Authors, Are You Into Webinars?

 By Michael Hicks Thompson

I've had it with the non-stop email solicitations wanting to help me sell books. Of course I need to know how to better market my books! So I try to keep up. But, frankly, it’s not easy, figuring out which “Help Offer” is going to help me.

I've been on at least two dozen "How to Successfully Market Your Book" webinars. Some even charge $!  (I've found a few that don't charge, yet offer good insight. Like Joan Stewart's The Publicity Hound.) 

I sign up for what looks good. Then comes the pitch. Most give good ‘free’ info then go through the same routine to up-sell you on their programs. "It's worth $2,000. But if you buy today… only $297."

I know I need to learn. So I wade through them all. Some are outrageous.

Like the "$1 NOW" come-ons... only to discover there's a $1 charge for 7 days, then jumps to $59/month -- automatically, unless I remember to cancel. Have you ever?  

Maybe you've also plowed through the plethora of "Let Me Help You" sites? I get six emails a week, and yes, I'll admit, I check 'em out. Why not? I'm trying to figure out how to sell a few books when 727,125 ISBNs were assigned to self-published authors in 2015 .That's right. 727,125 in one year alone, and that’s just to self-published authors. Look it up on Bowker.

  

Authors, the competition is daunting. But good work will win out in the end.

If you’re contemplating your first novel, please, stop and ask yourself. “Am I doing this so I can tell my family and friends that I’ve written a novel?” If that’s your subconscious speaking to you, please, re-think this. So many “first novels” come on the marketplace that haven’t even been edited. Result? Family and friends who read them become so disillusioned by all the errors, grammatical mistakes, plot snafus, and unexplainable dialogue that they may never pick up a new author again. They go back to the same celebrity authors, leaving new, serious authors in the wake of anonymity. 

My college roommate went to New York to become an actor in the 70s. He later told me, "Michael, for every audition I went to, there were 3,000 actors as qualified for that role as me. Not all 3,000 showed up, but the hardest-working ones did. There was just too much competition." 

Writing a 75,000-word book is hard work. If you’re not willing to hire a professional editor, why write it? And if it’s going to be the only book you ever write, why bother?

Meantime, I'll keep wading through the webinars and try to make sense of this industry. Maybe somebody should start a “Ranking Profile” of these webinars.

PS -- I'm really not a sour-puss. Today, I'm just frustrated by all the noise in the "Let Me Help You" world of new authors. 

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Michael Hicks Thompson was a successful ad agency owner, winning numerous national and international awards. After selling his firm in 2011, Michael turned his attention to full-time writing. His latest novel is The Actress and he also authored The Rector, available on Amazon in print, on Audio Book, and Kindle. Two graphic novels on the life of David from the Old Testament–DAVID–The Illustrated Novel came first. (Volume 2-won first place BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL and BEST INTERIOR DESIGN, 2012, from USA Book’s INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS. Volume 1 won the Silver IPPY for Graphic Novels in 2011 from the Independent Publisher Book Awards.) Next was a sci-fi thriller (CLOUDS ABOVE) that was serialized in a monthly magazine for a year. (Out in book in 2016.) Michael writes Christian novels that entertain, intrigue, and shine a light on his Jesus. He’s a member of the ACFW, Mystery Writers of America, The International Crime Writers Association, and the Southern Writers Association. Visit his website, www.michaelthompsonauthor.com to learn more. 

michael@shepking.com Can book trailers be as riveting as movie trailers? Let's see:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehb0cDbeozE

Are You An Outliner?

By Michael H. Thompson

I’m an Outliner. I prefer to know where my story is going before I write. Most writers are a combination of ‘Pantser’ and ‘Outliner.’ Neither, alone, is wrong.

Here’s a pic of how I used to do it.

I went to Home Depot and bought an 8 foot wide X 4 foot high acrylic board. I glued ACT ONE, ACT TWO, and ACT THREE in the middle, leaving room for Post-it notes. I also glued several arc points on the board approximately where they should fall in the story. For example, Opening Set Piece, Altered World, No Turning Back, Major Setback, All Is Lost … most all of the key points to hit at the right time. The board hangs on the wall in front of my writing table. Each Post-it note represents a scene. 

The problem with it? I had to walk over to the board every time a question popped in my mind concerning the sequence of scenes. What a pain.

Recently, I searched for easy to use computer software programs for my computer. I tried a few and settled on Scapple, shown below. (I realize you can’t read the words, but that’s not the point. The point is how easy it is to use.)

For ‘Outliners’ Scapple is ultra simple. Getting the hang of it took about 30 minutes. I can go anywhere on the Scapple board, click once, and a small writing box appears. The box can take as much copy as you want to insert. It expands automatically. I can even change the width of the box.

Font colors can be used to visually show scenes with various characters. The colors help me see the distance between character actions. Once a character is introduced, I can see the distance between that character and if too much time has elapsed before bringing that character back into the story. I simply click and move the scenes around with ease. Or cut and paste sections within the box.

I use these boxes as scene descriptions. I still follow the tried-and-true formula for storytelling— those key arcs necessary for writing a mystery, a suspense, a thriller, whatever.

Scapple could also be helpful for non-fiction. Scapple offers a one-time cost of $15. Southern Writers Magazine does not recommend any software programs and does not receive anything from Scapple. I'm just letting you the readers know what works well for me.  _________________________________________________________________ 

Michael Thompson was a successful ad agency owner and he and his company won numerous national and international awards. After selling his firm in 2011, Michael began writing, but what started out as a hobby, turned into a full fledge author, writing two graphic novels on the life of David from the Old Testament–DAVID–The Illustrated Novel. Volume 2-won first place Best Graphic Novel and Best Interior Design, 2012, from USA Book’s INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS. Volume 1 won 2^nd Best Graphic Novel of 2011 from the Independent Publisher Book Awards. His next project was a sci-fi thriller (JALA) that was serialized in a monthly magazine for an entire year. His novel The Parchman Preacher is available and he has finished the next book, The Parchman Redeemer. Michael writes Christian novels that entertain, intrigue, and shine a light on his Jesus. He’s a member of the ACFW, Mystery Writers of America, The International Crime Writers Association, and the Southern Writers Association. Visit his website, www.michaelthompsonauthor.com  to learn more about Michael.