I find this blog post from the Society of Authors in France interesting because it’s what many of us perceive as the main points of debate on self-publishing.

Here’s what I agree with in this post:

- Every Author needs help. It’s real work – you can’t do it all yourself.
- Every Author is afraid of selling. We all get over it, and the faster you do, the more you’ll sell.
- Hire an Editor. I don’t care if it’s me or not, but almost nobody can edit their own work. (I should know – I’ve tried for years and it always sucks when I edit my own stuff.)
- It’s true that more people are reading eBooks, and for some, that’s definitely the way to go. (BUT: see note below.)
- Write because you have something new, groundbreaking or truly useful to say, not because you think you can make money writing about a particular topic. It is twisted but true that writing just to make money will make you poor.
- Finding alternative or unusual markets for your self-published material can be your greatest success. In fact, any truly great self-publishing success that I’ve personally experienced or witnessed has happened in this way. Don’t think bookstores – they are rarely profitable.
- A new breed of professional is definitely developing (ahem – such as Yours Truly) who is all about helping self-published Authors get their stuff out there.
- All self-published Authors need to get serious about selling from a quality website which includes an affiliate marketing plan.

Here’s what I don’t agree with:

- You don’t lose out on anything such as editing, graphic design, or quality printing if you self-publish. Anything is available to anybody these days.
- eBooks are not a direct alternative to printed book publishing. They are a different market altogether, and anyone considering the eBook route should perform market research to see if an eBook is appropriate for their market and materials. (See a future post for details.)
- You do not lose out on marketing, publicity, distribution, or reviews in the press if you self-publish. (Who ever said a traditional publisher got you all that stuff, anyway? All Authors end up doing tons of work in this area whether self-published or not. You may need help, but it’s no harder than for a traditionally-published Author.)
- Being self-published does not mean that you are not going to be of interest to agents. It means that you are going to have to approach them differently, but they will probably be just as interested if not more, because they know they’re working with an Author who is committed and hungry.
- Shipping your own books is rarely practical. There are plenty of fulfillment providers that will do this for you, and I can recommend a great guy who ships for me worldwide if you need one.
- Self-publishing does not rule out any opportunities to sell foreign rights. I don’t know where anybody got that idea, actually.
- I don’t know why an Author would want to sell their eBook to a publisher. The bulk of the cost of self-publishing is in the printing, so once that is out of the picture, why wouldn’t you self-publish?
- Here I go again, but print-on-demand is not usually the way for most Authors to publish their books. (For my reasons, just read some of my old posts.)

Every Author wants to produce the best book that they can. For some of us, self-publishing seems difficult to navigate, and we’re worried about being forced to accept sub-standard results. We worry about things like learning to sell and how we can afford to launch a national marketing campaign. The reality is that if we are treating our books as a business, we won’t have any trouble selling it. This means doing proper market research, writing very well (ie. saying something really valuable), and performing due diligence on things like quality graphic design and product creation.

In conversations with plenty of authors, self-published or otherwise, I have heard many of the same concerns over and over again. But with help, anything is possible. Always remember that another Author has been there before you, and if they did it, so can you.

What is an index worth to your book? As an article from the American Society of Indexers reminds us, an index is not just a cool add-on, it’s a sales tool.

Every author I’ve ever worked with has given me that same funny look when I mention the idea of having an index for their book. I can understand why they don’t think of it – they’re really focused on getting the content created, as they should be. But what value is great content if it’s not made easy to use and access?

As a teaching tool, the use of an index is obvious. It’s the key that unlocks the door to your non-fiction book as a reference, and for reviewers who want to refer directly to certain portions of the work. (Many reviewers, like myself, use it as a direct criteria for rating a book.)

Buyers in a bookstore will check the index to see if a book talks about the exact topic that they are interested in. Think about it – you’ve done it yourself. If the index was not well written, or comprehensive enough, did you still buy the book?

Like a good cover design and professional typesetting, the index is a measure of credibility of you and your content. What is the reason that you’re publishing? If peer credibility and building your business has anything at all to do with it, your index may be the make-or-break of the entire project.

For direct sales benefits, remember that many online retailers like Amazon will use the index to refer new potential buyers to your book. Buyers may even be able to see screen shots of it using Amazon’s “look inside” feature.

As said by the Society, “Creating a good index takes understanding of the reader as well as the subject. It takes objectivity, perspective, a sense of proportion and priority, patience, speed, technical training, and experience. If you have all these qualities, if you can apply them under deadline pressure, and if you would rather index your current book than start writing your next one, you, the author, are the best indexer for your book. Otherwise: Entrust Your Index to a Professional.”

Oh yeah – it’s that important.

Here are three books that every author, fiction or non, should have in their library. And, at least one of them may not be what you expect.

If a grammar reference could have sex appeal, this would be the book. The Elements of Style is the definitive reference for writers of any type. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I carry this around in my purse. Makes for great reading during your lunch, in the ladies, in a taxi, etc. I don’t care how nerdy this makes me sound. At least I’ll know that I’m using proper sentence structure as I defend that accusation. The 50th Anniversary Edition is now on the way, and the illustrated version has become a cultural icon. You can even download it as an audio book. I’m not sure I could sleep at night if I didn’t know where my copy was.

This next one will seem a bit strange to some, because I’m primarily a non-fiction writer, and I’m about to recommend a book about screenwriting. But Robert McKee’s STORY is based on making content appealing, easily understood, have good flow, timing, and yes, also about using the dreaded plot diagram. All of these still apply, whether you are writing for business, a cookbook, or an instruction manual. Plus, it’s just a great read. This book is also the source of the beautiful quote, “…the story arts have become humanity’s prime source of inspiration, as it seeks to order chaos and gain insight into life.” Good reading no matter what.

The third book is my 12th-grade English text book, Adventures in English Literature, which I sinfully stole from the shelves of my Catholic school on the last day of class. I loved that class, and I loved my instructor, Mrs. Hargreaves. Her genuine love of literature, English and otherwise, was contagious (at least to myself) and I knew I’d use that book over and over again. In the end, I was billed for my missing book, so between that and a few minutes in the confession booth, my debt to society has been paid. It was worth the cost of an over-priced textbook, because it’s amazing how often I use it to look up a poet, their life story, and a summary of their work in 300 words or less. It’s still faster than Google. Authors all the way from Chaucer to modern poets still living are profiled, along with introductory material about each era and the current events that shaped the work of each writer. It’s an extremely useful cultural reference, along with a handy way to confirm the accuracy of quotes and source material. It’s amazing how many current works reference stuff in this volume.

OK, there’s one more, and it’s a recent addition. Teach Yourself Copywriting, by the modest J. Jonathan Gabay, who doesn’t even have his name on the cover, is a tight little volume about writing words that sell stuff. You’ve all heard me say it a million times, “every organization is a sales organization”, and this book is a great summary of how to craft words that tell people about your organization. Clear, to the point, and with extremely useful illustrations and diagrams, this book just doesn’t waste time. Gabay starts from the right place, the mind of the buyer, and ends in the very same spot. A great reminder of what motivates people, how to get them to understand things quickly, and how using fewer well-chosen words is always more powerful than many words used casually. Very enjoyable to read cover to cover.

Enjoy your back to school reading!

I was awoken very early this morning by my neighbour’s new rooster. (Yes, she’s still my friend.) While trying to get back to sleep, I heard another sound – a gentle rustling and footsteps in my yard, outside my bedroom window.

I crept out of bed to see a young deer and her very brand-new fawn munching on Bracken Fern in my cedar grove. This was the smallest fawn I’ve ever seen. He was very darkly spotted, and his mother was gently licking him. He couldn’t have been more than a few days old. From my vantage point, he seemed only to be about the size of a cat. I must have made some sound, because he followed her as she quickly led him out of my view.

This morning is the last time that I may get to see such a scene, because today is the day that my yard will be excavated by heavy equipment. Our newly-built house will finally nest into the garden I imagined more than 2 years ago when I first walked onto this lot. The stumps of trees that we felled to build the house and deck will be scraped clean, like everything else here. And all of that Bracken will be gone by the end of today, pushed into a large pile of organic matter that will form a berm between the front of my property and the road. 12 hours from now, the food source on my property for these deer will be eliminated.

Building and construction are a lot like writing and editing. You plan, you imagine, but when it comes to actually doing it, you are forced to make compromise after compromise. Editing a large manuscript is arduous and sometimes full of agonizing decisions about what to keep and what not to. The “manuscript” of my construction project has been awful to edit because of outside forces like weather (the market), lack of available help (sub-contractors), and a huge distraction factor on my part. (Ironically, many of my days have been spent writing instead of finishing to build a house.) And once you’ve eliminated all the crap, you must be careful not to have robbed it of all character.

Living on a gulf island means that there are weeds in every garden – plenty of them – and I’m far, far from being the only food source for these deer. In fact, I rarely see them in my yard, and they are quite fat. (More than once has my husband suggested that he wished he still had his rusty .22 in the basement.) I’m not hurting them by pulling out stumps and putting up wire fencing. And so I believe a few weeds should be left in each piece of writing, especially in non-fiction, which often serves to keep the content light and more personable.

Today I’m ripping out thistle, scraping away long grasses and raking up piles of stones. But I’m going to leave a section of grasses and ferns at the end of my driveway still wild – just for the deer. They are so sweet and gentle, and I want to make sure that my garden is going to be welcoming to creatures like that. I don’t care about the weeds – they will flower and attractively greet visitors. Who wants to pretend to be perfect, anyway?

Thanks to all who came to my presentation on Thursday evening at the eWomen Network on June 12th in Surrey. I’ve just made updates to the Private Resources Page as promised, and will be adding more cool stuff all week – what’s there is really just the beginning. There are two eBooks on the way for certain, plus other valuable items. Click here to see the current updates, and enter your password that was given to you on the white postcard at the dinner. The password is case-sensitive, so please enter it as you see it on the card. (Missing your card? eMail me and I’ll fill you in.)

Didn’t attend the dinner, but want to see the page? Call me at 1-866-907-4084, or email me for more information.

Working virtually often works extremely well in the Author – Editor relationship. I was recently made aware of a new escalation of this creative working concept by a friend of mine in the music business.

Adam Wakely is a pretty cool guy. He’s a talented brewmaster, has a devastatingly wicked sense of humor, and is a very talented musician to boot. His kids are following in his footsteps, and they will be able to make use of music technology in ways that Adam is just beginning to explore for himself.

Check out Adam’s latest successful experiment: a virtual band called Strange Trax. Adam and his band-mates Natalie, Adamz, Pooch, Beradley, and Web of Destress (where do these drummers get these wacky names, anyway?) have never met in real life. Adam’s brother Aaron is the final band member, who lives in the same town as Adam, but other than that, the entire band is virtual.

All the music is written, revised, practiced and recorded in different locations, including Canada, the USA, and the United Kingdom. Adam used his skills as a Master Music Editor and Recorder to make it all come together. I can’t believe how cohesive the sound is – not only inside each track, but between the tracks themselves. They have a consistent style, which is what it takes to snag and keep a following.

As the site states, “Is this a new step forward for the music industry? A new way of making music, with space and distance no object?” For all the writers who think that distance is an obstacle to making their book happen, think again. I sing a little, and I’m a lousy pianist, but man, can I edit.

I’ve been waiting for years to visit the store that represents punctuation nirvana: The Writer’s Store on Westwood in Los Angeles, California. I can’t believe I was so stupid to set a $50 budget for my visit to a shop that carries not only books, but software, clever mousepads, mugs, famous writer action figures (!!), and yes, the hat that Michael Moore made famous. (I look extremely clever in mine, thank you very much.)

While I crept up and down every single shelf, the-best-husband-in-the-world kept a 2-year old busy in Peanut Butter Playground next door. This elegant children’s shop did such a good job of making my literary pilgrimage stress-free that I feel compelled to give them some sort of plug.

So what did I buy? Well, the hat, of course ($9.95). The Illustrated Elements of Style ($24.95); Zen in the Art of Writing, by Ray Bradbury ($13.95); Eats, Shoots & Leaves, by Lynne Truss (hysterically funny at $17.50); a self-hypnosis CD to encourage creativity for writers (surprisingly effective at $19.95); and a variety of other books about punctuation, writing style, and grammar that put my budget not just out of sight, but out of my mind.

To make myself feel less indulgent, I also purchased a couple of clever mousepads for friends that resemble old-fashioned typewriters, and a mousepad that looks like a film clapboard for a certain budding filmmaker that I happen to be related to.

I will be back.

what if i wrote an entire post without any capitalization punctuation or any other type of formatting would you read it without having eye pain or would you navigate to another page right away

what do we really need as a minimum for communication to work for example if there was a sudden natural disaster and we relied entirely on text messaging to enable ourselves to get back up and running quickly what could we do without for a day

perhaps this is an interesting test as an exercise in simplicity and to avoid the typical complications that we impose on ourselves have we evolved communication into a selfdefeating exercise or have we instead evolved our own expectations of what communication must entail in order to become effective such as in the case of giving detailed and contextual instructions

sorry theres no final question mark here today to avoid falsely inflating the importance of my final impact statement

One of the things I love the most about my job is that I get to become very involved in the lives of my clients. All of my clients are very interesting and complex individuals, and as a student of human nature, I’m always enthused by the idea of getting to know an interesting person on a very deep level, a level that perhaps not many others have. Over the course of the project, we do seem to develop a relationship that resembles that of a tightly-knit family.

Whether it’s stories about whacky things that happen to nurses, the worst thing that somebody has ever found on a previously-believed “dead” hard drive, or the moment when a client asks themselves a profound question that shapes their writing for years to come, I enjoy being there to hear all of it. It shapes my own writing, and my impressions of the world around me.
Editing is really about objective observation. We see the errors in grammar and punctuation that writers don’t, because we’re not emotionally invested in the material. (Or at least, we shouldn’t be emotionally invested.) When I realize I’m really starting to like a client and become friends with them – a difficult thing to avoid – I start to lose my objectivity. I’m then on dangerous ground, because I can best be an advocate for my client when I can see their faults, and help to correct those faults before the manuscript goes public.

But like any solid family, it’s interesting that we are usually able to find a solution that perhaps takes some compromise, but makes everyone happy in the end. The basis of a relationship that supports that is trust. I work hard to earn the trust of my authors. I offer them support in any way that I can – and I am always looking for support on their behalf. I want to be the best editor I can be for them, because they are doing their best to write a great book for their readers.

Check out this great item at the Huffington Post by Catherine Specter, titled “The Way We Word”. When you’re done reading the post, check out the rather stimulating comment at the bottom, which was chosen the “HuffPost’s Pick”. (Yes, that comment was written by me – Peggy – the girl who can’t keep her mouth shut.)