Kimberly M. Miller's Blog, page 12

Marketing your novel

I’m a novel-newbie. So, I’m walking through this whole marketing thing in a fog with a blindfold on. But, I’m learning and- if I’m honest- loving it.

Here are a few things I’ve done that have been helpful so far and I’ve seen an increase in sales because of them:

Social media

Sites like canva.com are helpful in creating images/ posts that reflect the tone of your novel, and they interest people to like and share your posts
Excerpts

It goes without saying that few people (besides your relatives and friends) will buy your book if they don’t know what it’s about. But, if it’s well-written and an interesting story with solid characters, pick a great section and share to intrigue readers to buy


Tag people who influenced the work or might want to read it (ideally those who have a good following)


Media

Radio- local radio stations might have book talks or other ways of helping promote your book


Newspapers- write a press release and distribute to all local papers. Perhaps someone will pick it up- and hey, free advertising for your book
Donate!

Local library
Nursing home, hospital, care centers- any place that might have an audience- and potential fan base- for your work


Author’s page

Giveaways, contests
Questions for readers to engage in conversation
updates on writing progress, etc.


Share

Ask friends to post on their social media

Ask friends to tell friends about the novel


Ask readers to share reviews on Amazon and goodreads. The more, the better!

Mix it up! Not one of the these ways will work all the time or for every author. Be creative and do different things daily and weekly to ensure your novel is reaching all potential audiences.

These are just some of the tactics I’ve used so far to get the word out about my debut novel, Picking Daisy. I’m curious what other  methods you have used – what has worked and what hasn’t- or any other marketing tips you want to share.

Happy writing!

Shh… listening to learn dialogue

It’s tremendously frustrating to be in the thick of reading a great novel only to become stuck when the dialogue doesn’t ring true. Bad dialogue can ruin the emotional impact of a great scene and draw attention to itself that means your reader is no longer invested in the story, but instead is concerned with the way your writing has strayed from reality.

Today, I’d like to give you a few tips for writing effective, natural, excellent dialogue:

Listen to the way people actually speak-

This doesn’t mean you have to write with all the fillers like ‘uh, um, well,’ etc. What it means is that you should pay attention to the word choices people make. For instance, how often do people actually refer to one another by name? If you listen to conversations in real life, you may notice it isn’t that often- therefore, it shouldn’t happen all that often in your dialogue, either.


Word choice matters

Some words are easy and natural to read, but are not often used in dialogue or actual speech because they’re cumbersome—or more likely, there’s an easier, more natural word to use. During the editing process, ask yourself if each word is one you’d hear someone say, or if you’ve included it because you thought it sounded more intelligent.


Cheap words are better

The previous point leads to this one- people usually speak with economy. We’re more inclined to use an easy word over a more difficult one in conversation. There are some caveats to this, of course, but consider the nudge anyway


Reveal what you need in that moment only

A writer can use dialogue to reveal things like a character’s education, economic status, what is important to them/ motivation, and a host of other things as well. But, you don’t need to smack your reader upside the skull to let them know your character is smart. Be subtle. Conversation usually is.


Less is more

Readers usually prefer to read snappy dialogue that moves things along. Use your dialogue well to do this- but don’t overdo it. Some writers rely too heavily on dialogue when the novel, for instance, gives you a chance to get inside the character’s mind too. As example, I usually use the first draft to ‘get it all out’ then I cut and cut (and cut some more) and end up with the dialogue that actually words


Be smart in editing

In addition to the above points, use your editing time well. Read the dialogue out loud to hear how it sounds (and if it’s a screenplay you’re working on, you should do this anyway to make sure the words are easy to say together). You might also consider during editing whether each dialogue exchange is necessary or if it would be more effective if handled another way.

While I certainly haven’t exhausted the many ways to write better conversations into your work, these are some of the main methods that work for me. You, too, can use these tips to write (and edit) your dialogue more effectively.

Please comment below if any of these ideas worked for you, or with your own dialogue tips/ tricks.

An excerpt from ‘Picking Daisy’

Here’s a little excerpt from my recently-published novel, Picking Daisy. If you like what you read, you can purchase a print or Kindle version of the entire book on Amazon (I’ll include the link after the excerpt). Thanks!

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Daisy  stared at him as he held the phone out to her. He was now one step ahead of her and he wasn’t even aware. Still, she thought about telling Nick that Robby was there and let him deal with his inconsiderate nephew. If Nick knew Robby had shown up drunk…

“I am  not going anywhere with you…” she muttered as she reached for the phone. Once again Robby yanked it away from her, irritated. 

“Really? There are millions of women who’d do any number of things for a ride in my truck.”

Daisy rolled her eyes. “Well, call one of them!”

Robby placed the phone back on top of the refrigerator with an irritated sigh. “Your friends said Nick was asking for you. Don’t you care?”

His words cu t Daisy to the core. She glared. “Nick means more to me than you’ll…never mind. It’s too complicated to bother explaining to…you.”

Robby grinned again before slowly stepping toward her. He placed one hand on either side of her so that he was nose-to-nose with her. He smelled heavily of expensive, masculine cologne that made her dizzy. Daisy’s chest constricted and she reminded herself she needed to breathe.

He wasn’t going to kiss her. Not that she’d mind…but surely even Robby had his standards.  But  it had been such a long, long time since anyone had even hinted at kissing her. 

Robby continued smiling and gently brushed the hair back from her face. “Come on. Let’s go for a visit. I have a feeling he’d be happy to see you,” he whispered. “You’ll be home in time for Duck Soup. And Uncle Nick will love that I’m so thoughtful I brought his good friend.”

Quickly Daisy gathered her wits and managed to push his hand away, knocking him off balance as he tried to stand. 

“Don’t you ever touch me again,” she said, moving away from him. Incredulous, Robby regained control and resumed his original stance, his eyes blazing.

 “ You have no idea who you’re dealing with.” 

Daisy la ughed, pointing to her backpack. “You don’t either. Thanks to your uncle I’m a darned good shot.”

Angrily Robby reached for her and lifted her from the wheelchair, surprising them both as he held her close. 

“I don’t play games…Rose. We’re going to see Nick… and before this night is through I bet you’ll beg me to take your songs.”

As Robby started for the door alternately kicking the wheelchair in front of him as he went, Daisy was beginning to come to her senses, which, for a moment anyway, completely escaped her. 

“My nam e is Daisy!” she shouted feebly. “Put me down!” she beat against his solid chest but to no avail. They were outside in the cool night air before she even thought to scream. 

It didn’t matter. There was no one to hear. 

Hope you enjoyed this excerpt from ‘Picking Daisy’- If you’d like to read more, grab a copy from Amazon

 

Am I really a writer now?

In recent weeks, I’ve seen my first novel, Picking Daisy, come to publication on Amazon.com through my publisher. I’ve been offered a contract on my second novel (that is finished) and today I submitted a novella per my publisher’s request. As a full-time professor, I have almost no time to write during the school year, so I’m hitting the writing life hard this summer, knowing it will soon be at an end.

But now people are asking questions like, ‘how did you come up with the story?’ and ‘how long did it take you to write the novel?’ While they may be aware of my other writing endeavors, the only one that really shines for them, like the tip of an iceberg with all the real weight of the thing below, is the novel they can hold in their hands or read on their Kindle. The rest is a mystery they don’t need or want to solve.

The sheer fascination in their voices tells me something clearly. Since my goal has been to see my novel published, I was under the false assumption that I’d come full circle. And more importantly, I was in real danger of losing the awe regarding my craft.

In other words,

writing is never done– and even when you’ve completed a stage of it like research or character creation, you will likely return to these stages later when your writing is open for others to see (a whole other frightening area I should probably unpack in another blog post).  At this point, people will want to know the ‘behind the scenes’ work you did months or even years earlier. It’s fun, and humbling, to go back.

But at the same time you’ll be moving forward. In my case, I had the novel published, was working to prepare a novel for submission, and in the back of my mind I was thinking about the edits I needed to make to the other novel that’s been finished but waiting for me for about two years.

My conclusion?

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Maybe because I never reached this stage before (except with academic writing, which is a whole other area of work), I didn’t realize that writing is cyclical. We get on the merry-go-round and won’t get off until we stop writing.

So strike up the music and hop on your horse (you know the kind that moves up and down while you hang onto the useless strap?)- and get writing!