A VERY SPECIAL OFFER

MERRY CHRISTMAS
AND

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

A VERY SPECIAL OFFER

Today through January 6th, all

the Sharon O'Mara ebooks will be available through 

Amazon Kindle for

$0.99

CLICK THE TITLE:

LAND SWAP FOR DEATH

CONTAINERS FOR DEATH

TOULOUSE FOR DEATH

12TH MAN FOR DEATH

We are celebrating the January 6 release of the New O'Mara book:

Diamonds For Death

Look here for more information and the chance to win a free copy of Sharon's latest adventure in:
CUBA!

Posting Your Books On IngramSpark – A Primer

An author needs their books everywhere: online, ebooks, blogs, Amazon, and in bookstores. The urban legend is that independent bookstores won’t carry books from Amazon (though I have heard that, like many legends, this one is not totally true or is changing). The belief is that Amazon was/is/will be, the evil empire, and as such indie-bookstores won’t buy their product (actually your product is from their subsidiary CreateSpace), is changing.

With some help from the bookstore industry and the need to access the growing world of self-publishing, Ingram Content Group (and owns Lightning Source printing) decided to see what they could do to help get our books onto the shelves of bookstores and libraries. They created IngramSpark, a division that gets your book into the world’s largest distribution chain. While paper books aren’t a great moneymaker for me (CreateSpace) at the moment, I decided to grow a bit and give IngramSpark a chance.

Ingram is very similar to CreateSpace in that it takes YOUR cover and content files and then builds a book to your specs. So remember the responsibility for a great looking book is YOURS – not Ingrams. All aspects are under your control from cover art, cover finish, text formatting, and price. Ingram is just a distributor that gets your book into its huge distribution chain.

Go here to understand what Ingram Content is.

Here is what you need to do to get your books into Ingram:

Step 1

Sign up at IngramSpark HERE:

Be ready with your completed files for cover art and interior text. They request PDF formats in the PDF/X-1a:2001 format. Like many of the various PDF formats I haven’t a clue as to why this one, just make sure your files are saved in this Standard. If you don’t, you will be prompted to update and replace.

Step 2

Open your Dashboard and click on Add a New Title.

This is a six-step process that walks you through placing your book into their system. Be prepared before you start to know ALL the aspects of your book: size, publisher, matte or gloss cover, descriptive text, interior paper type (white or cream), etc. They also do e-books from your files – I don’t know how this works, I keep my ebooks on Amazon. So I open by only selecting Print Only in the first box at the top. Then the imprint input (your choice but you need to have one – now is the time to step up and become your own publisher), then the title, subtitle and language.

Step 3

Post contributor – that’s normally you as the author. Then subjects, this is like the keywords in Amazon, please put a lot of thinking into this. This is where your book will be searched in Ingram’s huge database. Their’s is a tough search system, start with FICTION in the search and grow from there – there are only 78 pages of potential Subject Code selections. Then post Description – critical information here.
This is what they suggest (and a minimum of 200 words):

This brief description of the book will be communicated to distribution partners who wish to describe and market the book on their website(s) and to their customers.

IngramSpark recommends that you provide a book description for all new books, to assist booksellers in presenting your books to their customers.

The book description should be at least 200 characters, but should not exceed 4,000 characters including spaces. In addition, no HTML tagging, bullets, or other special formatting should be embedded.

See, I told you to be prepared before you start.

Step 4

Trim Size is obvious (especially if you are moving over from CreateSpace or other POD), select the size. Interior color options are white and crème. I have not printed anything in color yet but there are options here if that’s your book. Select binding, then cover finish. Lastly for this step is page count – remember to include front and back pages, table of contents, index’s, appendix, etc. The need here is to compute the thickness of your book (which of course you know down to the hundredth of an inch). If not, go to their template page and information site under HELP and review the File Creation Guide and Checklists – very helpful.

Step 5

Load ISBNs here. Critical Note:

I create a DIFFERENT ISBN number for the books I load onto IngramSpark. Obviously every version of your book (ebook, paper, etc.) needs its own and different ISBN number – yes, really it does! So I load at Bowkers, in my ISBN schedule, a new number for the Ingram version. This is to reduce confusion when a bookstore or library orders the book – it goes directly to Ingram and is not confused with CreateSpace or other distribution channel.

Now add your price for the book, publication dates (past or future as required).

Step 6

Here is where you drop your files for the interior and cover. Straight forward.

Subsequent steps:

Proceed on through the various pages as directed. Here you have opportunities to be listed in their monthly catalog release of new/old books as well as other promotional opportunities. No rush here, but keep this in mind as a way to market your titles in the future.

It will take a day or three for Ingram to review your files for compatibility, if a problem they will notify you through your email. It will also be posted at the top of your dashboard if there is a message. There are various buttons to push that will help explain any issues, they are in the specific title that you submitted. Their phone help is great, sometime there is a wait, but they do know what they are doing and do help.

Costs:

You cannot beat CreateSpace – most everything except ordering physical books is free. Ingram charges $49.00 for placing every title in their system (paper and ebook for the same price), this will be billed to the ‘on file’ credit card you placed when you set up your account (this also includes info on transferring funds, tax info, etc. Be prepared when you start). Marketing and catalog placements start at $60.00 each.

There are many reasons for getting you books onto Ingram, the most important being access to their distribution system. The costs are not great considering what it cost to get your book to the point of being sold (cover artwork, editing, formatting, etc.)

I will keep you posted as to what my ongoing experience is with IngramSpark over the next year.

More Later . . . . . . . .

Hello Boys, …..I’m Back

Michael Connelly at Bouchercon

Just a note – Please sign in (look right) and get on my mailing list, I will keep you posted on freebies and book signings through emails and newsletters.

Bouchercon was everything I hoped it would be. I met a serious bunch of very serious writers and fans who love the mystery/thriller/noir industry so much that they just have to get together once a year to shake hands, tell lies, and brag. Loved it.

I want to thank Peg Brantley for inviting me to dinner and meeting four other women writers, talk about a thorn amongst roses. Peg was a delight and you should look up her books (Here). I want to thank R. P. Dahlke for pointing me to the right road for marketing my books. Thanks Rebecca, now if I could just get you to help me understand the thirty five page handout, not your fault just my lack of marketing talent.

I especially want to thank Les Edgerton, Giants fan extraordinaire, even though he lives somewhere in Indiana. His newest book, The Genuine, Imitation, Plastic, Kidnapping is a treat for both baseball fans and lovers of New Orleans. Great job Les and I still think it reminds me of Hunter Thompson's work from the 70s.

I fun lunch was had with George Fong, Kirk Russell, Colin Campbell, and Robin Burcell. All I could do was listen to these pros and well-known authors.

The list of mentions is too long. But it was a classy event, well organized, and informative. The Hyatt and the Long Beach Convention Center were the venues; unfortunately the Hyatt has one of the worst hotel bars I have ever been in. We managed, but liquor and thriller writers go hand in hand – and sadly this bar did not cut it.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Long Beach downtown and waterfront. It had a small village of touristy shops that were a lot better than San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, at least six good sized chain restaurants (all P F Chang quality) nearby and all had great bars. Just saying.

For me the high point was a front row seat to listen to Michael Connelly talk about his upcoming Harry Bosch Amazon TV series, his new book, and the tribulations of being the most popular crime detective writer today (hint: too much traveling, learning to write on planes, etc.). We all dream of being in his shoes.

Next year in September, Bouchercon is in Raleigh, South Carolina. Never been to Raleigh, should be able to add it to my cities visited list.

Now I am well inspired and forming the start of marketing campaign. I'm finished inserting my books into IngramSpark's magical distribution system, and most importantly getting back to writing. For the last six plus months I have been in production and editing mode with three new books – all almost done. Two more weeks then back to Tony Alfano and his new series, Sharon O’Mara and her travels to Istanbul, and the Smith family in Michigan in 1966. Remember that two new books are out this January, a third sometime this summer, and who knows what else by the end of the year.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone,

More Later . . . . . . . .

BOUCHERCON OR BUST

This week is the annual Bouchercon: a writer’s rendezvous, swap-meet, conference, gab fest, liars club, etc. You get the idea. When more than four hundred crime and mystery writers and camp-folloers get together to discuss murder and mayhem, I can tell you it’s a lot more fun than an insurance convention.

The conference is held annually in the honor of Anthony Boucher, the distinguished mystery fiction critic, editor, and author. The venue is Long Beach, California, that is in and of itself not a bad place to meet. The Queen Mary is just across the harbor, the restaurants are good, and the bars reasonably priced.

I will be announcing two new books that are coming out this winter, Diamonds For Death, the newest Sharon O’Mara thriller, and the beginning of a new series with Chicago Swing featuring Detective Tony Alfano. Preliminary reviews have been great, more on pre-release information in a later blog.

One thing I’m looking forward to is meeting writer’s I’ve met on line and at other conferences. Always good to catch up and see how everyone is doing. There have been a lot of great new books this year and having a chance to meet their authors will be special. Most of us work alone in cramped little warrens piled with books and research materials, have a pasty pallor, and an insensitivity to sunlight (rumors abound that the first vampires were actually suspense writers). Getting together at these events is great for our complexions, ADHD, and sourcing vitamin D.

I will have my own twenty minutes of fame on Friday afternoon in the Author Focus Program where I take the floor to talk up my books and stories. It’s at 5:00 in conference room Harbor C – last of the focus sessions for the day – I understand the bar is just around the corner where we can continue the discussion.

Looking forward to seeing all my friends and to meeting new ones.

More later . . . . . . . . .

Editing, Editing, Editnig

Short one this week – way too much on my plate.

One of the pleasures of writing is obviously having others read and enjoy your work, but the greatest pleasure is knowing that you have a friend that has read the review copy and performed a final copyedit of the manuscript – in book proof form. I am finding, as any experienced author will tell you, that a manuscript is never done. But when it goes to press it has to be a perfect as it can be. And that is a very tough order.

My forthcoming O’Mara novel Diamonds For Death, was reread and edited maybe ten times before is went to a paid editor. She did an outstanding job and helped to clean up and clear up a number of issues. So far so good. Then I went through her track changes and revised accordingly—never click “accept all” in track changes—there are edits that must be looked at and fixed.

Then I formatted the book in InDesign for print and .doc for ebooks, I was sure I was at least 99% clean. My trusted beta readers then took hold (with Accent pen in hand) and went to work. OMG – they found twenty-three typos. Nothing big but missing a’s, multiple repeat words, confusing sentences, and one or two to’s with too many o’s. Done and done. Now all I’m waiting for is some input on Cuban baseball strike and ball calls (if anyone out there knows what an umpire calls strikes in Cuban Spanish please let me know), and comments on the Iraqi war scenes.

Diamonds For Death will publish this winter.

See you all at Boucheron in two weeks.

More later . . . . . . . . .