Another solid Coffeehouse. Scott Sigler returned for hosting duties, and he ran a tight ship, taking us from topic to topic while still giving everyone a chance to speak up.
Last hour or so of the Coffeehouse was just rapid-fire “what are your current issues?” questions for Scott, which he handled with honesty and poise.
Got some really good advice out of this one. Here are my notes:
invizium.com: writer trying to break into book trailers
J Dianne Dotson: BOOK OUT MAY 29th; worldwide distribution via ingram spark; book trailer is up; signing at Mysterious Galaxy in june
art vs business: are we artists or business people?
- think in terms of ratings: numbers that are too small for big pubs are great for smaller ones
- don't chase trends
- if you do what you like, consistently, you can find your audience
check twitter, #mswl, manuscript wish list, agents and editors tweet what they’re looking for
when is it ok to promote? don’t be afraid to ask, but be polite
polite persistence is the cornerstone of becoming a published author with a publishing house
how to follow up with editor or agent you meet in person? wait a week, email them, say how you met and what you talked about, short pitch, then wait a month and email again, repeat till you hear back
editing aids? dianne really likes the hemingway app, can just put your text in there and it’ll catch sentences that are too long, stuff like that, and it’s free; best to do scene by scene, look for trends you didn’t know were there
self pubbing is now the minor leagues; if you sell 5,000 or 10,000 copies, your next query letter is much much stronger
don’t wait; if you’ve written a book and no one wants to pick it up, self-publish it and move on to the next book
for your website, social media: pick your writing name, and grab that domain now, use it everywhere
also: grab every free email account with that handle, so no one else can
scott recommends the book “save the cat”, it’s about screenwriting, but has a few chapters about pitching that applies just as well to books
don’t shut down social media as political statement; just go fallow; online real estate is just as valuable as physical real estate
beta-readers: can be good for picking up basic reader questions (plot holes, likable characters, etc), but beware when they start commenting on your style
suggestion: test out beta readers with one chapter, before sending them the whole book
you all have your own writing style, you just have to get better at it
aln: local writer’s meetup group; totally free, they pick a subject out of a hat, 30 min writing, then critique
scott’s advice: if you’re in a slump, go write some fan fiction, get the brain turning and then come back
one writer recommends: rachel arron: 2k to 10k, she rereads that book whenever she gets into a slump, good advice on structure, etc
aon timeline syncs with scrivener now; can use it as timeline app and push to scrivener
scott color-codes the index cards for scenes in scrivener by pov character, lets him easily see who needs a scene
other writer: pantser, she writes an outline after the fact, uses it to guide her second draft
if you put up trailers on youtube, watch their viewing stats to see where people fall off watching to learn what to do better on the next one
try to keep trailer to 30 seconds, minute at the most
