Novel Engagement Problematic

Before we get started, you can sign up to learn the process I used to query with a 50% full request rate and snag an editor and agent here. And I'm giving away a free press release at my new blog.

A little over a month ago, I did a post on RWA's new mobile app Novel Engagement (NE). I said I was waiting and watching and needed to do research. The truth is NE is still new, so I'm still watching, but at least for now this is not where I recommend you put your marketing dollars. Because, at least, in it's early stages NE has some problems.
You all know Tuesday is Romance Roundup here at Romance World. I collect titles that have either yet to be released or have only very recently released, and I post the most interesting among them. I rely on ARC sites to do this. I like Net Galley. I'm a moderator at IndieArcs.com so I've been using that one too. They have one thing in common: I can find books by category. I downloaded NE and had A LOT of books to sort through--some with scandalous covers and lucked out that my baby wasn't around. So I played with the app looking for ways to sort. I could sort by author. And there was this nifty little feature called "lists," that I just knew was going to help me. The problem is there were no lists. I would have had to create them. So I must sort through books, and I'm not going to do that when I'm not looking for something specific. So as a book blogger, this tool is inconvenient. It does not help me quickly connect with the next big thing which is what I want. As a reader, this is a problem, because with no good way to sort I have to see lots of things I don't want in hopes of finding something I do want.
And being able to search by author? Yeah. That's not helpful if you're the author. Why? Part of giving a book away is about discoverability. Readers don't take chances with an author they don't know. Part of an ARC is not just marketing one book, but marketing your brand, all of your books. If the only way for someone to quickly find your books is by knowing your name, the ARC isn't working. You're reaching already fans. Already fans are awesome. They support us in lots of ways. They should get a free book from time to time. The problem is to move your career along you need to be gaining new fans. And at some point, already fans will buy the book. So you're giving away a book to someone who probably would have bought it, and you're missing new readers too. This is not where you want to put your marketing dollars.

What's your take on novel engagement?

p.s.Karla Soulie won the Amazon Give Away.

When Not to Self Publish

"Should I self publish this?" is a question I hear a lot from other writers, from students. My usual response is "Without having read it, I can't tell you much." This is true. But what I'm about to say is, I think, also true.

If you're asking this question, you shouldn't self publish.
I know. Mouths just dropped. Everyone and their brother self publishes. Why shouldn't I? Well, you should, maybe. Just not now. If you're not confident enough in your book to self publish without seeking input from others, somewhere in the back of your mind a voice is telling you this could be better. Listen.
In 2010, I wrote this book I loved. My betas loved it. My teen beta said she would cry if it didn't get published. (It was YA). It garnered 100+ rejections. Screw it. I was going to self publish it. Who needs an agent, anyway?  My husband and cp were both encouraging me to self publish. But I was hesitant. Self publishing was new at the time and everyone said if you put out a bad book you'd never write again. I couldn't afford a freelance editor and even as a newer writer I understood no good could come from publishing without an editor. And one thing I hoped an editor would be able to tell me was if I should self publish. By situation, I was forced to shelve it. Thank God! My writing has improved so much since then.
Flash forward a year later and I queried a novella to a handful of small presses with an overwhelmingly positive response. When I decided to publish The Fate of A Marlowe Girl, I never doubted it. There was nothing wrong with the writing because others were interested. An editor wanted a second round "revise and resubmit" and I felt like this could go on forever without a contract ever being offered. So I self published. As an MFA student now, I can see how going back and forth with that editor years ago would have shaved lots of time off my journey, and if I had it to do over I might well do a few more rounds before one of us called it quits. Still, the story and language were solid.

P.S. You can sign up for my August plot and blurb class here.