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Nink Knowledge: Self-Published eBooks and the Library Market (Access Isn’t Everything)

This article, written by Edie Claire, is from the September 2019 edition of Nink, the monthly newsletter of Novelists, Inc.  (NINC). Nink, which is packed each month with informative articles for career novelists, is a benefit of NINC membership. 

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Ever since Smashwords broke into the library market in 2014 by distributing self-published ebooks to OverDrive, library access has only gotten easier. Now indies can get their ebooks listed on OverDrive through a variety of distributors including Draft2Digital, PublishDrive, and Kobo (now a sister company to OverDrive, under their Rakuten parent). But merely checking that little “distribute to” box isn’t likely to result in actual sales. There are multiple—and largely invisible—hurdles between self-published authors and acquiring librarians, and overcoming these obstacles will require some dedicated effort.

The Bad News, part one: Discoverability

For a glimpse into how librarians make ebook purchasing choices, I interviewed Mary Lee Hart, the collection development librarian at my local library. As expected, the primary goal of library acquisitions is to anticipate which books will be most demanded by patrons. Hence, the largest part of the purchasing budget will go toward bestsellers promoted by the Big Five. The ranks will be further filled out by books receiving positive reviews in the tried-and-true print media with which librarians like Hart are already familiar. But while some of these discovery vehicles (such as Kirkus Reviews and Ingram’s Advance catalog) are open to self-published works, the playing field is far from even. Paid reviews are generally designated as such. Sponsored slots in Ingram’s print catalog are relegated to the back under the dubious heading of “Publisher Selects.” And even those vehicles supposedly devoted to the underserved, such as Foreword Reviews, have terms incompatible with a commercial self-publishing model, such as requiring submission of a manuscript for review at least four months before its release. In fact, the whole traditional model of library acquisition, built around buying new releases while they’re hot, is a poor fit with the slow-build, long-tail pattern of professional self-publishing.

Acquiring librarians do reserve a portion of the budget for books other than current bestsellers. But librarians have little motivation to search specifically in buckets devoted to self-published titles, particularly when most individuals lack an understanding of the difference between a hobbyist writer and a professional self-published-by-choice novelist. For the same reason, any author attempt at direct marketing to librarians is highly likely to wind up in the trash bin.

The Bad News, part two: Ease of Purchase

While libraries can purchase ebooks from a variety of vendors, the reality is that around 90 percent of U.S. public libraries source their ebooks from OverDrive. OverDrive seems preferred not only because of the breadth of media in its catalog, but also because of easy-to-use apps, which libraries rely on for digital lending. The company’s main competitors, Baker and Taylor Axis 360, Bibliotheca, and Odilo, still command only a minor slice of the pie. But while self-published authors can list titles with OverDrive through various distributors, authors cannot see how those titles are being presented to librarians because OverDrive’s library “Marketplace” is not public-facing.

Curious whether my own titles were as visible as their traditionally published counterparts, I consulted Hart. In accordance with OverDrive’s TOS, the library could not offer me a firsthand look at its dedicated interface. But I was provided with some general information. Like most online catalogs, OverDrive makes searching easy with a prominently placed search box. Yet, a search for my books brought up absolutely nothing, even though I distribute to OverDrive via both Kobo and a direct OverDrive publisher account. My books could only be reached by opening up a drop-down menu under the main search bar and then scrolling down to an option labeled “Self-published.”

Finally, a little good news

Publishing may have changed drastically in the last decade, but the motivation of acquisitions librarians has not: they seek to buy whatever materials best serve their patrons. Herein lies the single most powerful strategy for the self-published: patron recommendations. When I polled my Facebook readers about their library use, I was surprised. Many not only regularly borrowed ebooks from the library, but my readers also knew how to request titles for purchase. One reader informed me that he frequently made recommendations; so far his library has bought every one of them. Hart confirmed that my library system not only considers every request but buys the majority. If the author or publisher is an unknown quantity, the purchase decision may come down to price. But any ebook costing single digits is generally considered worth a shot.

Patrons can submit book requests through the same OverDrive interface they use for borrowing. Some libraries have a “recommend” option associated with their own local online catalog, others use a physical suggestion box with paper slips, and many use a combination. But in this case, OverDrive’s domination of the market is of significant benefit to self-published authors because a patron’s search for a book to recommend includes all OverDrive titles. With one click, your loyal reader can send a request straight to their acquisitions librarian—complete with a dedicated link to your book.

The distribution question

OverDrive customer support says it makes no difference how your titles are submitted to OverDrive. Yet, my own experimentation revealed certain variations. Considering the relative difficulty of using an OverDrive publisher account (which requires Excel-formatted metadata and FTP file transfer), I had hoped this distribution method might save me from the self-published dungeon. It did not, although rumor suggests that others might have had better luck. But one advantage a direct account does offer is access to OverDrive’s free merchandising opportunities, such as their e-newsletters and seasonal focus campaigns. Whether these are effective sales tools is an open question.

Another difference I stumbled upon was that the route by which a title reaches OverDrive affects whether or not that book is “available on Kindle” after purchase. It’s not a matter of providing a mobi file; when a Kindle-compatible ebook is borrowed via OverDrive, the borrower is rerouted to Amazon.com for the actual download. Rather, it’s a contractual matter. Books distributed directly through OverDrive show as Kindle-compatible. Ebooks distributed through Kobo (as their customer service confirmed) will not. Draft2Digital’s customer service asserted that its contract with OverDrive does require Kindle-compatibility, although D2D has experienced some delays in execution.

How much does Kindle-compatibility matter? Since Kindle Fires and other tablets can read ePubs in apps, the only devices affected are e-ink versions like the Paperwhite. Older Kindle ereaders (like my trusty 3rd generation with keyboard) can’t handle library loans in any event. When I queried the librarian who buys fiction at my local branch, she said that although she preferred Kindle-compatibility, lack of it wasn’t a deal-breaker.

Royalties on library purchases differ slightly among the distributors, with OverDrive and Kobo paying 50 percent of list price and Smashwords offering 45 percent. Draft2Digital pays 46.75 percent and offers the option of Cost per Checkout as well as One Copy, One User pricing.

And now, it’s up to your readers

Getting your books into libraries is a two-part process of distribution and patron action. My personal attempt at the second part involves a clickable “Read At the Library” button in the footer of every page of my website, combined with a downloadable PDF giving specific instructions on how to request my (or any other favored author’s) books. (Check it out at www.edieclaire.com.) I’ve told my readers that I’ve done all I could to make my books available for borrowing through libraries. Now, it’s up to them.

 

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Edie Claire is a USA-Today bestselling author of 26 novels of mystery, romantic and women’s fiction, and humor. She was first published traditionally in 1999 but went indie in 2009 and has never looked back. 

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Nink Knowledge: Author Almost Crushed by Billion-Dollar Gaming Company—It Could Happen To You!

This article, written by Michael Banner, is from the August 2019 edition of Nink, the monthly newsletter of Novelists, Inc.  (NINC). Nink, which is packed each month with informative articles for career novelists, is a benefit of NINC membership. 

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The following story is true. The names and book titles have been changed out of respect for the actual author.  What he experienced could have happened to any of us… until now.

John Smith is a bestselling author and award-winning screenplay writer, who recently found himself facing a serious legal problem.

Someone had filed for a federal trademark on a brand name that John was already using for a fictional series he had penned three years earlier. Potentially worse, that someone was a billion-dollar video-gaming enterprise, with millions of subscribers. They were seeking an “Intent to use” trademark in

"Computer game software and related items" and also "downloadable digital media and downloadable audio files." The word they wanted to trademark, “Blacktree.”

“Blacktree” is the name of John's Amazon #1 bestselling two-book series, and the name of the protagonist and hero of that series, Bobby Blacktree. His series included eBooks (legally described as “downloadable digital media”) and audiobooks (“downloadable audio files”).

John’s ultimate plan, after a highly successful test-market of a five-book series in the same genre, was to leverage the “Blacktree” brand he had created and launch additional books in the Blacktree series in 2019 and 2020. After which he would complete the screenplay and market it to Hollywood.

That was his plan, before he received notification about the pending trademark registration from one of his Google Alerts watch phrases.

Legal Concerns

John had previously established (by publishing his books) a prior claim to the rights of the series brand name. However, if this gaming company was granted their federal trademark registration, they would have obtained all rights to that name under the rules and regulations established by law and managed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

The gaming company would then have total control over whether John could use the Blacktree name, not only for his two existing eBooks and audiobooks (and the main character name in the series,) but also for future Blacktree books and screenplay.

At minimum, the gaming company could have had Amazon take down his Blacktree series in all its forms, simply by filing a complaint with Amazon and presenting a copy of their trademark. And, because this gaming company had a long history of aggressively protecting their registered trademarks, John could have been looking at a devastating lawsuit if he tried to use the name Blacktree in any future works.

Simply put, if John wanted to sell any more books (current or future) in his series, and the gaming company proceeded forward with their trademark application, John would have had to change the name of his series and main character; update the eBook and audio files; and rebrand future planned books, the screenplay and everything else associated with it.

John clearly had only one choice: he filed an opposition to the gaming company's trademark with the USPTO. Simultaneously, he filed a trademark registration of his own for the brand Blacktree. Legally, John had a clear case of establishing the brand three years prior and thus, he would have a clear path to have the gaming company's trademark request quashed by the USPTO, and then have the USPTO approve his own trademark registration. Simple, right?

Wrong! We are forgetting something disturbing about our legal system: “Whoever has more lawyers and money, usually wins!”

In this case, the gaming company really wanted this name. They also had time on their side because it normally takes a few years to have an online computer game developed, tested, and released. Even though John legally had first use rights, the billion-dollar company and their team of lawyers could easily have buried John in appeals and requests for extensions, and if they desired, lawsuits. At hundreds of dollars an hour for attorney representation, essentially, they could have financially ruined John with just the legal fees alone, forcing him to give up, so that they would prevail.

Other Concerns

John’s financial well-being was not all that was at risk.

The national news media covering computer gaming caught wind of this battle, and incorrectly reported that John was “suing” the gaming company. Additionally, they erroneously reported that John was responsible for stopping the gaming company’s next release of their beloved online role-playing game; a game that boasted millions of over-zealous, fan-boy players.

That’s when the backlash started.

Immediately, thousands of gamers began posting their comments of hatred against John, sending John angry and physically threatening emails, and blasting him with endless social media posts. Some even posted negative reviews on his books. All this because John had the nerve to defend his brand.

Before revealing the end of this story, let us look at the lesson we should all learn from John’s experience.

Lesson Learned

Authors must proactively protect themselves against trademark infringement.

That is, you must take two actions to preemptively protect yourself and avoid a potential battle like the one John faced.

  1. Thoroughly research your series name and book titles before publishing, and
  2. File for a federal trademark under one or more publishing categories.

Thoroughly Research Your Series Name

You have probably already searched Amazon’s database for similar sounding book titles, just to see what is out there. Maybe you have even Googled your prospective book title or series name to see if someone is using it in your book’s genre. That is a good start, but do not miss another very important resource. Before pushing that publish button, search the USPTO database to make sure your series name and book titles are not infringing on a registered trademark in the publishing space.

To do this, go to USPTO.gov. Under the “Trademark” banner, choose “Searching trademarks” from the drop-down menu. Now find the “Search our trademark database (TESS)” link. You will want to use the “Basic Word Mark Search (New User)” option and type in the name of your prospective title.

You may see several hits. Make sure you review them all, one at a time. What you are looking for are “LIVE” registrations. If there is already one registered (and Live), and you see that its “Goods and Services” section includes a series of numbers starting with either IC 009 or IC 016 (the two classes for books), then someone has already registered that name in the publishing space. You will need to modify your series name and/or book titles, otherwise you risk Amazon turning your books off at some point in the future for trademark infringement.

However, if you do not see your prospective titles already registered (and Live) or they are listed in the database but are not in the two publishing classes, you are good to go for publication.

File Your Own Federal Trademark

If the name is available for trademark under the publishing classes, then immediately after you publish your series, file for a federal trademark on that series name.

A strange quirk in trademark law that most authors do not know about, is that while you can trademark a book series title as a brand, you cannot trademark a single book title. You must use the same name for more than one book before it’s considered a brand and eligible for trademark protection. In other words, you can trademark a name if it is used on two or more books because it is now considered a “brand.” That’s true for book titles and series titles. More than one book with the same title or series name must exist and be used (or intended to be used), before it’s eligible for protection.

This brings up another point to consider.

Even if the USPTO database does not show a trademark issued for your series or book name, you need to look on Amazon to see of anyone else is using that exact name on more than one book in their backlist. If so, then they have prior trademark rights, having established a brand for that name, even if they have yet to file for the trademark. You will need to pick a new series name or book title to avoid potential infringement problems down the road. None of us want another “Cockygate” scenario.

[Editor’s note, for more on this and to read Nink articles written about this topic, please review the July 2018 issue in the Nink archives.]

Trademarks are filed in one or more Goods and Services classes. Again, the two International Classes (or IC) covering books are 009 (for eBooks and audio books) and 0016 (for print books). Each class will cost $225 to file, or $450 for both. If you are worried about costs, file for at least one: class 9, since that is likely your most profitable book class. While not cheap, think of this as an “insurance policy” to protect you against someone trying to steal your brand and/or threaten your ability to sell your books under that name on various platforms like Amazon.

Bottom line: What we do as authors is a business. Businesses have assets that need to be protected. Our books and their names are some of our most important assets. Smart business practices dictate we proactively take steps to protect our series names and book titles, before someone else takes these rights from us. Or worse, someone with deeper pockets crushes you financially, just for using a name they want, even though you had all prior rights to it.

Epilogue

“So, what happened to John?” you ask.

After thousands of dollars in legal fees, John and the gaming company reached an amicable agreement. The terms are confidential, so the actual settlement remains unknown. My hunch is that John is both relieved and pleased with the result. And yet, the settlement only occurred after his reputation took a beating and he suffered many sleepless nights. Don’t put yourself in the same position as John.

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Michael Banner is an international best-seller, penning eleven novels as ML Banner. Next up, his Self-Publishing Empire Series of books, beginning with Set-Up: The Easy Way to Start Your Own Publishing Entity. A serial entrepreneur, Michael has formed dozens of businesses over thirty-five years, including SmallBiZ.com, which has helped more than 100,000 to start their own corporation or LLC. He serves on boards of other start-ups and has consulted thousands, assisting them on how to setup and manage their own enterprises. Recently, he and another NINC member, co-founded Mission Critical Publishing LLC. On his “off” days, Michael’s wife “forces” him to relax at their Mexican beach or cruise to another foreign port.

 

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Nink Knowledge: Mixing Traditional Publishing & Self-Publishing

This article, written by Lindsay Randall, is from the July 2019 edition of Nink, the monthly newsletter of Novelists, Inc.  (NINC). Nink, which is packed each month with informative articles for career novelists, is a benefit of NINC membership. 

(Editor’s note: For the purposes of this article, hybrid is defined as having published front list in both trad & indie during 2018-2019.)

Is it double the trouble or worth the effort to publish front list titles both traditionally and indie?

Several of NINC’s hybrid authors shared their thoughts, words of wisdom and warning, and how each times releases to widen her reach.

Why publish trad and indie simultaneously?

For author Katie MacAlister, concurrently publishing indie and trad offers the opportunity to push beyond boundaries of style and storytelling while reaping the benefits of publisher support and a conduit to a larger readership.

“It’s the best of both worlds, allowing me freedom to write whatever twangs my strings, yet remain in the traditionally published world,” she said.

MacAlister’s most recent trad title is Day of the Dragon, the second book in the paranormal Dragon Hunter series (March 2019, Hachette Group). Her latest self-pub book is the contemporary romance Ever Fallen in Love, released November 2018.

While the genres may differ, MacAlister noted that she sees an uptick in her self-pubbed sales whenever a new trad book is released.

“My publishers have connections and abilities that I either lack or don’t want to spend time doing. They put books up on NetGalley, arrange for reviews in trade journals, organize blog features, run ads and contests, coordinate PR campaigns online, and so on. They usually have a longer reach with subsidiary sales and contacts within foreign publishing companies,” she said. “It's also nice to be able to write a book and hand it over for editing, production, and cover work without having to arrange for all that myself.”

Indie publishing also netted her a new publisher. She released Fireborn in 2018, the first book in a new series she wanted to write regardless if a publisher wanted it. She’d no sooner posted news of the release than Kensington made an offer. It was a bid MacAlister liked. Kensington will re-release Fireborn in June and two other books in the series.

“I’d highly recommend being hybrid to any author,” said Bronwen Evans, who writes and publishes historical romance through indie and trad channels. “This market is ever-changing—in fact, it’s more like revolving and spinning. I think it’s good to ensure you have a foot in each camp.”

Attracted to the Earl is her most recent trad release (May 2019, Random House), while her latest indie offering is To Tempt a Highland Duke, released in April as part of the Dukes By the Dozen multi-author boxed set.

Evans said she loves the freedom found in self-publishing and appreciates the marketing available through her traditional publisher.

Words of wisdom and warning

Both MacAlister and Evans said they must deal with non-compete clauses.

“My agent works hard to eliminate any non-compete clauses in my contracts, narrowing the language so that I can write outside of a series whenever the whim strikes me,” MacAlister said. “I do try to remain cognizant of how many books are coming out and when. Since I'm not a rapid release sort of writer, I like to make sure I have a new book dropping every few months, and I will shift my self-pubbed books to make that happen.”

As for Evans, the non-compete clause nearly made her walk away from traditional publishing.

“In the past two years, non-compete clauses began to pop into my contracts and the non-compete period got longer and longer,” she said. “I have a good agent, and we tweak most of the clause now and work around it with my release schedule.”

Lyn Cote, who has been hybrid since 2010 and traditionally published for 12+ years before that, said “being a hybrid is a juggling act” of positioning indie titles around the release of trad titles.

She, too, worked through an agent to deal with the non-compete clauses, remaining with Harlequin’s Love Inspired Historical line until its end in 2018 (her last title was Suddenly a Frontier Father, part of the Wilderness Brides series). She stayed because most of her readers purchased their books in Walmart “and Harlequin could get me into almost every Walmart in the U.S. and Canada.”

She noted that sales for both increased whenever an indie book released around the time a traditionally published book came out. (She writes contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and historical novels. The Heart Hopes is her latest indie title.)

Today Cote said the biggest reality in all retailing is that more people are shopping online.

“When an author looks at a traditional contract, he/she must ask these questions: ‘Where will my publisher sell these books?’ and ‘What will they do to actively make my books visible?’” she said.

Cozy mystery author Lynn Cahoon, who indie writes in romance as Lynn Collins, said “keeping your foot in both worlds gives you an edge over other authors.”

“I now have a better understanding of the entire process for publishing a book, which gives me the ability to ask for things I know the publisher can do and not look stupid asking for things they can't do,” Cahoon said. “As authors, sometimes we don't know enough about the entire book publishing cycle.”

Cahoon’s most recent trad title is Mother’s Day Mayhem (April 2019, Kensington), part of the Tourist Trap Mystery series. Her most recent self-published title is Country Hearts, book five of the Castle View romance series.

“You have to plan your time and energy well,” Cahoon said. “Make sure you’re taking as much time writing and editing your self-published books that you do with your trad. And think about marketing. You can't just put a book up on Amazon (especially under a new name) and expect it to sell.”

For Lea Wait, the model of pubbing both indie and traditionally offers her a larger income (to date, her trad books out-earn her self-published titles), while allowing her the freedom to write what she wants in whatever genre she chooses.

She traditionally publishes mysteries (her latest is Thread on Arrival: A Mainely Needlepoint Mystery [April 2019, Kensington]) and indie publishes historical and young adult fiction (Justice & Mercy: A Post-Civil War Mystery in February).

Wait markets all of her books together, regardless of genre. When speaking or signing, she has both types of books available, plus blogs about both, and features them on postcards she shares with fans.

Timing releases/widening the reach

Each author said they time self-pubbed titles around their traditionally published titles and take care not to dilute the market.

“My traditional books come out about every nine to 12 months,” Wait said. “I try to have indie books come between them.”

For Cahoon, she tries to avoid releasing her self-pubbed romance in the months she has a mystery releasing on the traditional side.

“My trad contracts all say I can't give a book to another publisher before I complete this contract, except anything written under Lynn Collins,” she added. “In a perfect world, I'd love to have one release a month—trad or indie.”

Evans plans her release schedule each January. She also watches cover design on the trad side so that it doesn’t clash with the indie side, and she makes use of her self-published work as giveaways and free reads for newsletter signups, marketing all of her releases to all readers.

MacAlister said she staggers books to release three or four times a year, and adds a link to all works in the end matter of every indie book. “Being very, very organized is a must,” she said.

Wait summed it up like this: “Take a lot of deep breaths and don’t overcommit yourself in either direction. Make sure you meet contracted deadlines. Have fun with the whole idea!”

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Lindsay Randall serves as assistant editor of Nink, and while she has indie published front list and backlist, she hopes to once again work with a traditional publisher.

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Nink Knowledge: Tricking the Limbic System into Giving You the Right Drugs at the Right Time

This article, written by Patricia Burroughs, is from the J 2019 edition of Nink, the monthly newsletter of Novelists, Inc.  (NINC). Nink, which is packed each month with informative articles for career novelists, is a benefit of NINC membership. 

In last month’s Nink, I explained how procrastination isn’t simply a matter of willpower or character, but rather a product of a brain battling with itself over who’s the boss—the executive in the prefrontal cortex or the bodyguard in the limbic system.

Most if not all of the time, we procrastinate because doing The Thing is not fun or pleasant, which means we have a negative feeling about it. It happens quickly:

“In 1/32 of a second we become fearful and we can’t think! THAT is what procrastination really is.”
– Maribeth Blunt,, Psychotherapist & Life Coach

But we are not without weapons, although nothing will work all the time and some things may never work. One of the best and often immediate ways to connect with your prefrontal cortex is to conjure up a good mood. The limbic system is designed to play nicely with your executive functions and even fuel them with stuff that helps you stay focused, energized, and happy with what you’re doing. One suggestion is to visualize happy times with the activity you’re avoiding, simply because doing so establishes the good mood and lack of stress you need to write.

One reason video game designers let people pile up the points before the game starts getting tougher is to give repetition, practice and confidence, so that when the game gets harder, you don’t just walk away. Yes, they get you hooked by letting you win a lot before they make it hard. Creating a habit of writing is similar.

Break the writing or project you’re avoiding into small bits, and recognize that if it’s not working, you haven’t broken it down into small enough bits. If you’re not writing at all, any progress is good. Remember, you’re tricking your brain into doing what you need it to do. No matter how ridiculously small you have to make your goal, do it. You may do this more than once in the day. Or start and go a little further. Or a lot further.

Or get to the very end of that goal and stop—even if your 100-word goal ends in midsentence. Do it. That was the goal and you aced it! Setting a goal that you know you can achieve is vital.

Gamification

If your brain has a hyperactive rescue mode and wants to fight-or-flight you away from anything that makes you feel tense, stressed, or just plain negative, the key may be to cultivate habits that are as entertaining as video games or YouTube.

No, really. It’s a thing. There are a wide selection of apps that turn establishing productive habits into games, or close to it. (If you want a fun and motivating introduction to gamification along with some unexpected games to turn loose on your life [zombies!], let Jessica at HowtoADHD tell you How to Turn Your Life Into a Video Game.)

Habatica is a full-fledged RPG (role-playing game), complete with the ability to level up, buy gear, earn gold coins, etc. However, to reap those and other fun rewards, you don’t fight battles. You get experience or health points each day for each “habit” you are able to check (you did the good habits, refrained from the bad ones). You write the habits (write a chapter, write a newsletter, write two sentences, however you’ve set it up). There’s a to-do list for one-off tasks that don’t repeat, and the rewards you set for yourself, whether it’s a treat, an episode of your favorite television show, or time on Facebook. When you reach a high enough level you start accruing money and pieces of armor. It’s  a real game that even lets you form a “party” with other people you know, adding a social element.

SuperBetter (overview of book and app) (tutorial)) may have the most dramatic storyline. Dr. Jane McGonigal had been developing games for 10 years when she suffered a debilitating concussion that wasn’t healing, was causing horrific pain, and left her so depressed she contemplated suicide. Instead, she developed Jane the Concussion Slayer. That game became SuperBetter, and it’s designed to work for you while you play.  You create Quests (daily tasks and habits), create a Secret Identity (which is half the fun), challenges, Power Ups (tiny moves that give an emotional or physical lift) and more. Your negative habits or mindsets are Bad Guys. Is there something you’ve always wanted to do? Make it a Quest you’re working toward. This app also has a social aspect.

The Fabulous (overview) (tutorial) is described by Girlboss as a sleek app that will help you stick to your goals.

Daylio (overview) (tutorial) is a daily mood and activity tracker that lets you monitor the patterns of your emotions and establish new habits.

Finally, and perhaps saving the best for last, productivity consultant Denis Duvauchelle said, “Dopamine can be triggered with meaningful rewards, funny jokes and pleasant pictures. Have trouble motivating yourself to write? Kitten every 100 words!”

Rituals

Some writers find grounding and motivation in rituals that are creative, sensory, sometimes spiritual and/or religious—and can be designed to get you into the mood.

Remember the ongoing battle chronic procrastinators have? There are many ways to elevate that mood, and rituals are amazing tools.

One writer decided to take the plunge and write full time but quickly discovered that, since he didn’t have to cram all of his writing into stolen hours from work and family, the new sense of freedom led to him frittering away his time. His solution was a simple two-step ritual. Every day once the house emptied, he quieted himself and stroked a mallet down a set of desktop chimes. As their vibrations slowed, he lit a candle, one that would burn for four hours. The chime was his attempt to establish a Pavlov’s dog affect. Chime equaled time to write and he soon had no trouble diving into his work. But the candle was even more vital as once it was lit, it indicated his writing time. As it burned, his time grew shorter. He did allow himself to break as necessary, but even then he was aware that he was burning time, not to mention he had a burning candle he had to keep an eye on! His simple two steps provided a trigger [time to write] and mindfulness [time is burning].

Your ritual could be starting with a prayer. Or turning on music that fades into the background. Or using essential oils or incense.

“Make it so.”

Finally, one of the most helpful tools has to do with establishing new habits—fast.

Not after 21 days or 60 days, but almost immediately. That may sound impossible but this technique is recommended in many academic and psychological circles and is worth trying.

Program yourself to take a positive action or to avoid a negative one through self-talk, either aloud or mentally.

Isolate the precise action you want to take. Then create the sentence—the mantra, perhaps—that you’re going to start saying. It can be a straightforward plan, simple in its execution. “After I finish loading the dishwasher tomorrow, then I’m going to sit down and write for awhile.”

That may sound unimpressive, but if you start saying this in the morning the day before, and if you write it on a post-it and stick it on your computer, or wherever you will see it most often, and if every time you see it, you either speak the words aloud or read them silently… I think you can take it from here. It’s unassuming, direct, and not exciting. But by the time you’ve matter-of-factly and repeatedly reminded yourself of your intention, after you load that dishwasher, sitting down to write is going to be a lot easier than it has been. You’ve been preparing your brain for it for over 24 hours. Have fun with it, if you want. Roll your eyes, laugh about it. Next morning you may laugh all the way to the chair.

Need some extra motivation? Link the action—in this case, writing—to something you want to do, before and after.

“After I drink my expensive, special occasion coffee that I only use for guests, then I’ll sit down and write [two sentences, two scenes, two chapters, two hours]. And when I’ve done that, I’ll go to the coffee house and pick up another bag of those special coffee beans.”

You’ve outwitted your brain because you sandwiched your writing between two things that will make your prefrontal cortex purr happily in anticipation.

Hey, you may have not only gotten yourself jumpstarted, but you might have just established an effective new writing ritual: bestowing yourself with alone-time and the “good” coffee before and after writing because you deserve it.

Because one of the most vital things you can do is develop habits and rituals that take care of you.

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Patricia Burroughs has ADHD, dyscalculia, and associated cognitive disorders, all of which are disorders of executive function and the prefrontal cortex. She generally manages her issues through self-education, medication, and therapy. She is not a neurosurgeon nor is she a psychologist. She encourages you to seek more information if you want to understand the nitty-gritty of brain function beyond their squabbles, which may include professional help.

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Nink Knowledge: Converting Your Books into Comics/Graphic Novels — A One-Page Experiment

This article, written by Jennifer Stevenson and illustrated by Elizabeth Person, is from the May 2019 edition of Nink, the monthly newsletter of Novelists, Inc.  (NINC). Nink, which is packed each month with informative articles for career novelists, is a benefit of NINC membership. 

With graphic novels and comics all the rage, I worked with Elizabeth Person, an illustrator, animator, and comic book writer-artist on a three-panel experiment. This will show you how author and artist collaborate, a different exercise from drawing one’s own.

Original 250-word story

At three in the morning of March first, 1893, the moon rode high in London’s sky over the old mansion in Grosvenor Square. All was still: no hansom cabs rumbled over the cobblestones, no policeman’s whistle sounded, and even the gas lamps burned with a fainter hiss, around which bats flitted noiselessly. No house thronged with a private party, no orchestra was heard behind the tall, darkened windows. The only sign of a disturbance was a window ajar on the ground floor at number 12, its curtain blowing outward.

Inside the darkened drawing room, Miss Emmeline Moriarty stood behind the curtain, her pistol raised, listening for telltale sounds of the householder’s return. It had been simplicity to enter. She knew Lord Jowles to be at his club that night, celebrating the success of his plan to seize her father’s criminal empire. The servants would be in their attic rooms. The square was silent. She hadn’t even had to break the glass.

Lord Jowles was still drunk; he had walked all the way home from his club and the unseasonably warm night air had nearly put him to sleep. He never noticed the curtain blowing out of his own drawing-room window. He had spent the evening drinking whatever friends bought for him, eating roast duck and oysters and pudding and everything his medical advisors had forbidden him, accepting congratulations from his cronies until they had tottered home one by one, the slackers. Unsteadily, he now paused on his own doorstep and scrabbled at the keyhole with his wayward key.

Let’s turn it into a script in three panels. In my directions to the artist, I sent the following:

  • Establishing shot: London city scene, full moon in a starry sky, and below, small, a house lit in front by a street lamp. On the first (ground, if you’re British) floor front, a casement window (door-style, not opening up-and-down) is a little open, and the tail of a light curtain is hanging out and fluttering slightly in a breeze.
  • Interior closeup shot: Mostly dark. Half of a young woman’s face illuminated by moonlight from the window. She is standing behind the curtain inside that room, but all we see is half her stern, lovely young face, perhaps a curl beside her fiercely narrowed eye, her small hand raised, holding an enormous service revolver circa 1893, pointing up, and perhaps a bit of the street, sidewalk, streetlamp below. If you can’t fit all that in, just give us a bit of her face, the hand holding the revolver, the curtain, and maybe the moon beyond it.
  • Interior closeup shot: A bit lighter. All we see is Lord Jowles’s plump bare hand trying to thrust his key into the keyhole. The key is attached to a fancy key chain with a fob and a couple of other keys dangling on it. Lord Jowles wears a gaudy man’s jeweled ring.  Small speech bubble comes down into the picture: “Damned keyhole moves around on a feller.”

I also told Elizabeth “There’s no room for her clothes as you’re showing how tiny a keyhole image an artist can work with to create the mood, illustrate character, set the time of day and setting. You’ll notice the backstory doesn’t mention whether she’s working for her father’s criminal empire or working against it, so the artist is at liberty to make her look villainous or virtuous, as well as pretty and young and well-bred and determined.”

Elizabeth then sent me some draft images.


Feedback

At this step, as the author, I provided the following feedback: “This is lovely! Street and house are the right kind of architecture. Emmeline looks ladylike, resolute and fierce. The revolver is terrific—huge in her hand, and clunky like army revolvers of the period. The doorknob & keys are excellent. Also, Lord Jowles’s hand is nicely masculine without looking ‘stevedore.’”

I then gave her more specific feedback on what I had envisioned:

  • Panel 1: I had imagined looking down on the house from up above, but this works fine! When you polish, might add a tiny bit of light from the streetlights, and a sliver of a moon above, to help signal “nighttime.”
  • Panel 2: I imagined this closer up. Perhaps show us maybe less than half her face, and the revolver in her hand or even just part of the revolver (barrel & cartridge-cylinder), the rest of her face partly concealed by the edge of a closed curtain. Because you’ve made her hair, face, collar, hand, and revolver perfectly signal all the things I wanted, if you zoom in, you will still give us everything we want, nice and large, without wasting extra space on the room décor or much of the street view. Also, Emmeline should be behind a curtain. Probably not behind the one that is blowing open. Although it adds continuity to have her standing beside the open window we saw in panel 1, it isn’t logical. The implication being, she is waiting for Jowles to enter the room, and she expects to ambush him when he is inside it.
  • Panel 3: The third panel, another extreme closeup, brings the promise of the waiting menace of the revolver-holding woman closer to a moment of actual conflict. Lord Jowles’s hand is just right. How about you take out his thumbnail and add a seam on his thumb and a button at his wrist, to indicate a white glove (surely a sign of the upper class!) and add his ring.

Elizabeth responded that she could see what I meant in the wider shot feeling less intimate and dramatic. She then offered her thoughts and sent a cropped copy of the second panel that approximated what she had in mind for my feedback.

 

 

At this part in the process, I found what she had done interesting, and let her know that the shorter, wider frame looked better. I also noted that perhaps we needed to consider putting the door on her right so doesn’t have her back to the door and that the view through the window of the buildings across the street confused me. Logically, I knew that the houses across the street very likely look like that, but my immediate assumption is that she’s in a window across the street from the house with our blowing-curtain-open-window. This is because I am a lazy reader. Since there’s no action or dialogue, I think we should expect lazy reading.

I then proposed some solutions, giving her three possible solutions. She chose the third, which was to use the short, wide panel-view she’d sent, and changing it to put her behind the curtain and shift the camera angle toward sky.

After a bit more back and forth emails, Elizabeth sent me the cleaner versions of panels 1 and 3, and three compositions for panel 2:

Panel 1:

 

Panel 2, three versions:

  • Top: The same as before but with the door right next to the window on the right. Architecturally, this might seem weird, but visually it read well.
  • Middle: The view from a lower camera angle with the door closer the reader. The light draws reader eyes to her immediately before seeing the door, so it works narratively.
  • Bottom: A lower camera angle, but parallel to the wall. It’s dramatic but the door is a bit hard to read.

 

Panel 3:

 

The minute I saw panels 1 and 3, I knew we were good there. I also thought the second of the three options for #2 was most effective, because she takes the eye! But I thought that she should have the pistol should be bigger, and she should give the reader a stern eyeball.

I also noticed what seems to be a pole in the room, because the view is of being in the room looking out. As we discussed this, Elizabeth realized the lamp post didn’t have a grounding point in the image, which made it look odd. We decided adding the moon might give a better idea of the camera angle without mistaking the lamp post for some kind of indoor pillar.

Here is the final shot for panel 2:

 

The final series of images comes out like this, then:

 

 

A few takeaways from the process

  • Your story shifts shape on its way out of your head and onto a page. First, you imagine a series of images and words. Then you convert those images and words into fiction. Then you revisit the fiction to convert it into a comic book script. So your story moves a lot between right brain and left brain, and you may find that what you imagined when you originally wrote the story is not on the page, perhaps has never been on the page.
  • Don’t be afraid to try drawing your comic book yourself first, using stick figures, to block out the story you want to tell. “Thumbnailing” your script like this will help you learn about communicating with the artist…and learn about your story as well!
  • Listen to the artist. You have your expertise and they have theirs.

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Jennifer Stevenson is the author of five series, nineteen novels and twenty short stories. Her story "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" appeared in Jam! Tales from the World of Roller Derby, a graphic anthology. Her paranormal women's fiction series Coed Demon Sluts was nominated for the James Tiptree Award and featured on John Scalzi's "The Big Idea" blog. She lives in Chicago with two cats and a stagehand.

 

Elizabeth Person is a freelance illustrator and graphic designer. She graduated from Allegheny College in 2017 in fine arts & computer science. She has been illustrating covers, maps, and characters for writers since 2011.

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