On the spectrum between self-publishing and traditional publishing is hybrid publishing. It may be a good option for some writers, but only if they do sufficient research first and read any contract carefully. This article has a useful list of questions to ask any hybrid publisher before agreeing to publish with them: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/pw-select/article/66658-not-all-hybrid-publishers-are-created-equal.html?utm_content=buffer5b730&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer . Two of those questions are 'What marketing and promotional support is there?' and 'Can I speak with recent authors who have published with you?'.
Ideas for illustrations with night time settings and what you should look for in a hybrid publisherÂ5/18/2015 One of the things an illustrator has to show in a portfolio is versatility. Having at least one image in your portfolio set at night time will add a degree of professionalism to your portfolio, because many illustrators forget just how many stories have action taking place at night time. This web-link is primarily about night-time photography, but it contains some excellent ideas for composition and lighting effects: http://clickitupanotch.com/2011/09/6-tips-for-night-photography/#_a5y_p=1152663?hootPostID=8b4617276c29bbe2f1c6f87b555b9747
On the spectrum between self-publishing and traditional publishing is hybrid publishing. It may be a good option for some writers, but only if they do sufficient research first and read any contract carefully. This article has a useful list of questions to ask any hybrid publisher before agreeing to publish with them: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/pw-select/article/66658-not-all-hybrid-publishers-are-created-equal.html?utm_content=buffer5b730&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer . Two of those questions are 'What marketing and promotional support is there?' and 'Can I speak with recent authors who have published with you?'.
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The importance of illustrating backgrounds and how self-published authors can maximise success5/10/2015 There is something that makes a successful illustrator stand out from the rest of the wannabees, and Wendy Martin has put her finger on what that is: http://wendymartinillustration.com/wordpress/2014/03/14/location-location-location/ . If you take your main character/s out of the picture, can the background hold its own? To see how important this is, visit @cillustrators and scroll through the illustration work they feature.
She also has five ideas for moving out of your illustrator comfort zone: http://wendymartinillustration.com/wordpress/2014/01/14/portfolio-builder-jump-your-comfort-zone/ . Commit yourself to quarterly promotional mailings. Enter illustration competitions. Do some guest blogging. Prepare a portfolio for a market outside children's books. Have a go at sharing your passion through teaching. Here is a useful list of things independent authors can do to increase their chances of success, together with reasons why they can make such difference: http://www.richardstephenson.net/?p=85 . The bullet points are: recognize the monetary limits of your genre; hire an editor; use proof readers; get a professional book cover; begin by going exclusively with Amazon and KDP Select; use social media; master the art of advertising; interact with your readers; when you receive praise, ask for a review; and advertise your other works at the end of your book. Some take-home quotes from Richard Stephenson's article are: "In terms of paid advertising, my primary piece of advice is to never gamble what you can’t afford to lose because there is no guarantee that you will get it back." and " Get your name out there whenever you can. It might seem like a complete waste of time that gives nothing in return at first, but plant those seeds early on and they will bear fruit in the future." This featured link is a very good example of an illustrator showing her process on her blog – in this case the development of a book cover. http://kristenmargiotta.com/gustav-gloom-and-the-inn-of-shadows-cover-process/ . She works in oils, and from the background to the foreground. She intersperses explanatory text with pictures, and shows the initial thumbnail sketches, the final sketch, the preparation of the surface and the preparation of the oil paints, and then a series of four pictures from background only to final art. Putting that blog-post together would have taken a lot of time and effort, but the payoff is that anyone commissioning her will have a greater understanding of how long it took to produce the final art and because of that will be willing to pay her accordingly.
How to inject humour into writing is a subject that surprisingly doesn't come up often. But humour is essential to keeping young readers engaged. The suggestions in this guest blog-post from Anna Staniszewski are helpful https://laurasassitales.wordpress.com/2013/02/25/making-stories-funny/ . 1) the more you exaggerate the more fun you will have; 2) put two contrasting traits in the same character; and 3) go for the unexpected, but make it a surprise and not bizarre. On a whim, we had a look at the #newbook hashtag. One click led to another click until we noticed a kickstarter url. Learning from other people's kickstarter campaigns is always useful, so we went to have a look. What we found was a young picture book author who needs a big helping hand. It was enough to make a person weep. Things he's done right: * He has a video clip on his kickstarter. * He lined up family and friends to donate early, giving him some social proof. Things that aren't so good: * We watched the video clip without the audio on, hoping he would show a book cover, an internal illustration, a draft double page spread. Sadly no, only a talking head. So we didn't watch until the end. * We had a look at the rewards. Only three options. * We had a look at the campaign information, and found only two paragraphs. Good campaigns provide far more information than this. * We had a look at his social media reach, 135 friends on Facebook, and sighed. At least ten times this would give his project a chance. * Then we popped over to his blog, and sighed again. Yes, he started his blog maybe two weeks before the kickstarter campaign and it contains more status updates than content. A bit more research before he began the campaign, and before he began his blog, and he would probably already have the funds he needs. How do we know? Because there are a lot of practical tips on how to run a successful kickstarter campaign in our e-book 'Children's Books: Getting to the next level as writers and illustrators'. At $0.99 US it is not going to break the bank. But it could save a lot of long term online heartache. Having a failed kickstarter campaign is a calamity, because kickstarter campaigns don't get deleted once they have finished. There are so many pitfalls around for those starting out. There are so many ways you can brand yourself as an amateur without realizing it. If there is someone you love beginning to write or illustrate children's books, direct them to our e-book and give them a head start on the road to translating that talent into an earning-a-living career.
Because blogging is an essential part of a writer's and illustrator's long term marketing plan, this next article written by someone with 15 years blogging experience is a 'must read', http://dashes.com/anil/2014/09/15-lessons-from-15-years-of-blogging.html . Of his 15 lessons, these ones stand out for me: 'Link to everything you create elsewhere on the web, and if possible, save a copy of it on your own blog'. 'There is absolutely no pattern to which blog posts people will like'. 'Leave them wanting more', ie it is better to write a little on a subject frequently than to write a single long magnum opus.
This next rather long article answers the question, 'So how do I write a synopsis for a non-fiction book?' and gives several actual examples of both good and bad synopses: http://www.annemini.com/?cat=337. For those who read all the way through there are enough dollops of humour along the way to keep you reading. Some of the excellent advice goes like this: (a) regardless of the tense of the manuscript, the synopsis should be in the present tense, and (b) even if the manuscript is written in the first person, the synopsis should be written in the third person, UNLESS (c) the manuscript being synopsized is a memoir, in which case the synopsis should be written in the past tense and the first person. How to handle a query rejection and how to keep your creative career going in the right direction4/20/2015 Both of these apply equally to writers and illustrators, and indeed to any other kind of creative entrepreneur.
Dealing with rejection letters is something writers and illustrators face on a regular basis. For truly sage advice on this matter visit: http://editorialanonymous.blogspot.com.au/search/label/The%208%20Rules%20of%20Rejections. "Most rejection letters mean nothing. Nothing. (Except that you can cross that publisher/agent off the list.) The only possible exception to that rule is specific, constructive criticism. If it is not specific, it means nothing. If it is not constructive, it means nothing. If it is not criticism, it means nothing." This next article is a brilliant list of common pitfalls that writers and illustrators face in developing their creative careers: http://www.artsbusinessinstitute.org/blog/10-mistakes-that-stop-your-creative-business-in-its-tracks/. Take a few moments to review your current creative practice against these 10 very common mistakes: No plan; Lack of persistence; Working in isolation; Not understanding your audience; Being unclear on your message; Playing it Safe; Not understanding your sales cycle; Having little or no online presence; Lack of marketing strategy; Failure to follow up or follow through. Choose one to work on, and see how big a difference it makes. Sometimes the most helpful thing we can give each other is a bit of inspiration to keep on going.
This article is about the importance of persistence and of completing the writing task you set yourself to do. If you feel like you have been toiling for little reward, then take the time to read it. https://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2015/04/06/against-all-odds-whats-our-real-chance-of-becoming-a-successful-author/?utm_content=buffer32fda&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer. One of Kristen Lamb's great lines was "No unpublished blog ever went viral. No unfinished novel ever became a runaway success." And for our illustrators, some inspiration comes from the text of a talk Helena Fox Dunan gave at an art exhibition opening about the process of creativity, art and storytelling. http://here-now-this.tumblr.com/post/116062251965/last-night-i-spoke-at-the-opening-of-an-art. Here is a quotation to whet your appetite for more: "The moment you make art, you are saying your story counts. No matter who sees the marks you make—even if it’s simply your cat, or members of your family, or trusted friends—you are telling the precious tale of yourself." When something doesn't work like you anticipated, then all you have left is lessons learned the hard way. So it has been with the inaugural Free Plug Friday.
The idea came from Brandan Vogt's Shameless Monday http://brandonvogt.com/shameless-monday/ which appeared to work very well. After all if you are looking for a free place to plug your creative work together with the opportunity to try out a different sales pitch-who wouldn't jump at the opportunity, right? Any online breadcrumb that leads people to your work is something to get excited about, right? Wrong. Given that no one took advantage of CBHunCC's Free Plug Friday, possible reasons are: • It was school holiday time and plenty of people are with children and grandchildren. • Maybe those people who say you have to carefully choose what time of day to tweet actually know what they are talking about. • It is never easy sitting down to write a self-promotional piece. In fact it is surprisingly difficult to even get 100 words together let alone 200. • The comments when posted don't automatically show on the blog-page (you have to click through). That makes them virtually invisible. The comment section's unsophisticated 'plain text only' input didn't help either. One way around that for next time is to still get the raw information in via comment, and then to put that information into a blog-post eg FPF Sandra Moncrief illustrator. Plain text URLs for images in the comments could then become visible images in the blog-posts. • The bitly link didn't get clicked through at all, although profile views were up significantly. This means people exercise caution first and say 'Who is this?' before looking at what they have to say. Such unforseen behaviour meant that anyone who did look at the profile (and didn't click through to the blog) may have incorrectly concluded that only locals need apply. One way around that is to have a line on the home page about Free Plug Fridays being for any children's book writer and illustrator where ever they happen to live. • Just because you use a hashtag, it doesn't mean it will show up in the hashtag feed. Yep. Posted two with #kidlit and looked during the day to see that it didn't show. Maybe it got 'drowned' because the hashtag was so busy. That was disappointing, but sometimes technology doesn't deliver as expected. #freeplugfriday showed up but the culture of that hashtag was more self-promotion than opportunities for self-promotion. Next time having one tweet for #kidlitart and one tweet for #kidlitauthor would be more targeted. • Having an image takes up a big chunk of 140 characters to play with on Twitter. • It takes time for a Twitter reputation to be built up, and for people to decide to follow your Twitter handle. How successful a promotion is greatly depends on the number of followers you have and the proportion of them who are interested in your topic. There are no short cuts to this step. Wait for the reputation to build before trying again. • Social proof is crucially important. One of the recommendations from those using crowdfunding is that you lock in 25% of your donors before you even launch your crowdfunding project. People are more likely to give if they can see a good number of other people thought it was worthwhile to give to. Likewise, no one wants to be the first to add a comment, but if they can see 4-5 comments already posted they will a) have a good idea about how to write their own and b) will be happy to have a go themselves. So make sure you have some people lined up to comment as soon as the blog-post goes live. Giving people advanced warning isn't enough, you actually need commitments to comment. • Even giving LinkedIn and Facebook a go to get the word out didn't work. That was truly surprising because the LinkedIn groups for people associated with children's books seems top heavy with people seeking to promote their work. But then a big ocean of potential contacts will always appeal more than a small pond. What now? Free Plug Fridays are still a good idea. Because every #kidlit author and illustrator needs more breadcrumbs online. And because this small pond is going to grow. So if you came in late, or missed out, if anyone wants a FPF blog-post with their name on it, between now and the end of April 2015 send the raw material in a comment, and CBHunCC will make it look good (especially if you send some relevant image URLs). Now that it has been discovered how relatively invisible the comment sections are on this website (Arrgh!), here is an alternative solution.
If you want to be a part of Free Plug Friday, still add a comment and throw in some image links. Yes, the comments come out in disappointing plain text. So if you put the information in a comment, it will be taken and made into a visible blog-post instead. Much better! So send the information along, and this way it will become visible to all. Just a little more work on this end - but worth it. Welcome to our inaugural Free Plug Friday, an opportunity for children's book writers and illustrators to plug your book, blog, website or online portfolio in 200 words or less.
Why? Because we all need practice in pitching our work to others and thinking seriously about what our unique selling points really are in the world of children's books. Why 200 words? Because most book blurbs need to be that length or less to be successful, and if you haven't caught the interest of your reader by then it isn't going to happen. You might find this link about writing an effective book description helpful in preparing your free plug https://www.createspace.com/en/community/docs/DOC-1462 Here's the rules: • You can only plug your own work. • You can plug more than one of your works, as long as they relate to children's books and squeak within the 200 word limit. • Children's books include anything from Picture Books up to Young Adult (but not New Adult), and can take any 'for sale' format (traditional print, e-book, print-on-demand, book app). You are welcome to plug traditionally published work as well as self-published work. • If you don't have any work published in book format yet, promote your website, your blog, or any online illustration portfolios you have. • Write (or paste) your free plug in the comment section below. • Each person only gets one comment section to plug with. • A home page URL will be counted as one word and any other URLs will be counted as two words. However you cannot include more than 4 URLs in your plug. • Make sure that any URL you provide is available to anyone on the internet and doesn't require registrations and passwords to view. • The comment section will be open from around midnight 9 April to midnight 10 April Australian Eastern Standard Time, comment moderation will be on, and every few hours comments will be checked that they comply with the rules before being published. • CBHunCC members get a bonus and have 300 words to plug with, and are the only ones allowed to plug exhibitions, book launches and local community events. • The best plug as judged by the CBHunCC moderator will have their work promoted by 3 tweets from @CBHunCC, one on 11 Apr, one on 12 Apr and one on 13 Apr. The plan is to run a Free Plug Friday every two months, so please tune in for the next one in early June 2015. |
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