Where are you headed? Not Sure?

That's a hard question sometimes. Most people have no idea where they're headed in life. They just take like as it comes and usually don't make plans for the future. Do you have a plan? Have you got your future in mind or just living in the past? Life is full of turns, curves, stop signs, yields and just plan out warning signals that go unattended. How do you plan to see it through? Do you live life by the seat of your pants, never knowing which way to go when you get to the fork in the road? Most of us stand that this fork and stare straight ahead, confused and not sure what happens next. This happens so many times with writers. You write your manuscript, but now what? Do you publish it? Do you take a chance with a traditional publisher, but then again do you take a chance self publishing it? This is a hard question to ask yourself, but if you want to become a writer, it's a question that needs an answer. What's your goal? Here's a couple of road blocks that can come along: 1: Turns: This happens after you type The End. Are you self disciplined enough to self publish? Are you patient enough to wait on a traditional publisher? 2: Curves: Well you've made the decision as to how you want to publish your work. What now? If you decide to self publish the road can have many curves and you have to be disciplined enough to take those curves and move forward carefully. If you decide to send it to a traditional publisher, then the curves can be a long time coming and then when they do can you handle the possibility of a 90 degree curve when they either accept it or reject it? 3: Stop Signs: This is when you come to a complete halt. Either your manuscript is completely rejected by a traditional publisher or you decide to self publish and you have no idea where to go from here. That happens, how do you pull away from that stop sign? 4: Yield: With self publishing you have to know when to slow down and take the next step carefully. You need to be patient and slow down before going forward. This is also a good way to handle turning over your manuscript to a traditional publisher. Have you had your manuscript edited by someone other than yourself? One of the easiest way to be rejected by either way you publish is to send in your manuscript before it's ready. Don't run straight through the yield without slowing and taking a second look. 5: Warning signs: Also follow the warning signs. Don't jump into the frying pan without being ready for the burn. If you don't handle the business as it needs to be handled you will end up getting burned, rejected and ignored in the market. Remember writing is a business and the second you decide to publish, you're a writer and that's a business. Run it with that in mind. So, where are you headed? Do you know your plan? Before you take that huge step into publishing, figure it out. Know what you want to achieve and make a plan. Don't go into it without knowing the risks. If you want to self publish and don't know where to go from the words The End, check out the publishing service that I'm a partner in, Horseshoe Publishing. We strive to help authors move forward and put out the best product they can. The link to what we do is at the top of my page. We are offering a Spring Into Action 25% off special, so check us out. As always, good writing and May God Bless You...

3 Ways Indie Authors Can Improve Self Publishing

As you know I'm a self published author. When I decided to publish my manuscripts I studied the market. I'm an Accountant and I have a strong analytical background so that pushed me to make a study into this. I looked into both the traditional market and the self publishing market. One thing I realized was that more and more traditionally published authors are going to the self publishing market. But let me tell you this, in order to do it right you've got to keep up the traditional publishing standards strictly enforced. Here are 3 of the ways Authors can improve Self Publishing: 1: Editing: This is a very important part of publishing and this is where several self published authors fail at. It's also part of why some people will not pick up a self published book because they've been burned before. You've got to read your manuscript and read it again. Also you need to either get Beta Readers or someone that will be critical and unbiased to read your work. When you read your manuscript pull yourself away. Read it as though you're a reader and are you inspired to read it again. If it falls flat, then how can you expect anyone else to get into. Have you corrected all the spelling errors, grammatical errors, and just plain out story line disasters? 2: Covers: I can't stress this enough. Covers can sell even a badly written book. This is the first thing that a reader sees. This is the first line of selling rank. If you don't spend money on anything else, please spend a little on this. There are so many talented cover designers out there. I've been so fortunate to have a awesome cover designer. I've seen some really cool covers and then some really horrible attempts. Your cover needs to tell something about what's inside. It need to pull the reader in. I've purchased so many books just from the cover. 3: Book Blurbs: I stress about this with all my books. This is the hardest part of writing to me, no kidding. Make sure you don't give away too much in the blurb. Too many authors tell the story on the back of the book. This is not good. Be very descriptive and use complimentary words that will draw in the reader. I've done a study on this with my very own books. I put out a blurb on a couple of my books that I was somewhat happy with, but I noticed a lag in sales. Then I sat down and poured over the blurbs changing some of the key words and adding some small elements. This helped the sales dramatically. Try it and see if your sales go up. It's hard to be an author, period! When I say I'm an author, people come back with yeah, I could write a book. Well, yeah, anyone can write a book, but can they write a book that will go anywhere? Do they have the drive to publish that book and do all the marketing? Being an author is not as easy as it looks and being self published is brutal at times. But let me tell you the rewards far outweigh the difficulties. The first time a fan comes up to you at the grocery store and says, "Oh my goodness you're that author." The first time this happened to me I was so embarassed and excited at the same time. When you get emails from fans excited about your work it makes you smile all day. I've gained so many new friends from all over the world that some days I'm just amazed. Yes it's a lot of work, but it's so worth it. Have I thought about traditionally publishing? Yes. I sent Ghost Lover to a traditional publisher and never heard a word. Then I decided to self publish it and it was all uphill from there. It was my introduction into the publishing world and the response to that book has been really great. I've had a couple of big publishers call me about coming on board with them, but they couldn't offer my anything different from what I do now, so not now. I do have a work in progress at the moment that it's been in my heart to send to a publisher that I contribute to as a blogger. We'll see how that goes. So, my advice to you is to go for it, but be prepared to do it right. This is your name you're putting out there, so make it shine. If you need any help with it, I'm in partnership with my editor/cover designer in a publishing service, Horseshoe Publishing. We'll help you iron out those wrinkles and make your work shine like a new penny. As always, good writing and May God Bless You...

Vibrant Colors

On Wednesday my son does not have to be at school until 9:05 and that’s wonderful. We can sleep in a little longer. As I drove home I enjoyed the beautiful scenery. I love my hometown. It’s so beautiful any time of the year, but at Fall time it really shows out. The trees almost glowed in oranges, yellows, reds and some a little touch of brown. Simply breathtaking.

It’s the same with book covers. If you don’t step out and go beyond the box on your cover, then you just as well to box it up and close the shop. When shopping for a book in this world of millions of books to choose from, you’ve got to stand out. Don’t go so flashy that you get gawdy, but a splash of vibrant color will catch the eye.

As the bright orange or yellow tree will catch your eye among the green tree tops, so will the splash of color on your cover. To me the cover and the blurb are very important. Make sure you put extra care in both of these areas. One of my books was lagging in sales and I changed the blurb a little. Amazingly enough the book started to take off. Crazy but true.

Check out the link at the top of this post to the publishing service I started with my assistant. We go beyond the box with covers and help you make your book stand out in the crowd.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…

2nd Cup of Coffee and Cool Fall Morning

I just love this time of the year. It’s so cozy curled up in the corner of the couch with my throw and coffee. I feel invigorated. The leaves are on the verge of change and the air is so clean. It’s amazing what God has given us.

I am nursing my second cup of coffee as I type this post. Yes, I’m still on vacation, so no hurry to shower and get dressed. I actually typed 4000 words yesterday. It was a very productive day. I have my outline beside me now and am pumped about today’s word count. If you’re a writer you know what I mean. It’s fun when the story is just spilling from your mind to your fingertips. The only problem I have is I want to get to the happenings of chapters ahead of where I am. Funny thing about a story is it unfolds sometimes in a crazy order. I can see the last act so clearly and it guides me through the middle story which leads you up to the final words. 

I’ve taken some advice from a fellow blogger and writer that has helped so much with this manuscript. I am so guilty of editing and proofing as I go. It’s a slow process when you do it that way. I’m bad about going back and rewriting parts or correcting spelling or grammer. As she said in her post, don’t do that until the first draft is complete. It does hinder your rhythm as you work. If you stop and go several times your brain gets in a fog. I typed yesterday continuously and refused to go back and edit even though at times I wanted to sooooooo bad.

How do you write? What’s the pet peeve of your writing? If you have a finished piece of work and need some help with the polishing, go to the Horseshoe Publishing tab at the top of my page and check out our polishing services. Your hard work needs to be out there, so get it polished and shiny and ready for the public to ooh and awe over it.

As always, good writing and May God Bless You…