One of the perceived down-sides of being a writer during the 20th century has been the fact that in the overwhelming majority of cases the author has to spend a long period of time working on the craft of their writing without seeing any money for their work. And then after they are done with the writing they had to go through a long period of finding a place to sell it--sometimes the second task taking even longer than the first. For hundreds of years there have been a select group of writers who were fortunate enough to get commissions to write, have contracts--get paid in advance before they even finished their work. However, in the 21st century--the playing field has leveled. Now, thanks to convenient places on the Internet ANYONE can get funded before they even finish their project.
Now when I say anyone, I don't literally mean ANYYONE. As in, a high school kid who never wrote before can't just go online and get thousands of dollars funding for his highly speculative project. But those who are serious and preferably have even the slightest reputation for working in the field they are in--poets, bloggers, essayists, fantasy authors, don't have to seek permission to get advanced funding--they can get it directly from people interested in their work!
Take the fiction writer who is working on a novel. Say this fiction writer has already been writing for a couple of years--has a website dedicated to his own work or at least a blog. Maybe he's published a few short stories in various places so he has a little bit of a fan base already built up. Say that a few short stories he had been writing deal with a character that people tend to like--and he wanted to write a novel about this character, maybe explaining more of the back story. So say this author decides to put up a fundraising campaign for this project on indiegogo to cover his printing costs.
He sets the amounts for donation to the funding campaign at 25 dollars, 50 dollars and 100 dollars. For the 25 dollar doners he offers them a free autographed copy plus their name listed as a patron in the back of the book. For 50 dollars, a free signed copy of the book, their name listed plus a painting of the character portrait of the main character, autographed by his artist friend who designed him. For 100 dollars, say he offered a free limited edition hard cover copy of the book upon completion. The author is happy because he is raising money for his project and the fans are happy because they are not only contributing to the development of a project they are eager to see--they get cool rewards relevant to the project as well!
If the author can manage to convince a few dozen or a few hundred people to contribute to this campaign--he can raise quite a bit of money to start the print run--which gives the entire book tour an edge with the added satisfaction of already selling copies to fans before the writing is even done!
Now of course this strategy won't work if the author happens to be flaky and if they never deliver what is promised--they can end up in legal troubles, and at the very least, earn a horrible reputation that keeps them from ever doing something of this nature again. But if they take their writing seriously, people trust them, like the work and are dedicated--this is a valid option to give many authors who are stuck in that limbo stage between above amateur, but not quite professional, the kick they need to give their projects life.
www.indiegogo.com
www.kickstarter.com
www.gofundme.com
are just three examples of websites that offer this type of service (for a small fee out of what you collect from the fundraiser.) Thousands of creative projects have already gotten funding through this method (me and my co-editor for Perspectives, Poetry Concerning Autism and Other disabilities used this tool to raise our printing goal and not only met our goal, but we exceeded it once word got around!) If you are an author who takes writing seriously, but is looking for that extra push for a project you have in mind, this method might just work for you.
A place for tips and tricks to make money writing in the 21st century.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Monday, September 24, 2012
Mousetrapped: The Story of A Successful Self-Published Book
I keep on saying that one of the greatest things about the internet age is the fact that no one needs a publisher--or at least a big publisher that is impossible to get to notice you, anymore. If one has a good idea--the boundaries to putting out there have been stripped down and replaced with opportunities. The bad part about this--is literally everyone thinks they have a good idea and everyone who has a good idea thinks they know how to market it. This has led to an oversaturation of new self-published books and most of them sell an average of 2--you heard right, 2-10 copies.
Of course, the dream is still possible and even probable when certain measures are taken. Take a look at the story of mousetrapped--a successful self published travel book.
http://mousetrappedbook.com/
And in her own words:
http://selfpublishingteam.com/guest-post-why-i-self-published-my-novel-after-saying-i-never-would/
The success of Mousetrapped is a typical rags to riches story thanks to the success of the popularity of her topic. She also made her writing available in multiple online outlets and had a physical book tour to accompany it--the combination cannot be beat. Too many authors focus on one or the other but not enough of the other. Her online base made it easy for people to locate and to buy.
Since the success of her first book, the author has gone on to have several more succesful titles--even offering some packaged deals. And the funny part is--if she had gone with a traditional publisher, she wouldn't have made nearly as much profit as she did.
Of course, the dream is still possible and even probable when certain measures are taken. Take a look at the story of mousetrapped--a successful self published travel book.
http://mousetrappedbook.com/
And in her own words:
http://selfpublishingteam.com/guest-post-why-i-self-published-my-novel-after-saying-i-never-would/
The success of Mousetrapped is a typical rags to riches story thanks to the success of the popularity of her topic. She also made her writing available in multiple online outlets and had a physical book tour to accompany it--the combination cannot be beat. Too many authors focus on one or the other but not enough of the other. Her online base made it easy for people to locate and to buy.
Since the success of her first book, the author has gone on to have several more succesful titles--even offering some packaged deals. And the funny part is--if she had gone with a traditional publisher, she wouldn't have made nearly as much profit as she did.
Friday, September 21, 2012
A Sneaky Way To Sell A Few More Of Your Books And Get The Word Out For Free
Vistaprint.com has taken over the universe as far as business cards go. But they also print just about everything, including post-cards. They are by no means the only printer available for such things, but one thing that vistaprint (and a few others) do that is very enticing and rewarding is offer you deals where you can aquire 250 free business cards or 100 free postcards, and you just pay shipping. The offers vary from time to time but it is definitly worth looking into if you are an author with a product.
Say for example, you have a self-published or a small press book. It could be anything, fiction, a memoir, poetry--it doesn't even have to be a book for that matter, but let's just use book as a prime example. Assuming you have a link online where the book can be found and/or purchased (and if you don't--there is a serious problem!) then taking advantage of these free offers can do you absolutly no harm at all!
I find postcards tend to work the best because you can fit more on there than just the name, a line or two and the website. Assuming your book aquired any kind of favorable blurbs or testimonials either before or after publication (and if it hasn't yet, start working on that because blurbs are a very good marketing tool!) you can take a picture of your book's cover and put it on the postcard, along with a good blurb or two about the quality of the book. Couple that with the web address where one can aquire the book, maybe an email address for those interested who want to know more and a breif description of what the book is about and bingo--you have a perfectly sound marketing tool available to you for nothing more than a few minutes of time and the shipping costs required to send them to you.
You can hand these postcards or business cards out everywhere. Not only does this send a message that you are a published author--but a serious one, but it gets people interested because word of mouth is one thing--seeing the picture of the book and what people say about it is something else entirely. You can bet that a decent number of people who recieve the post cards will at least visit the website.
Like I said, vistaprint is the first one that comes to mind for this type of free offer but there are plenty more out there. Don't hesitate to look around and take advantage of all these offers where you see them. Even if the end result only yields one or two additional sales of your product--it was well worth it.
Say for example, you have a self-published or a small press book. It could be anything, fiction, a memoir, poetry--it doesn't even have to be a book for that matter, but let's just use book as a prime example. Assuming you have a link online where the book can be found and/or purchased (and if you don't--there is a serious problem!) then taking advantage of these free offers can do you absolutly no harm at all!
I find postcards tend to work the best because you can fit more on there than just the name, a line or two and the website. Assuming your book aquired any kind of favorable blurbs or testimonials either before or after publication (and if it hasn't yet, start working on that because blurbs are a very good marketing tool!) you can take a picture of your book's cover and put it on the postcard, along with a good blurb or two about the quality of the book. Couple that with the web address where one can aquire the book, maybe an email address for those interested who want to know more and a breif description of what the book is about and bingo--you have a perfectly sound marketing tool available to you for nothing more than a few minutes of time and the shipping costs required to send them to you.
You can hand these postcards or business cards out everywhere. Not only does this send a message that you are a published author--but a serious one, but it gets people interested because word of mouth is one thing--seeing the picture of the book and what people say about it is something else entirely. You can bet that a decent number of people who recieve the post cards will at least visit the website.
Like I said, vistaprint is the first one that comes to mind for this type of free offer but there are plenty more out there. Don't hesitate to look around and take advantage of all these offers where you see them. Even if the end result only yields one or two additional sales of your product--it was well worth it.
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
How The Publishing World Has Changed (For The Better?)
It certainly can't be denied that the
publishing world has changed in the last 15 years. The internet
brought with it instant communication on a level we never could have
dreamed of just a few years earlier. As with all new technologies,
traditions that existed before them changed. The publishing world is
no different—everywhere you look you see reports of failing book
store chains, struggling authors, and even the largest publishing
companies are feeling the financial squeeze. Does this mean the
publishing world is in trouble? Of course not.
Popular belief would love to say that
the world of books and the world of writing is in trouble thanks to
the major changes—but since when is popular belief right? Mark
Twain once famously said “Any time I find myself agreeing with the
public, it is time for me to reevaluate my position.” And he had a
very good point. People love doomsday theories, and people have been
predicting the end of many forms of popular entertainment and
technology for a long, long time. The radio was supposed to go out
when television came about, television was supposed to go out when
the internet came around. Theater, poetry, radio, television, the
internet and even (to a lesser extent) old fashioned records are all
still out there. Some of these things aren't as popular as they used
to be—but there is still a place for them. And writing? Writing is
something that is never going to go away so long as people keep on
reading. And studies show that people read far MORE today than they
did 15 years ago. The difference is only in the mediums.
Not to mention, the doomsday
publishing theorists overlook the fact that any time a traditional
system is in upheaval it's only because the playing field had
changed. As a result—they don't look at the major changes that have
occurred right before our eyes and they blind themselves to the
numerous new opportunities that have presented themselves. Despite
what some will say, this revolution is actually a good thing for
writers—in fact it's a GREAT thing.
Are publishers going through a rough
time? Sure they are—at least the ones who aren't being smart and
savvy about the changes in the field. But for individual authors—the
time to be born couldn't be better—for one major reason. Authors
are no longer dependent on anyone to put their writing out there. The
options they now have are literally unlimited. They can still choose
to go with a traditional publisher if they are more comfortable—but
for the overly ambitious poet/fiction writer/essayist, the world is
theirs for the taking. Self publishing, or small press work has never
been easier. And more importantly, marketing for the individual
author or small press has never been easier either. It is true that
more than a few of the great books were originally self published.
(Leaves of Grass and Ulysses to name a couple.) But for a long time,
especially with the development of giant publishing companies, the
way to success for authors was almost monopolized. They required
permission from editors or owners before they could get their work to
the general public. It was harder for the average person to have
access to printers, artists, promotion, radio interviews, and do all
the things that authors took quite a big fat royalty out of the
author's pay for many years for. Now, all those barriers haven't only
been lowered—they have been OBLITERATED.
Authors are freer than ever to put
their work in books and have them printed ON DEMMAND with no extra
copies stored and no major financial hole they have to go into to
take a risk on it. Blogs can promote poetry to thousands of people
around the world—and the poets can take a nice chunk of advertising
money from adsense and other programs in the process. These authors
can put up their own websites—hand out business cards with the web
address to attract people and use videos on Youtube to show
interviews and back story extras. And the best part about it? They
don't have to share their profits with anyone.
On top of that, a new wave of small
presses have come about who share most of the burdens of production
with the author while taking much less of a chunk of the royalties
from them. Some traditional publishing houses would give the author
royalties as little as 8% of the profits from a book. These new small
presses go somewhere closer to 70/30, 60/40 and sometimes (although
rarer) even 50/50. More importantly, there is no limit of the
mainstream markets as thanks to the internet there is now a niche
market for literally ANYTHING one can think of. Mixed media outlets
allow authors to reach more people than ever before. Books on tape? A
simple as the audio recording program on their computer. The options
are literally endless for those who are willing to go out there and
take them. So stop listening to the gloom and doom theories—start
to believe the (true) fact that in the world of new and thriving
technologies comes new and thriving ways for authors to make a
living. And that's what we are going to explore together.
Friday, September 14, 2012
The Writer's Cardinal Rule
The Writer’s Cardinal Rule
This is something that so many authors do backwards in the
beginning. I have seen countless blogs out there and countless twitter accounts
by writers, artists, poets, novelists and more. Some these blogs look good (and
some don’t.) They have quite a lot of content, and they update them
consistently. But there is a major problem that too many writers make, and it’s
one that can keep a career from ever getting started. This because they do not
follow the cardinal rule all writers of the 21st century need to
follow if they are going to build a fan base.
Lead with the content first.
Apple Jack’s Poetry Vlog!
Big Mamma’s Novel Corner
Joe Nobodies Twitter Account.
See the problem with all of these? (Other than the obvious.)
That’s right—you don’t know who the heck they are. More importantly you don’t
have any idea what it is they are writing about. Now on the one hand you can’t
blame people for being confused about how this works. After all, everyone has
seen pop stars crammed down their throats, books on the shelves of stores with
the author name in bold and the title in small font on the bottom, radios
chanting the same name after name after name. The difference is—these advertising
companies have all the time in the world and all the means in the world to
repeat the names day after day week after week and play their songs on the
radio, put their books in your face and generally get them familiar enough in
your mindset where they feel like old friends by the time they render your
credit card 40 bucks lighter. The problem with us smaller time folk is that we
don’t have that luxury.
“But then how are rags to riches stories made?”
They are made by a different formula. And usually by
following the cardinal rule of writing in the 21st century: lead
with your content, not your name.
Apple Jack’s Poetry Vlog as a title probably won’t pick up
many new listeners on the fly—but “Sweet Love Poems” might. “My Job Sucks
Poetry Corner” might. “Funny Quotes” twitter feed could.
No matter what genre you write in—fiction, non fiction,
poetry, plays, movie scripts, the material is about SOMETHING. How specific the
something is determines where your fans come from—finding the niche community
that would find what you are writing about appealing is a major, major factor.
For example, a book of poetry from a first time poet with no
overall theme would have a hard time getting picked up by a publisher—if a poet
chose to put it out themselves odds are a few friends and family members might
buy it, but that’s it. Take this same poet, organize the first book around a specific
theme, and then market the book to those people who are interested in the theme
and odds are the sales will do MUCH better. That same poet’s first book that
could have been a flop could turn into a regional best seller when coupled with
a theme like “poetry of breakup.” Not to mention that when you get to the
online component of search engines—no one will be searching for an author’s
name unless they already know the author. Subject matter on the other hand is a
different story.
So when thinking about what to put out next—poetry, fiction,
non-fiction or whatever—figure out what the themes are—and push those themes.
If done well enough—eventually people will start to associate a name with the
theme—and that’s when the fans start to trickle in rapidly.
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