Your Friday TidBit -- Taking Chances & Making Opportunities
Happy Friday! I'll try to keep this one short because I have several things on my to-do list and zero motivation to do them. It's hot. I dislike the word 'hot' when it is used to describe the weather. Yesterday was the ending of my "I hate the summer heat" sale for those eBooks enrolled in Kindle Unlimited. Did you take advantage of it? It was a great deal. If you didn't, and only buy things when they are on sale, don't worry, I'll likely have another one at some point in the future.
Let's talk about being Self-Published. It's always on the forefront of my mind because I am self published. I happened to be reading reviews on other books the other day because I now know that some of the reviews are "purchased" through a service. A lot of them are genuine and real. I get a lot of author and writer posts in my social media newsfeeds and happened across a post about a mistake found in a book by an apparent 'known' author and how she used ++++++ instead of a word. There were all sorts of theories and guess work, wondering how it was missed in editing, but some of the people who commented were downright nasty. One person commented negatively stating that the book was likely self-published and therefore wasn't "quality" because it was self-published. Others jumped on the self-published bandwagon and were stating that just because the novel may or may not have been self-published, it wasn't as good as novels published by traditional publishing houses that have contracts, editors, designers, and marketing.
I frowned over that. I hate that mentality.
Certainly, in today's world, literally ANYONE can publish a book. There are books out there that are self published by people who are learning, by people who decide writing a book is quick and easy, throw down 60,000 words and never do further drafts or revisions before they slap it on Amazon and then run around telling everyone to buy their book. Sure, I've seen books full of errors but I understand. (I've made those same errors, even after editing the book multiple times but then I fixed them as soon as I became aware of them so future readers don't find them. Humans do make mistakes, after all.) I'm sure those people will eventually lose interest in their work and move onto the next popular venture of DIY craft. That's fine. That's their choice. But the book snobs who turn up their noses at books just because they are self-published in today's day and age are just showing how shallow and ignorant they are.
Do we shrug off local artists, photographers, and musicians because they aren't featured in the Metropolitan Museum, printed in every National Geographic, or playing the biggest football stadium filled with fans? No. We appreciate their talent. Talent is talent regardless of ability to market. The best job in life is to do and get paid for what you absolutely LOVE doing.
In the book world, just because you have a contract with a traditional publisher, doesn't mean you're going to write something EVERYONE loves. I've read a few books by "National" and "International" "Best Selling" "#1 On Some List Somewhere" traditionally published authors that just make me wonder "why?" I either didn't finish them, skipped or skimmed, or just begrudgingly read them, hoping each page turn would get better. As an author, I've wondered how some of those books became SOOOOO popular so suddenly. The characters were unlikeable, the plot was blah, and it wasn't interesting. Did this author have a deadline on a particular book they were contracted to do, then just waited til last moment because they were out spending the money from their contract on their new vacation home and then just throw words on their computer the day before their deadline and hand it off to their editor? (My mind is a frightening place sometimes with things that it ponders.)
Just because something is "self-published" or made by hand, doesn't make it crap or less than anything else. But that's today's mentality. Quick to judge, quick to be offended, and quick to put down others. But talent is still talent and I have seen other self-published authors who have some pretty awesome novels out there. I enjoy seeing their successes as authors, especially since they don't have the power and money of those traditional publishers who made an investment in a contracted author and will do their damnedest to get every single penny of their investment back.
Now that I got that off my chest, I've been up to a few things:
-- Taking advantage of local channels.
- At the beginning of the month I donated three novels to our local library. It's been two weeks and I'm not sure how quickly they get things catalogued and on the shelves (my guess is very slowly but I could be wrong.) I haven't been back to check because I've been involved in other tasks but I will get in there next week to check.
- I put some copies of first-of-series novels into the "Free Little Libraries" around my area. I'm aware that mostly older people and kids use those resources, but you never quite know who else looks into them. I know I'm always looking at the books when my kids are searching through to find "THE" perfect book they want to take home in exchange for what they put in. I've not heard of this particular method being prosperous, giving books away, but I'm looking to become known to readers (known in a positive way because my books are so good -- It pays to be specific in what you ask for) and if readers aren't familiar with your work, they are hesitant about picking the book up.
-- Now Available on Apple Books
- Besides being available on Barnesandnoble.com and Amazon.com, my books will be available for sale on the Apple Books apps for those of you who would rather use your Apple products. I'm all for hearing where people find books and buy books and will get my work on those stores. Don't forget -- I am also on Goodreads.com too!
- Taking advantage of retailer sites promotion tools and offering discounts or sales as I go. This last week was the first time I did a Kindle Countdown Deal just to see how it works. I'll be experimenting to see what works for me.
- I am working on three new novels for you -- One ghost story, two Allegheny Chronicles. When it gets closer, I will be looking for a few people who are willing to be Advanced Readers. This means I will send you a proof copy of my paperback book for you to read BEFORE it releases for sale. All you have to do is read it, then give a review on it when it is released for sale. I'm not looking for you to edit, because hopefully by then, I'll have all my t's crossed and i's dotted and NOTHING slipped by that process. 🤞But I'll let you know when I get there. I'm in the second rewrite on two of them and can only write what I see. If you're interested in being one of my Advanced Readers, let me know! Send me an email at embrooksbooks0920@gmail.com and put "Advanced Reader" in the subject. Let me know if you've been an advanced reader before and if you're familiar with my work already. I'll be in contact.
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Find all of my TEN (🙌 )of my books in one easy link at Amazon:
www.amazon.com/author/embrooks
If you don't care for Amazon, I have those same ten available at Barnes and Noble, too, in paperback and on Nook. (Search Em Brooks and the title!)
https://www.barnesandnoble.com]
Now on Apple Books!!! Get Portrait of an Unlikely Affair and Could've Been Something on your iTunes Store today! (Search Em Brooks or the title)
If you know of another book retailer you love to buy books from, let me know and I'll see if I can get my books sold there too.
Keep up to date with all of my writing at:
TheAuthorEmBrooks.blogspot.com
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