Island Confidential: career advice

Showing posts with label career advice. Show all posts

Will my book title be a bestseller?

I just found out about Lulu’s title scorer.

The Lulu Titlescorer has been developed exclusively for Lulu by statisticians who studied the titles of 50 years’ worth of top bestsellers and identified which title attributes separated the bestsellers from the rest.

We commissioned a research team to analyse the title of every novel to have topped the hardback fiction section of the New York Times Bestseller List during the half-century from 1955 to 2004 and then compare them with the titles of a control group of less successful novels by the same authors.

The team, lead by British statistician Dr. Atai Winkler, then used the data gathered from a total of some 700 titles to create this “Lulu Titlescorer” a program able to predict the chances that any given title would produce a New York Times No. 1 bestseller.

The fruit of this work is presented here, in the form of the Lulu Titlescorer: a program that you can use to gauge the chances that your own title will deliver you a New York Times No. 1 bestseller.

You can plug in your own book titles here.
This is what I got:

The title The Musubi Murder has a 35.9% chance of being a bestselling title!

The title Molly Barda and the Cursed Canoe has a 14.6% chance of being a bestselling title, but The Cursed Canoe has a 41.4% chance of being a bestselling title!

The title Molly Barda and the Black Thumb has a 34.8% chance of being a bestselling title, but The Black Thumb has a 69.0% chance of being a bestselling title!

Apparently I should leave Molly Barda out of the title.

The title The Invasive Species has a 41.4% chance of being a bestselling title!

The title The Blessed Event has a 41.4% chance of being a bestselling title!

I listed The Black Thumb as a figurative title, and the others as literal. “Figurative” titles score higher, all else being equal.

So what title will catapult my books to the top of the bestseller lists?

The title Fifty Shades of Grey has a 34.8% chance of being a bestselling title! Nope. Can’t use that.

The title Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone has a 14.6% chance of being a bestselling title! Oh dear. Box office poison.

The title Miserable Misery has a 69.0% chance of being a bestselling title! We have a winner.

BE THE FIRST TO LEARN ABOUT PROMOTIONS, EVENTS, AND NEW RELEASES:

THE MUSUBI MURDER Amazon / B&N /Powell’s /Audible / iTunes

Filed under: Fun, Impression Management, Language, Science!, Writing Tagged: bestseller, career advice, funny, judging a book by its cover, Lulu, marketing, science, title analyzer, Writing
from Will my book title be a bestseller?

Bad book reviews = great sales?

Maybe the one-star review, that bane of every author’s ego, isn’t such a bad thing after all.

Stanford Daily reports that the only thing worse than bad publicity is no publicity.

By measuring the size of sale spikes in the week following the release of each book review, the study showed two main points: positive publicity benefited all titles and the bad publicity only helped lesser-known and obscure authors.

Just one more reason to stop fretting about reviews, and sit down and write another, better, book.

The original study is here.

BE THE FIRST TO LEARN ABOUT PROMOTIONS, EVENTS, AND NEW RELEASES:

THE MUSUBI MURDER Amazon / B&N /Powell’s /Audible / iTunes

Filed under: Impression Management, Science!, Writing Tagged: books, business, career advice, context matters, marketing, Reviews, science, Unintended Consequences, Writing
from Bad book reviews = great sales?

New software gizmo will tell you what your skills are, match you with the perfect job

Texas State Technical College, spurred by the fact that one third of its state funding is now tied to its graduates’ starting salaries, has eliminated all majors except petroleum engineering developed software that matches graduates’ skills with job requirements. But why should Texas State Technical College students have all the fun? Anyone can try out the Skills Engine here.

I fed three academic CVs into the Skills Engine. Do academics actually have any transferable skills? See the results over at College Misery.

BE THE FIRST TO LEARN ABOUT PROMOTIONS, EVENTS, AND NEW RELEASES:

THE MUSUBI MURDER Amazon / B&N /Powell’s /Audible / iTunes

Filed under: Author Interviews, Buy, Fun, Higher Ed, Impression Management, Reviews, Science!, Writing Tagged: career advice, employment, Higher Ed, jobs, Texas
from New software gizmo will tell you what your skills are, match you with the perfect job

GUEST POST: Cheesecake, love, and other mysteries by Laura Pauling

Laura Pauling writes about spies, murder and mystery. She’s the author of the young adult Circle of Spies Series, the Prom Impossible Series, the time travel mysteries, Heist and A Royal Heist, and the Holly Hart Cozy Mystery Series: Footprints in the Frosting and Deadly Independence with more coming.

She lives the cover of a suburban mom/author perfectly, from the minivan to the home-baked snickerdoodles, while hiding her secret missions and covert operations. But shh. Don’t tell anyone. And she may or may not actually bake cookies. You decide.

Laura Pauling

Laura stopped by to chat about cheesecake, love, and other mysteries.

cheesecake, love, & other mysteries

I wanted to write a cozy mystery. That much I knew. All I needed was inspiration in the form of an amateur sleuth. As I waited for the creative winds to blow my way, I happened to chat with a friend.

I found my inspiration.

My friend was branching out and starting her own business–selling cheesecakes! I loved it. I loved that with an already established career, kids, a husband, and two dogs, she was getting creative with her life. Pursuing a dream. Putting in the hard work and long hours it takes to launch a business. Making herself vulnerable.

Love, love, loved it. And I found my amateur sleuth. The facts that my sleuth, Holly Hart, bakes cheesecake and has red hair are the only similarities between her and the real-life inspiration.

How could I not be inspired? How could anyone not be inspired? If only in that it proves that we can do anything we put our mind to. It’s never to late to start a business or write that novel or attempt to combine what we love with what we do, whether it be for money or love.

After I found my sleuth, I dove into writing the mysteries. I have four written and two already published. Footprints in the Frosting came out in May, and Deadly Independence went live early June. If you sign up for my newsletter, you’ll receive a free mystery, Murder with a Slice of Cheesecake, which will release in July.

If you could branch out and try something new or follow a dream, what would it be?

Visit Laura at http://bit.ly/1LvUYUk to sign up for her newsletter and receive a free Holly Hart cozy mystery novella.

Author Links

Purchase Links

Footprints in the Frosting: Holly Hart Cozy Mystery 1
COMING SOON: Deadly Independence: Holly Hart Cozy Mystery 2

BE THE FIRST TO LEARN ABOUT PROMOTIONS, EVENTS, AND NEW RELEASES:

THE MUSUBI MURDER August 2015 Amazon / B&N /Powell’s /Audible / iTunes

Filed under: Author Interviews, Buy, Fun, Writing Tagged: Amazon, book spotlight, career advice, context matters, cozy mystery, funny, Laura Pauling, Mystery, Writing
from GUEST POST: Cheesecake, love, and other mysteries by Laura Pauling

GUEST POST and GIVEAWAY: The Right Kind of Skin (Rhino) by Joanne Guidoccio

In high school, Joanne Guidoccio dabbled in poetry, but it would be over three decades before she entertained the idea of writing as a career. In 2008, she took an early retirement from teaching and decided to launch a second career that would tap into her creative side and utilize her well-honed organizational skills. Before long, Joanne was a working writer; her articles and book reviews were published in newspapers, magazines, and online. Eventually she progressed to fiction, where she finds that reinvention is a recurring theme in her novels and short stories.

Author Joanne Guidoccio

Today, Joanne came by to chat about having the right kind of skin. Rhino skin.

Writers especially will appreciate this:

It behooves you to develop a thicker skin.

Toastmaster Rosalind Scantlebury did not mince words at a recent Table Topics Contest. Responding to the prompt—Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me—she focused on an individual’s responsibility not to take things so personally. She peppered her impromptu talk with provocative comments, among them, “What other people think of you is none of your business.”

Definitely inspiring, especially for writers.

Thirty-one years of teaching adolescents thickened my skin considerably, but I faced different challenges when I embarked on a writing career. I had to learn how to deal effectively with critiques and rejection letters from agents and publishers and, most important of all, acquire that coveted rhino skin.

These are some of the strategies in my toolbox:

Get the Back Story
Whenever I attend readings, I pay special attention to the author’s back story. I like hearing the details about his or her writing journey and the challenges encountered along the way. Occasionally, I pick up valuable nuggets of advice that help me along my own journey. For example, Guelph writer Nicholas Ruddock (The Parabolist) established his platform by entering and placing in short story contests. When New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny couldn’t find a Canadian or American agent, she crossed the pond and approached a British agent.

Read Bad Reviews
If I have enjoyed reading a book, I look up the one-star reviews on Amazon. That’s right, I gravitate toward the negative. While shaking my head at the nitpicking and negative comments, I realize that no author is immune from criticism. Not even authors of best-selling novels can please everyone.

Eliminate the Negative
Some writers file and keep all their rejection letters. I suspect they refer to these letters often and get discouraged all over again. It is important to keep accurate records, but it is not necessary to keep these negative reminders around for future reference. After reading a rejection letter, I update the information on a spreadsheet and delete the file.

Throw More Irons Into the Fire
We’ve all heard the advice. Send out the manuscript and then immediately start on another one. Easier said than done. After writing 70K words and looking at multiple drafts of that manuscript, the thought of starting all over again can be daunting. Instead, I like to work on shorter pieces: book reviews, short stories, articles, more blog posts. Entering contests and taking online writing courses also keep my skills sharp. It is important not to sit around waiting for a response. Some action—any action—is needed.

Get Support
I belong to Crime Writers of Canada, Sisters in Crime, Guppies, and Romance Writers of America. I also participate in discussion boards for The Wild Rose Press and Soul Mate Publishing Authors. I try to attend writing workshops, panels and readings offered within a fifty-mile radius. While interacting with these authors, I get valuable advice and feedback about my work. I appreciate all the help I have received, especially from good friend and fellow writer Patricia Anderson. I had only request: “Let it rip!” And she did, but in a constructive way.

From Toronto based freelancer Ian Harvey…
“Rejections are part of the game, but this is the only game in which rejection doesn’t mean no. It means not now, or not for me, or not for me right now. It doesn’t mean no forever.”

Get Joanne’s latest, A Season for Killing Blondes.

Buy on Amazon

And the giveaway:

Enter to win a $25 Amazon gift card!

Follow Joanne:
Website/Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn/Pinterest/Goodreads/Book Trailer

BE THE FIRST TO LEARN ABOUT PROMOTIONS, EVENTS, AND NEW RELEASES:

THE MUSUBI MURDER August 2015 Amazon / B&N /Powell’s /Audible / iTunes

Filed under: Author Interviews, Buy, Fun, Writing Tagged: Amazon, book spotlight, career advice, context matters, cozy mystery, funny, Joanne Guidoccio, Mystery, politics, rhino skin, Writing
from GUEST POST and GIVEAWAY: The Right Kind of Skin (Rhino) by Joanne Guidoccio

The Complete Opposite of Tuna on Toast | Job-hunting outside academe

How channeling George Costanza saved one woman's career:

Acting like George Costanza — specifically, doing the opposite of everything I’d been counseled for the past decade — is what made me solvent once again. And if you, dear reader, are contemplating an exit from academe (as the boulder of this year’s hiring cycle rolls ever so briefly back to the bottom of the hill) a turn as George might be just what you need.

The following may not sound particularly Costanza-like, but it does contain some excellent advice for job seekers, especially freelance writers:

If, however, you want to put your Ph.D. to use in all sorts of other interesting jobs — editing, translation, freelance research, consulting, grant writing, museum work, teaching at a private secondary school — waiting is for chumps. Instead, be chipper but assertive and seek out people who have the sort of jobs you want, and send them short but admiring emails. Get as friendly as possible with all of those people. Do them favors. Prove yourself to be a solid, go-to specimen of a human. Then, months later, when you need a favor from them — a reference; an introduction — they will usually be happy to give it.

The Complete Opposite of Tuna on Toast | Vitae.

BE THE FIRST TO LEARN ABOUT PROMOTIONS, EVENTS, AND NEW RELEASES:

THE MUSUBI MURDER August 2015 Amazon / B&N /Powell’s /Audible / iTunes

The Complete Opposite of Tuna on Toast | Job-hunting outside academe

How channeling George Costanza saved one woman’s career: Acting like George Costanza — specifically, doing the opposite of everything I’d been counseled for the past decade — is what made me solvent once again. And if you, dear reader, are contemplating an exit from academe (as the boulder of this year’s hiring cycle rolls ever […] http://ift.tt/eA8V8J