How To Find Places To Submit Your Writing

With the ease in which authors can self publish now, I’m finding that many actually don’t know how to do it the traditional way. And by traditional I don’t necessarily mean sending your epic novel to Penguin Random House, getting a five figure advance and winning the Man Booker Prize. (Can’t be just me who has those dreams?) No, the simplest way to be traditionally published is to send a short story out to a literary magazine, whether online or printed, and be accepted. And it is a lot more likely.

I previously did a post on ten places to submit your writing, which many of you found helpful. The problem with any sort of list like that, though, is it eventually becomes outdated. But if you know how to find these places for yourself you can be more sure that your information is correct.

What’s the advantage of this compared to publishing your short stories on your blog?

Well, first of all, you might get paid. Yes, some magazines do actually pay authors for their work. Amounts vary, but we’ll take anything right? Secondly, if ever you do decide to submit that epic novel, you’ll be taken a lot more seriously if you have some publishing credits to list.

So, having (hopefully) convinced you to send out your short stories, how do you know where to send them?

My top tip is to sign up for Submittable. You will need to do this anyway as a large number of publications only accept submissions through their portal system. But while you’re at it, sign up for their monthly newsletter. Each one includes opportunities for writers and information on publishers seeking submissions. You can also find such information on their website.

Authors Publish magazine is also an excellent place to go. As the name suggests, they are dedicated to helping authors share their work. They too have a newsletter you can sign up for to get regular notices in your inbox of which publisher is looking for what type of writing. It also includes a helpful articles written by fellow authors on some aspect of writing. (Look out for the one in issue number 246. Just saying.)

Finally, a simple search engine enquiry can throw up some very interesting opportunities. Try to be as specific as possible though. Trust me, if you search ‘short story submissions’ you are going to come up with an awful lot of results to wade through. Which isn’t necessarily bad, but including extra information that’s important to you can really help narrow it down. So trying something like ‘short story submissions, UK’ or ‘short story submissions, free’ or ‘sci fi short story submissions’ can really help.

As always, I hope you’ve found this article useful. If you have any tried and tested ways that you use to find places to submit to, do add them in via the comments.

What I Learned from my Book Launch

Last week I launched my first independently published book, a collection of 12 short stories with diary extracts, taking you on my journey from unpublished writer to debut novelist. As you will have gathered from this masterly description, although it was my first self published book, it was not my first published book. My teen novel, Victoria’s Victorian Victory, was released last year by Rainy Day Reads Publishing. The thing with this, though, is that they launched the book. I let everyone know on social media, but that was the end of my role really. With my new book, is was all down to me. Perhaps because of that, I staged a rather elaborate launch across all of my platforms. Some things I got very right, some things I got a little wrong. As you know, I always like to share my experiences so other writers can use them. So here’s what I learned:

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You will have to give away quite a few paperbacks.

I staged paperback as well as eBook giveaways across all of my social media sites. I also sent one out to each of my market research team. Doing so created a buzz on the day, with lots of people entering the competitions. Over 4000 people saw my post on twitter alone. Having said that, many of these will be giveaway accounts. It’s a good idea to exclude these if you want someone to win the book who really wants it. If you’re not bothered about that and just want the publicity then it’s a great tool.

Sending out paperbacks also keeps the momentum going. As everyone starts to receive their free paperbacks they will likely post about it on their social media for you. They may also give you a great review.

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Make sure you get the book absolutely right.

If you’re going to make a big fuss on your launch day, you need to make sure the book is worth fussing over. People will be quick to spot all hype with no substance. Make sure the eBook and paperback are both the best you can make them. It’s a good idea to get a proof of the paperback sent to you beforehand to check if you can. This really pays off though. I’ve had a lot of great comments on the quality of my paperback in particular.

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Have some advance reviews to share. This tells people, not only that your book is now available to buy, but why they should buy it. I only had a couple, and I shared them the day after the launch, but they made a big difference.

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Use videos to get more views. People on social media like videos. They are more personal, they get to see and hear you, and they still have a certain novelty about them. The two videos I posted to Instagram, one telling everyone what was happening, the other doing a short reading from the new book, got more interaction than any of the other things I posted that day. I also did a Facebook live session. I’ll be honest, not many people tuned in for that and it was slightly off-putting. I think I did it too early in the day. However, I needn’t have worried- lots of people have watched it on playback. However, next time I do a live video I may try it on Instagram. Instagram sends out a notification to all your followers that you are live. So we will see if that works better.

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Don’t expect huge sales straight away. Unless you’re spending a lot of money on advertising, these things take time. They build like a snowball. For now, lots of people on social media are hearing how great my new book is. Some bought it straight away. More will follow. Interestingly, I’ve also seen an increase of sales for my novel. I guess if people like one book then they are more likely to buy the other.

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As always, I hope you find that helpful, and please feel free to add your experiences in the comments.

5 Mistakes to Avoid When You Come to Publish Your Book

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So, you have a completed manuscript, edited and revised to within an inch of its life, a great, eye-catching cover and a mailing list waiting with bated breath. Excellent! Now a whole new can of worms opens. You have to get it onto paper/ereaders. Happily, online platforms like Kindle and Kobo have made it fairly easy to get your book into the hands of readers. But they all have quirks and inconsistencies that you won’t know about until you’re in the middle of it. Unless, of course, some nice writer who’s just done it writes a blog post on the subject! So here’s my 5 things I wish I’d know before I started. So you do.

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1. Having the Wrong File Types

It’s very annoying, and time consuming, when you come to upload your book and realise it’s in the wrong type of file. And they’re all different. Kindle recommends a Word file, but your Amazon paperback needs a PDF. Kobo, on the other hand, only accepts ePubs. And you cannot just convert the same file. A Word file converted to an ePub doesn’t look good. And there are things you can do for the paperback PDF version that would not convert well on the Word file. I found the best thing to do was create a separately formatted file for each version. So now I have a very basic layout that works on Kindle, but the paperback can have fancy fonts and pictures. Still working on the ePub!

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2. Relying on Preview Mode

Once you upload your Word file to Kindle you can go into preview mode to see what your book will look like on people’s ereaders. Except that you can’t. They don’t look the same at all. I had my file looking absolutely perfect in preview mode, but when I downloaded the Kindle file there were blank pages, not to mention wrong indentations and spacing. So don’t think that because it looks good in the preview you don’t have to download a mobi file to check. You do.

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3. Not Getting a Proof

I didn’t know at first, but you can order a proof version of your paperback once you have approved it. Please do this. Your book can look quite different than you imagine. For me, the print was much smaller than I expected. This is because the PDF version is usually sized on your computer as A4. But when you upload it to your book, Amazon will trim the size so that one page of your PDF equals one page of your paperback. But your paperback, depending on the size you’ve chosen, is likely much smaller than A4, therefore the print has automatically been shrunken.

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4. Not Leaving Room for the Barcode

This is for when you design your paperback cover. If you don’t have a barcode, Amazon will assign you one. It then gets put on the bottom right-hand-side of your back cover. So make sure you leave plenty of room for that in your cover design. You don’t really want to have to stop and redesign the cover at this stage.

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5. Not Checking The Listing Thoroughly

Because so many things are easily corrected on Amazon, we may not always check for mistakes too carefully in the actual listing. After all, we can always fix them, right? Wrong. Once you hit the publish button on your book there are some things that cannot be changed. You can’t change the title or subtitle or author. So make sure you check carefully, and check again, that you have typed it all correctly! The title and subtitle will be a big part of the Amazon listing. So even a small mistake, such as accidentally typing ‘form’ instead of ‘from’ (who would do something like that?), becomes very noticeable. You can contact Amazon about it and ask them to change it, but this is an extra worry that’s easily avoided if you check it carefully, with the knowledge that it can’t be changed easily.

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So there’s the five things I wish I’d known before the publishing process. I worked it out though, and so will you. But I hope you find my experiences helpful when it comes to publishing your own book. Let me know if there’s anything you would add!

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‘My Year of Stories- a journey from unpublished writer to debut novelist’ releases on the 15th of October 2017 and is now available to preorder here.

What To Do Before You Publish Your Book

There’s nothing that feels flatter than sending your hard work out into the world, only to realise that your audience is either indifferent, or worse, nonexistent. The problem is, many authors make the mistake of thinking that it’s enough to develop a small social media following and then do one or two posts about their book release immediately before or during publication. But in fact, only a very small percentage of your social media followers will rush out and buy your book. There are just so many authors out there, only a millionaire could buy every book advertised on their social media the moment it’s released. So you need to build excitement for your book and show people why they need to read it. Here’s a few suggestions on how to do this:

1) Grow an email list. Please, if you’re releasing books that are barely making a ripple in the sea of social media, put your pen down and create a smaller pond. Yes, it takes time away from writing. You may have to release your book a few months later. But it’s worth it. People on your email list are far more likely to buy your book than people on your social media.

2) Get your audience involved. Ask your email list and/or social media to help you name a character, choose a title, or critique a blurb. Readers will enjoy a book they feel they’ve had a part in making so much more.

3) Release regular updates. As parts of your book become finalised, such as the cover, keep your audience informed of its progress. This not only keeps everyone updated and creates anticipation, it gives people multiple opportunities to see that you have a book coming out.

4) Get advance reviews. I really regret not doing this for Victoria’s Victorian Victory. I meant to, just a weird combination of circumstances meant I couldn’t. But what that means is you have to wait for reviews until after your release day. Which means you can’t tell everyone what great things others are saying about the book to build excitement on the release day itself. And those who do buy your book that day will likely take a week or two to read and review it. By that time, most people have forgotten about your book release. Harsh, but true.

5) Do a blog tour. This is something I did do. Ask a few bloggers you know to host you on their sites. I had five or six guest blog posts lined up, and the lovely ladies who published them for me kindly staggered them to go out every two days leading up to my book release. It got me a lot of great exposure.

6) Send out a press release. It doesn’t cost anything to email a press release to your local paper, but it may result in some great free advertising if they take up the story. And if they don’t, what have you lost?

I hope those are some helpful suggestions. Remember, releasing a book is a big, exciting thing. Treat every book you publish as special. Make a fuss. Because if you don’t, no one else will.

3 Essential Tools for Marketing Yourself as an Author

 A lot of people think anyone can be a writer. And it’s sort of true. With self-publishing tools such as Amazon Createspace all you need to do is finish a book, not necessarily even a particularly long one, and hit the publish button. But if you’re serious about writing, whether self-published or not, you’ll want a little more than that. You’ll want to be professional. You’ll want others to take you seriously as a writer. You may even dream of making some money! So what do you do? The answer’s simple- you network. 

 Networking is basically forming useful connections- with fellow writers, with readers, publishers, bloggers, reviewers etc. You can do this online through social media, or face to face at events. But there are a few things you will need: 

1. A business card. When I first got mine done, I thought I’d hardly ever use them. But I do, all the time. When a friend or acquaintance is asking about my writing I whip out a card and suggest they go to my website for the latest news. When I meet someone for the first time and they ask ‘what do you do?’ and then express interest in my answer that I’m a writer, I’ll suggest they look me up on social media and, you’ve guessed it, give them a card. Frequently people will discuss their own or a member of their family’s writing dreams with me. So I’ll tell them there’s lots of advice for new writers on my blog and… all together now… give them a card. This way, you’re turning casual conversations into connections. A card is especially important for any kind of business meeting, perhaps if you’re trying to get the job of writing an article or doing a presentation. Having your own business card says- I’m a professional who knows what I’m doing. 

 What should you include on your card? Name and profession. And contact details, of course. This can be a phone number and email address, or just one of those. I only included my email address on mine as I felt that would make me more comfortable about handing it out indiscriminately. You should also have your website and possibly social media information. Which brings me to:

2. Social media. This is the easiest way to form connections. Get involved with writing, blogging and reading communities on social media and you will come across all sorts of opportunities. You can be interviewed, get reviews, do guest blog posts etc. You’ll get exposure. But it’s also very important that you have a social media presence when it comes to marketing yourself in the real world. Why? Well, what is the first thing someone does after you’ve given them your business card? Do they immediately email you with a job offer? Sadly not. They google you. So, if nothing comes up under your name they will likely conclude that you’re not as professional as they thought you were. Now, it’s not always easy to get your own website to the top of the google page under your name. BUT social media sites have already done that. Go and google your name now. This is how mine goes: Facebook, Facebook, Bewritingblog.wordpress.com, Twitter. (Please notice that my website is in the top three. Round of applause for me.) But, however high your website is, you’ll never get above Facebook! Plus, it looks good to have a page of options, don’t you think? 

3. Closely related- you need a website. When people google you, if you’ve got your site high enough on the list, that is where they will go. And on your website you can present yourself in the way you want. Don’t just have a blog. Have a page for your book, including great reviews. Have a page for you, your accomplishments, and what you stand for. Have a page where they can get in touch. And if you already do book signings, presentations, school visits and the like, then an events page is a good idea. 

 So, those are my three essential tools. Of course, these are the bare minimum. You may also want to consider a letterhead, postcards or flyers, and a professional-looking author headshot. What would you add to this list?

Growing Your Mailing List

 

 One of the most frequent pieces of marketing advice I hear, and agree with, is that you need an email list. Your email list is where the sales happen. Think of it as a sort of chain- your social media is designed to get people on your website, your website is designed to get people on your email list, your email list is where you create both fans and sales. Because of this, many authors, like myself, opt to send out a monthly newsletter. Starting your newsletter is the easy part. You can read more about how to do so effectively here. The hard part can be getting people to sign up for it. My email list is by no means large, but it’s steadily growing, so here is what I’ve found works. 

 Make it the entry criteria in a giveaway.
 My biggest sudden increase in subscribers was when I did a giveaway on Instagram. On offer was a signed copy of my book, Victoria’s Victorian Victory and the criteria for entering was to sign up for my newsletter. Of course, not everyone who signs up in the hope of winning a prize becomes an active subscriber, however I’ve only had one person from that promotion actually unsubscribe, and a good percentage are active subscribers. 

 Tell people what they’re missing. 
 Occasionally I will do a contest in my newsletter, either to win something physical, such as a notebook, or to be involved in my writing process- for example, naming a character. When I do that I make sure to let everyone know on my social media just what they’re missing out on. Even if I’m not doing a contest, I’ll still post something about what my newsletter is about that month around a week before it goes out. 

 Get other subscribers to help.
 Include some social media sharing buttons in your newsletter and ask existing subscribers to help you spread the word if they are enjoying what you have to say. This tweet by the lovely Diana Anderson Tyler got me several new subscribers:

 Diana herself uses this method in her newsletter. She frequently does giveaways in which you are asked to post something from her newsletter on your social media in order to enter. Not being privy to her stats, I can’t tell you exactly how successful this is, but I do know that it always has me sharing something from it. 

 Use a discreet sign up form on your website 
 And now on to the elephant in the room. The newsletter sign up form you see at the top of this page is relatively new, and I was dubious about it at first. I made sure it was as unobtrusive as possible, but I was still worried it was going to irritate visitors to my website. I hope it doesn’t. Because it works. 

Do you have an author newsletter? If so, how do you grow your list? If not, would you consider starting one? 

Why I’ve Decided to Self-Publish


   I’d never envisaged myself as an indie author. ‘Traditionally published or nothing,’ I would say. ‘Only mediocre authors have to publish their own work.’ So why have I decided to self-publish my own short story collection?

 The first reason is that I think recent years have proved it isn’t actually only mediocre authors who self-publish. There are a few of them out there, of course. But you know, not every book that’s traditionally published is well written. Lately, enough indie authors have secured book deals on the back of self-publishing success to demonstrate that plenty of excellent writers slip through the cracks of traditional publishing. 

 Secondly, I’ve realised I’m a bit of a control freak. I sold my last book in the sort of middle ground between traditional and self publishing by going with an independent publishing company. You get a lot more control over your book with one of these than with a traditional publisher. But I still found it hard. The final product was great, don’t get me wrong. But sitting back and letting someone else control the cover design, formatting etc was tough. I’m looking forward to having complete control over my next book. 

 Thirdly, indie authors all support each other. You become part of a great network of fellow writers. Next time you’re on Instagram take a look at the #indieauthors tag. You’ll see what I mean. 

 Finally, indie authors get to write about whatever they want. Many books never even get looked at by traditional publishers or agents simply because they feel the market isn’t right for that type of book. Or they have too many of them. If you want to be traditionally published you either have to try and guess what the market will be like in eighteen months time when you finish it, or you just have to hope you’ll get lucky. And some types of book (such as short story collections) have hardly any market at all in the traditional publishing world. Well, as an indie author that all gets taken away. You can write, and share, whatever you want. And that’s what appeals most to me about self publishing. Because creating what you feel is, after all, the essence of art. 

What to do if Your Book is Too Long or Too Short



 This is often a problem for writers, both new and emerging. Each genre carries with it a certain expectation in terms of word count. Roughly, these are along the lines of:

Full length novel: 80,000-100,000 words
Light fiction- 70,000-85,000 words
YA- 45,000-70,000 words
Middle-grade- 10,000-25,000 words. 

 There are exceptions to these, for instance fantasy and sci-fi tend to be longer to allow for word-building, and many writers, like myself, find that there’s a gap between middle grade (which is usually considered to be for ages 8-10) and YA (which tends to be for 14+). My own book is aimed at ages 11-14 and is about 35,000 words. Sometimes you hear this genre referred to as ‘teen’. I’d say between 25,000 and 45,000 is about right for that age group. 

 If you want to be traditionally published then you need to pay attention to the length of your work. Too short or too long for your genre and a lot of agents and publishers will be put off. 

 But, I hear you say, what if I self-publish? Surely then I can do whatever I want? You certainly have more leeway, but remember that your audience will still have expectations in regard to length. Many will not be happy if they pay the price for a full length novel, only to find it’s just 40,000 words. This would put it in the novella category, which is fine, but you’d need to market and price it as such. 

 There can also be problems with self publishing a book that’s too long. For example, a writer friend of mine was recently informed by Amazon Createspace that they couldn’t upload her book because there were too many pages. 
So, how can we fix these pesky length problems? 

Too Short

 I made this mistake in my first novel. The problem was, I had a premise, not a plot. I got to about 16,000 words and thought I was halfway through. Then I googled how many words a novel should be and found I had another 59,000 to go! I had to throw in several subplots to keep the story going. So if your story is too short, consider whether you actually have a proper plot. I found this blog post enormously helpful when working that out.

 Look at your secondary characters too. Give them a character arc of their own. Not so prominent as your protagonist’s of course, but they need to be real people, not just puppets in the background. To my first novel I added a manipulative friend, a secondary romance, a sensitive mother, a misleading neighbour and a suspicious brother. And a duel. The book was a lot better for the layers this added and I got it to 77,000 words. (It’s currently being serialised on Channillo.com)

If you thought you had a series in mind but the first one comes up significantly short of your intended word count, try blending two books together. 

 Too Long

If your book is over 100,000 words you should definitely consider cutting it down. A publisher is unlikely to consider it at that length, and as mentioned before, it will probably be too long for Amazon Createspace too. You have two options with this:

1. Edit it and cut out all unnecessary scenes and words. The fact is that if your book is too long, the most likely reason is that you haven’t edited it enough. Remember, you have to kill your darlings! If it doesn’t move the story along then it has to go. 

2. Turn it into two books. If you’ve edited it as much as you can and can’t possible cut anything else out, and it’s still over 100,000 words, then it’s because you have too much story to tell. You have a series on your hands! Find, or make, a break in the book and turn it into two. It can be quite a lot of work to do this, but worth it. 

 So, that’s what I do when my book comes out too long or short. What do you do?