Marketing – Page 8 – Joseph Carrabis, Author Blog

Con Notes Part 1 – Identifying Self-Pubs Made Easy

Yes, I write about psychopathic killers. That’s why I’m dressed in everyday clothing.

I’ve discovered an easy, works-every-time method for determining if someone is self-pubbed or not; Do they dress up like one of their characters or like something from their genre? Do they dress like an ax murderer if they write crime thrillers? Do they dress up like vampires if they write vampire stories? Do they dress up like Level 3 equestrians if they write about horses? Do they dress in camo if they write military thrillers?

How come nobody dresses up like a drunk vagrant if they’re writing about drunk vagrants? How come nobody dresses up like a degenerate child-molester if that’s their subject matter?

In equation form this is “author + in costumer at their signing table = self-pubbed”

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The Gander Gets Goosed Again – Tony Eames Interviews Me!

They Like Me! They Really, Really Like Me!

NFReads.com‘s Tony Eames asked me a series of questions that I floundered through magnificently. Read it all at Interview with Author Joseph Carrabis.

Give it a read! It’ll make Tony and me happy. You want us happy, don’t you?

Backcover Copy

Positioning, Priming, and the Importance of Backcover Copy

A recent Goodreads discussion asked “How do you like your scifi / fantasy?”

I responded “Well written.” A friend responded “Artesian or wishing?” I responded “Ah, to have a thirst for the magical.” Someone else responded, “Either way…DEEP.”

I followed that up with another response. It’s gone. Not sure why it got removed. I launched off the concept of “DEEP” because I’m told my writing is “deep” and “definitely not fluff.” Some readers wonder if I’m capable of writing “fluff.” “Even your short stories are deep.”

Gable Smiled – the first 10 pages, anyway – are being read by a professional actor at Concord’s Hatbox Theater at the end of this month (read the version being read here). Part of that process involves having the material evaluated by the producer.

The producer and I talked on the phone, and I received a DOC file with comments; this character wasn’t described, the environment wasn’t described, the background wasn’t described, … These comments confused me. The main characters are described. So is the environment, the background situation, the this, the that. I’ve had many first readers tell me the story’s great, when can they get more, so on and so forth. I’ve also had people tell me they don’t get it, the story makes no sense to them.

And then the producer said “There’s a lack of a reader entry points into the story.”

When in Doubt, Examine the Audience
I had no middle-of-the-road responses. Strange, that.

Can I be honest about your writing? (Part 8 – Self-Pubbed v Non-Self-Pubbed, is that the question?)

Self-pubbed or non-Self-pubbed, in the end what matters is that you keep putting yourself out there, that you keep growing

Part 1 – Oh, the Vanity of it all! of this multi-post arc dealt with some folks I knew who vanity published their books back when we called vanity publishers “vanity publishers”.
Part 2 – Vanity/Self-Publishing provided an overview of Vanity and Self publishing.
Part 3 – What Camp Are You In? identified four reasons people consider self-publishing.
Part 4 – Pray thee, Joseph, 4 Y do these books suck? delved into editing that doesn’t help a book.
Part 5 – Could you provide examples of suckness? explored the difference between editing and critiquing.
Part 6 – Opinions are not Facts dealt with extracting actionable information from test audiences.
Part 7 – Avoid Open Onions dealt with audiences to avoid.

Here are two sad truths I encountered when doing the author interviews and attending various authors’ and writing conferences:

More than one self-pubbed author confided “it means something when a publisher takes on your book.” If not those exact words, something close to.
More than one non self-pubbed author confided that their publisher was less than they hoped/expected/wanted.

The latter was across the board – small indies to Big 5/6 – and the heavy end was with small, indie, POD publishers.
Continue reading “Can I be honest about your writing? (Part 8 – Self-Pubbed v Non-Self-Pubbed, is that the question?)”

Can I be honest about your writing? (Part 7 – Avoid Open Onions)

No one gets to change your work but you

Part 1 – Oh, the Vanity of it all! of this multi-post arc dealt with some folks I knew who vanity published their books back when we called vanity publishers “vanity publishers”.
Part 2 – Vanity/Self-Publishing provided an overview of Vanity and Self publishing.
Part 3 – What Camp Are You In? identified four reasons people consider self-publishing.
Part 4 – Pray thee, Joseph, 4 Y do these books suck? delved into editing that doesn’t help a book.
Part 5 – Could you provide examples of suckness? shared some examples of improving sucky writing (my own).
Part 6 – Opinions are not Facts dealt with extracting actionable information from test audiences.

An important part of improving one’s writing is knowing whose suggestions to pay attention to. Notice, not what suggestions, but whose suggestions. Some people don’t have opinions – they’re not making suggestions – they’re opening onions – their goal is to make you cry, to make you suffer.
Continue reading “Can I be honest about your writing? (Part 7 – Avoid Open Onions)”