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Dear Extra Squeeze Team, Beta Readers?

February 29, 2020 by in category Featured Author of the Month, The Extra Squeeze by The Extra Squeeze Team tagged as , , , , ,

Ever wonder what industry professionals think about the issues that can really impact our careers? Each month The Extra Squeeze features a fresh topic related to books and publishing.

Amazon mover and shaker Rebecca Forster and her handpicked team of book professionals offer frank responses from the POV of each of their specialties — Writing, Editing, PR/Biz Development, and Cover Design.

Do you have a question for The Extra Squeeze Team? Send them to us by using this handy link.

Dear Extra Squeeze Team, What Are Beta Readers and How Do I Get One?

Robin Blakely | The Extra Squeeze Team | A Slice of Orange

Robin Blakely

PR/Business Development coach for writers and artists; CEO, Creative Center of America; member, Forbes Coaches Council.

If you want to write a better book, consider finding a few Beta Readers.

The big idea behind working with Beta Readers is to test drive your finished piece on folks who will provide you with valuable insights that could improve your work before it reaches the general marketplace. As an author, you know that the reading experience matters. So you want to discover how the book is perceived by readers when you still have the opportunity to tinker with the mechanics of the experience, if you need to. It’s like your book is a roller coaster ride–you are the engineer who built the roller coaster and who wants to make sure the experience of the ride is everything you imagined it would be. Your Beta Readers are going to take a ride and tell you how it feels.

Here are three rules to abide by:

  1. Pick Beta Readers who already like, love or super-love your genre. If you have a vampire book, you want somebody who has read a few vampire books to weigh in on how your story stacks up. In roller coaster terms, the ones who know the difference between the almost flat, slow-moving Wacky Worm and the fast and jaw dropping Coney Island Cyclone are very important to you. A bit of experience means they have context and perspective and can tell you more about the ride than folks who don’t know what to expect. That is not to say that only those with experience are valuable, but it is to say that it is important to know the level of experience of the rider before you consider redesigning your roller coaster to suit them.
  2. Stay focused on the Beta Reader’s experience. Ask Beta Readers about where and when things were good, surprising, or breathtaking. Ask about when and where things were too slow, too fast, too sharp or too unexpected. Focus on their experience and see if several Beta Readers say the same thing independent of each other. Then do the critical thinking needed to adjust your ride. In roller coaster terms, don’t expect the Beta Reader to know what caused the ride to be too slow or too fast. Some may intuitively know solutions but really those problem-solving issues are up to the engineer or the mechanic—not the rider. Readers have different preferences so listen and watch for the patterns that emerge as Beta Readers share their experiences with you. If everyone remarks upon the same twist or turn in the ride, take a closer look at that place. Don’t try to rebuild to suit every preference. This is your roller coaster.
  3. Define where the Beta Reader fits into your production process. Don’t confuse the role of the Beta Reader with the role of the Editor. The goals are different. You either want the Beta Reader to help you make the best book for the editor or you want the Editor to help you make the best book for the Beta Reader. Be clear about when the Beta Reader is most valuable to you and how you will use the info that you acquire. The big idea is that the first impression is valuable, and you can’t have a first impression more than once. Value that first impression and leverage it.

How do you find Beta Readers? Not everyone is a good Beta Reader. Ask people who love to read to recommend their friends. Make it known to family, friends and colleagues that you want Beta Readers, what the role will involve and when the readers will be needed. Be organized and clear and very grateful.

Rebecca Forster | Extra Squeeze

Rebecca Forster 

USA Today Bestselling author of 35 books, including the Witness series and the new Finn O’Brien series.

A beta reader will give you objective input on your work before publication. These dedicated readers want you to succeed and they read extensively in your genre. I’m lucky to have a handful of trusted beta readers. They are smart, well read, and thoughtfully tell it like it is. I have been able to smooth over rough patches, deepen characterization and recognize pure silliness in my work because of them. Is love too strong a word for what they do for me? That being said, the wrong beta readers can shake an author’s confidence, undermine a vision and create chaos. One good one is worth five divisive ones. You can find them in critique groups, within your group of dedicated fans, or online in book groups. I found a wonderful article on beta reader etiquette.

This might help when you are trying to decide who you would like to invite into this very essential group: Helping Writers Become Authors Beta Reader Etiquette

Jenny Jensen | A Slice of Orange

Jenny Jensen

Developmental editor who has worked for twenty plus years with new and established authors of both fiction and non-fiction, traditional and indie.

 

Just like the software industry where a new, unreleased program – the beta version – is given to a group to test, writers ask a person familiar with their genre to read their manuscript. In both instances it’s a great way to work out kinks before publication.

A Beta Reader is not a critique partner. Those are the individuals who review your manuscript from a writer’s perspective. The Beta Reader provides a review from a reader’s perspective; their response more likely reflects how your intended audience will react to your story. That’s a critical perspective and gives the writer useful much useful fodder for improvement. Think of them as quality control.

Don’t confuse the Beta Reader with an editor. A professional editor, depending on the level of edit you use, will look closely at your manuscript for style issues, plot holes, inconsistencies etc. The Beta Reader simply tells you if the book was readable, or enjoyable or boring. Don’t expect them to tell you why or how it struck them that way, but value a reader’s opinion and use it when you reevaluate and revise.

You can find Beta Readers among friends or family members whose honesty you can trust. It’s good to reach outside your own circle, to a book club member for instance. The best place is to look to the writer’s community. Goodreads Beta Readers Group is great. My Writer’s Circle is an active writer’s platform also. Seek Beta Readers on Google and ye shall find.

Most writers work with more than one Beta Reader. Be careful to keep that within reason — info overload can paralyze your brain. And remember, this is a service you look to have donated; reciprocate by acting as a Beta Reader yourself. Every writer needs one or two.

H. O. Charles | A Slice of Orange

H.O. Charles

Cover designer and author of the fantasy series, The Fireblade Array

A beta reader will read the early, pre-publication versions of your books and identify any errors, plot holes, or editing problems. They could be pretty much anyone with an interest in reading. There are good betas and not-so-good betas. I picked several from amongst my fans – the ones who were desperate to read the next book, but I made sure I stuck with those who were the pickiest! The more errors they found, the more they questioned me, the more likely I was to choose them to be betas for the next book. They are very useful people!

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Dear Extra Squeeze Team, How Do You Plan a Book Launch?

February 14, 2020 by in category Featured Author of the Month, The Extra Squeeze by The Extra Squeeze Team tagged as , , , , , ,

Each Friday in February we’ll be featuring The Extra Squeeze Team.

Ever wonder what industry professionals think about the issues that can really impact our careers? Each month The Extra Squeeze features a fresh topic related to books and publishing.

Amazon mover and shaker Rebecca Forster and her handpicked team of book professionals offer frank responses from the POV of each of their specialties — Writing, Editing, PR/Biz Development, and Cover Design.

Have you a question for The Extra Squeeze Team? Send them to us by using this handy link.

Dear Extra Squeeze, How Do You Plan a Book Launch?

Rebecca Forster | Extra Squeeze

Rebecca Forster 

USA Today Bestselling author of 35 books, including the Witness series and the new Finn O’Brien series.

When I published my first book over thirty years ago I assumed the publisher would have all sorts of glittery, fantastic promotions planned that would shoot me to literary stardom.

Not!

In those days – just like these days – the author is responsible for launching their book and establishing their brand. The good news is that now the opportunity for promotion is controllable. I maintain a new release plan that has proven manageable and effective over the course of more than thirty books.

1) Write a good book: professional, exciting, as error free as possible and packaged beautifully. All the promotion in the world will not support an inferior product.

2) Set up your pre-orders and then create excitement with a sneak peek of a few chapters on your website (don’t forget buy links at the end of these chapters).

3) Alert interested parties starting with distribution channels. Smashwords, for instance, has an alert for author’s running BookBub ads. Once they know your ad date, they will pass the information along to their bookstores, those bookstores will consider your book for further promotion. BookBub Partners has an automated per-order alert for your followers. Amazon has the same. Read the distributor’s newsletters and find out what free opportunities are there for the taking.

4) When your manuscript is ready, start submitting it for reviews (I love PRG and InD’Tale).

5) Continue to nurture and grow your social media followers and plan affordable advertising geared toward look-alike audiences. Try sites like LitRing (have loved the 4 promos I’ve done with them). Many advertising sites won’t take pre-order advertising but purchase spots for immediately after your launch while your book is new. I am not a fan of blog tours. I have only paid to do one but I couldn’t quantify the results so for me this isn’t part of my strategy.

The bottom line is this: write well, be aware of what is available, be as genre specific as possible in your target marketing and remember that the launch is the beginning and not the end of your marketing efforts for your book and your brand.

Jenny Jensen | A Slice of Orange

Jenny Jensen

Developmental editor who has worked for twenty plus years with new and established authors of both fiction and non-fiction, traditional and indie.

Marketers say someone has to see your book 7 or 8 times before they buy. I’m not a marketer, so I can’t vouch for that but all the on-line exposure of a blog tour must be good. It can’t hurt – or can it? Just as a poorly written book will not sell, a poorly presented blog tour will turn off your audience before they even turn on. You need to leave a positive, compelling impression.

 

Prepare Several Blurbs

 

Since the content should be unique to each site you’ll need to prepare several blurbs – those enticing peeks at your story – not to mention tweets and whatever other social media is on offer. You can approach a blurb in different ways: lead with the most startling action element, lead with the dilemma, lead with a spotlight on character or setting, but lead with a sentence that hooks.

 

Describe Your Story Well

 

However you describe your story it’s critical that it be well written. This is, after all, the reader’s first taste of your voice. I’ve read choppy, unstrung blurbs that show what might be an interesting plot if you overlook the way the words are strung together. Regardless of how intriguing the plot sounds my immediate reaction is: This person can’t write. I won’t be reading this one.

 

Edit. Edit. Edit.

 

Of course, you’ve written a great book. It’s been carefully crafted, closely edited for errors in all respects from plot and character development to syntax and grammar. Your beta readers love it. Now you have to craft the words to sell the story without a single spoiler and with the same silver voice of the book. Craft your blurbs and interview responses with the same care you gave your book. And edit, edit, edit.

Robin Blakely | The Extra Squeeze Team | A Slice of Orange

Robin Blakely

PR/Business Development coach for writers and artists; CEO, Creative Center of America; member, Forbes Coaches Council.

 

You need a PR plan to succeed. Straight up, any plan is better than no plan…and even if you are working with a traditional publisher, your plan may be the only plan that is ever created with much concern about building your long-term career. Accept early that your success as an author is not your publisher’s concern. Their business is centered around the products they have curated for their brand; it includes the book you created–not you.

The reality is, take care of yourself and build your own business.

Phase One is prep time.

 

Build or refresh your website. Connect your social media platforms to your website. Make sure that you use one author picture across platforms so that your brand has a singular face. Establish a media page to create and post your downloadable press kit. Include links to downloadable high-resolution images of your book cover and your author photo. Make sure you have a landing page for book sales.

Prepare a press release that offers the announcement of your book to share with your local paper, bloggers, industry influencers, and reviewers. Don’t know who they are? Figure it out. Clearly define the top four niches of your audience and start building a database of contacts to help you reach each target. In Phase One, fully create the day-by-day choreography for book launch week.

Phase Two is book launch week.

 

Synchronize your PR efforts to reach every corner of your world with news about your book in the seven days of the week that your book is first released. Everyone you can imagine needs to know now, all at once. Either plan a parade of activity or nothing will happen.

Phase Three is steady-to-the-course season.

 

PR efforts must be sustained. That means shift your message from new book announcement to relevant reasons to discover your book, reasons to peek inside, opportunities to read and buy.

How does a blog tour figure into all this? Up to you. The key is to decide when, how, and if you want a blog tour. It is hard work with lots of moving parts. It is a godsend for some authors and hellish for others.

H. O. Charles | A Slice of Orange

H.O. Charles

Cover designer and author of the fantasy series, The Fireblade Array

I wish I knew the answer to this one because if I did, I would be a ££££££££££££-ionaire by now! I can tell you what NOT to do. When I launched my first book, I did little more than list it on Amazon and submit it to Smashwords. I had no idea about advertising (still learning on that front), and I published in secret, under a pseudonym, so had no friend or colleague network to exploit.

 

Tip 1: Don’t go it alone – if you know people who can help, use them. This applies to other authors. If they see your work and like it, they might team up with you to do a newsletter promo or similar.

 

Tip 2: Don’t do what soooo many authors do and sign up to a forum, then post once about your amazing new book. It won’t get you sales, but it will get people’s backs up (may have done this <coughs>).

 

Tip 3: Don’t list your pre-orders at full price. If you’re unknown, no one will take a chance on you anyway so you may have to lure customers in by being cheap!

 

Positive tips:

  • Do look at advertising opportunities, and check out writers’ forum reviews on their effectiveness.
  • Do make sure all of your pages are set up nicely – web page, Goodreads page, Facebook page… etc. so that readers can look you up, contact you and leave reviews easily.
  • Try to get on a few blog interviews.
  • Do be careful with your PR and the claims you make. It’s perfectly okay to brag about your past achievements, as long as they’re verifiable. I’ve noticed a few writers recently who claim to have sold 200,000 books in a month – you go to their Amazon page, and their book is ranked #100,008,282,212! It’s very easy to see through such fabrications, and once a writer loses trust from their readership, it’s unlikely to be regained.

Last of all, I would say to keep your expectations low. I know that sounds dreadfully pessimistic, but realistically, very few authors do well on one book without the backing of an expensive PR agency. It’s only once you have a good body of work out there and plenty of positive reviews that more readers will start to notice you.

If you have a question or topic you would like the Extra Squeeze Team to tackle please use the this contact form.

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The Extra Squeeze Team: Writing Books and Story Structure

November 30, 2019 by in category The Extra Squeeze by The Extra Squeeze Team tagged as , , ,

Dear Extra Squeeze Team,

We have two questions this month.

Question #1: Do you like books on writing? What are your three favorite books on writing?

Robin Blakely | The Extra Squeeze Team | A Slice of Orange

Robin Blakely

PR/Business Development coach for writers and artists; CEO, Creative Center of America; member, Forbes Coaches Council.

Here are my three favorite books on the craft of writing. I love what these writers have to say… and how they think… and the encouragement they offer. Two of these books I first read decades ago…and, just to be sure, I re-read them this year and still love the breathless excitement and the truths they provide.

If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit by Brenda Ueland
APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur—How to Publish a Book by Guy Kawasaki
Writing Juvenile Stories and Novels: How to Write and Sell Fiction for Young People by Phyllis A. Whitney

BONUS ROUND. Books on writing are important…BUT, here are my four favorite books on surviving the decision to become a writer. Each of these share something that for many writers will be more important than honing the craft of writing or studying the specific industry know-how. Spoiler Alert: Believe in yourself and your dream…don’t give up on yourself no matter how many times you are rejected…be aware that the road less traveled is frightening but worth the effort. And, please don’t wait for someone else to make your dream happen for you…you just gotta do it yourself.

The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
Oh! The Places You’ll Go by Dr. Seuss
The Missing Piece Meets the Big O by Shel Silverstein

H. O. Charles | A Slice of Orange

H.O. Charles

Cover designer and author of the fantasy series, The Fireblade Array

Is it really shameful that I’ve never read a book on writing? Oh dear, it probably is, isn’t it?!! I’m going to hide over here in the Naughty Writers’ corner and let the others take this one…

Rebecca Forster | Extra Squeeze

Rebecca Forster 

USA Today Bestselling author of 35 books, including the Witness series and the new Finn O’Brien series.

I must confess, I have never read a book on writing. I have never taken a class. My education came through the school of hard knocks (editors doing the knocking) and osmosis because I am an avid reader.

Question #2: My critique partner keeps yammering on about story structure? Do I HAVE to follow a formula?

Robin Blakely | The Extra Squeeze Team | A Slice of Orange

Robin Blakely

PR/Business Development coach for writers and artists; CEO, Creative Center of America; member, Forbes Coaches Council.

No, you do not.  Likewise, you do not have to write books other people will read and you do not have to create work that is anywhere near commercially viable. Your critique partner is trying to alert you to the alarming way your work is turning out. Your story may ramble and wander about. Your work probably lacks the structure needed to give readers the experience they demand.  What can you do? Start by exploring the notion that story structure and formula are not exactly the same thing, and neither are evil. I think formulas can provide an important illumination for your chosen genre. If you are a new writer, following a proven formula can allow you to lean on something that works while you develop your skillsets. Structure is a different kind of thing.  It is a design requirement to make sure your work has the scaffolding needed to support a reader. Like an architect designing any building, writers must accept that writing projects require a certain framework to function. So formula is like building a line of cookie cutter houses. Structure is the engineering rules you follow that allows iconic buildings and cookie cutter houses to stand up at all.  All to say: listen a little more to the critique partner and explore what you are being told.

The advice about structure that your critique partner is yammering about is a must if you want to be a successful writer.

Rebecca Forster | Extra Squeeze

Rebecca Forster 

USA Today Bestselling author of 35 books, including the Witness series and the new Finn O’Brien series.

There are no hard and fast rules in art, but there is a reason why successful novelists pay attention to structure. Think of your manuscript as a maze. It is your job to guide the reader through it to a satisfying conclusion. If you decide to have some fun and lead them down paths that are confusing and unrecognizable, there is a good chance they won’t play your game because you’re making them work too hard. Instead, they will find someone who weaves a structured tale. So, ask yourself what is important: pushing a tried and true envelope for the sake of an artistic fling or gaining a loyal audience?

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Dear Extra Squeeze Team: What Do You Do With Horrible Reviews

July 31, 2019 by in category The Extra Squeeze by The Extra Squeeze Team tagged as , , , ,

Dear Extra Squeeze Team: What do you do with horrible one-star reviews that were written by someone who clearly didn’t read your book?

Rebecca Forster | Extra Squeeze

Rebecca Forster 

USA Today Bestselling author of 35 books, including the Witness series and the new Finn O’Brien series.

Readers are smart and they recognize that review for what it is. I once got a low star review by a woman who wrote, “I haven’t read the book yet.” She was honest, I was not happy, Amazon said it met their standards so that was that. I didn’t spend anymore time thinking about it because there was nothing I could do. Luckily, the next review was a five star. Have a glass of wine. This too shall pass.

H. O. Charles | A Slice of Orange

H.O. Charles

Cover designer and author of the fantasy series, The Fireblade Array

There’s not a great deal you can do with these reviews. Some can be flagged and you can ask the retailer to get rid of them, but there must be CLEAR evidence that the reviewer has not read the book and is not reviewing the item for sale. Sometimes retailers will leave the review in place if the company printing or dispatching the book is at fault, even if the book itself is perfectly good. If it’s a single one-star review amongst a sea of kinder reviews, then I would shrug my shoulders and move on. Most readers will have the brains to look through the reviews and decide which ones are reliable. We have to trust them to do that!

 

If it’s your first and only review, and you know it’s not to do with the content, presentation or delivery of the book, and the review isn’t going anywhere, then I might consider republishing the book. ONLY in those circumstances, however.

Jenny Jensen | A Slice of Orange

Jenny Jensen

Developmental editor who has worked for twenty plus years with new and established authors of both fiction and non-fiction, traditional and indie.

 

Negative book reviews cut deep. All writers experience it at some time. Writers have to live with it like dancers have to live with blisters. Amazon has help sites where an author can manage reviews. I don’t know of any proactive response an author can make if a poor review shows up on book review sites or newsletters or blogs or anywhere else a rotten review can appear. I get how painful that can be, but one bad review does not sink your career.

The best approach is to learn something from bad reviews. It stings, but consider how the negative reviews measures up to the positive reviews. Compare them for any mention of shared issues. It could be that some readers were captivated with the story even while the manuscript had issue – issues important enough to mention. It could be grammar, characters, plot or just a lack of a good edit. Listen to that and take steps to improve. Hear your readers. It’s their ear you want to woo.

I’m not sure how one can determine that a review was written by someone who hadn’t read the book.  People don’t process the same information in the same way. Interpretation is everything. Maybe they just didn’t get it. Maybe they just don’t get anything.  I’ve read reviews that left me wondering if the reviewer and I had even read the same book.  You know what story you told and if one person didn’t see that then it’s worth a shrug at best, but not a meltdown. Carry on.

And there are those types that cannot pass up a chance to point out errors of any kind. I hope it’s a hobby but it feels like an obsession. You can find letters to the editor on every newspaper site where a reader takes issue with some slip like non-agreement of verb and noun, or a misplaced comma or apostrophe. That misstep is so important to that reader they feel justified in doubting any part of the article.

Those naysayers abound and humor is the best response.  There are a number of books where authors have addressed the readers who’ve picked at their work and the best one are really funny. This one is black humor like much of Ruth Rendell: Piranha to Scurfy. Read it for a little happy therapy. Bad reviews are a fact of a writer’s life.

Robin Blakely | The Extra Squeeze Team | A Slice of Orange

Robin Blakely

PR/Business Development coach for writers and artists; CEO, Creative Center of America; member, Forbes Coaches Council.

You have two choices.  You can get over it or you can obsess over it.  Both are pretty hard to do.  If you go the get-over-it route, you need to sell yourself on the idea that the reader was stupid and mean-spirited, blamed you for something out of your control like a late delivery, or simply didn’t even read the work at all.  Any of those could be true, but probably it is even a simpler issue.  Your book wasn’t exactly what the reader wanted in the moment.  Sometimes, I want to watch Columbo but I end up tuning in to Silence of the Lambs.  I would like to blame Amazon Prime for the mistake, but when I do, most people can figure out where the fault really lies. Expect a similar response from others who see your horrible one-star review. If you decide to follow the obsess-over-it route, you can dive deep into the nefarious waters of tracking down the reader and starting a fight about it. Not a great way to go. Energy doesn’t deserve to be wasted on someone who clearly didn’t read your work and gave you a horrible one-star review. Be aware.  Watch for legitimate constructive criticism. Let the rest go.

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Do I Need a Pseudonym to Write Fiction?

February 28, 2019 by in category The Extra Squeeze by The Extra Squeeze Team, Writing tagged as , , ,
Do I Need a Pseudonym | The Extra Squeeze Team | A Slice of Orange

Dear Extra Squeeze Team

Do I need a pseudonym to write fiction?

Rebecca Forster | Extra Squeeze
Rebecca Forster 
USA Today Bestselling author of 35 books, including the Witness series and the new Finn O’Brien series.

No, you don’t need a pseudonym to write fiction unless you write hard core erotica and you don’t want your mom to know. I used a pseudonym twice in my 30 year career. The first time I was writing for Harlequin and they contractually owned an author’s name. That meant if I wanted to write for anyone else I would have to leave the name–and any consumer base that had accrued to that name–behind. The second time was when I wrote my first legal thriller. The men were big back then–Grisham, Turow–and the publisher wanted readers to assume I was a man. I went by my last name but initials for my first. There was no ‘about the author’ in those books and the whole thing felt very odd. In this day and age when building a brand is your sole responsibility, own your name and build a loyal readership around it.

Jenny Jensen | A Slice of Orange
Jenny Jensen
Developmental  editor who has worked for twenty plus years with new and established authors of both fiction and non-fiction, traditional and indie.

Traditionally, publishing under an assumed name was a useful tactic when a writer crossed genres. A non-fiction author whose brand is based on expertise in hunting edible fungi would want to use a pseudonym to publish a steamy romance. A fresh identity to woo a new readership avoids any confusion, possibly even irritation from those readers whose expectations would not be met. A reader who gets a lusty countess when they’re expecting a description of the spotted Nigerian toadstool will not be a repeat reader.

Fiction writers often use pseudonyms to switch between fiction genres. Robert Galbraith jumps (beautifully, I might add) between wizards and detective fiction. Harry Potter fans are diehards so it was wise for J.K. Rowling to present her new detective fiction under a pseudonym. Otherwise fans might have cast a withering spell when their expectations were squashed. Cormoran Strike solving crime was a big step off brand from Harry Potter.

It wasn’t long before the public learned that Galbraith was J.K. Rowling—with a brand that strong anything she writes would be impossible to hide, and why hide it. With her pseudonym public knowledge readers knew what to expect. Rowling’s brand remains intact and Galbraith’s work took off with a new readership. Impossible to say how many of those new readers were enticed simply by the author’s name, but the work stands solidly on it’s own merits now.

Your brand may not be as mighty as Rowling’s but it is as important to your success. No reason not to use a pseudonym to publish your fiction and no reason not to be completely open about it. Supplement the marketing of the fiction by using your existing fan base and marketing tools to launch this new facet of your career. Share the pseudonym on your twitter feed, tout the cover on your pinterest posts, introduce the new personae and the new fiction on your blog. If both your established name and your nom de plume are connected to your brand then fans can seek out whichever genre fits their reading expectations. And your brand is strengthened.

Robin Blakely | The Extra Squeeze Team | A Slice of Orange
Robin Blakely
PR/Business Development coach for writers and artists; CEO, Creative Center of America; member, Forbes Coaches Council.

From a branding perspective, maybe you do need a pen name to write fiction. Here are some questions you might ask yourself…if any of your answers are yes, lean toward a pen name. 

Ask: Is my own name too difficult to say, spell, or remember?  Does my own name confuse readers with other authors or commercial brands?  Does the subject matter or the chosen genre of my fiction conflict with the character of the other brands that I am building?  Do I have a plan to manage the transparency required to promote a pen name?  

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, explore the pen name option with enthusiasm and care. Remember: You are the brand.  The books you write are products of the brand. No matter what you do, you must be able to represent your brand and your products with authenticity and with transparency. 

I once advised a mystery-writing dentist to use a pen name because his novel was filled with graphic violence and hot sex scenes. His novel directly conflicted with the business brand for his successful dental practice which was built upon his real name. The novel he had written revealed a side of the mild- mannered doctor that the public did not know and frankly might have been shocked to meet.  In that instance, using a pen name separated the dentist from the writer so that both could be promoted to proper audiences.  A pen name provided some distance between his dental business and his writing business.  A plan for transparency was built from the start so that he could be honest and open if patients realized that their beloved doctor was also that wild novelist.  

Similarly, you might want to consider a pen name if you are writing fiction in genres that conflict with each other. The motivating idea would be to help the reader know and trust the brand name when they search for your work.  The bridge between who you really are and your pen name better be built from the start or it could become problematic unexpectedly with one Did you know social media post.

H.O. Charles
Cover designer and author of the fantasy series, The Fireblade Array

H.O. is missing again this month. We suspect a long long holiday is to blame.

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