6 Mistakes to Avoid as a Musician

Writing your own music can be daunting, as many different problems can arise. The entire process of writing, producing, and recording your own music can be frustrating, and great ideas can dwindle into nothing.

When you are in the process of creating your own music, there are a number of things to avoid in order to have the smoothest time possible. These tips can vary in importance from person to person, to make sure you know what you have the hardest time with.

Overthinking and Anxiety

One of the easiest things to destroy your creativity and ruin your songs is to overthink things too much. Make sure to not get too anxious when thinking of ideas, and also make sure to be very accepting of all the different things you come up with. You can always edit your ideas later, so don’t be troubled over any possible mistakes you might make.

Weak and Underdeveloped Ideas

Many artists can get frustrated when coming up with ideas, and end up just forming unfinished ideas together, creating an incohesive piece. Songwriting is supposed to be difficult and time consuming, so be sure to fully work through your ideas in order to create a fully realized, cohesive piece of music.

Bad Production Quality

Both overproducing and under-producing your song can lead it to ruins. You don’t want the quality of your music to be way too much, but you also don’t want the production to feel empty. Be sure to focus on the parts of the music you want to shine, and be subtle about the other things. You want to have music that connects well with the audience listening to it.

No Identity

In order to engage more with your audience, and create a truly great piece of music, you need to have a clear identity. A song without a clear identity or voice is easy to forget, and then is less relatable to your audience. Make sure to really put yourself into your work, so that you truly are relatable to your audience and engage even more people.

Weak Performances

While it is important to get the perfect techniques while recording, a song won’t be great unless it has passion and heart. In fact, a passionate performance is seen to be more desirable than a technically perfect one. Don’t be too focused on making mistakes, and be sure to give your performance a lot of character and heart.

Being Insecure

It’s extremely important for a performer of a musician to be very sure of themselves. Being insecure of your performance or music will look bad no matter how good or talented you really are. Being confident will bring the audience to your side, and can make you a better performer!

Conclusion

All of these are great things to take note of while in the process of creating your own music. It’s also important to remember to let your own ideas shine through your entire creative process, and to be true to your own brand of music.

If you need any help writing or recording your music, contact us here. We look forward to adding massive value to your brand.

Do you have any more ideas on what to avoid? Let us know!

- By Julianna Martinek

How To Title Your Book

Are you unsure of how you should be titling your book?

A book’s title is extremely crucial when it comes to the success of a book. The wrong book title can severely hamper your book sales and marketing strategies.

Writing a book takes a lot of time and creativity. To give it the best shot at success, make sure you give it the best possible title that creates intrigue as well as informs customers of what it is about.

Aspects of a Book Title

So before we dwell more into how to title a book, let’s understand the different aspects of a book title first. There are 4 important aspects you should keep in mind while creating a book title:

1. Intrigue 

Probably the most important factor of a book title is the intrigue it creates. Creating an intriguing book title makes a shopper stop in their track and do a double-take back to the book. 

Not only does it make them look at the book again, but if it’s intriguing enough they might even buy it just to know why it was titled the way it was.

2. SEO friendliness

Another aspect to keep in mind that is important regardless of the genre is the SEO friendliness of your title. By that, I mean ensuring your book will come upon a search result.

How to do that?

Make sure to include keywords in your book title that are searched often. You can use Publisher Rocket, a website that helps you find the keywords you need to use to end up in an Amazon search result.

3. Keep the genre in mind

Usually, authors try to get extremely creative with their titles and take it too far.

Sometimes in order to create an intriguing and creative title, authors alienate their genre. While you come up with a catchy title, make sure to write one that fits your book’s genre. It will only confuse consumers when you title your book as if it’s a sci-fi novel, when it’s actually a romance novel.

4. Informative

Make sure to make your title informative for potential readers.

When it comes to non-fiction, it is given that the title HAS to be informative on what the book is about. And if not the title, the subtitle most definitely should hint at what the book is about.

When it comes to non-fiction, however, you can get a bit creative but still, make sure to inform your readers of what they are reading.

Take The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger for example. Just with the 4 simple words, you know what the book is about. You know it is about fashion and a difficult person to be around.

Creating a title based on these aspects will help increase your book sales and help you create a more fascinating marketing campaign. The only thing you need to keep in mind is that different genres require different things. A non-fiction book that is more instructional in nature will probably have a straight-forward title, however, if it is a fiction, well then the sky is the limit.

The Steps to Choose the Right Title

1. Rough Ideas

A good way to begin is by jotting down ideas as they come but where do you start?

The following points will help you begin the process of creating the ultimate book title:

• Common Phrases:

Try to come up with common phrases that are often used that relate to your book. These can end up being what attracts readers to your books or it can be a great stepping stone to your ultimate title. 

An example of a common phrase used as a book title: Fault in Our Stars

• Your Book:

Use your book!

Use anything and everything you can from your book. Character names, places, events, situations, etc. etc. The options are endless…

• Your Genre:

Although making sure your title goes along with your book is an important aspect of creating a book title, it can also help in creating your title.

You can try using genre-specific keywords in your title or even use a genre-specific title generator website as well. 

• Create Hooks:

A hook is something intriguing or bizarre added to your title. It can be a twisted take on a common phrase or it could even attempt to give away the plot! This creates an interest in readers to discover why the author would do something like that with their book. 

But remember: you have to be clever when it comes to creating hooks. You cannot create a title with a fantastic hook but not have it correlate with your book at all. That will only end up disappointing your reader.

2. Title Generators

There are many title generators available to authors today. There are many different title generating websites, some of which are even genre-specific.

If you want to use a title generator website, make sure to check out Jony Studios blog, Best Non-Fiction Book Title Generators.

3. Add Trigger Words

Increase your book’s mood factor by including trigger words. Trigger words can be shocking, horrific or hilarious, whatever you wish it to be.

Using trigger words will again stop the reader in their tracks while browsing through books. It will create intrigue in the reader and make them pick up your book to read more about it.

4. Proof-read

Proof-reading titles don’t mean spell checks and grammar checks. When it comes to proof-reading titles, you need to ensure:

1. The title is not being used on an already popular book or is not copyrighted by someone else

2. International reception of certain words is different. If your book is being released on an international platform, either have different titles for the different countries or make sure to create a title that will be perceived the same everywhere.

3. Make sure it looks good on the book’s cover. If your title is too long or too short, it will look awkward on your cover. Other things to look into are images, illustrations, etc. and ensuring they are in relation to your book as well as the title.

5. Test It

You should also test your book title before finalizing on a title. This will help ensure your title is the best possible one for your book and that it will be perceived in a way that will be huge on your book sales.

There are a few different ways to do that:

1. You can either create a Facebook page/group for readers interested in your book’s genre and create a poll with different titles. Or you can find a Facebook group of people interested in your book’s genre and ask them what they prefer through a post or a poll.

2. You can also get a professional survey done for your book title. You can either get your publisher to help with this survey or you could use PickFu, a website that uploads your book title options and anonymously has people vote on one they like the most.

Conclusion

A book title can make or break your sales for the year. Choosing a book title is crucial as the title is what entices a reader to pick the book up.

Titles should also be chosen according to your book’s genre and intent. If your book is a self-help book or an instructional book, the title needs to be straightforward and easy to understand. However, when it comes to fiction, it is best to create intrigue through your title and get creative with it.

Another aspect to keep in mind is Amazon’s rules and requirements when it comes to a book’s title if you intend to sell it on Amazon. Some of them are:

• The title should match the cover of your book

• Should not reference other books, trademarks or authors

• Should not contain any advertisements

• Should not have any claims of discounts, ranks, reduced prices or bestseller

You can learn more about the rules here.

Did you find this helpful? Which title did you end up using?

- By Neha Agarwala

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If you need help turning your book into an audiobook, we offer audiobook production services that will help you reach a wider audience and increase your book sales. 

Learn more here and listen to some of our audiobook samples.

Best Tips Before Recording Vocals

Here is a small list of things to make sure you have before recording vocals, particularly for music. The list is organized from things easiest to hardest to fix in post-production, through mixing, mastering, or just general edits. Whether you’re an artist or a producer, it’s always a good idea to make sure you have these ideas in check before starting a recording session.

Volume

The first thing to check before you start recording vocals is also the easiest thing to fix in post-production, but will save you some trouble if you sort it out before you even start recording. Ensuring that the volume levels are satisfactory can help out with the rest of the session, and will save you some time in post-production.

Pitch

The next thing to check is pitch. Singers and vocalists range on their pitch abilities, but warming up the voice and to try and hit the proper notes is an important step. Certain notes and pitches can be fixed in post-production using auto-tune, however, a great performance that has some off notes doesn’t compare to an empty one with perfect pitch.

Sonics

Sonics is really the one thing that is mostly fixed in post production, however there are some aspects that can be fixed or adjusted during a recording session. For example, the vocalist standing too close to the mic can make the sound too “boomy”, or other noises interferences can make the sound seem unnatural and distorted. For the most part however, things such as “boomy-ness”, resonance, and distortion can be fixed in post-production.

Tone and Intensity

The tone, intensity, and sound of a vocalist's voice can only be fixed in post-production to a certain extent. A vocalist’s voice is the spirit of the recording, and the tone of the voice makes up a large part of the performance. Make sure that you have the right voice tones and intensity down before starting a recording session, it will save you a lot of trouble in post-production.

Groove and Rhythm

Groove and rhythm is another aspect of recording that is difficult to fix in post-production. A vocalist should be able to get into the mood of the song, and reflect that mood back into their voice.

Pronunciation and Diction

If you want listeners to be able to really understand and recognize the words you are singing or speaking, then your pronunciation of those words are really important. Diction in general is not something you can generally fix in post-production, so be sure to take the necessary steps to hone in on your enunciation of your lyrics or script.

Emotions

The hardest thing to get right during a recording session, but also one of the most important, is the emotions. The attitude or vibe or your song is something that can really only be sorted out during production, and it makes up for a lot. Successful musicians can use emotions to really enhance the feeling and quality of a song, so make sure you have the emotions down during a session.

Conclusion

Overall, make sure to always check back during a recording session to make sure you like the initial demo, and ensure that all the mistakes are things that can be fixed during post-production. Remember to give recording sessions your all, so you can be extremely satisfied with the end result after editing, mixing, and mastering.

If you need any help recording or creating a song of your own, contact us here. We look forward to adding massive value to your music.

So did any of these tips help? Let us know!

- By Julianna Martinek