For those of you curious about what’s going on behind the scenes of my books, here are the main brainstorming partners that put up with me bugging them day in and day out with never-ending, top-secret “what if” questions. I’m so thankful to them for all of their help–from title ideas to plot twists to character reactions to endings and more.

*My husband of almost 20 years, Sam Lucky: Sam is on brainstorming-duty 24/7. He is always around to listen to whatever I throw at him and help me test out different ideas–both his and mine. I could wax on and on about his help at several levels of story building, but I’ll sum it up by saying he’s a key part of every book and he doesn’t hesitate to tell me when he thinks something works (or doesn’t).

*My long-time critique group partner in crime, author Jacquie Rogers: Jacquie is another person I turn to when I need help seeing what’s on the horizon in book. We have been brainstorming the plot points and story arcs of books together for over 20 years.

*My marketing and brainstorming partner, Author Kristy McCaffrey: True story–I stalked Kristy after reading one of her books and badgered her until she agreed to start meeting me on a regular basis to talk about story and marketing. Kristy is very good at keeping secrets about what is to come in my books and has an incredibly helpful way of looking at a story from the “outside” and telling me about the things that I can’t see anymore because I’m too close.

BEHIND THE SCENES (Episode 2): Story World Keeper

A story world keeper (in my writing life) is someone who keeps track of the details in every book of a series. These details include anything pertaining to:

*Characters–both major and minor (including eye color, hair color, nicknames, vehicle, backstory, favorite food, preferred coffee flavors, etc.)

*Buildings (including location, interior and exterior designs, story scenes that occur in or around it, history, etc.)

*Towns (including location, residents and businesses within, quirks, history, etc.)

*Organizations (including who belongs to them and backstory elements)

*Animals (including name, personality, history, etc.)

And more! In addition to details, the story lines and what occurs in each book has to be tracked. For example, what dig site treasures were found in each Dig Site series book? What weapons were used in each Deadwood Mystery series book by Violet? In which book did Claire get into a fight and with whom? And what was the outcome of that fight? What T-shirts has Claire worn and in which book? What meals has Harvey made for Violet? What tricks of the trade has Electra used so far in the Circus series and in which book (including the chapter so I can easily find and read through the piece of scene again)? What anecdotes has Hank told Clementine and/or Rabbit and Boone in the Deadwood Undertaker series?

I could go on and on with all of the charting and notes that are necessary to keep track of a long-running series, especially one that involves cross-over characters like the majority of those I write. If you read the Deadwood series back-to-back, and I don’t pay attention to what’s been written in the previous books and screw up details, you will want to throw tomatoes at me. Trust me on that. Consistency through books and cross-over series is key to keeping readers wanting to continue hanging out with characters on the pages.

All this being said, there is one person who helps me keep everything straight–Diane Rodes Garland. She is amazing at keeping track of details and has a business called Your Worldkeeper (https://www.facebook.com/yourworldkeeper/), helping other authors as well.

I call Diane my “backup brain” and will contact her at any hour of the day or night if I can’t find the detail I need in her copious notes. And I mean copious! She is also very nit picky about how certain words I use are spelled, ensuring a whole other level of consistency (nosey vs nosy, for example).

So, for those of you who have read many of my series and notice the attention to detail on the settings, characters, backstory, and more, it is with Diane’s help that I have been able to keep everything straight on the page. However, Diane does not know what is to come for the most part in my stories. I like to keep her in the dark a little so that I can test her reactions to what I write on the page. In other words, if you want to know Cooper’s first name, don’t bother asking Diane. She doesn’t know … yet. LOL!

BEHIND THE SCENES (Episode 3): First Draft Team

Different authors use what I call a “First Draft Team” (or Alpha Team or whatever they call it) to help them get a feel for what they have written. Some authors will write a whole book before sharing the story with this team, others will share portions of the story as they write it. I share my story chapter by chapter with my First Draft Team as I write it.

The team consists of anywhere between 10-14 members, depending on the book and what I’m looking for help-wise. They will receive (usually) one or two chapters a week from me to read, edit, and return with feedback. I’m not looking for a book’s worth of feedback from them, just how they felt about events that happened on the page. They are my “test audience,” if you will, showing me what came across as funny, sad, scary, etc. Each has a unique purpose/personality when it comes to their feedback, and they deliver repeatedly without fail and in timely manner. Their comments help me to see if I’m hooking the reader the way I intended when I wrote the scene. In addition, they have to keep quiet about what they read because nothing can be leaked out to the rest of my readers and ruin the story for them.

When the book is finished, I will go through all of their edits and use them to help polish the story before shipping it to my editor.

Over the years, I’ve had several readers ask if they could join the first draft crew. I rarely ever add to this crew. Most of the team has been with me since the beginning of this writing gig, and the few that I have pulled in over the years have a niche they fill for me. In truth, I don’t think it’s a very glamorous role, because they are tortured routinely, needing to wait days and days after a chapter cliffhanger to find out what happens next (and sometimes they tell me how they feel about this torture).

For those of your who like to see the “people” working behind the scenes, here they are:

My husband, Sam Lucky: Not only does he brainstorm with me 24/7, but he also reads and edits each chapter. He is my toughest editor, and I love him dearly for his honesty and his use of the word “No!” scrawled in the margin next to a passage or line that doesn’t fly!

My mom, my step-mom, and my mother-in-law: All three of these women give me unique feedback. I’m incredibly lucky to have all three here from the start, encouraging as I floundered and helping to guide me in the land of fiction.

My old coworkers, Paul Franklin and Marcia Britton: (Note their last names–I’ve used both in books as tributes to them … the Franklin Triplets in Jackrabbit Junction and Zelda Britton in Deadwood). Paul and Marcia started reading my books way back when this writing gig was a pipe dream. Their encouragement has been wonderful through the years.

Authors Jacquie Rogers and Kristy McCaffrey: Like my husband, these two play dual roles as brainstormers and first draft readers. They help me with story structure and character depth as well, telling me where things worked and didn’t, if I’ve grounded the reader enough or if I’m too “flowery” in description (Jacquie–lol).

My World Keeper, Diane Rodes Garland: Diane is crucial in this role to help catch series inconsistencies early. I also like to tap her brain a lot with questions like, “What do you think is going to happen next?” Her answers are helpful when it comes to twists and turns and other reader surprises.

Vicki Vedvick Huskey and Lucinda Nelson: Both of these wonderful helpers started out on my beta reader team long ago. Vicki is an (almost-retired) Spanish teacher who also knows German. You can see why I need her with all of the fun I have on the page (“der/ein Scharfrichter” and “Ay yi yi, mi corazon” to list a few examples). Lucinda has a real knack for digging deep into the story and stating possible ties and outcomes and philosophical thoughts on scenes. She is the equivalent of having a literature class study my books to analyze themes, ideas, and other “what was the author thinking” notions.

Bob Dickerson: Bob has been pulled up from the beta team for the Deadwood Undertaker series because Sam Lucky switched seats and is now an author. Since I met Bob, he’s been an ace at digging into my books and helping to find lost needles in the haystack. He’s widely known for his sense of humor and his ability to lose iPads throughout the world during his travels. (ha ha ha)

Wendy Munk Gildersleeve: Wendy has many roles behind the scenes, including first draft crew. She is my marketing and promo sidekick, and she needs to read the books early to pull quotes that we’ll be using to market and promote after the book is live. She also gives great feedback on how the story is coming across, listens to me whine about everything under the sun, acts as my shaman when I’m not well, and stars in my favorite role–my funny and lovely sister-in-law (Sam’s sister).

Stephanie Kunkle: Stephanie’s role is reading the chapters in advance to help me choose illustrations that we’ll ask her husband, my brother, to draw. She sends me lists of ideas as she reads through the story that she thinks readers might like to see. When writing a long story, it’s hard to remember a lot of details from early on and step outside of the text to see where my description might benefit from an illustration. Stephanie takes that stress off my shoulders. In addition, she’s a sweet, funny, and marvelous sister-in-law who encourages me every time we talk and will help out however I need whenever I ask.

That’s the team. They are wonderful and do all of this for me as volunteers. I’m a lucky writer on so many levels!

BEHIND THE SCENES (Episode 4): Editing Specialists

Editing is a crucial part of the book publishing process. We’ve all read books that have a few (or many) errors that tripped us up while reading, pulling us out of the story. For me, good books play out in my imagination like a movie on the big screen with nobody else in the theater besides me. Errors on the page are like those moments when the movie flickers or gets frozen on the screen. A few glitches I can handle, but too many and I’m going to start throwing my popcorn at the screen and booing. If it gets bad enough, I’ll stand up and walk out–closing the book and never opening it again (and I’ll probably be hesitant to give that author another try in the future).

I take the editing of my books very serious. As much as I’d like to write error-free stories out of the gate, I am only human, and a messy one at that. This is where the editing specialists come into play in my “publishing process.”

After I’ve gone through my first draft crew’s edits and comments, I read the whole book all the way through for the first time, editing content and fixing any grammatical errors that I can “see” at that time. Truth be told, though, when my brain is in the story, I tend to really be IN THE STORY and miss grammar screw ups. On top of that, I’ve given up ever figuring out a few grammar rules (lie vs lay, for example) because my brain slams the door in my face when I suggest we get those details solidified in my gray matter.

When this full read through is finished, it’s time to ship the manuscript off to my editing specialists–and there are multiple layers during this part of the process.

First Layer–Professional Editor: I have worked with several editors over the years and they have all been amazing. Back when I was floundering on the page, trying to find my “voice,” I had a coworker, my buddy Beth, who worked with me daily in both content and line editing, teaching me proper grammar, showing me how to write action scenes, blushing along with me through my attempts at writing love scenes, showing me when to use lie vs. lay, and more. After I started getting more into my writing groove, I moved on to a professional line editor, Mimi, who continued to teach me grammar rules, what adjectives and adverbs could be cut without affecting the sentence, the difference between lie vs. lay, etc. We worked together for many years, but then I quit my day job and my demands shifted, requiring the need for another editor who could work with my crazy writing schedule. That editor, Eilis Flynn, is still with me now years later, fixing my errors, teaching me grammar rules as she edits, fact checking as she reads, working with my crazy pre-release schedule, showing me how to use lie vs. lay, and cheering me on through the finish line. Without these editors to teach me and help me polish my manuscripts, many of you wouldn’t have finished my first book due to all of the errors. Some authors feel they can edit their books well enough on their own–I am NOT one of those authors. Many, many thanks to these wonderful women who have made such a difference in my prose!

Second Layer–Local Expert Editor: From the beginning of the Deadwood Mystery Series, I knew I’d need help from someone who had spent years and years in the area in order to get my history (and present day non-fiction parts) as accurate as possible. This is where Sue Stone comes into the picture. Sue grew up in the northern Black Hills. We met shortly after I’d published the first book in the series, Nearly Departed. She read it, got in touch with me and told me how much she enjoyed it, and then let me know that there were no gray squirrels in the Black Hills (at that time) and that I’d spelled Roubaix Lake wrong. Ha ha ha! That was all it took to show me that I needed Sue to read my books while they were in the editing process. She has been an incredible help over the years, helping me get details about buildings, flora/fauna, history, and everything else “Black Hills” correct. For those who live or have lived in the area and enjoy this “local” accuracy, Sue is to be thanked. Better Off Dead in Deadwood with all of the Homestake Opera House details throughout the story is just one example of Sue’s dedication to helping me showcase a local landmark with accuracy. (And as a bonus, Sue’s brother William is a local history expert who helps out when asked.) I adore Sue and am fortunate to have her on the team.

After I receive Eilis and Sue’s edits back, I incorporate those and read through the manuscript again. After this read through, the manuscript moves on to the next editing step: The Beta Team.

Third Layer–Beta Team Specialists: Having a beta team was something that came to mind early in my writing process–right after the 4th book that I’d published (but third book in the Deadwood series), Dead Case in Deadwood. I was talking to a co-worker at the time who told me about this impressive big-name-author who used a beta team to review her manuscripts before they were published. I thought I’d give ‘er a whirl and posted on Facebook that I was taking Beta Team signups. I expected to get maybe ten volunteers. Almost 200 volunteers later, I thought, “What did I do???” Over the years and books, I’ve honed the team down to 100 beta volunteers because I couldn’t keep up with all of the feedback. It was too much for me–helpful, but overwhelming. Out of these 100, I will choose different “beta teams” for different books based off what I need from the team. Sometimes, I’ll request all of their help for a story, but more often I choose a certain number. Again, the main reason for this number limit is that I go through every single beta feedback email and personally reply to them and try to answer any questions about the story. The beta crew is amazing! Not only are they each experts in different story areas and grammar, but they do it out of the goodness of their heart (there’s no money in this gig) AND they usually get ONLY a week to read the book, write down all of their edits, and reply to me. They are at the tail end of the publishing process and that means they have to work hard and fast to hit my deadline–especially if I put up a pre-order button. Beta crew, I would include your names, but there are too many of you and tagging would result in filling up your notifications’ list. I can’t thank you guys enough for giving your time and left brainpower so generously. You humble me time and again with your amazing kindness!

Fourth Layer–Final Readers: After the beta crew edits have been incorporated, two people read the manuscript one more time–Me and Diane Rodes Garland (again). We read the book from front to back (every single page, including the copyright notice) within a day, checking for any spelling, grammar, or story inconsistencies/errors that have slipped through the cracks.

So, now you can see how much editing work goes into each book, novella, and short story. There is a lot of competition out there for a reader’s time. Writing a good story is key, but without editing, my books would struggle in the publishing world. Thanks to these editing specialists, you can be confident that my books will offer a story to sink into without glitches or worse.

NOTE–I did not have anyone edit this post, so I reserve the right to make errors, especially concerning lie vs. lay.

BEHIND THE SCENES (Episode 5): Illustrator and Cover Artist

I’ve been a fan of books with illustrations since reading “The Monster at the End of This Book” starring Grover from Sesame Street. When I made the decision to publish my books independently (without the help of an outside publishing house), I knew I would need to find ways to make my books stand out to readers. I needed a unique visual element that would be part of my Ann Charles “brand.”

Enter my brother, Chuck Kunkle, aka my first roommate on this planet (my parents put my crib in his bedroom, so he’s been stuck with me in his world for a long, long time). Since we were children, Chuck has been drawing monsters. I kid you not, he excels at freaky stuff and I’m sure this shared history with him has helped to fuel my imagination.

Our collaborating began right out of the publishing gate.

For each of my books, Chuck draws six to eight illustrations, giving readers visuals of various pieces of my stories. When I’m about two-thirds of the way through each book, I will take Stephanie Kunkle‘s (Chuck’s wife and one of my first draft readers) notes on possible illustrations and come up with a list for Chuck to draw, including passages from the book so he can see the framework surrounding the illustration. In all of his spare time from his day job (which isn’t much), he sits down with pencil and paper and sketches out the illustrations, sharing pictures of the drawings with me along the way. When I give the final thumbs up, he’ll “ink” them as well (if I want them inked–sometimes pencil shading is cool, too). Then he gives me the illustrations.

(These illustrations must then be scanned and put through another step in the process by the graphic designer in order to make the resolution high enough for publication.)

When we have the high resolution versions of the illustrations, I will then go through the story and decide with the help of the book formatter, where to place the images to fit best in the story and on the printed page, along with what size to make the illustrations.

Chuck now has the illustrations finished, but there is more art needed for the book to have the Ann Charles “brand”–the cover art.

In the author world, we are told time and again by marketing experts how important it is to have a “brand” to our book covers so that readers can visually link our books, especially in a series. Each of my series has a slightly different look to them; however, each retains the Ann Charles “brand,” in which Chuck’s art plays a big role. While some authors and readers may shrug off the importance of branding, I will tell you that I have been contacted multiple times by Amazon and Barnes & Noble marketing personnel and told that they “know an Ann Charles’ book by the covers alone.” Branding is important.

So how does the cover art process begin? By a collaboration of minds–Chuck’s, my husband’s, and mine. The three of us will work together to talk about possibilities based on the story. Sometimes one of us has a strong idea that we run with, other times we bounce around until something feels right. Then Chuck gets to work sketching (he often uses his family members as models to help him out–he can tell you which family member modeled for what cover/illustration when asked). Some of my covers consist of multiple pieces of art (Deadwood and Digsite series), others are one solid piece (Jackrabbit and Circus series). We go back and forth via texted photos of his drawings, giving feedback and sharing thoughts until Chuck has hit the mark. Then he goes to work on the final drawing. When the pencil/ink drawing is finished, he picks up his colored pencils and goes to work coloring.

One thing I’ve learned over time from my brother is how important shading is on artwork. I don’t mean shadows from a sun in the sky, I mean shading in the creases of jeans, on the side of an arm, etc., showing depth and so much more. Another thing I’ve come to understand is that it’s important to know from where the light is coming in the “picture” and how it can affect the visual experience.

When the cover pieces are drawn/inked/colored, Chuck sends me the pieces of art (he prefers to work on paper rather than via a digital medium). The images are then scanned and sent to the graphic artist to go to work building the cover.

Chuck and I have worked together on 22 of my books now (the Deadwood Shorts use photos for the covers, however, Tequila and Time contains some of Chuck’s illustrations). In addition, he also creates illustrations that we use for Chapter headings and promo/marketing pieces.

I am amazingly fortunate to not just know a great artist, but to have spent my whole life with one by my side. I can’t thank him enough for the years of hard work and help making my books even more fun to read and “see.”

BEHIND THE SCENES (Episode 6): Cover Designer/Graphic Designer

In the previous episode about the artwork included in and on my books, I mentioned that after I receive the art pieces from C.S. Kunkle, they are scanned and prepped for the graphic design process. But what exactly is this “graphic design” work as related to Ann Charles’ books?

Graphic design in my case includes:

1. Taking hand-drawn/colored illustrations and art and converting them to high resolution images. Even with a fancy scanner, when art done via pencil, ink, or colored pencil is scanned, there are adjustments needed to make the artwork “pop.” For example, white areas where the paper texture left small parts uncolored become white pixels when enlarged; image edges need further definition; colors that look great on paper need to be enhanced for digital presentation.

2. Creating/arranging the cover. After the artwork has been prepped for the cover, the layout process begins. When we initially plan the cover, we figure out where we want the elements set. However, often the layout of the official art when including book titles, names and cover quotes doesn’t work as planned. This layout process can take days to find just the right fit, experimenting with different looks and feel, walking away from it for the night so that in the morning we can come at it fresh. In addition to fitting all elements on the cover, we also play with fonts and shadowing and background. For most of my Deadwood and Dig Site books, the background is an actual photograph that has been layered behind the images. Some books also have photos used for the foreground. The Better Off Dead in Deadwood cover image of the Homestake Opera House is a picture I took that was manipulated by the cover designer. The shaft building on A Wild Fright in Deadwood is another photo I took at sunset while in the Black Hills for book-signings. The police station on Rattling the Heat in Deadwood is C.S. Kunkle’s drawing of a picture I took from across the street, and the hills in the background are cut from another photo. So, you can see how a graphic designer has to take original art, photographs, and typography, mix them all together, and come up with a cover that will “grab” a reader when they are scanning book after book, trying to figure out what to read next. I like my covers to tell a story, as well, as in the old “a picture is worth a thousand words,” thought goes into that as well. I could go on and on about the hours and hours of work that goes into the covers of my books, but after a bit your eyes will glaze over from the details.

3. Creating graphic art pieces for marketing and promotion. After the cover has been finalized, there are several different marketing and promotional pieces needed to help spread the news about the new book. I need banners for my website; I need posters and magnets for vendors, libraries, and beta/promo team helpers; I need graphics for ads and videos; I need graphics for bookmarks, etc. Again, the graphic designer works with art and typography to come up with eye-catching designs for readers and fans.

So, now that you understand some of the work a graphic designer performs in my book release process, let’s talk about the graphic designers who have helped me over the years.

As with editors, the graphic designers I’ve worked with have changed. My friend and ex-coworker, Kat Thomas, was there at the start, helping me produce graphics, along with a talented designer named Mona. As time went on and my needs changed, I worked with another ex-coworker for years, Sharon Benton, who has a great flair for visual art, including awesome photography talent.

For the last two years, I’ve been working with someone much closer to home–Sam Lucky, my husband. Sam came on board when the market nose-dived and I needed to make some shifts financially so that I could pour more money into advertising to continue building readership. (When it comes down to it, books are a business in our family, so things have to be run like any other small business.) In a previous life, Sam worked as a cartographer and IT guy, as well as many other interesting jobs. I cannot say enough about Sam’s attention to detail, ability to make covers “pop,” and his patience when it comes to working with me on this front. (To make our marriage even more fun, we added writing together to the mix now!) Sam has an incredible ability to learn the ins and outs of software quickly, to employ what he’s learned with fantastic results, and to make whatever ideas we come up with for the cover happen. One of our running jokes we say to each other (after talking about something difficult to do) is, “Make it happen!”

In addition to the graphic designers listed above, since the release of my first book I have hired the help of Laron Glover from Ninth Moon to design my bookmarks, posters, and other miscellaneous graphic design promotional pieces. I’ve known Laron since way before I started publishing, as she is an award-winning writer, too. Laron is amazing all around, wowing me time and again with the designs she comes up with for my book promotions. She’s funny and whip-smart and a pleasure to work with on a project. The Deadwood Undertaker poster is just one example of her talent.

Oh, and I’d like to add many “thanks” to all of the authors who have given me cover quotes over the years. There have been many who when I asked for a quote have happily given their time to read the book while it’s in the editing process and sent me several quotes to use in various promotions, including the cover, the product description, and the first page inside of the book. Cover quotes are very valuable to my branding, and I am grateful to all of these excellent storytellers for helping me.

So, now you have a better picture of what goes on behind the scenes with covers and promotional pieces. All parts of this graphic design process take a lot of time, hard work, and talent. Once again, I am a lucky writer to have hooked up with so many wonderful and highly skilled people in my career.

BEHIND THE SCENES (Episode 7): Book Formatter

Previously, I went into detail on the layers of editing that go into my books prior to releasing them into the world. Between editing and releasing there is another step in the process–formatting.

If a formatter does the job well, a reader will have no idea that a formatter is even part of the book creation process. This doesn’t make for much of a rewarding job, but it is crucial behind the scenes.

Formatting is different for both ebook and print books, from layout to software (in some cases, authors use the same software for both formats of books, but I don’t by choice).

When building an ebook, there are links that need to be included, rules by different vendors that need to be followed, image specifications to abide by for those illustrations I like to include, and more. In addition, the ebook needs to be formatted so that no matter which type of device a reader uses to read ebooks (Kindle, Nook, Apple iPhone, etc.) the formatting is clean and the reading experience is smooth. Have you ever used links to jump to a glossary in an ebook or another chapter? That’s evidence of a formatter’s work. Have you ever read an ebook where there seems to be an extra blank page in the middle of a story? That’s a formatting problem.

When building a print book, there are font styles and sizes to choose, headings, chapter title illustrations, story illustrations, italics (at times), indents, etc. Have you ever read a book with a drop-cap at the start of each chapter or some other fancy font style that begins a chapter? That’s evidence of a formatter’s work. Have you ever noticed sections of a story that are italicized for some reason when they probably shouldn’t be? That’s a formatting problem.

Clean, professional, stylish formatting enhances the reader’s experience while “in” the story. Sloppy formatting can equal bad reviews and loss of readers in the long run.

Initially, way back when, I tried to format my books on my own. A lot of swearing occurred and I was unhappy with my end result. Besides myself, I’ve only ever had one formatter for my books–my husband, Sam Lucky (although he goes by B.Biddles in the formatting world because he used to format for other authors for a time under the shingle BiddleseBooks). He took over for me on book 2 because of all of the swearing coming from my office when I’d try to do my own formatting. We had young children and the language I was teaching them would make other adults cringe. Anyway, my wonderful knight stepped in and took over, rescuing me from the evil formatting gods.

While wearing his formatting hat, Mr. Lucky often has to work under intense pressure because he’s at the end of the production line and if any part of the process hits a snag, his time frame to deliver formatted books shrinks. His list of things to watch for as he formats (m-dashes, spaces around ellipses, italics, etc.) so that my books have a consistent style is longggggg. After he formats, he and I go through the ebook and print book files page by page to make sure indents are correct, headers and footers look good, spacing is accurate, promo at the end is what I want, Table of Contents links work (in the ebook), and on and on and on.

When the ebook and print books are finally ready, they have to be uploaded behind the scenes in each distributor’s dashboard and checked again. In addition, Mr. Lucky fills out product descriptions, keywords, categories, price points, and anything else required before we can push the Publish Button. Print books go through an extra step of having a proof made and shipped to us so we can look at it to make sure the cover files (which Mr. Lucky created while wearing his Graphic Designer hat) are spot on and the print layout is clean and looks good.

When the formatting is finally finished, we hit Publish and then grab the big bottle of tequila from the cupboard. Whew! An incredible amount of tedious work requiring intense attention to detail is DONE. My husband goes through this process time and again with a speed and skill that is astounding. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m a fortunate writer (and a “lucky” wife).

After all of this work, the book is finally “out there” and the production “team” can relax. However, for my independent/indie author business, the end of production means that the marketing work is just getting rolling. Often pre-order marketing has been going on in the background, but after the product is available for purchase, then marketing can really kick into gear.

BEHIND THE SCENES (Episode 8): Marketing and Promo Team

The subject of marketing when it comes to just about any industry is vast, and book marketing is no different. There are many ways to try to reach readers, and you can spend lots and lots of money doing it … and throw lots and lots of money away in the process. There are no guaranteed methods to make steady money over a long period in the book publishing business. Having one “bestselling” book won’t do it and neither will having a long backlist of titles (meaning books previously published by an author).

Wow, all of that sounds really bleak, huh? I’m not trying to whine or complain about marketing books. I knew what I was getting into when I started this career. I’m just telling it like it is for many of the independent authors I know, including myself. On average, I’d estimate that 40% of my time is spent on the book writing/production process (which includes marketing within it, such as coming up with covers that will draw readers–for example, visually connecting the first book in the Deadwood Undertaker Series to the first book in the Deadwood Mystery Series … both are posted below). A whopping 55% of my time is spent marketing my books and my brand (the remaining 5% is spent doing that task I moan about every month–bookkeeping).

 

Authors are continually trying to figure out ways to spend less time marketing and more time writing, because without the “writing” part of the equation we have nothing to market.

I’m not going to go into all of the various methods of marketing books here because that is a whole new series of posts that will put you to sleep in minutes unless you’re an author looking for marketing help. What I am going to talk about in this episode is a little bit about what goes on behind the scenes in Ann’s World.

When I first started publishing my books back in 2011, I used different marketing methods to get my books in front of readers than what I use today. Each year, the market shifts and new methods are required to “keep swimming” in the publishing pool. This is just the way it is in the publishing world. I knew early on that I would need help with this part of the business if I was going to keep writing and releasing books on a steady basis.

Enter my helper/assistant/partner in crime/sister-in-law, Wendy Munk Gildersleeve. Wendy raised her hand early on in my career, offering to learn the book marketing side of the business and help me build my career (she has a background in marketing, so she had some ideas from the start about how much work this would entail). The list of behind-the-scenes tasks she does is long, including placing ads for my books, helping me create promotional pieces, building my Pinterest site and my Zazzle store. Wendy and I talk daily (she lives in Seattle currently and I’m down in Arizona, so FaceTime is our friend). She is my “right hand” when it comes to marketing and promotion, available day and night. She picks me up when I stumble and cheers me on when I’m running strong. In addition to working well together, we also are really good at drinking alcohol (wine and tequila) and eating sweets together, which tends to get us into trouble on many levels!

One particular job Wendy does for which I’m incredibly grateful is helping with the “promo team runs,” which is a full-time job on its own for weeks after a book goes live. She is the one who collects quotes from the stories to give promo team volunteers to use, keeps the database of names and information, sets up my FB/Twitter/Instagram posts about the new release, and more. Without her, I would not be able to write as many books as I do each year because I’d be spending 75% of my time marketing my books.

For those of you uncertain what I mean by a “promo team run,” let me explain …

For every book I release, I ask for volunteers to be part of my promo team (called “Deadwood Deputies” for the Deadwood series books, “Rowdy Coyotes” for the 4th book in the Jackrabbit series, “Deadwood Prospectors” for the Undertaker series, etc.). The promo team size changes with each “run,” but the request is always the same–to help me spread word about a new book to current fans and potential fans.

I don’t have a sales team like a big publishing company. However, thanks to many of you who have volunteered and helped me to promote my books over the years (including those of you who tell people about my books on your own without even being part of the promo team), I have been able to continue writing stories for a living even though the book sales market is often unstable and not-so-nice.

Time and again, you readers have been there with me on rooftops, shouting to passersby about Violet, Claire, Quint, Clem, and all of the other characters and their stories. You write reviews for my stories, tell your friends and family about the books, and share laughs and groans with me on FB and other social networks. I can’t thank you all enough for your kindness and help. Due to this amazing support from you readers (promo team and non-promo team), I have reached levels in this business that ten years ago seemed impossible.

BEHIND THE SCENES (Episode 9): Print Book Distributors

One of the big hurdles for independent authors (aka “indie” authors) is making print books available to readers via retailers and libraries. Between the publisher/indie author and the bookstore is a “middleman”–print distribution companies.

Most mid-sized to large publishing companies have distributors they work with in order to land a book in a grocery store, for example. The publishers print books in mass quantities at one time, such as 10,000 to 20,000 to 100,000 book print runs and up. These books are then stored in warehouses and distributed to brick-and-mortar stores like Barnes & Noble when ordered. This distribution network took years to build and establish, and the bigger publishers have done an incredible job setting up a “system” that works for them.

Here’s one shortened version of how that works: Publisher orders a print-run of 20,000 books. Printer/Distributor makes and stores 20,000 books. Ann’s Wacky Bookstore Inc. orders 1,000 copies of said book to distribute equally to her 100 retail stores throughout the Southwest US. The distributor ships 1,000 copies and bills Ann’s Wacky Bookstore Inc. … Fast forward 1 month … only 500 copies of said book have sold and Ann’s Wacky Bookstore Inc wants to make room on shelves for the NEXT GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL. The bookstore contacts the distributor and says they want to return the remaining 500 books.

(Now here’s where it gets a little crazy) … The distributor checks their files and see that the publisher has agreed to accept returns (Note: If a publisher doesn’t select to accept returns, the majority of bookstores will not even do business with the publisher). The distributor says they can “accept” those 500 books back as returns. HOWEVER, most publishers don’t want to pay the $$ for shipping books back and forth, so the publisher can opt to have these books destroyed and save $$ on shipping. So, the covers of these 500 books are torn off so they are no longer “sellable” in the retail market and then the books are destroyed. If you’re like me, the idea of 500 books being destroyed so casually makes you frown. (Yes, I love books.)

Have you ever been to a big bookstore that is having a killer sale on hardback books? Selling them for $5 instead of the $30 price tag? This is because hardback books cannot be returned usually, so the bookstore has to try to make their cost of the book back.

Anyway, now you have a idea of how print distribution works for publishers, distributors, and bookstores. Here’s another bit of information about this print distribution game–authors who are with big publishing houses make pennies for each print book sold, especially mass market books like those found on grocery stores. For an author to do well, their publishers have to have ordered large 20,000+ print runs of their books AND the books had to have made a really good “sell-through” on the retail market, meaning very few books were returned (or destroyed).

Okay, so on to how this works in the indie author world: It doesn’t work, at least not very well yet!

Every year, more brick-and-mortar booksellers are opening their shelves to indie authors, but the profit margin on print books for indie authors is very small because there are many middlemen that need to be paid to help get the book in a reader’s hands. For a lot of authors, it just isn’t worth the hoop jumping and costs required, so they stick to selling ebooks. Amazon and other online retailers are helping with this distribution issue, offering indie authors a place to sell their print books online, performing print-on-demand services, and shipping the books to the customers. They are also printing books for authors to sell ourselves and selling them to us at a decent cost. However, the cost per book in these small print runs is easily 2x-3x as much as it is for a bigger publisher who can afford to have mass printing done. This is why you will often see an indie author book costing more than the small mass market paperback on the grocery store shelf. For example, my print books run between $12-16 retail for a trade-sized book. A large publisher can afford to offer a mass print-run trade book for $8-10 (sometimes less) and still make a profit. Some of you might think that the profit margin on an Indie author’s print book allows that author to take limo rides to the grocery store to buy milk, but that’s … hold on, I’m laughing too hard at that idea to finish that thought. 🙂

Again, as I said in my previous marketing post, I’m not whining to you about these costs. I’m explaining how the print book world is currently working in my neck of the woods. Most indie authors understand that you don’t publish print books to make tons of money. You publish in print because it makes readers happy, and a happy reader is worth their weight in gold. Also, while I’ve signed a lot of ereader cases in my time, signing a real book is a lot of fun.

Boy howdy! That was a lot to throw at you. Let’s move on to how this all works behind the scenes for my little world. I use both Amazon and Ingram as print distributors. I use their print-on-demand services and do not do large print runs at this time because I don’t use a warehouse to store my books. However, I do have a storage unit full of books in South Dakota (thank you, Kim R.), a bunch of shelves loaded with books in my garage here in Arizona, and several boxes taking up a chunk of space in Laura Kunkle Rensberger‘s spare bedroom in Ohio (Laura is my sister). My print books are available to libraries and booksellers via Amazon and Ingram and I do offer the usual discount to booksellers AND accept returns (only I fork out the $$ to have them ship my books back to me with the covers still attached–NOT destroyed … I’m happy to find homes for these books with local libraries who are happy to give them a home).

Readers can also buy my books ONLINE directly from my website (autographed books from my Ann Charles’ store), Chubby Chipmunk Hand-Dipped Chocolates website, Amazon, B&N, and a few other online bookstores.

If you want to purchase a book in person (not online) and feel like taking a trip to the Black Hills, my books are available in several stores there. Chubby Chipmunk Hand-Dipped Chocolate store in Deadwood is by far my biggest book seller. Chip, the owner of Chubby Chipmunk, and her crew are amazing! While you’re there, you can sample and buy the most delicious truffles and chocolate treats. I love Chip dearly and all she’s done to help me get my books “out there”!

There are other wonderful businesses in the area carrying my books, too, such as The Lodge hotel, First Deadwood Souvenirs, Steel Wheel Campground, the Sanford Lab Homestake Visitor Center, Lynn’s Dakotamart (in Lead and Sturgis), and more thanks to a local media distributor out of Rapid City who delivers my books all over western South Dakota.

I cannot talk about selling books in the western South Dakota area without mentioning my 70+ year old mom, Margo. Mom acts as my on-the-ground publicist there and has a lot of fun visiting local retailers and libraries, giving away promotional items, and telling everyone how hard I make her work with a wink and a grin. My mom–the comedian.

If you’re in the Northwest Ohio area, Laura Kunkle Rensberger (my sister) attends multiple sales events and sells my books there. She also sells directly to libraries around that area, keeping the readers in that area supplied. (My sister has been helping me since I was a kid. She taught me how to read long, long ago and now she helps sell my books–how cool is that? I <3 her mucho mucho!)

Okay, now you have an idea of the print distribution part of my book world. For those of you who would like to have your local bookstore or library carry my book, talk to them and ask them to order the books. They are “out there” via most distribution channels (libraries can even buy the ebook version via the usual distribution channel).

BEHIND THE SCENES (Episode 10): Audiobook Players and Accounting Helpers

The audiobook market is growing every year as more readers enjoy listening to stories on the drive to work, while exercising, during road trips, in the midst of relaxing, and maybe even in the shower. Often, as soon as I mention that I have a new book out, I’m asked when the audiobook will be available. Listeners usually have to wait up to six months, sometimes more for an audio book to be produced.

Let me explain why that is.

With large publishers, authors will finish a book often six to nine months (or more) before it is released to the public. During this pre-release time, sales people are going out and selling the book to brick-and-mortar stores, the marketing department is building all sorts of hype and promo, and the audio recordings of the book are being made along with other pre-release work. This allows the publisher to release an ebook, print book, and audiobook at the same time. Sweet!

Indie authors run on a much tighter schedule. The time between the day I write “The End … for now” and when my fully-edited ebook goes live on all vendor platforms is about a month. Print is a month and a week usually. For those of you who have read through the previous nine Behind-the-Scenes posts, you know what happens during this month–a lot of editing and prep work! My goal is to get the cleanest book I can into your hands as soon as possible, not sit on it for several more months while I wait for the audio recording to be finished.

After my final clean copy is ready to be read, I usually start the audiobook process. There are contracts to be signed and upfront costs to be paid. Narrators aren’t free, especially good ones, neither are distributors. Like everything else in life, the pie needs to be divided accordingly before any work is started.

Reading my books can take up to a month for narrators, and then there is often editing time that is involved when they are finished. When audio files are ready, I’m contacted and allowed a week to do a final “listen” for any mistakes. I can’t tell you how odd and yet amazing it is to listen to someone else read aloud the stories I have created.

Oh, there is also the audiobook cover to be made–they are square images instead of rectangles, so adjustments need to be made to the cover files. (I’ve included two square audiobook cover images.)

After I give the thumbs up on the files, they go through final processing to get them ready for readers, including being loaded on various vendor platforms. This last part of the process can take anywhere from two to three weeks before the book is “live” and available for you.

I have 23 of my 25 stories currently available in audio format. The two that are not available are: Don’t Let It Snow in Deadwood and Life at the Coffin Joint. I am working with my distributor to have Don’t Let It Snow ready for Christmas 2019. Life at the Coffin Joint is still in the early stages of the audiobook process as we decide which distributor will work best for this new series (there are all sorts of marketing and distributing aspects to analyze behind the scenes).

Whew! Now you’ve read through all sorts of behind-the-scenes posts and have some idea of what my book factory is like.

I need to mention one other part of my writing world that is key to staying in business year after year: Accounting.

Every month, there are hours and hours of work done by my bookkeeper–aka, my sister, Laura Kunkle Rensberger. She not only helps me sell my print books, but she also helps me keep track of all of the expenses and income for my writing business. Like any other small business, I have mounds of paper work each month with numbers that have to be tracked, miles to be recorded, receipt amounts to add up, and more. Multiple revenue streams and work-related trips equals multiple headaches. Laura likes to have every penny accounted for on paper. And I mean every single penny. Many months, when my paperwork is several inches thick, that’s like finding a needle in a haystack. Laura is wonderfully tenacious and makes my life so much easier.

Also, my brilliant accountant, Laila Brines Collins, helps me stay on top of taxes and everything the IRS needs each year. It’s a relief to have these two helping me so that I can spend more time writing.

Thank you for reading my Behind-the-Scenes episodes. It’s fun giving you a peek of what goes on behind the green curtain.