Leaving the Cocoon

larva noun: the active immature form of an insect, esp. one that differs greatly from the adult and forms the stage between egg and pupa

pupa: an insect in its inactive immature form between larva and adult

cocoon noun: 1) a silky case spun by the larvae of many insects for protection as pupae; 2) a similar structure made by other animals; 3) a covering that prevents the corrosion of metal equipment; 4) something that envelops or surrounds, esp. in a protective or comforting way

If we consider the idea for a novel as larva and the writing of it as pupa, I believe that for most writers we can extend the analogy to include the cocoon.

For most of us, it's a solitary endeavor. The outside world fades into the background as we enter the fictional universe of our own devising and experience the story through the characters. We may struggle, but the conflict is contained within the cocoon until that magic day arrives when it's done.

We stare at the blinking insertion point and realize that it's no longer demanding the next letter, word, sentence, paragraph, scene, and chapter. So, is it ready for prime time? And for an indie writer, that means right now, because the process of creating the product is streamlined to the point that it's almost too easy.

And here, we abandon the analogy with the realization that what exists within the cocoon is not an adult, but something far less complete in terms of form and function. There's work left to do, and we have the choice of remaining within the isolated world at our writing desks or venturing into the threatening environment of a critique group.

I submit that the decision to participate is absolutely essential for most writers, and that a novel will seldom, if ever, reach its full potential without accepting the necessity to challenge ourselves by seeking the comments of other writers. For me, writing and revising a novel within the group experience has been well worth the commitment of time and effort required. Here are some observations from many years at the roundtable.

Groups have a communal personality. Like any social entity, they change over time.

Egos have to be left at home. Once a writer begins taking comments personally, benefit suffers.

Writers need a group compatible with their personality and interests. Depending on where you live, this can be impossible or relatively easy. No groups close by? Start one, and remember that in the world of the Internet, you don't have to write in a vacuum.

Roundtable discussions appear at first glance to be the heart of any group, when in reality the outside associations that develop provide the most benefit. Identifying a few writers in a larger group as critique buddies with whom you can trade material on a regular basis is an effective way to be reviewed more frequently.

Participation requires commitment to the idea that each of us learns by acting both as reviewers and being reviewed, because you will spend more time evaluating other writers' material than vice versa. In my experience, the benefits of reviewing flow from two distinctly different aspects of the roundtable.

First, everyone at the table has read the same submission. In almost every meeting, one or more members will comment on something I didn't notice. Each of these tidbits can become part of my craft, and the lessons learned have generally proven to be at least as valuable as being critiqued.

Second, reviewing manuscripts outside my personal reading and writing interests forces me out of my comfort zone. Unfamiliarity with the content and unique structural elements of another genre is no excuse for not doing my best to offer something worthy of another writer's consideration.

Roundtable comments fall into three basic categories:

• Right on, you know it the minute you hear/read it.
• Way off, you toss it out as being so far off base that it isn't worth considering
•  In the middle somewhere, you take time to let it percolate, and over time determine how much of it you will incorporate. 

Roundtable comments also vary by how often you hear them:

• Some are offered only once, receive no support from other members of the group, and are often the ones easiest to reject.
• But one member can also see something no one else does, and it becomes an item you immediately accept as right on because it needs no supporting opinion.
• Unanimous comments are hard to reject because if the group is good enough to stay with, widely held opinions carry the weight of authority that you have already accepted as beneficial by participating.

In summary:

• Some writers are totally incompatible with any group.
• No group is compatible with all writers who choose to participate in one.
• Mutual-admiration-society (fluff) groups are worthless.
• If you choose to participate, leave your ego at home, wear your thick skin to meetings, stick with it long enough to develop a comment filter that works for you, and do your best to give and receive with equal dedication to the collaborative effort.

 Most of you will be glad you did.

 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.  

Marketing to little people with no money of their own

My fans are enthusiastic, loving, adoring, and...often do a lot of slobbering.

They are also too poor to afford my books. They are children.

So what do you do when your market is controlled by a totally different market?

Other than dropping your book in a Cheerios box or hawking your wares between episodes of Dora the Explorer, how do you reach these wee buyers?

You find the people who cater to kids.

Last week, my long-delayed story book app, Dust Bunnies: Secret Agents, was suddenly DONE. Out. For sale.

I got the email at 7 a.m. and was awake in a flash, dashing to my computer to...do what exactly? Blog to babies? Tweet to tots?

Salvation came in a message from a baby store asking me to do a story time there. What a gorgeous place! What a stroke of luck. They'd found me by my blog and their timing was impeccable.

They had the kids. I had the story. So I thought: If I can do it once, I can do it again.

Some quick emails got amazing response. I'll be taking my story to an elementary school nearby for their early grades. I'm targeting local libraries now with their summer programs.

I've already brainstormed a take away for the kids--a Dust Bunny stick puppet they can color, one that will have the information about the app on it should parents act on their progeny's enthusiasm. It's a bit of extra work, cutting the shape and taping them to wooden sticks.

But that's what *my* children are for.

___________________________________

Deanna Roy is the author of the iPad story book app Dust Bunnies: Secret Agents and middle grade book Jinnie Wishmaker. She is a member of SCBWI and a regular presenter on digital publishing.

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.

One Writer's Journey to Margaritas and Indie Writing

In 1983 I completed my first novel, Glorietta. My sister Rita was the only human who read and edited the manuscript from cover-to-cover. Bless her heart.

With the naiveté of a Chihuahua taking up residence with a pack of wolves, I began the journey of submitting my “baby” to agents and legacy publishers. Like so many novice writers, I was convinced my semi-autobiographical tale would be hailed as the new great American novel followed by fame and fortune.

A good friend had an in with a well-known agent. After querying Mr. Agent, he offered to read the whole manuscript. Time for celebration and margaritas with my hubby.

For the next few weeks, I checked the mail each day waiting for the ticket to my dreams. Weeks turned into months, and at some point, I lost hope of ever receiving a response. The question now, should I call him? Would I be annoying him or would he even remember me? I agonized for another few weeks. To call or not to call. Then one day a letter arrived from NYC.

The letter’s body was one sentence: “Too right on for me.”

That was it. A summary of my life’s work in five words. Definitely time for margaritas with my ever-so-supportive husband.

It didn’t get better from there. Numerous form letter rejections, a couple partials sent with ultimate rejections. I finally got an offer for publication, only with a caveat. I had to “pay” them to publish it. In those days, that was like telling someone your father cheated on his taxes. Mine worked for the IRS.

So I stopped sending the manuscript out and did what any other writer would do: I wrote another novel. Many form rejections, a couple full and partial manuscript requests later, I moved on to novel number three.

One day a fellow novelist brought me a screenplay she’d written. I’d never seen a screenplay before and had always thought those people, (screenwriters), weren’t real writers.

However, by the time I’d finished reading my colleague’s manuscript, I thought, hmmm, I could write one of these things. And it will take me a quarter the time of writing a novel.

I began reading Chris Vogler, Syd Field, Robert McKee, and Michael Hauge, the gurus of how-to screenwriting. Three months later, my first screenplay was born. Within the next few years, number two and number three were added to my résumé.

If you think New York agents screw with your head, try Hollywood. In the next ten years I had three option agreements, two agents, and one manager (don’t ask what the difference is between an agent and manager). But did I ever see one of my scripts on the screen? Well, no. Did I see any $$$? Ah, a little.

However, I received a lot of “this is the best thing I’ve read in years, awesome, fabulous” etc., followed weeks later by receptionists responding to my calls with, “Laura who? No, Mr. Agent (who formerly thought you walked-on-water) is on a conference call.” No return phone calls or e-mails. How hard is it to write a damn e-mail and say, "Sorry, no longer interested?"

So what did this now older, but obviously not wiser, gal do besides go out with her hubby for margaritas? Duh. She began another novel.

Does it make sense that this time around she doesn’t want to get on the merry-go-round? No sir. Not again. She may be dense, but she ain’t no masochist. This time she’s going to control her own fate. She’s going Indie.

_______________________

Laura Resnick-Chavez is the author of the upcoming novel The Girl From Long Guyland.

The Benefits of Amazon's Select Program

I opted into Amazon Select with a couple of titles on the first day it was available, despite being somewhat skeptical of a program that locked me into selling only on the Kindle for 90 days.

I was lucky--I had a couple books on writing that were already exclusive to the Kindle, so I didn't have to do any fast take-downs of my books on other venues.

While those titles did marginally well in the program, mainly through the offering of free promotional days, I never removed my main books (Baby Dust and Jinnie Wishmaker) from Barnes and Noble or iTunes. Why? My sales are perhaps a bit unusual in being 50% Kindle, 25% BN, and 25% iTunes. I was not interested in losing half my sales on a gamble.

But for a new, unpublished indie title, Amazon Select is actually an excellent way to start promotions. You can make the book exclusive to the Kindle for 90 days (the minimum Select period) and then take it out of the program and upload to the other sites.

The benefit is two-fold:

One: the Kindle Owners Lending Library. While your rate of getting "borrowed" by Prime members tends to mirror what sales you might have gotten, the new popularity rankings tend to benefit books that are in Select. And that means higher visibility for sales as well.

Two: free promotional days. The five free promotional days get your book OUT onto Kindles. When someone downloads your book for free, it is registered as a "sale" in Amazon's algorithms even though it was free. So when the person buys or downloads any other book, your cover appears on the page of the other book as something this person "also bought." The more free downloads you have, the more visible your book gets on other book's pages.

Also, the more free downloads your book gets, the more "popular" it becomes in the Amazon system. These popularity lists are very prominent in the store. It most often shows up under your ranking. For example, right now this is the Hunger Games' popularity ranking:

• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #1 in Books > Teens > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction
  • #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Children's Fiction
  • #1 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Children's eBooks > Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror > Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic
  
  
   

Doing pretty well, eh?

It seems that a lot of Amazon readers click on these links to find other books like the one they are looking at, and so if you are on these popularity lists, you get buys.

Going free tends to get you on the popularity list not only while you are free, but you STAY on it when you go back to paid (after a 24-hour "transitional" period between free and paid that I call the "dark ages" where you have a horrid ranking and no popularity.)

Between this and the also-bought covers on other book pages, many authors find that 5000 free downloads tends to translate into about 300 paid sales in the week after being free.

After that, your popularity ranking goes down, other free books knock you out of the also boughts, and you lose your sales "bump." But you never get as low as you had been before you went free. And typically you've made back any investment you put in your book. Most books are $3-$5, so it translates into $600-$1000 earnings for going free. If you have more than one book, you can increase that by 30% if the books are similar, as people sometimes buy your paid book while your other one is free.

The key to the whole thing is getting more than 4000 free downloads, which should get you into the top 100 free books on Kindle. If your free days only get you 1500 downloads or less, you may not see any increase in sales after you go back to paid.

So the key is to get those free downloads rolling. And the key to THAT is to get listed on the main sites with large subscriber bases who download free books.

Before you do a free promotional day with Select, let these web sites know. If you get picked up by Pixel of Ink or Ereader News Today as a featured free ebook--sit back and watch the downloads roll.

The big sites:
http://www.pixelofink.com/sfkb/
http://ereadernewstoday.com/ent-free-book-submissions
http://tracker.kindlenationdaily.com/index Add your book to the tracker and KND will know when your book is free. They also offer $29 promos on your free day.


Smaller sites:
http://www.indiebookslist.com/kdp-select-submission-form
http://darksidepublishing.blogspot.com/2012/02/new-feature-free-with-dsp.html
http://www.freebooksy.com/for-authors

You'll find a number of sites will pull you automatically when you go free, such as onkindle.com and ereaderiq.com. You can help your book be found by adding KindleFreebie and Free tags to your book on Amazon, as well as tweeting with hashtags #kindlefreebie #freebook #free with links. You can shorten your links at www.bit.ly and get access to real-time stats of how often it is clicked.

There is no magic way to get POI or ENT to list you. Tell them early, tell them late--it doesn't seem to matter. They seem to look at your overall ranking and the number of reviews you have and choose a variety of books across genres. But don't skip them. Their backing of your free day is what turns the freeloads into payloads.

Good luck with your promotion!

__________________

Deanna Roy is the author of Baby Dust, Jinnie Wishmaker, and Single Edged Blades.

Size Matters

Last month Tosh addressed the question of Ebook Covers: Do It Yourself or Not?

An excellent question. In my not-very-humble-but-quite-accurate opinion, if you don't have experience in graphic design, you're better off hiring someone, even if you have a limited budget. Classic platitudes notwithstanding, people do judge a book by its cover and when those people can't pick the thing up and hold it, the cover is even more important. (If you're doubtful, search on "do ebook covers matter" and try to find a credible argument to the contrary.)

As an indie author, you can't expect readers to take you seriously if you don't take yourself seriously. That means a professional cover. (And a professional copyedit, but that's another blog post.) That doesn't mean you have to spend a lot of money. I've seen some very nice covers done for under $100.

However, whether you pay someone else or do it yourself, there is one detail that is critical for the success of a cover.

How does the cover look in the sizes that readers will see it online?

When evaluating covers, it's common to view them full screen in high resolution, but online shoppers are going to see lo-res thumbnails in search results. If you have a beautiful cover that is indecipherable at 85x115 pixels, it's not much use to you.

Amazon uses images at 56x86, 85x115, and 190x260, the middle size being the one returned in search results. Check your cover concept at all three sizes.

Since I was not the publisher of the Fred books, I didn't see the early cover concepts. However, the final covers, designed by Brand Navigation, turned out fairly well in thumbnail, with clear images and the title legible on the first and third in the series. The second, not so much.



Consider these cover concepts for Muffin Man, designed by Amanda Cobb. Both looked great in print size (6x9 inches). In thumbnail size, the images on the first are fairly clear, but the title is difficult to read. In the second the title is very legible, but it's hard to make out what's going on in the image.



We found a good compromise in the third, and final, cover concept. Both image and title are clear and legible.



Now more than ever, covers matter, and when it comes to covers, size matters, especially the smaller ones.

---

Brad Whittington is the author of the Fred trilogy, What Would Jesus Drink? and the soon-to-be released 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.