Jon Say's Blog, page 5

Name a Character in My New Novel – Here's How!

One of the fun things about writing is creating characters that have interesting backstories that create conflicts with other characters that help illustrate the themes of the story.  While there may be many characters that appear in the story, there are usually just a few that are central to the plots running throughout.

Naming each character is always a critical part of the process, as that is the first and most recognizable way they are introduced to the reader.  People react to names; maybe they know someone they really like that has the same name (or vice versa!), or perhaps the name sounds pleasant when spoken or read, or the cadence and sound of the name suggest a character's disposition.

A great illustration of this can be found in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.  If you'd never read the series and I tossed these two names out to you – Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy – which one would you guess is a good guy and which one is a bad guy?

What I am going to do, because I am very grateful to the 1,000+ visitors who seek out my blog each week, is stage a contest where one of my readers can name one of the characters in my upcoming novel, "Rubbed Out".  The winner will have their suggested character name used in the book, and receive thankful recognition by name from me for their contribution to the novel in the "Acknowledgements" page at the beginning of the book.  They will also win an autographed copy of "Flesh Wound" as well as "Rubbed Out" (when RO is published in 2011).

Here is the brief backstory of the character to be named by the contest winner:  He is in his late 30s, a former Wall Street bond trader who crashed and burned in the latest financial crisis because of he took risks he didn't understand in the subprime lending market.  He lost his job as a result, and is currently trying to figure out what to do next with his life.  He is disillusioned and questioning his belief system, and comes to Faye as a new client.  The problem is, he is unable to find meaning in any of their sessions, which alarms him even more, and he embarks on a search for his destiny.

Go to it and good luck!  If you have any questions, just email me at jon@jonsay.com or leave a comment here.  This is your chance to contribute to the literary world and be remembered forever in print.    I hope you're having a terrific Monday!  Read something today that makes you forget where you are!  Thanks for reading.  -Jon

All Flesh Wound Ads Are Now On The Street

On Thursday, the remaining two Flesh Wound display ads hit the streets in their respective newspapers.  Up in the Fox Valley, the UW-Oshkosh Advance Titan ran the ad to the left in its 12/2 edition.

I drove there on Friday to pick  up a couple of copies of the paper for my archives, and as I was walking

Flesh Wound ad in UW-Oshkosh Advance Titan on 12/2/10

around campus the atmosphere was full of that suppressed energy that accompanies Finals week and the anticipation of Christmas break.  Christmas trees and other holiday decorations cheered up the Reeve Memorial Union, and many students were either picking up a copy of the paper or reading it as they ate lunch or relaxed.  I walked around campus to see how the posters I'd hung up two weeks ago were faring, and found that about half of them remained.  I posted another half dozen, so hopefully students will start to become more aware of Flesh Wound.  Giving them multiple exposures to the poster and ad will increase their chances of recognizing and remembering Flesh Wound, and hopefully lead them to check out the website and book.

The third and final newspaper to run the Flesh Wound ad is the Wisconsin Gazette.  They altered the ad's design a bit to make it more noticeable, and the final ad is shown at the right.  You can see how the different colors and fonts alter the impact of the ad.  I like the idea of running two different ads and seeing the impact of each.  This ad will run again in the 12/16 issue.

Flesh Wound ad in Wisconsin Gazette on 12/2

So the PR campaign, part 2, is running now which is exciting!  Part 3 will happen in mid-January, with me contacting student organizations at both UW-Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater to suggest a book discussion of Flesh Wound.  I may consider running the ads again in January, depending on what happens between now and then.

In the meantime, enjoy the December weekend!  We got several inches of snow overnight, and it's still snowing now, so it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!  Read something today that makes you think, "Wow!".  Thanks for reading.  -Jon

First Newspaper Ad is Out!

Royal Purple, page 2 ad for Flesh Wound

Today was the day the first newspaper ad for Flesh Wound was scheduled to hit the streets, in the Royal Purple student newspaper at UW-Whitewater.  So I drove the 40 or so miles to campus this morning with anticipation, in the midst of an unforecast, delightfully picturesque snowfall.  Big, fat flakes that the wind sent scurrying across the road in front of me in waves that broke over the edge of the gravel freeway shoulder into fields lying fallow for the winter, remnants of harvested corn stalks poking jagged, broken limbs through their new white coat towards the leaden sky.  OK, got a little carried away there, but the snow was nice.

UW-Whitewater Royal Purple, Dec 1 2010 Issue

I was happy to discover that the paper was out in great numbers, students were picking them up, and there was the ad for Flesh Wound right on the bottom of page 2!  What a great location!  I picked up a couple of copies for myself and sat in the University Center for an hour or so, working on the character map and chapter outlines for Rubbed Out.  Then I toured the campus locations where I'd placed Flesh Wound posters back on November 17.  Over half the posters remained in place, which was good!  Those that had been removed looked like they got caught up in a general clearing of the board upon which they were placed, and I replaced those.  So Whitewater is set until January!  Hopefully, the ad will entice readers to check out the FleshWoundTheBook website, read the book, and want to participate in book discussions!

Tomorrow, I'll be looking for the ad in the Wisconsin Gazette, and on Friday, I'll be driving up to Oshkosh to see the ad in the Advance-Titan.  And hopefully, the roads will stay dry!  Read something today that inspires you to compliment someone.  Thanks for reading!  -Jon

Back to Being a Writer

As things are turning out, this week is a transition week of sorts.  The first run of newspaper ads for Flesh Wound is going to print this week.  Here is the publication schedule for December:

Wednesday, Dec 1:

Royal Purple (royalpurplenews.com) UW-Whitewater

Thursday, Dec 2:

Wisconsin Gazette (wisconsingazette.com) Wisconsin's LGBT Community Paper

Advance-Titan (advancetitan.com) UW-Oshkosh

Wednesday, Dec 8:

Royal Purple (royalpurplenews.com) UW-Whitewater

Thursday, Dec 9:

Advance-Titan (advancetitan.com) UW-Oshkosh

Thursday, Dec 16:

Wisconsin Gazette (wisconsingazette.com) Wisconsin's LGBT Community Paper

I'll be traveling to Whitewater and Oshkosh on publication dates to replenish posters and pick up a copy of the papers with Flesh Wound ads in them.  Hopefully the ads will generate interest in the website, and the students will pursue Flesh Wound as relaxing holiday reading during their Christmas break.

It will be the middle of January before the students return to campus, and at that time I'll have another batch of posters up and a list of student organizations to contact to propose a book discussion of Flesh Wound.  But until then, I have around a six-week window of time.  How best to fill it?  By returning to what I like doing best:  writing.

This morning I pulled out my notes for Rubbed Out and immersed myself in becoming familiar all over again with the story.  I'd had an idea for a parallel plot line that I wanted to develop and weave into the current chapter outline, and spent the morning doing just that.  I love how the book is coming together.  I introduced another character today, and developed his backstory and how he'll interact with Faye and Ae-Cha, and how their stories will intersect later in the novel.  I expect to make significant progress on the book in the next six weeks, and my goal is to have a first draft of the novel complete by the end of February.  But we'll see how it goes – I'm going to keep an open mind and make promotion of Flesh Wound a priority.  I am confident things will unfold in the best way possible.  My job is to go with the flow.

I hope November is finishing well for you and life is good!  Read something today that makes you feel warm inside!  Thanks for reading.  -Jon

Mondays Just Aren't What They Used To Be

The pace of life when one is a writer is so different than the structured world of banking that there are times things seem completely backwards.  When I was driving to the office every day, weekends and holidays were the rewards for grinding it out during the week.  They were oases of rest, diversion, and relaxation that were eagerly anticipated and disappeared all too quickly, making Sunday nights as anxious as Friday nights were  relaxed.

Now that I'm writing full time, there is one crucial difference that changes everything.  I am spending those hours from Monday morning to Friday evening immersed in an activity that is totally inspiring to me.  When I'm not actually writing, I'm thinking about writing.  When I'm not designing newspaper ads and contacting newspapers, I'm thinking about the design of the ads and which papers might best reach my target audience.

The unusual result of this is that my weekends are now less enticing than my weekdays, which is completely backwards.

Don't get me wrong – the weekends are still very enjoyable.  Spending time with my family, catching up on things around the house, sharing holidays like Thanksgiving with extended family, seeing friends that visit only occasionally, and celebrating milestones like birthdays has lost none of its joy.

The difference is that I am inspired by what I do Monday through Friday now, rather than driven to do it by financial need, social obligation, family expectation, or because it was what I was trained to do so by God, I'd better do it.

This is a terrific situation to be in.  Sunday nights now feel like Friday nights used to, and Friday nights are still, well, Friday nights.

The reasons more people don't do what they are inspired to do are nearly infinite, but a big one is fear of financial disaster should they stop doing whatever it is that provides their weekly paycheck.  This is the end of the 17th month since my stable, "safe" career position was eliminated due to factors entirely outside of my control.  Financial disaster has yet to strike.  Our lifestyle has been supported without any changes (outside of not traveling as much, probably).  Our quality of life has improved exponentially.

So it is with excitement that I look forward to tomorrow morning when I can jump back into the world that is created through writing.  My fervent hope for you is that you feel the same anticipation for what awaits you when the alarm clock goes off.  Living an inspired life is an unparalleled adventure, and a gift for which I am unendingly grateful.  Read something today that inspires you!  Thanks for reading.  -Jon

UW-Oshkosh Becomes Third Paper to Carry Flesh Wound Ad

Today has been a great day.  I spent the morning finalizing the display ads for the Gazette and for Royal Purple, the two newspapers who were first to return my calls and emails requesting ad space for Flesh Wound.  Then I was able to get some early holiday shopping completed, which included a trip to the Milwaukee Art Museum.  As I was standing in a gallery with floor to ceiling windows overlooking a turbulent Lake Michigan pounding against one of the breakwaters offshore, enormous waves exploding in cascades of whitewater spray, my cell phone rang.  It was the UW-Oshkosh Advance Titan, the other student newspaper outside of UW-Whitewater's that I really was hoping to get my ad into.

I spoke with a student sales rep and she forwarded the file specs and other details needed for the ad, and assured me I could get it into the 12/3 and 12/10 issues.  So my ad will appear in three newspapers in December: the Gazette, the Royal Purple, and the Advance Titan.  I am pleased with this progress!

Flesh Wound ad in the Wisconsin Gazette

In my last blog I'd mentioned what a pleasure it was to do business with the Gazette, and nothing has happened in the last two days to change that opinion.  I'm working with Jim, who has helped redesign the ad I'd sent so that it will have the greatest impact once it is printed.  He also helped me by resizing the ad into the required space, which is just under 2.5" x 5.5".  The final ad will appear as shown to the left.  Again, I'd highly recommend the Gazette to anyone who wants to run a display ad.  Working with them is fantastic.

Flesh Wound Display ad, Royal Purple at UW-Whitewater

I also finished the ad for the Royal Purple, and sent it off this morning.  I was able to resize this ad myself using Photoshop and Pages and then saving it as a PDF, all on my Mac.  The final ad will appear as shown to the right.  I'm pleased that it is somewhat different than the Gazette ad.  It will be interesting to see which ad generates the most response.

I'm planning to use this latter ad in the Advance Titan as well.  It has the advantage of most closely matching the posters hung on both campuses, so students should recognize the image and fonts and start to build the brand for Flesh Wound in their minds.  This will be especially helpful if I am able to schedule some book discussions on campus after the Christmas break.

So looking back, I originally set out by contacting five newspapers about running display ads.  Three of them have contacted me and will be running the ads in December, which was my goal.  The other two will not.  The UWM Post sent a form e-mail yesterday, five days after my initial inquiry, saying they had shut down for Thanksgiving break and would contact me December 1 about my ad request.  The Marquette Tribune never responded to my phone call or email.  I won't be running ads in either paper right now.  If I do a second round of advertising I will consider them.  But UW-Whitewater, UW-Oshkosh, and the Wisconsin Gazette all replied to my request promptly and professionally, and thus earned the business.  Note to UWM and MU future newspaper executives:  when a customer contacts you and wants to give you money, take the call.

Have a terrific Thanksgiving!  We got our first snow squall today, and more sloppy weather is expected tonight.  At this time of year, this weather is fun.  Time to build a nice fire in the fireplace, settle in, and enjoy some turkey and football.  And take some time to read something this weekend that inspires nostalgia!  Thanks for reading!   -Jon

UW-Whitewater and the Wisconsin Gazette Come Through!

After a relaxing pre-holiday weekend which included great visits with out of town friends, I was ready to do everything I could to get ads for Flesh Wound into the newspapers in time for the December shopping season.  It's been a great Monday as two of the papers I'd contacted last week called me today, and I'm well on the way to getting ads in consecutive December issues in both of them.

The Wisconsin Gazette, Wisconsin's LGBT Community newspaper and the only non-university affiliated paper I'd contacted, sent an email to me on Saturday with their media kit attached.  It explained all the details of placing display ads, and questions like file format, sizing of ads, and layout and design considerations for camera ready artwork were all addressed.  They followed that up this morning with a call to discuss the ad, including an offer to help resize my PDF file to fit the ad space I was buying.  This is extremely helpful to me, and working with the Gazette thus far has been an excellent experience.  My sales rep there asked me about my background and how I came to write Flesh Wound, and after hearing the story she said she'd bring my info to the attention of the Gazette's publisher as they may want to run a feature story about me.  How cool is that???  That would be a powerful complement to the ad (if it could be written and run before Christmas – but even if it runs in January, it would still be fantastic exposure!), and would bring much more attention to FW.  Yes!

After I'd put together my contact info and PDF and sent it off to the Gazette, the phone rang again and an advertising rep from the Royal Purple, UW-Whitewater's student newspaper, called to provide similar info to me on running a display ad.  I was very happy, as UW-Whitewater was one of the schools I'd liked a great deal when I was there hanging posters.  We had a similar discussion about deadlines, file formats, and sizing, and if I can get a correctly sized PDF to them by Wednesday (no problem there!) I will be able to run ads in the December 1 and 8 issues, the last two prior to Christmas break.  Yes!

The third and final paper I'm going to pursue for ads is the Advance Titan at UW-Oshkosh.  I really liked that campus too, and if I can get into their issues prior to Christmas I'll have good coverage in three papers at the same time.  The total bill for all six of these ads will be less than $1,000.  I'll post the exact amount when I know what it is.

It feels absolutely great to have made this progress!  I'm looking forward to seeing the ads, seeing how they are received, and moving to the third step in my PR plan which is to contact student organizations on campus to invite them to review and discuss Flesh Wound as an organizational event.

I'll write another blog on Wednesday before taking a break on Thanksgiving.  Enjoy the short week!  Read something today that reminds you of when you were a child.  Thanks for reading!  -Jon

Friday Ratings Summary and How Much Newspaper Display Ads Cost

Wrapping up another week on the PR and business side of being a writer.  I have completed visits to five major college campuses in the area and hung posters advertising the Flesh Wound website.  I made follow up visits to three of those schools, and rehung posters where they had been taken down.  Today, I'm going to pause to take a deep breath and summarize how Flesh Wound has been received by readers so far, and talk about the next phase of the PR plan: newspaper display advertising.

There are five different websites where readers have posted reviews of Flesh Wound:  Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, BooksaMillion.com, Goodreads.com, and LibraryThing.com.  In total, 35 ratings and/or reviews of Flesh Wound have been posted, all on a scale of 5 stars being best, 1 star being worst.  Here's how the 35 ratings break down:

5 stars = 26 ratings (74%)

4 stars = 5 ratings (14%)

3 stars = 3 ratings (9%)

2 stars = 0 ratings (0%)

1 star = 1 rating (3%)

I am quite pleased with that result.  74% of readers, or 3 out of 4, rated Flesh Wound 5 stars. 88% of readers rated it 4 stars or better, and 97% of readers rated it 3 stars or better.  Of the 35 ratings, less than 10 came from people I know.  These results encourage me to redouble my PR efforts to get Flesh Wound in front of as many readers as possible!

Speaking of that, I checked the number of website hits to the Flesh Wound site (www.FleshWoundTheBook.com/wordpress).  This week so far, the site has 35 hits.  Last week, it had 41.  There are still 1 1/2 days left this week, so I'm hoping we pass last week's total.  A few people have registered on the site to get updates, so the ball is starting to roll!

The next step in the PR plan is to run display ads in the student newspapers of the schools where I've put up posters.  The going rate for an add that spans 2 column inches and is about 5" high (roughly 1/8 of a newspaper page) runs anywhere from $87.50 to $175.00.  I don't think this is too bad, and at any rate following up the posters with another channel of exposure to the students is critical to reinforcing the brand and increasing their curiosity.  I've taken steps to contact the advertising departments of the newspapers and will run the ads in the editions that greet students upon their return from Thanksgiving break.

As for the ad itself, you can see it to the left.  What do you think?  Would you go to the URL if you saw this ad in the newspaper?

Have a terrific weekend!  Enjoy the anticipation of Thanksgiving, and as a good friend of mine suggested, read something today that makes you money!  (He's a successful entrepreneur – can you tell? )   Thanks for reading!  -Jon

First Visit to UW-Oshkosh and Follow Up at UW-Whitewater

For being a full-time writer, I haven't been doing much writing lately.  Fiction, anyway.  This month, the focus has been entirely on PR for Flesh Wound, and in getting grass roots support going at the college level.

Yesterday I drove up to UW-Oshkosh, about 90 miles north of Milwaukee.  This was the fifth and final campus I'd targeted for the initial deployment of the Faye posters promoting Flesh Wound.  I liked UW-Oshkosh as soon as I got there.  It's a bit smaller campus than UW-Whitewater and in a more populated area, but the late Fall sunshine and energy of the students gave the campus a vibrant feel.  The first student I talked to was a girl in the Parking Information Booth, where I wanted to find out where visitors could park for the day.  She was blonde, cute, and was wearing a black t-shirt with gold lettering that read, "UW-Oshkosh, UW's Official Drinking University".  I smiled.  UWO has a reputation for being a school that likes to party, even more than most.  I thought Flesh Wound would definitely generate interest among the students here.

As I walked around to the various buildings on campus, I found the general rule to be true that the Student Union controlled postings closely, but the public boards in other academic buildings were fair game.  I wound up posting a record 17 posters around campus, at the following locations:

-Albee Pool & Hall

-Student Mall at Sankari Park (4)

-Clow Classrooms (2)

-Journalism Building (2)

-Nursing Building

-Business Building

-Halsey Science Center (3)

-Art & Communications Building (3)

Each posting location is going to receive lots of foot traffic and should be seen by many students.  So that trip was a success!

Today I drove back to UW-Whitewater, where I posted for the first time last week.  It was rainy and 40 degrees today, so the trek around campus was faster and there were no students lolling on the lawns soaking up sunshine.  I was pleased to find that of the eight posters I'd put up one week ago, five were still there (62.5%).  Two of the three had been taken from Hyland Hall (the Business building), and the poster in Drumlin Hall (Student Dining Hall) was gone.  I replaced those, and added another to Hyland so there is a total of nine posters up now.

I'm hoping that the re-posting will be noticed by students, and the image on the poster and the message stand a better chance of being noticed and remembered as a result of the staying power of the posters.  If you see the poster every day for a week, then it's gone, then you see it again, hopefully it starts to be memorable.  The real proof will be in the number of hits the website gets.  I'll post those numbers here later in the week.

So now it is time to get after phase 2 of the PR plan, which is running ads in the University newspapers!  Tomorrow I research those rates and decide which schools to target first.

I can't wait to get back to writing "Rubbed Out".  I had a great idea for a parallel plot line occur to me the other day while walking around, and the outline of the book is starting to take very good shape in my mind.  What I'm doing with PR for Flesh Wound right now is important, but I can't wait to get back to writing!

Stay strong, the week is half done!  Read something today that makes you laugh out loud!  Thanks for reading.  -Jon

Everyone Is Crazy For A Sharp-Dressed Man

With apologies to ZZ Top for today's title, I had a fun experience walking around Marquette's campus today.  This morning I had a meeting downtown which required that I wear a business suit.  This had been my daily uniform for so long prior to losing my position to downsizing almost 18 months ago that slipping back into the clothes and persona was like greeting a life-long friend.  The meeting went well and I found myself all dressed up with no place to go at Noon.

Marquette is an urban campus located on the fringe of the financial district in downtown Milwaukee.  I wanted to check out the status of the posters I'd hung there on Friday, to see if they'd survived the weekend.  So I drove the several blocks and plugged the meter for about an hour.

I then proceeded to walk around to all of the buildings where I'd hung posters.  Freshly shaved, dressed in a dark grey wool overcoat, black suit, white shirt, silk tie, and well polished Allen Edmonds loafers, I couldn't have stood out more from the masses of students, most more than twenty years younger than me, moving around campus.  I was amused but happy to receive the genuine smiles thrown my way by many of the students, and couldn't help wondering if they regarded me as someone who may be able to hire them.  Even the faculty nodded politely to me as we passed on the mall.  The respect which can be commanded by a formal set of clothes is noteworthy.  It was only three days earlier that I'd walked the same path in jeans, sweatshirt, a two-day beard, baseball cap, and backpack slung over my shoulder and was utterly unnoticeable.  But put on a suit and people assume it is a commercial banker and not a writer in their midst.  :)  Such is life.

I was happy to discover that all of the posters I'd hung on Friday were still in place and visible, with the exception of the Union bulletin board that is cleared weekly.   Also, the FWTB website had 41 hits over the weekend!  The only places the URL has been promoted are on this website, Twitter, and the posters I'm hanging.  So hopefully the activity will keep increasing!
Tomorrow I head north to UW-Oshkosh to hang the first round of posters there.  Then it will be time to call for advertising rates in the student newspapers, with the thought of having ads in those papers when the students return from Thanksgiving break.

I hope you had as good a Monday as I did!  Read something tonight that teaches you something you didn't already know!  Thanks for reading.  -Jon