Are We Facing E-Mageddon? By Linda Kozar

Yes, I can draw too:)

Authors, agents, publishers, retailers--are all buzzing about the same thing. The rise of ebooks and the demise of traditional publishing. But is this the E-mageddon of the publishing industry?

Let's look at a comparison that's still fresh in my mind. You and I used to own cameras that required film. We took pictures and brought that film to the local drugstore to be developed. They developed the whole roll--good shots, bad shots--everything. And we paid for it.

But one day another option became available, one that made film obsolete. Digital cameras turned the film and camera industry upside down and inside out. Some companies saw it coming, and jumped onboard, but others didn't move fast enough. Below is an excerpt from a Huffington Post article on the subject: Huffington Post Article

"Steve Sasson was working at the applied research lab at Eastman Kodak when he was asked to look into a new apparatus called a charge-coupled device. One year later, the first digital camera was born. But, while the invention changed the industry forever, it also caused the demise of one of the biggest photo companies in the world. The revolution was going to happen," Sasson says. "I didn't know when, and I didn't know how effective it would be. In the end result, the fundamental business model of Kodak was undermined by the new technology."

While the popularity of ebooks seems to be on the rise in spite of protestations to the contrary, I believe it is in our best interest as authors explore this new opportunity. Ebooks offer authors the chance to have full artistic control over their work--from cover to cover. As exciting as that is, it's also terrifying. But sink or swim, are you willing to give it a try and live with the results?

The following are some notes I took from a meeting of the Northwest Houston Romance Writers of America chapter I attended in August. The guest speaker was Mark Coker, Founder and CEO of Smashwords. He's an engaging, informative speaker. If you ever have the opportunity to hear him, don't pass it up.

What can you do to make your ebook publishing successful?

Traditional publishers are in the business of selling books and manuscripts are only valued in their eyes from that viewpoint.

Smashwords launched in 2008 and became an ebook distributor in 2009--distributing to Apple iBookstore, Barnes and Noble, Sony, Kobo (which powers the bookstores of multiple other retailers such as FNAC in France and WH Smith in the U.K.) ,Sony, Baker & Taylor (Blio.com and the Axis360 library platform), and the Diesel eBook.

How do you reach readers?

• Professional publishing (Use the free Smashwords Styleguide Book and Marketing Book).
• Write a book that markets itself (Honor the reader with a great book). Readers will determine your future as an author. You want them to become super fans and fanatical promoters.
• A Great Cover--A good one makes a promise to the reader. Be sure the thumbnail image of the cover looks good as well. One author had a really awful cover and was selling five copies a day. When she replaced that cover with a new one, she broke out and became a NYT bestseller (1,000-2,000 copies a day).

Embrace Your Obscurity--You are the brand, an idea in the target reader's mind. Give some books away for free. This is a successful tactic.

(1) Builds awareness that your book is out

(2) Builds trust with readers

(3) Builds your platform.

If you have a series, make the first book in your series permanently free (or for a couple of months). You will gain lots of reviews and you need reviews. Most of our reader's consider their time more valuable than the cost of your book.

Many of the highest grossing Smashwords authors have at least one book for free.

An ebook is immortal, yet changeable. You can alter whatever is necessary to make it succeed.

Maximize the availability of your book

If you restrict it to Amazon for 3 months (select program), you can't sell it anywhere else during that period of time. Diversify your portfolio!. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Some readers only shop at certain places.

EVERY retailer wants to carry self-pubb'd books now.

Build your platform

Social networking--Use all these tools.

Blog--Where you and your audience meet.

Mailing List--Create your own. (Don't share or sell to anyone).

A spike in sales will catch Apple's attention and they will promote you. Apple does merchandizing work, full-page promotions, etc. and you become much more desirable if you have a strong social networking presence. (5,000 FB friends)

Add a "connect with the author" at the back of every one of your books. List your social networking links, mailing list form, etc.

Your currency is in these stats.

Virality

Have your readers spread the germ of your book. The book industry has always been about word of mouth. So pass on the love bug. A Superfan will propel your career forward.

Stars

If you have 3 to 3-1/2 star rating, you need to change your book. Make the changes, fix your book and upload it again.

If you have 1 star, take it down and fix it as soon as possible. You are damaging your brand.

Viral Catalysts

Eliminate anything that gets in the way of readers and your book. 

• Cover
• Title
• Book description
• Price
• Formatting
• Wrong categorization

Unit volume is a fever for your success

• money
• readers

What to charge?

A free book gets 100x more downloads.

$  .99--underpriced. Used to be popular.

$1.99 --a black hole. Don't do it.

$2.00--most popular price point. Better. You will sell more.

$3.99--Perfect price. Right now, this price is the sweet spot for all books, fic and nonfic.

$2.99-$4.99 You will sell four times as many copies of your book.

Piracy

Don't worry about piracy--people who download your book off pirating sites. They weren't going to buy your book anyway. But the upside is you are gaining a reader.

Most piracy that happens is accidental piracy. Passing the book to others. Look at it as great marketing. The best way to combat piracy is to make your book easier to purchase. Distribute broadly.

All reading devices are tethered to ebook stores.

Resist the urge to price your ebook too high.

Pre-orders

We are beta-testing pre-orders now. Sell advance copies of your books. The reader can download a sample. Over a two month period, you can accumulate 1,000-3,000 orders. On the day of release, all the pre-orders are automatically credited the moment your book goes on sale. You spike to the top--maybe even make it to the number one slot.

Budget in extra time for a pre-order. Even one week will help give your sales a boost.

Capture the order at the time you capture the reader's attention.

One-third of readers said they would buy the book now (pre-order) as opposed to later. Two-thirds said they would wait.

Give them a discount if they order early. You can also make the pre-order price cheaper ($2.99) and after the pre-order time is up, bring it back to the regular price ($3.99).

Be sure to update all your other books. Add on your last page "Now available for pre-order).

Apple likes 4-6 week pre-orders. There are 1.5 million books in the Apple store.

Upload the full manuscript at the time of the pre-order. Upload book and cover.

Boxes sets of books reach a lot more people. Special bundles at a really low price attract buyers.

Think globally

Apple is now in 51 countries. B&N is adding other countries. Kobo too. Amazon is adding a least a dozen more. Forty percent of Apple book sales is now outside the U.S. and we believe this will trend higher.

Business

You are running a business and business requires profitability. Sales minus expenses.

You can't control your sales but you can control your expenses.

• Barter services. Instead of hiring a book cover designer or editor, try to barter services.
• Or reinvest your profits into professional editing and cover design.

Minimize expenses and maximize profits.

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My ebook publishing experience:

In March of 2013 I published Moving Tales--Adventures in Relocation to Amazon and also to Create Space, Amazon's POD print version of the book. Both are free of charge unless you opt to have a professional download the manuscript, have it edited or have a cover designed by one of their illustrators. I chose a DIY approach and had to face a huge learning curve.

I enrolled in Amazon Select because I liked the option of offering my book free up to five times per month. Eighty-one people took advantage of that offer and downloaded Moving Tales. But to date I only have two reviews.

Though Create Space (the print version) sounded like a great idea at the time, I got stuck with some glitches in downloading the manuscript and had to figure out how to fix things. I disabled the book in April and recently put it up again. But will people see it? Not likely. There's really no advertising for your book on Create Space. On Amazon, the print version will come up under your ebook version, but it looks indistinguishable from the other. Most people don't even know a print version exists.

I mentioned March of 2013, right? It's August 12th and I just finished downloading my final version of the cover and tweaked manuscript for both the ebook and print versions. Just couldn't seem to get things right. Mysterious glitches resisted fixing. Since March, I've changed the cover four times. The first cover, designed by a wonderful illustrator, didn't work for the audience I was hoping to reach. So I put one together myself. Again, that DIY part of me. Maybe I spend too much time on Pinterest. 

The first cover

I've tweaked and downloaded the manuscript fifty or sixty times. Lost count...

But I finally have it looking the way I want  on both Amazon and Create Space, and that's what counts.

To date, I haven't made a dime on the book. But the royalties are accumulating. ((sigh))

The NEW cover

I put all my eggs in the Amazon basket the first time out. But my enrollment in Amazon's Select program ends on September 3rd. On September 4th, I will hold my breath and download Moving Tales to Smashwords. 

We'll see what happens. Look for another post after that. Unless I go viral. Then I won't need to.

Fini

Linda Kozar is the co-author of Babes With A Beatitude—Devotions For Smart, Savvy Women of Faith (Hardcover/Ebook, Howard/Simon & Schuster 2009) and author of Misfortune Cookies (Print, Barbour Publishing 2008), Misfortune Cookies, A Tisket, A Casket, and Dead As A Doornail, (“When The Fat Ladies Sing Series,” eBooks, Spyglass Lane Mysteries, 2012). Strands of Fate released October 2012 (Hardcover/Ebook, Creative Woman Mysteries) and her nonfiction title, Moving Tales, Adventures in Relocation, released in 2013 (Indie-Published). She received the ACFW Mentor of the Year Award in 2007, founded and served as president of Writers On The Storm, The Woodlands, Texas ACFW chapter for three years. In 2003, she co-founded, co-directed and later served as Southwest Texas Director of Words For The Journey Christian Writers Guild.

In addition to writing Linda is Lead Host of the Gate Beautiful Radio Show, part of the Red River Network on Blog Talk Radio—interviewing Christian authors from Debut to Bestselling, airing the 3^rd Thursday of every month. She and her husband Michael, married 24 years, have two lovely daughters, Katie and Lauren and a Rat Terrier princess named Patches.

Represented by: Wendy Lawton, Books & Such Literary Agency

Member of: CAN (Christian Authors Network), RWA (Romance Writers of American), WHRWA (West Houston Romance Writers of America), ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers), Writers On The Storm, The Woodlands, Texas Chapter of ACFW, Toastmasters (Area 56) The Woodlands, Texas, The Woodlands Church, The Woodlands, TX.

Graduation Day for Bird Babies--By Linda Kozar

Mama or Daddy Bird

We've had lots of commotion around our garage today--and it has nothing to do with cars.

If you read the earlier post, I found a nest in our garage with three little wrens inside. But before we knew they were there, we went out of town for a couple of days. When we came back and heard cheeps, we felt awful. But the mama, and it turns out, the daddy bird as well soon returned to feed and nurture their babies.

Our daily delight, was to watch as the diminutive parents flew in and out of the garage, wiggling insects clamped in their beaks. Yesterday I peeked into the nest and noticed the birds looked more like--well--birds than babies. And this morning, they decided to leave the nest.

Lots of chirping on the fence and in the garage alerted us that something was going on. And it seemed there were a lot more of the little birds around than usual. In addition, I heard chirps, not little cheep cheeps from inside the garage. That's when I noticed this little fellow under my daughter's car. He came out in time for a photo op!

One of the babies

I noticed movement as they hopped underneath the other car too. The parents chirped some sort of danger signal and grew more and more agitated with me around, so I decided to watch from the kitchen window instead.

As I did, I saw something wonderful. The mama or papa bird (can't tell them apart) chirped to one of the babies and then flew on top of the fence. The baby followed and chirped as well. Then the parent chirped again and flew to a small tree nearby and the baby followed, though it flew in a tentative way.

I walked into the garage. The cheeps and chirps were no more, our garage returned to its former state, a small building filled with cars and boxes, smells of motor oil and fertilizer. Tip-toeing to the nest, I tilted it downward to look inside.

Empty.

I smiled. The babies, my babies had surely flown the coop--all three of them. A few flying lessons from their parents, some instruction on catching tasty insects and they'd be on their way.

I sighed. Happy, yes happy that my husband and I can finally close the garage door again...

What A Little Bird Taught Me--By Linda Kozar

Baby Birdies, beaks wide open.

I'm happy, really really happy today. But is it because my oldest daughter just graduated from college with on a B.A. in Psychology on Friday? Sure, I'm elated about that. But that's not why I'm so happy.

My graduate!!!

When we arrived home on Saturday evening (gone Friday and most of Saturday for the graduation ceremony at Baylor), my husband asked me if I heard chirping in the garage. I did indeed! And after a little searching I found a nest on a shelf inside an empty box of Lipton Tea. Three tiny baby birds lifted bright yellow beaks in response to my scrutiny and my heart melted.

Finding the bird babies was wonderful until I realized the garage had been closed for two days. Hopeful the mama would return, we kept the garage door open. The birdies cheeped and cheeped, bulbous eyes, beaks wide open for hours, and I started to worry about them. What if the mama didn't come back?

I prayed for them--asked Jesus to send the mama back. Though it sounds pathetic, I went to bed sad and disheartened about the little birdies who would surely die without nourishment. 

The next day I put off checking on them until after church. I was afraid of what I'd find. That scene from "The English Patient" came to mind--you know, when Count Lazlo went back into the cave knowing his beloved Katherine was long past the help he'd crossed the desert for. I held my breath and tipped the box to the side. No movement...

My heart sank. I told my husband, my mom and mom-in-law the birdie babies were dead...or close to it. I did notice one of them move a little though, but then he sort of wilted backwards into the nest. 

My husband told me he'd bury them later. I swallowed a lump in my throat.

For some reason though, I went back to check on them about a half hour later and voila! They moved and cheeped, beaks wide open. I could have done cartwheels!

Riding the wave of emotion, I decided to dig for worms.

Yes, me--the squeamish one. I troweled my way through the garden and dug up some worms. It's really not that hard. Worms are all over the place. My mom-in-law pitched in and started digging as well. Between the two of us, we found four worms. Then, without hesitation, I cut a couple of them into pieces with a plastic knife and fed them to the birdies with a tweezer!

I put the babies back in their original spot and sat down on the patio with my mom and mom-in-law to prep for the next feeding. About a half hour later, as we sat there--wonder of wonders, we heard a series of chirps from inside the garage! Then we noticed a tiny bird hop from shelf to shelf and fly to the nest! 

The mama bird returned to feed her little ones! Hurray! We cheered! We praised the Lord! And we watched the mama return again and again to feed her babies. ((sigh))

So now you know why I'm happy, really happy about three little baby birdies. Why do I care so much? Because our Father in heaven does. His heart is so tender towards us and everything He created.

But now that I'm past worrying about bird babies, and digging up worms in the garden, I'm back to walking on clouds about my own baby girls. My youngest will graduate in two more years. ((sigh)).

Matthew 10:29 "Are not two little sparrows sold for a penny? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s leave (consent) and notice."

A small shelf to the right of the shears--where the next is.

My first meeting with the Birdie Babies.

One yellow beak poised to eat.

A Visit With Author Sherry Kyle--By Linda Kozar

Links: 

website: www.sherrykyle.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Sherry-Kyle/194852293891406

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sherrykyle

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/sherrykylebooks/

 Sherry Kyle

Sherry Kyle writes books for girls, as well as novels that “reunite hearts and connect lives.” Abingdon Press released her debut novel, Delivered with Love, in 2011. The Heart Stone, her second contemporary women's fiction, releases in April 2013. Sherry is the recipient of a Gold Mom’s Choice Award that honors excellence in family-friendly media, products, and services for The Christian Girl’s Guide to Style. She is a member of CAN, as well as ACFW. Sherry and her husband Douglas have four children and live by the ocean on California’s central coast. www.sherrykyle.com

1. Have you always wanted to be a writer? If so, when did you decide to pursue it?

I’ve always been creative and won awards for art, interpretive reading, and a story I wrote in fourth grade titled Friends Can Be So Mean, but it wasn’t until I read children’s books to my kids that I thought about becoming a writer.

2. How did you get your first contract?

Surprisingly, I received my first contract from an unsolicited submission. I called the publishing house and asked if they were still accepting submissions for an existing series for 8-12 year old girls. They were, so I tailored my manuscript and proposal to fit their format. The editor called me a couple of months later, and told me they’d like to offer me a contract. I was thrilled!

3. There are so many writers out there trying to get published for the first time, but what they don't realize is, it's just as hard to continue to get published. What advice would you give to published writers who are stuck in that phase?

Yes, it’s always hard to get the next book contract, but perseverance is a must if you want to continue in the field of writing. I can totally relate. Even though I’ve signed 5 book contracts, my proposals still get rejected. It’s tough. Recently, a publisher declined my proposal after they asked me to change some things and resubmit. A few months ago, an editor rejected a proposal after having it on her desk for a year and a half. Writing is definitely not for the faint of heart, but if you can stick it out, there will be another book contract—God willing.

4. Tell us the most touching thing you've heard back from someone whose life was impacted by reading your book(s).

I love hearing from my readers. I receive e-mails and Facebook messages that bring a smile to my face. One reader shared her marriage struggles and how the message of forgiveness in my debut novel, Delivered with Love, strengthened her marriage. Another reader told me she plans to bring The Heart Stone on her 50^thwedding anniversary trip to Paris, France.

5. Is marketing your least favorite part of the process or are you learning to love it?

How did you know marketing was my least favorite part? (I’m chuckling!) I’m learning that marketing is part of my job as a writer and that it’s important for me to help spread the word. After all, who knows my story better than me? Honestly, I’d love for the book to speak for itself, but when writers partner with their publisher the chances of the message reaching more people is greater. For The Heart Stone, I had a book trailer made, a new website created, and have been on a number of blogs, including this one. Thanks, Linda!

6. How do you juggle family life and writing life?

I’m fortunate in that I don’t have another job outside of writing, and I write while my four kids are in school. Now that my oldest is twenty and my other three are teenagers they understand when I have a deadline or need time to write, but I try to stop when they come home from school. This week is tough because they are on spring break and want to go somewhere, but I need to stay close to home to plan my book launch party and keep up with the marketing for The Heart Stone.

7. What's next for Sherry Kyle? New books swimming around in your head? 

Currently I’m working on two projects, middle grade fiction as well as another contemporary story set in California. I also have two more books for girls coming out in the near future. The Girl’s Guide to Your Dream Room is scheduled to release this summer.

The Heart Stone, (Abingdon Press, April 2013)

Delivered with Love, (Abingdon Press, 2011)
The Christian Girl's Guide to Style, (Legacy Press, 2010),
Winner of a Mom's Choice Award
www.sherrykyle.com

Are you moving any time soon? By Linda Kozar

A message from Linda Kozar:

I've moved twelve times in my life, so far and that's just average. How many times have YOU moved?

Moving Tales, Adventures in Relocation is an anthology of true stories about moving. You'll enjoy reading about other people who relocated and re-motivated after their moving adventures.

For instance, the disastrous move Connie Power and her family went through...

A Murphy’s Law Move

By Connie Power

Of the seventeen moves my husband and I made in our thirty years of marriage, one was particularly memorable.

My husband and I had just sold our larger house in Arlington, Texas and were excited about an anticipated move to Colleyville. Our two oldest children were in college and our youngest would be starting his senior year of high school in the fall. We could now purchase a comfy, smaller home and trade time spent attending youth sports activities and doing yard work for more time for the two of us to pursue our own interests. We were very excited about discovering just what those might be!

Our pert, super-efficient, female real estate agent had done a remarkable job selling the house for us. She knew it well because she had sold it to us six years before. Knowing our propensity for relocating, she had kept in touch, driving over from her office in Grapevine each Christmas to deliver a very handsome gift. No stale fruitcakes from Julie Ann! She was, however, extremely vexed that she had been unable to find a house for us to purchase yet, but I had assured her that we could manage in a nice apartment for a month or two while we kept looking for a house.

Moving day arrived and while we waited for the expensive hourly movers to arrive, my husband was on his computer, giving away as many of our belongings as possible, so we wouldn’t have to pay to move them, store them, and move them again. Since we thought we would be buying another home within a month or two, we decided to use PODS, which are portable storage containers. Theoretically, your belongings can stay in the rented POD at the storage location until needed, saving wear and tear on furniture and other treasured possessions.

The man in charge of our move was Tony. The man had sworn up and down that he and his crew were experts at loading PODS. I had insisted on hiring the movers myself because my husband might have hired someone incompetent . . .

This is a good place to interject that while in the middle of last minute packing the day before, I had just found out that our oldest son, Justin, would be in from UT that weekend. He had to take the train from Austin to Ft. Worth because we had taken away his car (long story). I had no idea why he wanted to come for a visit, but didn’t give the matter much thought. I had more important things on my mind.

That drizzly morning, before the movers arrived, I walked one of our friends out to her car, apologizing that my husband had already given away the bookcase she wanted. Our driveway was on a steep incline (a hill, really) and the combination of my flat tennis shoes with rubber soles, the wet pavement, and my inattention, produced a disastrous effect. 

Suddenly my feet flew out from under me and my entire body was catapulted against the concrete. As I lay on the driveway, struggling to stay conscious, I somehow managed to reassure my friend I was all right. But I was far from all right.

I don’t remember how my husband found out what had happened. He was inside the house, still trying to give away our stuff, but I do remember asking him in a weak voice to call an ambulance.

I honestly thought I had broken my tailbone. Somehow, I had managed to scoot a couple of inches onto the wet grass, where I battled nausea and loss of consciousness. While waiting there for the ambulance and the expensive hourly movers, a morbid thought crossed my mind.

Is this it? Is this how I’m destined to meet my Maker? Wet, broken, and waiting on yet another moving van?

The ambulance finally arrived. After the X-ray in the hospital showed nothing was broken, I asked to be released as soon as possible. I needed to be at home to oversee the movers, though I still couldn’t stand up straight or lift anything.

My husband was home, in the midst of the move, so he sent our son, Justin, to pick me up at the hospital—an action that did nothing to relieve my stress level. But eventually I was back home—which is when the day actually got worse.

As I mentioned before, Tony was the supposed “brains” of the moving operation. But the man kept getting into long conversations with anyone about anything that would keep him from working or paying attention to important details.

Then it finally dawned on me why our son had come in from college that weekend. He thought he might be able to get his car back from us (long story). Fat chance. So my husband had to leave in the middle of everything to take him back to the train station.

Next, I discovered that the movers had placed our boxes of breakable items on the bottom of the stacks in the POD. Our expensive leather couch was packed standing on its arm!

That night, many hours after the whole moving fiasco should have been over, one of the movers fell through the roof in the garage! Thankfully, he wasn’t hurt. But I sure wanted to hurt someone.

After about a month, things were looking up. The pain in my tailbone and spine subsided. We hired different guys to unload our PODs and moved them to a house we’d leased short term. However, our “short term” leasing situation lasted for over a year.

But the good news is, a few months later we let Justin have his car back. 

Linda Kozar is the co-author of Babes With A Beatitude—Devotions For Smart, Savvy Women of Faith (Hardcover/Ebook, Howard/Simon & Schuster 2009) and author of Misfortune Cookies (Print, Barbour Publishing 2008), Misfortune Cookies, A Tisket, A Casket, and Dead As A Doornail, (“When The Fat Ladies Sing Series,” eBooks, Spyglass Lane Mysteries, 2012). Strands of Fate released October 2012 (Hardcover/Ebook, Creative Woman Mysteries) and her nonfiction title, Moving Tales, Adventures in Relocation, released in 2013 (Indie-Published). She received the ACFW Mentor of the Year Award in 2007, founded and served as president of Writers On The Storm, The Woodlands, Texas ACFW chapter for three years. In 2003, she co-founded, co-directed and later served as Southwest Texas Director of Words For The Journey Christian Writers Guild. She and her husband Michael, married 24 years, have two lovely daughters, Katie and Lauren and a Rat Terrier princess named Patches.

Represented by: Wendy Lawton, Books & Such Literary Agency

Member of: CAN (Christian Authors Network), RWA (Romance Writers of American), WHRWA (West Houston Romance Writers of America), ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers), Writers On The Storm, The Woodlands, Texas Chapter of ACFW, Toastmasters (Area 56) The Woodlands, Texas, The Woodlands Church, The Woodlands, TX.

Linda Kozar is the author of six books. Her latest, titled “Moving Tales, Adventures in Relocation,” is a collection of stories from people who experienced the good, the bad and the ugly when they moved. www.lindakozar.com  http://bookishdesires.blogspot.com