Small Craft Business: Monday's To-Do List, on Wednesday

I'm just so busy, I don't know what to do with myself. Here's this week's to-do:

• finish necklace orders (paint on Monday, seal on Tuesday, glass on Wednesday, pendants Thursday, finish Friday, deliver/mail on Saturday)
• figure out sponsorship for soapcrone.com with Rocky Mountain Rollergirls
• find a cheap flight to Vegas for the end of July (!) [this is ongoing, as I hope is obvious
• email author re: finishing draft
• pay for Rollercon sponsorship/vendor table
• book room at Riviera
• actually DO publishing retail taxes!

Small Craft Business: Saturday How-To

I purport to write how-to nonfiction. I teach people how to make soap. I've had several other books in the works for a while now, and need to get cracking on them. 


Like making balms and butters.


And making lotions.


And how to run a damn craft business. 


And how to make gifts for the holidays. 


While I do publish others, I have recently  come to the conclusion that I need to publish more and more of my own things. The books from others are good, and they are going to be awesome, and I'm proud of them. 


But I need to do more of my own thing. 


That said, when I finally kick my own arse and get it moving, on Saturdays I will post sneak peeks of the tutorials I'm writing. Howdya like them apples?

How To Write a Craft eBook for Craft e-Revolution

A photo from my upcoming book, Handmade Holiday, Volume 1.

At Craft e-Revolution, I have created an outlet for crafty folks to be published, in a modern, yet old-fashioned way. Authors do not pay to be published--I decide what to produce. That's the old school part. The new school part is the fact that I don't offer an advance, but I do offer a hefty cut of the proceeds. Authors are paid off the selling price of the book, straight-up. Since we are both investing a lot of time and effort into the book, both the author and I are motivated to try and sell it. I see this as a win-win situation.

However, I'm not sure how many crafters know how to write a tutorial ebook. If that's you, but you have a good idea for a book, then maybe you just don't know how you will proceed. I can help with that! That's what this post is about.

Many tutorials have only step-by-step directions, and that's it. The ebooks that I want to read (and therefore the ones I write and publish) will have photographs of every step of the process. Most people are visual learners, therefore I believe craft tutorials should be full of photos.

But where to begin? Writing a craft tutorial ebook is not as daunting as you might think. I will outline my process below. It works for me, and I hope it will work for you. Your comments and questions are always welcome. Let me know what you are thinking!

Which to choose?

Step 1: Choose Your Craft

If you are anything like me, you will need to slow down and choose only one. If you are good at only one craft, then choose that one. Don't worry about the other books written on that

subject. That's not the point. Choose a craft that you know well, and think you could describe to others with photos and words.

I use a pocket camera, and you can, too.

Step 2: Make the Craft, Photographing Each Step and Recording Notes

This is the part that seems backwards, but it is essential to do it first, and not last. Photographing the craft should be the first thing you do to prepare your book. Take photos of every step of the process, including materials, the layout of the process, and every single step from several angles and distances. Use more light than you think is necessary. Turn on all the lights, bring in a few lamps, open the drapes.

While you are making the craft, you will have thoughts that your readers should know about.

I love my iPhone! It's amazing!

I use my iPhone's "Voice Memo" feature (shown) to record important thoughts. Your phone will probably have something similar. Turn it on, speak the note, and then pause it. Take more photos, have a thought, click the recorder, record your note, and pause it. Continue in this way throughout the crafting process. Sometimes I find myself dictating the entire book to the recorder. If you are that way, you might consider the free Dragon Dictation app for your phone. It will write what you say, and you can save the text and work with it later. Yes, this particular craft project will take you a lot longer than usual. The end result will be worth it.

I'm Drafty Drafterson!

Step 3: Begin Drafting

You think this is the hard part, and I am happy to report that you are wrong. Start drafting with photos.

• Load the photos onto your computer, saving them in a file marked with the working title of your book.
  
• Edit the photos: crop them, enhance the lighting or color, etc.
• Save! Save! Save! Save after each photo edit!

Open up your word processing program. I write all of my ebooks in Pages (Apple software). Word will work, too. Insert the photos into the document, one by one, in order. Then, when all the photos are in the document, start drafting with the first one.

Use simple, straightforward language to tell the reader what to do. Write "Step 1, Step 2," as needed. Take notes as you go, directly in the document, about photos you still need, direction that needs elaboration, or places that you want to add information but must check on specifics first. When you've written most of it, turn on your voice notes and listen to them. Fill in any gaps with your voice notes.

Step 4: Add Value

After you have described the process, stop and take a break.

Sluuuuurrrrp!

Break's over!

Boo!

Now, you must add value to your book by adding information for your readers. What would make the book better? Recipes? Photos of variations of the craft? Descriptions of the variations, with more photos? A list of Internet resource links should be included, always. What about a "troubleshooting" section? An FAQ? Write these sections up, too. If you can't think of any questions that are frequently asked of you, because you are a first-time author and wtf? Please, don't worry about it. The FAQ section can be created later.

Snooty, Mustachioed Professor Judges All

Step 5: Edit It

Yes, this is the tedious part. Just do your best. Here, I'll help you:

• Read through your draft, out loud. Trust me on this. Read every single word out loud. You will find places where you forgot to write a word, or wrote two in a row, or other silly mistakes like that. You might find spelling errors, too. Correct them! Correct your punctuation, too.
• Open up another document (or a sticky note or simple text file), and read through your draft. Write down the first word of each sentence, making a vertical list. After your list is finished, note places where you repeat a word. Go back and re-write those sentences.
• As above, make a list of every verb in each sentence. Active verbs (stitch, sew, pour, measure, cut) are best. Also check for repetition in this list, and go back to re-write sentences that need it.

Step 6: Put Your Author Information on the First Page

At the top of your document, insert a blank page. On this page, list your name, mailing address, phone number, email address, and a working title of your book.

Yay! You did it!

Step 7: Send it in!

Send it to me! I can't wait to read it. I love crafting and especially tutorials, which is why I am this kind of publisher. I want to read your book!

Yes, the process might take a while--I understand that. But even if you haven't written the book yet, I want to hear from you. Let me know your ideas for your book ahead of time, and we'll talk. Writing a book is a satisfying process which is fulfilling in many ways. I hope you consider it--the world wants to learn what you have to teach.

So, was this helpful to you? Please leave a comment, and let's get a conversation started.

Experiencing the Murderous Rage of Entrepreneurship

Yesterday, I had a horrible experience with "support" at my hosting company. I'm still upset about it, which is probably my fault. It is infuriating to deal with a situation that is out of my control.

But my emotions are still under my control, right? So if I'm upset, it's my own fault.

Cut to this morning, and I check in on my website, and it's gone. Well, not GONE gone, but the link doesn't point to the site anymore--it points to the hosting company. I think this has something to do with the nonsense yesterday, so I've decided not to get my panties in a twist about it today.

No, you cannot access my website right now. Yes, I've placed ads and changed links and I've started directing people there. Yes, today, some people will be confused when they try to go to my site.

I've got to let it go. I'm letting the murderous rage go. I can handle this. This is the result of my decision to move forward despite everything being in place. Today, I will live and learn.

The Root Word of Business is Busy

I am so busy.

It's a good problem to have. My husband stopped looking for a job, as he had been for the past two years, and just works for my soap company. Since he's making the soap now, I am freed (ha! freed!) to attempt to bump up the soaps through wholesaling. I have done this, with help from a forward-thinking friend, and now my husband is employed, full-time, making soap. Hundreds and hundreds of bars of soap.

Its' a good thing he's doing it. Because I am swamped.

My web guy is working on Craft e-Revolution. I wanted it to launch in August, 2010. Now it will launch in October, 2010. It will! To start, it will only have my books. I do have one book from an author that I'm formatting, so she will be published before the end of the year. I'm also re-writing my own books.

But I have to launch, so I'm gonna. It will be what we call a "soft launch." I have learned over the years that the soft launch works out better for me.

I am so busy! It's really ridiculous, sometimes. I work at my 7-3 job and think, "Lunchtime is great. All I have to do is eat lunch." It's often the only break I have in my day. I have to force myself to Put. The. Computer. Down. at night.

Who else? Am I the only one?

Advertising on Blogs: How to Choose?

I have been trying to figure out which blogs would be best for advertising Craft e-Revolution. There is a part of me that doesn't want to spend one cent on marketing, and I'm doing the best viral planning I can. I have a newsletter email list, etc. etc. I'm not going to explain that. You all know that, right?

Right? Maybe a post for another time, then.

In any case, I'm trying to resolve a dilemma. Should I advertise on a blog that has high readership, but often incorporates MAJOR spelling mistakes in the posts? It's obvious that the blogger doesn't know how to spell 'spigot' for example. The spell check feature would have caught 'spickot' anyway.

See? Right there? That red, wiggly line that you, the reader can't see but I CAN BECAUSE IT'S SPELLED WRONG?

Sorry. I think I know my answer. That blog won't get my money for advertising. I can't give my money to someone who thinks it's appropriate to have a blog that has egregious spelling errors.

I just can't.

Where else should I draw the line? Or shouldn't I? Am I too picky?

Craft Tutorials: Lemme Have It

Some of you may know that I am an author. I am also a publisher, and I have a new, exciting project. As such, I am beginning a highly-targeted search for authors. Can you help me?

I need to know who you think writes the best photographed craft tutorials. I have seen a lot, and I'm constantly looking for more. Do you read a blog that regularly shows you how to make things? It can be anything, even including cooking. It must be well-written, witty is nice, and have great photos.

Please leave a link for your favorite craft tutorial blogs in the comments. I appreciate your help! More info to come on the publishing project. It's going to be huge!