Rage Against the Manuscript Podcast – useful advice for book marketing, planning, crafting etc.

[Nikky Lee]

I've been following this podcast for a while and have found it both interesting and informative—particularly on the book marketing/promo side of things. It's run by a very successful self-published author here in NZ (she has published ~40 books and earns NZ$200,000 a year off them). Her episodes are not just about what's worked for her, but also what hasn't—from marketing strategies and book planning to shifting from paid work to being a full-time self-employed author.

Podcast

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Thinking about Steph's experience ... I struggle with covers. No matter what I read or how many covers I look at, I cannot see what makes a 'good' cover and what makes a 'bad' cover. I'm invariably drawn to covers everyone else disparages. I can see the really clunky ones as clunky, but I never chime in on the posts where people ask for opinions on cover options for their books, because I ALWAYS like the one no one else likes. Makes it hard to even choose a designer, because I can't evaluate whether they know the market or their work is any good. And when they come back with a cover, mostly I just say, 'cool thanks', because I've no idea if it's good or not. Which of course means all my covers are lousy, but I can't fix them because I don't even know what to look for. LOL!

 

[RK Wallis]

Wow! She was awesome. Just goes to show how important a cover is

 

[Nikky Lee]

Have you seen this Facebook group @Robinne Weiss? I've found their discussions useful for understanding what works and what doesn't.

An episode of Writing Excuses the other day was also talking about covers—they were saying that most writers have a terrible eye for them (I'll see if I can dig the episode up). The consensus was to trust that the professionals knew what they're doing. But I think the caveat to that is making sure a cover designer has a track record of creating strong covers in the genre you write in (which isn't as easy—or cheap!).

 

[RK Wallis]

Thinking about Steph's experience ... I struggle with covers. No matter what I read or how many covers I look at, I cannot see what makes a 'good' cover and what makes a 'bad' cover. I'm invariably drawn to covers everyone else disparages. I can see the really clunky ones as clunky, but I never chime in on the posts where people ask for opinions on cover options for their books, because I ALWAYS like the one no one else likes. Makes it hard to even choose a designer, because I can't evaluate whether they know the market or their work is any good. And when they come back with a cover, mostly I just say, 'cool thanks', because I've no idea if it's good or not. Which of course means all my covers are lousy, but I can't fix them because I don't even know what to look for. LOL!

That does make it hard @Robinne Weiss I think I'd be the same, it'd take a lot of browsing the bestsellers in my genre to try to see what works and even then I think I'd get it wrong! And I think I'd have trouble figuring out if the problem in sales is the writing, cover or blurb. What a nightmare for all the self-publishers!

 

[Robinne Weiss]

Have you seen this Facebook group @Robinne Weiss? I've found their discussions useful for understanding what works and what doesn't.

An episode of Writing Excuses the other day was also talking about covers—they were saying that most writers have a terrible eye for them (I'll see if I can dig the episode up). The consensus was to trust that the professionals knew what they're doing. But I think the caveat to that is making sure a cover designer has a track record of creating strong covers in the genre you write in (which isn't as easy—or cheap!).

No I hadn't seen that group. Have just joined!

 

[Robinne Weiss]

I think I'd have trouble figuring out if the problem in sales is the writing, cover or blurb.

There's the rub--you could spend a zillion dollars on a great cover, but maybe that's not the problem at all... And despite plenty of kids telling me they love my books, my default position is that my writing must suck, so why bother worrying about the cover or the blurb... *sigh*

 

[RK Wallis]

my default position is that my writing must suck

I didn't think that at all! It was fun, just what kids want

 

[CageSage]

There's the rub--you could spend a zillion dollars on a great cover, but maybe that's not the problem at all... And despite plenty of kids telling me they love my books, my default position is that my writing must suck, so why bother worrying about the cover or the blurb... *sigh*

I think it's a matter of time. Even if the writing is good, it can take years for the momentum of word of mouth to build to reasonable sales. Try the book clubs (that take eBooks), or join chat forums for readers to see how they look for new reads (and then ask some of the kids to put your title forward on the sly).
And despite what some people may think of what I just said, all's fair in marketing for books. Almost.

 

[Hannah F]

There's the rub--you could spend a zillion dollars on a great cover, but maybe that's not the problem at all... And despite plenty of kids telling me they love my books, my default position is that my writing must suck, so why bother worrying about the cover or the blurb... *sigh*

Don't knock yourself down. The kids love them and they're your audience.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

I didn't think that at all! It was fun, just what kids want

Aw thanks! I do recognise that kids like them. It's that horrible imposter syndrome, you know? The bane of every writer's existence, telling you you'll never be good enough to be a 'real' writer.