Playing Tag

How important are tags on your books on websites that are selling them? Apparently they are extremely important. The more tags you have on your books the more opportunities readers have of finding you. If your book is set in New Orleans and someone is looking for books in that city, than a tag will allow them to find it. If you write a book about a homicide detective, the same thing applies. Every aspect of your book that might draw a reader to it deserves a tag to help them get there.

But how do you determine which tags to put out there for your books? My feeling is to go over your book and decide which parts of it you would use to describe your story. It is about a baker or a plumber. Well those tags would be obvious. But the setting, the subject, the genre, the sub-genre, the characters ... there are seemingly endless ways to tag your book.

Can you overdo it? I’m not sure. Being new to this myself I would say no, you probably can’t. You want readers to find you and who knows what they may search for? If you have it out there then if they do type in something the chances improve for you that they can find you if you have more tags for the search to discover you. But I don’t really know.

I would guess that the thing to do is to add the tags and see what the results are. After all, what have you got to lose?

There's More to Self-Publishing Than Meets the Eye

My mind is boggled. There is so much going on in the publishing world right now that it’s almost too much to take in. Almost. The fact of the matter is that there are more opportunities for writers now than ever before. Along with those opportunities come some immense responsibilities. If you are self-published, as I am, there is a mountain of work you need to do to keep your name and your books out there. There is no vast marketing machine behind you. And that impacts your day in a big way.

As an indie writer you need to allocate a certain amount of time every day to working on marketing. Blogging, tweeting, facebook interaction, emails, online forums. Book trailers, covers, beta readers and interviews, blog tours and more. There’s a lot more to self-publishing than simply writing a book and downloading it to a website to turn it into a print or an e-book. This means less time for writing, rewriting, editing, creating.

And while the work sometimes seems daunting, I wonder how much support a new author would get within the cogs of a big publishing house. Celebrities and established authors will always get the most attention, and with the economy being what it is exactly what would a publisher do for someone just starting out anyway?

There’s been a lot of discussion lately on other blogs asking if traditional publishing routes are better than self-publishing and I have to ask the question too. In my mind traditional seems like the Holy Grail. That’s what every writer out there would love to have: a book in print. To see it on a bookstore shelf or in the stacks at the local library would indeed be a heady thrill. I just don’t see it happening like it used to.

Agents are more reluctant to take on untried writers and publishing houses aren’t as likely to be interested in taking a chance on someone new. E-readers are becoming more prevalent and more affordable which allows readers to experience a greater variety in the books they buy. Independent writers generally keep their prices in the lower range which buyers find attractive and reading our stuff.

So for me self-publishing is the way to go. For now. Who knows what the future will bring? I want to write. I want people to read my books. I’m not looking to be a millionaire, I want to write. So my day must be divided up into other areas to allow me that time to write then that’s the price I pay. And readers will get my books and read and enjoy them so my efforts are not in vain.

That’s the payoff for me.

Authors Helping Authors

Recently Joe Konrath had a post on his blog about authors supporting each other.  His main point, and one with which I whole heartedly agree is that this isn't a competition.  Amen, Mr. Konrath.

One of the things that is so marvelous about the world we live in is diversity.  I love that we all have different tastes, different ideas, different interests.  Nowhere is that more evident than in literature.  Look at the varieties of genres we have out there!  Romance, historical fiction, suspense, horror, memoir, picture books, fantasy, chick lit, and on and on and on.  There is room for us all.

On top of that consider how long it takes to write a book versus reading one.  If a reader only read one author they wouldn't read much. 

So why shouldn't we support each other in our efforts?  I know some authors think they'll hurt their chances of being successful if they promote someone other than themselves, but that isn't true.  I've met some amazing people through the social networking I've been doing for my writing, and I love to see them achieve their goals too.  It's exciting!

I did my first author interview on my blog this week.  It was one of the best experiences I've had getting to know her, and as an added bonus I have a new author that I like!  I intend to do more interviews, and hopefully I'll get better at asking more pertinent questions and exposing some of these writers to others.  I click the "share" button on facebook to allow those I'm connecting with to learn about the writers I'm meeting, and I "tweet" about them when I find something to share that I think will get them noticed. 

I would like to think that other writers would do the same for me, but I'm not that naive.  Hopefully it'll happen.  We can all support and help each other.  Because, really, there's more than enough room for us all.

Book Trailers

One of the marketing devices that seems to be quite popular is the book trailer.  Much like the movie trailers we love to watch before the feature starts, a book trailer can be an effective tool to tease a potential reader into wanting to read more. (If you've never seen a book trailer head on over to YouTube and type in "book trailer" in the search engine.  I've entered "cozy mystery book trailer" to get ideas for my own book.)

It's interesting how many different styles of book trailers there are.  Some utilize actors to create a scene from the book while others display a slide show of interesting photographs with an overlay of text describing the book, much like what you would read on the inside flap of a novel.  All trailers feature dramatic and interesting music to accompany what you see on the screen.

Doesn't seem too difficult does it?  I am working with a videographer to create a trailer for my cozy mystery.  We've been going over the various styles trying to decide which would suit my book the best.  I've discovered that it's more work than I thought it would be.  Just making a choice, deciding on what I think I like the best, is tougher that it looks.  What I thought would be a piece of cake is turning out to have my head spinning with ideas and possibilities.  And that's not a bad thing. 

I planning on finalizing some decisions in the next couple of days so I can get back and concentrate on my work in progress and the revisions on my last book.  And hopefully I'll be posting a trailer here before long!

ISBN is Calling

Yesterday my book, What Would Nancy Do? was assigned an ISBN number which has me very excited.  This means that my book can be sold on some of the more well known sites such as Barnes and Noble, Apple and eventually Amazon.  Very big news.

As of this morning it is now available on Kobo (http://www.kobo.com/) at a slight discount which should make some readers happy.

Lately I've been thinking that I'm working harder on promoting this book than I did writing it.  There's a lot to do.  I'm working with a videographer on making a video trailer for What Would Nancy Do? and also discussing some ideas for the next book's trailer as well.  It's another piece of the marketing puzzle I was not aware of until publishing my first book. 

I'm editing a new book to publish as an ebook, and submitting some short stories for publication as well as sending out query letters.  Writing, revising, editing and publishing is already a full-time job.  Add promoting/marketing into the mix and it seems as if there aren't enough hours in the day!

It's been a real education and I am learning a lot.  Looking forward to learning more.