Presenting yourself as a Professional Part 2

Ahhh the joys of social media, you can vent, you can keep in contact, you can advertise, and you can well...destroy your career. Don't want that now do you? I'll be honest with you. I hate social media, it sucks my time away, but it is honestly the only thing that has worked for me as far as building my platform and my marketing. Now you're wondering where this comes into play when it becomes to being professional. Imagine you're a reader and you're talking to an author, just in passing, an elevator or something and the first thing he/she says to you is. "Oh my fucking god, someone gave me a one star review! How dare they not appreciate my genius!"

Now I hope realize that it's rude and probably should have been kept in the authors mind. I get being frustrated, especially with drive by ratings, and reviews that just make no sense to you. I get it, I do, but here's the deal. They are going to happen. Every author gets bad reviews. Don't believe me? Go look up your favorite authors. Honestly, as a reader, I don't trust a book that doesn't have at least one low rating. Why? Because I feel like one book cannot be everyone's cup of tea. As an author you need to realize that. My point? You wouldn't do this in person, don't do it on your Facebook, tumbler, blog, twitter, whatever you use.

Best policy? Don't respond to the review or rating. Do not let your street team respond, and for the love of the writing gods do not stalk the reviewer! I can hear you now: But it's my personal page! I want to be real with my readers!

My answer to the first one: Yep, but this is the age of the internet, nothing is truly private. That's what's scary about it. Personal or not, you need to control your emotions and feelings. You are a business now, the way you act reflects on your product.

Second one: Be real with your readers, yes, let your readers know you're human to, but do that by interacting with them. Not ranting about them. I'm going to touch on that in just a minute.

Okay, so no responding to reviews. Next thing....do not go on some crazy rant about haters that you have. Seriously. We all have them, we all have people who say things mean about us or our work. Move along, for many of the same reasons above. You are going to hurt your brand if you react badly. This goes back to not ranting about your readers.

Interact with your readers, invite them to answer questions on your pages, they don't have to be related to writing or your books, they can be, but don't have to be. If they ask you a question, answer them honestly. (within reason of course) Even if the question is "What is the order of your series." You need to appreciate your readers, because without them you would be nothing.

Basically don't do anything online that you wouldn't do in person.

Egotism and being an Elitist Part 1.

You've all heard me preach about ego before on how it can hurt your image, but lately I've seen and trend in the author world where an author is better than another author or a group of authors. Is that vague enough for you? Yes, some authors have better writing than another author, this is clear by quality and reviews. But I'm referring to the on going battle of traditional publishing vs indie publishing. You've seen it all over the internet, but here let me pull some quotes for you so we can take a look on how the problem is not just on one side of things.

"To me, it seems disrespectful … that a 'wannabe' assumes it's all so easy s/he can put out a 'published novel' without bothering to read, study, or do the research," said Grafton. "Learning to construct a narrative and create character, learning to balance pace, description, exposition, and dialogue takes a long time. This is not a quick do-it-yourself home project. Self-publishing is a short cut and I don't believe in short cuts when it comes to the arts." -Sue Grafton (pulled from this article)

"The complete opposite is true," he said. "Self-publishing means finding your own proofreader, finding your own editor, finding your own cover designer (or designing your own), doing all your own marketing and sales work, etc. Having a publisher is lazy as all you need to do is write a half-acceptable book and allow your publisher's editor to make it sales-worthy. Self-publishers must do it all – we have no one else to pick up the slack." -Adam Croft (pulled from this article)

Now, I take issue with both of those comments. What? You expected me to come out fighting for the indie author and not disagree? Let me break down my thoughts. 

Grafton has a point, anyone can publish on amazon and yes, there is a lot of crap out there. I have to disagree with her that it is a short cut. Those who are truly indie-authors (not doing this for a hobby, but to make a living or trying to make a living) so not see it as a short cut. In fact, it's not a DIY project, it's a job that takes dedication and time. Lots of time. 

That being said, we have the other side of things in response to Grafton. A best selling indie author claiming that having a publisher is lazy. I disagree with him on that. It's not lazy, I'm a hybrid author (I do both indie publishing and traditional publishing) guess what, unless you're a huge name author you don't get your marketing paid for and we all know that is a ton of work. Okay, sure so you have an editor, but guess what though they tell you what should be changed and make suggestions, you still have to have a damn good book going in or you don't snag that publisher. 

But Grafton isn't the only one who has problems or issues with the indie populations. Kim Harrison had this to say (in regards to price fixing, but still...)

"...force books that are created within the scope of a publishing house to adhere to the same price points as those created by independent authors who are not all paying for marketing, placement, cover artists, proofing, and the building to house these people, not just for their book, but all the books within the publishing house. Independent authors can afford to charge a lower price because they do not have these things. Indeed, they should be allowed to charge a lower price to garner the attention that they miss by not being associated with a big six publisher. But forcing those who _are_ paying for marketing, cover artists, proofing, ect, not just for their book, but others in the publishing house..." (taken from here)

I must wonder who Ms. Harrison thinks pays for all that when it comes to indie-authors. Yes, I understand that there are overheads that publishers must cover and honestly the price fight is a topic for another day. But that comment makes me wonder...do traditionally published authors really know what goes into indie publishing? 

Here she is again "You can’t ask someone who has been working their entire life at crafting words into cohesive stories to be valued equal to someone who has been at it for two years. Would you work at a job for 20 years, then accept a new, forced salary commensurate with the mail room guy? No. Of course not." (taken from here)

In my free lance work I've read books that are just as good as a big press author who plan on going indie. I've ready authors who have been at it for years, are big press published and it's crap. My point is, quality is found everywhere. Not just in big publishers, not just in indies. I've been writing since high school, it's a passion, who is she to say someone who has the same passion for the craft isn't to be valued equally?

This is a challenge we face as indie authors. Elitism from traditionally published authors. This is a problem this wall needs to be broken down to where we are all just authors. Now don't die of shock, but this is also a problem on the indie side of things. I'll be covering that my next post. So stay tuned. 

The Heart and Soul of Indie

I thought I'd do a post on what being indie (well in my case a hybrid) means. This isn't a 'I can do what I want!' speech. No, this is me laying it all out for you on why I took this road....

When I was thirteen I moved in with my grandmother. Imagine this, very Catholic, very old-school, and very traditional. There was nothing wrong with that of course, because I grew up well and I have great value. (Of course she'd probably die if she realized what I was writing now.) By fifteen I'd completed my first novel and wanted to look into publishing. I remember I was so proud of myself. I'd done the research and knew what needed to be done. Then I took the idea to my grandmother. Her words were, "It'll never work, publishing is too expensive and you'll never be good enough."

It stung. It hurt and I never mentioned it to her again, but I didn't give up. I continued to write and looking into publishing. In 2006 I completed and polished a novel and started to query, I had a few full manuscript requests, but nothing came of it. Now I can admit that it really wasn't ready for publishing. Now at this point some of you are thinking "Oh, so you turned to indie publishing because you weren't good enough for traditional." Mmm no, not really. At that time e-readers were just popping up and self-publishing was still not an option for me.

I had almost given up completely when I got a short story published. I got a few inboxes at that point wondering what else I had out, but at that point I had nothing. My husband made me sit down and make a choice...

It was then I realized what indie could do for me, do for my readers. Writing is the heart and soul of Indie. Not marketing, not fame, not money. Writing, storytelling, characters, the craft. Yes there is a lot of crap out there, but there is a lot of good writing out there too. One thing I love about the indie authors is that you get to see the author grow from book to book. If they are willing to open their hearts and minds to feedback and learning. I wouldn't have come this far without feedback, honest feedback, and sometimes blunt feedback.

But when I have a conversation with a reader that's when I know that I've written something good. A store that makes someone want more, that they can't put down that they love. That is the heart of indie. Why is this important? Because if you're going to go indie you need to understand where it all starts at. It starts with heart and a good story. One that has been polished, one that's been beta read and is ready to published. I will say it again. The heart of indie is a good story.

Media Kits, Part Two

So what is a Media Kit and why is it important?

Go to any of the web pages I’m linking to down below and they will go over how important a Media Kit is. It is a major marketing package. It helps people promote your book without you having to do anything. Journalists expect to see one if they visit your website or blog. Most importantly it puts out the information, correctly, that you want people to have.

Why is that important?

Here’s a scenario: Let’s say a blogger is doing a review, it’s 2 am and guess what, they forgot to ask and you forgot to send your bio to them, it’s too late for them to contact you now about it so they go to your website and look for a media kit (now, if you have one, you probably should have sent it but you know, mistakes happen) so they go to your site and you don’t have a MK available. So that blogger now has three choices: scrap the whole review, scrap any sort of bio which helps promote not just your book but your brand as well, or they decided to just make a quick bio for you. At best the bio will be bland and uninteresting and at worst they could get some information horribly wrong. If you had a Media Kit there they could have downloaded it, copy and pasted what they needed, and the whole thing would have went off without a hitch.

Now as a Hybrid Author with only two books and one short story anthology out I don’t have journalists or bloggers banging on my door night and day looking for easy access to my info, but if any of them do happen to swing by my blog I want to make sure any info I can provide them is readily available.

By and large a Media Kit is a helpful tool for branding and marketing, but it is always offered first, never sent unsolicited. That’s not to say if someone is doing a review for you that you shouldn’t include your Media Kit, you totally should. But don’t just start sending out your Media Kit willy-nilly to every blogger you find without them even showing an ounce of interest in you first.

Now, I’ve combed over sites explaining how to make a media kit, I’ve attended a webinar on the subject, I’ve highly considered shelling out money for some Media Kit Templates (but in the end I didn’t have it in the budget), and I’ve poured over other author’s Media Kits to see what I liked and what I didn’t like.

Some people tell you that you only need a book synopsis and an author bio. Other people say you need a separate .doc for every thing in the kit: Bios (tiny, small, medium, large), a Press Release, Sample Interview Questions, Sample Chapter, Contact Information. Others go even further by saying you need to have an introduction for when you are speaking at an event, Book Review Excerpts, And a .doc specifically for photos of you (color and black and white head shots, plus color and black and white candid’s. Maybe something with your dog? You out fishing?) You can even find a PicMonkey tutorial on making a Media Kit on the photo editing site. Possibilities are endless and overwhelming.

For my approach I took what was relevant to me. I don’t have hundreds of book reviews to warrant having a page of book reviews excerpts in my Media Kit. Nor do I have professional head shots to fill up a photo .doc in my Media Kit. I have yet to master how to write up a decent Press Release so rather than embarrass myself, I figured I’d leave that out as well. Public speaking isn’t in my near future (maybe one day) so that could be cut as well.

What I do have is a synopsis, bios (a twitter bio, a small, and a large), a sample chapter (obviously), my contact information, and I even sat around and thought up some sample interview questions and answers.

I guess we better address that one real quick.

Why sample interview questions? Because sometimes you might get asked to appear on a podcast, radio interview, or get asked to do an online interview, but the person interviewing you might not have the time to actually sit down and read your book (shocking, I know) so this helps them. It says “hey, you might not have read my book but here are some questions you can ask to make you look good and I’ve already answered them so you know what I’m going to say ahead of time.” Easy-peasey. A Media Kit is all about making the blogger/journalist/interested party’s life easier. The easier you make their life, the more chances they might give you in the future to help expand your brand and marketing.

Now that we’ve got that covered, let’s get back on track. Should it look all prettied up? Well it certainly shouldn’t look boring, but not too much because you don’t want it to look gaudy. That is strictly from a graphic design stand point. A simple boarder, maybe a drop shadow to help it stand out, place in a logo if you’ve got one, maybe some badges if you got those too. Now, if you are doing them all individually then by all means put these on every page, but if you are compiling them and you are using graphics that take up a lot of space you might consider using your images on the first page and then possibly the last. You don’t want to distract on every single page of your sample chapter with your logos and what not.

So how do mine look? Here’s some screen shots of each of my files separately:

Synopsis (note I put hyperlinks in my files which include the buy links):

Sample Chapter:

Bio:

Contact Information:

Sample Interview Q&A:

Here’s a look at my completely assembled Media Kit for Waking Up In Bedlam (which includes Synopsis w/buy links, Bio, Contact Information, and Sample Chapters of WUIB with the buy links again at the bottom:

 (notice my award nomination badges and my logo are only on the first and last page when it's all put together, because having them on every page would be distracting)

-Here’s a little note I wanted to add about my author picture. Everyone will tell you to use a professional picture (also called a head shot). I don’t have a head shot, and I am a very camera shy person. So I choose to put in a picture of me looking like I normally do. If you saw a head shot of me you wouldn’t recognize me. I don’t generally dress up, I can’t put on a forced-smile to save my soul, and honestly if you saw me at a convention I would want you to recognize me. This is me, it is who I am, I’m not a doll, I don’t play dress up. A little bit of lip gloss is pretty much the only makeup you’ll see me in, and usually I’ll be a t-shirt that shows one of my many fandom obsessions and my rather oversized sunglasses. Add in my headphones and a beanie, and that is me. So it was my choice, to include a picture that shows me as me, not me as something I’m not. One of these days I’ll get head shots done, I’ll find a photographer who understands I can not smile on cue and will be able to find a way to get a genuine smile by catching me off guard. Until then, I’d rather just be me and honestly I am tired of hiding that. <3

Now if you’d like to use my Media Kit as a template for your own feel free to click here and download them from my blog and enjoy.

Web pages to help you construct a Media Kit of your own:

http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2013/04/23/press-kit/

https://www.standoutbooks.com/author-media-kit/

http://www.writing-world.com/promotion/presskit.shtml

(Just do a google search for “how to make an author media kit' and you will have information for days and days)

Do you use a Media Kit? If so, have you found it has helped you in your marketing? If you are a review blogger do you like having a Media Kit included with the book you are reviewing? Let us know in the comments.

Review: Madman: Love. War. Retail.

Madman: Love. War. Retail.

N. Pfeifer

Blurb: What if you lived in the world's largest retail store, a place where you couldn't dream any higher than the warehouse ceiling? That's the crumbling world that Alex Gabriel lives in. But when Management threatens to shut the entire Midwest down, he and everyone he knows are willing to do what it takes to prevent the world from flushing away altogether. Love will be made, war will be fought and retail will be plundered in this dark tribute to the tepid life of customer service. (Taken from Goodreads)

Genre: Um... dystopian thriller? Sure. We'll go with that.

Review: Okay despite the fact that I'm really not sure what genre this book counts as, I really did enjoy it. The blurb does not do it justice. Oh no, there is much more to this world than it seems. Management has taken over the United States. That's right, imagine your worst manager...ruling the US. Terrifying, yes? I know I had some awful managers during my time of retail, but here's the thing. This world is stuck in the early 90's. Think cassette tapes, old tube tvs, got it? Good. This is the world that Alex Gabriel lives in and works at The Mart. He's moved up to supervisor of electronics! Good for Alex, but his life gets turned upside down. His friends and family work for for a militia to take down the Management...the end is coming for the Midwest. 

This book had a great plot to it, something I haven't seen before and it was a nice change. We have a dystopian like world based in the crazy world of retail. It's not just a store, Mr. Pfeifer takes it to a whole new level and creates a world out of it. He's created a master piece from it. His characters are believable and react correctly under situations handed to him. It had a bit of everything in it, even sex. (I'm not giving it a heat rating since it wasn't a romance.) A couple things...it is dark, there are some graphic scenes probably not for the light of heart and you will not find your HEA. The end is well worth it, even if I did cry. There was enough thrill to keep me on the edge of my seat, but enough light hearted moments to keep it balanced well.  

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Buy It:
Amazon

N. Pfeifer on 
Goodreads
Twitter: @TerranCEO
Facebook

Media Kits, part one

Media kits. Press kits. Press Release… Oh lord, save me from this headache now. Kidding, just kidding.

Marketing, networking, and getting your name out there is a tough up-river swim, with hungry bears pacing the banks waiting to rip you apart, whirlpools waiting to pull you under, and unknown perils in the dark waters ahead. Frightening isn’t it? Yes, yes it is. But one thing that can help when someone comes looking for important information regarding you and your books is a Media Kit. Also known as a Press Kit.

So how do you craft one of these mythical creatures? Well doing a search on the internet will give you page after page of “expert” advice. I’ve combed through them, I’ve attended a webinar, and almost took up an offer for a $100 template bundle to help me create a media kit of my own. For what it’s worth if you can afford it, I’d say save yourself some time (and gray hairs) and buy the templates, but if you can’t (because we all know how times can be tough) you’ll do best to create a media kit on your own.

Now the plan for this SPE post was for me to have my media kit done so I could lay it all out for you and show you everything I did. However I decided on this topic a week ago and it turns out you need more than a week when it’s your first time. I’m sure with subsequent MK’s the pace goes quicker and quicker, but the first time there is a lot of grunt work. Sorting things out, picking and choosing from the hundreds of items that all the different sites swear you “must have”. In the end you have to pick what works for you.

You also have to pick your format. .pdf or .doc? Which will it be? A .pdf doesn’t lose formatting when opened on a mac or a windows PC, where as a .doc file can format funky given the different machines. But with a .pdf the person can’t copy and paste from the file and with a .doc anyone can easily C&P what they need and be done with it. So which will work best? You’ll have to decide that for yourself. For me, I was going to go with .pdf… But then again .doc would be handy. Maybe I should do both…

See, I swear I’ve gotten ten new gray hairs just in this week of working on my Media Kit. But regardless of the stress by my next SPE post I will have my Media Kit complete and share it and everything I’ve learned over this trial and error period. So that gives me 2 weeks to complete this Media Kit and then share it with you. I know this post isn't much but trust me behind the scenes I'm working my butt off on this project.

Review: Obsessed with the Kill, TJ Weeks

Obsessed with the Kill

TJ Weeks

Blurb: Allison and her five friends take a ski vacation after graduating from high school to Switzerland. The trip is made up of fun times in a little Switzerland town till they run into hell. Abducted into the caves of the snowy mountains. Tortured daily in ways you'll never forget for information thought to be known. Channel 7 News makes headway for these high school graduates. What doesn't haunt your dreams will surely haunt their own. This book is full of suspense, thriller and action with a twist. Will Allison and her friends make it out alive or will the trouble they find drag them into the depths of hell? (Taken from Goodreads)

Genre: Thriller/suspense

Review: This book had promise and I think that was one of the most disappointing things. There was so much this story could have been, but it wasn't. We start with a group of friends who go out of country on a ski vacation, the characters fall flat there's a lot of pointless talk. This is not the age group that are typically in adult books, they think about nothing other than relationships and have no real personalities to them. I have no sense of who they are or why I should care if they are kidnapped. (Don't get me wrong, it is always sad when someone is kidnapped, but you need to make me feel something for these characters.) They get mixed up in a terrorist situation, where the terrorist thinks that they are spies. Should be pretty heart pound and edge of the seat action...not really.

We have torture scenes (including rape when it comes to the woman), I had a hard time understanding exactly what was going on with a couple of them and felt that they could have been better executed. As time moves on we go from the girls having paranoia and what should have been twists in the plot line were poorly written and implemented. The book had plenty of potential as far as plot, but it was disappointing to me. The book even had three alternative endings...that really did nothing for me. A lot of tell and no show, head hopping, flat characters, confusing time/scene jumps, I feel that the author could have done much more to polish up this book.

I received a copy of this book for an honest review.

Stars 1.5 out of 5

Buy it:

Amazon

Tour Stop: A.L. Kessler Dance in the Moonlight

Blurb: Renee’s life had been normal until the shadows reappeared and the legendary stone was sent to her. As the arrival drags her further into the paranormal world, the last thing Renee expects is to be swept off her feet by a brooding werewolf. 

Yet Coran captures her heart and attention. Small problem—he doesn't want a mate. Coran still suffers

from the loss of his first mate, but when Renee is attacked by shifters he is forced to protect her at all costs. Things heat up when he realizes fate has wickedly granted him a second chance at love. With the war causing the body count to rise, now is not the ideal time to find a mate. 

The Circle is becoming desperate and something has Lucius worried which means trouble for his followers. It's a dance between danger and fate in this second installment of the Dark War Chronicles.
Today we have Renee from Dance in the Moonlight describing the ten things she has recently learned since becoming part of Lucius' Territory. Welcome Renee!

Renee: First off, thank you to Mia and Alexandra for letting me take over the blog today! SO! Lucius and Coran are busy elsewhere, so I thought I’d come over her and share a few things! Ten things that I’ve learned since learning about the supernatural world and joining Lucius’ territory (Spoiler free, of course.)

1) Lucius doesn’t understand the need for human tradition…this means a fight when it comes to the holidays. Let me tell you, he does not indulge me as much as Coran does.

2) Not all werewolves are cute and cuddly, actually I’m pretty sure the only one who won’t eat me is Coran. Derrik scares the crap out of me.

3) Don’t ever crack a joke about Markus. Ever. People panic and bad things happen, it’s not pretty.

4) Orion and Coran don’t cook, it’s a skill I’ve had to acquire. They do, however, eat enough for an army.

5) Not everything that is dangerous lives in the night. I’ve learned there are plenty of things in the daylight, not just werewolves or shifters either. Demons, witches (good and bad), Fae, and pretty much whatever else you can think of.

6) Self-defense is a great excuse to try to beat Coran up and I’m pretty sure he just lets me win.

7) None of my favorite paranormal movies or books really seem so far fetched anymore, except for the bad guy always being defeated…that doesn’t always happen in this war.

8) I don’t like being this close to war. You never really know how much war affects people until you’re close to the battlefield. When someone disappears it hits everyone.

9) The political rules of the vampires are stupid. Seriously, who the heck died and left the Circle in charged?

10) Lucius’ people have formed a tight knit family and now I’m part of that. It’s crazy, it’s strange, but I love it.

Make sure you pick up your copy of Dance in the Moonlight!

Paperback 

Kindle

Barnes and Noble

Smashwords 

Createspace

About the author: 

A.L. Kessler is a paranormal romance author living in beautiful Colorado Springs, CO. When she’s not at beck and call of the household—made up of her cats, dog, daughter and husband—she can be found hard at work on her next novel. In those rare moments of free time, she can be found playing video games, crafting, or reading.

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