Biggest Mistakes I've Made as an Indie Author

Happy Friday, y'all! Today, I'm going to tell you about some of my biggest pitfalls as an Indie author. These are things I wish I'd never done, things I did that I regret doing, and things I hope you learn something from. If you do end up doing these things, make sure you understand that it may not work out when you sign up for whatever it may be or hire whomever. I'd say 100% of the time, these things got me absolutely nowhere and cost me time, readers, and money.

Ready? Oh, I know you are. Grab that coffee and a notepad; you're gonna want to write these down.

My smallest mistake was believing I could handle all the marketing of all my stuff alone. I couldn't, but I also simply needed the right tools to help me along and a good schedule for sharing my stuff. I had one but didn't have the other, and my work suffered because of it.

Just above that on the rung was believing friends and family would help me with those things. Yeah, that didn't happen either. Would you believe I got a call from a sister who asked me how to buy my friend's book on Amazon when I knew damned good and well my sister hadn't read half of what I've written? Yeah. That's now my expectation. Bitter? Me? Not at all. It's just reality, and that's okay. Did it make me curl my lip? Yes, but I won't hold it against her.

Above that, we have losing my newsletter. Y'all, I'll be honest, I just didn't have the energy to keep up with any of this stuff after I lost my mama and Covid lock down happened. Because I couldn't write, I baked, and I sent that stuff via my newsletter, but then I lost my son. I kind of withdrew from everything and turned to art (you can see my sad gallery here). It's been a rough couple years, but losing that newsletter hit hard. That was over 500 subscribers strong.

One step higher, and we see letting that damned troll get to me and shutting off the blog. Sure, I still popped in to share books that were new, but it wasn't the same, and I know that. I'm not sorry because I am actually human, and those comments did actually hurt. Now you might understand yet another reason I make people log in to comment now. In addition to the spam. Spam was BAD. Anyway, I'm losing my train of thought. Back on the tracks, you!

Up another rung and we have joining boxed-freaking sets. They cost money most of the time, and I have yet to have had a good experience with one. I stopped doing them. With the first, there were sixteen authors, and each one was supposed to share and promote the others. I was quite a way down the ladder, but I did my part. Other people didn't. By the time it got to me, people had already pulled their books down. It was a mess. For the second, it was personal because it was supposed to be a boxed set for MS research. Our organizer ran off with the money. I EVEN MADE A SEPARATE DONATION. Boy, if I ever run into her...

Go a bit higher and you find shutting off from socials for as long as I did. It's not easy coming back from that, and I missed a lot of the booms the book world saw during that time. BookTok was a huge one. It's nearly impossible to get your audience back. I mean, I get it. Trust is gone. I was just going through some shit.

Not writing my novels is the next on the list. Though I have been doing things here and there (like the second Recipe for Redemption book), I'm not anywhere near as productive as I used to be. I have a list of ideas and nothing to show for it. Several books are nearly done, but I can't seem to find the time to finish them. I took on a job for a while working for a company as their marketing manager, and while their business grew, mine shrank like male anatomy in an ice bath. Go figure.

Now, my biggest mistake as an Indie author was not putting my money in the right places. I went through a couple stints with a couple of PAs that got me nowhere (that was costly), and I didn't put money where it might have helped me. I wasted a lot on swag and crap I gave away when really I should've used it to sign up for tools I needed to help my marketing and anything else that would've bought me time. Time for a writer is everything.

It takes a lot of time to do what we do. It takes a lot of luck to be successful at what we do. I feel like I have a whole other life to live, and I just keep aging like some tree. I've been a mom since I was very young, and my kids are now out of the house. Do I have time to do what I want to do? No. I don't. I'm gonna fight like hell to get it back though, and this time, I have a world of experience in my pocket.

Maybe my biggest mistake was not inventing a time machine. Doya think?

There you go. These were my biggest mistakes as an Indie author. Have you made any of these? Did you get anything out of this post? Drop me a comment and let me know.

Well, that's all for today, folks!

Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Fun Fact Friday - a "Did You Know?" Post

Happy Fridaaaaaay! Who's ready for the weekend? I promise you, I am. It's been a long week, eh? You're gonna LOVE the information I found for you today! I'm going to hit this up next week with a test drive, and I'll be posting a "How-to" on it! Ready to know what it is? Grab your coffee, or tea, and let's get rolling!

May I introduce:

AMAZON X-RAY

Some of you may already be aware of this feature, but I'm guessing most of you aren't. So, let's take a gander at how Amazon says it should work, shall we?

From your bookshelf (if you don't remember what that is, go read this post I did on KDP publishing), click on the ... next to the title you'd like to add X-ray to.

Oh, wait. Let's back up a bit.

What is X-ray?

It's a feature that allows readers to long-press a word in your Kindle book to read more about it. Could be a character's name or location. A word that's not commonly used so you can provide a definition. Anything.

Pretty cool, right? Okay, let's move on!

Here's the ... flyout:

You can see where it says "Launch X-Ray." That's where you'll go when you're ready to get this going. I'm not clicking it right now, but I will when I check it out next week. Likely on Yassa since that one has the most options for historical references.

From the information page, it says you can add links to Wiki articles or add text, but you can't add links to other websites or marketing avenues. Keep that in mind.

I'm looking forward to checking it out! How about you?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

What the Hell is an Author Platform, Anyway?

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Today, we're gonna talk about that little thing called an author platform. Everyone uses the term, but few take the time to tell you exactly what it is and how to build it. Well, I'll rectify that! Get your coffee or tea, and let's get going!

When you think of a platform, you think of something you can stand on, right? Either to get a better look or to boost you up, support you. It's the same when referring to an author platform; only for authors, this also entails reach, or how loud your voice is in the social sphere.

Your platform is that which you may climb upon and scream a message to the masses that gets heard. Obscure sites don't really count when you're calculating reach--unless those obscure sites have rabid book fans that belong to you and you alone.

Social media sites, personal websites, blogs, and newsletters all add up to author platform, but a couple have more impact for you personally. Here's an example:

1. Twitter--4k followers
2. IG--13k followers
3. Blog--2k subscribers
4. Website--200 visitors per day
5. Newsletter--20k subscribers
6. Quora--2k followers
7. Facebook Page (public)--4k likes
8. Facebook Page (personal)--3k friends
9. LinkedIN--300 connections
10. Google Plus--2k connections
11. YouTube Channel--150 subscribers

Now, you're probably looking at that and saying, "Wow. That's an amazing catch of numbers at around 105k!" You'd be right, but let's break it down further. Out of those followers, subscribers, and connections, how many people actually engage with your content?

1. Twitter--5 to 10
2. IG--50-60
3. Blog--20-30
4. Website--2-4
5. Newsletter--100-200
6. Quora--2-4
7. Facebook Page (public)--2-5
8. Facebook Page (personal)--20-30
9. LinkedIN--1-3
10. Google Plus--2-5
11. YouTube Channel--50-70

That hit pretty hard, huh? On the lowest number, that took you to 254. Out of 105k. Well, you can break that down even further when you look at sales generated from each method. IG has high likes, but how many true sales?

Your bottom line number is your true platform. For every comment, click through to buy, share, plus one, like, or question asked, that's an engagement, but not a sale. You can't simply count opens of a newsletter--it needs to produce clicks. That's where the value of your platform lies.

As you can see, you need a HUGE platform to get enough sales to make a difference. This is why cross-author promotion is so helpful--but it only helps if your base platform and theirs are interested in the same genre. Imagine doubling or quadrupling those numbers above.

I know, right?

Anyway, I hope this helps to clear some of the fog off that vague "platform" term. When an agent asks about your platform, they wanna know how loud your voice is--they're looking for that second set of numbers.

What number would you say your platform is at?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Pre-Formatting Your Book - The Dos and Don'ts Your Formatter Wants You to Know

Happy Monday, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I'll be talking about something that not many folks discuss: How you should format your word document before you send it off to your formatter for typesetting and digital readiness. Ready? Grab your coffee or tea, a notebook and pen, and let's get going!

I'm just gonna hit you with a couple of lists. Easy peasy.

DOS

• Use "normal" style always.
• Add some indicator when creating a scene break (most authors I work with use *** for this).
• Keep it simple. If there's a place you'd like a photo, don't embed it, mark the spot and include the photo with the manuscript.
• Everything set in one font, and don't use anything that's not standard on a computer. I suggest Times New Roman in 12pt.
• Use paragraph styles for your indents.
• Include a title page, copyright page with all relevant info, and author bio page at the end.
• Break your pages between chapters ONLY. Use Ctrl (or Cmnd) + Enter (or Return).
• If you have a section you want set in a special way, note it in BOLD and use [brackets]. Tell your formatter beforehand that it's there. 
• Title all your chapters the same way (whatever you want the end result to be: Chapter 1, Chapter One, Ch1, etc...).

DON'TS

• Do not use tabs (see above note on paragraph styles).
• No LARGE or special fonts. This will get stripped out anyway.
• Don't hit enter a bunch of times between chapters to force the next one down.
• Don't just add extra carriage returns between scene breaks. This looks like a mistake and could be removed on accident by your formatter.
• Nothing fancy. Your MS should just be words on the page.
• Do NOT use TABS. Yeah, it bears repeating.
• Don't make assumptions that the formatter will know anything you intended in your head. Give them instructions. Be specific if your book calls for special treatment.
• No colored fonts, please.
• No wingdings or emoticons. If you want a smiley, let the formatter know in the email where you attach your manuscript.

If you follow these guidelines, it'll speed up production of your book tenfold. Special things the formatter misses the first time around causes a re-do, and it just leaves you both stressed.

I hope this helps in some small way. Your formatter is there to make your dreams a reality. They're the ones that polish your baby before you show it to your friends, family, and the world. Help them help you!

If you're looking for formatting services, take a gander at IBGW.

Are you guilty of any of these?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Barnes and Noble Yanks Books - Smashwords Offers Solution

Happy Thursday, everyone! Well, what an interesting month it's been, eh? Let's get to the publishing news, just in case you haven't seen it. Strap in, grab your coffee, and let's get going!

Over the last month or so, B&N has pulled several Indie erotica titles off their platform. Authors who were hybrid experienced an interesting effect when their Indie titles dropped off, but their publisher titles stayed up. What are they worried about? Well, if you caught my post from a while back that tackled the subject of what content would be allowed in books, you'll know. If you missed it, take a look here.

So, it seems the taboo topics are under fire. Namely:  Age play, bestiality, dubious consent, incest or pseudo-incest, non-consensual sexual slavery, rape for titillation, underage, snuff, scat, necrophilia.

Some of those have "never" been allowed.

Or have they?

According to the Smashwords blog, few retailers will take incest or pseudo-incest, and iBooks won't take them at all.

I beg to differ. After a quick search on B&N, I found the time-honored (even made into a movie) Flowers in the Attic series. I read that series. Not only do the children locked in the attic (the elder brother and sister) experience a coming-of-age sexual happening, but their mother slept with her uncle to conceive said children (which is why the grandmother wanted the kiddos to disappear). Sorry for the spoiler for those of you that haven't read it and had planned to.

Once I checked that out, I went over to iBooks. Guess what?

Yeah. There it is, but iBooks doesn't take books with incest in them?


By the way, it's also available on Amazon.

Doesn't it seem an awful lot like it's just Indie published books that are being targeted? Why not yank V. C. Andrews' books from those same platforms? If there's a taboo topic, she covered it. I've read several of her series, and MANY of them have incest happening across all arms of the family.

Guess what else? There are no "warnings" of sensitive material on ANY of those.

But JO! Those are referring to EROTICA titles.

Are they? Now, since the Great Blocking of Indies, if your book is erotica or not, you have to say whether you used one of those taboo topics. Yeah, even for sci-fi or paranormal.

HOW IS THAT OKAY? 

Do the publishers get to skirt all that? They do. It's obvious by what I've shown above. I'm positive there are others.

Smashwords is trying to provide a solution for Indies and restore trust with their retailers. Read about it on their latest blog post here, which is where the list of taboo topics above came from.

But, the bottom line is, Smashwords shouldn't have to. It's getting out of hand, and something needs to change.

If you publish fiction with one of the taboo topics listed above, please go update your books on Smashwords. It's now part of their ToS, and if you're caught not labeling them, you'll be banned from using them as a distributor.

*facepalm*

Can you name a trad pubbed book with one of the above topics?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Beware the Distribution Arms if You're in KU

Happy Wednesday, everyone! I know I'm late, but I'm HERE, and that's what matters. My schedule fell on its head today. haha! But still managing to make time to get in here and blog. Today, I'm going to talk about something that happened to a friend of mine. We can all learn from it, so get your coffee and let's get going!

So, for a long while, my friend had her books wide (being distributed to all vendors everywhere). She decided to pull her books from wide and go all in with Amazon KDP Select. This enrolled her stories in Kindle Unlimited automatically, and she started getting paid by the Global Fund pot for pages read.

Everything was going fine for a good, long time, until one day, she discovered her titles had been pulled from Select. There was no email telling her why. Nothing.

She freaked out (wouldn't you?).

You see, this friend of mine is always on the up and up. She's done everything by the book and to the letter of the rules. So, when this happened, she was completely taken aback.

After a LOT of digging around, she discovered those titles that had been pulled to go into Select were available via one of the distribution arms of a popular distributor.

No, I'm not going to say which one. That's not what this post is about. I'm just issuing a warning here and showing you how you might want to delve more deeply if you're pulling from wide distro to go into Select.

Let's move on.

These books weren't pirated. Amazon doesn't yank your books for that. They were legitimate arms of distributors that simply neglected to remove a title that was no longer available.

Needless to say, she's still fighting it. No one at Amazon will get back in touch with her, and last I heard, she was planning to reach out to the distributor to see if they could help.

But the damage is, sadly, done. Her royalties for pages read have come to a screeching halt, and she doesn't know when or if she'll be able to get back into Select. When Amazon bans you, it's usually for at least a year.

So, there's one situation to be hyper aware of. If you pull your books from wide, be sure you check everywhere before clicking the "Enroll this book in KDP Select" button. She thought she did, and it's really messing up her money right now.

Have you heard of something like this? Anything strange happen to you?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

What's in Your Media Kit?

Happy Thursday, everyone! Look at me go with the blog. *grin* I told you, scheduling is everything. If you stick to it, right? Plus, this gives me an excellent warmup to writing. I've been like a tsunami of getting stuff done. It feels awesome. As of next week, the kiddo goes back to school, too, so I have a feeling Utterances will be done sooner than I expected. But that's not why we're here today, is it? No. You're wondering what you should put in your author (or book) media kit, right? Awesome. Let's get going.

When I was launching Emancipation, I had a company create me a media kit for the book. It looks like this (first page only):

You can see from the image what all it includes. I won't post the excerpt page here because of language, and because this blog is PG-13, but I'll put up the rest so you can see.

If I'd had editorial reviews of the book at the time, they would've included a page for those, too.

Now, an author media kit includes much of the same, but you'd want a page in there with all your social media links, any bestseller lists you've hit, and any awards you've won. It's a brag packet, and you should showcase everything that's awesome about yourself.

Why is it so hard for people to grasp that authors are a little bit vain? We have to champion ourselves at every turn, don't we? Moving on...

If you make your media kit look professional, you'll be taken much more seriously. Add it to your website for folks to download, too. Sometimes, people want to know more, and this is a great way to give them what they're after. Final document should be in PDF format.

I'll be creating one of these for myself (author media kit) and for a couple of other projects I'm working on. Why not? They're handy! I hope this post helped in some way!

Do you have a media kit for yourself or your book(s)? Planning on making one?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Why I LOVE Being Indie - #PoweredByIndie

Happy Tuesday, everyone! An impromptu post today, brought to you by a fantastic event being held over on Amazon. As you know, I love celebrating the Indie author by reviewing, sharing their bookish things, and doing interviews and readings and such. Because I'm also an Indie, I know how difficult it is to find the support you need anywhere in order to get your books out.

Huge shout out to Amazon for doing this: POWERED by Indie

How amazing is that?

So, what they've asked us authors to do is tell everyone why we love being Indie authors and use the hashtag #PoweredByIndie in our social media shares. I'm in. It's a beautiful thing.

You need to get on that right after you read my lovely post below. HA! Seriously, keep reading.

Why I LOVE Being Indie

I published my first book back in 2012. When I started, I didn't know up from down, where to go, or what to do with what I'd written. I've made mistakes along the way, but because I'm Indie published, I learned what to fix and how to fix it. Then, I went on to write a book about those very things, hoping others wouldn't have to struggle as I once did. I pay it forward.

• I don't live under deadlines other than the ones I self impose.

I have the creative freedom to unleash my design prowess on my books (and covers) and make them something unique. Not only in the pretty I put on the interior pages (did you know I was one of the first Indies to add imagery to my print books?), but also in the stories I write.

• I write for myself first. All my books are stories I want to read. If other folks enjoy them, that's the cream on my pudding.

Self-publishing is FUN! Writing, designing, being a leader in so many new ideas that are emerging... It's all rather exciting. I get to try new things, like my Ferocious 5 projects, and watch others follow in those footsteps.

• There's only one rule in this world: Produce the best book you can each and every time you publish. That's it, and that's so amazing!

If I need to take a day off to do something for myself, I can. No one is breathing down my neck to get anything done. When I finish a book, if I don't think it's ready, I can push the publishing date out--unless I've announced it, of course (that would be rude). But it's really and truly up to ME.

I love that freedom.

• My royalties are my own. I don't have to share a darn thing with anyone. Any money I spent getting my book ready to hit the hands of my readers can be recouped more quickly, and I can start making a profit pretty early on.

Self-publishing platforms are amazing. They're the reason I can do what I do without having to jump through gigantic, flaming hoops while riding a one-wheeled bicycle that's also aflame, without sending out a million query letters only to end up cowering under a table in the corner, sucking my thumb, gripping my blankie at the form letters declining my submissions.

But there's one thing I have to say about being Indie that takes the cake over all else. Stay with me here!

I LOVE THE COMMUNITY.

I bet most of you are scratching your heads at that, huh? Well, allow me to explain!

Indie authors, whether best-sellers or those just starting out, understand the struggles of being Indie authors. Several, if not most, of them reach out, offering help when and where they can, helping others avoid the red spot of shame we get from banging our heads into our desks too hard.

They read. They share. They lift you up when you're feeling down. It's an amazing thing to be a part of such a vibrant, creative community.

Dedicated readers of Indie-published works throw themselves into their work, reading, reviewing, and loving the thing that brings us all together: books.

Most Indie folks are just nice people.

I can't begin to tell you about all the amazing people I've met by being Indie. Folks I'm not sure I would've ever had the opportunity to get to meet in real life if I were traditionally published. Authors, readers, bloggers, superfans, booktubers, editors, designers... The list goes on and on! Each one of those people are cherished (probably more than they know), and I wouldn't trade them for the world.

So, there you have it. This is why I love being Indie.

I want to hear YOUR stories! Post them in the comments below so I can read and visit your blogs, and don't forget to share them all over the web with #PoweredByIndie.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Guest Post - 5 Self-Editing Tips that Will Make Your Book 10 Times Better

Happy WHATEVER, good people of the blogosphere! Today, I have a super special guest post for you all on editing. The fabulous Alicia Rades is going to take you through a number of tips to make your book awesome. Don't forget to give Alicia a follow on all the social media things linked at the end of this post! Ready? Grab those pens and notebooks and let's get going!

 5 Self-Editing Tips that Will Make Your Book 10 Times Better

As authors, we go through a lot of stages of writing. There’s brainstorming, outlining, actually writing the first draft, self-editing, beta reading, more self-editing, repeat, repeat, sending to an actual editor, and so on. I don’t know about you, but for me, self-editing is one of the longest and most stressful stages.

It’s also one of the most satisfying. Seeing your story transform into something better than you imagined is a magical experience. What’s better is that you get the satisfaction of knowing you made that happen.

Self-editing should never be used to replace a professional editor. However, tweaking scenes, improving wording, and catching your own mistakes can all help you make your story better. Here are a couple of techniques I personally use when self-editing my novels.

Take a Breather

The first thing I do is set my manuscript aside. I recommend forgetting about it for at least two weeks. I know. It sounds like torture to not be working on your book. But this strategy allows you to approach your manuscript with a clear mind. Once you start to forget a little of what you wrote, it almost feels like you’re reading someone else’s writing. It makes it so much easier to spot your mistakes.

Focus on One Thing at a Time

Don’t go through your manuscript looking to fix everything at once. Instead, take it in stages. The first time back through it, you might read for plot holes or areas that need clarification. Next, identify unnecessary scenes. Then focus on characters actions and their development throughout the story. Do they act like themselves the whole time? Do they grow from beginning to end?

Once you have the bigger kinks worked out, you can move on to focus on your wording. Is there a better way to describe an action? Do you repeat the same words too often? Are there misspellings that spellcheck didn’t catch, such as “weather” versus “whether”?

That’s not to say you should ignore certain parts if you’re not explicitly looking for them. For example, if you are reading for plot holes but notice a misspelling, feel free to fix it. Just don’t try to fix everything at once or you’ll end up missing too much.

Search for Overused or Misused Words or Phrases

Once I get down to the nitty gritty and start looking for ways to clean up my phrasing, one of the most effective tactics I’ve found is to use the search function. In a Microsoft Word document, there’s a “find” button, or you can click CTRL + F. Then type in the word you know you want to clean up throughout the manuscript.

For example, like many authors, I’m a culprit of using the word “that” far too often. As a general rule, you should only use it provide clarification. Overusing it makes your writing seem somewhat amateurish, and it can pull readers out of the story. So by searching “that” in your document, you can identify areas where it’s needed and where it can be removed.

Don’t stop the search at phrases you tend to overuse. Also take a look at words you tend to misuse. Examples include:

• good/well
• affect/effect
• their/they’re/there
• your/you’re
• lay/lie
• that/which
• further/farther

Read Your Manuscript Aloud

It’s a tedious task, but reading your manuscript aloud is worth it. Doing this makes it easier to catch strange phrasing or repeated information in the story. I personally read each of my books aloud to my husband like an audiobook when we’re in the car together. This gives me a chance to hear mistakes while my husband can give me feedback on the storyline. If you’re not comfortable reading aloud to someone else, it can be just as effective to do it in private.

Don’t Over Edit

As authors, we want the work we send out to the world to be perfect. The reality is that it isn’t going to be perfect because you’re always going to want to change something. And when you’re always changing something, you may end up working backward and hurting your manuscript.

The good news? You can get pretty darn close to perfection! To manage that, though, you eventually need to set down your manuscript and say, “I’m done!” Self-edits are an important part of creating a professional product. They work together with a professional editor to make your story the best it can be. Not only that, but working with an editor can help you become better at self-editing.

Do you have any personal strategies when it comes to self-editing? Tell us your secrets in the comments.

Would you like to follow Alicia? Here are all the stalk links!
Website: aliciaradesauthor.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aliciaradesauthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aliciarades
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/aliciarades
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Alicia-Rades/e/B00F9ZFTE8/

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

So You Wanna Make a .Mobi from MS Word

Happy Thursday, everyone! Yeah, I missed my post from yesterday, but I needed at least one day off this week. *grin* Today, I'm gonna talk about how to make a .mobi file from an MS Word document. Screenshots are provided. Ready? Let's get going!

Let me be very clear on one thing. You cannot output a .mobi document from MS Word (not yet, anyway). So, I'm showing you how to create one online.

Go to your KDP author account on Amazon. If you don't have one, make one. Click Sign in.

Next, click Create New Title in the little box on the top left:

Scroll alllll the way to the bottom where you see these:

Click the relevant buttons above and upload your book files. Remember!
Images must meet the following requirements:

• TIFF (.tif/.tiff) or JPEG (.jpeg/.jpg) format
• At least 1000 pixels on the longest side, with an ideal height/width ratio of 1.6. 2500 pixels on the longest side is preferred.

Now you wait a few minutes.

A few more...

Okay! When you see this, you're ready to go!

Here's where the magic happens! Click download book preview file:

and Save (NOTE: if you happened to fill out the title info above, then it'll show up here as the file name):

There's your .mobi from your MS Word document! If you don't want to publish this book EVER, you can go back to your dashboard right now by clicking in the bottom left corner:

Then hover over the ... and clicking delete like so:

Confirm deletion, and you're done!

I hope that helps some of you! If you have questions, pop them in the comments!

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Author Earnings - Indie, Indie Press, and Big 5

Happy Thursday, everyone! It's a radio show day. *grin* Join me on A Daily Cup of Jo at 11AM EST!

Linky

Here's what I'm talking about today:

Author Jo Michaels discusses earnings of Indie authors and those published with a small press as well as those published with one of the big five.

If you've ever wondered why you should go Indie, this radio show gives you one reason: author payouts. If you take marketing and all the other jazz out of publishing, and just focus on the earnings numbers, it might give you some insight into just how many books you have to sell in order to make a certain amount of money.

I'll be breaking it down for you. Be sure you have pen and paper handy. This is going to be fun!

Our base numbers will be $4.99 for the ebook against earnings of $5k. I will NOT be factoring in KU pages read numbers or earnings.

Book mentioned on the show can be found here: Bean Counting for Authors: Helping Writers and Creative Business Owners Grasp Accounting and Taxes by Christina Mercer

I do hope you all check it out! Listen closely, and have a pen nearby.

What do you think? Did you know all this? Does it change anything for you?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

From Old Hands to New Mouths - Authors Helping Authors - Publishing Helping Hands

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I had a typesetting job I needed to work on today, and I've been hemming and hawing about how to approach this topic. I'm gonna warn you now, my opinions are strong, and they're about to be vomited all over my blog. If you're not sure you can handle it, I suggest you get on outta here now. However, if you think maybe, just maybe, you'll be interested in hearing what I have to say, grab a cup of Jo, get comfy, and read on.

*rubs hands together*

Here we go!

I was interacting with a few authors a little while back, and one of them said something that made me pause and think.

Here's what was said (no, you don't need to know who said it): "I usually see big time authors only helping other big time authors. It could be because they have been friends since the beginning, who knows. But I rarely see a best selling author promoting someone new."

How true.

My immediate response was anger, and then I thought about it. Now, I'm beyond pissed.

Why?

Well, once upon a time, we were ALL brand new authors. Yeah, we kicked and clawed our way up the ranks, writing and fighting, promoting and extending hands to help those in the same boat we were in. Ergo, people rose up together. When one person got a piece, they shared it with those who've been by their side from the beginning.

Nothing wrong with that.

Until...

Once you get a big name (or even a semi-big name) and you start to crap on the little guys because they're all "nobodys" or you snub new folks at signings because you can't be bothered. Better yet, you're rude or just don't bother to respond when someone approaches you or asks you a question.

Yeah, those folks are all new to this publishing and marketing stuff, and you know what? They could use a friggin hand. Even if you just take five minutes to share your process or give a tiny piece of advice that isn't "keep writing." Everyone knows they have to keep writing. Duh. That's like telling a painter they need to keep painting or a bricklayer to keep building. That's not the advice they're looking for.

What is there to lose, really? An hour or two of your writing time?

Really?

But stopping to give someone advice isn't all there is. Nope. You can share a Facebook post (or two—gasp!), swap backmatter, or even—dare I say it?—read or buy their book. Holy crap! Now there's a new idea! Actually buying the books of your fellow authors. Who would've thought?

Next time you're on Facebook, head over to a book page and like and share a couple of their posts on your page. Even if you don't know the author. No, especially if you don't know the author.

Because, believe it or not, those new authors of today will be where you are tomorrow, and some of them will rocket past you to the top. How silly will you look when they recall your reaction to their query or request for a handshake when you step up to get your copy of their book signed?

Truth be told, you never know who'll make it in this industry, so be kind to everyone while you can. If all the people you know stay on the bottom rungs forever, that's okay, too.

Know why?

Because you've made new friendships that'll be there forever. And those, folks, are worth more than gold.

So, my call to everyone who's up there now: Get a kid sister or brother author. Help them out when you can. Offer to put a snippet of their book in the back of yours. Put out a call. I guarantee someone will answer.

Be kind. 

Lift as you climb.

Be a mentor.

You can't write enough books to fill all the hungry brains out there. These authors aren't your competition, they're your partners.

Think about this:

What if you offered to swap backmatter with a new author and their book takes off, hitting the top twenty? Guess what? Part of your book is in there! What if your book rockets up the charts? Well, that's a win for them, too!

It WILL work if you work together, but a house divided against itself cannot stand (thank you, Abe, for that sage advice).

Tell me in the comments what you plan to do. Then, go out and do it. Come on back and tell me how it went or how it's going.

Help one another, because there isn't another magic formula that'll do it all for you.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Write Better. Write Faster. Right Now. A FREE 4-Part How-to Video Series

Happy Wednesday again! *grin* Okay, you guys, strap in, because this post is a doozy!

I'm so excited to share this!

Want to write faster (and BETTER)?
Want to finally write that novel?

This is where you start.

This 4-part video series is designed specifically to teach you—for free—how to start writing better, faster, today.

FYI, the makers of the videos are Heather Hildenbrand & S. M. Boyce: published, best-selling authors. They’re the real deal, with a NBC film option and published novels to drool over. They run a company called Find Time to Write and in true Find Time to Write BOSSness fashion, they decided to tackle the largest issue first.

Authors hire these ladies to level up their careers and propel them forward. But today, they’re doing this video series for free.

Check it out here.

Now, there's a place at the bottom where you can stick your e-mail address in and get the next three videos absolutely FREE, too.

What do you think? Will you be checking it out? Let me know in the comments.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Bean Counting for Authors - Helping Writers and Creative Business Owners Grasp Accounting and Taxes

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Today, I have an awesome takeover post by the lovely Christina Mercer. YOU WANT TO READ THIS! Get it here on Amazon.

Here's an extra tidbit! If you're coming to Utopia con this year, Christina will be discussing this very topic in a panel! Title: The War Chest. Date: Thursday, June 23, 2016. Time: 3PM CST. See it on the sched app here!

Description:
For those who want to make a living as an author, it’s imperative to know the accounting side of the career path you’ve chosen. You gotta keep track of it all – the cost of swag, the travel, the conferences, the paperbacks, the promotions and advertising, and on and on.

This session will help keep you sane and your budget balanced (hopefully). Get tips from accountants and authors on how to keep track and manage your money, reveal the goods on what you can write off come tax time, and how to report it to Uncle Sam without losing an arm and a leg.

If you're not planning to attend the conference, change your mind now. There are tons of great panels, just like this one, for you to learn from! Get your tickets HERE.

Authoring books is amazingly fun and creative and never, EVER dull. . . However, along with all that imaginative wonderment, Authors come closer to becoming mini-accountants than they realize. Why? Because once anyone becomes an official business owner, he/she crosses into the realm of accounting and taxes.  

Oh, the horrors of it, right? But never fear! 

When Authors Mean Business, they have propelled themselves from merely writing for “fun” to reaping well-earned monetary rewards. AND THAT IS A GOOD THING, RIGHT? Authors are not only wand-waving story weavers, but also real-world professionals running businesses that earn money. And, yes, along with that comes accounting and taxes. If that causes some of you Authors out there to squirm, just remind yourselves that it’s a sign of monetary success if your books are earning ENOUGH profits to generate said taxes. And you don’t have to figure it all out on your own!

In order to help fellow creatives with all of this business and accounting stuff, I offer a handy little guide with some important must-knows of accounting, taxation, budgeting, and planning for the future. Learn the differences between a hobby and a business; get a handle on different business structures; learn about proper bookkeeping, sales tax, common and complex tax deductions, retirement options and more! 

BEAN COUNTING FOR AUTHORS-Helping Writers & Creative Business Owners Grasp Accounting & Taxes

 

NOW AVAILABLE!!

GET IT HERE!

Counting each and every “Bean” earned may not be the idea of fun and adventure for most, but having lots of beans in the bank is a pretty great way for Authors to keep on doing what they do love most—WRITING BOOKS! And understanding some important business and financial basics is a big step toward making that happen.

Once-upon-a-time, Christina Mercer worked as a CPA. Though she retired that formal hat, you can still find numbers buzzing around her head. She is also an award-winning author of fiction for children and young adults. She currently resides in Northern California enjoying life with her husband, sons, pack of large dogs, and about 100,000 honeybees.

WebSite | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest 

What do you think? Plan to check it out?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo