Drea’s Comments (group member since Jul 18, 2015)

Drea’s comments from the A Cooperative Press for Indie Authors group.

LOL! I work Fri-Monday:) But I'm here! And Google Docs usually works well for me. It's not a lot of work to give permission, you can do so as a list, or you can make the document available to "anyone who has the link" but that doesn't come with the right to edit and when people comment they would have to state who they are.

I don't use drop box much. Adding a file and making it accessible to anyone is a little touchy. I have had some amazing critiques and some critiques so soul-devastating, they sent me-to-the-drawing board for a project that didn't need it.

So I have to say, the idea of having more control of who reads what can make me (as a writer) feel more in control of the process.

In fact, I love that we have an open call for beta readers. I think having even a spot on the website where we have people willing to read and what our "strengths" are in terms of what we look for in story telling and what we have particularly worked hard at mastering in the craft could even function like a resume, so we could contact people who are strong in our weak areas.

That would help me a lot!

I like it! This will go great on websites. The amazing detail of the lyre will likely be lost on inside title pages and book spines. Would there be a way to--on black and white--keep the same look but just use the lyre shape-minus the strings, perhaps?

Awesome! I completely agree that one of the main things that the Big 5 have over indie efforts is editing.

The other is the distribution of print. However, I suggested to A. some ways that an Indie Org could have some of the same reach should rge authors involved be interested in that.

Coming off a "weekend" in which I hosted 2 indie author events at the store and neither seemed to get bookstore practices, how to market or even sell their book, much less how to manage distribution or use events for maximum visibility, I'm certainly willing to contribute my knowledge. It's frustrating for me because there is no reason either of them could not have pulled in a real audience. They just tend not to know how.

Nesting websites is great, and it's definitely part of a successful, searchable presence, as would using keywords.

(Amazon and Barnes and Noble? *sobs* Don't forget Independent bookstores! We still exist!

And regarding titles listed there, make certain you check your availability on Ingram. Some places like Createspace "say" they give you national distribution, but what they do is list it as short discount bookstores and have it come from Ingram's midwest warehouses, making the wait time at a store sometimes impractical relative to its usual ease for those of us on the West Coast. Until the Fresno warehouse is live, this is what we have to deal with regarding distribution of indie titles.

But there are ways to manage around this and provide the same 24-48 hour delivery time Ingram usually given our customers and I can expand on those ideas if you like.

I think, knowledge can be made available and people can choose how much they want to participate in any efforts we may engage in to manage distribution of titles--in a co-operative manner--or not.

But I am 100% behind requiring that participants submit/receive and respond/apply edits. I think that making certain everyone has quality work is important, especially if we are using "imprints" and "logo's" to brand the work and make them look professional.

One question about pooling resources: would we wish to do this for ISBNs as well? As they are overall cheaper in a package, but not necessarily cheap individually. (My self-pub background is exclusively a print anthology of short stories. I understand that some of the "services" offer ISBNs and what-not, but I haven't worked with them yet to know if this would be of interest).

And: yay! Fantasy Imprint!

A. wrote: "Ramon wrote: "Drea wrote: "I often characterize the mindset of the three when selling books to parents: MG is "kids can save the world," YA is "can the world be saved?" and adult is "is the world w..."

Yes, I often say anymore that I write fantasy/epic fantasy for all ages, as that is my focus. My current projects are YA and I have a half-completed general fantasy project, and would be interested in attempting a MG novel/series. I might even be interested in attempting a picture book.

But I have ideas for SF novels and short stories floating around in my head as well (not to mention the mountains of hastily scratched notes).

I have experience with Google Docs. I use it all the time. It's amazing for group projects.

Authors don't need access to the group acount, the just need to "share" it.

A list of individuals seeking to edit/proofread and their emails can be managed "privately" and shared with members. Then members can choose who to share their work with, either full docs or chapter by chapter. This is how the majority of my writing/critiquing happens :)

@Mod,I confused myself. OK, that's awesome. I like the mission as well.

I would go for something catchy, easy to brand and remember. Ideally something that gives an impression of the feeling/idea of what we want the "publisher" to be.

From publisher categories YA = 13-21 demographic, MG (middle grade) = 8-13.

YA need not avoid "adult situations," in fact the largely popular "An Ember in the Ashes," debut novel by Razorbill (imprint of Penguin-Random) detailed the life of a girl who was constantly afraid of rape (though it never happened, it didn't shy away from the possibility of acknowledging background characters that had these sorts of brutal things in their life-experience).

MG novels *never* go there. Romance is more a peck on the lips and the focus is more group heroism/friendships (read: Harry Potter's first handful of books) That said, there's plenty of YA that fits for a younger audiences (12-15) and goes very little into the darker parts of the real world. Just remember, High Schools assign the Odyssey, Brave New World, Dune and Fahrenheit 451 to 14 & 15 year-olds. They *are* ready for mature content.

That doesn't mean you need to write mature content for kids, though. Plenty of the romance YA is terribly mild.

I often characterize the mindset of the three when selling books to parents: MG is "kids can save the world," YA is "can the world be saved?" and adult is "is the world worth saving?" as related to a philosophical threshold of experience/life to guide the sort of questions faced in the various stories (Based on my own reading of all of these levels of lit.)

The stories that I am working on are one early YA and an older YA (both fantasy).

Going for a discussion of what to call the Imprint (should Helium work for the overall company name) I'd suggest Apollo or another sun god. Keep the reference and theme as much as possible -- if an element has been named after said Sun God, even better.

Or just something somewhat related to the whole umbrella name, is what I'd go for.

I don't mind Helium Press, but I'd shorten it to "HP" for the sake of book spines (in at least one variant of the logo).

Hi! I'm completely interested, and I work in a bookstore currently, so regarding the relationship between print and distribution (and sales on the ground floor) I can give input. I'm also the event coordinator, so if individuals want to understand what advantages a press has (and how to implement them as an indie author--which is completely doable with the right knowledge)especially regarding events/promotion, I can also provide information.

I have had the privilege of working on two events with Asymmetrical Press which is doing something akin to what you are discussing, and so I find that exciting.

I write fantasy for all ages and regarding publishing options I'm keeping an open mind. But I am certainly interested in participating in an exciting endeavor such as this. Do you have a business plan?