Lulu Titlescorer

Thinking 1 Comment »

This is kind of a fun tool that my friend Olivia pointed out to me – the Lulu Titlescorer. It’s designed for fiction books (which mine is not), but it’s interesting to try it out and see what it comes up with. I tried both my current title – the one I plan to use when I publish my book, and my working title – the one I had been using up until I switched to the current title. I’m happy to report that my current title has a 63.7% chance of being a bestselling title, whereas my working title had only a 31.7% chance of being a bestselling title. So, now that I have the definitive word from Lulu, what a relief that I switched to my current title. 🙂

A Biblical Approach To Marketing – Part Five

Marketing No Comments »

A Biblical Approach to Marketing Series: Intro | Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five

Verses:
Amos 8:4-7 “Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat? The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works.”

Insights for Meditation:
God abhors extortion.

Some of God’s people were taking advantage of the poor and needy by overcharging them or misrepresenting the product.

The people were so obsessed with selling that it became more important to them than honoring God during the Sabbath and other holy days. Even though they kept the “letter of the law” by not working on the Sabbath, their minds were still consumed with their business dealings.

The people would have to answer to God for their deceitful dealings. God was fully aware of what they were doing and would not forget. There would be serious consequences.

Principles for Application:
Do not employ deceptive strategies when designing and marking the product. Be completely upfront and honest so that people know exactly what they are buying. Take this into consideration when determining a title and subtitle.

Maintain a proper focus. The end goal should always be to honor and glorify God, not just to sell products. Evaluate methods and sales opportunities to determine if they honor God.

Observe a Sabbath day of rest. Don’t engage in business-related planning or activities.

Questions for Consideration:
What is an appropriate title (and subtitle, if necessary) that will “hook” the potential buyer while also accurately reflecting the nature of the book?

What is the nature of my book?

What are examples of deceptive marketing strategies that I should avoid?

What are examples of honest marketing strategies that I should emulate?

What specific ways can I honor God with the marketing strategies I employ?

Steps for Implementation:
â–ˇ Brainstorm a list of title and subtitle possibilities. Pray over them and get input from others on which one is most appropriate and effective.
â–ˇ Compile a description of my book, including: mood, writing style, overall objective, etc.
â–ˇ Think of two ways that I can expressly honor God with my marketing strategies.

Figuring Out Page Layout

Designing 3 Comments »

One of the biggest jobs, I think, in preparing a book for self-publishing is the interior page layout. I can’t stand the look or feel of non-professional layout jobs, so I want to take whatever steps are necessary to avoid that and produce a high-quality book. And I think that’s going to require some pretty big steps. I found an informative Overview of Page Layout Programs by Pete Masterson that I just finished reading. It confirmed what I already anticipated: step one is to purchase the Adobe InDesign software.

I’ve been holding off for two reasons – 1. It’s very expensive, 2. From what I hear, it has a steep learning curve.

This goes right along with what I’m realizing more and more about self-publishing. It’s expensive. It’s hard. I’ve been tempted several times to just “throw in the towel” and try to find a publisher – surely that would be easier, right?! But then I’m reminded of what an incredible learning process this has been and will continue to be if I stick it out. The information and skills that I’m learning now will always be useful, so I consider it time and energy well spent. Even the thought of learning a new design software is somewhat exciting because I know it will open up a world of other opportunities and project ideas in the future.

It’s a risky business to be sure. But this self-publishing journey sure is an adventure!

Reverse Dictionary

Writing/Editing No Comments »

You know that feeling when you have in mind what you’re trying to say, but you can’t find just the right word to say it? Usually I turn to a thesaurus, but my friend Olivia just alerted me to this very handy website that I think will be a great tool for such situations. Introducing…OneLook’s Reverse Dictionary. As stated on their website, “OneLook’s reverse dictionary lets you describe a concept and get back a list of words and phrases related to that concept. Your description can be a few words, a sentence, a question, or even just a single word.

What a brilliant idea! I’m sure I’ll be a regular visitor!

A Biblical Approach to Marketing – Part 4

Marketing No Comments »

A Biblical Approach to Marketing Series: Intro | Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four

Verses:
2 Kings 4:1-7 “Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.”

Insights for Meditation:
The debt left by the man who died caused a heavy burden to be placed on his widow and children.

Even though she had very limited resources, God multiplied them to provide a livelihood for the widow.

The widow involved her sons in the process of doing what Elisha instructed her to do.

The widow acted in obedience even though she didn’t know how what she was doing would solve her problem or bring her income.

The first priority for the income that was generated was to pay off the debt she owed.

There was no question that the oil would sell. It was a given.

The actual selling process didn’t require any further expenditure. Presumably the widow just went out into her community and sold the oil to friends and neighbors.

Principles for Application:
When establishing a business/marketing plan, don’t assume debt. Look for creative ways to use the available resources and give God the opportunity to multiply them and make the work successful.

Train children to be involved in the business operations. Even young children can play a role.

Accept godly, biblical counsel and have faith that God will bless obedience to His calling.

If there are outstanding debts, use the proceeds of the business venture to pay them off. Make this a priority.

Assume that there is a market for the product and do the work required to make it happen. “Go!” Marketing need not be complex and complicated.

Questions for Consideration:
How can I avoid going into debt and still produce and launch a professional-quality book?

What creative ways can I use the resources I have to generate income?

In what ways can I more effectively involve my family in my efforts?

Where should I go and what should I do to sell my book?

Steps for Implementation:
â–ˇ Keep track of all expenses related to the book project and carefully evaluate expenditures to determine if they are necessary.
â–ˇ Come up with two ways to generate income to fund the book project using resources that I already have available.
â–ˇ Set up a bank account for book-related income and expenses.
â–ˇ Make a list of places in the local area that I can approach to sell my book.

Bookstore Browsing

Designing, Reading/Researching 1 Comment »

Tonight a friend and I headed over to a new Barnes and Noble in town to browse the shelves. I had a few specific things I was looking for, but I was mostly interested in exploring for ideas. I also wanted to get a better feel for what is effective when it comes to titles and cover design. Here are some of the observations I made:

  • Short titles are good. Short titles fit well on the spine of a book and allow the type size to be large enough to be easily read. Short titles tend to be easier to remember.
  • Vague titles are not good. Vague titles don’t give enough information about the book. Vague titles don’t captivate you and make you want to pick the book up. Vague titles are not memorable.
  • Script type on the spine is not good. It looks pretty, but it doesn’t do the job. I passed over lots of books just because I didn’t want to go to the extra effort to contort my neck and squint my eyes to figure out what the book was titled.
  • Professionally designed book covers are good. There were two random books that I saw as I was browsing that made me wince and wonder if they were self-published. They were. Or at least they were published by very small publishing houses. The covers were bland and unappealing.
  • Full color covers are good. Maybe it’s just my personality and personal taste, but the better the use of color, the more likely I am to pick up a book. A cover with just one drab background color thrown behind the title or cover art is very blah and looks unprofessional.
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