Tag: writer

Posted on by — Leave a comment

The Cons of Self-Publishing

August 18, 2021- Yesterday, we spoke about the pros of self-publishing; we can call this part two to discuss the cons of the same subject. The more educated authors are about the publishing industry, the options, and expectations, the better chance they have of being published or at least choosing the best fit for their work.

  1. Initial and ongoing investment. Self-publishing can cost anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000+, and there are ongoing expenses. If you don’t have the funds to invest in an editor, formatted, designer, and publication, it’s going to be a tough road, and you’ll get a less than good product. The point is, most people can spot a poorly done self-published book a mile away based on the cover alone; then they pick it up and can see from the interior that it’s sub-standard. They’ll keep their money and spend it on a book that looks the way that it should, no matter how compelling the story.
  2. Too many hats. You are the person in charge of everything, as mentioned in the post before this one. You’ll be the one answering emails, interviewing graphic artists/illustrators; you’re the marketing and sales team as well as the social media guru. You’re the shipper, receiver, inventory orderer and fulfiller, and the person responsible for maintaining your website. There are at least fifty jobs that you’re responsible for while self-publishing. You could hire some personnel to help you, but most of the time, there’s not enough money left in the budget, so you end up doing everything yourself. This is not only time-consuming but counterproductive. Don’t be a jack of all trades master of none.
  3. People. You’ll need contacts for bookstore signings, graphic artists, illustrators, formatters, a printer, and an editor. You’ll need a group of beta readers, people who will give you honest reviews, and the right distributor. You’ll need an accountant, social media specialist, marketing manager and more. The list is long; be prepared to have a ton of doors slammed in your face before ever getting in front of your target audience.

I don’t say any of this to discourage you, but to be truthful that YOU must be the right type of person to take the rejection that comes with self-publishing. It’s not for the faint of heart or the easily rattled.

Here’s how we can help you on your self-publishing journey: http://www.pandamoniumpublishing.com/shop; check out the classes and services that we offer.

 

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Pros of Traditional Publishing

August 13, 2021- We’re talking about what publishers want during August, and today I thought it might be good to talk about the pros of traditional publishing. Why an author would consider traditional publishing as an option, and on Monday, we’ll chat about the cons. Let’s dive in:

  1. You get paid for your work. This is every aspiring author’s dream, to be paid for their work! After years of struggling, you’ve finally made it! In traditional publishing, the publisher purchases your work and pays you an advance or royalty. All you have to do is write the book and complete the revisions that the editor expects. Plus, you will receive a royalty on your book for the life of the work.
  2. Everything is handled. From your marketing plan to publicity, book signings,  and bringing your book to market, the publisher takes care of it all. They tell you where to be and when. They take care of you and your book from beginning to end. Publishers also handle the sales, payments, earnings reports, and inventory, as well as editing design, formatting, and creation of your book.
  3. Opportunity. Publishers have a vast network of contacts, and from those contacts comes opportunity. Your book and your face have the potential to be in front of a ton of people and media personnel. You’ll have opportunities that most people can only dream of!
    Authors can be found in documentaries (like ours!): https://drive.google.com/file/d/14HpvaRHvxk1T4J4NbRdvXwRQ3VpkAZOs/view?usp=sharing
    in newspapers, on radio segments and podcasts, on blogs worldwide, interviewed on internet segments, YouTube Channels, and red carpets.

There are many pros when it comes to traditional publishing, and publishers want to see that you are informed about how the various types of publishing work. Know what you’re getting into. Happy Weekend, everybody! See you on Monday to talk about the cons of self-publishing.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

A Special Greeting!

January 15, 2021-Today we have our very own Paul A. Moscarella joining us with a personalized greeting for our Pandamonium Publishing House International Book Club! This month we are reading his debut novel, Machinia. Join us every Friday morning at 11 am on Facebook Live as we chat about his new science fiction book. http://www.pandamoniumpublishing.com/product/machinia

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Pandamonium Publishing House International Book Club

October 7, 2020- Each Friday on our Facebook Page (Pandamonium Publishing House), we discuss the book of the month that we’re reading. For the past three months, we’ve chosen a book from 6 of the 7 continents (Antarctica has been impossible to find an author), but we’ve visited South America (Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist), Asia (Bali Kaur Jaswal, Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows), North America (Lawrence Hill, The Book of Negroes) and now, Europe (Alex Michaelidis, The Silent Patient). We’ll be visiting Australia and Africa next! Each week, we discuss themes, political issues, character development, plot, conflict, and narration within the books. We take questions and comments from readers sent in via email to pandapublishing8@gmail.com. If you’ve ever thought of joining a book club, but haven’t had the opportunity, here’s your chance! Send us an email to pandapublishing8@gmail.com, and we’ll add you to our member’s list.

The benefits of book club:

  1. Reading goals. Did you know that most adults read 1 book or less per year? Yikes, that’s not a good thing! By joining our book club, you’ll be able to set and reach your reading goals!
  2. Perspective. Since we chat about the book each week, we can get a different perspective on the characters, themes, and plot from everyone who participates in the discussion.
  3. Unique/Diverse Voices. We choose books that maybe you’d never think of reading because it’s outside your genre, or you’ve never heard of the author. We try to include authors’ unique and diverse voices from a wide range of countries, backgrounds, beliefs, and writing styles.
  4. Friendship. Joining a book club allows you to chat with other members, find things in common, and forge friendships that will last a lifetime.

We hope that you’ll join our Pandamonium Publishing House International Book Club! We’ve got some exciting new titles for the rest of the year and 2021. Hope to see you online:)

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Advice From A Publisher

September 28, 2020-Today, I’ve taken a page out of my book Advice from a Publisher  (Insider Secrets to Getting Your Work Published) to talk about Synopsis’. This is critical info if you want a shot at being published!

How to write a synopsis: Do you want to know what will make a publisher absolutely lose their mind and throw their laptop onto their front lawn? Read on to find out. No, I don’t mean read on to find out; I mean, when authors say, “Read the book to find out!” Let me explain: The job of a synopsis is to tell the publisher what happens in your book from beginning to end. It’s a snippet of the big picture and gives us the information that we need to know. If you remember from the previous chapter, How to Properly Query, you’ll know that a query letter is a sales pitch. A synopsis is an overview of your book which allows the publisher to identify any major problems with your manuscript, lets us determine if your book is a good fit, and helps us decide if your work is exciting, intriguing, and fresh enough to publish.

Your synopsis must include:

The main character and why we should care about them. What is at stake, and what motivates this character to take action?

The conflict. How does the main character succeed or fail in dealing with the conflict?

Conflict resolution? How is the conflict resolved, and has the character changed or learned anything? THIS IS THE ENDING! DO NOT PUT READ ON TO FIND OUT because your letter will be recycled, and you’ll never hear from us again. Seriously, this drives us crazy.

DO NOT:

Summarize each scene or every chapter. This will take way too long, and you must get your summary across quickly and concisely.

Write this with the tone of a book jacket or back cover. It’s not a marketing piece for readers that builds excitement.

Make your synopsis longer than one page.

Get weighed down with specifics such as supporting character names, detailed settings, and descriptions.

Talk about character back story. We don’t need to know, and frankly, we don’t care. Yes, even for you sci-fi writers, leave it out!

Get wordy. Don’t use eight words when four will do.

For examples of good and lousy synopsis’ check out chapter 7 in my Amazon Number 1 Best Seller book found here: https://pandamoniumpublishing.com/product/advice-from-a-publisher-insider-secrets-for-getting-your-work-published/

Insider Secret: Write your synopsis in the third person narrative even if your manuscript is told in first person. Write in the present tense and remind the publisher of the category and genre of your work. Reveal EVERYTHING and never use; it was all a dream endings or beginnings.

Best of luck! I can’t wait to read your work.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

E-Books (The Future of Publishing?)

September 25, 2020– I attended the London Book Fair in England a few years ago, and I was fortunate enough to participate in many classes to continue my education. One of the subjects that came up was e-books, and how they are changing the face of publishing. Here are four reasons why electronic books are essential to offer your customers if you’re an author, especially a self-published one:

  1. Portability. You’ve just bought a new book series to read while on vacation-did you pack your paperbacks, or did you download the books onto your phone, tablet, e-reader, Kindle, Kobo, or laptop? I’m a fan of paperback books, don’t get me wrong, but when I’m on vacation, I like to lounge by the pool and read. I can’t fit all of the books I can read in a week in my suitcase, so I choose to download them instead.
  2. Sharable. A lot of e-books contain bonus information such as additional chapters or new release teasers via hyperlinks. We add hyperlinks to our e-books because our readers can click on a link and be brought to our website where they can find similar titles they may be interested in. Plus, e-books can be shared with friends.
  3. Highlightable. Non-fiction books especially fall into this category. Most people skim the contents looking for things that are relevant to them, and they can highlight which parts they want to remember or refer back to without ruining or damaging the book like they would have if they had highlighted a paperback.
  4. Environmentally friendly. There is no paper or ink or shipping materials used for e-books, which is an absolute advantage to the environment. There is no waste and nothing to throw away.

I’m not saying that I prefer e-books over print books by any means \(nothing beats the textile nature of holding a book in your hands, flipping the pages, and the smell of them). I’m saying that they have their advantages and have a place in publishing. As an author, make sure you’re offering e-books to your readers; it’s essential to give them as many options as possible to enjoy your work. If you search any of our books on Amazon, you’ll find a paperback version and an e-book version; this is just one of the ways we commit to serving you better.

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Putting the Pieces Together

July 17, 2020– She’s one of our own and we love her to bits! You know her as the author of Pants and Unfrogged, Tamara Botting; she’ll have two more books coming in 2021, so be sure to look for them in stores, on Amazon, and on our site. I’m thrilled to have her guest blog for us today!

I’ve had a longstanding love of Disney’s animated masterpiece, Beauty and the Beast. I wore out my first VHS copy of the film (yes, I’m that old and yes, it can be done). I bought the DVD as a teen, then bought the DVD again a few years later when the special collector’s edition came out. (So far, I’ve resisted the siren’s call of the Blu-ray). To this day, I can quote the opening of the film verbatim.

So, when I found a 1,000 piece Beauty and the Beast-themed puzzle, I decided to splurge a bit. (Hey, it’s not like I was going out, so why not bring a little entertainment home?) The thing is, as much as I like the idea of puzzles, I’ve only worked on a few over the years, mostly when I’m at a friend’s house, and they have one in progress.

Now that I’m working on one all on my own, I realize it’s a much bigger task than I’d anticipated. There’s a lot to work with, and a lot of pieces to try and fit together. And sometimes it takes a really long time to realize that what you thought was part of Belle’s dress is actually Beast’s waistcoat.

In a way, working on a puzzle is sort of like working on a book. Sometimes you find it’s easier to work on the framing; other times, you find yourself diving right into the middle of it. Sometimes the piece you thought should go in one place actually belongs in an entirely different spot.

It can be really easy to get discouraged when you have part of it coming together in one spot, part of it coming together in another, and for the life of you, you can’t figure out how those two parts come together.

But if you keep picking away at it, keep coming back to it, and keep on just telling yourself that you’re going to stick with this and get it done, eventually the parts will fit together. The bits that seem to have no home prove to actually be really important parts of the whole picture.

And once you have it all put together, you get to enjoy not only the completed project, but also the fact that your table is now clear, and you have room to work on a whole new project.

Because let’s be honest – whether writing or puzzles, it’s pretty hard to stop at just one.

beautyandthebeast

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Our Guest Blogger is…

September 11, 2019– Today, our guest blogger is Tim Ford. Check out his post below about his work, current and upcoming projects, and some insight into his success.

My name is Tim Ford, and I am a writer. I believe everyone has a story inside them to tell.  For yours truly, I have several. Having said this, it took many years to realize my words, or thought process was not just some mumble jumble of words on paper. 

Three things specifically helped me to move forward:

# 1, Confidence in myself. Like with anything in life, confidence is either your best friend, or worse enemy. I have never taken a course on creative writing, in fact when I was in high school, it was all about the girls, sports, partying. Hey, it was the 70s.

# 2, Music. Now just bear with me. When I hear a song, or even a certain note, it consumes me. I am drawn into it like a dream. I can feel the pain, joy, violence, sexuality. When I write, I also need the perfect song to draw me in.  To put me into almost a manic mode, riding that note like a surfer would to shore.

# 3, Editor, this is what completes me as a writer. They tie up my loose end. The majority of my writing takes place at nighttime, and I mean right up till the sun comes up. The fatigue will open up another dimension of writing, but sometimes I am throwing darts all around the bulls eye, but I can’t nail it. The perfect editor, they guide my hand, and put me in the bulls eye.

I currently have several projects on the go. On February 7, 2016. I released the first book in a series called “Strong, A Warriors Journey Through Hell And Back. It is about the making of a career criminal. That book is title Santa Dies Once Again.  The opening scene takes place in 1991. Main character is being interviewed by the cops, they give him the option of the electric chair, lethal injection, or become a rat. The whole series goes back to how and why he got himself into this clusterfuck of a mess.  Other published books in the series are “Summer of Love – Fall of Hate”, “A Jungle Is Still A Jungle”, “Criminology 101”, and to be released this fall, “Chasing Dragons – Slaying Demons”. I am currently in book 12 of this series.

I was also lucky enough to pitch an idea to Lacey Bakker of Pandamonium Publishing House about a DNA conspiracy book. So many twists, you will need a chiropractor after reading this. This book is being written 3rd person along side Lacey… Something I have never done before, but with Lacey’s guidance, and yes support, things are progressing quite well.

Also started a stand-alone book about a 39-year-old strait-laced Canadian who has an affair with an 19 year old American hippie. This takes place in 1969. And it also has to do with the music scene back then. So, you know my heart and soul is truly going to be into this.

Thanks for having a look.

Keep Rocking, Tim Ford. 

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Publisher’s Corner…

August 16, 2019– Let’s dive right into the question of the week!

Q: “Lacey,  As a writer how do you keep yourself from getting overwhelmed? How can you possibly stay organized with all of the books and projects you have?” 

A: There are certainly days where I feel overwhelmed at times, but then I take a deep breath, remind myself that nothing is a crisis that can’t be handled, and I immediately stop what I’m doing to do something else. It’s very important that when you start to feel the walls closing in on you, that you change anything. Change your space, change your position in the room, stand up if you’re sitting, get a fresh perspective and stop what you’re working on! This is your brain’s way of telling you that you need a few minutes to regroup. Take as much time as you need, take the afternoon off, go do something wild or out of your comfort zone, do whatever it takes to make sure that you’re ok. You can’t be any good to yourself or anyone else if you’re burnt out and uninspired. It is ok to rest, it’s ok to let go, it’s ok to shut off your devices. It’s essential to your wellbeing every once in a while to just be. 

I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I have pretty amazing systems in place that take a lot of the pressure off. I have a social media scheduler that allows me to plan my posts for 30 days at a time, I’ve got a dry erase calendar in my kitchen that has all of my things to do for the week in order of importance, and I use technology to streamline as many processes as possible such as pre-planning my blog posts and YouTube videos. If I had to post every day without this help, it would be near impossible to do so and would be a time-consuming pain. 

Find ways that you can help yourself get organized and how you can make your life a bit easier and less stressful by putting systems in place that become automatic.  X LLB

cropped-coffee-2306471_1280.jpg

 

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Publisher’s Corner…

June 21, 2019– Wow, this is an excellent question! Let’s dive right in.

Q: “Lacey, my family doesn’t support my dream of becoming a writer. They tell me that I won’t make any money and that I should focus on getting a real job. Writing is something I love, but I understand that I will need to pay my bills at the same time. How do I convince them that I’m doing something that I love and that this will pay off?”

A: Whoa…for a second after reading this, I was at a loss for words. I’ll break it down because there are a couple of hidden questions in here and I don’t want to miss them.

  1. My family doesn’t support my dream of becoming a writer. Sometimes, families aren’t supportive of our dreams. They mean well, but then again, some of them don’t. Some families don’t support the arts, and they don’t understand or appreciate any form of artistic expression. This can be very difficult. You have to follow your OWN path and whatever journey that leads you on. No one can decide what you should do with your life. If you want to be a writer, by all means, do it! Find others that will support you in all of your endeavours no matter what they are.
  2. They tell me I won’t make any money and I should focus on getting a real job. I can tell you from first-hand experience that this has been said to me time and time again. “Writer’s don’t make any money,” “How are you going to pay your bills?” “No one is going to buy your books,” “Who do you think you are?” Yep, it hurts. But, that’s what makes victory so sweet. The fact is, there are millions of writers out there who make plenty of money writing books. And there are so many ways to make a living writing! You can write for magazines, you can do copywriting, editing, content creation, blogging, journalism, and hundreds of other things that revolve around writing. Focus on honing your skills and getting as much experience as possible. Last time I checked, which was 56 seconds ago, writing was a real job.
  3. How can I convince them that I’m doing something I love and that this will pay off? You can’t and you never will convince them so stop trying. Do what you want to do because YOU want to do it. Life is way too short to be living your life based on what other people want you to do, say, or think. Getting up in the morning is a gamble, crossing the street is a gamble, travelling is a gamble, and the list goes on. There are no guarantees in life except that we only have one shot at it. Don’t spend your life wondering what if. If this is what you want to do, you don’t need anyone else’s approval. I can’t tell you that this will pay off, but what I can tell you is that you won’t regret trying. We only regret the chances we never take.

Keep your head up. If you don’t believe in yourself, who will?

If you have a question you’d like answered, please send us an email to pandapublishing8@gmail.com.

X LLB