Author: Erika Lance

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Trigger Warnings: Why they are important!

As a publisher I get this question a lot: Do you agree with trigger warnings on books?

There was a fantastic article written by Jamie Beck on Writers Unboxed you can find here:

To Warn or not to Warn: The Controversy around Trigger Warnings in Literature

I agree 100% with Jamie that this is a complicated question. However, having looked at what so many are saying I have a way I look at this topic.

One of my first realizations of how this can be important to readers was my discovery of websites such as https://www.doesthedogdie.com/ where it lists any books, tv or movies where a dog is injured or dies. Some people may laugh at this notion, however, for so many this is an issue to the point where a website like this needs to be created and maintained.

In the article by Jamie it was brought up that TV and Movies are including these warnings now as a standard. Some might wonder why these were introduced? Or even the warning system of G, PG, R, etc for movies?

The truth is that there is an audience for any type of TV, Movie or Book. Most would not want a four-year-old to watch a graphic horror movie, so yes, letting a parent know that “Red Riding Hood” (a 2003 horror movie) has an R rating is potentially important. 

But with books, should you let the audience know what they are potentially in for? This is where this debate comes in. If giving these warnings are you doing spoilers or potentially alienating an audience? The answer is Yes and No.

Using the example above, yes, you might alienate part of your audience if you indicate that a dog dies in your book. With that said, the truth is that for some people this is a topic that they simply cannot handle and can cause them to have serious issues if they are suddenly presented with a dog dying in a book they are reading. When someone is “triggered” by something they read or watch, they are the ONLY ones who can determine how that will or did affect them. This is a topic of the individual’s mental health. 

Now, if we are talking about the fact that the dog dying is the end of the book, like in Where the Red Fern Grows, one of my childhood favorite stories. Then yes, I could also see how you might be having a spoiler. However, as with any book or movie, a person is going to decide to read or watch regardless of letting them know a topic may be featured in the story. You are not saying a dog dies at the end of this book. They have no idea where this features in the story or what effect it has on the plotline.

I think letting people know that the book contains potentially triggering scenes does not actually spoil the book. When people read it, they are doing so to get engrossed in the story. You have a book that has potentially one-hundred-thousand words, how does one to five words letting people know something might trigger them derail your story?

Would you rather have a reader walk away from one of your books having been triggered and dealing with that? They are not going to recommend your book to others. They are also not going to leave you a good review. They will also not follow your or buy other books you have written. So what did  the sale cost you versus the royalties from that one book? Heck, they may even post poor reviews announcing critical plot points because they are so upset by being triggered. 

Every person needs the option of caring for their own mental health. How they do this is up to them and if a trigger warning makes them choose not to read your book. This is not a lost reader. This is someone who was not one of your audience to begin with. If a reader sees a trigger and thinks it gives away the story, they are also not your audience. 

A person once told me you could walk into a room of 100 people and all of them could love your book, some could love your book or none could love your book. It does not make your book any less amazing, it just means they are not your audience. There are millions of people out there who will be. Find them!

Ultimately this is a personal decision for the author in the way that many of how you present your books to the world should be. But when looking at the choices such as your genre (BISAC codes), key words and other metadata, remember the reason behind the triggers and if you feel you want to communicate these to your potential readers.

If you do, I recommend putting them under the blurb or in the forward of your book. You can also put them on your website for reference and let readers know where to find them. This way it is making it their choice. 

Yes, this is a hard topic and I might now have the “right” answer, but I hope this helps you look at this from another perspective.

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Happy Pride Month!

At 4 Horsemen Publications it has always been our mission to support authors and their authentic voices. We are fortunate to have so many LGBTQIA+ titles and authors as part of our team.

For the month of June we will be celebrating each of them and the many stories they bring to the world. 

We support the continuing efforts to achieve equal justice and opportunity for all LGBTQIA+ artists, creators and persons. 

Check out all our amazing authors and their voices!!!

Erika Lance

CEO

4 Horsemen Publications, Inc.

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Writing is HARD! – You Are Not Alone

If I had a dollar for every person who approached me and said “I want to write a book” or “I’m writing a book” and then years later nothing came from it, I would have a nice new car.

You might think I am exaggerating but the truth is that very few people who want to write a book actually end up doing so. 

There are several reasons for this, but one I want to touch on today is that writing can appear to be a VERY lonely activity. It is true for the most part that most writers, including myself, do best in certain circumstances to write. I work best from my desktop PC, in my office with Viking music playing. 

Writing is also one of the easiest things in your life to set aside as it is a hobby for most and not something like a puzzle that is staring you in the face or a gym membership that is charging you every month so you are reminded that it is waiting for you.

There is a widely held belief that it takes six weeks to form a habit. What you need to do if you want to write a book is form a habit. With that said, there is a universal formula as a writer to actually get the book done. Want to know what it is?

YOU NEED TO WRITE!

I know that may seem silly but the truth is that the only way you will complete a book or story is to put the words on the page. This means you have to schedule some time to write and stick to this schedule. This alone can be a monumental task. I understand as I wrestle with this all the time.

This is why we created the Author’s Accountability Guide. It is a guidebook to help you create your goals, your schedule and actually track your progress.

It has helpful Muse’s to assist on your journey and we also created a Facebook group so you can connect with other authors and join a community of people just like you who are writers and simply need to get their stories completed and out into the world!

To start you on your journey use the coupon code: 4HP10 and order the book from us directly here:

The Author’s Accountability Planner 2024: A Day-to-Day Guide for Writers

Join our Facebook group and find others just like you!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2763678010528954

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Is There Hope for the Little Guy?

I started my publishing journey in 2020. I wanted to create a publishing company that was different. I am not alone in this idea. As an author myself, I saw how hard, and I would actually say impossible, it was for some authors to get their book published.

I could write a book on what is wrong in the publishing industry as far as the large traditional publishers go, but most of us know the horror stories and have some scars ourselves.

I branded my company 4 Horsemen Publications because I wanted to be part of Bringing the Publishing Apocalypse to our industry. Things need to change and I know that every independent publishing company and independent author are making that change happen.

Yesterday, a news item was shared with me about the sudden closure of Small Press Distribution. You can see the article from NPR here: https://www.npr.org/2024/04/08/1243433868/authors-scramble-after-the-main-distributor-for-small-publishers-suddenly-closed

Reading it made my heart sink. I know first hand what this can mean for a publishing company of any size. 

After almost five years in this industry, I can tell you that anyone who joins it to “get rich” will become disillusioned very quickly. Publishing is hard work. It is not only creating the content, but being a stable person in your author’s lives. They will need a sounding board or simply someone to vent to. It is learning how to find readers and training your authors to do the same. It is understanding how books are created, listed, and found on retail sites and elsewhere. Again, I have literally written the books on some of these points.

However, what I have seen more than anything is that there are deals with the publishing “devils” that you have to make in order to succeed. Our fates as publishers are in the hands of a few companies like Small Press Distributors in order to get the books that have had blood, sweat and tears poured into them into stores and the hands of readers. Do I have a large printing press and am I printing my own books? Nope. I can’t. There is not only the cost to get and maintain these machines, but the space to keep them and the supplies to run them. How do we then distribute these books? Having a warehouse of amazing award-winning titles does not mean you snap your fingers and they are listed on all the sites you need them to be.

So what are our options? There are a few::

  1. Find a printer, get your books printed, warehouse them, and then find a distributor. 
  2. List your books only on sites like Amazon, B&N, and Kobo, to name a few, that will allow you to upload your print books (however, be prepared to buy ISBNs for every version unless you want that company listed as the publisher).
  3. Find a distributor like Ingram who will print your books on demand (POD) and allow you to distribute them to all the major retailers for a cut of your profits.

It is very hard—as the owner of a company—to have something so vital to the survival of your business in the hands of other entities.

How do you overcome this?

I am seeing that more publishers are finding creative ways to sell via their websites and allowing the authors to sell on their own websites. copies of the books being able to be printed from some of the sources listed above.

You can also work with book printers to create “Special Edition Copies” of books in a smaller print run. There are what are referred to as Mom and Pop printers that would love to help you make your books amazing. BookTokers and Bookstagramers love these and so do the fans.

I will say that we, as a community of independent publishers, need to work together to form better solutions to make sure what happened with Small Press Distribution does not continue to happen.We must find new and creative ways to thrive so that we can get our author’s voices and stories out to readers that are hungry for them.

Let’s start a dialogue together on how we change this machine, so to speak, to redefine how we are able to succeed.

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The Year is Half Over – What Have You Done?

Hello Authors, Artists and other Creatives!

As I am sure you have noticed, we are midway through 2023. I think this is a fantastic time to take stock and see what you have accomplished. 

Did you meet your goal? Did you exceed it?

WELL DONE!

Are you looking at the goal you set for yourself and finding you fell short or did not even start then the last thing you need to do is beat yourself up about it. 

Now is the time to re-set. It is time to figure out what you want the goal for the rest of the year to be. 

Sometimes the best way to do this is to work backwards. Start at the beginning and figure out what you want to do. Then what does that take? Example:

I want to write 50,000 words. This can be a great goal. But how many words per day can you write? Just on pure math, if you start on July 1st it is 183 days. 

50,000/183 = 273 words per day

(Note: This is pure math. It is not factoring the editing, research and interruptions you may encounter.)

Now, how do we hit a goal of 273 words per day? First, I would say the goal is 300. This begins to build in a buffer.

Next, set aside the time you CAN do this. Meaning, do you need to wake up a little earlier to make this happen? Do you need to take your notebook/laptop to work so you can write during lunch? If you do not MAKE the time, you will fail at the goal from the start.

Then you should track your progress everyday. Keep a note on what was successful and what was not. Maybe you do writing sprints? Setting a 5, 10 or 20 minute timer gives you a great idea on what you can accomplish in an hour. Then you know how much time you need to hit your goal.

There are studies that say if you do something for six weeks it then becomes part of your routine. Find a way to make writing a habit gives it priority so that your goal can be accomplished.

If you need a little help, check out our Author’s Accountability Planner!

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Imposter Syndrome – How to Deal as an Author

As an author, or any other profession really, it is very easy to fall into the trap of Imposter Syndrome. 

What is Imposter Syndrome?

Oxford defines Imposter Syndrome as: “the persistent inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one’s own efforts or skills.”

YIKES!

As an author it can be easy to find yourself thinking that you do not deserve the accolades you are receiving or even worse, you might think that nobody cares about your writing. This can be made worse by a bad review. When in fact, your writing might be impacting way more people then you realize and you might have a ton of people that can’t wait for your next release. 

One of the first things to remember is reviews are NOT for the author for the most part. The audience for them is other readers. You should not look at your reviews unless you have the ability to not take it personally. This is easier said than done. However, if you cannot distance yourself from them, then don’t read them.

As far as your work being “good enough”; simply put, it is the best work you are able to create in the moment you are in. Guess what? You will get better with every word you write. Something I find myself telling my authors all the time is this; when you get to the end of a book you are writing and you begin reading it for edits, remember: The work in the beginning of the book is not as good as the work at the end. Just clean up what needs to be cleaned up and move on to the next thing you are going to write. Otherwise, you will be in a forever loop of editing. You will not get your work into the hands of those adoring fans. 

STOP REWRITING!

In those moments when you are having self doubt about you as a writer and your work you need to remember: 

  • You are creating art because you have something to say. 
  • The words you are putting down will impact people regardless of if you ever hear how it has done that. 
  • You should not be writing to get a pat on the back or for someone to tell you how awesome you are. 
  • You should be writing because it is something you love to do. 

And most importantly:

  • YOU ARE AMAZING!!! You are writing which is a huge accomplishment and you should be proud.

Please refer back to this post any time you need a boost.