SPA Girls Podcast – EP27 – Self Publishing Trends
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This week we’re without the delightful Wendy Vella (who is off on a romantic holiday in an exotic location for her daughter’s wedding), but we managed to put an exciting episode together anyway. We’re talking about some of the more recent self-publishing trends that we’ve noticed (and some that aren’t so recent, but are still relevant) and how you might be able to use them to your advantage.
Self-publishing trends (our take on them)
Facebook advertising.
There are a number of different courses you can do and people seem to be putting a lot of emphasis on this topic at the moment. As a newbie writer this is probably not something you need to invest a lot of time in at this stage, but it is something to be aware of. It can also be a way of spending a great deal of money if you don’t know what you are doing. Using a pre-paid card is often best, otherwise you can overspend.
People who are doing this well have spent a lot of time learning the process and have worked hard for some time to achieve results. Testing ads, tweaking them and re-running them all takes time, but is necessary to get it right.
Audio books.
With the age of electronic devices, the audio book popularity is definitely on the rise. Commuters, people who exercise and the elderly are some who enjoy them.
Often there is more discoverability in audio books, because there are not as many available as say, ebooks or print.
ACX is Amazon’s audio book line, and is still only in a few countries. You can contact people to do this if you don’t live in the USA, but it is expensive.
Remember – before doing any type of advertising do your due diligence, and make sure you know what you are getting for your money.
Be mindful of what genre advertising is suitable for you book when you read something on line. Also be aware the date it was posted, as things in this industry change rapidly.
Courses
There has been a swing towards courses over the last few years, and a lot of the top authors are offering them. The cost differs as do what they offer, so just make sure you do a course that is helpful to you. Ask other writers for recommendations, find out who has done what course and whether it’s worth your while to do it also. You can waste a lot of money and end up totally confused and overwhelmed otherwise.
Also look at reputable organisations like Romance Writers of America, (for romance specific genres) and see what they recommend.
Marie Force is one author who does great course.
Authors writing themed books within shared worlds.
This is a fun thing to do with a group of authors. Nothing better than leveraging of other writers in this way, and cross promoting. So how it works is you may be asked to write about a particular setting for example, vineyard or a wedding themed book (whatever is chosen) by a set time.
Several writers writing one book is another way to get your voice heard. Each writer gets a chapter or two and it’s an interesting way of doing things, as each writer has a different voice. The scene is set, characters plotted etc and you write your chapter, continuing on from the last one.
Boxed sets are also an option, these were very popular but seem to be less so now.
Multiple authors sharing one pen-name
A whole group of people writing under the one pen-name. The reasoning behind this is to produce more content fast and possible put out a new book under that one name every couple of weeks. The voices would be different, but often there is one editor to ensure consistency. This practice has been around for a while, like ghost writing.
Ghost writing, is writing a book on behalf of someone else. Some of the biggest authors have been known to use ghost writers to meet deadlines.
Foreign translations
It was the trend, but now seems to have lost traction. It costs a considerable sum of money, and is really best left until you have achieved some success.
Dictation
This can help you write more words for longer, and not get RSI or burn out. There are several programs out there and this is definitely taking off.
Final product
Make sure that before you put your book on the endless shelves of Amazon or other ebook stores, that it is edited professionally and has a professional looking cover. The days of being able to chuck a book up and it would sell are long gone. The competition is fierce, so make sure your book is the best it can be.
Remember if you see something that seems to good to be true, it probably is.
Links
Marie Force courses – http://marieforce.com/workshops/
http://www.nuance.com/dragon/index.htm – Dragon Dictate
SPA Girls Podcast – EP26 – Exercise Challenge
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This week in episode 26 we talk about exercise! It’s a challenge episode, so we mentioned it a few weeks ago, and challenged ourselves to put more exercise into our daily routine. This is the show where we talk about what we did, how we did it, and what we learned about exercise and the writer’s mind (and body).
As a writer, you probably spend the majority of your day sitting down – and all we can say is… DON’T! The latest research shows that sitting down all day at work – even if you’re not overweight and exercise every day – can be just as detrimental to your health as eating fried food and never exercising. Listen to this episode to find out more about it, and what you can do to ensure you’re not at risk.
It is hugely important to incorporate exercise into our weekly routines and just as important to move on a regular basis throughout the day.
There was an Australian study done late 2014-2015 which stated that of people who sit for 8 -11 hours a day increase their risk of dying by 15percent. Sitting for more than eleven hours a day would make death 40 percent more likely in 3 years, compared to people who sat for fewer than 4 hours per day.
The total hours could include, work, TV, computers. reading etc
Our last challenges for ourselves were a mixed bag so we hope you fared better!
Dictation walking was a fail for Trudi as her dictation is not good and she struggled to commit the time in ‘training her dragon’.
Cheryl was the same but both are still excited about learning it, and will plug away.
After a hip operation, Wendy is back in to exercise and is doing well with her normal activities.
Trudi – karate/yoga/walking
Wendy- Gym/ Swimming/Biking
Cheryl – Gym/Treadmill – stretches
Shar – Walking
What exercise do you do?
Be conscious of being too sedentary
Trying not to sit down for long periods of time. Mix it up between sitting and standing.
Wendy and Trudi have a standing desk an believe this helps.
Move around once an hour to prevent muscles stiffness and RSI.
Stretch/Walk around (stretches while sitting is good too for five count and repeat five times)
Pain can come from a different source, so you need to stretch more than the immediate area.
Posture is important – draw shoulders back and suck in your tummy. Straighten up and let the blood flow. Fifteen minutes of stretching works wonders, giving you better flexibility and helping to decease injury.
Do a work place assessment.
Knees at 90 degree angles – screen at arm’s length from body are just 2 things to watch.
Get a good chair
Be more active – try a fit bit, set a timer or an alarm, or write yourself a regime that becomes second nature – whatever gets you moving.
Cheryl and Wendy have a Fit bit which monitors steps that you do every day. Being competitive it makes them strive to reach their own personal goals.
Your next challenge, and ours, is to learn a new program – like dictation, editing, Evernote, Freemind etc.
It’s very important not to put the writing above your health.
Links
RSI
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Repetitive-strain-injury/Pages/Introduction.aspx
Workplace Assessment
http://www.otrs.co.nz/workplace-safety-comfort.html?gclid=CJn94tGrzssCFYJjvAode8oPCQ
Stretches
http://www.wikihow.com/Stretch
SPA Girls Podcast – EP25 – All About Amazon – PART TWO
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It’s episode number 25, and we’re talking about Amazon again this week. It’s the second in our two-part Amazon special, and this episode we walk you through the process of loading a book onto Amazon.com. We go through each of the sections and tell you what we do/answer for each one. If you’ve never put a book up on Amazon (or even if you have) this should help you as you as you go through the process. We give tips and advice on the best way to answer the various sections, how to find the best keywords, and what categories you should be in. It’s an information packed episode, so be sure to take notes!
First decide on whether you will be going exclusive or not.
Then go to Kindle Direct Publishing and create an account. (KDPamazon .com)
(Have your checklist in front of you)
Use the email address you associate with your business.
Enter company or publisher info – Your name or your Company Name
(A company name may be used for taxation purposes)
Tax information:
US – ITN and Individual Tax Number is required. Non US will potentially require an ITIN (International Tax Individual Number) In New Zealand we can use our countries tax Number
See your local tax laws and follow the processes. Remember if we can do it you can!
Payment: How do you want to receive your payment?
Bank transfer, cheque or electronic payment. Your bank acct number should be in the exact name as your KDP account name.
You may have only one KDP account but you may have as many pen names as you like associated with it.
When you have completed setting up your account it’s time to load your book. Yay!
How to load a book
Remember – if you get stuck at any time there are prompts available to help you.
Log in to KDP
Go to your bookshelf and ‘Add New Title’
Do you want to go with select? If so tick for 90 days. If not leave blank.
Enter your book details
Name: (Exactly as written)
Subtitle Options: (approach from a reader point of view) This could be a tagline
Series: (name of series – must be word for word – and number in series)
Addition Number – leave blank until you want to reload another addition later.
Publisher: Your name or your company name (can be left blank)
Description: Blurb – what customers see when they are looking for what your book is about. (Use the best words you can and make it short and punchy – up to 4000 characters.
Book Contributors: Your name (ONLY)
Language: Primary Language the book is written in.
ISBN: International Standard Book Number (we have discussed this in an earlier episode – we use them but you may choose not to)
Publishing rights: Tick ‘This is not a public domain and I hold the necessary rights.
Categories: (Picture a physical store) Choose two
1 Fiction – Plus? (is your book fiction or non-fiction)
2 Fiction – Plus – Plus
Whatever categories you choose make them relevant to your book.
Age Range: Optional (use for children books) Not necessary for most books
Key Words: Seven Optional Keywords help readers find your book. Use a collection of keywords or phrases. Use a comma between each set of words. They don’t have to make grammatical sense.
Hint: When you reach the last keyword load it up with as many words as you can. (Up to 400 words for all keywords)
Using keywords will help you get in to further categories than the two you have chosen.
Hint: On the side panel is a ‘Selecting browse categories – category with key word requirements’ help.
Remember – everything can be changed so don’t lose sleep over any of this. We will go over things again.
Also, please don’t use ‘free’, ‘kindle unlimited’ or other authors names. Amazon will not like it and you will suffer. Seriously.
Select your book release option:
Preorder – make sure you have it ready. Maybe leave this until you have a few books up.
Release Now: (if you’re ready, then now is good. lol)
Upload a book cover : theirs or yours
Browse for your image – making sure it is in the right dimensions. Double click to add.
Loading may take some time so be patient and eventually you will get a green tick.
DRM: enable (inhibits unlawful distribution) – we believe this is pointless and we recommend you tick ‘Do not enable digital rights management.’ This is not a command.
Book content file: Upload your Mobi file
Upload and conversion successful – Again this will take a while.
Spellcheck: Will show errors. They are not always correct. You can fix and redo or fix up later.
Preview Book: Do click on this and check layout and more importantly that it’s the right book! This will be how it looks on a kindle so if it’s not right you really should go back and address your formatting.
Save and Continue
Rights and Pricing
Verify your publishing territories – Unless you have a good reason choose Worldwide Rights.
Set your pricing and your royalty: When you enter the price you want in American dollars this will automatically populate all other countries currencies. Sometimes this doesn’t look right. You can change the others manually.
Kindle Match Box: – for print and probably not relevant for you just yet.
Kindle Lending Library: – lending for free for 14 days – If you are in KDP select this is automatic, if not then you can leave blank.
Tick Save and Publish: This may take up to 72 hours.
You could save as a draft if you have concerns
Once published and live Amazon will send you an email congratulating you.
On that note – please take a moment and enjoy the fact that you have done what so many people haven’t. Well done.
Check on your bookshelf and you will see how far along your book is in the publishing cycle. You can check this as often as you like.
If you make changes the book will still be live while they accept changes.
Again – if you don’t like something or you feel something isn’t working for you then you should feel free to change your cover, book, keywords, categories at any time.
Also in the heading Reports you can view your sales, royalties and promotions. All sales and royalties can download as a file. Royalties will be paid around 90 days after the month of sales.
Author Central
Go here, login and claim your book. Add anything you can about yourself and your book to encourage readers.
