Lorna Faith

Clean Fiction Author

11 Simple Steps to Setup Pre-Orders For Your Self-Published eBook on Smashwords

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If you’re a self-published author, you have the choice if you want to setup a Pre-order for your eBook.

This is something I’ve never done before. So figuring out how to setup a pre-order is my newest experiment.

Right now, I’m in the editing stage of my newest novel Longing for Love, so I thought this would be the perfect time to try to figure this out 😉

Since the Smashwords book distributor now offers ‘assetless preorders'(no book manuscript or cover required), this seemed like the perfect time to try this out.

Read on to learn the simple steps on how you can set up a pre-order for your ebook…

How to Setup ‘assetless’ ebook pre-orders on Smashwords

You can set up a pre-order for your ebook without uploading your manuscript or book cover.

Smashwords reports that books launched  as pre-orders in the last year earned over triple the amount made by books uploaded on the day of release.

The only catch is that you need to have a ready-to-go book cover and manuscript uploaded to your Smashwords account(and therefore to digital retailers like Kobo, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, etc.), at least 10 business days prior to the release date that you set on your pre-order.

Mark Coker, the founder of Smashwords, says the two main benefits of pre-orders are:  1)to give authors more effective advanced marketing  2) to fast track the pre-ordered book to bestseller lists.

So if you’ve been thinking of setting up a pre-order with your next book release, you might find that the benefits are worth it.

Something to remember about Pre-orders…

On all digital retail stores EXCEPT Amazon, the preorders that are accrued are accredited to your launch. Most stores will credit the pre-order that was made on the day of release, and this will count towards your sales rank.

But, on Amazon the pre-orders don’t count toward your sales rank. So you might want to think twice before you setup your pre-order on Amazon. This is what I have done. I will be running pre-orders everywhere else, but will wait for the the launch date to put the book on Amazon 😉

A Simple Step-by-Step process of how to setup your pre-order on Smashwords

I thought I’d use screenshots, in hopes that you’ll find this easier to follow.

STEP 1: Head on over to the sign-up page to setup your account:  https://www.smashwords.com/signup

STEP 2: Go to the page where it says “Publish Your Book” which you can find at this link.

Here’s where you start to fill in the details of your book. You’ll need to know the title, description and what categories your book fits into.

In this part you can see below that I click the box which said to “make it a preorder” so that the book would be released sometime in the future. I also clicked the box that “I will upload my final formatted manuscript later.”

The “Projected word count”(even though I’m not quite finished editing the manuscript yet), I think will be around 50,000 words, so that’s what I’ve added.

STEP 3: Click that you agree to the terms and conditions and then click on the calendar to set a release date for your pre-order.

This part is quite simple. You just click on “make it a preorder” and “I will upload my final formatted manuscript later.”

Also you’ll see below, that you need to click on all the “I Agree” buttons.

Then you set the release date for your pre-order. Just double check that you’re giving yourself enough time to upload your edited manuscript 10 business days before your scheduled pre-order release date 😉

STEP 4: Write out a Long and a Short Description of Your Book

It takes a little time to write out a good description. Since this is a super important part of what potential readers see when they look at your book, it’s important to take the time to really write this well.

I found it helpful to browse through similar books in my genre, to get a feel for some great descriptions on some of the bestsellers on Amazon in my book’s genre. Maybe that will help you too.

STEP 5: Choose the language of your book and decide on the price.

Simply choose the language your book is written in. Next, choose what you want to do with the price. As you can see below, you can make your book free, let your readers determine the price or set your own price. For this book, I wanted to go with the lowest price point possible, so I went with .99 cents.  I kind of like the graph they added to show you how the retail price divides up between you the author, Smashwords and any affiliates.

STEP 6: Choose if you want readers to have the option to read a small portion of your book for free.

I like to sample a new author’s book, before I decide to make a purchase. So offering a small percentage of the book for free, really makes sense to me. In this case I went with 10%.

STEP 7: Choose your categories – both primary and secondary. Also click the appropriate links for adult content and whether you book is a stand alone or included in a box set.

For categories, sometimes it helps again to go to Amazon.com and look at bestselling books in your genre. Scroll down to the Product details and take a look at what categories are chosen for books that are similar to yours. By doing that, it can make the metadata process easier to figure out.

Then click the appropriate box – whether it’s adult content or not, and whether or not your book is in a boxset.

STEP 8: Add keywords for which to ‘tag’ your book.

This is pretty straightforward. Choose keywords that will really be helpful for new readers to find your book.

Sometimes it’s helpful again to go to Amazon to see what are some popular keywords for books similar to yours.

STEP 9: Choose the ebook formats you want to make available to readers.

If you allow more formats, then there will be more potential readers who can read your book.

STEP 10: Upload a book cover(if you have one available) and then after you’ve agreed to the Publishing agreement, click the yellow box at the bottom of the page.

I added a book cover here that I made using Canva.com.

Since I don’t have my manuscript ready to go yet, I didn’t click on “select file of book to publish.” I’ve marked my calendar when I need to have the manuscript uploaded(earlier is better).

Then all you need to do is read through the publishing agreement and click “Yes, I agree” and then you click on the yellow box which says “Publish on Preorder Date______”.

 

STEP 11: Go to your dashboard and preview your book cover and description and see if you need to make any changes.

Double check that the details are correct: book cover; title; your author name; description; the pre-order date that you’ve set; the price of the book, etc. These are important details to double check.

Then when you’re happy with what you see, click on “dashboard” to double check that it’s been added to your “book summaries” area. And that’s it!

You can see the book is now at iBooks, Kobo and Barnes & Noble, but it’s still waiting to be distributed to the rest of the digital retailers & libraries. Also, this prequel to the Mulberry Island Romance series, will be available on Amazon at the end of September.

iBooks       Kobo        Barnes & Noble

That was pretty simple to figure out right?

I hope you found that helpful as you self-publish your own books. Consider setting up your own pre-order for your work in progress and see if that helps more readers find you and your books!

 

Have you self-published your books using pre-orders before?  Please do share your thoughts and ideas in the comments. We can all learn from each other 😉

049 Write Emotionally Engaging Characters with Ruth Ann Nordin [Rebroadcast]

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Subscribe: iTunes | Android

Just a Note: This chat with Ruth Ann Nordin is part of the 2017 summer rebroadcast series which is focussed on older podcasts and some of the most downloaded interviews 🙂

I had a fun chat with author Ruth Ann Nordin in this Podcast Interview. Ruth, is a prolific author of historical western romance, regency romance and many other genres. She has written over 50 books and makes a living with her writing. In this interview, she gives very helpful tips for beginning authors on how to get past resistance and write the story you’ve dreamed of telling. You can learn more about Ruth and what she’s up to on her website or you can connect with her on Twitter or Facebook.

Watch the Video Interview

Summary of the Interview

Ruth Ann Nordin shares her story of how she got started writing. At first there was a book she had in mind that she wanted to read, and she couldn’t find it anywhere. So she decided if she really wanted to read this book, she’d have to write it herself.

She encourages new authors to just start. Begin by writing the book that you love to read.

*Ruth talks honestly about how she wrote in other genres because some family or friends told her ‘writing romance is trashy. She was told at first, Why don’t you write something like mystery or science fiction that makes people think? So that’s why she wrote some of her first books in science fiction, fantasy. But finally, she had an idea for a romance and finished it, and then the more she wrote the more ideas she got. So she has continued to write the stories she loves.

“So I guess I would tell new writers, if you have someone in your life telling you “Oh come on, you know that’s not for real writers… or you need to write literary masterpieces… or who’s going to care a hundred years from now?” Or, you know whatever things they’re saying to get you down.  I would say, go ahead and pursue your passion. It just really opens doors… I know it takes a lot of courage, cause it did for me. And it wasn’t like it was easy for people to accept the fact that I wrote romances. People were like “you’re putting your real name on your book covers.” Yes. So, I think it helps too, when you’re able to stand up to them – if they are negative about it –  then you’ll handle the 1 star reviews a lot better, because you already passed that first hurdle. But if you have a supportive environment that’s all the more reason to pursue what you love”. ~ Ruth Ann Nordin

*Ruth says she has fun writing historical westerns and regency romances. She mentions that some of her funnest blog posts to write is when she does character interviews. The idea came as she was talking with romance author Rose Gordon. It’s a great way to get to know your character better. Sometimes when she get’s stuck writing, Ruth says she asks questions of her characters and it helps her get past writer’s block.

*Even those she’s busy with her husband and 4 boys, Ruth still writes a lot of books each year. How does she write so many books? Ruth says what works best for her is, she works backwards. First she figures out how long it takes for her to finish the first draft. It takes Ruth 3 months for a 1st draft. From there she makes her deadline 2 months beyond that – because she needs a month for the book to be with her editor. She says she’s planning 5 months ahead. Then she works backwards to what her starting day is and knowing she only writes 5 days a week, she then figures out her weekly and daily word count goal from there.

*Ruth gives her editor the book for a month to look at story structure and a lot of other details for her books.

*Normally, she writes the first draft of three different books at a time. For book #1 she writes 1000 words a day and in each of the other 2 books she’ll write 500 words a day. If she’s focussed and not checking social media, she gets her word count done in 2 hours. Many times she’ll be driving her kids to an activity somewhere and while she’s waiting she’ll write even more words than normal. Ruth’s tip: Getting out of the house helps 🙂

*If she is stuck and doesn’t feel like writing that day, she’ll try to write only 250 words. Ruth’s tip: If you’re stuck or don’t want to write, try writing only 250 words.

*Sometimes she’ll take a break when she’s feeling stuck for words and she’ll do the laundry. Ruth’s tip: After 500 words, take a small break. Do the laundry; get some tea, etc.

Tips for the Different Stages of Writing

1.Your Idea: On getting more book ideas, Ruth suggests playing the what if game. What if this would happen? Think about a TV show where you didn’t like the way it ended – try writing it in the way you would’ve liked the movie to end.

2.Research: She only does a small amount of research before she starts writing. Ruth says you’ll learn as you go – you’ll miss stuff when you’re writing your first draft. Do a quick search online. Dean Wesley Smith spends no more than 15 minutes researching something. If he can’t find it, he’ll just highlight the section he needs to research and keep writing. Ruth says for Historical romance books, sometimes she circles different words used in other historicals and she does her research that way.

3.Writing Your 1st Draft. Ruth writes by the seat of her pants. About half way through the first draft, she prints out a chapter a night and she’ll read it. Those are her initial edits. She can go back and it’s an easier fix.

4.Publishing. Go to the publisher you want. If you want to self-publish go for it. She started publishing in 2008.

Back then self-publishing was looked down upon. But Ruth has continued to self-publish and she likes the control of being able to write a book how she likes it. Self-publishing allows you to do what’s comfortable and to go outside the box. For example: you can put a few thriller elements in a romance novel.

*Ruth talks about how she creates emotionally engaging characters in her stories. Ruth says you need to write from the heart and not from the head for your readers to really resonate with your characters. Ruth’s tip: Try some exercises: 1)take a positive experience from your memory. Your heart feels lighter; you smile; your movements pick up. 2)Then take a negative memory. Suddenly you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders; you scowl a little. If you have fear about something, you’re writing will be very real. Our characters stem from something inside of us and if you can tap into something you’ve gone through.

*I asked Ruth if she would consider writing a book on how to create emotionally engaging characters. She said she would start by writing blog posts on the topic. You can find the first post in the series here.

*Writing is about reacting to what’s going on. There is an event that happens in your story – but how your character feels, responds and perceives that event will be different than another character in your story.

*Ruth gives tips to writers who are introverts about book marketing. Ruth’s tip: think more in terms of building relationships with people. Pick 2 or 3 things you really enjoy and stick with that. For example. Some people like to blog and some don’t. If you don’t like blogging, then don’t. Pick a way to market your book that works for you. On Facebook, Ruth says she ask questions like: what kind of heroine would you like to meet? She keeps her conversations low key with other people. When they get to know you, and you get to know them you grow your relationships that way. On her blog: she has a non-intrusive email signup on the upper right-hand corner of her website.

*Some helpful resources for authors:  BookBub now has a place on their site where you can create an author profile, put your list of books under your profile and then people can follow you there. Another great way to create a page for your pre-orders for your books is with BookLaunch.io. Ruth puts her book cover and you can have all the links to all the digital retailers where your book is on pre-order or where it’s ready to go.

Ruth mentions that there was a time when she wanted  to quit writing books, when she first began writing and saw 1 and 2 star reviews.

She remembers saying I’ve had it. I’m going to pull all my books. She remembers praying and saying, hey God I’m ready to give up right now. 

Then a few minutes later she sat down and read her emails and there was one person – someone she didn’t know – who emailed her and told her “I just want to let you know, to continue the good work you’re doing.” So from that point on, she looked at that email to keep her from not quitting.

When she starts to get discouraged about writing, she looks back on those positive emails she’s received and prints out and is encouraged to keep going.

New books Ruth is writing and releasing this year are Regencies and Historical Westerns.The easiest place to find her and the books she’s writing is at RuthAnnNordin.com. You can also find her -and other – blog posts on writing and self-publishing over at selfpubauthors.com.

How do you write emotionally engaging characters for your books? I’d love to hear your thoughts on that or anything else on writing, publishing or marketing in the comments 🙂

5 Rules to Increase Your Productivity Fast [Lessons Learned from Brian Tracy]

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Almost all writers I’ve talked to want to increase their productivity and by doing that to increase their income.

The whole idea of being consistently productive is something that I’ve struggled with a lot. In the past year of so, I decided I needed to learn how to do this better.

I stumbled upon ebooks and audio books by productivity, time management and success expert Brian Tracy. His simple tips and strategies have given me huge aha moments that I’ve been learning to put into practice for myself.

If you are like me and have struggled to manage your time or increase your productivity, I hope some of these quotes and tips on productivity by Brian Tracy will help you to move forward and faster toward your writing goals!

5 Rules to Increase Productivity [Lessons Learned from Brian Tracy]

We all want to feel like we’re moving toward our writing dreams in a focussed and effective way, but sometimes we just aren’t sure how to do that.

That’s exactly where I was when I first started writing and blogging. I’d say it’s really only in the past year or so, that I’ve really begun to put these productivity tips and strategies that I’ve learned from Brian Tracy into a regular practice.

In talking with many bestselling authors, one of the things they have in common is that they have learned how to be super productive and they are continually learning how to become more success minded. I’ve been inspired to learn all I can from successful authors that I respect and admire.

I hope you find the following quotes from Brian Tracy, useful and inspiring…

1.“Make a decision. Every positive change in your life begins with a clear, unequivocal decision that you are either going to do something or stop doing something. Decisiveness is one of the most important qualities of successful men and women and decisiveness is developed through practice and repetition over and over again until it becomes as natural to you as breathing in and breathing out.”

People are inefficient in the use of their time, because they haven’t yet decided to be highly productive in everything they do.

Decide today to become an expert and practice these principles over and over again until they become second nature.

“Self-discipline is the ability to make yourself do what you should do, when you should do it whether you feel like it or not.” Brian Tracy

What decisions do you need to make to be more successful as a writer? Choose today to get started. This single act alone can change the whole direction of your life.

I’ve found that I need to connect emotionally with the reason I’m writing and that helps to make the choice to write everyday much simpler. Because when I know what I really, really want, then I am more inspired and motivated to take the action I need to get there!

2.“Develop clear goals and objectives. Fully 80% of your success comes about as the result of your being absolutely clear about what it is you are trying to accomplish. Unfortunately, probably 80% or more of failure and frustration comes to people who are vague or fuzzy about what it is they want and how to achieve it.”

It’s important to decide what it is you really want. Once you have great clarity on what your biggest goals and dreams are, next you determine the price you’re going to have to pay to get it and then resolve to pay that price.

In most cases, in order to move toward our goals we often have to sacrifice up front. We have to give up time we’d rather use for watching our favourite TV shows or reading our favourite books. We even have to give up some of the time we’d rather spend with family or friends.

This isn’t easy. There’s been many times I’ve missed out on some favourite shows with the fam, because I’ve needed to get more writing done.

And yet, I know writing these books and eventually self-publishing more books on Amazon and other digital retailers, will in the end give me the ability to earn more income and still have the time I want to spend with my family.

A few months ago I created an infographic with a formula to accelerate your writing productivity.   I’ve learned that when we use a goal setting formula everyday, it brings us much faster toward our writing goals.

3.“Plan everyday in advance. Daily planning is absolutely essential for you to double your productivity. You should practice the six ‘P’ formula for high achievement. This formula says, ‘Prior, Proper, Planning, Prevents, Poor, Performance.’ All successful men and women take a good deal of time to plan their activities in advance. Remember the 10/90 rule which says that the first 10% of time that you spend planning your activities before you begin, will save you as much as 90% of the time necessary to perform those activities once you start work.”

I’ve discovered that something amazing happens when you write out the plans you have in your head and transfer them to paper before you begin any project.

Writing really does sharpen your thinking, stimulates your creativity and helps you to focus you much better than if you were just trying to work from what you have in your head.

You can start by making a Master list of all you want to get done in the next 5 or even the next 10 years. Then this is the list you keep referring back to as the central list to guide you in your next projects. And whenever you think of something new you want to do, write it down on your Master List.

Next, at the beginning of every month, make a list of everything you’ll need to do for that month. Then break your monthly list down into a weekly list and write down exactly when you’ll start and finish the tasks you’ve decided on for that month.

Then break that down further, and make a daily list of what you have to do each day. It’s helpful to make this list the night before. I usually make my list on Sunday evenings for the week. And I keep that notepad right beside my computer where I see it everyday.

The rule is: always work from a list. Even when something new comes in your day, write it down. Then when you cross off items one by one, it gives you more energy and tells you where you’re making progress and what you have to do the next day. Time management experts say that working from a list increases your productivity by 25%.

Once you decide on your number one task, anything else you do other than that is a waste of time. Share on X

4.“Once you have decided on your number one task, anything else that you do other than that is a relative waste of time.”

Distraction is something each of us face as writers. There’s so many things like interruptions, email, social media, that it really can stop us from really getting done what we need to get done.

If you minimize or do your best to get rid of any distractions, that will make you so much more productive.

Sometimes when you have so many things on your list that you want to get done, it’s tricky to decide which one to work on. Here’s where prior planning comes into play(refer to #3).

Before you start on any project, ask yourself “What is the most valuable use of my time right now?”

Once you’ve decided on your most important task, then anything else that comes your way is not important to you right at that moment(unless there is an emergency). If something comes your way while you are working on that most important task, kindle defer it and work on it later after you’ve finished your most important project.

5.“Your most important tasks and priorities are those that can have the most serious consequences, positive or negative, on your life or work. Focus on these above all.”

When you’ve made a decision on what your priorities and important tasks are, these have long-term rewards or consequences. When you set out in the direction of being committed to your most important project everyday, it can change your life in amazing ways for the better. It can have a huge impact.

So, it becomes important to know what your end goal is. It’s important to have a vision of your end goal, because that will motivate and energize you to do the work you need to accomplish your goal.

I’ve been learning that the greater the clarity and positive impact your goal has on your life, the faster you will get yourself in motion towards that end goal and it will be less likely that you will procrastinate when you really understand that completing that One Important Task will massively change your life for the better.

I hope after reading these quotes from Brian Tracy, that are inspired to go after your most important goal. I know I am inspired to finish the new nonfiction book I’m writing – unofficially titled – Finish Your Book.

If you are a writer who struggles with resistance and/or distractions to Finish Writing your book, would you take a minute to fill out this short(3 question) survey?

Thank you so much 😉

 

What productivity tips have you tried that you would recommend to other writers?  Please do share in the comments below, we can learn from each other 😉

048 How to Write Cozy Mystery Novels with Elizabeth Spann Craig [Rebroadcast]

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Subscribe: iTunes | Android

Just a Note: This chat with Elizabeth Spann Craig is part of the 2017 summer rebroadcast series which is focussed on older podcasts and some of the most downloaded interviews 🙂

If you want to learn how to write cozy mystery fiction for a living, this interview with Elizabeth Spann Craig will be super helpful to you. Elizabeth shares how she got started writing and how she wrote for traditional publishers before she got her rights back and has been happily self-publishing ever since. She has written over 20 books and happily writes books and blogs about her journey on her website www.elizabethspanncraig.com.

Click this Link to Watch the Video Interview

Summary of Interview:

Here are some of the highlights from my chat with Elizabeth…

We had fun discovering that we both had a mutual interest in Hardy Boy and Nancy Drew mysteries as well as the T.V. Series, Murder She Wrote when we were teenagers!

Reading and watching mystery series from when she was younger, inspired Elizabeth to write the traditional mysteries she writes now. She encourages authors to write what interests you.

Elizabeth explains the details of a Cozy Mystery:

  • Usually set in a small town; readers don’t see a lot of sex, violence or profanity; the Amateur sleuth and the reader are exposed to the same clues and red herring; Reader has the opportunity to solve the puzzle alongside the sleuth; the focus is on solving the puzzle of the story.
  • Characters can come from real life people who inspire you or your imagination.
  • In one of her books, Elizabeth takes her characters on a roadtrip and they end up on a Cruise Ship. Sounds like a great book!
  • Elizabeth shares her Formula for a cozy mystery: 1) Introduce your characters 2)Interaction between suspects & victims 3)Death of Victim 4)Sleuth interviews suspects 5)There a second dead body 6)Sleuth interviews more suspects  7)A moment of danger for the Sleuth  8)Reveal of who the killer is and they are taken to prison.
  • It’s important for any genre you write that you are following reader’s expectations for that genre.
  • Reader expectations for a cozy mystery: often dialogue heavy stories; it helps the story puzzle if each of the characters lie about something and tell the truth about something; deliver readers a clue and then distract them from it; come up with a surprise ending.
  • Elizabeth recommends that writers who are working on a series, to keep notes in a Series Bible. Include details like: setting; specific character traits, eye colour, height; what characters do for a living; what makes characters happy, angry; character wounds from their past, etc.
  • Inspiration for writers: when you first start writing, keep the bar set very low. It’s more important to set up a strong of successes in meeting your goals than to rack up a huge word count. Even if all you do is look at your manuscript 5 minutes a day, you’re starting to build up that habit in yourself and grow as a writer.
  • Also remember that each day is a New Day and a fresh start. You’re not behind… just begin from where you are.

Writers should strongly consider self-publishing their books. Elizabeth explains that when she got her rights back from Trad published books, and self-published those books, it worked out extremely well financially for her.

She is working on new books that are due to be released in 2017 and would love to connect with readers and writers on her blog – www.elizabethspanncraig.com – or you can also find her on Facebook or Twitter.

 

Do you write Cozy Mystery fiction? What are some of your challenges writing in this genre? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

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