Inkwell Editorial E-book Sale!

Starting Monday, InkwellEditorial.com's e-books go on sale. From Monday, May 21st, through Monday, May 28th (Memorial Day), you will be able to purchase any of the e-books listed on InkwellEditorial.com for only $2.99.*

The e-course will be only $9.97!* That's a 90% savings!

This is a reward for all who waited so patiently for MONTHS while they were being updated/revised. All payments are accepted via PayPal.

Monday's Topic: What to Look for in a Freelance Writing Mentor (Part I of III).

Have a good weekend,
Yuwanda Black, Publisher
InkwellEditorial.com
InkwellEditorial.blogspot.com
P.S.: Stay tuned for a surprise announcement on Monday as well.
P.P.S.: Remember, all Inkwell Editorial e-books are written from first-hand knowledge. You get the benefit of hearing directly from those who are where you want to be.

*Offer does not include free website. All e-books and the e-course are delivered as pdf files within 24 hours of purchasing.

When Writers Should “Self-Censor”: Things Writers Shouldn’t Write About

Publisher's Note: Three things today readers.

First, I want to apologize for not updating regularly these past few weeks. My recent car accident and a backlog of projects have kept me busy. I'll only be updating about thrice (love that "old English-sounding" word) weekly for the next two months or so, until I get caught up.

Second, my work-from-home freelance writing e-books have been offline since August of last year. Yikes! I've been revamping, revising and planning to migrate them to Clickbank. But, alas, life -- and projects! -- interfere.

So, I've decided to put them back on InkwellEditorial.com until I can find the time to do the migration. (It might take a working vacation to ge this done.) I've received so many requests that I'll have them back up this weekend.

Third, today's post addresses an idea that's been rolling around in my head. As I do a lot of work online, it's just a rant/observation I want to get off my chest. Feel free to chime in!

As always, editorially yours,
Y. Black, Publisher
InkwellEditorial.com
InkwellEditorial.blogspot.com
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When Writers Should “Self-Censor”
Things Writers Shouldn’t Write About

As writers, most think that no topic is off limits. After all, we’re creative beings and live in a country where the First Amendment (the right to free speech, among other things for those who don’t know) is the holy grail of journalism.

However, I find that there are some things that writers shouldn’t write about.

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I. Personal things: Blogs have brought to the forefront this idea of spilling one’s guts on the internet – not to the betterment of society in my somewhat anti-social opinion. I’m sorry but, I don’t want to know about every woman your husband cheated with, every girlfriend that ever did you wrong, or every vegetable your kid threw up. Some things should just stay private.

I know, I know, I don’t have to read it. But, sometimes, I feel tricked. I’ll be all into a good missive on a topic I genuinely had an interest in and then – whammo! – out of the blue, some personal rant is included that blindsides me.

I’m a keen supporter of using personal stories to illustrate a point, but some personal issues just scream to be left private. Listen to that and put it into a tell-all novel – preferably under a pseudonym.

I’m amazed that some families survive what their family members put on the web. Don’t let that blue state, mad state, revenge state of mind color the rest of your life. Don’t people realize that this stuff is there – like, er rum – FOREVER!

How to Self-Censor In This Area: Email your nearest and dearest friends, which will accomplish your goal – to purge. This is, in my opinion, really all one wants to accomplish when such personal info is revealed online for all to read.

NOTE: Five years from now, if it’s not something you’d want someone to know, keep it to your self.

II. Things you don’t like to write about: One of the things I love about blogging is the freedom to write about what I want to write about. HOWEVER, as with most freedoms, this is a double-edged sword.

I update this blog 3-5 times a week. I’m constantly updating my list of topics about which to write.

Usually, I’ll just write down a headline or a one-sentence idea. Depending on how tired I am, what projects are on my desk and/or what time of the day I’m sitting down to write a post, I’ll scan the list and pick out the topics I want to write on.

Every once in a while, I’ll choose a topic that just stumps me. Either I can’t come up with anything at all (this is extremely rare), or what I come up with is just not working, for whatever reason.

I’ve learned to let these topics go. I still keep them on the list, but tackle them at a later time – or not at all.

I guess the point is, if a topic is not coming together – no matter the reason – I don’t fight it anymore. If I’m having difficulty, it usually means it’s something I don’t like to write about, so I choose another topic – or tackle another activity.

After all, as I said before, the beauty of blogging is that you can write about what you want, right?

How to Self-Censor In This Area: To twist Nike's slogan, "Just DON'T Do It!" Move on.

III. Vitriol among “professionals”: As in, attacking other’s views. I’m not talking about intelligent discourse, but vitriolic attacks that do nothing but spew venom – no points made, no counter-intelligent arguments, no redeeming social value commentary – just mean-spirited attacks.

The anonymity of the Internet makes it easy for those who engage in this type of behavior to use bajillions of megabytes of space.

Imagine if engaging, well-thought-out, positive exchanges could take the place of all the vitriol on the web. We could solve the problems of the Middle East and provide the answer to Imus’ ignorance in no time.

How to Self-Censor In This Area: An old idiomatic expression solves this – “If you ain’t part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.” In other words, if you can’t provide valuable insight, just shut up and go have yourself a stiff drink!

Writers are creative, intelligent, insightful creatures who have a lot to offer – when they choose to exercise the right of “self censorship.”
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Copyright Notice: May be reprinted with the following, in full: Yuwanda Black is the publisher of InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about the editorial and creative industries. First-hand freelance success stories, e-courses, job postings, resume tips, advice on the business of freelancing, and more! Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Log on to InkwellEditorial.com to learn how.
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Research Your Way to E-book Success

What to Look for "In the Competition" when You Are Researching Your E-book

As I explained in mye 2/26 post, Freelance E-book Writer: The Steps I Take to Create a Successful E-book, researching the competition is a vital component of creating a successful e-book. In fact, it is the very first thing I do after getting an idea for an e-book.

Why? Read on:

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How the Competition Stacks Up: You want to see how many like products are out there. You may find a few, or you may find many. Whatever you find has to be looked at from both sides of the coin - good and bad.

Eg, if there are a lot of books on your subject, some questions you might want to ask are:

i) are they in e-book form: this is important because, if they don't, then you could target the online segment who may have be disserved by the paper/hardback book

ii) do they cover the topic in detail, OR, cover it as I would cover it: Look at the outline (most e-books tell you in an outline or on a sales page what is covered in the book).
This is important because you could cover the same material from a different angle, a funnier angle, a more professional angle, a personal experience angle, etc.

iii) what is their experience in the field: perhaps the most important thing in selling an e-book is the author's experience. Eg, I've been a freelancer since 1993, I worked in legal publishing for 10 years; I owned an editorial staffing agency for 8 years; have written six e-books and one freelance writing e-course.

In short, I can make the buyer feel confident in purchasing my products because I have the experience to back up what I wrote on.

DON'T get intimidated if you don't have an extensive background.

How to Sell Your E-book if You Have Limited Experience

Sell your expertise case by case. What I mean is, using case studies, spell out for potential buyers how you helped a client achieve his/her goal. A case study is really just an in-depth testimonial.

It lays out a problem that a client had, and tells how a product/company/person helped solve the problem. They are very effective ways to sell.

Conversely, if there are not a lot of books on your subject matter, two immediate questions come to mind, ie:

i) is there a market for this product? It could just be that no one else has thought to cover this subject. NOTE: This is highly unlikely, but don't let that deter you. Niche material is very popular, but do make sure there is enough of a market to advertise to.

Eg, if there are only 25,000 pig farmers in California, how many of them do you think are going to be interested in your take on feeding pigs a vegetarian diet (the subject of your e-book)?

My point? Be realistic. Make sure there is a broad enough market to justify spending your time writing your book.

ii) how am I going to reach this market? If you're writing an e-book on a subject matter that no one else has written on, then you have to find out how to reach them. Maybe the reason no one has written an e-book on the subject you want to write on is because the audience is offline, not online.

Some other questions regarding the competition you want to answer is who they market to, how do they reach them, what is their pricing structure, do they offer add-ons*, etc.

*Add-ons: Add-ons are freebies e-book sellers give to buyers. They can be anything from a free website to other free e-books. They are usually complementary products to the item they're promoting.

Researching your competition will tell you virtually everything you need to know to successfully market your product - if you do your research well.
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Copyright Notice: May be reprinted with the following, in full: Yuwanda Black is the publisher of InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about the editorial and creative industries. First-hand freelance success stories, e-courses, job postings, resume tips, advice on the business of freelancing, and more! Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Log on to InkwellEditorial.com to learn how.
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ATTN E-book Writers: Here are the Steps I Take to Create a Successful E-book

There are tons of articles on the internet about writing e-books. So, what makes this one different? In short, me. As the writer of six e-books and one e-course, here I will outline the process I use to create my e-books.

First, a little history: As the article, Are You an Angry, Frustrated Freelance Writer? illustrates, the rate war rages on among freelancers. And, in my opinion, it is not likely to be solved anytime soon - if ever.

This is why I'm a firm believer that freelance writers should create their own products for sale. It doesn't have to be an e-book because many don't have the knowledge or fortitude to promote such a product. It could be t-shirts, mugs, a greeting card line -- whatever. The point is, having an extra income stream is just smart business, in my humble opinion.

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NOTE: Writing an e-book is the easy part. You will spend 10 times more time promoting this product than you did writing it. If you think money is just going to pour in because you put your e-book up for sale, you're wrong.

Marketing - in any business - is where the real work comes in. Keep that in mind BEFORE you decide to create an e-book to sell. So, with all that being said, following is what I do once my little ole brain lights up with an idea I want to turn into an e-book.

1. Research: I research the competition, looking for the following: like products; where sold; by whom; for how much.

I didn't do this with my first two e-books, but got into the habit of it after that. Researching a product will tell you the following -- among a host of other things: what the competition is, how to devise a marketing plan and what to sell it for.

Every e-book is different, but what will sell it is you - as in, your experience, the spin you put on it, etc.

As for marketing, you can read effective web sales letters, see where the competition is promoting similar products, assess whether others are offering add-ons, etc. I could go on and on about this portion (and I will in another article), but just so you know, research is where I start.

2. Outline: Usually, I take about a week to come up with an outline. Just like writing a paper in high school, I outline the chapters and what I want to cover in them.

I usually don't formalize the names of the chapters until after they have been written; my outline lists the idea I want to cover in a given chapter. Sometimes that will turn out to be the name of the chapter - but that's not the norm.

3. Write: It can take anywhere from 2 weeks to three months to complete an e-book. It all depends on how busy I am. One thing I do do is give myself a completion date. I'm the type of person who will procrastinate forever if I don't give myself a deadline. So, I try to keep that.

4. Quality Control: Usually, I will hire a freelance copy editor/proofreader/editor to do the QC on the e-book. I usually give the freelancer a week to complete this.

5. Rewrites: If the copy editor/proofreader/editor has suggested structural changes, eg, this section would work better in Chapter 3, then I will switch things around.I have to admit, though, I don't do much rewriting because in my outline, I pretty much organize the material the way I want it to appear.

6. PDF It: Turn the file into a .pdf. This is not really necessary, but it helps in keeping users from copying and/or editing your material and possibly reselling it.

7. Create Sales Letter: I create a page on my website to promote the book.

8. Create Marketing Plan: Usually, I have an idea of how I want to go about promoting the e-book before I even write it. Because I've written a few and write for a niche audience (creative freelancers), I pretty much follow the same marketing plan, tweaking it from time to time.

9. Promote, Promote, Promote - into eternity!
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Copyright Notice: May be reprinted with the following, in full: Yuwanda Black is the publisher of InkwellEditorial.com: THE business portal for and about the editorial and creative industries. First-hand freelance success stories, e-courses, job postings, resume tips, advice on the business of freelancing, and more! Launch a Profitable Freelance Writing Career in 30 Days or Less -- Guaranteed! Log on to InkwellEditorial.com to learn how.
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Like what you read here? Find the content useful and informative? Subscribe to the Inkwell Editorial feed (under the LINKS section to your right) to receive new content immediately upon publishing. OR, email your address to subscribe and receive job listings -- immediately!