Elections for 2016-17 NCPA Board officers will be the end of March. If you would like to run for office, please contact President Sharon Darrow ASAP.

Candidates:

President: Sharon Darrow

VP: June Azevedo

Secretary: Tom Kando

Treasurer: Amy Rogers

Communications: Norma Jean Thornton

Reserve your tickets for the 25th Anniversary NCPA Book Awards Banquet now. You may either pay online, or print and mail reservation form with a personal check.

Print on demand technology has changed a lot in recent years. Quality is up, price is down, and POD is no longer a barrier to getting your books stocked in bookstores. Amy will discuss how you can use POD to publish and distribute paper books, with a specific emphasis on IngramSpark and amazon's CreateSpace.

About the Speaker:

Amy Rogers, MD, PhD, is a scientist, writer, journalist, educator, critic, and publisher who specializes in all things science-y. She is a member of International Thrillers Writers and is currently serving as Treasurer for NCPA.

FOR MORE INFORMATION visit Amy's websites:

ScienceThrillersMedia.com (publishing company)

AmyRogers.com (author Amy Rogers)

ScienceThrillers.com (genre-specific book reviews)

Anderson will speak on "How to Pitch," especially how pitching to a publisher/editor/agent differs from pitching to a producer or studio. He’ll also discuss a little about writing with speed, plus will enlighten us on the ins and outs of screenwritingand working in the industry. If there's time, Sterling might also share some juicy inside stories!

About the Speaker:

Three-time NAACP Image Award nominee for best screenwriter and winner of the Movieguide Faith & Freedom award for "The Gabby Douglas Story," Sterling has written for some of the most popular network television shows, such as "The Unit" on CBS, as well as NBC's "Medium" and "Heist."

His teleplay "The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn," written for CBS starring Sidney Poitier, garnered a Best Actress Emmy nomination for Dianne Wiest and won an Image Award. Sterling's extensive resume also includes screenplays written for Lifetime, Lions Gate, Disney, HBO, TriStar Pictures and Columbia Pictures.

A graduate in English from St. Mary’s College, the accomplished writer also spent five years teaching screenwriting courses as an adjunct professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts.

Sterling has written two books on writing: Go To Script and 15 Steps To Becoming A Successful (Artist) Screenwriter and a novel called Five Seconds To Go. The author often lectures and serves on panels on screenwriting at film schools and festivals across the country.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON STERLING check  the following websites:

http://sterlingandersonwriter.com/about.html

http://www.sterlingwritersgroup.com/ 

By Ted Witt

To be found, you have to rank high with search engines on the Internet. Your book is more likely to be found if you have created thoughtful metadata behind your title.

Metadata is best defined as “information about information.” Metadata consists of data fields such as title, subtitle, description, categories, author biographies, ISBN number, and keyword descriptors.  To illustrate, let’s use the Amazon platform to explore how we can market better with metadata.

Without your book being given any special treatment, an Amazon reader can find your book by:

• ·       Typing a subject-oriented phrase or keyword in the Amazon search box.
• ·       Clicking on an Amazon book category, such as “Romance,” and browsing through the top sellers in that category.
• ·       Scrolling through various Kindle and Amazon lists, such as “Book Clubs,” “Best Sellers,” and “Books Under $3.99.”
• ·       Typing the exact name of a book, the author’s name or the ISBN number in a search box.
• ·       Being associated with a competitor’s book in the section that says, “Customers who bought this item also bought…”

Whatever mechanism a reader chooses to find a book, you must provide the Amazon software engine with reasons to pick your book out as relevant. Amazon has its own super-secret algorithm that decides how to display books on its website. Amazon, foremost, is interested in selling books – not you. So it tweaks its search engine to push books it thinks are most likely to sell and are most relevant to the customer.

You must participate in Amazon’s scheme to be relevant. As relevance rises, sales increase. As sales increase, your ranking increases, and your chance of being found increases. Only then does Amazon start to include you in its lists that rank you higher among topical categories.

Tip #1

The first and most important factor you can use to create relevance is the concept of the “keyword.” It applies to all metadata you create when setting up your account, not only on Amazon, but also with Bowker, and Ingram.

A keyword is a term or phrase people use to type into search boxes for topics they are interested in. For example, if you were to type in the key phrase “award-winning historical novel,” as I did recently, Amazon delivers 126 results starting with River Rising, a Christy Award Winner in the category of “suspense.” The term “award-winning” with “historical” and “novel” brought forward a unique set of books for review.

So if your book has been an award winner, include “award winner” somewhere in your metadata, so your title ranks higher if people search for that term. Metadata does not have to be only about the topic of your book. It is all about whatever may be in the mind of the inquisitive customer. What would you type if you were looking for your book? Those are your keywords.

Here’s another example. Say you just saw a movie about President Lincoln. You want to read more about him. If you type in “Lincoln biographies,” you get David Herbert Donald’s book Lincoln at the top. It is not the best-selling Lincoln biography because Bill O’Reilly’s book Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever sells better. But the phrase “Lincoln biographies” for some reason had more relevance for Donald’s book based on the buyer’s profile and search term. But typing just the two keywords “Lincoln” and “assassination” pushes O’Reilly’s book back to the top of the list. Keywords make a difference. Test this.

Tip #2

Include relevant keywords and search terms in your title.

When naming your book, swallow your pride. Give up writing a cute title in favor of being found. That means including keywords into book title or subtitle. This tip even applies to fiction. If your romance novel about a jilted teacher is titled, “Heart to Heart,” include a subtitle that says, “The School Romance in Room 3.” You now find buyers, not only interested in “romance,” but also interested in “schools.” If you want to sell books, opt for keywords ahead of literary artistry. Yes, it is possible to be cute and artistic with your title while still including keywords. But it is hard.

Tip #3

Make full use of Amazon’s book description field. Amazon gives you 4,000 characters for this field. Use every single space the search engine allows you. Write your description as an emotional story that includes natural keywords and phrases that people might search for. If you have published a memoir about your life as a struggling vocalist, you might shape your description to include keywords and phrases such as “easy listening,” “crooner,” “in the style of Frank Sinatra,” “Rat Pack,” “Jazz,” “classic vocalists,” “lounge singers,” “Las Vegas,”  “top recording artist,” “Grammy,” and  “vinyl records.”

Tip #4

Apart from your book description, Amazon allows you to tag your book with keyword phrases. Choose these keywords based on the most popular phrases that customers use for the topic of your book. How do you know what is most popular? Take your topic, a relevant word or an inquiring phrase. Start typing it into Amazon’s search box. Amazon will prompt you with suggested phrases. These suggestions are the most popular ones customer type into the search engine.  Perform the same experiment on Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

For example, if your book is about mortgages and you type in that word into the search box, Amazon immediately prompts you with nine phrases that include the word “mortgage.” It suggests “mortgage-backed securities” and goes on to phrases such as “mortgage ripoffs.” It behooves you to work in phrases such as “mortgage-backed securities” and “mortgage ripoffs” inside your keyword phrases. Every word is searchable. Make use of the space.

Tip #5

Amazon allows you to choose two book categories when you set up your book for sale. Study the many categories Amazon offers by looking in the administrative section when you set your book up. Know what categories competitive books are placed in. Look at their sales ranks. You want to start ranking high in at least one category, so don’t choose a category where your competitor’s book is already wildly popular and in the top 10. You’ll have a hard time rising to the top. Use a lesser popular category to be in a different section where the competition is not as tough.

Tip #6

Make full use of the author’s page that Amazon gives you. Use your biography and description to include as many relevant keywords as possible that relate to your book and areas of expertise.

Ted Witt is a publisher, working at Pretty Road Press, an indie imprint located in Folsom, California.

By Ted Witt

Your book is competing with more than seven million others in today’s market. That number is so large we cannot even imagine the space that many books would take up. The odds of someone finding your book by chance are about half the odds of winning the biggest jackpot from the California State Lottery. How close have you come to winning the California State Lottery?

Books must be discoverable. While good metadata and traditional marketing will score you some sales, it remains difficult to peddle your book based on a good title, an appealing cover and promotional materials that brag, “This is a great story.” There are millions of great stories.

One solution employed by a growing number of indie publishers is a focus on building long-term customer relationships and offering value-added content. This is what is starting to distinguish successful indie publishers from those with scattered sales. Your book by itself is not value enough.

Look around. People pay attention when you satisfy a need, arouse their curiosity and deliver something free.

What are the pre-sale, value add-ons that can drive people to your platform? Usually they involve some sort of author-generated tool, expert advice or entertainment – all of which are cheaper than a brass ring in a box of Cracker Jacks, but still costly in an author’s time and in maintenance of the author’s media platform.

Do not get left behind. Brainstorm what value add-ons you can deliver to your potential readers. Once you have created your value add-on, always provide a link back to your book and the opportunity to buy.

To get you started, here are 25 ideas:

• 1.     How-To Advice in a Pamphlet: Your book is about newly wedded bliss; you create a pamphlet for couples that gives advice on splitting your time between respective families on Christmas Day.
• 2.     An Excel Spreadsheet: Your book is about getting a good mortgage; you offer a spreadsheet that calculates monthly payments and an amortization schedule.
• 3.     A Free E-book: Your book is a historical novel; you create a 32-page e-book or PDF with pictures from the era.
• 4.     An Interactive Bookmark: Your book is about astrology; you create bookmarks with a Lottery-like scratch off that reveals insights into reading the stars.
• 5.     A You Tube Video: You have developed a collection of recipes; you create a video demonstrating you cooking one of the dishes and solving real-life kitchen problems.
• 6.     An ITunes Play List: Your book is about exercise and conditioning; you create a play list of songs for the advanced, intermediate and beginner exerciser in a variety of musical genres.
• 7.     A Lesson Plan: You published a picture book for children; you create a lesson plan for teachers that aligns with curriculum standards for various grade levels.
• 8.     A Podcast: You have written a mystery novel; you upload a Podcast containing your interview with a real police detective about police procedures.
• 9.     On-Line Reviews: You have written a travelogue; you post on-line reviews of the hotels you stayed at and reference the restaurants that are fully described in your book.
• 10.  Infographic: You have published a set of political essays; you create an iPhone-friendly infographic with charts and graphs about homelessness, the deficit, Pentagon spending, PELL grants, health care – well, you get the idea…any topic works.
• 11.  Craft Instructions: You have written a how-to book on knitting; you create detailed instructions on your blog for a Christmas knitting project that is not in your book.
• 12.  Op-Ed Articles: You have written a book about medical dosage calculations; you write an op-ed piece for a newspaper revealing your research on how many deaths are attributable to improper dosages of medicine.
• 13.  TV Interview: You have written a science fiction thriller; you set yourself up as the expert for TV stations, explaining how attendees can get the most out of Westercon when it comes to Sacramento, Loscon when it comes to Los Angeles, or Rustycon when it comes to Seattle.
• 14.  Business Card Backs: You have written a romance novel; the back of your business cards contains a link to the Top Ten Love Scenes in Romance Literature (of course, a scene from your book is in the top ten).
• 15.  Post Cards: You have written a high-action military thriller; you send postcards to your niche audience picturing a high -tech gun. The post contains a link to your website showing photographs of all the high tech weapons that have a role in your novel.
• 16.  Surveys: You have written a book on etiquette; you pose provocative questions on Survey Monkey and offer readers the option to help set the standard for modern manners or ethical dilemmas.
• 17.  Facebook: You have written a book for women on accessorizing their wardrobes; you offer the opportunity for your friends to be the fashion police by posting side-by-side photos on Facebook, and then you ask fans to comment on which accessory works and why or why  not.
• 18.  Twitter: You have created a puzzle book; you pose a riddle in a 140-character Tweet and link back to the answer on your book page.
• 19.  Linked In: You have written a business book about setting up a small business; you create a group within the Linked In community and answer questions weekly from small business owners.
• 20.   Creative Commons License: You have written a book of poetry; you offer a web page that grants a creative common license to use a handful of your poems on a potential customer’s own homemade greeting cards.
• 21.  Direct Mail Thank You: You have illustrated a children’s book; you send a thank-you packet to your existing customers that contains a limited edition postcard depicting a holiday theme you have drawn. You encourage customers to send a serendipitous note to a friend by mailing the free postcard.
• 22.  Point-of-Sale Cards: You have written a book about a horse; you create an 8.5” x 3.6” glossy card that offers tips on how to go about a horse adoption. You place these at local feed stores and tack shops.
• 23.  Stickers: You have written a book about UFOs; you create stickers that say, “This money won’t help you if you are abducted by aliens.” You place the sticker on every dollar bill you circulate.
• 24.  Stock Art: You have published a gift book about cats; you use your website to offer free photographs and quotations that people can use to convey a greeting on Facebook.
• 25.  Coupons: You are published in a literature anthology; you offer your fans a coupon for a free signed poster (suitable for framing) and a book discount.

Your work as an author does not end when you publish your book. Your writing and your creativity are essential to making your book discoverable.

Ted Witt is a publisher, working at Pretty Road Press, an indie imprint located in Folsom, California.

By Ted Witt

You have finished your manuscript; now it is time to design.

Too many writers neglect book layout in their rush to get into print. Be professional. If you have not hired a graphic artist to lay out your book, you may violate one of these eight rules. Even if you hire a designer, an inexperienced artist may also make these publishing mistakes, and you will stand out as an amateur. Pay attention to these basics.

Chapter Starts

Chapters always start on right-side (recto) pages, and the corresponding page number must be odd, not even. The only excuse for a left-page (verso) start is when you have created a consistent two-page layout to introduce new chapters. Even in this instance, the exception applies to non-fiction books with magazine style designs where art and headers are on the left, but actual text usually starts on the right. Mass-market publishers who are cheap and disregard design (read St. Martin’s Press) start chapters on left-side pages.  Don’t emulate pulp fiction.

Page Number

Page numbers start with the Arabic numeral 1, concurrent with the first chapter on a right-side page. Front matter does not count toward the page count, and if front-matter pages are numbered, they employ Roman numerals, not Arabic. Turn to the end of your book; if a right-side page is not an odd number, you have a problem. Blank pages will count in sequence as part of the page count, but do not place an actual number on the blank page.

Blank Right Pages

There are no excuses for blank right pages. Blank left-side pages are acceptable. If a chapter ends on a left-side page, start the next chapter on the next right page. Never say, “This page intentionally left blank.”

Running Headers

Running headers typically include the name of the book or chapter ID running along the top of each page. The combination of text for running headers depends upon the structure of the book, but text on left-side pages is different from right-side pages. Examples of some possible combinations include:

Author Name                              Book Name

Chapter Number                       Chapter Title

Book Title                                      Chapter Title

When including running headers, the type should set to the outside of the page or at the center of the text block. Do not align running headers alongside the book gutter. You want to make it easy for people to read, not difficult. Aligning toward the gutter impedes readability, forcing readers to crack open the book to remind them where they are.

Page numbers should be set to the outside edge of any text, on both the left side and right side.

Do not use running heads on blank pages or on pages with chapter starts.

Type Justification

For most normal books, fiction or non-fiction, justified text is the standard. I once published a book with rag-right text because research said unjustified copy would be easier to read. However, the book lost its professional appeal. Learn from my mistake; stick with justified text. I would grant exceptions to gift books, children’s books, recipe books, and coffee table books.

Widows and Orphans

Typographers sometimes disagree on this topic, but the moral consensus is that it is our “ethical” responsibility to care for widows and orphans.

A widow is the last line in a paragraph that sits by itself at the top of a new page. Often it is short and fails to reach the margin. It looks odd sitting there, tiny and lonesome.  An orphan is the first line of a paragraph that ends a page. It is not as unfriendly as a widow, but calls attention to itself especially in non-fiction books where the author’s manuscript is often accompanied by lots of subheads, tables, bullet points, and enumerated lists.

A designer who wants a perfectly rectangular text block cannot fix orphans and widows without shortening some pages, so these dangling lines stay widows and orphans through the book.

The better approach is to fix them. Here is a simple guideline:  begin and end a page with at least two full lines of text.  If necessary, steal a line from a preceding page. Allow that page to be short by one line so that widows and orphans become married or adopted.

It is worth repeating: Always leave any extra space at the bottom of the page. Align recto and verso text blocks at the top of the page, not at the bottom. Always.

You are excused from the care of widows and orphans if you are dealing with a long page of staccato dialog. It may be impossible to avoid short lines.

Margins

Don’t be afraid of white space. Err toward more margin than less. Gutter margins must be wider to accommodate the binding and bend of the page; an inch is usually OK. Classic designs give larger margins to the bottom of the page than the top. At a minimum, your running head should be set on the half-inch line at the top of your page, with another line space of at least 1.5 lines separating it from the text block. Outside margins are usually wider than top margins; try three-quarters of an inch. When in doubt, buy a template.

Fonts

To serious book publishers, using Times Roman for your book would be like using Comic Sans to write a business letter. It is just not done. Save Times Roman for newspapers. Serif type is a must-do for readability. Here are six classic book fonts: Bembo, Caslon, Garamond, Janson, Granjon, and Sabon. Once again, we excuse gift books, children’s books and specialty books from the tradition. Chapter heads may be of a contrasting font, such as a san serif type.

Ted Witt is a publisher, working at Pretty Road Press, an indie imprint located in Folsom, California.

By Ted Witt

FRONT MATTER

• ·       Half Title Page (Recto)
• ·       Blank (Verso)
• ·       Full Title Page (Recto)
• ·       Copyright Page (Verso)
• ·       Dedication (Recto)
• ·       Epigraph or Quotation (Verso)
• ·       Table of Contents (Recto)
• ·       Table of Illustrations (Verso)
• ·       List of Any Other  Tables and Charts, if any (Recto)
• ·       Forward by Someone Other than Author (Recto)
• ·       Preface by Author (Recto)
• ·       Acknowledgments (preferred spelling without the extra “e” (Recto)
• ·       Introduction (Recto)

TEXTBLOCK

• ·       Prologue (Recto)
• ·       Part Heading (Verso or Recto)
• ·       Chapters (Starting Recto)
• ·       Subheaders or Scene Breaks
• ·       Epilogues (Recto)
• ·       Illustrations (At Designer’s Choice: Inline, Post Chapter, or Grouped)

BACKMATTER

• ·       Acknowledgments (If not placed in frontmatter)
• ·       Appendix (Recto)
• ·       Second and Any Other Appendices (Each Recto)
• ·       Chronology (Recto)
• ·       Abbreviations (Recto)
• ·       Notes (Recto)
• ·       Glossary (Recto)
• ·       Bibliography (Recto)
• ·       Contributors (Recto)
• ·       Illustration or Photography Credits (Recto)
• ·       Index (Recto)

______________________________________________________________________________________

Adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 16^th Edition

Recto = Right-Side Page, Verso = Left-side Page

Single blank verso page is acceptable, but not two in a row; no blank recto pages, unless at the very page of the book

By Ted Witt

Afraid someone will steal your writing? It’s a common fear, but the law protects you the moment you save your first word on a hard drive or pencil a phrase on paper. Still, there are limitations, and the law can be complicated. For starters, check out these highlights describing United States copyright law.

What cannot be copyrighted?

Book titles: Sorry, your novel’s clever title can be used by your competitor.

Ideas: Too bad, Mr. Einstein, the theory of relativity is an idea. It is not protected. However, your creative, written explanation of how the theory works is copyrightable. (Albert could not have sued anybody for just writing about the theory of relativity.) Likewise, if you have idea for a plot, it is not copyrightable. If you discuss your plot idea with another person, the idea is not protected; your conversation partner can use the idea without penalty. Only your tangible writing is copyrightable, so be careful with whom you share your ideas.

Speeches: Because your spoken words are not in tangible form, they are not protected. Once recorded, your speech recording is copyrightable. If delivered from a written text, the speech’s text itself can be protected by copyright.

Facts: Examples: news, baseball scores, telephone numbers, addresses, and website domain names are not protected.

Methods: Nope. This category includes how-to advice on how to fix a faucet and your recipe for carrot cake.

Discoveries: Edison discovered that sound can be imprinted on vinyl. That’s not copyrightable, but he had a good reason to seek a patent to protect his invention.

Fashion: Assume you create a gown for Julia Roberts to wear to the Academy Awards. Too bad! It can’t be copyrighted because it is a useful object. However, you may be able to copyright the fabric print, if you created it.

Works from the Federal Government:  Yes, all those NASA space photos are in the public domain. So is the text of all U.S. government laws and court decisions, as are photos taken by the government-paid presidential photographer.

So what can be copyrighted?

Works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, drawings, computer software, and architecture.

Take note:

1. Your creative work is copyrighted the instant it takes physical form, even if on the back of a napkin.
   

2. Including the copyright symbol gives you greater clout in court and the ability to collect on damages if you ever need to sue an intellectual property thief. Thus, for this article, I declare: © 2013, Pretty Road Press.
   
3. Registering your work with the U.S. copyright office affords you the most protection if you ever need to sue.
   
4. Failing to enforce your copyright can lead to: a) little claim to damages when you file a lawsuit, b) a speedier transition of the work to the public domain.
   

Ted Witt is a publisher, working at Pretty Road Press, an indie imprint located in Folsom, California.