Tag Archives: writers

What makes a Good Author?

Posted on July 1, 2010 | 7 comments

: Click Cover to Buy Now!

This is a question I have asked for many years now, in fact I started asking myself this whenI decided to write for publication. I wanted to know what I would have to do to be a good author. I don’t know that I have all the answers, but I have come up with a few things that I know for a fact are required to make a good author. And when I say “good” author, I mean successful.

What is success? My definition is: the positive result of serious effort and smart decision making with a specific goal in mind.

So what does it take? Here are my top ten things.

Enthusiasm
Integrity
Commitment
Determination
Vigilence
Stamina
Support
Values
Humor
Desire

A good author needs to be 100% enthusiastic about their work.

A good author needs to be consistent in their efforts and values.

A good author needs to be totally committed to the successful sales of their book. Not just in getting it into production.

A good author needs to be determined to succeed. They need to be willing do whatever it takes and to make sacrifices if necessary.

A good Author needs to be vigilent in their efforts for continued writing, marketing, and selling. Being an author is a multi-faceted experience and not an easy one.

A good author needs to be willing to invest whatever time is required to attend events, meet people, and talk about their work.

A good author needs to surround themself with other successful people as well as people who are eager to support and encourage them in all of their positive efforts.

A good author must accept the way the industry works and be willing to adjust their efforts as things change without giving up what they truly believe in.

A good author must roll with the punches. The book industry is a funny one and sometimes the only solution is to sit back and laugh at life before getting back up and doing what you have to.

A good author has to have the true in-your-gut-can’t live without it desire to be successful. Just saying it doesn’t make it so.

Don’t write a book and expect everyone else to do all the work for you. It is your book and no one is responsible for its success except you.

A good author needs to believe!

7 Comments

Posted in Blatherings

Tagged author, authors, books, change, Echelon Press, karen syed, life, Marketing, publishing, readers, reading, sales, writers, Writing

A Book is a Book is a Book is a Damn Book!

Posted on May 27, 2010 | 11 comments

I just had a very frustrating moment and I want to share it with all of you out there. I have no idea where this post will go, but I am venting at this point. Let’s start with authors.

Authors:

Why on earth do you all insist on breaking books down into these little itty bitty teeny tiny classifications? When you write a long story and get it published it is a BOOK! Right? Makes sense.

Why on earth do you refuse to accept that it doesn’t matter what format it is published in?

So some New York Times Best Selling author says eBook aren’t really books. Well, tell it to their publishers who I GUARANTEE are selling their books as eBooks now. Why? Because it is a BOOK! If that author doesn’t acknowledge their eBook as a “real” book then they damn sure better be refusing to take those NOT “real” royalties. But I’ll bet they are. There are so many people in this industry who keep insisting on putting everything into neat littel boxes. Well the world has to many damn boxes. Get out, see the world, live a little.

Who reads paperback books? READERS.

Who reads hardback books? READERS.

Who reads eBooks? READERS.

Who listens to/reads audio books? READERS!

Are you seeing a pattern here? Come on people, this isn’t about what is right or wrong, or good or bad. It is about choices. It’s about BOOKS!

Readers:

Who decides what you read and in what format? You do. Exactly. Isn’t it fabulous that you have choices? Sitting in the tub and want a paperback? You got it. That’s a choice. Laying by the pool and more comfortable with a hardback? Woohoo! You’ve got a choice! Traveling to Europe for three weeks and your suitcases are already over the weight limit and you haven’t packed any of the ten books you planned on taking? By golly, you boot up that Nook and download to your heart’s content for under a pound (12.1 ounces). Whhoooweee and hot damn. CHOICES!

Is someone pressuring you to pick one format over another? You give me a name and I’ll take care of them for you. I know people…oh wait, scratch that last part. You are the READER and this is all about you. You stand up and make your choice and if you want to pick a different format tomorrow, then I say EMBRACE YOUR FREEDOM TO CHOOSE.

Authors:

What is my least favorite question to hear from an author? *Okay, this is a note to my authors who recently asked this, I adore you, but pay attention.

I know how to promote a print book, but how do I promote an eBook?

Anyone know the answer? Anyone? You, in the blue sweater? No? Come on people, work with me. Okay, the answer is…wait for it…

: Click Cover to BUY BOOK

The same way you would promote every other format of the book. Stop trying to reinvent the wheel. You have all the tools you need right at your fingertips. You market and promote your BOOK as a BOOK. It’s pretty simple really.

I am pretty sure that readers want the simple facts. They don’t want to be beaten over the head with your book, they just want to know what it is about and where they can get it. That is when they get to CHOOSE. Will every reader want to read your book? Heck no. So what. Do you want to read every book out there? Of course not, you silly goose!

Just give them the facts and let them know that you and your BOOK is there for them.

The publishing industry is a multi-faceted empire that offers such diversity and wonder. It shouldn’t be traumatic or stressful for anyone, not reader, not authors. BOOKS have two basic functions. Either to entertain or to educate. So let’s not make it so difficult. Let’s just READ!

11 Comments

Posted in Blatherings, Marketing

Tagged alexis hart, author, authors, books, dark shines my love, ebooks, Echelon Press, freedom, karen syed, paperbacks, publishing, readers, reading, trends, writers, Writing

A Word to the Wise

Posted on May 26, 2010 | 4 comments

Okay, for those of you who have recently had some kind of interaction with me or one of my staff at Echelon Press, please read this in the spirit it is intended. How is it intended? It is a gripe, not a rant. I am not angry, I am just frustrated. I don’t dislike you, but I did experience moments of annoyance with regard to you if you did what I am about to discuss.

Free editorial service. Yup, there I said it. When you submit your work to a publisher it it supposed to be the very best that it can be.

It should not need to be reformatted to fit our guidelines.
It should not need to be spell checked by our editors.
It should not need to be grammar checked by our editors.
It should not need to be rewritten to resolve major issues.
It should not need to be rewritten to resolve minor issues.
It should not need to be rainbowed (some of my auuthors call that the great was, were, that hunt)

Seriously. This is how MOST of the manuscripts we are getting have to be addressed. I understand and will accept some flaws, you are after all human. But let’s be serious folks. It is NOT an unwritten rule that you must send a fully edited manuscript to a publisher for consideration. It is written all over the place. 90% of our submissions need to be 50% overhauled.

Now, the free part. My editors are very considerate. I have always had a policy that if your work is rejected, you know exactly why. This means notes, suggestions, advice. You can take it or leave it. But I feel that it only serves to help the author better his craft. It is a courtesy.

Well, it seems that Echelon has gotten a reputation for being really easy! We have had an influx of authors who submit to us, I should say submit work that needs serious work, with the notion that we will edit it. Okay, we will HELP.

But those same authors are getting all kinds of input and help with revision suggestions, notes on grammatical and spelling errors, stuff like that BEFORE they have a contract. Okay, that stops here! Right now. From this point on, Echelon will only give editorial comments and the like on contracted materials. Why?

In the last month, we have had about a dozen submissions where a pending offer was made, the editor began working with the author, time was spent, MONEY was spent, and then when it came time to actually sign and mail the contract, the author decided to go with another publisher or in the case of five different authors, they decided to self-publish.

For pete’s sake people, you can’t make this decision BEFORE you submit and get a gander at our contract which is not for public viewing? You wanna self-publish, good for you. And I don’t mean that in a snarky way. If you are willing to make that commitment and follow through, then I applaud you. Sincerely. But do I have to pay the price?

I am, after all, a publisher, not a FREE editorial service. I have to pay my editors and when you get their work and then don’t sign the damn contract, I still have to pay them, or they quit. Are you following what I’m saying?

For those of you who fit this bill, I’m really not mad, but I am disappointed because we do put a lot of work into what we do, and when it is for nothing, that means you have taken the time we could have been devoting to someone who really did want to be published by us.

Be courteous. Is that too much to ask?