Business | C h a z z W r i t e s . c o m

05/04/2011 • 1:50 AM 5

Writing Conference: 10 Bad things

When you go to a writing conference, there’s going to be information that’s good and information that doesn’t apply to you and information that’s quite bad. Here are some of the things that came up at my most recent conference which you can safely ignore as wrong or silly or misguided:

1. How will we curate all those bad books coming from self-publishers? I’m so tired of this objection, and have dealt with it so much elsewhere here, I’m not ev–zzz. (See Related articles below for that rehash if you feel the urge.)

2. Don’t mix gay narrative with straight narrative. So…ghettoize gays and keep everyone separate, as if our gayness or straightness is our single defining characteristic? Nope! I reject the premise. Screw you…in whatever way you prefer.

3. Order 1,000 books because, due to cost per unit, 1,000 won’t cost much more than 200 books. This, versus the more experienced publisher who pointed out that he only ordered what he needed because he knew it would take him two years to sell 500 books. (Plus a garage full of books is so depressing and unnecessary with the advent of POD.)

4. Any worries about Amazon’s first novel contest. You have nothing to lose from participating in it.

5. Any worries that someone will steal your idea. There is a scientific correlation to this particular worry: The more you worry about it, the more your idea sucks anyway.

6. This is the end of publishing. Publishing’s changing, that’s all. Adapt or die.

7. I shudder at e-books. Then you’re old. Get over it or wait and that problem will resolve itself.

8. “Twitter is awful. What can I say in 140 characters?” This, from an editor. My internal monologue was: You must be a really lousy editor and you’re telling me you are committed to not being at all clever.

9. “Twitter cuts into my writing time.” This, from the same editor. If she read my blog (DEATH STARE!) she’d know (CHAZZ LAW) Twitter is for time that would be unproductive anyway. Fully functional adults manage their time. (And addicts have to want to change.)

10. “Get an editor for your self-published book!” This is not bad advice. It’s not wrong. However, it is condescending. The people who will take this advice are already on board. The people who won’t take this good advice won’t change no matter what you say.

Publishing is sick. You should quit. Take up knitting. (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Writers: TOP 10 Objections to Self-Publishing (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
The Ebook Will Evolve. So Should Authors. (jchutchins.net)

Filed under: Books, Writers, Writing Conferences, writing tips, book, Business, Publish, Publishing and Printing, self-publishing, Writing Conferences

04/11/2011 • 5:23 AM 1

The Nerdist Scott Sigler Interview

Image by Sebastian Bergmann via Flickr

I’m an addict.

Food. Comfort. Book-buying.

And podcasts. Lots and lots of podcasts.

If you’re a self-publisher or interested in how a self-publisher used podcasts to go from freemium to premium, from ignored to in demand, from reject to popular author, check this out: The Nerdist.

Favourite story: After so many rejections, Scott Sigler was sure publishers would chase him down if he could just get a huge following for his podcasted book.

He achieved the goal he set for himself and called up the publishers again.

“Howdayalikemenow?”

And they said, “What’s the internet?”

Ahoy, matey! Neil Gaiman VIDEO on why book piracy can be good (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
THE ALL-PRO by Scott Sigler | Pre-order now and save! (podiobooks.com)

Filed under: Author profiles, author Q&A, authors, podcasts, self-publishing, Writers, writing tips, book, Business, Podcast, publishing, Publishing and Printing, Scott Sigler, self-publishing

04/08/2011 • 5:38 AM 7

The publisher’s temperament

Last week a baby video went viral. Two little twin boys babbled at each other. Back and forth they went with a lively conversation “Da! Da! Da! Da!” Though unintelligible, they both were excited to talk to each other. I couldn’t hep but think of the conversation that goes back and forth about whether you should publish, or self-publish. There’s a lot of energy but not a lot of signal getting through.

The answer to the question of whether you should self-publish depends on the “you”.

Are you prepared to think of yourself as more than a hobbyist? Are you intimidated by new and unknown practices so much that you’re frozen? Do you prefer that others take care of things for you without you hiring them? Do you have any financial cushion? Are you prepared to take a chance? What is your real tolerance for risk? What is your tolerance for some people underestimating your work’s worth because you went your own way. Are you open to learning what you don’t yet know and ready to be a beginner?

There are a plethora of other factors to consider, but first and foremost, it’s about you. Some people just aren’t interested in entrepreneurship. That’s not a judgment. Starting a business is not for everyone. You have to have a lot of discipline and interest in things beyond simply writing a good book (and god knows there’s nothing simple about that.)

Ask yourself, do you really want to do this?

We’ll have better self-published books when more authors ask themselves this question first. Why? Because they won’t just be self-publishers and the negative things that currently implies. We’ll have more publishers who happen to be publishing themselves.

‘Twin Babies Having a Conversation’ Video Explained (livescience.com)
Self-Publishing : Wave of the Future? (cjsandspot.wordpress.com)
Writers: Do you have time to get published? And can we dump the “self” from publishing? (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
The Wall: musings on self-publishing (writtenwings.wordpress.com)
The Amanda Hocking Effect: She didn’t sell out. Trad publishing bought in. (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Writers: TOP 10 Objections to Self-Publishing (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Writers: Are you skeptical about self-publishing? (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Are you sure about that? 6 things to consider before self-publishing (emlynchand.com)
An Epic Fail for Self Publishing (writingandpub.wordpress.com)

Filed under: DIY, getting it done, publishing, self-publishing, Writers, writing tips, Amazon Kindle, Author, Business, Publish, publishing, Publishing and Printing, self-publishing, writer

03/02/2011 • 4:23 AM 2

Editing Part III: The joy of editing

The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition, 3rd...

I just received the gift of a book in the mail. I had already read this book but I was very pleased to receive it. In fact, I’d gone through this particular book in meticulous detail. The author signed the title page for me and graciously thanked me for my advice. The book in hand was a bonus for editing the work.

Editing is such picky work. I zip into and out of the on-line Chicago Manual of Style a lot. I tweak here and economize there. No matter the level of the edit, the key to good editing is asking the right questions.

Here’s a sample of the sorts of questions that run through my mind as I work:

Should that be 18th Century or Eighteenth century? Should I leave a quirky passage alone to keep the author’s voice or is the joke too much of a reach? Should I suggest new elements? Does the material make more sense if it is reorganized? Does this follow logically from that? Is that assertion a fact? Is that translation correct? What design elements could I suggest to make the book pop? What elements could I suggest that would convert a browser into a buyer? Is there an opportunity missed here? What marketing strategy could I suggest to make this a book with real long-tail potential? What’s missing? (That last one can take the work to a new level.)

In short, a good editor or proofreader will question everything.

An experienced editor will pick up on what’s on the page and what’s not there that’s hurting the book.

In the end, I let it go back to the author to decide which of my suggestions to act upon. When it’s done, the author’s name is on the front cover. I always say some variation of: “She’s still your baby. She’s healthy and you’ll recognize her. She wasn’t sick but she’s feeling even better now.” The reader will never know how much or how little I did. The job is to make the author look good. (And sell more books.)

And you know what? It’s fun. I’m not gleeful about it in the way I know some editors are. When I was in journalism school and when I worked for a daily newspaper, I ran into editors who were looking for stuff so they could catch you out. It was a game for them and they acted like it was the only way they could find to feel good about themselves. When they caught something—anything—writers got snarky remarks and not just a little passive aggressive indignation. Editors like that are sad and make me tired.

I find editing fun because it’s an intellectual challenge and the collaborative process makes the book better than it otherwise would have been. Higher quality editorial work translates to more authority to the author, more sales for the current book and more sales for the author’s next book. A helpful edit can morph an experiment that didn’t quite come together into a legacy book that will delight, distract, elevate, educate, provoke, redeem and earn for years to come.

A good edit will pay for itself.

And generally? No, an unedited book doesn’t stand a chance.

Writers: How I edit (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Edit Point: One another versus each other (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Editing Tips Part 1: Story bible (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
The Chicago Manual of Style Online: Chicago-Style Citation Quick Guide (chicagomanualofstyle.org)
Editing Web Sites for Success: What Are the Rules and Where Are the Resources? (community.microsoftadvertising.com)
Writers: Finding an editor & should you be a joiner? (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Publishers have to weigh the value of clean copy (stevebuttry.wordpress.com)
Writers: Use a spill file as you edit (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Writers: Five editing tricks and tips (plus editing marks) (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
What happened to that beautiful novel I wrote? (lindacassidylewis.com)

Filed under: authors, Books, ebooks, Editing, Editors, grammar, publishing, self-publishing, Writers, writing tips, Author, bad editing, book, Business, Chicago Manual of Style, Copy editing, developmental edit, edit, editing tips, editor, editorial help, writer, Writing & Editing, writing tips

02/11/2011 • 3:52 PM 8

Writers: Self-publishing links

Patricia Benesh writes in the Huffington Post about the five questions you should ask yourself before going the self-publishing route.

At Self-publishing Central there’s a blog post about the journey to publication and finding peer support along the way.

Eoin Purcell‘s blog writes about the state of the traditional publishing industry and how it’s not all bad news. In fact, libraries are trending up.

And Jeff Bennington over at The Writing Bomb writes a compelling post evaluating Lightning Source versus Create Space. Do check that out!

Related Articles

Writers: Are you skeptical about self-publishing? (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Writers Top Ten: Why blogging about publishing is important (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Writers: How to Publish on Smashwords (by Guest blogger Rebecca Senese) (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)
Writers: DIY vs traditional publishing (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)

Filed under: authors, blogs & blogging, Books, DIY, ebooks, self-publishing, Useful writing links, web reviews, Writers, writing tips, Business, Create Space, Create Space versus Lightning Source, Do it yourself, E-book, Huffington Post, Lightning Source, Publish, publishing, Publishing and Printing, self-publishing, writer, writing

02/08/2011 • 1:11 AM 0

Book Distribution Company Bankruptcy

Image via Wikipedia

One-hundred and twenty-five employees are out of a job at HB Fenn, a major Canadian book distributor. It’s cold in Toronto and those rents are killer. Best of luck to all those employees.

I’ve worked for a publisher as they began to collapse. I was working at Lester & Orpen Dennys just before they went under. It was okay for me. When I came in, I knew I was hired for a short-term job. I was one of the lucky ones in that I bounced on to another publishing job at Cannon Books. The people who stayed longer had to face looking for work in publishing just as everyone else at the company was looking for work. It must have been a terrible situation for some.

For those who missed the details: HB Fenn, declared bankruptcy late last week. Until recently they distributed more than 50,000 titles including MacMillan, Whitecap Books and American sci-fi heavyweight, Tor.

According to The National Post, this marks “the largest collapse of a Canadian publishing company since General Distribution Services/Stoddart Publishing went under in August 2002.”

Publishers have to try to get skids of books back but that may be very difficult while the company deals with paying off creditors. Authors will get it in the shorts as bookstores wait for cartons of books to arrive that never shall. This is a bad blow to Canadian book publishing, especially since, increasingly, publishers have less to offer but could still pride themselves on their bookstore access and distribution system.

HB Fenn once had controlling interest in the now-defunct Key Porter books, as well. Key Porter was once a major player in Canadian publishing.One company’s death would be enough of a bad sign. Two companies might be a bald symptom of the trend down we’ve been seeing.

NEXT POST: THE PROMISED BLOG-O-RAMA—ONE OF MANY TO COME—ABOUT THE WRITERS’ UNION OF CANADA SYMPOSIUM ON THE STATE OF PUBLISHING. (Yes, this post is a clue.)

Related Articles

HB Fenn initiates bankruptcy (thestar.com)
H.B. Fenn book distributor files for bankruptcy (cbc.ca)
Key Porter Books confirms it is suspending operations (theglobeandmail.com)
Publishing house Key Porter Books ceases operations: report (theglobeandmail.com)
Key Porter shuts down (thestar.com)
Could Authors Be Liable to Consumers If an eBookstore Dies? (gigaom.com)
Writers: So-called experts & the digital revolution (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)

Filed under: Books, publishing, book distribution, books, Business, HB Fenn, health of publishing industry, Key Porter Books, Lester & Orpen Dennys, Publish, Publishing and Printing, Toronto

01/17/2011 • 7:40 AM 0

Writers: The self-publishing/Massage Therapist Correlation

Massage in Tarifa, Spain taken on May, 6 2007 ...

Image via Wikipedia

I haven’t had what my father would call a real job since 1991. The factors that make that so are all tied up in being a writer and editor.

Years after training as a journalist, working in newspapers and working in the publishing industry, I went back to school again to become a massage therapist, too. The reasons why were varied, but the most important factor was that I wanted to work for myself. I have an independent streak and I hated working for The Man. I still hate working for The Man. Writing, editing, therapeutic massage: it’s all independent work. There is no hierarchy. The Chazz does not do hierarchy.

But a lot of people do. Most people have a boss. The fact is, I don’t understand how they stand it. I pull at authority’s leash so hard I have sometimes hurt myself in tiny acts of rebellion.

Despite the rebel yell, the truth is I have many bosses. Everyone I encounter in my practices as an editor, writer and massage therapist is my boss. I have chosen many bosses instead of one. I have chosen one-to-one interaction instead of dealing with a group. I deal with people for an hour at a time or for short projects, always with an eye to where the next project will come from. There’s no security in this. My income goes up and down unpredictably.

On the other hand, with all that I do, there is the security of knowing they can’t all fire me at one time. If you have one boss who wants to lose you on a whim, they can do that. That’s the smug solace of the lone wolf.

But lots of people accept authority as the way of the world. That’s becoming less true as massive unemployment forces some to seek out their own solutions and form their own businesses. Entrepreneurship used to seem like it was for the few who chose the harder way. Now, when so many can’t find work, starting up a sole proprietorship and going for it is forced upon them.

Here’s what I notice: People are just wired one way and not the other. Most massage therapists and writers I know have an independent streak. We have to grit our teeth a bit to do something that is in many ways outside money’s eco-system.

But there are a bunch of therapists who do, in fact, want to work for somebody. They want someone else to take care of the laundry, the advertising, the tax paperwork and anything else that doesn’t directly relate to physically doing the work. They love that they can come into the office, do their thing and leave without another thought to the running of the business. I wouldn’t call it freedom, but they do.

In the past, the publishing industry has been built on the hierarchical model. Someone else will publish your book. Someone else will take care of the editing and (some) of the promoting and it will all be part of one complete package. Thanks to technology, authors are discovering they have more options than history has provided.

For authors deciding when to make the leap to independent publishing, there is a lot to consider: market factors, price points and leveraging your platform to sell enough books to make the enterprise profitable.

Beyond the practical and esoteric (which must be figured out, too) you have to start with the personal: you. Which way are you bent? Do you want someone else to take care of things (and give them a deeper cut of the profits and losses)? Are you up for the nitty-gritty of doing the work of many on your own? Can you hire an editor, find a publicist, do the research and build your audience? It won’t be easy. You’ll have to talk with a lot of people and the greater your network the more chance you’ll get your feelings hurt. When the mesh of your network tightens to a closer knit, there will be friction.

Only you can decide if you have enough of the anti-authoritarian, do-it-my-way, I’m-a-control-freak, entrepreneurial-bent. Once you’ve figured that out, here’s a great article that explores the location of the tipping point between traditional publishing and going indie.

No matter which way you are wired, if you’re a writer you’ve got a muse.

Next stop on the Reality Train:

Introspection Station.

Self-publishing has developed to a point where it is neither good nor bad. Depending on your temperament, it could be a solid choice or a horrible one.

Writers: Why self-publishing sucks (and what you can do about it) (chazzwrites.wordpress.com)

Filed under: authors, Books, DIY, ebooks, Editing, getting it done, publishing, self-publishing, Business, editing, entrepreneur, independent publishing, Massage, Publish, publishing vs self-publishing, tipping point, writer, writing

12/19/2010 • 3:38 PM 5

Writers: DIY vs traditional publishing

Figure 1:Conceptual Model of Philosophical Com...

Image via Wikipedia

Last month I posted a piece in appreciation of director Kevin Smith after attending one of his Q&As.

Today I ran across Alex Greenwood’s guest post, Shoot the Gatekeepers on Shelly Kramer’s blog. It reminded me again of that indie spirit I love to see.

I’m not telling anyone to go independent exactly. Going rogue is not for everyone because not everyone has the entrepreneurial spirit.

You can find the knowledge and tech support you need to make it happen, but if you don’t want to do all that in the first place, it’s not for you. I guess that’s why I straddle the line here between traditional publishing and going indie. I talk about how to get an agent and a publisher. I also talk a lot about maintaining control of your work, DIY, and marketing yourself to the world. Authors from both sides of the coin need many of the same skill sets, anyway. For instance, even if you’re a traditionally published author, you’re crazy to depend on your publisher to promote and publicize you much at all and none of those efforts are sustained.

It’s frustrating when one entrenched camp mocks the other for their choices. It’s especially bad when those opinions are not so much informed as they are outmoded dogma. For instance, once again today I ran across writers and editors who fail to make a distinction between vanity publishing and independent publishing. I gritted my teeth. Then I found the link above, took a few deep breaths and smelled the roses of someone who gets it. Thanks for a solid post, Mr. Greenwood. I love the indie spirit.

Here’s the shameless plug: If going alone is for you, I’m an editor so I can help. However, if you’re going the traditional route, I’ve been on the inside, so I appreciate what you’re going through and can help with that, too. (At my business site you’ll find more information on getting editing help for your manuscript or web content.)

Here’s the crux: I love books, no matter how they’re produced. It’s about story! Love of story is at the heart. Contrary to what you’ve heard, the medium is not the message. I care much less about a book’s process to publication than I do its narrative. Sometimes I think people who fetishize paper over electronic books love stories much less than they think they do. They’re worrying too much about how the story go to their brains. Dump that worry. Just get your art out there!

Write your story. Make it the best you can. Send it to agents, publishers or directly to fans. Whatever. Just commit to art and the value of your creativity.

Filed under: DIY, getting it done, Publicity & Promotion, publishing, Rejection, self-publishing, Author, Business, DIY, Do it yourself, E-book, indie spirit, Kevin Smith, publishing, self-publishing, Vanity press

12/08/2010 • 1:52 PM 1

Writers: Optimizing your social media (and a question)

Mostly I talk about writing and publishing here, but if you have a book to sell, promotion and publicity is integral to the process. Social media has democratized book promotion in that it’s an all-access pass and the admission is free.

Writers, this afternoon, I have three great links on the topic of optimizing your use of social media to spread the word about your words:

TNW Social Media » 10 Ways Journalists and the Media Use Twitter‏

How to triple your Twitter traffic in 7 days‏

Is It Time to Take a Social Media Inventory? | FreelanceFolder‏

And a question: Which social media are you using to promote your book or business?

Please let me know in the comments below.

How-To: Utilize Social Media to Promote Your Event (vivanista.com)
Learn More About Social Media (blogs.constantcontact.com)
In house social media monitoring (sharemarketing.wordpress.com)
Building a Social Media Framework (socialmediatoday.com)
Why Should You Build Your Business on Social Media? (lockergnome.com)
Free Keyword Research Guide from TrafficPRM – SEO Tips for PR and Social Media Pros (prweb.com)
How American Companies Use Social Media (thinkup.waldenu.edu)
SEO Future Is Linkbuilding + Social Media Optimization – Social Media Marketing Press (seome.me)
More teachers using social media ()
Using Social Media to Grow Sales (prweb.com)
How restaurants are selling with social media (econsultancy.com)
Does the Rise in Social Media Marketing Equal a Rise in Holiday Sales? (marketingpilgrim.com)
Social – A Culture, not a tool (ericbrown.com)

Filed under: Publicity & Promotion, publishing, Social Media, Twitter, Useful writing links, book promotion, Business, Facebook, Internet Marketing, LinkedIn, Marketing and Advertising, social media, Twitter, YouTube

11/30/2010 • 11:12 AM 0

#Book Marketing: The old divisions don’t apply

Over the weekend, inspired by the social media conference I attended, I got signed up for Linked In. I had signed up a long time ago, but frankly, I really hadn’t done anything much with it. Stuff you don’t engage with doesn’t count, so Linked In didn’t count. However, the more I explored the site and played with it, the more I understood that there were some great conversations I was missing out on. So I got engaged again.

One of the great things about Linked In is that it suggests groups and associations and companies that dovetail with your interests. One of the groups—I guess I won’t name them because I don’t know if I’ve been accepted yet—sent me a list of rules as a preliminary how-to and how-do. The group moderator’s membership criteria was that I wasn’t going to join in on their forums just to get all spammy. In some detail, the moderator warned me that I shouldn’t post on their site just to introduce myself and say hello. (I’ve been a member on other forums wherein that’s their first request of noobs.) None of this was personal. The forum had a large membership and I undertand they want to keep it clean if not pure.

Basically, I was to contribute on-topic value at all times, never straying into self-promotion and blog blaring.

Well, okay. But…

Look, I don’t want to be spammy. At the conference, one social media guru referred to that as “Shout Marketing.” That’s basically being obnoxious with outdated marketing approaches where the information goes in one direction and the message is “Buy! Buy! Buy! Hire the magic that is ME, for the love of god!” and so forth.

What makes social media “social” is that it’s a conversation. Information goes back and forth. You interact with customers who (gasp) give you feedback, leave comments, contribute their own thoughts and opinions and (worse!) let you know how you’re doing.

So the forum admin had a point about avoiding the old style of marketing. However, the implication that we can all totally divorce our marketing roles from the life of the mind is also outdated. If you’re an artist of any sort, you need to market yourself. Writers comment on blogs and engage in conversations because it’s fun and interesting. They are also trying to sell their books. There’s no shame in that as long as you use the new style of marketing (engaging in conversation) and not getting all spammy over their screens.

I’ve noticed some people on Twitter get a tad irked when too many tweets from one person are too advertorial. I’ve felt this way, too. For instance, I love Chuck Pahlaniuk’s fiction, but his Twitter account seemed to be managed for him by one of Skynet‘s spambots. As vast as his cult is, Chuck doesn’t appear to be engaging with his audience as a person. As a result, I reluctantly unfollowed the author. No hard feelings. Still love most of the books and Fight Club is an all-time favorite.

So what I’m saying is, you can sell effectively without being obnoxious. By all means, let us know about your next book signing so we can show up and engage you there, too. But:

1. Be authentic.

2. Be yourself instead of your intern.

3. Have conversations. Have opinions.

4. If it’s all spam, you will be unfollowed and your blog shall go unvisited and unlamented.

Me? I retweet links that interest me. I sometimes go off on tangents that aren’t about writing and publishing. I hope you’ll like me and visit the blog often. (Updated here, Monday to Friday! Same Bat-time, same bat-channel!) When I have a service to sell (like my editing services) or when I have an e-book or tree book to sell, I hope you’ll like me enough to consider laying out some moolah for my work.

I say unto thee, I am open, honest and unashamed. I am marketing myself because that’s what creators must do now. As long as you don’t feel that’s all I do, you’ll probably stick around. I don’t need millions of followers who don’t give a shit about me. A core constituency that does care (and forgive my occasional missteps) will do fine.

The take-away truisms are:

1. First you sell yourself.

2. Then you sell your product.

3. You do so by doing what we’re all here to do. We serve each other.