Turning fiction into a business opportunity

[Rainy_TX]

"An orphaned dragon girl haunted by her past and stalked by something sinister hiding in the forest struggles to survive and find her way home. But lack of food and shelter are the least of this four-year-old’s worries when the creature made of wilderness gets a taste for her blood. Can she survive against the odds in a place where a strange voice is her only ally."

Sounds VERY interesting! Please post a link to the story once you get it published!

 

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[joanna]

Sounds VERY interesting! Please post a link to the story once you get it published!

Thanks I'm posting the WIP on Wattpad currently if you want to take a peak and don't mind rough-draftness around the edges. Always good to get some feedback since I don't have regular betas beyond one friend.

It sounds like your sis writes in a different genre? I wonder if some genres are hot at different times of the year, or based on the competition at any given time. It will be interesting to see if any long-term trends develop, such as your genre is hotter during one season, while your sis's genre is hotter in another. Hard to say if this makes any difference at all, but it might be worth looking at.

About titles, I usually have a title in mind when I start out, and then it changes entirely by the time I'm done writing. For two of my recent kids' books, I actually changed the titles twice after they were published. Did it help? Eh, hard to say.

My sis and her co-author (they're a writing team under a single pen name for all their work) write MM romance/erotica. So it's different even from my erotica stuff. Time of the year definitely matters. We actually talked about it recently a bit. One thing we speculated is that ebooks at the moment are hard to give as gifts (no way to delay a purchase, even if you use the gift functionality on Amazon), so likely things will be quiet before Christmas, but since these are often purchased as a "gift for yourself" combined with the new devices received under the tree so to speak likely we can see a rise in sales again after Christmas.

Changing titles - yeah, I think it helped slightly when I renamed "A Mother Scorned" to "A Dragon Scorned". Not a huge amount, but at least it was clearer there's a dragon in the book

 

[joanna]

Update time.

I've been keeping a diary of my progress on the short story. The numbers aren't ground shaking - 3k done, but have been slowly adding to the word count despite Christmas preparations: cooking, shopping, gift wrapping, cleaning, etc. I'm about half way through and going to do a bit more writing tonight. I've got nearly 4h+ of car travel this week and I so wish I could read/write in the car (I'm not driving, but my body deals with motion sickness by falling asleep).

Most of my work time has been spent on ghostwriting. On the plus side I'm almost finished with that story. Yay. And the client already hinted he'll want me to write the next book so that's good too. My cashflow at the moment stinks

My friend, who's the co-author of the world my Dragons Reborn books are set in and my beta reader gave my main character this song for Christmas. That was so sweet. At least someone cheers for the Empress ha ha ha

Alpines – Empire (https://embed.spotify.com/?uri=spotify:track:7p2uEp8UZ0MU6FMX90vrRH)

And on that note I'd like to wish everyone Happy Holidays/Merry Christmas and an amazing 2014!

 

[joanna]

Phew. That was hard - just finished the short story for the anthology last week. The problem? At about 90% I realized my intended ending would require several more scenes and since this was a submission I really could not exceed the 6k limit. Found an alternative ending that worked and finished at 7k. Lovely. *sigh* And usually when editing my word count goes up, not down, as I get rid of the tell and replace it with show...

First two rounds of editing - I chopped off 400 words. At that point I realized I needed something more drastic. So out went some unnecessary details - bracelet had a tiny screen? Not any more. Wanted to know what they provided the MC at her fancy house? Tough luck (I'm still mourning the ornate cutlery and a made up wooly animal...). And the ending is still kind of abrupt, but not much I can do about that. 50% of the time I hated having to cut-out the words. The other 50% was just tightening prose, which doesn't hurt as much. I've actually compared the doc I exported from Scrivener (6583) with the current version (6009) - lots of red there.

The deadline was 1st Jan, so there was definitely a lot of pressure. And then the moment I finished the edits an extension was introduced. Ha ha ha, typical. But that gives me time to maybe get a second pair of eyes on it before submission. I so need to get a group of betas organised...

Other than working on the short, I've taken a bit of a break over Christmas, so not much progress on anything else (lots of family time instead). Back to serious work from Monday.

 

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[COSenior]

And usually when editing my word count goes up, not down, as I get rid of the tell and replace it with show...

Can you say more about this? It's one of my failings, and as I read that sentence I wondered if you go ahead and tell in the flow of the story and then go back to fix it? Or is it that you don't realize you're telling until you edit? I'm wondering if the first alternative would be a good way for me to work on that issue.

As for the rest of the post, good going! Wish I could offer to beta read for you, but I'm so far behind now it may be summer before I catch up, and that's if I stop taking on so much.

 

[joanna]

I wondered if you go ahead and tell in the flow of the story and then go back to fix it? Or is it that you don't realize you're telling until you edit?

A mix of both I would say. I would like to think I've gotten better at doing more show straight away, but still nowhere near the level I'd like. I definitely did get better at spotting it during editing hough. While I'm saying this I should mention that telling is still a valid storyteller tool, so not all of it has to go, but you want to know when you're using it deliberately vs. just slipping into it.

I find that often if I'm not sure where things are going I'll let myself be really sloppy just to keep the writing going (on those days when you literally have no idea what the next sentence should be). It does take some of the pressure off and helps me get through rough points. Sometimes I get too caught up in details (What colour should that dress be? Obviously the story can't move on without knowing the MC's shoe size, etc. ).

Usually during editing I look out for is/was, excessive pronouns and words describing emotions (if you have the word count for it these usually benefit from being converted into "observations" vs. statements), words like saw, felt, sensed, thought verbs (http://litreactor.com/essays/chuck-palahniuk/nuts-and-bolts-“thought”-verbs) and so on.

 

[COSenior]

A mix of both I would say. I would like to think I've gotten better at doing more show straight away, but still nowhere near the level I'd like. I definitely did get better at spotting it during editing hough. While I'm saying this I should mention that telling is still a valid storyteller tool, so not all of it has to go, but you want to know when you're using it deliberately vs. just slipping into it.

I find that often if I'm not sure where things are going I'll let myself be really sloppy just to keep the writing going (on those days when you literally have no idea what the next sentence should be). It does take some of the pressure off and helps me get through rough points. Sometimes I get too caught up in details (What colour should that dress be? Obviously the story can't move on without knowing the MC's shoe size, etc. ).

Usually during editing I look out for is/was, excessive pronouns and words describing emotions (if you have the word count for it these usually benefit from being converted into "observations" vs. statements), words like saw, felt, sensed, thought verbs (http://litreactor.com/essays/chuck-palahniuk/nuts-and-bolts-“thought”-verbs) and so on.

Thank you for that, and for the link, I'll check it out!

 

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[joanna]

Couldn't resist doing the cover now that the story is with the editor, even if it goes into the anthology first. Still not 100% set on the title though.

Not much other progress to report. Ghostwriting is nearly done, should have the whole story finished this week or with editing possibly early next week. Might try to squeeze in some outlining between client work, just to see if it helps me focus things.

 

[Held for Ransom]

Usually during editing I look out for is/was, excessive pronouns and words describing emotions (if you have the word count for it these usually benefit from being converted into "observations" vs. statements), words like saw, felt, sensed, thought verbs (http://litreactor.com/essays/chuck-palahniuk/nuts-and-bolts-“thought”-verbs) and so on.

Hmmm, I wonder if there is any way for me to think about how to understand this? I realize that while I may want to succeed at imagining that I have the desire to do it, I hate the idea of it. Perhaps if I know that I am in love with doing it then it's possible.

Who knows?

Great link Joanna, one of my very weakest points.

 

[COSenior]

Hmmm, I wonder if there is any way for me to think about how to understand this? I realize that while I may want to succeed at imagining that I have the desire to do it, I hate the idea of it. Perhaps if I know that I am in love with doing it then it's possible.

Who knows?

Great link Joanna, one of my very weakest points.

Reminds me of the plaque my grandmother used to have hanging on her kitchen wall: "I know you think you understand what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you heard what I really meant." Or something to that effect.

I read this advice before and promptly rejected it. Yes, I know it would make for better writing, but my audience doesn't seem to care, and it takes longer to write. In the future, I may cut out one thought verb at a time, until I've incorporated the habit. And then I'll write a literary novel that generations of American high school kids will be forced to study and hate. But for now, I think I'll keep writing fast and not worrying if my characters have to think, realize, wonder and imagine, like the rest of us.

No offence, Joanna, I really do think it's better writing. I just don't have time to do it. Yet.

 

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[Held for Ransom]

I imagined you might say something like this...

Yes, I know it would make for better writing, but my audience doesn't seem to care, and it takes longer to write.

The beauty of genre fiction, yes? Entertainment first!

 

[COSenior]

I imagined you might say something like this...



The beauty of genre fiction, yes? Entertainment first!

You know me too well. Time to become inconsistent!

 

[joanna]

@COSenior, @HeldforRansom, no offence taken. I wouldn't suggest doing everything at once if you haven't been doing it before. If you improve one aspect at a time to the point it becomes semi-automatic, then might be a good idea to try to fix the next thing. Certain genres are more tolerant to these imperfections. Thought verbs can be a fun challenge, but as everything still have a place in writing.

For me part of the frustration is vocabulary too, so I find it easier to do a sloppy, telly first draft and then find the right words during the editing. Otherwise I get stuck in a translator-dictionary-thesaurus hell for hours. Also just to be clear, I don't aspire to any literary awards

On a side note just got the final version of The Survivor (cover will need adjusting) from the editor and submitted it to the anthology. Now to finish the ghostwriting project...

 

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[Held for Ransom]

Thanks Joanna. No thanks to COSenior who was goofing around, as usual! You know how those creative types can be...

 

[Lauryn]

I love the cover.

 

[COSenior]

Thanks Joanna. No thanks to COSenior who was goofing around, as usual! You know how those creative types can be...

Hey!

 

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[joanna]

I love the cover.

Thank you

@COSenior Feel free to goof around as much as you like Also to be honest, with your fast output you're likely to see success sooner. I should probably add that I'm a lot less fussed about my writing when it comes to the erotica stuff that's done for fun-and-money. But with the dragons - I weigh every word Well, dragons and other JCH stuff.

 

[COSenior]

Ah, but I'm cheating...finalized my deal to take over an established pen name and someone else will be doing what I consider the drudge work of marketing, etc.

I can't wait to read your dragon books; trying to discipline myself to read and review what I've already bought before I get more. Vampires, not so much, but I love dragon lore.

 

[joanna]

I know what you mean about reading time and discipline... Must... not... add... more... books... to reading list. I'm definitely not into sparkling vampires either. Made mine with sci-fi lore. Dragon lore - well I've got plenty of lore, though it's taking a while to put it all on paper without infodumping a reader to death. One of the reviewers called me out on being Lost-like with the open threads

Oh, I've got a question about the marketing then. Did you hire a company, a freelancer, or did that come with the penname deal? I'd like to have someone else deal with marketing, but not sure I could afford it.

 

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[COSenior]

It came with the penname deal.

I'm not particularly interested in ANY vampires, sparkling or no, although I did read and enjoy A Discovery of Witches.

 

[joanna]

Update time. Last week finished the ghostwriting project, did edits for it this week. I think that drained me a bit, since I did no other writing last week. Though I did manage to take a first stab at plotting a new story. Also did a similar mind map outline for a non-fiction book I'm looking to maybe co-author with my sis.

I need to finish the stories that I've started though, especially The Hunt, and I seem to be stuck on it for some reason. Trying to do some idea brainstorming to get back on track with it.

Looks like the anthology won't be released as soon as I thought. Slightly disappointed as I did want to get that story published soon(ish).

Otherwise I spent a lot of the week getting up to speed with nodeJS since I will slowly be moving my main income project to that, as well as seriously starting work on PlotInMotion this year (writer/publisher tools).

Observations:
One thing about the ghostwriting that was an interesting experience, was writing to a more detailed plot. I'm wondering if my clinging to pantser ways is more of a psychological thing about wanting the books to still be considered "art" and about the idealistic notions about what a writer does versus reality. Reality which I'm fully aware of, but maybe a bit in denial as my silly mind keeps going back to the craft vs. art debate.

 

[COSenior]

I'm wondering if my clinging to pantser ways is more of a psychological thing about wanting the books to still be considered "art" and about the idealistic notions about what a writer does versus reality. Reality which I'm fully aware of, but maybe a bit in denial as my silly mind keeps going back to the craft vs. art debate.

Nothing wrong with that. Some of us here made a considered decision that self-publishing was a viable road to financial freedom, never having considered writing as a career before. Others, myself included, always dreamed of writing, but didn't see a pathway to success until self-publishing became a phenomenon. Even though I want my writing to be commercial and to sell well, somewhere in the back of my mind I wonder if I could ever write a literary novel that would be critically acclaimed. In my opinion, it isn't as much about whether you plot it carefully or write it organically, it's about the heart you put into it, and the desire to keep writing until the literary jewel reveals itself.

 

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[joanna]

UPDATE: First of all I should really update more often. Have been a bit overwhelmed with all the stuff on my plate recently.

Writing

The Hunt is now on 39k. I was planning for 45-50k, but might end up with more. I'm in that mood now where it all seems boring, uninspired and deserves trashing, so just plugging through.

I've started on the second ghostwriting book for the same client. Also had a short break in writing for a week, when I did an edit for him of a third book.

Publishing

Still waiting for the anthology to be published. But in the meantime I entered the cover I did for the story into a competition. So far I made it to round 2! If you have a few moments to spare I'd appreciate any extra votes on no.9 here: http://www.ultimatefantasybooks.com/best-book-cover-2014.php

I got back the illustration for the new cover for The Hunt, as well as a new logo for the series. Need to combine the two and prepare the new cover.

Starting a small publishing company, not just for my own books has been on my mind for a while (long while...). Unfortunately, as some other progress threads here show that requires capital, and I was going to wait till I gather some before jumping on that bandwagon. That, and possibly hone the process on my own books. But... as it usually happens in life, an opportunity presented itself, so I went for it.

A friend of mine had a book that I liked and that fits my publishing company theme (cross genre, but focused on dragons, vampires, warewolves, etc.). He's focused on his novel, and complained about all the "publishy" things around releasing the other book. So we'll see how that works out.

Things I've learned - Pinterest

Since the last update I had a bit of an epiphany on how to use Pinterest as an author. Might not be something revolutionary for some people but something clicked in my mind when I started to think of it in terms of mood-boards for individual books, rather than a place for collecting themed images. From: trying to post, say dragons, at regular intervals, I focused on giving the boards a purpose, something a reader could find useful in relation to my books. Like things that represent or inspired scenes, characters in each specific book.

 

[jimr]

UPDATE: First of all I should really update more often. Have been a bit overwhelmed with all the stuff on my plate recently.

Writing

The Hunt is now on 39k. I was planning for 45-50k, but might end up with more. I'm in that mood now where it all seems boring, uninspired and deserves trashing, so just plugging through.

I've started on the second ghostwriting book for the same client. Also had a short break in writing for a week, when I did an edit for him of a third book.

Publishing

Still waiting for the anthology to be published. But in the meantime I entered the cover I did for the story into a competition. So far I made it to round 2! If you have a few moments to spare I'd appreciate any extra votes on no.9 here: http://www.ultimatefantasybooks.com/best-book-cover-2014.php

I got back the illustration for the new cover for The Hunt, as well as a new logo for the series. Need to combine the two and prepare the new cover.

Starting a small publishing company, not just for my own books has been on my mind for a while (long while...). Unfortunately, as some other progress threads here show that requires capital, and I was going to wait till I gather some before jumping on that bandwagon. That, and possibly hone the process on my own books. But... as it usually happens in life, an opportunity presented itself, so I went for it.

A friend of mine had a book that I liked and that fits my publishing company theme (cross genre, but focused on dragons, vampires, warewolves, etc.). He's focused on his novel, and complained about all the "publishy" things around releasing the other book. So we'll see how that works out.

Things I've learned - Pinterest

Since the last update I had a bit of an epiphany on how to use Pinterest as an author. Might not be something revolutionary for some people but something clicked in my mind when I started to think of it in terms of mood-boards for individual books, rather than a place for collecting themed images. From: trying to post, say dragons, at regular intervals, I focused on giving the boards a purpose, something a reader could find useful in relation to my books. Like things that represent or inspired scenes, characters in each specific book.

voted for number 9. Tbh, it's a very well designed cover.

 

[joanna]

My cover made it to round two, but unfortunately not round three Ah well, there's always other competitions (might look some up once I'm less busy).

Writing:
Making good progress on the ghostwriting project. Thinking about The Hunt, but no time for this one likely for the next two weeks.

Publishing:
After creating a contract for my first publishing acquisition (I so hate dealing with formalities like that...) I'm now going over the draft and leaving comments for the author.

Design:
Spurred by a few comments on FB I finally got my **** together and put up the first of the cover design templates. I've been sitting on these materials for a while and kept finding excuses not to put them up - not good enough, not pretty enough, no sales copy, no this no that... First the starter cover template, and in the coming weeks looking to package the themed templates and a few other bits and bobs.

* Starter Cover Template *

Need to work more on my sales copy. Any tips would be much appreciated.

Process:
I spent quite a bit of time this week organising and planning. Although I'd like to focus completely on the publishing business (writing and publishing) unfortunately I have a few other things on my plate that I need to either automate/outsource or complete so I can move on. I already released a few domains I've been hoarding over the years. I've also prepared a weekly plan of attack, that should keep me focused on getting things done.

 

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[COSenior]

Design:
Spurred by a few comments on FB I finally got my **** together and put up the first of the cover design templates. I've been sitting on these materials for a while and kept finding excuses not to put them up - not good enough, not pretty enough, no sales copy, no this no that... First the starter cover template, and in the coming weeks looking to package the themed templates and a few other bits and bobs.
* Starter Cover Template *
Need to work more on my sales copy. Any tips would be much appreciated.

Cool! Wish I'd had this when I started. I seem to have no time for anything besides writing these days, but if I ever do go back to designing my own covers, it would sure come in handy.

Some of your copy uses industry jargon that not everyone would understand, though I think I could make guesses from context. Maybe you should offer a guide with it, or if you already send instructions (maybe that'd what the BONUS is?) it would be helpful to know in the sales copy. Why keep it a secret?

Also, are there different fonts included? I'd be interested to know that before buying, too.

Finally, it looks like there's information in the image, but I can't read it, even when I increase the screen font size.

Oops, one more thing. Will the license spell out whether people can use your templates commercially, i.e., can they create covers to sell, either pre-made or custom?

That's all I've got...hope it helps.

 

[joanna]

Thanks for all the comment COSenior!

I re-wrote some of the copy. Tried to put benefit over feature (being a developer I really suck at that ) and pushed most of the jargon into "side notes" for those who care. Sometimes it's hard to spot what is and what isn't jargon when you talk shop all day

Made the bonus clear, guess I was trying to be clever there with some mystery Well, that backfired.

The legal note for the product among other things reads:

"Reproduction of any elements of this pack without permission is prohibited. You are granted permission to use this pack for both commercial and personal purposes; however this does not include resale right to any elements of the pack."

My intention is to grant the right to create both personal and commercial covers, but not white label rights to the template as such. Any advise on the wording?

No fonts That's part of the design. But one of the planned upgrades to this product will be a mini font guide - as in where to get them and what licences to look out for. All part of a bigger DIY covers book/guide I've been working/procrastinating on for months now

 

[COSenior]

"Reproduction of any elements of this pack without permission is prohibited. You are granted permission to use this pack for both commercial and personal purposes; however this does not include resale right to any elements of the pack."
My intention is to grant the right to create both personal and commercial covers, but not white label rights to the template as such. Any advise on the wording?

You would probably do best to get a lawyer to look at it. I'm not one, nor do I play one on TV. But I would think some clarification, such as 'This means you may create covers for resale but you may not resell the template nor bundle it with any other product(s) of your own for resale', for people who require it to be spelled out very clearly.

The other changes helped me understand what I'd be getting immensely. Let me know when it's live, and I'll help spread the word.

 

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[AroundTheWorld]

Design:
Spurred by a few comments on FB I finally got my **** together and put up the first of the cover design templates.

Rep Transfer.... exciting news! This is great.

 

[joanna]

@COSenior Cool, thanks for the help. I'll update the wording to make this clearer in the coming update.

It's already live. Trying to get over my fear-of-launch

@AroundTheWorld Thanks!