SlingWords Open For Biz

Hello! Thank you to all who offered prayers and good wishes for my family in my youngest's latest medical emergency. We're all home and trying to get back to "normal," whatever that may be.

I think I'm a permanent citizen of Back Space--that overwhelming world where one is always playing that good old American game known as Catch-up. Between a failed computer and medical emergencies, this has been a challenging summer.

Email Me Please

I still don't have my Address Book loaded on this new computer. Therefore, if you have ever emailed me in the past, please email me sometime this week so I can harvest your email addy for my new PC Address Book.

If I had promised to Guest Blog for you, or to have you Guest Blog on SlingWords, please check in with me. With all my email correspondence, calendar, and addresses locked up on a backup drive that's at the repair shop, I probably don't have what we'd agreed to written down. Please email me and remind me.

Things To Come

Tomorrow, I hope to have the Ebook Success segment on Pricing published. I know many of you are looking for my thoughts on this all-important aspect of selling ebooks.

Takeaway Truth

Too often, real life creates havoc in a writer's life.

Life Sucks Sometimes

On the first page of my latest romantic comedy, Romeo and Judy Anne, the heroine Judy Anne Palmer thinks: "Life sucks."

You see, she is beset by life problems. Kind of like all of us. I was reminded of those words I'd written on the first page just this weekend. In case you think it's rather arrogant to quote a character from a book I wrote, I'll now quote an early 20th century writer Elbert Hubbard who had written a noted piece on the sinking of the Titanic. Ironically, Mr. Hubbard and his wife died on the Lusitania, when it was sunk in the Irish Sea by a German u-boat.

Mr. Hubbard said: "Life is just one damned thing after another."

A lot of people have voiced the same sentiments in much the same way over the years. I often quote one of my favorite poets Edna St. Vincent Millay, who said: "It's not true that life is one damn thing after another; it is one damn thing over and over."

My Weekend

My lousy weekend began with rushing my daughter to the ER Friday night. She and I are home again now. This was just the latest. I wish I could take all of her problems on myself and spare her. I could handle it much better than I handle watching her suffer. I must say that I have the bravest daughter in the world. She's simply amazing. She's already bouncing back. Me? Well, ask me in a couple of days after I've had some sleep.

This next week will be another round of doctors rather than writing. That's probably good because I doubt I could write a funny line if someone threatened to shoot me if I didn't cough one up.

In case you are one of the eager readers just waiting for Old Enough To Know Better, my next romance, be patient. It will come sometime in the next couple of months--just not by the end of this month.

If you're a blog reader, also be patient. I'll see if I can schedule some interesting posts for you to read. I may not be around for a few days to field questions or comments, but I'll get back to you as soon as I get all this sorted out and a sense of normalcy returns to my life.

Takeaway Truth

I--and my entire family--could use at least a few months of boring, placid, non-eventful life.

Amazon Glitches

In case you haven't noticed, Amazon's Bookshelf Reports haven't been updating properly this week. If you've seen next to nothing in sales, don't panic. They promise that they're tekkies are working on the problem.

I noticed this yesterday when my Report showed only a couple hundred sales within the last 24 hours. I nearly had a heart attack. If you're a writer, you know that the first thought that entered my head was: "Oh, dear. The party's over. Everyone who ever wanted to buy my books has bought one. That's it. I may as well close up shop. I'll never sell another book."

Writer, Thy Name Is Insecurity

You may laugh, but writers are such insecure creatures. Like my friend Cindy Wicklund said just this morning, "It's always so scary." The it being writing. She was referring to finishing up her latest book, In the Garden of Deceit which is to be published this month, according to her own deadline.

Cindy is correct. Writing is always scary. You dive into the unknown, pulling words from your brain to create something that wasn't there before.

Since I'm in the process of writing Old Enough To Know Better, to also meet my own deadline of publishing it this month, I'm in that scary place too. I never know if, when I tap that creative well, I'll find the well has dried up. No words to be had, or, plenty of words, but just not the right ones to tell the story as I see it in my head and feel it in my heart.

Shore Up The Ego

When people feel insecure they usually do something to make themselves feel better. Writers are no different. We will read the good reviews that tell us we succeeded with some reader of our work. Sometimes, we'll just cry on a friend's shoulder.

Yesterday, when I was tired from writing, and the scene just wouldn't come together, and I knew I just didn't have it in me to write another word, and (forgive the string of clauses) Amazon showed my sales had ended, I looked at the rank of my books.

Top 100 Paid, Contemporary Romance

Jane (I'm Still Single) Jones is #17.

The Trouble With Love is #33.

Just One Look is #48.

Still The One is #53.

Romeo and Judy Anne finally made it onto the list at #83.

Even my nonfiction, Written Wisdom, is #37 in Bestsellers, Reference, Quotations.

WOW! Some readers, somewhere, like me. They really like me! *G*

Instantly, I felt better. I also felt a renewed blast of determination: I can write another book. I can do this. Again. And again.

Sure, I knew I was in, what I call, the middle of the story doldrums, but this helped put getting over that hump once again into perspective.

All writers, at some point in writing a new book, get the feeling that they just can't do it. That's when you have to shore up the writing ego, convince yourself that you did it before so you can do it again.

Takeaway Truth

Go for it. All out, kick ass, go for it. That's what is usually required to get to the two magic words all writers adore: THE END.

Angela Knight

Today, my guest star is Angela Knight. Angela is the author of Master of Shadows which was released this month and is available in paperback and Kindle editions.

This morning, Angela has something profound to say about the opportunities offered to writers by the indie book movement.

Here's Angela Knight

As professionals, we all know writing is a craft that takes time to learn. Marketing your book and getting reader attention ALSO takes time and experience. We're all flailing around trying to figure out what will work in this crazy new world.

But the fact that more e-readers are on the way suggests that there is a fabulous market gathering steam. What's more, indie-authors can aim for niches that the traditional publishers can't because the reader pool is too damned tiny to be worth a big pub's attention. Or maybe the big pub just THINKS it's too tiny.

Do you love traditional sweet Regencies, or westerns, or whatever? You can bet there are readers out there who love the same thing. And because the cost of reaching those readers is relatively tiny, you can easily turn a profit once you connect with them.

Just figure out what you love -- what you most want to write -- and then write it . You can be pretty sure there are readers out there hungry for whatever it is. There is plenty of room for all of us, whether we're paranormal erotic romance novelists, Inspirational Christan writers, writers of Native American romances, Civil War romances, or Ancient Rome romances or whatever. Heck, even football romances. Whatever your secret passion is--the one your agent told you nobody would be interested in--you can finally go for it.

For example, I love superheroes, because I'm a comic book geek. Have been since I was nine years old. Floated such an idea at my editor a couple of years ago, and she slapped me down hard.

Now I can write that superhero romance--the same one some of my readers have been asking for. And I can produce it--even illustrate it with my 3-d artwork. And enjoy the hell out of myself while I do it. It may take a while for that book to get discovered, but since it will never go out of print and I don't have to worry about earning out an advance, there's no pressure. Just fun.

This is a wonderful opportunity. We can finally publish the books of our hearts without worrying about writing to the freaking market. If you don't like vampires or YA or whatever the heck your editor wants you to write, don't write it. Write your love instead.

Readers will love you right back.

Ebook Success: Ad Copy, #3 Bio & Book Description

Welcome back! Today, I'm going to finish up the discussion about Ad Copy by giving you some tips about your Bio and your Book Description or Product Description as Amazon calls it.

Ebook Success: Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Selling Ebooks by Joan Reeves

This series and many more blog posts I've written on this blog and my other one will be compiled into an ebook and published in a few weeks. Then you can have all the information in one place. It will be my second nonfiction book.

In the meantime, here's my book list for those of you who are new to the blog. If you've seen it before, just scroll down.

Just One Look

Still The One

JANE (I'm-Still-Single) JONES

The Trouble With Love

Romeo and Judy Anne

Written Wisdom

Parts Of This Series Previously Published

Ebook Success: Get Educated

Ebook Success: Write Business Plan

Ebook Success: Cover Art, Part 1

Ebook Success: Cover Art, Part 2

Ebook Success: Cover Art, Part 3

Ebook Success: Cover Art, Part 4

Ebook Success: Working With Cover Artists (addendum published the next day)

Ebook Success: Ad Copy, Part 1, Keywords

Ebook Success: Ad Copy, Part 2, Categories

Reminder: Joan's Golden Rules

Here's my list of golden rules--called golden because I hope they will help you earn heaps of gold from your ebook sales.

1. Get educated.

2. Write a business plan.

3. Choose cover art wisely.

4. Write professional ad copy.

5. Choose price wisely.

6. Give a smart sample.

7. Write a good book.

8. Customize Marketing and Promotion.

Ad Copy Components

1. Keywords or Tags

2. Categories

3. Author's Bio

4. Product Description

We'll close out this discussion about ad copy by talking about what you can do with your Bio or Profile and your Product or Book Description.

The 2 most important elements to remember when writing your author's profile and your book description are: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Entertainment Value.

SEO

Believe it or not, you need to think like an SEO expert when you write both your profile and your product description. By this I mean, use the keywords you've created that drive traffic to your specific book. It's not enough to write compelling copy. You must also utilize keywords in that copy.

To give a simplistic example, if you have tagged your book as mystery + thriller + Texas + revenge + female private investigator, and you consistently explore the same underlying themes in your books, then your first few sentences should read something like this:

Texas author Jane Doe writes mystery thrillers featuring a female private investigator. Each book explores the themes of revenge, retribution, and justice. And so on. . . .

All my profiles pretty much say the same thing:

Joan Reeves writes sexy, funny romantic comedy with a chick lit attitude.

Be Smart: Plan

Carefully plan what you want to say in your profile. Make every word count. Include long-tail and short-tail keywords or tags while still making the copy read well. Don't stuff in keywords just to get them in there if it doesn't read well. You don't sacrifice entertainment value for keyword quantity. You're all writers so work on this kind of copy.

Do the same when you write your product description except you lead with your marketing hooks that should be tags you've used.

With these book tags: comedy of errors + courtship + set in Regency times + poor scullery maid + marries a prince, your product description should read something like this:

This delightful romance retells the Cinderella story with a Regency England setting. In this comedy of errors courtship though, instead of a glass slipper that fits a scullery maid, there's a waistcoat that must fit a prince.

Marketing hooks from the above example: Cinderella story, Regency, romance, comedy of errors, courtship, Prince. They are also keywords. The best marketing hooks are keywords, and the best keywords are marketing hooks.

Examples of other marketing hooks: marriage of convenience, woman in jeopardy, secret baby, amnesia story, debt of honor, runaway bride, etc. There are a gazillion of them, and most popular books continue to incorporate the most popular marketing hooks.

Look at any popular book (or movie) and read the description. Pick out the words or ideas presented that you think are the hooks. Chances are those are the keywords used in search engines--like Amazon--to describe the book.

Example from one of my biggest sellers, Just One Look: which has sold about 40,000 copies.

Payback isn't a bitch -- it's smokin' hot and sexy in the romantic comedy!

See the hooks? Payback, hot, sexy, romantic comedy. Those are also keywords I used to tag the book. And that's just my first sentence.

The best keyword ad copy for your profile and your book description also has. . .

Entertainment Value: Bio

I cannot tell you how many times I've read this as a profile:

Mary Smith was born in Missouri but now makes her home in Texas. She is a mother, a teacher, and a full-time writer with 20 books published. She has won writing awards multiple times. . . .

Are you still awake? One word to describe this kind of profile: boring. Does it make you think this author is someone who writes exciting books? Do you care enough about her after reading this that you want to explore further?

Make your profile exciting. Make it personal and personable. Put some keywords in it. If you write science fiction, say something like this:

Though his neighbors may think Jack Bradbury grows mutant zucchini behind the garage, this NASA astrophysicist is too busy writing his next near-future tale of man's first mission to Jupiter to bother with horticulture. Once he figures out where to display his trio of Nebula awards though, he may think about mutant vegetables as a hobby.

Get the picture?

Entertainment Value: Book Description

Have you read a book description like this:

This book is about . . . This mystery is about . . . This romance is about . . .

Or, how about this:

This is the scariest book I've ever read, etc. etc Some Review Quote.

Then the rest of the paragraph is more of the same: just review quotes that say how great the book is but never says anything specific that makes you want to read further.

Or, BOOK TITLE is the second book in the BOOK TITLE trilogy and is the sequel to FIRST BOOK. In this installment, the mystery exposed in FIRST BOOK is examined and explained further and will conclude in the last book of the trilogy.

Or, how about book descriptions where words are misspelled and there are egregious grammatical errors?

Seriously? And writers wonder why their books don't sell!

You are writers so write captivating copy! Practice. Read hundreds of book descriptions on ebooks and print books. Make every single word count. You want your book description to force the reader to immediately click BUY. At the very least, you want the buyer compelled to download a Sample. After reading that first brilliant chapter, the reader must be compelled to click BUY.

Every piece of content you put in front of the public must be designed--planned--carefully chosen. You should work on these small pieces of text until they are perfect!

This is the yellow brick road you create for the reader to follow.

Road 1: Cover Art pulls the reader in and leads to the reader perusing your book description. The book description results in 1 of 3 actions: buy immediately, download sample then buy, move on.

Road 2: Keywords in search engine pull the reader to your book and reader peruses book description then 1 of 3 actions result, just as above.

Rest stop on the yellow brick road: the reader is thinking about buying and wants to, but maybe the price of the book or the reader's individual economic situation makes him cautious so he needs further encouragement to buy. So maybe he clicks the author's name to find out more about the author. What he reads there either convinces him this book might be worth the purchase or he decides it's not.

The easiest action for the reader is always to just move on. Don't give readers a reason to do that.

Why I'm Sharing

I keep getting emails wondering why I'm sharing all of my secrets--essentially everything I've had to work hard to learn. That's just the way I'm made. I know how hard it is to make a living as a writer. Like I've said, I'm not an expert. I'm just a working writer who has had some success.

I hope this will help shortcut the process for you. I hope you can achieve your own brand of success and have fun doing it.

Takeaway Truth

A rising tide floats all boats. I wish you magnificent ebook sales. If my advice helps, please let me know.

Note: If SlingWords helps you get ahead, please consider buying one of my books or making a donation by clicking the button below or, perhaps subscribe, for only $.99 per month to the Kindle Edition of SlingWords. Thank you for your moral support and any monetary support you see fit to contribute.

Indie Resource Page

Now that I have a new desktop PC humming away, I'm catching up on a huge backlog of projects.

One of these is the Indie Resource Page you'll see over there on the top right of this page. All the pages of this blog are listed under PAGES, how clever, right? *LOL*

I hope this listing of freelance artists, editors, format resources, and other contractors will help authors who are embarking on their own ebook adventure.

Takeaway Truth

If you know something, pass it on because helping others is good karma which is just another way of saying, good for the soul.

Drought

Texas is in the midst of a terrible drought. I see scorched earth wherever I travel in the state.

I'm reminded of what Alice Hoffman wrote: "I think we are bound to, and by, nature. We may want to deny this connection and try to believe we control the external world, but every time there's a snowstorm or drought, we know our fate is tied to the world around us."

Why? Who Knows!

Climatologists say La Nina is at fault. Drought forecasters say La Nina ended two months ago, but that Texas will experience another La Nina effect beginning October. Those who monitor the earth say it's not global warming because the actual temperature of the earth has declined within the last few years. Who knows why we are experiencing this terrible heat and drought.

Takeaway Truth

I'm in a small town in the Hill Country. Everywhere one goes in town, merchants bid you goodbye and always say: "Pray for rain." Good advice.