Credibility Counts

Angela DeCaires
Publishing Director                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

We’re all “experts” in something. My husband might say I’m an expert in “shoe shopping.” I’d say it’s more like I’m an expert in “the fine art of amassing a collection of colorful shoes obtained for a bargain at maximum enjoyment”! I have a lot of shoes (is 150+ pairs really a lot?), and I shop at many shoe stores, but does that really make me an “expert”? That’s up for debate.

When you’re writing a book, your credibility on the topic you’re writing about really counts, because it will come into question. Whether it’s by agents, publishers, potential readers, other authors, or members of the media, you’ll be the subject of potential scrutiny by many. But if you’ve written on a topic that’s truly in your area of expertise, then there’s no need to worry, right? Well, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still be prepared.

 

• Get your facts straight: Go through your resume/bio and double-check everything to be sure it’s accurate, up-to-date, and most importantly, honest. Polishing your resume and bio is one thing, but adding things that aren’t true is another.
• Be prepared for the tough questions: You may be asked directly by the media, an agent, or anyone, “What makes you an expert?” or “What makes you qualified to tell others what they should do?” Do you have an effective answer ready for this question?
• They may research you: Fact-checking does happen. Past employers, colleagues, friends, literally anyone who has had a known connection to you could be called and asked about you at any point. That doesn’t mean you need to be worried about every traffic ticket you’ve ever gotten coming to light, but if you have dirty laundry, it could be aired out.
• Consider the legal ramifications: It’s cliché, but remember, “Anything you say can and will be used against you.” The same is true for what you write in your book. If you give advice that you’re not fully qualified to give and maybe that you cannot defend later, you may risk being sued, or held liable, for that advice if someone feels it has caused them harm or damage in some way.

The editing process is a great time to fine-tune and maybe take out material that may put you at risk, so keep these things in mind when you work with your editor on the manuscript. Ultimately, you want to produce a book that you are proud of and that is the best reflection of you both personally and professionally!

Evaluate the Risks Before Following a Trend

Corin McDonald
Copyeditor/Proofreader

 It never fails that when a book is new and popular, an “instant best seller,” countless spin-offs will hit the publishing industry. This is not a new phenomenon; you can see this with many popular books like Harry Potter or (in my opinion, most unfortunately) Twilight. Like it or not, it seems that as soon as someone is successful, everyone wants to try the same thing to try to find that same success.

In the publishing industry in particular, you will see that trends come and go all the time. When a successful book comes out, readers (and authors) will rush to it, creating a temporary boom in sales. This will last for a time, and then another popular book will emerge; the process repeats itself over and over. When one type of book captures a reader’s imagination, heart, and/or interest, they will usually look in the same genre for something similar. And then many authors will try to provide that to them.

Before you decide to jump on the bandwagon, however, you need to stop and think. There’s potential risk involved in trying to cash in on a fad; it might be over by the time you’re done writing. But at the same time, it could also boost your sales. So how should you decide? Here’s a few of the most important things that you should consider before you try your hand at the latest publishing craze:

• You need to act fast. The longer it’s been since the genre/fad became popular, the more that reader interest is going to start to dwindle. You have to remember that eventually, people are going to start looking for something new or different from what they’ve been reading. Even if your book is outstanding, if readers are looking for something else, it might not sell as well as it should. A good way to measure this is simply to listen and pay attention. What sorts of books are showing up on the front pages of publishers or booksellers? Have there been any books recently featured in talk shows or other programming for their popularity? Are there popular shows on television about the same topic? If you’re starting to see less and less of something, chances are, it’s on its way out the door…for now.
•  You’re going to have lots of competition. Although you’re never the only one writing in a genre, when something becomes popular, the market is absolutely flooded with other submissions that are going to be similar. You’re going to have to stand out in a crowd if you’re hoping to sell your book, and that can be difficult with the sheer volume of submissions. Which brings me to the next point…
• You need to be creative. If your book is entering in the market while its genre is popular, your story needs to stand out. Whether you have your own twist on the genre, have an original plot line, or introduce something that’s never been done, you’re going to need something special. But this doesn’t stop at writing your book; it goes all the way into marketing it. In order to help your sales grow, you will need to market your book in such a way that it grabs readers’ attention.

As a writer, you should be aware of the potential risks and benefits of following a trend. Fads in all businesses (including publishing) are a double-edged sword; they have great potential to help your novel succeed, but they can also “drown out” your novel if you don’t take special care in developing your book and marketing it.

Regardless of current trends, however, if you have a great novel, don’t hesitate to publish it! After all, whether it follows the current trend or lies in a completely different genre, a great book is a great book. And who knows? You just may be the one who starts the next big thing.

Tips for Better Proofreading

Daren Fowler
Editor

Proofreading is not about whether your content, ideas, or flow is right, smart, effective, or interesting. Instead, proofreading is about whether it is readable. When proofing, you are looking at grammar, punctuation, spelling, and sentence structure. Having a technically correct text can be powerful; it creates a smoother, smarter, and more enjoyable reading experience. A comma in the wrong place, a verb used incorrectly, or an oddly ordered phrase will pull the reader out of the text, and potentially, undermine the author’s goal and purpose. The mechanics of writing may seem minor in the overall context of your ideas, but without this foundation, your ideas and content can crumble.

1. Step away: You have finished the chapter, section, or book! Now put it away. Leave it for a day or two (even a week if the book is long). Go do something completely different to get your mind off your content, ideas, and the act of writing. If you dive straight back into the text, your mind will still be focused on the large, overarching ideas and mentally fix “busness” into “business” without ever letting you know. A break will give your mind time to let go, so it can return refreshed and unburdened.

2. Read it aloud: Even giving yourself time does not mean your mind will be kind to you. We generally understand how language is supposed to function verbally; the problems usually come when trying to write it down. To further combat the secret mental fixes, read the text aloud. Reading aloud can help force you to consider both readability and content. It will be hard for your mind to both tell you to say “busness” and comprehend it as “business.” Furthermore, reading aloud means you will actually pause with each comma and notice how odd it sounds, or you will be reading and insert a pause naturally because a comma is needed that you forgot.

3. Read Backwards: This does not mean reading in some kind of demonic sounding terror with each letter said in reverse (etalocohc). Instead, go to your last sentence of the last paragraph, start there and work your way to the first. In other words, read sentence ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, and then one. Starting at the back will once again force your mind to stop thinking about the overall ideas. Sentence ten may be narratively dependent on sentence nine to make sense, but the mechanics of sentence ten are not. The Oxford comma always comes before the last item in a list, business is always spelled with an i, and there never needs to be two spaces following a period.

4. Print it Out: With the use of digital technology, it has become easy to only ever work on a computer or tablet. It can be helpful, though, to print out the document, grab a colored pen, and go in by hand. Your eyes work differently when looking at a computer and when looking at paper. There are different light levels, textures, movements, and sizes with each medium. Changing the way you engage with your text changes the way you think and notice things. Once again, it is all about forcing your mind to work differently.

5. And Repeat: Read it again . . . and again . . . and again. Once you finish all the above steps (or your own techniques), start over. This could take days, even weeks, but to create something that people will care about and invest in is hard and needs that much time and effort. A professor gave me a great piece of advice: if you have less than three drafts of an essay, you’re doing it wrong. As a writer, you have to be willing to dig into your work, rip it to shreds, and piece it back together. You have to be your harshest critic, because your book is more than just your work, it is YOU. Doing one read through will never be enough, even if you do not tear it apart, always go back and triple check that this text is the text you want and deserve.

As with most things in life, the more you practice the better you will become. Every mistake you find means you are less likely to repeat it in the future. Think of proofreading as a system for developing your writing muscles. The more you train, the stronger you become. It will probably hurt—you will get tired, sore, and frustrated sometimes—but slowly, your proofreading skills will become muscle memory, they will become engrained in how you write and think. You will always miss things, it is inevitable, but with each read, you will develop and grow.

Before I leave you, it is important I clarify one thing. Just because you have proofread or given it to someone else to proofread, does not mean you can skip having a professional editor. No matter how good you are, you need someone trained and experienced in the field of editing to go through your text. If you want to publish a book, a professional editor is essential. Qualified editors will know the standards and expectations of the publishing world, so that your text does not stand out in a bad way. For some helpful tips on what an editor does and what to look for, check out Corin McDonald’s post from March 4.

Don’t miss our free webinar on Book Editing 101 on June 11, 2014 at 1:00 p.m. Click here for details.

Publishing Children’s Books: It’s Not All Child’s Play

Angela DeCaires
Publishing Director

You’ve decided to write a children’s book. Wonderful! Children’s books are one of the most fun genres to publish, but can also be a very challenging genre in the publishing industry.

With new children’s books entering the marketing daily, there is a lot of competition. Walk into any bookstore, or search online, and you’ll see just how many titles your book will have to fight against for attention. Because of the high costs of production and publication, it’s often not profitable to publish a children’s book. But you can be a successfully published children’s book author, if you take time to learn more about the steps involved and your options.

An important first step, before you even write a single word of the book, is to identify your target audience. “Children,” you say. Not good enough. Girls? Boys? What ages? 2–5? 3–8? You have to be specific, because that will affect the writing and editorial process.

When writing, keep the target audience in mind. Are you writing with vocabulary they can understand? Are you keeping them engaged, or will they get bored? Will they want to read the book again, or toss it away after one reading? Your editor will assist you in determining this during the editorial process, and will make suggestions on word choice, flow, plot, and more.

Illustration is key to the success of your book. The trick is to have beautiful illustrations that didn’t break your budget in the process. Consider not having illustrations on every single page of the book. Or do a mix of some color and some black and white illustrations. Maybe find an art student who is looking for some experience in exchange for a reduced cost.

Printing is another area to budget wisely. Choose paperback over hardcover to cut costs. You may think it’s better to pay less per book by printing a lot of books, but what if you print hundreds of books that have a mistake in them? Better to print a small first run and make sure all the “kinks” are worked out before you commit to printing a large order of books.

Then of course there’s the marketing of the book, which will make or break the success of any book…but we’ll save that for another time!

Authors: Raise the Bar in Your Marketing!

Ian Douglas
Marketing Coordinator

Up your marketing game to sell more books!

As we near the half way point of 2014 several things become clear; it is an exciting time in the world of self-publishing and opportunities abound. As the self-publishing industry continues to grow and mature, it is important for authors to raise the bar alongside their publisher in order to stay competitive. The recent surge in growth of self-published authors has made it more important than ever to set yourself apart from the competition. The accompanying rise of eBooks on a global scale has further increased the volume and complexity of the indie book market, raising standards and increasing the need for quality control. Authors should strive to continuously educate themselves on how to produce the best possible product, as mediocrity is no longer a viable option.

While creating a quality publication takes a great deal of time and hard work, it is merely the tip of the iceberg in the grand scheme of becoming a successful author. Creating the right marketing strategy for your book is just as important as the quality of the book itself. Getting the word out about your book can seem like a daunting task at first. Where does one even start? Cultivating a professional presence online through social media should be a top priority on your list. Using social media properly enables you to connect to over a billion potential customers worldwide, giving you unlimited potential for growth.

Establishing a professional presence on the five main social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Linkedin and YouTube) is the first step you should take in your new online marketing endeavor. Having an organized and eye catching page for each of these sites will greatly increase the chances of it receiving traffic. Once you’ve established a page it’s time to establish yourself as part of the community. People don’t want to be marketed to directly, especially on social media. You must humanize yourself in the digital world before pushing a product onto someone. The best way to do this is to join like-minded communities and contribute to them without expecting anything immediately in return. Helping answer peoples questions, giving advice or even posting ‘how-to’ videos and articles will establish you as an actual member of the online community, gaining the trust and respect of those you interact with. Having people spread positive things about you on social media can be an incredibly effective marketing tool if you are targeting the right groups.

It is critical that you know your target audience, and once you’ve connected with them on social media you should be continuously analyzing the results of your interactions and adjusting your strategies accordingly. Get to know them by providing feedback, information, and resources. Be proactive in listening and responding to what people have to say, react quickly and appropriately. Demonstrate that you want to have a conversation with the audience rather than just maintaining a news feed.

Strategic keyword usage is crucial on all social media sites. Keywords and keyword optimized content make it easier for others to find you, allowing you to continually expand your reach within your target audience. Encourage interaction online by posting polls, asking questions and continuously adding compelling and diverse content. The online community values consistency, authenticity and transparency above all else, so make sure you are adhering to those three principles when building an online reputation.

Offering video content is important because it’s 53 times more successful than text for achieving optimal page placement on google as well as overall discovery. Studies have shown that 4 out of 10 shoppers visited a store and bought something as a direct result of watching a video. Brand each of your social media pages with a customized background to establish an image that displays your value proposition in a compelling manner. Establishing an image and online relationships will create brand advocates and evangelists who will spread the word for you. Driving meaningful interaction and establishing a quality network holds unlimited potential for your new business enterprise. With time and due diligence the results will speak for themselves.

Tis the Season for Book Releases!

Kristyn Iodice
Book Publicist

With the warm weather season beginning, many authors aim to have their books released within the next several months. One of the best ways to raise awareness and draw attention to your newest literary accomplishment is through a book launch event. Book launch events range in scale from simple in-home parties to elaborate catered events in a hotel ballroom. Understanding the goal of your launch event, the time you have to plan it, and setting a realistic budget will allow you to have a successful event regardless of the size!

Things to keep in mind when planning a launch event:
Time: We at BookLogix typically recommend that an author has their launch event just before the actual release of their book. In the past, when authors publically release their book before their release party, attendees purchased the book online prior to attending the event, and the author lost out on their most profitable sale—in person sales. Your royalty amount will be much higher if people purchase directly from you than from an online or physical retailer.
On the topic of time, give yourself at least two months to plan and prepare for your book launch event. Depending on the scale of the party, you will need time to find a location, set a date, make dining decisions, determine your guest list, create and send out invitations, and promote the event if necessary.

Budget: Create a budget for yourself that will help set parameters on your book launch event. Determine what the total cost you are willing to spend on your launch is, and then break that money into individual categories: rental space, food and drinks, entertainment, decorations, etc.

Location: The location of your launch should depend on several things: your budget, the number of guests you expect, where most of those guests live, the age range of your guests, themes in your book, etc. Get creative! If you can find a way to tie your location in to the setting of your book or a common theme in your book, you increase the chances of creating a fun and memorable evening for your guests. *If you plan to have an outdoor event, be sure to have a contingency plan in case of bad weather!

Guests: Guest lists will typically include family, friends, and colleagues. You will also want to consider the content, topic, and genre of your book when determining your guest list. If you have written a business/resource book, it would be beneficial for you to invite business professionals, company executives, association leaders, etc. Your book launch event can be a great way to network and begin to build a buzz within certain groups.

Set the Expectation: When going into your launch event, it is important to keep the focus around you as the author and your book. Set up a prominent table that people must walk by as soon as they enter. Offer to sign books and encourage each reader to leave a review on Amazon once the book goes live. You can even have a postcard made with a direct link to your Amazon page, your social media pages, and your website. It is easy for people to lose focus on the purpose of an event when they are enjoying delicious food, fine drinks, and good conversation. Plan several moments throughout your event where you can bring the focus back to your book.

Anticipating Book Sales: Don’t print too many books. Determine the size of your guest list and then print accordingly. Remember that even though they have come out to your event, not every single person on your guest list is going to purchase the book. It is not a bad idea to have an order sheet in case you run out of books; you can simply take their information and ship a book out to them the following week.

Are you ready for your book release ? Join three of our experts on Saturday, May 10, 2014 for a free seminar to help prepare authors for book launches, media interviews, and other speaking engagements! Click here for details.

“Netflix for Books”: What Does This Mean for Authors?

Corin McDonald
Copyeditor/Proofreader

There’s always something going on in the publishing industry. But I stumbled across a new and interesting development recently: there is now a sort of “Netflix for books” that has popped up, called oysterbooks.com. I’m not sure if this is the only one out there, but to me, this poses an interesting question: what does this mean for authors?

Well, let’s take a moment to consider it. Oysterbooks.com (the service that I encountered) boasts on their website that a subscription grants access to over two hundred thousand books. Readers who subscribe will suddenly have a massive library at their fingertips. So what does this mean? Although I can’t predict the future, I can guess at some of the effects this will have in the long run. In particular, I’d like to discuss how it will affect authors.

I actually see this as something that could be a huge benefit to many authors who are not well known, but who write good content. Why? If readers are now able to flip through books without having to buy them individually, they will be more inclined to look at books that they normally would not. Readers will probably only read the first few chapters of a book if they find it to be uninteresting, if that. This is what makes many readers hesitant to purchase a book: if they end up not liking it, they feel they have wasted time and money. But if there is no fear of having paid for a “bad” book, they will gladly try something out and simply move on if they dislike it. Because of this, I think that many authors will get much more exposure.

In addition to this, I think this will help authors increase sales overall. There are probably some concerns for authors that they may lose sales because of services such as these. And I suppose it’s true that some people may end up simply reading a book from their subscription and move on, possibly multiplied by people who end up sharing subscriptions (let’s face it, that’s going to happen) who do the same. However, readers who find new books they enjoy will often look at other works that the author has created. If they like a book enough, they might be inclined to get a hard copy. They are also more likely to follow an author they have read and enjoyed, looking for their new works. This, of course, means that authors who write well could see an increase of sales when their next book releases.

Also, since these subscriptions are in electronic format, this may help bring more people to read e-books. Although traditional printed books aren’t going anywhere (many readers enjoy having a physical book in their hands, among other reasons), e-books may become more popular among authors; if nothing else, they may to try to boost exposure through these services.
It will be worth watching to see how this will affect the publishing industry. As with any new development, only time will tell how this service will fit into the market. But I certainly think this is a development that could end up unfolding into something new and exciting for readers, authors, and publishers alike.

Citing – Part I: Why Use Citations?

Daren Fowler
Editor

Citing is a form of reference that is essential to many non-fiction books. To cite is to acknowledge that you are drawing on something or someone else to make your own claims and conclusions. However, many authors struggle to understand the purpose of a citation. What will a citation bring to my work? Here are three important reasons citations exist:

Giving Credit: If you come up with a brilliant way to be successful in business, would do want someone else to take that idea and not give you credit? I did not think so. The main purpose for citing is to give credit where credit is due. If you someone else’s ideas are foundational to your own, then it is important to acknowledge that. There is no shame in telling your reader that you did not come up with every idea under the sun. They already know that to be the case. Your reader came to you because they trust or value your perspective on the wealth of information already available.

Helping the Reader: One of the greatest gifts citations bring to writing is expanding conversations. To write a book is to enter yourself into a conversation—be it the history of person or how to navigate the healthcare industry. A citation tells your reader, “If you like this idea, go here for some further information.” Your book cannot cover everything; therefore, anything you think is valuable, but beyond the scope of your book, can be cited to help further expand your reader’s knowledge. Giving your reader this additional information will also engender their trust, because they will see you are invested in their overall understanding and well-being.

Legality: No one wants to be told they plagiarized something. It sounds like you stole something, that you did something illegal. The truth is, to not cite someone for their ideas is plagiarism, it is stealing and illegal. When someone writes down an idea, it gives copyright over those ideas. To use those ideas without permission and acknowledgement is illegal and can result in legal action. However, just because you cite something does not mean you are completely protected from legal action. Using a citation means you did not steal the ideas, but you generally still need permission to even use the ideas. The issue of permission is different for the type of book you are doing; each field of study has different expectations. Talk with your editor to determine what you need for your book.

When you are writing your book, ask yourself these questions. If you say yes to any of them, you probably need citations.

“Did I do any research to write this book?”

“Did I go on Wikipedia (or any other information aggregator)?”

“Did I copy and paste from a website, book, or copyrightable material?”

“Am I a novice, or untrained, in this field of study?”

“Am I summarizing a complicated or generally unknown concept that I did not originate?”

Citations may seem superfluous or you may think that your book contains only your ideas. However, to create non-fiction content, in many cases, is to expand, complicate, or challenge existing ideas. Ultimately, understanding the value of citations will make you a better writer, show your investment in the ongoing dialogue, and want your readers to succeed.

 

 

5 Tips for Strengthening Your Fiction Writing

Laura Kajpust
Graphic Designer

Written a story, but not sure it’s engaging enough? Here are some tips to strengthen your writing!

1. Remove unnecessary words and phrases. Look through your manuscript for words such as “that,” “just,” “so,” “then,” “a lot,” “very,” “really,” “seem,” “suddenly,” etc.
A good rule of thumb: if the sentence make sense without it, you don’t need it. Let your sentences get to the point!

2. Show emotion. A very common mistake writers make is telling the reader what characters are feeling instead of showing it.
“He could tell she was nervous” just doesn’t carry the same punch as “She avoided his gaze, focusing on the floor as she bit her lip.”
Your readers are smart; they’ll understand what you mean.

3. Remove “realizations.” Speaking of telling, beginner writers often narrate too much by writing things such as: “He realized,” “She saw,” “He wondered”… Try to reword your sentences without those phrases.
“She realized he was lying” is not as powerful as “He was lying.”
“He wondered if they had seen it coming. Probably not, he thought.” is not as strong as: “Had they seen it coming? No. Probably not.”
The more concise, the better. It brings readers straight into your character’s head with impact!

4. Pace effectively. Check for variety in your sentence length. When you want fast pacing, write short sentences. When you need to slow things down, your sentences can be more complex. It’s good to have a mix between slow and fast so readers can be engaged in action when they need to be, but also have moments to relax in more thoughtful paragraphs.

5. Know your tendencies. When reviewing your work, you may notice that you re-used the same words a lot. Vary it up! Find these “favorite” words and replace them with different words—ones that may be even more appropriate for the tone or moment.

Be thoughtful with your editing and spend the time on it that it deserves.
Good luck and happy writing!

Crowdfunding for Authors: Raise Funds to Publish

Many writers are not giving their published books a fighting chance at success, because they’re not making the proper financial investment into publishing. They may skimp on marketing, design, and worst of all, editing, because they don’t have enough funding to cover the costs of these elements of the publishing process. It’s understandable, money is tight for most of us these days, and many authors have a great story idea, a great vision to share, but just don’t have the funds to publish.

If they don’t have a full publishing budget, they may skimp on some of the important elements of the publishing process, which can then hurt a book’s chances of success. Poor cover design will cause the book to fail to stand out. Poor or no editing can lead to negative reviews from buyers who do purchase the book. And skimping on marketing means no one even knows about the book.  As a matter of fact, in one study it was found that authors who did their own editing made 58% less than the average writer.

But this all doesn’t mean an author should just give up on dreams to publish if they don’t have the budget required. Today authors can raise funds to publish their book through crowdfunding. Crowdfunding is the process of funding a project, venture, or company by collecting many small donations from a large group of people, usually facilitated by the internet. Some popular crowdfunding sites include Kickstarter and Indiegogo. And now there’s a crowdfunding site for authors and books, called Pubslush.

BookLogix has worked with several authors who fully funded the publishing of their books by raising donations through crowdfunding. As part of their campaign, the authors pledged to give donors incentives based on the dollar level donated. Incentives included autographed copies of the book, special edition hardcover copies, t-shirts, and more. If you need more funding to publish your book, crowdfunding may be the perfect option for you. Just be sure to outline the benefit to investors of what they’ll get for donating to your endeavor. Also put together a detailed budget that shows what the funds will be used for, and why you’re trying to raise that amount you want.

Keep in mind that some crowdfunding websites have various restrictions, and one site may work better for your needs than other, so research their terms and conditions before starting a campaign. Like selling a book, you’ll need to do marketing so people know about your campaign. Spread the word, ask friends to share the information, and do be prepared to not receive the funds you’re hoping to get.

BookLogix is partnering with Pubslush to present a free webinar about crowdfunding for authors on April 2, 2014 at 1:00 p.m. The webinar will explain crowdfunding and how it can be used by authors, walk you through the campaign process, and offer tips for success. Register for the free webinar by clicking here.