Amazon might not be the first site that comes to mind when you think about selling your artwork, but it is the world’s biggest e-commerce site. Amazon opened its art section in 2013, and it has become a legitimate way for an artist to get their work out there. The pages dedicated to artwork are searchable in various categories, such as artistic medium, price, and customer rating.
Before you can sell your work on Amazon, there is an approval process. Amazon has a list of approved mediums, one notable exclusion is 3D art, which means that the sale of sculptures is not permitted on the site.
There is a $39.99 monthly fee to keep your online shop open, and there are additional selling fees. When considering the cost, an artist should consider the reach of the e-commerce giant.
Artist who are selling their own work can join Amazon Handmade. Two benefits of Amazon Handmade are that there are no up front fees, and Amazon waives the monthly fee that they charge to professional sellers. Currently, Amazon Handmade does not allow the listing of digital and downloadable artworks.
Thursday, May 21, 2020
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Artfire
Artfire is another site on which you can list your artworks, it is similar to Etsy. It was founded in 2008 by John Jacobs and Tony Ford as a site for artists to sell their artwork and build relationships with other professionals.. The site claims 300,000 unique visitors each month.
ArtFire takes the hassle out of building your own website, and uses a simple process to add new products. They also have great customer service, should you need assistance.
Artfire also allows artists to develop connections with other artists. This allows you to learn and share skills with other people working in your field.
Artfire also takes care of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This means that your artworks are listed on all major search engines. A standard shop costs $4.95 per month, and you must pay 23 cents for each listing. The basic listing allows for 250 items and charges a 12.75% final valuation fee. The Popular Shop costs $20 per month, It allows for up to 1000 entries and charges a 4.5% final valuation fee. The Featured Listing promises most statewide exposure and costs $40 per month. It allows up to 2500 listings and charges a 4.5% final valuation fee.
ArtFire takes the hassle out of building your own website, and uses a simple process to add new products. They also have great customer service, should you need assistance.
Artfire also allows artists to develop connections with other artists. This allows you to learn and share skills with other people working in your field.
Artfire also takes care of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This means that your artworks are listed on all major search engines. A standard shop costs $4.95 per month, and you must pay 23 cents for each listing. The basic listing allows for 250 items and charges a 12.75% final valuation fee. The Popular Shop costs $20 per month, It allows for up to 1000 entries and charges a 4.5% final valuation fee. The Featured Listing promises most statewide exposure and costs $40 per month. It allows up to 2500 listings and charges a 4.5% final valuation fee.
Double Subjects.
Every time I watch a football game, I am reminded that in the United States, English is taught as an art and not a science. I guess I should explain that. English as an art is more concerned about the free flow of ideas. English as a science is actually concerned about the rules of grammar. And since most sports casters do not know any better, they use double subjects. A practice that seems to have crept into almost all the shows on television.
There are some cases in which two subjects can be next to each other and it is grammatically correct. "The Grinch's heart, they say, grew three sizes that day."(Seuss, Dr. How the Grinch Stole Christmas. New York: Random House, 1957) In this case there are two subjects, but they do not describe the same entity. The Grinch's heart and They are two different things. Seuss wrote the sentence the way he did to maintain the rhyme scheme.
When it is wrong to use two subjects. "The Green Bay Packers Defense, they say, he is the best running back that they have faced this season." In this case, The Green Bay Packers Defense and they represent the same entity. What should the sentence look like? The Green Bay Packers Defense said that he his the best running back they have faced this season. OR They say he is the best running back they have faced this season.
If you can remove one of the subjects and still have the same sentence, take one of them out. Your sentence will look better and it will not look like you do not actually know English Grammar.
There are some cases in which two subjects can be next to each other and it is grammatically correct. "The Grinch's heart, they say, grew three sizes that day."(Seuss, Dr. How the Grinch Stole Christmas. New York: Random House, 1957) In this case there are two subjects, but they do not describe the same entity. The Grinch's heart and They are two different things. Seuss wrote the sentence the way he did to maintain the rhyme scheme.
When it is wrong to use two subjects. "The Green Bay Packers Defense, they say, he is the best running back that they have faced this season." In this case, The Green Bay Packers Defense and they represent the same entity. What should the sentence look like? The Green Bay Packers Defense said that he his the best running back they have faced this season. OR They say he is the best running back they have faced this season.
If you can remove one of the subjects and still have the same sentence, take one of them out. Your sentence will look better and it will not look like you do not actually know English Grammar.
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
How to create Pre-Launch Buzz
Once your book has been edited and you are getting ready to publish, one of the most important things you can do is create pre-launch buzz for your book. As a self-publisher you are not only responsible for writing your book, you are responsible for the marketing. The most important things you should remember are it is never too early to start, and the more self promotion that you do the more likely it is that you will create interest in your book.
Before you publish, it is important to have someone else look at your manuscript. Beta readers can help with content and editing, and some people have a professional editor look at their work. This is an excellent time to create pre-launch buzz for your work. Here are some ideas for this phase of the process.
Create Social Media buzz.
Establish a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkdIn, etc.
Announce a cover reveal.
Create a poll–Who would win in a battle between a dragon and a wyvern? This gives the reader the knowledge that the book is about mythological beasts and will probably contain magic.
Do a character interview–An interview for a mafia Don might include questions such as: How many people have you killed? How does your moral code compare to those around you? Are you a likable person? How do others see you?
Release quotes from your book. The quotes could give insight about the book’s topic, so a book about magic might include some sort of spell. The quotes might also give insight into a character’s personality or their motivation. If you release a quote, you might want to use a background. This site contains templates for all sorts of backgrounds, including holiday themes. https://get.promorepublic.com/bad-redhead-media/
Announce Giveaways–These could include signed copies of your paperback–remember Amazon allows you to request advanced copies. You could also give away ebooks.
Have drawing contests for your readers and post the winning pictures on your social media pages and blog.
If your new book is a sequel, you could have a quote contest. Who said this? The first person with the correct answer would win.
Announce the book on your blog.
Create Street Teams. These are people who will hype your book on social media platforms. Recruit your street team from among your friends, family, and followers on your social media accounts. After you recruit them, it is important to vet them. To do so, ask them a variety of questions:
On what social media platforms do you have accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, LinkdIn, Reddit, Youtube, Tumblr, etc.) and how many followers on each?
Are you on any other street teams?
How would you like to see my book promoted?
What were the last three books you read?
A MONTH BEFORE LAUNCH
Recruit ARC readers with a Call To Action. The CTA is an agreement to have them review of Goodreads, Amazon and all the sites where your book is available. In order to have a Goodreads author page you must have a published work with an ISBN number, so your reviewers will have to wait to post there until your ISBN has been verified and your author page goes live.
Recruit Bloggers as ARC readers. It may take some time since most bloggers have long waiting lists, but they may also have long Subscriber lists so it is worthwhile to work with them.
Contact Youtube book reviewers. Youtube book reviews are growing in popularity and more young people are following them. If your book is written for a teen or twenty something audience Youtube reviews could be quite helpful.
*A note before you read this next section. I do not advocate paying for reviews to put them on Amazon or any other website. Paid reviews are unnecessary and in most cases, the site they are posted on will remove them if they discover that they are paid reviews. The sites below charge for their reviews, but the reviewers are professionals and an Indie author would look to them to have a chance of getting their books to a much larger audience. One more note, trading reviews is also a bad idea. If a trade is discovered, the review will be removed.
Some people ask about getting their books into libraries and bookstores. Locally, you could provide free copies to those locations, but if you are looking to take your book nationwide you may have to pay to have your book professionally reviewed. The sites below charge authors a fee to have their book reviewed, but their reviews are seen by book buyers and librarians across the country, and in some cases even beyond that.
EDELWEISS
https://www.abovethetreeline.com/
NETGALLEY
https://www.netgalley.com/
KIRKUS
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Before you decide to pay for a professional review, I suggest that you read the reviews of the sites and look into the experience that other authors have had with them. You might also want to consider other ways to spend the hundreds of dollars that the site will charge for the review. Remember, just because your book gets a good review does not guarantee that you will see an increase in sales.
Once your book has been published, you might want to consider doing a Goodreads Book Giveaway. Goodreads allows its users to mark books as To Be Read. Once a reader does this, Goodreads will notify them of contests and sales on that particular book.
Before you publish, it is important to have someone else look at your manuscript. Beta readers can help with content and editing, and some people have a professional editor look at their work. This is an excellent time to create pre-launch buzz for your work. Here are some ideas for this phase of the process.
Create Social Media buzz.
Establish a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkdIn, etc.
Announce a cover reveal.
Create a poll–Who would win in a battle between a dragon and a wyvern? This gives the reader the knowledge that the book is about mythological beasts and will probably contain magic.
Do a character interview–An interview for a mafia Don might include questions such as: How many people have you killed? How does your moral code compare to those around you? Are you a likable person? How do others see you?
Release quotes from your book. The quotes could give insight about the book’s topic, so a book about magic might include some sort of spell. The quotes might also give insight into a character’s personality or their motivation. If you release a quote, you might want to use a background. This site contains templates for all sorts of backgrounds, including holiday themes. https://get.promorepublic.com/bad-redhead-media/
Announce Giveaways–These could include signed copies of your paperback–remember Amazon allows you to request advanced copies. You could also give away ebooks.
Have drawing contests for your readers and post the winning pictures on your social media pages and blog.
If your new book is a sequel, you could have a quote contest. Who said this? The first person with the correct answer would win.
Announce the book on your blog.
Create Street Teams. These are people who will hype your book on social media platforms. Recruit your street team from among your friends, family, and followers on your social media accounts. After you recruit them, it is important to vet them. To do so, ask them a variety of questions:
On what social media platforms do you have accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, LinkdIn, Reddit, Youtube, Tumblr, etc.) and how many followers on each?
Are you on any other street teams?
How would you like to see my book promoted?
What were the last three books you read?
A MONTH BEFORE LAUNCH
Recruit ARC readers with a Call To Action. The CTA is an agreement to have them review of Goodreads, Amazon and all the sites where your book is available. In order to have a Goodreads author page you must have a published work with an ISBN number, so your reviewers will have to wait to post there until your ISBN has been verified and your author page goes live.
Recruit Bloggers as ARC readers. It may take some time since most bloggers have long waiting lists, but they may also have long Subscriber lists so it is worthwhile to work with them.
Contact Youtube book reviewers. Youtube book reviews are growing in popularity and more young people are following them. If your book is written for a teen or twenty something audience Youtube reviews could be quite helpful.
*A note before you read this next section. I do not advocate paying for reviews to put them on Amazon or any other website. Paid reviews are unnecessary and in most cases, the site they are posted on will remove them if they discover that they are paid reviews. The sites below charge for their reviews, but the reviewers are professionals and an Indie author would look to them to have a chance of getting their books to a much larger audience. One more note, trading reviews is also a bad idea. If a trade is discovered, the review will be removed.
Some people ask about getting their books into libraries and bookstores. Locally, you could provide free copies to those locations, but if you are looking to take your book nationwide you may have to pay to have your book professionally reviewed. The sites below charge authors a fee to have their book reviewed, but their reviews are seen by book buyers and librarians across the country, and in some cases even beyond that.
EDELWEISS
https://www.abovethetreeline.com/
NETGALLEY
https://www.netgalley.com/
KIRKUS
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Before you decide to pay for a professional review, I suggest that you read the reviews of the sites and look into the experience that other authors have had with them. You might also want to consider other ways to spend the hundreds of dollars that the site will charge for the review. Remember, just because your book gets a good review does not guarantee that you will see an increase in sales.
Once your book has been published, you might want to consider doing a Goodreads Book Giveaway. Goodreads allows its users to mark books as To Be Read. Once a reader does this, Goodreads will notify them of contests and sales on that particular book.
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Hooks
The beginning of your story is probably the most important part of your manuscript, because you have to convince people to keep reading. In order to get a publisher or an agent, you must sell them on your story, and they will only read a part of the story before they make their decision. That is why you have to write a great hook. The hook sells the reader on the story and makes them want to continue reading. So, here are some great hooks.
Start your story with the description of a place. This does not sound like it would hook the reader, and does not sound very exciting, but it works. A great example is the Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. Tolkien begins his book with the description of Bilbo’s hole and tells the reader how it differs from the average hole. Once you read the description of the hole, you learned about hobbits, the next thing you knew you had a wizard drawing pictures on the door to the hole, and a company of dwarves coming for dinner.
Begin at a life changing moment for your main character. This could include coming of age stories where the character has to step into adulthood because of a tragic event.
Present the readers with a mystery. Keep them wondering about a character’s motivation for doing something. Tell them about something they do not understand. Everyone in town knows about the house at the end of the street—well, the reader doesn’t and if you paint a great picture of that house they will want to know.
Create sympathy or hatred toward the main character. Everyone who read Cinderella felt sympathy for the poor girl. Her stepmother made her do all the work, while her stepsisters got to do whatever they want, including going to the ball to meet the prince.
Begin with your main character in a state of confusion. They could awaken or come to consciousness in a strange place. Perhaps they woke with a gun in their hand or blood on their clothing and have to piece together what happened.
End the first chapter with a cliffhanger. Many agents will take one chapter of your novel, and if you impress them with your writing and leave them at a point in the book that is unfinished, they may want to see more. What happened when the girl opened the door? What sort of terror is lurking in that dark basement?
Start your story with the description of a place. This does not sound like it would hook the reader, and does not sound very exciting, but it works. A great example is the Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. Tolkien begins his book with the description of Bilbo’s hole and tells the reader how it differs from the average hole. Once you read the description of the hole, you learned about hobbits, the next thing you knew you had a wizard drawing pictures on the door to the hole, and a company of dwarves coming for dinner.
Begin at a life changing moment for your main character. This could include coming of age stories where the character has to step into adulthood because of a tragic event.
Present the readers with a mystery. Keep them wondering about a character’s motivation for doing something. Tell them about something they do not understand. Everyone in town knows about the house at the end of the street—well, the reader doesn’t and if you paint a great picture of that house they will want to know.
Create sympathy or hatred toward the main character. Everyone who read Cinderella felt sympathy for the poor girl. Her stepmother made her do all the work, while her stepsisters got to do whatever they want, including going to the ball to meet the prince.
Begin with your main character in a state of confusion. They could awaken or come to consciousness in a strange place. Perhaps they woke with a gun in their hand or blood on their clothing and have to piece together what happened.
End the first chapter with a cliffhanger. Many agents will take one chapter of your novel, and if you impress them with your writing and leave them at a point in the book that is unfinished, they may want to see more. What happened when the girl opened the door? What sort of terror is lurking in that dark basement?
Thursday, April 30, 2020
Shopify
Shopify is another website for those who are looking for a place to sell their art. If
you already have a strong following, you may just want to sell directly
from your own website instead of via a third party vendor. Shopify is a
great choice for e-commerce software, and is flexible and easy to use.
It can also be fully integrated into your website, so customers won’t be
able to tell that you’re using Shopify.
There’s no limit on the number of products you can list on your site, so you can start small and (hopefully) expand year on year.
There are currently over 600,000 businesses using Shopify technology, and over 1 million active users resulting in a total of $55 billion in sales, so you know you’re in experienced hands with this software.
There’s no limit on the number of products you can list on your site, so you can start small and (hopefully) expand year on year.
There are currently over 600,000 businesses using Shopify technology, and over 1 million active users resulting in a total of $55 billion in sales, so you know you’re in experienced hands with this software.
Shopify offers a 90 day free trial, no credit card required, just provide them with an email address and agree to receive their newsletters.
If you decide that shopify is for you, prices begin as low as $9 per month with their "lite" plan. The regular plans start at $29 for the basic package.
In all, there are five plans to choose from:
- 'Shopify Lite' — $9 per month
- 'Basic Shopify' — $29 per month
- 'Shopify' — $79 per month
- 'Advanced Shopify' — $299 per month
- 'Shopify Plus' — fees are negotiable, but generally in the region of $2000 per month.
A shopify storefront provides you with a choice of over 70 themes, a site that is mobile commerce ready, 24/7 customer support, expert design help, and a blog platform.
Here is the website:
Here is the website:
Sunday, April 26, 2020
Self-publishing platforms
I have not looked into any of these publishing platforms, other than to research them, so I cannot endorse or steer authors clear of any of them. Many of these are do-it-yourself platforms, but some offer a-la-carte and full service publishing. In all cases, the author retains the ownership of the book and can terminate the contract at any time.
1.) MindStir Media
2.) Barnes & Noble Press (formerly Nook Press)
5.) Smashwords
9.) Apple Books (formerly iBooks)
1.) MindStir Media
- Ranked as the #1 self-publishing company website and platform according to Penny Matters, BestTechie and iTech Post.
- Won numerous awards and, for over a decade, MindStir’s self-publishing services and consultations have helped thousands of authors.
- Authors enjoy access to top-notch services: book design; editorial; distribution to around 30,000 booksellers, retailers and wholesalers in over 100 countries (through Ingram); marketing and publicity.
- Mentoring provided from a bestselling author.
- This is a one-stop shop platform for self-publishing paperback, hardcover and ebook formats.
- Packages for paperback publishing start at $1899 and go up from there.
2.) Barnes & Noble Press (formerly Nook Press)
- A redesigned, user-friendly online platform.
- As a leader among self-publishing companies, Nook Press helps authors self-publish Nook eBooks, paperback and hardcover formats.
- Distribution is limited to BN.com and Nook devices.
- This is a do-it-yourself platform. They do not provide services such as editorial, book design, marketing or publicity.
- A renowned platform that helps authors self-publish in the ebook format only.
- eBook distribution around the world in online bookstores in over 190 countries.
- They seemingly do not offer any sort of services like book design, editorial, marketing or publicity.
- This is a do-it-yourself platform.
- An award-winning self-publishing platform that specializes in helping authors become bestsellers.
- Full-blown distribution through Ingram makes the book available to thousands of retailers.
- Comprehensive marketing and publicity campaigns built-in to its Best Seller package.
- Authors keep 100% royalties.
- This is a one-stop shop platform that provides services for all aspects of self-publishing.
5.) Smashwords
- Mainly a distributor of eBooks. Their distribution makes eBooks available to major retailers and thousands of libraries.
- Clients get their own “Author Pages” where they can promote their work.
- eBooks must be uploaded according to their Style Guide.
- Since this is a do-it-yourself platform, there’s no hand-holding whatsoever. You must bring your own cover design to the platform and your book will need to be edited elsewhere. Also, the marketing and promotion is on the author.
- An online platform for small self-publishers.
- Assists authors in self-publishing paperback, hardcover and eBook formats.
- Distribution is powered by Ingram.
- Files must be uploaded according to their in-depth File Creation Guide.
- This is a do-it-yourself option. Authors should come prepared with their own book designs. Also don’t expect self-publishing companies like IngramSpark to help with marketing or publicity.
- Online tools can help authors create template-based book designs.
- Ideal for small self-publishing projects or photo books.
- Plenty of different trim sizes and paper types offered, including glossy interior pages.
- This is a do-it-yourself platform that doesn’t appear to offer in-house editing, marketing or publicity services.
- One of the oldest self-publishing companies and providers of print-on-demand books.
- Publishing in paperback, hardcover and eBook.
- Distribution through Amazon, B&N and Ingram.
- They offer a do-it-yourself model as well as a one-stop shop option. On one hand, authors can provide their own edited files and designs and Lulu will print books based on those files. Alternatively, Lulu offers additional a la carte services such as cover design, editing, marketing.
9.) Apple Books (formerly iBooks)
- eBooks available through Apple Books app.
- Must have a Mac computer to self-publish through Apple Books.
- No print publishing options available.
- This is a do-it-yourself platform.
- eBook distribution to Android users in over 50 countries.
- Books published through Google Play can be previewed through Google Books.
- This is a do-it-yourself platform.
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