Kaye Lynne Booth's Blog: Writing to be Read, page 154

“Freedom’s Song”: A Well-Crafted Romantic Thriller

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Freedom’s Song, by A.K. Lawrence has all the elements of a good romance wrapped up in the plot of a top notch thriller. It is obvious that this is book 2 of the continuing saga of Baldwin series, (novels set in the small town setting of Baldwin, Michigan), but Lawrence offers just enough background to keep me from being in the dark on the first one, without actually reading it, yet doesn’t bog you down with backstory. The characters feel realistic enough to make me care about what happens next, and that’s a good thing.

Hunter and Anna found each other last summer, during the life or death events in the first book, when he became the knight in shining armor for both Anna, who was kidnapped and Nancy, who was married to Anna’s kidnapper, an all-around louse of a guy, named Dock. Now Nancy’s divorce is almost final, and Colby has plans to make his move for Nancy once she is a free agent once more. But, all is not as it seems and a blast from his puts the brakes on his anticipated romance, when his college stalker girlfriend reappears on the scene to claim her man.

The only complaint I had with this story was I felt the dwarf subplot and the proposal pool were left unresolved, and we really didn’t get to see them through to the end. If you read the book, you’ll see what I mean. The romantic elements carry the story as we get to know the characters and sets things up, but when the thriller elements join the party things start hopping with good tension and suspense. I give Freedom’s Song five quills.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs at no charge. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.

Ask the Authors: Final Answers

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We’ve reached the final segment of Ask the Authors, which will bring our series to a close. This has been a fun series and we’ve covered a lot in regards to writing. In this segment, our panel members will answer follow-up questions for each segment and wrap things up, so let’s get started. We’ll skip over the introductory segment, as there are really no follow-up questions as to the panel members identity, but if you missed that one, you really should pop in and check it out.  Our panel had a great line up, with DeAnna Knippling, Chris Dibella, Carol Riggs, Cynthia Vespia, Tim Baker, Janet Garber, Art Rosch, Margareth Stewart, Chris Barili and Jordan Elizabeth.

I want to thank each and every one of our panel members for their participation. This blog is a labor of love for me, which means I can’t pay for guest posts, etc… The time and energy each author took to respond to all of my, sometimes lengthy and open ended questions is greatly appreciated. When asked if they would be up for another round in the fall, many said yes, so it looks like we have another round of Ask the Authors still to look forward to.

Our first segment takes A Look at the Writing Process, where each of our panel members found different things most challenging, from sharing and allowing yourself to be vulnerable, to self confidence, to marketing and finding readers, to the actual act of writing. The process is never the same for any two authors. Some prefer to write without distractions, while others like to write with music or other things going on in the background. Many authors like to write in public places, such as coffee shops, while others like Tim Baker find this too cliche or just need their privacy for writing, like Carol Riggs. We approach our writing in different ways, as well. While Janet Garber writes in vigenettes, Cynthia Vespia writes her first drafts by hand, and authors like DeAnna Knippling just let the characters go and see what happens, and most of our panel members are morning writers, like Chris Barili. Most of our panel members claim to lean toward character driven stories, but I’m with Cynthia Vespia in thinking that all stories must be a little of both. Most, like Art Rosch and Chris DiBella say the titles of their books just come to them, usually before actual writing begins, while the book is still in the design stage. Be sure to check it out and see what each of our panel members’ best pieces of advise for upcoming authors.

The follow up question for this segment is: What are your top five writing rules for success?

Cynthia Vespia: 

1. Write what you want, don’t follow the trends

2. Characterization is key

3. Have fun with world building

4. Think outside the box

5. And of course show don’t tell

Chris Barili

1. Learn your craft. Whether through college studies, mentorship, reading a lot, whatever. Learn what makes good stories.

2. Learn the business of your craft. All the writing in the world does you no good if you don’t know how to get it sold.

3. Find your writing tribe. A support crew of fellow writers is crucial for keeping you going.

4. Submit. Everywhere. You don’t get published if you’re not submitting.

5. Get your ass in the seat and do the work. Don’t wait for the stupid inspiration fairy or muse to sit on your shoulder and whisper bullshit in your ears. Write. Then write some more.

Janet Garber: 

1. Jot down phrases and ideas when inspiration hits no matter where you are

2. work on making the language sing

3. submit like crazy

4. don’t take rejections personally. Just move on.

5. Don’t ever give up!

Art Rosch: 

One, be yourself.  Write to please yourself.  There is no other way to achieve authenticity other than to make your writing a means of exploring yourself, your humanity and the nature of your life experience.

If you’re writing fiction you need a great villain.  Nothing propels a story like a character that you hate, someone whom you want to see brought to justice.  I pay special attention to writing my villains.

Write with feeling or your readers will not feel anything.  Emotion is the fuel of story.  Be a storyteller, engage readers with plots that invoke high stakes.  The ultimate investment in a story can be the life or death of the characters, or the survival of a society, or the triumph of a civilization.  All the elements of story break down into conflicts of virtue versus destruction.  What makes a story interesting, however, is when it’s difficult to tell who is good and who is evil.  Things aren’t always simple.

A good book has three attributes.  It should be entertaining, informative and inspiring.  I can loosely define inspiration as the evocation of insight.  Insight feels good and you know when a writer provokes an understanding of the human condition.

That’s not exactly five rules, but it’s an overview of things I put in my writing.

Tim Baker: I really only have one rule…keep writing. If you want to be succesful as a writer you have to keep writing. Not only is it the best way to hone your skills, but the more you write, the more chance you have of being succesful.

Chris DiBella: I don’t have any rules for writing “success” because the term success will vary from person to person. What works for me may not work for other writers, and vice versa. There are a million blogs posting the same 5 to 10 rules for how to be a writer, but none of them seem to be putting out any books themselves, so why take advice from someone who isn’t successful doing what they are trying to tell you to do? There’s no secret magic formula, but you can’t be successful if you don’t write…..so just go write.

Carol Riggs: 

1. There ARE no rules.

2. Everyone writes lousy first drafts; get the words down on the page and learn to revise.

3. Always have other people check your work for inconsistencies, grammar, punctuation, etc.

4. If you truly love to write, never give up!

5. Not everyone will love your book; it’s subjective and there’s no way your writing will speak to every single person.

Margareth Stewart: 

1. Write. Don´t stop.

2. Don´t copy anyone else. Find your own voice.

3. Craft your stories.

4. Be humble. Be proud.

5. Keep it up.

P.S. Just write if you have something to tell, and then forget about it all. I don´t believe so much that we can predict success though we need to do our best for it. I see authors who might be famous, and they might not be the best ones, or even the most influential ones, or the ones that are still going to be recalled a century from now. I would rather quote Jorge Amado and say that writing is like living: 

“The world is like that – incomprehensible and full of surprises.” Jorge Amado – Brazilian Author. 

Jordan Elizabeth:

Never give up on your dreams.
Write what you know.  Write a book that you would want to read.
Don’t write a shocking scene just for the shock value.
Don’t write in a genre just because its selling; write in that genre because you’re passionate about it.

DeAnna Knippling:

1. Read.
2. Study what you read.
3. Practice what you study.
4. Get what you practice published.
5. Honor the people who read what you published.

The second segment was on Character Development. Many of our author panel develop characters from real people and composites of people they know, or at least give them realistic qualities and flaws to make them feel more human, easier to identify with, and most admit to having a little of themselves in their characters. Chris DiBella, Jordan Elizabeth, Janet Garber and Art Rosch even offer up real life examples. None of them openly admited to creating characters from archetypes, but I maintain that all characters fit into archetypes, whether the author does it consciously or not. Chris Barili offers his method of character development using a character triangle to determine what the character’s motivation is, what the character’s fear or flaw is, and what it is the character truly needs. It is clear that for all of our panel members and myself, our characters often come alive and take over what happens on the page, surprising even their creators at times. While Art Rosch and DeAnna Knippling like to take a more psychological approach to character development, authors like Tim Baker use life observation to ‘keep it real’. And I don’t think any of the panel members would disagree with Carol Riggs when she stated, “The more rich development you can give to a character, the more the reader can identify with them.” After all, that is what we’re striving for – characters that readers can relate and identify with.

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The follow-up question for this segment: How do you evoke emotion in your readers?

Cynthia Vespia: This is one of the most important parts of storytelling, and one of my favorite parts as well. Developing characters that readers resonate with is what stirs emotion. If they can see part of themselves in the character they will gravitate towards them more and that makes them care what happens to them in the end.

Chris Barili: You do that by creating a character they empathize with, then killing him or her, usually. No, wait. That’s the George Martin approach. Seriously–build a character about whom readers care, then put them in situations where they are threatened.

Janet Garber: This is admittedly not always easy. I concentrate on creating relatable and sympathetic characters.

Art Rosch: If you write with feeling your audience will respond with feeling.   Fiction is mostly about overcoming obstacles.  You cause your heroes to act bravely and unselfishly and your villains to act with malice and manipulation.  If you create a lovable hero, (that is, someone with flaws who intends to do a positive thing) your readers will respond. I don’t know if emotion can be taught.  Writing is a very psychological pursuit, and our emotions are unpredictable and all but uncontrollable.  So…be a psychologist.

Tim Baker: By giving my characters real emotion and letting the reader see it. Whatever emotion the characters are feeling in a particuklar scene I try to have them think and react the way any of us would (as much as allowable for the story anyway).

Chris DiBella: I just try to make my characters as real as possible and hopefully my readers like them enough to care about what happens to them.

Carol Riggs: I write in first person for (what I think is) the most close, personal experience. I also try to include a lot of sensory images—smell, taste, sounds, and sights to make things more real. With crying and sobbing and sad emotions, often less is more; otherwise it starts feeling melodramatic. And if the character is going through general experiences the reader can relate to (betrayal, loss, anger at a friend or parent) that helps make an emotional connection.

Jordan Elizabeth:  I rely on my own experiences when writing.  Many of the emotions I write about are ones that I have experienced, so I’m able to write from the heart.  If its a funny scene, then I’m laughing out loud.  If its a sad scene, I have tears drenching my cheeks.

DeAnna Knippling: One of my pet peeves is when an author is obviously playing for my emotions rather than letting the combination of plot, character, etc., do the work in a more logically consistent fashion.  You’ve seen it every time a beloved character gets wiped out and it really doesn’t affect the narrative, other than to “inspire” the rest of the characters to carry on or set the grounds for “anything could happen!!!!!!!”

If I want a reader to cry, I better have already wept bitter tears over the manuscript as I was writing it.

Our third segment was on Action and Dialog. While all authors want dialog that flows smooth and sounds realistic, different authors take different approaches to the task. While most of our panel members agree that listening to people and being able to hear the dialog spoken in your head are great ways to approach this, Carol Riggs offers the really great advice to read your work aloud, and Art Rosch offers the advice that dialog should always serve a purpose, rather than being just a space filler. In true life, we tend to talk just to hear ourselves sometimes. In writing, that sort of thing just takes up space on the page and the only purpose it may serve is to bore the reader, and of course, we don’t want that. Achieving a balance between action and dialog seems to come natural for many of our panel members claim the only trick or secret is to keep the story moving and not let it get too bogged down with details. Tell readers what they need to know, but keep things moving. If you missed this segment, be sure to drop in and check it out, because it features excerpts of dialog scenes from authors Chris Barili, Janet Garber, DeAnna Knippling, Cynthia Vespia, Tim Baker, Art Rosch and Margareth Stewart.

The following is a reader comment left regarding Dialog. While a couple of our panel members replied directly in the comments, DeAnna Knippling’s reply seemed spot on to me and I wanted to include it here.

Reader Ken Hughs said:

Lots of excellent advice there.

I’m always on the lookout for ways to analyze dialogue a bit deeper than that. For instance:

Who talks more? Does she say a lot on her favorite subject (an expert, or just concerned about it) and less on other things, or is she nervous or social enough to chime in a little after everything– or so full of herself she does both?

How organized are his sentences? A longer sentence can mean he has a more complex complete thought, unless it’s a run-on; several short sentences could each mean new thoughts still coming in behind the last ones. Or the most eloquent person might be the one with the simple line that says it all.

Adjectives and adverbs? Someone passionate, or more in tune with their senses, is more likely to pile on the modifiers, while others are plainer-spoken. Similes and metaphors take this even further– if you can keep someone from becoming cliche about using their job or background to compare things too.

DeAnna Knipling: It sounds like the commenter, Ken Hughes, is doing some good things with pacing.  Huzzah!  Once you get past the point of being able to make dialogue that sounds natural and gets the point across in a scene, the next step is to start working on the pacing of the dialogue–and all the issues Mr. Hughes mentioned are relevant there.

To back up a bit for writers who aren’t quite down in the weeds of studying pacing yet:

Pacing is the art of connecting content (what you’re writing about) to form (the layout of the little black marks on the page, for writers).  When the word lengths and patterns, sentence lengths and patterns, scene lengths and patterns all line up with the meaning of the story somehow, the story is “paced well.”  Pacing is about building your story like a woodworker, choosing your material and construction techniques to fit the final purpose of the project.  Any element of a story can have pacing.
Each character’s dialogue will also have its own pacing, just as Mr. Hughes says, and it should depend on the nature of the character.
The examples that Mr. Hughes gives are excellent examples of what to consider with pacing dialogue.
I’d like to add that anything that you add between pieces of dialogue also reflects the pacing of the dialogue, so if you have chunks of description between bits of dialogue, the reader will take them as pauses in the conversation, or as the POV character’s mind wandering during the conversation.

If you can handle the things Mr. Hughes brings up, you’ll be doing well indeed

“Gyre”: A Science Fiction Fantasy Romance novel worth reading

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Gyre, by Jessica Gunn is the first book in her Atlas Link series. It is the story of Chelsea, a descendent of Atlantis, who is just discovering her amazing powers and Trevor, a Lemurian descendent, who should be her mortal enemy, but instead falls for her in a big way. See? Boy meets girl, but there is no way they can be together, yet they will fight against all the odds, and even against family to prove them all wrong. Now if that isn’t the recipe for a perfect romance, I don’t know what is. As they are traveling aboard a top secret naval submarine complete with cloak, I think Gunn has the science fiction elements and Lemurians and Atlanteans with super powers pretty much covers the fantasy realm. If it sounds confusing, read the book. It’s actually a pretty good genre combination.

Chelsea is discovering her powers. First super strength, which she was able to ignore, or deny, but now she keeps teleporting to a location near Trevor any time she gets stressed. The problem is, Trevor is on a top secret U.S. Naval Sub cruising the ocean depths, but on that vessel also may lie the answers to Chelsea’s unasked questions about who she is really and she might learn to control her newfound powers. Unlike Chelsea, Trevor is aware of his heritage as a Lemurian, but he refuses to get involved in the war his people are wageing with the Atlanteans. He just can’t believe the girl he’s falling for is his innate enemy, and he’s able to keep it all under control until they find an Atlantean outpost filled with valuable artifacts on the ocean floor. It seems everybody wants those artifacts for their own reasons, and we can only guess who will get them, and where Chelsea will end up.

This story is well-written, with minimal telling of the tale. The characters are likeable, except for Trevor’s friend and fellow Lemurian, Valerie, who is a bit difficult to figure out, but I think that’s done on purpose to throw readers off the trail. I give Gyre four quills.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs at no charge. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.

Ask the Authors: Marketing and Promotion

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Marketing and promotion is a tough one for many writers. While some may have artistic or designing abilities in addition to their writing skills, others, like me, must learn from the basics up, and its not an easy task. To get our book noticed amid the multitude of books, ebooks, and audio books that are out there today, we might have to be a little creative and search out multiple marketing avenues. It can be so daunting, that even someone who is knowledgeable about marketing and promotion, and is succesful in many of their efforts, like panel members DeAnna Knippling and Janet Garber, can be worn down with frustration, as the following comments regarding this marketing segment of the Ask the Authors series, as the following comments illustrate:

Janet Garber: Kaye, I don’t have answers to the questions. Wish I did.

DeAnna Knippling: I am so frustrated with marketing and promotion stuff right now, so I’m bailing on that.

In this day and age, more and more, the responsibility of marketing and promotion falls to authors. Digital publishing has changed the industry, and small press and self-published authors carry the brunt of it, and traditionally published authors may ask authors to carry more of the responsility than in the past, as well. Like it or not, marketing and promotion now fall under an author’s job description, as Cynthia Vespia reminds us with her publishing story: “Originally I was self published back before self publishing was cool I’ve been small press published, and I reverted back to self publishing. ALL of the marketing and promotion is on my shoulders.” Let’s see how our panel members handle the task.

What works best to sell books for you, as far as marketing goes?  

Jordan Elizabeth: Book signings have sold the most.  I get in people’s faces and just have fun.  I’m normally a quiet person, but at events I can become someone totally new and outgoing.

Carol Riggs: I’ve sold the most e-books with BookBub ads, for 3 of my traditionally published books. I also sell books at SCBWI conferences because people know me and support me there. :o)

Chris DiBella: This is probably an off-the-topic answer, but my mom is actually my best marketing tool. She helps me to sell more books than anything. Everywhere she goes, she tells people about my books and somehow gets them to buy one. They all seem to like them, so I guess I can’t complain….then again, my mom seems to think I should already be outselling James Patterson, so there’s that expectation to live up to.

Cynthia Vespia: Public appearances have been my best resources. There’s something to be said for selling something face-to-face as opposed to using the Internet. I don’t have a massive community rallying around me, so it’s up to me to make my own sales. I do that best by being personable with people, interacting, and talking about common interests.

Chris Barili: Face to face things like signings, conventions, and so on. You can actively push your books at these events.

For marketing and promotion, do you prefer online advertising and book events, or face-to-face events? Why?  

Jordan Elizabeth: Face-to-face feels more personal.  I can talk to people about what they like and I can explain my books in detail.

Carol Riggs: Both have their strong points. Being introverted, I probably enjoy the online events more, but there’s a certain zest to actually meeting people and talking to them. I can get myself in a social mood for that, and find I enjoy it.

Chris Barili: Face to face has brought me more measureable success, but online reaches WAY more people. You can’t choose one or the other. You have to do them all.

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According to WordStream, Facebook ads provide the biggest advertising opportunity since search, with twenty-two billion ad clicks per year. Of course, not all of those are book ads, but the fact is authors are faced with many choices when it comes to where to promote their books. While Facebook may get the most clicks per year, all social media are becoming a huge avenue for marketing and promotion, but how to know which venue is best? While some authors may do the research and promote on the sites that seem most profitable, many authors don’t have that much time and thus promote on the sites which we like best. That being said, let’s Ask the Authors and see where our panel members like to promote their work.

What’s your favorite social media site for promotion? Why?  

Jordan Elizabeth: I like Fussy Librarian best.  They only promote a few books a day, so you know your book won’t be lost in the shuffle.

Carol Riggs: I like Twitter, because promo is about making connections, not just shouting, “But my book!” all the time. And I can connect to people on Twitter whom I’ve never met, just by happy chance. It’s great! On Facebook, it’s mostly for connecting with people I already know, but with Twitter, I can expand my horizons and meet new people (while still connecting with the ones I already know).

Chris DiBella: Facebook works best for me because it reaches the most potential readers. I don’t use my blog any more, and I rarely use any other social media outlet, although I know I should. I use Amazon for free book promos, and I think I’m going to run one this weekend if anyone is interested in checking out one or more of my books.

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Cynthia Vespia: I’m on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I lean more towards Instagram now because you can do alot more with a single image than with 40 characters or an entire Facebook post. I’ve also found Facebook has become stained with controversy, overrun with politics, and just isn’t fun anymore. The only issue with Instagram is not being able to put a hyperlink in your post. But if you’re imaginative you can get some good attention.  

Chris Barili: I think Twitter does a good job of announcing things. It’s short, so people read it, but I’m not sure many people click. I’ve had some success using Facebook boosted posts, too, and I think those are my favorites because they’re cheap, easy, and for me pretty effective.

What sites have you used for marketing and/or giveaways? Which do you recommend? Why?  

Jordan Elizabeth: GoodReads is best for giveaways.  Amazon is the second best.  I’m still figuring out which sites are good for which books.  So far, I can only recommend Fussy Librarian.  I haven’t had good luck with the others.

Carol Riggs: If you can snag one and can afford it, I’ve had good luck with BookBub. I used to like Goodreads for giving away paperback books, but now they are charging for this service and I can’t afford to do that.

Chris DiBella: Goodreads helps to reach a bunch of potential readers, but I don’t like to do giveaways on there. As I’ve mentioned in a previous week here, everyone is willing to sign up for a freebie, and who knows if you’re even giving the book away to someone who will actually read it. I guess the same can be said for Amazon as well, but I’ve found that my giveaways for Amazon Kindle usually generate some sales afterwards, so for me, this is the route I typically take.

Which of these marketing platforms have you tried? How effective did you find each to be? (Facebook ads, AMS, other paid ad campaigns) Which do you feel were money well spent?

Chris DiBella: I decided to pay for a promo on Facebook once. From that experience, I would never do it again. You get what you pay for, but I’m just against having to pay to reach potential readers on a social media site. I didn’t think it did anything to gain new followers or to help with sales. My advice is to spend your time on target advertising and get the people to your site who actually want to be there. I gained a few hundred followers from a paid promo, but it all seemed a little sketchy when those new followers were from some small little African nation I had never heard of. And as I expected would happen, I began receiving some very weird messages on my author page shortly thereafter. I won’t pay for Facebook ads anymore because of that.

Which book marketing sites have you found to be good (free or paid)? What do you like about them? What is the downside?

Chris Barili: Ebooksoda did pretty well for me during a Halloween sales press of the Hell’s Butcher series. So far, they’re the  only ones I’ve tried.

If you’re an author, you need to have a website. An author must have a blog to gain followers. You really have to do a newsletter to keep your followers up to speed on all your new releases. You absolutely have to build a mailing list. Who among us hasn’t heard all of these at one time or another? But, you would have to be a super author or a super marketer, or a little bit of both to maintain all of these, and let’s face it, no one wants to invest a bunch of time and/or money into something that isn’t effective in either gaining readers, selling books, or both. So, do we really need all of these things? Which ones work, and which don’t?

Website, blog, author’s page or a combination? What are the benefits of each?

Chris DiBella: I’ve recently decided to start using my personal Facebook page as my author page. I find that my posts reach more people and I don’t have to pay extra to “boost” my visibility. I’ve pretty much abandoned my blog and just use it as my website for now until I build my actual one.

Cynthia Vespia: I have all of them. My blog is on my website.The author page is through Amazon and Goodreads. I think you definitely need a website. It doesn’t have to be lavish, just a place where people can learn more about you and your writing. For the blog I try to use it to help people getting into the business.

I only recently began to build a mailing list for my new monthly newsletter back in March, and so far the going has been slow. I think perhaps my method of sign-up, which is a sidebar pop-up right here, on Writing to be Read, may not be noticable enough and since very few of the sign-ups have claimed the free e-copy of Hidden Secrets, my paranormal mystery novelette, I’m thinking the thank you message with the Instafreebie link is getting missed as well. (I just told you how to sign-up for my monthly Newsletter and get a free e-book! What are you waiting for?) It’s just a trial and error thing for me. Every marketing adventure is a learning experience , so I’m eager to see what our author panel members’ experiences have been. Shall we Ask the Authors?

Do you have one or more mailing lists? Do you have a newsletter? Which do you find to be useful or effective?

Carol Riggs: I’m building up my newsletter subscription for fans and friends who are interested in hearing about my latest releases and giveaways. I give them special treatment, and many of them are kind enough to leave reviews in return for reading my freebies, which I appreciate a lot.

Chris Barili: I have one mailing list, but it’s small. This is something I’m trying hard to improve on.

Cynthia Vespia: I have a newsletter. It hasn’t done much for me in exposure or sales so I’ve basically discontinued it.

Interviews help get exposure for the author and their books. I’ve been on both ends of the interview. In fact, I have interviewed many of our panel members. In addition to sitting on the author panel for this series, I interviewed Tim Baker for my 2016 Publishing series and my 2017 Book Marketing series, and Jordan Elizabeth for both Publishing and Book Marketing, as well an interview to start off 2018 on New Year’s Day. I’ve also interviewed Art Rosch for the Publishing series and Cynthia Vespia  and Chris Barili for the Book Marketing. And my interview with Margareth Stewart for the release of Open is how she and I met. But in book marketing and promotion, we want to look at the other side of the interview, from the author’s perspective.

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I’ll never forget how excited I was to do my first interview with Dan Alatore shortly after Delilah came out, back in May of 2017. I don’t know that it helped sell any books, (it was before D.L. Mullen made my awesome covers, and the cookie cutter cover my publisher provided was baaaad), but it sure helped to make me feel as if I had made it to the big time. Dan made me sound good, so it was pretty cool. So, let’s Ask the Authors how effective our panel members think interviews are. Do they sell books, or are there other benefits? Is landing an interview something we should strive for?

How effective have interviews been for you in your overall marketing scheme?

Carol Riggs: Friends and fans tweet for me on Twitter, invite me to guest post on their blogs (like this interview series, thanks so much!), and share things on Facebook. All those things are invaluable and help me out a lot.

Chris DiBella: I’ve done several interviews, but I don’t think they’ve really been effective in terms of generating more book sales. My advice for any new authors wanting to do interviews is to research who is conducting the interview. If they only have 5 followers, is it really going to help you in the long run? The argument can be made that reaching even one new reader is a success, but I guess you have to pick and choose when and where you decide to do spots.

Cynthia Vespia: It really depends on the person doing the interview. I’ve done alot of podcasts and for the most part I’ve had fun, but there have been a few times where the person running the interview has been monotone, dull, distracted, and just brought the entire show down. There’s only so much I can do when the person on the other end isn’t holding their end up.

What interview has been the most effective for you in terms of marketing? Why?

Jordan Elizabeth: I enjoy doing interviews because I can connect with the person interviewing me, and I like to think it gets my name out there, but I’ve never had anyone tell me they bought my book based on seeing my interview.

Cynthia Vespia: I was fortunate enough to get on the local news specifically to promote my writing in a one-on-one interview. It got alot of attention.

Follow-up: How did that interview come about?

Cynthia Vespia: For the interview, I ran into one of the newscasters at a store and spoke to her about my books and things. She told me who to contact.

What was the most fun interview you’ve ever done? Why?  

Jordan Elizabeth: Yours.  You ask the most interesting, thought-provoking questions.

(Kaye: (Blushing) Thank you.)

Carol Riggs: The most fun interview I did was with Moriah Chavis on A Leisure Moment for my book, THE LYING PLANET. It was a unique and creative interview, in which she asked me questions as if I were the Machine—the sinister contraption that judges each teen in the community on their 18th birthday.

[image error]A picture speaks a thousand words, and a video can speak an entire book. Well, maybe. It’s certain that images attract attention more than posts with only words, if you want to sell books, you at least need to post an image of your cover. But some authors go beyond that and posts videos or book trailers to attract people to check out, and hopefully buy, their books. I recently made a book trailer for Delilah, and it certainly got more Facebook views than other posts I’ve made. (Unfortunately, I can’t feature it here for you, because the free plan on WordPress doesn’t support video.)Whether it increased my sales is yet to be seen, but let’s Ask the Authors to see what out panel members think about book trailers.

Do you use  book trailers? If so, do you create them yourself or hire them out? How effective do you think they are?

Chris DiBella: I created a book trailer for my first novel, Lost Voyage, and then for my first zombie book. I created them myself. It was pretty easy to do it on my own and make it look more professional than it actually was. For Lost Voyage, the music I used was from my band at the time, and for the zombie book, I used the music from a friend’s band (appropriately enough, it was a hard rock remake of the song “Zombie” by the Cranberries.). People liked then and thought they were fun. I’ve thought about making another trailer for my most recently published book. If it gets people to click on the post, it can’t be a bad thing.

Margareth Stewart: I do like having my books transformed into book trailers. This helps readers to experience them through motion pictures – Images may speak better than words. I have also hired this kind of service from “Fiverr” which has a fix price of US$ 5 dollars for each short film. It is an amount really worth spending. There are video editors available online where it is possible to produce and edit our films. I always make sure the images are copyright-free and I hope they call producers´ attention – more to the story than my film-making techniques – “who knows?”

Cynthia Vespia: I make a book trailer for every new release. They are effective enough to get attention.

[image error]Press releases, in my mind, were something a publisher did for an author to create buzz for a new release. But today’s authors are doing their own marketing, and a lot of the time, there is no publisher besides the author. I wasn’t even sure if folks still did press releases in a digital age, but I came across a template for a press release in the self-administered crash course in marketing and promotion I’ve been doing, so I made one up, geared to the local author angle and sent it out to several of my local papers. I also played on the fact that Delilah is set in Colorado, so I sent one to the Leadville paper, where most of her story takes place. I had one two positive responses, and one that for sure published it, which I just happened to catch with Google Alerts, which notifies me when my selected key words appear online. I don’t know if any of the others published, but I considered it a success just to get it in the papers I know about. I’m not sure how to measure its effect on book sales yet. It was an experiment for me, and I’m curious to learn about our panel members experiences with them. Let’s Ask the Authors.

Have you tried Press Releases? How effective were they?

Margareth Stewart: Yes I have, and I reckon it is a great mean to call people´s attention to my publications, especially new releases. I usually prepare a text with images, and send them by email. I have been figured out in radio programs and local newspapers. It is worth taking the time and the effort to straighten up relations with local audience. Sometimes, it does not immediately reflect on sales, but it works as the branding an author´s name. Besides, it is also a mean to being found through search engines! 

Cynthia Vespia: Yes. They haven’t done much for me.

Many authors today utilize street teams to find reviewers for their books or just get the word out. Street teams are usually made up of enthusiastic fans who don’t mind helping out their favorite author, and unlike P.A.s, they usually volunteer for the job and are not paid. I haven’t employed a street team, but anything related to marketing and promotion that doesn’t put a dent in my pocketbook is always of interest. Let’s ask our Ask the Authors panel members how effective they have found street teams to be and how they have utilized their street teams.

Do you have a street team? If so, how do you utilize them? What do they do for you?  

Jordan Elizabeth: I used to, but the girls started to be harassed by other authors and bloggers.  One by one they dropped out.  We’re still good friends and they read my books, but they no longer help with marketing.

Chris DiBella: My wife, my mom, and my brother are my current “street team”. They wear shirts I had made advertising my website. It’s not a massive marketing effort, but at least people are seeing my name intermittently….even if it is on the back of a shirt.

It seems no matter what publishing route one takes, a major portion, if not all of the book marketing and promotion falls to the author. Different authors approach the task in many different ways, from social media marketing, to live book events, to creating booktrailers, tee-shirts, and tire covers, to paid advertising spots, to newsletters, to press releases and interviews, to utilizing street teams to acquire reviews and or do promotion, to hiring ad agencies. Most of our panel members claim live events are more effective in marketing, but it seems both live and Internet promotion is needed, and perhaps even desired ina digital world. Of course, all of this barely scratches the surface of the world of book marketing. There is enough on this topic to fuel several series, but perhaps some of the information presented here will spark an idea for promotion or inspire a new marketing campaign for your own books.

If you have a question you’ve always wanted answered, but it’s not covered in the post on that topic, or if our panel’s answers have stirred new questions within you, pose your query in the comments. Make note if it is directed toward a specific author. Questions will be directed to the general panel unless otherwise specified. This is the last chance to pose a question for these panel members as next week will be the final post for this Ask the Authors series, I will present your questions and the responses I recieved from panel members there. See you next Monday!

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“Kind Nepenthe”: You gotta love a good horror story

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Anyone who knows me, knows that there’s nothing I love to read more than a really good, low-down scary horror story. For me, a good horror story is one that you can’t set down, even though it scares the bejesus out of you. I remember one night when when I was fifteen and I was baby sitting a couple of kids for a mother who worked nights, and I happened across a book called The Shining. After the kids were in bed, the dishes done, and the apartment picked up, I sat down to read the book I had found on the coffee table, and read it, I did. I called and woke my mother up at two a.m. and asked her to talk to me for a little while, because I was scared and hearing noises. My mom was the best, and she talked to me for almost twenty minutes, until I felt like I could once more keep it together. When we hung up, I went back to the couch, picked up The Shining again, and read the rest of the night away. I finished the book in one night, almost in one sitting. It scared the holy crap out of me, but I had to find out what happened. That, to me, is what a good horror story is all about.

Kind Nepenthe, by Mathew V. Brockmeyer turns the hills of Northern California into a place to be feared. This skillfully crafted story takes readers inside California’s drug culture, and behind the scenes of a marajuana grow to find more lurking there than sex, drugs, and rock and roll. A kind of darkeness falls deep in the forests of Humboldt County, a darkness that grabs ahold and doesn’t let go, a darkness that ends in murder, over and over again.

Looking for peace and sustainability for herself and her daughter, Rebecca goes along with her boyfriend, Calendula, in playing plant caretaker for the grow of her friend Coyote in order to get the needed money to buy them a place and live off the land. But, she gets so much more than she bargained for and in time, she doesn’t even recognize herself or Calendula as the evil of Homicide Hill grips them in clenched fists and won’t let go.

Brockmeyer does a good job of  building suspense and allowing readers to feel the fear – one sign of a well-crafted horror story. He did an excellent job of keeping me focused and on track, except in one instance where he tried a method of re-direction that just didn’t work for me, but I found instead, a bit confusing. In spite of that, Kind Nepenthe is a kind of scary that is so believable, it might be the scariest of all. And I have to give him kudos for coming up with an original title that will stand out for search engines and may carry him to the top of the rankings. I give it four quills.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs at no charge. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.

Ask the Authors: Building a Reader Platform

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In today’s segment of Ask the Authors, panel members discuss building a reader platform, and branding ourselves and our writing to make our books stand out above the multitude of books, putting ours into the readers hands. In her article 10 Obvious Truths Writers Always Forget, Stacey Anderson Laatsch says that although a good marketing plan may speed things up a bit, “An audience grown organically over time will follow you and read more of your work than one manipulated with aggressive ads or hollow social media campaigns.” But in my experience, things don’t happen unless you make them happen. You can’t grow your reader following if readers don’t know you are there. You must make your work visible if you want to be found. There are many angles from which to approach these tasks. Let’s see how our panel members handle them.

What methods have you tried for gaining a reader following?  

Jordan Elizabeth: I’ve tried building up my newsletter, but that didn’t work.  I’ve also tried sending to bloggers, but most of them don’t answer.  Reaching out personally to reviewers has helped, and so has joining review groups on Facebook.

Carol Riggs: Just trying to make genuine relationship connections (mostly on Twitter), rather than focusing on numbers. I had a blog at one point, but it started taking away from my writing time because I enjoyed visiting other people’s blogs and there were a ton of them. So I pretty much retired the blog. I also make connections at the Oregon SCBWI conferences by networking with other YA writers. (SCBWI = Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators)

Janet Garber: Book fairs, library talks, person-to-person, mailing list, blog/website, radio interviews, newspaper interviews,  guest blogging or interviews, writing articles in professional magazines, open mic events, attendance at professional conferences.

Cynthia Vespia: I’m on Twitter and Instagram @originalcynergy. My FB and YouTube pages are /originalcyncontent.

Chris Barili: Write good stories. I gain far more followers through my stories than I do through any other means. People who’ve read something in an antho, or Hell’s Butcher, or Smothered.

Chris DiBella: I’ll bring bookmarks with me everywhere I go (concerts, zoo, beach, bookstores) and just give them to anyone I see with a book in their hand. Maybe they read the bookmark and are intrigued to buy one of the books on there. If I’m friendly with them, maybe that will persuade them to give me a shot. I’m not even ashamed to admit I’ve piggybacked on friends’ social media accounts and added their fans as followers or friends. If it’s in the same genre, it makes sense to have a presorted list of potential book readers to reach out to.

[image error]Tim Baker: I’ve tried just about everything. Some examples, aside from the standard internet self-promotion: Leaving bookmarks in novels of my genre at bookstores, leaving books in airports, stamping my website address on money, tee shirts, mugs, and putting my logo and website address on the spare tire cover of my Jeep!

 

What’s the most effective way you’ve found to build followers?  

Jordan Elizabeth: I enjoy reaching out personally to talk to reviewers and readers.  I like to think that builds a personal repertoire.

Carol Riggs: Honestly, I don’t try that hard; it’s not like I have that as a goal or anything, although maybe I should. I love using Twitter the most, because I can connect with people who love to read and write. Having said that, I think the most effective way to build followers is to be yourself, and make genuine connections rather than constantly saying, “Buy my book!” Anything else can be pushy and shallow.

Janet Garber: I’ve been hard at work finishing my second novel about a young couple living in Paris in the 1970’s. I have not been as active lately promoting Dream Job as I should be. I’m considering an audiotape and perhaps hiring someone to place ads for me. I’m still on a learning curve re marketing.

Cynthia Vespia: To be honest, that is constantly a work in progress for me. I’m currently on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Goodreads, and YouTube. I also have my own website where I do a monthly blog and newsletter. All I can say is that no matter what platform you use to always have fresh content that attracts viewership. My favorite way to gain followers is to do public events like book signings and conventions.

Chris Barili: Giveaways, conventions, leaving bookmarks around town, newsletter, instafreebie, book signings at Barnes and Noble, a website, and Facebook/Twitter accounts.

Chris DiBella: I primarily use Facebook to interact with and build my followers (although I’ve cut down my usage on there significantly lately). I don’t like joining (or being added to) author groups because it’s usually only 99% other authors in the group who aren’t interested in reading anything and they’re just there to post about their own books. I’m guilty of not being more active to build my follower list, but the people that do read my books seem to generally really like them and look forward to the next ones.

Tim Baker: At the risk of sounding pompous…the best way I’ve found to build a following is to write good books, and keep writing them. What you will find is that when people like your work they tell other people about it – which is the best way to gain followers. All of the other marketing and promoting is good, but word of mouth is still the best.

In this digital world we live in, it seems the trick is to navigate through the social media maze to find effective ways to make your book stand out above the mountain of books available. Narrowing things down into a specific niche may increase your odds of success, but most genre writers must compete with multitudes. So what works and what doesn’t. Let’s Ask the Authors.

Do you utilize giveaways or book events on social media? Which ones have been effective for you?  

Jordan Elizabeth: In the past, I did Facebook Release Parties.  The first ones had great success, but over the years the participation dwindled.  I’ve stopped doing them, as only a few close friends would attend.

Carol Riggs: Oh yes, I love doing giveaways and book events on social media. One giveaway I used to love doing was the Goodreads giveaways, but alas, now they are charging money for those giveaways. While it’s nice they’re now including ebooks and that helps distribute ARCs, I’m sad that it’s no longer a free way to bring awareness of my book to a reading platform site. I tried Facebook ads but didn’t have any luck with it. My publishers have had BookBub ads for my books (which authors can use without having to have a publisher), and had great success with them.

Cynthia Vespia: I have done a few book giveaways and joined some book events on FB. I’ve also done giveaways on Goodreads. TBH, there hasn’t been much return from doing the giveaways. The events have supplied me with a few more followers, and they can be fun depending on how active the audience is, but it is hit or miss sometimes.

Chris Barili: I tried a couple of book events. Blog tours and page takeovers. That kind of thing. No luck. What I did find successful was a contest I had with my friend Amity Green. We both did full-court press ad and publicity campaigns and made it known we were competing against one another. That resulted in the largest sales period I’ve ever had, and got me a number of followers.

Chris DiBella: I don’t like book giveaways on sites like Goodreads. You always get a million people signing up for it just to get something free, and who knows if they’re ever going to read it or if they’re your targeted fan anyway…so I stay away from this route. I occasionally do an Amazon free promo over a four-day weekend, but even though a few thousand copies might go out, who knows when or if it will get read. But I guess if it reaches the person, it’s worth it. Amazon has been the most effective by far, and I typically see a small spike in sales of my other books following the giveaway.

Tim Baker: I have done several giveaways. The Goodreads giveaways didn’t do much at all for me, but I have found that when I make a kindle book free and spread the word on social media I give away hundreds of books, which in turn raises my name in the Amazon search algorithms, which in turn drives up sales.

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Author Jordan Elizabeth – Book Signing

Do you utilize in person book events or giveaways? Do you feel these face to face events are more effective for gaining followers that social media events?   

Jordan Elizabeth: Face-to-face is my preference.  I love to meet people and explain what my books are about.  I do a lot of local book signings and other events in the area.

Carol Riggs: I did in-person book signings mostly for my debut book, and since I didn’t have a lot of friends in the cities I did the signings in, the events weren’t always well attended. However, I did also do a literacy event in Eugene, Oregon, this last December 2017 that supported literacy with a percentage of my sales, as well as provided me an opportunity for meeting people. I think authors need to realize it’s not always about how many books you’ve sold; it’s about engaging readers face to face and making a personal connection.

Janet Garber: For me, face to face encounters are a lot of fun and generate some sales.

Cynthia Vespia: I’m not sure if face-to-face events get me more followers but they are a lot more fun. I’ve done book signings at libraries, bookstores, and conventions. What I like best is meeting people face-to-face. Writing is isolating, so getting interaction with readers like that is the equivalent of an actor doing a play in front of a live audience.

Chris Barili: Again, the best way to find followers is to write a good story. If you meet them face to face, then they read your book and it sucks, guess what. They’re not following you. But AFTER writing a good book, face-to-face is probably the next most effective way to gain followers. It makes a difference when someone has seen your face, shaken your hand, and so on. Maybe gotten a book signed by you. You’ve earned some loyalty from them.

Chris DiBella: I’ve been known to just show up at local bookstores and ask the owner if it’s cool if I just stand out front and give away my book to people coming in. I tell them I’m not taking any money away from the bookstore and that I’m not charging anything, but rather just trying to get my book in the hands of potential readers. I rarely have a bookstore say no. Then, I ask people leaving store what their favorite genres to read are. If they say action/adventure, I give them a signed copy of one of my books. If they like it, they can pay for the next one, and it helps to get my name out there. Face-to-face is always better because if your personable with people, they’re more likely to buy your book if they can put a face to the name. This could have a reverse effect, however, if you’re an asshole…..so it’s a safer bet to just be nice to people.

Tim Baker:I don’t give books away at live events, usually. Once in a while I’ll offer a “buy two get one free” but for the most part, at live events I’m strictly selling. And yes – live face-to-face events definitely help gain followers. People enjoy meeting authors and talking about books, writing, reading, etc.

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Red Quill & Ink logo – Writing to be Read

What are some effective methods for branding yourself and your work?  

[image error]Jordan Elizabeth: I like to keep my writing consistent so readers know when to expect when they dive in.  Early last year I came up with an author logo that I hope will draw more attention to my books as a brand.

Follow-up: Is there a story as to how you chose the image for your logo? Why did you chose this for the Jordan Elizabeth signature?

Jordan Elizabeth: The story is kind of boring…  I have an illustrator friend, Aaron Siddall.  I asked him to come up with something for me and he showed me this as his first try.  I loved it, so he didn’t offer other suggestions.

In November 2018, Aaron and I will be releasing a steampunk novel from CHBB.  I wrote the story and he is illustrating.  It was supposed to be published by Oloris Press, but sadly they went out of business.

Carol Riggs: I make sure the images match across all platforms of social media. Same header, same font, same author photo. I try to keep the color schemes similar or exactly alike. Getting a professional author photo made is a must. You don’t want a casual backyard shot; show you’re serious.

Janet Garber: My book was available to critics on netgalley, but I did not find that helpful. Reviews are important and I have sought those out.

Cynthia Vespia: What I’ve been trying to do is narrow down my genre of writing. Because I cross a lot of different genres (fantasy, magic, superhero, urban) I wound up with speculative fiction. The reason it is important to narrow down is because this way you can target your audience better. I’ve also played with taglines for my writing and I have my own logo which represents my brand. Put something out there that people will remember.

Follow-up: Would you share the story behind your logo?

[image error]Cynthia Vespia: The story is that it’s a play on my name and the biblical story of Adam and Eve where they are in the Garden of Eden and the snake encourages Eve to bite the forbidden fruit. AKA “The Original Sin”

This is why I have a snake surrounding an apple and it reads “Original Cyn”





Margareth Stewart: Holding workshops and talks, either online or at a place, submitting to blogs and other online media, asking for reviews, posting comments and advice in websites, and submitting to magazines and other forms of publications. It is constant, non-stop arduous work that we all hope it will pay-off one day. I have been thinking a little different lately, that we have to write for fun, to enjoy it – if by any chance it pays off, good – and if it does not, at least we had a great time.

Chris Barili: Write good stories. I hate to beat a dead horse, but your primary branding should be that your fiction is good, and that people want to read it. I think the whole “branding” thing is taken too literally sometimes, and people want to be branded as a fantasy writer or a science fiction writer or whatever genre they prefer. Just write good stories with a unique and effective voice. That’s step one in your branding. If you want great examples of writers who use social media to promote their brand, look at Stoker Award-winning author Jonathan Maberry and best selling author Brad Thor. They took opposite approaches. Maberry establishes his brand as an accepting, laid-back guy who doesn’t talk about his work much, keeping himself on the good side of most people. Meanwhile, Thor brands himself a hardcore conservative, often to the point of being exclusive, intentionally alienating a portion of the population he knows won’t buy his books anyway.

Chris DiBella: I recently ordered some custom-made shirts that say “I’m Your Next Favorite Author”. It has my web page and a little catch phrase on the back and it’s a good conversation starter. The one I made for my wife says, “My Husband Is Your Next Favorite Author”.  Every little thing helps.

 

 

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Blindogg Books

Tim Baker: Blindogg Books is my own publishing company. I publish my own books of course and have published 2 that weren’t mine. With technology the way it is and the power of the internet it is very easy to become your own publisher.

 

 

Do you have a website or blog that you drive traffic to? How effective do you think they are? 

Jordan Elizabeth: My website is JordanElizabethBooks.com.  I would say it is 10% effective.  The only people who view it are those who want to order signed copies.  I would say the publishers’ websites are more popular and effective.

Carol Riggs: Yes, I have a website; I used to have a blog but it’s pretty much retired now. I post chapter samples of all my books as well as purchasing links on my website. I’m not sure exactly how effective these things are, but a thorough and professional-looking website is a must for an author. A website must be easy to navigate and not too cluttered. An author photo must be included, as well as contact links, social media links, purchase links, book covers, and book summaries.

My website: http://www.carolriggs.com/

Janet Garber:  I have a website, http://www.janetgarber.com and an attached blog.

Cynthia Vespia: I have a website at www.CynthiaVespia.com where I will blog tips, news, and fun stories. I also have some free reads on the blog as well.

Margareth Stewart: 

I have a Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorMargarethStewart.

There I post all things related to my publishing life, books, novels, things I write, what I read, topics for writers: writing tips, residency open calls, and so on. I am sure this is important not only in building a career, but to being in contact with fellows alike. I am not quite impressed by authors and people who have a large amount of followers – much to the opposite; I like to discover new authors and new voices, either for the future or from the past. I am so much into independent bookstores, self-published and indie authors, forgotten voices and old manuscripts, initiatives that makes us grow and worry less about fame. In a society of celebrities and best-seller authors, I guess I took the unpaved road (lol).

Chris Barili: authorchrisbarili.com is my website, and while it’s not terrible effective at bringing people in, it’s very effective at relaying news to people already following me.

Chris DiBella: Anywhere I have a social media presence, my website address can be found, whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, etc. I even put my web address and email address in my books to help encourage interaction.

You can learn more about me and get all of my books at www.chrisdibella.com or on my Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Chris-DiBella/e/B078LLFD7R/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1522969486&sr=8-1

 

Tim Baker: I have a website and a blog. The website (www.blindoggbooks.com) is under renovation at the moment. My blog is https://blindoggbooks.wordpress.com.

I think the blog is effective because the content changes regularly. I usually gain a new follower or two every time I post something new. My website is pretty static so it doesn’t do much for me – but it does give people a place to buy my books.

Art Rosch was unable to weigh in this week, but asked that his links be included here.

Novelist and Memoirist, literary fiction, science fiction, poetry and essays
Arthur Rosch Books

Blogger 
Write Out Of My Head

Confessions Of An Honest Man
The Gods Of The Gift, science fantasy
The Road Has Eyes: A Memoir of travel in an RV

If you have a question you’ve always wanted answered, but it’s not covered in the post on that topic, or if our panel’s answers have stirred new questions within you, pose your query in the comments. Make note if it is directed toward a specific author. Questions will be directed to the general panel unless otherwise specified. Then, in the final post for the series, I will present your questions and the responses I recieved from panel members.

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“A Cat Came Back”: an unusual tale of transformation

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A Cat Came Back, by Simone Martel is a quirky little tale about a woman who finds herself in the body of a cat. Most of us, put in the same position, would panic and try to figure a way to get our own body back, but not Eliza. She accepts what has happened as a a matter of course. All she wants is for someone to see her for who she really is, and at first, it seems that being in this cat body might not be such a bad thing, since her boyfriend, Stu, takes one look at the cat and knows she’s in there. But, being recognized for who you are isn’t always easy, you have to keep working at it, especially when the only sounds that come out of your mouth are purrs, yowls and hisses.

A thoroughly entertaining story of transformation that offers a few surprises and the occasional chuckle. It’s light and quirky and funny. Not your typical body switching out of the bottle tale. I give A Cat Came Back four quills.

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Ask the Authors: The Business of Writing

 

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Being an author in this day and age means that we do so much more than just write stories. It used to be that a fiction author would write book, then write one or more cover letters and send them out to publishers, (or agents), and if said author was lucky enough to catch a publisher’s eye, a contract would be signed and, (hopefully), a nice big juicy advance would be recieved. (Once the author locks onto an agent, they take over introducing your work to publishers.)The author would then work with the editor assigned by the publisher until the book was honed to perfection, and then the book would be seemingly magically produced and the publisher would launch a marketing campaign. The author might have to make some appearances for the promotion, but other than that, the author’s job would be pretty much done and it would be time to work on the next book. Following the path of traditional publishing has never been easy, but the author did his or her part, writing, and the business end of the endeavor was handled by the publisher.

Today’s authors have it even more difficult, because self-published authors, or even those who hook up with a small independent press, take the business end of writing onto their own shoulders. Modern day authors are expected to run the gammut, writing the book and then getting it edited, formatted, and selling it too. The tools and skills needed to do this are probably not in your writer’s tool box, so we must venture out into the land of marketing and promotion, or hire out these tasks. Either way it is our job as authors to see that these things are done. 

Why do you think some authors sell well and others don’t?  

Jordan Elizabeth: Of those I know, the ones who sell the best are the ones who put in a lot of money for marketing.  They believe in their stories and really get the word out about their books.

Carol Riggs: Some authors are really good at marketing! They have the business brain along with a writer’s brain. Kudos to them; I’m not one of them. But also, some frankly don’t do well because they don’t take the time to make their writing the best it can be with revision and serious editing. They’re in too much of a hurry to be published. The ones who do the best take the time to write a good story and present it in a professional way. Also, if their cover nails their genre and is a strong image, those things go a long way. You can’t always judge a book by its cover, but readers do select books by their covers.

How much non-writing work, (marketing & promotion, illustrations & book covers, etc…), do you do yourself for your books? 


Jordan Elizabeth: The publishers do the editing and book covers, but I do all the marketing.

Carol Riggs: I designed the covers for my JUNCTION 2020 series; they’re all designed even though only two have been so far published. I have an arts degree, so that helps. The rest of the marketing and promo is up to me for those books, which means I haven’t done much because I’d rather write—lately I’ve been focusing on writing my new sci-fi. With my other, traditionally published books, my publishers did the bulk of the marketing and promo, which I really appreciate!

Cynthia Vespia: I do everything myself. I’m a one-woman show. Is it easy? No. But it’s all I have at the moment. In the past I’ve hired PAs and book promo tours but they all left a lot to be desired. If you’re a new author and you’re thinking of hiring someone to do promotion for you I say tread lightly. There’s a lot of people looking to just take your money with little to no return. So that’s a big reason I do a lot of my own promotion.

Chris Barili: Marketing and promo, and I don’t do nearly enough of them. They just don’t interest me, so writing pulls much harder on my heart strings. And thus, I’m not GOOD at either marketing or promotion.

Digital publishing really changed the rules of the game initially, but it seems the market is adjusting and print sales may be on the rise again. In Author Earnings’ Print vs. Digital Report, they compared digital sale”s on Amazon and print sales on Bookscan. In their research, while print sales still lag behind those of their digital counterparts, print brings in more overall revenue. This may have something to do with the fact that print books are generally priced higher than ebooks, but the numbers are interesting none-the-less.


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How do you see recent changes in this digital world we live in affecting your writing as a business (positive or negative)?  

Jordan Elizabeth: In a way, its good, because people are buying ebooks.  The bad way is that now they are looking at other forms of entertainment, such as movies and YouTube videos.

Carol Riggs: I think it’s becoming more difficult for an author’s book to be seen in the ebook world, because many writers are choosing to self-publish their books. It’s overwhelming! A book really has to stand out and be unique in order to catch a reader’s attention.

Cynthia Vespia: It’s good and bad. The good is rather than continue to get doors slammed in your face because “it’s not the right fit” you can put your work out there yourself immediately and be the captain of your own ship. The bad is that EVERYONE is doing that now. You have people who have never thought about being a writer before publishing books because it looks so simple. It’s not simple, it’s a business like anything else. And in order to be a successful business you have to market yourself within the vast sea of books and authors that are out there now. You learn to navigate the waters of the digital world and try not to hit the rocks or sink to the bottom.

Chris Barili: I think the evolution of the digital world has both positives and negatives for Indie authors. There are infinitely more opportunities for publication and success, but the perils of falling into obscurity are also there. The fiction market is flooded now, and thus it is difficult to stand out. I think e-books are an amazing help for writers, as they allow our readers to take our stories everywhere. Stacks of them, all stuffed on a tablet.

Margareth Stewart: I see them as positive. There are changes in all fields every single day, no matter which area we work with. Nowadays, we have paper books and the whole tradition of printing industry living together with the advance of the digital market and Ebooks. Besides that, the revolution of audio books has just started. Once, I heard the following phrase which I reckon as very smart – “It is not because lifts and escalators were invented that we do not use stairs any longer”. The same I apply to books, “the more, the merrier”. I have published printed books and eBooks and both have advantages and disadvantages. I love printed books, but the distributions and the high costs of international shipping are making it difficult for people to access them, therefore eBooks are an option. The major global change in publishing industry does not seem to lay in its format – but in the possibility of self-publishing. This change of power also brings different perspectives – one of them is that the reader is now in the center of the whole process.

Do you think print books are on the way out? Print or digital? Which do you prefer and what are the advantages or disadvantages of each?

Cynthia Vespia: No. Print books will be here for a long time. Too many people, including myself, prefer holding an actual book in their hands.

Chris Barili: No, in fact, sales of print books have surged lately, though mass market paperbacks are out and trade paperbacks are in. E-book sales have leveled off lately. I think we’ll see both continue to share the market. I know I buy both, and I think other people do too.

It only makes sense to get your book out there in as many formats as possible. In the article, “You Can Succeed in the Marketplace as an Independent Author” on the Book Baby Blog, Steven Spatz points out that “independent authors who choose not to publish print books are severely limiting their potential sales because they’re willfully neglecting 30 percent of the market. Same thing with eBooks, especially given the report’s emphasis on self-published authors’ success in the eBook market.” I would take it farther in saying that with the recent growth of the audio market, audio books are quickly becoming a viable option, offering a lucretive avenue to increase book sales. 

Have any of your books been offered in audio format?  If so, how successful do you think this was in increasing your book sales? What was your opinion of the overall experience?

Cynthia Vespia: Not yet but I’m working on getting my books on audio as well. It is a great way to gain more exposure for your work. In this world everyone is so busy all the time they may not have the chance to sit down and read from a book, but if they can pop on an audio book in the car or at the gym then they most certainly will.

Chris Barili: Not yet, but I’m told an anthology I’m in will be done in audio format soon. I’m very excited about it.

Margareth Stewart: Not yet, although I do hope they will be soon. I think audio books are a major global influence and people are prone to listening much more than reading nowadays. They can listen to audio books while they are exercising, driving to work, travelling, taking buses, while they are waiting for something, walking, etc. I have been listening to audio books quite often and I simply love them. In the past, there were stories and novels which were read in radio programs before the outcome of television, and people loved them. Some of the largest publishers are making audio books available in their platforms and there are also mobile apps for download. “Whatever…if it is telling a story, it is worth it”. I always imagine the benefits audio books will bring to blind people, elderly who have reading difficulties, children with disabilities and so on.

Let’s talk about writing organizations such as the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Western Writers of America, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Horror writers’ Association, or smaller, local organizations like the one I belong to, Pike’s Peak Writers group, who put on an annual conference each year, or the even more local writing group The Fifth Monday Writers out of Chaffee County. Are these organizations helpful to authors and in what ways?

What benefits do belonging to writing organizations bring? Do they help to bring readers or do their benefits regard craft and promotion? Do you think size matters?

Chris Barili: I think the primary thing we gain from such organizations is a sense of professionalism. Being around others who write keeps you focused, and reminds you that this is a job, first and foremost. That’s easy to lose track of if you’re locked away in your writing cave day after day.

Like it or not, we do judge books by their covers. The cover is the first thing any reader sees, whether in an advertisement or on the book store shelf, or in the Amazon line up on their site. If the cover needs to grab their attention, or your book will just hang out on the shelf, unread. You may have a killer story, but if you can’t interests readers enough to pick up your book, no one will ever know. As mentioned earlier, not all authors are artists or photographers, (although some are), and designing cover art may be outside of their skill set. Let’s Ask the Authors to see how our panel members handle cover art.

What do you do for cover art? DIY, or hired out, or cookie cutter prefab?  
Jordan Elizabeth: Each press uses an in-house cover artist.  I don’t have a say in who does my covers, although I do get a bit of a say in how they turn out.

[image error] Carol Riggs: I have three books out with traditional publishers, and they provided the cover art. I was able to input a bit of feedback in the details, but not a lot. Luckily, I happened to end up with awesome covers for THE BODY INSTITUTE, THE LYING PLANET, and BOTTLED. I was going to hire someone to do the cover art for my JUNCTION 2020 series, but decided to do them myself, with the advice of a graphic artist friend who gave me Photoshop and design tips; that helped a lot.




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Cynthia Vespia: I do all of my own cover art unless I need a specific style. For instance, the figure drawing for the character of Karma on my Silke Butters Superhero Series needed to look like a comic book. That isn’t my style, so I hired an artist to draw the image. But otherwise, I set the layout, fonts, etc. myself. I usually use clipart and manipulate it to what I’m looking for, keeping genre in mind. I also have to say that as a cover designer I can’t stand cookie cutter prefab! Every story is unique and should have a unique cover to match that.
[image error]Chris Barili: For my self-published work, I use Michelle Johnson at Blue Sky Design. She’s amazing, and priced well. Obviously, for Smothered, Winlock used their own artist. For a PNR anthology I’m writing for, we’re all using the same artist, and similar covers, just with slight variations. I have zero visual art skills, so I am slave to those who do.


While for many, we just want to get our books out there and have people read them, you have to go about it as you would any other business if you want to make money. Reviews are wonderful, but they don’t pay the bills. The changes to the publishing industry which came with the digital world have expanded the role of author to emcompass all the duties which fall into the publishing realm. Whether you decide to DIY or hire out these duties, it falls to author, at times, even when you have a publisher. As more and more authors are self publishing, an author needs to be able to do it all. Be sure to catch next week’s segment of Ask the Authors, when our panel members will discuss building an author platform. 

If you have a question you’ve always wanted answered, but it’s not covered in the post on that topic, or if our panel’s answers have stirred new questions within you, pose your query in the comments. Make note if it is directed toward a specific author. Questions will be directed to the general panel unless otherwise specified. Then, in the final post for the series, I will present your questions and the responses I recieved from panel members.

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Albatrose: An Odd Bird Indeed

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When I started Albatrose, by R.A. Macavoy and Nancy L. Palmer, I was reminded of the 1993 film, The Fugitive, starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. Indeed, there are some similarities. Certainly it can be seen why I would associate Dr. Rob MacAuley of Albatross, with Dr. Richard Kimble of The Fugitive. Both men hold the title of doctor although Dr. MacAuley is a physicist, rather than a medical doctor, and both are fugitives from justice, framed for murders they didn’t commit. But that is where the similarities stop. Albatross is such a refreshingly different tale, filled with mystery and intrigue, that I hate to say too much here.

Albatross takes us to a future world where the government is confused, or corrupt, or maybe just crazy, and Dr. Rob MacAuley is on the run for crimes he did not commit. He’s on the run until the government elects to legalize slavery for conficted criminals. Then, Thomas Hiediman, an independently wealthy American, uses the new law against those who made it, when he convinces McAuley to turn himself in and become his slave. To say more here would require a spoiler alert. As I said, a very different type of story, where it’s hard to tell who to trust, for characters as well as readers.

Even with the mild head hopping, (my pet peeve), which occurred, I found myself compelled to learn what happens next. I found myself thinking about the story when I wasn’t reading it, which are all the hallmarks of a truly good tale. I give Albatross four quills.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs at no charge. Have a book you’d like reviewed? Contact Kaye at kayebooth(at)yahoo(dot)com.

Ask the Authors: Genre Differences

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 My first semester in the M.F.A. program at Western, we were assigned to write an excerpt in a genre outside of that in which we normally write. I was assigned the western genre, and while I’d never really written much in the western genre, I learned from that exercise that I was pretty good at writing westerns, and that excerpt became part of my first published novel, Delilah. Now I’m working on the sequel, and even though the western genre is not as popular as it once was, I enjoy writing westerns, and for me, that may be more important than how many I sell. (But, how many I sell is important, don’t get me wrong. I want ton be a best seller as much as the next author.) I could never be a literary writer. Hell, I can’t even read all the way through some literary novels. While I have a knack for the western genre, I also have available Last Call, which is a sci-fi short and my paranormal mystery, Hidden Secrets. I guess that makes me a multi-genre author.

Today Ask the Authors is going to talk about some of the genres and what makes them different. We’ll also look at what kind of things we do differently when writing in more than one genre, regarding the writing process, research and marketing. Without further ado, let’s see what our panel members have to say.

Which genres do you write?

DeAnna Knippling: Most of them.

Jordan Elizabeth:  My books are all young adult with a touch of fantasy.  Some of the books involve fantasy creatures.  Others feature ghosts.

Carol Riggs: I write mostly fantasy and science fiction. However, I approach those genres with a light touch; I think they’re more accessible to a wider range of readers that way, rather than saturated (high) fantasy or hard sci-fi.

Tim Baker: I really don’t know what my genre is – or if I actually can be placed into only one. Generally speaking I write fast-paced, tongue in cheek, semi- humorous crime novels. I have also taken that description and coupled it with supernatural themes. My latest novel is pretty much a suspense-thriller, but it is still fast-paced with very small doses of humor.

For the purposes of this segment – let’s just say I write crime novels.

Cynthia Vespia: I write speculative fiction for adults and teens. For those who don’t know what speculative fiction is, it is  a broad literary genre encompassing any fiction with supernatural, fantastical, or futuristic elements. Often described as the ‘What if?’ genre, speculative fiction is distinguished by being based on unusual ideas and elevated imagination.

I write a combination of urban fantasy, dark fantasy, magical realism, supernatural, paranormal, superhero, and dystopian. Which is why I started to go under the umbrella of speculative fiction because it encompasses all of that. I’ve dabbled in horror, and I’m trying my hand at space-opera, but those aren’t my main genres.

Janet Garber: I’ve written and published in multiple genres: journalism, non-fiction book, book and movie reviews, essays, short stories, novels, poetry, sci-fi/spec, humor. About the only thing I haven’t tried yet is screenwriting.  I’ve also got a number of children’s stories and I would love to put them together in a book someday.

Chris Barili: I write in every genre. I think the story and the characters dictate the genre, so rather than starting out to write a fantasy novel or a western short story, I set out with a character and a problem and let things go from there. With the acceptance of a story of mine to a new crime fiction magazine, I have now sold fiction in all the major genres: Fantasy, SF, Horror, western, romance, and crime. I write most of my stuff in the speculative fiction genres of fantasy and horror. In the end, a story’s a story, no matter the label we stick on it.

Follow-Up for YA authors: You write YA, but you write different genres under that umbrella: steampunk, fantasy, maybe even sci-fi. To my way of thinking your genres should be labled YA steampunk, YA fantasy, YA sci-fi, YA romance, etc… You may not have the answer for how this practice of clumping all the genres under one YA umbrella came about, but what are your thoughts on it?


Carol Riggs:  Here’s my off-the-cuff answer to that:

I think clumping everything under just “YA” is pretty limiting and doesn’t tell the reader much info. Technically, as many editors and agents point out, YA is simply an age category, for readers 12-18 (and up) and involves main characters who are usually between the ages of 14 to 18. The actual GENRE is a dividing into things like steampunk, fantasy, sci-fi, historical, graphic novel, etc. But it’s very handy to have labels like “YA steampunk” because then you get the age category listed as well as the genre.

Each genre has certain elements which readers pick up a book expecting to find within the story. Romance tropes are probably some of the most familiar: there are two characters, they often start out disliking one another, to spite all odds they fall in love, but there are obstacles to overcome for them to be together, and of course, there must be a Happy Ever After. These are the elements of romance, and without them we don’t have much of a story. This is what romance readers expect to get when they pick up a romance novel. Its what they want, and if you don’t deliver, your reader following is liable go find another author who does.

I’m sure you’ll all welcome the tropes for the western genre as well: you have a lone character who stands up for what’s right against high odds, and must battle against the environment to complete their journey. There is a certain time period in history in which the western must occur, after (1700s?). I optioned to go against a trope of the genre when I made my protagonist female, but by giving her a romantic interest, I crossed over into the romance genre, therefore widening my audience scope. Let’s see how our panelist handle the tropes of their genres.

What are the more well-known tropes of your genre(s)?

Tim Baker: Tropes? Wow – I had to look up what a trope was!! So you basically mean clichés? This is difficult for me to answer because, as I said, I don’t neatly fit into a set genre, but as far as crime novels go I guess the biggest tropes would be the hero with the deep dark secret in his past, or the villain who is hell-bent on avenging an egregious wrong perpetrated upon him by “the man”. There is also the ever-popular femme-fatale as well as the buddy concept, where two characters are thrust together against their will and have to work together…then end up being best friends.

Cynthia Vespia: In every genre the readership of that specific genre is expecting certain elements to be included, which is what drew them to the genre in the first place. It is the job of the author to deliver those expectations. Whether its pacing, character, or story there are certain approaches to each genre. I’m just aware of including those elements while I’m writing a book.

Janet Garber: My female protagonists tend to be slightly neurotic, soulful, fighting for their lives in one way or another. My villains are like dementors, sucking all the air and light and creativity out of everyone they come in contact with. It’s easy to love the hero or heroine and detest the villain. I will say that usually I’m too soft on my characters, don’t let loose on them as much as I should, and insist on happy endings. I guess I write the kind of stories I want to read.

Chris Barili: Since I write in all of them, this would take most of the rest of the day for me to answer, but tropes are kind of outdated now in many genres thanks to the crossover between them. Urban fantasy, for example, has different tropes than fantasy or urban adventure kinds of stories.


How much do you think about the tropes of your genre while you are writing?

DeAnna Knippling: Hmmm…I study the tropes, but I don’t think about them much, other than when they annoy me.   I try to focus more on what the reader actually wants to feel, although I might get excited about some set piece that I want to include, especially for my ghostwriting projects.  “I get to go to Paris!  I don’t want to take people to the Eiffel tower…but we are TOTALLY going into the back of this cafe and making crepes.”  Stuff like that.

Jordan Elizabeth: I don’t while I’m writing.  I don’t really think about them at all until someone makes a comment in a review.  I’ll read it and think “huh, I guess so?”

Carol Riggs: I basically know the tropes and I know some people are eager to see those tropes; it’s part of the genres. However, I like to be original and if I do include a trope, I try to put a fresh spin on it. I do this mostly when outlining my novels before I begin, but also when I’m considering a plot twist.

Tim Baker: I think about them constantly because I try to avoid them. I try to make my stories and characters as “real” as possible.

Chris Barili: Consciously – not at all. Subconsciously, my experience reading across genres helps a lot. They tend to insert themselves once the story gets rolling.


Even when writing fiction, there’s a certain amount of research required, and the type of research may depend on the type of story you are writing. For the western genre, I did quite a bit of research into Colorado history and the old west in general. For Delilah, I also researched specific details, such as the different types of rifles available during the timeline of the story and the attributes and features of each, and how long it takes to travel certain distances on horseback or by wagon. For other genres, these details would be of no interest, but other things would be more relevant, so the type of research will vary between genres. Our panel members write a wide variety of genres. Let’s Ask the Authors what kinds of things they research.

What kind of research do you do for your genre(s)?

DeAnna Knippling: I’m trying to tackle the top 100 books in a genre before I try to write in it.  Sometimes with the ghostwriting I get overcome by events.

Jordan Elizabeth: I try not to research fantasy creatures, because I want mine to be original.  The only research I’ll do involves historical content.  Many of my stories flash back to a time in history.  Escape From Witchwood Hollow follows three girls.  One is in the 1600’s, one in the 1800’s, and one in the 2000’s. 

Carol Riggs: It really depends on the book. The sci-fi genre demands more real, science-related research. For instance, for my latest sci-fi I researched things like assault drones, concealed carry laws, hoverboards, pepper spray, and how to get over or through a barbed wire fence. For fantasy, I find myself often researching medieval kinds of things—what hut roofs are made of, how fast horses travel, etc.

Tim Baker: I’m not big on research. I try to write stories that don’t require it, or require very little. Most of my research consists of observing life.

Cynthia Vespia: It depends what type of story I’m writing. Most of my research is for location, weapons, or mythology like monsters etc.

Janet Garber: I would say I’m light on research. Mostly I draw upon people I’ve encountered casually, places I’ve passed through, choices I could have made. The road not taken.  It always intrigues me that decisions we make at certain times in our lives have such long-lasting results. No wonder we obsess about doing the right thing.

Chris Barili: Genre research is just plain reading. I try to read across a broad spectrum of genres. I’m currently reading a crime novel, Dead Stop, by my friend Barbara Nickless. Before that, I was reading a zombie anthology edited by Jonathan Maberry. And on my TBR pile I see SF, fantasy, romance, and a weird western.

Margareth Stewart: I do lots of research – on time, place, suitable names for characters, historical data, language and how people relate to one another. As I read various genres, every piece of information is important. Besides, when I am writing a new genre, I read the top writers of that field to figure out their style. For writers, I should say research is the beginning and the final proof  we are in the right direction. It makes our writing real – to a point that sometimes readers even inquire me: “Have you not met Pierre (main character of Open)? Don’t you tell me he is not real?”. It is unbelievable – our ability to make up stories and a fiction world.

What came to be The Great Primordial Battle, Book 1 in the PfG series, was my thesis project, so it had detailed planning. I had so much detail that it couldn’t all be contained in one book. I had outlined the story, and charted out so much backstory and extremely complicated lineage for my characters, and since my characters can appear in different personas at different times, I charted all of those too. In fact, I had so  much detail, I couldn’t possibly fit it all into one book, and I had to restructure the whole thing into a four book series. I had never done such detailed research and planning before. Although I did do a lot of research for Delilah, the plotting wasn’t nearly as detailed and or complex. Whether that is due to differences in genres, or to multiple POVs vs single POV, I cannot say. Perhaps both make their contributions.

With all the different types of research that comes with writing in each genre, we have to wonder about other differences. Do we go through the same writing process when crafting a science fiction story that we do to create a romance? Don’t forget too, that we can have a story that falls into one genre with elements of other genres intermixed, such Jordan Elizabeth’s Treasure series, which is steampunk with a western style setting, or a story that crosses genres like Chris Barili’s B.T. Clearwater paranormal romance, Smothered, or my Playground for the Gods series, which is science fantasy. Let’s see what our panel members think.

If you write more than one genre, in what ways does your writing process differ for different genres?

DeAnna Knippling: Butt in chair, fingers on keyboard, headphones on ears?

Carol Riggs: With both fantasy and sci-fi, I get to use my imagination a lot, which is why I love those genres. I adore making stuff up. In general, I make up less stuff for sci-fi, because the tech and world details are more rooted in science and reality.

Janet Garber: Much of my work is humorous. I love to do a story with  echoes of Twilight Zone and scary stories (no gore though. I abhor gore). My serious fiction tends to concern itself with identity, coming of age, women who are trapped in one way or another and fighting to break free.

Chris Barili: The process itself remains the same, but how much time is spent on things like world building, character sketches, outlines, and so on varies a bit based on genre.

Different genres appeal to different audiences, so it really helps to know who you’re writing for and which markets you should aim your advertising and promotional efforts at. I believe it also can affect which categories your book appears in on the Amazon rankings, but that’s an area that I am still in the process of learning about, so I’m not in the position to partake in that discussion yet. But, perhaps we can learn a thing or two from the experiences of our panel members.

How do you think the marketing and promotion for your genre(s) differs?  

Jordan Elizabeth: I know erotica is easier to promote.  People eat it up like candy.  Young adult fiction is harder.  Most of the ads and newsletter swaps go to adults, not teens.  Usually that’s okay, because adults enjoy young adult fiction, but its hard to market directly to teens.

Carol Riggs: You’re marketing to different audiences, people with different tastes. The kinds of promo images for fantasy and sci-fi will be greatly different than for a contemporary novel or a romance novel, for instance. The websites and places you might promo on would be different. There are different conventions a writer could tap into and attend (or speak at), such as Comic Con or a sci-fi convention.

Obviously, each book’s Amazon categories are different, to give best visibility to a title. I haven’t done so, but I could select different conventions or even different book stores to do signings at. I think posters and images are strong things to use, and can draw people across a room to you and your book. This means your images (especially book covers) need to capture the genre well.

Tim Baker:  I don’t think it does. I am not marketing my genre – I am marketing my books to anybody who can read – as I’m sure other authors do as well. I understand that all genres have a core audience, but those people will be there regardless of your marketing techniques. It’s the rest of the people we should all be trying to reach.

Cynthia Vespia: Marketing and promotion is very specific for each genre and that’s due to the readership. I feel as though romance and erotica have a really large readership, where some other genres may not be as large. For example westerns aren’t that popular any more so if that’s the genre you’re writing in then it might feel a little tougher. Because I write in the fantasy realm alot I found I can cross-promote with alot of commercial vehicles such as different conventions, movie/TV tie-ins, etc.

Janet Garber: Journalism is easy in comparison to other genres. You get an assignment to do an interview or column or essay, submit it on the deadline and usually see it published very soon afterward. At that point you let your fans know the article has come out. All other genres: it’s a question of experimenting with getting the word out on your website, blog, facebook, etc., running ads perhaps, doing book signings and readings in bookstores and libraries. It’s trial and error until you figure out what works.

Margareth Stewart: Oh, places may vary, but strategies remain the same – creating connection to all possible readers. Different readers are found at different places – we have to search for them. A good example is what I did for “Open/Pierre´s journey after war”. I sent book release and marketing material to WWII discussion groups in the internet. I also placed articles about it in War Blogs and I still keep constantly trying to find people who are interested in WWII. We – writers – have to develop the ability to create connections with people who are related to our topics and genres (all the time).

If you write in more than one genre, what do you do with your marketing to tap into the different audiences?

Janet Garber: Since I used to be a serious person, a business and career writer, and still am occasionally, I attend annual conferences in my field, contribute to LinkedIn, try to network a bit with other professionals. I will have a new novel coming out which is not humorous, not about HR or the corporate world and I’m wondering just how I will promote it. It definitely falls into the Women’s Fiction rubrique and thematically ties into some of the stories I have written and published. I hope I get some brainstorms about how to promote it when it’s ready for publication!

One of the biggest pieces of advice I hear as far as genres go is to read everything you can get your hands on in the genre you’re planning to write. This, not only helps you to know the tropes for your genre, but also makes you familiar with what is already out there. It doesn’t seem like genre makes a lot of difference when it comes to the writing process, but it does affect the types and amounts of research we must do, and the markets we aim advertising efforts toward. Be sure and drop in next Monday when our panel members will discuss the business end of writing. It should be a great segment, so don’t miss it.
 

If you have a question you’ve always wanted answered, but it’s not covered in the post on that topic, or if our panel’s answers have stirred new questions within you, pose your query in the comments. Make note if it is directed toward a specific author. Questions will be directed to the general panel unless otherwise specified. Then, in the final post for the series, I will present your questions and the responses I recieved from panel members.

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