CK Van Dam's Blog, page 8

Researching the art of cheesemaking

When I give an Author Talk, one of the topics that audiences are most interested in is the research involved in writing a historical novel. In Proving Her Claim, Anna Olson, travels from Wisconsin, the #1 cheesemaking state in the country. Her plan is to have a dairy farm and to make cheese.

That meant I needed to learn how to make cheese — at least well enough to describe the process to readers. And that meant research. Coincidentally, I toured a cheese plant in upstate New York several years ago as part of a work assignment. That tour showed me how the “big players” make cheese.

Anna’s dairy and cheese production was on a much smaller scale, but the basic process was the same. Today, Anna’s Deer Creek Dairy would be producing “artisan cheese.” Traditional cheesemakers produce cheese by hand on the farm using old techniques passed down through many generations. These artisans rely only on their senses of sight, smell, and touch.

Cheese starts with pure, fresh milk. Acidification is the first step in making cheese by adding a starter culture to the milk. In the book, Anna was thrilled when her Uncle Olaf presented her with a batch of starter culture from her Aunt Christina, an award-winning cheesemaker in Wisconsin.

Without giving away Anna’s secret family recipe, here’s how cheesemaking was described in the book:

First, she briefly cooked the raw milk, then she added Aunt Christina’s starter culture, being careful to hold a bit of the culture back for future batches. The starter culture turned the milk slightly acidic, making it ready for the rennet, which produced milk curds. Anna then cut the curds into small cubes and heated the mixture until she was satisfied with the texture. Skimming off the liquid whey, Anna was pleased to see large slabs of curds forming on the bottom of the cooking vat. She processed these slabs, rubbing in salt for flavor, and then pressed the result into one of the cheese presses that Uncle Olaf had made for her.

With that, Anna Olson’s Deer Creek Dairy was on its way (whey?) to becoming the Dakota Territory’s premier dairy.

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A writer’s life: book fairs, conferences and networking

It started out with Wild Deadwood Reads. I can’t think of a more appropriate name to describe this event. WDR, held in Deadwood, South Dakota, began in 2017 to connect authors with readers. This was my first time attending the multi-genre book event.

Wild Deadwood Reads lived up to its name. It was wild!

Imagine 91 authors, a half-dozen book cover models, and hundreds of readers/fans in a huge convention room. The actual event is held over three days, with social events, educational programs and, on the last day, a book fair.

“What do you like to read” was my opening question to attendees who were browsing books from nearly one hundred authors. We had some great conversations. Talking with readers — even readers who don’t read my genre or my books — is one of my favorite things. I always learn something valuable. At the end of the day, I’d sold more books at WDR than any other book fair. I introduced Proving Her Claim to hundreds of readers. And I talked with authors who have written 10, 20 or more published books!

The following week Western Writers of America held its national conference in Rapid City, South Dakota. WWA assigned a wonderful mentor, Natalie Bright, to show me the ropes, introduce me to other members, and to be that friendly face in the crowd.

The four-day WWA convention was also combination of social and educational events, culminating with the Spur Awards Banquet. The 70th Convention’s theme focused on South Dakota. Joseph Marshall III, an Oglala/Sicangu writer of nonfiction and fiction, was the keynote speaker and received the 2023 Owen Wister Award for lifetime contributions to western literature. As a South Dakota author, I was asked to participate on a panel: Writing (and Riding) the Dakotas. What an honor that was!

But receiving two Spur Awards — Best First Novel and Best Romance — was truly a once-in-a-lifetime honor.

Thank you, Western Writers of America.

The post A writer’s life: book fairs, conferences and networking appeared first on CK Van Dam.

A writer’s life: book fairs, conferences and networking

June 2023 was a blur of book fairs, conferences and meeting fellow authors.

It started out with Wild Deadwood Reads. I can’t think of a more appropriate name to describe this event. WDR, held in Deadwood, South Dakota, began in 2017 to connect authors with readers. This was my first time attending the multi-genre book event.

Wild Deadwood Reads lived up to its name. It was wild!

Imagine 91 authors, a half-dozen book cover models, and hundreds of readers/fans in a huge convention room. The actual event is held over three days, with social events, educational programs and, on the last day, a book fair.

“What do you like to read” was my opening question to attendees who were browsing books from nearly one hundred authors. We had some great conversations. Talking with readers — even readers who don’t read my genre or my books — is one of my favorite things. I always learn something valuable. At the end of the day, I’d sold more books at WDR than any other book fair. I introduced Proving Her Claim to hundreds of readers. And I talked with authors who have written 10, 20 or more published books!

The following week Western Writers of America held its national conference in Rapid City, South Dakota. WWA assigned a wonderful mentor, Natalie Bright, to show me the ropes, introduce me to other members, and to be that friendly face in the crowd.

The four-day WWA convention was also combination of social and educational events, culminating with the Spur Awards Banquet. The 70th Convention’s theme focused on South Dakota. Joseph Marshall III, an Oglala/Sicangu writer of nonfiction and fiction, was the keynote speaker and received the 2023 Owen Wister Award for lifetime contributions to western literature. As a South Dakota author, I was asked to participate on a panel: Writing (and Riding) the Dakotas. What an honor that was!

But receiving two Spur Awards — Best First Novel and Best Romance — was truly a once-in-a-lifetime honor.

Thank you, Western Writers of America.

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The value of reader reviews

Reader reviews are truly the lifeblood for authors. Whether it’s a work of fiction or nonfiction, reviews provide authors with feedback, are useful for future books, and are a gauge for the success or failure of the book.

In the world of Amazon, where 80% of today’s books are sold, reader reviews are used in ranking books. The more positive reviews a book has, the higher it ranks in Amazon search results, increasing its discoverability. So, yes, book reviews fuel the algorithms that promote books and book sales. Currently, my Amazon rating is 4.4 stars. With 450 ratings, 84% of Proving Her Claim readers are giving the book a 4-star or 5-star rating. That’s encouraging for a debut author.

A four-star or five-star rating tells readers that another reader enjoyed the storyline and the characters. And if the reader also leaves a written review, that provides more information about why the reader liked the book or what they found lacking. Basically, reader reviews are the Consumer Report of the book world.

As an author, it can be difficult to read those reviews. After all, our books are like our babies. We give birth to them, and then we push them out into the world, crossing our fingers that people will like them. During my career as an advertising copywriter, I didn’t have an ego about my writing. If my clients didn’t like the advertising copy, I’d re-write it without another thought. The copy wasn’t about me — it was about my client’s product or service, and they were the boss.

I’m not quite at the “no ego” stage as an author. But when I read a less-than-glowing comment, I need to remind myself that everyone has different tastes and expectations. And when it’s a five-star “love it” review, my heart is happy. Either way, I’m thankful they thought enough of the book to leave a review for future readers.

The post The value of reader reviews appeared first on CK Van Dam.

The value of reader reviews

Reader reviews are truly the lifeblood for authors. Whether it’s a work of fiction or nonfiction, reviews provide authors with feedback, are useful for future books, and are a gauge for the success or failure of the book.

In the world of Amazon, where 80% of today’s books are sold, reader reviews are used in ranking books. The more positive reviews a book has, the higher it ranks in Amazon search results, increasing its discoverability. So, yes, book reviews fuel the algorithms that promote books and book sales. Currently, my Amazon rating is 4.4 stars. With 450 ratings, 84% of Proving Her Claim readers are giving the book a 4-star or 5-star rating. That’s encouraging for a debut author.

A four-star or five-star rating tells readers that another reader enjoyed the storyline and the characters. And if the reader also leaves a written review, that provides more information about why the reader liked the book or what they found lacking. Basically, reader reviews are the Consumer Report of the book world.

As an author, it can be difficult to read those reviews. After all, our books are like our babies. We give birth to them, and then we push them out into the world, crossing our fingers that people will like them. During my career as an advertising copywriter, I didn’t have an ego about my writing. If my clients didn’t like the advertising copy, I’d re-write it without another thought. The copy wasn’t about me — it was about my client’s product or service, and they were the boss.

I’m not quite at the “no ego” stage as an author. But when I read a less-than-glowing comment, I need to remind myself that everyone has different tastes and expectations. And when it’s a five-star “love it” review, my heart is happy. Either way, I’m thankful they thought enough of the book to leave a review for future readers.

The post The value of reader reviews appeared first on CK Van Dam.

Using accents and dialects in dialogue

In a recent author talk, one of the audience members asked me why Two Hawks spoke English with a Scottish accent.

I explained that my hero needed to speak English in order to communicate with the heroine and that using a Scottish accent in dialogue seemed reasonable since his father was a Scots fur trader. Of course, he would speak English with a Scots accent since he learned the language from a Scotsman. I also employed commonly used words and phrases…like “lassie.”

The Scots burr gave Two Hawks an unexpected charm. In their first meeting, Anna was surprised at his accent.

He settled her securely on the bank, away from the slippery rocks. “You’ll live, lassie.”
….Anna looked up in amazement. This was the closest she’d ever been to an Indian,
and this one spoke with a Scottish accent!

Accents share information about a character and give the story a richer texture and flavor. But using accents in dialogue is tricky.
• How much is ‘too much?’
• Are the colloquialism understandable?
• Is the accent distracting?

My editor helped me with those issues. She recommended ‘toning down’ the accent in some parts of the manuscript to improve readability. Using ‘phonetic spellings’ can be a barrier to understanding the dialogue. She commented in other parts of the manuscript that using accents in dialogue helped define Two Hawks’ personality.

But it wasn’t just the Scots accent that I had to contend with. Some of the characters in Proving Her Claim used Civil War slang. How to communicate that without making the reader stop and look up an archaic term? I relied on narrative to explain some of those phrases.

In other instances, the characters used poor grammar. I’ve spent a lifetime silently correctly grammar in my head. It was difficult to allow my characters to say “ain’t” and “yer.” Editors call this “eye dialect” and caution writers to use it sparingly. Using misspellings or nonstandard spellings to depict a character’s accent (for instance, writing “fixin’” with an apostrophe instead of “fixing”) can be distracting for readers. In subsequent manuscript drafts, I re-wrote dialogue to keep eye dialect to a minimum.

So, do accents and dialects give readers a better understanding of the characters, their background, and even their motivations? As we say in the Midwest, ‘You betcha.’

The post Using accents and dialects in dialogue appeared first on CK Van Dam.

Using accents and dialects in dialogue

In a recent author talk, one of the audience members asked me why Two Hawks spoke English with a Scottish accent.

I explained that my hero needed to speak English in order to communicate with the heroine and that using a Scottish accent in dialogue seemed reasonable since his father was a Scots fur trader. Of course, he would speak English with a Scots accent since he learned the language from a Scotsman. I also employed commonly used words and phrases…like “lassie.”

The Scots burr gave Two Hawks an unexpected charm. In their first meeting, Anna was surprised at his accent.

He settled her securely on the bank, away from the slippery rocks. “You’ll live, lassie.”
….Anna looked up in amazement. This was the closest she’d ever been to an Indian,
and this one spoke with a Scottish accent!

Accents share information about a character and give the story a richer texture and flavor. But using accents in dialogue is tricky.
• How much is ‘too much?’
• Are the colloquialism understandable?
• Is the accent distracting?

My editor helped me with those issues. She recommended ‘toning down’ the accent in some parts of the manuscript to improve readability. Using ‘phonetic spellings’ can be a barrier to understanding the dialogue. She commented in other parts of the manuscript that using accents in dialogue helped define Two Hawks’ personality.

But it wasn’t just the Scots accent that I had to contend with. Some of the characters in Proving Her Claim used Civil War slang. How to communicate that without making the reader stop and look up an archaic term? I relied on narrative to explain some of those phrases.

In other instances, the characters used poor grammar. I’ve spent a lifetime silently correctly grammar in my head. It was difficult to allow my characters to say “ain’t” and “yer.” Editors call this “eye dialect” and caution writers to use it sparingly. Using misspellings or nonstandard spellings to depict a character’s accent (for instance, writing “fixin'” with an apostrophe instead of “fixing”) can be distracting for readers. In subsequent manuscript drafts, I re-wrote dialogue to keep eye dialect to a minimum.

So, do accents and dialects give readers a better understanding of the characters, their background, and even their motivations? As we say in the Midwest, ‘You betcha.’

The post Using accents and dialects in dialogue appeared first on CK Van Dam.

Book marketing strategies

There’s more to book publishing than simply writing a book. That’s just the beginning. The next step is book marketing.

In the past, agents and publishing houses managed book marketing for authors. Now, self-published authors are responsible for their own marketing, but even major publishers ask authors to be more involved in marketing their books these days.

As a self-published author, I applied marketing strategies from my career in advertising. For years I developed marketing and promotion strategies for clients. Now, I am wearing two hats: the strategist and the client/author.

I started promoting and advertising Proving Her Claim when it launched in October. But even before the book launch, I launched an author website — with the help of a great digital team at Insight. As I’ve always told clients, a good website is the foundation for a marketing plan. Next:
• Content on the website — like the blogs I write
• Public relations, including press releases, news interviews & podcast interviews
• Events, such as book fairs, author talks, signings, and book club appearances
• Social media content, posts, and ads
• Digital marketing, including ads on Amazon
• Email marketing
• Reader and professional reviews

But I’m continuing to learn new ways to promote my book. There are new channels to learn.

BookTok, anyone?

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All things Norwegian

Happy Syttende Mai!

For those of you unfamiliar, Syttende Mai, the Seventeenth of May, is Norwegian Constitution Day. It’s the day in 1814 that the Constitution of Norway was signed at Eidsvoll, Norway. It’s (sort of) similar to the Fourth of July in the United States — without the fireworks. Flags are flown, there are parades and music. Norwegians dress in traditional costumes from that time.

It’s been called “the most Norwegian day of the year.” Why am I writing about Syttende Mai? Because the heroine in Proving Her Claim is of Norwegian descent. In fact, Anna Olson’s mother, Johanna, immigrated to America and settled in Wisconsin. Johanna supported Anna’s wanderlust and encouraged her daughter to travel to Dakota Territory.

As a young girl, Johanna traveled from Norway to America to make a new life for herself and her younger brother. So when Anna announced that she was considering leaving hearth and home for the frontier, Johanna Olson added to Anna’s savings with some butter money she’d been saving for a rainy day.

Johanna is one of those strong women that Proving Her Claim lifts up. There’s another strong, Norwegian woman in the story who also supports Anna’s dream.

In addition to being the county’s premier cheese maker, Aunt Christina was a strong, confident woman who had made their dairy farm prosper during the turbulent times during and after the war. She had given Anna the courage and encouragement needed to start life anew on the wild Dakota plains.

In fact, Christina created a sign for Anna’s new dairy using the Norwegian art of rosemaling. It’s a singularly beautiful Norwegian art form.

But that’s not the only reason I celebrate Syttende Mai. Grandparents on both sides of my family have ties to Norway, so I’ll commemorate the day with lefsa — but hold the lutefisk.

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Happy 70th Anniversary, KELOLand

From the KELOLand archives: My first desk as a copywriter.

If you live in South Dakota, northwestern Iowa or western Minnesota, you live in KELOLand.

“KELOLand” was the invention of KELO-TV’s founder, Joe L. Floyd. He took the new station’s “call letters” and created a brand that is still dominant today. The station will celebrate 70 years of broadcasting on May 19, 2023. That’s a milestone in any industry.

I was lucky enough to be part of the KELO team for about ten years. In my position as a “Continuity Writer” and later “Continuity Director,” I wrote and produced television commercials and long-form videos. What was “continuity”? It referred to anything that wasn’t programming — the content “in between” such as commercials, public service announcements and promos. That’s what I wrote and produced.

As a local television station, KELO produced many of the commercials for its local advertisers. That included lots of car dealers, furniture stores and small, retail stores. We’d often shoot on location which meant that I was both the client liaison and a “grip.” My job as a grip was to ensure that all the cables were tidied up and back in the production truck before we left. Yes, that was a big part of the job!

Writing television commercials taught me how to write succinctly and clearly. In only thirty seconds I had to introduce the client/product/service benefit and finish with a call to action.

The long-form videos allowed me to stretch my “writer’s muscles.” Some of these segments were human interest interviews for telethons. Other long-form videos encompassed larger stories, such as the importance of co-curricular programs (band, orchestra, sports, etc.) in public schools. That was one of my favorite projects.

When the State of South Dakota celebrated its centennial in 1989, KELOLand celebrated with a series of 60-second “Centennial Minutes.” I interviewed famous South Dakotans and dug into historical files to write about notable events, such as the John Dillinger bank robbery in 1934. We produced 100 Centennial Minutes that aired (with sponsorship, of course) throughout the centennial year.

It was a great learning experience and a really fun place to work and play. I made some very good friends while at KELO — friends I’m still in touch with.

Happy 70th Anniversary, KELOLand!

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