Essentially my news is fairly straight forward.
Finally, after much hair tearing, endless delays caused but the intrusion of other aspects of my life, going back over my MS I don’t know how many times, I have all my files for the book ready for uploading to the printing company Lightning Source.
Notice I say “printing company” rather than “self-publishing company”. That is because Lightning Source is plain and simple a printer.
Unlike many vanity presses masquerading as “self-publishing” Lighting Source is a printer. They don’t try to sell you various “services” to “improve” your manuscript. They don’t sell you packages to market your book.
You have to do it all: editing; layout; cover; uploading the files for the cover and body; supplying an ISBN. Also, you set the retail price and decide on wholesale discount and returns policy. In short you are the publisher. (Some of you will remember I registered a business as a small publisher a while ago)
After that they list the book on Ingram (of which they are a subsidiary) so book stores can order it and they make it available to mobs like Amazon and The Book Depository (in Aussie English a mob is not a group of gangsters but any group).
So after tonight I have to wait for Lightning Source to send me a “proof” copy of the bound book to make a final check. Once I approve that (assuming I don’t need any last minute changes) I am in the market.
So that is my big news. I am on the way!!!!
This is such a relief after far too much time bogged down in the last few details.
I am really excited, in fact I should probably say ecstatic about having got this far.
I have a little fantasy that once this all happens I will be able to spend more time working on my WIP. In reality I guess that if I want Veiled in Shadows to work I am quite likely to have less time to spend on the WIP.
I am going to have to market my baby myself. And that is going to be a big job!
The trick over the coming months is to come up with clever ways to increase my visibility. In terms of efficiency that effort has to be mainly targeted on the web.
In comparison to markets overseas, in Oz the market is tiny (there are only 20 million of us in the whole country).
SO now for my request.
As I said I have to come up with ways of marketing my little piece.
Now last night I came up with a few words that I hope are punchy, brief and raise interest in the book.
But I am no marketing expert, so I was hoping to ask all my blogosphere friends to do me a big favour and have a look and comment.
Here we go:
In a world divided by conflict.
In a storm that consumes friend and foe alike.
In a war fought in the shadows…
those who live may do so at the cost of their humanity.
Two lovers united by passion
…and divided by hate.
As they fight for survival…
their most implacable foe might be one another.
What do you think?
Would that attract your interest?
What kind of book does it sound like?
And are there any improvements I could make?
Finally a couple of piccies I took yesterday arvo/evening.
A rainbow in the Yarra Valley
After so many years of drought it is a real luxury to see the decent rain continuing past the occasional downpour. A rainbow is just icing!The Sunset over Yarra Glen
16 comments:
Hi!!!
Oh wow!!! that is such brilliant and exciting news! You are very very very very very brave to be doing this - WELL DONE you!!!!
AND GOOD LUCK!! there's this thing called Goodreads that is popping up on writerly blogs - it looks like shelves and people add images of books on them - or something like that - I have no idea how it works or what happens but I just see them on writerly blogs and thought you might want to try this Goodreads thing.
GOOD LUCK!!! I have everything crossed for you. Even my cat Charlie has his paws crossed - LOL!
As for your blurb - I'm sensing epic historical romance of the Gone with the Wind kind!!! I love the blurb. How exciting!
Take care
x
Oh that is so EXCITING! I am so happy for you. Now the real fun begins and you must have nerves of steel to take it on all by yourself. Go you! Congratulations!
And yes, what you've written sounds intriguing. It, to me, sounds like a post apocolyptic love story, but remember I am a romance writer so everything sounds like a love story to me. But I like it and would read it.
As to marketing, I've heard video book trailers are all the rage now, you can make them on You Tube and a bunch of people have done them. Supposedly they're easy to do (being computerly challenged I haven't a clue how to start) so that's just a thought.
First off, congrats!
Second, thanks for clarifying the Aussie meaning of 'mob' ;-)
Third, I like the language you've used in your pitch, but I'm not sure if sounds a bit too vague to tease me the way you want it to. Perhaps some reference to why they are enemies in the first place, to make their love understandably challenging.
Good luck!!!!!
congratulations! what excellent news that you are to be in the market soon! as for your blub, i think it's great and definitely grabs my attention. but i would want to find out more before committing to reading it - either more information on the back cover, or (my old favourite) looking for it on amazon.com to read customer reviews to try to find out more about what the book is actually about. hope that is helpful and congratulations again!
It definitely works for me. The only problem is, I need to see a physical copy of a book before buying it, so had I not known you, I may never even have considered this book, however gripping the blurb may be (and it is).
Congratulations, and best of luck!
How exciting! Good luck with the marketing.
As to your blurbs, they suggest a gripping story with a historical setting, maybe something like Birdsong by S. Faulks?
I'm not sure about the last set of words: 'their most implacable foe might be one another'. That doesn't quite work for me. Would it work as a question? 'Are they on the same side?'
Love the sunset pic, especially the light blue overlaid with darker blue clouds.
Oh boy, I love it! I love war novels, and that is definitely a blurb that would catch my eye. That and I think you have an awesome cover. Woohoo! I can't wait for it to come out. Thanks for the update!
WOW congratulations and well done. How very exciting. I loved your blurb. Sounds intriguing to me! Did I say congratulations!!!!!
Congratulations on finishing!
The blurb sounds grand, but it's too vague. It could be anything but children's literature. Can you add detail?
Good luck!
How exciting! I think you're right - you've probably got some work ahead of you. Have you checked out Shelli's Market My Words blog? She's always got lots of marketing tips.
How wonderful. I'm looking forward to following you on your exciting venture.
I agree I think the blurb needs more details - names, etc. I go for book covers first. If the cover is stunning then I will take the time to read the blurb.
Congratulations on everything! Also thank you for following me on my blog, I really appreciate it. As for your blurb, I also think that there should be a little bit more detail such as character names and whatnot. If you add those, then it'll be much better, in my opinion. Cool post and write on!
BTW, I gave you an award.
Wow... You are really moving forward and it is exciting.
The blurb sounds great. I can imagine that blurb in a book trailer with really dramatic music accompanying the words coming up on screen or being narrated.
If it is for the back cover then maybe more info is needed to go after what you have. Just the tiniest bit of plot synopsis maybe.
I think that a book trailer is a really good idea if you have the time to put into it.
http://www.squidoo.com/booktrailers
http://www.book-trailers.net/
Hi Jennifer,
It is very exciting.
Thanks for the Goodreads tip.
Thank you (and thank you Charlie).
Thanks also for the feedback.
Hi Anne,
I agree the real fun starts now.
Nerves of steel? More like limp spaghetti.
Thank you for the feedback on the words.
Certainly the book has an element of romance, what good book doesn’t :-), but it isn’t the main focus.
I have thought of a trailer. Me being me it isn’t simple, I have grand ideas.
Hi Wendy,
Thank you.
I thought I should clarify. Words like “mob” slip of the tongue (or keyboard) and can cause all sorts of cross cultural confusion. :-)
Thank you for your feedback, exactly the sort of thing I am looking for.
Hi mummazappa,
Thank you!
Thank you also for the info about the “grabbiness” (probably not a word) of the blurb. The “more info” theme seems to be a common response. Thank you once more.
Hi Rayna,
Pleased to hear it works for you. I guess the main place it will be available will be on Amazon and The Book Depository (which I like because they give free international postage), so I may have a problem with enticing to buy :-)
Thank you.
Hi Christine,
Thank you!
It certainly is a story with a historical setting, every one who has read it so far has found it gripping. I fantasise about being compared to an author like Faulks :-)
I see what you mean about the last sentence, but it has to be much stronger. Hmm, more thinking.
Pleased you like the piccie.
Hi Amanda,
Thank you! I love war novels too, so I had to write one :-).
So happy you like the words. Hope it doesn’t keep you waiting too much longer.
Hi Ann,
Thank you. Pleased you like it and happy it is intriguing. You did and thank you again!
Hi Myrna,
Thank you.
Happy you like what I have done so far. Vague seems to be the most common theme. I’m caught between the “keep it short and catchy” and giving people enough to want to buy it.
Hi Jemi,
I certainly think I have a huge job ahead of me.
I do follow Shelli’s blog (isn’t it great?).
Hi Niki,
Thank you!
More detail is certainly what I am hearing. I have posted the cover (which I am really happy with), have you caught it? Maybe I’ll have to post it again.
Hi Vatche,
Thank you.
You are welcome. Your blog certainly looks like it is worth visiting again.
Thanks for the feed back, it seems you are on the same line as most of the others.
Hi Myrna,
Thank you. I’ll try to post about it soon. But I tend to get a bit naughty about posing awards :-)
Hi Jem,
I agree.. wow.
All a bit overwhelming really.
Thanks for that imagining, very useful idea.
I have a back cover blurb that has more info (quite a bit more) including synopsis hints. This is I suppose more about grabbing attention and getting people to look a bit closer.
I agree about a trailer (thanks for the links). I have already had some ideas on that score. As you say time is always the problem.
How very exciting! I'm so behind on blogs, you may actually have the proof in your hands by now!
I like the blurb and it will catch people's attention. But I agree with Wendy that you might want to flesh it out a bit more.
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