Category publishing

Jul 30 2013

Social Media Checks

Let me start with an employment-related fact and then discuss how this relates to author branding.

More employers are doing social media background checks and are turning down candidates based on what they find.

This doesn’t mean that people should avoid social media all together. Rather, it means that social media must be treated as a sample of professionalism. Companies that specialize in social media background checks actually have access to messages that aren’t made public, comments, and more. Scary; but it is what it is.

When a social media background check reveals unprofessional conduct (e.g. signs of not getting along well with others, negative comments about former employers) or evidence that contradicts the resume, these red flags are likely to deter employers from hiring.

However, when a social media profile looks professional and displays excellent communication skills, this tends to be an asset. Creativity and a touch of personality may help, too.

Readers do various sorts of social media background checks, too.

Many shoppers will glance at the customer book reviews. If they see authors making negative comments about former readers, this falls under the “bad-mouthing former employers” category. It doesn’t look professional.

Potential customers read blogs, tweets, Facebook author pages, etc. A shopper who discovers the book on Amazon probably isn’t going to do an extensive background check, but may explore the reviews and author page. Nobody is likely to read all of an author’s social media messages.

However, many potential customers will discover the book through one of these methods. It might be a blog, could be a tweet, etc. Perceived unprofessional conduct (e.g. bad-mouthing) may deter sales. Professional posts with excellent communication skills that show creativity and a touch of personality are more apt to boost sales.

What a potential customer sees when checking one form of social media and how this customer reacts is not much different from what a prospective employer would look for in a job candidate.

Remember, although readers probably aren’t going out of their way to do background checks on authors, potential readers are discovering authors through their marketing endeavors. What the potential reader sees in this discovery process serves as a “background check.” Is it a red flag that may deter sales, or is it something that is more likely to inspire sales? Think author branding.

References:

1. http://www.worksavelive.com/turned-down-for-a-job-check-your-facebook-profile/

2. http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2012/04/18/one-in-three-employers-reject-applicants-based-on-facebook-posts/

Chris McMullen, self-published author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers

 

Jul 26 2013

Creative Cursing in Fiction

Sometimes, a fictional character has a personality that includes swearing. When the character needs to swear in the dialogue, the author is faced with a dilemma: Should the author use real four-letter words, which some readers may find offensive, or find a creative way to achieve a similar effect?

The answer may depend on the audience. Some readers prefer the real word to be used instead, while some readers find the actual words offensive. For teen books, the views of their parents are important, too. The better you understand your target audience, the easier it is for you to decide which will may have a better impact on sales.

Many traditionally published books have found creative ways for characters to swear.

One way is to replace a typical curse with another expression. For example, if you want to say, “You $%#@-ing moron!” you could write, “You flaming moron!”

It has to fit the character and genre. For some personalities, it would be okay to say, “Great bazookas!” instead of, “&#$@!” However, in some cases this wouldn’t suffice.

Another option is to use a milder oath, like “Shucks!” or “Golly!” instead of “%#&@!” Don’t exercise this option if it does an injustice to the character. Many characters won’t get away with an oath like “Fiddlesticks!”

You could try making up your own words, like “Oh fuzzlewuzzles!” Both the sound and look of the word must fit the character in order to pull this off. Just imagine Bruce Willis saying that in Die Hard! (There’s an example where any substitution wouldn’t have had nearly the effect that his famous line had. Again, you really have to know your audience.)

Yet another alternative is to use an ordinary word with very similar spelling, like ‘buck’ or ‘crab.’ Beware: The first time the reader sees this (perhaps, in the Look Inside), he or she may be thinking that the author simply misspelled the word (since it’s off by only one letter) – thinking, maybe, “If you can’t even spell the four-letter words right, this must be a horribly edited book.” It will take a little repetition to convince the reader (who may give up before it repeats) that it was intentional. Also, differing only by a letter, it may be too obvious – perhaps using the real word or something more different is better.

Occasionally, a writer states something of the sort, “Insert favorite expletive here.” This can only be used rarely, and only in an exceptional context.

Arguably the best oaths ever were written by Shakespeare, who didn’t need any four-letter words at all. Those oaths were loaded with creativity, and could really make a person look bad. Again, such curses probably won’t suit most characters and genres.

Those are some examples of creative cursing. Do you have experience with this? Or can you think of other ways to do it?

Chris McMullen, self-published author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers

Jul 25 2013

Publishing Is not a Dog-Eat-Dog Business

I debated with myself whether or not this article would be worth writing. I feel that the majority of writers already realize this, and the minority who exhibit the dog-eat-dog mentality aren’t likely to read this article – and, if they do, be influenced by it. Then I considered that it may provide a little reassurance to the majority, if nothing else. So I have written this article with this possible benefit in mind.

Unfortunately, there are a few unscrupulous authors and publishers out there who incorrectly believe that they can become more successful by making their colleagues look worse by planting negative reviews on similar titles and other unethical practices. We see it happen occasionally. Most of the one-star reviews are from actual customers who simply didn’t like the book, but a few are actually from competing authors or publishers – sometimes directly, and sometimes indirectly by persuading or even paying others to do it for them.

We know it happens from the times that that the author was caught red-handed. Reviews have been removed, accounts have been suspended, and a couple of such authors have been featured in high-profile articles.

Let me stress again that the vast majority of authors do not behave this way. Most authors – both indies and traditionally published – are much more ethical than this. Most authors support one another. I don’t mean to suggest a bad image for authors or books in any way. I hope that you will keep in mind that the vast majority of authors behave professionally and supportively and that almost all books provide much value to readers, and not let the behavior of a few bad eggs adversely affect your image of books and publishing at large.

What I really want to point out is why the dog-eat-dog approach is foolish in the publishing industry: Similar books are generally much more complementary than competitive. Buyers usually buy multiple books (if not all at once, then over a period of months or years). It’s usually not a case of, “Should I buy Book A or Book B?” but, “Where can I find more books like Book A?”

Similar titles help one another through Customer Also Bought lists, word-of-mouth referrals, etc.

If an author succeeds in hurting sales of similar titles by blasting the competition, this author is very likely shooting himself or herself in the foot. Every time a customer buys a similar title, that author’s book shows up as a suggested add-on. So hurting the sales of one book tends to hurt the sales of similar books.

Similar titles tend to feed off of each other’s successes.

Another important point is that a negative review sometimes actually helps sales, instead of hurting them. This is a second reason that the unethical dog-eating-other-dogs mentality is likely to backfire.

No author wants to receive a bad review. But sometimes they help sales rather than hurt them. First of all, every review adds to the total number of reviews. More reviews is a sign of greater popularity. Second of all, a negative review among good reviews may help to provide balance. Occasionally, a negative review does hurt sales, but many times it doesn’t.

We must also give credit to the customer. Shoppers can often tell that there is something funny about an unethical review. If they suspect that the competition has blasted a book, customers are inclined to feel supportive toward the poor author who was blasted. They might even buy the book when they otherwise wouldn’t have.

If a customer recently read the book and was about to post a negative review, upon seeing a harsh negative review already there, the customer often reconsiders this. Thus, a malicious one-star review might not result in more negative reviews, just more obviously malicious ones. When customers see a harsh negative review, sometimes they post a positive review when otherwise they wouldn’t have reviewed the book.

Of course, it takes much time for the author to see what effect, if any, a review has. Occasionally, bad reviews do deter sales. It’s just that the assumption that a bad review will always deter sales is clearly false; sometimes it does, but often it doesn’t.

The vast majority of authors who are scrupulous have a great deal of support on their side. Those few unscrupulous dog-eat-dog authors are missing out on this wonderful opportunity.

Most authors help one another in various ways:

  • We discuss ideas with other writers for writing better, marketing better, publishing better, etc.
  • We provide support through comments and emails.
  • We share recommendations for cover artists, editors, etc.
  • We reveal tricks of the trade to authors we interact with and trust.
  • We support one another emotionally.
  • We offer advice from our experience.
  • We give critical feedback when it is solicited.
  • We buy, read, and review many books.
  • And much, much more.

The self-publishing community is very supportive and resourceful. It’s an amazing team to be on. The community is far stronger than a stray dog going around eating other dogs.

Finally, a few bad authors shouldn’t be casting a bad image for dogs. When I think of dogs, I think of wonderful, furry, loving creatures, who win your love with sad eyes, slurp your face with a salivating tongue, stand up on hind legs and throw their front paws on your chest, and faithfully follow you wherever you go. We could learn a lot by studying the natural goodness exhibited by the vast majority of dogs. 🙂

Chris McMullen, self-published author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers

Jul 24 2013

To Be Traditionally Published, or not to Be… How ‘bout Both?

Many authors debate whether or not to publish their books with a traditional publisher. The alternative, self-publishing, is becoming increasingly popular.

But you don’t have to choose one or the other. More and more authors are doing both.

Authors love to write. And write. And write and write and write.

However, there is a limit to what you can hope to get traditionally published (unless you have a big name that easily commands interest among publishers).

So if you strictly publish traditionally, some of your writing may not get published at all. If you self-publish, you can publish all of your writing (although all of it may not sell).

But you needn’t choose one or the other. Why not both? If you’re deciding which way to go, that probably means that you see benefits and disadvantages each way. Exploring both options will help keep you from wondering about the road not taken.

Choose one or two ideas that you’d like to traditionally publish, and pursue that. Self-publish your other ideas while you try to achieve this.

You’ll run into one problem right away: Should you use a pen name?

If you self-publish books in your name and try to get traditionally published in the same name, the success (or lack thereof) of your self-published books may factor into the editor’s decision. If you become highly successful with self-publishing, using the same name may be a plus; but if your book flops, it may be a red flag.

It’s easier to market a book published in your own name. You may have a following on Facebook, for example, when you first publish. You have friends and acquaintances who may support you. When you meet people and they discover that you’re a writer, they may become interested in your book.

You can build a following and market effectively using a pen name, but there are some advantages to using your own name. This is something to consider.

Personally, I love the freedom, independence, higher royalties, ease, and other advantages of self-publishing. I’m not exploring traditional publishing at this time. But there are attractive benefits of traditional publishing. There are also benefits to doing both.

Some indie authors and some traditionally published authors seem to feel that it’s ‘us against them.’ This isn’t true: We’re all authors; we all love to write. And more and more authors are fitting into both categories. There are many successful authors of both varieties, and both self-publishing and traditional publishing offer value to readers.

Chris McMullen, self-published author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers

Jul 22 2013

How to Find and Hire a Cover Artist

This Love

Cover image copyright 2013 Melissa Stevens.

www.theillustratedauthor.net

There are many talented cover designers out there. How do you find a good one at an affordable price?

The first step is to find a variety of cover designers to choose from. One way is to simply use a search engine. Another is to browse for book covers you like; some of the professionally designed indie covers and small publisher covers will feature more affordable designers. Interact with the indie author community here at WordPress and over the course of a few months, you’ll discover a variety of cover designers.

Charles Yallowitz offered a creative suggestion: Contact a local art department. You may find an art student with graphic design experience looking for such an opportunity.

Another option is cover design help through CreateSpace or crowdSPRING, for example. Personal interaction with a single artist provides many benefits, but finding a variety of talent in one place has its own advantage.

https://www.crowdspring.com

Finding several designers is easy. The challenge is picking the right one for your book and your budget.

You can find premade covers for $10 and up, but chances are that this approach will result in a cover that doesn’t quite fit your book – and ‘not quite’ can make a significant difference. It doesn’t hurt to browse them, though; maybe you’ll get lucky. Or, if it just needs a small change to fit your cover, perhaps the designer will be willing to revise it for a small fee; it doesn’t hurt to ask.

It’s possible to find custom cover design for under $100, but many professionally designed covers run from $300 to $1500 (and up). Although I’ve made most of my covers myself, this year I have invested in a few covers at around the $300 price point.

I hired Melissa Stevens to design a few covers, and was very pleased both with the process and the results.

CHWG RR

Cover image copyright 2013 Melissa Stevens.

www.theillustratedauthor.net

Here are some ideas to help you narrow your search:

  • Visit the cover designer’s website. How professional is it?
  • Explore the artist’s portfolio. Do any of the images or techniques seem to be a good fit for your cover?
  • Check the designer’s previous covers out. Do any of these grab your attention? Do they follow the ‘rules’ of cover design (a good cover may break a rule, but as the author, you need some means of judging)?
  • Find some of these covers on Amazon. If the book is new, look at the sales rank; if the book isn’t new, the reviews may be more revealing of its prior sales rank (since this can change significantly over time). How much do you feel that the cover may have stimulated sales, if at all?
  • Note that books published by top publishers usually only mention the cover designer in small print on the back cover and on the copyright page, and not on the front cover.
  • What do your friends, family, and acquaintances think about the artist’s portfolio and previous covers?

When you’re ready to contact a potential cover designer, you should be prepared to exchange a few emails. This interaction will help you gauge the artist’s character, expertise, interest in your book, patience, etc. Here are some points to consider (first check the artist’s website, which may answer some of these questions for you):

  • Inquire about the artist’s background and experience (unless this information is posted on the website).
  • What techniques does the artist use? Graphic design usually looks much more professional on a cover; even though colored pencils, chalk, or paint can look good hanging on a wall, it usually makes a cover look amateurish.
  • Ask if the artist will use any clipart or stock images, and, if so, ask about copyright issues. You’d hate to invest money in cover design and then get sued for copyright infringement over any of the images used.
  • What use of the cover design will you be granted? This should be stated on the contract. If you have multiple editions (paperback, eBook), you want to clarify this. You probably want to post your cover on your website, may want to solicit feedback about it on your blog, etc. Generally, posting your cover on your websites should be good advertising for the designer, but you want to get permission first.
  • Will the artist display the cover on the artist’s website? This may not generate sales for you, but helps your branding slightly. When the artist features your cover on his/her website, it demonstrates the artist is proud of the cover.
  • You want to know to what extent you will be involved in the process. You may have a vision; even if not, you may still want to suggest revisions throughout the design. Realize that it takes a lot of work to design a cover, and much more work to make multiple revisions. Thus, many artists place a limit on the number of changes you can make for the price paid, and charge extra for additional revisions. You want to have this clarified up front.
  • Before you sign the contract, you’d like to have some idea of what you’re going to get. Perhaps the designer can describe his/her vision for your cover. Even better, request a partial mock-up showing something.
  • How long will the design take? The wise thing is for you to provide ample time for the cover to be made. I don’t believe in rushing art. Personally, I would prefer for the artist to put the idea on hold until the perfect idea comes.
  • How will the payments be arranged? It may be a good compromise for the author to pay a deposit up front and the rest when the cover is delivered; half and half is common. This way, the artist is compensated for his/her time, work, and effort even if the author changes his/her mind (which happens). You want the contract to include a provision for opting out; probably, the deposit (which may be half) will be nonrefundable, but if you’re dissatisfied with the result, you can walk away and not pay the remainder.
  • Note that some cover designers offer contracts and expect a hefty deposit, but not all designers do. This may depend in part on the process. If the designer does much of the work by hand, he/she is more likely to present a contract and expect a hefty deposit; but if the designer works mostly with stock images, he/she may be less formal.
  • You can try to negotiate a little. An artist might take a chance that once you fall in love with one cover, you might use the same artist for many covers. Instead of price, you might ask for something else, like a matching website banner. What I recommend is asking if you can receive a few of the images from the cover to help decorate the inside of your book, or maybe getting a few simple designs to help with the interior décor; such touches can help make the interior of your book (especially, the Look Inside) make a good impression, too. However, some illustrators won’t negotiate on price; but it may not hurt to try.
  • Of course, if you have any legal questions about the contract, you should consult with an attorney.

Get feedback from family, friends, acquaintances, and especially members of your target audience at various stages of the cover design. This will help you receive valuable feedback so that you can suggest possible revisions while at the same time helping to create a little buzz for your upcoming book.

Communication is very important. The artist is trying to carry out your vision, but can’t see inside your head. You must communicate your ideas clearly with the artist. Don’t be afraid to voice your opinion. Be honest. If there is something you don’t like, say so. Don’t fear hurting the artist’s feelings. (Well, have some tact. Don’t say, “That stinks.” Try something like, “I was hoping that image could look a little more…,” or, “I’m not a big fan of that…” Also, take the time to make encouraging and supportive remarks about the elements that you do like.) Communication and honesty are the keys to helping the artist pull of your vision.

There is one more thing to keep in mind: While it’s your cover, the artist wants to be happy with the cover design, too. If the author insists on some cover design element that the artist feels makes the cover look unprofessional, the artist may not want to showcase the cover on his/her website and may not want to have his/her name mentioned as the cover designer.

Finally, behave professionally in your interactions with potential cover designers. Your author image is a very important part of your branding.

From a marketing perspective, the two most important features of your cover are:

  • The cover makes it clear which genre the book belongs to. If your cover design fails to meet this goal, then most of the people who click on your book probably won’t be buying it.
  • The cover grabs the attention of your target audience. Not just making the genre clear, but attracting the target audience’s attention.

It’s also desirable for the title font to be clear in the cover. You can find various ‘rules’ of cover design and mistakes to avoid (for example, in the link below), and see if the ‘final’ cover meets this criteria (if not, at least have a good reason for not doing so).

https://chrismcmullen.wordpress.com/2013/07/06/cover-design-checklist/

For you, the author, there is one very important feature to keep in mind:

  • Ensure that the product is better than what you could have done yourself (unless you happen to have all the skills, but just didn’t want to invest the time).

Let me credit Melissa Stevens for reading my draft of this blog post and offering a few suggestions. She mentioned the importance of honesty from the author, the idea that communication between the author and artist is the key to successful cover design, and the point about cover designers who work primarily with stock images. The cover figures in this post were used by permission of Melissa Stevens.

Chris McMullen, self-published author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers

Jul 20 2013

A Look Inside that Sells

Copyright Design Pic

A fantastic cover grabs the attention of the target audience. A killer blurb arouses the curiosity of the target audience. But it’s the Look Inside that decides whether or not the shopper will buy now or pass on it.

There are two components to a stellar look inside:

  • Formatting, design marks, and imagery that suit the content and impress the reader, without distracting from the reading. Thus, many traditional publishers include designs in the front matter and first page of the chapter, but often have very plain pages where they want readers to focus on reading.
  • A sample, prologue, prelude, and first chapter that grab the interest of the target audience and compel them to keep reading. A slow beginning is for your existing fan base; only they will exercise patience, trusting that the best is yet to come. If you hope to attract browsers, you want to come out with your best stuff. (Of course, if there are spelling, grammatical, or other mistakes in the Look Inside, these often tend to have the opposite effect.)

Spend time studying the Look Insides of top selling books. You can get several great ideas this way. You don’t want to copy those ideas; just use them to see the possibilities and inspire your own design.

Following are a few examples.

Wool by Hugh Howey

http://amzn.com/1476733953

  • I’m looking at the specific book from the link above and checking out the Look Inside of the paperback edition. I encourage you to also check it out and follow along.
  • It starts out with quotes about how awesome the book is. You can do this to by sending out advance review copies. If other authors or book reviewers have good things to say, get permission to use their quotes (there is also a section for editorial reviews at AuthorCentral).
  • One page has just the publisher logo.
  • Note that this author succeeded very well as an indie without Simon & Schuster.
  • The pages with the white-above-black torn image provide a wow factor. The cover wasn’t so hot; but if you Look Inside, now you might be impressed.
  • The copyright page begins with the logo and publisher info.
  • Part of the copyright page comes from stating that the book is a work of fiction and that any similarity to actual people, places, or events is coincidental; and this is separate from the copyright notice and trademark notice.
  • One line specifies the edition. The printer number won’t be relevant for eBooks or print-on-demand books, though. There is also manufacturing info.
  • Most professional books do not have the cover designer mentioned on the front cover. Instead, this information is placed on the copyright page and sometimes in fine print on the back cover.
  • A couple of notices are taking advantage of a marketing opportunity, though not for book sales.
  • Of course, there is the 13-digit ISBN.
  • Note that the copyright page is filled to the brim. Compare the copyright page of a book published by any big publisher to that of the vast majority of indie authors and there is a world of difference. It’s not that people will study your copyright page; it’s that they will see it in passing and it will make an impression – professional or amateurish.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

http://amzn.com/0307744434

  • Subtle stars decorate the first two pages.
  • Check out the design on the title page.
  • The next two pages are also decorative. You have to check out the designs used in this book to appreciate their effect and to help generate your own ideas.
  • This copyright page is centered.
  • See the matching designs at the beginning of each chapter and with the page numbering.

All-American Girl by Meg Cabot

http://amzn.com/0061479896

  • A sample from the content is placed on the first page to attract the attention of the target audience. If you have a lot of front matter and want to move some good stuff to the beginning, this is one way to do it.
  • Note the font of the first line of the sample.
  • If you have other books, you also can list them in the front matter.
  • The title page matches the cover but in black and white, yet not exactly the same as the cover.
  • The first word of each chapter has a special font.
  • This book begins with a numbered list to try to grab attention.
  • Look at the stars with the chapter header, which match the cover design.

Bombshell by Catherine Coulter

http://amzn.com/0399157336

  • Note that the cover looks like a bomb blast, not a female “bombshell.”
  • I’m looking at the Kindle edition.
  • There is a second image much different from the cover, in black and white.
  • Notice the horizontal black bars for headers.
  • There are logos on the copyright page.
  • Many traditionally published books include Library of Congress info.
  • Observe the Pearson division line at end of the page on this eBook.
  • See the image at the beginning of each chapter.

You can find many other examples of ways to make a professional look inside. Little design touches can make a huge difference (but they need to fit the genre and content – e.g. you don’t want romantic swirls on a suspenseful detective story).

Border Thin JPEG

Here are a couple of other things that you can include on the copyright page, to make up for things like the printer number or Library of Congress info that an indie book may be lacking:

  • Author information, such as your website, blog, a special email that you will check (but not your main email account), social media info, etc. One advantage self-publishing has is more potential for personal interaction with the author.
  • Information and/or website for your editor, cover designer, etc.

Chris McMullen, self-published author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers

Jul 19 2013

Should You Publish with an Imprint?

Every self-published author is faced with this decision. First, here is a little background on the imprint choice; we’ll return to the question in a moment.

The paperback author can select a free ISBN from CreateSpace or pay $10 to $100 for an ISBN from CreateSpace to publish using an Imprint. Another option is to purchase an ISBN directly from R.R. Bowker (the price becomes more affordable per ISBN if buying a block of 10 or more).

http://www.bowker.com

https://www.myidentifiers.com

The eBook author can leave the publisher field at KDP blank or enter an imprint there. Although some eReader services, like the Sony Reader, require an ISBN, you can get a free ISBN to use with your eBook if you publish through Smashwords (but you’re not supposed to use that ISBN for other eBook editions, like your Kindle edition).

Many authors publish both paperbacks and eBooks. Entering an imprint for the eBook while having the paperback publisher show as CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform kind of defeats the purpose of using the imprint. For $10 at CreateSpace, the imprint names can match.

Back to the question: Should you publish with an imprint?

That depends; there are advantages and disadvantages both ways.

Benefits of having CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform listed as the publisher:

  • CreateSpace is a positive name among many indie authors and their family, friends, acquaintances, and coworkers. There are so many indie authors that this number is very large.
  • People who like to support the self-publishing concept often buy CreateSpace books (or Kindle eBooks where the paperback lists CreateSpace as the publisher).
  • Readers who know your book is self-published are more likely to enjoy your book.

I entered CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform into the search field in Books at Amazon, and pulled up 300,000 titles. So many authors are content with this.

One of these authors is Amanda Hocking. She has been extremely successful; this label has worked for her.

Amanda Hocking’s Author Page

Benefits of using an imprint:

  • Some readers avoid self-published books.
  • The indie label can be a hurdle to get your book stocked in stores, reviewed by the media, etc.

If readers buy your book thinking it was published through a traditional publisher, but it looks very amateurish after they buy it, they are more likely to be frustrated with the experience. This places a premium on professional book design (cover, editing, formatting, writing, etc.) for the author who chooses an imprint. A traditionally published book, for example, has a very detailed copyright page, which most indie books lack. A simple feature like this could give the indie book away.

Note that bookstores and reviewers can clearly see that your book is print-on-demand from the printing number on the last page whether you use an imprint or not. There is a way around this. You can find another printer (i.e. not print-on-demand) to print a small number of copies of your book. The custom order will cost more money per book if you buy a small quantity, but the overall cost may be affordable if the quantity is really small (like 10 books). This way, like many publishers, print-on-demand (POD) will merely be one of your publishing channels. You can approach bookstores and reviewers more confidently with the non-POD edition of your book.

Indie authors who are clearly self-published have succeeded in getting their books stocked in bookstores. If your book looks professional and you have a professional approach, it is possible to overcome various publishing obstacles, including the CreateSpace label; but sometimes there is a flat ‘No!’ to CreateSpace and POD. On the other hand, if you go to the trouble to use an imprint and have some non-POD copies printed, but your book looks unprofessional (cover, copyright page, formatting, typos, etc.), all of this extra work may not open up any doors.

People can also search for your imprint online. If they don’t find a website for it, or if there are just a couple of books that use the imprint, this will reflect that the imprint isn’t a serious publisher. Most shoppers aren’t going to check out the imprint. (However, they probably won’t recognize the imprint; using an imprint certainly isn’t the same as publishing with a household name.) But a wise bookstore manager or serious reviewer might do a little research before investing in your book.

Of course, you must do some research on the imprint name. You can’t enter Amazon or the name of an actual publisher like Random House (or many other publishers you’ve never heard of).

The name you choose should sound authentic. It should fit the book nicely. (It will also show up in keyword searches, but if you just make the imprint name based on keywords, there is a good chance it won’t sound authentic or fit the book.)

Before you publish using your own imprint, consider these questions:

  • Will your cover look professional?
  • Will your front matter look professional?
  • Will your formatting be professional?
  • Will your editing look professional?
  • Will you be approaching bookstores, libraries, newspapers, etc.?
  • Will you be selling copies in person at presentations, signings, readings, etc.?
  • Will you make a website for your imprint?
  • Will you be publishing other titles with this imprint?
  • Do you expect a lot of support from the self-publishing community?

Personally, I’m proud to have my books wear the CreateSpace label. CreateSpace and KDP gave me my chance, and I’m very grateful for it. I’ve also met several fantastic indie authors. I search for self-published books when I look for books to read, and I’m happy to support good indie books. I’m glad to be part of the self-publishing community. If you’re going to wear the self-publishing label, wear it proudly. 🙂

Publishing Resources

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Chris McMullen, Author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers

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Jul 17 2013

Authors: Dealing with the Downs

Adversity Pic

Sales inherently fluctuate. Even if over time sales grow, there will still be some day-to-day fluctuations. There are also seasonal effects – i.e. any given type of book tends to sell better during some months than others. The economy is a factor, too.

As long as there are some sale every week, there will be some periods where sales are slow and some periods where sales are better. There will be both.

When sales are peaking, you’re thinking, “Now that’s more like it.” But they often don’t stay that way. Even if there is long-term growth, there will be a few periods where sales decline. You can count on it.

When sales are in a valley, you’re thinking, “What happened to kill the sales?” Remember, there will be valleys even when nothing has changed. Don’t panic. Exercise patience. Sales may pick up in a few days. If it’s the end of the month, maybe sales will rebound next month. Some months are also better than others. A downturn in sales for a few days doesn’t necessarily mean that sales have stopped dead.

If sales decline and you also notice something else, like a bad review, your first thought is that the review killed your sales. But it could just be coincidence. Many times, a review doesn’t have the effect that we might predict. Be patient. Sales might just rebound in a few days.

Unfortunately, sometimes sales do decline. Sometimes, a book sells frequently for a short period after its release, and then sales decline. Sometimes, reviews do influence sales. Sometimes, there are external factors that we’re not even aware of – like a change in Customer Also Bought associations and other marketing recommendations online. (Sometimes, though, external factors boost sales, like a recommendation posted somewhere online that you weren’t even aware of; and more often than not, Customer Also Bought lists provide a sudden boost.)

But if you panic that sales are dying every time your sales go through a valley, you’re likely to be causing yourself a great deal of unnecessary anxiety. It can take a couple of weeks or more to properly project sales trends.

Similarly, don’t let each review – good or bad – determine your happiness. Try not to let other people govern your emotions. Hopefully, many of the reviews will be good. See if any critical reviews have merit that can help, then try your best to forget them.

Focus on your next book and on marketing. These activities will keep you busy. And these are the best things you can do to improve sales.

When you’re going through the downs, the worst thing you can do is react emotionally in public and ruin your image as an author – that can have a much worse effect than anything you had been worrying about. Avoid posting complaints: You don’t want customers or reviewers to see them and view this as unprofessional, and you don’t really want to bring others down by spreading negativity.

Sure, you want to receive comfort and support. Try to find private (i.e. not your blog or social media) ways to seek this, or strive to find positive ways to reach out. For example, ask for advice in a tactful way that focuses on encouraging suggestions instead of ranting about the issue. If you need to write a rant to help get it out of your system, keep it private (just as you would if writing in a diary).

Remember that all authors experience the ups and downs of sales and reviews (except for the rare author who has the ability to ignore these things).

Enjoy the ups, and ride out the downs. Keep writing and marketing, and these activities may help make the overall trend grow in the long run.

Chris McMullen, self-published author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers

Jul 14 2013

What to Do When Sales S-T-I-N-K

Flop Pic

There are tens of millions of books to choose from. Only the top couple hundred thousand are selling once or more per day on average.

Sometimes, an author pours much time, effort, and passion into a book, but the sales don’t come. It happens. Too often.

Faced with this situation, the author has three options:

  1. Give up. (Wrong answer.)
  2. Try again. (Last resort.)
  3. Change it. (Pick me.)

There have been books that didn’t sell when they were released, but began selling after making some changes. So there is still hope! 🙂

After putting months into a book and possibly already investing some money only to see the book flop when it finally comes out, it’s important not to sink too much more time and money into the same venture: What if it flops again?

Consider changes that have the potential to make a high impact without too much additional time or expense.

What you should consider changing depends on why the book isn’t selling. If you can obtain honest feedback from your target audience, that may help to point you in the right direction.

Give your book a chance first. You can’t expect it to be a hot seller on Day 1. If a few weeks go by and sales are dismal, that’s different than just having a couple of sales during Week 1.

But if you’re not already marketing actively, it’s never too early to start that. (In the future, pre-marketing would be wise.)

If your book isn’t getting noticed:

  • Maybe the cover isn’t grabbing attention. Try a different design. You don’t want to invest a lot of money in the cover of a book that has already flopped once. But you can find some inexpensive options and you can also try changing it yourself. Ask for suggestions, search for stock photos, and browse covers to see what tends to grab your attention.
  • Are the keywords large and easy to read? Does the font seem to fit the content and create a little interest, without being difficult to read? Is the main image very large, and does it stand out well? Research common cover mistakes and ensure that your cover has avoided these.
  • Maybe the title doesn’t create interest. This is easy to change for Kindle eBooks, but requires disabling sales channels and republishing as a new title for print books because the ISBN is linked to the title. Sometimes, a different title and subtitle attract attention better. Ask for feedback on your title and subtitle.
  • The best thing you can do to get your book noticed is learn how to market effectively. Research marketing strategies and try them out. With tens of millions of books to choose from, it takes effective marketing to help customers learn about your book. If you’re already trying to market your book, try some different marketing tactics. Some strategies don’t work for some books and authors. If it’s not working, try something new. Ask for suggestions. But if the packaging or content have serious issues, you need to make some other change in addition to marketing.
  • Try a marketing promotion. For example, you can make your book free for a day if your book is in KDP Select; but just making it free won’t have much effect unless you also promote the freebie (e.g. maybe you can find some blogs relevant to your genre that sometimes announce freebies). Instead of making your book free, you could temporarily reduce the price; but again, that won’t help your book get noticed unless you also promote the sale. If you have traffic from your target audience at a blog, website, or social media, a contest might get some attention. But for a book that has already flopped, I wouldn’t do a promotion without also changing the packaging (see below).

If your book is getting noticed, but isn’t selling, it could be a problem with the packaging – i.e. a target audience mismatch. If the book is attracting the wrong audience, nobody will be buying:

  • A common problem is a cover that attracts the attention of the wrong audience. For example, if the book is science fiction but the cover doesn’t have any imagery to suggest this, whatever audience is attracted to the cover’s images probably won’t be looking for science fiction. It can be more subtle: If the cover looks like a hot and steamy romance, and the book is romance, but isn’t hot and steamy, that’s also a packaging problem. Browse top-selling books in your specific genre that are similar to yours to see what attracts the interest of your target audience. Ask for feedback. Try to find more suitable stock images. Reconsider your color scheme and its relation to your subject and genre. Consider investing a little money for a more effective cover.
  • Change the blurb. If you’re not happy with sales, change the blurb. Change it again and again. Try several times. Solicit feedback. Study other blurbs, especially of successful books from small-time authors and publishers. Remember, your blurb isn’t a summary and shouldn’t give the story away (then buyers feel it isn’t necessary to read it). The blurb’s main function is to attract the interest of the target audience. Arouse their curiosity so that they have to look inside. When sales pick up, that’s when you stop messing with your blurb.
  • Does your title send a unified message along with your cover? For example, if the title sounds like a mystery, but the cover looks like action, this may create buyer confusion. Packaging works best when the title and cover send the same, clear message about which genre the book is and briefly what to expect. Solicit feedback, and ask specifically about this issue.
  • Buyers see several covers in search results. Your book has just a few seconds to attract the interest of buyers in your target audience. A common problem is that the author is partial to an image on the cover because the author knows it relates to the story, but the shopper doesn’t know this. So if there is some image that really doesn’t belong on the cover – i.e. it’s not clear in three seconds that this image fits the genre and subject – then it may be hurting sales. Look, if sales stink now, it can’t hurt to try a different image, right?
  • Don’t underestimate the importance of browse categories. You want your book to be listed in highly relevant categories and nothing else. Find similar books that are selling well to see which categories they are listed in. Change your categories if needed. If Amazon has added extra categories to your book that aren’t a good fit, contact AuthorCentral and ask politely if they could please be removed, explaining that you feel they might create buyer confusion. This happens: A buyer clicks on a book hoping to read a romance, but sees both romance and action in the categories. “That’s not what I was expecting,” says the buyer as she walks away. If sales are slow, something isn’t working, so it doesn’t hurt to make a change and try it out for a few weeks.
  • You might as well explore a different set of keywords while you’re making other changes.

Sometimes, your cover and title grab attention, and your cover, title, and blurb are attracting the right audience, but the book still isn’t selling:

  • Give your Look Inside a close inspection. Does your book have a slow start? Do the opening paragraphs closely correspond with the genre? Are there spelling or grammatical mistakes? Are there formatting issues? Is there so much front matter that it takes a long time to reach the action (if so, try moving some of it to back matter)? Try to find what might be deterring sales from readers who check out the Look Inside. Better yet, strive to polish the Look Inside and revise it so that it attracts interest. Maybe revise the opening chapter so that it grabs interest and is a close match for the genre. Consider adding a few professional touches, like professional looking design marks (check out the Look Insides of several traditionally published books). Solicit feedback on your Look Inside, especially from your target audience.
  • Reconsider the price. Check out the prices of similar books that are selling well. At least, you could test out a new price for a few weeks and see how that goes. If you drop your price, advertise this on your blog, through social media, etc.; the sale may help to create interest. Price is usually not the main factor, unless the book is very short or way overpriced. Many authors change nothing but the price with no improvement. Save dropping the price (except for a temporary sale) for last. I would try everything else first before lowering the price (unless you are way overpriced, like a $9.99 nontechnical Kindle book). If your price is already low, consider raising the price (it might seem counterintuitive, but many people believe that you get what you pay for, and there are stories of authors who have raised their prices from 99 cents to $3.99 and actually started selling more books). Remember, it’s not just the number of sales that matters, but also the royalty. If you drop the price, you can actually sell more books but earn less money. At 99 cents, you have to sell 6 times as many books just to draw the same royalty as a $2.99 list price at KDP (since the royalty rate changes from 35% to 70%, if eligible – and the fees at 70% won’t be much if it qualifies for 99 cents).

Reviews could be a factor. But reviews often don’t have the effect that authors expect:

  • If you have no reviews, or if you have a small number of reviews that includes a bad review, your book might benefit from more reviews. But it might not. Keep in mind that nothing is better than the natural assortment of reviews left voluntarily by actual customers. It takes more sales to generate such reviews, which means effective marketing. You can hope to solicit reviews from advance review copies – free books given upfront to potential reviewers with no strings attached, where it’s clear that any review (good, bad, or ugly) is welcomed (don’t violate the customer review guidelines). A review from a blogger in your genre may be helpful (even if the review isn’t posted on Amazon). Sometimes, time and patience draw a few reviews that make a difference. Other times, you happen to get a couple of rave reviews, and sales don’t pick up at all. It happens.
  • If you have a small number of reviews, and they’re all good, buyers may be suspicious. If you just have good reviews, you have something to be happy about (that’s a problem many authors would love to have); focus on that. Keep marketing, and more sales will eventually draw more reviews. Hopefully, the new reviews will be good, too – because no author likes to receive bad reviews. Even if you don’t have any bad reviews (which would be sweet), once you have enough reviews, there will finally be a healthy assortment of opinions which helps to provide balance.
  • Does any criticism in any of the reviews have merit? For example, a review might complain of a storyline issue, or describe spelling and grammatical mistakes. If so, it might be worth reworking part of the story or finding an affordable editor. You can’t implement every suggestion made by every reviewer; you have to decide what has merit and what’s reasonable to change. Sometimes a critical review helps the author improve the book.
  • Commenting on reviews carries a huge risk. Especially, if you make the mistake of reacting emotionally or making more than one comment. Once you make a comment, the reviewer can simply ask you a question, which draws you into a conversation. Then suddenly there are several comments. If the reviewer becomes upset, the reviewer can get friends and family to leave reviews and make comments. Only the author’s image is at stake – not the reviewer’s image. Strive to look like a professional author; don’t ruin your author image over a review. If you get a review with wrongful criticism that kills sales, don’t do anything for a few days (this gives you time to calm down and think, and to see if sales are, in fact, slowing – if sales keep up, the best thing is to just leave it alone; reviews often have less effect than we expect). If sales died and you feel that there is nothing to lose, if you feel that a tactful comment might have an impact, if there are no sales, you might feel that trying this is better than nothing – but it must be tactful and you need to let go after that (don’t add more comments later). If the comment has no effect on sales and the reviewer doesn’t respond to the comment, go ahead and delete your comment; but if your is not the only comment on the review, don’t delete it – otherwise, there will be a note saying that the comment was deleted by the author (which means poster, as in author of the post, although shoppers may not interpret it this way). Most authors would advise you not to comment; and most others would say that you must be tactful and stop after the first. Besides, most shoppers will read the review, but not check out the comment. The better thing to do is marketing, trying to improve sales through marketing and promotions, try changing the packaging or content, and hoping that after weeks and months, some new reviews will help offset any bad reviews.

When I first published my conceptual chemistry book, sales really took off in the UK – better than in the US. This was really exciting, until I received my first review. It was a bad one. Often, a bad review has little effect; and sometimes a bad review actually improves sales. But when the only review is one or two stars, many customers won’t even look at the book. And when the review is really short and just vaguely states that there are many typos which could easily confuse the reader, it creates a lot of doubt in buyer’s minds. It sounds like the book is plagued with problems. And the review didn’t clarify whether the problems were typos, differences between American and English notation or vocabulary, mistakes in the content, issues with the equations formatting improperly in the Kindle edition, or what. So, of course, most buyers assume the worst. Sales had been frequent prior to this review, and then sales stopped dead. I’ve had other bad reviews, and most of those have actually improved sales. But this one was a doozy. Fortunately, I had several other books that were selling well (one benefit of publishing multiple books), and this book continued to sell in the US (fortunately, the UK review didn’t carry over into the US). Let me clarify that I have two different chemistry books with similar titles; the one with the blue cover is the far better book, and that’s the one I’m referring to here.

This review cut deep. I had already had about 20 versions of the completed file from plenty of editing. It’s not like the book hadn’t gone through many rounds of editing. I was shocked that anyone could think it was plagued with problems. I’ve read many technical works that are, in fact, loaded with mistakes. I also had a reputation for content knowledge and much teaching experience. And I wasn’t quite sure what the reviewer was complaining about, since the review was quite vague.

So here is my experience with such an issue:

  • I debated with myself over this for some time, then decided to try a single tactful comment. After all, sales were suddenly nonexistent. There was still some risk, however, because I had other books and a reputation to uphold. The reviewer didn’t respond (it would have been nice to receive a little clarification – but reviews are primarily there to benefit shoppers, not authors), so I removed my comment. Hindsight shows that this option wasn’t worth exploring in this case.
  • I re-read my book a few times. I did find a handful of silly mistakes in Chapter 2, and a couple of other issues. So I fixed those. Then I had an issue with the equations; I knew that they formatted better on a few electronic devices than others. So I retyped every equation and formatted it as text with subscripts and superscripts, in color, so that there wouldn’t be any problems with the Kindle formatting of equations. This took a great deal of time (every compound mentioned anywhere in the book was written with equation formatting, like H2O), but now I knew the equations would all format nicely. I checked them repeatedly for possible mistakes. (Wish I had thought of this the first time, but I was focused on the paperback first.)
  • I revised the book, calling it a new edition in the copyright page, corrected the mistakes and some other minor issues, and reformatted the equations for the Kindle edition. I revised the blurb to mention that it had been updated and when (since the review is dated, this allows for logical deduction; and I didn’t want to call attention to past problems in the US). This led to a trickle of sales in the UK and a slight improvement in the US.
  • I visited AuthorCentral and reformatted the blurb to include bullets and boldface. This had a small effect, too.
  • Then I added a line near the top of the blurb describing my qualifications. That was the magic answer. Why hadn’t I thought of this before? (Well, I often put any relevant expertise into the blurb, but not often near the top.) Who had more credibility? An author with a degree in the subject or a reviewer who didn’t specify any credentials? Some UK buyers took a chance once I thought of doing this; the US sales improved, too. Eventually, with the sales, a couple of good reviews came, too. The main thing that worked in my case was revamping the blurb and exercising patience (it took weeks before the rebound came).

If things are really bad, you might need a fresh start. You could unpublish and republish later (wait at least 30 days). If you do this, you have to make some dramatic changes (otherwise, you shouldn’t expect any improvement the second time). Keep in mind that I’ve never unpublished and republished a book myself, so I don’t have direct experience with this. But I have seen others do this:

  • Note that your book may remain on AuthorCentral even if you unpublish. If it’s available in print, the reasoning is that some customers may have used copies to sell. So you probably can’t have a print book removed from your AuthorCentral profile. If your book is only available in eBook format, you could ask if this is possible, pointing out that nobody will have a used copy to sell.
  • When you republish, it’s possible for your old reviews to get reattached to the republished book. If this happens to the eBook, contact KDP and explain that you’ve unpublished, revamped the book (explain how), and politely request a fresh start. Keep in mind that the original reviewers may leave new reviews on the new book if they discover it.
  • You can try a new title, cover, and blurb. But if you had any buyers the first time, they might be frustrated to buy what they believe to be a different book that turns out to be the same book again (but if sales had been slow, it’s probably worth the risk and there weren’t too many buyers in the first place). You can also try changing the content, getting the book edited or formatted, and improving the Look Inside.

On the other hand, if sales are good to begin with, don’t fix what isn’t broken. Maybe you are wondering if sales could be great instead of good. But what if you change something and sales go south? It’s not easy to recover when sales slip. So if you’re content with sales, I recommend not changing anything now. If sales slip in the future, consider making your changes then. (Also, if sales are good to begin with, any drastic changes – like a new cover – might fool a previous customer into buying the same book again, which may frustrate the buyer.)

Finally, not every book idea has an audience, and occasionally there may be an audience, but it’s really hard to get the book to that audience. Repackaging and marketing can’t help every book. Some books have ideas that just don’t interest readers. Other books are so highly specialized and only interest a very narrow audience (many specialized books have a significant audience; I’m talking about an extreme case here). Once you have given it your best shot, if sales still don’t come, all you can do is start over. If that’s the case, next time do some research prior to writing your book. Try to find similar books to see if a possible demand exists for your book idea.

Remember, all books that had good intentions surely go to Book Heaven. 🙂

Chris McMullen, self-published author of A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers (Volume 2, now out, includes several marketing, pre-marketing, and packaging suggestions)

Jul 13 2013

Publishing Puts Prices in a Peculiar Perspective

You just published you first book. You’ve sold a few copies. You earn a royalty of $3 per sale.

Now you’re celebrating by shopping for a new toaster. The one you like costs $18.

But you don’t see an $18 price tag. No. You’re thinking: “I’d have to sell 6 books to pay for that toaster.”

So you get out your cell phone, go online, and check your royalty report. You’ve only sold 3 books all day. Wow. At this rate, it will take two whole days of sales to pay for that toaster.

Next you’re in the mood for a cup of coffee. You head over to the coffee shop. It costs $3 for the coffee you want.

They make the cup of coffee in a few seconds. What does it have? Beans, water, sugar, caffeine? You slaved over a book for months, and much more work and time getting it published. Yet one book equates to one cup of coffee. That hardly seems fair!

When you get home, you see that you just sold 5 books. You’re so excited! With the 3 you’d already sold, that covers the toaster and the coffee, with a little change to spare.

That’s when you discover the flat tire. The nail went through the side, so it has to be replaced. How much will that cost? 40 books. There goes a week’s worth of sales.

Fortunately, sales pick up. You sell a few hundred books that month.

Then your washing machine goes out. It costs 20 books just to get a repairman down to your house, then another 80 books to get it fixed.

Your wife wants a new necklace. Rack up another 150 books.

Car payment: 125 books per month.

Mortgage: 700 books per month.

Take the family out to dinner: 20 books. Another 4 books just for the tip! And 2 more books for tax!

So you dig 26 books out of your trunk and bring them to the waitress. Call it even? What if I sign them?

— Chris McMullen