Seeking Validation in the Right Places

By Iola Goulton  

I'm a fiction reader. So are most of the authors I follow. So when one of my favourite authors (Kara Isaac) recommends a non-fiction book, I'm intrigued enough to check it out.

Lost and Found by Kendra Fletcher is about a mother who finds her way out of a legalistic church background to freedom in Christ without managing to kill any of her eight children (seriously. Three almost die. Her end point is great, but her journey isn’t one anyone would want to emulate).

Her writing is full of thought-provoking quotes which address some of our beliefs as Christians. 

Like any good writer, she highlights places where we tell but don’t show, or where what we do and how we live contradicts what we say we believe.

Here’s one example which hit home to me as a writer:

I suspect most writers can relate to this. It’s certainly something I see in a lot of the writer forums I frequent. It seems writers continually seek validation:

• Bloggers seek validation through website visits and comments.
• Social media experts seek validation through follower numbers.
• Unpublished writers seek validation in contest finals and wins.
• Contest winners seek validation through signing with an agent.
• Agented writers seek validation through signing their first contract with a high-profile trade publisher. Or a lower-profile small press.
• Published writers seek validation through sales and contests, seeking the validation of a bestseller ranking, or a contest final or a win, hoping success will bring the next book contract, and the next.

Some authors choose to step outside this circle of external validation and self-publish. They say they don’t need agents or editors to validate them—the only validation that matters is that of readers, as measured by sales and reviews. Ideally five-star reviews, although they’ll take a one-star review as validation that not all their reviews are from friends and family.

Yes, yes. I know this is wrong. And I'm not saying everyone does it. But it's a trap I see people falling into, and one I'm working not to fall into myself.

It's all to easy to forget we shouldn’t be looking for man to validate us. It's vanity. We should be looking to God, who has already validated us, who approves of us just as we are:

Kendra Fletcher points out that when we're seeking to please man, we can become vain. Self-righteous.

There is no objective standard, so the only way we can feel better is to compare ourselves to each other. Bad idea.

Publishing is driven by numbers, which gives us so many things to compare! Follower numbers, email subscribers, books published, reviews posted, copies sold, royalties earned (and these last two are the only two which aren’t public information, although Author Earnings are doing their best).

So we follow the latest marketing must-do in the effort to build our blog or our email list, to get more reviews, to sell more books. And what do we forget?

God.

Again.

Because it’s easy to follow a checklist and check off all the boxes. It's much harder to listen to the gentle, faithful leading of the Holy Spirit.

Kendra Fletcher wasn’t talking about publishing and marketing when she wrote Lost and Found, but she might as well have been. When it comes to publishing and especially to marketing, we’re relying on that checklist to reach success. And hoping we’re using the ‘right’ checklist.

Yet that’s not what God wants from us. Sure, we have to put in the work—learn to write to the standards required by publishers and retailers, learn to tell stories that will touch our target readers, learn the best ways to find and engage those readers.

We have to seek His will for our writing and walk in obedience to that. I don't know about you, but His will for me is that I follow Him. That I write what He wants me to write. I publish when He's ready for me to publish. I don't rush things. I don't seek validation in a publishing contract from a vanity press.

Instead, I wait on Him.

Because in the end, my success (or otherwise) is up to God. As will yours. My job is to write and publish to His plan. Not mine. Then my blog posts and my books will be exactly as successful as God intends them to be. I know and believe that. So I have to let go of my definitions of success and focus on His.

Lord, please help me to remember this every day.

About Iola Goulton

Iola Goulton is a New Zealand book reviewer, freelance editor, and author, writing contemporary Christian romance with a Kiwi twist. She is a member of the Sisterhood of Unpronounceable Names (Iola is pronounced yo-la, not eye-ola and definitely not Lola).

Iola holds a degree in marketing, has a background in human resource consulting, and currently works as a freelance editor. When she’s not working, Iola is usually reading or writing her next book review. Iola lives in the beautiful Bay of Plenty in New Zealand (not far from Hobbiton) with her husband, two teenagers and one cat. She is currently working on her first novel.

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Parts of a Book: Back Matter

By Iola Goulton @IolaGoulton

This month, I've been looking at what goes in the front and the back of a published book. We've talked about what goes in the front matter:

• Endorsements
• Title Page
• Credits Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents

And we've covered what is included in the author information (which can be part of the front matter or the back matter):

• Author’s Note 
• Acknowledgements 
• About the Author
• Link to author website
• Social media links

Today we’re looking at what else goes in your back matter (also known as end matter). Back matter can include:

• List of books by the author
• List of comparable books from the publisher (for trade published books)
• Link to publisher website (for trade published books)
• References or end notes (non-fiction)
• Index (non-fiction)
• Review request (especially in self-published books)
• Email list invitation (especially in self-published books)
• Discussion Questions

Back matter is prime selling space. 

If your reader has enjoyed the book (and we hope they have), they want to find out more about the book, the series, and the author. The back matter is your opportunity to capitalise on that interest and turn a reader into a fan.

Good back matter sells books. And this starts with the book list.

Book List

There is probably some fancy psychological term for what comes down to pleasure.

If the reader enjoyed your book, they want to replicate that feeling of pleasure and satisfaction. Their brain is primed to do this in the easiest way possible: by buying and reading another of your books. As an author (and especially if you’re a self-published author) you need to capitalise on your reader’s lack of impulse control.

Your back matter should include a list of all your books, especially if this novel is part of a series.

Include a list of all the books in the series in reading order. You can also include older books, either in series order or in reverse order of publication (i.e. newest first).

If the book is part of a series, make sure you include information sales on the next book in the series (e.g book description and release date). The best time to persuade a customer to buy your next book is when they have happy feelings about just finishing the current book. We will not discuss how much money I spend this way.

If your book is an ebook, make this list into hyperlinks to a retail site (Amazon, or whichever site the book was purchased from). If the book is part of a series, include the buy link or pre-order link to the next book in the series. If it’s not yet available for pre-order, direct them to a page on your website where they can sign up for your email list so they are the first to know when the new book goes on sale.

A great book followed by comprehensive back matter is your best marketing tool for the next book. Take advantage of it. Make it easy for your readers to buy your next book.

A trade publisher may also include links to other books in the same genre by other authors from their publishing house. Your objective as an author is to sell your books. Their objective as a publisher is to sell books: yours, and those of all their other authors.

Email List Signup Link

Self published authors realise the importance of having an email list. Savvy authors will include a link to their email list in their back matter. They may also offer an incentive for people to sign up to the list e.g. a free novel or novella.

Review Request

Positive reviews from customers are an important feature of Amazon, and other retail sites. Less than one reader in a thousand will review a book simply because they enjoyed it—mostly because they don’t know how adding their review helps an author.

Adding a request for a book review on Amazon, Goodreads, or your favourite online bookstore will help boost your review rate. This, in turn, will make your book look more popular (which can help with sales), and will increase your chances of getting a BookBub advertisement.

Discussion Questions

The rise of book clubs means a lot of novels include discussion questions at the back of the novel. These make it easy for the book club host to facilitate the discussion. Discussion questions usually take two pages of a standard paperback.

Publisher Information

A trade publisher may also include their own website information, an invitation to sign up to their email list, or an invitation to join their book blogger/review programme.

References/End Notes

A novel might include a list of reference either in the Author’s Note, or separately. Fiction authors usually include just a simple list of book titles and authors, ordered alphabetically on the title.

References in non-fiction are more complex. They need to include more information—title, author, publisher, year, and the exact page or chapter reference. They are formatted according to the publisher’s style guide, which could be Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS), Associated Press Style (AP), the Christian Writer’s Manual of Style (CMS), another style guide, or an in-house publisher guide.

Paperback or hardcover non-fiction books may include footnotes, but these can mess with the formatting in ebooks. Many newer books use endnotes instead. These may be at the end of each chapter, or at the end of the book, but before the index.

Index

Non-fiction books (other than memoir) need an index.

Indexing is a specialised skill, and should be completed by your publisher or a qualified freelancer. The convention is that the index is at the very end of the book. This makes it easy for readers to find the information they are looking for.

Conclusion

I have come across some small trade publishers which do not include back matter in their books. This, to my mind, is a problem. They are missing out on potential sales. They are also depriving you, the author, from the opportunity to connect with readers.

It’s worth asking (or getting your agent to ask) what your trade publisher includes in their back matter, and what you will need to contribute (e.g. discussion questions).

What else do you like to see included in the back matter of a book? How much is too much?

About Iola Goulton

Iola Goulton is a New Zealand book reviewer, freelance editor, and author, writing contemporary Christian romance with a Kiwi twist. She is a member of the Sisterhood of Unpronounceable Names (Iola is pronounced yo-la, not eye-ola and definitely not Lola).

Iola holds a degree in marketing, has a background in human resource consulting, and currently works as a freelance editor. When she’s not working, Iola is usually reading or writing her next book review. Iola lives in the beautiful Bay of Plenty in New Zealand (not far from Hobbiton) with her husband, two teenagers and one cat. She is currently working on her first novel.

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Parts of a Book: Author Information

By Iola Goulton @iolagoulton

Last week I discussed the elements which must be included in the front matter of a book, whether a paperback or an ebook, trade published or self published.

This week I'm talking about author information, which can be part of the front matter or the back matter, depending on the format and the publisher. Author information includes:

• Author Note
• Acknowledgements
• About the Author

Older books (from the pre-ebook era) often included these as front matter. Newer books and ebooks are more likely to include these as back matter. Why?

Because there are differences between how ebooks are formatted compared to paper books.

Ebooks vs. Paper Books

Most ebooks start directly at Chapter One, which means the reader won’t even see most of the front matter. There is limited use in including Endorsements or other sales material at the beginning of an ebook, as the casual reader won’t see them. Someone who wants to look has to go back to the Kindle table of contents, and choose the appropriate section. Choosing Beginning will take you to the beginning of Chapter One (or the Prologue).

It is also important to limit the front matter in ebooks. Most online stores allow readers to sample a portion of the book—up to 10 per cent (or more, depending on the retailer). Too much front matter limits the amount of the actual text that will be included in this sample, and that can affect your sales.

I remember downloading one Kindle sample which was all front matter, with no actual book content.

Yes, really.

Did I buy the book? No. I download samples to (wait for it!) sample your writing to see if I want to read your book. If there is no book to read, I’m not going to buy.

So while some authors and publishers recommend including these three elements of author information as front matter, I don’t. With a few exceptions.

Author’s Note

This is your opportunity to address any factual issues in the novel—such as part of the novel being based on your own personal experience. Books that deal with traumatic issues may include contact details for relevant help organisations (e.g a novel about dealing with an unplanned pregnancy may include details for organisations that provide pregnancy support).

Some authors include a short list of research books and sources, which always impresses me. Others say this information is available on their website, which is doubly clever—it shows me the author has done their research, and it encourages me to click through, and perhaps sign up for their email list.

Exceptions

I do have a few exceptions, instances where I believe the author’s note or similar material should be included in the front matter, not the back matter:

Deliberate Errors

Authors of historical fiction sometimes introduce deliberate errors to better serve the story they are telling (e.g. they may have moved event by a few weeks or months to better fit the timeline of the novel, or they may change the location of key characters or events).

I’m a history buff, and when I find incorrect “facts” in a novel, I always turn to the back to see why the author has made that change. If there is no note, that affects my enjoyment of the novel because it gives me the impression the author hasn’t done their research.

I don’t mind deliberate changes to suit the story, but telling me Germany was in the “early days” of World War II in 1942 is guaranteed to annoy me. An introductory Author’s Note is the perfect time to explain these changes … but only if it can be done without spoiling the story. Otherwise, it may be more prudent to add a simple note explaining that certain facts have been changed, and detail the exact changes in the back matter.

Family Tree

Historical or fantasy novels often include a family tree to enable the reader to keep the characters straight. Depending on the circumstances, this can be helpful or it can serve as a spoiler. My suggestion would be to include the family tree as it is at the beginning of the novel, not the end.

Glossary

If your character uses unfamiliar vocabulary, then readers will appreciate a glossary explaining the meaning.

This could be words from another language (e.g. many Amish novels translate the Deutsch terms used). They could be technical words, or terms which have fallen out of everyday use. Or they could be local idioms that your characters use, but your target reader may not understand (e.g. if you have a book set in Australia or New Zealand).

As a guide, if the information is essential or important to enable the reader to understand the novel, include the information in the front matter.

Map

Fantasy novels or historical fiction often include a map (I’ve even seen maps in some contemporary novels set outside the USA). This provides readers with a heads-up about the setting, and helps them orient themselves in that unfamiliar location.

Acknowledgements

This is your opportunity to thank the reader for buying and reading the book. It is also the place to thank people who have helped in the writing, editing, and publishing process—your critique partners, beta readers, and editors (if you’re trade published, you can also thank your agent, publisher, and the marketing team).

I always read the acknowledgements. As a reader, I often the names of other favourite authors in this section. I’m then more inclined to check out books from the authors whose names I don’t recognise—if I enjoyed this book by Author A, who thanks Authors B and C (who I’ve read and loved), then I think I’m likely to enjoy books by Author D as well.

As a pre-published author, the acknowledgements section provides valuable market research. Which agents and publishers are interested in books like this? Who designed the cover of this self-published book? Which freelance editor does the author use? (Everyone needs an editor, even editors. We can’t edit our own work—we see what should be there, not what is there.)

About the Author

Readers want to know and connect with the author as a person. There should be an About the Author or Author Bio section which gives readers a brief author biography, and displays a professional photograph. It may also include links to the author’s website, and social media sites e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

A paper book will have these as written links, but an ebook should have them as hyperlinks so the reader can click through to the website. Hopefully they will then sign up to your email list, or subscribe to your blog.

Conclusion

This author information needs to be included in your book no matter whether you write fiction or non-fiction, and whether you are trade published or self-published.

I’ll be back next week to talk more about the back matter that always goes at the back.

What do you like to see in the front matter? Or the back matter?

About Iola Goulton

Iola Goulton is a New Zealand book reviewer, freelance editor, and author, writing contemporary Christian romance with a Kiwi twist. She is a member of the Sisterhood of Unpronounceable Names (Iola is pronounced yo-la, not eye-ola and definitely not Lola).

Iola holds a degree in marketing, has a background in human resource consulting, and currently works as a freelance editor. When she’s not working, Iola is usually reading or writing her next book review. Iola lives in the beautiful Bay of Plenty in New Zealand (not far from Hobbiton) with her husband, two teenagers and one cat. She is currently working on her first novel.

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Parts of a Book: Front Matter

By Iola Goulton

A published book is made up of three parts:

• Front Matter
• Body
• Back Matter (also called End Matter)

The body is the part most authors obsess about the most. It's the 20,000 or 50,000 or 80,000 or more words you’ve outlined, written, revised, edited, edited, edited and edited again, then proofread. But the front matter and back matter are just as important. They assert your rights, protect your work, and help you connect with readers.

In short, good front and back matter is a strategic marketing tool.

Today we’re going to look at the front matter: what’s included before Chapter One. This week we’re going to look at the three must-haves of front matter, and two might-haves:

• Endorsements
• Title Page
• Credits Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents

Endorsements

Endorsements are short two to four line quotations aimed at encouraging the reader to buy the book. They may be from prestigious reviews (e.g. Publishers Weekly or Romantic Times), or from well-known authors in the genre. With trade-published books, these are often authors published by the same publisher. Some authors include comments from customer or fan reviews.

An endorsements page is optional. If included, it is usually the first one or two pages of the book, starting on the right-hand page.

Title Page

The title page is always a right-hand page in the front matter. It may be the first page in the book, or it may follow the endorsements.

Credits Page

The credits page or imprint page includes the legal information:

• Title
• Publisher name (address optional)
• ISBN number/s
• Copyright
• Permissions
• Other Credits
• Disclaimer/s

The credits page is always a left-hand page. It may be opposite the title page, or opposite the dedication page.

ISBN Number/s

The ISBN Is the International Standard Book Number, which allows booksellers to order your book and know they have the correct edition. Different editions of the book will require a different ISBN e.g. paperback, hardcover, ebook. A reprint may use the same ISBN as the original edition, but a new or updated edition may require a new ISBN.

Books are not required to have an ISBN, but it is recommended if you wish to sell through online retailers. Note that Amazon has its own categorising system, the ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number). ISBNs are free in some countries (e.g. Canada and New Zealand), but must be purchase in others (e.g. Australia or the United States of America).

Copyright

The copyright information will include:

• The text copyright (the author/s)
• Cover copyright (the cover designer)
• Image copyright (the photographer or stock image site)

The cover designer may or may not retain copyright over their work. This will be covered in your contract, and they should also advise you of their preferred wording e.g. whether they need to be acknowledged as the copyright holder (Cover design © Designer X) or credited (Cover by Designer X).

There should also be a statement to the effect that all rights are reserved, and that the book may not be copied or reproduced in any form without written permission. Many books make a specific exception for short quotations in reviews (a use which is permitted under copyright law in most jurisdictions).

The actual wording of this section may vary depending on where you live or where the book is published.

Permissions

Authors cannot quote the copyrighted work of another creator without permission. The Credits Page will therefore include the necessary permissions e.g.

• Bible quotations: most versions of the Bible can be quoted subject to certain restrictions (e.g. less than 500 verses, and not a complete book). Check Bible Gateway for further details.
• Song lyrics: song titles are not subject to copyright in most jurisdictions, but song lyrics are. Lyrics should not be reproduced without permission. The copyright holder will be able to provide their preferred/required wording.

Other Credits

The author or publisher may wish to credit the cover designer, editor, or typesetter/formatter.

Literary agents may be mentioned as well.

Disclaimer/s

A novel may include a statement that the characters and events depicted in the novel are fictional (assuming they are—some novels are based on real-life events), and any resemblance to actual people living or dead, or to events is coincidental and unintentional.

A historical novel that includes a mixture of real-life people and imaginative characters may include a statement to that effect.

Dedication

The dedication is usually a short one or two-line statement from the author. This is always on the right-hand page. It is often opposite the Credits page.

Table of Contents

Non-fiction books will have a table of contents as part of the front matter. This will usually include chapter numbers and chapter names. It may be broken down into parts, or chapters may have subheadings. The format of the table of contents will depend on what makes sense given the structure of the book.

Novels may or may not need a table of contents, and most don’t. However, Amazon requires Kindle books to have a Table of Contents in the front matter, even if it is as basic as Chapter One, Chapter Two (and most are that basic).

The table of contents starts on the right-hand page, and comes after the title page, credits page, and dedication.

Other Front Matter

There are other elements which may be included in the front matter or the back matter. We’ll discuss those next week ... as well as the differences between front matter in paper books compared to ebooks.

Meanwhile, do you have any questions about front matter or end matter?

About Iola Goulton

Iola Goulton is a New Zealand book reviewer, freelance editor, and author, writing contemporary Christian romance with a Kiwi twist. She is a member of the Sisterhood of Unpronounceable Names (Iola is pronounced yo-la, not eye-ola and definitely not Lola).

Iola holds a degree in marketing, has a background in human resource consulting, and currently works as a freelance editor. When she’s not working, Iola is usually reading or writing her next book review. Iola lives in the beautiful Bay of Plenty in New Zealand (not far from Hobbiton) with her husband, two teenagers and one cat. She is currently working on her first novel.

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Two Ways to Publish (and One Way Not to Publish)

By Iola Goulton

Last week I looked at the main options for self-publishing paper books and ebooks. But what do you do if that all sounds too complicated?

There are basically two ways to publish:

1. You can hire people to help you publish your book.
2. Or you can pursue a publishing contract.

What you shouldn't do is sign a contract with a "self-publisher".

1. Hire Help

Savvy self publishing authors do hire people to help, especially editors and cover designers. None of us—not even editors—can edit our own work. Most of us shouldn't attempt designing our own covers unless we have serious graphic design expertise.

There are several other services self published authors often hire external experts for:

• Formatting.
• Writing the book description.
• Website design and maintenance (if you don't have a website, you need to join my March Marketing Challenge: Kick Start Your Author Platform.)
• Uploading files to online retailers.

Publish Like a Boss! has some great advice on being a professional indie publisher. Click here to read my review.

Note that there is one thing no reputable author or publisher ever pays for, and that is book reviews. But that's a big topic, so I'll save it for another post.

2. Go Traditional

I've covered this in previous posts here at ACW:

• Paths to Publishing: Trade Publishing
• Paths to Publishing: Small Press

Large established trade publishers will generally offer an advance and a royalty. Note that the advance is an advance against future royalty payments, so if you're offered a $1,000 advance and you earn $1 in royalty payments for every copy sold, you won't get any royalty payments until the 1,001st copy of your book is sold (no, these are not typical advance or royalty payments. That would be too easy!).

A smaller publisher or a digital-only publisher might offer a royalty-only contract. This means no advance, but it also means you start earning royalty payments from the first book sold.

Don't Sign With a Vanity Press (Please)

A vanity press is not the same as a traditional publisher. Instead of making their money by selling books to readers, they make their money by selling publishing and marketing services to authors. Unfortunately, too many of them prey on Christian authors. Writer Beware says:

Christian writers are more likely to trust a company that self-identifies as Christian ... a perfect honey trap.

There are a few ways to spot a vanity press:

They require you to pay them (not the other way around).

A reputable trade publisher will never ask for money up front. A vanity press will, although they'll never call themselves a vanity press. Instead, they'll call themselves a traditional publisher or trade publisher. Or a co-operative press or a hybrid press or a partnership press.

Those are all terms designed to confuse you, persuade you that they are a legitimate trade publisher. But if they are asking you for money, they are not a trade publisher.

I've discussed vanity presses in several previous posts here at ACW:

• Paths to Publishing: Vanity Presses
• I Wanted To Cry

If any publisher is asking you for money, please read these posts. Because the chances are that they are a vanity press, not a reputable trade publisher.

They require you to purchase hundreds of copies of your book. 

A trade publisher may give you the option of purchasing author copies at a discount e.g. to use in your own promotional efforts, to give as gifts, or to onsell. They will not require you to purchase copies—it's purely an option. Requiring you to purchase copies of your book makes them a vanity press.

They require you to pay for their marketing services.

A reputable trade publisher will require you to undertake some marketing at your own expense. For example, they may require you to have your own website which you develop and maintain. But they won't insist on building your website for a fee. Nor will they insist on you paying for compulsory or optional marketing services (which are usually expensive and of dubious value).

It all comes back to the first rule of publishing:

Money flows from the publisher to the author. Not the other way around.

Anything else is vanity. Please don't allow the desire for validation to blind you to the point of vanity.

If you have any doubts, ask.

Ask me. Ask in the Australasian Christian Writers Facebook group. Or click here to download the 2018 edition of Publishers Specializing in Christian Fiction.

About Iola Goulton

Iola Goulton is a New Zealand book reviewer, freelance editor, and author, writing contemporary Christian romance with a Kiwi twist. She is a member of the Sisterhood of Unpronounceable Names (Iola is pronounced yo-la, not eye-ola and definitely not Lola).

Iola holds a degree in marketing, has a background in human resource consulting, and currently works as a freelance editor. When she’s not working, Iola is usually reading or writing her next book review. Iola lives in the beautiful Bay of Plenty in New Zealand (not far from Hobbiton) with her husband, two teenagers and one cat. She is currently working on her first novel.

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How to Use Images in Blog Posts (Legally)

By Iola Goulton

We are visual people, and we love images. As the old adage says, a picture tells a thousand words. Our society has become more and more image-based. Advertising uses images to sell to us. We judge books by their covers. We flock to image-based social media networks such as Instagram and Pinterest, while even Facebook and Twitter prioritise posts with images over text-only posts.

Images in blog posts can be a great way to break up the text and make the reading experience more user friendly. But we can’t just use any image.

Using Images Online

Many people will tell you that you can copy and use any image you find online. Others will tell you certain images or photographs are copyright-free.

They are wrong, as some bloggers have discovered at great cost.

All images on the internet are copyright.

Even photographs of old paintings. The paintings themselves are no longer under copyright, but the photographs are. Using these images without permission is a breach of copyright, in the same way as pirating a book or a movie is a breach of copyright.

Copyright is a form of intellectual property. It means the creator of a piece of content owns that content (apart from exceptions like a work for hire arrangement, which means your employer probably owns the copyright to any content you produce as a part of your normal employee duties).

As a blogger and writer, you want people to respect your copyright rights. You don’t want to find someone has pirated your ebook, plagiarised your paperback, or copied your blog post verbatim.

So it’s only fair that you need to respect the copyright rights of other creators—writers, illustrators, photographers, anyone who creates copyrighted material and shares it online or in real life.

This means you need to make sure you have the right to use any and all images.

Images You Can Use on Blog Posts

Your Own Photographs

If you took the photograph, you own the copyright, and you’re usually safe to use the picture. The exception might be if you’re using a picture of a famous building—some buildings are trademarked and can’t be reproduced commercially (e.g. on a book cover) without permission.

For example, the London Eye can be included as part of a skyline shot, but can’t be the main focus pf the photo. Nor can you use photographs taken from inside the Eye without permission. And while photographs of the Eiffel Tower in daytime are permissible, photographs of the nightly illuminations are not—they are copyrighted.

Note that you have to take the photo yourself in order to own the copyright and the right to use the picture. If a monkey takes a photo on your camera, the monkey may own the copyright on the image (Seriously. The court case is ongoing).

Photos You Own

You can use photos taken by someone else, but for which you have purchased the rights. If you plan to use the image commercially (e.g. on a book cover), make sure your contract includes commercial rights (and check the number of copies, and whether it includes Print on Demand). If the photo includes a model, make sure the photographer has the correct model release form.

Rights to photographs taken by someone else may be exclusive—or not. An exclusive right means the photographer can’t sell that image to anyone else. Non-exclusive rights may mean “your” cover image shows up on other books.

Free Photos from Stock Sites

You can find free photos at sites like Canva, MorgueBay, Pixabay and Unsplash. These sites use a Creative Commons 0 (zero) licence, which means:

you can copy, modify, distribute and use the photos for free, including commercial purposes, without asking permission from or providing attribution to the photographer

Other sites might require you to ask permission and/or provide attribution to the photographer and/or site. Check what acknowledgement is required the first time you use a new site, and get it right.

Canva has a list of 73 sites offering free photos. As an added bonus, they’ve ranked the sites in terms of the size of the gallery, searchability, and whether attribution is required.

Photos from Paid Stock Sites

There are many stock photography sites offering a range of images, at a range of prices. Most stock sites will allow you to download a watermarked version of the image for free, but you shouldn’t use this version for your blog post. When it comes to blog posts, you need to ensure you get the official version, the one with no watermarks.

Charges for photos vary by site, and depend on the size of the photo, and the intended use. A book cover needs a high-resolution photo, and needs a commercial licence that covers all formats of the book, and a large number of copies. A blog post only needs a low-resolution photo (which is quicker to load).

Most paid stock sites charge per download, and some charge more for better-quality photos. Some sites offer credits or bundles, with the unit cost decreasing the more you buy. Some sites operate on a subscription model.

GraphicStock

I use GraphicStock.com, which costs USD 89 for an annual subscription, and has a free trial before you have to pay. There is nothing stopping you from downloading a year’s worth of images in your trial period, then cancelling. Their selection isn’t as big as some of the more expensive sites, and they don’t have many images that would be suitable for book covers. But it’s a great resource for images for blog posts or memes.

Lightstock

I also use Lightstock—it’s great for cheese-free Christian images. It is a paid site, but you can sign up to their email newsletter and they’ll send you a link to their free download of the week. This is a cost-effective way of building up a library of photos suitable for Bible memes or photos to accompany devotional posts. The only catch is we all get the same free photo each week—there is no choice. But it’s free (unless you want to pay as you go or subscribe), and the images are beautiful.

The Fair Use Exception to Copyright Law

The doctrine of fair use is entrenched in copyright law, and does allow copyrighted content to be used under certain conditions. For example, it’s acceptable to quote from another author’s work or reproduce small amounts of graphic or pictorial material for the purposes of review or criticism.

The same fair use exceptions apply for images as they do for written content. But the application is a little different. I can’t copy someone else’s book cover. But I might be able to purchase the same photo they used from a stock photo site, which will mean our covers have a similar look. Yes, this is why big publishers spend big bucks on customised photo shoots for book covers.

I can (and do) use thumbnail images book covers in memes. This may or may not be permissible under the doctrine of fair use. My view is that I’m promoting other authors, and there is no commercial benefit to me. If an author or publisher asked me to stop promoting them in this way, I would.

(Note: This is not legal advice. I’m not a lawyer. I’ve never played one on TV. This is my interpretation of the doctrine of fair use, based on my reading of the Chicago Manual of Style, and blog posts written by lawyers. Caveat Emptor.)

Do you use images on your blog posts? Where do you obtain your images?

About Iola Goulton

I am a freelance editor specialising in Christian fiction. Visit my website at www.christianediting.co.nzto download a comprehensive list of publishers of Christian fiction. 

I also write contemporary Christian romance with a Kiwi twist—find out more at www.iolagoulton.com.

You can also find me on:
Facebook (Author)
Facebook (Editing)
Instagram
Pinterest
Twitter

Reader Question: Should I Hire Someone to Build my Social Media Presence?

By Iola Goulton

An agent liked my manuscript, but said I needed to build my social media presence before he’d consider representing me. I work full time. Should I hire someone?

Short answer: Maybe. 

Long answer …

Maybe. It depends on what your agent means by a social media presence, the kind of books you write and plan to write, on your brand, and on what God wants for your writing.

Let me explain.

I don’t have an agent. I’m not seeking representation from an agent. (I’ll tell you why some other time, if you’re interested.) I’ve lurked on a lot of agent blogs over the years, and one thing I’ve found is that agents are all different.

• Some only accept electronic submissions; some only accept paper.
• Some want a query letter first, others think a query letter is a waste of time and want a full proposal.
• Some seem to think numbers are the only important aspect of a writer’s platform, others make no mention of the subject.

That’s an extended way of saying that for every agent who reads this blog post and thinks I’ve got something right, another will think I’ve got it wrong. The right answer to this question depends very much on the agent you’re talking about.

What is a Social Media Presence?

If your agent thinks a good social media presence is 100,000 engaged Twitter followers, then I can make some suggestions. Start by reading Rayne Hall’s book on building your Twitter following, and implement her suggestions. Then read Ian Sutherland’s book. He built a following of over 100,000 people in around a year, and he offers support services to help other authors do the same. That might be something you could consider … but only if that’s what your dream agent is thinking of.

What does this agent expect in terms of building your social media presence?

But this might not be what your dream agent means. So you need to know what he means before you invest your time or your money in developing a social media presence. Does he mean social media or does he mean a platform—your entire online presence including social media, your website, and your email list?

Also, what manuscript did you submit that he liked?

• Fiction or non-fiction?
• What genre?
• Was it written for adults, teenagers, or children?

You’ve got the basics of a social media presence although it could do with refreshing, updating, and perhaps expanding (depending on your book):

• Website and a blog (although they should be combined onto one site).
• Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn.

You also need to consider developing an email list and regular newsletter to subscribers, as this might be what your agent is looking for).

Build Your Brand

But how you do this will depend on what you are writing, and who you are writing for. You need to decide who you are, and build your author brand around that persona. Then you need to attract and engage with potential readers.

I believe you should do this yourself.

Because you can’t hire someone to tell you who you are.

Once you know who you are and who you want to be online, you can hire someone to help you broadcast that message. But you’re going to have to do some of the hard work up front.

It’s generally agreed that a non-fiction author needs more of an author platform to interest an agent than a fiction author. That’s especially true in the case of true-life stories—for example, I’ve read that agents aren’t interested in cancer stories. They’re all too common.

Once you’ve decided who you are, and once you know what kind of platform your dream agent wants you to build, then you have another decision: is that what you want to do? Is it what God wants you to be doing? (I ask because your social media profiles make it clear you’re a Christian.)

Should you hire someone to build your social media presence?

The answer is going to depend on the answers to other questions:

• What does this agent mean by “build a social media presence”? This is the most important question.
• What manuscript is he interested in? What’s the genre? Is this the same as the books you’ve previously published, or different?
• What is your brand? In other words, who are you? How do you want people to see you?
• What does God want for your writing? Is this closed door a challenge for you to get past, or is it a door God doesn’t want you to open? Is chasing this agent God’s plan for you and your writing?
• How much is hiring someone going to cost? What results will you get? Is that return on your investment worth it to you?
• Could you find a way to do this yourself, perhaps by investing in online tools such as Buffer or Hootsuite?

Once you've answered those questions, then you can get back to your original question: should you hire someone?

I suspect the answer is no.

That might change in a couple of weeks or a couple of months, when you find the answers to some of my other questions. By then, I suspect, the answer to your original question will be obvious.

If you’ve got a question you’d like me to answer in a future blog post, please email me via www.christianediting.co.nz/contact, or tag @iolagoulton on Twitter.

About Iola Goulton

I am a freelance editor specialising in Christian fiction. Visit my website at www.christianediting.co.nz to download a comprehensive list of publishers of Christian fiction. 

I also write contemporary Christian romance with a Kiwi twist—find out more at www.iolagoulton.com.

You can also find me on:
Facebook (Author)
Facebook (Editing)
Instagram
Pinterest
Twitter

Five Cross-Promotion Tools for Authors

By Iola Goulton

Over the last two weeks I’ve looked at Five Ways to Build Your Email List, and Five Tools for Managing Online Giveaways. This week I’m looking at cross-promotions, and introducing three popular ways to participate in multi-author giveaways:

• BookHub
• InstaFreebie
• Ryan Zee Author Marketing

BookHub

BookHub is run by Ken and Paula Sheridan (writing as Paula Wynne).

The purpose of a BookHub promotion is to add new subscribers to your newsletter email list.

Authors sign up and pay from GBP 25 to join a genre-specific group promotion. Each author also donates one ebook to be used as a prize, and are required to share the promotion with their email lists, and across social media. BookHub provides each author with a unique tracking link to confirm each author has emailed their list.

BookHub promotes the contest, chooses and notifies the winner/s, then collates all the email addresses acquired during the promotion and passes them onto the eligible participating authors. Only participating authors who shared the promotion with their email list are eligible to receive the list.

Eligible participating authors receive the email addresses of all entrants. 

This could be an issue: it’s possible some entrants will only be interested in a few of the books, so they are likely to unsubscribe from other newsletters.

However, authors who have participated in BookHub promotions don’t report this as being an issue. One way authors can work out who is truly interested in their list is to offer entrants a gift (e.g. sample chapters or a novella), then only add those entrants who download the gift.

Click here to find out more.

Reader Magnet

BookHub also offers a reader magnet (aka lead magnet or opt-in bribe) promotion for GBP 15. This has the same conditions regarding promotion as the cross promotions discussed above, but it’s not clear whether the promotions are genre specific.

In both cases, your book must be listed on BookHub.

Newsletter Swap

Note that giveaways aren’t the only kind of cross-promotion. In her book Book Promotion for Authors, Paula Wynne also talks about newsletter swaps. A newsletters swap isn’t authors exchanging email lists—that violates anti-spam laws.

Instead, a newsletter swap is when two authors agree to each promote the other’s book in a newsletter. 

This is usually a book that’s on sale rather than a free book, so this is about driving sales, not newsletter sign-ups. Authors usually want to swap with other authors in the same genre, with a similar-sized email list. I would also suggest that a newsletter swap is effectively you endorsing the other author, so you need to be sure his/her writing is of a standard and content you’d be comfortable endorsing.

InstaFreebie

Instafreebie is a platform which allows authors to give away copies of their books. 

I’ve recently participated in a group promotion on Instafreebie that added 350+ subscribers to my list. Other group members added over 1,000 (they had more generic books than my “hyper-niche” title).

With the free plan, you can give away free copies of your book to reviewers, fans, or anyone who asks. You can limit the number of copies you give away, or choose not to. Instafreebie will email each reader a personalised ePub, mobi or pdf file, and you can also choose to have this DRM protected.

With a paid plan, you can also require that people claiming your free book are also added to your email list. 

Paid plans start at USD 20 per month, although there is a 30-day free trial, and they do have an referral plan that offers credit for paid plans. Click here to check out Instafreebie (yes, that is my referral link.)

InstaFreebie suggest their platform can be used to provide prizes to giveaway winners, send review copies to bloggers or your street team, send advance copies librarians and other influencers, or run special promotions (e.g. a pre-release giveaway, or a downloadable sample).

Note that InstaFreebie don’t provide readers with any support in loading books onto their ereaders. If you’re part of a large group promotion, you might find yourself spending a lot of time giving your readers instructions on how to sideload or email the book file to their device.

Instafreebie also don’t organise cross-promotions—they are merely the tool. I found the cross promotion I participated in via a closed Facebook group.

Ryan Zee Author Marketing

Ryan Zee utilises an online tool to run multi-author giveaways (the tool looks a lot like KingSumo, which I discussed last week). He runs two or three genre-specific giveaways each week at www.booksweeps.com in which readers sign up to author newsletters in exchange for a chance to win.

There are two winners to each giveaway: first prize is a Kindle Fire with all the ebooks in the promotion. Second place is all the ebooks. Authors pay from USD 60 to participate, provide two ebooks as prizes, and advertise the giveaway to their current newsletter list, and on social media.

Ryan provides the graphics and links, social media and newsletter templates, and a spreadsheet of newsletter signups at the conclusion of the contest. I suspect this promotion will net fewer email addresses than a BookHub promotion, but the advantage is that all the entrants have elected to subscribe specifically to your newsletter. It’s probably still worth offering some form of free download, and deleting those emails which aren’t interested.

If you’d like to see a contest in action ...

There is a Ryan Zee Contemporary Inspirational Romance giveaway starting on 27 February (US time, so that means tomorrow). Ryan is currently taking signups for a Historical Inspirational Romance giveaway, running from 10 to 17 April. You can sign up here, and you can find out more about Ryan Zee promotions here.

Those are the major cross promotion tools I’m aware of. Are there any others you've heard of?

Have you taken part in any multi-author cross-promotions to build your email list? What was your experience? Would you recommend it to others?

About Iola Goulton

I am a freelance editor specialising in Christian fiction. Visit my website at www.christianediting.co.nz to download a comprehensive list of publishers of Christian fiction. 

I also write contemporary Christian romance with a Kiwi twist—find out more atwww.iolagoulton.com.

You can also find me on:
Facebook (Author)
Facebook (Editing)
Instagram
Pinterest
Twitter

Five Tools for Managing Online Giveaways

By Iola Goulton

Last week I introduced five ways to build your email list, including offering giveaways and participating in cross-promotions with other authors. This week, I’m going to go into more detail on the how of giveaways and the tools you can use. I’ll talk about cross-promotions next week.

Organising a Giveaway

I’ve found three basic ways of getting involved in a giveaway:

• Organise it yourself
• Participate in a paid cross-promotion
• Work with other authors to organise and run a multi-author promotion

Organise it Yourself

You can organise a giveaway yourself through something as easy as offering a prize to one commenter on a blog post, or through an online giveaway using a tool such as Rafflecopter or KingSumo.

Blog Comments

Comments on a blog post encourage interaction, but don’t contribute to your larger goals:
1. They don’t encourage entrants to sign up to your email list.
2. They don’t encourage entrants to share your giveaway.

Think about it: if I find a giveaway or contest that has only one entrant and I also enter, I have a 50% chance of winning that giveaway.

If I share the giveaway and more people enter, I’ve reduced my own chances of winning. 

People are unlikely to share if sharing goes against their own self-interest.

If you’ve organised a giveaway and you’re the only person who is sharing it, that’s probably what will happen: you’ll only have a small handful of entrants, and the giveaway won’t be shared beyond your faithful readers. That might work for you if your objective in running the giveaway was to reward your faithful readers. But if it was to extend your platform, a simple blog comment giveaway is unlikely to work.

The answer to this dilemma is to incentivise participants to share the giveaway, which is where tools such as Rafflecopter and KingSumo are useful.

Rafflecopter

Rafflecopter is a free giveaway tool that’s integrated with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and various email providers. Giveaway organisers can set a variety of tasks for entrants to complete, such as commenting on the blog post, following the author on Twitter, liking their page on Facebook, sharing the giveaway on social media, or signing up for an email list. I’ve never run a Rafflecopter giveaway, but I understand email addresses can be downloaded at the conclusion of the giveaway.

Basic Rafflecopter giveaways are free, but you’ll have to pay for premium features like Pinterest entries (USD 13 per month), email list integration (USD 43 per month) or viral giveaway links (USD 84 per month). Rafflecopter does offer a free 7-day trial, but it’s limited to 50 entries. Contests can also be run through Facebook.

Personally, I’m not a fan of Rafflecopter. 

Organisers often set up a huge list of ways to enter, which can seem overwhelming to me as a potential giveaway entrant. And there are often too many hoops to jump through e.g. having to find the tweet URL to paste it into your entry to prove you’ve tweeted about the giveaway.

Having said that, Rafflecopter is easy to set up, and the basic level is free.

KingSumo

The objective of a KingSumo giveaway is to increase the number of subscribers on your email list. It integrates with Aweber, CampaignMonitor, ConvertKit, GetResponse, and MailChimp.

It does this by adding each entrant to your email list, and by sending them each a unique code and encouraging them to share it on Facebook, Twitter and other social media.

As an entrant, the more people enter the giveaway using your unique code, the more entries you get and the more likely you are to win. Rafflecopter rewards an entrant for sharing on Facebook or Tweeting, whether or not that sharing results in more entrants to the giveaway.

KingSumo only rewards an entrant for sharing if that sharing results in more entries.

KingSumo is a WordPress premium plugin, and is only available for WordPress.org sites (i.e. self-hosted WordPress). It costs USD 199 (although you might be able to find a 50% off coupon, which prompted me to buy it).

If you’d like to see a KingSumo contest in progress, click here to enter to win a Kindle copy of Sell More Books With Less Social Media by CK Syme.

As with any email list tool, entrants have the option to unsubscribe. And it’s all random—KingSumo picks the winner.

Other Giveaway Tools

There are other tools you can use to run an online giveaway, although I haven’t used them as an organiser or an entrant. These include:

GiveawayTools

Note that GiveawayTools is different to GiveawayTool, which appears to be a random drawing mechanism.

Giveaway Tools is currently in beta mode. It appears to operate in a similar manner to Rafflecopter, but includes Etsy and Pinterest integration in the free model, and uses Twitter API to check someone has tweeted (which saves the entrant having to find the tweet URL).

It’s currently free, and although I’ve no doubt it will introduce premium paid options in the future, early adopters will probably get the best deal on future paid features. If you’re looking for a giveaway tool, GiveawayTool might be worth checking out.

Gleam

Gleam is similar to Rafflecopter, except that entrants don’t have to prove they’ve undertaken actions like tweeting. This makes it easier for entrants, but more difficult for the organiser, as they have to confirm the entrant did undertake the required action before declaring a winner.
Gleam is available via a website, or as a WordPress plugin. There is a free plan with limited functionality, and paid plans start at USD 39 per month.

PromoSimple

PromoSimple is similar as well. It is also available via a website or a WordPress plugin, the free plan allows for Facebook and social media sharing promotions, and paid plans start at USD 15 per month. Some paid plans will integrate with email providers including Constant Contact, MadMimi, and MailChimp. It allows entrants to refer friends to earn additional entries.

And there are many more … GiveawayTab, Punctab, RandomPicker, Wildfire, Woobox …

Summary

Which tool you use will depend on the reason you’re running a giveaway. If you’re trying to build brand awareness, then Facebook integration is probably more important than email integration. If you’re trying to build an email list, that email integration is going to be a major deciding factor.

Cost is also a factor. 

KingSumo is great for organising giveaways which incentivise participants to share, but isn’t cheap. However, it does have the advantage of being a one-off cost rather than a monthly subscription. If you plan on conducting multiple giveaways over a long period of time, it’s probably the best investment.

What giveaway tools have you used as an organiser, or as a participant? Which would you recommend for cost, ease of use, and functionality?

About Iola Goulton

I am a freelance editor specialising in Christian fiction. Visit my website at www.christianediting.co.nz to download a comprehensive list of publishers of Christian fiction. 

I also write contemporary Christian romance with a Kiwi twist—find out more atwww.iolagoulton.com.

You can also find me on:
Facebook (Author)
Facebook (Editing)
Instagram
Pinterest
Twitter

Five Ways to Build Your Author Email List (and One Way Not To)

By Iola Goulton

Over the last year, Australasian Christian Writers has had several posts on author platform and marketing. We’ve had posts on the importance of building your author brand and platform. We’ve had high-level how-to lists on building your author brand and website, or building your author platform.

And we’ve posted on the importance of having a website (a must-have), a blog (a maybe), and an email list.

But is an email list a must-have or a maybe?

I think it’s a must-have, as I explained in Do Authors Need an Email List? And all the book marketing experts I follow agree. Chris Syme says:

And that leads to the subject of today’s post: How does an author build their list?

First, Don't Do This:

Don't add people you know to a list on Word or Excel or Gmail or Hotmail, then email them. 

I’ve received these emails. I even saw it recommended in a marketing book a few years ago, that authors “add people you know to your opt-in list”. Yes, this author was ahead of the times in actually having a newsletter list, but did she not understand the meaning of the words “opt in”?

Adding people to your list without their permission is against the law.

You can only email people who have given you permission to email them (which is where Seth Godin’s phrase ‘permission marketing’ comes from). And you must give people the option to unsubscribe.

As I’ve said before, the best way to ensure your email list complies with relevant laws is to use one of the major email list providers, such as Aweber Email Marketing, MadMimi, MailChimp or MailerLite.

Instead:

1. Email and Ask

Email friends you think would be interested in joining your newsletter list, and ask if they’ll sign up. You don’t have to rely on email. You could also send a text message or Facebook DM, Tweet them … even talk to them. The point is that you’re asking for permission.

And they can sign up though the link you provide (which you’ll get from your mailing list provider), or you can add them directly into your mailing list. But only with their permission.

2. Ask at Events

Ask for newsletter sign-ups if you’re speaking at an event, such as a writer’s conference or retreat, or a book launch. The less technical among us have a physical sign-up sheet, then add people to the list manually. A more technical person could have a QR code on a bookmark, or a PC/tablet so people can enter their own data.

3. Ask Online

Use a plugin such as Bloom or SumoMe to prompt website visitors to sign up for your email list. Pin a post on Twitter. Add a sign up button to your Facebook page. Include a link to your signup form in the bio you use for guest posts.

Friends, family and colleagues may well agree to sign up for your newsletter just because you asked them. But strangers are unlikely to give you their email address unless there’s something in it for them.

That ‘something’ is a giveaway of some kind—my subscriptions did increase when I started offering new subscribers a gift (I offer a list of Christian publishers for my Christian Editing Services list, and a list of my favourite Christian authors for my Author list).

4. Host a Giveaway

A lot of blogs host giveaways, but most are of the ‘leave a comment to be in the draw to win’ variety. That isn’t helpful for collecting email addresses—no one wants to leave their real email address in a blog comment. But authors can use tools such as Rafflecopter or KingSumo to run giveaways where they collect email addresses in exchange for an entry.

But I’ve found having a giveaway isn’t enough. It has to be promoted. And that’s where my final suggestion comes in:

5. Join a Cross-Promotion

A cross-promotion is where you join forces with other authors to host a giveaway. There is generally some cost involved in this, as setting up and hosting the giveaway takes time, effort, and technical know-how. But the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, as it means it’s not just you promoting your giveaway—all the other authors involved will be promoting it as well, which means you’ll get in front of a lot more people.

Today is the last day of my first-ever cross-promotion, joining 17 other authors in an Instafreebie promotion of non-fiction books for writers.

I’m thrilled with the results. 

I started the promotion with 142 people on my Christian Editing Services list, and I’d doubled that within the first two days of the promotion. And that’s with my hyper-niche title. A couple of authors, whose books had broader appeal, added over 1,000 people to their lists.

At the time of writing, 355 people had downloaded my free ebook, and I’d added 325 to my newsletter list. Some people downloaded the book and immediately unsubscribed. That’s okay—I’m on MailChimp’s paid plan, which means I pay more to have more subscribers. I don’t want to be paying for people who don’t want to hear from me.

Click here if you’d like to sign up to my newsletter list. Or click here to see the 18 books in the cross-promotion. But be quick: it finishes today (well, it actually finishes at midnight Sunday, But I’m not sure in what time zone).

I’ll be back next week to talk more about giveaways and cross promotions.

Meanwhile, do you have an email list? What mailing list provider do you use? What’s the most successful way you’ve found of building your email list?

About Iola Goulton

I am a freelance editor specialising in Christian fiction. Visit my website at www.christianediting.co.nz to download a comprehensive list of publishers of Christian fiction. 

I also write contemporary Christian romance with a Kiwi twist—find out more atwww.iolagoulton.com.

You can also find me on:
Facebook (Author)
Facebook (Editing)
Instagram
Pinterest
Twitter