[coconutpete]

Just wanted to do a quick poll...

What areas do you need the most help with regarding your books?

Are there any products/services you currently pay for?

Any areas you have a hard time finding help for?

 

[Darryl Hughes]

Just wanted to do a quick poll...

What areas do you need the most help with regarding your books?

Are there any products/services you currently pay for?

Any areas you have a hard time finding help for?

Marketing and promotion. With AMS being too expensive, and ebook promo sites losing their effectiveness, we've got to find new and innovative ways to promote our work and I just don't know where else to look. Fiverr maybe? But again it's a question of effectiveness.

Dee

 

[coconutpete]

Marketing and promotion. With AMS being too expensive, and ebook promo sites losing their effectiveness, we've got to find new and innovative ways to promote our work and I just don't know where else to look. Fiverr maybe? But again it's a question of effectiveness.

Dee

The landscape has changed so much since the Kindle was first released. Back then Amazon ads didn't exist... I would have to agree that advertising/promotion does seem to be the biggest problem.

I've halfway been thinking one good idea for authors might be to have a book available 100% for free to be read on a blog. I don't remember the name of the site but I once saw a blog that did that.. instead of having to download the book you could read the whole thing online.

I'll see if I can find it again

 

[KiwiSelfPublisher]

Marketing and getting reviews.

 

[NikOK]

My biggest one is editing, for sure. When I try to do final edits by myself I always hit that wall where I know what I wanted to say and and that makes me miss so many things that could/should have been clearer. I don't know, I like to learn different skills as best I can, and always want to do things myself, but I've definitely figured out that I just can't edit my own books and get them to be a fun read for someone else.

I think I can get by without on a lot of things, just not a good editor 😊

 

[boxer44]

NikOK ... what genre do you write ... different genres require different editing beyond just the grammer and writing style to get to readability.

What kind of problems do you feel you need to correct?

 

[NikOK]

NikOK ... what genre do you write ... different genres require different editing beyond just the grammer and writing style to get to readability.

What kind of problems do you feel you need to correct?

Well, I'm working on a romance, maybe romance/comedy now but have bounced around in different genres. Definitely not the best way to do it for sales and things, it just keeps me having fun though

I think the hard part for me is less grammar edits (though that's a big part!) and more context and information changes. Like, how well the important parts of the story flow to a reader. Maybe part of it is that I know most of the picture going in to it, so I don't feel like I have a very good perspective on, did I cover everything, did I describe things enough, ect. Having my editor being able to say when I need to tweak something helps a ton because after everything I just can't figure out how to read it as a reader, heh, if that makes sense.

And who knows, maybe I'll get better at these things over time, but for now it's definitely a hurdle that I need a boost to get over 😊

 

[boxer44]

NikOK: If you get a part you feel needs 'help', try letting it sit for a day or so, then read it aloud to yourself. Especially dialogue.
We often speak in a different way than we write narrative. Sometimes, a well placed 'dialogue', even a few words or a one word statement clears or fills a reader's mind (or an author's mind) when visualizing a written scene. Shortening a scene or a dialogue piece sharpens the visual you present to readers as well. Variable vocabulary usage is important as word choice.

 

[NikOK]

That's a good idea, I will give it a shot to read things aloud. Thanks!

 

[jhaskin]

That's a good idea, I will give it a shot to read things aloud. Thanks!

I don't know how publicity works on this site, but I do professional editing on the side, and focus on teaching the author what went wrong in their manuscript and why, so they learn to make a better book next time. In February, I'll be having a 50% off sale to spread some love for Valentine's Day. www.frontpageediting.com

Also, if you change a document in any way (i.e. font, color, size, etc.), your brain will see it as a new document that it hasn't seen before, and it makes it so much easier to see mistakes. Here's my secret: If you can read it on your phone, or on your kindle app like a "real" book, mistakes will just jump out at you, like they would in someone else's book.

~jenn

 

[NikOK]

I don't know how publicity works on this site, but I do professional editing on the side, and focus on teaching the author what went wrong in their manuscript and why, so they learn to make a better book next time. In February, I'll be having a 50% off sale to spread some love for Valentine's Day. www.frontpageediting.com

Also, if you change a document in any way (i.e. font, color, size, etc.), your brain will see it as a new document that it hasn't seen before, and it makes it so much easier to see mistakes. Here's my secret: If you can read it on your phone, or on your kindle app like a "real" book, mistakes will just jump out at you, like they would in someone else's book.

~jenn

That's a really neat trick, and I might just give it a shot the next time I'm working on reediting sections. So big thanks! Anything will help really 😊

And I'll keep it in mind on the editing. It still might take me a little bit to get to that point (I'm a slow doer 😊) but if you are still available when I'm ready we can talk then. But really, thanks for sharing one of your tricks, that's really nice, especially from someone who does it professionally.