Self Published and Proud

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Self Published and Proud

by MJ Grothoff
(O'Fallon, MO (right outside of St. Louis))

Everwing

Genre: Fantasy Fiction

"Don't Do It!" screamed the Guild.

I decided to begin my writing journey 3 years ago and did not start small. I wrote a novel! Do I have a writing background? No, but since I was a young lad I have always written short stories including up to the point where I decided to reason with madness.

It took me approximately 2 years to complete that adventure which included gathering an editor and rewriting, rewriting, and oh yeah rewriting. It was the learning opportunity of a life time and loved every minute.

I sent my manuscript to 1 open call that Wizards of the Coast holds every year and of course, received the "We are not looking for what you are peddling this year" letter. When I received said letter, I began to scan the mountainous listing of Agents and Publishers (Small, medium and large)looking to feel through who would be my next victim.

But wait, Writer's Digest came out with a nice article about Self Publishing and the do's/don'ts along with the top publishers in this field. I took a step back and stared at that long list I had just constructed and tossed it! I love my story, I know where I am going with it and I want the control.

So January 1st, 2008 I submitted my manuscript to Outskirts Press and the love match was set. :) Everwing, my little baby, was published with them on August 5th, 2008.

Now footnote.... I luckily have a good friend who is an artist and he is teaming up with me to do the Fantasy art work which included the Book cover(s) and the crazy characters, maps, etc....

There was a small fanfare amongst my friends and family here in St. Louis and I have sold some books but not near what I wish to do. Of course I have did little marketing but this has been purposely done. WHAT?? Yes, I held back marketing because I wanted to finish my 2nd novel and get this to Outskirts before I push forward with just one book.

Well, I just completed Novel 2 and I am working with my editor (rewrite, rewrite, rewrite). Will send this off to my artist for the cover and some small gray-scale pic's for inside. Then off to Outskirts where I shall start my barrage of marketing tricks handed down to me by the publisher.

So why the title? It was an article written in the Missouri Writer's Guild by the Chief Editor and it brought a chuckle. The article was well written, don't get me wrong but it blasted Self Publishing. It held the same scare tactics and fear message many Guilds, workshops and groups sell about never getting a BIG HOUSE to represent your work because "OH MY GOSH" you did the nasty. You SELF PUBLISHED. No one will ever touch you again. You just dirtied your self!

I AM HAPPY I SELF PUBLISHED and I AM GOING TO DO THE SAME WITH BOOK 2! I find it a great way for us writers who do not live in a big city or have the connections to show our work. There are a lot of great writers out there who are never discovered because the BIG NAMES only look at those they know....

Okay got that off my back. :) Thank you for the time and look forward to your articles.

MJ Grothoff

Visit EverWing.

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Self Published and Proud

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Feb 16, 2009
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Supportive self publishing
by: Steve B. (webmaster)

MJ, I so appreciate being appreciated! Thank you!

I'm glad you're thinking of keywords, but I do need to clarify one thing. There are few things more useless than loading up a home page with popular keywords, either on the page or in the meta (even more useless).

All that really does is tell the search engines you WANT to be found for those keywords. The engines want you to EARN being found for those keywords.

That means separate pages for separate keywords, pages devoted to fulfilling the distinct informational needs of the searchers who entered those keywords.

In other words, you can't win the FANTASY FICTION keyword war by putting the phrase in your meta and using it once or twice on your home page. You're competing with the 21,900,000 other pages that come up for that search term! You don't rise to the top of such a group by raising your hand and asking for attention. I'm afraid you have to go to battle for it!

Feb 15, 2009
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Humbled Writer....
by: MJ Grothoff

Steve,

Interesting enough, my website will be getting a face lift in the next couple of months (definitely prior to book two hitting the shelves). The main page will contain the keywords you mentioned and much more, working to drive those random drive by surfers. The current site was quick and dirty. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU, for checking out the site and for such GREAT ADVICE!

You know I find the self publishing world a marvelous place of support. I have conversed with numerous self published writers who have been around the block for a while and each one gave nothing but assistance and advice (usually great advice).

Thank you again, MJ

Feb 12, 2009
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A writer with patience!
by: Steve B. (webmaster)

MJ, I love that you're holding off on your marketing blitz until the 2nd book is out. Why? Because we're all so damn eager to be successful. TOO damn eager to be successful. I see it all the time on this site, and I know the feeling myself.

Good for you.

You have a great looking site. Has a great genre look. But can I suggest that you apply some of your patience and put some marketing time into thinking about this:

How is everwing.com going to attract traffic? Because I have to be honest...for the life of me I can't see how it's going to attract ANY hits from search engines.

As far as I can tell, the only text readable by the search engines on your home page is "email your comments," and the domain name itself tells the engines nothing.

The only traffic a site like this is built to attract is traffic from those who ALREADY know about EverWing...which means it's not likely to bring in NEW readers.

You know, over 100,000 people Google FANTASY FICTION each month. A website that covered the topic - rather than only yourself - might attract some of that traffic. That's your desired audience: people who don't know about EverWing but might want to!

Let me tell you about one of the most patient things I ever did. A few years ago, I wrote some children's picture book stories. Instead of trying to sell them immediately, I built a website on the subject of children's books.

A subject bigger than my work, but inclusive of my work.

Now that the site is getting 1000 visits a day, I'm just beginning to approach agents. (Sent my first query yesterday!) Everything I read these days says that publishers want authors with a "platform." (That means their own audience to whom they can sell books.)

I'm thrilled now with my decision to hold off on marketing my stuff. I have a much better chance to succeed now. And even though you're self published, the notion of a platform still rings true. You sold to family and friends in St. Louis. How about expanding that circle with a more expansive website?

X Close Editor

Feb 12, 2009
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Submitted by: Steve B. (webmaster)

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Comment
MJ, I love that you're holding off on your marketing blitz until the 2nd book is out. Why? Because we're all so damn eager to be successful. TOO damn eager to be successful. I see it all the time on this site, and I know the feeling myself. Good for you. You have a great looking site. Has a great genre look. But can I suggest that you apply some of your patience and put some marketing time into thinking about this: How is everwing.com going to attract traffic? Because I have to be honest...for the life of me I can't see how it's going to attract ANY hits from search engines. As far as I can tell, the only text readable by the search engines on your home page is "email your comments," and the domain name itself tells the engines nothing. The only traffic a site like this is built to attract is traffic from those who ALREADY know about EverWing...which means it's not likely to bring in NEW readers. You know, over 100,000 people Google FANTASY FICTION each month. A website that covered the topic - rather than only yourself - might attract some of that traffic. That's your desired audience: people who don't know about EverWing but might want to! Let me tell you about one of the most patient things I ever did. A few years ago, I wrote some children's picture book stories. Instead of trying to sell them immediately, I built a <A HREF="http://www.best-childrens-books.com">website on the subject of children's books</A>. A subject bigger than my work, but inclusive of my work. Now that the site is getting 1000 visits a day, I'm just beginning to approach agents. (Sent my first query yesterday!) Everything I read these days says that publishers want authors with a "platform." (That means their own audience to whom they can sell books.) I'm thrilled now with my decision to hold off on marketing my stuff. I have a much better chance to succeed now. And even though you're self published, the notion of a platform still rings true. You sold to family and friends in St. Louis. How about expanding that circle with <A HREF="http://buildit.sitesell.com/writingsuccess.html">a more expansive website</A>?

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