To Thunderclap or not to Thunderclap?

I decided to try my first thunderclap for the May 20th release of my Christian Historic Fiction Novella, The River Girl's Song. In case you aren't familiar with Thunderclap, it's a site where you try to get people to participate in one big social media share for a specific date and time. The idea is that this will make a "thunderclap" to get people's attention about that event. Anyone can sign up to join your Tunderclap, which means they can agree to share your event on Tumblr, Twitter and/or FB. You have to have 100 people sign up for the event to actually happen, which isn't so hard to do if you have a good support network (which you should be building up the moment you write the first sentence of your manuscript).
Here is what you will need before you get started on your Thunderclap.

A good picture of your cover with a short description (Or 'meme')

A date when you want the Thunderclap to go out (I chose my release date, May 20)

A short bio about you and a square profile photo

A description about your book (the back blurb will work)

A twitter entry telling about your event.

Even though I've heard mixed messages about the Thunderclap effectiveness, I chose to try it for these reasons:

1. It's free. What can it hurt?

2. It's a great way to get family and friends interested in your book without actually asking for a sale. 

3. It's a good way to network with other authors, especially those who are also looking for Thunderclap support.

Ways to find supporters:

Ask family and friends. You can do this on e-mail and through FB. Just be sure to explain why you need help and exactly what they need to do. Also, that they won't be receiving a whole bunch of spam from Thunderclap. 

Connect on author FB pages and writing groups. Most authors are more than willing to help out, especially if you return the favor. 

So, have you ever tried Thunderclap? I would love to know about your results! Please feel free to share your experience in the comments.

Also, to help me out with my Thunderclap and see how I did mine, you can go to https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/25399-the-river-girl-s-song?locale=en

Timing (Or One Indie Writer's Book Publishing Process)

One of the challenges most Indie authors face

is deciding when your book-child is ready to release into the wild to flutter off (and hopefully soar) on its own. This is particularly challenging because we are virtually by ourselves in the decision. We don't have an agent or an editor to give us the green light and say "Here you go, printing date in three months." We have to make that call for ourselves.

As Indie writers, most of us have experienced that heart-freezing moment when one of our beta-readers (or well-meaning family members or friends) asks us about a plot hole that we simply didn't consider. We must race off, open our file and type feverishly. Hopefully it doesn't make the whole plot impossible and unravel our entire literary sweater.
Or worse, we have published our book, released it into the Amazon jungle, promoted the tar out of it... and we receive a two star review because of a major plot issue. And we can't explain it away. It's just there.

I realize I have painted a bleak picture, but these things do not have to happen. As Indie writers, we need to know the correct steps to get the best book possible out to our adoring public. And we need to have the confidence to let our child take its first steps into our reader's hearts.

Here is the process I put each book through before publication. I'm sure everyone has a slightly different method.

1. Critiques

After my book has been typed out, I post it on http://Scribophile.com. This is a great critique group where people trade critiques. I will put each chapter through until it receives at least five critiques, editing as I see a need. This process helps me catch major plot holes and think through sentence structure. It's also a great way to get reader's impressions, sentence by sentence.

2. Beta-Readers

I try to find at least 5 people who will read my book all the way through, preferably people who A. enjoy reading the genre and have certain expectations for the category I have written, and B. Are not people I know personally. This is a great way to check for plot holes again and gage reader's impressions of the book as a whole. I don't hand my book out to betas until I have polished it as much as possible and 'sat on it' for a few weeks, then polished it again.
3. Editors
This one is highly debated; how much editing does a book truly need? One of the great advantages of being an Indie writer is not having an editor who must hone our story into something they believe their company can sell. It's what makes Indie writers able to publish anything they desire without having a commercial dragon breathing down their neck. I firmly believe if most writers follow steps one and two and find reliable readers who will be honest with them, they will probably not need in-depth, creative editing. On the other hand, copy editors are extremely important. You absolutely must have extra sets of eyes to check for SPAG issues. I have two copy editors, and I hand them proof books which are in proof form and already formatted. This is a great way to check for alignment issues as well.
4. Letting it go
After you have had your book proof-read, read through it yourself several times with a red pen, and gone through the dreadful-ahem-delightful process of formatting for Kindle and whichever other platforms you have chosen, it's time to sit back and watch the pages flutter away. The wonderful thing about using the process I have outlined is the book will not be released until you have had at least 12-15 educated, invested, objective readers involved. I'm not promising you will have all five-star reviews, but you can know you did the best you possibly could.


If you are a brand-new, self-taught writer, just dipping a toe into the creative universe, you might want a more extensive process for your first few books. But over time, you learn what to look for and avoid, and your children's faces will become cleaner in every new venture into the world.
I would love to know what you think of this article, and if you have anything to add. Please comment below!

For a Short Time: Smashwords Book Catalog Promo!

I was alerted to this special by Metilda Leland at Scribophile. If you have stories or books on Smashwords, this is a great opportunity to get your books promoted. Until the end of July, you can go to this link here and include whichever books you like in their catalog. You must offer the book at a discounted percentage (you choose the amount) or for free. The discount coupon will be displayed on the book's listing. This is a great offer for family and friends on social media as well.

I am very excited to announce I will be re-issuing my collection of short stories and poems, "Hidden Pictures," at the end of July. You can have a sneak peek at some of the stories for free if you go to my author dashboard at Smashwords, here. You can also download a FREE copy of my book for kids, The Amazing Adventures of Toby the Trilby. These will be free until the end of July.
Do you have books you have included in the Smashwords free catalog? Feel free to add them to the comments below! (Please no horror or erotic).

Selling Books at Booths.

As a writer, everything is found by trial and error. What works great for someone else might not work as well for you, since every book is different. I am finding methods that work well for romance and fantasy books written for adults might not generate the same results for the Middle-Grade audience I am trying to reach. So far, my best sales have not been generated from ebooks, book signings or advertising. My best sales have come from booths.
Kids want to pick something up and hold it. They see the excitement on your face and it's contagious. The greatest feeling I've ever had as an author has been when a child sees my book cover and starts jumping up and down.

I have worked extremely hard to find the right cover, lettering, mood, etc. for my book, and that's one thing about kids. They are honest. They don't pretend to like something, they either do or they don't.

I designed bookmarks with my book cover, QR code and web address. At street events I will watch the street for kids that look to be in the right age range. I will walk up to them and ask if they like to read and hand them a bookmark. At my last street event, 50 percent of the kids I handed bookmarks to came over with their parents and bought both of my books. That's amazing! 

It's also good to have a different book to use for an example. Because my book is set in a future, post-apocalyptic environment, I asked each kid "Did you read Hunger Games?" Most of them had and were thrilled to know I had a book in the same genre.

So here are some tips I am compiling through trial and error. 

1. Make your table inviting. Create a large poster of your book cover and glue it to foam board. Have candy or other treats to hand out.

2. Have bookmarks with your book cover and QR code. I designed mine and had them printed on cardstock for 20 cents a page at Staples (each page was five bookmarks). I cut them out myself with a paper cutter. You can also order them from an online company. Think of each one as a seed and possible future sale. 

3. Approach people and be excited. This might be hard for some people if you aren't naturally a people person, but if kids don't think you're excited, they sure won't be.

4. Don't hesitate to ask. If you can't afford a pricey booth at an event, ask if you can go in with a small portion of space with another vendor. Or ask the event cordinators if you can bring an activity or read portions of the story throughout the day in exchange for a discount.

5. If you have more than one book in a series, offer a discount if all are purchased. I sold every single customer both copies of my book because I offered a discount. 

Do you have any more tips? I would love to hear them!

CreateSpace

When I published my first little book of stories and poems with CreateSpace two years ago, I wasn't sure what to expect. I was totally new to the idea of self-publishing. My goal was to put together a little collection of stories and poems, mostly for family and friends. I thought it would be as simple as uploading a Word file and a cover photo and the company would do the rest. I heard horror stories about authors who paid companies thousands of dollars got a handful of books in return.
Now I understand why.

Yes, CreateSpace is a great deal. If you are willing to do everything, and I mean EVERYTHING for yourself, you can get a paperback book, up to 180 pages long with a full color glossy cover for about 3.00, including shipping. The best part? There is no minimal order. If you only want one book, you only have to buy one book!

They also list your book on Amazon for anyone to see and buy, and you have the option to also publish your book to Kindle.

The downside? To produce an all-around excellent book, you must be excellent at many skills. You must do your own editing, formatting, and cover design. You must write your own back cover blurb (harder than you might think) and do your own Amazon description and listing.

It took me a very, very long time to figure it all out. I think my first book took at least two weeks to upload.

This time was much easier. They now have a proof reader and review so you can view your book online, page by page, to make sure the format is correct. Very helpful. They also have a template you can download that already has an embedded table of contents, headers and footers.

Here are some CreateSpace suggestions by one who has dared and lived.

1. If you mess up the template, don't try to fix it. Just download the template and start over.

2. Start the process at least a month before you want to release the book. This will give you time to order proofs and check them over for errors.

3. Don't try anything too fancy unless you are an expert. Fancy fonts and styles only give you headaches and mess up your Kindle book. If you have your heart set on fanciness, pay someone else to do it for you.

4. Keep your cover simple. Us bright fonts that are simple to read against dark pictures or backgrounds, or vise-versa. Run your covers past several people, ideally past other authors, to find out if your cover is appealing. Remember, your cover is one of your best selling tools.

5. Order a proof every single time. I don't care how good it looks online, there's a lot you won't notice until you have the copy in your hand.

6. Don't splurge on expensive shipping. Standard, in my experience, has always been lightning fast.

7. Expect quality. I have always been very impressed with my finished product.

Any questions or comments about your experience with CreateSpace? Please feel free to share!