March 28, 2012

This week, while working on a new novel plot, I felt about as creative as mud. Luckily I had the new edition, Writer’s Guide to 2012.

While I was encouraged by the positive news and lists of new publishers (more about that below), what saved my writing week were four articles at the end of the book in the section called IDEAS.

Getting Out of the Box

These are the articles that helped me maneuver out of my mental log jam.

“Loosening the Ligaments: A Writer’s Journal” by Judith Logan Lehne

“Self-Inspiration: Keep Yourself Writing Until Your Big Break” by Sue Bradford Edwards

“The Key to Writing a Book that Makes an Impact: Ideas & Theme” by Patricia Curtis Pfitsch

“Spin Zone: Remixing Headlines, Brainstorming Ideas” by Meredith DeSousa, who (I’m convinced after reading this article) must be the most creative “idea” person I know of!

In Addition…

Those great articles are just in the IDEAS section. There is a MARKETS section (ten articles), a STYLE section (eight articles), a BUSINESS section (seven articles), a RESEARCH section (four articles), the IDEAS section named above, and a CONTEST section. A detailed Index at the end helps you find what you need.

In these articles you’ll find everything from writing book proposals and early readers to structuring a novel and creating a website. There is just as much news on publishers: who they are, what they want, and how to sell to them.

What’s New and What Do They Want?

Do you know about book publisher and imprint start-ups like Electric Monkey, Scholastic Ruckus, Albert Whitman Teen, Jericho Books, Splinter, Downtown Books, Kensington Teen, Confluence Books, Signal, Fenn/McClelland & Stewart, and others?

They are all reviewed in Writer’s Guide to 2012.

As the Titanic Turns

After two years of demoralizing sales and profit declines, the American book industry has rebounded with two years of growth in both sales and profits. Overall industry sales were up by 5.6% in the latest year, unit sales by 4.1%.

Inside those numbers is the huge advance made by ebooks. E-reader use has doubled in a year. Amazon made huge news by having its first month ever when it sold more ebooks than traditional books, and that excluded free Kindle titles.

No Risk

If I haven’t convinced you to buy the book, that’s okay. This particular offer comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. You have 30 days to decide whether Writer’s Guide to 2012 is a keeper. I’m betting that I know what you’ll decide!

October 7, 2011

The Frugal Book Promoter: Second Edition: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher.

I very rarely read an e-book and then buy the hard copy–but I did in this case. I have to mark it up, add my colored flags and post-its, and turn down page corners.

Why? Because it is so very full of practical, usable, frugal marketing advice. (And I mean frugal in terms of both money and your time.) I already owned the 2004 first edition, but publishing times have changed so much–and this 2011 updated version reflects that.

Why a New Edition?

We all know that book promotion (and life!) has changed since The Frugal Book Promoter was first published in 2004–particularly in ways that have to do with the Web, but in other ways, too. As an example, the publishing world in general is more open to independent publishing now than it was then. So, this update includes lots of information on ways to promote that were not around or were in their infancy a few short years ago.

So here is what is new:

• A simplified method for making social networks actually work–without spending too much time away from my writing
• How to avoid falling into some of the scam-traps for authors
• The best “old-fashioned” ways to promote–the ones I shouldn’t give up on entirely
• How to write (and publish) an award-worthy book
• How to promote your book to mobile users and others
• The pitfalls of using the Web and how to avoid them
• Unusual methods of getting reviews–even long after your book has been published

Up-to-Date

Today’s technology, social networking and marketing techniques are covered. Updated web resources abound. Advice in sync with today’s Internet are incorporated:

* Blogging tips and pitfalls
* Obtaining reviews and avoiding scams
* Finding places to pitch your book
* Using the eBook explosion to promote sales
* Using Google alerts to full advantage
* Staying on top of current trends in the publishing industry
* Writing quality query, media release letters and scripts for telephone pitches
* Putting together power point and author talk presentations 

This is just a tip of the iceberg too. I highly recommend Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s updated Frugal Book Promoter. (NOTE: Be sure you get the new 2011 edition with the cover above.)

September 23, 2011

I admit it. I don’t enjoy changes outside my control.

I can change, and I seem to be adapting to some kind of personal or professional change on a weekly basis. [I'm going to ask you for a favor at the end of this post concerning one such change.]

As Jack Canfield says in The Success Principles, “When change happens, you can either cooperate with it and learn how to benefit from it or you can resist it and eventually get run over by it. It’s your choice.”

Old Dog, New Tricks

He points out that there are cyclical changes (like the seasons) and structural changes (where there is no going back to doing things the way they were before)–neither of which you can control. The last few years have shown structural changes in publishing.

Frankly, I had hoped the changes in publishing were just a cycle–I’d seen recessions in publishing before that “righted” themselves. But with the whole social networking phenomenon–and the ability of writers now to do a lot of marketing online from home–it’s a whole new ballgame.

“Structural changes are the kinds of changes that can sweep you away if you resist them,” says Canfield. “Will you embrace these structural changes and work to improve your life–or will you resist them?”

Another Change

Recently the marketing manager at one of my publishers asked me to set up a Facebook Fan Page to replace my current Facebook page where I have my “friends.” There are different rules and you use different apps on fan pages–and I’m slowing learning the new system.

Before long, I will shut down the “friends” page where many of you connect with me. After that, we will connect on the fan page, where you can still leave comments like before. IF…

The Favor

If you do me this one small favor…I’d really appreciate it. Could you click on the Facebook “like” button on the left of your screen, underneath the book jacket of More Writer’s First Aid? It will add you to my Facebook Fan Page called KristiHollBooks. [This truly sounds absurd to me.  I feel like a wallflower at a junior high sock hop asking someone to please "like" me and ask me to dance.]

If the button doesn’t work for you, click the Fan Page link, and you will see a “Like” button at the top of the page. Please click it to add your name to my page of friends. [You will probably have to sign into your Facebook account also.]

Like many changes that I have made (mentally kicking and screaming), this new Facebook change will probably work better for me. It will be a place where I can consolidate news about all my writing and updates from my three websites and two blogs. I think it will simplify and streamline my marketing efforts once it all gets under this one “umbrella.”

Thank you for helping me out–and when you set up your own writing fan pages, let me know. I already like you–but I’ll be glad to make it official!

August 12, 2011

Like 89% of new writers today, I started writing with my heart set on publishing fiction. And like 84% of today’s aspiring writers, my first published work was nonfiction (Institute assignments, in fact).

While most of my forty published books have been middle-grade fiction, I got my foot in the publishing door with nonfiction. My Atheneum editor said that she took a chance on my “slush pile” novel because I’d had stories and articles (mostly articles) published in children’s magazines.  

What a Goldmine!

How I wish I’d had Anatomy of Nonfiction: Writing True Stories for Children back then! (See the impressive blurb about the mother-daughter writing team at the end. They really know their stuff.) Being a mom with babies when I started writing (and no Internet then for research), I relied on personal experiences about my kids to break into print.

I especially loved the chapters in Anatomy of Nonfiction on brainstorming ideas, finding the heart and voice of story, and handling the how-to genre. A wannabe fiction writer will especially enjoy the chapters on using storytelling techniques to write nonfiction.

Market Realities

Why learn to write effective nonfiction if you only want to publish fiction? Because there are eight nonfiction markets for every one fiction market. Or, to put it another way, you’re eight times more likely to be published as a nonfiction writer than you are as a writer of fiction.

You can look at this book for 30 days before paying for it. So if you want to give Anatomy of Nonfiction a FREE, no-risk, 30-day trial, simply click here.

(Author credentials: Margery Facklam and Peggy Thomas are masters of the true story. Facklam, an instructor at the Institute for 12 years, has written 43 nonfiction books. Thomas, also an instructor, has written 17.  A mother-daughter team, they pooled the secrets of their success to write Anatomy of Nonfiction: Writing True Stories for Children-the only step-by-step guide to the mind, soul, heart, and inner workings of children’s nonfiction you’ll ever need to get published. As instructors, they know what you’ve learned about children’s writing. As authors, they know exactly what you need now to get published.)

July 20, 2011

Here you go! Seven ways to help you get the writing done–and sold!

6 Things You Should Know About the Publishing World

7 Deadly Sins of Writing

5 Reasons Why You Need to Get Better at Saying ‘No’

10 Essential Rules of Poetry

7 Things Agents Want to See in a Query, and 9 Things They Don’t

7 Steps to Getting Unstuck and Becoming More Productive

3 Benefits of Building Your Own Platform

July 8, 2011

If you’ve studied a market guide lately, you might have come away in total confusion.

These days you’re met with warnings like, “If you don’t like indies, don’t bother querying.” Or a company says it’s a “legacy” publisher.

What’s with all the new terminology?

Olden Days

When I started publishing thirty years ago, it was simple. You either went with a traditional publisher (they paid you, and they did 98% of the marketing) OR you got fooled into signing with a vanity press (you paid them to print your book, plus you had to do 98% of the marketing yourself.)

The choice was an easy one if you wanted to have a career where you made money.

It’s a New Ball Game

Today our choices are basically the same, in my opinion (except you have a few FREE self-publishing choices like Kindle). But the terminology has mushroomed as new companies tried to distinguish themselves with new titles. So you had independent publishers (“indies”) springing up, resentful of the old “vanity press” title. But for the most part, independent publishers require that YOU pay them and YOU do most of the marketing.

Are you confused by the terms e-pub, POD, Kindle, self-pub, Smashwords, and more? If so, Tracy Marchini has done a book called Pub Speak: a Writer’s Dictionary of Publishing Terms to clear up the confusion. While I haven’t read the book personally, I have seen several very good reviews of it. If I were starting out in publishing, I think I’d need a copy.

Pub Speak: A Writer’s Dictionary of Publishing Terms is a dictionary for both new and established authors that contains over 400 definitions, including:

• - contract and royalty terms
  - ebooks and audiobooks
  - fiction and non-fiction
  - publishing terms
  - retailers, book clubs, wholesalers and distributors
  - social networking and collaborative publishing
  - trade associations, events and publications
  - writer’s organizations, awards and publications

This book just might bring an end to the confusion…for now, anyway!

June 10, 2011

The slush pile of old, where my first book was discovered, was an actual tall stack of unsolicited manuscripts. They were read by lower level publishing staff called “first readers.” We thought at the time that the slush pile was huge–hundreds of manuscripts piled up.

Today slush piles have gone electronic–and backed-up inboxes may hold many, many more manuscripts than that. Why the big change?

What Happened?

Several things led to the demise of the traditional slush pile, says children’s author Chris Eboch in “The Modern Slush Pile” (Writer’s Guide to 2011). [With permission, much of this post is adapted from her article.]

Before computers, printers and copy machines, you typed every copy individually. It took forever–and writers then were much more careful about targeting appropriate markets. But now, with the push of a button, technology allows massive multiple submissions, and authors often target publishers using a scatter gun approach. Result? Overload at publishing houses.

“First readers” are gone too. Staff cutbacks took care of them. There’s no one there anymore to open the slush, enter the title and author and date into a book, and later read the manuscript and return it (with the appropriate letter) or pass it along to an editor.

Where’s the Slush Now?

Slush–those manuscripts waiting hopefully for someone to read them–have shifted locations.

• Agents have much of the slush in their inboxes now. Many of the new agents are displaced editors who were victims of cutbacks, and new writers are sending much of the unsolicited material to these new agents.
• Editorial consulting companies receive some of the slush too, but they charge for their services (while reputable agents don’t.) Just be sure to check the credentials of those who are offering their “expert” advice. One company (Stephen Roxburgh’s namelos) is highly respected. Other companies, however, promise way more than they can deliver, and their “expert” advice may be from someone who has never published or has little editorial experience.
• HarperCollins has a “virtual slush pile” at Authonomy.com where authors upload manuscripts, readers read them (for free) and vote on them, and then editors read the top rated manuscripts. A few do get published.

Getting Out

Thirty years ago, you had to wait your turn for a first reader to get to your manuscript. It would happen eventually–in about three months. Now, because of the higher volume of submissions everywhere, it helps if you get noticed in order to get your manuscript read.

How do you do that? Chris Eboch had these suggestions:

• Submit queries with a personal note of some kind (like maybe you read an article by the agent or read some books they represented).
• Attend conferences and workshops to meet editors and agents, and get permission that way to submit to otherwise “closed” houses.
• Membership in professional organizations like the Society of Children’s Book Writer’s and Illustrators (SCBWI)
• Volunteer at conferences–you may drive the agent or editor around or get to eat lunch with them, giving you a chance to get to know them. Your query will mention that connection and get a closer look.
• Network with other writers (or, in other words, make friends with writers.) After you make some sales, such friends often recommend each other for projects. I’ve done it for books I didn’t have time to write, and I’ve received work several times because a writer friend recommended me for a series project.
• Social networking helps, as long as you have time to actually participate in groups, list servs, discussion boards, and forms.
• Some contests have a prize which includes a contract and publication.
• A master’s program in fine arts can open publishing doors. Editors and agents have come to realize that authors with an MFA graduate with books that are high quality and may even be ready to publish. 

Some Things Never Change

The nature of the slush pile has changed. Ways to get noticed in the slush pile are now numerous. One thing, however, hasn’t changed at all.

And that’s how you get from the slush pile to an editor’s desk to a bookstore. Quality is the key. In the end, that’s the only thing that will sell your book. Quality of idea–and quality of writing. “Write a good book,” says Cheryl Klein, Senior Editor at a Scholastic imprint and author of Second Sight: An Editor’s Talks on Writing, Revising & Publishing Books for Children and Young Adults.

You don’t have control over electronic slush piles or the economy or the changes in the publishing industry. But you do have control over the most important aspect of your career–the quality of writing.

So focus on that. Write a good book.

(* “The Modern Slush Pile” by Chris Eboch is only one article of thirty-three articles in Writer’s Guide to 2011. The book covers these topics: Markets, Style, Business & Career, Research, Ideas, and Contests & Conferences.)

May 27, 2011

Some terrific reading is waiting for you this weekend! The articles below from around the Web will give you writing and marketing help, help you see through the current publishing confusion, and even show you ways to get your kids to read through the summer.

Enjoy!

“Is Publishing Turning into the Wild West?” The publishing world has changed radically in the last couple of years, thanks to those pesky e-books. Do the old rules still apply? Does chaos rule? Or are there ways to survive and thrive in the new environment? [Terrific article here by Randy Ingermanson, plus interesting comments.]

“A Dozen Ways to Get Your Child to Read Over the Summer and Have Fun Doing It!” Every year student assessments show that when kids take a break from school over the summer and they don’t read or have any reading instruction during that time, their reading skills are adversely affected. But this doesn’t HAVE to happen. Encouraging children to read during the summer will not only sustain their current reading achievement, it will also contribute to their success in reading proficiency. [Here you'll find suggestions for early primary grades, middle grades, and teens.]

“6 Query Tips from a Publishing Insider” To help you write a query letter (or submission letter) so that an agent will give your manuscript the time of day here are the top 3 Do’s and Don’ts from our head Acquisitions Editor. [The first tip was even a surprise to me, although just last week I sent a proposal to a publisher and got an email suggesting that I add more marketing stuff-even though this publisher has published nine of my previous books! She said there was also talk of adding a marketing clause in new author contracts.]

“Twitter-patted” Twittering gave the world a fast way to communicate and also a new tool for marketing. Marketing with only a few words takes planning and focus. [Read this article for a brilliant way to plan and write your Tweets while you are working on your book/story/article/ebook to be released later.]

“Ways to Improve Your Writing Style” Newer authors struggle with writing technique, and long time writers still find elements in writing that are their nemesis. Being aware of problem areas in your writing can help you move ahead as a writer when you focus on them and find ways to improve those techniques. Here are a few tips on become a better writer. [Gail Gaymer Martin's blog posts are meaty and almost a mini-workshop. Don't stop with this post, but go through her whole Writing Fiction Right blog site.]

“Tidbits” from Writer Beware! This article is FULL of information and links to longer articles, discussing topics like the new trend of agents-turned-publishers and how to interpret the numbers when you read that print-on-demand epublishing is out-stripping sales of paper books.

April 25, 2011

After returning from a writers’ conference a couple years ago, I had so many notes and hand-outs and worksheets dealing with marketing that I was overwhelmed. I didn’t know where to start. My brain froze.

Oh no! Marketing block!

Too Much of a Good Thing

Has this ever happened to you? I had collected terrific ideas on branding, making book trailers, blogging, writing a newsletter, collecting addresses, multiple ways to reach your publisher’s sales force with material that would actually help them sell your books, tips on upping sales on Amazon.com, making e-books, and much more.

As I sorted through the material when I got home, I could feel my blood pressure rising. Where to begin? How to prioritize? How to do it all on a shoestring budget (and a short shoestring at that)? And where would I find the time?

Hyperactive Marketing

I developed marketing ADHD. When I was setting up my second website for an upcoming series, I remembered that I needed to register another domain name, so I did that. I decided then to submit an article to a writer’s website, which reminded me to convert a manuscript into an e-book to sell.

Flipping through notebooks and scribbled pages for the information, I wanted to burn it all instead. I didn’t sign up for this! All I ever wanted to do was sit in a quiet room and make up stories and write them down. That’s all.

Instead, to add to writer’s block, I had marketing block.

One Solution

I think I found an answer. It’s a two-pronged approach using scheduling and organization.

I bought a three-ring binder and dividers with eight colored tabs, and labeled the tabs according to the types of marketing I needed to do. I have tabs for “website work” and “blog work” and “Amazon.com” and “sales and marketing” and “social networking” and “selling online.” In the front of each section is a “to do” list for that topic, followed by the “how-to” information I need to do it.

The other prong–scheduling–comes into play on my daily/weekly calendar. I have a couple hours at the end of the day when my brain is tired. I blocked off that time for marketing. At the beginning of the week, I read each “to do” list in the marketing binder and decide what is most pressing, then prioritize it and write it on my daily calendar.

De-stressed!

As I organized and scheduled various short tasks, I could feel the marketing block melting away. I would work on each project a bit at a time, in a regular manner.

To be honest, I’d rather not have to market. I’d rather be writing all day long. But expectations of authors have changed, and in the end, it may be a good change. Writers have griped for decades about having no control over how much time and energy is being spent marketing their books. Through personal marketing in a variety of venues, we can now make a difference.

And–using my “inch-by-inch-it’s-a-cinch” method–we can do it without driving ourselves nuts.

January 28, 2011

As long-time readers of my blog know, I’ve given warnings over the years about self-publishing. I’ve seen so many new writers get “taken” by going this route.

They’ve been charged unbelievable amounts of money to have their books printed by a “publisher.” Then they’re left with a garage full of books they can’t get into book stores. They list them on Amazon.com, hoping this will do the trick, but no one knows them or knows to look for the book. Without a proven track record of some kind, it is nearly impossible to sell self-published books.

Where’s Your Audience?

Your track record might be in a professional area associated with your day job. For example, let’s say you give more than a dozen speeches every year on a particular topic (health, financing, etc.) and you have the credentials to back it up  (you’re a doctor or MBA, for example.)

If you have a built-in audience (those who come to your talks), then a self-published print book (on your topic) might sell very well. In cases like this, a self-published book where you get to keep all the profits is a smart idea. However, unless you have a built-in repeat audience, you’ll also be stuck with boxes of unsold books you’ve already paid for.

Enter e-books on the publishing scene…

Years ago, when they were first being talked about, I gave e-books a try. The print book many of you have of Writer’s First Aid started as an e-book and was later picked up by the ICL Bookstore and issued in a paper edition. That was a good deal for me–e-books didn’t sell all that well ten years ago.

But last year I decided to stick my toes in the water again with the two e-booklets I created (50 Tension Techniques and Writing Mysteries for Young People.) I did no advertising except telling you about them on this blog. They have made a good little chunk of money without me doing anything. I have been pleasantly surprised.

So last year when Amazon.com said that more than half their income came from selling Kindle e-books, I took notice. I already had the built-in audience (thousands of blog subscribers), and I knew how to do the e-books (how to work with Amazon and Clickbank, how to get ISBN numbers, etc.)

I especially loved the fact that publishing e-books costs almost nothing, you can promote and publicize online for free most places, and your percentage of profit is good, even after Amazon takes their 30% cut for Kindles and Clickbank takes their cut. In these economic times, I’m looking for ways to make more money with the writing, just like most authors.

That’s why More Writer’s First Aid is coming out as an e-book in .pdf and Kindle and for the iPad and a few other formats.

Factors in Success

Should you try this? Maybe, if…

• you feel you have a built-in audience already, or you’re willing to take the time to build such an audience first
• you have excellent writing, editing, and copyediting skills (I’ve worked as writer, editor and copyeditor over the years) or you’re willing to pay for such services
• you can do Internet marketing, or you are willing to learn how

If all these things apply, then you may want to try e-books. My 34 children’s books are all print editions (although I see that many of them have Kindle editions now too.) I have been slower to try these new formats, so I’ll have to let you know how it goes.

For those interested in learning more about this, here are some links:

Publishing E-books: Kindle, iPad, Nook, Kobo?

Publishing Your Own E-book

You Should Write an E-book

How to Write Your First E-book

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