DIGITAL PUBLISHING AND ME - REWARDS PART 3 OF 3

Welcome back to DIGITAL PUBLISHING AND ME, my 3-part series about how I jumped into digital publishing and ebooks in 2011—what I did wrong, what I learned, and what I've received as a result of writing and publishing ebooks.

Today, I offer Part 3 of 3, in which I regale you with more tales of my self-publishing adventure.

If you missed Part 1 of 3, Mistakes and Advice, click here to read it.

To read Part 2 of 3, Advice and Insights, just click here. 

Today, I complete the series with Part 3 of 3, REWARDS—For Me and Maybe For You.

WHAT DIGITAL PUBLISHING DID FOR ME

Becoming a self-publishing indie author offered tremendous benefits. Before self-publishing, I was a category author which meant I had no power at all. A cut above me were midlist authors. They too had no power. Self-publishing meant I could chart my own course, and here's what happened.

1. I rediscovered the fun of writing because I could write anything I wanted. I was no longe writing according to what publishing houses said they wanted. 

I was no longer waiting and waiting and waiting for an agent or editor/editorial committee to rule on a submission. I could plan, write, and publish a book, and I was limited only by my own effort.

Writing what I wanted to write without regard to genre, plot, theme, or anything was freeing because I no longer had to wait and wonder if what I submitted was still wanted. Publishers could change guidelines while an author was busy writing the requested manuscript.

2. I found an audience that loved my books. I believed in my writing and knew there had to be readers who would like what I wrote. I was right. Self-publishing allowed me to reach readers.

3. I had editors contacting me instead of the other way around. I had a very lucrative foreign rights sale because the editor read my first ebook and wanted it and others to publish abroad. Within minutes of making a call to a literary agency, I had a top agent to negotiate the contract.

4. I became a New York Times bestseller because I was part of a self-published anthology that hit their  bestseller list in 2 places. (That was before they stopped allowing ebooks on the list.) I also hit the USA Today bestseller list 3 different times. 

5. I sold video game rights to 3 of my ebooks.

6. I had audio book editions of some of my ebooks published.

WHAT DIGITAL PUBLISHING CAN DO FOR YOU

1. Give you another avenue other than traditional publishing to find an audience. With a traditional publisher, you must have the right product to attract an editor and an agent. You don't have to limit yourself to one of the other.

2. Shortcut the time required to get your books before readers by becoming a self-publisher. In fact, if you become a big success as a self-publisher, you may find it easier to get with a trad publisher if that's what you want and the deal is good.

3. Become financially stable by being a self-publisher. There are many self-publishers making a very comfortable living from their ebooks. Some self-publishers have their books being turned into Netflix series and movies.

4. Give you a platform where you make all the decisions. You get to choose the cover art, the blurb, the price, etc. As someon

5. Give you a real-world experience in writing and publishing—a superb training ground in what it takes to write, publish, and deal with every aspect with which authors must handle.

You'll learn all about the writing, the technical aspects of publishing, marketing, promoting, living with good and bad reviews, dealing with the reading public, and so many other things authors must do. It can prepare you for the long assault on traditional New York publishing if you decide to do that.

Everything I've said is from real world experience. I hope it helps and inspires you if you have the writing itch. 

Becoming a selling author may be difficult, but it's easier than when I started many years ago. If it's what you want, go for it. 

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

I wish you the same joy and rewards digital publishing has given me. Like I always say, "Nothing ventured; nothing gained."

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DIGITAL PUBLISHING AND ME - ADVICE AND INSIGHTS PART 2 OF 3

Welcome back to DIGITAL PUBLISHING AND ME, my 3 part series about how I jumped into digital publishing and ebooks in 2011.

I reveal what I did wrong, what I learned, and what I've received as a result of writing and publishing ebooks.

Today, I offer Part 2 of 3: Advice and Insights gained from my self-publishing adventure.

If you missed Part 1: Mistakes and Advice, you can CLICK HERE to read it.

Part 3 of 3: Rewards for Me and Maybe for You will publish Sunday, September 13, 2026.

ADVICE ON SELF-PUBLISHING, Continued

Let's pick up my List of 10 Tips with Number 6.

6. Write everything you will need to upload your manuscript prior to doing it. Don't try to wing it. Give a great deal of thought to: Categories, Keywords, Product Description, Author Profile, Pricing, etc. 

Save all your upload data in a file separate from your manuscript file so you can copy/paste where needed if you plan to publish on platforms other than Kindle. 

The same basic information may need some modifications as required by the other platforms, but you've already created the bulk of it.

7. Always use the Preview function to check what you uploaded. Take your time. Only click "publish"  when everything has been checked.

8. As soon as your upload has gone "live," buy a copy and go through it. On an ereader, you'll immediately see if something is wrong. If you find errors, take action immediately to correct the problem.

9. Make sure you have your marketing and promotion plan in place before you publish a book. Write it out and plug it into your calendar so you know what to do and when to do it.

10. Accept that sometimes things just don't go as planned and some books don't succeed. If you made mistakes, do what you can to correct them. 

If your book doesn't find an audience, do what you can to improve the situation, but don't spend all your time trying to keep it on life support. Write the next book.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

That's enough for today. Come back Friday, September 11, 2026, to read Part 3 of 3, Rewards for Me and Maybe for You, the unbelievable part of my journey—what happened for me and what digital publishing may do for you.

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DIGITAL PUBLISHING AND ME - MISTAKES & ADVICE Part 1 of 3

This year marked the 15th anniversary of my jumping into digital publishing.

I wanted to commemorate this milestone by telling you how I made that bold move, the mistakes I made, the things I learned, and what digital publishing has done for me.

The first title I slapped on this blog post once I'd writte it was Digital Publishing and Me—What I've learned in 15 Years of Writing and Publishing Ebooks.

Like the post itself, the title was way too long so I shrunk the title and broke the post into 3 parts. 

Today, you're reading  Part 1 of 3: Mistakes and Advice. I have a lot of both I guess.

Part 2 of 3: More Advice and Insights publishes Wednesday, September 9, 2026.

Part 3 of 3: Rewards For Me and Maybe For You publishes Sunday, September 13, 2026.

BACKSTORY

Recently, I came across a post I wrote for another author's website back in June 2011. I had published one of my backlist books on Amazon KDP in late March which is why she asked me to be a guest on her blog.

My post for her explained why I did something that was considered extremely radical—repubishing a  backlist book as an ebook.

Champs-Élysées Books, shows 1 of my books

Today, I decided to reprint part of my 2011 post here because it may change the opinion of readers who still think ebooks are not real books.

It may  also convince authors who believe digital publishing isn't worth the effort that they're missing a great opportunity to advance their careers—not that we who digitally publish need any more competition! 

Here's the excerpt from 2011 with my "today" comments in brackets.

EXCERPT, EBOOKS: SMART, NOT DUMB (2011)

When I announced to a group of authors that I intended to publish my backlist and even some original fiction as ebooks, many wondered why I would do that. It was easy to see they questioned the wisdom of my intention.

There's a polarity when it comes to writers and indie publishing, and there are two primary schools of thought: the best thing since sliced bread or that sucks. 

These opposite opinions are pervasive in the world. [The low opinion of ebooks is still held by many well-known authors as do some readers.]

BOLDLY GO WHERE SOME WRITERS ARE GOING

I'm a firm believer in "nothing ventured; nothing gained." When markets are drying up, left and right, it's nice to see something opening up that can directly benefit writers, and that's digital self-publishing. 

By benefit, I don't just mean making some bucks. I also mean finding an audience for your work.

I've stated before that: "I've given up on New York publishing, BUT they gave up on me first." And, I'm not the only published author who couldn't fit the square peg of their writing into New York's round hole. (No pun intended but feel free to laugh.) 

I'm a writer. I want to be read. Many authors are finding readers by becoming indie authors and publishing our own work. If you want to try the indie author route, learn all you can about the process. That's why I'm here today.

I want to give you some advice, based on my personal experience as well as that of some friends, in the hope that you may avoid some of our dumb mistakes. 

When I published Just One Look, a previously published book that became my first ebook on Kindle and sold thousands of copies every day for a solid month, I made every mistake possible so I'm particularly qualified to talk about how NOT to be dumb.

 [Why did that happen? Because there wasn't much "how-to" information out there in 2011.]

I've got 10 Tips for you that I first wrote in that 2011 blog post. You'll find the first 5 Tips in this post. The others will be in Part 2. 

2011 ADVICE THAT'S STILL VALID - 10 TIPS

1. Learn how to properly format your file for an ebook that looks professional. [Now there are options for the type of file you can upload besides DOCX, MS Word like Atticus, available at a relatively low-cost for a one-time fee, that can create a beautifully formated ebook or print book. 

[When I started, I had to learn how to transform a Word file into an HTML file and how to insert a black and white cover image into that file. It was a time-consuming process. 

There was no Kindle Unlimited then so an author was smart to publish her ebook in as many places as possible. That meant learning how to format for Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple, Smashwords, and a half dozen other publishers who have since closed their doors.]

2. A great cover was important then and now. For authors who can't afford a graphic artist, there's a new tool, BookBrush, that can produce great looking covers, and the learning curve is easy.

3. Make sure you have the legal right for anything you publish. If you plan to publish a book that was previously published elsewhere, you should have a legal reversion of rights letter.

If you're using images from the internet, you must have a license to use each image so always read the User License on image websites so you know what you can and cannot do with the image you purchase or get for free.

4. Make sure your manuascript is bullet-proof before you upload it. That means getting a good proofreader and/or editor. That also means not doing anything that might get you sued, for instance, using the names of real people who may take exception to your actions.

Some think that as long as you don't say anything negative, it's okay to use the name of a real person. That's not true. I personallly know an author who was sued by the person she mentioned in her book. What she wrote was simply Mrs. So and So, the owner of Name of Business. That got her sued.

5. Be patient and take your time so you don't make dumb mistakes like uploading the wrong manuscript file. Yes, that's obvious, but I did that the very first time and didn't realize it until I started getting bad reviews. I didn't understand what they complained about in my book until I looked at it on my Kindle. 

Wow. I still can't believe I did that. I can only chalk it up to being exhausted and bleary-eyed by the time I got around to uploading the file and clicked on the wrong file. 

Always make sure you have your wits about you. Don't try to set up a book if you're tired, frazzled, or rushed. Haste really can make waste.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

I hope you're finding this information educational or at least entertaining. 

Join me on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, for Part 2 of 3: More Advice and Insights learned from my adventures in self-publishing.

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All About Image Copyright

If you publish images online, you probably know that you must possess the RIGHT to use an image in the way you used it.

By possess, I mean one of these situations:

(1) you own the image,

(2) you paid the creator for the right to use the image and received permission for that use,

(3) the image was free and a license was posted saying you could use it without charge for a specific purpose.

Unless you meet those parameters, you risk everything by using an unlicensed image.

AN ASIDE TO TODAY'S SUBJECT

I'd also like to tell you that if you meet the parameters for using an image and you receive an email from a supposed law firm that alleges you violated copyright by using that specific image, that you're dealing with a scammer. 

These scammers use legitimate law firm names and addresses, but their email addresses never link to the legitimate law firm. 

The email may sound similar, but it's not the same you'll discover if you do some basic research on the law firm and the usual form their email addresses take.

COPYRIGHT ENFORCEMENT

Copyright violation has escalated with the rise of social media. As a result copyright enforcement firms are doing a booming business—especially when it comes to copyright image enforcement by firms like PicRights and its lawyers.

If you get a letter from them, it is probably legit. PicRights represents small potatoes and the big boys like the Associated Press. When they find an unauthorized image on a website, they send a letter to the website owner informing them of the copyright violation along with a demand for compensation.

You do NOT want to receive a letter like that. If you don't resolve the issue by paying a fee that is usually 4 figures, their lawyers follow up. 

If you still do not respond promptly, you'll receive a demand letter from the lawyers. The ante goes up, and the end result is that you'll pay a little or a whole lot.

I've got to admit, I wish there were a copyright enforcement firm for authors because my books have been pirated all over the planet! What recourse do independent authors have? Sigh. Not much. 

MAKE YOUR WEBSITE, BLOG, NL, MARKETING BULLETPROOF

Always get permission from the copyright owner before using any image unless the image is in public domain or it comes with a clear notice of permission. This is true for so-called "free" stock images too.

 A website that offers free images always has a Content License posted. For instance on Pixabay, in the top right of a download page, you'll see this: "Free for use under the Pixabay Content License" and the link takes you to a page that tells you what you can do with the image and what you can NOT do with it.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Protect yourself and make sure you know what to do before posting an image.

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7 Truths About Being an Author

I visited with a local book club recently and enjoyed it very much. They had read my book, Heat Lightning, and we talked about it.

As usual, they asked what inspired me to write that book, and what inspired me just to write books.

I told them that writing was one of the best jobs in the world—and it is. 

What I didn't tell them is something I'll tell you today—what a professional writer learns when she or he is lucky enough to establish a writing career.

7 TRUTHS ABOUT BEING A PROFESSIONAL WRITER.

1. Perfecctly good books get written but never get published.

I once believed that you could write a book about anything that struck your fancy, and if it was a good book it would get published. 

The traditional publishing business doesn't work that way. There  are budgets and quotas that prevent publishing just any book no mattter how beautifully written it may be. Editors can only acquire so many books.

When your Agent submits your book—yes, you really do need an agent—you don't know if the editor recently acquired a book with the same premise. 

You don't know if the Editor has already acquired books for the entire year or longer, or any number of other issues that prevent the Editor from acquiring your book.

The indie self-publishing business allows you to go ahead and publish the book, but publishing a book and getting readers to buy it are 2 different things. More on that later.

2. Writing successfully requires a commitment. 

You cannot sit around and wait each day to be inspired. The "Muse" is a myth. Real writers put butt in chair in front of the computer and write hundreds of words on a consistent basis until the book is finished.

3. No one knows how long it takes to write and publish a book.

The number of pages and the time it takes to write a book depends on the story and on the writer.

A story takes as many pages as it takes. It may be 140 pages or 980 pages. 

How long it takes to write those pages depends on the writer and his/her consistency of effort.

4. Writing is hard work physically so one must take care of the physical body from the beginning.

Prevent problems like back spasms, sciatic pain, carpel tunnel, etcetera, rather than try to "cure" them once they begin. Trust me, once established, muscle, tendon, and nerve pain are nearly impossible to cure. You'll be dealing with them the rest of your life.

5. Writing is hard work emotionally so nurture your spirit and your inspiration.

Take time to play. Take time for your relationships. Sometimes, you just need to go with the flow and make up the writing you may have missed on a day when you played. 

Pages can be written another day, but time with loved ones can't be reclaimed. Life is short. Children grow up while you aren't looking, and love relationships can grow stale.

6. Accept that not every good book will sell well.

As I said in #1 above, publishing a book and getting readers to buy it are 2 different things. Yes, as an indie self-publisher, you can publish anhthig you choose, but it may not sell more than a few copies—even if it has captivating characters, a stunning plot, and is beautifully written.

That's the downside of not having a traditional publisher who buys a manuscript based in part on how many thousands of books will sell based on the Editor's calculations. 

As an indie publisher, you hope and pray that enough books will sell to allow you to break even on any expenses you incurred in writing and publishing the book.

You have no guarantees though. If you have had previous success, you have a pretty good idea of how another book will sell.

In today's self-publishing world, i.e. Kindle Digital Publishing, the competition is fierce. The vast majority of these books rarely make more than a few hundred dollars.

You, the Author, are also the VP of Marketing which means you're going to spend a lot of time hawking your book on social media or with Amazon Ads and/or Facebook ads.

The best case scenario is to find a marketing channel that works for you as soon as possible because you need to be writing the next book.

7. There is no such thing as an instant million copy seller in today's book publishing universe.

The first book may sell, and that's great, but today's readers consume books like movie-goers consume popcorn. Your name will fade away if it's not out in the world on a consistent, regular basis.

The second and third and fourth books—or the 10th—build your reputation as a dependable author who doesn't disappoint.

Don't mope and/or drown your sorrows in hot fudge sundaes. 

Get on with the next book whether that's book #2 or book #10. Sometims, that's what it takes for a writer to build an audience.

TAKEWAY TRUTH

Writers write. If you love writing, keep doing it. If you find it depressing and tedious to pour your heart and soul in a book that earns less than $500.00, then you're probably not cut out to be a professional writer. That's okay. You're probably meant to do something else so try different things until you find your bliss.

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Old Enough To Be Bold - Published at Last

Yes, my new book. Old Enough To Be Bold, is finally live and available.

For this "new book" celebration, it's discounted from $3.99 to 99¢, and it's also available on Kindle Unlimited for subscribers.

Yes, the "poster" at left is the set up for this enemies to lovers romcom. I hope you'll enjoy the book.

I'm particularly interest in what you think about the quotations at the beginning of each chapter from The Book of Counted Pleasures by Lady Adorée.

I had a lot of fun writing this book in composing those excerpts from The Book of Counted Pleasures as well as the limericks in the book.

Tell your friends and family who read romance about my new book, available as an ebook everywhere and in print next month.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Writing a book is hard work, but the euphoria and the satisfaction when it publishes is absolutely stunning.

Joan participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, affiliate advertising designed to help websites earn advertising fees by linking to products on Amazon. If you click an Amazon link in her post, she may receive a small commision at no extra cost to you.

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Punctuation Tips for Writers

It's National Punctuation Day. Yes, that's really a thing, and it's today, September 24.

I thought I'd give a few punctuation tips for writers because I see a lot of ebooks with "clunky" punctuation. That's my nice way of saying, "You're doing it wrong."

 What to Call Digital Books—ebooks or Ebooks if at beginning of a sentence. Not e-books, E-books, eBooks. (I've been guilty of using eBooks because that was what they were called in the beginning.)

These punctuation "rules" follow Chicago Manual of Style and the Modern Language Association aka MLA Style Manual, but they may differ from the APA, the style manual of the American Psychological Association which is used to format papers, list sources, and cite references.

It should also be noted that most style manuals refer to printed documents, but the Chicago Manual of Style and the MLA seem to be embracing online publications. The most important rule is to be consistent in whatever style you choose to use.

Titles: Book, Plays, Films, Periodicals, Newspapers, Databases, and Websites

Titles should be italicized. Yes, I know most people do not italicize websites, but it is proper to do so. Examples follow.

Newspapers—New York Times, Houston Chronicle 

Books—Heat Lightning by Joan Reeves, The Key To Kristina by Joan Reeves

Plays—Hamilton, The Lion King, Les Misérables 

Films—Casablanca, Romancing the Stone, Kiss the Ground, A Documentary

Periodicals—Time Magazine, Vogue, Elle

Databases—Oracle Database, Microsoft SQL Server, MongoDB

Websites—SlingWords, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

Titles: A Part of a Larger Work

In punctuating something that is part of a larger work, titles are treated differently. The title of the section of the larger work is placed in quotation marks. Examples follow.

Articles—"Survival mode: Inflation falls hardest on low-income Americans" by Rachel Siegel and Andrew Van Dam from the Washington Post

Essays—"Lost in the Kitchen" by Dave Barry

Chapters—"Chapter 1, Hell Hath No Fury Blah Blah Blah" from Sex, Murder, and Mint Juleps

Poems—"Chase Henry" in Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters

Webpages—"Vintage Columns" by Dave Barry

Songs—"God Bless America" or "Take It Easy" by The Eagles or "Pour Me a Drink" by Blake Shelton 

Speeches—"The Gettysburg Address" by Abraham Lincoln or "Tear Down This Wall" by Ronald Regan

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

That's it for today's little lesson. I do have another post planned to discuss Ellipses, a quandary for many authors.

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Who Reads and What Do They Read?

Get ready to be surprised with the results from 2 reading surveys—Wattpad and Library Journal—about who reads, what do they read, and how do they find the books they read.

Respondents were asked about movies and other forms of entertainment too.

Respondents were classed by age groups: GenZ, Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers.

To refresh your memory, here is a breakdown of these age groups:

GenZ: Born between the late 1990s and early 2000s. They are about 20% of the U.S. population.

Millennials: Born between 1981 and 1996. The oldest millennials are turning 43 this year. They are about 21% of the population.

Gen X: Born from the mid-1960s and the early 1980s. They are sometimes called the Forgotten Generation. (They are better educated than older generations, and they are the first generation with more college-educated women than men.)

Boomers: Born between 1946 and1964. They are 20.9% of the U.S. population and were the largest group until about 2019 when Millenials began overtaking them. I'm fairly certain that's because Boomers started dying.

PICTURE STEVE HARVEY NOW—SURVEY SAYS

What subject matter do you look for in choosing books and other entertainment?

Gen Z: 70% said diversity is important.

Millennials: 82% said diversity is important

Gen X: 57% said diversity is important.

Boomers: 60% said diversity is important.

Where do you go for book suggestions?

Gen Z: 72% BookTok, BookTube

Millennials: 68% BookTok, BookTube, Celebrity Book Clubs which was cited by 26%

Gen X: 64% get recs from friends and family

Boomers: 70% get recs from friends and family (Celebrity Book Clubs attracted only 6% of this group)

How popular are webnovels, ebooks, and webcomics?

Gen Z: 65% like them

Millennials: 71% like them

Gen X: Less than 50% like them

Boomers: Less than 50% like them

What is your most popular genre to read?

Gen Z: Romance, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror

Millennials: Mystery/Suspensee, General Adult Fiction, and Fantasy (Library Journal calls them voracious readers.) Prefer print.

Gen X: Reads across all genres. Read ebooks on a tablet.

Boomers: Surprisingly, most respondents in this age group read books in any format: print, digital, and  audio. Respondents to Wattpad showed little genre fiction with the exception of Mystery. Top choices here were History, Biography, and other Nonfiction. The Ebook friendly survey showed 61% prefer fiction with nonfiction subject matter of Crafts and Hobbies.  Libary Journal showed 43% prefer Thrillers.

For more information, check out the more detailed survey done in 2023 by ebookfriendly which compared 5 generations of reading habits.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

What is the takeaway? People still read. If you're an author, you probably want to consider the genre and format in which you publish if you're trying to attract readers of a particular age.

 

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Self-Publishing Potential 2024

Since the first half of this year is history, it's a good time to take stock of what's going on in self-publishing.

Why have so many authors embraced self-publishing?

The answer is easy. Authors enjoy having more control over bringing their stories to readers.

Often, they also have higher income without the middle "man" of the traditional publisher and/or an agent.

That's one of the reasons behind the 17% annual growth rate according to Blurb, founded by Eileen Gittins in 2005.

Blurb is a platform that facilitates creating, printing, and publishing independent books. By the way, traditional pubishing had only a 1% growth during that same time period.

SELF-PUBLISHING REWARDS

In 2022, more than 2,000 self-published authors earned over $100K in royalties, and many of those authors were women. Around 67% of self-published books come from women authors which is quite a contrast to the traditional publishing world.

Monetary rewards aside, self-published works are now being accepted by prestigious awards like the Pulitzer and the British Book Awards. I was amazed to learn that a self-published work can be submitted for consideration.

Self-published books now make up 30 to 34% of all ebook sales, and there are nearly 300 million self-published books sold each year. What does it mean for an author? The market is growing so there's room for new authors.

According to Alex Newton and his K-Lytics reports, 58% of the Top-400 most sold Kindle books of 2023 were romance titles.

For 2024, the forecast from several sources named these as trending genres: Romance, Fantasy, Contemporary Fiction, Romantasy, and Young Adult.

NOT ALL ROSES

Discoverability is the most important factor in book sales for self-publishing authors. Yes, there is room in the marketplace, but there is also tremendous competition. 

You can write the best book in the world, but if no one knows it exists, you may end up as one of the 20% of authors who have no income from writing.

SELF-PUBLISHING IS A 1-MAN BAND

When I started self-publishing, there were no companies offering services like formatting ebooks and print books, cover design, proof reading, marketing, etc. I had to learn how to do it all. I made mistakes too, but I learned from them. Now I'm able to easily format an ebook which means I'm not paying $50-$100+ for this service.

The more you learn to do, and do well, the less overhead you incur. Just make sure that what you do looks professional.

Now there are many companies offering every facet of publishing including proofreading, editing, design, format, distribution, and marketing. These services may or may not be in your budget. That's for you to decide.

BOTTOM LINE

What should a self-publishing author do with the information I've presented? 

(1) Write the best book you can.

(2) Get it professionally proofed and edited.

(3) Package it so it looks as if it came from a traditional publisher—whether you do that yourself or you hire a company to do it.

(4) Learn how to market your book with successful online ads.

From conversations I've had with readers of just about every gennre, most readers don't know, or care, if a book is self-published or traditionally published—unless they are jarred from the story by several typos, wrong word usage, poor grammar, etc. 

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Readers are there for the story. Don't give them a reason to be shocked out of the story by poorly presented text. That can be the kiss of death for an author.

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My 5 Rules for Naming Book Characters

Have you ever wondered how authors choose names for their characters?

I'm always interested in how other authors do this. I like to know if their process in arriving at a name is like mine or something completely different.

Years ago, I wrote a time travel romance. Despite good feedback from editors, my agent never succeeded in placing the story with a publisher. (It was mixed genre, and I didn't have the creds to go "off genre" then.)

When I resurrected that manuscript and published it as a Kindle Vella, I had to change the hero's name. Originally, his name was Nicholas, but in the ensuing years, I ended up with a grandson named Nicholas. 

So I changed the hero's name, but I'm not happy with the new name. That's why I haven't yet published that Vella as an ebook. I'm still looking for a satisfactory hero name.

MY NAMING PROCESS RULES

I have 5 or 6 "name" books, often called baby name books, that I page through. 

The first one I ever used was The Best Baby Name Book in the World.

This simple book is divided into Girls and Boys and gives the ethnicity of each name along with variations of each name.

The other books list names by popularity—in career fields, ethnicities, time eras, use in classical literature, historical origin, and other specific areas of interest.

Rule 1: Never choose a name for a main character that was already used.

I've kept a file with all names—first and last— and the books in which those names were used. I started the list after I realized I'd used the same surname in 2 unrelated novels.

2. Choose a name that reflects the year of birth.

One would never choose the name Ashley for a girl in a western historical because Ashley was a surname until the 1940s in America. Just as no one in today's world would name a girl Gladys, which was super popular in 1910, but fell out of favor in 1975.

3. Choose a name that reflects the character's ethnicity.

Luna would be an excellent choice for a Hispanic baby girl, but Mabel might not be a good choice unless there was a compelling reason to name the character against ethnicity. By the way, Mabel fell off the populariy list in 1964 but returned to the list in 2013.

4. Choose a name that reflects the character's parents socio-economic background.

If the parents are Harvard-educated lawyers, they probably wouldn't name a son Jim Bob or  a daughter Betty Lou.

5. Choose a name that reflects the parents' cultural background.

This one may be a more subtle. For instance, parents who love opera might select a girl's name like Evalina or Lucia, not Tiffany or Lexi, or Damon for a boy, but not Chad.

Someone in the world of fine art or classical music might choose names reflective of those cultural experiences.

6. Never name a character after a real person's full name or use a real business name.

If you want to use a real business name like Joe's Shoes, you must have a signed release from the owner that legally entitles you to use the name. Obviously there are exceptions. 

Many years ago, How to Bulletproof Your Manuscript was published by Writers Digest Books. It's out of print, and I couldn't find a newer alternative. You may think you have the license to say anything in the wild world of the internet including people's real names, places of business, etc., but that is simply NOT true. Be smart and don't set yourself up for a lawsuit.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Choosing names for characters, pets, businesses, towns, etc. is so much fun. Choosing the "right" name helps a character come alive. So get 1 or 2 name books and also check the internet.

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