Ellie Lieberman's Blog: Dusty Shelves - Posts Tagged "evangeline-duran-fuentes"
The Story Of the Book
Barbara Liebermanwrote, “The story of the book enhanced the story within it.” Never have I received a book the way John’s sister received Comedy Divine in To Miss The Stars, but I understand the sentiments behind the quote well.
I have blogged before about my grandmother’s copies of Anne of Green Gables. Though, the story behind these books haven’t faced quite the same adventure, they are special to me. The story may seem short and simple to anyone else. To me, it is just as important to the story itself. She passed on not only her love for Lucy Maud Montgomery’s work and the doll and other related items, but, something I treasure the most in her copies is her signature. Seeing her name and penmanship.
For me, books are always a great gift. Last Christmas, I received Perks of Being A Wallflower from my brother. The message on the inside made the gift and story even more meaningful for me. It was his copy, which was special in and of itself. However, what the book meant to him made it mean more to me.
This is very similar to The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which I’m currently reading. It came as a recommendation from my boyfriend and it’s his copy I’m borrowing. For as much as I’m enjoying the story itself, it becomes even more special because it’s his and he loves the book.
Books tend to be tied to people and memories for me. And as much as these elements and the stories the people I love bring to these books, the story of why an author wrote the book enhances it just as much. I have always loved learning about the story behind the story.
Evangeline Duran Fuentes, author of Cry on Hallow's Eve, is a storyteller through and through. For as much as I adore her books, I absolutely love how the stories came about. In the back of her book, she includes a little information about the urban legend her story is inspired by. Knowing she was told this story as a child by her father and this was her own twist on it, enhances it in a way only Barb Lieberman could put words to.
Now, in the age of technology, authors themselves are more accessible in ways they had never been before. We can receive this information more readily and I do think it makes a difference in our appreciation for the story.
I have blogged before about my grandmother’s copies of Anne of Green Gables. Though, the story behind these books haven’t faced quite the same adventure, they are special to me. The story may seem short and simple to anyone else. To me, it is just as important to the story itself. She passed on not only her love for Lucy Maud Montgomery’s work and the doll and other related items, but, something I treasure the most in her copies is her signature. Seeing her name and penmanship.
For me, books are always a great gift. Last Christmas, I received Perks of Being A Wallflower from my brother. The message on the inside made the gift and story even more meaningful for me. It was his copy, which was special in and of itself. However, what the book meant to him made it mean more to me.
This is very similar to The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which I’m currently reading. It came as a recommendation from my boyfriend and it’s his copy I’m borrowing. For as much as I’m enjoying the story itself, it becomes even more special because it’s his and he loves the book.
Books tend to be tied to people and memories for me. And as much as these elements and the stories the people I love bring to these books, the story of why an author wrote the book enhances it just as much. I have always loved learning about the story behind the story.
Evangeline Duran Fuentes, author of Cry on Hallow's Eve, is a storyteller through and through. For as much as I adore her books, I absolutely love how the stories came about. In the back of her book, she includes a little information about the urban legend her story is inspired by. Knowing she was told this story as a child by her father and this was her own twist on it, enhances it in a way only Barb Lieberman could put words to.
Now, in the age of technology, authors themselves are more accessible in ways they had never been before. We can receive this information more readily and I do think it makes a difference in our appreciation for the story.
Hardest Part of Being An Author
Recently at Wondercon, someone asked what the hardest part of being an author was for me. It made me pause for a moment, because while there are some challenges, none really stuck out. As an indie author, the things I would find most challenging such as a deadlines are not a problem for me. As I have the ability to set my own and I detest the things because they tend to stunt my creativity, I simply fly by the seat of my pants. Books come when they come. Time is a constraint I only permit for my side job.
And, of course, as often happens with things such as wit and comeback, the answer hit me the moment they walked away. The hardest part of being an author is the promotion. I don’t require motivation to write, because if I didn’t write I’d cease to be and, quite frankly, that’s motivation enough. But, once you have the physical book in hand, once it’s up on Amazon, how does one start the process of getting it seen.
Someone once compared the world of publishing, being traditional and big houses or indie self and small presses, to a sea of books. Every day countless books are being published and it’s hard to break through the waves. Here’s what I’ve found thus far:
- Local events and craft shows:
Events give you the opportunity to speak to readers face to face and one-on-one. The benefits are the ability to become more personable in a way that modern day technology just can’t achieve. Who hasn’t heard the debate over ebook versus physical copies? There are many people who still appreciate, love, and prefer paperbacks. Plus, there is the excitement for them to meet an author and get it signed.
If you do craft shows, you also have the corner market on all those book-lovers. Recently, I helped out Barbara Lieberman at her Torrance Craftsman’s Guild and all the customers were shocked to discover her treasure trove of books. Another author, Evangeline Duran Fuentes, had the same experience. Even with other authors there is no competition because book lovers have the wonderful addiction. They’ll buy more than one. And with no two books being the same, it minimizes the competition even more.
Other benefits include minimum booth fees, great experiences, practice discussing your books, building a following, just to name a few.
- Book swag:
Book swag provides benefits in introducing people to your books and building interest. They may not pick up the book first, but be drawn to a necklace with a quote that speaks to them or a button because they like the image. Always include the information of the book, so they can find it and you for when they’re realize they can continue their love of that quote or find out more about that image.
It also allows the readers of the books to continue the story. If they loved your book, and your book swag relates back, it gives them the opportunity to bring the story to life. Barbara Lieberman has scented fabric “Mouse’s Apples” that are tied back to her The Treasure of Ravenwood. She sells seed packets of Arrowleaf Balsamwood that relates to her Message on the Wind and To Reap a Whirlwind.
- Collaborations:
I have recently joined not one, but two, anthologies. The beauty of the anthology is that it can feature a variety of authors from all different places. That means that while I’m promoting a work that includes their stories, they’re doing the same for me. I will be introduced to their following and their fan based.
The same goes for if you have an illustrator or cover artist or if you work with a local handmade business to help make some book swag. The same can be said for holding your own signings, release parties, or other events in local bookstore for instance. Collaborations are a great source of cross-promotions.
- Joining the 21st Century:
Just as in-person events are important and hold many benefits, so does the world of technology. With social media and other forms of technology, you are able to reach wider audiences, both out of state and out of country. It is a great place to build communities, such as Indie Authors and Book Blogs on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Indie-Author...). This will allow you to build necessary connections that could get you more seen or more help, whether you’re looking for an editor, illustrator, formator, PA, etc. With a wide variety of social media sites to choose from, you also have the opportunity to pick one or more that fit you or are more geared toward what you’re trying to promote.
That being said, they have to be updated. Yes, it can be time consuming, but with certain sites there’s the instant updates, such as Instagram, or posts that can be scheduled, such as Facebook or twitter. There are ways around that such as hiring a PA to assist in scheduling posts or programs like hootsuit that can schedule posts across Social Media.
Online Author events, such as Virtual FantasyCon on Facebook, is always a fun and wonderful way to meet other authors, see what they’re doing, and get your book in front of the eyes of readers.
Whether or not you are going to route of big publishing houses or you’re a self-published indie author, promotion is on you. It is a big challenge and it can be daunting as well as discouraging at time, but when you stick with it, it makes all the difference. What are some ways you would like to see book promoted or what are the methods you use as an author?
And, of course, as often happens with things such as wit and comeback, the answer hit me the moment they walked away. The hardest part of being an author is the promotion. I don’t require motivation to write, because if I didn’t write I’d cease to be and, quite frankly, that’s motivation enough. But, once you have the physical book in hand, once it’s up on Amazon, how does one start the process of getting it seen.
Someone once compared the world of publishing, being traditional and big houses or indie self and small presses, to a sea of books. Every day countless books are being published and it’s hard to break through the waves. Here’s what I’ve found thus far:
- Local events and craft shows:
Events give you the opportunity to speak to readers face to face and one-on-one. The benefits are the ability to become more personable in a way that modern day technology just can’t achieve. Who hasn’t heard the debate over ebook versus physical copies? There are many people who still appreciate, love, and prefer paperbacks. Plus, there is the excitement for them to meet an author and get it signed.
If you do craft shows, you also have the corner market on all those book-lovers. Recently, I helped out Barbara Lieberman at her Torrance Craftsman’s Guild and all the customers were shocked to discover her treasure trove of books. Another author, Evangeline Duran Fuentes, had the same experience. Even with other authors there is no competition because book lovers have the wonderful addiction. They’ll buy more than one. And with no two books being the same, it minimizes the competition even more.
Other benefits include minimum booth fees, great experiences, practice discussing your books, building a following, just to name a few.
- Book swag:
Book swag provides benefits in introducing people to your books and building interest. They may not pick up the book first, but be drawn to a necklace with a quote that speaks to them or a button because they like the image. Always include the information of the book, so they can find it and you for when they’re realize they can continue their love of that quote or find out more about that image.
It also allows the readers of the books to continue the story. If they loved your book, and your book swag relates back, it gives them the opportunity to bring the story to life. Barbara Lieberman has scented fabric “Mouse’s Apples” that are tied back to her The Treasure of Ravenwood. She sells seed packets of Arrowleaf Balsamwood that relates to her Message on the Wind and To Reap a Whirlwind.
- Collaborations:
I have recently joined not one, but two, anthologies. The beauty of the anthology is that it can feature a variety of authors from all different places. That means that while I’m promoting a work that includes their stories, they’re doing the same for me. I will be introduced to their following and their fan based.
The same goes for if you have an illustrator or cover artist or if you work with a local handmade business to help make some book swag. The same can be said for holding your own signings, release parties, or other events in local bookstore for instance. Collaborations are a great source of cross-promotions.
- Joining the 21st Century:
Just as in-person events are important and hold many benefits, so does the world of technology. With social media and other forms of technology, you are able to reach wider audiences, both out of state and out of country. It is a great place to build communities, such as Indie Authors and Book Blogs on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Indie-Author...). This will allow you to build necessary connections that could get you more seen or more help, whether you’re looking for an editor, illustrator, formator, PA, etc. With a wide variety of social media sites to choose from, you also have the opportunity to pick one or more that fit you or are more geared toward what you’re trying to promote.
That being said, they have to be updated. Yes, it can be time consuming, but with certain sites there’s the instant updates, such as Instagram, or posts that can be scheduled, such as Facebook or twitter. There are ways around that such as hiring a PA to assist in scheduling posts or programs like hootsuit that can schedule posts across Social Media.
Online Author events, such as Virtual FantasyCon on Facebook, is always a fun and wonderful way to meet other authors, see what they’re doing, and get your book in front of the eyes of readers.
Whether or not you are going to route of big publishing houses or you’re a self-published indie author, promotion is on you. It is a big challenge and it can be daunting as well as discouraging at time, but when you stick with it, it makes all the difference. What are some ways you would like to see book promoted or what are the methods you use as an author?
Marketing in the Indie World
So, I was watching a youtube video by Hank Green about why NerdCon Stories wasn't doing so well. In it, he began talking about marketing and the event from a business perspective and with the way my brain works, through a labyrinth of tangents that probably would not make much sense to anybody else, it got me thinking about marketing for indie books in particular.
As some know, my mother, Barbara Lieberman, or Barb Freaking Lieberman as she's better known in our Indie circle, and I have recently started a publishing company, Pipe and Thimble (http://www.pipeandthimble.com/) and will be opening an indie-only bookstore as well! Marketing was already essential to us, being indie authors ourselves, but it now becomes even more so as we go forth with these new ventures.
Indie books present a unique challenge. I equate it to the handmade businesses we've run in the past, my mom's Seeds of Inspiration, and my Acorn Tops (http://acorntops.weebly.com/). Seeds of Inspiration sold not-your-everyday aromatherapy and scented products. Acorn Tops sells a variety of handmade fairy products such as fairy doors or Raggle Taggle Fairy Dolls. These are unique products that not everybody recognizes instantly or knows.
There's an advantage to this. It's one-of-a-kind. You have the corner market. But, there's also a disadvantage. It's different, so there's always a bit of hesitancy. There also requires a lot of education. How do you use it? Why that one in particular compared to the mass produced counterparts I instantly recognize? What is it even?
If we apply this to books, specifically Indie books, we're essentially answering the same questions. Instead of competition with the mass-produced, you're up against recognizable names and age old classics.
One of the reasons I've been given for independent bookstores to not carry truly indie books is because of name recognition. One bookstore in particular cited an experience where a reader gravitated to a lesser known book written by the author of The Lovely Bones, rather than a novel written by a self-published author. This reader never read a book from either author, but because she recognized the name, she was more interested in the work by Alice Sebold. This makes sense when you think about human nature. We tend to gravitate to what we know.
So, how as indie authors can we make something more recognizable, or at least these not so recognizable works into something people would feel more comfortable gravitating towards? You relate. You relate it back to the reader, hit something they recognize or that's at least common in our culture.
A prime example is Barbara Lieberman's Why Does the Moon Follow Me?. She compares her children's book to Goodnight Moon. Who doesn't know that rhyming bedtime story classic? On top of that, she describes this story as a lullaby in a book, which not only furthers the whole "rhyming bedtime story" marketing, but once again also gives you an age range and reading level.
Another great example is Squirrel Bait by Chip Davis. The book has been equated to a B-horror movie. Describing it this way allows for someone to make a connection and have an idea of what awaits them behind the first cover.
Evangeline Duran Fuentes does something similar with Cry on Hallow's Eve. She not only likens it to R. L. Stine's Goosebumps, which again allows a connection to be made, but also explains it's her twist on the folklore of La Llorona. Why is that so important to marketing? Anyone who knows Mexican culture and folklore knows La Llorona. The moment she says "La Llorona" many readers instantly gravitate toward the book because they or someone they know has grown up with the tale. If they haven't, she goes into explanation, but by including "folklore" readers can already make connections to the folklore they know of their culture or other culture.
You find a way to relate something unrecognizable. You educate.
Not only do you need to educate on what the book is about, but also the world of Indie and Self-Publishing. Unfortunately, there is still this negative stereotype and stigma surrounding the word "indie," especially in the world of publishing. Why is indie important? Why did you decide to go with self-publishing? Mentioning "indie" can be a huge turn off, so turn it into something positive.
Barbara Lieberman published The Unchained Spirit through a small press, Pipe and Thimble, because she enjoys the freedom that come with being an indie author and she wanted the book to be her words, unchanged and unedited. It was personal and it needed to remain that personal and that raw. And, the cover was just as essential to the book itself. The book is not about what sells and doesn't sell, it's simply a soul-changing story that needs to be told.
One of the biggest challenges, I think, is trying to market and sell your book. It's a business. It doesn't end the moment you put the pencil down or it's up on Amazon. It needs to be treated like a business, if you want to sell books, especially if your name is not "Jane Austen" or "John Green" or you don't have a publishing house like "Harper-Collins" or "Penguin." The reality of it is, we are little fish in a big ocean, trying to get someone to sink their lines into our stories and our words.
The best advice is to see what the other fishes are doing. How are they getting their readers hooked? What tricks do they have up their fins? Take what you like, leave what you don't and if something isn't working, try something else. Your best bet, though, is to relate it back to your audience, be it genre, comparison to other works, etc.
The best part about books and stories is that it is part of human nature. And someone someday soon will pick up your book because on some level it speaks to them. And, it was the right book at the right time.
As some know, my mother, Barbara Lieberman, or Barb Freaking Lieberman as she's better known in our Indie circle, and I have recently started a publishing company, Pipe and Thimble (http://www.pipeandthimble.com/) and will be opening an indie-only bookstore as well! Marketing was already essential to us, being indie authors ourselves, but it now becomes even more so as we go forth with these new ventures.
Indie books present a unique challenge. I equate it to the handmade businesses we've run in the past, my mom's Seeds of Inspiration, and my Acorn Tops (http://acorntops.weebly.com/). Seeds of Inspiration sold not-your-everyday aromatherapy and scented products. Acorn Tops sells a variety of handmade fairy products such as fairy doors or Raggle Taggle Fairy Dolls. These are unique products that not everybody recognizes instantly or knows.
There's an advantage to this. It's one-of-a-kind. You have the corner market. But, there's also a disadvantage. It's different, so there's always a bit of hesitancy. There also requires a lot of education. How do you use it? Why that one in particular compared to the mass produced counterparts I instantly recognize? What is it even?
If we apply this to books, specifically Indie books, we're essentially answering the same questions. Instead of competition with the mass-produced, you're up against recognizable names and age old classics.
One of the reasons I've been given for independent bookstores to not carry truly indie books is because of name recognition. One bookstore in particular cited an experience where a reader gravitated to a lesser known book written by the author of The Lovely Bones, rather than a novel written by a self-published author. This reader never read a book from either author, but because she recognized the name, she was more interested in the work by Alice Sebold. This makes sense when you think about human nature. We tend to gravitate to what we know.
So, how as indie authors can we make something more recognizable, or at least these not so recognizable works into something people would feel more comfortable gravitating towards? You relate. You relate it back to the reader, hit something they recognize or that's at least common in our culture.
A prime example is Barbara Lieberman's Why Does the Moon Follow Me?. She compares her children's book to Goodnight Moon. Who doesn't know that rhyming bedtime story classic? On top of that, she describes this story as a lullaby in a book, which not only furthers the whole "rhyming bedtime story" marketing, but once again also gives you an age range and reading level.
Another great example is Squirrel Bait by Chip Davis. The book has been equated to a B-horror movie. Describing it this way allows for someone to make a connection and have an idea of what awaits them behind the first cover.
Evangeline Duran Fuentes does something similar with Cry on Hallow's Eve. She not only likens it to R. L. Stine's Goosebumps, which again allows a connection to be made, but also explains it's her twist on the folklore of La Llorona. Why is that so important to marketing? Anyone who knows Mexican culture and folklore knows La Llorona. The moment she says "La Llorona" many readers instantly gravitate toward the book because they or someone they know has grown up with the tale. If they haven't, she goes into explanation, but by including "folklore" readers can already make connections to the folklore they know of their culture or other culture.
You find a way to relate something unrecognizable. You educate.
Not only do you need to educate on what the book is about, but also the world of Indie and Self-Publishing. Unfortunately, there is still this negative stereotype and stigma surrounding the word "indie," especially in the world of publishing. Why is indie important? Why did you decide to go with self-publishing? Mentioning "indie" can be a huge turn off, so turn it into something positive.
Barbara Lieberman published The Unchained Spirit through a small press, Pipe and Thimble, because she enjoys the freedom that come with being an indie author and she wanted the book to be her words, unchanged and unedited. It was personal and it needed to remain that personal and that raw. And, the cover was just as essential to the book itself. The book is not about what sells and doesn't sell, it's simply a soul-changing story that needs to be told.
One of the biggest challenges, I think, is trying to market and sell your book. It's a business. It doesn't end the moment you put the pencil down or it's up on Amazon. It needs to be treated like a business, if you want to sell books, especially if your name is not "Jane Austen" or "John Green" or you don't have a publishing house like "Harper-Collins" or "Penguin." The reality of it is, we are little fish in a big ocean, trying to get someone to sink their lines into our stories and our words.
The best advice is to see what the other fishes are doing. How are they getting their readers hooked? What tricks do they have up their fins? Take what you like, leave what you don't and if something isn't working, try something else. Your best bet, though, is to relate it back to your audience, be it genre, comparison to other works, etc.
The best part about books and stories is that it is part of human nature. And someone someday soon will pick up your book because on some level it speaks to them. And, it was the right book at the right time.
