Author Interview: Matthew D. Ryan

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authors, books, dark fantasy, novels, self-published authors, self-published books, self-publishing, trilogies, vampires, writers, writing

When I first started this blog over four years ago, one of the first people to comment on it was a self-published author named Matthew D. Ryan. He had just written a vampire story that was not in the same class as Twilight, so he showed me some support as I aimed to self-publish a vampire story that was also not like many of the other vampire stories out there.

That book Ryan self-published was called Drasmyr, and it is the prologue to a dark fantasy trilogy called From The Ashes of Ruin, involving a vampire, wizards, sorcerers and so much more. His latest book just came out, so I decided to feature Matthew D. Ryan on my blog.

Here he is!

MC: What inspired you to be a writer?
MDR: I kind of ran out of other options and just fell into it. I studied philosophy and mathematics—not English—in college, earning a B.A. in both. Yet, even then, I knew I didn’t want to be a teacher (which is about the only thing you can use a
philosophy degree for). Immediately afterward, I moved to Boston to work at my brother’s cellular phone business. After a year, I decided that I didn’t want to remain in a company where I was “the boss’ brother” and I was only lukewarm toward the job, anyway. So, a friend and I did a little bit of traveling around the country. When I got back, I wrote a short story about a vampire who seeks revenge on a wizard who has betrayed him. That short story eventually became the prologue to “Drasmyr.” I shopped “Drasmyr” around a little bit, but failed to get it published at a traditional publisher. So, I put it on the back-burner and went on with my life.

I struggled for a while, looking for meaningful work. All I could really find were temp jobs and other low-level positions. Eventually, I went back to school to get a computer science degree. Almost completed it, too. But at the end, I decided my heart wasn’t in it, so I bailed. I also tried martial arts for a while (I have a black belt), but that, too, only held my interest for a short time. So, I went back to writing. So far, my interest has held up, but it certainly hasn’t proven very lucrative. I’ve always enjoyed reading, so writing came naturally to me. I’ve also always been a big fan of the fantasy genre—I played AD&D for thirty-some years. So, you know what genre I prefer to write in. Still, I’m not making much money at it, and that can be very dispiriting at times. I know you shouldn’t write just for money, but I’d like to make enough to at least earn a

Anyway, that’s about the way I wound up doing what I do.

MC: Why did you choose the self-published route?
MDR: I tried the traditional route first a number of different times. Unfortunately, the competition is extremely fierce, particularly for vampire novels. I polished and polished and polished only to receive rejection after rejection for a variety of different reasons … or no reason at all (which is the most frustrating). Then my brother self-published his first novel. I was … envious. And it stirred my spirit up. So, I figured I’d give it a go. I even selected the same two publishing venues as my brother: Smashwords and Lulu.

Oh, I almost forgot. In between the first draft of “Drasmyr” and its final publication on-line, I also wrote and self-published a short book on mental illness (I’m diagnosed as having schizoaffective disorder—which is lots of fun … Not!). But that has little to do with my fantasy career (or does it? :)).

MC: Your vampire, Drasmyr, is the Bram Stoker-kind. What made you go with the traditional vampire rather than be innovative as other writers are with their vampires?
MDR: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. No, seriously, I have has always liked the traditional conception of the vampire. Perhaps it is my fascination with evil, but I really like the conception of the vampire as an almost demonic entity. It comes with a host of powers that can be augmented or tweaked without losing its diabolical flavoring. The traditional vampire can shapeshift, pass through the narrowest of cracks, control weather, control animals, mesmerize mortals, and more. They also have an array of specific weaknesses that enrich the creature and round out its uniqueness.

Although other writers feel inclined to innovate on the nature of the vampire, I feel the traditional vampire is rich enough in complexity and diversity as is. I particularly enjoy the way it threatens one’s characters with eternal damnation—something which seems to have gotten lost in many modern tales. Indeed, nowadays it seems people want to become vampires, or at least date them. And that, I find particularly strange. No, I far prefer vampires as embodiments of evil. And the Bram Stoker conception of such is just hard to improve upon without radically changing the creature in unnecessary ways. So, why not keep it as is, tweak it occasionally, but only if necessary. That’s the vampire I like.

MC: What is it about dark fantasy do you think is appealing to readers?
MDR: It’s a mix of horror and fantasy, two genres dealing with impossible, or at the very least, improbable situations and creatures. It can be used to blend magic and evil in fascinating ways. Courtesy of fantasy, both the foes and the heroes can be augmented in spectacular, intriguing ways. Yet, even so, the darker element allows for the sense of the macabre and horrific. Because it is dark fantasy, it is a way to reign in the power of fantasy’s super-humans. They become, in spite of their augmented abilities—like spells and magic weapons—as imperiled and vulnerable as we sometimes find ourselves in modern life. In that way, it becomes something of a cathartic experience, yet it still satisfies a yearning for the fantastic.

MC:Is there anything that you did while self-publishing that you wouldn’t do again? If so, why?
MDR: That’s easy, although my answer would apply the same if I had gone the traditional route. I would not have started my writing career with a series. I would have written a number of stand-alone novels first. Although I really enjoyed writing my novels, they, with the exception of “Drasmyr,” all tell a single contiguous story. Only “Drasmyr” could be regarded as anything approaching a stand-alone: It ends leaving the reader with something of a sense of closure, yet a suspicion that there may more to come. The others, though, are written as cliff-hangers. I only intend to write four of them, so they won’t inconvenience readers’ sense of closure too much. I’m on the third (or the fourth, if you include “Drasmyr”) such novel, so I’m getting near the end. Anyway, in terms of brand exposure and sympathetic tendencies toward the reading public, I think advertising efforts might be more lucrative if I had limited myself to one-shot stories. In other words, the fact that it’s a contiguous series makes it more difficult to schedule blog tours—since some touring companies might not schedule book 3 in a four book series because it’s not a complete story—and to take advantage of other similar advertising venues. If I had to do it over, I would have done my next series—which I intend to consist of five stand-alone stories– first. Looking back, it seems to be almost a kind of hubris to start writing with a contiguous series spanning several novels. It’s a lot of extra work developing a series instead of single tale. But it’s fun, and I enjoy it, and I intend to keep at it.

MC: What is next for your series?
MDR: The next instalment in my series is entitled “The Citadel.” It picks up where the prior novel left off. I don’t want to reveal too much—that might ruin the
surprise. But I’ll give you this much: Gaelan’s internal struggle continues as he grapples with his burdens and prepares to undertake his self-appointed task, a task that may yet destroy him completely. Coragan and his group continue with their struggles as they undertake a dark quest in a forbidding realm: Morgelliard, the planeshard holding Morgulan’s ancient, impregnable fortress known as simply The Citadel. Korina continues her own machinations as she closes in on the Sceptre of Morgulan. Meanwhile, back in Drisdak, Ambrisia, Regecon, and Galladrin prepare to engage the dark cult known as The Children of Lubrochius while at the same time, playing a dangerous game with the other powers of the city: the nobility who rule during the day, and the Shadowhand that comes out and rules the night. All these threads intertwine and play off of each other like a castle’s ancient tapestry: the whole, far, far more than the sum of its many parts.

Interested in his books? Matthew D. Ryan is offering coupons on two of his books until Friday, June 10th, on Smashwords:
The Children of Lubrochius: SA88Z
The Sceptre of Morgulan: VW73X.

To learn more about Matthew D. Ryan and his books, check out these links:

Drasmyr:  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/131156
The Children of Lubrochius: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/415779

And The Sceptre of Morgulan: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/574196

Check Out His Blog: https://matthewdryan.com

My Reaction to Chuck Wendig’s Recent Blog Posts

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Chuck Wendig, self-published authors, self-publishing

Some of you in the self-publishing or even just the writing world may have heard of novelist Chuck Wendig’s two recent blog posts about self-publishing. They’re being discussed on author blogs, writing forums and social media sites, stirring up emotion for better or worse.

Basically, what Wendig is calling for is that self-published authors need to step it up.

That’s what I got out of his posts, and its been something I’ve been realizing more and more in recent months. Since self-publishing is here to stay, and many are choosing this option, it is best to take it to the next level.

In his first blog post, Self-Publishing is Not the Minor Leagues, Wendig says this:

See, here’s the thing. Though acting as author-publisher is a viable choice, it’s one that retains a stigma — lessened, these days, but still a stigma carried by other writers, by those in publishing, by bloggers, and in some cases by readers. The air, suffused with an eggy stink.

You want to get rid of the stigma once and for all? Clear the room of any bad smell?

Good.

Then it’s time to take a long look at the culture surrounding self-publishing. We’ve moved past the time where we need to champion the cause, okay? We’ve seen enough success in that space and have plenty of positive examples it’s time to stop acting as cheerleaders.

The sad truth about self-published books is that many are not produced well. Many of them are loaded with poor editing, and some even have poor cover designs. Some would say the stories are terrible, but that’s a matter of opinion and a whole different debate.

But yes, many self-published books are released with many typos and grammar issues. It has gotten to the point where many readers are refusing to read self-published books unless word of mouth assures them that a particular book has no editing issues.

Is this something we really want for ourselves? Do we really want that dark cloud hanging over our work like that? I don’t. My book had editing problems when I initially released it. Even though I fortunately got that fixed and re-released my book, the complaints are written in stone on Amazon, Goodreads and book review blogs. So, my book and my reputation as an author is another statistic. I don’t want that for myself in the future, and I don’t want that anymore for my fellow self-published writers.

We no longer have any excuses. There’s just no reason to shrug such flaws like that. We shouldn’t even shrug off lousy book covers or unprofessional behavior. If we want to be taken seriously and respected by writers and readers alike, then we have to take our work and ourselves as writers seriously. A few years ago, writers like ourselves raved that self-publishing was the future of books. We’ve helped revolutionize how books are produced. But with our unprofessional work and behavior, we’ve made ourselves look bad among readers, publishers and traditionally published writers. If we truly believe in what we are doing and creating, then we can’t live in denial about the reputation we have now.

I like it when Wendig says this:

Self-publishing isn’t a lifestyle choice.

It isn’t a hobby.

It’s not a panacea. It’s not pox on your home.

It is neither revolution nor religion.

Yes. It’s a business. Period.

(Oh, and it damn sure isn’t a place to improve your craft. That’s called “writing.” Writing is how you improve your craft — by doing a whole lot of it, by reading, by having your work read by friends and family and by other writers and by editors. Publishing is not where you improve your craft. You don’t learn to pilot an airplane by taking a job with U.S. Airways. A job as an executive chef is not analogous to a cooking class. You wouldn’t expect that of other careers, so why are we okay with it when it comes to author-publishers?)

Yep, once you click on “upload”, you are in real time and not practicing. By then, you are asking for total strangers’ time and money, even if its only a few cents or dollars. They are like any other reader, and having your book not be traditionally published doesn’t mean they will see your work differently. Unless of course, its badly edited like too many are.

I’ve said before and I’ll say again: it’s time to put down the Pom-Poms and time to pick up a magnifying glass — or, for some, a mirror. Don’t celebrate mediocrity. Don’t encourage half-assing this thing for a couple of bucks. This is scrutiny time. This is time to not to say, “Here, you’re doing this wrong,” but “Here, let me help you do this better.” This is time for conversation and constructive critique, not empty applause and pedestal-building.

The culture will need to start asking tougher questions. If we’re going to admit that self-publishing is an equal choice, then it’s time to step up and act like it. It’s time to stop acting like the little brother trailing behind big sister. Time to be practical. And professional.

Since self-publishing my book in September 2012, I’ve changed my whole attitude toward self-publishing, writing and being an author in general. Doing this has made me question why I write in the first place, why I am aiming to publish my work when I write, what it means to be an author, and how I see my audience. I’ve radically changed my attitude since September 2012. I’ve grown so much and learned much more. I have also been honest with myself about why I write at all, and why I want to share my work with total strangers worldwide.

Maybe its because it’s innate, like the “I can’t not write” mindset some writers have is also mine. Or maybe once I start writing scenes, creating characters and worlds, I cannot wait to share them with others. As I write the sequel to The Dark Proposal, I get giddy when I write a good scene or a character shows a deeper side of themselves or a twist comes along. I then get excited by others reading that, and hope they get as excited as I do. It’s give and take when it comes the author and the reader. I offer to share my stories with them, and hopefully they will accept and appreciate that I entertained them or made them think.

Which leads to Chuck Wendig’s second post about self-publishing: Self-Publishing Readers are Not Good Gatekeepers. Here, he discusses the attitude some self-published writers have toward their audiences, and it is not very good. He says:

Because the moment you go somewhere — Amazon, Smashwords, B&N, wherever — and you start charging money, that changes the equation. By a strict reading, that’s no longer Hobbytown, Jake. You’ve entered pro grade territory. You’re asking readers to take a chance on your work for one buck, three bucks, five bucks, etc. You’re not hosting a party. You’re running a lemonade stand.

So stop pissing in the lemonade and asking people to give you cash to drink it.

Once a book is uploaded somewhere, it becomes a product and the buyer is a customer. Would anyone give something mediocre to an interested buyer? And would that person honestly expect them to shrug off any mistakes and ignore unprofessionalism?

If anyone wants to be a respected businessperson and really cares about what they are producing and selling, the answer is no. If they really care about their audience, they also would not see them as guinea pigs or people who exist to boost their egos. It’s all give and take between authors and readers. You want to share your story with someone, that someone wants to be entertained. You give them respect, they give you respect. You give them crap, they throw it right back at you. If you really give them crap, you have a very deep hole to climb out of with not too many willing to help. Wendig says it better:

[I]t’s putting out. It feels exploitative. It feels careless.

And it’s is not an uncommon attitude amongst author-publishers, and what it tells me is, you care about yourself as a writer but not your readers.

He goes on to say this:

Asking readers to be your gatekeepers is putting a lot of responsibility on the people who are paying you. Stop saying you’re going to let the readers figure it out when it comes to sorting through what’s crap and what’s not. You need to figure that out. That’s on you.

Eventually, readers will grow tired of having to be your gatekeepers.

And they’ll ask someone else to do it for them.

Do we as self-published writers really want that? To ruin what we hyped up so much? To ruin our personal hard work and money? I don’t. I realized about a year ago that I did not want to be another statistic, even if I already was. I didn’t want my failures to ruin my goals and dreams, and have me stomp away from the literary world like a little brat. I wanted to learn and improve myself as self-publisher, and take responsibility for everything I worked on.

So, I am ready to move on. I’m ready to get going and be a businesswoman. I have a product here, and I need to represent it well. I have potential readers who may be curious about it, and they deserve respect. I’ve read a lot about the negative attitudes some have toward self-publishing, and I’ve seen many writers make similar mistakes to mine. All have made me rethink my perspective on self-publishing.

I think enough is enough, and we need to move on. We need to improve. We need to prove to the literary world that we truly are a force to be reckoned with, and not a fad. But that will only come if more self-published authors step it up.

Chuck Wendig has rung the alarm, and he says it best here: Writing is a craft, storytelling is an art, publishing is a business.

I’m ready to step it up, and I hope I succeed. I hope many want to do the same.

I’m Excited About Oyster and Scribd

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books, eBooks, indie authors, Indie books, Netflix, Oyster, Oyster.com, Scribd, self-publishers, self-publishing, Smashwords

Some of you may be aware that there’s a Netflix for eBooks in town. Or, on the Internet, actually 🙂

Last fall, Smashwords notified its authors that it was teaming up with Oyster and Scribd as a way to distribute its ebooks to readers. These two websites operate kind of like Netflix. Meaning, a subscriber pays a certain amount each month to have “borrowed” books sent to their eReader. There is also a “recommended for you” part on these sites, which Netflix has too. This will allow word of mouth to come into play for many authors, which is the best way to sell anything for anyone.

And yes, there is a financial pay-off, but that all depends how much of a book a reader actually reads. There is a compensation (not a lot, but its still money) when a book is actually read from cover-to-cover. There are other payments, albeit smaller, when half or two-thirds of the book is read. So all in all, Oyster and Scribd offer indie authors both a chance to find new readers and get some compensation for their investment.

But I have heard about some writers being uneasy with this. Some of them aren’t too optimistic because both Oyster and Scribd are new ventures, and there is a concern that they might fail. Others claimed to have used one of these sites before they teamed up with Smashwords, and they had to go to great lengths to get their royalties. And there are some who say Oyster and Scribd are going to cheapen the book industry because it is so cheap to get books, particularly eBooks.

Regarding the first concern, many business ventures start off slowly before taking off. Look at Twitter. Many laughed at that idea, and now the CEO is laughing his way to the bank. I am optimistic that Oyster and Scribd will succeed, because it was inevitable that an eBook loaning site will start with the advent of eBooks.

Now as for the shady side of those two sites, well, I don’t think Smashwords’ Mark Coker would want to do business with something that will hurt the authors who come to his site. Since authors like me are half the reason why Smashwords is a success (the other half is from the readers who buy their books there), why would he want to anger us? We’re like his bread and butter.

As for cheapening the book business, yes I admit it sounds a bit scary. The publishing industry keeps changing, thanks to the Internet and the ever-evolving digital technology. But the music industry was turned upside down by file sharing and iTunes, and it is still standing. Netflix’s only casualty were video store chains, like Blockbuster. But movies are still being made and still generating money. As technology changes, so must we.

But I don’t think these two sites, or any other route for authors to sell or spread the word about their books, will destroy the book business. Things are little shook up now, but I’m sure everything will work out in the end.

I’m excited for these ventures, and I don’t see why they would fail. Here in the U.S., Netflix and Redbox are a success, so why can’t those two book loaning sites be successful with readers? Plus, the idea of more people coming across my book sounds great to me! And if they only read half of it, well, anything towards what I invested in is fine by me.

By the way, if you are an author on Smashwords, the way to have your books included on Oyster and Scribd is to have them in the premium catalog.

Self-Publishing – You, Yourself and No One Else

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authors, self-published authors, self-publishing, writers

I’ve talked extensively about self-publishing in this blog. Naturally, since I am one myself. But I feel that it is important that I discuss the reality of self-publishing, because I think there is a lot of misinformation out there, plus some authors choose this route not fully aware of what they are getting themselves into. Granted, neither did I when I went into this, so I want to share what I’ve learned in hopes that someone looking to self-publishing would really take in account what it is all about.

Image via Wikimedia Commons

To put it simply: self-publishing is about you, yourself and no one else.

By that I do not mean it is a chance to be a millionaire, an overnight success with tons of fans worshiping you. Self-publishing means you alone are in charge of your enterprise. That means you alone are the author, editor, employer, businessperson, PR and advertising specialist, and most of all, your own cheerleader. Please note that the key word in self-publishing is the word “self”, and not just “publishing”.

Based on my experience, and watching other self-published authors all over the Internet, I say self-publishing is for the strong. Since you alone have to oversee the production of your product, the selling of it and how you handle yourself during these trying times, you have to be strong enough. Authors who use major or small publishing presses have an agent or an editor to turn to sell their book, and to guide them when it comes to PR tactics. They also have an agent or publisher to rely on when it becomes overwhelming to see negative reviews. In other words, they have a team to help them. For self-published authors, the only member of their team is no one but them.

It is an accomplishment when someone produces and sells their product alone successfully. It is fantastic when they successfully handle the trials and tribulations of going solo while being an author. They alone are doing this. Friends and family may be supportive, but if they are not in the book publishing industry themselves, their support is limited, at least to me. They don’t know what it means to write, publish and sell a book, so they can only help so much.

That is why I really believe self-publishers have to be their own cheerleaders. We have to support ourselves through and through, from beginning to end – whatever that end may be. We are the sole proprietors of our business, so we need to be our biggest supporters. No one else can do that for us, and no one has any obligation to support us. Writing and selling books is a business, and that is something we all have to remember each day of our authorships. If we fail to market our books well, its our fault. If we fail to properly handle negative reviews, its our fault. If we fail to grow as an author, its our fault. There is no one to guide a self-published author. Even blog posts like this one isn’t enough to do what only a self-published author must do.

Let’s be our own cheerleaders, fellow and future self-published authors. If this is the route we chose or may choose, we need to go in ready and willing to go it alone. There is no one to guide us, so we must fill that void ourselves.

Hey You! Get Off My Platform!

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authors, book promotion, Facebook, Facebook spam, promotions, self-published, self-published authors, self-publishing, spam, writers

The other day, I noticed an alert on my Facebook author page app, which indicated someone had either liked my page or left a post on my wall. Excited, I checked it out, hoping I had a new fan.

My hopes were dashed when I saw a post that kind of went like this:

“Hi Megan! I’m [so-so]! I’ve just published my book! Here’s the link to it on Amazon, please tell everyone you know about it! Thanks!”

I blinked, took a deep breath and deleted the post from my wall altogether.

I do not know who that person was. I never heard of that author, and that author had never before contacted me. S/he had not liked my Facebook page at all, never followed me on Twitter or Google+, or anything. I had never interacted with that person before, and yet here s/he was crashing on my Facebook page – which is part of my platform used to promote my books.

This wasn’t the first time this happened, and sadly it won’t be. There are some authors out there who simply don’t seem to understand how to properly promote their books. They may have heard social media is the way to spread the word, and that authors are supposed to help other authors. But the way they go about it is kind of rude and unprofessional.

If that person wanted me to help them get exposure, I would have been happy to do so. All they had to do was check out this blog and see that I offer author interviews. If they were polite when they contacted me, and not pushy and arrogant like a few have, I would have gladly featured them on my site. Crashing in on my Facebook page as they did was not appropriate. In fact, it was more like spam than promotion.

The same has happened here on this website. I’ve gotten comments left by authors responding to one of my posts. Only they are not really commenting on my posts. They’re leaving comments like this: “Buy my book! Here’s my Twitter handle! Like me on Facebook!” Again, authors resorting to spam promotion. Even worse, they are spamming on another author’s space.

Some self-published authors seem to really misunderstand how to promote their work. It could be ignorance or desperation. But either way, I can’t fathom why anyone would think hijacking another person’s platform is a good way to increase book sales.  It doesn’t at all, and they only make themselves look bad.  All they have to do is ask to do a guest blog post, offer their book for a review, and all the other networking strategies. Basically, asking for permission works, not stealing!

Learning to promote your book is simple. There are many websites and blogs that give great suggestions. Even I’ve given tips. If you’re going to self-publish your book, educate yourself. Don’t make a fool out of yourself or become disrespectful. Self-publishing isn’t easy and they are many who fail terribly because they made poor decisions. Don’t make yourself a statistic.

Budgeting Tips for Self-Publishers

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budgeting, budgets, self-published, self-publishing

Self-publishing is when an author produces, refines and promotes their book all on their own, without a publisher of any kind doing the work. That means we pay for the aforementioned right out of our own bank accounts.

With that in mind, it is wise to include self-publishing to our budget and project a savings goals if we decide self-publishing is the best way for us to release our book(s).

I’m almost obsessed with budgeting and have been for many years. I monitor ever dollar I make or spend, which I think is a good thing because it helps me to be fiscally responsible and not run into financial problems too often. So when it comes to saving up for releasing my next book, I am as mindful of my self-publishing column in my budget spreadsheet as all the other columns.

Click here for original image on Flickr

So, I am here to give you my advice on how to set and achieve the financial goals needed for your book. Some of this may seem obvious to some, but I figured it would be good to share with those who are exploring this kind of option.

Like all budgets, make a list of what you need in order to get what you want. Self-publishing your book makes you an entrepreneur. You alone are responsible to sell your book. So what do you need?

1) First and foremost, an editor: No matter how good or polished you think your book is, it still needs an editor. Find one that has a good reputation and won’t take your money and do lousy job. You would also have to find someone who charges what you are willing to spend. If you are willing to spend $1000, go for it. If your limit is $500, go for that. There are editors who are charging reasonable rates, so no need to go bankrupt.

2) A graphic designer: Unless you are really talented in making cover designs, do not do this yourself. Readers know a lousy cover job and since your cover is your biggest marketing tactic, do not fail here. Again, find a designer whose rates are good enough for you. You might even find one who charges $100. Just do your research and make sure that person does a good job and your money would be well spent.

3) Copyrighting: Make sure you get your work copyrighted. It cost me $135 and its worth it. You wouldn’t want anyone stealing your work. If by chance you find your book somewhere with someone else’s name on it and they’re making money off your product, with a copyright, you will more easily get to sue them like mad.

4) Promotions: Now this is where the money part gets more open. The question here is what are you willing to do to spread the word about your book, and are you willing to pay anything? I made the mistake of paying others to help promote my book  and learned it may not help much. So do your research. You would probably need to pay for a blog tour, and that would depend on who you use and how many days you want. You may want to hire someone to make a book trailer. You may want to use an ad somewhere. Think about how you want to reach your target audience and then decide if you want to spend the money doing it.

Now here’s another question that is on your mind: how do you get the money to pay for all this? If you’ve self-published before, you can gear your royalties toward the next book. You can set aside a few bucks per paycheck. Or you find other ways, such as side writing jobs, tutoring jobs or even selling your old stuff on eBay. If you are committed to self-publishing your work, you will be committed to financing it.

 

Lessons One Year Later: Marketing & Promotions

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authors, books, eBooks, marketing, New Adult, novels, paranormal, promotions, self-published authors, self-published books, self-publishing, urban fantasy, vampires

As summer came to a close earlier this week and the first fall chills came over the area where I live, I realized something: this month will be one year since I self-published my first book.

Wow! A whole year has gone by since I officially became an author! It was my life-long dream to publish a book and I finally did it last year. I was thrilled and excited when I got the email on the morning of September 14th from Amazon Kindle, telling me “The Dark Proposal” was live. A new era in my life had begun.

But I had much to learn about being an author, publishing books and getting the attention of readers worldwide. And I think I still do. Although I researched like crazy on how to promote my book, I was not sure if I was doing it right. There seemed to be a million different ways to do promotions and marketing, and some I wasn’t so sure would work but tried anyway.

Here’s what I’ve learned about marketing and promotions, one year later:

Blurbs are so important: Duh, right? Blurbs give readers a summary of what the book is about, while using the correct words to lure the readers into at least reading the preview. I thought I had a good idea on what was a good blurb, but boy was I wrong! I actually rewrote my blurb a few times after my book’s release once I realized that a few words made “The Dark Proposal” sound like a paranormal romance, something is definitely is not (one reader has called it the “anti-Twilight’). I was embarrassed that I probably misled my audience and I totally regret not having my blurb checked with my editor. Lesson learned, painfully learned.

Choose the right sample to display: When I did my blog tour upon my book’s release, I chose the first chapter to be used as a sample. I wanted to show potential readers what kind of person Claire was, what motivated her to first speak to Daniel, and what kind of person he was when he first appears. I figured this way people would have a good understanding on what was going on, and understand Claire before all hell broke loose, plus not give away any spoilers. But I think I should’ve gone with a different scene then. I realize now that any sample I use needs to give the reader a good idea of what the whole book entails, not a more innocent time. The sample I use now is enough to show who Claire is, as well as what goes on in the story.

Social media is not the only way to promote: So many self-published authors say promoting your book on social media is the best way to spread the word about it. That maybe true for some, but I didn’t sell numerous copies on Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads. I got some buzz on my blog tour, which was only for five days. But nothing stellar happened. So when some author swears social media is the best way to sell books, be skeptical. Especially when they say to flood Twitter with the same tweets every 15 minutes saying “buy my book! buy my book!” I never did that, thankfully, because I saw a few authors do that before I released my book and saw how tasteless it was. Oh yeah, no DMs on Twitter when you get new followers.

Be careful who you ask to help promote your book: Because I so dearly wanted word to spread about my book, I searched for various avenues to do that. I found some indie book promo company – if that’s the right word – that promised to tweet indie books for a whole month and feature it on its website for a fair price of $20. So I signed up and paid, but nothing came of it. Even worse, the tweets they did were embarrassing. The tweets included the line, “not your grandmother’s vampire story!” Oh boy. I asked for them to change it, since after all I was paying them. They were a little reluctant but they finally did. So that was $20 wasted. Learn from me: research like crazy to make sure anyone who can help promote your book will actually do a good job and be worth every penny.

Be flexible when it comes to giveaways and free days: Even though I signed up for the Amazon KDP Select, which allows five free days, I was reluctant to give my book away for free. I had worked hard on it and I wanted some compensation for all the money I spent editing, getting a book cover, copyrighting, etc. But when I read about how free days and giveaways can help spread the word about your book, I gave in. For the sake of Halloween, I made “The Dark Proposal” free on Amazon on October 30th and 31st. Whoa, did I get a response! This is when I got the vast majority of my downloads. I was amazed and excited to see my book do so well. I saw a boost in sales this past June when I re-released “The Dark Proposal” – sans typos – and had it on sale for 99 cents. These days my book is back at $2.99 on both Amazon and Smashwords, and I’ll put it on sale again soon. Hey, this is the sacrifice self-published authors have to make. We all want to see our work and investments pay off, but that’s a tough road. You have to gain an audience, and sometimes in order to do that, you need to be flexible on how readers can get your book. If selling it for 99 cents or for free does the trick, then so be it. If all goes well, you wouldn’t need to do that for long.

So that is what I’ve learned from marketing and promoting “The Dark Proposal” one year later. I had read a lot of author blogs on how to do this, mainly from author Catherine Ryan Howard on her superb blog, Catherine Caffeinated (please check it out, she’s great!). But a lot of it I had to learn on my own. Granted, I’m the type of person who dives into a new task without reading the directions properly, which is a bit of a personal flaw of mine. But I’ve learned a lot. Some of the things I did right I’ll apply again the next time. As for the others, hell no!

Wednesday Interview: Alayna-Renee Vilmont

Tags

interviews, Kickstarter, poems, poetry, poets, self-publishing, writers

I know I say I’d do author interviews for novelists, but when the opportunity to interview Alayna Renee Vilmont came, I could not pass this up.

See, while she did self-publish a book, she did not release a novel. Instead, she wrote a collection of poems. I hesitated at first because, let’s be honest, poets are often overlooked in the literary world. But because Ms. Vilmont is such an interesting person (check out her blog when you can) and I liked the idea of a self-published poet, I had to feature her on my blog.

MC: Tell us about yourself. How did you get bit by the writing bug?

ARV: I’m just an ordinary girl who happens to have a knack for expressing every single thought that comes into her head. 😉 I was born and raised in the Philadelphia area, attended school in NYC, and lived in London, Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, and Los Angeles before life eventually took me to Atlanta.

I’ve always pursued writing as a hobby, although throughout most of my life, my creative outlet has been on the stage. I began performing professionally at the age of 6, and musical theatre has always been my first love. By the time I was a teenager, I began to study and perform in the operatic field. I’d also participate in creative writing classes and entering poetry competitions in my free time. I’d submit to literary journals, and not mention I wasn’t an adult. It made me feel accomplished to have my poems displayed next to those written by people two and three times my age.

In early 2000, I started keeping an online journal, Jaded Elegance: The Uninhibited Adventures Of A Chic Web Geek. I was dating someone who was very influential in getting the idea of “blogging” to go mainstream. I started my page in order to support his vision, and it became bigger than I ever imagined. I never imagined anyone would care what I’d written before I learned that strangers were, in fact, interested in my life and my experiences. In 2001, I participated in an online blog-based “reality game” called Survivorblog, and all of the sudden, strangers were reading about my very private thoughts and experiences. I kind of never looked back. It never occurred to me that I had too much talent as a writer or that others would care to read my work. It still surprises me when I realize I have loyal readers.

In 2012, I decided that I’d cross something off my bucket list, and I started to dust off the poems and journals I’d hidden under my bed for years. I ventured out into the Atlanta literary scene, which was a bit scary, but the very positive reception I received gave me the courage to publish my first book, “Ophelia’s Wayward Muse”.  Friends had been telling me for a long time that I should publish and read and get myself out there, but there’s something extremely vulnerable about doing so. For someone who tends to be a flamboyant personality who will tell stories about everything, it’s rather ironic that it took me until my early 30’s to feel secure enough with the idea of other people reading my poetry.

MC: Ophelia’s Wayward Muse is not a novel, but poetry. Tell us why the average reader should pick it up despite all the novels out there.

ARV: There’s this preconception about poetry many people have: namely that it’s something boring, overly intellectual, and inaccessible to the average person. In reality, poetry is a reflection of emotion in the most unabashed, raw form possible. It brings to life things we all feel, experiences we all have, passions we all keep somewhere in the depths of our souls. I find the more I share “Ophelia” with people who claim they don’t read or understand poetry, the more accessible the art form becomes. Unlike many poets, I don’t write in meter or rhyme. It’s simply my goal to tell stories through imagery and emotion, and to evoke something from my reader.

“Ophelia” is designed to explore a universal theme—that even in a world that is so often characterized by a need to never feel too greatly or to get too attached, every emotional connection shared with another human being is significant. It doesn’t matter if it’s the love of your life, a crush that was never realized, a one-night stand, a best friend, or an encounter with your worst enemy, other people do help shape who a person ultimately becomes. Especially amongst younger people, it’s rather taboo and uncool to reveal that emotional and vulnerable side. I think people will be attracted to “Ophelia” because it’s something that almost every person can read, and see his or her own life experiences reflected, perhaps in a new light.

MC: Is it possible for a poet to become a novelist and vice versa?

ARV: I forget who said this, but as the saying goes, “Good writing is good writing”. I started writing poetry before anything else, but I also write short stories and have kept a blog for 13 years. I’ve not written a novel yet, but it’s a project to which I definitely aspire. I believe a good writer can typically venture into any genre he or she wishes. As a singer, I learned very early the importance of classical training, because once you have the foundation, you can explore other forms of expression to find your strengths. The same is true for writing.

Ophelia’s Wayward Muse on Amazon!

I’ve been told that my prose, like my poetry, is very strong when it comes to imagery, character development, and choosing words to convey emotion. These are certainly things that come from a background in poetry. Recently, I’ve been taking an online fiction writing workshop where most of my classmates are novelists. The challenge for me is learning to combine my love of the abstract with a more succinct, clear way of telling a story. I believe the more you learn about any art form, the more you grow. If a writer has a particular weakness, working on that skill will improve that writer, regardless of genre or style.

MC: You self-published your book with the help of a campaign on Kickstarter. Explain why you chose this route and if any self-published authors should do the same.

ARV: I’m asked this question a lot when I am out in the world. Honestly, self-publishing a book is not terribly expensive. There are options that would have required less of a financial investment on my part, or would not have required me to utilize a crowd-funding tool. People who know me well are likely aware that I know enough people that someone likely would have fronted the relatively small amount for this project, if it were something I really believed in. I chose to do a Kickstarter campaign where the people in my life could contribute to bringing the vision to life, because many of these people are the same people who inspired—and continue to inspire—my desire to create. It makes me feel such a great sense of support, connection, and community.

Not surprisingly, I also got some negative reactions about choosing the Kickstarter route. I encountered some unfriendly judgment both about crowd-funding and whether I had any business using it for my personal gain. I really believe that crowd-funding is the wave of the future for independent artists, and it allows people to create without limitations and obligations to traditional investors or financial backers. In all types of media, there are high-profile artists that are choosing to fund major projects this way, and I’m so glad to see that. The idea that someone can donate a little piece of themselves to a project, get something very personal back, and share in the pride of a project coming to completion is an amazing one.

MC: What are your future writing plans

ARV: I’m currently working on a book of short stories entitled “Sophisticated Nothing”, which I hope to release by the end of 2013. I won’t be going the crowd-funding route this time, but I’m also not shopping around for a traditional publisher. For those who are interested, I recently won a rather random short story contest, and you can get a feel for my work by reading my entry.

I’ve really become active in online writing communities such as Goodreads and Writers’ Village (where I’m doing a fiction workshop at the moment), because the support and encouragement out there is overwhelming. I have a segment on my blog called “Literary Libations”, where I speak with a different author each Sunday. It’s taken off and become something much more popular than I imagined, so it’s kind of opened my eyes to a whole new world of creativity.

Oh, and there are about 60,000 words of a novel sitting on my laptop, as well as the prologue to another potential novel-to-be. I’m not sure if either will ever see the light of day, but you never know!

You can learn more about Alayna-Renee at the following sites:

* Facebook: www.facebook.com/princessalayna

* Twitter: www.twitter.com/princessalayna

* Blog: www.jadedelegance.net

* Goodreads Author Page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6862252.Alayna_Renee_Vilmont

* Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Ophelias-Wayward-Muse-Alayna-Renee-Vilmont/dp/1478218886/

Wednesday Interview: Christine Meunier

Tags

author interview, authors, books, equine industry, horses, interviews, self-publishing

Most writers write what they know. In the case of Australian author Christine Meunier, she wrote what she loved. Horses have been her passion from an early age, and she is beginning to write novels about the equine industry. Her first book, Horse Country, will be out on July 1st and it’s not just for those who enjoy horses. It is for anyone interested in New Adult books.

MC: Please tell us about yourself, especially about how you became to love horses.

CM: I’ve had a love for horses from a very young age and believe that that was something ingrained in me, rather than something that I chose to have an interest in over time.  It wasn’t until I was 13 years of age that I was blessed to be able to lease a pony and then have my parents buy him for me six months later.  Reign in my story Horse Country is based on my gelding, Pride.

I’m originally from South Australia but moved to Victoria with my family at a young age and have come to love living in this state.  I now live in North East Victoria, which is considered the horse mecca of my state!

Currently I’m studying an equine science degree and I teach horse studies at a local TAFE, having worked in the horse breeding industry since 2004.

MC: What made you want to write your novel, Horse Country? Was it to talk about the equine industry in Australia or just horses in general?

CM: I would often tell my parents about things that had occurred to me or friends at work and had them laughing about some entertaining events.  My mother kept on telling me I should write these down and that’s how the story started.

Now the main idea of releasing Horse Country is to invite others to discover how much fun it can be to work in the horse industry – anywhere around the world – and what great characters can be met, travel opportunities and career opportunities.

MC: You say your novel would appeal to the New Adult audience. Why do you think so?

CM: Horse Country follows the lives of four young women over a 6 year period.  Wes is the youngest, starting out at 16 years of age whilst the other three are in their late teens.  It follows the women finding their role in life, following their dreams and balancing work and study.  For this reason, I believe it fits the New Adult category.

MC: You are selling your book on your website. Do you have any plans to sell it on Kindle, Smashwords, CreateSpace or any other format?

CM: The book has be published through Lulu.com, consequently it’ll be available for sale from here, with a link provided to this from my website.  The book is also being organised through Amazon and ebooks should be available for reading via an iPad, Nook, Kindle, etc.

MC: What advice would you give to any aspiring authors?

CM: Write down ideas as they come to you!  It’s a great habit to carry a pen and paper with you – or have access to a word processing device if you’re a keen typist.  It’s sometimes the random ideas that generate a great scene or character.

Read a lot – about writing and publishing, as well as the genres you hope to write about.  This can help you to develop a feel for what’s necessary with regards to marketing your book and what has been published already in your genre.

Learn more about Christine and her work at these sites:

http://www.horsecountrybook.com/

http://www.facebook.com/HorseCountry

In Defense of Self-Published Authors

Tags

authors, books, self-published authors, self-published books, self-publishing, writers

I have stated previously that I see nothing wrong with some writers choosing not to self-publish. I am not someone who tells others what to do nor do am I one of those self-published authors who think this route is the one true route for all writers. I believe people should do what is best for them.

However, I am someone who doesn’t like it when self-published authors are looked down upon by other authors. I have seen rude and condescending remarks geared to such writers on blogs, forums and other places on the Internet, and they left me very annoyed. Usually I roll my eyes and leave it at that, but sometimes I read comments that I can’t wrap my mind around.

Self-Published Authors are Deluded:
According to some, anyone who self-publishes has dollar signs in their eyes and truly believes they are going to hit it big like Amanda Hocking. They fail to realize how difficult self-publishing is, and are in for a rude awakening. While that may be true for some authors, most I know who took charge of their product weren’t convinced they would have best selling books that would make them millionaires. I believe many, myself included, knew the risks but did thorough research on how to promote their books, which led to descent sales. If by chance someone thought they would see more money than they expected, they choked it up to experience. They didn’t throw in the towel and stamp off like bratty children. They kept moving and improving, writing more books and building their fan base, which led to more sales – and more satisfaction for taking the self-publishing route. As for those who did throw in the towel, well, I don’t know what to say to them except disappointments are part of life.

Self-Published Authors’ Books are Only Read by Other Self-Published Authors: Oh jeez, really? While many self-pubbed writers are supportive of each other and may read each others’ work as part of that support, I highly doubt we are the only ones buying each other’s books. While I know some who read my book were fellow or aspiring writers, there were plenty who were everyday readers who don’t mind self-pubbed work. While I’ll never know the exact demographic, I can safely say that that comment is false – and so can many other writers like me.

Self-Published Authors’ Books are Poorly Edited: Uhm. Heh heh. OK, there may be some truth to that. I know my book didn’t work out the way I wanted it in regards to the editing. But I’ll be re-issuing The Dark Proposal within the coming week after a good friend re-edited my book out of his own kindness. I was embarrassed to learn that my book was one of many self-published ones loaded with typos and grammatical errors, but I desperately didn’t want to be another statistic. But sadly that didn’t happen, but I am fixing it that now.

Self-Published Authors Aren’t Really Authors; Traditionally Published Ones Are: Wow. Just wow. Seriously? Someone who spent days, weeks, months or even years writing a novel isn’t on the same level as someone with an agent and a contract with the Big 6 or even small publishers? Someone with an active imagination, a love of words, and story telling cannot equate themselves with those with their books at brick-and-mortar stores? Yikes, that just sound so harsh and mean, and condescending. It’s like saying we’re lazy and poor writers only because we took our product into our hands, and didn’t fight hard for a publisher to agree to sell our book. Yes, some self-published authors write not-so-good books, but is it fair to lump us altogether because those rotten apples? We fight hard to create our characters and their conflicts, and we care about how readers perceive our work. We are no different from someone with an agent and a contract. Snobbery just ain’t cool.

So, there you go. I agree there are some self-published authors who give us all a bad name, and some may sneer at us because we don’t have the stamp of approval from the Big 6 (or is it 5 or 4 now?). But many of us know what we were getting ourselves into, and we don’t regret our choice to be in charge of our product. There is no need to look down at us. Besides, by the way things are going with the book industry, us self-published authors aren’t going to fade away tomorrow 😉