Field-Tested Marketing: Twitter and Facebook

Field-Tested Marketing is a new series focusing on my own experiences replicating common marketing advice seen on writing forums and in marketing books.

The Advice: Provide a daily link to your book on Twitter and Facebook. Try doing it several times a day, to ensure that you cover all of your followers who visit Twitter at different times.

In action: I’ve discovered two issues with this approach. First, I stop following people only send out links to their books, especially if it is several times a day. It gets even more annoying when it’s just the same tag line over and over. It doesn’t make me want to read the book, when it’s being repeated so many times.

I used to follow a person who only talked about how many sales they’d made that day and link saying “let’s make it a round dozen” or whatever. I don’t mind the occasional tweet like this. But daily? No thanks. And worse, many other Tweeters started talking about the person in code, making fun of them. I don’t want to be that person!

The exception to this is when there is a special promotion or contest happening. In those cases, such as Read an Ebook Week, I expect to see a lot more links going on around social networking sites. Oftentimes, these tweets and facebook messages contain sale information, free codes, and specials. These are time-sensitive events, so it makes complete sense to have them tweeted often.

The interesting thing that I’ve found is that people tend to retweet or share these special events far more frequently than the general “buy my stuff” messages.

I tweet a link to one of my books whenever I think about it: once or twice a week, on average. I have an Amazon Affiliates account, as I use it frequently on ebook review site. The side benefit to this is having very easy “Share” links available to me for Amazon pages. I generally use this buttons to share my book link, plus include a special message.

I personally see Twitter as a chance to chat with people, like a chat channel. A Facebook fan page has a great potential as a modified forum. I love asking research questions, opinions, and generally silliness on my Facebook page.

Bottom line: Many of the people who follow me on social media have either purchased my work. Others  have stated that it isn’t either in their genre of interest, or don’t like to read ebooks (and are waiting for the print copy); they stay because I entertain them.

Yet, whenever I do my occasional new release or sale link, all of these folks retweet or share my links to their followers. I’ve gained several new follows this way, which helps spread name recognition and word-of-mouth potential.

My Recommendation:  Do link your work a couple times a week, or whenever you remember. New releases, sales, and contests are short-term enough to allow for much more frequent linkage. Try changing up the book titles and the tag lines you use.

And remember: social media is about being social, not about bombarding people with commercials.

What are your thoughts? Agree or disagree?

I Don’t Have a Muse; I Have a Deadline.

Writers talk about their muses a lot. They get writer’s block, idea block, colon block. Never mind, that one is from not exercising and only eating ramen noodles. Blogs, tweets, and Facebook statues often have “I’m so blocked” as statues.

Are they really “blocked” or are they just not wanting to write? Is it that they don’t know how to fix a scene, so they are calling it blocked? Are they just out of the habit of writing? Are they just whining? Have they just not suffered enough yet for their art?

I used to always have writer’s block. Boo hoo, my muse isn’t talking to me. Then, I decided I needed to sit my butt in a chair and write, regardless if I wanted to or not. And guess what? I never got writer’s block again. Oh, sure, I didn’t want to write, I got burned out, I was too sick to write, the kids were making too much noise, my office smelled like cat pee and I couldn’t write until I figured out where the smell was coming from…but none of those were about writer’s block and my muse. They were all about me.

Working with deadlines really brought a whole new level of professionalism to my work. Once, I got an assignment at 4pm for two 1000 word articles for 7am the next morning. Why? Because a writer couldn’t get her articles done on time (“She was feeling blocked by the topic”), so the editor called me. I wrote those two articles, complete with research, primary sources, expert blurbs, and several side bars along with the main articles. I made a nice $380 for that. The blocked writer? She lost a writing gig and, more important, a loss in reputation.

Heaven knows I don’t feel like writing most days. I don’t know if I even love writing; I just know I really hate everything else. I do know I love finishing projects, and I love starting them. It’s the inbetween phase that I don’t like. It’s a lot of hard work.

I don’t have a muse. I have a deadline and it is a lot less temperamental and a lot more professional.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have 8,000 words to write by Friday.
ETA: I changed the post title

5 Tips If You Can’t Afford an Editor

Last week, I caused a little stir on my personal blog with “I ain’t your beta reader.” I firmly believe that a person’s best work needs to be put forward when they self-publish with a price tag attached. Now, if a product is free, I figure all bets are off. After all, you’ve giving it away. It’s when you ask for someone’s money that I feel quality needs to be at the forefront.

The most common retort I got to this post was, “I can’t afford an editor.” That’s a legitimate statement. Editors can run you a lot of money, especially if your writing isn’t up to a basic level. Another comment, equally legitimate, is, “I did the best I could.” But, what if your best still isn’t good enough?

I worked as a slush reader for a small Canadian publisher, as well as for a speculative fiction magazine. I’ve seen a lot of different submissions, from funny short stories to epic sword and sorcery tomes. Why did so many get the no vote from me? Simply put, they are boring.

The largest issue I see with new writers is that they don’t understand that editing means a lot more than just typos and removing excess words. When people are told they need to edit their work, they check for typos. When told they need to tighten their writing, they do the 10% rule (remove 10% of the overall word count) or do the one-word-a-line method (removing one word per line on the screen). Those do help, but they don’t address the underlying issues of plot holes, dull dialogue, boring characters, and non-existent setting.

At this point, many writers intent on self-publishing (or, already have and can’t figure out why they aren’t selling) get frustrated and throw up their hands. “I know I have these problems, I don’t know how to fix them, and I can’t afford an editor!” There’s still hope for you to get your manuscript in better shape.

Read two writing books. You need a beginner one to teach you writing basics, and one to help you with editing. I recommend “Edit Your Book in a Month” by Eliza Knight and “You Can Write a Novel” by James V. Smith, Jr.  I also recommend reading this blog by post Ilona Andrews, which explains the concept of Show not Tell better than any resource on the internet today.

These books won’t teach you everything, nor will they explain why things are the way they are (i.e. why “had” isn’t a bad word when writing past perfect…and what the hell is past perfect?!?!), but they will get you a good distance.

Find a writing group. This can be as small or as big as you need. What’s important is that none of these people are related to you or your friend in any way, shape, or form. Many people say that they’ve ran manuscripts by friends and family, who loved their story. Families and friends are notorious for saying this. We all like to think our family is telling us the truth, but they generally aren’t. Assume yours is protecting your feelings.

A writing group can help identify your weak areas. It’s helpful to get one that is around your own skill level. Online groups work well for this to start with. You build up friendships and networks and eventually can graduate away from needing a lot of feedback and just trusting one or two people.

Find a beta reader. After a while, you won’t need a group to help you with your work. If you work to address your manuscript’s issues, you’ll quickly find that a group critique no longer works for you. Instead, one to two sets of eyes will be more than enough. This should be someone around your skill level, so that you can reciprocate critiques on their manuscripts.

Exchange services for an edit. Perhaps another friend is going to self-publish, so exchange editing services with each other. You won’t catch everything, but it will help ensure a cleaner manuscript.

Hire a proofreader. A full editor is a lot more money than a proofreader. If you’ve taken the steps above, you will have a cleaner manuscript than when you first starter. A proofreader is usually half the price of a content editor, but they can still help with a lot of your grammar challenges. I personally use Faith at Have Faith Proofreading.

A proofreader will not comment on your pacing, character, and plot issues, but they will get rid of the typos, grammar issues, and those other issues that can kill a manuscript right out of the gate.

The publishing industry itself. It is difficult to get published. However, if you can’t afford an editor or a proofreader, can’t seem to mesh with a writing group, and have read all of the books, perhaps try submitting a few short stories out to magazines and ezines. (A great list can be found on Duotrope).

Many give personal rejections, so you can get some feedback as to what’s wrong. Many times, you’ll sell your story, make a little cash, and get your rights back to self-publish it later on (sometimes, the same year…sometimes, right away).

Publishing isn’t easy. While places like Smashwords and Amazon makes it easy to press “publish” these days, that doesn’t actually make the process any less easy. To be taken seriously, you still need to put your best work forward.

I Ain’t Your Beta Reader.

I’m pissed.

There is a really disturbing trend amongst a group of self-published authors who believe that readers should buy sub-par work to support these writers to learn how to write better.

Come again?

There are a lot of very professional authors who are self-publishing because it works for them. Hey, I have self-published a couple of things and am planning to release two more self-published projects this year. I’m talking about a specific group of unprofessional scammers who put out shitty work KNOWING it is shitting work and then EXPECT people to give them money for it.

I love books. I love to read. I don’t have a lot of time to do it, however. I don’t want to waste my time reading a book that doesn’t thrill or entertain me. I am giving up on everything else around me, including time writing and time with my family, to read.

I demand quality.

The idea of charging money for an unedited jumble of typos, bad characters, worse plot, missing words, and poor craftsmanship – and knowing it could be a lot better – is more than just offensive. It’s unethical. It’s in the same category as scam artists.

Here’s the thing. I am not a charity. I have no interest in giving my money to someone who hasn’t even taken the time to try. I’ve worked hard to learn what I have about my craft. I’m still learning, still working hard, still trying to push myself. Slapping together a story that’s never been beta read, never been critiqued, never been edited, AND KNOWING IT HAS PROBLEMS and then expecting people to pay money for it? That isn’t “indie” publishing. That isn’t “giving it to publishers.” That isn’t “the readers will decide what’s good and what’s not.”

That’s just plain lazy.

Plain and simple.

Want to self-publish? Pay your dues, just like everyone else. Put out the absolute best you can. Broke? Find a critique group or a couple of writers willing to exchange manuscripts with you. Find a grammar-obsessed co-worker to proofread your manuscript.

I’m tired of being told I’m the new gatekeeper. To hell with that. I’m not interesting in paying YOU to tell you how to get better as a writer. I charge for that.

Getting started: Reading Between the Lines

“I’m a new writer. How do I get started in publishing?”

If you attend any writer’s convention or even a fan convention with published authors, the above is the most common question you will hear. I can’t blame them for asking them question; I sure asked it (and still ask it). After all, shouldn’t a twenty of thirty times published author be able to offer a career path to follow?

The problem is that a newbie’s career path (and I’m counting myself in this category, too) is often very different from someone with the clout of dozens of contracts spanning several decades. For one thing, publishing has changed. The stepping stones of yesterday are not today’s stepping stones.

Does that mean we can’t learn from the experts? Not at all! Their experiences and careers offer substantial knowledge and should always be listened to with an open mind. They have the numbers and experience to back up what they say. However, just as you should listen, you shouldn’t also just take one person’s career advice blindly. Copying another person’s path might not work for you.

Get a blockbuster agent, get a blockbuster publisher, and get a blockbuster contract.

I don’t know many people who’d turn down this option. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this advice.

Except…

What happens if you don’t want an agent? Or, if you write regionally-focused books? Or, if you want to self-publish while doing trade publishing? Or, you want to write for another publisher at the same time? Or, you write more niche than general? Or if you want to write long novellas and not novels? Or, or, or…

The choices one person makes for their career may not be the best option for you. Instead, ask people what choices they’ve made in their careers, the things they’ve enjoyed and regretted, and then consider which of those points are important to you. What you want out of your career may not resemble another.

Write short stories before writing a novel.

This advice is most common in the literary, science fiction, and fantasy genres and it’s solid. Learning to convey a single message in three thousand words is tough work. You can learn a lot from the submission process, learn to grow a thick skin, learn to deal with rejections, learn to work with editors, and have something to put on your query letters when you submit your novel.

But…

What if you don’t like short stories? Not everyone does. Not everyone is good at it, either. Short fiction is a different style of writing than novel writing, just like screenwriting is a different form all together. It requires a different set of literary skills. Many people learn to write both. But, some don’t…or aren’t interested in learning.

Also, there was a time when writers had to build up their career in the fiction magazines. These days, it’s less important. Not everyone reads the short story magazines and, sadly, there aren’t as many as there used to be. Most don’t pay that well, either. (To give you an idea, I’ve never earned more than 2 cents a word selling short stories to fiction magazines. Yet, I’ve made 17 cents a word selling fiction to non-fiction magazines…but those opportunities are even more rare).

If you love short fiction or want to cut your teeth on something smaller, write short fiction. If you hate short stories, don’t torture yourself.

Don’t self-publish until you know what you are doing.

Followed closely by…

Self-publish everything and learn as you go.

Depending upon who you ask, you will get lists upon lists of why you should or shouldn’t self-publish. Go to Website #1 and they’ll tell you how self-publishing is the next thing to godliness. Go to Website #2 and they’ll tell you self-publishing is the next thing to Satanic worship. If you are really lucky, Website #3 will have both sides fighting it out.

Sigh.

To make the decision on which publishing path to take, look at all of the opinions available for a project. There is the agent/big publisher route, the large publisher route with no agent option, the small press route, the micro press route, the regional press option, the epublisher route…oh, and the self-publish option.

Yet, if you listen to the internet, you’ll only hear about two options: an agent and self-publishing. Take your time and look at what is involved on all sides. Then, make a decision. You can even make different decisions for each project. What works for one might not work for another.

The important thing here is to look at your project, look at the options, and make the best business decision for your work and sanity. What works for Big Named Author 001 might work for you. Then again, it might ruin your sanity and leave you weeping in a corner. Research. Ask questions. Make intelligent decisions.

Easy, right?

Should Authors Comment on Reviews?

There was a time where I believed yes – a simple “thanks for taking the time” was polite. Then, I went through a phase where I said no – seriously, I need to stay out of it. Now, I’m not sure anymore.

I’m not talking about correcting people or arguing with them if they give me a low score. I just mean thanking someone for taking the time to post a review on their blog. And my answer is – I don’t know.

So, I’m putting it out to everyone to help me answer this question: should authors comment and thank reviewers who do reviews of your work on their blogs?