Scary Research When You're a Writer

Do all writers research? Does it ever scare you? 

Normal days research;

• How long will a walk in freezer stay cold if the electricity goes out. 
• How do you ventilate a bomb shelter
• How long does it take to dance-walk five miles
• List of Federal prisons in Virginia
• Amount of a prison sentence for armed robbery
• Types of guns police use
• How many tanks of air do you need to stay underwater for two days
• Effects of staying underwater for two days
• Look up stencil for putting peacock feathers on my car

Those were just a few from last week. Except the last one. I think I want to put vinyl peacock feathers in bright colors on the hood of my car cause the paint has some pits in it. :)

In my current WIP I needed a toxic substance. Not just any toxic substance but one that I can fictionally mutate. Weird, I know. So I start to research and let me tell you...there's some really scary stuff out there! Makes me wish I wrote erotica. I'll bet those authors have fun with research. 

So what's the strangest stuff you've ever researched? 

Writers, Slacking, & Motivation

Confession: I'm a slacker.

My writing habits have tanked in the last few months. Two separate manuscripts sit on my desk right now and I haven't touched them in...weeks. (Insert sad face here) I don't know what pushed me away from my desk or why I'm ignoring projects that I love, but it's time to bring the  hammer down. I'm bringing back the basic writer rules.

1. 1. Ass in Chair. The simplest of writer rules and the hardest one to follow. I know if I just walk into the little office on the side of my house I'll write. Getting there is where most writers fail. 
2. Turn off the Distractions. No facebook, twitter, TV, or phone. Another super simple rule. A writer needs a cave. A place to shut out the world. Stephen King once said he wrote in the laundry room of his trailer when he first started out. If he can go into a laundry room, I can go to my cave, too. 
3. Just write. Good or bad, as long as the writer is writing, amazing things can happen. Believe it. 
4. Be religious about your writing time. Carve out those hours and don't let anything interfere with it. It's a job. Go to it. 
5.  Seek other writers. Visiting their blogs, reading articles about writing, and going to writing groups keep a writer motivated. Being with your people centers a you, encourages you and can bring you back to productivity. 

So those are my writer rules. For the next eight hours I have to go to the day job, but tonight I go to my cave. 

Write on, my friends, protect your writing time and get your ass in the chair. That's my plan. 

How to Edit and Stay Friends

If people know you write, there are times someone you know will ask you to look at their work. It's happened to me many times. A few pages here and there are no problem. One guy asked me to look at his work and the next time I saw him he handed me his 500 page rough draft. I never agreed to read his book. He asked me if I would look at some of his work. "Some" must have meant a whole book.  I did half of it. In giving it back to him I told him he was repeating the same tell and show issue in every scene. To start showing what was going on in the story would go a long way in giving the reader a better visual of what was happening. He was upset I didn't finish it and asked how  he was going to know where the other problems were. Hey! You got a 250 page free edit, go read the notes!
I understand his need for feed back but where do we draw the line? If I'm doing it as a favor, do I need to give a page count?

Now I edit on Fiverr. I've met some very good writers and a few who need help. Friend or stranger, here are a few things I keep in mind when editing.

1. Say something nice. Start with positive comments. This could be about the story premise, characters, or overall theme of the story.

2. Let your comments be constructive. If they don't know how to write dialog, offer examples of good dialog or link them to a site that covers it.

3. When correcting punctuation, tell them why. When listing three things put a comma before the word "and."  John likes meat, potatoes, and beer.

4. Catch the typos and flag them, but let the writer make the change.

5. Give them an overall synopsis that covers the good and explains the issues. "You have an excellent voice, but I'm seeing a lot of places where you tell more than show."

Just changing their writing or telling the person they're wrong won't help them grow as a writer. Give a clear and concise explanation of the things you flag in their story. Link to grammar or story structure sites will help to explain your comments. Every writer has a voice that is uniquely their's and an editor should respect it.

Write on, my friends...I'll see you in the pages.

Impressing Readers with a Bio

I was wandering over at the Kindle Review Exchange on Facebook. Its a place were you can post your books and exchange a review with another writer (or reader?) As  I was scrolling through the blurbs for review I noticed a few put their bio up instead of a hook or blurb.

Hmmm, not impressed. One said stuff like, So-and-So has been writing since the age of 5 and published her first book at age 10. I didn't read any further. The thing that came to my mind was, "What? Did your mommy write your bio?" (Excuse the Jersey in me, but it is what it is- Have you met our obnoxious Governor?)

Smack me, but am I wrong? Should I care that the writer was scribbling books at age 5? I would be more impressed with with writing experience in the grown up world, degrees, interests dealing with the subject matter, etc.  I think when I do read the bio I want to learn what motivates the writer to do these kind of books. But if you're putting your book up to ask for a review exchange I think the hook is the best thing to put up there first. Drag me in and make me want to read more. Kind of like that back blurb only shorter?

But hey, what do I know? I just had a Facebook ad fail.
I gotta go check my bio now, because I really have no idea what I put in it.

So how's your bio? What important there and what did you leave out?

Facebook Ad Fail

The Facebook ad for No Apologies was a bust.

I set the ad to run midweek to midweek encompassing one weekend. I figured this would give me a wide view of how it did on what days. I also got to choose a target audience by age, gender, interests, etc.  For my budget of $60 I spent $59.81 total for 164 click through to website. I put the click through right to the Amazon page to buy the book. As you can see from my Amazon sales chart, out of the 164 that clicked through to see the book, 11 books sold. Bah!

So was it my fault this ad tanked or Facebook's?

Above you see the ad. One of the issues I have with the Facebook ad rules is the amount of space words can take up. I think it was like 22%, so I had to keep shrinking my book cover to get it under the 22%. This was a detriment to the ad in general because the title is part of the grab in selling a book along with the cover art. So I don't think the visual of the ad was that good. Facebook fail for stupid word rules.
Next I look at the words I put with the picture on top and below the ad. Did I not grab the reader's attention? Too tame? Too common? This would be my fail.
What about the where i wanted the ad to go? I chose all ages over 18. Although there's no actual graphic sex scenes in the book there are some sexually suggestive scenes so I thought it was better not to target the younger market.
Here you see the demographics of who actually clicked through the website. I also included men in the party, which could have been wrong. A very small amount of men actually clicked through. I did include the UK and Australia because they are English speaking countries. Should I have made this wider? I don't know.

Here's the Facebook and Amazon reports. There was a slight spike in click throughs and sales on Friday.

In conclusion? I don't think Facebook ads are that great for books. Or I did it wrong. I think I need a better photo for the ad. The book was too small and I doubted it caught any attention by the cover. The reports also showed the ad did better on the news feed than on the side bar. Which is where it would show bigger. If I can't get that cover bigger then maybe I should have just ran it on the news feed and taken it off the sidebar.

I finance my book ads with my Fiverr editing. When I get gigs on Fiverr the money there goes to book promotion. Sometimes I have more money to do it with, sometimes less. I want to save for a BookBub ad which is expensive, but I hear it's worth it. I've done a free book on Pixels of Ink and that gave away 80 books. Would that have generated more sales than Facebook if it wasn't free? Maybe I'll try and see what happens. Pixels of Ink wasn't that expensive. Gotta go check my Fiverr account to see what I go for next.

Indie Author Revolution

     There’s a Revolution going on and it will touch every one of you, it probably already has. It’s in the books you read. 

     Before, agents and the big 5 publishing houses controlled 90% of the books in book stores. (Big five= Random/Penguin, Simon & Schuster, McMillan, Harper Collins, & Hatchett) They made the rules and let everyone know what was hot and what was on its way out. Agents had to bend to their wishes or they didn’t sell any books. Together they had  a strangle hold on writers and plenty of amazing books never saw the bookshelf.

     Then in 2009 Amazon said, “Publish with us,” and doors opened. Writers took control of their own futures and success.  The Indie Author was born. Like independent musicians and filmmakers, writers could now let their creativity loose on the world. The world of books has opened for both writers and readers. No longer is your reading material censored by 5 companies. Readers too, have found the freedom to read whatever they like and for a price that won’t break the bank. Indie Authors set reasonable prices and work hard to bring their stories to the world.

     

     The Publishing industry is forever changed. TeleRead, a website that reports on the publishing industry states, “if you’re a debuting writer, it’s a lot better to debut in self-publishing than in the Big Five. While the Big Five’s numbers are flat, the number of indie authors who can earn a living at it increases year over year.”

     Like the Indie Filmmakers and Indie Musicians, Indie Authors have a growing presence on web. Just type “Indie Author” into a web browser and see what pops up. You will find writers advocating for the Independent Author way of life. They are posting earnings & instructions on how to edit and publish. Indie Authors have shown up in the news. The New York Times, Forbes, and Tech Dirt have all covered the Independent Author Revolution.

     

     The earnings for Indie vs  Traditionally published writers? That would be 15% for those authors published by the big 5 vs. 70%  for the Indie Author.  

     J.A. Konrath, one of the first to step up and publish his earnings, in 3 weeks in 2012  made $100,000.  He talks about his 500 rejections from agents and publishers. He had one deal with Hyperion in 2003, he sold his book, Whiskey Sour, in a 3 book deal for $200,000.  Then, after doing everything he could to promote his books and make the numbers, they dropped him. He’s now making more as Indie. In 2012 he reported $791,000. You can check it out on his website.

     The Guardian reported that Amanda Hocking, another writer who started as an Indie Author made $2.5 million in one year. In April 2010 she wanted to go see Muppets in Chicago and needed $300. for the trip. She put a couple of Vampire love stories up on Amazon for $2.99. By August she made $6000 one month and quit her day job. By October she had $20,000 for Muppets.

     

     Writer’s Digest reported that Hugh Howey another Indie Author, made $150,000 a month from e-book sales. When the big five came knocking, he made publishing history when he made the deal and kept his digital rights. He now has a new book deal and sold the movie rights.

      

     There’s an old saying, “Everyone has a book in them,” and now it’s possible for writers to make their dreams come true. However, to be a successful Indie Author there are a few requirements.

• Learn the rules of writing
•  Edit, edit, edit
•  Multiple books = $$$
•  Publish Regularly
•  Know Cover Art
•  Market your work

Go Indie! 

Scrivener - Is it worth it?

After my last writer's conference I really wanted to try Scrivener. A lot of the more experienced writers were raving about how easy it is to organize a story. All the writers who were doing series swore by it.

So I toddled on over to Scrivener's website and found a free 30 day trial. One great thing about the trial was it was 30 days of actually using the program and not 30 calendar days. If it was calendar days I probably would have waited for that magical month when I had the elusive "time" nailed down. That never happens in real life. But 30 random days definitely fit my schedule. I hit that download button.

There is a learning curve to Scrivener and I've been using it for about a month and still feel I have a lot to learn. I can write, set up my characters/place descriptions. Jump back and forth and it is so nice to have those notes at my fingertips.  I'm still not great at fixing paragraph formatting but I haven't put much time into learning much about that stuff. I'll get on that more when I'm in the editing process.

Confession: I didn't wait the 30 days. I purchased Scrivener after two weeks to the cost of $40.

There's actually no excuse not to learn the ins and outs of Scrivener. They have a lot of tutorials on the website to help you out and other writers are stepping up to put up blog posts on it. Writers sites talking about it here.
There are lots of informative You Tube videos that go over different aspects of what Scrivener can do and how to use it. This one is pretty good here. A lot of them cover different parts of the program so it's an easy study. 

Bottom line, the peeps at the writers conference were right. Scrivener Rocks!