tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61465968697070756512024-03-19T01:07:04.284-07:00The Power of SMALL - Smart Tips for StorytellersLeslie Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08659157469734641898noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146596869707075651.post-25791386301574316312022-11-01T09:05:00.000-07:002022-11-01T09:05:25.012-07:00Christian Dystopian: a new breed of evangelism? <p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is another sub-genre in Christian Fiction that has gained significant popularity in recent decades that also gets its basis from what is evil in the world. </span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-1dc1f33b-7fff-a16e-f02d-14f71fc76130"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Oxford Languages defines Dystopia as:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><i style="color: #741b47; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“</span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">an imagined state or society in which there is great suffering or injustice, </span></i></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><i style="color: #741b47; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">typically one that is totalitarian or post-apocalyptic.</span></i></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.309091; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #202124; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.5pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.309091; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dystopian stories flow from the precipice of a breakdown in the world as we know it. A catastrophic event has shattered the fabric of society, or some totalitarian government has oppressed the majority past the point of recognition. Often in these stories a character will rise up to take down the evil that is in power and restore freedom to the people, seeking redemption for themselves and the world as a whole. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One could argue that this is already what Christians believe has happened in the world. It seems to me that the definition of “dystopia” is just another way of expressing the Christian worldview. Christians, by definition, believe that sin and Satan have broken our world to pieces, and it needs fixing, a mess far too serious for our own hands to mend. So, we go looking for someone or something to fix it, and in comes all sorts of devouring one another, idolizing, and more. Could it be that many people are fascinated with the dystopian genre as a whole because it has become a pretty accurate megaphone for our most intimate experience with real life, one that we can’t completely verbalize, but feel burning within us every day? Don’t we long for something to be done? Don’t we hunger and thirst for wrongs to be made right? Aren’t we just waiting for a hero to take down the suffering, systematic oppression, and brokenness?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Writing Christian dystopias where the reader longs for someone to come and redeem the broken shards of society that lay before them is fertile ground for wanting to know more about Jesus of Nazareth. Isn’t that what great literature is meant to do? Shouldn’t it stir in us a picture so beautiful we long for it, and ultimately point us to the Creator of Beauty Himself?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="border: none; clear: left; display: inline-block; float: left; height: 181px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; overflow: hidden; width: 296px;"><img height="181" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/xeJTGN0nS_qKs0Q7uRDQ3FWAYuDsNTwjCIEG-wvH_umQtfD8LI_kG6S3IS5h858-zUFGiAwtV_y9N111lGbjJ3zmcO-MfGxDGP0c9xXp7KkDhpUjpS20hfKLGC9YjUT62_fMPYrtZyVHRUgeU1J9T9t8jb1tzrEel2vunHBLDgI2vLjkP5ceju_HzlOTlg" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px;" width="296" /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Suzanne Leonhard’s trilogy, </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Goliath Code: A Post-Apocalyptic Survival Thriller</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, hits all the defining features of Christian Dystopian and has been credited with cleverly weaving deep biblical truths throughout well-developed characters’ devastating experiences in a post-apocalyptic world. From natural disasters to political upheaval and religious craze, this book is a fantastic example of how the human experience naturally points to the need for a savior, of how things are not as they should be, and that we need someone stronger than us to set things right. The story is riveting and, even amidst the chaos and brokenness, there is a light shining.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> This might be the defining line between the Christian horror genre and Christian dystopian writing. The former seems to be entertainment only, and does in fact draw some readers into a distorted understanding of the power of Satan and what demons might be up to, such that we walk away more likely to check our closet before we go to bed. The latter, when well written, does give readers just a tiny glimpse into what knowing Jesus as a savior might do in their own personal dystopia.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Is it possible to weave key elements of the Christian worldview through strands of eloquent, provocative, and thought-provoking writing in the Christian horror genre? Would that audience read it? What do you think? Is it possible to read a Christian dystopian novel and walk away hopeful that the broken things you see in the world are one day going to be righted and, in the meantime, you can be a part of that mending? Absolutely.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So whether you find yourself reading or writing Christian Horror or Dystopian books, may you do so with much wisdom, freedom, enjoyment, and your eyes wide open. Literature is such a powerful gift, but also a tool, one that Christians have a unique opportunity to sharpen into a beautiful catalyst to show who God is to a broken world, to show them that indeed the light does shine into the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Read on, friends. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">[If you would like to be notified about new blog posts in addition to new releases, be sure to subscribe at <a href="https://www.encouragepublishing.com" target="_blank">this link.</a>] </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p></span><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Molly Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08114973476406445165noreply@blogger.com01116 Creekview Cir, New Albany, IN 47150, USA38.3337948 -85.814642910.023560963821154 -120.9708929 66.644028636178845 -50.658392899999996tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146596869707075651.post-8472828756146585832022-10-27T11:59:00.003-07:002022-10-27T16:21:53.065-07:00 Christian Horror: Creating Fear or Exposing Light?<p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivb11bn1Jezz80ICuIWQP25rj0QAqtVGf3H6quTJOzRwqkFIGXeDaT5MajzB6Yg8SHLce-D_rf7djviBmXCzk73a9Va1YY1ICKyjuuKdyI0rEgqRFpkJecPmlalfqgoXDyBF-lSOsoRzjLVUAkWd-6Q4wtp8mUuR5F9jnygsMPdM3EJ1M18CQRAJ5JbA/s525/Screwtape-Present-Darkness.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="525" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivb11bn1Jezz80ICuIWQP25rj0QAqtVGf3H6quTJOzRwqkFIGXeDaT5MajzB6Yg8SHLce-D_rf7djviBmXCzk73a9Va1YY1ICKyjuuKdyI0rEgqRFpkJecPmlalfqgoXDyBF-lSOsoRzjLVUAkWd-6Q4wtp8mUuR5F9jnygsMPdM3EJ1M18CQRAJ5JbA/s320/Screwtape-Present-Darkness.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b>[THIS BLOG is written by MOLLY TURNER, Acquisitions Editor for Encourage Publishing.]</b><p></p><p><span style="color: #134f5c;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">There </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">is a genre of Christian Fiction that is swarming with stories of darkness, evil, and demons…and people love it. They love stories that accentuate the spiritual world and show the reader how it works, exposing how it entangles with our everyday lives. Interestingly, in my experience, these works tend to rely on using extremes to be the catalyst to move the story forward.</span></i></span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-a70da3b5-7fff-d96b-858f-2fba806b6028"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">What leads so many Christians to be preoccupied with a topic that the Bible is amazingly uninterested in explaining to us? Jesus, who regularly was engaging with demons while on earth, wasn’t interested in giving us a rule book on fighting the devil’s army, but rather said to put our trust in Him because He has overcome the world. And then there is of course the apostle Paul, who when charging the church of Ephesus to fight in spiritual warfare, rather than give a map of where evil lives or various tactics to expose or exorcize, he instead gives us direction to arm ourselves with the realities of our salvation in Christ and stand firm. If that is the posture of Scripture, why has Spiritual Horror become so influential to so many and often even causing them to shape their beliefs and lives around what they read?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some may find that they enjoy reading about the realities of the spiritual world and imagining what it could be like and the war that is happening all around us. It is a way to engage in a fictional story that “feels Christian.” Many of these stories, however, seem to primarily use a picture of God that is cliché rather than well-rounded, nuanced, and reflecting felt human experience grounded in Scripture. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A classic example of Christian Horror is Frank Peretti’s </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This Present Darkness</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, a story about the battle between good and evil in the small town of Ashton. The book weaves thrilling events and conflict in the town with the supernatural world swirling behind them. It is hard to put down and had an enormous following that continues to this day. Some of the criticism of the book, however, was that it presented an overly simplified dualistic view of good and evil. Peretti has written extensively and has done very well. Why? Because his books are riveting, exciting, and appeal to the Christian understanding that there is more going on in an event than meets the eye. We want to know what God is up to and what foes stand in our way of following after Him. The danger is, as always with anything meant for enjoyment, that readers take the story past what it was meant to do: entertain, rather than inform our sense of reality.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It could possibly create an absorption with what </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">could </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">be rather than what </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, making readers more fearful than they ought to be. But that is of course up to them to monitor for themselves, right? Or are authors and publishers responsible for writing and publishing books that point readers not to fear, but to power, love, and self-control, as it says in 2 Tim 1:7? </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>“...for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” (ESV)</b></span></i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijjE5BvCAwgmFINaQ3kiT5jT0-xNJpnJgpAClBQCZ9Ejs2jLf1u2Vs4tHDJpj_w48rBKSZDRM647kx_BeLQwl7Qv5XFDXd0jun9DYraiF4wCbr0Nu4P-88MZ2buBBYPWjcJpz6TYwBwx9NMN457UR6NWhCWzYPC4Db78bkWdywOi28dVvq_CKb5hluxA/s4941/Photo%20Jul%2023,%203%2048%2006%20AM.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4941" data-original-width="3294" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijjE5BvCAwgmFINaQ3kiT5jT0-xNJpnJgpAClBQCZ9Ejs2jLf1u2Vs4tHDJpj_w48rBKSZDRM647kx_BeLQwl7Qv5XFDXd0jun9DYraiF4wCbr0Nu4P-88MZ2buBBYPWjcJpz6TYwBwx9NMN457UR6NWhCWzYPC4Db78bkWdywOi28dVvq_CKb5hluxA/s320/Photo%20Jul%2023,%203%2048%2006%20AM.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>So, are stories about demons helpful? Christians are charged to meditate on and fill themselves with what is true, right, and full of light. Does that rule out all stories with demons? We clearly can’t ignore the presence of evil forces being described in Scripture and we aren’t mandated to avoid fictional stories about them either. Is it possible that the answer is a matter of wisdom, and the intention behind the story and what light the supernatural is cast in? </i></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An example of a story about demons that isn’t designed to frighten as much as it comically challenges our view about our lives and God in them is C. S. Lewis’s </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Screwtape Letters. </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The book is a dialogue between an elder demon and his junior about their efforts to keep a man an atheist. The story, instead of feeding an insatiable desire for spooky, terror, or the demonic, instead forces us to see how our everyday lives are a call to live into holiness and pursuit of Jesus. It forces us to remember that our lives are participating in the spiritual realm whether we notice or not, and it points us to Jesus above all and his constant pursuit of us. Perhaps that is what we need from a story, to point us to Jesus and our need for Him. It is written in such a way to reflect on our lives under the light of Scripture, not fear or reactivity that focuses only on ourselves but redirects us to Jesus. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If Lewis could do it, I’d wager that more Christian authors could winsomely write about the supernatural in such a way that doesn’t mainly cause us to focus on what is evil, but rather to look at and long for what is good, not to create fear but expose light.</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From my experiences growing up to seeing how Christian Horror has shaped many people that I interact with as an adult, I have a lot of questions about the helpfulness of the genre, but what do you think? Respond in the comments and tell me what you love about the genre, your favorite titles, or why you never read it. How has the genre shaped your thinking for better or worse?</span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In Part 2 of our Darkness blog, we’ll talk about another sub-genre in Christian Fiction that has gained significant popularity in recent decades that also gets its basis from what is evil in the world: Christian Dystopian!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Molly</i></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>[If you would like to be notified about new blog posts in addition to new releases at Encourage Publishing, be sure to subscribe at <a href="https://encouragepublishing.com/" target="_blank">this link</a>.]</i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>Are you a Christian writer? Or, do you have an inspirational or miraculous story to tell? Contact Molly through our website's <a href="https://encouragepublishing.com/books" target="_blank">submission portal</a> and learn more about us.</i></span></span></p><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></span><br />Leslie Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08659157469734641898noreply@blogger.com11116 Creekview Cir, New Albany, IN 47150, USA38.3337948 -85.814642938.332953218844068 -85.815715783605953 38.334636381155931 -85.813570016394038tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146596869707075651.post-40643454920622885232022-06-03T13:24:00.002-07:002022-06-16T06:54:23.633-07:00The Ugly Duckling becomes a Swan: Hybrid Publishing Ch. 1<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8oYrKe9vfmio-6oILDB0dQa_8JZMmqul5SHUXXjcn6FsFygQ-HBUiXusGgZQZiel9L6uyZYFdcu1uo9XwJ-YT6RAwWudCBQI8XQgZzKVnt6zLGxTd8m1sx5bb9Pt_AQEKl8xlI4R4_eTEoU5oiaWx5ghfzzooiytYyPS1lu096lulwcrk-6-UN4MNmg/s761/priusceleb1sq.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="761" data-original-width="761" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8oYrKe9vfmio-6oILDB0dQa_8JZMmqul5SHUXXjcn6FsFygQ-HBUiXusGgZQZiel9L6uyZYFdcu1uo9XwJ-YT6RAwWudCBQI8XQgZzKVnt6zLGxTd8m1sx5bb9Pt_AQEKl8xlI4R4_eTEoU5oiaWx5ghfzzooiytYyPS1lu096lulwcrk-6-UN4MNmg/s320/priusceleb1sq.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Remember when the Toyota Prius first came out on a large
scale in the United States? In 2000, the first mass-produced hybrid vehicle hit
U.S. car lots, and immediately the Prius became the darling of the ecologically
“woke” elite, proud to leave their status rides in their five-car garages to be
seen tooling around in their fuel-efficient, ozone-saving statement cars. Orlando Bloom in a Prius? Yes, please! In fact, many of my celebrity favs drive this cozy beauty: Tom, Julia, Leo, I see you, I do. </div></span></div></div><div><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">Unfairly, when the Toyota Prius first came out it became known as the “Ugly
Duckling” of the hybrid industry—but we all know how that fairy tale ended, don’t
we? It took a few more years, and lots more competition, but by 2022 Toyota’s footprint in the hybrid industry remains dominant,
even considering the flashy scene-stealing prowess of Tesla. Fuel
efficiency of over 50 mpg is impressive, particularly given the current price
of gas. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Even with Americans’ love of power under the hood, a growing number of
drivers are more inclined to enjoy having more power in their wallets. Helping
the environment is important, but what hybrid car owners brag about is how far
they get on one tank of gas. The success of Toyota’s hybrid line, beginning
with and sustained by the Prius, drills down to three things: ACCESSIBILITY –
Toyota managed to mass produce the Prius in the U.S. and bring the price down
to a level the average American could tolerate. EXPERTISE – Toyota’s early
development of a battery configuration that was both safe and long-lasting, and
their ongoing improvements, allowed them to become the standard all others
followed. EFFICIENCY – not only is the product fuel-efficient, but their
production methods are also a model of efficiency, which saves everyone money and narrows their little slice of our environmental woes.</div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Well, in the publishing industry, hybrid publishing was, at
first, also considered an Ugly Duckling. (How was THAT for a pivot?) Just like the little ducks in the
pond, the big boy traditional publishers refuse to even acknowledge the hybrids.
Industry pundits love to dismiss hybrids out of hand, claiming that “anyone who
takes money from the author to publish is not a legitimate publisher.” The
media is often under the false impression that they cannot rely on hybrid
content or quality. Bookstores often will not take the risk on unknown authors,
seemingly unvetted content, or publishers who were not “in the system,” a
vexing problem all independent publishers face.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">As hybrid publishing grew and those fluffy tufts of grey
were replaced by elegant white feathers, authors began to see hybrid contracts
for what they really are: the up and coming star of the show in book
publishing, the answer to intractable problems vexing a million authors
annually that the big boys in publishing are unwilling or unable to address. And
those industry critics? Well, we still have some work to do to convince them,
but I predict that in a very short time hybrid publishing contracts will
outnumber traditional contracts (if they haven’t already), and income from
hybrid-published books will also outpace the traditional market. Then watch the
feathers fly! (By the way, what's so "ugly" about a sweet little cygnet?)<o:p></o:p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitV9S5T9_yqcrEGVNXPpC-ai3_ho-xeoRbW0bNL6ZJViBQ3NMqRrbRYWSsvPmWIO3Ex2WBqiMJ4NRUhkvbGCe-7H_eNI9T29Egt_N3OgpXdGnUxworfwbrBa8uOTCUtMckj73AGNojIrLqIU5nyhdGiXJhPqkueJMvNdO62xIhGZdkNtt2nq16Sd2BKg/s1599/swans1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1599" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitV9S5T9_yqcrEGVNXPpC-ai3_ho-xeoRbW0bNL6ZJViBQ3NMqRrbRYWSsvPmWIO3Ex2WBqiMJ4NRUhkvbGCe-7H_eNI9T29Egt_N3OgpXdGnUxworfwbrBa8uOTCUtMckj73AGNojIrLqIU5nyhdGiXJhPqkueJMvNdO62xIhGZdkNtt2nq16Sd2BKg/w400-h266/swans1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo courtesy of iphoto.com</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">At the risk of pushing the metaphorical envelope too far,
let’s circle back to the Prius. Like the hybrid Prius, hybrid publishing contracts
solve problems—BIG problems, by providing ACCESSIBILITY, EXPERTISE, and
EFFICIENCY, just like Toyota did. When a strong book fails to breach the
barriers to traditional publishers, or when an author needs more control over
their content than traditional publishers allow, an established hybrid
publisher gives them ACCESS. When an author need help with design, editing,
marketing, and getting their book to market or to their chosen audience, hybrid
publishers can do all of that, employing their substantial agility and
EXPERTISE. Unable to afford a broad advertising approach, or on a tight
deadline? Hybrid publishers by necessity work with great EFFICIENCY. They often
can take a project to completion on a much shorter timeline than a traditional
publisher, perhaps in half the time. They are designed to employ targeted niche
marketing strategies, so authors can make common-sense and effective decisions
on marketing spend.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Yes, the author must be in a position to pay for production,
printing, and marketing, but a good publisher can calculate for them how many
books must sell for them to cover costs, and then make a profit. Efficiency and
common sense, then, drive decisions on all the “P”’s: production, price, print
runs, and promotion—the publisher and author establish a logical budget to meet
the goals of the project, just like any successful business would. In most
cases, the hybrid publisher provides valuable services and expertise as a
discounted or included benefit, and charges for other cost-bearing services. They
negotiate the best price for you because cost drives the ultimate book price,
and if you can’t keep that within market range, you’re sunk. With a hybrid
contract, sales benefit both the publisher and the author, so the publisher has
an incentive to ensure the finished product is high quality, marketable, and
low enough in cost that both parties are happy. A happy author writes more
books and brings others to your door. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">With a hybrid contract, the client pays for and owns the
book stock, regardless of where it is housed. The publisher manages the listing,
fulfillment, ongoing marketing as needed, and royalty payment, often providing
multiple avenues where the book can be purchased. The publisher will happily
help the author exploit their market with additional formats and will be on the
lookout for unique targeted marketing options. As opportunities for additional
formats, merchandise, or licensing deals come up, the publisher can help the
author navigate those as well, opportunities that rarely come around for
self-published authors.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOGu2XW_B9oA0jFwikcMkEjrBk2CWCOLklbz3Q-UZYIhhxGUSrys_eJSJCuXbgEpOEsA9X_bFUIWaYyGthIB5ez0_dI5JF96TKZmfy0lYawPxAb6SuH1DBRYFEy-04I_xPDEO33FUZY9a9uSVkGU2TlA2mbSz9W6BgcpfeyKD1lFp7TTIox8nqLpYCoA/s1926/uglytx.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1926" data-original-width="1848" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOGu2XW_B9oA0jFwikcMkEjrBk2CWCOLklbz3Q-UZYIhhxGUSrys_eJSJCuXbgEpOEsA9X_bFUIWaYyGthIB5ez0_dI5JF96TKZmfy0lYawPxAb6SuH1DBRYFEy-04I_xPDEO33FUZY9a9uSVkGU2TlA2mbSz9W6BgcpfeyKD1lFp7TTIox8nqLpYCoA/w192-h200/uglytx.png" width="192" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">So, yes, the Ugly Duckling is becoming a swan. (Who doesn't remember <i>this </i>classic <i>Little Golden Book</i>?) The waters
are murky, though. In my next blog, I will discuss some of the larger industry
issues hybrid publishers face, and why hybrid publishing isn’t for everyone.
After that, we’ll look at when it makes sense to self-publish, share some
helpful links for self-publishers, and give you some tips on how to spot a
publishing predator.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>[Encourage Publishing is an independent small press publisher specializing in works that uplift and encourage, written within the bounds of a Christian worldview. We are primarily a hybrid publisher with a limited number of traditional contracts.]</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p></div>Leslie Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08659157469734641898noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146596869707075651.post-74822284033538369942021-06-25T13:36:00.005-07:002021-06-25T14:42:34.034-07:00Car Crushing and 8 Tips on Discoverability for Your Book<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXGrEoPZtGOA9d2ltQXiheDsn37jnkRZl_BAsN1FyrwTy-e8VoNB0OzyH6L_SHqeUd6NADMclVLyyo-FW0A3SVJVNlagoFibF8r45mrmnkC39VaUII71wVW3NR0-Faj0d9TzopChK67ifV/s980/medium-6505-id-buzzconcept-1616714268.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="980" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXGrEoPZtGOA9d2ltQXiheDsn37jnkRZl_BAsN1FyrwTy-e8VoNB0OzyH6L_SHqeUd6NADMclVLyyo-FW0A3SVJVNlagoFibF8r45mrmnkC39VaUII71wVW3NR0-Faj0d9TzopChK67ifV/w408-h250/medium-6505-id-buzzconcept-1616714268.jpg" width="408" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt; letter-spacing: -0.05pt; line-height: 107%;">When it comes to vehicles, I’m not much of an
aficionado. I want something that makes me smile, will get me from Point A to
Point B, and won’t kill my budget. But if money weren’t an object, I’d get this
dreamy ride. I’m smiling just thinking about it. I was an inch away from owning
a vintage VW camper van in college, but my sensible father “steered” me away
from it. Dreams crushed, I settled for a pale green Ford wagon with no heat and rusted-out
wheel wells, a steal for $100 that got me through a couple years of commuting
to Ohio State. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt; letter-spacing: -0.05pt; line-height: 107%;">This beauty, a yellow and pewter all-electric 2024 VW
Microbus, is my new car crush, as cool as it gets and totally my personality. Park
this anywhere and a crowd is sure to gather. Drive it around and enjoy the front-to-back window roof and sleek interior.
Ooh, yes. People everywhere have a car crush on VW bugs and camper vans, their
emotional heartstrings all aflutter whenever they see one. VW’s slogan says it
all: </span><span style="background: white; color: #202124; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">fahrvergnügen!
This means, loosely, “enjoy the drive!” Oh, I would indeed. </span><span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt; letter-spacing: -0.05pt; line-height: 107%;">What’s
your car crush? What makes you stop in your tracks and turn around for a better
look? If you want to see one up close, where do you go? What is the “it” factor
that checks all the boxes for you? That “it” factor—that’s what you want in
your book and your life as a published author. (See what I did there?)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; letter-spacing: -0.05pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>The "IT" FACTOR</b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 10pt; letter-spacing: -0.05pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Discoverability </b>is the elusive “it factor” to successful
publication, the holy grail, regardless of the mission for your book. Discoverability is a
measure of how easily your key audience finds, or “discovers,” your book, and
you. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can have the most </span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">stunning cover, the most intriguing
title, an absolutely ingenious plot or thesis, flawless writing—your book could
be perfection—but without discoverability, all that effort, all that your book
has to offer, will have a very short shelf life.<i> (Gee, Leslie, that’s
depressing.)</i> if you are publishing your first book, how do you create an “it”
factor? How do you build and maintain it? For Volkswagen, a unique concept and
the cultural phenomenon of the 60s planted the seed. But, it took decades of vigorously
protecting their brand, of zealously maintaining their standards, and carefully
listening to their audience to transfer that “it” factor to new generations. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">Discoverability
is more than marketing. It’s more than timing, more than catalogs,
advertisements, social media presence, market reach. Discoverability is more
than a perfect listing, finely tuned metadata, and all the administration that
goes into releasing a book into the world. You can have all of these things in
place (and you should), you can spend thousands of dollars on advertising, and
still not be widely “discovered” by your readers. Why? Sometimes it’s because of
poor execution, targeting the wrong audience for example, but most commonly the
reason is because discoverability requires <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you—the
author.</i> There is simply no substitute for your involvement. You cannot
write a book, turn it over to a publisher, leave the country, and expect your
book to be discovered, purchased, and read by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anyone. </i>Sorry. That’s the hard truth. That’s the reason publishers
as a whole ask about your “following” and carefully curate your social media
presence. That’s why they ask about your availability, or require it. That’s
why so many authors with truly stellar books are “rejected” by traditional
publishers and many hybrid publishers: no established audience or no
infrastructure to build and maintain an audience, no brand, recognition, or
reputation, and no desire to build and maintain their “it” factor, their book’s
path to discovery.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">Yes, it’s
hard. It’s uncomfortable. Organically building or tapping into an audience for
your book often requires a completely different skill set. This is where your
mission comes in. (I will mention the importance of mission every chance I
get.) If you have an internal motivation for getting your book into the hands
of a lot of readers, you will find a way, you will muster the courage, to put
the gas in the tank. Your mission almost always defines your audience, who you
want to reach with your “it” factor. Focus on them. Learn their language. Where
are they hanging out, online or in person? What is their culture? What do you
know about them? How can you reach them? Yes, your publisher can help you with
this, but without you, their efforts will be fruitless.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>BOOKSELLERS AND YOUR BOOK</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">I have a
good handle on how to increase discoverability in the online world, and for my
clients who have vertical markets we have an entirely different method for
discoverability. Cracking the code on bookstores and libraries is a totally
different model, however. How do booksellers and librarians “discover” your
books? I recently polled booksellers in a 200-mile radius and asked several
questions about discoverability. Specifically, I wanted to know how booksellers
learned about new books and how they went about ordering them. Because of the
target audience for most of my books, I focused on Christian Bookstore owners.
Here are the most frequent overall responses from my extremely ad hoc and
informal poll, taken during a period when author events were stricken by COVID.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"></p><ul><li><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>How often do you order or find new
books from a catalog?</b> [ “Never.” “I get so many…they go right in the trash.” “I
don’t have time to read catalogs.” “Not often.”] </span><i style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">This means you should consider catalogs as nothing more than an opportunity
for exposure. Watch your spending. Design the listing for maximum visual impact
and don’t expect immediate sales results.</i></li><li><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>What sales reps do you see, and do
you ever order from them?</b> [“Oh yes, we see the guy from Genesis. He’s so nice.
But, no, we don’t order from them.” “No, I have never heard of IPG.” “No, I don’t
have time to meet with sales reps.”] </span><i style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Takeaway
– don’t sign on with a distributor because they promise sales team representation.
Treat this perk as an exposure op also and weigh its value accordingly.</i></li><li><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>Do you attend bookseller conventions?
Do you find new books there?</b> [“Yes, I try to go every year.” “Yes, I look
forward to it.” “Yes, when I can afford to go.” “Yes, I pick up new titles
there.” “No, I haven’t been able to go.”] </span><i style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Message:
Find the right events and a way to have a noticeable presence there.</i></li><li><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>From whom and how do you order books?</b>
[“I order online from Ingram.” “I order from Ingram/Spring Arbor.” “I will
never order from Ingram.” “I order online mostly from Anchor because they have
the best customer service.” “Our books are ordered at corporate – we have no
say.” “I order some direct, some through a couple distributors.” </span><i style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Find out where your audience shops, how
those locations order your book, and make sure your book is available there.
Every book should be available at least as a paperback through Ingram.</i></li><li><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>Do you stock books from local authors
or indie publishers? </b>[“We have a local author section.” “We rarely order from
indies unless we know the author.”] </span><i style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Check
out your top 4 bookstores’ local author
section and ask how to be included.</i></li><li><span style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"><b>How do you decide what new titles to
order? </b>[“I check the best-seller lists.” “I go by the author.” “I just have a
sense about it.”] </span><i style="font-size: 10pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">A few owners referred
to this subjective “Spidey-sense” decision-making process, which suggests repeated
exposure will influence them. Find a way to increase exposure for your book, so
it’s ingrained in their “Spidey-sense.”</i></li></ul><!--[if !supportLists]--><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">8 DISCOVERABILITY TIPS</span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">Here's what
I learned from my beloved VW affliction, from years in the publishing industry, and from my gracious booksellers, that can
translate into helping you find your own “it” factor:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;"></p><ol><li><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">Start and maintain an online presence
that meets a need for your audience well ahead of your book release; not a
billboard for your book, but a genuine, organically grown group of like-minded
folks who also are in your core audience and enjoy staying connected. Protect
your followers, and follow or “like” them back. Practice kindness and
encouragement here; it will come back to you.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">Establish an email list of people who
want to know about what you’re up to. Protect it and grow it. Communicate
regularly with relevant content. Enlist them to help you when the time comes. Your
email list is probably the most valuable thing you have; treat it like it’s
precious gold, because it is.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">Be a stand-out presence at the right events.
This could be a series of carefully planned and executed author signings or
speaking events, or a very memorable presence at a bookseller’s show or convention
(such as a sci-fi fan event, homeschool convention, hobby show, etc.) that
draws in your audience. Show up every year on strategic dates. Exploit your
presence with lots of photos, posts, and refreshed marketing language before,
during, and after each event. Schedule media interviews during the event.
Enlist a skilled friend to help set up, keep you together, take photos, and
cover your exhibit when needed.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">Be a friend and frequent shopper at
your top 5 book or gift stores. Encourage them with positive notes or online
praises. Follow them. Learn how they handle local authors’ books. Do an author
event there and make it easy for them. Find creative ways to repeat with a new
type of event later in the year. Cross-market them in your social media. Find
out how they like to order and ensure your book is available there. Then, when
you have earned the right, ask them for other non-competing bookstore
referrals.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">Keep your brand alive and growing by
releasing your next book or version quickly and/or by booking ongoing public
events. Or both. It can take 5-7 new publications to establish a positive
reputation. Keep the standards high and be consistent—and patient.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">Protect your existing reputation by
minding your public presence. You may want to rant about a divisive issue on
social media and have every right to do so, but in life you have to pick your
battles. Is it worth alienating half of your audience? (Spoiler alert: no, it
isn’t.)<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">Do all the other stuff, too—the
listing management, regular metadata refreshing, PR, all of it (see Paragraph 4
above) – if your publisher doesn’t do this, find someone who does or do it
yourself. If you are doing your own marketing, involve your publisher. They
just might rise to the occasion and help you, or at least ensure you aren’t
being scammed or using inconsistent or incorrect marketing language. At
minimum, they should cross-promote your efforts.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">Finally, adopt a VW Minibus mentality
– enjoy the journey, keep it fun, relax, and learn to savor the strange attention.
This is a long-term process that won’t see results of any substance for awhile,
so pace yourself.</span></li></ol><div><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">If you are looking for a hybrid faith-based publisher and think we may be a good fit, give our website a thorough review, then contact us. We would love to speak with you: </span><a href="https://encouragepublishing.com/" style="font-size: 13.3333px;" target="_blank">Encourage Publishing</a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Until next time, <span style="background: white; color: #202124;">fahrvergnügen!</span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRgJjzygRoZAYw21PW2JOzNvpIwmPnN_1CEnfKh68BdS_B7ZQjvew9H_wPrsM0lfYl4aGTTwFDZm_3XtPl651o14_ihJSblauvTyI_516bfRPkYxNt1wRa-Ko9YAVDekEQbXs39OThl39k/s1421/VWVintagevan.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1421" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRgJjzygRoZAYw21PW2JOzNvpIwmPnN_1CEnfKh68BdS_B7ZQjvew9H_wPrsM0lfYl4aGTTwFDZm_3XtPl651o14_ihJSblauvTyI_516bfRPkYxNt1wRa-Ko9YAVDekEQbXs39OThl39k/s320/VWVintagevan.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><span style="background: white; color: #202124;"><br /></span></span><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><p></p>Leslie Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08659157469734641898noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146596869707075651.post-75703857104416816432020-03-10T12:57:00.003-07:002020-03-10T13:51:00.363-07:00Chicken Soup for the Publisher's Soul<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWuDCIn7kAXAIB9KBD1QvmSPDXSoppypRYqvPGFIugPaJZ6jA8-JVOplh1fjDxngxpwSBNCiyEXWKIL5KgoPaxtoyZbS7ARutbX7if2i27zqrBil8usUhdr-y1rIqRU2QVhdI5tQ7aQelc/s1600/soup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="980" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWuDCIn7kAXAIB9KBD1QvmSPDXSoppypRYqvPGFIugPaJZ6jA8-JVOplh1fjDxngxpwSBNCiyEXWKIL5KgoPaxtoyZbS7ARutbX7if2i27zqrBil8usUhdr-y1rIqRU2QVhdI5tQ7aQelc/s400/soup.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #990000;">CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE PUBLISHER'S SOUL:</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #990000;">5 Remedies to Protect Your Small Publishing Business from COVID-19</span><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<i><span style="color: #783f04;">[This post is more for my fellow colleagues in the publishing industry, but anyone with their own business or side gig could benefit from this same recipe for surviving tumultuous times. And, if you are facing an obstacle of a different sort, read on for a little chicken soup.]</span></i></div>
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You may have stocked your personal shelves with soap, toilet
paper, medicines, and canned goods, but what would be the equivalent to help your small
indy publishing business survive disruptions caused by COVID-19? How vulnerable
are you, and what can you do now to protect your business? Look at the publishing events cancelled or postponed to date,
and you know the dominoes are falling. Bookstores in high-risk areas around the
world show seemingly insurmountable sales loss. We’d like to think books would
be the perfect answer to ‘social distancing’ and sheltering in place, but
jittery markets and a constantly worsening landscape create vulnerabilities
that could topple even the strongest players.</div>
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The good news? Small indy
publishers are used to the virtual marketplace, more agile than our behemoth
counterparts, and are experts at finding creative solutions to our problems.
We <b>can </b>take steps to build up our immunity to the threat of COVID-19 or any major market disruptions. These 5 remedies will help
you virus-proof your small publishing business (and most other small businesses as well):<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">1. </span></b></span><!--[endif]--></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #990000;">Reduce
exposure.</span> </b>Order conservative quantities – revise open P.O.s or request a
staggered fulfillment and payment schedule. Extend credit to your clients only
when it doesn’t cost you anything out-of-pocket, or help them stagger their
orders or requested services if necessary to stay afloat. Remember it’s in your
best interests if they can complete their projects.</div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">2. </span></b></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #990000;">Renegotiate</span>. </b>Renegotiate insurance, service contracts, and any other
monthly expenses. Consider cancelling non-essential services, or freezing them
for a time. Look for printing providers who could meet your needs should your
current suppliers become suddenly unresponsive. Now may not be the best time to
remodel the office or upgrade your equipment. Now may not be the best time for
your client to create, or launch, that deluxe version.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">3. </span></b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Be
credit-smart.</b> </span>If you are in the position to set aside a cash reserve, do
it. If you have balances due, follow conventional wisdom: pay off the highest
interest credit first, paying minimum on the rest and rolling payments down until all are paid in full. Pay on time. Period. If you have a line of credit, protect it, use it wisely, and ask for an increase.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">4. </span></b></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #990000;">Bet on your own house.</span> </b>Prepare and prioritize a list of in-house or spec projects you
could complete if you find yourself, your employees, or your contracted
workers, without enough to do. All those ideas you wish you had time to
develop? Now you do. If you are in the black with a cash reserve, network and
watch for opportunities to acquire, merge, or partner with other houses. Look for someone who
shares your mission - and keep an open mind.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">5. </span></b></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #990000;">Clean up
online.</span> </b>Check and update your online offerings. How long has it been since
you updated your metadata, including keywords, categories, and marketing language? Do you have titles
not yet available as downloads? Now is the time to get those conversions done. Offer
a download special on your titles, while people are looking for affordable
digital entertainment. What digital markets have you missed, or not fully
exploited? Foreign markets? Translations? Certain targeted audiences? Now is the
time. Experiment with content delivery. Now might be the time to try emerging
formats, such as subscriptions, or new marketing techniques, testing a small market first.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Finally, <b>one bonus tip: </b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Don’t
overreact. </b>The British like to say, “Keep Calm and Carry On” – great advice
in an atmosphere of world-wide panic. If the bare truth is that you are in
danger of losing your life’s work, I urge you to be smart, and honest, about your situation.
Set your emotions aside, and look at these 5 remedies again through that lens. Every
step will help put you in better merger or acquisition position, or may protect you from it. Consider your next
steps carefully - and prayerfully. When one’s business is also their life’s
calling, it’s easy to take a wild and ill-advised risk during moments of
hopelessness. Seek advice, and be on the lookout for a
creative opportunity, a way forward you never could have orchestrated on your own. Sometimes moving forward means taking one step back. Sometimes, we have to get sick before we can really find a healthy path. I do reference "chicken soup for the publisher's soul," so here's a heart-warming true story to give you hope if you are facing the worst.</div>
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<i><span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-size: large;">My</span> publishing business only exists because of a series of intractible problems, and one obstacle that stopped us in our tracks. Yet, at the same time, it was part of my deepest desires decades before I even recognized it. My first book, a memoir I co-wrote with the author, went through a difficult birth. Much of the pain was self-inflicted, but in addition to a number of rookie mistakes, my co-author suffered a devastating loss. His wife of over 50 years passed away suddenly after a bad fall. We knew we could not publish the book without telling this story, but the process was painful and raw, and of course set back the publication date. When the book was finally ready to print a year later, we took what we thought was a giant leap of faith and ordered 500 books. We sold out in 3 days, in a single market. Unfortunately, our publisher had left the country and we had no way to reach him, nor order more books.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #783f04;">His absence started a chain of events which quickly led to the creation of Encourage Publishing, a monumental leap of faith with lots of other providential events that propelled me forward. During those first critical weeks I labored over the perfect company name, finally checking to confirm my first choice was available as a URL. Imagine how surprised I was to learn that it had already been reserved - by me - 20 years before, a fortuitous but long forgotten act. Can we just talk about how reassuring it is to receive such a confirmation? Twenty years prior I was not writing, editing, or doing anything even remotely connected to publishing. And that story we added as a final close to our book? Readers tell us time and time again how deeply affected they were by that story, its vulnerability helping them to see themselves also moving forward through crushing obstacles.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="color: #783f04;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjddLGm6A0ZqxOSKr4BWsaMZ97NZ_9BY96YeyMfTPLEHqkwoYANZ6Pz_0NE4WaxTDHZmMvdasySA_65Gu5YGSU54De6ybXPBF_IGgW6jdvMzF6Oy4WBVXwwGZgxVI4JdfvALxTkAXAnqfe/s1600/9780996206754-FRONT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1025" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjddLGm6A0ZqxOSKr4BWsaMZ97NZ_9BY96YeyMfTPLEHqkwoYANZ6Pz_0NE4WaxTDHZmMvdasySA_65Gu5YGSU54De6ybXPBF_IGgW6jdvMzF6Oy4WBVXwwGZgxVI4JdfvALxTkAXAnqfe/s200/9780996206754-FRONT.jpg" width="128" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="color: #783f04;">That book is called "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Diving-into-Deep-Lowell-Lytle-dp-0996206752/dp/0996206752/ref=mt_paperback?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1583869809" target="_blank">Diving into the Deep,</a>" and still sells 1000's of copies a year, inspiring readers not to fear the unknown, the perils of the deep, nor their own inadequacies; good medicine for these times, too. If you happen to be up against an obstacle that threatens to undo you, look deeper. Look around. And, don't be afraid. This was always part of your story, and you are more prepared for this moment than you realize.</span></i></div>
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Leslie Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08659157469734641898noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146596869707075651.post-79876865025768977892020-02-02T11:30:00.001-08:002020-02-07T07:31:49.937-08:00American Dirt and the 3 Dirty D’s of Publishing - PART II<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9u75w7ESnvyuer44Brm3QBc2k1fbWtJgpLDpZywzi9rt-5abvaNhYagvp3LYYW88VFcdV1vo7K98V6NwyDRgkzfeUc9LHt3VukBwM35soes4ygXqPxPK_wRwEf0qaPcQZ8eU0eN197SLX/s1600/AMDIRTCOVER1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="900" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9u75w7ESnvyuer44Brm3QBc2k1fbWtJgpLDpZywzi9rt-5abvaNhYagvp3LYYW88VFcdV1vo7K98V6NwyDRgkzfeUc9LHt3VukBwM35soes4ygXqPxPK_wRwEf0qaPcQZ8eU0eN197SLX/s320/AMDIRTCOVER1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>If </b>you’ve been in a coma the last few weeks of January 2020,
then you may have missed the release of <i>American
Dirt </i>(Jeanine Cummins, Flatiron Books/ MacMillan, 2020, New York), its
synchronous pick for “Oprah’s Book Club,” and the immediate backlash against
the author and publisher, as well as Oprah Winfrey, and basically against the
entire publishing industry. Two issues were illuminated:</div>
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</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">First, the claim from certain spokespeople for
the Latino community that the Latino voice was grossly misrepresented in the
book, written by a “white woman” who they say had no right to speak for them,
who stole their identity, and whose publisher made inexcusable errors in both
the edit and marketing of the book. I read the book and wrote about this issue,
and my take on it, </span><a href="http://healthy50s.blogspot.com/2020/01/stop-hating-on-american-dirt-part-i.html" style="text-indent: -0.25in;">here</a> in an article titled, "STOP hating on <i>American Dirt -</i> PART I<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> <span style="color: #783f04;"><i>[Spoiler alert: I don’t entirely disagree, but I still devoured and liked the
book.]</i></span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Second, the assertion that the publishing industry as a whole is
patently discriminatory against the Latino voice, an issue I discuss in this
blog, PART II of this 2-part article.</span></li>
</ul>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><i>Here’s my prediction: </i></b>Over the next few weeks, the big
players in the publishing industry will cuss and discuss the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">American Dirt </i>“Fiasco” as Slate.com’s
Laura Miller phrased it in an <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2020/01/american-dirt-controversy-will-publishers-change.html">insightful,
insider article</a> published 1/31/2020. They will post-mortem the publisher’s
missteps to death. And, readers will continue not to care.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We are in a national conversation now about diversity in
publishing, and I’m here to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">shout</i></b> that the issue is far more
complicated than the limited range of cultural influences believed to be making
decisions about what gets published. It’s about the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">3 Dirty D’s </b>of the publishing industry. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-DsopIw7DEQzfztcWZ7PcB3iD2TLu5hBVGbTFu5HsxREJvkSInI4yAcFzDCHl24YmfGbvzDnSYu_Ks-zwIH8nmRaDafuB2VYdesM585pWlmfWbOJB70Pvi4nBeC3BfgGBQdJilH_8TWQ_/s1600/dirtyD1a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-DsopIw7DEQzfztcWZ7PcB3iD2TLu5hBVGbTFu5HsxREJvkSInI4yAcFzDCHl24YmfGbvzDnSYu_Ks-zwIH8nmRaDafuB2VYdesM585pWlmfWbOJB70Pvi4nBeC3BfgGBQdJilH_8TWQ_/s640/dirtyD1a.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">[“Dirty D” is an urban euphemism that originally referred to
Detroit in its worst days, but has come to mean dangerous, base, from the rough
side of town, deliberately offensive, odious, and mean.]</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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To carry the “wall” analogy through, barrier walls to big
publishing contracts exist in every corridor and the territory is rife with bad
actors or unproven servicers who exploit people trying to get there. Entry costs
for those with no access to the <b>Big 5 publishers</b> <span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(Hachette, Macmillan,
Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, and HarperCollins)</span>, or
who have been rejected by the same, is extremely high, many $1,000’s, and once
an author manages to get published, to “cross the wall,” they realize the next
big hurdle that will keep them from getting their message to the masses is the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">3 Dirty D’s: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Discoverability, Distribution, </b>and, yes,<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> Discrimination.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
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<i><b><span style="color: #783f04;">Listen, I have to start by saying this. </span></b></i><span style="color: #783f04;">There is a huge
mass of great people out there with legitimate stories, important messages,
fascinating histories, who just don't have writing skills, by their own admission. This skill
gap is their real barrier to entry. Members
of this group can still cross the border into “Big 5 Land” with some help, if they happen to be
celebrities, or the subject is in the news for some reason and they are experts
or eye witnesses. Otherwise, Katie, bar the door. More about this group another
day. <i>(Hint: call me, I can help.)</i></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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But what if you are one of those amazingly talented writers
who have written world-changing stories that deserve to reach their audience, who
can’t get past that wall of rejection letters because of all these issues <i>American Dirt </i>has illuminated, issues
which boil down to the first of <b>the 3 D’s</b>:
<b>Discrimination</b>. </div>
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This is not a false claim. The book selection
formula looks at one thing: “will we make money on this book?” The annual goals of the
Big 5 are not to be "fair" to everyone. Their mission is to make money, and the formula and marketing
methods they use are skewed toward the lowest hanging fruit, the easiest audience, which
ultimately means <b>discriminatory practices are baked in. </b>The audience, and what they read, become self-perpetuating, and other voices, other viewpoints, no matter how relevant or excellent, are quashed.</div>
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How do writers overcome <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Discrimination</b>?
There are two ways to do this:</div>
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<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li style="text-align: justify;">You can pound your fists in the air, scream and
shout and <b>shame the powerful</b>, and do your best to illuminate the problem. This
is happening now, and it’s great, and important, but incomplete. Soon, the public
grows weary of a message they don’t believe affects them; cameras stop rolling
and the protestors return home, and nothing changes. Today, because of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">American Dirt,</i> Latinx voices being
excluded from the Big 5 have been illuminated, and certain Latinx works are now
enjoying an organic surge in readers and followers. You may try again to submit your works to the Big 5, hoping the new climate shakes loose some gatekeepers looking to be on the right side of the issue. You may squeeze through, but look behind you. The issue remains. The <i>system </i>chugs ahead. The <i>money </i>still funnels down the same path. And, there are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">so many other groups</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">also being excluded</i>. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">So, now, in 2020, you
as a writer <b>look for another way to publish.</b> Maybe you start your own publishing house to
balance the field (a significant investment), or you find an existing hybrid or
self-publishing house to publish your work, at your expense, or as a shared
investment, or, you do it yourself. You may find a different format or medium. You get creative. Then, you run in to the other two <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dirty D’s</b>.</li>
</ol>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Discoverability </b>is
the measure in which booksellers and readers are able to find your book, learn
about its message, and order it, and this area of publishing is very, very <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">dirty</b>. <i><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Big 5 Publishers have a corner on the market of discoverability</b>.</i>
Not only do they have the budget, they have a low risk, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>because booksellers already trust them. I mean, the
Big 5 would only publish amazing books, right? Their manuscripts are carefully vetted and fact-checked, right? <i>American Dirt</i> is proof that isn't always the case. </div>
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For the rest of us, an entirely
new set of gatekeepers and coyotes are here, waiting, hands out, and a few
legit co-ops and businesses as well. You can <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">buy</i> your way into catalogs. You can <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">buy</i> your way into prominent reviews. You can <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">buy </i>entry into award programs, most of which exist to get you to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">buy </i>their promotional products. You can <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">buy</i> advertisement. You can hire book
publicists and an agent, who may set up gigs so you can traverse the country at
your own expense doing book signings. None of them – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">NONE of them – </i>will be able to give you any figures on ROI (Return
on Investment – how many book sales will result), because they can’t, or won’t,
measure their own success. Truly, this is hard to measure. I am hopeful that new technologies will make this problem disappear, but for now, you'll hear about collateral benefits, "soft" benefits of general exposure. Unless you wrote your book for collateral benefits, or to support your resume or CV, you probably only care about whether or not your book sales at minimum cover the advertising, and maybe a little bit more. So, without any data, and having no one to give you solid truth on the matter, you, the author, are cashing in your
IRAs and CDs, mortgaging your home, hitting up your relatives, opening a
fund-raising site, with high hopes, because you didn’t know. So, let’s say you
manage to get some bookseller attention. They try to order your book, and hit
the 3<sup>rd</sup> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Dirty D:
Distribution.<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Distribution </b>is
how your book gets from Point A, which is either your dining room table or your
hybrid publisher’s shelves, to Point B, which is either a reseller or the
reader’s hands. Here, also, there are lots of walls. The distribution companies
will charge your publisher a lot to make your book available to booksellers,
and they’ll pass that cost on to you. Don’t have a publisher? Distributors won’t
touch you. Booksellers, including big box, chain, warehouse, and many indy
bookstores, are tied in to a software system and service that is too expensive
for individual authors or small publishers to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">buy</i> into. Small publishers who do have a distributor trade away
some of your profits and a chunk of their own monthly money in order to pay to
play, and distributors won’t accept books without proof of sales, which are
hard to get without <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">distribution</b> and
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">discoverability</b>. Again, because it’s
baked in, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">discrimination</b> plays a
role here, too. </div>
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<span style="background-color: #fce5cd; color: #783f04;"><b>Take note:</b> just because your book is included in a distributor’s list
does not mean orders will roll in. Most booksellers cannot afford to take a lot
of risks on unproven titles, so they tend to stick to the Big 5 Publishers’ lists, because these titles feel less risky. They assume, sometimes erroneously, that
the Big 5 publisher has done their due diligence. These stores may order 1 or
2, but not without a generous return clause.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f3f3f3; color: #990000;"><b>What about Amazon? </b>Amazon is essentially a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">distributor</b>.
Books sold there are 'on consignment,’ shipped at your expense to their
warehouses, not paid for until sold, and are returned to you if they sit too
long on the shelf. Of course, Amazon is happy to sell you advertising to make
your book more <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">discoverable</b> among
the 1000s of books in your categories, but be careful—you would have to sell a lot of books to justify the expense. Still, this presence is important because your readers go there to check reviews (and prices). Oh, and Amazon has a publishing service, also,
for those writers who don’t want anyone monkeying around with their text. If we were
able to measure and compare Amazon sales to the Big 5, we may have to accept that there are not 5 “Big” publishers,
but 6, including Amazon.</span></div>
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Meanwhile, your book’s profits have long ago disappeared in the desert, their bones picked clean, a casualty of the <b>3 Dirty D's</b>.
You’ve paid to get your book in marketable shape. You’ve paid for printing and
registration. You’ve paid for marketing to have your book become discoverable.
If you’re lucky, you’ve traded another large percentage of profits so your book
can be distributed to bookstores willing to take a chance on you. You are deep
in the hole and making pennies per copy. Pennies. (But, congratulations, you’re a
published author!) Ah, but <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I am a
publisher!</i> <i>Why would I paint such a negative picture? </i>So hear me. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><b>There are
other creative ways to make this work.</b><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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The <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">3 Dirty D’s </b>cannot
be separated from each other in working to solve this issue, and we have to do
better. I know there are solutions out there, waiting to be created. I’m
wracking my brain, as are my colleagues in the Indy Publishing industry, but we need the readers and writers to help as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>NBC <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/can-american-dirt-controversy-help-diversify-publishing-industry-n1127501">reported
this morning</a> that Latinx writers and their supporters are banding together
to promote each other’s work within their circles, but that won’t help me, a
pasty White American woman, discover their books. It’s only one piece to the
solution, a start. No one yet has the complete answer, but
Indy publishers are definitely out there in the trenches fighting for it,
looking for all the pieces.</div>
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The Indy Publishing industry operates under a
completely different set of rules than the “Big 5.” We take more risks because
we have to, and want to. We charge for at least some of our services, because we have to share
this risk with our authors. We have specialties, and niches, and passions, and
the liberty to publish books the mainstream will likely never see, and we do
this often to our own detriment, because it’s the right thing to do, and because we <i>love</i> what we do. Check out <a href="http://articles.ibpa-online.org/article/getting-there/" target="_blank">this article </a>from <i>two years ago</i> from the Independent Book Publishers Association, the largest such publishing group, which confirms the strengths within the indy publishing industry. We are far
more generous with royalties, but authors have to work, <i>really </i>work, to sell the
books we publish for them. Most will hopefully break even at some point, but likely
never enjoy a comfortable existence from their royalty checks. But, their
message will be out there, and maybe, maybe, they’ll change some lives. But, oh, the cost, for everyone involved.</div>
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Yesterday was the last day for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/newalbanybooks/?__tn__=kC-R&eid=ARBPSjP1zr__6KpkA17t3YFVDogYPDXYY0ABXJ47RCMDzgIdZ0_KLmHZuFtBUgVw77lz71K1aFjIeorQ&hc_ref=ARRHV7bmnGa0eEDmYl_J0ydsXe7d49-gZ3Hy3MtHiWSt0hUMI6IdECbMT48uDbnW2NQ&fref=nf&__xts__[0]=68.ARBfqd4regYzaFpSaWa0wiQ-znW3MG4ZKqzRgyJ0ctLiXxxCrcrWqTP3z2Uai06V21kslrGNFc_wL2GUaw1oSbbOu4Dg-hLQ3to3BQL5WzXyIEPnfW-jZmFfxgwPZ5RdKlhLNgRYxq-AMJGzKYKuY2qDEL9YwxvMV53VEuoy6oXmqPj5B1M2Uvmc9H1RCR2HIX4VcXjC4JLGZH0wGjpBhk3V6padn4SHY9M0HvHDkeIx1lPBTnORGTmWMtPBef9SSmpnTsqal7b2N4PCl8feGuPboZej5dc4xNO92GaSywUzQryBMHA2MNdjGzMh234aUAhaCobMCj7uTFNkKj3WpWzt1ripAvPchUwpb7XmDYe2eA" target="_blank">Destinations Booksellers</a>, a bookstore in our town that had been in business for 15 years, a casualty of the system. Independent bookstores work right alongside indy publishers, different from chain stores in critical ways. They are more willing to take a risk on an unknown author, a
controversial subject, or a tiny sliver of the population. The indy bookstore
also struggles to stay on the field, to survive. Our challenge is finding each
other, finding the good matches between our unique niches and the bookstores
catering to those same niche readers. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And, those bookstores don’t have the resources
to find those niche readers willing to pay a little more to support their local
or online niche store. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All of us on this
side of the wall have to find a creative way to bring all costs down and still turn out
a quality product, so we can keep retail costs in market range and still make a
profit high enough to support the industry, so that stories can be read by the
people who need to read them. It’s not about the writers, or the voices, or the
publishers, or the booksellers, or the cursed <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">money.</i> It’s
about the readers. But, folks, we can't do it without money.</div>
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So, we are working on it, the indy publishers and
bookstores. I personally am working on it, this gap, this gigantic obstacle I call the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">3 Dirty D’s. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>I’d love to hear your ideas, opinions, and
pain points. If you are a writer in need of a publisher, check out <a href="http://www.encouragepublishing.com/">my website</a> and if you think we
are a good fit, <a href="mailto:leslie@encouragebooks.com" target="_blank">contact me</a>. One final thought, for those of you writing for the Christian market. These <b>3 Dirty D's </b>exist in the Christian publishing segment as well. This segment has its own top echelon, its own walls, coyotes, gatekeepers, and exclusionary tactics, "baked in," and in need of examination. Another topic for another day.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Leslie Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08659157469734641898noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146596869707075651.post-66188072854711311702019-11-18T13:31:00.000-08:002019-11-18T13:34:42.906-08:00Dynamite, Matthew McConaughey, and the 90%: 5 Rules for Avoiding "Failure to Launch"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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What does Matthew McConaughey share with 90% of Authors? Easy. Both are stars in their very own “Failure to Launch” movie. While Matthew’s character, Tripp, managed to enjoy a happy ending, it took a powerful motivator to get him to budge; the most powerful motivator, in fact. If you are trapped in your own “failure to launch” scenario, unwilling to fully invest yourself in your book launch or afraid to go this far out of your comfort zone, you may need to get back to your “why.”<br />
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“It’ll take a stick of dynamite to get me to do a book launch!” Sound like you? Let’s face it. Doing a book launch can be terrifying, costly, and time-consuming. There’s a reason only the powerfully motivated are willing to do it, even though a well-executed book launch can mean all the difference in the success of a new book.<br />
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The rest of us have to tap in to our mission, that prime motivator that carried us through the painful writing and editing process. We have to remember why we wrote the book, and remind ourselves that it’s not about us, and neither is it about the money. This is Rule #1 in planning your book launch, as it is for every other step in telling your story. What is your “stick of dynamite?” What would it take to motivate you to get over your fear of failure or judgement and start putting yourself out there in the public eye, well outside of your comfort zone?<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">RULE 1: BEGIN WITH THE MISSION.</b> Use your book’s mission to motivate and shape your launch. Does your mission seek to reach a specific population? Are you using your book to support your speaking career? Is your book issue-driven? Focus your launch efforts there as well. This would affect whom you invite, where you send your press release, and how the evening is planned. You may tie it in to a fund-raiser, for example, or hold it in a location you want to showcase.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><span style="color: #990000;"><b>TIP – FORGET THE NUMBERS.</b> Launches are NOT about the number of books you sell during the launch. They are golden opportunities to gather free press and photo opportunities, build your base support, get more reviews, practice your public presence in front of a group that already loves you, and raise your credential among potential clients. Videos and photos from a great launch will have a positive effect for years after. The launch is all about MOMENTUM.</span></i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">RULE 2:</b> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">PLAN STRATEGICALLY OR PLAN TO WAIT</b>. Don’t waste your one and only launch opportunity by not laying the important groundwork for a successful launch. Better to delay a launch event than force it prematurely. One of the easiest mistakes to make as an author is being in too much of a hurry. Rushed books are easy to spot. They are full of errors, omissions, and inconsistencies, with little or no collateral support material available - and little or no effective buzz to tell the world about their arrival. Even if the general market is not your target, the book launch is a critical opportunity.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><span style="color: #990000;"><b>TIP – DON’T OVERSPEND.</b> Launches don’t have to be expensive and elaborate. They can take almost any form, as long as you make the most of it. Make a reasonable budget and stick to it.</span></i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">RULE 3: PREPARE FOR LAUNCH</b>. Your plan should begin with solid pre-launch activities. Set the date for the launch and start working on pre-launch activities as soon as the title is a lock and the manuscript is done, sometimes as much as 6 months out. Get access to ARCs (Advance Reader Copies) or prepare PDFs you can send to reviewers, beta testers, friends and family, anyone who can write a review for you. Get your website and social media set up, or add to your existing platforms, so your followers can begin to get excited. Consider putting some excerpts out to start getting that buzz going. Get posters, graphics and any printed material ready to go, get the press release ready and work on your list – all the contacts who will receive notification of your launch. Limited time? Concentrate on that list and hire someone to help with the rest.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><span style="color: #990000;"><b>TIP – TAKE CARE OF YOUR FANS. </b>Did you use a fundraiser campaign? Do you have a pre-existing reader list? This is your fan club, so take care of them. Keep them informed, fulfill your promises, offer them deals, and ask them to post honest but quick reviews.</span></i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">RULE 4: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>PRE-SALE—YES; GIVE-AWAY—NO!</b> As soon as you know when you will have books in hand, do a pre-sale, no more than 30 days out from the official launch. Consider a drawing for something <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">other</i> than the book, special discounts for multiple copies, SWAG, free shipping, and of course a personalized autograph for copies ordered by a certain date. But – do NOT give your book away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>PEOPLE VALUE WHAT THEY PAY FOR. Give it away and it’ll be thrown in the trash, given away or sold, and never read. I see it all the time. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Never give it away. Never. </i>Discount, yes. Bundle, yes. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Always </i>get something in return – a review, advertising, a booking, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">something.</i>Doing a wholesale show? Don’t give a book away without getting the information and the right person’s name you need to call back and place an order. Give an incentive for order placement on the spot. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><span style="color: #990000;"><b>TIP – CROSS MARKET. </b>If you have other books or services for sale, use the pre-sale as an opportunity to boost and cross-market them. If you have excess stock of an earlier book, it will make an excellent “BOGO” to motivate the pre-sale. Note that Amazon has a pre-sale feature, but you won’t be able to gather contacts or control the product, so proceed with caution! Make the pre-sale work for you.</span></i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">RULE 5: REMEMBER TO CELEBRATE! </b>You’ve worked hard, put a smile on your face and enjoy launch day! Get a new outfit, have a good breakfast, take along some new Sharpies, and remember everyone is there for you – show your gratitude! Not only will those all-important photos and videos capture your positive vibe, but you’ll be more likely to engage your attendees and they will be more likely to talk up your book with their friends (especially if they’re tagged on social media in one of your photos!)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><span style="color: #990000;"><b>TIP – DON’T SELL.</b> You’re not at your launch to sell but to shine and show your gratitude. Practice your signature and any quote, but keep your autograph, and your speech, short! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Know where your favorite parts of your own book are and prepare some questions ahead of time to ask your guests one-on-one that will help connect them to your book. Is your book about gardening? Ask, “what did you plant this year?” Business start-up tips? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Tell me about your latest business idea!” Is yours a Rom-Com fiction? “Who have you been reading lately?” Never lose sight of your “why.” And always, “catch me up on your family,” or, “what’s on the horizon for you this year?” But – work the room. Don’t get stuck on one person. Engage a Wing Man for the evening to help steer you forward.</span></i><o:p></o:p></div>
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You’ll notice I didn’t take blog space to walk you through the specific “how-to” of a book launch. Take 5 minutes online and you’ll find all the ideas you need. If you are self-publishing, get a small team together to help you. If you’re signed under a traditional publisher, don’t assume they’re going to do a launch for you. Ask this question up front and understand well ahead of time what you should be doing yourself. For those signed with a hybrid publisher, you also may generally be planning the launch yourself, but may receive some ground support from your publisher, either as part of your package or an add-on option. Don’t assume this is included! Ask.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><i><span style="color: #990000;">As always, if you have a project that encourages, informs, or inspires, Encourage Publishing would love to look at it. Contact us and tell us all about your “dynamite!”</span></i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Leslie Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08659157469734641898noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146596869707075651.post-34317658127422482072019-03-20T13:43:00.001-07:002019-03-20T13:43:57.255-07:00Don't Fear the "M" Word<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtN4zNFzIQnhNvzXgQWQ5N5rSjnX74w_V15lBuXXchcgTFsRW3lJGlnbStGhJQLwLMa76yy1iIiBuE78h6tA4dGhurCMDWe-SFvSzgFrmyQ-MJWKlWc9d10pi4J8nhG4xnAOQCb6Rbjw4/s1600/shutterstock_1164022942.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1000" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtN4zNFzIQnhNvzXgQWQ5N5rSjnX74w_V15lBuXXchcgTFsRW3lJGlnbStGhJQLwLMa76yy1iIiBuE78h6tA4dGhurCMDWe-SFvSzgFrmyQ-MJWKlWc9d10pi4J8nhG4xnAOQCb6Rbjw4/s200/shutterstock_1164022942.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<b>Every author
struggles with the “M” word – Marketing!</b> <i><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(What word did you </span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">think<i> I
meant?)<br /> </i></span></div>
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The thought of marketing your own
books can strike terror in the hearts of many authors, most of whom, let’s face
it, prefer to communicate through the written word.</div>
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Yet, regardless of what path you take to being published, no
one escapes from the need to conquer their fears and face your adoring—or
perhaps indifferent, public. The key to overcoming your fear of this
interaction is this: <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">it’s not about you.</i></b> Does your book
have a purpose, a message you hope will change someone’s life? Marketing is
your way of getting this message into the hands of people who otherwise would
never have heard it. Focus on your potential readers; care about them, learn about
them, listen to them, and your fear will begin to melt away. Ok, so let’s
assume for the balance of this article that you have to take the reins of your
own marketing. <b>Now what?</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Talk to ten different experts on the subject of book
marketing and you’ll get ten different responses, but hopefully you will find
common ground in these four bits of advice:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Know your
mission</b>. I know, I sound like a broken record, but as Lewis Carroll
famously said, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you
there.” Your mission—and your understanding of who your audience is—will guide
you toward the right marketing approach. Check our site out for more on this
important subject.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Have a mission-focused
plan. </b>If marketing, or planning, is not in your wheelhouse, hire someone
with a proven track record; make sure they buy in to your mission and budget,
and follow their plan to get you there. She Writes Press, a highly respected
independent hybrid publisher, does not provide book-specific marketing services
to their authors. Instead, they wisely refer them to a list of publicists with
experience in book and author promotion. You may not have this in your budget.
And, your mission may have a much smaller target. Regardless, without a plan
you become vulnerable to every predator out there who would love to relieve you
of your money for their “amazing opportunity” that has no documented Return on
Investment (ROI) and may in fact hurt your book’s reputation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Have a mission-focused
budget</b>. Those of you who have gone through the home-buying process may
remember the moment you had to set aside the emotion of your decision and put
on your business hat. You may remember walking away from or losing your “dream
home,” instead finding a lovely option a bit further out with a few less
amenities, that you could afford. Giving birth to a book is in itself an
extremely emotional event, and a huge accomplishment. In this state of mind it’s
easy to succumb to a good pitch or an ego-stroking opportunity. The business of
book marketing requires you to put on your business hat and make smart,
unemotional decisions. And, that starts with a budget. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">“You get
what you pay for” does not apply. </b>In book marketing, you can pay for much
more than you get, and miss valuable opportunities that cost nothing but time. Do
not let that happen. Take advantage of free marketing opportunities, but
remember: if it’s “free” there’s a pitch on its way to you for something costly.
You are under no obligation to swing at whatever crosses the plate. However, you
should not miss these three free opportunities: <o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Goodreads</b>.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> is a book-centric social media
platform owned by Amazon, so if your book is not on Amazon and/or if it doesn’t
have its own ISBN you’ll have a hard time getting your book listed; but, if you
and a couple dozen of your closest buddies consistently search on Goodreads for
your title, you’ll be surprised how quickly it will show up. Once it does, go
to <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/program">this link</a> to claim
your author profile page. Check in frequently to engage readers who follow
similar titles. When you do garner a professional or 3<sup>rd</sup> party
review, they will often go to Goodreads to post it—which is only possible if
your book is listed there.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijRUy_2Yd-iyN2PEjHy8D-rg5VESJhnM7lBHUfcrh6GTmZMNKermwNb4zhtVZUqkOIbcDWZ6HwMzPNhveF2AZB2G5Za3SKl-4TOiI7HT-AuoykppKGFmbbodl1C_f644xjmDOnJdMf83fJ/s1600/shutterstock_254262301.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="1000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijRUy_2Yd-iyN2PEjHy8D-rg5VESJhnM7lBHUfcrh6GTmZMNKermwNb4zhtVZUqkOIbcDWZ6HwMzPNhveF2AZB2G5Za3SKl-4TOiI7HT-AuoykppKGFmbbodl1C_f644xjmDOnJdMf83fJ/s320/shutterstock_254262301.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">b.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Book-signings</b>.
This topic deserves its own blog, but for now let me say you should find your
local independent bookstores excited to host a book-signing. Expect them to
hand you a contract, and don’t expect them to stock your book. Do expect to
share the profits on any book you sell there, as you should. If you schedule
several of these during the first 90 days of your book’s release,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>you can capitalize on the exposure.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">c.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Social
media</b>. I know, “ugh.” But yes, these free platforms are very important to
your marketing plan. Just remember, the only thing worse than no social media
platform is an online presence that drags your reputation down, either through
neglect or through insensitive posting. Remember your mission, and your
audience. Be all things to all people, as the Apostle Paul advises in I
Corinthians 9. In short, FILTER! Create a separate presence for your author
status and invite your personal cohort to “like” and “follow” you. You may have
to learn something new, doggone it, but you can do it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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This brings me to another topic—the
book launch. I am going to delve into this topic in my next blog. Spoiler
alert! I am going to tell you, YES! You MUST do a book launch, and YES! There
is a cost to it, …and guess what? I am going to tell you that your MISSION
should be what drives the design and execution of your book launch, along with…a
PLAN…and, of course, a BUDGET!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sounds
eerily familiar, doesn’t it? <o:p></o:p></div>
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That’s enough for now, thanks for
reading and keep writing!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in;">
Leslie Turner</div>
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<i>Want to know more about Encourage Publishing? Visit us at www.encouragebooks.com or contact us: info@encouragebooks.com.</i> </div>
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Leslie Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08659157469734641898noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6146596869707075651.post-31532936180733792872018-12-06T16:31:00.001-08:002018-12-06T16:31:43.841-08:00Lee Child Knows Jack about Author Branding<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">[If you are a writer or storyteller, a maker or creative genius, this blog is for you, and this is our inaugural post! From The Power of SMALL Initiative, this blog feeds into the final "L" in S.M.A.L.L: </span><b style="font-size: small;">Learners</b><span style="font-size: x-small;">. In highly complicated and ever-changing field of publishing, the only certainty is that we will never be done learning and adjusting. Consequently, as members of several fantastic publishing and writers' associations, we have access to excellent training, current publishing news, trends, and expert advice. From time to time, we will share what we learn from our peers, industry partners, and the marketplace.]</span></span></div>
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It's our first post! Why not start with a touchy subject: <b>author branding</b>. When I work with my authors on getting their books noticed, by far I receive the most blank stares or uncomfortable resistance when I talk about building their brand. If you have, or intend to have, more than one published book, if you have a vertical market such as speaking or consultation, or if your work lies in the areas of politics, academia, professional/clinical expertise, or theology, for example, your author brand is critical. And, you <i>already have a brand. </i>The only question: has your brand developed by accident or design?</div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-small;">[Spoiler alert: If you are hoping for a quick set of bullet points listing actions to take to build your brand, think deeper, more long-term, foundational. You won't find your step-by-step here, but feel free to Google that - you'll come up with a dozen lists, all different.]</span></b></div>
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So, let's dive in by listening to an expert and paying attention to one highly brand-successful author's three gems of wisdom on the subject. <b>David Vinjamuri,</b> long-time brand expert and author of several books on the subject, turned in one of his <i>Forbes </i>branding articles to unarguably one of the most successful author brands on the planet: Lee Child. Don't know him? I'll bet you do.</div>
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First, what <i><b>is</b></i> an author brand? Think of it as your core identity - what you are known by, and for. The strength of your brand can be measured, not by how many people know who you are (did I just hear a big sigh of relief?), not by overall sales, but by your <u>fan loyalty</u>. In other words, what percentage of your <u>current fan base</u> will automatically buy and read your <i>next </i>book without question? A follow-up question: <i>why</i> are they loyal to you? I won't repeat everything in David's article here because, well - you can <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidvinjamuri/2014/03/04/the-strongest-brand-in-publishing-is/#5483e872ebfa" target="_blank">read it for yourself</a>. So, instead, let me just blow your mind. </div>
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In 2014 when David's article was first published, the strongest brand in publishing beat out <b>John Grisham</b>, <b>Patricia Cornwell</b>, even <b>Stephen King</b>. A whopping 70% of his readers couldn't wait to pick up his next book, yet the top author brand was not an author at all, but a <u>character</u> by the name of<i> <b>Jack Reacher.</b> </i>[Pardon my gratuitous inclusion of a certain well-known actor who plays the role on screen; religion aside, I'm a Cruise-a-holic reveling in my no-longer-secret celebrity crush.]</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Cover of "Past Tense"<br />Courtesy of www.leechild.com</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXwWjj17PtdXuoCZam__v3tDzREq1G5YXwZCjiV8dedGiR8dCRTqbY4E0vcV6NFRzuL9JAw3SAF_5TFGUVhLAVL3VNM1qT60q_HyOUA78ngzSbuOhbyx9hFkNGXWOkY1ZJhGpxy_XsIP6a/s1600/Cruise-shutterstock_122147662.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="667" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXwWjj17PtdXuoCZam__v3tDzREq1G5YXwZCjiV8dedGiR8dCRTqbY4E0vcV6NFRzuL9JAw3SAF_5TFGUVhLAVL3VNM1qT60q_HyOUA78ngzSbuOhbyx9hFkNGXWOkY1ZJhGpxy_XsIP6a/s200/Cruise-shutterstock_122147662.png" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Tom Cruise<br />Courtesy Featureflash Photo Agency<br />Shutterstock.com</span></td></tr>
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<i>Now </i>do you know who <b>Lee Child</b> is? You may not be able to conjure up a picture of Lee Child in your mind (so I'll give you some help here), but I'll bet you can visualize his main character and star of one best-selling book per year since 1997. </div>
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When Vinjamuri caught up with Child and asked him about the secret of his brand loyalty success, he clicked off three rather surprising elements:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbPGjLt_UEdQVzI9ylDYME9uFhRxYAKwiVfgnruARsgkTaXs4H11loh0eVTaHl0OBdF2Z6zlNkOoATKIGpixh-dqz-mam7ZXTqYnE4LBLSRll13A8lveT0YN582zfcMYkUiWqmMKLC0rTS/s1600/child1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="578" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbPGjLt_UEdQVzI9ylDYME9uFhRxYAKwiVfgnruARsgkTaXs4H11loh0eVTaHl0OBdF2Z6zlNkOoATKIGpixh-dqz-mam7ZXTqYnE4LBLSRll13A8lveT0YN582zfcMYkUiWqmMKLC0rTS/s200/child1.png" width="183" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Lee Child<br />Photo courtesy of www.leechild.com<br />(c) Sigrid Estrada</span></td></tr>
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1. <i style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #990000;">Consistency</span>.</i> Do you write consistently? If you write non-fiction, do you stay in your lane on subject matter, voice and style? If you write fiction, do your characters carry forward, and if they do, are they substantially the same personalities, foibles and all? Child says, <span style="font-family: inherit;">"<em style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">There are two components of loyalty: one is the author and the second is the subject. If you like the author but you’re uncertain of the content of the next book, that’s an obstacle. ... Jack Reacher is the same person in every book."</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><em style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">2. </em><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><b><i><span style="color: #990000;">Authenticity</span></i><span style="color: #333333;">. </span></b><span style="color: #333333;"> Do you write in a manner that allows the reader to connect to you, and/or to the character? Can they envision the scene on a relatable level? Whether fiction or non-fiction, have you added details for the sake of accuracy but at the expense of authenticity? Vinjamuri clarified Child's point. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><i>"</i></span></span></span><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #333333; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>...Child means that the art of narrative authenticity is culling details that are authentic from the larger pool of those that might be merely accurate." </i>So - yes. You can have both too many and too few details in your writing, and if your brand is built around you, the author, you may have too few details out there. In the interest of protecting your image (and perhaps your private life), you may have inadvertently prevented your readers from understanding and relating to you as a person and choked out their loyalty. Conversely, if you've been rather free about your social media interactions, you may have lost control of your own narrative and killed your loyal followers (and any chance at notable media coverage) in the process. Intentionally building your brand often means liberally using the "F" word: FILTER! Yes, you can, and should, filter yourself on any public platform. Is filtering the opposite of authenticity? No. It's simple wisdom. There are things you don't discuss with your 3-year-old grandson, and there are solid reasons not to engage the neighborhood hothead (or 50% of the online population) in an opinionated debate over things that are temporary and not a reflection of your core identity.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #333333;">3. </span><i style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #990000;">Uniqueness</span><span style="color: #333333;">. </span></i><span style="color: #333333;">This is </span><i style="color: #333333;">not</i><span style="color: #333333;"> your "unique position in the marketplace" necessarily, but it can be. Child suggests uniqueness should be "organic," meaning you shouldn't write to fill a hole in the marketplace. Nor should you write strictly by a set formula. Both will kill your creative momentum and your brand loyalty with one shot. As an author, uniqueness also means not conforming yourself to fit a certain mold. Allow yourself to grow and develop, just as in writing we may not always know where a story, technology, or research takes us. We can have an outline, an intention, but being unique means allowing for growth and change. It means being "in the moment" and responding when brilliance shows up. As an author, as a person, you will make mistakes. You'll get caught with your pants down; hopefully not literally. You'll change your mind. Just stay true to your core.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; color: #333333; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In a word, these three elements, to me, sound a lot like <b><i>integrity. </i></b>To test Child's theory, think about your favorite reads. I looked on my bookshelf and considered my favorite multi-book authors through the lens of Child's theory. Without exception, each one was <b>consistent authentic, and unique. </b>Stephen Covey, Max Lucado, Dave Ramsey, Charles Swindoll, Beth Moore, Liz Curtis Higgs, C. S. Lewis (non-fiction is my jam), but also Agatha Christie, Shel Silverstein, how about Shakespeare, and every successful poet you can think of (I love Mary Oliver). And for <b>consistent, authentic, unique characters </b>I will always read, I've got to go back to my fiction days - way back: <i>Nancy Drew, Charlie Brown, Calvin and Hobbes...</i>heck - virtually every comic strip ever syndicated fits this criteria. After all, isn't it these three character elements that draw us in?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">Here's some good news. Knowing your own brand makes decision-making a lot easier. And, there are certainly brand-building activities you can and should be doing to add new readers to your fan base, <b>after</b> you know who you are, or who your main character is. By the way - knowing your brand is very akin to knowing your mission - your "why" for doing what you do every day. At <b>Encourage Publishing</b>, this is the "<b>M</b>" in our mantra, "The Power of <b>SMALL</b>." We believe so strongly in mission-driven projects we require every author to share their mission with us before we look at a project. It's <i>that</i> important.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;"><span style="color: #990000; font-size: x-small;"><b>[Here's a fun fact. Child is so clear about his three elements, he's got <i>Jack Reacher's</i> bio on his <a href="https://www.leechild.com/jack-reacher.php" target="_blank">website</a>, and <i>Reacher </i>gets top billing. Or, maybe Child doesn't realize <i>Reacher</i> is a fictional character. Or, <i>maybe Reacher and Child are the same person... . </i>Either way, I'm good.]</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333;"><span style="background-color: #fcfcfc; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures;">Next post I'll dive in to some "how-tos" on one of those things authors can and should be doing to build their brand: <b>Goodreads! </b>Be sure to subscribe to this post to be notified of upcoming posts, submit comments about subjects you'd like covered, or post questions or opinions. I promise your subscription will not be shared.</span></span></div>
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Leslie Turnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08659157469734641898noreply@blogger.com1