The publishing process in gif form


A short post in images today. Laugh and/or weep if you're a writer seeking traditional publication.


Click on this to be taken to Nathan Bransford's excellent blog.


Traditional publishing vs. self-publishing chart

I've read industry blogs, blogs written by published and self- published authors.  I get a feed of dozens of blogs that I go through on a weekly basis just to keep informed on the publishing industry, which is now my industry I guess.
Based on my readings, and my entirely unscientific approach to things, I came up with this pro and con chart which I am henceforth sharing with ya'll.  Oh my this has to be tiny to fit on this page. This is for USA only and is only possible because of the rise of ebooks, Amazon and Kindle. This chart is NOT for foreign deals. Publishing in foreign countries is an entirely different ball game, which you can pursue after you publish traditionally or self-publish.





How much royalties do self published authors earn?

How much royalty do you earn as a  self-published author?  Here is a comparison I made based on what I have been reading and what my income has been:
I'm basing the self-publishing numbers on my own earnings




With a traditional publishing you receive an advance against future earnings. So you have to earn at least that advance in order to receive your first royalty check.

With self publishing there is no advance but you receive royalty checks monthly. 

Now of course none of this hight level arithmetic has merit if it is true that I would sell many, many more books by taking the agent/publishing contract route. 

But would I have. Would they have helped me, or ignored me as they do so many authors? 

There are a lot of ifs and whats, and you certainly don't know the road you have not taken.  All I know is that if they had not and I received such puny royalties on my work, I would be pissed


(Traditional publishing royalty deals in percentages depend on author, books and publishers. Yours might be different. This is an average gathered in the industry’s press and blogs.)

source:

Rebecca Brandewyne's website  and my favorite disgruntled papa bear of self publishing, Joe Konrath. who sums in up it this angry/hilarious post, Do Legacy Publishers Treat Authors Badly.



Step by step to designing a blog on blogger

Now that I have written a few posts, I feel it's time to make the blog look a bit prettier.  I don't like the font (or typeface) I chose for the titles. Also I notice that my links come out in a color I don't like.  

I usually use Typepad when I blog and it's second nature to me, but I felt that for your purpose, I think blogger is better as you are developing a 'brand' (eek, that' s word irks me.  Branding evokes labeling, and over- simplification and being part of the system and you know... cows and sheep.) 

Here is why I think blogger is best for your purpose:

Blogger is own/made/controlled by google. It's connected to gmail, google + etc. The interface between all of those makes it very easy to go from one to the other without having to enter passwords etc..  The google search engine probably favors blogger blogs (don't quote me on that but in its pursuit of world domination, don't you think google would?)  Also, when the time to blog comes to communicating with other bloggers and commenting, it will all be very smooth and easy.

By the way, I know you'll hear everywhere that you should use wordpress because... because... because?  Well I see no advantage to using wordpress.  It's hard to navigate and create, the interface makes it more difficult to comment and you can't monetize wordpress blogs with advertising so please tell me why this is better. For your use and purpose, blogger will work great and smoothly. You can always export your blog to another platform later on.


Sorry for digressing. Here I am trying to understand how to design this blog to make it prettier, and help you design and create your own blogger blog in the process.


Okay on that main blogger page (in case you can't find it, just search up 'blogger' on google and you'll get right to it if you're already logged on to gmail, and if you are not you'll be asked your gmail account and password), click on the title of the blog you want to make pretty (in case you have more than one blog).

In the left hand column, click on 'template'

See the title of your blog there, appearing? 

I use 'simple' as a my template for this blog. Not a bad one, clean and basic. Don't get tempted by the frilly templates. Nothing spells amateur like the templates with images already incorporated.  When in doubt go lean, simple and white.

See the button that says 'customize' ? Click on it.

This bring you to a relatively intimidating page.  Gulp once, and look at the top grey bar and find:
Background: If you used simple, it will offer white and that's all you need to know.  Moving on, not to the tab below, skip a few first and click on:

Layout: We're doing this out of order because.. just trust me on that one. How can you adjust width of columns when you haven't even decided how many columns you want. In my experience, three columns work best. The footer doesn't matter for now, select which ever you want.  Note: Interestingly this page informs you that you can move parts of your layout around, only you cannot do it here. This tab is just to select a layout. In order to move things around (such as gadgets) and add, remove and edit them  you will have to go to the actual 'Layout' page.  Moving on to the fun stuff:


Adjust widths: You can move the curser and decide how wide each column should be.  I made this blog 1370 px (I think that's short for pixel, whatever those are), and each column 230 px.  You want large enough side columns to put all kinds of goodies and buttons (which blogger calls 'gadgets'.)

 Did you see how your blog moves as you move the curser?  This is how fun it is to design your blog on blogger. The parts you're working on are highlighted in red and as you try things, it is reflected below. So keep an eye on what's happening on your blog as you click away.
note: periodically click on the top button 'apply to blog' or your changes will be lost and you will be cursing like a sailor. Allright friends, time to move on to the advance tab, because yes, that is what you are. Advanced!

'advanced'.  Oh my... even more intimidating. What are all those choices!?

Well it's self explanatory as long as you take it slow and go methodically one line at a time. 

'page text' : This is where you choose the font (typeface) and the color of the text in each of your posts. I suggest black and a classic font such as Times New Roman.  As you click on various fonts and color you can see exactly how it would look on your blog. When you've chosen, make sure to go up to that button up on top that says 'apply to bloga.  If you don't those new settings won't be saved.


'background':  opt for all white for now.  Chose transparent for the banner for now. You can go mad with color later but here we are sticking to simple (at least until you decide on the color scheme of your brand (eek, that word again...) 


'links' the point here is for readers to distinguish regular text from the text that will lead them to a webpage. The color should be different from the text but still readable. 'Hover' is the color the clickable text changes to when your reader's curser 'hovers' over it and 'visited' color is to indicate to your reader that this is a link they've already visited. It makes them easier for them to keep track of what they are reading and visiting. I made my link in pink hues, so as to keep the color scheme coherent. 


Remember to click the orange 'apply to blog' button to save your changes.


'blog title' This is where you choose the typeface, size of typeface and color of your blog's title. Go ahead, choose big letters. You can create a custom made banner later, there is absolutely no need to obsess about it right now, as your blog will not be public until it is perfect. 


'blog description' :same thing for your blog description. This too will be replaced by a custom banner later on. 


'tab text': below your blog you have the possibility to create a navigation menu/bar. Visitors can click on those, for example a home page, an about the author page, and be taken to a stand alone page. See how I created a 'how to navigate this blog in a bar below the blog title?  Those pages are created by going back to your main page and clicking on 'pages' . You can also see my detailed description of how to create stand alone pages or navigation menu on bloggers. Go ahead and decide on the color of the text and then go down on your list and change the color of the navigation menu background by selecting 'tabs background'.


Now that you are a pro at this, move on to the next steps and apply what you learned to 'post title' (Notice that the color of the post title is the same as the text, and turns to the color you chose for links once you've clicked on it.), 'date header', 'post footer' (notice as well that some elements of the footer appear in the colors you chose for links because somehow they are considered links).


"gadgets' : here is where you make pretty the titles of the gadgets you created.  By gadgets blogger means 'gizmo' or 'thingy', basically stuff you want, such your list of favorite blogs or most read posts, a link to twitter or facebook, a link to your book on Amazon, or your all important opt-in form where people sign up to be on your email list. I decided to make my gadget titles more funky to draw attention to them and make the blog look more fun.  This is my mood of the moment but you now see how easily I could make those changes.


By the way.... when was the last time you saved your changes by clicking on the 'apply to blog' button?


'images': go for white for background, black for text.


'accents': those are lines separating columns. Try a few colors or none at all and decide what you like.


'mobile': I think this is for the way your blog will look on a cell phone. I'm leaving white because this is a detail I'll fix later.


'add css': this is for the geniuses among us who know how to alter existing template coding, fuggetaboutit.


Congratulations, you have designed your blog! As you become more confident, and as you decide on the overall look you want your Brand to have, you will make changes.  Now is time to write your first post.  

How to navigate this blog?



Hello and welcome fellow terrified writer!

I created this blog to share my experience as a self-published author.  I believe that self-publishing solved a lot of my angsts and made a happy and fulfilled author out of this insecure French girl. 

How many books never see the light of day because their authors did not have the grit to endure the jumping through flaming hoops that is looking for publication? The agents rejections, the query writing, the loathed SASE that never makes it back to your mailbox, the waiting game.. Some of us simply don't have what it takes.

I am one of those writers who gave up early on. I never could get that first query written properly, agonized over it for months, was rejected (or ignored) a few times, and then gave up.  Would my book be published by a traditional publisher if I had endured and persevered?  This I will never know.

But I'm not sure that I care.

My books will never be reviewed in the New York Times.  Oprah will not invite me over, but my books are getting in the hands of a whole lot of readers and many of them are thrilled with them.

That's really all I need to know.

Writing and pain might go hand in hand, but publishing and pain no longer have to. Amazon and others have set the tone: they are compensating writers fairly, and eliminating the middle men. 

In this blog and my upcoming book I will try to identify every fear we writers experience and help you push through them in order to get that manuscript out of the drawer, and into the world. 

If I did it, everyone can. No, really.

I created this blog for the future readers of my upcoming self help book for writers, and for those of you who have heard me speak somewhere and whom I managed to convince not to wait another minute before plunging into the exhilarating, empowering and ultimately sanity-restoring experience that is self publishing.  

There are several ways to read this blog.  The best way is to start with the earliest post and work through them one at a time chronologically.  You can also go through the archives when you need help on one topic or another.  I tried to make each title as self explanatory as possible.

The best way of course is to sign up (in the left hand column) and go on my list to be alerted right away when the book becomes available. 

I wish you the very best. Please email me at corinegantz (at) live.com if you have questions.  Comments are also welcome, as are suggestions. I reserve the right to delete mean comments. 

If you find typos, tell me. This is a work in progress and often if I have to make a choice between getting the info out to you now, or getting it to you perfect, I choose the 'now' option. I believe this is how blog posts should be written. Sloppy is better than not at all.

Please comment below and help me makes this a better blog.  Merci!

How and why authors should develop email lists

Today I wrote a chapter on the hows and whys of creating an email list of your readers.  Here I am posting the chapter as is.  I wrote it in about two hours and as I went through the process I also created the opt-in form I describe below.  

That opt-in form asks you, you guessed it, to sign up to be on my email list.  I made it nice and green and early fluorescent so if you've missed it you are officially color blind. I promise never to hold this against you if you will be so kind as to sign up... pretty please.


I need to edit this chapter as it is quite clunky.  So it will sound much better in the book (it better!), and I will perhaps add a few important points that did not come to mind as I first wrote it. But for the sake of de-dramatizing the  blogging process, to show you how messy and imperfect is really okay in blogging, I'm leaving it as is.  


Don't shoot me if I mixed up my there, their, they're, and thaires, or if I skipped some words or if my grammar sucks and my vocab is weak. This is what we call in the bidness a crappy first draft. ideas pouring out, no inner judge. Perfectionism is the enemy of productivity.  I let my ideas flow, and here is 1.45 minutes later, the pdf.  


Why did I leave it as a pdf file rather than cut and paste into this blog post?  because it is imperfect and I don't want it to be copied and quoted as is. Have you notice you can copy chucks of this text onto a document but you can only read and print a pdf?  exactly!


So here it is: How and Why author should develop their own email list

How to share a pdf document on blogger.

Day two of this blog as I prepare for my Palm Spring presentation.

Here is what I want to do today:  I want to create a document (i'll use Word) turn it into a pdf, and then attach the pdf to this blog so that you can download it and print it to use as a worksheet.


The pdf I'm creating today is a worksheet to help you navigate your own notions about writing and publishing.


To make it available to you on this blog, the easiest way (that I found) was to upload it onto 'google doc'.

To do this I believe you need a gmail address. Don't do this now, as I have a whole chapter on how and why create a gmail address.  Right now all you want to do is print this document, but I though this would be a good opportunity to show you how I made it available to you.

First log onto your gmail account
Then go onto google docs  or 'drive' (see those little squares? click there.)
Click on the red button to create a document
Write or paste the text.
Save by clicking 'share'
When prompted, open it up to everyone or a select few
Copy the link that is given to you and place it as a link on your website or blog.  When you upload a document on Google doc, and then click on the uploaded document it becomes a an internet address or URL  (meaning that it starts with http//:)

So here it is, tadah!  a pdf document you and other can now print and work with.

The best way for a document or a link to be discovered by search engines and therefore to come up on google searches is to attach a detailed description of that document or link, describing it the way someone might look it up on google.  So this document is about your beliefs as a writer.  (So I highlighted this sentence, clicked on link and pasted the URL of my PDF.


Here is the pdf.  Print it and fill it out, and use it as a worksheet to observes your firmly held beliefs, assumptions and certainties about you as a writer, as an author, about the publishing industry, about publishing in general.


Many of those could be crippling you into inaction. So it is important to take a look at them.

Please take a calm moment out of your day and fill this form.