Jane Ellyson's Blog, page 3

How do we get more people to read and buy books?

It’s tough. We all know how challenging it is to find readers and to entice them to pay a few $ for hours of learning and enjoyment. Reading is one of the best investments people can make of their time and money. We know this. How can we pass the word along?

As authors and business people, we all share objectives for encouraging more people to read and buy books. How do we do this?

Here are a few thoughts.

We don’t communicate the value of books enough

Let’s start with non- fiction. We should let our readers know more clearly what they will learn and experience from our books. If I want to learn how to do something, I can buy a book and benefit from an expert’s condensed knowledge, often obtained from many years of experience, and I can read the material in my own space and time frame, providing maximum flexibility. This knowledge can provide a new skill, hobby or even a career change. Paying someone to share this knowledge with me, or even participating in a training course would be a much higher cost (sometimes ten to a hundred times more), and far less convenient.

For fiction, the value can be measured by the escape potential of the story, how it gives us insights and helps us to build empathy, and by the inspirational impact of a protagonist who overcomes insurmountable difficulties to get the girl, climb the mountain or win the prize. Often uplifting and inspiring – even when it’s sad.

Comparatitus

We need to harp on a bit about the comparative cost of a book. With the arrival of e-books and the absence of delivery charges, books have never been cheaper or more accessible. I’m the first person to advocate for a yummy cappuccino made by a skilled barista. This delicious ten- minute experience typically costs me the same as a great piece of fiction – which delivers four hours rather than ten minutes of pleasure. We need to remind everyone that a great book costs the same as one cappuccino, two avocados, three bananas, four iced-vo vos … You get the picture. Books are sooo cheap as chips.

Everyone is time poor

In a busy-busy world I know that some readers have little discretionary time each day. The great thing about books is that they are portable and can be absorbed in small increments of time, say during the 30-minute morning commute on the train, the boring 20 minutes in the dentist’s waiting room or in those fifteen minutes before we finally fall asleep at night. So easy and a great way to wind down after a full day.

Happiness comes from experiences and not things

Many of us live in a culture where happiness is perceived to come from what we can buy. So wrong. The pleasure from some big house, nice car and fancy clothes can be fleeting – and many of these experiences can be accessed much more cheaply by renting them. Yep – even the fancy clothes. Research shows us that happiness is more likely to come from experiences. Books deliver fabulous experiences by the boat-load. You get to travel to places beyond your local area, and vicariously live another person’s life. Our own little mini-holodeck – in Star Trek speak.

The pleasure doesn’t stop at the last page 

Once we finish a book we can keep it and reread it at a future date. Or we can share the pleasure by passing the book along. Happiness comes from giving to others – and books are a perfect gift. I love discovering bus tickets in second-hand books and wondering about this book’s journey. (If you like tracking book journeys, release a few books into the wild and track their journey via Book Crossing. This is another way to encourage reading).

Authors as Superheroes.

While we, with ‘we’ being many authors, may be introverted and spend hours out of sight writing like Clarke Kent, we have the power to change the world, like superman. I get irritated by the high regard and near superhero status given to some sporting figures. For many of these celebrities they are just playing a sport and making a lot of money. They are not engaging in an activity that has broader learning benefits. It would be good if the media sprinkled some of the super hero fairy dust on more authors who are changing the world through their writing. Who are your writing super heroes? What can you do to lift them up?

Leverage our support team

We have millions of supporters out there like librarians, teachers, journalists and traditional book store owners. We should develop partnerships with these allies to encourage higher levels of reading. When was the last time you went to a library or a school to read your story out loud or to share your motivation for writing the book in the first place? Talk to others and inspire them to read.

While I recognize my cynicism in outing sporting stars as false prophets, I recognize that all kinds of people at the movies and on Instagram are social influencers. They are more accessible now than in the past through twitter and the like and we should ask them to talk about books that changed their opinion, their lives and or delivered laughs.

Just a few thoughts from me.

What are your ideas on how we can increase readership and books purchases?

My two cents worth

Remind people of how much time it takes to acquire this knowledge through channels other than books.Highlight how cheap books are compared to everyday expenses.Show people how they can squeeze in reading time even when they are busy.Communicate the value of experiences over things.Talk about authors who influenced you.Give book vouchers as gifts.Go to schools, libraries and book stores and read out loud.Lend or give books to others and talk about why you loved them.Release books into the community through sites like Book Crossing.Ask influencers which books changed their lives. (If they can’t identify any – suggest a few).

So, spread the happiness and pass this article along.

References

Forbes Article on how experiences brings you happiness

www.janeellyson.com

Twitter: @janeellyson1

Image in middle from Unsplash photos by @KimberlyFarmer

I didn’t know I loved you

Image by Ishan Gupta on Unsplash

Five years have slowly past

Since you went away,

Although I feel your presence

At the strangest times each day.

*

It’s like you whisper in my ear

When I think of anything insincere.

Or I sing along to a favourite song

And then I remember that you’re gone.

*

I didn’t know I loved you

Until you went away.

With a hole in my life, I’ve come to regret

The things I didn’t say.

*

I think of you and wonder if you ever think of me

It’s too late now  

We’ve missed our time

As you’re no longer free.

*

Will I ever get a second chance

To tell you how I feel?

What I mistook for friendship

Was a deeper love, so real.

*

I’m thinking of you now

On this gorgeous, deep blue day,

Breathing in the northern beauty

Looking out over Byron Bay.

I’ve had Rob Snarski sing Over Byron Bay, I didn’t know I love you. You can listen in here.

Poem written to celebrate launch of Over Byron Bay.

Copyright @ Jane Ellyson 2018

Buy Over Byron Bay here.

What could possibly go wrong?

Unable to leave Rome, Charlotte accepts aninvitation to a party on a super yacht.

What could possibly go wrong?

Yes, I’m writing. Well plotting to be exact.  I’m working on the sequel to Substitute Child.

Roman Roulette describes Charlotte Wyatt’s journey to find a missing friend.

Inadvertently stowed away on a yacht, she discovers a darktrade beneath a glamourous industry.

She needs to learn new skills if she’s to successfully rescue her friend, and indeed herself.

Here’s a mock-up cover.

Set between Rome, Naples and Sicily and inside your imagination.

Agony and ecstasy of writers

Charlotte Nash, Susan Donovan and Darynda Jones at Brisbane Square Library, March 6 2020

Loved listening to Darynda Jones andSusan Donovan share their writing process at the Australian Romance ReadersAssociation event at Brisbane Square Library last night.

Wonderful to see their friendship andlearn how they support each other.

Valuable insights into the pleasureand pain of getting that book out. Great to see that everyone can struggle.

Honest recognition that it’s hard tobalance writing and marketing – with Darynda Jones typically writing into theearly hours of the morning.

Also, great to meet other authors in book signing room including Ally Blake, Author Stella Quinn Heather Reyburn and Sarah Williams.

[image error]

Substitute Child born in South of France

Like many authors before me, I was inspired to write when I lived on theCote d’Azur. Over twelve years we lived in beautiful Antibes, Biot andMandelieu-la-Napoule.

A sizeable chunk of ‘Substitute Child’ was dictated into an oldfashioned recording machine while I walked to the beach at La Napoule in thesouth of France in the sultry summer of 2018.

My first novel, ‘Over Byron Bay’ had taken thirty years to write andpublish so I was keen to improve on my timing. I knew it was an easy target tobeat but wanted to smash it. I’d listened to a podcast by the indomitableJoanna Penn who had advocated the use of talking my book out rather thanwriting it down. So I accepted the challenge. I know a few people thought meodd and I excited a number of dogs on my daily walk.

Discovery of a bottle by a sailor is the catalyst for Charlotte Wyatt’s journey from Byron Bay in Australia to the Cote d’Azur in France.

Port of Antibes, France

The reason for the title of the book is revealed in Chapter 1.

Scott Wyatt had been a constant presence in her life, which was surprising given that he’d died before she was born. Because of this, Charlotte Wyatt never quite felt she was an only child. In fact, some days she felt like the substitute child, a child born of grief, to replace the memory of a child who only lived a day.

No one ever called her substitute child to her face, but she heard it in the words not said. For example, when her mother would introduce her, she felt as though she could hear them thinking, ‘Oh you’re the child who came after Scott died’.

Her mother had been married before she met her father. She didn’t know the details. There was definitely a back story to their relationship …

Charlotte Wyatt’s story includes: a journey across the world to collect a bottle with a message inside; living vicariously as a ‘substitute’ and getting swept up in someone else’s story; love interests from three potential suitors; search for identity and future career direction; analysis of what makes a story go viral and exploration of her relationship with her mother and best friend.

There are also fabulous fashions, beautiful places and a few famous folkin walk-in and run-in roles.

Here’s a map of where the story is set on the Cote d’Azur.

Charlotte also visits London, Paris, Los Angeles, New York and Rome. I’ve posted a few snaps from the trip on SlideShare.

I’ve also included a walking tour of Antibes and Cannes in the back of the book for those who want to vicariously follow Charlotte’s journey.

If I could turn my book into a screen play and choose whowould play which role, I think that Saoirse Ronan would make a wonderfulCharlotte Wyatt and Chris Hemsworth a striking Scott Harmon, (well Chris andScott are both from Byron Bay).

Apart from a few celebrities, many of the characters in Substitute Child have been influenced by people I’ve met and of course my own experiences.There’s a conversation in Substitute Child between Charlotte and her mother which closely mirrors my own conversation with my mother when I was intent on going overseas after finishing university and she was afraid to let me go.

I had a lot of fun writing Substitute Child and early reviews indicate that readers are smiling too. You can buy it on Amazon here.

Article originally published in the Australian Romance Readers Association newsletter.

Byron Bay Writers Festival

Heaven. I was in writers heaven attending the Byron Bay Writers Festival last year. Many of my writer super heroes such as Leigh Sales and Peter Greste, squelched their way through the muddy fields to take a seat on the stage and to share their journey. There was laughter, learning and inspiration aplenty.

Author Di Morrisey. Session facilitate by Jennifer Byrne

There were multiple concurrent sessions and it was always hard to choose.

It’s on again this year. You can learn more about the 2020 festival here.