Cleckheaton Writers Group met on Monday 10 November from 5.30-7pm at Cleckheaton Library, Karen, Paul, Reuben and new member Elliot were in attendance, Kathy and Molly having passed on their apologies.
Karen welcomed Elliot to the meeting and members introduced themselves and talked a little about their writing journeys, including where Elliot was as a writer. Paul confirmed he is currently doing preparation work on a crime novel based in Ireland and Reuben a YA and a supernatural thriller alongside his PHD thesis and his new job in Business Support for Bradford Council. Karen explained her background in writing for performance, the different genres she writes in and her published works, outlining her current WIPs in terms of editing, subbing and writing.
WIPs: Since the last meeting Karen has been researching agents ahead of YALC, 15-16 November in London. Reuben has been looking at the prologue to his YA and sent it to his brother in Scotland, who is a graphic designer, to generate a character picture. Paul has been working on his current project based around debunking the Enfield poltergeist case.
We then discussed the upcoming Newcastle Crime Writing Festival 4-6 December and it was agreed the November theme would be fireworks/bonfire.
Members then discussed self publishing. Paul recommended deciding what you want to achieve in terms of writing material and getting it done. When it is at first draft, rest it and perhaps work on a second project.
Paul recommended professional help when self-publishing on Amazon to help get the book into coherent shape and design a cover before setting up a KDP account to put it up on Amazon. Amazon have a point by point set of instructions of how to self publish with a checking system before going 'live.' You can decide whether to have a hard or paperback cover, or kindle and the price point for how much to make on each sale. There are monthly updates on sales and payments and you can change prices within days for special offers. The authors price for your books is different to a paying customer, e.g. £10 per book, £3 to the author. You can also order and send your book to somebody getting it for £10 but nearer to the £6 it costs you.
Decide a target for marketing and promotion, e.g. to cover costs, Paul aimed at covering his costs and paying for a couple of holidays plus funding the next project. Publishers marketing makes a big difference. The bookshop which stocks his book in Ireland has sold on sale or return 20 books, making £6 a head.
Paul recommends doing speaking events like the U3A or Women's Institute as you get lunch and book sales. Karen recommends local groups like Promoting Yorkshire Authors who organise book events, or organising library events or approaching local bookstores to stock.
Both recommend finding your niche, your USP (Unique Selling Point), and independent bookshops may want to stock because of this, e.g. Branhall Cheshire with events of 100+ people, podcasts, interviews. Have a website for promotion, Karen recommends organising blog tours. You can utilise FB marketplace and Amazon print on demand.
Take your book, process it and it can work really well. If you want to change it after you publish, you can. You will need an ISBN number. Paul worked with a person who charged £600 to put the book together, get an ISBN, publish and market it (including the cover), making some tweaks like larger margins.
Paul feels his lengthy article deconstructing what the murderer said and how it wasn't true helped sales of his first book as he put these 7/8k words on Amazon and it cost him nothing other than his time.
Amazon has their own covers which they offer which you can put your wording on. You can also run marketing options to promote the books, and FB have their own sales and marketing mechanisms. Amazon can reach a range of countries, Paul has had sales in Japan and Karen in New Zealand.
There are also books available which lay out how to publish your book on Kindle for 99p or less. There is also a video to watch on YouTube and Book Fox.
Writing plans: Karen hopes to work on her current WIP, a YA/new adult sports romance, and try to secure an agent 1-2-1 at YALC. Paul will be working on configuring his current WIP, the Enfield book, third draft. Elliot to write something incorporating the November writing theme of fireworks/bonfire. Reuben will type up his handwritten work on his YA and fill in bits and pieces of 2-4 chapters.
Next meeting: Monday 24 November 5.30-7pm at Cleckheaton Library where we will discuss the upcoming Christmas Do. New members always welcome.
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