How are things going for you? Good? Sometimes the difference between good and great can be made in the changing of a number, moving a section of text to a different location, or a slight change in formatting. For example, the change in the format of the blog posts is very minor, but might make sharing to Facebook more effective. Back posts will soon share the same heading format, and may gain heightened visibility, with a minimum of effort. And that's what we need to do in our businesses: maximize our efforts. It might be something as simple as having someone search out all your advertisements and critique them so they can be altered as needed. Or regularly reviewing your AdWords campaigns to weed out nonperforming segments and keywords, retarget audiences, format different ad sizes, etc. The latter is something that needs done in my advertising. The target markets are tightened down so much, only one person has seen the new display ad, and they didn't click it. Raising the maximum cpc was the only thing that enabled that viewing, and the ads that were designed are awkward sizes, probably not usable on many websites. Those are a lot of details, and they still need worked on. But since the foundation is in place, every step in the right direction will open up new doors, new contacts, new customers, and ultimately, new streams of revenue. And while revenue is not why we do what we do, it allows us to continue to do what we love to do.
So keep on doing what you love, just pay a little more attention.
The Blademage Saga (And Other Assorted Literary Endeavors)
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Tuesday Tip: November 20th
When can I write?
Since Apprentice Swordceror went live on Kindle, there has been precious little time for working on the sequel. So much more effort has been needed to keep up with the first book, the second has had to take a backseat. That's no good for me, the series, or the now thousands of people that are looking forward to the next installment in The Blademage Saga.
Therefore, things must change. Going forward, the business side of this venture will be mainly managed by my wife, Carrie. Her help with the day to day operations, scheduling, and monitoring of the whole thing should free my time up to continue with the creative side. It should also help channel her talent for nagging to a productive place. Hopefully it's a win-win. We'll just have to wait and see.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Update!
Refreshed the information in the Upcoming Events section, tweaked a few other pages.
Most important is the event tonight at the Ontario Community Library at 7pm.
Details at www.ontariocommunitylibrary.org. It'll be nice to see who else is in the business in this corner of the world.
Hope to see you there!
Most important is the event tonight at the Ontario Community Library at 7pm.
Details at www.ontariocommunitylibrary.org. It'll be nice to see who else is in the business in this corner of the world.
Hope to see you there!
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Tuesday Talk: November 13th
Tuesday Talk this week features local author JoEllen Claypool, whose works include 'Realistic Tips to Being a Pastor's Wife' and 'A Realist's Guide to Being a Pastor's Wife'.
Q: JoEllen, these seem like pretty serious titles. What was the road to writing them like for you?
A: The road to writing A Realist's Guide to Being a Pastor's Wife began when my husband and I were thrown into a ministry position seven years ago. I was searching the library shelves for anything that would tell me what my role was. I could find no resource to help me. Toni Morrison says, "If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." So I did. Honestly, when I set out to write it, my heart was to warn people - "Don't get into the ministry!" But as I started writing I realized the times when my attitude needed adjusting. I wanted to give new people coming into the ministry an idea of what to expect as well as give people in the congregation an idea of what goes on behind the scenes so they know how to encourage their ministry leaders.
It was definitely an overwhelming process. Writing it was the easy part. All the other little steps to getting it to the final stages about put me over the edge. In fact my husband threatened many times that he was going to ground me from my book project if I didn't quit my bawling. He said, "This is supposed to be a blessing not have you in tears every day." So I did have to walk away from it for periods of time just to save my own sanity.
Q: How is it working with your publisher, Valley Walker Press?
A. Working with Valley Walker Press was great (considering it is me). I did choose the self publishing route and I will tell you why. I wanted to keep the rights to the work that I produced and although I knew the cost would all fall on me, I also knew that cost would all come back to me. The book I sell for $10.00, I get the full $10.00. I do not have to give a percentage to another publisher. To me, self publishing is just good business. I had some work published last year through a traditional publisher and learned a lot. The one thing I was not clear on was the fact that I had given up my rights to my work and now have to ask permission to use it again. I wanted to have more control over the decisions that were made regarding my writing. Also, my husband and I want to write books together one day and I have a couple other people that I would like to help get published so my ultimate goal is to one day become a traditional publisher and be able to do that. It is exhiliarating seeing your own work in book form and I want to give that feeling to other new authors.
Q: Can you tell us what avenues you have taken to market your works?
A: As far as marketing, I have a lot to learn. My first step was to make it available for the Kindle through Amazon. I then made a .99 booklet named Realistic Tips to Being a Pastor's Wife that outlined the main book in tip form with an information page at the end leading to A Realist's Guide to Being a Pastor's Wife. I also had a lot of fun creating a couple of Youtube videos. A friend of mine took some silly and some serious pictures of me that I put captions to and named one of the videos The Real Faces of a Pastor's Wife. The second video, the pictures go along with one of my poems in the book. I told my friend, "Maybe I should have someone who doesn't know the pastor's wife take these pictures. You've probably seen faces on me that I am not aware of; like rolling my eyes." I did lots of promoting on Facebook, Twitter and email to send people to my links for the videos and ebook. Once it came out in print, the real work began. I sent out press releases to the local newspapers and approached my hometown paper in Gillette, WY who did an interview article for me. I wrote letters to libraries and Bible colleges and churches to get the word out but have found most sales to come from personal interaction. I walk into the the local libraries and bookstores and give my pitch as to why this book would be a great addition to their shelves. Then, of course, book signings. It never hurts to ask, is what I have learned. Coffee shops are a great place for signings. I have participated in holiday bazaars and the local farmer's markets, any function that you can get exposed. There are many places that it does not cost to set up a booth or they ask for a small percentage of your sales. I also belong to the Idaho Authors Community which enables me to do group book signings. We did one at a coffee shop in Boise and at the Karcher Mall. We are just starting out but our goal is to hit every county in Idaho to get the names of local authors out there. It is also a great time to connect with other authors and zone in on their talents. We have illustrators and editors that we can draw from for help with our own book projects so it is a great deal.
Q: Are you currently working on anything else? Where do you see your writing career heading?
A: I have many ideas that I want to write on all the way from poetry to cookbooks, Sunday School curriculums to more serious topics, but think that my next project will be in the area of children's books so that I can have a wider audience and have the opportunity to do more events in libraries. I have been using the strategy of thinking what was hard for me to find on the book shelves when my kids and I were looking for certain topics. By this time next year I hope to have two or three books available on my tables. As I said earlier, my husband and I want to promote books together and he is working on some Bible studies and helps of his own.
Q: Do you remember the time I tried to sell you a vacuum?
A: (Laughing) I do remember when you tried to sell us a vacuum! I also remember being very bummed out that I couldn't buy one. I hope your book isn't as expensive as the vacuum!
Chris: It certainly is not! I was pretty bummed you couldn't buy one, as well. Well, thank you for your time, and your contribution to the literary world.
If you are interested in checking out JoEllen's book, you can find it here at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008EYONAC.
You can contact her at: valleywalkerpress@hotmail.com, or visit JoEllen’s author page at: http://www.facebook.com/JoEllenClaypoolAuthor.
Watch a video of her poem 'I am a Pastor’s Wife' at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhcXUKEgkbA, or 'Real Faces of a Pastor’s Wife' at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOckAl6wHKg.
Q: JoEllen, these seem like pretty serious titles. What was the road to writing them like for you?
A: The road to writing A Realist's Guide to Being a Pastor's Wife began when my husband and I were thrown into a ministry position seven years ago. I was searching the library shelves for anything that would tell me what my role was. I could find no resource to help me. Toni Morrison says, "If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." So I did. Honestly, when I set out to write it, my heart was to warn people - "Don't get into the ministry!" But as I started writing I realized the times when my attitude needed adjusting. I wanted to give new people coming into the ministry an idea of what to expect as well as give people in the congregation an idea of what goes on behind the scenes so they know how to encourage their ministry leaders.
It was definitely an overwhelming process. Writing it was the easy part. All the other little steps to getting it to the final stages about put me over the edge. In fact my husband threatened many times that he was going to ground me from my book project if I didn't quit my bawling. He said, "This is supposed to be a blessing not have you in tears every day." So I did have to walk away from it for periods of time just to save my own sanity.
Q: How is it working with your publisher, Valley Walker Press?
A. Working with Valley Walker Press was great (considering it is me). I did choose the self publishing route and I will tell you why. I wanted to keep the rights to the work that I produced and although I knew the cost would all fall on me, I also knew that cost would all come back to me. The book I sell for $10.00, I get the full $10.00. I do not have to give a percentage to another publisher. To me, self publishing is just good business. I had some work published last year through a traditional publisher and learned a lot. The one thing I was not clear on was the fact that I had given up my rights to my work and now have to ask permission to use it again. I wanted to have more control over the decisions that were made regarding my writing. Also, my husband and I want to write books together one day and I have a couple other people that I would like to help get published so my ultimate goal is to one day become a traditional publisher and be able to do that. It is exhiliarating seeing your own work in book form and I want to give that feeling to other new authors.
Q: Can you tell us what avenues you have taken to market your works?
A: As far as marketing, I have a lot to learn. My first step was to make it available for the Kindle through Amazon. I then made a .99 booklet named Realistic Tips to Being a Pastor's Wife that outlined the main book in tip form with an information page at the end leading to A Realist's Guide to Being a Pastor's Wife. I also had a lot of fun creating a couple of Youtube videos. A friend of mine took some silly and some serious pictures of me that I put captions to and named one of the videos The Real Faces of a Pastor's Wife. The second video, the pictures go along with one of my poems in the book. I told my friend, "Maybe I should have someone who doesn't know the pastor's wife take these pictures. You've probably seen faces on me that I am not aware of; like rolling my eyes." I did lots of promoting on Facebook, Twitter and email to send people to my links for the videos and ebook. Once it came out in print, the real work began. I sent out press releases to the local newspapers and approached my hometown paper in Gillette, WY who did an interview article for me. I wrote letters to libraries and Bible colleges and churches to get the word out but have found most sales to come from personal interaction. I walk into the the local libraries and bookstores and give my pitch as to why this book would be a great addition to their shelves. Then, of course, book signings. It never hurts to ask, is what I have learned. Coffee shops are a great place for signings. I have participated in holiday bazaars and the local farmer's markets, any function that you can get exposed. There are many places that it does not cost to set up a booth or they ask for a small percentage of your sales. I also belong to the Idaho Authors Community which enables me to do group book signings. We did one at a coffee shop in Boise and at the Karcher Mall. We are just starting out but our goal is to hit every county in Idaho to get the names of local authors out there. It is also a great time to connect with other authors and zone in on their talents. We have illustrators and editors that we can draw from for help with our own book projects so it is a great deal.
Q: Are you currently working on anything else? Where do you see your writing career heading?
A: I have many ideas that I want to write on all the way from poetry to cookbooks, Sunday School curriculums to more serious topics, but think that my next project will be in the area of children's books so that I can have a wider audience and have the opportunity to do more events in libraries. I have been using the strategy of thinking what was hard for me to find on the book shelves when my kids and I were looking for certain topics. By this time next year I hope to have two or three books available on my tables. As I said earlier, my husband and I want to promote books together and he is working on some Bible studies and helps of his own.
Q: Do you remember the time I tried to sell you a vacuum?
A: (Laughing) I do remember when you tried to sell us a vacuum! I also remember being very bummed out that I couldn't buy one. I hope your book isn't as expensive as the vacuum!
Chris: It certainly is not! I was pretty bummed you couldn't buy one, as well. Well, thank you for your time, and your contribution to the literary world.
If you are interested in checking out JoEllen's book, you can find it here at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008EYONAC.
You can contact her at: valleywalkerpress@hotmail.com, or visit JoEllen’s author page at: http://www.facebook.com/JoEllenClaypoolAuthor.
Watch a video of her poem 'I am a Pastor’s Wife' at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhcXUKEgkbA, or 'Real Faces of a Pastor’s Wife' at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOckAl6wHKg.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Tuesday Talk: November 6th
Trying something different, showcasing other local talent.
My local writer this week is Reuben Smith from Payette.
Q: Reuben, having read some of your novel, it seems to fall into the category of Space Opera. Is that the feel you wanted for it, and could you tell us a bit more about the story?
A: Generally, I wanted the readers to feel the vastness and distance between the key worlds and subsequent governments that are all subject under a single Federation. I also tried to incorporate many of the traditional fantasy races such as trolls, orcs, and elves into my world. While all these fantasy races are human (or started as human) I wanted there to be a distinct difference between them that the readers could pick up on easily. One example would be the race Grendall (Trolls), the Grendall were genetically engineered from human DNA to be about 15 feet tall and weigh about 1200 pounds.
The story takes place about 2000 years after a series of planets were terraformed. Each planet was developed with the basics of society, but each was individually given a strength that was supposed to help the Federation function as a whole. An example would be one system houses most of the Federation’s universities while another is superior in food processing. This worked well except one planet did not advance technologically and is always preyed upon by the others for slave trafficking.
Q: How long have you known you wanted to write a book, and when did you actually start writing?
A: I had wanted to write a book since high school and I have had many ideas floating around in my head book wise for years. However I did not start writing until about a year ago.
Q: Where do you draw your inspiration from when you write?
A: Much of my inspiration came from multiple sources. Frank Herbert’s Dune always intrigued me as with most any book written by Vernor Vinge. I threw in a mix of ancient Roman society and their views on slavery along with some Civil War era emancipation. I also pulled some inspiration from the story Beowulf. Much of my book also pays homage to other forms of media, such as Final Fantasy 7 or the anime Trigun.
Q: Writing is not paying your bills, yet. What else do you have going on in the meanwhile?
A: Currently I am working at Kmart in Ontario and running my own little side business. I have been making/modifying costumes, stage props, and other small man crafts. I have also begun recycling some industrial junk and making it into useable items that are generally steampunk in nature.
Q: When can we look forward to seeing your book for sale?
A: I hope to be finished in late spring/early summer 2013.
Thanks for your time, keep us updated on your progress!
My local writer this week is Reuben Smith from Payette.
Q: Reuben, having read some of your novel, it seems to fall into the category of Space Opera. Is that the feel you wanted for it, and could you tell us a bit more about the story?
A: Generally, I wanted the readers to feel the vastness and distance between the key worlds and subsequent governments that are all subject under a single Federation. I also tried to incorporate many of the traditional fantasy races such as trolls, orcs, and elves into my world. While all these fantasy races are human (or started as human) I wanted there to be a distinct difference between them that the readers could pick up on easily. One example would be the race Grendall (Trolls), the Grendall were genetically engineered from human DNA to be about 15 feet tall and weigh about 1200 pounds.
The story takes place about 2000 years after a series of planets were terraformed. Each planet was developed with the basics of society, but each was individually given a strength that was supposed to help the Federation function as a whole. An example would be one system houses most of the Federation’s universities while another is superior in food processing. This worked well except one planet did not advance technologically and is always preyed upon by the others for slave trafficking.
Q: How long have you known you wanted to write a book, and when did you actually start writing?
A: I had wanted to write a book since high school and I have had many ideas floating around in my head book wise for years. However I did not start writing until about a year ago.
Q: Where do you draw your inspiration from when you write?
A: Much of my inspiration came from multiple sources. Frank Herbert’s Dune always intrigued me as with most any book written by Vernor Vinge. I threw in a mix of ancient Roman society and their views on slavery along with some Civil War era emancipation. I also pulled some inspiration from the story Beowulf. Much of my book also pays homage to other forms of media, such as Final Fantasy 7 or the anime Trigun.
Q: Writing is not paying your bills, yet. What else do you have going on in the meanwhile?
A: Currently I am working at Kmart in Ontario and running my own little side business. I have been making/modifying costumes, stage props, and other small man crafts. I have also begun recycling some industrial junk and making it into useable items that are generally steampunk in nature.
Q: When can we look forward to seeing your book for sale?
A: I hope to be finished in late spring/early summer 2013.
Thanks for your time, keep us updated on your progress!
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