Self-published = Salesperson, That’s Crazy Talk!

Hi All,

I’ve been in deep lurk mode as I work on the sequel to THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE KEEPER (sequel to THE GUARDIAN). But as indie-related business articles or posts catch my eye, I’ll try to pass them on.

Back in March, Courtney Milan did an interesting blog post about review ethics and specifically The Ask.

 

“But I have seen a handful of self-published books, where at the end of the book, there is a brief note that says something like this: If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review on Amazon.com.” Read post here. (Be sure to peruse the comments.)

As I started to comment, I realized I had a post worthy of sharing. So here are my thoughts:

My indie books do have a gentle ask at the end. Honest reviews are critical to an indie's credibility, brand building, and self-owned business. As self-published authors, we are entrepreneurs/small-business owners. And we have to act accordingly. In this brave, new publishing world, not only do authors have to think and act like marketers, they have to be savvy salespeople.

If you think about it from a sales perspective, books = products, readers = consumers. So what do we know about the average consumer and their product experiences?

Sales: Studies show that dissatisfied customers will tell more people (8-10) about their experience with a product than happy customers (2-3 people). Read more here and here (or just Google “dissatisfied customers”).

“About13 percent of dissatisfied customers tell more than 20 people.” (White House Office of Consumer Affairs, Washington, DC) eCommerce is a game of statistics and the global potential for disgruntled readers to rant is exponential. The first place they go—you guessed it—on line. Here’s a great article from MediaSpace to illustrate the point.

Even more compelling, perhaps, is the data that comes from science:

Science: Psychologically and physiologically, human beings are hardwired to focus on the negative (NY Times article: Praise is Fleeting, but Brick Bats We Recall). "Bad is Stronger than Good."

 

This data has 2 primary implications: 1) readers are more likely to review books that have made some sort of negative impact on them, and 2) prospective readers are likely to weigh negative reviews stronger than positive ones.

That brings us to The Ask:

“If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review on Amazon.com.” 

The Ask helps level the playing field. It equates a positive reader/consumer experience with a call to action in a very non-threatening way. Genuine, positive reviews build product confidence for potential readers. Think about it for a second…Have you ever looked at the reviews for a product you were considering on Amazon prior to purchasing? Have the rating/reviews ever swayed your decision to buy or not buy? Have you ever looked at reviews for a book that you were considering? What are people saying about this? is a question most consumers are curious to answer, and the greater the risk, the more we want reassurance before a purchase commitment. So why wouldn’t you, as an indie author, do everything within the boundaries of your principles and ethics to get the reviews needed to grow your business?*

It is my theory that so many authors are uncomfortable with The Ask for the same reason they would never consider a career in sales. They lack the constitution/principles/desire needed to succeed as a salesperson. I get that (really, I do). But just about every successful business on the planet has a sales department—even the big six publishers. So who is the sales force behind the self-published author?  * pause for dramatic emphasis* That’s right. I am/you are. So don’t neglect your sales plan. 

It’s like I always tell my kids: “How am I supposed to know if you don't (respectfully) tell me what you need? After all, I’m not a mind reader”—and neither are my potential consumers. 

Happy sales!

Carey

(Who may, or may not, work in the Marketing & Sales division of a global, publicly traded Fortune 500 company which happens to be the largest consumer packaged goods company in the world.) www.careycorp.com

*To clarify, I’m not suggesting that if you have sketchy ethics that it’s okay to solicit false or overly positive reviews from friends and family. Reviews do need to be authentic and honest.  I am merely suggesting there are a broad spectrum of principles and ethics in the field of sales that may govern what you are, or are not, willing to do. Don’t confuse this with comfort level. Think of how uncomfortable marketing can be—but we all agree it has value and needs to be done.

 Difference between ethics and comfort zone: 

Example 1: Is asking for reviews from readers at the end of my book out of my comfort zone? Yes. But is it unethical? No. Does is make sense from a sales perspective? Yes.

Example 2: Is asking Aunt Nancy and her friends to go online anonymously and give glowing, 5–star reviews of my book outside my comfort zone? Maybe not… Everybody does it. Is it unethical? Abso-FREAKIN’-lutely! Does is make sense from a sales perspective? No way!!! If Aunt Nancy and friends are discovered, my credibility will suffer. And the amount of negative comments produced by public outrage will tank my career (as it should).

Example 3: Is my cousin’s unsolicited review, with acquaintance disclaimer, of my book that she purchased with her own money out of my comfort zone? Perhaps… (Family and friends are always tricky business.) But is it unethical? No. Does is make sense from a sales perspective? Perhaps… It’s an honest review from a paying customer. However, widely publicized relationship abuse between authors and their friends/family to promote books dishonestly tends to make this a risky practice. Although it’s not wrong, the more strategic choice might be to ask my cousin to use word of mouth power and remove the review.  

(Hey wait, is this an example where the negative connotations are more prevalent in society than the positive? For every author that engages in sketch reviews practices, there are probably a thousand or more that don’t.)

Bottom Line: This is your career and your business. Don’t lie to your consumers; don’t devalue them. Be honest. Apply discipline and operate with integrity. Which sounds suspiciously like The Golden Rule.

YOUR TURN: Have you ever noticed **If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review on Amazon.com** at the end of a book? How often have you noticed The Ask? How did you feel when you saw it?

In Case You Missed it

Kristen Lamb's INSIGHTFUL post:

The Five Mistakes Killing Self-Published Authors

It's well worth reading.

Who should see your book before you self-publish?

Hi All,

I know I've been a little absent lately. I'm working on my indie sequel to THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN. And I've been in revisions for a traditional pub. project.

This morning I came across a question on the yahoo indie loop (Indie Romance Ink) about who should see a book before you self publish. This question was posed by a new author finishing up her first manuscript. Despite needing to make coffee and pack to go out of town, I felt compelled to answer.

The short answer: Several people and at least one professional!

Here's what I shared:

Congratulations that you are almost done with your book. That is huge! You should definitely stop and celebrate your achievement. But after you pop the champagne, you should think about the revision process as another critical step to being a professional author. One of the biggest mistakes newer authors make is to release material before it crafted to a professional level. It’s soooo tempting, and we’ve all been there. Don’t do it! Usually the revision process, if done right, will take several months of intensive work.

I don’t mean to sound discouraging, by this manuscript is your baby. You wouldn’t take your baby out in public with torn clothes and a dirty face, right? The baby needs cleaning up first. This is what separates the professionals from the amateurs in a deluged eBook market. And it’s worth it, I promise.

In looking for a critique partner, you want to find someone slightly ahead of where you are in your journey, whose experience can help identify the opportunities to strengthen your manuscript. The critique relationship is about building trust – after all, you’re trusting this person to point out flaws in your baby. J Loops, organizations you belong to, local writing groups are all great place to look for a critique partner. In googling “critique groups”, I came  across a fun site: (http://www.ladieswhocritique.com/) *disclaimer* I have never used this group, but their approach is cool.

 As to your question on editing, most newer authors don’t know what type of editing they need. There are 3 standard types of editing in fiction writing and as an indie, you have a fourth. Knowing what type of editing you need is something a crit partner can help you with. At minimum, you will need #s 2, 3, & 4. Chances are, being newer, you will need #1 as well. And unless you have an amazing line editor, you might need a couple proofreaders. I’ve found readers, friends, or family with an eye for mistakes make great proofreaders.

 Here are the types of editing:

1.       Substantive Editing – structural (pacing, plot, characterization)

2.       Copy Editing – (Grammar, spelling, syntax, word usage, punctuation, writer tics, etc.)

3.       Line Editing – proofreading (typos)

4.       Format editing – (finished eBook forms and print pdf look as they should)*

*I would also extend this to any copy (blurbs, bios, etc.) you put on the web.

You might not need to hire a professional for all of them. #1 - Most of us that have been doing this awhile need less substantive editing than we used to (often our crit partner can point out issues and we can fit). #2 Get a professional. #3 and #4 – can be people we know with a meticulous eye for details. Have multiple proofreaders.

This might sound overwhelming, but consider the alternative. Bad reviews, bad ratings, damage to your author brand. And the internet is FOR-EVERRRRR. I’m going to go all cliché, but you only get one chance to make a first impression with a reader. Make it count!

Amanda Brice, my fellow indie YA sister and co-contibutor/driving force behind to the  Eternal Spring YA Anthology *free here* had this to say about when to release your baby into the world:

Congrats on getting close to THE END. Anytime you type that is a momentous occasion, but never moreso than your first time.

 

However, because this is your first book (and you wrote it without feedback), I'm inclined to agree with Maureen. You're probably not ready for either an editor or a beta reader yet. The first thing you need to do is find yourself a critique partner or critique group (are you a member of your local RWA chapter? Also, Romance Divas is a good place to learn the craft).

Then once you have the ms as sparkling as you can, I'd enter some contests for unbiased feedback. Then you might be ready for an editor. But even still, maybe not. I venture to guess that most of us did not publish our first ms and never will. The stereotype of the "book under the bed" is because first manuscripts tend to be learning books.

Is that the case with everyone? Of course not. some authors do publish their first book and do wonderfully. But most of us were not ready for publication on the first book, and you won't know this for sure until you get unbiased feedback. Hiring an editor will probably be a very expensive way to find out whether you're ready (and some books are unsalvagable), so I encourage you to run it through crit groups and the contest circuit first. This will take several months, but worth it.

Then once you're satisfied this book is potentially publishable (and you don't want to go the trad route), you'll need to find an editor. Since this is your first book, I highly encourage you to get both content editing and line editing, although some authors prefer to skip the content editing stage once they have a few books under their belt (and instead rely upon their critique partners and beta readers for developmental suggestions).

Good luck! I hope this wasn't discouraging, but the worst thing you can do is publish before you're ready.

 

Carey says: Thanks Amanda!

Now your turn: If you are an author, how many early books do you have buried under your bed?

I have books 1, 2, & 3 under the bed. #4 is my indie, 5 & 6 are with agents exploring traditional options.

The Experimental Girl, part 2: More Experimentation

Thanks to everyone who chimed in on promoted prices vs. every day available price. I am taking THE HALO CHRONICLES THE GUARDIAN off sale and back to $2.99.

I decided to let the .99¢ sale go through MLK Day, so I requested the pricing change ($2.99 , 70% royalty) for  on Tuesday. As usual Amazon is taking their sweet time to make the change.

It will be interesting to compare velocity at the higher price with THE WAY LIFE WAS FOREVER continuing as a free promo vehicle.

As of this morning, here are my January 2012 sales results:

THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN ($.99): 123 128 (as of 1/19 8:30pm)

THE WAY LIFE WAS FOREVER (FREE): 4903 5056 (as of 1/19 8:30pm)

1/30 Results:

THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN ($.99): 203 (and back up to $2.99)

THE WAY LIFE WAS FOREVER (FREE): 8007 (in 1 month!)

More Indie Stuff: Marketing, Money, and POD, oh my!

Happy October!

I'm hard at work on my sequel to THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN. Which means I've been sucked into the black hole of my own brilliance. LOL! That may be a slight exaggeration. I'm busy. My fabulous agent has my literary fiction manuscript, ECHOES OF NEVERLAND, out on sub, which means I'm in writer's limbo. Basically, I'm scattered and writing my brains out.

However, the wonderful world of Indie Publishing goes on. So I thought I'd share some recent (and some not so recent posts) on sales, marketing and POD.

Theresa Ragan has posted her October Sales Update. She's awesome and I wish I had her numbers!
As usual, Dr. Debra Holland's post on September Sales is impressive. I love her transparency!

Traditional publishing is a very real part of the indie equation. To make an informed decision, it helps to understand what traditional publishers typically pay. So if you haven't seen these posts, they

Romance: Brenda Hiatt - Show Me the Money

YA: Agent Mandy Hubbard - Things You Want to Know & Things You Want to Know II

Other posts of note:

POD: CreateSpace or Lightning Source: Which is the more intelligent choice for self-publishing? By Terri Giuliano

WG2E's Indie ePublishing D.D. Scott-Style: Prequels, Sequels, and Short Stories, Oh My!

Write To Publish's 4 part series on Goodreads Marketing. 101 part 1; 101 part 2; 201 part 3, 201 part 4

50 Things Under $50 to Promote Your Book

As a result of some exciting developments, the blogs been a bit quiet recently. Soon I hope to be able to share details.

In the meantime, check out Penny C. Sansevieri's great report:

Fifty Things Under $50 Bucks To Promote Your Book 

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

IT'S BACK-TO-SCHOOL WEEK!
Did I say wonderful?...I meant painfully chaotic.

So rather than post for the sake of posting, let me tell you what's coming up next week.

MONDAY 8/22 I will be launching a new multi-author blog venture where we  talk YA not the business of writing YA. The title of my inaugural post: "What about prom, Blaine? What about prom?"

Swing by Monday morning for a link to the new site. :)

Then on THURSDAY 8/25 I'll be divulging my sales-to-date here: Going Indie - Is it worth it?

For anyone in the Cincinnati area, on FRIDAY 8/26 I'll be headed to the Carrico-Fort Thomas Branch of my local library for the Girls Taking Over the World Young Adult Author Event including NYTimes bestselling author and 2011 RWA RITA winner Julie Kagawa sponsored by the awesome Blue Marble Bookstore.

See you next week!

Got it Covered? I thought I did…

I really like my cover. I designed it myself with a Shutter stock image on PowerPoint. It worked great for digital. For print, it did not. (Read about my cover design, here.)

Being an ambitious DIYer, I determined I could handle the print cover. Just like my digital to print manuscript experience, my digital to print cover experience was plagued with issues. It was complete trial and error and error and error.

Like any good indie, I did my research. I got a cover template. I did my best to absorb info about spines (so Greek to the mathematically impaired girl). I spent a couple of hours laying out my cover and I uploaded to Createspace.

I thought I did a pretty good job until CS kicked it back to me:

Files for THE HALO CHRONICLES: T..., require your attention

The cover file does not meet our submission requirements for the reason(s) listed below.

The cover file contains live elements that may be trimmed during the production process. Please make sure that all text appears .375" away from the outer edges. Additionally, all elements you wish to appear on the cover, such as text and graphics, need to appear within the live graphics area. Only background that can be cut off should extend through the bleed area.

The spine text is too large for the page count. We recommend reducing the font size and centering the spine text so there is at least .0625" of room on either side. Otherwise, the spine text may wrap to the front or back cover.

Additionally, we have noted the concerns listed below. You may choose to move forward with the below issues as-is; however, we wanted to bring them to your attention.

The cover file contains transparency  which will be manually flattened during our processing and may cause a color shift.

The cover file contains images that range from 70 to 93 DPI, which may appear blurry and pixelated in print. For optimal printing, we recommend all images be at least 300 DPI.

So I tried again. I Googled how to flatten the file. I downloaded higher res images. I tweaked my layout, said a prayer, and uploaded.

Files for THE HALO CHRONICLES: T..., require your attention

The cover file contains images at 92 DPI, which may appear blurry and pixelated in print. For optimal printing, we recommend all images be at least 300 DPI.

Better but I still had image issues. It was one of those moments where I grudgingly admitted, “This is why people don’t do cover design on PowerPoint.” I’d spent a lot of time on my cover and still wasn’t getting the results I needed. I was behind schedule, out of my design depth and knew that I needed a professional. Problematic, since I had no budget.

One of my chapter mates, Jennette Marie Powell, is going indie in August with Time’s Enemy, a time travel romance. When she showed me her great cover, she’d mentioned her design background.

So, I approached her for help. I might have begged and pleaded a bit. Now’s the part where I give Jennette my UNDYING THANKS! She quickly fixed my resolution issues and I finally had a cover that CS accepted.

Here’s the digital eBook (my) version:

Here’s the professional print version (Jennette had to make some minor tweaks, mostly in font):

Again a HUGE THANKS to Jennette for rescuing my cover!

Jennette Marie Powell

Author of Time's Enemy, American time-travel romance, coming in August, 2011
http://www.jenpowell.com/ | Twitter |  Facebook

Conclusion: My most important take-away is even if I want to design my own cover, I need to collaborate with a design expert for set up. For the next book, I will not hesitate to work with a professional.

Also, I appreciated CreateSpace rejecting what would be a substandard cover with very specific feedback –for free. J

Mood: Grateful

Related topics: A Cover is a Promise

Next steps: Working on revisions for DOON

Your turn: Do you like to design your own covers?

My Self-Pub Journey to Date - My blog version of a clip show

Next week I'll be wrapping up my journey to publication with my final post on process. Then we'll get into the results. Sales, royalties, and such...

Indie Curious? Self Publishing Made Easy: step by step from manuscript to eBook

Edward Cullen has nothing to do with my cover: Designing my digital cover

Digital to Print - Do the math or suffer the consequences: from eBook formatted to Print

POD Part 1 - The Screwup: Why print formatting was harder than I thought.

Got it Covered? I thought I did... How my cover held up my print process

Coming soon: Numbers don't lie

And for fun (in case you didn't see) Lucas-schmookas! I wrote Star Wars: The first book I wrote

Digital to Print - Do the math or suffer the consequences!

If you have been following my journey, you may have picked up that Print on Demand formatting is giving me FITS. L I expected this process to be simpler than digital formatting. It so wasn’t. It didn’t help that I neglected my due diligence in thoroughly researching the POD process. I spent a lot of time comparing Print on Demand providers (see here), but not the formatting and cover processes.

Here’s my digital manuscript to POD print ready manuscript step by step process:

Step 1 Make a Create Space account

            Create Space give you step by step tasks to follow. Easy Peasy—mostly…

Step 2 Choose a Trim Size

·         Standard sizes range from 5 x 8 to 6 x 9. Most of the YAs and POD books I have are either 5.06 x 7.81 or 5.25 x 8. If you have a book or two you like around the house, measure their sizes.

·         Also choose white or cream paper.

Step 3 Do the math or suffer the consequences

·         I am sooo not a math girl. So figuring out gutter and outside margins made my brain bleed. You see, they are off center, and right side pages have opposite gutters than left.

·         So, I opted to use a preformatted template. Here’s where my lack of math hurt me. I tried many templates and no matter what I tried (Create Space; Lulu; or other) the results were wonky. Crazy headers and footers; ghost lines impossible to remove; and other strange formatting junk. I worried that it was my manuscript, but I tried other manuscripts and even format stripped wordpad documents with the same results. My best results were with these particular CS templates, but even then I had to do some ghetto formatting to make it work (i.e. stripping page breaks and hitting the return like 20 times to create faux page breaks to remedy inconsistent headers.

·         Here’s what I did. I took my Smashwords perfected digital manuscript and deleted “Smashwords” copyright. I mirrored the copyrights of printed books I have.

·         Then I cut and pasted into the CS template for the size book I wanted. I chose 6x9 and although I considered downsizing, the amount of template trauma I experienced dissuaded me from making changes once I had a print ready PDF.

·         Then I “fixed” wonky formatting, crazy header spacing. I added odd/even headers with book title on one side and my name on the other. I added page numbers at the bottom. (You have to format both odd and even page numbers and select “link to previous” EXCEPT on page one.

·         Once your manuscript looks right (keep in mind you may have to ghetto format to get spacing and other thing) save it as a PDF.

·         Review your PDF to ensure continuity of formatting, headers, and footers.

      ·         Mine the Create Space community for answers and general problem solving.

You now have an Internal PDF - half of what you need for POD print copies of your book. The other half is a cover PDF. Next week I will dissect the flaws of my digital to print cover.

Conclusion: POD formatting is harder than it ought to be. If only there were a perfect template out there. *sigh*

Mood: Perseverant

Related topics: To read my POD provider posting click here.

Next steps: Waiting for cover fix… In deep revision on another project.

Your turn: Have you had better success with POD formatting templates? Please share! Also ask any questions you might have. J

POD - part 2 Continuing Drama

Good morning.

My print release is delayed due to cover rework. :( I can't get the background resolution high enough, so I had to call in an expert. This is another BIG reason to hire a cover designer - they should provide digital and print ready formats (including back half) as part of their deliverables. I do love my DIY cover, but I'm just sayin'... A cover designer is work the money for so many reasons.

I planned on covering the digital to print interior process for today's post. However, as I researched, I found a new template that I want to try. So far, the formatting has been problematic with all the templates I've worked with. The preset headers and footers have been a nightmare. I've sampled formats on LuLu and Createspace and compared to Lightning Source. Finally, I think I might have stumbled on "the one." :)

Also since so many people are at RWA *Sniff* I am thinking if I wait until next week to post, I might be able to provide more value to your journey.

SO instead, I'll ask: Are you at RWA? If not, how you feeling about missing the main event? This year I have a crit partner, a MargaRITA sister, and another good friend nominated for the YA Golden Heart. The YA RITA nominees (including Cassandra Clare) are awesome. And Meg Cabot is the award night emcee. So many of my friends are there and I am BUMMED to be watching from Ohio.

Last year was my first year to attend the conference and it blew my mind.

RWA 2010 Ally Carter, ME, and Meg Cabot

Your Turn: If you are on the sidelines, how are you feeling about it? Will you be following the Awards tomorrow night?

POD part 1 - The screwup

I screwed up. L After extensive Print On Demand research, I knew I wanted to take the lower risk, minimal investment option of Create Space vs. Lightning Source but I underestimated the learning curve and formatting demands of the print ready process. I’m reworking elements and have bumped my POD release from 6/24 to 7/1. *grrr*

Today, I was going to rehash my CS vs. LS rationale. However, I stumbled upon Robin Sullivan’s brilliant blog WRITE TO PUBLISH and it’s amazing! I enjoy the business side of writing, but with a highly demanding corporate job, 2 small kids, and a hubby who travels M-F for work, I have to prioritize. Robin Sullivan’s blog has just leapt to the top of my priorities list.

Read Robin’s post Why Create Space is better than Lightning Source

Her post covers everything I learned in my research—only she says it more concisely and with the stats to back it up. Thanks Robin!

Conclusion: If you are thinking about going indie, add WRITE TO PUBLISH as part of your writer’s foundation.

Mood: Busy

Next steps: Fixing my CS formatting issues and aggressively focusing on my latest DOON revisions for editor X.

Your turn: What do you think about WRITE TO PUBLISH?

Indie-curious? Self-publishing made easy

As promised, here’s my easy peasy step-by-step guide to self-publishing.

(note: Do not buy an expensive ISBN or set of ISBNs before starting.)

Before you start, make sure you have a finished, professionally edited manuscript and a professionally designed cover. These two things will make or break your career.

For editing perspective, please see my post Who Should See Your Book Before You Self-Publish?

Also invest in a professionally designed cover. Not only will it look great, most designers will deliver final content in fortmats needed for Smashwords, PubIt, Amazon Kindle Direct, and your preferred Print on Demand (usually Create Space or Lightning Source). Find some indie covers you like and ask the authors who did their cover.

On to Self-Publishing DIY

I found the digital formatting process pretty detailed, but simple. But there are some great, reasonable services that will deliver finished, ready to upload formats, like Formatting 4 U.

SMASHWORDS:

·         Download Smashwords Formatting Guide

o   Follow the guide step-by-step (all 68 pages)

o   Don’t do nuclear formatting method unless you have a ton of rogue html code or unfixable formatting issues.

o   Save as MANUSCRIPT_SmashwordsEdition.doc

·         Make Smashwords account

o   Upload MANUSCRIPT_SmashwordsEdition.doc to Smashwords & wait for confirmation of success.

o   Smashwords will generate in multiple forms including Epub (Nook compatible) mobi (Kindle compatible)

·         Download Kindle for PC and NOOK for PC

o   Download MANUSCRIPT.mobi (Kindle) and check formatting

o   Download MANUSCRIPT.Epub (NOOK) and check formatting

·         If you find formatting errors, fix and re-upload to Smashwords
·        Go To Smashwords Dashboard > Distribution Channel Manager

o   Opt out of Amazon and B&N distribution

o   Yes, really – Opt out of Amazon and B&N distribution!!!

*update* Smashwords now requires cover images to be min. 1400 pixels.

AMAZON KINDLE:
              (Make sure you follow the final SW "opt out" step above.)

·         Download MobiPocket Creator

o   Open MANUSCRIPT_SmashwordsEdition.doc

o   Delete “Smashwords” from copyright page (2 or 3 places – covered in SW formatting guide)

o   Replace “Smashwords” with "Kindle" & "Amazon"

o   Save as MANUSCRIPT_KindleEdition.doc

o   For copyright page example download THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN free excerpt.

o   Open Mobipocket Creator

o   Upload Cover (do not add as first page of MANUSCRIPT_KindleEdition.doc or it will show up twice on Kindle) 600x800 min. pixels for mobi discussion thread here

*Amazon recommends a 1.6 width/height ratio, and their recommended height is 2,500 pixels.
Upload MANUSCRIPT_KindleEdition.doc – Mobipocket Creator will create a .mobi file

o   Save as MANUSCRIPT_KindleEdition.mobi

·         Make Kindle Account

o   Upload your Manuscript cover

o   Upload MANUSCRIPT_KindleEdition.mobi

BARNES & NOBLE NOOK:

(the easiest one)

·         Make B&N Pubit Account

o   Upload Manuscript Cover

o   Upload MANUSCRIPT.Epub (downloaded from Smashwords earlier – I didn’t worry about uploading a version w/o “Smashwords” on coverpage since distribution is typically much smaller at B&N.)

·         NOW YOU HAVE YOUR BOOK AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE AT Amazon     Barnes & Noble AND   Smashwords!

·         Stop and pat yourself on the back

FOLLOWUP:

·         Continue to check Smashwords Dashboard to confirm MANUSCRIPT is approved for premium status (2—3 weeks)

o   Once approved – get Smashwords ISBN # (Follow SW ISBN Manager on Dashboard) – Must have ISBN to be eligible for Sony (eReader) and iBookstore (iPad/iPhone/iTouch) catalog distribution.

·         Create Author Page on Amazon, B&N, Goodreads, & LibraryThing (minimum)

AMAZON example

·         Add purchase  links to your email signature:  Buy THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN (a 2010 RWA Golden Heart® finalist for young adult fiction) at Amazon     Barnes & Noble    Smashwords    coming soon to iBookstore Turn your computer into a free eReader: Kindle for PC  NOOK for PC

o   more information at www.careycorp.com

·         Use Smashwords Dashboard to generate discount and free coupons. Free codes can be used for giveaways, ARCs, and review copies. SW allows recipient to choose whichever form is compatible with their eReader or PC software.

NEXT THURSDAY: Print copies – Are all Print on Demand Providers Created Equal?

Don’t forget the Kindle Indie-pendence Contest ends on July 4^th. Win you kid a Kindle loaded with hot YA and MG titles.

YOUR TURN: What tips or questions do you have about digital publishing?

Don't you... Forget about me.

On Friday I virtually sat down with Golden Heart finalist author and fellow MargaRITA Vanessa Barneveld to discuss THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN. We talked about everything from my sad prom experience, to John Hughes angst influences, to my own real-life teen guardian angel experience.

Due to a stomach bug, I didn't promote like I wanted, so in honor of the long weekend we're keeping the stories going. Got your own guardian angel story or a favorite John Hughes movie? If you haven't had a chance to stop over yet, don't be a neo-maxi-zoom-dweebie, be sure to come by and share. HERE.

Funny story: Last week the hubby and I went to my 10-year-old’s band concert where they played the theme to Bridge on the River Kwai. Hubby turns to me and says, “Man, I really want to watch Bridge on the River Kwai.” and I’m thinking, “Boy, I really want to watch Breakfast Club!” Ha!

The winner of Tuesday's THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN release day eBook is Athena_Grayson. Athena, please email me at careycorp(at)fuse(dot)net.

THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN release day!

“Thrilling and oh-so-romantic, THE GUARDIAN will keep you up all night, turning the pages!”

 –Kristi Cook author of HAVEN

Rated five stars on Barnes & Noble.com and Goodreads, THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN is now available in all eBook formats.

Buy THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN (a 2010 RWA Golden Heart® finalist for young adult fiction) at Amazon     Barnes & Noble    Smashwords  coming soon to iBookstore

Turn your computer into a free eReader: Kindle for PC  NOOK for PC

more information at www.careycorp.com

The day has finally arrived and to celebrate, I’m giving away a free digital copy. This contest will run until midnight Wednesday 5/25.

FIRST:

“Like” THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN facebook page

NEXT:

Tweet, post, or share this post, Or add to your goodreads TBR

THEN:

Paste the link in the comment section of this post. Each link is worth one entry.

I will announce a winner Thursday morning.

Friday, I will be hanging with Vanessa Barneveld at Authorness. I will be sharing my *honest to God* teenaged guardian angel story and asking readers to share theirs. Plus, there will be another chance to win a digital copy of my book. You won’t want to miss it. 

I promised to reveal my very first book. Click below. J

Lucas—shmookas! I wrote Star Wars.

Here’s a book from a little, unknown author written back in 1977. Me! Did you know I wrote Star Wars? It would be hard to prove. Perhaps I could have it carbon dated, but I’d rather have it preserved in carbonite.

A long time ago, in an intergalactic trailer park far, far away....

 

C3PO, R2D2 and their happy friend "WC" *insert wookiee speak*



Saw Princess Leia's hologram

Then Barbie - or is that Leia? - and her bf Luke (Hey, you thought they'd get together, too! But as I matured I realized the real catch was Han *insert swoon*) went off to save the universe from intergalactic tyrrany and some evil dudes.

On left - Death Star or maybe an easter egg?... On right - Darth Vader and some Stormtroopers going to the Bengals game.



Since all good sagas end in a cliff hanger, I ended on the terrifying proposition of SPs. Just what are they? We have no idea. Perhaps they're Scary Pigs. (In all likelihood, this is a Tusken Raider, representative of the vicious Sand People, which scared the bejeezus out of this seven-year-old author.)

The Force is also strong in my first recent novel. In THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN, Alex’s best friend Derry is a huge Star Wars fan. He spent most of his life in foster homes and his number one fantasy was that C3PO and R2D2 would show up with an intergalactic message of great importance. Together with Alex, Derry and the droids would speed away from their home planet and wretched lives.

May the Force be with you my wookiees!

Disclaimer: This humble author would never presume to take credit for the life-changing Star Wars saga. Let it be further expressed, that Mr. Lucas is AWESOME and I regard him and his intellectual property with the utmost respect.

Buy THE HALO CHRONICLES: THE GUARDIAN (a 2010 RWA Golden Heart® finalist for young adult fiction) at Amazon     Barnes & Noble    Smashwords  

Also from Carey Corp: DOON, inspired by Lerner & Loewe's Brigadoon. Available now from BLINK/HarperCollins. Find out more at www.DoonSeries.com.