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5 Tips to self-publishing your mother never told you by Jina Bacarr

November 11, 2011 by in category Archives tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Psst…have you heard? Everybody’s doing it. Self-publishing.

It’s hip, it’s cool…it’s like winning the lottery.

Right?

Hmm…maybe. Maybe not. It’s the wild, wild west out in the land of Amazon, Smashwords and Nook. All you need is a dusty, old manuscript from under your bed, a sexy cover and a few .html codes and you’re dancing with the stars.

Oh, what fools we writers be.

It ain’t that easy.

Here’s the deal: You’ve written a good story and your manuscript is in the best shape possible–critique groups, professional editing, etc. Now what?

No doubt you need a good cover and nearly flawless formatting, but don’t give up if you haven’t gotten it all together. Before you push that old manuscript back under the bed with the dust bunnies, it is possible to hitch your wagon to the self-pubbed stars and join in the land rush…or should I say, digital rush.

I did it. I self-pubbed a holiday novella and a short story. There are many blogs that can help you with various aspects of the biz, from J.A. Konrath to Bob Mayer’s Write It Forward (I highly recommend both!), but here are a few tips I’ve learned along the way.

Jina’s 5 tips to self-publishing:

  1. I formatted my manuscript myself with help from Marie Force’s blog–I especially found the info about “tabs” and indenting .33 on the first line helpful.

  2. I bought my cover art from Dreamstime.com They have quality photos and high resolution. You can choose from 12 million photos available on their site.

  3. Be prepared to spend time learning how to format. It’s a high learning curve, but I’ve found both the Amazon (short video) and Smashwords guides to be helpful if you’re willing to make the effort.

  4. Be realistic about your goals. No one can predict how a book will do, but reading the Kindle forums and following other authors can give you an idea of how they’re doing. I follow OCC’s Dr. Debra Holland’s blog–she’s been open and forthright about her experience in self-publishing and her sales. Another OCC author, Jacqueline Diamond (author of 90 novels), has recently self-published books from her backlist and knows the value of promoting her books (she made the top 100 in Regency on Amazon).

  5. Write another book or story right away. Quality and quanity are both important in self-pubbing. You need product to sell. Imagine if a shoe store opened and all they had to sell was one shoe style?

Which reminds me of Cinderella and her glass slipper.

Putting your self-pubbed book out there is like Cinderella going to the ball. She had a team of cute little mice to make her dress (editing, cover and formatting) and a fairy godmother (Amazon, Nook and Smashwords) to make the magic happen.

She also had the moxie to get to the ball. That’s where you come in.

Be like Cinderella. Don’t be late to the self-publishing party.

You’ll never know if the glass slipper fits until you try it.

Best,
Jina

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Advice to Myself as a Newbie Author

July 22, 2008 by in category Archives tagged as , ,

by Shauna Roberts
http://ShaunaRoberts.blogspot.com

Today’s Guest: Jacqueline Diamond

Jackie Diamond Hyman, who also writes as Jacqueline Diamond, has sold eighty-one novels, including romance, suspense, mystery, and humor. She’s also a former Associated Press reporter and TV columnist. Her upcoming releases for Harlequin American Romance include Baby in Waiting (August 2008) and Million-Dollar Nanny (January 2009).

Jackie, if you could travel back in time to before you were first published, what advice would you give yourself?

Sometimes I wonder whether I would have progressed faster in my career if I’d known at the beginning what I know now. Probably, and yet I’ve traded a certain amount of raw energy and wild creativity for my expertise. They aren’t entirely gone, though, as I discover from time to time, to my delight.

Plus there’s no way I could have gained the life experience thirty years ago that I have now. And I still manage to make new mistakes—and keep on learning.

But here’s what I’d tell my younger self, if I had the chance.

1. Get as much professional-level feedback as you can. Take classes, attend seminars, and don’t yield to your fears. Every piece of useful feedback is a nugget of gold. Even if it doesn’t seem helpful at first, put it aside and read it again later.

2. When you receive negativity, whether it’s a snide remark in a rejection letter or an unhelpful critique, don’t take it personally. It actually reflects more about the sender’s inability to put things in a positive light than about you. Once you get over your hurt feelings, try to look beneath the surface for the underlying point: Is there a valuable lesson to be mined here? If something about your work irritated the editor/critiquer, how can you keep from doing this in the future?

3. Don’t compare your career to that of another writer. Remember that we always notice the person who appears to succeed faster and more easily, while scarcely registering the large number of fellow writers who struggle as much as, or more than, we do.

4. Don’t give in to discouragement. You are not a failure just because you’ve failed so far. Once you succeed, failure is just a story to tell your readers.

5. Network. Support other writers, and compliment your favorite published authors. No one but a jerk would resent being approached in a polite, appropriate manner to be told that you love his or her books. Positive output generates positive responses. Don’t expect an immediate payback, but people have long memories for those who support them—and those who do them dirt.

6. Study the market. Don’t necessarily chase it, but be aware of what’s selling and what isn’t. Of course, if you’re a genius or if there’s a book you simply have to write, go ahead.

7. Before you start a novel, jot down the central idea and make sure it’s focused and workable.

8. Analyze the books you love, particularly those that were published recently. Diagram a couple of plots chapter by chapter. Retype a few passages that you find particularly effective—openings, in particular. This is tedious and time consuming, but you’ll be amazed how much you learn.

9. Once you sell, read your contracts. Don’t let them scare you. Even if you have an agent, watch for glitches or areas that confuse you. Hunt down model contracts and study them, but don’t expect perfection.

That’s all I can think of now. Good luck!

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To learn more about Jackie, please visit her Website at http://www.jacquelinediamond.com. She blogs on the 1st and 15th of each month at http://harauthors.blogspot.com/. Her newest book, Baby in Waiting, will be available at all major bookstores and can be pre-ordered online from Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

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