new posts in all blogs
Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: On My Mind, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 12 of 12
How to use this Page
You are viewing the most recent posts tagged with the words: On My Mind in the JacketFlap blog reader. What is a tag? Think of a tag as a keyword or category label. Tags can both help you find posts on JacketFlap.com as well as provide an easy way for you to "remember" and classify posts for later recall. Try adding a tag yourself by clicking "Add a tag" below a post's header. Scroll down through the list of Recent Posts in the left column and click on a post title that sounds interesting. You can view all posts from a specific blog by clicking the Blog name in the right column, or you can click a 'More Posts from this Blog' link in any individual post.
Hi
Its been a while since I blogged and I’m actually excited to be tapping away at the keys on my keyboard and seeing words come alive on my screen.
Its been a busy period in my life and chief amongst the activities that have kept me busy all summer was a house move that seemed to drag on and on and on. Well, I’m happy to say my family and I have finally moved and I’m no longer a London boy. We moved to Kent fondly known as ‘The Garden of England.’ I now live in a beautiful and quiet village and my children are settling down in their new schools while I’m getting used to the longer journey into the centre of London where I work. We have good neighbors who’ve welcomed us with their smiles and cards.
We’re still unpacking but I can’t wait to set up my writing zone in our house. I started a mystery story in Spring which I’m looking to continue working on plus I want to write a Christmas story in time for the holiday season. My children really got into the ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ books over the summer holidays and it was nice to see them devour the box-set my wife and I got for them. It made me want to write something in that genre just for them. Watch this space on that front.
Cheryl Carpinello who was a special guest on Author Interview Thursday many moons ago, did a special piece on her blog about writing tips from authors and there’s a snippet from yours truly included in that piece. A worthy read to inspire and encourage you so click the link below to read all about it.
Cheryl Carpinello’s Writing Tips
Have a lovely day.
One of the big takeaways (for me) from attending the London Book Fair last year was to publish my books to multiple platforms. Now, when I started this journey as a children’s book author, I had my books exclusively on Amazon.
Why you may ask?
Well, the Amazon platform was very simple to use and Amazon had wonderful perks for newbie authors like myself that made publishing exclusively to their platform a no-brainer. Plus, and I believe this is still the case, most eBooks are downloaded from the Amazon Kindle store.
Well, things have changed and let’s just say the publishing world has changed a bit since 2012, warranting a change of strategy from myself. I hope to reach new readers and fans by having my books on other Online retail channels. It’s been a gradual process but I’m happy to say you can now get the books below on Apple, Kobo, Nook, Barnes and Noble and Scribd.
Billy and Monster: The Superhero with Fart Powers
Billy and the Monster who Ate All the Easter Eggs
Billy and Monster’s New Neighbor Has a Secret
Kojo the Sea Dragon Gets Lost
Counting to Ten and Sharing My Easter Eggs
I’ll be migrating more titles in the days to come. Would love to know what Online channel you download your eBooks from.
By: David Chuka,
on 2/20/2015
Blog:
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
kidlit,
apple,
Picture Story Books,
kobo,
david chuka,
funny books for kids,
On My Mind,
billy and monster,
bookbub,
Add a tag
Great news!
My book – Billy and the Monster who Ate All the Easter Eggs – has just been accepted by Bookbub and will be featured on March 21st.
Why is this great news I hear you say? Well it is great news as Bookbub has more than a million subscribers and will email everyone on their list interested in Children’s books. BookBub email their subscribers daily and offer to them eBooks at a discount. I have to admit that I have discovered and downloaded many eBooks recommended by BookBub. You can actually sign up here.
One of my books – I Love Baby Animals – got featured on Bookbub about a year ago and became a Top 10 best-selling book on the Amazon store in the Children’s category. What’s even more exciting this time, is that the book will be available to readers on Apple, Kobo, Scribd, Barnes and Noble plus Foundry.
If you can’t wait for March 21st, then grab a copy of Billy and the Monster who Ate All the Easter Eggs at the link below
Biily and Monster on Amazon
Billy and Monster on Apple
Billy and Monster on Barnes and Noble
Billy and Monster on Nook
Billy and Monster on Kobo
Billy and Monster on Scribd
Billy and Monster on Foundry
By: David Chuka,
on 12/15/2014
Blog:
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
Picture Story Books,
david chuka,
On My Mind,
mglit,
marketing,
kidlit,
writing,
non-fiction,
writing for children,
Add a tag
I’ve been staring into my crystal ball and trying to foresee what 2015 holds. I keep staring and staring but I can’t seem to see anything. A good clean job might do the job…ehm…nothing. I don’t think this is working.
Why????????????????
If you know me, then you know the above scenario and a crystal ball would be the last thing I’d be staring at. I think sometimes, we want people to predict our future and lay it on a plate for us. The sad reality is that (like the saying goes) if it’s to be, then it’s up to me. With that in mind, I’ve been thinking of what I want to achieve in the coming year, especially with regards to my role as a children’s book author. I would like to write four books next year. Below are the David Chuka titles hopefully coming to your book shelf sometime in 2015.
Kojo the Sea Dragon Meets a Stranger – After the overwhelming success of Kojo the Sea Dragon Gets Lost, I just knew I had to write more stories with Kojo and his friends from the Zakari River. Below is a review from a reader:
Such a vivid and colorful tale for such a simple, yet important lesson; listen to your parents. The illustrations are vibrant and imaginative as are the characters. Kojo the Sea Dragon Gets Lost is a very fun read!
In this episode, Kojo and his friends plus everyone in the Zakari River is looking forward to the BOOM BOOM festival. It’s a time of fun, dancing, singing with lots of food. Everyone in the Zakari River gathers in the town center and there are performances by different groups. Kojo is looking forward to doing a special dance with his friends. The day finally arrives and Kojo is having so much fun with his friends and is enjoying the sights and sounds. Then something happens with some yummy cake and an evil eel that makes Kojo learn something new about his world and talking to strangers. This will most likely be the first book I publish in the coming year, so watch this space.
Non-Fiction Book on Writing and Publishing Children’s Books – I get asked a lot of questions by people looking to write and publish children’s books and I think it’s time I crystallise all my experience into a book that get that can help other aspiring and established children’s book authors. Some of the topics I’ll be touching in this book will include working with an illustrator, doing research, getting reviews, social media, marketing etc. I’m excited about the challenge of writing this book and currently putting ideas together.
Billy and Monster Meet the President – Like my most recent book – Billy and Monster’s Golden Christmas – I had finished writing this book in 2013 but due to challenges in finding the right illustrator, its release was delayed. I am quietly confident that I’ll be able to get this published in May and just in time for the Independence Day celebrations.
A Book about Thanksgiving – I’m not really sure what the story or characters will be but I do know that it’ll something based around Thanksgiving. I could either place Billy or Kojo in a situation where they learn something valuable about Thanksgiving. On the other hand, I could create new characters and tell the Thanksgiving story through them. Will provide more details later.
I’ll be visiting more schools in 2015 and looking to share my stories with more of my target audience. Thanks for all your support and do have a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2015.
So summer is over and it’s back to school and back to work.
I took my eight year old daughter and five year old son for their first day back at school today. Ruth and Richard were excited to meet their old friends and discover a new class with a new teacher. I felt a sense of pride and sadness as I watched them walk to their new classes. Pride because they’re growing older and wiser. A bit of sadness because with each passing day, I know they’re less dependent on Daddy and finding out all the good, bad and ugly things that make growing up fun, scary and challenging. As a family, I’m so glad we had a summer we can fondly look back on as Winter approaches.
This summer was the first summer (in a very, very long time) where I actually got to enjoy a holiday for what it was/is – a time to relax and unwind. And unwind I did. I visited Belgium for a wedding and enjoyed the warmth and friendship of the Belgian people. People my wife and I met on the street were very happy to say ‘Bonjour!’ While there are many things I like about the British culture, saying hello to total strangers isn’t really woven into the British DNA. It was a joy to experience another culture and perhaps Belgium will feature in one of my books one day. The things I’ll remember Belgium for were the warmth of its people, tram/train lines that zig-zagged across the length and breadth of Brussels and a brown leather jacket I ended up not buying. If you’re thinking of visiting Brussels, then I’d whole heartedly recommend staying at the Husa President hotel. The staff are lovely, the rooms are spacious and you descend into dreamland once your head hits the pillow.
Another thing I did while on holiday was to take my children to Legoland. My son’s getting into his lego and our trip just took his love of construction to another level. Legoland is situated on the outskirts of London near Windsor Castle. Matter of fact, you can see the castle from Legoland as well as planes departing and arriving at Heathrow Airport. Legoland really is a fun environement for the family. The rides that left an impression were the Jolly Rocker, Viking Splash, Atlantis, Dinosaur Safari to mention a few. If you’re thinking of going, then I would recommend getting a Q-Bot. It’s a little device that allows you to jump the queue. Trust me. it makes all the difference. What typically took most people an hour in waiting time, took us less than five minutes! Its £15 per person and is worth the investment.
I also got to MC a business graduation event in at the Dominion center which is 2,000 seater auditorium in North London. It was a fun experience and allowed me the opportunity to wear another of my creative hats.
So summer is over and I’m getting back into the groove of things as a writer and publisher. I’ll be visiting some schools in the run up to Christmas, publishing a Billy and Monster Christmas edition and hopefully the second book in the Kojo the one-eyed sea dragon series.
Watch this space.
Its been a while since I published something to my blog and I have to admit, I’ve missed it. I may not have been writing on this blog but trust me, I’ve been doing a lot of writing.
Like I alluded to in my April post, after attending the London Book Fair and having a conversation with Stephanie Bond, I’ve actually now started writing a mystery novel. Its definitely been a different challenge to writing children’s books. I write children’s books for the 3-7 year old age group. A typical picture book is about 32 pages. The novel I’m writing, when its all said and done, will be about 250 pages. I’m plugging away and looking to have it published October/November.
Over the months of May and June, I attended a six-week creative writing course at The Groucho Club in West London. Let me just say that my writing has improved in leaps and bounds since then. I would encourage every writer to attend a writing class or group as the benefits are numerous. Here are just a couple:
- The exercises given in the class challenge you to step outside your comfort zone. One of the exercises in the class was writing the same story in a first-person point of view and then rewriting it in a third person point of view.
- You get valuable feedback from peers who allow you to know what is and is not working in your story.
- You get great book recommendations from the class. My Amazon WishList is bulging from the books that were recommended to me from the class. One of the books which I have already ordered from Amazon is ‘Elements of Style’ by E.B. White.
- Because you are in a class dedicated to writing, you have no other option but to write. Sometimes, as writers the hardest thing to do is to start writing. You’re staring at that blank piece of paper or computer screen and it seems the last thing you want to do is write. It’s also easy at such times to find reasons not to write. Not so in a writing class. You look to your left and right and see your fellow classmates scribbling away and you have no other option but to put pen to paper and surprisingly, words and sentences and scenes begin to flow.
- You get to listen to other people’s work which inspires you to be better.
- Bad habits you may have picked up over the years are brought to your attention and can be discarded.
- Some of the random exercises you do in the class can be the basis for a new book. I have to admit here that I have incorporated a few of the exercises I produced while at the class into the novel I’m working on.
- You make writing friends. I think most writers (at least I know I suffer from this) lack a group of writing buddies they can relate to on matters specific to writing. It’s good to be able to get feedback from people you trust will give you a critical and technical feedback on your writing projects.
These are just some of the benefits I’ve gotten from joining this writing class. Since the class ended, we all decided to meet every other Saturday. We have a class slated for later this month and I can’t wait to catch up with my writing buddies. If you leave in the London area, then I’d highly recommend The Complete Creative Writing Course by Maggie Hammond. If you don’t, then find one in your city and watch how your writing skills will soar in leaps and bounds.
By: David Chuka,
on 6/9/2014
Blog:
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
facebook,
author marketing,
twitter,
followers,
hashtags,
hootsuite,
denice shaw,
Marketing,
On My Mind,
writer motivation,
Add a tag
Ok. I think every author concerned with reaching out with their readers, networking with other authors and selling more books is either engaged on social media or has at least thought about it. The two (in my opinion) heavy weight entities with regards to social media are Facebook and Twitter. These two networks have their fans.
I have to admit that I used to be a big fan of Facebook as it was easy to migrate from having a personal account to a fan page. I understood how it worked and I could apply what I was doing on an almost daily basis on my Facebook Personal account to my Fan page. On the other hand, this Monster called Twitter, just didn’t make sense. I mean wasn’t the whole concept of Twitter similar to shouting in a market place?
It just didn’t make sense and I avoided it…until sometime last year when I read a book titled How to Get Followers on Twitter: A Simple Guide on How to Optimize Twitter and Hootsuite by Denice Shaw. I started applying some of the things I discovered in this book and my Twitter following has swelled from less than a hundred to more than 500.
Now it has to be said that the amount of your followers does not determine how influential a person is on any social network. I have seen Facebook fan pages with thousands of fans but only a handful currently engaged with the posts on that page. An effective social media network should do at least one of the following:
- Help you to easily find people interested in your passions and interests.
- Facilitate easy connection with people who share your passions and interests.
- Enable a conversation with people that share your passions and interests.
Now with the algorithm changes at Facebook, it has become almost nigh on impossible to do any of the above. Can you think of a painless way to get discovered by people on Facebook who like the books you like? Most authors (and I’m one of them) no longer see the same traction Facebook once provided.
However, Twitter provides the three benefits I highlighted above. Central to the ease of seeing and being seen on the Twitterverse are little things known as hashtags. If you’re on Twitter, you’ve probably seen someone leave a message like this
‘Can’t wait to read the latest #mystery #novel by Harlan Coben.’
The symbol ‘#’ before the words mystery and novel render them as hashtags. Anyone on Twitter who is interested in mystery novels can search for those hashtags, find your tweet and either retweet (that is broadcast your tweet to their followers), favourite (similar to liking a post on Facebook) and/or reply to your post. As an author, I usually use the hashtags below:
#IndieAuthor
#novel
#Mystery
#WritingTip
#Kidlit
#MGLit
#Kidlitchat
I’ve found it humbling and exciting when people who don’t even follow me either retweet, favourite or reply to my tweets simply because I have included a hashtag that relates to something they’re interested in. I have made many new friends and acquaintances this way. I have had the parent of a student at a school where I did a reading reach out to me on Twitter. I’ve had a few New York Times Best-selling authors retweet, favourite and/or like my tweets. This week, I had a lovely lady reach out to me on Twitter and share a picture of her grandson with one of my books. The possibilities for connecting with your fans and other book lovers really is bountiful on Twitter. I’d like to encourage you to join Twitter today and join the conversation. There’s a certain group of people who are speaking your language and will gladly welcome you into their fold as to share with you and have you share with them.
I’ll still keep using Facebook but my main stop when I think of social media is Twitter.
I’d highly recommend Denice Shaw’s book as it contains many useful tips, etiquette, resources to help you understand and use Twitter well. Get it at the link below
How to Get Followers on Twitter: A Simple Guide on How to Optimize Twitter and Hootsuite
Are you still finding joy on Facebook? Or perhaps Twitter still doesn’t make sense to you. Or maybe you use LinkedIn or some other social media network that you’d highly recommend. I really would like to hear your thoughts and comments, so drop a line or two in the comment box below and you can follow me on Twitter @davidchuka
Stephen King said in his book ‘On Writing’ that there are 2 things every writer should do: Read a lot and Write a lot.
I try to do both but sometimes one of these activities supersedes the other. I’m currently in a read a lot mode.
The book I’m currently reading is called ‘Girl Jacked’ by Christopher Greyson. It’s a mystery thriller and I’m at the half way point. My interest in the thriller/mystery genre was inspired by a chat I had with Stephanie Bond at the London Book Fair. Stephanie has more than 6 million books in circulation and writes in the cozy mystery genre.
I’ve been reading a few articles about mystery writing and Greyson’s book is the second novel I’ve read/am reading since my curiosity for this genre was piqued. The beauty and I guess popularity of the mystery genre is that the reader gets to play the role of a sleuth along with the main protagonist in the book. I believe it’s this interaction with the facts and clues revealed in a mystery story that make them so enjoyable. At the heart of every mystery story is a puzzle that needs to be solved. Most of the times this puzzle is the murder of someone related in some way to our main protagonist. The story usually ends with a resolution of the puzzle and the protagonist living to fight another day.
In ‘Girl Jacked’ (SPOILER ALERT, don’t continue reading if you have any intention of reading this book which I highly recommend) the murdered victim is Michelle who is the foster sister of Jack Stratton, a detective at the local police station.
Compared to other mystery books that I’ve read, the murder was revealed quite late into the story. There was always a dark cloud hanging to suggest that something diabolical had happened to Michelle but when it was finally revealed, I found myself saying aloud ‘Oh No!’ Girl Jacked has had more than 175 glowing reviews on Amazon and I think what really works for this book is that you get to empathise with the main character who is facing some emotional battles and his side kick – Replacement. I found myself chuckling when the origins of this nickname was revealed. There is a down-to-earth way Greyson narrates this tale that’s free of BS and gets you rooting for the Jack. At the half-way point, o real suspects have really been identified but this has not taken from my enjoyment of the book.
The next book on my list to read is ‘A Life for a Life’ by Tim Ellis. I can’t wait to get into this book for two reasons. One is that I’ll be interviewing the author on Author Interview Thursday a few weeks from now and Tim’s books are very popular on the Amazon UK site and have more than 200 glowing reviews.
Like Stephen King advised, I believe we should all be actively reading and sometimes read outside the genre we write in. You never know what new idea you could stumble upon while doing this.
What are you reading at the moment?
Hope you liked my post on my first day at the London Book Fair 2014. If you haven’t read it, then click First Day at the London Book Fair 2014 to read all about it.
Marketing Your Book
Day Two began with a workshop that had about 8 people sat round a table with a moderator. The topic of the workshop was selling and marketing your book internationally. While the workshop didn’t address the international aspect of marketing your book, there was still a lot of good stuff to take home.
Some of the words of wisdom shared included making sure your book cover sizzles. Don’t check your book sales every day, instead use that time to find bloggers who can promote your book. Everyone at the table was encouraged to share what was working for them.
With regard to social media, I learned we have to tweet about hot topics that are in the social consciousness. He gave the example about football and how you can win new followers by talking about a recent game. To this end, if you follow me on @davidchuka you’ll see me begin to share more about my football team and the challenges of parenting.
The moderator said that Twitter works but you just have to be committed to tweeting every day. At this juncture, I feel it’s necessary to interject that our primary focus as writers is to write so if you’ve not fulfilled your main calling, then don’t sweat the small stuff i.e. social media.
To improve your brand name across social media, make sure you’re using the same username/tag across your profiles. I think you’ll agree that I have a consistent brand name across my profiles apart from Pinterest.
Blog – http://www.davidchuka.com
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Author.David.Chuka
Twitter – @davidchuka
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKbSJqQe5FQaJHvj-n5R4Gw
Pinterest – http://www.pinterest.com/boldtrends/
We were encouraged to try paid PR as they can get you into newspapers and also help with press releases. Make sure to haggle on price if you want to go this route as there are always deals to be struck. Ideally before the deadline for advert submissions as they have last minute deals. I’ve never used this method before and would be interested to know if you’ve had any success with it.
Cross promoting helps so try to get to know other authors in your genre. I have to say that I have personally found Facebook groups and Twitter plus GoodReads to be a great place to find fellow authors in my niche. A great man once said that iron sharpens iron and when it comes into getting into an alliance of like-minded authors, the power that we can give each other is huge.
After the workshop, I went to another workshop that I have to admit was pretty boring. Not because of the content but more the delivery of the content. The subject had to do with legal matters. I’m glad I took the business card of the moderator as it’s something I know I’ll definitely need help with in the future.
Self-Publishing and Traditional Publishing in the same Bed
For the afternoon session, I went to possibly my best seminar of the day titled ‘Eating the Cake Too: The New Breed of Hybrid Authors have the Best of Both Worlds.’ This session was moderated by Diego Marano who is the head of Kobo in the UK and the special guest was Hugh Howey.
Hugh stressed that writing comes first and should reign supreme above everything else. He talked about how when he first began, his idea of success would be to sell his books to 5000 people over the course of his lifetime. Hugh was asked how he managed to balance all his responsibilities in addition to writing. While he wasn’t ungrateful for all the success that has come his way, I got the distinct impression he missed the old days when his life was purely centred on writing. He made a statement to the effect that we should write as much as we can now and hope our 10th book is the breakaway success before other commitments took us away from writing.
He shared how he believed we’re going back to how stories used to be told which involved a direct engagement between the storyteller and his audience who could give him instant feedback on what part of his story was working and which wasn’t. He gave the analogy of people in the music world who played live and used the audience feedback to gauge where they needed an improvement on their performance. With social media, we can begin to engage once again directly with our audience and involve them in the storytelling.
This reminded me of how the father of a student at a Primary school I did a reading at reached out to me on Twitter and said how his daughter liked my books and reading. I replied back and said it was a pleasure to read to her and her school friends. In light of Hugh’s advice, I should have taken this a step further and asked him if I could send him a copy of my next book or asked him which character his daughter liked the best. I believe the keyword here is Engagement.
Below is a short video I shot from the second row with Hugh talking about a deal he recently struck.
Book Marketing Tips from 7-Figure Indy Warriors
The final seminar which I attended was chaired by Indy trailblazers Bella Andre and Barbara Freethy. They were both once upon a time traditionally published but switched to Self-Publishing a few years ago. Bella recently signed a 7-figure print only deal with Harlequin MIRA.
Bella kicked it off by talking about branding. She showed us a slide of all her book covers and said being that she came from a traditionally published background where the author didn’t have a lot of input in the marketing of their books, she wanted to get it right with her covers when she switched. She said she wasn’t hung up on people knowing the title of her books but wanted to build the Bella Andre brand and that’s why they’re always so BIG on her covers.
A great brand should be instantly recognisable and consistent. She advised that we need to fulfil the promise we make to the reader with our book cover. So the images and title should be a reflection on what’s on the inside of the book. She said something she had noticed with a lot of fiction authors is that we only think about the title but the sub title is equally as important.
Think about the holes in the market. What holes/gaps are there in your market that you can exploit? She gave the example of writing under the pseudonym ‘Lucy Kevin’ to capture a segment of the contemporary romance market she felt was being served since the Bridget Jones books.
Readers love knowing that they have more books to look forward to so give it to them and make sure the story in your series is open-ended. People discover you with each new book so aim to write more books in your series. She personally aims to release a book every 2-4 months.
You can maximise the income from your published books by doing one of the following
- Converting them to audiobooks
- Having print books
- Film and TV
- Selling/licensing the foreign rights
- Translating them into foreign language
With regard to book translations, she advised to make sure that your translator has experience in translating books and you need to get a proof-reader to check what they’ve done. Your book could live or die on the strength of your translator. The major languages she said we should target are German, Portuguese (with the Brazilian market in mind), Spanish and Italian. You can convert your published books to audio by using the Amazon service acx.com which will not only upload it to Amazon but other retail channels as well.
Barbara drew our attention to the fact that we could draw attention to our latest published books by having a Facebook party. You can also boost your posts on Facebook. She said something you could do is along with the creation of your Facebook page is to create a Facebook group. This is so fans of your books have a place to congregate and discuss your books. This way, the onus isn’t on you to keep the conversation going.
She mentioned something about the fact that she only had about two thousand plus fans on her Facebook page but had a friend who had more than twenty thousand but wasn’t selling much. Her conclusion from this is you can’t equate the success of an author to the amount of fans they had on Facebook.
Something she said that caught my attention and I’ve never tried is that you can update your status on GoodReads the way you could leave a post on Facebook. Use Ereadernews.com to advertise your book as you only pay for clicks. This is another channel I will be exploring. I’ve used them for free days but not for paid promos.
Another thing she said was to always think about keywords and have them in your description and author profile as this is a way people find you on Amazon and the other retail platforms.
Have a 5 year plan. I think this is very important as we sometimes tend to get discouraged if we don’t see sales or just a few sales when we click into our KDP account. Speaking of KDP accounts, she advised us not to check it too often as it could either make you depressed or over-excited.
Have your name big on the cover. The perception is that if your name is big on the cover then you must be BIG. I have to say this was another aha moment and looking through Bella and Barbara’s Amazon author page and viewing all their book titles, I could see they really were practising what they preach. You might not be big at the moment but you have to Fake it, till you BECOME it!
We all need to think like publishers and play with price, covers, description etc. This reminds me of a one on one talk I had with Stephanie Bond on Day One and she said she brought it to the attention of a friend that one of her books wasn’t doing so well in the UK market. They went through a couple of things and her friend pointed out that she began the description to that book with the phrase ‘Welcome back to Lexington, Kentucky.’ They both agreed that Lexington might not be a place familiar to an international audience. As soon as she changed this, an hour later, she began seeing sales on this book. Amazing! This just goes to show that if you’re experiencing mediocre sales on a book you know should be doing better, then something can be done to boost sales.
If there’s one thing that all the Indy superstar writers were in consensus about and which Barbara said again, it was that we should all keep writing. Content is King. Bella said how at the start of each week she had to remind herself that it’s all about the book. Write more than one book. Spend more time writing than promoting.
Network with other authors and cross promote each other’s work. I’m all for this and if you need my help, simply shoot me an email via my Contact Us page.
Get to know retailers – how they work, their platforms, latest trends etc.
Hire professionals to do your cover, edit, proofread, write your description etc. write what you love and think BIG!
There was a big round of applause from the audience at the end of this seminar.
I’d really love to know your thoughts, comments, questions etc. regarding my two days at the London Book Fair. It really was a life changing experience and I hope to see you at London Book Fair 2015 which will be held at The Olympia from April 14 -16th. Hope to see you there!
I was at the London Book Fair this week and I have to tell you that it was a life changing experience. I was there last year and it give me an insight into how the industry works. However, if I could describe my experience in word, it would be INSPIRED. A major part of this was due to the Self-publishing superstars who attended and not only gave their time by answering questions at various seminars and workshops but were also available at their stand to give away and sign free books, take pictures and answer more questions. There was a camaraderie amongst these authors, who all make quite juicy sums from their self-publishing business that I think we all need to emulate.
These Indy self-publishers included Stephanie Bond, Bella Andre, Lilliana Hart, Jacinda Wilder, Barbara Freethy and Hugh Howey. I actually had a photo opp with Hugh with our arms across each other like best buddies and then gues what? My phone‘s battery died. Anyways, Hugh was so gracious to sign my journal and I’m hopeful I’ll get that picture with him at some point in the future.
I attended most of the seminars and workshops with C.K. Omillin who is a fellow author from Belgium in my Facebook Group and it was a delight to share the experience with a friend. Ok, I hope you have your favourite beverage in hand and are all cozied up as I’m about to share the best bits from the London Book Fair 2014.
Book Discovery for Authors
On the panel for this seminar was Mark Coker who is the founder of Smashwords, Joanna Penn who is a UK author and international speaker and Andrew Rhomberg, the founder of Jellybooks.
Mark said something quite profound in that every book we write ought to take the reader to an emotionally satisfying extreme.
We were encouraged to connect with fellow authors as you never know which of your author friends could become a global mega star tomorrow. Joanna said something she does in all her books is to ask for people to join her mailing list at the end. If what you’ve written is good, the reader will be more willing to give you their name and email. Doing your keyword research is strongly related to book discovery. Joanna gave the example of how when she changed the title of a book on finding a new job to ‘Career Change,’ it started flying off the shelves.
Also have your social profile links at the end of your book so readers can connect with you. Andrew warned against always pitching your book on Twitter as it made you sound like a used car salesman. I have to admit that I see this a lot on Twitter and it is indeed a turn off.
Mark brought our attention to the pre-order feature which I see some authors using on Amazon. The beauty about the pre-order feature is that all the sales you make prior to the day your book is published are credited on that first day it’s published and that’s how and why some folks get into the New York times best seller list.
Everything you do is marketing. Marketing is sharing what you love with people who are interested. What this means is that people who follow you on Facebook or Twitter like you and are interested in what you’re up to, so sharing a bit about your life draws them closer into your brand and makes them more open to buy your stuff.
One thing I heard over and over again at the various seminars I attended by different authors and speakers is that we need to have one of our books FREE. This perma-free book serves to remove the barrier of entry, and allow people to try out your writing and then if they like it, they are more likely to buy your other paid books. I have to admit that I tried this half-heatedly and priced the first book in my Billy and Monster series at 99c and did get a few sales on different platforms. I was a bit discouraged by the amount of sales and took it off the other platforms and put it back on the Amazon KDP select program. Once my 3 month Select period is over, I’m taking it off and having it free on Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Amazon and any other distribution platform out there. I think this whole free business was one of the big takeaways from LBF for me.
I believe it was Joanna who advised us to join the alliance of Indy authors where you can discover what’s new and exchange ideas with fellow authors. We need to grow our email lists to facilitate book discoverability. Once you earn their trust, you can then ask for their email. Mark said there are 2 things you get from a sale and that is royalties and a reader. However, a reader has the potential to become a fan and a fan has the potential to become a super fan.
Some interesting news which was shared and I verified at the Amazon Kindle stand is that UK resident authors can now convert their books to audio using acx.com. This an Amazon service that allows you to convert your books into audio. I called this company sometime last year and they said that there were plans to cater to the UK market but it wasn’t ready. Well, it’s now ready and I’ll be converting some of my non-fiction titles using this service. The whole idea to have your book on different platforms and formats is to aid your book being discovered.
Series Fiction
In the afternoon on Tuesday I attended a seminar titled ‘The Power of Series Fiction‘ This seminar was chaired by John Dougherty who is a children’s book writer and the panellists were Annie Finnis (Deputy Fiction Director at Usborne) and Chris Snowden (the managing director at working partners). This seminar was catered more to children’s book authors but I believe authors from other genres can apply some of the wisdom shared.
A standalone story is a contained story with an obvious end while a series fiction is seen from the outset as continuous. You create a world you hope your readers will want to belong to. Your readers want to be part of that world. You need to publish books in your series in quick successions. It is good to have a self-contained story within a series. Your books (in the series) have to be fun and enjoyable. Read other books that are in a series in your local bookshop or library to see what’s working.
Who are your readers? If your core reader is 10, then make your protagonist 12. Publishers sometimes move in herds and want to replicate the last series that was successful. Sometimes (I’m really tempted to say most times), the next big hit does not come from copying yesterday’s hit but something that’s new or an innovation of the old. It’s good to bear in mind that publishers go for a series for a younger age group as it encourages them to read.
Q&A with authors who have sold more than 15 million books!
I think the beauty of coming to the London Book Fair or any industry gathering for that matter is that you get to see live and in the flesh some of your heroes who you may have heard about, read about or seen on the television.
The Q&A session on Tuesday afternoon in the Authors HQ was with Bella Andre (who has sold more than 3 million books), Lilliana Hart (who has hit the New York bestselling charts on multiple occasions), Jacinda Wilder (who makes like 6 figures every month) and Candice Hern (who has sold close to a million books).
What linked these authors together was the fact that they are Indy publishers. It was refreshing and inspiring to listen to their stories and how they’ve all gotten to where they are. Bella said how her best advance while she was with a traditional publisher was $33000. Today she makes 7 figures a year. Jacinda (who writes with her husband and has 5 children) talked about how their big breakthrough came when they published book number 28! Lilianna talked about how she started from ground zero and is today one of the most celebrated Indy authors on the planet. Candice talked about how she has stayed in her lane writing historical romance and today dominates that category on Amazon.
Someone asked about a breakdown of their income across the different retail channels and I would say the average breakdown from the four ladies was about 35-40% on Amazon and then Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo, Smashwords and then other platforms. It was really encouraging to know that authors who are not on the Amazon KDP program are still making a mint. I have to say here that you really have to find what works for you. I met Stephanie Bond who is also another superstar Indy author with 6 million books in circulation and she said how she’s kept most of her books on the Amazon KDP program as her monthly figures reveal the income she gets from borrows is equal to and sometimes exceeds paid purchases.
Yet again in this Q&A session, we were encouraged to give our books away for FREE. Consider what happens at a supermarket. You’re usually given a free sample to taste and invariably it leads the taster, if they like the stuff to become a buyer. Make the first book in your series free. Every time you publish a new book, you sell more books.
Bella stressed on how your cover art was a major part of your marketing and great attention and care and investment should be put into making this right. Know the keywords in your genre as that is what people use to find books. Include these keywords in your blurb and author profile.
Another major point that was mooted in the Q&A was to translate our books into foreign languages. Many foreign markets are starving for books in your genre, so you could very well be taking over those markets if you have your books translated.
The most important thing to remember is the Book. Everything is secondary’s to writing. By the way, guess who was running the mic for this session?… Hugh Howey! He ended the session by advising us to commit to writing 1-2 hours every day. Don’t miss a day.
After the Q&A session, I went to the Indy author booth and had a very good chat with Stephanie Bond. She writes Mystery thrillers and Romance. She shared with me how she gets the inspiration for her books, things you can do for research like speaking to the PR person at the local police station, watching certain TV programs for ideas on what to do and what not to do. I’ve always admired mystery writers but felt an absence of a law/criminal enforcement background would be a hindrance to writing a mystery. Stephanie assured me that that shouldn’t be a hindrance and that it all starts with a story. If you ever see a mystery thriller book with my named penned as the author, you know who sowed the seeds.
So that was it for Day One. I was truly inspired and couldn’t wait for Day 2. I’d be interested to know your thoughts or questions on my first day at the London Book Fair.
Click to read Day 2 ====> My London Book Fair 2014 Experience Day 2
By: David Chuka,
on 3/25/2014
Blog:
(
Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:
holidays,
easter,
Win a Book,
easter eggs,
easter books,
david chuka,
funny books for kids,
On My Mind,
billy and monster,
Add a tag
Today, I’d like to share with you the chance to win a signed copy of the Amazon Best-seller ‘Billy and the Monster who Ate All the Easter Eggs’
With Easter around the corner, this book will be a welcome addition to your loved ones library.
This is the third book in the Billy and Monster series and it has gotten about 48 glowing reviews on the Amazon website.
I recently read this book to Years 1 and 2 at Raglan Primary School and the children loved it. I’m sure your loved ones will too.
Before I reveal how you can enter to win a signed copy, let’s find out what happens with Billy and Monster in this Easter edition.
Billy and Monster love all the holidays as they get to spend quality time together. However, their best holiday is Easter as they get to eat their favorite food…CHOCOLATE!
This year, they’re spending Easter with Grandma Chocalicious who loves Chocolate even more than Billy. She’s an expert at making chocolate cake, chocolate waffles and even chocolate pasta.
This year Grandma Chocalicious has made a pyramid of Easter eggs for her party on Easter Sunday. Billy and Monster want one of the Easter eggs but Grandma says they have to wait till Easter Sunday.
What happens when Billy and Monster tip toe downstairs and the pyramid of Easter eggs comes falling down?
For a chance to find out what happens simply click the link below and you could very well have your signed copy just in time for Easter.
Hello
Wow! I can’t believe we’re already in September. 2013 has been a very eventful year for me and I’ve learned so much as I’ve grown as a writer and self-publisher. I do have to admit that the best part of my journey has been the wonderful people I’ve met along the way.
If you enjoyed Author Interview Thursday in the month of August, then you’re in for a treat this month because we have a wonderful bunch of authors lined up. Just check out this all-star list.
Kathy Beynette joins us on September 5th. She’s an artist with a studio out in Virginia and she uses animals to convey messages in her work. Her poems remind some of Dr. Seuss. Her first children’s book, When Your Porcupine Feels Prickly is available in some bookstores and also on the Amazon store. In my interview with her she’ll be talking about how getting the wrong shoes was the trigger to her writing career, her thoughts on how authors can find and work with illustrators, a typical day in her life and much more.
Calvin Innes is our featured guest on September 12th. I met Calvin at the London Book Fair in April and he is the founder and CEO of My Little Big Town Publishing based in Hull, England. For anyone who has any plans to one day have their books published by a traditional publisher, you definitely don’t want to miss this one! As a publisher, Calvin will be sharing how writers should approach publishing companies, what stands out for him when he reads a manuscript, how he deals with an illustrator’s equivalent of writers block and much more.
Adam T. Newman joins us on September 19th. He shares a very personal story of how he got to write his first book and start his publishing company. He talks about the difference between the film and publishing industries. Adam will also be sharing tips on how children’s book writers can get reading engagements at schools and how to offer a memorable presentation. I’m especially looking forward to what Adam has to say about presenting in schools as this is one activity I plan to do more of in the coming months.
Ally Nathaniel joins us on September 26th and she’s the best-selling author of several books in the Early Learning category on Amazon. Ally shares a little bit about herself, how she’s marketing her books and advice for authors on the brink of giving up plus much more.
A stellar cast I hope you’ll agree. So make sure to tune in every Thursday in the month of September as you’ll be inspired, informed and entertained.
For past author interviews, you can go to the link below and you can read all the interviews I’ve done so far this year.
Author Interview Thursday
How great that you are expanding your ebook market. I usually get my ebooks from Amazon, but I also get them from Smashwords. I don’t think I have gotten them anywhere else, but I could be wrong. Wishing you the best of luck. The titles sound very fun!