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Editor’s Notes: The Art of Negotiation
BY TERRI WAGNER
Before We Edit
“We have accepted your manuscript, and are offering you a contract.” Those words generally make an author jump for joy. As your future editors, we have mixed feelings when that offer comes around. First, we are as excited as you are about your being offered a publishing gig. It somehow gives you that confirmation you really are an author. And it gives The X another feather in its publishing quiver. Only later does reality seep in, and seep is the right word.
Here at The X, our contracts lay out your manuscript’s future. It is a map to a finished, polished, published piece. It is as much our work as yours. Our names only appear as fine print on the frontispiece, but we know (and by then you will know) it was a team effort.
The X contract will give you a fairly specific timeline so you have a pretty good idea of when that book/anthology is coming out. And marketing comes into play the day you sign the contract, so we don’t leave that out either. But that moment between “I got a contract” and “my book is printed” (we still use that term although in fact most are digital these days) is a million years (so it seems) of hard work, haggling, and compromise.
After the contract is signed, we schedule a launch meeting. We write up an agenda to discuss the entire “map” to your published piece. We set dates, work up a master plan on editing, and marketing, and try to address an author’s descent into publishing madness.
However, there is this space of time between “accepted, contract, launch meeting” where an author’s attitude is unfortunately sometimes set in a dangerous and possibly contract-breaking way. So, today, I want to warn you about some things you might want to consider just after you sign that contract, and before that launch meeting.
First, do not assume that an accepted manuscript means all that remains is some tweaking, and you are good to go. We provide access to your manuscript’s evaluations. Please take the time to look that over, and seriously assess each review comment.
These evaluations are done with a professional eye to assessing the value of a work. It is the first place we note troublesome issues. Here is where you will find what you did well, and more importantly, what you did not do well. Sometimes, and this may hurt to hear in the initial excitement, what we decided was “there’s potential” here. When you see words like needs character development, needs clarification, needs some background, climax peters off, etc. PAY ATTENTION. Those comments are for your benefit, and editors you work with WILL address each of those issues.
Second, never assume one round of editing is going to be enough. This is for the long haul. We want you to look professional, and likewise, we want The X to look professional. That takes effort, time, and sweat equity. Prepare for the haggling. As editors and authors work together, things can become dicey. The odds are that the “I’m the author, we do it my way” spiel will not end well. Ultimately, you may regret that attitude.
Dicey, haggling, and compromise are not exacting words. They simply point out that an author and an editor are going to “see” things a bit differently. We promise our editors will work with you. Think of it more as the truism: the whole is more than the sum of its parts. That finished manuscript will include your vision, your editors’ refinements, and together will be a whole neither of you could have accomplished alone.
Editors are not out to get you; they are out to protect you, and polish your work. It is not only our job, but our joy. I may hate to send back a chapter for the fifth or sixth time, but I will not stop until it is right. Why? We both want that perfect professional piece. When I am working with an author, and the light bulb clicks on in their head, I’m somewhere pumping my fist.
Third, bring your own “map” to the launch meeting. If you did that first step of reading the manuscript evaluations, you know what is going to be discussed. Come prepared to ask questions, support your viewpoints, clarify your meaning. Come prepared to learn. Editors very, very rarely say “my way or the highway.” Most of the time, it’s “how can you write that so it’s better understood by your reader?”
Once I had the opportunity to do an amazing and insightful project BEFORE editing was even discussed. On a Google doc, the author wrote this is what happened in chapter one; and I wrote, this is what I read in chapter one. The light bulb went on for both the author and I. Assuming we are both on the same page is a rookie mistake made by both author. When the author comes prepared to discuss evaluation issues, we know this is going to be a signature piece for the X. And frankly we want all our works to be signature pieces.
So after the contract signing, the self-congratulations, the relief and joy of having that title “author” begins to wear off, settle down, and prepare for business. The sooner the author is ready to tackle the issues, the easier the actual editing process becomes. And if the initial process (before actual editing) seems to take too much time, take heart. It usually means the actual editing will be clean, fun, and quick (and painless).
Terri Wagner lives, writes, and edits from her home in Alabama. Her most recent project, Terra Mechanica: A Steampunk Anthology, was released in May 2014. Her next project, The Mage and the Magpie (The Bookminder Book 1) by Megan Wiseman, is slated for release in August 2014.
Other works to Ms. Wagner’s credit include Shades and Shadows: A Paranormal Anthology, Mr. Gunn and Dr. Bohemia by Pete Ford, and Conjectrix (Vivatera Book 2) by Candace J. Thomas.
Inside Marketing: To Blog or Not To Blog?
That is the question!
BY BUNNY MINER
Author Blogging 101: When to Start a Blog
Whether you want to hear it or not, blogging is your friend. You’re probably thinking, but who wants to hear what I have to say? or I’m no expert, nobody will read it anyway. (Did I detect a note of whining?).
When it comes to marketing your book, it really comes down to you. Here at Xchyler Publishing, we have a great team to help out our authors, but in the end, the one with the most invested in your book is you. This is your hard work, your blood, sweat and tears, your baby.
Hi, I’m Bunny Miner and I’m the point of contact here at Xchyler Publishing for bloggers and reviewers. Bloggers help an author get the word out about their upcoming book and are able to reach more than just the author’s circle of friends.
Authors often ask me when they should start a blog. Do they wait until they’re well known so they have a following? Should they wait until their book is in print and on the bookstore shelves? My answer is a resounding NO! Do it now.
Don’t worry about all the fancy bells and whistles, you can add those as you go. Just get your blog up and running as soon as you can, before you submit that manuscript to a publisher.
Blogging is something an author does to build a following. Even if the only people you know who would read your blog are your family and friends, start anyway. Include in your blogs a flavor of who you are.
If you’re not literary and high minded, don’t act like you are. If you’re chatty and fun loving, make your blogs sing of your personality.People want to know you and what you think, not what you think someone in an office that may or may not publish your book wants to hear.
Blogging is all about building relationships. So you start with the relationships you already have—back to those family and friends. Often this group of people is called your Sphere of Influence or SOI. With your early blogs, they’ll be there to support you and encourage you.
As you get a few posts under you and they see that you’re not going to flake out on them, they’ll start investing themselves in your blog and start expecting it. With that in mind, please be consistent! You don’t have to blog everyday but do blog on a regular basis, at least every week or two. The more you can blog, though, the more quickly you’ll develop followers. If you can, blog everyday.
Your SOI is just your jumping off point. What eventually is going to happen is that your friends and family will start telling their SOI about you and your blog (because you’ll ask them to!). Then they’ll tell two friends and so on and so on and so on (hey, wasn’t that a commercial . . . showing my age!). This will add followers to you and your marketing efforts.
Remember though, that you should follow them as well. This is about building relationships. There is strength in numbers and authors really should band together to get the word out about each other. Don’t worry, there are more than enough readers to go around. Chances are, if you find someone who likes something similar to what you write, they’ll like what you write as well. It’s not a competition, it’s a collaboration!
When following another author or blogger, don’t just lurk on their site. Add comments and encouragement. Always be honest but also be genuine. I’m a firm believer in Karma, what goes around comes around, so help and uplift one another!
Nothing happens unless you put it into action so I’ll challenge you at the end of each of my blogs to give you something to work on. Please comment back and let me know how you do with the challenges!
1. If you haven’t already, START YOUR BLOG.
2. If you have a blog but don’t post to it regularly, sit down and figure out when you can realistically blog and stick to that schedule. Re-evaluate it every 30 days to see if you need to tweak it.
3. If you’re already blogging regularly, go out and find a blog similar to what you write, whether it’s a genre based blog or another author that writes in your genre, take a look at the blog and see if you can pull any of the elements into yours (asking permission to use their idea with your own tweaks and adjustments helps build the relationship). Also look at the blogs and see if you can comment kindly, honestly and genuinely and then do it.
That’s it from me for this post. Go take on my challenge and report back.
Until next time,
Bunny
Bunny Miner joined Xchyler Publishing in May 2014. As our point of contact for bloggers and reviewers, she spends much time on the web looking for her next victims…er, um, assistants. Bunny feels that bloggers and reviewers are an integral part of our marketing team and is very grateful to them for all the work they do on behalf of our authors.
If you’d be interested in being a blogger or reviewer for Xchyler Publishing, please contact Bunny at BunnyMiner@XchylerPublishing.com. Bunny will be blogging along with the rest of our Marketing Team so check back often for their combined words of wisdom.
Editor’s Notes: More Than The Sum of Its Parts
BY MERILYN OBLAD
Once upon a time, I sat around a flint-knapping debris pile with a bunch of other people, trading life-stories and making what should have been tools out of rocks but were, in reality, just lumps of broken stone. I noticed a certain pattern of restlessness to the stories my compatriots told, which restlessness led to all manner of interesting and far-ranging escapades in their lives.
I was in my mid-twenties then, and was an awkward combination of shy introversion and cocky confidence in my newly completed college education. In spite of that confidence, I was deeply aware of my lack of exotic life-experience and was dreading having nothing to really say for myself.
The moment of reckoning pounced on me, and with an embarrassed flush, I told everyone that my life wasn’t very interesting. I was raised in Las Vegas, NV, educated in Reno, NV, and then in Provo, UT, but had really done nothing else. I was completely embarrassed and wished that I could disappear and take my story with me (I really don’t like talking about myself, then or now), but the most wonderful thing happened after I ground to an ashamed halt. The leader of the group looked at me, and in the kindest voice I’d heard in a long time, told me that I said my life wasn’t interesting, but he bet it was interesting to me. To my utter surprise, he was right. My life is interesting to me.
You see, my life then, and even more so now, is filled with learning and thinking and making sense of my life experiences, all things I revel in. I adore learning and understanding things that I previously haven’t. So, I am an educated woman, schooled in the art of history and analytical thinking and writing. That means I studied the small details of the human experience as they changed over time and learned to carefully piece them together into a comprehensive whole. Or, at least as comprehensive as I could make it.
I have tried to understand why events happened the way they did and what impact they had on humanity. For instance, a storm in the English Channel/Atlantic Ocean in 1588 created such difficulty for the Spanish Armada that they were defeated by a far inferior force, the English Navy.
That defeat allowed the English to gain supremacy in Europe in terms of naval power, which led to a substantially greater interest in the New World (since you had to get on a boat to get there and with their greatly expanded fleet, they could afford exploratory expeditions), which in turn led to a greater colonial presence of English in North America than other nationalities, which meant that the English experience with government influenced the creation of the United States Government, rather than say, the Spanish or the French, as you see in South and Central America. And all of that because of one storm. See what I mean? Totally intriguing.
I wrote quite a bit throughout my college years, starting with short-sentenced, choppy analyses of historical documents, and culminating with a long-winded 93-page master’s thesis exploring the impact of music on gendered ideas of honor and duty during the American Civil War. (Fascinating stuff, really. Who knew popular music could define a war for an entire generation?)
I write less now, since there’s little call for historical essays outside the hallowed halls of higher education. And I don’t claim to be a writer of anything else. (Periodically I try to write a little fiction, but I get stuck in my need to explain everything in minute detail and can’t move the plot along at a reasonable pace.) I have tremendous respect for those who do write, since their efforts have kept me entertained for decades.
Speaking of which, I am (of course!) a voracious reader. Nancy Drew Mysteries started me on the reading path of no return, quickly followed by fantasy and sci-fi, tender romance, and an unexpected foray into Jane Austen fanfic, plus the occasional international thriller. I constantly find myself analyzing the books I read, seeking patterns and trends in individual authors’ works.
Now, I put those analytical skills to good use by helping other writers with their writing. I’m a proofreader, which is a very good job for me. I catch the mistakes that fall through the cracks of rewrites, line and content editing, formatting, and more rewrites. I am into the details, much like I was as a student of history. (See? I told you it’s a good job for me!)
Between then and now, I was a research assistant (also a good job for me), a fabric cutter, a grader of standardized tests, a tutor, a nanny (a deeply rewarding job), and a front desk clerk at a motel. I’m looking forward to using all that lovely life experience I didn’t have at the flint-knapping pile in my new role as an editorial assistant with Xchyler.
With all of that, some things don’t change. I’m still an introvert. I still observe and think more than I speak. And I still pay attention to details and try to place them in the larger picture. To put it into tired cliché form, I try to see both the forest and the trees, forsaking neither because understanding does not occur without both. And understanding is one of the things that make life interesting. To me, at least.
A lover of all things historical, MeriLyn Oblad has both a BA and MA in History, the former from the University of Nevada, Reno and the latter from Brigham Young University. She brings more than a decade of document analysis, an eye for fine detail, and seven years of writing local histories to the Xchyler table.
When not proofreading for Xchyler, she volunteers with the local heritage society, reads prolifically, and occasionally can be persuaded to sew quilts for loved ones. MeriLyn (pronounced “Mary Lynn”) currently resides in Southern Utah and spends her Sundays teaching music to about 40 children.
MeriLyn is currently plowing through an immense pile of short stories for our Mr. and Mrs. Myth anthology competition, her first project with The X.
Featured Friday: Postmortem
BY J. AUREL GUAY
“The Death of Dr. Marcus Wells” appeared in Shades and Shadows: a Paranormal Anthology (2013)
Epilogue:
It was late when Emily tiptoed into the room. Unlike most of the other rooms in the abandoned monastery, this one was well-lit. Several oil lamps surrounded the table on which the corpse laid and pushed back the darkness that seeped from the stone walls.
Marcus’ back was to her, his shaggy light coloured hair hung over his eyes as he bowed his head toward the table. So engrossed in his work was he that didn’t notice her enter. His forceps moved methodically, gently separating the human flesh from the parasite that had infiltrated the now deceased body.
She cleared her throat gently.
Marcus turned and jumped from his stool in surprise. Quickly, he covered the body on the table with a sheet.
“Emily, I’m so sorry. You do not need to see this.”
“Don’t worry dear, I’m afraid I’ve gotten used to it by now,” she smiled at him uneasily and smoothed a stray lock of brown hair behind her ear.
“Yes,” he replied averting his eyes to the corner. “Yes, I suppose you would have.”
It was only too true. In the last months she had seen more death and carnage than she could have imagined, and much if it at her own uncontrolled hands.
“Have you found anything helpful yet?” She asked trying to move beyond the awkward silence.
“Little of use,” Marcus replied looking at the sheet covered table.
“The parasites seem to penetrate every organ. Many of their own organs are scattered throughout the host. I have yet to find two that are arranged in the same manner in the inside. There is no surgical way to get at them in a live body, and I have no clues on how to stop this epidemic.” He replied as he wiped his hands excessively with a cloth, still clearly unnerved by her presence with the corpse.
“You will find something soon, I’m sure of it.” She approached Marcus to lovingly put her arm around him and rested her chin on his shoulder. “In the meantime, you should get some rest. You’re other will become cross if you neglect yourself.”
Marcus sighed heavily.
“It’s your werekind I worry about. I threatened mine into submission before it overtook me. But yours could emerge at any moment. How can I think of rest when that thing still lives inside of you?”
Emily withdrew, “You talk as though I am a monster.”
“Are you not? Are we not all beasts here?”
She glared at him with her deep brown eyes. Despite his brilliance in medicine, her time with the wild werekind of the Highlands taught her far more about the creatures than his dissections ever could. They were not monsters, nor was she. How could the man she loved be so naïve? Her pale soft skin flushed as she retorted.
“Monster or not, I still say you need rest. But, I will leave you to your work. Good night Marcus.”
Before he could respond, Emily turned abruptly and left.
Once out of the room she immediately felt a twinge of guilt. After all, he was working so hard on her behalf. There was so much he had risked for her. Nevertheless, she knew it was pointless to apologize while she still fumed over his ignorance.
She wandered the many dark halls of the abandoned monastery. In a quiet room she found a small group of other residents huddled close together. They spoke in whispers and refused to acknowledge her presence. She knew they were werekind, like her, she had met them before. She also knew they whispered because of her. Because she was different.
Unlike the werekind that camped here, Emily had suffered many months under the control of her savage other. The werekind with them in the monastery had been found out early and trained before the creatures emerged. They dominated and tortured their werekind into submission from the start. But, she learned another way. It was Heinrich, leader of the wild werekind, that took her in and taught her more gentle ways taming the beast within.
She shivered as she passed on through another cold corridor. Sadly, Heinrich’s better means did not justify his twisted ends.
Marcus only barely convinced the others in the group to allow her freedom within the stone walls she now walked. He pledged on his very life that her werekind was not a threat, and took on all the responsibility for her presence in the group.
Emily soon wandered into the large kitchen lit with the cheerful orange glow of a fire in the hearth. There she found the one of the few friends she had made since her rescue from Heinrich’s camp. The hulking Gordon smiled up at her from his work at the butcher block.
“’Ello Miss Barrows. Are ya hungry? I’ve got a side a beef that’s nearly done. Keepin’ up with feedin’ this lot is a bloody chore I tell ya.” Gordon laid his butcher’s knife aside washed his large hands from the bloodstains that nearly matched his tightly cropped hair.
“No, thank you Gordon. My other isn’t hungry now,” She felt a sudden twitch through her arm. “But it is a bit restless. Where do you let them stretch around here?”
“I, err. . . Beg yer pardon?”
“You know, exercise. Flex your limbs. Let them breathe a little.” Emily waved her arm as she spoke, allowing her hand and forearm to take on the change. A good stretch would do much to sooth her other, not to mention her own strained emotions. Gordon looked on in confusion at the strong claws and savage appearance that came over her limb.
A sharp female reprimand came from behind her.
“They do not breathe here. They are servants, not playthings,” Emily turned to find the dark glaring eyes of Chin. Both Chin and Gordon had been there when Marcus took her from Heinrich’s grip.
“Says who?” asked Emily playfully. Something about the Asian woman’s rigid disposition evoked the most juveniles of temptations in Emily.
“Mr. Otto trains us all. He knows how to control the werekind.”
“Yes, I’ve heard a lot about this Mr. Otto,” Emily spoke coyly as she wandered toward a large iron kettle that rested near the butcher’s block. “But, I have yet to meet the man.”
“Otto’s a right busy man these days, what with the werekind spreading ‘cross Scotland and all.” interjected Gordon as he checked his beef that cooked above the blazing fire.
“Never know when he’ll show up.”
“Well then, in the meantime why not have a bit of fun?” In one swift motion, Emily deftly lifted the massive kettle with her beast-like arm and sent it sailing through the air towards Gordon.
The brute of a man caught the kettle with a grunt and a smile. He threw it back straight at Emily, who caught it, this time with two powerful, clawed hands. Still, the force of the heavy pot pushed her back and she braced herself on the floor by the claws that from sprung feet.
“Gordon!” scolded Chin as Emily returned the throw again. “You stop!”
Chin stepped between Emily and Gordon. The back of her head, with its tightly pulled back hair, blocked Emily’s view as Chin continued Gordon’s reprimand. Emily took advantage of arrangement and leapt to the high arched ceiling where she clung from a rough-hewn beam by a single hand.
Chin turned to address Emily, while from above Emily silently motioned for Gordon to toss the pot up to her. Surprised by the disappearance of the young woman Chin turned back to Gordon who merely raised his now empty hands in feigned ignorance.
“Look out below,” laughed Emily as she sent the kettle back again toward Gordon before dropping gracefully to the center table between Gordon and Chin.
“Aw c’mon Chin’y,” the big man grinned between his red mutton chops. “Don’ be so uptight.”
He leaned his large frame to the side and threw the Kettle past Emily right at Chin, forcing her to catch it by releasing the long slender arms of her own werekind. Chin and Gordon had worked alongside one another for a long time. It was clear to Emily that he knew how to get at her.
Chin paused for a moment before allowing herself a small smile. She threw the kettle high over Emily’s head, and the game was on. ‘Piggy in the Middle’ had been one of Emily’s favorite childhood games, but she never imagined playing it with a pair of half-monster adults and an iron kettle weighing nearly as much as she did!
The raucous of their frivolity must have traveled through the halls of the quiet monastery. It wasn’t but four passes before Marcus appeared. His brow furrowed and his face turned red as he stared at the scene.
“What in heaven’s name is going on here!” he shouted over the laughter. Emily was in such high spirits that she hardly noticed the severe tone of his voice. She thought it must be a comical scene for him to encounter three grown adults playing Pig with monstrous disproportionate limbs. Gordon who needed no help from his other was the only one of the three that remained unchanged. Emily chuckled at the thought and faked a throw toward Marcus before tossing the pot toward Chin.
“Stop this foolishness this instant!” Marcus raged. Chin was laughing hard as she sent the pot sailing high again.
A ferocious roar escaped Marcus frustration and the laughter stopped. A gray blur intercepted the pot at the peak of its arc. Marcus and the pot came to the ground with a seething growl on the opposite side of the room.
“I said STOP!”
Almost fully transformed into his most monstrous self, Marcus swung the kettle violently against the stone floor. The sound shook the rafters and splintered shards of rock flew in all directions. The solid iron pot split down one side.
Emily, Gordon, and Chin stared as Marcus knelt and gripped the floor with his hands. He strained against his werekind as he willed it back into hiding within his human form. Emily rushed to his side as soon as she thought it safe.
“Marcus, I’m sorry. Are you alright?”
“Miss Emily Barrows I presume?” came a terse and unfamiliar voice.
Emily and Marcus looked up to find a bald man in spectacles standing in the doorway of the kitchen. Despite his small stature, everyone felt his commanding presence as he entered the room.
“Mr. Otto!” Gasped Chin casting her gaze shamefully at the floor.
“Would anyone care to explain this childish and unbelievably dangerous scenario?” Though the German man barely raised his voice, a hot anger bled through his words.
“I . . .” stuttered Emily.
“It’s my fault.” Marcus quickly finished composing himself and rose to face the man. “I should have explained our rules to her more clearly.”
“So it would seem,” replied the Otto clearly dissatisfied.
“I’ve been preoccupied with my research. I should have taken more time to . . .”
“See that you do,” interrupted Otto. “You are well aware of the consequences.”
Otto’s icy glare felt like it went straight into Emily as he spoke the last of his warning. The rigid man turned abruptly to walk from the room while he continued, “Gordon, Chin, we have news on the epidemic that will require your action. Please follow me.”
The two werekind followed their leader without hesitation, leaving Marcus and Emily alone in the kitchen.
The moment everyone was gone Emily embraced Marcus tightly. She buried her face in his shoulder. “I’m so sorry Marcus. I just. . . I didn’t mean to. . .”
He returned her embrace stiffly at first, then more softly as he spoke. “No, I’m sorry. He should not have treated you like that. He may be a brilliant man, but he is cold and hardened by years of the torment we all suffer.”
“I know you’ve done so much here, so much so that I could be here. Maybe I don’t . . . ” chancing a glance into his grey eyes, she pondered her place in his world. Everything had changed when they were bitten. Their paths since that time had been so different. How could he ever . . . ?
“Your place is by my side and I will not let anyone say differently. Ever.”
Given plenty of time for introspection in his long-distance commutes between his home in Maine where he lives with his wife and two young children, and Boston, where he works, J. Aurel Guay uses his long periods of isolation to plot new perils for Dr. Marcus Wells.
His recent achievement of a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences provides him ample fodder for his writing. Jaregund, the first full-length novel featuring Dr. Marcus Wells is slated for publication sometime in 2015. Dr. Wells first appeared in “The Death of Dr. Marcus Wells,” a short story in Shades and Shadows: a Paranormal Anthology, published in 2013.
Inside Marketing: Instagram: Get the Picture?
The new way to Market!
As an author, consider if your target market uses Instagram. If you are going for young readers (teen-30s). I think the answer is a huge yes!
Next consider your publishing group. When a group wants to interact together and draw a following, they need to pick a hash tag (#) which will brand them, but also inspire others to add to the “conversation.” Check with your publisher about what hash tag they want you to include on every post. Some ideas might be #fantasyfanatics or #bookstokeepyouawake. The idea is to find a handle others will be attracted to, and that might go viral.
You do not need to post that often; several times a week, not several times a day. But post more when you are engaged in something interesting, especially if it relates to writing. Post at lunch, evenings and the weekends when people can actually take the time to “play” on their computers.
Here are a few posting ideas to get you started, but remember this is your account, so be creative, informative, funny and engaging.
- Use the good graphics we have for the information page (you can take pictures of computer screens).
- Authors and staff take pictures of themselves or others reading their books or kindles or writing in the usual, or the unusual places- retreats, waiting for dinner at a known restaurant etc.
- Editors post as they look at layouts.
- Graphic designers working on the images.
- Post Images from scenes of you stories or books—or that look somewhat like a scene from the book.
- Any picture you snap from conference or retreats. Both your team and others attending the convention. Great costumes, famous people, interesting comments!
- Picture from Personal appearances- signings
These last five ideas I found on a great blog: How to Make Money on Instagram: 30 Proven Tips By Kristi Hines
- Screenshot your five-star reviews and share a snippet of them with a link to your book. It allows you to brag about your book using someone else’s words. Create images with quotes from the book, or share images directly from the book. Go with the parts that will get potential readers most interested in buying.
- Create images with questions that can be answered by parts of the book. Include a page number as an additional bonus to get people excited about buying and finding the answer.
- Share a screenshot of any special sales or discounts for your book as they happen.
- Get a video from your book signings to boost credibility and authority for yourself as an author. Remember you only have 15 seconds for each video!
- Use your cell phone to take a video of the video you publisher makes. Pick 15 seconds and upload it.
The X is delighted to welcome Diane Lee Jortner onto The X Marketing Team. She fell in love with the media as a high school newspaper editor. With BA in Journalism/Public Relations from Bowling Green State University and a MALS in English from Valparaiso University, she brings her fifteen years’ experience teaching English Composition and her extensive personal social networking experience to The X Team.
In the past year, Diane launched Kids #5 and #6 who graduated from college, #6, the youngest from high school, written a YA mystery novel, and started to blog. In her free time, besides reading almost all types of fiction, she likes to travel with her husband and children.