Editors can be expensive. WordCrafter offers editing services at low prices, but even then, the words add up and I wouldn’t say it’s cheap. As an independent author, it’s not always easy to come up with the money to hire an editor, but it is imperative to have another set of eyes go over every word of my manuscript, so I can publish a quality product. As The D.I.Y. Author, I’ve come up with a few methods of accomplishing this without straining my pocketbook too much.
Novel Length Works
For novel length works, once I finish the first draft, I do one pass over of self-editing when the manuscript has sat for a day or two. I’ve heard that it’s important to let it sit for a while, so I do, but I limit the time it sits, keeping the story fresh in my mind. This is where I find the weak spots which need enhancing, embellishing my descriptions and extending or cutting dialog. In The Rock Star & The Outlaw 2: Seeing Doubles, I also used this opportunity to plant little easter eggs which connect back to the first book, for those who have read it.
When that is done, and the necessary edits have been made, I do another run through, reading it aloud. When you read aloud, you catch errors that a silent reader might skim over. Sometimes I can find a beta-listener to help me with this. This is where I do my developmental edit, looking at things like if the storyline flows smoothly, and if my characters are staying true to who they are. My beta-listener doesn’t have to be versed in the craft of writing, because their job is to offer an opinion from the listener’s, or reader’s, perspective.
Only when this is completed is the manuscript ready for a second set of eyes. Editing is a difficult job, and I think it’s important to send your editor or beta-reader as clean a manuscriptas possible. It saves making major changes at the end, too. If I can’t afford to pay an editor, I seek out a beta-reader to do the job. I have a few other authors who I exchange services with who can be called upon for this task.
To finalize, I do a final proof read before I publish, making sure all the ‘t’s are crossed and ‘i’s dotted. During this part of the process I use the editing tool which come with MS Word and ProWriting Aid Everywhere, which are both free and help me spot places which could be worded better and possible misspellings. Both of editing programs are AI powered, but they don’t always agree on corrections, or agree on things which should be changed. And they don’t have the final say. I still reserve the privilage of acceptance or rejection of all AI suggestions.
This system is not fullproof, and I use a professional editor whenever I can. When writing The Rock Star & The Outlaw 2: Seeing Doubles, I referred back to the first book a lot, and found many errors that all of these processes had missed. I’m now in the process of revising and correcting those errors, so I can republish the first book, before releasing the second.
Short Fiction
For short fiction, I follow the same basic processes as novel length works, but because they are collaborative works, it is much easier to get a second, and sometimes even a third set of eyes on each story. When putting together an anthology, I read story individually and request the desired edits from the authors. For my own stories, I recruit a beta-reader to go over it while I’m editing everyone elses. (This is after I’ve read it through twice; once aloud.)
After I receive the revised stories, I put the manuscript together, and give it yet, another read through, checking for any errors which may have been missed. Once it is formatted and ready to publish, I send the entire manuscript out to each of the authors, requesting that they proof read their story and one or two others, so that each story has at least two or three sets of eyes, other than my own, scrutinizing it. This collaborative form of editing ensures a quality product and it doesn’t cost me or any of the contributors anything but our time and keen eyes.
Author’s Note: You can find these editing tips and more writing tips for writing and publishing yourself in The D.I.Y. Author.
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For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, her the first three books in her kid’s book series, My Backyard Friends, her poetry collection, Small Wonders, and her writer’s resource, The D.I.Y. Author. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.
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This segment of “Writer’s Corner” is sponsored by The D.I.Y. Author and WordCrafter Press.
Being an author today is more than just writing the book. Authors in this digital age have more opportunities than ever before. Whether you pursue independent or traditional publishing models, or a combination of the two, being an author involves not only writing, but often, the publishing and marketing of the book.
In this writer’s reference guide, multi-genre author and independent publisher, Kaye Lynne Booth shares her knowledge and experiences and the tools, books, references and sites to help you learn the business of being an author.
In December, I finished writing the first draft of The Rock Star & The Outlaw 2: Seeing Doubles. This book will be the second book in my Time Travel Adventure Series, and I have to say I have been having so much fun writing it. Time travel is cool to write about, because it is pure fiction, so you have a lot of lee-way in your story, although there are still some scientific parameters that should be kept in mind.
In The Rock Star & The Outlaw, my protagonists created some time-loops, which crossed. In The Rock Star & The Outlaw 2: Seeing Double, they create a few more , intersecting with the time-loops created in the first book. What that means, is there is multiple versions of some characters, and the story is dealing with multiple time lines. While the first book dealt with two alternating P.O.V.s, those of the two protagonists, the second book also deals with multiple P.O.V.s from several different characters.
Multiple character P.O.V.s
This will be the first book I’ve written and published with so many different P.O.V.s. Because I have multiple versions of some characters, I had to differentiate which version’s eyes we were seeing things through. Thus, I ended up with ten different P.O.V.s and I must admit, it was challenging keeping track of which P.O.V. I was in, as well as which time line. My hope is that I did a good enough job with all this to not confuse my readers.
I chose to follow the method used by George R.R. Martin in his epic fantasy series, Game of Thrones. Each chapter has the name of the character whose P.O.V. readers will see the story unfold through. I don’t believe Mr. Martin used anything but the name of the character, but my chapters will also have chapter titles that are, in line with the first book, song titles. And, each chapter has to have a time designated so that readers won’t get confused about what time they are in, as well.
Multiple Time Lines
Writing about time travel, and thinking about time travel, and trying to reason out how things would work if time travel were real, can be enough to give an author a migraine. I admit there were times when I had to set the writing aside because it almost hurt to try and wrap my brain around the implications. But, mostly, it was just fun trying to figure out what would be possible and what wouldn’t.
When I first started writing this second book, I thought the first book was written and done. But by crossing time-lines and changing things in previous time lines, I realized my characters changed what happened in the first book. Each thing they change in the time line from the first book, changes things that happened in that story, and I found that it changed the way the first story comes out. So, I ended up rewriting the first story with an alternate ending.
Multiple Versions of Characters
This was where writing the second book got really confusing. With two Amaryllis and three LeRoys, all running around in different timelines, things get crazy. As mentioned above, each version of the character is designated with a different moniker. The characters from this second story are Amaryllis and LeRoy, while the characters from the first story timeline are “Rock Star” and “Cowboy”, and the very first LeRoy even makes an appearance as “Original LeRoy”. And there are two Moniques, (one designated “Shaman Woman”), although they never cross paths. I even have a duplicate horse, Blaze, who gets aggitated when her other self is in the vicinity.
Each of these characters were the same but different than their duplicates. In the first book, Amaryllis is a rock star, living in the fast lane, an adreneline junkie who gets off on facing danger. That Amaryllis is “Rock Star” in this story and the Amaryllis character is one who was changed by her time travel experiences and the lessons they taught her. But one thing is certain, they are both in love with their own version of LeRoy.
It did get confusing at times, but it was a lot of fun to write. The first chapters had to be rewritten halfway through because I realized that the time jumps I had initially planned wouldn’t work, but the new beginning works much better. I’m bad about editing as I write, but it is a part of my writing process. Writing about time travel, I found it to be necessary, especially when things were changed in the story, so earlier chapters had to be edited or revised to keep the storylines consistant.
Even though I edited as I wrote, I consider the completed manuscript a first draft. Now, it must go through a first and second edit by me and be passed through at least one very thorough beta-reader. The beta-reader for this story has done research and written in the time-travel genre, so I’m expecting her to be tough in her commentary. As you can see, I’ve still got a ways to go before doing the final revisions and publishing, but every step brings me closer.
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About Kaye Lynne Booth
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw,as well as her poetry collection, Small Wonders and The D.I.Y. Author writing resource. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.
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This segment of “Writer’s Corner” is sponsored by The Rock Star & The Outlaw and WordCrafter Press.
A time-traveler oversteps his boundaries in 1887. Things get out of hand quickly, and he is hanged, setting in motion a series of events from which there’s no turning back.
In 1887, LeRoy McAllister is a reluctant outlaw running from a posse with nowhere to go except to the future.
In 2025, Amaryllis Sanchez is a thrill-seeking rock star on the fast track, who killed her dealing boyfriend to save herself. Now, she’s running from the law and his drug stealing flunkies, and nowhere is safe.
LeRoy falls hard for the rock star, thinking he can save her by taking her back with him. But when they arrive in 1887, things turn crazy fast, and soon they’re running from both the outlaws and the posse, in peril once more.
They can’t go back to the future, so it looks like they’re stuck in the past. But either when, they must face forces that would either lock them up or see them dead.
This was my third year participating in NaNoWriMo. The first year I gained confidence when I learned that I was more than capable of making the daily word count goal, something I was unsure of when starting out. At that time, 1,667 sounded like an awfully lot of words, but I did it most of the days in November, and when I didn’t do it, I made up for it on the days I wrote two thousand or more, and by the end of the month of November, I had exceeded the overall word count goal of 50,000. (For the sake of transparency, I started with a partial manuscript, so although technically I was successful, I did not write enough new material to make the goal.)
Last year, 2023, I was well on my way to being successful, this time for real, and it was coming down to the last week, when my computer crashed and I was digitally down, making it impossible to complete the challenge. From this, I learned that it isn;t the end of the world to not finish, and I still feel that if my computer hadn’t crashed, I would have successfully met the challenge. I was making or exceeding the daily word counts each day and was on schedule to finish early, before the end of the month.
This year I went into NaNoWriMo with a very positive attitude. I knew I could make the daily word count, so I didn’t stress about it, but I did paln for it. I approached with a plan to implement strategies which had been successful in the past, and a good working plot outline, so I would be clear on where the story was going. Last year, I had abandoned the time blocking strategy which I’d implemented the first year, for an “ass-in-chair, write-the-book” strategy which I’d learned from one of my graduate school professors. (Don’t get me wrong, time blocking is a valid strategy for some people. It just wasn’t effective for me.)
At first, things seemed to go pretty smoothly, until life got in the way during the first week out, when where I live received almost four feet of snow and I was snowbound for four straight days. I didn’t think it would ever stop. It just kept coming. But even with all the shoveling I had to do, and the firewood I had to split to stay warm, I was able to meet my daily word count goal in the evenings. It started snowing on Wednesday, and when I was finally able to get out, on Monday, the 11th, I had to go to work at my day job. I was so tired, that I wasn’t able to make my word count for the first time. I fell asleep in front of my computer at 8:30 p.m. that night with only 634 words for the day.
But, I found that it wasn’t the end of the world that I didn’t get the badge for making the word count goal every day. And I made up the words I’d missed getting down the very next day, with a total word count for the day of 2624. It’s amazing what a decent night’s sleep will do for you. I really do write better if I take care of myself properly, and that proved it. It is also important to take time out for yourself, even though you may be pushing to make a word count goal or a deadline on a writing project. I’ve been looking forward to each new episode of Tulsa King, with Sylvester Stallone, each Sunday, after my shift at work, and I’ve learned that I can watch an hour or two of television and still get my word count done. This is something I had to teach myself. For the first two years I took the challenge, I took every moment I had to write, like a driven person, and now I’m finding that I’m more productive when I block out time for other things, too.
In the end, I didn’t make it. My Internet went down on the last day, so I didn’t get to log my last days totals anyway. (That is also why this Monday blog segment isn’t coming out on Monday. I just got my Internet back up and running this evening.) My total on November 30th was around 43,000 words. Not quite making the goal, but you know what?
It’s okay, because I’m still working on it everyday and I currently have 45,630 words of my story. I started out from a blank page this year. That’s not bad for a month’s time. And it’s a fantastic start toward the completion of the novel.
What I Learned
I learned that if I just keep at it, the book will take shape
I learned that my style of edit as you go is okay. It’s a part of my writing process and it works for me and I end up with a much cleaner first draft. It’s necessary for me in order to obtain the proper foreshadowing and also when planting the little easter eggs which helps connect the books for series readers.
I learned that thinking about time travel sometimes makes my head hurt. It’sa lot to wrap your head around, and it’s easy to get your plot lines twisted when writing about it. Also another reason to edit as I go. With time travel, changing one thing may change several others, jumping from chapter to chapter for revisions became common place for me with this book.
I learned to use multiple P.O.V.s to make the plot flow smoothly. This was the most P.O.V.s I’ve ever used in a story.
I learned how to write in multiple subplots – again, the most I have ever tried to use – and multiple time periods.
About the Book
There is not a lot I can tell you about the second Time Travel Adventure Series book without throwing out huge spoilers to those who haven’t read book 1, The Rock Star & The Outlaw. Although each book can be read as a stand alone, book 2 has references to events in the first book and they are complimentary to one another. Book 2 picks up where the first book leaves off, which is why I can’t explain further without giving away the ending of the first book.
I’m having a lot of fun writing this book, maybe even moreso than I did with the first. Like the first, this one has musical inspiration, with song titles for chapter titles and a playlist in the front of the book. By having mutlple P.O.V.s, it opened this one up to even more music artists and songs. And by dealing with temporal loops, it allowed me the opportunity to change events which occured in the first book, creating a whole new story stemming from the same events. It is a crazy, wild ride and you never know where the characters will end up.
I can’t say too much about the new book, but I can share the book trailer for book 1, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, which is also a wild ride through time, for those who haven’t read it yet.
Don’t write down to children: This is the number one piece of advice I heard about writing for children, and of course, it is true. It doesn’t mean to write about adult subjects filled with sex and cuss words, but they’re trying to get through the idea that kid’s are smart and you don’t have to dumb things down for them.
I think this is one of the biggest differences in writing for children. Children’s minds are like sponges that absorb information. While you probably don’t want to use a lot of scientific jargon to explain the workings of the solar system, plain layman’s terms are usually simple enough for kid’s to digest and understand.
In her writer’s refence book, Word By Word, Kerrie Flanagan offers snippets from interviews with three different teen and young adult authors who tackle sensitive issues in their books and have all taken heat for doing so, about handling real life issues in their writing. Jay Asher, author of the young adult novel Thirteen Reasons, which deals with the issue of suicide says,
“Yes, I shaped the story to reveal the things I wanted to say, but it had to be revealed through the words of my characters, not me. I also knew, out of respect for the seriousness of what needed to be written, that I couldn’t hold back any detail that would make the scenes feel however raw they needed to feel. That caused my book to be challenged, but I know it’s also what made it connect to so many readers.”
And New York Times bestselling adult and young adult author, Ellen Hopkins says,
“Every teen is faced with choices, and without understanding possible outcomes, they often rush headlong in the wrong direction. As authors, we can’t tip-toe around hard truths, because those truths, because those truths are part of the human condition, and fearing a challenge is a sure way to make your writing fall flat.”
When asked for advice to new writers dealing with a sensitive topic, Cheryl Rainfield, author of the award-winning novel, Scars, and other teen novels which deal with the issue of abuse and incest says,
“I think using some of your own emotion and honesty in writing is so important; readers will sense if you’re not being honest or you’re holding back or you’re afraid of the topic….”
I believe this advice is true when writing for younger children, as well. In the My Backyard Friends series, which are aimed at four to eight year olds, I deal with issues such as being lost and alone, and situations where you need the help of others, and the possibilities of self-indulgence, but the message comes through through the words and actions of the characters, and all serves the story, and there’s a lesson in each one. For a small child, being lost can be a scary experience, it can be difficult to ask for someone’s help with a problem when a child is struggling to feel grown up, and children may need help to see the consequences of their actions. My hope is that children can learn through my characters, how to cope in similar situations.
Illustrations
Many children’s books are illustrated, where adult books are usually not. This makes every illustrated children’s book a collaboration, and all parties involoved need to be on the same page about the goal. This is extremely important, and finding the right illustrator, one who understands your vision, can be a daunting process. Finding an illustrator you want to work with who has prices that fit your budget is even more challenging.
Back in 2010, I found an illustrator who met both of these criteria to do Heather Hummingbird Makes a New Friend, and the rest of the My Back Yard Friend series. I was thrilled with her cover design and sample illustrations, and the price she gave me was reasonable, as well. She even matched me up with a small independent publisher who was willing to publish my book. I was ecstatic.
But, like traditional publishing for adult literature, publishing children’s books takes time, five years or more, and during that time, things can and do change. My illustrator ran into health issues which made it impossible for her to continue doing the beautiful illustrations by hand, and I was forced to accept first, digital illustrations, and then, a whole different illuistrator who I knew nothing about. When I requested the money I had paid for my illustrations five years previous, since they had never been completed and I would not be able to use them, the illustrator refused my refund and the publisher dumped me, and I found myself back at square one. It was enough to sour me on traditional publishing, and set aside my dreams of having my children’s books published.
This was a tough decision. I shopped around for another illustrator for a short time, I found that illustrations had become quite expensive, far beyond my budget at the time. So, the books of the My Backyard Friends series were shelved, filed away in the archives of my files for many years. You can imagine how excited I became when I learned that the talented Robbie Cheadle had taken up drawing and painting, and was actually illustrating some of her own books. Having written and illustrated her Sir Chocolate books, Robbie also had experience inside the arena of children’s literature, so it seemed to me to be a perfect fit. I was ecstatic when she agreed to my proposal to illustrate the first three books in the series in 2023, to be published through WordCrafter Press. And what a feeling of satisfaction to see them released this past July.
Robbie may live on a different continent, and her hummingbird is a different breed with different coloring than the hummingbirds in my neighborhood, but her Heather is absolutely gorgeous. Readers are not aware of the differences. All of Robbie’s illustrations are wonderful, bringing my characters to life with vivid imagry and brilliant colors. But this lead me to yet, another tough decision.
WordCrafter Press publishes wide, through D2D, and while I enjoy many of the advantages this offers, their print books are not illustration friendly, and they only publish in black and white. I did not feel that black and white would do Robbie’s beautiful illustrations justice, and thus chose not to offer them in print until I could afford to publish through other channels that of color options. Originally, I planned a Kickstarter, but circumstances in my personal life made the Kickstarter platform not a viable option for me, and I tried to do my own fund raiser during the blog tour, but the funds just weren’t there. And so, as disappointing as it may be, the My Backyard Friends Kid’s Book Series is only available in digital format for now.
Marketing Children’s Books
Marketing is the area where some would say children’s and adult literature differ the most. I’ve heard it said, “I just don’t know how to market to children.” But that’s the thing. Children are not your marketing audience, adults are. Kid’s aren’t going to care that the My Backyard Friends series was inspired by the birds and animals that visit my backyard, but their parents might find it interesting enough to buy a book for their childMarketing children’s books really isn’t all that different from marketing adult literature. You just need to look at the value offered from a parent or educator’s point of view, because that’s who you are marketing to.
I haven’t had a lot of success using the same digital marketing strategies I use with my adult books, which blog tours and social media promotion, with the My Backyard Friends Kid’s Book Series. According to Jason Chen, founder of Story Bundle, “We’ve done a children’s bundle once and it did really poorly. Overall parents aren’t looking for digital ebooks for their kids in my experience (yours may be different!)” But, my experience has been similar. I think children’s books fall into an area where print books are still preferable to digital ones. That’s one of the reasons I am so disappointed to be unable to offer my children’s books in print.
With that in mind, I’m thinking maybe in-person selling, which is a bit more personal, might be more effective in selling children’s books. Speaking at your child’s school, or doing a reading and book signing at your local library might just be the way to go. But that’s just my thoughts on the matter. I’d love to hear about what has worked and what hasn’t to sell your children’s books in the comments below.
About Kaye Lynne Booth
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw, and her kid’s book series, My Backyard Friends. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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Did you know you can sponsor your favorite blog series or even a single post with an advertisement for your book? Stop by the WtbR Sponsor Page and let me advertise your book, or you can make a donation to Writing to be Read for as little as a cup of coffee, If you’d like to show your support for this author and WordCrafter Press.
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This post is sponsored by the My Backyard Friends Kid’s Book Series and WordCrafter Press.
The My Backyard Friends kid’s book series is inspired by the birds and animals that visit the author Kaye Lynne Booth’s mountain home. Beautiful illustrations by children’s author, poet, and illustrator, Robbie Cheadle, bring the unique voices of the animal characters to life.
As many of you may know, if you follow Writing to be Read, The D.I.Y. Author is included in the Novel Writing Story Bundle, organized by Kevin J. Anderson. But what you may not know is how useful Story Bundle is as a marketing tool. The fact is, it’s a great way to sell books.
This is the second Story Bundle in which I have had a book included. Back in 2022, Ask the Authors 2022 was included in the Writer’s Toolkit Story Bundle, also organized by KJA. That bundle sold quite well and WordCrafter and the contributing authors made a little bit of money from it. This year, the Novel Writing Story Bundle promises to do just as well, if not better, so I highly recommend it.
What is Story Bundle?
What Story Bundle is, is a platform that gathers together several authors with books in the bundle category, whether it is writing references, such as the two I’ve had books in, fantasy books, science fiction books, or romances, etc…, and they all get together virtually and cooperatively market and promote the whole bundle. This extend’s the reach of single authors immensely, and I can testify to the fact that their efforts are effective. By using the power of the masses, promotions are found on all of the social media sites, not just those of any one single author, and it gets your book in front of the readers of every author in the bundle. But I’m just an author with a couple of books in a couple of Story Bundles, and I’m still learning, too. So to give you all the details, I chatted with Story Bundle founder, Jason Chen, to let him tell you what Story Bundle is, how it works, and what the advantages are.
Interview with Jason Chen
Kaye: What inspired the idea for Story Bundle?
Jason: I started StoryBundle all the way back in 2012 because back then, the concept of bundling similar books in one package hadn’t been done yet! Selfishly, I wanted somebody to make bundles of similar books—if you like this book/author, then you’ll like all THESE—and because nobody had, then I saw the need for it. Also, in 2012, the indie authors were lacking for a place to reach more readers, which made it a perfect fit for letting folks discover authors they would have a hard time finding otherwise.
Kaye: Story Bundle uses the power of numbers, gathering many authors together and offering their books as a group, rather than individually. Could you explain the advantages of having a book included in a Story Bundle?
Jason: Not only does being part of a StoryBundle get you in front of the StoryBundle fans, but the core concept is that it gets you readers from other authors who write in similar genres as you. Because all our bundles are curated, the books in them make sense together, which means that if you like one author in it, you’re more than likely to like another. So getting awareness of your books out to fans who already like the genre is a big plus.
Kaye: What determines whether a book is included in the original bundle for the minimum amount , or as a bonus book for a larger donation?
Jason: There’s no secret to the sauce. The curator and I work together to make sure both the regular bundle and the bonus bundle are balanced for the amount that they cost. Sometimes an author will be in the bonus bundle and if they’re in another bundle, they’ll be in the regular bundle. It depends on what makes sense for that particular bundle.
Kaye: The Novel Writing Story Bundle is the second Story Bundle which I’ve been a part of, mainly because I am fortunate enough to know Kevin J. Anderson, who organizes the ones I’ve participated in. I know other big authors like Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Katheryn Rusch organize them, too. But how do you get into a Story Bundle if you don’t know someone organizing one? Can you create your own?
Jason: Yes! The only caveat we have is that (99% of the time) the bundles are curated by someone who’s been in a bundle before. Once you’ve been in a bundle, you understand what the bundle is about and what makes for a good bundle and what works for participating in a bundle. This way you know which authors to look for when you’re assembling one. You work with us to figure out a genre that you want, and we refine the idea and can help you get in touch with some other publishers if you need to.
Kaye: Both Story Bundles I’ve had books in are writing resource bundles. Can you make a story bundle of any genre?
Jason: Yes, any genre is fine, but to get a little inside baseball, there are a couple of genres that don’t do well on StoryBundle. The biggest one is romance, which for whatever reason doesn’t appeal to StoryBundle readers. But even more of a surprise is that romance authors’ own fans don’t really enjoy the bundling concept—at least on StoryBundle. We’ve tried all types of romance bundles in all varieties of flavors, but none of them ever have good uptake.
Kaye: Is there a cost to organize your own Story Bundle?
Jason: There’s no cost to curating a bundle!
Kaye: Now I know why as an author, I might want to have my books in a story bundle. But why would readers wnat to buy books through Story Bundle? What are the benefits to readers in purchasing a Story Bundle?
Jason: As a reader, there are a few benefits. First, there’s just the core concept of vetting—we choose our books carefully with our curators, and they have to meet a certain bar of quality to get in. Of course, it’s impossible to guarantee that you’ll like all the books in the bundle, but if you already like one or two of the authors in it, you’re likely to enjoy the rest.
There are other tangible benefits, such as getting DRM-free copies of books that you can load on any ereader, tablet or phone without having to worry about compatibility. You’ll also support indie authors and be able to donate to a worthy cause!
Kaye: Does every Story Bundle donate to charity?
Jason: Every bundle has a charity donation, but it’s up to each person if they want to donate part of their purchase to charity. If they don’t, that’s perfectly fine!
Kaye: What types of charities does Story Bundle support?
Jason: We have a long list of charities that we’ve supported before, from literacy charities, animal charities, science and gaming charities, to health and medicine and worldwide refugee focused charities, so there’s no real limit to what can be a charity target for StoryBundle. If there’s a specific one that a curator would like to have in their bundle, we can make it work!
Would you like your book to be in a Story Bundle?
Now that I know what it takes to currate a Story Bundle, I’m thinking of trying one of my own, because I know that they sell books. Since I’m a multi-genre author, I could do western, women’s fiction, paranormal, science fiction, dark fiction, or children’s books. If you’re interested let me know and tell me what genre(s) you write in. Either let me know in the comments, or email me at KLBWordCrafter@gmail.com. Let’s see if we can get together and sell some books.
About the Novel Writing Story Bundle
The Novel Writing Story Bundle features writing references on writing craft, writing business, and the writing life, which should be on every author’s bookshelf. In addition to my own The D.I. Y. Author, which is a bonus book, there are also featured Dollar by Dollar and Word by Word, by Kerrie Flanagan; Romance Character Tropes, by Jessica Barber and Tara G. Ericson; Booking the Library, by Jessica Brawner; Kevin J. Anderson’s On Being a Dictator; Steps to Self-Editing, by Jana S. Brown; A Writer’s Guide to Branding Success, by Mark Leslie Lefabvre; Mood & Atmosphere, by Joshua Essoe; From Page to Platform, by Matty Dalrymple and M.L. Ronn; Wit & Wisdom, by Craig Martelle; Wulf Moon’s Illustrated Super Secrets of Writing, volume 1; Falling to Fly, by Todd Fahnestock; and a year’s subscription to Indie Author Magazine. That’s 13 writing references plus the magazine subscription. What a deal!
A note on the designated charity for this StoryBundle, the Neil Peart Brain Cancer Research Fund from Cedars Sinai. In 2020 we lost Neil Peart, legendary drummer and lyricist for the rock band Rush, to glioblastoma. He was my mentor, friend, and collaborator on numerous books, and his loss affected me deeply. Neil’s friends and colleagues and fans worldwide have contributed to this glioblastoma research fund in Neil’s name, and we are proud to add our efforts on this Novel Writing StoryBundle as well. – Kevin J. Anderson
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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This post is sponsored by The D.I.Y. Author and WordCrafter Press.
Being an author today is more than just writing the book. Authors in this digital age have more opportunities than ever before. Whether you pursue independent or traditional publishing models, or a combination of the two, being an author involves not only writing, but often, the publishing and marketing of the book.
In this writer’s reference guide, multi-genre author and independent publisher, Kaye Lynne Booth shares her knowledge and experiences and the tools, books, references and sites to help you learn the business of being an author.
WordCrafter Press runs an annual short fiction contest and publishes a resulting anthology. It began back in 2019, with a short fiction contest which resulted in the Whispers of the Past paranormal anthology. That anthology ended up with nine stories, by seven different authors for a total of 107 pages. Last year’s (2023) dark fiction anthology, Midnight Roost: Weird and Creepy Stories, was a combination of contest entries and submissions by invitation, included twenty-three stories, by twenty different authors for a total of 403 pages. So, the annual anthology has grown in both scope and quality over the years.
To date, WordCrafter Press has a paranormal and a multi-genre (fantasy, science fiction, paranormal,and horror) anthology trilogy, (which is made up of both contest entries and submissions by invitation), and I’m currently building a dark fiction triology, as well.
This year’s dark fiction anthology, Midnight Gardens, will be spectacular as Book 2 of the WordCrafter Midnight Anthology Series, partnering up with last year’s Midnight Roost.
Midnight Roost: https://books2read.com/MidnightRoostMidnight Garden: Coming in October 2024Books 1 & 2 of the WordCrafter Midnight Dark Fiction Anthology Trilogy
Writing short fiction is different than writing novel length works in many ways. Although short stories still require most of the same story elements as longer tales do, writers of short fiction must deal with them in a condensed format. There is no room for wasted or unnecessary words.
Likenesses with Short and Long Fiction
Like longer fiction, many of the story elements are still required to make a good story. Both formats need:
A good hook to draw the reader into the story: For longer fiction, this can be accomplished in the first few paragraphs, or maybe even the first page, but for short fiction, it must be accomplished quickly, within the first paragraph, or even with the first sentence.
An inciting incident: The inciting incident occurs at the beginning of the story and usually involves the main character making a choice which propells him into the tale and gets things moving. This is usually what makes the reader care about the character and what will happen next, making them keep reading.
Well developed and interesting characters: With short fiction, this can be tricky because you don’t have a lot of time in which to build character. I make my short fiction characters dynamic and colorful to make them stand out from the page and bring them to life for my readers quickly. No matter the length of the work, the author should always know way more about the character than they will ever use in the story. A character which is alive in the author’s mind first and foremost, making it easier to bring them to life for the reader. (I discuss several methods of character development in my “Writer’s Corner” post from September 2023, “Developing Characters with Depth”.)
Meaningful dialog: In short fiction, every word must count, so there is no room for everyday chit-chat. Every piece of dialog must serve a purpose. It is possible to let the reader see every nuance of your characters through the dialog consisting of both outer and inner dialog, as well as subtext, or unspoken body language, which can be used to emphasize or contradict spoken dialog. (I talk more about the use of subtext in my April 2024 “Writer’s Corner” post, “Visceral Character Portrayal”.)
Descriptive details: Use one or more senses to describe the setting and set the scene for readers, allowing them to experience the setting or location through the character’s eyes, ears, nose, mouth and skin.
Conflict and tension: Conflict can be either internal or external, or ideally, both, but it must force the character to make a choice and take action. Tension is created by events which involve opposing forces within the character (internal), between the character and opposing characters or forces beyond the character’s control (external). Obstacles are often placed in the way of resolving the conflict, making it even harder and increasing the tension even more.
A satisfying resolution: All conflicts should be resolved at the end of the story in a manner that will satisfy readers and not leave them feeling cheated. This can happen in any number of ways, but the conflicts that we’ve spent the last few pages building up to must be resolved in a manner that is logical and believable for the reader. Things don’t have to be all fixed, but we at least need an inkling that things have changed and are now headed in the right direction.
Differences with Short and Long Fiction
The right point of view and tense for the story: Many longer tales are told in the third person, past tense, which serves them well. Because we want to move through a short story rather quickly, we may need the story to move along at a faster clip. Often, this can be accomplished in short fiction by using a first person, present tense, giving the tale an intensified sense of immediacy, making short fiction better suited to this approach than for longer fiction.
Quick build up to climax or turning point in the story: This is what the reader has been waiting for, the climatic moment that will change everything from this point out. It could be an epiphany where the character realizes what must be done, or maybe he knew it all along and this is the moment when he decides to do it, but it should bring about some sort of resolution. In short fiction, you don’t have the luxury of a slow build, making it necessary to ratchet up the tension quickly and get to this point directly.
Descriptive dialog tags: For longer fiction, I was taught to stick to basic dialog tags, such as “said”, “asked”, “replied”, and maybe, “cried”, and then, use descriptors to illustrate the mood and tone, and raise emotion in and connect with readers. However, I have found that more descriptive dialog tags such as “smirked”, or “bellowed” are quite acceptable and even preferable for setting the scene with a minimal amount of words. I’m also beginning to see the value in leaving out the dialog tags all together where it is clear who the speaker is, to help keep the word count down by cutting out unnecessary words.
My Tips for Writing Short Fiction
Begin close to the end. The beginning of the story illustrates what was and the ending illustrates how things have changed or at least, the direction in which they are now headed. A trick used in screenwriting is to mirror the ending at the beginning, and then go back in time to show how we got to that point. So the first and last scenes act like bookends to your story. By mirroring your first and last paragraphs, this technique can also work well with short fiction, where there is limited space in which to tell your tale.
Each character should get their own paragraph containing dialog and subtext to show how the dialog is being delivered and making it clear to readers who is saying and doing what. When you switch characters, you switch to a new paragraph, (but not to a new point of view).
Include enough setting description to let readers get a visual image in their minds, but only include those details that will add to the story or help progress the plot, moving the story forward.
Choose a single point of view and stick with it. In short fiction, there isn’t enough room to develop multiple characters, so put us into one character’s head and leave us there.
From an editor’s perspective, (one who reads through and edits a lot of short fiction), please format your manuscript in standard manuscript format, with title and author name centered at the top of page, in a legible 12 pt. font, double spaced. And most importantly, follow submission guidelines!
Advantages of Anthologies
So, why do I go to all the trouble of reading through all these submissions, compiling and editing, formatting and publishing all these anthologies?
I’ll tell you. It takes a lot less time to write a short story than it does a novel, so publishing two or more per year allows me to get my name out there on more books each year. And it’s mutually beneficial to all contributors, as they are able to claim the book for their own author pages, so they are getting more books out there, too. It’s a win-win.
Plus, if all the contributors help with promotion, broadcasting to their readers about the book, you get the results of a much wider reach with your marketing, which means we sell more books. WordCrafter antholgies pay out with a royalty split, so the more books we sell, the more we all make. Again, win-win.
If you’d like to get a story into a WordCrafter anthology, watch for the call for submissions for next year’s contest in October, after the release of Midnight Garden on October 8. I’m putting it out early this year, (I usually do it right at the beginning of each year), and may be changing the submission deadline, so even if you have submitted to past contests, be sure to keep an eye out for the call. I will also be announcing the title for next year’ s anthology and cover reveal. (For now, I can tell you that it will be the third volume in the Midnight Anthology Trilogy, so it will be more dark fiction).
About Kaye Lynne Booth
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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Want to be sure not to miss any of Kaye’s “Writer’s Corner” segments? Subscribe to Writing to be Read for e-mail notifications whenever new content is posted or follow WtbR on WordPress. If you find it useful, interesting, or just entertaining, please share.
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This post is sponsored by The D.I.Y. Author and WordCrafter Press.
Being an author today is more than just writing the book. Authors in this digital age have more opportunities than ever before. Whether you pursue independent or traditional publishing models, or a combination of the two, being an author involves not only writing, but often, the publishing and marketing of the book.
In this writer’s reference guide, multi-genre author and independent publisher, Kaye Lynne Booth shares her knowledge and experiences and the tools, books, references and sites to help you learn the business of being an author.
“Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.” – Helen Keller
I love collaborations.
They offer me the opportunity to meet and work with many wonderful authors. Collaborations are mutually beneficial to all participants involved, and there are many types of collaborations to choose from.
Co-Authors
There are different ways to handle this type of collaboration.
Some co-authors handle different character’s POV, like Mark Leslie did with his co-author, Julie Strauss with his Canadian Werewolf series book, Lover’s Moon. Mark wrote the chapters that were in the POV of the protagonist, Michael Andrews, while Julie wrote the chapters which were in girlfriend, Gail’s POV. They also narrated the audiobook in the same matter, which worked quite well.
Other co-authors just alternate chapters, or even sections of the book, passing it back and forth, each author beginning writing where the other author left off. I’m sure they begin with some type of outline, so everyone has a general idea of where the story is going.
I’ve never co-written a book in this manner, but I think it would be fun to get several authors together and improvise a story without an outline, with unexpected twists and turns galore, so none of the authors know where the story is going ahead of time. My most recent collaboration of this nature was an author/illustrator collaboration, with my children’s book series, My Backyard Friends. In this type of collaboration, I wrote the stories and Robbie Cheadle did the illustrations. The ways that you can collaborate on a book are endless.
Anthologies
I publish one or more anthologies each year, and they really are a lot of fun, in spite of all the hard work that goes into them. Anthologies are great because they multiply the promotional power of each book and offer extra editing power. They also offer opportunities to work with several talented authors, who also happen to be some pretty cool people.
During the editing process, after I’ve gone over each story, the authors have revised them and they’ve been compiled and edited as a whole, I send the manuscript out to all the authors to get a second, and even a third set of eyes on every story. I have them go over their own story, as well as the story of one or two others, instead of tying up their time editing the whole thing, because we all know authors are busy people.
Anthologies multiply promotional power, too. Each contributing author brings their own fan base with them, increasing the number of potential readers for the work as a whole. How many more readers will see a book promoted by twenty different authors than one promoted by a single author? The reach of the book is increased expotentially.
Blogs and Other Publications
That’s right. I collaborate with my wonderful blog team members, because each one brings something different to the table to help Writing to be Read offer some really great content which I couldn’t produce on my own, making it something of interest which draws traffic and brings in readers. Each one of them brings their own following with them, and over time, some of their readers have become fans of my works as well. Without my team, there would be no “Mind Fields”, “Undawntech”, “Growing Bookworms”, “In Touch with Nature” or “Treasuring Poetry” series, which currently make up the blog’s content.
“Treasuring Poetry” offers antoher collaboration opportunity in the annual themed poetry anthology in the Poetry Treasures series, which Robbie and I co-edit, working with the poets who have been guests on the blog series from the previous year. 2025 will be our fifth year for the anthology. Through this endeavor, I’ve been privaleged to work with so many talented and creative poets.
Other Types of Collaboration
Online magazines, ezines and other publications, podcasts or online talk shows or other interviews, or even online courses are collaborative and mutually beneficial to all collaborators. I’m sure there are others, but these are the ones that come to my mind.
Some types of collaboration benefit many, such as participation in writing events, either online or in person. As a graduate student and intern, I participated in a large public book signing with multiple authors, and WordCrafter hosted and organized two online virtual writing conferences, in 2020 and 2021. It was a lot of work, but it was an opportunity to work with many talented writers when setting up workshops and panel discussions, as well as promotional efforts. It also offered attendees opportunities to learn and make connections.
I’m thinking about doing another conference in 2025, and would welcome feedback from anyone who would be interested, either in attending, (I promise, tickets would be affordable), or collaborating on the program end.
About Kaye Lynne Booth
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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This post is sponsored by The D.I.Y. Author and WordCrafter Press.
Being an author today is more than just writing the book. Authors in this digital age have more opportunities than ever before. Whether you pursue independent or traditional publishing models, or a combination of the two, being an author involves not only writing, but often, the publishing and marketing of the book.
In this writer’s reference guide, multi-genre author and independent publisher, Kaye Lynne Booth shares her knowledge and experiences and the tools, books, references and sites to help you learn the business of being an author.
I don’t need MS Word to tell me that my language might be offensive. That’s me. I use offensive language, usually on purpose, for effect because I want to be offensive, or just because it is what my character would say. Of course, I’m not writing for a YA or younger audience. I would want curse words to be pointed out and questioned, if that were the case.
I cuss. Most of the people I know cuss. Even religious folk have been known to issue a curse or two. If I feel the reaction to a situation would be an issued expletive, then my character will issue it. That doesn’t mean that all my characters are potty mouths, but when a curse is in order, they throw it out there, and I believe it is appropriate in certain situations, and also more realistic.
Even if my protagonist isn’t a curser, like Delilah, who uses expletives such as dagnabbit, the people around her do, so my books do contain some cursing. I don’t feel like a story set on the western frontier, would be true to the period or the frontier culture.
Likewise, the modern day Las Vegas culture in the music circles involves drugs, sex, and rock-and-roll, so naturally my character, Amaryllis, in The Rock Star & The Outlaw is involved in all of that and more, and her language often isn’t ladylike. Even so, I try not to let her get carried away with the curse words. And Sarah deals with the issues of prejudice and sexism, and the language in the story reflects the prejudices of the times, whether the AI editor in MS Word likes it or not.
But my villains often have mouths so dirty even their own mothers wouldn’t kiss them. Respect for women or lack thereof is often indicated in the way a man refers to women. If a character lacks respect for women, which many male villians do, then their language when referring to them may be less than flattering. After all, the way a character speaks is one of the things readers use to clue them in to what a character is like, and then decide if they are a character they should like, or not.
Another speech trait which I use often is the improper use of the English language. In the old west, many people were not educated and used words such as ‘ain’t’ or they cut off the ‘g’ in ‘ing’ words. In Delilah, one of things she strived for was to speak more properly after meeting the Mormon woman, Marta, who was a natural born school teacher and corrected Delilah’s speech automatically out of habit. Many of the less savory characters in the Women in the West adventure series, clue readers into their ignorance by the way they speak. I reckon that’s what I do it fer. These are purposeful misspellin’s that drive my AI spell-check crazy.
Many of my western characters are representitive of the many immigrants who made the U.S. into the melting pot that it is known to be. They speak in different dialects to differentiate them from other characters, which gives them colorful speech that is recogizable without adding dialog tags. In Sarah, Lillian Alura Bennett is one such character, who happens to be an Irish madam at a bordello in Glenwood Springs. And in The Rock Star & The Outlaw, the Mexican dialect of Juan Montoya leaves no question when he is speaking.
In Delilah, I had the opposite problem as the character of Dancing Falcon was a young Indian boy, who had been taught to speak English at the Indian agency with a strict teacher, so his speech is almost too proper, which made his speech sound very formal in places. One of the comments from a beta reader was that no one talks like that, so I went back when revising and added in a place where he talks about his time on the reservation and his schooling experience, to explain why he spoke that way to readers. The point being that a characters speech should reveal something about them, as well as making them identifiable.
It was really fun to create the characters in the My Backyard Friends kid’s book series, which is based on the birds and animals which visit my yard in the Colorado mountains. Katy Cat is a bit of a diva, kind of stuck up, and thinks she’s better than everyone else. She’s willing to help out Timothy Turtle as long as it doesn’t inconvenience her too much. I relayed this information in the way she swishes her tail, (body language), and in the way she talks with a bit of attitude. Heather Hummingbird has a lot of energy, so she talks really fast and rarely perches for more than a few seconds at a time. Charlie Chickadee is a young bird on his own for the first time, so I made him a bit niave. The things he says reveals this more than the way that he says it.
Other reasons an author might make the character’s or even the narrator’s voice a bit quirky is because it is the author’s voice coming through. (You know the voice English teachers are telling you to find? Yep. That one.) To an extent, this is true for me. My own speech is usually rather blunt and to the point, and so are my characters’. I don’t use a lot of colorful purple prose, instead calling it like I see it. Many of my protagonists are the same way. Delilah says what’s on her mind and she doesn’t beat around the bush. Sarah, too, tends to speak before she considers the way her words will be taken.
AI editors don’t understand this, and so variants in speech are often marked as needing correction, when in fact, they are purposeful. This is why, just running through your story with an AI editor is never enough. But there are times when human editors don’t get it either. Kevin J. Anderson tells a story about submitting a book to a traditional publisher who turned it over to a novice editor who corrected all the little quirks that revealed his voice and marked his manuscript up until it looked like nothing but red scribbles. That’s when you know that an editor isn’t a good match for you. Kevin politely refused to work with that editor and they assigned him another one. That’s why it’s important to have an editor that gets you and your voice, and understands the nuances of your character’s dialog.
Finding the right editor isn’t always easy, especially if funds are tight. Many editors will offer a free edit of the first ten pages, or even the first chapter so you can fell them out and find out if they are right for you and your story. I wouldn’t go with any editor who doesn’t offer this, and of course, I offer it through Write it Right Quality Editing Services. Any editor worth their salt will understand that they must be able to differentiate between mistakes and purposful word choices.
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About Kaye Lynne Booth
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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This segment of “Writer’s Corner” is sponsored by The D.I.Y. Author and WordCrafter Press.
Being an author today is more than just writing the book. Authors in this digital age have more opportunities than ever before. Whether you pursue independent or traditional publishing models, or a combination of the two, being an author involves not only writing, but often, the publishing and marketing of the book.
In this writer’s reference guide, multi-genre author and independent publisher, Kaye Lynne Booth shares her knowledge and experiences and the tools, books, references and sites to help you learn the business of being an author.
I’ve been meeting and greeting within author communities for sixteen years. First, as the Southern Colorado Literature Examiner for six years, and then, right here, on Writing to be Read . The payoff for these wasn’t in money, but in the opportunities they offered. I’ve met so many authors and was introduced to the writing world through those two things. And then, while working for my M.F.A., I met even more authors; traditionally published authors who were making a living from their writing, and I learned from them. When I went back to get my masters in publishing, I was privilaged to study under a true master, international and national bestselling author, Kevin J. Anderson and through the masters program and KJA, I met several industry experts, including Jonathan Maberry and Mark Leslie Lefebvre, and I learned from even more who were gracious enough to speak to my cohort, either in person or on Zoom. I’ve also met authors through various WordCrafter projects, such as the two virtual writing conferences which WordCrafter hosted in 2020 and 2021; great people who answered the call when I put it out, and ran workshops and sat on discussion panels and helped me to make those two events happen.
Tribes
And I have to say, there’s something special about authors. They seem to gravitate toward these tightnit communities where you can be a member due to only a shared love of craft. Most call themselves author communities, KJA calls them his tribe. I like that. It has a feeling of kinship to it. By giving me instruction in the publishing industry, he welcomed me into his tribe, and by being a part of my blog team, or collaborating with me on an anthology or other projects, or even by participating in discussions and being a regular visitor and name I recognized, you are welcomed into my tribe.
Authors aren’t the only people who do this kind of thing. It’s human nature for people to gravitate toward others who are like minded. There are Corvette clubs and antique car clubs, bridge clubs, and fan clubs for people who enjoy the same musical artists. But the thing is, none of the people in those clubs really know each other and they aren’t likely to go out of their way to lend a hand to someone else when the only thing they have in common is a love for one particular thing. But authors do. Authors are the most generous group of people, willing to share their knowledge with one antoher, willing to donate their time and energies to projects, willing to lift one antoher up. It is amazing to me.
Networking
In Hollywood, it is said that it is all about who you know, but this is true in a sense, for writing and publishing. Networking with fellow authors can open doors that would otherwise be closed to us. Through other authors we learn of opportunities that we might not be aware of otherwise, and we meet people who are like minded, who may endorse your book, or perhaps review it. We meet folks who are interested in the craft of writing, just like we are, and many are willing to trade off services, which can make outsourcing that would be quite costly, suddenly become something that is in reach.
Collaborations
I’ve met many authors through collaborations. The virtual writing conferences mentioned above is only one type of collaboration. There are many others. I also mentioned anthologies. I 💜 anthologies. Wordcrafter Press puts out one poetry anthology, and at least one short fiction anthology per year. These are collaborations of from six to twenty different authors per book.
The great thing about anthologies is, you have a bunch of different authors who each have their own following and the potential to broadcast and promote to that following, allowing you to reach a much wider audience of potential readers, and therefore purchasers of your book. The same works for other collaborative projects, too. I have capitalized on this for the virtual writing conferences which WordCrafter Press hosted, as well.
Paying it Forward
The philosophy of paying it forward is predominate through the author communities that I find myself a part of . KJA is one of the busiest people I know, yet he didn’t balk at all when I invited him to be my first guest as I revive the “Chatting with the Pros” blog series, and he was willing to take the time to do an author interview with me. That segment will be coming up later this month.
This is only one example of the good-heartedness found in memebers of the author community. I’ve been granted review and interview requests, blurbs or endorsements of my books, and booked speakers and workshop presenters with authors willing to donate their time. And all I had to do was ask.
I have done this by doing book reviews for authors I know who haven’t requested it, by editing all anthology submissions whether I invite them to be in the anthology or not, by doing a proofread or beta read at no charge for certain authors who have requested them, by donating my time to judge the Spur awards, and by reblogging or reposting the promos and reviews of my fellow authors.
Authors are generally good people. And just as I am proud to be a member of KJA’s tribe, I’m equally as proud to call each one of you as memebers of mine.
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About Kaye Lynne Booth
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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This post is sponsored by The D.I.Y. Author and WordCrafter Press.
Being an author today is more than just writing the book. Authors in this digital age have more opportunities than ever before. Whether you pursue independent or traditional publishing models, or a combination of the two, being an author involves not only writing, but often, the publishing and marketing of the book.
In this writer’s reference guide, multi-genre author and independent publisher, Kaye Lynne Booth shares her knowledge and experiences and the tools, books, references and sites to help you learn the business of being an author.
You like to write, and maybe you’re good at it. You might even have written a book and published it. Now what?
What many people don’t realize, is that when you become an indie author, you are also an author business, and there’s more to it than just publishing a book. Hopefully, you have enough pride in your writing to want it to be , so you put your manuscript in front of an editor, or at least another set of eyes, then polished it to make it shine before you hit publish. But it’s after you hit that publish button that the real work starts.
Why? Because books don’t sell themselves. No one will buy your book if they never see it. You have to do something, or a lot of somethings, to get your book in front of readers’ eyes.
Isn’t that what Amazon is for? The answer is yes and no. Amazon’s marketing is based on several algorithms, and when although many things are still guesswork concerning those algorithms, one thing is for sure. The books they pick up on for promotion are books that are already doing well. Also, you have better chances of making some of the lists which get promotion if you are a KU author and your book is exclusive on Amazon.
So what does that mean for you? Well, it means that you have to do the heavy lifting of marketing and promotion to get your book selling before Amazon, (or other retailers), are going to see it as a book worth promoting. You need to draw in readers and stack up reviews, and we’re talking lots of them, so you can make those algorithms sit up and pay attention.
How do we do that? There are many avenues of promotion for your book, so that really depends on the route or routes that work best for you and your book. We’ll get back to the promotion in a bit.
Getting Reviews
But getting reviews requires research into book reviewers who are out there and what type of books they like to review, and making a list of those that read your genre. In my case, I’m a multi-genre author, so I have several lists. Then you write-up a press release to act as your official review request. Then you send that press release out to every reviewer on the list who might be interested in reviewing your list. There are a lot of reviewers out there, so your list may be a long one. I send out between 50 and 100 review requests for every book I publish, and from that, I may get four or five reviews, if I’m lucky.
You can also try making connections in the blogging community and asking blogger friends to review in exchange for an ARC or join a review group, like Sandra’s Book Club, where you list your book for a month in exchange for giving a review of someone else’s book. During your month you could potentially recieve two or three reviews.
You might also try building a street team of reviewers, who agree to review your book in exchange for an ARC copy of your book, and post it on or around release day. But this is more work, because it is your job to follow through and make sure they actually post their reviews.
Promoting Your Book
There are many avaneues of promotion. If you want paid promotions, which are always recommended, but not always affordable, there are Amazon Ads, Facebook Ads, BookBubs, The Fussy Libraian, King Sumo, Bargain Booksie, Free Booksie, and the list goes on. I don’t use paid ads, but I know they are available if I want them.
Social media promotion is the most easily accessible avenue for promoting your book. It is as easy as creating a post that tells us something about the book to make us want to buy it, has a call to action, and a purchase link, then promoting it to groups whose members are in your target audience and might be interested in your book.
My main tool for promotion is this blog. Most of my promotions start off here and then I promote the blog post on social media channels. A blog post is more permanant than a social media post, which easily gets lost in the scroll. I have people reacting or commenting on posts a week after I post it, but when it is a blog post, it is still there no matter when someone clicks on the link.
Conclusion
The point to all of this is that indie authors have to be able to do more than just write books. You are actually an author business and you are totally responsible for the success, (or failure), of your books. Getting reviews and promoting the book are only part of it. What are you doing about book covers? What about the back cover copy? Are you creating your own ads, or paying someone else to do it? These are things an indie author has to think about. You need an overall business plan and a marketing plan for each book. That’s why I wrote The D.I.Y. Author.
The D.I.Y. Author
Now you can learn from my experiences with a writing reference for building an author business.
About the Book
Being an author today is more than just writing the book. Authors in this digital age have more opportunities than ever before. Whether you pursue independent or traditional publishing models, or a combination of the two but being an author involves not only writing, but often, the publishing and marketing of the book.
In this writer’s reference guide, multi-genre author and independent publisher, Kaye Lynne Booth shares her knowledge and experiences and the tools, books, references and sites to help you learn the business of being an author.
For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Books 1 & 2 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah and Sarah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.
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