This will be a blog for my writing, maybe with (too much) personal thrown in. I am hoping it will be a little more interactive, with me answering questions, helping out and whatnot. If it falls this year (2024), then I may stop the whole blogging thing, but that's all a "wait and see" scenario.
Ugh, I have a story waiting at AHMM. It's been sitting since May. I was surprised at their "open door" policy and wondered about the firehose of junk they must be getting. By the time they inform me, they might be charging for submissions! If so, I won't submit anything else. Thanks for the heads-up.
Doing a little research to avoid issues like this is one of the things that slows me down, even for the shortest of short stories. Better slow than "Mark dodged quickly left and right, weaving his way between the fusillade of bullets coming from the Gatling Gun twenty feet away."
And, finally, rounding out all my ideas (for now lol)...
10. #6 on the original list above is SUPER important! We all think our work is great when we get to the point of self-publishing (or submitting to traditional publishing), but the reality is, it's isn't always. Someone needs to gently tell us where we need work or at least how to find someone who can do that. I've seen (and before my brain injury, read) some AMAZING books with some HORRIBLE editing. I've seen books with great stories, but horrid covers. I've seen books with ridiculous looking selfies as author photos. I mean, like did you really think that's a good pic? Not saying you look bad, just that the picture, itself, is bad -- poor composition, bad lighting, clutter in the background, something hanging over your head, etc. Not that you need a professional headshot, but you need someone to look at that selfie and say, "No, my friend, you can't use that one. Yes, you look fine, but the rest of the picture is terrible. Here are things to fix in the next one." Or maybe just suggest they crop it SUPER tight. lol We all have blind spots. This is where our friends come in and can be a vital part of our success -- pumping us up when we are low, but also, speaking truth in love when it's needed.
11. Finally, #7 on the original list, buy the book -- sure, but think about it as a gift for others, too. Who would love this book? You can suggest it to them. Then maybe a couple of weeks before their birthday or Christmas (or whatever December holiday they celebrate), ask if they ever got it. If not, get it for them as a gift. How many people do we know that would love a book we love? If we spread the purchases throughout the year for birthdays or just random "thinking of you," it's not much to spend.
Continued from above because I "talk" too much. lol
8. I didn't know it helps putting it in your Amazon cart, even if you don't buy it. Does that boost it in the algorithm? Interesting. Sneaky. I like it. lol Anyway, that's in #4 on the list above. It talks about leaving reviews and upvoting the book on sites, etc. I would add to make mention of this in your social media posts, too. Some people will not think of this, but they would be perfectly happy to do it after reading and loving the book. They just needed that idea. Along with leaving reviews, if you are comfortable, include a short video review. You can type out whatever you want to say and your video can be faceless, even voiceless, if you want, but Amazon loves video reviews. Just show the cover and show yourself flipping through a few pages (assuming you got the physical copy -- try finding it at the library, if you didn't, then mention in your written review that you got it on Kindle, but went to the library to show it on video). Or you can fully talk about how much you love it, dance around with the book in your review, whatever. lol
9. Technically, for #5, encouraging the author to be on blogs, vlogs, etc, while a great idea, if you don't have any of those connections, you could actually set up a short interview and post it on your own social media, if you are both comfortable being on camera. Record it on Zoom. A free Zoom account allows you to have a 40 min. meeting. I assume you can record it, but if not, there is screen capture software out there. I also know people use Loom, though IDK what all it can do. Can it only record your screen? That's all I ever see it used for, so maybe combine it with Zoom? IDK, but I'm sure there's a way. If one or both of you don't want to do that, you can do a podcast-style interview, though maybe make it shorter since your author buddy is likely not famous so your friends might not listen to a 40 minute recording of some random author they've never met. But if you record a 10-15 minute interview and it's well-received, you could always do another. Maybe it's the beginning of your podcast career! lol
Oops -- forgot to enlarge the other one. Well, I spent a LOT of time cutting it down, so it's just as well. I had hoped to keep this to 2 posts, but it's still going to be 3. Sorry. lol
1. Get it into your book club and encourage them to leave reviews for it -- positive reviews sell books.
2. If the author is up for it and/or nearby, see if a local bookstore (and the author) want to do a book signing.
3. Same as #2, but with your local library and a book reading.
4. Additions from the original list above, for #1 about posting on social media, don't just post once (though don't spam your feed), but post every few days as you are reading. Post favorite quotes, things you love about your favorite characters, record a quick 3-10 second video of you flipping through the book, hugging it, lying on your bed (made) as you approach, or otherwise showing it being read, used, loved. And when you are done with the book post that you just left a great review for it (after you have) and encourage others to. Videos and even pics of you (faceless is okay) with the book, including closeups, maybe your hands in a heart around the title or whatever you want, are more interesting to your friends scrolling than you just posting lines on your newsfeed about how much you enjoyed the book. Be sure to always include the title and author so folks can easily find it! If you are doing a text only comment, include a link to the Kindle page on Amazon since the author gets paid per page read.
5. Again, back to #1 on the original list, when you're done with the book, if you are thinking about the book when it's finished, because you genuinely enjoyed it, feel free to post maybe a quick video of you holding it up and saying something about how you finished the book X long ago, but the storyline has really stuck with you and you encourage folks to give it a try because it's such a great book. You can, again, also post a reminder about your wonderful review, if you are looking for other ideas of what to post. Again, not all together, but maybe a few days or even a week or several apart -- assuming it's true and you really did love your friend's / family member's book. This will also help people remember to read the book if they bought it on Amazon Kindle and haven't started reading it because authors get paid per page read. FYI, if you read your friend's book again, as I understand it, they get paid more.
6. For #2, if your author friend / family member lives nearby and you're a social butterfly, see if they're having a release party on the day their book is released. Depending on how emotionally close you are, they may not have invited you, so this could be awkward -- be prepared for that. Sometimes it's like a wedding -- a small, intimate affair. But if they aren't having one, offer to throw one and not only allow them to invite anyone they want, but also offer to invite all your friends. Also, consider inviting the local paper, local librarians, local book clubs, local book reviewers, and anyone else you can think of. Some of us are great party-throwers. Your friend may be thrilled at the idea. Or, they may not. Either way, respect their wishes. Perhaps they would accept a smaller event with just a celebration of the book's release with dinner and mutual friends, more a show of emotional support than a huge affair to bring in book sales. It's their book, after all.
7. For #3 in the original list, if they aren't on board with the idea of getting a hold of a copy, I've found that making a donation to the library to cover the costs will usually get them to buy whatever book I want. If you can afford it, consider this.
I'd love to write a story that had a character suffering from Scopophobia, only to then suffer from Déjà vu, as they seemingly live that same day/time over and over again, which only raises their sense of Sopophobia. I don't know about introducing multiple phobias in a story though. I think if it's written well enough, it could work. Obviously some research on my part will be needed. May I copy this list and save it on my PC for easy reference?
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