Indie (Hybrid) Writerville

When my plans for world domination failed, I decided to take the self-publishing path for Midnight Sisters.

Photo courtesy of Unsplash

I'm grateful every day that Cedar Fort took a chance on me and Becoming Beauty. Traditional publishing taught me about editing, storytelling, and character arcs. I also learned that traditionally published authors have no time to sit back and eat bon-bons. Nope. Cedar Fort managed book distribution and formatting while I set up my blog tour, book launch, arranged for signings, and scheduled author visits to schools and libraries.

Fast forward two years. As a Indie Author, I had complete control over everything including the things I had no idea how to do. Luckily, I had an amazing team behind me who was willing to pick up the slack.

Editing: My fabulous editor friend Margaret Zerkle got to the root of all my book issues. Meg asked the hard questions and didn't care if it made me cry or throw things. (I didn't actually cry or throw things. But I appreciate that honesty.) It made my story clearer and my characters more interesting.

Cover Art: My official graphic designer, Cindy, created everything from my coverart to bookmarks and other promotional materials for Midnight Sisters' Blog Tour and Launch Party. The experience of shooting the cover with Cindy convinced me that this indie author thing was definitely for me. Collaborating with someone to bring your vision to life is intoxicating.

Formatting: Hybrid author Jo Ann Schneider and her hubby Jon came to my rescue on book formatting. I am less than computer saavy, people. But with my crash course on formatting, I'm much more comfortable with the process. (But yes, Jo, sometimes I still need you to hold my hand!)

Marketing: For Midnight Sister's release, I contacted everyone I knew in the writing world and politely asked for their help. Because Becoming Beauty's Blog Tour went so well, many people came on board immediately and several more continued to ask me to guest post, send them a copy of Midnight Sisters to review, sell my book in their bookshops, and host author events at their venue. These are the amazing people who share you with their readers and fans. Why go to all the effort of setting up blog tours, book launches, and giveaways? The reality is that running blog tours, giveaways, and other promotional events makes your book more visible to a wider audience and grows your following on social media. And in case you haven't been paying attention, that's what really sells your books. 

At this point you may be wondering how to build a team of awesome individuals like mine. Here's how:

Be kind.
Be respectful.
Work your butt off.

People sense when you've put forth your best effort. They respond when you come through for them. Connect with them. Be available. And when they ask for your help, say yes! Just ask Ms. Etiquette, it works.

The Indie Author life isn't a cake walk, but with a whole lot of work, you can pull it off. But what do I know? I'm still learning! But yes, I will share what I learn along the way.

The How-To Princess

It may be the big sister in me. Or the educator. But somehow all of it works together to form a MEGA amount of advice.

Photo Courtesy of Unsplash.com

I'll be the first to tell you that I don't know everything. But opening up, sharing what I've learned, and getting your input makes us all a little more awesome at what we do.

Since my website's birth, I've tackled subjects from growing your following on Twitter to the rules of writing and how to successfully flout them. So if there's an area you'd like to learn more, peruse the links below, follow those that pique your interest, and leave me comments to pass along your take on things.

That's right! I've tacked all these subjects and more!

How to Conquer Twitterland Managing your following seemed so easy when you created an account right? If you're like me, those 17 followers didn't become thousands without work. And they certainly didn't get there without a few sound practices.

How to Become a Better Writer Just like musicians and actors, writers have to practice their craft.
There are three areas that need to be addressed: writing, connection, and promotion.

How to Not Tick Off Your Readers Some writers consider annoying their audience their primary occupation. But how do you walk the fine line between stirring a reader's interest and causing them to write poor reviews?

How to Make Stories Your Own Some delightful human once asked me when I would start writing original stories. I gritted my teeth, stewed over it for a long time, and then I wrote this.

How to Behave on Social Media You can say whatever you want on Social Media and irritate anyone on your path to fame. right? Well, if you'd like to make friends and influence people, perhaps you should visit Ms. Etiquette.

How to Break the Rules Without Getting Yelled At...Much The rules of writing are vast. Some of them make no sense at all. The trick is knowing the why behind the rule and having a legitimate reason for making the literary choice you do.

How to Build Worlds: for the Literary Challenged Scene setting has always been a thorn in my side. Who cares if that bush just popped into existence or if my main character is suddenly holding an ax you didn't know she had? Readers, that's who.

How to Stay Sane and Upbeat in the Writing World Writing is a rollercoaster and entering the publishing world makes the ride more intense. How do you make it through alive? Don't lose your sense of humor!

How to Write Blog Posts Others Want to Read We do it with our books, right? Seems normal to expect people to be pulled into reading our shorter works as well. A few tricks of the trade will put you right on track.

How to Sell Stuff Without Annoying People Is it just me or does the pervading sales technique seem to be Hey! Buy my STUFF! I think we can do better than that. I've poured my best knowledge as a consumer, Social Media lover, and educator into this one.

Now, go forth and be awesome! (Also, feel free to leave me your ideas and tips in the comments!)

Punchy, Fun, Engaging Posts

Awesome blog posts don't just happen.

There are plenty of things to consider if you want to create posts people will read without excessive eye-rolling and/or growling aloud. (Note: if eye-rolling and excessive growling is your goal, you have my permission to hit the road, Jack. Bye-bye!)

Choose cool topics
You may be the Grand Expert of Nothing, but you can still share what you know and the resources that have helped you. Go ahead and respond to readers, issues presented by other authors, and explore cool trends in the literature world. (Note: don't act like a know-it-all...unless you've done some mega research and you actually know it all. #SmartA)

Keep 'em brief & positive

Step one is Get the Words Out! So what if they're bitter or rambling? I'm often Miss Bitter and Rambling. But before embracing my righteous indignation and pounding the publish button, I don my editor hat. (Yes, it's super cute and covered with bling!) Humor is added to soften angry/bitter words. And repetitive redundancies can meet Mr. Delete. (Note: soliloquizing and crazy rants already have a place in Shakespeare. And he does it better than you. #SorryNotSorry)

Format, highlight, & leave some freaking blank space

If you don't have an inner artist, this is a good time to develop one. Think of ADD children, and visually peruse the post for large chunks of text that readers (like me) will find overwhelming. Chunk it into more readable bites. Use those schmancy little editing buttons to bold, italicize, and highlight subtopics, important nuggets, or tweetable gems. And please for the love of Pete, leave a decent amount of white space! (If you think this is just the ramblings of a crazy kindergarten teacher, go ahead and write four pages without paragraph breaks or dialogue to interrupt. I'm bored just thinking about it...and you?)

Eye-catching images
We like to pretend that Words are All Powerful. Nothing undermines that theory like the share-ability of a post with cool images. You're all professional photographers and artistic geniuses, right? No? No worries, there are plenty of resources that make even the dumbest of bunnies look good:

• Unsplash is my favorite source for free, high-quality photos. Jazz 'em up, have a bit of fun, and voila, a custom image for your post. (If Unsplash isn't your style, peruse this Verve article for other sites with royalty-free images.) 
• Photoshop makes my inner child shudder. RhonnaDesigns is the Instagram app I use for editing and embellishing photos. It's simple and includes various fonts, stickers, frames, etc. #SoCute
• I've heard good things about PicMonkey, which includes many of the same features and it's free.

Double duty! I create cool images for my website and later use them for Social Media promotion. (And hey, if you haven't been paying attention, Pinterest and Instagram are all about the images, baby!)

Link it up
Again, utilize those schmancy buttons at the top to embed links to related blog posts on the same topic, others' posts that inspired yours, and outside resources (book links, more information on the same topic, etc.). Think carefully about how to reference them to encourage the reader to follow the links. (Note: never use HERE to reference links. Mr. Lazy Bones. HERE tells you nothing about where the link leads. It's only useful on that map at the mall when you have no idea where you are. #YouAreHERE)

Choose an awesome title
Some readers won't get past boring, off-putting titles. When crafting a title, think in terms of promotion. What do you want readers to attend to most? Title your post accordingly. Also, be sure to deliver on any promises made to the reader. Annoyed readers don't stick around. Shocker!

Interact with readers
The internet closes the gap between celebs and Joe Shmoe. We may as well encourage audience participation and close that gap a little more, right? We can invite readers to comment, share their expertise, and give their opinions or preferences on the issues we present. Did you think about the fact that you're someone's favorite writer? If you've ever seen the sparkle in someone's eye after they read your book, that's what it means!

Recheck before posting
Resist the righteous indignation of pounding the publish key for one more second! Preview and recheck it again. Peruse, play with different formatting, add your labels, and test your links. I can't tell you how many times I've been so proud of a post only to read it through and find a glaring error. #SoooooEmbarrassing 

The moral of the story is: 

You can never look too brilliant!

(So take your time and make it awesome.)

We've reached the end end of my soliloquy on creating Punchy, Fun, Engaging Posts. (Note: this was the least punchy, fun, engaging post EVER. So I jazzed it up a bit. How did I do?) 

By the way, if you'd love to see some masters at work, here are a few of my favorites:

Paula Reed Nancarrow
Rachel Thompson
Prairie Wife in Heels
Kate Tilton

Jann Alexander
Colleen Story

Any other tips you'd mention to the blogosphere, my dears? I'd love more input on the subject. Leave me a comment below!