Writers On The Move

Write Another Book, For Pete's Sake!!!

Some of the best advice I’ve heard in a while came from one of my Yahoo! Writers Groups. The discussion was promoting your book:

Member Post: You can definitely promote too much and people get sick of hearing about the author and the book. Especially if it's always the same title. I just roll my eyes and say, "Write another book, for Pete's sake"!

Simple, yet powerful. Fortunately, I recently released the follow up to Breakthrough titled Opening! Here is one of my blurbs I'm sending out:

“A scientific breakthrough of such magnitude it could radically alter the future of humanity—for better or worse—is in the wrong hands”

Stephen Tremp, author of the BREAKTHROUGH series, has a B.A. in information systems and an MBA degree in global management. Stephen has a background in information systems, management, and finance and draws from this varied and complex experiential knowledge to write one-of-a-kind thrillers.

His novels are enhanced by current events at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and other scientific research facilities around the world. These potential advances have the ability to change the way we perceive our universe and our place in it!

Stephen Tremp is author of the recently released suspense thriller OPENING, the second book in the BREAKTHROUGH series. You can visit Stephen at Breakthrough Blogs. Opening is available for download at:

Amazon for $1.99

Smashwords for $1.99

Question: What’s the latest and greatest you’re working on? Do you have anything for release on the horizon?

Your Reader Is Your Most Important Promotion Tool

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books
including The Frugal Book Promoter, now in its 2^nd edition (www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo )

Writers generally are not trained publicists. Once their books are published, they often wish they were.

It has been said that directing promotion at people who know us is 85% more effective than any other kind of advertising. Our publicists aren’t in a position to build a list this personal. Our bookseller doesn’t have access to that information. In most cases our publisher doesn’t, either. Like writing the original manuscript, this is a job that only the author can do.

Here are some guidelines for building a knock-‘em-dead mailing list that will be more effective than any you could buy and will make any promotion you choose to do more successful:

GET INFORMATION: Ask for it—all of it. Use custom designed forms at your book signing or when you speak. Use a guest book at your launch. Use the names on checks when you sell directly (at book fairs, as an example), but only as a last resort. It is nicer to have a reader’s tacit approval before using their personal information.

In addition to the basics, ask your readers for their preferences. Do they want to receive your newsletter? I ask those who purchase my novel This is the Place (www.budurl.com/ThisIsthePlace) if they would be interested in my new collection of short stories. This alerts them to the change they might expect—novel to short story—but also lets them know another book is on its way.

Ask contacts for their ideas. Do they know of an organization that would welcome you as a speaker? How can you improve your signing event?

BE CREATIVE: That’s what writers are. Apply it to your list-building craft. You already have a list for holiday cards. You have a Rolodex of handy helpers. Fellow co-workers at your day job should be added to this list. Ditto for those in your kids’ school directory. Your country club (Ha!) has a list. Members of professional organizations you belong to will be interested. The members of the e-groups to which you contribute know you (but only if you contribute—which is the whole idea!). People who write you fan letters love you. Your reviewers are candidates for your list as are your media contacts. Now add five more possibilities. I know you can do it!

CAPTURE THE INFORMATION CORRECTLY: Your largest expense in promotion is likely to be postage. Set up a system that allows you to focus your marketing to please your reader and to save mailing costs.

Your will want a data base that allows you to filter, to sort and to capture marketing information. If yours doesn’t do that, consider customizing it or setting up another system. You won’t want to waste your most valuable commodity—the name of your customer and the information that belongs to her alone.

A database is only as good as the accuracy of what is put into it. A properly designed form asks that customers print. A separate space is provided for each individual part of her address. When asking for preferences, a checklist is more effective than expecting her to recall detail (this is a tip borrowed from psychologists). Include an entry field for suggestions and one for the contact to recommend acquaintances who might be interested in your work. Ask for their e-mail. E-mail is a way to communicate with your customer instantly and FREE.

The automated system that is used to store the information you have gleaned should be set up in a form readily used by mail services. Call one to ask for parameters. Do this even if you plan to do your own mailing. When your list reaches 2,000 or more, it will be more cost-effective to out-source this task.

KNOW HOW TO ASK. My ears curled when I was at a book signing where the author asked, “Do you want to be on my mailing list?’” Address customers in such a way that they know they are being offered a perk, not more junk in their mailboxes: “I would love to have you sign up to receive my annual Christmas memento.”

Or tailor what you say to the person’s interests. If you’re speaking to a genealogy society you might say, “May I have your name so I can invite you to my next seminar on turning a personal history into a novel?" Know how to politely accept the occasional refusal, too. Peruse the form to be sure it is complete and legible. I sometimes make a note like “Purchased TITP” or code it so that I know where I met that person so I can better personalize future contacts.

To promote list-building skills, give yourself a goal. Reward yourself (maybe dessert after your signing) if you have ten new names for your file. The famous psychologist B.F. Skinner knew that learning occurs more quickly with immediate feedback.

PROMOTE THE MAILING LIST ITSELF: Millie Szerman, President of New Directions Public Relations and Marketing and author of A View from the Tub likes drawings to help overcome a customer’s natural reluctance to sign forms. Your Web site should garner names. A greeter at your book launch or other events can also glean names; you’ll find the information in a guest book more useful when it is supervised. Offer a memento to those who bring and sign up a friend.

KEEP REVISING YOUR LISTS: Send out occasional postcards. The post office returns those that are not deliverable at no charge. Use them to purge or correct outdated entries.

~Carolyn Howard-Johnson is a former publicist, journalist, and retailer who brings that experience
to her HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writer. That she is also the author of an award-winning novel and poetry helps her inform authors of the so-called hard-to-promote genres of ways they can promote, too. She blogs at www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com. Learn more about her at www.howtodoitfrugally.com. Learn more about what to do with these lists along with the all the basics of publicity from The Frugal Book Promoter, www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo.

Back Up Your Data

I work as a computer software engineer, and sad experience had taught me that backing up one's data is vital. Not just my own, but that of some of my employers, all of whom should have known better, been better prepared, or both.

The first time I encountered data loss, I shrugged it off as an aberration. I was working for a place in the west 40's in Manhattan, a little hole in the wall that did data processing for one of the large department stores that has since gone belly up. We were at lunch, in one of the many restaurants that peppered the area, when the conversation turned to smoking:

“John had given up smoking,” Colin, my boss, said, “but he took it up again when he deleted our source code. We had to restore it from backup, and he started smoking again.”

“What happened?” I asked.

A backup utility had completed unsuccessfully, leaving the data unreadable.

“But,” Colin added, “If you copy the data out and copy it back, that can't happen.”

I duly made a mental note.

The next time it was my fault. I had moved on to a new job, and I was trying to learn the ins and outs of the backup and restore utilities. I made a mistake, inserting a space before a comma, and ended up deleting the entire data set instead of just one member. My boss covered for me, and restored it from backup.

I duly made a mental note.

The next time, however, convinced me that backing up one's data is vital. I had moved on to yet another job, this time working for a large bank as what today would be called a system administrator. We had a number of specially coded routines that had to be inserted into various spots in each new release of the operating system: accounting utilities designed to keep track of resource usage for billing purposes and others designed to validate privileges for accessing data. They were stored in the same kind of file that the first place had used, and they used the same utility in the same incorrect manner.

They did have procedures that were designed to alert someone (not us) that an error had occurred, and they did back up their data. But by the time someone noticed the problem, all the good backup copies had gone out of retention.They switched to a library package, but the missing programs had to be painfully recoded. There are several lessons from this story:

Don't ever use that utility.

Always make sure that what you're doing really worked.

And consider buying a library package or finding some other way to safeguard your data.

Now a days most of us have laptops. But nothing, not even a laptop, is going to last forever, which is why I resist storing anything vital on mine.

All of which is by way of convincing you, I hope, to find a way, some way, to back up your files. Keep it in a cloud. Back it up onto a thumb drive. Find a service that will back up your data for you.

But back it up.

What do I do? I keep master copies of my work on Google documents, which is available online from any computer I care to use. It's easy to upload files and I can modify them there if I want to. I can download them again. I can share them with others, or email them a copy. I can organize my files into folders, and I can search through them easily.

And yeah, I've had to revert to backup copies.

Don't, repeat, don't, believe that it can't happen to you.

It can.

Readers: Do you back up your data? Pray it will never happen to you? Use a service? Let us know what you do and how you like it.

ROYALTY FREE MUSIC PART II

Where can you find royalty free music at no charge? There are actually quite a few musicians that offer their music under the Creative Commons License, it is sometimes just hard to find them through all the sites that ask a lot of money to use one song.

Recommendations

Some artists allow you to use their music in commercial productions whereas others only allow you to use their music in personal productions. So look at the license agreement carefully. Most music is licensed under Attribution, so in your production you should credit the author of the music. If it is a slideshow or a video presentation then you should include a credit to the artist such as:
Music By Artist Name

To play it safe, contact the artist and let them know how you are using their music. It is great that they allow you to use their music at no cost to you.

I suggest making a donation to the artist. Based on other's recommended donation amounts, I suggest that you send the artist at least $5 for each song that you use.

ROYALTY FREE MUSIC LINKS

http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/

At this website Kevin MacLeod offers his royalty free music creations under the Creative Commons License. There are many different types of instrumental music at this site.

http://www.pacdv.com/sounds/free-music.html

pacdv offers a few instrumentals for you to use royalty free. They just ask that you mention "Music by www.pacdv.com/sounds/" in your credits.

http://www.musopen.com/

Musopen is an online music library of copyright free (public domain) music. At Musopen they obtain recordings of public domain music that have no copyrights so that visitors may listen, re-use, or in any way enjoy music. Most of the music is of classical piano or symphony pieces.

http://www.taylorhayward.org/freemusic.htm

Taylor Hayward offers a few piano songs that are copyright free so you are free to use them in any way, commercial or non-commercial.

http://sonnyboo.com/music/music.htm

Offers a few songs that you can use in your productions as long as you credit the songwriter - Peter John Ross.

http://www.soundclick.com/business/license_list.cfm

I recommend that you sign up with a free account at www.soundclick.com to take full advantage of its many differnent music artsists and genres. To find royalty free music at no charge under the Creative Commons License click on the soundclick link above and then change License Type to Creative Commons (Free), select the Genre and click go.

http://derekaudette.ottawaarts.com/music.php

Derek Audette offers his royalty free music under the Creative Commons License. Most of these are instrumental pieces that are either dark, moody, or hard driving.

GeeksAreSexy.net exclusive created music with Apple Garage Band and Sony Acid that you can use. Download them here.

http://www.publicdomain4u.com/

This site contains recordings of songs that were published prior to 1922 and are now in the public domain which means the public is free to copy and use the works in any way.

http://opsound.org/

This website offers a collection of music from a variety of artists and genres under the Creative Commons License. In the left hand menu click on artists or genres.

http://www.openmusicarchive.org/

Open Music Archive offers recordings of songs that are over 50 years old so their copyright has expired in the UK so the recordings have become Public Domain. However, if you are from another country other than the UK then the recordings may not be Public Domain yet. See the FAQ for more information.

http://www.archive.org/details/audio

Dan-O at Danosongs.com has also released a number of songs, which are free for commercial or non-commercial projects with attribution. There is a pay-what-you-feel-is-fair donate button, however.

FREE MUSIC CLIPS

http://www.internetaudioguy.com/iag/freemusic/freemusic.htm

InernetAudioGuy.com usually sells royalty free audio tracks for a price but they also offer a few instrumental 30 second samples that you can use for free for anything you want.

Kathy Stemke
Award Winning Author/Educator/Freelance Writer

Trouble on Earth Day earned the Children's Literary Classics Seal of Approval

Sh Sh Sh Let the Baby Sleep won the Children's Literary Classics Seal of Approval

Royalty Free Music!

Music can spice up your website or serve as background on your book trailer. But you must respect the rights of the artist. There are lots of musical pieces in the public domain that can be used. many artists are willing to give you permission to use their work if you ask them.

If you do a search on "Royalty Free Music" or "Public Domain Music", the search results will give you several sites to explore. Some of the music will be royalty free but there may be a small cost associated with obtaining the music track. In other cases, musical artists may be willing to allow use of their music for free on your website as long as they are credited as the artist. Many of the sites provide the code (.HTML) to install on your website.

Here are some examples a friend of mine used foraccoustic guitar instrumental music. He found a fellow whose music was just what he had in mind. So, he messaged him directly and asked if he could use his music on his website and he granted him permission. He copied the .HTML code from the music site and installed a different selection (along with the widget/logo from the artist's site) on several pages of his website.

http://www.soundclick.com/kurtlewisneufer

Kathy Stemke
Award Winning Author/Educator/Freelance Writer

Trouble on Earth Day earned the Children's Literary Classics Seal of Approval

Sh Sh Sh Let the Baby Sleep won the Children's Literary Classics Seal of Approval

Keep Your Writing Goals Front and Center

As a writer, you have to move forward to keep up with the onslaught of books and authors in the book publishing arena. And, you especially need to be sure you're keeping in alignment with your writing goals. This means every now and then you need to stop to evaluate what your core goals are and if you’re actually heading in that direction.

Every marketer will tell you that the beginning of each year you need to create a list of core or major goals. It's important to make your goals realistic and obtainable, and not to burden yourself with too many goals.

Three is a good number of writing goals, not too few, not too many. Then under each goal you can list a few tasks that will you will do on a daily or weekly basis to help you reach your objectives.

In addition to creating and typing your goals down in a document, they need to be printed and kept visible. It's important to put them somewhere you'll be sure to notice on a daily basis. You might put your list on your computer, inside your laptop case, on top of your daily planner, on the inside of a kitchen cabinet you open everyday.

You get the idea, your writing goals need to be visible each and every day. Not just visible though, they need to be read each and every day.

Why is it important to keep your writing goals front and center?

Here's another question to help answer that question: Did you ever hear the expression, ‘Out of sight, out of mind?’

That's your answer.

On January 1st of 'any year,' you may tell yourself, and maybe even write it down, that you will:

1. Write a minimum of five pages of your new book each week
2. Effectively market your published books
3. Submit articles to three paying magazines on a monthly basis

Okay, that's great, but suppose it's now July and you haven't even written 10 pages of your new book, and you haven't gone past the very basics of promoting your published books.

What happened to your writing goals?

Easy. You didn’t keep your goals list front and center, so you got sidetracked.

While you may have had the best of intentions on January 1st, without keeping those writing goals visible, it’s difficult to stay on course.

Maybe you decided to add the writing of unrelated e-books to your workload. Maybe you decided to do book reviews and started a critique group of your own. Maybe you devoted too much time to social networking and your online groups.

These additions may not necessarily be a bad thing, but before you continue on, ask yourself three questions:

1. Are these additions to your workload moving you in the direction of your major writing goals?
2. Are they actually keeping you from attaining your goals?
3. Are they providing some kind of income?

If your answers to these questions are NO, YES, NO, then you need to step back, redirect your steps, and get back on track. If you keep your writing goals front and center, you’ll be amazed at how you automatically work toward achieving them.

Image courtesy of MorgueFile.com / Photographer: Gracey
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Related Articles:

Aim for Writing Success
Determination, Focus, and Perseverance

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Learn about writing and marketing with Karen Cioffi at http://karencioffiwritingandmarketing.com. Sign up for her free newsletter, A Writer’s World, and get TWO free site-related e-books for subscribing, and ONE more just for stopping by. For professional and affordable writing services check out http://dkvwriting4u.com

Teaching Through Books with Molly Nero

What captivates our young people these days? Stories. Yes, stories, but not the stories in books like we remember. Kids today are enamored by the digital device that is held in their hands or sitting in front of them as they play games to a STORY! Every video game made has some kind of plot, conflict, characters, and our kids are in charge of creating the outcome by the video “ability” they possess after hour upon hour of “gaming”. Fight it if you want, but I think relating it to stories you read in books is much more productive. You are creating a bridge between the “old school” reading and the “techno” gaming of today. Teaching lessons through books helps validate their importance and value.

Books give us an amazing teaching tool, especially when dealing with social issues. I’m a big advocate of creating purpose for skills being taught by relating them to real life experiences kids can connect to. Books help you in this process. When teaching the skill of cause and effect, the youngest learners can grasp this concept when reading a story about a boy who jumps on his bed. You ask something as simple as what happened because he jumped on his bed? The answer is he fell through the floor. You have a story that kids are hooked into because what kid doesn’t jump on his bed? But the follow through with the skill is taught through the story; therefore he fell through the floor. Books offer such enrichment to a lesson with their pictures walking the children through a story depicting a needed skill. Social issues, friend problems, acceptance, and rejection are all subjects easier for kids to learn and process with books, since you are reading about someone else and someone else’s problems, not theirs. Teaching division? Drawing cookies on the board is okay, but reading about a boy sharing the cookies on his tray as more and more friends come is relatable to your students. Every kid has to share at some point and who doesn’t want to share with their friends? Another great book helping you teach a difficult skill with a story.

Stories are a huge part of our kids’ lives though media and gaming. Books need to be as predominate, so use them to teach with. No matter what the skill; there is a book to help you teach it.

About the author: Molly Nero loves to sing, dance and read. She spent over 18 years teaching elementary school. Reading to her own children, she was inspired to write. The second book in the Smarty Pig book series Smarty Pig and the Test Taking Terror releases in Spring 2012.

Smarty Pig is the only one in the pig family who hasn’t given up on school and doing her homework. Although she is teased, her report card shows her hard work, while the others fail. The other pigs reach out to her and she becomes their tutor, by creating games in their home. They all realize learning can be fun and that it’s not just for school, it’s for life.

Get a sneak peek of the book at http://youtu.be/E2L_NS2QqgM

You can find out more about Molly Nero’s World of Ink Author/Book Tour schedule at http://storiesforchildrenpublishing.com/MollyNero.aspx. There will be giveaways, reviews, interviews, guest posts and more. Make sure to stop by and interact with Nero and the hosts at the different stops by leaving comments and/or questions.