Marketing Progress, Editing, and I Hate AI More Than Ever

And avoiding scams

Hi everyone,

Thanks for taking the time to check out my newsletter. It’s getting closer to my self-imposed publication date of October 1 for When Royal Heads Are Hunted. I’m going to do it through Draft2Digital. It’s exciting because it allows people to preorder (hint, hint-just kidding) copies through this link: When Royal Heads Are Hunted.

I realize I’m taking a risk by going the self-publishing route versus trying to attract a literary agent and trying the traditional method. But to be honest, I’m having a lot of fun doing it all myself.

Draft2Digital has both ebook and print products. Now some may say it’s better to go strictly with Amazon and potentially make money through Kindle Unlimited. However, I see some advantages to Draft2Digital’s wide distribution method. They do provide readers a universal link where users can go to buy the books through a variety of sources and formats. They also have connections with many booksellers worldwide.

For this version of my cover, I blurred the flames a bit to make them blend in with the rest instead of just sitting on top. I also adjusted the opacity of the make a little to keep it from standing out so much. I am not using AI for any of this.

Marketing

Now on to marketing. This week, I started contacting library offices in local counties. I contacted the main offices and asked for the person who handles purchases of new books. Then I sent my “Coming Soon” flyer and asked how to submit books. A few replied right away and gave me information on how to submit When Royal Heads Are Hunted. I realize there are no guarantees with this, but I was glad to get some responses that weren’t form letter rejections.

I also sent the flyer to a list of Florida historical sites that I’ve accumulated. I got one positive reply from a historical society asking me to send the book once it’s published. All of this is much more fun than sending out queries to dozens of agents at only getting form letter rejections. I’m not complaining about that-I’m just describing my experiences.

Editing

I think editing never really ends. I image artists who paint have a hard time knowing when to stop working on something. When you write, you will always find something to fix or change every time you read it. Sure, you can definitely catch all the spelling and basic grammar and punctuation issues, but when do you know you’re done?

I’ll admit that this is probably a situation where having an editor helps, but since I’m committed to doing it all myself this time, I just going to rely on my experience to improve the book as much as possible.

Right now, I’m going back and addressing places where I left myself comments throughout the book. I’m also taking a good look at the first several chapters to make sure they flow and that I don’t repeat myself. I really enjoy this kind of work, and it feels good to catch things.

Scams? Maybe - Maybe Not

Since I announced the title for my book and started asking people to help share it I’ve been getting calls, texts, and emails from companies offering various editing and marketing services. I give them all a fair look, checking reviews and comments. So far, I am finding that most of them ask writers to pay a lot of money for inconsistent results.

Maybe calling them scams is unfair, but maybe not. It seems that many people try to make money off of authors for all these “services” but that this doesn’t usually lead to sales. I know there is no guarantee a book will sell, but it appears that many people involved in the book business make money except for the authors. That just doesn’t seem right to me.

So when these folks notify me, I just delete their messages and block them. I’m not going to name them here, and my purpose is not to slander anyone. Could I be missing some opportunities? Maybe, but like I’ve said, I’m doing this myself.

No Artificial Intelligence For me

I’ve made it clear that I’m no fan of AI. I do not and will not use it for any of my work. Not for research, writing, or editing. This week I found a website, “Coverrater.com” that allows you to post your cover, and other will review it. They do have a subscription plan, but they also have a free version where people will review your cover in exchange for you reviewing others.

This was fun and it was interesting to see what others are doing. However, one reviewer spoiled it for me. This person commented that my cover looked like it was made by AI! As someone who does not use AI, I didn’t like seeing this. I can handle a negative review, or two, or three, but this got me thinking how AI is messing up creative pursuits. Before AI appeared, we didn’t have to face accusations that things were doing our work for us. Sure people cheated, but now we have to face this. Thanks AI - thanks for nothing.

Thanks for reading. I would really appreciate it if you could share or restack this. My Oct. 1 publication date for When Royal Heads Are Hunted is getting closer, and it would really help if you could help me let people know.

Have a great weekend.

Will Granger