I've been reading this really great book about building a writers Platform. It's geared towards traditional book publishing but I think the info is valuable for any writer looking to grow a fan base.
The book defines a writers platform as:
"all the ways you are visible and appealing to your future, potential or actual readership. Your Platform includes your web presense, public speaking, teaching, your publication credits, and any other means you have for making yourself known to a viable readership."
I think for me, I do have an advantage when it comes to this. I've learned a lot of valuable lessons over the years promoting bands on the internet. This may give me some what of an unique approach to how I build my platform and market myself.
The book suggestion narrowing down your niche and naming your expertise as specific as possible. Punk book marketing just might be my niche. Now I just have to apply the lessons I've learned with my bands to my books and prove they can be successful.
Keep in mind that my goals are not to be a world famous Author. I'd rather have one thousand devoted fans who devour everything I put out, than have ten thousand casual run of the mill fans. This, I suppose, also narrows down my niche and expertise just a bit more.
What have you done in your past that can be useful towards your career as a writer? Take the lesson you learn from outside the self-publishing world and see how they can benefit you with in it.
Check this wonderful book out for your self. Get Known before the Book Deal - Use Your Personal Strengths to Grow an Auhtor Platform by Christina Katz
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
What to write?
For me, picking what to write is probably the hardest part of being a writer. I have a problem with having too many ideas and an attention span that has me hopping from topic to topic. The advice I've been given is to pick something that is interesting enough to hold my attention. Which is great advice, I just wish I could follow it. I find myself jotting things down in various notebooks or typing out short pieces and saving them in one of the thirty folders on my hard drive. As if self-publishing a book wasn't a daunting enough task, first you have to pick what to write a book about and then you have to actually write it!
I suppose it's possible that I'm the only writer with this problem. You may have known exactly the type of book you wanted to write and the subject you wanted to write about from the very first step. I unfortunately did not and I'm still struggling with this very problem. I'm currently writing several different types of books with various subject matter. I wouldn't recommend this approach, it's hard enough to finish one book within any given amount of time, forget about trying to write three at once. I have the feeling none of them will ever be finished.
I'm learning a lot on my journey to self-publishing. I might be taking the scenic route and my final destination might still be many miles away but I'm happy to at least be on my way. So whether you are writing non-fiction, fiction, poetry or a hieroglyph picture book just make sure you're writing about something your passionate about and something you're interested enough in to put all your time and energy into. Keep in mind that even if you get the book written you'll still be working on it long after its completion. There's editing, marketing and promoting, so you'll be stuck with whatever subject matter you pick for, well forever.
Now, if there was only a self-help book for learning how to follow our own advice!
What kind of book are you writing? What's your book about?
Monday, April 6, 2009
Why Self-publish?
Some great reasons why self-publishing is the right road for us.
The truth is, I probably would not be able to get a publisher even if I tried. Have I tried? No. Do I want to try? No. As a teenager first starting out in the underground music scene, it was immediately clear that if I wanted to get my music out there, I would have to do it myself. Right from the beginning, I just assumed that if I wanted to write a book, I would have to publish it myself.
As I read deeper into the endless amounts information available about the publishing world I'm realizing that self-publishing is a strength not a hindrance to our careers as Authors. Assuming that we are all virtually unknown, we could never expect our books to even stand a chance in the big leagues. Our strength lies in our passion and our ability to be completely hands on and in control of every aspect of our books. We make every decision from cover to cover and then some. Nobody will care about our books as much as we do.
Here are the reasons I think make self-publishing not just the best choice but the only choice for publishing our books.
Control – As I said, we are the ones in the driver seat when we self-publish. We have nobody trying to tell us, how it HAS to be. It can be however we WANT it to be. As writers we are creative creatures who have a vision in our minds of how we want to see our book when they're a finished product. We can always outsource the things we can't do ourselves such as cover design. When it comes to promotion, sure the big publishers can get your books into the stores but in a store it's just another book on a shelf with 1000 other books. If you do it yourself you can tap into unique markets where your books will get noticed.
Speed – Big publishers may take as long as 18 months to get your book into print. Are you that patient? I'm not! That's 18 months after you've finished writing your book and assuming you find a publisher immediately. It may be years from finished manuscript to book in print. Some of our books may contain timely information that needs to be in print fast, before it becomes obsolete.
Money – Why accept 6% in royalties from a publisher when you can make 100% of the profit doing it yourself. It may be more work and seem like an impossible task but the rewards of your effort are worth while. You can make more money selling a lot less books. You may be thinking that you would rather sell more books and make less, because I did too. Think about this though, you may sell less books but you'll selling them yourself, making more meaningful and longer lasting contacts with your readers which should lead to more sales in the long run.
Selling Out – In the independent music scene calling someone an artist or band a sell out is the equivalent of cursing them out. When it comes to self-publishing it is a great thing. If you have a lot of success with your self-published books and you build a large, even a medium but loyal following you may decide to sell out to a large publisher. This gives you the advantage when negotiating a contract because you have the sales and fans to back you up. You know that the publisher will give your books the attention they deserve because they know it will sell. This is just an option though, if you can manage the work load and enjoy it why not continue to self-publish.
Self-publishing is no small task but with the right mind set and drive it may be the most rewarding thing a person can pursue. Well, except for maybe having children or becoming president, I wouldn't know in either instance. Life is a short precious thing, lets make the most of it. Lets put our thoughts into action, our hearts into our words, our words into the hands and in front of the eyes of as many readers as we can. Lets do it ourselves.
Next weeks topic: What to write?
Have a topic you would like me to cover? Comment with it.
The truth is, I probably would not be able to get a publisher even if I tried. Have I tried? No. Do I want to try? No. As a teenager first starting out in the underground music scene, it was immediately clear that if I wanted to get my music out there, I would have to do it myself. Right from the beginning, I just assumed that if I wanted to write a book, I would have to publish it myself.
As I read deeper into the endless amounts information available about the publishing world I'm realizing that self-publishing is a strength not a hindrance to our careers as Authors. Assuming that we are all virtually unknown, we could never expect our books to even stand a chance in the big leagues. Our strength lies in our passion and our ability to be completely hands on and in control of every aspect of our books. We make every decision from cover to cover and then some. Nobody will care about our books as much as we do.
Here are the reasons I think make self-publishing not just the best choice but the only choice for publishing our books.
Control – As I said, we are the ones in the driver seat when we self-publish. We have nobody trying to tell us, how it HAS to be. It can be however we WANT it to be. As writers we are creative creatures who have a vision in our minds of how we want to see our book when they're a finished product. We can always outsource the things we can't do ourselves such as cover design. When it comes to promotion, sure the big publishers can get your books into the stores but in a store it's just another book on a shelf with 1000 other books. If you do it yourself you can tap into unique markets where your books will get noticed.
Speed – Big publishers may take as long as 18 months to get your book into print. Are you that patient? I'm not! That's 18 months after you've finished writing your book and assuming you find a publisher immediately. It may be years from finished manuscript to book in print. Some of our books may contain timely information that needs to be in print fast, before it becomes obsolete.
Money – Why accept 6% in royalties from a publisher when you can make 100% of the profit doing it yourself. It may be more work and seem like an impossible task but the rewards of your effort are worth while. You can make more money selling a lot less books. You may be thinking that you would rather sell more books and make less, because I did too. Think about this though, you may sell less books but you'll selling them yourself, making more meaningful and longer lasting contacts with your readers which should lead to more sales in the long run.
Selling Out – In the independent music scene calling someone an artist or band a sell out is the equivalent of cursing them out. When it comes to self-publishing it is a great thing. If you have a lot of success with your self-published books and you build a large, even a medium but loyal following you may decide to sell out to a large publisher. This gives you the advantage when negotiating a contract because you have the sales and fans to back you up. You know that the publisher will give your books the attention they deserve because they know it will sell. This is just an option though, if you can manage the work load and enjoy it why not continue to self-publish.
Self-publishing is no small task but with the right mind set and drive it may be the most rewarding thing a person can pursue. Well, except for maybe having children or becoming president, I wouldn't know in either instance. Life is a short precious thing, lets make the most of it. Lets put our thoughts into action, our hearts into our words, our words into the hands and in front of the eyes of as many readers as we can. Lets do it ourselves.
Next weeks topic: What to write?
Have a topic you would like me to cover? Comment with it.
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