I interviewed the wonderful writer Tracey Sinclair last week on how to live a big leap life . Tracey write novels and runs a portfolio career working from home. Here’s the interview. http://www.bigleaplife.com/audios/darkdatesfinal.mp3
Tracey also kindly agreed to write the ‘how to’ of self publishing your novel.
HOW TO SELF PUBLISH YOUR NOVEL by Tracey Sinclair
As more and more people own e-readers such as Kindles, Nooks and iPads, there is an increasing move towards digital books. Combine this with the fact that you can now self-publish relatively easily and cheaply through outlets like Amazon, Smashwords and iBooks, and it is little surprise that more people than ever are choosing to go down the self-publishing route. As someone who has been published the ‘traditional’ way but has decided to put my latest book out digitally on Amazon, here are my tips on how to get the most out of self-publishing.
Keep the quality high: one of the main criticisms that is levelled at self-published books is that they are often, not to put too fine a point on it, a bit of a mess – sloppily edited (if at all!), and full of typos. Don’t be fooled into thinking that putting a book out digitally means you can slouch on the writing, editing or proofreading. It’s important to put as much work into the text as you would if you were printing it: this may mean a lot of rewrites! If spelling and grammar aren’t your strong points, get feedback from friends or even consider hiring a professional proof reader (check sites like www.freelancer.com to find freelance proof readers). Readers won’t mind the occasional typo, but consistently poor grammar and spelling will look unprofessional and put people off.
Get the formatting right: publishers like Smashwords (http://www.smashwords.com/) produce guides on how to format for their sites, but to be honest, this is one thing I would simply pay for, as it can be tricky to get right and makes all the difference. You can get a novel formatted for around £20-30 (you can email for a list of recommended formatters from Smashwords, and most of these will also format for Kindle). This ensures the book looks as good as it should when people are reading it. You can also pay to have a cover done quite cheaply – though, these days, if you have Photoshop and a decent camera you can do it easily yourself. (Just remember: don’t use images you don’t own the copyright for, or you could end up in trouble…)
Get feedback: if you have a traditional publisher, you will most likely have to do some rewriting prior to publication, usually because of feedback from your agent or publisher. Without this, there’s a temptation to ‘publish and be damned’ and assume your book is great as it is. But realistically most writers need feedback: it’s very hard to judge your own work objectively, and having someone read it with a fresh and critical eye can be a valuable experience, helping you spot continuity errors, plot holes or things that simply don’t work. Consider joining a writers’ group, or send your book to some friends whose opinions you trust (there are even publishing services who will critique your work, but this can be expensive, so depends on your budget). You need to have faith in your story, but be open to how to make it better.
Decide on your outlet: there are a number of different platforms out there, the most famous, of course, being Amazon. You can put your book out on a number of different formats, but be careful you read the agreements carefully: for some Amazon programmes your book needs to be exclusive, and you cannot use your Smashwords published book on any other platforms (though you can use a differently formatted version). This is one time you really have to read the small print!
Keep the price down: people shop differently for books online, and because of the plethora of cheap books out there, only established or very specialist authors can really get away with charging a lot. If you’re aiming for a mainstream audience, keep the price low – or even consider having occasional free promotions – to encourage people to buy your book on impulse. Most self-published books retail for about 99p – £2.99, including VAT. Most self-publishing platforms will give some general advice about pricing, but people are more likely to take a chance on your book if it’s cheap.
Get it out there: it’s easy to get your book online – but how do you get anyone to read it? Word of mouth is essential: use sites you are already on (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) to promote your book; set up author pages on Amazon and book sites like Goodreads; consider setting up a dedicated Facebook page, Tumblr or Twitter feed. If you don’t have a blog already – start one! Ask your family and friends to spread the word. See if any book sites or blogs will review it (though read their submission guidelines carefully – many won’t accept self-published books). But don’t go too over the top: if your Twitter or Facebook feed is a constant plug for your book, people will soon get bored and switch off. Far better to drip feed it slowly and allow word of mouth to build up.
Have a thick skin: one of the great things about e-publishing (and the kind of promotion needed to make it succeed) is it makes the experience very immediate – you will often have direct contact with your readers. But this means, inevitably, that you’ll get some negative feedback. The very worst thing you can do is take this personally, and respond accordingly – there are plenty of horror stories out there about authors getting into slanging matches with reviewers, and it just makes you look unprofessional. Remember, no matter how popular an author, there are lots of people who hate their work (just look at how divisive the Twilight books are). Take it as a good sign – at least people are reading and talking about your work!
Most of all: have fun! E-publishing is a fantastic opportunity to take advantage of an exciting, changing marketplace. Make the most of it and enjoy yourself.
Dark dates is now out. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Dates-Cassandra-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B007RH5PF4
I’m in the midst of a big business and life upgrade.
But what I’m noticing gets in the way is time and energy – i.e. the lack of.
Every morning, I feel like a hibernating bear who’s been woken up a month too soon. My greatest skill (after procrastination) is being able to nap any time, any place.
I feel like I never ever have enough time to do, well, anything .To be honest, sometimes it feels like a miracle that I get anything done at all.
Which is not true. The reality is I get loads done. I run a business, I am a great mum, a good mate and love the life I’m creating.
BUT my overwhelming sense is the former. I have these moments of complete overwhelm, general knackeredness (is that a word?), that creates horrible low teary splodges on my page every now and again, as it were.
Time to take my own advice (the definition of madness is doing the same thing but expecting different results). This week, I sat down to do a time and energy inventory. What gave me energy and time? What drained it?
I’m incredibly lucky to have amazing people in my life who superboost my batteries. So it’s not ‘people vampires’ who are sucking me dry.
What was? I went through my day and literally took an hour by hour snap shot of what I actually spend my time doing. And gave each task/thing a smiley or sad face according to boosting/draining time and energy ratio. Oh yes, I have very scientific methods.
Here’s what I discovered:
1. The lost things drainer. I can never find the phone/my house keys/the dog lead (in fact, only this morning, Oscar the dog went on the school run wearing a very jaunty scarf) My lost possessions hunt costs me on average of 34 minutes every day.
Oscar needs therapy after his owner makes him wear red scarf on his walk
2. The sugar rollercoaster. I have a big spoonful of sugar in my coffee and have around 6 cups a day. I’ve just been reading a brilliant book on sugar addiction called Potatoes not Prozac - and it suggests that my energy dips have something to do with my rather prolific sugar and caffeine consumption. (Of course, I kind of knew this but up to this point, I couldn’t face doing anything about it). The naps, the energy slumps, the painfully slow, grumpy start in the morning has a massive impact on my life and costs me at least 2 hours a day of good old fashioned, present, grounded, energy.
3. The no-routine method. I work from home, I’m not an organised, routine kind of person, I tell myself. I go with the flow. This is great but without some kind of structure and routine my life, I simply end up dancing to someone else’s tune. I don’t prioritise what’s important to me, I just react to what’s happening next. This costs me approximately 2 (more like 10!) hours of productive time as I websurf, skype and tweet with the flow through my day…. (and I really need to get a grip on that. I accidentally proposed to someone last night without really meaning to. Sorry about that, I got carried away. You know who you are.)
TOTAL TIME: 4 HOURS 34 MINUTES. AND 10 AND HALF BUCKETS OF ENERGY.
That’s more than an extra day a week! And an Olympic swimming pool of energy.
I could do with an extra day a week and a Olympian size injection of energy.
So I’m making some small changes (read the lovely Leo from Zen Habits on why small changes are advisable).
This is the plan for May:
- Create a ‘I’ll never be lost again’ system. (hook for the dog lead and keys/basket for paperwork/bowl for the phone)
- Drink coffee without sugar (I will work on dropping caffeine next month)
- Before I clock off, prioritise three things to get done the next day and experiment with a different daily ‘routine’ until I’ve found a routine that works for me. (will report back at end of May)
Yes, yes, I know! I will be doing the inner work too. I’ll be asking the bigger questions – What do I have to believe to create balance in my life etc etc. But right now, I wanted to take some real, grounded action steps. My first babystep to buy a hook for the dog lead.
I would love to hear ways/systems/small babysteps you have taken to upgrade your life and boost the time and energy banks that work for you.
OK, I know I’m supposed to be the life coach. But, let’s be honest, I think you’ve known all along that you know better than me.
x
End of an era
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I’m about to make Big changes to the business and how I run my Big Leap Coaching practice. I’ve been so inspired by the success of The Big Writing programme that I’ve decided to focus 90% on group coaching and 10% one to one coaching from September onwards.
Today I’m releasing the last ever batch of Big Tickets – which will run from May 7th to the end of July. A Big Ticket buys you three months of one to one coaching with me.
In June, as an added bonus we will be running the Big Leap Challenge live – 4 x live teleclasses (that’s 4 hours of extra live instruction, inspiration and support with me) and an invitation to work through a 21 day intensive programme to make things happen with the Big Leap tribe. In the past, Big Leapers have written books, started businesses, and committed to raising their profile dramatically in 21 days. It’s full on but great fun.(Dates 11/18th/25th June/2nd July 2012 at 1pm. All teleclass calls recorded if you can’t make it.) This usually costs 167 but that will all be included in the price of your Big Ticket. http://www.suzygreaves.com/the-big-ticket
Just to remind you, the Big Ticket buys you:
- Coaching twice a month for half an hour via telephone for 3 months.
- Access to our online Big Leap to journal and share your journey
- An invitation to join (as a gift) the 21 day The Big Leap Challenge
Obviously I only have limited amount of time,
Suzy x
Big changes afoot
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I’ve been working with my mentor Erica Douglas, from Ace Inspire for a month now and yesterday had a breakthrough call. I’d been procrastinating on the homework and I’d turned up the call feeling a bit fed up because I hadn’t done much.
We explored the reasons why and I had some major ‘ahas’ about my business. I realised that I want to focus on the core of clients that I adore working with and Erica helped me get clear exactly who you are!
My Big Leaping clients share certain magnetic qualities – they are brave, funny, creative and are ‘seekers’ of new ways of thinking/living/working.
I realised I’m most passionate about helping people leave the 9-5 rat race to create their businesses/write their books/retrain in something that inspires them so they can work from home – doing work that they feel passionate about which pays them well.
This is what I know about my Big Leap tribe:
- Big Leapers create a lifestyle, not just a new career.
- Big Leapers work non-conventional hours so they can go to the beach in the morning/pick the kids up from school/earn money in their sleep.
- Big Leapers put value on all aspects of their lives not just work and their interests can often spill out into a portfolio career so work/life boundaries blur.
- Big Leapers don’t ask why me, they ask why not me?
I’m not saying a Big Leap life isn’t without its challenges. Yes, we’re often overwhelmed, but we don’t sink, we lean into it. We are creative dervishes that are brave enough to try to do it differently, learn, fail a bit until we succeed. And then try something bigger until we build a life that is built on the solid foundations of our life values, where the expression of our lives and work is congruent.
Because I live that Big Leaping life – I write articles and books, I coach, I run workshops, I horse-whisper (or rather hang out with someone who speaks horse), I’m just in the process of writing a screenplay and novel and about to embark on an upholstery course – I know it’s possible to live a life that blows your hair back and I know how connected and excited it makes me feel. (Despite my procrastination and generally human crapness along the way).
I’ve decided to make some big changes to the business and to create some new courses and new, dynamic ways to leap into this big leaping future.
But before I do, I’d love it if you could complete this short 10 question questionnaire. It will help me get clear about what is really important to you and what your needs and unmet needs may be. (The survey is based on my ‘big wake-up call’ section in my Making The Big Leap book)
Thank you so much for your time. Here’s the survey.
The Martha Beck interview
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I’m such a massive fan of Martha Beck – Oprah’s life coaching columnist. I’ve read all of her books, interviewed her twice, been to her workshops – and can quite confidently say – she has changed my life. In small, quiet ways but also in big, giant leap ways.
Why do I love her so much? Primarily, because she’s funny! Sometimes the self-help world can be a little bit worthy and crinkly eyed nice, whereas Martha Beck is irreverent and snort wine out of your nose laugh out loud. But team this with her wisdom and authenticity and it’s a life-warming and life-changing combination.
I’ve interviewed some of the ‘greats’ in the self development world over the years but I must say that Martha is definitely one of my all time favourites!
Here’s an interview I did with Martha for Psychologies magazine about ‘finding your tribe’ last year.
We talked about:
- How to find your tribe
- How to find the ‘hot’ trail which will lead you to your ‘true calling’
- How to feel closer to ‘home’.
- Which baby steps to take to get you started on your journey.
www.bigleaplife.com/audios/marthatribe.mp3
Obviously, I’m rather over the top excited about interviewing her live on stage in London at the end of May. There are only a couple of tickets left apparently. So if you wish to come along and meet Martha, me and have a glass of wine or two, then you need to book now. We’re going to be talking about how to boost your confidence!
http://www.psychologies.co.uk/events/event-build-confidence-to-make-a-change-with-martha-beck.html
Hope to see you there!
Suzy x
P.S Martha’s new book Finding Your New in a Wild New World. Four Steps to Fulfilling Your True Calling is out now.