First, for you memoir lovers, and even if you don’t normally read memoirs, check out this post by Jill Kemerer about Eloisa James’s memoir Paris in Love.

Writers/people who are willing to venture out their comfort zone to try something many of us only dream of doing fascinate me! FASCINATE. ME. So, I have added this book to my To Be Read pile. (For after I finish writing current manuscript, of course.)

Second, Kristen Lamb has a very inspiring post for anyone who dares to be a successful writer: Steve Jobs and 5 Tips for Being a Successful Writer.

And that’s it. I don’t have tons of time to peruse blog posts because I’m deep into MINDSPEAK #2. Hooray!!! (And I’m really excited about this story.)

BUT HEY!!!!!! I am releasing the title of Mindspeak #2 to all of my Newsletter subscribers very, VERY soon. So, if you want to be one of the first to hear the real title (because, frankly, I’m getting super tired of calling it Mindspeak #2), you’ll need to sign up by clicking the link at the top of my site – A Piece of My Mind (or click right here). This novel has a name. It’s time to start using it, don’t you think?

What are your big plans for the holiday weekend? (I’m going to a big soccer tournament. I know… You’re jealous.)

“The other one [myth] is that you must spend at least 5k per book. You can do that. But there are many ways to start off and not go into debt at the same time.”

And I agree. You do not need to go into debt, and there are many ways to publish a book without breaking the bank.

At the same time, self-publising is a business, so it does require some sort of initial investment if you want to be taken seriously.

I didn’t even spend close to $5,000 on MINDSPEAK. I didn’t even spend $2,000 on Mindspeak, which I think is a reasonable budget on your first book.

I spent about $1100 to publish my debut novel. I’m not going into how much I’m making on my debut novel, because it’s just not necessary to prove my point. But let’s discuss what to spend your money on when you self-publish.

1. EDITING – This is the #1 most important budget item for self-publishing on a budget and, in my opinion, the #1 most important aspect of publishing successfully. Don’t skimp here. Of my budget, I spent over $800 on editing, and really wanted to spend more, but just couldn’t. I will probably double my editing budget in the future and hire separate editors for different stages of editing. (I’ve got a future post planned about editing and how I kept my cost down.)

Even though I managed to keep my cost down here, I did not skimp on editing. And I do not recommend that you skimp on this part of the publishing process either. Skimping on editing WILL affect your sales, your reviews, and how seriously others take you as a published author.

2. COVER – This can be the #2 most expensive part of publishing your novel yourself and is the #2 most important aspect of publishing successfully (arguably, cover could be close to #1). The amount you can spend on a cover is high, but you don’t have to. I talk about covers in these two posts, and actually have planned a future post about exactly how my dear husband and I created the cover for Mindspeak. I only spent $14 on my cover. You can keep cover cost low, BUT only do so if you know what you’re doing or know someone else who knows what they’re doing.

Also, my husband and I spent a lot of time on the cover for Mindspeak, so we probably could argue that it would be worth hiring this out in the future. However, by doing it ourselves, I had a lot of control over the end product. Control is valuable when you’re doing it yourself.

From research I’ve done, if you hire a designer to do your cover, you could spend anywhere from $125 to $300, which is still not go-into-debt-expensive.

Word of caution about the importance of covers: Covers are the first impression you make on a potential reader. Many readers won’t even try your sample chapters if they don’t like how the package is wrapped.

Whether you spend $10 or $1000, make sure your cover looks professional and makes a good first impression of the story you’re selling.

3. ISBNs – I purchased ISBNs from Bowker. You can get one ISBN for $125, ten for $250 (which I did), or 100 for $575 (which I’m thinking of doing in the future if I continue to self-publish). I’ve only used three of the ISBNs so far, so I still have enough to use on my next two books as well.

4. FORMATTING – I did not spend money on formatting. I learned to format eBooks for all formats and for print myself. HOWEVER, I will pay for this in the future. You can spend $50 to $100 on this, and it is worth it based on the time, blood, sweat and tears I spent on this.

5 . Incidentals – There were other items that were small in cost that I can’t even think of right now. But the first three items were the big ones in terms of dollars or impact.

Also, there are things you can purchase after you’ve published, like advertising and publicity.

As you can see, self-publishing does not have to have a huge investment initially. But self-publishing is a business, and each business is different with different needs. Where I was able to cut the cost of my cover because “I know people,” you might have a father  or sister who edits manuscripts for a living and cut costs there. Be smart. Work smart. If you make a mistake and find that you should have paid for further editing, try again, and spend more on editing in the future. If your cover isn’t working, hire someone to design a new one. That’s the beauty of  being able to watch your sales and the market. You can make tweaks here and there until you know your product is exactly how you want it.

Does any of the above surprise you? What do you think is more important – Editing or Cover?

I was talking with someone the other day about the pros and cons to self-publishing, and his biggest concern (based on a conversation he had with an agent) was having the time to self-publish. You see, his agent told him that self-publishing was a full-time job, and asked him if he was truly ready for that.

Agents and publishers will have you believe that self-publsihing is impossible for the writer who works full-time at another job, the writer who has a busy family life, or the writer who simply doesn’t think he has the skills or time to format, hire editors or cover designers, or the many other little things a writer has to do.

I am a firm believer that EVERY WRITER MUST DECIDE FOR THEMSELVES HOW THEY WANT THEIR BOOKS PUBLISHED. No one can choose for you how to get your books into the hands of readers.

But…

I want to warn writers and authors everywhere to be very careful listening to ONE person when making these decisions. Even a person with the best intentions might lead you astray in this ever-changing climate.

Even when you trust someone and know in your heart that that person has your best interests (what they think are your best interests) in mind, always keep in mind: WHAT ARE HIS/HER INTERESTS WHERE YOU ARE CONCERNED? Or said differently: WHAT IS HIS/HER AGENDA? DOES IT LINE UP WITH YOURS?

I am not telling you to not trust someone you believe in. I’m just saying you need to always be asking yourself: WHAT DO YOU WANT OUT OF YOUR EXPERIENCE IN THIS PUBLISHING WORLD? And does the person (or people) you’re listening to the most understand and respect this?

Regarding self-publishing being a full-time job? It absolutely can be. For me? It absolutely has not been, and I kind of think I’ve done okay. I’m meeting many of my early realistic goals. Have I hit the NY Times Bestseller list? No, but I did not expect to. It wasn’t even on my list of absurd goals I set for myself. Not yet, anyway.

I released Mindspeak in January just when I started working 45 hours a week in accounting and taxes. Those weeks eventually turned to 60 hours a week for the few weeks leading up to April 15th. This gives you an idea of how little time I left for promotion and writing. Was publishing during my busiest time the right thing to do? Maybe not, but it worked for me, and I can’t change the fact that I have a job that I need (at the moment) to pay the bills. During tax season, I jumped on social media first thing in the morning before work, and for 30 minutes to an hour when I got home at night. I kept up. I wrote guest posts and interviews on weekends. It worked. But self-publishing was not and is not a full-time job for me yet.

On the other side of this, would I be selling more books if I were working it more full time? Maybe, but maybe not. Here’s the thing. The only thing I would be doing differently and better if I didn’t have the day-time job would be to write faster. I believe the quickest way to sell more and make a living at self-publishing is to give your readers more product. That’s where having a full-time writing schedule would be nice.

I think we should definitely be listening to and learning from agents, publishers, other authors – both traditionally pubbed and self-pubbed – but I just want to warn you and myself to keep in mind where each person is coming from when they’re giving out advice. Does it line up with what you really want?

Bottom line: Don’t buy into every piece of advice you receive. Listen to it. Consider the source. If you trust the source, consider the advice. Then decide if the advice applies to you and your situation or goals.

Even the best-intended advice is not always right for you. And if you’re considering self-publishing, but are scared that you don’t have the time? Let me just end with this: If you found the time to pen a full-length novel, you have the time to self-publish. Don’t let lack of time be the fear that holds you back.

Last week, Jody Hedlund, a friend and once-upon-a-time debut author herself, listed her criteria for deciding on whether to give debut authors a chance. I agreed with a couple of her points:

Word-of-mouth praise. There’s nothing like people talking up a book to make me want to run to my nearest bookstore or eReader.

A eye-catching cover. Like Jody, I love a cover that grabs you and immediately introduces you to the kind of reading experience you’re about to embark on. But I’m also very forgiving of a bad cover in the traditionally published market because I know the author had nothing to do with designing the cover.

Jody also made a point to list another criteria she uses in deciding whether to give debut authors a chance. She says:

“Traditionally versus self-published. I hate to admit this, but it’s true. For debut books, I almost always check if they’ve gone through a traditional publisher. If a new author has passed through the various “tests” and persevered to make it through the “hoops” of traditional publication, and if agents and editors believe in the story, then I’ll be more willing to put out my hard-earned cash on a debut book.

Because let’s face it, anyone can throw anything out there nowadays and call it a book. If I know a book has faced the rigors and screening of the traditional publisher route, I’m more likely to give the new author a try (fair or not). (When experienced authors self-publish, that’s a completely different story.)”

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and while Jody makes a valid point that “anyone can throw anything out there nowadays,” I’d like to give readers an alternative to simply turning your back on what might be your new favorite author, who may have self-published a fantastic, well-edited, and well-crafted novel.

Ready for it?

Try the sample chapters. You can try a sample of almost any novel out there these days. And the sample is usually pretty large — definitely long enough to give the reader enough evidence on whether they want to purchase the entire novel. In the sample pages, you should have enough time to get to know the author’s voice and writing style. You’ll probably get a pretty good feel for the genre of the novel. And you should know by the end of the sample, if not well-before that point, if the story has been well-crafted and well-edited, both of which are very important to many readers.

The sample chapters of MINDSPEAK take you into Chapter 4 and introduce a major plot point of the entire story. You will know well-before that point whether to spend $2.99 on my debut novel.

Of course, I am biased. I think readers everywhere should give self-published novels a try. There are some amazing writers out there who have chosen to go a non-traditional route. They are writers who study the craft and the industry. They persevere through the same editing processes (sometimes even more so) than traditionally published. They are writers who study their market and put their own money behind their product.

I read both traditionally and self-published novels these days. I have discovered good and bad in both camps. (Of course this is all subjective.) And to be honest, I don’t think readers REALLY care anymore who a book was published by. As a reader, I just want to read a good book. And if I discover a fresh, new voice of a debut author in the process, well then good for me, good for that author, and good for all the friends I spread the word to.

So, go out and find a debut author to read. Try her sample pages. That’s my challenge for you this week. I don’t care if he/she is published by a large publisher, a small press, or published her story all by her good ol’ self, give her sample chapters a whirl. And don’t forget to tell her you liked it when you’re done.

Let me know in the comments if you’ve discovered a new favorite author lately. Whether he/she is a debut author or simply new to you, let me know.

Photo Credit – Creative Commons – by shutupyourface

I know, I know, I KNOW!! I’ve been away. I don’t even know how long I’ve been away, but wowzers, I’ve missed chatting it up on here. I’ve been on Facebook a bit, and I’ve received some amazingly nice emails and phone calls with encouragement and questions. Thank you  for that! I also did an author panel last weekend with four amazing young adult authors (who are all traditionally published and über successful and oh-so-nice). I’ll do a post on this on a different day.

Since I launched my debut novel, I’ve received questions here and there that I thought I’d address on the blog. Yes, I’m going to be blogging more often, but until I get back into a full-swing writerly routine it’s hard to say how often that will be. I’m considering doing more posts than you’re used to seeing from me, but keeping the posts short, sweet, and to the point. I’ve even hired my daughter to help me give vlogging a whirl. (She’s an amazing videographer.)

Okay, on to the first question I want to address. This comes from a friend who wished to stay anonymous.

How did you know FOR SURE that you wanted to jump into the Indie/Self-Publishing waters?

I’m pretty sure most writers have a picture in their mind of what their published self will look like. For girls, it’s very much like the wedding dream. Many girls start dreaming of their wedding day at a very early age. They imagine a big, glamorous wedding, or maybe a small garden wedding, the traditional wedding march, or something a bit non-traditional. Whatever it is, the picture is there from an early age. And though the picture might change with the trends and personal circumstances and as the girl ages and matures, the basic desires usually remain.

Publishing is very much like this. I had a picture in my head. Mostly that picture included people reading a novel I had written then telling all their friends to go read said novel.

But I’ll be honest. That picture also included publishers and agents begging me to write another book, and paying me in advance to do so. I envisioned editors scheduling brainstorming sessions with me when I got stuck on a plot and needed a little guidance in making the story the best that I could make it. I dreamt I would have a team to help me make my stories better than I could do on my own. And in my dream of all dreams, I pictured publishers scheduling me for world-travelling book tours with authors I only dream of meeting.

Of course, that picture was before I learned (aged and matured) and realized that the perfect-world publishing picture was only available for a select few. And it’s not that I don’t think it’s possible for myself (or for you), because anything’s possible, but after studying the trends and the circumstances writers are faced with right now, I decided that in order to reach MY goals the most efficiently and timely, I needed to self-publish. I needed to GO FOR IT.

I began studying things like:

How will I build an audience without a publisher backing me?

What aspects of the publishing process can I do myself? What will I need to hire out/pay for?

What kind of budget did I have to work with? Could I afford that?

What if this book fails? Could I live with that?

What does success look like? Can I reasonably expect to reach MY picture of success on my own?

The first and last questions were the biggies for me. I knew I had to be reasonable in how I measured success on my debut novel. I wanted to set the expectation high enough that I worked hard to reach it, but low enough that I could reach it. I wanted some measure of success that would motivate me to work hard on Book 2. Reaching that success would depend on building an audience. But without a book, I was struggling to build an audience.

So, in answer to the question… I didn’t know for sure that self-publishing was the right choice before I hit publish. But after a lot of research, I knew that self-publishing would start me in the right direction. I knew I had to start building an audience. And I knew I had a book that could help with that.

We all have to start somewhere. And we all have to consider our own dreams, desires, and unique circumstances.  But in the end, don’t forget to look reasonably at your own situation. And don’t forget to examine the fears that are holding you back.

Are you holding out on making your next move out of fear or because it’s the smart business decision that you need to make right now? Make sure you know the difference.

My husband called me on his way home from work last week saying, “I just recorded an NPR interview that you’ve got to hear.”

The next day, a friend of mine direct messaged me on twitter (Hi, Julie) saying, “I thought of you yesterday when I listened to this story on my run: http://www.npr.org/2013/03/11/173514863/frankensteins-cat-bioengineering-the-animals-of-the-future.

Let me just say, I now hold in my hands a copy of Emily Anthes’s book, Frankenstein’s Cat: Cuddling up to Biotech’s Brave New Beasts.

The introduction alone has my mind spinning out of control about the many scientific breakthroughs — ones I only imagined in my head (inspired by a lot of research) while writing MINDSPEAK — that are actually truths. Not to mention how much of this book echoes things I’ve already incorporated into Book #2 in the series. And that’s just from reading the intro and the description. It’s crazy!! It’s like Anthes had mindspoken these things right to me as I wrote.

Of course, my imagination is doing this to human beings, not mice, beetles and cockroaches.

Here’s an excerpt from the introduction that had me thinking about the characters of MINDSPEAK (this excerpt is talking about genetically manipulated lab mice – not humans):

“While some of the rodents have obvious abnormalities, others reveal their secrets over time. One variety appears normal on the outside, with thick white fur and healthy pink ears and noses. But the animals are klutzes. They are clumsy and spectacularly uncoordinated. They fail miserably when researchers put them through their paces at a special rodent boot camp.”

Doesn’t this make you think of Lexi and the characters of MINDSPEAK? Lexi has no idea the extent of her “abnormalities” or what I like to call “special abilities.” She and others were also genetically manipulated for special purposes. And these, too, will be revealed over time.

I’m almost positive you’re going to hear me talk more about this book as I read past the intro!

Greetings! Exactly one month from tomorrow is tax filing deadline. I know that April 15 is just another day for most people, but for me, it’s my last day of working the day job for a while and the day before I sit down and REALLY get to work on Book #2 of the Mindspeak series.

So, we are celebrating three things this week with a $20 iTunes giveaway:

1. One month until the end of tax season! Which means one month until I buckle down and truly attack Book #2 in the Mindspeak series.

2. You!!!! MINDSPEAK reached up into the 40′s of Amazon rankings this past week for teen science fiction for Kindle. I can’t begin to understand how the alogorithms of Amazon work, but I know one thing for sure. The further you climb, the more those lists on Amazon work for you. For example, if your book is selling, the more likely the book will appear on “If you liked this…, you’ll like this…” lists. And in order to keep selling, your book kinda needs to appear on those lists. And I’m convinced that if I didn’t have so much help getting the word out about Mindspeak, I wouldn’t have sold the first copy. So this giveaway is me saying THANK YOU for an excellent first six weeks.

3. Jack!! Oh, Jack. I’ve been thinking about Jack a lot lately. He’s got a rough road ahead of him in #2 of the Mindspeak series. And to truly get inside Jack’s head I listen to a lot of music. That’s why I decided to say thank you with some iTunes money.

I’ve shared before how my daughter helped me come up with the playlist for Mindspeak. She knows the type of music I like to listen to while I write and work, plus she has excellent taste in music. And because she is almost the age of my target audience of 14 and up (yes, she has read Mindspeak, and she loved it!), I thought it would be interesting to hear her thoughts about the Mindspeak playlist, playlists in general, and about the importance of music to the creative process.

Here is what she says…

Music defines who we are. Music can make you cry, laugh, forget, forgive…and start something big. When a tune is paired with the right words, something beautiful is created. In Poet by Bastille, this idea is captured beautifully. He sings:

“I can feel your pulse through the pages…I have written you down, you will live forever. All the world will read you. You will live forever.”

Throughout the song Bastille descrbes how powerful poetry is, and his poetry becomes lyrics of a song.

Poetry is not the only form of creative writing that flows with music. Any type of writing can. The incredible emotion of a character in a novel can also be expressed through music. That is why creating a playlist for your novel can be a way to not only promote your work, but also to portray the meaning of your writing effectively.

Picking the right songs for your list is key. I had to carefully choose not by which songs I liked the most, but which songs directly related to the themes and situations contained within Mindspeak. Jack is a great character to relate to with music, especially since he’s a musician himself. While my mom was writing the band scene, I was called on to give my opinion of which bands to use to describe Jack’s band. I immediately blurted, “Coldplay and The Fray! I mean, if they had a band-child together it would be a pretty awesome band.” So that is what she went with.

While putting together the playlist, most of the songs I chose were easy to envision Jack singing. He is relatable to many different musicians. His deep emotions are woven into countless songs in every genre, although I never strayed far from the alternative genre with this playlist.

Heather here again. Isn’t she awesome?! She has a way with words, I think. And I love how she describes Jack’s deep emotions.

Okay, so the contest rules…

Share this post somewhere. Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. I don’t care where. And leave a comment below telling me: Do you like listening to playlists created for novels? Have you created one for your own novel? .

That’s it. You’ll be entered for the chance to win $20 in iTunes money.

The contest ends Wednesday at midnight (Mar 20th). I’ll announce a winner Friday (Mar 22nd).

Tweetable:

Listen to music playlists created for novels? Come share and win iTunes money. Click to Tweet

Also, I’m being interviewed on Lisa Godfrees’s site , Monday, March 18th. She asks some really tough questions about Christians and cursing. Should make for a good discussion so don’t miss it…

Plus, I’m giving away a copy of MINDSPEAK.

We want to snag a fantastic agent. We want the validation that comes with attracting the attention of a big-time publisher, followed by attracting the attention of lots and lots of readers.

We want the control that comes with designing our own covers (or at least control over deciding if a cover needs to be changed after we don’t like a design) and deciding what we want to include behind that cover — the story we want to tell.

We want the royal treatment from a publisher — book signings, corner displays at the bookstores, shelf space at Wal Mart and Target, trips all around the world to meet face-to-face with our most supportive fans.

We want big fat paychecks to start rolling in so that we can quit those day jobs to concentrate on our art, replace our 10-year-old cars, hire someone to clean our house (okay, maybe this one’s just me), and go on a much-needed vacation.

Oh, and let’s not forget that none of us want to wait for any of the above. To kind of quote my movie friend Veruca Salt, we want the whole world, and we want it now.

To find out which of the above “wants” drove my decision to publish MINDSPEAK, follow me over to Katie Ganshert’s blog for the rest of the post.

Isn’t she adorable? Meet Katie, my brother’s newest addition.

Think about a goal or something you desire in life right now. It can be a career goal. A dream outside of your day job. Maybe it’s to lose weight. Or run a marathon. Something big. Something that rests before  you at the top of a large, intimidating moutain of obstacles.

My brother did an amazing, brave thing several years ago. Well into his thirties, he went back to law school. He had always wanted to be an attorney, but life got in the way. Time passed. But his dream never died. He was one of the oldest in his law school class, many of his peers more than ten years younger.

On one hand, I thought he was n-u-t-s, but only because I couldn’t image going back to school. You see? I brought my life, experiences, and desires into his dream. I couldn’t imagine the reading and the work he’d have to do to succeed in law school so long after graduating from college. Of course I thought he was nuts, being a lawyer wasn’t my dream. On the other hand, I was unbelievably proud of him, and super envious that he had the drive to go after what he wanted.

So, as you are imagining that one thing you desire in this life at this moment, what will it take to reach success? Maybe there are road blocks you need to knock down. Maybe the uphill climb seems too much for you. Maybe you think you’re too old, too out of shape, too busy… Too stuck?

I’ve felt stuck at times. I think, “I’m so beyond busy when I work full time January through April, how can I possibly build some sort of career in writing?” Sometimes I feel pulled in so many directions that finding the time to write seems like too big of a mountain.

But it’s not. If you have a desire, a goal, a dream lying heavily on your heart, there is no mountain too big. And just when you think your dream is too big for this life is exactly when you might need to redefine what success looks like. See it from a different angle. Take a different path.

Or maybe this is your time to wait.

My brother didn’t reach his dream in the timing he thought he would. Or in the timing he hoped. God had different plans for him. But just because his timing wasn’t God’s timing, the dream lived on. The mountain was still there for the climbing. And climb he did. Persevere he did. He ventured through a time of wait until his dream flared up again, and then he took a different path.

What is my point? Well, my point is success is very abstract. What success looks like to me, or looked like for my brother, is going to be very different to someone else. Even if your dream and my dream seem similar, success is going to look different. And that’s okay.

My other point? Dreams and life goals have peaks and valleys. Sometimes we are hot on the trail to reach the top of the mountain, and sometimes we enter periods of wait. Don’t be afraid of those quiet periods of wait. Sometimes, that’s when visions of success are morphing into something entirely different.

What are you waiting on today? What is at the top of your mountain? Has your vision of success changed recently?