#buqoYA: Another class ends! You are all awesome.

photo from facebook.com/buqoapp

It's all the same, but different. 

#buqoYA is a class similar to #romanceclass, #buqosteamyreads, and #flirtsteamyreads before it. It was mostly online, and you didn't have to go to the meetups or face-to-face classes. It's got a lot of the same people (raise your hand if you attended all of them!), and the goal of each class was to guide people to finish a story. I don't teach grammar or spelling or do much handholding as people write. Instead I provide guidelines and pacing, and suggest ways to help them set up their own support system. Finishing meant getting published, and many of those who finished stories in my previous classes did get published, one way or another.

Different, because this time the class wrote YA. The characters had to be between 16 to 19 years old. I assigned all the participants to one of four tropes, and they had to stick to it, even if they got a trope they hated. I told them they could not remake Romeo and Juliet, so there should be no stories about young lovers from warring families eloping and ending in fake death and real death. (Call them out on it if they do it!) I had screenwriters Charlene Sawit Esguerra, Anton Santamaria, and Katski Flores share their insights on chemistry, tropes, and how to convincingly create history between characters. I made the participants read Stephanie Perkins and Jenny Han. And watch '90s romcoms and Star Cinema movies. 

 

All the lessons were delivered through email, and the only way to discuss things was through Twitter, using the hashtag #buqoYA. It was a joy to check my Twitter feed every day and see authors sharing resources, photos, songs, anything that would help the others get into a "YA mood." It's almost like boot camp, making people write a story and finish it in five weeks. 

Out of over a hundred who signed up, a little over 30 authors finished their YA story. We're still in the editing stage right now, but by the summer we'll have over 30 new stories for young adults. By Pinoy authors. Some of them have published before, many of them are first-timers. I hope I can count on your support and let some new authors into your reading list, and maybe your hearts!

A few things that worked for the participants (as discussed in the last class) that may help you if you want to try out this style of workshop:

1. Get a critique group/support group as early as possible

If you're the kind of writer who needs a critique partner or beta reader group, find people as soon as the class starts. Send them chapters as soon as you write them, if you need to. (My note: Your mileage may vary when it comes to critique groups. Go with whatever will help you finish. I personally don't consult more than two people when writing the standard book, unless I'm doing research. But it depends on what you need done.)

2. Manage your time.

No one ever has time to write. Deciding to write usually means something has to go, like an extra hour of sleep, or the three episodes of that show you wanted to catch up on. It helped that we had a deadline -- because sacrificing something for the sake of an externally imposed deadline seemed more acceptable, than the abstract concept of "working on your novel."

3. Listen to people. Do research.

For some of the writers the challenge was writing "young." For others it was writing a person who seemed too different from who they were. In every case it helped to step back, and open up to the possibility that we need to learn something new. Listen to people. Look things up. Ask other people how they live. I am a fan now of stepping out of our comfort zones, especially when writing. 

4. Embrace the community

This has happened with every single class, I don't know why, but I'll take it. People are pretty awesome. Is it a romance reader thing? A romance writer thing? I've found the people who join the class to be, in general, a helpful bunch. They'll share what they know. They'll help read and edit. (Even when I tell them not to volunteer for things when they're writing on a deadline too!) But you know what? When someone's that helpful, we should give back. Read their story, buy their book, share racy pics with them. (wait...) 

5. Brush up on grammar because I will not be teaching it.

While this all seems like fun and games, I did say it was like boot camp. It was real work. I also did something that I didn't do in previous classes -- I required all submissions to be grammar-checked before submitting to me. Even just a one-paragraph description. If I can't read a submission well past the first few sentences because of the grammar problems, I was not going to let the participant continue until it was edited. The reason I did this should be obvious: I don't teach grammar. I think it slows down the good students when I slow down to take the time to tell someone that their sentence is not grammatically correct. Anyone intending to join a class at this level -- meaning we are looking a publishing deal in the eye -- should have their basics down. I'm not going to be the person who teaches someone subject-verb agreement, please.

6. Join the class because you like what we're asking you to do. Don't join if it's not what you want to do. 

If the class is sponsored (in this case by retailer buqo) the sponsor gets to influence the kind of stories we produce. I think it's a fair trade, since they're making it so that the participants don't pay for anything. I also mention right away what the sponsor is looking for, and give participants every chance to opt out if they find out along the way that this is not the class for them. 

7. Realize that learning doesn't end with "The End." Or "Publish."

Did your beta readers love your story? All the revisions go through okay? Did the copy editor find every typo? That's not the end of it! I don't believe that a story is ever "finally perfect" and then sent out into the world. A story is what it is, and then readers react to it however they want to. Some will love it, some will hate it, and the best we can do is learn from the reactions and apply lessons learned to future work. 

So even after all the work you put in, all the people who helped you...the work is not done. It never is. :) Because now you know how to do this, author, and you might just keep doing it! It won't end. 

Let's hope it doesn't.

As always, this class was fun, and I'm glad it worked for so many of you. But you have to remember that I didn't really do much more than send emails. You did all the work. A book with your name on it exists now because you did all the work.  

Workshop and training update

Print book formatting and affordable printing, with co-facilitator Tania Arpa, February 28, O2 Space Makati. Sign up here: bit.ly/learnprintpub

After February 28, we are conducting training based on requested schedules only. Choose your schedule here, if you'd like us to help you set you up as a digital and print publisher: bit.ly/aaotraining.

I've been accepting many opportunities to speak and give talks on publishing and writing, so there will be those too. But if you're interested in learning to publish, and actually publishing your book, in a classroom type setting, with me as the instructor, this will be the only way we'll be doing it in the near future. Thanks!

Workshop: Ebook formatting and publishing on January 31, 2015

Update: 3 slots left as of November 29.

Ebook formatting and publishing
Venue: O2 Space Solutions, Milelong Bldg, Amorsolo St. Makati
Time: 8:30 to 11:30 am
Fee: P3,500 (includes snacks and coffee)

What we're going to do is format and publish your book during the session. That means your book will be available for purchase THAT DAY. Consider January 31 your book's release day.

I would also prefer a small group, so please go over these requirements before you reserve a slot. You must have, by January 31:

1. A final manuscript, ideally all text/prose (or if with image inserts, then only a few), in Microsoft Word .doc format
2. An ebook cover (front cover only) in JPG, 1000 pixels on the longest side
3. A book description
4. The ability to make and accept Paypal payments
5. Laptop you can bring to workshop (can edit .doc and JPG)

We can schedule a new workshop day if slots fill up quickly, or if you don't have complete requirements by January 31. Will announce new dates.

If you're ready for more: On February 28, 2015 we'll teach you how to set up your print edition (through worldwide print on demand, and affordable printing options). Update: 3 slots left for this as of November 29.

How I do author marketing

How I "market" myself as an author, as of September 2014:

1. I call myself an author. I used to introduce myself as whatever job position I had at the time, and then do an "oh I write too." Now it's the other way around.

2. I keep in touch with readers. I prioritize the communication channel based on how close and personal it gets, not how many the "followers" are. So for me right now, in order of importance:

Meetups/Events
Email
Twitter
Instagram
Facebook
Wattpad

3. I reach out to new readers by giving away lots of free stuff. Because I write a lot and often. One free book once in a while serves to introduce me to people who might be willing to read or buy the other ten. This is super easy to do, now that I've focused on digital.

4. I don't just say "buy my book." I am routinely invited to speak about several things, because I've publicly given my position on them: Indie publishing, digital reading, copyright, romance, new adult as a category. If I sat down and planned my author career beforehand, I would have thought about this more carefully, but I don't mind this mix of topics. They're all things that I'm passionate about. It's important, I think, that as an author you be associated with something more than your book. (Otherwise you have the problem of people liking your book, but not necessarily you, and what happens when you have a new one?)

I'm speaking about this at the NBDB session at the Manila International Book Fair (1:30 PM, Sept 20, SMX MOA). Drop by! Ask questions. :)

How I sell paperback and print editions

Though I've focused on ebooks, I still have print editions made of nearly all of my books. The difference is that I do it through print on demand. As an indie author/publisher, this is how I'm able to provide print editions of my books with the least amount of expense and effort.

For buyers worldwide:

CreateSpace, Amazon, Book Depository. Those who have no problem buying books online can get print editions any time through Amazon, CreateSpace, and The Book Depository. I'd recommend The Book Depository for Philippine buyers because they offer free shipping to the Philippines.

Chain and indie bookstores. Yes, it's possible for my books to appear in brick-and-mortar bookstores anywhere in the world. I've signed up for a CreateSpace service called Expanded Distribution, and my titles are available to bookstores that are already using CreateSpace to purchase books. However, they still have to make the order. I haven't yet explored getting word out to the book buyers of these stores, but it's available as an option.

For Philippine buyers:

Direct from me. I try to keep a few copies (not more than five) of each title in stock, for people who for one reason or another can't find it or buy it online. (bit.ly/mvebooks)

Trusted online sellers. Like Celina's Books and Magazines.

Book fairs. I've participated in a few reader fairs and gatherings, selling books during the event.

Independent booksellers. So far only indie bookstore/bar Uno Morato in Quezon City carries my indie print editions.

Chain bookstores. You can get into the large chain bookstores in the Philippines through consignment agreements or working with distributors. I don't currently do this because working with a large bookstore will require me printing hundreds if not thousands of copies per title to provide stock for each of its branches, not to mention dealing with the logistics of sending those copies over, monitoring sales, and getting back unsold copies. I've decided not to pursue this for now. But it is possible, all the channels are there if this is what you want to do.

This kind of minimum-effort print distribution system means I don't sell thousands of copies by the way. My bookstore presence is mainly due to my Philippine publisher, Summit Books, and not my own work. So if print distribution is something you want to do for your book, you'll need to figure out what you want to get out of it. If you want to earn a lot, be ready to spend and work for it too.

How I format my ebooks

The tools I use for writing have changed, depending really on what's practical at the time. As of right now, I'm using Google Docs for web and mobile, and finalizing everything on Microsoft Word. (I even caved and pay P250 a month for fully functional Word.) 

Whatever I use though, I make it a point to write in such a way that my manuscript itself is already ebook-friendly. Not that difficult to do, since I write straightforward text with no fancy extras. Here are a few of my settings from the draft stage on:

- Single column text (absolutely no text boxes anywhere)

- Justified

- Indented paragraphs, one carriage return/"Enter" to start next paragraph

- Single spaced, no space between paragraphs

- One font throughout, if I can help it. Usually Georgia or Palatino Linotype.

- Chapter headings to the left, and styled as Heading 1 (anything I want to appear on a table of contents page is Heading 1)

- No footnotes, strikethroughs, subscript, superscript, special characters, inserted objects. (If I can help it.)

Formatting rules of course vary per book, but I try to stick to these even as I write, so it's less of a headache later on when I'm actually publishing it.

Reader Agreement 2014

Hi, Reader. Thanks for dropping by the blog.

I just updated my Publishing Strategy (posted yesterday). Maybe you're curious about what it means for you? This might help:

1. I don't expect you to read my books.
If you do, thank you. If you read more than one, thank you multiple times. I feel I have to say this though because I meet people at events, and they seem like they're not into romance novels, but they still compulsively tell me that they'll read my books.

How about this: Thank you, but you don't have to. If it's really not your thing. Authors want to be read, but deep down they probably don't want to be the assigned novel that everyone is dreading.

2. You are not required to do anything for me.
I will write and publish books as long as I have stories to write and publish. Even if no one buys them. I'm serious. (That sounds like a threat haha!)

Yes I may ask you to read, buy, recommend, or whatever, but you don't have to. No pressure. You don't owe me anything, and I think the best way for this relationship (between author and reader) to work is when we're both in it because you like reading my stuff, and I like writing it.

3. I will try my best to give you the reading experience you want, but I'm also a busy gal.
I'm a reader too and I understand that you like paper/will not read an ebook/don't have iOS/don't want to download a new app/don't have a credit card/prefer to buy from a bookstore/[add preference here]. I'm doing my best to make my books available in digital and print, on various platforms if digital, accepting all the payment systems available to you, or free even. But I can't be everywhere doing everything at once.

If you want to read my book, but can't, because it's not available where and how you want it -- email me? Let me know? I can probably put together a quick solution for you. Or bump it up my to-do list.

Are we good? You OK with all of this? Thank you. :)

State of the Publishing Strategy 2014

When I decided to publish my own books, that was a "hey let's try this" that became, whether I planned it or not, the thing that would define me as an author. There are people who are aware of me as a self-publisher who've never picked up my books. So that's how it's going to be.

Here's a summary of the past four years of self/indie publishing:

1. I explored ebook retailers apart from Amazon.

I had one fantastic year on Amazon, and one great year on B&N, and then...boring. My sales plateaued, a sign that I was selling books to mostly the same group and it wasn't expanding. I tried Amazon exclusivity and felt that it wasn't worth it, but the difficulty with being everywhere? It's a lot of work to be everywhere. Submitting to ebook retailers with different submission requirements. Making edits and corrections. When the same book looks different on a different site. Arg. It's tempting, so tempting, to just stick to the bigger stores, because why do this work for the 2 people who buy from that store because they refuse to buy from the biggest ones? But I did it anyway, because I should be everywhere. It's taking a bit of time though for me to get everything done.

2. I pushed print on demand and cheaper print editions.

Because of the requests for paperback I kept getting, I worked a lot with printers the past four years, to release all my books in print within the same month as they were out in ebook. I also found alternatives so that a book could be sold for P200 -- very close to my traditionally published print books, which are P175 each. This is also exhausting work, and should only be done for love, and not profit. Even though I've got the process down and know how I can get it done, I've decided that it's not worth the time spent. 

People who love print books? They have a standard of printing quality, I believe, that must be maintained. If I were to give them what they deserve as book lovers (a beautiful cover, well-designed book pages, good quality printing) and produce it as an indie publisher, it would be super expensive. There will be some people who will want it, but the ones who just want a cheap read they find in a bookstore? I can't provide that for them.

3. I wrote for the audience.

After writing, selling, and promoting contemporary romance in English with Filipino characters for three and a half years, I tried something new: I wrote a contemporary romance in English. Were the characters Filipino? No...or are they? I didn't say anything either way. I wrote a romance novel exactly how I write them, set it in a place I was familiar with because my family lives there (but it's not in the Philippines), and it was promoted the way that international contemporary romances are usually promoted. And...it was a success. A modest success compared to other books, but definitely the biggest success of any book of mine, given the same time period.

So what's happening now?

1. My focus is back to digital. With a vengeance.

Any time I have I think should be spent writing, instead of publishing. Print on demand will still be available of course, but I've dropped from my brain space all plans to try to come up with print distribution model that will work for me. I will work with anyone who has figured this out, but I won't try to come up with it myself.

I will focus on writing more, and getting my work out to the growing number of readers who want to read ebooks. Print lovers will still have print on demand, and I'll probably still sell at book fairs if I can. But it's digital first for me, and those who are into digital too will get loads of perks. In fact, my mailing list and various book groups already don't pay more than $1 for any of my books. Stick with me and a book will always be cheap or free. :) I can't offer that deal with print.

2. For everything else, I will work with other people.

Right now I teach writing and publishing classes. But I don't do or know everything, so I also work with bookstores, book bloggers, and printers when I can. Moving forward, I'll continue this practice, and just let people do what they do best.

3. I'm writing romance, period.

That romance-writing experiment? I'm doing more of it. I've started writing a new series called Spotlight, and the first two of the books will come out this year. International settings, international characters, but romance the way I write it. 

I will still write my Philippine-setting stories (under the series Chic Manila) but expect more Spotlight stuff in the future as I work on filling up that line.

This is how it is now. Who knows how it'll be next year? See you all then. :)

Accidentally semi-popular on Wattpad: What I learned

My Publishing Advice column on Wattpad went over 100,000 reads last week, and I vaguely remember telling myself to throw out some analysis if that ever happened. But then I missed the moment when it did hit the number! Because what I'm learning is that Wattpad popularity is a bit like rolling downhill...at some point external forces take over and you're rolling fast without even trying.

This is what my Publishing Advice stats look like, at 105K or so reads. (Just edited this number because it gained a thousand just in the time it took me to write this post.)

I have over a dozen stories on Wattpad, and "Publishing and Self-Publishing Advice for Writers" is by far the most popular one. It is also NOT part of my portfolio as an author. It's actually more like my writing classes. I also take questions from the Wattpad users, so there are some topics that have never been discussed in any of my workshops.

The most popular Wattpad stories by Filipino authors have over 20 million reads though, so don't be at all impressed by my numbers. (It's also why I qualify in the title and say "semi-popular.") There is popularity, and there is POPULARITY.

For comparison, I posted my actual work of fiction, in its entirety, on Wattpad also. This is what the stats look like, at just under 12K reads:

The first page contains the table of contents, and it's the jumping off point for anyone who might have stumbled upon the story for the first time.

What I've learned about Wattpad popularity:

- Write in the language of the community you wish to reach. You'd think this was obvious, but as an author I've chosen to write in English, and that excludes some groups even as it includes others. By writing in Filipino, I reached an entirely new (and larger) audience in my own country. However, they're reading the advice column, and not necessarily converting to the fiction. It helps me personally though, because I'm also an educator and trainer, along with being an author.

- Write something people want to read. Again, you'd think this was obvious, but writers usually go for what they want to write, instead of supplying what the reader community demands. Did they want yet another chick lit novel about a 20-something girl finding love and living life? Not necessarily. But they wanted help with writing and publishing.

Business and self-help book publishers know this though. People want help, all the time, for everything. But on some things, more than others. My most popular posts from the advice column were about topics that readers cared about, not necessarily what I wanted them to care about. Sometimes things would sweetly converge, but even with 41 posts up there are probably just a handful of those where I got the tone and timeliness just right.

- Be read by key people. I don't want to say "popular" or "important" people -- just the right people for the purpose you have in mind. I actually didn't care about the numbers; I did this hoping that certain people would read it, and I think I reached them, so purpose fulfilled, I guess.

- Eventually your readers will find you. Patience is good too. Fairy Tale Fail is continuing to get reads, and is being added to reading lists, despite being complete (and the last 3 chapters are private, so only Wattpad users who follow me can see them). I like its performance though, so far. The dropoff from chapter to chapter is minimal. The last chapters are getting good votes, which tell me that I wrote that ending well. I'm proud enough of the book that I think if it stays there long enough, it will be read and enjoyed by more people.

- I don't think every new Fairy Tale Fail (Wattpad edition) reader is a lost sale. Fairy Tale Fail has been available as an ebook since 2010, and over 10,000 copies of it have been downloaded so far. It's been free, and as cheap as $0,99, and P175 in Philippine bookstores for a long time. If someone hasn't chosen to get it that way, then it doesn't hurt me if they find it and read it in this manner. Also I have like 10 other books that they can choose from, if they want to help me earn from this writing thing.

Writing as business and art

Let's get a few things out of the way: Wattpad and its popularity in the Philippines just blew away many misconceptions people have had about writing and the state of reading among Pinoy youth.

An interesting consequence of this is that so many young authors are getting published, or self-publishing. I'm happy for them (I too was a young writer just dreaming to see my name on an actual book), but I also am alarmed at how many of them seem not to know what they're getting into, and are perhaps signing away precious rights for bargain prices.

Maybe it's because they're young, but there's a lot of trust being given here -- trust in the publisher, to provide guidance and expertise. Some publishers are of course worthy of your trust. Some, unfortunately, are not. I always tell my workshop participants to prepare for success -- please don't accept a crappy deal because you don't believe it will ever be worth anything, and that any attention, any offer, is good enough.

I've posted several chapters worth of advice for young writers here on Wattpad. It's in Taglish. (Yes marunong akong mag-Tagalog, friends.) I hope it helps you in some way!

Out in January 2014: Stories from Luna East Arts Academy, volume 1 (YA/English)

I'm happy to share that the first #romanceclass YA anthology will be out in paperback in January. Yay!

During one of the #romanceclass monthly meetups, the authors present started talking about what they could do next, after trying to write their romance novellas. And we started talking about our love for YA, which is how a lot of us started reading and writing.

So now we have Luna East Arts Academy, an ongoing project where participating authors contribute a YA romance/coming-of-age story set in high school. Volume 1 contains the following stories:

Be Creative by Stella Torres

Senpai's #1 Fan by Anne Plaza

Love Lies A'Bleeding by Alyssa Ashley Lucas

Picture Me Naked by D. R. Lee

Something Real by Miles Tan

Wouldn't Change A Thing by Jayen San Diego

You Are the Apple of My Eye by Addie Lynn Co

The Letter by M. Protacio-De Guzman

Where Do We Go From Here by Jen Carpio

The Rumor About Me by Kristel S. Villar

He Loves Me...Not? by Athena Claire Duenas

Sitting in a Tree by Chrissie Peria

Yours Is the First Face That I Saw by Ron Lim

Fifty-Two Weeks by Mina V. Esguerra 

What is Luna East, exactly?

A fictional Metro Manila high school that we’ve created as the setting for new YA fiction. Luna East is a co-ed non-sectarian private school, somewhere in the metro, a bit upscale but with a growing percentage of scholarship students. The school likes to focus on its arts education, but they have sports teams (Go, Wolves!), beauty pageants, and other things that private schools in the metro have. 

Basic rules of #LunaEast:

Luna East Arts Academy is a shared setting for our YA stories. 

Stories must be set in the present time or recent past.

Any characters in the story will become part of the “universe” and can be used by the other writers in their stories (informing the original author of your plans would be polite).

Who can write a Luna East story? Right now, we are fine with ANYONE writing stories set in Luna East, but to be part of the paperback compilation (and therefore being CANON) your story must be reviewed and checked for continuity against the other stories.

Author Year 2013

Released this year:
Queen of the Clueless (Interim Goddess of Love #2)
Summit editions of Love Your Frenemies, Interim Goddess of Love, and Queen of the Clueless

Wrote and released:
Extraordinary (short story prequel to Anti Dynasty)
Icon of the Indecisive (Interim Goddess of Love #3)
Young and Scambitious (short story)
Fifty-Two Weeks (short story, contribution to Luna East YA compilation)
Welcome to Envy Park
Playing Autumn

Started writing/outlining:
Iris Moving On
Spark
Properly Scandalous (Scambitious 2)
Anti Dynasty
My Muse Apollo

YAY. I will not put pressure on myself to finish anything new right now and will just enjoy the holidays. I wish everyone a happy and stress-free couple of weeks! :D

PS. Tune in on Thursday, Dec 26 at 7:30 PM. I've got a podcast with Tania Arpa and our first guest is author Kate Evangelista!

Getting Queen of the Clueless (IGoL 2) without a credit card

So the question I keep getting asked lately is When is Queen of the Clueless coming out in bookstores?

What people are looking for is most likely the Summit Media edition, the one available in National Bookstore, Fully Booked, and everywhere else. This edition won't be out until September 2013 (I think).

But the International Edition of Queen of the Clueless (IGoL 2) is already available right now through:

Amazon (Kindle ebook): Click on the link to order. Right now it's on sale at P85, regular price P130. Requires a credit card. You'll be able to read this on your Kindle, iPhone, Android phone, laptop or PC. If you would like a Kindle copy but don't have a credit card, email minavesguerra@gmail.com. I can help!

Smashwords (Epub and HTML ebook): Click on the link to order. Right now it's on sale at P85, regular price P130. Requires a credit card or Paypal account. You'll be able to read this on your Nook, iPhone, Android phone, laptop or PC. If you would like the epub for iPad/Nook or html version but don't have a credit card or Paypal account, email minavesguerra@gmail.com. I can help!

Philippine Print On Demand: Paperback copy with the international cover (see pic above). P350 each. Requires a bank deposit or Paypal payment. Email minavesguerra@gmail.com if you would like a copy.

Leave a comment or email me if you have a question that isn't covered by this. :) Thank you for the love! It's definitely okay to wait until September too. :)

Author at Once (High School), April 20

Where I'll be this weekend:

bronzeage.ph/authoratonce

It's our writing/publishing workshop, but this time for young writers. We specifically invited high school students, but we're actually going to have a few from college (and even grade school!). Which is great, and we welcome them. What we want to do is answer questions young writers may have about their options, their possible future in writing, and what they can do with this hobby.

So excited! See you on Saturday!

Some pie, the chart kind

Queen of the Clueless the ebook has been out for a little over 20 days, and it's been downloaded over 1,700 times. That number includes discounted, borrowed, free and full price versions. So far it's only available on Amazon (more retailers soon!) but I just wanted to share the breakdown of which Amazon country stores grabbed the most copies.

No surprise that Amazon.com got the biggest share (Filipinos can buy ebooks while in the Philippines using an Amazon.com account). But was pleasantly surprised with the interest from the UK and Germany. Hi, UK and Germany!

"Other" actually means Spain, Italy, Japan and Brazil. I still give big hugs to the people who took a chance on my book there, and hope you try out the others soon.

What an author has to do

Source: imgfave.com via Kathy on Pinterest

Universe, I'm telling you now, I want to do this full-time. This meaning writing, publishing, and marketing my own books. It's not at a level where it replaces income from my day job, but I want it to. Soon. Because if this were my day job, then my nights and weekends would be proper slacking off time.

One of the ways to make this happen is to do my own marketing, make sure people know I'm a writer and find out how to buy my books. What has worked for me:

1. Mailing list - It's opt-in, so I know that these people who sign up actually WANT to hear news from me. So I give them first dibs on everything, from cover reveals to freebies to discounts.
2. Author blog - It looks like this site is where I dump my thoughts on anything and everything, but it's also where people find out about me, see interviews I've done, and get links to buy my books. I also try to post stuff here about the books so people can get a feel of my writing style and themes, in case they're still deciding whether to buy or not.
3. Twitter - This is where I interact with the most number of readers and other writers.
4. Instagram - I haven't actually done any marketing on Instagram, but I noticed that readers were taking pictures of my books and sharing it to their followers. I'm now on it to thank them for the love. :)
5. People - I've discovered that one happy reader can be responsible for more new readers and sales than a fancy ad. I try to get to know who these people are and thank them as best I can. I've given cupcakes, free books, shirts... whatever I can get my hands on.

The way I see it, it's all about access and recommendations. Once someone's curious and wants to try my books, I'll do what I can so she gets the book in the format she prefers, and thank her for telling her friends about it.

It sounds like work. Shouldn't this be my actual work? Universe, you hear me?

Competition is a good thing

Got a fascinating question lately: Aren't you worried that you're creating more competition for yourself by doing the Author at Once workshops?

It was one of the prep questions for an interview I just did, and though it wasn't asked, I did start thinking about how to answer it.

Short answer: No.

Long answer: I think helping writers get their work out there is good for everyone. More books, more choices for readers.

We've run Author at Once four times, and met about 70 writers -- and they're all into different things. Some want to write fantasy, scifi, humor, textbooks, some aren't even writers and more of illustrators and cover artists.

And even if there are a few who want to go into writing Contemporary New Adult Chick Lit Romance in English (like me), I don't think we're going to run out of characters, settings, plots and ideas.

Readers tend to read more than one author and buy more than one book in their lifetimes. And readers who fancy a genre will try other authors within the genre, which means fans of my "competition" (let's say contemporaries instead?) are more likely to read my books.

It's good for everyone. Go publish already. :)

An ebook is still a book (rinse and repeat)

So this is my stand now: If you read it, then it's a book. Maybe it has hard covers and a dust jacket, or it's 6 x 9 with cream colored paper, or it's tiny and fits in my bag, or it's large font on my e-ink reader, or it's reflowable on my iPad... if I read it, then it's a book.

(Arguable: if I listen to it in the car, is it a book? But that's another discussion.)

As a reader, I get to decide which format and edition works best for me. I used to prefer trade paperbacks, but now that I've got an active toddler at home, I never have two hands free to read them. I recently received the hardcover of The Scorpio Races from the people at the Filipino Readercon, but my reading progress was so slow because I can only really read it at home, and when my daughter's asleep.

And then one day I just said, why am I dragging my feet on this? I like the story, I'm really enjoying it, and want to read as much of it as I can. Why wait? So I got the ebook version, and now I'm reading it on my iPad outside, after work, as I grab a bite before heading home, on the cab line, and even at home, when my daughter's fast asleep and the lights are out. No delays.

Last night, while the iPad was charging up, I read twenty-five pages using the hardcover edition.

I understand why some readers feel that there are sides and they have to choose one, because they're being asked to pay twice, and usually the costs are competitively similar. But I hope they eventually realize that there are no sides, and that maybe in the future, purchasing one edition (maybe with a premium) allows a buyer access to all formats.

I was asked my opinion on this topic recently on the Facebook group of the Freelance Writers Guild of the Philippines, and I said something like: Writers very rarely get a say in how their book looks and feels. So loving the physical book, its pages, its cover, the font, the smell -- that is a bond made with the printer and publisher, rather than the writer.

As a reader, you choose the format that allows you to best enjoy the book.

As a publisher, you make sure that your books are available in all formats the readers want, and at the cost they're willing to pay.

As a writer, you appreciate and reward the people who enjoy your work and follow your career in whatever format your work appears in.

So anyway. I just wanted to say that an ebook is a book is a book. And if you'll excuse me, I'd like to go back to reading The Scorpio Races (on hardcover) while my daughter's still asleep.

This is how I do print on demand (in the Philippines)

Even though ebooks account for most of my sales, I still get requests for paperback versions. There are people who just prefer it, and who am I to turn away a willing reader just because I didn't have a print copy of my book?

A company called Books On Demand has been printing the Philippine editions of my self-published books (they're the tiny paperbacks I started selling in November 2011, in case you have one in your possession right now). Prior to discovering them I was using CreateSpace, which is great too, except they were printing the books out of the US and I was spending a lot on shipping. Books On Demand is just in Ortigas! So so cool. (Update: I also work with Marikina-based JMD Copy Print! Their phone number is 919-3283 and they also print one copy minimum.)

Anyway, I just had a nice conversation with them today, and I think I should maybe post some of the questions I often get about how we work together. Because we think some people don't yet realize how easy and affordable it all is.

What does one need to do to get their book printed?

Prepare your book the way you want to see it laid out in print. They have some guidelines, which you can request, and they'll accept your PDF file. Send also your front cover, back cover, and spine images.

What I do: My books are simple and usually just text (with some illustrations), so I just send a layout done in Word and saved as PDF. Could it look better? Of course, but I do it this way to keep my costs low. So far my layout costs are zero. My covers are done by more artistic people, so I just get a hi-res JPG of them and email them over.

How many copies do they require an author to order and buy?

One copy.

Of course, it'll be an expensive single copy if you decide to do that, because they have to put some work into making sure your book looks good. As with most things that scale, the price per copy goes down the more copies you order.

What I do: I take pre-orders, and accept payment prior to delivery. This way my first order is always way more than 1 copy, so I can negotiate for a lower per-copy rate. And I don't end up paying for excess copies out of my own savings, nor do I have zillions of copies lying around waiting to be bought. I tried that and don't really have the space to keep that going.

How much does it cost to print a book?

My books are small, an estimated 4.25 x 6.75 in, and rarely go over 150 pages. I'm able to sell them at P300 apiece, which means it costs less than that to produce them.

I must mention that I don't make a lot of money from selling them at P300, so the markup isn't that huge. I've also started giving away the profit by offering cupcakes to the people who buy this edition. But it's not about profit anyway. (Business experts, don't yell at me.)

If the book isn't in the best shape yet, will they help out?

Books On Demand can help with the editing, layout, cover design and even the publishing legwork (getting an ISBN etc) for a fee. I don't use these services myself, but I've seen them do this for other client authors.

Can they ship a book order directly to the buyer?

Yes they can.

What I do: I tend to pick up the books myself, from their office in Ortigas, because I usually offer to sign the paperbacks ordered directly from me. They've offered to do the shipping for me and I'd actually recommend it. Shipping in many cases costs less than setting up a meetup, and more practical when the buyer is in a province or faraway city.

What kinds of books do they print?

A wide range of stuff. The thing to remember is that if it's a conventional enough book, then they can print it. You're in effect hiring them to print your book, instead of submitting a book for their approval. You're in charge.

So yeah, this is how I do it. This means I don't have that many copies of my own books at home anymore. When someone places an order, I just send off an email to Books On Demand and tell them to print my book. Sometimes they print five books at a time for me, sometimes just one. And then I pick it up, ship it to the buyer. And maybe buy cupcakes.

It's not that difficult. Writing the book, that's what's difficult. So go do that, and then get your paperback already.

(PS. Are they paying you to talk about them? They sometimes sponsor our Author at Once workshops, but no I don't personally receive anything to talk about them. Just a happy customer.)

We're number 2000-ish!

Yesterday and earlier today, I was in meetings with soon-to-be author/publishers and telling them that watching your own ebook sales rank is the ultimate in unproductive timesuck. Now Amazon goes and does this -- check out Author Rank, where they list the most popular authors on an hourly basis.

If you have an Amazon Author Central account you can actually see where you are as stacked up against the greats. And when looking at a graph like this, an hourly account of your winning and failing, you can:

1. Be depressed.
2. Be excited.
3. Even more obsessively hit Refresh.

So the screenshot above is my best number. That is, I am currently the #2,919 Contemporary Romance author in all of the Amazon Kindle store. I peaked this week on October 4 at #1,956 (alas, I didn't even know it! I should have basked in the glory). In all of Amazon, when lumped together with nonfiction and paperback-only, I drop to 140,000-ish.

Am I depressed? Not at all. I live in a city with 12 million people. Being #2,919 means something to me.
Am I excited? Yes. I wonder if I can do anything (that I'm not already doing) to make this a more impressive graph.
Am I even more obsessively hitting Refresh? Um, yeah.

Congratulations to the 2,918 contemporary romance authors more popular than me, at this hour! And to the many authors, a lot of them indie publishers, who are doing so well on this list! Any of you willing to share secrets in exchange for a cupcake? :)