Choosing a Good Book Title

      When most writers sit down to write many of them don't know what they will title their book in the beginning. Sometimes it just comes to them instantly during the writing process and sometimes it doesn't.  Sometimes writer's will start out with a title, only to change it after they finish their book.  Book titles, believe it or not, will be one of the most important things you will have to come up with along with the look of your book cover.  If you get this wrong, it can cost you book sells, or it can get you a lot of bad book reviews.

     So how does a writer come up with a good book title that will work for what you are writing?  This is a question that I've struggled with myself over and I have to admit that I have gotten this wrong along the way.  If you are a writer who intends to self-publish this will be one of the hardest things you will have to be in control of.  If you plan to get traditionally published then the publisher will probably do this for you along with designing your book cover.  I don't know about you but I personally like to be in control of my title and what my cover looks like even if it is quite a challenging thing to do.

     An example of this happened to me when I first self-published back in 2012 for the first time with a book that I titled: "The To Nowhere Train".  I actually wanted to title it: "The Train to Nowhere", but I found out there were many books with this title already, so hence the first title.  Now, I realize that book titles aren't copyrighted, but I also know that having your own book title identity is somewhat important. Yes, I know someone can come along and copy my book title eventually, but I think every author should at least try to be different.  Anyway, I received a (1) star review on this book just based on the "The To Nowhere Train" title alone.  It had nothing to do with the story, it was just that they thought the title was clumsy as they referred to it.  I have since unpublished this book and I am currently working on revising it because the book never really took off.  In the end, I did decide to change the name of this book and the look of the book cover. This is the great thing about self-publishing, you can change things as you go because you are in more control than you would be with traditional publishing.

     I ended up watching a lot of videos to help me with thinking up another title for this book.  The one thing I learned was that a writer needs to list a lot of main words on a page about what their book is about.  Then gather the best words and try to put them together.  What I learned about "The To Nowhere Train" was that the train really wasn't the main center point of this story, it was actually a red door. Yes, a train is in the book, but the red door is the key to the story. Anyway, I republish this book with the title of: "Beyond the Mysterious Red Door".  Here is also what the new book cover looks like.

     In case you're wondering if Pearly Gates is my actual name, it's not.  It's another pen name that I decided to use for this book series because it is more a Paranormal/Science Fiction Mystery.  I decided to use a different pen name for this genre.   Some authors will do this when they write in different genres.  If you haven't read my previous blog article: "Pen Names: Are They a Good Idea" it will explain why I've chosen to go this route.

   So are you struggling to come up with a good title for your book?  Here is a video that might just help you with this.  

     Here is also another video talking about the good, the bad, and the ugly book titles:

     So don't take titling your book for granted.  Take this seriously because any future reader you might obtain WILL!

     In my next blog entry, I am going to talk about writing a book description, and how getting this wrong can force your possible customer to go elsewhere.

 So stay tuned!

The Importance of a Great Book Cover

     If you are an indie author creating a great book cover is something that you will definitely have to pay close attention to.  A book cover is the first thing that a reader will see before they even think about reading your book's description to find out what your book is about.  If your book cover isn't great most readers won't even go forward with wanting to read your book. Most readers, in general, will just go to the next book.  

     Here is a video talking about Bad Book Covers:

     I remember back when I first self-published in 2012' this was something I failed badly at.  Read my previous blog entry where I talk about this: "The First Thing I Learned When I Decided to Self-Publish on the Internet".

     Luckily, today having a great book cover is easier than you might think.  See the video below where I found someone on youtube.com talking about 5 Free Book Cover Creators.

     The Book Cover Creator that I totally love working within creating my book covers is: CANVA  @  http://www.Canva.com.  I can't say enough about this site.  The site has a free side and they also have a premium side that will cost a small amount every month.  But, let me tell you I basically work off of the free side of this program and find it to be most effective.  (See below a 3-part video series I personally created showing how to use Canva to make your own book covers.

     There are many other people on youtube.com explaining how to make a book cover using Canva. So if you feel you would like to learn more about how to use this program you might want to check out more videos on that site.

     The other website that I truly love going to with helping me design my book covers is Pixabay @ pixabay.com.  Pixabay is a public domain, creative commons website where you can use photos from this site for free without having to give attributions (credit) to the person who owns the photo.  On this site, the person has basically relinquished their copyrights to the image and is allowing anyone to use it for commercial use.   The only downsize when using a photo from this site for your book cover is that others could also use the same photo.  This makes having an original book cover which is all your own difficult, to say the least.  What I generally do is try to put together more than one photo when I download them to Canva to work with in order to make my book cover.  This way by using more than one photo on my cover, I feel like I am changing up my cover somewhat from someone else who might claim one of the photos that I might be using.  Plus, note you can buy photos at Canva for $1.00, which gives you a one-time use license.  They do have a requirement that must be followed when using their photos from this site on your book cover although, and it is:

$1.00 one-time license use (allows you to use their photo on a book cover 2,000 times before you need to upgrade to the multi-use license which is $10.00 (it allows you to use this book cover photo for 250,000 times).  If you exceed book sales over this, (which I could only hope for), then you will need to purchase the extended license for $100.00, which will give you unlimited copy use for your book cover photo. This information is included in their terms and conditions if you are interested to know where these stats came from.  You can also watch the video below which will explain this:

     If you would rather not do any of this there is an easier way for indie authors to obtain great book covers if they are willing to spend a little money, and that would be going over to fiverr.com where you can find a lot of people who would be willing to design a cover for you.  I can't say enough about this site if you are not a tech savvy person because most of the things that indie authors need can be found for a low price over on fiver.com.

    In my next blog entry, I'm going to talk about the importance of a GOOD Book Title.

So stay tuned!

How To Make a Clickable Table of Contents For Your eBook

     When creating an eBook a Clickable Table of Contents is a feature that you definitely want to pay close attention to.  This feature alone could classify you as an amateur or as a professional writer if you get this right or you don't with your readers.  Many readers not only want a Table of Contents in their eBook but also expect to see it and have it be clickable (meaning when you click on a chapter the eBook automatically goes to that section in your eBook).  I have seen eBook book reviews picked on just for this feature alone when the author didn't create a Table of Content or one that didn't work right.

     Here is a video below that will explain how to create a Clickable Table of Contents for your eBook.

     I have to admit that this took some practice on my part in learning to do this, but I am happy to say that once you do it a few times it generally becomes easier.   Whatever you choose to do, please do not skip on this very important feature in your eBook.  As I stated above, readers expect to see it when reading an eBook.  I personally like seeing a Clickable Table of Contents when I read other peoples eBooks, as I'm sure you do as well.

     In my next blog entry, I'm going to talk about the importance of having a great book cover.

     So stay tuned!
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How to Format Your Book's Interior

 

 If you are a writer who is thinking about self-publishing for the first time you will have to think about your books interior when you format your eBook and also your Paperback. There are usually a few differences between the two.  Such as, in an eBook, you won't necessarily have to think about putting an ISBN number inside your beginning pages, (which is your books identifying license), whereas, in a Paperback book it is recommended that you do.

     In an eBook, I always like to start my first page with my Book Cover Picture and then move onto the Title/Author page, and then the Copyright/Disclaimer page.  Of course, in a Paperback when you open your book you should see your Title/Author page, and then the Copyright/Disclaimer page if you are self-publishing.  

     If you are published by a traditional publisher you will not have to worry about this because the publishing company will take care of these pages for you before they print your books for distribution.

     Here is a video that I found on youtube.com where someone is talking about this in a little more detail below:

     Here is a sample of my interior that I used for my Romance/Erotica eBook:  "The Ugly Side of Paradise".

                                                             (TITLE PAGE Below) 

                      

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(COPYRIGHT/DISCLAIMER PAGE Below)

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     There is really no right or wrong in doing this if you follow the basic setup that most books have in regards to this.  In fact, I'm sure you can pick up any book around your house and open it at the beginning and find that the formula for doing this might be slightly different, but it will also basically be somewhat the same.  

     In my next blog entry, I am going to talk about how to make a clickable, linked Table of Contents for your eBook. This is something that will be very important to your book if you want to have your book be digitally mastered as an eBook.

     So stay tuned.

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Blog Writer's Note:  If you liked this article I would greatly appreciate it if you would share it with your friends and followers by clicking on one or more of the social media apps below.  Thanks.         

Learning the Ropes of Self-Publishing - The WRITER's TEMPLATE

 If you are new to self-publishing and are still currently writing your first book this blog article will definitely be for you.  When I first decided to self-publish back in 2012, I had no idea about having to have a specific template for my book before I could submit it to be published online.  And, I had no idea how different a digital eBook would be in comparison to a Paperback book.  In fact, as I stated in a previous blog entry, I basically ended up buying the template for my first book to be published.  This ended up costing me $29.99.  I felt at the time that it was very well worth its value.  

     Now speed up to today and I have learned a whole lot more about the various templates to use for writing.  I've even gone as far as creating my own template that I currently use today for my eBooks and never have had a problem when submitting to Amazon.  Please understand, I only market my books on Amazon.com; some of the other book sites might require something else, so if you want to publish on those sites you might want to check out what you need form them.

     I do use a different template for my paperbacks.  I use the website of Createspace at:

https://www.createspace.com/Products/Book/InteriorPDF.jsp

If you scroll to the bottom of this web page you will see the various sizes of templates that they have available and that they let you download them for FREE.  They have a blank template that I understand you can use for your eBook creation, although I have never used this type of template from this website.  I generally only go to CreateSpace for their template with the sample formatted content below the blank temple.  This particular template is designed especially for creating your Paperback version of your eBook.

     I also found a video on youtube.com from a person who explains the various types of templates and why you might want to try them.  She talks about some that I have never heard of but you might find them helpful to you.  (See below for video)

     As a writer, if you would rather just write and try to avoid all of this, you can always check out a site called Fiverr.com  This site has people who will format your book for you for a small price from $5.00 and up.  Just remember to make sure you get someone with a top rating since you will be turning your book over to them to format for you.

     Also, if you like I would be more than happy to send you my template that I use when creating my eBook.  Just send your request to me at my email address below.

eshart1961365@gmail.com

    I would be more than happy to give it to you for FREE with no strings attached whatsoever.

    In my next blog entry, I am going to talk about the formatting of your book inside the template.

   So stay tuned.

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The Book That Took Me 30 Years to Complete and Publish!

     Recently I published a book that I have to admit took me 30 years to complete.  Okay, I didn't actually spend 30 years working on it.  I sort of worked on it off and on.  This is what a whole lot of writers do because of all the everyday obstacles that we have to deal with in our lives.  You know what I'm talking about:  Work, School, Kids, Managing the Household, etc. This is why I always say that writing a book isn't easy.  In fact, the reasons I stated above are some of the reasons that most people don't even finish their first book.

     Anyway, I started working on this book back in my mid-twenties and I guess if you add 30 years to that you can kind of get an idea just how old I am today.  Needless to say, I'm happy I finished it.  When I look back on this book now I have to admit that it took on a strange journey to how it all ended up.  You see the idea for this book came from a dream that I had. I get a lot of my story ideas this way. Many writers say the same thing. I remember in my dream I saw an image in front of me which told me to write this book.  I also saw the book on a shelf in a library in this dream. The book was titled: "An Island to Forget" and it had my real name on it.  As I told you in a previous blog entry that I had decided to forgo using my real name and to use a pen name instead when I write. You can read that article here where I explain more in detail why I chose to go this route. ("Pen Names: Are They a Good Idea to use?)

     This was also the first book that I actually tried to get a literary agent for when I had a little over half of the book done.  Of course, I never had any literary agents interested in the story.  So I sort of dragged my feet in finishing it.  It was funny when I had first discovered self-publishing eBooks and Amazon Kindle back in 2012.  You would have thought that this book would have been the first book I would have wanted to publish, right?  WRONG...  In all honesty, I had sort of forgotten about this book.  I had actually decided to publish something else instead.  I guess this was because since no literary agents were interested in it some twenty+ years ago, I figured maybe no one else would be.  I know how silly this must sound to some of you.  Plus, since this book was started some 30 years ago, at that particular time I didn't have a computer and a lot of this book was handwritten on notebook paper.  If I wanted to publish this I was going to have to type all of those pages, and I really wasn't prepared to do this back in 2012.  Don't get me wrong, I am a pretty good typist.  I can type between 55-60 wpm.  It was just that this handwritten book at this time was over 500 pages long.

     Fast forward today and my quest for finishing this book became a necessity.  Why?  Well, because I received some unsettling new about my health.  I have been dealing with a heart issue for quite some time and now my cardiologist wants to do open heart surgery.  I have to admit right here that I really don't want to do this.  This is one surgery that scares the death out of me.  (no pun intended).  So with this in front of me, it makes a person look back at their life and all the things you didn't do, and this particular book was one of them.

     Needless to say,  I put my nose to the grindstone and started typing this book, (day and night; night and day, if you get what I mean). 

     When I had completed typing it and editing the manuscript, I had discovered that there were over one thousand pages in this book.  I also discovered that some print-on-demand book publishers that self-published authors use have a page limit in their physical paperback books, and a thousand pages were definitely over the limit.  Granted, it didn't matter in an eBook.  You can have as many pages as you want in an eBook.  I then noticed out on Amazon that it seemed as if the book series appeared to be popular with writers.  Yes, some people who buy books don't particularly like them because they have to end up buying more than one book, but this seemed appealing to me and my book.

     In the end, I decided to break the book down into (6) smaller books, and I decided to change the title.  I can't really tell you why I decided to do this other than the words in the title are better keyword driven to the Amazon algorithm.  The name of the book series ended up being called:  "Stranded By Deception", which is what Book 1 is called.  The other books in the series were given subtitles such as;  Book 2: "The Island", Book 3: "Rescue", Book 4: "Civilization", Book 5: "Showdown", and Book 6: "Destiny".

     I'm happy to say that I not only finished the book but published all 6 of the books during the week of August 21 - August 24, 2017.  When I published the last book in this series to Amazon I felt this great accomplishment and relief that I had finally finished and published this book.

     So if you are a writer struggling to get your first book done, don't give up even if the pace seems slow.  Just remember it is easier today with self-publishing to get your book published.  Just don't stick it in a drawer somewhere and forget about it the way I did.  Keep writing and persevering.  Good Luck.

     In my next blog entry, I'm going to talk about the writer's template and what you will want to include in your book at the front to keep everything on the up and up.

So stay tuned.
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Traditional Publishing vs. Self-Publishing

     To choose traditional publishing or self-publishing that is the question?  If you are a writer working on your very first book that you hope to publish one day, you will at some point ask yourself this question, should I try to get this published by a traditional publisher or should I try my hand at self-publishing?  I really can't answer this question for you.  What I will do in this blog article is tell you the Pro's and Con's of each and then you'll have to decide for yourself.  The great thing is with today's publishing choices available to writer's you just might decide to try your hand at doing both.  (Yes, I said BOTH)!

     To help you to decide I found some videos on youtube.com that I think might help you with your decision on what to choose.  The first video comes from someone who thinks the Traditional Publishing route is the best way for a writer to go when trying to get their book published.

     And here is another video from someone who decided to self-publish and why they decided to go this route.

      As I stated in a previous blog entry, getting published in the traditional way is hard.  Don't get me wrong, self-publishing can be just as hard if you don't know what you are doing.  Luckily, we live in a time where we have the Internet, which is known as the information highway.  So obtaining the information you need to know to self-publish and to even traditionally publish is at your fingertips.  All of this is just a click away on your keyboard and mouse.

     But, let's talk a little more about the Traditional Publishing route.  If you decide you want to try this method you will need to create what is known as a Query Letter.  You can learn more about how to create one here: "How to Write a Darn Good Query Letter".  You also have to be prepared that you might have to do this more than once before you get lucky to have a literary agent even remotely interested in your work, if ever.

     Throughout this journey, you might have to remind yourself that even J.K. Rowlings was rejected many times for her Harry Potter story.  And it only got published because an editor gave it to their eight-year-old daughter and told them to read it because they didn't have time to do so.  What happened after that was the child read it and came back to their parent wanting desperately to read the second chapter. This was how Harry Potter began its quest to fame.

     Let's now talk about what's been happening with self-publishing.  There have been several self-published authors offered publishing deals after their book was self-published. One person, in particular, E.L. James who originally self-published "Fifty Shades of Gray", went on to publish this work through Vintage Publishing.  And this book has sold over 100 million copies to date.  There is also the author, Amanda Hocking who had self-published many books before she was offered a Traditional Publishing deal from St. Martin's Griffin's Publishing.

     Then I can't forget the great publishing deal that author, Meredith Wild received after self-publishing her Hacker Series.  See video below for her great publishing deal:

     So you see sometimes you don't have to chase after a publisher for a publisher to find you if your self-published story finds a large audience.  

     Now, I want to talk a little more about self-published authors or (Indie authors as they are referred to today).  The Indie author today isn't looked down upon as it was in the beginning.  Nowadays, self-publishing is being embraced more as the norm.  In fact, many traditional published authors are trying their hands at self-publishing.  One, in particular, is author, Stephen King.  He retired from writing through a traditional publisher only to go on to self-publishing.  I've heard of other traditional published writers doing the same thing.  So you see when I stated at the beginning of this article that you might choose to do both, I'm sure you can see what I am talking about here.

     So should you publish the traditional way, or should you self-publish?  As I stated above, I can't tell you what to do here, I can tell you that you have to decide why you are a writer and why you are writing the book you are, and what is your motivation for doing this.  For me, it was that I grew up in a time where self-publishing wasn't an option many years ago because it was too expensive back then.  But, today with it being so less expensive to do I have found that I don't have to keep throwing my stories into a desk drawer.  I now have self-published many stories, and I feel great that I now know that I am sharing my stories with the world instead of hiding them.

     In my next blog entry, I'm going to talk about a book that took me (30) years to complete and finally publish.

    So stay tuned.

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