The long road of writing a book.

Publishing a book is a journey on a rocky path that involves several stages, from writing and pre-editing to editing, formatting, selecting the right cover, and marketing. While the process can be daunting, knowing what to expect at each stage can help ease the stress and make the journey more enjoyable. Let’s go through all the different steps involved in publishing a book.

Writing

The first step in publishing a book is writing it. This is the part where you put your ideas on paper and create a draft of your novel. It is important to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with your book, such as the theme, genre, and target audience. This is probably the fun and pleasant part, as you don’t care about the style, typos, or plot holes. Here you just listen to your characters and follow their lead. 

Pre-editing.

Now, here is where you start crying. Once you have a draft of your book, the next step is to pre-edit it. I suggest leaving your manuscript aside for one or two weeks before starting this process. This involves reviewing your manuscript to check for inconsistencies or plot holes. What during the phase of writing seemed great now sounds ridiculous. You will feel like your novel is nothing but rubbish, and the imposter syndrome will strike. In this phase, keep calm and see how you can improve it. So you delete, add, change, and polish. Only after this phase, when you no longer think you have failed in writing a good novel, you can ask friends or beta readers to give you feedback on your book.

Editing

After pre-editing, the next step is to edit your book. This involves checking for grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and typos. This is crucial, and you need to hire a professional editor to look at it and give suggestions on how to improve the plot, characterization, style, and much more. This brings to a new level of depression, but even in this case, remember that everything can be fixed, and by polishing your novel, you will have a jewel in your hands.

Formatting

Once your book is edited, the next step is formatting it. This involves choosing the right font, spacing, and layout for your book. You can either do the formatting yourself or hire a professional formatter.

Choosing the right cover

The cover of your book is the first thing that readers will see. Therefore, choosing the right cover that will grab their attention and entice them to read your book is important. I strongly suggest hiring a professional. This is a critical step; your book cover should align with your audience’s expectations. Good knowledge of your genre is a must and requires a lot of research. This doesn’t stop at the first book because the trends are evolving, and your cover should develop accordingly. 

Marketing

The final step in publishing a book is marketing it. This involves creating a marketing plan and promoting your book through various channels such as social media, book signings, and interviews. It is important to have a marketing strategy to ensure your book reaches its target audience. This is also a very important step, and as a self-published author, you must do a lot of research. Some research tools are available for free, while others need to be purchased. There are several platforms where to market your book, but the most successful are offered by Amazon ads and Facebook.

During your career, you will be approached by thousands of people who are ready to take your money for five minutes of visibility. Don’t rush; join one of the many writer’s communities to ask their opinion whenever you get offers. You will find more precious information this way than by spending money uselessly.

In conclusion, publishing a book is lengthy, steep, and draining. By knowing what to expect at each stage, you can make this journey more enjoyable and successful. I hope you have enjoyed this blog. Take care and stay tuned.

Become a writer, they said...

So much for the beauty of being a writer, to pour your passion into a blank paper to create words, sentences, paragraphs, and finally, a story.

A story that will inspire, enthrall, entertain, or inform your audience. But it's just here when the problems start to arise, at least for me. Writing requires inspiration, passion, and, last but not least, discipline.

The latter is what troubles me the most. 

Discipline.

Since I was a little kid, my parents and teachers didn't have to struggle with many issues besides my complete adversity to discipline and rules. Not that I have been a rebel, and I always followed the general behavioral rules. Those were the ones I was ready to follow and accept, but when it came to studying, follow, or even create a routine, it was a real nightmare for them (and also for me to tell the truth).

As a pantser, I don't really struggle in creating a story. I can pour my whole novel in a reasonable time for an average author, and with two-three novel published a year, I don't think that there's any issue on the writing front itself. 

The problem for me starts when it's the time to market my novel. At that point, discipline, consistency and commitment are three ingredients that can never miss from the marketer arsenal.

Yes, and once again I'm no marketer. I have been grown up as a scientist, a geologist for the matter, which within the whole range of scientific subjects it screams "ANARCHY."

Nevertheless, I need to become one, and after spending the eight hours in the office, or in the laboratory, or in the field, I need to come back home, forget about anarchy and step into my new world made of rules I desperately need to create and force myself to follow.

So far, I couldn't find a viable routine, as I'm easily distractable, and if writing and procrastination go hand in hand, I am sure that marketing and procrastination are twin brothers, and where goes the first, the second follows.

If this is what it's needed, I am not sure I will ever be a successful author, the one who is selling a big deals and can stop her day job to focus completely on writing. Perhaps one day when I retire I will be able to use those eight-ten hours I spend nowadays at work to create a successful routine to follow all the required steps marketing requires.

How are you taking care of your marketing? Have you found a good way to deal with the procrastination demon? If so, let me know, I'm all ears.

***

If you are curious about my books, here's a link to my website, where you can find them all, from historical fiction, paranormal romantic suspense, to thrillers:

https://pjmannauthor.com/category/books/

The road to success?

For some reason, recently in my feeds are coming up with a lot of questions about this topic. How to reach success?
To be honest, I am the least to give any advice. I also think that success has so many facets and is bound to just as many factors.
The reason, I suppose, those questions are rising up mostly now, is due to the uncertain times we're going through. The pandemic has taken away all the rational thinking, replacing with an irrational, yet understandable fear.
Many of us are facing unemployment, and particularly, for freelancers, this might mean bankruptcy, hence the need to reshape a career into something new.
This is also affecting writers, as they need people to buy their books. However, with this crisis going on, people are more careful with their expenses.
So, success, how to reach it in these times?
First of all, don't get overwhelmed by fear, although I understand it is not that easy.
The best piece of advice is to keep your mind free from the fog of panic. Once you think clearly, you will be able to focus on the solution to your problems.

This is the best time to try a different approach, which is building relationships. This is the time when you create engagement that will secure your future readership. About how to do this is, once again, up to you and the kind of readership you want to build. Creating groups is another great way, but it's very tricky if you are a multigenre author. One suggestion is creating a group inglobating the most recurrent theme in your novels. Another way is creating several groups for the main genres you are writing (but this requires a lot of energies and time).
If time is not an issue, then the latter is probably the best option. Otherwise, you can hire a virtual assistant to take care of running your groups. Yet, make sure that the virtual assistant can attract the right audience to your group.
The more creative you can get, the better you will do, and remember that success coming to those who persevere and never give up. This is especially true in difficult times.
All the best to you all, and wish you all success.

Because it's all about positivity and attitude

And this is the second week of semi-forced-self-isolation. During the first week, I have been noticing a decrease in motivation, particularly concerning writing.
It felt as if words didn't want to flow, and my imaginary friends stopped telling me what they were thinking or wanted to do.

You can call it writer's block, but I believe it had a deeper meaning than simply a lack of ideas or some stress.

I am almost sure that for me, it was a question of reshaping my life into a new routine.
So far, my life consisted of waking up early in the morning, at about six o'clock, walking 3km to reach my office and stay there until three o'clock. Then, at the end of my working day, I would have enjoyed the walk back home, maybe even taking a longer route through the woods.

Being home, after a shower, I could easily put myself to write until the time also my husband would have returned home.

Now, being forced to work from home, I wake up in the morning, and there isn't anymore the refreshing walk to my office. There isn't a change of environment and direct interaction with my colleagues, and particularly there isn't any walk back home. Everything is happening between the walls of my house.

Indeed, I can still have a short walk in the woods, but even that is now a bit restricted and I can't stay out for as long as I wish.

Then, one thing blinked in my mind, like a little lamp that got switched on.
Suddenly, I recalled all the little works inside the house, those I always needed to do but I never had the time. Those I considered too tedious when the time wasn't an issue.
And so, I started to plan them.

It worked like a charm. I have found back my inspiration as I went through all those little projects. Also, since this winter we didn't have any snow at all, it means that I can take care of the garden earlier than usual.
Therefore, tomorrow will be the turn of my garden to be assessed and cleared up. It was a blessing, not having any snow this winter. I can start working on the garden and on the greenhouse earlier this spring.

Meantime, I hope this emergency will be soon over, and our lives can start once again.

Something more to W(o)nder about - what about genres?

This week, I am going to discuss what actually to write in your book.
Concerning me, my writing flow starts with an idea, and that can be really whatever. That idea will spark the creativity flame, and I will start to write a story coming up in my mind.
Since a writer should not have any taboos about what to write. Should he or she focus on a particular genre, or should he or she expand her experience to other genres too?
Now, to this question obviously, there is no right and wrong answer, it is all about what you will feel like to write.
If what inspires you is romance or whatever other specific genres, then go on and be blessed by the muse, which inspires you.
However, if you feel like there is more in your sleeves. If you wish to explore other genres, it shouldn't be a problem. Eventually, it can also give you the chance for a wider readership.
Yet, not everything is well under the sun, and writing a multigenre will bring you to a labyrinth in which navigating might become tricky.
In my experience, writing in more than one genre gave me the chance to expand my range of inspiration, improved my storytelling skills, and opened the world to a broader range of creative tools.
The problem comes from the same opportunity. Writing more than one genre offers you the possibility to broaden your readership. At the same time, you need to put extra effort when you create your mailing list, or you market your writing.
To overcome this, when you create an ad to add subscribers to your mailing list, you will need to target those people who are interested in all the genres you intend to write. Certainly, these won't be as many as those coming from one single genre, but they will be your best asset for your promotions and as members to your street team.
Another way is to create several pen names for each genre you want to explore. Be warned, though, this is going to be a lot of work because you will have to create and follow ads and mailing lists for two or more authors.
I am still in the experimental phase of what is going to work better, and I have noticed that there is absolutely no size fits all. One way of promoting your books will not obtain the same results as it did for other authors. My suggestion is to follow what other successful authors have done, repeat, tweak, and modify until you have the method that works for you. It's a creative job, involving passion.
Without passion, nothing is not going to work.
To all the writers, who like myself are working hard to get their place in the spotlight. Don't give up!
Have a great weekend!

Writer's life and social themes

When a writer is going to set him/herself in front of a blank screen, he might already have some ideas about the theme.
Sometimes we are inspired by a piece of news that shocked us. A crime news section, which piqued our interest because of the thoughts it generated in our souls.
Then a plot is born based on that piece of news.

There are many discussions, which appeared on my Facebook feed about what is allowed and what is not allowed in a novel.
Well, here is my point of view.
If your aim is to bring a social issue to the spotlight, because you feel it would generate thoughts, then basically everything is allowed.

Stories of violence, abuse, and similar need to be told, to raise awareness, even if we are writing a novel. The boundary that should not be crossed, in my opinion, is when the writer is no more using the story to provoke thoughts in the readers but makes it an apology to a determined act of violence.

There are many aspects in the making of a novel, and the writer often deals with his/her own demons, which will translate into different characters.
The villain of the story will have his own time to show how evil he can be, but also the reason why he is acting that way.
The duty of the writer, in my opinion, is to offer a full description of the characters, their actions, and their internal struggles. The reader will pick his/her own conclusions and will take his sides, whether the villain was rightly condemned, or was perhaps a victim him/herself.

When I wrote my novel, I tend not to censor my character. There is a reason why the villain is acting the way he/she does. None of those reasons are justified in any of my novels. The villain, and the hero, are there telling their own version of the story. I am just a transcriber of their feelings and their actions.

I generally prefer the reader to draw his own conclusions and take the story as a way to reconsider the people around us.
So, what is your opinion? Do you think there are taboos in writing a novel? Should a writer focus on lighter themes?
Concerning me, I guess my readership already knows the gloomy shades prevailing in my writings.

Nevertheless, as the weekend is here, let's just focus on rest and having fun.
See you next week!

Writer's life and the daunting doubts

Well, certainly being a writer is not the easiest career in the world. All the fancy things you might figure out in your mind about being a writer, most of the time do not have any foundation of truth.
What is true is that there is a big satisfaction the moment you are sending your novel to be published, and it gives a sense of achievement when people start to react and interact with your new release.
Nevertheless, the work required before the manuscript is ready it has nothing to do with glory and inspiration.
For me, as an indie author, it means finding the time to write, researching for the most impossible bits of information. This, to make sure that the novel has solid grounds like you know what you are talking about, which generally, is not.
We gather information on the internet, asking friends, bothering social workers. We ask the colleague's uncle's cousin's friend who, seemingly, might have some knowledge about the topic you are writing about.
We search for the best way to murder someone or the time for a certain poison to have an effect.
Many times the search is stretching for days and weeks before we can actually go on to the next paragraph.
The bright side is that we get a wide, general knowledge about random things we might never use.
Besides this, and the editing, the tweaking, the rewriting processes, there is something that curses the nights of the indie author.
That is the time when we wake up in the middle of the night, after having sent the book to be published. Just when it is too late, and the next time we will be able to make any correction to the manuscript it arrives within 72 hours.

The daunting doubt.

"Were those twenty times I have been reading it through enough?"
The little nagging voice, during your sleep, will start whispering:
"What about that sentence? Are you sure it was good enough?"
"And have you checked for this kind of consistency?"
"Did you remember to put this edit?"
"Have you uploaded the right version or the unedited one?"
At that point, the poor author has completely lost the sleep and will go checking everything spending the whole night re-reading the version uploaded.
And if you think this is going to be all, think twice. The doubt will get back as soon as the first review arrives, a few positive reviews, and your heartbeat return to the normal pace, the blood pressure is getting normal, and the little nagging voice calms down.
Then one, not so positive, review.
All hell breaks loose, and the confidence gathered crashes down.
The little nagging voice starts screaming: "TOLD YA!"
And it will start an endless process to re-re-re-read and tweak one more,
ending up into a frustrating search for perfection, which will never arrive.

This, my dear friends, is the glamorous life of a writer, or better of an indie author.
With all the best intentions to spend a relaxing weekend, I wish you a great one.
Paula

Quote of the day - Life and motivation

Every day I stumble into something worth sharing with those who have the patience to follow me. The world is full of inspirational quotes, and we read at them, understanding their depth and simplicity.
So here is one:

Life happens every second, and quotes like this one might feel overwhelming. Creating a whole life worth watching at the end of your days is a challenge, and perhaps this is not even what it's supposed to be.

Life is made of idle moments where you take a pause to think, to admire what you have around, what you have achieved and to dream what would you like to do next.

Moments that live for themselves and don't include doing something special. Yet, they make us feel good, and if they can put a smile on our faces, they are fully worth it.

There will be endless times of working on a longer schedule, feeling: "I'm not paid enough to take this shit."

Yet, there will be those times when you do something to be proud of for the years to come.

If you see this as a whole, the life flashing in front of your eyes might be something even boring to see. Moreover, when we look at our past, we might still find something we might have done differently.

For this reason, if one day, my life flashes in front of my eyes the only words I want to be able to describe it would be: "Carpe Diem."

Create something for the future, but don't forget that your life is happening now, and you need to enjoy it at this moment. Don't get too stressed at how it will look like, once you're old or once you will have to look back at what you've done (you will always watch it with a too critical eye).

I guess that the best show worth watching at that time is that you lived your life enjoying every second of it.

You might have not saved the world, or you might not have been a superhero. But you have lived your life, you enjoyed what it brought and built something even only for yourself.

Nobody should ever get too stressed about becoming someone special, we all are in our different ways without trying too hard or trying to be someone else.

Make your day worth living.

Have a great weekend you all!

Who is a writer?

But most of all, what makes a person a writer?

I have stumbled several times on posts of people claiming that only those people who completed a degree in literature should bother to think about being a writer.

Now, I think this is a gross understatement about what makes a person who writes, a writer. It is a combination of passion and ability to tell a story. 

The latter is, for me, the most critical part of the whole process. A piece of paper will not necessarily make a storyteller. 

Moreover, I would also like to point out two of my favorite writers Ernest Hemingway and Agatha Christie. The first studied journalism, which has nothing to do with a literature degree, yet he had a fantastic capability to keep me nailed to his stories.

Agatha Christie instead was mainly homeschooled by her mother, who encouraged her to write, and there is no record on literature degrees of whatsoever. Yet, undoubtedly, she is one of the most talented and acclaimed writers.

Personally, I could go on and cite many other famous and talented authors who never frequented any literary school. Yet, there are still people around thinking that the only ones who should be allowed to publish, belong to this group of the literary elite.

By no means, I consider myself even worthy of being named together with those great authors. Nevertheless, just like many others who feel the same, I write for one simple reason: I have something to tell. There are stories in my heart that need to be written. Also, this is something that makes me happy and helps me to discharge the stress. Not to mention that some people out there enjoy reading my novels, so why my education should make a difference.

Since I began this new adventure as a writer, I have been meeting many authors. I don't recall having heard them coming from the literature background. I have enjoyed their production and admired their capability not just to tell a story but to engage me so much to make me forget about everything else. Those authors, just like the big names of literature, brought me to place I have never been. They showed me how important is storytelling capability when it is coupled with a genuine passion for what they are doing.

As for me, I do not much care about what people say about what am I supposed to be or what I should never do. I truly hope nobody ever in this world will listen to the opinion of a complete stranger telling about their passion. 

If the most brilliant minds of our history had listened to what they were supposed dor not to do according to somebody else, we would have never had any of the discoveries that brought humankind to the level of development we have reached.

Therefore, follow your passion, follow your heart, and be happy.

Some resources for writers - part two

So last time, I gave a couple of hints about some resources that can help you have results with AMS. Those were, of course, based on my experience, and I am, by no means, an expert. Nevertheless, I got good help from them, and I hope they will provide the same service to you.
Now, for what concerns producing an audiobook.
I am one of the few unlucky fellows who are not eligible for ACX, the program of Amazon that gives you the chance to produce audiobooks without paying upfront the narrator and opt instead for shared royalties.
This is undoubtedly the best deal you can have at least for the beginning when you cannot afford to pay the average cost of the narrator, which is on the range of 2000 USD (!)
I have searched everywhere for a chance to get it for a reasonable price, and the best option offered was to produce it by myself, being me the narrator. Now, it is not that I want to doubt my reading capabilities. Still, there is a significant difference between me, reading my book, and a professional narrator, who knows how to use his/her voice to give life to the characters.
Nevertheless, I found a way to find a narrator who will agree to produce my book outside ACX for a shared royalty.
One thing you could do is to go directly to the ACX directory, where all the authors are listed (https://www.acx.com/ss?keywords=&sortBy=&pageIndex=1&) and search for the information of the various narrators listed there.
Some of them have listed their own website with the contact information. Also, they mention whether they are available for a hybrid share, a full share, or upfront payment.
This means that the narrator is also working with other platforms and can not only come to an agreement with you outside ACX but also suggest different distribution options.
My novels are quite voluminous, and an upfront payment would result in a minimum of 3000 USD. This is entirely out of my present and near future budget, so contacting them might be the way people like me, who can't access ACX, to have access to audibles.
Looking around, I have also found out this resource:
https://blog.findawayvoices.com/announcing-voices-share-a-better-royalty-share-option/
They offer a hybrid option, which is a 50% payment for the final product and 60% in royalties. They also provide a wider distribution than ACX, so your title won't be restricted to their own site but to the widest distribution possible
, increasing the chances of the sale.
I am still looking around, and see which is the best option to get started with the production of an audible version of my books.
One very interesting and informative blog I have found out during my search is the following site: https://www.writtenwordmedia.com/self-publish-audiobook-production-and-distribution/
Here there are listed several options besides ACX.
I hope this is going to be useful to you as much as it was enlightening to me.
I will consider all the possibilities and see which one will be the chosen one.
That said, I wish you all a great weekend and see you next week for another blog.

A Writer's block (writers and bloggers)

Have you ever been in front of your blank page planning to do some serious writing to share with the world but then…
crickets….

Nothing comes to your mind. That page you are staring at remains white, time is passing by, and nothing is happening. Actually the more you stare at the page, the more the blankness seems to spread from the page to your mind.
This is how it started this morning when, diligently I sat down at my desk, with the full intention of writing my weekly blog.
I thought that this is the problem that many writers or bloggers find themselves in a few times in their lives. You feel like you had many ideas, but they all disappear as soon as you sit down in front of the screen.
But is it just the fault of the screen? Would it work better if we would sit down in front of a screen that already has something written on? Would you then, get some extra inspiration about what to write to entertain your audience?
Is the daunting Writer’s Block something that has to do with the fear of dealing with the emptiness of the page or is it just a way your brain conforms with the blank page?
I do not have all the answers to this questions, but at least in my case, as soon as I started to write about having my ideas failing me, as I sat in front of my computer things started to change.
It was like the words found their way from my head to my fingers and to the keyboard, finally. Once I got the flow, I just kept the pace.

The writer’s block is something that each of us experiences in a different way, just like everything else in life, and there isn’t a solution that works for everyone. Some of us need just some rest and think about something else, in order to have their ideas flowing like a river. Other needs to read to get their rhythm back, and so on, I could cite all sort of remedies I have heard about how to fight the writer’s block.
For me, there are two ways, one is just to take a walk in the forest, the other is just starting to type even nonsense on the keyboard. Once I get the writing flow, the right inspiration will arrive, and the writing will be once again restored.

I admit one thing, sometimes it takes writing a lot of nonsense before starting to get things on the right path, but at least I have a good laugh when I am at the purging stage.
Have you ever experienced writer’s block?
How did you overcome it? I guess it would be interesting to list all the ways people have tried and see what it worked and what didn’t work.
I am sure we will find quite an impressive list of solutions and, perhaps we can find new creative ways to fight it next time we will find ourselves stuck in front of the blank screen.
So for this time is all, and as usual, I wish you all a great weekend!

The strange connection between procrastination and writing

I have no idea how it all has started.
As a child, I do remember my mother's recommendations about always try to take care of my duties before relax and take care of more pleasant activities.
Sure at the kindergarten, the motto was, duty first and pleasure after. At the elementary school too, they taught us that once you have done all your duties, dedicating yourself to your hobbies feels even better, because you don't have anything else to bother yourself with.
For my childhood, complying to these golden rules wasn't really easy, mostly because I couldn't care less about the duties, so I couldn't be bothered about the fact that I had left something unfinished.
This attitude, last for many years, and particularly during high school, with life waiting for me outside my house, deciding whether to study or having fun with friends wasn't a difficult choice.
Nor I was bothered when the teachers called my parents about my performance.
At their inquiries, I always replied, "Life is out NOW! I can study, and I do, but this doesn't mean that because of a number, I will sacrifice something that is not coming back."

Strange enough, during the University years, I was able to find a balance where before it wasn't even possible, I was studying, working and also having fun with my friends.
Procrastination was something that didn't have a place in my life anymore.
With that, it seemed like my life found a direction also following those guidelines I received as a child.
I was indeed scheduling my time in order to take care of my responsibilities and also finding the time to live the life that was happening NOW.
This state of grace lasted for about twenty years.
Then, something happened...
I published my first book...
I became an author too...
I cannot pinpoint in time the exact turning point, the switch that brought me back to the procrastination path.
What I can say is that I am afraid that with all the things that need to be done, I do not really procrastinate, I just start forgetting them, to remember about them a few minutes before the scheduled deadline or just at the last minute.
Though, there is a pattern in this, I have noticed that my job comes first, together with the writing progress.
The rest, which means marketing, connecting, and blogging (sometimes) tends to be selectively ignored by my brain.

Is this a sign of me getting old?
I prefer to think that this is a question my brain tells me what it dislikes to be bothered with.
It might also be that this is a way for my brain to remind me that I am not a machine, and I cannot take care of every little thing in this world.
What is your experience?
Are you a procrastinator, or diligently follow your schedule planning a to-do-list and going through it at any cost?
What kind of things you seem to forget? Is there any sort of connection between things you procrastinate and things you really don't like or they stress you?
Is there such a concept like a serial procrastinator? LOL
Here I do not have any solution, but I believe that by finding the reason for not taking care of certain duties, we might come to a reason why and perhaps even with a personalized solution... who knows?
Some thoughts for the weekend...