An iconoclast examines fiction writing – lesson four of five…
[Many readers of this blog are familiar with my unconventional and acerbic opinions about the writing business—see the posts archived in the “Writing” category of this blog. I recently saw something about SkillShare, so I thought maybe it was time to distill some of those ideas into a short course on fiction writing for would-be authors. You’re in luck. A perusal of that site’s offerings about writing didn’t impress me at all. So, here’s my short and unconventional course—and it’s free!
Actually, like any Irish whiskey, this little course is thrice distilled—a development over the years of my own ideas about writing, the afore-mentioned blog posts, and now this mini-course. You might not like some of the things I say because I don’t sugarcoat my opinions. That’s too bad. They’re my honest opinions at this stage in my writing career. BTW, while readers might enjoy my points of view, this is mostly for indie writers, but traditionally published authors who aren’t Patterson’s workers on his book-writing assembly line, or other Big Five old stallions, i.e. midlist authors, can benefit too. Without further comment, here’s lesson four.]
An Iconoclast Examines Fiction Writing
Lesson Four: You’ll Need Help
There are three hurdles to jump through along the track to publishing and marketing your book: producing a polished MS, turning it into a book, and letting people know about you and your book. Every author has to jump through these hurdles. A traditional publisher will do most of the second step but usually very little of the third (more on this later). This lesson is for the indie writer. S/he’ll usually need help with some of that second hurdle.
Again, King ignores all this in On Writing. He can afford not to give a shit, of course, and probably hasn’t worried about these issues since he wrote and sold newspapers and stories in high school. He probably doesn’t know Arial font from Times New Roman either. You should be aware of these issues and seek help when you need it. You’re not King. He lives in a different universe now. You can perhaps ascend to that plane of existence someday, but you won’t if you don’t pay attention to details King doesn’t worry about.
Formatting. You’re faced with a plethora of ebook formats. You want a paper version of your book. These are multiple formatting chores. While it’s possible to go DIY here, it’s time consuming and there are multiple learning curves in order to negotiate all the different bureaucracies at Kindle Direct Publishing (mobi formats), Smashwords (all formats, but based on epub), and Create Space (POD)—these are the main ways to produce your indie book. Given these complications, you might want help with the formatting. This runs the gamut from informal to formal (the latter often takes a cut of future royalties if the organization accepts your book).
Deciding on formats is important. Most are investments of your time and money. Beyond ebooks and pbooks (paper versions), there are audiobooks. Given current trends, I wouldn’t be surprised if multimedia books aren’t in our future. I’m a bit old to jump on that bandwagon, but the idea of replacing non-words describing sounds is still attractive! (A silencer on a gun produces a pfft!, but that non-word doesn’t begin to carry all the emotional content when the detective hears that sound.)
A lot of formatting can be done DIY. If you’re just beginning, you’ll have an enormous learning curve to learn the ropes. Pbooks are especially challenging; audiobooks even more so. If you have any doubts (or simply don’t want to spend the time), reasonably cost help is available. And, for audiobooks, never read your own books unless you have a voice like James Earl Jones.
ISBNs and all that. You’ll want a different ISBN for all four modalities listed above. You’ll want to maybe include a few review excerpts. You should thank your reader at the end and ask him for a review. You’ll want an acknowledgement section and an author’s bio (include a pic). And don’t forget to include online info, like URLs for your website, Goodreads, and other sites. And, most of all, make sure you have a damn good story. (Beyond the ISBN, how do you do all that in an audiobook? I have no idea! Those who do can weigh in with comments to this post.)
Proofing. “Wait!” you say. “I did that.” Nope. You edited that MS into polished perfection. Formatting it into an ebook or print book or creating an audiobook can introduce all kinds of errors. A line or paragraph might get dropped. Italics are often lost, for example (not important in an audiobook, I suppose), and you might need to make a list of special characters for your ebook and pbook formatter (even if your formatter is you). You (or someone else) isn’t content or copy editing here—you’re checking the final version of your book to ensure it’s as pristine as your MS was.
Don’t release a book until it’s been proofed. All the most common ways to publish a book—Kindle, Smashwords, and Create Space—permit final adjustments. These organizations want to sell your books, and they know a professional looking book is one of the first requirements for that. Proofing clearly doesn’t require as much time as editing does, but it’s essential. The more complicated and lengthy your prose is, the more chances there are for formatting errors.
Cover design. DIY isn’t recommended at all. Downloading stock covers is better. Hiring an artist to make a professional and original cover is even better. You’re a writer—it’s unlikely you’re also a good artist. Your cover (and your title) should be related to your story in some way. Stock covers often fail in that regard, but not always. And abstract design is fine for linoleum floors, but it doesn’t look good on a book cover. (I need to redo a few of my covers. Yeah, I cut corners I shouldn’t have!)
Cover design for a print book is even more complicated. Ebooks don’t have spines or back covers, but print books do. On a shelf, a reader is likely to see all three. While the cover doesn’t make the book, an attractive cover can attract readers. And every format, ebook or print, will have a thumbnail at an online retailer that can and should attract readers too.
Many graphic artists make book covers. The pricing is all over the board, though. Again, the adage “You get what you pay for” isn’t necessarily true. Well-established artists can be expensive; ones getting started often less so but just as good. And, if you establish a relationship with your cover artist, s/he might give you deals even when s/he hits the big time (maybe not if you hit it)!
Bottom line. You’ve worked hard on your book. You don’t want to mess it up on the final steps before its release. Hire pros when you need to. That might require shopping around, but you want a final product you’re proud of. So do your retail outlets.
A note for traditionally published writers. You don’t have to concern yourself much with the above. Nevertheless, if you can manage to avoid the “we’ll take care of it” attitude of your publisher (meaning, of course, “You have no damn say in this because we know best!”) and be on top of some of these things, that personal touch might bring big dividends in the long run. I’ve seen many traditionally published books that needed more TLC in these steps than the traditional publisher gave (s/he’s always trying to save money, you know, unless you’re Stephen King). It’s fine to want to let the publisher take care of them, but the book still has your name on it. The presentation of your book still reflects on you.
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[Next week: Lesson Five, “How to Market Your Book.”]
In libris libertas…
