Riley Adams's Blog, page 145

Thoughts on Social Reading and Other Intrusions

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

A couple of months ago, I read an
interesting post on social reading: Is Social Reading the End of an Intimacy?  Porter Anderson
discussed the topic on Jane
Friedman’s blog for his Writing on the Ether
weekly column there (excellent coverage of publishing industry topics
there, if you haven’t checked it out). 

I’ve kept thinking about the post, since
this social aspect keeps slipping into ebooks I’ve been reading.  I’ve gotten used to the underlined passages,
for instance, although they startled me the first few ebooks I read.  The fact that I’ve gotten used to them is
what makes me think about Porter’s post.


The underlined passages may not be such a
huge deal, but as Porter put it, it could get more extensive:

“I’m
imagining pop-up notes nudging me with other readers’ bright ideas; reviews
rolling all over the place; and marginalia marching around the glowy screen of
my preferred tablet reading device.”

What does
bother me (and this is device intrusion, not specifically social media):

When my Kindle tells me that I have 5
minutes left in my chapter. My device has been timing my reading and applies it
to unread text.  This is my device
interacting with me.  It makes me feel as
if I’m racing the clock…and since I definitely don’t need to be reminded how
very little free time I have, it gives me a harried feeling.  Clearly, I need to turn this feature off (now
to figure out how to do that).

What
doesn’t bother me:

Seeing a request at the end of the book
to like a book on Facebook, tweet about it, or buy the next book.  I don’t do any of those things, but I don’t
mind seeing the request.  But I read on a
survey in the last year (tried to find the survey and can’t, darn it) that
readers frequently feel irritated when they get these requests at the end of a
book… that reading should be a sanctuary from social media.

Underlined passages don’t bother me. With
my Kindle in hand, I’ve been at book club and watched as folks have fumbled
through their printed books, looking for just the right passage to illustrate
their point.  I’m able to immediately
find that passage because the thing has been underlined by 500 people.  Not wanting to be a know-it-all, I just wait
for them to find their spots.

Underlined passages are also useful for
writers—these underlined spots create helpful research as to favorite scenes
and what worked for readers.  You can
check out the ones readers underlined on your book’s page on Amazon. 

What
sometimes bothers me:

Reader comments while I’m reading a book…this bothers me.  And you’d think it wouldn’t, with my
background. For the record, I’m the daughter of a now-retired high school
English teacher. For my first twenty-two years, I rarely read a book that
didn’t have annotations in the margins or underlined passages (unless they were
library books).  I do believe it may have
warped me because I write in nearly all of my print books.  But Daddy’s notes were a teacher’s notes and
I found them insightful.  I don’t have
the same interest in other readers’ marginalia.

But! 
I don’t mind reading notes after
I’m finished with a book, when I’ve already drawn conclusions for myself.  Then I do like to read others’ opinions and
analyses. Book club meetings have maybe softened me up for some forms of social reading in my
ebooks.  But only on my own terms and
only after I’m done with a novel. 

What’s
probably key with social reading, from a publisher/developer perspective:

Porter hit the nail right on the head
here, for me: “And our busy developers gussying
up social reading platforms need provide us with an escape. An OFF button. I
will use it. Indeed, if I can’t turn off these fine features when I want to,
I’ll be as anti-social in reading as I am (some tell me) in life.”

Yes. 
I have to be able to turn it all off. I have to turn off highlighters,
forget about annotations, and not “share” at the end of the book unless I darn
well want to.  I can’t deal with too much
clutter in the margins. And I’m with Porter about hearing blather from
readers—inconsequential information that has nothing to do with the book.  I’d want more insightful comments…sometimes.  And sometimes maybe I want to just read and
be by myself with my thoughts.

As a writer, though, I’ve noticed the
fact that I have gotten used to some of
this intrusion, as I mentioned earlier in the post.  This makes me think that our future will
feature books that are a lot more interactive in a social way.  If I can so easily get used to it in my
middle age, my kids accept it as a matter of fact.  Although I feel somewhat divided on this, I
have a feeling that it will be one of many ways we keep writing and reading
relevant to a new, computer-native generation.

How do you feel about social
reading?  




******


Friend and fellow mystery writer Margot Kinberg has put together a crime fiction anthology: In a Word--Murder.  The ebook retails for $2.99 and proceeds from its sales benefit Princess Alice Hospice, in memory of Maxine Clarke, a supporter of and good friend to the crime writing community.  One of my stories is in the collection, too...my first attempt at short fiction. :) 
 

Image: MorgueFile: Alvimann

 

Success and Writing—What Keeps Us Going

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

In many ways, I’m the biggest lurker out
there.  I do try to comment on friends’
blogs, but for the vast majority of the blogs I visit in a week (which is in
the hundreds), I skim and share. 

Some of what I see and have seen over the
years makes me sad.  I’ve seen writers
talk about how beaten-down they’ve been from the rejection cycle, from reader
reviews, from lack of family support or publisher support. I’ve seen a lot of
self-doubt and a lot of people quitting. 


Interestingly, though, I’ve seen a lot of
writers who blogged that they were quitting writing only to pop back on the
scene months later.  They couldn’t stop.


I understand where they’re coming
from.  I have over 450 customer reviews
on Amazon for at least two of my books.   I’d say at
least one or two out of every four or five is a real stinker.  The worst are the ones that you get
absolutely no helpful feedback from whatsoever—hey, at least give me something
to correct, y’all. What didn’t you
like?  I’m always
searching for ways to improve.  Did a
character seem flat to you? Ending wasn’t believable?  Protagonist was unsympathetic?  Is there some sort of takeaway, some sort of
actionable tip that I can get from this wretched review?  For heaven’s sake…just let me know.

What keeps me going are the three or four
out of every five reviews who enjoy the books and take the time to write a
customer review to say so. I can totally understand writing a review for
something you dislike (you’re angry you
wasted your valuable time), but it’s a real gift when readers write a positive
review.  Similar to the negative reviews,
it’s also helpful if they pick out what they do like so much—so that I can provide
more of it next time.

It’s human nature to feel more motivated
to complain about something that bothers you than to praise something that you
enjoyed or that worked well. This was brought home to me last week.  My son is in the process of researching
college review websites where students and alum write in or are videoed talking
about their school.  A large number of
the hundreds of reviews are negative, no matter what college he looks at.  I reminded him—kids who are unhappy with
their school are more likely to put it on the record than someone who’s
enjoying a mostly positive experience.

We can’t only focus on our reviews and
our sales stats.  Ultimately, many of us
write for ourselves.  Even if all my
readers abandoned me tomorrow, I’d still be writing.  Writing isn’t only a habit, it’s a way of
looking at the world.  That lens is
always there.  I write about the things I
see, the things I don’t see, the things I wish I saw, the things I’m glad I
don’t see.  I’m sure if I weren’t writing
these things down, I’d end up talking to myself, spilling over with all the
ideas that rattle around in my head and all the different character voices that
chirp up.  Yes, writing is much better
than simply being a flaky woman muttering to herself.

Although I’d write if I had no
readers…the main reason I write is for my readers.  I love hearing about things I’ve done right
so that I can duplicate it in future books. 



 I came across an interesting post (in my lurking) recently—“Dear
Writers: Success Is Mattering to Somebody” by Kyran Pittman.  Her takeaway point (the whole post was
inspiring, I thought):

You don’t
have to be the next big thing to be a success in writing, or in anything else.
You just have to make the next thing that matters to someone and go on to make
the next thing after that. One thing that matters after the other, for as long
as you can. That’s work anyone can be proud of.

She summed it up well.  The reader emails, the positive reviews, the
encouraging notes on Facebook—those are what keep me writing in the public area
(I’d never stop writing, privately).  And
they also function as quality control…I hate disappointing readers.  That’s the reason I keep plowing ahead,
trying to get better, sucking it up during the days when I know I’ve written
some really awful passages.  I’ll fix the
story, I’ll improve, I’ll deliver something for readers to enjoy…and if some
don’t enjoy it, I can try to pull out the constructive criticism to build with
next time.  

What keeps you going? 
 Image: MorgueFile: mercucio2

Twitterific

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig





 

Twitterific links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming)
which has over 23,000 free articles on writing related topics. It's the search
engine for writers.




November 13-14:  Get
Read – Marketing Strategies for Writers: Dan Blank’s We Grow Media is a  two-day online conference for authors looking
for promotion strategies--and, ultimately, readers.  Speakers include Porter
Anderson, Chuck Wendig, Dan Blank, Jane
Friedman, Therese Walsh, and many
others.  (I'm one of the scheduled
speakers and am also am serving on the advisory board.)  More information about the conference and
registration information can be found here.




If you use the
discount code elizabeth, you receive $20
off the conference price.

Check out the new
resource for writers.  It’s Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure
Writer’s Support Group website.  There you’ll find pages of links to
resources—writing tips, publishers, agents, queries, self-publishing,
marketing, contests, and publications for writers.




20
questions to ask when creating your setting: http://dld.bz/cTcAm
@daycathy @jtdutton





Believable Characters: Applying
Personality Types: http://dld.bz/cTcAv
@JuliaReffner








Free writing
sprint/virtual retreat from @DIYMFA Nov. 16-17 offers
motivation and tips for finishing your book: http://bit.ly/1hkZYv8


What Do Your Characters Falsely Believe? http://dld.bz/cTf8g @jamigold

A test of standing desks--more proof they
make you productive: http://dld.bz/cTf8j

Reasons why horror is important as a
genre: http://dld.bz/cTf8r @kevinlucia

Writers & Inspiration: 5 Things to
Consider: http://dld.bz/cTf8z @YAmuses

The Key to an Unforgettable Opening Line:
http://dld.bz/cTf85 @paperblanks

Looking at control as a theme in books: http://dld.bz/cTf8A @CuriosityQuills

The Value of Planning Your Ebook: http://dld.bz/cTf8C @ninaamir

Write Your Book: A Guide to Getting
Started and Staying Productive: http://dld.bz/cTf8K
@KDillabough

Writers: Break The Rules—Run With
Scissors: http://dld.bz/cTf8U

The Heightened Sensitivity of Romance
Readers: http://dld.bz/cTf8W @PacificStand

Middle-grade novels for girls vs boys: http://dld.bz/cTf9c @glencstrathy

Breaking Into the Comic Book Industry: http://dld.bz/cTf9h @jasonboog

A site for getting ideas: http://dld.bz/cTf92

It's time to kill the idea that Amazon is
killing independent bookstores: http://dld.bz/cTf98
@qz @passivevoiceblg

What Drives a Book Reviewer to Drink: http://dld.bz/cTf9C @stefanvucak

Are We Too Concerned That Characters Be
'Likable'? http://dld.bz/cTf9J @mohsin_hamid

Mining Your Manuscript for Modifiers: http://dld.bz/cTf9N @AimeeLSalter

Is Pinterest Right for You? http://dld.bz/cTf9R @authormedia

Why Authors Should Believe in Their
Websites: http://dld.bz/cTjRf @fictionnotes

How to handle receiving an addendum to
your contract: http://dld.bz/cTjRr
@kristinerusch

12 Facebook Groups for Writers: http://dld.bz/cTjRC @thewritelife

3 Ways to Find Better-Paying Freelance
Writing Jobs: http://dld.bz/cTjRV @ticewrites

Writing and the Creative Life: Mind
Wandering: http://dld.bz/cTjSf
@gointothestory

10 Characters That Turned to the Dark
Side: http://dld.bz/cTjSh @rajanyk

Anticipating Reader Wants: http://dld.bz/cTjRx @Kid_Lit

Tag the Trait: The Game of Character
Description: http://dld.bz/cTcAF
@WyattGBessing

5 ways to see if your novel is ready to
face the world: http://dld.bz/cTkZb @rxena77

What Do You Do When Your Muse Is On
Vacation? http://dld.bz/cTkZc @write_practice

The Tension (and Relationship) Between
Creating and Consuming: http://dld.bz/cTkZd
@thatguyKC

Dealing With Telling and Backstory in an
Opening Scene: http://dld.bz/cTkZf
@janice_hardy

Be sure, as a writer, to listen to
yourself: http://dld.bz/cTkZg @hughhowey

Want to Be Successful? Beware of
End-of-the-Rainbow Thinking: http://dld.bz/cTkZj
@kristenlambtx

Story structure in Harry Potter:  How Rowling became a billionaire by following
the rules: http://dld.bz/cTkZ3

World-building Tip: 15 Details to
Remember: http://dld.bz/cTkZT @ava_jae

Getting Real About Writer's Burn Out and
Social Media Demands: http://dld.bz/cTkZV
@cateartios

Write More Easily: Understanding,
Embracing and Moving Beyond Resistance: http://dld.bz/cTmab
@aliventures

Why Don't Publishers Believe in Author
Websites? http://dld.bz/cTmaR @janefriedman

Exploiting Your Rights: http://dld.bz/cTmaY @susankayequinn

Emotional Barrier in Fiction: Why is it
so important for you to learn how to cross it? http://dld.bz/cTmba
@NakedEditor

Branding 101: What Is Your Brand? http://dld.bz/cTmbw @jamigold

A Warp Speed Analysis on the Influence of
SF: http://dld.bz/cTmb4 @SmartBear

Writing the Opening Scene: http://dld.bz/cTmb6 @janice_hardy

Rowling's outline and The Book
Architecture Method: How they both can push your writing to a new level: http://dld.bz/cTmbA

The Slow Release—Not the End of the
World: http://dld.bz/cTpFM

Punctuation with Conjunctions: http://dld.bz/cTpFS @writing_tips

5 Ways to Pace Your Story: http://dld.bz/cTpFY

Writing the High ROI Screenplay: http://dld.bz/cTpGp @joeteevee

Write What You Love: http://dld.bz/cTpGr @jamesscottbell

Handling showing vs. telling: http://dld.bz/cTpGQ @Margo_L_Dill

How long should it take to write a novel?
http://dld.bz/cTpKr

Write YA When You Don't Read YA? http://dld.bz/cTpK7 @KaitGetsLit @womenwriters

4 Reasons Your Concept Counts Above All
Else: http://dld.bz/cTpKT @Bang2write

The Ultimate Story Checklist: http://dld.bz/cTpMc @cockeyedcaravan

Are you an author or a publisher? How
indies are making their own rules: http://dld.bz/cTpMK
@nailyournovel

Your Non-Fiction Self-Publishing To Do
List: http://dld.bz/cTpMQ @theprexpert

Why Your Book Pitch Matters (Even If
You're Self-Published): http://dld.bz/cTqVy
@JFBookman

4 Ways To Reach The Right Audience For
Your Book: http://dld.bz/cTqVD @ebooksandkids

20 Literary Tumblrs: http://dld.bz/cTqVP @BuzzFeeders

How to Use Free Public Domain Art: http://dld.bz/cTrPD @Louise_Myers

17 Problems Only Book Lovers Will
Understand: http://dld.bz/cTrQh @BuzzFeeders

10 Ways to Use Audio to Sell More Books: http://dld.bz/cTrQj @bookgal

4 Ways to Sell eBooks Directly to
Readers: http://dld.bz/cTrRS @PaulaatAME

Discovery: Another Buzzword We're
Wrestling to Understand: http://dld.bz/cTrSg
@bookgal

How to Get Your Book Reviewed On Amazon: http://dld.bz/cTrSy @CathyStucker

5 Profitable Places To Sell Your Books: http://dld.bz/cTrS4 @FutureofInk

Authors and book clubs: http://dld.bz/cTrSQ

How to Choose Keywords and Categories for
Your Kindle eBook: http://dld.bz/cTrTe
@FreelanceSw

Video Marketing – Trick or Treat? http://dld.bz/cTrUz

12 novelists tell their scariest
bite-size stories: http://dld.bz/cTtYY @salon

Why You Should Be Blogging Your Origin
Story: http://dld.bz/cTum8 @JFBookman

Expose the inner thoughts of your
protagonist: http://dld.bz/cTumF

What Terrifies Teens In Today's Young
Adult Novels? The Economy: http://dld.bz/cTuqh
@valdesmarcela @nprbooks

Writing Secrets from Cheesy Halloween
Movies: http://dld.bz/cTu8R @jeffgoins

Writers' Halloween Fear List: http://dld.bz/cTu9n @RMFWriters

NaNoWriMo: Should You Participate?Plus
NaNoWriMo Comics, Musicals and Songs: http://dld.bz/cTvv5
@inkyelbows

Literature's haunted houses: http://dld.bz/cTweQ @guardianbooks

Don't rush to publish: http://dld.bz/cTwj2 @Porter_Anderson

Using Villains to Shape Your Hero: http://dld.bz/cTwNa

Killing the Top 10 Sacred Cows of
Publishing:Book as Event: http://dld.bz/cRE6D
@deanwesleysmith

The View From Book Six: http://dld.bz/cTwNA @megrosoff

Tips on Upping The Stakes: http://dld.bz/cTwNS @JHBogran @angelaackerman

7 fulfilling writing careers: http://dld.bz/cTwPj @thewritelife

50 Cliched Dialogues to Ban From Your
Script: http://dld.bz/cTwPG @Mentorless

17 Struggles Of Getting Ready For
NaNoWriMo: http://dld.bz/cTwt9

7 Haunted Libraries From Around the
World: http://dld.bz/cTund @paperblanks

How to Avoid the Self-Published Look: http://dld.bz/cTum6 @PaulaatAME

5 Tips for Creating an Urban Fantasy
World: http://dld.bz/cQGnW @cairnswrites

The 7 Most Common Misconceptions About
Science Fiction Publishing: http://dld.bz/cN5FJ
@io9

What to know about writing memoir: http://dld.bz/cTzTV @MacGregorLit

Reinventing your book: Reinventing the
Length: http://dld.bz/cTzUm @TheresaStevens

Ten Things an Author Should (or
Shouldn't) Do: http://dld.bz/cTzUv
@Martinthewriter

What to Expect From Working With A Book
Publicist: http://dld.bz/cTzUx @theprexpert

Adding mystery into a story: http://dld.bz/cTmQ3 @PAShortt

Those who stick with print books just
want to show off: http://dld.bz/cTnb4
@AndrewCouts @Porter_Anderson

Reasons to write for free: http://dld.bz/cTtcC @alexisgrant

As Amazon faces disappointment in its
publishing arm, is the company really in retreat? http://dld.bz/cTpnt
@Porter_Anderson

Keeping readers interested in a mystery
when they know the culprit from the start: http://dld.bz/cTsBX
@mkinberg

What Makes NaNoWriMoNoGo for Two Writers:
http://dld.bz/cTu8J @Porter_Anderson
@ChuckWendig

Character types in romantic suspense: http://dld.bz/cTxNj @camillelaguire

All about National Novel Writing Month: http://dld.bz/cTtZm @fantasyfaction

On Translation

 Translator Julie Rose has translated some of France’s
most highly prized writers, both classical and contemporary and is best known
for her critically acclaimed translation of Victor Hugo’s masterpiece,
Les Misérables. Rose has always been an avid
reader of crime fiction. She just translated The Greenland Breach by Bernard Besson, a cli-fi spy novel recently published in English
by Le French Book.









How did you get started in translation?




For me it started
when I moved to France in the 1980s, after graduating from Sydney University
and scoring a doctoral scholarship from the French government. The scholarship
wouldn’t have kept a gal in kirs royaux,
should it have been required to, so I did what everyone else did: I taught
English to French people in firms all over town and interpreted for visiting
delegations of administrators and business people of all stripes.







Interpreting was a
baptism of fire and it sharpened my focus. It led to a lot of related
translation work, as well as a lot of lovely long lunches.




Literary translators
can despise the technical, commercial and legal stuff. I like it. I like having
the illusion that I know about the “real world.” And it’s stood me in good
stead, particularly with Paul Virilio, France’s great critic of the modern moment
who talks a lot about technological innovations and their downsides. And, even
more so, with Victor Hugo.




Yes, tell us about Victor Hugo.

Les Misérables has to be the major highlight
of my translating career so far. Victor Hugo’s interest in the real world was
encyclopedic. He was never content to mention a thing, whether it was man-made,
like lace or jet beads or sewerage systems; or whether it was a natural
phenomenon. He had to know how it was made or formed and explore all its
features in minute detail.




That forensic
interest of Hugo’s, combined with his social awareness and spiritual and
emotional depth, make his great masterpiece as potent as ever. I loved
translating it, but it took three years and was horribly intense. I couldn’t
have done it without my very supportive husband and our energetic dog: she and
I frolicked over hill and dale every day for hours. That gave me the stamina to
keep going - and the love. Les Misérables
is all about love... and what happens when it’s missing or corrupted.




Why translate The Greenland Breach?

This is an
action-packed thriller. It’s as fast-paced and racy as a manga comic. That’s
not a putdown. Besson has an unerringly dramatic sense of structure. He shifts
the action constantly from one part of Greenland to another, and from Greenland
to Paris and Paris to the ship in the Arctic Ocean and back to France – Le
Havre, the Morvan, Normandy. It becomes symphonic, in a military kind of way,
as Besson whips up the action and the various times of the action (Paris time,
Nuuk time, etc.) into a series of crescendos on all fronts. It’s spellbinding,
and exhilarating. But all that swirling movement and the “dirty deeds” that
propel it have a point: they stamp this as melodrama. And the thing about
melodrama, as G.K. Chesterton once said, is that it’s sensational: the
audience’s reward is tears... or, in this case, floods of adrenalin. We are
always in the action. That makes us a vital component of the plot.




Did you face any particular challenges translating The Greenland Breach?




The biggest
challenge as far as terminology goes, for me, in a way, was the boat. One
strand of the action takes place on a ship that has been exploring Greenland’s
icecap. I was born and bred in Sydney, Australia, a uniquely beautiful city
built around water. Boating’s very big. But I’m a landlubber, or maybe a fish.
I like being in the water, not on it. I kept a long list by my keyboard of
perfectly banal, but to me mysterious, words like “bulkhead,” “stem,”
“forecastle”/ “fo’c’sle,” and even “starboard” and “portside” – always have to
think twice before I remember which is which.




The first “adult”
book I ever read as a child was a novel by Hammond Innes, set on a ship. The
sulfurous, claustrophobic, isolated world of that ship has stayed with me as a
locus of foul play and dirty dealing. Besson’s ship is exactly that, and more.
Death is always looming, from within and without.




****




A cli-fi spy
novel by prizewinning novelist and former top-level French intelligence
officer



The Greenland Breach by Bernard Besson
is now available. This eco-thriller has environmental catastrophe, geopolitical
fallout, freelance spies and Bond-like action. The Arctic ice caps are breaking
up. Europe and the East Coast of the United States brace for a tidal wave.
Meanwhile, former French intelligence officer John Spencer Larivière, his
karate-trained, steamy Eurasian partner Victoire, and their bisexual
computer-genius sidekick Luc pick up an ordinary freelance assignment that
quickly leads them into the glacial silence of the great north, where a
merciless war is being waged for control of discoveries that will change the
future of humanity.  Bestselling author Jon Land calls it “a spectacular
thriller.” Translated by award-winning Les
Misérables translator Julie Rose.

Who Says You Can't Judge a Book By Its Cover?

  by Rebecca Yount







As a child I had a love affair
with book covers.

Wesley
Dennis's artwork that graced Marguerite Henry's 

stories
drew me in like a magnet attracts metal.




 So,
too, Arthur Rackham's illustrated edition of Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in
the Willows.  It was Rackham's cover that initially attracted me to
the book that would become one of the most beloved of my childhood.




 
To this day, I cherish memories of the "olde fashioned" illustrations
from my early edition of Mother Goose.  At times I merely flipped
through the pages to revel in the pictures, rather than read the nonsensical
verses.






 And
I surrendered to shameless vapors over Beatrix Potter's charming illustrations
for Peter Rabbit and her other tales. 




 My
point is this: these evocative covers led me to read those books and their
successors.  In short, a passion for the cover preceded my love for the
story.




A
cover can make or break a book.  If it fails to convey the essence of the
story, the buyer will move on.  This is especially true for a first-time
author: the only thing readers have to go on is your book's cover.  Does
it attract them?  Does it intrigue them?  Does it speak to
them?  Does it compel them to flip through the pages, attempting to divine
your book's contents?




Ideally
a cover should announce to the prospective reader, "This book is going to
rock your world!"

 


I
am a new author, having had my debut crime novel, A Death in C Minor,
published as an e-book in the summer of 2012. The following November, my second
book in the series, The Erlking, was also published as an e-book. I
released the third title, The Ravenhoe Cauldron, on June 30th.




I
have been fortunate to work with Sarah Cotur, who manages to divine my
thoughts.  Being a graphic designer, Sarah is visual while I am
verbal.  While I am garrulous, she is a woman of few words.  However,
what Sarah does say matters.




Somehow
she and I have managed to override our individual quirks while having fun along
the way.  




"Designing
book covers, particularly electronic, is a relatively new design endeavor for
me," Sarah admits.




 "As
a designer," she continues, "I have learned that asking the right
questions and listening well is as important as the design skills
themselves.  From our first conversation, Rebecca immediately had an idea
about how she'd like to visually represent her novel.  I didn't have to
ask too many questions.




 "However,
it can be difficult to extract exactly the image a client (author) has
envisioned....  Even if the design is completely wrong, [designer and
author] will be literally 'on the same page' and can build upon feedback from
that first draft."




 As
Sarah infers, our initial effort was further complicated by the book being
electronic, rather than hard copy.  Does an e-book cover really
matter?  Is rain wet?




 Whatever
early differences Sarah and I may have had regarding concept, we both knew that
both covers had to knock my books out of the park.




 Our
initial conversation about A Death in C Minor went something like this:

    
Me: "The story is about a mysterious man who is murdered with his own
kitchen cleaver."

    
Sarah:  "Hmm."

    
Me:  "So could you work up a cover with a bloody cleaver -- 
perhaps having it chop through the head of a musical note, since the female
protagonist is a concert pianist?"

    
Sarah: "I think you may need an illustrator."

    
Me:  "But I want you."

    
Sarah:  (Pause). "Okay, I'll take a crack at it.  'Talk to you
in a week."

    
A week later Sarah e-mailed her draft cover: a bloody cleaver impaling the head
of an equally bloody musical note.  She had created exactly what I had
asked her to do.

    
And it was all wrong -- which was entirely my fault.

    
So it was back to the drawing board.

    
Our second conversation:

    
Me: "Gee, Sarah, this cover is really gory!"

    
Sarah:  (Silence).

    
Me:  "Then again, it's what I had asked for, isn't it?"

    
Sarah:  "Perhaps some background would help."

    
Me:  "How about a suggestion of the story's English rural village in
the background? And a reference to a musical score?"




 Sarah
e-mailed her concept of the background to me: a village in the moonlight with a
ripped musical score slicing across the graphics.  It was pure genius!




 
And so A Death in C Minor is graced with a cover that has received
effusive praise.  It evokes the story, reaching out to the reader and
announcing, "If you enter this picture and walk with me down that moonlit
village path, you'll be in for the adventure of your life."




 Conceptualizing
the covers for the next two titles was easier.  By that time Sarah and I
were completely comfortable working together.  As a result, she created
two more knock-out designs that have also attracted considerable praise. 




So
don't ever delude yourself into thinking that e-book covers don't matter. 
A brilliant one can take the book to places you never imagined.




Is
there a Pulitzer Prize for book covers?  A National Book Award cover
prize?  Is there something akin to a book cover Academy Award?




If
not, there ought to be.  







 



Rebecca Yount's Mick Chandra series, A Death in C Minor, The Erlking,
and The
Ravenhoe Cauldron are published in e-book format and are available from
all major vendors. Her website is www.rebeccayount.com .

Who Says You Can't Judge a Book By It's Cover?

  by Rebecca Yount







As a child I had a love affair
with book covers.

Wesley
Dennis's artwork that graced Marguerite Henry's 

stories
drew me in like a magnet attracts metal.




 So,
too, Arthur Rackham's illustrated edition of Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in
the Willows.  It was Rackham's cover that initially attracted me to
the book that would become one of the most beloved of my childhood.




 
To this day, I cherish memories of the "olde fashioned" illustrations
from my early edition of Mother Goose.  At times I merely flipped
through the pages to revel in the pictures, rather than read the nonsensical
verses.






 And
I surrendered to shameless vapors over Beatrix Potter's charming illustrations
for Peter Rabbit and her other tales. 




 My
point is this: these evocative covers led me to read those books and their
successors.  In short, a passion for the cover preceded my love for the
story.




A
cover can make or break a book.  If it fails to convey the essence of the
story, the buyer will move on.  This is especially true for a first-time
author: the only thing readers have to go on is your book's cover.  Does
it attract them?  Does it intrigue them?  Does it speak to
them?  Does it compel them to flip through the pages, attempting to divine
your book's contents?




Ideally
a cover should announce to the prospective reader, "This book is going to
rock your world!"

 


I
am a new author, having had my debut crime novel, A Death in C Minor,
published as an e-book in the summer of 2012. The following November, my second
book in the series, The Erlking, was also published as an e-book. I
released the third title, The Ravenhoe Cauldron, on June 30th.




I
have been fortunate to work with Sarah Cotur, who manages to divine my
thoughts.  Being a graphic designer, Sarah is visual while I am
verbal.  While I am garrulous, she is a woman of few words.  However,
what Sarah does say matters.




Somehow
she and I have managed to override our individual quirks while having fun along
the way.  




"Designing
book covers, particularly electronic, is a relatively new design endeavor for
me," Sarah admits.




 "As
a designer," she continues, "I have learned that asking the right
questions and listening well is as important as the design skills
themselves.  From our first conversation, Rebecca immediately had an idea
about how she'd like to visually represent her novel.  I didn't have to
ask too many questions.




 "However,
it can be difficult to extract exactly the image a client (author) has
envisioned....  Even if the design is completely wrong, [designer and
author] will be literally 'on the same page' and can build upon feedback from
that first draft."




 As
Sarah infers, our initial effort was further complicated by the book being
electronic, rather than hard copy.  Does an e-book cover really
matter?  Is rain wet?




 Whatever
early differences Sarah and I may have had regarding concept, we both knew that
both covers had to knock my books out of the park.




 Our
initial conversation about A Death in C Minor went something like this:

    
Me: "The story is about a mysterious man who is murdered with his own
kitchen cleaver."

    
Sarah:  "Hmm."

    
Me:  "So could you work up a cover with a bloody cleaver -- 
perhaps having it chop through the head of a musical note, since the female
protagonist is a concert pianist?"

    
Sarah: "I think you may need an illustrator."

    
Me:  "But I want you."

    
Sarah:  (Pause). "Okay, I'll take a crack at it.  'Talk to you
in a week."

    
A week later Sarah e-mailed her draft cover: a bloody cleaver impaling the head
of an equally bloody musical note.  She had created exactly what I had
asked her to do.

    
And it was all wrong -- which was entirely my fault.

    
So it was back to the drawing board.

    
Our second conversation:

    
Me: "Gee, Sarah, this cover is really gory!"

    
Sarah:  (Silence).

    
Me:  "Then again, it's what I had asked for, isn't it?"

    
Sarah:  "Perhaps some background would help."

    
Me:  "How about a suggestion of the story's English rural village in
the background? And a reference to a musical score?"




 Sarah
e-mailed her concept of the background to me: a village in the moonlight with a
ripped musical score slicing across the graphics.  It was pure genius!




 
And so A Death in C Minor is graced with a cover that has received
effusive praise.  It evokes the story, reaching out to the reader and
announcing, "If you enter this picture and walk with me down that moonlit
village path, you'll be in for the adventure of your life."




 Conceptualizing
the covers for the next two titles was easier.  By that time Sarah and I
were completely comfortable working together.  As a result, she created
two more knock-out designs that have also attracted considerable praise. 




So
don't ever delude yourself into thinking that e-book covers don't matter. 
A brilliant one can take the book to places you never imagined.




Is
there a Pulitzer Prize for book covers?  A National Book Award cover
prize?  Is there something akin to a book cover Academy Award?




If
not, there ought to be.  







 



Rebecca Yount's Mick Chandra series, A Death in C Minor, The Erlking,
and The
Ravenhoe Cauldron are published in e-book format and are available from
all major vendors. Her website is www.rebeccayount.com .

Deepening the Mystery

by Paul Anthony Shortt, @PAShortt




While I’m not a
mystery writer, I have enjoyed including mystery elements in Locked Within Silent Oath. Nathan Shepherd started off his journey
investigating mysterious deaths and disappearances. His eidetic memory helps
him piece together clues and figure out what his enemies are planning.
and





Many urban fantasy
series include elements of detective fiction. It’s common for the protagonist
to have a job, or some form of responsibility, that relates to crime
investigation. For Nathan, what started out as a strange death led to the
discovery of the supernatural world he was once a part of. One thing which I
did, which is a little different to many urban fantasies, was use Nathan’s
past-life memories to explore the setting and take that opportunity to make
other characters draw him into this world, rather than push him away. It was
the antagonists, Dorian and Morningway, who held the mystery, not the world
itself.






In Silent Oath, this practice continues. The
state of Nathan’s world is laid bare to the reader. He is working to create a
new conclave that can protect New York from the Council of Chains. However,
there is more mystery to be solved, with the arrival of Athamar, an enemy from
Nathan’s previous incarnations, and Elena, the reincarnation of his lost lover.
Until his memories fully return, can Nathan trust that these people are who he
expects? What is it that drives Athamar to hunt Nathan across lifetimes? Why
has it been so long since he and Elena were reborn? And why is it now, when
Athamar also returns to bring chaos to the city, that Nathan and Elena have
found each other at all?




When creating a
series, mystery or not, every answer must lead to another question. This way,
the reader is hooked and drawn into the characters’ turmoil. They share the
protagonist’s need to find the truth, even when that truth may be difficult to
accept.




An ideal mystery has
multiple layers. There’s the surface mystery, determining what the villain is
up to, why they’re pursuing this goal, and how they plan to achieve it. This is
the mystery that is most often actively investigated, the course of events that
snares the protagonist’s thoughts and drives them on.








Then there’s the
personal mystery. Why does the protagonist have such feelings for another
person? Why does the antagonist hate the hero so much? What could the hero have
possibly done to turn another person so completely against them? This mystery
may only be a mystery to the reader, but in Nathan’s case, because he has not
yet remembered all of his past lives, the reader shares in each of his
revelations and setbacks. Before this ordeal is over, Nathan will learn things
that make him question everything he thought he knew.




****








A
child at heart who turned to writing and roleplaying games when there simply
weren't enough action figures to play out the stories he wanted, Paul Anthony
Shortt has been writing all his life. Growing up surrounded by music, film and
theatre gave him a deep love of all forms of storytelling, each teaching him
something new he could use. When not playing with the people in his head, he
enjoys cooking and regular meet-ups with his gaming group.




Paul lives
in Ireland with his wife Jen and their dogs, Pepper and Jasper. Their first
child, Conor William Henry Shortt, was born on July 11th, 2011. He passed away
three days later, but brought love and joy into their lives and those of their
friends. The following year, Jen gave birth to twins, Amy and Erica, and is now
expecting their fourth child.

Paul's first novel, Locked
Within, was released on November 6th, 2012, by WiDo Publishing. Silent Oath is the second book in this
urban fantasy trilogy.




***









Hope
has returned to New York City. Nathan Shepherd leads a small band of dedicated
fighters against the Council of Chains and the city's supernatural masters. But
it's not enough. Because from the shadows of Nathan's former lives comes an old
enemy, one who knows terrible secrets that Nathan has not yet remembered,
secrets that could undo everything he has fought for.




Nathan's
only chance to uncover the memories of his previous existence, and to conquer
these new forces of evil, lies in Elena DeSantis. A woman he has fought beside
in past lifetimes. A woman he has loved.

Together, Nathan and Elena are the only future the city has.

The Slow Release—Not the End of the World

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig





It used to be, and
still mainly is, in traditional publishing, that you wanted a really strong
book release.  My publishers like to see
good pre-orders and a high sale volume for the first month of a book’s release.  They want books sold off bookstore shelves
and few returns.

That’s mostly because, in the print
tradition, if you didn’t have a strong start and your books hung out on
bookstore shelves too long, the stores would quickly end up shipping those
books back to the publisher to make room for other titles.



But with digital sales, we’re in it for
the long haul.  Amazon will keep those
books for sale—there are no returns. 
Having a strong start is nice…but not vital.  It’s more important that we realize we’ve got
a long time to keep ourselves and our books visible—that the online
relationships and networking that we’re doing is going to continue for a very
long time.

The first time I put a self-published
book up in 2011, it took a while to get sales moving.  Luckily, I’d read enough blogs at the time to
know that this was how it worked in the digital world.  It wasn’t as if I really promoted the
release—I think I mentioned it on the blog. 
I believe I made a Facebook mention (something along the lines of:  If you’ve enjoyed my other series, hope
you’ll check out the new release in my Myrtle Clover series). 

Slowly, though, it started to catch
on.  What really accelerates sales is
when Amazon’s algorithms (whatever they may be…and none of us really knows what
they entail) start working in your favor. 
I keep checking my book’s page to see when the “customers who bought
this also bought_____” shows up. It’s a tremendous relief when it does, because
my part is pretty much done at that point. 
The sales escalate and I can start ignoring the sales and focus on
writing my next book.

Each of my self-published books has had a
slow start.  Some took a week or more to
get going and others a little less than a week. 
I know that Amazon sends emails to readers when I have a Penguin book
release—some folks share the emails they receive with me.  But I don’t think
they’ve ever emailed readers to let them know about a new self-published
release of mine.  At least, no one has
ever mentioned it.  Obviously…that would
help.  But their algorithm works enough
in my favor that I’m not too concerned about the lack of promo emails.  And the free book promo that I run for
another book in the same series also helps with sales for the entire series.

Industry expert Jane Friedman’s new online magazine for
writers, Scratch, had an interesting
article recently in its preview issue:  “The Age of the
Algorithm.”  The article states:

Author Joanna Penn writes, in How to Market a Book, “Launch sales are
generally disappointing compared to what happens once the Amazon algorithms
kick in and you get some traction around reviews and reputation.” Likewise,
novelist Hugh Howey, who signed with a traditional publisher after succeeding
on his own, said during an industry conference in May, “I don’t have a
timeframe for a book to do well. I let readers be the one to discover it and
tell everyone. They can do it with a level of excitement that’s more genuine
than me. It’s a real slow burn.”  See more of the article here.

I’ve gotten to the point where I’m not
restless while I wait for the book to catch on with readers.  But I have friends who have other strategies
for a spike in sales at the start of a launch. 
I’ve seen them:

Mention it on Facebook and Twitter (once
or twice is definitely enough there).

Throw a Goodreads giveaway for print
copies.

Send a newsletter to inform readers that
they’ve had a release.

Some have signed up for services like Wattpad or Story
Cartel to get reviews going.  The
number of reviews a book has seems definitely linked into Amazon’s algorithm,
although no one knows to what extent.

Blog tour. 

Whatever your strategy, it should include
writing that next book. All of the problems I’ve seen with writers who drive
others nuts with over-promoting is tied to the fact that they’re putting all of
their energy into that one book.  So much
better to do some light promo while working on book two.  Because one thing seems clear…the more real
estate you own on an online retailer like Amazon, the better it is for sales.

Thoughts about the longevity of book life
at online retailers?  Have you ever had a
book that was slow to start?  What kinds
of things do you do to spur sales for a launched book?

Image: MorgueFile: helicopterjeff

Twitterific

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig







Twitterific links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming)
which has over 23,000 free articles on writing related topics. It's the search
engine for writers.




November 13-14:  Get
Read – Marketing Strategies for Writers: Dan Blank’s We Grow Media is a  two-day online conference for authors looking
for promotion strategies--and, ultimately, readers.  Speakers include Porter
Anderson, Chuck Wendig, Dan Blank, Jane
Friedman, Therese Walsh, and many
others.  (I'm one of the scheduled
speakers and am also am serving on the advisory board.)  More information about the conference and
registration information can be found here.




If you use the
discount code elizabeth, you receive $20
off the conference price.




Check out the new
resource for writers.  It’s Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure
Writer’s Support Group website.  There you’ll find pages of links to
resources—writing tips, publishers, agents, queries, self-publishing,
marketing, contests, and publications for writers.







The Age of the
Algorithm: Is everything we know about book marketing about to be wrong? http://dld.bz/cSTXR @JaneFriedman @scratch_mag




Characters--Wealth and Power.  Alpha Dogs: http://dld.bz/cSWEw
@camillelaguire

Macmillan and the Library Biz: http://dld.bz/cSP7g @sarahw @laurahazardowen
@Porter_Anderson

Publishing's future in "concept,
creative work & technical production": http://dld.bz/cSP8d
@Porter_Anderson @MirabilisDave @agnieszkasshoes

Contracts 101: The Stand Up for Your
Rights Clause: http://dld.bz/cSRbE
@JaneFriedman @scratch_mag

Books are content, not containers. Moving
into a "webby" future: http://dld.bz/cSWEM
@Porter_Anderson @PeterHaasz @tealtan @katepullinger

Crime fiction--giving into temptation as
a theme: http://dld.bz/cSWFU @Mkinberg

Play a story game to generate ideas: http://dld.bz/cTc9Q @camillelaguire

A free directory of cover designers,
formatters, freelance editors, and more: http://bit.ly/nolbXq

The Art of Tiger Trapping and Truth in
Writing: http://dld.bz/cS6VQ

How not to be a starving freelancer: http://dld.bz/cS6Wh @KristenStrassel

A Conversation About Writing Conferences:
http://dld.bz/cS6Wp @Vol1Brooklyn

Designer Combines Bed & Writing Desk:
http://dld.bz/cS6Wq @galleycat

The Flawed Notion That Novels Can
Transcend Genres: http://dld.bz/cS6Wr
@TheAtlantic

Writing and the Creative Life:
"Creativity-In-Action": http://dld.bz/cS6Wv
@gointothestory

Neil Gaiman explains the worth and value
of libraries: http://dld.bz/cS6Wz @boingboing

Writing Through Depression: http://dld.bz/cS6WA

Writing Pitfall: Stereotypes and Clichés:
http://dld.bz/cS8ED @Savage_Woman

3 Easy Ways to Increase Your Writing
Speed: http://dld.bz/cS8Fs @francescaSN

No-inventory publishing changes
everything for everybody and nobody will escape making adjustments: http://dld.bz/cS8Fw @MikeShatzkin

What to Price Your eBooks: an Ongoing
Experiment: http://dld.bz/cS8F4 @loriculwell

The indie publishing option for short
fiction: http://dld.bz/cSy5V @smithwritr

How To Create Your Screenplay Plot In 5
Steps: http://dld.bz/cS36y @raindance

How to Kill the Inner Critic Inside Your
Mind: http://dld.bz/cS4ad @kippras
@MenwithPens

10 tips to bag a writer: http://dld.bz/cS4a6 @npbooks

11 Famous Authors Who Weren't Published
Until After Age 40: http://dld.bz/cSDrX
@11points

How Stephen King's Wife Saved 'Carrie'
and Launched His Career: http://dld.bz/cSDva
@mental_floss

Turn Traumatic Experiences Into Fuel For
Your Writing: http://dld.bz/cSDMK
@LydiaCrichton

How to Write a Screenplay in 3 Weeks: http://dld.bz/cSDMM @raindance

How to Bring Writing into Your Day Job: http://dld.bz/cSDMP @indieauthoralli

The Busy Person's Guide to Writing a
Nonfiction Book: http://dld.bz/cSDMX
@ChadRAllen

Conquer Your Fear of Screwing Up the Book
You Want to Write: http://dld.bz/cSDNb
@florabrown

Date A Girl Who Writes: http://dld.bz/cSDNs @thoughtcatalog

The Mobile Writer: http://dld.bz/cSDNu

The Opposite of Success: http://dld.bz/cSDNw @rachellegardner

The 5 Keys to Being Unstoppable in Your
Screenwriting Career: http://dld.bz/cSDNz
@scriptmag

Finding your next book, or, the discovery
problem: http://dld.bz/cSFzr @MikeShatzkin

A clever book promo by @HughHowey: http://dld.bz/cSHeq @jonathangunson

Is Genre a Straitjacket? http://dld.bz/cSHes @AnthonyEhlers

The Dark Stories Dark Writers Tell in the
Dark: http://dld.bz/cSHev @leah_beth

Creative writing tips taught in writing
courses and how they are looked at in Dramatica: http://dld.bz/cSHe5
@glencstrathy

22 storytelling rules: http://dld.bz/cSHfF

Why superheroes & supervillains need
each other: http://dld.bz/cSHfS

"No, I Am Not Going To Write Your
Story": http://dld.bz/cSHgc @TeriHeyer

How Do You Write? Answers of Notable
Screenwriters May Help Your Process: http://dld.bz/cSHgf
@nofilmschool

Dear Young Writer: http://dld.bz/cSHgr @susankayequinn

Plot and character are equally important:
http://dld.bz/cSHwg @mythicscribes @KMWeiland

Tips for writing better blog titles: http://dld.bz/cQ6y8 @MarcyKennedy

Thoughts on Other Cultures and Diversity
in SFF: http://dld.bz/cSHwq @aliettedb

Formatting for iTunes: http://dld.bz/cSHwC @susankayequinn

5 Good Habits for Writers: http://dld.bz/cSHwG @ava_jae

How screwed up can your hero be and still
be a hero? http://dld.bz/cSHyx
@stephenwoodfin @ventgalleries

Good rejections: http://dld.bz/cSHyC @WriterNancyJane

Testing Clarity and Wordiness in an
Opening Scene: http://dld.bz/cSK2p
@Janice_Hardy

What 1 writer learned by growing up with
trashy TV: http://dld.bz/cSK2C @dnkboston

15 kinds of tweets that will get your
blog posts shared more: http://dld.bz/cSK2V
@JudyLeeDunn

6 things 1 writer wishes she'd known
before she tried to get published: http://dld.bz/cSK3j
@TA_Martin

A writer's 10 writing confessions: http://dld.bz/cSK3D @roxannecrouse

5 writing mistakes: http://dld.bz/cSM6E @robertbruce76

Long to Write a Novel? Join in the Annual
Race to 50,000 Words: http://dld.bz/cSM6Q
@florabrown

Pros and cons of self-publishing: http://dld.bz/cSM6S @Kerrie_Flanagan

How Beats Helped a Writer Self-Publish an
Amazon Hit: http://dld.bz/cSM6Y @ChrisKohout

Tools and skills for a successful
freelance editor: http://dld.bz/cSM7d
@Indie_Jane

Talking Heads, Hearing Voices and the
Disappearing Narrator: http://dld.bz/cSM74
@CraigClevenger

5 Signs You're Hiding Behind Your
Writing—and 5 Ways to Use It as a Mirror Instead: http://dld.bz/cSM7C
@KMWeiland

Writing a scene that works: http://dld.bz/cSM7R @woodwardkaren

Social Media Quicksand: http://dld.bz/cSNZ4 @susankayequinn

Rules, Discipline, and the Paradox of
Creativity: http://dld.bz/cSNZF @jeffgoins

Are Beat Sheets Intimidating? Cut through
the Clutter: http://dld.bz/cSNZN @jemigold

How to Start Your Novel: http://dld.bz/cSNZV @ChuckSambuchino

3 Tips On Cleaning Up Your Twitter
Account: http://dld.bz/cSPac @JennyHansenCA

The Best Online Photo Editing Tool is
Google+: http://dld.bz/cSPan

15 Questions That Will Define Your Book
Market: http://dld.bz/cSPar @wherewriterswin
@ShariJStauch

Mapping your story world: http://dld.bz/cSPa8 @Alvarez_Justin

Tips for writing for teens: http://dld.bz/cSPaJ

Book-Writing as Parenting: A Way to
Explain Things to Non-Writery Types: http://dld.bz/cSQWC
@YAHighway

Facebook Groups for Indie Authors: http://dld.bz/cSQWF @cateartios

Ebook Pricing: What's The Perfect Number?
http://dld.bz/cSQYc @mollygreene

Choosing the Right Viewpoint and Tense
for Your Fiction: http://dld.bz/cSQYe
@aliventures

5 Reasons to Use a Facebook Profile (Not
a Page) to Build Platform: http://dld.bz/cSQY4
@LisaHallWilson

How to Please Your Editor—Without Losing
Yourself: http://dld.bz/cSTd3 @kbrittonvt

What's an author event worth? http://dld.bz/cSTdM

Critique Technique—Confused Storyline: http://dld.bz/cSTdV @Ross_B_Lampert

Stop Self-Editing While Writing: http://dld.bz/cSTeb @larin20

Creativity Is Really Just Persistence,
And Science Can Prove It: http://dld.bz/cSTeA
@drake_baer @fastcompany

Your Characters Are Lost: 4 Ways to Find
Them: http://dld.bz/cSTeD @aliciarades

Radio Interview Pointers: http://dld.bz/cSTeK @carolewyer

9 Key Elements of a Great Author Media
Kit: http://dld.bz/cSTeU @SusanGilbert

How Searchable are Your Book's Title and
Subtitle? http://dld.bz/cSTgp @KMWeiland

Dos and Don'ts of Pitching Journalists on
Social Media: http://dld.bz/cSTg4 @mashable

5 writing exercises: http://dld.bz/cSTg9

Why 1 writer isn't a fan of tip jars: http://dld.bz/cSTgF @author_sullivan

Promo overkill: http://dld.bz/cSWtv @scarlettparrish

Why 5-Star Book Reviews are Utter
Rubbish: http://dld.bz/cSWt5 @TaraSparling

5 Books Dictated From Beyond the Grave: http://dld.bz/cSWt9 @mental_floss

8 tips for subtitling your book: http://dld.bz/cSWtX @JonAcuff

15 Ways to Survive as a Freelancer: http://dld.bz/cSWtZ @GlennStout

Writing In A Roomful of Elephants: http://dld.bz/cSWuj @JadedIbisPress
@laurelhermanson

How to Overcome Anxiety as a Writer: http://dld.bz/cSWuq @111publishing

3 Simple Tips for Finding Your Story: http://dld.bz/cSWuv

30 Mantras To Keep In Mind To Write
Better: http://dld.bz/cSWuz @ZionAmalRafeeq

Pricing for Launch: Book 1 in a New
Series, Go High or Low? http://dld.bz/cSWu7
@goblinwriter

How to develop a writer's instinct: http://dld.bz/cSWuB @nailyournovel

The Ebook Market No Author Should Ignore:
Think Globally: http://dld.bz/cSWuG
@annerallen

Write short to write long: http://dld.bz/cSWuN @sciwrihandbook

7 easy questions to shape your story (and
synopsis): http://dld.bz/cSWuR @tombarry100

Resources for writers: http://dld.bz/cSWv3 @DeirdreSpark

Tag Lines to Hook a Reader: http://dld.bz/cSWvB @novelrocket

Don't like doing promo? Don't write a
book: http://dld.bz/cSWvD @JonAcuff

How to pre-plot a series: http://dld.bz/cSWvM @plotwhisperer

Cover conferences: http://dld.bz/cSWwa

"Words are still the most powerful
medium for telling stories." http://dld.bz/cSW5f
@MirabilisDave @Porter_Anderson

5 Inspiring Holiday Destinations For
Writers: http://dld.bz/cSW57

Self-Editing- Choose Your Modifiers
Carefully: http://dld.bz/cSW5E @AimeeLSalter

9 Online Gold Mines for Finding Paid
Freelance Writing Jobs: http://dld.bz/cSW5Y
@thewritelife

Finding your character's voice: http://dld.bz/cSW85 @flawritersconf

Are You In the Stare-Into-Space Phase of
the Writing Process? http://dld.bz/cSW9S
@joebunting

13 Rules For Using Commas Without Looking
Like An Idiot: http://dld.bz/cSW9V
@businessinsider

Promoting a Virtual Book Tour: http://dld.bz/cSWGk @jolinsdell

The establishing shot and your novel: http://dld.bz/cS6Qm @ashkrafton

4 Reasons You Need a Business Plan for
Your Book: http://dld.bz/cS6VU @ninaamir

Comics & Film--More Than Storyboards:
Collaboration – The Smartest Person in the Room Isn't You: http://dld.bz/cSy5e @tylerweaver

Using sticks and carrots to keep
motivated: http://dld.bz/cSDN9 @kristinerusch

First Manuscripts: Self-Publish or Keep
Going? http://dld.bz/cSHw4 @KateBrauning

SFF Goes Mainstream: http://dld.bz/cSHy7 @Leo_Cristea

6 things alcohol taught 1 writer about
writing: http://dld.bz/cSHyP @MiaJouBotha

Start Your Author Blog in Five Easy
Steps: http://dld.bz/cSNZ9 @BillFerris

Writing Our Region

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig







I know that my editors specifically
wanted a Southern writer for the two series I’m writing for Penguin. They do
get the South when they hire me on. 

That being said, portraying a specific
region can be tricky.  I think dialect
can be annoying to read, if you’re using it broadly.  Southerners are fond of dropping gs, for
instance.  That would get old after a
while.  In fact, if you phonetically
wrote out Southern dialect, it would be incredibly difficult to read.

So what I aim for is using some Southern
vocabulary/colloquialism, and traditions/customs, climate, and common local
settings to help readers take a vicarious trip to the Southern US. 

In dialogue, it’s also easier to bring it
out in a natural way. Many Southern women (and some men) use endearments in
addressing nearly everyone—even strangers. That’s something that’s easy to drop
into dialogue.

There are some words that are apparently
too obscure and cause readers to slow down or pop out of the story while they
try to decipher it.  That’s not,
obviously, what we want.  I’ve had
editors edit out a number of word choices that I didn’t think anything
about.  But the reason I didn’t think
anything about them is because I’ve always lived in Southern states.  So tote
as a verb went, buggy was quickly
dispatched for shopping cart  (a particularly soulless substitution, I
thought), roll in terms of pranking (it
was fascinating having a discussion with my Manhattan-based editor on toilet
papering someone’s yard…it’s roll down
here, but apparently not up there).  But
the one that particularly stumped me was when my editor asked me what the heck
an eye was (in terms of cooking).  I emailed several friends and family before
responding to her.  What else do you call it?  You put your pot on an eye and bring the
water to a boil.  What on earth could it
possibly be?  No one had any ideas, so I
emailed her back and told her it was the black coil on top of the stove.  She substituted heating
element.  I shook my head over
that one but left it alone.

Traditions or customs are also important
ways to bring a region into your story. Food is hugely important in the South…
it’s not particularly healthy food, either. 
So writing in fried chicken and potato salad and ham biscuits and
barbeque (I’ve got a whole series with
barbeque as a hook), pimento cheese sandwiches, black-eyed peas…it all goes in
to give readers a taste of the South.

Customs surrounding weddings and funerals
are thrown into the books, too. The fact that there is a huge food-centric
process to grieving here plays a part in my books (and provides my sleuth with
opportunities to interact with suspects). 
The close-knit nature of many extended families in the South, the
willingness to talk with strangers (along with what might seem like a
contradictory suspicion of outsiders in small towns), and the slower pace of life.

Writing a region also involves bringing
in settings where people commonly interact—whether it’s a diner  or a ball field, or a church.  And it’s difficult to realistically write about
the South without bringing in church somehow, although I don’t touch religion
itself with a ten-foot pole.  Actually,
now that I think of it, I’ve had two murders take place at church.

Even the old architecture—houses with big
verandas and space for rocking chairs. 
Swimming pools, screen porches, and gobs of air conditioning.

Which brings in another element—the
weather and climate.  The long
summers.  And humidity that can almost
stop you in your tracks when you walk outside.

Do you focus on a particular region in
your writing?  How do you pull a reader
in?

Image: MorgueFile: katmystiry