The illiterate’s guide to writing eBooks By Jestin Lightne pot

The illiterate’s guide to writing eBooks
By Jestin Lightner
Did you know that ebook sales have been out pacing hardcover book
sales for the past two Christmas seasons as far as growth rate is concerned?
As a matter of fact the CEO of Barnes N Noble has recently gone on record
as saying that he will no longer be expanding the brick and mortar division
of his conglomerate. That should give you an idea of what basket he is
putting his eggs in. Remember the days when you went to the local mall and
there was not only an FYE but also a Camelot music store? Nowadays
maybe only every other mall even has a Walden books or something similar
let alone a music store. Now we have apple stores right? We have seen this
before so we should know how to take advantage of it right? Well, that’s
why I decided to write this short nifty little ebook.
I get asked this question more than any other lately in regards to my
career as a writer. You would think that most questions aimed towards me
would be in reference to the storyline of The Red Gates or EVN but they are
not. Everyone is more interested in career advice. In todays economic
climate I can sorta see why. Smashwords and other companies that copy
Mark’s business plan have developed a miracle in the literary world which
enables everyday people like you and me a chance to step into a door that
was once solely for people that knew how to get through via the big
publishing houses in NYC. LOL, I’m sure they are all rolling over in their
boardrooms even to this day and trying like hell to adapt. It’s evolution
really. And now, anyone can type something up and be on their way with an
ISBN and a small, do it yourself, run from the home legit internet business.
Why listen to my advice? Well, I’ve only had two gold records influenced
by my writing so I must be doing something right.
Now I have read a number of writers help books along the way and
have received a multitude of conflicting info and misinfo and so my goal
here is to shed some light on the matter the way I see fit without having to
pilfer through several 300 page books. For instance: I was once privy to a

writers tip that mentioned that you shouldn’t even attempt to submit a book
to a publisher unless you have already written one million words. Though I
am sure your first submission would be of higher quality as far as the
mechanics of writing are concerned it doesn’t really mean that your creative
plot lines are going to be any better or worse, right? Hey, the Outsiders was
written by a sixteen year old not to mention that dragon rider movie that was
released a couple years back. Do you see what I mean? They didn’t write
one million words before they released their first so why should you?
The best advice I could offer an aspiring writer is to not make creative
writing a hobby, make it a lifestyle. Of course, as you sacrifice nights out
with your friends, your favorite sitcoms etc, it’ll be tough but the truth is that
being a writer can be a lonely world where anything is possible and you
need to limit your distractions. People say that writers don’t really work
because all they see us doing is sitting around crunching keys like numbers.
Well, the truth is they are all jealous that they are stuck in a nine to five rat
race and you have got your own little unique startup.
At this point in time, if you are thinking about working on your first
book I see no reason to solicit an agent until your book has been completely
finished (to your standard that is). Even then, if it is your first effort you are
far better off self publishing on Smashwords or with the similar service that
Barnes N’ Noble has to offer first in order to get your feet wet. Truth is that
this method is the wave of the future and self publishing no longer has the
same stigma as it once did. It’s just a fact. For instance, once upon a time
you couldn’t self publish and move 500 copies of your book easily. For your
information, I self published my first book, The Shadowbelt on Smashwords
and moved well over two thousand copies the first year of it’s release. It was
once said that only 10% of all books ever reach the 1,000 copies mark. Well,
that just may not be true anymore.
First off you gotta get into the habit of writing everyday if you don’t
already. If you are not writing every day then you should be at least doing a

little bit of editing on your days off. Schedule yourself a routine and stick
with it. I’m not saying you should go homeless, sit on a park bench in order
to write the next Harry Potter but I actually wouldn’t necessarily advise
against that extreme either (I’ve actually done that). Live in the library. Read
the authors you wish to write like because you will find that you actually
write the way you read in a sense. Whats the point of reading a Clancy novel
when you are in the middle of writing an epic romance novel set in ancient
greece?
You have gotta write at least 1,500 words per day as a minimum or
edit 5 – 10k. That actually isn’t too much and can easily be done. At that rate
your novel’s first draft will be done in three months if you punch in five
days a week. Not too shabby. I like the 100,000 word mark which relates to
about 300 pages but in todays environment shorter may be better and 50,000
words may be just as good. Keep in mind that people are reading these
things on there cell phones and shit so they are not looking to download an
unabridged copy of The Stand. They want to read something that is
manageable, cheap, and effective no matter what the genre.
Forget showing off your material to friends and family members. All
they are going to say is that it’s good or that it has a real chance of being
published (no shit). They will feel bad criticizing your work when that is
what you really need… They feel that criticism for the most part is negative
and they love you and don’t want to get you down. Or maybe they are just
jealous of your endeavor. If you feel you really gotta get someone else’s
opinion, join a local writers group filled with people that won’t give you a
black and white review. Problem is with writers groups are that they are
filled with critics and not enough real writers in my opinion so your gonna
have to find a balance. For instance, I simply posted excerpts to my blog and
on the wizards of the coast message boards and received good reviews.
Heck, before I released it I already had international and local success just
with the Shadowbelt excerpts alone. Now I know that not everyone in the

world has worked for a record label and that may seem impossible to mom
and pop publishing but believe it or not it isn’t. You can do whatever you set
your mind to…….Even that hot chick over there giving you the naked eye.
Better check her ID first though cause she looks kinda young.
Now that you have got your rough draft done it’s time to solicit to
agents, right? No way! What is the point of getting an agent if you don’t
even have a career to be agented? I would only suggest getting an agent for
your first novel if you have one in the family. Make sense? If not, it will
soon enough. Now it’s your turn to take that rough draft and really flesh it
out some. Reread the entire thing and really fill in some detail. Flesh out the
character’s histories a little more, paint in some more action, or whatever.
Just get the thing flowing like a river. Find parts that seem sorta choppy and
take a roller to it so to speak. At this point it is even possible to add in entire
subplots and all new characters. What about that idead you had about a
deranged woman who thought she was a vampire even though she wasn’t
that you just couldn’t seem to find a place for. Well, nows the time. Eddie
Veddor once said “Do you see the way that tree bends? Does it inspire?”
then write about it damn it.
Now I would like to take the time to address writers block. Actually, I
would but I can’t think of anything to say about it. It sucks. Yes it does
happen and no I am not an expert at shaking it but I beliee that it comes with
becoming exhausted by your work. The way I look at writers block is like
baseball. You can learn everything you need to know about life from
baseball right guys? Think of yourself as the Bambino in a batters slump.
Well, the coach could just bench the fat bastard until he shapes up in the
batters cage or you can just let him swing his way through it. What would
you do if you were the coach? If you said bench the babe then I suggest you
put this book down immediately and jump off a cliff. You just gotta write
your way through it without referring to an outline because outlines are for
wimps and as Stephen King also said: “If you need a thesaurus you aren’t

using the right word in the first place.
So now the book is written, revised, and well tuned (hopefully). Stevie
Ray Vaughn said something to the effect of: “A song is like a child, your
never finished working on it, you just gotta let it go when it’s good enough.”
It’s the same with your book. Now it’s time to get that cover together if you
haven’t already. Whoever said that you can’t judge a book by it’s cover
fuckin lied to you. The cover is what sells the thing. That’s all there is to it. I
suggest finding someone in the neighborhood, or an old friend to with skills
in photoshop to punch something up for you. The more 3D the better in my
opinion since 3D is the new in thing. The Shadowbelt’s cover was actually
done on canvas with water colors by an old friend of my sisters. Turned out
fantastic. I was a real nag to cause I was all like, change this, do that, change
this and change that, over and over again but you know what? Who cares, it
turned out great in the end!
Now get your ass over to smashwords.com and setup a free account
and get an ISBN # on that thing before a cat burglar steals it. I’m not kidding
man. The original draft of the Shadowbelt was 24 chapters and do to
physical theft I only published the first nine chapters and then rewrote the
second half and released it as another ebook called “Divided Wings” (rules).
Anyway, security and a back up plan are always important. Nuff said.
Now let’s tap into some marketing ideas. Since I had some rock bands
help out with the release of my first book I managed to develop a unique
marketing plan that may work for your book as well. I went onto the social
network scene for two hours a day and just marketed away. I would befriend
every person that commented on the bands page and send them a link to my
book. Simple and effective as well as a great way to stay in touch with fans.
“Hey this is Hollow, check out my new ebook and let me know what
you think. Karnivool and Nonpoint based their new albums off of it so I
know you’ll love it.”
Obviously you may have to come up with a different pitch but you get

the idea. The leads are out there waiting for you to take there money. Are
you savy enough to take it? I bet you’ll move five hundred copies within six
months if you stay on top of your marketing daily. Make sure you release
your first book for free though and then charge up the ass for the rest. You
can cruise around online for cheap ways to do banner adds and stuff to get
more word out there but it really is best that you manually market your work
that way you can keep in touch with your fans 
Pricing is an interesting area that needs to be addressed. It’s true that
the majority of the Smashwords top 100 eBooks (most downloads) are either
free, .99 or 1.99. Just a plain old fact. I suggest you do the same. Release
your first book as a free download and then release your second book at a
discount. The Shadowbelt is a free download, this ebook is a free download
and Divided Wings will cost you 1.50. So there you go.
I’d like to rambl on more but I’ve grown bored. I think I’ve pretty
much summed up a years worth of research in less than five Microsoft word
pages. I hope it helps and remember, if you do well, feel free to drop me a
line sometime and maybe we can market off each other some time. I urge
you to go ahead and check out The Shadowbelt and Divided Wings. You
will find excellent examples of companion videos with each release. I lucked
out and got Sony and Warner Brothers to fund the videos for the Battle for
the Red Gates series and MCA hooked up the EVN video. I don’t expect
you to be able to pull that feat off however just a handy little camcorder that
is easily borrowed from a friend or neighbor should work just fine if not one
of those little intel webcams. All you gotta do is fake an interview or just run
your mouth about the book on camera and your done.
Battle For the Red Gates vol. 1 : The Shadowbelt
/>-Awesome read and Karnivool and Ekotren did the videos
Battle For the Red Gates vol. 2 : Divided Wings
/>-Great sequel and the singer of Eyes Set (warped tour goddess) did the video
Ekotren Vs. Nonpoint

/> -Badass cyberpunk read and Nonpoint did the video for it.