Wednesday, March 27, 2013
The Turnpike by Thom Sibbitt: Umm... Will you tell me a little about me?
The Turnpike by Thom Sibbitt: Umm... Will you tell me a little about me?: So how do you ask someone to give you a review? AKWARD! Self promotion is the WORST. Give me a boat full of strangers and 15 minutes with ea...
Umm... Will you tell me a little about me?
So how do you ask someone to give you a review? AKWARD! Self promotion is the WORST. Give me a boat full of strangers and 15 minutes with each person and I will hit the streets to get each of them a job, an apartment, an elected position, whatever they need. That is is the hard part of this, working for yourself. I would really prefer to do anything rather then work for my own self interest.
Perhaps you, like me, want one thing badly enough to face this monster, this self loathing, this fear of self... you want people to read your book. Even better, it would be nice for amazon or iTunes or anyone, a reviewer, a publisher whatever to read it, and even like it... and the end of the day it boils down to the same outcome, people reading your book.
Yes, I am still plugging away, reading blogs and newsletters, anything I can get my hands on. Indie publishing is a puzzle everyone is trying to fix. This simple fact kind of levels the playing field and that is a consolation.
So, one thing at a time! User reviews. From where I am sitting, this is the single most important thing you can do in the first six months. Establishing a strong user review base is what any future momentum is going to be built on. Eat the mustard, look one ring outside of your inner circle and do everything in your power to leverage reviews. This is where I feel it is most useful to give your book away from free.
I am working hard on getting a print release of my book so I can do this more effectively. Because I don't have a print edition, I haven't been able to send my novel to local reviewers. Getting this local review is really important but I believe with the user reviews, all the potential traffic directed to your book will have that extra push.
And that is my two wheat pennies for the evening.
Perhaps you, like me, want one thing badly enough to face this monster, this self loathing, this fear of self... you want people to read your book. Even better, it would be nice for amazon or iTunes or anyone, a reviewer, a publisher whatever to read it, and even like it... and the end of the day it boils down to the same outcome, people reading your book.
Yes, I am still plugging away, reading blogs and newsletters, anything I can get my hands on. Indie publishing is a puzzle everyone is trying to fix. This simple fact kind of levels the playing field and that is a consolation.
So, one thing at a time! User reviews. From where I am sitting, this is the single most important thing you can do in the first six months. Establishing a strong user review base is what any future momentum is going to be built on. Eat the mustard, look one ring outside of your inner circle and do everything in your power to leverage reviews. This is where I feel it is most useful to give your book away from free.
I am working hard on getting a print release of my book so I can do this more effectively. Because I don't have a print edition, I haven't been able to send my novel to local reviewers. Getting this local review is really important but I believe with the user reviews, all the potential traffic directed to your book will have that extra push.
And that is my two wheat pennies for the evening.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
The Turnpike by Thom Sibbitt: Retreat
The Turnpike by Thom Sibbitt: Retreat: On a crane watching sojourn in Eustis, NE with a small group of performance collaborators. We found a little cabin/family home that was a ch...
Retreat
On a crane watching sojourn in Eustis, NE with a small group of performance collaborators. We found a little cabin/family home that was a cheap weekend staycation. It is still a bit chilly to spend to much time outside hunting for cranes, so we've spent most of the weekend hunkered down in this extremely comfortable b & b.
This feels so much like a writing retreat it has brought up the inevitable revaluation of the solo writing project. After stealing away hours of precious free time (and I don't even have kids!) in order the finish a project, the self promoting campaign begins and it requires weekly, if not daily upkeep. With my focus so sharply on getting this novel out there I haven't even begun to think about what my next project is going to be.
It seems like if I already had another bun in the oven, it would be easier to mitigate the stress of the promotional upkeep. Truth told, I have no idea how to be a writer. I know how to be a spread thin, workaholic non-specialist with 3-5 side projects in different states of simmer to boil at all times.
What a supreme luxury, time. And what a perfect word, retreat. With neither time nor retreat regularly at ones disposal, I think I have to fall back on structure. It is time to structure time for the next project. Back to the empty canvas, the blank manuscript. Having spent so long on my last project, I've no idea how to begin. I do trust the creative process implicitly though. It doesn't happen by itself though... Time to strike the iron. Or at least stoke the coals.
Economize promotional upkeep and focus the lion's share of your precious free time on the next endeavor.
(Next blog: get those user reviews, cross your fingers and pray to your god!)
This feels so much like a writing retreat it has brought up the inevitable revaluation of the solo writing project. After stealing away hours of precious free time (and I don't even have kids!) in order the finish a project, the self promoting campaign begins and it requires weekly, if not daily upkeep. With my focus so sharply on getting this novel out there I haven't even begun to think about what my next project is going to be.
It seems like if I already had another bun in the oven, it would be easier to mitigate the stress of the promotional upkeep. Truth told, I have no idea how to be a writer. I know how to be a spread thin, workaholic non-specialist with 3-5 side projects in different states of simmer to boil at all times.
What a supreme luxury, time. And what a perfect word, retreat. With neither time nor retreat regularly at ones disposal, I think I have to fall back on structure. It is time to structure time for the next project. Back to the empty canvas, the blank manuscript. Having spent so long on my last project, I've no idea how to begin. I do trust the creative process implicitly though. It doesn't happen by itself though... Time to strike the iron. Or at least stoke the coals.
Economize promotional upkeep and focus the lion's share of your precious free time on the next endeavor.
(Next blog: get those user reviews, cross your fingers and pray to your god!)
Sunday, March 10, 2013
The Turnpike by Thom Sibbitt: i play sexy voice
The Turnpike by Thom Sibbitt: i play sexy voice: Audiobook tutorial. Okay, so your book is online, you have a website, your blogging tweeting posting sharing your literary heart out, you've entered a few b...
i play sexy voice
Okay, so your book is online, you have a website, your blogging tweeting posting sharing your literary heart out, you've entered a few book contests and now what?
Whew, that was easy right? Why not start a new project? Lets record this baby as an audiobook! After some research, here is what I found out. Of course, there are several companies who will accept your (entry level $3000) and take your book, hire a narrator, professionally mix it and publish your book for you on amazon and itunes.
Open Book Audio (http://openbookaudio.com) is a company that works directly with amazon and itunes, which kept coming up. If you have piles of money to throw at your project, well, then you are probably not reading my blog.
The indie route: Audio Book Publishers - Creation Exchange (http://www.acx.com), which is an amazon based platform will allow you to create an account, sign a contract and upload your content chapter by mp3 chapter. If you narrate your own book, then you receive a higher margin of the profits. It also looks like a sliding scale royalty arrangement. As is, the more books you sell, the higher your royalty is, up to 90%, which sounds dreamy. Fingers crossed!
I did borrow a nice mic from a friend and I am recording in my bathroom. As long as there is no tv background noise, I should be able to pound it out in 5 or 6 sessions. grrr tv:(
Also, I'm recording my audiobook using garageband. Reading it chapter by chapter, I can easily export the files as mp3, edit out little mistakes and put on my sexy voice.
It was recommended that I drink lots of water while recording and wear lip balm. I happen to be a pretty strong reader, so the recording is going smoothly. If you have a slurry, chewy voice, I'd suggest paying a friend in cart fulls of beer and spending a few sunday's knocking it out. You can play mixer and editor and they can play sexy voice.
Good luck with your project!
Whew, that was easy right? Why not start a new project? Lets record this baby as an audiobook! After some research, here is what I found out. Of course, there are several companies who will accept your (entry level $3000) and take your book, hire a narrator, professionally mix it and publish your book for you on amazon and itunes.
Open Book Audio (http://openbookaudio.com) is a company that works directly with amazon and itunes, which kept coming up. If you have piles of money to throw at your project, well, then you are probably not reading my blog.
The indie route: Audio Book Publishers - Creation Exchange (http://www.acx.com), which is an amazon based platform will allow you to create an account, sign a contract and upload your content chapter by mp3 chapter. If you narrate your own book, then you receive a higher margin of the profits. It also looks like a sliding scale royalty arrangement. As is, the more books you sell, the higher your royalty is, up to 90%, which sounds dreamy. Fingers crossed!
I did borrow a nice mic from a friend and I am recording in my bathroom. As long as there is no tv background noise, I should be able to pound it out in 5 or 6 sessions. grrr tv:(
Also, I'm recording my audiobook using garageband. Reading it chapter by chapter, I can easily export the files as mp3, edit out little mistakes and put on my sexy voice.
It was recommended that I drink lots of water while recording and wear lip balm. I happen to be a pretty strong reader, so the recording is going smoothly. If you have a slurry, chewy voice, I'd suggest paying a friend in cart fulls of beer and spending a few sunday's knocking it out. You can play mixer and editor and they can play sexy voice.
Good luck with your project!
Sunday, March 3, 2013
DIY
A month has past since the release of my novel. Since then, I have printed up a slew of bookmarks for promotional material, attended a authors' fair at the Omaha public library, submitted the novel to four new-fiction literary contests and for the first few weeks at least, obsessively watched my amazon and iTunes sales.
The result of all this has been a little underwhelming. As much as I would like to say I had realistic expectations, there is always that hope that your project might have palpable and immediate success. The disappointment didn't last though:) if I have learned anything during my haphazard career, it is how to accept the delay of gratification.
Today, I am committing to laying out the next list of to-dos, the top of which is to stay on top of my blog and social media. I think the success you can expect from any creative project is mitigating largely by the momentum (cultural, social, personal) you can build around it.
I am blogging from the local Barnes & Noble bookstore. Knowing that my novel is available on nook and any one of these readers could find it and reading it, is an interesting thought. From a sales prospective however, my nook release has yielded zero sales. This store is full of people looking for an interesting read and my novel is available but invisible. In spite of the fact that my novel is available, I also know that if I laid out a few of my bookmarks, as soon as a staff member discovered them, they would be thrown away.
Meh, I just dropped a couple in the coffee shop. I feel like I just vandalized the place!
It is time to meditate on what my goals are and how I can achieve them, baby step by baby step.
I have to work locally first... And then broaden my view from there. Unless of course, someone else has a different strategy to offer:) The journey of an indie author continues!
The result of all this has been a little underwhelming. As much as I would like to say I had realistic expectations, there is always that hope that your project might have palpable and immediate success. The disappointment didn't last though:) if I have learned anything during my haphazard career, it is how to accept the delay of gratification.
Today, I am committing to laying out the next list of to-dos, the top of which is to stay on top of my blog and social media. I think the success you can expect from any creative project is mitigating largely by the momentum (cultural, social, personal) you can build around it.
I am blogging from the local Barnes & Noble bookstore. Knowing that my novel is available on nook and any one of these readers could find it and reading it, is an interesting thought. From a sales prospective however, my nook release has yielded zero sales. This store is full of people looking for an interesting read and my novel is available but invisible. In spite of the fact that my novel is available, I also know that if I laid out a few of my bookmarks, as soon as a staff member discovered them, they would be thrown away.
Meh, I just dropped a couple in the coffee shop. I feel like I just vandalized the place!
It is time to meditate on what my goals are and how I can achieve them, baby step by baby step.
I have to work locally first... And then broaden my view from there. Unless of course, someone else has a different strategy to offer:) The journey of an indie author continues!
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