Work to Live, or Live to Work?

Happy New Year!

So, what's with the post title? I've entered 2014, in case you haven't noticed, in a thoughtful mood.... and when I got to thinking about where I am and where I want to be, that title just about summed up what's been on my mind.

It's all about balance... (stick with it, the hamster and the rose are relevant!)

© Vedmochka | Dreamstime Stock Photos &Stock Free Images

Okay, so some background to those weird thought processes I call my own (and these are just my own thoughts and views). Last year was great, but a bit of a roller-coaster ride in some ways with its ups and downs. Some 'ups' that felt like 'downs' and vice versa. The human mind can be a fickle thing. What happens when you get a gift that should be the answer to your dreams? Well, sometimes it can just raise questions.... Maybe, sometimes, chasing a dream is easier than actually, well, achieving it. Is that just because we're always just striving so hard for the next goal, so we don't take the time out to appreciate just how much we've achieved? Or is it partly that just as we reach the winning post we find it has moved a smidgen?

Publishing is an ever changing landscape, so the goal posts are forever moving. I was first traditionally published just over eighteen months ago, and entered the self-publishing arena twelve months ago. And one year on much has changed.

What? My gut feeling is that we've crested the wave with e-books and we're waiting to see what happens when the water settles. A year ago I put out a book that soared effortlessly up the rankings - and I know many other authors who experienced the same. The message was, and still is, to promote on Facebook, Twitter, to push out the promo message, drop prices and offer freebies. Twelve months on and there have been subtle changes - it no longer seems the right approach.

Why? There are more e-books out there - not just an increase in the number of self published titles, but also an increase in the number of traditional publishers who have looked to explore the 'digital first' route. And over the period there has been an increase in the number of titles being put out by the digital only publishers that already existed (my feeling on this one though, is that many of these smaller publishers are now either looking to partner with bigger organisations, or slowing their output as they realise the market has become saturated). Last Christmas brought bargains that people snapped up to fill their e-readers, this year there were more bargains and freebies than full priced books (or that's how it felt!) - and e-readers were already cram packed with lots of unread stories (aka irresistible bargains) that had been snapped up over the year.

Now, I'm not saying that there aren't still a lot of people out there who genuinely love to read good books - but my feeling is that the surge of 'new' readers that appeared in the wake of some best sellers, and as a response to the growing popularity of e-readers, has now 'dampened down' to how it was a few years ago.

Lots of people love to read, but there are now many more books on offer - and at much reduced prices. And a lot of those people have become immune to the white noise of constant 'buy me' that has been encouraged. One year, two years ago, the tweeting and FB ads were a novelty - now they're an incessant chatter. Gathering 'likes' on your FB page is no longer a promise of success - with only a small fraction of your followers seeing each post (unless you pay to promote) the times they are a changing - writers are more likely to alienate than win over potential readers if they don't spot the warning signs and adapt.

So, maybe all this is good news. Maybe we've hit the bottom and it's time for a new approach. Will prices go up? Will old fashioned customer loyalty and branding (which never went away, it just got slightly overshadowed) become more important again? Will print books re-gain popularity (POD is losing some of its stigma)? Will the slow and steady writer who produces one, very good story become the norm again, and the drive to churn out as many books as possible in as short a time scale as possible diminish? Can we step out of the hamster wheel, stop chasing our tails - or is that just a sign of the times? The future? Will young readers only be interested when books become as interactive as every other part of their lives?

I'm not one for turning the clock back. Going forward is good, innovation is exciting. Human nature is to be wary of change - but evolution and growth are important. But where is the path leading us in publishing, in writing, in how we get the word out there?

I read an interesting post by Dean Wesley Smith the other day. He says '...To make a career in publishing, you have to be ready for a long haul, often over decades.
Most beginning writers who went indie two years ago didn’t want to do that, didn’t find the “gold” they were promised after a ton of wasted promotion efforts, and have stopped. Nothing unusual at all..... But now it’s not quitting after fifty rejections, it’s quitting after three books up and very few sales.' [This is just a small part of a post that looks at traditional and indie publishing - the rest can be read HERE]
How true. It's easier than ever to get published today, authors have many more routes and opportunities. But in the past, as Dean says, many of these writers would have given up along the way - now these same people will be published before they realise it's not the career for them, that a handful of books might not make them their fortune.
Now, that's good in a lot of ways, but it also means there are more books out there all clamouring to be bought. Good thing, or bad? Lots more opportunities, great for authors. Lots more books to choose from, great for readers... but e-books aren't like print, e-books stay around for ever. So, if you publish a book today you have to work harder to get it noticed than you did twelve months ago... more promo, lower prices, more time marketing, less time writing (you can see where I'm going with this one)....

Dean also mentions control and freedom - two valuable assets that writers have earned and now have to learn how to use...

Which brings me back to balance. (Yep, I got there in the end!) I worked hard in 2013, juggled normal life, a job, family and writing, as many other authors do. I've crammed every spare hour with writing and promotion. I've tweeted, posted, blogged, guested, gone on tour, spread the word for myself and other authors. And now it's time to examine the balance sheet.

I'm a business, and the business is me. Writing is more than just putting words on a page and creating stories - an author has to be prepared to sell that idea. Sell themselves. But, I did get to the end of 2013 feeling a bit like that hamster in its wheel. I was left wondering if I'd stopped gaining ground, if I was running as fast as I could to simply stay in the same place - and now had to start thinking clever. True, I've written a lot of words. But this year I want to write more, worry less, and make every minute count. And enjoy more minutes. Have some down time. Chill. I'd rather be the swan (I prefer swan to duck) that looks serene on the surface but is paddling like hell under the water - but moving, progressing, getting a change of scenery not running on the spot.

A tall order? Maybe. But I'm up for the challenge. I have a lovely editor who has encouraged me to head in a new exciting direction - a direction I've been tempted by, but not dared risk before. It's a bigger story. In the time it takes to write I could publish two or three others, it could fail, it might be a wrong turning. Or it could just turn out not only to be the story I want to write, but the one others want to read. And I've decided now is the time to slow down and write it. To take control.

I have an awesome author friend who has some brilliant ideas for spreading the word about our books - a way we can harness that energy we throw into promotion, direct it more effectively, try something new. So, yes it's time to step off the promo treadmill and explore.

A writer needs time to feed the muse, experience life, smell the roses (ah yes, I remember saying that in a previous post). Inspiration needs a spark, imagination needs space.

This year for me is, I think, about gaining freedom through control. About being more selective in what I do, being more productive with my time and appreciating what I have. I write because I want to, I love to - and maybe the greatest risk is that if the balance isn't right, that desire will flounder. It's a wonderful time to be a writer, the possibilities are out there, accessible to all... you just have to take the time to spot them.

I hope that 2014 is a great year for all of us, and I, for one, intend to take the time to appreciate the good bits as well as moan about the bad! To get back to enjoying my writing, and to make more space for other aspects of my life. What about you?

Photo courtesy - Bobby Mikul 

Everybody hates me!

Okay, that might seem a bit melodramatic, but that's how it can feel when somebody hates your baby, sorry story.

You've slaved over a hot laptop - in between the dreaded day job, running round after kids, burning the dinner and shoving the dust bunnies further out of sight. You've battled with the plot, argued with the characters, waded through the sticky middle and finally typed The End, and hit send.

Stalking your inbox becomes part of your life for hours, days, months. And then it arrives. Someone likes what you've written - likes it enough to offer you a contract.

So you have a publisher who likes the story, you have an editor who shares your fears and frustrations as you knock it into even better shape, you have confirmation that you can write. And you have publication day!!

Now, instead of stalking your inbox, amazon takes over. Rankings and reviews rule your waking hours. And there are days when life couldn't get better when you go up the rankings, and slow days when you're a bit down because your story has dropped. And there are brilliant, word inspiring days when you read a four or five star review from a complete stranger. Then, there are days when you get a one or two star review and you feel like you might as well give up. So you have a glass (or two) of wine, dig out the secret supply of chocolate .... and then what?

Well, this is (part of) what I have learned from reviews, whether they are scathing, non-committal or non-existent;
1. Nobody hates you. This is not personal, it's about your story not you as a person.
2. Some people just won't like your story, full stop - which is fine. They may not like your 'voice' (in which case they probably won't come back), or they might not like this particular story line, or one of the characters, or the setting (in which case they might still be tempted to read another of your stories).
3. The more copies you sell the greater your chances of independent reviews (i.e. not from your mum, best friend, cp etc.) being posted - good and bad.
4. Free can be tricky. Offering your story free will push it up the rankings, it will make it more visible, it will increase your chance of sales after the free period ends. But, there is a downside. If your story if offered free then you will undoubtedly have  it downloaded by a lot more people, but some of these people download indiscriminately. If people are paying, they will read the blurb, read any warnings, read the free excerpt and decide whether they really want to part with their hard earned cash. If it's free, sadly a lot of people will download because they just like the title, or the cover, or they just saw the word 'free'. I recently read a one star review that had been posted on one story (not mine) which said it was too short and so not worth the money! It was free, the word count was included in the description...
3. Titles can be misleading, blurbs can be misleading. Sometimes what you get and what you expect aren't the same thing. Maybe the reviews aren't about bad writing but expectations not being met, maybe the marketing of your story hasn't quite hit the mark.
4. We all like different things and so you can't please all the people all of the time. Whoever you are. For a quick and easy example look at Fifty Shades - it has been a massive success sales wise, but it has its critics as well as its dedicated followers. Looking at the reviews today, there are just under 5000 in total. Of these, 2k are five star reviews, 1.5k are one star reviews, and the remainder are split pretty evenly between two, three and four star. Does EL James care? Well I don't know the answer to that one, but I don't think she will let those bad reviews stop her writing, do you?
5. All publicity is good publicity. I don't agree one hundred per cent with this, but close. If someone leaves a one star review saying 'this is pants' then it isn't very helpful. But, if they give a reason e.g. 'the hero was too alpha for me', 'this was too raunchy', 'I don't like stories about kittens' - then it might give someone else a reason to buy it!

6. If you get a review, good or bad, it means someone has been willing to read your story and has bothered to write a review. It wasn't your mother, brother, best friend or crit partner - it was a stranger who was interested in your writing.
And lastly 7. Some people just like complaining!

I'd love to say I am one of those people who doesn't even bother to read reviews, but I just have to check up every now and again... But I'm so grateful to every person who has bought one of my stories, I'm thrilled some people have enjoyed them and sorry that I can't please everybody.

I very rarely leave reviews myself, and I'd never leave a scathing review for a story. For a kettle maybe, not for a story. Fiction is subjective, a matter of taste, something very personal - so I can't really see the point in declaring in public 'this didn't work for me'. But I might well contact an author and say 'I loved this story, but I was frustrated by...'

What about you? Would you leave a one star review and advise someone not to give up the day job?!

Slow branding, or writing as fast as you can?

*** WINNERS! Thanks to everyone who visited and left a  comment on Aimee Duffy's post - she's now drawn the winners and they are... Nana wins a copy of 'The Monster of Fame' and Christy wins the Amazon voucher. Aimee will be in touch - any problems let me know!! Thanks again everyone and wishing you many sales Aimee ***

Now back to branding.....
I recently read a very thought provoking post, on the Kowloon by Night blog (which many of you may read), about the importance of author branding. It got me thinking (as all provoking posts should do).

The post was quite long, you can read it here, but in a nutshell it was talking about not spreading yourself too thinly, publishing too many books - diluting your author brand. Now, I do want to say upfront that I agree with a lot of what Adrien says, but I still have some random musings of my own to add to the pot.....

In the perfect world, we writers will all get snapped up by an agent (optional) and one of the big publishers (necessary). The story we have sweated blood over will be published, met with critical acclaim and soar straight to the top of every bestseller list. In some cases this happens, think JK Rowling, EL James, Nora Roberts, Jilly Cooper, Jackie Collins etc. (sorry if I missed anyone fundamentally important - there are many more, and yes the latter two names probably show my age!). In the real world this might not actually happen (yes, note the optimistic might).

Okay, in the real world and today's changing market....After much toil we might not get an agent, but we do find a publisher (eventually). Said publisher might be relatively small, may operate outside of our country of residence and be offering initially e-publication only. Printing books costs money, lots of money, but e-publishing doesn't - so the publisher can afford to take a risk on a debut author (or one with previously moderate sales). The publisher still has to make an investment in terms of editing, cover art, marketing etc. and so will only publish books they expect to get at least a small return on.

So, the book is launched on the unsuspecting public. The debut author waits with bated breath. Whilst the book is free (often done on amazon initially to boost it up the rankings - a cheap way of making it visible, the only cost is in lost sales revenue) it does indeed shoot up the rankings. Yay!! Then the book switches to list price. It gradually drifts down the rankings. Not so yay! There are some good reviews and some bad reviews (often if a book is free everyone grabs it without even questioning the genre, gets one they hate or consider too short for the price - nothing - and so write a bad review. That's life!). The bad reviews may or not be damaging - though I do go with the 'all publicity is good publicity' train of thought.

Needless to say, the book which has been promoted via a small blog tour, requested reviews, FB etc. now gradually sinks out of the public eye. Why? Not because it is bad - just because there are so many books out there. The e-book isn't visible on shelves in the supermarket, or book shops, it is just one more entry on a massive online list. The only way people will find it is if
1) It is in the top 100, or 2) There is a lot of publicity about it to get it into the top 100!

So without a big publicity/marketing machine behind a book (which only the big publishers can provide) it is unlikely to sell in the thousands. The author brings another book out, similar sales ensue. A few of the readers of the first book grab the second, a few new readers that found the second book go and buy the first. The author now has two books on that massive list, and if one of them is in the top 100 it might help sales of the other. Continue Ad Infinitum ....

Do I have a point here? I know of many (and it need to be said here that they are good, proficient writers who know their craft), authors who turn out a lot of books a year, a mix of novel length and shorts that in themselves add to the marketing mix. They might write 4, 5, 10 a year and they make a living out of it. And enjoy it. I know a lot of writers who write as a hobby, not expecting to make money. They write one or two books a year and spend the money on a night out. And they are happy too.

Best-selling (and I'm talking real best-selling here) authors have a huge publicity machine behind them, they have a big following and one book a year for them is the optimum (or one series). Readers are waiting for it, will rush out and buy on release day (or pre-release order). This will guarantee it will go straight to the top of every list and be visible to all the potential new readers. Self perpetuating. Huge success.
It must be said though that there are some hugely successful authors, such as Nora Roberts, who don't follow this rule - they are prolific and successful! (Although some prolific authors do write under pseudonyms to allow them to publish more books a year without saturating the market and diluting their brand.)

Not everyone is going to be a best selling author (logically!). You may, as a writer, want to keep perfecting your craft until you have a contract with one of the big publishers - in which case the way you will be branded and your expected output will be carefully controlled. Or you may just want to write, self publish or go to a smaller publisher, and know that you need a backlist, and know that you will need to be fairly prolific if you want to make a living out of your writing.

I hugely respect Adrien, and love his editor tips on twitter (@smoulderingsea if you aren't following him why not?) and he has a valid point, a lot of valid points. Author branding is important, I write under two names because of this, but I think each person, as an individual, needs to consider what type of author they are, and what type of branding suits their style. We're all unique, we all have different needs in life. I'd love to be a hugely successful author - and I'd love to be able to concentrate on one book a year with guaranteed sales. I'm not.

If you've not read the post I would recommend it - think about it, question what you're doing and where you stand in the debate. Because knowing your brand is important - and then you can work out what you want to do with it! And that might well mean investing the time in two author brands!

Quality is important, being true to yourself is important, not over committing and burning out is important. And the rest? In the words of the great Sir Humphrey, in Yes, Prime Minister 'You might say that, but I couldn't possibly comment' (apologies to all those outside the UK who haven't got the foggiest what I'm talking about!)

There are only a few certainties about being an author - there is no guarantee of success and it's hard work, but fun. So, there are a few of my thoughts (from very limited experience of the industry I should add) where do you stand?

Bad blogger!

Yup, that's me! I haven't blogged for a while because a) I've been mad busy and b) I was waiting for news!

Anyway, apologies if you've popped by.... I've set up a 'For writers' tab at the top of the page and this is where I've copied the list of publishers accepting submissions. I'll revisit it periodically to check it's up to date - any additions/comments are very welcome. (Pretty please!)

And news... I've been busy as I was commissioned to write an erotic romance novella by Xcite Books for their Secret Library series. I sent an idea in just before I went on holiday in July and it was ok'd by the time I got back - then I was asked how quickly I could finish it as they had a September publication date in mind. I got the story finished and in before the end of August and it was edited and contracted within days and released on the 5th September. I was extra pleased because didn't have a publication date in advance - and then got an email on the morning of my birthday to say it had been released! I'm also delighted as it will be going into print, bundled with two other stories, in a lovely plush Secret Library cover early next year!!

I love the characters in this story, 'Freefalling', and I think the cover captures Tom, the hero, perfectly. The book has been published under my pen name Zara Stoneley and if you want to know more, and read an excerpt check it out here! AND it's free on Amazon at the moment (buy links are included above the excerpt).

More news.. I've also signed a contract for 'Riding High', my next erotic novel to be published by Xcite. More details will be over on my Zara Stoneley blog when I have them!

And my last bit of news.... as you probably know, I started off writing contemporary romance and would love to get some published. I wrote a novella some time ago and with help from Annie Seaton I've knocked it into shape and subbed it - I've now got offers and will shortly be deciding who to sign a contract with.

So phew.... summer school holiday is normally a quiet time, now I've got to really get down to work!

Publishers currently accepting submissions - updated!

** THIS LIST CAN NOW BE FOUND HERE - I WILL UPDATE IT PERIODICALLY**

Someone recently asked on Facebook which publishers are currently accepting submissions. I’d been meaning to put my bookmarked list into some kind of order for some time, so here goes… in no particular order. (Updated 23/08/12)

Still Moments Publishing – various romance categories (not erotic)

Breathless Press – romance, erotic romance, erotica

Samhain – romance, erotica, horror

Carina Press – adult commercial fiction (including romance)

Lyrical Press – various categories of romance, including erotic

Liquid Silver Books – erotic romance, various genres

Evernight Publishing – romance, erotic romance, urban fantasy

Red Sage – various genres, emphasis on romance & erotic romance

Entangled Publishing – romance, various imprints including YA

Musa Publishing – various genres including romance, historical, mystery plus..

The Wild Rose Press – romance, including erotic

Silver Publishing – romance, erotic romance

Beachwalk Press – all subgenres of romance

Mischief – erotic and erotic romance

Total-E-Bound – erotic romance

Xcite Books – erotica/erotic romance

Crimson Romance – five subgenres of romance

Choc Lit – romantic fiction

Ellora’s Cave – erotic romance
Decadent Publishing - romance, erotic romance, plus new imprint Bono Books for mainstream fiction, YA, sweet romance and non-fiction
House of Erotica -  full range of erotic fiction
Secret Cravings Publishing - all genres of romance
Resplendence Publishing - range of romance genres
Avon Romance/Impulse - super sexy and romantic, also check out the FB page for current sub calls
Mira Ink - young-adult fiction
Sapphire Star Publishing - all fiction genres, YA to adult
Trestle Press - all genres
Harlequin - various romance categories, including new Digital First imprint
Rogue Phoenix Press - various genres including romance, YA, sci-fi, fantasy (Book featured exclusively on Amazon.com)
Changeling Press - erotic romance, various genres
Turquoise Morning Press - genre fiction including romance, erotic, mainstream fiction, YA. Re-opens for submissions on 31st August, 2012
LazyDay Publishing - primarily romance/erotica but also welcomes other genres including fantasy, mystery, thrillers etc.
Amira Press - open for erotic romance submissions only at present.

I have not had any experience with most of these publishers, so they are not recommendations – just sites I (or other people I know) have come across. Feel free to add a comment if you’ve had good/bad experiences with any!

I know as soon as I post this I’ll think of someone really obvious that I’ve missed off!  At some point I will set up a page so that the information on this post can easily be found.