Aug 18, 2019 | Expert, Uncategorized
Are you a best seller? Well, you might be. However, unless you’re JK Rowling, David Nicholls, Margaret Atwood or someone with similar clout the odds are against you.
Why is that? Is their stuff so much better than yours? It may well be, but even if it is, that’s not the reason. I’m assuming that if you’re reading this you’re an indie author, either self-published or published by a very small independent outfit, and what these big names have that you don’t is a publisher’s marketing department. When David Nicholls’ latest novel, Sweet Sorrow came out in July a number of things happened: he was interviewed on BBC Front Row; it was scheduled as a ‘Book at Bedtime’ (and repeated); it was reviewed in all the quality Sunday and daily newspapers; it was stacked high on the front tables of most Waterstones. And that was just in the first couple of weeks and only in the UK. The publicity has gone on, here and elsewhere. The result is that it went straight into the Sunday Times Top 10 Best Sellers list. All that is because his publisher, Hodder & Stoughton, has a very effective marketing department with established connections to reviewers and literary editors. And a big budget.
Don’t get me wrong. Sweet Sorrow is a brilliant book and deserves to do well. But I’ve read brilliant books by indie authors that also deserve to do well, but don’t. You can write the most amazing book ever, but unless people know about it it will die unrecognised.
Figures are hard to come by, but according to Bowker’s Books in Print there are around 220,000 works of fiction published in English each year (based on data for 2015). Naturally, some of those will be repeats of classics, but that still means that there’s an awful lot of new stuff, and that means lots of people all clamouring for attention. Think of yourself shouting out in a crowd of 220,000 people. If you’re going to make yourself hear you need help. You need amplification.
However, don’t despair. There are things we can do about it. Here are three
- We indie authors can help each other. We can share posts, retweet Tweets, follow each other on Twitter and Goodreads, like each other’s Facebook pages, share and promote across all the social media we use.
- We can get reviews. OK, maybe not The Guardian or The Times, but worthwhile reviews, and reviews sell books. They get the word about, and the more reviews a book has the more likely a browser is to buy it. Impartial reviews are best (but brace yourself, because they might not all be good). NetGalley is one of the best sources of impartial reviews. If you go to https://tinyurl.com/y2yssjo3 you can get a 33% discount on BGS NetGalley+ reviews by using the coupon code pf33 at the checkout. Don’t expect immediate results, but you’ll get reviews.
- Another (and even better) source of reviews is the BooksGoSocial Book Review Club, which you’ll find on Facebook. Sign up and you’ll find authors asking for reviews. Pick one you like the sound of, read it and review it. You can then offer your own book for review.
The main thing is to stick at it. Shout once in a crowd and you won’t be heard. Keep on shouting and you’ve a much better chance. And you never know, you could become a best seller.
Phill Featherstone is author of the award winning novels Paradise Girl and Aftershocks, and of the soon to be published The God Jar
BooksGoSocial
Jul 11, 2019 | Uncategorized
This week, we're talking with Todd Wilson about his book, Crack The Credit Code: To Play The Game, You Need To Know The Rules.
Tell us something unexpected about yourself!
As a kid, I was always one of the smallest kids in my class and had a chip on my shoulder because I was frequently underestimated. It made me work harder to succeed and I think it contributed to the drive and work ethic I have now.
Why do you write?
I love to teach others what I have learned so they can benefit from my knowledge without going through everything I had to experience to get the information. Doing this basically gives a shortcut and allows them to avoid the painful experiences of doing things the hard way.
Where did you get the inspiration for your current book?
I have experienced the difficulties of credit first hand and once I figured it out, I wanted to share that information with others. I know that millions of Americans have a hard time with credit, whether it is due to scores going up and down or just having bad credit and not being able to recover.
What do you enjoy the most about your genre?
It is a great way to spread knowledge that isn't available elsewhere, especially information that isn't taught in schools.
How would you describe your writing process?
I keep it pretty simple. I take the subject that I am an expert in and write down the questions I am asked the most and the most common problems I see others encounter. Then I base my chapters on answering those questions, doing research needed to give complete and accurate answers.
What do you think authors have to gain from participating in social media?
Because so many people are on social media today, it is absolutely necessary for authors to be able to promote themselves on social media.
How do you react to seeing a new review for your book?
It is pretty exciting to see what people gain from my book so I am always excited to see a review. The first review I read was incredible and told me that I had achieved exactly what I had intended when I wrote my book.
What advice would you have for other writers?
Write a lot. If you want to write, you really need to spend a lot of time writing, even if it isn't something you intend to publish. The main thing is that you must write.
How do you select your books’ titles and covers?
I survey to get ideas for titles then survey again once I have narrowed it down to a few, choosing the one that gets the best response, making sure it is simple enough to be understood and remembered.
Once the title has been determined, I hire someone to create a cover for me. If I have a color scheme or idea for graphics, I let the person designing the cover know what I am thinking.
What’s your next step?
I am creating a course as a follow up to Crack The Credit Code and will probably create an audiobook.
FOLLOW TODD ON TWITTER
BooksGoSocial
Jun 11, 2019 | Uncategorized
This week, we're talking with Martin Ettington about his new book, A Modern Man’s Search for Truth: How Siddhartha would live in the modern world.
Tell us something unexpected about yourself!
I have over 59 titles which I've self published over the last ten years and have written in categories like the paranormal, spirituality, longevity, science fiction, and science/technology. People might be surprised to discover some of my interests since I trained in a technical profession. One of my books is about my Premonitional Experiences-which are extensive. And I've had many spiritual development experiences. So I write from my perspective as an Engineer who has had real world but far out experiences.
Why do you write?
I have a unique viewpoint and love to express myself in writing on subjects I enjoy. Writing is fun for me and if I can contribute for the future–then that is great. As an example, I'm an Engineer, but have written many books on Spiritual and Metaphysical subjects.
What book do you wish you had written?
Siddhartha By Herman Hesse. This book is great journey of one mans spiritual growth throughout his life.
Where did you get the inspiration for your current book?
From Siddhartha. Wanted to write the story of how a person like Siddhartha would live and explore their own Spirituality in the Modern World.
What do you enjoy the most about your genre?
Providing readers with information or stories from a unique perspective. With my technical background and open mind I really feel my perspective can provide them stories and information that others might not think about.
How would you describe your writing process?
I research the subject, then write an outline, and fill in the outline. The best advice I ever read about writers to paraphrase is “Don't talk, just write”
What do you think authors have to gain from participating in social media?
Social media is good for getting the word out on subjects of interest, but it can be abused by persons posting with hateful, fake, or stupid posts.
How do you react to seeing a new review for your book?
Sincerity is most important to me in reviews. Good but “Smarmy” reviews not my favorite, or bad reviews with no reasons behind the statements.
What advice would you have for other writers?
Everyone has at least one book inside of them from their life experiences. Also, by developing an outline, and having the discipline to write a certain number of words per day is my favorite way to write. Sitting there with a blank page and waiting for inspiration like you see in the movies is a bad idea.
How do you select your books’ titles and covers?
I try to come up with a title which will draw the reader's interests. I used to do my own book covers until this last year when I found that i could get professional covers from artists for incredible prices. Now I'm converting all my covers to professional ones, and don't try to do any of the new ones myself–a professional artist will do a much better job.
What’s your next step?
Now that I have a good number of interesting books my short term focus is on marketing and sales of my books. Long term I still intend to write books on subjects and stories which interest me.
FOLLOW MARTIN ON TWITTER
Jun 1, 2019 | Expert, Uncategorized
Part III – Starting Your Story
In the first of this series, we looked at painting a picture with your scenes and settings.
In Part II we brought your characters into play. Now, in Part III we’re going to take a giant step backward, back to page one and you’re opening.
Oh. My. God. What is he doing, you ask? Start in the middle somewhere, jump all over with scenes and characters and now … now we’re going to page one?
As my wonderful partner would say, in her adorable Kiwi accent, “Yip, hop in the ute because we’re headed back to the front gate.” (A ute, by the way, is a pickup truck.)
There really is a method to my madness. At least in my mind there is. You see, I wanted to get you into the mode of painting pictures with your words. And painting pictures almost comes naturally with scenes. With characters too, but not quite as easily as a scene.
So, now that we have that out of the way, and your picturing things in your head, I think it’ll be a lot easier to deal with your opening.
(By the way, I’ve got my playlist going to help motivate me. How about you? Crank up the volume and let’s get started.) (Yeah, I know I used the same picture.)
The Scene Grabber
I don’t know of anyone who writes that hasn’t been told over, and over, and over that your opening is one of the most important things you’ll write. Typically, it’s the third most important, right behind your cover and story description.
Of course, your cover and story description are external and they are intended to get the reader to notice, pick up and then buy your story. The subject for a different blog.
Once you’ve gotten your potential reader to pick up your story though, you’ve got to keep them hooked. That’s where your opening comes in. Often this is a scene, a character or a piece of startling dialogue.
One of the best opening’s I have come across was:
I woke up inside the chalk outline of my body.
(I’m paraphrasing because, while I loved the opening, the story was a bit cheesy and I don’t want to quote the book and imply I’m giving it a bad review.)
My point is that this opening immediately makes you want to know what’s going on. It instantly raises several questions. If he’s in his chalk outline, he must be dead, or at least the reader thought he was dead. If he’s dead, how can he wake up?
See what I mean? We all know what the chalk outline means. The image it congers up. The questions it’s raises, the ones that we, the author, want the reader to ask.
I should add that the above example is pretty much ideal. I however, am not quite that good, although I wish I were. So, for most of us we need to use the first paragraph to develop the hook. In some cases, this might even take a page. Whether it’s a sentence, a paragraph or a page though, you have got to keep the reader intrigued. You must make them want to read on, preferably while holding their breath.
Dialogue Grabber
The same thing can be done with dialogue. Here though you’ll typically need to rely on emotion (remember that?) to help you pull it off. Emotion and some scene setting either before or after.
But wait. You said dialogue was the grabber!
Yes, it can be, but unlike the scene grabber, you’ll typically need to fill the reader in as to what the character is responding to.
“Why are you doing this? What did he ever do to you?” she shouted.
(Part of the opening in one of my books.)
Sure, it grabs you and makes you want to know more but, without the scene around it, it quickly dies off. Who’s doing what to who? What did he do? Both of those questions really need to be answered quickly.
Why, because the dialogue itself doesn’t paint a full picture. At least not like the chalk outline. Typically, dialogue will ‘imply’ things, and that’s good because it raises questions.
What’s going on? Who is she talking to?
In my opening, these were answered by describing the scene; a horses head in her lap and her looking up.
Quickly, the reader now knows ‘he’ is the horse and she’s talking to God. From the emotion (her shouting) they can gather the horse may be dead or dying. So, let’s add to … she shouted … tears running down her cheeks.
Hopefully, this will make the reader want to know; why is there a horse’s head in her lap, is he sick or dying and why is she talking to God? (All of which will be answered if you read my book.)
The Short Grabber
The previous examples are short grabbers. A scene, dialogue, or combination of both to grab the readers attention in the first sentence or paragraph.
Ideally this is how you’ll want to pull your reader into your story. In many cases though that’s difficult to do. Trust me, openings are one of the hardest things you’ll do as a writer. Often, writing, rewriting and never quite being happy with them.
Ultimately though, this is where you’ll need to use everything we’ve covered so far:
Paint the scene. Keep it short, bright, vivid, and show as much as you can with as few words as you can. Do not drone on and on with tons of detail. Save that for inside the story.
If you open with a character, reflect as much about them as you can without telling the reader anything. Use their name, location, an item of dress, their emotional state … Remember, you want to leave the reader wanting more. Who are they … what do they look like … are they always this emotional? All to be answered later, not now.
This is the perfect place to add the emotions and memories. They are so easy to add and raise questions with. He was crying … she smelt the sea air … her love for apple pie … he hated the dark …
The Long Grabber
Hey, we’re authors. Sometimes it’s impossible for us to tell a story in one line or paragraph!
Got it. We’ve all got a lot to say and yes, that can be hard if not impossible sometimes. However, the same rules apply. If you need a page to open things with, use all your scene and character building techniques and keep it as short as possible. I can’t stress enough that this is not where you want to tell your story. If you do, why should I read any further?
This is where you want to drop the breadcrumbs. Where you leave a path of blood spots. Where you leave a trail of discarded clothing. Where you lure your reader in and make them wonder where your story is going, who it’s about, what path will you take and how will it end.
Finally, If your grabber has to be long, keep it moving! Action, action, action. Do not ever ever let it bog down and always, skip the details.
Whether it’s short or long, think of the open trailer from a movie or TV show. What will grab the reader’s attention in an instant, show them only enough to make them hungry for more and always leave them wanting.
And Remember to pin, pin, pin!
Robyn just reminded me. Pin your opening scene in front of you. Typically, your cover image will be perfect. That, and your playlist, will put you in the perfect mood to come up with an amazing opening.
By the way, if your cover image isn’t inspiring you? You might seriously consider a different cover. Yip, we’ll add that to the cover thingy blog, coming soonish.
***
In the next post we’re going to go back to the middle. Oops, sorry, make that Chapter 2, where we’ll help you use what we’ve learned so far, and other tips to build your story.
***
Bob Boze lives in the South Bay area of San Diego and his writing partner, Robyn Bennett, lives in Blenheim on New Zealand’s South Island. Both are published romance and non-fiction authors, editors, speakers and bloggers.
Together they offer a variety of writer and business services through their business website, Writing Allsorts. To learn more about their books and their services, go to https://writingallsorts.com/
May 23, 2019 | Advice, Advice for Writers, Editor, Editors' Blog, Expert, Fantasy, Horror, Literary, Paranormal, Sci-fi, Thriller, Uncategorized
When it comes to marketing a horror movie, the trailer is everything. A good trailer can be shared all over social media and attract just the right audience to go and see it. Promoting a horror novel is much the same. Here are 5 marketing tactics horror movies use that you can also use to promote your horror novel.
5 – Show Audience Testimonials and Ratings
A lot of movie trailers show quotes from critics praising the movie. This technique is commonly used to sell books as well.
One technique that has become a best practice is to start your book description on Amazon with a quote praising the book or your work. You can also put additional quotes on your book cover and at the bottom of your book description.
You can get quotes by pulling from favorable reviews or by reaching out to other authors. Many authors will be happy to blurb your book in exchange for a free copy.
4 – Creativity Can Be More Effective than Money
There's a reason a lot of up and coming directors start with a horror movie: small budgets. With a little creativity, there are ways to make a good horror movie without spending a lot of money. Look at movies like The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. Both had tiny budgets and both found humongous success.
There are a lot of great promotional sites for authors, including BooksGoSocial, but there's also something to be said for being creative. You may be able to find a fun and creative way to promote your book on social media without spending a lot of money.
I photoshopped this image to help promote my horror novel, Violent Hearts, and it drew a lot more traffic, likes and comments, then a regular book cover post.
“Bradbury on acid.” Greg Gifune, author of The Bleeding Season
3 – Show Your Characters
Horror movie trailers often revolve around their characters. If they can make you care about what happens to these characters, you are much more likely to go and see the movie.
Same is true for books. Be sure to include details about your characters in your book description and promotions that will make your audience sympathetic to your characters.
2 – Use Mystery to Entice Readers to Buy
Horror movie trailers often hit us with something unexpected and mysterious. Where did that come from? What is causing that? These questions draw us into the story and make us want to go and see the movie.
You can offer excerpts and short cliffhanger teasers on your social media feeds to build an audience and entice readers to buy your book.
Here's one I've used to promote my horror novel, Violent Hearts:
It started that cold night spent in the woods, all those years ago. Owen and Chloe wakened something, something inside them both. But, for a while at least, they thought they could live normal lives…
Click here.
1 – Give Readers What They Want
Same is true for promoting your book. Give your readers characters they care about, with sympathetic backgrounds you can sum up in a few words you can use in your book description. This helps to put a “face” to your characters and give them life for your readers.
We've all seen movie trailers that give away too much of the plot. Don't be that person. Instead, tell them what the blood and guts are in your book.
When someone picks up your book, what's in it for them? Tell them! Be explicit. If your book is an exciting adventure, then tell them it's an exciting adventure. If your book has uncanny hauntings or violent gore, don't be afraid to share this fact. Not only will you keep away readers who don't like such things and might leave bad reviews, but you will get the right readers interested in your book.
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 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 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
