Customer Service.

Remember the good ole days? You know when you went into stores and businesses and they stood up and said, “Welcome.” And then offered to help you?

Today it feels more like you have to bring a rope and lasso and hogtie someone to answer any questions you might have. If you happen to find someone, they usually don’t know the answer, and instead of going to find out the answer, they walk away.

This amazes me every day. Even after years of customer service falling by the wayside, it still shocks me when I, the customer, is treated as if I didn’t come in here to spend money but are simply annoying the clerk.

Even more incredulous to me is when I actively seek out businesses, because I might want to hire them to do something for me, and they don’t respond. I can only assume they are so busy and making so much money that they don’t need my business.

When I started my first job at sixteen at Burger King, that was the first thing they taught me. The customer is always right. It was the motto you lived by as you shuffled burgers and fries to the masses. That phrase stuck and I’ve used it throughout my life in the many retail jobs I’ve had during college and as side jobs.

But now, I don’t think anyone hears that phrase anymore. The customer is always right. Is that the truth, of course not. Many customers are insensitive jerks. But, if you choose to be of service to someone, then that phrase should be your mantra.

It isn’t any revelation to anyone reading this that service has fallen. I’m sure it is due to busy lives, stress, too much worrying about problems, etc. But maybe it’s as simple as we have forgotten what courtesy is.

Not just in a customer service situation. The lack of courtesy when someone steps in front of you when you’re walking in a door. Or someone not saying excuse me when they bump into you. Or driving…I think that’s a whole different blog.

We as a culture are slowly slipping into no manners, thoughtlessness, and an abyss that our great grandparents would shudder to see.

So, my challenge is this. What can you do today to be courteous?

Lorena

 

Editing is More Than Owning a Red Pen!

Recently I had someone contact me about being an editor. They were a student, they were new to the craft, and they wanted to learn what editing was so they could become a full-time editor someday.

I am always looking for qualified and talented people to edit so I said, let’s take a look at what you do.

I sent her a chapter of my next novel and let her go to work. She was quick in returning my chapter and so I opened up the file to see what her thoughts were and what her editing prowess may be.

I’ve hired professional editors and I’ve also used friends of mine that are teachers, librarians, and avid readers with anal tendencies to what books should be like. What I’ve learned is that not everyone is an editor even if they think they are.

Editors are a certain breed. They see your mistakes in a work that you won’t because you’ve read it three thousand times and your brain just glosses it over. Even more, they see when you’ve re-named a characters kid another name. Editors are there to search the nooks and crannies to find the errors, inconsistencies, and make your work flow.

Yet this person has been ever elusive to me. I’ve had some close calls to finding someone who I really trust, but I’ve not found that symbiotic relationship that I’m searching for. I am still missing the editor that gets my work, sees the flaws, and simply makes it better.

Let’s go back to the editor-to-be that contacted me. She’s new, wants to edit, but doesn’t really know how to do it. So I went back through the edits she made and made my own notes.

I told her ‘writers are creative people so you don’t want to make demands in your notes’

And ‘As an editor you shouldn’t rewrite things and tell them to use it’

I gave valuable advice on how to really work with authors. Guess what, I never heard from her again.

Finding an editor might be the search for the holy grail, however, I’m not giving up. Every book I’ll try someone new until I find the person that the doves fly out of my computer and the world trembles just a little bit at the joy of a perfectly edited manuscript.

Lorena Bathey

Follow me on Facebook and you’ll see portions of my new novel, Coaster, which is being heralded by reviewers as the must read book of the summer. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lorena-B-Books/138014032926011?ref=hl

How do People Judge a Book by its Cover? Part 1

Several thick hardcover books stacked on top of each other (Photo credit: Horia Varlan)

Okay, so you’ve heard the adage, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover.’  In the world of judgments and assumptions I am in agreement, because you never really know who someone is no matter their demeanor.

However, in the world of publishing a cover is judged as to whether or not someone wants to pick it up and read it.

We are visual people and our eyes like what they like. Now the great thing is that there are billions of people out there and every one likes something different, so you never know if your cover will intrigue someone enough to read your work.

Your cover needs to have certain criteria to make it attractive to readers.  So you have some things to do before you just hire a graphic or cover designer to begin creating.

First step is to head to a book store. Go to the genre you write and look at the covers.  What do they look like? What colors are being used? What kind of font draws you in? Be a consumer and see which books attract you. Why do you like them?

These questions are hugely valuable and will absolutely allow you to commit to an idea which is the first impression a reader will get of your work. Covers in the book stores are what the publishing industry call ‘shelf-ready’. Meaning they can go onto shelves in any retail establishment.

As self-published authors there has always been as stigma about what our covers look like. They don’t have that shelf-ready look that readers are looking for. Because the truth of the matter is that if a cover looks expensive then the readers are more drawn to the title.

Once you’ve done your homework then you need to do some research on cover designers. There are many places in the internet where you can find cover designs. Find a designer that you like and email them and ask if they will design your cover.

We’ll discuss the process of getting your cover design made in the next installment of the post called Do Judge a Book by its Cover: More Than Just Flourishes and Fonts Part 2

Lorena Bathey

 

Is it Soup yet? How to know when your manuscript is ready to print?

Intentionally blank pages at the end of a book. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When you self-publish it makes you the final decision maker. It also makes you the marketing person, sales force, CFO, and janitor.

That means you decide when your work is ready to go to print. So how do you get to that decision? When do you know your words are the best they are going to be?

We already spoke about using beta readers and professional editors. But you are the final say in your books debut, so here’s some tips on when to know it’s right:

1. You’ve incorporated the feedback into the work that your beta readers gave you. There were some tear-stained pages, but now you’ve got the kinks worked out.

2. You cleaned up the punctuation, commas, and general grammar of the work until it is easy to read, flows, and doesn’t have blinding errors by using a professional proofreader.

3. You let someone else you trust read it one last time and use a red pen generously. Ask them to make sure there is continuity with characters and plot lines.

4. You read the entire manuscript aloud. This is a very important step because reading the book aloud gives you perspective not only on grammatical errors, but on sentences that don’t work or characters that aren’t pulling their weight.

5. You know in your gut, it’s ready.

After following these five steps you should have a manuscript that is ready to print. But you’re not done yet. You have some other issues to pull together that are necessary for your book’s success.

The next step is cover design. Yes, even if you do only eBooks you must have a cover.

Next installment we’ll talk about, How People DO Judge a Book by its Cover.

Lorena

Right now on Goodreads you can enter to win one of five copies on their Giveaway program. Here’s the link to win your copy too. And please add me as a friend.  http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/59409-coaster

 

I Think I Might Self-Publish…Now What?

After the Edit (Photo credit: LMRitchie)

Deciding to self-publish should not be taken lightly. I know, I know…it’s easy to upload a file to Amazon and voila you’re a published author.

But it takes more than that.

Okay, so we covered that you have to write something. But let’s step back before you begin uploading. Back to your manuscript.

Self-publishing used to bring many more stigmas. Most people thought self-published works were badly written and not well edited. This might have been the case in the past, but now most authors who self-publish make sure their work is professional.

When you have a manuscript the first step is to let a few people, who you really trust to be honest, read it.  And here you have to grow a thick skin. If you ask for honesty, be ready to receive it. Remember what they tell you will make you a better writer because they are your target market – readers.

Once you’ve had people beta read it, get a professional editor. I mean a professional. Not your Aunt Grace who was really good at her Christmas letter. Hire someone who reads manuscripts for a livelihood with the intention to better the work. To find them you can go to sites like Writers Digest or try out writing forums to get feedback. (We’ll talk more about how to find them in the next installment)

Once you’ve done proofreading and editing, then you go back and rework your manuscript. Reading aloud is a great tactic to hearing and finding any errors you might have made.

This is the first step to creating a manuscript that you can send out into the world.

Next installment: Is it Soup Yet? How to Know Your Manuscript is ready to Print.

Lorena Bathey