Apr 25, 2019 | Advice, Advice for Writers, Business, Expert, Fantasy, Horror, Sci-fi, Thriller, Uncategorized
Here lies the ancient book of Horror Novel Promotion. But beware, for it is dark and full of terrors!
When it come to promotion, social media is our largest asset and our biggest crutch. Thanks to internet communication, everyone has something to promote. Without it, there is no indie author. But with it, suddenly everyone's decided to write a book, whether they have what it takes or not.
In the horror world, using social media to promote your writing is just like any other genre. Interaction and personality are key. Using social media is about creating a platform and cultivating an audience by making friends and people you interact with.
Just posting your book and Amazon link on social media is not an effective strategy. At most, such posts may serve as an announcement of a new release and encourage fans of your work to buy it, but that's as far as such posts go.
Effective promotion on social media means putting your books in the background and sharing and creating content that fans of your genre and writing may like. It also means interacting with others and commenting on their posts that you find interesting and that relate to your message.
Here are a few tips to help you with the larger social media platforms for promoting horror books:
FACEBOOK
Facebook is a great place to market your horror books, but it takes time and effort. You can start out by making an author page to promote your horror books. Then you will need content that is relevant to your audience, and lots of it, as well as a way to attract people to like your page.
This can be done either by “boosting” your posts, which costs a little money, or engaging in groups and posting your page content to those groups.
Here are some horror groups worth checking out:
Horror Writers. This is a page for horror writers, readers, and fans.
Horror Writers Net. This group is for anyone who appreciates horror fiction.
Horror Readers and Writers. This forum welcomes anyone posting about horror, whether it be books, films, editing, or producing.
Horror Promotion. This page encourages readers and fans of horror to post their favorite horror books.
Literary Darkness. This group focuses on intelligent discussion about literature with dark themes.
Q: How is anyone to find the book they want? A: Social Media!
TWITTER
Twitter is a big ‘place' and a lot of tweets are lost in the noise. When tweeting it's important to use hashtags so others will see your tweet. Also, if you're going to post a link to your website or Amazon book page, be sure to use a link shortening service like bit.ly so you'll have enough characters to write something snappy that others will respond to.
Here are some important hashtags for horror authors:
#Horror
#Paranormal
#Suspense
#ScaryStory
#HorrorStory
#Scary
#indieauthors
#mustread
#kindle
#kindledeals
#BookMarketing
GOODREADS
Social media for book lovers, Goodreads is a site owned by Amazon that has its own catalogue of books and reviews. It is also home to some old-school type message boards perfect for horror authors. Just remember, interaction is key, not blind posting of your books.
Here are two of the biggest horror groups on Goodreads:
Horror Aficionados. This group features discussions on all things horror, mostly books, of course, but also movies and horror culture.
Literary Horror. A group dedicated to dark fiction of the literary sort.
Did I miss anything? Let me know in the comments.
Keith Deininger is the award-winning and #1 Amazon bestselling author of many horror and fantasy titles, including WITHIN, THE FEVER TRILOGY and THE GODGAME series. He has been called “one of the finest writers of imaginative fiction” and “Ray Bradbury on acid.” His latest novel, VIOLENT HEARTS, has been compared to Stephen King’s fantasy-based work. He lives in Albuquerque, NM with his wife and two kids. Although he loves a good nightmare, in person he’s a really nice guy. Promise.
Keith's personal site: www.KeithDeininger.com
Keith's SEO content and editing company: www.MeridianPublications.com
Apr 1, 2019 | Advice for Writers, Editors' Blog, Expert
Part I – Letting your scenes tell your story
As authors, we’re all taught to develop our story primarily through our characters. We’re taught to paint detailed descriptions of our characters, use conflict, flashbacks and other methods to let the reader form images. Images of our protagonist, our antagonist, our hero, their lover and our stories supporting cast.
But what about other story elements? Our settings? Our scenes? Dialog? Character actions? Aren’t they just as important to building your story as describing your characters? Isn’t where they go, what they eat, what they see, hear, and smell important too?
As a mater of fact, does telling your reader that your hero has brown eyes really say anything about them? Do we really care if their hair is blond, red, brown or black?
Painting a picture
What if we say it’s blond with streaks of blue on one side and a faded patch of orange on the other? Doesn’t that immediately form a picture of someone young, a bit wild and daring?
My point being that you can subtly paint a picture by adding visual impact to each element of your story. And that, will be the subject for this blog series.
Letting your scenes tell your story
In the first of this series we’ll look at painting a picture with your scenes and settings. Actually, not only the scene or setting, but also the locations you choose to place them in.
Aren’t these just as important to building your story as your characters? Isn’t where they go, what they eat, what they see, hear, and smell important too? The picture you paint in any scene must contain at least some of these images to be complete; to draw the reader into your scene and make them feel as if they’re part of it.
Many of us refer to this as “Show don’t tell”. Uh, yes! Of course! How simple! But, is it?
Let’s give it a shot. Write a quick scene of someone walking on the street above to a book shop on the right.
Okay. Time’s up. Let’s see how you did.
First, did you tell us where they are? In New Zealand, Germany, Ireland, San Diego?
Did you describe what they saw? What they passed? The bookshop ahead of them?
What did they smell as they passed the food vendor on the left?
Did they stop and buy something? What was it? What did it smell and taste like?
How about the woman standing there, the one in front of the food vendor? Did they hear her say “hello”? Did they get a whiff of her lavender perfume? Is she pretty?
Using the five senses
If it’s not clear yet, we’re asking you to put yourself into your characters’ shoes. For you to describe the scene using their five senses. What they:
- Saw
- Touched
- Tasted
- Heard
- Smelled
Also, what emotions, if any, each invoked. What about when they saw their destination, the book store? Did they smile? Chuckle? Did the smell of books fill their nostrils?
If you’ve included all or most of the above types of descriptions in you example, you’ve painted a complete picture for your reader. Not only of the scene but of your character too!
After all, aren’t we all best described by our inner feelings? By how we react to what we see, smell, hear, touch and taste? By the memories and emotions each conjures up, or doesn’t?
Finally, don’t forget the sixth sense, intuition. Intuition not only influences, it interprets what our senses are telling us. It translates their meaning into our unique world.
In the next of this series, we’ll talk more about selecting the best elements to use in building your scenes while defining your characters and your story.
***
Bob Boze lives in the south bay area of San Diego and his writing partner, Robyn Bennett, lives in Blenheim, on the South Island of New Zealand. They are both published romance and non-fiction authors, editors, speakers and bloggers.
They offer a variety of writer and business services through their business website, Writing Allsorts. To find out more about the services they offer, go to https://writingallsorts.com/ and follow the links to their web sites to learn more about their books.
Frank Daley
Mar 20, 2019 | Advice for Writers, Editors' Blog, Expert
There is confusion and misinformation about Amazon’s book review policy (and it changes periodically) so let’s get it straight as we can at this date: March 11, 2019.
Never mind their policy on other areas, focus on book reviews. This column will give you the basics and links to more info on Amazon, and give you two links to writers who have reached this issue and explained it well.
N.B.
- You can ask people for book reviews.
- You cannot compensate them for doing so. (Money, gifts, promises of marriage, etc.)
- You can give them ARCs (Advance Review Copies) but you can’t influence their comments.
- You can ask people to review your book but without any obligation on their part to review it favorably.
You cannot ask for a “good” review unless you mean a thoughtful, well-written review. ‘Good’ cannot mean favorable, much less a 4- or 5-star review. Don’t use the word or refer to any stars.
- Do not swap reviews. It is against Amazon’s policy and you could be banned.
- Do not get your family or friends to review your books (exception coming!). Amazon can discover who these people are by having their algorithm check your Facebook page, etc.
EXCEPTION!
You can get people who know to review your book, but you must have them put those reviews (or you do it) on your EDITORIAL REVIEW PAGE, on your Amazon author page not the regular section where people usually put their reviews. You can put Editorial reviews there whether paid for or not.
(Note: whether people actually look at an author’s page to see these reviews is a good question!)
Paid reviews, in this case, means reviews paid for by you to one of the several companies that do this professionally. They hire writers (usually in your genre) to read and review your books. You cannot ask for a favorable review with these either.
Some companies that perform this service (among others) are: Publisher’s Weekly; Kirkus Reviews; International Review of Books (operated by Books Go Social). Fees: (All figures US).
PUBLISHERS’ WEEKLY REVIEWS:
Standard Fees: $225. Reports in 5-9 weeks. ($300 for a faster review)
https://bit.ly/2NREOuL
KIRKUS REVIEWS:
Standard Fees: $425. Reports in 7-9 weeks. ($575 for faster turnaround.)
https://bit.ly/2HpY7Km
INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF BOOKS
The third choice Books Go Social’s operation. BGS’s prices are much less expensive although not as well-known yet!
Standard Fees: $79-149
https://bgsauthors.com/product/products/the-international-review-of-books/
AMAZON REVIEW POLICY NOTE
To contribute to Customer features (for example, Customer Reviews, Customer Answers, Idea Lists) or to follow other contributors, you must have spent at least $50 on Amazon.com using a valid credit or debit card in the past 12 months.
Promotional discounts don't qualify towards the $50 minimum. In addition, to contribute to Spark you must also have a paid Prime subscription (free Prime trials do not qualify). You do not need to meet this requirement to read content posted by other contributors or post Customer Questions, or create or modify Profile pages, Shopping Lists, Wish Lists or Registries.
There are pros (it reduces fake reviews) and cons re the policy, but I am not a big fan. It means you can’t buy a book in a book store (that is not Amazon’s.) And you must pay Amazon $50 /year -one way or another to get the privilege of posting reviews. You may feel differently. Mr. Woghan does in his piece below.
Here’s an article by Barb Taube. She is not a fan of this rule.
https://barbtaub.com/2018/04/15/dont-throw-out-the-baby-why-amazon-doesnt-want-your-bookreviews/
AND ANOTHER THING!
RE THIS RULE OF $50 AS AN ADMISSION FEE FOR THE PRIVILEGE OF POSTING REVIEWS ON AMAZON
It appears that if you live in England or Canada (where I live), or countries other than the US (while your reviews if you manage to get them on Amazon, will be on your country’s site they will not appear on the US site).
That might make some sense, right?
How about this?
It may mean that you must buy $40 or $500 of Amazon products on your country’s site as well as the US site. That might be irrelevant, though since your review will not appear on the SS site anyway!
(That is unclear as is the rule that you have to spend $50 on products in general or just on books. I have not been able to find a ruling on that one!)
REVIEWS IN GENERAL
Most people do NOT write reviews for various reasons: they can’t write well, they don’t feel comfortable doing it, they’ve never done it, they don’t have time, they don’t want to be embarrassed, they don’t know what to say, etc. This Amazon rule will not help.
Charitable people say Amazon does it to reduce fake reviews; other people say there are other ways for companies like Amazon (Twitter and Facebook to name two) to do this. And, Amazon makes more money with this policy. (And discourages reviews as well.)
There are many more aspects of this question. I will give you two articles on the whole topic of Amazon reviews
Both do a good job of explaining the details.
They also have links to some of Amazon’s policy sections too.
First is DAVID WOGHAN’S post on Amazon’s Book policy.
https://www.authorimprints.com/amazon-book-review-policy-authors/
NEXT IS DAVE CHESSON’S piece.
His site us excellent in every respect and offers wonderful specific articles and recourses for self-publishers.
This is his video/piece on our subject today.
https://kindlepreneur.com/how-to-get-book-reviews-with-no-blog-no-list-and-no-begging/
Read these two articles and improve your knowledge of how Amazon’s review policy really works!
Frank Daley is a writer who lives in Waterloo Ontario, Canada. You can obtain a free copy of Curse of the Ottawa, a paranormal, urban legend story, here: https://goo.gl/fFXSmk
Mar 1, 2019 | Action & Adventure, Advice for Writers, Expert, Fantasy, Horror, Sci-fi, Thriller, Uncategorized
Stephen King in Creepshow — Courtesy of Warner Bros.
Stephen King is one of the most successful authors in the world. He's written more than 60 books, all of the them bestsellers. And he writes horror.
Horror!
Yes, that much maligned genre I keep talking about. He's been doing it for 40 some years and he's still going strong.
King himself once called his writing “the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and fries.” It's not complex stuff. He writes prose that is simple and easy to follow.
He spells everything out for his readers. No literary subtitles here. If he wants you to know what a character is feeling, he tells you what that feeling is and why that character is feeling it.
Writers are weird people. When one of them makes it big, you get articles like this one. Did I mention, writers are weird?
King's simple style does not, however, limit the stories he tells. He is a master storyteller, often weaving complex plots with lots of characters and making it look easy.
His stories are exciting and fast-paced. They suck you in and won't let go. You have to keep reading and reading.
He is also very good with time and place and very good with character. And it is with his characters that his writing shines and wins over his readers.
His characters are always sympathetic, sometimes with heartbreaking backstories that he explicitly writes in detailed flashbacks, usually everyday people.
Even his bad guys are only bad because of some sort of corruption, typically from an outside evil force. And by ‘outside evil' I mean an antagonistic force, often supernatural, that is either out to get his mostly innocent and well-meaning characters (like Pennywise the clown in It), or out to make them do evil things themselves (like the Overlook Hotel in The Shining).
Here's how you do an author pic. Black and white. Stark shadows. No smiling. Intense eyes. Courtesy of Simon and Schuster.
But always these antagonistic forces come from things that are twisted, evil and not human. It's a comforting message that people like to believe. People are good. Other things are bad. A message worth noting as a contributing factor to King's success.
Personally, I have been reading Stephen King since I was 14 years old. I have read a good majority of what he was written, with only some of his newer stuff missing from my list.
Even as I discovered writers I liked more over the years, I've always come back to King's stories. I'm drawn back to them when I need something into which I know I will lose myself.
If you're like me and you grew up with a sort of high-minded ideal for your writing, born out of reading too much Hemingway and Faulkner (or whatever “classic” author you're into), then further perpetuated by college literature and creative writing courses, it's worth taking a step back and looking at the work of an author like Stephen King.
King's writing style is simple, his characters are easy to relate to, and his stories move quickly.
These are traits that sell books.
King is not famous because he writes horror, but in spite of it.
…
Oh, and my favorite King novel?
The Tommyknockers (I know, I know. Considered one of his worst. Ask me in the comments and I'll tell you why it's my favorite.)
Keith Deininger is the award-winning and #1 Amazon bestselling author of many horror and fantasy titles, including WITHIN, THE FEVER TRILOGY and THE GODGAME series. He has been called “one of the finest writers of imaginative fiction” and “Ray Bradbury on acid.” His latest novel, VIOLENT HEARTS, has been compared to Stephen King’s fantasy-based work. He lives in Albuquerque, NM with his wife and two kids. Although he loves a good nightmare, in person he’s a really nice guy. Promise.
www.KeithDeininger.com
Frank Daley
Jan 4, 2019 | Advice for Writers, Editors' Blog, Expert
Social media promotion is necessary, time-consuming, and confusing. Automated posting systems can be expensive. So, we're relegated mostly to doing it ourselves.
There are many platforms, and you can't do them all. Pick 3 and concentrate on them.
Most people use Facebook, Twitter, and one other platform.
CREATE A TWEET
You create a promotional Tweet which should contain your cover image, some promotional copy, a short blurb consisting of an attention-getting line or two, and maybe a CTA.
TRY THESE.
- a phrase
- a question
- something funny
- something dramatic
- something provocative
- an excerpt from a review
- a curious fact about the book
Fine, now what?
You can't sit there and post that Tweet 50 times in a row. The people who happen to be ON Twitter at the time will want to do bad things to you. You are bombarding them, spamming them. You have to post several times a day, at different times and with only a few repeats of the same tweet.
If you try posting the same tweet repeatedly (even more than once sometimes), Twitter will say “You have already posted that tweet.” In other words, STOP!
So, what can you do?
You can have a friend retweet your post at a different time of day if they also post a comment. It is difficult for people to come up with a relevant comment. Your friends might not be writers or know your book. It is also time-consuming, and they have to do it hours after the original has been posted. Better if you write the comments do it and send forward them to your pal.
It is best to use the same comment only 4 or 5 retweets before switching to the next comment. day
HERE’S A TWITTER RETWEET TIP
Write 15-20 comment blubs for your book. You can use the same image and call to action but change the copy.
Then you, a VA, or a friend, can retweet your original Tweet.
NOW, find the retweets that your friend posted when they first retweeted your original post.
Then, comment on their retweet and send it off again.
Retweet the retweet.
That is, take one of your comments and insert it (on your friend’s retweet when the prompt rises up.
Click the heart button or the ‘Like” button too–or both if they have not been used by you. (Others may do this too.)
Now you have three times the value of your original tweet.
If you purchase a week-long Twitter promo package from Books Go Social or another similar service, you can find their tweets for your book on Twitter and comment on them too.
Now, you'll have multiple retweets based on your (or BGS's) original tweet. Much more power and reach for your efforts.
If you write your comments ahead, this will not take much time and be considerably less frustrating.
Frank Daley writes near Toronto in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Dec 19, 2018 | Advice for Writers, Editors' Blog, Expert
INTRODUCTION
This column is for writers and authors who, like me, are not experienced book marketers.
Gone are the days when writers sold their work to publishers who promoted their books. Marketing was never traditional publishers’ strong suit anyway. If you are writing and self-publishing in the digital world you must be in charge of your own book marketing.
I’ll find you free or inexpensive promotions. However, they will cost you time.
The time to write your book will be multiplied many times by your promotion of it.
I’ll tell you about methods used by
- successful professional writers;
- experts have not yet tried;
- some friends.
NOTES
- Some tips might not be as good in six months. Facebook specifically changes its rules frequently and without much notice. Other platforms change fast too. Be vigilant.
- According to many experts up to 90% of marketing is a waste of time (a least by new marketers). We can’t afford that.
There are critical aspects of a book that influence attention, curiosity, and sales. We’ll deal with all these in more detail in later posts, but this is how you start. You need the following:
A GREAT BOOK:
This is a given except when it’s not.
We all know of execrable books that sell more than good books.
You can sell a poor book with great marketing (for a while at least) but you can’t sell a good book with poor marketing.
We’ll assume your book IS Good.
COVER.
You need a strong, attractive cover. The image and copy have to be ‘readable” on a thumbnail which is what generally we see first. The images should be genre-specific.
TITLE
Obvious.
SUB-TITLE
(If used- and it can be used to advantage even with fiction.)
Sub-titles can narrow the focus re genre, period, or sub-genre. It can utilize keywords for search engines allowing interested readers to find it easily.
DESCRIPTION
The book’s description is more compelling than the cover or title. Yes, you need to grab attention but then you have to get people to the description, to get a strong idea of the book.
REVIEWS
We need reviews, social proof, testimonials, that indicate other readers like the book. They are difficult to acquire. You might get 1,000 downloads of a book and get just a few sales and fewer reviews. And Facebook, for one platform, has made it more difficult to get reviews. For example, they hide things we used to be able to see, the emails of some reviewers. Ad they have other restrictions.
CLEAN MANUSCRIPT
Even though we sell books often for $.99- $2.99, people still get upset if they find a manuscript with errors in alignment, grammar, spelling, etc. It appears amateurish. This means no errors or tiny ones (even the best books usually have a typo or two, but they don’t help) good interior design, clean font for reading, etc. That means using an editor. Yes, it is expensive but it’s more expensive to lose reviews and sales you might have had.
There’s no point promoting a book that doesn’t conform to these seven “must-haves.’”
WC : 515
Frank Daley writes near Toronto in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
