publishing preparation – The Fantasy Nook

Thursday Technicalities: Dealing With Rejection

Introduction

I said I was done with my publishing series here, but what discussion on publishing would be complete without a discussion of rejections? While it isn’t on my publishing checklist because it isn’t something you actively need to do, it is something we need to cover. So while it isn’t technically part of the publishing series I finished up last week, it still is in that it deals with publishers, agents, and your work.

Personal Experience Dealing with Rejection

Hi Ariel, I am put in the horrible position of having to write you a rejection for the bootcamp program. You were a strong contender for me, but ultimately there were people more suitable for where I wanted to go. Your work is strong, and I think you know that. You’ve got some great social media presence, and amazon sales and everything, so you are definitely on the path to make a great career out of it. Where I think I might be able to inject some constructive criticism is in the vibrancy and excitement of your writing. There’s something about it that’s a little slow, and for something like a Watty, you need to really blast forward with your stuff; slim down overly descriptive passages and really lean on dialogue to fire the story. If ultimately I had chosen you on the program, that would have been my initial drive; to get you to speed things up – grab your reader and don’t let them go. I read the first few chapters of your book, and could really see a lot of great stuff in it, but it just didn’t grab me. I was able to put it down and look at something else, and, as an author, you never want that to be the case. Honestly, I think you’re going to do well as an author and I think self-publishing on Amazon could well lead you to relative riches, but I don’t think this book in its current state is going to win a Watty. Fantasy is REALLY hard to convince people to pick up for awards like this, and epic fantasy even more so. You need to find something that hooks in the reader and just doesn’t let go, and what you have is a descriptive book that is very good and nice but works better in paper form, where the reader is more invested and has the time to sit in their chair and dedicate an hour or more to it.
I’d love to speak more with you generally. I think your work is promising and genuinely believe you are going to go far. You have the drive and passion (and the words) for success and I can see myself in the future saying to someone ‘oh yeah, I passed her up once for a mentorship program’ and them going ‘what?!?’! 🙂 Good luck with it all!
Crispin O’Toole-Bateman, Author of A Very English Necromancer and 2020 Wattys Bootcamp Mentor

Hi! I just wanted to drop by and say that I really enjoyed Pathway of the Moon, and I’m sorry I wasn’t able to take you on as a mentee. I’m honored you chose to submit to me though. Your first chapter started off great. I was swooning over Leo from the get go. I hope to be able to send you feedback on the chapter that you sent me. If this is something you are interested in, please let me know.
Mikaela Bender, Author of Expiration Date and 2020 Wattys Bootcamp Mentor

I received these from two out of three of the mentors I applied to be mentored by for a writing bootcamp on Wattpad. For those who don’t use Wattpad, it’s a writing platform I frequently use to interact with writers and readers, and I have some of my stuff up for free. I am looking to enter the major contest that Wattpad HQ–the people actually running the organization and website–do, called the Wattys. It’s a big deal on Wattpad and can lead to publishing deals or other connections for winners. These two have already succeeded as Wattpad Stars and/or former Wattys winners, so they’re strong writers and know a thing or two about what it takes to succeed in those areas. These two were really helpful and kind in their rejection letters, and the point of including them is to show you that rejections aren’t really all that scary even if they’re disappointing to us as recipients.

The writing/mentoring bootcamp is separate from the contest and is run by former winners or individuals who are part of paid Wattpad programs, which requires some serious talent and skill to achieve. The quotes above? My rejection “letters” sent via PM from two of the three mentors I applied to. Ultimately, I wasn’t accepted into the program, so I’ll be revising without the help of a mentor.

But this is a good lead in for what we’re talking about. How did I handle this? How should we all as authors deal with rejection, and what’s the best method for dealing with this tough area? People deal with it in lots of ways, some better than others, and that’s why we’re going to discuss it.

Dealing With Rejection is Tough

Let’s just be honest. None of us enjoy being rejected! Whether we get that dreaded rejection letter from the agent we were hoping would take our work on or just waited and waited but never heard back from a publisher, rejection leaves us feeling a bit dejected and very disappointed. I mean, sometimes it stings so bad we want to sit there and cry or down a tub of ice cream.

Now, both rejection letters I got from the mentors I applied to were very kindly worded. Neither said my work was complete trash or even hinted as much. And for the most part, you’re not going to run into that when dealing with rejection. I’ve heard a few stories about things publishers or agents have told authors, but on the whole, usually it’s a very polite no if you get any response at all. However, both of mine were special because they took the time to actually offer feedback! This was my first experience with rejection letters since I’ve done mostly self-publishing or worked with groups I was already established with, but having read a lot from various authors, agents, and others in publishing, this doesn’t happen all that often. You may get a polite letter telling you they aren’t able to take on your work or aren’t interested in it at this time, but feedback is rare and extremely valuable. While the two mentors who responded back with friendly rejections via private messaging aren’t publishers, they’re busy too, and they didn’t have to take the time to offer any constructive feedback. I very much appreciate their doing so.

While I’m obviously disappointed that I didn’t get into the program because I know it would’ve been an awesome learning experience for me and would’ve been very good for the book, I got some direction on where I might want to focus my editing efforts, and I know how to fix the problems pointed out because I’ve got the practical knowledge to do so and have fixed this very problem for other authors. (Funny how we can fix things for other people and be blind to the same issues in our own work!)

What If I Don’t Know How To Fix It?

If you’re not an experienced author dealing with rejection letters, you’re very likely to run into this issue. Either you were given feedback and don’t know what to do with it or you have no feedback and still don’t know why it was rejected. Even experienced authors may run into this as they may not see the problems others do. There are a few ways to deal with this. First of all, quitting is not one of those ways, okay? Quitting means you actually failed. So keep writing, but really put your focus and attention on learning how to improve. One book I very highly recommend that I’ve used to improve my current WIP is Donald Maas’s Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook (there’s a companion book too that I haven’t started, but if it’s anything like the workbook, it’s going to be gold).

How is this work book going to help?

Why do I recommend this? Because Donald Maas was a literary agent for a very long time before he moved to independently publishing his own writing guides. He’s seen thousands of manuscripts in his years as a literary agent, and he knows exactly what the common issues are that result in the rejection of a manuscript. Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could fix those issues before an agent or publisher ever sees your book?

Now, I promise what he offers will help. But it’s also a ton of work! Anyone can do and understand the exercises, but they’re hard. Some of them really force you to think, and many of the exercises have not only changed my perspective on my manuscript and my own characters but have also changed the story’s arc. Expect to make a lot of revisions, add a lot, and maybe remove just as much. But expect that if you do the work, you’ll have a book you can be proud of putting into readers’ hands.

Other Appropriate Responses

Second way of dealing with it? Take it to an avid reader friend. If you don’t have one, try asking some other writers who are more experienced than you. You should already have a connection with whoever you choose to ask, just to clarify, but ask. They might not have time, but you never know! They’ll probably see things you didn’t and might be able to pinpoint the reasons your manuscript is getting rejected.

Final recommendation for dealing with rejection is this… Get an editor if you haven’t already. Seriously. This might sound like a plug for myself and other editors since I’m a freelance editor myself, but we’re not recommending this because we get paid for it. We’re recommending it because it’s indispensable. Authors who have their own personal editors are often first in line to corroborate this. It’s important, so don’t ignore it. If you don’t have the money for it, see if you can at least get a critique partner who’s got strong skills in areas of writing where you know you struggle.

What if I’m Still Rejected After All That?

But Ariel, you might say, I’ve done the work and even had an editor take a look, but the book’s still being rejected. Well, there are of course any number of reasons this might happen, but if you’ve got a really strong, well-crafted story, chances are high you’re just not a good fit for that individual or that publisher. It’s still tough to take the rejection, but don’t give up. Someone out there will want the story, and if they don’t, self-publishing is always an option. Plenty of big name authors started out that way and ended up with publishing deals later, so don’t lose heart. Accept the situation with grace and keep working at it.

Conclusion

My hope here is that you’ve realized that rejection isn’t as scary as it seems. Yes, it’s disappointing and sometimes hurts a bit. But it only means you have more work to do or that your piece wasn’t a good fit for that individual or publisher. We’re not all well-matched with every person we meet, and we shouldn’t expect our stories to be any different. What one publisher thinks is trash and rejects could end up being a best seller with another publisher.

Keep a positive attitude, use the feedback you get if you’re lucky enough to receive that from whoever you submitted work to, and keep working at it. No one promised this would be easy or that you wouldn’t fail. No one promised your work would be ready for publication as soon as you thought it was ready to go and mailed it out. No one promised everyone would want it. But I can promise you this. If you respond to it properly and with a good attitude, your work and you yourself will be better for it.

So when you get those rejection letters, put a smile on your face, keep that letter to remind you of where you’ve been, and turn your face to the future where you will be better than you were the day you got that letter. That makes the difference between a successful learning experience and a failure, not whether or not the publisher or agent accepted you.

Thursday Technicalities: Traditional Publishing

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Introduction

This will be the final section in the publishing series I’ve been doing. Next week, we’ll be moving on to another topic. Last week was on indie publishing, and this week, we’re going to discuss traditional publishing. This will be a slightly shorter post since the application process and package is often not all that different from indie publishing packages. But the rules for submitting that same material are a little different, usually. So let’s get into it!

Rules for Submitting Manuscripts

For most traditional publishers, they won’t accept unsolicited manuscripts. This just means that, unless they’re running a special period for you to send in your manuscript directly, you’ll need an agent. Some indie presses may also want you to go through an agent, but they’re not as particular about this all the time, which makes it important to read through their website and find out if they actually accept manuscripts unsolicited.

But with a traditional publisher, expect to need an agent unless there’s a note that they’ll accept unsolicited manuscripts. If you don’t do this, your manuscript will be consigned to the trash pile. They’ve got too many manuscripts as it is without spending time on people who won’t follow guidelines. If their website doesn’t say either way and you really, really want to take a shot with them, your best bet is to look to see if there’s a way to contact them and ask what they expect for submissions. Politely inquire if there is a way you can submit your manuscript or if you need an agent to do so. Some of the smaller publishing companies might be open to it. Bigger ones like Tor or Random House? Probably not. But those bigger companies are usually clearer on what they expect.

Don’t Be Cute or Fancy

Rule two? Don’t try to be cute or fancy. This is like applying for a job in some respects. Sending your cover letter or other documents on hand-designed stationary or any of the other weird things people have done with cover letters or other application papers is a no. Just don’t do it. It does not make you look good, it will make them laugh (but not in a nice way), and you will most likely be rejected. Tasteful and professional is the way to go. Let your manuscript speak for itself and don’t give them a bad impression before they even read the piece.

Reasons to Choose Traditional Publishing

There’s no doubt about it that traditional publishing, if you can establish yourself, goes a long way. You get editors, cover designers, and marketing plus royalties (or an advance, depending on how they pay). Plus, even though indie and self-publishing are perfectly valid ways of publishing, people still give traditionally published authors more weight. That last reason to choose this route has gradually been shifting with the success authors have had going it alone with self-publishing, but there’s still a bit of a stigma among those who don’t know much or anything about publishing or the writing industry, so there’s a chance the readers you want to reach are more likely to pick a book up if it’s in Barnes and Noble, not just Amazon. While there are ways to achieve that if you’re a self-published or indie author, being traditionally published is definitely easier.

Reasons Traditional Publishing Might Not Be Your Best Option

One trend in traditional publishing that tends to be a bit of an issue at times is the lack of proper editing. The quality of editors has gone drastically downhill, partially because the demand for them has been higher than the number of editors who learned from other seasoned editors. When it comes to editing, you learn by doing and by working with editors who know the craft well, whether through self-paced classes or books from those editors or by actually working side-by-side with them. Unfortunately, when you don’t have enough editors who do that, then you have an issue with quality of edits performed on books.

The other problem that I’ve heard traditionally published authors complain about is that editors don’t really give their book the attention it needs for one reason or another. Many end up getting a freelance editor to go through it before they even submit to a publisher because they want it to be ready for print before the publisher even works on it.

Why? Because while some authors get really great editors, a trend that has become an issue in traditional publishing is looking to see if the manuscript can be published as is. If it can, they put it to print with minimal editing or with sub-par edits. If it can’t, it often gets tossed unless the author is already established. This isn’t true of every publisher that’s traditional, but it’s a disturbing trend, and more disturbing when you start reading that even some established authors are finding this happening in their work.

Issues with Control and Involvement in the Process

So be aware of that issue. The other reason it might not be for you is that you have very little control over the process with a publisher. With indie and small publishers, you may find you have some control over things or that they’re more open to your suggestions. Not so much with big publishers and traditional publishing in general. You’ll get paid royalties or an advance, but until you’re well established, you won’t get paid big sums of money for the book, typically, because the publisher won’t invest if they’re not sure it can sell. This may also mean that marketing for your book isn’t as strong as it could be.

Conclusion

As with anything, traditional publishing has its pros and cons. Nothing is ever completely perfect, so you have to evaluate which options available will work best for you. Once you find that option, go for it! Expect to be rejected a lot with traditional publishing, but don’t give up on it. If they give you any feedback in their rejection letter, then use it to improve. Otherwise, keep your chin up and keep trying. In the meantime, don’t stop writing while you wait! Writing is one of those skills where you can only improve by doing, so keep learning and practicing no matter how many rejection letters you get.

If you really want to make a career out of it, it is possible, but you’re going to have to really work to stand out head and shoulders above every other hopeful, author wanabee. While the odds aren’t as low as people sometimes act like they are, they still aren’t high for you making it. So never stop learning and improving and honing your craft. That’s your best shot at making this work.

Thursday Technicalities: Indie Publishing

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Introduction

Indie publishing is the next topic in the discussion of the final step in publishing. Last time, we discussed publishing with Amazon and focused mainly on self-publishing. Indie publishing is a little bit different. It’s often used to refer to both publishing with a small independent press and publishing yourself with Amazon. But for our purposes, we’re only talking about publishing with a small independent press here. There are some important things to consider if you want to go this route, so let’s go over the key points.

Indie Publishing – The Query

With indie publishing, you now start getting into dealing with gatekeepers. Gatekeepers are the ones who will read through your query package and, usually only if they find that promising, your manuscript to decide if your work is good enough and fits well with what they’re looking for at that company. Both traditional and indie publishers do this, and it makes your query very important.

Generally, queries will include some sort of query letter, which has the hook (why they would want your story specifically as opposed to any of the thousands of others vying for the same place in their catalog) and information regarding the book. I may get into writing a query letter and other querying steps at a later date, but a lot of information is available regarding this process. The key things you need to remember are to research and make sure you submit to the people who would be most likely to want your book, to remain professional while also providing unique content that will make them take notice, and to be genuine.

Agents and publishers have far more query letters and manuscripts than they can possibly go through, so you want to avoid giving them an excuse to chuck yours in the trash. Putting it on flashy stationary or doing similarly unprofessional things will not help your cause. Think of it like you would a resume and a cover letter. You don’t use flashy, ornate paper. You focus on the content and give them a good reason to want to talk to you. This is the exact same idea. The only thing that changes is the content and the precise way you choose to present it in your letter.

Indie Publishing – Precautionary Tales

One major thing you need to understand about indie publishing is how easy it is to accidentally get stuck with the wrong kind of publisher. By this, I mean that it’s easy for newbies and even established authors who are newer to indie publishers to accidentally end up with a vanity press.

At best, a vanity press will publish your work for you, but they charge you hefty up front fees and do very little to help you with the book or sales. My recommendation? If a publishing company is asking you for money up front, you should be running the other way. That said, there are a few reasons why it would be acceptable for a company you’re working with to ask you to pay them for a book that will go into their catalog.

One major reason is that they’re not technically going to publish the book. For example, I’m currently part of a group of authors who are writing for the Children of Chaos series hosted by Indie/pendent Book Services. They aren’t technically a publishing company, but the books, though published by the individual who wrote them, are all in their website’s catalog of books for the CoC series. This means that I as an author get extra exposure from both the company’s promotion of their hosted series on the website and from the marketing efforts of other authors in the series. They required us to pay a $20 upfront fee for each book publishing slot we claimed for paying the cover designer to do the covers for each book. This was reasonable not only because that’s an extremely low price for a well-designed cover but also because they’re not making any money off the royalties on each individual book and have no rights to the book beyond the right to have the author keep it published indefinitely.

Anthologies are another one where I’ve seen small indie presses ask authors to contribute some small amount toward the costs of the book. It all depends on the press. But if they’re asking you for anything more than $100, I would be questioning why, particularly if they’re going to end up with rights or money from the sales the book makes. Essentially, be extremely wary of any publisher that asks you for money.

As I said earlier, best case scenario? They charge you a lot and produce the book but don’t do much to help you get it out there. Worst case scenario? They charge you and never deliver at all. Either way, it’s a scam, and it’s going to cost you a lot for no reason at all. Just don’t do it no matter how excited you are that someone accepted you and your manuscript. Con artists and scammers are more than happy to prey on your desire to be a successful, published author.

Indie Publishing Advantages

The advantages to indie publishing, of course, are fairly obvious. You get an editor, a cover designer, and help with the marketing. Depending on the company, you’ll get more or less of this, but it’s nice to have someone else on your team. Why go it alone if you can get a team to help?

But besides the obvious, another advantage of indie publishing is that you may have more reach than you would alone and you also get practice pitching your work to editors and agents. That will prove invaluable if you want to later take another series or book to a traditional publisher. Learning here is a good place to do it.

The other major advantage is that, if you find the right fit for you, it can come to feel more like a support network than just a publisher. I know authors working with small publishers and indie presses who have said their group feels more like family than just agents, editors, and publishing staff. Your book also may get more focus and attention from your editors and publishing staff than it would at a bigger company. This isn’t guaranteed, and the quality of the editors still has to be factored in, but the likelihood of getting closer attention to detail and polishing is still higher.

Indie Publishing Disadvantages

Besides the possibility of cons, the most prominent disadvantage with indie publishing or traditional publishing is the control you give up. Of course, chances are, if you’re looking for a publisher after going it alone with self-publishing you’re more than happy to give up control of every little detail in order to gain the advantages a publisher can offer. But if you’re new to the process of publishing, know that you will give up a lot of the control you have over it.

The publisher will dictate how you can use the book outside the publishing contract, they can typically make pricing changes without asking first (though some will ask anyway), and your royalties will be negotiated differently than they would if you did things directly through Amazon. What that looks like really depends on the publisher, though. Furthermore, they are the ones who do the cover design, often control marketing efforts (though most will expect you to pitch in on the promotion of the book), and handle many other areas of the publishing process. What your publisher decides to do depends strongly on the contract that the two of you negotiated.

Bottom line? Read your contract very, very carefully. Pay attention to what rights you’re giving them and make an informed decision before signing with any given indie publisher. You don’t want to regret the decision later after all the work you’ll put into the book.

Conclusion

In the end, what you choose to do with your book is your decision. There are advantages and disadvantages regardless of which you choose to go with, and you need to know what those are before you decide. Read the contract, make an informed decision, and go for it. Expect to be rejected as the norm, not the exception, because smaller presses only have a set number of people they can publish within their budget, just as big name publishers do, and their selection is typically smaller. But if indie publishing is the direction you want to head, don’t give up! Keep submitting and use the feedback you get from one publisher (if any) to improve for the next one you choose to query.

Thursday Technicalities: Publishing with Amazon

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Introduction

Moving on from our discussions on marketing, we’re going to start looking at the last step in the publishing process. And that is publishing itself! Today, we’re going to focus on publishing with Amazon, but I’ll also talk about traditional publishing and some of the things I’ve experienced while working with an independent publisher, which is a third option that is slightly different from traditional publishing while still not being quite the same as self-publishing.

Amazon is probably the biggest platform authors use for self-publishing. Other sites like Kobo and paperback distributors like Lulu follow closely in Amazon’s footsteps, but when it comes to publishing both paperbacks and ebooks? Amazon is the best known platform for that. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the pickiest platforms I’ve worked with, and there a many little tips and tricks that most don’t know. Knowing how to get the most out of the system (extort it, if you will) usually makes the difference, at the very least, between making it onto the top 100 in any given category and dying in obscurity.

Lovely, right? Well, no matter how annoying Amazon can be, it has the largest reach out of the online retailers selling and publishing ebooks and paperbacks. So, we can’t ignore it even if we don’t much appreciate how ridiculous things can be. But, not ignoring it means that we have to learn the system if we want to be successful. By the end of this article, I hope to give you the major tools you need to do exactly that.

Publishing with Amazon’s Manuscript Requirements

To start, you’re not going to do very well if you can’t even get your ebook or paperback off the ground and onto the platform. Amazon has some seriously strict requirements for formatting. It’s quite frustrating at times. The time investment to get a nice looking ebook or paperback can be daunting.

If you’re going to do self-publish consistently and have a Mac, I highly recommend getting Vellum. It isn’t available for Windows users, so sadly, we’re all stuck spending a good eight to ten hours trying to get the formatting to look nice on Kindle. (I know because I go through it every time I have a new book to prep.) Vellum takes you twenty minutes once you’re accustomed to using it.

If you’re doing the work on Word, there’s a plugin Amazon created for Kindle that can be downloaded and installed for free. They also have a version for desktop that’s its own program for after you finish working in Word. That’s what I linked to above.

Whichever format you prefer, don’t waste this tool. Use it. It doesn’t make everything better, and you won’t get highly complex formatting. Images still won’t work so well, but if you keep things streamlined and simple, the tool is going to make your life way easier. You’ll have fewer revisions to make to your document before it’ll work right on Amazon’s platform and e-readers. If you need some guidance on handling ebook formatting, I go into that here. I won’t rehash that now since the post would get too long if I did.

A Word on Paperbacks

When it comes to paperback formatting, you can get a lot more fancy, but make sure that when you’re done, you “print” it as a pdf with fonts embedded and the paper manually set to the size your finished paperback will be on Amazon. For most fiction books, I’ve found that using a 5.25″ x 8″ size works very nicely. If you have a program that lets you print pdfs with special settings already, then that should allow you to embed fonts and change to custom paper sizes. But if not, I use Bullzip Pdf Printer for mine. I invested in the fully-featured version, which has been well worth paying a one-time fee to access the settings I needed.

Make sure you get a proof copy to check cover, page numbers, table of contents, and sizing of any images you included before you hit publish on the paperback. Ebook issues are easy to fix. Paperback ones are not! Fixing spelling errors on paperbacks or glaring errors that I somehow missed when formatting has been nothing short of a nightmare in the past. It is worth noting that Amazon allows you to reupload the manuscript and the cover after you publish, something I couldn’t do when I had to make changes to Bane of Ashkarith. So that’s a definite improvement. But some of the information you’ll enter for the book page can’t be altered, so it pays to make sure you’ve double checked everything to save yourself time and headaches later.

Pre-Orders When Publishing with Amazon

For ebooks, you have the option of offering a pre-order period to readers. This gives you time to build hype and to gain reviewers for when the book comes out (something we discussed in the ARC readers post). But it also gives you time to get your categories and other issues ironed out before the book is actually delivered to buyers. I recommend using a three to four month period for your pre-order, so plan your other activities to prepare in accordance with that if you’re going to stick with that pre-order time frame.

Once the book is off pre-order, the manuscript you uploaded is automatically delivered to the reader, though. Because of that, you want to be sure you upload the finalized manuscript before the deadline Amazon gives you in the book’s content section. Don’t miss uploading because it’ll create all kinds of issues! Be sure that what you’re uploading is also the version you want readers to get.

Publishing Paperbacks

Paperbacks don’t have a pre-order period, sadly. I suppose it makes sense as Amazon probably doesn’t want to or may not have a way to keep track of all the orders they’re going to have to print at some random date in the future. This means, however, that you have to plan more for publishing the paperback. You don’t get extra time to get Amazon to iron out the issues with your categories or other things. Once it’s up, you have to hurry to get it all done.

I recommend putting your paperback out around two weeks before the actual release date for your ebook. Rather, announce its release two weeks before the ebook’s. Publish it a few days before your announcement of its release and either email or call Amazon about switching the categories, something we’ll go over in a moment.

It’s important that you have those categories switched before you do a big marketing push using the new book’s purchase link. If you don’t, none of your sales will help your ranking in the new categories because they’ll have gone toward the old, generic categories you chose in the initial setup of the book. Just one more way publishing with Amazon gets tricky. But once they’ve confirmed that they switched the categories over or updated them, then you can start sharing the link and using it in the marketing avenues we discussed in previous posts.

The other reason you should release the paperback two weeks before the ebook’s release is because it allows you to give your ARC readers two weeks to post their reviews before the ebook comes out. Having reviews out of the gate on your ebook can make a big difference, particularly if you were able to hit the 50 review threshold that gets Amazon’s algorithms to kick in to help sell the book.

Categories and Publishing with Amazon

And now we get to categories, something I keep mentioning but haven’t yet explained. If you’ve already published a book or two with Amazon, you know what they are. But did you know that you can have Amazon change them to less competitive categories or that the ones Amazon gives you to choose from at the beginning represent only 20% of the possible categories (the most competitive ones, by the way)? Most don’t.

For the newbies in my audience, you’ve come to the right place to learn about this! I’ve gone through three or four books now with this process, so I know the potential pitfalls, the difficulties, and the best methods for getting this ironed out. To begin with, let me explain what the categories are so you’re not lost. If you already know, feel free to skip the explanation.

Categories are the various classifications Amazon gives to their books. That’s the simplest explanation. But to put it in terms that you’d understand as an ebook or paperback reader with Amazon… Categories are all those options in the sidebar that let you narrow down a search. You know. You can choose to look under paranormal romance or teen fiction in the ebook store or under everything. Or, you could go to the nonfiction header and select autobiographies from the list. Those are the categories, and authors choose them. Sometimes, based on keywords chosen, Amazon may place you into certain categories automatically, but they’re not foolproof, and often, this doesn’t happen properly.

Notes on Categories when Publishing with Amazon

You can have up to ten categories on a book you’re publishing with Amazon, and there is no reason to leave it up to chance. As I said, the two categories you’re allowed to choose when first setting up the book are only 20% of the possible categories and are the most competitive 20%, likely because most don’t know they can add more or change their categories. You know your book far better than Amazon does, and so, as long as the categories seem relevant based on the description, they’re not going to fuss about it, usually.

However, when you call or email them under your author central’s help tab/contact us, you should know a few things to make the process smoother. I’ve made these errors both at the beginning and even now when I’m moving too fast and not checking the email before I send. Let’s go over them.

Age group matters! You can’t select Teen and Young Adult categories and also ask Amazon support to apply Children’s categories. They don’t like it, and they will tell you no. I know, I know… Your age range is set for 12 and up. They don’t care. Your choosing children’s as a category doesn’t mean the same thing to them as it does to you. To them, children’s means little kids, juvenile means anyone from about 9 – 12. Teen is 13 – 18, which makes sense. And adult, obviously, is 18+. But in some ways, the method makes sense. Wouldn’t want you to be able to categorize a book for adults as a teen or children’s book just to get better rankings.
Ebook and Book categories are not the same. If you’re asking them to change the ebook categories, make sure it says Kindle Ebooks or something to that effect, not books. And vice versa with books. If it says ebook instead of book, Amazon will reply back telling you they can’t change the categories and to resubmit, which is a pain.
ASIN or ISBN is a must. If you provide the ISBN, just know that you’ll need to only give book categories since the ISBN doesn’t go with ebooks on their platform. ASIN can be provided for both types so long as you specify that you want to change the categories for the ebook, list them, then specify you want to change the categories for the print book, and list those separate categories.

This should go without saying, but make sure the categories are relevant to your book. If they aren’t, readers and other authors tend to get annoyed because you’re taking up space in a category that has nothing to do with your work. It’s a great way to get bad reviews from your audience. Don’t do it even if the category is less competitive than the ones relating to your book. If you absolutely must take advantage of the category, write a new book. But under no circumstances should you apply it to the old one that doesn’t fit it.

Finally, make sure you send Amazon the entire pathway for the category. This means you need to not just tell them Paranormal Romance, for example, but you should instead be telling them you want Kindle ebooks > Teen and Young Adult > Paranormal Romance. This is just an example, and this probably isn’t the actual category path, but the idea is, everything you have to click on to get to that exact category must be provided or they won’t change anything.

Tools for Category Research

Personally, I prefer to use Publisher Rocket to do my category research. It’s going to be the easiest route because it gives you the info on number of books sold to reach both #1 and #10 in a category along with the seller ranking of each book’s publisher (individual or publishing company). It keeps the information in one neat, tidy place and provides you with the exact path, which you have to provide to Amazon if you want categories changed.

However, if you’re not able or inclined to spend the money for it, you can do it manually. Search in Amazon’s search bar for something related to your book, select a category that fits well, and note down the Amazon seller ranking for the top 10 books. Then, take those numbers and plug them into KindlePreneur’s Kindle Best Seller Calculator. This will tell you how many copies a day each book must sell to remain at their current rank. You would need to sell at least one more copy than they are in a day to beat them and take their spot. You can also use BkLnk to see all the categories books similar to yours rank under to get ideas for categories that might fit your book.

Conclusion

We already went over covers, so I won’t go into a huge amount of detail about that. Just make sure that your cover artist has the appropriate dimensions for the paperback cover you want them to create. They should know to create a Kindle cover using Kindle dimensions, but if you have issues with getting it to load, it’s acceptable to politely let them know what the problem is and ask them to address it if you specified that you wanted the cover for Amazon’s Kindle platform.

At the end of the day, publishing with Amazon is more effort than people think, if you want to do it well, at least. It isn’t as simple as throwing up a cover and calling it done. You have to work at it and perfect it if you want to deliver a product that stands out to readers in a good way. And that is what you want to do, particularly since so many others are also publishing on Amazon. You need to differentiate yourself from them in a positive way! Hopefully this proved useful for you. If you have questions or further comments, please feel free to add to the discussion in the comments!

Thursday Technicalities: Marketing and Networking

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Introduction

Now we come to a part of marketing that, for some reason, a lot of authors I’ve seen in my various Facebook groups seem to neglect. I have to say that authors on Twitter that I’ve dealt with seem to do well with networking as a part of their marketing. Authors on Facebook though? Anytime someone hosts a networking style event for readers and writers, I see the same faces and rarely anyone new. If you’re in the camp that, for whatever reason, avoids networking… Well, networking is essential, and connections are vital, so don’t keep avoiding it if you want to be successful. A lot of you may be avoiding because you don’t know how simple networking can be or where to start. Hopefully, by the end of this article, there won’t be an excuse left or a feeling of not knowing where to start.

Why Networking?

The simple answer? No business owner or business ever succeeded without connections, and networking is where it starts. Know anyone who got a new job because they knew someone who knew so-and-so, who knew the person in charge of hiring? Assuming you aren’t that person yourself, you probably do because it’s not uncommon for connections to give you a foot in the door and start the ball rolling. They might not hire you predominantly because of who you knew, but it sure doesn’t hurt anything.

Word of mouth and connections are powerful things. It starts with those in your network liking you and what you have to offer then telling someone else. And guess what? That’s exactly what your ARC readers are meant to do. But you find them through your network of other writers and readers most often, so if you don’t build that network, you’re at more of a disadvantage than you already were with Amazon’s strict review policies.

Simply put, you cannot operate in a vacuum. No one can. Not if they want to succeed. You need other authors on your team, and you absolutely need readers you’ve connected with to share their unique experience or take on your work.

Does Networking Work?

Those of you who’ve been reading the blog for a while know I like examples of the things I recommend or discourage. In the case of what I recommend, examples of success are preferable. This one is no different. I found every one of my ARC readers and most of my reviewers via my network. How? First, I let those I’d already connected with via social media or email know I was looking for help with reviews. Then, some offered to help, but many of my author acquaintances or friends just shared it. They didn’t have time to help me with a review, but some of their connections did.

Another way I’ve used networking is through groups on Facebook or threads on Twitter. It’s relatively easy to strike up a conversation or join in on one already started, and often, it leads to further connections. It might not yield a sale or a review right away, but my sphere still grows, and if I took the time to connect and then to keep the connection fresh, then it may convert to sales or reviews later–if not from them, then from their audiences if they share your content.

In the end, yes, networking works. But it’s not a get-rich-quick method. You won’t see results if you treat it that way. If you’re in it for the long haul to build your platform, though, then you must network, even if it leaves you a little less writing time.

Connections sell better than cold, hard pitches, especially in a virtual market where people expect you to do more to give them that sense of a real, genuine connection with you before they’ll buy what you want to sell them. They can easily ignore your cold, hard sell or get bored and move on. A connection lasts longer.

Handling Networking

Hopefully now you’re convinced you need to network, if you weren’t before. We don’t work in a void, so people are part of the process, particularly with marketing.

But now you may wonder… How do I network? It sounds hard. I don’t do well talking to people, and I hate selling people on my work. I don’t know what to say… The objections go on and on.

Let’s address a few of the more usual issues.

First, it’s not hard. Depending on what you do, it’ll take you more time than some thing, but in and of itself, the task isn’t hard. If you’re totally new to networking, start small. Join group on Facebook or participate in ones you’ve already joined. Or go search for different threads on Twitter under various writing hashtags and start interacting on there. Get yourself out there and start building those connections.

Second, if you don’t do well talking to other people… Well… Online does make it a little easier because you can think through what you send prior to sending. But in all honesty, you’re going to have to talk to others at some point. There’s no avoiding it. Just be yourself. If personal conversations make you uncomfortable, not to worry! Networking isn’t about being extremely personal or deep. You just have to be genuine, warm, and professional.

In fact, I generally advise you avoid deeply personal conversations online unless you know the person fairly well already or have good reason to believe they are telling the truth about who they are. It’s just basic online safety. Don’t share things like your address, your phone number, or any details that could give a clue as to where you live. (Obviously, if you’re using some newsletter softwares or other things, your personal information surrounding mailing address and the like may get out. So if you’re uncomfortable with that, I’d advise a PO box.)

Not everyone online is a creep, but there are enough of them out there to warrant being a little bit paranoid. Just be smart and avoid giving personal info unless there’s a very, very good reason to give it. The guy who’s been messaging for a week who just asked for your number? There’s no good reason to give it. Shouldn’t need to clarify this part on networking, but lots of authors and new business owners don’t seem to understand basic online safety or how to handle professional interactions.

We’ve all heard stories, but for some reason, despite hearing the stories, some people still make unwise decisions. Anyway, the point is be professional, stick to business-related topics or harmless conversations that don’t provide any private information, and use common sense. But don’t let talking to people or the chance of a bad egg in the lot ruin your attempts to network.

Third, you don’t know where to go or how to start… Social media. That’s what I’d start with. Like I said before, join some groups related to your business and your books. Talk with other readers and writers, and don’t be shy.

Fourth, you hate feeling like you’re selling something to people. On this one, the blunt truth is…you are. You’re going to have to accept that and move on. But, you can alleviate some of the feelings of being sold to and the frustration that can bring. It’s simple, really.

Unless they’ve asked you to tell them about your book or product and to sell them on it, don’t start off with it. Let it come up in the conversation naturally. Develop the connection so that when they see a post on a product you want reviews, buyers, or whatever else for, they’ll be more inclines to say yes. And, down the road, nothing wrong with selling to them–if you do it in a way similar to how you’d sell to a friend or a good acquaintance. Whatever you do, if you get the sense they wouldn’t like or find your product useful, don’t try to pitch it. That only frustrates everyone involved.

Conclusion

I’m hoping that answers the basic questions and issues regarding marketing. It’s really not as difficult as you may think. It can be as simple as getting on Twitter and replying to or posting a few Tweets. I try to do that regular, and I get a fair amount of interaction from people either in the replies or via a new follower. Building that connection is essential though, so if you’ve been avoiding it, stop now and work out how you can include it in your marketing plan.

Lots of like-minded authors looking to succeed are throwing release parties or author takeovers (where authors get time slots to post about their work) on Facebook or even on Twitter. They’re doing live videos on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. They’re involving each person who comes on board with their audience. You can too. You’ll have to show initiative and do the work for it, but while it might take time, it isn’t rocket science. So give it a chance and don’t discard this important piece of marketing just because it might be new or uncomfortable. And if you’ve been doing it for a while? Keep working at it. Find new ways to interact and engage with others to build your network.

That’s it for this week, everyone! I hope this has proved useful. Feel free to leave questions in the comments below if you have them!

Thursday Technicalities: Marketing #1

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Introduction

Marketing is a really broad topic. If any of you have ever done a Google search on tips and tricks regarding this topic, then you know the results seem to be endless. Everyone has a different opinion. My goal here, as it usual, is not to give you my opinion, primarily, but to offer you the options and give both the upsides and the downsides of both.

But because the topic of marketing is so vast, I’m going to break it down, and we’ll have a few posts on the issue. Today’s is going to center around the issue of building your email list and fan base. We’ll have some discussions about social media in a later post, and you can also see what I have to say about Pinterest now if you’re interested in starting in on that right away.

An Indisputable Fact About marketing

Here’s the one thing that will always be true about marketing. It will go hand-in-hand with publishing no matter what you choose to do. I don’t care if you’re indie-publishing with Amazon or going through a small publisher or even going with a big brand publishing company. Marketing is a must. Now, depending on what route you take, you may not need to do a lot of your own marketing. But as an author, you are always going to be interacting with fans, old and new, and striving to increase the visibility your book has.

If you rely on a company to do it all for you, you’re not going to do as well as you would pitching in. After all, you’re the writer, and people who are fans of your work want to talk to you, not your publisher. So you have to know about marketing, which is why we’re talking about it in regards to publishing.

A Launching Point

Everyone needs a launching point as an author. If you’ve been doing this for a while, you’ve already found and used yours. You’re moving on to finding new and better ways to do things. But if you’re new… Well, chances are you’re feeling overwhelmed and have no idea where to start. Even if you’re not new, there’s a chance you’ve overlooked this crucial launching point for authors in marketing.

To those who are new, let me just say… Take a deep breath. You’re going to be fine. You’ll make mistakes along the way, but that’s fine. We all have and still do. You’ll have to if you want to figure out what works. The good news is, in this day and age, there are lots of people who have done it before you and have figured out what works. And those people have an easy avenue to share about it online. You wouldn’t be reading this if we didn’t.

So, what is the starting point? In marketing, your starting point should be an email list. Social media is fine and all, but you don’t control that. If you’re locked out of the account for some reason and can’t get in, you’re not going to be able to engage with your audience there. The same is not the case for an email list. You own that, and you can send content to subscribers at any time. As long as you’re not doing anything sketchy or illegal, you won’t have to worry about being shut down.

As such, this is your starting point.

How Does Marketing Work With An Email List?

Glad you asked! For authors, there are lots of choices for marketing to an email list and for marketing to potential subscribers. The thing that seems to work the best for me is to offer free content of some sort or to give away a coupon that discounts one of your books (if you have your own website and a connected store).

Attracting New Subscribers

This is the concept of having a lead magnet. You have to give something to get something. In this case, no one wants to give up their email address if they’re not getting anything useful in return. The possibilities for a lead magnet are endless. I’ve offered coupons (as I mentioned earlier), completed short stories that are only available free to new subscribers, and free previews (the first few chapters) of books. Sometimes, I’ll offer both the free preview of a book and a coupon to go with that book, but it all depends on how I’m doing things at any given time.

If you haven’t started an email list yet, your lead magnet and choosing a platform to use for the mailing list is your first priority. You don’t have any subscribers yet, so you’re not going to be too worried about what content to send. But, once you start getting subscribers, content is a concern. So, let’s chat about that next.

Marketing to Current Subscribers

This one’s a little more work. A lead magnet is done once you have it up. You do the work up front to make it the absolute best it can be regardless of what you’re going to offer. But once the work is done, it’s done, and you don’t have to repeat it.

Marketing to the subscribers you have is harder. The goal you have is to make sure that you know your audience. Who are you trying to talk to?

Let me give you an example. I’ve talked before about who this blog is aimed towards, but for those who weren’t with me for that post, I’ll review. My goal is to provide writers with content that is professional and coming from a position of expertise. If I don’t know something, I go research it before I decide to talk about it. I make sure I know what I’m talking about.

But, I also target readers. I’m an author and a freelance editor, so my goal is to not only establish my credibility as an expert in my field but to also give the readers in the crowd something they can enjoy. That’s why I do book reviews. It’s my way of sharing books I love with other readers. At the end of the day, I’m an author and editor, yes, but I was a reader first, and so I like connecting with my readers and with others who just enjoy a good book like I do.

I take that same approach when dealing with my newsletter. The content targets both my readers and my writers. You, if you figure out who your target audience is, can do the same thing. And your goal with your lead magnet is to make sure that free or discounted content attracts people who will actually want to look at your emails.

Why Does Target Audience Matter?

Okay, story time. When I first started my newsletter and got my lead magnet set up on StoryOrigin to start attracting newsletter subscribers, I offered a short story for free. And I got a lot of subscribers. But here’s the problem… I was losing five or six every time I sent out a newsletter.

My newsletter only goes out once a month right now because, a) that’s all I can manage and b) if my audience is anything like me, once a month is fine but more than that is a nuisance in an already full inbox. I tend to unsubscribe if I’m getting emails every day or every week, and I’m less likely to buy anything from someone I feel is spamming me with content. So, I just don’t do that.

But, apparently, for the people I was attracting to my audience, one email was too much. Now, there will always be people who sign up just to get the content you’re giving away and then unsubscribe, which is why I prefer to offer coupons or discounts instead. And there will always be people who sign up and, despite your best efforts, seem to expect something from the newsletter that you never advertised. It’s good for those people to go so your list isn’t cluttered with people who have zero interest in your content.

Avoiding Freeloaders and Zero Interest Subscribers

If you’re filling your list with people who just want free stuff and have zero interest in what you have to offer, then the moment you send a newsletter that talks about a new release or markets any of your products to them, you’ll lose them. I’ve watched this happen with my newsletter before, and it’s not only frustrating, it’s disheartening. You can’t stop it from happening entirely, but gear your reader magnet or lead magnet toward those who have an interest in what you have to say.

That’s why it’s crucial you take the time to figure out your target audience and how you want to approach marketing. Your marketing strategy will be very different if you’re trying to establish expertise in your field versus trying to entertain your audience.

Now What?

So now you know why you should be building an email list and some strategies for making the process smoother. But now what? Where do you go? What email providers are best? Can you do it for free?

No one platform ever fits every person. As a result, I can’t tell you which platform you’ll like best. Usually, you can start a free account and have what you need to get started. Therefore, as long as there’s an option to export your list of emails if you choose, you can try something else and find what works.

I’ve chosen to go with MailChimp. It integrates with my website’s store and other platforms well, and I don’t have to pay to get that feature. Since I don’t pay, I can say that it’s a little limited on what it can do at times. I can automate welcome emails and organize the email list as I wish, but I can’t schedule emails for future dates. Instead, I write the email, save it, and manually send later. A little inconvenient, but it gives a lot of features that other platforms don’t always give, so no complaints here.

Options for Integrating Your Email Subscription Provider with Lead Magnet Sites

On this one, I also found that MailChimp is easier to find integration info for. However, the two sites I use for lead magnets do support other email list sites. I’ve liked working with StoryOrigin best for gaining new subscribers with lead magnets. They seem to have more options for joining promotions with those lead magnets than BookFunnel. However, BookFunnel also has options and has more ways to control the delivery of ARC copies than StoryOrigin does. However, you do have to pay a monthly (or annual) subscription fee. So if you’re looking for free, StoryOrigin offers quite a lot for being free software.

Conclusion

Well, that’s all on marketing for this week. Next week, we’ll go into some other areas of marketing that you’ll need to give your book its best shot at publication. I look forward to having you all join me!

Thursday Technicalities: Finding ARC Readers

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Introduction

The third stop on our discussion of preparing for publication is finding ARC readers. To start off with, for those who don’t know what ARC readers are, they are advanced review copy readers. They are not beta readers and shouldn’t be considered such. Instead, they are readers who read the book before it’s out for the public and review it on release date. So let’s talk about how you get them and where.

Where to Find ARC Readers

The first step is finding your ARC readers. There are many places and ways to do this. First, you can use sites like StoryOrigin and Bookfunnel to join promotional events for reviews run by other users. On sites like these, people sign up for your ARC copy, and you approve them. Recommendation here for these platforms… Pay attention to the stats. I know you want reviews, but don’t just accept anyone. Look at the stats if they’re provided and approve reviewers who have decent stats and reputations for following through with reviews. I learned the hard way that if you approve people with no stats or bad ones, your risk is very high that you’re just giving away free copies of your hard work in exchange for nothing at all.

The other possible places to find reviewers are social media sites, writing forums that allow you to post about that kind of stuff, and through family connections. A word to the wise on family connections, though. Family members and close friends can review the book, but not on Amazon. If they do and Amazon catches the connection, you could lose all your reviews and both of you could be banned from reviewing. Not good news, so don’t mess around with this. If family members or friends want to review, have them do so on platforms like Goodreads and Bookbub.

One other avenue is by reaching out to the readers on your newsletter. If you’ve done a good job building your list, then there should be at least some who will be happy to help out in exchange for a free copy of the book.

Dealing with ARC Reader Deadlines

The next thing to consider is your deadline for ARC readers. Some people read faster than others, and you want to make sure you leave enough time for even slower readers to make it through the book before your release day. I recommend giving them roughly a month to read it. The best scenario is that everyone is able to finish and reviews on time.

Of course, we all know the best scenario is rarely what occurs in every case. You’ll have readers that don’t do it on time and need to be followed up with. If you acquired your ARC readers via social media or your newsletter/email list, you should know how to get in touch. The problem that I run into all the time with getting ARC readers through StoryOrigin and similar sites is that people’s emails and contact info aren’t given to you until the reader has actually submitted reviews (showing interest, therefore, in your work). This means you have no way to get in touch, and while the sites remind them to submit their review links and review, they can ignore that. If they do, there’s nothing you can do, and you can’t even contact them yourself.

What to Do If They Don’t Review

Unfortunately, there’s not a lot you can do. If you have contact info, you can get in touch and try to find out what’s going on. You can encourage them to leave the review and kindly remind them about the deadline for the review. But if they still don’t review, you can’t force them to do so. You want to keep relationships good and stay as professional as possible, so don’t be abrasive or too pushy about it.

If you don’t have contact information, there’s nothing at all you can do. You just have to wait and hope that the site your reviewer applied through will succeed when they try to remind them to review. Without contact information, there aren’t any options open to you if they don’t fulfill their end of the deal. That’s the risk you take. This is why you should look at the stats on how often they reviewed in the past to try to find reasonable assurance that they’ll review.

Bottom Line on ARC Readers?

The bottom line is that your new release needs reviews. Amazon’s algorithms won’t kick in to help you sell the book until you have at least fifty 4-or-5-star reviews. The only way to get a good start on that is to have reviews when the book comes out, and you can’t get those without ARC reviewers. Do your best to screen the people you’re giving the ARC copies to, and if you can, try to have contact info for the majority of reviewers promising a review on release date. I can’t promise you’ll have 100% participation, even though you should if you swapped a free copy of your book for the review promise, but at least if you can follow up, you’ll have a better chance of getting the reviews you were promised.

Thursday Technicalities – Cover Designers and Your Cover

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Okay, this won’t be a terribly long post since the only covers I tend to do are the artistic, silhouette-style covers you see on some of the re-covered classics. You know, the ones with the flowy, decorative fonts and more of a focus on shapes and color than fancy Photoshop skills. So I’m not really the person to talk to if you want to a lot about cover design like you see on most books. And that’s not the focus of this blog anyway.

But, if you’re an author, you do have to know how to handle your cover. It’s the very first thing a reader sees, and readers do, unfortunately, judge a book by the cover. This can be turned to your advantage, but only if you’ve gotten a designer who designs or have yourself learned to design cover art that’s a match with the genre and the feel of the book. If you haven’t… Well, your cover may send the wrong message.

The main things you need to know about cover art are as follows:

Designers are not one-size fits all.
You must own the image rights.
You want the cover to fit the genre: the goal is not to necessarily stand out but to fit in while giving readers a general idea of what your story is about.

Designers Are Not One Size Fits All

This is pretty straightforward. Not every designer will be a match for your project. Make sure you do your research. Look at what they design and the artwork they’ve done for other covers. If you can, talk to people that have purchased for them or read reviews left on their work. Ask for samples.

Most designers have a style they stick to. Their covers are going to feel somewhat similar just as paintings from a particular artist will feel similar when you look at them. A Van Gogh, for example, looks far different than a Leonardo Da Vinci. We can pick up on those styles of each artist and differentiate between the two. It’s similar for a designer. You can tell if someone’s being honest about the work they’ve done by looking for those similarities in the designs. If their work is all over or has some designs that are way, way different than anything else in their portfolio, be careful about it. They may be using other people’s art. Just be smart, basically. Do your research and take your time because your cover can really do a lot for the book.

You Must Own Image Rights

I don’t care what images your designer uses, you need image rights. If they create the piece entirely from scratch, which some do, then you get the rights when the artist is paid and gives you permission to use the art they created for the cover as they created it. But this means you need a piece that, from font to background image, needs to be entirely 100% owned by the artist. Otherwise, things get trickier.

If your artist didn’t create the image and the font 100% on their own, you need to own rights to images for use in that way. Places like Unsplash, Pixabay, and Pexels that offer free stock photos with Creative Commons zero licenses (use them basically for anything with no attribution) aren’t reliable. There have been issues I’ve seen occur in groups where artists used their images only to discover that the image was originally not the poster’s image and, as a result, the artist was in trouble for copyright infringement. It’s serious, guys. Don’t use these sites. Invest in a subscription for a year to a place like Envato Elements or buy individual stock photos from places like Shutterstock or Adobe Photoshop if you’re not going to require your artist to do the work to get images that you’ll have rights to using in your cover. Same deal for the fonts. If you’re in doubt on the fonts on what you can use it for, ask the designer. Free for commercial use may not always extend to ebooks or covers (As dumb as it is), so make sure you check with the person who’s listed as the creator. At least that way, with a written paper trail, you can say you did your due diligence to make sure you weren’t infringing on copyright.

A Cover That Fits the Genre

Lastly, make sure your cover will fit the genre. Make sure your designer does good work within your genre too before hiring them. You aren’t looking for something that will be super unique. Only something that draws the reader’s eye and gets them to click on the blurb. And, ideally, you want those people drawn in to be your type of reader. If you write dark romance, you probably aren’t too focused on drawing in fantasy readers unless your dark romance is set on another planet with elves and dwarves. Same goes for the reverse. I, as a speculative fiction writer, am trying to draw in speculative fiction readers with my cover not readers looking for a light, feel-good romance or some other genre.

So it’s important that your cover fits the genre and then, if you can, try to incorporate some aspect of the book. It can be a vague representation, but having a little bit of something to give your readers a general idea of what the book will be about helps with marketing, so don’t ignore the boost it can give your book.

Conclusion

That’s all for today, everyone! I hope this has been helpful to you. See you next week on Thursday Technicalities to discuss more topics from our current discussion on publishing preparation. Stay safe with all of the craziness currently going on with this pandemic. Until next time!