Evaluating the ROI on paid book promotions

Many times when I ask how a fellow author has done on a recent book promotion, I hear, "I got to #500 on Amazon!" Or maybe, "I sold 300 copies!"

Both of those things are squee-worthy, but the excitement of zooming up the charts does wear off during the plummet back down, especially when you take a look at what the financial numbers bear out.

Last weekend, I did a promo with the KBoards. Now, I mainly did this promo to support Harvey, who created an excellent forum that has gained me many amazing author friends and priceless advice. So even bombing out on this promo would have been fine by me. Supporting a site you love is still a valid reason to pony up cash.

But it provided a great opportunity to objectively view a common type of promotion--an ad sent out via an email and social media blast by a web site with large lists of followers and fans.

Baby Dust has been through many promos, so I have a good idea how it does compared to other books like it. A Pixel of Ink promo in June 2012 (which you can't buy, POI chooses you randomly), netted 311 sales in two days. And an Ereader News Today promo last September got me 427 sales in two days for a cost of $30. But those are the heavy hitters, and getting booked with them is partly eligibility requirements and partly luck.

Lots of us will try the more usual outlets, and the Kboards are pretty typical in their numbers of subscribers and social media following.

Since most promos want to promote a sale, I dropped the price of Baby Dust to $2.99, half price, for three days to give all the late viewers time to click through, plus to build on any bonus exposure on Amazon. Three days is what I have found to be a typical longevity of a paid promo.

Normally in three days for Baby Dust on Amazon, I would sell 12 copies at $5.99 and make $50.

• For the three days starting with the spotlight ad, I sold 27 copies at $2.99.
• This made an income of $54.
• Subtract the cost of the ad ($50) and I made $4.
• I hit a high rank of #900 during the promo.

Breaking even on an ad is nice, but I did actually lose $46 by doing this promotion when the full ROI is evaluated, including how much I would have made without it.

• Now, there are other benefits to doing ads. If you have a series, you could sell through to other books.
• You can gain longer exposure due to a bump, although this particular promo didn't create a bump that helped with sales. I was back to 4 sales on day 3.
• If you are getting nowhere at all, and you don't have money coming in, or if it's a new title, then doing a promotion like this is a good idea as it is break-even on its own.

Certainly squee when the squeeing is good, but for long-term sales of a steady book, always evaluate the big picture. What does this promo really do for my book? Will I be better off after the promo effects have died down? And even if the promo breaks even, did I actually end up in a good financial place afterward?

One thing I've learned after two years of self-publishing, when you have a slow steady seller that provides a base income, let it be. Clearly your also-boughts and listings are balanced.

For new books or failing books, an ad like the Kboards is one way to try and launch you into that steady place of regular sales with a low outlay of investment. You can take a look at what their spotlight ads look like (here was mine) and the various types of other ads they offer.
_________________

Deanna Roy is the author of numerous fiction and nonfiction titles under four pen names.

Indentured Servitude by Design

Often when I read one of Brad Whttington’s posts, I get the feeling of “being behind the power curve.” That’s an aviation term for an undesirable condition in which full engine power is offset by very high aerodynamic drag, resulting in minimum airspeed. That same power setting with the airplane ahead of the power curve would result in maximum airspeed. You can think of it as using the most fuel to travel the least distance. In your automobile, it would be like pushing the accelerator pedal to the floor and spinning the tires trying to get out of the mud.

Two characteristics of Brad’s posts put me there: 1) I always learn something in retrospect that I should have known, and 2) he has a tendency to throw down the gauntlet with a statement like, “Now maybe we can convince Tosh to do a post on paying people royalties to do day-rate work.”

This subject relates to an essential consideration for any author when comparing the pros and cons of indie versus legacy publishing, especially now that literary agents are scrambling to offer publishing services to authors. Let’s ignore the fact that this is in violation of the Association of Authors’ Representatives canon of ethics and deal with the practical result of agents acting as publishers.

At the core of the current turmoil in the industry lies the prime motivator for agents and publishers alike, to carve out a piece of landscape in the new world out there. They no longer have a monopoly on printing and distribution, and it’s easier than ever for authors to create their own books and put them up for sale with the potential for reaching a market limited only by how aggressively the products are promoted. We have an alternative to legacy publishing that is more viable than ever before.

Authors and prolific bloggers Dean Wesley Smith and Kris Rusch have written an extensive series of informative articles on how to think like a publisher. Two of their specific topics relate directly to the issue at hand, and they serve as the cornerstones of the title of this post.

Today’s publishing contracts typically contain addendums to the standard boilerplate of the past. One such alteration is to what’s called “the sunset clause” and refers to the criteria in the contract for determining when a book is declared out of print and all rights revert to the author. When sales drop below a defined number of units for a specified number of successive months, the author has the right to request and receive control of the book’s future, whatever that may be.

This is a very important point, because over 40% of all print books published end up as remainders, sold at deep discount or tossed into the maw of a pulping machine to become recycled paper. If a publisher has thousands of copies of a stagnant book lying around in a warehouse, they have every incentive to declare it out of print.

But with ebooks, unlimited virtual online shelf space costs them nothing. Why not hold on to the book rights and benefit from whatever profit potential exists in the future? The result is that publishers don’t want authors to utilize this escape clause, so they alter it to effectively retain rights to the book in perpetuity.

Let’s combine that with how publishers, and now their mutinous agent-cum-publisher sidekicks, establish the structure of royalty payments. They deduct expenses from the list price and pay the author a fixed percentage of the net. To toss a gauntlet back to Brad, we’ll let him provide the figures on how much he earned per copy in his traditionally published Fred trilogy. (Hint: Comparing list price to his cut of the profit pie was a jaw-dropper for me.)

The egregious result of this business model is most apparent when considering how the old guard is positioning itself to snatch control of the ebook from authors, most of whom don’t want to bother with production details. Understandably, they want to spend their time writing and leave the business side of publishing to others. And therein lies the trap.

“Let us handle all that,” they say, which supposedly will cover content/developmental editing, copy/line editing, proofreading, manuscript conversion to ebook digital format, cover design, and promotion/marketing.

“Oh, boy,” says the author. “That sounds like a great deal. No money upfront, and they just take a percentage of each book sold. What’s not to like?”

A lot, actually.

It’s as if you have just made a deal with your lawn maintenance company to pay them a percentage of the value of your home for a task worthy of no more than hourly-rate compensation. Your legacy-inspired and -trained compatriots in this business endeavor have just tricked you into paying in perpetuity for something that cost them a few flat-rate hours. The number of ebooks sold divided into their total venture capital expense quickly turns the concept of net into a dinosaur. After they get their money back, you are giving them the lion’s share of the list price forever. (Please pardon the mixed metaphor . . .)

Authors thereby become indentured servants to the new, improved legacy business model, and it’s totally unnecessary. Hire someone to accomplish each of the production tasks under the simple concept of this service for that compensation and be done with it. Don’t fall for the temptation of making it easy.

In the long run, it’s just not worth setting up your lawn guy to inherit your house.

Tosh is the author of the aviation mystery/thriller Pilot Error, the second-in-series Red Line (Spring 2013), and two non-fiction series: Book One of Wings On My Words, tales from the writer's desk, and Book One of Words On My Wings, tales from the cockpit. Visit him online at toshmcintosh.com.

 

Standing Room Only

On Saturday, November 17, 2012, a panel of five AIW members attended the second meeting of the Lake Travis Fiction Writers (LTFW) to present "How to Publish Your Own Novel." "Kathy Clark" Wernly, a member of LTFW and a legacy-published author who recently joined the ranks of the indies, added a segment to the agenda on how to take traditionally published novels online.

After dealing with the challenge of finding the Old Bee Cave Schoolhouse, protected from the ravages of fire and the criminal element by being tucked between the Bee Cave fire and police stations, we set up tables with our posters, handouts, and books, and then watched in amazement as the room filled to capacity plus some. I thought that we would have enough chairs. Foolish me.

The audience represented a full range of writers, from those with no more than the seed of an idea for a novel to those with completed manuscripts in various stages of revision, including another member of AIW and a few Novel-In-Progress (NIP) critique group members who have not yet published their books.

It's safe to say that I was astonished at the level of interest indicated by the turnout. Even considering the reality that some in the audience will undoubtedly drop out, LTFW appears to have the potential for being a sustainable group with a promising future.

LTFW organizer Pat Evans has done a fantastic job from concept to execution of her idea to form a group ". . . to encourage anyone who is writing a novel or wants to write a novel or who is a published novelist and wants the support and camaraderie of other Lake Travis-area fiction writers." My only comment reference her mission statement is to point out that the utility of her brainchild may well ignore the "Lake Travis-area" modifier.

As moderator of NIP, I am convinced that the new world of indie publishing should be able to nurture not only individual groups, but also the interaction of those groups. At the end of this post, I've included the current LTFW schedule for the next six months. It may well change, and the LTFW site here should be consulted as the final authority, but my point is to illustrate the local availability of resource material for writers. You don't have to toil away in isolation if you don't want to. And as I've mentioned elsewhere on this blog, I am a rabid fan of writing group association.

You will note that LTFW is not a dedicated critique group like NIP. That said, as we enter the fifth year AK (After Kindle) tomorrow, November 19, 2012, NIP may need to adjust its mission statement by including more than roundtable critique sessions.

The founders of Violet Crown Publishers, AIW members Cynthia J. Stone and Laura Resnick-Chavez, announced yesterday that they will be conducting a class on creating the fictive dream. At this writing I have no other details, and I mention it only to illustrate the availability of opportunities for writers to help writers pursue their individual goals.

Here is the LTFW schedule as now published:

Tuesday, December 18, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. "What's Your Genre? The Evolving Target" -- Old Bee Cave School House

Tuesday, January 22, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. "Writing a Synopsis for Agents and Editors" -- Lakeway Activity Center, Room D

Saturday, February 16, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. "POV -- The Essential Voice of the Narrator" --  Bee Cave Public Library

Tuesday, March 19, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. "Bring a 250-word-or-less synopsis of your novel for roundtable review and critique." PROJECTOR CLASS -- Old Bee Cave School House

Tuesday, April 16, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. "The Fine Art of Editing -- a freelance editor's guide" -- Old Bee Cave School House

Tuesday, May 21, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. "Submit and Critique: one volunteer submits 25 pages of their novel for the group to review." (General audience-rated, please.) -- Old Bee Cave School House

Tosh is the author of the aviation mystery/thriller Pilot Error, the second-in-series Red Line (Spring 2013), and two non-fiction series: Book One of Wings On My Words, tales from the writer's desk, and Book One of Words On My Wings, tales from the cockpit. Visit him online at toshmcintosh.com.

Texas Book Festival - Second Half

With another day at the festival under my belt, for a total of 13 hours in the booth, I can report that except for what John Candy in the movie "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" called "barking dogs" in referring to his sore feet, the experience was positive and enjoyable. One unexpected benefit turned out to be multiple opportunities for practicing my spiel when someone asks me what the story is about.

Writers are advised to have ready at a moment's notice what is called a "30-second elevator pitch," a term derived from the following scenario at a writers' conference, and which assumes that the writer's goal is to get an offer of representation from a literary agent:

You didn't get a one-on-one consultation with your dream agent, so you've studied a photograph well enough to recognize him or her no matter how out of date the glamour shot happens to be. Throughout the conference, you've been on the stalk, watching, waiting for an opportunity that never seems to come.

You've seen the agent from afar a few times, surrounded by concentric circles of pushy writers all clamoring for the agent's attention. The conference ends in a few hours, and you've all but given up. One last panel discussion you'd like to attend meets on the fourth floor in five minutes, and you're rushing to get there.

The elevator door opens, you step inside without making eye contact with the only other occupant, stab the button labeled "4" and glance at the person beside you to offer a casual greeting and holy Toledo! It's your dream agent come true.

Panic seizes your tongue, sweat instantly covers your brow, and all you can do is stare at the elevator door even though you know that this is it, the one and only time you'll probably have to pitch your novel to the agent you are convinced will love it. And without that pitch ready, forget about it.

Standing in the booth at the festival, however, visitors are coming to you and you have an opportunity to give it your best shot at generating in a complete stranger sufficient interest in your book to result in a sale. By the end of the festival, I had it down pretty well and felt comfortable with how it was being received.

Practice means little, however, when dealing with some folks. Here are some comments:

• "So, this is a novel?"
• "Have you read ----- by -----? It has a lot about airplane accident investigation in it."
• "A friend of mine runs a salvage company specializing in aircraft wreckage. He knows all about aviation accident investigation. I'm sure he'd be glad to help you out, and I'll give you his contact information if you'd like to talk with him."
• "I read this book that said there are always five pilot mistakes leading up to any accident."
• "Well, you know, once a pilot gets over about 350 hours of flight time, he usually has enough experience to avoid making mistakes."

Spare me, please. But I didn't say that, of course. I smiled, nodded, played like the little dog in the rear window of a car with my head bobbing in agreement.

Cynthia J. Stone and Lara Reznik of Violet Crown Publishers, Beth Fowler and I talked a lot about the booth layout and came up with a number of ideas for the future. With limited space and four authors hovering about, what the visitors can see to attract their attention and how they approach the booth, enter if they need to, and exit, all have to be carefully considered.

And although we're convinced we can do better, we received evaluations from others noting that the poster display on the free-standing grids at the rear of the booth was extremely effective, and we appeared to have more visitors hanging around and talking than many of the other booths. I have no idea if that's true or not, because as reported in my Texas Book Festival halftime report, I never left the booth to see what other writers/publishers had done. My objective was to promote my books, and I couldn't do that while absent from the scene.

All in all, the festival experience was well worth the time and effort, and we're talking about not waiting for October, 2013 to attend our next one.

Tosh is the author of the aviation mystery/thriller Pilot Error, the second-in-series Red Line (coming soon), and two non-fiction series: Book One of Wings On My Words, tales from the writer's desk, and Book One of Words On My Wings, tales from the cockpit. Visit him online at toshmcintosh.com.

Texas Book Festival - Halftime Report

It's Sunday morning, October 28, 2012, and sitting at my computer with my first cup of coffee, I couldn't resist the temptation to document a few personal observations from my experience in the Violet Crown Publishers booth at the halfway point of the Texas Book Festival weekend.

This being my first time attending in any capacity, I had little advance notion of what to expect. Cynthia Stone, her good friend and fellow author Beth Fowler, and yours truly had spent the previous afternoon and last-minute preparation time that morning hauling all the books, poster display grids, posters, chairs, two tables, and small giveaway promotional materials from my truck into the exhibition tent and trying to make everything fit in a limited space. Lara Reznik, jetlagged and coughing, skillfully avoided the set-up chaos by just having returned from a vacation in Europe with her husband Rudy. I'm joking, of course, and luckily she recovered sufficiently after a night's rest at home to join us before the festival began.

I'm no good at the visualization of how the booth should look, so my role became that of a helper. Which is a good thing, because my compulsion to straighten everything up would have been completely incompatible with the carefully designed look of clutter on the big eight-foot table supplied by the festival. Books, books, and more books. Not like Penguin, USA in the booth close by, of course. They filled about three booths on our side of the tent and one or two across the aisle. But for an itty-bitty indie operation, especially with the poster display designed by Cynthia, we had no reason to hang our heads.

Truth be told, I expected to spend seven hours in the booth twiddling my thumbs while shoppers bought all the other books on the table. My three would be sitting in lonely stacks, forlorn and pitifully indicative of no one's interest. I didn't know where to stand. The booths are small, with narrow spaces on both sides of the display table, and no matter where I decided to park, I didn't want shoppers to feel as if they stepped inside, I'd be on them like a used-car salesman who doesn't understand "Just looking" and becomes a shadow.

At one point early in the first hour, a shopper stops and picks up Lara's The Girl From Long Guyland. Beth makes eye contact with Lara and mouths something like (and I paraphrase with embellishment), Pounce on him and sell your book! Lara and I talked a little about this tactic and agreed that we weren't comfortable doing that.

A little while later someone stops and picks up Pilot Error. My heart climbs into my throat as I get ready for the first of what I expect to be many rejections during the day. But this time, Beth uses a different tactic. Rather than wasting her efforts on me, she steps up to the guy and says, "If you'd like to meet the author, he's standing right here."

That's my cue! I shake hands, we talk a bit, and in a drop-my-jaw move, he asks me how much.

"I have a special for you today, sir. You can purchase the novel and receive my two small non-fiction books on flying and writing in a bundle for only ten bucks. Now that's a deal, don't you think?"

Lo and behold, wonder of wonders, he agrees.

Enter the tag-team approach to greeting visitors to the booth. Here's how it worked:

Someone stops and picks up one of the four novels at the head of the table from a stack of a few lying flat with a copy front cover out on an easel, bookmarks casually lying between each book.

Secret eye-signals pass between the authors. An author who didn't write the book engages the visitor in casual conversation, always with the message that the author who did is close by.

Nine times out of ten, the visitor made eye contact, accepted a handshake, and engaged with us.

I've got one day of the book festival behind me and have no business making any observations of import, but a little knowledge has never stopped me before.

I'm an unknown author with unheard of books, and although visitors can be attracted to a cover, flip the book over and read the back-cover description, open the book and read a little of the first chapter, they still have to get past the natural reticence of never having heard of Tosh McIntosh.

Seven hours of standing in that booth has convinced me that personal contact, beginning with a question or two directed at the visitor rather than an immediate sales spiel, opens the door. I often asked the visitor if he or she might be a pilot and/or a writer, and in every case, the conversation shifted easily to what the book was about. And in retrospect, I believe that the author's passion for the book is the key to generating enough interest for the visitor to take a chance with their money.

My bundling tactic has to be considered as well. I sold three books together for an amount that barely covers my cost to pay for the copies and the shipping. But it's not about the money, and never will be for the vast majority of indie or legacy authors.

A book festival is about promotion. Most if not all of my writer friends might read this and think (or more likely say), "Are you just now figuring this out, Tosh?"

Well, yeah. I'm a slow learner, I guess. But in the final analysis, whether or not any of the buyers recommend my books to their friends and assist with promoting it, this has been (and will be today) an amazing experience.

Tosh is the author of the aviation mystery/thriller Pilot Error, the second-in-series Red Line (Fall 2012), and two non-fiction series: Book One of Wings On My Words, tales from the writer's desk, and Book One of Words On My Wings, tales from the cockpit. Visit him online at toshmcintosh.com.

Helping Others Do It Themselves

On Saturday, November 17, 2012, four AIW members will attend the second meeting of the brand new Lake Travis Fiction Writers and present an overview of four distinct paths to becoming an indie author. The segments are:

• The role of the small press in the digital age--Deanna Roy of Casey Shay Press 
• Paths to getting published--Cindy Stone and Laura Resnick-Chavez of Violet Crown Publishers
• Happiness is a legacy publisher in the rearview mirror--Brad Whittington of Wunderfool Press
• Total independence and doing it all yourself--Tosh McIntosh of No Press At All

Without knowing the order of our presentations or how my colleagues will organize their remarks, I’ve decided to address the factors in the current publishing industry that nudged me to choose the indie option, explain why I elected to tackle each of the production steps myself, and describe the workflow required to publish a novel in print and eBook editions.

One of the issues all the presenters will face is that LTFW is so new, and its members appear to include only a few individuals who have either completed a novel or are currently writing one. I don’t think we want to let that diminish the message, however, nor do we want to liken publishing a novel to climbing Mt. Everest.

           

Here’s a list of my talking points:

Arrival of the eReader and advancements in print-on-demand technology have driven the publishing industry into a state of flux that shows no signs of abating.

From the author’s perspective, that’s good news because legacy publishers and their gatekeeper literary agents no longer have a monopoly on printing and distribution, and authors now have a viable alternative to legacy.

That said, the road to publication has to begin with a completed novel that represents a writer’s very best effort, worthy of a reader’s hard-earned money and commitment of time to read it.

Before you choose the legacy or the indie path to publication, consider carefully the advantages and disadvantages of each option.

Although submitting to agents in the hope of being offered a legacy contract deserves serious consideration by any first-time author, I had enough experience with the process to conclude that driving this road to publication has to be accomplished under a caution flag.

I believe it’s more difficult than ever before, and that the contract provisions currently being offered are much too biased toward the publisher.

Simply put, I saw no benefit in waiting any longer for the remote possibility of an offer, especially when combined with the high probability that I wouldn’t be able to accept it.

My decision to go indie included a commitment to minimize the upfront investment of venture capital, which imposed the requirement to teach myself how to accomplish all the production tasks necessary to publish a book.  

Following a brief description of my nine-step workflow, I’ll emphasize that while I did it all myself, I wasn’t alone because my fellow writers provided invaluable “think tank” advice and offered their expertise to augment areas in which I found myself lacking.

And then I’ll close by suggesting that the Lake Travis Fiction Writers have what it takes to create an atmosphere of writers helping writers in a mutual, collaborative exploration of their craft, dedicated to improving their skills, and assisting each other to think like a publisher.

Tosh is the author of the aviation mystery/thriller Pilot Error, the second-in-series Red Line (Fall 2012), and two non-fiction series: Book One of Wings On My Words, tales from the writer's desk, and Book One of Words On My Wings, tales from the cockpit. Visit him online at toshmcintosh.com.

Writers' Groups and the New Era

I've been an active participant in one or more writers' groups for over ten years because I think the benefit on both "sides" of the roundtable is worth the time and effort involved with submitting my work for review and reviewing the work of other writers.

During that decade, the publishing industry has entered a period of upheaval in which the gatekeepers of the legacy monopoly have lost their stranglehold on printing and distribution. The eBook and advances in print-on-demand technology have altered the landscape forever as indie publishing sheds the unsavory implication of vanity and proves that quality is not the exclusive purview of legacy.

Although I was late to the party, I have an excuse. Eighteen months ago, Amanda Hocking and Barry Eisler had not yet made the publishing news headlines. But once they did, and in the same week, the rate of change in the industry accelerated out of control. It seems as if something noteworthy is occurring every day. Keeping up with it could be a full-time job, and most writers already have one of those that unfortunately doesn't involve writing.

 In April, 2011, one active member of the Novel-In-Progress (NIP) Group of Austin had begun the trek into the unknown wilds of indie publishing. As of today, six more have joined her with about 20 titles among the group, and it's obvious that the previous emphasis on submitting material to legacy publishers through literary-agent gatekeepers no longer reflects the new reality of indie publishing.

This last week I assumed NIP moderator duties, and to use an imperfect anology, the transition feels a bit like that of a new CEO facing a period of declining revenues. Attendance and roundtable submissions are both down at a time when it seems that the relevance of writers' groups should be on the rise. Indie publishing offers a realistic option to the current tumultuous environment of legacy, and for those writers who have not yet considered it, the collective experience of fellow group members is a valuable resource.

Looking ahead to the future of NIP, I fully realize that my role as moderator endows me with no more power than that of an arbitrator or mediator. The group belongs to the members and should reflect their common objectives.

How can the group best serve those who are actively submitting as well as those who are not, or those who have embraced indie and those who still seek a legacy publisher? These are questions I feel need to be addressed as the year comes to a close with the last three roundtable meetings prior to the holidays.

A bit of math illustrates the core issue, that of the time available to engage with other writers exploring the craft, and in the new era, how to think like a publisher.

NIP meets twice a month with the exception of Easter weekend and the holiday season in December. That's no more than 21 two-hour meetings, each of which at best provides 1:30 of rountable and what we call free-for-all discussion. The rest is devoted to our "icebreaker" question, announcements, passing out the submission for the next meeting and any shorter "probes." This equates to less than 32 hours per year to engage with other writers. Compared with the hours any active writer spends in the solitary world of the creative fictive dream, that's not a lot.

Time will tell whether the group is satisfied with the status quo or wants to explore ways to enhance our vitality, relevance, and possibly even our ultimate longevity.

Tosh is the author of the aviation mystery/thriller Pilot Error, the second-in-series Red Line (Fall 2012), and two non-fiction series: Book One of Wings On My Words, tales from the writer's desk, and Book One of Words On My Wings, tales from the cockpit. Visit him online at toshmcintosh.com.

Lake Travis Fiction Writers

Please note that the new contact person for the Lake Travis Fiction Writers is:  Gulick@flash.net. 

I enjoy participating in writers' groups because any opportunity to explore the craft and share with other writers the details of an individual writer's journey is worth whatever time it takes. I joined my first group over ten years ago and now belong to Novel-In-Progress (NIP) and two NIP spinoffs called Little Group (El Gee), and, of course, Austin Indie Writers.

I don't know how many writers' groups there are in the Austin area, and one reason is that they tend to lead a quiet existence. Kind of like many writers, strangely enough, wrapped in creative cocoons, toiling away in the isolation of the fictive dream.

It is therefore my pleasure to help announce the impending birth of a new group in town. Well . . . not in town, exactly, unless you live in Bee Cave, but close enough.

Here is the official announcement that appeared in the Lake Travis View, Impact News, Bee Cave Messenger, Steiner Ranch, River Place, and Lakeway Voice, City of Lakeway, two area e-blasts, and on the Facebook page for the Writers' League of Texas.

LAKE TRAVIS FICTION WRITERS TO MEET OCT. 16

If you are writing a novel, want to write a novel, or if you are a published novelist and want the support and camaraderie of other Lake Travis-area fiction writers, come to an organizational meeting of the Lake Travis Fiction Writers, Tuesday, Oct. 16, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at The Old Bee Cave School House in Bee Cave.

Pat Evans of Lakeway is organizing the group, which is sponsored by the Bee Cave Public Library.

"There are a number of writers' groups in Austin and many are outgrowths of the huge Writers League of Texas. But I wanted a group in my neighborhood to help fiction writers share ideas, gain support and receive input from other writers. I was thrilled when Bee Cave Public Library Director Barbara Hathaway enthusiastically offered to sponsor this group," Evans said.

Plans are for the group to meet monthly on the third Tuesday, but there is an option to meet at the library Saturday afternoons.

"The Lake Travis Fiction Writers sounded like a wonderful group for our library's interests. I initially offered our beautiful Bee Cave Library as a venue, but we have limited evening hours. Should the group decide to meet Saturday afternoons, perhaps alternating with Tuesday evenings, the library will provide a venue as a courtesy," Hathaway said.

Hathaway will be the group's first speaker and will review the library's varied services, including computers and research technology.

"We'll also do a roundtable discussion with attendees and find out about their experiences and novels. My role is to organize, publicize and lead the sessions, but this group will be about fiction writers, whether 'wannabes' like myself or published novelists," Evans said.

At some meetings, members will submit works in advance for critique or bring works for short 'read and critique' sessions. At other meetings authors or service providers such as freelance editors or micro-publishers will speak. For the November meeting a panel of independent authors will present, 'How to Publish Your Own Novel.'"

Self-publishing is a hot topic, Evans says. She just returned from a writers conference in California where many workshops focused on self-publishing.

"The message from this conference, as well as the Writers League of Texas conference this past summer, is that fiction writers need editors, both developmental and line editors. Otherwise, their self-published fiction will not stand a chance in the highly competitive market. There is a lot of junk being put online, and buyers are becoming wary. If writers puts novels 'out there' that are not well-crafted and edited, they run the risk of ruining their brands at launch."

The Old Bee Cave School House is an updated facility with lighted parking, located in the southeast corner of the Shops at the Galleria (near Specs), between the Bee Cave police and fire stations at 13333 Texas 71.

Contact Pat Evans at AustinWriterGirl@yahoo.com if you plan to attend this meeting.

Tosh is the author of the aviation mystery/thriller Pilot Error, the second-in-series Red Line (Fall 2012), and two non-fiction series: Book One of Wings On My Words, tales from the writer's desk, and Book One of Words On My Wings, tales from the cockpit. Visit him online at toshmcintosh.com.

Jell-O, Nails, and Miracles

In this age of the Internet, writers have created a communications network that delivers their words to other writers at the speed of light. And since most writers think of themselves as having something worthwhile to say, they are in no way hesitant to do so.

We are in the midst of a transformation in the publishing industry that is changing at that same speed. Keeping up with it can easily consume a writer's every waking moment and leave little time for doing what we are supposed to be doing. But why should we expect anything different?

I think most writers would agree that to finish a first novel and polish it for prime time are more difficult and time-consuming tasks than they ever imagined. For some, it may get easier the second and subsequent times around, but for others it seems as if each novel is like a Pandora's Box. Figuratively opening the lid with the first word on the first page frees the demon to haunt your life once again.

In the world of indie publishing, successfully writing the novel places before you another Pandora's Box with the potential to make the writing of it seem like child's play. To transform that manuscript on your computer into a product and position it for sale demand attention to details that most writers I know simply don't want to deal with, and for good reason.

The best and most productive use of a writer's time is writing. Every hour spent dealing with publishing the novel is an hour that can't be invested in the next one. That said, someone has to do it. If not the writer, then someone hired by the writer, which adds the commitment of venture capital to the hours of equity already invested.

Brad Whittington recently called to our attention an article in The Guardian that documents what we already know. More than half of indie-published authors make less than $500. If you hire anyone to do much of anything to produce your book in any format, you'll spend way more than that. In effect, most of us are paying for the privilege of publishing our novels.

Of all the tasks awaiting the indie author when accepting the role of publisher, dealing with the problem of discoverability is without doubt the most uncertain and mysterious endeavor. And if you pay for publicity in any form, you are gambling with worse odds than you will find anywhere in Las Vegas.

But you don't have to spend anything to hit the jackpot, right? All you need to do it enroll in KDP Select, accept the conditions imposed by Amazon, and entrust the first 90 days of having your book on the market to what many authors embrace as a sure thing.

Well, it's time to shake hands with reality again. Another bit of information shared by Brad offered the observation that Amazon's basement has filled to the point of overflowing with a flood of indie-published junk enrolled in Select. And further, that this repository of trash has become the new slush pile. Here's the quote from the source:

"These are the people who create slush piles for agents if they go the trad-publishing route. But in the self-pubbing world, these kind of people create a slush pile on Amazon, which deals with them efficiently by never showing them on a bestseller list or in the list of "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought." I suspect that Amazon's method of dealing with slush is more efficient than the average agent's method."

Interesting thought, although it's comparing apples and oranges.

Any submission to an agent that ends up in the slush pile has failed to meet the agent's standards. Ignoring for the moment the question of whether those standards are valid, at least they were applied.

Other than complying with Amazon's contractual provisions for Select, there is no selection going on. Anyone can enroll anything in Select, so they did. By the thousands. Jump on that rocket ship and ride it to the stars of indie success.

In the months since Select first arrived on the scene, authors have engaged in lively e-conversation about every conceivable facet of the game, and let's acknowledge that fact up front. The time-sequenced series of Select benchmarks plays the numbers game that all begins with a single element of Amazon's algorithms for determining how a book is treated: counting free downloads as sales. From that point all things magic flowed.

The problem that created the Select slush pile is no different at its core than the reason an agent's slush pile reaches the ceiling. The majority of people who think they can write a book worthy of a reader's money and time are very much delusional.

But in the case of Select, the gate has no keeper. Who wouldn't expect a massive rush to publish?

Our own Brad Whittington did everything right with Muffin Man and achieved phenomenal success with Select. We had an insider's viewpoint as he planned and implemented the series of actions required.

But before any of us take away lessons he taught us and use them for our own benefit, we have to acknowledge yet another reality that trumps every other consideration. I hate to keep quoting the guy, because it swells his head (not really!), but here it is:

Write a good book.  

Which he most certainly did.

The final point of this post is this: residence in Amazon's basement does not automatically plaster the slush label on the cover of a book whether or not it's enrolled in Select.

Analogous to the fact that a novel sitting in slush piles on the desks of 99 agents can hit the jackpot on the desk of agent number 100, good novels, worthy of a reader's time and money, do lie undiscovered in the darkness.

Which brings me full circle to the final final point: Creating discoverability is like trying to nail Jell-O to the ceiling. If you can "git 'er dun," as the redneck comedian says, you have performed a feat worthy of being called a miracle.

And they do happen, right?

Tosh is the author of the aviation mystery/thriller Pilot Error, the second-in-series Red Line (Fall, 2012), and two non-fiction series: Book One of Wings On My Words, tales from the writer's desk is available now, and Book One of Words On My Wings, tales from the cockpit is coming soon. Visit him online at toshmcintosh.com. 

From Wannabe To Indie Author By Way Of Traditional Publishing

My journey (from wannabe to published to has-been to indie) might be helpful for others who are going through similar angst. This is long, not because my life is so fascinating, but because it marks all the stages of the metamorphosis of my attitude toward writing.

JOURNEY TO PUBLICATION - THE JOY OF WRITING

I started writing fiction in 1981 when I got a computer. Like a lot of other wannabes, I wrote complete crap. Slowly, and I do mean slowly, I got better.

I made a brief attempt to get a kid's book published in the late 80s. I was also living the American dream by working three jobs and still going into debt.

After several months, I realized I was spending all my free time managing submissions and rejections and not writing. I also realized that my odds of getting published were worse than winning the lottery. I decided to quit using my precious writing time doing what I hated (clerical work) and instead doing what I loved (writing).

I abandoned the thought of being published and continued to write, as I always had, for the sheer joy of writing.


In 1991, my stuff fell in the hands of Robin Hardy, bless her heart. She liked it, pitched it to her editor, and it went nowhere. I forgot about it and continued to write for the joy of it. Ten years later I'm in Honolulu. Robin tracks me down, tells me she has a new publisher and a new editor. He liked my stuff and wanted to talk to me. Six months later I had a contract. That book is dedicated to Robin Hardy.

PUBLISHED AUTHOR - THE JOY AND PAIN OF BEING PUBLISHED

Welcome to Fred came out and I was elated. I was a published author! Woo hoo! But, like most newbie authors, I became frustrated with the marketing efforts. No knocks on the publisher. They did everything they said they would. My frustration was mainly due to my unrealistic expectations and lack of industry knowledge. Living with Fred and Escape from Fred came out. It was nice to have them on the shelf, but over time I became less gruntled as they stayed on the shelf instead of flying off it.

NOW WHAT? - THE ANGUISH OF NO CONTRACTS

Fred was done. I had no new contracts, my own fault because I had no idea what to write next. For the previous five years I had been either writing or releasing a book. I liked being able to say, "My next novel comes out in May." I needed to have a book in the pipeline. I became desperate and borderline depressed. I panicked, came up with a story, threw together a proposal, and my agent sent it out to eight houses that either ignored it or rejected it, and rightfully so. It was crap.

WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?

So here I was, desperate and depressed because next year there wouldn't be a new book with my name on it on the shelf. Then one day, while I was feeling sorry for myself, I had a realization. I'm a published author! There are books out there with my name on them. They may be in bargain bins and cutout racks and used bookstores (and my attic), but they are real, published books.

In the 80s if somebody had told me I'd be a multi-published author, I would have been ecstatic. But here I was, having had the joy not only of writing these books, but of seeing them in print and win awards. I'd achieved something that only a small percentage of the population will ever do, and I was depressed. What was wrong with me?

RETURN TO JOY

I realized that I was unhappy because I was no longer writing for the joy of it. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy writing the Fred books. I enjoyed it immensely. But joy was no longer my motivation. Seeing my name on another book on the shelf had become my motivation. And it was making me miserable. I was resentful when I should have been grateful. Then I realized I had already solved this problem 20 years earlier.

I abandoned the thought of being published and returned to writing for the sheer joy of writing.


AND HE LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER – GOING INDIE

I came up with some new ideas and wrote my butt off, producing three novels, all in third draft or higher. It was wonderful. Then I had to decide what to do with what I had written.

During the interim the Kindle had revolutionized publishing. I spent all of 2009 and 2010 debating the question of whether to look for an agent or go indie.

In 2011 I decided to pull the trigger on the indie market and spent the year polishing one of my new novels, Muffin Man. It was released on April 1, 2012. It may take off or it may tank. Either way, I know one thing will be true.

From here out I write for the love of writing and not out of desperation to get a book with my name on it on the shelf. Because, that's not why I write. Not anymore. Again.

---

Brad Whittington is the author of the Fred trilogy, What Would Jesus Drink? and Muffin Man.

Ebook Covers: Do It Yourself or Not?

As so well documented in Dean Wesley Smith's Think Like a Publisher, the decision to go indie requires an up-front, unwavering dedication to the practical aspects of getting a book to market. This post addresses only one of the tasks facing a new indie author, that of designing a cover for an eBook, and I'll limit the scope to the question indicated by the subtitle.

Which reminds me of a favorite bit of dialogue from the movie Jurassic Park:

Hammond (Richard Attenborough): I don't think you're giving us our due credit. Our scientists have done things which nobody's ever done before...
Dr. Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum): Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could that they didn't stop to think if they should. 

First, let's deal with the issue of whether an eBook cover is important. The answer is an unequivocal "Yes," but it's not my purpose here to justify that opinion. If you don't believe it, stop reading now. If you're unsure as to what you believe, do some research and the tally the results. Or save yourself the trouble and take my word for it. Respected sources will always vote in the affirmative.

If you're still here, thank you. Now consider the next important question, which is: Can an amateur with no professional training in graphic design come up with a cover that works? If your answer is "No," quit reading now. If you've seen the cover for Pilot Error and think it's ineffective, quit reading now. If you like my cover and you're unsure about whether your want to try it, I recommend that you do some more research. Many online sources help you through the process of cover design. But in this case, you'll have to weigh two sides of the issue.

Graphic designers will justifiably maintain that they can do a better job than any amateur. And that's not a matter of false advertising. They do it for a living and have the training and practical experience required. It's analogous to the famous words (paraphrased) of Red Adair, oil-well firefighter: "If you think Adair Enterprises is expensive, try hiring an amateur."

But that raises the question, "How good does a cover have to be?" Award winning? Capable of eliciting gasps of admiration from all who view it, readers and other graphic designers alike? Or can we consider that the most basic purpose of the cover is to stay out of the way by not shedding the interest of potential readers? And if the cover entices the reader to click on the thumbnail image or the sample, has it not served its function?

When facing this decision, I researched the cost of hiring a professional, and economic considerations ultimately forced me to design my own cover. I began with full acknowledgement that it would be an experiment, and that I might have to abandon the effort. But with more time to invest than discretionary funds, I researched the basics of cover design and opened up Photoshop Elements 8 for the very first time.

This "Photoshop for Dummies" application came bundled with a scanner I'd purchased the year before, and this yours-truly dummy was immediately overwhelmed by all the icons and menus and windows and a blank screen with nothing in it that I was going to have to fill with a cover. 

This post will not address the details of what turned out to be over two months of steady effort teaching myself how to use the application and design a cover. And when I had one ready to show my fellow writers, the comments ranged from thumbs down, to level, to up, just as they do when I ask for comments on the words behind the cover.

And as in all things writing, it became an iterative process of revising, accepting comments, revising again, until I finally gazed at a version with confidence that I had designed a cover that did exactly what I thought it should. Could it be better? Undoubtedly. Does it have to be better? I don't think so. Would I like it to be? Absolutely.

And maybe the next one will be. 

In the meantime, I leave you with this: If you are facing this decision in your indie journey and are willing to spend between $200-1000 for a professionally designed cover, save yourself the headache of doing it yourself. But if for whatever reason you need (or simply want) to give it a go, there's something especially rewarding about packaging your words in your own cover.

Which again reminds me of the scientists in Jurassic Park . . .

Tosh McIntosh is the author of Pilot Error and the upcoming Wings on my Words: Tales from the Writer's Desk, Words on My Wing: Tales from the Cockpit, and Red Line, second in the Pilot Error series.

Get It Right

Aside from a court summons, few things will jar a reader out of a novel’s vivid and continuous dream so much as typos and misspellings.

The Dogs of Mexico was perfect. Willing beta readers had found gobs of mistakes—odd hitches and glitches of all sorts. Good. Thank you. I uploaded to Create Space and ordered four copies.

When they arrived, I started reading. Gaaaaa! I beelined it to Office Depot and bought a pack of 100 little arrow stickers and used them all on penciled notations, all the while praying no one would order Dogs before I got it revised.

I uploaded this new “perfect” version to CS. When the proofs arrived, I started reading . . . What! My brain went cockeyed; heart attack imminent. In short, I used up those 100 stickers again, and then some.

Okay. Finally, it really is perfect. Just as I’m ready to upload a third time, I get an email from my good friend Tosh McIntosh, author of Pilot Error. He pointed out just over one full page of missteps. I’m struck dumb. Some I had already caught; at least half I hadn’t, including a glaring typo on the back cover: “Pulishers Weekly.” Since I had already formatted the novel for CS and Kindle, I had to do a separate search through each one again.

Now I’m ready to upload to CS and Kindle again . . . but I hesitate . . . what else have I missed?

Dean Wesley Smith’s blog of Feb. 10, states:

But even on the great jobs out of traditional publishers, there are no such things as Perfect Books. Just doesn’t ever happen. And forget tastes in that equation. Every book has mistakes. Lots of them.

Smith has at least a hundred publications under his belt, and while I give credit where credit is due, I suggest that perhaps he can afford be a little more cavalier about this than the rest of us.

Flaubert spent an entire day trying to decide exactly the use of one comma in Madam Bovary. I like his work ethic. Despite my snafus (or perhaps because of them), I say louder than ever: Take your time; get it right.