Over the month of January, I collected the stories I found on Twitter and in my feeds that were just too good to miss and put them together for you! Welcome to “Thinky Links“!

Author Janice Hardy offers some good advice on how to cut a scene without hurting your story

Kristen Lamb gives a really good example of how to start in medias res.

The Editors’ Blog looks at the use of coincidence in fiction, why it’s bad—and how to fix it.

I’ve been working hard on revising my Nano novel, so I’m really far behind on my feeds, but I did happen to see two good posts on EditTorrent recently, the kind that make me want to run around telling people “I’ve been vindicated” in an imaginary battle I was having with no one. The first covers showing versus telling in an interesting way (i.e. not writing 101), including that was is not always bad and is not the same thing as passive voice, and the role of telling in exposition.

The second is how to avoid that obnoxious “As you know, Bob” (or Alphonse) dialogue by slipping in backstory, characterization and other information through subtle cues. I LOVE working on this, and Alicia gives great examples!

Although I’m now with a traditional, regional publisher, I still find self-publishing very interesting. So for two different perspectives on that this month, Daniel J. Friedman takes a hard look at the numbers behind self publishing: what they make, what they’re worth, and what they’re selling. On the other hand, Joanna Penn interviewed Adam Croft on How To Sell 130,000 Books Without A Publisher. And for some perspective on both sides, Future Book looks at Why Amanda Hocking Switched, with some interesting notes on how her publishers are working for her.

And to close, here are a few of my favorite posts on this blog from Januaries past:

• A perennial favorite of mine, how to spot and avoid the most common (empty) gestures in writing
• Another one I still use extensively, creating and editing with a scene chart
• And a few from the series on tension, suspense and surprise:
  • Choosing whether plot elements should be set up strongly to create suspense, or should remain a surprise
  • One I should probably study a little more: creating suspense in Act I
  • What creates tension and suspense?

What’s the best writing/marketing/publishing advice you‘ve read lately?

Photo by Karola Riegler

UPDATE: Derrick reached his Kickstarter goal and his book will be out soon!

I met Derrick Hibbard ten years ago at a week-long church camp. Naturally, we’re now Facebook friends. I don’t think he knows I have this photo from when we met:

Derrick is a published author, but he’s going the self-publishing route for his latest novel, The Double Stroller Hand Grenade:

Peter, a bright-eyed and fluffy-tailed new attorney, witnesses the “hit” of the managing partner in his law firm. Because of this inadvertent run-in and supposed link with the mafia, Peter can’t find another job anywhere and is forced to tend his kids full-time while his wife, Alison, brings home the bacon. Peter hates the new job: His young kids are a whirlwind of destruction wherever they go, his daughter suffers from a crippling fear of an imaginary alligator, and he and Alison seem to be growing further and further apart as she works long hours. As it turns out, Alison is not an interior designer, as Peter was led to believe, but is the assassin who killed Peter’s boss—a fact that Peter is none-too-happy about—and things really get crazy when Alison’s peers decide that she is better off dead. What follows is a hilarious romp, as the emasculated Peter has to deal with a super-cool-femme-fatale of a wife, while he and his two kids are mercilessly thrust into a world of gangsters and professional hit men.

The Double Stroller Hand Grenade is mainstream fiction with an edge. It combines lighthearted romantic comedy with thrilling action and suspense.

Perhaps most unique about Derrick’s path to self-publishing is the way that he’s planning to pay for the costs: through fundraising on a social website, Kickstarter. Individuals can give as little as a dollar to help Derrick toward his goal (with various rewards at different pledge level, including copies of the book, dedications, etc.). Derrick’s hoping for $1500, and is nearly halfway to his goal in pledges—but if the other half isn’t pledged by midnight on July 31, Derrick doesn’t get the pledges.

This was actually the first time I’d heard about this type of funding for self-publishing, so I asked Derrick for an interview. Here’s Derrick in his own words, first in the video from his Kickstarter campaign, then the interview.

First of all, I’d like to thank Jordan for giving me the opportunity to do this interview on her blog.

Why did you decide to self-publish?

Well, that answer comes in different parts because it has been a very long process for me to get to this point. I think the main reason is because of the changing industry. Right now, the investment that inevitably comes with publishing novels by new authors is a risk that most publishers won’t take. Obviously, there are some first time novelists who are able to land the agent and get a publishing deal, but they’re few and far between. The industry is in a turbulent “change-mode” right now, with the advent of ebooks and the ease of printing books on demand. I’ve been working with traditional publishers for close to 4 years now, and in my opinion, self publishing high-quality books is a good way to gain experience in the industry and build a platform to use down the road. I figured that I might as well start building that platform and honing my craft instead of letting a pile of manuscripts gather dust on the shelves.

The second reason comes from my experiences with a traditional publisher. I’ve published two nonfiction books, Law School Fast Track, and College Fast Track, and we’re talking about a couple more to add to the “Fast Track” series. First of all, I’ve loved working with a publishing company and I feel that I’ve learned a lot about the publishing process. The only problem that I’ve had is that it takes so long for each title to be released, which is understandable given the amount of time and energy, from so many different people, that goes into each book. Once the book is finished with all of its rewrites, revisions and polishing, I’m ready to start working on the next one, but the book still has a long way to go in the publishing process and the publisher is hesitant to start new projects. The problem is, again, the risk involved with investing in each title. A publishing company wants to wait and see how each title does before jumping in with a new book. I feel that self-publishing (with fiction anyway) will give me the chance to focus on writing. I’ll be able to write a book, do everything it takes to get it ready to publish, release it to the world, and move onto another project.

The last reason, and maybe the most important to me, is that I write because I’m compelled to write. I love everything about writing, creating, and storytelling. I’ve loved it since I was kid and I’m pretty sure that I’ll continue to love writing until I kick the bucket and keel over. The point is, I write because I like sharing stories.

How did you find out about Kickstarter?

From a friend who was trying to get his project kickstarted.

If your book gets funded, roughly what do you anticipate the cost breakdown looking like?

I’m asking for $1,500 for the Kickstarter campaign and the breakdown for the costs are as follows:

• $35—Font licensing
• $125—ISBN
• $200-$400—Cover design
• $200—Copy Editing
• $200—Proofreading
• $400—Interior layout and design
• $75—Title setup fees with Ingram (a distributor who will make the book available in bookstores, magazine shops, airports, etc., in the US, UK, and Australia)
• $400—for marketing

What are you least looking forward to with self-publishing this book?

I’m not a huge fan of the technical side to publishing a book. I really prefer the creative process, so I guess I’m least looking forward to making sure all the little details are taken care of in order to publish a high-quality book. Of course, this is all part of the process.

What are you most looking forward to with self-publishing this book?

I’ve been researching internet marketing and developing new strategies for reaching new audiences—so I’m probably most looking forward to finding new readers and ultimately sharing stories with more people.

In parting, here is a cool quote—something that I think is relevant to all aspiring authors, and its something that I try and keep in mind with each new project.

Certain writers do not live, think or write on the range of the moment. Novels, in the proper sense of the word, are not written to vanish in a month or a year. That most of them do, today, that they are written and published as if they were magazines, to fade as rapidly, is one of the sorriest aspects of today’s literature.
–Ayn Rand

Although the quote is a bit pessimistic about today’s literature, I like to use it as a positive motivation: write books to last. Write books that engage the mind long after the story is over.

Thanks for the interview, Derrick! I find this all really interesting, even if I’m not quite ready to look into self-publishing myself. I was glad to get to learn more about this option!

I’ll continue posting my notes from the 2009 LDStorymakers conference, with fun with verbs coming on Tuesdays and Thursdays!

Self-Publishing panel
Moderator: CS Bezas
Panel Members: Gary Hansen, Joyce DiPastena (blog), Marsha Ward (blog), Sarah Eden, Tanya Parker Mills

Panelists’ intros:
Sarah Eden: Writes historical fiction, author of Seeking Persephone. Published 9 novels, from Arizona, Print on Demand (POD) expertise. As a fiction author, she makes things up, so she may lie at any time on this panel. Whitney finalist 2008

Joyce DiPastena: 2007 Whitney finalist Loyalty’s Web
self-published, picked up by Leavenwood Press and republished.

Marsha Ward: Western fiction (The Man from Shenandoah, Ride to Raton and Trail of Storms) Journalism background with LDS newspapers, over 900 publishing credits, national contest wins, came to self publishing in a unique way (whiche she touches on later).

Tanya Parker Mills: The Reckoning Whitney finalist 2008, had her first novel rejected and found herself blocked in her second novel, and knew she had to get it out there. From Washington.

Gary Hansen: Wet Desert, a Novel, Whitney 2007 finalist, suspense/thriller (national, but “LDS-friendly”).

Something pertinent to know about self-publishing

• Gary: Once he’d been frustrated on national market, he took the “go into the bookstore and find your section—genre, cost, etc.” Picked price point and went through self publishers to find a cost-effective place: found a self-pubbed book in Costco and contacted author—actually printed it himself. Sold through first print run (2600) and into second.
• Tanya: POD, Booksurge because of its Amazon ties. It’s so hard to get pubbed by traditional publishers (mainstream contemporary fiction, non LDS, going for national market). Self-pub has increased b/c it’s more affordable now. Rarely do you get picked up like Eragon did. Tremendous marketing as self-pub plus lucking out in a coincidence. What she would have done differently: she would’ve done differently: set up a distributor.
• Marsha: the valid reasons to self-publish:
  • Poetry collections (for friends and family and other interested parties)
  • Family histories
  • Autobios/memoirs (unless you’re famous!)
  • You’re giving seminars, how-to books, public speaking—tremendous back-of-the-room sales.
  • Personally: she had a health crisis and thought she was running out of time. Getting good responses editorially, but negative marketing reports (Western novels are too niche). Chose not to become her own publishing company—POD/Publish assistance people. Researched to know what they would and wouldn’t give her, looked at customer feedback, went with iUniverse. Was going to go through traditional publisher for 3rd in series, but too mch lag time for her fans (guy came up to her in the grocery store)
• Joyce: also writing to national market but “LDS friendly”—Medieval romance. Lots of positive response on national market, but they didn’t know what to do with it. Agent called her: too much plot to be a romance and not enough pageantry to be a historical. She put it away for years and years and kept trying to write a straight romance, but it wasn’t working—she kept throwing in other plot lines (I guess non romance plot lines). Ended up with these books sitting around, and she realized she could die with books in drawer or take a chance on self publishing to see if there’s an audience. She turned to Marsha for help, also went with iUniverse POD—knew she couldn’t go out and sell her own books (Gary has a garage full of books!). To her surprise, she began attracting a readership of people that were interested in the cross-genre. Finalist at Whitneys: editor took notice of that and reprinted her book. Be realistic about your marketing talents. Can you push the books on your own, or are you too shy? Online?
• Sarah—Butter pecan is the best therapy for writer agony. Cheetos can be consumed at VERY large quantities at 3 AM. You need to do your research. There are so many options in self-pub—diff companies, methods. Traps: vanity presses. Options: book sizes (bigger book: more words per page, fewer pages, lower cost). Know what you want first so you can find a company that will provide that in a way that is affordable and satisfying to you. Talk to people who’ve done it before because they know things that the companies won’t tell you. Look at their books in person.
• Marsha: google ["company name" sucks] to check them out.

Questions:
Don Lee: How do you distribute your books?
Gary: In order to get into big stores, you have to go through distributors—Ingram or Baker and Taylor. In the bookstore, they’re very worried about Returns—they don’t want any obligations—they can return unsold books to them without cost. You have to have that method or they won’t take it. Getting a distributor—just like getting an agent or editor. BIG step. If you get there, bookstores can at least order it from any bookstore in the country. Distribution is critical.

Roger Nielsen: What was your initial investment, Gary?

• Gary: Obviously, POD has big advantages, but his goal was a low cost (equal to trad pubbed books)—you have to sell cheap to distributors ($4.50 for a $10 book). 363 pages with small font to keep page count down—setup fee ~$3000, and then the books are cheap. The more you print, the cheaper they are per book. You’re tempted to print like 10,000 so they’ll be $1.50.
• Tanya: with POD and digital presses, you pay upfront. I decided to get the total design freedom package—control cover design and copy, paid a little more. $1367 including that package. No warehousing, order from Amazon and they print and send it. $1367 is for set up and a few books she’d ordered for herself.
• Comment from LC Lewis: Sometimes booksurge gives you a promo pkg with 30 free books if you sign up for marketing.
• Marsha: Paid iUniverse. Purchased rights to cover images from Corbis $300, royalty-free to use forever. Last package cost $399. Commissioned painting for second book at $300. Ordered 200 copies of her first and 25 each of the others. Distribution: website, blog, building writing community, a lot of contacts, list of people who wanted her next book. Sell autographed copies from her website, you can get it from bookstores, Amazon, iUniverse, ebook on Books on Board. Book trailer.
• Comment from Roger again: BYU is getting a very specialized machine to do this—prints from PDF $0.04/pg, 300 p book in 4 minutes.
• Sarah: That’s the kind of machine most PODs use. initial fee (CreateSpace, connected to BookSurge) just under $2/book, plus $0.008/pg. Printing only—$39 per title—gets your ISBN number, per-page cost below $0.01/pg. Economies of scale.

LC Lewis—Amazon sets price for BookSurge?

• Tanya—yes. I wanted it at $14.99, they set it at $17.99.
• Gary got to set his own MSRP (retail), they set their discount. Amazon has to get their margin, 55%—you have to sell it at $6.79 for a $14.95 price.
• Sarah—CreateSpace—you set your own prices. Take into account shipping costs! Supply and demand. CreateSpace, part of Amazon, qualifies for SuperSaver shipping (her original POD company was too expensive with shipping)
• Tanya—Two issues ago Writers’ Digest was all about self-publishing

I know some people have said it’s a good idea to create a separate company that isn’t you to be the publisher. Does that help?

• Sarah—In a way it does. One of the cons of self-publishing—people pick up a book that’s self pubbed, they think it’s self pubbed because it’s bad. If it says “Published by Sarah Eden,” it’s not good in their minds.
• Gary—I came up with a press. I named it Hole Shot Press—I didn’t want people to be able to tell it’s self-pubbed.

Any tax tips?

• Gary—You have to keep track of your income if you make money (which has not been an issue for me yet). When you sell direct to a customer in your state, you have to pay sales tax. You have to get a state sales tax number.
• Sarah—I get royalties instead of profits with CreateSpace. It’s a 1099. But don’t forget to subtract your expenses.
• Cindy—As always, consult your tax advisers.

Roger—WriteWise or any of these other groups experience?
No

Any marketing tips so people can hear about your book?
Joyce—[dubbed marketing guru by . . . Marsha at the beginning of the panel] Websites, blogs. I like to do contests because that builds up a mailing list of people who enter. Then she can send them info. One tip she read: a reader who has never head of an author before needs to see the title of the book at least 10 times before they’ll consider buying a book from an unknown author. Her goal isn’t always a sale, it’s to get her book’s name out there.

About the conference: LDStorymakers is a writing contest geared to LDS writers. The conference covers both the niche, regional publishers that cater to the LDS market as well as national publishers.