K. J. Farnham

E-book or Paperback?

December 13, 2014February 8, 2015 K. J. Farnham

My husband recently said he thinks the days of print books are numbered. My initial reaction was to call his prediction ridiculous. But later that night, as I read a Kindle book on my iPad, it occurred to me that I have not read a print book in five months. So I began pondering my reasons for choosing e-books over print books.

E-books are:

less expensive
available with the click of a few buttons
adjustable (font size and orientation, lighting)
convenient for note taking and highlighting
easy to store

Then I tried to think of a good reason to purchase a print book over an e-book. Sadly, I couldn’t think of one.

Fast-forward three weeks to today.

I had just loaded two of my kids into the car and was running late to pick up the third from chess club. Noticing a couple of packages on the porch as I backed out of the driveway, I quickly hopped out and grabbed them. One was from Random House. It only took my brain seconds to register that I’d finally received my advanced reader copy of The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (through the LibaryThing Early Reviewers program). My heart rate actually increased. Weird, I know, especially since I have never been so excited to receive an ARC. The only explanation I have for my enthusiasm is that this ARC was a paperback. I wanted to rip the package open immediately, but I just didn’t have time. Instead, I thought about the brand new paperback the entire time it took me to pick up my son and feed my family. When I finally tore into the package, I felt like a kid on Christmas morning. Holding the book reminded me how much I love the feel and smell, among other things, of print books.

So why buy a print book over an e-book? How about because there’s nothing quite like holding an actual book and being able to hug it to your chest? (Yes, I admit it. I hugged it.) I also look forward to dog-earing the pages of The Girl on the Train, not worrying if it is going to fall off the bed if I nod off while reading it and sharing it with friend after friend after friend.

Which do you prefer, e-book or paperback? Why?

Personal Tidbits

How I Started My Writing Career

December 8, 2014December 20, 2014 K. J. Farnham

I wish I could say that I always dreamed of being an author, but that would be an exaggeration. What I can say, though, is that I’ve always loved expressing myself through writing. Growing up, I wrote regularly in a diary or journal (when the word diary became too babyish) and excelled in subjects related to reading and/or writing. However, when it came time to choose a career, it never occurred to me that I could actually do something that involved my two favorite subjects. So I started out by setting my sights on being a pediatrician—bad mistake. A prerequisite course, Clinical Laboratory Sciences, made it clear that anything involving bodily fluids was not for me. After premed, I majored in accounting for a semester until I finally decided on education. So how did I end up where I am now? The following excerpt from an article I wrote for Yahoo! Finance in the Fall of 2011 explains how my journey into the world of professional writing began.

I was raised to believe that people should choose a career when entering adulthood and stick with it until retirement. The importance of loving what you do was never mentioned. It wasn’t until I read Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson that I came to terms with this notion on my own.

Up until June of 2011, I had been an elementary school teacher for 12 years. I had a stable, salaried position with excellent benefits, and enjoyed the day-to-day aspects of being a teacher. Resigning from such a secure position was one of the most difficult decisions I have ever made.

When I began my career, I had big plans to spend the next 30 years of my life teaching elementary school, after which I would retire comfortably with a guaranteed pension and board-paid health insurance. However, after eight years, I developed an urge to do something else and constantly thought about what that something else could be. Could I teach at the college level? Could I work in the area of curriculum development? Or, going even further out on a limb, could I utilize my strong interest in writing and somehow make a career out of it? The problem was that every time I weighed my options or talked things over with my husband, I came to the same conclusion. How smart or practical would it be for me to leave such a secure career? Over the course of four more years as a teacher, my yearning to do something different only grew.

During the summer of 2010, drastic developments took shape in the state of Wisconsin in regards to union jobs. I was distraught and confused when many of my colleagues lost their teaching positions and their futures became uncertain. I felt guilty because my job was secure due to the amount of seniority I had, while others who only had the desire to teach were losing their jobs. That’s when my husband recommended I read the book Who Moved My Cheese? This book, in which the characters search for “cheese” (a metaphor for whatever brings a person true happiness and success), provided me with an enlightened view of change. Reading it gave me the inspiration I needed to take the plunge and resign. I was finally ready to change my career course and find my cheese.

So, I guess I owe Spencer Johnson a huge thank you. Had I not read his book, I can’t say that I would have had the courage to leave teaching. Sure, I could have continued working on Click Date Repeat (which I started during the summer of 2009) during what little free time I had, but who knows if I ever would have finished it? And I must say, regardless of how much I earn, writing truly is my cheese.

What’s your cheese? If you aren’t sure, remember, it’s never too late to start searching.

Ask KJ, Self Publishing

Book-marketing Services for Readers and Authors

November 20, 2014February 22, 2016 K. J. Farnham

As an avid reader, I receive daily emails from various book-marketing services. These services notify readers about discounts on both traditionally published and self-published books. Many featured books are even FREE. Through notifications from these services, I usually pick up five to 10 books each month, all for less than the cost of a monthly Kindle Unlimited subscription.

The first service I became a subscriber of was Ereader News Today. I don’t remember how I found out about this service several years ago, but it used to be my only source for discovering great Kindle book deals. I had no idea so many other book deal services existed! I also naively thought that ENT chose the books to feature in daily emails, which is only half-true.

When I published Click Date Repeat, I mentioned to my husband that I had my fingers crossed for it to appear in an ENT email someday. I thought it was a far-fetched dream that would probably never come true. (Funny, I know.) Imagine my surprise when I read in a marketing forum on the Kindle Direct Publishing site that authors can submit their books to ENT for consideration. While I felt pretty silly for assuming for so long that the books sent to me by ENT were handpicked, I was also excited to learn something every novice self-published author needs to know: You have a world of marketing prospects to choose from.

Here’s a list of the services I subscribe to along with what I have paid to have my book featured. (Note: Prices may vary depending on the genre of your book, and there are certain criteria that your book must meet to be accepted.)

Featured on September 26^th – $35 (Women’s Fiction Category)

Readers subscribe here.

Authors submit your book here.

Featured on November 28^th – $25.50 (Romance Category)

Readers subscribe here.

Authors submit your book here.

BookGorilla

Featured on November 29^th – $50 (Women’s Fiction Category)

Readers subscribe here.

Authors submit your book here.

My book has not yet been accepted by this service. From what I gather, BookBub is the choosiest by far. (Based on the number of subscribers they have, they can certainly afford to be choosy!) I have analyzed their submission guidelines and tips and always pay close attention to the books that have been accepted, especially those that are self-published. I think I have figured out what I need to do in order to get my book accepted (wait until Click Date Repeat has a lot more reviews and publish another book), but it will take waiting quite a while before I resubmit.

These are the categories I have to choose from for my book:

Contemporary Romance – $580 (1,120,000+ subscribers – WOW)

Women’s Fiction – $440 (960,000+ subscribers)

Chick Lit – $60 (150,000+ subscribers)

*Prices are based on a book promotion price of less than $1.

Readers subscribe here.

Authors submit your book here.

Click Date Repeat was featured as Book of the Day on October 28^th – FREE with a 60-day trial membership

This site prominently displays books that are discounted and allows authors to run giveaways. Yearly membership is $32.98 and includes free credits that allow you to sign your book up for Book of the Day.

Readers and authors register here.

Both readers and authors benefit from these services. If you are a reader, signing up for one or more service will keep you up-to-date on great book bargains and help you discover new authors. If you are an author, submitting your book(s) might put your work in front of hundreds to thousands of eyes (maybe even over a million if BoobBub accepts you), which could result in a spike in sales, new fans and an increased number of reviews on Amazon or Goodreads.

Please leave a comment if you have experience with any other book-marketing sites or if you’d like to add anything about the ones featured here. Thanks!