Surviving the Holidays

It has been a relatively short journey for me to get "Surviving t he Holidays - Taking Charge of Your Life" out there. For those that have been following this blog, you will know that my initial choice was to publish on Smashwords. I wanted to have my book out there, in multiple formats, with maximum availability. I still feel that Smashwords is a viable option, that they are well set up, and not that difficult a maze to make it through. My problem was that I am not good at formatting. Note: Mark Coker's instructions are excellent ... it was me that could not implement them. That, and I never was ab le to get a copy of "Mark's List", the list of Smashwords author's that will format for a reasonable fee. I did have a friend offer to format for me, but I had to look at the fact that she is incredibly busy with her own work, and I want this book to be the beginning of a series.

So ... I made the decision to take my work off of Smashwords, and put it up on Kindle, through their KDP program (a program that I swore never to use!). Largely because I already had a well formatted file, I was able to get my work up within twelve hours. Now I can make use of the KDP info that my sister headed me over to, and start promoting! For me,  this is a wonderful way to end the old year, and start out the new year. Hopefully in early January I will have my next book up - one on body/mind/spirit balance, and following one's life path with authority.

I do have two blogs that I would like to share this week - Spunk One A Stick's "People Skills For Writer's" (a heads up on her next book), and Monica Crowe's "Four Marketing Tips For The New Year".

Find out more about "Surviving the Holidays - Taking Charge of Your Life". If you like what you see, please "like" my book!

(c) December 2012 Bonnie Cehovet

A Writer's Life

 

Writing is certainly an interesting occupation! My first two books were compilations - one was for my Tarot deck and book reviews, another was for my Tarot interviews. Then I did an e-book on women in Tarot. These were all independent endeavors, through Lulu and Create Space. Then I approached Schiffer Publishing with an idea for a book ... and it was accepted! That was an amazing process ... one that I would have never made it through without the extreme patience of my editor, Dinah Roseberry! Then I decided to present a second idea to Schiffer Publishing, and that was accepted! I was totally elated both times ... I never expected either book to get off the ground with a brick and mortar publisher. Having gone through the process once,  this second time is a lot easier.

This am I got an e-mail from the marketing department at Schiffer, detailing the marketing process (my next book will be out in spring/summer of 2013). I am still in awe of the fact that  this is my work out there! This e-mail really made my day!

Then there is the ongoing process with my e-book on Smashwords. Still having formatting issues, although now we are down to the files that are related tot he table of contents. Also, I have still not been able to get hold of "Mark's List" - the Smashword's author's that offer formatting for a fee. Giving up on this one! I will be giving this one more go this coming Saturday ... if that fails, I have a friend who has offered to format for me, for a fee. I am amazed at the offer, as she is very busy both creating and promoting her own work. One way or another, my book is getting out on Smashwords! LOL Very determined Cappie here. It is a holiday based e-book (on surviving the holidays), so it is really too late for this year, but it is part of a series, so I will find some way to get a few sales.

I still have a mystery WIP, which seems to be taking a back seat right now. It will find its proper time! Then a friend and I are in the visioning stage of getting a self-empowerment book out there. We don't know how it will be published yet, but we are excited about it! And no, I am not going to talk about the focus just yet! 

Sometime in January or early February I should have an e-book up on Kindle. Maybe even through the KDP program, although I am not too sure about that yet! This one is also a self-help book - a kick starter for the new year!

I ran across an article this am that I would like to share. It presents a three step process for doing keyword research (a huge part of getting our work to the attention of targeted readers). You can read it here - A 3-Step Process For Painless Keyword Research. 

Off to do one of my favorite things - write my music blog for the week!

(c) December 2012 Bonnie Cehovet

Almost There!

I am almost there with my first self-help eBook. It is written, and edited. The first in a series of self-help books, this one is on maintaining ones sanity during the holidays. Once I had the format down on how I wanted to present the information, the writing went quickly.

Many thanks to Canadian artist Pamela Steele, who created the cover for me. A task way beyond my abilities, she did a fantastic job! The imagery accurately reflects the intention of this small (17,040 word) book – that we maintain control of our lives during the craziest time of the year, when demands far exceed our time and other resources.

I have the short blurb (a description for the back of the book) and the long blurb (for the sales page) ready to go. Tomorrow I will be formatting the book and the blurbs, and getting them up on Smashwords. Then I will need to create a separate page on my site to promote it. At the same time, I think I will separate my Tarot work from my other writing, so that you can move to different sections right from the home page.

I am also looking at which categories are best to publish and promote this series in, and at keywords. Then I need to look at what kind of posts I want to make on the social networking sites, so that people aren't seeing and hearing the same thing day after day.

I am also looking at where I want to see this series go, and in what sequence. One book a quarter, for as long as I can come up with fresh ideas. As long as people want to improve themselves, I think there will be fresh ideas!

I love the process of writing, and am beginning to tune in more to the process of publishing, and e-publishing. Whatever your passion is … follow it!

© November 2012 Bonnie Cehovet

Promoting e-Books

I am over half-way through a short (approximate 20,000 word) book on surviving the holidays. It is going up through Smashwords as an e-book. Now I have to think about howto promote this book, taking into consideration that this is the first in a series of self-help books that I plan to put out there. Simple thought process here - if people like one thing that I write, it is in my best interest to offer them other things to read too!

That much I am sure of. The marketing itself - that I am not sure of. I am working (at least with my first book) with an almost non-existent promotional budget. But more than budget, I am thinking about where to market to reach my target audience - women of all ages that are interested in being the best that they can be. This is often a hard things to do, as by nature women tend to put others first. Setting that aside for a moment, what do I need to know about marketing an e-book?

I have defined my target audience, now I am trying to develop a written marketing plan. I could choose to go with Kindle's KDP program, but I am not going to, for a variety of reasons - the main one being that it limits me to promoting through that program for a specific period of time. Multiple streams of income sounds better to me. Things that I will do include creating a page for my book on Facebook, creating a page for my book on my personal site, and chatting it up on Facebook, Twitter, and Google +. I will also either have a book trailer done, or create a short animated video to put upon my site, and on you tube. I will be contacting other authors in the same self-help genre, and ask if they would review my book, if I were to send it to them. And I will have a give-away, as the book should be up by the end of November (I can push it for the holidays). I may also put out a free sample chapter from the book.

What else do I "not" intend to do? I do not intend to do any "blog a thon" activity, nor do I intend to do guest posts. These are time consuming activities, if done correctly, and they would not make me happy!

One more thing that I am considering is having a book launch party - or, rather, a book launch cyber party! I have friends with confetti and glitter that will join in ... that would be fun!

Off to do some more thinking!

(c) November 2012 Bonnie Cehovet

Multiple Streams Of Income

Multiple streams of income - not only a "nice thought", but in this time of uncertainty, perhaps a necessary one. As a writer, what are my multiple streams of income going to be? My first brick and mortar book came out this year (hopefully it is shipping by the time that I publish this post!). I am at work on writing the proposal for my second one, and there will be one more in this field.

I am working on a mystery novel, hopefully the first in a series. Looking closely at both Create Space and Smashwords to publish this book, as I have a strong feeling that I would be getting close to leaving this lifetime by the time a brick and mortar publisher picked it up. Goal is to get this one out by the end of the year.

Under consideration are self-help books. At this point in time I am not sure if they will be self-published or brick and mortar. Or if they will be full length books, or shorter material that might be best published in e-format. The thing that I like about e-format is that it can be updated with ease.

In a totally unrelated thought, I am thinking about entering writing contests - specifically for mysteries. Not doing the NaNoWriMo again - too much stress, and it takes place in the lead up to the holidays, neither of which is in its favor. While it works well for some people, I am going to take a pass.

I love that there are options, and that we are not limited in any way as to how many options we accept. My one thought is that once I accept an option, I do my best to follow through, and don't opt out half-way, unless that looks like the high road!

(c) August 2011 Bonnie Cehovet

Is Digital Self-Publishing Viable?

I have one book up on lulu.com , and another up on Amazon.com - both books are self-published. I am in the process of writing a mystery book, which I will also self-publish (most likely through Smashwords). One of the biggest benefits in getting my work out there in this manner, IMHO, is that I don't need a publisher. I can self-publish in the digital market and distribute on my own.

I am evidently joining a very impressive group of people! Author J. K. Rowling (author of the Harry Potter series) is at this moment bringing up a new site called "Pottermore". This is a literal Harry Potter universe, and will be the only place that she will market e-book versions of her Harry Potter works. Will other big name authors follow her lead?

I am not only excited about self-publishing, but I am excited about the "Pottermore" site! We don't need to copy exactly what she has done, but it does show us what can be done. We can create a place for our work that consists of more than a book cover and a "Buy Now" button!

Off to join the world of J.K. Rowling!

(c) June 2011 Bonnie Cehovet