Category Archives: Self-publishing and marketing

by Ana Spoke | August 23, 2015 · 4:17 pm

The never-ending drama of my own making

The proofreading drama has actually ended. Thank you again to everyone who took time to comment on my recent dilemma with the proofread. I spent hours working through all the suggested edits and compiling a list of those I did not understand or did not like. I then sent the list to the proofreader and to her credit, she very promptly replied with comments on all my questions. I still disagree with some of her changes, but at least it is now more clear what I should and shouldn’t change. I also gained a bit of perspective thanks to the wide range of commentary on the blog, and appreciation of how many little details she did pick up. In the end I happily paid for the service (it was a very reasonable price anyway). More importantly, I’ve ended that bit of unfinished business and can now concentrate on chugging through the draft, looking over it myself one more time. The publishing date is T-minus two weeks, max.

There’s, however, a new drama on horizon. I do have a day job, a full time one as a low-level manager in a government agency. It’s awesome, it was my dream job when I got it three years ago, the trouble is – three years is a lifetime in Ana-years. I’ve been getting complacent, and complacent does not sit well with me, so I’ve started inquiring about other jobs and secondments. I’ve had interviews, but it started to look like stepping up will be more difficult than I expected. Then something happened last week, I don’t know what it was, but I hear rumours that I was mentioned by the CEO in an executive meeting. Next thing you know, its three phone calls in a space of two days, and now I have two interviews next week. For big jobs. Like, amazing, big jobs, full of delicious stress and with matching big paychecks.

I should be ecstatic, instead I hear an inner voice saying “well, that’ll be the end of my writing career.” The other internal voice, the caffeinated and high on adrenaline one, thinks I can do both. A friend of mine is adamant that I shouldn’t even think about a new job if I truly want to succeed in writing. It reminds me of an episode of Friends, when Rachael was advised to quit her waitressing job, in order to be truly hungry for her dream. From memory, it didn’t end that well.

Can I do both? I don’t know. Maybe I would be more energised. I could also crush badly… anyway, there’s no point in worrying about it, there have been no offers yet. There is, however, massive drama, as always 🙂

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Tagged as advice, drama, self-publishing, writing

by Ana Spoke | August 16, 2015 · 2:31 pm

Just a little progress

I’ve been sick for a few days. It’s winter here, down under, and it doesn’t help that I use public transport to get to work every day. Nothing like packing into a tram with a hundred other coughing people on a dreary gray morning, to remind me of my Soviet era childhood. Needless to say, I’m not at all nostalgic about it. I took a sick day and tried to sleep it off, but my brain is still no working so good.

Despite the general mental fog and lack of interest in anything outside the bed, I’ve managed to progress a little. First of all, I’ve made a decision on what to do about the proofread. Thank you so much to everyone who took time to read and advise me on my latest predicament. I’m going to persevere with the option #2, which is to get back to the editor and resolve what I perceive to be issues. I’m currently going through the manuscript, from the beginning, compiling a list of all the changes I don’t understand or agree with, and hope to send a complete list to her later today. In the process of doing it, I’ve realised that she’s actually done a good job overall, very thorough. I’ve also realised that I have a ready editor right next to me, in form of my fiancé. Why it has not occurred to me to ask him before, I’m not sure (refer mental fog), but it turns out his private school and uni education is worth something :-).

There has also been progress on the cover front. Due to popular demand from the focus group (thank you so much again!!) I have reverted back to the double rip, but used the more script-y font:

It’s not finished yet, but I think the future changes will be very minor, as in fiddling with font color or placement, and maybe color saturation or overlays. There will never be a perfect cover to please everybody, but I’m quite happy with the feedback so far, which suggests that it’s catchy and interesting enough. I have certainly loved the process of working on it myself.

So there you go. Not too bad for the sneezing, coughing, mess that I am at the moment. Back to bed, I guess 🙂

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Tagged as advice, Book, cover, Editor, novel, proofreader, self-publishing, writing

by Ana Spoke | August 11, 2015 · 3:39 pm

What do I do??

I have a dilemma. Last week I have received my manuscript from the proof-reader. There were a lot of changes, especially in punctuation and grammar. She did say that it was more than she would have expected, so you can imagine my concern.

Anyway, I got to work reviewing and accepting changes. Then, at about a half-way mark, I finally had to admit that “something ain’t right”. Specifically, the following two types of changes appeared over and over:

1. Adding a comma before “and” in a simple sentence, such as “Blah, blah,” he said, and offered his hand.
2. Past perfect everywhere, such as “I had never even heard of it before”.

I have googled the bejesus out of these two points and found that:

1. No comma. The only way a comma would be appropriate, if it was an independent clause, such as:”Blah, blah,” he said, and then he offered his hand. Note that there are two subjects, “he” and then “he” again.
2. It should be “have”, because while she’s never heard of it before, she’s heard of it now, as in “I’ve never even heard of it before”.

Still, I was not sure. After all, I’m Russian and the proofreader is educated and may I mention, being paid for this. I have emailed the proofreader. No answer. I finally got her on the phone. After I finished describing the point 1, I asked what rule dictates the comma. The answer? “No rule”.

“Then why is it there?” I asked.
“There’s a pause there, so it felt natural to add a comma,” she said.

I was flabbergasted. I am not paying for an opinion, I’m paying for expertise.

“The manuscript seems overpunctuated,” I said.
“You don’t have to use it,” she said, cool as a cucumber.

I was so shocked that I forgot to bring up point #2 and got off the phone. I feel like a deflated baloon, not even sure if there are other changes she’s suggested based on how it feels, rather than the grammar rules. I’m not sure what I should do. The way I see it, I have two options:

1. Pay her and forget about it, instead starting from the beginning and going through the manuscript and suggested changes myself, researching each questionable point. Pros: one hell of an English lesson I’ll never forget. Cons: hella pissed off about paying someone to confuse me.
2. Send it back to her and tell her to re-do using English rules and not opinions, if she wants me to pay the full price, or negotiate a discounted price to finish it myself.

My sweet and kind partner thinks I should not fight her. My feisty sister’s advice is “it’s on!”. What do you think?

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Tagged as advice, Book, Editor, proofreader, self-publishing, writing

by Ana Spoke | August 7, 2015 · 11:59 am

From the Archives: “4 Myths About Self-Publishing Today”

Stepping into self publishing for the first time is hard and scary. I deal with the fear by remaining unwarrantedly optimistic and exceedingly enthusiastic. You, however, may want to get a second opinion. Here’s one I thought was knowledgeable and well-researched:
From the Archives: "4 Myths About Self-Publishing Today".

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by Ana Spoke | August 2, 2015 · 8:15 am

I need a deadline

Otherwise there will be a hundred cover versions! Good news is that I will have the final draft from the proofreader in just a few days, so the torture is almost over. For now, please join me in nitpicking on these:

I have decided to move away from the double-rip, the last version of which looked like this:

Once again, I’d love your comments. If you’ve had enough, I completely understand and promise that this one will be the very last post about cover design. Ever. Probably.

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Tagged as Book, cover, cover design, design, self-publishing, writing

by Ana Spoke | July 31, 2015 · 12:52 pm

How do I love thee, Twitter Analytics?

Let me count the ways. I love thee, for you measure improvement. For without you, I wouldn’t have a clue whether my particular Twitter joke wasn’t funny or just got lost in the noise of a million voices. But most importantly, because you fill my heart with stupid, unwarranted hope that one day Shizzle, Inc will be discovered.

I’m crashing on Twitter Analytics like a stalking teenage girl. I can’t go for more than a couple of hours without checking stats, but there’s more to it than the OCD (I hope). It’s actually useful. If you’re using Twitter for anything other than reading random stuff, you have to get it. Right now. Stop reading this, there’s nothing else useful in the rest of this babble.

The most amazing thing is that all the data and analysis in TA is free. There isn’t a catch, like you have to spam your followers, or drag in your friends, or give up the cash you have not yet earned. And it’s broad, covering analysis I did not previously consider, like engagement rate.

If you Google the net, you’ll find a number of informative, in-depth articles on various virtues of TA and how to use the information to build your brand and reach your customers. I don’t have either the depth of knowledge or the patience to write a similarly informative article, so here goes my ~~dumbed down~~ easy to understand and ~~superficial~~ summarised list:

1. TA reminds me to tweet every day. Oh, how it hurts to forget about Twitter for a day, only to see that it completely forgot about me. Have a look at this graph and note the correlation between the number of tweets (in grey) and the corresponding number of “impressions” (in light blue):

2. TA tells me which tweets were effective and which got a “pfft” response. Yes, you can sorta figure that out based on a number of retweets or likes, but the “engagement rate” reveals if that was due to a sheer number of impressions, or a particularly effective tweet. It confirms time and again that photo-tweets are the most effective. The top two of my tweets over the last three months are both photos:

3. TA holds a promise of the day when it all goes completely viral, like this spike of over 30,000 hits (yes, I double-checked the number of zeroes). All it takes, apparently, is for a famous musician with a million followers to retweet one of your tweets. Which makes me ever so grateful, even if he refuses to follow me back.

4. It feeds my sick need to see continuous improvement. Every. Single. Day. I can’t change much in my day-to-day job, but I sure can enjoy the growing follower count:

That sums it up for me. There’s also WordPress stats, but I’m sure you know all about them. You don’t? Omg, go check them right now! You can thank me later.

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Tagged as analytics, books, self-publishing, statistics, twitter, writing

by Ana Spoke | July 22, 2015 · 12:12 pm

The never ending cover story

Ok, I know you’re sick of this by now, but…Just. One. More. Time.

At least I’ve managed to pick one of the two concepts. I went with the more literal one, which also happens to use a face. The research shows that people respond to faces, and it also shows that I respond to research findings. So there you go, one decision made.

I’ve also spent hours searching Shutterstock for better images. Here are the previous version (on the left) and the new one (on the right):

I’m practically in love with this new model. Not only her facial expression is spot-on, she’s also not stick-thin, like most of the pretty blond girls on Shuttersock. At one point, desperate, I was going to hire a model and a photographer, but I don’t think I could wish for a better girl.

I’m also happy with the background, which (when I pay and download a proper photo) shows a view of a downtown city. The colour is also fitting.

The man’s arms read better, but some people were confused and thought Isa just has “man hands”. May have to look more.

Not at all happy with lettering, but being an optimist, I’m sure a solution will come to me, maybe in a dream or in the middle of a meeting.

So there you go. One baby step closer to the finish. Brilliant ideas and suggestions would be much appreciated!

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Tagged as Book, cover, cover design, design, humor, humour, novel, self-publishing

by Ana Spoke | July 17, 2015 · 10:13 am

Shizzle-style book marketing

I know, I’m still weeks away from actually seeing my novel on Amazon, but being a planner I just had to think of a few marketing ideas. For if a book hits an overcrowded marketplace and no one is around to read it, does it make a sound? I mean, of course it doesn’t unless it’s an audiobook, but you know what I mean.

I looked around to see what others are doing. It’s not pretty. On Twitter, you get spammed by messaged from authors begging you to read whatever it is they wrote. Some of them send out a message once EVERY MINUTE. What can it possibly get you, other than getting blocked, and fast? I can’t even understand some of those messages, #because #they #are #so #full #of #hashtags. Most authors are following other authors, and thus the circle of spam is complete.

I was thinking of doing a blog tour, but the problem is, I’m really shy for an extrovert. Sure, I can chat up a stranger at a party, but I can’t bring myself to ask for help. How do you even contact another writer with “Hey, can I blog on your site about my awesome new book?” without being blocked and reported? I might have to figure this one out eventually, but not now.

Instead, I’ve decided to try some unconventional ideas, the kind of idiotic and rebellious crap my characters would try. I can’t use home-made bombs and kidnapping for obvious legal reasons, but here are a few possibilities:

1. Shock and awe tactics. Like paying a million dollars for a gorgeous blonde to run naked through a footy game, with “Shizzle, Inc” painted across her bum. It worked for Virgin. The problem is that I don’t have a million dollars. I could of course do it myself, but then I could lose my job and possibly my fiancé. For now I’m going with a relatively lame idea of hanging a massive poster off the pedestrian pass over King’s Way. Saying something like #ShizzleInc and maybe a pic of a blonde. It needs work.

2. Begging my readers like they’ve never been begged before. Forget spam, I say. Do it in person. I’m going to print the novel cover and as much of the beginning as I can fit on a folded A4 sheet, so it looks like a mini-book with details on how to download the real thing at the end. Then I will stand at one of the CBD train station in the evening peak hour and hand them out to women in their 20-40s with lame come-ons like “Something to read on your way home?”. That’s legal, right?

3. Reinventing the already invented. Thinking of posting a few chapters on Twitter, 140 characters at a time. I don’t know if it’s even possible or wise, but I will try. Cause that’s how I roll.

4. Creating a Shizzle, Inc virus that delivers copies of the book to every desktop in the world. Yeah, you can scratch that one. I’m still not sure how computers work.

That’s about all for now. I wish it was a nice fat list of ten. If you have any suggestions, I’d really appreciate them, the crazier the better!

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Tagged as debut novel, humor, humour, marketing, self-publishing, writing

by Ana Spoke | July 13, 2015 · 1:22 pm

Do you prefer the apple or the orange?

Well, now that I’ve decided not to use the pro to design my book cover, its time to put my Photoshop skills to where my mouth is…You may recall my frustration at the designer’s attempts to create a cover for Shizzle, Inc. Some of you have actually really liked his first concept. Choosing one is so hard!

I finally got a chance to spend a few solid hours on the concept development today and would love your input on my top two so far. These are just concepts, so please ignore the sloppiness of execution, resolution, and watermarks (I just need to sign up and pay for the images). Once I get my head around which way to go, I will further develop that one. Or start from scratch…