Getting Ready to Publish Your Book by Betsy Ashton

I've given a dozen or more classes this year on what it takes to be ready to publish, self or traditionally. I give the attendees my actual release plan, so that they can do as much or as little as they wish. Everyone leaves my class with a game plan and a boggled brain.

Those of us who self publish have to do everything ourselves. Everything. Right now, I'm working with my cover designer. We have a good idea, an image that is close, and  a plan to modify said image. Spooky cover. Hoodie with a pair of eyes following you around. The cover is the fun part. Getting the ISBN, back matter, blurbs all have to be done around the same time. So does asking people to read the ARC, get more blurbs back, and review on Amazon. I think two of the three of the latter points are easy. Getting that darned review up on Amazon, well, a whole different matter.

I talk to the class about housekeeping issues. If they don't have a website, they need a professional-looking site before the book is available. Where else will readers be able to buy a signed copy if they don't live near the author? Goodreads? Wait, I have to be on Goodreads? Sure do, sister. That's where readers hang out. Author Central from Amazon? I thought Amazon did that. Nooo, you, dear author, set it up. How else will you track e-book sales on Amazon and book sales on all other distribution sites?

What about newspaper interviews? Well, you can hire a publicist, or you can develop a press kit with your press release, a brief summary of the book, interview questions, and a list of places where you can be contacted. You do the legwork. No one else will.

What about social media, you ask? Don't sit there and tell me all you have to do is put the book out, and it will sell. That worked in Field of Dreams, but I'm not Kevin Costner and I don't have a multi-million ad budget. How the heck will people other than friends and family know you have a book out if you don't use the tools at hand to spread the word? If you don't want to use all the current apps, pick one or two where you feel comfortable. Also, pick ones where your readers come to share information and play. For example, if you write YA, hang out in Snapchat, Instagram, and several others whose names I can't remember. I don't write YA, but I'm trying to learn how to use Instagram. Pinterest is fun, but it doesn't really drive traffic to my website or Amazon where my books are available.

Did I hear you say you don't want to do all of the work yourself? If you have a kid whose interested, use said kid. If you don't, consider hiring a virtual assistant who can set up posts on your chosen apps.That will cost money, and you might not see a return on your investment immediately. But if you don't want to do the work and you can't afford to hire someone, you should set you mind to selling a few books to friends, colleagues, and family. It will be harder to attract strangers if you hide.

Writing the book is the easy part. Even working with a professional editor is the easy part. Sucking it up and shoving yourself out there in front of readers is not for the faint of heart. We all have to do it. We need to learn to do it well.

Next time, we'll talk about giving a book talk...

Out with the old, and in with ... what?

It's that time of year. Resolution time.

For years, I've chosen a "Word of the Year", one word that sums up what I want to learn or do or aspire to in the coming year. This year was "Accepting": there are some things you just can't change, so I needed to learn to gracefully accept them. Previous years have an "Explore" and "Experiment" and "Vibrant".

Choosing a word helps me focus on my goals for the upcoming year. In 2015, for the first time in 7 years, I won't have a book coming out. I have 6 books written and will be looking for a publisher for that series. Plus I have 20+ books on my back list, so I'll be promoting those.

That led me to my word of the year. I need to focus on promotion in 2015, and I dread the P thing. So what word might help me get through the year, might help me learn and (maybe) enjoy the P thing?

I'm still kicking around ideas, but "Enthusiastic" and "Energetic" and "Optimistic" come to mind. I'll decide for sure tomorrow, so stay tuned for next year -- you may see a change in my posts here.

Have a happy (and safe) kickoff to the new year -- I'll see you in 2015!

J L Wilson
Mystery, romance, and reincarnation

Motivation: it's all about the energy

I went to the RT conference last week. I got a "day pass" because I stayed with my sister on the outskirts of KC, so I drove in and out of the conference. I went Wednesday-Friday, and by Wednesday night, I was so ready to give up publishing.

Not because of anything in particular, but it just felt like the same-old, same-old. I was hearing the same thing, over and over, about promoting: social media is it, make sure to make time for it, get your name out there, write the best book... And I noticed that no one seemed to be taking promo items (not just mine, but others as well). It had a whole different vibe to it.

I attended one self-promo session that was mind-boggling to me. An author has 3 Facebook identities, and she manages each with different people in different places, and she uses Twitter and handles giveaways, and has spent $$$ on this. Of course, she doesn't work full-time like I do, but it was still daunting.

On Thursday I went to some workshops, and sometime in the middle of one afternoon workshop, something clicked. The panelists (Catherine Bybee, Caridad Pineiro, and one other [H.P. Mallory?] I think). Anyway, they were saying sort of the same thing I heard elsewhere, but somehow, it sounded different. I filed away the thoughts in my brain, and sometime on Thursday night, something clicked. I woke up on Friday all energized and ready to write and promote and kick my career back into high gear.

Where did that come from? I'm not sure, but I think it was the way the info was presented. That talk seemed to make it seem much easier, much more doable, than the other talks.


I honestly have no idea why, but for some reason it resonated with me. Now I need to build on that momentum and move forward (and keep writing). It's just so odd how one little thing can have a big impact (the pebble in the pond effect, I guess).

J L