It is January 1st, and as I sit in my kitchen writing this, there is a strong wind outside. The bird feeders sway, unsynchronized; leaves I thought were long gone fly around the deck; a plastic saucer lacking a plant lifts briefly into the air before crashing into the glass; and my cat stares warily out the window.

I generally have a forward-looking spirit, but that was dampened in 2018. In 2018, I felt compelled toward stillness — to watch, like my cat, eyeing the chaos outside of the window. Because of that, I’ve thought a lot about chaos — how it has to destroy, sometimes, before it can be an agent of progress and even order. An easy example: Consider the way you have to make a mess before progress can be made in renovating a room or even organizing a closet.

Now consider how we humans naturally resist progress/chaos, because it requires mental and/or physical effort, in favor of comforts like downy things to curl up with, and full bellies, and stillness on the housebound side of the window. Consider how easy it can be to be lulled into a life that doesn’t so much seek change as it seeks to prevent it.

A resistance to change and chaos may not be a bad thing for some people, but I would argue it isn’t the road you’ve chosen, if you’ve chosen to be a novelist. Because you, my writer friend, need chaos to produce your work.

You need the chaos of ideas.

You need a mess of words on the page, and sometimes all over your desk, several tables, and the floor.

You need to be frustrated over that character / plot point / predictable ending, because that discomfiting chaos is what can and will inspire new solutions as you seek a more satisfying relief —

and test your personal limits,

and the breadth of your creativity,

and meet goals,

and imbue your life with a sense of purpose.

But it’s a cycle that demands you step outside of your safe place and twist in the wind.

For You

• “Pursue your contentment relentlessly with all your energy & focus,” a friend of mine wrote just this morning. (Thanks, David!) Consider the difference between contentment and comfort. What would it take to make you feel professionally content?
• Is there a barrier between you and your goals? What is that, and how can you get beyond it?
• Can you see how temporary chaos can lead to big gains?
• How can you make your contentment a more active venture, and make it a priority in 2019?
• If you’re creatively stagnant, what can you shatter in your manuscript that might ultimately lead to a better relief?

For Your Characters [Read more…]

It’s Election Day in the U.S., which you surely know unless you’re living under a sound-proof stone that hasn’t been picked up and thrown at someone. Hard to believe that a few short years ago many of us rarely expressed controversial opinions, choosing to be ‘polite’ rather than overtly ‘political,’ yet here we are.

So let’s talk broadly about tipping points for a minute, and tune in to story.

Consider your protagonist’s world view at the start of your tale:

• What won’t she do?
• What won’t she say?
• Whom would she never betray?
• What or whom does she trust implicitly?
• What or whom would she give up to achieve her greatest desire?
• For whom or what would she make significant sacrifices, even lay down her life?

Now think through what it would take, in each instance, for her to change her mind; to be pushed and shoved out of her comfort zone; to be rattled by a proverbial stone against her skull, or even to pick one up herself.

Don’t tell me she would never allow herself to be tipped, because I do not believe it, and if you do, then you need to dig harder, my friend. Identify the wildcard in her life, and if it doesn’t exist, then build it.

Need help brainstorming? Consider the effect of the following:

Lies

Liars

Injustice

Insecurity

Corrupt forces

Threats to her future

Threats to those she loves

Threats to things she loves

Disempowerment

Abandonment

Victimization

Brainwashing

Addiction

Poverty

Cruelty

Hatred

Illness

Abuse

Chaos

Pain

Fear

Don’t make her flip of nature too easy, either, or it will read false.

Consider:

• How can these things come from someone or something she trusts or trusted?
• How will she realize she has been fooled or manipulated, or unwittingly acted against her own best interests?
• How will she receive this message, and how hard will she rebel against believing it?
• For how many minutes, days, or years will she plug her ears, shut her eyes, turn her back?
• What can’t she ignore?
• What has she already compromised or sacrificed?
• Whom has she already lost?
• How has she lied to herself?
• How many voices will she dismiss as crazy before something finally filters past, nudges her conscience, makes her wonder?
• What will she do with that blast of enlightenment once she sees the truth?
• How can that redirected energy fuel her arc?
• What will she lose by accepting the truth?
• What will she gain?
• How will reaching a tipping point change her, for forever?
• Will this tipping point be only the first in a series?
• What comes next?
• How will these things propel her toward The End?
• Will she reach a happy ending, and be satisfied?
• If she fails, what does that mean for her future? How does that, too, become a tipping point, support a new goal, push her on and on?

Because if I’ve learned nothing over the last few years, it’s that nothing is sacred. Nothing is solid. Nothing is forever. Nothing can be taken for granted. And that doing nothing and expecting change is not only tantamount to madness but becomes impossible once that tipping point is reached.

Just as we writers must press on and pursue–must write on, and persevere–so must our protagonists if they are to convey a tale that is rich and bold and true. You need look no further than the front page of today’s newspaper to see why that will be required to gain and keep the attention of your readership.

Have a way of finding your protagonist’s tipping point that you’d like to share? Share away.

But only after you VOTE.

[Read more…]

My second novel, THE MOON SISTERS, comes out in paperback in two days. It also comes out in audiobook, and I feel so lucky; actress Julia Whelan delivered a beautiful performance. Julia isn’t just an actress (Once and Again) and prolific audiobook star; she’s also an author. Her debut novel, MY OXFORD YEAR, released this spring and quickly became a favorite with readers. And, yep, she performed the audiobook herself.

I’m thrilled to have Julia here today to talk about audiobook trends, what it takes to produce an audiobook, how she manages all of those voices, indie author considerations, and so much more! (A big HT to the Writer Unboxed Facebook community for offering some great questions when I asked what their inquiring minds wanted to know.)

Because we’re also celebrating THE MOON SISTERS, Julia and I are offering a download code for the book to one commenter who will be randomly chosen on Friday. Good luck!

Therese Walsh: Before we dive in, I have to tell you that I couldn’t be happier with the final version of The Moon Sisters. I was surprised at how affected I was to hear the performance of a story I know so well. I laughed, I cried, and I listened to the book twice in a row. But the job of the listener, even if that listener is the author, is easy. Was the process of recording the book challenging in any way for you—the accents, the letters, the sibling battles, the format, etc…? And—one of my favorite questions: Team Jazz or Team Olivia?

Julia Whalen: Thank you! I actually decided to do something for The Moon Sisters that I’ve only done with one other book before (Stacey Jay’s The Princess of Thorns). Instead of recording it straight through, I read all of Jazz’s sections and then all of Olivia’s and then I went back and did all of Beth’s letters. For me, it made the most sense. I wanted to make sure I stayed in each sister’s voice so that the listener could truly have a distinct listening experience. Going back later and putting everything in the right order was a bit of a challenge, but I think it made the recording process itself much smoother.

Ooh, that’s a tough one. Personally, I identify more with Jazz. The responsible one, the realist. Some might call her pessimistic, but I wouldn’t. Plus, Olivia could turn anybody into an older sister. :-)

TW: This is true.

There are times when I’ve loved a physical book so much that I’ve purchased the audiobook after reading it just to hear the story performed. As a narrator and actor, are you able to simply read a physical book or is some part of you always acting it out? Have you ever pursued a job because you *had* to narrate the book? 

JW: I love reading books just to read them. Alas, that doesn’t happen very often. But when I do, it’s hard to break the habit of prepping. For the first hundred pages or so I find myself reaching for a pen when I see a word I don’t know how to pronounce or noting a character’s vocal description before I remember I’m off the clock! There have only been a handful of times when I’ve reached out to a publisher or producer and asked to be considered for an author’s next book… and it’s never resulted in getting the book. Not sure if there’s a lesson in there, but I will keep making my desires known. And certain writer-friends just know I won’t let anyone else do their books. Like, don’t even ask.

TW: What do you hope to bring to a book, in order to make it a rounder, more fulfilling experience for a listening reader?

JW: This depends on the book. Sometimes the best way I can serve a book is to get out of the way. If the prose is basically poetry and it’s just shockingly beautiful, I’m going to step back and let the writing stand on its own. Memoir, I don’t like to interfere too much. But if it’s high fantasy? My approach suddenly becomes an all-out one-woman Lord of the Rings. It really comes down to the voice of the book.

TW: I recently saw a statistic via Publishing Perspectives (ht Porter Anderson), reporting a “six-year trend of double-digit growth” in audiobook listening. Do you have a sense about why audiobooks are trending up like this? 

JW: Not to sound too glib, but I think the short answer is: convenience. Digital audiobooks were a game changer. People can have them on their phones now, in their cars, in their earbuds, coming through their Sonos, whenever they want. Plus, I think people have discovered how many good audiobook narrators there are. These aren’t your grandfather’s books on tape. These are tour-de-force performances from some exceptionally talented actors.

TW: Do you believe the audiobook audience is distinct from the physical-book-reading crowd, and if so, how? 

JW: In many ways, they’re very distinct. On an obvious and basic level, audiobooks allow people with vision impairments or learning disabilities or other challenges access to books. But in other ways, there is an audience crossover. I know some people who say, I’ll listen to the mystery-suspense reads because they keep me going at the gym, but I’ll physically read the literary or nonfiction books because I want to be able to go back and linger over a passage or paragraph. Or, people find a narrator that they become loyal to and will then listen to any book that person narrates, even if it’s not something they would have picked up in a bookstore.

TW: What do you think people can take away from an audiobook that they may not get from simply reading the physical book? How might empathy factor into this, if you think it does?

JW: It’s a performance. Why do we go see the film adaptation of a book when we could just read the book? It’s an entirely different experience and I don’t think the two can be compared. It’s difficult for me to be objective about empathy; I’m a very empathetic reader. Maybe it’s because of my acting background, but I’m probably not going to feel more about a book having it read to me than reading it myself. But maybe this isn’t true for other people? I don’t know. This is one to ponder. Over a drink. Because my concept of empathy is inextricably tied to my opinions not just about art but about what’s missing in our society and that’s an entire essay in its own right.

TW: If reviews on Audible are anything to go by, character voices are perhaps the most critical element to creating a satisfying audiobook. How do you go about settling on a character’s voice? Can you share with us the evolution of an interesting voice?

JW: First and foremost, I rely on the author to provide what I need to know about a character’s voice. Sometimes they’ll be very helpful (“she said in her throaty bassoon of a voice that always sounded like a frog with laryngitis,” for instance) and sometimes you’ll have to piece the clues together (she’s from Brooklyn, her mother’s from Minnesota, dad’s from Italy, but she went to Stanford and has lived in France for the last decade and she smokes). Even the way the dialogue is written will help. Short sentences? One word answers? Or long discursive meanderings? In figuring out the whole cast, I prioritize the characters who have the most dialogue because a) I have to be conscious of not giving them a grating voice that might fatigue the listener through sheer repetition and b) once I’ve got their voice as a base, I can build the other characters’ voices around them, so that everyone sounds as distinct as possible.

TW: What, if anything, makes voices a tricky business for you? Are male voices challenging? What about accents or colloquial speech?

JW: Audiobook narrators are given an impossible task: inhabit every character in this book convincingly. And more, make them all distinct so that the listener knows who’s speaking. It’s a ridiculous premise, frankly. But it’s fun! It’s the Acting Olympics. Accents are tricky, but welcome because they help you distinguish the characters. But sometimes you get thrown for a loop (I had Papiamento show up once) and just have to muddle through, trying not to offend anyone. Male voices are challenging only because you’re never going to make everyone happy. Some listeners want you to really go for it, others would rather you not change your voice at all. At this point, I’ve learned to let the book dictate the level of characterization. What feels right for this specific book? Who’s the audience?

TW: How important is it for you to distinguish one voice from another throughout the course of a novel? Are larger casts tricky, fun, or both for you? Are some voices retired, like a star quarterback’s jersey, after you’ve narrated a story as singular as Gone Girl?

JW: I think distinguishing characters (if you’re the type of narrator who does characters, and I am) is probably priority number one. This obviously gets complicated when you’ve got a homogenous cast (i.e. the students of a girls boarding school in Connecticut). But a large, diverse cast can be really fun and rewarding. A series that I did (Maggie Hall’s The Conspiracy of Us) comes to mind because it was a truly global cast. I remember in one scene I had an American girl, an English guy, a Russian guy, two French guys, a French girl, a Japanese boy, and, I think, an Indian girl. Now, the recording process was a complete nightmare. But the finished product is a great listen.
I don’t know that I’ve ever retired a voice. I couldn’t retire Amy Elliot Dunne (Gone Girl) because I was just doing me, my voice (just, you know, slightly more psychopathic). I will definitely retire ones that I listen back to and think, welp, that didn’t work!

TW: How many times do you read through a story (to yourself, or aloud) before recording? Do you ever mark up a book’s passages? Do you do any form of research–topics, audience, etc.? What else makes up your pre-recording process?

JW: I definitely read through it once, keeping a list of characters and words. Some books require more research than others. Historical fiction (or non), anything based on real people or events. For categories like sci-fi or fantasy, the majority of the prep time is spent talking with the author about the rules of the world they built: how are these words pronounced, what does this group of people sound like, are you going to be revealing anything about a character in, say, book 3 that I need to know about right now, in book 1? I never, never go into the booth without having read the book. That way lies madness.

TW: How long does it take for you to record an average-length novel? If you record over several days, what steps do you take to ensure consistency of tone, pace, etc.?

JW: Most books take me four days to record, 6-8 hours of recording per day. I keep clips of character voices so I can refer back to them for consistency.

TW: Do you work with an audio engineer or handle production by yourself? (What is standard?)

JW: I’m usually by myself. The industry has moved out of the studio, for the most part. Narrators often record from home, in our own booths. The files are then sent to a production company for proofing, editing, mastering, QC, etc. There are a few companies who still use directors and engineers and let me tell you it feels like a gift when I get to have someone else with me in the mud and the muck.

TW: Do you use an independent editor, or work with publishers post-recording in case there are any necessary edits?

JW: If the book came through a publisher or producer then post is their responsibility. If I’m producing the book for an author then I’m outsourcing the work to my trusted editors. I don’t do it all. I don’t have the time, for one thing, but more importantly, you should never have just one set of ears on something. For the same reason that I find typos in manuscripts while reading them aloud that managed to slip by the author, the agent, the editor, the copyeditor, and the – what – ten other people who read through manuscripts in the pre-pub process.

TW: Can authors do anything to help ensure their book is audiobook friendly? [Read more…]

A number of months back, I wrote an article on how to promo preorder books for Bookbub. The original piece was pared back a little, but today’s post is the whole enchilada. Enjoy!

For a traditionally published author, a hefty number of preorders can increase a print run and create a sense of excitement around a new release. Early buzz may convince the publisher’s marketing team to take a book more seriously, and invest more time, creative brain-power, and marketing dollars into nurturing a potential bestseller.

For a self-published author, a swell of preorders can trigger algorithms that wake retail sites like Amazon to your book’s presence. This makes it more likely that a book will appear in “hot new release” lists, which can increase not only preorders, but post-publication sales and even name recognition.

Finally, because many retailers count preorders on release day, a large number of preorders can land an author on a bestseller list, whether traditionally or self-published.

However, preorder marketing efforts don’t always guarantee preorder sales. When promoting a book, there are so many factors at play: the uniqueness of a book, whether it’s a series or standalone, the dynamic of the author’s platform, the promotional budget, the author’s marketing prowess, and more.

Regardless, the months before a book releases are golden for creating awareness. First, let’s cover how to set up a preorder for success.

PRE-PRE-RELEASE CONSIDERATIONS

Before you spend time and money marketing a preorder, clean up the online hotspots your future readers will visit most often.

• Your author website should look professional, feature your latest polished book cover, and provide readers with links to your book’s preorder page at all the usual haunts (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple iBooks, etc.). Include a preview of the book — one chapter at least — to hook potential readers. Invite folks to sign up for your newsletter and follow you on book discovery sites like BookBub and Goodreads.
• Your author page on retailers and book discovery sites should be updated. Some sites like BookBub provide readers with the opportunity to follow an author, and be alerted when that author has a new book available, so thread some interesting details about yourself into that bio.
• Your book’s retailer product page should be designed to grab attention but never appear over-formatted.

“It’s amazing how many authors will have 17 different font sizes on their Amazon page, put reviews in the description section and the book’s description in the reviews section, and it matters. Readers rely on the book’s Amazon page more than any other source, and since a decision to preorder a book is dependent on what happens when a reader gets there, you need to make sure it looks professional, and has an excerpt and well-written book description.”
— M.J. Rose, NYT bestselling author and creator of AuthorBuzz

Pro Tips:

Compare your content to that of bestselling authors in your genre, including the layout, type-sizes, photos, etc.

Also, be sure to claim your books. It’s a step that many authors miss, and one you’ll need to take on retail and book discovery sites. (Learn how to find and claim your book on BookBub HERE.)

SIX MONTHS UNTIL RELEASE DAY

Now it’s time to hone your preorder marketing strategies. Ideally, you’ll have 3-6 months before your book’s release to brainstorm, experiment, and implement your promotional plan.

What’s worth your time? Here are 13 strategies to consider.

CONNECT WITH FANS YOU ALREADY HAVE

1. Carefully curate social media content.

Share your publishing journey across your author platform — blog, Facebook page, Twitter profile, and so on — and build excitement among your fans.

Pro Tip: Don’t just share sales links. Share your milestones — your cover reveal, a great early review — in a way that makes others feel invested.

“Be earnest. It’s exciting to publish a book. Let others feel that. I recently had a client post a preorder link to her forthcoming business book, a debut. She mentioned in her post that preorders can potentially tell a publisher the book’s potential. In that, she educated her audience in her heartfelt request. The audience realized they were part of her journey, too, and that most definitely led to preorders.”
— Ann-Marie Nieves, Owner of Get Red PR

Don’t allow your most important posts to go unseen; pay to boost posts on Facebook to maximize your exposure when it matters most.

2. Draft a newsletter.

You know you have a true fan when someone signs up to allow you into their inbox with regularity. And while you should never abuse that invitation, it’s a good idea to drop a few newsletters before your book’s release — starting about 4-6 weeks before the release — to stimulate preorders.

Include an excerpt, preorder links, and some compelling inside information about the book and/or your personal connection to it — perks that make your loyal fans feel special. Don’t undervalue this step, as basic as it may seem.

“Avoid depending on third parties — book reviewers, social media, publishers, anyone! — to reach your audience over the long term. If you want to future-proof your career, build methods of directly engaging with your readers in a way that you own and control. And by far the best method, in today’s digital media age, is email.”
— Jane Friedman, editor of The Hot Sheet

3. Cultivate a street team.

A street team is a group of loyal readers who help an author spread the word about their books. In exchange for this loyalty, and valued word-spread-ery, they’ll often gain access to special perks — free books, exclusive contests, sneak-peeks, and behind-the-scenes looks.

Bestselling author Kerry Lonsdale fostered a team of loyal readers primarily through her newsletter, which she began over a year before her debut released. Through the newsletter, she encouraged readers to join a secret Facebook group, where she provided fans with exclusive content. In return, those fans helped to spread the word about her book. Additionally, this group has led to “advanced reviewers,” who have early access to the book and leave reviews where they can, generating early interest in Kerry’s work.

“The moment my book cover is available for an upcoming release, I start promoting heavily. I encourage my street team to chat up the book on social media. I create Facebook ads and keep them running through release day, changing the ad every few weeks. And finally, I try to get as many people as I can to read the NetGalley/ARC and review the book.”
— Kerry Lonsdale, author of Everything We Keep

4. Level-up your back matter.

[Read more…]

Back in the early days at Writer Unboxed, Kathleen Bolton–my friend and co-founder here at WU–and I used to do weekly interviews with authors and industry gurus. These interviews not only brought us some fantastic traffic and were instrumental in raising WU’s profile, they were richly rewarding to everyone, including Kath and me. There were, of course, favorites. I think I can safely say one of Kath’s favorites was her interview with Diana Gabaldon (of Outlander fame). One of mine was with the brilliant and oh-so-charming Blake Snyder, author of a series of books for (screen)writers beginning with Save the Cat. Blake had just released his second book, Save the Cat Goes to the Movies, when we had our phone interview.

I’m going to share the first question from that interview with you here, because it’ll help to establish a grounding for the Save the Cat series and this interview as well.

TW: In the first Save the Cat, you introduce the idea that every story falls into one of ten new genre categories–Monster in the House, Golden Fleece, Out of the Bottle, Dude with a Problem, Rites of Passage, Buddy Love, Whydunit, Fool Triumphant, Institutionalized or Superhero. How does your latest book, Save the Cat Goes to the Movies, expand on this concept? 

BS: In the first Save the Cat, I proposed that most well-structured stories fall into certain patterns. I pointed out fifteen points on the Blake Snyder beat sheet that I think are unique.

What I’m trying to get across is that there’s a function for every section of a story. As a writer myself, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure it all out. I’ve been lucky in that I’ve had a lot of success in selling scripts, and so breaking down the components of what makes any story work has always been my goal. That was the important thing in the first book.

The other important thing in the first book was the concept that there are ten story types. So what I wanted to do in the second book is basically prove my point, prove the case. In writing the second book, I wrote ten different chapters, each one about a different story type. I found five different examples of each story type and broke them out into the beats. It really is just proving the case.

“Just proving the case” makes it sound so simple, doesn’t it? But what Blake had done, I felt, was nothing short of astonishing, as he revealed the veritable DNA of story after story and type after type.

A brief aside: My son just finished his first year at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. He wants to eventually direct films, though he could end up writing or editing, too. Point is, he loves story. We all love story. We put a movie on at my house, and after it’s finished we talk about that story for an hour, at least. What worked. What didn’t. Why. What we think could have made it better. My son’s had his hands on my well-worn copy of Save the Cat, and knew I’d had the honor of talking with and interviewing Blake. And so it was with some awe that he registered that Save the Cat is cited in his classes at USC — in what is arguably the #1 film program in the country (#mombrag).

Bottom line: Save the Cat has become a must-have book for screenwriters and accrued much industry respect. And even though Blake passed away at a far-too-young age back in 2009, his story analyses live on through film programs across the country via his own books and brand. So when I learned about a new book out from Blake’s former publisher, I was intrigued.

Save the Cat! Goes to the Indies: The Screenwriters Guide to 50 Films from the Masters was written by a former colleague of Blake’s, Salva Rubio–a graphic novelist and screenwriter who hails from Madrid, Spain. For a decade, Salva worked for Spain’s foremost independent production company, Alta Films, where he analyzed scripts by the Coen Brothers, Eric Rohmer, Gus Van Sant, Walter Salles, Jane Campion, and even Spain’s Ministry of Culture (ICAA), among others. As a graphic novelist, Salva works in the French-Belgian market (Le Lombard Editeur), having published such projects as Monet, Nomad of Light (2017), and the novel Zíngara: Searching for Jim Morrison. He also co-wrote the animated movie Deep (2017).

Interviewing Salva reminded me why Blake’s brand has withstood the test of time. And while the latest Save the Cat book may exist mainly to continue “just proving the case,” it is still fascinating.

How is it that so many different kinds of movies — at least those that are successful — roll out in such a similar fashion?

And — the big question here at WU — can novelists take anything away from what Blake recognized?

If you don’t know anything about Save the Cat, I hope this serves as a worthy introduction. If you already do know about the brand, I hope you enjoy this fresh perspective — and your introduction to Salva Rubio.

Q&A with Salva Rubio

TW: Can you tell us a little bit about how you became attached to the Save the Cat project? How did you know Blake, and what did you think of Save the Cat the first time you read it? Did you believe it would become the classic it has become?

SR: It all started about ten years ago, I was considering being a professional screenwriter and I used to read just about every book published in the market. So I got to read “Save the Cat” and it immediately blew my mind: it was so crystal-clear, easy, positive, straight to the point and the author (Blake Snyder) knew his craft, as he was a professional screenwriter. With it, I understood so many elusive concepts and I discovered that, no matter how easy it seems, it’s deep enough to use it for years.

After that, by sheer coincidence I noticed that Blake himself was about to teach his seminar in Barcelona, so I couldn’t miss it! We spent a week there, along with other 10 writers, beating a whole movie with its 40 scenes in just those days! After that I was incredibly confident in the STC method and in my abilities, and soon after I wrote a script that was a finalist in an important contest…

I remained in touch with Blake, exchanging emails and theories until his sad untimely passing. At that time I was working for a production company in Spain, in which I was handled scripts by top names in the European and indie industry, like Jane Campion, Gus van Sant, the Coen Brothers, Larry Clark, Christopher Hampton… and I discovered that, no matter how “auteur” or independent the resulting films were, the scripts were perfectly classic and thus fitted Blake’s theories.

So I decided to tell BJ Markel, editor of the books and the STC! Blog, and I wrote a chapter for him. He liked the idea, and we started work on “Save the Cat! Goes to the Indies”.

TW: Let’s talk about beat sheets. What sets them apart from other ‘tools of the trade’? Why do you think they work so well? [Read more…]

My husband first told me about Fiverr after the company he works for used their services to have a video created as a teaching tool for their staff. He raved about not only the quality of the video, but the experience of working with a Fiverr artist and the price tag that came along with it.

“Wait, back up a sec,” you say. “What’s Fiverr?”

Fiverr is a freelancers’ marketplace, where you can hire others to create a range of goods and tools, including:

logos
T-shirts
business cards
infographics
book covers
promotional videos
voice-overs
banner advertising
and more

Not all artists are created equal, of course, but every freelancer on Fiverr has a public relationship with their past clients; prior ratings and response times are listed to help you gauge the reliability of your artist before you hire them.

Weigh the Pros and Cons of a Trailer, for Nonfiction Books and Novels

Not every project may be worth the effort and expense of a book trailer, but as we neared the end of production for Author in Progress, the book we all created together here at Writer Unboxed, I knew this WAS a book that was worth a trailer. Top three reasons:

1. A pitch for this book could be written that would be fundamentally similar to one you’d see in a commercial for soap or physical therapy or anything else with utility, geared toward a very specific audience: writers of novels.
2. The book delivers on the promise of that pitch.
3. The video could be made using a white-board and/or cartoon-character approach, with a modest budget.

Does this mean you shouldn’t consider a Fiverr trailer if you have a novel as opposed to a craft book for novelists?

Not necessarily. Though there are fewer clear options for folks who don’t mind something somewhat generic (like these possibilities for your fantasy, romance, or suspense) some Fiverr artists will match imagery with a narrative you provide. For example here’s one artist (I don’t know him from Adam — or from Steven, in this case), who claims to use quality stock photos and music to create a personalized video. “If you need a video about a girl with blonde hair trying to make it in Hollywood, I may use a photo of a blonde girl waiting tables (if that is in the book) or a girl carrying luggage. I may not use faces that much. I try to leave the specifics to your audience and your book,” he writes in his FAQ section.

Before you decide to commit to a trailer, though, consider the pros and cons, including:

• Does your book have a specific audience, and will your trailer target that audience?
• Is the project within your budget?
• Do you have a plan for using your trailer, or would it be posted on your site and promptly forgotten?

Find Potential Fiverr Matchups, and Prep for Outreach

If you’re ready to proceed or at least explore possibilities, start with a search. Use terms like ‘book trailer’ or ‘movie trailer’ on Fiverr’s main site to help you find artists with video expertise, or post a request to the Fiverr community directly.

Read carefully through the FAQ sections of any artists-of-interests. Look through their portfolios, if they’re publicly available, and consider if what you want syncs up with what they provide. If you know a package will only guarantee 10 images, for example, don’t dream up a 150-scene trailer. (That said, if you find an artist whose style you love and what you’d like isn’t something they offer, you can still reach out to them with your pitch. They may come back to you with a custom offer.)

It’s worth your time to write out a script and storyboard so the artist can visualize your ideal final product–and can tell you straightaway if your dream video is outside of their capabilities. Below is the script and storyboard I submitted to artists-of-interest for the Author in Progress project. [Read more…]

The Writer’s Digest team and I are in the last stage of pre-production for Author in Progress. We’re reviewing final pages, doing a last nip-and-tuck before those pages head to the printer and then the stores. I thought I’d share an annotated Table of Contents (TOC) with you today, which will reveal a few of the book’s surprises.

James Scott Bell has written a fantastic foreword for us, which I was just able to preview yesterday! Thank you, Jim!

The xxx’s circled in purple above mark the spot where page numbers will eventually appear. Otherwise–wouldn’t that be fun? A game of ‘guess the page!’

I shared the Introduction I wrote with you a while back, but for anyone who missed it, you can read that HERE.

The Community Conversation header, also circled in purple, marks the first of a series of five special essays. Not only are the essays themselves tremendous, but they’re followed by expansive comments by some of WU’s most engaging and thought-provoking commenters. Big thanks to C.G. Blake, Vijaya Bodach, Paula Cappa, Valerie Chandler, L.J. Cohen, Ron Estrada, Tonia Marie Harris, Natalie Hart, Barry Knister, Donald Maass, Barbara Morrison, Bernadette Phipps-Lincke, Thomas Henry Pope, Alisha Rohde, Susan Setteducato, Mike Swift, Dee Willson, and Grace Wynter for participating in this truly unboxed initiative!

A further twist to the Community Conversation essays: When you purchase the book, you’ll have the opportunity to link to these same articles on WU and join the conversation via private QR codes.

Some articles have special headers. The duet of articles above, by Jael McHenry and Catherine McKenzie, features a debate of sorts between two perspectives– should you or shouldn’t you try for an MFA. Below, you’ll see another–a debate about plotting v. pantsing, featuring Anne Greenwood Brown and Ray Rhamey.

You’ve probably noticed the section breaks. Author in Progress is broken into seven parts, which I believe represent the seven stages every writer should go through when writing a book. They are: [Read more…]