Learning | Meredith Mansfield, Author

Posts Tagged ‘Learning’

Promotion: What I’ve Tried and Learned So Far

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, Learning, marketing, research, series, writing on July 13, 2014| 3 Comments »

The name of the game with independent (or self) publishing is getting potential readers to even see your books. They can’t read it if they don’t even know it exists. For me–for a lot of authors, really–this is the hardest part. And I was determined to do better at it this time, with THE SHAMAN’S CURSE.

When I released BLOOD WILL TELL, I basically set it loose and expected it to fly on its own. It fluttered some, but it certainly didn’t soar.
With FIRE AND EARTH, I attempted to contact book bloggers for review. I spent way too much time at it and still only got a few reviews. It takes a lot of time to find book bloggers, determine if they even like books like the one you’ve written, and contact them. Many are too backlogged to take on anything new. Even those who aren’t may take months to get to your book. It’s not that it’s not worthwhile to try to find book bloggers to review your book. Just maybe a little at a time.
BLOOD IS THICKER got a paid blog tour. Not an expensive one, since that wasn’t in the budget. I also put out an omnibus edition, combining both BLOOD WILL TELL and BLOOD IS THICKER and made it the same price as either book alone for awhile. It did help.
I didn’t put a lot of thought into the launch of THE BARD’S GIFT. It went up only a week or so after Christmas. But I have tried a few things after the launch. Some writer friends put together an impromptu blog tour. I tried Story Cartel to get reviews. (I got one.) I published the short story that was the starting point for THE BARD’S GIFT, with a long excerpt of TBG, and priced it free. (Everywhere but Amazon. I still haven’t succeeded in making “Wyreth’s Flame” free on Amazon.) But, to be fair, an historical fantasy set in 14th Century Greenland, Iceland, and Markland is probably just a hard sell.
Taking all of this into account, plus the advice in David Gaughran’s LET’S GET VISIBLE, THE SHAMAN’S CURSE strategy has been as follows:

Use a free short story (“Becoming Lioness”) set in the same world as TSC, with an excerpt of TSC, to try to generate interest IN ADVANCE OF THE LAUNCH.

Set the initial price low ($0.99) for a limited time.

A few spotlights on blogs to help spread the word–Donna K. Weaver, Allison Miller Woods, and Cindy C. Bennett. And possibly a couple of interviews to come.
Also, Clean Indie Reads.
Try to get it into some of the e-book deal websites/newsletters, like Pixel of Ink. (Still undetermined at this time if any of them will take it. Fingers crossed.)

I’ll probably start trying to find some reviewers, too. I’ve also added a request for reviews right in the back matter of the ebook.

So far, I’ve been reasonably pleased with the result. We’re still not talking best-seller, here, but it’s better than I’ve done with any launch so far. In fact, I’ve already gotten my first review. That, after all, is the point. To get at least a little better at this with every book.

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What’s Up Wednesday

Posted in writing, tagged blog hop, e-publishing, inspiration, Learning, marketing, Multiple Projects, Real Life, revisions, series, writing on July 2, 2014| 20 Comments »

It’s Wednesday. Time for What’s Up Wednesday, a blog hop created by Jaime and Erin Funk to help writers connect.

What I’m Reading:

I just finished Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. Loved it. I haven’t really settled on what’s going to be next.

What I’m Writing:

Still working on the rewrite of THE IGNORED PROPHECY. It’s the sequel to THE SHAMAN’S CURSE, which launches next Monday. Eep!

I’ve been a little hung up on a kissing scene. I had to remind myself that this one is light epic fantasy/sword and sorcery. This scene doesn’t need the same emphasis I’d give it in say a YA book.

I also just started the querying process on DAUGHTER OF THE DISGRACED KING, a YA fantasy romance.

What Inspires Me:

Right now, the deadline I’ve set for myself. I want to have THE IGNORED PROPHECY ready to publish in December.

What Else I’ve Been Up To:

Most of what I got done yesterday was wrangling the two dogs down to the vet for their annual exams. Poor Aliza (13 1/2 years old) had to have her ears washed out. Who knew wax build up was a problem for older dogs?

Aliza is the red-head. Micah’s the one using her for a pillow. He’s only 10 1/2.

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Pre-Orders Revisited

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, inspiration, Learning, marketing, Reading, research, rewrites, series, writing on June 29, 2014| 4 Comments »

I posted a short while ago about the problem of pre-orders in connection with the launch (in less than two weeks) of THE SHAMAN’S CURSE.

One of the things I’ve done since then is to do some reading. Sometimes, when you don’t see the way forward, the best thing to do is a little research. I read LET’S GET VISIBLE by David Gaughran and changed the way I’m looking at this. I highly recommend this book. I’m starting LET’S GET DIGITAL soon.

The point of having a lot sales all hit at the same time from pre-orders is hitting the popularity lists so that the book gets extra visibility. I don’t know, maybe that’s still important for traditionally published books. Not so much for independently published books, though.

The reality is that pretty much no matter what I do, my book is not likely to hit the popularity lists (those lists that suggest other books to you) on Barnes and Noble or Kobo or Apple. Those lists are still heavily weighted in favor of traditionally published books. The only place where there’s close to a level playing field for indies is Amazon.

And Amazon changed their algorithms a couple of years ago. Once upon a time, that spike in sales would have made a difference on Amazon. But then a lot of people started gaming the system–book bombs to get a lot of people to buy the book all within a narrow time window, for example. It didn’t really have anything to do with the long-term popularity of the book, so Amazon changed the way they calculate the popularity lists. Now, that one-time spike sinks right back down again in the ratings. What gets rewarded now is sustained sales over several days.

That means, I can plan to do several different things over the launch period. (I’ve already got a couple set up.) But I don’t have to–in fact I shouldn’t–put all my eggs into that one launch-day basket. Getting the word out during that first week or so is important. Maybe even the first two weeks. Frankly, that’s a lot less stressful.

I get to pace myself and remember “This is a marathon, not a sprint.”

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The Problem of Preorders

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, Learning, marketing, series, writing on June 15, 2014| 7 Comments »

So, it’s now possible to put a book up for pre-orders, just like the big publishers do–at least on certain sites. Smashwords has the option and through Smashwords, it can be delivered for pre-order to Barnes and Noble, Apple iBookstore, and Kobo. Amazon doesn’t have the option, at least for KDP authors, yet.

Now, the idea of pre-orders is that you create a little buzz to get people to pre-order. Then all those sales hit on the day of the release and drive the book up in the rankings. Of course, this would work a lot better if Amazon was part of the mix. It’s the mysterious Amazon rankings that make the most difference in sales.

But then you go and try to generate that buzz, like by setting a low pre-order price. You still have to find a way to let readers know about it. Marketing of any kind is always a lot of work–especially if you’re trying to do it on a shoestring. And then . . . and then you find out all the places where you might just be able to list your book to create that buzz–well, they either want the ASIN (the id Amazon applies to all KDP books), which won’t be available until I publish it on Amazon, or, worse yet, they want the book to have some minimum number of reviews. Neither of those is going to work until after publication. But, if I go ahead and publish it on Amazon, without the pre-order buzz, then I won’t get the bump in sales.

Checkmate. Catch 22. I am still trying to find a way to untie this Gordian knot.

In the past, I’ve always buckled and just released early. I’m not going to do that this time. I’m going to keep trying to figure this out.

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Blurbs

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, Learning, marketing, rewrites, series, writing on June 4, 2014| Leave a Comment »

With the cover finalized, now I have to get a decent blurb. I’m all set to upload the formatted file to Smashwords (probably*). I’ve got the print file mostly formatted. (I might tweak one or two things, yet.) The kindle file will take less than an hour.

But, next to the cover, the blurb is probably the second most important sales tool. In the past, I haven’t paid sufficient attention to this. I mean to do better. So, right now, that’s what I’m working on.

Not done yet, but this is what I’ve got so far:

Vatar risked his life to try to save his friend–and failed. Now he has an implacable enemy in the vengeful shaman, who blames Vatar for the death of his only son. As the shaman’s attempts to crush Vatar grow more dangerous, Vatar finds some comfort in daydreams. He knows the girl he sometimes imagines is just that–a dream.

But, if she’s real, then things could get even worse for Vatar. This isn’t the accepted magic acquired during the initiation into one of the clans of Vatar’s semi-nomadic plains tribe. It’s more like the magic passed down in certain, closely-guarded bloodlines among the ruling class of the coastal cities is something else entirely. Unlike their own, Vatar’s people consider the city magic evil. If the shaman ever found out, it could be the weapon he needs to destroy Vatar.

The two kinds of magic have always been completely separate. Until now.

If you want to get a sneak peek at THE SHAMAN’S CURSE, there’s an excerpt at the end of “Becoming Lioness”, which is available free everywhere.

*I’m currently weighing the option of using KDP Select (which means going exclusively with Amazon) for the first 90 days. I haven’t decided yet.

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Cover Reveal

Posted in writing, tagged Cover Art, fantasy, Learning, marketing, revisions, rewrites, series, writing on June 1, 2014| 6 Comments »

I’ll probably try to work up a more widespread Cover Reveal when it’s finalized, but you get to see it first.

This is very nearly the final cover for THE SHAMAN’S CURSE. (Just fussing with fonts at this point.) What do you think?

I like the way the two colors suggest the two kinds of magic of the DUAL MAGICS series. I think I can work with variations of that background for the other books in the series, possibly with different foreground objects. (I’m considering a scroll for THE IGNORED PROPHECY, for example.)

I just need to finalize the cover and finish about 50 more pages of the final edits. Then I can start formatting and be ready to prepare for a (hopefully) July launch. This time, I’d like to round up a few reviews before it actually goes live.

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Maps

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, illustrations, Learning, revisions, rewrites, sequels, series, world building, writing on May 28, 2014| 2 Comments »

Fantasy novels often have maps at the beginning. Sometimes, even if the map doesn’t make it into the final, published book, the author draws one out for reference as part of the world building.

I figured out how to include a map in my ebooks with THE BARD’S GIFT.

It’s not hard. It’s just another step. But it also involves making sure that the illustration (which is what a map is, when you come right down to it) is sized correctly and actually will be readable on at least most readers. (If you’re reading on your smart phone, you’re on your own.)

But, let’s be honest. THE BARD’S GIFT is an historical fantasy. I didn’t have to start from scratch with that map.

Now, I also have a map for the world of the DUAL MAGICS series. But it’s a hand-scribbled-for-my-reference kind of map. Don’t laugh.

Yeah. That one’s not going to make it into the book.

I’d kind of like to include a map, though. There is software out there, mostly written for rpg gamers, that will make more professional looking maps. There are two problems with that, though.

The first, of course, is price. I need to decide if it’s really worth it on top of the other expenses. Over the course of the whole series, it might be. Plus, I have other stories, like DREAMER’S ROSE, that also have hand-scribbled maps.

There’s also the question of whether the story really needs it. Beta readers of THE BARD’S GIFT expressed a wish for a map. Beta readers of THE SHAMAN’S CURSE never mentioned it. (Neither actually had a map when they read the stories.) So, maybe it’s not such a big deal.

The second problem is the learning curve. If I started today, it would still likely delay publication of THE SHAMAN’S CURSE just to produce something that didn’t look completely amateurish. But one of the great things about ebooks is that you can go back and upload a newer version. Some retailers, like Amazon and Smashwords, even allow customers to download newer versions for free. So, I could go back and add the map when I finally have one that I think looks good enough to publish.

Maybe I’ll have a map–and an updated version of THE SHAMAN’S CURSE–when I publish the sequel, THE IGNORED PROPHECY.

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Revising Revisions

Posted in writing, tagged characters, fantasy, first drafts, Learning, revisions, Romance, writing, Young Adult on April 27, 2014| Leave a Comment »

By far the longest part of writing is revisions. First drafts are allowed to be bad. Some would even say they’re supposed to be bad. Really, the first draft is just to get the story down. My rule on first drafts is never look back. There is only one direction–forward. If I go down a rabbit trail, well, I just cut that part in the next draft. There are going to be things I have to cut. There are going to be things I have to add–settings and emotions I skipped over in the first draft, foreshadowing of things I discovered as I went along. Sometimes, there are just going to be things I got wrong.

Sometimes, in the process, I create even more problems.

I’m currently working on what I hope will be the last revision of MAGIC AND POWER (working title). This one has taken a more circuitous path than usual. When I started it, I expected it to be a novella. Yeah. Right. It’s 95,000 words now and likely to get a bit longer. Not a novella. Some reworking was necessary when I realized that. The conflict that will sustain a novella isn’t necessarily big enough to make a novel work. So the political background of the love story had to grow and take a bigger role in the story.

I intended it to be a love story between just two characters–until a third character popped up and turned out to be a better match. My first love triangle. And, on the first and second pass, I botched it. Knowing which character was going to win in the end, I didn’t make the other enough of a possibility. In this revision, I need to make that character a plausible love interest–better, stronger, less desperate.

Not content with that, in the process of creating a little more tension with the other love interest, I messed him up too. I want him to have some goals and methods that are annoying to the main character, so that their attraction to each other is derailed a few times before things work out for them. I took it too far. Now he comes off as pushing too hard.

Sometimes the writing process is two steps forward and one step back. Oh well, as long as the momentum is still forward.

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Planning a Launch, Part 2

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, Learning, marketing, short stories, writing, Young Adult on April 23, 2014| Leave a Comment »

There’s one thing I’ve already started for the launch of THE SHAMAN’S CURSE this summer.

I put out a new version of “Becoming Lioness”, which is a short story set in the same world and sharing some characters with THE SHAMAN’S CURSE. In fact, “Becoming Lioness” is a somewhat stripped down (to make a tighter short story) version of something that will happen in the fourth (as yet untitled) book in the series. Which makes “Becoming Lioness” a perfect way to introduce readers to the series.

I changed the cover just a little. Actually, I just added a subtitle–A Dual Magics Story–to tie it in to the series.

The main change though is what comes after the end of the short story. The original edition of “Becoming Lioness” had an excerpt from BLOOD WILL TELL at the back. (Actually, the only review this story has gotten on Goodreads came from a reader who didn’t seem to notice the “Bonus Material” header. Her review was that the story was disjointed because it changed to a different character and a different story in the middle and then just ended. Yeah, that was the first chapter of a different book. Sometimes it’s really hard not to respond to bad reviews.)

The new version has the first two chapters of THE SHAMAN’S CURSE at the back. The plan is to make this story perma free. Experience with “Wyreth’s Flame” suggests that this is going to take a while to accomplish on Amazon, so an early start may not be a bad thing.

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Planning for a Launch

Posted in writing, tagged e-publishing, fantasy, Learning, marketing, Multiple Projects, series, writing on April 20, 2014| 2 Comments »

This is something I haven’t been very good at so far. In fact, up ’til now, I’ve usually published first and then scrambled to do something later. That doesn’t work so well. I need to do better.

As I look forward to the launch of THE SHAMAN’S CURSE, book one of the DUAL MAGICS series, sometime this summer, it’s time to start thinking about this.

In Vatar’s world, there are two separate kinds of magic. In the semi-nomadic plains tribe, one kind of magic is acquired through initiation into one of the clans. In the coastal cities, an entirely different kind of magic is inherited through certain closely-guarded bloodlines. No one has ever been in possession of both kinds of magic. Until now.

Apart from polishing the manuscript, which I’m working on right now, the cover is the next thing I need to work on.

A lot of authors use a cover reveal to start generating interest. My cover art is still in process. I haven’t come up with a single image that really resonates for this story. It’s complicated because DUAL MAGICS will be a four-book series, eventually, and I’d really like to have some consistency in the covers. Some images that would work well for THE SHAMAN’S CURSE won’t extend to the other books in the series.

I also need to plan far enough ahead to have at least a few reviews soon after the story goes live. Maybe a blog tour. (This time, hopefully, my computer won’t go down in the middle of it.) Who knows? I might even try a Facebook Launch Party.

It’s a lot of work, and definitely something I need to get better at, soon.

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