Author Interview for New Release SEVEN BEYOND

Marc:  Great to see you again. Did you cut your hair?

Stella:  Hey, Marc… What’s new?

Marc:  I see you have a new release of SEVEN BEYOND pending for March 1. 2014.  The Midwest Book Review paragraphs are flattering, but were dated for 2003.  Is that correct?

 

Stella:  A decade ago, can you believe it?  Seven Beyond was published by a small press that later went bankrupt.  We thought to offer it again – this time worldwide – in the Amazon pool of fantasy ebooks for 99¢.  We can reach Goodreads friends and Twitter friends living in the UK by this method.

Marc:  But why now, when readers are waiting for the release of Book IV of the Doliva Saga?

Stella:  Book IV is titled SignalStone and is ready for the proofreaders.  I was waiting until I had dug into events for Book V, tentatively titled SeaStone, before the release. 

Marc:  Is it hard to let go?

Stella:  Ha, ha… You know me so well. I had a twist ending for SignalStone that I was trying to resolve for each character in the next book.  But the writing is coming along, so I feel ready to spring the surprise.

Marc:  Yes, well… Those are writerly notes that the reader cannot know.  What are you intending with this new release of Seven Beyond?

Stella:  Promoting a fourth book of a series is complicated. What appeal to readers who have only read the first book, or who are just introduced to this writer?  So we thought to offer a stand-alone novel that shows writing style, to win fans who later dig into the Dolvia Saga from name recognition.

Marc:  Seven Beyond is separate from the books already published?

Stella:  Yah, yah.  A separate worldview. Unrelated. Some of my favorite characters I ever developed are in this book. Lady Drasher, especially, whispered in my ear while I was writing, demanding more lines of dialogue and commenting on other characters.  When she started talking to me about characters in a different novel that I was writing, I knew I had to kill her off.

Marc:  Are you giving away the plot?

Stella:  There’s lots of plot to discover. Dr. Meenins is a channeled Longist, meaning he doesn’t remember the 800 years of his life, who must accept his guilty acts in the past before he can lead his race to the new colony to be settled here on Earth.

Marc:  Aliens are among us?

Stella:  We are them, and they are us, and I am the walrus. Koo-koo-kachu.

Marc:  You’re certainly in a good mood today.

Stella:  The ebook cover of Seven Beyond is stellar. And early reviews are positive. But more than that… I put myself into this effort. Seeing it listed on GoodReads and Amazon and the other distributers gives me a feeling of completion. I can like myself now.

Marc:  Well, I certainly enjoyed the book when I read it. Dr. Grammario was my favorite character. What does that say about me?

Stella:  That you read the classics, maybe. 
_______

Purchase 99¢ ebook at Amazon today! 
See BookViral review!

Preparing Fresh eBook Launch

Busy, busy...  Seven Beyond is ready for a 3/1/14 launch as a 99¢ ebook on Amazon Kindle.  Still lining up new release caches for the announcement.  Getting excited, though!

Synopsis:  Dr. Christopher Meenins is 800 years old and doesn't remember his past. Accompanying him on his journey of discovery are the powerful Lady Drasher Elizabeth Tasgneganz, the pedantic Dr. Virgil Grammario, the mysterious—and possibly alien—Linda Deemer. Christopher is haunted by memories of alien places and of a race called the Longists. The group travels to the one place on Earth the Longists might reappear: a remote abbey inhabited by an order of nuns known for their mystical insights and quality brandy.

Memories of David Shanklen—once Meenins’ patient and perhaps also his mentor—trouble Christopher's dreams. Shanklen claimed that he was kept prisoner in an alien zoo maintained by the Longists. Through Shanklen, Christopher must confront the secrets of his past to find the New Restingplace of the Dead.  The travelers exchange stories during his quest à la The Canterbury Tales, and the discovery of the restingplace grows out of their long friendships.

Watch this space for reviews.  If you have a connection or want an interview with the writer, please comment.  

Better Than "Used to Be" for Self-Publishers

by Stella Atrium
___________________________

Last week a self-publisher complained to me that the lag-time between a GoodReads giveaway and posted fan reviews on Amazon was three weeks.  I turned away to hide my smirk.  I supposed it's true that we're so spoiled by the internet, we don't remember how it used to be. 

A decade ago I trusted a small publisher to produce a paperback fantasy novel I wrote. Turns out, he was really a printer masquerading as a publisher with no press release plan or distribution plan.  The weight fell on me to get the word out.

I did research and surfed the web for compatible sites and posted articles about writing and even a "glass bead game" that asked readers to buy the book.  This was before FaceBook in the days of listserv — remember listserv?

I attended sci-fi conventions and traveled to bookstores in the Chicagoland area and staged and attended author appearances.

I begged friends to lend support at my author appearance at the local and famous bookstore where the proprietor could boost my contacts inside the industry.  Except it rained cats-and-dogs that night and I felt sorry for the four friends who did make it to the event, late and drenched.

My efforts went nowhere.  It used to be that a self-promoter expended time and treasure and never reached the intended audience. Listed are a few memories that are burned into my mind.

1)    Introvert at Tradeshow — Did you ever see a booth at a trade show inhabited by a painfully shy writer who spoke to three people the whole day?  I have.

2)    Author Appearance with No Fans — Did you ever see an author at Borders seated alone at a table with stacks of her books and a blank expression of defeat? I have.

3)    Retail Marketing to Bookstores — One writer told me he boosted sales by driving up the California coast visiting bookstores for a personal pitch to owners to place 4 books on the shelves of each stop. An E for effort, but the price of gasoline makes this adventure prohibitive — even if the retail stores are still there.  A hit-or-miss method at best.

4)    Book Signings at Conventions — Writers hate this duty and function like turtles out of the shell. I count Kurt Vonnegut and Robert Jordan in this number. Writers often drink to get past the dread, so they function like hungover shell-less turtles at the morning signing, drinking copious amount of water.

5)    Regional Conventions — Did you ever attend a regional convention where you negotiated a giveaway of your book as part of the "fan appreciation" bag, only to discover the 80 attendees preferred stories about zombies and were really there to get laid?  I have.

6)    Listings on Industry Websites — These were accomplished using a form with no personal contact and no acceptance of connected blogs or Amazon listings.  Some of these still hover online, static and aging and misleading.

7)    Fan Websites — These genre lovers accepted articles and shameless self-promotion to boost traffic by adding your fans.  Except your fans and hers together came to five, including your mother.

8)    Getting into the Pipeline — Used to be... All promotion was accomplished with paperbacks, so each event included shipping a case of forty books to the hotel that hosted the convention, and then shipping them home again. 

9)    Managing Remainders — Did you ever work with a printer who wanted to be certain the check cleared before he shipped the books, even at 40% off?  Did this same printer dump remainders on the market so they hung around for three years at $1.89 sold by resellers on Amazon?  I have. 

10)     Tardy Reviews -- Did you ever find a complimentary review of your novel three years later by a respected reviewer on LibraryThing who must have picked up a remainder book?  Guess what...  that happened to me too!

So don't bring your complaints here that GoodReads or Twitter or LibraryThing aren't working for you.  Industry connections today are accomplished without shipping cases of books to neighboring states, and without leaving the house. 

Spoiled, spoiled, spoiled.

Self-Publishers: Taking the Long View

by Stella Atrium
5/15/12
_________________________________

I live in Old Town in Chicago, as I have mentioned in previous blogs.  We have a series of street fairs in the summer here, and I like to attend to watch the well-heeled residents. At one fair last summer a kiosk was set-up outside the entrance to the actual fair where bright-faced young people were giving away samples of a new energy drink in a red and black aluminum can with a twist top.  I carried my sample around for forty minutes so they couldn’t force another one on me when I passed again.

I was headed home at two in the afternoon when the fair was just going into full swing, and one of the young venders at the kiosk announced that they had sold out.  “We sold out,” she proclaimed, even though there was no cash drawer for receiving funds. “That other booth still has product, but ours is gone because we had the better-selling item.” I didn’t argue with her. It’s not good to discourage young people.

The booth she indicated was actually selling their drinks, at Chicago prices, street fair prices, and was stocked for the entire day, rather than with enough product to last only five hours.  

I turned the corner and passed some overfull trash bins, many holding unopened cans of red and black design.  I threw my unopened can on top.

Self-publishers can take a lesson from this incident. Best-selling is an abused term when talking about 99¢ items, or free items. Maybe more pieces moved out of the kiosk, but what profit was made?

You may argue that promotions are not about profit, but about branding. I would counter that a free sample is not the same as a purchase, and doesn’t imply that I will remember the product’s name, open it, or look for one later at the store. Branding didn’t happen.

Some entrepreneurs advise writers and self-publishers to work at providing the personal touch, spend hours on Twitter and Tumblr, solicit interviews on the websites of other writers, engage with giveaways at reading sites, join in blog tours, lower the prices for ebooks, and constantly reassess what works for your genre or your story. These advisors are the people who are making money – from writers – If we stop the rat race, they would have no audience.

Maybe in the old paradigm short-term sales pushed visibility of a new book. A flurry of reviews followed by a prime location in chain bookstores were coordinated with a print run that ensured enough copies to meet demand after the writer appeared on the Today Show.

Monthly sales were monitored by chain bookstores so that, if a book didn’t move in six weeks, copies were returned to the distributor.

The new era of ebooks changed that need for quarterly sales figures and lists of top ten sales numbers.  In ebook form, the item is not returned so bookstore inventory stays fresh. An ebook is published forever and can gain an audience by word-of-mouth, and by good reviews, over six months or eighteen months.

Or eighteen years.

The writer can reinforce her brand by publishing a second book in a series.  I learned on Reddit that some fans of fantasy (my genre) don’t pick up the first book of a trilogy until all three books are available.  That’s the long view. I’m not published to my fan base until Book III is in print.

But where’s the downside of taking the long view?  Book II of my Dolvia Saga titled HeartStone is due out in June 2012.  I paid for a Kirkus Review so some quality press accompanies the release, and a couple reviewers from GoodReads were kind enough to review ARC copies.

I’m considering RAISING the price of the ebook version to a level more in keeping with other writers in my cohort – equalizing the price for Book I and Book II at $6.99, similar to Lois MacMaster Bujold or Robin Hobb or Jacqueline Carey. After all, the paperback copy sells for $19.95.

What is lost if I take the long view? A lot of busywork to keep pace with the Smashwords crowd?


So… if you made it this far.  Please BUY NOW.  SufferStone: Book I of the Dolvia Saga is still priced in ebook version at $3.19 on Amazon.  BUY NOW at this 55% discounted price before June 2012. 



Each ebook version of the Dolvia Saga is well worth $6.99, just like the fantasy novels of Bujold, Hobb and Carey are each worth the cover price. That’s equivalent to two cups of Starbucks coffee.  But today, you can BUY NOW at the discounted price of $3.19.


And you can claim that you’re in with the in-crowd.

Self-Publishers: Is Your Work Good Enough for ePub?

by Stella Atrium
4/11/12
_________________________________

I produced a couple plays in Chicago small theater and worked with great performers, directors, fight instructors, and crew who gave their hearts as well as their time to display new works in non-profit theater.

One director was experienced from her country-of-origin and talked often about how she procured costumes and set decorations and good press for a theater group there that was attached to a high school.  Of course, Chicago is a world-class market, even for non-profit -- and finding these treasures was also a bigger effort in our fragmented communities.  

Small theater is about vision, and also about compromise as the group approached opening night and made choices for what could get completed in time for that first raised curtain.  Occasionally, we had to settle for what we could accomplish rather than the original vision.

We were lucky to generate some buzz about the production, and a famous reviewer from The Chicago Tribune was scheduled to visit a performance in the first week of an eight-week run.  When this director learned that the reviewer would write about our production, she broke out in hives – literally.

Suddenly, none of the completed work was good enough.  The director started driving the production manager, the crew, the actors, and everybody for improved choices, better flow, smoother cues, enhanced lighting, additional costume choices.  Finally, I realized that she had not experienced this level of scrutiny from reviewers and was gripped with fear that the production was not good enough for the Tribune.

Time to step up to prime time.

Self-publishing is similar to this example in that, for a good part of the project, the writer can please herself and complete the amount of work needed to meet personal goals.  The writer can make a website, join Twitter and FaceBook, and create a blog submitted to Tumblr.

The writer can solicit reviews from friends and from companies that sell services, and post the kind words mined from a few paragraphs posted by a reader who only has her own reading arch to draw on for comparison.  This work – and it’s real work – takes dedication and vision and commitment to selling the value of the story.

Except at some point a world-class reviewer will notice your story.  At some point a fellow writer who has reputation and sales will look at your story.  A writer who you have read and admire will follow you on Twitter.  Eventually, an agent or publisher who is trolling Twitter and GoodReads for the next break-out novel will stumble across your book cover.

Will you make the grade? Or are you trying to publish your dreams more than publish a real-world classic.

•    Is your story more than 90 pages? Was the story copy-edited more than once?

•    Is the cover derivative from similar stories so they all look alike?

•    Is the grammar correct? Does the reader engage within the first 4 pages?

•    Is the blurb truthful and informative? Do the promo paragraphs respect the genre?

•    Is the primary character fully drawn? Are side characters interesting and various?

•    Does the plot teach the reader something about herself while moving along at a good clip?

•    Is the story satisfying for growth in all character? Where is the surprise?

These concerns cannot be changed after the reviewer has found fault or expressed a wish that the story was better presented. The writer cannot argue with the reviewer and claim his view ignores all your good work.

What writers among you have taken a story off the market and reworked it after the reviewers wrote unkind comments that more work is needed?

Is your story only good enough for epub, or is your story ready to endure the scrutiny that you think you seek? Some opportunities happen only once.  Some creative work exists in solid form (museum quality) and is no longer available for re-edit.

Is the story ready for prime time?

Why I Embrace Self-Publishing

By Stella Atrium
_________________________

I saw a solicitation for a tenured position at my alma mater for which I will apply.  Professors seldom leave this department, and competition for vacancies is fierce. I experienced sudden anxiety as though my whole future depended on submitting a stellar letter with quality documentation.  I recognized that tense feeling as the same I felt when approaching agents and publishers.

And then I had an epiphany, not unusual for a spring day in windy Chicago.

As a self-publisher, those feeling of anxiety are mostly absent. In fact, I just completed a round of letters sent with review copies that were requested in response to a press release that I wrote.  I jotted off the letters citing connections with the group through a PR service (cost: $175), and good reports about my fantasy novel launched in January 2012.  While I completed the “shipping and handling” exercise, I considered getting an assistant for this busy work. That’s how low the work was on my scale of importance.

I have skills for promoting, and for creative writing. So why was I so anxious about traditional publishers and the agents who lunch with them?

I was victim to no fewer than three (count them 3) printers who called themselves publishers, including the infamous Publish America.  I never received positive results from any of their promised marketing efforts.  Nada, zip, zero.

Here’s an analogy. I was raised in the country, and each spring we had to clean the slough of debris.  We opened a trap that served as a bottleneck and flushed fresh water through along with the sticks and leaves and earthworms. Soon the fresh water ran clear.

Maybe the same is true with self-publishing.  Sure, some writers should take more classes, and some self-promoters should take a breath.  But the new shape of the publishing industry sorts the quality (and ambitious) writers from the sticks and earthworms.  Soon enough books from the fresh writer who lived with frustration all this time will flow freely to readers, so that great characters and original work find an audience.

I will continue with a small publisher because the quality of the product is better than I can weave together on the laptop. I will avoid Smashwords and offering books for free because I believe reviewers who work with magazines find that level of publishing repugnant.

But here’s the question…  If I can make a website and blog, connect with writers and readers on Twitter, GoodReads and LibraryThing, and grab press release leads for $175, then why were writers willing to pay $4500+ to agents (or marketing executives) for less response?

All those self-important agents and publishers and advisors and naysayers can go fly a kite on this windy spring day. 

Fresh promotions start today!

Guest interview on website of International Best Selling Author Stacy Eaton.  


Guest blog post with fellow writer Emerald Barnes.

Upcoming interview with Hawaiian mystery writer Gail Baugniet.

Sign up for Giveaway of 20 copies 

 SufferStone: Book 1 of the Dolvia Saga

starts 3/5 through 3/26

Best Practices for Self-Publishers

by Stella Atrium
___________________________
Promoting an ebook on Amazon is a business, even for self-publishers.  I found a plethora of online articles for how to apply business principles to self-promotion, almost like gaining a BA in Business Management, I suppose.

These structures build a brand (online persona):
•    Maintain a focused and fresh website
•    Select areas for connections (Reddit, OpenSalon) and be supportive in comments
•    Build a platform for a diverse online presence
•    Blog regularly – but not too often – about real experiences
•    Link to colleagues, critics, and consumers
•    Learn habit patterns of followers and fans, and adjust behavior to serve them

Additionally, I found that a certain daily discipline is needed to avoid wandering off the path and to use my time productively.  The Best Practices listed below largely follow business principles for promoting any brand name product. The list is derivative and works for me.  Your list may shape differently.

1)    Channel my efforts – With new social outlets popping up each day, the writer must select those that drive traffic into the blog and drive sales for the book.  I have found success on GoodReads more than LibraryThing, on Reddit more than Linked-In. I have to develop a presence on social sites where visitors add comments and where readers make choices for purchasing the next trilogy in fantasy.

2)    Don’t get distracted – I love Harry Potter fans who are energetic and loyal, but I’m done with that series now (even Rowlings is done with that series now) and want to move on to readers who have moved on.

3)    Respond to comments – When traffic reaches the blog(s) and comments are posted, my timely responses are essential.  The visitor wants to feel acknowledged.  This principle has caused me to pace the timing for placement of guest blogs and interviews, along with questions posted to Reddit, so I’m not always chasing my tail.

4)    Add genuine responses – If the visitor chooses to comment, then my reply should address her ideas, not a promotion for more links.

5)    Get to know colleagues – On Twitter especially, I learned to stay within my genre and not wander into groups for romance or detective stories (well, some detective writers).  When I explore websites of loyal retweeters and get to know their interests, I can feel confident when I retweet fresh posts from them to my followers.

6)    Be generous – The world doesn’t revolve around my book on Amazon (big surprise). Look into more shared interests for music, writing advice, publishing advice, funny images in the news, global causes to support.  Present the whole person on social media.

7)    Develop a consistent message – How does this imperative jive with number 6? I return consistently to my primary focus of developing real female characters in my stories.  Which causes, blogs, interview offers, fellow writers reinforce the message of global women rights and stories that feature women as lead characters?  These social advocates become my friends.

8)    Dress the blog with links to friends – Sometimes links overwhelm the presence of the blogger.  Sometimes the blogger neglects links, even “follow on Twitter”. I have remade the blog page many times to reach current friends and reinforce the central theme.

9)    Assess sources of traffic – I have been surprised with how traffic works on the blog(s) and home website.  Overall, content drives traffic as much as placement.  Fair-weather friends are soon absent, while friends with similar interests linger and retweet.

10)     Be patient – Building relationships takes time.  When I see traffic for a successful blog, I want more traffic – the definition of an addict, I think.  Some social media groups allow for comments that are more negative, so I learned to take the good with the bad.  Colleagues comment to build stronger platforms.  Consumers (who buy our products) comment when they object to assertions.  I must learn to serve both groups. 

These guidelines have focused my hours devoted to promotion online, and outcomes are mostly positive so far.  What additional best practices have you embraced that may also serve my efforts?  Any suggestions?

Better Than "Used to Be" for Self-Publishers

by Stella Atrium
___________________________

Last week a self-publisher complained to me that the lag-time between a GoodReads giveaway and posted fan reviews on Amazon was three weeks.  I turned away to hide my smirk.  I supposed it's true that we're so spoiled by the internet, we don't remember how it used to be. 

A decade ago I trusted a small publisher to produce a paperback fantasy novel I wrote. Turns out, he was really a printer masquerading as a publisher with no press release plan or distribution plan.  The weight fell on me to get the word out.

I did research and surfed the web for compatible sites and posted articles about writing and even a "glass bead game" that asked readers to buy the book.  This was before FaceBook in the days of listserv — remember listserv?

I attended sci-fi conventions and traveled to bookstores in the Chicagoland area and staged and attended author appearances.

I begged friends to lend support at my author appearance at the local and famous bookstore where the proprietor could boost my contacts inside the industry.  Except it rained cats-and-dogs that night and I felt sorry for the four friends who did make it to the event, late and drenched.

My efforts went nowhere.  It used to be that a self-promoter expended time and treasure and never reached the intended audience. Listed are a few memories that are burned into my mind.

1)    Introvert at Tradeshow — Did you ever see a booth at a trade show inhabited by a painfully shy writer who spoke to three people the whole day?  I have.

2)    Author Appearance with No Fans — Did you ever see an author at Borders seated alone at a table with stacks of her books and a blank expression of defeat? I have.

3)    Retail Marketing to Bookstores — One writer told me he boosted sales by driving up the California coast visiting bookstores for a personal pitch to owners to place 4 books on the shelves of each stop. An E for effort, but the price of gasoline makes this adventure prohibitive — even if the retail stores are still there.  A hit-or-miss method at best.

4)    Book Signings at Conventions — Writers hate this duty and function like turtles out of the shell. I count Kurt Vonnegut and Robert Jordan in this number. Writers often drink to get past the dread, so they function like hungover shell-less turtles at the morning signing, drinking copious amount of water.

5)    Regional Conventions — Did you ever attend a regional convention where you negotiated a giveaway of your book as part of the "fan appreciation" bag, only to discover the 80 attendees preferred stories about zombies and were really there to get laid?  I have.

6)    Listings on Industry Websites — These were accomplished using a form with no personal contact and no acceptance of connected blogs or Amazon listings.  Some of these still hover online, static and aging and misleading.

7)    Fan Websites — These genre lovers accepted articles and shameless self-promotion to boost traffic by adding your fans.  Except your fans and hers together came to five, including your mother.

8)    Getting into the Pipeline — Used to be... All promotion was accomplished with paperbacks, so each event included shipping a case of forty books to the hotel that hosted the convention, and then shipping them home again. 

9)    Managing Remainders — Did you ever work with a printer who wanted to be certain the check cleared before he shipped the books, even at 40% off?  Did this same printer dump remainders on the market so they hung around for three years at $1.89 sold by resellers on Amazon?  I have. 

10)     Tardy Reviews -- Did you ever find a complimentary review of your novel three years later by a respected reviewer on LibraryThing who must have picked up a remainder book?  Guess what...  that happened to me too!

So don't bring your complaints here that GoodReads or Twitter or LibraryThing aren't working for you.  Industry connections today are accomplished without shipping cases of books to neighboring states, and without leaving the house. 

Spoiled, spoiled, spoiled.

Wild West Sales for Self-Publishers

by Stella Atrium
___________________________

Before iTunes, Smashwords and 99¢ eBooks on Kindle, the rule of thumb for a performer who wanted to attract the attention of industry big wigs was to show that he had 1000 loyal fans. We are in the Wild West stage of selling books just now where anything goes and the lowest bidder wins the most traffic.  But traffic and fans aren't the same creature.

A fan tells friends about his favorite performer (like a review), plays the tunes at parties (like a book chat group), and wears a t-shirt with the band logo (like buying a paperback). A fan RETURNS for more products from the same performer and put down his money at retail prices.

I don't understand free ebooks on Kindle or Smashwords.  The writer spends all her life writing this book at the sacrifice of so many other activities and time with loved ones. Why devalue the product?

Besides, most self-published books on Smashwords are not-ready-for-prime-time first writings. Do you really want to be part of that group?

I'm not convinced Twitter traffic translates to sales, either. I see writers promoting each other, or cross-promoting with reviewers and handlers.  The writer is like a candidate surrounded by members of the press and cannot reach past the loud-talking reporters to find a voter willing to shake hands.

Maybe the audience we are seeking aren't even among our followers on Twitter.

Years ago I fooled around in non-profit theater in Chicago where attendance was one-quarter house on a good night and theater groups lived for reviews in The Reader and grants from Thorten Foundation. The truth was that no matter how well produced the performance for acting, directing, or set direction — the audience for live theater was sparse, even at low ticket prices. A producer in this arena could not expect to see returns on her investment.

The plethora of giveaways on sites trying to build loyalty (for the site, not for the writer) is similar to non-profit theater in Chicago. Except for a couple break-out sites that facilitate the reading community like GoodReads and LibraryThing, the audience just isn't there.

How does the self-publisher gain those 1000 "loyal fans" for convincing evidence that her writing rises above the pack and is worthy to become a book-of-the-month choice for reading clubs?

Reputation is everything. There are several levels of reputation, though. Listed are 10 types to avoid.

1. The Situation — Anyone can show his navel and get others to look.  Be sure there's integrity and a reason the fan should return.
2. Always free — If it's free, that means you couldn't get anybody to buy it. Have a little dignity.
3. Trading favors — My back doesn't needs scratching. Because you asked, I know you haven't found true fans yet.
4. Inflated claims — "If you liked Jurassic Park, you're gonna love my self-published book." I always turn away when the writer claims to be like some other writer.
5. Five-star fan reviews on Amazon — Really? Were they posted by your mother?
6. Twitter Blanket — the same note every two minutes announcing the launch of your book. Your followers already read the announcement. Nobody else sees it. Who are you talking to?
7. Begs for reviews or retweets — Be patient, a quality reviewer will find a quality book soon enough. Building brand loyalty only happens over time.
8. Writer blog tour — Sponsored by another writer in a chat room where only writers sign in.
9. Salacious claims to increase traffic — Fool me once and "unfollow" is my next gesture.
10. Purchasing followers — Get real!

Didn’t Make It Past Page Four:  Poor Writerly Choices for 99¢ eBooks

by Stella Atrium
_________________

I try to read books recommended by friends on GoodReads, although I’m continuously disappointed with eBooks for 99¢. Since I didn’t spend my lunch money on the book, it’s easier to set down the Kindle Fire and never return to that cover image on the bookshelf.

My genre is fantasy, and I’m forgiving for grammar when the magic or otherworld elements provide surprise; like Robin Hobb and dragon warming stations – too funny! But sometimes I don’t make it to the surprise, or even past page four. 

The reading has to go easy.  This is for fun, right?

1) Who is they, or he?  When I find myself tracking back through a dense description to identify who is speaking or acting, my patience evaporates.  There’s nothing wrong with repeating the character names.  If three characters are in dialogue, use their names!

2) Pronoun agreement counts.  “The soldiers reached for their swords” is correct.  “The hero wondered if their home was still intact” is incorrect.  This error signals that your text did not benefit from a round of proofreading. 

3) Leads in opening scene named Mark, Luke and John.  Name one Tres and another one Jessup.  Additionally, a smoldering look is NOT adequate character description.

4) Too many foreign names. Conversely, don’t hit the reader with the clan loyalties in the first chapter, like a pie in the face.  Dole out the structure of the society in layers like expensive truffles for nibbling.

5) Missing single point of view. The first chapter should be an action scene; readers expect that. Relate this scene from a single point of view, with a single emotive response – like fear or jealousy or expectation.  The other characters can display emotion in chapter two.

6) Physically impossible action. If the jetpack ignites underwater, I accept that.  If the jetpack propels the hero to the surface ahead of his bubble stream, I worry about getting the bends.

7) Clichés, and more clichés.  If you borrow from other writers twice before page four, you just lost me.  Think up your own magic tricks.

8) Sentence Variety.  “The hero entered the bright and warm room, carrying his heavy and dirty sword, looking for the funny and pretty heroine.”  I have a left and right brain headache now.  

9) Preteen with skills beyond her age.  Can a 14-year-old wield an 18-inch sword? Can she ride a horse into battle in full armor and win? 

10) Talking dragons, teenage vampires.  Embrace the next trend, not the previous trend that’s about to burn out (one hopes).

These are red flags that make the reader wonder about investing time in the next chapters of your story.  Respect the reader and don’t expect her to plow through these poor choices, even for 99¢. 

It's Like a Caucus: Struggles with Self-Publish Marketing

by Stella Atrium
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When the Iowa caucuses roll around every four years, voters are subjected to complaints about retail politics, how candidates must visit every county and shake hands in living rooms, backyards, and coffee shops while they endure litmus tests about narrative, purity and electability.  And this is BEFORE voters review the candidates platform on his website or position statement on various issues.

I know how the candidates feel.

I found some easy comparisons with marketing for the self-publisher. Retail marketing, we'll call it. The various author websites where authors gather to promote indie books, for example, are similar to the early debates where candidates are allowed to hold up a hand indicating positions on topic as defined by the liberal press. The only visitors to these sites are other authors checking their own progress, just like the only viewers of the early debates are other commentators who have the next debate on a different network.

Some candidates have been working at reaching presidential campaign level for 10 years, (after serving in house or senate or governorships or charity groundwork), and invested a fortune of family money and donor money. And that's before the opening bell. Writers also have invested "blood and treasure" in the book or series (along with university work, screenplays, ghostwriting, jingle writing) long before joining Twitter.

What's another comparisons? Soliciting reviews are like making promises for future connections so the candidate can gain a public endorsement, and sometimes takes as many visits to the endorser's home for dinner.

The writer's giveaway is like campaign headquarters where hats and pins and banners are stacked in a corner waiting for the volunteers to embrace the novel and spread word-of-mouth good will.

The first blog tour where the writer engages a real time chat or printed interview with the site's manager are similar to the grip-and-grin first meeting with potential supporters and fundraisers.

Expanding beyond bloggers in one's genre to begin selling to your own university or book club or alma mater is like moving from Iowa to New Hampshire for the second round of primaries. Can the candidate build a ground game to perform in a different arena?

Developing a YouTube video to start a second buzz once the book is released is like those TV commercials that tout the candidate's family and long record of service, and just as expensive.

And the results are sometimes just as screwy. 

The weighted bestseller list that floats the list-maker's favorite book type to the top is like Ron Paul who is winning in early states, but cannot gain the respect of the liberal media who claim he cannot win, so why interview him?

A book with a few enthusiastic readers on GoodReads gains a bump in ratings and to-read lists until other readers discover the grammar and diction are so poor as to work against the book's good ideas.

It's possible to push this analogy too far...  But in my genre Neil Gaiman is the Mitt Romney (we like him, kinda) and Steven King is the Newt Gingrich (full of big ideas the unravel in the plotline).

Okay, I'll stop now.  What comparisons did I neglect that you can see?