Oh Crap, I am in a contest !

First off sorry this site was written for ahl v2 and not for you specifically. I am however quite committed to making sure you get this valuable information. I can’t stress nor express how important it is to start promoting your work through whatever means that you can.

Please be sure to read the new page regarding Phantom Books to have a better understanding of the program.

Updated information and purchasing portals are now live. See contributor pricing info tab above or look in the blogroll for super secret purchasing potal for vol 3 contributors.

Have a great year!

Debrin

An Honest Lie could best be described as a long term contest.

We at Open Heart Publishing are dedicated to creating a successful career in publishing, the real question is, are you dedicated to creating a successful career in writing?

The reason we are dedicated to this process is the fact that An Honest Lie is a longterm project, it is not about instant wealth nor is it about instant fame. No one is getting rich off of this, at least not yet.

My friends, that is the long term goal here, which is why we work diligently and why we know that providing a positive representation of our product is paramount.

We require nothing less than similar dedication, and sadly it is often hard to tell from written words alone (as well written as they may be) who is truly dedicated in their conjoined future with us, and who is not.

In order to ensure we will not be backing lame ponies we created a two part contest, the first part was to determine who had work that not only was good enough to pair with our masthead and theme but also that we would be willing to work with again, and the second part was even more important; we wanted to know who would garner the most interest… in other words who would sell the most books.

To make it more balanced we also added in the free voting process. This could encourage your friends, coworkers, family, etc to become involved in your possibility of winning the contest without having to make a single purchase. If these people take the time vote for you, they may even take the time to make a purchase one day. Perhaps to buy your first book published by Open Heart Publishing. One thing they will be guaranteed to do is talk about it, and word of mouth is truly our “bestest” friend.

In the long run, you have already won a big part of the contest, a guaranteed consideration of your work.

Whenever we decide to open our doors for submissions, the opportunities arise for our previously published authors first.

It is our endeavor to create a literary stable which may be used to create a legacy that we may all be proud of, and could positively impact all of our careers and intrepid adventures in the publishing landscape for years to come.

Here are a few points you can discus when communicating with your audience can help you in your effort to win year two of An Honest Lie.

1. O.H.P. is dedicated to working with you as an author. You are a published writer and you found a publishing company that doesn’t want to publish one story from you and say adios, on the contrary O.H.P. believes you are a kind of literary partner and as such are considered first when calls for submissions are made.

2. Their involvement in your contest year could help you gain recognition and further notoriety, not least of which would be the chance at winning a book deal.
Authors become famous for one reason and one reason alone… people buy their books. J.K. Rowling didn’t just write a great story, she sold a great story and what made it a success was the fact that many people purchased it. It started slowly and then took off like a storm once the right people purchased it.

3. Open Heart Publishing is dedicated to a specific paradigm within the publishing world and that is a green publishing paradigm. In other words, we use Print On Demand publishing services in order to produce our physical inventory. This in turn creates a higher cost, but one we at Open Heart Publishing believe is well worth the cost considering the old publishing paradigm that always involved massive and multiple forms of waste and severe deforestation. It is also for this reason that Open Heart Publishing produces E-books, and believes wholeheartedly that is up to all of us to attempt to make conscious choices that improve our world on a daily basis.

4. Look how beautiful this copy of An Honest Lie: Delusions of Insignificance is. This is such a beautiful piece of published art. Often it seems that books don’t take the time for such beautiful artistry anymore, isn’t it nice to see that art still exists in literature? (please note that per your author’s agreement this can only be accomplished with a physical copy of the book, as you are not allowed to show anyone your copy of the E-Book. If you have not purchased your copy of the book yet, then all I can say is shame on you. We made it available to you at cost + shipping and handling without any pub fee at all. That’s right no one makes any sort of profit off of those purchases!) It’s a proven fact that people love to handle things before buying, and if you have a copy of the book to show them then the sale will be easier to make.

5. Please purchase your copy from my portal instead of using Amazon, or Barnes and Noble, or etc. Purchases made elsewhere do not help me win a book deal. If you truly desire to assist me, buy my book in either print or E-book format and let others know about this amazing opportunity that I am involved with, this could be the break I have been waiting for. (Though purchases from the major distributors is a good thing in and of itself (after all they are buying books) the time table these companies use for paying out is ridiculously slow and also very costly. We are such a small company that we can not survive on only purchases made from the conventional distribution channels and must encourage purchases from our company website. Our readership is still in the beginning phases of development, and it is through the networking and sharing of mutual audiences on a longterm basis that we develop and create new markets for ourselves and others)

6. Don’t forget to vote for me. Even if you don’t buy a copy of the book, at least you could vote for me. I could potentially win the book deal on votes alone. (Yes, it is entirely possible to win the book contract with Open Heart Publishing entirely on individual votes alone. Though it could be hard to do, there is a slight possibility that this could occur, and my advice is to use the hell out of this point. A few friends on facebook (or other blog/ social networking sight) sharing a link could be the ticket to more sales and also more votes. Also note that the best way to set up this kind of link would be a link that takes them to your specific purchase portal and also allows them to conveniently vote for you as well. If they get curious they can click around and visit your interview and even read an exerpt from your story or even from the stories your competitor has written. The idea is to seduce our potential customer into the richness that is Open Heart Publishing, by encouraging their participation)

Things you will need to help you accomplish the above recommendations

1. A printed copy of the book.
2. A Facebook account(or other social networking account)
3. A Blog
4. People to share this information with
5. 1 to 4 hours each week dedicated to expanding your audience

Do you have to do any of these things… no not at all, but it will help you further your efforts.

Point #1: This is a step by step process.

It all began with our agreeing to publish your work. We followed it up by then interviewing you and providing a method of generating interest in your work. We created further interest in the product by speaking about you and creating a contest, a contest which gives you more public visibility as well as credibility in a very crowded landscape.
The problem is though we are the publishing house, we are only one voice.
However when united with your voices and your patrons we expand our fan-base and in like manner, so do you.
I said all of that to say this. This is a group effort. None of us can do this alone. We are walking in the footsteps of our predecessors and our inheritors will call us forefathers one day. Each day we are expanding our collective audiences.

Point #2: The Publishing Landscape

As we look around this crazy world today, business has changed tremendously in many markets. Not least of which is the publishing industry. Large corporate giants loom over a vast ocean of writers trying to get a break.

Example: We had 4,000+ submissions for Vol. 2: Delusions of Insignificance, and over 5,000 submissions for Vol. 1: Encouraging the Delinquency of Your Inner Child.

Open Heart Publishing is a springboard company.

Our goal is in helping you get more visibility and more recognition. In doing so not only do we succeed at helping promote you we are also promoting ourselves. As you do better, we do better. As your name becomes more recognizable, our name becomes more recognizable.

With more recognition comes a larger audience, with a larger audience you draw more attention from the larger publishing houses. With this kind of attention you could be looking at larger book deals.

But first you have to get the audience’s attention.

The good news is that the audience is already looking for you, they just might not be aware of that fact just yet.

So now you have to let them know you are here by staking a claim out on the internet. Do you have a blog? Are you on Facebook, Twitter, or both? Are you active on other social media networks? Do you have your own website that you update on a weekly basis?
Are you involved in a writer’s group, or a book club? Do you attend a church or a social club?

In any of these venues, have you mentioned that you are published in An Honest Lie and the fact that An Honest Lie is a contest?

All of these are good options, but doing none of them will hurt your chances at winning tremendously. So if you are not trying to build your fan-base already, there is a link to the right that says Crap, I need a blog. Click on it and get one today.
Wordpress is one of the easiest free blogging softwares available that allows for a great deal of flexibility.

Point #3: It’s all about the Patrons

Getting 10 patrons should be your top priority!

Patrons can come from all walks of life. They could be people you already know, or even absolute strangers. Rest assured one thing sets patrons apart from other people who read your work… they are paying customers who have purchased a book from your portal in order that you could win votes.

Patrons do another amazing thing, they talk about you.

They post to their blogs about this writer they know who is published in An Honest Lie Volume 2 and how there is this cool contest that could help you get your career in writing moving ahead.

They tweet how others should vote for you, they post to facebook about this really neat book they just read.

And why do they do that?

Because they want to help you, and because simply put, you asked them to.
This in turn encourages other likely customers to buy a book from you as well.

Point #4: Do not be afraid to ask for the sale

People love to help one another, especially when it could mean a new beginning for someone who is going after a dream or a goal.

Being shy or ashamed of asking people to buy your book will only hurt you. After all, if the piece was good enough to be picked up by a publisher, then it’s good enough to be talked about and brought to the attention of others, and all of us at Open Heart Publishing believe that you are entitled to earn a living from your handicraft.

But it’s not enough for patrons to just buy the book; you need them to buy the book from your sales portal for two very important reasons. One: a sale from your portal counts as 500 votes towards your goal; and two: It can take up to two years before we are paid on sales that happen from outside sources (other websites or retail chains), please also note that the profits we make from sales from other sources are far less profitable. It goes without saying that point two should be kept as private information and not be shared with the public outside of friends and relatives.

Final Point: Share

Let us know what you are doing so we can keep abreast of your endeavors, let us know what is working for you and what isn’t working for you. Is facebook a waste of time for you or is it a godsend? Are you doing a blogfest or a podcast, giving a reading at a local writer’s group, have someone who wants to review this book? Etc… If one person does something it becomes a monologue, if a group participates together it becomes pageantry.