Estate planning, but also publishing cycles

[skip.knox]

https://www.thecreativepenn.com/2017/12/04/estate-planning-for-authors-with-m-l-buchman/

Joanna Penn has an excellent interview with ML Buchanan. The first part is about estate planning for authors, and that much is interesting in itself. It was enough to remind me to get cracking on adding digital assets to my will. It's surprising how much there is to deal with under that heading.

Anyways, the second part of the interview wanders over to an unrelated subject, namely how frequently we ought to be publishing. Buchanan makes a really excellent suggestion there, which I recommend to everyone. The short version: you can produce *something* once a month, even if that something is not a new book. He offers some ideas.

Both these topics are worthwhile enough, maybe this should be two separate threads, but oh well.

 

[TWErvin2]

I listened to this one the other day, and overall it was interesting and informative, especially looking long term instead of just considering royalties until they dry up.

 

[gia]

Nice resource, thanks!

 

[skip.knox]

The part that struck me was establishing a cycle for book publishing. I'm not going to aim for a strict 6-month cycle or the like, but I am taken by the notion that one can release information about the book prior to the publication date: a cover reveal and a sample chapter, at the very least. Then, on the back side, follow up with maybe cut scenes, or character background, or something about the setting--worldbuilding stuff that didn't make it into the finished product. At the very least one ought to be able to get two events prior and two after, giving five actual content events (counting the book itself).

Five instead of one. The whole post was worth it just for that.

 

[Russ]

The part that struck me was establishing a cycle for book publishing. I'm not going to aim for a strict 6-month cycle or the like, but I am taken by the notion that one can release information about the book prior to the publication date: a cover reveal and a sample chapter, at the very least. Then, on the back side, follow up with maybe cut scenes, or character background, or something about the setting--worldbuilding stuff that didn't make it into the finished product. At the very least one ought to be able to get two events prior and two after, giving five actual content events (counting the book itself).

Five instead of one. The whole post was worth it just for that.

Publishing a book should be like a military invasion, you time it all out, plan out your prep and release what you need to for maximum impact when the book is actually published.

In the traditional world, arcs go out to reviewers a set period of time ahead. Posters and on line advertising are done at certain points in time. Publicity events, lunches and meetings at other times ahead. Buzz needs to start before the book can be bought.

If you are serious about publishing your book I would strongly suggest a six month pre-pub plan to enhance your results. Some marketing and publicity platforms book weeks or months ahead. If you wait until the last minute you catch as catch can and their impact is diluted.

The same plan needs to continue after publication for at least a few months. None of this is more than common sense, but one can get so wrapped up in writing the darned thing you forget or neglect to get all the marketing/pub stuff in place before the release.

Organization, planning and forethought pay a lot of dividends. Or should I say royalties?

 

[skip.knox]

Understood. Goblins was my first novel and I was so focused on just hacking my way through self-made thickets, I had little energy to consider all facets of marketing. I did set up a newsletter with Mailchimp and got a professional redesign for the website. It was the considering additional, book-related content that I missed. I'll get it next time.

 

[Russ]

Understood. Goblins was my first novel and I was so focused on just hacking my way through self-made thickets, I had little energy to consider all facets of marketing. I did set up a newsletter with Mailchimp and got a professional redesign for the website. It was the considering additional, book-related content that I missed. I'll get it next time.

The fact you finished the book and had the fortitude to put it out there puts you way ahead of the game. You are learning by doing which is the best kind of learning. I am just lucky enough to be in a position where I can learn from dozens who have gone down the road ahead of me.

 

[Chessie2]

Publishing a book should be like a military invasion, you time it all out, plan out your prep and release what you need to for maximum impact when the book is actually published.

In the traditional world, arcs go out to reviewers a set period of time ahead. Posters and on line advertising are done at certain points in time. Publicity events, lunches and meetings at other times ahead. Buzz needs to start before the book can be bought.

If you are serious about publishing your book I would strongly suggest a six month pre-pub plan to enhance your results. Some marketing and publicity platforms book weeks or months ahead. If you wait until the last minute you catch as catch can and their impact is diluted.

The same plan needs to continue after publication for at least a few months. None of this is more than common sense, but one can get so wrapped up in writing the darned thing you forget or neglect to get all the marketing/pub stuff in place before the release.

Organization, planning and forethought pay a lot of dividends. Or should I say royalties?

This is a mega ton of work though. I no longer do this. Why? I rather write. It takes a lot of time and work to put this sort of stuff together on your own and it's a headache. I do soft launches now and I'm fine with that. Writing is what I love. Someday I'll market more for now meh.

You're right in that books perform better when launched with preparation, but it's not so much a problem for Indie authors given that we don't have contracts beholding us to earn back our royalties, etc. Selling books quickly right on publication seems more important for trad pub because of the way things are done. Also, many independent authors don't have hundreds if not thousands of dollars to spend on launches. Some do and they launch strong. For the rest of us there are many factors: it depends on priorities, whether you have an audience already or are new, etc. Guess what I'm saying is not being able to plan strong launches doesn't mean you don't take your book publishing seriously.

 

[skip.knox]

I absolutely agree, Chessie. I think the advice was more aimed at those who are indeed looking for marketing advice.

One of the many great things about indie publishing is that there's room now for multiple approaches.

 

[Russ]

The balance between marketing and writing time is always very tough, and also a very personal choice.

My comments were solely for the purpose of encouraging those who are concerned about sales levels to include marketing timeframes when they are planning their publishing cycle.

I believe there are reasons that this is a good practice for both the indy and traditionally published authors to do this but the choice of how much time/resources people want to devote to this is all over the map. But simple economics tell us that a sale today, is better than a sale a year from now, unless you have some very strange circumstances.