The Voice of the Writer in Memoir

This past year, ever since we came back to the States, I've been all wrapped up in work for WiDo Publishing. It's our ten-year anniversary and we are very close to having our 100th book published.

We also started a new imprint, E.L. Marker, a hybrid company that offers traditional publishing services to self-publishing authors.

It's been a crazy busy year. The only writing I've done is journaling (my personal psychotherapy) and writing emails to authors whose work I'm editing and/or preparing for publication. So many emails.

I've edited a number of memoirs this year for both WiDo and E.L. Marker, and it's got me thinking about the writer's voice. In any kind of writing, voice will attract or repel readers. But in memoir it's especially important. If you dislike the voice of the narrator, you won't keep reading, since the memoir is about the narrator.

There a few tricks of the trade in editing a memoir to make the voice more appealing. Strangely enough, one of them is to tone it down. You might think, "But why? It's about this person so why not put as much personality in there as you can? So the reader can feel like they know them?"

A good question. The entire book is about the individual, in first person, their story, but it's also about other people they've included in their story. And those other people are part of what makes the memoir whole and balanced.

Putting in too much of the writer's personality, in the form of little asides or sarcasm or other types of humor, can quickly turn the reader off. It tends to make the narrator come across as self-absorbed and thus unlikable--the last thing we want to see happen in a memoir.

If you'd like to take a look at WiDo's selection of memoirs, click on this link to our bookstore and see the tab for Memoir.

Memoir is currently my favorite genre. I can't get enough of them, which I guess is why I've chosen to edit so many lately, rather than passing them along to other WiDo editors.

How do you feel about memoir, either writing or reading them?

P is for Publishing

I have really enjoyed posting this month on the theme The Making and Selling of Books, because I am so passionate about the topic.

I like writing and publishing books. My own, of course, but it is also incredibly rewarding to have a hand in seeing other writers' dreams of publication come true. I love it love it love it. Having a career in publishing is the best job I could ask for.

I feel honored to be a part of  WiDo Publishing. I am proud of all the authors who have published with us. I've seen the hard work they go through to get their manuscript print-ready. The unveiling of a new release is just the most exciting moment ever. You can't help but feel like a new mama.

Clarissa Draper won a submissions contest on my blog a while back and now her wonderful mystery, The Sholes Key, will be released on May 1. I wasn't her editor but I'm still as proud as can be. I read an ARC and it's an absolutely brilliant book. I can't wait to see this baby launch upon its journey!

All across London, single mothers are vanishing. Margaret Hill, mother of two, walked out of her house two months before, never seen again. A month later, Carrie-Anne Morgans takes her two-year-old son for a walk in the park and disappears, leaving him alone in his stroller. Lorna McCauley leaves her London flat in the early hours of the morning to buy medicine for her sick child and does not return.

Newly promoted Detective Inspector Theophilus Blackwell is assigned the case of Lorna McCauley, which on the outside seems to be a simple case of mid-life crisis and child abandonment. Elsewhere in London, MI5 analyst, Sophia Evans, is working undercover to catch an animal rights group responsible for targeted bombings. As Sophia's case (and her personal life) fall to pieces, she receives a strange envelope in the mail. It contains a picture of Lorna McCauley's lifeless face along with a daunting code.

Now the police and MI5 are forced to work together to stop the murders, and Sophia must find her way into the terrifying mind of a serial killer.

Farm Girl: The Making and Selling of a Book

My first book, Farm Girl, was also the first book for WiDo Publishing. The book had been put together beforehand, with my son Billy as the editor and my son Don doing layout and design. My plan was to print up a few copies for my mom and for our family members.

After the investor chose it as a first release of WiDo Publishing, he did a large print run of 5000 copies. About half of those have sold. The investor was willing to try many things to get sales-- hiring a publicist, sending out copies for contests, paying someone to call bookstores and get orders. The idea was to try a lot of different approaches and eventually something would pay off.

It's been an interesting learning experience, because the entire publishing culture changed from when WiDo first began until now. Most of the things that we tried at first are no longer viable.

Calling bookstores? A waste of valuable time. Farm Girl sells more books on Kindle now than print.

Hiring a publicist? A waste of good money. More book sales happen through online blog reviews and the calculated use of KDP Select free promotions than through an expensive publicist getting a feature on TV, radio or in the newspaper.

Giving away free copies to teachers in hopes they'd buy more for the classroom? Ha! Teachers, like everyone else, are strapped for cash and will gladly take a free book, no questions asked, no commitment made. Period.

From the way books were printed in 2007 to the way they are sold in 2012, Farm Girl has led the way in change for WiDo. The lessons learned and experience gained from making and selling this first book have been invaluable. I believe that is Farm Girl's real worth as WiDo's first release.

Change: A Permanent Condition

Just when you expect things to settle down, something happens to kick it into high gear. Lately there's some changes going on over at WiDo Publishing that are moving and shaking the organization.

Among other things, our managing editor Kristine Princevalle is leaving, and I will be taking a larger part in the day to day operations of the business.

A year ago, we took on an intern, who is now working as a paid editor. With all of this, I am looking to find one or more new editing interns.

This is a part-time, unpaid internship, with the work and communication done electronically, requiring skills in proofreading, copy editing, formatting a manuscript for typesetting, and familiarity with Microsoft Word's editing features.

Anyone who's interested can email me at Karen@widopublishing.com and we'll talk from there. It's a great opportunity to learn more about the publishing business and to possibly work into a paid editing position with an up and coming small press with big plans.

I'm excited about these changes. Feeling a lot of pressure some days, but that's what keeps us kicking, right?

Working through the tough times to find success

Lisa Dayley's YA historical fiction book, The Frozen Trail, has sold thousands of copies since its publication in July, 2011, in both print and e-book format.

And the funny thing is that this book almost never got published. I asked Lisa to share her experience-- how she almost gave up, and what kept her going.

"The Frozen Trail resulted from a college creative writing assignment in 1991. It had proven popular with my class and family members, so I kept it and worked on it here and there. 

"I was very busy working and raising children so the manuscript went neglected for years. About ten years ago I suddenly found myself with a lot of time on my hands. The newspaper I worked for downsized, and I needed something to do. I dusted off my old manuscript and started writing again.

"Thanks to the Internet I was able learn more about my great-great-grandmother Emma Girdlestone and her trek across the country. She was the basis for the story. I put together a book of about 44 chapters that went from what I call the Rocky Ridge Experience, the most harrowing part of her ordeal, and ended with her second husband, my great-great-grandfather Ralph Smith, being called on a Mormon mission. 

"I self published the book and sold quite a few copies on my own. I was just thrilled to sell one!

"One day I got an email about a BYU Publishing Fair and decided to go. I took down three copies of my book and handed them out to publishers. I just wanted to say that I had done it but convinced myself that no one would give me the time of day.

"About six weeks later I got the shock of my life. WiDo Publishing wanted the first 14 chapters of my book! I thought I was seeing things and when I realized somebody had accepted my book I started screaming and crying. Everybody at work thought somebody had died, and one co-worker threatened to slap me silly.

"I started the long rewrite process.  I had no idea what I was doing. I sent the manuscript back and forth to WiDo for about two years. During that time I spent a considerable amount of time on my knees praying to get the story right (or is it ‘write’?).

At one point I was so discouraged I came just a mouse click away from asking WiDo out of the contract. I felt I just couldn’t do it anymore. I had been a journalist for 25 years and this creative writing was about to do me in. Creative writing is hard! 

"I don’t know what changed my mind other than the fact that I had spent my entire life dreaming of becoming a published novelist, and I wasn’t about to let the opportunity go.

"Finally, I decided to let the Spirit take over. After doing some research to see exactly what happened on Rocky Ridge and those involved, I would sit at my computer and write whatever came.

"Whether that was Emma herself, the Holy Ghost, or some other divine being, I just wrote what I believe was dictated to me. I had had a similar experience with this “dictation” with the first two chapters that seemed to really capture everyone’s attention. Some people refer to that as “channeling” where an unseen being is doing the writing, and you’re just the instrument being used to type it all in.

"I found that this giving in – rather than relying on suggested writing tools (and they are only suggestions) – really helped me get the job done. FINALLY.

"I am so very glad I stuck with it as the book has proven a best seller on Amazon. While it was written for everybody, children seem to really enjoy it. It is also catching on in the adult market.

"If anyone would like to talk to me about my experience, they’re more than welcome to contact me at lisawdayley@gmail.com."

Lisa, thank you so much for stopping by today and sharing your inspiring story!

About The Frozen Trail:

The Frozen Trail is a novella set in the American West. It is written in a simple, clear style, making it suitable for younger readers as well as adults.

In 1856 the Mormon pioneers trekked across the Great Plains in wagon trains and pulling handcarts, to find a new home safe from persecution. This is the story of one 18-year-old young woman, Emma Girdlestone, of the Willie Handcart Company, who faced starvation, frostbite, and death so she and her family could join their fellow Latter-day Saints in the Salt Lake Valley.

This work of historical fiction is dedicated to the members of the Willie Handcart Company. These courageous pioneers displayed commitment and heroism in the face of unbelievably harsh and brutal conditions while en route to Zion.

It is especially dedicated to Willie Handcart member, Emma Girdlestone, who left behind a legacy of bravery, fortitude, and faith; and who, 155 years later, managed to change the life of her great-great-granddaughter Lisa Dayley, the author of this book.

"The winter of 1856 was an intensely bitter one, and wind nipped cruelly at the pioneers of the Willie Handcart companies as they trudged their way across the frozen plains. The experiences and hardships faced by the pioneers of those companies is something difficult to put into words, and even more difficult to understand, but Lisa Dayley has somehow done just that." --Weekly News Journal, Mini-Cassia, ID

"A thrill to read, Lisa Dayley crafts a genuine pioneer story with just the right mix of fact and fiction. You’ll find this book hard to put down." ~Jay Lenkersdorfer, newspaper publisher and columnist

HOUSE OF DIAMONDS available at last!!

Today is the ebook launch for House of Diamonds! Print copies come out November 22. With a special deal for the holidays-- Anyone preordering House of Diamonds from the WiDo Publishing website will also get Uncut Diamonds, absolutely free. Two books for the price of one!

Charmalot from and then my heart smiled is kicking off my launch and blog tour. Please come and share the joy!  Charmalot, known in real life as Jordan McMakin, earned her B.A. in English from Western Washington University, and was previously a bookstore manager, children's book buyer, and freelance editor. She interned at Puffin Books and Viking Books for Young Readers, and was an editorial assistant at Disney*Hyperion Books in New York City.

So drop by Jordan's blog because she is awesome and it will make your heart smile. And if you don't follow her blog already you should, you really really should. And you should buy House of Diamonds because you'll love it!

Pricing Ebooks

WiDo Publishing began in 2007 as a print publisher, later releasing titles as ebooks as well. They price new releases at $3.99, and $2.99 for older titles to stimulate interest and attract new buyers. Recently they experimented to find that magic number for bringing in the greatest number of ebook sales

As I mentioned in my previous post, $2.99 is the lowest Kindle price to get the 70% royalty rate from Amazon. WiDo tried .99 for two books: Ghost Waves by W. Everett Prusso and my novel Uncut Diamonds, both released 2009 in print, 2010 as ebooks. Results were interesting.

The drop in price made very little difference in sales. Both authors had only one book on Kindle. Neither of the books had significant sales, although mine were higher probably because I had developed an online presence and the other author had not.

My sales went up a bit with the .99 change but then held steady. They weren't enough to make a difference in profit so WiDo put it back to 2.99 and sales continued at the pre-.99 rate. It may go back to .99 for a time with the release of House of Diamonds, as a promotional price.

The cut didn't affect Ghost Waves sales. Although the hardcover print book did alright for $19.95, it hasn't done well as an ebook regardless of price.

WiDo's top selling ebook is In the Mirror: A Memoir of Shattered Secrets by Ann Carbine Best. It came out in May and there are no plans to drop the price to $2.99 as it continues to sell steadily at $3.99. Not by huge numbers, but consistently, and more every month.

Another new release is Cloak by James Gough, a YA fantasy to be released in hardcover November 15 as a special gift edition for $25.95. It is currently available as an ebook for $4.99, the highest WiDo has priced a new ebook release. The somewhat higher price hasn't seemed to affect ebook sales for Cloak, at least not its first month. People who wanted it bought it.  

I'm using WiDo's examples because as a publisher, they're dealing with a variety of authors, titles and genres. So price variations can show interesting trends. And what it has shown in WiDo's case is that if people want a book, the price of a few dollars isn't going to matter. And if they don't want it, the .99 tag won't convince them to buy it. Maybe a few, but not in high enough numbers to overcome that price's  weak profit margins.

It comes down to that age-old question forever baffling writers and publishers. What does the public want to read? What inspires people to pay for a book? Simple answer: If it's what they want, they'll make the effort. They'll look for it in a library or bookstore or on their ereader. Book sales come from writing and publishing what people want to read. Give customers what they want and sales will come, whether the book goes for .99 or 9.99.

Are there any ebooks that should be priced at .99? Books that would sell significantly better at the rock bottom price? Consider this. When paperback novels first came out they were cheap, they were exciting and their enticing covers and fast plots appealed to pulp fiction readers. The .99 ebook is like the new old-time paperback pulp fiction novel. 

There's a large population of ebook buyers looking for the .99 fast read. It has to have an enticing cover and a fast-moving, action-oriented plot, preferably with a healthy dose of sex. Very much like the hugely popular paperback novels of the 1940s. If this is what  you write, and you can do it well, and you churn them out pretty fast, then you could sell a lot of .99 ebooks. Because you will be giving this audience exactly what they want at the price they're looking for.

W is for WIDO PUBLISHING and the WINNER of the Submissions Contest

Recently I held a submissions contest where the WINNER would win a contract with WIDO PUBLISHING. The top three finalists are announced here.

And the winner is announced HERE-- 

Congratulations to Paul Anthony Shortt, who has won a publishing contract with WiDo Publishing, for his manuscript, "Locked Within."


Paul's blog is Coffee Thoughts. Stop by and wish him well. He deserves it for beating out many other excellent entries in the contest.

Well done, Paul!

And well done to Kerri Cueves and Jack Hessey, who were also among the three finalists. Many thanks to all those who entered.

How I Got Published after Giving up on the Dream

I posted about this once before here, but I thought I'd go into more detail on how I happened to publish a book that would never have gotten picked up by an agent, never gotten a publishing deal and in fact was rejected numerous times as being "too short," "too personal," and "not marketable." Even WiDo Publishing's distributor didn't want it, saying, "I can't sell books like that. I had one similar to it. The author promoted, did signings and everything, but he barely sold 1000 copies. So thanks but no thanks."

Truthfully, I had given up on ever being published. What I like to write, and what I like to read aren't generally the kinds of books being published in today's climate. (why I read mostly classics) I just got lucky with Farm Girl.. And since then, I've been looking really hard to find other unlikely books that snuck through the cracks to somehow see the light of publication. Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert is one of them. What an amazing surprise hit that was! Who would have thought that a book written by a depressed divorcee heading off to find spiritual healing through eating pasta and washing floors at an ashram would become a bestseller?

At first, I didn't intend Farm Girl to be published. I planned on putting together a little printed booklet of my mom's stories to surprise her on her 90th birthday, and to pass out to family members. Until it came together and I saw the possibilities. That's when I submitted it to several small and regional presses, thinking they might be interested. No dice. But then, through a series of (fortunate) events, an investor saw it and wanted to launch a publishing company with this unlikely little book as the first release. And since my family members had been involved in the editing and design, he wanted them on board as editors and as the typesetting/design team. I got sucked in later on and now work as an editor for WiDo Publishing.

Now I'd love to tell a rags to riches story here about how Farm Girl went from being the book nobody wanted to publish to the book that everybody wanted to read. Hahahahahhahahahhaha *laughing hysterically* That's not what happened. Although I always hold out hope lol!! And there were people who read it who said, "You can sell a million copies of this book!" (What were they smoking? Nothing, they were little old ladies who read it and loved it. Not a huge book-buying demographic. Oh, and one 12 year-old fantasy-loving girl who couldn't believe she liked it so much.)

Farm Girl sold well beyond 1000 copies and still sells. It has something that appeals to readers of all ages. It touches the heart. But it would never have gotten an agent or a publisher through traditional means. It still wouldn't snag an agent, if that's what I wanted, because sales aren't remarkable. But the publisher wasn't expecting a bestseller. He wanted it as a first release and as learning tool. He also wanted everyone involved to be on board with future releases.  WiDo remains a very small company, with only 4 books out, two of them mine, and several more planned for release this year, with another half dozen in editing. The investor is very cautious and careful and picky.

No, Farm Girl isn't the big seller an author dreams of, but I felt vindicated after all those initial rejections when the first review came out in the Omaha Reader, saying "It concerns real life, relatively ordinary activities, drawn with the precision of a Norman Rockwell painting." And I feel rewarded every time someone who reads it contacts me and tells me what it meant to them.

Moral of this too long as usual story? I'm not sure the post got too long and I forgot my point-- you tell me. Never give up on your dreams? Write what you want regardless of the market? Just because you can't get an agent doesn't mean you can't get a publisher? Whatever the moral is, I hope that my experience gives encouragement to others who feel rejected by the current publishing climate, perhaps because they're writing something that just isn't selling right now.

(I'm fascinated by other writers' paths to publication, especially when it falls outside the box. If you have a story you want to share, contact me because I'm thinking of doing a series of feature interviews on writers who have gotten published by luck or chance or through nontraditional channels.)

Today--Writer or Editor?

Today I'm going to the BYU Publication Fair in Provo to represent WiDo Publishing as an editor. Along with another WiDo editor who is also a writer. So today I guess I'm an editor. We'll be meeting writers who may be anxious about:

*the pitch

*the submission

*meeting an editor

*their talent or not

*the company-- would WiDo be a good fit for them

*rejection

So today I'll be an editor. But I'm also a writer who's been there. (Well, not at a conference or a fair like this, lacking opportunity AND guts.)

So today of all things I hope I will be kind. And pleasant. And not let the fatigue and boredom show on my face. Hmm, that doesn't sound very nice, does it? I'll work on that.