So what’s it take to succeed as an indie author?

So what’s it take to succeed as an indie author?


[note: this article first appeared as part of the How to be a Good Writer series on the C.P. White Media Blog.]

Sales. God help us. My good friend Aaron Patterson once posted up a comment on Facebook about this: what’s it take to sell your book (basically)? I mean, some of us are selling and some of are not, and it’s not as if it’s cut and dried that the nonsellers are shitty writers. Pardon me, but come on. And there’s plenty of hot-selling total crapola out there. So it’s not simple.

Adding to the complexity is the free market, which I adore. The rise of the eBook has been confounding the Big Six publishers today in the same way that Napster and iTunes changed just about everything in regard to the music business a while back. Well…when I say everything…the point is that Bob Dylan was right about how times change, but only insofar as they don’t really, which was King Solomon’s counterbalancing bit of sagacity.

Aaron and I secretly agree that for the business-minded author, the entrepreneurial, the indie author…pssst: there’s really no need for a publisher. The dirty little secret is that the Big Six will expect you to work just as hard for them as if you were going it alone, and in exchange for that gigantic favor they will be taking about 85% of the pot, thanks. At least. I personally don’t want to shove against that wall. Someone else can shove it, if you get my meaning.

The facts, therefore, have been distilled down to these: editing, cover design, publishing, and marketing strategy. Those are the things that matter most, and the things that any competent publisher (even if he’s just a one-man operation, i.e. an indie writer) will spend the bucks on. Let’s have a look at ‘em one at a time.

Editing is the process, often painful, whereby you as the author pay large amounts of cash so that your work can be pulled apart by someone wiser than thou. It’s also so that you can be emotionally abused about it. Okay, I’m (mostly) kidding. A great editor will do that so nicely that you’ll catch yourself saying, “Thank you, sir, may I have another.” Remember that editing isn’t just spelling and grammar; it’s content, the creative bits, pacing, character development, plot, and so on. It’s my personal opinion that the best editors are a one-stop shop. Spelling and grammar are fixed pretty easily, either by Word itself or by the conscientious author. Anyway, editors who only do spelling and grammar are called proofreaders, not editors. And if you’d like to get in touch with me aboutediting your work, please do.

Okay, covers. Cover design is something at which I suck. Okay, that’s not fair, but let’s say that a guy struggles when he lacks tools and experience sometimes. Just being honest. So few authors are double-edged swords; able to produce literary and graphic excellence. I once posted on Facebook a cover I did for my novella The Marsburg Diary, alongside another cover that was professionally done, and asked people to vote. It was something on the order of 20:1 against mine. Not to say that I can’t learn eventually, but for now, I’ll be leaving it to the professionals. I’d counsel you to do the same. It’s almost impossible to spend too much on a good cover. Don’t be afraid to “focus group” it with your friends, either.

Get yourself out there

Get yourself out there

 

[note: this article first appeared as part of the How to be a Good Writer series on the C.P. White Media Blog.]

Unless you have tried and failed at something, you might not get it. If you’ve never stood your ground even once and told people exactly what you’re thinking, you probably can’t relate to what I’m about to say. If you’ve never tried to create something truly personal, and then taken the huge risk of allowing people to see it, read it, experience it…then you can’t know how it feels. If you can’t look yourself in the mirror and say, “I have something to say,” and mean it, well, you probably don’t know what I’m talking about.

I’m talking about putting yourself out there; in this case as a writer. It might seem difficult to write a book, especially for those who never have, and it is. But it’s even more difficult to finish it and let it go. Out into the wild. Where people are free to love it or hate it. But I gotta tell you: it’s worth the risk. It is totally worth the risk.

Aaron Patterson and I released Airel a couple of springs ago. And then we re-released it last November, with a few improvements. And we have more improvements in store. That first release was the result of about a year’s worth of work. Yep. That much. and like I said, work on that series is ongoing. And as hard as the writing and editing and revising process sometimes is, it doesn’t compare to how difficult it can be emotionally to publish the Work—and allow people into what amounts to a very private inner sanctum: the imagination of the author.

How to submit for publication (or do it yourself, thanks very much)

How to submit for publication (or do it yourself, thanks very much)


[note: this article first appeared as part of the How to be a Good Writer series on the C.P. White Media Blog.]

How to submit for publication: it’s the question you probably wonder about when you turn out the lights and you’re trying to get to sleep. But it’s not one very many authors are asking out loud these days, and for good reason. It’s because of self-publishing. It’s because of technology. We might assume the world has changed for good. But publishers aren’t going anywhere. After all, Sony Music weathered the rise of Napster and iTunes; Harper Collins and Penguin aren’t just going to roll over and die. So then… you might want to know, after all, “How do I submit for publication?”

My best answer to the question? Don’t. You’re going to work your keester off whether you’re independent or traditionally published. The rate of pay, though, is wildly different. I’ve said it before: You don’t need a publisher. Not these days. And not, certainly, for what you’ll get out of making a deal with the Devil, which amounts to about 15% on the high end, and that’s if Beelzebub likes you. Or if you drive a harder bargain than Faust. See, publishers used to be able to justify their gargantuan takes. After all, there was the cost of print, the risk they were taking, the rent on their palatial Manhattan offices; the whole enterprise of publishing to begin with. Plus they were the gatekeepers of the industry. Without a competitive alternative, monopolies tend to do as they see fit, and to hell not only with the consequences but with everyone else as well.

Plot, and how awesome it is, especially in stories (duh)

Plot, and how awesome it is, especially in stories (duh)
 

[note: this article first appeared as part of the How to be a Good Writer series on the C.P. White Media Blog.]

I want to feature plot in this post. I’ve posted other things about this subject (Archetypes), and that’s because it bears study. A good writer is one who understands at least the basic elements of plot. For me, plot = characters in a lot of ways. But for now, plot.

A good story has a skeleton in good order. If you break out the major events in any well-written story, you can build an outline around them (whether the author intended you to do so or not). Sometimes we get a look at it in disjunct ways, a la LOST or The Prestige, which are great stories that keep us guessing—but they’re organized quite well in the final analysis. In other words, whatever happens in the storyline has a reason for happening (the fictional past) and a consequence as well (the fictional future). That’s what I mean by a skeleton in good order.

Good stories have certain elements that are universal, too. It’s been that way since the dawn of time. If a crowd can relate to part of the story, they buy in. That’s what Heathcock bangs on about, and with good reason. It’s called empathy, and you should cultivate the hell out of it. If your book has it, people buy it. That’s the goal here, folks, and it doesn’t require selling out or ignoring/forgetting your principles, contrary to popular belief.

Take a look at any Sherlock Holmes story. I still stand in awe of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s knack for this. I always wonder which part of the story he wrote first; as if he wrote it inside out and backwards, because how can anyone write such mysteries? It’s crazy good writing, with lots of layers, lots of interdependencies; like a combination lock on a safe.

Writing a story with a freakin purpose

Writing a story with a freakin’ purpose


[note: this article first appeared as part of the How to be a Good Writer series on the C.P. White Media Blog.]

Good writing has certain elements that cause it to be compelling, realistic, successful. And savvy authors wield these elements like a skilled craftsman uses his tools. I'm talking about good fiction. Today we're going beyond the nuts-and-bolts talk, beyond subject-verb agreement, tense, and even the difference between present participle and gerunds (which is extremely important stuff), and we're dealing with high-level, meta-picture kinds of things. Following are a few things Good Writers know.

Disasters: Every scene must end with some kind of disaster for the protagonist. More importantly, when it does not, the story is over. Why? Because the thing that drives Story is conflict. Coincidentally, that's the same thing that keeps readers turning pages. And it's the same reason reality TV has been so successful. Why do you think Survivor was such a hit? And why do you think The Office, with its truly cringe-worthy moments, kept people enthralled for so long? You're right; it's because everybody likes a good train wreck. Which explains NASCAR, mostly.
I suppose I should mention here a little about consequence. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction, and if you look to life for symmetry in cause and effect, you'll rarely find it. Evil prospers and good often suffers. Cf. the books of Job and Ecclesiastes. In the best fiction, I think authors are hypersensitive to all the potentialities of the scenes they're writing and how they want them to play out in the lives of their characters. The best authors just flat out notice things, and all the time. Read Klinkenborg for more on noticing.

Just remember, too, that when you're writing a scene, it won't necessarily feel natural to keep your hero from the One Thing (the Story Goal) she's striving toward. But you must be cruel. And realistic too, and that goes for all you scifi and fantasy nerds out there as much as it goes for all you family saga bow tie-wearing spendthrifts, because no matter where, people are people, whether it's just outside of Alpha Centauri or somewhere in Yorkshire. Yes, people will be total jerks—or completely selfless (rarely)—to each other no matter where they are. And that means there'll be arguments. Sometimes, those arguments are big enough to produce a story, which segues nicely into my next point.

Why Video Marketing Is Important To Any Business

OMB I'm so excited to bring in my girl Miranda Anita! She is a WSA (Women Speakers Association) member with me. Miranda and I met in Sept of 2012 at the California Women's Conference. She's a delight to have interview you and I appreciate her sharing her expertise with video marketing for entrepreneurs. 

Why Video Marketing Is Important To Any Business

Video marketing has come a long way in recent years. It is now the fastest growing advertising medium in the world and certainly the most effective. Since the advent of YouTube and other social video sites, we have seen an explosion in video, so much so that YouTube is now the second most searched site on the Internet. This started out as amusing clips and how-to videos but has quickly extended to being the most effective way to connect to people. Video marketing lets your audience see and hear you in ways other advertising just cannot match. You can showcase your products and services to your consumers in the most effective way.

With social media now consuming large amounts of people’s spare time, video marketing targets this trend perfectly. You can share your videos in any number of networks to attain the required level of online visibility. Videos for websites can quickly become viral and create huge exposure for your website or product. Another plus is that these videos will generally be online forever. So while there may be a spike in interest or hype at the beginning, a well-created video will still be viewed for years to come.  When representing yourself or own product, you must take a professional approach.

Changing Lanes - Tricia Dycka

Please welcome my special guest and fellow she-warrior Tricia Dycka. Tricia shares her emotional ah-ha moment about when she realized the path she was on wasn't what the universe had in mind. 

 

Changing Lanes - Tricia Dycka

At one time or another in life you hit a brick wall and you have two choices.  Continue hitting the brick wall - or change lanes and make a course correction. 

A while back, I was feeling restless and stagnant where nothing was moving the way I wanted it to.  How did I know I needed to change lanes? I was getting ZERO RESULTS. 

One thing I learned was there was a process that we all go through when we finally admit to ourselves that what we are doing just isn’t working. As much time, effort, blood, sweat and tears that may have gone into this venture sometimes you realize that it might just be time to do something different.  It could be a simple change or a total overhaul.