For years, readers created fan fiction without anyone paying much attention. Fans loved it. Rights’ holders either took a live-and-let-live stance, or were outraged.

That changed a couple of years ago. Once fan fiction started making BIG money — when EL James’ Twilight-inspired fan fiction developed in to Fifty Shades of Grey, publishers looked at fan fiction again.

Now Amazon, which is of course a publisher too, has created a new imprint, Announcing Kindle Worlds:

“Get ready for Kindle Worlds, a place for you to publish fan fiction inspired by popular books, shows, movies, comics, music, and games. With Kindle Worlds, you can write new stories based on featured Worlds, engage an audience of readers, and earn royalties. Amazon Publishing has secured licenses from Warner Bros. Television Group’s Alloy Entertainment for Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, and The Vampire Diaries, with licenses for more Worlds on the way.”

If you’re interested in contributing to Kindle Worlds, read Amazon’s Author page for the new program carefully. You need to be aware of what you can, and can’t do.

Big as this announcement is, it’s huge when you look at publishing in general. From a dubious practice that publishing hated or ignored, fan fiction has become legitimate. And that will change publishing,

Fan fiction goes legit

As Nate Hoffelder points out in this article, fan fiction has gone legit, and that’s the bigger story:

Kindle Worlds is probably going to make Amazon a lot of money in the long run. But more importantly, it’s also going to legitimize a new segment of publishing that has been quietly ignored for decades. And that is the larger story today.

Amazon has just expanded the publishing industry beyond legacy publishers, self-published authors, and indie publishing. Now fanfic authors can go legit, and that is going to have an interesting effect on the rest of publishing.

The question isn’t whether Kindle Worlds will make money or not; it’s HOW MUCH money. Will that inspire rights’ holders, and authors, to license their characters and worlds for a cut of the profits?

Amazon has started a new publishing industry all on its own…

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I’m a huge fan of Victorian novelists. I love Anthony Trollope. I reread his Palliser novels every few years. If Trollope were writing today however, I’m sure he’d use a different style. He would show, more than tell. I’m sure you’ve heard the expression: “show, don’t tell” before when it comes to writing fiction.

“Showing” is writing in scenes: writing action, exactly as it happens, from the point of view of one character, your viewpoint character, in a scene.

“Telling” is narrative summary: you’re relating events to your readers. Think of it as if you’re telling someone what happened in a movie.

Everything important which happens in your novel should be shown as a scene, and every scene should have ACTION to carry the story forward.

Cut the Talk, Cue the Action

Sadly in many unpublished, or self-published, novels by beginning writers, nothing much happens. Or something happens, and it’s weird.

If you want to see common errors writers make in their novels — even very good writers — read the First Page entries on the Dear Author blog. Brave authors summit the first page of their novels; I think the feature runs every Saturday and Sunday.

Authors’ biggest mistake is that nothing much happens on the first page. People talk. There’s some info dumping, but nothing HAPPENS. When something does happen, it’s weird. For example, one First Page entry had a woman on her own in a snowbound cabin. A stranger comes to her door. She welcomes him, and gets fussy about some potato crisps which were past their use-by date. You might well think HUH?! Undeniably, this novel’s heroine was TSTL (Too Stupid to Live)… she’s alone, miles from anywhere, in a snowbound cabin and she drags a strange man into the cabin… This could have been set up well, if she’d been nervous.. But she was worried about potato crisps.

The author’s novel has potential, and something happened on the first page, which is good. Sadly, what happened was silly.

You can’t go far wrong with your novel if you have action, and that action is presented logically.

Here’s an Exercise: Get Familiar With Action in Scenes

Pick a novel from the genre in which you’re writing. Read the first chapter. How many scenes are there in the chapter? How does the author transition out of a scene into the scene’s sequel? The “scene sequel” is the page after the scene, in which the viewpoint character thinks about what happened, and what he/ she will do next.

Next, make a list of actions in each scene. What happens? Even talk can be action (two characters plotting the murder of a third character, for example), so you don’t need to have your characters driving racing cars, or climbing a mountain. However, something must happen, in each and every scene of your novel. Indeed, on every page.

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If you’re disappointed with the sales of your Kindle novels, there’s usually just one answer — get more emotion into your books. Readers will forgive you just about anything, as long as they get an emotional payoff from your books.

When you write fiction, your aim is to give your readers an EMOTIONAL experience.

In order to do that, you must arouse the emotion in yourself, first. You can’t do that if you’re uptight, and are using your logical left brain. Relax, and free your creative, and emotional, right brain self.

Big tip: read in your chosen genre. Monitor your emotions as you read. Study how the author managed to arouse whatever emotion you’re feeling while you’re reading.

For example, let’s say you’re reading a horror novel. Chills go up your spine… You can’t turn the pages fast enough. You’re there, alone in the house, with the victim. You are the victim. Something woke you. You hear the stairs creak — someone’s coming up the stairs…

NOTHING is as important as arousing emotion in your reader.

Now let’s look at my favorite content-creation strategy: lists. Listing helps you to capture sensory details, which trigger emotion.

Generating Text (and Arousing Emotion) Using Lists

I start each writing session creating lists.

Today, I’m working on a scene in which my lead character first meets the antagonist. So, I create a list: sunshine, bird song, clink of harness, creak of saddle leather, tired, hungry, sunburn, sound, fear, spooked horse…

Your lists help you to be in the novel, to hear the sounds, smell the scents, feel the emotions, see the sights. If you’re there, right in the action, using your senses, your reader will be there too. Your reader will feel what the characters are feeling, because you’ve triggered his imagination, and his emotions.

Why use word lists? One reason — it makes things easier, and less stressful. You can imagine yourself in the scene. You choose strong sensory details, and write them down. Then you can focus on the writing. If you don’t use lists, you’re trying to do too much — you’re trying to remember the scene’s details, and write at the same time.

If you need to stop writing, your lists give you an entree back into the scene, when you start working on it tomorrow.

Use lists. You’ll find that you’re more creative, and you can trigger your own emotions. When you feel the emotions, your readers will too.

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This article has been excerpted from Fiction Frenzy.)

Here’s a tip: you don’t need a huge amount of time to do the preliminary work on your novel.

Use whatever time you have:

• Five minutes waiting for a meeting to start;

• 35 minutes waiting in the doctor’s waiting room;

• Your commute, if you travel by train or bus.

A friend with a young family likes to prep-write on her iPad, while the family watches TV or a DVD. She spends time with them, while also working on her novel. The free-floating dreamy state, when you’re just musing, is perfect for this kind of work. Just make sure that you don’t become too engrossed in whatever is on the screen.

Another tip…

Get Ready to Publish While You’re Writing

Start thinking about publishing now, before you finish your book. Check out this article: “Kindle Publishing: 3 Simple Ways to Increase Your Sales”.

Read the article, and make some notes on what to do once you upload your novel to the Kindle book store.

Today, let’s look at a tactic which will not only help you to write, but will also help you to build your enthusiasm for your book: brainstorming ideas.

Brainstorm Ideas: Ten Ideas Are Better Than One

You can brainstorm whenever you get stuck, or you can brainstorm everything. I like to brainstorm everything from titles and character names, to motivation and ideas for locations.

There are many ways to brainstorm. If you’re not familiar with brainstorming, here’s an excellent article to get you started.

I do a lot of brainstorming, in every draft. I FORCE myself to come up with ideas. There’s a reason for this. The first idea which pops into your head might be great. However, that’s unlikely. It’s much more likely that the tenth, or 20th idea, will be just what you need.

Try to surprise yourself.

At the level of a scene, every character in the scene needs an agenda: a goal. Brainstorm a goal for every character in a scene. Rarely will a character reveal his/ her goal. This means that every character in your scene is hiding something. Brainstorm characters’ secrets before you write a scene. Your scenes will be suspenseful. Your readers will keep reading.

Exercise: Practice Brainstorming

Brainstorm a couple of times today. At the end of your writing session, think about whether brainstorming helped or hindered you. Then write about what you noticed when you brainstormed. Was it easy or hard for you? Were you pleased with the ideas?

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Amanda Hocking writes several series

One snowflake doesn’t make a blizzard, and one book won’t establish you as an author. A book is just a book. Hundreds of thousands are published each year.

As Jonathan Gunson points out in this article, How To Attract Readers By Creating A ‘Lighthouse’ Author Brand | Bestseller Labs, series are addictive:

“1.  Create an overarching theme-tagline to wrap around your books

If you write individual one-off novels, you’ll have discovered a downside.  Without the addictive power of a series, it can be prove difficult in the early stages of your career to persuade readers to buy another of your books – even though your author name may be prominently displayed.”

I’m a writer, but I’m a reader first. Not only do I read, if I’m not writing or exercising, or socializing, I’m reading. Thanks to the Kindle app on my iPad, most days I manage to get through at least one book. If I like a book, chances are that I’ll glom on to everything you’ve written — as long as it’s on Amazon.

Readers who glom — read everything an author writes, and look for more — may not be typical readers. However, we tend to be vocal. I’ll talk about the books I like; I may even mention what I’m reading on my numerous blogs.

Readers won’t remember you for one book. For us to remember you for a book, the book would need to be a huge bestseller, so that you’re getting publicity all over the place.

With just one book, you haven’t established a brand.

Way back in 1997, marketing guru wrote an article, A Brand Called You. Read the article.

As Peters says:

Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.

It’s that simple — and that hard. And that inescapable.

Bestselling authors are a brand. The easiest way for you to follow in their footsteps in to write in series.

If you’re not sure how to think about, and develop, your own brand, my branding guide may help.

Want to sell Kindle ebooks? Of course you do.

You want to sell a lot of them.

Here’s how, from someone who has done it, over 23 months.

If you think about, this is HUGE: 23 months of self-publishing, to sell 200,000 ebooks.

The process for an author choosing traditional publishing: get an agent, agent sells the book, you get the advance, editor asks for revisions, book is scheduled for publication… Finally you get additional royalties in 24 months (this last is unlikely, since few books “earn out”, that is earn more than the advance.)

With traditional publication, you’d be VERY lucky to get your book into bookstores and selling within 23 months. It might take you a year of shopping around a manuscript before you acquired an agent, let alone sold your book.

Read this entire forum post, How To Sell Loads of Books – My Approach; Russell Blake tells you how he did it:

“1) Pick one genre that’s popular and with which you are extremely familiar, and then write in that genre. Stick to it. Don’t hop around. It confuses your potential readers and muddies who you are in their minds, and will hurt your sales. If you want to write different genres, use a pseudonym, and if you like, let your readers know that moniker is you. But stick to one name, one genre, because you’re building your brand, and brand building is a function of clarity – clearly communicating what you do, and what your product is.

2) Write a series. Why? Because readers like series, and you want to give readers what they like. Or you won’t sell as much. You can try stand-alone – I have – but my series outsell my stand-alone books 4 to 1. Once you have at least three books in the series, make the first one free. Make your money on the rest, but give readers a whole novel to decide whether they like you or not.”

I’d encourage you not only to read the entire post, but also to make notes for yourself, especially on Russell Blake’s work habits. You need to write, before you can sell.

Amazon’s KDP Select is a boon for many authors. You can offer your fiction for free, for a few days. You’ll get downloads, readers, and eventually buyers.

You don’t need to restrict your freebies to KDP Select, however.

Look at what Kris is doing here, Free Fiction Monday: Tribute « Kristine Kathryn Rusch:

“‘Tribute,’ by World Fantasy Award winner Kristine Kathryn Rusch is free in its entirety on this site for one week only. It’s also available for $2.99 from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and in other e-bookstores.”

Kris is offering her fiction free on her blog, and she does it every week.

Do you think it increases her ebook sales?

Think about how you might offer some free material — material which is selling on Amazon, but is available for free on your site, for a limited time.

Also, consider writing some short material, and publishing that. The more you have available to sell, the more you will sell.

Writing a book? That’s great. You’re very busy with your book, but now’s the time to start thinking about reviews, and preparing for them. Not only will your reviews lift sales, but if you go about getting them in the right way, you’ll also get readers. This is a good thing for the future.

Study Goodreads’ reviewers carefully

I’ve just written an article about increasing ebook sales, in which I discussed Goodreads’ Author Program. Join Goodreads, and create your author profile.

Once that’s done, look for books which are similar to yours, and which sell well. For example, if you write contemporary romances, find hot-selling books in that genre on Goodreads. Choose the books which are most similar to yours – in plot and voice. Read the reviews.

Ideally, you’ve read the top-selling books in your category already. You have an opinion on them. Find reviewers whose taste is similar to yours – they like the books you do, and dislike the books you dislike.

Make a list of the reviewers. Then approach them one by one (don’t send out boilerplate messages.) Comment on a couple of reviews of theirs which you enjoyed, and explain why you enjoyed them.

Now ask for a review. Explain that you’re self-publishing if that’s the case, or which company is publishing your book if you’re going with a publisher. Make it clear that you can live with a less-than-wonderful review, if that’s what the reviewer gives you. You’ve read their reviews, you respect them, and are interested in what they’ll say about your book – good or bad.

Reviewers are busy. Many authors want reviews, which means that there’s every chance you’ll need to wait months for yours. Assure the reviewers that you’re happy with what they give you, and you don’t mind how long it takes for their review.

(Your ebook will sell for years, so it hardly matters if the reviews take time to trickle in. You’ll get a sales boost with every review, so your patience will be rewarded.)

Approach book bloggers

Book bloggers with popular blogs have huge numbers of books to read. As with the Goodreads’ people, look for bloggers who share your taste in books.

Before you approach any book blogger, become a constant reader. Comment on reviews they’ve written. All bloggers appreciate comments. They’ll love the fact that you stop by, and you’ll be known to them before you ask for a review.

Follow the same routine as above. Be friendly and open, and make it clear that you’re interested in what they think of your book because you respect them. And tell them that you’re happy to wait.

Be emotionally prepared for negative reviews

Some authors don’t care about bad reviews. It’s water off the proverbial duck’s back. Other authors care deeply. If you’re overly sensitive, think about why that may be so. Not everyone will love what you’ve written. Some people will hate it, because it triggers something in them.

Be prepared for bad reviews because the reviewer just dislikes the book.

That said – do minimize bad reviews you can avoid. I wrote about proofreading to avoid one-star reviews.

Ensure that your book’s formatted well, and edited, before you go hunting for reviewers.

Getting ebook reviews is fun. Each review helps you to build your readership. Be grateful: reviewers take time to read and think about your work. With any luck at all, you’ll get some wonderful reviews. Good luck with writing your book.

Want to sell more Kindle ebooks?

I discussed a new program here, Ebooks: Kindle Sales Secrets You Can Use Today | Angela Booth’s Fab Freelance Writing Blog:

“Getting into your buyers’ head is vital not only for nonfiction, but for fiction as well. You must know what your buyers want and need. What hopes and dreams do they have? All this sounds airy fairy, but it’s not. Even if you spend just a few minutes working with the process that Dmitrij lays out for you, it will make all the difference to your sales.”

If you’re not selling as many ebooks as you want, check out this new guide.

Sometimes you just gotta laugh…

Check out Longmire Does Romance for a giggle.

You won’t see these covers on bookstore shelves any time soon…

The Atlantic is getting into ebooks.

The Atlantic Expands Their Digital Publishing Efforts With a New eBook Imprint – The Digital Reader reports:

“The Atlantic Books is one of a number of paid product efforts that Atlantic Media plans to launch this year. This imprint will focus on what the magazine publisher describes as long form content. It will publish both fiction and nonfiction titles between 10,000 and 30,000 words, or about the length of a novella or Kindle Single. “

Many ebook authors worry about pricing their ebooks — we talked about pricing ebooks here.

Watch what The Atlantic does. If you click through to Amazon on The Denial page, you’ll see that the ebook is priced $1.99. It’s been published as a Kindle Single. Without The Atlantic’s clout, it’s doubtful that you’ll be accepted into the Amazon Singles program, but you can nevertheless, watch what The Atlantic does when it publishes upcoming titles.

Why bother?

One reason. Magazines do lots of research. They always have good reasons for what they do. Watching them helps you.

Can you really, truly, honestly make money writing ebooks?

Yes, you can.

As I said in this blog post on my freelance writing tips blog:

Well, yes. I’ve been making money creating ebooks and other info products since around 2000. In 2013, I’m trying to complete a couple of series of novels for the Kindle, but I keep getting side-tracked into ghostwriting ebooks for others. (I’m not complaining… much. It pays well.)

Many writers are happy to share the results of the money they’re making from their ebooks. You won’t have heard of most of them.

Please read that complete blog post for more on how much money people are making. However, you’re not guaranteed to make anything.

Many years ago, my father pointed out to me that writing books for a living made racehorse gambling look like a sane, steady business. Amazon changed all that. Nowadays, if you’re keen and dedicated, you CAN make money writing books.

When writers ask me Can you really, truly, honestly make money writing ebooks?, they want to know whether ebook-writing is a viable option – are “normal” writers making money, or just the bestselling authors?

Writers of all levels of experience are making money. You’d be surprised. I’m on a couple of mailing lists, and newbie authors are crushing it every day.

Let’s say that you want to make money at it. What do you need?

Money-wise, you don’t need anything, Kindle publication is free. You may want to pay for editing, proofreading, covers etc. but you can do this yourself if you’re strapped for cash.

On the other hand, you do need certain attributes.

Attributes of successful ebook writers

Successful authors have these attributes.

• The ability to sit in a chair (or on a sofa) and write

You won’t get very far without this. Create your own personal publication schedule. Decide what you’ll publish, and when.

• The desire to LEARN

In Grab Control of Kindle Self-Publishing TODAY, I shared two Kindle self-publishing programs I’ve been using and recommend. Check them out. There’s a lot to learn about self-publishing, and you can’t hire people to do it for you.

You can make a lot more money than you will ever be able to make as a traditionally-published author, BUT no one is going to do the learning for you. When you publish on Amazon, Amazon’s database will do a lot of the marketing for you, but only if you know how you can put that power to work.

• Imagination…

I’m reminded of Kipling’s wonderful poem, “If”:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same…

You need enough imagination to dream about what’s possible for YOU, without building castles in the air and trying to live in them. In other words, have vision, but be grounded.

• Patience

Rome wasn’t built… etc.

Please realize that it’s highly unlikely that you will write one ebook and be able to retire to your own personal South Pacific island. You probably won’t make enough to buy a decent dinner.

However, if you keep writing, and look on the time you’re spending as an investment, it will pay off.

Write Whenever You Want, And Whatever You Want

My Easy-Write “cure” for writing stress and trauma crept up on me.

One day I wondered where the fear had gone… I was amazed. It was GONE; not a trace remained.

I could see how my life had changed as I worked with the Easy-Write process…

Writing had turned into a daily joy. Instead of cowering in bed when I awoke, I leaped out of bed, eager to get to the keyboard. I was happier in everything I did, and everyone around me was happier too.

Along with the joy, came the money. I had to turn clients away. Editors rang me to discuss new projects. Clients put me on retainer.

When I taught the Easy-Write process to my writing students, they achieved great results too — become a confident writer with the Easy Write Process.

Photo credit

Something odd is happening in Amazon land. Author Jamie McGuire’s had great success with her book, Beautiful Disaster.

I’m not familiar with the book, however it seems that Amazon’s offering returns on the Kindle version months after purchase.

This blog post, Former indie author Jamie McGuire penalized for self-publishing? | Erotica by Sara, reports:

“It appears that Amazon has sent a mass email to everyone who’s ever purchased the self-published version of Beautiful Disaster. They are encouraging readers to request a refund. When asked why they are offering this refund, Amazon customer service has given several different reasons, the most common is problems with content. THERE IS NO PROBLEM WITH THE CONTENT OF BEAUTIFUL DISASTER, and it makes no sense for them to encourage a refund for a book that has already been read and enjoyed 6+ months later, but that is the only information I have for now.”

The story’s gained a lot of traction on Kindle Boards, as you might imagine.

Ms McGuire offered an indie version of the book, which was then acquired and published by Atria.

You can see the various Amazon offerings on this screen grab.

There’s Kindle, hardcover, paperback and audio offerings.

And the problem is…?

I have no idea. However, it’s odd that Amazon’s offering refunds so many months after the indie version was purchased.

You can follow the issue on Kindle Boards.

Update March 5, 2013

Here’s what the problem is. According to Dear Author:

… there was one big difference between the self published version and the Simon & Schuster. The original self published version contains virtually all the lyrics to the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction.” The S&S version has basically one line, the start.

That would do it. Amazon wouldn’t want to get into a dustup about unauthorized use of music lyrics, especially not with the Rolling Stones. That’s a clear copyright violation — if that’s what occurred. As stated, I’m not familiar with the book.

Tip: never, ever use anything in your book without permission. Not music, lyrics, quotes from books, images… It’s asking for trouble, and it will bite you sooner or later.

The Digital Reader’s been studying Amazon’s new rules for Amazon affiliates promoting free ebooks, and says that Amazon may have killed “free ebook” promotions:

According to the new 80-20 rule (my name for it), Amazon affiliates will be penalized in any month that one, their affiliate ID shows up on more than 20 thousand free Kindle ebook purchases, and two, the total number of paid Kindle ebooks account for less than one in five purchases. If an Amazon affiliate can’t comply with the rule, they will lose their income for the month.

It seems that the free ebook promotions are costing Amazon money, and affiliates will somehow need to police their own promotions. As the article rightly points out, affiliates can’t control what happens when someone clicks a link and goes to Amazon.

Free ebooks are too popular

Amazon’s in business to make money, and ebook authors use free promotions because they work.

This is a hard ruling for affiliates to obey — indeed, I can’t see any way in which can be sure that they won’t fall foul of the new rules.

Since affiliates stand to lose their commissions, they’ll need to restrict themselves to promoting “paying” ebooks, but they still can’t control what their customers do when they get to Amazon.

This means that authors can’t rely on the “free ebook downloads” sites to do their promotions, they’ll need to do their own.

Who knew that short stories would become popular again?

Years ago many publishers produced wonderful short story collections. My all-time favorites were the Alfred Hitchcock Presents series. They’re still available in libraries. If you’re lucky, you’ll find a second-hand copy or two.

This article, A Good Fit for Small Screens, Short Stories Are Selling – NYTimes.com, talks about short stories for ereaders:

“Stories are also perfect for the digital age, she added, because readers ‘want to connect and want that connection to be intense and to move on.’ That is, after all, what a short story is all about.”

I know several writers who’ve been noodling around with short stories for years. They’re dusting them off, updating them, and are publishing their collections on the Kindle.

If you’ve got short stories on your hard drive, and want to publish them, here are a couple of ideas:

* Can you find a common theme? The Alfred Hitchcock stories (from memory — it’s been years since I read them) — were a mix of crime and thriller genres.

Try to find a theme. One of my writer friends is writing a collection of new stories with a “mommy at home” theme. These days, women who choose to stay at home while their children are young have many challenges.

Establishing a theme makes good marketing sense. I’m not a short story fan at all. I like LONG novels, the longer the better (I reread Trollope’s Palliser novels every year.) That said, I’d fight my natural antipathy for short stories if you published a Western collection — give me a horse and a cowboy, and I’ll read it, even if it’s a short story collection.

* If you’ve got a couple of stories, but not enough for a collection, get together with a friend. You can publish a short story as a standalone, of course. But if you’re a new writer, without fans, it’s a hard sell.

Ask around. You and several of your friends can compile a selection of stories on a theme, and sell the collection.