K.C. Sprayberry's Blog, page 166
June 15, 2015
Summer Fun and Adventure
School is out, or about to out, depending on where you live. The usual mad dash, day in and day out rush to activities has taken a sudden turn into another mad dash into keeping children occupied, finding sports activities that will not eat into what little time you have to enjoy your family.
A standard household of Mom, Dad, and 2.5 children no longer exists. In so many ways, we are drifting further and further from what was once considered the norm, and no one seems to know how to find the brake pedal, to stop the insanity and bring peace back to our lives.
Might I suggest a good book.
A book, you say. What good will a book do me?
Ah, I say. Come with me and I’ll introduce you to a wonder you’ve forgotten. Remember those halcyon days of summer you experienced as a child. Swimming lessons, baseball, and the library’s summer reading program filled in what school did for the previous nine months. Mom and Dad didn’t hover over a computer or stare at the television every night after coming home from a job. Mom would curl up on the sofa to scan the pages of the latest romance. Dad might have a science fiction novel open on his lap, or perhaps the latest thriller.
You and your siblings, having grown tired of those marathon Monopoly games, would be lying on the floor between your parents. Depending on your tastes, you would be leafing through the pages of the latest Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew novel, or perhaps adventuring in another country. We were families, together, but still apart then. We were all off in our own little worlds. Only those worlds weren’t so little. From travel to far off planets, to sighing over the adventures of the latest teen passion, to struggling to learn the big words in a children’s novel, we were all discovering the joy of reading.
Reading will take you to places you’ve never been before. You’ll find yourself on many journeys of any and all sorts—Romance, adventure, action, fantastical places, delving history, and most of all, enjoying yourself.
Day to day, we rush through our lives. Sometimes, we fear we will never enjoy ourselves again, so great are our responsibilities. Other times, we wish for an escape, for that legendary rainbow to transport us to another land, a place where our worst experience will be to see the flying monkeys chasing us. Yet, we realize the reality of our humdrum lives is to go to the job, take care of the kids, or to spend yet another day cleaning the house and wishing for a better life. Even our children have fallen into this humdrum, boring existence.
This is not a reminder that we all had great childhoods, but a hint that those adventures we enjoyed so much are not only still there, but there are many, many more places we can go, experiences to be had, and they’re all at our fingertips.
The typical library summer reading program is no longer the same. Instead of a weekly visit to hear about the latest children’s novel, most libraries offer visits by the authors who created those books, or a gathering of Magic enthusiasts, or perhaps a magician or artist. Children aren’t lumped together from pre-school to teens. Each age group has their own program, and what programs they are. Even adults are included in this adventure of locating the newest phenomenon recently released to attract their attention.
Not only does the library offer these programs, you can connect with the internet on wi-fi, grab the latest coffee concoction, and meet your friends. Voices are still hushed, but they carry an air of excitement at all these modern halls of books can offer. The typical librarian isn’t the gray haired older woman of years gone past. It’s not unusual to see men at the checkout desk, or in charge of events and other sections. A children’s librarian no longer hisses a “Shhhhhh!” in the direction of happy children, but is more likely to get down beside them at a table to assist with an art project.
Have you discovered your local library? Have you met the local author there? Did you know most libraries have their teen and adult programs in the evenings, to accommodate our changing lifestyles? Stop by one and discover what makes the modern day library so much fun.
Oh, and you’ll soon discover social media has nothing on the fun you can have at the library!
June 14, 2015
Flag Day ~ June 14, 2015
Flag Day is today, June 14, 2015. Most people don’t realize that today is a special day. Americans haven’t celebrated our flag in many years.
Flag Day is always on June 14. It is not celebrated on a Monday, so that we can have a three-day weekend.
Once, Flag Day meant parades, where I along with a lot of other young girls marched along, our batons glittering in the sunlight as we displayed our skills. There were community picnics, speeches by politician.
Our flag has taken a beating in recent years. It’s time we thought again what it means to Americans.
The United States flag, in its current form, is made up of thirteen stripes, alternating in red and white. They represent the original thirteen colonies, who risked their freedom and lives to break away from England. The fifty white stars on the field of blue are for each of our states, from Alabama to Wyoming.
What does this symbol of our country represent? The red of our flag is for hardiness and valor. White symbolizes purity and innocence. Blue represents vigilance, perseverance, and justice. These are all traits that exemplify Americans at their core.
Our flag has been there since 1776, when Betsy Ross sewed by hand the first of what would become many.
The United States flag has been carried proudly into battle. Most, even today’s modern youth who pride themselves on not knowing much about history, can point to the statue of the soldiers on Iwo Jima raising our flag with pride and determination after a bloody battle.
The flag has been held high at political rallies. It decorates parades in towns both small and large. It is draped over the coffins of those brave men and women who died for your freedom.
There is one other place our flag is present.
At the graves of our servicemen and women, both at home and abroad.
The United States flag is never flown beneath another in our country.
It is always displayed with the blue field on the left.
On days of national mourning, or to respect the death of an important person, the flag is flown at half-mast.
Our flag should always be shown respect, for if you don’t respect the symbol of your country, how can you respect your country, or yourself.
On June 14, please take the time to remember not only those who have defended the rights of Americans, but also the flag that is the symbol of this country from the moment of her inception. There are few countries who can abuse their flag such as ours has been and not suffer a reprisal, but we believe in freedom of speech in the United States, even if we don’t agree with the speaker. Take the time to salute your flag, to remember what was sacrificed to keep this symbol.
June 8, 2015
Grow Your Twitter Feed
Probably the best place for an author to promote their book online is Twitter. You are getting to literally millions of people, if you have a tweet that attracts attention and a large following.
How does one get that following fast?
Well, first of all, building your following fast will cost money. Those who have done that informed me that it wasn’t worth the money. Most of the followers they gained never once retweeted their book posts.
There is another way to gain followers, but it involved a lot of hard work and time. You have to commit to spending time on Twitter, not just retweeting but also seeking out people who are most likely to put out the word about your book.
How do I accomplish this? How did I grow my Twitter feed from approximately 300 followers almost three years ago to approaching 10,000 at the speed of light today?
First of all, I thank each and every person who retweets my tweets. Some have told me that is a waste of time, but I’ve found that people appreciate a bit of kindness, even on Twitter. They respond in kind. We get into conversations, and I’ve made quite a few new friends.
The next step is so easy that most people wonder why they’ve never tried it before. Simply use those retweeting your work for a board to find more followers. A lot of times, you’ll find a group of people retweeting your tweets multiple times. Instead of seeking out their tweets, search for an individual who you don’t recognize as one of your followers. Start retweeting their tweets. Soon, you may discover them reciprocating, and eventually the two of you will follow each other.
Twitter is a great place to meet a lot of people in a short period of time. It’s friendly to authors attempting to build a fan base, and it’s easy to learn. Using these tricks can improve your following and hoist your work to a point where people are checking it out, to see what the excitement is all about.
How does one get that following fast?
Well, first of all, building your following fast will cost money. Those who have done that informed me that it wasn’t worth the money. Most of the followers they gained never once retweeted their book posts.
There is another way to gain followers, but it involved a lot of hard work and time. You have to commit to spending time on Twitter, not just retweeting but also seeking out people who are most likely to put out the word about your book.
How do I accomplish this? How did I grow my Twitter feed from approximately 300 followers almost three years ago to approaching 10,000 at the speed of light today?
First of all, I thank each and every person who retweets my tweets. Some have told me that is a waste of time, but I’ve found that people appreciate a bit of kindness, even on Twitter. They respond in kind. We get into conversations, and I’ve made quite a few new friends.
The next step is so easy that most people wonder why they’ve never tried it before. Simply use those retweeting your work for a board to find more followers. A lot of times, you’ll find a group of people retweeting your tweets multiple times. Instead of seeking out their tweets, search for an individual who you don’t recognize as one of your followers. Start retweeting their tweets. Soon, you may discover them reciprocating, and eventually the two of you will follow each other.
Twitter is a great place to meet a lot of people in a short period of time. It’s friendly to authors attempting to build a fan base, and it’s easy to learn. Using these tricks can improve your following and hoist your work to a point where people are checking it out, to see what the excitement is all about.
June 1, 2015
Your Editor’s Pedigree
I’ve had fourteen novels, two collections, eight short stories, and seven anthologies published since 2010. Not once did I question the pedigree of my editor. I always figured that the publisher would be so focused on having a quality book that they would hire the best person for the job.
Much to my surprise, I discovered that people will Google their editor to find out how good they are at their job, and what kind of education they have. That honestly never occurred to me, but in hindsight, I should have done that for one editor who turned out to be less than capable at their job. Said editor, and the publisher who hired him/her, no longer has any of my books, but discovering the hard way that not all editors knew what they were doing was a real eye opener. Fortunately, since then, I’ve had nothing but stellar editors with my other publishers.
This is why I was so surprised recently when I was asked to assign an editor to an author who had a degree. The degree program should have been one that concentrated on English, or Language Arts as it’s now called. The way the request was worded upset me greatly, after the individual making that demand indicated the Google search she used had shown a person who attended a “public high school” and never got a degree, which was not the truth.
Needless to say, hurt feelings abounded, and I can’t blame the editor for feeling like this. I’m an editor myself, even though I never finished college. I’ve taken courses though, that allow me to do this job. Most of my editors have done that. Some have a natural talent and rely on the Chicago Manual of Style if they have a question.
So, should you question your editor’s pedigree? Or should you trust your editor-in-chief to know the person they’ve assigned to the job knows what they’re doing.
As I said, I only had one instance of a less than stellar editor, and that was the least of that publisher’s problems. If only one out of seven publishers made that big a faux pas, I think I can continue to trust the others.
That’s what it’s all about—trust.
Trust that your editor-in-chief is as concerned about putting out a good product as you are.
Trust that your editor is capable of doing the job at hand.
Trust that your publisher knows the people working for them and wouldn’t hesitate for an instant to get rid of a bad editor.
So, the next time you’re wondering about the editor assigned to work on your book, instead of creating a lot of hurt feelings, try something new. Ask your editor-in-chief about the person’s credentials in a way that shows you’re only interested in the best book possible, but are willing to accept their judgment of their staff.
Much to my surprise, I discovered that people will Google their editor to find out how good they are at their job, and what kind of education they have. That honestly never occurred to me, but in hindsight, I should have done that for one editor who turned out to be less than capable at their job. Said editor, and the publisher who hired him/her, no longer has any of my books, but discovering the hard way that not all editors knew what they were doing was a real eye opener. Fortunately, since then, I’ve had nothing but stellar editors with my other publishers.
This is why I was so surprised recently when I was asked to assign an editor to an author who had a degree. The degree program should have been one that concentrated on English, or Language Arts as it’s now called. The way the request was worded upset me greatly, after the individual making that demand indicated the Google search she used had shown a person who attended a “public high school” and never got a degree, which was not the truth.
Needless to say, hurt feelings abounded, and I can’t blame the editor for feeling like this. I’m an editor myself, even though I never finished college. I’ve taken courses though, that allow me to do this job. Most of my editors have done that. Some have a natural talent and rely on the Chicago Manual of Style if they have a question.
So, should you question your editor’s pedigree? Or should you trust your editor-in-chief to know the person they’ve assigned to the job knows what they’re doing.
As I said, I only had one instance of a less than stellar editor, and that was the least of that publisher’s problems. If only one out of seven publishers made that big a faux pas, I think I can continue to trust the others.
That’s what it’s all about—trust.
Trust that your editor-in-chief is as concerned about putting out a good product as you are.
Trust that your editor is capable of doing the job at hand.
Trust that your publisher knows the people working for them and wouldn’t hesitate for an instant to get rid of a bad editor.
So, the next time you’re wondering about the editor assigned to work on your book, instead of creating a lot of hurt feelings, try something new. Ask your editor-in-chief about the person’s credentials in a way that shows you’re only interested in the best book possible, but are willing to accept their judgment of their staff.
May 25, 2015
The Multi-Genre Author
Since I signed my first publishing contract, I’ve been placed into certain categories. Most of my short stories were young adult coming of age. Some were simply entertaining tales of adventure. Others were romantic suspense, a mystery, or even a psychological thriller. Then I moved from shorts to novels, maintaining the same genres, and adding sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal, historical, westerns, and military.
I never thought anything about jumping genres, or even combining them. I write the story as it demands to be written. To my amazement, I soon found that some individuals didn’t believe an author should write outside their genre. That stupefied me because prior to writing fiction, most of my writing was technical, during my years in the Air Force. So, one has to ask, exactly what type of writer was I?
To most publishers, I was non-classifiable. They don’t understand an author who can write in multiple genres, or even combine genres in the same book. They want you to stick true to a single genre, no matter what the story demands.
Did that type of bias stop me?
Absolutely not. I forged forward, seeking a publisher who recognized that a multi-genre author is to their benefit. Multi-genre authors often have a wider perspective on their worlds. They aren’t afraid to add a bit of action and adventure to sci-fi. Their military based tale will have a strong romance element. A young adult coming of age story can also be a convincing romance. The same can be said for a western that incorporates elements of action/adventure, history, military, and a bit of romance.
What can multi-genre authors bring to a publisher? They are more diverse. We see the story from so many angles that we work harder to make them work. We’re open to trying new things, refreshing our fan base with more people who will seek out our other novels.
The biggest thing a multi-genre author is not is confused. I’ve never once been baffled by my books. The only problem I’ve ever had is getting the characters to quiet down long enough to work in those new elements and then to tweak them so they work.
I never thought anything about jumping genres, or even combining them. I write the story as it demands to be written. To my amazement, I soon found that some individuals didn’t believe an author should write outside their genre. That stupefied me because prior to writing fiction, most of my writing was technical, during my years in the Air Force. So, one has to ask, exactly what type of writer was I?
To most publishers, I was non-classifiable. They don’t understand an author who can write in multiple genres, or even combine genres in the same book. They want you to stick true to a single genre, no matter what the story demands.
Did that type of bias stop me?
Absolutely not. I forged forward, seeking a publisher who recognized that a multi-genre author is to their benefit. Multi-genre authors often have a wider perspective on their worlds. They aren’t afraid to add a bit of action and adventure to sci-fi. Their military based tale will have a strong romance element. A young adult coming of age story can also be a convincing romance. The same can be said for a western that incorporates elements of action/adventure, history, military, and a bit of romance.
What can multi-genre authors bring to a publisher? They are more diverse. We see the story from so many angles that we work harder to make them work. We’re open to trying new things, refreshing our fan base with more people who will seek out our other novels.
The biggest thing a multi-genre author is not is confused. I’ve never once been baffled by my books. The only problem I’ve ever had is getting the characters to quiet down long enough to work in those new elements and then to tweak them so they work.
May 18, 2015
Dear Bestselling Author/Marketing Maven
I got your message on Twitter last week. Kind of threw me, because you weren’t following me and I didn’t recognize your name, twitter handle, or picture. I couldn’t begin to understand why you complained that I was “spamming” your feed with buy my books links. That is, until I did a little research.
Congratulations. You’re a bestselling author. So am I. We share that. We also share quite a few other attributes, with one major glaring exception.
How do I know this?
Let’s just say that unlike you, I did my research. Now, I can’t look at your Twitter feed, since you blocked me after sending that tweet. I did find that tweet, along with the responses I couldn’t see either, on your blog. Very nice strategy for someone running a business to do what you did. I might have done the same with another glaring exception. I would have asked the person’s permission to use that kind of information. Although, I understand why you didn’t. You probably figured that I wouldn’t give my permission, and you wouldn’t have been wrong.
We’ll address that error first. See, you didn’t appear to do the research that I did before you used me in a marketing ploy to attract people looking for assistance selling their book. You offer advice they can get for free on the internet. The difference is that you charge them money for that. I don’t. In fact, I found some of your advice to be a bit different from what I give. I’d never tell an author that they can make a living after publishing five books. Really? Five years minimum to have steady sales, but I tell my authors they shouldn’t ever expect to make huge amounts of money selling book. The reason for that is the book market is saturated. To stay in people’s minds, you have to publish often. Most people don’t have a large backlog of publication ready manuscripts they can put up every month or so. Even those of us who do won’t always publish monthly.
Now to address why you didn’t do the research you should have, and how I know my posts weren’t spamming your Twitter feed because of anything I did. I visited your website as part of my research. The “About Me” section was quite informative. Both of the women who work with you were my followers. One isn’t any longer, but I did notice for the week leading up to your “Don’t spam my feed” post, she was only retweeting my book links. Not the quotes or pictures, which I tweet as much as I do my books. Just my books. Now, I’m not a conspiracy theorist, nor am I one to point fingers at anyone without good reason, but when one plus one equals two so well, I can’t help but wonder.
Did you actually post that tweet just to do some marketing on your side business, How to Market Books? Really? Seriously? Well, if you did, common sense dictates that you should pay me for all the customers you receive as a result of that post. It’s only fair.
Just sayin’.
May 15, 2015
The Spirit Realm
After incidents involving a guinea pig, a plastic chair, and the principal’s office, Amira and Alicia fall into a different world called the Spirit Realm, a place filled with souls that have been kidnapped from their former bodies after death. There they meet a small army which is trying to save the souls, and Eden, a handsome, easygoing boy. The girls learn that they have the power to control and create nearly everything in the known universe, and that they could be the saviors of the Spirit Realm, with the help of new, mysterious powers. But the enemy wants Amira and Alicia on its side, too. What if one girl is destined to join the enemy? And what if she has to break her sister’s heart to do it?
The Spirit Realm
May 14, 2015
Red Wing
Treble Anner has a seemingly perfect life. She’s the daughter of a president, who governs a country known as a Pational. The world is divided by hair color: four Pationals, four hair colors. There are the black-haired Ravens, brown-haired Doves, blonde Swans, and red-haired Cardinals. Those with streaked hair become slaves known as Gaps, or holes to a perfect society. On the annual holiday of Doves, Treble's Pational, she is proposed to, and everything about her life seems perfect, though she can't hide her deepest worries of conflict. Sure enough, a war is announced, and Treble is kidnapped from her home and taken to Cardinals, where the leaders, Loretta, Silky Voice, and Jerry, hound her for information. When things couldn't seem to get much worse, the truth is revealed, and Treble’s life and everything about it is twisted into a maze of lies and tragedy.
Red Wing
May 13, 2015
Transfixion
It's nothing short of the end of the world. Someone has weaponized the broadcast spectrum—gazing upon the transmission is enough to steal your mind. Kaylee Colton faces a technological Armageddon when suburbia shatters into civil war. All alone, and unable to speak, Kaylee will need to fight to survive and transcend her own fears if she is to stand against these enigmatic forces of destruction. Transfixion is an action-laced rush that will burrow straight into your brain...
A YA Sci-Fi Action Thriller
Transfixion
May 12, 2015
One Night in October
Fifteen years. That’s how long Paul Gibson stayed away from his father, Johnny Ray, after he tried to wreck his son’s wedding in an alcoholic stupor. But on this crisp late October night, Paul is coming back to his childhood home. He’s got one final chance to reconcile with a dying father who devoted his life to whiskey and horse betting instead of his family.
Paul has chosen the night of game six of the 2011 World Series to face the man he has never understood or connected with. Their one chance at reuniting as a family is linked to their only shared memory: a love of St. Louis Cardinals baseball.
As they watch the Cardinals attempt to save their season against the Texas Rangers, Paul and Johnny Ray will rip open the wounds of the past and struggle to find a way beyond them. The grudges and fears of their past will resurface, but so will the forgotten need to accept and forgive.
One Night In October is a touching story of a father and son spending one final evening searching for a way to bridge a chasm built on years of anger and bitterness. The outcome for both their beloved Cardinals and their relationship will hang by a thread until the very end.
One Night in October
