How Do You Promote Something Written With A Pseudonym?

Tweet
by Kelly DeBie

The rumors are true. I’ve been “writing” a few books for a while now, which is a round-a-bout way of saying that there are some really awesome books that mostly reside in my head, none of which have found their way to paper in a legitimate enough form for me to really refer to them as books.

I started one eons ago now, when I was in an entirely different place and time. Though that book still may end up manifesting in some form someday, it's not a reflection of where I am currently, and I've got other books to write these days.

One of them exists now in a form that I can comfortably call a book. There is a table of contents, a rough outline of chapters, a few completed chapters and a running list of things I need to make sure I include.

When I'm in the zone, I'm pounding out 3,000+ words a sitting.

It appears I'm finally in the place to write this book, and this one will get finished.

The trouble with this particular book is a simple one, but one that will inevitably make getting it published someday much more difficult. It is this: I can't attach my name to it. I can't have it associated with me. I need to use a pseudonym.

This presents an interesting problem.

I have a few contacts in the publishing world, and may have to call in a few favors...but this book is going to have to be completely amazing for a publisher to take a risk on it, particularly when I refuse to associate myself with it directly.

OR

I can self publish, accepting the truth that I will be almost completely limited in my ability to promote it, at least to any of my already established fans, readers and contacts. If I call in favors from the people I know, they will obviously know that I wrote the book. If enough people know, everyone will.

What to do, what to do?

Fortunately, the book is nowhere near done. Once it's done, I will almost certainly edit it for twice as long as it takes to write it. After that I will likely ask a few trusted friends to proof it for me, and depending on what they say entertain the idea of bringing in an editor.

Then I will have to make a decision. 

I suppose that in the meantime, I should start working on setting up a social network presence for this alter ego of mine. I'd tell you what I pick for my pseudonym, but then I'd have to kill you. 

Not really, but you get my point.

If anyone out there has advice for me, lay it on thick and rich. I have no clue how I'm going to do this.

The Most Effective Hand Selling Technique For Authors I've Ever Seen

Tweet

by Jody Aberdeen

My first public signing as an author, independent or otherwise, happens at the end of the month.

I don't know what the rules are Stateside or elsewhere, but in Canada, when you're an independently published author and you want to market your book, there's only one show in town: Chapters-Indigo, our big happy national chain of bookstores, kind of like Barnes and Noble, only more awesome! 

(And I'm not saying that just because I work there on weekends and some evenings).

As such, it's rather fortuitous that our fearless leader Carrie Bailey decided to go with this topic this month, and also rather serendipitous that I found myself, two weeks ago, shadowing a fellow independent author who had what I and Mercury astronaut Gordo Cooper like to call "the right stuff". 

What is the right stuff?  You can see Carrie's recent entry for some great techniques, but I'd like to share what I learned from this writer.

Toronto author Yahaya Baruwa is the twentysomething author of his novel (and the first of a trilogy) called Struggles of a Dreamer, having migrated here in his teens from Nigeria to seek his fortune.  Unhappy with the cookie-cutter templates offered by such print on-demand companies as Lulu and iUniverse, Yahaya decided to start his own publishing company dedicated to his own project.

At one point, Yahaya was selling his book door to door in affluent neighbourhoods in Toronto and its suburbs.  He has also marketed an infomercial-style YouTube commercial for his book, offering a free can of Tim Horton's coffee with every book purchase. 

Yahaya has faced every kind of rejection you can imagine: doors slammed in his face, being told off, having his work criticized to his face.  He does his signings predominantly alone, requiring him to travel with his books and banners to faraway places such as my own store out in Milton, about 40 miles away from the eastern side of Toronto.

He has hired teams of marketers to either go door to door or promote his book in their own businesses and social circles, taking 50% as profit for each book they sell (an idea I toyed with a long time ago, but didn't actually implement...kinda kicking myself now for all the lost potential sales I could have had).

For his efforts and entrepreneurial spirit, Yahaya Baruwa has earned close to six figures in revenue over the past two years from Struggles of a Dreamer alone, making him arguably the most successful independent author in Canada.  And he's just getting started.

A Highly Effective Technique

Yahaya's sales technique, which I told him I was shamelessly emulating for my signings for "Convergence",  is the most effective model I've seen.  I had the chance to shadow him during my shift at the store during his signing.  Here's my takeaway:

1. Positioning

- Get your table at the front of the store.  Set up eye-catching props and signage, but nothing too gimmicky.  Yahaya set up his banner on a stand and a small sign on his table in front of his books.  That's it.

- Look good.  Guy Writers, wear a blazer and dressy jeans.  Girl Writers, wear.....whatever you'd normally wear to a professional kind of job, I don't pay attention to such things.  (Probably one reason I'm still single...but I digress).

- Wear comfy but good looking shoes, with insoles if you, like me, are heavy on your feet.  The comfortable shoes rule is important because you should also...

-  Be standing the whole time.  Yahaya had no chair.  It kept him out of the comfort zone of sitting at the table, using his books and props as a fortress to hide from his potential customer base.  Do the same thing.

2. Approach

- Build up your energy before you start.  Could be through meditation, creative visualization, or smoking some crack cocaine (this still being Rob Ford's Toronto and all...for now), but make sure you're in a positive, outgoing, energized mood when you start.

- Meet the eyes of every customer who comes in.  Smile and say hello.  Ask them: "Would you like to hear about my book today?". 

- If they say "no", and most of them will, don't just take it and feel rejected.  Instead, brand yourself in their minds.  Yahaya's method is particularly good.  "That's no problem.  Would you at least remember the title of my book: 'Struggles of a Dreamer'"?  Nine customers out of ten will say yes.

This kills two birds with one stone: you're able to shake off the rejection (which, admit it, is your biggest fear) AND you brand yourself in the process.  

The branding component is especially effective.  Days after Yahaya's signing, I was telling a co-worker at my full-time job about it and she said, "Wait, is this the guy who wrote 'Struggles of a Dreamer'?"  Turns out she had seen him at another store, declined to buy his book, and was asked the same question.  This shit works, y'all!

- If they say "yes", pause your sales pitch and introduce yourself. Shake their hands, get to know their names.   Personal connection and energy is what separates a shitty salesman from a good one.  People like feeling empowered, and few things empower a customer more than a real connection.  And I'm serious: be authentically interested.  Who are these people who have just said "yes" to your book? Don't you want to know? 

-  Prep your elevator pitch for your novel.  You should already have this ready in the form of your cover jacket description.  If you find that what you've written is a little too wordy to be spoken, then reduce it until you're comfortable rolling it off your tongue (and, um, consider doing the same with your cover jacket description in the next edition).  Should last no longer than twenty seconds to say it all out loud.

- Emphasize the now.  Yahaya tells his customers "I'm in the store for today only, and if you buy my book, I'd be more than happy to sign it to you."  Really, if you like reading, how often do you get the opportunity to have the author stand right in front of you to sign it?  It's quite a privilege, even if we ourselves as authors don't think so, and it's a great nudge to buy now.  After all, he's only here for one day.

- Know when to STFU!  Yahaya makes his case in under thirty seconds, then does one of the most critical things in the process:  he hands them a copy of the book....then says nothing.  This is an old rule: you negotiate, then you shut up.  As my Dad says about buying a car: "whoever talks first loses".

Everyone likes to buy, no one likes to be sold. At this point, you've done all you can do: ball is in the customer's court to buy or not buy.  If they say no, take your book back, thank them for their interest and for meeting them, then move on.

(And, of course, ask them to remember your title). 

And if they say yes, thank them for the sale, sign their copy - making sure to spell their names right, for Valen's sake - and shake their hands before directing them to the cashier. 

Understanding What's At Stake

As a bookseller with Indigo, I've seen a lot of independent authors come in.  They don't do well.  They fiddle with their phones, they don't interact with customers (or do so poorly), no eye contact.  They don't smile.  Some of them even get up from their signing tables and parade around the store.  That's why the average independently-published author sells only two or three copies of their books in any given four-to-six hour sitting. 

By contrast, Yahaya brought 50 books with him and sold 40 in a single visit.  The only reason he didn't sell all 50, in my view, was because he showed up in the afternoon and we had to close the store.  At an average of about $10 profit per book (minus Indigo's cut), Yahaya made $400 in a day, or a little under what I make in a week working for 40 hours for someone else at a non-writing job.  

And it's a good book.  I'm really enjoying Struggles of a Dreamer, which I find to be very reminiscent of all the great things I loved about Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist, but told with multiple levels of narrative that, though it took a little while to adjust to at first, I'm now very much enjoying.

Guys and gals, if you set up a signing event, don't waste your time or your venue's time by screwing it up being timid.  Even if it's just for those few hours, you need to evolve yourself into an effective author salesman.  No one's asking you to push something that other people won't want: all you need to do is let your passion for your own story that you've written find an outlet through effective technique, and you'll win.  It takes practice and rehearsal, but you can do it.  

Yahaya Baruwa isn't all that much different from me: in many ways, he's just an ordinary guy with a dream. If he can do it and he's an ordinary guy, why can't you? 

My signing's on Saturday, July 13th, from 12:00pm to 4:00pm at Indigo Milton, 1180 Steeles Ave in Milton, Ontario, about 40 minutes outside of Toronto.  This will be the first of many.  If you live in the area, feel free to stop on by and watch me demonstrate my shameless adaptation of Yahaya's highly effective technique. 

Visit www.strugglesofadreamer.com to see Yahaya's book and learn more about him.

And, of course, once I get everything nice and updated, visit www.jodyaberdeen.com to find more information on my novel, "Convergence".   

Stay tuned for Part II, which I'll write after the signing itself...

Do it yourself, for yourself

Tweet

By Clark Brooks

I published a book last week. What's that? Why, thank you! Yes, I'm very pleased. It's on sale at Amazon.com and at the on-line store at my personal web site among other places. Again, thank you very much. What's that? Oh, I decided to go the self-publishing route. Hey wait! Where are you going?

Are you one of those people who still attaches a stigma to self-published books? Aw, come on, don't be that way. Listen, I know there are stereotypes out there:

• Self-published authors are lazy: They lack the ambition necessary to get their works published "legitimately"
• Self-published books are vanity projects: Some authors just want to be able to see their name on the cover of a book.
• Self-published books aren't good: A self-published book was probably rejected several times by "real" publishers, because it didn't stand up to standard quality control processes like editing or proof-reading and/or it just sucks.

As is the case with all stereotypes, there's some truth there. However, I can assure you, at least in my case, my book was thoroughly scrutinized by professionals (they cashed their checks, that's for sure) for quality control purposes. Whether it's any good or not is for the reader to determine, but it went through extensive edits. Vanity? Not to brag (honestly), but between my blog, my sportswriting and various other published works, the novelty of seeing my name on something has pretty much worn off. Okay, it's still a thrill to see it on the cover of my book, but that's not the reason I did it. And as far as being lazy... well, all right, I'll cop to that, to a degree. I simply didn't want to go through the whole query letter-rejection-find an agent-more letters-more rejections procedure. Not because I have thin skin and fear of rejection but because that stuff just doesn't interest me. I don't care about it. Writing query letters takes time away from writing content and days are too short as it is. I didn't want to do it so I didn't do it. Just like so many writers conferences and workshops that focus on How To Get Published (ie: navigating the quirks and perils of an archaic system designed to stack the the odds heavily against you even if you do everything exactly correct) instead of How To Write More Gooder, it's a waste of time.

Personally, I wanted to put my material into a traditional format (a book) that I could put in people's hands. I wanted to work with people (editors, illustrators, etc.) with whom I wanted to work. I wanted complete control over what the final product would look like. I wanted to retain full ownership of every piece of it. I wanted to be actively involved in the marketing and distribution of it, on schedules set by me. I wanted all of that and very little of it would be afforded to me by submitting to the traditional publishing process. In exchange, I might have gotten my book on the shelves at Barnes and Noble for a year, maybe. For me, that trade off wasn't good enough.

Someone who gets their hands on a lump of clay is a sculptor. Someone who puts paint on canvas is a painter. Someone who can get sounds out of a guitar or a piano is a musician. Yet when it comes to writing, someone who doesn't follow the one long-established path from point A to point B doesn't deserve to be considered a legitimate author? That's nonsense, but writing is the only creative discipline where that provincial mindset still holds sway. One need look no further than the crumbling remains of the music industry to see that not only is it not necessary, it's probably not even sustainable.

The gatekeepers of the traditional publishing process still serve a purpose for those who feel it suits them, authors and readers, and that's fine for them. But if you think there's still just one way to get things done, you're simply not paying attention. After all, why should anyone wait to be let in through a gate when there are so few walls to keep them out?

The Connection Between Bloggers and Their Fans

Tweet

by Kelly DeBie

Over the past month, all the contributors here at Peevish Penman have written about book reviews from every angle imaginable. They’ve discussed the accuracy of them, whether they are credible and whether they are something that writers should be concerned with at all.

Many of them are published authors and have much more personal experience in the area than I do, so I’m deferring to their assessment of the topic. Instead, I thought I would take this time to write about what I am more familiar with, which are the comments left on my writing, both on the blog itself and through my social media connections.

As I’ve gained more readers, I’ve also seen an increase in comments left. It’s an interesting dynamic sometimes, as I allow for anonymous comments to be left on my blog.  I’ve found that people tend to be far more bold with what they say when they are able to hide their identity. Sometimes this makes them more crass, more offensive, more obnoxious. As the blog owner I reserve the right to refuse to publish those comments that cross a line, particularly if left anonymously. I refuse to allow my site to be used as a platform for people to declare hatred, bigotry, or display any other unpalatable opinions.

Though allowing anonymous comments comes with it’s drawbacks, I’ve found many times that anonymous comments tend to be more honest, probably because of the secret nature of them. On Blogger, anonymous comments are truly anonymous, and there is no connection to any profiles or any way for me to ever know who left them. This secretive nature may encourage people to be more critical of my writing, or of the topics I write about, because there is no fear of the message being connected to them.

As a writer, I appreciate the honesty.

The comment universe on Facebook and Twitter is very different than what occurs on the blog itself primarily because of the fact that every comment is attached to the user’s profile and it is visible to anyone who uses those platforms. While that attachment certainly tempers the comments left by many people, there are always a few who say what they want regardless of the connection to them.

On my Facebook page, I very specifically say that I welcome all opinions and commentary, so long as people can remain respectful towards me and towards my other fans. For the most part, this request of respect works. I have only had to ban one fan for being disrespectful in over four years of page administration. (off to knock on wood now...)

The discussions on Facebook often take unexpected turns, usually based on someone misinterpreting something someone else says, or their personal experience altering their impression of what I write. I have been blamed for what other people have commented on my writing before, as though I have any control over how they process it.

The consequences of the comments on my writing on Facebook have been big ones for me personally at times. I’ve had friends get into arguments with one another. I’ve had friends and family get angry with me. I’ve had passionate debates with complete strangers. I’ve thought about giving it all up more than once.

What keeps me going is the connections I make with my readers, my fans.

The nature of any form of online self-publishing, blogging included, is that it allows me to have an immediate connection with my readers. Consequently, they can give me feedback on every single thing I ever write, for better or worse, in real time. There’s no time lag. There’s no editorial process to wait through. There’s not a long period of time between pushing the publish button and knowing what people think. If they love it, I know right away. If they hate it, I know that right away too.

The immediate nature of Facebook, the impulsiveness with which people comment and post, tells me more often than not that they are being honest. Their first impression is the one they give. The anonymous comments left on my blog, often even more honest, even if brutally so at times.

As writers, we want to be relevant. We want to make connections with our readers. We want to know that people read what we write, that they care enough to tell us what they think. We want them to be honest with us, to be critical of what we say and how we say it, and then we want them to come back for more.

I’m happy to write in a medium that lets that all happen almost always openly, almost always honestly and almost always immediately.

How Old is Your Book in Book Years?

Tweet

by Carrie Bailey

"Hi, my name is Carrie and I am an independent author." I said nervously.

"Hi, Carrie," groaned the room full of supportive peers. That was when I broke into a frantic explanation of how wanting to get reviews of my books had caused my life to spiral out of control... 

"...and then I blackmailed the guy, which I know is wrong, but..." 

Every time I take my writing career to the next level, I feel like I need a support group to confess to. Maybe that's why I host this multi-author blog - to surround myself with other people who can and sometimes do look me straight in the eye and say, "Yes, you're going too far. Put the gun down."

That's just my overactive imagination talking. I AM FINE.

Or am I? Last night, I had a Skype conference with Clark Brooks a writer I've long been convinced is a comedic genius and a favorite of mine to read. He was struggling with the late stages of assembling a book he'd written and found the process incredibly discouraging. I'd been there before, but I'd gotten past that hurdle of frustration and doubt. I have three short works, which I've put together and released through Amazon and Smashwords. By the time I finished the third, I felt like an expert.

Come on a tangent with me for a second into the details of my life for one moment... I'm a single mother who, most of the time, was too young to be raising a child without the support of the deceased father, my family, or anyone really other than neurotic social workers who wouldn't take, "You need help more than I do," for an answer. My now 17 year old is an only child.

I can say that bringing a book to life is a lot like having a baby. It's overwhelming. You might call it off after one attempt, as I did with parenting, but where I can't confirm that children are easier to raise in batches, I will say producing books does get easier with experience. Though I am at the infant stage with both of my books. I released The 3 Indispensable 3 Rules for Taking Charge in February of this year and followed up last month with Bungle of Oz. It was like having twins.

Clark, my friend, is still pregnant. No wonder he is nervous. We authors have to support each other through this.

But, me? Yeah, I'm still a frantic new author. I don't know what I'm doing or how to get meaningful reviews. And I'm so proud that I'm over sharing on social media and bragging about each minor accomplishment my books have.

"Oh, isn't that so cute!" I say to the other indie authors on Facebook. "Someone has written a positive review for my book on their author blog. And look there! Three people have retweeted the link to it. And what's that? A sale. Author so proud of her little booky-wooky."

Let me get my wallet out, here's a family photo:

Sob!! They grow up so fast don't they? Wail! Boo-hoo!

You can slap me now, but "How old is your book in book years?" How many do you have? Has it gotten easier? Do you know what to expect now? Can you remember what it was like the first time?

No, by the way, the books do not actually compare to my son. But, he has taught me a lot about life and what a person can achieve with time and patience. He's brought me coffee when I slowed down. He's shared my work with his friends. He's been my number one fan.

When I look at him today, I don't see the struggles anymore. There were times when I couldn't believe I could even keep him alive and safe and out of jail and still in school and free from tattoos for another month. I cried for help every other year, desperately and with a box of kleenex while hiding in my closet, but in the end I have a handsome, healthy, good natured son.

Anything worthwhile requires dedication. I've learned that from parenting and I now apply this hard learned lesson to every great endeavor, especially writing. Doing anything new takes time and patience and I've also learned that 17 years can go by incredibly fast. And I've also learned that anything worthwhile will be hell 80% of the time until you arrive. My son has prepared me...for ANYTHING.

Now, as I cradle my infant books in my file folders, I know if I can be a good parent to my son, I've got a fair shot at being a good author to my little booky-wookies, too.

Tweet

In Which I Stop Submitting for Awhile

By Gayle Francis Moffet

Having recently written a post that breaks down the different kind of rejections a writer can receive and why none of them are bad, it may seem weird to admit that I'm hitting a point where I simply don't want to submit for awhile. Here's the thing:

• Finding markets that fit your work takes time.
• Waiting for responses from markets takes time.
• To really see the results of submitting, you have to keep up a steady stream of writing to continually send out.

The first two points are points I can generally work with. Finding markets and waiting to hear from them are part of the writing process to me, as I'm sure they are for many writers. You write. You edit. You submit. You wait. The problem I've been having lately is that while I'm still writing, I'm not writing anything I can submit.

You see, I've spent the last couple of months writing comics. Well, one comic that keeps getting longer (and more awesome), and comics don't require a submittal. In fact, ask around, and you'll be told the best way to break into comics in this day and age is to get a website, get an artist, and get your work online. The book publishing industry is still trying to decide how it feels about self-published writers, but people involved in the comics industry--both publishers and fans--realized a few decades ago that there's something to be done with self-publishing and that people who self-publish can tell amazing, interesting stories that are well worth their time and money.

I love this about comics; that it's a medium that not just encourages but recommends self-publishing as a viable option. Is it hard work? Of course. But it doesn't come with the stigma that self-publishing in book publishing does. You create your work. You put your work out there, and people will read your work without caveat. Fan of Hark a Vagrant? Self pub. Penny Arcade (NSFW most likely)? Self-pub. Basically, if you're reading a web comic, you're reading a self-published author.

And me? I found myself having to make a decision: I could split my time between writing stories for markets and working on comics, or I could just concentrate on comics, which seems to be what I want to write right now. It's not that I don't have ideas for short stories or poems or non-fiction pieces that could go to any number of markets; it's that, right now and for weeks now, all I've wanted to do is sit down and write comics.

And read them, of course.

I encourage you, if you find yourself writing a certain type of writing, to keep writing that. You'll get so much farther writing what interests you than writing what you expected yourself to write. I've known for awhile I wanted to write comics, and I assumed it would be in tandem with the other stories, but it turns out I just want to write comics with no qualifiers, and I'm having more fun even thinking about doing that than sitting down to write anything else.

So, I'm gonna do that (and this blog), and I hope you're having as much fun as I am.


Gayle Francis Moffet writes comics, it seems. Before she fell into that, she wrote some other stuff. She keeps a writing tumblr that has all the links to all that jazz. 

Love in the Time of Self-Publishing

By Rob Hines

Oh, it’s so easy now.

No, not love. That’s never easy, and anyone who says otherwise is a filthy liar.

What’s easy is putting your written work in front of the entire world’s eyeballs in seconds. Before you can say “slander suit,” you can publish to your blog, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, and dozens of other social media sites. That means everyone you know, everyone THEY know, and millions of people you don’t know can read your innermost secrets.

Scary, huh?

Add the complication of trying to express those innermost secrets while not letting your loved ones know they’re the subject of your work, and this literary instant-gratification can be downright terrifying.

How many times have you written something you think is brilliant, possibly the greatest story ever in the history of stories, but instantly close the file and drag it into your “Not Ready” folder because “What if my girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband/mother/father/second cousin twice removed reads this?  They’ll know it’s about them!”

Been there, archived that.

So what is a writer to do?

Oh, you actually want some answers? Fine, let’s see what I can come up with.

1.       Be Fearless

Don’t worry, I’m not just preaching “truth in art” and telling you to be absolutely transparent in your writing. Once you’re ridiculously rich and can afford to buy friends, you can try this, but I still wouldn't recommend it.

However, I don’t believe in simply avoiding the opportunity to write about your real-life issues. Previously on PPM, you may have read a fantastic article about putting your qualms and quandaries to work for you, and I totally endorse this concept. You can take a much deeper and more engaging approach when writing about your own problems, so don’t miss the opportunity to add this extra dynamic of honesty to your work. Just...

2.       Be Smart

Come on, you’re an f-ing writer! You make up stories for a living, so find a way to talk about real stuff in a creative--and covert--way. Have a horrible boss and need to vent through your story? Go ahead and give the antagonist some of his or her qualities, but be smart enough not to use his or her real name or any variation of it. If your horrible boss is Andy, you’re not fooling him or your nosy co-workers by calling your villain Randy.

The same goes for true-life situations. If you’re stressed about a holiday argument you had with the family, you may not want to write a scathing short about a familial flare-up over Christmas dinner. Switch it up. Write a medieval farce about a battle between villagers that takes place during a solar eclipse.

As long as you creatively disguise the actual inspirations for the people and events in your work, you can still have the cathartic release that makes writing so thrilling.

3.       Be Careful

No one says you have to send everything you write to everyone you know, and if you’re truly worried about certain people seeing what you've written, pick your placement carefully. You don’t have to link a liberal-leaning piece to Facebook if your conservative “friends” would take issue with it, and vice versa. Sure, you should be proud of everything you do, and we all have freedom of speech, but we’re not free of the social consequences of what we write.

That brings me to the most important point of this piece.

4.       Be Honest

To paraphrase a great poet of the 90’s “If they were angry, you don’t need them, because they’re not good friends.”

Will Smith, you truly are the Prince of Freshness.

As a writer, you’ll ruffle some feathers. You’ll write something that pisses somebody off, even if you didn't mean to. That’s part of the job. You just have to be able to stand behind what you write and let your loved ones decide if they can handle that.

Like I said, love’s not easy, and when we decided to take the writer’s path, we added about ten levels of difficulty. The question is whether the joy of sharing a fulfilled life with our close friends and family is worth the pain we’ll inevitably endure along the way.

I think it is.

Tweet  

Planning Your Own Book Launch

by Jody Aberdeen

Our fearless leader and occasional radio personality Carrie Bailey has set us the challenge of writing on the theme of problems and solutions. I'd like to talk about a "problem" that I always wanted to have: namely, launching my own book as an independent author.

Lucianna, testing the art of Japanese shibari bondage,
one of the fun things guests will get to see at our launch

I'm doing just that for my novel "Convergence".  My writers guild, the Toronto Wordslingers, is hosting my a launch for my time travel romance.

My friend and fellow guild-runner Lucianna LiSacchi is also joining me to promote her erotic drama "Mommy's Little Playgroup".

Everything happens at 8pm on Friday, February 1st, in Toronto, at Arta Gallery in the Distillery District.

Appropriately, we're billing it as "An Evening of Sex and Romance". 

So, what's the "problem"?  Well, let's first take the advice of a multi-millionaire gentleman I happened to meet in Toronto a few years back and change the word "problem" to "challenge". Mindset is everything when you start to make a living doing what you love the most, and challenges contain far more opportunity than "problems". 

Why are we doing this?  Shouldn't we wait until we get picked up by a publisher. Absolutely not!  Independently published books are now so prevalent that publishers are now scouring e-pub sites for new talent. 50 Shades of Grey began as an independently published e-book. British author John Locke made over a million dollars selling his e-books for just under 99 cents. 

All this means that, as unsigned authors with books now ready, we have no incentive to wait to celebrate our achievements.  And if you're going to celebrate, you may as well go big.

Creating a Platform 

Arta Gallery, Toronto, the site of our book launch. 

That's not to say we're opposed to being signed: in fact, that is still the dream. We still query agents and publishers, and we're hoping that some representatives from Random House and Harper Collins will show up.

However, one thing that publishers look for in these risk-averse times are serious writers who will have more where that came from, and that's hard to demonstrate with just one book unless you have a platform.

We're investing thousands of dollars, an Indiegogo campaign, several media outlets, and all of our social and professional networks behind this evening.  That's not even counting our websites, smaller events that we're going to host and take part in to promote ourselves, and other ideas we haven't even thought of yet but are seeking out.  As platforms go, they don't get much bigger than that.

Challenges We Face Planning Our Book Launch 

^^dressed for success (really,
a friend's wedding, but you
get the idea)

Becoming salesmen.  Not one person in our little boutique guild has a background in sales.  We don't like it.  We've had to evolve some cojones to shamelessly plug our launch at every turn.  As artists, we all share a reluctance to be inauthentic, and I've always viewed selling as a sleazy business.  That being said, reality dictates that we learn techniques to show people why what we're doing should matter to them.

The solution?  See yourself and your work as worthy of the time, money, success, and attention of others, and keep going. 

Learning on the fly.  I tell my guild and coaching clients that sometimes the best leaders and teachers are only ever twenty yards ahead of you on the way to the end zone. This is definitely the case with planning our own launch: we're learning as we go.  We will screw things up.  We may lose our investments.  We may miss out on opportunities.  That's okay, because this is our first of many books we want to crank out, and many more book launches we want to host.  This is the life we chose. 

The solution? Forgive yourself in advance, keep learning, and keep going. 

^^scared shitless

Being scared shitless. There's a veritable Zeno's Paradox of things that could cause our event to fail.  Then again, a million things can happen to you stepping out your front door: that doesn't mean you're going to be housebound the rest of your life.  Still, that rational assurance does nothing to quell the butterflies buzzing around your solar plexus.

The solution? Let the fear do its thing....and keep going.

Aside from the details of getting things booked, putting down deposits, and meeting with people, there's little that separates hosting a book launch from the art of expressing what's in your soul onto the page.  The solution to every challenge the writer's life throws our way is the same: keep going.

My Shameless Plug 

Speaking of sales-y things: if you're not in Toronto, but would like to support us anyway, visit us on Indiegogo and choose the "Pen Pals" perk.  A $20 USD donation will get you an e-anthology featuring short stories from our Toronto Wordslingers writers, including yours truly, along with the thanks of a grateful group of writers just like you.

And if you don't donate, feel free to promote us to your friends and contacts by sharing our link.

Book signings, champagne, and a little light bondage.
What more could you want
from An Evening of Sex and Romance? 

I'll be sure to update the Peevish Nation on how it all turns out, and share everything that we'll have learned by then.

Until then, boys and girls, continue to believe in yourselves, your stories, and your work,  and always keep going despite your fear. This is what you were born to do.

Tweet

@YOU: Managing Your Personal Brand

by Rob Hines

Between my moments of unbridled writing joy, I happen to squeeze in a little bit of corporate work as a Marketing Analyst for a credit union.

Yep, it’s about as exciting as it sounds.

Not that I don’t enjoy it. Really, I do. Are my bosses reading this?

Seriously, the day job is what allows me to even think about being a writer so I have to appreciate it, but of course it’s not necessarily where my heart and my passion are.  Fortunately, my time in the world of marketing, even my minuscule corner of it, has provided some important insight about branding that I think all writers can use.  After all, you’re creating a personal brand that you hope millions will eventually buy into repeatedly, right?

Your name (or your pen name) is your brand and if you can create a brand that people love, there's a better chance they'll follow your work and buy stuff! That's a good thing! Just remember, everything you do under that name will contribute to the creation and maintenance of that brand.

And I mean everything.  Your tweets, your facebook status updates, your facebook photos, your facebook friends' photos.  EVERYTHING.  And unless you have a team of publicists, agents, managers, lawyers, and general image-makers, you have to worry about all of this yourself.

Don’t worry.  You can do it.  You just need to keep a few important tips in mind.

1.  If you wouldn't say it on the 6:00 news, don’t say it online.

Social media has made self-marketing possible for writers in a big, bad way.  Now writers can tell the world about their work without leaving their makeshift closet offices.  It’s an amazing opportunity to reach out to the world, but it’s also an unfortunate opportunity for the world to reach back out to you, too.  Granted, you’ll be pretty safe for a while if you’re still fairly unknown, but once you gather a bit of momentum, your entire digital past becomes easy pickings for media vultures who are looking to pluck a couple bucks from your success.

Ooh, they look hungry!

This caution isn't just about the words you post.  You’ll also need to be aware of the photos you post, as well as any images that others post which feature you in all your glory.  Yes, that picture of you and your friends playfully wrestling the bartender in Costa Rica may give you a laugh of reminiscence, but it also gives other people an interesting impression about who you are.  If that’s part of the brand you want potential readers to see, then go on with your bartender-lovin’ self.  If not, you may want to do some quick online clean-up to protect your public image.

2.  Build a team

Word-of-mouth has been around since the beginning of the human race when cavemen would grunt to other cavemen to tell them where the best tasting animals could be found, and no matter what forms of media are dominant, word-of-mouth will still be the most important form of advertising available.  Even though there are plenty of Mad Men making millions for writing clever jingles and designing artistic campaigns, most people make their purchasing decisions based on the opinions of others.  Word-of-mouth is so influential that credible online shopping sites like Amazon prominently feature customer reviews of the products they sell.  Writers can and should use word-of-mouth too!

Sure, you can go out and say “Buy my book! Buy my book!” and you’ll get some people to buy just to shut you up, but what if you could grow a group of genuine fans who will eagerly tell their friends and family to buy your book?  And what if these fans go tell more people about it?  It's just a matter of building your network of promoters. Use social media, use friends and family, use your cubicle-mates at work. Whatever you need to do to get the ball rolling, go do it. You don’t have to get a million readers at once, but you can get them a dozen or so at a time.

3.  Be a real person

Okay, this may be personal preference, but I really don’t get excited about following a writer who seems to just be a corporate face who churns out books.  I’m much more likely to become engaged with the work you do if you’re willing to put yourself out there as a real dude or chick with quirks and faults like everyone else.  If you can laugh at yourself a little, I’m sold!

No Robots Allowed!

I know, I know.  This sort of flies in the face of the whole 6:00 news thing from earlier, but bear with me.  There’s a difference between being a real human being and just removing all filters and saying whatever you want.  You can have a personality and still watch what you say.  I've spent 35 years living in a Catholic family so I know from whence I speak.

My advice for building your personal brand is pretty simple. Be yourself.  Be real.  Just be careful.  Don’t let your guard down, but don’t throw a blanket over your head and hide behind your publishing house.  You want your readers to buy your books, but you really want them to buy you, your image, and your brand.  That’s how you create a long-lasting fan base...oh, and that helps you make money too.

Not that any of us care about that, right?

Tweet

ISBN Scams and the Writers Who Fall for Them

Tweet

by Carrie Bailey


A simple question like this deserves a simple answer and I'm going to give it to you in one simple step.

Step 1. You don't

An ISBN is not something you have to pay $125 to use. It's a randomly generated number. Only earlier this month, I had a coworker at a bookstore where I am working make an offhand comment about being able to afford ISBNs. I dropped a whole stack of Shakespeare.

As a self-published author, I knew that I could get an ISBN from Lulu or Smashwords just by uploading my files and publishing online with them. It was unthinkable to imagine that anyone would pay for something readily available for free.

When I got home I did a search for ISBN numbers and sure enough you can spend $125 for a single ISBN from www.isbn.org. That's a website name, which to me at least, sounds about as legitimate as www.loc.gov (US Library of Congress). Unfortunately, that is not the case for these crafty sellers of 13 book identifying digits. Their website even reads, "Please use the US ISBN Agency’s website www.myidentifiers.com to get an ISBN instantly."

Q: Why does a website with a .org domain name need to send you to a .com domain? 

A: To take $125 from you in a very unpleasant and nasty little scam. 

Please don't fall for this. For most self-published authors, the sales you will make initially will be minuscule and there is nothing wrong with that, but if you have a spare $125 that you want to invest in your book I have a few recommendations, which aren't scams.

1. Find someone willing to produce original cover art for your $125 buckaroos. 

2. Send $125 to a freelancer for a semi-professional book trailer.

I paid $0.00 for the ISBN
on this self-help book.

3. Spend about half of that money on self-hosted website for your book and save the rest for coffee. 

4. Buy yourself $125 worth of copies from a print-on-demand service and donate them to libraries. 

5. Merchandise! Put your book cover on a bag, on a magnet, on a t-shirt and give them away. 

6. Buy honest book reviews. It's not unethical. Book reviewers can tell readers exactly what is in a book from different perspectives. 

I admit it's hard to know where your money will be best spent when it comes to promoting a self-published book, but I can guarantee that tossing it at a scammer in exchange for an ISBN is not the place.

Don't do it. Just spend a little more time punching words into your browser until you find the service you want to use. I hope it's the free one. Then, get that ISBN, slap it on your book. Literally.

AND HERE'S THE FREE BARCODE I MADE FOR IT :D

First, put the ISBN in the text of your title page and then use a FREE barcode generator to create an image which you can use on the back of your printed book. Simple.

Self-publishing is a perilous journey. Don't give a dime to the scammers. Give it to other freelancers and other career-oriented writers. That's right. Pass the money around to the deserving. Apparently, money circulating is an important part of commerce and a healthy economy.

The fact of the matter is that we're a resourceful lot. Most of us aren't likely to fall for scams like the $125 ISBN either. So, that leaves me with a thought about who would have fallen for it?

People who give up on their dreams. That's who. Publishing is just too expensive if you believe even a short label should cost nearly $10 per digit. Man, the prices of paper have just gone through the roof. No one is buying print books anymore. Formatting an eBook is too complicated for someone without a Ph.D. in Digital Publication Formatting...

If you haven't already self-published, consider demystifying the process. No secret society of writers will come in your sleep and brand you with the mark of "Independent Author." You can still pursue traditional publication, meaning someone else with a lot of money can do it for you if they feel like it.

But, get informed. Don't get scammed.

WRITERS VS. AUTHORS

In October 2009, Micheal DeVoe, a spoken word artist self-publishing his collection of poems entitled, "Something Hard to Write On," wrote an article for Peevish Penman on the difference between "a writer" and "an author." Editor of Peevish Penman, Carrie Bailey reflects on his conclusions...


1) Authors Get Paid To Write

DeVoe wrote in 2009:

That one might seem self-explanatory but it wasn’t for me. They get paid to write. I saw Jay-Z on "Real Time With Bill Maher" and Bill mentioned how Jay used to rap a lot faster in his earlier records and why he has slowed down. Jay-Z’s answer was something like . . . I had a lot more to say back then, I was writing for my whole life’s experiences and I had more to say, now each time I write an album it’s about what’s gone on since the last one less time has passed and my experiences aren’t bad anymore. I bring that up because for an author they write when they’re paid to and what they’re paid to write.

For me, I write all the time and I’m never paid for it. I’ve written short stories, poems, articles, exposes, essays, eulogies, op-ed’s, response pieces all of which are not published and sitting in the my documents folder under a Misc. sub-folder. Authors know they have this skill of writing and write because they’re paid to, where as I have a passion for writing and write because I’m inspired to. I feel like Jay-Z when he was younger I have a lot to say and I want to say it.

Bailey writes 2010:

During the past year I've gone from being new to writing to being paid to write and I've learned that these two aspects of being a writer or author, as DeVoe distinguishes, are related but not equated to each other.

"Being an author and being paid to write have minimal correlation."

The first time I was paid to write, I crafted 100 word articles on Forex trading and was paid six dollars for fifty of them. Certainly, my pride required me to learn about Forex was, which is the foreign exchange market for currency trading, by the way. But, what floored me was that many of the articles about Forex trading online mistook Forex indicators as some sort of complex machine or software, an object of mystery and intrigue. They wrote promotional pieces that told readers to go out and buy one, because it was all they needed to generate more wealth than they could manage. I turned out the Forex Indicators were equations. True, software could use them to perform tasks and produce cold hard data based recommendations, but I was writing articles about them and I was paid. All I had to do was include two keywords in the "article."

This job did not make me an author, but I did prove to myself that I could get paid to write and that changed my life more than Nirvana's "Teen Spirit" when it came out in high school. The experience taught me that the craft of writing and being paid to write were two separate, but semi-related elements.



2) Authors Are Everywhere

DeVoe Wrote in 2009:

This is literally what it means. I live in a small town in Oregon and I am sitting in a great coffee shop called the Interzone and I just asked the eleven other people here working on their laptops what they were doing, and six of them, were writers of some sort. Some were bloggers, one was working on a new novel, one was writing an article for a newspaper. I didn’t realize how prolific being a writer is. I was shocked. I then had the second truth come to me authors are everywhere, because it’s not a talent, it’s a skill. I’ve lived my life thinking writers were talented that only certain people can be writers. Turns out it’s that certain people can’t be but that number is small. You can learn how to write well.

Bailey writes 2010:

Even though I met DeVoe through an ad, that ad was run in my hometown of Corvallis, Oregon where the Interzone is located. I spent my undergraduate years inside, in front of, and all around (even hanging from the balcony next door in a friend's apartment), I even met a husband there...

Corvallis' main source of income is the University and this coffee shop DeVoe has referenced is located across the street, with Formica tables, and velvet chairs a person sinks into, it was designed to encourage people to bookmark it as a second living room.

I did and so did a the majority of writers working and living in Corvallis, Oregon, a town that often ranked as one of the highest levels of higher education for town of 50,000 (18,000 of whom are students).

So, while I agree that writers are everywhere...I'm not sure that that is important. If you're a writer and it seems that so are all your friends, it means you have the best friends possible to help each other advance your careers, NOT that the competition is too stiff in general. There are many writers, because the world requires a lot of written work. It's the foundation of communication and as people, we do a lot of that. Writers just do it best.



3) Authors Don’t Write They Get Published


Bailey in 2010:

Being published, like making money from writing, can appear misleading on the surface of the issue. Any time a writer's work is publicly distributed online or in print, it has been published. No magic number of issues sold separates a real publisher from a false publisher regardless of the form they publish in. In fact, the definition of small press is one that earns less than 49 million USD annually.

Read this answer to the Yahoo Question:

How much does one make on average from a self published novel?

I wish to correct the person that says that a first time published author gets paid anything as none of them ever do, and very often they won't get any advance payments on their second book either as they are an unknown factor for the publisher. Self publishing will never earn you any real returns because they leave the promo work to you, and unless you have a nice bank account to push your work yourself, plus the required knowledge and skills you don't have a snowball's chance in hell.

Vanity press publishing as it is better known is just that, to fill your personal ego and vanity, nothing more, nothing less.

Source(s):

A reputable book publishing house manager, me.

Yes, that's what he claimed, but its almost absurd to entertain his statements, because A) book publishing houses all had to start somewhere and B) "real money" being less than 49 million USD is a definition that offends the majority of the world's population. The money I require to support my family is much less and I still think it is real. So, while no, in the beginning publishing with small presses and small publications with limited circulation won't allow you to quit your day job, they will potentially supplement your income. And that's not so bad... it's a start, which is what every writer needs...a start.

Being published represents a relationship between someone who accepted your work and a set of people who read your work. All successful authors had to start somewhere.

4) Authors Make A Living Not A Point


DeVoe wrote in 2009:

This is the last point. Authors get paid to write and write what they’re paid to write. Pay an author to write a print ad for a beer company one day, and then MADD hires him to write press releases about their new anti drinking campaign and you have yourself an author. Authors are willing to write whatever it takes to pay the rent. I’m sure I’d be susceptible to this temptation as well for a big enough paycheck.


Carrie Bailey writes in 2010: 


I believe when we honestly examine the word "author," we find a sort of mysterious power behind the word. Partially, this is why I produced the anthology, The Handbook of the Writer Secret Society. This power is the power of self-definition. Again, there is no magic point at which a word becomes truth, it remains opinion in the eyes of the masses indefinitely.

I strongly feel that while everyone should call themselves a writer, the very moment they have the inclination to do so, I also feel that as a group of individuals engaged in a craft, a trade, complete with tradition, and unspoken rules, we should reserve the term "author" for a certain level of achievement.

For myself, it will not be as related to the money I make from writing, but when I feel that I have become a master of my craft with numerous masterpieces to back that claim up. But what a person calls themselves is a decision that everyone has to make for themselves and they can only then, do their best to find those who agree...writer or author.