Angela Booth's Writing Blog

Giggle of the Day: Why Should Authors Care About Publishers?

I love publishers. No, really, I do... But.

Here's why they annoy me: occasionally they get a made rush of blood to the head, and think authors OWE them.

Read this. J.A. Konrath Responds to Our Interview with Jamie Raab - GalleyCat:

"I understand Grand Central has overhead. But as an author, why should I care? I can hire out for editing, proofreading, formatting, and cover design, and those are fixed, sunk costs. Once those are paid, I can earn 70% on a self-pubbed ebook. Plus, I can set my own price. Lower prices sell more copies. The value of a book isn’t in its cover price. It’s how much money a book earns. Lower priced ebooks earn more. I’ve been proving this for the last three years."

I love this comment: "I can hire out for editing, proofreading, formatting, and cover design..." Yes, authors can do that.

And they may just get people who do a better job. Copyeditors can make a hash of things, and so can designers.One copyeditor I remember was a real gem. I check brand names in my manuscripts carefully, so this genius "corrected" the name of an aircraft in an ms. This was in the early 1980s. I had to correct his corrections via telegram at great cost and aggravation.

Publishers have had it too easy for too long.

I often used to think (and still do) when dealing with people from publishing houses: where were you when the page was blank?

Giggle of the Day: Writer? Fight Back Against Reviewers

Your book's on Amazon. You've just received a review. You want to throw things and grind your teeth, but you're too mature to do that.

Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition -- you get to fight back, on THANK YOU FOR YOUR REVIEW.

I love this a *** review:

THANK YOU FOR YOUR REVIEW: Almost Couldn't Stomach It:

"I rarely write bad reviews. I mean, Twilight for crying out loud is HORRIBLE writing and still has me drooling all over it and loving every ounce of sappy-sappyness it has to offer. That being said, this book is just horrible writing AND a horrible storyline. "

Priceless. :-)

 

A Christmas Carol: Get Into The Spirit Of The Season

It's that time of year again... Time to get into the spirit of the season (pun intended), by reading Dickens' immortal A Christmas Carol.

You can't resist the opening paragraph:

MARLEY was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it: and Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail.

And the ending's enough to bring a tear to your eye, no matter how cynical you are:

He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!

So, get yourself over to Project Gutenberg, and download A Christmas Carol in the format of your choice. (It's free.)

Read it yourself, or read it aloud to anyone who'll listen; if you have kids, read it to them at bedtime. Make it a family tradition to read this classic aloud each year.

By Christmas day, you'll join Tiny Tim and say, with joy in your heart: God bless Us, Every One!

 

 

 

 

Writing Fiction: Ebooks For Fiction Writers

Fiction's the hot new thing in ebook writing. Novels and short stories out-sell nonfiction 6 to 1 on the Kindle store.

Writers are taking to fiction writing with gusto, and I've had many questions about which of my writing guides will help you to create fiction.

So, I've made a list:

* The Write A Book Collection

The "Write a Book" collection shows you exactly HOW to write and sell your books FAST, and have fun while you're doing it.

You'll be writing quality books, and building an audience. This means that you're building a long-lasting career. Not only that… Once you have an audience, publishers will be eager to snap you up: you'll be their ideal author.

* Words into Cash: Write and Sell Your Ebook in Just 8 Hours

The benefit of writing and selling ebooks is that once written, they can keep on selling forever.

Would you trade eight hours for an income stream? Even if you did this just a couple of times a year, you've created little income streams which flood money into your bank account.

* Kindle Gold Rush -- Auto Pilot Income For Writers

A complete package for you which enables you to take advantage of this hot new publishing opportunity: writing for the Kindle and other ereaders. You can create an autopilot income.

 

Goodbye Paper, Hello Kindle

I've spent much more reading on the iPad over the past three months than I have reading paper books. Specifically, I've been reading using the Kindle app on the iPad.

I own a Kindle device, but I never use it. The silly paging buttons make me crazy because I read fast. But the Kindle app, on the iPad and iPhone, is a delight.

Here's why...

As this article, How sitting in a restaurant made me realise the Kindle software is beautiful | Technology | guardian.co.uk, remarks:

"I clicked on the book I had been reading back in the hotel and within a minute or so it was downloaded (no repurchase!) and was at the page that I'd left the iPad on back at the hotel. It knew which page - I didn't."

The Kindle app lets you read anywhere you have your iPad or phone.

I still buy paper books, of course. But somehow, I've become more comfortable reading on my iPad -- more comfortable than I am reading paper books.

I've got hundreds of ebooks on my iPad now, and I prefer them to "proper" books. I feel disloyal, and have no idea when I made this momentous mental and psychological switch.

Please share your insights in the comments. Have you switched your loyalties from real books to ebooks? If you have, are you surprised?

 

Embarrassing Habit: I Read A Book's Ending Way Before I Get There

Sometime over the past few years, I've picked up an embarrassing habit. Around page 50, I read a book's ending.

I've long felt that this was a serious character flaw. Why can't I accept delayed gratification? Why do I insist on spoiling my enjoyment of great books?

The best part of my day is the hour or two I read in bed, before falling asleep. This night-reading consists of thrillers and mysteries. I'm reluctant to turn off the light until I get to a break in story. Inevitably, good books have wonderful narrative drive -- there's no break. So I read on and on... Until I decide I need my sleep, so read the ending, already!

It turns out that by reading the ending, I'm not spoiling my enjoyment at all.

This article, Spoilers don't spoil anything reports:

"I was just ahead of the curve, because spoilers don't spoil anything. In fact, a new study suggests that spoilers can actually increase our enjoyment of literature. Although we've long assumed that the suspense makes the story—we keep on reading because we don't know what happens next—this new research suggests that the tension actually detracts from our enjoyment."

Excellent -- my embarrassing habit is a GOOD thing... Who knew?

Do you read book endings before you should too? Why?

Amazon Publishing Deserves To Dominate

It's sad that traditional publishers, agents, and booksellers are leery of Amazon Publishing.

The fear of course is that Amazon will come to dominate publishing...

All Eyes on Amazon Publishing reports:

"For many agents, along with some booksellers, the real concern about Amazon Publishing has to do with what it could signal for traditional publishers. If Amazon lands enough bestselling authors, it could dominate traditional publishing the way it has come to monopolize online bookselling. Jeff McCord, owner of the Atlanta shop Bound to Be Read Books, thinks Amazon has long “wished to take over the book industry from top to bottom” and its recent foray into publishing is proof. “Amazon Publishing is a bigger worry for publishers than for bookstores,” he said."

FWIW, the "Amazon will dominate" boat set sail well over a decade ago.

Will Amazon dominate over publishing too? Yes, it will. Because Amazon gives readers what they want, and it seems set to give writers what they want, too.

As a reader, I love Amazon. Amazon gives me what I want, when I want it, often within minues.

As a writer, I love the Kindle platform. Its simplicity is totally beguiling. I uploaded a book within a minute, and it's selling. Contrast that with shopping a proposal around to agents and expecting to be published within a year or three.

Amazon's giving readers and writers what they want.

Unfortunately, the traditional publishing industry is focused on getting what it wants -- to heck with the customers (and writers) it's supposed to be serving.

Amazon Publishing will dominate, because it deserves to dominate.

 

The Writer's Compass By Nancy Ellen Dodd

The Writer's Compass: From Story Map to Finished Draft in 7 Stages

By Nancy Ellen Dodd

Published by: Writer's Digest

Released: June 2011

Site: The Writer's Compass

From Nancy Ellen Dodd:

When I started writing fiction many years ago, I knew that I was driven to write. However, I quickly realized that I wasn't an innate writer. The first manuscript I sent to an editor at a major publishing house, I was fortunate in that his secretary loved the story Teacups and encouraged the editor to read it. The editor was kind enough to call me to discuss the novel. Unfortunately, I was devastated when he told me that I needed to develop as a writer and to learn the difference between telling and showing. I learned three things from that experience: the first being that I had a lot to learn -- like what makes a good story. The second was that I wanted to figure out for myself when something was missing, before being humiliated by someone else having to tell me. The third thing I learned is that sometimes people can enjoy a story even if it is poorly written. 

I also had a problem with editing and never finishing, spending hours polishing a scene, then later realizing it didn't fit or had to be rewritten to fit. For two years I committed to spend at least 15 minutes a day working on a manuscript called The President's Trigger. At the end of those two years I had over 600 pages. My problem became finishing the manuscript in that I couldn't figure out what I should be looking for as I edited. I kept going through the manuscript over and over again, more than a dozen times. There had to be a more efficient way to develop a story that addressed its weaknesses before spending hours on the wrong things.

At one point I wrote a one-act play, Pitter-Patter that Pulitzer-prize winning playwright and author Paul Zindel told me was verging on genius. However, in my exuberance to impress him, I turned the play into a load of crap. What was I doing wrong?

So, for 25 years I spent thousands of hours studying writing. While sitting in a graduate class listening to another lecture on the 3-act structure based on Aristotle's dramatic principles and Freytag's Triangle, a light bulb went off. I realized that in most of the books, seminars, and classes they were all saying the same thing, but using different terminology. I placed that terminology on a 3-act chart where they said each element belonged. Then I realized that not all of these elements of writing were necessary. Some of them were entirely arbitrary depending on the story and the writer. I eliminated what I thought was redundant or not essential to good storytelling. I then created a story map by replacing the essential elements of writing with ideas. Finally, I took all of my notes, which I had put into a workbook format, and reorganized them into 7 stages of development. 

For the first few years I printed all of the development questions in the 7 stages on 5x8 cards and I would sit on the subway or bus and answer the questions about my story, developing it one stage at a time. Then I would take my story into a class or to my critique group and if I had worked up through Stage 1 (ideas) and 2 (structure), I would get comments about how interesting my ideas were and how well structured the story was, but that my characters seemed weak. When I took the story back after putting it through the Stage 3 (characterization) questions, the comments would be about how vivid my characters were. When others started asking me to share my process with them, at that point I realized I had something unique that worked. 

From Angela

Many thanks to Nancy for this article, and writing for the book. I haven't read it, but I ordered it today (and yes, I'm paying for it -- writers need to support other writers.)

I'm looking forward to reading the book, and as soon as I do, I'll be posting my review.

If you've read the book, please post a comment.

Kindle Ablaze: Hot New Market for Writers

Ebooks have arrived, and in a big way. Kindle ebooks are now outselling print ebooks on Amazon. 

This article, Explaining Kindle's success: it's very simple(minded) - Fortune Tech, reports:

"Sales of the Kindle and of e-books are so good, and growing so fast, that they are now becoming a driver of Amazon's overall growth, says Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney."

Not only have ebooks arrived, they're also becoming a hot new market for writers. If you check the outsourcing sites, you'll find lots of projects. People and companies are hiring writers to write Kindle ebooks.

I've got personal experience of this. When I launched my new program, Words into Cash: Write and Sell Your Ebook in Just 8 Hours, several writers told me they were focusing on writing ebooks for others, and wanted a faster way to do it.

Most writers however, were focusing on writing their own ebooks.

Write your own ebooks -- and sell them

Writing your own ebooks makes more sense than writing them for others. You'll never get back the hours you trade for dollars. Focus on creating your own multiple income streams, so that the writing you do today pays off for you for years to come.

There's never been a better time to be a writer.

Got an idea for an ebook?

Start writing! :-)

 

 

Write a Book and Get Published: Old Way, or DIY?

If you love books, and writing them, it's an exciting time. New ways to get published are appearing all the time. This means that you need to make choices about how you'll publish.

In an Editorial article on my freelance writing blog, Write a Book: Old and New Ways to Get Published, I wrote:

If you’ve written a book, or are in the process of writing one, you have a choice to make: will you publish your book the old way, that is, go the traditional publishing route (get an agent), or will you publish your book yourself?

For new authors, who want to make a career of writing books, I recommend the traditional publishing route. Write your book, get an agent, sell your book, and learn how publishing works.

Yes, it's slow, and frustrating, and it may break your heart, BUT you will have a deep understanding of the challenges and rewards of publishing.

While you're shopping your book proposal around to agents and publishers, there's no need to twiddle your thumbs. There are new ways to DIY publish now (I talk about Print on Demand in the above article), which means that while you're selling your big book, you can turn out lots of little books and publish them yourself, either via POD or as ebooks, in various formats.

Apropos of which, Ken Auletta, author of the wonderful book Googled, wrote a gossipy article for the New Yorker, Publish or Perish: Can the iPad topple the Kindle, and save the book business? which you should read:

The industry’s great hope was that the iPad would bring electronic books to the masses—and help make them profitable. E-books are booming. Although they account for only an estimated three to five per cent of the market, their sales increased a hundred and seventy-seven per cent in 2009, and it was projected that they would eventually account for between twenty-five and fifty per cent of all books sold. But publishers were concerned that lower prices would decimate their profits.

So, dear author (published or aspiring), fire up your word processor and start tapping the keyboard. Wonderful things are happening. Choice is always great, and you get to choose how you'll publish. But the writing comes first, so write. :-)

Recession-proof your freelance writing career

"Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process" gives you all the tools you need for a thriving writing career, no matter what the economic climate.

Three weeks after completing the class one student wrote:

"Thanks Angela, for all your help and advice in class. I'm quitting my job next week. I printed out my letter of resignation tonight after landing a contract writing job that will pay me more for three months part-time work than I earned in from my day job in the whole of 2008! You were right – the great gigs are out there, and now I've got the skills to land them. Your class opened my eyes. Bless you…"

"Write More And Make More Money From Your Writing: Develop A Fast, Fun Productive Writing Process" shows you how to thrive as a freelance writer. Would you like to write five times more than you're writing now, and sell to higher-paying markets? Take the class.

Self-Publish Your Book and Deliver It on the iPad

If you want to write a book, or if you've already written one, you may be wondering how you get your book onto the iPad.

Of course, if you have a publisher, it's out of your hands. Your publisher will undoubtedly (if it hasn't already) make a deal with either Apple or an aggregator, and your book will be available on the iPad just like magic.

On the other hand, if you're self-published, you're in the happy position of being a do-it-yourselfer. :-) Relax, it's not difficult. The iPad looks as if it might be the blockbuster some predicted, so companies small and large will be happy to help you to get your book into the iBookStore.

There are several companies doing that already.

This article "Get your e-book on the iPad (and keep all the royalties)" announces another one:

Today, Tunecore announced that it would extend this model to e-books through a service called Bibliocore. After an upfront payment, the e-book is delivered to Apple's iBookstore, rights remain with the author, and Bibliocore takes no cut of the royalties.

iPad or not, you still need to promote your book

Unfortunately, no device, not even the iPad, can be your magic wand to pour money into your bank account. You'll still need to promote your book.

Think of the iPad as being just another channel for delivery. If you've self-published, you already sell your book on your website, and on your publisher's site perhaps.

I hope you've created a marketing plan, and are diligently doing some marketing each day. If you are, your book will be a success, no matter which channel you use.

Befuddled by Twitter? You'll be amazed at how many writers, editors, agents and buyers of your writing use it

Be where the action is with "Twitter for Writers: Achieve Writing Success 25 Words at a Time", your guide to micro blogging for writers.

Has the web stopped you reading books?

Is the web making you dumb?

That is, is it decreasing your attention span, and making you unable to think? It's an interesting argument. I've polled several friends, who say that they read as many books as they ever did, and in many cases more than they ever did.

However, since all my friends tend to be writers, they're not a representative group.

Read this article, Sorry, English major, the engineers have triumphed which states that:

"Kluth, of The Economist, agrees that people will read more 'in terms of quantity, but more promiscuously and at shorter intervals and with less dedication. As these habits take root, they corrupt our willingness to commit to long texts, as found in books or essays... This will result in a resurgence of short-form texts and storytelling, in 'haiku culture' replacing 'book culture.''"

Definitely not so for me, and maybe not for you.

Here are the books I've been reading in the past week (I always spend more time reading books than I do reading the web):

* Reread Wolf Hall. I first read it almost a year ago, when it first appeared, and was eager to read it again. Wolf Hall is on my list of books I'd take with me to a desert island. Wolf Hall is a long book;

* Finished reading Googled. Auletta's book goes a long way to explaining Google's culture, and why the company sees nothing wrong with being promiscuous with users' personal data (viz the current storm over Buzz). Googled is reasonably long;

* Half-way through Can You Forgive Her? I'm rereading Trollope's Palliser novels this year. I last read them at least a couple of decades ago, and I'm enjoying them more now. I reread The Small House at Allington in January; it introduces some of the characters of the Palliser novels. Since Trollope is a Victorian novelist, all his novels are long.

So, what about you?

Has the web stopped you reading books? What books have you been reading? (Please share in the comments.)

Subscribe to Sell Your Writing Online NOW (SYWON) - it's a complete training in making money online

Want to make money online? You can, with Sell Your Writing Online NOW (SYWON) training. Join me, and develop your own home-based business, writing and making money on the Web.

Ebooks: get started writing ebooks and information products

Want to write ebooks? I get many questions about writing and selling ebooks each week.

Here are links to some of my (many) posts on the topic. They'll help you to get started.

* Ebook: Build a Bestselling Format

Want to write an ebook? Ebooks sell well online; you can even build an entire home business on a single ebook. Here’s how to ensure your ebook sells, when you build a bestselling format.

* How to Start Writing Your New Ebook Today

Have you been procrastinating on writing your ebook? Whatever your reasons for putting it off, here’s a way you can start writing today, no matter how little time you have.

You Can Write Your Ebook in 20 Minutes a Day

Yes, it’s possible to write your ebook in just 20 minutes a day, and shortly I’ll show you how.

* Fast and Easy Ebooks: Quick Cash from Ebooks

Everyone has obsessions. Currently one of mine is time management. I’ll read just about anything to help me to manage my time more efficiently. I haunt online and physical bookstores, looking for information on my favorite subject.

Judging by the thousands of magazines and special-interest Web sites, others have obsessions too, and they’re like me, obsessed with learning more about their obsessions.

* Ebook Creator: Build Your Information Marketing Business Fast

There’s never been a better time to be a writer. There are unlimited opportunities for skilled writers online, and building an information marketing business by writing ebooks is a great opportunity.

Let’s see how you can get your ebook empire started fast.

* Ebook - Get Started, Make Money Today With Ebooks

Want to make money fast? The appetite and market for ebooks online is unlimited. If you have knowledge to share, you can profit from that knowledge.

Let’s see how this works.

Ebooks - Four Steps for Success in Writing Your First Ebook

Want to write a successful ebook? You can, just follow the four simple steps in this article.

Firstly, let’s look at what we mean by “successful”. In our terms, a successful ebook is one which sells well, year after year. This is because you’ve chosen your topic carefully, and people not only need your information, but they’re also prepared to pay for it in ebook form.

Develop a great income writing for the Web - start by writing simple articles

I've developed "Sell Your Writing Online Now" (SYWON) to help you to start making money writing online in 24 hours or less.

Each week, for one full year, you'll receive a lesson, with an assignment which will build your Web writing income – you EARN as you learn.

SYWON is totally unique, and if you want to write for the Web, it's your ticket to success.

Information products: can YOU write and sell ebooks?

Writing and selling ebooks and other information products is a wonderful way to take charge of your writing career and become your own boss.

Here's the beauty of the information product business; you can write what you want (as long as people want to buy the information), and can keep selling your products for years.

That said, each week I receive messages containing a writer's life story, ending with the question "Could I write and sell an ebook telling my story?"

Generally speaking, the answer is no.

Unless you're a celebrity, or have done something amazing, like climbed Mt Everest, found a cure for an illness, or have recovered from an illness which is usually fatal, the story of your life is unlikely to sell as an ebook.

Try writing it as a memoir. Then get an agent (a blog helps with this), and see whether the agent can sell it for you.

Ebooks are "information products", with the emphasis on the "information" aspect. To sell they must have information which the buyer needs.

The most common question I'm asked about ebooks is "how much can I make?"

That depends on the market for the information you're selling. Some ebooks earn millions (literally) for their creators each year.

If you have a method, you should be able to make $500 a day.

Here's an excerpt from the Introduction to my guide "Info Product Maestro":

Can you really make $500 a day from info products?

Of course you can. Many people do this; it's not unusual for someone to make $500 a day selling an information product. However, the aim of this ebook is to help you to make a $500 a day in pure profit from your info products.

Some people make $500 a day from one ebook, but unfortunately, if they're spending $450 on advertising, what they're earning is $50 a day.

The market for information is LIMITLESS: you're constrained only by the limits of your own innovative spirit and creativity.

What I teach you in this guide will help you to make $500 a day, without advertising if you wish. You will create several related products, all selling at the same time. Then, when someone buys one of your products and finds it useful, he can get more information from you, and you can make more sales.

Yes, you can certainly can make $500 a day – once you have several info products selling for you. This won't take long; you should be able to reach the $500 a day stage within six months.

Want to make $500 a day WRITING... from your home office?

Info Product Maestro: Make $500 a Day with Your Information Products

Are you make as much money as you could be making? Chances are that you're not. There's no shame in this. Writers often struggle to find their own special niche.

If you love to write, then you'll love the information in my new ebook/ coaching package, Info Product Maestro: Make $500 a Day with Your Information Products.

Write what you like, when you like, and make an income you've only dreamed of.

Enjoy. :-)

Ebook readers: will yours arrive in time?

Barnes & Noble signaled relatively early in the holiday season that customers who wanted the Nook for a holiday gift should order promptly. Amazon, too, had difficulties keeping the Kindle in the stock; supplies ran out in November 2008, and none were available for the holidays. The $259 Kindle is in stock now, however, and available for delivery by Dec. 24, according to Amazon's Web site.

via online.wsj.com

Are you getting a Nook or Kindle in your Christmas stocking? The WSJ reports that some Nooks may not arrive in time for the big day.

It looks as if there's a growing market for these devices. 

I'm looking forward to Apple's tablet device however. After owning my Kindle for a couple of months, I'm ambivalent. My initial enthusiasm has waned. 

Yes, it's great to read what you want instantly (as long as it's available in Kindle format), but I'm obviously too fast a reader, because my thumb hurts from constantly pressing the Next button.

Until Apple's device appears; paper books are still my preferred format. :-)