Writers in the Storm

Piper Bayard of Bayard & Holmes

In Indie Publishing 101 – Part I, we discussed the shifting paradigm of the publishing world, what it takes to be an independent publisher, and how we produce quality, publish-ready manuscripts. In Part II of the series, we looked at what is involved in the actual production of a quality indie book—layout, artwork, ISBNs, and copyright registration.

In both of those posts, we noted that the publishing world is shifting sands, as in a sandstorm. As if queued up to give us an example, the day after Indie Publishing 101 – Part II was published, the US Copyright Office sent me an email saying it is increasing its rates from $55 to $65 to register a manuscript.

Today, we review those final steps of independent publishing—actually publishing our books and sending them out into the world.

1. Publishing

We have our edited manuscript, our beautiful layout, our amazing cover, our required ISBNs, and our secured copyrights. Now, we’re ready to publish.

Holmes and I use both Amazon KDP and Draft2Digital for this. There are numerous other programs out there, and I encourage you to ask your author network about them. Entire books are written for that, but my purpose here today is to give you the lowdown on the things that are common to the platforms. I encourage all indie publishers to explore and do what works for them.

• Descriptions, Categories, and Keywords

Descriptions: All publishers require a description of your book. That is what would be on that back cover of the book—the short teaser that makes people want more.

Categories: Categories are the sections of websites where people can locate your books.

For example, our categories at KDP for Spycraft: Essentials are “Nonfiction>Political Science>Intelligence & Espionage” and “Education & Reference>Reference>Writing Skills.” Someone going to any of those sections on a distribution website can find our book listed there. Some publishing venues allow only two categories, and others allow more.

Keywords: Keywords are words and phrases that people can type into the search bar of a website that pertain to your book.

For example, some keywords for Spycraft: Essentials are “CIA Books Nonfiction,” “Writing Craft Books,” and “Intelligence Agencies.” These are general words someone might use in a search bar to locate a book like ours.

Penny Sansevieri has some great articles here at Writers in the Storm on keywords:

Amazon Keywords: The Secret to Doubling Your Sales and Pulling in New Readers!

Update Your Keywords to Sell More Books Over the Holidays

• Content

The publishing venue will ask you to upload your book content and book cover. The program should then give a chance to review these.

If you hire someone to do the layout, they will often be willing to upload these things for you.

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ProTip: If you are publishing in print, order a print copy and look through every page. You will spot things that you will not see on your computer.

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• Print options

If publishing in print, you will be asked if you prefer cream or white colored paper and whether you want your cover to be matte or glossy. You will also be asked what size you prefer your finished copy to be.

• Rights & Pricing

You will be asked to verify that you own the rights to the book, and what price you would like to charge for your book. The program will supply a calculation of royalties on each sale.

To set pricing, look at other books in your genre, as well as reports on what price points are successful. Keep in mind that if your book isn’t selling at a certain price, you can always change that price.

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ProTip: Pictures make books expensive. The more pictures a book has in it, the more it is going to cost to produce. Even digital formats can have so many pictures that production costs are increased. Use internal pictures sparingly.

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• Publish your work

If you are satisfied with everything you have done, hit publish.

• Edit your work

One of the beauties of independent publishing is that if you are like me, and you always see a mistake just after you hit send, you can go in and change and it at will. You can also update your cover or your content at any time.

2. Marketing

There are books out there written by far better marketers than myself. I would recommend some, but marketing is another sandstorm. What works now might not work in six months, and vice versa. What works for one genre might not work for another. It’s best to research how various ads and marketing strategies are working at the time you are ready to publish.

However, a few things are standard support for any approach to marketing books:

• Reviews

Honest reviews sell good books. We need them. Lots of them. One way to get them is to send out advance review copies (“ARCs”) in advance of publication. However, ARCs have some inherent issues.

• Not everyone who agrees to leave a review will do so. That means you are out whatever the cost it is to send them.
  
• If algorithms detect too close of a link between the reviewer and the author, the site won’t publish the review. That leaves the author caught in the paradox of needing to know someone to send them a review copy and having the review disallowed because it’s by a person they know. Amazon is particularly bad about this. One way to work around the problem is to put the book on sale for $0.99 as soon as it is published and purchase gift copies for reviewers. State in the comment section for the gift that it is a review copy. Then the reviewer can download the book and review it as a verified purchase. Another Amazon obstacle to a review is that it requires people to spend $50 on Amazon within the previous year to leave a review.

• Website

Authors, as well as everyone else who has a business, is expected these days to keep up a website. If you don’t have one, you can either hire someone to build a website for you, or, if you have any aptitude for it, you can take a few days to learn to build your own. Study bestselling author websites in your genre and think about colors and themes that reflect your own image as an author. Even if you hire someone, they will want to know what you have in mind.

The Bayard & Holmes website is a WordPress.org site, and we used the Divi builder from ElegantThemes to create the site. Beyond saying those programs have done well for us, I can only recommend researching articles and reviews and consulting the authors in your author network about their experiences.

• Alumni and Organization Magazines

Most colleges, universities, and social organizations have publications with sections reporting activities and accomplishments of their alums or members. Notifying them of book releases is a free and easy way to get publicity.

• Local Newspapers, Magazines, and TV Channels

Most local newspapers and magazines and some TV news channels love to support local authors. Again, it’s free publicity that often takes no more than an email to an editor.

• Social Media

A social media platform is a great way to communicate with fans, cultivate superfans, and connect with other authors to support our marketing. If we have been good friends and network supporters, many among our social media contacts will support our marketing efforts with blog posts, retweets, Facebook mentions, and other promotional efforts.

However, social media has its pitfalls. To begin with, it can be a dangerous place to hang out—sort of like the cyberverse equivalent of the Tenderloin District of San Francisco after dark. With swarms of trolls preying on every post or tweet, one misstep, and a career is over. To quote Kristen Lamb, “It takes years to build a social media platform. It takes seconds to destroy one.”

Another difficulty of the social media platform is the bubble effect. Algorithms at the major sites such as Facebook are calculated to push us into tiny social bubbles and force us to pay cash to reach even our own friends and followers.

That being said, social media is still a useful tool for cultivating support for our marketing efforts as long as we all remember two cardinal rules:

• Don’t run down rabbit holes, or we will never have time to write our books.
• Never forget why we are there. As in, if we are not political writers, we are not there to expound on politics! That’s the fastest way to lose readers, destroy a brand, and attract trolls.

I recommend developing an author brand and choosing no more than three platforms to maintain. Devote a few minutes of effort to building them every day. I also recommend Kristen Lamb’s book, Rise of the Machines: Human Authors in a Digital World, for learning to brand and build an author platform on social media platform.

Finally, social media is a great way to meet and befriend authors we might otherwise never get to meet. For elaboration on this, see Making Friends and Allies on Twitter—The Lone Wolf Watering Hole.

• Author Network

Throughout this series, I have referred to the “author network.” Although writers are largely introverts, none of us can succeed in a vacuum. That’s where our author network comes in. Our network helps us find the tools and education we need for our craft, and it supports us in getting out the word about our books. We can build that network in several ways:

• Conferences

Virtual reality may be cool and convenient, especially now, but nothing replaces face time. One of the best ways to meet other authors and develop an author network is to attend writers conferences. If you find that prospect daunting, see Socializing at Conferences—How to Come Out of the Box.

• Writers Organizations

Another great way to build an author network is to join an active writers organization. I recommend finding one local to you or one specific to your genre.

• Write Good Books

Ultimately, the best sales tool for our books is another one of our books. In other words, the more good books we publish, the more books we will sell.

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This three-part series is by no means comprehensive. My purpose has been to inform about the basics of indie publishing and to get people thinking and sharing ideas so that each author can find what is right for them. We are all constantly learning in this sandstorm world of publishing, and with the exchange of experience and ideas, we can find our path.

I wish you all the best for successful publishing ventures. May your muse be generous.

What publishing platforms do you use? How do you find your keywords? What are your most successful marketing methods?

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Bayard & Holmes Toilet Paper
Giveaway and Social Distance Sale!

To help people endure the hoarding phenomenon and the boredom of social distancing, we are giving away a roll of toilet paper and the Bayard & Holmes book of choice to one of our Covert Briefing Newsletter subscribers. Click Here to subscribe and enter.

We also have the digital versions of our writing craft reference book for thrillers, Spycraft: Essentials, as well as two of our fiction books, The Spy Bride and Firelands, on sale for only $0.99. Paperbacks are also on deep discount. Let's pull together and get through this!

Piper Bayard and Jay Holmes of Bayard & Holmes are the authors of espionage tomes and international spy thrillers. SPYCRAFT: Essentials, is designed for writers. It addresses the functions and jurisdictions of the main US intelligence organizations, the spook personality and character, tradecraft techniques, surveillance, the most common foibles of spy fiction, and much more. It is available in digital format and print. See Bayard & Holmes Nonfiction.

Please visit Piper and Jay at their site, BayardandHolmes.com. For notices of their upcoming releases, subscribe to the Bayard & Holmes Covert Briefing. You can also contact Bayard & Holmes at their Contact page, on Twitter at @piperbayard, on Facebook at Piper Bayard or Bayard & Holmes, or at their email, BH@BayardandHolmes.com.

Barbara Linn Probst

Is there any writer who actually likes asking for blurbs?  I suppose there is, but most of us wish we didn’t have to do it. We understand that it’s necessary—and we all like praise—but we cringe at having to ask for it. The question is how to do that sensitively and intelligently.

Let’s start with a few truths.

Truth #1: Endorsements matter. If we trust the person who recommends a product, especially when there are countless other options that could meet the same need, we’re much more likely to choose that particular shoe or car or coffee maker—or novel—from among the alternatives competing for our attention.

Truth #2: All blurbs aren’t necessarily equal. The question is whether a fantastic blurb (Best book I ever read) by someone relatively unknown is more or less “valuable” than a generic blurb (A well-crafted exploration) by someone famous. To a degree, it depends on an author’s goals and comfort level; it may also be a matter of what’s realistically attainable. In general, the more authority the blurber is perceived to have, the more others are likely to be swayed by what she has to say.

Truth #3: Unless you’ve been pegged as a serious rising star by a major publisher who will get the blurbs for you, you have to ask—even if it’s terrifying.

Truth #4: Everyone agrees that it’s important to be polite, start early, make it easy for the person to say yes—and to thank the person afterward. Not just privately, but publicly. As Sonja Yoerg suggests in her 2017 essay: “When I have all my endorsements in hand, I publicly thank the author on Facebook. This post is not about the blurb (i.e., me and my book) but about the author and his or her generosity. As part of my thanks, I tout their most recent book.”

So far, so good.

I started to reflect on all the advice I’d read about securing blurbs and to wonder how well it mapped onto real experience. I thought about my own experience, and I asked other people.

Turning to myself first, I was reminded of what I discovered, years ago, when my then-husband and I set out to adopt our first child. My thinking, when we started out, went something like this: “You, pregnant person, have something I want. What do I have to do to convince you to give me this thing I want?”

It didn’t take long for me to feel the absolute wrongness of that attitude. Since we were going to be adopting privately, it meant (back then) that potential birth mothers would see our ads and call a special phone number we’d set up. Reality quickly smacked me in the face when I spoke with the first woman who called.

She was a person. This wasn’t about being clever enough to impress and persuade her. We were two women, each in a situation we hadn’t expected and hadn’t chosen. Could we connect, trust each other, find our common humanity?

I think asking for blurbs is like that. We need to put ourselves in the shoes of a potential blurber and ask ourselves:

• Why
  would she want to this for me?
• What
  might prevent her from saying yes?
• What
  might inspire her to say yes?

Obviously it’s not a perfect analogy because, unlike a woman seeking an adoptive family for her child, a well-known author isn’t seeking manuscripts to endorse!  However, many of these authors do, in fact, want to help new authors, just as they were helped when they were starting out. So if a Famous Author says she wishes she could help but is truly swamped right now—believe her. Thank her and let it go. “Following up” (i.e., pestering her) won’t bring a different answer. Trust me. I’ve tried.

What works best—as with adoption—is to abandon the sense of oneself as a salesperson in favor of that sense of common humanity.

Three principles can help.

First, remember that you’re asking someone you don’t know for a huge favor. 

You have nothing to offer in return that would be an equivalent favor. Own that, without apologizing for it. Besides, the Famous Author already knows.

Acknowledge the favor you’re hoping for, without groveling. Let her know your time frame—and make sure you’re giving her a reasonable amount of time. Give her options: a PDF, a spiral-bound copy, an ARC, sample chapters plus a detailed synopsis. But do not suggest what she might write or say, “I’m sure you won’t have time to read the whole thing.” Let her decide.

Second, you’re asking a favor for you, specifically.

The Famous Author may have reasons for wanting to be generous—a wish to repay the help she received, a strong belief in giving new authors a boost—but why should your particular book be the focus of that generosity?

Do your homework. Explain what you love about her work (be specific) and why your believe yours might resonate with her. Follow her on social media, comment on her posts—long before you ask her to do something for you. Make her know that it’s her endorsement you would love, not just any endorsement by any Famous Author. As Sonja Yoerg points out, “Dare I say that if you are asking them to read your book, you should’ve read one of theirs? I’ve been approached for an endorsement by writers who didn’t appear to know my work at all!”

Third, you’re asking a favor of her, specifically, rather than some other Famous Author.

She needs to understand why you’re asking her and not someone else.

Find the fit. Find other books she’s blurbed. That way, you can explain why you think yours is “her kind of book.” Again, it shows that you’ve paid attention and demonstrates why her blurb, in particular, would be meaningful to you. It’s worth taking the time to craft a really good appeal, heartfelt and specific. As Katrin Schumann notes: “Even though I'm just a no-name person hitting him up for a favor he doesn't even owe me, he agreed to read because he said it was the best request he'd ever received.”

…which brings us to the relationship between getting and giving.

I was curious to talk with people who had been on both ends of the process—who had asked for blurbs and also been the one asked. I wondered if their experience as the asker affected their experience later, when they were in the other chair.

It seemed to.  People told me:

I found the whole process of asking so nerve-wracking, I told myself that I’d agree to blurb for anyone who asked me.

It's been three years since I had to write my blurb requests for my debut novel, and I can still vividly recall how sick I felt over the process.

When I get blurb requests, I can't help but remember how vulnerable you feel when you're sending your work out like that, hoping for an endorsement, and how much you're hoping to land blurbs that will both pop on the cover and seem unique.

That didn’t mean they always said yes. But when they said no, it was for a reason and with respect.

I did also get a request I wasn’t able to help with. Originally I said okay, but then I realized that the book was much too steamy for my brand. I wound up saying that I unfortunately couldn’t help. But I wrote her back, because I’ve had authors agree to blurb and then disappear. I didn’t want to do that to someone else.

I replied frankly that I wasn't involved in that world anymore and giving my name to the poet's work would probably not have the clout any writer needs to impress prospective readers. I hated doing it, having just received my own blurbs, but thought honesty was the best policy.

I only talked with a few people, none of whom were the sort of Famous Authors who receive dozens of requests each week. But their thoughtful, sympathetic responses indicate that that there’s a common cycle of anxiety, gratitude, and the wish to give back.

That means: one day it will be your turn, and you will be the one being asked!  That time might come sooner than you think. After all, you don’t have to be an Famous Author to help someone else!

Have you ever asked for a blurb?  What was that like? Have you ever been asked?

About Barbara

Barbara Linn Probst is the author of Queen of the Owls, coming in April 2020 from the visionary, award-winning She Writes Press. Queen of the Owls has been chosen by Working Mother as one of the twenty most anticipated books for 2020 and will be the May 2020 selection of the Pulpwood Queens, a network of more than 780 book clubs throughout the U.S. To preorder or learn more, please visit http://www.barbaralinnprobst.com/.

A chance meeting with a charismatic photographer will forever change Elizabeth’s life. How much is Elizabeth willing to risk to be truly seen and known?

Click here to read more or to preorder the book.

Julie Glover

So...Coronavirus.

Whatever we'd originally planned to post today, it seemed like we should take a breather and just admit our current reality: COVID-19 has created unprecedented consequences and challenges.

It's rough out there.

As of this writing, the World Health Organization's latest situation report includes 179,112 confirmed cases and 7,426 deaths. The outbreak map looks like this:

Not to mention that Tom Hanks and Idris Elba have both tested positive. The madness!

Gone from our daily lives are many activities we counted on to provide for, support, and entertain us.

Some of y'all have been seriously impacted with income difficulties, family concerns, and personal anxiety. Here at Writers in the Storm, we want to give you a big, online hug. Socially distanced, of course.

When in crisis...

As Lisa Cron laid out beautifully in her book, our brains are wired for story. We craft stories to make sense of the world around us, learn from our experiences, and form plans for the future.

Stories are powerful.

Go on any social media platform right now, and you'll find people sharing their stories about how things are going. Or making up stories of how's it going, to evoke empathy or laughter. #QuarantineLife was trending on Twitter, as folks shared their newfound realities. And did so with real creativity!

https://twitter.com/KevinRobMartin/status/1240012407910453248

https://twitter.com/WhatTheHeckert/status/1240066740698021888

No, I have no idea who those people are, but those are stories about how it's going. And others are intrigued by them.

Then there are those who turn to story to explain what's happening right now. Whether it's studying historical events like the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 or the SARS outbreak of 2003, or finally reading or watching such fictional pandemic stories as Stephen King's The Stand novel or Steven Soderbergh's Contagion film, people look for comparisons. Some comparisons work, some don't, but we use them to help us tell today's story.

It's something to do.

Of course, plenty of people whose lives have been disrupted find comfort in stories as simply something to do.

More people are binging shows on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and other streaming networks. Readers are pulling books off their to-be-read piles and finally diving in or downloading new reads on their phones and tablets.

Someone out there who's been wanting to write a novel since forever is finally putting pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, and turning out a word count they couldn't manage before. If that's you reading this post right now, good for you! After all, in case you hadn't heard, William Shakespeare wrote King Lear while in quarantine.

Though I'm with author Lauren Hough on this one:

It's also a challenge.

But as many people as there are now digging deep into stories, a number of writers just lost their ability to get any work done.

Yes, I see all of you parents who suddenly have preschool or school-aged children under foot. Not to mention those working overtime in healthcare or caring for someone who's sick. And those who got caught away from home when the travel bans hit.

Forget word count. You just want some semblance of normalcy!

Your work of fiction has been replaced by your personal story of upheaval. Believe me when I say the WITS team is pulling for you to have a happy ending.

Whatever your situation, we invite you to tell your story here. That's what we as humans do in everyday life, but especially in crisis: we craft and share stories.

Let us know what's going on since COVID-19 altered your life or tell us an exaggerated or fictional tale that connects or cheers us up in the face of difficulty. What's your story?

Julie Glover has oddly experienced little disruption lately—being a committed introvert, empty-nester, and self-employed writer. As a Gen Xer, she was mentally prepared for apocalyptic events by movies like War Games, Red Dawn, and Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. Though she really thought it would be the rise of the machines, not a virus, that eventually closed restaurants and bars. Anyway...

If you need something awesome to read right now, check out her YA contemporary novel, SHARING HUNTER, which finaled in the 2015 RWA® Golden Heart® and is now on sale!