#WWW : Publishing for #YA readers ... who are we really marketing to? by @emijgayle

Welcome to WWW where every week a guest will offer some insight into the world of writing and publishing. 

Today I'm thrilled to have Emi J. Gayle, published YA author of The 19th Year series,  share about publishing for YA readers. You definitely WANT to look into her kick bum series - be sure to check out the latest release at the end of the post! Check out my 5* review of book #2, Day After, HERE.

But onto the goods ...

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Publishing for Young Adult readers ... who are we really marketing to?

There's a designation in publishing for young adults that says a young adult is 14-19 years old. I'm pretty sure, though, that voracious 14 year old readers aren't actually going out and buying the books we're writing. Sure, they may be getting them from their libraries, or maybe in some small cases, from school. In reality, it's Mom (or Dad) who's plunking down that money for that book.

That makes me wonder ... first, are mom and dad reading these books? Second, are mom and dad approving of these books? Or are kids doing the, "Buy this book and I'll read it!" thing while holding the covers tight up against them? 

In all honesty, I think it's a mix. Moms in particular, are reading YA books, not necessarily with their kids, but as something enjoyable too, which makes marketing to the YA crowd, not the only way to go. We reach Moms, we might reach kids and if we reach kids, we might reach moms. No, that doesn't mean 2 copies and 2 sales, it means a wider audience and hopefully future fans.

So what does that mean to the author? To the publisher? To the marketer? It means a cover has to draw in more than one kind of person. No, kids and parents are not the same, despite the apple not falling far from the tree. Parent = tree. Kid = apple. Different being, same flavor. So a cover has to draw in both people. How does that happen? Well, have you noticed the 'sex appeal' of some YA novels? There's one way. How about the intricate design and attention to detail? It seems these facets are even more pervasive in YA books than in adult books (not always, but sometimes). These are things all the people working on a book have to think about. 

Of course the cover isn't all of it. It's the story inside. What's most popular with adult women? Translate that to younger adult women, and downplay some aspects (i.e. sex ... or in some cases, don't - that's the author's call). What story lines catch the most attention? Mirror them in YA. It's like good animated films both amuse kids and keep parents happy to, right? Pixar is wonderful at this ... there's adult humor that kids won't 'get' and the kids are super happy too. Same concept applies. A YA book isn't just for the YA audience, it's for the parent(s) too and marketing to them both should, in theory, reach a wider audience than just marketing to the 14-19 crowd alone.

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Ms. Gayle's newest release!

Click on image to add on Goodreads

Day After

The 19th Year

by Emi Gayle

Release Date: May 6, 2013

Target Reader: Young Adult

Keywords: Paranormal Romance, Romance

Demon crypts. Vampire lairs. Glowing angels. Sexy sirens. The stuff of fiction.

Or so Winn Thomas always thought.

Since being accepted into the fold of the supernatural, he knows better. None of what he imagined is true, but everything he feared is, and binding himself to his Changeling girlfriend until her nineteenth birthday will give him an education far beyond what he’d get at his human high school.

Luckily, Winn’s not giving up, he won’t back down, and he definitely isn’t going to run away with his tail between his legs. After all, only werewolves have tails. Right?

In this, the second of the 19th Year trilogy, Winn’s facing the challenge of one lifetime. If he doesn’t learn the truth about mythological creatures, his girlfriend Mac Thorne won’t either. That means, in six months, when she chooses her final form, she won’t know what to pick.

Winn, though, has his own ideas about Mac’s final selection—plans she knows nothing of.

He intends to have her pick human.

Whether she can or not.

Purchase Links:

Amazon.com  /  Barnes & Noble

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About Emi Gayle

Emi Gayle just wants to be young again. She lives vicariously through her youthful characters, while simultaneously acting as chief-Mom to her teenaged son and searching for a way to keep her two daughters from ever reaching the dreaded teen years.

Ironically, those years were some of Emi's favorite times. She met the man of her dreams at 14, was engaged to him at 19, married him at 20 and she's still in love with him to this day. She'll never forget what it was like to fall in love at such a young age — emotions she wants everyone to feel.

Links:

Web  |  Blog  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Goodreads

#WeeklyWriterlyWednesday - John H. Carroll on Self-Publishing #PubTip

Welcome to WWW where every week a guest will offer some insight into the world of writing and publishing. 

Today John H. Carroll, self-published author of over 20 books, is here to share some tips he's learned along the way.

*These words were originally posted on his blog last year.

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Publishing is fun and easy

Easy compared to spending years trying to get agents and publishers to realize how brilliant you are.

This is a list of all the actions I do when I publish my ebooks.  Other authors will do it differently, but hopefully this will give you insight in to what an author goes through in this new publishing world.

Before you publish a book, it's helpful to write it . . . just sayin'.  After that, I recommend editing it, then editing it again, having others edit it, setting it aside for a couple of months, then edit again a couple more times.  There's a good chance you'll still miss a thing or two, but the important part is that you polish it and publish a high quality product.  You'll also want a cover.  If you can afford a professional or semi-professional one, that's good.  Otherwise you can make your own with Photoshop, GIMP or some other editing software.

At the end of all my stories, I add authors notes with a brief description of me.  In it, I also add links to my blog, twitter, facebook and goodreads pages.  Then I add short descriptions to my other stories.  I have different copies of the author's notes for each store with links to that store.  In other words, I don't add Smashwords links to Amazon publications or Amazon links to Barnes & Noble publications.

Formatting

I write using Microsoft Word, which makes the formatting easy for me.  In addition, I write fantasy and don't have a lot of pictures, other things that make it easier.

There are the places I publish my ebooks.  Others exist and you can look them up.

1. Smashwords.  I recommend using the Smashwords Style Guide to format your word document.  In fact, it's vital if you want to publish through them.

2.  Amazon.  I make a copy of the Word Document that I used for Smashwords.  Then I add page breaks after the title page, copyright page and chapters.  After that, I save it as a filtered web document and then convert it using mobipocket.  Here is a more specific guide:  https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/help?topicId=A17W8UM0MMSQX6

3. Kobo now has self-publishing platform and it's become one of my favorites. With Kobo, I transform your word document into html by saving it as a filtered web document. Then I use calibre to transform it into an epub. You can find more info here: http://download.kobobooks.com/writinglife/en-US/KWL-User-Guide.pdf

4.  B&N has a Smashwords version of my novels, but you can publish directly with them if you like.  With B&N, you just use the word document used for the others with the exception of specific author's notes and any publishing info.  You can find more info here:  http://pubit.barnesandnoble.com/pubit_app/bn?t=pi_reg_home

Print books

5.  Createspace is my favorite for print on Demand Books.  I only publish my novels in print, not my short stories.  Createspace is owned by Amazon and has been a dream to work with.  I make all of my covers to fit their guidelines, with a spine and a back cover.  https://www.createspace.com/

5a.  Createspace's biggest competitor is Lightning Source, and many of my peers use their service.  http://www1.lightningsource.com/

5b.  Lulu is the third company that does print on demand books.  I'm not certain how good their service is.  https://www.lulu.com/s1/paperback_b/r/site

Other

6.  Another lesser known place to publish is Scribd. http://www.scribd.com/  You can sell books in PDF form.  It's fairly limited and I haven't had any sales there, but there's nothing wrong with increasing your exposure as much as possible.  As of this writing, the site is extremely slow.  You'll need to insert your cover as the fist page of the submission instead of adding it seperately.  Also, I wasn't able to get a table of contents to work, though I don't know if it's just me or if it's the way they do things.

7.  There is also a site called Wattpad. http://www.wattpad.com/  They don't have a way for you to sale books as far as I know, but this is an excellent place to publish free books.  It's also a good way to get input on your writing, especially if you're willing to join groups and return the favor with other writers.  They only accept uploads in .txt, so you'll lose most of your formatting.  Links and tables of contents won't work. 

8. There is also a site called Obooko where you can put free books as well.  In it, you give the readers the right to print out pdf documents for personal use.  You can also supply .mobi (Kindle) and epub (everything else) for people to read on ereaders.

Note:  All of these sites enable you to retain your worldwide copyrights.  You are only giving them the right to distribute or sell for you.  None of them prevent you from distributing elsewhere.

Other opportunities

There are other sites out there where it's possible to publish ebooks.  Look very carefully at there terms and make certain that they don't have any sort of restrictions preventing you from publishing elsewhere, or exclusivity clauses.  Publishing your books is an endeavor where you truly want to read the fine print on everything.  I recommend hiring a contract lawyer if you're not confident about what you're agreeing to.

I don't publish to Google Documents because they have been known to reduce the price on all books, which means Amazon and the rest are going to price match.  This can really mess with your royalties.

Whatever your decisions, don't expect to hit it big right away.  Being a self-published author is a LOT of hard work.  Not only do you need to write quality books, you have to market them.  You can find some marketing tips here on my blog, but those are only a start.

All my best and good luck. :)

John H. Carroll

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Book 1 of the Wyvern Trilogy:

Pelya Jornin rides away from Dralin, never to return.  

Nightmares travel with her, haunting the lonely roads that threaten to drive her mad.  The dangers within her own mind outweigh the perils of traveling alone.

The Blue Wyverns are a mercenary group dedicated to providing safe haven to any woman who arrives at their door.  For centuries, they have grown and their power now extends throughout the Kingdom of Eddland and into bordering countries.  They protect the roads and merchants of the countries with waypoints and well-trained companies of women soldiers.

It is Pelya’s intention to join the Blue Wyverns.  However, things are not as they should be.  Rather than being welcomed, Pelya is regarded with suspicion and contempt.  The Recruit Program is unwelcoming and in disarray.

Pelya befriends other young women who also look to escape hidden pasts.  Rather than admiring her experience and knowledge, they find her to be reckless in her actions.  Pelya draws into herself, fearing loneliness even in the midst of company.

Will Pelya’s mind conquer battles that cannot be fought with a sword?  Can she escape the eyes that haunt her sleep?  Will her new friends discover the secrets of her past?  Who will turn out to be a true friend and who has deception in their heart?  Intrigue and danger surround Pelya as she learns the history of the Blue Wyverns.  Will the beginning of her new life bring about the end?

The Wyvern Trilogy is a swords-and-sorcery fantasy series following the life of Pelya Jornin as she begins her life away from the city of Dralin.

Purchase Links:

Amazon  /  Smashwords  /  Kobo  

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John H. Carroll was the youngest of seven children and was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1970 where he was kept in a dresser drawer with the clean socks.  Luckily, he wasn’t kept with the dirty socks or else he might have grown up to become slightly warped.

As a child, John spent most of his time wandering through the Mojave Desert in an attempt to avoid people.  He would stare at the sky, imagining what it would be like to explore different worlds.  One of his favorite memories is watching his dad build the fuselage of Evel Kneivel’s skycycle in their garage.  One of his least favorite moments was watching that skycycle fall into the Snake River.  (Not his dad’s fault and he has documentation to prove it, so nyah)

As a teenager, John spent most of his time driving wherever he could in an attempt to avoid people.  He would stare at the road, imagining what it would be like to explore different worlds.  He was the captain of the chess team, lettered in golf and band while in high school, and wasn’t beaten up anywhere near as much as one might imagine.

As an adult, John spends most of his time staring at a computer screen in an attempt to avoid people.  He stares at the monitor for hours, imagining what it would be like to explore different worlds.  He has been married to his wonderful wife for sixteen years and they have three obnoxio . . . wonderful children who always behave . . . when they’re asleep.

Emo bunny minions surround John at most times.  He is their imaginary friend and they look to him for guidance.  At one point, they took over the world.  No one noticed because they left everything exactly as it was.  They gave the world back after a week because it was depressing.

       The Willden Trilogy is his first endeavor into the field of writing.  Other series and standalone works will be forthcoming.  In addition, John has written a number of short stories that can be found at most eBook sites.  He writes in the evenings and weekends whenever possible.  Regrettably, the family mentioned in a previous paragraph desires food and shelter, requiring the author to possess a full time job until his writing makes him rich.

If you would like to be alerted of new releases, you may sign up for his newsletter.  Your email will never be shared with anyone else.  You may unsubscribe at any time.  http://mad.ly/signups/76337/join 

You can follow his blog where he discusses writing, emo bunnies, family and various other topics of insanity.  http://www.ryallon.blogspot.com/

Follow him on twitter if you like insane ramblings and random comments.  http://twitter.com/kookoo88

Find him on Facebook where he discusses current projects and writing in general: http://www.facebook.com/John.H.Carroll.Author

His Goodreads Page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4479427.John_H_Carroll

#WeeklyWriterlyWisdom : Kastil Eavenshade on Piracy

Welcome to WWW where every week a guest will offer some insight into the world of writing and publishing. 

Today I'm thrilled to have my Scribo Pen Sister, Pam Bitner, aka Kastil Eavenshade, published author and artist share about the issue of piracy, and what we authors can do about it. 

*These words were originally posted on her blog on April 3, 2013.

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Piracy & The Timesink

Another one of original artworks digitized.

It’s an up and coming author’s worst nightmare. Finding their precious baby pilfered and thrown up on one of the many pirate sites out there. A bit discouraging to know someone would knowingly do this. I’m not going to get into the argument about people sneaking into houses to steal things being the equivalent of digital piracy. Today I offer up something else.

First off,  please don’t confuse the lending sites with pirate sites. There are ones that connect readers with readers to share Kindle books through a legit program through Amazon. Read more about that here. So long as the book isn’t DRM coded, it can be passed around to one person at a time for a period of 2 weeks. So it works like giving a physical book to someone, sans giving them the time limit to return it.

I’ve written a few sites when I see my books on illegally for free download. I send them a simple taken down notice and guess what? They take it down. I don’t mince words or fling insults.

Here’s a sample of what I send:

I am the copyright owner of the ebooks being infringed at:

This letter is official notification under the provisions of Section 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) to effect removal of the above-reported infringements. I request that you immediately issue a cancellation message as specified in RFC 1036 for the specified postings and prevent the infringer, who is identified by its Web address, from posting the infringing ebooks to your servers in the future. Please be advised that law requires you, as a service provider, to “expeditiously remove or disable access to” the infringing ebooks upon receiving this notice. Noncompliance may result in a loss of immunity for liability under the DMCA.

I have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of here is not authorized by me, the copyright holder, or the law. The information provided here is accurate to the best of my knowledge. I swear under penalty of perjury that I am the copyright holder.

Please send me a prompt response indicating the actions you have taken to resolve this matter.

Sincerely,

See? Be nice. Most places just host a site for people to act like monkeys. They might not even have the files on their server. What most will do, however, is make the link dead. I’ve had nice responses to my non-threating emails. I leave the cursing and rants for away from the keyboard time. Have a care, however, when sending these out. If you have a different IP address you can use, do it. I’ve had sites takedown the content and then block my IP address from snoping further. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Also, if the form is on their website to file a complaint, don’t give out any more information than you need to. There’s no reason for them to need a phone number or physical address. I also stick to the pen name it’s written under.

Second, pick your battles. You could spend a good chunk of hours scouring the internet and sending takedown notices that valuable writing time is being eaten to nothing. What good does that do you? I generally don’t look for my better sellers and have the tendency to get the claws out for the ones I’m barely making anything on.

The sad news is, these sites aren’t going away and it doesn’t seem like the laws are catching up either. If someone doesn’t take the illegal content down, I send a complaint to the FBI. It is theft of intellectual property whether it be the smuttess book you’ve ever written on pirate aliens with a cornucopia of penises in their nether regions or a book on preparing dinner for an invading army of Girl Scouts exhausted from cookie pimping.

Third, don’t be afraid to offer free reads of something not published on your website or blog. Most publishers will even allow the first chapter or an excerpt around 1000 words as a teaser. Give them a taste of what you have to offer them as a reader.

Last but not least, don’t pick fights with the people pirating the books. Most don’t care so unless you’re savvy enough to track them down on the big bad web, don’t let your temper get the best of you. Keep writing.

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About Pam Bitner:

Pam is a slave to the corporate engine, toiling away in the labors of retail sales for the military. In her spare time, and away from the constraints of her master's whip, she finds pleasure in writing anything from fantasy to romance-which sometimes parallel each other.

Art is another one of her passions, creating things such as the cover art for Darkness & Light by J.A. Belfield. The old ying and yang wolf one, not the photoshopped newer one.

Working under a few pen names, she's had five publications under her real name: Pulp Empire's Pirates & Swashbucklers Anthology (The Mark of the Brotherhood) and four short stories published by Golden Visions Magazine (Fate Whispers, She Whispers, Unchained, and Death Comes)

Stalking links!!

Website  /  Twitter  /  Facebook

HELP! How do I get 'the word' out and build a following?

Google 'marketing your book', and prepare yourself to be bombarded with a million and one ways to grow a fan base and take your novel to the world. It's frustrating to say the least. First time I attempted to browse the subject, I ended up wanting to do this ...

There's no tried and true way, no 10-step plan to ensure your labor of love, once published, hits the NY Times Bestseller list or Amazon's top #100.

So other than tweeting about the epic-ness of our books, and spamming all our followers to hell, what can we do? Hook up your Facebook page to twitter and you'll end up doing the same to those who've 'liked' you. 

Kiss followers of both goodbye.

Personally, I think it's better to gain faithful followers. They'll be more apt to purchase your work and spread the word of its awesomeness - IF indeed it's any good.

Now how do we get these drive by-ers to stop by, take a real look, and hopefully like us? 

How did you make friends in school? At a new job? At the gym? PTA meetings? 

By just being  YOU. Genuine old you. Share your personal experiences, likes, and dislikes. Ask the same of them. Find common ground on which to build a relationship. How can we do that in the cyber world? Here's a few ideas ...

1. Blog. Just like this. Throw your own thoughts out there and ask others what THEY think, what has worked for THEM. Visit other blogs with themes that interest you, comment, and be sure to link your siggie back to YOUR blog. Hopefully they'll return the gesture.

2. Facebook statuses can be done the same. Just with less words. But how can we gain 'likers'? I do blog hops & book blasts that include liking my page as one of the entries. 

3. Twitter, updates as well. Just with FAR fewer words. 

4. Writing forums like Scribophile or Writer's Digest Forum. 

5. Blog tribes like Triberr or Book Blogs.

6. Weekly memes like Waiting on Wednesday, Showcase Sunday or Stacking the Shelves can help you find like-minded people who love the genres you do.

7. Join Goodreads and invest some times in groups who appreciate the same tastes in literature as you.

8. Offer to host the author friends you make at your own blog. Promo posts. Blog tours. Guest posts. Remember the golden rule? Works wonders.

Honestly, there are countless ways out there. This is just what I've done.

As for gaining interest in your work, try one of the 100's of weekly memes designed for exactly that purpose. Ones such as Sexy Snippets or Free View Fridays. Offer sneak peeks, excerpts, and teasers. Do a giveaway requiring entries to tweet or fb / twitter share about your book with THEIR following.

I figure if I can get one person to pause in their 'drive by' and read more than one sentence a week, then I've succeeded. Try something new for awhile. See if it doesn't pay off.

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What do YOU blog / tweet / FB update to entice readers to pause and take notice? How did you build your fan base? 

Having To Say 'No' When I Don't Want To

I hardly know it all. Really. 

But there's something about having 'published author' attached to your name that makes people think you do. In the past 2 years I've had a few things published and I signed a 2 book deal with J. Taylor Publishing for my fantasy series, Pool of Souls, but that does NOT make me a pro in the book writing field.

Giggle-inducing enough, some people believe it does.

A handful of people have contacted me since my journey to publication has begun to sprout little seedlings, wanting to know if I would write their stories - their memoirs, their unique journeys through this life. 

Now don't get me wrong. I'm not upset by this in the least! Quite honored, actually. BUT, I'm a fiction writer. I don't have a clue about memoirs or biographies, nor would I even know where to start. 

I've even had a few pitch their own ideas / plots to me in the hopes that I would write the book for them.

Gulp.

How the heck do you say no to these people? These family members and friends who would do anything for YOU should you ask them??? NOT easy. As soon as someone says to me, "I have an idea I want to share with you" or "I'm wondering if you would be willing to write my life story ..."

Yup. That's my reaction. On the inside, anyway. 

What do I say? How do I let them down gently? HOW can I even do either???!! The non-fiction idea peeps are easier to deal with, since I honestly don't know anything about that market. Even so, I always feel like I'm offering excuses when I should be jumping at the chance to help them.

*Smash head on table*

Oh, but the others - those folks who have a plot line that just needs characters, a world, flesh, voice, and WORDS. Le sigh.

I really have a hard time telling them that it's nearly impossible (for me) to write a story that wasn't inspired within my own brain. You other writers know what I'm talking about? Yes, there are anthology calls I've submitted to, but ONLY ones that triggered an idea of my own. One my muse ran away with.

If it's not my fictional baby, my own WiP, I find it impossible to say yes. 

So, what do I do? 

Encourage them to write it on their own. It's their story, it should be in their voice, their style. THEN I offer to take a peek at it when they're finished, or send them onto a rockin' critique site like Scribophile where they can hone their craft and spit-shine that manuscript for submission.

*big cleansing breath*

How 'bout you? Can you say 'NO' when you really feel you shouldn't / don't want to? Have any ideas on what I could say for the next time it happens??

Creating The Book Cover - As Authors, Do We Have A Say?

Let’s face it – a cover can make or break a book sale. Ever walk into a bookstore, see a cover, fall in love, and purchase it without a second thought? Ever browse around, dismissing those ‘Eh’ covers? Even bestselling authors sometimes get covers wrong. It’s not always their fault, though. 

Why? 

Because every publisher does things differently, and maybe they had no say.

I’ve had three experiences so far in my scribbling sojourn with creating covers, and I wanted to share a smidge of what you might expect when this part of your manuscript-to-publication journey takes place.

Having no say

My first release / cover was for Make Believe – an anthology based on a picture prompt. The pic ended up being the cover, created by the publisher before the stories were even submitted, so bah da boom. Done. 

Easy peasy, pumpkin pie. 

No author input, no tweaking. No say, but really no biggie. I was just happy to finally have that ‘real’ publication under my belt.

Got it right the first time

The second was for Christmas Magic, another anthology, but from a different publisher. The cover was created by them and emailed to the three authors. Personally, I loved it. I felt the lone street lamp had an historical feel, and matched my historical romance short at the antho’s end. 

Nothing needed added. Nothing needed tweaked. 

They got it spot on the first time around as far as I was concerned.

Input wanted and then some

Third is my fantasy novel which releases Oct. 7^th of this year. Unfortunately I can’t share the purdy with you just yet – stop back on March 18^th for the big reveal!!!

This cover was much more involved seeing as how it is a novel. Here’s how it went down.

After I signed the 2-book series contract for Pool of Souls with J. Taylor Publishing, I received a pile of paperwork to fill out. One of them was the cover information page. On it they asked questions about the genre, subgenre, title, and theme. Then they asked if I had any special requests.

This was the first I’d been ASKED to be involved. I was stoked – but blindsided and clueless. I am NOT an artist. I can’t even draw a stick figure properly. Sad, I know.

Anyhoo. I was also given a link for their stock photos to browse through. Well. I found a pic that ended up inspiring the title for the 2^nd book of the series, which up to that point was simply known as Pool of Souls #2. Woo Hoo!

But I digress.

I suggested a few things, and emailed those sheets back. The turnaround time blew me away! Within a few weeks I got an email that said ‘Eye of the Soul Cover’.

*GULP*  Fingers trembling, I clicked on the email.

My initial thought was that the background rocked, but the rest of it was just ok. After FIVE years of slaving over a manuscript, to see the story summed up in one picture ... wow. Surreal, but it wasn't quite IT for me. The cover didn't resonate in my soul. I wanted to be blown away.

I’m a nitpicker at heart, and they did request my thoughts, so I offered back suggestions of what didn’t work for me, what images I thought might represent the story better. We ended up going through 3 rounds of tweaks, until I was thrilled. Like, stare and can’t stop grinning like an idiot, thrilled.

LOVE my Eye of the Soul cover!!!! Wish I could share it now, but alas, no can do.

Starting on March 11^th, I’m going to offer a tiny puzzle-like teaser of the cover until cover reveal day. That’s 7 teasers. Ought to be fun, don’t ya think?

The devil is in the details, says I. If given the opportunity to be involved in the cover making process, be sure it represents what lies within, and make sure to catch the eye and raise questions. Entice. Draw potential readers in like  stinking trashcans will a fresh-out-of-hibernation bear.

What kind of book cover draws your attention? What’s the one element a cover shouldn't go without?