Angela Booth's Writing Blog

STOP... Before you dive into promoting your book, check it

Book marketing: look at the book’s product page, first

Yes, you can change the title!

When I chat with authors, I’m often shocked at how few consider changing their book once it’s been posted. Why wouldn’t you change things, if the book isn’t selling? Always give your books the best chances to succeed.

So, change anything and everything.

TIP: only change one thing at a time. Otherwise you’ll never know what worked. If you spot obvious boo boos: bad title, incorrect categories, etc—change them at once. For minor changes, give your change ten days to kill or cure, then change something else. Make a list of potential changes.

Discover more fixes.

Available now: new book marketing solution

In response to her students’ requests, Angela recently developed a professional,  “done for you” book marketing service. It includes basic copy and content: a tagline, blurb, and keywords, as well as a customized marketing strategy and plan. She says the service is for authors who need help, and find that hiring a book publicist is beyond their reach.

Angela said: “Book Marketing, Done For You, kickstarts marketing for authors. They have the framework: a strategy and plan, plus basic marketing collateral. My students tell me that it’s motivating, and makes marketing more enjoyable. They procrastinate less, because they become more enthusiastic about their books.”

All authors are different. For those with small budgets, Angela focuses on developing zero-cost plans. On the other hand, for authors with a marketing budget, Angela suggests advertising options, and helps with targeting and other essential advice.

Learn more about Book Marketing, Done For You.

 

Overwhelmed by book marketing? Use this secret (and sell more books)

Market your book while you’re writing to win readers (and make sales)

Let’s look at some tips which will help you to market your book while you’re writing it. Get creative. Turbo-charge your publishing plans.

Basics:

• News works better than blatant promotion—almost anything about your book can be newsworthy.
• Ask for help (example: “which cover is better?”): think engagement and social media.
• Images attract attention, so use them.
• Think content. Everything’s content. Your research is content, as are your notes, and of course your drafts.

Read the full article.

 

Big news for self-publishers: Draft2Digital acquires Smashwords

Book publishing with Draft2Digital: easy, fast, and reliable

I’ve been using Draft2Digital for years to publish my books more widely. My experience is solely with ebooks, rather than print. Although I’ve been meaning to get my books into print, but I’ve never found the time to take a deep dive into the process.

My experience with Smashwords is zero. Their publishing process never appealed to me, because it seemed complex, when compared to Draft2Digital’s process.

Good things coming for Draft2Digital’s book publishers and authors

Read the complete article, Book Publishing: Draft2Digital Acquires Smashwords (Good News?)

 

Self-Publishing: Confused? Master It

Savvy Self-Publishing Strategies For Fiction

Love self-publishing, but wish you could sell more books? You can.

When I mentor authors, I give them three writing/ publishing programs because they solve many problems; whether your problems relate to writing your books or selling them.

Here’s your chance to receive the same programs in one amazing package—you receive mentoring too. Check out Savvy Self-Publishing Strategies For Fiction: Win Fans, Boost Sales now.

Traditional Publishing: Agency Clauses (Oh, the horror...)

Agency Clauses

An agency clause may be inserted into a publishing contract between an author and a publisher. In essence, a typical agency clause provides that the agent may receive royalty payments on behalf of the author and has authority to act in the name of the author with respect to the contract.

Here’s an example:

All sums of money due to the Author under this Agreement shall be paid to the Author’s agent, Annie Agent, of 321 Applesauce Avenue, New York, NY 10023, U.S.A. (hereinafter called “the Agent”) and receipt by the Agent shall be a good and valid discharge of all such indebtedness and the Agent is hereby empowered by the Author to act on the Author’s behalf in all matters arising in any way out of this Agreement.   For services rendered and to be rendered the Author does hereby irrevocably assign and transfer to the Agent the sum of 15% (fifteen percent) as an agency coupled with an interest out of all monies due and coming due to and for the account of the Author under this Agreement.

via www.thepassivevoice.com

Have you been offered a contract by a traditional publisher? 

If you're a newbie author: beware. Neither your agent nor your publisher is your friend. You're doing business.

Agency clauses like the one above are especially egregious, but you're sure to find several nasty gotchas in any so-called "standard" publishing contract. Read your contract several times. You've got to keep your own best interests in mind. My motto for contracts: if in doubt, strike it out.

Read the above post from Passive Guy and save it. 

To repeat: neither your agent nor your publisher is your friend. You're doing business.

Here's an excellent article on the realities of publishing.

Hat tip to Passive Guy.

Fiction Writing Made Easier, If You Hate To Plot

Fiction writing when you hate to plot

Back in the day, I hated to plot too. I’d get a wonderful idea for a novel and at first the words would flow from my fingertips like magic whenever I sat down to write. Bliss. And then, sooner or later, I blocked, or realized that this junk isn’t going anywhere… what happened?

When a book hit a hit road block, my attitude was: “plot? What plot?”

I decided that I had to get over my plot-phobia. Over a few years, I discovered a plotting method which works for me, and works for my students as well.

Here’s the key. You need to start with a character.

Read the full article here.

Seven Self Publishing Secrets – seven reasons to generate self publishing profits

In tomorrow's issue of Fab Freelance Writing Ezine, we discuss self publishing.

Here's an excerpt from the article "Seven Self Publishing Secrets – seven reasons to generate self publishing profits":

In this article, let's look at self publishing in terms of publishing a book yourself, because this is a common form of self publishing, and one that's worth considering.

If you write a book, whether it's a novel or nonfiction book, and go the traditional publishing route, that is, you get an agent and a publishing house, and the publishing house publishes your book and distributes it around the world, the time from idea to print can be anywhere from two years upwards – say three years.

You'll spend a lot of time on your book, and that time is unrecompensed, unless lightning strikes, and the book becomes a bestseller. Most books do not become bestsellers, in fact most books never "earn out" their publisher's advance.

Read the rest in the ezine.

Technorati Tags: self publishing

Writing Books As A Dream Home Business

In Fab Freelance Writing Ezine this week, our article is "Writing Books As A Dream Home Business".

Here's an excerpt:

Writing books is a dream home business. You can write when, where and how it suits you, without a commute, and without a boss looking over your shoulder.

There's something else which makes writing books extremely attractive: since the rights to books are licensed, the author receives a royalty (somewhere between six and 15 per cent of the sales price) for each and every copy of his books which is sold, for years, and sometimes for decades, to come.

Unlike freelance writing for magazines or the Web, or copywriting, authors (writers who write books) are writing for long term income – for twice-a-year royalties arriving in their bank account, for years, as long as a particular book stays in print. Imagine if you've got royalties from five or more books flowing to you twice a year.

Read the rest of the article in Fab Freelance Writing Ezine this Wednesday.

Additional resources: my new membership site for authors and the site's accompanying blog, Just Write A Book Blog.

Technorati Tags: write a book

How much money can you make when you write a book?

Good question. :-)

I might have known this would come up, but I've so far avoided mentioning how much you can make by writing a book on my new write a book membership site. However, I've had several email messages asking this very question, so let's take a stab at answering it.

Brenda Hiatt has a "show me the money" section on her site which is well-researched and accurate. For example:

Romance novels, for Avon/ HarperCollins earn out at:

Average advance (first book): $13,500
Average advance (subsequent books): $24,000
Advance range: $3500 - $100,000
Standard royalty percentage: 8%
Average earn-out: $26,000 Range: $7000 - $100,000

A small advance for a nonfiction book would be $20,000. Of course, your advance may be much more, depending on the projected sales and how well your agent negotiates.

There are many, many variables when you write a book. At the upper end of the pay scale, you've got JK Rowling, who's making billions from her Harry Potter series and the spin offs.

At the other end of the pay scale, you have authors who make a few thousand per book.

Publisher's Marketplace reports on book deals daily, in their Publishers Lunch.

So, how much can you make? The short answer is that it depends on the book. It's the long answer too, because as stated, there are many variables.

On my new membership site, we cover researching book deals and researching the market for YOUR book before you start writing. There's no point in writing a book for which there's no market. So if you're interested in writing a book and making money from it, join.

Technorati Tags: publishing

Can you write a book?

My exclusive new membership site for authors

Of course you can write a book. If you can fill a page with words, you can fill three hundred pages with words.

A book is more than a collection of pages, of course. A novel requires  engaging characters and a page-turner plot. A nonfiction book needs to meet a demand.

A publishable book needs much more:

* Your book needs an audience: the way publishing works today, you must prove to a publisher that an audience exists for your book. So market research is vital, before you start writing.

* Your book needs an agent and publisher;

* While you write, and after your book is published, you'll need to promote your book: as the author, that's a most important task, and all publishers require their authors to take an active role in marketing.

If you've ever thought "I could write a book", my exclusive new membership site will help you to not only write your book, but get it published too.

Join me on a great adventure - writing your book.

Technorati Tags: publishing, write a book

Stealth publishing: getting your book the attention it deserves

You've written a book proposal.

You've done all the heavy lifting: you know that there's a market for your book. You've shown how your book slots into a niche in the marketplace, and you've described how you will market your book.

Excellent. Your proposal is now making its way around the offices of publishing houses and agents. Slowly. Very slowly.

What if you could gee up the process a bit?

There's a sneaky way of both making money from your book before it's published a couple of years from now (traditional publishing takes a LONG time) - and of attracting attention to your book proposal.

Here's the way: create an ebook version of your book, and sell it online. Not only can you make some money while your book proposal does the rounds, you may get an offer on the basis of an intriguing ebook.

I'm writing about self-publishing as a "stealth" process this week in Fab Freelance Writing Ezine.

Book publishing is a rough business

Over on the freelance writing blog, I've just posted "Freelance writing: stop complaining, it’s all about sales".

Apropos of which, publishers do it tough. Read "Bookstore chain puts the screws on small publishers":

Traditionally, when a publishing house is acquired by some big conglomerate, the bean counters take a look at the accounts, turn pale, and have a talk with the publisher. It has come to their attention, they say, that many books lose money, and most of the others make a small profit at most. Almost all the publisher’s profits come from a small number of bestselling titles. “True,” says the publisher. In that case, the beancounters reply, would it not make more sense to only publish the bestsellers?

The more you know about how publishing works, the better you can protect yourself as a writer. Don't be a woolly lamb... or Little Red Writing Hood confronted with grandma's big teeth. :-)

Giggle of the Day: The Book Business - An Industry of Whiners

From "The Book Business: An Industry of Whiners":

Book Reviewers: Writers who Write About Writing, Oh My! When reviewers spend four to seven hours reading a book, they don’t want to write 55 words and give it one to four stars à la film critics.

Book critics want to express themselves by showing off how much they know. They clear their throats, roll up their sleeves, and rub their hands together in order to prove they have the credentials to critique a book. We are forced to suffer through a tiresome account of the reviewer’s intimate knowledge of the subject, the genre and opinions of the author’s previous books.

Classic. :-)

Technorati Tags: publishing

Get published: Self-publishing versus vanity presses

A reader asks: "How much should I pay my publisher?"

The answer of course, is that a publisher pays you. A publisher buys from you the rights to publish your work in certain markets. These rights are clearly set out in the publication contract, and they're limited, unless the publisher buys ALL rights. (It's never a good idea to sell all rights in your work, unless it's work that you're doing for hire.)

Standard commercial publication takes time, and your book can be rejected by any number of publishing houses, so it's not for the faint-hearted. If you don't want to go through the agonies of standard publication, self-publishing is an option. You should consider self-publishing if you're writing nonfiction, and your book is a "niche" topic, in which major publishers aren't interested because of the tiny market.

Self-publishing means that you bear all the costs, and you get all the profits. :-) Note: many writers choose to e-publish, because they're writing for a small target market, and because they can manage the entire process.

Beware of vanity publishers. I'm not a fan of vanity publishing - a deal where you pay a "publisher" to print up copies of your opus. These companies are not publishers, they're printers with delusions of grandeur.

In this blog, I keep hammering the point that PUBLISHERS PAY YOU. It's never, ever the other way around.

Technorati Tags: books, copyright, publishing