I'm jumping back to my old blog

Hi, everyone!

Google kindly informed me that my old blog still exists, so I've moved all my posts from here to there. If you'd like to continue following me, you can check it out at: http://shevi.blogspot.com

I will be posting my thoughts on writing for kids and teens, humor, creativity, publishing, fantasy and science fiction, and geek culture. There will be news about book releases, and there's a contest with prizes in the works.

Hope to see you there!

The truth about ebook sales

I've seen several writers quote Bowker's figures on ebook sales, which say they only account for the smallest fraction of books sold and money made. The problem with this is that Bowker can't track Amazon Kindle sales. Only Amazon can, and Amazon is not giving that information to Bowker. While Bowker can track sales based on ISBNs, Amazon ignores ISBNs in favor of it's own Amazon Standard Identification Number.

See this blog post by Steve Weber, author of Plug Your Book, for more information: http://www.weberbooks.com/2009/05/will-kindle-crash-nielsen-bookscan.html

Found a new Twitter chat for writers

It's called #storyappchat, and they're discussing everything about picture book apps. There's a lot of wisdom to be learned from those with experience in this area.

Response to a Traditionally Published Writer Regarding eBooks

Of course it differs from one writer to the next, and you certainly shouldn’t move to ePublishing only if you’re already traditionally published and earning a living from your traditionally published work. However, I have noticed there’s a reason why your ebooks aren’t selling as well as they could be, a reason that you’ve apparently overlooked and that can be easily remedied.

EPublishing is a great option for writers who haven’t been able to find a traditional publisher yet, as well as traditionally published writers whose books are out-of-print. For most of those who choose to epublish, the choice isn’t between self-publishing and traditionally publishing a particular book: it’s between self-publishing and not publishing that book at all.

It goes without saying that a game that allows anyone to play would have many players who don’t know what they’re doing, so of course the average self-published writer would earn less money than the average traditionally published writer. Traditional publishing has a vetting process that self-publishing doesn’t.

However, if you’ve been in this game as long as I have, you know the vetting process isn’t perfect. Christopher Moore—my favorite writer—supposedly sent out a hundred query letters to agents and received nothing but rejections. He only got an agent through a connection in show business. The writer of the Pulitzer Prize winning A Confederacy of Dunces committed suicide because he couldn’t get that book published while he was still alive. Great writers are looked over by agents and traditional publishers all the time. In fact, it’s the norm. And we’ve all seen terrible writers who have somehow managed to get their books traditionally published. (Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have your own reality TV show, like Snooki on Jersey Shore.) Luck plays a huge part in the traditional publishing game—more than talent, hard work, or anything else. In Self-publishing, however, luck only plays the smallest role. Success is determined by talent, writing the kind of book people want to read, marketing it well,  and learning from those who have successfully epubbed their own books, like Amanda Hocking, J.A. Konrath, and John Locke.

As for why you personally would have a 66% drop in earnings if you decided to only epublish your books, I checked out your books on Kindle and discovered that you’ve priced them out of the market. A book you sell on Kindle for $7.99 can also be bought on Amazon used in hardcover for $.01 plus $3.99 for shipping for a total of $4.00. It doesn’t take a genius to realize people aren’t going to pay twice as much for the Kindle edition as the hardcover. If you reprice your books on Kindle so that they’re less than $4.00 ($2.99 is the price recommended by both J.A. Konrath and Amazon), you should see a significant rise in your sale of books on Kindle. Keep in mind that you don’t earn a dime on the used copies of your physical books that Amazon is selling, but you could be making $2 for every Kindle edition priced at $2.99 that you've epublished yourself.

This sums up how I'm feeling about my decision to epublish my first novel. I'll be starting with Toren: The Teller's Tale.

Places to get cover art, book trailers and more

1. http://hubpages.com/hub/Using_Photos_On_Your_Website

2. Rob Siders, for ebook formatting: http://www.52novels.com/

3. Great illustrator who does covers: http://www.partzero.com/

4. Derek Mah's website for covers: http://www.attoboy.com/

5. Carl Graves (cover designer, reasonable rates) website: http://extendedimagery.blogspot.com/

6. Sharon Pavón: "My cousins make independent films and are open to doing book trailers. This is their website" http://www.roaringcreekfilms.com/

7. Premade ebook covers at great prices: http://mycoverart.wordpress.com/clearance/

8. Mia Castile says, http://www.sherylclarkproductions.net/ did my amazing cover :) (She does book trailers too.)

9. Huge collection of images, reasonable prices: http://www.bigstockphoto.com/search/category/abstract/

10. Another huge collection of images, as well as video and audio, at reasonable prices: http://www.istockphoto.com/

11. From Arthur Slade "This is the company that did a few of my book trailers": http://www.audioartcafe.com/

Useful blogs, articles and other info on epublishing

1.Blog of an ebook bestseller: http://amandahocking.blogspot.com/

2. Great advice on ebook publishing: http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/

3. Interview with Amanda Hocking: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qWOy4p4MvM

4. Books for Kindle outselling all other formats--including paperbacks--sold by Amazon:
http://www.suite101.com/content/how-do-kindle-book-sales-compare-to-paperback-and-hardback-books-a339041#ixzz1FqvBzHWv

5. Published authors, like Arthur Slade, are self-publishing their out of print books as ebooks: http://catherinestine.blogspot.com/2011/03/gone-are-days-where-publishing-ones-own.html

6. E Is for Book is "a coalition of respected children’s trade book authors developing their books for electronic media." http://www.eisforbook.com/p/indie-links_02.html

7. Arthur Slade's blog where he writes about his ebook adventures: http://arthurslade.livejournal.com/61038.html

8. Up-to-the-minute information on ebooks: http://write2publish.blogspot.com/

9. Successful ebook self-publisher Terri Reid's blog: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4192570.Terri_Reid/blog

10. Bestselling author L.A. Bank's reasons for choosing to epub her own books and how she did it: http://liarsclubphilly.com/?p=1784

11. A How-To article from CNet on self-publishing ebooks: http://reviews.cnet.com/how-to-self-publish-an-e-book

12. How to make full-bleed (allowing pictures to reach the edges) picture books for the iPad: http://www.pigsgourdsandwikis.com/2011/02/fixed-layout-epubs-for-ipad-and-iphone.html

13. A couple of useful Yahoo! Groups, one for self-publishers and the other for self-publishers of children's books: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Self-Publishing/ and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CBPublishing/

Links for writers interested in publishing their own ebooks

Getting started with Kindle: http://forums.kindledirectpublishing.com/kdpforums/index.jspa

Getting started with CreateSpace (for paper books sold through Amazon): https://www.amazon.com/gp/seller-account/mm-product-page.html?topic=200354160&ld=AZOnDemandMakeM

PubIt! for Barnes & Noble's Nook: http://pubit.barnesandnoble.com/pubit_app/bn?t=pi_reg_home

SmashWords: ebook publisher and distributor (takes 10%): http://www.smashwords.com/about/how_to_publish_on_smashwords

Book Baby: ebook publisher and distributor (costs $99): http://www.bookbaby.com/

Ebook conversion starting at $99.95: http://www.freeebookconversion.com/

What is the worst advice you've been given that set you back?

Someone posted this question recently in Amazon's Gold Box forum, and here is my answer.

I'm a writer. I've been banging my head on the wall trying to get my books traditionally published, which is what every agent, editor, and writer's organization tells you to do. I have an English degree, a Theater degree, and I've worked 12 years as a journalist. I was an arts-and-entertainment writer for a couple of years, reviewing comedy and children's entertainment, so I know what audiences like. I've even won third prize in a national novel-writing contest. And yet  no matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to get an agent. Last year, I got seven requests out of ten to see the full manuscript of one of my novels, and, except for one agent I never heard back from, all seven turned it down. The most common reason given as to why? "I enjoyed it very much, but I didn't feel passionately enough about it." There's nothing I can do with that.

People keep telling me to just keep writing, editing and submitting my work, and it'll happen. Right now that sounds as silly to me as, "Just click your heels, and all your wishes will come true." I've been writing, editing and submitting for nine years with seven different novels for kids and teens, and I'm getting nowhere.

So I'm starting to think that maybe what everyone is telling me isn't the best advice. Maybe I need to give up on going the traditional route and epublish my books instead.

Is this bad advice I've received, and has it set me back? It's not bad advice. It works for some writers. But for some it doesn't. It's like playing cards at a casino. Knowing the game and how to play it helps, but it's still no guaranty you'll win. I've been sitting at this table way too long. I've done nothing but lose. It's time for me to walk away.

I don't really know if this advice has set me back. I have to see how well my ebooks do. But at least that advice has pushed me to hone my craft, which might not have happened if I had never tried to publish traditionally. And maybe I had to go through all that so technology and the world could get to the point where I could epublish my own books successfully.

The tide in the publishing industry is just starting to turn. Will it carry me on this new adventure? I haven't charted the safest course, but before today the safest course has been so hard, and it's led me nowhere. It's time for me to see what else is out there. If I can't get an agent to believe in me and my work, at least I can believe in me.

And I'm not giving up on getting traditionally published. I'm going to epublish my first novel first, and I have six more to go through. Maybe all my wishes will come true in the end.

Why I am grateful for Twilight

Dear Stephenie Meyer,

Thank you. As a writer of novels for teens, I owe you a debt of gratitude. Thank you for showing the world that adults can enjoy books written for teens. Thank you for showing that YA literature can make it to the top of the bestseller lists. Thank you for showing publishers it's a good investment. Thank you for opening the doors of literary agencies to writers like me. So many agencies before Twilight didn't represent children's books at all, and now they are looking for YA novels, because they all want to represent the next Stephenie Meyer. Thanks to you, I and many other YA writers have a better chance of finding representation and getting our books published. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Shevi

I give you permission to...

So many times I've heard writers say, "You can't..."

You can't write a novel that crosses genres. For example, you can't write a fantasy novel that later turns out to be a science fiction novel. Gene Wolfe could do it in his Book of the New Sun because he's Gene Wolfe, but you aren't Gene Wolf.

You can't write in more than one genre. For example, you can't write realistic poetry and prose fantasy. Maybe Jane Yolen can write in more than one genre, but you aren't Jane Yolen.

You can't write for different age groups. For example, you can't write picture books and novels for teens. Neil Gaiman can do it because he's Neil Gaiman, but you aren't Neil Gaiman.

You can't have a novel with different points of view. Stephen King did it in The Stand, but you aren't Stephen King.

You can't. You can't. You can't.

But you can.

Gene Wolfe was a writer just like you before he wrote the Book of the New Sun. Jane Yolen had to start out in one genre before she tried another. Neil Gaiman used to write comic books for adults--and won awards for them--before he started winning awards for his children's books. Stephen King apparently never got the "You can't" memo. Either that, or he didn't listen. None of them did, and neither should you.

Don't listen to "You can't."

I give you permission to write a novel that goes across genres. I give you permission to write in more than one genre. I give you permission to write for different age groups. I give you permission to write stories with different points of view. I give you permission to use repetition. And incomplete sentences. I give you permission to break all the rules, to draw outside all the lines.

What I don't give you permission to do is to tell yourself, "You can't."

You'll never know what you can do until you try, so try. You have everything to gain, and nothing to lose.

Steps to getting a literary agent

Here's where I am on my search for a literary agent.

Steps already accomplished:
1. Wrote a dynamite outline and first few chapters of a novel
2. Got chapters critiqued by my critique group and revised accordingly
3. Took outline and chapters to conferences and got positive feedback from editors and agents
4. Submitted to a contest and won third place in the YA category--Yes!
5. Got one-on-one feedback and encouragement from an agent at a SCBWI NJ Mentoring Workshop (Those workshops are awesome!)
6. Finished writing the novel
7. Put it in the drawer for a month so I could edit it with fresh eyes one more time before sending it off (Also wrote the first draft of another dynamite book during NaNoWriMo!)
8. Gave it one last edit and made sure it's now ready to go out

Steps to accomplish now:
1. On AgentQuery.com, go through list of agents who are open to submissions and are interested in YA. Rate agents from 6-10 based on the following: how close a match their interests are to this manuscript, how open they are to other manuscripts I have, whether they've had good sales to good publishers recently (Add points to agents I like who I've met at conferences and elsewhere, as well as agents who work with writers I know.)
2. Select top 5-10 agents from my list (That's tricky with so many great agents to choose from.)
3. Write a dynamite query letter and get my critique group to help me polish it until it shines!
4. Adapt query letter for each agent on my list
5. Print up query letters, cover letters, synopses, chapters, full manuscripts--whatever each agent requests
6. Mail or email (according to each agent's guidelines) a personalized query letter or submission to each one
7. Pray!
8. Work on something else so I don't drive myself bonkers while waiting for replies
9. With each rejection letter (everyone gets rejection letters), submit to the next agent on my list and try not to sweat it
10. Don't jump on the first offer of representation. Make sure this is really the person I want to work with first
11. Read contract carefully and make sure I understand it
12. Sign contract
13. Give agent what he/she needs to get the right deal at the right house with the right editor

I'll get there one step at a time.

Wish me luck!