How to Make Your Manuscript a Kindle E-Book on Amazon (for Free) - Part 1: Formatting Your Kindle Document

My binder with Amazon's
instructions
for making Kindle e-books.

You may already know about my "Getting Published" series of e-books for writers on Amazon’s Kindle. The first book, "How to Get Published…" came out in February 2014. The second, "Cutting the Passive Voice," released in December 2014. The third, "Book Signings," appeared in May 2015.

What you don’t know is that I actually have twelve books planned in that series. My original intention was to release a new Kindle e-book every two or three months until done. I'm sure this never happens to you, but "life" intervened, I got inundated with other projects, etc., and I my schedule didn’t allow me keep that goal.

I also have a short three-book series from my blog on Bible prophecies. I released two of those e-books but the third is still waiting for my attention.

So with this New Year I'm again working that "Getting Published" Kindle e-book series as well as my "Best of Bible Prophecies Fulfilled" e-book series. I hope to release these e-books regularly – one per month or every other month – until both series are finished. (At least that’s my plan. Unless life intervenes…)

Meanwhile, I’ve had friends who want to make their manuscript(s) into a Kindle e-book(s) and they’ve ask me how to do it. (Tweet that!) It’s not that hard. Really. If I can do it… you know how to finish that sentence.

So I thought while I'm creating all these e-books, I would take notes and post the "how to" on this blog so that you, too, can create your own e-books for Amazon’s Kindle. (Tweet that!)

Honestly, every time I create a Kindle e-book I have to go through the instructions again. (Tweet that!) It’s a multi-step process and it has been a while since I did it last so I need the instructions to walk me though it too. So hopefully these instructions will make it easier and quicker for both of us as we create our next Kindle e-book.

Originally I planned three posts on this topic, but as I’m writing out the notes I think it’s going to take more. So we’ll just go until we get done – however many posts that turns out to be.

Please note this tackles how to make an Amazon Kindle e-book. There are other e-book platforms, but I’ve never made any others so this applies only to Kindle.

You don’t need any special software. (Tweet that!) Use Word. I’m on a PC. If you have a Mac with Word, then there are equivalent commands – I’ll let you figure them out (it shouldn’t be hard).

This post we’ll start by formatting the bulk of your book manuscript as it needs to be to upload it to Kindle. Let’s get started.

PRINT THE INSTRUCTIONS OFF KINDLE'S SITE

Go to Amazon’s Kindle web site to get the instructions. "KDP" stands for Kindle Direct Publishing.

Find the Kindle web site here: https://kdp.amazon.com/

You may need to open your own account to access the directions I want you to print. Sign in with your Amazon account.

Here is a direct link to those instructions: Building Your Book for Kindle

There are the instructions (these are for PCs) and a different document for Mac. So click the link you want. These are printable PDFs. I recommend you go ahead and print it! Without the cover page, it’s only 19 pages and will be well worth it to have this at your fingertips so you don’t have to log in and find it every time you need to look up how to do something.

If you want to see what you're printing, it's all on this Kindle Help Page. In the left-hand column called "Help Topics." Under "Publishing Process"

• Click the second item: "Before You Start Publishing" and a sub-menu opens. 

• The first item is "Getting Started." 

• Under that is "Building Your Book for Kindle." That’s what you want and that’s what I asked you to print out.

After you print the document, write the page numbers on each page so I can refer to them with you. Not counting the cover page, there should be 19 pages, so number them 1 through 19. Then either 3-hole punch the pages or put them in page protectors and then put them in a binder.

I’m not going to go over all of them with you because there’s no need. I’m going to touch on the highlights and share with you tips I’ve learned along the way that make formatting your manuscript for Kindle quicker and easier.

I will be writing these posts from the first document. If you printed the Mac instructions they might vary slightly in commands but I’m sure you can figure that out.

MAKE YOUR KINDLE DOCUMENT FROM WORD

In this first post we’re going to tackle how to format your Word doc to be a Kindle book. So go ahead and open it up in Word.

If you don’t yet have a manuscript, create a short Word document that mimics a couple short chapters to learn with -- just a chapter title and a partial page for each chapter will do.

Keep your printed "Building Your Book for Kindle" instructions handy.

CREATE A TABLE OF CONTENTS

Amazon requires a Table of Contents (TOC) and that each chapter title in the TOC link to the chapter itself so your reader can click and go immediately to where he or she wants to be in your book. Sounds complicated, right? No worries! Word is so cool it will do all this work for you! It’s incredible. I’ll show you how but that comes later. For now we just want to leave a page for it.

Go to the appropriate place in your manuscript. If you have a title page, etc., you want to be below that. If not, just go to the top of your manuscript and type "Table of Contents" then add one line space (hit "enter" once).

Then insert a page break: On the Insert menu on Word click "Page Break." If you have pages before your TOC, also insert a page break before your TOC. We just want it on its own page.

That’s all. We’ll come back to your Table of Contents, but probably not until the next post.

FORMAT YOUR FIRST SECTION

Now go to the first section of your book. This may be your Introduction if you’re writing nonfiction, Prologue if you’re writing fiction, or simply your Chapter 1. For ease of reference, no matter what it is in your manuscript I’m going to call it "Chapter 1."

Now we’re going format your first chapter (or section) for Kindle.

You can scroll through your manuscript and format every chapter title, every subtitle, and all the rest of your chapter text separately. Then you can create your TOC by hand, creating internal links between chapter titles and your TOC. OR you can use "Styles" and let Word do all that work for you, including the links! In other words, you definitely want to use Styles. (Tweet that!)

I learned to use "Styles" in Word in a workshop on formatting e-books at the Colorado Christian Writers Conference. I had never used them before because I really didn’t know what they were. But they have made life making Kindle e-books so incredibly easy!

Just a bit of a warning here: I went home from that conference and created my styles right away. That was several years ago, so now I’m trying to remember just how to do it. You may have to help me out a little bit. I think I used the existing Styles for Heading 1, Heading 2, and Heading 3. Then I think I created one Style myself, which I called "StyleKindle" for the body of my chapters.

Look at your Word document on your screen. At the top of the screen you have your header with your Word menus. You should be on your Home menu (or click Home to get there.)

Now you can see the submenus on the Home menu. They may vary from mine depending on which version of Word you’re using, but they should be similar enough for you to find your way around. You should see submenus for Font and Paragraph and Styles and probably more. Styles has all those boxes, a whole variety of them. They all have AaBbCc at the top. Then different names at the bottom. For example, my first one is named "Emphasis" and I can see that the AaBbCc is in italics. There may be other coding involved in that Emphasis Style (That’s a good thing. You’ll see why in a moment.) – it’s hard to tell unless you use it and see what it does.

To use a Style, highlight the text on your page that you want to apply that Style to, then click the box of the Style you want. It’s that easy.

So, here we go. Highlight (hold your mouse key and swipe all you want highlighted) the title of your first chapter. Don’t grab the line before or after – only the title. Then choose the "Heading 1" Style.

Your chapter title probably changed. It probably went to a larger font, possibly a different font. Mine changes to New Times Roman in 16 point font.

It may have also centered your title also. Your chapter titles probably should be centered.

But more happened that you can’t see: Word also put in coding to put that chapter title in your Table of Contents including the link between your TOC and your actual chapter title. You can’t see it yet because we haven’t inserted your TOC yet. We’ll get to that.

Here’s the thing: If you’ll use the "Header 1" Style for all your book’s section titles, meaning every chapter plus anything else like forewords, epilogues, appendices, etc., then all of those will show up in your Table of Contents. Automatically! Cool, huh?

So all you need to do is scroll through your manuscript (or use Search for the word "chapter" to move immediately to each new chapter), highlight your chapter title, and click "Heading 1." Easy peasy.

SUBHEADINGS YOU WANT IN YOUR TABLE OF CONTENTS

Okay, now let’s say you’re writing a nonfiction book and you have a few subheadings within your chapters. And let’s say you want those subheadings to also show up in your TOC but indented under the chapter’s title. Then use the "Heading 2" Style.

"Heading 2" should make whatever you highlight a larger font than your chapter text, but a smaller font than your chapter title formatted with "Heading 1." But it also adds the invisible coding that will add it to your TOC and add the links.

So scroll through your manuscript to each subheading that you want to show up in your TOC. Highlight the subheading. Click "Heading 2."

You can go another level if you want to. For sub-subheadings that you want to appear in your TOC, use the "Heading 3" Style.

FORMAT YOUR CHAPTER TEXT

Okay, that’s great for your chapter titles and the subheadings in your chapters that you want to appear in your TOC. But what about the rest of your text in your book?

You need to know, if you don’t already, that you cannot do a lot of fancy schmancy stuff for Kindle, such as fancy fonts for your chapter titles, different fonts in your text, etc. I learned this the hard way with my book Deliver Me, which I put on Kindle years ago. Deliver Me is a book of short true stories with my commentary in between. Normally in a print book these would be set off by different fonts. I went to the trouble of doing all that, only to have all the fonts stripped away when I uploaded it to Kindle.

 Kindle likes things "plain Jane." That’s because there are so many different devices (Kindle readers and other electronic devices that read Kindle e-books) that it keeps things simple so they work right across all these different readers.

Kindle devices allow readers to make the font as large or small as they want for their own easy reading, so changing fonts sizes really doesn’t work.  Larger fonts for chapter titles and subtitles works well, but not different sizes within the text.

Also, you don’t want large indents because they’ll look like they go half way across the page. (Some people don’t use indents at all on their Kindle books.)

You also don’t want too much or too little space between each line.

At this point it might be good if you reviewed "Tips for Formatting" in your printed instructions on pages 2-3.

On my Styles menu on Word, I use "Style 1" for the text of my chapters.

Now I can’t remember if "Styles 1" is set up with the following specification or if I had to create it. Nor can I remember if I got this information from the workshop I took at CCWC or from the Kindle instructions in the "Building Your Book for Kindle." But my notes that I use for building my e-books state this:

Use Style 1 for paragraphs. Set:

• Indents at .3
• Line space at 1.5
• .10 after Paragraph

If your Style 1 doesn’t look like it has those specifications, create your own Style. (I think that’s what I did to get my StyleKindle mentioned above.) On your Home menu on Word, look to the right of all the Style boxes. You should see a scroll bar. (Not "Change Styles.") At the bottom there a little box that looks like a dash with an arrow beneath it pointing down. That’s a dropdown menu. Click that little box and when the menu opens you should see the command "Save Selection as a New Quick Style."

Format a paragraph with the font, font size, indent, line space, and .10 after Paragraph as you want it. (I recommend you follow the specifications I gave above.) Then highlight that paragraph and use that command to create your new Style. If I remember right, you’ll get to name it so pick a name that reminds you to use this for the general text in your e-book.

Done!

Now all you have to do is highlight the big chunks of your manuscript – your whole chapters or the chunks in between your subheadings, and click that Style. Word will do all that formatting for you.

Easy peasy pumkin pie.

Don’t highlight over your chapter titles and subheadings or you’ll wipe out the work you did above.

Okay, don’t hate me, but it’s probably easier / quicker to do this step first. But it seemed easier to explain how all this worked first. So you may want to consider, in the future (or now), highlight your entire manuscript and apply your new Kindle style for your chapter text to everything. Then go back through and do all your chapter titles with Heading 1 Style, subheadings with Heading 2 Style, etc.

It may be tedious work. And yes, it will take you some time. But you’re creating your new Kindle e-book! (Tweet that!) Once you have it for sale on Kindle, you’ll be sharing your work and you’ll have a new income stream. Isn’t that exciting? (Tweet that!) Just do the work. You’ll be glad you did.

CREATE YOUR TABLE OF CONTENTS (TOC)

When you are done, return to your Table of Contents page and place your cursor there.

The instructions for this in your "Building Your Book for Kindle" instructions are on page 8 but I’ll walk you thought it.

On your Word menu, click the References menu. At the left-hand side find "Table of Contents." Click the little arrow in the lower left corner to open the dropdown menu.

Click the command "Insert Table of Contents" which opens another dropdown menu.

Un-check the box that says "Show Page Numbers." (E-books don’t use page numbers so you don’t want it to put in the page numbers of your Word document.)

Set the Levels to "Heading 1" unless you have more layers of subheadings, and then set it only to the level of subheadings you want to show in your TOC.

Click "OK." Your Table of Contents should magically appear. Whenever you make changes that affect your TOC, just repeat these steps to refresh and update it.

There’s one more step: Follow the "Set a bookmark..." instructions on page 8 of your "Building Your Book for Kindle" printout.

DIANNE’S TIP: CREATE YOUR OWN KINDLE E-BOOK TEMPLATE

Once you have all this in place and your document saved, I recommend you make yourself a Template for future Kindle E-books. Do this:

Make sure you have saved your document. Then re-save the same document with a new file name, like Kindle Template.

When you have time, you can go through and deleted most of the content of your first chapter, leaving only a little as a place holder with all your formatting. You can delete the rest of the document if you want to.

The next time you want to make a Kindle E-book, just open this document, re-save it with the title of your new e-book, and then replace your chapter title with your new chapter title. All the needed formatting is already there.

Then just start typing your new book into the chapter (deleting that place holder text).

End all chapters with a "Page Break" from the "Insert" Menu.

When you start a new chapter, simply copy and paste the chapter title and place holder text, delete the text and replace with your new chapter title, reserving all the codes for each Style, and carry on.

Thats' more than enough for this post. Please join me for the next post and we’ll talk about creating your front matter, back matter, and inserting images.

If you can’t wait and want to finish creating your Kindle e-book now, you have all the instructions printed out in your binder. You can do it! If you do, let us know how it goes in the comment section below. You can leave a link to your book if you want to, however I request that you only include G-rated content. I reserve the right to remove any content I find objectionable. Thanks.

COVER REVEAL!

(Tweet this!)

No one has seen these yet, so I’d be pleased to share with you the two e-books I’m working on now and hoping to release soon. For the first time, here’s my cover reveal! Drum roll please!

Query Letters:
How to Write the Query (and Cover)
Letter You Dread to Magazine
Editors and Book Publishers

I will be teaching a workshop on writing Query Letters at the Writers on the Rock conference on Saturday, February 27th, 2016. (Use the discount code "Pueblo" for 10% off.) This workshop as well as this e-book are based on my most popular pamphlet, "Conquering the Dreaded Query Letter." I'm working to get this e-book ready for its release to coincide with that workshop.

Update February 5, 2016:

Now Available for Pre-Order!

Pre-Order your copy now!
The 7 Feasts of the LORD
Bible Prophecies Fulfilled Blog Series

The 7 Feasts of the LORD is now available for pre-order on Kindle.

Currently sent for release on April 21, this date will likely move up to a sooner release date.

Get it as soon as it releases. Pre-Order yours today here: The 7 Feasts of the LORD.

This is the third book in my "Best of Bible Prophecies Fulfilled" blog. I'm working to get this book out well before the first annual Feast of the Lord 2016, which is Passover. I hope to have it out before Easter. Interestingly there is nearly a month between those two holy days, which usually correspond. This e-book will help you understand why.

Want to know when I release a new Kindle e-book? To be notified by e-mail, visit my Amazon Author Page at amazon.com/author/diannebutts and click the big yellow "Follow" button under my photo.

Which manuscript are you going to work on this month to make into a Kindle e-book on Amazon?

Calling All Writers, Novelists, Screenwriters: Dianne's Challenge for 2016 and Beyond - Go Rogue!

A Challenge in the Wilderness
Image by Morguefile.com

I've been thinking about this for a long time, and I decided the beginning of the New Year would be a good time to share my thoughts and a Challenge with you.

I've been thinking about the state of the United States and our world. I see us -- that is, human society -- in decline all over the world. I see the United States in decline -- morally, which affects us politically, spiritually, and in every other way -- and that makes me very sad.

But it's not just the United States. I see the same in the whole world. The results are increasing threats and actual events of violence, terrorism, crime, rumors of war, and more. The world has been simmering for a while and seems to be on the brink of boiling over.

The Power of Writers

So what does this have to do with writers and writing? I've been thinking a lot about our Power as writers. (Tweet that!) That Power has been used well in many instances. However I've been thinking more about how that Power has been mis-used: used for wrong, for bad, and has contributed to the moral decline.

I notice the Power of Writers more when I'm watching TV or a movie, but I believe other writers have just as much power (Tweet that!) -- whether writing novels or nonfiction, for magazines or newspapers, editorials, opinions, or even blogs. Even commercials ads in print or video involve writers. And so I want to talk to all writers of every type, whether I've listed you here or you write for another venue.

Writers are the starting place for so much of what the world consumes (Tweet that!): Books. Newspaper articles. Online articles. TV shows start with the creators and the scripts. So do movies. Not only the main show, but all the commercials or ads in between. Even the news shows begin with a writer putting something into text to put on the teleprompter.

As consumers we probably watch a lot more TV that movies. TVs are in our homes and most of us have them on every day, watching our favorite shows every week, taking in and digesting stories every single day.

Famous line used in Spider-Man.

Those of you who are avid readers may have your nose (and mind) in a book, newspaper, or tablet computer more than your TV on.

Whatever your preferred method of receiving information and entertainment, that's a lot of hours.

That's a lot of influence. That's a lot of power.

What is Being Done with The Power of Writers

If you are anything like me and my family, who prefer to watch more of the family-friendly material with what many now consider "old fashioned values," then it's hard to watch much on TV or in the movies any more. I know a lot of Christians who lament the state of television and movies. 

In the past few years there has been a surge of Christian and/or other faith-based movies -- some wildly successful, some flops. I believe we're only seeing the beginning of that trend and I expect there to be more coming in the future. This is a direct result of the many Christian groups and organizations that have taken root in Hollywood in the past decade or so. We are beginning to see the fruit of their labor and their prayers. Also, many production companies have taken root outside of Hollywood, in other parts of the country, and have made Christian faith-based films that have seen a huge audience.

But still, much of what we watch has content that offends our Christian values. Different families have different tolerance levels for different content. While my family may tolerate more violence than others may want (favorite movies of mine include "Terminator," "Die Hard," and "Lethal Weapon"), other families may tolerate more sexual content that I want. 

The type of content that bothers me the most is the sexual content in TV shows and movies. TV shows have, in my opinion, "normalized" sexual conduct that according to Christian values is not acceptable at all. Yes, I'm talking about characters having sex outside of marriage. This is nothing new in TV or movies, but now days I fear most people, including Christians, watch it in their living rooms and take it in without much thought.

I didn't watch The Big Bang Theory for many years for this very reason. I'll admit I've been watching it the past year or so. I love the humor. I love the characters. They have endeared themselves to my heart and I love what the writers do show after show. But the fact does not escape me that in nearly every single show sex is not only freely talked about, it is experienced. Many of the characters have slept with many different partners. Sex with anyone at any time is commonplace. I find this disturbing.

In more recent years, homosexual relationships have become commonplace in TV shows. As a matter of fact, it seems to me that all TV shows now seem to think they need to have their "token gays." Every show seems to think it must have a homosexual. Some of these homosexual characters come for an episode or two, or some become regulars. 

Another show my family enjoys very much is Major Crimes, the offshoot of The Closer" But the character, Rusty, a troubled young teenager who has been taken in by the good people of the Major Crimes Division, has come out as gay, which was completely acceptable to every character on the show, and his awkward journey to learn how to negotiate his gay relationships has become center stage. I don't want to watch that. It's not welcome in my living room.

My family has stopped watching several shows because of the homosexuality in them. We're closing to calling it quite with Major Crimes, as much as we like the rest of the show. But see how it sneaks in? Instead of booting it out of our living room for good, we put up with "a little." And then that little grows to be more prominent. 

Lest you think it's only fiction in these shows, the age of "coming out" has shown it's real life too. Just a couple of examples: Jim Parsons who plays Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory is openly homosexual. Zachary Quinto who plays Spok in the new series of Star Trek movies is openly homosexual.

I realize those who create and produce TV shows are just trying to connect with their audience and provide what they think their audience wants. This may be a new thought to you: They are not leaders. They are followers -- following what they think society wants. What YOU want.

Free sex and homosexuality and more have become cool, and they are presented as cool in so many shows. It's unfortunate but it's as if the children are running the show and adults are not allowed. I've come to think of Hollywood as a teenager that never grows up. There are no boundaries. There's no discipline. There's no accountability.

As I'm writing this I wonder how much of a blow-back this blog post is going to get. Am I going to get slammed for implying or saying outright that homosexuality is wrong? If you watched the short video included with the page linked to Zachary Quinto above, you may have noticed he said he has not noticed any problems at all with his career in Hollywood since he came out as gay. Yet Christian actors, such as Kevin Sorbo, Stephen Baldwin, and Jim Caviezel, say it has hurt their careers to come out as Christian. (Tweet that!) Isn't it interesting what is now is honored and applauded and what some now attempt to peer-pressured away?

Pushing the Envelope

So you're probably thinking by now, what's my point? My point is that as writers, we have the power to write stories with characters who are moral, who are good and godly and live in ways that are of good moral conduct. I believe there is a huge audience out there that is hungry for just such characters. The surprising box office numbers of Christian faith-based films supports my belief.

A few months ago I had the privilege of mentoring a small group of writers. While the guidelines for the group did not require participants to be Christians, the rules were that their writings would expound upon a Bible verse and would promote Christian values. Not surprisingly some of them pushed the envelope when it came to Christian morals. 

That's okay. I'm not saying stories, even Christian stories, can't have worldly elements. Of course they can and, at times, even must in order to tell a good story that has meaning. (If you don't think Christian stories can have such things as violence, sex outside of marriage, adultery, rape, and even homosexuality, you haven't been reading your Bible.) 

But I've noticed that most of the time it seems that writers seem to think their stories MUST have those elements, like TV shows seem to think they must have their token gays. I'm trying to determine if this is just among young writers (either in age/generation or those of any age but young writers as in just starting out as writers). I haven't figured that one out yet.

I don't mean to pick on my young writers who I was mentoring. I've just been thinking about all of this for so long that I was really pleased that group gave me the opportunity to share my thoughts and to issue my own heart-felt challenge to one up-and-coming writer.

He gave me an opportunity to issue my challenge for the first time. This is the same challenge I want to issue to you now. 

My Challenge to You - Go Rogue!

This is an excerpt, edited and tweaked for you, of what I wrote to that young writer, and now I'm challenging you to the same:

I see young (or even older) storytellers wanting to "push the envelope" in their stories. Hollywood has been pushing the envelope for a very long time. Hollywood has pushed the envelope in directions that are not good or godly.

We can also use our power as writers to push the envelope in a different direction – toward the good, the godly. In other words, we can have powerful scenes without being obscene, or gay, or violent, or ___ (fill in the blank).

In Hollywood, this would be truly going rogue and truly pushing the envelope.

Perhaps in book publishing or any other kind of writing this is also going rogue and pushing the envelope.

I hope more Christians writers, whether in print or online or in film, will use their Writer-Power to push the envelope, Hollywood, and the world, in a good and godly direction. (Tweet that!)

That's my challenge to myself as well.

When you look at your goals for 2016 and beyond, how might you take this challenge and determine to use your Power as a Writer to affect the world for good?

Writing Stories: What Your Story Needs - Part 2

iStock © AlbanyPictures

Last month we talked about four things that your story needs to have to be an effective story or a story that "works." This month we're going to go further in story telling and talk about Main Characters that are not effective and how to make them work. But first...

Special Note:

Before we get to this month's topic, however, I want to tell you I've found a fantastic product for writers that has helped me so much it's incredible. I'll tell you more about it at the end of this post, or if you don't want to wait, visit the new page on this blog: click the tab above or click here: Amazing Product for Writers.


Now, let's talk about Main Characters that are not effective. (Tweet that!) Last month I mentioned "passive characters" -- characters that are victims. They have sad stories and a lot has happened to them, but they are not active in wanting something. Passive characters have no movement so they don't carry the story forward.

Another problem character is the main character who is too good. For example, what if your main character has already "arrived," meaning he or she seems to already "know it all."  (Tweet that!)

One example of a character who has already "arrived" is the character many Christian writers want to put in their stories. That is, the Christian character who is already "saved." This character wants to share what they have and show the rest of the world that they need to be saved too. This is a formula for a preachy, overbearing story. (Tweet that!)

What do you need to do with these problem character to save your story?

Back Up Your Main Character

For know-it-all characters who have already "arrived," and for passive characters, you need to back that character up to a place or point in time before s/he knew that information, before s/he learned it, before s/he "arrived." (Tweet that!)

Then, let your character coming to that knowledge be part of the story. (Tweet that!) Showing your character acquiring this knowledge also allows you to show that growth in the character. When your audience sees that character learn it, they will also learn it and you will achieve the "theme" or "message" of your story (see previous post) without coming off as preachy.

Including this part of your character's story will also help you flesh out the middle part or Act 2 of your story, which is often a problem area. Some call it a middle that "sags."

How to Back Your Main Character Up

Just how do you back a character up like this? How can you use this to help improve your story and your character? What do you do with them?

Here are four ideas. This is not necessarily a "pick one" list. It may be best to do all of these!

As an example, I'm using one of my recent stories. It's a story about forgiveness. My main character could not move forward and do what she needed to do until she forgave a certain person in her life. But how does she come to that knowledge?

First, I gave her some common (but wrong) ideas about forgiveness, including these thoughts:

•  "That can never be forgiven." 
• And "Somethings are unforgiveable."

Then, I used these four ways to help her discover more about forgiveness:

1.) The Character Has a Need for It or Needs to Know It

I gave my character something huge in her past that she needs to be forgiven for, although she doesn't know that is even possible.

2.)  Another Character Models It

Then, my main character witnesses another character in the story forgiving someone else (not the main character). In seeing this modeled, the main character becomes aware that some people are willing to forgive, even though a big part of her distrusts that it's for real.

3.) The Character Experiences It for Her/Himself

Then, my main character experiences being forgiven. She is forgiven by someone other than the character in #2 above.

Had she not seen that other character (in #2 above) forgive someone else, she would not have known or believed it were possible. But because she witnessed it, the closed door in her heart opened just a crack and so when she herself is forgiven, though it is "unbelievable" (according to her former self), she believes it (this is her new, changed self).

4.) S/He Wants To Do That Herself

Because she has experienced forgiveness for that huge secret in her past, she now not only believes forgiveness -- and forgiving -- is possible, but has also experienced the unbelievable feeling of freedom from that burden. This has opened in her a freedom to love and so much more. She now knows it as only someone with first-hand experience possibly can.

With this new-found knowledge and experience, she now knows what she must do -- and she is determined to do it.

In 3-Act structure, this point is the end of Act 2 and the beginning of Act 3. This is the point where she moves forward to the climax of the story, where she puts everything on the line and everything is at stake. She will either gain everything or lose everything. But either way, she moves forward to the climax of the story and there's no looking back, no going back.


All of these different learning experiences become subplots utilizing your secondary characters to carry them out. This, then, fleshes out your story and gives strong support to the middle of your story.

If you're having trouble with your story, I suggest you take a look at your main character. Make sure that their learning and changing is ahead of them, not behind them. Back them up if you need to. Then use the four ideas above to find a way for them to learn what they need to know. You audience will learn with them. Then you can move ahead with your story!

An Amazing Product for Writers:

I have discovered a software product that has been incredibly helpful for me. I discovered and bought it about a year ago and I have told my husband a zillion times that it's the best money I ever spent. It's called "Plot Control." There's a lot to it, but in a nutshell there are two really valuable parts:

• It's a software that you can put your notes into and then move them around and add to them like index cards on a cork board. (Yes, a lot like Scrivener, but...)

• It also has a series of questions that you can apply to your story that are amazing. This part, for me, has been pure gold. This is what has helped me develop my stories to a point where I can easily write them. I love this!

I've never gone out of my way to ask to be a sales affiliate of a product before, but I so love Plot Control that I actually did ask them if I could be an affiliate market for them. Disclosure: Please know that if you buy through my link I will receive a commission on your purchase.  But I believe in this product so much I really wanted to bring it to you.

I offer all my best advice on this blog for free. Any commissions I receive will help pay for my time I spend bringing helpful articles to you, so if you choose to purchase Plot Control or their other products I hope you will honor me with a click through my affiliate link.

To learn more you can click the tab at the top of this blog or click here: "Amazing Product for Writers"

To go straight to the product page to learn more about it, click here:

PLOT CONTROL

My Christmas book on sale this month:

I have a limited quantity of my popular Christmas book still available. This book makes a great Christmas study and a great gift. If you'd like one, please order through Amazon's "See All Buying Options" and choose "Connect Books":

Prophecies Fulfilled in the Birth of Jesus
by
Dianne E. Butts
Please order from Connect Books.

(Tweet this please!)

Also available, e-books for Writers:

Cutting the Passive Voice

How to Get Published

Book Signings

Related Article:

• Writing Stories: What Your Story Needs - Part 1

Writing Stories: What Your Story Needs - Part 1

iStock (c) Albany Pictures

Recently I participated in the 168 Film Project's "Write of Passage" contest as a Development Executive (DE). This is a volunteer position which is a sort of "mentor" for those participating in the contest. This is the third year I've mentored writers in this contest as a DE. Serving as a mentor has put me in an excellent position to see what stories need in order to "work." (Tweet that!)

The 168 Film Project is an organization that runs two contests: one for film producers, the other for writers. Both contests run one week (which is 168 hours, hence the name). Both contests require contestants to base their stories on an assigned Bible verse. Once the verse is assigned, that marks the beginning of the 168 hours of the contest. In the 168 Film Project contest, participants produce a short film (limit 10 minutes) in 168 hours. Teams write the script as well as accomplish all pre- and post- production. In the "Write of Passage" (WOP) contest, each writer (or team) writes a short film (limit 12 pages) in 168 hours.

In the WOP, a Development Executive is assigned to guide a group of six writers, who work individually, through the week. The DE reads and critiques their scripts multiple times throughout the week. It's a great learning experience for writers if you have any interest in screenwriting. It's also valuable for learning how to tell an effective story because story structure is crucial in a short story or short film.

I hope no one tuned out at the words "story structure." Even if you're a writer -- whether for print for for screen -- who, as they say, writes "by the seat of your pants" (meaning, no outline, no synopsis, you just follow the characters and see what they do), you still must have structure to your story for it to work. Okay, I can hear the arguments swarming, but I believe that wholeheartedly. No story structure = no effective, working story. You can argue among yourselves while I move on.

Being the mentoring guide, the Development Executive, for six writers in each of the past three years has taught me a lot about what a story needs in order to be effective, or to "work."

Now, one interesting thing is, these are things we all probably already know. We've heard them in writing classes and workshops. We've read them in books. But when you see it in practice, you learn it better. That's what has happened for me. I keep telling my writers whom I mentor through the contest that I learn at least as much from them as they do from me. It's true, whether they believe me or not.

Even so, let me share some of the things I have learned about what a story needs to have. Even if these sound familiar, I'm sure I'll say them in a different way and hopefully they will help you grow in your story telling, whether you're writing fiction for print, writing for the screen, or even writing nonfiction that uses story-telling techniques.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, or a complete formula, of what a story needs. These are just four items I've seen that a story need to have in order to "succeed."

1.) A Story Needs to Have Conflict

No conflict = no story. If there is no conflict, then it's just a list of facts:

"Johnny went to the story. Johnny saw Suzy. They went for coffee. They spent the day together..."

B o r i n g. This leaves the reader asking, "So what? Why am I reading this?" A story always has to answer the "so what?" question. Otherwise you're wasting the reader's time. (Tweet that!) The only way to have a "so what" in your story is to have conflict ... something that needs to be dealt with, a problem that needs to be overcome. That's conflict. The bigger the conflict, the better the story.

When you're designing your story (yes, seat-of-the-pants-writers, I mean you too), avoid "internal conflicts," especially when writing for the screen. Yes, there can be stories with internal conflicts but external conflicts -- meaning involving other people -- are easier to portray and to write. You can have internal dialog to convey internal conflict in a written story but, as you know, it's far better story-telling to "show rather than tell." For internal conflicts you must tell the reader what is happening by telling the character's internal thoughts. It's just better to show the story through action.

But if you are writing for the screen, you really need external conflict. Suppose I'm your producer and/or director. If all you have is internal conflict going on, how am I supposed to put that on the screen?

If you've studied story structure, you may have heard these terms:

• Ordinary World
• Inciting Incident

A story starts by showing the main character's ordinary world -- things as they are before any conflict happens.

Then something happens that changes the ordinary world and sets the story in motion. That incident incites the story.

That's conflict. Don't leave this out of your story or else you don't have a story.

2.) A Story Needs a Theme or Message

I know what you're thinking. You've always heard or been taught, "Don't start with the message." You've heard when we start with the message, the story comes off "preachy" or at least cheesy.

You know me. I tend to go rogue. So I disagree with this. If I don't have a message or a theme, what's the point of writing the story? (Tweet that!)

I'm not completely sure about this, but I think perhaps if you're writing ONLY for entertainment, then it's okay to not have a theme or a message. And it is okay to write solely for entertainment if that's what you want to do. But still, the really good stories, the ones that we love and that stick with us and that we want to see over and over, have a theme or a message.

And if you are like me, a Christian who writes to make Christ known, then why write something "only" for entertainment? It's a waste of my time here on earth. (Tweet that!)

Your theme or message answers the questions: What are you really trying to say through your story? What important points are you communicating? What is the message of your story?

You may not start with the message. Your theme/message may come out and become clear to you as you develop your story.

If you start with a message and develop a story around it, you may have to work double-hard to develop and authentic story so it's not simply preaching a sermon. But that's okay. You can do it.

I'm just saying, in my opinion, it's best to have a message. Tell it well. Through story.

And here's a hint: When you've nailed down your theme/message, have a secondary character state it early on in your screenplay. I think that might work well for novels, short stories, and novellas, too. (Watch for that in your favorite movies and see if you don't discover it.)

3.) A Story Needs a Main Character Who WANTS Something

Here's one I struggle with every time I design a story. This is something I've been learning and when I realize this is what I'm missing in my story, it helps me tremendously.

The main character in the story needs to want something. This want gives forward motion to the story. There also needs to be something that prevents your main character from getting what they want. This creates conflict. (You remember #1, right?)

Thanks Morguefile.com 

If your character does not want something, you may have a character that is too passive. A passive character is one who is not doing anything but has everything done to them. For example, the abused character, the crime victim, or the widowed character. A passive character is a problem because there is no forward motion to carry the story forward. (Tweet that!) Give your character a "want," then let them go after it.

A character's "want" could be revenge, justice, or new love. Or his or her want could be wanting to move up in his company or own her own business.

Now, this "want" is different from what they are going to actually get through the story. But what they get in the story is infinitely better for them, they just don't know it at the outset of the story.

When, through your story, the character gets this better thing instead of what they originally wanted, they are a changed character. They have changed. Which leads to #4...

4.) A Story Needs a Character to CHANGE

If you do not have a change in a character, then you do not have a story. (Tweet that!)

Most often the changed character is the main character, however in some stories the main character does not change but instead changes others around them. As I was trying to think of an example of that, I thought of the story of Jesus.

When Jesus came to earth, He wanted people to know the one true God (which He was -- God come in the flesh) and He wanted to bring salvation to the world through His sacrificial death for sin on the cross. Jesus had a lot of opposition -- both from enemies and even from His friends and family. These things could have changed Him, but they did not. Instead, Him coming in flesh changed all the people around Him -- some for good as they followed Him, others for bad as their evil hearts were revealed. In the end, And the world has been changed ever since.

This change is your story or character arc. This arc makes the story. It means it is all going somewhere. This somewhere the story is taking us gives the story meaning and purpose and answers the question, "So what?"



Next month we'll talk more about what stories need to be successful. Specifically, we'll talk about what to do when your main character is already too good or has already "arrived." What do you need to do with that character to save your story? I have some ideas and I'll share them in my next post.

Which Rights are Right to Buy for Your Compilation? - How to Write a Compilation - Part 4

These are some of the compilation
books Dianne has contributed to.

I received a follow up question from Pierre (who started this whole series with his question on how to write a compilation). He asked me about the "rights" to the stories that we, the one who is putting together the compilation, purchase from the writers who contribute. (Tweet that!) So this month let's talk about "rights" to your written work.

This will apply not only to authors heading up a compilation project but also to  writers who write for magazines, compilations, or other short works. (Tweet that!)

First we will talk about each type of rights. Then I will talk about how this right might apply to you in the context of gaining permission to use other authors' written stories in your compilation books. (Tweet that!)

Disclaimer: 

I'm not an attorney. What follows are my own understandings and unofficial definitions of the rights to our written pieces as we sell them to publishers (or purchase / obtain them as a publisher) based on my own research and work experience. You may want to consult an attorney. Other people may have different opinions. If you're writing a compilation, make sure you clearly communicate what you intend to purchase or obtain in your contract with writers.

For rights to your entire book manuscript when you are ready to sell it to a publisher, it would be best to ask someone with more experience in that area.

First Rights:  

The right to publish a piece first. Offered to one publication exclusively because only one place can publish it first. You can only sell First Rights once. Often publishers pay more for first rights. Sometimes seen as: FNASR which stands for "First North American Serial Rights." This includes the United States and Canada. If you sell FNASR it's possible to sell first rights again to a publisher outside of North America (Europe, South America, Australia, etc.).

If you are obtaining stories for a compilation book, you need to decide if you want only material that has never before been published. Is it necessary that you be the first one to publish this piece? Or are you willing take already-published material? Make a decision and go with it.

Consideration the overlap of your audience with the audience of wherever they piece has been published before. What are the odds someone has already read this? If that chance is small, why not take previously published material? You'll have more writers able to send you material if you will accept "Second" or "Reprint" rights.

Second Rights: 

The same as Reprint Rights. The right to publish a manuscript that has already been published, after it has appeared in another publication. Usually understood to be a simultaneous submission, although some markets accept reprints but not simultaneously. Savvy writers should specify on their manuscripts if they are submitting simultaneously.

If you are obtaining stories for a compilation book and are willing to take previously-published material, state in your guidelines that you will accept "Second" or "Reprint" rights.

Note: Even if a written piece has sold two, three, four times or more, these are still called "Second Rights."

Reprint Rights: 

The same as Second Rights. See above.

One Time Rights:  

The right to publish the work one time. This may (or may not) also be the first the time the piece has been published, so if it has not been published before the first rights will also be gone.

If you are obtaining stories for a compilation book, think about if you will want to use the same material in another project? If you might, you don't want to obtain One Time Rights. If you do think this is the only time you'll publish the material, this might be the way to go.

You don't need to pay more if it is the first time it is published. You're buying or obtaining the right to use the material once, in your compilation book. It doesn't matter to you if it's the first time the piece has been published or not. If you want to use the material again somewhere down the road, you'll have to go back to the author and ask them for more rights.

Simultaneous Rights: 

This means the writer is offering the same piece to more than one publisher at the same time. It is not exclusive rights to anyone. Usually these are reprinted materials.

Savvy writers should inform all parties involved that the piece is being offered elsewhere at the same time, however they are not required to give you a list of the other publications.

If you are obtaining stories for a compilation book and you feel you need that information to know if your audience might overlap with another publication's audience that might publish it at the same time, ask the writer where else it has been submitted. Writers should not refuse to give that information if asked.

Writers often offer simultaneous rights for timely manuscripts that will be out of date soon, such as breaking news stories. However at times it is simply a way of speeding up the submission process to offer the piece to more publishers and get more pay checks, which is certainly understandable from the writer's perspective.

All Rights:  

Just what it says: you would be purchasing or obtaining all rights to the piece.

This means you will basically own it as if you had written it. The writer will no longer have any right to it at all.

You would be able to reprint it as often as you like, use it in other books, and do pretty much anything you want to with it, all without paying the writer anything more and never getting any more rights.

Sound good? Think again. I advise writers to NEVER sell All Rights.

Most writers make precious little from their written pieces they sell. So writers need to sell their work again and again. This means that if you are going to insist on obtaining All Rights to any written piece, savvy writers are going to be reluctant to work with you. You're going to have a hard time filling your compilation. And you're not going to have happy writers.

Think it through. Do you really need all the rights? Why? It may be good for your book and your sales if your authors do sell their stories elsewhere. You can ask them, as a courtesy if they sell their piece elsewhere please tag it with the words, "This story first appeared in [Name of Your Compilation]." Voila. You just increased your exposure of your book exponentially. See what a smart compilation author you are?

Work for Hire: 

This is when you, as the publisher, come up with an idea and hire a writer to write it. It's your idea – and you own it. The writer is usually paid a flat fee, not royalties. All Rights then belong to the publisher (you).

If you have stories you need written for your compilation, you can hire a writer to write it for you. Make sure they understand you will own all the rights to it when they are finished. Put that in writing and get their signature. A lot of writers make their living doing work like this, so it's a win / win for you and them.

Electronic Rights: 

If you plan to make your compilation book an electronic book (e-book), make sure you put that in your contract.



The important thing is know what rights you are buying or obtaining and that you make sure you clearly communicate that to the writers, put it in writing, and get their signature on it. (Tweet that!) It may be very wise to consult an attorney. Then you can move ahead with your compilation book with confidence.

How to Write a Compilation - Part 3

Dianne has contributed to all
these compilations
(and more).

In this part 3 of my "How to Write a Compilation" we'll talk about the legal issues including the contract you'll need to create for your contributors to sign, then a little about publishing your compilation book, marketing your book, and keeping the whole project organized.

I've also received a follow up question from Pierre (who started this whole series with his question on how to write a compilation). He asked me about the "rights" to the stories that we, the one who is putting together the compilation, purchase from the writers who contribute. I know I said last month this would be the third and final post on how to write a compilation, but now I'm thinking next month we should talk about "rights." This is apply not only to authors heading up a compilation project, but also to  writers who write for magazines, compilations, or other short works,


At the very end of this post you'll find descriptions of what's in Part 1 and Part 2 of "How to Write a Compilation" plus links to those blog posts.

Legal

You are going to need some kind of written agreement between you and your contributors to your compilation book. You need to have this agreement in writing. You're going to have to create your own agreement because nobody else is going to do it.

When I did my compilation, Deliver Me, these stories were very personal and private. I had to make sure nobody was sharing someone else's story who would sue me! Hiring a lawyer was not the answer in the beginning because a lawyer doesn't know what I needed for a publishing contract. 

Luckily for me I had contributed to many compilations and had signed a contract for nearly every one of them and so I had those samples to work from. I "copied" the parts out of several and tweaked them for my needs. Once I had my agreement the best I knew how to make it, THEN I hired a lawyer to go over it for me. I explained to her what I was doing, explained the added privacy issues involved, and asked her to make sure my contract covered me well so I wouldn't get sued. It cost me a little (a couple hundred $ if I recall accurately), but I felt it was well worth it for that project. And I have not had any problems. Of course before the contract I communicated clearly with every author individually making sure they understood this was going to be published so anyone could read it. Did they have permission to share the store from anybody referenced in their story? Are they sure it was going to be okay? They were all eager and adamant about wanting to share their stories. So when the contract came there were no surprises.

These are Dianne's six books.
The one on the top (Deliver Me) and the one on the
bottom (Grandparenting Through Obstacles)
are compilations.

By the way, for those who wrote "as told to" stories for other people, I not only had the writer sign the contract, I also required that they, the writer, get their interview subject to sign it as well. In some instances I needed several signed agreements for one story. Don't be shy about doing this. I had to make sure I had permission to use the story and I had to have that permission in writing. A "verbal" agreement just won't do for something so vitally important. Taking such care has served me well and you should take such care with your compilation.

     About privacy: 

Every time I write about private issues, and every time I work with someone else who is writing about deeply personal stories or issues, the question comes up, "Should I share that part or not?" 

Here's my personal rule: Ask yourself (or the writer or person): "Do I/you feel ANY hesitation or reservation at all about sharing this? For any reason? "

If the answer is yes, DON'T SHARE IT. The reason for this is because once it is published, you can't get it back. It's out there. Even more so in our age of the internet. So if you have ANY thought that maybe you shouldn't say that, don't. 

If later you change your mind and become certain you want to share this story (or this part of a story), there will be future opportunities to share it. 

However if you, or they, share it and then change your/their mind and wish you hadn't, it's too late. You can't undo that any more than you can un-ring a bell.

Always remember PEOPLE are more important than the PROJECT. Remember people are your priority, not the project, and you'll do fine. (Tweet that!) I would rather give up the whole project than irreparably hurt one person. Honor the people involved and most often they will honor you. (Tweet that!)

     Get Permission in Writing

Some of my original stories I had for Deliver Me were amazing. However it took so many years to see the book to completion that I lost contact with the persons involved with those first stories. The phone numbers and email addresses they'd given me were no longer good. I could not get the signed permissions I needed, so I had to scrap the stories. This made me very sad, but I simply could not use the stories without permission, and without that permission in writing. Don't fudge on this. You'll be in trouble if you do.

The rule here is: 

No signed agreement? No published story in the book! (Tweet that!)

     What to Include in Your Written Agreement

Please understand I am not an attorney and this is not legal advice. I'm only offering a little help from my own experiences. You need to seek out whatever professional you need to help you with your project. 

In general, here are some of the topics to address in your written agreement with your writers:

1. Rights. Which rights are you buying and which rights is the writer selling? Do you want to use the story exclusively? Or is it okay with you if the writer sells it elsewhere also? Do you want to use the story FIRST? What if the writer sells it elsewhere and it is published there before your book comes out? 
2. Payment.
3. That their story is not infringing on anyone else's rights, etc.

Just a note: On the cover of my Deliver Me book it says "edited by" and then my name. My cover designer did that and I didn't object. You can call yourself the "author" if you want, even if you didn't write everything in the book. Technically, that's what you are, I believe. (Others may have another opinion possibly.) You can call yourself the editor as I did, because you're surely going to go over every story and edit it for your own tone and theme and corrections. (Minor edits like this are okay, but you should never change the meaning of what the writer wrote without them knowing an approving the changes. Don't "enhance" the story, etc.) Or you can call yourself the compiler: "Compiled by...".

Staying Organized

By now you have your writer's guidelines going out and hopefully submissions coming in. You're picking the stories you want to use and you need to make sure you communicate with each writer about all the contract details. You have to answer different questions from each one. You may have asked for edits or changes to make some stories better. And you won't want to miss getting a signed agreement. In other words, you have a lot going on and you need a way to keep track of everything.

I made a checklist for everything I needed per story: 

• contract/permissions, 
• bio for the back of the book, 
• name that goes on the byline, 
• mailing address where I was to send the contributor's copy and check, etc. 

Then I made a notebook with a divider for every story. I put a checklist behind every divider. Then I checked things off as they were done. When the signed contract came back I 3-hole punched it and put it in the notebook. (Tweet that!) I have those notebooks to this day in case there is ever a question about permissions or contracts or anything else. 

As a sample I'm sharing sharing my actual Contributor Checklist that I used for Deliver Me here as a sample:

Dianne's Contributor Checklist in PDF

Publishing

You may want to publish your compilation book independently or you may want to try to interest a traditional publisher in it. That's a whole discussion in itself which I talked about in my January 1, 2014, post here:

• What You Need to Know about Book Publishers BEFORE Publishing Your Book

Marketing

As with any book don't forget to plan how you're going to market your book.

Try to get your contributors to help you market the book, but don't expect a lot. (Tweet that!) It's your baby, not theirs, so you're the one that will best champion your baby to the world. But here are some ideas:

• Brainstorm ways Contributors can market the book. Make a list and provide it to them. Be careful not to be overwhelming. It might be better to give a short list regularly than a long list all at once.

• Maybe start with small circles and work outward, meaning start with the contributors' families, then their towns, then their circles of influence (organizations, ministries), then nearby cities, then their states, etc.

• Maybe create opportunities that they can jump on board with as their schedules allow, such as a Facebook Event or a Goodreads Event. 

• If your contributors are in your area, or are where you'll be on vacation, maybe you can organize a get-together or an in-store author event book signing. (For help with your in-store author book signing event, see my newest e-book for writers called Book Signings).

Final Thoughts:

Look at other compilations for examples of all these various items discussed here, including Writers Guidelines, how the book is organized, etc. One very successful series of compilation books is, of course, the Chicken Soup for the Soul books. Learn more about them at www.ChickenSoup.com.

That's all I can think of about writing and organizing compilation books. If you have a question that I didn't address, leave it as a comment below and maybe together we can discuss an answer for you. 

Have you put a compilation together? Or have you contributed to one? Tell us about it in a comment. I hope this has inspired you to create your own compilation. 

Good luck and let us know how it goes! 

Related Articles:

• How to Write a Compilation - Part 1: Includes what a compilation book is, how to write a compilation and options for who writes the stories, asking writers to contribute, and creating writer's guidelines for your compilation and getting them out there where other writers will find them.

• How to Write a Compilation - Part 2: Includes how to organize your compilation and paying your writers.

How to Write a Compilation - Part 2

Dianne's books on the right,
and a stack of most the compilation
books she's contributed to.

Last month we talked about what a compilation book is, how to write a compilation and options for who writes the stories, asking writers to contribute, and creating writer's guidelines for your compilation and getting them out there where other writers will find them.

This month we'll talk about how to organize your compilation and paying your writers. (Tweet that!)

How to Organize Your Compilation

If you don't already have an idea of how you're compilation is going to be organized, I'm thinking it will tell you as it develops. For both my Deliver Me book and Grandparenting Through Obstacles, which I did with my co-author, the stories kind of grouped themselves around common themes which became chapters. In our grandparenting book, we also had "Parts" in our book instead of chapters. We had 20 stories in 4 Parts on a theme with five stories in each Part. 

For my Deliver Me book, I knew I wanted stories about women choosing to keep her child, give for adoption, those who opted for abortion, and stories from men, so I knew I would have chapters for each of those topics and I went looking for stories to fill them. Other chapters emerged as stories came in that surprised and intrigued me.

I'm not sure about this, but I think creative projects have a character of their own and so they will tell you how they need to be organized. That might mean you look at what stories you have and see a common thread and so you group those into chapters. 

Paying your Writers

Some compilations "pay" the writers by offering a free copy of the book. I believe writers ought to be paid for their work. (Tweet that!) We seem to be about the only profession where we are expected to work for free, which I think is wrong. Workers deserve their wages. 

For Scripture says, "Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain," and "The worker deserves his wages." 1 Timothy 5:18

But at the same time I'm suggesting that you should pay your writers, you also need to know that anything you do pay them is going to come out of your pocket. (Tweet that!) This means even if you find a traditional, advance and royalty-paying company to publish your book, they are not going to also pay your writers. You will. Or you can use your advance to pay them, but it's still coming out of your advance. So you need to count the cost carefully as you make decisions about whether or not to pay your writers, how much, and in what way.

Most of the compilations I've written for pay a one-time fee. I've been paid anywhere from $20 to $200 for one of my stories. (Tweet that!) 

A Ruby Christmas
(Since this blog post appeared, the
publisher has removed this e-book
from Amazon.com.)
A fiction compilation -- each chapter
written by a different author

Another way to pay your writers is to share royalties. I'm involved with one project like this. This particular book is not pictured in my stack of books because it's in ebook form only so I couldn't put it on my stack of printed books. 

The publisher gathered a group of known writers/friends. We each wrote a chapter and each receive a percentage of the royalties. This is a fiction project. Again, count the cost of the paperwork needed to track and share royalties so you don't create a bookkeeping nightmare for yourself.

How much should you pay? Just to give you an idea, I paid $20 per story for one book and $25 per story for the other. But even a token amount, like $5, is better than nothing. 

I paid on publication (meaning no money went out until the book actually existed). Then I mailed their check in the same package as their contributor's copy of the book. 

A few of my authors wanted to "donate" their story and never cashed the check. That was generous of them and it helped me out with the expense of my book, but I still honored my writers by offering them their pay.

     Author Discounts

I also offered my authors discounts when they purchased copies of the book. (Tweet that!) With the book another publisher published, I negotiated so that contributing authors were able to buy copies at a discount. Our contract with the publisher was a percentage share of the profits, so we were to get a share of the difference between the cost plus publisher's percentage and what the contributors paid, which was less than when a buyer bought a book at full price but still a little for me and my coauthor. 

Is this fair to the contributors to have to buy at more than cost? Yes, of course. You're the one who did all the work of putting it together, took all the risks, put in all the time, found the publisher (or published it yourself), etc. That deserves being paid a small portion per book purchased by the contributors. If your contributors can purchase at 50% off the cover price, they make their money when they sell copies, and that's standard. Almost all the compilations I've written for sell to contributors for 50% off the cover price. 

One book I was in didn't give the authors a 50% discount but only one dollar off the cover price. Why should I buy a quantity and pay shipping for $1.00 per book?! It wasn't worth it.

     Contributors Copies

Give all contributors one free copy of the published book as a "contributor's copy." They deserve to get one. 

I contributed to one compilation that did not do this. To this day I have not seen this book with my own work in it. I would have had to purchase my own copy. This is a bad way to treat your contributors. How can I champion your book when I haven't seen it, can't hold it in my hands, look at it, read the rest of it?  How can I help you market it when I can't take a photo of me with it for Facebook and Instagram, or put it in my stack to photograph for my blog? 

For goodness sakes, plan to give every contributor at least one copy. Be generous. (Tweet that!) This will cost you: both in purchasing the printed copies as well as in mailing/shipping them to your contributing authors. Count the cost of that as well. (Of course we all think we'll sell enough books to cover all our costs and make a profit. Authors typically over estimate how many books we will sell.)


Next month in the third and final part we'll talk about the legal issues including the contract you'll need to create for your contributors to sign, then a little about publishing, marketing, and keeping the whole project organized.

Related Articles:

• How to Write a Compilation - Part 1