Author! Author!
Juliet Dillon Clark
Juliet Dillon Clark was born and raised in Paso Robles, California. She graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 1984 and pursued a career in Los Angeles. After working in the advertising industry for several years, she became a real estate broker and settled in raising a family in Northern Los Angeles. Much of her writing is based on her childhood memories of the beautiful central coast of California where she grew up.
Gypsy- The Story Behind the Story
I ‘ve received several e- mails asking about Gypsy, my latest novel. First of all, I’d like to say that this one was fun to write. The story was inspired by an article I saw in the Orange County Register, a while back about a war between two gypsy families that happened in Corona del Mar, CA. This story was featured by MSNBC and in one of the weekly news magazines. Gypsies are normally territorial but, they have gypsy tribunals where they settle disputes between families. This particular incident spilled into the California civil courts. The dispute surrounded a family that opened up a fortune telling business in Corona del Mar and Newport Beach. Another family felt that the Newport Beach/Corona del Mar area was their territory, so they vandalized the store, which was in the high traffic tourist area of Balboa Island. The family in question also tried to exhort money from the family and threatened their children. The characters in the book, “White Bob” and “Black Bob” were part of the gypsy article.
My sister and I went to Balboa Island one afternoon, to go shopping, saw the store and decided to check it out. We had “Angel Readings” done. The funny part was that a few days later, the proprietor of the shop called me back to tell me that she saw some “darkness” that she could remove. Of course, it would cost a mere $2,500.00 to remove my darkness. I’m not sure why she targeted me and left my sister alone. I went in to talk to her because I was curious. That’s when I found that my “ core ” needed to be disconnected from some dark people in my life. After that, I started reading about the scams these people perpetrate online. After reading many articles, I decided to enlist the services of a few readers to see what they had to say and sure enough, I was aware that they were asking questions that would give them clues where to go. For the record, I can’t really remember any of them being accurate. What I did get out of it was an education in reading the reader. For the record, my core is still intact and the “darkness” is probably still there too!
New Gypsy review on Amazon-
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. From the deceptive and alluring Therese Sanderson, to the corrupt and wicked political climbers, these characters were magnetic. An inside look at the dynamics of the Gypsy Clan and their intense loyalty that can quickly turn in the name of greed. Enough Hollywood glamour to keep it exciting and all set in the beauty of the Pacific Coast. Garrett Merino plays one against the other and ultimately loses all. Who gained the most from his death? And who had the most to lose?
Non-Fiction Writing Mistakes
As you are writing your book about the topic that you are knowledgeable about, you need to think about keeping your audience captivated. One of the biggest mistakes that authors make is “telling” rather than engaging the reader. If your writing lacks organization and doesn’t compel the reader to remain engaged, they will stop reading. Readers want dialogue and answers to their questions or challenges.
Do not use passive sentences. When you writer in a passive voice, your writing is drawn out into long sentences that slow the reader down. Use your grammar check and take out your passive verbs like, is, was, seems, have, etc. Revisions of this sort create more clarity for the reader.
Write the story with words that are easy to understand. A good rule of thumb is aim for a 10th grade reading level. Attempts to wow your audience with big words or fancy research make you look pompous. If you are engaging the reader to sell your product or services, this may be a turnoff.
Take the “I” out of your work. Whether you are writing an introduction, biography, or a sales message, keep the “I’s” to a minimum. Your audience doesn’t care about, only what you can do for them. The use of “I” sentences makes it seem more like a sales pitch and readers don’t want a sales pitch, they want useful information.
Your goal is to get more sales from your book. You should be aiming to be a savvy friend to your audience, someone who is knowledgeable, friendly, and trustworthy. If you can combine all of these qualities into your writing style, people will buy your products and services over and over.
Juliet Dillon Clark is the author of four novels and CEO of Winsome Entertainment Group, a self-publishing company. If you are interested in publishing your novel, call us at (661)251-6900 or e- mail juliet@julietclark.com.
Tired of Rejection Slips?
Many authors are exploring if self-publishing is right for them. Here are some reasons that self-publishing may be right for you.
Do you have the time to write, publish, promote? Time is a big factor when making the decision to self-publish. Writing a book is easy. Publishing can be time consuming because you are responsible for making sure that the project is put together correctly. If you do all of the tasks yourself, it can become a full time job.
Yes, you can pay a self- publisher to do this. Using a self-publisher can take the day-to-day details off of your plate. Ultimately, you will be the one looking at the formatting and making sure it is correct and looking over the proof. You will also be responsible for approving the project every step of the way. A self-publishing company will cost you money. You can go with a company that doesn’t charge much or you can go with a company that charges more. If you are publishing a book for the first time, make sure you spend the extra money and choose a company that will go the extra mile in terms of customer service.
After the book is published, promotion becomes time intensive. Writing a blog, working your social networks, and talking about your books all require a great deal of time and effort.
If you have the time and the money, you can produce a quality product and promote it well self-publishing may be for you!
Juliet Dillon Clark is the author of four novels and CEO of Winsome Entertainment Group, a self-publishing company. If you are interested in publishing your book, call us at (661)251-6900 or e- mail juliet@julietclark.com.
Why Authors Should Be Using Goodreads
Many of you are probably asking what is Goodreads? Goodreads is a social networking site for readers and people who love to discuss books. There are over seven million people who use the site. Your first thought may be….another social network? Yes, between Facebok, Twitter, and Google+, it may seem like another social network is too much work. Bit, if you are an author, chances are that you are also an avid reader. Goodreads is a forum where avid readers communicate with one another.
From an author’s standpoint, there are many reasons that Goodreads will be helpful. Readers are able to keep track of their books. It is a place to track the books that they have already read and the books that interest them for future reading. The interaction between readers and authors also allows members to read and write reviews. If you write books, this is great exposure for your books. Authors are encourage to interact with the people who read their books. It is done so in a way that doesn’t seem like marketing.
Goodreads also allows self-published authors to participate. This gives authors who may not have a great deal of exposure, a forum to market books and get reviews. The sites reviews can be extremely helpful to other readers who may not know who you are. Readers have the opportunity to give your books a one to five star review, as well as write a short piece about the book.
Find out more about this site and sign up at www.goodreads.com.
Juliet Dillon Clark is the author of four books and CEO of Winsome Entertainment Group. For more about her and Winsome Entertainment, go to www.julietdillonclark.com and contact her.
Do I Need To Have My Book Edited?
Many authors come to me with manuscripts that are not edited. I highly recommend that you have your manuscript edited by a professional. If you do not use a professional your manuscript will not be perfect. Do not proofread it yourself and declare it perfect. It is your own work and you cannot possibly be objective about it.
Independent writers have a sketchy reputation because many authors do not release work that is professional quality. There are grammatical, punctuation and spelling errors. You may have a wonderful story but if the reader must slog through the errors, he will put the story down and forget about it.
Editors can be found online. Be sure and get references first if you can and look at some of the other work they have done. By references, I mean, get a list of books they have edited and look through them. I have used three different editors that have all claimed to be professionals, with different degrees of success. Before you shop for an editor, be sure that you understand what sort of editing services you need.
If you are an excellent story teller and a mediocre writer, you will need an editor that can do deep editing and writing. This can be an expensive process. If you are a skilled writer, you may only need a line-by-line editing. This includes structure, clarity, word choice, and inconsistencies in the narrative voice. If you are a good writer, you may only need a proofreader to look for spelling errors, punctuation and capitalization errors, and awkward grammar.Whatever your skills, be open to your editor’s suggestions. After all, your goal should be to become a better writer, regardless of your skill level.
Most editors will accept manuscripts via e- mail and make computer generated corrections. Some old school editors will work off of the hard copy of the manuscript and you are responsible for the making the changes. I have done this both ways and can tell you that having someone make the corrections on the computer, is a much easier process to manage. On the computer manuscript, one the corrections are approved, the editor can make them with a few key strokes. Making the corrections on your own from a hard copy involves going into your own manuscript by hand and making the corrections. This can be a tedious and create more errors.
Juliet Dillon Clark is the author of four novels and CEO of Winsome Entertainment Group, a self-publishing company. If you are interested in publishing your novel, call us at (661)251-6900 or e- mail juliet@julietclark.com.
Do You Need A Book Coach?
For some people, the idea of a book can be overwhelming. If you are one of those people, a book coach may be just what you need. A book coach can help you get organized and make the whole process less stressful.
One of the tasks that a book coach does is guidance. This is someone who can help you get the project going when you have no idea where to start. When you work closely with a coach, you have a partner, teacher, and many times, a personal cheerleader at your disposal. Book coaches can guide you through every step of the process. The organization will help you to write coherently and start the project at the beginning instead of somewhere in the middle.
Planning is a huge part of a coach’s job. There are questions that need to be asked at the beginning. The most important question is what is the subject of your book? You should be able to succinctly answer that in one sentence. Other questions might include:
- What other books are out there and how is you book unique?
- Who is your target audience?
- Is this something that you want to hand out as a business card to clients and publish for the public?
- Do you have a way to promote the book and yourself?
- What method of publishing will be best for you?
- Will you take the time and learn all of the publishing steps yourself or will you hire a self-publishing company?
A book coach can also help you establish realistic goals and schedule them. Depending on how long your book is, it can be a long or short term project. The longer the project, the more you will have to set deadlines for yourself to keep the book going forward. Like all goals, these should be specific and have completion dates. It is much easier to set many short term goals and meet the deadlines than it is to just have a completion date in mind. Break the writing down into smaller deadlines. For instance, Chapter one will be written in two weeks.
A book coach can also work with you to perfect your manuscript. Your coach should be reviewing your work as you finish each chapter. This person will be a resource for you to gain feedback that will keep you in track with your goals. As a writer, it is impossible to be objective about your own work. Your coach should be able to objectively look at your work and point out inconsistencies or flaws.
Helping out with publishing options is a large part of a coach’s job. Most people do not have access to mainstream publishing companies and will be in a position to self- publish. A good coach can guide you through the quagmire of options and break it all down into two categories: what you need and what you don’t need. Budget may also be a factor and a coach can guide you to the best options.
Juliet Dillon Clark is the author of four novels and CEO of Winsome Entertainment Group, a self-publishing company. If you are interested in publishing your novel, call us at (661)251-6900 or e- mail juliet@julietclark.com.
Books- The New Business Cards
Have you ever thought about yourself as an expert in your chosen field? If you are a small business owner or entrepreneur, you should consider writing a book about what sets you apart from the others in your field.
Many experts will tell you that books are the new business cards. You can use a book to establish yourself as an expert. After all, that is what you are, someone who is down in the trenches, doing a job every day. Use this as an informational product that can be revised and updated as your business or industry changes.
A book that showcases your business should contain relevant information about your mission statement and business methods. A detailed explanation of how you are different from your competitors should also be included.You might be thinking why would I want a book that sounds like a sales pitch? The answer is that you don’t.You want your book to be informational enough to sell your product or service. What you don’t want is a long dissertation about why your company is the best. The point is to sell without overselling.
What kinds of businesses are best suited for this? Anyone who does consulting of any kind, lawyers, accountants, doctors, and even trades man. Anyone who does seminars, lectures, workshops or training as part of their business model should have their own book. If you own a business that has the potential to be global, it is marketing that can be sent out to potential clients to create a broader client base. Global exposure can also be achieved by listing your book for sale on Amazon.
Check out my business card book http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-in-Self–Publishing-ebook/dp/B007VGI5HQ/ref=sr_1_6?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1335358496&sr=1-6
Juliet Dillon Clark is the author of four novels and CEO of Winsome Entertainment Group, a self-publishing company. If you are interested in publishing your novel, call us at (661)251-6900 or e- mail juliet@julietclark.com.
Author Jeanne Wray’s Book Released on Kindle- The Shadow Cove Incident
The Shadow Cove Incident is now available on Kindle. A little about the author and her new book!
Jeanne Wray was born in Newark, New Jersey. She contracted polio at 17 months old and didn’t walk again until she was five. She was treated at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where her family roots were. She recovered nicely with some limitations. When she was six years old her parents and younger sister moved back to Pittsburgh. She went to school there until 7th grade and then they moved to Hollywood, California in 1942. Her family settled for a while in the San Fernando Valley where Jeanne attended North Hollywood Junior and Senior High Schools. Her parents had changed locations often during her early school years; she attended eleven in all, three in first grade.
Her father did defense work during the war years and started his own direct mail business after the war in California. During her teen years Jeanne worked in the family business. She married after high school. Her husband entered the Air Force during the Korean War and she later joined him in England. They lived there for 2½ years. Having no children they adopted a little one-year-old boy in Dublin, Ireland. Soon after Jeanne had a baby girl of her own.
Some years later she was divorced, and remarried. When her children began Junior High School, Jeanne, who had always been interested in the art classes at school, began to study oil painting. She enjoyed a successful career in art. Her paintings are all over the world. She also led a group of women to Central Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles twice a month for six years to help girls incarcerated there. She then spent five years volunteering on a hot line helping young women in trouble.
Her daughter encouraged her to write her memoirs. Jeanne joined The Golden Pen Writers Guild in Santa Clarita where she now resides. She sings with a group that entertains usually during the holidays. She was always fascinated with mystery and suspense that is where her new interest in writing took her. Jeanne likes to get to the point so short stories are her choice.
The Shadow Cove Incident is collection of short stories by author and artist Jeanne Wray. This anthology is highlighted by The Shadow Cove Incident, the story of intrigue in a small, California beach town. The stories are of mystery and suspense. Some take you to a world beyond. Some will go to the heart of justice. Others will touch your heart and make you weep.
You can purchase her new book at http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Incident-Suspenseful-Stories-ebook/dp/B007W5K4PM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335184136&sr=8-1
Juliet Dillon Clark is the author of four novels and CEO of Winsome Entertainment Group, a self-publishing company. If you are interested in publishing your novel, call us at (661)251-6900 or e- mail juliet@julietclark.com.
The Realities of Being an Indie Author
So, you’ve written a great book. Time to sit back, put it on Amazon and let it sell you into the millionaire stratosphere. NOT! Your work has barely begun. The realities of being an Indie author are harsh. You are about to find out that writing the book was the easiest part of the journey. Just keep in mind, it is all a journey. Learn and enjoy it! Marketing yourself and your book is hard. I am streamlining some areas you will need to address, in order to save you time, money, and heartache. Here are some tips I hope you will find helpful in making the journey a little easier.
Develop a website; an excellent website. Budget money and have a web designer make your site enjoyable, informative and user friendly. Do not buy one of the websites from your self-publishing company. I did this for my first book; it was expensive and was more about linking back to the self-publisher to buy my book than it was about actually selling product. I paid as much for a canned site from my publisher as I paid for my custom site. The publisher charged me thirty dollars a month for hosting this substandard site. That is an outrageous amount of money to host a site. Compare prices and see for yourself. If you can’t yet afford a site, utilize as many features of Author Central as you can. It is free through Amazon and will link to your books. Go to www.Authorcentral.com.
Next, you must have a blog. Your blog should be linked with your website, Author Central account, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and any social media site that you subscribe to. Your blog should be on topics that interest you and that you are knowledgeable about. If you are a non-fiction author, a blog is a great way to talk about topics in your book and further establish yourself as an expert in your field.
The book signing package publishers sell is a waste of money. You can devise one of your own much cheaper and better suited to your book and your personality. Do a little research and make one of your own.
Paying for publicity can be expensive. Usually, you will pay an enormous amount of money and be disappointed with the results. You can do many of the tasks done by a publicist by yourself. For example, there are many good websites that will guide you through the how-tos of a press release. A press release is an item your publisher may offer, and then charge you several hundred dollars to produce.
Social media can be an inexpensive way to promote your book. You will need to spend time learning how to maximize your efforts. There are some really great websites to assist you. One of them is the Savvy Book Marketer, www.bookmarketingmaven.com. This site contains some excellent social media guides that will help you set up your accounts, increase your traffic, and guide you through social media etiquette. Do not be dissuaded by the price tag for the e-book, Successful Social Marketing. Twenty four dollars is steep for an e-book but, this one is well worth the money. Also, the author periodically updates the information and sends the updates to you, free.
Another helpful resource is www.Novelpublicity.com. Emlyn Chand is an author and runs this publicity company. She is a savvy marketer who has used her own tips to market her novel, Farsighted. She also focuses on social media and has classes on how to get started. She is a great resource for using Goodreads, which is a social media site for readers and authors. Novel Publicity provides many different services. One of the services, the blog tour, is something every author should take and scrutinize. I personally purchased a Twitterview, which was an interview done on Twitter with Emlyn Chand as the moderator. It is an easy and inexpensive way to promote your book.
If you are motivated to get your social media working like a well-oiled machine, consider a coach. Turning Passion Into Profits is a company that can lead you into a whole new realm of social media heights. Coach Tammy Burnell offers bootcamps, training classes, and one-on-one coaching to her clients. I personally witnessed her results when a friend of mine used her. In a span of two months, her Twitter followers went from ten thousand to thirty six thousand. That is a large following, when your goal is to promote a book. Find out more about Tammy Burnell and Turning Passion Into Profits at www.Turningpassioninto profits.com or contact her at (661)220-0784.
Juliet Dillon Clark is the author of four novels and CEO of Winsome Entertainment Group, a self-publishing company. If you are interested in publishing your novel, call us at (661)251-6900 or e- mail juliet@julietclark.com.
I Want To Keep My Royalties!
Royalties is the most disappointing area of self- publishing and it does not sit well with me. One of the traditional drawbacks with self-publishing has been that books are priced high to make a profit. You have to look at it this way; most self-publishing companies take a cut of the profits. My first experience with a self-publisher was a book priced at $15.99, very high for a 218 page mystery novel. It cost $3.86 to produce the book and I received $1.68 per copy sold, so the retailer and the publisher retained the other $10.45.
Now, for the myth buster moment: when I asked the publisher to allocate the percentages, he replied that retailers require a 54% minimum for bookstores. After doing my own research and working with a POD printer, I found out that this was, in fact, untrue. The figure was exaggerated by the self-publisher I had worked with. The problem was further compounded by the fact that these same retailers who took 54% to carry my book in bookstores, in fact, wouldn’t carry the book in their stores.
These were lessons I learned from my first publishing experience. My book didn’t sell well because it was priced too high. I now price my soft cover books at $12.99; three dollars less than my first self-publisher. My books are now priced competitively and I sell more copies.
My best sellers are Kindle books. I sell them at $4.99 and make $3.50 per download. This is where I make the bulk of my publishing money. Putting your book on Kindle is worth it. Kindle satisfies the instant gratification society that we have become. I choose a book, I pay for it, and thirty seconds later it is mine. Kindle books are also much cheaper than paperback books. In these economic times, that is important to consumers.
Here are my thoughts about royalties and self-publishing. As an author, I am paying a company to produce my book. The company I choose is taking no risk and has no out-of-pocket expenses by taking me on as a client. In fact, they make money to produce my book. So my question is: why give them my royalties too?
I also feel that taking royalties on a self-published book not only hurts the profit for the author, but I don’t know why the self-publishing companies bother. Let’s explore the business end for a moment. As a self-publisher, in order to take royalties from an author, I boost the price of the book to make room for my earnings. If the book is now priced at a rate that is not competitive with the market, it sells poorly. So really, what are my earnings if the book is not selling? As a self-publisher, I have overhead expenses to cover, but am I really making anything when the books aren’t selling and I am employing someone to pay out royalty checks to authors? In my opinion, this is a poor business model for everyone involved.
Let the authors keep their royalties. They write the books, they deserve to make some money from them.
Juliet Dillon Clark is the author of four novels and CEO of Winsome Entertainment Group, a self-publishing company. If you are interested in publishing your novel, call us at (661)251-6900 or e- mail juliet@julietclark.com.
Bookstores vs. Amazon
I remember my first encounter with a self-publishing house. They strongly encouraged book signings in Barnes and Noble, an exciting but fraudulent proposal. I was excited about having my books on the shelf for the world to buy. Then, I went to my local bookstore and couldn’t find my book. The manager informed me that people could go to customer service and order it. I asked if they could carry it because I was a local author. The manager agreed to stock a few.
Then a big disappointment, I asked about a book signing. After all, my publisher provided me, at an extra fee, with a book signing kit. Barnes and Noble doesn’t do book signings for Indie authors, not even local ones. This was disappointing. I soon learned that my book probably wouldn’t be carried in any bookstores. I would be primarily on Amazon and Barnes and Noble’s online bookstore. In addition, there were a few smaller online companies that would be carrying my e-books. I had never heard of any of these websites.
I have since found that is all satisfactory. Why? Because I sell more books on Amazon than any other place. Amazon is the world’s largest bookstore. In fact, more than all of the other places put together. Barnes and Noble dislikes Indie authors. On the other hand, Amazon has programs they have developed that help Indie authors.
KDP Select is free to Kindle authors. It has boosted my sales tremendously. The big hurdle that I find with authors and KDP Select is the word “free”. This program allows you five free promotional days every three months. I have published three books that I run the promotions with. These three books give me fifteen free days every three months. Here is the problem authors have, these promotional days allow you to give your book away for free. Depending on the number of free downloads, your book moves up onto a free bestseller list. It also moves your ranking up on Amazon, increasing your ranking. There are millions of books listed on Amazon. An increased ranking means more exposure to your book.
Every time I run a free promo, I have enough downloads to push me into the top echelon of books sales for several days. My book sales always jump after those free days. Even better, many of the people who took part in the free download days write reviews. Good reviews also increase sales.
KDP Select also allows prime members to loan books. The author makes money from lending as well. The amount is determined by a pool of money that Amazon provides monthly. The amount that is made from lending is not as much as you would make from a normal sale but it is more exposure.
Thus the point is, do not set your expectation on becoming the end-cap display in your local bookstore. Be happy with having your book for sale in the largest and most widely used bookstore on the planet. Take advantage of the promotional programs that Amazon offers.
Juliet Dillon Clark is the author of four novels and CEO of Winsome Entertainment Group, a self-publishing company. If you are interested in publishing your novel, call us at (661)251-6900 or e- mail juliet@julietclark.com.