Up date on the American States....

Remember back in one of the posts I mentioned a little challenge I had set myself - getting one person from all 50 states of America to visit my website?

Using Google Analytics it is easy to see (down to the city) of where the site visits originate, unless of course people have their internet routers 'not set' to their area. Some people deliberately don't set their routers for security reason which I completely understand, others have just never got around to it.

Anyway, as the website approaches it's one thousandth visitor I thought I'd take the opportunity to show you how the US Sates thingy is going:

Hmm still lots to go - fortunately this is just a bit of fun BUT if you happen to live in one of those non blue states just visit the website AJWilsonBooks and at least two pages, and hopefully we can turn you blue!

Write and write some more.......

There is a common theme amongst many of the internet sites I visit with regards to Indie Authors, start writing and don't stop! And I can see the logic of having three books completed before releasing the first. I may have mentioned in a previous post that I am not over blessed in the 'patience' department. A typical example is this post - I'm writing in now (Thursday) so I can release it tomorrow, but I already know that if I complete it today, it's getting posted today - I just can't stop myself. So, there was never a hope in hells chance that I'd be waiting until I'd finished book three before I released book 1!

That said, I do understand why it's a good thing.

Lets presume you have three books ready to go - you release your first as a 'freebie' - good idea! This way once your reader has been so enthralled by your book that they MUST have more, they can go looking and BUY your second book, if they get two, the third is a fair certainty.

If however you don't have three books, the reader reads your first, is still enthralled, but when they go looking for more there is none. You'll be amazed how quickly readers will forget.

Like I said, my problem is that my 'patience' would not allow a book to sit, complete and ready to go, until I finished another - was never going to happen. I suppose as well that a second book was never really on my radar, or so I thought. Remember I wrote Russian Redemption because I really was compelled to. It was also important to me to make sure I saw the process through to it's furthers point. I'd always considered it a 'one off'.

If you have three completed books then you use the first to advertise the second, and the second to advertise the third, with the added bonus of releasing them as a set in the future, all within a reasonable time scale.

If you don't, then you just have to work harder to make sure your readers don't forget you.

I mentioned back-a-ways, that I have launched a 'news feed' on the website, I'll be releasing snippets of RR2, and probably announce the launch of 'the other' book through that media first. If people are willing to sign up for 'news' then it is 'news' that they will get. Likewise I am able to keep  the communication going until such time as RR2 or the 'other' book are ready to publish. It's time consuming but it's well worth it........ when you don't have three completed books to market.

And now I'm going to post this - it's Thursday! I just can't help it..............

Welcome Valerie Douglas: A word from the wise.....

Ignorance is bliss. It never occurred to me that I might fail at this writing thing and as it happened I was one of the lucky few – I succeeded at traditional publishing, but sort of backward. *grins* And I had a plan. (God or the Gods love plans, laughing hysterically as they whiz by.)

Fortunately, I was also smart. So I attended local writers’ workshops/conventions to learn everything I could about this writing thing. I learned all the maxims (except an important one) – for example, have at least three books written before submitting. That one, by the way, is arguably still true. I can’t tell you how many ‘trilogies’ have never come to be, or how many writers promote one book endlessly. Oh, and the important adage I missed? That those three books were supposed to be in the same genre. Ooops. (It’s also no longer true. With Indie/Self-publishing you have more choices.)
Attending one conference I presented one book to a mid-level publisher who was trying to expand their lines. They suggested I submit, so I did. After six months I checked them out on-line and discovered their specialty was erotica or erotic romance. Reading a few I thought ‘I can do that’. So I did. Then I ran into a problem…my editor. It wasn’t a good fit. That’s very important. If I had one piece of advice for indie writers it would be this: find an editor with whom you can work, discuss, and interact. A good editor is priceless. They can make your book so much better as I can attest. Back to the plan. (And those laughing Gods.)

The plan was that I would use that medium press to launch my other books. That was another of those axioms. Except it didn’t work.

My first love had always been fantasy, and that’s what I wrote. Then I was informed that no traditional publisher would consider epic fantasy from a new writer.
Luckily for me indie/self-publishing was just taking off. I had a standalone fantasy novel with which I was willing to take the chance.

To be honest, it was scary to give up the ‘security’ of a traditional publisher. (These days self-publishing isn’t the barrier to traditional publishing it once was.) Security is a misnomer, too. There’s no guarantee you’ll get published and it can take years before you hold your book in your hand. There are also companies that make a lot of promises to new, desperate writers. Many of which are a rip-off. (Predators and Editors and Writers Write are your friends!)
Reality check – the idea that your standalone book will suddenly take off. I see so many authors endlessly promoting their one book. Back to that maxim about writing more books. It’s true. I knew I was going to have to make a commitment one way or another. An article in a prominent financial journal reassured me about self-publishing. I couldn’t find more information, though. I searched on-line, but there wasn’t much out there. So I created a Facebook group (the Indie Author Group) to fill that gap, and so other writers wouldn’t make the same mistakes I had. That first book was doing well, but I knew it could do better. I had created the cover (and won an award for it) but it was being identified as a ‘romance’ novel – which it wasn’t. The original art was
very pink, though, definitely off-putting for male readers. So this time I hired a professional. The cover he came up with was amazing. Based on everything I was reading, and those old axioms, I also released more books. Those two things made all the difference. That first book shot onto the bestseller lists. What astonished me was the difference between the percentage I made through my traditional publisher and my
check via self-publishing. I made a lot more money self-publishing.
So, what did I learn?
First, find groups on-line that can help you.
Second, hire professionals – editors, cover artists, formatters. Good ones will make your book so much better. Use references to find them but double check through Pred-ed and/or Writers Write. Third, write more books. Nothing sells book one better than book two. One thing that doesn’t sell? Spam, aka endless promotion.
Finally, self-publishing is no longer a barrier to traditional publishing. There are traditional agents/publishers who are open to self-publishers. Just ask Hugh Howey.

Valerie Douglas – Facebook Author page - 

Web page - Valerie Douglas Books

Amazon pages unravelled......

As I continue to allude to, the writing of a book is fairly simple and straight forward when compared to 'what happens next'. I've touched on some of the social media outlets that I have had to get my head around in order to help promote 'Russian Redemption', and some of the struggles I encountered.

But I want to blog a bit about Amazon, or to be more precise, some of the facilities that Amazon  make available to you, and your book.

Remember I'm talking 'basics' - the KDP and Library are two areas that I know very little about, and again I rely on Judi for that. I'm talking absolute basics.

So, the writing part is complete and the focus of the last God knows how many months/years of your life is looking at you from your computer screen, in all of it's glory - and you feel good!

This is probably the first sight that many will get of your publication, and first impressions count. Everything around this page needs to draw in the would-be purchaser.

The design cover of 'Russian Redemption' had a lot of thought behind it; The story is set back in 1941 so we wanted an aged type approach. There was also a fair bit of research done by Judi - Red is the most popular colour picked off a book shelf! But we also wanted it to stand out on a page of 30 thumbnail illustrations where the clever and very artistic pictorial representation of some covers can be swamped and lost.

But there are lots of other opportunities to enhance your sales prospects, once a person arrives on your Amazon page.

It's not just the title that sells, or the cover, or the blurb - it's YOU too. People like to feel an affinity with the Author, they like to look at the author and (some) will make a buying decision based on what they see and read about you, the author.

I have tried to be completely open and honest throughout - question's that I get asked that, for me, are too personal, will be met with "sorry, I won't answer that" . I don't know if the 'honesty' thing has any bearing on sales or opinions but experience tells me that its the best way to be. You have to sell yourself as well as your book and the Authors page is the place to do it. As my publisher told me "People want to know that there is a real person behind the novel" and I think that she's right. If you have a website with an 'about me' page then this can easily be a version of what you use on your Amazon's Author Page, and vice versa. (Energy/Time conservation!) It's written in the third party. Put yourself 'out there' BUT remember, it's going into the public domain, and can't be unwritten.

On the actually book page there is lots of information for the would be reader to assimilate, not least of all the 'look inside' feature. Also, the 'book description': Mine started with the book blurb but I changed that, taking a more 'salesy' approach. However, I am now convinced that this isn't the right way to go so I'm in the process of re-writing that. An important lesson, don't be frightened to try things and admit they don't always work. Talking of 'not working' that press release thing I mentioned back in an earlier post - epic fail, won't be doing that again in a hurry.

Back to the book sales page - Obviously the review rating is highly visible, that speaks for itself.

Then you have the 'Persons that bought this book also bought..' - This is free Amazon advertising and why I try and target the readers of better known authors of the same genre. I want my book to get on this list.

The 'Editorial' reviews is just another place to tell people about your book, and your personal story. Then comes a load of numbers under 'Product Details'. Only one number matters to me here 'Amazon Best Sellers Ranking' - this tells me where this version (paperback/Kindle) of my book sits in the 13 million + chart of available Amazon books.

And then it's onto the reviews.

An additional Amazon feature is the 'Author Central' - It is from here that you can change/ edit your 'Sales Page' as well as monitor your Author ranking over time. It allows you to do other stuff as well but I'm still learning that bit..

These are all opportunities to represent your self and your book and should be seen as such.

Next Post is Guest Author Valerie Douglas, prolific author and very knowledgeable person!

News Feed Added

Hi all - I've added a 'News Feed' page to the website so that you can stay one step ahead!  See what's happening in the world of AJWilsonbooks. You can follow the developments with RR2, AND the new Rom Tragedy - It's a register for access page.

see you there!

Fantasy Author  Frank Tuttle offers these Words of Wisdom

Thanks Andrew! 

I started writing and submitting in the late 1980s. Publishing was a different beast in those days. Everything was done via snail-mail. You typed a manuscript -- very few of us had computers -- and you mailed it off. Then you waited.

You might wait two weeks or a year. Eventually, you'd get a 'rejection slip' or, if you were lucky, an acceptance. Rejections slips might be a brief 'thanks but no thanks' or a check-off box on a list (too slow, not our genre, are you kidding, etc.') or, rarely, a personal letter from the editor detailing the reasons for rejection. 

And those were your options. If I recall, there were maybe three big vanity presses up and running. You could pay them, sure, but you'd wind up with a garage full of books that no book store would touch. 

That much hasn't changed.

Fast forward to today. Everything is submitted via email. More importantly, Kindle Direct Publishing means *anyone* can put a book in front of the general public.

Is Kindle Direct Publishing a bad thing?

Heck no. I've put my own short stories into anthologies and published them via KDP. Self published, that is. And proud of it.

Why? Because each of these stories, at some point, was deemed salable by an editor. Okay, it's been so long since they were published the rights reverted back to me. So I decided why not put them on KDP?

If people read them, and like them, they might buy my trad-pubbed novels. They get a good book, my publisher gets a sale, I take my wife out to eat -- everyone wins!

So I have a two-pronged sales approach. First, I offer my short stories, most of them print published in the 1990s, via KDP. If people like those, I hope they'll buy my trad-pubbed novels. 

Are they buying my trad-pubbed novels?

Yes. They are. I'm not a number one best-seller -- yet -- but I'm making progress. I have a YA series. The Mug and Meralda books)and an adult (the Markhat Files) series, and I'm doing just fine. One is self-pubbed. The other is trad-pubbed). 

If I had a point at all, it is this: First, write a lot. One book isn't enough. Everybody has one book. 

Very few have five.

Even fewer have ten.

Write. When you finish that first book, start another. Finished with that fourth book?

Start another one. Nope, don't talk, start that next book!

Start it, and finish it, and then get the next one out.

Good luck.

A sacrifice for the greater good....

For any of you that have actually read 'Russian Redemption' you may understand when I say that my writing style is somewhat abrasive, it's a bit brutal - not the sort of style that suits children's story's or romance at all!.

The latest review posted (from one of Amazon's Top 500 Reviewers, by the way *smug grin) entitled
"A highly engrossing, though thoroughly disturbing tale" contains the following snippets:

"There are many scenes of very graphic torture, brutality, medical experiment and sexual depravity. Some of them made me physically sick."

And

"I finished the book a month ago, and had to read some escapism books to get this one out of my mind"

I'm not saying that it is a good thing to mentally scar a Top Reviewer, but at least I get points for leaving an impression! By the way, she still gave me 5 out of 5 stars. (full review available here)

My point is that most people that know me would consider me 'emotionally challenged' - it sounds better than 'Emotionally retarded' as I was accused of being last week. I'm really not an emotional person.

'Russian Redemption 2' - or whatever it gets called - has a lot more 'female' interaction than RR1 so the challenge was to soften my writing style in order to better represent the fairer sex - a little more emotion, a little less blood and guts.

This was a huge challenge for me. One that involved opening that Pandora's box where I'd buried emotions (and few other things) many many years ago.

I think this is what is meant by facing your demons. Anyhow, with the usual head down and charge mentality that I am better known for I launched myself into the 'box'. What came out was a short story of just under 10,000 words written in less than a day, a 'romantic tragedy'. The purpose? To get back in touch with a time when I was a different person, where I was young enough to act on emotions, but too young to control them.

Sufficed to say I found it a very uncomfortable experience but I believe I achieved what I set out to do. As I go back to RR2's manuscript I am able to rewrite certain parts better, softer without being 'soft' as neither of the prominent female characters could be deemed as 'soft'.

I suppose the 'learns' out of this will be around always being able to look at your own work critically, and be prepared to improve, no matter what the cost.

I'll probably be releasing the story as an e-book at some point, but it will be under a pen name!

Guest Post - M G Russell


M.G.Russell or soon to be re-badged M.G.Goggin, is the author of Joshua of Gaia: The Lost Elderzamia.

This children's fantasy author released her debut novel in February 2012 via Amazon. This adventure, rescue mission, fantastical extravaganza is set in Melbourne Australia in a big, grey boring house only temporarily before the lead character Joshua (along with the reader) is pulled into an underground world of dirt and overweight glowworms. That's right! They're fat and lazy and you've really got to know where to dig to find them!

This is the Elderworld and humans are forbidden.

Joshua's lead to Eldertown, run by Elderzamias, some of whom have Elderpower. What unfolds next will keep you asking 'Where is this Elderworld and how can I get there?!'

Book two is due for release in 2014.

Wakey Wakey Green Eggs and Bakey

Life as a closet author can be tough. I say closet because 1) I don't often tell people I'm an author in fear they'll think I'm delirious and I'll be embarrassed or 2) They always go 'wow so you're like a millionaire author, eh?' and then I have to say something witty.......and then I'll be embarrassed. Either scenario is not good. And what's worse is over time you begin to realise that it's hard to have a moment where talking about it doesn't make you feel like a failure.

So this post is a once-off special edition for my friend Andrew Wilson and I'd like the call it...... (drum roll)........ the Reality Check.

Life is hard. Writing is hard. A life with writing is hard. WRONG. The writing itself is my life blood. I dream about it. I crave it. When I'm not doing it I fantasise about doing it. While I drive to work I'm planning to do it. When I see other people trying to do it and failing I giggle. When I'm procrastinating I'm angry about not doing it. You get the point. But there's a lot of love in there.

The point where it gets hard and I mean REALLY hard is the bit where the writer decides 'Ok. So I have the book. Awesome. Now I just need to publish it and then I'll be on The Project in a few weeks telling them how I amazingly sold record numbers in the first month.'

Easy. Got it all figured out don't you? Yes you, there. You self-published, indie author who can't switch off at night coz you're fantasising about your secret. THE secret; that you have the best story idea ever and when people figure out how awesome it is they're going to love it and share it and it'll go viral and you will in fact be the next J.K.Rowling or Stephenie Meyer.

You think we don't know you're thinking these things??? Of course we do coz admit it or not, we do it too!

The trick I've always found is although fantasising is great (and without it I'd have no book and the Elderworld wouldn't exist) but you need to find a balance between fiction and reality.

Yes, maybe you can write.
Yes, you find it enjoyable.
Will people pick it up off the shelf or on their Kindle? Maybe.
Will they like it? Maybe.
Will it go viral? Probably not. Like....ever.
Will you get offers from literary agents? Probably not.
Will you get interest from Publishers? Probably not. Actually, really not. In fact they're pretty peeved about us sneaking around the back of the industry and just shoving our manuscripts under the back door without their permission. Trust me. They're upset. They had a meeting. There were minutes.

Anyway, just make sure you don't get too caught up in the what might be's and focus on the now and the doing part. Because 1) the books ain't gonna write themselves 2) marketing and selling is just as hard if not harder than the writing and can end in disappointment and 3) please don't forget WHY you started writing in the first place. Don't you love it? Can't you not live without it?

So, in the spectacularly blaring light of day (or the dim glow of the Eldercrystal) you might not be Stephenie Meyer or you may not make it big and buy a 19th-century estate in Scotland but at least you can say that you're still holding onto your intimate relationship with the one you love; writing.

You can read more about this author and her books at the following links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/MGRussell/365039933565314
Twitter: https://twitter.com/monicagrussell
Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Joshua-Gaia-The-Lost-Elderzamia/dp/1466278528/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1392369189&sr=8-1&keywords=joshua+of+gaia
Kindle: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Lost-Elderzamia-Joshua-Gaia-ebook/dp/B007DQ49ZQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1392369256&sr=1-1&keywords=joshua+of+gaia
http://m-g-russell.blogspot.com.au

Next Wednesday's contribution will be from Valerie Douglas - a well establish prolific Author, with a heap of experience to share!!

Over 1000 views in 35 days!.......



Thank you to all that have visited this Blog Site - with over 1000 visits in 35 day's it is really satisfying to know that so many of you find something interesting here to read.

A reminder that Wednesday's will be a dedicated 'Guest Blog' day and there are some great 'guests' on the list. It's ALL about sharing and learning.

I'm also running a small competition on the website (www.ajwilsonbooks.net) you can get a free signed copy of my book 'Russian Redemption' just by leaving your details.

Thanks again

Blog hop/tour with a difference....

A 'blog hop' or 'Blog Tour' is where another author invites you to write a piece around the 'writing process' deemed to be informative about you as a person, and what you're up to, why you do what you do and so on. It's a privilege to be invited, and I would like to thank Gwen Dandridge for extending the opportunity to me. However, in true Wilson form, I'm gonna be different, I just can't help myself.

Well that's not entirely true: Gwen has a number of books published in the Fantasy & Young Adult genres, with another five listed as 'works in progress', to some that may not seem a huge amount, but for me that's pretty prolific. It kind of puts it in perspective when I sit looking at my......... one! So I'm not so sure I'm the right person to be telling people about a 'writing process' because I myself am pretty much in it's infancy.

So, I thought I would do a bit of looking around, find a few Authors that have spoken about their own experiences as writers and see if there are any gems there that can offer an alternative opinion, or re-enforce some of what I've experienced. This is outside of my newly installed Wednesday feature of "Guest Author Post' - A little detour.

Please have a look at Gwen's blog and website to see how she has tackled her 'writers life', and note the answers to her 'Blog Hop' questions.

The next person's Blog I'd recommend visiting is Pete Morin's. Pete is a legal bod (no detriment intended). His approach to writing is poles apart from mine, he is organised, meticulous in detail and loves 'word art', by that I mean he has a skill with words, he can paint intricate pictures with his vocabulary. In the old day's I believe it was referred to as 'wordsmithing' BUT that doesn't go half way to describing just how well Pete does it. He is also passionate about music, that probably explains a bit, and he writes from his heart, which kind of surprises me as I have lived with the understanding that to be a success in any legal field you must give up your heart! (Sorry Pete). Check out his 'Indie Novels and Cheap Wine' post. And if you need further proof that a man of such legal standing can have a sense of humour, Pete's book 'Diary of a Small Fish' will prove it.

He's also one of the names on my Guest Authors (to get) list.

For a completely different take on the life of a writer/reviewer visit Adrian McKinty's blog, in particular 'The 8 Rules of Literary Success or why you will never make a living as an Author'  Adrian is very direct and funny, but always with a valuable 'message'.

Another Blog worth your time is that of B C Laybolt, specifically 'Of decisions Indie'

There are loads more that I could recommend but I don't want to reveal the list of 'Guests' I've coerced into providing a post here - sometimes good old fashioned blackmail works. :-)

By the way - visit my own website whilst you're surfing! www.ajwilsonbooks.net

Don't take yourself too seriously

I think this is an important one for a few reasons.

Firstly, it doesn't matter if you are the best Author, have written the best book, and have the best marketing team behind you - someone aint gonna like your book. I saw a post this morning from a fellow Indie Author who was gutted that he had just received his first three star review. Firstly three stars are fine and dandy, it tells the world that the person read the book and it was fine, not great but fine. Secondly, you cannot allow the star rating to impact your 'mojo'. I wonder how many books on Amazon don't have at least one 1 or 2 star ratings - face it folks, either out of personal opinion or damn right spitefulness, someone is going to give you a one star. If you accept that from the off it won't come as a shock. Don't over analyse the situation.

As a new Indie Author, I found myself constantly looking for approval. Even though I knew in my heart that Russian Redemption was a great fictional novel (and thanks to Judi at ProofreadNZ it was well prepared from an editing perspective) I had absolutely no experience as a writer, or of the world of Authors. So I sought confirmation of what I believed. I think I mentioned some way back that I was so far out of my comfort zone that it wasn't funny. With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, I approached this wrong. For fear of further repetition, the journey from brain to book was beyond my wildest expectations as far as learning and pushing myself was concerned; And that's something that no one can take away. I felt immensely proud to hold a hard copy in my hand, there is no feeling like it. I had invested a lot of time to make sure I'd put my best foot forward, so in all honesty it doesn't matter what others think.

I actually had no reason to seek 'approval' from others, it's not like I imagined being able to make a living as an Author, or win awards or get a film deal and sitting next to JK or the likes. (That would be nice though!) But realistically it was the writing of the book, and seeing it published that was my reward for my efforts.

With traditional publishing, the rising number of Indie Authors and Self Published Authors on the up, the world of books is an over populated market. That is not to say that it is over populated with GOOD books!. And despite what some of the worlds leading marketing guru's tell you, 'luck' plays a big part. You can 'influence' your books future but ultimately, once it is exposed in it's naked state in the public domain, so much is outside of your control that it's just not worth worrying about. So you have to manage your own expectations.

The pleasure I got from writing Russian Redemption was what it was all about for me, everything else is a bonus. I'm writing RR2, and it is the same, I'm loving it all over again; pushing myself harder, learning more.

Remember that I have never attended any formal writer training so a lot of my future involves improving my own skills - this is all part of the same journey, a journey that will continue until the day I decide that it stops - not the media, not the traditional publishers, not the world of print, just me. I have that control over my destiny and that's important.

I like to tell people that I've written a book, and that it's an Amazon Best Seller because both are facts. These day's I'll even drop in that I'm writing a second book. It brings a number of responses, and can be a great conversation piece (if not over played!). Although it's not half as satisfying as telling yourself that you are a published author. BUT if people ask me what I do for a living - I'm a Senior Business Relationship Manager with a Global Telecommunications Company. And I think this is the real beauty of Indie Authors, we get to write some great books without the pressures of traditional publishing. I can enjoy my writing without the pressures of the commercial world, or having to rely on it to pay bills, or keep a roof over the family. Indie Authors are FREE and that is powerful. One caveat - whatever you publish MUST be the very best it can be, you owe that to yourself.

Andy Frazier - Author of over 30 titles across 6 genres, shares his experience, opens his heart to some of the hurdles he had to over come in order to achieve his goals.

Why do I bother?

How many times as a struggling independent author do we utter these four words? Sent a manuscript out to exactly the right agent, then checking the inbox every day and getting nothing. Then it comes, that rejection, the one that sends us back down the slippery snake again, as the ladders get taller. After a dozen attempts, do we give up, to save the heartache of disappointment?

No, of course not. For six months we slog on, buoyed by encouragement and our own self-belief until one day, those four words appear again and we make a decision - To be independent. We will show them. We write stuff on our blog about how the industry is in turmoil and literary agents are all stuck in a recursive tail-spin with a bag on their head, and how the internet is the only way forward.

Any of this sound familiar?

This was me, 4 years ago after I wrote my first novel. But, like you, I was tenacious. It wouldn’t stop me because my book was so much better than other dross that was in fashion. Firstly I discovered Lulu, then Amazon bought create-space, so I went with them, publishing copies to order, on paper, and getting them out there. With some extra hard graft, knowing my own market, I slaved away until

I had sold 400 copies on paper, and another 200 on kindle, in a year. The good reviews came in and my social media fans grew. For all intense and purposes, I had cracked it. A bone-fide fully fledged author was I.

I had made no money – lost some, in fact - but that didn’t matter. People were reading me, especially as I had also given away another 3000 ebooks.

If I had any sense, I would have stopped right there, and got a job. One agent told me, in a friendly way, that I had already surpassed millions of wannabe writer’s dreams and even congratulated me. Annoyingly, she also told me that my book, which she had turned down, would make a good children’s story. Foolishly, I listened and for the next two years wrote 6 children’s books. Bigmistake! Don’t get me wrong, the books were great – and well received by those who read them. All

200 of them.

You see, what I didn’t know then, and maybe still don’t know exactly, is who my target audience was, and how to reach them. And this, my fellow author, is the biggest crevice we all fall into.

Well, here is something you may find interesting, if not a little disturbing. ‘To know your audience, you have to know yourself.’ Who are you really, deep inside? Because, despite your best efforts, that is who you are in your words. Ultimately, whether you write science-fiction or car manuals,you write them as you. If you don’t, then you shouldn’t consider writing at all. Only when you reach genius status can you write as someone else, and very few achieve that.

So let’s take a look at yourself? Are you the one that everyone wants to sit by at dinner parties? If not, then consider that. Maybe you are at the wrong parties? If they do want to sit by you: why?

Do you make them continually guffaw uncontrollably, so that all the other guests are envious? No?

Then maybe writing humour isn’t your thing. Does the table go silent when you tell an embellished anecdote, all ears tuning into the fine detail of your linguistic brilliance. No? Me neither.

But some people do want to sit by you, don’t they? Who are they? Are they pretty females/confident males who find you sexy, or understand that you are on their wavelength? Or are they the lads, who want to discuss football, TV and other macho things. Or maybe the kids, who love your stories of ghouls and woolly mammoths? Are the parties full of your own like-minded friends, or

total strangers? Or maybe you never get any invites at all?

Only you know that answer. One thing is for sure, the people who like to listen to you will not fit into

every category. And the ones who don’t won’t buy your book, no matter how many agents tell them

how good it is.

Please don’t take this the wrong way. I am sure your book is brilliant, and you know exactly who to

pitch it to. But like any good sales person, walk a few yards in your reader’s moccasins, preferably

BEFORE you write the first word.

Andy Frazier has written in excess of 30 books, in 6 genres. As well as selling novels he writes travel 

guides and is currently commissioned writing a large non-fiction book. He spends half the year in 

Boost yourself ....

When I started out I knew that I had to go looking for people as opposed to people already out there looking for me. As far as the world was concerned, they had no idea who I was. Having gone through the pain of building a website, creating a Twitter account, a Facebook account, a Pinterest account and maybe a blog don't miss the opportunity to link them all together.

People are generally lazy, every 'click' of the mouse is an effort, and therefore a barrier. And humans tend to be an impatient breed, not to mention lazy. Not that many years ago the 'click' rate was deemed to be four. This is the amount of times a person would expect to click the mouse to arrive at the destination/information that they want. That has now dramatically reduced to TWO!   Two clicks from when they arrive at your website for example, if they aint there by then, they're gone, seldom to return.

If you look at my website (www.ajwilsonbooks.net) you will see that on the homepage I have added my other accounts for one click access.









Also, don't forget to build your email signature block.


It's a little more professional and it also gives access to your other media in one click. You have to sell yourself, invest a shed load of time & effort for seemingly little reward, but stick at it. Measure progress in achievable increments and believe that you will be successful - a tacky but true cliche "You don't plan to fail, but you can fail to plan".

I'm going to get a couple more Indie Authors to contribute their experiences over the coming weeks because you're probably pretty bored of me going on. IF there are specific questions by all means send them in - I'll table them on this blog and see what advice comes back.

cheers - Andy

Monitoring the numbers....

Starting off as an Indie Author can be a soul destroying exercise. I can only speak from my perspective so if you disagree that's fine. It's not the writing of the book, it's actually the expedition to gain the title of 'successful' that sucks at the soul..

I suppose firstly I should share my definition of 'successful', for me 'success' is being in a position to be able to choose without worry. Analysing that statement can cause sleepless nights, but its true.

Again I am taken back to Judi's warning "writing the book is only 10% of the work".

I've mentioned some of the methods and outlets I've used to build interest in Russian Redemption, and it took me a while to get any real momentum going. In all honesty there were times when I questioned the logic of what I was doing, but I think that's only natural, remembering I am not over blessed with patience.

So, in order to maintain motivation I started to look very carefully at the things that don't lie - numbers. I've got a twitter account, a facebook page, a website, a pinterest account and a book on Amazon (and now a blog), these are the places I turned to to demonstrate progress. Some of the other sites you may have visited will have advised against reading reviews that are posted, or even taken too much notice of the numbers but for me they are critical. When big royalty cheques aren't falling through the letter box, and the phones not ringing with offers, and Quentin Tarantino still hasn't called, you need to cling to little victories to keep you going.

Facebook was the first. The number of 'friends' on the page. Then when I learned more about facebook posts it was the number of people that actually saw my posts, then the 'likes' then the 'shares'. I tracked it all through 'Insights'. A visible acknowledgement of progress. The 'Reach' number became important. The 'reach' is your 'organic' base, those that want to see your posts, every post. They are your 'base'. The Facebook version of a Twitter follower.

And talking of Twitter, and 'Followers', this is also a number that I track. You always start with zero so every 'Follower' has an interest in you/your book, it's a potential customer, or at the very least a potential voice to advertise you.

Even this Blog! When I wrote the first blog I had no idea that anyone would read it, it's less than three weeks old, now I get between 60 and 80 people a day visiting. First week it was between 10 and 15 a day, second week it was 25 to 35, and them up to 60 - 80 I have had more people visit this blog site than I have my website, which has been running nearly a year.This is tangible progress. The challenge is to keep that momentum going until it gets to the point where it takes on a life of it's own, it becomes autonomous. Who knows how far down the track that is, but until I get there I'll keep taking the positives from the numbers.

One of my favourite motivational pictures on my Pinterest boards has the caption "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step". I use the same philosophy with the numbers; I can't get 100 people a day to my blog without getting to 99, I can't get to 99 until I get to 98 and so on. To have a 'goal' of being successful involves having a plan, a strategy. Progress has to be measured in achievable increments, small steps, by increasing the numbers you cannot help but achieve the goal. By knowing that the numbers are increasing, you know you're still on the right track, it's very motivational.

As a footnote I know that as I progress further down the path to my goal I'm going to have to monitor different numbers (the zero's after the digits on the royalty cheques could be one?!) but as long as the measurable number continues to increase, I'm still heading in the right direction. I'm pumped.

Telling the world.........

Press Release 7/02/14 Click on the link.

An experiment I've opted for is the 'press release' - It's not cheap (NZD$100) - but at the end of the day I figure I have to test these things. I'll let you know how it goes.

What I'm hoping for is a spin off story. If my local news paper picks up on the release they may well want to publish an interview. If a national newspaper picks it up, even better. But I won't know unless I try so thats what it's all about.

Russian Redemption 2 - on the table......

I've mentioned previously some of the things I wish I had done before launching my first book, Russian Redemption, and part of this whole blog thing was to let you guys know, but at the same time act as a reminder for myself.

I started writing Russian Redemption II a few months ago, with a planned launch date around September time. It's going to be very interesting to see the difference between the two launches. To be fair I think a lot of the work since the initial launch has been in preparation for RR2 because I knew there would be at least one follow-on publication.

"Insert marketing message here" >>>>> Speaking purely from a very biased perspective it is an excellent book, well worth reading and one that will get you thinking. Both books will stand alone, but a reader will get more out of them IF they have read them both, and in order. Now is a really good time to buy Russian Redemption because there's never a bad time, click here and follow the link Russian Redemption.

I digress. One of the minor details that I need to be paying more attention to is my 'mailing list' - I missed an opportunity when we published Russian Redemption, I should of added a page at the back suggesting people register on the web site (Also, for RR2, I will be using this page to invite people to leave reviews if they've enjoyed the book). Advertising space that I didn't utilize - shame on me.

Anyway, we live and learn. So, as part of my preparations for RR2 I need to promote RR1, leverage that momentum to build a mailing list that will, in turn, promote RR2. I know it probably sounds obvious now but with so much going on these 'obvious' things are soon over looked. (The 'mailing list' includes FB Friends, Twitter followers, Pinterest, LinkedIn etc).

I haven't found out the best way to do this yet (so any ideas are welcome!) What I will probably do to start is ask Judi to add the above to the e-book and Cre8Space sites. For the time being I'm going to invite people to register their interest through the website portal 'Contact' page. I'm hoping that I may be able to grab a couple of 'beta readers' from these volunteers. Now, some people may consider this a a waste of good 'prospects', if they Beta Read the book they probably won't buy it. Not true! I mentioned all of my helpful proof readers (under the title of 'labrats') in my 'acknowledgements' in RR1, they all bought a copy!

OK - pick the bones out of that, I hope there's something in there that will help you. Good Luck

Be part of the Indie revolution

Indie Authors are a growing force inside the world of the written word, and it scares some of the big publishing houses that have ruled these waves for decades.

The Indie/Self Published Author revolution is gaining a head of steam that will just continue to generate forward momentum, pushing through traditional barriers and establishments that have guarded literature, protected it, but at the same time exercised profitable control over it.

Inside those supposed control measures has existed a degree of 'quality control' in so much as any book has needed to be of a given standard in terms of vocabulary and grammar. The big publishing houses employ people to ensure this is the case, proofreaders, editors, publishers etc. a whole host of 'beta readers' and anyone else they feel is needed. The trade off has always been that these people are paid out of their share of YOUR royalties, but the publishing house has then got an interest in getting your book sold. When you strip away all the fluffy talk, that is what it boils down to.

Anyway, as Indie/SP Authors these facilities are not at our finger tips and tend to be outside of the budget so they have to be taken 'in-house' or to be exact, taken on by the Author.

I have loved writing Russian Redemption, it was a whole new experience for me and one that has involved a lot of learning, and a lot of time outside of my comfort zone. The problem is, I am pretty crap at grammar. Having never attended a posh school or writer classes, and never really having an interest in either, when I started writing my book I wrote as it flowed in my head. I've also never been one for big words for the sake of big words. People (including some Authors) like to use big words because it impresses people, it also makes them feel important. One of my biggest bug bears is to have to read a book with a dictionary beside me; I know I'm stupid, I don't need some smarmy over educated author reminding me of my stupidity by writing stuff I can't understand without a copy of the concise English Dictionary in my other hand. Seriously, this is something that you need to consider when writing a book. I would suggest that if you've decided that your main character is an escapee from an orphanage in the back of beyond, his/her vocabulary would be appropriate to that upbringing. There may be times when this is not the case but for me to be able to relate to that you'd need to explain how he/she acquired an Oxford Uni vocabulary and accent. Otherwise it just ain't believable.

Anyway, to point of this blog - oh yes. As Indie/SP Authors it is my belief that the work we put out has got to be of the highest possible standard. It isn't good enough to write a few lines on the back of a cigarette packet and publish them just because you can, there has to be 'professional pride' in what you do. The big publishing houses would enjoy watching this revolution collapse. And a lack of professionalism can do a lot of damage to the world starting to take Indie/SP Authors seriously. To reiterate an earlier post, I was always going to find the money to get Russian Redemption proofread and published. Recognising my own short comings it was something that just had to be done. I owed it to my book, the potential reader and to myself.

But even that isn't enough sometimes.

So, on Saturday I received an email from a reader in the middle of Russian Redemption highlighting a number of 'typos' she'd identified. She was as good as gold about the whole thing and was only pointing them out as she felt I should know. She was right - I (and my proofreader/publisher Judi) want to know of any mistakes or errors, it's really important that readers feel comfortable to be able to do that. Judi and I checked through a paperback copy of the book and the original PDF that was sent to Amazon. Most of the typos that were raised involved a missing space after I'd used italics - the spaces were there on both the PDF and the paperback. The two other typo's that were highlighted were present in the paperback, but not in the PDF. They were misplaced punctuation marks. Two different issues here: One is the Amazon 'crunching' machine, the bit of software that converts your PDF to it's text reading format. And the other is that it seems that some reading devices are not all they are cracked up to be in their ability to download Amazon Kindle format. Be warned. Strangely, whilst checking the errors mentioned in the paperback version, I noticed another error - there is no page 2. It goes from page 1 to page 3 to another page 3, bummer. That is not on the PDF either! I suppose a point I'm trying to make is do the absolute best that YOU can because there's stuff outside of your control that's gonna crap you up anyway. Start from 100% and let the other stuff take you down to 80%, or start at 80% ..............

1.        

 Amazon - It's just the way they are......

As you can probably tell from previous posts I am one of those Authors that place a value on Reviewers and reviews - I do. It's hard enough to get quality reviews so when you do get one and Amazon decides to remove it, it is a real pisher.!

I have had at least four 4 or 5 star reviews removed by Amazon with out explanation. And it is a complete waste of time trying to get an explanation OR getting the reviews re-instated.

There are words in the Terms of Service "Amazon has the right but not the obligation to monitor and edit or remove any activity or content" and it seems to love playing this card.

IF Amazon thinks that a review is from family or relative it will remove it, even if you clearly state that you know the Author. (It was believed that if you state your connection then it was ok). This can be extended to a work colleague or anyone else that Amazon decides. IF a review is removed Amazon will NOT talk to the Author about it, according to them it is a conversation to be had with the actual reviewer. However, if the Reviewer contacts Amazon to try and have the review reinstated, Amazon refuse - It's a no win situation, I know of nobody that has been successful in getting a review reinstated, it just isn't worth the aggro. I have been told of one Author who reviewed her son's book, the review got taken down by Amazon so she contacted them to get his review re-instated. They, Amazon, apparently threatened to remove the book completely. I don't know how true that is but I do know that Amazon love to bully - It's their train set and they like to make people aware of this.

Strangely though they are not so keen to remove lower starred reviews - The ones and twos that a lot of Authors would like to get rid of, no chance! Another reason why a top review may disappear is that someone has complained to Amazon about it - YOU don't get to find out why or who, it just disappears.

And there is also 'gaming'. Some Authors or people take a dislike to you, or they see you as competition, particularly if you are in a popular genre, so they submit low star reviews to put people off buying your book. This is a reality I'm afraid. People have false accounts, don't even read your book but (if they have an active Amazon account) they can leave a review. If it's to your benefit they will be removed, if it's against you they stay. Be warned. It can get extremely frustrating and there are a few people you will find on the forums that have lost the plot entirely and their sole focus in life now is to fight these votes and reviews - It really is a dark path to travel, a fight that you can't win so there is no point in wasting your energy and focus on such a futile pursuit.

All of that said, Amazon do a lot of good for the Indie Author, not least of all they provide the worlds largest on-line book shop for you to peddle your publication, and the means by which you can promote it. I'm still investigating a few of these marketing avenues and will let you know how I get on. 

But here's the thing once you've written your master piece, had it proof read and published, the hard work really starts. There is no point in having it out there if no one knows about it. - good luck