Monica Valentinelli's Blog: booksofm.com, page 96

Post GenCon Wrap-Up and Silly Happy Updates

GenCon 2011 was a lot of work. Prior to the show, Matt and I were dodging bullets and putting in extra hours for the first DriveThruRPG partnership with White Wolf Publishing and select games from Malhavoc Press, Open Design, Nocturnal, Eden Studios and Abstract Nova.

Even with the booth location at the back of a very large and very huge hall… This venture was a runaway hit. The quality of the new books is really awesome. And the fans? The ones who practically wept with joy seeing Vampire: the Masquerade back in print? Or how about the guy that seriously demanded to know when his copy of the twentieth anniversary edition will be sitting in his mailbox because he loves that game so much.

Besides the already scheduled signings, Jim Zubkavich offered to sign the Exalted comic, Greg Stolze was happy to drop off signed excerpts of his Vampire: the Requiem novel, A Hunger Like Fire, and Jason Vey took time to sign All Flesh Must be Eaten books with me from Eden Studios.

Oh, and did I mention we sold out of Ptolus on Saturday morning?

The booth's success was due to the efforts of the fine people working the booth. Chuck, Mike, Pauline, Sean, Matt, Steve, Corinne, Ken, Steve, Luke, Carol and myself. We came, we sweated, we had meetings, we ate, we sweated some more…

I had a ridiculously busy schedule, but had some help getting through it with my friend Jack Daniels. By the time Monday rolled around, I was "deep fried" and happy to be home.

However…

DOM DOM DOM…

All that squeezing and pushing and cracking heads prior to the show leaves me with? NO STRESS. NO DRAMA. I have forward momentum on many irons in the fire that I've been developing for some time.

And some new ones, too! Which are… awesome… In many ways… Of course, probably the best update I have is that we're scheduling a vacation. Well, that and the awesome, awesome meetings I had. All of which went swimmingly well.

Hee.

More updates and news will be released as it happens. I'm happy to be focusing on the creative aspects of my work, my jewelry design and my art and thrilled I'm working with such excellent and admirable hobbits people.

Life, quite frankly, is made out of awesome. Although my fridge is a little… Well… empty…

Author Signing at GenCon: Indy

I have an author signing! Sadly, there won't be any cake, but there will be shiny new brochures and some promo cards for The Queen of Crows with artwork by illustrator Leanne Buckley.

I've got something else planned, too, but time is running short. I'm hoping to finish a scrapbook filled with photos and more information about my work. If it's not done in time, then you'll just have to wait until the next show. Sounds like I'll have a couple of my books and games on hand, too.

GenCon: Indy Author's Alley Signing

3:00 to 4:00 p.m. Friday, August 5th

Be there or get a -200 on your next roll

Truthfully, I'm still working on the whole "Hey, how can I inform people about my work without sounding like a complete diva?" angle, which is why I like doing these things. I'm expecting attendance to be hit-or-miss, as it usually is when I share a spot with the Guest-of-Honor. This year's honorable author is Anton Strout.

The line will form on the left and the right. A part of me wishes we could be like those door knockers from the Labyrinth. Of course, I would be the one that only told the truth…

Brilliant. Discover New Sci Fi/Fantasy Authors with Opening Acts

Opening Acts is a collection the first chapters from twenty-five different genre novels from members of SF Novelists. I think the idea is outstanding and quite brilliant, which is the reason why I wanted to share this with you. A quote from their marketing material follows and includes the Table of Contents.

OPENING ACTS


Twenty-five First Chapters from Twenty-five Writers

Every reader knows that the trouble is not finding something to read, but finding something you want to read. Sometimes, it's something familiar, something known. Sometimes it's something new, something unexpected.

SF Novelists proudly offers you twenty-five teasers, twenty-five first chapters across the spectrum of SF and F. Twenty-five tastes, to tempt your appetite for adventure… to lure you into unknown worlds…

And give you something new to read.

Featuring:

7th Sigma by Steven Gould
Bone Shop by T.A. Pratt
Bones of Faerie by Jenni Lee Simner
The Brahms Deception by Louise Marley
Carousel Tides by Sharon Lee
The Cloud Road by Martha Wells
Dangerous Water by Juliet E. McKenna
The Dread Hammer by Trey Shiels
Flesh and Fire by Laura Anne Gilman
Fright Court by Mindy Klasky
The Heretic by Joseph Nassise
House of the Star by Caitlin Brennan
Indigo Springs by A.M. Dellamonica
Jade Tiger by Jenn Reese
Kat, Incorrigible by Stephanie Burgis
Medium Dead by Chris Dolley
Midnight at Spanish Gardens by Alma Alexander
Play Dead by John Levitt
Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready
The Snow Queen's Shadow by Jim C. Hines
Spellcast by Barbara Ashford
The Spirit Lens by Carol Berg
TruthSeeker by C.E. Murphy
Up Against It by M.J. Locke
With Fate Conspire by Marie Brennan

You can download Opening Acts for free in most versions directly from Steven Gould's website

For the PDF, click on the following link and it'll open up a new tab. This one is courtesy of Jim C. Hines. Opening Acts– SFNovelists.PDF

On the Subject of Insecurity and Writing

I'm writing this post today from my soapbox. Someone pushed a button, you see, a very large, red "DO NOT EVER PUSH" button, and writing this down is cathartic. So why am I sharing it?

Well, because I know I'm not alone. Every time I talk about this (or vent) to some other creative professional they understand. So here goes… (Wish me luck!)

There is a difference between being insecure as a person and being insecure about your writing. There is also a difference between being insecure about your writing and being insecure about what other people say about your writing.

Insecurity is, unfortunately, part of the writer's journey and it can be an incredibly crappy thing to deal with. Doesn't matter if you write non-fiction, fiction, gaming narratives, screenplays, commercials — whatever. You may be proud of something, until someone else gets their hands on it. A reviewer. A professor. An editor. A peer.

Some criticism is necessary to make the project better. This? This I'm okay with because a good editor is a diamond in the rough. A good editor will help you look your best — and who wouldn't want that?

The worse, it seems, can come from others within the community or avid readers who prefer one thing but not another. Genre isn't as good as literary fiction. Speculative fiction is better than science fiction. Non-fiction is good, but only if you're accredited with the experience and knowledge to write it. Winning an award is good, but only if you win X award. Marketing copy can only be written if you follow the school of thought from X luminary. You're not a real author until you get optioned for a movie. In order to be considered a serious author, you need to have X amount of books out. You have to be published by New York or you're nothing. Small press publishers are just amateurs begging for money. Editors are frustrated writers. If you don't make X amount a year, you're not really serious about writing. If you can't write a story on the first try, then you're a bad writer.

And so on… And so forth… And so on…

I've been through enough rounds of feedback to know the difference between valid criticism and snarky comments. Both exist. Both have to be handled graciously or it may backfire. I've been back online for less than two weeks, and now I'm noticing other people's hypersensitivity. Criticizing a tweet or a Facebook update. Correcting someone on semantics without understanding their meaning. (I call this the curse of "Well, actually!")

What is this crap? It's meaningless b.s. that taps into some insecurity on some level — but it's about as useful as a giving a beer to an alcoholic. The worst part about this (which is where the button-pushing comes into play) is that often these comments are not meant maliciously. (Yes, there are some that are…) Most of the time, though, it's because the person making the comment is damn insecure about their work, you see, and they're looking for validation by reminding themselves what they don't like about yours.

If you want to know what drives me to write better, to be a better person, to seek out new opportunities and deliver the finest product I can — this is part of that reason. I compete against myself every day not because I'm insecure about my work, but because I will never have written, polished or delivered "enough" quality stories and games. I have had a love-hate relationship with my creative side my whole life, because it took me a long time to find my tribe. You know what I'm talking about. People that will cheer and read everything you publish because they enjoy it that much. A support group. Haven't hit the proverbial thousand fans yet, but whether it takes ten years or twenty — I'm not going to stop just because someone says I'm nobody or thinks I'm not important enough. To them? Sure. But not to me.

Yes, I may idealize the concept of community but the alternative? To be bitter or a drama queen or whatever? I don't have time for that. I really, really don't. In a world rife with criticism and negativity, I would much rather compliment and uplift than talk about how great I am and how sh*tty everyone else is. That is not how I roll.

In the end, I feel we have forgotten that words — on or off the page — have power. We forget that there is another person on the end of that line. That author? May have the same exact hopes and dreams and wishes that we do. How would you feel if you told someone their work was crappy because it didn't get published according to your standards? Sometimes, all it takes is for a smile or a kind word to make someone's day. To me? That's power to be used responsibly. For writers, words are everything.

And with that, I step (carefully) off my soapbox and tell another story. May yours be everything you've ever dreamed them to be. And I sincerely and deeply wish that you reap the successes you deserve.

I've got a hell of a lot of writing to do and, quite frankly, I'm okay with that. I am loving this manuscript and I know someone else will, too.

Christmas in July? Queen of Crows and Other Titles on Sale

DriveThruRPG.com and DriveThruFiction.com are offering a huge, mega-sale on hundreds (if not thousands) of titles.

What's included? Almost a dozen games and anthologies I've contributed to!

Buy Fiction and Games by Monica Valentinelli at Twenty-Five Percent Off

Titles range from new-ish releases like Paths of Storytelling and The Zombie Feed, Volume 1 to older debuts like the Nuomenon RPG, the Aletheia RPG and the award-winning Buried Tales of Pinebox, Texas.

Sale ends on Sunday, July 31st. Merry… Summeras?

The Value of Micro-Communities

So, right after I get back online, Google+ launches. (Yes, I did slurp up an account.) The whole concept of Google+ is very similar to how we interact in real life, because it effectively creates cliques. Yes, putting people into circles is a form of cliques, whether we want to admit it or not.

Quite frankly, I don't have time to do the deep dive into Google+ because I am taking a wildly different approach to what I want to do online. It has been a lot of fun connecting (and re-connecting) with other authors and whatnot, but the bulk of my marketing efforts are going to start taking on a much, different shape in a longer-term fashion.

I've been willy nilly on Facebook, Twitter and whatnot the last week, and while my project management is firmly in place, I know I'm going to have to cut back from being a frequent butterfly-er to something a little more manageable.

One of the points I talked about, was how content was more valuable than interaction. This post entitled Book Blog Tours and Review Sites with Adrian Phoenix is a great example of how an author used content marketing to attract fans. If you want to know why I guest blog and guest write for so many different sites, this would be the reason. It's a good article and I'd recommend giving it a read.

The other interesting thing, though, was that this article reminded me of something I neglected to mention. That is: micro-communities have been extremely beneficial to me. When I'm on social media, I'm there to either a) share or b) broadcast. It's one or the other, and I never know who I'm going to reach at the time. The more followers I add? The less confidence I have of reaching them. After managing social media for so many businesses, the data is really all over the place. Not only do you have to worry about what you post — but when.

Micro-communities, which for me have taken the form of a publisher's website or forum, have made one of the best impacts on my career because I've gotten to know people and have been more comfortable with the readers that are engaged there. I feel that writing guest blog posts (or doing book tours, etc.) is a form of tapping into these micro-communities. It's not a generic: "Oh hey, buy my book." It's the action of establishing a connection with a pre-existing audience that has a vested interest in that website's (or forum's) content.

We started offering guest blog posts on FlamesRising.com a few years ago, and these types of posts really help our readers get to know an author. On the flip side, when I release a game that fits the darker genres, I often blog about my game design notes there, too, because that audience is engaged. (Our door is open to authors/game designers who want to write a guest post, provided the book/game is an editorial match for the website.

With the over-saturation of the market, some authors are developing micro-communities around their work BEFORE they do any more marketing. I think this tactic is pretty smart, though, I'm pulling back on assertively marketing my own work until early next year. I am still going to guest blog, but I'm not ready to pull the trigger on a full-scale marketing plan right now. There are some things I'm doing behind-the-scenes, so if you want to get the skinny on that be sure to sign up for my monthly newsletter.

If anything, though, micro-communities is where an author will have to eventually go — unless they are lightning in a bottle. I'm not banking on Thor helping me out in that arena (Though, if he wanted to… I certainly wouldn't complain… Would you?), so my world is getting smaller to balance original with tie-in work and other forms of income.

Micro-communities are also valuable for me in the sense that I have a place I feel at home. I have a sense of humor, albeit dry, and humor isn't always received well online. The more you get to know someone, the better you'll be received.

[Map] Booth and Author Signing Locations for GenCon: Indy

I mentioned earlier that I'll be helping out some at the DriveThruRPG/ White Wolf booth this year at GenCon: Indianapolis from August 4th through the 7th. This event is like Christmas in the hobby games industry, for you'll no doubt hear about many new releases and games that debut at the show.

This year will be filled with a few *secret* surprises, good friends and lots of meetings. Even though I continue to write fiction, I feel I have a home in the hobby games industry and it's because of companies like White Wolf, Eden Studios, Abstract Nova Press and others that I have had a renewed interest in writing genre fiction. Many novelists and short story authors have gotten work published in the hobby games industry including R.A. Salvatore, Elaine Cunningham (who will be the GOH at Geek*Kon in September), Jim C. Hines, Ari Marmell, Jess Hartley, myself and many others.

Since this year is an important year for DriveThruRPG and White Wolf, I thought I'd offer you a map to show you where the booth is. If you've been to the show in the past, you'll notice just how different this layout is. Apex Publications will be located in Author's Alley as well, so be sure to stop by. The other location I marked is the author signing booth. This year I'm sharing my hour with GenCon GOH Anton Strout.

[Recommended] List Jobs to Help Ex-Borders Employees

With the demise of Borders, there are thousands of people out of work. Colleen Lindsay, who works for the Penguin Group and is also the community manager for Book Country, Tweeted about a site that'll offer ex-Borders employees opportunities in their area. (You'll have to forgive me, I'm not certain if she created the site with the other contributor, Chris Kubica, or not.) You can, however, read: It Takes a Village to Support Out-of-Work Booksellers.

Instructions are on the Help Ex-Borders Employees website.

[My Guest Post] More Insight on Social Media Blackout at SFWA.org

Wanted to pop in today to mention that, for my July article at SFWA.org, I opted to provide the results of my 100 day social media blackout and give readers additional insights I didn't write about here.

Remember, too, that online marketing and e-commerce both have high learning curves. What you see/read online is often the free version of advice marketers provide to open the door to paying clients. The web changes often and dramatically — social media moreso. One, little change and that entire community you've built on Facebook could disappear. This? This is yet another reason why your website is more important than any other tool in your promotional arsenal. — SOURCE: The Results of My 100 Day Social Media Blackout at SFWA.org

I feel that this experiment achieved my goal of opening up the door "to" talk about these sorts of things and understand its value. Since I have a professional background in online marketing, I knew what to look for, which definitely helped shape my insights.

With the debut of new social media tools like Google+, an author's relationship with social media will not only evolve, but shift and fracture depending upon how many audiences — personal and professional — we have. In terms of priority, though, while I like the tools and missed a few of my online pen pals, I know what benefit it has in terms of reaching new readers.

After all, the best way "of" reaching new readers is to write another story…

Few Service Types of Announcements

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to mention that I have been switching servers and wibbily-wobbily time-y whime-y (Yes, that is a Doctor Who reference…) on the back end. So the website has been up-and-down and comments made from this week mysteriously vanished into the wilds of the internet. Kind of like where your lost socks go, but more disappointing, as I can always buy new socks.

The newsletter this month may be postponed until after GenCon, as my plate is mostly meat-and-potatoes. I'm happy about that, but this is due — in part — to getting all my August guest posts and an early August assignment written/delivered prior to the show. When I come back, I will probably sit down for a day in my cave and zone out to one of my favorite video games. It's going to be a VERY busy show this year as I have a few secrets I cannot yet reveal. 45,000+ people + 12-14 hour days = de-peopling process to return to normal.

I also put a call out on social media, but I am putting together a group of beta readers. GREAT response so far and I can't wait to get that party started. I take good care of my peeps.

Last, but not least… I wanted to say how much I appreciate you as a reader and a visitor to my website. These are crazy times for any creative professional, whether you're famous, infamous, loaded or eating noodles out of a can.

Hope your own endeavors — be they as a fan, a reader or as a creative — are successful.

Peace out.