Goodreads.com is a great place for book readers, book lovers, and authors. I'm trying to find ways to generate interest in my book and Goodreads.com offers a perfect, free way to do that.
You can list your book to giveaway and people can request it over a certain period. At the end of the giveaway period, Goodreads.com sends you who the winners are and you send the books out to them. They are not required to write a review, but that is highly recommended.
I've listed two book giveaway in November and I had 347 requests (limited to US only), but I've listed another two book giveaway in January and two days before the giveaway closes, I have 1014 people requesting my book (this time, I opened it up to US as well as Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Taiwan, and Korea). Woo. Hoo. However, only 71 of these people have marked my book as "to-read." This supposed to mean that they’d eventually buy and read it, even if they don’t win it. I know it's still an uphill battle, but it also meant that 1014 people have read my book summary, probably checked out my profile and decided that this was something they were interested in reading. That's 1014 exposures. I'm so happy.
I know..., this is half full/half empty stuff. I'd rather think of this as half full. Always.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
temporary setbacks
My laptop needs a repair. I dropped it (this morning, as I was blogging on this site) and it needs a new screen, which will take 4 weeks and $250. Considering my royalties for the 1st three months of book sales was less than $35, this definitely hurts.
The ironic thing is...I was blogging about how depressing it was to sell only three books at my last book-signing event (1/27/10). It didn't make me feel any better to know that they sold eight books that month and it's considered "brisk" for an unknown, self-published author. These are the numbers I'm working with....
1. I need to sell at least 1,000 to get any kind of article written or book reviewed by a local paper.
2. I need to sell at least 2,000 to 5,000 books to get any kind of attention from a publisher or an agent.
Considering the best book signing I've ever had was for 14 books at a single event, this seems like an impossible challenge. Yet...I believe in miracles. I need to find some way to generate a buzz online. Tomorrow, I'll be spending most of my day at a library or a bookstore researching.
The thing is...as stupid as this sound, I'm glad that my laptop screen broke this morning. It taught me so much about what's important in life. My 3 year old daughter has been pushing my buttons for a while and yesterday, I cautioned her about being careful around my laptop (she was watching a netflix movie). If she had dropped it, I would have gotten so angry with her. After being really mad at my stupidity, I realized that it's just money. My computer is still OK. It'll take some work, but I can access my files. I can replace everything. Is it really important? No. Just irritating.
So, I go back to my favorite quote - The glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time you fall (Chinese proverb).
The ironic thing is...I was blogging about how depressing it was to sell only three books at my last book-signing event (1/27/10). It didn't make me feel any better to know that they sold eight books that month and it's considered "brisk" for an unknown, self-published author. These are the numbers I'm working with....
1. I need to sell at least 1,000 to get any kind of article written or book reviewed by a local paper.
2. I need to sell at least 2,000 to 5,000 books to get any kind of attention from a publisher or an agent.
Considering the best book signing I've ever had was for 14 books at a single event, this seems like an impossible challenge. Yet...I believe in miracles. I need to find some way to generate a buzz online. Tomorrow, I'll be spending most of my day at a library or a bookstore researching.
The thing is...as stupid as this sound, I'm glad that my laptop screen broke this morning. It taught me so much about what's important in life. My 3 year old daughter has been pushing my buttons for a while and yesterday, I cautioned her about being careful around my laptop (she was watching a netflix movie). If she had dropped it, I would have gotten so angry with her. After being really mad at my stupidity, I realized that it's just money. My computer is still OK. It'll take some work, but I can access my files. I can replace everything. Is it really important? No. Just irritating.
So, I go back to my favorite quote - The glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time you fall (Chinese proverb).
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Price of my books
I was very surprised to find autographed copies of my books showing up on Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com for all kinds of prices. On Amazon, there are two copies listed for $19.95 and $27.00. On Barnes and Noble, there's a copy selling for $14.95. It actually tickles me that some of these are listed under "collectables."
My editing/rewriting is going well. My goal was ~20 pages/week. I'm currently at page 59! I had worked on these pages since November, so it took just a bit more work to get here. Tomorrow, I'll be working on the pages I haven't worked on since...I can't remember. So, I expect my progress will slow down.
I haven't been feeling my usual self - optimistic and hopeful. I let my impatience get in the way of things naturally taking its course. I need to keep on believing in myself, my writing, and the readers out there. I still believe Waiting for Appa can find an audience, but it's going to take time. I wonder if the traditional publishing house authors experience this kind of issue. Probably. I can't believe publishing would be THAT different.
My editing/rewriting is going well. My goal was ~20 pages/week. I'm currently at page 59! I had worked on these pages since November, so it took just a bit more work to get here. Tomorrow, I'll be working on the pages I haven't worked on since...I can't remember. So, I expect my progress will slow down.
I haven't been feeling my usual self - optimistic and hopeful. I let my impatience get in the way of things naturally taking its course. I need to keep on believing in myself, my writing, and the readers out there. I still believe Waiting for Appa can find an audience, but it's going to take time. I wonder if the traditional publishing house authors experience this kind of issue. Probably. I can't believe publishing would be THAT different.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Back to self-publishing....
Self-publishing is a tough road. I'm not sure I'd do it again with the current book I'm working on, but I'm not sure if a minor author published through a major publishing house would fare THAT much better than what I'm struggling with. From what I know, only advantage they could possibly have would be that the distribution channels would be smoother (like getting the books into the Borders stores). So, if you want to give it a shot, here it is.
I called iUniverse on 2/3/09. My book didn't get "published" until 6/29/09 and I didn't get a review copy until the end of July'09. But I really didn't get much sales activity going until November'09 because my books weren't returnable until late October'09.
Things to keep in mind from the beginning-
1. Returnability. Without this, you can't get the books into the stores.
2. Copy Right. Just get it when you get the package. You can definitely get discounts at that time, but not very likely later.
3. Library of Congress #. I didn't get this one, but I regret it. I would get it next time.
4. Cover Copy Polish. I bought this, but I'm not sure how useful it was to me. The cover copy came back very close to what I had already. I'm not sure I'd do that again.
5. Press Release/Email Marketing campaign. I bought the cheapest package and it didn't work at all. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS OPTION. It was nice to get a copy of a press release a publishing house like iUniverse would write for their authors, but I would definitely not do this again. I can do it on my own. I'll post my press release which I paid $300 for on this blog some time later.
Of course, you’d have to write a good story, but more than anything, please keep your manuscript clean. Make sure there are absolutely minimal spelling and grammar issues (I know how hard this is because I think I have a few in my book and I thought I went through it with a fine tooth comb. At the end, I was asking my husband to put me out of my misery).
I’ll address issues in more detail in later blogs.
The MOST important thing - keep on writing, even when you yourself is thinking this is crap.
I called iUniverse on 2/3/09. My book didn't get "published" until 6/29/09 and I didn't get a review copy until the end of July'09. But I really didn't get much sales activity going until November'09 because my books weren't returnable until late October'09.
Things to keep in mind from the beginning-
1. Returnability. Without this, you can't get the books into the stores.
2. Copy Right. Just get it when you get the package. You can definitely get discounts at that time, but not very likely later.
3. Library of Congress #. I didn't get this one, but I regret it. I would get it next time.
4. Cover Copy Polish. I bought this, but I'm not sure how useful it was to me. The cover copy came back very close to what I had already. I'm not sure I'd do that again.
5. Press Release/Email Marketing campaign. I bought the cheapest package and it didn't work at all. DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS OPTION. It was nice to get a copy of a press release a publishing house like iUniverse would write for their authors, but I would definitely not do this again. I can do it on my own. I'll post my press release which I paid $300 for on this blog some time later.
Of course, you’d have to write a good story, but more than anything, please keep your manuscript clean. Make sure there are absolutely minimal spelling and grammar issues (I know how hard this is because I think I have a few in my book and I thought I went through it with a fine tooth comb. At the end, I was asking my husband to put me out of my misery).
I’ll address issues in more detail in later blogs.
The MOST important thing - keep on writing, even when you yourself is thinking this is crap.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Why self-publish?
Waiting for Appa was pretty much in this manuscript form since 2004. I tried many, many times to find an agent, but there was something about this book that just didn't quite make it (a couple of agents read the manuscript twice, after rewrites). Even with all that heartache and frustration, I never considered the option of self-publishing because of the stigma of it being a "vanity." Well, at least not until 2009.
When my first book landed an agent in 2000, it made it to five publishing houses (Penguin, Random House, Harper-Collin, Morrow, and can't remember the 5th one). It got rejected, but one of the editors who read the 1st manuscript said that she'd be willing to read the 2nd one if I ever wrote one. So, without an agent, I sent her the manuscript in 2005. It took her a little over a year to read it and sent it back with a nice rejection letter. But the letter was so encouraging that I spent the next two years trying, once again, to find an agent while attending a writer's conference and reading as much as I can about writing, selling, and most importantly, landing an agent. Well, I still couldn't find an agent and December of 2008 was one of the most miserable time periods in my life because I felt that I need to make a decision soon. It's hard to own up to the fact that you just don't have what it takes to live your dream.
I was raised in a Presbyterian home. My grandmother proudly proclaiming to me when I was young that I came from three generation of Christian women (I don't know what she would think of my beliefs right now, though). Anyhow, in January 2009, I started praying earnestly - not for some agent to pick me up, but 1) for a sign, and 2) for my heart to accept no as answer (I was giving myself three months). Yes isn't the only way God answers prayers. No is an answer.
As I was going through this, I thought of different ways to market my book and picked two writers I didn't consider before and a third one just because I liked her book. I began digging into their first books, their publishing house, their agents and editors and guess what I've found? The two writers I picked self-published their first books (Richard Paul Evans and William P. Young). And Lalita Tademy had considered self-publishing initially. I thought wow, all three leading to self-publishing.... Hm.... But I still resisted. Then on January 31, I was surfing the web and found an article on Time.com. I can't remember the exact title, but it went something like this...Wild, Wild West of Self-publishing. The article was saying that self-publishing is becoming respectable and that it functions like a minor league to the major league baseball. The good ones percolate up and get picked up. It show cased Lisa Genova who self-published her book through iUniverse and now signed a big contract. Well, that did it for me. I've been praying for a sign and here were four big ones. On February 3, I made a call to iUniverse and here I am.
I don't know where I would be if the signs said no. I probably revised my resume and may have gone back to work in the high tech industry. I don't know.... Maybe the answer still could be no at the end of all this. No matter what the path, I would like to think that God, the universe, whatever you might call it wanted me to learn something in the process.
When my first book landed an agent in 2000, it made it to five publishing houses (Penguin, Random House, Harper-Collin, Morrow, and can't remember the 5th one). It got rejected, but one of the editors who read the 1st manuscript said that she'd be willing to read the 2nd one if I ever wrote one. So, without an agent, I sent her the manuscript in 2005. It took her a little over a year to read it and sent it back with a nice rejection letter. But the letter was so encouraging that I spent the next two years trying, once again, to find an agent while attending a writer's conference and reading as much as I can about writing, selling, and most importantly, landing an agent. Well, I still couldn't find an agent and December of 2008 was one of the most miserable time periods in my life because I felt that I need to make a decision soon. It's hard to own up to the fact that you just don't have what it takes to live your dream.
I was raised in a Presbyterian home. My grandmother proudly proclaiming to me when I was young that I came from three generation of Christian women (I don't know what she would think of my beliefs right now, though). Anyhow, in January 2009, I started praying earnestly - not for some agent to pick me up, but 1) for a sign, and 2) for my heart to accept no as answer (I was giving myself three months). Yes isn't the only way God answers prayers. No is an answer.
As I was going through this, I thought of different ways to market my book and picked two writers I didn't consider before and a third one just because I liked her book. I began digging into their first books, their publishing house, their agents and editors and guess what I've found? The two writers I picked self-published their first books (Richard Paul Evans and William P. Young). And Lalita Tademy had considered self-publishing initially. I thought wow, all three leading to self-publishing.... Hm.... But I still resisted. Then on January 31, I was surfing the web and found an article on Time.com. I can't remember the exact title, but it went something like this...Wild, Wild West of Self-publishing. The article was saying that self-publishing is becoming respectable and that it functions like a minor league to the major league baseball. The good ones percolate up and get picked up. It show cased Lisa Genova who self-published her book through iUniverse and now signed a big contract. Well, that did it for me. I've been praying for a sign and here were four big ones. On February 3, I made a call to iUniverse and here I am.
I don't know where I would be if the signs said no. I probably revised my resume and may have gone back to work in the high tech industry. I don't know.... Maybe the answer still could be no at the end of all this. No matter what the path, I would like to think that God, the universe, whatever you might call it wanted me to learn something in the process.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
How do you eat an elephant?
One bite at a time. That's what I need to remember. As I’ve said in my previous blog, unless I have another book, Waiting for Appa is a dead end, no matter how successful it gets. I've been procrastinating. I’ve been doing everything but working on my first book. Here are the issues:
1. It was almost 500 pages, and then I edited it down to ~350 pages.
2. The thought of editing and rewriting it makes me cringe.
3. I need to add more historical material (which will probably take it back up to 500+ pages) then edit it back down to ~350 pages.
4. The historical material I have to read is not pleasant, somewhat equivalent to Rape of Nanking material. Yikes.
So…, here I am. Procrastinating.
This is where I need to get into my project manager mode. With any project, I need to break it down to manageable, measurable, attainable pieces. Well, here’s the math (I’m being ambitious here).
1. If my goal is to write 20 “good” pages a week, that’ll take me 17 - 25 weeks.
2. But, a lot of what I have is pretty good (I did have an agent with this manuscript and it was read by editors at Random House, Penguin, Harper-Collins, Morrow, and a 5th one I can’t remember), so I think I can do better than 20 pages/week. None of them had the same reason for rejecting it. I wish they could have been more constructive. I don't mind being criticized, as long as it's constructive and I learn something from it (althought it hurts to see others tell me how ugly my beautiful, awesome baby is). Some of those comments still linger in my head.
3. So…, I could possibly have a “first draft” with the additional material in about 3 months.
Now, all I have to do is… WRITE.
On a side note, for now, I’m giving up on Borders. As much as I want to work with the book store chain (the only one in my town), I’m wasting too much time distracted and frustrated by the laborious and confusing process (more than the actual time I spend trying to resolve it). So, for now, I’ll be focusing my efforts on other book stores. I must move on to editing and rewriting my first book.
1. It was almost 500 pages, and then I edited it down to ~350 pages.
2. The thought of editing and rewriting it makes me cringe.
3. I need to add more historical material (which will probably take it back up to 500+ pages) then edit it back down to ~350 pages.
4. The historical material I have to read is not pleasant, somewhat equivalent to Rape of Nanking material. Yikes.
So…, here I am. Procrastinating.
This is where I need to get into my project manager mode. With any project, I need to break it down to manageable, measurable, attainable pieces. Well, here’s the math (I’m being ambitious here).
1. If my goal is to write 20 “good” pages a week, that’ll take me 17 - 25 weeks.
2. But, a lot of what I have is pretty good (I did have an agent with this manuscript and it was read by editors at Random House, Penguin, Harper-Collins, Morrow, and a 5th one I can’t remember), so I think I can do better than 20 pages/week. None of them had the same reason for rejecting it. I wish they could have been more constructive. I don't mind being criticized, as long as it's constructive and I learn something from it (althought it hurts to see others tell me how ugly my beautiful, awesome baby is). Some of those comments still linger in my head.
3. So…, I could possibly have a “first draft” with the additional material in about 3 months.
Now, all I have to do is… WRITE.
On a side note, for now, I’m giving up on Borders. As much as I want to work with the book store chain (the only one in my town), I’m wasting too much time distracted and frustrated by the laborious and confusing process (more than the actual time I spend trying to resolve it). So, for now, I’ll be focusing my efforts on other book stores. I must move on to editing and rewriting my first book.
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