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Charlie’s Choice
Weekly Tips to Help You Write,
Publish & Promote Your Work
HEADING INSIDE: A LOOK AT
HOW A BOOK IS FORMATTED
In last week’s column, we looked at the goals and the skills needed to create a quality book cover: front, spine and back. This week we’ll expand our understanding of book design by reaching inside to learn more about the goals of a good book designer and the techniques that he/she calls upon to make it happen.
Neither publishers nor authors need become experts in design. There are always skilled professionals to carry out these chores. The role of the publisher and/or author is to be able to evaluate skillfully whether the design, either cover or interior, will boost or deter sales. Believe me, design does maintain a powerful influence over sales, as you will realize after reading this short column.
The Designer’s Dictionary
One of the first requirements is to learn the jargon of the designer. As you know, many specialties have their own lexicon, and interior design does too, of course. Understanding these few key words and phrases will help you comprehend what the designer is saying as you discuss ways to improve your format.
BOOK BLOCK, also known as Text Block, is the inclusive term for all matter that appears between the front and back cover.
FRONT MATTER represents all of the material that is printed in the front of the book between the front cover and the body or main text of the book.
THE BODY This is the central and most important segment of the book. For fiction, it is the story; in the case of nonfiction, it is the narrative. Whether the book is a how-to, a history, a true crime or a scholarly work, the body carries all of the information the author seeks to pass on to the reader.
BACK OF THE BOOK Any material that is added after the main body of the book is considered part of this category. That includes things like an index, appendix, special notes, references, etc.
FONT This term refers to a complete set of type of a single size and face (style).
SERIF Serif fonts like Times Roman feature decorative enhancements on their vertical lines; sans serif fonts like Arial have none. It is generally thought that serif type is a bit easier to read, particularly because the little footers lead the eye from one word to the next.
MARGINS While I am sure you know this term from all the way back in your grammar school classes, I add it here because it takes on a special significance when used in a discussion of book design. Books usually present a great deal of type. That, of course, is what a book is all about…a document to be read. It is important to offer the reader the opportunity to take a quick break and rest his/her eyeballs. In addition, it opens up the page, lessening the overwhelming impact of a solid, heavy copy mass.
JUSTIFY This represents an action to adjust the spacing of a line of type so that all the lines end evenly forming a straight margin.
RAGGED RIGHT OR LEFT In these cases, no effort is made to justify the type. That is why you find in most cases, varying lengths of lines as the typographer attempts to end a line with a complete word. Many literary agents insist upon raged right composition, claiming it is far easier to read than justified copy. As a result, it has become the most common formatting in our industry.
LEADING This term refers to the vertical spacing between lines…the varying amount of white space the typographer may choose to use in his/her layout. Obviously, a greater amount of leading will help each line to stand out in a large block of type. But there are specific ratios that are the most effective based on type size and type design. There is often the concern that the “tail’” or type on a higher line might clash with the height of the type used on the succeeding line.
TRIM SIZE This is the finished size of the page. The most common trims are 5.5 X 8.5 and 6 X 9. I have used both sizes for my books, depending on which I felt was most appropriate. Wherever possible, it’s a good idea to keep your trim sizes uniform so that they will all fit well into a single size shipping carton. It is also important to remember that in the case of many book covers, the background color goes all the way to the edge of the page. Therefore you must allow in the neighborhood of ¼ inch for what we call Bleed. Your printer can give you exact specs for the bleed required.
SIGNATURES Multiple pages of a book are printed at the same time. I know this is a confusing concept, but you may grasp it if you take a piece of paper and fold it in half four times. That will give you 16 sections on each side. A standard sheet-fed press will print 32 pages at one time, 16 on the top of the sheet and 16 on the bottom. The backs and fronts must be carefully matched before running the press. On a web press, the number printed at one time is 48.
Additional Considerations
Here are a few thoughts that may help you in evaluating the format your designer presents.
Reading newspapers, as so many hundreds of thousands did regularly, accustomed our eyes to a very narrow column, much shorter than the average column of type in a book. Of course, that would mean a huge waste of space in a book, and force the price sky-high because of the large number of pages you would need.
So the gurus of the industry set parameters based on a great deal of “eye-to-page” study. These figures are affected by many variables such as the vocabulary the author uses and what he/she is writing about. The standard that is generally set is about 60-65 letters per line, so you can see how the subject matter (long scientific words, for example) and an erudite author’s mode of polysyllabic expression can affect that finding.
In contrast to the way potential readers see the cover copy, the interior of a book is generally studied from a distance of between one and two feet away. Bear this in mind when you analyze the type used by your designer, for sometimes designers can be carried away by an artistic consideration, and hand you a format that really isn’t ideal for reading.
I have searched Amazon for several decent books on interior formatting, but came up relatively empty handed. Most pertained to Kindle or were promos for individual designers. I was lucky enough to find The Non-Designer’s Design Book on B&N.com in an updated version released in February, 2008, and tracked it down on Amazon as well. The original edition has been around for years. These are both 5-star books by the highly respected Robin Williams.
At a recent meeting of a well known writers’ organization, I overheard a tense discussion of writer’s block that made me bristle. So next week, we’ll turn our attention to writer’s block and a number of other ridiculous myths that have been associated with our profession. See you then.
Keep Writing!
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Charlie’s Choice
Weekly Tips to Help You
Write,
Publish & Promote Your
Work
HEADING INSIDE: A LOOK
AT
HOW A BOOK IS
FORMATTED
In last week’s column, we looked at the goals
and the skills needed to create a quality book cover: front, spine and back.
This week we’ll expand our understanding of book design by reaching inside to
learn more about the goals of a good book designer and the techniques that
he/she calls upon to make it happen.
Neither publishers nor authors need become
experts in design. There are always skilled professionals to carry out these
chores. The role of the publisher and/or author is to be able to evaluate
skillfully whether the design, either cover or interior, will boost or deter
sales. Believe me, design does maintain a powerful influence over sales, as you
will realize after reading this short column.
The Designer’s Dictionary
One of the first requirements is to learn the
jargon of the designer. As you know, many specialties have their own lexicon,
and interior design does too, of course. Understanding these few key words and
phrases will help you comprehend what the designer is saying as you discuss ways
to improve your format.
BOOK BLOCK, also known as Text Block, is the
inclusive term for all matter that appears between the front and back
cover.
FRONT MATTER represents all of the material
that is printed in the front of the book between the front cover and the body or
main text of the book.
THE BODY This is the central and most
important segment of the book. For fiction, it is the story; in the case of
nonfiction, it is the narrative. Whether the book is a how-to, a history, a true
crime or a scholarly work, the body carries all of the information the author
seeks to pass on to the reader.
BACK OF THE BOOK Any material that is added
after the main body of the book is considered part of this category. That
includes things like an index, appendix, special notes, references,
etc.
FONT This term refers to a complete set of
type of a single size and face (style).
SERIF Serif fonts like Times Roman feature
decorative enhancements on their vertical lines; sans serif fonts like Arial
have none. It is generally thought that serif type is a bit easier to read,
particularly because the little footers lead the eye from one word to the
next.
MARGINS While I am sure you know this term
from all the way back in your grammar school classes, I add it here because it
takes on a special significance when used in a discussion of book design. Books
usually present a great deal of type. That, of course, is what a book is all
about…a document to be read. It is important to offer the reader the opportunity
to take a quick break and rest his/her eyeballs. In addition, it opens up the
page, lessening the overwhelming impact of a solid, heavy copy mass.
JUSTIFY This represents an action to adjust
the spacing of a line of type so that all the lines end evenly forming a
straight margin.
RAGGED RIGHT OR LEFT In these cases, no
effort is made to justify the type. That is why you find in most cases, varying
lengths of lines as the typographer attempts to end a line with a complete word.
Many literary agents insist upon raged right composition, claiming it is far
easier to read than justified copy. As a result, it has become the most common
formatting in our industry.
LEADING This term refers to the vertical
spacing between lines…the varying amount of white space the typographer may
choose to use in his/her layout. Obviously, a greater amount of leading will
help each line to stand out in a large block of type. But there are specific
ratios that are the most effective based on type size and type design. There is
often the concern that the “tail’” or type on a higher line might clash with the
height of the type used on the succeeding line.
TRIM SIZE This is the finished size of the
page. The most common trims are 5.5 X 8.5 and 6 X 9. I have used both sizes for
my books, depending on which I felt was most appropriate. Wherever possible,
it’s a good idea to keep your trim sizes uniform so that they will all fit well
into a single size shipping carton. It is also important to remember that in
the case of many book covers, the background color goes all the way to the edge
of the page. Therefore you must allow in the neighborhood of ¼ inch for what we
call Bleed. Your printer can give you exact specs for the bleed
required.
SIGNATURES Multiple pages of a book are
printed at the same time. I know this is a confusing concept, but you may grasp
it if you take a piece of paper and fold it in half four times. That will give
you 16 sections on each side. A standard sheet-fed press will print 32 pages at
one time, 16 on the top of the sheet and 16 on the bottom. The backs and fronts
must be carefully matched before running the press. On a web press, the number
printed at one time is 48.
Additional Considerations
Here are a few thoughts that may help you in
evaluating the format your designer presents.
Reading newspapers, as so many hundreds of
thousands did regularly, accustomed our eyes to a very narrow column, much
shorter than the average column of type in a book. Of course, that would mean a
huge waste of space in a book, and force the price sky-high because of the large
number of pages you would need.
So the gurus of the industry set parameters
based on a great deal of “eye-to-page” study. These figures are affected by many
variables such as the vocabulary the author uses and what he/she is writing
about. The standard that is generally set is about 60-65 letters per line, so
you can see how the subject matter (long scientific words, for example) and an
erudite author’s mode of polysyllabic expression can affect that
finding.
In contrast to the way potential readers see
the cover copy, the interior of a book is generally studied from a distance of
between one and two feet away. Bear this in mind when you analyze the type used
by your designer, for sometimes designers can be carried away by an artistic
consideration, and hand you a format that really isn’t ideal for
reading.
I have searched Amazon for several decent books
on interior formatting, but came up relatively empty handed. Most pertained to
Kindle or were promos for individual designers. I was lucky enough to find
The Non-Designer’s Design Book on B&N.com in an updated version
released in February, 2008, and tracked it down on Amazon as well. The original
edition has been around for years. These are both 5-star books by the highly
respected Robin Williams.
At a recent meeting of a well known writers’
organization, I overheard a tense discussion of writer’s block that made me
bristle. So next week, we’ll turn our attention to writer’s block and a number
of other ridiculous myths that have been associated with our profession. See you
then.
Keep Writing!
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Charlie’s Choice
Weekly Tips to Help You Write,
Publish & Promote Your Work
THE BOOK COVER: A READER’S
FIRST IMPRESSION OF YOUR BOOK
The old saw, “You can’t tell a book by its cover” just isn’t applicable to our industry. Far too many potential buyers have been turned off by a second-rate cover that didn’t reflect the quality of the content on the inside pages. A book’s title and the graphics on its cover must combine to give the customer a true sense of what he/she will find inside.
Covers have come a long way since their initial function. For many centuries, they served essentially as protectors for the prized words and pages they covered. These hand-bound volumes were wrapped in strong materials like wood and leather. Many times they would be decorated with gold, silver and precious stones.
It wasn’t until the early 18th Century that mechanical book binding techniques came into vogue. And as that technology moved from cloth to paper, graphic representations became essential for book covers. Today in the digital age, the book cover remains equally important in its latest incarnation when wrapped around an e-book.
With or Without Professional Help
Technology has moved swiftly and effectively to meet the demands of publishers and authors. A complete industry has developed that inludes literally thousands of skilled cover designers available for a fee, as well as a number of programs that allow a budget-conscious author to design a cover using ready-made templates.
Many of us in the publishing world are strong advocates of hiring professionals to complete this job because the cover is so vital a tool in the sales of your book. However, there are now hundreds of books self-published in which the author has chosen to use a self-help program like www.bookcoverpro.com. If you click on “self help book cover design templates” in your favorite search engine, you will find many others. I also list several at the end of this column.
Selecting a pro to design your cover requires a good deal of care. Your choice will be a very personal one, and for that reason I hesitate to recommend specific designers. I suggest you start your search by heading to the Internet and search under “book cover designers.” Many names will pop up. Check out that designer’s gallery to view a variety of covers he/she designed, and narrow down your choices. (Two excellent lists of qualified designers appears at the end of this column.)
As your next step, contact the designer and determine whether you feel you two would be compatible. Explain what your book is about, and ask whether he/she has designed covers for similar books. If they are not displayed in the gallery, ask the designer e-mail them to you. In addition, ask for a price on a four-color (I assume you want color) cover for the size you require.
It is difficult to guide you on prices, for they vary greatly among designers. I would suggest that the very lowest price a designer will charge is $200. However, a more realistic range would be from $400 to $600. You will also find designers that charge $1,000 and up, but I feel you can receive a very competent design at the middle range. A good source for budget design is a design school located near you.
The Total Cover
Never overlook the fact that a cover has three very essential segments, each with a specific assignment: front, back and spine. The first portion of the cover to attract the reader is in most cases the spine, unless the shop has decided to display it with its front facing out. It should contain the name of the book, the author and the publisher.
The front, of course, is designed to give the reader an overview of the book’s quality and content, as we discussed earlier. Whenever possible include either a short testimonial from an impressive person or if you have won any competition, reproduce the medal on the cover. Experiments have proved that the reader looks at the front for approximately eight to ten seconds. If pleased or curious, he/she then turns to the back cover for more information.
The back is essentially a selling page. It can include a brief bio of the author and even a photo. It will have a brief précis of the book and several endorsements from respected sources. Of course, the price will also be printed on the back. If the reader is pleased with what he/she finds after spending anywhere from 15 to 30 seconds studying the back, the next step will be to open the book, probably peruse the table of contents and skim through several pages or chapters before deciding whether to purchase or not.
Designing the Cover Yourself
While this subject merits a lengthy discussion, probably a book, I am only going to touch on some of the highlights to be aware of.
Once you have the dimensions from your printer, lay out the entire cover as a single rectangle, and then section it into the components, front, back and spine. Of course, as I pointed out earlier, don’t forget to include the requirements for bleed, usually about 1/8 of an inch. . (That means the additional print surface beyond the actual dimensions of the cover that the printer needs to allow for clean printing of the colors right to the edges of the cover. Your printer will then trim the cover to its exact size.)
Your printer can tell you the size of the spine, which is based on the number of pages and the thickness of the paper stock you use.
Think in terms of the places your book will be sold. A traditional bookstore will probably shelve it spine out. Make certain the colors and typography are highly attractive. However, if your primary outlets will be discount stores, chain pharmacies and possibly airport stores, think in terms of strengthening the front cover, and moving the title up higher because these outlets usually display the book facing out.
It is wise to insist upon a proof of the cover on paper stock. For some reason the color hues and definition that come up on the computer screen are not always the same as on paper. They can be misleading. To achieve the color you want, use at least 300 dpi in all the images you use to achieve the high resolution that will make your cover stand out.
As promised, here are several sources for design templates when you do the work yourself: www.templatescollective.com, www.morrispublishing.com/dsn/cover/custom.asp.
and www.bookcoverpro.com.
While I hesitate, as said, to suggest specific professional cover designers, I can recommend you view www.brennerbooks.com/coverdesigners.html and/or reach out for John Kremer.’s www.bookmarket.com/101des.htm. These lists contain quality designers.
Next week, we’ll delve into the related issue of interior design. Just as the cover design has its functions, so the design of the interior of the book has a job to do, as we’ll learn. Until I see you then,
Keep Writing!
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MANAGING YOUR WRITING SCHEDULE
A number of readers have complained of the difficulty of balancing all of the responsibilities an active author faces, and have asked that I include a column on how to manage your time as a writer.
There are so many facets to our profession that it is natural that one struggles to meet every responsibility on time. Whether it’s a book or an article, the deadline must share space with perhaps a blog that must be posted, a website that needs tweaking, fact researching, market research, promotion, membership on social media and a host of other necessary distractions that keep us away from our computer screens.
Notwithstanding all of this, it is imperative that you keep your eye on the goals, and there are three that are primary for any author:
Completing your book or article
Promoting your book
Branding yourself and your company if you have created one.
Whether you write sporadically for recreational reasons or devote most of your day to churning out copy, think of writing as your primary job, even if you have a full-time position elsewhere.. What I mean is whether you’re an amateur or a professional, it’s important to consider writing as your priincipal occupation whenever you are in front of that computer screen.
Disciplining Yourself
Working out of your home is very different from spending your days at the office. It is much more taxing because of the many distractions you will encounter. Telephones ring for reasons other than business. E-mails arrive, and tempt us to read them at once. Children and spouses often intrude. Indeed, the very normal activities of a household become interruptions to the working writer. Ours can be a lonely life if we don’t plan our schedules carefully to balance family, social activities and work.
When I think of our need for isolation, I always think of this anecdote I relate when I speak about the writer’s life. It is about Judith Krantz. When this accomplished and prolific novelist works, she closes her office door. On it hangs a sign that reads:
“Do not come in. Do not knock. Do not say hello. Do not say I’m leaving. Do not say anything unless the house is on fire.”
Prioritize Your Activities
Face the fact that only a limited amount of hours and minutes exist in any one day. Your task is to fit all you must do into that time frame. To do it efficiently, you should prioritize the demands on your time and effort. If you plan a logical approach in advance, the likelihood is that you will not fall into the trap of trying to race through it all, leaving mistakes, missed deadlines and other bothersome problems in your wake.
The first consideration is trading off some other activity for more time at your computer. In my case, I limit my sleep because every working hour is precious to me and that’s the one way I can add working hours comfortably without stealing time away from family involvements.
Those early hours have become very precious to me. The phone never rings at 5 or 5:30 in the morning. Family members remain tucked in their beds deep in sleep. I find I can work with a fresh mind and without any interruptions. They are my most productive hours.
Now let me point out that I am not an advocate of endless 12-hour days of writing, seven days a week. I find that can be most unproductive. You become tired. Your mind sags, and your copy loses its punch.
The optimum writing period varies among authors. It’s up to you to test and determine what length is best for you. The balance of your working hours can be devoted to the other activities I spoke about earlier.
As you can see, I am a devotee of fairly rigid scheduling. I don’t believe in writer’s block. It can very easily be avoided through proper preparation. Sitting down to write with no advance planning, without taking the time to think through what it is you want to say results in leaving the blank screen empty. Do your preparation properly, and you will never suffer from the inability to turn your thoughts into words. Writer’s block is a great time waster and little more than a crutch for lazy writers..
Saving Precious Time
There are a variety of ways an author can reduce the amount of time wasted unnecessarily. Among the simplest is to maintain a carefully planned filing system so that retrieval of information becomes easy and fast.
If you are freelancing, set up working files for current stories. Don’t discard a file once the piece has been accepted. You may want to approach the subject from a different angle for another article later on. That way much of your research will have been completed for you.
Keep careful records of every piece or query you send out so that you can follow up if a response doesn’t come in a reasonable time. Keep separate files for accounts receivable and accounts payable so you are not scrambling for documentation at tax time. Fiction and nonfiction authors must file all financial matter very carefully. You will need meticulous records of your expenses and income.
If you are authoring a nonfiction book, keep your key research filed by subject so it is available when you need it. Novelists should be certain to keep a detailed profile of main characters so they never deviate from the essence of that character. Records of places and other descriptive material should be maintained. All of these must be available to refresh your memory and maintain exacting continuity. A reader will turn off quickly if a character acts or speaks out of character or if descriptions change midstream in your book.
If you post regularly on blogs of other writers, maintain a list of them with any info that you might need to contact them. That way you don’t have to go searching each time you want to post. If you are involved with several social media, and have difficulty finding time to update or post on all of them, look into online tools like “Ping.fm” and “Pixelpipe.com” on which you can post to multiple media at the same time. There are a number of others available on the Internet.
Lastly, it is important to remember that while a book can take months, even years to complete, it is much wiser to write on a regular basis once the research and/or planning has been completed. When you allow long hiatuses to intervene, you tend to lose the flow of the book. I would much prefer to see you take shorter, but very regular, work periods of say two to three hours daily than spend half or more a day sporadically.
Next week, we’ll take a look at another issue that has come up with regularity in e-mails sent to me: creating a quality cover for your book. We will analyze some of the elements of good book design and talk a bit about resources to design your cover by yourself. See you then.
Keep Writing!
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MARKETPLACE RESEARCH: SELECTING THE
BEST HOME FOR YOUR ARTICLE OR BOOK
The time to begin the second phase of your research—we covered fact research last week—is even before the article or book is completed. Different magazines often approach a specific subject from different perspectives, and therefore you should be aware of where you intend to place your piece as you write it.
With nonfiction books, it is the content that drives your choice. You write, and your search for a literary agent and/or publisher is guided by the subject and the way you choose to handle it. Fiction writers generally search for agents and publishers that historically have worked within their genre, just as nonfiction authors look for agents who have successfully published other books in the subject they write about. For any writer, much of the success your work enjoys depends on the choices you make
Making them may sound like a daunting challenge to some of you. In fact, it is not that difficult at all if you follow a logical path when you undertake your market research. Many tools exist to guide you through the morass of periodicals, agents and book publishers.
Analyze Your Potential Markets
First you must create a list of all the potential markets for your work, keeping in mind that every magazine has its own readership. Similarly, every agent has preferences of subject and genre, as does each publisher. A professional author studies the markets carefully before ever sending a query or a manuscript.
Don’t hesitate to include any potential that you think makes sense. Of course, you stand a better chance of acceptance with a lesser-known publication, but if you feel your manuscript and the way you handle the subject is an ideal match for one of the more prestigious periodicals or publishers, take the risk.
Obviously, experience and name recognition are major factors in any editor or agent’s decision. But if a presentation that crosses his/her desk seems outstanding or unique, there is a strong chance it might be accepted or at the very least be given a careful evaluation. If not, you have little to loose other than a jolt to your ego.
Publication Directories
Publication directories come in both print and digital format. Some of these are far too costly for an individual writer to own, but are available in most libraries. The Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media (GDPBM): covers over 58,500 newspapers, magazines, journals, and periodicals, radio, television, and cable stations and systems in the U.S. and Canada. In its digital form, the file includes 86,000 listings. Burrelles Luce too lists thousands of media outlets, as does Cision Media Sources, formerly Bacon’s.
At the end of this column, I will give you a list of directories covering the most popular media categories. But there are several I think will be particularly useful to you that I will describe here in some detail.
WRITER’S MARKET – This very special directory is available in print or digital form. It is chock full of invaluable information for a writer, and many cherish it as their marketing bible. It contains sections on periodicals, literary agents and book publishers. Right now, we’ll take a special look at the periodicals sections. Agents and publishers will be discussed along with other directories that specialize in those categories.
The section is divided into 384 pages of consumer magazine listings covering 50 broad topics, with many subtopics within them. Similarly, the section on trade journals spreads over 138 pages of listings on 56 topics, each with its own subtopics. Very few subjects exist that are not covered by this directory.
The listings generally include the following valuable information:
The contact person’s name and address
Preferred method of submitting
General requirements
Preferred length or parameters within which you can write
Circulation of the magazine
Percentage of freelance vs. staff-written articles
Tips to help you place
Reading Like a Writer
Simply perusing the listings of a directory is not enough to make an enlightened decision. You must read the magazine itself to know whether or not it represents a real potential for you. But reading like a writer is very different from the way you have read in the past. It is not done purely for your enjoyment; its purpose is to understand better the essence of the magazine
to see how comfortably your idea will fit in.
Start with the Editor’s or Publisher’s Column, one of which will appear near the front of the publication. That often will gjve you some insight into their thinking. Turn next to the front cover and study the tags lines. They relate to the stories the editors feel will most intrigue their readers. Review the briefs that often appear near the front. They can be an excellent place to break into most magazines.
You may be surprised when I suggest this, but read the advertising pages carefully will give you a wealth of information. Madison Avenue professionals do extensive research before they spend their dollars in a periodical. Their ads can tell you a great deal about the magazine’s audience from their choice of product, cost level and degree of style. Capitalize on the monies these agencies spend to investigate a magazine.
I also urge you to visit the web site of the periodicals you are targeting. While these are designed primarily for consumers, they often have sections giving authors the information they need to submit.
Finding an Agent or a Publisher
Specific directories are published to help you locate the best fit in an agent or a publisher. Writers Digest books updates its directory of agents each year to include literary and script agents, publicists and conferences.
Well known literary agent Jeff Herman publishes Guide to Book Publishers, Editors and Literary Agents. It lists 200 of the best known agents who offer insider tips for authors. In addition to volumes devoted specifically to these categories, Writer’s Market includes a much shorter, but very detailed, list of literary agents and publishers, both major and indie.
All of these directories will give you insight into the preferences of agents and publishers in addition to the basic submission information on how to submit, to whom to submit and the format in which the agent or publisher wants to see your handiwork. They will be of enormous help, but be sure to supplement them by studying the appropriate web sites in detail.
Next week, we’ll shift gears and look at a subject that a number of people enquired about: how best to schedule their time to complete their writing without destroying their outside jobs or their personal lives. That is always a thorny problem for a writer. If any of you have suggestions to include, send me an e-mail this week at carosbooks@gmail.com and we’ll try to include them and credit you as well. See you then.
Keep Writing!
DIRECTORIES OF PERIODICALS, AGENTS & PUBLISHERS
PERIODICALS
Writer’s Market from Writer’s Digest Books (print & digital)
The Wooden Horse (digital)
Burrelles Luce (print & digital
Cision Media Source (formerly Bacon’s) (digital)
Gale Directory of Publications (print & digital)
Editor&Publisher International Yearbook (newspapers)
PUBLISHERS
Yahoo Directory
Association of American Publishers (AAP)
Publishers Global
Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers, Editors and Literary Agents
nycip.org (indies)
ibpa-online.org (indies)
LITERARY AGENTS
Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers, Editors and Literary Agents
2010 Guide to Literary Agents, Writer’s Digest Books
Writers.net
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DEVELOPING FIRST RATE FACT RESEARCH
I received a number of answers last month in response to my request that you send me a list of items that concern and/or interest you so that I could incorporate them into this year’s calendar of columns. A number of people requested help on research.
Few of the tools a writer has at his/her command are more important to the quality of an article or a book than research. Research is two-pronged: fact research involves studying books, articles, the Internet, encyclopedias, reference books, newspapers and magazines in addition to interviewing experts in the subject you are researching.
Market research is somewhat different, of course. That involves wending your way through the available directories of magazines and of book publishers to find a home for the masterpiece you are creating.
Smart authors begin targeting their markets just as soon as they have decided upon the subject of the article or book. That way, research and writing can be tailored from the very outset to the desires and needs of the magazine editor or the book publisher. Next week, we will look at market research for articles and for books.
Getting Started
The most common question I hear from writers, especially newcomers to the field, is “How do I get started?” The answer is very simple. Put yourself in the shoes of your reader. Stop and consider what it is the reader is seeking when reading your piece in a magazine or your book. Then consider how you can make the information you provide more exciting and more interesting.
Realize that most people who read nonfiction do so to learn. They are looking for information, for knowledge to supplement what they already know. Therefore, when you produce nonfiction, the content is far more important than the way you write. The text must produce a benefit for your reader. You will hear me talk of benefit time and again because it is so vital to building your reputation as a nonfiction writer.
But none of that differs much from the requirements of good fiction. That research involves strong description of location, solid knowledge about the period you write about, psychology of your primary characters and so much more if you want your novel to be believable and successful. Just as the nonfiction writer must research extensively into all aspects of his/her subject, you must familiarize yourself with all of the relevant information that is revealed in your book or short story.
In every genre, the information must be current. It must be relevant and without any doubt, it must be accurate.
Planning Your Attack
By now you have determined the basic goal toward which all of your efforts will point. Decide on the initial sources from which you will attain the information that you need. Make certain they are reliable. These can range from academic books to histories, magazines to newspaper archives, even perhaps novels that accurately portray the era you are writing about or the subject. Those initial references will undoubtedly lead you to many more.
Next determine where and how you will find these references. The Internet, of course, is a vast source of facts and figures and since you are researching right from your desk, it saves time and travel. But do not rely exclusively on it. Double and triple check the information you find because, as you know, there are no regulations for the information that is posted on the Internet, and you will undoubtedly find misstatements.
Learn how best to search on the Internet if you have not worked on it extensively. Be precise in stating what you are seeking. For example, don’t just enter “house remodeling.” That’s far too broad to produce the exact information you are after. Don’t even just enter “kitchen cabinets.” If you seek information on installation or on a specific type of wood, enter “installing kitchen cabinets” or “oak finish kitchen cabinets.” The more exacting you are, the easier it will be to find the specific info you want.
Visit the reference librarian of your neighborhood library, and discuss your research goals. These amazing people have remarkable knowledge, and if they don’t know the answer you need offhand, they can show you where to find it.
Organize your research into a master file. As you move along, refine it into individual files for the various aspects of your subject. Save those files for several months after publication of your work just in case questions arise.
Using Experts
Quoting the opinion of recognized experts in the field you are writing about adds great authority to your work. Their reputation helps build yours. Readers feel that if you “associate” with these experts, you must be in their league, and highly knowledgeable yourself.
Unfortunately, far too many authors are shy when it comes to contacting experts. That’s because they haven’t stopped to realize that when they seek the opinion of someone, that person is honored. In the vast majority of cases he/she will respond favorably if you ask graciously. Know in advance the questions you want to ask, and keep your interview short and very professional. Don’t ever forget to thank the authority at the end of the interview, and follow that up with a written note of thanks.
You can locate experts by contacting the PR department of a college or university. They are always delighted to publicize their school. Search for an expert in the Encyclopedia of Associations at your library or from fastfacts.com where you will find authors, professionals and other experts.
You can interview by telephone or in person. I much prefer one-on-one interviews where I can read the person’s body language and other gestures. They are often highly revealing. I also find you can establish a closer rapport when you are face to face.
Wherever possible, use a tape recorder to ensure accuracy. These are available for your phone as well. But be certain always to ask permission first. Be sure to transcribe the tape as soon as possible after your interview. There may be glitches on the tape, and if it is fresh in your mind you will be able to piece in the missing material.
The Bugaboo of Copyright
If you have found a very cogent quote by an expert and are not able to talk with him/her directly, don’t be afraid to incorporate the statement into your work. But only extract a brief segment, and be sure to credit the writer and the publication.
Also you are not infringing on someone’s copyright simply by writing about facts you find in another document. The facts are not copyrighted; it is the way the author expresses the facts that are controlled and subject to infringement.
Always remember there is very little original material left. You will not be held liable for writing about a given subject, only for copying the manner in which it has been presented by someone else.
Next week we’ll look at the other half of this research request by analyzing how best your research the right placement in the right market for your article or book. See you then.
Keep writing!
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Charlie’s Choice
Weekly Tips to Help You Write,
Publish & Promote Your Work
END OF THE YEAR EDITION
LOOKING BACK & BRAINSTORMING THE FUTURE
The year has been a rather hectic one. So jammed with writing, coaching, teaching, blogging and speaking, it left altogether too little time for thinking. And thinking, just simple contemplation is so vital to writing well, indeed to accomplishing almost anything worthwhile.
The need for down time has become particularly important because lots of new things are set to happen next year. My latest book will be off the press in February. We are forming a new corporation that will encompass the book, this blog, a new web site and a very different coaching program. It will all function under the umbrella of Wisewriter.com.
Don’t look for it yet. The launch will be simultaneous with the book. Work has already begun on the brand new web site. The existing retirement-writing.com will continue to serve retirees and senior citizens, while the new Wise Writer site will be targeted to writers of all ages, from 16 to 96. All of this demands a great deal of planning, as you can imagine.
As the weeks passed from summer to fall to winter, I tried to find time to plan the myriad details for next year’s improvements, but deadlines for fulfilling my current responsibilities continued to sidetrack those concerns.
One of my initial reactions was to close down my blog and the Charlie’s Choice column it contains. Researching and cherry picking industry news that I felt would be of interest and of value to all of you took a hefty number of hours, as did planning out and producing the Charlie’s Choice column.
But any thought of announcing its demise at the end of the year ended last week when I once again read the praises contained in the posts from a number of readers. As most bloggers know, you send your words off into the atmosphere, unsure of where they might land and be useful. It is the response from our readers that makes the effort worthwhile. E-mails and posts, as well as postal mail and phone calls that come from readers who have taken the time to locate my address or telephone number have a profound meaning for me.
Instead of making a hasty decision that I will undoubtedly regret next year, I have decided to take a brief “sabbatical” of several weeks, but hope you won’t forget us during the two weeks when your blog does not arrive on Wednesday morning. It will return on January 13, very probably with a new name and new artwork.
My newest book, completed in late November, is scheduled to come off the press in February. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that no glitches occur to delay that date. It has a rather long title, but it expresses exactly what the book is all about. I call it Buzz Your Book, Brand Yourself, Build Your Sales. It’s kind of a “TripleB” approach to your success as an author.
But the book is very special and very different. Almost every step it proposes is no cost. Free. Requiring not even a penny from you. Yet these are tried and true, carefully vetted promotional techniques. They work!
When writing the book, I had in mind authors who have never before had to develop publicity and promotion on their own. That includes experienced authors who are now required by their publishers to handle most of the book promotion themselves. I also realized that most authors of the several hundred thousand new POD books arriving on the market every year were completely new to our industry and its unique promotional requirements. They were in need of some professional guidance that didn’t cost a small fortune as most PR programs do.
Far too many new books arrive on the market only to die unread on the bookstore shelves, if they are even lucky enough to be displayed. BookScan’s report that the average book sells only 500 copies is frightening when you realize that average includes celebrity books that move more than a million copies. Results for POD–published books are even more drastic.
My new book is essentially a how-to, self-help reference book. It does work, as I said above. But only if you expend some effort as well. Each chapter outlines exactly what you should be doing in the category of promotion it talks about. At the end of every chapter is a list of resources to help you do it.
I become angry when I read a how-to book that tells you what you should be doing, but never gives you the tools to accomplish what it says. In the appendix of my last book The Writer Within You, there are long lists of resources to guide you. This time, because each chapter was a project within itself, I decided it would be easier for my readers to have the resources listed at the chapter’s end. I will notify you in the blog when the book is available.
The new web site will contain a large number of articles that I have published, sorted under Writing, Publishing, Promoting and Digital. These have appeared in both print publications and online. They’ll be there for you at no cost to reference easily on each specific subject.
Frankly, I am still struggling with the best format for the blog. For the past two years, I have begun the year with columns on writing in various genres, then moved into the alternative methods of publishing your book. I followed that with articles on promoting your book and branding yourself.
Although you have been kind enough to praise the series as highly helpful, I feel that to follow that schedule once again seems foolhardy. Many of you have already read what I have to say on those subjects. So I am—or will be during the short break I take—working on developing a schedule of interesting articles that will help you in all phases of your experience as an author.
If any of you have suggestions that might help, I am open to any and all ideas. Drop me an e-mail at jac391@aol.com. Use “blog” as your subject line. I will read and carefully consider every suggestion and respond to you and thank you for your help.
Meanwhile, until we are together again on January 13th, please accept my very best wishes for a delightful holiday season and a fulfilling and enriching New Year with lots of published articles and a new book.
Keep Writing!
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Charlie’s Choice
Weekly Tips To Help You Write,
Publish & Promote Your Work
CREATING YOUR PRESENCE
ON BROADCAST
Broadcasting is a highly effective venue to help build your stature and your reputation as an expert in your field. It can also bolster your efforts to introduce your book to huge numbers of listeners with a single appearance. Best of all, it doesn’t have to cost you a penny!
I do recognize that your principal interest is writing books and articles, but adding broadcasting to your arsenal of promotional tools can give your efforts a huge boost. We’ll concentrate on radio because that medium offers many more opportunities to be heard than television does.
I suspect that many of you have never stood in front of a microphone before. It may be difficult to imagine yourselves selected to be heard on radio or even appear on a television screen. But just as new technology in print has made publishing your book or distributing your articles so much easier, new developments like web talk radio, podcasting and video have made it possible for you to appear readily on any number of talk shows.
You can even mount your own radio show through blog talk radio from your home without the need of fancy audio equipment. With just a computer and a telephone you can broadcast and receive listener call-ins.
For most us who have neither the time nor the inclination to go that deeply into creating our own show, there are hundreds of outlets to which you can query and be invited for an interview.
The Talk Show Route
Welcome to talk radio where you will reach many thousands of listeners with a single appearance. In the majority of cases, your home or office telephone becomes your microphone as the talk show host either interviews you live on the phone or records the interview for later use.
Of course, your presence is required for television. If you are lucky enough to have a TV station in your home city, you’ll be scheduled for an appearance in its studio. When you rise to the level of an interview on a nationally broadcast program, the network will usually supply transportation and accommodations.
In most cases, you will have to move gradually up the ladder. Small local talk shows will serve to acclimate you to this medium and help you to build your confidence when being interviewed. From there you can graduate to regional shows.
Forget about an appearance on the Oprah shows. Every appearance you make on radio or TV, regardless of size, will assure you that some people have heard you and that number is automatically extended as a result of the word of mouth publicity your interview generates.
In addition, producers of other shows will become aware of you and of your skills as an interviewee. The more talk shows you appear on, the greater the number of invitations you will begin to receive for appearances on others.
Because I don’t consider myself an expert on broadcast despite the number of appearances I have made, I asked Francine Silverman to share her advice on how best to create an appearance on radio. She specializes in placing authors on air, and is the author of a leading directory of radio talk shows, Talk Radio Wants You: An Intimate Guide to 700 Shows and How to Get Invited.
Fran poses the question, “So who goes on radio?” Her answer, “Anyone with a product or service to promote…but with some expertise, of course. And you can do it at home in your pajamas because radio is a free and easy medium.”
But she cautions that to prepare for an interview, “you must listen to the show to determine its format and the approach of the host. Then create a list of potential questions you think that host may ask and be ready to respond to them intelligently and succinctly.”
Once you’re comfortable that you understand the show and its approach, Fran recommends, “Simply email your bio – with bulleted points of the areas you are comfortable talking about – and/or a Media Kit (essentially the same as the Press Kit we spoke about for print publications).
“Your cover letter should tell the host why your subject would be of interest to his or her audience. Remember, hosts want guests who are passionate about their topics. Avoid both one-word or long-winded responses.”
Reaching the Producer
Whatever way you choose to reach out to the producer of a show, e-mail, telephone or otherwise, you must always frame your query in terms of producing a benefit to the show’s listeners. The theory is no different from our earlier discussions of the importance of offering a benefit to the reader of your articles and your book.
Create a short, pithy tagline or as we usually call it in the industry, a “hook.” This is nothing more than a very concise way of describing what you will be talking about.
You may think of it as somewhat comparable to the title of a print document. Or perhaps you’ve heard the word “soundbyte” used to describe a portion of a newscast. The hook is not very different from that either. The important thing to remember is that the benefit your interview will offer must be reinforced by the phrasing of your hook
Carefully select the shows on which you hope to appear. Be sure that the audience of the show you select is appropriate to the topics you will talk about. The key to effective selection is to think in terms of the niche in which you specialize.
Because of that, often using a station with a smaller reach is far more effective than appearing on a major network, provided the specific show that is broadcast on the smaller station is targeted directly to people interested in your niche.
Good directories like Francine’s will include some indication of the principal subjects each show covers and help you understand the makeup of its audience.
Tips for Broadcast Appearances
Once you’ve been booked for an appearance, follow these ten tips:
- You must sound professional and knowledgeable. After all, you were selected for that program because of your expertise. Practice and practice until the words flow.
- Know what you want to say and how to say it without rambling or stumbling. Have your key discussion points completely mastered. List them on index cards and have them spread out on your desk during the interview.
- Always remember that your job is to sell yourself on air. Listeners want to know about you…who you are and what you think about various subjects. If you try to use the show just to promote your book, you’ll find the host will probably cut you short. There will be chances to mention your product and the way to order it or contact you, but they cannot overwhelm the interview. Studies have shown that listeners usually buy if they like you as an individual.
- Don’t interview on a cell phone. You know from your experience, they waver in tone at times and are more difficult to understand than a standard house phone. Make certain any source of noise is eliminated—radios, TVs, second phones, even call waiting.
- Be prepared for an interview of any length. Although you are aware of the usual pattern from listening to previous editions of the show, lengths can vary.
- If you provide the host with an advance list of questions to discuss, you can rest assured those will constitute the majority of what you’ll be asked.
- If you occasionally receive a question that isn’t on the list you provide, don’t be caught off guard. Try to create a bit of time to formulate your response by asking the host to rephrase it or requesting that he/she clarify what is being asked so you can answer it more effectively.
- Try and use the host’s name from time to time. It adds a greater degree of
comfort and intimacy.
- Most studios will have a clock prominently placed on the wall. If you are
interviewing from home, make certain you have a clock or a watch visible. You
know approximately the length of time the host will give you, so begin winding
down and sneak in any information you want as you near the end.
- Some producers will offer you a tape of the show. If not, arrange to have a friend
or family member tape the interview for you. You may want it to use on future audio promotions that you develop.
So you see radio appearances do not have to be as frightening as you might have thought. Take advantage of the endless opportunities behind a microphone to introduce your book to potential buyers and to build your reputation as an expert. Your efforts will really pay off.
Next week, we’ll wrap up a year of Charlie’s Choices with an overview plus an announcement of some exciting changes we are making for the coming twelve months. See you then.
Keep Writing!
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Charlie’s Choice
Weekly Tips to Help You Write,
Publish & Promote Your Work
TALKING YOUR BOOK TO SUCCESS
Appearances of every sort—making speeches, book signings, manning a booth at book fests—these are all tremendously productive activities that will help ring the cash register of any published author.
I know how shy the majority of authors are. Most of us far prefer sitting in front of a computer than standing behind a microphone. I had goose bumps too when I gave my first public talk. Today, I enjoy every opportunity I am given to speak. But you’re not alone in feeling uneasy.
Believe it or not, 41% of the population is fearful or anxious about speaking in public. When you look at the reality, you realize that’s somewhat ridiculous. Every experienced speaker knows that audiences generally want the speaker to succeed. To be stimulating and informative. After all, the audience is there because it wants to learn something.
The key to success is knowing what it is you want to say and having the information to say it well. Content rules in speaking, just as it does in writing. That’s why authors should be top notch speakers. We rely on words to express our thoughts. So does a speaker.
Preparing to Speak
Whenever I try to help the writers I coach become quality speakers, I press them to ask themselves ten questions. If they do it properly and give the response to each the thought it deserves, they will have a basic outline of their speech ready-made.
1. Why am I delivering this talk?
2. What do I know about the audience I’m speaking to?
3. Do I have the kind of information that will have meaning for this audience? Or can I find it by researching?
4. Why is what I have to say of real value to my audience? What benefit will it offer them?
5. How should I open the talk? Is there a particularly dramatic or exciting piece of information I can offer that will capture the audience’s attention from the start?
6. What key point should my presentation highlight?
7. Can I strengthen the basic facts with relevant anecdotal information? Tell a relevant or a descriptive story? Humanize it?
8. How long should the talk be and how much time should I allot for questions?
9. Do I have a strong closer? Will the audience leave on a high note?
10. Do I have a brief, but comprehensive, introduction that I can give to the person who will introduce me?
While you prepare these answers, stop thinking of yourself as a speaker. Consider what you would want to hear if you were a member of the audience. Someone who had come because you had seen the flyer announcing the talk. What did you come to learn? What benefit will you gain from listening?
Remember always, the audience has come to hear your speak on the subject in which you are an expert. They did not come to listen to a promo talk about the wonders of your latest book. Certainly, you are free to make occasional references to your book. But make them in the context of your talk.
For example, you can make a point by saying something like, “As I state in my book The Writer Within You, …” Keep the references oblique. Mention them casually. You don’t want to sound as though you are making a sales pitch. At the end of your talk, you can specifically mention the book, its five-star reviews, its awards, its honors. This is particularly so if you are conducting a signing after the talk.
Practicing Your Talk
Statistics show that preparing properly by practicing can reduce any fear of reluctance to speak by as much as 75%. That’s because you know and have practiced what it is you will be talking about.
Go over your speech time and again until each thought just flows. Close the door to a room away from your family and always speak out loud. Perform in front of a mirror so you can detect and eliminate any amateurish actions that will distract your audience.
On the day of the talk, arrive at the venue a little early. Wander about the room to become at ease with the space. Set up your display on the rear table that is provided. Most of all mingle with the members of the audience as they drift in. They will be delighted that their speaker is not too self-important to chat with them. And just as this helps to warm up the audience, it will relieve a good deal of your tension.
If at all possible work from notes. It is far preferable to reading your speech. But if you are forced by circumstances to read, do it slowly. Pause between thoughts. Give your audience a chance to digest your statements. You are not reading a book. Slow down.
Look around the room regularly. Go eye-to-eye with members of the audience seated in different sections. Don’t bury yourself in your notes or your speech text if you’re reading. Some experts talk of the three second method. Look right in the eyes of an audience member for three seconds. Then shift to another and another, and do the same.
If you have or plan to maintain a newsletter, take this opportunity to sign up new subscribers. Offer anyone who signs up whatever inducement you use on your web page to attract new subscribers. I give away two free e-books. Pass around a sign-up sheet that asks only for the name and e-mail address. Don’t scare off potentials by asking for too much information.
All of these preparations and suggestions are applicable whether you are speaking at a library, a writers club or other venue, and equally important if you are conducting your book signing at a retail store.
A Word of Warning
Don’t be enticed by the many offers on the Internet to train you to be a superb speaker and earn thousands of dollars for each presentation. Too many of these vendors will promise you the world. You just have to send in your money, and like magic, you’ll be catapulted to fame and fortune. And they’ll find ways to badger you repeatedly, even if you place them in spam or opt out.
The problem is that their promises are never fulfilled. Some will invite you to a boot camp. Others promise to set you up in a program to which invitations to speak will pour in. And still others will offer to coach you.
Be cautious. Investigate any offer with great care because there are also a number of solid experts who can help you. Your challenge is to weed out the charlatans, if you decide you want to retain the services of an expert trainer and/or a placement organization.
If you are looking for an inexpensive, but effective, introduction, try Toastmasters International. This organization has clubs scattered throughout the United States. Find the closest one through their web site, and attend meetings. It will give you performance experience, solid critiques and advice from your peers.
From this beginning, you’ll be able to start by speaking at smaller venues like libraries. You will also feel a great deal more comfortable in broadcast interviews on talk shows, a subject we’ll tackle next week. Once you begin, you will develop the skills and the confidence to speak to groups of any size, and you’ll be on your way to legitimate fame and fortune as you combine writing skills with speaking ability.
Next week, as I mentioned earlier, we’ll take speaking to the next level and look at the potential benefits from creating your presence on broadcast, primarily talk radio. See you then.
Keep Writing!
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Charlie’s Choice
Weekly Tips to Help You Write
Publish & Promote Your Work
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF ALL THAT
AMAZON.COM HAS TO OFFER
Far too many inexperienced authors consider that once their book has achieved placement on Amazon, there is little or nothing left to do except to see the dollars roll in. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.
Of course, just the exposure in the book’s listing on the site will bring you sales. But to take full advantage of this unique selling site, you must post multiple book reviews, add any endorsements your book has received and produce a compelling book description to excite readers enough to purchase your book.
The endorsements should be placed under “Editorial Reviews” on the page, while the description of the book should appear under “Product Description.” Amazon has recently adopted a new feature on the page, linking readers to the author’s personal page. It is labeled “More About the Author,” and is prepared by Amazon and placed near the bottom of your listing page. A reader can also reach your personal page by clicking on your name which is listed directly under the book’s title.
Posting Book Reviews
There is no limit to the number of reviews that can be posted on your Amazon site. But you must understand that you cannot post a review written by another person. At times that can cause some difficulty. Occasionally someone who was gracious enough to review the book for you refuses to take the time to post it on Amazon.
At other times, the review appears in a publication, and the staff will not post it for you. This leaves you without any chance of having it seen by visitors to the bookseller’s site. However, you can always extract a line or two from the review and insert it on your listing page as an ”Editorial Review” similar to the way you included endorsements.
To regular users of Amazon, the opinions expressed by any of the Top Amazon Reviewers carry additional weight. These are people who regularly review books for Amazon, and most are extremely insightful. You will discover groupings of the top 10, top 50, top 100 and so on all the way up to the top 1,000. The list can be obtained at www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/top-reviewers.html
I suggest that you scroll back in the Charlie’s Choice archives to refresh your memory on ways to obtain and use reviews most effectively. The post on October 28, 2009 dealt with book reviews, and might prove very helpful to you.
As you undoubtedly already know, the reviews that are placed are rated with gold stars. Obviously, the higher number of stars indicates a better quality of book in the opinion of the reviewer. That does create some level of risk for you because you are not able to control the rating a reviewer gives you. But with confidence in your work and selection of quality reviewers, your chances of favorable ratings should be quite good.
Search Inside
A relatively new program, “Search Inside,” was developed by Amazon to allow readers to view specific portions of the text inside your book at no charge. Some newcomers to the industry feel this is giving away content, but those who have experienced the program realize that it stimulates the reader to buy the book, if it is well written and informative. That fact is confirmed by the reality that more than 50% of titles include Search Inside privileges.
To set up the program, click on www.amazon.com/authorcentral. This program has additional features that we’ll discuss when we delve into creation of the Author’s Page. You might also want to consider investigating “Amazon Upgrade.” That program allows your customers to bookmark, tag or even highlight specific section of text as long as they have an account with the Amazon. The income paid to the author is approximately 5 to10% of the list price of the cheapest edition of the book that is available.
Amazon Shorts
This relatively new program sells short stories and essays from selected authors. They are sold in electronic format at what sounds like an astounding price of 49 cents. When you consider how many readers might view and download your piece, you realize that this tiny price can multiply into a substantial income even after the bookseller takes his percentage.
Author’s Page
Every author whose book has been accepted for sale by Amazon is entitled to create an “Author’s Page.” The bookseller will develop the basic page for you, but you are responsible for supplying the material (photos, for example) that are included. The page will accommodate a photograph of the author and one of the book cover.
You can then post the bio that you create for this purpose. It should be principally about your professional accomplishments and why you are qualified to write this book. Feel free to include any anecdote or information that you feel can help boost your reputation and/or the sales of your book.
You will also be asked to create a Bibliography of your work if you have written more than one book. Next you will find a section labeled “Latest Blog Posts.” In this area, you can select interesting material that you feel would be of benefit to your readers.
Much of the text and artwork on the author’s page is controlled on “Author Central,” a highly versatile program designed to allow you to add, change or delete text or artwork on your personal page. Those of you who have been with Amazon for a period of time should know that Author’s Central has replaced Author Connect as the tool with which you can adjust the content on your page.
Amazon Advantage
This program is really geared to people who have multiple books or other editorial items they want to sell. It functions very much like a consignment arrangement, and requires a separate account. Once the account is established, you can begin to feed Amazon the list of items. When they are listed —usually in a week—Amazon will begin to order them based on demand.
There are several other selling opportunities, including the ability to set up a custom, online store on your own web site. The program is called “WebStore by Amazon,” and authors are invited to test it at no cost for 30 days. Even payment systems are available.
Amazon Affiliates
With this program, you are able to earn a commission of 15% of the price of the Amazon products that you advertise on your own web site. Amazon provides a variety of banners that you can install to advertise the products. The customer then links from your web site to the bookseller’s site where the sale is consummated. This is a very popular program.
A number of other author-friendly programs are available at Amazon which space does not allow me to detail. In addition, many of you are familiar with “Kindle,” the electronic reading format and others may have learned of the on-demand publishing program called “Create Space.” The former on- demand program “Book Surge” has now been merged into “Create Space.” Info on both of these can be found on the search engines.
There are also subsidiary programs like “Askville,” which allows you to ask or answer questions on any topic. It is a fun place where you can meet others with similar interests.
Next week, we’ll be shifting ground as we near the end of this year’s cycle, and talk about two additional means of promoting yourself and your book: public speaking and book signings
See you then.
Keep Writing!
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