Jeff Haws

Independent author

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Release Date for “Killing the Immortals”

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Celebrate

It’s been a long road to here, but the end is within sight. I can announce today that the Release Date for “Killing the Immortals” will be July 31. That’s when you’ll see it on Amazon for the first time, and can purchase it for yourself, and buy it as a gift for everyone you know, along with lots of people you don’t know. I mean, who doesn’t want a book they’ve never heard of by some random guy they don’t know? You’re sold, aren’t you? Yeah, that’s what I thought. [Read more…] about Release Date for “Killing the Immortals”

Release Plan for “Killing the Immortals”

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Planning

With the Release Day for “Killing the Immortals” fast approaching, I’ve had to shift gears lately from focusing on writing/editing to marketing/publicity. For many authors, this is where shit gets real. “I’m an author, not a marketer” has been the cry from many an author when it comes time to get the word out on their books. And, to be fair, it’s not something that comes naturally for a lot of them, particularly those who didn’t grow up in the social media age and are trying to adjust.

Twenty years ago, the barriers to entry for publishing a book were rather high, and most everyone had to go through a traditional publisher to get their book out there. That also meant going through a literary agent, which meant query letters, rejections, and years of waiting, waiting, waiting. It also meant someone was handling the majority of marketing for you. Your publisher came up with a marketing plan, and you showed up where/when needed. Maybe you did a book signing. Maybe you did a speaking engagement, or a newspaper interview. Whatever it was, your publisher probably lined it up for you.

Today, that landscape has changed. Even if you get a publisher, they only handle so much. Almost no publisher is going to take over your Twitter account; that’s on you. And if you’re self published, you’re everything. I’ve got to not only do it all, but plan it all too. [Read more…] about Release Plan for “Killing the Immortals”

Your First Look at the Cover for My Novel

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almost-there-sign

I’d imagine few things make the whole “I’m going to publish a book” thing feel more real than the day you receive your book’s cover from the designer. It’s one of those moments where it starts to come to life, where you see the first artistic vision of the world you created with words.

That’s the step I’ve reached. I’ve been running through some options with my designer, along with a revision or two, and now I’m ready to reveal the cover for my first novel. Take a look below. [Read more…] about Your First Look at the Cover for My Novel

Setting Sales Goals for Your First Novel

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Goals

As I get closer to sending my first novel, “Killing the Immortals,” sailing out into the world, I’m starting to think seriously about what I want to accomplish with it, what sorts of goals to set for myself. The Nobel Prize for Literature would be all right, I guess. There may be a step or two to get through before that, though. Admittedly, I don’t know a lot about the committee that decides those sorts of things, but my assumption is that they’ve got a high-ish bar.

So, we all may want to have incremental goals shy of a Nobel Prize that will give us something to shoot for in the meantime, until fame and fortune come to whisk us away. I think goals are important, but I also think they’re challenging to figure out when you’ve never published a novel before. You can look at all the “The average self-published book sells 250 (or whatever) copies” blog posts you want, but how does that relate to what you’re doing? So many factors are going to impact how many people buy your book and how wide a reception it gets, from its genres to its cover to the blurb you write to the following you’ve built up to how much work you put into marketing the book to whether or not your story/writing sucks. What does “average” even really mean when so many books are haphazardly thrown together with visions of hefty royalty checks, mahogany-decked libraries, and new elbow-patched jackets without considering the insane amount of work and luck it takes to become the next millionaire author? [Read more…] about Setting Sales Goals for Your First Novel

Why Shouldn’t I Hire an Editor for My Novel?

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Perfect-hire-editor

To figure out why you should hire a professional editor for your novel, perhaps we should first look at why you shouldn’t do so. That because, well, it’s not at all cut and dried. Not everybody needs to put forth the effort, legwork and cold, hard cash to hire an editor for their novel. There are good reasons not to, and you might fit that profile. [Read more…] about Why Shouldn’t I Hire an Editor for My Novel?