CreateSpace VS Ingram Spark

Print Book Distribution

Last week I did the first part of this comparison. You can view it here. This week concludes the post.

Weighing the Other Factors

Any time that you are comparing services and products, it turns out to be far more complex than you thought it was going to be. This was no different. Comparing print distributors involves a lot of options; it’s not simply looking at price and quality. This is where the “ease of use” comes in.

Ease of Use

Whether you categorize this as ease of use or difficulty of setup, doesn’t matter. It’s like asking if the glass is half full or half empty. No matter which term you use, CS comes out on top.

• CS is easy. You can upload your file, and—if you are prepared—you can finish in less than an hour. They even offer an expert option to save time if you know what you’re doing.
• Spark is not as easy. Ingram was designed for professionals and the process reflects that. It’s not difficult once you get to know the system, but the learning curve is steeper.

I have heard a lot of complaints about the difficulty of working with Ingram. I’ll be the frist to admit it isn’t as easy as CS, but I also have to be honest and say, it really isn’t that difficult. If you are prepared (like you should be with CS or Ingram) and you have the files and information you need in front of you, it takes very little time or effort to do it right. In fact, it takes me about the same amount of time to upload a book to Ingram as it does with CS, although I’ve been through this before.

Customer Service

CreateSpace really shines here. They have an online chat system that is second to none. If you need to speak to a representative, enter your phone number and hit the “call me now” button and your phone will ring within seconds. (No kidding—seconds!) Spark is working hard on improvement, and I have to give them credit for that. In recent months, I have seen one of their top management team join discussion groups to answer questions and provide advice. That shows their head is in the right place. In fact, while writing this post, I received news that Ingram Spark now has an 800 number for customers. A huge step in the right direction.

Changes

When I mention changes what I really mean is the costs associated with making changes, and, once again, CreateSpace wins this hands down. If you make an error—and many indie authors do—you simply upload a new file. No charge. With Spark, if you make an error, you upload a new file, but you will have to pay $25. This is not an insignificant item or one to be overlooked. Everyone makes mistakes, especially indie authors, and if you have to upload a new file to fix them, it will cost you with Spark.

Cost per copy

As you can see the cost per copy is very close on B&W—within 35c, but the cost for color shows a tremendous difference—about $13 for a 300-page book. This one isn’t even a contest. If you need a color book, especially if it has more than a few dozen pages, you should definitely use Spark.

ISBN

CreateSpace will provide you with one of their own ISBNs free of charge. The problem with that is they will be listed as the publisher of record. I’d advise against that and I will cover that in a future post. However, they also have a few new options—$10 and $99 choices—which give you the option of naming your own imprint. I’m not fond of doing it this way, but again, it’s a topic to be discussed later. Spark requires you to have your own ISBN. (You can purchase them directly from Bowker in the US, or from Nielsen in the UK.)

Hardcover books

CreateSpace does not offer hardcover. Spark does. (I believe you can ask CS to print personal copies in HC, but not for distribution.)

Returns

CreateSpace does not allow returns. Spark does. What this means, is if you plan on trying to get into the brick-and-mortar stores, you’ll need to use Ingram.

Time To Publish

This is another area where I’ve seen a lot of authors and bloggers talk about how quickly CS gets their book to market, but Ingram is so much slower. It’s yet another case of not comparing apples to apples. Yes, CS can, and will, get your book published on Amazon quicker than Ingram can get it published anywhere. But there is that little point of CS being owned by Amazon. I think that helps. On the other hand, CS won’t get you into B&N, or BAM, or anywhere else faster than Ingram. In fact, CS uses Ingram for distribution.

Quality

This is the one close to my heart. People value things differently, but to me, quality is the most important aspect. In this area, Ingram shines.

• The print is a rich, crisp black.
• The cream paper doesn’t look as if had been left out in the sun.
• The white paper is bright and clean.
• The covers are true to the colors you submit, and their covers fit perfectly.

With CS I have experienced a number of problems with covers, but the biggest complaints have been with the ink. It almost always appears faded, and I haven’t been happy with their cream paper.

Summary of Pros and Cons

CreateSpace has the edge on:

• Price per unit, B&W.
• Ease of use
• Customer service
• Changes
• ISBNs (if you want to use them)
• Setup costs and yearly fees
• Domestic shipping

Ingram Spark Has the Edge On:

• Price per unit, Color.
• Discounts
• Distribution
• Hardcover
• Quality
• Returns
• International shipping

Bottom Line

I have seen a lot of companies rush in to take advantage of authors during this surge in self-publishing. Most of them are easy to spot if you dig deep enough, but some aren’t. The difficult part, being an author, is in being able to spend the time to validate a company and see if what they’re selling is, in fact, a good deal. Sometimes even a good company offers services that aren’t the best.

CS is a top choice for fulfilling an author’s print needs, but I suggest a word of caution about some of their other offerings. From what I’ve seen, you can do far better shopping elsewhere for things like cover services and/or marketing help. Which brings us to one of my favorite points to make. Look at intent. Any time that you are evaluating a vendor or a service company, look at what their intent is. In the case of CS, they offer a lot for free or at a very reasonable price, but is it so they can “upsell” you to other services?

On the other hand, Ingram has no hidden agendas. They offer print services. They don’t charge a commission; they don’t offer cover design, or marketing, or layout, or ISBNs, or anything else. Ingram makes money when you sell a lot of books. That is their motivation—to sign up customers who will sell a lot of books. In other words, they want the same thing I do.

You might think it’s great that CS offers to sell you an ISBN for $99 that you can put your own imprint on. But step back a minute and think. If you spend another $196 you can have 10 of them. And let’s not forget that CS is not doing this out of the goodness of their heart; they make $98 per ISBN at that price. Yes, you didn’t read that wrong. They buy them for a maximum of $1 apiece. (Actually less)

So What Do I Do?

Long ago I stopped looking at any company or service as good or bad. I look at them with one thing in mind—how can they help me achieve my goals? So instead of saying:

• CS doesn’t have the best quality.
• Ingram’s customer service isn’t as good.
• CS has terrible shipping to AU.
• Ingram’s distribution and discounts are better.

Instead of saying that, I do the opposite. I use the best from each company. And it works magnificently. Here’s how I do it.

I use CS for Amazon only, as far as distribution goes. That means I do not sign up for expanded distribution when I create a new book.

I use CS for US shipping to readers who order from my website, or for giveaways, or to send review books to bloggers, etc. They really shine in this department. It’s inexpensive and it’s quick.

I use Ingram for all other distribution. That means every book that goes to B&N, or BAM, or Charter Books, or to Libraries, or if they get ordered by bookstores…those books come from Ingram. If I send books to independent bookstores in an effort to get in with them, I use Ingram also. I do this for two reasons: Quality is better; and I don’t want the bookstore to see it came from CS.

I also use Ingram if I have to ship to AU, or UK, or anywhere in the world, except the US. And I use Ingram for an initial order to myself to keep for autographed books. Purchasing through Spark not only refunds your sign-up fee, it gives you an inventory of high-quality books to autograph. After all, the people who ask for autographed books are most likely your best customers. Give them your best material.

By the way, if you want to see a comparison on ebook distribution, I did one here a few months ago. Take a look.

Here is a short infographic that sums up most of what was discussed here.

Giacomo Giammatteo is the author of gritty crime dramas about murder, mystery, and family. And he also writes non-fiction books including the No Mistakes Careers series. He lives in Texas where he and his wife have an animal sanctuary with 45 loving “friends.”

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If you want to download the pdf of the Infographic, click the button below.
CreateSpace VS Ingram Spark — Download pdf

Filed under: Publishing, Uncategorized, Writing by Giacomo
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CreateSpace VS Ingram Spark

Print Book Distribution

I’ve seen a lot of comparisons between CreateSpace (CS) and Ingram (either Lightning Source or Spark). In almost every instance I walk away thinking that it wasn’t a fair comparison. And almost every discussion I’ve seen tends to be the same. The one common ground is that many people seem to have quite a bit of misinformation.

I hope I can provide a little objectiveness and help people decide which company they should choose for their print needs. Please note, this is not meant to be a comprehensive report on the self-publishing print options; this is a comparison of CS and Spark only. I didn’t even include Lightning Source because almost all new self-published authors are being steered to Spark for their print needs.

Specifications used for book calculations—B&W and color: Paperback, 6×9, cream, perfect bound, gloss finish, 300 pages.

*Discounts are figured using both options with Ingram Spark. CS has only one option for expanded distribution. CS discount for Amazon is 40%, and for expanded distribution is 60%. Spark discount is your choice—40% or 55%. [Note: This can make a huge difference.]

**Spark will refund the set-up fee if you purchase 50 books within the first two months.

Shipping

Calculations are for one book, to three locations, and standard shipping was figured in each case. In addition, I listed expedited and time estimated for delivery. All currency is local: US dollars, UK pounds, AU dollars.

As you can see from the chart, while CS is great for US shipping, it falls apart in the international arena. Their US shipping is even better than what they cite online, as I have found that deliveries usually arrive before their estimates. International is another story.

I did numerous giveaways on Goodreads, and I usually opened them to international readers. Three times I had to ship to AU. The first time I used CS and had to spend almost $30 to make sure it arrived within 2 weeks! Afterward I used Ingram and paid ⅓ the price and it still arrived in fewer than 10 days.

Ingram has worldwide distribution with printing facilities in many countries, so you can ship almost anywhere at reasonable prices, and, expect delivery in a reasonable time frame. The cost to ship to Queensland, AU, for example, (for me, from TX) is $19 and that includes the price of the book. If you intend to distribute internationally, this is a huge advantage.

Discounts

Most of the authors I speak with know very little about discounts and how they work. They simply sign up with CS, and go about business. But remember, you’re not just an author; you are now in business for yourself, and you should pay attention to all the details, especially discounts. So, let’s take a little page time to review the basics.

Keep in mind that when we talk about discounts, this is the amount you are discounting the book off the retail price. This is not the amount of discount the bookstore receives. As an example, a 55% discount with Ingram means the bookstores would get a 40% discount off the retail price. So if your book retails at $15, they would buy it from Ingram at $9. Ingram keeps 15% ($2.25). You would be credited $6.75 ($15–55%) for each sale, from which you would have to deduct the cost of printing the book (4.80), which leaves you a profit of $1.95. [See tables below]

I tell you this so you don’t go telling the bookstores to expect a 55% discount. They’ll understand, but it will make you look naive. The easiest way to tell them is that you offer the “industry-standard discount,” and that the books are returnable. (If in fact they are.)

With CreateSpace the only option for expanded distribution is to offer a 60% discount. Of that, I believe the stores receive about 25%, so the breakdown looks like this. [Since I’m not positive of the split between CS and the bookstores, I am showing the portion which goes to them and to the author. Part of what CS keeps goes to the bookstores.]

On a $15 sale, CS takes $9 and you get $6. From that you need to deduct the cost of the book, which is $4.55, leaving you a profit of $1.45. From this example, you would think that the bookstores get $9, but they don’t. They don’t even get close to that. CS passes on about 45% of the discount to Ingram (who they use for distribution) and then Ingram takes their cut. The result is that the stores receive about 25% as a discount. That’s not enough to make them even consider stocking the book, but they will order it if a customer asks. Here’s how it breaks down:

CreateSpace (showing expanded distribution discount)

Ingram Spark (showing 40% discount)

Let me show you what this looks like in terms of earnings for you based on each company’s price of a 300-page b&w book with their respective discounts at the different retailers. The table shows the CS discount to Amazon and expanded distribution. Ingram shows the options for 40%.

Spark shows only the 40% option for this chart so that we’re comparing apples to apples. If you don’t plan on active distribution into brick-and-mortar stores, you can keep your discount at Spark to 40%. That means with every book sold, no matter where it’s sold, you’ll earn $4.20. With CS you’ll only earn $4.45 on Amazon. All books sold at B&N (Barnes & Noble), or BAM (Books-A-Million), or any stores that happen to order from you, will earn you $1.45. That’s a big difference.

And if you’re thinking…but I want to get into bookstores, so I need the 55% discount…That’s fine. But then you’re not comparing apples to apples, because you’re not getting stocked in stores with CS, not without the stores getting a true industry-standard discount and the books being returnable, neither one of which CS does.

Part Two of This Post Will Be Published Next Week

We’ll be weighting all the other factors in more detail.

• Ease of use
• Customer service
• Changes
• Cost per copy details
• ISBNs, Product selection
• Returns
• Time to publish
• Quality
• Shipping

And then we’ll wrap it up with a summary of pros and cons.

In the meantime, sign up for the newsletter so you don’t miss future posts. If you sign up now, you can also download my novella, Finding Family, for free. The links for Kindle and ePub are below.

Kindle version

ePub version

If you enjoyed this post, please share.

Giacomo Giammatteo is the author of gritty crime dramas about murder, mystery, and family. And he also writes non-fiction books including the No Mistakes Careers series.

He lives in Texas where he and his wife have an animal sanctuary with 45 loving “friends.”

Filed under: books, Publishing, Uncategorized, Writing by Giacomo
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Building From Scratch to Develop Characters

I was talking to an author last week about the writing process and she told me about a great character she had developed. I asked what role the character played in her book.

She said, “I’m not using him in this book. I’m saving him for the next one. Or maybe even the one after that.”

I looked at her and shook my head. “Why?”

She said, “He’s such a good character that I don’t want to waste him on this book.”

I laughed, and said, “There are six billion people in the world, and every one is unique. You will never run out of characters.”

Protest against anti-immigrant law

Fear

She was afraid that if she used up that character she might not be able to create one as good. That’s worse than saying you’re afraid to use a word or a phrase to describe something. I have news for you, there are about 6,000 people in this world for every word in the English language. And that’s not counting the dead people.

At this point, you might be asking—what the hell do real people have to do with character development?

The answer is, they have everything to do with it.

Using real people is the best way to make your book shine. Using real people ensures that your book is filled with three-dimensional characters, complete with problems, conflicts, and their own unique personality.

 Using Real People to Develop Characters

Using real people is the best way to build a character. It’s best if you know the person well, but even if you don’t you can work magic. You don’t have to use the entire person, but the essence has to be there. If you make a character based on your cousin Mary, she can look like anything you want—as long as you use Mary’s personality. You can stuff that personality into any body—a blonde or brunette; fit and trim or overweight; sexy or plain; brown eyes or blue eyes; white skin or dark skin. None of that matters, with the exception of how it might affect personality.

The key is this—if you use Mary’s personality, make sure that when decisions are made, Mary is the one making them. Keep true to your characters.

Keeping Track Of Your Characters

The added benefit of using real characters is that it makes it easy for you to not only create the character, but to keep track of them. Now, in your character notes, all you have to do is write:

       >  “Doggs Caputo” (personality based on my brother Doggs, but with Uncle Ralph’s gambling).

If you do it this way, you don’t need to take many notes. No matter what happens, no matter what the situation, you know how your character will react, because you know the character he/she is based on.

You’ll know your character’s quirks and habits, and you’ll know how they’ll react to different situations. If “cousin Mary” twirls her hair when she’s nervous, your character will, and you won’t forget it. If she has to put on her glasses to read the fine print on a prescription, your character will too. And if a crisis strikes, you know how she’ll respond to that as well.

The best part of all of this is that when you are done, you’ll have characters that your readers can love, hate, envy, admire, or detest. No matter the emotion, the readers will love you for creating them.

If you enjoyed this post, please share.

If you’re looking for more on character development, check out this post on invisible characters, or this one on secondary characters.

Giacomo Giammatteo is the author of gritty crime dramas about murder, mystery, and family. And he also writes non-fiction books including the No Mistakes Careers series.

He lives in Texas where he and his wife have an animal sanctuary with 45 loving “friends.”

Photo credit: Between Half-million and One Million People Protest against Anti-Immigrant Law

Filed under: books, character development, Writing by Giacomo
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What Do You Know About Your Characters

Character development is the most important aspect of a novel.

You might get a few arguments about this statement, but surely almost everyone will place the importance of characters at the first or second position. We’re not going to discuss how you develop your characters, but rather what influences that development. And somewhere near the top of that list has to be…

Setting

If you’re writing an epic fantasy and the world is reminiscent of a medieval European village, your characters will act, and speak, quite differently than they would in a world based on old Japan in the time of the shoguns.

Setting also affects plot and technical aspects of the story. Writing a getaway scene for a thriller based in San Francisco would not resemble that same getaway in Houston. And if you move it to Chicago, you have the cameras to contend with. I believe they are now the city with the most video surveillance in the country.

8th and Union St.

November Sunset

Setting even affects the little things. If one of your characters lives across the street from this market in the city, he’ll walk to the store to get his groceries, and he’ll probably stop and chat with people along the way. On the other hand, if he lives in the country, he might drink a beer or two while sitting on his front porch, enjoying the sunset.

Setting affects every part of your story, from descriptions, to plot, to character development. But we’re not going to dig into what role it plays in description, or plot. We won’t explore the depths of how setting and culture affect personality, as they do in the immigrant populations of New York or other major cities. We’re not even going to delve into how setting affects character development. For this post, I want to explore only one thing…

How Setting Affects Dialogue

Dialogue is an often forgotten, or should I say neglected, part of writing. I don’t mean to imply that they forget to include beats or misuse dialogue tags. What I’m referring to is how writers change setting or location without altering how their characters talk.

What do I mean by that?

In my mystery novels, I have three different settings: New York, Wilmington, DE, and Houston. I can’t have the characters born in TX speaking like the ones from New York. Hell, I can’t even have the characters from Wilmington speak like New York. Here are a few things to think about.

• If one of your characters says “yo,” they better be from Philadelphia, or, have a reason for saying yo. 
• Any character who begins a conversation with “ya’ll,” should have spent considerable time below the Mason-Dixon line. 
• Don’t have your heroine ask for a “pop,” at a deli in the Bronx. Not unless they’re from the Midwest, and, your readers know it. 
• And if your antagonist is going to stop for a “sub” before he kills someone, don’t call it a hoagie, unless they’re from good old Philly. 

TV and Movies Are Different

Whenever you throw audio into the mix, it changes everything. So it’s not just TV or the movies, but also audio books. When your characters are actually talking and the reader/listener can hear accents and pronunciations, it becomes more important than ever to get it right. People often pay more attention to how something sounds—even more than what word is used.

Bottom Line

Before you start writing, you should determine everything you need to know about your character, including how they’ll talk and what phrases they’ll use. Your readers will appreciate it.

Ciao, and thanks for stopping by,

Giacomo

If you enjoyed this post, please share.

Giacomo Giammatteo is the author of gritty crime dramas about murder, mystery, and family. And he also writes non-fiction books including the No Mistakes Careers series.

He lives in Texas where he and his wife have an animal sanctuary with 45 loving “friends.”

Filed under: character development, dialogue, plot, Uncategorized, Writing by Giacomo
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Punctuation

Sometimes I think writers don’t read their own work. If they do, I wonder if they read it with an objective eye or ear. Many people before me have offered this same advice, but I think too many writers ignore it.

What advice?

To read your work out loud, or have someone else do it. (Even your computer will suffice.)

Reading your work aloud will do wonders for you, especially when it comes to learning how to use punctuation. It will help you catch spelling errors and typos; it will show you which sentences are too long, or too short; and it will let you hear the cadence of your voice. With the exception of the typos and errors, how your story sounds is a result of punctuation. Yes, those little commas, and periods, and quotation marks dictate your readers’ experience. That’s why…

You Can’t Ignore Punctuation

Punctuation is a traffic control system for writing. Punctuation marks are signals. They are the stop signs and yield signs. And they are the red, yellow, and green lights. If you use a period when you should have used a comma, you’re telling the reader to stop! It would be like a red light popping up when you weren’t expecting it. Or a stop sign peeking out from behind a tree. Every punctuation mark has its own set of instructions.

• Commas are similar to yield signs or the green arrows on a traffic signal—slow down, 
but feel free to move along. 
• Semicolons are much closer to stop signs—come to a stop, but only briefly, 
then move ahead. 
• And periods are direct commands—a red light. 

If you misplace a comma or two, it’s not a huge deal. Readers will figure it out. But if you mess up too much it would be like shutting down the whole traffic system. Think of the mess that would be.

The next time you sit down to write, picture yourself as an engineer, and imagine it’s your job to install the stop signs and traffic signals in your city. You wouldn’t want to end up with a mess like this, would you?

Take a little extra time to read your work before you send it off to the editor. A good copy editor will catch almost all of your punctuation problems, but it still doesn’t hurt to give it a reading aloud to make sure it sounds right to you. Sometimes what you think it sounds like in your head isn’t how it comes out when people read it.

Ciao, and thanks for stopping by,

Giacomo

If you enjoyed this post, please share.

Giacomo Giammatteo is the author of gritty crime dramas about murder, mystery, and family. And he also writes non-fiction books including the No Mistakes Careers series.

He lives in Texas where he and his wife have an animal sanctuary with 45 loving “friends.”

photo credit: e_monk via photopin cc
photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography via photopin cc
photo credit: Travel Aficionado via photopin cc

Filed under: Uncategorized by Giacomo
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Email Is Still the Best Marketing Tool

This post is for anyone who needs to build an email marketing/subscriber list. I’m an author, so it is written from that point of view.

I think that most authors are finally seeing the light and are starting to wonder, “how do I build an email list?” And that’s a good thing, because an email list is far more valuable than a few thousand Facebook fans, or tens of thousands of Twitter followers. Better even than a horde of crazed picture fanatics on Pinterest or the tech community on G+. The problem most authors have is trying to figure out…

How to Get Subscribers

I struggled with this for a long time mostly because I shy away from anything that might come across as “pushy.” I abhor the popups that many people use on their sites, and it doesn’t much matter whether they appear the instant I enter, after I’m 90% through an article, or when I’m about to leave the site. I don’t like them in any form.

And I’ve never felt that “buying” subscribers gets you anything. When you give away a tablet or any kind of prize, the vast majority of the entrants are there to win the prize, not because they’re interested in your books or you as an author. They’ll go away with the prizes and the summer wind.

That left me with few options. I tried the back of the book link, and it helped a little. And of course I have a visible subscribe form on my website, prominently placed on every page. But neither of them did much. My list was slowly growing, but slowly was the key word in that sentence.

And Then I Found Digioh

I was looking for an easy way to deliver files to readers without wasting a lot of time. When I looked into Digioh, I discovered they offered everything I needed and a whole lot more.

• Digioh will securely store and deliver my files while keeping track of every download those files get.
• Digioh can detect if  the file/s have been forwarded and they will prompt a new user to join the mailing list before they are able to download the file.

Here is a screenshot from the settings area on the site where you determine which security option you want to assign, when (if ever) you want to suspend downloads, and how many downloads per customer you want to allow.

Membership Security makes sure that only your subscribers get access to your download, if it gets forwarded to friends or posted on Twitter they will see a “No Access” page.

What Does This Mean For You

I’ll tell you how I use it. I upload a file to their site and set the preferences I want for that particular file.

If I want to get more reviews for a book, I can send Tweets, or post on Facebook, or G+, or send a newsletter from my blog. If I include a link to the Digioh file anyone can go there and download it. I can post one link for a Kindle version and another one for epub. The best part of this, is I can set preferences on Digioh as to whether I want to restrict this to existing members of my mailing list, or set it for “list grower” security. That means if someone tries to download the file, and they are not on the list, they will be prompted to join the list before they can download it.

You can use this anyway you want. For my mystery/suspense books, I give away a novella in exchange for a new list member. And on my career site, I give away a couple of checklists I made up for resume and interview preparation.

You have the option of using the links any way you like. You can put a link on Facebook, in an email or a Tweet, or you can put buttons on your site. All of them geared toward lead capture. And Digioh can track them all. You’ll see who is downloading your file, and how many times they download it. (You control that in the settings)

You can also set it up with an auto responder (with MailChimp and others) so that a “welcome” email is sent to new list members at a specified time.

Customization

Depending on what plan you have, Digioh also offers levels of customization. You can have your own logo as a background for the download page, customize the download buttons and many other options. Here’s what I use for my mystery site, and the one below it is for my career site.

Here is a screenshot from Digioh’s site regarding customizing.

Customize Your download Pages

You can take full control of your brand by adding your own logo and any other marketing text to your secure download page. Here are a few samples from my mystery and career websites.

PayPal Integration

Another great option is the ability to integrate Digioh, MailChimp, and PayPal. If someone buys a book on my site, Digioh will automatically add the customer to the appropriate mailing list, and I will also receive a notification that someone bought the book. Furthermore, MailChimp will send an auto response with the download link for the book they purchased, and/or a welcome message. And this is all easy to set up.

Cost of Plans

Digioh has several plans, ranging from a Pro plan at $10 per month to a business plan that runs $30 per month. They also offer a 30 day free trial. The table below will show you what you get/don’t get with each level.

If budget is a concern, and it always is, look hard at the $10 version. It offers the most important options—list grower security and tracking—and it gives you 200 downloads per month.

Saving the Best For Last

The best feature, in my opinion, is the lightbox. You install this code on your website and then put download buttons where they will be noticed the most. When visitors click on the buttons, a screen pops up asking them to register for the free download (or whatever you’re giving them) and they don’t even have to leave the site. You can check it out on either of my sites by pressing the green or orange buttons. One is for a novella I wrote and the other is for a few checklists for interviews and resumes. This is what the buttons I made look like, but there is a lot of flexibility in how you design them.

Try out the links, and sign up for the mailing list. The worst that can happen is you get more good articles with tips like this.

Here are the links:

http://giacomogiammatteo.com

http://nomistakes.org

There are a lot of new ways to build email lists, but I like what Digioh has put together. It’s simple and it’s classy. And best of all, it works. To check out what Digioh has to offer, click here.

Ciao,

Giacomo

If you enjoyed this post, please share.

Giacomo Giammatteo is the author of gritty crime dramas about murder, mystery, and family. And he also writes non-fiction books including the No Mistakes Careers series.

He lives in Texas where he and his wife have an animal sanctuary with 45 loving “friends.”

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Dennis, the Great & Wonderful

Wild Boars and Animal Rescue

Any of you who have been following my blog for a while are familiar with Dennis. Today’s blog is dedicated to him because…today is Dennis’ birthday—kind of. It’s the day we celebrate because we rescued him on April 14th, 2010. We estimated him to be about 2-3 weeks old at the time.

Below and to the left is a picture of Dennis a few minutes after I saved him from the dogs. And to the right of that is a pic of him when Mikki was bathing him at the vet. (Yes, the vet allows her in the back room.)

Despite the fact that he appears healthy, his future didn’t look so bright that day. The vet told us he’d never make it. He was bleeding internally. He had broken ribs. And other complications. We decided he would make it, so we took him back to the sanctuary.

Dennis at vet.

Dennis, day one

Mikki nursed him for weeks, and then he came down with a terrible fever. We remained optimistic and hand-fed him for days, ensuring he had plenty of liquids. When the fever rose to 107° we started to worry. After another week, he showed signs of improving, and within two weeks he seemed to be in full swing.

Bonding

It wasn’t long after we got Dennis that Mikki required surgery on her hand. That left the chore of feeding and tending to the animals to me, which meant I fed Dennis every day and I was the one taking care of him. The result was he ended up bonding with me.
When I go to feed him, he gets excited and runs in circles. And he loves going on walks with me, as this video shows.
But it is more than just a bonding. He has come to be a companion and, dare I say it, a friend. He has a personality that is—like all people or animals—all his own. He runs with me. Goes on walks. And even plays “hide-and-seek,” when he’s in a particularly playful mood.

Wild Boar Facts

Dennis is not a feral pig; he’s a true wild boar. You can tell by the snout, the teeth, the bristles of his hair, the coloring, length of legs, and many other features. Wild boars are often misunderstood, so for the record, here are a few facts.
• Wild boars are very fast! You can’t outrun them.
• Wild boar tusks are razor sharp and can cause extreme damage, even death to the largest predators. One swipe from a wild boar can slice your femoral artery wide open.
• Wild boars’ skin is unbelievably thick. (Think football) And the males grow an extra layer of padding on their shoulders as they mature. (Think of a tank)

Whenever you see things on the Internet about wild boars, it is usually someone hunting them, or complaining about how they destroy crops and tear up the ground, or how they do any number of horrible and atrocious acts. What you don’t see, however, are stories about how clever they are, or how playful, or how loving. Or how loyal.
You might think I say “loyal” with no degree of forethought, but that’s not so. If I’m in Dennis’ area he will not let anyone else come in. He protects me from anything. And he shares. Yes, you read that right. He even shares his food with me. I can reach into his mouth and take food from him with no fear. I dare you to try that with any other pig.

Bottom Line

I hope you’ve gotten to know Dennis a little better. He’s a real character, and a good friend. And now that he’s been with us for four years, I can’t tell you how happy we are that we saved him.

For his birthday I wrote this Haiku.

Dangerous wild boar
Remembers being rescued
Now his bite tickles

If you enjoyed this please share.

Ciao,

Giacomo

Filed under: Animal Sanctuary, Life Lessons, Pigs Who Write by Giacomo
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Talking Dogs and Good Storytelling

What Makes Good Storytelling

No matter the media, good storytelling requires good material. It doesn’t matter if it’s a book, a movie, or a joke—the material has to be good. But even good material isn’t enough. Any comedian can tell you horror tales of jokes that fell flat or audiences that didn’t respond.

The same goes for a book. Your story might be great, with a complex plot full of unexpected twists, but if the other factors aren’t there and if the storytelling isn’t smooth, you won’t be receiving a lot of five-star reviews.

And for a joke to work, you not only have to have good material, but the cadence, timing, and punchline have to be perfect. The same applies to the storytelling in your novel. You have to be able to control the way the plot unfolds with flow, pacing, and dialogue, all leading up to the punchline climax.

To give you an example, let’s listen to a joke.

Analysis

I don’t know about you, but that joke is one of my favorites. It starts out simple enough, but soon builds until you’re wondering what the big deal is about a guy buying a dog. And then, when it’s revealed, you really wonder where it’s leading. Until the end.

That’s the way I like my books, too. I don’t much care if they start out with a bang, as long as something interests me, and as long as each chapter continues to keep my interest. Good storytelling is like a drive along a long winding road—up and down, twists and curves. Think how boring it would be to drive a long, straight, flat road for five or six hours. Now imagine doing the same thing with a book. Reading page after page at the same pace, knowing what’s coming next.

Bottom Line

A great plot, even great characters, can’t propel your book to the top of the lists without a lot of help. Millions have tried and failed. Good storytelling is one of the only things I know of that can transform an ordinary novel into a bestseller almost by itself.

If you enjoyed this post, please share.

Giacomo Giammatteo is the author of gritty crime dramas about murder, mystery, and family. And he also writes non-fiction books including the No Mistakes Careers series.

He lives in Texas where he and his wife have an animal sanctuary with 45 loving “friends.”

Filed under: books, character development, Reading, Storytelling, Uncategorized, Writing by Giacomo
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New Interview Book

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The Story of Mamma Cat—A Sanctuary Tale

This happened about 18 months ago. Mamma Cat was one of the invisible animals that I wrote about in a post last month.

We have a lot of animals on our sanctuary—dogs, potbelly pigs, a horse, wild pigs, and even a wild boar. We rescued one cat, but because of the nature of a few of our dogs, we didn’t feel it was safe for him to stay here, so our grandson has him. My wife has wanted a cat for a long time, and I even admitted I wouldn’t mind one as long as it slept in the barn and took care of the rats.

MC — Hands Off

MC glaring at me

Then Along Came Mamma Cat

We don’t even know how long she was here before we realized it. My wife, Mikki, first spotted her late at night while we sat on the side porch enjoying a glass of wine.

“Look at that cat,” she said, and we watched the cat surreptitiously make her way into the barn.

For several weeks after that, we’d see her now and then, but she resisted all attempts at contact. She wouldn’t even eat the food my wife left for her. One night Mikki said, “I think she’s pregnant.”

It was the last thing I wanted to hear, but, as usual, Mikki was right. We found the kittens tucked into a dark corner of the barn under the tool shelves the following week. MC (Mamma Cat), as we had come to name her, stood by and watched as Mikki pet the kittens, but MC didn’t seem happy about it. The next day the kittens were gone.

It took Mikki a week to find them, this time MC had them hidden behind a fence we built as an enclosure for storing extra corral boards. The kittens were well protected, tucked between stacks of 1 x 6’s. We found remains of squirrel and rat tails, and a few feathers. Obviously MC had been busy.

Making Friends

Mikki took food to them every day, and by the end of the week they had actually started eating it. Pretty soon, the kittens were running around the barn. The crazy thing was that when MC went out hunting, she deposited the kittens inside the fence where Dennis lives. (Dennis is our wild boar.)

I was shocked to see this, but it was apparent that Dennis didn’t mind them being with him, and they seemed to feel safe. Before long MC began taking the kittens hunting with her, at least for the small prey in our gardens. Occasionally she would sit off to the side while the kittens ate food we put out for them. If we tried to get too close, though, she would pick them up and haul them away.

Things Happen For A Reason

The following week I had to go out of town. Mikki called me shortly after midnight. She’d been sitting on the side porch watching the kittens play with their mother. Suddenly, they froze, and then the kittens ran toward Dennis’ pen. Seconds later Mikki saw why.

A coyote had come out of the woods and raced toward them. MC stayed to fend him off. I’m assuming she did it to give her babies enough time.

Mikki grabbed a stick and ran toward the coyote, but by the time she reached them the coyote had her in his mouth, shaking her. As Mikki approached, he dropped MC and ran. Using a towel, my wife scooped MC into a box and rushed her to the animal hospital. It didn’t take the vet long to arrive at her diagnosis. She was beyond help.

Panic

When Mikki got home, she searched for the kittens, but couldn’t find them. After about half an hour, she heard a tiny meow coming from the house where Dennis sleeps. And there she found the kittens, curled into a ball together and sleeping next to Dennis. It was amazing to see this huge wild boar lying next to the tiny kittens.

For the next month or two, they slept with Dennis every night. One morning I even found one of them sleeping on top of him.

Out of all of the animals on the sanctuary, I don’t know how they knew to choose him, but they made the right choice. There isn’t anyplace they would have been as safe as they were with him. No coyote in its right mind would try and enter his fence.

New Friends

By the end of those two months, Mikki had made friends with the kittens. We had even given them names, which meant they were staying. So we had them spayed and neutered, and made arrangements to build them a proper home in the barn.

Bottom Line

Mikki never did get to pet Mamma Cat; in fact, the only time Mikki touched her was the night she died. But as you can see by this picture, she’s getting plenty of love from her babies.

And as you can see from this video, the cats are doing their job of keeping the barn free of rats.

PS: Mamma Cat was buried on the sanctuary on January 25, 2013. We buried her deep so no coyote would ever get her again.

Ciao, and thanks for stopping by,

Giacomo

If you enjoyed this post, please share.

Giacomo Giammatteo is the author of gritty crime dramas about murder, mystery, and family. And he also writes non-fiction books including the No Mistakes Careers series.

He lives in Texas where he and his wife have an animal sanctuary with 45 loving “friends.”

Filed under: Animal Sanctuary, Uncategorized by Giacomo
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