Reading for pleasure and other things I should be doing

Posted on December 11, 2023 by Vania Margene Rheault

After a chat with a friend, I realized how little I read for pleasure (well, I knew that, but she makes time to read and I…don’t). I used to love to read–I think most writers have been (or still are) voracious readers at some point, but like a lot of writers too, the moment I sat down to write my own books, reading for pleasure took a backseat.

There are a couple of reasons for this but the biggest one is that there isn’t a lot of time. Once you hop on the indie merry-go-round, it takes incredible willpower jump off. I’ve been running on it since 2016 chasing after that elusive brass ring that seems farther and farther away with every rotation. Doing anything that’s not working on my books feels like a waste of time (and needless to say, it’s what I enjoy doing most when I’m not working) and I know what a dangerous mindset that can be. Deep in my heart I know as a writer (and as a person, really) you need to experience new things, new ideas, meet new people. What is that saying?

desk with old typewriter, espresso cup, camera, notebook and flowers. Text reads, “In order to write about life first you must live it.”

— Ernest Hemingway

This isn’t exactly an argument for writing what you know, but it kind of is, too. I went to Santa Barbara, California, for a writing conference… five years ago I think now. I’ve seen the ocean many times, in Florida and I once went to Cancún for spring break, but until you see the coasts in person, you don’t realize how different they are. It surprised the hell out of me that the Atlantic Ocean was cold. I’ve swam in the Pacific and the Gulf of Mexico, but in June, in Santa Barbara, there was no way I would have jumped in (and this is from a woman who’s swam in Minnesota lakes). I was also surprised by how chilly it got in the evenings. I was expecting the Floridian heat and humidity, and I was pleasantly surprised. Fast forward to this year when I wrote my rockstars and Olivia moved to Malibu for the summer to help Sheppard. She was from Minnesota and had never been to California before. It was so much fun to push my experiences into her life. I never would have been able to do that had I not traveled to California for that conference. I met a lot of nice people, scooted out of my comfort zone, and learned a few things too. But, I took the time to do it, something that seems unfathomable now.

Reading has fallen to the faraway wayside, and I need to get back to it. Not only because I enjoy reading, but because you can learn from another person’s writing style, vocabulary, and their own experiences they put into their books. It’s important as a writer to read, especially in your genre so you understand reader expectations, tropes, and what readers are enjoying. I think taking this approach will help me read more. I’ve always been a sucker for research, diving into hours of YouTube videos to write Captivated by Her and looking up plane crashes like JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette’s, when I wrote the series I’m editing now. I can still get sucked into looking at photos of them and reading about their crash. Even when I wrote my rockstars, I watched Lady Gaga’s documentary on Netflix and read Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Daisy Jones and the Six and watch the series on Prime. I probably should have read more rockstar romances before writing my trilogy–I’m lucky they’re meeting reader expectations for that subgenre (At least, I think they are. I haven’t heard otherwise). Do you know the book I fell back on when the plot of Twisted Alibis landed in my lap? An old Nora Roberts standalone about a rock band called Public Secrets. Copyrighted in 1998, I read it many years ago, and no, I didn’t reread it when I was plotting my books.

Photo taken from Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Public-Secrets-Novel-Nora-Roberts/dp/0553285785

I probably shouldn’t feel like I need to look at reading as research, but I think I’m going to have to. I want to read, I used to enjoy it, and I had no trouble reading the book I mentioned in a previous blog post, or the one that came after that. It’s a mind thing, thinking that if I’m not working on my own books (or making graphics for them) I’m wasting time.

There are a ton of other things I want to do–shows to watch, cleaning, putting together bookshelves and weeding out books like the publishing books I bought years ago that are obsolete now. I said I was going to take December off, but I have no idea where that delusion came from–I want to get this series put up because I am really looking forward to writing new books. BUT, I need to research them so I can do the mafia subgenre justice. I need balance, but I feel like there’s lava on one side and a pool full of piranha on the other. I know working only on my own books isn’t good for me, or even my books, but damned if I can slow down for even a minute.

And to make matters worse, I’m not even all that fast. Most of the books I published this year I’d held back, so I wasn’t even really writing for a lot of 2023. Then you hear of the indies who do this full-time who say, “Oh, well, I published 8 books this year, but it was a slow year for me. I usually do 10-12,” and you don’t want to get left behind. What’s funny though, is I’m already behind, so the idea of being left there is just a figment of my imagination.

The bottom line is, I like working on my own stuff too much. All things should be enjoyed in moderation, but unfortunately, I started working on my series, and I honestly won’t stop to do anything else now until they’re ready to go. Tenacity and dedication can help you succeed, but I think you can appreciate it more fully if you take time out.

Not to mention, it’s nice to know what everyone is talking about on social media when it comes to the hottest new thing. It helps you join in the conversation, which is why I started watching Bridgerton in the first place. I wanted to know what all of Romancelandia was talking about. If you don’t know, that’s a different way to get left behind. Also, knowing who does what when will help you build your brand. If you’re an author, promoting books like yours can help build your platform. That’s where breaking out of the #writingcommunity can come in handy. You don’t want to only recommend your friends’ books. You might like reading other genres, but readers can be set in their ways and only read one thing. You can teach them to go to you for book recs and then when you have a new book out, you already have an audience who reads it.

Being this is the end of the year, I can put reading and “experiencing life” on my 2024 New Year’s Resolutions. There are also a lot of speakers I want to watch on YouTube from the 20Booksto50k conference last month. One of my resolutions is to get better with FB ads, and Mallory and Jill Cooper were there. As far as resolutions go, I’m paying off my car this week (YAY!!!), and instead of absorbing the payment into my monthly budget, I’m going to keep taking it out and save up for a BookBub featured deal. I think it’s time I start applying for those, but a Contemporary Romance spot is 665 dollars. I’ll have to save up for four months, but I think my backlist and my pen name are ready for that kind of boost. I have no doubt that my rockstars would give me the read through I need to recoup my fee. But all my resolutions would make for a good post next month, so I’ll stop there.

Next week I have my guest author interview. My year-end wrapup will fall on Christmas Day, but I’ll write it the weekend prior and schedule it. I can’t believe how fast December is going, but I’m hoping to get through book two before the New Year. It’s taking me a bit longer than I had anticipated to get through book one. I’ve read these so many times by now, and yeah, book one is a little slow because it’s setting up the next five books. There’s still stuff going on, but nothing is new to me and I’m dragging my feet. I’ve added 2,000 words already and I have 5 chapters left to go. Mainly just filling in some scenes that read too stark. I’m happy with the changes, and I’ll be very confident putting these out.

That’s all I have for this week. Read something that doesn’t have your name on it, haha.

Until next time!

Happy Thanksgiving! Five Things I’m Grateful For

Posted on November 23, 2023 by Vania Margene Rheault

It’s Thanksgiving Day in the States, and most times I don’t jump on the bandwagon for much, but I thought I would blog about the five things that I’m grateful for, not only in my life, but in the indie community, writing- and publishing-wise.

Number one, no doubt about it, is going to be my audience. I don’t pick up many subscribers on the blog anymore. One or two would sign up with every blog post I published, but I think that’s due to Twitter’s API and how WordPress can’t tweet my blogposts anymore when my blog goes live. I don’t go through the hassle of pushing my own blog on that platform (or anywhere for that matter). I was happy enough to let WordPress take care of it. Now I only have my own SEO to depend on, but I’m still finding a lot of discoverability with my how-to Canva posts and I might still get a follower or two out of those instructions. But, I’m not just grateful for the readers I’ve managed to pick up here. I have readers other places too, like my FB author page, and of course, the people who read my books. I started at 0, blogging for no one, writing for no one. It’s not a lot of fun, and without consistency, you can stay at 0 for a long time too. I’m grateful for all the readers who have stuck by me, in whatever capacity and on whatever platform, but I’m also grateful I hung in there for myself.

The friends I’ve made doing this crazy thing. I talk a lot about how lonely this gig feels, and I think you can feel that way no matter how many writer friends you have. Sitting behind your laptop and staring at a blank Word document can probably be one of the loneliest things you can do as a writer. No one can write your book but you. Sure, you can join sprints or writing groups, and those can be valuable. But writing starts and ends with you–it starts and ends with what’s inside your head. I’ve made lots of friends on Twitter and they were so helpful when it came to just starting out publishing. Most have faded now, not writing, family issues pulling them away, COVID, but I believe people come into your life when you need them. If they hang around, you still need them, and if they drift off, they’ve gone on to help someone else. I like to think I’ve done my share of helping and paying it forward because I value and appreciate the time people have given me. I don’t regret time I’ve given anyone–any relationship I’ve made in the past seven years I’ll treasure. Even if we don’t talk anymore, for whatever reason, I’m always wishing you the best.

People who are free with their information. I talk a lot on the blog about how “the information for success is out there,” you just have to know where to look for it. Several successful authors write nonfiction, and you’re crazy if you’re not listening to them speak or devouring their books. In no particular order, my favorite nonfiction authors are (and yes, I’ve read them all, and no, there are no affiliate links here):

Jennifer Probst. I love her two books on writing. You can’t get a more honest look on being an author than these two books–Write Naked and Write True.
Write Naked: https://www.amazon.com/Write-Naked-Bestsellers-Secrets-Navigating-ebook/dp/B01N16FESI
Write True: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FLGFLL5

Zoe York. Her how to write a series series is fantastic, and I can’t recommend it more: https://www.amazon.com /dp/B082CZDK75

Elana Johnson. Her indie inspiration books are the best! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07TWGGLCS

Craig Martelle. Read all his books. You won’t be disappointed! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SVG6GB9

Chris Fox. His books aren’t only a source of information, they’re also motivational: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074CJPMZ1

Joanna Penn. A pillar in the indie community, her books are a must have! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085CBDFQJ

This is quite a list, and your wallet is probably crying. I read all these over the course of 7 years, so it didn’t seem like such time-consuming event. And, you’re probably saying, these aren’t exactly free, and you’re right. Books aren’t free. But, no one said these authors had to sit down and share their secrets either, so they should be paid for the time they put into their books. All these authors share this information for free in some way, shape, or form. They all speak on podcasts, are interviewed for blogs or host their own FB groups. If you’re a romance author, start with Jen’s and Zoe’s books. They’re a godsend.

The support I have in my real life. I’ve come to realize that even if I don’t have full-fledged support from the people on this side of the screen, I don’t NOT have it, either. As a character once said in one of the books I’m putting out next year, indifference can be a kindness, and it can be. People don’t say derogatory things about my writing, and a couple of co-workers take an interest, my proofreader included. I’ve heard some people say that they don’t get any support from friends and/or family whatsoever, that their partners can be downright hostile, and even at least, if my family and friends aren’t interested, they aren’t mean about it. I’ll take that as a win and be glad I have what I have.

That this gave me a haven in the storm. I’ve been pretty honest in the past few years about my struggles, and I’m still being honest saying that having the writing and publishing community to fall back on has been wonderful. There’s nothing better to forget your worries than plotting out a book, setting a deadline, and focusing on that until it’s complete. I really don’t know what I would have done had I not had writing, not had the passion I have for it. Somewhere to put my misery and nervous energy. Somewhere to shove my anxiety. It really helps too, that so many authors and writers experienced their own anxieties dealing with COVID and the obstacles that brought on. Being able to open my Word document and focus on bringing characters to life probably saved me more than I know. Also, having this blog helped, and I hope somehow I helped others by admitting that my life just hasn’t been roses and rainbows. I never let it slow me down, though. I never let it slow me down.

I hope you can find some good in your life, something to be grateful for. There are days that are better than others, when you feel like crap and that takes precedence over everything else. Not even physical, but mentally too. Just remember things will pass and trying to be positive helps. I’ve written a lot of books when essentially my life has been pretty crappy these past few years. Do what you can and be grateful we made it this far.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Technology in Novels: Pros, Cons, and Avoiding It Altogether

Posted on September 18, 2023 by Vania Margene Rheault

Since I’m on TikTok to hopefully spread the word about my books, it makes sense that I’ve found some books to read, too. I’m on a “break” from editing my Christmas novel, and I’ve been trying to do other things like read books that I haven’t written, purge some old clothing, and do other annoying things I’ve put off like getting my oil changed. I’ve had success with some–I got my oil changed and an estimate for new tires before the snow comes (yikes!)–but failed at others, mostly reading books I haven’t written.

The book I picked up from TikTok promised a hot, sexy read, and it is. A reader will have no complaints about that part of it. But like any book, there needs to be more than sexytimes, and this one delivers that too, if only in passing. There’s the main plot (all the sex), the subplot, and a sub-subplot, that unfolds very slowly, and that’s fine. We talk about “literary” versus “commercial” books, and let’s just say, people aren’t reading this for the plot. Perfectly okay. After all, I did borrow it in KU and I’m not going to apologize, but what took me completely out of the story at about 50% or so, is the fact I could see where the subplot and the sub-subplot are going to tangle and explode. It’s not that I don’t like the direction the author is going, but the whole thing could be avoided by a quick Google search.

This is where technology can be the bane of an author’s existence… and a character’s too. I’ve heard authors say they write strictly historicals because they don’t want to have to deal with it. That’s fine, but if you write 80s books, I’m not reading it. I was born in 1974, and nothing interests me less than how things were in the 80s. I actually like technology. I jumped in when internet was still new, had dial-up through our landline and learned a few photo manipulation techniques on GIMP long before I decided to write books and design my own covers because I messed around with pictures of my kids. I’m not unlike anyone else who is constantly online, and if you think about it, characters in contemporary novels are online a lot too. It’s very difficult to get away from, and as authors, we have to assume that as with real life, information is but a touchscreen away.

You can make the argument that a character isn’t going to know what he doesn’t know, and that’s true. When you’re writing a mystery or a thriller, your character is going to start from scratch. That’s inevitable, but if your detective has agency and moves the plot forward instead of letting the plot push him around, he’s going to be curious, ask questions, and yes, do internet searches. You can’t get away from it if your character works for the FBI, the CIA, or an off-the-grid intelligence agency that you invent. They have software at their disposal like AFIS and face recognition software.

Mafia and Billionaire romance is steeped in technology, everything from paparazzi stalking them and posting photos online to the male characters doing background checks on their love interests to help them decide if she loves him for him or his money. That’s the part that hung me up in this book. The main guy is the son of a dirty billionaire, she has a mysterious past, and the thing that’s going to break them on page 500, he could have found on page two. Now, I don’t know for sure if that’s how it’s going to play out. The sub-subplot is mentioned so infrequently that I will more than likely have to read the entire series to see if my hunch is correct, but I’ve written my own twisty books and I doubt I’m far off.

The thing that bothers me most is that with the type of book this is and the types of characters are in this book, doing a background check on her would have been a no-brainer. Maybe the author is a pantser and didn’t fully plot out this series and decided on the direction she wanted to go too late, or she realized that if she didn’t plan it that way, there would be no book at all. It’s not like she cares. According to Publisher Rocket, the first book in the series is estimated to make $49,000 dollars this month alone, and who knows how many books are in the series. She doesn’t give one f*ck if a lowly indie author sniffed out a potential plot hole. And let’s face it, if you’re reading a book with that much smut, a plot that makes sense is a bonus (and I mean that in the nicest way possible, as it is well-written otherwise).

Technology, or deliberately excluding it, is the same as characters holding on to a secret–sometimes it makes sense and sometimes it doesn’t. I’m getting reviews for Twisted Lies, and one or two have pointed out that they should have just talked to each other. Sure, but then there would have been no book. It’s human nature to hold on to things you think another person is going to react negatively to, but when it comes to tech, is it human nature to avoid it? Maybe, depends on the kind of book you’re writing and if you can get away with it. In my Christmas novel, he’s stranded in a small town and stumbles upon a mystery about a woman he’s falling in love with. He wants to solve it for her, and he starts with a background check on her and another character. There definitely would have been no book if he wasn’t curious enough to start investigating, and as a billionaire, he has the resources that a poorer character may not have. He digs and backtracks, people lying to him or telling him things they think are the truth only for him to find out otherwise. Could he have solved the mystery without technology? Yes. But as he dug online, the readers also could piece together clues, which is what a real mystery is about–readers solving the puzzle along with your characters.

People text each other (rather than placing phone calls), they’re on social media, they stream rather than pay for cable. They’re on TikTok and Facebook, and even if you don’t mention some platforms by name in an attempt to make your book evergreen, it looks very suspect if you exclude these things from your writing. So, yeah, when a character doesn’t know something he could find out online, that’s always going to trip me up unless your character has a specific reason why he didn’t go looking in the first place. And you better consider if “he didn’t think of it” is going to be good enough because chances are it won’t be.

I don’t go crazy with technology in my books. My characters have cell phones, take classes online. Some have social media profiles, some don’t or if they do, I don’t mention it. It depends on the story and what should and would be naturally included. Most of my books require characters to do some kind of online research. The most important is for it to sound natural.

I was disappointed this author hid a fact that would have been found out in a five second online search, but I also read like a writer and not everyone is going to pick up on that or care. Sex doesn’t carry my books, so if I do cut corners ~~out of laziness~~, I can’t use that as an excuse. Sometimes a character’s lack of information is just sloppy writing or the author didn’t do enough research on their side. When I was plotting Captivated, I spent hours on YouTube watching construction projects so I could get an idea for a realistic accident that would hurt Rick. On the flip side, when Devyn was investigating what happened, she too, watched clips on a video sharing site.

Technology is a part of our everyday lives, and it should be for your characters, too. After all, chances are good that your reader is reading your book on a tablet and she bought the ebook online.

I’ll skim the rest of the book I borrowed– I doubt I’ll find out if my hunch is correct until later books in the series. I may or may not get to those as I have other books on my list to read first.

If you want to read about more tips and ways to include technology in your books look here:

https://www.artfuleditor.com/blog/2019/6/12/how-to-use-modern-tech-in-your-novel

https://nickkolakowski.com/2022/02/01/how-to-weave-technology-into-that-thriller-novel-youre-writing/

In author and personal news, I finished the second read-through of my Christmas novel. I have a few things to do this week, so I’m going to let it sit before I listen to it, get a few things done around my apartment, and watch Queen Charlotte on Netflix. I also want to read a couple more books I have coming in the mail, and I want to work more on the cover (also working a blurb would be a good idea).

Over the weekend, I was experimenting with my billionaire trilogy covers, and I think I might have found some guys that will work a lot better than what I have now and also a city background that is more suited. I’m excited, and my first impulse is to change them out, but I’m going to wait until January when they have their first book birthdays and try to get a little mileage out of a re-release. I have plenty to do while I wait, but you know how it is. I’m not even going to put them up here until later, and I’ll write a whole blog post about it.

One more thing before I go, KENP page reads for August went up to $ 0.004108 compared to the $ 0.003989 it was in July. That’s good news, as a lot of us were expecting a downward trend. I feel justified telling my blog readers to stay calm and see what happens. It’s never a good idea to make decisions based on other people’s negative prophesies.

I suppose I should save some news until next week, so I will say goodbye for now and I hope you all have a good week!

How “Self” is Self-Publishing?

Posted on July 3, 2023 by Vania Margene Rheault

This has been on my mind a little since there’s not a day that goes by when i see something online putting down authors who publish their own work. We aren’t included in some award competitions, people say readers don’t read self-published books (though I still don’t understand how readers know), and just a common misconception everywhere that self-published books are “less than” books that are gate-kept.

The problem is, not many, if any, books are truly self-published. What do I mean by that? Let’s take a look at book creation, design, and publishing.

Content: If you’re a writer, chances are 100% that you’ve brainstormed with someone. You’ve hit a plot hole and need help, or you can’t parse out your characters’ backstories to align with their present story. You bounce ideas off someone, more than likely another writer, who lights that creative spark that helps you figure out A to Z. Maybe you plot and use a plotting software like Plottr, or you use a plot generator or trope generator. Writing is a solitary endeavor, to be sure, but we rarely do it alone.

Content Part 2: After you’ve written your book, there are very few people who publish that book without a second set of eyes, be it a beta reader, editor, or proofer. Even though my editing routine is pretty hardcore (I mean, I listen to each and every book I publish, and that takes several days) I still miss things that a proofer picks up. I haven’t always used a beta reader or proofer, and with this pen name, I’m trying to get better with that. A second opinion (other than your own) can go a long way. While betas and editors can be expensive, there are ways around it–trading for services or asking a friend who isn’t in the indie community to help you in exchange for lunch. It could very well be by the time an author’s book is ready to publish, that book has been read by an editor, a proofer, and several beta readers.

Interior: Vellum makes it easy to format your own books. I’m lucky and my ex-fiancé bought me a Mac and the software. I format all my books with it, and to pay his kindness forward, I format for others for free. If you don’t have the resources to format your own book or don’t want to take the time to learn how using free software from places like Reedsy and Draft2Digital, an author is going to pay for their books to be formatted. Word does an okay job, but the PDF for the paperback can get a little complicated. I offered a lot of resources for formatting in a different blog post and you can look at them here.

Blurbs: Blurbs are probably one of the most difficult parts of publishing your book. You need one that’s hooky, that will draw a reader in, and if there is one thing out of any part of self-publishing that I make sure I do, it’s get help with my blurb. A bad blurb will turn away a potential reader just as quickly as a bad cover. A great-sounding blurb is your biggest marketing asset next to your cover. You have no idea how convoluted or confusing your blurb sounds until you workshop it. Especially with people who haven’t read your book before. Don’t put your blurb up on your book’s buy-page without feedback. No matter how good you think your blurb sounds, it can be better. Your book will thank you for it.

Covers: Considering my blog post on how to create your own cover in Canva has been viewed over five thousand times, more authors than ever are doing their own covers. It isn’t any wonder since cover designers can be a sketchy bunch, and costly, too, even the designers who are just starting their businesses because they have to recoup stock photo and font fees. You may do your own cover, but if you do, get feedback. I’ll post my covers on the Indie Cover Project on Facebook (find it here https://www.facebook.com/groups/582724778598761) and grab some tips. Often, people will see things you don’t. It’s tough though, because sometimes they’ll suggest improvements you don’t know how to do if you have limited skills, or they’ll suggest things that don’t go along with your genre. I’ve gotten some good feedback, but if you post your cover there, thicken your skin up first.

Marketing/Advertising: There are a lot of resources for indies on learning advertising platforms and marketing tips. Bryan Cohen, who offers a free Amazon Ad Profit Challenge every three months, runs a Facebook group, and that group has over twenty-seven thousand members in it. That is a lot of people to help you if you do the challenge with Bryan. Author Unleashed, another Facebook group hosted by Robert J. Ryan, has almost six thousand members in it. Authors Optimizing Amazon and Facebook Ads – Support Group, also on Facebook, has almost seven thousand members in it. That is a lot of support if you’re running ads and have questions. There are a ton of books, Facebook groups, webinars, and classes that will teach you what you need to do to market your books effectively.

Publishing: There are a lot of Facebook groups, podcasts, blogs, and books that talk about publishing. You can also join Facebook groups for authors in your genre. I’m in several for romance authors. Members are more than happy to answer ISBN, wide vs. KU, and other questions that constantly pop up. Right now there’s a big conversation about the Adult/Explicit Content and 18+ readership that KDP has started. If you have a publishing question, the 20booksto50k group is great for it. You can even tweet your question, but I’ve read some convoluted and not entirely true information over there, so it would be worth it to get a second opinion if you ask there.

Considering all the steps indies take while they’re writing, packaging their books, and publishing indies rarely do this alone, and if you truly do, I encourage you to find a group or create your own. I spent the better part of the past 7 years I’ve been publishing networking and getting to know the wrong people. Find authors who have the same goals as you do. I’ve run into some issues online lately and with writing acquaintances because we don’t have the same goals. I want my books to sell and will do what it takes to make that happen. Not everyone thinks like that–unable to separate the art from the business. I take my writing seriously. It’s not a hobby. I consider it a second job. If you feel like that too, hang out with authors who feel the same. It will save you a lot of hurt down the road.

I’m sorry this blog post was late! I was so busy formatting over the weekend, this post completely slipped my mind. I don’t want to start slacking as that is the easiest way for me to fall out of the habit of writing at all. After I post, I’m going to work on my covers. I’ll have a trilogy update for you next Monday.

Enjoy the 4th if you’re in the States, and have a great week!

How to start a beta reading service

Posted on May 29, 2023 by Vania Margene Rheault

Beta reading can be a great way to give back to the writing community and help out your fellow authors. Coincidentally, a couple of my friends have decided to go into the beta reading business. Turning something you do for someone for fun into something that you’re charging for might require a different way of doing things. For a friend, you can be more casual about it, but to trade your time for cash will call for a bit more professionalism. If I were to go into beta reading for a few bucks (and I never will because I’m not interested in that) this is what I would do.

What are my qualifications? This is probably the most important, and something you might not consider. But charging for your services is different than reading for your friends for free. Authors who are giving you cash want expertise and experience in return. Simply being able to say that you’ve been a lifelong reader might be helpful, but may not be good enough. Do you have any formal education like a literature degree or an English degree? Do you know the genre conventions/reader expectations of the genre you’re going to read? Do you read the bestselling books in that genre? Do you know the tropes that make them bestselling books? Not every author you read for is going to be writing to market, that’s true, but just because it’s unsavory to some, there are authors who do want to know if they’re hitting the right beats, that the character arcs and plot arcs are in line with what’s selling, and that they’re nailing the end in a way readers are going to want. If you yourself are an author, how are your books selling? What are your reviews like? Beta reading is different from writing, that’s true, but you can’t expect to tell authors what they should be doing if you can’t do it with your own work. If I were going to answer these questions, I would say I have an English degree with a concentration in creative writing, I’ve been reading romance for years, have been writing romance for years, and finally am now making a little from the books I’ve published since I pivoted from 3rd to 1st person present and niched down. I would have to read more in my genre, though. I’ve said I don’t do it enough, and I don’t.

Decide what genre I would read. Let’s be honest here. If you go into beta reading, proofreading, or editing, you’re going to come across some stinkers. That’s just how it is, and probably why they’re asking for help in the first place–they know they need it. Reading something that needs work is tough enough; reading something that needs work written in a genre you don’t enjoy is even harder. Be firm with the genres you’ll read. If you choose romance, decide if you’re going to read open door sex scenes or not. I’m dirty and I’ll read it all. Some won’t. Same with swearing. I swear, my characters say Jesus Christ all day long, and I don’t mind reading it. Put together a set of wills and won’ts, and ask the person you’re beta reading for if their books contain those things.

How long are the books I read going to be? One thing that surprised me on Fiverr is how ~~cheap~~ inexpensive all the beta readers were–until I dug deeper and realized that betas charge on a tier system. 10 bucks for a short story, 25 bucks for a novelette, 50 bucks for a novella, 100 bucks for a novel 40-50k words long, 125 bucks for a novel 50-85k words, and 150 bucks or more for anything above 85k. (That’s just an example–I didn’t steal anyone’s prices.) They use the lowest fee to draw you in, and you’re massively disappointed when you can’t find a beta reader who charges 10 dollars for your enormous 160k word YA Fantasy. If you have limited time in your personal life you may want to limit how long those books are, or maybe you’re happy reading and charging for one book a month and digging into 150k words is your jam. But it’s helpful to know what length you like to read. I don’t read short stories, and I find novellas lacking in depth. I don’t buy novellas, but if the premise drew me in, then I would maybe beta read for a friend who needed it. Decide what you like and make sure your potential customers know.

What would I charge? This is icky for me since I beta for free at the moment. I’m selective and honest and only do it for my friends. If I’m busy, I say so. I don’t accept a project then get pissy because I don’t have the time (or don’t want to make time, for that matter). I read romance and I’ve made allowances, like reading a science fiction romance, because a friend asked me to take a look. That’s fine, and I’m happy to help. If I were charging, I’d be more strict with the genres I accept and probably put into practice a flat fee like I listed above. Some charge by the word, and some even by the hour, though I don’t now how you would keep track of (or prove) something like that. I’d enable a disclaimer and say I have the right to return a project if I can’t handle the first chapter. If the first chapter is badly written or just not my cup of tea, reading 50k plus more words wouldn’t be worth it. Life’s too short for that. Though, that could be feedback in and of itself. Starting out I would probably beta read at a discount until I had a few testimonials and could prove I make my customers happy. Maybe I would already have that if the friends I’ve helped gave a review of my work for my website. Like with anything else, you have to prove yourself before you can charge the maximum amount.

Decide if you’re going to proofread as you go. Some beta readers proof while they read–it isn’t all for plot and characterization. One beta reader I worked with couldn’t decide if she was going to proof for me or not. She marked some things, but for every one thing she found, she didn’t point out ten others. It was confusing. Don’t do that. Either be all in or be all out. If I proof for someone, they’re getting a line edit, too. I can’t overlook a mistake. I’d have to turn off my editor brain and I think unless they were close to publishing (the book had already gone through a critique group, for instance) I wouldn’t proofread as I went along. I’d read for plot, pacing, and characterization only. If they did ask for a proofread, that could be an extra fee. That would be up to you.

How would I give my feedback? Usually I just write up a separate Word doc and email it along with the manuscript I beta read (using Track Changes for short comments). I once proofed/beta read for someone using Google Docs, but since that’s live online, she read along with me and either fixed things or dismissed things while I was reading. That was creepy AF, and I will never beta read for someone using Google Docs again.

Can I give my readers resources in areas where they’re lacking? Probably the most satisfying part of beta reading for me is being able to point out resources for authors if they need some extra help. I read a lot of editing books, my favorite being Intuitive Editing: A Creative and Practical Guide to Revising Your Writing by Tiffany Yates Martin. Feedback is important, no doubt about it, but learning how to do a lot on your own before someone takes a look can save time and money down the road. I have a ton of editing resources, and if you want to take a look at my favorites, you can read this older blog post about publishing without an editor.

Where would I post about my business? It would make the most sense to add a page to this website, as being a paid beta reader would be a natural step after blogging for indies and publishing my own books. I already pay for the domain name, and I have to admit, when I see an editor, beta reader, or proofreader trying to sell their services and they don’t pay for a domain name, I write them off as unprofessional. http://www.sallyeditor.wordpress.com looks cheap and I can only assume, like readers assume a crappy cover indicates crappy insides, that if they aren’t willing to pay a few bucks a month for their domain name, that their services are on par.

How would I bill my clients? Creating an invoice in Canva would be the easiest, I think. You have to have a way to bill your customers because some authors write off their beta and editing expenses on their taxes, or at the very least, they keep track of their expenditures. And you as well, should keep track of how much you make so can report that income. The beta reader I worked with asked for half before she started and half when she finished. I didn’t mind that at all and would maybe follow something similar.

How would I accept payments? If you post your job listing on a website like Fiverr, they take care of that for you, and I’m assuming, take a small cut for helping you. I paid my beta through PayPal, but I’ve never accepted money through it, only sent it out. I would need to research that and figure out how people could pay me. PayPal seems to be popular still, but I would want to make paying me easy. Not sure how I would go about it, and I would definitely set that up beforehand so my clients knew the options available.

Beta reading for payment is a business choice, and like indie-publishing, it’s best to remain professional. Confidentiality is important. Not talking about your clients’ work to other people, maybe having a privacy clause on your website stating that their manuscripts are safe. When I beta read, I delete them from my computer after I send my feedback. Their stories and books don’t belong to me so I trash them when my work is done. It wouldn’t feel right keeping them, though technically I still “have” them in email because I don’t delete correspondence.

Beta reading is more than just reading–you’re helping an author put their books into the world. That’s nothing to take lightly. I’m always humbled when someone asks me for help. I think they value my opinion and respect my work. I offer that in kind, and I like to think I’ve added something to the writing community.

If you want to read more about starting your beta reading business, look here:

https://kindlepreneur.com/how-to-be-a-beta-reader/

https://www.scribophile.com/academy/how-to-become-a-beta-reader

Have a great week, everyone!

Marketing ideas for your books

Posted on October 10, 2022 by Vania Margene Rheault

We tend to confuse marketing and advertising when it comes to our books. Advertising is what you do when you’ve already written it and published it and you’re only looking for readers. That’s running ads, buying a promo, tweeting about it, or posting in FB groups. That’s not really marketing. That’s shoving your book under someone’s nose and hoping they like it enough to buy it.

Marketing encompasses a lot more than that, and it starts with your product, a fact many indie authors don’t like because they prefer writing the book of their heart and hoping someone likes it enough to read it. That’s fine; whatever floats your boat. And honestly, it’s what you should do when you first start out. But writing the book of your heart, or the books of your heart, won’t get you very far unless you can meet in the middle between what you want to write and what readers are looking for. As I’ve said in the past, authors who can meet in the middle find their longevity in this business. Or rather than compromising on every book, write something you love, then something you know will sell, and go back and forth. I was reading Bryan Cohen’s new Amazon Ads book Self-Publishing with Amazon Ads: The Author’s Guide to Lower Costs, Higher Royalties, and Greater Peace of Mind and in it he quoted John Cusack, who said something like, “I do one project for them and one project for me.” I can’t find attribution for that quote, but for the sake of this blog post, let’s go with it. That’s not what this blog post is about, as it is your choice what you want to write, but as Seth Godin said, and I quoted him not long ago, “Find products for your customer instead of trying to find customers for your product.”

(And if you’re interested, a really great talk by Kyla Stone is available here. She talks about writing to market, but she couldn’t get to where she is today if she wasn’t writing what she loved to write.)

I’ve spent six years publishing and learning from my mistakes. Here are some tips I picked up from other authors and what you can implement with your next books.

Make sure your series looks like a series.
If you look at any big indie’s backlist all their series look like they belong together. It doesn’t matter if they’re all standalones and readers don’t have to read them in order. If they fit together, create their covers so they look like they do. Not only does a reader glancing at your Amazon page know they belong in a series, they just look nicer when they’re all branded in the same way. That means a matching background, maybe, cover models who have the same vibe. Create a series logo and add that to the cover as another way to identify one series from the next. If you do your own covers but publish as you write, create all your covers at once. That way you’re not stuck with one cover that’s already out in the world you can’t duplicate. That shoves you into a corner you don’t want to be in. Book covers are more important than we want to believe, but trust me. Look at any of your comparison authors’ backlists and see for yourself how they brand their series. Also make sure if you’re going to run ads that they meet Amazon’s policies. I had to tweak my small town contemporary series because Amazon kept blocking my ads. I had to zoom in on their faces and it ruined the entire look. I’m much more careful now.

These are books under this name. It’s easy to see the trilogy belongs together, the three standalones and then the small town series. Amazon didn’t like they were in bed. Too bad. They did.

Write in a series, but also don’t tie things up –until the very last one.
Elana Johnson calls these loops. You can end each book with an HEA, but with the overall plot, don’t wrap things up! This encourages the reader to read through your entire series to see how things finally end. With my small town series, everyone is in town for a wedding, and there are wedding activities throughout. The last book ends with the couple’s ceremony. What’s fun, the couple getting married isn’t even one of the couples featured in the books. They are background characters that help with the subplot of each book. That’s it. That might be a flimsy piece of tape holding the books together, but it was a fun way for me to end the series–with the reason why everyone was together in the first place. When Elana talks about loops, she doesn’t mean ending books on a cliffhanger, though it is well within your right and another marketing strategy you can incorporate into your writing. Elana has a wonderful series for indie authors, and you can look at the books here. I’ve read them all, and this isn’t an affiliate link.

Use your back matter.
When you write in a series, and the books are available, your Kindle can help you out by prompting you to read the next one. That can be a boost, but also, you want to take matters into your own hands and add the link to the next book in the back matter of the one before it. If you don’t write in a series, add a different book. If a reader loves your book, they’ll want to read more from you, and you might as well make it easy for them. Too many calls to action may confuse a reader, so you don’t want pages and pages of back matter asking a reader to buy a million books, sign up for your newsletter, and follow you on Twitter and Facebook. Choose the one most important to you, add it immediately after the last word of your book while they are still experiencing that reader’s high, and ask them to buy your next book or sign up for your newsletter. I have also heard that graphics work wonders and adding the cover along with the link is a great way to prompt readers to buy.

Introduce your next book with a scene at the end of the previous book.
This is one I learned from the writers in my romance group on Facebook. Say your novel is about Travis and Amy, but the next book is going to be about Rafe and Emily. End Travis and Amy’s book with a short chapter/scene in Rafe’s POV to get them excited for the next book. I haven’t started doing this, but the writers in my group give it 10/10 stars, would recommend as a great way to get readers buying the next book. Also, if you’re writing romance, readers gravitate toward those hunky men, so if you can, write from his POV. I’m definitely doing this with the trilogy I’m publishing in January, and with the six books that are with my proofer now, the third book ends with an HEA for that couple, but I added a chapter from the heroine’s POV for the next three books. I suppose I could have done it from his POV, but hers felt more natural, and I hope it will be enough to get the readers invested in her story and how the series plays out. You can do this with any genre you write in–if he’s a detective, maybe he stumbles onto a new case, or maybe something serious happens in his personal life. Whatever the case may be, add something that will entice readers to click on the link you’re putting in the back.

Bonus scenes for newsletter subscribers only.
I haven’t started this up yet because 1) you have to write the bonus content 2) I don’t know my newsletter aggregator well enough to make something like this happen, and 3) with my newsletter signup link already in the back, I’m giving away a full-length novel. If you don’t have a reader magnet, writing a bonus scene that is only available if readers sign up for your newsletter is a great way to add to your list and hopefully, the more engaged your list is, the more readers you have.

Looking at your entire backlist as a whole–or what you’ll be writing in the future.
If you think of marketing as an umbrella for your entire career, then think of advertising on a book by book basis. Marketing involves all your books, who you are as an author, and what your message is. That’s why so many authors want a logo–but attach feelings, emotions, and what you’re giving your reader in your books to that logo so they think of those things when they see it. It’s why soda commercials are always happy. They want you to equate having a good time with drinking their product. What do you want your readers to get out of your books? If you’re a romance author, an HEA, for sure, but what else? Is your brand a damaged hero? Found family? If you write women’s fiction, do you want your readers to expect a woman on a journey, or maybe sisters repairing their relationship? Best friends who have grown apart only to be reunited for some reason? Of course, that sounds like all your books will be about the same thing, but that’s not really the case. What is your theme, what is your message you want your reader to get from your books?

Publish consistently.
Training your readers to expect a book at certain time will help you build buzz as your readers will get used to your schedule. Figure out a comfortable schedule and try to maintain it. Once every 3 months seems like a good practice if you can keep up with that as you’ll never fall off Amazon’s 90 cliff. Also, if you’re writing a series, keep in mind readers don’t like to wait and you’ll have your work cut out for you if you can only release one book a year. You might just have to be resigned to the fact you won’t get the number of readers you want until all the books are released.

It’s a bit older now, but Jamie Albright spoke at the 20books convention a few years ago. She shared some good tips if you can only write and release one book a year.

Tweeting incessantly about your books isn’t marketing. Doing research on your next book before you write it, figuring out your comp authors and comp titles, doing cover research, and writing a good blurb is marketing. Running ads and buying promos to that book once you’ve written it is advertising.

It took me a really long time to figure this out–ten failed books because I genre hopped and was only writing what came to me. I didn’t publish on a schedule, didn’t have a plan. I’m still not publishing on a schedule, though I am going to try to aim for one book a quarter after my COVID stockpile is out into the world.

I’m getting a hang of this marketing thing, but it’s nothing you can achieve over night. I spent five years making mistakes. I’ll spend the next five fixing them.

Thanks for reading!

If you want resources on planning your career, Zoe York has a wonderful series of books that talk about that. You can get them here. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082CZDK75

Sara Rosette also has a wonderful book on how to write series, and you can find it here. https://www.amazon.com/How-Write-Structure-Troubleshooting-Marketing/dp/1950054322/

The top 6 reasons listening to marketing advice is a pain in the A$$.

Posted on September 26, 2022 by Vania Margene Rheault

We all have marketing advice coming out our ears. I’m to the point where I don’t even care about marketing advice right now. I stopped listening to Clubhouse, I’m not an active participant in any Facebook group. All I’ve been doing is writing, writing, and more writing because let’s face it, marketing won’t do anything if you don’t have product. But more than that, marketing won’t do anything if you don’t have the right product. So here are my top six reasons why listening to marketing advice is a pain the you know what.

You don’t have the same backlist as the person dispensing the advice.
Frontlist drives backlist. Right? Maybe you’ve never heard it phrased like that. Maybe you’ve heard “writing the next book is the best marketing for the current book.” I like frontlist drives backlist better because sometimes we think that after a book is so many months old it will stop selling. Maybe in traditional publishing circles this is true–when bookstores yank your paperbacks off the shelves, but we’re digital now, and books on the digital shelf don’t get old. So when you have someone who’s been publishing for a while saying that their newest release earned them lots of money–you don’t know if it’s from the current release or if their new book bumped up all the books in their catalog. Listening to someone talk about how they are promoting their 20th book might not do much for you if you’re planning a second. They are 100 steps ahead of you. Take notes if you want, but chances are good what they are saying won’t apply to you. I’ve been in that position, too. Listening to big indies is discouraging. Rather than listening, I go write.

You’re not in the same genre/subgenre/novel length/platform.
If you write thrillers, what a romance author is doing may not help that much. Maybe you’ll get some ideas because a lot of marketing is universal, but for example, lots of romance authors are on TikTok right now. Whether that is beneficial for you, you would have to do your research and figure it out before you waste time learning how to make the videos. Marketing for wide isn’t going to be the same if you’re in KU, just like listening to a webinar on how to market a historical saga isn’t going to do much for you if you’re a children’s book author. Marketing advice isn’t created equal and it helps to figure out what you’re selling before listening to advice. Even marketing for historical romance would be different than marketing mafia romance. If you write short stories, chance are marketing those will be different than if you’re writing long novels.

They have money–you don’t.
It’s easy to say, “Oh, I bought a Freebooksy, put my first in series for free, and watched the royalties roll in through page reads.” That sounds like the answer to anyone’s prayers, except, then you rush to Written Word Media and see a Freebooksy spot is $40 to $175. If you’re trying to promote a standalone, there’s no way you’ll get that money back paying to give away a free book. Amazon ads aren’t nearly as expensive (I have six ads going and have only spent 4 dollars this month so far) but if you don’t know how to put together a Facebook ad, they are happy to take your money and run leaving you with no clicks and no sales. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot you can do for free anymore, all the begging going on right now on Twitter is proof of that. So it would be in your best interest to find a couple of nickels to rub together, make sure your book is advertising ready, and hope that you can find some traction with a low cost-per-click ad. If you’re afraid of losing money, do what you can with your product so that doesn’t happen. The person who DOES make their money back and then some on ads and promos has a product that people want and all they’re doing is helping readers find it.

They have a newsletter. You don’t.
Ever listen to a 6-figure indie author talk about their marketing campaigns? They give you all the sales numbers, all the rank, and someone asks them how they did it and they say…. “I emailed my newsletter and told them I had a new book out.” Where are the melting face emojis when you need them?

Here they are. There is nothing so disheartening as thinking you are going to hear a nugget of information that will take your author career to the next level. Don’t get me wrong, you need a mailing list. That bomb she dropped is proof of that. Only, her list was six years in the making and you’re stuck on MailerLite tutorials on YouTube. That doesn’t mean you can’t listen and write down her advice for later. She built up her newsletter somehow and she probably has a lot of tips on how she did that. Gave away a reader magnet, joined in Bookfunnel promotions (or StoryOrigin), she networked with other authors and they featured her in theirs to get the ball rolling. But you have to understand that she’s six years ahead of you. I’ve heard Lucy Score has 140,000 subscribers on her email list. You may never, ever, get there, and her marketing strategies will not be yours.

They write and publish faster than you.
I remember when I settled in for a good marketing talk with a big indie author. I had a notebook, a pen, a cup of coffee, and I was going to absorb all the knowledge. She was talking about ads and promos and the usual, and then she got to how many books she released a year.

That really sums how how I felt. There’s no way I could do that. I write fast–I can crank out four books a year with no help. No editor, no beta reader, no formatter, no one to do my covers, just me. But she multiplied that by four, and my heart sank. Obviously, their marketing techniques are going to be way different than yours. They can put a first in series for free, buy a promo, and get a ton of read-through from the get-go. They can run ads to several books and create boxed sets. What they can do in a year, you might be able to do in five, so you need to adjust accordingly. It doesn’t mean you won’t be successful, it just means you won’t be successful as quickly. When listening to marketing advice from prolific authors who are doing this as their day jobs, keep your expectations realistic. Save up advice that you might be able to use later, but realize that you can’t do anything without product first.

They could just be a better writer than you (for now).
No one likes to talk about craft. We don’t. It’s messy and subjective and it’s easy to start talking about rules and editing and first person vs. third person, and before you know it, you’re not talking to anybody anymore because everyone is ticked off about the Oxford Comma. But the fact is, good books sell. You can run ads and sell a bad book once, but you’ll never build an audience or a loyal readership off a crappy book. People work hard for their money and they don’t like to waste it. Time is precious and trying to read a book that isn’t well written is a drain when they could be reading something better, catching up with a show they’re behind on, or spending time with a significant other or their kids. You can’t be cavalier about asking people to spend time with you. People who have writing careers write good books. So if you’re discouraged because the authors you’re listening to are telling you that they don’t lose money on ads, and/or they have a huge newsletter, it’s because their books are good. Do you think this author has readers who are invested for the long haul?

I’m not making fun of anybody–he obviously has readers–I would do a lot for 458 reviews–but when 41% of them are one and two stars, you’re not offering content readers will come back for. Imagine how this book could have taken off if it had been well-written. It’s the first in a trilogy, and I don’t have to tell you the other two books aren’t doing well. The loss of potential is devastating to me. I can’t even imagine how he feels. Maybe he doesn’t even understand his own self-sabotage and is happy with the instant gratification.

It’s really difficult to listen to marketing advice. We all write such different books. Our genres will be different, our covers. Our willingness to put ourselves out there for the sake of networking. Our author voices and style will be different. Before you try to follow any advice, your books have to be marketable or any marketing you do will be for nothing.

This is why writing about marketing is hard. It’s why it’s difficult to listen to advice. And really, what no one talks about is how much marketing you have to do before you even write that book. We try to find customers for our product, when really, it’s a hell of a lot easier to find product for already existing customers. Finding your comparison authors makes it easy to find readers–their readers are your readers. We don’t like to study the market because we’d prefer to write what we want to write. The authors with the most longevity meet in the middle between what the market wants and what they love to write. It’s easy to do market research these days–Alex Newton of K-lytics takes the work right out of it, and you can watch a short trend report that he made this month for free here. https://k-lytics.com/kindle-e-book-market-trends-2022-september/

Read on for more resources and have a great week!

If you want to work on your craft, Tiffany Yates Martin has all her classes on sale for NaNoWriMo for $29.00/each. Check them out here! https://foxprinteditorial.teachable.com/

Thursday Thoughts and grabbing ideas from big-time indie authors.

Working on your craft: Can you publish without an editor?

Guest Blogger: Six Great Reasons to Write Short Fiction by Vera Brook

Posted on April 11, 2022 by Vania Margene Rheault

SIX GREAT REASONS TO WRITE SHORT FICTION

By Vera Brook

You may have glanced at the title of this post and shrugged. “I write novels and series. I’m not interested in short fiction.” Maybe you even rolled your eyes. “It’s just not worth my time.”

But wait! Don’t go away yet. I promise there are great reasons to consider writing short fiction alongside your novels and series—both to hone your craft and to market your longer fiction and reach new readers. So let’s dive in and discuss six of these reasons, shall we?

Actually, it might be helpful to first define short fiction. I dwell in the world of science fiction and fantasy, and in that world, we break down short fiction into four main lengths. Flash fiction is typically 250 to 1000 or 1500 words; a short story is between1500 and 7500 words (with 3000 to 5000 words considered a sweet spot); a novelette is 7500 to 17500 words; and a novella is 17500 to 40000 words. Anything longer than 40000 words is a novel. Other genres may use different definitions, so it’s good to familiarize yourself with some short fiction in your genre.

I also want to mention from the start: if you want to write short fiction, you need to read short fiction first. Not a huge amount, but some. It will help a great deal. If you find a story that absolutely blows you away, you can study it for craft and apply what you learn in your own writing. And by searching for short fiction to read, you will also discover markets where you could submit and publish your own short fiction later on.

How do you find short fiction to read? There is a rich plethora of short fiction magazines and anthologies out there, some in print, some digital, and many available in both formats. My favorite tool to search for magazines and anthologies (to submit to but also to read), and to track my submissions, is the Submission Grinder. You can search by genre and length, pay rate, response time, etc. And it’s absolutely free to use (although you could support the creator to help the good thing going). The Best of… anthologies are also a great choice, as long as they are pretty recent.

Okay. Let’s first talk about the benefits of writing short fiction in terms of craft, and then about all the different ways to use short fiction to market your longer works and widen your readership.

Craft reason #1: Practice and improve your openings.

The openings of novels are crucial. When a reader comes across your book on Kobo or Amazon, they’re very likely to open the ebook sample and read the first chapter or so. If the opening grabs them and pulls them in, they will get the book. The same happens in physical bookstores. The reader picks up a paperback and reads the first few pages.

The opening is crucial! But how often do we get to practice writing the opening? If you write long novels, not very often. Just once per novel. Short fiction lets you practice writing different kinds of openings and get better and better at them. A super helpful skill that you can directly apply when writing your next novel.

Craft reason #2: Practice and improve your endings.

If the opening sells your current book, the ending sells your next book (or so the saying goes, and I think it’s true). But as novelists, how many endings do we get to write? Not many. Again, just one per book. Short fiction lets us write lots of endings and different kinds of endings, and as with openings, practice makes perfect, and the improvement is directly applicable to novel writing. Stronger, more effective endings could also make a huge difference for the success of your series, where the read-through rate is critical and you want to do your best to compel the reader to jump directly to the next book in the series.

Craft reason #3: Experiment with new genres and genre mash-ups.

Maybe you write crime mystery and want to try adding a speculative element, like a futuristic technology or a paranormal ability. Or vice verse: you write speculative fiction but want to venture into the psychological thriller territory.

However, it can be daunting to jump straight into writing a novel in a new genre. Short fiction is a perfect playground to try it out and see what happens, without investing too much writing time and effort. In fact, even reading short fiction in a new genre is a great way to get the lay of the land, including popular tropes that you could play with and subvert as you wish—as long as that short fiction is current, published in the last decade or so.

So far so good? Great. Onward to using short fiction for marketing!

Marketing reason #1: Put your writing in front of readers who love the genre.

sketch of woman sitting at desk: orange background, text: Marketing reason 2: put your writing in front of readers who love the genre

Let me ask you this: What’s the biggest challenge for writers today? It’s discoverability, isn’t it?

Whether you are self-published, with a small indie press, or with a traditional publisher, it is incredibly tough to get readers to find your book. I don’t know how many millions of books there are on Amazon, but it’s an astronomical number, and advertising is expensive.

If only there was a way to reach the readers in your genre—the readers who are most likely to enjoy your writing—and introduce yourself to them… Well, there is! Short fiction magazines in that genre. If you can get your story published in a magazine like that, guess what will happen? Hundreds or thousands of readers who already love the genre will read your story and discover you, the author, and all your other books! I discovered some of my favorite authors that way—by reading their short story in a magazine first.

If your flash fiction or short story or novelette gets published in a top tier market, you will also get paid a nice amount; and even better, if the contract is good, you will get paid for only for the first-publication rights and anthology rights, but you can republish your short fiction in your own collection later on.

Imagine that! A terrific promotion—and you get paid for it, instead of the other way around.

To be fair, the best magazines and anthologies are competitive. Don’t expect to send them your first story and get an acceptance email (although if you do, congrats!). Rather, think of short fiction as part of your writing journey. It will take time to write good short fiction; it will take time to get it published. But I truly believe it’s worth it. In fact, personally, I consider writing and submitting short fiction as important to my writing career as my novels or series, at least for now.

One last idea: When you are done with a series, consider writing a short story in that world. In most magazines, if your story gets published, it would be accompanied by your short bio, and the bio could mention your series and encourage the readers to pick up book one. Be careful not to include spoilers in the short story. And just to be safe, you could center it on a minor character or event, rather than the major character or the main story arc. But if your story is compelling and intrigues the readers enough to want to know more, you could gain new fans for your entire series!

Marketing reason #2: Reader magnets to build your newsletter list.

Short fiction also works great as a reader magnet (for new readers to sign up for your author newsletter). By definition, short fiction is short, and therefore takes less time and effort to write than a novel. This makes it easier to give it away for free than an entire novel, especially when you are just starting out and only have a few novels published (like I do). And a fun short story or novelette can still entertain the readers and, if they like it, bring them one step closer to becoming your fans.

The last bit of advice on reader magnets: Use a strong, compelling short story. It should be as good as you can make it in terms of your writing craft, even if it’s short. Don’t forget that the goal is to woo and impress a new reader enough to read more of your work and become a loyal fan over time. A careless, poorly edited short story will not cut it, and you could actually lose a reader that way.

Marketing reason #3: Gifts to reward your loyal fans and keep them engaged in between books in a series.

sketch of woman sitting at desk, yellow background, text: marketing reason 3: gift for fans to keep them engaged between books in a series

Another terrific way to use short fiction is as a gift for your loyal fans, already on your mailing list. And one time when such a gift might come in handy? When you are in between books in a series, and your fans are anxiously awaiting the next installment. Unlike with a short story that you would submit to a magazine, for new readers who are not familiar with the series, here you are writing primarily for fans who know the characters and the plot inside out. You may still want to be careful with major spoilers, just in case a few readers are behind in their reading. But you have more leeway in terms of what you could refer to in the short fiction, and it might be fine to assume quite a bit of knowledge of the series already.

A quick mention, since this post is already getting long: Many authors use short fiction as Patreon rewards for their supporters. It’s a similar idea to gifting a short story to your fans through your newsletter. And the best part? Whenever you gift short stories to your fans, once you have enough stories, you could publish a collection of your short fiction! How cool is that? I adore individual-author collections. And it’s another book to your name, so helps with discoverability too.

One last thing I wanted to mention: Nowadays, both reader magnets and gift copies are distributed electronically, and that’s especially true for short fiction, which may be too short to publish as a paperback. So basically, you would use an ebook version of your short story or novella to give away. You want to make sure that the ebook is correctly formatted, including epub and mobi files, but the distribution can get complicated pretty quickly because of all the reading devices out there. So my recommendation would be to use a service like BookFunnel where you can open an account (for about $20 a year currently), upload the files with your short story (you will need a cover!), set up a landing page for the readers to download the ebook, and then share the link.

That’s all for now. I think I ran over the word limit a little bit. (Oops. Sorry, Vania. I hope that’s okay.)

Before I let you go, here are a few of my favorite resources on the craft and the marketing uses of short fiction. Best of luck with your writing!

Resources:

Writing Excuses podcast – a long-running podcast about writing and publishing fiction, with the focus on helping the listeners improve their craft and become better writers.

Mary Robinette Kowal’s guest lecture on writing short stories – part of a series of lectures on the craft of writing science fiction and fantasy directed by Brandon Sanderson.

Kristin Kathryn Rusch’s lecture “How to Write A Short Story: The Basics” – practical advice on crafting short fiction from an award-winning, multi-genre professional writer and editor.

The Submission Grinder – a free online tool to search for short fiction markets and track your own submissions.

The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA)’s collection of model publishing contracts – includes anthology and magazine contracts.

Vera Brook is a science fiction, fantasy, and romance writer, and the author of the SAND RUNNER SERIES. Her latest book, THE KISS, a paranormal love story, came out in November 2021. She’s working on two entirely new series, a standalone novel, and a whole lot of short fiction. You can learn more about her writing on her website at verabrook.com. She also tweets about her writing journey, books she loves, and things that interest her at @VeraBrook1.

Working on your craft: Can you publish without an editor?

Posted on March 21, 2022 by Vania Margene Rheault

So, there was an interesting question that came up in one of my Facebook writing groups, and essentially, she asked, Can you really make a living publishing without an editor?

Considering that’s what I’m trying to do with my new pen name because I can’t afford to hire out, it piqued my interest.

All the answers, as you would imagine said, of course you need an editor. I was the only one who said, not so fast. There are a lot of variables when deciding something like that, and some of the questions I threw back at her were, How long have you been writing? Have you ever gotten feedback before, like, ever? Do you have a good memory to keep track of your own (in)consistencies and details? If you don’t know how to write a catchy beginning, avoid a saggy middle, create interesting and meaningful character arcs, and know your grammar and punctuation backward and forward, then you’ll probably need help. (It also helps immensely if you know what you don’t know and have the wherewithal to look it up.) During the first couple of years when decided to try write books to publish, I needed help, and I did use editors and beta readers. That was back when I had a large circle of friends who were willing to trade or charge very little and we all came through for each other. Now most of those friends are gone, and I’m alone. I said in my post, if you’ve written enough words to find your voice and style, then you’re one step ahead of most newbie authors. I’ve edited for a few new writers, and no amount of good editing will fix bad writing. The writer first has to give you something to work with, and if s/he doesn’t….

If you, or the original poster of that question, are looking for an easy way out, there isn’t one. Writing is like any other skill and it takes practice and a knowledge of the genre you’re trying to write in.

I admit, I love a writing craft book, and I read them all, but some of them get too formulaic, and I can’t follow. I tried reading Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book On Novel Writing You’ll Ever Need by Jessica Brody, and it just wasn’t for me. (She also has a blog that you may find helpful.) The way Jessica broke down a novel’s components made my head spin. Another book I’ve read, (though not recently) is Romancing the Beat: Story Structure for Romance Novels (How to Write Kissing Books) by Gwen Hayes. Romance authors a million times over swear by this book, but I just couldn’t make it work for me. And it’s not because I’m a pantser and want to write as I discover the story. I’m a plantser, and have a general idea of how I want the story to go, what the characters’ backstories are and their emotional wounds from their pasts that haven’t healed and how they affect their futures, which is what any romance book is about. But turning writing into a formula, or consciously chopping up my plot into the three act structure is really difficult for me to grasp and I can’t do it. The only two things I do with regards to planning that way is making sure something happens at the 50% mark to avoid the saggy middle (the Mirror Moment as James Scott Bell calls it), and breaking up my characters around the 75% mark, because that’s most what romances do. To be honest, them breaking up and thinking all hope is lost is my favorite part of any romance, and I would do it anyway.

When you’re a new writer, betas or developmental editors are valuable. They’ll tell you where the story drags, if you’ve rushed your ending, if your characters have no substance, and over time, if you listen to their feedback, your writing will smooth out and you’ll start to include those elements naturally. I don’t think any writer who is writing a debut novel will have all that figured out, never mind having written enough to find their voice and style. It’s why whenever I see a writer saying they are querying their first ever book, I say good luck, because chances are, your book will sound like you’re a brand new writer, and an agent can’t sell that.

It’s really not fair, because a lot of good writing comes from gut instinct, or following an intuition that you’ve honed over a million words. You develop your own formula based on genre expectations and how you twist those reader expectations to make your tropes fresh and new. All that comes with practice and listening to feedback.

Once you have your voice and style down, once you know you can deliver to your readers, then yeah, I think you don’t need an editor, not someone who will deep-clean your manuscript, though it does mystify me how many people get angry when I say it. (I even left a Facebook group over it.) I don’t know if it’s because they resent having to use an editor, or are just defensive of indie publishing as a whole and how much crap is published on, let’s face it, a daily basis, or what. I really don’t know what makes people so mad when I say it, but that doesn’t make it less untrue. Besides, no one has any idea how hard someone will work not to need an editor. I read craft books like crazy, read in my genre (though not as much as I should) and write. Maybe that’s the issue people have? They aren’t writing? Look, it doesn’t matter who you are, you need to practice to get better, and that goes for anything you want to try to master. Olympic gold medalists have been honing their skills in their chosen sports since childhood. Same as musicians. But I suppose if you have twenty hours a week to write, and you’re talking to someone who only has five free hours a week, yeah, maybe there will be a little resentment there. I write a lot. I don’t have many friends, I work from home, I don’t go out much. When I’m not working, doing chores, running errands, or going to Tuesday movie night with my sister, I’m writing. That’s not something I’m going to apologize for, and neither should you if someone is giving you a hard time.

In reality, it’s a moot point, anyway. I know 6 and 7 figure authors with one-star reviews that say they needed an editor, when I know that hiring an editor is part of their publishing process. You won’t please everyone, so you might as well be honest. If you need help, get help, and if you can write a good story without help, don’t worry about it. You can’t achieve perfection, and I’ve already said this will be the last time I go through my 6 book series. I will ALWAYS be able to find something to change, but I need to let them go. I’m tired and I have many other stories in my head that I want to get onto the page.

So, how do you make your writing better, level up so you don’t need an editor?

Read a lot in your genre. A lot of developmental editing is finding those tropes and elements that make your genre what it is and helping you meet those reader expectations. You won’t know what those expectations are unless you read a lot in your genre. I know this stinks like writing to market, but every genre, be it romance, domestic thrillers, detective novels, have elements that you can’t leave out or you’ll just make readers mad. Writing a good story is all about the overall picture as much as knowing where your commas go.

Listen to feedback early in your career. When I first started writing again, it took me a lot of feedback to find my groove. My very first beta who volunteered pointed out all the “justs” and “thats” and that was my first lesson in filler words. That was a great start to learning what I was doing wrong. Another beta/editor told me to trust my readers because I had a habit of “reminding” them of what they’ve read in previous chapters. That was another great lesson, and one I still apply today when I find myself rehashing information. Repetition is tedious and boring. Echoing was another thing people pointed out to me, and I still do it, and it’s part of my editing to delete or replace repeated words. That’s one of the reasons why I’m going through my series again when I thought I was done. Because I found a couple of words that I used over and over and over again and I wanted to tighten up my sentences. Those are words I will always watch out for now, and you can make your own list of filler and crutch words to refer back to when you’re creating your own editing process.

Work on new projects. I learned a lot working on different books, and it’s the only way you’ll be able to practice crafting an engaging plot. As Kathryn Kristen Rusch says, rewriting will only teach you rewriting. You need to work on fresh projects to move forward.

Realize it will take time. “They” say you need to write a million words before you find your voice. I think that’s true–I wrote a 5 book fantasy series that will never see the light of day, plus a few novellas, and a book that would turn into book one of my first trilogy before I found my stride. That was in 3rd person past. I wrote a quarter of a million words in first person present before I found my voice in that POV, and I can tell reading through my series. That’s why I was so paranoid editing these books–I wanted book one to sound like book five, and it did take me a few extra thousand words added to books one, two, and three for them to smooth out and sound as good as books four, five, and six.

I feel bad for the beginning writer with no writing friends or money for resources. But as they say, if you don’t have money to spend, then you have to spend time, and that might mean swapping projects with another author who is in the same position as you. That’s not a bad thing. You can learn a lot editing for someone else, so it’s a great idea to join author groups on Facebook and make friends with authors who write in your genre. You’ll get help, and you’ll help others, so it’s a win-win for you and your writing career.

This was a very long introduction to what was supposed to be a list of craft books that have helped me. I linked to Save the Cat Writes a Novel and Romancing the Beat above. Just because they didn’t work for me, doesn’t mean they won’t work for you, and you should definitely give them a try.

It’s surprising but one of the books that helped me a lot isn’t necessarily a craft book. It’s The Bestseller Code: Anatomy of the Blockbuster Novel by Jodie Archer and Matthew L. Jockers. This breaks down why bestsellers sell the way they do. This might be my favorite book in the whole world because it mixes craft and the publishing industry. I love it. I can’t recommend it enough.

https://www.amazon.com/Bestseller-Code-Anatomy-Blockbuster-Novel-ebook/dp/B01B1MWKIU

The second book that changed my life is Tiffany Yates Martin’s book, Intuitive Editing: A Creative and Practical Guide to Revising Your Writing. I love everything about this book. She reminded me about conflict, character arcs, character motivation, and stakes. Important elements that, if you skip or miss, will make any book fall flat. You need tension, and this book will help you find it. There’s even a section that mentions other editing resources if you can’t hire out. If you like audiobooks, she posted on Twitter she narrated it herself! (She also blogs, and you can sign up for her newsletter.)

https://www.amazon.com/Intuitive-Editing-Creative-Practical-Revising/dp/1950830020

Though I haven’t read it for a long time, it was one of the first self-editing books I ever read, and it helped me a lot: Self-Editing On a Penny: A Comprehensive Guide by Ashlyn Forge.

https://www.amazon.com/Self-Editing-Penny-Comprehensive-Ashlyn-Forge/dp/1508460663/

This book made so much sense. It was a real eye-opener, and now I recommend it to every new author: VOICE: The Secret Power of Great Writing (Bell on Writing) by James Scott Bell.

https://www.amazon.com/VOICE-Secret-Power-Great-Writing-ebook/dp/B016KX64LY

When I went to the Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference a few years ago, every agent in attendance said this book is a must have. I do have it, and it’s a great resource: Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print by Renni Browne and Dave King.

https://www.amazon.com/Self-Editing-Fiction-Writers-Second-Yourself/dp/0060545690

Someone recommended this book to me, and his sense of humor keeps this book from reading like a textbook–it was an enjoyable read, and I also learned a lot: Dreyer’s English: An Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style by Benjamin Dreyer.

https://www.amazon.com/Dreyers-English-Utterly-Correct-Clarity/dp/0812985710

And last, but not least, Mignon Fogarty’s grammar guide is a must have. Written in a light, conversational tone, Grammar Girl is easy to understand, and she goes through everything you need to learn grammar and punctuation for all of your writing projects: Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing (Quick & Dirty Tips) (Quick & Dirty Tips)

https://www.amazon.com/Grammar-Girls-Quick-Better-Writing/dp/0805088318

This post turned into its own animal, and that’s okay. Thanks for reading if you’ve gotten this far. In an age where everything is pay to play, including beta readers, even if you have plans to hire out, making your manuscript as perfect as possible will save you money. The less your editor/proofer has to do for you, the better for your wallet. You’ll never regret teaching yourself as much as you can. I haven’t.

Thanks for reading!

***Per usual, this post does not contain any affiliate links, and the book covers are screen grabs from Amazon.

Buzzword: Consistency

Posted on December 20, 2021 by Vania Margene Rheault

When you follow any type of industry, Human Resources, Business, Publishing, lots of buzzwords get thrown around. They’re trendy you know? No one does more “reaching out” or “approaching” than an HR rep. Every profession has their own language, and it’s been interesting to me to hear some of what publishing’s words and phrases are. (A while back I did a post on relevancy, and you can read it here.)

Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot about consistency. In HR, consistency means a lot of things. As an employee, one of the biggest ones you probably appreciate is when management treats everyone the same. Transgressions are punished equally, it doesn’t matter who the employee is. One of the best (or worst) examples of inconsistency I’ve seen in the workplace is preferential treatment given to smokers. They need their smoke breaks and are allotted time others aren’t to be away from their desks. I’ve seen employees come and go because of inconsistent training, inconsistent treatment, inconsistent guidelines, and inconsistent pay. (Ever work for a company where a new hire makes more than someone who’s been there for years because they didn’t adjust the pay of the other employees? Sucks, right?)

In indie publishing, consistency is almost a naughty word, but if you think about your life outside of writing and publishing, I can’t think of an instance where consistency is bad. Your body likes it when you go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time. It appreciates it when you consistently feed it nutritious food and consistently exercise. Sometimes consistency can be a matter of health: who reading this needs to take medication at the same time every day? Who goes to the doctor every month? Every six months? The dentist? And you visit the same doctor right? You have a family practitioner you’ve developed a rapport with, someone who knows your medical history.

Here are other instances where consistency is good:

*You pay your rent/mortgage on the first of every month, you renew your lease at the same time every year.
*You go to work and leave at the same time every day.
*Probably you park in the same parking spot, too.
*Your work pays you at the same times every month. Wouldn’t it suck for you if they decided to pay you whenever they wanted?
*You train your pets to expect food at the same time every day. They don’t appreciate it when you forget.
*You pick up your kids from school at the same time very day. They don’t appreciate it when you forget, either. (Haha!)
*You bring your car in for an oil change every three months because you can’t afford the potential repairs if you don’t.

There are so many more ways in which consistency helps you or when/where you depend on it. In fact, we love consistency and routine so much that we fight change. (Who ignores their computer and phone updates?) We hate it, we can’t cope with it, and it causes us anxiety. There’s a reason why we say, “Jump before you’re pushed”– because we need the control in an otherwise uncontrollable situation.

So why then is consistency such a nasty word when we apply it to our books and our book business?

For one, I think we fear it will stifle our creativity. When we hear the advice to “stay in our own lane” or to “niche down and find a subgenre you like and stay there” we automatically think we won’t be able to be as creative, but that is actually the opposite of how our brains respond. Humans find freedom in boundaries. Take little kids–they thrive on schedules. They need to know what is happening because they find safety in routine. They have a difficult time coping being shuttled from parent to parent in a divorce, and not knowing where they’re going to sleep from one night to the next causes them anxiety and fear. Routine for children and adults is conducive to good mental health.

You can apply that to what you write. If you choose a niche instead of being a multi-genre author, your readers will have an easier time finding something in your catalogue to enjoy (hopefully everything!). I can use myself as an example. Under Vania Rheault, I wrote in all the subgenres: billionaire, age gap, small town. I thought I was writing “contemporary romance” but publishing has changed and while I was writing that, I was technically genre hopping and it didn’t help with sales. I had a difficult time marketing. I decided to write billionaire under VM Rheault, and I have been writing and hoarding books for the past two years. I’ve written 13 books plus the one I’m writing now. That might not be much, not when we’re talking about a career, but I already have plans for four more books to round out a series I’m not done with, and I’m rereading the Crossfire Series by Sylvia Day and making notes to write another long billionaire series.

Rather than think that I’ll eventually run out of things to write about billionaires, I think the opposite. I can take any trope I want and make it a challenge. How can I take this trope, apply it to the billionaire subgenre and write a book or series readers of that subgenre will fall in love with? Giving yourself too much freedom can actually cause writer’s block. We wonder how prolific writers can write so fast, and it’s because they thrive with the boundaries they write in.

Covers are the same. You need your cover to convey your genre and fit in with the other books in that genre. I didn’t understand that, and in romance, steam level also dictates how much clothing a couple on the cover is wearing. Amazon’s new guidelines haven’t helped with this and has made covering our books that Amazon will approve for ads a little more trickier. Billionaires are pretty easy–you have a suave, handsome man in a suit, or a bad boy in a black and white photo glaring into the camera. Readers are used to what they want, and if you’re too different, they’ll think they won’t like what you have to offer. Do you ever see packaging for a favorite product change? The first thing they do is put on the front in bold letters NEW LOOK! SAME GREAT TASTE! They don’t want to scare you off when they decide to rebrand. We are automatically repelled by the change, and companies know that.

taken from https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NewLookSameGreatTaste

Being that there is no room on a book cover to comfort potential readers and assure them that even though your cover is different there is still a story in there they will enjoy, just give the audience you’re trying to reach what they’re used to. Why fight it when the cover is only a small thing to compromise on. You want readers right? Yeah, you do.

Be consistent with a publishing schedule. This is a big one with me, and something I struggled with. The indie authors I know who are making it publish on certain days every month, every year. I would like to publish three-four books a year, though I’m not 100% sure what those days and months will be. I want readers to know, for example, in April I’ll have a book out, and then July, and then October, and then December if I happen to have something for Christmas. I know a lot of indies have an issue with this because they write when they have time to write and publish when the book is done. Then they do it over and over again without any real schedule. It can take a couple of years to figure out how fast you can write a novel, how fast your editor will give it back to you (if you have one), how fast you can put those changes in, how fast it will take you to secure a cover. We don’t like to think of books as products, but there is a “production” process very book goes through before it’s ready to be sold. In Elana Johnson’s book, Writing and Releasing Rapidly, she encourages you to figure this out. It takes me six weeks to write a 80k word novel, but because I don’t have a “team” to help me, I do a lot of the editing/proofing myself and that takes time. Going through stock photos and playing with how the cover will look takes more time than ordering a premade or hiring a designer. Formatting might not take that long with Vellum, but it’s still time you have to put aside.

If all that sounds crazy and unattainable because you have little kids and a day job, of course you won’t be releasing ten books a year, unless you write novellas and you can write one in two weeks. It’s a process to understand what your strengths and weaknesses are and work with them instead of letting them work against you. Begin how you wish to continue. Under-promise and over-deliver, so during good years if you can crank out an extra novel, your readers will be pleasantly surprised instead of disappointed because you overtaxed yourself and can’t meet a deadline.

Be consistent in the length of your novels. We don’t talk about length of a novel very often. If you’re in KU you are paid by the page read, and obviously the longer the book is, the more you’re paid. Some authors write with this in mind, and only offer full-length novels. I don’t write novellas. Not only for that reason, but because I can’t plot a novella. I always have too much going on, and when you’re writing in 1st person, I have found (for me, at least) that it takes up a lot more space on the page. Readers like to know what they’re getting. They don’t want to pay $3.99 for a novella when they think they are buying a full-length novel. That’s not to say you can’t disperse a novella here and there as extra content, for example extra content between books in a series. Plenty of authors do that, but I think it would be very difficult to find a readership when you write full-length novels, novellas, novelettes, and short stories. Write a consistent word count so your readers don’t have to guess what they’re buying when you release a new “book.”

Consistency is anything but boring. In a world where chaos reigns, consistency is a comfort. If you can change your mindset and give consistency a chance instead of eschewing it because you think you’ll be bored, you may be pleasantly surprised. I love writing billionaire. They are people too, and they suffer the same problems everyone else does. Do they have different ways of solving problems? Sure, but all of my characters, (and most I’ve read by other authors, too) learn that money can’t buy happiness, and by the end of the book would happily throw their fortunes away for true love.

Maybe this makes sense and it will encourage you to take a look at your business in a new way. Maybe you think I’m full of crap and you’ll continue to write and publish whatever whenever you want, but the next time the road you take to work is closed and you’re forced to take a detour, think about how you feel, how utterly inconvenienced you feel. Suddenly your morning routine is gone and the rest of your day is messed up. Your readers like consistency, they like knowing exactly what they are paying for when you release a new book.

I mean, this whole blog post is only my opinion, though I do have a list of resources below that back me up. If you’re writing whatever and publishing whenever, and you don’t have a problem with the results that brings your business, don’t change; this blog post isn’t for you. But if you’ve been publishing for a while and not finding the results you want, it never hurts to take stock and figure out where you can do better.

That’s what I did, and I will let you know how it works for me!

Until next time!

Resources:

Finding that middle ground between your daily routine and new opportunities will get you the best of both worlds and make for a happy, fulfilling life

Do You Need More Restrictions on Your Writing?

The Paralyzing Effect of Freedom

The Psychology of Limitations: How and Why Constraints Can Make You More Creative

	Vania Margene Rheaul… on Updated! Creating a full wrap…
	Amelia Elliot on Updated! Creating a full wrap…
	Christopher Marcus on Fake It ’til You Make It…
	Vania Margene Rheaul… on Fake It ’til You Make It…
	Christopher Marcus on Fake It ’til You Make It…

Vania Margene Rheault

Independent Contemporary Romance Author & Blogger

Category Archives: writing resources

Reading for pleasure and other things I should be doing

Happy Thanksgiving! Five Things I’m Grateful For

Technology in Novels: Pros, Cons, and Avoiding It Altogether

How “Self” is Self-Publishing?

How to start a beta reading service

Marketing ideas for your books

The top 6 reasons listening to marketing advice is a pain in the A$$.

Guest Blogger: Six Great Reasons to Write Short Fiction by Vera Brook

Working on your craft: Can you publish without an editor?

Buzzword: Consistency

Love it? Share it!

Love it? Share it!

Love it? Share it!

Love it? Share it!

Love it? Share it!

Love it? Share it!

Love it? Share it!

Love it? Share it!

Love it? Share it!

Love it? Share it!