an amazing race, you’ve done Victoria, BC Canada proud.

Yes!! The weather has cooperated this week and Robert is ending a great week full of fun and festivities in downtown Victoria BC. The Swiftsure (boat race in above banner pictured in 2010), the David Foster concert and a many cruise ships (3 during his market hours) have brought in lots of visitors for their activities this weekend … and thank you public for buying our books!!

It’s also wonderful to finally see a proper start to our season with sunshine … which always helps encourage sales at the local markets.

I just discovered the Tips website of fellow member of LinkedIn and wanted to share … how to go that extra mile in formatting your book for ePub and Kindle.

I have not tried this yet, but I’ve thought about it often and seen many old ebooks with this feature not working! I use MSWord so it may be a challenge. I’ll keep you posted   Link for Drop Caps

Also check out Marks’s website for other great tips. I’ve registered to “follow” him so I don’t miss anything!

An additional tip on same subject from Cathryn Isakson on LinkedIn:

“If you fiddle around with the font size in the dropcap definition, you can get the baseline of the dropcap to align with the baseline of your paragraph text. In my last ebook, I also added a subtle colour to the dropcap and it came up well.”

Victoria BC's Annual Boat Show

It’s Spring the flowers are out and Victoria, BC is ready for tourists with Victoria’s Annual Boat Show beginning today in our beautiful harbour …  our city’s first major outdoor event. Sunshine with a minimal chance of rain is forecast for today and Friday and SUNSHINE for the rest of weekend! … so begins another year for my husband, author, J. Robert Whittle and I.

I’m thrilled to report that in the past month sales of our books have already increased over last year, receiving online orders (we have now improved the Canada Post shipping charges having worked out a glitch with our new shipping program), emails, telephone calls and meeting people at garage sales. Who says garage sales are a waste of time … of course, the signs on our vans always help! Our books are also available on ebooks, all formats … at great prices (some just reduced at Kindle and Smashwords)!

The weather is certainly warming up (finally) and Robert is poised to return to Bastion Square, this weekend (Fri-Sat) if all goes well. The market (down at Langley Street for April) actually has been running for a few weekends with a minimal amount of vendors. Bastion Square Market officially begins May 3 from Thursday to Sunday with the new expanded Sunday market to include the former Government Street Market and a larger Farmer’s Market, both right on Langley Street for the summer.

We are encouraged that a fun and pleasantly lucrative season is ahead of us.

So come down to Bastion Square in Victoria, BC to see what is happening for 2012.

One of our issues has been no Chapter of Contents showing up,
another was text changing formatting and some of illustrations not appearing.

We thought we had followed Smashwords’ Style Guide explicitly but it still didn’t work.

Thanks Paul, we are in your debt.

Follow his instructions to the exact detail and you should have success too … and this helps a myriad of problems in books without images!!

Good luck.

Getting Down To Business for Writers Workshop

Having your own business takes discipline, stamina, and a computer!
For today’s purpose, I’m going to focus mainly on using the computer as the rest is pretty basic, easy to look up, and you’ve no doubt heard it all before ie., the accounting and keeping track of every expenses & your car use etc.

 Marketing a Self-Published Novel

– Non-Fiction has some differences and are often easier to write and sell. ie., can manipulate sales easier to get high rankings from Amazon.com*

First Steps(in brief)

1 or 2.  Experience the Surrey Int. Writer’s Conference (SIWC.ca) held each
October in Surrey, BC.

Publishers/editors/agents are present to advise you 1-on-1. You hobnob with successful authors such as Diana Gabaldon, Jack Whyte and published authors of all types/genres. Some of these authors/publishers/agents give workshops which are ongoing for 2-3 days … a packed weekend of learning and sharing with other writers and wannabees.

Note: If you’re hoping to find a professional publisher – you will probably need an agent and they are difficult to find. There are lists (online) and books to read but the easiest way may be to talk to authors who write books similar to yours, Or read the Acknowledgements in a recently published book for the name of their agent. Lots of info on the web. Be aware … it may drown you. At this workshop, we were told that there are so few Canadian Agents they are too busy already … and very little opportunity for first-time authors!

1 or 2. Write the book!! This may be obvious but why waste precious time on questions beforehand. It could take you a year or more and everything changes too quickly in this industry.

3. Research how to publish but don’t commit to anything too early! Your choices are: (a) POD (Caution: they charge via ‘packages.’ Do your research.’), (b) Indie or Self Publish with print books (like we did), or (c) Start with an eBook (there’s no guarantee of how a print book will do).

One of many great info websites/blogs:  http://allindiepublishing.com/

4. Do I need a ISBN/CIP?  Yes, they’re needed for bookstores and libraries and free in Canada. They’re easy to get, so IMO cover all your bases from square one!  http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/publishers/index-e.html/

5. Bookstores – (a) Local independent stores may/may not carry self-published books. May depend on subject matter, space availability, subject matter, your popularity from current marketing. (40% comm. is usual). They may list your book online. Talk to them before you finish writing. * invaluable for info: Check out format of books like yours (font, pitch, spacing, title pages) and copy it; the clerk may be an author and will gladly share info with you. *Realize that bookstores have expensive real estate and they must feel your book will be worth having to monopolize this space.

(b)  Chainstores (local or online)  – Chapters/Indigo, Amazon.com, big boxstores (Walmart) etc. take a larger commission (@ 55-65% commission and you probably need a distributor as well (for an additional 15% or so).

(c)  On-line bookstores – some have their own publishing arm ie., Amazon. Research. Ask around.

6.  Join a Canadian/USA/International Indie-publishing association. Some are co-ops. Fees apply.

Watch Rebecca Kennel’s 2010 lecture from an earlier 3 Penny Publishing Workshop. It’s excellent.    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvcEMuWwNbc&list=UU90woABSqDsHGN7HkzaNFXA&index=3&feature=plcp

Marketing – Local

Now is the time to start work on a Business Plan and Budget for marketing expenses.
Tips:  http://www.wordclay.com/Resources/MarketYourBook.aspx

• Book Clubs – offer to lecture and/or give a discount. Libraries may buy 10 books.
• Join a Writer’s Group(s) – they offer critique – tap into their knowledge and support.
• Libraries – Talk to them about carrying your books and give a lecture.
• Lecture to service clubs ie., Rotary, Lions  Non-fiction? Local college, Rec. Centre.
• School Lectures – It’s more difficult to get into schools now depending on how much you charge. Here’s a sample but keep in mind Professional authors get grants! http://www.cwill.bc.ca/pages/teachers_booking_info
• Farmer’s and outdoor Markets – books allowed, we were possibly the first to do this in many areas (’99).

Table fees range from $20/day for outdoor, ‘Farmer’s markets’ also have membership fees. Sidney Thurs. Night Market ($45) Don’t be fooled – many come to merely browse, walk dogs & enjoy the ambiance!

• Craft Shows – rarity not to allow books.
  Outdoor ie., local parks during band concerts/special events. ($25 and up) Works better if your book is small when combined with another event ie., car show, agricultural/trade show;  Indoor @ Christmas etc. (usually $100/day and up)
• Specialty stores – ie., Butchart’s for garden-related, gift stores, etc. Best for Non-Fiction

Marketing – Internet

1. Get your own website – check out different service providers prices, ask friends for advice. We use www.hostutopia.com with great success – not expensive @ $5.95/mo. The cost is if you have to hire someone. Consider a WordPress Blog – so popular now and a lot easier than the regular format. www.wordpress.com more options than www.blogspot.com We also have: www.bestsellingbooks.ca

2. Sell your book through your website using Paypal or Clickbank etc. We use Paypal and they now have a shipping component direct from customer’s order – no more waiting in line at the Post Office.

3. Make an eBook:  eBooks are hugely popular now and ours are available in all formats. We use www.Amazon.com (Kindle format) and www.Smashwords.com

Smashwords supplies ALL the formats necessary for ALL readers for FREE. This gets you on Kobo, Sony, iPad, Kindle, iPod, etc. It can be tricky or simple and using MSWord works the best. Images can also be tricky. Smashwords has promotions and coupons for discounting books to friends/media or promotion.

Our Kindle sales have almost disappeared since they started their KDP* program for authors. Kindle also have a bit more complicated payout system (+ less commission) for Canadians but this is improving slowly. * Presently, they are giving away tons of ebooks under the KDP program. Goodreads.com  has a long thread on their author’s experiences @ http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/760122-any-authors-in-the-kdp-select-program?page=1  (a must read – scroll down for most recent). I am now considering trying this program for one or two books.

 4.  Smartphones: Generate your own website/Facebook/Twitter barcode @ http://qrcode.kaywa.com/  post it on your website, on your book info handout, your poster etc. Any Smartphone can read it with the ‘Qr Barcode’ App.  Open the App and it will use your camera App …  you merely hold your phone close to the barcode as if you’re taking a photo of it. Once it’s a photo it will ask you to open the website or whatever.  Great for seminars/workshops/trade shows etc.

More useful links:
http://joycesandilands.com/category/marketing/   My blog has many different articles.

http://www.go-publish-yourself.com

http://www.askwhy.co.uk/books/aspiringroot.htm
http://www.parapublishing.com (Dan Poynter)  Page to add your own link.
http://www.spannet.org
http://www.canauthors.org
http://voices.yahoo.com/tips-market-self-published-novel-locally-2889491.html?cat=3

I found this blog template … Flexx from “iThemes”…  and purchased it for $79. The cost has come down now and you can purchase all 18 themes for $97. The company is now iThemes Builder … 2 template systems which are from the same company giving us phenomenal WP templates (and training) for a great price.

They are always having sales, which is how I purchased the rest of their stuff … especially good for website designers! I recommend you check out their website and listen to some of the videos before deciding which Theme to go with. You can also easily update your site to a Builder Theme if you already have iThemes in use but you cannot mix the 2 themes, something it took me awhile to realize. They have lots of videos to help you and many of their old videos are now being updated, thank goodness (earlier, I wasted a lot of time trying to find what I needed)!

Here is the place to start:  www.iThemes.com

Good luck.

Emily Craven’s, The E-book Revolution offers a lot of info to read through and if it’s as good as her webinar you won’t want to miss it!  I have listened to the whole 70 min webinar and think it is amazing. It is entitled: 5 Fast Simple Secrets to eBook Success. Sign up for it right at the top of her website.

Emily is both intelligent and educated and obviously loves her subject. She gives a ton of good info, tips and links too so have a notepad ready. She is enthusiastic and very quick in her presentation … you have to pay attention. I think her audience will also be hyped by listening to her, I certainly was and she gave me many ideas. She also gives writing and editing tips and interesting suggestions that work for any type of writing/book and not just for ebooks.

I can’t say enough about Emily’s fantastic job here and I am so glad I happened on her website by accident. I only wish I had discovered her info when Robert and I first started out! (In actuality most of this info was not in existence, so there you have it … merely a pipe dream!)

There is one downside of all this that may bother a few people, although in all fairness it should not with all the FREE info she gives out. Emily does try to sell you a program at the end but it was very reasonably priced and I may have gone for it if it was still available.  However, she gives the names of the presenters which you could lookup and get info direct from their websites if you are interested enough.

Anyway, good luck and enjoy Emily’s webinar. You will be glad you did.