10 Questions to Ask an Agent

It finally has happened. An agent is interested in you and your manuscript. But not so fast. Even if you like this agent, does that mean that they will do what you and your manuscript need?

Granted, you’ve done your research, which is how you queried this agent in the first place. But now you need to be certain that this is in fact a partnership that will work for both of you. Getting answers to these questions may help with that decision. And besides – you present as professional. Always a good place to start out from.

1. Why did you pick me and my work?

This may seem like an ingenuous question, but it’s not at all naïve or simple. What answer you receive sheds light on where your agent will focus. There’s a world of difference between “I love your characters” and “The market is ripe for this type of book.” Neither reply is wrong – it just gives you a bit of insight. However, if an agent can’t answer this question, this isn’t a great sign for a working relationship. It’s an important question to start out with.

2. What is the plan for the short term?

Sometimes, the short term involves edits directly from your agent that you’ll work on before your manuscript goes anywhere. Other agents may have readers who they send your manuscript out to for editorial feedback. In any case, it’s a rare manuscript that lands on an agent’s desk that needs no feedback and/or edits before going out on submission.

3. How do you plan to present my manuscript to publishers?

Does your agent have specific editors/publishers in mind? Will this be a one-at-a-time approach or will it be simultaneous submissions? A focus on home turf or international markets? When you get the answer, there’s no reason to not ask why the agent is making this choice. And find out if you will receive a list of submissions for your own records. Open communication means you’re not in the dark about where your manuscript is going.

4. Which publisher would be ideal for this book?

This one is especially useful to give you insight into how connected your agent is in the publishing world. And how astute they are about your manuscript and finding it the best home for publication. Ideal doesn’t necessarily mean the biggest fish in the pond if ideal offers your manuscript benefits you hadn’t yet considered.

5. Do you consult with your clients on any offers?

You want to be consulted and not leave it all to your agent. Given that you are the person who will be signing the publishing contract, you’ll want to have input with your agent beforehand. But even more important to you is to know about offers that your agent doesn’t recommend. If so, you want to know why your agent doesn’t think it’s right for you or the book’s journey. Maybe you have a perspective that could change the agent’s mind or at least suggest ways the publisher might sweeten the offer to your benefit. And just maybe, the agent has information you don’t know about. Remember, it’s all about communication.

6. How often do you communicate with your clients?

It’s not just whether to send an email or make a phone call – you want to know what is the connection expectation here. Agents are busy and have real lives. But they are also in a working relationship with you. So there needs to be contact and you need to know what to expect. When your manuscript is out on submission, are you expected to wait to hear? Or will your agent send you weekly or monthly updates? Establish what is reasonable for both of you and save yourself one more level of anxiety. (Note: anxiety is a norm for writers but this will at least lessen your hourly need to check your email for updates.)

7. How will I be represented on the agency website?

When looking for an agent, writers visit agency websites all the time. We’re looking for connections – writers we know personally and can ask about the agent, for example. We can also be looking for comparison writers/titles. Some agencies list their clients alphabetically; some list them by agent and some by genre/title. No matter how you show up, you want to know that you’ll be there, on the website even if your first book hasn’t yet been sold. (Note: have your bio ready to revise to fit the agency’s online style.)

8. What social media do you use and what do you expect from me on social media?

Coordination is helpful for a great working relationship. While your agent’s role is to find that perfect home for your manuscript, you have a role as well to support your agent. Promoting one another reaps benefits you won’t always know about – but at the very least, it is a tangible approach of working together. Find a common platform or consider expanding your horizons to a platform you’ve not tried before.

9. What happens when you or I choose to end our contract?

Every good contract is clear about how to end the relationship. But it’s good to hear directly from the agent about what they expect from you, and what you should expect to hear from them in this regard. Agents and clients part ways for many different reasons. In all cases, even if you are not happy with an agent, it is important to be professional and direct. Asking this question sets out that professional relationship before a contract is even signed.

10. Do you have any questions for me?

Absolutely you need to give the agent the opportunity to ask you questions. Assuming that they haven’t been asking throughout your meeting, this is the agent’s chance to explore areas that are unique to you and your work. It’s a path to making even stronger connections with each other. And that is the foundation of any good relationship.

Ruth E. Walker asked some of these questions of her agent, Ali McDonald of 5 Otter Literary. Some she didn’t need to ask because Ali shared many of these details without any prodding. But Ruth did her research before the meeting and was ready, in case.

Supreme Court decision on Copyright

I suppose we should be glad that the Supreme Court upheld the decision against York University, but the road to fair dealing still seems a long way off.

If you are not familiar with the copyright struggle, you can get the details in our earlier blogs listed below or directly at the Access Copyright website.

April 2018 – background to the legal struggle
May 2018 – Parliamentary Review and Submission to the Industry Committee
August 2018 – how writers can get involved and help
January 2019 – update as we wait for a decision
January 2020 – courts order payment to creators by March 9 2020
October 2020 – March deadline ignored. On to the Supreme Court.

Today we bring you the latest update, This is the email notification received on July 30 from Access Copyright in its entirety:

TORONTO [July 30, 2021] – Access Copyright’s case against York University was about remedying the significant and sustained economic harm to creators and publishers caused by the mass, systemic and systematic copying of their works without compensation by the education sector under self-defined fair dealing guidelines.

This economic harm was proven in court. Today’s Supreme Court decision did nothing to undermine that conclusion. Indeed, it declined to endorse York’s guidelines, which are virtually identical to the guidelines adopted by most of the education sector outside of Quebec.

While today’s decision does not dispute the harm, it declines to remedy it.

After almost 10 years of litigation and economic harm to the writing, visual art and publishing sector, creators are still left fighting for fair compensation for the use of their works by educational institutions.

Disappointingly, the Court’s decision undermines collective licensing as well as the role of the Copyright Board of Canada in upholding a functioning market for creative works.

The Supreme Court’s finding that tariffs are not enforceable exacerbates the struggles of creators in today’s marketplace where the imbalance in bargaining power does not lie with creators and their collectives, but with large institutions that brazenly abuse uncertainty in the law, push exceptions to the extreme and deprive creators of their just reward. This decision marks the beginning of a significantly more challenging environment for creators to manage and monetize their works in an increasingly digital environment.

This threatens investment in and creation of Canadian works that reflect our lived experiences and values, to the detriment of all Canadians, starting with our students.

“Canadian creators and publishers spend countless hours shaping and building the published material that inspire students. Educational institutions should be setting an example by respecting the work of others by fairly compensating creators for the use of their work. Instead, they have chosen to refuse to do so for almost a decade now,” said Roanie Levy, Access Copyright’s President & CEO. “There are no winners with today’s Supreme Court decision: we will all have fewer stories that speak directly to us as Canadians and chronicle our shared reality.”

The Supreme Court specifically said today that it is “open to Parliament to amend the Copyright Act if and when it sees fit to make collective infringement actions more readily available.” On behalf of Canadian creators and publishers, we call on the federal government to support the creative community and remedy the untenable situation in which creators find themselves as a result of the Court’s decision.

Writing Speeches for Profit

Guest Post by freelance writer Dorothea Helms

Helping people put into words what they want to say in public can be a fun and lucrative source of revenue for freelance writers. Ghostwriting speeches and/or remarks for businesspeople is like writing dialogue in fiction: you have to put yourself into the “voices” of your characters rather than write how you’d say things. Here are a few tips on how to approach speech writing for clients.

Before you write

Know the main purpose of the speech. Is it to entertain? Inform? Educate? Inspire to action? This should affect everything you write for the job.
Keep in mind the rhetoric (speaker-audience-message) triangle. The words you weave must be appropriate for all three.

Know your speaker. Have a conversation with the person to discover their speaking style. Does your client speak with flowery words or in straightforward business talk? If you cannot meet in person, at least video call or chat over the phone.
Know your client’s event participation and timing. Will they be giving a formal speech or adding some remarks to an agenda? Will your client be the emcee? How long should the presentation be? Most people speak at approximately 140 words per minute. If your client speaks slowly or quickly, adjust your word count accordingly. If your client is the emcee, you’ll need to add some occasional (DIRECTIONS) in caps and bracketed to indicate when introductions and other parts of the event occur.
Know your client’s audience. Who will your client be addressing? The presentation must be appropriate for the audience.

THE SPEECH ITSELF:

There’s an old saying that is still valid in today’s professional presentation world: Tell ‘em what you’re going to tell ‘em; then tell ‘em; then tell ‘em what you told ‘em. This is a good rule of thumb for a formal speech. Regardless of any speech’s length or purpose, follow these tips for effectiveness.

Research – be sure that any statistics or other information your client uses are accurate.
Use powerful verbs – a good power verb will always be more effective than an adverb and a weak verb (think “crept” rather than “walked slowly”).
Add humour only if appropriate – again, think of the audience. People can be easily offended. Audiences are diverse, and it’s wise to use a light hand with jokes or funny anecdotes.
Add personal or other appropriate anecdotes – this can give a personal slant that connects the speaker to the audience. “I wonder if this has ever happened to you…”
Simplify language and read your draft aloud – remember, writing for speaking is different from writing for reading. If you stumble over a sentence when reading out loud, rewrite that sentence.
Stay in the active voice throughout – this will have much more impact on the audience.
Avoid blanket sweeping statements – a statement that can’t possibly be true will turn off an audience. An example: “Everyone knows that …”
Be positive – whenever appropriate, say what it is, not what it’s not – use the power of a positive voice. The subconscious processes only the positive, so when you say something like “real estate sales cannot get any worse,” you plant the seed that they can.
Make the tone conversational – The audience should feel as though the speaker is communicating with them.
Be ready to edit – Your client may love the speech as is; however, remain open to making changes if you are asked to. Often, a client looks at remarks differently once they are written down. That person might realize something should be added or removed. One of the speeches I wrote went through six drafts before being approved. The client was happy with the results and the fact that I didn’t take suggested changes personally. This point is appropriate for all business writing.

How to get speech writing assignments

Your website
Business cards
Add speech writing to your Facebook, LinkedIn and other profiles.
Advertise to local organizations, wedding planners, new businesses, etc.
Corporate newsletters
Trade journals
Networking
Existing clients (this is a major source of speech writing jobs for me)
Word-of-mouth

I have written speeches and remarks for all kinds of events from Bar Mitzvahs to condominium openings. You can too. My motto is: If you write well, you can write anything well.

From a college creative writing course to a freelance writer earning six-digit figures yearly, Dorothea Helms has come a long way, baby. Now semi-retired, she is still in demand for her writing/editing services, including ghostwriting speeches for business professionals. Her work has appeared in dozens of publications including Chatelaine, CBC.ca/Parenting, The Globe and Mail, Canadian Architecture & Design, LICHEN Arts & Letters Preview, Stitches the Journal of Medical Humour, and Homemakers, to name a few. Yes, four of those publications are no longer in existence, but Dorothea accepts no responsibility for their demise. Wherever Dorothea goes, humour follows.

The Write Goals are Best

Ruth E. Walker

My colleague, friend and partner in Writescape, Gwynn, is a masterful planner. So, it’s no surprise that at all our business meetings, setting out a plan on paper is our foundation. Once the plan is on paper, the tasks are divided up along the lines of who can best accomplish each one. Add in the deadlines for each task and voila! A workable plan with accountability.

Gwynn brings that focused approach into our writing retreats. No first gathering of participants misses the opportunity to work on a plan for their writing escape. Everyone considers the big picture of “ideal” accomplishments during the retreat and then – and this is the most important part – breaks it down into manageable pieces. And then they choose the top pieces to complete. Anything more accomplished is a bonus…once the main steps are achieved.

Looming ahead of you is a new year. No doubt you have writing goals you want to accomplish. Maybe it’s just one big goal, like mine: finish the first full draft of the second book in my science fiction/fantasy duology. Or maybe you have several smaller or more general goals for 2021: take some workshops, sign up for at least one writing conference and finish a short story.

No matter your goals, it’s helpful to put them down on paper and then check them off as you accomplish each one. Here’s some ways to do that.

Make a list

Review what you hope to accomplish and then break each goal into steps. For example, your goal is to get one of your finished stories published:

First, create a list of magazines you want to get stories published in.
Second, create a list of stories that are ready to submit.
Third, read each magazine’s guidelines (word count, deadlines, themes, submission methods) and match with any of the stories on your list with that magazine.
Fourth, pick the best story for that magazine.
Fifth, submit the story
Sixth, create a table or spreadsheet or even a handwritten list of what you sent, where and when you sent it, how you sent it and make sure you leave room for the response.
Final step? If the story is accepted, celebrate! If the story is rejected, take another look at it and see if you can improve it at all. If you’re satisfied it’s the best it can be, choose another magazine.

Make a visual

If you need more than words on paper, develop something to tickle your creative self. Again, I take a page from the Book of Gwynn. She comes up with the most creative techniques to excite the imagination while being practical and focused.

A favourite of mine is the daisy:

The heart of the daisy holds the broad or large goal: Develop Fiona’s character more.

And then each petal contains a different way to develop or deepen a character: Up Fiona’s stakes. Who is her best friend? What are Fiona’s fears? What does she want? What does she need? List her positive attributes. What is a small obstacle? What is her biggest obstacle? Create a chart of how others react to her.

Once all the petals are filled in, participants choose 3 to 6 petals that can be accomplished over the course of the writing retreat and then commit to focusing on them first.

Set yourself a time frame: 6 days or 6 weeks and you can use the daisy to break down a big writing goal into 3 first steps toward that goal.

Make a promise

Pull out a sheet of paper and write down in a sentence or two that describes one simple task or small accomplishment that will help you take a step toward a big goal. Stick it in an envelope, add postage and mail it to yourself. Remember to write on the back of the envelope: Step #1. When it arrives in your mailbox don’t open it until you have accomplished Step #1.

Move on to Step #2. Then Step #3. And so on.

Variations: If you knew Steps #1 through #5 right from the start, go ahead and prep them into individual envelopes.

You can even mail them all at the same time if you want. But you only get to open them as each one is accomplished. That combines accountability with keeping you focused.

2021 is not 2020

Yes. This almost-over year has been one for the record books. And far too many of those records have been too terrible to bear. A strangeness settled over everything. A few of my writer friends refer to it as “a fog” and for many, it made the simplest tasks a massive challenge.

And our plans…oh those lovely plans we had for our lives, for our livelihoods and for our writing — they were thrown out the window months ago. If we only had started on those plans in January, by mid-March we might have accomplished…

We can’t predict what 2021 will bring us. But we can be better prepared to dive in to our plans right away. By the end of the year – even if global disruption strikes again – we can look back and know that some of what we planned for came through.

Here’s to a New Year when your muse fills your pen with unstoppable ink and your plan keeps you on track.

All the best from,

Gwynn & Ruth

Copyright heads to the Supreme Court

Annual cheques from Access Copyright were distributed this week and so was a news release from the association.

Check out Writescape’s previous blogs about the long struggle that Access Copyright has fought of behalf of creators. Today we continue to keep you updated.

April 2018 – background to the legal struggle
May 2018 – the Parliamentary Review and Submission to the Industry Committee
August 2018 – How writers can get involved and help
January 2019 – update as we wait for a decision
January 2020 – The courts side with creators and order payment by March 9 2020

Unfortunately, despite a favourable decision from the courts, no payment was forthcoming and the appeal process began. This month, the matter heads to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Here is the complete and unedited release that was emailed to members:

TORONTO [October 15, 2020] – The Supreme Court of Canada announced today that it will hear the appeals of both Access Copyright and York University in the litigation between the two parties that began in 2013.

This decision is another chapter in a decade-long struggle by creators and publishers to be fairly paid for the copying and use of their works by the education sector. As a result of the sector’s self-interpretation of changes made to the fair dealing sections of the Copyright Act in 2012, they adopted and have continued to follow copying guidelines that have resulted in hundreds of millions of pages of copyright-protected works being copied per year without payment. Both the Federal Court at trial and the Federal Court of Appeal determined these self-interpreted guidelines are not fair in either their terms or application. To date, Canada’s creators and publishers have been deprived of over $150 million in royalties owed to them by the education sector under tariffs approved by the Copyright Board of Canada that the sector has overwhelmingly refused to pay.

This protracted legal proceeding is reflective of a copyright system that users have badly broken. This wasn’t always so. Prior to the changes to the Copyright Act in 2012, through collective licensing and a functioning tariff system, educational institutions paid creators and publishers for the works they copied.

At a time when our country is focused on economic recovery from the impact of COVID-19, our creative sector has been hit harder as a result of the education sector’s refusal to pay for the use of creators’ works. The federal government needs to take decisive action to remove any uncertainty surrounding our copyright laws and restore a well-functioning marketplace for copyright-protected works that is predictable and transparent where creators can be paid fairly and promptly.

“Canadian creators and publishers have been deprived of fair payment by the education sector for almost a decade,” said Roanie Levy, President & CEO of Access Copyright. “COVID-19 has made the wound of not being paid even more painful. Our copyright system is not working. It is fraught with uncertainty and the federal government needs to roll up its sleeves and take immediate action.”

If you haven’t done so already, we encourage you to get informed. Visit
Access Copyright’s website or take the time to read the posts we’ve shared
here with the timeline of this long and difficult road to prove our work is
valuable and worth protecting.

The Changing World of a Freelance Writer

Dorothea Helms, Guest Blogger

Picture it … 1994. I drove my Geo Metro to the downtown Toronto Reference Library to conduct research for an article I was writing about the evolution of downtowns across North America. I read through what seemed like miles of microfiche reels and spent several dollars making photocopies of pertinent documents.

I live in Sunderland, Ontario, so that process took the better part of a day. The following day, I drove to Oshawa to interview people who agreed to be quoted in the piece. During the next couple of days, I wrote the article, saved it onto a diskette and drove to Oshawa again to deliver it in person. (That was before I got a fax machine.)

To research that same article today, I’d hop online, read through websites while still in my jammies and eating Miss Vickie’s original chips, email people for quotes, write the piece and email it to the editor. That’s one way that freelance writing nowadays is a lot easier than it was 26 years ago.

It is also possible to take writing courses and workshops online to advance your craft. It’s not as much fun as in-person gatherings, but it is convenient. Writers can market services online, conduct surveys, even attend distant in-person writing events virtually. And yes, today we have Zoom, but remember that people SEE you during those sessions. I can look like the bride of Frankenstein when I wake up, so check in the mirror before you choose to open your video option.

As the cliché goes, there’s good news, and there’s bad news. Google and other search engines are breeding grounds for excellent information and for “facts” that are about as reliable as me answering the question “How much do you weigh?” And speaking of the Internet, with so many writers providing blogs, the amount of reading material online makes the necessity to pay for writing less necessary. Why do writers do it? They want to reach out to readers and see their names and words in print. It is their prerogative, and for some writers, blogging is a form of marketing.

Earning a living is not shameful

The idea that somehow a byline is payment is one of the basic reasons why so many publications have received writing for free or hardly any money for decades … that, and the pervasive attitude that writing for money is “selling out.”

What a handy misconception for the higher-ups in for-profit publishing who are too cheap to do a proper business plan that covers the cost of doing business—namely, writing. Having said that, the virtual reality of the Internet has contributed to the death of a lot of print publications. I have lost clients for this reason and had to add other sources of income. When I participated in an entrepreneurship program in 1994, I learned that having “multiple sources of income” is one pathway to success.

On average, writers in Canada are paid pitifully, and statistics have validated this. In 2006, the Professional Writers of Canada conducted a survey showing how earnings for freelancers in Canada went DOWN between 1995 and 2005—from $26,500 to $24,035 (https://bit.ly/3iyhv6S). In 2018, a Writers’ Union of Canada survey reported that incomes from writing dropped 78 percent from 2014, from $12,879 to $9,380 per year (https://bit.ly/32DKzVE).

Other sources vary. These quoted figures are average, so imagine what writers on the lower part of the scale are making.

Price for profit and stick with it

In the face of all of that, until I semi-retired a couple years ago, I pulled in revenues of six-digit figures yearly. Here are a few practices that can help you succeed.

Learn about business and how to price to make money—and remember that you are worth it!
Say NO to for-profit publications that pay nothing or little.
Claim everything you can legitimately on your income tax forms.
Expand the scope of the services you offer. Perhaps you can edit or teach.
Keep an open mind to accepting writing jobs in the business, advertising and public relations fields.
Advance your craft through professional workshops and courses.
Respect word counts and deadlines. Editors prefer to work with reliable writers.
Pay attention to rejections, but not too much. Usually, ideas and pieces are rejected because of timing or poor fits for upcoming editorial calendars—something you’d have to have ESP to predict.
Persevere in the face of naysayers.
Help other writers when you can.

If writing is more of a calling than a career for you, remember that you can earn money using your gift without shame. Things change, and we can adapt to thrive during all conditions. There are many ways to make money writing. I encourage you to be curious, ask questions and think outside the book. N

From a college creative writing course to a freelance writer earning six-digit figures yearly, Dorothea Helms has come a long way, baby. Now semi-retired, she is still in demand for her writing/editing services and teaching. Her work has appeared in dozens of publications including Chatelaine, CBC.ca/Parenting, The Globe and Mail, Canadian Architecture & Design magazine, LICHEN Arts & Letters Preview, Stitches the Journal of Medical Humour, and Homemakers, to name a few. Yes, four of those publications are no longer in existence, but Dorothea accepts no responsibility for their demise. Wherever Dorothea goes, humour follows.

Formatting With Calibre

Guest Blogger, Marie Gage

Creating Your Own Ebook

Last week, guest blogger Marie Gage, walked us through the process of creating an ebook for sale on the Amazon platform. Today, she shares how to create ebooks that you can freely share on your own. And she explains why, after publishing through Amazon, she chose this additional step.

No strings attached

I recently started working with Prolific Works, a company that brings authors together to distribute free copies or previews of their books in group offers. To participate, I needed to produce an ebook file of the first three chapters of my novel, plus appropriate front and back matter. I couldn’t simply modify the file created through Amazon.

After searching with the wizardry of Google, I found my answer: Calibre makes it incredibly easy. Downloaded for free, Calibre is an open-source program. (They do appreciate it when you choose to support them through a voluntary donation.) Unlike Amazon’s program, Calibre does not offer the .drm (digital rights management protection) but does everything else with minimal effort. If you decide you need .drm, you can purchase it from any one of a number of vendors. But be prepared for the monthly fees.

NOTE: Calibre works best for files that do not have “fixed” elements. A fixed element is one that should not be moved around when readers change the size of text or the orientation of their ebook reader or app. All of my children’s books have fixed elements in the layout. So, I had to first turn each page into a JPG image before using Calibre. As a result, readers can’t adjust the text size on any of these ebooks.

Calibre screen shot: Opening screen

The process is easier for a book that is predominantly text. Follow along on the screen shots of the Calibre software.

After downloading the Calibre program:

press the Add Book button, find the Word file for your book and load it
press the Edit Metadata button and fill in the fields with appropriate information about the book
change the cover picture by uploading the cover file for your ebook

NOTE: Once you press the Edit Metadata button, add your key words in the box titled Tags (more about the importance of key words in last week’s post.) Separate each key word with a comma. Next. select Convert Books from the Calibre header.

Your screen will now look like this:

In the top right corner select the ebook format from the many listed formats to choose from. The most popular is .epub but you might want .mobi or .pdf.

EPUB is compatible with most ebook readers and analogue apps
MOBI is the format used exclusively by Amazon and is compatible with Kindle readers and apps
PDF is compatible with any PDF reader and is easily clicked and uploaded on most computers NOTE: without the ability to change text size and spacing on ereaders, PDF may not be ideal for a long book

Suffice it to say that readers will have their preferred reading device and you might consider offering your ebook in more than one format.

Trouble shooting tips

Take note of the options on the left-hand side of the screen if you experience problems with your first conversion attempt. You may find your text is not converting the way you want it to. The most likely additional choice to make would be to press the EPUB output button and choose either EPUB2 or EPUB3. EPUB2 is still Calibre’s default so you must make a conscious choice if you want the upgraded format. EPUB3 is essentially an update to the sophistication of EPUB2. EPUB3 allows for easier navigation and some fancier elements such as embedded video.

Older ereaders don’t support the EPUB3 format. However, EPUB3 has been around since May 2010 and most readers will have upgraded their devices by now. For my novel, I didn’t require the EPUB3 so I used the default setting.

When you have made your output selection, press OK near the bottom right of the screen and you will see a circle begin to move around. Don’t worry, you can’t miss it as a big arrow comes up and bounces to show you where it is. When it stops, you can select a second format and press OK again and repeat until you have all the formats you want.

Press the click to open button and review your ebook file(s).

NOTE: You will need a program on your computer that is compatible with the file output chosen. For EPUB this is Adobe digital editions. For MOBI, this is the Kindle App on whatever device you use.

Picture this

One final, yet critical, cautionary note: Diagrams or pictures in your Word document must be downsized outside of the Word document. You can’t simply click and drag to change the size of an image; it won’t translate well into an ebook. Instead, use Photoshop or another photo editor program to change the actual size of the file to the appropriate dimensions for an ebook. All images must be no more than 800 pixels (px) tall by 550 px wide, which is the actual size of an ebook reader screen.

I cannot tell you how many professionally created ebooks I have read, and I do mean from mainstream publishers, with images that cannot be seen on my ebook screen.

I used to believe the issue was the ebook format and there was nothing I could do about it. For my novel, I had two maps I wanted to include. Once more using the magic of Google, I found and followed the advice to resize images outside the Word file before converting the file to an ebook.

I couldn’t believe how clearly the maps showed.

If you wish to see how clear an image can be on an ebook reader, I invite you to read my novel.

Marie Gage lives and writes in beautiful Haliburton County, Ontario. Creative writing became a part of her life a during genealogical research that unearthed some tantalizing tidbits in her family history. She joined a memoir writing group, expecting to finish that one project and be on to the next interest. Instead, she began to see everything as a story. In the past five years, she’s self-published numerous photo books, four children’s picture books and her debut novel, A Ring of Promises. Capturing her paternal grandparents’ transition as they immigrated to Canada from England and Scotland, her novel weaves the facts of their intriguing lives into a compelling story.

Self-Publish Your Ebook

It’s been our pleasure to work as editors with various writers, helping to refine and ready manuscripts for submission and/or publication. One of our clients, Marie Gage, is an indie author of four picture books and a recently released historical novel. In today’s guest blog, she shares her experience preparing her manuscripts for ebook and print publication with Amazon.

Guest blogger, Marie Gage

I wanted to offer readers both ebooks and print books, so I chose to create my books independently. I’ve used both Amazon and Calibre to format my material, but for today, I’ll focus on developing your ebook for sales through Amazon.

Creating an ebook is easy when you work with one of the websites that sell your book for you. Amazon offered me a relatively simple process to upload a word document and have it converted to a .mobi file, compatible with the Kindle reader and Kindle apps. My historical novel follows characters on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, so I liked that my book became available worldwide through Amazon (but you can choose to limit distribution of your book to specific regions.)

First things first

Before you can upload your file, create an account with Kindle Direct Publishing. It’s a bit more complicated than setting up most accounts because you need to input banking and tax information so they can pay you when your books sell. Notice I say “when”—I’m always the optimist.

Fill in responses to a variety of questions such as “title” and “keywords.” Readers use keywords in the Amazon search box and it’s what Amazon uses to populate what customers are offered. You want your book associated with keywords that people use but are not so competitive as to result in your book never being shown. The keyword must also be relevant to what the customer sees in the description of your book. Using “Romance” for a cookbook will not bring you readers. Here’s a quick introductory course in how to choose keywords.

MARIE RECOMMENDS: Do the research about keywords before choosing the final title for your book. Consider adding a subtitle that strengthens your placement. Once you have published through Amazon, you can change the keywords but you cannot change the title on your ebook or print book. You can change the subtitle but ONLY on the ebook, not the print book. NOTE: Keywords in the title and subtitle have more impact on Amazon’s selection process than those in the form you complete before uploading your book.

Amazon allows more than one word in each of the keyword spaces and indexes them together and separately. For example: “Romantic” and “Comedy” when placed in the same box will be indexed alone as “Romantic” and “Comedy”, as well as together as “Romantic Comedy”. Thus you have a chance of being presented with any one of the three terms typed into the search box. However, it is not wise to flood these spaces with every possible word. You will annoy the Amazon staff, who check your work for relevancy, and may end up not indexing any of the words.

Next steps

Fill in the field for the book’s description. Put on your marketing hat and figure out what you want to say here that will attract the attention of the reading public. You want the description to be so intriguing that it will entice readers to click the “buy” button. What is the hook that makes your book special? Don’t rush this process. When you are sure it’s ready, remember to insert the basic HTML text formatting to note each paragraph end, as well as any italics and bolding. Otherwise, you’ll have one long paragraph with no italics or bolding.

Save and advance to the Kindle Ebook Content Page. A major benefit of publishing on an already available sales platform is that digital rights management (a .drm suffix) can be added to decrease piracy of your ebook. The protection is not foolproof and there’s controversy about whether it’s necessary, but I feel better knowing it’s there. A major downside is that it may penalize purchasers who wish to transfer their purchase to another device. NOTE: On Amazon you have to press the correct button to turn on this function. Once the book is published you are not permitted to change this selection.

Decide if you want an ISBN. You do not need an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) for an ebook on Amazon, but if you have one and wish to use it you can input it. Canadians can obtain one through Library and Archives Canada and there’s no charge. NOTE: You cannot reuse an ISBN from a book you’ve already published elsewhere. Also, print and ebook formats will need separate numbers.

Getting closer…

Upload the file of the interior of your book and a separate file with the cover. Make sure you have a cover that will be noticed among all the others on the page and is consistent with the genre of your book. Launch the previewer, check it carefully and press APPROVE. Or more likely, go back to your original file, correct the errors and repeat the approval process until it is perfect.

Press APPROVE and advance to the Kindle Ebook Pricing page. You will be asked to make decisions about the price. The system will suggest a price based on what it considers to be “other similar ebooks”. The final decision is yours.

Choose a compensation package. The options depend upon exclusivity of your book to Amazon. If you wish to have it added to the Kindle Select program, you give Amazon exclusivity for the ebook only. Note the delivery charge that Amazon subtracts from your royalty. It’s often quite small but for picture books, the charge can eat up most of your profit. The only way to decrease the cost of delivery charges for picture books is to decrease the size of the file. See this article for instructions on this process as it relates to picture-intensive ebooks.

And…voila!

After completing the process you will be prompted to upload a print book or associate a print book with the ebook. It will take up to 72 hours before you get the email saying your book is live on Amazon and it can take a week or more before it is live in all markets.

Next time, I’ll share my experience of creating ebooks without depending on an ebook sales platform. Books you create on Amazon or similar sites are not yours to distribute as you choose and there are times when you need to have that freedom.

Using Facebook to submit

Writescape’s summer contest is over, but for writers, the process of submitting is never over. We’ve noticed on Facebook, that Writescape Retreat alumnus Lisa Reynolds has been submitting relentlessly, and succeeding! Her poem “Midday in a Café” was accepted by the online literary journal, Loud Coffee Press, and her entry was chosen by PonderSavant.com for its One-liner Abound contest.

Not just that, but she has had works published or accepted by intriguing sources: groups that fight world hunger, or support women’s issues or an international online Berlin-based arts/cultural/politics magazine called The Wild Word.

So we asked her: How do you find all these interesting markets? How do you pick the ones that work for you?

Guest Blogger – Lisa Reynolds

I used to scan the internet for hours, trying to locate reputable contests, blogs, journals and other places to send my work. This strategy was not only draining but time consuming. I ended up submitting short stories and poetry I already had on file instead of writing fresh pieces which were more in line with the aesthetic and vision of the magazines, anthologies and online publications I sought publication in.

When rejections came back, I knew I had to change things up before my self-confidence plummeted and I stopped submitting altogether.

This is when I decided to use Facebook as a resource to find submission options.

A Wise Decision

I’m happy to say it was a wise decision. In the past three months, ten of my works have been accepted for publication. Although I am no expert, I increased my chances of success with these five steps:

Join Facebook Groups

I am a member of Facebook groups that post poetry and writing contests. Some of these groups are Public while others are Private, requiring three to five basic questions be answered prior to acceptance.

Although I initially found the high number of members in these groups intimidating (for instance, the Calls for Submission Group has 65K private members), I didn’t let fear of competition deter me from joining. I focused on the positive, believing the popularity of these groups meant they were credible.

Be Selective

When perusing markets posted in these groups, I was able to quickly eliminate those that didn’t appeal to me because of the type of literary form, theme, requirements in terms of length, and/or deadline.

After saving my preferred choices in my Facebook portfolio, I created an Excel spreadsheet so I had a tangible list on hand. Then I focused my energies on reviewing the submission guidelines for each choice in detail.

Do Your Research

Reducing my longlist of submission options to a manageable shortlist was easier than I expected.

With more time available to research past issues of magazines, read previous contest winners’ works and check out blog archives, I was able to determine whether my writing fit their preferred style and had a chance of being accepted.

Find Your Personal Fit

It wasn’t long before I noticed my selections gravitated towards certain publishers: those that published works that related to my themes of interest, particularly social justice.

This led to self-reflection and the realization that I wanted to write about issues that mattered to me. I wanted to be a small part of supporting charities, saving wildlife, fighting hunger, feeding the homeless, advocating for children and women in crisis, and other social justice issues. When I write about these issues, I believe my voice is sincere and authentic. Perhaps that is why they been have been chosen for publication.

Share with other writers

Having a target list of places to submit to and constant deadlines keeps me writing regularly. But for me, the most exciting part is the domino-effect of sharing. This mindset has helped me remain humble and committed to my writing practice.

I regularly post on my Facebook page to encourage others to submit, and I am overjoyed when I receive messages from writers saying, “Did you see this one?” It’s a wonderful feeling to share and celebrate our successes together.

Using Facebook as a resource to locate contests and other markets has worked for me. I hope it works for you too.

Below are a few links to groups that you may find helpful. Good luck!

Lisa Reynolds is a teacher, writer, and proud member of the Writers’ Community of Durham Region, Ontario. Her poetry and short stories are published in several print and online publications. She lives in a waterfront community east of Toronto.

We’re in this together

We love our local—and indeed all—independent bookstores, and we wondered how they were faring under the impact of COVID-19. We wanted to shine a light on how they were being innovative during these strange times and how you, our readers, could help them to keep the cash flow…flowing.

So, we spoke (virtually) to two of our favourite booksellers, Jennifer Bogart of Let’s Talk Books in Cobourg and Shelley Macbeth of Blue Heron Books in Uxbridge:

1.Can you describe an average day prior to COVID and an average day now.

Shelley: There is no average day! Part of being an indie bookseller is your ability to be nimble and roll with whatever challenge is set in front of you. Our days now involve working twice as hard as ever before for half the sales. And then at the end of an exhausting day jumping in your car to deliver all the books. With a jaunty cap and a smile.

Jennifer: Days used to involve customers browsing, and perhaps picking up a book or two. At lunch, a “rush” of downtown workers on break and an afternoon of receiving inventory, calling customers about their orders, and of course, helping customers with their book, gift or card selections in person.

Let’s Talk Books Storefront
at 25 King Street, Cobourg

Now that we’ve turned to delivery only, days start with filling orders—online, by email, or phone messages and a flurry of returning emails and phone calls, making sure to give each customer the time and care we would have given in store, and sometimes more. New inventory is still arriving and afternoons are spent making deliveries all over Northumberland County, and sometimes even a bit beyond. We’re busy because every sale takes three times longer than it did before. But the store is quiet, missing the light conversation of customers, the chit-chat about the books, and that personal connection we all crave.

2. What have you done to adapt?

Jennifer: Our biggest adaptation was opening our website for online orders and payments. It’s been a learning curve, but has helped tremendously with workflow.

Shelley: We’ve turned to e-commerce. The store acts as a fulfilment centre, from which Emily and I valiantly sally forth each day with deliveries hither and yon.

Parker and Scarlet ready to help you at Let’s Talk Books

Both Jennifer and Shelley have turned more to social media. Jennifer posts what’s in the store and Shelley has done video chats roaming the store, showing books to customers and created in-store videos to show people the store offerings. She’s also created an “order on-line tutorial” for those not familiar with the website.

Shelley normally has regular author visits, so to adapt did a Facebook live storytime with one of the cancelled children’s authors. Shelley says, “We’ll have more of this upcoming — once we straighten out the AV part. That’s the other thing— we’ve had to learn LOTS of new skills!”

Jennifer has switched in-store book clubs meetings virtual. “Our book clubs have all moved to video conferencing, which in itself was a challenge, but I think we have it figured out now. “

“We’re in this together”

Jennifer tells us she has been connecting with other independent bookstores to share resources, and direct customers to neighbouring towns for inventory she doesn’t have in stock.

Shelley has partnered with the neighbouring natural product/tea/coffee store to send out custom “Bridge Boxes” (short for Uxbridge) Boxes choc-a-block full of toys, games, puzzles and healthy treats.

Shelley has also created a “Trust Us” delivery for gifts. You give them the parameters and the $$ value (e.g. man, likes scifi/fantasy, woodworking and alternative rock – $60 budget) and they send an amazing box full of delights.

Shelley has several teachers who have agreed to help with video lessons using the store’s Canadian Curriculum notebooks.

Jennifer sums it up beautifully: “We’re not in competition with each other; we strive to support each other by sharing online events, videos, and encouraging each other in our endeavours. It’s a pretty amazing thing to see, as we come together to work as a community of booksellers.”

3. To what extent has this affected your bottom line?

Shelley: The first few days we were holding our own as people rushed to buy things before everything shut down. Now there’s still a steady stream of orders but nowhere near a typical day at this time of year. But we will suffer mostly because we are a big event store and we have lost all the revenue from the season’s events. We have only one full-time employee — Emily — and she is definitely not laid off. The part-timers are all very understanding. For now. The landlord directed me to the government assistance site.

It’s been much the same for Jennifer: Because retail stores are not essential services, even though many consider books to be essential, I had to make some tough decisions. Sales are down because there is no foot traffic. Normally, I sell a lot of greeting cards—close to 30% of my business is cards and gifts, and these are items I select and purchase in advance, which means I’m out of pocket for items that don’t sell, unlike books that can be returned to the publisher.

To reduce costs, I laid off my part-time employees, but they know they will have jobs to come back to when we can reopen to foot traffic. I miss their input and their contributions. They are such an integral part of Let’s Talk Books, and I look forward to them returning to work as soon as it’s viable.

At this time, I don’t qualify for any of the small business loans set up by the banks and government, so I am doing what I can to continue selling inventory so that Cobourg and the surrounding area will continue to have the services of an independent bookstore.

4. What can readers do to help you and all independent bookstores through this?

Jennifer: Shopping local is key to the survival of any small town or independent business that doesn’t have access to the resources that big box stores do and can’t afford to offer huge discounts.

What we offer that they can’t, is a sense of community and belonging, giving each customer a unique shopping experience with care and concern. You’ll find more than books on our virtual shelves; you’ll find individuals who genuinely care about the members of their communities, who try to support their towns, and are working really hard to keep their businesses going in these strange times. Also – it’s safer to shop from home and have us deliver to your door.

Shelley: If you are ordering a book, game or puzzle, check us first. We are quicker than Amazon (they have de-prioritized books); we are cleaner than Amazon — a two-person production rather than thousands of employees and—we wear a jaunty cap.

Meet our Booksellers

Blue Heron Books; Shelley Macbeth

62 Brock Street West, Uxbridge

Established in 1989, Blue Heron Books is more than a bookstore. It has twice been awarded Bookseller of the Year Canada and is the hub for all things cultural in the quaint town of Uxbridge and for its many satellite communities. The store services over 100 area schools and an astounding 27 book clubs. Known for its top-notch event series offered spring and fall, as well as the Book Drunkard Literary Festival annually at the end of October, and the numerous classes and programs for adults and children alike, Blue Heron Books offers something for everyone.

Website: www.blueheronbooks.com
Phone: 905-852-4282

Let’s Talk Books; Jennifer Bogart

25 King Street East, Cobourg

Founded in 2016, Let’s Talk Books is Cobourg’s only independent bookstore. In addition to new release books, you can find magazines, greeting cards, puzzles, and a selection of gifts. Special orders are always welcome if the book you are looking for isn’t in stock. The store offers four incredible book clubs, the details of which can be found on the website, and hosts authors, guest speakers, and workshops throughout the year. The store shopdogs, Parker and Scarlet, are usually on hand to greet customers, but you’re better off asking staff for help, as the dogs have limited tastes in reading material.

Website: www.letstalkbooks.ca
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/letstalkbooks.ca/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/letstalkbookscobourg/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/letstalkbooks