101 Thoughts on Self-Publishing -- 005: Play for the Endgame

As an independent writer, you may sometimes feel like you're doing an incredible amount of work for very limited results. In addition to writing your books, revising them, coming up with cover ideas and seeing that your work is properly edited, you also have to constantly promote yourself. If the many hours you spend on this each week are amounting to only a handful of sales, it can seem like you'll never get anywhere.

If this is you, as it has been me many times in the past, I find that looking at what you're doing form a different perspective can sometimes help. If you've read my books, you may have picked up on the fact that I am a chess enthusiast. A chess game is divided into three parts: the opening, the middlegame and the endgame. Depending on where you are in your career, you may be in any of these stages. But chess players know that your ultimate goal is to play so that you enter the endgame in a strong position.

So how can this help you as a writer? Well, of the possible twenty first moves in a chess game, sixteen of them are simply advancing a pawn. Pawns are the weakest piece in the game, and amateur players will often see them as merely an impediment to getting their more powerful pieces out into the center of the board. But at the highest levels of play, the loss of a single pawn can lose the game.

When you are just starting out as a writer, the seemingly simple and inconsequential things you are doing--the things that don't seem to be producing any results--are your opening pawn moves: building up your Twitter followers, writing interesting blog articles that get people to your site, befriending established independent authors. Even before you publish your first book, you have to lay the groundwork that will carry you beyond the opening and into the middle game and, ultimately, the endgame.

In both chess and a career as an independent writer, there are both bad and good moves. These articles I'm writing, as well as the articles written by many other authors more successful than I, are designed to help you make the right moves. I know that it can be hard spending your days working yourself to exhaustion while watching your sales remain stagnant, but remember that you are still making your opening moves.

So when do you enter the middlegame? When do you begin making moves that have more immediate results? Well, I now have three novels and a short story collection published, and I feel that I am only now entering my middlegame. My books are my rooks and knights and bishops. Just as I have slowly been developing my pawn base over the past year and a half, now I must carefully position my more valuable pieces. I do that by making sure they are well-edited and professional in appearance. Don't send your novel off into danger by putting it out there before it is ready. It is at this stage that you must be even more careful; now the stakes are higher. A poorly-received novel could be a major setback at this stage, just as losing a piece to a foolish move can lose your chess game.

Fortunately, writing is more forgiving than chess. Many is the chess game I've won or lost due to a single mistake. As a writer, you can recover from an early setback; there is no game-ending move. But there's no reason you should have to suffer that setback if you make the right moves.

Novice chess players will often develop their pieces too soon, sending them off into enemy territory to threaten the opponent's pieces. If the opponent has carefully protected his pieces, these are wasted moves and gives the other player what is called tempo. Basically, he now has the freedom to move and make you respond to him. As an author, you can keep the tempo fairly easily: be active in the community, try to produce new work--even if they are just short stories--regularly, keep writing interesting blog articles, run sales and promotions. I find that it's a good idea to always have something going on, something that keeps people thinking about you.

Eventually, you will get to the endgame. It may take years, but if you've positioned your pieces carefully, you will enter it in a strong position to achieve your goal: in chess, checkmate. In writing, a successful career. The important thing is to keep that goal in mind from the very beginning. Don't let the loss of a piece, or a month of poor sales, divert your attention from that goal. You will constantly face hardships, your position will always be under attack. But when you move that final piece that wins you the game, you will know that everything you've done up to that point helped contribute to your victory. Don't let short-term mistakes or losses discourage you, and don't give up, no matter how long you have to fight for it. Play for the endgame.

If you're enjoying the series so far and would like a single page to bookmark, I'll be adding each of my 101 Thoughts on Self-Publishing here. Also be sure to subscribe by email (see the box in the sidebar) to be automatically notified about my new posts.

You might also be interested in my eBook, Building a Promotional Package: How to Prepare for Your Successful Book Launch. Details about it can be found here.

Best,

Michael K. Rose

Did you like this post? Tweet it! Just copy and past the following to your Twitter account:

How is writing like a game of chess? Read Pt. 5 of the 101 Thoughts on Self-Publishing series by @MichaelKRose! http://myriadspheres.blogspot.com/2013/03/101-thoughts-on-self-publishing-005.html

101 Thoughts on Self-Publishing -- 001: Get Active on Social Media

I was toying around with the idea of making a series of articles called "101 Self-Publishing Tips." I dutifully began compiling a list of tips, but after the first few dozen, I realized that a lot of them were not tips so much as thoughts, but still things that I felt were important to mention to those interested in self-publishing. Besides, I don't know if I am really the one to be giving people tips. That would imply I know what the hell I'm doing. Also note that these thoughts reflect my personal experiences. Your own experiences may differ.

So here, presented one at a time as they occur to me and as I have the time to write them, are my 101 Thoughts on Self-Publishing. They will be presented in no particular order, but I'll try to keep related thoughts flowing in a logical manner. I'll try to do two or three a week, but I'm not making any promises just now.

001: Get Active on Social Media

If you've found this blog, chances are you came across it on social media. Why is this important? Well, you now know my name, and if you look to the right of this page you know the titles of my books.  Even if someone who finds you the way you found me isn't initially inspired to buy your books, that name recognition builds valuable word-of-mouth potential. When a friend recommends a book, having heard of the author provides an addition "authority"--nebulous as it may be--and a reader is more likely to act on that perceived authority. Even if they're just scanning titles on Amazon, your book will stand out if the readers thinks, "Oh yeah, I've heard of him/her!"

Social social media is great for two things: getting your name out to the public and building relationships, both with other authors and potential readers.

Now, social media can either be a blast or a pain in the ass. It can either be valuable time spent marketing and networking, or it can be a black hole into which all your hopes and dreams are relentlessly sucked. But for a self-published (and even trad-published) author, it is an essential part of getting your books in front of eyes.

I am personally active on Twitter and Facebook.

With Twitter, you can do a lot of things in 140 characters: greet new followers, share jokes and random thoughts, compliment and congratulate other writers on their books, etc. Even so, I find the format annoyingly limited. It's difficult to have a true, relationship-building conversation on Twitter. But it's great for making connections that one can later pursue on Facebook or via email, and I have met some wonderful friends that way. Promoting your book on Twitter is important, but be sure you spend at least as much time posting things not so obviously self-serving. Triberr is a great program by which you can post links to others' blog posts and they in turn will post yours. It keeps your content varied and ensures that you're posting a lot of information that is not directly leading back to you. Just be sure to limit the number of groups (called Tribes) that you participate in, or Followers can get overwhelmed by your constant Tweeting. More on Triberr in a future post.

Facebook is great for building on the relationships you've formed on Twitter. Since you can get across a lot more information than you can on Twitter, it's also best for sharing quotes from reviews, updates about your releases, or even just sharing the things that are going on in your life. You can also make a "page" on Facebook for people to like if you don't want your private Facebook account to be public. This does, however, limit the flow of conversation as you won't see the posts of people who have liked your page; you can't engage with them by commenting on the things they post.

I've met some authors on Facebook or Twitter who had one but not the other. By not using both, you are unnecessarily limiting your potential reach. There are certainly other social media sites, but I recommend all self-published authors get active on these two, at the very least. 

There are also book-specific sites such as Goodreads. I'm not as active there as I could be, but just by having an account, I get tons of friend requests. As mentioned above, those are people who are learning my name and the titles of my books, and that has powerful potential. You can also announce events such as book giveaways, contests, new releases, personal appearances, etc. Even if you don't do a lot on Goodreads, I recommend keeping your account up to date by adding all new releases. It's just one more place for people to see your books.

If you enjoyed today's thoughts, look to the sidebar on the right and you can follow by email to receive notices when I have new posts and also join the site with Google Friend Connect. If you have additional thoughts or observations, I'd love to hear them! Just leave a comment below.

All the Best,

Michael K. Rose

Edit: If you would like a single page to bookmark, I'll be adding each of my 101 Thoughts on Self-Publishing here.

You might also be interested in my new eBook, Building a Promotional Package: How to Prepare for Your Successful Book Launch. Details about it can be found here.

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Building An Author's Promotional Package, Part 3

Welcome to Part 3 of "Building An Author's Promotional Package," the final and thrilling conclusion! In Part 1, I talked about writing your book description. Part 2 covered images and quotes. Today, I will talk about two more things you should include, one you can include and one that, in my opinion, is not necessary but is a damned great idea (because I thought of it, you see). Onward!

IV: LINKS

Once you've told people all about your great book, shown them how cool the cover looks and shared what others have thought about it, you want to get them to a place where they can buy it or at least stay connected with you. This means links. These are some of the links that you can provide:

1. A link to a static page dedicated to your book. This can be a page on your website (like this one for Short Stories) or a blog post about your book. If you book isn't out yet, you want this to be the go-to page where you will provide links to all the various places people can buy the book once it does come out. If your book is out, link to this page but I would also recommend providing links in your promotional package to the most popular stores.
2. Your blog, if you're not linking to it as mentioned above.
3. If you have other books out, your Amazon profile page.
4. Social media links (your Facebook and Twitter accounts, for example).
5. Your book's Goodreads page.
6. Any other places your book is mentioned/featured/reviewed.

Try not to go overboard on links, or people may not know where to start. I'd keep the number around eight, definitely under ten.

V: A COMPLIMENTARY COPY

The people who are hosting your book announcement on their blog/website are doing you a huge favor. It would be good form to give them a complimentary eBook copy of your book in return. But this is not purely altruistic. There is the possibility they will read the book and like it enough to post a review for you. This will be especially important early on, when your book is new. It is also a good idea to get your complimentary copies out at least a week in advance so they have a chance to read it before the official release.

VI: BOOK EXCERPT (OPTIONAL)

You may, in your promotional package, include a thrilling excerpt of your book. However, this will tend to make the book announcement rather long-looking, and people may skip over it. I would instead recommend that you post an excerpt on your own blog/website and provide a link to it in your promotional package.

VII: SOCIAL MEDIA BLURBS

Okay, this is the damned great idea: social media blurbs. What are those? A little while back, I realized that a lot of people are willing to tweet/announce my book when it comes out. The people who are hosting you on their blog/website are especially willing to do this. So I decided that I would try to make doing so a bit easier for them and, in the process, increase the likelihood that they would do it. A social media blurb is simply a pre-written message advertising or announcing your book. Instead of having to write something and copy and paste the link themselves, your friends and fans can just copy and paste these pre-written blurbs. I recommend making some for Twitter, adhering to the 140-character limit, and some for other social media sites, like Facebook, where you have a bit more room to work with. If your book is already out, you can link to the most popular stores. If not, you can link to the static page for your book. I recommend providing 4-6 for each type of site so they have some variety. Here, for example, are the Twitter blurbs I will provide in my promotional package for Short Stories:

Read SHORT STORIES by Michael K. Rose: “…the purest form of literature…” http://www.michaelkrose.com/short-stories #SciFi #Kindle #Nook @MichaelKRose

Michael K. Rose’s SHORT STORIES is “…as rich as a bottle of Montrachet 1978…” http://www.michaelkrose.com/short-stories #SciFi #Nook #Kindle @MichaelKRose

Get SHORT STORIES, #SciFi author Michael K. Rose’s new release. “Prepare to be immersed!” http://www.michaelkrose.com/short-stories #Nook #Kindle @MichaelKRose

#SciFi author Michael K. Rose’s newest release is available for #Nook, #Kindle & in print. Get it here: http://www.michaelkrose.com/short-stories @MichaelKRose

Michael K. Rose’s SHORT STORIES is “…as tasty as a generous cut of Wagyu beef.” http://www.michaelkrose.com/short-stories #SciFi #Kindle #Nook @MichaelKRose

New release by @MichaelKRose, “...an insightful, compelling writer with a talent for nuance and timing.” SHORT STORIES: http://www.michaelkrose.com/short-stories

So what elements do we have in common? First, my name and the title of my book. Those are obvious. We also want the link, which you can see is my website page dedicated to Short Stories. Most of them also have a short quote from reviews that I have previously solicited. Finally, I have tried to include two Twitter-specific things: appropriate hashtags (such as #SciFi, #Nook and #Kindle) and my Twitter username so I can see when people post these and thank them.

A social media blurb for Facebook or similar sites could look like this:

Michael K. Rose, author of SULLIVAN'S WAR, releases SHORT STORIES: "If there is an author new to the world of publishing that I would place next to Ray Bradbury, Edgar Allan Poe and Isaac Asimov, it has to be Michael K. Rose." Get your copy today! http://www.michaelkrose.com/short-stories

The great thing about the social media blurbs is that you can include them in email announcements about your book and send them to acquaintances. So even if someone isn't hosting you on their blog/website, they can still copy one of these and paste them into their social media account. If your book is not out yet, be sure to ask those you send these to to wait until it is or you may end up confusing a lot of people. Alternatively, you can have some "Coming Soon!" social media blurbs to tweet beforehand, and blurbs like those above for after the release.

This brings an end to "Building An Author's Promotional Package." There are, of course, many things you can do and many different ways you can arrange the elements of your own promo package. I'd love to hear your thoughts/reactions in the comments section below. I'd also like to know if you have any great ideas of your own!

Finally, I would like to again say that Short Stories comes out on June 29, 2012. I am actively looking for bloggers who are willing to post a release announcement for me. If you are interested, please email myriad_spheres@yahoo.com with "BLOG TOUR" in the subject line.

Best Wishes,
Michael K. Rose

Building An Author's Promotional Package, Part 2

Yesterday, in “Building An Author’s Promotional Package, Part 1,” I talked about writing a description for your book, and a bit about press releases. Today, I would like to talk about the next two elements you should include in your promotional package: images and quotes.

II: IMAGES

Just as your description can pique a reader’s interest, the cover of your book and any associated images can as well. Always include an image of your book cover in the press package. It draws the eye in a way that a dense paragraph of text can’t. I also like to include an advertising banner, so whoever is helping you spread the word about your book has something eye-catching to put across the top of the page. I’m not going to get into the elements of good or bad cover design; there are many other discussions about that. But here are a couple of my banner ads as an example of what those can look like (my blog displays them too big if I go up a size, so click on them for a better view):

And here are two banners from paranormal thriller writer Micheal Rivers:

 

You can see that you can use an "abstract" type background, like in the Sullivan's War banner, you can put the actual book cover in the banner, as I have done with Short Stories, or you can zoom in on certain elements of book cover, as Micheal Rivers has done. From these examples you can also see that you can condense your book description down into a single line ("Can Rick Sullivan Defeat His Enemies Before He Defeats Himself?" or "Can You Bargain with the Dead?"). That, along with the book title and your name, will pretty much fill the space in your banner ad. But if you have a little extra room, your website or a quote from a reader, as in Sullivan's War banner, are also great things to put in your banner ad. 

In addition to your book cover and a banner ad, you should include a photo of yourself. Typically called a head shot, this will give a face to the words. And make sure it's a good face. The way I see it, there are two main schools when it comes to the head shot: casual and not casual (I don't use the word "formal" because sartorially that means white or black tie, and I don't want you dressing up in a tux or gown for your head shot).

The casual head shot is what most authors will opt for, as we live in a casual society. I have chosen to go with a non-casual head shot:

However, if you decide to do this, make sure it is a real part of your persona. Between the symphony, opera and occasional ballet performances and plays, I end up wearing a coat and tie quite a bit throughout the year. I am comfortable in it. If you feel like you're suffocating when you put on a tie, chances are you're going to look like you're suffocating. Be comfortable, but avoid any clothing that could be seen as objectionable or anything very revealing (unless you write erotica, I suppose).

Even if you do go for casual, try to avoid the common snapshot. Have an actual photo shoot with a friend taking pictures of you, telling you which poses/smile/etc. look the best. You want your photo to look like a professional author's photo (pick up some books around your house to get an idea). You want to exude an air of confidence and professionalism. It's purely subconscious and completely unfair, but if you look untidy, readers might worry that your writing is untidy.

III: QUOTES

This is where you really have to plan ahead. What you want to do is find some authors or readers who really enjoy your work. I was very fortunate in this, as I didn’t have to seek them out. People began leaving glowing reviews on my product pages at Amazon and from there I connected with many of them via Twitter, Facebook and email.

Once you have a list of people who you feel you can count on for a positive review, people who not only like your work but love your work, you will want to have a review copy of your book ready about a month before you release it to the general public. A review copy is simply a draft of the book (these days it's often an eBook) that is not quite finalized but is complete and close enough to being revised and edited that a reader can get a good sense for the work. Send this review copy out to your short list of readers. If they enjoy it, you will hopefully get a nice quote from them to add to your promotional package. Another thing you can do once you have your cover image finalized is create a book entry on Goodreads and list it as "Coming Soon!" You can ask your readers to leave their reviews there as well as at the Amazon and B&N and other stores once the book is for sale. Great quotes, especially from other authors, can interest a reader in your upcoming book as much as a great description can. Another benefit of listing your book on Goodreads in advance is that you can start getting people entering for a book giveaway, if you choose to do that.

Of course, if other authors send you quotes to use in your promotional material, it is only right that you offer to do the same for them. Be very careful, however, that a quid pro quo isn’t established wherein you say nice things about their book simply because they said something nice about yours. However, unless they are truly bad writers (or you are hyper-critical), there should be something you like about the book. Even if their book may not be your cup of tea, look at it from the perspective of its intended audience and try to see what they will like about it.

Tomorrow, I will conclude the "Building An Author's Promotional Package" series with two more elements you should include in your package, one optional element as well as one final element that I think is a rather novel idea. Stay tuned!

UPDATE: Read Part 3 here.

Building An Author's Promotional Package, Part 1

INTRODUCTION

As I get ready to release my new book, Short Stories, (coming on June 29^th!) I’ve decided to put together a promotional package, as I have done in the past. But I realized that I had never given much thought to it. As I pondered the subject, I concluded that there are several things that I think are important to include; these are the things I am going to include in my own promotional package. A lot of this will be common sense for those of us who have done it before, but I hope some new authors out there will get a few ideas to use when they begin promoting their books. Note that this is not a guide on where or how to submit your promotional packages, but briefly, I intend to use mine for the following:

1. To send to those who have agreed to host a book announcement on their blog

2. To post on my own blog

3. To send out to my email contacts

4. To create a Goodreads event

If you want to write up a press release, there are, of course, many places you can post those. Some Google research will be able to tell you more than I can. I’ll address press releases a bit later in the article but the main focus will be on writing your book description.

I: THE DESCRIPTION

The first thing to include in an author’s press package is the most obvious: a description of the book. That’s easy enough, right? Actually, no. It’s notoriously difficult to write an engaging description but it is going to be the most important part of your press package. Based on your description of a book, potential readers will decide to either buy or pass. Just so we’re clear, you want them to buy. So how do you do this? My main point of advice is to use the word “thrilling.” I'm only partly joking about this. Read some book descriptions. Every book ever written is “thrilling.” If it’s not “thrilling,” then it is “heart-warming.” Other words readers like to see are “fast-paced,” “touching,” “provocative” and “engaging.” Of course, only use these words if they actually apply to your novel. Do not try to trick readers with your description. A tricked reader is an unhappy reader, which is something you do not want. It would help to have some friends read the book beforehand and tell you how they would describe it. Find out what key words they use and weave them into your book description.

Here’s my back cover blurb for my upcoming book Short Stories. Give it a read then I will tell you what I’ve tried to do with each part of the description:

The science fiction stories of Michael K. Rose can most accurately be described as eclectic. He is best known for his science fiction adventure series Sullivan’s War and in this collection you will find stories that adhere to the strongest expectations of the genre, such as “Sergeant Riley’s Account,” “Sleep” and “A Random Selection.”

But you will also find stories that, while speculative in nature, owe more to literary fiction than anything else. Works such as “Main & Church,” “Inner Life” and “Pedro X.” explore the psyche as opposed to the outer reaches of the galaxy.

Whatever your tastes, you are bound to discover many favorites amongst these ten stories. The first five have been available previously. The last five are new to this collection.

The first paragraph has done a few things. First, I have described my writings as eclectic. This is code for “there’s something for everybody here!” Next, I mention Sullivan’s War. This does two things. It tells the reader I have a track record as an author and, if the reader has read Sullivan’s War, I have reminded them that I wrote it. They hopefully liked it and will pick up Short Stories based on that. If not, they at least know that it is a science fiction adventure series. I then list three stories that have strong science fiction elements. One of these, "Sleep," is a very popular short story of mine that was released as a stand-alone ebook. So if a potential reader hasn’t read Sullivan’s War, s/he may have read “Sleep” and if they enjoyed it, they can expect more of the same from Short Stories. I also mention “Sergeant Riley’s Account,” another story that is available individually. There’s a chance they've read and liked that one as well.

The second paragraph reinforced the eclectic nature of my writing. If you don’t like sci-fi adventure, there are some “deeper” literary stories here as well. I mention “Inner Life,” which was part of the collection Inner Lives: Three Short Stories. If a reader liked that collection, I entice them with the titles of other similar stories, both of which are new to this collection.

The third paragraph reiterates the idea that there is something for everyone here. I exclude no one. Now, obviously, I can’t really be sure you’re going to find many favorites in Short Stories but if hubris is acceptable anywhere, it is in your book description. You are trying to sell the book. Be bold! Be assertive! Readers want to read something by confident writers, writers who have faith in their work. I also mention that half the stories have been available previously. This means that I consider them strong (and popular) enough to include here. The promise of five new stories will hook readers who are already familiar with my other work.

Now, if you are planning to release an “official” press release, you will want to insert some elements at the beginning and end of your book description to fit that format, and may even want to edit the content of your description a bit. I’m far from an expert on this but by way of example, here’s one I did for Sullivan’s War: Book II – A City without Walls

Since author Michael K. Rose released Sergeant Riley’s Account in December of 2011, this introduction to the science fiction series Sullivan’s War has received rave reviews and has been a frequent presence on Amazon’s “Best Sellers in Science Fiction Series” list. The release of Book I in January, entitled All Good Men Serve the Devil, has also made it onto that best sellers list, reaching a rank of #30, and has earned glowing reviews of its own.

Now Mr. Rose is set to release Sullivan’s War: Book II - A City without Walls. In this thrilling new installment, Rick Sullivan must track down the man who’s kidnapped the woman he loves, all while avoiding a ruthless bounty hunter and trying to move forward his ultimate plan: to free his home planet Edaline of its oppressive regime.

Filled with action and suspense from beginning to end, A City without Walls is sure to please not only fans of the Sullivan’s War series but all fans of the science fiction genre.

Don’t miss out on 2012’s hot new science fiction adventure series! Look for Sullivan’s War: Book II - A City without Walls on March 30 at Amazon’s Kindle store and Barnes & Noble’s Nook store.

So you can see how I sandwiched the book description between information about the series at the beginning and release information at the end. There are lots of ways to do this and your best bet, whether writing a simple book description or an “official” press release, is to write it and then re-write it several times. Give yourself a few days to play with it and change things around until you are satisfied with the result. It will also be helpful to read through some press releases to get a feel for the language used in them.

If you have any other ideas or advice concerning book descriptions or press releases, leave your comments below! Tomorrow, in Part 2, I’ll talk about the next two elements that I think should be included in An Author’s Promotional Package: images and quotes.

UPDATE: Read Part 2 here.

How To Be a Beta Reader

What is a Beta reader? This is a term that writers use for a person who reads through a manuscript before the final editing pass is made. This is invaluable, and writers such as myself who are fortunate to have a handful of helpful, reliable Beta readers know how important they are to the process. But, what does a Beta reader do during and after reading a manuscript? Here are four things that I, as an author, find the most helpful. Should you be asked to serve as a Beta reader for an author, this will, I hope, serve as a handy guide to follow.

1. What did you think? - This is probably the thing that your author wants to know above all else! What did you think? Did you like it? How would you rate it? If you liked it, you can even write up a sample review to help encourage the author.

2. Are there any major mistakes? - You know, things like objects and characters appearing and disappearing, plot holes you could drive a road train through, things like that. One common mistake writers make is losing track of who is speaking. If s/he he isn't using "Bob said" and "Jane said" after every line of dialogue (and s/he shouldn't be!) then a character will occasionally respond to him/herself. It happens. Are there any spots that were ridiculous or didn't make sense? Any stilted or stupid-sounding dialogue? Any unrealistic decisions made by the characters? Were any laws of physics broken? Does anything in the story contradict the internal consistency of the world the author has created? There are all the "big" questions that readers will use to gauge whether or not a book is "good" or "bad."

3. Are there many typos/grammatical errors? - Even in "traditionally-published" books, errors will slip through. It would take an unreasonable amount of time and several sets of eyes to catch everything. However, authors, being so close to the work, often read what they meant to type rather than what they actually did type. Small typos will most likely slip through. Even if the author is going to hire a professional editor, or his/her publisher has one on staff, they can miss things. The more eyes the better, and your author will be grateful for any errors you can point out. Another thing to look for are unusually-worded phrases. If you have to read a sentence a couple of times to understand what the author means then other readers will as well.

4. Which sections are strongest? Which are weakest? - Sometimes a writer can fall in love with a scene and blind him/herself to its problems. If a particular scene doesn't quite work for you, let the writer know, and tell him/her why. You can even offer an idea of how you think the scene can be salvaged. On the other hand, let the writer know which scenes you loved! This information can be useful if the writer is going to be posting an excerpt with which to "hook" readers.

If you have any other things you think Beta readers can look for, please post them in the comments below!

My Twitter Manifesto (with Jokes)

or A Public Declaration of Intent Regarding My Use of the Social Networking Site Twitter.

Article I. On Following

To paraphrase Mr. Alfred Doolittle in Pygmalion/My Fair Lady: I'm willing to follow you, I'm wanting to follow you, I'm waiting to follow you. That is, assuming the following criteria are met:

1. You have followed me and continue to follow me. To be blunt, I despise those who go through and follow hundreds of people a day to get follow backs, only to unfollow them the next day and repeat the vile process.
2. You are a real person. I can't tell you how many lonely, attractive women wanting to "chat" or "fuck" have followed me. I should only be so lucky! These immediately get reported for spam and will have no help from me in building a list of schmucks to exploit. I also report for spam any account whose tweets consist of unexplained links to websites with an .ru suffix.
3. You are a real person who posts things relevant to my interests. If you are a writer, I will follow you. Period. Post as many links as you like to your books, your blog posts, etc. These are the things I want to see! However, if you're just trying to shill accounting/home business/advertising services on me, look elsewhere. As no one I've ever known has said, "That dog don't hunt."

Providing you meet the above criteria, I would love to be your Twitter friend. If, for some reason, you are eligible for my Follow but I haven't followed you, let me know! Contrary to what I've written in "The Cult of Michael" Handbook ($29.99 + shipping and handling) I am not perfect. I miss things. Also, believe it or not, Twitter isn't perfect either! I know! Sometimes it decides that I shouldn't be following certain people. I might think otherwise, but it doesn't really want to give me a say in the matter, so there you go.

Article II. On Mentions and Retweets

I love it when people mention me or retweet me. It makes me all tingly inside. So if you do one of these things, do so knowing that I am grateful for your support. I will do my very best to thank you and retweet something of yours in return but it is not always possible. Sometimes, it is just a matter of me not having the time and by the time I do have the time, assuming I haven't lost track of the time, I won't remember the time you took the time to help me out. It happens. Sometimes. So, if you have been sending out a stream of tweets saying how wonderful I am only to be met with cold, disdainful silence, I apologize. I really do try and if you don't hear back from me it means nothing other than I am busy and/or lazy.

Article III. On Self-Promotion

I do a fair bit of self-promotion (get the exciting SciFi/Horror short story Sleep for only 99 cents!) but I try not to be obnoxious about it. I balance tweets about my books with tweets about books by other writers and links to useful blog posts (like this one). So, I am not one of those who will huff and click the unfollow button if you are spreading the good word about your latest masterpiece every five minutes. I have found many wonderful books via such shameless self-aggrandizement. Not that you're doing that. No, I'm sure your book tweets and humble and self-deprecating. But if they aren't, I don't mind! I love supporting Indie authors and if you follow me on Twitter, that's what I'll be doing! Get used to it. Run, jump, shout and scream about your book. I might just join in the revelry with a retweet or two. If such enthusiastic drum-beating about how great my writer friends and I are bothers you, you probably don't want to follow. But if you want to read some great books (like Sullivan's War: Book I) then I'm your man. If you want me to retweet something, let me know! Tweets are sometimes easy to miss, so send me a DM if there's something in particular you want me to share. As I said, I love supporting fellow Indie writers and if I end up reading and liking your book, watch out, because the world is going to hear about it.

Article IV. On Friendship

I have met many people on Twitter that I now consider friends. It is a great forum for self-promotion, sure, but friendship is an even greater thing than that. I am very liberal in who I will consider a friend and if you share some of my interests, there's a good chance I'll consider you one. I love joking with people and chatting about books, science fiction, classical music and nerd stuff in general. Feel free to chat me up any time!

You can Follow me on Twitter by going here:
https://twitter.com/#!/MichaelKRose

I look forward to engaging with you!

Best,
Michael

5 MORE Ways to Help Authors Without Spending a Dime

I have received great feedback and a lot of hits on my blog post 5 Ways to Help Authors without Spending a Dime so I thought I'd run a part two, taking into account some of the suggestions left by readers in the comments section. I hope you enjoy these suggestions and put them into practice!

1. Jennifer wrote: "And also don't forget that at the end of the day, a short note to the author letting him/her know how much you enjoy that author's writing can be just the right amount of encouragement at just the right time." She is absolutely right! A few kind words can make all the difference to a writer if sales have been down or s/he's received a negative review. If you enjoy something you read, let the author know!

2. Rachel wrote: "Also how about hitting Yes if you find a review helpful or No if you don't." This is not something I had thought about until recently, when I received my first (and so far only) negative review. Several of my fans and friends rallied around me to click "unhelpful" on that review and reassure me that the reviewer was completely off-base. The fact that the review was so nasty and vindictive made this support particularly welcome.

3. Jeff wrote: "For Twitter, I try to get the most value out of those 140 characters that I can, so whenever possible for thank you's or welcomes, replies, retweets, etc., etc., it helps to add the authors book title, link, whatever you can get your hands on." A great idea! If your followers see a unique tweet coming from you--someone they know and trust--rather than an RT, which a lot of people tend to ignore, it might make them look at it a bit more closely. For authors who have been really supportive of me, I've even made up a file of tweets about their books, which I try to send out once a day.

4. Jeff also wrote: "Don't forget to join an author's blog site (which I just now did btw)." Authors blog. A lot. It's part of that whole attention whore thing I mentioned in the first 5 Ways to Help Authors... post. Now, following a blog helps you because if you like that author and the content s/he provides, you won't miss anything. But it can help the author as well. Here's how: say a prospective reader happens across the blog and sees that many people are following it. This will let him or her know that this author has something worthwhile to say and they may be more likely to stick around and see what it's all about and, perhaps, buy a book or two.

5. Tell Your Friends! This one is so basic that I overlooked it the first time around. If you enjoy a book, write a review, of course. But people you know from work, the PTA, old school friends, etc. may never get around to trolling Amazon for your reviews. Tell them about books that you love and, most importantly, tell them how to get a copy! Send them emails or DMs with the link so they don't forget!

Keep the suggestions coming in the comments section!

Best,
Michael

5 Tips for Great Author Interviews

Ahh, the interview. It seems like all writers love giving them and many love being on the receiving end as well. (Hey, get your mind out of the gutter!) I've had the pleasure to give several interviews and I've also interviewed one of my favorite writers, Benjamin X. Wretlind (see here). Having just finished giving a couple more interviews, I've been thinking about what makes for a great author interview. With that in mind, I decided to compile this list of five tips for interviews that both interviewers and interviewees can benefit from.

1. Consider a "Live" Interview - Many interviews consist of a list of questions sent to an author who then writes a response to each one and sends it back. This is fine and works well and all but one of my interviews have been conducted this way. But when I interviewed Benjamin X. Wretlind (and he, in turn, interviewed me) we conducted "live" interviews in which each question is based on the previous answer given. This takes a lot more time, of course, but makes for a much more fluid and engaging read. See our interviews here and here.

2. Make the Question Your Own - Often an interviewer will ask fairly standard, safe questions. Answer them, of course, but then find a way to say something that the interviewer didn't ask. Give your answer personality, let the reader get a deeper insight into your mind. Go into detail about your thought process when writing/creating characters/coming up with story ideas.

3. Propose Questions - If you are being interviewed, ask the interviewer to ask specific questions that will allow you to address topics that you think will make for a good read. If you are the one doing the interview, give your subject the opportunity to add questions of his/her own. If the interviewee is able to do this the answers will be much more engaging because s/he will be talking about something they really like discussing. It will make for a more dynamic interview.

4. Read Your Subject's Work - This is a tip for interviewers. Try to read something by the author you're interviewing. I know this is not always possible but if you can ask specific questions about the author's book it will be more likely to pique the reader's interest in the work. Asking a broad question about the theme or plot can do this if the interviewee responds in the right way but when the reader sees that the interviewer was interested enough to give the book a read it will help promote the work. (Again, see the interview Benjamin X. Wretlind gave me for an example of this).

5. Open it to the Public - This isn't something I've had the opportunity to do yet but I think it would be a good idea. If, at the end of the interview, the blog's host opens the floor to questions with the understanding that the interviewee will answer them in the comments section, this will engage the readers and keep their interest in both the blog and the author's work for a longer period of time. A thoughtful response to a reader's question could make the difference between a quick read that's just as quickly forgotten and a sale.

And with that last point in mind, I'd love for you to add a comment if you have any more tips for creating great author interviews! To read all the interviews I've given, see my Interviews page here.