Bringing you the information and resources you need to succeed.
August 2013, Volume 1, Issue 1
Editor: Patricia Fry
Why This Newsletter?
This newsletter has been a long time coming. With over forty years embedded in the world of writing, publishing and book promotion and a good twenty years working with and writing for other authors, I’ve finally accepted the requests of many to launch a newsletter.
What are my qualifications? I’ve listed them below. My first priority is to bring you the information and resources you need/want in order to become a more successful author. I realize that you are all at different stages and levels of writing, publishing and marketing one or more books. Some of you are only interested in reading what others write. My goal is to address your concerns, interests and questions related to publishing and books and to present you with a few surprises along the way.
Included in this issue:
- A Successful Book Starts Before You Step Up to the Keyboard (10 Tips)
- Book Promotion Activity of the Month—Book Reviews (100s of Reviewers)
- Recommended Reading—Fiction (Catnapped, a Klepto Cat Mystery)
- Book Review Opportunities for Readers—Speak Up
- Reader Review Sites (Start Here)
- Resources of the Month—Recommended Books for Authors
- Patricia Fry’s Bio Roundup
(If you do not wish to receive information from Patricia Fry and Matilija Press, please use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the page.)
A Successful Book Starts Before You Step Up to the Keyboard (10 Tips)
- Study the publishing industry before ever attempting to write a book for publication. Writing is a craft—it’s the easy, peasy, fun part. In contrast, publishing is a seriously competitive business. It’s crucial to the success of your book that you know something about this industry before getting involved. Read my book, Publish Your Book. You will be surprised at how much you need to know in order to successfully navigate the fiercely competitive publishing arena.
- Read books like yours—on the same topic or in the same genre. Lots of them. Learn what is and what isn’t acceptable. Discern what is missing in other books on your topic. Discover what readers of a specific genre expect in the books they buy. Make sure you are writing a book that is wanted/needed.
- Start saving money now for a good book editor, a professional book cover design and possibly for the services of a pay-to-publish (self-publishing) company or printer, a webmaster, promotional material and so forth. Forget the idea of quitting your job and supporting yourself as a published author. It’s a rare author who actually makes money. Disheartening, I know. But it’s true. The current failure figure is at nearly 78%. What do authors of failed books have in common? They entered into the world of publishing clueless, uneducated, uninformed and ill-prepared. How much will it cost you to publish your book? If you plan to land a publishing contract with a traditional publisher, your investment may be only around $800 to $3,000 for editing. Yes, it is necessary to deliver a finely tuned manuscript to the publisher. If you establish your own publishing company or go with a pay-to-publish outfit, you’ll need to ante up something in the neighborhood of $800 to thousands. It depends on the magnitude of your book project, your writing/self-editing ability, your choice of cover designers, publishing format, publishing company and marketing activities.
Are you beginning to understand why it’s so important that you educate yourself about the publishing industry, your many, many options and choices and your responsibility as a published author? - Write the right book for the right audience—in other words, know who needs/wants this book and make sure you include the information, organizational style, resources, storyline, etc. your readers require or expect.
- Keep your reader in mind throughout the writing process. Write clear, concise instructions or dialog, for example. Do not leave your reader behind in a fog of complex rhetoric, disorganized/disjointed material, unnecessary descriptions or ambiguous plots.
- Build promotion into your book. For nonfiction, include a lot of people, interview and quote experts, request testimonials from professionals and reference major organizations, for example. For fiction, use nonfiction hooks—give a character a pilot’s license, a horse or twins and then promote to pilots, riders and parents of multiples as well as your primary readers of mysteries, adventure novels or historical novels, for instance.
- Hire a good book editor. Every author needs an editor. Sure, run your manuscript by Aunt Grace, who’s good with words; your retired high school English teacher and a few friends who love reading books in your genre or on your subject. But also hire a good book editor to give your manuscript the polish it will need in order to pass muster with professionals, reviewers and publishers, as well as your readers.
- Start planning your marketing strategy. You should understand early on what it takes to promote a book. This is a good time to take inventory of your skills and review your platform (your following, your way of attracting readers, your connections…). Read my book, Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author. Not only will this book give you a meaningful overview of book promotion, it provides hundreds of ideas along with anecdotes to help you devise your own successful marketing plan. http://www.matilijapress.com/PromoteYourBook.html
- Use the guide in Publish Your Book (by Patricia Fry) to help you determine which publishing option is best for you and to choose the right publishing company or service. http://www.matilijapress.com/PublishYourBook.html
- Start Implementing some of your book promotion ideas—such as amassing a massive email list, sending pre-publication order forms to your email list, setting up presentations, signing up for book festivals where you can exhibit your book and talk to readers, build a website, start blogging and more.
Book Promotion Activity of the Month—Book Reviews
(Access to 100s of Reviewers)
Do you have a book to promote or will you have one sometime this year? Here are some directories of book reviewers that I suggest you place in a hot file for easy reference once your book is a book.
Why seek out book reviews? For fiction—because avid readers of novels in your genre rely on reviewers to introduce them to new books they might enjoy. For nonfiction—readers seeking books on a particular theme are often swayed by the reviews they find at Amazon or published in the magazines they read related to this topic.
There are reader reviews, expert/peer/professional reviews and reviews by those who have taken it upon themselves to read tons of books in their favorite category and report their impressions.
Many reviewers specialize in certain genres/topics. Some review only print books. Some prefer ebooks. Some review only pre-publication copies. Many reviewers have their own websites where they post reviews for their frequent visitors. Others post just at Amazon or just in their print or digital magazines/newsletters.
Your goal should be to collect many reviews from many professionals, reviewers, dedicated readers and others. Use them to promote your book. Post them at your website and on your promotional material. In order to get the reviews, often it requires that you give free copies of your book. Keep in mind, though, that a credible reviewer will not give a positive review just because the book was a gift.
5 Great Book Review Directories
http://karinafabian.com/index.php?name=Content&pid=28
http://www.ebookcrossroads.com/book-reviewers.html
http://www.stepbystepselfpublishing.net/reviewer-list.html
http://www.theindieview.com/indie-reviewers
Recommended Reading—Fiction
Of course I will mention my novel here. You might consider it “tooting my own horn,” “singing my own praises” or “blatant promotion,” but, honey, that’s what it takes to have your book noticed.
Catnapped, the first in the Klepto Cat Mystery Series. (Cozy Mystery)
Storyline: When Savannah Jordan agrees to help her Aunt Margaret while she recovers from a broken foot, she doesn’t expect to walk into a mystery, become part of a not-quite-legal surveillance team, be kidnapped by a deranged stranger and meet a steaming hot veterinarian.
Beloved neighborhood cats are missing—the community can only guess at their fate—and Aunt Margaret’s life is being threatened. Is it because she has a clue to the missing cats or is it something more sinister? Of course, as in all of the Klepto Cat Mysteries, Rags, an ordinary cat with a most unusual habit, has a paw in saving the day.
If you like light mysteries with only a little terror, if you’re infatuated by interesting cats and if you love a love story, you must read this book. It’s at Amazon in Kindle only. http://amzn.to/14OCk0W
This ebook was first launched for Kindle on June 8. On August 8, we replaced the original version with a revised, corrected, proofed copy. Enjoy!
Book Review Opportunities for Readers (Speak Up)
If you’re an avid reader of mysteries, young adult fantasies, true crime, romance or ??? you might enjoy writing reviews for some of the books you read. It would be a big help to authors who are working hard to bring you good books.
If you’re like most readers, you have an opinion about the stories you read. Why not share it with other readers at Amazon.com and other sites where books are exhibited?
Start by studying reviews at Amazon.com and some of the sites listed in the directories above. Consider signing on to review books for appropriate sites. What are the benefits? Free books.
Reader Review Sites (Start Here)
Dear Author is a romance book review site. This site is set up for readers to review books for readers. If you just love a good romance, you might want to check out this reading and reviewing opportunity. http://dearauthor.com
Story Cartel is another reader review site. As an author, you can offer your book for review. As a reader, you can offer to review certain books you want to read. This site is not even a year old, but they’ve managed to get over 6,000 reviews for authors’ books so far. And we all know that reviews can help sell books. Here’s how Story Cartel works. The author offers his/her book as a free download for a period of time at this site and readers who choose to read your book promise to review it at Amazon. Check it out to see if this is a good promotional ploy for you and your work or if you would like to review books here. http://www.storycartel.com
Resource of the Month—Recommended Books for Authors
Here’s a list of books that every author should read sooner rather than later:
- Publish Your Book, Proven Strategies and Resources for the Enterprising Author
- Promote Your Book, Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author
- Talk Up Your Book, How to Sell Your Book Through Public Speaking, Interviews, Signing, Festivals, conferences and More
By Patricia Fry.
Available at amazon.com in print, Kindle and audio.
You’ll also find these books at most other online and downtown bookstores.
Patricia Fry’s Bio Roundup
I’ve been writing for publication for 40 years and I’m the author of 39 published books—most of them on publishing and book promotion. I’m the Executive Director of SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) http://www.spawn.org I compile the Market Update, a monthly newsletter for SPAWN members and I maintain a daily publishing blog. The blog boasts over 1,850 posts to date http://www.matilijapress.com/publishingblog I also write a blog related to cats—through which I promote my Klepto Cat Mystery series and Catscapades, True Cat Tales. http://www.matilijapress.com/catscapades
My articles have appeared in over 300 publications, including Writers Digest, Publishing Basics, Book Marketing Matters, Writer’s Journal, Cat Fancy, Your Health, Horse of Course, Western Horse, The Artist’s Magazine, Woman’s World, The World and I and many others.
I work with authors on their projects from an editorial standpoint, I teach online courses for authors and I travel to speak several times each year at conferences and other author events.
While I’ve been writing nonfiction for all of my 40 years, I recently dipped my toe into the world of fiction and have launched the Klepto Cat Mystery series. Catnapped is the first in the series and it will be closely followed by Cat-Eye Witness. These cozy mysteries are on Kindle only at this point. Watch for future announcements. Order Catnapped today: http://amzn.to/14OCk0W
Mission Statement: The primary purpose of this enewsletter is to bring information, resources and encouragement to fellow authors both beginners and experienced. It’s an education for authors who want to become more successful in a highly competitive industry.