So many free books!

One of the things that I added to my resume recently was that, as a self-published author, I had to learn about marketing my books. After all, Amazon won’t do it for me. And, of course, it is not a good look to lose track of which sort of initiative one intends to run and where.

Adverts: Facebook or Amazon? Outlets: go wide or stick with Kindle Unlimited? Newsletter builders: do people even read them? Newsletter costs: the likes of Mailchimp only allow a maximum of addresses on their free accounts, and that does not remove the non-responders or unsubscribers. Author book fairs? Free book initiatives? Price reduction initiatives?

As I have mentioned before, I am autistic. Too much ‘stuff’ will lead to meltdown, So, I need to have this organised. Dates are always key. For example, I will be taking part in ‘ZoeBub’ which is a massive free book initiative, with over 1000 romance books available to download to an e-reader FOR FREE, on one day every quarter. The expectation is that each author will publicise the event both in the run-up and on the day when social media will need to be absolutely wall-papered with notifications and posts.

So for one day, you have to be tweeting constantly? It is one of those things where the more you post, the better the response is likely to be. The website is http://www.romancebookworms.com

That wasn’t so difficult.

But then, you have special offers.

My short story, Cân Y Môr, is in the “Shift You Not” anthology, which is on a special price via Amazon for 99c or 77p. That’s it, less that a dollar or a pound for an anthology. This particular anthology is only available until 5 July, so grab it while you can

That will be all for now. I need to ensure that this information is also in my newsletter and need to send that out, after incorporating all the names from my last newsletter builder.

Legends come from stories. Stories are told of deeds. Deeds are committed by those who have walked the earth. But what if the creatures of those legends still walked the earth, still doing those deeds which have made them legends? Welcome to the world of the Cwn Annwn, Guardians of the Celtic Underworld, in service to Mallt-y-Nos.

Born in Wales as Henry VII took the throne, Gabriel Black serves an ancient goddess. A visit to the Carpathians introduces him to his Mate, Aaleahya. Sometimes he helps humans. Sometimes he cannot help them. Sometimes the losses he must face make him wonder if it is even worth it?

Dare you walk in his world?

The Diaries of the Cwn Annwn is a myth and legend inspired series written by a group of friends around the world. As of 2022, there are eight books in the series with more to come.

Inspiring a love scene

Let’s face it. Paranormal romance has an expectation of love scenes. Depending on the author, that can be a fade-to-black scene, left to the reader’s imagination, or it can be blow by blow, full-on, spicy sex.

For me, it has always depended on the character. For example, Fane Anghelescu, my Hellhound Alpha, has a forceful personality, although he would not attack a female. However, he is an incubus, and increases his power through sex magic. For him, the more enjoyable and involved the act, the power he will generate, as this illustrates:

Taking a shower … such a simple, everyday action. And yet, with you my little Hunter, that simplicity is more. The pulse of your blood in your neck, as you tilt you lips to mine. Your lips, slightly parted, inviting me to taste, to savour your passion. 

The feel of your body beneath my hands, lithe, yet your skin slick with the woody scent of liquid soap. My hand is beneath your chin, holding, imprisoning, but who is the prisoner? Who is the captive? Is my little Hunter caught, and has she entrapped the wolf? Does the wolf care? 

Love did not make me weak. It gave me purpose. It showed me the value of caring. And no matter what, your love and the memories of our moments together will remind me and keep me strong

In comparison, we have Casimir, the so-called Psycho Gosselin. By his own admission, he has done things which are despicable. He acknowledges that he is far from saintly. It would not be wrong to say he despises that character he must portray. Only with other members of the Hellfire Pack can he let his guard down. He had never expected to find a Mate, so to realise that Daniela is his Mate makes her all the more precious to him. In return, Daniela appreciates the image he must portray. With her encouragement, he is able to close the chasm of misunderstanding with his sister Alix.

When it comes down to it, every author needs inspiration, so I shall close with the video that gave me just the ambiance I needed for Gavril and Aaleahya, the leads of the Cwn Annwn. With them, it was a love affair that lasted over 200 years until Aaleahya was killed. In ‘Alpha’, Gavril is wondering whether he will find his Mate, or will he suffer the fate of his own dam? A trip to the Carpathians and he meets Aaleahya, a Roma girl. There was no need for him to be the stereotypical ‘alpha male’, because they were so well matched. She was a strong female, for all that her Mate was older than her.

Tenderness by Thomas Synnamon

See the whole series of the Diaries of the Cwn Annwn here: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08WL17FTX

Something Had to Change

What was it that made me realise it was time to re-evaluate my life and career? Was it any of the following?

Driving 2,500 miles a month, on average.
Five RTAs in seven years, including one vehicle write-off.
Being a regular guest at several hotels in the Holiday Inn brand.
Escalating blood pressure.
Inability to attend Parish Council meetings due to work.

Probably a combination of all if the above. As a pagan, I would celebrate the Spring and Autumn Equinox, with a promise to seek balance in my life. It wasn’t happening, not in the last seven years. And for what? What did I gain? I had a good salary, which is generally seen as a mark of success. I had a decent car on the driveway. I was able to support my son through university. We had three family holidays a year. But …

I was tired. I was physically and mentally exhausted. My blood pressure was dangerously high, and my diabetes was out of control.

It would take a day at least to relax into being on holiday. My ‘hobby’ of writing urban fantasy became more of an outlet to pour emotions I couldn’t voice for fear of appearing weak. As I mentioned, five RTAs, albeit all but one were rear-impacts where I was the victim. The one involving a vehicle write-off? That was due to being tired, having to drive two hours to reach a destination by 0800, as my employers were cutting back on hotel stays as it affected the profit margin. Trust me, I would not have been on the road at 0550 through choice.

I accumulated a lot of Holiday Inn Reward points such that I was a Platinum member of their loyalty scheme. I was a regular guest at the Holiday Inn Scotch Corner such that the barman knew my favourite dinner order, but in seven years, I never had the energy to use their rather decent looking swimming pool. The same could be said for several other hotels. I would eat my dinner and maybe work on my current novel, but I would be too tired to exercise, even though it was essential if I wanted to stay healthy.

I have always been keen to represent my village, such that I served as a Parish Councillor on two occasions. I had to resign the second time, as I found it impossible to attend meetings. That was despite having a note in my diary of the dates. But work meant that I might be away from home.

The crux came in early 2018, when the risk of redundancy became real. I had known from 2017 and before that it was a risk. There was a crossover between my sales territory and that of three of my colleagues. An attempt had been made to ‘encourage’ me to leave, such that when the notice was given, I had decided that I would hold out for the best package that I could squeeze.

So, there I was. Redundant at the age of fifty. My severance package meant that I had enough to support my family for six to eight months. Surely I would find another job in that time, I did also sign in for benefits, only to discover that thirty years of working without interruption, the last ten of which were as a 40% tax payer, entitled me to £34 per week as Jobseeker’s Allowance, for which I had to trek into the Job Centre every fortnight to ‘sign on’.

But, I realised something. My heart wasn’t into finding another job in the medical sales industry. So, I used the time to examine my options. Could we live on a lower salary? Medical sales was described to me as the job with the golden handcuffs. I also helped my parents as they were downsizing. So many things accumulated and to what end? There was the health issue. I had a recent scare over throat cancer.

My religious path has demonstrated to me that much in my life happens for a reason. Even the bouts of anxiety and depression, given the support I have received from true friends. That was where I put my trust. It was well-placed. On one of the dreaded group sessions at the Job Centre, we were introduced to Darren, who was looking for people for The Works store in Cambridge. He could only offer a four-hour per week contract, but he reckoned that it would be more than that. I had nothing to lose in talking to him.

After a twenty minute discussion, he asked me to submit a CV online as that was their system. I did, but received a rejection. A month later, we were told he would be in on the next day. I decided to ask him why, after our positive discussion, I had been rejected, particularly if he was still recruiting. It transpired that he did still want to see me, the four-hour contract turned into eight-hours, and could I attend an interview at the store the next day. Another competency interview and bearing in mind this was my first job, at the age of 51, in retail, I left the store with a start date of 17 September.

I discovered that Darren had felt that I was capable of much more and had submitted my details to Gail, the Area Manager, with the potential for a store manager role. To cut a long story short, I was interviewed by Gail and offered the role of Manager of the Newmarket store.

So, there you have it. After much consideration, I have decided that the stress and anxiety of working in medical sales was not worth the salary. Yes, I earn less, but the difference in tax allowances mean that I have a net salary not far short of my previous job. More importantly, even those issues my colleagues view as stressful are nothing. Twenty years in medical sales did teach me transferable skills,

Now I go home each night. I eat with my family. My dogs know who I am. My diabetes is under control and my blood pressure in improving. All because I dared to take a risk.

Come 1 December, after three weeks of training, I shall take over as Store Manager of the Newmarket branch of The Works.

So why is this important to me as a writer? Time. I have time to write again, time to research. Time to enjoy writing, rather than seeing it as an escape from stress only. This whole things taught me an important lesson. I used those first months after being made redundant to write. Over seven years, my writing and characters had matured, so I took the opportunity to revaluate where my series was bound. The pleasure in writing was restored. Work life balance is essential. It is not a nicety.

RELEVANT LINKS FOR JO PILSWORTH
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JKPilsworth

Paranormal may not be your thing. Urban fantasy may not either. But who knows? I may be one of your friends new favourite author.

Inspired by #Legends an #UrbanFantasy series.

Alpha: https://t.co/IRZLR92AFu
Beta: https://t.co/DGDDI03VB9
Merysekhmet (US link): https://t.co/fFOUm5MHUs
Toho: https://t.co/oKtbDgrqiH https://t.co/mGMuJWd6Xd
Medved: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C19QKPH

AMAZON LINKS

Alpha (US link): https://t.co/IRZLR92AFu
Beta: https://t.co/DGDDI03VB9
Merysekhmet (US link): https://t.co/fFOUm5MHUs
Toho: (US link): https://t.co/oKtbDgrqiH https://t.co/mGMuJWd6Xd
Medved: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C19QKPH

Celebrate Roald Dahl Day … Vaccinate

Everyone knows Roald Dahl. James and the Giant Peach was my first of his stories, but I also enjoyed his very adult Tales of the Unexpected.

But did you know that he was a strong advocate of vaccination? Did you know he lost a child, his eldest daughter Olivia, just before the introduction of measles vaccination?

RELEVANT LINKS FOR JO PILSWORTH
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JKPilsworth

Paranormal may not be your thing. Urban fantasy may not either. But who knows? I may be one of your friends new favourite author.

Inspired by #Legends an #UrbanFantasy series.

AMAZON LINKS

Time to Reboot

After discovering that something had gone horribly wrong with the publication of one of my books, I had taken the ‘drastic’ step of unpublishing them until I could upload copies onto the Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) system. Drastic? According to the Amazon system, it meant losing any and all reviews. Since reviews are the lifeblood of any aspiring author, this would be another one of those indie author suicide moves, right?

Err, no.

Let’s face it, I was nowhere near the top 10,000 let alone the top 10. So, I had nothing to lose. Unpublish my books is what I duly did.

What was more important was ensuring that my potential readers (and reviewers) saw the best work I could offer. So far, I have two books back up: Beta and Merysekhmet.

Both are the ‘second’ books in their respective series. This means I can focus on the respective series ‘Volume 1’, Alpha and Cysgodion

Beta introduced two key characters from the Cwn Annwn side of the story, Bran Cadwgan and Owain Cadwaladr, a name which sends my computer’s autocorrect feature in paroxysms of confusion. That’ll be the Welsh language for you then. It also introduced the apparent ‘baddie’ in the brother of the one of the female main characters, Casimir Gosselin, the brother of Detective Alix Gosselin. Since Cysgodion is the story of Casimir, it was best his reputation was established sooner rather than later. Alpha explained my interpretation of the Welsh legend of the Cwn Annwn.

In comparison, Merysekhmet introduced a ‘new’ character, from the perspective of the overall series arc: Ramses Tariq-Omari. Undoubtedly, there are references to events occurring elsewhere, much of which will become clearer in subsequent books. Whilst both books may be read as standalone novels, it is inevitable when writing about a group of individuals, that there will be references to the stories of other characters. One can but try to balance those references. Both books are out for review. To the best of my ability, I have corrected the errors in formatting etc, but until a purchased copy is reviewed, I won’t know for certain.

Whether the relaunch will be worthwhile remains to be seen. However, it gives me an opportunity to learn from mistakes:

* Are peer to peer groups worthwhile?
* Is advertising on social media worth the variable cost?
* Which forms of social media are better?
* How do I convert followers to buyers and active readers?

What my experience has shown me is that it is better to concentrate on a selected few social media outlets. Many of these companies are now cracking down on perceived Spam, so advertising on every platform could compromise a Facebook account, for example. I have seen this happening with other authors. It could also result in the loss of Amazon reviews, rather than gain. If that happens, the behemoth that is Amazon does not seem to have a right of appeal. They decide. You, the author either wins or loses. Which forms of social media are better? That depends on your demographic. The last point of converting followers to buyers in a bit more difficult. One thing that is important is back-catalogue. So, rather than ignore those short stories, you may find that it encourages readers to buy the actual book.

LINKS FOR THE DIARIES OF THE CWN ANNWN AND THE HELLFIRE PACK SERIES

Beta
Amazon. com: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KB20OL6
Amazon. co.uk: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01KB20OL6

Merysekhmet
Amazon. com: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XJPK5S7
Amazon. co.uk: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06XJPK5S7

More Than A Christmas Star

Just about any author, self-published or traditional, would like to hope that the book into which they have put so much effort will be more than a shooting star. We would all like to think that, whilst it may not be a bestseller, it will be a steady seller, a star in the sky seen night after night, and not just a flash at Christmas.

But, the question is in which metaphorical sky?

The last year has not been as easy one for me, given that stresses in my day job resulted in my having a breakdown in May. That’s pretty impressive: admitting to a mental health problem, but it is what it is. What it did mean as an author was that I learnt some very important lessons about some of the networking options out there. These are lessons which are key when it comes to promotion and thus, hopefully sales.

Whilst I was in the depths of the pit of depression, I spent hardly any time online. As a self-published author, that was tantamount to suicide. Why? Self-promotion. If one is self-published, there is no big marketing machine to be out there making noise, telling folks about your book. Much like when you are working your way out of depression, you are on your own. Equally, there is no one else but you to keep a watch on the outlets, to find out with which blogger-reviewers one should work for best results. Is it worth joining peer to peer networks? Do they make a difference or just take advantage of your efforts to increase the sales of other authors?

That makes it sound a bit dire. But it is something that may be corrected. I withdrew my books from sale and am intending to relaunch in 2018, not necessarily in January, with improved copy, and with a better idea of how to maintain momentum without driving myself into the ground again. I have every reason to believe it is possible.

First thing, if you are planning to use social media, choose your platforms carefully. Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. Snapchat. WhatsApp.

For the sake of argument, I will go for Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn as my word driven outlets. For me, the pictorial social media serve a purpose to promote my name. However, my genre is paranormal romance. Not all my target demographic use those, so they won’t be a priority.

Next is building a following. These are the people whom I hope will want to BUY my book. What I have noticed is that having a newsletter helps dramatically. Instafreebie. Rafflecopter. What they have in common is giving something away. So, before I publish the novels proper, I need to tempt people. A free book of short stories set in my ‘universe’ seems reasonable as it introduces people to my world. Maintain the momentum with a newsletter which has snippets and it should keep people interested.

Then, let’s return to social media. An author page and a personal profile have to be managed differently. The former is again somewhere for snippets. The latter? Well, the thing is one has to be careful about posts on your personal page. Don’t rant on either. Maintain positivity. It is a minefield.

Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn can all be linked. It is also possible to use apps like Hootlet to schedule your posts. This is vital. Remember what I said about avoiding burnout? Let the software do the work for you. You may still edit scheduled posts, and this way, you may also be able to post to suit target timezones.

The trick is enjoy what you are doing. It doesn’t matter what you are doing. The day you cease to enjoy it is the day for serious re-evaluation.

In the meantime, Merry Christmas! May you have a good day and look forward to a productive New Year.

Keep Up!

As I sit on the train on my way back from Newcastle upon Tyne, to my home in Cambridge, travelling via London, I couldn’t help but think that if I wanted to choose one word to describe my status it would be this: DROWNING.

Seriously, what I won’t do is turn this post into a ‘Woe Is Me’ post, because that’s the sort of sentiment that irritates me. Drowning and angry about it makes it sound like it is all someone else’s fault. That would be so very t convenient. So, maybe it isn’t the best description?

The next important word is “No”. How many times have you heard that one. No! Not a chance! You are having a laugh! More to the point, how often have you heard that word uttered by your own lips? The likely answer is “Not often enough.” So I can see you scratching your head and wondering what the hell my ramblings hope to achieve. This is as much for me as it is for anyone else. Perhaps I would like to think that my book characters, Alpha Males and their Females, would like to take me by the shoulders, give me a damn good shaking, tell me to take stock and move forward. Out of the last three weeks, I have spent more time in hotels than I have in my own home. That’s the root cause of it.

I made a promise to myself that I would aim to achieve a work life balance, but it is damned hard. Working in a high pressure industry, where the emphasis is on hitting targets, it becomes far to easy to lose yourself in the endless circle of chasing business knowing that it you don’t, questions will be asked about performance, about ability, and then you might face formal disciplinary procedures for not hitting those targets. It starts a vicious cycle, because your sense of self-worth is affected.

The thing is that I am not just trying to do my job in aforementioned high-pressure industry. I am also trying to write and promote my books. So, in addition to worrying about hitting my targets, I become conscious that I have not been keeping up with the promotional side of being an independent author.

So what is needed, before that spiral into madness takes effect? You guessed it. Use the word “No!” more often. Also, don’t think that you can do everything on your own. Remember the post I did about the importance of family? Well, they might not offer to help, but it doesn’t stop you from, calmly, explaining to them that you need a bit of help. They might not be able to do the promotional stuff, but perhaps they can

help with laundry and housework, so that you have an hour to do that promotional stuff.

From the work front, if you are being drowned under a volume of work, then say so. Knowing your limitations does not make you weak. It makes you sensible. Let’s face it, does your employer want you fit and healthy and working, or do they want you to be off sick with depression as the spiral of despair takes hold? If they thought you were not ‘productive’ before, how much less productive would you be if you were off sick? How would they feel if you had an RTA because you were so tired?

All that promotional stuff? Well pick and choose what you do carefully. Don’t believe those who say you have to do a book tour to be a successful indie. If you only have time for writing a blog post, doing a few tweets over an hour or perhaps an extended Facebook post, then until things improve, restrict your activities that way.

Stop drowning by stepping out of the water.

LINKS TO THE BOOKS BY JO PILSWORTH & THE HUNTER’S ARROW LTD

“Bound”, Volume 1 of The Diaries of the Cŵn Annwn
currently free on Kindle Unlimited
Amazon.com $4.99: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016TQFBNY
Amazon.co.uk £3.99: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B016TQFBNY

“Alpha”, Volume 2 of The Diaries of the Cŵn Annwn
Amazon.com $4.99: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ENZ972O
Amazon.co.uk £3.47: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01ENZ972O
Smashwords $4.99: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/631708

“Beta”, Volume 3 of The Diaries of the Cŵn Annwn

Amazon.co.uk: £3.05 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01KB20OL6
Amazon.com: $3.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KB20OL6#nav-subnav
Smashwords: $3.99 https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/660156

The Importance of Family

One of the scathing comments often made about self-published authors is that “only friends and family” will buy your books. In fact, that is why you are not good enough. So, I would ask a question of anyone reading this: in being so dismissive, how many dreams have been burnt to ashes?

I make no bones about it myself. I write my books. They are for sale via Amazon and Smashwords, and I have produced it as a ‘print on demand’ paperback via CreateSpace. A recent discussion in another group asked the question of what was needed in order to consider your book ready for sale. The advice varied from starting with the e-book format, to having the paperback ready as a print on demand to the suggestion that the absolute essentials were to have the e-book, paperback, hardback and audiobook, and be prepared to spend at least six months doing a book tour to independent book shops, having sent posters and mailshots out first.

Whoa, horsey! My husband’s opinion that latter plan was that the list was all very well, but only if you had both time and money. Let’s face it, most budding authors who choose to self-publish have neither. In their absence, you may well have family and friends.

In this day and age of social media, that is how most of us will start things moving. Yes, in an ideal world, you score that big publishing deal, and they do all the promotional stuff for you. And, don’t forget, they take their cut. Even if you were paid an advance, the hard side of business interferes: you will have to sell at least that amount in books before you will receive any more money from your publisher. Think about that. If you received an advance of, say, £5000, that is the value you will need to sell before you are paid again. If you don’t look like you will make money and if your publisher decides that they were wrong about your potential for a return on their investment, you will be dropped. Simple business economics.

In reality, you will be working at least one job, perhaps part-time, but if you have a family to support, then it will be full-time. You have to do your own promotional activities, and that means using all forms of social media, but being able to balance, build up followers and post information on your books without falling foul of the social media spam filters. This is something that has to start before you are ready to publish. You need to build a presence.

So the importance of family. My favourite author, Sherrilyn Kenyon, has a fantastic quote on the subject in her Dark Hunter series.

I have my parents. I have my siblings. I have my husband and son. But then beyond that, I have my co-authors, Tracy Andrews and Donna DeBoard. Then there are others. There is a girl in Dubai, who is a friend of my son. She is the ‘daughter of my heart’. I have other close friends. I have colleagues.

Is it using people to ask them to talk about your book, about your dream? It can be, if suddenly, having not spoken to them in months, suddenly you start talking about your book, about your writing. Even the least cynical person would look in askance at the request that they spread the word.

What we write serves another purpose. It teaches us what is important in life. As Ms Kenyon’s words have encapsulated. Family is more than the ones to whom we are born. Before it is too late, before the only reason for you making contact with those who matter to you is to have them promote your work, start building those bridges.

I would like to sell more books, but I have learnt something very important to date. If I do make more sales, then well and good. I am fortunate in that my books are my dream which I am able to realise. I am fortunate that I don’t have to sell my books to make a living. I am fortunate that I can look at how successful authors like Ms Kenyon, like JK Rowling and all the others have built their words and their stories and learn from them how to write a better story and how to perhaps generate a larger following. But I am even more fortunate because I have found out that my ‘family’ matter even more to me that the sales. And, remember, that family is not just those to whom we are born.

LINKS TO THE BOOKS BY JO PILSWORTH & THE HUNTER’S ARROW LTD

“Beta”, Volume 3 of The Diaries of the Cŵn Annwn

Amazon.co.uk: £3.05 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01KB20OL6
Amazon.com: $3.99 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KB20OL6#nav-subnav
Smashwords: $3.99 https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/660156

Further Thoughts on Facebook Roleplaying

I started my ‘public’ writing career through the medium of Facebook roleplay. Five years ago, I didn’t even know that such a thing existed, but as a result of it, I have gained the courage that someone might actually like my writing. Now, I have five novels listed on Amazon.

Jo Pilsworth: Amazon Author Page

There is one major problem: Facebook doesn’t like roleplayers. As a group, roleplayers contravene so many rules that it can be mind-blowing. There are two angles for this attitude: one is altruistic and one is purely commercial. The altruistic rationale is the public face. The commercial reason is probably closer to the truth, considering that Facebook is a stock market listed company, and it exists to make profit to the benefit of its shareholders.

So, the altruistic reason. A roleplayer, by definition, is not a real person. They are writing under a pseudonym or the name of their favourite character from a book, film or TV show. There are other instances of ‘not real people’ who use the internet for nefarious purposes, e.g paedophiles who pretend to be teens, with a view to grooming their victims. Therefore, if you are ‘not real’, you must be bad. Sure, some might not be, but for the safety of little kids everywhere, let’s assume that anyone ‘not real’ is bad, and their account must be deleted.

Did that sound slightly bitter? Well yes, because this has caused me a problem. My writing is a sideline and not my main form of income. Some of my book characters are baddies, since every novel has to have a baddie somewhere in the process, particularly if your book will have a ‘happy ever after’. My ‘day job’ is in quite a conservative industry, where one’s customers need to have a particular image of the person and the company with whom they are working. So, I do write under a pseudonym. I also have used my pseudonym to build a following of people who like my stories. It is beyond annoying when, because Facebook have decided that my author pseudonym is ‘not real’, the account is deleted.

That’s what will greet you when the axe falls. That’s it. No going back. No right of appeal. No chance to plead that the contact list of followers that you have built up so that you can launch your book to a targeted audience is LOST. No chance of saving what you have published on that account, unless you were canny enough to back up your work. You were not a ‘real person’ and therefore, you must ‘die’.

This brings me to the commercial reason why this happens. Facebook is, as I have said, a commercial entity, a stock market-listed company, which exists to make PROFIT for shareholders. It does this through selling advertising, which increasingly, is targeted based on things that one has written on a profile post, or links clicked. Now, when writing under a pseudonym, the ‘likes’ and clicks on posts might not reflect what you, as an individual, actually like. Therefore, from an advertiser’s perspective, they are being misled that you are a potential target customer. They could become a tad cross with Facebook for ‘selling’ a misleading demographic, and thus, take their advertising monies elsewhere. That would be bad for Facebook and their profit-making potential.

So, accounts belonging to ‘not real’ people must be eliminated, and then they can sell a ‘true’ range of demographics to their advertisers. Happy advertisers means more profit, which means happy shareholders. Perhaps that is a simplistic view, but that’s what it seems.

Please do not misunderstand me. There are some sick individuals out there, who do prey on people. Equally, there are people who, through the medium of roleplay, are able to work through some fairly traumatic situations in their own lives, or find a way out of depression, because someone likes a piece they have written. In recent days, I have seen the roleplay community being the ones who publicise what is happening in natural disasters like the Louisiana Floods because it is not of interest to the message in mainstream media. Another, now defunct, group did a fantastic series of pieces on bullying, highlighting it as a problem not just for children but for adults also.

The point is that the ‘fake’ profile is not necessarily a bad person. As I said, sometimes I write under a pseudonym, and sometimes I write as the ‘real me’. For the sake of avoiding the stalkers, hiding behind another identity, would one avoid all people because they might be a stalker? I doubt that one would.

Facebook should remember that some of those pseudonym authors might actually be their potential advertisers, although sadly, that is no guarantee that they will not delete your account. Please, Facebook, leave us to write our stories in peace. We mean no harm, and who knows, maybe your precious advertisers might find that our followers are their target audience.

Self-publishing advisory: formatting

So, you have written the book. You have either self-edited or you have sent it for professional editing. You have made the alterations and corrections, and now … now you are ready to format your precious for publication.

First off, this is not a step by step guide to how to format your beloved book. There are more that enough guides on doing that. As with my other posts, this will be about things I have learned as I have gone through the mill of setting up my books for sale on Amazon, Smashwords and as a ‘print on demand’ book.

Secondly, I will add a caveat, a warning. There are a lot of companies out there who will offer to format your books for you, and many of them come under a thinly veiled disguise. A bit of digging will show them to be a vanity publisher. They offer to format, and then they offer to publish. Self-publishing via the Amazon Kindle Direct option or via Smashwords costs nothing, other than the cost of having a decent front cover. That is the only thing on you should need to expend money.

So, why do I reckon it is so straightforward. If you look at this illustration, you might well think, “Noooo! I can’t face this …”. But it is possible. It just takes a bit of planning. I am going to make the assumption that you are using Microsoft Word. Not everyone does, but the majority do.

That picture looks scary, but it is not. The basics that you need are a style for your main body text, usual ‘Normal’ and one for chapter titles, for which you can use something like the one shown in the picture as ‘Book Title’. Everything else can be based on those two titles. It really can be that simple.

The key thing is that if you use those pre-set styles, you can fiddle with the fonts later. You can decide if you want block or indented paragraphs later, bearing in mind that indented paragraphs works better on Amazon, and Smashwords specifies block paragraphs in their Style Guide.

When it comes to CreateSpace and the concept of ‘print on demand’, this is NOT vanity publishing. This is a facility where you can still offer paperback editions, but without having to splash out for a print run of 100 copies, which would be your only other option if you wish to keep the cost per copy down to something where you make a bit of a profit on the cover price. Also, if you don’t use CreateSpace, you will have to buy your own ISBN, unless you use a printer who can supply this. With CreateSpace always order a print proof copy, because the screen version and the print version look very different. Key things which I learnt were that margins look at lot bigger in reality, and you can go with a 9-point font if you wish and have a lot of words. CreateSpace defaults to a 6×9″ book size. If you have an 80,000 word or less book, this will result in a very thin book. But if you go for a less common and smaller size to give a decent thickness, then the cost per copy will change.

In summary, scour the internet for specific guides. I have added some links to the ones I found useful. Both are free to download:

Smashwords Guide by Mark Coker: essential reading if you want to publish on Smashwords, which will give you access to Barnes & Noble and iBooks is here Link for Smashwords Guide

Publish on Amazon Kindle via Kindle Direct Publishing: this is specific to Amazon and may be found here Link for Amazon Guide

Above all, relax. It is not as scary a process as some people might think. Even if you don’t class yourself as a ‘technie’, you will be able to do this. You wrote the book. Go for it.

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