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Writing advice from Paris Hilton. Who knew?

The 10 Best Quotes About Writing #amwriting

10 of the best quotes I’ve ever read on the craft of writing, in no particular order.

Yes, 3 of them are by Orwell, because he’s the freaking man.

If you’re a writer, read these daily:

“If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.” – George Orwell

“If you want to be a writer you must do two things: read a lot and write a lot.” – Stephen King

“Never use the passive voice when you can use the active.” – George Orwell

“I try to leave out the parts that people skip.” – Elmore Leonard

“Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.” – Kurt Vonnegut

“Every sentence must do one of two things – reveal character or advance the action” – Kurt Vonnegut

“Quantity produces quality. If you only write a few things, you’re doomed.” – Ray Bradbury

“Kill your darlings even when it breaks your egocentric scribbler’s heart.” – Stephen King

“Never use a long word where a short one will do.” – George Orwell

“Say dialogue aloud as you write it.” – John Steinbeck

#amwriting #writing #self-publishing #orwell #1984 #stephen king #ray bradbury #john steinbeck #kurt vonnegut

WHERE DO I ADVERTISE? SELF-PUBLISHING FOR NOOBS, PART 5 (of 5)

Now that your kick-ass book is on Amazon with a compelling cover, you need potential customers to actually see it. Not easy, considering there is a new book on the platform every five minutes (TechCrunch, Aug 21, 2014), and even that number seems conservative.

I know. It’s crazy.

The market has never been more competitive, and like it or not, you’re a minnow swimming in a big freaking pond. And in addition to thousand of hungry indie authors, you’ll also be competing directly with the so-called ‘Big Five’ (Penguin Random House, Macmillan, HarperCollins, Hachette and Simon & Schuster) who have monster ad budgets, and loads of clout with editors, reviewers, and basically everyone else in the world of literature.

Luckily, advertising is the great equalizer. And contrary to popular belief, you don’t need a giant war chest to battle it out for top slots in Amazon’s lucrative sub-categories...but if you’re serious about getting your book out there, you will need a couple bucks to invest.

There are a ton of crappy places to advertise, and very few come with a solid reputation. Here are some sites you’ll want to check out (and a couple to watch out for):

BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/

This is the big one, and the most expensive. It’s worth every penny. They’re pricey but they’ll blast your book out to hundreds of thousands – or potentially millions, depending on the category – of targeted readers.

Note: they only choose 18% of applicants, and even that seems high in 2015. If you have fewer than 60 reviews you will also be at a significant disadvantage, though they do seem to take some books which have fewer. My book ‘Arena Mode’ was accepted with 58 reviews at the time, which surprised me, though I’ve been rejected numerous times since then. And I’ve recently seen some books get approved with 12-18 reviews, so...? Who knows. Their editorial process is quite a mystery.

BookSends http://booksends.com/

2nd best to BookBub, IMO. Affordable and offers good results. They don’t have nearly the same mailing list, but it does boost sales.

Tip: Definitely do the regular free or discount deal based on a category, not the ‘book of the day’. It’s way more expensive but way less targeted - you’ll spend double for the same results.

Note: Avoid Book Butterfly, a companion site of BookSends, unless you’re doing romance or erotica. Sci-fi, fantasy, action, etc. seems to do very poorly with them.

Free Booksy http://www.freebooksy.com/

Good results for both free and discounted books, though I don’t feel like BargainBooksy is nearly as effective as FreeBooksy. I’d only recommend them if you want to run a free promo.

Book Gorilla http://www.bookgorilla.com/

ENT http://ereadernewstoday.com/

Yet to try these services but they both come highly recommended for modest prices.

There are also zillions of blogs and Facebook pages and Twitter accounts that will blast out your Free book deal. If you’re willing to do the leg work you can gain some traction that way as well, adding a few thousand downloads to your campaign’s total and boost your rankings.

And finally, if you want some free alternatives for advertising here are 46 good options: https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/03/11/18-top-websites-to-promote-your-book-for-free/

Advertising is a little scary if you’ve never done it before, but it can also be thrilling. Give it a shot, and if you have a success story please share it with me.

Good luck!

PS: There are a LOT of shetchy advertising options out there.

If you find a deal that looks too good to be true, investigate. Find forums where people are chatting about some site that ‘guarantees’ thousands of downloads, or is bragging about amazing results but doesn’t seem up-front about sharing links and specific figures.

#writing #amwriting #bookbub #advertising #marketing #indie publishing #book publishing #writing books #self publising

HOW DO I SELL MY BOOK AND MAKE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS? SELF-PUBLISHING FOR NOOBS, PART 4 (of 5)

So you have a finished manuscript, the cover is ready, and now you’re ready to reap the rewards: royalty checks flooding your mailbox.

Here is where to get started:

Kindle Direct Publishing https://kdp.amazon.com/

Sign up here. It’s easy and free. You can submit your manuscript (even in Word Doc format, they’ll convert it for you) and have your book for sale on Kindle in a couple days.

tip: Say yes to KDP Select. It makes your book Amazon exclusive (ie. You can’t sell on Nook, Kobo, iTunes, etc.) but it allows to ‘lend’ your book to Kindle Unlimited members, and you get paid per page read (usually equals the same or more of what a sale would net you, depending on your price point).

This has netted me 2-3x more profit than my sales. Do it. Plus Amazon is like 95% of the Ebook market so you won’t miss out on sales elsewhere.

Print On Demand books https://www.createspace.com/

Sign up free. It links to your Amazon account, and you can sell hard copies of your book for $0 up-front investment. It’s like magic. You can also order copes of your own book for like $5, and there is no minimum print run.

Convert your book to an audio book http://www.acx.com/

Sign up free (US and UK only). Get a pro to record your book and split the profits 50/50 with them. Add an entirely new revenue stream. I’ve yet to do this on Amazon since I’m in Canada and can’t sign up for an account but I’ve heard great things.

Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/

If you don’t want to be Amazon exclusive, Smashwords is a one-stop-shop where you upload your manuscript and publish it on all the non-Amazon platforms: Nook, Kobo, iTunes, etc. You can still have it on Kindle as well, of course, but you’ll be missing out on Kindle Select.

#writing #amwriting #self publishing #books #authors #kindle #amazon

OK, MY BOOK IS DONE...DON’T I NEED A COVER AND SHIT? SELF-PUBLISHING FOR NOOBS, PART 3 (of 5)

Don’t believe the old adage: people do judge books by their covers.

Like, all the time.

I know, shocking, right?

For readers scouring Amazon in search of a hidden gem, there is literally nothing else they have to go on except for your cover. Sure, they might consider the title and of course the genre, but humans are visual: if someone isn’t compelled by the look of your cover art they’ll simply pass it by, and won’t even read the first sentence of your first chapter. You’ll be disqualified before the game even begins.

Spend time and money crafting the perfect cover, because if you don’t catch someone’s eye and pique their interest at a glance (which is all you have when someone is scrolling by - a glance) nothing else matters.

“But I don’t want to spend a ton of money on a cover!”

Are you a graphic design guru? Sweet - you won’t need to. But if not, you’ll need to hire a pro (or better yet, trade services with someone who is a pro).

Here are some sites to help you in your DIY efforts if you’re going it alone. Though you probably won’t be able to do it completely free (you still need art or a photo for the cover) this is the closest to free you’ll come.

Dollar Photo Club (stock photos) https://www.dollarphotoclub.com/

Stock photo for $1 an image, though you need to spend $10 at a time. A big, big step up from the free stock photo sites that are mostly junk, and some of these images are gorgeous. And the selection on this site is very impressive considering the low price point.

Shutterstock is a nice alternative, though much pricier. http://www.shutterstock.com/

DaFont (free fonts) http://www.dafont.com/

A bazillion free fonts – one of them will definitely make your title look rad emblazoned across your cover. If a font exists on planet Earth, it’s here (or some variation).

Deviant Art http://www.deviantart.com/

Is art more your thing instead of photography? Give this site a browse. The best place to find artists, period.

tip: find a pre-existing piece of art and ask to licence it from the artist for a couple hundred bucks. It's win-win: the art is already done so they don't need to do anything, and you get a gorgeous image for your book cover and you already know what it's going to look like. Cheaper, easier and quicker than commissioning an original piece.

Not a design guru? Need some assistance? Here are some paid alternatives:

Fiverr (freelance artists) https://www.fiverr.com/

When all is said and done you'll likely be paying more than $5, but you can find some hella talented people on here and they work for reasonable rates.

Damonza (cover design company) https://damonza.com/

Pricey but these guys are pros, and they do it all. The result will be a kick-ass book cover and they allow you to request edits, provide your own stock images, etc.

So in conclusion, book covers matter. Getting a professional to craft one for you can run $500-$1000 (ouch!) but if you’re planning to wow thousands (or millions) of readers, then that’s what it might take.

Cheap, lazy book covers instantly give a reader the impression that what’s beyond the cover is more of the same - and hardly worth their time.

#writing #amwriting #bookcover #bookcovers #covers #coverart

I’M READY TO WRITE! SO...WHERE DO I MAKE THE WORDS HAPPEN? SELF-PUBLISHING FOR NOOBS, PART 2 (of 5)

In the last 3-5 years it’s become fashionable to use fancy writing software, tailored specifically to authors, when writing a book.

Is this necessary? I’ll tell you up front: no. No it’s not. At all. At least from my experience.

I use Microsoft Word for PC – always have - and it works just fine. I don't worry too much about formatting until the end and my manuscript is ready to go, and besides, there are excellent programs to convert a Word .doc into any Ebook file anyway.

Calibre http://calibre-ebook.com/

This is amazing (and free). Prep and preview your book and have every digital file format on-hand to Email to publishers, agents, reviewers, friends, enemies and frenemies.

But if you want to get fancy, I’d recommend this program:

Scrivener https://www.literatureandlatte.com/trial.php

Scrivener has endless bells and whistles, and can even help with the daunting outlining process. Some authors swear by it, and if I ever graduate from Word I’ll likely be dipping my toes into this program (note: I’ve heard there is a learning curve, so take that into account)

Another popular program is Evernote, but if you want a freebie that does basically what Word does, you might want to check out LibreOffice.

Evernote https://evernote.com/

LibreOffice https://www.libreoffice.org/

Anyone know a good word processor and want to share? Leave a comment!

#word process #word #microsoft #scrivener #self-publishing

HOW THE HELL DO I WRITE A BOOK? SELF-PUBLISHING FOR NOOBS, PART 1 (of 5)

Hello my lovelies!

Here is the first in my 5-part series about self-publishing. Warning: this is for nooblers. If you’ve already sold books before, it’s highly likely you’ve already been through these steps already.

First up: learn how to write, which means you need to read books about writing.

“But I already know how to write!” Yes, of course you do. You’ve written your whole life. Emails and essays and maybe even a manuscript or two, but if you don’t have the basics down – the fundamentals – your work won’t likely reach a professional level.

“But wouldn’t my time be better spent writing? If I just do it a lot I’ll keep getting better!”

Yes, you will. It’s inevitable: do anything enough and you’ll improve – it’s nearly impossible not to. But to answer this question I’d use a gym/workout analogy.

Let’s say, for example, you start going to the gym. You have no idea what to do, but you have a vague idea of what a treadmill is and how to lift free weights. If you’re consistent, you’ll see results. No doubt about it.

But when Chris Evans wanted to get in shape for Captain America, did he just walk into a gym and wing it? Not a chance. He had a limited timeframe where he needed to craft himself into a superhero, and to do that he needed help. Expert advice. He had a personal trainer, a nutritionist, and every tool imaginable to get him in prime condition. Would he have gotten there by himself? Sure, maybe – in six months to a year. Not in less than 8 weeks.

That’s the difference. You can write and write and write and course-correct your mistakes along the way – there’s nothing wrong with that and a lot of successful authors have gone this route. But that’s what I did for a long time, and I wish I hadn't.

Here are the 10 best books I’ve ever read on the craft of writing. It doesn’t matter if you’re a noob or a best-seller, these books with have something in them that will step up your game.

Writing Tools: 50 Essential Strategies for Every Writer (Roy Peter Clark) http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Tools-Essential-Strategies-Writer/dp/0316014990/

The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes ( Jack Bickham) http://www.amazon.com/Most-Common-Fiction-Writing-Mistakes/dp/0898798213/

Plot & Structure (James Scott Bell) http://www.amazon.com/Plot-Structure-Techniques-Exercises-Crafting/dp/158297294X

Write Great Fiction - Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint (Nancy Kress) http://www.amazon.com/Write-Great-Fiction-Characters-Viewpoint-ebook/dp/B005LIYZUW/

On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft (Stephen King) http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Memoir-Craft-Stephen-King-ebook/dp/B000FC0SIM/

The Newbie's Guide to Publishing ( J.A. Konrath) http://www.amazon.com/Newbies-Guide-Publishing-Everything-Writer-ebook/dp/B003I6496Y/

Write Good or Die (Multiple Essays by different authors) http://www.amazon.com/Write-Good-Die-Scott-Nicholson-ebook/dp/B003H4QZOG/

The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression (Angela Ackerman) http://www.amazon.com/The-Emotion-Thesaurus-Character-Expression-ebook/dp/B00822WM2M/

Elements of Fiction Writing - Beginnings, Middles & Ends (Nancy Kress) http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Fiction-Writing-Beginnings-Middles-ebook/dp/B005307M1W/

Write Great Fiction - Description & Setting (Ron Rozelle) http://www.amazon.com/Write-Great-Fiction-Description-Setting-ebook/dp/B003YJEYCY/

note: there are a ton of books about writing dialogue, but honestly I have never subscribed to this - I don't really feel like someone can teach you how to write the way people talk. You just have to listen to actual people, craft your characters and work it out in your own head. This is just my opinion - if someone can recommend a great 'how to write dialogue' book in the comments, please do!

#writing #amwriting #howtowrite #self-publication

22 Storytelling Tips from Pixar

Waaay back in the olden days (2012) Pixar storyboard artist Emma Coats gave some amazing writing tips. I love these and have read them dozens of times.

#1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.

#2: You gotta keep in mind what's interesting to you as an audience, not what's fun to do as a writer. They can be v. different.

#3: Trying for theme is important, but you won't see what the story is actually about til you're at the end of it. Now rewrite.

#4: Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.

#5: Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You'll feel like you're losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.

#6: What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?

#7: Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.

#8: Finish your story, let go even if it's not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.

#9: When you're stuck, make a list of what WOULDN'T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.

#10: Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you've got to recognize it before you can use it.

#11: Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you'll never share it with anyone.

#12: Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.

#13: Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it's poison to the audience.

#14: Why must you tell THIS story? What's the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That's the heart of it.

#15: If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.

#16: What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don't succeed? Stack the odds against.

#17: No work is ever wasted. If it's not working, let go and move on - it'll come back around to be useful later.

#18: You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining.

#19: Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.

#20: Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d'you rearrange them into what you DO like?

#21: You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can't just write ‘cool'. What would make YOU act that way?

#22: What's the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.

Hope you liked these!

Success! Day One of Arena Mode’s Free Book Promo

So yesterday was the first of my five-day Free Amazon Book Promotion for Arena Mode.

Before I get into the details of what happened, here is the broad outline of my plan: to run a marketing campaign where I’d entice as many people as possible to download by book using free and paid ads.

Day 1 (Fri May 15) - E-Book Booster and BookSends

Day 2 (Sat May 16) - some social promotion, including my Twitter and Facebook

Day 3 (Sun May 17) - BookBub

Day 4 (Mon May 18) - More social media

Day 5 Tues May 19) - Again, more harrassing people on the socials

Day 1 is complete, and it was quite a success! With E-Book Booster’s blast out to free Kindle promo sites, and BookSends promoting my title to their list of science-fiction readers, I was able to generate 2,153 downloads, which landed me at #1 overall for Science-Fiction books, and #1 for Superheroes.

I also got as high as #81 overall in Free Kindle Books, which is pretty cool. I’m fairly certain the top 20 is dominated with erotica, so unless I replace my cover with a hunky cowboy showing his six-pack abs, I’m outta luck there, but I’m just happy to have cracked the top 100. Very exciting!

Having two different promotional tools running the same day wasn’t optimal, but I didn’t have a choice. They both just landed on the Friday and sometimes dates aren’t flexible. So I don’t know which was more successful, the E-Book Booster, or BookSends. I’m going to guess that of the 2K+ downloads, most came from BookSends - I’ve used them before, and they have a pretty solid foundation of Kindle fans. My promotion was blasted out to 24,000 Sci-Fi readers + ‘up to’ 50,000 more with their E-Reader IQ option - as well as their Facebook followers. I paid a total of $85 for their campaign, and another $35 for E-Book Booster. So at $120 total ad spend, I paid .18 cents for each person to download Arena Mode.

It’s waaaay too early to tell how this will play out over the next days and weeks, ie. how many people will enjoy Arena Mode enough to download the next book, Assault or Attrition, or pre-order Final Empire, but we shall see.

Not getting out the cake and party favors yet, but I’m calling yesterday a big win. More tomorrow!

Blake xxx

My epic BookBub journey. All 5 days of it.

Advertising a book is hard. There are millions of books out there competing for readers’ attention, and getting yours to be visible through the clutter seems like a near-impossible task.

The first logical step is to pay for an ad, but this is a challenge for anyone on a budget (ie. nearly all of us) - mostly because there are so few places online where it’s pretty much guaranteed you’ll get a ROI (Return On Investment).

There are a handful of very reliable, highly-recommended places to put your precious advertising dollars.

The granddaddy of them all – the biggest, best, and most sought after location – is unquestionably BookBub. They have literally millions of subscribers who will see your free or discounted book if you advertise with them. The exposure is absolutely massive, and it never ceases to make at least a little difference in the trajectory of a book or series (and from the success stories I’ve read, the difference is often significant – and once in a while, life changing).

Sounds too good to be true? Possibly.

Here are two very large challenges with BookBub:

1) It ain’t cheap. Prices start in the $150 range and go up very, very quickly from there.

2) Even if you’re willing to pay $150 - $700 to be featured, they might reject you.

And according to them, here’s why. http://insights.bookbub.com/how-bookbub-selection-process-works/

I was approved on my first attempt, just 5 days after sending in my application to have ‘Arena Mode’ featured in their science-fiction section on Sunday May 20, 2015. What I didn’t know at the time was that some authors have spent literally years trying to get a feature with them, being rejected on dozens of applications.

Thanks to the success of my Kickstarter campaigns, at the time of my writing this ‘Arena Mode’ already had 60, mostly positive reviews, and some celebrity endorsements from the world of comics. So I was in good shape. But for a new author with just a handful of reviews, it could take some time before the big boys at BookBub let you into their exclusive clubhouse.

There are some more affordable alternatives, and they’re much friendlier when it comes to the approval process (usually requiring no more than 5 positive reviews and a professional looking cover)

Here are a couple good ones:

BookSends http://booksends.com/advertise.php

They require just 5 reviews, have a decent mailing list, and have much more affordable pricing than BookBub (starting at just $10, with most free promo pricing books being in the $50 range). I’ve used them twice and would recommend them.

E-Book Booster http://www.ebookbooster.com/

They promise to promote your book to 45+ sites for only $35. I paid for this service but I don’t know what kind of a reaction I’m going to get for a sci-fi book (I’ve heard mystery does well using this format)

My book Arena Mode is free (running on an Amazon-exclusive free 5-day book deal) from the 15th of May until the 19th, so I’ll report back with info re: how my campaign went, and if BookSends, E-Book Booster, and especially BookBub paid off!

Blake xxx

#bookbub #novel #sci-fi #advertising #amwriting #novelist #writer #marketing

1) Google Yourself, 2) Get Nominated for an Award!

The other day I was trying to figure out if I was getting any media pick-up for 'Final Empire - The Conclusion of the Arena Mode Saga'.

And then something bizarre happened: I came across a site for BSFA - The British Science Fiction Awards - and discovered that 'Arena Mode' had been nominated for Best Science Fiction Novel of 2013.

Why had no one told me this?! WHY!?!?

My first reaction was excitement...and then my inner skeptic took over, and I thought, "So what?" Anyone can slap a website together and give out an award, right?

Wrong.

I did some digging around, and the BSFA's are a huge deal: they date back to 1969, and past winners have included Philip K. Dick, Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams.

Ho. Ly. Shit.

So the fact that Arena Mode was even nominated - even vaguely considered for an award - is a pretty huge honour. I'm floored.

Needless to say, I will be bragging about this endlessly for the rest of my life.

Thank you to the BSFA's.

Tea and crumpets. The Queen. Sex Pistols. Soccer (ie. 'football'). I love it all. :)

Moral of the story: get on the Google once in a while and try to search for yourself and your books. And don't just glance at the main page - dig in there and really look a couple pages deep and see what's going on out there. You might find a surprise!