How to Kickstart your Book TODAY (Video)

Posted on May 16, 2012 by angela.booth

In this week’s issue of our ezine our video helps you to create a never-ending flow of books and ebooks.

You can create these for yourself, or you can create them for others. I’ve been ghostwriting novels and novellas for clients for a while. I show you how I get ideas for them in the video:

A tip (not covered in the video): if you’re ghostwriting books, make sure you charge at your usual hourly rate. Books take time and energy to write, and if you’re a ghostwriter, you give up all rights.

One: Kickstart by brainstorming titles

This works for fiction and nonfiction.

Go to Amazon.com and click around…

  • Choose an evocative noun (fiction: “blood”; “temptation”; “death”; “river”) and riff off it;

  • Use a number: (nonfiction: “100 Ways to…”; “10 Things No One Told You About…”; “50 Easy Ways to…”) and fill in the blanks;

  • Grab a word from a dictionary, and base your title on it. This works best with a paper dictionary. You can open the dictionary anywhere, close your eyes, and place your finger an any word.

I use an electronic dictionary, by choosing a letter, for example “i” and adding vowels until something I like pops up: “ia”; “ie” etc. I chose “ie”, which gave no results, but then the dictionary gave me “ig” which did.

Interesting “ig” words I liked include: “ignite” and “ignore”.

I could use these words in a title, however, if I were seriously looking for a title, I’d use a thesaurus on these words.

For example: “ignite” brings up: “Heating: heat, warm, chafe, foment, make hot, burn, fire, set fire to, set on fire, kindle, enkindle, light, ignite, melt, thaw, fuse, liquefy, burn…”

Remember, your titles should be outrageous. This gets your subconscious mind “igniting.” :-)

Two: Kickstart with weird first sentences and paragraphs

Some phrases to get you started:

  • I knew I was alone, but then…

  • He looked at her, smiled, and then…

  • They found the body…

  • She knew it would be a bad day…

  • She got her greatest wish…

The key is not to think about it – just write.

Three: Kickstart with your own horrific (or funny) experiences

I’ve been scared three times in my life that I can clearly remember. I wouldn’t want to relive these experiences, but if I wanted to start a book, I’d write a couple of paragraphs about one of these experiences.

Your aim isn’t to include the experience in your book – it’s to mine the emotion generated from your memories. All emotion is energy. You can use the energy to write.

You’ll find that once you’ve written a couple of paragraphs and have scared yourself, you’ll start writing – and hey presto, you’ve started writing a book.

Four: Kickstart by retelling a fairy tale

Fairy tales are fun. Screenwriters and novelists use them constantly in their work, either overtly, by retelling the fairy tale, or as inspiration.

Spend ten minutes reading Grimms’ Fairy Tales.

Now choose a fairy tale, and think about how you might place the tale into a modern setting.

Exercise: spend half an hour playing

Play with the four methods for half an hour and see what you come up with… surprise yourself.

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Ebooks: Writing 50 Shades of Grey Knockoffs

Posted on May 16, 2012 by angela.booth

50 Shades of Grey

Writers have been asking about the bestselling 50 Shades of Grey trilogy, and whether erotica sells.

Short answer: yes, erotica sells. And yes, if you feel that you’ll enjoy writing erotica, go for it.

On the other hand, if you can’t read the stuff, it will be challenging for you to write.

Disclaimer: I haven’t read 50 Shades of Grey, nor will I. I don’t read serial killer fiction either; it’s a personal preference.

A library’s decided against buying the book:

… library officials have opted not to purchase James’ steamy trilogy, based on the sexual adventures of Christian Grey, a 27-year-old billionaire businessman and college student Anastasia Steele. The erotic novel features scenes of bondage, domination and sadomasochism.

This is publicity you can’t buy; the books will stay on bestseller lists for months. :-)

Literary agent Kristin Nelson thinks that the sensation du jour will make agents’ lives more challenging. In Why 50 Shades of Grey Makes Agent Lives Harder, she says:

Readers have called 50 Shades of Grey any number of things: campy, fun, spirited, hilarious, worth the money, a fast read.

She’s worried that her query box will be flooded with 50 Shades of Grey clones. I’m sure it will be.

Should YOU write knockoffs of current bestsellers?

Writing any book takes time and passion. Your own reading habits are a clue. If you love to read a particular genre, chances are that you can write in that genre.

Write whatever you want to write. Be aware however that there will be many, many knockoffs of this series, because other writers will have the same idea.

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Write a Book AND Sell More Copies

Posted on May 15, 2012 by angela.booth

Write a Book

You’re a writer. Write a book — books sell forever. You can get paid for your writing over and over again.

Want to increase your ebook sales?

This week’s special offering will help:

(Watch the video.)

Essentially, here’s all you need to do – offer your book in more formats.

More Formats Mean More Sales

Let’s say you’ve written an ebook about how to buy your first home. The ebook’s based on your own experiences. You’ve also drawn on the expertise of several family members, one of whom is a financial advisor.

You’ve decided to offer the material as a Kindle ebook. You upload it to Amazon, do some light marketing, and you start to make sales.

Wonderful, right?

Yes, it is. With a little luck and some marketing, your sales will gradually increase.

However, Amazon is just one market. You could offer your ebook via other online bookstores too: Barnes & Noble, Apple’s iBook Store, Smashwords, etc.

What about offering a print version, via Amazons print on demand (POD) service, CreateSpace?

But there’s more…

Why not offer a version of your ebook directly to readers, via the Web? When you sell your ebook directly, just by adding a little more material (a checklist, a collection of resources, an audio interview) you can charge more. Rather than charging $9.99 on Amazon, you can sell the material for $97 or $197.

And more…

You could create a book proposal, and send it off to publishers and agents. Books sell on proposals, rather than complete manuscripts. If you get a nibble, you could be offered a contract with $20,000 as an advance against royalties.

Make the Most of What You Have

Once you’ve written an ebook, make the most of your creation. There are endless ways you can sell. We haven’t even mentioned creating “lite”, advanced, and premium versions of your material.

If you’re wondering whether the “more formats” tip works for fiction… YES, it does.

Here’s how:

  • Sell three short stories on Amazon and on the Web;

  • Expand a story into a novel;

  • Sell the novel pretty much the same way you’d sell a nonfiction book – more formats always mean more sales, because you’re reaching different audiences. With millions of people online, you’ll NEVER run out of potential readers.

Few writers go all-out when selling an ebook, and it’s a shame.

Make plans to deliver your content in several formats as soon as you get an idea for a new ebook.

Some readers will buy your material in a several formats – the Kindle version, the POD version, as well as the PDF version. They like convenience.

It doesn’t take long to offer material in different formats. Try it.

Please let me know of your successes with this strategy. :-)

The Ezine’s Videos – Thanks for the Messages

Watch for tomorrow’s video issue.

Thank you if you’ve responded. We’ve been swamped with messages, and we’re paying attention. Transcripts were a common request, so of course we’ll do that.

Please leave a note in the Comments if you have a special request.

The Write a Book Collection: the ultimate toolbox for writing and selling your books

The “Write a Book” collection shows you exactly HOW to write and sell your books FAST, and have fun while you’re doing it.

You’ll be writing quality books, and building an audience. This means that you’re building a long-lasting career. Not only that… Once you have an audience, publishers will be eager to snap you up: you’ll be their ideal author.

Until May 20, the “Write a Book” collection is available at a very special offering, due to the many request I get every week. This is a huge package of material; so take advantage while it’s available. Writing books means that you write once, and get paid for your writing over and over again.

Enjoy. :-)

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Web Writing: Easy HTML With Markdown

Posted on May 12, 2012 by angela.booth

One of the most common questions I’m asked is whether you need to learn HTML to become a Web writer.

The short answer is no, you don’t. Most web writing is done in plain text. Plain text is very useful, because you can manipulate the text in many ways and use it in even more ways.

When you’re writing for clients, as a rule of thumb, provide your content as plain text, unless the client specifically asks for MS Word. This is because providing the content in Word means that there’s an additional step necessary before the content can be used on the web, so it’s usually best to provide the content in plain text or in HTML, or in Markdown.

Here’s the longer answer.

It’s useful to know HTML because you can perform minor tweaks

When you know the basics of HTML you can perform minor tweaks on your website yourself. You don’t have to hire anybody else. You can also perform minor tweaks for clients.

It’s useful to know HTML if you own more than one site

If you own more than one website, you’ll often find yourself fiddling with your sites, and if you have to contact someone else for even minor tweaks, it can become very wearing on your nerves. Therefore it’s very useful to know the basic HTML elements, so that you can adjust your sites as needed.

Use markdown

Markdown language is a blessing. I’ve written about Markdown before.

I love Markdown, it’s very easy to add Markdown formatting to in a plain text file on any device, on my phone, for example, then I can save the material to a Markdown document later.

Here’s an excellent Markdown editor you can use in your Web browser. If you haven’t tried Markdown yet, give it a try. It makes writing for the Web much easier.

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Blogging For Your Pocket and Soul (Ezine Video)

Posted on May 9, 2012 by angela.booth

Kenna McKinnon kindly commented on the new video format. What do YOU think?

Kenna McKinnon kindly commented on the new video format. What do YOU think?

We’re all flooded with information, and are trying to do too many things at once. Many of you keep Fab Freelance Writing Ezine’s weekly PDFs, which is great. However, loyal readers have asked for “more videos, please…”

So here we go. :-)

Over the next few weeks, we’re switching to a video format.

The videos will be focus on questions I’m asked, over and over again.

Each video will have an exercise, to help you to make the most of the content.

Here’s this week’s video…

This Week’s Exercise

Visit the 3 sites mention in “Blogging For Your Pocket and Soul”. Come up with FIVE ideas for new blogs, and write them down.

Please do this exercise even if you’re not creating a blog for monetization. Get familiar with the sites. Even if you’re just writing articles, you need to get experience in assessing keywords.

What would you like to see in a video?

If you’ve got a challenge, or a question, and would like me to address it in a video in the weekly writing tips ezine, please comment. I’m always thrilled to hear from you.

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Write Quality Content Fast: Get It Done

Posted on May 9, 2012 by angela.booth
To Do List Power Reminder

Reminder: To Do List Power's Prelaunch is Ending

Are you writing articles? If you’ve been doing it for a while, you know that with Google’s constant updates, your buyers want QUALITY Web content.

You may be wondering what “quality content” is. Here’s what I tell my students:

A top quality article will have at least three sources — interviews. A middling quality article will have one source. A reasonable quality article will have no primary sources at all, just research you’ve done at the library or on the Web.

A junk article is totally regurgitated information.

A top quality article will take you longer, because it takes longer to research.

Creating quality content takes longer than rehashing junk that’s been rehashed a thousand times or more.

It’s no longer enough just to bash out content: you need to create quality, and you haven’t got unlimited tim

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Online Opportunities for Freelancers DOUBLING in 2012

Posted on May 8, 2012 by angela.booth
Freelance Writer

"He's making me a fortune as a freelance writer!"

Freelance writers are doing well, and signs are that they’ll be doing even better as the global economy improves.

Here’s Why More Employers Are Hiring People To Work From Home reports:

… employment growth for online workers (defined as independent workers, freelancers, and contractors who work remotely) doubled in the first quarter of 2012, according to a recent Elance report.

Elance reports that opportunities for online workers have DOUBLED in the first three months of this year. All those companies which let people go now need people to do the work, and they’re outsourcing projects.

Are you getting your share of this bonanza?

If you’re not, make grabbing your share of the opportunities a priority.

Before you know it, you’ll be working from home, and that’s a great lifestyle, as I say here:

Writing from home is the perfect business, because it’s portable. Your office is where your laptop is. And there’s a short commute: most days you just stroll from the kitchen to your home office.

Once you’ve done your writing for the day, you can hop in your car and go see a movie, or play a game of golf or tennis. You’re your own boss, and as long as the writing gets done, no one cares when or how you do it.

The opportunities are incredible at the moment – take advantage of them. You can and should be making a great income as a freelance writer.

By the way, if you’re new to freelancing, check out the Beginners’ Package.

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Self-Sabotage: Stop Crippling Your Writing Career

Posted on May 7, 2012 by angela.booth

Are you sabotaging your writing career?

Sadly many writers do.

Last week, I worked with a couple of writers who were sabotaging themselves. Of course, they had no idea they were doing it.

In “To Do List Power”, I say:

“If you’ve repeatedly set goals, and failed to achieve them, invariably it’s because you’re not looking at yourself and your situation clearly. Do you believe that you deserve success? If you don’t believe this — if your unconscious doesn’t believe it — you’ll sabotage your own success whenever you look as if you might just reach a goal.”

I don’t want to embarrass these writers, so we’ll call them Thomas and Jane. Let’s briefly look at their stories.

Thomas started a blog three years ago. The blog never took off. Thomas made a few posts, got busy, then forgot about the blog. He did get something out of blogging: he used the blog as a sample of his writing. This worked; he got gigs.

Last January Thomas became inspired by a friend who was blogging successfully, and created a “sports” blog. He deleted his older blog, and wanted guidance on monetizing his new blog.

Jane’s a creative whiz. She has many ideas, but can’t complete projects. Once her first inspiration burns out, she drops whatever she’s working on when she’s seduced by a new idea. She purchased one of my ebook-writing products, and wanted guidance in getting an ebook up and selling.

Both Thomas and Jane are sabotaging their own efforts.

Thomas’s original blog was working for him. Although he put little effort into it, the blog was getting gigs for him. Not only could he have done more with this old blog, he could have used it to boost his new blog. But he deleted it.

Jane’s a wonderful writer; truly talented. Unfortunately, she’s also talented in self-sabotage. She could easily be making several thousand dollars a month from her ebooks… if she completed them.

The First Step in Recovery from Self-Sabotage

You can stop sabotaging your own efforts. All you need to do is recognize that you’re doing it.

Believe it or not, just recognizing what you’re doing will stop it. You won’t be driven by unconscious motivations once they become conscious.

Think about your writing career this coming week. Are there signs of self-sabotage?

Exercise: Write down five ways you could be sabotaging your writing career.

Yes, that’s the entire exercise.

If you’re saying to yourself: I would never sabotage myself, try this… Pretend. Write down five ways a writer (not you) MIGHT sabotage his own career.

End Self-Doubt and Procrastination For Good

To Do List Power

Want to become a confident, prolific, top-selling writer?

You can write fast and well, and make more money than you’ve ever made (in today’s writing climate, you can and SHOULD aim to make $1,000 a day.)

The solution to all your writing challenges is in your To Do List.

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Are You a Closet Procrastinator?

Posted on May 4, 2012 by angela.booth

To Do List Power

Are you achieving what you want to achieve as a writer? If you aren’t, the reason is procrastination.

Here’s the thing about procrastination. It’s hard to identify. It’s sneaky. I’m sure that you have many excellent reasons you can’t achieve a full-time writing career, or achieve whatever it is you want to achieve.

Your reasons could include: you’re working overtime at your job, you’re pregnant (or your wife is pregnant), you don’t know whether you’ll make any money, this Internet thing is probably a scam, you need to know more… Procrastination cloaks itself in a million disguises.

Those aren’t “reasons”. They’re excuses. And behind every excuse is procrastination.

Procrastination-killer: what do you really want?

No one procrastinates when something is important to them. The unpalatable truth may be that what you want to achieve isn’t that important to you. It’s a wish, rather than a burning desire.

Here’s an example from my own life. I played around with writing for years. I sold an article or a short story occasionally, but mainly I collected rejection slips. I wanted to write a book but had plenty of reasons I couldn’t. I had young children, I was running a business, I had community commitments, yada yada yada.

It was all nonsense of course. I had the same amount of time everybody else has, I just wasn’t committed to my writing. One day I woke up and realized that I was in my late twenties. If I wanted to write a book, it would take me years to sell it (this was in the 1970s, long before the Web and Amazon.com.) If I was serious about my lifelong dream of writing a book, it was long past time I got on with it.

I told myself that I would try to get a book published until I was 40. If it hadn’t happened by then, I’d give up my dream.

Here’s what happened. Within ONE year of making that simple commitment, I had a multi-book contract with a British publisher.

When something’s important to you, you won’t procrastinate

If you’re not achieving what you want to achieve ask yourself whether you want it enough.

Maybe you don’t: that’s fine. Admit it. But if you decide that you do want it, realize that you’re procrastinating, no matter what you tell yourself.

I created To Do List Power: Use Your To Do List to Make $1,000 a Day because so many writers contact me with reasons they can’t do something or other. Every “reason” is an excuse; it’s procrastination in disguise.

It’s an incredible time to be a writer

These days the opportunities for writers are incredible. I wish I were 30 years younger. You can achieve anything you want to achieve. You just need to use everything you have, and get out of your own way.

Never let procrastination fool you. If you really want something, you CAN achieve it. Consider that you may be a closet procrastinator. Recognizing procrastination for what it is is the first step in overcoming it.

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Write Once, Sell Forever: Make the Most of Your Writing

Posted on May 3, 2012 by angela.booth

Are you making the most of your writing? Chances are that you aren’t, because you’re not repurposing what you have.

This week, in Fab Freelance Writing Ezine, our theme was repurposing content. I’m publishing the Editorial from that issue here, in case you missed it.

The theme of this weeks’s issue is reusing your content. You can and should reuse your writing, so that you get the most value from it.

Tip: if you write something for someone else, chances are you’ve lost the rights, and can’t reuse. However, if you write material for your blog, you can repurpose that content in any way you choose. You can reuse any material to which you have the rights.

Repurpose! Write once, and reuse

I cover repurposing your content in a video in To Do List Power: Use Your To Do List to Make $1,000 a Day, which will be released shortly. Repurposing is a great way to make more money from material you’ve already written, and it saves time, too.

In our article this week, we discuss turning your blog into a book. If you have a lot of material on a topic, turning that material into a book makes perfect sense.

You can go in the other direction of course. If you’ve written a book, you can turn it into a blog, or into a short report or three.

Look on everything you write as inventory. Your inventory will become more valuable over time. It’s vital that you keep your inventory safe; make sure that you have several backups. I lost some material over the Christmas holiday period. I had backups, but the backups failed as well… Nasty.

Before you write, consider how you might reuse the material.

Let’s say you’re writing an article. Over the next year or two, that article might become part of a short report, or it might become a chapter in a book. You could turn it into a video and post it on YouTube.

You could post snippets of the article on Twitter, or turn it into a press release.

When you repurpose content, you can sell it forever… almost. :-)

Check out your archives – find material you can repurpose

A writer friend, Maureen, wrote for magazines for years. She’s now writing Kindle ebooks, and she’s happily repurposing her material.

Of course she can’t repurpose articles she’s sold if she’s sold all the rights, but mostly she sold First Serial Rights (once-only magazine publishing rights), so she can repurpose her articles. She’s turning articles into Kindle ebooks, and is selling others to bloggers.

Check out YOUR archives today. What can you repurpose?

If you’re a new writer, you don’t have archives – yet. Keep repurposing in mind. Your motto should be: “write it once, and sell it forever”… in one form or another.

Share your thoughts on repurposing in the Comments. Do you repurpose? How?

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