Maria Savva's Blog - Posts Tagged "writers"

I'd like to invite you all to a new forum where you can get to know indie authors and readers and discuss everything about the self-publishing process.

BestSellerBound.com

It's almost like an online reality show featuring new and up and coming authors who have taken the indie or self-publishing route. I am a moderator on the site along with my fellow authors Darcia Helle and Stacy Juba

Darcia Helle
Stacy Juba

Here's the official press release about the site:

Bestseller Bound Message Board Connects Indie Authors and Readers. Readers and indie authors now have a brand new place to interact. The message board, Bestseller Bound, is having its grand opening this week.
Author Darcia Helle created the forum with input from resident authors/moderators Stacy Juba and Maria Savva.

Here, readers will get a behind the scenes glimpse into what it’s like to be a small press or independently published author. Resident and visiting authors will chat with readers about writing a book, how they do research and get their ideas, how they market their books, and the challenges they face. They’ll share articles, stories and poems, as well as
special offers and discounts.

Readers are invited to hang out, ask questions and chat with tomorrow’s breakout writers. Small press and independently published authors are welcome to participate in the discussion, as well as post threads about their titles in the Connection Café, post a book trailer link, and browse the free Help Wanted section, where authors and book lovers can exchange guest blogging and review opportunities. Members can also receive a free quarterly newsletter packed with information about indie books.

Helle is the author of romantic suspense novels including The Cutting Edge, Enemies and Playmates, Miami Snow, Hit List, No Justice and Beyond Salvation. Juba is the author of the mystery novels Twenty-Five Years Ago Today and Sink or Swim, along with the patriotic children’s picture book The Flag Keeper. Savva’s published novels are Coincidences, A Time to Tell and Second Chances, and she has also published the short story collections Pieces of a Rainbow, and Love and Loyalty (and Other Tales.)

There are already lots of indie authors and a few readers on the board. We need lots more readers to ask us questions and take part. So please join and support your independent authors.
Everyone is welcome!

Following on from my recent blog post about the new message board created by my fellow author Darcia Helle, I am pleased to announce that the official launch party (online) is on Tuesday 7th September 2010. I hope you can join us at BestsellerBound.com.
As I mentioned previously, I am a resident author on the board, along with Darcia and our good friend, author Stacy Juba

To celebrate the launch we will be hosting a giveaway! The launch party giveaway will run until midnight on September 30th. Darcia, Stacy and I will then pick the lucky winners.
You can win fabulous prizes, including the chance to be featured in our December 2010 newsletter.

The message board has been running for a few weeks and is proving to be very popular already.
Click here to read all about the launch party giveaway: Bestsellerbound Launch Party Giveaway

See you on the board!

Many of you will already know that I am a resident author on BestsellerBound.com, a message board dedicated to indie/small press authors and their readers.

BestsellerBound was created by Darcia Helle to give a voice to indie authors and to help readers find new and exciting books to read.

Indie authors are some of the most dedicated and passionate people when it comes to writing. We are often belittled by the literary press. The truth is that the publishing world is changing. Traditional publishing is no longer seen as the best way to enter into a writing career. With the launch of ebooks the indie author is now finding that they are able to compete with the bestselling authors. Overpricing of ebooks by the large publishing houses has caused outrage amongst readers lately. Some bestselling authors have chosen to self-publish their own books. People are starting to look for alternatives to the mainstream. This is an exciting time to be a self-published author and we want to celebrate that.

At BestsellerBound we would like to propel an indie author to the top of the Amazon kindle charts. We want to show that indie authors are commercially viable. We have started up a Facebook page. Please show your support for indie authors by 'liking' our page and recommending it to your friends.

We have chosen Darcia Helle's book The Cutting Edge as the book we would like to use to front our campaign.

Darcia Helle is a very talented writer who has self-published no less than 7 books. Here's the blurb from "The Cutting Edge"

My name is Skye Summers. I'm a hairstylist and I can't stop fantasizing about killing my clients. Not all of them, of course. I only want to kill the ones who irritate me, which, if I'm being honest, is most of them. My occasional fantasies have turned into chronic daydreams. They're bloody and vivid, like watching a slice-and-dice movie on IMAX. I also want to kill my husband's ex-girlfriend. She's not a client but she tops my list. Eighteen years ago, she gave birth to his daughter and she has tormented him ever since. I should be troubled by this growing desire to use my surgically sharpened shears for more than a haircut. Instead, I wonder how I can get away with it.

The idea of the campaign is that when we have enough followers on our campaign page we will announce a date for the download of the kindle book on Amazon. Darcia has kindly agreed to reduce the price of the ebook to 99c on the day of the download. If enough people download the book it should go to No.1. Hopefully on the US and UK Amazon kindle lists.

This campaign has been set up because we as indie authors feel passionately that all books, irrespective of how they were published, should have an equal chance to be read and enjoyed.

I hope you'll join us!


The Cutting Edge Campaign

Welcome to the third instalment of my series, wherein I intend to pass on some of the things I have learnt on my publishing journey.

I'm hoping this series will be of use to aspiring authors as well as established Indie authors. Readers may also find the insights valuable, in order to gain some kind of idea of what the self-publishing journey entails. It's not an easy road to travel, which is why I think it's beneficial that we all assist each other and try to enlighten those who may not be familiar with all the ins and outs.

You will find the first two instalments here:
A-C: http://nutsandcrisps.wordpress.com/20...
D-F: http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_...


I am only covering the letter G today as I have found many tips that start with this particular letter!

So, here we go:

G

Goodreads

I love Goodreads, and I'm not just saying that because I'm here. I discovered this invaluable website back in 2008 at the very beginning of my self-publishing journey and it has been a source of inspiration and assistance to me. I have met some of my best Indie author friends here. Back in 2008, when I was trying to find a way to promote my writing, I heard that a good way to get the word out was to have lots of reviews of your books. So I set about trying to find ways to obtain reviews. I contacted some Amazon reviewers, but then heard about something going on at Goodreads where authors would swap books and review each other's work. As I was out of work at the time, I had lots of time to read, so I thought this would be a good way to build up a following. While I would recommend book swaps as a way to get more reviews, I would also add a warning. There are some authors who will give you a high rating for your book in the hope that you will do the same. If you're like me, and only give honest opinions on books, you can run into some trouble. Some authors will be offended if you give them a less than glowing review of their book. So find out a bit about the author before you agree to swap books with them. Make sure you inform them from the start that you only give honest reviews. I had to start adding that to e-mails because of the unrealistic expectations I came across from less than professional authors. A good system is to agree that if you don't like the book you won't post a review. Then there won't be any backlash.

Anyway, back to why I love Goodreads. Through the book swaps, I discovered many great books and it made me realise that self-published fiction is just as good as the books you'll find on the best-seller shelves in shops. It opened up a whole new world of reading for me; up until that point, I'd been someone who was swayed by advertising to buy the books that were hyped up by publishing companies.

Some of the Indie authors I met on Goodreads way back in 2008 are still great friends and I enjoy their work immensely, for example, Julie Elizabeth Powell, and Quentin R. Bufogle.

Goodreads also has this blog facility, which I have found very handy as a tool to spread the word about my books. There are also many groups you can join where you can interact with readers and writers. In general, I have found the groups and forums on Goodreads to be more Indie-friendly than for example the Amazon forums. I am almost afraid to post anything on the Amazon forums because readers there seem to hate self-published authors... It's odd that people who claim to love reading and hang out on those forums can also hurl such abuse at creators of fiction. I have seen many an author criticised for mentioning his or her own book on those forums, and can only say that it offends my very soul to see that sort of behaviour. I can understand to some extent, the hate of spammy authors who will post links to their books everywhere without participating in any discussions, but the sort of abuse of authors I've witnessed on those forums is akin to bullying and seems to have its root in an innate hate for Indie authors that obviously stems from ignorance, and the unfounded belief that all self-published books are somehow inferior to those published by a mainstream publisher.

Sorry, I have strayed from the point again.

Other things I have found useful on Goodreads are the giveaway, recommend, and events functions. You can advertise a giveaway of a copy of your book, and as there are plenty of readers on this site, there are often thousands of entries. This generates interest in the books, as people are likely to add the book to their to-read list.

The 'recommend' link next to every book title is great, because you can recommend books you have read to your followers and thus help promote good books.

The 'events' link is great too as you can use it to let readers know about any upcoming book signings, KDP Free promotions etc.

To conclude, I would say that being a member of Goodreads has definitely been worthwhile for me and I'd recommend it to all Indie authors. When you join you'll be given a reader profile page, but can apply for an Author Page quite easily by following the links. Author pages are useful to have because as well as having a blog attached to them, there is also a section where you can add excerpts from your writing, so that readers can get an idea of your style.

Grammar

If you are thinking of self-publishing your own work it is important that you have a good grasp of grammar. If you don't, there are many books that you can buy to help you learn the rules. An editor is also a useful resource if you're not confident with your knowledge of grammar. It's very important for your prose to be grammatically correct (and I am aware that there are conflicting grammar rules that often make this an arduous task). The only instance where you can be excused for not following grammatical rules is within dialogue. Everyday speech is hardly ever grammatically correct, and I think good writing should reflect this. However, another warning here: don't make your dialogue so authentic to a particular district or country that your reader is left unable to understand it! I once read a book that was supposed to be written so that it reflected a particular slang, and I only got through about 16 pages before giving up. What's the point publishing a book that no one can understand? Our aim should be to have as large a readership as possible, so don't alienate your readers. It is still possible to write authentic dialogue without making it illegible. An example of this, is Scottish author Mark Rice whose stories are based in Scotland and the character dialogue is authentic but still easy to understand.

The main point about grammar that I want to make is that when a book is written as near as possible to correct grammar as you can get it, it will be so much easier for the reader to read. And clarity is what we should all be aiming for when we are writing. You don't want a reader to have to stop and think after reading each sentence trying to work out what you actually meant by that.


Giveaways

Many authors say they don't like giving away their books because they have worked so hard writing them. It is very true that authors work very hard on their books.

But my view is that you are shooting yourself in the foot if you don't give some books away. Every book you give away is an advertisement.

As mentioned above, Goodreads allows you to set up book giveaways. You can then use the giveaway as a marketing tool, and a way for more people to find out about your book. After all, everyone loves getting something for free. The success of the Amazon KDP Select programme is testament to that.

Other places you can set up giveaways are LibraryThing.com, Rafflecopter, and even when you're invited for an interview by a blogger or another author, you should also offer to give away a book or two. I have personally found the Goodreads giveaways a great way to promote a book.

On BestsellerBound Recommends (the new blog from Darcia Helle, myself, and J. Michael Radcliffe), we can set up a giveaway for Indie authors. Check out the submissions page for details!

I've just found out about a self-publishing award, organised by Writing Magazine and supported by the David St John Thomas Charitable Trust. It's described as the 'most prestigious prize' of the year for self-published authors. I am going to submit my latest novel, Haunted.

The contest is open to all writers as long as your book was published in print form in 2012.

Here's a link to the Competitions page on Writers Online: https://www.writers-online.co.uk/Writ... You can download the entry form by clicking on the link for 'Self-Published Book of the Year'.

There are also other competitions on the website that you might like to enter.

Good luck if you do decide to enter any of the competitions!

The lovely Terry Tyler has invited me to take part in the Very British Blog Tour 2013. Here's a link to her blog where you can read her answers to the questions, and there are links to some other authors' blogs.

http://terrytyler59.blogspot.co.uk/

The idea behind the tour is to introduce readers to British writers.

Here are my answers to the questions:

Q. Where were you born and where do you live at the moment?

A. I was born in London and I live in London. I did spend a few years living in Hertfordshire, but I'm back in London now. My sister recently bought a house that's only a few doors down from where I was born, actually. It used to be a maternity hospital, but it's an old people's home now, so whenever I visit my sister, I am literally just a few yards away from the place where I was born.

Q. Have you always lived and worked in Britain or are you based elsewhere at the moment?

A. I've always lived and worked in Britain.

Q. Which is your favourite part of Britain?

A. Being a Londoner, I would have to say London. I love the buzz of the city. I have to say, though, I do like to escape to the countryside sometimes. Hertfordshire, where I lived for a while, has some very nice little towns and villages.



Q. Have you ‘highlighted’ or ‘showcased’ any particular part of Britain in your books? For example, a town or city; a county, a monument or some well-known place or event?

A. As writers, we draw our inspiration from the world around us, I think; so yes, I've always tended to set my books in London, or places that are very much like London even if fictional. I recently wrote a short story for the BestsellerBound Short Story Anthology which is set in the area around Russell Square in London. I mentioned the 2011 London riots in my book, Haunted. I also mentioned red telephone boxes in that book too! I've mentioned the London Underground in many of my books and stories, and I'm sure I've made lots of references to London and British places and things in my novels over the years.



Q. There is an illusion – or myth if you wish - about British people that I would like you to discuss. Many see the ‘Brits’ as ‘stiff upper lip’. Is that correct?

A. I think it's more of an upper/middle class thing... Yes, sadly, we still have remnants of a class system in this country. I think the average Brit is quite comfortable showing emotion these days, but maybe twenty to thirty years ago, demonstrative behaviour was still frowned upon by those in high places (still is by some, unfortunately)... We're slowly breaking out of that mould, I believe (I hope!).

Q. Do any of the characters in your books carry the ‘stiff upper lip’? Or are they all ‘British Bulldog’ and unique in their own way?

A. I have written hundreds of characters over the years, and they all tend to be inspired by real people. There have been some with a stiff upper lip, and some who are quite the opposite... It all depends on the story, I suppose. Most of my characters tend to be British, though.

Q. Tell us about one of your recent books

A. "Haunted" is my latest novel, and I'm very proud of it because it is my first thriller and is being well received by lifelong thriller fans. It's about a man who, in a moment of rage, does something he regrets, and it's a study into how that one act affects the rest of his life, and in particular his mind; although the book also looks at how the people around him, and the victim's family, are changed by the repercussions of the event.



Q. What are you currently working on?

A. I'm editing a collection of short stories. It was meant to be a collection of some old short stories I found on my computer and on an old floppy disk, but I have since written three new stories for the collection, and added a 'Part 2' to one of the old stories. One of the new stories is in four parts, and is called Delusions & Dreams. I'm using that as the title for the anthology. I hope to publish it in the next few months. I've also started writing a sixth novel, but it's been put on the back burner until I finish the short story collection.

Q. How do you spend your leisure time?

A. I hardly have any leisure time. I work full time, then when I get home I try and catch up with a bit of writing or promotion of my books online. I usually get waylaid by Facebook and Twitter. I try to read and review books for fellow indie authors because I know how hard it is to get our books noticed out there; that takes up a lot of time too. I hardly have time to relax. When I do, I like to listen to music, go to concerts, the theatre, comedy nights, that sort of thing.

Q. Do you write for a local audience or a global audience?

A. World domination... Is there any other reason to write? But seriously, I write the stories that come into my head and I am happy that a global audience seems to appreciate them as I have readers in many countries who enjoy my books, and I'm very thankful for that.



Q. Can you provide links to your work?

My website: http://www.mariasavva.com has links to all my books. There are excerpts from some of the books, and book trailers; purchase links, and more.

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I would like to invite the following British authors to take part in this tour:

Julie Elizabeth Powell

Andrew Blackman

Andrew Peters

Tasha Harrison

Alex Sumner

Gareth Lewis

Mark Rice

James Everington

Neil Schiller

In this final part of my self-publishing and writing tips, I'm covering the letters U-Z.

I hope that both writers and readers have found this series helpful. I'll put links to the older blogs in the series at the bottom of the post so that you can refer to them in case you missed any.

U

Usage

Here are a few common grammatical issues that I pick up when reading independent works.

1. Blonde/blond.

The general rule here is that blonde is used when describing a female and blond when describing a male. Too often, I see indie authors using the terms wrongly.

2. Awhile/ a while

You should NEVER use awhile after you've used the word 'for'. NEVER.

Awhile means 'for a time' (hence no need to use 'for' in front of it).


3. Using a speechmark/inverted comma instead of an apostrophe. Most commonly I've spotted it when authors write 'em (shortening for them). This requires an apostrophe before the 'e' but more often than not, I see speechmarks.



V

"Very" and similar words

There's a famous quote from Mark Twain: “Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very;' your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.”

I agree that the use of words, such as 'very' are often repeated too much in manuscripts. When you are editing you should look out for as many repeated words as possible, and either cut them out or think of a different word that could be used in their place.

Voting

This is a point for readers to note. Here on Goodreads, there are various 'listopia' lists, where you can vote for your favourite books. This is a good way to help your favourite writers by recommending their books to other Goodreads users. When you finish a good book, please consider adding it to a few of the current lists.

W

Website

For writers, I think it's a good idea to have your own website. I like having a website because I can use it to keep a record of all the events in my writing life, I can link to all my books, my blog, and all my networking sites. It makes it easier for readers to find out what they want to know without having to visit a hundred different places: http://www.mariasavva.com

Writer's Block

I don't think writer's block exists. Yes, writers will find that there are times when they are unable to come up with anything new, they'll maybe panic that they will never write again, but there are simple ways to combat these feelings, and the causes are usually more to do with fear than any real issue.

The concept of writer's block probably developed because someone had a deadline to meet and couldn't meet it because they had 'run out of words'.

The great thing about being self-published is that we don't have deadlines. You can take your time to perfect your writing, and shouldn't feel rushed. Despite some advice to the contrary, I don't think it's necessary to write every day, in fact, I would say that is detrimental; unless you're working on a novel and you want to keep up the flow and get the first draft written. Take your time. Be inspired by the world around you. It sounds silly, but 'wait' for the ideas to come to you and then write them, rather than chasing ideas, in a frantic rush to get some words on paper.

If you ever find yourself unable to write and you stare at a blank page for hours, the best thing to do is stop trying. Go and do something else. Your brain is probably overworked and needs a recharge, or you have probably been sitting at a computer in a room for too long and have run out of inspiration. We need to engage in the world around us as writers in order to be inspired and find things to write about.

Alternatively, if you are working on a particular project and you can't find a way to continue that, start working on another. More often than not you will soon find that you are then able to go back to your other project and continue that. Probably your brain needed time to think about it. The creative process is linked to the subconscious mind, so when we think too much we're not doing ourselves any favours. Sometimes the mind needs to work things out on its own, without our own conscious chattering.

Another suggestion when you're running low on writing fodder is that you should go and read. Read widely, lots of different genres, and read a lot. If I ever meet writers who tell me they don't read, I am always suspicious of them and of their writing skills. A typical writer is addicted to words and language, is usually a bookworm.


X

I couldn't come up with anything beginning with X, but did find this rather funny post online about a book that was written about things found inside people in X-Rays, LOL: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11...

A cassette?


Back to slightly more serious stuff:
Y

Yahoo Groups

I don't really use these due to lack of time, but have joined a few writing/literary groups on Yahoo. They seem to work in the same way as groups you can join on LinkedIn or Goodreads, where writers can chat and promote etc.

YouTube

YouTube is fast becoming one of the most popular places for promotion. I make my own book trailers and upload them there: http://www.youtube.com/user/MariaSavv.... I am yet to discover the best way to get more views, so if anyone has any tips please leave them in the comments below.

Bestsellerbound has a YouTube channel, showcasing books by our members.
Darcia Helle produces those videos. She also recently started interviewing authors and producing audio videos. You may have seen those in some of my earlier blogs. Here's a link to the channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/QuietFury...

Z

As with 'X' I struggled to find something beginning with 'Z', so I'll end the series with a bit of fun (because remember, writing is supposed to be fun!).

Here's a picture of Zebedee from one of my favourite TV programmes as a child: The Magic Roundabout:




Zebedee is a magician, and book are magic, are they not?

If you're in doubt, here's a quote from one of the greatest writers:

“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.”
― Roald Dahl

That concludes the series... I hope you enjoyed it.

Links to the other blog posts in the series:

A-C: http://nutsandcrisps.wordpress.com/20...
D-F: http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_...
G: http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_...
H-J: http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_...
K-M: http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_...
N-P: http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_...
Q-S: http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_...
T: http://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_...

At the recent TLC's "Writing in a Digital Age" conference, there was a panel of experts talking about available funding in the UK for writers.

Here's a breakdown of what is available out there:

Society of Authors

They give away £200K per year

Writers in financial difficulty can apply to them for funding. See the terms and conditions and details on their website, including how to apply: http://www.societyofauthors.org/grant...

They also have grants available for works in progress, and various prizes for authors: http://www.societyofauthors.org/grant...

Arts Council

Anyone can apply for an Arts Council grant to, but you have to pitch your project well. You have to demonstrate a good track record and a good reason for needing the grant.

In the past they have given funds to authors who, for example, had to travel abroad for research.

To be successful, you usually have to be endorsed by other organisations e.g. publishers.

Find out more about what they have to offer and how to apply on their website: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/

The Literary Platform
Website: http://www.theliteraryplatform.com/

The representative talked about two arts programmes they have:

1. The Writing Platform Bursary: http://www.theliteraryplatform.com/co...

2. Annual prize also open to self-published writers - £5,000 to each of the 8 books selected. Find out how to apply here:
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/jer...

Other prizes and sources of funding that were mentioned:

Folio Prize. Read more about it here: http://www.selfpublishingadvice.org/i...

Guardian First Book Award: http://www.theguardian.com/books/guar...

Royal Literary Fund Scholarship Scheme: http://www.rlf.org.uk/fellowshipschem...

The Literary Consultancy has a Free Read Scheme to assess your manuscript. Follow the link for more details: http://literaryconsultancy.co.uk/edit...

IdeasTap Funding: http://www.ideastap.com/Funding

Winston Churchill Travel Fund: http://www.wcmt.org.uk/

Also, all UK writers should make sure they're signed up and have their books listed with Public Lending Right: http://www.plr.uk.com/ and ALCS: http://www.alcs.co.uk/

It was stated that there are more opportunities for funding/grants etc. in the UK than anywhere else in the world.

If you're a writer, have a look at all the sites above and see whether there's anything you can apply for!

Terry Tyler has just published a new novella!

"Best Seller: A Tale Of Three Writers" is currently available on Amazon for just 99p/99c



About the book:

Three women, one dream: to become a successful author.

Eden Taylor has made it—big time. A twenty-three year old with model girl looks and a book deal with a major publisher, she's outselling the established names in her field and is fast becoming the darling of the media.

Becky Hunter has money problems. Can she earn enough from her light-hearted romance novels to counteract boyfriend Alex's extravagant spending habits, before their rocky world collapses?

Hard up factory worker Jan Chilver sees writing as an escape from her troubled, lonely life. She is offered a lifeline—but fails to read the small print...

In the competitive world of publishing, success can be merely a matter of who you know—and how ruthless you are prepared to be to get to the top.

BEST SELLER is a novella of 40k words (roughly half as long as an average length novel), a slightly dark, slightly edgy drama with a twist or three in the tale.


Get your copy:

UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0...
US: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C...
CA: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01CX...
AU: http://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B...
ES: http://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B01CX...
FR: http://www.amazon.fr/gp/product/B01CX...
DE: http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B01CX...
NL: http://www.amazon.nl/gp/product/B01CX...
IN: http://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B01CX...
JP: http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B0...
MX: http://www.amazon.com.mx/gp/product/B...
BR: http://www.amazon.com.br/gp/product/B...

Author links:

Blog: http://www.terrytyler59.blogspot.co.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerryTyler4
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Terry-Tyler-...

The Little Book of Muses by Khaled Talib

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is a wonderful little book for writers and aspiring writers. It's a quick read, but a book full of wisdom that I'm sure I will read again and again. I've seen lots of Khaled Talib's inspirational quotes on his Facebook and Twitter pages over the years and have always enjoyed them. They are simple but thought-provoking. This is a collection of quotes about writers and the things that inspires words and novels; a celebration of words and the magic of art and writing. It's an uplifting and encouraging selection of quotes for writers and artists. There's also a good dose of humour within the pages. Well worth reading.



View all my reviews