On Our Own Nov/Dec 06 Newsletter

Hello!

I appreciate your patience in waiting for this combined newsletter. Nanowrimo is over for this year and many of us are busy with holiday preparations of one kind or another, so this month I want to focus on two related issues: book reviews and writing music.

Do you make a habit of reading book reviews? This can be a great way to figure out what works and what to avoid in your own books. Most major newspapers have professional reviews, but another great source is the surge of bloggers who specialize in reviewing books of a certain genre. The links at the end are some I have found that are worth reading. Granted, some of these reviewers are better versed in the writing craft than others, but they all have one thing in common that matters to any writer: they love to read. Anyone who reads a fair amount can easily pick out even the most fundamental bits and pieces of a story that help it along or slow it down. It's worth a writer's time to see what they are saying.

One thing I love about Christmas is the influx of upbeat, inspiring music. Music does affect mood. It can also affect brain waves, strengthening synapses and building complexities in the brain that assist in overall abilities. Playing music is especially helpful, but listening (actual attentive listening) is nearly as effective. It is also an effective writing tool. If you work best in silence, then this may not be something you're interested in, but for anyone who has an issue focusing on the story or defeating a block to get started, instrumental music can be key.

I have a separate music list in iTunes called "writing" and it's filled with all sorts of instrumental songs. Of course CDs work, but I often like a mix and set it to scramble. At other times, I want a certain mood for a certain scene and take it off scramble to play only the artist/genre I want. I have focusing issues at times. Putting soft music on in the background tends to block out distractions and help focus my brainwaves on creativity, making writing go much more smoothly. Now I only need to find instrumental music with a good rock beat!

If anyone has other methods of staying focused through distractions, I would love to hear them.

Congrats to everyone who even attempted Nanowrimo!

Merry Christmas!

          Happy Hanukah!

                A Peaceful Al Adha

                       Have a wonderful 2007!

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Publishing Company Highlight

I have been receiving loads of mail, both in print and through email from Airleaf Publishing and Bookselling and decided to check them out: http://www.airleaf.com

Clicking on the For Authors tab on top of the home page, I was at first rather confused as to where the publishing services entered into the equation. There is a long list of selling services for different prices, but I had to scroll to nearly the bottom before finding that Airleaf will indeed publish your book for a price of $1,895. To be fair, that includes 50 copies of the book and placement of it in "at least 15 retail locations."

Their main service is promotion. They specialize in marketing independently published books to bookstores. In their bookselling packages, which run from $399 to $1650, they specify how many owners will be contacted. Basically, they are providing the footwork of marketing. What an author needs to consider is how many books would have to sell in order to make back the money spent on this service. Would it be worth it? Indie authors make an average of approximately $3 on each book sale (with many variables affecting that amount). $399 gives you contact with 2000 bookstore owners. You would have to sell 133 copies to break even, except that is only the selling service price. To first cover the $1,895 publishing and placement cost, that would be another 632 sales.

Airleaf does offer marketing services if you have published elsewhere, so that is a plus.

Other services include reviews from Bowker, contacts with radio shows (only one is guaranteed for $599), website design, indie filmmaker contact, and many others. The prices are rather steep, and I think very few authors will ever make enough sales to be worth the expense, but it could happen if your book has enough marketability. Of course, if it does, you could do yourself much of what Airleaf offers and keep the profit.

Another thing I want to mention is that many publishers/booksellers offer marketing materials, such as business cards, postcards, bookmarks, etc. All of the prices I've seen for these items are also high. You might want to look around at companies who do only this type of service because the quality is likely the same or similar and the price much more reasonable. I gave www.vistaprint.com a try recently through a promotional deal and am quite pleased with the results for a very inexpensive price. They seem to have constant promotional deals.

If any of you have other promotional printing companies you have dealt with, please post about them in the marketing forum.


Publishing Prices
Setup: $1895 (one fee for the only publishing package offered)
Baker & Taylor listing: yes (an Ingram or Bakers & Taylor listing is necessary unless you plan to sell only on your own)
Cover art: included (does not say if you own the cover rights -- watch for this!)
Annual host fee: online hosting is not clear
Total cost: includes 50 books but has no list of what printing costs will be if you need to purchase more. It also does not say whether they send books to those contacts who agree to purchase or if you do, or what royalties there would be if they send them.

Royalties
Unknown

Ebooks
Not offered

Order Time
Unknown

Bookstores
Airleaf features books for sale on their site, and in their own stores, but details are vague. The site doesn't say if they offer other bookstores a discount. There is an email address for more information, as well as an 800 number.

Overall, this looks rather iffy, as to whether the services will amount to enough sales to be worth the fees. It reads in positive terms to make it sound like a great opportunity and their tagline at the bottom says "Let us help you and make your book a bestseller." That's a rather lofty statement that I believe doesn't give authors a true picture of the odds, even with paid services. No amount of paid marketing will sell a book if it is not marketable in itself. There is no screening process and no guarantee that any of these services will result in sales. I would tend to shy away from anything that seems "to good to be true," especially when the deal is as expensive as this.

I encourage anyone who has any experience with this company or any other to share it in the Market Listings forum: "Invalid Item" .

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Links


Book Review Sites

Women's Fiction: http://deeceeonbooks.blogspot.com/
(I found this one because they reviewed one of mine.)

Mystery/Suspense: http://avidbookreader.com/

Romance: http://www.romancebooktrader.com/


Warnings about Scams

Writers Beware Blog: http://accrispin.blogspot.com/

Contest Notice

Some time ago, the group was gifted 10,000 GPs by laurencia and instead of letting them sit and collect dust, I decided to host an On Our Own sponsored contest in an effort to help publicize the group.

THE BLURB that caught attention  (ASR) A Contest: write the back cover description for your book -- WINNERS #1185376 by Voxxylady

The contest is open to members, but if any of you would like to donate time to assist with either judging or reviewing instead of entering, please let me know. There are four categories and each needs a judge well-experienced in the genre: novel, non-fiction, poetry, and short stories. If there are not enough entries to justify having four categories, they will be combined. As a thank you to any volunteer chosen as a judge or reviewer, I'll review an item of your choice with a thorough critique: two items for poetry, one chapter for a book, or one short story. (If there are very few entries, I won't need 5-6 volunteers and will have to choose only the number I need.)

I would appreciate any advertisement for the contest. The more members we have, the more knowledge we have to help each other.


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Wishing you all the best of luck in your publishing ventures!
Voxxylady

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(available for all group members to use anywhere on the site)