Archive for January, 2011

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Book Review Blog Sites

Monday, January 31st, 2011

Are you interested in having your book reviewed? If you have a published book, you should be. Yesterday, I came across a list of 100 blogs for book reviews. Here are a few that I checked out. You might want to visit them and see about having your book reviewed at an appropriate blog site.

At Becky’s Book Reviews they post reviews of many different fiction books. http://blbooks.blogspot.com

Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin? posts reviews for literary fiction. http://www.heylady.net

Lola reviews books at Caribousmom. http://reviewsbylola.wordpress.com. She reviews historical novels, mysteries and others.

Here’s a book review site where you post your own reviews. Review someone else’s book or have someone review your book and post the review here: http://www.thenewbookreview.blogspot.com

This blog site includes reviews on many types of books, but seems to focus on historical fiction and history books. http://bookfoolery.blogspot.com

I love this one—the Smart Bitches review Trashy Books at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. And they are talking romance novels. http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com

If you have a science fiction book, consider having it reviewed here: http://boldblueadventure.blogspot.com

Dreadlock Girl reviews practically all genres. http://www.dreadlockgirl.com/reads

There are numerous other bloggers who might review your book related to the theme of their blog or they may post your review at their blog site. If you haven’t done so already, set up a Google Alerts account using key words that would bring up relevant blog sites. Contact the bloggers and ask about having your appropriate book reviewed. http://www.google.com/alerts Or go in search of blogs in the theme/genre of your book.

Let me know where you’ve had your book reviewed or where you go to learn about books in your favorite genre/topic.

Posted in Book Promotion | No Comments »

Report on Free Online Book Proposal Course

Sunday, January 30th, 2011

I’m teaching my Book Proposal course for free. We just finished class number five out of eight. And boy are the students getting a lot out of the classes. The comments and the gratitude coming from them is heartwarming. Those who are keeping up are making great strides in their book proposals and in the development of their projects.

Some of these authors will seek agent representation. Some have publishers in mind for their projects. And others just want to maintain control of their projects and self-publish. But everyone is discovering how important a book proposal is to the author. These authors are learning volumes about their projects—things that didn’t even occur to them when they decided to write their books—things that will assure them greater success no matter which publishing option they choose.

I’m not teaching these things as much as they are discovering them through the process of writing the book proposal. For example, one student emailed me yesterday and said, “Writing the Market Analysis accomplished a couple of things: It helped me refocus on my title. The new one better represents what the book is about. Next, seeing what is out there helped me to expand what I’ll include (in my book). All in all this assignment was insightful and very helpful. I feel stronger about and more committed to my book. Also, it was fun!”

Another student said this about the lesson on targeting your audience, “This was tough, but I now understand the value of knowing who I am targeting with my book. Thank you for teaching this great course.”

One student was having trouble defining her book—she was struggling with her synopsis until I asked her (and the rest of the students) to write a one or two sentence description. She struggled with that, too—just couldn’t come up with a succinct one or two liner describing her book. That’s when she realized that she hadn’t actually defined the scope and focus of her book in her mind. And she knew she could not approach a publisher until she had. She was resistant, at first, to my suggestions that she do more research into what’s out there and what she could offer. But she’s glad she did. She was finally able to write a fairly good synopsis (or overview) of her book. It just needs a bit of tweaking and it will be good to go. In the meantime, she says, “Thank you. I had no idea I was so off base with my book. You really helped me to find my focus.”

I teach 6 different on-demand, online courses. On-demand means that you can sign up at any time and choose which day of the week you’d like to receive your lecture and assignment throughout the 6 or 8 week course. These courses are an incredible value because you also get my personal feedback with each lesson.

Do you need help with your book proposal? Are you struggling to promote your book? Would you like to start a freelance article-writing business? Do you want to self-publish your book—establish your own publishing company? Learn more about the courses we offer at http://www.matilijapress.com/courses.htm Questions? PLFry620@yahoo.com

Posted in Book Proposals | No Comments »

When the Book Promotion Well Runs Dry

Saturday, January 29th, 2011

If this post seems familiar, congratulations. This means that either you have been visiting this blog site’s archives or that you’ve been following this blog for five years. I’m drawing a rare—extremely rare—blank today as I contemplate my blog post. So I’ve decided to reach into the archives and remind you of this message:

Excerpted from my January 27, 2006 post

Do you ever feel as though you’ve been up and down every promotional street, avenue and pathway in every world city and you’ve come to that dreaded dead end? You wonder “Where do I go from here?” You feel as though you’ve tapped into every possible promotional opportunity available for your particular book and now you’re stuck. You’ve run out of ideas and resources. You don’t know where to turn or how to proceed. STOP! Don’t start burning books or throwing your computer out the window. Take a break. Breathe… Breathe… Breathe…

There, now don’t you feel better?

We all hit that brick wall of hopelessness once in a while. Sometimes it’s just a matter of exhaustion and stress. It’s nothing more than a strong signal that it’s time to step back and get a fresh perspective. Go take a walk, reorganize your office, putter in the garden, play with your cat, take a nap. You’ll come back to your office feeling a bit less frazzled and ready to resume the task of book promotion.

Most of us, when we enter into this field, believe in the concept: “Write it and they will come.” We rely on bookstores to distribute our books to all of those readers who are out there searching for a book like ours. Once this idea is exposed for the fallacy that it is, the author suddenly feels alone, confused and as if he has been deceived.

When I feel the promotional well starting to dip near the panic level, I open my promotional file. As an author, you do have a promotional file, don’t you—a folder that contains every book promotion idea you’ve ever had? Maybe now is the time to build a website or start blogging. Perhaps you can plan a book signing tour or go ahead and rent a booth at a major book festival this spring. Check into the newsletters out there on the topic/genre of your book. You can learn a lot about your audience and where they are, by reading these newsletters. Contribute articles to some of those newsletters and appropriate magazines. Set up some speaking engagements.

Book promotion is an all-consuming activity. If you are an author, you probably already know this. If you are thinking about producing a book, you need to know that writing is the easy part. It’s what comes after that will keep you busy, test your creativity and stamina and sometimes drive you crazy. So go ahead and write that great book, but also take the time to develop a promotional plan. And create a backup plan. Be prepared so that the next time you see the brick wall coming swiftly toward you, you can leap right over it without missing a promotional beat.

If you’re running out of promotional ideas stop by my website and check out some of the articles there on book promotion. http://www.matilijapress.com

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The Author’s Commitment

Friday, January 28th, 2011

Are you dedicated to your book project? Or is it something you work on only when there is nothing else to do? How do you know if you are really committed to it?

• Your book is a priority.
• You make sacrifices in order to pursue your project.
• You have the discipline to work on it regularly.
• You have a plan.
• You follow through with the research, etc. involved.
• You have a sense of organization with regard to your project.

What if you haven’t made a commitment to your project—how do you tell when you just aren’t that into it?

• You put off work on your project.
• You make excuses for not writing.
• You write only when it is convenient.
• Practically everything else in your life is a priority.

I meet both kinds of writers—those who are focused and committed to a project they strongly believe in and those who let every distraction lure them away from their writing goals.

Which writer are you? Which writer do you want to be? What is your ultimate goal for your project? Are you feeling satisfied that you are edging toward that goal or have you been lax in taking the steps in that direction? What can you do to change your approach to your book project?

• Determine how important this project is to you.

• Make a plan for moving it forward.

• Consider the sacrifices you can make in order to have the space and time to pursue your writing dream.

• Examine your excuses, pick them apart and replace them with reasons why you CAN follow through with your project.

For more information, guidance and resources related to your writing dream and many other aspects of writing and publishing, visit http://www.matilijapress.com

If you need help, check out my services at: http://www.patriciafry.com

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Hot Resources for Writers and Authors

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

How would you like some resources today? These are just some of the resources for freelance writers and authors that I have included in the February SPAWN Market Update, which is posted each first of the month in the member area of the SPAWN website. Several years of this meaty newsletter is archived at the SPAWN site for members to peruse, as well. We estimate that there are literally thousands of resources, leads and tips stored away there. SPAWN is Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network.

If you’re not sure what SPAWN is all about, sign up for SPAWNews, our FREE monthly newsletter here http://www.spawn.org and receive a FREE ebook, “Promote Yourself: 25 Ways to Promote Your Work, Whether You’re an Artist, Author or Small Publisher.”

Become a member of SPAWN and get access to a second newsletter—one of the absolute best newsletters around for freelance writers, authors and artists, the SPAWN Market Update. Join here: http://www.spawn.org

Here’s a peek into what our members will get this month—and this is just a smidge of what we’re providing in February.

For Freelance Writers. (Authors might also find these sites interesting and valuable.

1: Discover some of the trendiest topics to write about this year: http://trendwatching.com/briefing

2: Get story more story ideas: http://digg.com Or use Google Alerts to locate trends and happenings in your field of interest. http://www.google.com/alerts

For Authors
3: Promote your book this year through a book festival. I frequently provide links to festival and conference directories here and to our Market Update readers. Here’s a new one: http://www.author-network.com/festivals.html

4: Promote your children’s book or your unpublished manuscript by offering free stories to FreeChildrenStories. Learn more at http://www.freechildrenstories.com

5: Wow! Do you wonder if your title is a winner? Lulu has found a way to test your novel’s title against the success of historical bestsellers. Have fun with this: http://www.lulu.com/titlescorer/index.php

For Artists
6: Here are a three job sites for artists:
http://www.artistjobs.net
http://www.suite101.com/content/jobs-for-artists-a21795
http://artsopportunities.org

This issue of the SPAWN Market Update also lists 10 publishers who are seeking manuscripts—mainly childrens/young adult. And I list several high paying magazines with some solid ideas about how to break in.

If you’ve been following this blog, you “read” me speak of SPAWN occasionally. Maybe it is time for you to join so you can take advantage of all of the resources we offer. We also have a discussion group for members. In April we’re taking some of our members to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books where they will have the opportunity to sell their books from the SPAWN booth.

Membership is $65/year. Members who get involved and partake of what we offer, say that they paid for their membership many times over in their first few weeks because of the leads and resources they discovered in the SPAWN Market Update.

When you join—and each time you renew your membership—you get a free book of your choice. See the list of choices here: http://www.spawn.org/member.htm#freebooks

Questions? PLFry620@yahoo.com

Posted in Resources, Writing | No Comments »

Tax Time for Writers/Authors

Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

Are you ready to meet your tax preparer?

If you’ve been freelance writing for money or if you are an author with books to sell, you should be collecting receipts for your taxes. What receipts should you keep? Those for expenses, supplies, equipment, etc. related to your writing or publishing business.

File away receipts for that new printer, paper for creating your brochures, new toner or ink for your fax machine, your business mailbox, membership in publishing organizations and writers’ clubs, postage for shipping books and mailing signed contracts, booths at book festivals, advertising, travel expenses to book signings and other speaking gigs, phone interviews, production costs for your book (ISBN, barcode, cover designer, etc.), web hosting fees, Internet service, and so forth.

Keep track of mileage when you travel to a book festival or writer’s conference or when you drive across town to interview someone for an article.

Can you deduct babysitting fees for when you go out and speak, a new outfit for your book signing, teeth veneers? That’s doubtful, but ask your tax preparer.

On the other side of this, you must also log article sales, book sales and any consultation and editing fees collected.

How does one keep track of it all? Ideally, you would log every payment and expense as they occur. Realistically, however, I manage to log payments when they occur, but I simply toss receipts in a file folder to tally up later. And later is here. It is time to start the tally. Are you ready?

I include a chapter on bookkeeping with some examples and pretty explicit instructions for record-keeping in my book The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. Order your copy here: http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

Are you ready to have your manuscript edited? Learn more about my services here: http://www.patriciafry.com

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Learn From Your Book Proposal

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

Yesterday, I experienced one of those perfectly orchestrated days that somehow went awry. You know, you plan your day, but things happen that change your plans dramatically. Yesterday, it was a sudden death in the family. So a nice outing with my mom to visit her sister at a nursing home where she was rehabilitating from a broken hip, turned out to be a day of waiting by the phone for word from my cousins at the hospital. Then there were phone calls that had to be made. The family began to gather at my mom’s to console her. It was a long day that certainly did not go as planned

This can happen in your writing, as well. You might have a perfectly good story or nonfiction book in mind (or written), only to have something occur that causes you to take your project in a different direction. As we’ve discussed recently, your book proposal can be that impetus for change. And that’s the reason why you do want to write one.

Through the process of writing a book proposal, you might discover that your idea is too narrow and your audience too small. You might realize that your young adult novel is really more fitting for middle-grade readers. You may determine that you don’t actually have a handle on the focus or scope of your book or that there are already numbers of books with the same message and in the same style as the one you propose. Some authors discover, through the book proposal process, that their idea is not valid. If they continue the process, however, they often find their way to a more viable one. And sometimes, writing a book proposal helps you to realize that you just aren’t ready to become an author. You have no platform. You have no interest in promoting a book. At this juncture, you will either give up your idea, come out with a pamphlet to promote at your website and give out to friends and family or you will go to work preparing yourself to become a bona fide author with what it takes to succeed.

Take the chance—take the steps necessary to test drive your project by writing a complete and well-researched book proposal before taking your “plan” to completion. Become vulnerable. Follow the path through the book proposal process. It’s the only way you can be sure that you’re on the right track with your book project.

Resources to use in the book proposal process:
The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book by Patricia Fry
http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

Write the Perfect Book Proposal: 10 That Sold and Why by Jeff Herman and Deborah Levine Herman, (John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2nd edition, 2001)

Take Patricia Fry’s online Book Proposal course
http://www.matilijapress.com/course_bookproposal.htm

If you need help with the book proposal you have already written, contact me or your project is ready for editing. Check out Patricia Fry’s services at http://www.patriciafry.com

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What Does the Publisher Really Want?

Monday, January 24th, 2011

We all like samples and examples. Today, I’m not talking about food samples like you get at the grocery store, but examples to illustrate a certain process in writing or publishing.

How much does it help you to write your query letter when you see an example of a query letter posted someplace? When you read someone else’s market analysis, does it help you to write yours? Some authors just get more confused by seeing examples from material that doesn’t exactly relate to what they are writing. But reading the instructions for writing the proposal or query letter, for example, doesn’t quite bring the process into focus for them, either.

If this is you, let me see if I can help. Before trying to follow a model or a set of instructions, find out what purpose the query letter or book proposal has. What is its function? What is it supposed to accomplish for you? Key in on how the query letter or the synopsis is supposed to benefit you—what its job is.

What is the job of an author’s query letter? To sell a publisher or agent on your project and on you. For example, a query letter will:

• Introduce your book project.

• Succinctly describe it to a publisher or agent.

• Help the publisher/agent understand why this book is important/needed.

• Identify the proposed audience and how large it is.

• Explain why you are the person to write this book.

• Describe your platform—what you have to offer toward promoting this book.

The publisher wants to know that he will make some money on your project.
When you write a query letter or an entire book proposal, you need to think like a savvy publisher not an emotional author. You need to know what his concerns are, what’s important to him and what it takes to convince him to consider a project like yours. If you don’t have a clue about any of this—you’ve been more concerned with what you want to write, how writing makes you feel, what you want to get out of publishing this book, etc.—you may not get a second look from a publisher or an agent.

Spend some time thinking about this concept this week. Practice thinking like a publisher when you ponder your project, while you’re writing, and especially while you work on your book proposal and your query letter. Keep in mind that a publisher is more interested in his bottom line than he is in your good writing or your feelings. It may surprise you to discover (through this exercise) how much your approach to your query letter, your proposal and your book changes.

Personal Note
I hope I stopped an author from blindly rushing into the first publishing contract she received for her book this week—from a pay-to-publish company. It is one that Mark Levine, in his book The Fine Print of Self-Publishing lists under “Publishers to Avoid.” Thankfully, she visited my blog first and contacted me. She is rethinking her rash decision.

If you are new to publishing and you have a book in the works or ready to publish, please, please read Mark’s book first.

And read my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book to learn all of your publishing options. After reading the first three chapters, you will have a much greater understanding of the publishing industry and how you might fit into it. The remainder of the book will help you to choose the right option for you and for your project and it will guide you every step of the way through publishing and beyond no matter which option you choose. It will also prepare you for the largest, most intense part of producing a book—promoting it. YES it is up to the author to promote his/her book no matter which publishing option he chooses. This book tells you how.

http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

Do you need an editor? http://www.patriciafry.com

Are you unsure whether you should produce your book at all? Sign up for the NEW ebook at this site. 50 Reasons Why You Should Publish That Book.

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Do Bookstores Matter to Authors?

Sunday, January 23rd, 2011

If you’ve been studying the publishing industry for any length of time—reading this blog, industry newsletters, books by myself and other professionals—you’ve probably crossed bookstores off of your list of potential sales outlets for your book.

You’ve been told that it is next to impossible to get your book into bookstores—that your book is liable to get lost among the thousands of others in a bookstore. Is this true? Well, yes. You probably can’t count on bookstore sales to help your book reach the level of success you desire. But I don’t want you to dismiss the idea of selling through bookstores altogether.

What I hope to get across to authors through my nagging and ranting about bookstores is that you should not count on them as your primary sales outlet. Bookstores should not be considered the ultimate last word in book promotion and sales. But do they have a place in the scheme of things where our marketing plan is concerned? Absolutely!

• You want to try to infiltrate the mega-bookstores. At least have your book listed in Books in Print so they can order it if someone comes in and asks about it.

• Apply for Barnes and Noble and Borders’ warehouse programs. (Contact me for more info on this.) PLFry620@yahoo.com.

• Make sure your book is listed in online bookstores—Borders, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, etc.

• Approach independent bookstores individually and ask them to take your books on consignment.

• Contact specialty bookstores related to the theme or genre of your book: mystery, cats, religion, spirituality, cookbooks, children’s, etc.

And then promote the heck out of your book so people are walking into bookstores asking for it.

Ignore bookstores altogether and you will sabotage the success of your book. Use them; just don’t rely on them totally. Consider bookstores an outlet for your book, but also promote it over the Internet, go out and give presentations, do radio/TV gigs, reserve booths at flea markets and book festivals, approach appropriate specialty stores with your book—kitchen stores, gift shops, museum gift shops, toy stores, pharmacies, auto parts stores, etc. Some of my books are selling well in a local “Made in Ojai” store where everything in it comes from local artists, potters, authors, jewelers, etc.

By the way, the gigantic Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is coming up in April. If you’d like to take your book to this spectacular event, you may be able to participate in the SPAWN booth. SPAWN is Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network. It’s an organization that you probably should join, anyway in order to further your freelance writing career or your success as an author. SPAWN has two booths at the festival this year and members can join us and sell their books from our booth for $200 per day. If you do not live in Southern California or you do not wish to travel, we will display your book in the booth. Post it in our beautiful print catalog which we will be giving away to each visitor to the booth. This will be your brochure. The cost for displaying one book and one catalog entry is $55. A catalog entry only is $35.

Learn more about these amazing opportunities by subscribing to our FREE SPAWN newsletter. The next issue will be sent to your email box February 1, 2011. http://www.spawn.org Sign up for the newsletter and receive a FREE ebook, Promote Yourself: 25 Ways to Promote Your Work, Whether You’re an Artist, Author or Small Publishers.

You can also enter our archives and read the January 2011 issue of SPAWNews to find details about SPAWN and the LA Times Festival of Books. http://www.spawn.org Contact me for additional information: Patricia@spawn.org.

Posted in Book Promotion | No Comments »

Second Chances for Your Book

Saturday, January 22nd, 2011

We talked recently about the possibility of your self-published or pay-to-publish book being picked up by a traditional royalty publisher. Well, it happened again to one of my clients. This time it is a children’s picture book—can you believe it? Instead of illustrations, this author used photographs. It is a charming book. Delightful. I will reveal more once it is produced.

And I had an email conversation with Debbie Allen yesterday. She is the author of Confessions of Shameless Self Promoters, Confessions of Shameless Internet Promoters and others. She self-published her first book in the series and did so well with it—appeared on the Howard Stern Show, became a bestseller at amazon—and Mc Graw-Hill recently picked it up.

I met another young man this week—under thirty. He self-published his story, and sold 12,000 copies of it before being picked up by an agent and then HarperCollins. He managed this by landing some pretty serious media and a chance meeting with a major agent.

I’m currently revising one of my self-published books for a publisher.

And I think I’ve told you about my client who sold so many copies of her young adult fantasy that Scholastic Books picked it up.

You’re actually hearing about this phenomenon more and more often. So if you know you have an excellent book idea and you are confident that you can write something that is meaningful or highly entertaining to a large audience, why not go for it? But it could take an enormous amount of time, energy, strategy and belief in yourself to take that book to that next level. Everyone of these authors will tell you that and all of them are highly motivated powerhouse promoters.

I’m here to encourage you. But I don’t want you to delude yourself. It will take a whole lot of savvy and work to go from point A (writing a worthy book) to point B (experiencing thousands of sales through a traditional publisher).

For more about how the whole publishing thing works and how to navigate within this industry, read The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book. http://www.matilijapress.com/rightway.html

Need editing? Would you like a free evaluation of your manuscript? Check out this site: http://www.patriciafry.com

Posted in Authorship, Book Promotion | No Comments »

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