New Author - Dos and Dont's

Leah Banicki - 

Author, graphics design, book formatting and computer guru. 

In the editing process of self-publishing my third book, Angela's Hope.

I have helped publish 17 books for myself and clients.

* * *

A few things I have learned along the way, from my mistakes and some shared from authors I have known.

If you have a book published the one guaranteed thing you will hear from a lot of people is..."I have always wanted to write a book."

My number 1 Do  - Write the book. One day at a time. Get the discipline to get the words on the page. Whether it's a good idea or not let the words start flowing. The rewrite is where you clean it up. JUST WRITE!
National Novel writing month, called Nanowrimo,  is a good community and a great way for a budding author to get a swift kick into writing. http://nanowrimo.org/

One thing I have noticed a lot of in the world of self-publishing is some BAD book covers.
My Number 1 Don't - Don't go cheap on the book cover!

This mistake I have learned the hard way. Do get an editor. I am not made of money. This economy has put a hurt on my bank account. I understand all the excuses. I am living them. I bartered and begged and made my first published book from a laughingstock to a book that people are buying consistently. The first release was a shambles of messy past and present tense... I was a fool and learned my lesson. I don't know if any book is 100% perfect but we can all try and put the best book out there that we can.

The editing process is a nightmare for most writers and we have similar dread for the rewrite process. The one thing that is the most common for author when the book is ready is the hurry up phase. It never EVER works out well when you rush it. Don't rush the rewrite! It needs to spend time away from you with an editor or beta reader. It will give you space from the dreaded burnout. Trust me the burnout of editing is mean and has a big, fat headache attached to it. 
While your book is out of your hands - Do start the next book. You need the new inspiration to keep the "gotta publish the book at lightning speed" feelings away. 

  My next piece of advice is to slow down and don't panic. By the time you have your book in the editor's hand and the list of to-dos gets to be this stressful knot in your stomach. You have the visions of huge royalty checks in your mind and you want to freak out cause it's taking SO LONG!!!! Breath, take a walk, and recharge your batteries. Authorship is a marathon, not a sprint. The reason it needs time is because the mistakes are there. The ones you don't want the readers to see. The goofy fact that you changed the character's eye color mid-way through the book, or your research was a little off, or you have 2 chapter 14s. 

For publishing there are some great places for a writer to go. Check out Createspace.com if you do not have a personal fortune to order your own warehouse of books. That way a poor girl like me can order 1 book or 200 printed copies and pay the same price for each book. It also gets you on Amazon.com and all the other popular book hangouts online. It's a great way to get your foot in the door. Using a secondary publishing house can cost a lot of money and the book ends up costing a lot more for you to make any profit.  If you have a personal fortune then you are in luck. :) 



Once you think your book is perfect, send it to someone else to read again! Beta readers are 100% necessary. Remember all those goofy mistakes... There are still a few lurking in there. 

Do publish in print and ebook format. Kindle Direct Publishing is by far the best sales I have had to date. I use the KDP select program for the advertising but it's is a personal choice for every author. My second favorite is Smashwords.com. It is an author's friend, getting your book published easily to many markets, Sony, Apple iBooks, and many more. Don't skimp on the research. Always read the fine print when publishing with any company. It's your book, you should be making the majority of the profit. This is the new age of publishing when the author gets paid. 
When it comes to marketing read everything you can about it. Lots of authors have blogged on the subject. I promise you will get plenty of great ideas. 

Make an Author Page  - Here is mine as an example. https://www.facebook.com/Leah.Banicki.Novelist  
It is very important to have a separate page from your main facebook personal page. You want a place that is just about your writing. That and your fans don't have to read about your favorite sandwich and your kid's pictures. This author page represents your professional writing business and is a fantastic tool to get more readers. Put this author page as a link in every book, blog and email. Invite people to send their thoughts about your book there. The more people are talking about your book the more their friends and their friend's friends will see it.

Do tweet! Twitter is a growing, massive marketing extravaganza. Learn some lingo, hashtag it up and get the buzz started about your book. I absolutely love seeing that someone actually tweeted about me or my books. Free advertising. Self-publishing is all about word of mouth. 

Be patient about sales. Some months are great with sales, some are not. It has an ebb and flow. As people get to know you and your work it will sell. If it stays slow forever then you need to rethink pricing. Giving your book away for free is a great way to get the ball rolling. I have a nifty trick for doing that. Feel free to contact me on facebook and I will gladly share my tips, no charge. :)
https://www.facebook.com/Leah.Banicki.Novelist

Pricing for self-published authors should stay low in my opinion, with 4.99 being a max for a while. You want readers, and unless you are paying for major ads, no one knows you yet. We are on our own for now. Ask your friends and family for shares, likes, tweets and reviews. You gotta start somewhere. Don't be obnoxious and spam, though. There is a fine line between marketing and getting your facebook page blocked from all your friends.  

Get on Goodreads.com. The book giveaways are a great and cheap way to advertise your book. You need to have a copy or two of the print book to mail to the winner but you can get a lot of interest in your novel. Goodreads is a very active website. Readers Unite!!

I want to end with an encouragement to you. Just keep writing. I never thought someday I would have a book series and be helping authors with their books, but I am doing it. A small town girl, that always filled up notebooks with scribblings full of nothing. Then one day it was something. 

Good luck on your writing journey! 

 
 The list!

Do
Write the Book!
Get an Editor!
Start the next book! 
Slow down! 
Check out Createspace.com! 
Send the book to more readers, again!!!
Do publish in print and ebook format!
Find out how to market your book!
Make an Author Page on Facebook! 
Tweet. Twitter and books are friends!
Be patient about sales!
Goodreads book giveaways!
Keep on writing!

Don't
Don't go cheap on the book cover!
Don't rush the rewrite!
Don't panic!  
Don't skimp on the research!
Don't be obnoxious and spam!

To find out more about any part of the publishing process go to. https://www.facebook.com/Leah.Banicki.Novelist - I love to help people. Feel free to ask away. 

Are you an Author and want to share more dos and dont's?  Please feel free to email me at Leahsvoice(at)me.com. I will gladly add more to this and give you credit and link to your site, blog and/or author page. 

 

A Nod to Jane Austen

Just read an article about "The art of Storytelling" and one piece of advice was to take apart a favorite part of a movie or book and tear it apart.

Why do I love it so much, or why does it tug at my heart strings even after I have seen or read it so many times?

There is a a scene in Sense and Sensibilty where Mr. Willoughby, at the end of the movie, realizing he lost Marianne Dashwood forever. His mistakes and sins led to his own unhappiness.

Now we may have all enjoyed looking at Willoughby, for he was a fine specimen on the outside,  but his devious and malicious character was his undoing, and the undoing of others.

In real life don't we want those that have hurt us to feel a twinge of regret for what that have done to us? It doesn't always happen but I do have a bittersweet feeling watching Willoughby ride off on his steed after hearing the church bells of Marianne's wedding to a man who truly loves her. 


I realized while writing my book Runner Up I had a character that messed up. (No spoilers, I hope.) And like Willoughby had to face his own sins and fess up and face the music of his own making.

My book is set in modern time but I have the deepest respect for Jane Austen and her writing in Sense and Sensibility. The theme travels beyond the 19th century and into our lives. Where we face betrayal, love and loss.

Jane Austen, thank you for inspiring me.

Leah Banicki


 Runner Up - on Kindle

Currently listening to Sense and Sensibility on audiobook. I highly recommend it.

Path to a dream

Had an interesting and motivating talk with my 13 yr old daughter today about dreams.

"We all have dreams." I explained. "But some people choose to pursue them, and some people don't."

I come from a motivated family. Entrepreneurs and out-of-the-box thinkers and it might be a bit intimidating to a 13 year old being compared to a full-grown adult's ambition.  But she still does have dreams.

She is right at that age... between 12 and 95, the funny in-between age and it is a challenge to decide who exactly she wants to be. She knows what she wants and we adults all have our ideas for her on how to get there, but... and it's a big one. How much does she want to get there?

There are so many lovely distractions for us all these days but how much are they helping or hindering us? I have dozens of research books and websites to comb through for my research for the book I am working on but have to remember to be balanced about the write vs. research teeter-totter. Otherwise I totter toward student and lean away from the writer.

For her the balance of social, TV,  school and such leaves spare time. How does she use that spare time? She does a lot of great things, but she also does some useless things too. We all do. There are few things we all could trim off the agenda for the day that wouldn't do us any harm.

 I asked - Are you giving enough moments 

everyday to your dream? 

The question produced an interesting answer. She answered an emphatic. "No" Then grimaced. She didn't like her own answer.

She got right to work on her dreams activity list. I was proud of her. It takes a lot to admit to having a fault in any area and I appreciated her openness to share what she really wants.

It gave me a lot to think about today for myself. I am pretty motivated at the moment toward my goals and have my own bad days of distraction or complete roadblocks that make me stumble toward my goals.

I know I need to keep my goals and dreams in my path daily to keep moving forward. While I still draw breath I must be what God made for me to be.

Hoping to pass that legacy on to my daughter.

by Leah Banicki

Doubts

We all like to label ourselves, with our professions and hobbies. It used to be the way people were named in some societies. My mother has a friend with the last name Wagonmaker. Not much of a stretch to guess what her ancestors were doing.

Maybe it's part of the creative persons persona but I have struggled over the years with who I am exactly. 

Singer, writer, geek are just a few of my labels. The pages would fill up with all the words I have to describe myself, some to flatter myself, others to be harsh. I am my own worst critic. I have had some evil critics in my day but none are worse than the doubter in my own head.

On the verge of releasing a new project and really dragging my heels on the final steps.  I take turns giving myself pep talks and find myself tiring of it. There is no more time to talk. It's time to move. 

I know I am not alone in this, I am sure of it. Stepping back into my own discipline and going to set the doubts aside. Back on the path, going to finish one step at a time. 

So let's not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don't give up, or quit. - Galations 6:9 (The Message)

Online at: https://www.facebook.com/Leah.Banicki.Novelist

A brave woman at Walmart

There was a woman in line next to Jeff and I at Walmart, with two young kids, probably 4 and 2 yrs old. The young boy had a pacifier in his mouth but was anxious to help his mother put the groceries on the counter. Jeff and I told him he was a good helper. He wanted nothing to do with us, a little bit shy. His mom smiled at us weakly and we focused on our items to be loaded.
There was a woman behind us that piped into the conversation.
"He is too old for that pacifier!" She stated.
The mother turned while her groceries were being scanned by the clerk and picked up her shy son who didn't want attention.
She said so bravely."I know, he was over his pacifier awhile ago but since his baby sister died last month I think he has needed the comfort." Her eyes looked haunted. It broke my heart into a million pieces.
"I lost a sister too, I am so sorry." I said to the mother and the shy boy and the sister wrapped around her legs. The looks on their faces said it all. Just breathing in and out and going through the motions.
So proud of her for being brave and standing up for herself.

For those who always have to dive into having an opinion about something that is not their business. Please stop, and for a moment  worry about your own problems.

Praying for that young mother and her family tonight, knowing her long road to healing will be rough, but those two lovely helpful children can hold her tight through the journey.