Jeffrey L. Kohanek's Blog, page 6
June 29, 2016
Authors are Fans of Their Fans Too
In my youth, I was always eager to join my parents for a trip to the local mall. Of course, the moment we stepped into the building, I would take off on my own with my first destination usually being Waldenbooks or B. Dalton Booksellers. With a mixture of anticipation and dread, I would run to the fantasy shelves to see if the latest book by David Eddings or Raymond E. Feist was waiting for me. When those hopes were dashed, I would peruse the shelves for the next hour, hoping to discover another author who might transport my imagination to a thrilling new world filled with magic and wonder.
Predating the Internet or email, discovering new books and new authors was far more difficult than it is today. Even worse, it was nearly impossible for this kid living in the sticks of northern Minnesota to have any sort of connection with the authors whose works I cherished dearly. Questions unanswered bounced within my head: What are they working on? When will it come out? What happens next in the series? How many times do I need to reread my favorite books until the next chapter appears on the shelves?
Thanks to technology, access to information and ease of communication has grown exponentially. Booklovers can now interact with their favorite authors in ways that were impossible twenty years ago. As a counterpoint, authors can establish a more open connection with readers, sharing their work and progress in a proactive way. One important tool that satisfies both sides is the Author Newsletter.
Sometime next week, I plan to push out my first quarterly newsletter to readers who have registered through my author website. Recipients will get inside information on my next book and awareness of the activities I have planned for the rest of 2016. This tool not only provides them with some insight on the release date and plot, but also offers more transparency about the writing and publishing process.
Do you have favorite authors? Are you eagerly waiting for the next chapter in a series? If so, I encourage you to visit said author’s website and sign up for their newsletter/fan club. Not only do you get the inside scoop on what’s next, but your involvement provides the author with a tighter connection to readers, encouraging him or her to write more books and to remain engaged in a more personal manner.
If you’d like to receive my quarterly newsletter, visit my website at http://JeffreyLKohanek.com and sign up at the bottom of the page. Don’t forget to accept the confirmation email from MailChimp.
Get ready, because news is coming soon!
June 15, 2016
Don't Let the Darkness Win
The darkness is seductive, luring readers into a world of ruthless and selfish characters. This has been particularly true in epic fantasy novels, as the moral gap between protagonist and antagonist has narrowed dramatically over the past two decades.
Years ago, the dark lead character was far less common. There was a time where most fantasy novels featured a protagonist with a good heart, imperfect but well intentioned. Somehow, the cynical nature of the real world around us has prevailed, compelling readers toward the morally ambiguous lead who would just as soon slit your throat as shake your hand. As an example, this type of character dominates The First Law universe. The edginess of it all can become a rush for the reader, making him or her feel that it’s good to be bad.
As a reader, I found myself caught in this fishnet, drawn into a sequence of fantasy series featuring dubious characters driven by their own selfish personal agenda. Not every character was outright nasty, some landed in an ambiguous region where black and white blurred to gray. Even worse, some authors opted to include a few honest characters for me to love, only to kill them off and leave me destitute and in search of replacement within the story. Yes, Game of Thrones, I'm looking at you (A Song of Ice and Fire series).
After a few years of enduring tales featuring individuals who were as bad as they were good, I decided I could take it no longer. It’s one thing to read a novel or series and find a character who is good at heart, but goes through a troubled period. A good example is the Wheel of Time series. There were times when I really disliked Rand, feeling frustrated by his arrogance and self-pity. However, he eventually got past it and found balance to show that he remained the good person we remember from when the series began. I get it. Behavior changes and internal conflict are natural human responses to the events that impact our lives.
However, I would like to know when and why it became unpopular for the main character to be a good person. Books featuring a protagonist who tries to do right, using a moral compass to guide them, often find reviewers labeling the protagonist as shallow or one-dimensional.
What is wrong with the main character in a novel being likable? Shouldn’t readers gravitate toward a likable character? I'm not saying that darker tales featuring cold-blooded lead characters shouldn't exist, it just shouldn't be at the expense of stories intended to inspire.
It’s obvious that a morally conscientious protagonist provides a good role model for young readers. However, I believe that even adult readers need a reminder that compassion and integrity are traits that define humanity and without them, we will at some point cease to be human. For the sake of making all worlds better, real and imaginary, I beg you not to allow the good guys fade from the pages that feed our imagination. Embrace the light, don’t let the darkness win.
June 8, 2016
A Festive Experience
I spent the past weekend at the Bay Area Book Festival in Berkeley, California. Being my first foray into the convention scene as an author, it was quite a learning experience.
Traveling from southern California, my son and I took an early morning flight, hauling heavy luggage stuffed with books, props, and supplies. After a 4:45 am rise, we arrived at the event at 9:45 am, just fifteen minutes before it opened. We quickly set the booth up and were ready for interested readers!
From 10 am to 6 pm, Saturday and Sunday, I stood before my little tent and greeted attendees. I met some great readers and supportive fellow authors, handed out over a hundred bookmarks, and sold twenty-one signed copies of my book. While I had hoped to sell more copies, my results appear to be a bit better than average and were far better than many other exhibitors.
In addition to the direct sales, I also was able to create awareness about my book and the upcoming sequels, doing so in a region outside of my local territory. Hopefully, the readers who purchased The Buried Symbol, at the event and afterward, love the book and tell their friends. Word-of-mouth remains the main driving factor for book discovery and purchase. You have to start that snowball somewhere, hoping it grows quickly and continues to roll forward.
Similar to any first-time experience, I learned a lot by attending the book fest. That knowledge will help me be more prepared for future author events. I'm sincerely looking forward to that first public event that includes fans seeking me out because they love my novels and wish to meet the author. That's the real reward for all the hard work that goes into being an author (although making money helps too). I love my readers!
Pictures of the event are included below for your entertainment. Yes, many people spun the wheel to determine their vocation. I found that many people approached me, just to ask what the wheel was and what the runes meant. That allowed me to tell them a bit about the book and spurred some added sales.
Post a message if you have any questions or comments about the event!
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May 31, 2016
Fantasy Writer of the Day
I am hosting the Writer of the Day blog over at Reddit/Fantasy on Wednesday, June 1. The thread will run throughout the day and you can check out the discussion by clicking the link below.
It's a great opportunity to ASK QUESTIONS about my writing process or about The Buried Symbol and the two sequels that are in the works. Please consider participating because the more activity I have on the thread, the more people will check it out.
May 25, 2016
Promoting a Book: Part Two
This is part two of my blog about my book promotion activities. If you haven't read part one yet, check it out here for more info.
Book Reviews
Reviews can do a lot to help garner interest in a book. Good reviews provide potential readers more confidence in your novel and makes the book more intriguing. Knowing that I needed reviews, I reached out to more than 160 book bloggers, offering a free copy of my book in exchange for a review. Sixteen bloggers accepted, pledging to get me a review within a few weeks or months. Less than half have come through thus far, more than a month after sending them my book. I also attempted to get reviews from Booktubers, but have gotten nowhere with that route at this point.
In addition to book bloggers, I provided my book to free and paid book review organizations, such as Midwest Book Review, Booklist, and Kirkus. Some of these routes take months before you get a review, which causes difficulties since librarians and booksellers rely on these review services to determine if they should order your book. Another means to get a book in front of librarians and reviewers is to pay for a listing with NetGalley and/or Edelweiss. Working through my publisher, I opted to do both.
Author Interviews
While interviews don’t have the power of a good review, they offer an easy way to create more awareness. If readers aren’t aware that your book exists, they won’t seek it out. Deciding that any exposure is helpful, interviews also enabled me to present my book and myself in a way that seems more personal. Creating this connection with potential readers may not lead to immediate sales, but it does help to garner their attention and may help in the long run.
I found that getting interviews posted with book bloggers tends to be much easier than getting them to review a book. Interviews provide bloggers with content for their website and require very little effort or time on their part, while doing a book review is a commitment of 4 to 10 hours. I was also able to get an interview in the May edition of Fountain Valley Living, a local publication of 25,000 subs.
Giveaways
Amazon, Goodreads, LibraryThing, and YA Books Central are book-focused sites that provide simple tools for authors to run book giveaways. Interested readers can enter to win a free print or digital (it’s up to you which format) copy of a book. I opted to run giveaways on all four sites, tracking them to measure interest generated. While I might lose money by sending out free copies of my book, it’s an investment for the awareness created. I find that these giveaways help to gain the attention of hundreds of readers that I may not have reached otherwise. I just hope that it will eventually lead to sales.
Book bloggers love to run giveaways on their own sites because it adds more perceived value to the readers who visit the website. Any blog site that frequently gives free books out is more likely to get repeat business than one that doesn’t have that service. The fact is that people love free stuff. The trick for any author is to decide how many copies you can afford to give out and when the giveaways begin to lose their value because you are not hitting enough new potential buyers.
Advertising
I find that paid advertising is the most difficult aspect to gauge regarding book promotion. While there are many routes to advertising, deciding which routes are good investments is quite difficult. I believe that I will have to experiment with sites such as Facebook, Goodreads, and others in order to see what route works best. I have also been considering book blog tours, multi-media websites, and other potential marketing routes.
One promotion that I did decide to try was the social advertising route, getting multiple weeks-worth of constant tweets, Facebook posts, and other social media ads through a company that focuses on that type of promotion. Since that effort is currently active, I can’t gauge results other than increased product awareness.
Festivals and Conventions
The best marketing targets exactly the type of person who is most likely to purchase a product. My product is a fantasy book, so spending time and money on book festivals and geek conventions (like Comic-Con), is a wise investment. With more than a hundred thousand people in attendance, these events attract people who love to read and people who love magic and fantasy. Those are my readers. But I don't want to just be there passively, I am there in full force.
From a distance, you will see my banner inviting you to Discover a lost magic, buried and forgotten. Swing by my table and you will find it decked-out. We are wearing Academy cloaks and holding the lost book of magic. You can spin a wheel to determine your vocation rune and receive your temporary tattoo for your vocation. I'll give you a free bookmark, some candy, and am happy just to talk. Alternatively, you can buy signed copies of my books, with cash or credit. Regardless, I will make sure that the people I meet have fun and remember stopping by my booth.
Summary
As you can tell, book promotion is a multi-faceted venture that requires a lot of time, effort, and some level of financial investment. Thankfully, I have the help of my publicist to share in the workload, which is necessary because I work a full-time day job and am writing book and editing book 2. In the end, the time and money I spend now are seeds for the future, helping to grow a fan base that will eagerly consume the books I write. This effort is not only about The Buried Symbol, nor is it just about The Runes of Issalia trilogy. I am investing in myself as an author, hoping to connect with as many readers as possible for all of my future books.
May 18, 2016
Promoting a Book: Part One
When I finally decided to write a book and pursue getting it published, I had no idea what to expect. After 1,000s of hours of writing and editing, I found a publisher and then realized that I was going to have to put my marketing hat on and get serious. It turns out that successful authors put as much work into promoting their book as they do writing it. There is so much involved in book PR that I chose to split this blog into two parts.
Website
I decided that the first step would be to create an author website. It is my home base and is the one location on the internet that I control fully. All messaging, images, contact info, events, author biography, blog thread, and more are intended to be part of a tight strategy. Any social media or bookseller links would send readers back to my website whenever possible, creating a hub to my online presence.
Social Media
In today’s world, I had to have a social media presence. It is a means to share information with my readers and to help create awareness of me as an author and of my books. I created a Facebook author page, opened a Twitter account, jumped onto Google+, created a Tumblr page, and added Instagram to my toolkit.
Book-Focused Websites
I need to be wherever people who like books might go. Accordingly, I now have a book and/or an author page on the largest online booksellers’ pages. In addition, sites such as Goodreads, Library Thing, and YA Books Central are sites designed to help readers discover and review books for themselves. A list of my online links is shown below.
Online Presence: List of Links
Launch Events, Signings, and Guest Speaking
My book released on May 5, 2016. Accordingly, my publicist (thanks for all the help, Jodi) and I set up a number of author events to promote the book. With two launch parties, two author meet-n-greets, and a two-day book festival set within the first month, I will be busy. See the Launch Event Schedule below. If you can make it to any of these events, I would love to meet you and answer questions about the book or my writing process.
Event Date Event Type and Location
Thurs May 19, 2016: Book Launch Party @Lamppost Pizza, Fountain Valley, CA
Sat May 21, 2016: Book Launch Party @Mama’s on 39 in Huntington Beach, CA
Tues May 24, 2016: Author Event @Mangiamo Gelato Café, Huntington Beach, CA
Sat May 28, 2016 Author Event @Great American Yogurt, Huntington Beach, CA
Sat June 4, 2016: Bay Area Bookfest, Berkeley, CA
Sun June 5, 2016: Bay Area Bookfest, Berkeley, CA
Guest Speaking
I am offering a FREE 30-minute seminar to schools and libraries titled A Writer’s Journey: The Path to Publication, where I will share what I've learned from my experience in writing and getting published. I hope that this will help to encourage others who dream of writing a book while also helping them to avoid some of the pitfalls that I encountered on my journey. My first session is set at Fountain Valley High School on May 19. I hope to do more sessions this school year and in the future.
This gives you an idea of what is involved in a book launch. Tune in next week for part two of this blog for more into and to see what else I have cooking.
May 11, 2016
Creating a Cinematic Experience
While writing, I picture each chapter as if it were a movie playing within my head. The words on the paper paint the imagery and express the emotions as the story unfolds. However, an important component of films that is lacking is the music to set the mood. An outstanding soundtrack can elevate a good film to become an amazing cinematic experience.
With the launch of The Buried Symbol, I thought that it would be fun to offer readers this type of experience while reading the book. Below is the soundtrack that I would choose to enhance my story if it were a movie. If you decide to play along, follow the text below and listen to the music as directed. Enjoy.
My Best Theory by Jimmy Eat World
Start the song BEFORE you begin the book. Read the intro text below as My Best Theory plays, but be ready to pause the music at 1:11 mins in:
The Moment BEFORE Chapter 1:
A solitary seabird soars through the night. Hundreds of feet below, the wavering reflection of starlight dances on the rippled surface of the ocean. The bird approaches the pale form of a low cloud bank, so thick that it appears tangible. Without slowing, the bird is engulfed by the wall of fog, the damp air slipping past as it flies blindly through the murk.
The bird dives lower until the tile rooftops of a city begin to take shape. Leveling to fly just above the rooftops, the bird passes over the empty streets of the sleeping city. With two flaps of its wings, the bird gains enough elevation to clear a wall that divides the city. Once over the wall, buildings far more grande than those behind it emerge from within the milky air.
Curling its wings in, the bird slows to land softly on the ridge of a tiled rooftop. With a twitch and a ruffle of its body, moisture flicks off the bird's feathers. Now upon a comfortable perch, the bird sticks its head beneath a wing as it begins to preen itself. The sudden movement of a shooing hand flicking nearby catches the bird's eye, causing it to squawk and take flight. The bird sails off into the mist as the flapping sound of its wings fades into the still night.
Pause song at 1:11 and read CHAPTER 1.
After CHAPTER 1 is finished, listen to the rest of the song as you begin reading CHAPTER 2. The music should finish before you reach any dialog.
Meant to live by Switchfoot
Play the song after CHAPTER 3. Listen to the first verse, thinking about Brock's emotional state. Once the first verse is complete, go ahead and begin reading CHAPTER 4 while the song finishes.
I'm already gone by A Day to Remember
Start the song just before the last paragraph of CHAPTER 10. Once it's over, begin CHAPTER 11.
See me smiling by Yellowcard
Play the song before you begin reading CHAPTER 20.
Pause after the first verse (1:15) and read until the first mid-chapter break.
Play another verse (until 2:18) and pause again as you read until the next mid-chapter break.
Play the end of the song and then finish the chapter after its over.
The Kids in the Dark by All Time Low
Start the song with the fourth paragraph of CHAPTER 25.
Failure by Breaking Benjamin
Start the song after CHAPTER 29. Listen to it until the 2nd verse completes (2:16) and then begin reading CHAPTER 30 while it finishes.
Dare you to move by Switchfoot
I know, I know. Another Switchfoot song. What can I say? Their songs are intended to be inspirational. Play this song right after finishing CHAPTER 49. Let it finish before starting CHAPTER 50.
Starlit Sky by Workday Release
Play this song during or right after CHAPTER 59. Oh, no Brock. What is happening? Let it finish before you begin CHAPTER 60.
Two is better than one by Boys Like Girls
Play song between CHAPTER 72 and CHAPTER 73. Yes, this one is quite sappy. That's how love is sometimes.
My Hero by Foo Fighters
Listen to this after CHAPTER 79. Feel free to begin CHAPTER 80 whenever you wish.
Give me a sign by Breaking Benjamin
Yes, two songs by BB. I like the band and the song works.
Play the song at the mid-chapter break in CHAPTER 87 (page 334). Listen until 1:25 in and pause to read the rest of CHAPTER 87.
Play the song again until 2:52 in and then read CHAPTER 88 until you get to the mid-chapter break on page 338.
Play the end of the song as you read the rest of the chapter. Timing is VERY important on this one. You'll see why if it works out.
My Best Theory by Jimmy Eat World
Play the song at the end of CHAPTER 91. Pause at 1:11 and go on to read the EPILOGUE. After the EPILOGUE, finish the song, imagining final film credits with motion paused scenes similar to SHERLOCK HOLMES (starring Robert Downey Jr.).
That's my soundtrack. Try it out while you read the book. Let me know if you like the idea. Maybe I am starting a new trend for other authors to follow.
May 4, 2016
Another World
A defining element of epic (or high) fantasy novels is journeying to another world, born of the writer’s imagination. This type of literary work offers the author numerous opportunities and a plethora of challenges. Before writing the first word of a new epic fantasy novel, the author should have a comprehensive strategy for the world-building that is about to take place.
Crazy Concept
One approach is to dive deep and veer far from our reality. Taking this route can be daunting and difficult to properly execute. If the world is too different from our own, continuously introducing cryptic terms, inventive creatures, and exotic landscapes, it risks alienating the reader due to a complete lack of familiarity. When the world becomes extremely foreign, it requires very descriptive writing to translate the terms and concepts, which can detract from the overall reading experience. Developing a highly unique world is not necessarily a bad idea, and some readers actively seek this type of story. However, it demands careful planning on the author’s part and likely requires a lot of extra text to convey the imagery and intricacies involved.
Dungeons and Dragons
Another option is for the author to closely copy the world-building tropes that are common to the genre, not straying far from the world and race elements that Tolkien introduced so long ago. Intrigued by the fantastic humanoid races of elves and dwarves or by magical creatures such as dragons and unicorns, this approach has entertained eager fantasy lovers for decades. Since a plethora of fantasy novels have taken this world-building path, I fear that it has fed the perceived stereotypes of the genre and slowed its acceptance into mainstream reading.
A Bit of Magic
The third approach is to closely mirror a time-period from our own history and introduce specific elements that make the world within the novel special. This world-building approach is easier to execute and makes the book more approachable, perhaps even inviting new readers to the genre. Politics, social issues, races, creatures, landscapes, and magic systems are examples of elements on which the author can focus. The key is to ensure that the unique characteristics are critical to the plot or to the overall experience that the author wishes to convey. Translating foreign concepts requires additional effort for both the writer and the reader. If those elements are not important, the author is wasting their effort and the reader’s time, which will slow the pace of the story.
When I began writing The Buried Symbol, the first book of The Runes of Issalia trilogy, I opted to leverage renaissance Europe as my point of reference, embracing an era of discovery, art, and invention over the dark brutality that is typically found in the medieval era. I then applied specific unique elements that were critical to the story I wished to tell:
A controlling and oppressive theocracy governs the Issalian Empire, which defines the politics of the world and significantly impacts the social issues of its citizens.
In the reality of our Earth, words have power, but only if you comprehend the words. In the world I was creating, runes (words in the form of symbols) have an intrinsic power that is tied to very the laws of nature. This well-defined magic system has a profound effect on the people, creatures, and natural resources within the world.
Wrapping these elements within a world shaped by a long and dark history, I hope to send readers on an enjoyable adventure while the story remains quite approachable.
If you enjoy epic fantasy, think back on the reading experiences that thrilled you the most. Did the author create a world using one of the three approaches listed above? If so, which approach did they take? What aspects of world-building do you enjoy as a reader?
April 27, 2016
Seeking That Elusive Review
As an author who is working with an independent publisher, I must participate heavily in the promotion of my books or suffer with putrid sales numbers. Similar to other types of media, professional and user reviews of your book have a huge impact and can encourage consumers to purchase your product with confidence. While book PR has unique aspects compared to other types of media, reviews are critical for a book's success.
To prepare for my impending book release, I conducted research to find book review sites that I thought would be a good fit for my book. Over the period of three weeks, I visited over 350 book blog sites, deciding to target about a third of them. With my book formatted and finalized, I immediately began to contact book bloggers and review sites that cover YA fantasy novels.
Over the period of a week, I contacted over 100 sites that would accept digital copies for review. I would have contacted more, but many sites weren't accepting requests due to an overwhelming backlog of books to be read.
Sadly, only eight bloggers agreed to conduct a review of my book. Half of those sites, and a few others, also offered to post an author interview. Most of the blog sites have yet to offer any response.
With the advent of self-publishing and the growth of independent print houses, book bloggers have been inundated with review requests. Some claim to receive over 100 review requests a day. Although only four major publishing houses remain, they each produce 1000's of books each year. Those big publishers are offering books to these review sites, consuming reviewer bandwidth and taking priority over the smaller guys. It’s understandable that these bloggers will bend-over backward to review a book for Penguin Random House or HarperCollins. If they don’t, they won't see future books from these big publishers. However, where does that leave indie and self-published authors?
My publisher is a mid-size indie, printing about 150 books a year, yet I couldn't even get one reviewer in ten to consider my work. Many of the reviewers that I researched flat-out reject any self-published material, leaving self-published authors in an even more dire predicament. So what can we do?
Many sites offer a paid review service, some by professional reviewers while others are book bloggers who have capitalized on the overwhelming demand. Who can blame them? When demand outstrips supply, it is our right as a capitalist society to charge more for the product or service.
Another option is to beg everyone you know to read your book and leave a review on sites such as Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes & Noble, and others. This is tricky because Amazon will ferret-out and remove any reviews posted by people you have friended on Facebook. System abuse forced their hand some time ago, due to a proliferation of biased 5-star reviews for sub-par books devaluing the importance of a review on their website. I can’t fault them and would rather have consumer confidence in a few reviews than have 100's of reviews that readers deem meaningless.
In summary, I attempt to sift my way through this quagmire, hoping to eventually achieve the magical number of 100 reviews on Goodreads and book eCommerce sites. When that day comes, I will throw a party and anyone who has posted a review is invited.
April 20, 2016
The Book Cover
There is a famous saying "Never judge a book by its cover." However, human nature says otherwise. The cover creates an impression about a book and plays an important role in its success.
The image presented needs to tantalize the reader, enticing them to scoop your book off the shelf for further inspection. If aren't drawn to the cover, the reader moves along and your wonderful story never gets the chance to be told. After spending thousands of hours crafting a beautiful tale, you lose a reader just because the cover didn't peak their interest. It's not fair.
Knowing this, I had some ideas in mind for my cover design. I needed a cover that spoke to my main two audiences: teens and fantasy geeks (like me). The image had to intrigue them enough that they felt compelled to pick the book up, flipping it over to read the synopsis on the back.
After a number of iterations with the graphic artist, I now have a cover. It's not quite what I imagined, but I am happy with it. I'm hopeful that the image of the character holding a book of magic alludes to the secrets that readers will discover within the pages.
Check out the cover and let me know what you think. If I get enough positive feedback, I may submit it for a cover contest once the book is released.
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