Tips To Indie Success

Last week I had to pleasure of going to the Lowcountry RWA chapter and speak on how to market and promote your novels effectively.

It was great because most of them are just now seeking the Indie way. As a matter of fact, a couple of them are dropping their publishers (and I mean big six) and going the independent route. Of course I still claim that any road to publication is the right road for you, but I'm a big champion in the indie arena!

Being Indie has made so many dreams come true for me. Including this blog! If it weren't for all of the marketing and promoting techniques I used to make it on Amazon's Movers and Shakers, double finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, and winner in the women's fiction category of the eFestival of Words!

I can tell you to buy The Tricked Out Toolbox for all of my tricks, but no matter what I say, there are three BIG tips that bring about INDIE SUCCESS:

1) Successful Indies don't bash other writers! We help them. When we see something other writers are doing that isn't etiquette, we politely and privately email them. If they take the advice, great! If not, no sweat off the successful Indie's back because they tried to help someone.

If that someone comes back with a bitter pill and begins to publicly bash the successful Indie...guess what, that someone looks like a fool! That doesn't promote our craft, our colleagues, or our passion.

2) Successful Indies don't sit on their laurels. They don't wait around to see if their novel is going to be published. They write the book, establish a relationship with their readers (STREET TEAM),  and continue to market their novels.

Successful Indies put their money where their mouth is and laughing all the way to the bank!

3) Successful Indies don't talk about their ideas, they WRITE them! GASP!!! Yes, to be a successful Indie, you have to continue to write, write, and write. Get the next book out there for the reader.
Write in all genres and get those GREAT stories out there!

Now do you want to be successful? GO DO IT!

What do you think is a good tip to Indie success?

One lucky comment will win a copy of my marketing and promoting book, The Tricked Out Toolbox! Be sure to check back on Sunday because I will be announcing the winner Sunday night!

WRITERS~ DON'T EVER STOP!

 (Be sure to check out Scott's latest novel!)

When Tonya graciously allowed me a guest spot on her blog, I was acutely aware of how creative I’d have to be to come up with writing and publishing advice that she hadn’t already dispensed in spades. Most of what I talk about when I’m talking to people about self-publishing are things you probably already know from having been here before. (And if you’re somehow inexplicably here for the first time because you’re following me, I would direct you to Tonya’s post of August 8, where she nails down the most important points of self-publishing with style and aplomb.) (I like saying “aplomb.”) 

Unlike the myths and rules surrounding publishing, however, the myths and rules of writing can be talked about endlessly and in seemingly infinite variation. So from me to you, here’s the best advice that I think any writer can get, and which I desperately wish I’d gotten back when I was starting out: 

Don’t stop. 

Don’t ever, ever stop. 

Inertia is the single greatest threat that any writer can face. Not rejection. Not poor reviews. Not the personal challenge of constantly becoming better. Not the professional challenge of navigating the equally perplexing worlds of mainstream or indie publishing. Not even the dreaded writer’s block, which you might think is the same thing as inertia but which is really just a lame symptom of inertia. 

All of those things and the thousand other natural shocks that the writer’s flesh is heir to come from outside. And like all pathogens, we can protect ourselves from them with a modicum of care and some rigorous hand washing before meals. 

Inertia is different because inertia comes from inside. Inertia is the killer of wisdom and the destroyer of ideas. Inertia is the scourge of insight and the killer monsoon that quells the most primal spark of imagination. Creativity is like the proverbial shark — it needs to keep constantly moving or it dies. (I know that science now knows most sharks don’t actually need to keep moving. Creativity is like the bus in “Speed,” then. Insert your metaphor of choice.) 

Writing is hard. Everyone who’s ever written knows this. Everyone who’s ever written knows the adage attributed to Dorothy Parker: “I hate writing. I love having written.” Writing is hard. But stopping writing is dead easy, and therein lies the problem. Thankfully, there are a number of ways to deal with the problem of stopping. The following are the ones that work for me. 

1) Have more than one project on the go. Always, always, always have a wide slate of projects in front of you that are in progress or ready to jump into. Even if you’re not one of the many writers embracing self-publishing (and thus thinking like a publisher in terms of the importance of a regular schedule of releases), remind yourself that all professional writers talk in terms of their canon — the collected works, the series, the sequels, the different books in different genres. Professional writers are never just about the singular work. Everyone has a first novel, sure. Everyone has the novel they really want to work on right now. But none of that stops you from digging into the second novel, or thinking about where you want an overall series to go, or working on the short story idea that some bit of research into your current novel inspired. 

2) Watch out for the all-consuming projects. You have a novel, a screenplay, an epic poem that is the Most Important Thing you’ve ever conceived or will ever work on. But it’s an unfortunately short walk from the Most Important Thing You’ll Ever Work On to the Only Thing You’ll Ever Work On Over Fifteen Successive Drafts. And if you’re only working on one thing, you leave yourself open to stop working on it at some point. Give your creativity free reign. See point 1 and find other projects that interest or inspire you, and keep them going alongside the all-consuming project. 

And while you do: 

3) Stay passionate. No matter what you’re working on, no matter how easy or difficult the writing gets at any particular time, try to stay in a place mentally and emotionally where you can remind yourself why you love what you’re working on. Don’t ever let yourself get to a place where finishing something becomes simply an obligation of business as opposed to a mission of love and satisfaction. And if you get to a point where it’s tough to remember why you love Project A because Project A is becoming a pain in your ass, go back to point 1 and channel your love into Project B. At some point, Project A will come back to you, all sheepish and sorry and asking forgiveness, and it’ll all be just like when you fell in love the first time. 

4) Watch out for research, outlining, and editing. I love research, outlining, and editing. I work as an editor and story editor alongside my writing, and always will. I’m the most passionate evangelist for outlining you’ll ever meet, and nothing excites me more of an evening than jotting down novel-setting notes from a good book on medieval history. (Okay, a few things do excite me more. You know what I mean, though.) But be very wary if your love of outlining and research, or your process of editing and revision on a previous work, becomes so central to your creativity that it’s keeping you from actually writing your new work. Back to point 1 again — keep things moving; keep things in process. If it comes down to it, strike a bargain with yourself. No research on your historical novel until you crank out five hundred words of your new short story. For every five pages you write of your new book, you’ll let yourself take a break to edit a chapter of the last book. 

5) BONUS POINT! Kick writer’s block in the ass. The reason this is a BONUS POINT! is that if you do all the above, you’ve already kicked writer’s block in the ass. Because here’s a secret, gleaned from long years of painful experience. Writer’s block isn’t about the ideas fleeing from you, because ideas aren’t hatched wholly from within. Ideas are generated at the interface between the writer and the work, and so writer’s block is about being unable to engage with the work in a way that lets the ideas come to you. 

Writer’s block is a thing that hits us when we nail ourselves down to a single project. When we lose sight of why that project is worthy of our passion. When we deny ourselves the creative freedom of having other projects ready to jump into. Creativity is a process of movement, and writer’s block is the inevitable outcome of only allowing yourself to travel down a single road. But there are always other ways to move forward, and if your road is blocked, just back up and take the previous left. Set aside the novel that’s giving you problems and work on your other novel. Shift it into four-wheel drive and go off-road for a while. Start outlining the novel you really want to right but just can’t imagine tackling because its subject matter seems so daunting. Abandon the car entirely and hike. When you’re jammed up on your ultra-serious book, get out a blank piece of paper or open a new document and start working on the most slapstick short story imaginable. As long as you know the place you want to go, you’ll get there in the end. 

So how do I have all these bits of dubious wisdom at my disposal? Because as a writer, I’ve done my fair share of stopping. When I first started out as a professional writer, I was fortunate enough to break into screenwriting, which I enjoyed and which paid pretty well — so I stopped writing fiction. (This is a process known to many screenwriters, and which some refer to as “the velvet rut.”) 

When I was screenwriting, I fell into the terrible trap that a lot of screenwriters fall into, deciding that my creativity was being wasted if it wasn’t making me money. I had a lot of projects fall by the wayside in those days because even though I loved them, I couldn’t get the people in charge of the option and development money to love them as much as I did. So I stopped working on them. 

When I finally got back into writing fiction shortly after I got tired of screenwriting, I set myself a traditional course with an eye on getting an agent, getting a publisher, and all that. And when those things didn’t happen as quickly as I wanted them to, I stopped. 

Since taking the leap into indie writer-publishing, I don’t stop anymore. I write. I work as an editor and story editor, and I confab with like-minded practitioners of fantasy and speculative fiction whose work inspires me to get better. To keep going. To always look beyond the end of the current project to the next project. 

To never stop.

AWESOME post, SCOTT!!

Be sure to visit Scott at his website and check him out!!

Is Self-Publishing For You?

I wanted to continue the blog with the self-publishing theme. We have all had to come to a cross-roads in our publishing career. Whether it's starting out as a traditional author and deciding to self-publish novels you have your rights back to, completely self-publish, self-publish along with traditional publish, or even traditional publish while letting your agent's self-publishing model publish your shorts (we will talk about this on Monday), everyone's experience is different.

I have to say that I have never heard one self-published author say a negative word about the benefits of self-publishing after they have done it. Granted it takes a little bit of a learning curve to self-publish correctly, but the benefits out-weigh the freight they have when they first thought of the idea of self-publishing. 

I was excited to get an email from self-published author, Seumas Gallacher! Seumas has made some great strides and paved the way for many self-published authors! His thriller novel, The Violin Man's Legacy reached the UK's number 3 best seller list! 

Seumas was rejected many times but held true to the words of his hero, Winston Churchill: NEVER EVER GIVE UP!

Please let me welcome Seumas to my little ole blog today and how he discovered his journey to self-publishing. 

I'm going to be giving away a Kindle copy of his latest novel, Vengeance Wear Black to one lucky comment!!  

…I don’t care what they’re sayin’ about me, just so long as they’re sayin’…

 

She gave her name to the flotation ring for shipwrecked mariners, and that had nothing to do with her Olympic swimming prowess, but more with the triple-alphabetic measurements of her upper body underwear…she gave us the innuendo of the pistol-in-the-pocket guide to allure of the opposite sex…her response to the young buck waiter’s question when he asked, while pouring her a Scotch, “When”, was simply “When? Just as soon as I’ve finished this drink!”…the unforgettable Mae West, as sassy a broad as ever strode across the old cinema screens…

A hundred years ago to the date, she was already a megastar in vaudeville and well on the path to film stardom too…So what’s that got to do with us, and with social networking?…

Elementary my Dear Watsons all…she knew about ‘buzz’…about getting the message ‘out there’…and it wasn’t flyers stuck on the wall in supermarkets…she was everywhere that it mattered… Familiar yet? 

I am a late recruit to the insane band of scribes who derive pleasure from creating things with words…worse than that, I’m probably the worst type of computer Jurassic on the planet…I bought my first ever laptop four years ago, and even had to learn how to switch it on (seriously!).

Social networking meant a couple of pints down the pub with my mates, and a business cocktail party or three. 

My word, how that’s changed!

I climbed aboard that wonderful pink cloud we all find on finishing my first ever novel over three years ago, then I was off to make my fortune in print. Right? Yeah, right. 

We all know how that works don’t we? Forty agents letters equaled precisely forty rejection slips in very short order. Then along came the miracle. The epiphany. 

The avalanche of whispers in my business ear, as distinguished from my author-ly ear 'Self-publish'. 'Get on to Kindle'. 'You can’t push something into a void'. 'You need a market'. 'An audience'. 'A following'. 

Duh?? You mean, they won’t just turn up in millions and demand my work? 

What a bloody revelation. 

So started the sleeves-rolled-up campaign. The getting on to Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, and insight of all insights, the miracle of blogging. 

God, I'm LOVING IT! And d’you know what? Even if nobody reads the darn things, I enjoy writing them! 

The side benefit has actually turned into the main benefit, namely the friendships and camaraderie I’ve discovered in this remarkably generous-hearted universal writers community. I wouldn’t swap it for quids.

My advice for what it’s worth to any author/writer/dabbler in words, is jump aboard and get immersed in this…it’s a blast. And always remember your manners.

Is there anything holding you back? Was self-publishing one of your career's greatest decisions?

Seumas Gallacher was born in the cradle of the Govan shipyards in Glasgow in the so-called ‘bad old days’ which were really the greatest of days, where everybody was a real character of note.

 

An early career as a trainee banker led to a spell in London, where his pretence to be a missionary converting the English fell on deaf ears.

 

Escape to the Far East in 1980 opened up access to cultures and societies on a global scale, eventually bringing the realization that the world is simply one large extended village.

 

The lifelong desire to write resulted in THE VIOLIN MAN’S LEGACY, the first in a planned series.

 

Seumas' sequel novel, VENGEANCE WEARS BLACK was launched on Kindle in early July 2012, with three other books to follow in the same vein.

You can find Seumas all over the web: 

Twitter: @seumasgallacher

Blog: http://www.seumasgallacher.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/seumasgallacher
Email: seumasgallacher@yahoo.com

 

Many Hats Of Self Publishing

Ahh. . .did the title catch your attention?

As a self published author we wear many hats from writer, editor, copy-editor, typeset, plot-editor, lay-out designer, graphic designer, etc..AND we do it alone. (most of the time)

WRITER:
Without being the writer, you will not be able to move forward on your dream of publishing. You must focus and write every day. It doesn't have to be a mountain of words, but it must be a few in order to get those words on a page and tell your story.

EDITOR:
So you might have a great final editor, but what about the journey to getting it to that final editor. After the first draft, you have to go back and re-edit what you just completed. AND then again, and again until you are positively sure it's ready to go to your editor. THEN the editor will send you edits back. IF you have a wonderful editor like me, JUDY BEATTY, your editor will look over those edits to make sure you got them all or that they got them all.

DESIGN ARTIST:
What? You mean to tell me there is NO cover fairy?? HELL NO!! You have to put on your designer hat and either hire someone that can transform your ideas into a great cover OR try your handy work on your own. I use Laura Morrigan for all my covers. BUT I have the idea in my head and will relate those to her and maybe give her a picture or two to let her know what I'm thinking. Then we collaborate as a team to come up with the best cover! And she makes a home-run every single time.

(A CHARMING CRIME June 12)

FORMAT QUEEN/KING:

Oh, yeah! If you are going to be doing your own formatting, you will need to learn the in's and out's of each on-line ebook distributor. Some take epub while others take the word document. And it's up to you to figure that out. UNLESS you want to spend lots of cashola to pay someone to do it. AND trust me, if I can do it, so can you!!!

ACCOUNTANT:

I know. . .I'm NOT great with money, but I do know that you have to factor in all the above when self-publishing into your budget. You might not be paying for an editor (which out of all of this I HIGHLY recommend), or a cover artists, but you will have expenses. Whether it's formatting software, the latest graphic program or just the coffee that is going to keep you sane through it all...you will spend some money. So make sure you budget before you start down this journey of self-publication.

MARKETER:

Hahahahaaa!!! Did you honestly think that with that cute cover and big ole confidence ego I have is going to get my name and book out there??? TEEEE HEEEEE!! HELL NO!! Can I get a collective HELL NO from the audience???

This might just be the biggest hat of all that you wear.You will need to market and promote not only your book, but yourself from the time you write CHAPTER ONE until you die. This hat might not look that great on you, or might not fit just perfect, but you have to wear it. LET ME STATE THAT AGAIN. . . YOU. HAVE. TO. WEAR. IT!!!! (if you want tips on how to be a marketing machine. . .read through my blog posts....)

WAREHOUSE WORKER:

I know you don't work for Amazon and I know that you don't like heavy lifting. I don't even like lifting my butt out of my chair. BUT you have to get the author swag or your print book out to people. You have to do this! (I know that Createspace and others will physically print and ship your book) If you want a career as close to a traditional published book as possible, you are going to have to buy some of your books and host your own book signing. OR do give aways or have one for yourself....

BUSINESS MANAGER:

What, you don't have an agent?????? YOU ARE YOUR AGENT! Even if you get an agent, you have to be the captain of your ship. You know better than anyone and I mean ANYONE what you want from your career.

Self-publishing is NOT an easy job. But if you keep a positive attitude and occasionally laugh you will be just fine:)

Today, I'm going to wear my writing hat! 

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!!