Publetariat

This post, from Mick Rooney, originally appeared on his POD, Self-Publishing and Independent Publishing blog on 12/3/09.

Read the rest of the post on Mick Rooney’s POD, Self-Publishing and Independent Publishing blog.

Now that we’ve discussed all the background concepts in producing and effective small ad, it’s time to create the artwork. Just following a few simple considerations through the process will insure that your ad will be read, and hopefully, retained by your targeted market reader.

Size and position count

First, once you’ve settled upon the best size for your budget, determine if the medium will allow you to request positioning. Where your ad falls on a page will affect it’s effectiveness. For most smaller ads – smaller than full page banners, right hand top positioning will give your message better visibility and retention. This has been tested by media wonks for years, and it follows the science of eye movement on a page of written material. If that is not available then try for the next slot down the right hand column. Left hand columns, or outside columns on left hand pages, in a two-page spread layout, generally are not as effective. This is because the readers eye doesn’t pass over this position as often during a full read. If the page where your ad will run has only other small ads and no editorial content, I’d think twice before making a commitment there. Your ad will not creqate as effective a response in that situation.

Of course, if a poorly conceived, badly designed ad appears in the top-right position, it won’t be effective anyway, but it will get more visibility. Make sure your message is carried by as effective a vehicle possible. Then put it where it will do the most good.

Resolution, resolution, resolution.

The next most important consideration is to maximize the resolution of your ad. The majority of online venues will accept 72 dpi images. This is barely enough resolution to allow the legibility of small, or “fancy” typefaces. It can be adequate, if you choose your graphic elements, including type, for the low-resolution final product. If your medium will accept 96 dpi images, then produce your ad in this higher resolution, to allow better contrast, image detail, and type legibility.

You’ll be assembling your elements in your vector-based graphics program, using the import function to bring bitmapped images into the design. At this level, the type and linear graphics you bring into the program will be vector images, so that their resolution will be unlimited, sharp and very clean. From inside the vector program, adjust your bitmapped elements – logos, photographic elements, for best color, contrast and appearance on your monitor. Once you are completely satisfied with how your images appear, save a “baseline” copy of your design. Name it differently than the “working copy”. In case you have to return to the previous version.

Palettes – Color Fidelity

 You should also check the color palette used in your bitmapped image to be certain it will appear they way you intend it. First, in a transmitted light environment, such as a monitor screen, you want to be sure to use RGB palettes. If you are printing your ad on a paper page, then use CMYK Palettes, named after the four inks used in “process” printing: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and blacK. Choosing the correct palette is critical, and with RGB palettes, you can also choose a “web-safe” palette, which is a more limited range of color that is constant across platforms online – just to be safe, when the actual color match is important.

Headline Type: A Work in Progress

 Next, refine the size, and shape of your type. Use vector type fonts such as TrueType fonts, not bitmapped fonts, which can’t be manipulated without distortion and edge definition issues. Using the pointer handle tools found in vector programs, you can pull your type into in-between sizes and shapes, for example, making the headline a bit wider to fill the space better. Again, use the “arm’s length” technique to check for legibility as you work.

One of my favorite techniques in vector layout work is the ability to “overlay” a headline either in a darker color than the bitmapped image beneath it or a lighter color or white, without the edge definition issues that can develop. Vector type can be sized, refined and then slid into position over an image seamlessly. You may also have a vector graphic (“line art”) image you’d like to include, and if you’re using a vector program, you’ll be able to dot he same thing, without edge issues.

Testing…Testing…

When you’ve massaged all your elements into the most satisfying, legible design you can, it’s a good idea to create a test page, by saving an appropriate copy of a web page from the site where your ad will appear. Save it with a filename you’ll be able to find, in a “working” directory you’ll be able to find.

Bitmaps…again…

Next, export your finished ad as a jpeg or a gif image. If you are using flat colors – non photographic elements – and web-friendly color palette, you may want to reduce the size of your ad by exporting it as a “gif” file, which will reduce the color depth to 8-bits – check your color fidelity, if that matters, and save it with a filename which incorporates the word “adtest”. For example adtest01,gif or jpg (adjust as necessary if you’re using a Mac).

To run the test on your monitor (or to print a text page, if your ad will run in print), import your ad image file into an html editing program that already has the test page open. Insert it into what is probably a table, just above the highest element in the column where it will appear – lower if top is not a position you can choose.

For print, using your vector program, open the test page file, then import your ad, positioning it over another ad of your size. Back away, and see if your ad still catches the eye amidst other ads. If not, adjust it. For a print test, you can print up a few pages and show them around, remembering comments you get.

The idea is to be sure your ad works as well on a page of editorial copy and other ads as it does when it stands alone in your design program, or on a proof you’ve printed. These kind of proofing tests are a really good use of that Photo Printer we spoke about a few months back. You can also print out a proof of your ad, and your test page, and cut and paste your ad into position the old-fashioned way! Years of making up these dummy pages – as I did in one of my earlier lives – makes you very handy with a jar of rubber cement!

Export and upload…

Once you’ve tweaked, pulled and tested to your satisfaction, return to your vector program and save your ad file using a filename which incorporates the word “final” and the date. Then export your ad art into an image file (jpeg or gif) for uploading, at the resolution you have decided to use. I always keep these files in a separate directory and almost always name the file using the book name and a qualifier so I know where it is to run.

Most online venues will host the transfer process using their own web-based software – you’ll “browse” which file you want to upload, and the browser software will upload it from your hard drive into the venue’s file system. An alternative, if you also have your own website, would be to upload the file into your server’s directory – or a new directory especially for online ads – using your ftp program.

In a perfect world, you’ll start selling books right away, and your bank account will inflate quickly. In the real world, you may see some sales begin after a few days or weeks’ time, depending on how effectively you chose the medium, how well-designed and targeted your ad is and many other variables. It’s all really a process, not a single step or short sequence of steps. The process is ongoing while the ad runs, until your determine that another ad will work better, and change your artwork. I recommend you change your artwork every month or so, unless your ad is running primarily for recognition. Just a new headline can renew interest, or a new background image, and so on.

One more thing…

Of course, there’s another element whose importance can’t be overstated, and that is luck. If you can figure out how to manipulate that, then sit me down for a lesson! That’s the one I want to learn! 

This post, from Larry Brooks, originally appeared on his Storyfix site on 11/19/09.

I’m about to introduce you to the most exhilarating and useful hands-on writing exercise I’ve ever experienced.  So effective, in fact, that it’s more a tool than it is a way to limber up the ol’ creative muscles.

So which is it?  An exercise or a tool?

Doesn’t matter.  Either way, I urge you – I  challenge you – to try this. 

Why?  Because just sitting there waiting for the blood to emerge from your forehead and plop onto the page in the form of an idea probably isn’t going to do the trick anytime soon.

If you’re blocked, this will unblock you. 

But that’s only one reason to give this a shot.

If you’re fuzzy about story structure, this will clear the fog. 

If you’re looking for a way to turn an idea into a story, this is like growth hormones for that seed. 

It’ll take you two to three hours to complete.  What comes of that investment of time, though, just might change – or even save – your writing life.

Your mission is to generically deconstruct a story.

It’s like shooting video of Tiger Woods’ golf swing.  You’re not ripping him off, you’re breaking down the fundamentals of what works.  When you then apply what you’ve learned to your own game, trust me, nobody will accuse you of plagiarizing greatness 

Because the principles of greatness are always generic, available to everybody.

When you’re finished, you’ll have a generic template for a story from your chosen genre, something you can apply to your own work as you see fit, in part or even in whole.

Or, at a minimum, you’ll have something that will enhance and reinforce your understanding of story architecture.

First step: go to the video store and rent a movie. 

Read the rest of the post on Storyfix.

I never dreamed that I would find myself at a writer’s workshop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in October 2002. First of all, I didn’t think I was good enough at writing to put up the tuition of $400. To go to a writer’s workshop such as that I thought meant I not only needed to be serious about wanting to be an author (which I was) but be able to hold my own with other writers in the classes. I didn’t have one bit of confidence in myself, but Keystone Nursing Care Center did. For the administrator and board giving me such a wonderful opportunity I will be always grateful.

Here is what lead to my going to that workshop. The organization that many Iowa nursing homes are a member of had an essay contest each year and a photography contest. The essay had to be 500 words about a resident in the nursing home without mentioning the resident or nursing home. In 2001, I and others at the nursing home wrote an essay. The nursing home’s Senior Advocate committee had to pick a winner. I won so my entry went to the essay contest. Out of all the state entries, I won with "Floating Feathers Of Yesterdays". The head of the organization came to Keystone to present me with a $100 check at a reception the nursing home had for me. My essay was in several of the local newspapers.

That win gave me the incentive to try again the next year. So out of the essays submitted at the nursing home mine was again picked. "A Woman For All Seasons" is about a woman who had lived on her small farm, taking care of her cattle for as long as she was able. I admired her for how she had lived her life her way. While I was entering contests, I thought I might as well enter the photography contest. So I picked the woman I wrote the essay about as my subject. In the spring for years, I’d take a lamb and goat to the nursing home to show the residents. That year I took along a bottle of milk. I set the lamb in front of the woman’s recliner and handed her the bottle. In the picture, we could see the pure pleasure she experienced while feeding that lamb. The picture title said it all — "Bottle Full Of Memories".

The contest results call came one evening while I was working. The nurse had okayed it with the administrator to break the news to me. She mumbled that I had won the contests. Figuring the nurse wasn’t too up on what I had entered, I said, "Which one?" She just grinned at me. Suddenly her choice of plural "contests" hit me. I squeaked, "Both of them" "Yes!" The contests were judged blind so the judges had no way of knowing that I submitted both the essay and the photo until after they picked the winner. Nor did they realize right away that I had won the essay contest the year before. This was all cause for excitement at the nursing home.

Also, the double wins brought on another reception. A newly hired communication director came from West Des Moines to present me with certificates and a check for $200. I had the woman in my essay and photo up front to be with me. I presented her with a bouquet of flowers to thank her for being my subject matter. She was delighted to be the center of attention until she asked what time it was. She’d already missed five minutes of "The Young And The Restless" and nothing was more important that that soap opera.

For winning the contest I was about to receive a gift from the nursing home. I could not believe it when the administrator gave me the information that the board wanted me to pursue my writing and work on getting better. They paid for the Writer’s Workshop as a gift for winning the contests which is good PR for the nursing home. I was excited and nervous all rolled into one and had several weeks to worry about what I was getting into.

The communication director said when she presented me the certificates that I was a very good writer. She was impressed. With that to encourage me, I said if I could find another resident that was essay material I’d enter again next year and try for win number three. That wasn’t to be. Months in advance, I came up with an essay and polished it. When the contest rules came, a new one had been add. Last year’s winner could not enter. (I had prewarned the communication director.) The next year I again had an entry ready to go and found the contest had been dropped. Maybe not enough participation. That didn’t stop me from writing my essays about the residents. One became a eulogy at a resident’s visitation and funeral. A story about my mother was purchased by "Good Old Days" Magazine. Quite a few of my essays have placed in other contests. Best of all, I gave the residents a copy of the essays. Their families were delighted to read a story about their loved one.

Update: The National Novel Writing Month contest is over. I only had about half the 50,000 words I need to enter. I loved the challenge but just didn’t have the time to stay at the computer. Now I’m looking forward to next November. I’m ready to try again.

Now come back Thursday. I’ll tell you about the Kirkwood Writer’s Workshop.

I never dreamed that I would find myself at a writer’s workshop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in October 2002. First of all, I didn’t think I was good enough at writing to put up the tuition of $400. To go to a writer’s workshop such as that I thought meant I not only needed to be serious about wanting to be an author (which I was) but be able to hold my own with other writers in the classes. I didn’t have one bit of confidence in myself, but Keystone Nursing Care Center did. For the administrator and board giving me such a wonderful opportunity I will be always grateful.

Here is what lead to my going to that workshop. The organization that many Iowa nursing homes are a member of had an essay contest each year and a photography contest. The essay had to be 500 words about a resident in the nursing home without mentioning the resident or nursing home. In 2001, I and others at the nursing home wrote an essay. The nursing home’s Senior Advocate committee had to pick a winner. I won so my entry went to the essay contest. Out of all the state entries, I won with "Floating Feathers Of Yesterdays". The head of the organization came to Keystone to present me with a $100 check at a reception the nursing home had for me. My essay was in several of the local newspapers.

That win gave me the incentive to try again the next year. So out of the essays submitted at the nursing home mine was again picked. "A Woman For All Seasons" is about a woman who had lived on her small farm, taking care of her cattle for as long as she was able. I admired her for how she had lived her life her way. While I was entering contests, I thought I might as well enter the photography contest. So I picked the woman I wrote the essay about as my subject. In the spring for years, I’d take a lamb and goat to the nursing home to show the residents. That year I took along a bottle of milk. I set the lamb in front of the woman’s recliner and handed her the bottle. In the picture, we could see the pure pleasure she experienced while feeding that lamb. The picture title said it all — "Bottle Full Of Memories".

The contest results call came one evening while I was working. The nurse had okayed it with the administrator to break the news to me. She mumbled that I had won the contests. Figuring the nurse wasn’t too up on what I had entered, I said, "Which one?" She just grinned at me. Suddenly her choice of plural "contests" hit me. I squeaked, "Both of them" "Yes!" The contests were judged blind so the judges had no way of knowing that I submitted both the essay and the photo until after they picked the winner. Nor did they realize right away that I had won the essay contest the year before. This was all cause for excitement at the nursing home.

Also, the double wins brought on another reception. A newly hired communication director came from West Des Moines to present me with certificates and a check for $200. I had the woman in my essay and photo up front to be with me. I presented her with a bouquet of flowers to thank her for being my subject matter. She was delighted to be the center of attention until she asked what time it was. She’d already missed five minutes of "The Young And The Restless" and nothing was more important that that soap opera.

For winning the contest I was about to receive a gift from the nursing home. I could not believe it when the administrator gave me the information that the board wanted me to pursue my writing and work on getting better. They paid for the Writer’s Workshop as a gift for winning the contests which is good PR for the nursing home. I was excited and nervous all rolled into one and had several weeks to worry about what I was getting into.

The communication director said when she presented me the certificates that I was a very good writer. She was impressed. With that to encourage me, I said if I could find another resident that was essay material I’d enter again next year and try for win number three. That wasn’t to be. Months in advance, I came up with an essay and polished it. When the contest rules came, a new one had been add. Last year’s winner could not enter. (I had prewarned the communication director.) The next year I again had an entry ready to go and found the contest had been dropped. Maybe not enough participation. That didn’t stop me from writing my essays about the residents. One became a eulogy at a resident’s visitation and funeral. A story about my mother was purchased by "Good Old Days" Magazine. Quite a few of my essays have placed in other contests. Best of all, I gave the residents a copy of the essays. Their families were delighted to read a story about their loved one.

Update: The National Novel Writing Month contest is over. I only had about half the 50,000 words I need to enter. I loved the challenge but just didn’t have the time to stay at the computer. Now I’m looking forward to next November. I’m ready to try again.

Now come back Thursday. I’ll tell you about the Kirkwood Writer’s Workshop.

Last evening, while watching what now passes for "news", I  sat through a new commercial for the new, Mitsubishi…"whatever".  LIke every other automobile commerical currently running, it featured the car as the addition to the proper, targeted (insert name here implying young, urban, upwardly mobile) lifestyle. 

There should have been people in the commercial — happily enjoying the ride, but thanks to the miracle of modern computer image manipulation and animation, only walking, talking "collections of personal accessories" including cellphones, sunglasses and headsets actually walked over from the curb and got in the car to drive away.

The people were rendered invisible, just their accessories were seen. In other words, you are what you …buy.

I guess the idea was that for the targeted market, this vehicle is just another accessory that confers status upon the owner by virtue of their having purchased it.  Yes, and of course, using it, plainly, for all to see.  What’s missing was the owner.

Of course, it didn’t offend me personally, as it was clearly targeted to a much more acquisition-oriented, younger market.  It made me laugh at first, then I began comparing it to other equally ridiculous automobile advertising, such as "My Name Is Ram. My tank is full."  I mean, who was the genius who penned that trainwreck, anyway? But if I were in my late 20s, and strove upwardly to attain the proper position in life, I would have been offended that "I" didn’t really count so long as my money could be spent.  Man as credit balance.

I really hope that my grandsons can appreciate how transparent this is all becoming.  At least in my day, the marketeers and hucksters gave you a show along with your snake oil.  Now, you’re expected to begin valuing yourself based upon which products you fall prey to.  That doesn’t bode too well for the future, does it? It seems to set us up for the day where the job of the self-appointed Gohhead will be to churn out a variety of products, and our job as the new serfs will be to gobble them up. Bon Appetit!

Just to prove I don’t think about writing books or selling them all the time, I’m going to tell you about a wedding I attended last weekend.

Remember my blog about going to a bridal shower in October for my husband’s niece. Last Saturday afternoon, the 14th, was the wedding. This was at St. Paul Methodist Church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. A beautiful, old church in the round with a cornerstone dated 1913.

However, the understated, lovely wedding ceremony took place in the chapel. It was a ceremony that reminded me of yesteryears with simple, not too expensive planning. No attendants and only family from both sides to witness the event. The bride was absolutely gorgeous in her bridal gown, holding a bouquet of red roses and the groom very handsome in his tuxedo. Though the bride planned 99% of the wedding and reception, by the groom’s own admission, these two are well grounded young people who wanted to keep the ceremony simple.

The reception was for friends as well as family and a tribute to how popular the newlyweds are by how crowded the room was. The food was delicious. The four flavored multa tiered square cake was decorative as well as flavors for everyone. I hear there was one tier of lemon. By the time I got to the cake table the lemon cake was gone.

The reception was held on Mt. Vernon Road in a rustic area. A man went out in the parking lot for a breath of fresh air and swears he saw a five point buck meandering between the cars. Deer are thick everywhere in the area, but he was the only eye witness to a hunter’s dream of a five point buck.

Our celebration with the newlyweds didn’t stop with the reception. Since we were going to be in Cedar Rapids for a book signing the next day at Lemstone Christian Bookstore, we were invited to the couple’s for a soup supper and the wedding gift opening.

It’s nice to see the groom feels right at home as a member of this family, but then he has had five years to let us get use to him. He likes to tease, and I hear he can be a joker. I too like to tease so we should get along fine.

As we were putting on our coats to leave Sunday evening, I said I had gotten used to having two free suppers in a row on the newlyweds. What time was supper on Monday? The groom said he would set a bucket on the outside by the door. I would be expected to make a donation before I entered. I told him I knew meals on him was a good thing that was too good to last.

We look forward to seeing this busy couple on holidays and any time in between they want to visit.

This post, from Moonrat, originally appeared on Editorial Ass on 11/5/09.

I got a reader question recently, and (coincidentally) was, um, "approached" by a would-be author at a lit party the other night with a very similar question (although he did not word it nearly as nicely as you did, dear anonymous polite reader below). So it seems to me this is on a lot of people’s minds lately.

Dear Moonie,

A newbie (me, unfortunately) is having a bit of an issue with her MS. Cuts need to be made (my darn novel is a porky 130,000 words). But every time I start cutting out my protagonist’s funny little comments or thoughts that don’t necessarily add to the plot, I feel like I’m betraying and/or losing my beloved character and replacing her with a streamlined, made-for-the-market version of her. On top of that, the only person who’s seen my work says that the things I’m cutting really are unnecessary and need to go to make it more "effective."

As someone who’s probably dealt with many authors in this dilemma, do you think I’m just being overprotective of my character, or is there merit to my madness? At what point should an author listen to her gut over the advice of more experienced writers?

Best,
XXX

First, dear Newbie, kudos to you for identifying that 130,000 words is probably too long (and not taking affront, like the gentleman I encountered at that event last week, who insisted not a word of his 280,000-word ms was unnecessary). For those who want further discussion re: word count, I refer you here.

Now, Newbie, I identify three separate issues in your question:
1) volume
2) character integrity
3) trusting your gut over advice

I shall address these in order.

Read the rest of the post on Editorial Ass.

Book Signing Announcement

On November 15, Keystone author Fay Risner has been invited to a book signing at Lemstone Christian Bookstore located in Collins Plaza Mall across from Linndale Mall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa from one to three p.m. Risner will talk about the two books the store sells for her – "Open A Window – Alzheimer’s Caregiver Handbook" and "Hello Alzheimer’s Good Bye Dad" the story of her father Bill Bullock’s struggle with Alzheimer’s.

I’m excited to be invited to this book signing at the Lemstone Christian Bookstore. The owners have been planning this event for months. The main hitch was trying to set a date that three authors could commit to.

Other authors at the book signing will be Kent Stock from the movie "The Final Season" the story about Norway, Iowa’s baseball team and Karen Ross from Texas with her newly released book about growing up in Czech Village in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Sorry that I don’t have the name of either of their books, but will share those titles next week along with my story about meeting these authors.

I’d been forewarned for months that a book signing was coming soon, but a week’s notice has me rushing to plan my portion of the event. First I am very glad to have email. I alerted friends and family.

With such a short notice coming in on Saturday, I don’t expect much publicity to be done. I know the local weekly paper has a Monday noon deadline. Monday morning was going to be a busy morning for me between a dental visit and errands. I don’t own a cell phone which might surprise most people. That means while I was driving I couldn’t call the newspaper. That’s why I emailed my book signing article in to the office on Sunday. Also, I emailed a daily newspaper at the county seat.

Next, I made up a flyer to put up on every bulletin board in the area. That will catch people going to the bank, telephone office, post office, library or the local nursing home.

I plan on arriving at the bookstore early Sunday with a copy of each book. The bookstore has a supply, but I want customers to be able to see my books while they are speaking to me. "Hello Alzheimer’s Good Bye Dad" has a 1947 picture of my parents on the cover. The customers that will gravitate toward me are ones who are facing Alzheimer’s with a family member, or they fear the disease is in their future. What better way to sell a book than to come face to face with someone who was a caregiver (me) and see first hand what a healthy, youthful man (my dad) looked like before he fell victim to the disease. Plus, I share some of my family’s experiences that are in the book.

To pick up the book "Open A Window" and hold it long enough to read the reviews on the back doesn’t explain stories within that tells of the battles people faced with Alzheimer’s. I can convey that verbally in person much better. I just sold both these books to a dental tech. She read a potion of "Open A Window" before my last visit. She told me what she read made her cry because it reminded her of her grandmother’s struggle. Holding the book doesn’t make a customer feel emotions or empathy. Reading about the people in my book does that. In order to learn more about Alzheimer’s disease and understand what happens to people who have it, you have to buy the book and read it.

I’ll let you know next week about my book signing.

Here’s one for you Indie Publishers and Authors out in the ether.  Choosing the right type SIZE is critical for your book.  I knew that.  I really did, but I chose the wrong size anyway, and it’s embarassing!

When you design your book, of course, 12 point type would be wonderful for everyone concerned, assuming that the number of pages and the cost of each book were not important.  12 point is very legible, even for folks with vision issues.  It does, however; increase the length of the manuscript.

Increasing the length of your manuscript, post editing, will increase the cost ofthe printing of the book.  I decided early on, that I wanted to keep the retail price of the book under US$12.  It still really rankles me that a trade paperback from an acknowledged author will set you back $14 to $16!  I guess my memories of $4.95 pulp fiction read while younger are to blame. 

Anyway, I didn’t think it would make sense for my first novel to cost the same amount as a blockbuster, so I adjusted the design.  I forgot — I guess lost in the crack between my desk and file cabinet — that you need to tailor the book for your readers.  My readers are interested in Irish Heritage, Celtic culture and archeology.  They’re also a bit older, let’s say, than most readers of upwardly mobile urban vampire novels. 

10 point type kept the original book cost down, but made reading tough for older readers, so I gave in after a few really great readers suggested larger type. Thanks to POD technology, I can issue a new, larger type edition without missing too many beats! I’m also very happy to report that the new revised edition only runs 32 pages longer — the equivalent of 3/32" of spine width.  No major cost increases have resulted.

I’m going to offer to exchange earlier editions at my cost, which should make somebody happy.  Well — at least I’ve learned something!  When choosing type point size ALWAYS consider the age and vision of your primary readers. Always.

The new edition should be available on Amazon in 10 days or so, and I’ll announce it here and on my website. 

While waiting, this past week, I had to learn to lay a brick floor – repetitious, but very satisfying when you’ve hung up the rubber mallet and swept up the last of the sand. In a similar way, a writer with a story needs to repeat a few simple steps, to be sure that when the story becomes a book, and the book is published, it will be found by the right readers.

 If a writer has publishing their work as one of their goals, then these steps may well be as important as the agony of learning how to write by producing unavoidable dreck. Also repetitive, but ultimately satisfying. The first step is to ask yourself, just who is going to want to read this story. Who needs to read this story. (OK, if you write non-fiction, you may not think of your work as a story, but in fact, it is a story. It is the story of your involvement in following the material information, and the subsequent story of how it affects the reader. Readers always like stories) Asking who will read it is the critical starting point to developing a Marketing Plan. Indie Authors can always pay someone to write a marketing plan for them, but it won’t be anywhere near as effective as the one you prepare — mentally, within yourself.

Your Test/Focus Groups

You may know several readers who would want to read your work. The initial group usually involves family members and friends, whose criticism may not be all that useful. They may enjoy reading the work immensely, but it would be almost impossible to separate out their feelings for you, the intricacies of your relationship with the actual reading. At least it is a beginning, and I’m sure they have all been curious for some time.

Among them, may well be readers who want to share the book with the next circle of friends, or with a specific friend, and when that happens, you have a great opportunity. Ask why. Why would this interest this person. What kind of person is this? What are their interests, their background? Everything you can discover will help you begin to separate your perception of your own work from first-born child to new product.

Split Perceptions

Creating this split in your perception is very important to letting your work tell you who to market it to. Writers don’t always write “to order”. Many fiction works seem to create themselves, and what you have when finished can be as much of a surprise to the writer as to the reader. You will always approach your first-born with love. The love that eventually teaches you to use a firm hand in guiding your writing into the beautiful expression it can grow into.

New product.

You’ll need some time to develop a realistic definition of just what kind of book you have written. This will tell you, if you learn to observe, who will want to read it, and who will be willing to pay for it. If you can list the attributes of your writing as you see it, then compare it to information you have gleaned through open discussion (which friends and family members will undoubtedly feel all too willing to engage in), you may be surprised at the outcome. Your book may, in fact appeal to a different reader than you had in mind, assuming you did have a reader in mind, besides yourself! If this realization comes, it will be invaluable, so guard it carefully. It will be your road-map to marketing your new product.

Expand Your Test Group

The next step is to begin to broaden the reader-interest circle outward so that you can gain understanding of the interests of readers you don’t know. Keep in mind the fact that Agents and Publishers will be in a very outer circle at this point, and, for the benefit of your sanity, concentrate on readers. There are four easy places to get ideas about readers. More specifically, how your book will appeal to them – or not. Libraries, Booksellers (bricks and mortar as well as online) and Reader’s Forums. Some of you may belong already to writer’s groups or reading clubs.

Librarians Don’t Bite

Start at your local library. Try to spend a few days there, off and on, if you have the time and your day-job allows. Watch what kind of books, similar to yours are checked out or taken out of the stacks to actually read. Anyone who will take a book out of the stacks and sit is either dodging home or work, or is a really committed reader. You’ll want to speak with the librarian, asking questions about the authors and books they see moving out of the stacks and if any in a similar story-line or genre to your work, are being read repeatedly. See if any books like yours are in the stacks and if any reader reviews are available on them. If you have access to reader reviews, watch what comes up frequently. How are the reviews similar? Positive comments as well as negative are important to your understanding of why these people checked out or read this book. When reviewers agree, the information is critical to being able to either craft your work, or to target your book’s market effectively.

Nothing is Free

This same research activity can be carried out at bookstores. Try to get a meeting with the bookstore owner or book buyer if at all possible, and try to get their take on books like yours. Their perceptions gathered day-in, day-out are really important. Ask them about the kind of readers you’re tentatively going to target. If they have any tips or suggestions, have them written in stone. Find out what other kinds of books your target reader will buy in addition to your type of book. This will give you a clear idea of how broad interests can run. It’s important to find out if there is content in your story that will hold a reader’s interest in several areas at once. If possible, strike up a conversation if you see someone ready to purchase or seriously considering a book like yours, but don’t interfere with their decision-making. If you pester too many customers, it’s good way to get thrown out of a bookstore! Be sure to support your local bookseller. Even if all you’re doing is gathering marketing research, buy a book anyway, every time you go in. They make great gifts!

Forums

The research that can be gathered in online writer’s and readers forums is also very useful, especially if your book appeals to the online generation. In my case, to target readers for my work, I have to also look offline, where most of my kind of reader resides. If you also write in a genre that may not be as appealing to younger, or more tech-savvy readers, then you’ll need to realize at some point, that your research will have to be more directed to where they are, not just online.

Another consideration to your interaction online is that most people will respond to questions differently face-to-face, than safely protected behind a keyboard and monitor screen. Keep this in mind as you look for similar comments and ideas that run through discussions. It is the similar points that may either be people adopting and promoting the prevailing attitudes of that particular forum, or real gems of information. Learning the difference will take some time and mean learning how to put frustration aside – at least it did for me! You’ll have to jump right in and get involved directly to get the full measure of what I mean.

The Right Approach

After you’ve spent some time gathering information in these ways, you’ll have a much clearer understanding of who your reader is. Now you’ll be able to position your book in the right places either physically, or online. This way, you’ll target your market, and get more bulls-eyes than if you simply threw your books into the air to see where they came down. This is what happens if your book is just put out there, with little consideration as to who is actually going to see it, especially in the net universe.

A Plan Emerges From the Rubble…

Follow your reader’s interests, and they will lead you to the most effective venues to showcase your book. This constitutes an effective, well-researched marketing plan and it cost you only time, observation and conversation, not lots of dollars. Most Indie-Authors, like me, have little extra left at the end of the month to pay other people to do what we can do for ourselves, if we take the time to learn to do for ourselves.

####

Next week: Creating an effective showcase ad, now that you know who to show it to.

This post, from Debby Atkinson, originally appeared on the Type M For Murder blog on 10/21/09.

It’s Debby this morning, just returned from Bouchercon, where Sisters in Crime sponsored a terrific seminar, titled SinC into Great Writing. The headline speaker was literary agent Donald Maas, who gave so many great tips on improving our WIP’s that I couldn’t write fast enough. Here are some of his suggestions about how to create a stronger antagonist.

Think through your novel and ask yourself who it is who most impedes your protagonist. Is it your villain? Maybe, but maybe not. Get to know your villain and/or antagonist. What does he do? What kind of job does she have? What kind of haircut? How does he dress? Fastidiously, or like an aging hippie? Is she married, does she cheat on her husband? How many kids? Any quirks? Beware of cliches, though.

Now put this person in a situation where he or she demonstrates the exact opposite of the portrait you’ve painted. If he cheats on his wife, have him shower her with love and respect in a certain situation. Have a fussy person show up unkempt and disheveled. Show insecurities, have her be hard working, let him examine his own limits.

Examine her world view. Is it correct in some ways? How? What people in your novel agree with him? Who in history has seen things the way your antagonist sees them? Has it been good or bad? Show some good qualities in the antagonist: respect for authority, working for what she believes in. What writing or philosophy justifies his thinking? What are her religious values and how does she demonstrate them? You can even use a bible passage, and Maass named a reference book called the Thompson Chain Reference Bible to help find appropriate ones. (I’d never heard of this. I guess it’s like Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations for the Bible.)
 

Read the rest of the post on Type M For Murder, and see these related posts on the same site.

This post, from Chris Baty, originally appeared on the NaNoWriMo site.

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It’s all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that’s a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and—when the thing is done—the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.

Read the rest of the post on NaNoWriMo, the official site of NaNoWriMo, which provides many useful NaNoWriMo tips and articles as well as a NaNoWriMo writer discussion forum. Publetariat Editor’s Note: NaNoWriMo fun fact: Sara Gruen’s bestselling novel, Water For Elephants (soon to be a major motion picture), began life as a NaNoWriMo novel. 

My name is Brent Robison and this summer I published my short story collection, The Principle of Ultimate Indivisibility.  Looking forward to learning here!

My publishing company: http://blissplotpress.com

My blog: http://brentrobison.blogspot.com