Friday, September 21, 2012—Dallas Texas
Today I met with an agent to give a pitch for my new book. I had 15 minutes to tell him enough about the book so he could see if it is something he could find a publisher for. I had a one-page synopsis to leave with him, but he didn't take it. He did seem interested in the story and asked a few questions. At the end of the time, he gave me a company brochure and asked me to send a proposal by email. He said his readers would check it over, including the first three chapters, and they would let him know if he should read it.
The class with Davis Bunn was informative. It'll be continued tomorrow. He talked about various ways to plot a book. I learned he has completed a new Marc Royce book and I look forward to reading it.
I also attended a session on events. One instructor talked about bookstore signings and the other covered virtual events. I learned a few new techniques to try.
Showing posts with label ACFW. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ACFW. Show all posts
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Friday, September 21, 2012
American Christian Fiction Writers Annual Conference
Thursday, September 20, 2012—Dallas Texas
I implied yesterday that next year I would not go so early. However, I've enjoyed the time to write without interruptions from my regular routine. This morning, for example, I didn't turn on the TV news first thing after making coffee the way I do at home. Instead, I woke up early and went to the computer to write.
I'm editing a new book tentatively called, Love Lives On. The story is about what happens when Karen learns marriage to her college sweetheart isn't enough to give her the happiness she has wanted all her life. God presents her with another opportunity to help someone and she soon learns she is the only one in the world who can help this person. She also learns there are people who hate her or envy her and who are obsessed with harming her.
What does this have to do with the conference? Well I'm preparing to pitch my latest story to two agents and one publisher in meetings Friday and Saturday. I have 15 minutes with each of the two agents and the one publisher's representative. I'll let you know more about these meetings later.
Today I went to the first-time attendees' orientation. Sue Brower of Zondervan talked about meeting with agents and editors to pitch our books. She said to give them our one-page synopsis but don't expect them to read it. Use the fifteen minutes to tell them about your book. It doesn't have to be in the same order of the book. Start with, "this is a book about…" and make eye contact. Your book must be finished. If not, let the agent/editor know up front. If they ask for more, get it to them in two weeks or less.
Next, was the opening session with Brandilyn Collins as emcee. This was fun and uplifting.
The keynote speaker followed. Michael Hyatt, former CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, gave an excellent talk about his experience in publishing and now as a writer. He said, "now is the best time ever to be an author." And he gave the following five reasons he feels this is true:
1. It is easier than ever to do the writing.
a. Conferences
b. Writing books
c. Writing courses
d. Writing specific software
e. Research is easier
f. Tweet questions to help with research
g. Support groups
h. Critique partners
2. It is easier than ever to do market research.
a. Platform
b. Blog surveys
c. Vote for favorite covers
3. It is easier than ever to get into print
a. Traditional publishing is no longer the only choice
b. Self-publishing is a viable option
c. Author groups helping each other
d. EBooks
4. It is easier than ever to build a tribe (i.e. a reader base)
a. Direct access to readers
b. Instant feedback
c. Encouragement
d. Chance to improve
5. It is easier than ever to build a business
a. Publishing
b. Speaking
c. Blogs
d. Social Networking
Next was a worship service. We sang praise songs with a praise band and vocalist. The words were projected on the screens and I felt the presence of the Lord.
After dinner I went to the B&H Publisher highlight. They are part of Lifeway and follow the tenets of the Baptist faith. The representative said they are doing more movie novelizations. Unconditional by Eva Marie Everson is an example. Davis Bunn just wrote one for them.
They have identified books to be published up to fall 2013 which means anything submitted now will probably published in 2014 or 2015. Romantic suspense is popular now. Their customers are older women who are using eReaders more now.
Lifeway.com will soon be selling ebooks with links to information built in.
They publish 18-19 books a year and hope to up that to 28 in the next five years. They receive about ten submissions per week from agents. If they get down to selecting between several equal works, they'll look at the writer's platform and see if they blog twice a week and can help market the book.
They like books about 90,000 words long.
I implied yesterday that next year I would not go so early. However, I've enjoyed the time to write without interruptions from my regular routine. This morning, for example, I didn't turn on the TV news first thing after making coffee the way I do at home. Instead, I woke up early and went to the computer to write.
I'm editing a new book tentatively called, Love Lives On. The story is about what happens when Karen learns marriage to her college sweetheart isn't enough to give her the happiness she has wanted all her life. God presents her with another opportunity to help someone and she soon learns she is the only one in the world who can help this person. She also learns there are people who hate her or envy her and who are obsessed with harming her.
What does this have to do with the conference? Well I'm preparing to pitch my latest story to two agents and one publisher in meetings Friday and Saturday. I have 15 minutes with each of the two agents and the one publisher's representative. I'll let you know more about these meetings later.
Today I went to the first-time attendees' orientation. Sue Brower of Zondervan talked about meeting with agents and editors to pitch our books. She said to give them our one-page synopsis but don't expect them to read it. Use the fifteen minutes to tell them about your book. It doesn't have to be in the same order of the book. Start with, "this is a book about…" and make eye contact. Your book must be finished. If not, let the agent/editor know up front. If they ask for more, get it to them in two weeks or less.
Next, was the opening session with Brandilyn Collins as emcee. This was fun and uplifting.
The keynote speaker followed. Michael Hyatt, former CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, gave an excellent talk about his experience in publishing and now as a writer. He said, "now is the best time ever to be an author." And he gave the following five reasons he feels this is true:
1. It is easier than ever to do the writing.
a. Conferences
b. Writing books
c. Writing courses
d. Writing specific software
e. Research is easier
f. Tweet questions to help with research
g. Support groups
h. Critique partners
2. It is easier than ever to do market research.
a. Platform
b. Blog surveys
c. Vote for favorite covers
3. It is easier than ever to get into print
a. Traditional publishing is no longer the only choice
b. Self-publishing is a viable option
c. Author groups helping each other
d. EBooks
4. It is easier than ever to build a tribe (i.e. a reader base)
a. Direct access to readers
b. Instant feedback
c. Encouragement
d. Chance to improve
5. It is easier than ever to build a business
a. Publishing
b. Speaking
c. Blogs
d. Social Networking
Next was a worship service. We sang praise songs with a praise band and vocalist. The words were projected on the screens and I felt the presence of the Lord.
After dinner I went to the B&H Publisher highlight. They are part of Lifeway and follow the tenets of the Baptist faith. The representative said they are doing more movie novelizations. Unconditional by Eva Marie Everson is an example. Davis Bunn just wrote one for them.
They have identified books to be published up to fall 2013 which means anything submitted now will probably published in 2014 or 2015. Romantic suspense is popular now. Their customers are older women who are using eReaders more now.
Lifeway.com will soon be selling ebooks with links to information built in.
They publish 18-19 books a year and hope to up that to 28 in the next five years. They receive about ten submissions per week from agents. If they get down to selecting between several equal works, they'll look at the writer's platform and see if they blog twice a week and can help market the book.
They like books about 90,000 words long.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
American Christian Fiction Writers Annual Conference
September 19, 2012—Dallas Texas
When the call went out asking for local ACFW members to come early and help set up for the conference, I volunteered. Although not strictly local, I was able to drive from Georgetown in about three hours and help out. It was 6:00 a.m. when I picked up my Georgetown friend Ann Bell who was riding with me to the conference. I planned to be to the hotel by 9:00 a.m. for me to help stuff bags for attendees. Bing and Google maps, plus the GPS in the car said we'd be there in plenty of time. What the computers didn't foresee was the rush hour traffic and construction. It was 9:20 when we got to the hotel and 9:45 before I got to the room designated for bag-stuffing volunteers.
I love the simple jobs. Having been "in charge" for so many years of my working life, I now enjoy the routine assignments. What we did was grab a bag, then put in a folder, a conference program, an ad for the bookstore, and a name tag holder. The filled bag was then placed in a box. Most of us walked around in a circle doing that while others hauled off the boxes of filled bags. The boss, Cheryl Wyatt, said we were faster than last year. I enjoyed hearing people talk about their books, their agents and their publishers. When I was asked about my books, I showed them my ad on page 48 of the conference program.
Next, I went to the bookstore to help setup. It wasn't nearly as much fun. My job was to inventory books on various tables. With a partner, we counted books and compared the results to an invoice. We then made notes of any discrepancies. Everything seemed confusing to me and I never felt I was doing much good. I left rather than ask again what I could do to help. Those in charge seemed too busy doing and not spending enough time managing, but that opinion is based on a very short time on the job. I have to admit that when I went back to the bookstore after it opened for business, it looked great and appeared to be well organized.
I ate breakfast so late I wasn't hungry when it became time for lunch. I worked in my room until registration began at 4:00 p.m. When I got my bag, I checked to make sure it had everything in it.
I ran into Ann Bell and we had a coke in the bar while we waited for the restaurant to open. The buffet included pork tenderloin, salad, vegetables and several other choices. Everything was great, including the pecan pie and cherry pie I had for desert. After dinner, I watched TV and reviewed the conference schedule.
Based on my experience today, I think next time I won't arrive so early. I got here around 9:00 a.m. Wednesday and the first activity is at 3:00 p.m. Thursday.
When the call went out asking for local ACFW members to come early and help set up for the conference, I volunteered. Although not strictly local, I was able to drive from Georgetown in about three hours and help out. It was 6:00 a.m. when I picked up my Georgetown friend Ann Bell who was riding with me to the conference. I planned to be to the hotel by 9:00 a.m. for me to help stuff bags for attendees. Bing and Google maps, plus the GPS in the car said we'd be there in plenty of time. What the computers didn't foresee was the rush hour traffic and construction. It was 9:20 when we got to the hotel and 9:45 before I got to the room designated for bag-stuffing volunteers.
I love the simple jobs. Having been "in charge" for so many years of my working life, I now enjoy the routine assignments. What we did was grab a bag, then put in a folder, a conference program, an ad for the bookstore, and a name tag holder. The filled bag was then placed in a box. Most of us walked around in a circle doing that while others hauled off the boxes of filled bags. The boss, Cheryl Wyatt, said we were faster than last year. I enjoyed hearing people talk about their books, their agents and their publishers. When I was asked about my books, I showed them my ad on page 48 of the conference program.
Next, I went to the bookstore to help setup. It wasn't nearly as much fun. My job was to inventory books on various tables. With a partner, we counted books and compared the results to an invoice. We then made notes of any discrepancies. Everything seemed confusing to me and I never felt I was doing much good. I left rather than ask again what I could do to help. Those in charge seemed too busy doing and not spending enough time managing, but that opinion is based on a very short time on the job. I have to admit that when I went back to the bookstore after it opened for business, it looked great and appeared to be well organized.
I ate breakfast so late I wasn't hungry when it became time for lunch. I worked in my room until registration began at 4:00 p.m. When I got my bag, I checked to make sure it had everything in it.
I ran into Ann Bell and we had a coke in the bar while we waited for the restaurant to open. The buffet included pork tenderloin, salad, vegetables and several other choices. Everything was great, including the pecan pie and cherry pie I had for desert. After dinner, I watched TV and reviewed the conference schedule.
Based on my experience today, I think next time I won't arrive so early. I got here around 9:00 a.m. Wednesday and the first activity is at 3:00 p.m. Thursday.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
I Put My Main Character In The Hospital Today
I've been moping around all day and I
think it is because Karen, a fictional character in my work in progress, is unconscious.
I cried with Brian when he learned about it. He was in California at the time
helping his dad move his mother to a care facility for Alzheimer's patients and
he felt guilty for leaving Karen alone in Texas to drive the bookmobile.
How did this happen? It wasn't in my
plot outline. I'd been needling Karen for pages but nothing so serious as
driving her off a cliff.
As near as I can tell, it's Golden
Keyes Parsons' fault.
She spoke at the ACFW CenTex Chapter
meeting this month and she talked about Campbell's Hero Journey techniques for
plotting. When I got to Step 8, Ordeal – The biggest life or death crisis, during
the exercise, I was too embarrassed to write about how the antagonist let the
air out of Karen's tires. Granted, it was all four tires at one time, but still
not a life or death crisis. On my paper, I wrote, "Karen's car rolls over
hill. Hospital. Is she conscious? Brian rushes home, prays. Learns car had been
sabotaged."
Now I had a real crisis. When I
rewrote the scene I changed car to bookmobile and I let her be unconscious. I
can hardly wait to find out what happens next.
Thank you, Golden.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Giving Away Books -- Making Amazon's Free Kindle Days Successful
I finished my first Amazon Free Kindle
event Saturday, March 31, 2012, at midnight. I'm not sure how to evaluate the
results, but if the goal is to give away as many books as possible, I think it
was a sensational success. Here's the final tally:
Amazon.com gave
away 19,248 copies of Where Love Once Lived. Buyers in the United Kingdom picked up 75
copies while buyers in Germany grabbed three and buyers in France took two. The
grand total was 19,328 copies.
What to Do Prior to the Start of Your Free
Days
Some of what you do to maximize the
number of books you give away must be done ahead of time. Other activities can
be done beforehand to give you more time for what must be done after the free
days period begins.
Here's what you should do early.
If you haven't already, pick an Amazon
category for your book. This can take several days, so do it now. If you don't
know how to do this, buy this How to Launch a Christian Best-Seller Book, The
John 316 Marketing Network Manual by Lorilyn Roberts: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007MDPWIS.
It contains additional information about book marketing as well.
I advertised in ACFW Journal and the
Wordsmith Journal. This may or may not have helped. I like to think it did.
Sales were up some prior to the free days.
Arrange to be a guest on other blogs.
I sent an email to AnthonyWessel@digitalbooktoday.com/join-our-team
to be included in http://www.squidoo.com/the-best-of-amazon-daily-free-ebooks-kindle-ipad.
Also, I sent an email to catherine@frugal-freebies.com
to be included in http://www.frugal-freebies.com.
This is what I wrote in the body of the emails:
Where Love Once Lived will be free 3/29, 3/30, 3/31
|
The Vengeance Squad will be free 4/13, 4/14, 4/15
|
Sidney W. Frost
|
You can also use an input form for
Frugal Freebies: http://www.frugal-freebies.com/p/submit-freebie.html.
Another page that allows for you to
enter your free day information online is: http://www.ereaderiq.com/contact/.
This is a great site. You can sign up to receive information about free Kindles
by email. It is a very professional looking site, but keep in mind there are
non-Christian books included as well. In fact, many of the resources noted in
this report are not restricted to Christian. In addition, the categories they
use many not fit the categories we are used to. Many of them do have ways to
limit what you see and get in email to Christian only. However, some include
some racy book covers in places.
Pixel of Ink – Free and Bargain Kindle
Books: Go to http://www.pixelofink.com/sfkb/ and fill out the form.
Ereader News Today -- Tips, Tricks, And Free Ebooks For Your Kindle. Go
to http://ereadernewstoday.com/ent-free-book-submissions/
and fill out the form.
Books on the Knob: http://blog.booksontheknob.org/.
I didn't see a way to get listed, but this one looks like a possible resource.
If you can figure it out let me know.
For independent publishers, go to Indie Book List: http://www.indiebookslist.com/kdp-select-submission-form/.
Author Marketing Club. Here is another one I like. Very professional
with many ways to reach people. Go to http://authormarketingclub.com/members/announce-your-free-book/
to enter your information. As implied, you'll need to sign up for a membership.
It's free.
Inspired Reads – Christian Kindle Books On A Budget: http://www.inspiredreads.com/contact/
to submit your book. You may want to subscribe to this one, too.
Family Fiction: http://www.familyfiction.com/contact-us/.
This is a slick site, and I don't know if they did anything with the
information I submitted. I suspect you may have to pay for advertising.
Here's an interesting site that may not help get the word out about
your free Kindle days, but it can be used anytime to help track your Amazon
bestseller status. http://tracker.kindlenationdaily.com/.
It requires a free membership and they offer other services, some for payment.
The tracker service is free. I used it for Where
Love Once Lived and found my best standing was #8 in the Free Kindle
Bestseller list. It shows the high and low by day and the price of the book.
However, it does not show standings by category. Where Love Once Lived hit #1 for Christian Romance on the second
day of my three-day free period and stayed there until sometime the next day. One thing nice about this tracker is that it
keeps up with your ranking when you can't.
Prepare
Tweets
Before your free period begins you should have all your tweets written
and posted for a particular date and time. I use TweetDeck (http://www.tweetdeck.com/ ) for this, but
there are other ways to accomplish this. My tweets are set to automatically go
to my Facebook page so I can take care of both at the same time. My fear is
that I send too many tweets, but I know as a receiver, I don't always get to
see every tweet and Facebook posting my friends do. So, hopefully, no one will
get bombarded. For the Where Love Once
Lived Kindle Free days, I posted seven tweets the first day (every two
hours between 6:00 am and 6:00 pm), seven tweets on the second day (every three
hours between 6:00 am and 11:00 pm), and 17 times on the third day (every hour
from 6:00 am to 8:00 pm plus an extra).
Since my friend base is limited and I wanted to reach as many people as
possible, I included #FreeKindleBook #freebook #free with each tweet as long as
I have could fit it into the 140 character limit. TweetDeck automatically
compresses links so that gave me more space to work with. I prepared my tweets
in Word using a two-column table. The first column was for date and time and
the second for the tweet. As I copied each one into TweetDeck, I marked it with
a yellow highlight. Here are some examples of tweets I used:
Where Love Once Lived Tell your
friends to get a copy FREE today. http://www.amazon.com/Where-Love-Once-Lived-ebook/dp/B003ZHVE1O/
#FreeKindleBook #freebook #free
Where Love Once Lived FREE! http://www.amazon.com/Where-Love-Once-Lived-ebook/dp/B003ZHVE1O/
Much of the action takes place on a bookmobile. #FreeKindleBook #freebook #free
Where Love Once Lived http://www.amazon.com/Where-Love-Once-Lived-ebook/dp/B003ZHVE1O/
" I especially liked the way you
handled the racial relationships." FREE KINDLE ED. TODAY. #FreeKindleBook
#freebook #free
Where Love Once Lived LAST DAY FREE
KINDLE: http://www.amazon.com/Where-Love-Once-Lived-ebook/dp/B003ZHVE1O/
" Woven throughout the story is
God's grace and mercy." #FreeKindleBook
Where Love Once Lived FREE!!! http://www.amazon.com/Where-Love-Once-Lived-ebook/dp/B003ZHVE1O/
"I commend your sensitivity to a
woman's feelings and perspective. -- a quality rare in men!"
The parts in quotes were taken from
reviews and other comments I received from readers.
What to Do On Free Days
Go to your Amazon page and add tags: Free
ebook, Kindle Freebie, and Kindle Free. Make a note on your calendar to delete
these tags after your free days.
Visit these Facebook pages and leave messages about your free Kindle
book:
Free Kindle Books and Tips -- www.facebook.com/fkbooksandtips.
Frugal Freebies -- https://www.facebook.com/FrugalFreebies?sk=wall.
Coupon Divas -- https://www.facebook.com/CouponDivas?sk=wall.
Coupon Clipinista -- https://www.facebook.com/CouponClipinista?sk=wall.
Christian Books by Indie Authors: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Christian-Books-By-Indie-Authors/188636394517963.
Look for other Facebook pages where people would enjoy reading your
book.
Send tweets to @kindlenews and any others you may find with followers
who are potential readers of your book.
Success
The benefits of giving away nearly
20,000 books eludes me at this time. However, if that's what you want to do it,
I hope you will find this information useful. Please let me know.
I understand one benefit is to
advertise your book and your name. However, what if everyone who would have
bought the book now already has a copy? Friends have said they sold more of
their other books while one was being offered for free. I noticed that with my
other book, The Vengeance Squad, but
not to the level where I would say it made a huge difference. I went from
selling one book a day to selling an average of three books a day. If this
continues, it will become more important. Also, if people decide to buy Where Love Once Lived after hearing
about it even though it is no longer free, then I'll see some benefit. One
writer friend lowered the price to ninety-nine cents after the free period and
then gradually got it back to the regular price going up one dollar at a time. That
could work, too. Especially for those buyers who got to Amazon late. I had 32
refunds on the day after the last free day. I suspect these are people who
clicked the buy button before they realized the book was no longer free. There
could be more of those. I hope not.
How Many Free Days Are Best?
This article assumes you know how to
set up your book in KDP Select for your free days. However, if you're like me
you will want to know how many of your five free days to use. One of my friends
said to use more than one day at a time because you need to allow time for the
word to get out. I didn't record "sales" around the clock, but I can
say there were about 8,000 the first day, 6,000 the second day, and the
remaining 6,000 the third day. Even though the most "sales" were on
the first day, it took the Amazon engines time to digest it all. I didn't hit
No. 1 bestselling status until late afternoon the second day. An old Dee
Henderson book was second then, but her book overcame mine the next day. It's
not bad getting knocked out of first place by one of your favorite authors.
Which Days of the
Week Are Best?
After I selected three days, I wanted
to know if the day of week would matter. No one had experience in that area,
but I heard there is a lot of activity on weekends. For Where Love Once Lived, I decided on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday
and for The Vengeance Squad, I picked
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
I have offered you the results of my
experience, but much of the how-to was given to me by others. Especially, Shelley
Hitz, Bob Saffrin, Martin Roth, Lorilyn Roberts, the John 3:16 Marketing
Network, and squidoo.com. My special thanks to you all.
The information outlined in this
article is not static. More than a few of the resources I learned from my
friends were no longer available when I did my preparation. If you run into one like that then go to the
next one.
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