He Who Must Not Be Mentioned On The Internet) has always been primary parent, while I was the career partner. We have two fur-babies, too—the feline one usually sits at my side, knocking things off my desk when I write.

I'm a bona fide geek, meaning I am way too excited about any number of fandoms. It began with Harry Potter (which also led me back to writing after many years of not doing much), but includes Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who, and the latest to suck me into full squee fan-girl mode, A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones. I love stories so compelling that they make me want to add my own imagination to come up with related stories and fully engage my brain in predicting what comes next.

Other favorites include periwinkle (the color), caramel, coffee toffee ice cream, and the Naked World Domination movement (I really think we'd all be nicer people if we'd just take our clothes off).

How did you get from being a writer to self-publishing?

I published traditionally first, and have long believed that the decision of HOW to publish is one that takes genre, personality and goals into account. And for a while, my books that were 'ready for prime time' were mysteries—a genre that sells very well traditionally, so it is easier to get agents and publishers to bite.

And I have to be honest. Traditional is a better fit for my personality. I'm not really a details girl. All that cover, copy editing, formatting nonsense. I'd prefer to not be involved. I have a day job and a family, and so my writing time is precious. I would rather ONLY WRITE. It's why I didn't decide to self-publish earlier with some of my other stuff (note I ALSO didn't take the time to query the other stuff—this not wanting to do the other stuff is an equal opportunity aversion)

Last fall, though, after having written most of a first draft of a story I REALLY loved, but was approaching 130,000 words and not done, I spotted something... Susan Kaye Quinn was beginning a serial release of her Debt Collector series. And it occurred to me that what I wanted for A Shot in the Light wasn't to rein it in to a 500 page book, it was to expand it to 1000—that my trouble finishing was that it wasn't expansive enough... that some extra points of view really added to the story I could tell. And the only way to do a serial, short Tardis and a deal with Reader's Digest, is self-publishing. I loved this story enough to face that steep learning curve.

Did you have a background that proved to be helpful or any experience? How hard was it?

I've been at this writing thing a long time, and I think my experience with traditional publishing has been important for really understanding all it takes to make a book ready for prime time.

For the serial piece, I also have a fan fiction history—deep in my Harry Potter geekdom I had a theory that Voldemort required the death eaters to kill their own fathers in order to be initiated into the order, and people kept facing my theory with skepticism, so I decided to write the book... it was about 180 pages in the end, but I posted it a chapter at a time over six months (to clamors of MORE)--this gave me the confidence to share, and also the lesson in persistence. And it made me very aware or the contract a writer really is making by sharing part of the story at a time. I saw a lot of abandoned stories and always felt cheated. I knew I couldn't be that person.

As far as the OTHER stuff, the primary lesson I learned is hire help. I KNOW I am not the polisher, so not only do I have my amazing beta readers do two rounds, I also have a professional editor making sure my comma fetish doesn't stay apparent and my love for ellipses and em-dashes is held in check (not technically interchangeable—did you know? *hides*).

What did you do wrong? Right?

Concentrated heavily on the writing. That is both to the right and the wrong. I didn't spend the time I needed to learn all the tricks and how to go about it. Both the really nice formatting and learning ALL the systems would have been good, AND setting myself up as an author in all sorts of places. All that is trickling into place, but because I felt like the BOOK was ready, I got in a hurry. I DO think my book is great, my writing is polished. The feedback I've gotten is wonderful, so I don't regret concentrating on the writing at all. I PROBABLY should have built more time in to do both, that just isn't me.

I ALSO think this 'giving it away' is a right thing. I haven't sold many, but I've given away about 250, and since it is first in a serial, I am hoping that hooks people. I suspect with stand-alones this is a trick you want to use much more heavily once you have several things on your shelf... That way people read the freebie, then buy others. Giving a freebie when there is nothing to buy probably doesn't get you much traction, as even if they like it, they may forget before you have another book out.

Are you happy with your choice? Do you think you'll stick with self-publishing or are you still keeping your options over?

I will continue doing both. I have two other serials planned, and THOSE I will self publish. And I have a few stand-alone adult suspense I may point that direction. But I have a couple mystery series ideas, one I've written the first for, and those I will publish traditionally. I am, as yet, undecided on my YA stuff. One of my serials is YA, so I may let that determine whether a YA market is really accessible with eBooks. I sort of have my doubts that that is the strongest route for the genre, but I am open to be convinced otherwise.

A Flock of Ill Omens (Book 1, A Shot in the Light)

Deadliest virus in a century, or a social experiment gone awry?

Every year they warned about the flu and more often than not, it amounted to nothing. Sidney Knight, a young freelance reporter had certainly never written on it. But a trip to Lincoln City, Oregon cut short by a beach full of dead seagulls and a panicked warning from her brother the scientist catch her attention. This batch is different. Deadlier. And the vaccine doesn't seem to be helping. It almost looks like it's making it worse...

A Flock of Ill Omens: Part I is the first episode of A Shot in the Light, an Apocalypse Conspiracy Tale about what happens when people play God for fun and profit. There will be approximately ten episodes, each the equivalent of about 100 pages.

It can be purchased HERE

(or will be free October 10)

The second book in the series, In Short Supply can be found HERE

Hart Johnson writes books from her bathtub. A social scientist by day, Hart spends her evenings plotting grand conspiracies and murdering people on paper.

Like her on Facebook: 

At Amazon: 

Or Follow her on Twitter:  (not that she goes very far, not grasping Twitter's quest completely)

Self-published Author Angela Brown

This week I've got at least two, hopefully three self-published authors to talk about that aspect of publishing. First up is Angela Brown, self-published author of Neverlove.

Tell us a little about yourself, Angela.

My name is Angela Brown and I think my actual life title should be juggler. I'm a single mother to a rambunctious tomboy nicknamed Chipmunk. She is the light of my life. I work full time for a telecommunications company and I self-publish some of my writing projects. And I'm a dreamer (hey, isn't being a daydreamer a power in Shark Boy and Lava Girl?)

Chocolate and Wild Cherry Pepsi should be kept a safe distance from me because I will eat and drink it all up. Did I mention I love chocolate? If not, I lurve chocolate...and Pringles.

I live in Central Texas with no pets of my own, but maybe that can change one day soon. No cats, though. Chipmunk's allergic.

When I'm not juggling the other facets of my life, precariously I must say (lol!!!), I love to snuggle up with a good paperback, hardcover or my mini-duo and read, read, read anything from steampunk to contemporary to military sci-fi.

How did you get from being a writer to self-publishing?

I actually had a self-publishing hiccup several years ago. I was in a different place in life and was mainly interested in getting my manuscript in a pretty book format with a cover. I took publishing lightly and life's changes threw one heckuva monkey wrench in trying to take it seriously.

So after getting my life back on track, I contemplated writing but not the self-publishing. As I worked on different writing projects, I did a little research here and there on various self-publishing options, especially with the boom in ebooks. I still wasn't sure what to do but I had a very strong urge to have control over the process if I decided to hit the publishing pavement. It was during and right after the April 2012 blogging challenge that I had the chance to interact with Gwen Gardner, my Partner in ParanormYA, and watch as so many things fell into place to take on self-publishing, and I'm glad about it. Self-publishing Neverlove has been a great experience.

Did you have a background that proved to be helpful or any experience? How hard was it?

No background like marketing, editing or anything along those lines. Writing is my passion, so having, keeping and maintaining that passion has been most helpful.

Self-publishing, in and of itself, is the easy part. You load your story up to a distribution point then hit publish. However, it is the marketing and promotion that can be a bit more difficult for someone like me that's not big into sales. I enjoy talking about my writing, my stories...all of that. But selling it? Well, that is the part I have to work a LOT at to get better. Actually, I'm not sure I'm supposed to sell my stories. Aren't they meant to sell themselves with a good cover, enjoyable story and word of mouth? Things don't work out that way for all writers. So still a lot to work on.

What did you do wrong? Right?

When it came to self-publishing, I knew the stigma was there that self-publishers were sloppy or put out a sub-par product. I knew it was a stigma that did not define all self-publishers, but I wanted to do my best to make sure I didn't live down to the negative. I ensured multiple other sets of eyes worked over the drafts of my novel. I hired a book cover designer and also hired a formatter so that the layout of my ebooks and print could be just right. I was and am proud of the finished product.

As for what I did wrong, well, the biggest thing I did wrong was I didn't prepare a decent idea of how best to market my novel. I just flapped around in the publishing waters until I got my stride and started understanding a few things better. Taking away lessons learned from each publication has been helpful, but I realize there are some lessons I probably could have avoided lol!! I also failed to better understand price structure and price modification impacts during certain timelines. That is one I'm still struggling with.

Are you happy with your choice? Do you think you'll stick with self-publishing or are you still keeping your options over?

I've been very happy with self-publishing my YA/NA novel and novellas. Even though I wish sales were more in line with my enthusiasm, I love my stories and what I've produced. However, I'm open to traditional publishing as well. I'm currently querying a MG story. It's a different age group and I hope that acquiring an agent can help get the story into even more venues. 

You can find Angela here:
Angela Brown in Pursuit of Publishness

Angela L Brown writes

Partners in ParanormYA

Author of Neverlove, Frailties of the Bond, and Atone

For seventeen-year-old Abigail, one rash decision leads to an unexpected chance for redemption. At V'Salicus Academy, a unique institute where she trains to become an agent of heaven, she struggles with the pain of her past, the changes of the present and accepts a loveless future until her path – and heart – crosses with Basil’s.

Basil's off-chance slip of the tongue binds him to a life of servitude to the Devourer, the master of hell. His existence has no upside until a chance meeting with Abigail brings new perspective.

Keeping the truth of their present lives from each other brings disaster when secrets are brought to light and the life of Abigail’s mentor is put on the line.

Can Abigail and Basil save her mentor and salvage their love amid the chaos? Or will they lose it all, destined forever to NEVERLOVE?

Buy links: Amazon.com, Amazon.fr, Amazon.de, Amazon.co.uk, Kobo, B&N
Book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE2g5HlKWTw
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15843604-neverlove
Goodreads author page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6476148.Angela_Brown
Angela Brown in the Pursuit of Publishness blog: http://publishness.blogspot.com/
Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Angela-Brown/e/B009JJEX60
Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/AngelaLBrownWrites
Partners in ParanormYA (with Gwen Gardner): http://partnersinparanormya.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ALBrownwrites
PIP Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Partners-in-ParanormYA/462052430493091

A BIG thank-you and what's coming up...

First off a very big thank-you to our judges who stopped in to read all the queries AND make requests! We are very appreciative of your time!

Second, congrats to everyone who received a request for more! Please keep us posted as to how it turns out. Maybe this is your first request ever, and maybe it's your twenty-first, but either way this is one of those steps on the path toward becoming a successful author. So no matter how it turns out you need to chalk this up as a goal reached and reward yourself. Ice-cream? Cake? A nice minty Mojito? Congratulations!!!


Third, a heads up as to what's coming for this week:

I will be interviewing three self-published authors this week to ask some questions and get some tips about that avenue of getting your book in the hands of readers. First up will be Angela Brown, author of NeverLove. Wednesday I'll be talking to Hart Johnson, author of A Flock of Ill Omens (book 1). Friday...

Ah, Friday. Who will it be? What about you? Have you self-published? Care to answer five easy questions and get some free publicity for your book? If so, send your answers along with a pic of your book, a link to buy, and a link to find you to: unicornbellsubmissions@gmail.com.

I will pick the most succinct reply I receive and whoever they are will be our Friday post.

THE QUESTIONS:

Here are the five "easy" questions:

1. Tell us about yourself - where you live how many pets you have, kids names, favorite flavor icecream...whatever you feel comfortable sharing. (like an author bio)

2. Tell us a little about the journey from being a writer to self-publishing.

3. Did you have a background that proved to be helpful or any experience? How hard was it?

4. What did you do wrong? Right?

5. Are you happy with your choice? Do you think you'll stick with self-publishing or are you still keeping your options open? 


Last, in case you all aren't quite tired of critiques...I team up with author Dianne Salerni (The Caged Graves, and The Eighth Day, a forthcoming series from HarperCollins) the first of every month for First Impressions, in which we each crit someone's first page on our blogs, sort of a two crits for one deal. If you would like your first page critiqued send it to: marcy@tidewater.net with First Impressions in the subject line. We have two slots left for October and we promise to be kind and helpful. A page is approximately 350-400 words.



 

What I learned in school today

At some point in our writing lives we will all - hopefully - be signing a contract with a publisher. Some of us will be fortunate enough to have agents to help us through the process. But for those who don't, it's probably a good idea to learn as much as possible about contracts, rights, and the publishing business.

Today I'm going to tell you about your rights as an author, which ones you typically sign away, which ones are negotiable, and which ones the author should always keep. This is a brief overview and not meant to advise but rather inform, ie, I'm no expert and there's a lot more info out there on this subject.

The following are rights the publisher always keeps: reprint rights, book club rights, and serial rights. The profits derived from these are split between the author and publisher. Reprint rights generally refers to paperback editions of the book, but, according to Donald Maass, "...in some cases--a small-press deal, for instance--we withhold these rights." Book Club rights are what they sound like and serial rights are excerpts of the book - in magazine, or in other books. First serial rights, which are sometimes negotiable, are excerpts of the book BEFORE publication; second serial rights are excerpts AFTER publication.

Negotiable rights include foreign language rights, foreign English language rights, audio rights, and electronic rights. These are the rights the author needs to negotiate with the publish over. For example, an agent might sell the foreign rights if she can keep the electronic rights, or, maybe the publisher will increase the advance if it can acquire the audio rights. It goes without saying that electronic rights are a lot more valuable now than they were say, ten years ago.

Lastly there the rights the author keeps - always. These are Performance rights, as in television, film, plays, video game, etc., and merchandising rights, like calenders, action figures, stickers, dolls...anything based on the characters of your book.

Are you a small-pub author? Care to share your experience?

Self-Published: Doing it Right

Deadly by nature. Possessive by instinct. These darkly beautiful gargoyles must hide the secret of their existence in today's world…while protecting the ones they love from an ancient evil.

I am wary of new authors and investigate thoroughly. For an odd and fateful reason I fell into Valor by Taylor Longford without reading the sample chapter, back cover, or reviews.

By all that is Holy, I hit the jackpot

MacKenzie opens a crate sent by her ‘step-person’ (love that btw) and finds a life-size statue of a young man. A gorgeous man. While she eyes the realistic sculpture, MacKenzie is unaware that the stature looking back. He is a gargoyle who turned himself to stone hundreds of years before and awaits only the touch of sunlight to return to flesh again.

The Greystone Series details the adventures of a pack of young gargoyles from 13th century England. After being trapped between the walls of an old building, they're unearthed eight hundred years later and shipped to the United States. Ms. Longford continues the series with Dare and Reason. Folks, this is a keeper.

The tone of the books range from lighthearted and fun to a bit on the dark side, depending on the different characters and their personalities, YA paranormal with – IMHO – a bit of New Adult as well and romance that goes from sweet to smokin' in zero point 5 seconds.

Valor is Ms. Longford’s debut novel and she is working on the fourth in the series, Defiance. She is self-published, a monumentally difficult but ultimately rewarding road to take. In her words:

“I decided to self pub rather than try any of the other routes like a traditional or small publishing house. Basically, I heard of Amanda Hocking's success and was encouraged to try and ‘make it on my own’.”

I highly recommend this series. Ms. Longford does not disappoint. Her characters and Voice are unique, easily the best I've read in a while. Check out Valor on Amazon and GoodReads. 

Self-publishing: promotions

Like a lot of writers, I'm an introvert. Socially awkward. I tend toward the gloomy and the "oh-God-I-suck" side. I've been looking at how to promote Disciple, making some plans, and this is what I've worked out so far.

Blog tours
Trawl (not troll) around the blogosphere and work up a list of blogs relevant to your genre. Email their owners to ask if they'd be interested in a guest post, interview, review, giveaway, whatever is most appropriate. Some are bound to say yes. Work out a schedule. Write what you need to. Blog about it yourself.

This can be very repetitive, and it's a good idea to write up not only your pitches and short synopsis (I use my query, for that) but also an author's biography and some stock paragraphs ahead of time. You do want to tailor your emails, your guest blog posts, etc., to each situation, but working from a template will save brainpower.

Things to have on hand: that pitch, the short synopsis, a biography, answers to common interview questions like "When did you start writing?" or "Where do you get your ideas?", a couple guest blog posts (see this list).

Goodreads
This has rapidly become the place to give away free copies of your story in exchange for reviews. It seems like a pretty wild and woolly place, and I'm still getting my feet wet over there.

Book blogs
There are indexes of book blogs out there (BookBlogger's list for SF/F) but you need to comb through them to see which are still active, which are accepting books, and which are trying to dig out from under their submissions. It goes without saying, but you also need to limit yourself to book bloggers who read your genre. Because book bloggers are usually swamped with stuff to read, this is a long-range promotional strategy. It's still quite viable because your ebook will be always be available, regardless of whether the review goes up in three months or eleven months. Make sure the links you send your book bloggers remain functional!

I used this
bookmark design
for Disciple's
Kickstarter campaign.
That's not the
final cover art.

Bookmarks and postcards
These are Cheap Things to Give Away. Online printers are happy to run off a pile of bookmarks or postcards for a reasonable price. You can leave them on freebie tables at conventions. You can tack them to community bulletin boards at local coffee shops. Have some on hand if someone asks, "What do you do?" "Oh, I'm a writer, this is my book..." (Hey, it could happen.) Make sure that they are:

• Pretty. Use that book cover art you spent so much $$ on. 
• Informative. Book title, author name, genre. Web page. Be sure the person can find you!
• Throwing out a hook. Use your Twitter-sized pitch. Maybe your short synopsis will fit on the back?

And get feedback on your design before you send it off. The last thing you need is a typo to make you look like an idiot, or that lovely cover art turning into a  blob because you shrank it down so much.

What other promotions have you seen, or tried?

Question answered: 
Dezmond asked, but I can't reply to comments on this site, so -- the Big Six publishers are: Macmillan, Hachette, Penguin, HarperCollins, Random House, and Simon & Schuster. They each own many smaller imprints, as well as publishing under their own names. (Macmillan owns Tor, for example.)

Self-publishing: am I ready?

This is the tough part. We all like to complain about how much crap is being published, and none of us want to be part of the crap. It's very difficult to be objective about one's own writing. It's very difficult to gauge its quality. Criticism hurts. Realizing you've failed to communicate the dream in your head hurts.

What clues do you use to decide whether your story is "good enough" to be released into the wilds of Amazon? The following is what I used to decide if Disciple was ready to self-publish. These are only my opinion, of course, but it's someplace to start.

What your beta readers tell you
When your manuscript has been fully read and critiqued by several experienced, articulate readers (who are probably writers themselves), take a look at how much consensus there is on your story's problems, and how deep they run. IMO, there are three levels of story problems (these are not exhaustive lists):

• Deep problems: weak plot, holes in the plot, main characters are flat, world-building problems, lack of tension, serious grammar trouble.
• Mid-level problems: dialogue is flat/unrealistic, bad info-dumps or missing information, pacing is off, confusion caused by the narration or grammar. 
• Surface problems: voice is unclear, POVs need tightening, fact-checking to be done, minor additions and clarifications of facts and events. 

If you've got mid-level or deep problems, it's not ready yet. You need to get out the chainsaw and do some serious revision. When your story has worked its way up to only surface problems, start polishing it for publishing -- or submission to agents/editors.

When I committed to publishing Disciple, it was near the surface level and I put it through another round of beta readers to be sure of that. Their critiques supported my opinion. So I polished it.

What your freelance editor tells you
See above. A good editor is going to call you out on the things your betas missed. If deep or mid-level problems had come up in Disciple at this stage, I would have had to put off publishing it until I was confident everything had been fixed. But the revisions my editor recommended were surface-level.

What your gut tells you

Aside from being full of butterflies, that is. We all go through love/hate cycles with our writing, but which side is your gut taking, on the whole? Do you read critiques of your work and feel overwhelmed, don't know what to do? Or does your brain start burbling with ways to fix your story's problems? Some of this is confidence in your own abilities, but some of it also comes from knowing what a good story is and how to tell it. You get some of that by training your gut, by consuming lots of good stories (and bad stories, so long as you know why they're bad.) Some of that is... well, I do believe in talent, I'll admit. That's a thorny issue, though.

Circle back to your beta feedback, for a moment. If your betas were kind, they included some praise for the things you did right along with their critique. What sorts of things did they like? Did they get through complicated or difficult parts of your story without a hiccup? Did they sound eager to see more? Were they hooked, in other words?

Betas: do you see your power, now? Please be completely honest in your crits! :)

Some more thoughts:

• There is no "perfect," though you should shoot for it. I think it's obvious that I'm on the "be as professional as possible" side of things. People won't take you any more seriously than you take yourself -- usually less than you do. So set your bar high. 
• There will be other stories. However long it takes, you're probably going to write another one. You're probably already a repeat offender on that count, in fact. This one book is not the end of the world.
• You're not going to strike it rich, and that's OK. Most people don't, even with a Big Six contract.
• It's a lot of work, but so is being published by a Big Six company. I don't know where anybody got the idea that writing is easy, but it's not true. 

What do you think? 

Self-publishing: more nuts and bolts

Some more nuts and bolts of self-publishing: the book itself.

Dead tree edition
If you put your mind to it, you can make Word generate a decent-looking document. You don't need to try to tackle a professional program like InDesign -- put that effort into mastering Word. (Does anyone want me to try to explain character styles and paragraph styles? And why they're different things?)

To be honest, you can get away with not even offering a print edition these days. It's hard to argue with the satisfaction of holding a book with your name on it, but it may not be worth your time. Especially if you're selling short stories and novellas.

Based on my past experience: go with print on demand. Do not buy a print run, however few hundred books the minimums are down to these days. If you doubt me, come by my house and I'll show you the  boxes.

Electronic edition
Do not skimp on your ebook. This will be your bread and butter. You want your ebook to be a simple, clean layout that's easy to read. If you're writing a fantasy (like me) and therefore need maps and appendix materials, you want those to be neat and clear as well.

Maps, in particular, can be difficult. You want an image that's large enough (in resolution) to easily read and maybe enlarge in the reader for a closer look. But not so large that it bogs things down. And one rule of thumb I've learned from working with greyscale images: avoid using grey screens. They muddy up the picture very quickly. Resist the urge to mark areas of your map with a screen.

Cover art on ebook readers is an issue as well. Yes, the Kindle Fire is popular, but most readers are still black-and-white and not noted for displaying art well. Most advice I've heard is to use your color cover in the ebook, don't worry about the conversion... but I'm a perfectionist. I worry. I will have to report back on this after trying some things out.

Creating your own EPUB and MOBI files is not as difficult as you might think (I blogged about mine) -- and if you really are not up for that, you can find someone to do it for a reasonable, flat fee.

ISBNs
Do you really need one? If you're making a paper edition and you want to sell it, yes. When it comes to electronic books, things get hazier. Some online retailers require them (Apple and Sony) -- but not Amazon or Smashwords. If you make both a paper edition and and electronic edition, each one gets their own ISBN.

Why? An ISBN is a unique identifier. How many books titled Burning Desire do you think are out there? How many editions (print, electronic, collections, special editions, etc.) might there be? ISBNs let books be easily organized (by libraries) and sold (by retailers.)

They're expensive. $125 for one, at the official sales site (www.myidentifiers.com) -- but for $250, you can get 10. Several online publishing sites will sell you one for less because they've gone and bought a ton of them and they are selling you one of theirs. Or in the case of Smashwords, they will give you one for free. Which means that as far as the U.S. ISBN Agency is concerned, Smashwords (or whoever you bought it from) published your book. For most people, that works just fine.

I will be putting an ISBN on my print edition and my electronic edition. My RPG-publishing company bought a pack of ISBNs over ten years ago, but we didn't use them all. They don't expire, so I can still register them and list my near-defunct company as the publisher.

It's worth saying again: ISBNs do not expire. If you're in this for the long haul (which self-publishing is) and you want to offer both print and electronic editions of your work (doubling your ISBNs) and you're setting your self-publishing up as a business (for tax purposes -- way out of my league to advise on, but it's a good idea) then think about buying a pack of ISBNs for yourself. If you buy ten, the price drops to $25 each. If you buy a hundred, it drops to under six bucks apiece. And if you're one of these folks who can churn out novellas by the dozen... there's a good chance you'll need them.

Distribution
I'll come back and tell you once I've been through the process. :)

Self-publishing: nuts and bolts

Publishing is a field where you can do a surprising amount of the work yourself, or pay someone a fairly small amount to do it for you. (Compared to, say, how much a car mechanic or a plumber goes for. But that's a whole different rant.)

Artists
Of all the aspects of publishing, this is one thing you do not want to skimp on. Despite the old saying, people absolutely do judge a book by its cover. Make your cover artist a major item in your budget.

Where to find one? I went to DeviantArt.com and posted in the appropriate forum. The price you mention will determine the upper limit of the talent you attract -- good, professional artists know what they're worth.

How much? The sweet spot is, of course, those artists who are obviously going to go pro (judging by their portfolio) but haven't yet. When I was shopping around the portfolios, I gathered that the absolute minimum price for the quality I wanted was $250. But I budgeted for $500-$800, which got me some nibbles from professional-level artists. You can go higher than that, of course, which will put you into increasingly higher quality levels.

Cover design
Easier than you think. All you need is a program that can put type on top of your cover artwork. All the type you need is: the book's title, and the author's name.

Use a simple, clear font. You don't want people to have to squint and stare to figure out what your title is -- because they won't, they'll just keep moving. Don't cover the important parts of your artwork with type. Get feedback from someone who doesn't know what your book's title is, if you can.

Do you want me to go on? Just ask.

Photo by Jenny Rollo

Editors, line editors and proofreaders
There's a wee bit more leeway here than with your cover artist. I'm of the opinion that several excellent betas can do the work of an editor -- assuming that you're skilled enough to implement their suggestions well (that's a whole 'nother post, stay tuned.) If you can budget for a freelance editor, do it. This will be as big a line item as the cover artist, in your budget. Possibly bigger.

Your freelance editor may be able to be your line editor, too. What's the difference? Editing on the larger scale involves your story structure, plot, characterization, and such. Line editing is all about your grammar, sentence structure, the stuff in the actual lines of your text. There can be some overlap between line editing and proofreading, too. Technically, proofreaders only look for spelling, punctuation, correct layout styling, and make sure that all the edits on a marked-up manuscript have been done. The actual text is not an issue, for a proofreader. It could be in Greek and I could still proof it. Proofing is harder than it sounds, but it's one of those things people think anyone can do. (You know, like writing a novel.)

If you can afford a freelance line editor and/or proofreader, do it. If you have a sufficiently nit-picky beta reader, English teacher, or friend, you might be able to get away with that. The important part is that you want someone who can be objective and impartial about your grammar and punctuation. You don't want them getting sucked into the story.

Stay tuned for more nuts and bolts...