Tip O'Day #462 - No More Lazy Research

Guest blogger Cynthia Echterling on “The Facts, Nothing but the Facts.”

My pet peeves in novels or films include unbelievable incidents, bad technology, and cultural inaccuracies from not doing adequate research. Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman of Mythbusters have become famous by debunking this sort of thing for our education and amusement.

When writing my science fiction novel, Torqed: The Search for Earth, a group of characters were planning to defraud an insurance company. They discussed how to switch on Torq's ability to hibernate and trick an adjuster into believing he was dead. All they needed to do was chill him, but in an environmentally controlled spaceport, that wasn't possible. Their first thought was to slip him outside temporarily. Would it work? Would he instantly freeze or would he explode? In many of the SciFi movies I'd seen, that's what happens. Is it accurate? I did the research and the answer is, no. You can survive about 90 seconds. Your lungs would collapse, or rupture if you try to hold your breath. Nitrogen bubbles would form in your blood stream. Your bodily excretions would freeze. You might puff up some, but you don't explode and you don't freeze rock hard instantaneously. Fortunately, you'd be unconscious from lack of oxygen before any of that happened. My characters decide it is not an option.

Crime or espionage stories have people surreptitiously offing someone with a gun using a silencer, and nobody hears anything except a gentle thoop. Not happening. A silencer can only reduce the sound of a gunshot by 20 or 30 decibels. You want to kill someone quietly? Try poisoned blow darts. Keep in mind that, in many countries, blow darts are illegal. If you're planning to kill someone, that probably isn't an issue for you. Just don't plan on buying one over-the-counter from Wal-Mart. As for the poison? Curare is used in South America, but that just paralyzes monkeys. It is rarely lethal and you'd need a large dose to paralyze a human.

Historical fiction is another breeding ground for inaccuracies. Don't rely on what you thought you learned in school, because it may be incomplete, out of date, or completely wrong. For my novel in progress, I needed to research Native American cultures. There are vast differences in social roles, customs and technologies. Did you know that Native Americans drank beer? It was made from corn, potatoes, birch and other substances and often reserved for ceremonial purposes, but not always. Though drunkenness was frowned upon by the Aztecs and could earn you severe punishment, Aztec elites indulged, not by drinking, but by taking their beer through another body orifice (hint: not their noses or ears). While they enjoyed their beer, they were also smoking cigars, eating popcorn and watching ball games. They just didn't have big screen TVs.

My point is, we all make mistakes, but unless you want some factoid-obsessed geek ripping your work to shreds, do your research!

Cynthia (or CD) Echterling is a SciFi and Fantasy author. The link to her SciFi novel Torqed: The Search for Earth can be found here. She is also the author of post-Apocalyptic Scavengers and fantasy Beer Wars.

Tip O'Day #436: The Discovery of Drafting

Guest blogger Kourtney Heintz on the journey to find your story.

The first fifty pages came easily to me, but then I hit a wall. I’d laid out my initial conflict, had my inciting incident, and set my characters on their path. What came next?

I didn’t know. There were several directions the book could go in. It could be about them fixing up the house. It could be about their foibles trying to adjust to country life, but I wanted it to be more. Deeper. Darker.

So I paused and pondered. Spent a few weeks playing “what if.” Kind of like a Choose Your Own Adventure Book, except I would imagine each possibility to its rightful ending inside my head.

Generally, I’m a planner and a plotter, but this book didn’t want to follow the rules. Sometimes the story is waiting to be revealed. Mine took some unexpected turns, evolving into a literary thriller.

I had no idea this would happen. No clue when I first met my characters that we would all end up where we did. That’s part of the discovery of drafting. Even when you think you know where you’re headed, sometimes the story takes you in a completely different direction.

That unexpected detour enriches the entire novel.

Kourtney Heintz resides in Connecticut with her warrior lapdog, Emerson, her supportive parents and three quirky golden retrievers. Years of working on Wall Street provided the perfect backdrop for her imagination to run amok at night, imagining a world where out-of-control telepathy and buried secrets collide.

Her debut novel, The Six Train to Wisconsin, was a 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Semifinalist, and can be purchased for Kindle here.

Tip O'Day #406 - A Changed World

Guest blogger K. Anne Raines on “The Confessions of a Book Junkie.”

I read a lot – like over 120 books per year a lot.

Once upon a time, book lovers – including me – flocked to bookstores everywhere. Some preferred large chains such as Barnes and Noble, others sought out used stores, while those like me enjoyed unusual little shops in quaint little towns. I could spend hours getting lost in all of the books. The hidden treasure inside each binding was a faraway world not yet discovered to me. And I was there to find it.

One day a new gadget changed my life. My Kindle paved a whole new road for finding new books. The once infinite worlds of a bookstore were now finite. Countless authors that would have never been able to share their stories before found their way to publishing through the e-book world. And, I just have to say, it is awesome! Yes, because it’s so easy now to publish, there is a chance you’ll find a book that’s less than stellar; however, I’ve read books published traditionally where they left me scratching my head wondering how they ever made it to a bookshelf.

With the dawning of the Kindle age, finding what to read next has changed drastically. I hate to say it, but I absolutely 100 percent judge a book by its cover, especially if it’s self-published. Why? Well, to me it’s easy. You can tell how serious authors are about the product they’re producing by their cover. Authors, both self and traditionally published, hope to gain a profit from their heart-pouring efforts, and it’s a business venture. The old adage that “you have to spend money to make money” is true, and they should invest wisely in the cover.

Social networking sites to find great books such as Goodreads are all the rage. There’s also Facebook book groups. My favorite books of all time have come from recommendations on these sites. The word-of-mouth on social sites is invaluable to both a reader and an established or emerging author. On social networking sites you’re not limited to what a bookstore offers. The book possibilities are endless.

I’m a book junkie, a true bibliophile, and always will be. Whether the stories are in a quaint shop or waiting to be purchased on Amazon, it doesn’t matter, I will find them.

The End of Exclusivity?

Mark Coker is the founder and CEO of Smashwords, and we spoke recently about an Amazon ‘December surprise.’

Last December, Amazon shook up the Indie publishing world with the announcement of the KDP Select program. In exchange for you giving it exclusive rights to sell your eBook, Amazon would give you certain promotional benefits. One attraction is the ability to have “free days” where you hopefully raise your Amazon ranking by giving away a book for up to five days during each 90-day exclusive period. After a free day, the price returns to normal without any delay or confusion.

People like to talk and speculate, and the publishing world is no different. Rumors abound about another coming December surprise, with many folks guessing Amazon will give the authors of the world a Christmas present by eliminating exclusivity. Mark Coker discusses this in the following excerpt from the October 5th post on the Smashwords Site Updates page (used with permission - see the entire post at https://www.smashwords.com/about/beta )

In recent weeks, the tea leaves point to more exclusivity. With the recent launch of their distribution to India, they added a requirement that if you want 70% royalties on India sales, you must enroll in KDP-Select and remove books from all other retailers. It seems they've also stepped up the aggressiveness of their automated price-matching. Their emails now threaten authors with account termination if they're enrolled in the 70% royalty rate (this is independent of KDP-Select) and another retailer is offering a lower price. No other retailer tightens the screws upon the knuckles of authors like Amazon. It's so unnecessary.

I for one hope for a kinder, gentler Amazon in the future. I think it's in their best interest. Amazon has a brilliant retail platform, great discovery, and smart people working there. Why treat authors like such pawns? And why do so many authors fall prey and willingly submit to such oppressive policies?

In a message to me on Saturday, Mark wrote: “I hope Amazon does the right thing and drops exclusivity. If they did that, I'd become a huge supporter of KDP Select.”

I agree.

Tip O'Day #399 - A Writer also Reads

Guest blogger Ellen Grogan on how technology and becoming a writer simplified her reading life – Not!

Two years ago when I got my first e-reader (a Nook Color), reading was simple. I read what I love, and I love historical fiction. Nine months later, things got a bit complicated when I decided to try my hand at writing. My reading time got divided between historical fiction and “how to write” books. Then, of course, genre books had to be added into the mix to further complicate things.

Several more months went by, during which time I discovered Facebook and started “friending” authors, telling them how much I appreciated their books, how helpful their writing had been, yada, yada, yada. More months passed and it was time to purchase a second Nook, the Simple Touch. It was lighter, more portable, easier to use for studying all those “how to write” books when on the go. Now things got even more complicated. So many wonderful authors, so many wonderful books they’d written, so many reviews to post on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads and Smashwords. Yikes! How did things ever get this complicated?

It’s been two years now and I’ve broken down and added a Kindle Touch to my collection, but only because of those dastardly DRM’s that prevent me from converting Kindle books to epub format for my Nook. Well, at least now I have all my favorite types of books, all my “how to write” books, and all my favorite authors’ books at my fingertips all the time on one or another of the e-readers. I am one happy camper, let me tell you. (Not!)

Most mornings, I spend five hours with my “how to write” books, learning and writing. In the afternoons, I spend three hours sampling books by authors who are new to me. After dinner, I spend another three to four hours reading books by authors I’ve already become familiar with and whose writing I enjoy.

I know, I know, you’re wondering how I find time in between all this learning and writing and reading for the editing work I do. No problem! When an editing job comes in, everything stops until that manuscript goes to print. Everything. Except at night. I will steal three hours each evening to stop and rest and read historical fiction – usually something by Margaret George because her writing calms me down and keeps me sane.

A little sanity in my life – priceless!

Tip O'Day #394 - Publishing, the new Wild West

Guest blogger John Scherber on publishing without New York.

You’re ready to publish your great novel, the one that took you eight years of agony to write, but no one’s interested. You even have an agent. Signing with her made you feel you were really on your way, but now she rarely returns your calls, and you don’t know exactly what she’s doing with your manuscript. You looked briefly at self-publishing options, but when you scanned the lists of self-published books on Amazon, your stomach became all fluttery, and you knew you could never be part of that pathetic loser crowd. Your book is different.

Every day you get up and you’re a day older, but that’s the only thing in your life that’s truly in motion. When you attended an expensive writer’s conference in a western city, you found that most of the other attendees were much like you, only their book was probably not as good, or in most cases not even finished. You felt superior to most of them because you already had a completed book and an agent.

The reality is this: it’s been a great run, but the old-line New York publishers are not what they were. Through bankruptcy and merger, their ranks have thinned. Although they position themselves as the gatekeepers of great writing, working to exclude the unworthy, they are mainly focused on a shrinking bottom line. They sense that the business model is changing, and next year will be even tougher than this one. Who’s next to go down? They are correct, because publishing technology has taken a left turn, while they continued in a straight line. After all, it worked so well in the past, why mess with success? Their favorite obscenity is Amazon Kindle. Reading this blog is now giving you a headache.

Let’s look at their product. The top two or three percent of the books they put out are excellent, top-quality work. The level below that, say about fifteen to twenty percent, are solid, workmanlike books that, although they may not be inspired, still deserve to find an audience.

The seventy-five percent or so below that is of little interest, and often a waste of the paper it’s printed on. Writers who have produced great books in the past are allowed to write drivel unchallenged. Others who sell well put their names on books they didn’t write, even when they’re dead. Look for the real author’s name in small print at the bottom of the cover. The old-line publishers are no longer serving either the reading public or the writers who seek to inspire it. Trying to get through this no man’s land is like navigating a logjam in a birch bark canoe––a chancy situation.

Worse, the alternative is chaos––the self-publishing world, where 96% of the output is worthless. It’s a place not different in kind, only in degree.

Yet there are similarities. In both places you will do all your own promotion. That’s right, all of it. The old–line publishers spend their entire promotional budget on their top five or six best sellers. Get ready to spend 70% of your time promoting. The reality about writing is that the actual placement of words on the page is less than half of the required effort. There is no barrier here to publishing trash, but in self-publishing, at least you’re sure to get it published, if you can pay the modest price.

Indie publishing, as it’s called, is like the Wild West. It’s a free-for-all, but one that is at least vigorous and exciting. It’s young, and things are happening in this wild place! You will need to stop worrying that being with all these other writers makes you look bad, and do what every writer needs to do––set yourself apart. Find a platform of people who might want to hear what you have to say, who share your interests. Anything goes now, and I like that. The old-line publishers have for too long masqueraded as the bastion of quality. Now the reader will make the choice again of what succeeds, and because there are so many inexpensive options for ebooks, with some even free, it’s possible that more people will be reading, since it's much more affordable now. When did the price of anything ever go down before?

No one will miss the old style bookstore more than I will, but the business model is changing, and they’re no longer competitive.

Here’s what to do: learn the indie publishing business. The Internet is full of sites that will tell you the detail. Decide whether you need a subsidy publisher. This is what most “self-publishing” companies really are. They will get your book in print for you for a fee in the low hundreds to the low thousands of dollars, depending on how elaborately you want it done. Most of them will then take a cut of every single book sale you make.

If you have only one book, and it’s not likely to sell well, this may make sense for you. You can be a published author, sell a few books to friends, and get on with your bucket list. If, however, you’re a serious author, whether you have only one book, or a series that could sell, you’re better off learning the nuts and bolts and doing it all yourself. Because once the pain of mastering the detail of putting out your book is over, you will own your book and control it forever. You will give no one else a cut.

That is the route I took. At first I found the process opaque, and I spent eight months mastering the publishing part. My wife learned the software, so she could design and format our interiors for print editions. Now she uses it to help others get into print. I’ve published thirteen of my own books so far, and I have three more coming out in the next year. My process now is to become more sophisticated about promotion, which has layers of nuance. With time, it yields to your effort.

The message is that it can be done, and done well. You don’t need all the New York people; they don’t want you anyway. Self-publishing requires the same things that other businesses require: determination and hard work. The information on how to approach it is easily available online.

Two years have passed since I started this venture. Please check my website and see how I did. I’d like to hear from you –– your comments will help me to improve it.

John’s website is www.sanmiguelallendebooks.com

Tip O'Day #381 - Hone Your Craft

Guest blogger Warren Bull on persistence.

Dixon Rice, whose novel The Assassins Club can be downloaded from Kindle, was kind enough to ask if I would write a post for his blog. He noted that his goal is, “writing well enough to be published, whether it actually happens or not.”

It struck me that Dixon’s goal is similar to mine. I wrote my-all time favorite short story for author readings, “The Wrong Man,” in response to a call for submissions from a magazine. Sometimes writing is as painful as self-dentistry. Writing this story was fun. I borrowed a friend’s fictitious setting, with his permission of course, plopped my character in the middle of it and typed away. I even added a few details to the biography of my friend’s main character, again with his permission, although that character never appeared in the story.

Of course in the writing world having too much fun arouses the ire of the muse who must be wooed and gently persuaded into being helpful. She cannot be rushed. Thus it came as no great surprise that the magazine went out of business before I could send the story in.

For the next three or four years every time I submitted “The Wrong Man” to other venues I got absolutely great rejection letters. Trust me. I’ve had acceptances that were much less enthusiastic. Like Odysseus, “The Wrong Man” sailed across the writing world and ended up in a safe harbor on a webzine on the far side of the globe — in this case, Australia.

By now, “The Wrong Man” is available online, in print and for audio download. I plan to read it aloud at Killer Nashville later this month. I’ve read it to different audiences half a dozen times. Each time it evoked laughter and applause.

I could have given up on the story, of course, but I persisted. In part, I was curious about how many wonderful rejections it could rack up. In part, it served and still serves as a metaphor for what it’s like to be a writer. I cannot control when or if anything I write will ever be accepted for publication. It does not matter how much schlock gets published from other writers. It does not matter that my work is better than theirs. What matters is that I put in the time and effort to continue to hone my craft, that I remain open to feedback, especially negative feedback, and that I continue to write.

Warren Bull is a multiple award-winning author and a Derringer Award finalist. He has more than forty short stories published, as well as novels, Abraham Lincoln for the Defense, Heartland, and Murder in the Moonlight (all available here) and a short story collection, Murder Manhattan Style (available here). Also check out his blog.

Tip O'Day #335 - Writers are Readers, Too

Guest blogger Ann Swann on what she looks for in a book.

First, I have my favorites like Stephen and Tabitha King, John Grisham, and Anne Tyler. Then there's my daughter, Sara Barnard. She's a new, soon-to-be-published Romance author, and I'm always reading her latest.

I also have my online author friends. I've got about sixteen of their books on my Kindle right now. I'm constantly downloading to my Kindle. Biographies are one of my weaknesses. Then there are my fellow Cool Well Authors. I'm such a nosy-Nancy. I want to read everything they write, but that doesn't leave me any time for my own work.

Finally, I am a real sucker for a colorful cover. I recently saw a Young Adult book, After the Snow Falls, and the beautiful snowy-blue cover caught my eye right away. The same way with the Twilight books, that red on black was really eye-catching. A book from a few years ago, The Body Finder, had a gorgeous cover. Of course the blurb is important, too. But that's a whole other topic!

Ann Swann is author of The Phantom Pilot, book one of The Phantom Series (The next book, The Phantom Student, will be out in October.) Learn more here or on this link to the book trailer.

Tip O'Day #331 - Gratify Me!

Guest blogger Hugh Ashton on 99 cent e-books.

A phrase which has been swimming into my mind over the past few weeks has been "instant gratification," both in connection with those producing books, and those reading them.

For those who produce books, the process has never been easier. Sit down in front of a keyboard, hammer out 2,000 words or even less, upload it to a Web site and "I have a book out! Hey! I'm a published author!" This entitles you to put "Author" before or after your name in your Facebook profile. Of course, this isn't true of all self-published or independently published authors, but there are still enough instant authors out there to tarnish the reputation of independent books as a genre (and at times e-books in general).

In my opinion, books should demand a little effort to produce. After all, we don't automatically assume that because we can hold a knife and slice up a roast turkey, we are then qualified to perform brain surgery. Or because we can ride a bicycle, we can take part as a competitor in the Tour de France. These things take some extra effort, not to mention skills that have to be honed over several years. Why should writing a book be different? I am glad to see that in large parts of the Indie community, there is a growing recognition of the need for quality.

The instant gratification applies to readers as well as it does to writers. The tendency to turn a book into a $0.99 download (or even free) may be good for Amazon, but is bad for writers, bad for readers, and bad for books. Why bad for writers? Because if $0.99 becomes the standard, it become more difficult to sell a good book for more money (and it actually costs money to produce a book - let alone the time it takes to write it, there's editing, cover art, and promotion costs).

p>Readers have little patience if they have paid little or no money for the book, and will expect to be entertained in the first few pages, or else it's simply a matter of ... flick ... change the channel and go to a new book. If the book is slightly more expensive, and is therefore not so much of an impulse buy, there's more incentive to carry on. The gratification from reading the book must be there, of course, but it doesn't have to be instant.

Rather than gratification, we should be using the word "imagination" in conjunction with books - reading a work of fiction should be an exercise in imagination. It's the difference between climbing a mountain and taking a helicopter to the summit. At the end of the day, the reader will feel more rewarded by using the brain than being spoon-fed. You, the author, will have written a better book for which you feel justified in asking more than $0.99.

Check out Hugh’s blog and writing here.

Tip O'Day #322 - Try a Kindle

Guest blogger Rod Lindsey on leaving the Luddites behind.

I'm a caveman stuck in modern times and I admit that my embrace of technology roughly equates to pacing the dirt floor in my cave, my trusty club on my shoulder, knowing there are better clubs available out there but unwilling to let go of the balance and feel that I'm used to.

Take my library, for example, a few hundred books that have meant the world to me. I can't remember how many times I've packed them up and moved them, how many shelves I've built for them, the collection always growing. I like to read and re-read them. I like to just sit and look at them, remembering and imagining all the thoughts and ideas they contain. Then I think of ancient libraries, of parchment rolls and hieroglyphs carved in stone and my library begins to seem a bit...heavy.

This brings me to my new Kindle - I've resisted getting on board the e-book rage until a couple of weeks ago simply because a book has always been a book to me, but I've got to admit that I really enjoy reading (fiction, at least) on the Kindle. Maybe a book is really the characters, ideas, and secrets contained inside.

Check out Rod at his blog.

Tip O'Day #315 - Free Book Promos

Guest blogger Diane Rapp on “What to Expect During a FREE Book Promotion.”

I became an Indie author in August of 2011 and started uploading my four novels to the Amazon and Barnes & Noble websites. In “real life” I sold real estate, wrote ad copy, and owned a small retail business. I never marketed myself, so Twitter and Facebook seemed like a foreign countries with languages of their own.

My daughter designed a website, and I started promoting my work. Six months later I read about authors’ success with Amazon’s Kindle Select, so I dropped Barnes & Noble (very few sales anyway) and signed up on the program.

Should I schedule free book days? With two different series, I could offer the first book in each to promote the series, but shouldn’t I wait until I had more titles to offer? Evidently free days do a lot for a single book. When a book moves up the free list “also boughts” kick in (the message that says “customers who bought this book also bought—insert your title”). I decided to offer two books for free in February. A friend directed me to a fantastic article by Karen Barney “Maximizing Free Days on Kindle Select." I had a game plan. In addition I joined tweet groups to spread the word to more readers. I suggest joining the tweet team at Women’s Literary Café and shorten links to your book at www.bitly.com.

Let’s get to the numbers. With Howl of the Wolf I gave away 4390 e-books in two days. After two weeks I’ve sold 177 books plus 13 borrows. During the same period, my friend Tina Boscha gave away River in the Sea. She reports 13,650 free downloads and sold 306 books plus 70 borrows. Therefore the more free books downloaded equals more sales. Both of us increased our sales from previous months.

The following week I offered Murder Caribbean-Style free and gave away 5225 e-books. The title reached #6 on the Free Mystery list. After two free promotions, all four of my books are selling, including the #2 in each series.

What should authors expect AFTER a free promotion?

(1) There will be dead time without sales that can be unnerving. Don’t look! Mark down the number of free books downloaded (so you can do the math later), and ignore your statistics for at least 24 hours. Don’t peek!
(2) After that sales should begin, along with some returns. Don’t let returns phase you. After free days people click without checking and return the book when they get charged.
(3) In the next week “also boughts” kick in and people browse your title. About that time, your sales rank gets higher, peaking 4 or 5 days later.
(4) Two weeks after free days, you may have several hundred sales. Regardless of how many you gain immediately, you received valuable exposure as an author!

Trying to navigate the strange world of Indie publishing and self-promotion can be daunting. If anyone has more questions, contact me through QuickSilver Novels website or on Twitter @DianeRapp.

Tip O'Day #275 - Wet Behind the Ears

Guest blogger Tami Kidd on some surprising (to her) achievements.

(After raising two children and the turmoil of an unhappy marriage,) I now have the time to do what I've always LOVED to do, write.

Until last year when I entered the NaNoWriMo challenge, I never dreamed I'd actually finish a novel. I did. As part of finishing, the winners were allowed to get hard copies of their books published through CreateSpace.

I never previously considered self-publishing, mostly because it was called vanity publishing and real writers didn't do that. They were supposed to get published through traditional publishing houses. I decided to give it a shot and now my book is available through Amazon and Barnes & Noble and it has gotten some great reviews. I still consider myself wet behind the ears and I'm learning as I go. I know one thing: the hardest part about publishing is promoting.

Tip O'Day #274 - Covers that Kill

Blog host Dixon Rice on effective e-book covers.

I’ve been editing comments for a blog post I'm planning next week about how readers decide to choose the e-books of unfamiliar authors. There seem to be five primary factors: cover design, the blurb, sample pages, reviews & ratings, and recommendations from friends. As authors, there’s little we can do about the last two, but I’ve got some thoughts on the others. Although I’m no graphic design pro, I’ll start with book covers.

In my humble opinion, it seems many self-published writers (and some designers) begin with a concept that works well at hard cover size, and then reduce it to thumbnail size for the e-book. This often results in a cover with jumbled images and teeny-tiny, illegible text.

Other problems with e-book covers may include: (1) Not reflecting the genre or subject matter; (2) Type that’s out of sync with the imagery or genre; (3) Typography that’s too complex, too busy, or lacks contrast with background; (4) Visual confusion from competing images and types; and (5) A lack of focus.

Let me share a bit of the journey with my thriller e-book, the first of a serial killer vs serial killer series set in the early 1970s. I worked with Suzanne Fyhrie Parrott - after discussing The Assassins Club with me, she emailed a series of rough concepts, shown here. I liked the feel of the body outline but thought it was too clichéd. The black/gray bearded character doesn’t appear in later books of this series, so that was out. I liked the scarlet winged logo a lot, and that ended up in second place. The beer stein pierced by a knife appeared dramatic, but I never warmed to that image - not sure why.

Since quite a few scenes take place in a rundown Montana roadhouse where the antihero bartends, the cocktail glass best reflected the story. But it didn’t yet “say” serial killer. And there were perspective issues – the top and base of the glass were equally in focus, as well as the cocktail napkin. Turning the glass to a sideways view solved the perspective problem. Suzanne and I brainstormed a few changes – the handle of a pistol in the corner, or a couple of bullets standing next to the cocktail glass. We wanted to better reflect the story, without making the cover too busy. Then I mentioned “bullet holes” and Suzanne sucked in her breath. The next day, she emailed me a design which became the final cover with very little refining.

Dixon blogs, well...right here at Wredheaded Writer. The Assassins Club is available on Kindle or Nook.

Tip O'Day #222 - Tree Book vs E-book

Guest blogger Gary Williams on the appeal of e-publishing (Part 2 of 3).

I’ve heard some people say that they will never read an e-book. They love the feel and smell of a tangible book. I must agree, there is something comforting, almost romantic, about turning the pages of a bound book, the scent of the paper. But the fact is, we are a society of convenience and immediacy. As people get comfortable with the technology, which is about as user friendly as you can get, more and more will convert.

Talk to anyone who is a regular e-device user and you’ll find that they’re hooked. Both my parents are in their 80s. Each owns a Kindle. My father is on pace to read more novels this year than I’ve read in my entire life, and he hasn’t set foot in a brick-and-mortar book store for years.

Gary Williams co-writes with Vicky Knerly. Their debut thriller, Death in the Beginning, was released electronically on November 21st, two days ago.

Tip O'Day #220 - e-pub trends

Guest blogger Gary Williams on the appeal of e-publishing (Part 1 of 3).

The publishing industry took a turn a few years ago with the introduction of e-publishing. From a fledgling start where it faced considerable opposition, e-books are becoming prevalent at a time when the economy is in most need of inexpensive entertainment.

Five years ago Nooks and Kindles were luxuries for the serious, well-to-do readers. Few people made the hefty investment, which carried a price tag in excess of $400. But like the original pocket calculators that came out in the late 1960’s and costs over $400 and now can be bought for $10, the price of electronic readers has begun to plummet. Kindle is now advertising a version for under $100. Cell phone reader apps are also very inexpensive, and in some cases free.

Do people really read e-books? According to the American Association of Publishers, purchases of e-books have soared over the last year. E-books sales in August 2010 compared to August 2011 were up 116%, while adult paperback sales were down almost 6% and adult hardback down 11% for that same month. As a matter of fact, every category of books suffered a decline in this period with the exception of e-books and audiobooks. And while e-books still only represent 17.6% of total book sales in August 2011, that’s a tremendous leap from the 7.8% the same month a year before. At this rate of growth, they will soon overtake the sale of all other book mediums combined.

Gary Williams co-writes with Vicky Knerly. Their debut thriller, Death in the Beginning, was released electronically on November 21st. Wait a minute – that’s today! Best wishes, you two.

Tip O'Day #219 - "Picture It"

Guest blogger John Klawitter on visual imagery in e-books.

We’re all aware our audience increasingly devours everything from novels to e-zines on small, hand-held screens. And now it seems e-books are moving beyond words and in the direction of visual imagery. With formats like Kindle, Smashwords and CreateSpace we can add images in the text of our work.

Fifteen years ago, when I wrote Headslap, a sports bio about the life and times of Deacon Jones, the publisher grudgingly included a group of pictures in one section in the center of the book. That used to be the way they did it, an awkward section not all that convenient to refer to. Today you can sprinkle photos and drawings throughout your book at little or no extra cost. But that’s just one current step in the trend.

Today’s writers are linking to video imagery within the body of the text. I myself am working on a how-to book meant to inspire writers who want to venture into storytelling videos, and I’m imbedding links to YouTube and Vimeo to give readers the opportunity to experience short video examples of exactly what I’m talking about.

Tip O'Day #203 - "The Dead File"

Guest blogger Madison Woods on publishing stories that previously appeared in your own blog.

Earlier this year I learned a valuable lesson. I have a 'dead file' where I put the short stories that didn't gel for some reason. A couple years ago I posted one of these stories to my blog in weekly segments to get feedback from readers. Did a little rewriting on it but still wasn't satisfied so I put it back in the dead file and forgot about it.

This past summer I found out about a new magazine that was going to pay professional rates (5-6 cents/word). Browsing through my dead file brought me back to that story I'd given up on. I realized what was wrong with it and made changes that revived it and made it sale worthy. The magazine bought it. Contracts signed.

Then one day, I found the posts on my blog. Oh boy. I knew I had to tell the editor that the story had been 'published' on my blog. A writer friend of mine, K.d. McCrite, had warned about this but I didn't listen. Some editors wouldn't care because it's not likely any of the magazine's readers would have read the story on my blog. This editor did care, and it cost me the sale.

Madison blogs at http://www.MadisonWoods.wordpress.com/

Tip O'Day #202 - "The Undead"

Guest blogger Glenn Gamble says “Print is Not Dead.”

Although it’s not my preferred method of publication, the print medium is not dead. I’ve seen statistics that e-books account for less than 15% of all book sales despite their phenomenal growth. I haven’t done in-depth research on my own, but the fact remains that I’m leaving 85% of sales on the table. “Why?” you might ask.

As many mid-list authors have discovered, e-books are more cost-effective and less expensive than print. I had previously self-published a book in 2009, but then didn’t publish one for the next two years due to the expense of a print run. Discouraged by the results of my first attempt at self-publishing, I stopped publishing period. My sales didn’t justify the costs and I had neither the time nor money to do the needed legwork. Another author suggested publishing on Kindle, but I dismissed the idea because Amazon only paid a 35% royalty.

Two years later, that same author is making a nice living selling her books on Kindle, and I… I’m starting over because I didn’t share her foresight on the Kindle Revolution. However, missing out on this opportunity has reinvigorated me. Since May of this year, I have released three books - four in a few days - and I’m currently working on a prequel to the Jim Money series. I didn’t have such drive two years ago, but I’m hungry now and looking forward to getting my work out to readers. Kindle provides the easiest and most cost-effective way for me to publish my work. This is why I choose to miss out on 85% of print sales.

Glenn’s books are available on Amazon Kindle http://www.amazon.com/Glenn-Gamble/e/B002BMGSVK and Barnes and Noble Nook http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Glenn-Gamble?keyword=Glenn+Gamble&store=allproducts and Smashwords http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/glenngamble and most recently in the iBookstore.

Tip O'Day for Authors #178

Guest blogger Terry Ravenscroft says 35% of something is better than 70% of nothing.

In January of this year I published my eight paperbacks as Kindle e-books. Amazon UK pays the writer 70% of the price for books priced at over £2.00, 35% under £2.00. I priced my books at £3.49 each. My share was £2.15. Average sales were less that 8 per week.

Ten weeks ago I re-priced one of my books at 99 pence, which netted me 30 pence per copy. The first week I sold 10. The next week 57. The third week 188. The fourth week I re-priced all my books at 99 pence. This week I sold 3,350. Do the math, as they say.

Check out Terry’s Amazon page at http://amzn.to/nKRuEI

Tip O'Day for Authors #172

Guest blogger Suzy Turner on using your book reader to help your writing.

If you have a Kindle or Nook and want to read your manuscript on your device before you upload it to Amazon, etc, convert the file super easily (from Word to Mobi for example) via zamzar.com. It's a great way to spot any little errors that may have been missed in the editing process.

To learn more about Suzy, visit her website at http://suzyturner.com/

Dixon says: Also, Kindles have a read-back feature. Download your manuscript and listen to it in either a male or female voice. Any mistakes will jump out at you. The male voice seems more natural, less robotic.