S.M. Boyce's Blog: My Journal, page 35

Authors We Love post—Check Out Paranormal Fantasy Writer Rebecca Hamilton

Today I’m joining in Robert Zimmermann’s Authors We Love meme. I think it’s pretty self-explanatory, but here it goes anyway: we write about the coolest authors ever.

 

Rebecca Hamilton is the author of the Forever Girl Journals, an occult paranormal fantasy blend that will span seven books and a handful of novellas. The first books in the series—The Forever Girl (Forever Girl Journals #1) and a novella called Her Sweetest Downfall—are out now. Check out my review of The Forever Girl, and the recent one I did for Her Sweetest Downfall.

Rebecca’s books have a way of hooking me into turning the page, especially when it comes to her chapter endings. Her stories are vivid, her characters are interesting, and she’s not afraid of a few adult situations.

She’s a great person, to boot!

Rebecca and I met about a year ago when a mutual friend invited me to Rebecca’s Triberr tribe. She and I started chatting about books, discussed the publishing industry, analyzed each other’s publishing processes, and before we knew it we were close friends. It’s amazing what a bit of empowered discussion can do for a friendship.

I even got to meet her in July, when her family came to Maryland to visit. She’s just as cool in person. I know, I know. Pic or it didn’t happen. Here you go.

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Apparently I’m much taller than anticipated.

Rebecca is a lot of fun to talk to, and she’s incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to writing, editing, and the publishing process. She even opened Immortal Ink Publishing—the publishing house that has already published X authors. I featured them in my recent post on choosing a small press publisher. In an unrelated move (I swear), she even invited me in as an acquisitions editor, and I’m thrilled to already be helping with submissions.

I’ve learned a lot from Rebecca. She’s an awesome person, a dear friend, and a great author. I highly recommend you reach out and say hello.

 

Connect with Rebecca

Website | Blog | Goodreads

Amazon Author Page | Twitter | Facebook

Grab Your Copy of Forever Girl

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | Goodreads | Barnes & Noble

 

Grab Your Copy of Her Sweetest Downfall

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | Goodreads

 

S. M. Boyce is a fantasy and paranormal fiction writer. You can find her novels on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

A Closer Look at Timing Your Publications: Day 3 of the Discussion on Whether or Not Versatility Hurts an Author’s Career

This is the last in this series of posts. So far, we talked about the pros and cons of writing across genres and why some writers seem to avoid doing so entirely. Today, I want to talk about how writers can take versatility too far and truly become over-abundantly diverse. If you haven’t already read the first post, I recommend you start there and work your way back here.

 

Later on in the discussion, Tommy brought up another great question:

Do you think it would be more likely to hurt an author if they strive for diversity early in their career?

I wasn’t entirely sure what he meant at first until he used the Grimoire Trilogy as an example. Though I plan on branching away from epic fantasy for a little while after the trilogy, I will still have 3 core novels and at least 3 novellas. So I’m only starting to diversify after 6 books, while he was contemplating a change in course immediately after book one.

Hmm.

This is another great question, and an excellent point. If you haven’t established yourself as an author first, how do people know what to expect from you?

Is it too soon to switch genres after just one book? I think it is.

Think about it: if you look up an author you’ve never heard of before and see that they have an adult horror novel and a middle grade romance novel, you’re going to grimace and wonder what they’re smoking. You can’t be sure of what to expect from them. Will that stop you from reading one or both books? Probably not. But it is strange, and it’s hard to hook new readers when you haven’t first developed a platform and a brand image.

Therefore, timing and volume very well might factor into a possible scenario where an author is “over-abundantly diverse:” when they have a small number of novels that are nothing like each other.

In Tommy’s case, I think it might be best to publish his fantasy series first. That way, he’ll get more novels out there in succession and can begin to develop his brand image and his voice. After he’s establishes himself a bit—perhaps with 2 or 3 well-edited books—he can ease into a new genre by releasing the horror novel as long as there are at least some similarities between them.

To give you an example of what I mean, let’s go back to my paranormal horror series I have planned. I actually already wrote the intro—a short story that’s all polished and written called To Each His Ghost. I could publish it tomorrow if I wanted. However, it’s a teaser: an intro to a greater series. It’s so unlike the Grimoire Trilogy that I don’t think it would do me any good to put it out there before the Grimoire Trilogy has a sense of resolution. People who want more in that vein of writing will have to wait 1-2 years for me to get back to it, so I think I’ll just hold onto it for now.

Let’s look at some other examples.

Stephen King’s first book was Carrie (1974, horror). From there, he moved onto ‘Salem’s Lot (1975, gothic horror), The Shining (1977, horror), and Rage (1977, psychological thriller). While he didn’t write a horror series in the beginning, he did build a platform of horror fans using stand-alone novels with a dark voice and grim imagery. It also helped that ‘Salem’s Lot was a World Fantasy Award nominee in 1976. He has since released one book per year on average, though he published 4 in 1987 alone. In my opinion, it looks like a steady combination of quality, consistent voice, and volume is part of what made him so well-known.

Neil Gaiman began as a graphic artist before he branched into screenplays and novels. He published a few comics and steadily moved up from collaborations to working for D.C. Comics on Black Orchid. From there, he was tasked to revive Sandman, which effectively made his career. His first real novel was Good Omens, a horror collaboration with fantasy author Terry Pratchett. Remember, though, that he had a solid platform with his dark fantasy graphic novels at that point. He branched into a new medium by adding novels to his repertoire, but he kept in a similar genre and only did so after years of working on a plethora of graphic novels.

Alternatively, J. K. Rowling, C. S. Lewis, and J. R. R. Tolkien are most famous for just one series. While Rowling and Tolkien never strayed from their original works, Lewis wrote many other novels—all of which are far lesser known than his Chronicles of Narnia. That’s probably because they focused more on outright faith than fictional adventures, but it’s hard to be certain.

Now, I do have to interject here with an asterisk. Rowling is releasing The Casual Vacancy, which is the first in a new series has absolutely nothing to do with Harry Potter, this year. It actually looks interesting. Not only is it not related to Harry Potter, though, it’s not even YA. She’s writing an adult-centric literary fiction…though, that’s no doubt at least partly due to the fact that her core fan base is all grown up. I think it’s safe to say that Ms. Rowling would have to work pretty hard to write a book that didn’t sell, so I’m sure she’ll do well with her new series. She’s already in the top 30 spaces of two category charts, and the book hasn’t even released yet. Really, she’s one more argument in building up a genre first before you expand—her debut is now a classic taught in schools.

Amanda Hocking wrote a few paranormal romance series first (My Blood Approves & the Trylle trilogy) before branching into Hollowland (zombies), but she’s still known for YA pararomance and probably will always be known for it. She even slipped back into pararomance with her new Watersong series. She found her niche, it seems, and she doesn’t seem to sway much from that. Considering her recent millions, I’d have to say it works for her.

There are plenty more examples, but you get the point. I say write from the genre which most interests you first, and write multiple books within that genre—either stand-alone books or a series—before branching out and exploring. That will give you a platform of readers and allow you to establish yourself before you do a rain dance across genres.

If you have multiple stand-alone novels in the same genre, I also think you should write these in the same age label. That might be too much, but the point is to give yourself a brand image to start with before you dive off and expand.

The Bottom Line

Powerful writing stems from passion. A book sticks with us for many reasons, arguably too many to name, but the core reason a book is successful is because the author loved writing it. The passion shows.

So if you’re even slightly inclined towards writing in different genres, I say go for it. Try. Be versatile. Even if you write multiple genres in a strange order, make sure you take timing the order of your books properly into consideration when you publish.

Whatever you do, write as much as you can about as many different people as you can in as many worlds as possible. Use your writing to learn and grow as a person, and it will make your novels even more commanding.

 

 
The Schedule

This post was too big to host in just one day. Here’s the full schedule, with links:

Day One: Can Publishing in Multiple Genres Hurt an Author’s Career?
Day Two: Why Many Authors Don’t Change Genres…Ever
Day Three: A Closer Look at Timing Your Publications



S. M. Boyce is a fantasy and paranormal fiction writer. You can find her novels on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.


The Discussion

Is this a definitive look at versatility as it pertains to authors? No. I’m sure we missed something somewhere, but it’s a conversation starter. Jump in.

Authors

How many books do you publish a year?
Have you published books in different genres right after the other? How did you market them?
Do you care how many books an author publishes in a year?
When do you look at an author’s full list of novels: before you buy the first book, while you’re reading it, after you finish & review, or never?

Readers

Do you care how many books an author publishes in a year?
When do you look at an author’s full list of novels: before you buy the first book, while you’re reading it, after you finish & review, or never?

Why Many Authors Don’t Change Genres…Ever: Day 2 of the Discussion on Whether or Not Versatility Hurts an Author’s Career

Yesterday, we talked about the pros and cons of writing across genres. Today, the focus is more on why some writers seem to avoid it entirely. If you didn’t read yesterday’s post, I recommend you start there.

 
Why Some Authors Avoid Versatility

So here’s the question: why do most authors seem to stick to one genre? There are a couple reasons, I think.

 

Comfort

It’s what they know. A lot of writers don’t push themselves. It’s sad for me to see an author never really live up to their potential, but I can’t push them if it’s not what they want. If a writer knows romance really well or has their foot in the pararomance door and doesn’t want to leave, that’s their prerogative. However, I think it’s a stagnant place to live out your writing years.

 

Preference

This is slightly different from comfort in that it’s just what they like best. Their passion lies in a particular genre, rather than in writing itself. They live and breathe horror novels or paranormal romance or whatever, and that’s all they’ll ever want to do.

If that’s the case for you, go for it. You should always follow your passion, wherever it takes you. However, I have to give you a warning. Genre-preference authors, you must be careful to avoid getting comfortable and losing the passion that led you here in the first place.

 

It’s All Business

Some writers choose a genre at first because they’re passionate, but stay after they’re complacent because they build a readership in that niche. What these authors have to be careful of, though, is the fact that writing is a passionate art.

Readers take from a book what the author puts into it. If the author grows bored with a genre, it will show in their writing and they will lose readers anyway. So to stay in a genre because it seems like the logical business decision is ultimately a mistake; the passion to write—and the author’s total readers—will dwindle over time.

 

They Stick to their Strengths

It’s possible that some authors just think they can write one genre best. They don’t necessarily prefer it over others or write to keep their sales high, but they think they know one genre better than any other.

For example, look at Nicholas Sparks—he writes pretty much the same basic plot in most of his novels, but connects with the readers in an emotional way that brings them back for more every time. It’s a bit perplexing, but hey, I like his work too.

Business v. Creativity

There’s no “right answer” when it comes to versatility; it all depends on what you can do as a writer. You’ll have to experiment, and you’ll probably make mistakes along the way. That’s normal. However, a look at two different perspectives on the subject might help you choose where to start.

Tommy has apparently held a few private discussions on this subject and summarized his past conversations for this post. One of his responses came from a businessperson, while the other came from a fellow writer. I think their contrast sums up the conflict in this discussion pretty well.

 

The Business Outlook

From a business perspective, to put all of your eggs in one basket is a bad idea, because if you drop the basket, you break all of your eggs. But on the other hand, to put a dozen eggs in twelve different baskets is a bad idea as well, because you’re not going to be carry those baskets very well. If you only focus on one thing, or genre, you’re a one horse pony, which is a bad thing. If you focus on two or three things, you’re a specialist, which is a good thing. If you focus on four or five, you’re a generalist, which is also a good thing. But if you’re spreading your time and talent over a dozen or so areas, you’re a jack of all trades, king of nothing.

 

The Creative Outlook

I would hate to lose even a small amount of creative freedom in order to be allowed to make a living as a writer. On the other hand, though, if you HAVE to be stuck doing one job the rest of your life, writing fiction sounds like as cool a dead end to be ‘stuck’ in regardless of the genre.

 

The Moral

Don’t be afraid to experiment and explore…just don’t spread yourself too thin.

 

 
The Schedule

This post was too big to host in just one day. Here’s the full schedule, with links:

Day One: Can Publishing in Multiple Genres Hurt an Author’s Career?
Day Two: Why Many Authors Don’t Change Genres…Ever
Day Three: A Closer Look at Timing Your Publications


S. M. Boyce is a fantasy and paranormal fiction writer. You can find her novels on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

The Discussion

Is this a definitive look at versatility as it pertains to authors? No. I’m sure we missed something somewhere, but it’s a conversation starter. Jump in.

Can Publishing in Multiple Genres Hurt an Author’s Career?

I recently had a discussion with Tommy Hancock (@TommyHancock), an aspiring novelist and comic book writer who has been researching the publishing world and the indie revolution. He asked me a fantastic question that prompted a great discussion, and I want to share it with you.

His question:

Can versatility hurt an author? I mean, an overabundance of it?

He has two novels in the works: a young adult epic fantasy (it sounds like it might appeal to Grimoire Trilogy fans) and an adult horror novel. Great range, am I right?

Even though his books sound completely different, I don’t think it’s enough to be considered over-abundantly diverse. In terms of novel writing, one might become over-abundantly diverse if he or she publishes completely different novels too close together, but I talk more about that in the Timing section below.

To start, let’s focus more on versatility itself as it relates to novelists.

I agree that many writers pigeonhole themselves in a particular genre. We see it everywhere, from indies to traditionally published authors, but we see plenty of exceptions to that observation as well.

Versatility: Pros vs. Cons

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of being a versatile author that pens novels in multiple genres across any combination of the five age labels (children’s, middle grade, young adult, new adult, and adult).

 

Pros
Freedom & Passion

How many times can you write for one age group or genre before your eyes start to wander? How long before you start to look at other genres with a new curiosity you’ve never felt before? For most authors who love writing itself, it’s inevitable. Sure, you love your trademark genre, but you can’t deny the creative itch to explore the mind of a zombie, or play with what it would be like to control magic.

It’s not cheating. It’s writing.

The passion to write knows no limit—only the story. If you typecast yourself into one genre, you lose the freedom to truly explore the creative medium that is the written word.

Take a look at Neil Gaiman, who is known for everything from novels to screenplays to comics. He has even . Though he writes primarily fantasy (ranging from high fantasy to urban fantasy), his range in medium gives him a versatility that reaches millions of fans. I, for instance, did not like his opus American Gods. Gasp! I know, I’m an abomination. I did, however, love Coraline and Neverwhere. To me, all three have completely different voices, and I’ll continue to read his work even though I didn’t like one of them.

The same is true of Stephen King. The man writes everything from horror to fantasy, and he’s one of the most famous authors of our age. You can’t go into a bookstore without seeing one of his novels or read a writing technique discussion without hearing someone mention his book On Writing. It’s only natural that he has explored different genres—I mean, after you write for decades, it’s almost inevitable that you’ll switch it up. Writers are curious by nature and love to explore new worlds.

 

The Challenge

True writers know they can always improve. No writer—not even Neil Gaiman or Stephen King—is perfect. We know we can push ourselves to improve and learn new techniques that will make us better. By broadening our genres, we explore new styles, characters, and situations that will ultimately improve our writing ability.

For instance, I’m currently writing The Grimoire Trilogy—an epic fantasy series with a contemporary twist. However, my next series is either going to be urban fantasy or paranormal horror (I have two different series mapped out and ready to go, but haven’t picked one yet). Yep. Starkly different from magical hidden worlds and new races I made up for the Grimoire. For now, my epic fantasy days are limited to the Grimoire Trilogy and its companion novellas. Will I branch back? Probably. It depends on where the story ideas in my swipes journal take me. But I will push myself, and I will follow my passion to explore new stories.

Each book I write has to be new, exciting, and fresh; otherwise, I just won’t think it’s good enough to publish. My readers deserve the absolute best I can give them.

 

Readership

Readership is probably the hardest factor to place in this debate because it’s both a pro and a con. By expanding your genres, you run the very high chance that you will gain new readers. Sure, some readers only go for one type of book—pararomance, maybe, or high fantasy. But most readers are so incredibly complex that they love to explore different genres, authors, and storylines. The world is a diverse place, and readers’ tastes reflect that. Picking up one reader with a book that’s different from your others might actually attract a lifelong reader that reads everything you release because they love you.

 

Cons
Readership

Again, readership is probably the hardest factor to place because it’s both a pro and a con. The downside to changing up your genres is you run the risk of alienating readers who liked previous work but don’t like your current work. They may think you’ve taken a turn in your writing and give up on you because they don’t like where you’re headed. That’s a risk.

They key here is to maintain your voice as an author. While that will continue to grow and improve over time, readers ultimately fall in love with an author’s narrative style as much as they fall in love with the story. If they know they can come to you for a riveting read with deeply emotional characters with whom they can connect, they’ll follow you through virtually any genre.

 

Uncharted Territory

To try something new is a risk for authors. It might snowball into the worst story they’ve ever written, thereby delaying their next publication date as they try to come up with something publishable.

I don’t think this is a real con so much as it’s a factor people consider. Fact of the matter is, though, writers take risks all the time. It’s in the job description. Great books thrive off new ideas; they tackle clichés and expectations, thereby raising the bar for everyone else. That’s risk.

So if your goal is to write a good book, you’re taking a risk.

Don’t be afraid of failing; you can always throw it out and write another one if it sucks. I have piles of manuscripts and hidden files on my computer that are just crap. Crap, I tell you—crap I that will never see the light of day because it’s not good enough. You have to write a few crappy ones before you’re good enough to publish.

 

 
The Schedule

This post was too big to host in just one day. Here’s the full schedule, with links:

Day One: Can Publishing in Multiple Genres Hurt an Author’s Career?
Day Two: Why Many Authors Don’t Change Genres…Ever
Day Three: A Closer Look at Timing Your Publications


S. M. Boyce is a fantasy and paranormal fiction writer. You can find her novels on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

The Discussion

Is this a definitive look at versatility as it pertains to authors? No. I’m sure we missed something somewhere, but it’s a conversation starter. Jump in.

Authors

Do you stick to one genre or do you diversify?
What is/are your favorite genre(s)?
Do you prefer authors in one genre, or do you like it when an author has a diverse range of novels?
What is/are your favorite genre(s)?

Readers

Authors We Love Meme—Check Out Urban Fantasy Writer Thomas Winship

Today I’m joining in Robert Zimmermann’s Authors We Love meme. I think it’s pretty self-explanatory, but here it goes anyway: we write about the coolest authors ever.

 

Okay, so what’s better than a scifi vampire novel with zombies? Not much, right? Well, the one thing that’s cooler is the author who wrote it.

Thomas Winship is a New Yorker who wrote the Vaempires: Revolution, the first in the Vaempires series (read my review). It’s about a world thousands of years in the future, where vampires and humans have learned to live in peace. However, a new breed called vaempires has mutated and now feeds on vampires. They lead a revolution when peace talks fail. It’s a great action novel, with tons of great imagery and bad-ass characters. What’s more, though, is that there’s more below the surface—if you care to look, it’s a political and social discussion as well. I love books with layers.

In addition to the main novel, Tom wrote a novella to accompany the series called White Christmas. It answers questions about the main characters that aren’t addressed in the primary novel, which was really neat. Read my review here.

I met Tom when I volunteered as a stop on one of his blog tours. He thanked me for my review and, because I liked the book so much, I pushed him into a conversation. Haha! I’m cruel.

We talked about his series and the direction it’s headed, and I have to tell you, I’m stoked. This is just an exciting series with incredible potential. Frankly, I can see it being a movie. There’s plenty of action, romance, imperfect heroes, and believable villains.

Make sure you reach out to Tom or at least stalk him online. He’s a great guy and a lot of fun!

 

Connect with Tom

Website | Blog | Goodreads

Amazon Author Page | Twitter | Facebook

Grab Your Copy of Vaempires: Revolution

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | Goodreads

Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

 

Grab Your Copy of White Christmas

Amazon (US) | Goodreads | Barnes & Noble

Cover Reveal! The Burning of Isobel Key by Jen McConnel

It’s my birthday! Go me. And it so happens that my friend Jen McConnel is releasing her novel’s book cover today, so I’m just going to pretend that’s her present to me. Don’t hate.

Here is the synopsis for The Burning of Isobel Key, which looks like it’s going to be a killer read:

When Lou travels to Scotland, she’s a mess.  She’s twenty-six, unemployed, and unsure of herself.  It doesn’t help that she’s traveling with Tammy, her best friend, who is everything Lou is not.

At first, the trip pushes Lou towards the brink of depression, but then she meets Brian, a handsome local tour guide.  When Brian tells the tourists about the countless witches burned in Scotland, Lou starts to listen.  And when she discovers information about Isobel Key, one of the victims of the seventeenth century, Lou finds renewed purpose.

She sets out to learn the truth of the condemned witch, but she isn’t prepared for the knowledge that waits for her.  Lou must face her demons if she has any hope of righting the wrongs of the past.

About Jen McConnel

Jen McConnel first began writing poetry as a child.  Since then, her words have appeared in a variety of magazines and journals, including Sagewoman, PanGaia, and The Storyteller (where she won the people’s choice 3rd place award for her poem, “Luna”).

She is also an active reviewer for Voices of Youth Advocates (VOYA), and proud member of SCBWI, NCWN, and SCWW.

The Burning of Isobel Key is her first novel.  She also writes YA fantasy.

Blog | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook

Official Book Website 

 

Excerpt from  The Burning of Isobel Key

She was standing on a spot near the sea in a place that looked like St. Andrews.  Lou recognized the Old Course over to her left, and realized that she was somewhere near the modern edge of the town.  In her dream, however, she realized that she was somewhere much more rural: other than the Old Course and the road running alongside it, there were no man-made structures.  No lights winked out at her from the darkness, and everything was shrouded in a strange mist.

Lou heard a noise coming from the direction of town.  She froze, knowing that she would not be seen in a dream, yet she was unaccountably afraid of the sounds coming her way.

The sounds grew more distinct, and Lou saw the source of the noise.  A mass of people was surging up the road, headed in her direction.  They carried lit torches and shouted and jostled each other.  Towards the center of the group, the men and women were carrying something.  It wasn’t until they dropped part of their burden that Lou could make out the shape of human bones.

The bones were charred, as if they had sat for hours in the fire.  She thought she knew who they belonged to, and her suspicions were confirmed when a man called out “The witch’s soul is back with her master!”  His words were answered with a cheer, and Lou watched, nauseous, as some of the boys in the group each picked up a bone and began to batter each other as if they were playing with wooden swords.  A dog ran by their game and scooped a bony hand into its mouth.

The skull slipped to the ground, and instead of bending to retrieve it, the woman who carried it began to kick it in front of her like a soccer ball.  Lou wanted to cover her eyes, to scream, to cry at them to stop, but she was frozen in the dream, unable to look away, unable to stop listening.

The mob passed without noticing her, but one of the mangy dogs trotting along at the edge of the crowd stopped directly in front of her and howled once, low and menacing, before continuing along its way.  Still unable to move her body, Lou watched as the crowd passed her.  They stopped some hundred yards away, and Lou watched the flurry of shovels, digging into the earth.  Squinting in the dark, Lou was just able to make out a thin dirt path, crossing the main road from St. Andrews, at the spot where the mob had stopped.  “The crossroads!”  With that frenzied thought, she was spinning out of the dream, pulled into absolute darkness.

She shot up in bed, wild eyed, and looked across the room at Tammy, also wide awake and staring.

Tammy began to stutter, her face white with terror.  “I had an awful dream, Lou.  Awful!  There were people, and bones, so many bones, and they were treating the bones like toys!  They even let the dog gnaw on a hand!” She shuddered.  “It was so awful, I couldn’t stand it.”

Lou crossed the room to her best friend.  “I know.  I think I dreamed the same thing.  Did you see where they buried the bones?”

Tammy shook her head, frantically.  “No, I didn’t see them bury anything.  I just saw them being awful!” Lou squeezed her shoulders, trying to reassure her.

“I saw them.  I saw them too,” she murmured, soothingly.  “But I saw more.  I know where they buried Isobel’s bones!”

Add it to your TBR List!

Find on Goodreads

Does it Hurt Authors to Publically Share Their Political Opinions?

This is part of my Indie How-To Index, which is a complete guide on everything from writing to marketing your novel. I designed the Indie Index to help authors on the road to being published. It’s totally free, so all I ask is that you have fun, learn something, and add to the discussion.

 

Here’s an interesting topic brought to my attention by Kayla Curry, author of the fantasy novel Obsidian: should authors post political opinions on their social media sites and blogs?

To those about to pipe up about free speech, hold on a second. Obviously we can. The question is should we. Besides religious discussions, a political debate is about the easiest way to make people mad. You want to get a mob riled up? Yell “abortion” in a crowded room, sit back, and enjoy the show.

Note: this isn’t a political argument. Your opinions on gay rights and abortion and where the next Olympics should be held don’t go in these comments. Keep it focused on the debate at hand: whether or not authors should voice public opinion in the first place.

So to start off our discussion, Kayla brought up a great point:

I follow authors to learn about their books and similar subjects. [I don’t follow them] to have them try to push me into voting for one guy or the other… I realize this is a somewhat touchy subject, since my opinion on the matter basically says: if you’re an author, you can’t have a public opinion on current issues.

I agree. Mostly. On the whole, an author’s brand is about his or her books, genre, blog, and writing style. Except for political-themed authors, it isn’t about being conservative or liberal. But the operative word in her statement that I don’t like is “can’t.”

While it’s generally a good idea to avoid politics as a fiction author, there are exceptions. Whether or not you post political commentary really all depends on your brand as an author.

 

What’s in a Brand Image?

Every author’s brand will differ. That’s the whole point. Each author is unique and has something different to share. So his or her brand is a complex compilation of novels, blog articles, tweets, Facebook shares, Google+ posts, comments, and more. Any and every one of the author’s public comments or shares contributes to his or her brand.

The question therefore becomes: what is your brand all about?

My author brand is a twisted braid of writing quality novels, creating/sharing helpful posts with authors, and developing in-depth reviews for readers to find great stories. In  no way does my brand affiliate with political organizations or opinions. Do I, personally? Of course. I care about our world and my country. Does everyone and their mother need to know? Not really. 99% of the time, they’re not coming to me to learn my opinion on gay rights. They want to see something cool or read a great story because that’s what I’m known for & promote.

A nonfiction biography writer or an author who writes political thrillers, however, might want to take a more public stance when it comes to their political opinions—but only because it ties into what they offer as content providers.

The author brand is a tough one to conquer. You’re an individual. You have to be unique, or no one will notice you. However, you can’t piss people off, either, or you’ll lose readers. There’s no way to make everyone happy, so you have to find the middle ground where you’re content. Does that middle ground involve partisan politics? I don’t think it needs to. There is so much quality content you can share that has nothing to do with abrasive topics like politics and religion that you just don’t need to start that fire.

When deciding whether or not to share public content, the question becomes: what is your brand? Does whatever you’re about to post tie into what you represent as a writer, rather than as an individual?

If in doubt, don’t post. You can always sleep on it and come back later. Undoing bad press because of one stupid mistake, however, is a nightmare.

 

Well, It’s Not That Easy

Sure, I have a few political jokes and shares in my Awesomeness board on Pinterest. These pins either made me laugh because they either encouraged or made fun of my beliefs. Some I just posted because they made me smile to think we’re starting to get along a little better.  Do they make me happy? Yes. Do I think others might enjoy them? Yeah, or I wouldn’t have shared them. Do they define my political opinion? Hells nah.

You can let a few political zingers through the cracks, especially if they’re just jokes (we all have to laugh at ourselves sometimes). Be careful, though, to make sure the context is easy to understand. You don’t want people misinterpreting what you meant, and sometimes it’s just better to share amongst your friends rather than your followers.

When you do share, just don’t go overboard. 20 posts on your Facebook fan page or an entire Pinterest board filled with propaganda is too much. You’ll lose fans.

 

The “Business” Mindset

Here’s a counter argument for you: why can’t authors make their voices heard if businesses like Chick-fil-A, Nabisco, Microsoft, and Apple donate to political organizations?

An author is arguably a business, if not in the fully legal sense. You wear all the hats, from content provider to agent to formatter to marketer. Besides, isn’t everyone telling you to treat your author brand like a business?

In theory, in can be argued that authors should have the same freedom as a corporation when it comes to having a public political stance. Well, let’s take a closer look at that.

When you walk into an Apple store or look at PCs, there’s no sticker on the display telling you about the organizations to which these computer companies donate. If you care, it takes research to find that out. Political donations are not large part of their brand image, and they don’t make a big deal out of it. Which organizations they therefore choose does ties into the company’s public image, but not usually in a staggering way. For instance, many people didn’t even know that the company who owns Oreos donates to gay rights companies. When that fact became more public (I’m still not sure how that happened), many people began to boycott Oreos, only to find out the parent company is Nabisco. Those boycotters will have to go without many more products to actually make a dent in Nabisco’s profit margin.

As most of the free world knows by now, Chick-fil-A came under fire for the CEO’s recent vocal opinion against gay rights. The general public’s reaction to his opinions has ranged from a nationwide “buy Chick-fil-A” day to a counter-event encouraging people to donate to gay rights campaigns in lieu of buying from the chicken company. The debate continued, people got angrier, and some mayors even said Chick-fil-A isn’t welcome in their cities. That CEO’s comment sparked weeks’ worth of boycotts and took the center stage on a national level.

Holy wow. Personally, I would not want that kind of attention. Some say bad publicity is still publicity, but at what cost? He alienated most people who support gay rights with his comment, as gobs of people now refuse to buy Chick-fil-A. The Muppets pulled their toy line from Chick-fil-A’s kids meals for supporting the CEO’s comment. The company lost a lot of business and then gained some back. But for what? Does a fast food company taking a formal political stance on a controversial topic contribute to its brand image?

Well yes, actually. In this case, at least.

Chick-fil-A was founded by S. Truett Cathy, a proud Baptist. Because of this, the restaurant closes every Sunday in honor of the founder’s faith. So right from the get-go, religion was tied into the company’s image. They donated to anti-gay groups long before this, though they haven’t been altogether public about it. Some consumers avoided Chick-fil-A because of these donations long before the CEO said anything. So frankly, it can’t be that surprising that the company supports his opinion.

However, most companies keep mum on the subject. They donate to political organizations, sure, but they don’t advertise it much. Consumers usually have to do a bit of digging to find out who donates to whom. And you know what? Their companies are doing just fine for their silence. No mass boycotts. No waves of angry internet comments or intense forum debates—at least, not more than the internet is used to seeing.

 

The Bottom Line

So, does posting political opinions hurt authors or not?

Think about it from a reader’s perspective: when you go to a fantasy author’s blog, do you want to read about their opinions on the next election, or do you want to learn about their books?

In my opinion, it’s best for authors to keep their voices down in the public arena unless they want the politics to fuel their brand image. If you as an author choose to do that, you’ll lose followers. You’ll gain some, too, but you’ll alienate perfectly good readers in your target audience simply because they don’t agree with you on a controversial matter.

Am I telling you to never voice your opinion? Of course not. That’s what your private Facebook is for, or your personal G+, or your privacy-enabled twitter. You don’t lose yourself to your brand image; it’s a part of you, sure, but you can’t define yourself by it or you’ll go crazy trying to manage the hordes.

You are your own person. Your brand image is a different beast entirely. My advice? Stay away from politics and focus on what’s important: your books.

 

The Discussion

Remember, I don’t want to know your political opinion on abortion or Obama or the Olympics’ opening ceremony.

Authors:

What do you think—should authors post political commentary?
Do you post political commentary on your social media and blog? Why or why not?
Does this really apply to us authors? Have you ever even had to think about this before?
Do you care what authors have to say politically?
Would political posts from an author turn you off their work?

Readers:

What goes through your mind when you see authors posting political commentary? Do you care?
Would you unfollow an author who voices their political opinion often? How often would the author have to post to annoy you?

eBook Distribution News: Monkeybars Takes Books Offline (for Now)

The multi-media platform Monkeybars.net recently sent out a news bulletin to its publishers stating that they were suspending their books market temporarily to focus on their more successful music-selling platform. Though they didn’t give an ETA for when they would start selling books again, they did say it would be no longer than 90 days.

For those who don’t know about this site yet, Monkeybars is a distribution network that allows content providers to sell three types of media: music, videos, and books. Their pricing feature is the real gem, though: they don’t take any cut from your profits. However, you can encourage end-users (your readers) to promote your work for you by giving them a cut of your profits instead. To learn more about this neat feature, check out my review of the site.

So at first, I cursed a little under my breath when I heard Monkeybars was taking down the books platform. However, it’s actually a good thing.

Frankly, their books platform was lacking. In fact, all I got were errors when I tried to republish Lichgates (Grimoire Trilogy #1) on the site after I experimented with KDP Select. Frustrated, I gave up and wrote them off until I had the patience to figure it out.

The good news, then, comes a little later in their statement.

Monkeybars says they’re taking down the books (and film) platforms to focus on improving them offline. They lets them be a little more drastic with the changes and put more effort into truly turning a great idea into a similarly great experience.

All in all, I’m happy with their move. I think it will clean up the experience. And since they’re still a growing site, it doesn’t hurt too many readers or content providers. However, this is a site you’ll want to keep your eye on—I think they’ll go places.

So I recommend you join, add me (I don’t bite…hard), and begin to build your network while they’re improving the site. Here’s what they have to say about network building on their help page:

 

Why should I care about my number in my network?

Well, here at Monkeybars we do things a little differently. Your network represents how many people you are directly or indirectly responsible for bringing onto Monkeybars. Any purchase made by someone in your network rewards you with a network rewards.

 

So, build your network. Once they re-release their books platform, you can dive in head-first with a solid readership network to essentially market your novel for you.

 

Discussion

Have you heard of Monkeybars.net before?
Think you’ll join? Why or why not?

Authors We Love post—Check Out Urban Fantasy Writer Nikki Jefford

Today I’m joining in Robert Zimmermann’s Authors We Love meme. I think it’s pretty self-explanatory, but here it goes anyway: we write about the coolest authors ever.

 

I don’t usually go fan girl. I don’t. But when I read a book that just kicks ass, I can’t help myself.

Nikki Jefford debuted last year with her Spellbound Series: a trilogy about twin witches. While that may sound like a Nickelodeon special, there’s no slime involved (thank goodness). The Spellbound series has evil twins, sexy boys, love triangles, humiliation, high school (ugh), betrayal, and the perfect touch of magic to frost the cake.

I actually just found Entangled (Spellbound #1) on my Nook (check out my review). I have no idea how it got there. As far as I can tell, I hadn’t spoken to Nikki before. I’m going with something along the lines of “she snapped her fingers and it just appeared.”

It really isn’t fair how quickly Nikki hooked me into this series. Through a mild form of harassment on my part, I was able to get an early copy of Duplicity, (Spellbound #2), and now I’m tapping my foot, waiting for Book 3 (Spellbound #3). Check out my review of Duplicity.

The coolest part about all of this is that Nikki Jeffords is just a super-nice person. She replied to my review and we just started chatting, which turned into my getting to proofread Duplicity, which turned into weekly chats. It’s funny how friendships pop up out of nowhere, but it helps when the author is just cool.

So I definitely recommend you send her a tweet or contact her in some way to just say hello. She’s a lot of fun and—get this—lives in Alaska. On an island with no stoplights. Jealous much? I am. She took the world on a tour of her island for Amanda Hocking’s Under the Seapalooza and now I want to go visit.

 

Connect with Nikki

Website | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page | Twitter

Grab Your Copy of Entangled
Spellbound #1

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | Goodreads

Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

 

Grab Your Copy of Duplicity
Spellbound #2

Amazon (US) | Amazon (UK) | Goodreads

Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

 

More about Enchantment
Spellbound #3

Add to Goodreads

 

 

The Dreaded One- and Two-Star Book Reviews

This is part of the Dissecting Reviews series, a component of my Indie How-To Index that’s meant to help authors learn from the reviews people leave on their novels. No, the Index is totally free. Have fun.

 

Low ratings. Ick, am I right?

One- and two-star reviews are a painful reality of publishing a book. Your novel might be your baby, but some people will think it’s a whiny child that smells like a sewer.

That’s okay.

Your confidence shouldn’t derive from your reviews. Really, it shouldn’t. You published a damn book. No matter how popular the indie revolution is, most people in the world will never, ever say that. Even more will never be able to say their published book is doing well. Many traditionally published authors can’t even say that. So—I’m going to repeat myself because it’s important—don’t let your confidence rest in your book’s average rating, whether it’s high or low. Especially if it’s low, you need to worry about improving, not how “mean” everyone is.

I know it’s easier said than done to not let a low rating or negative review affect your mood. I’m such a perfectionist that sometimes even 4-star reviews get me down. Which is stupid, by the way. Don’t follow that example. It’s something I’m working on improving, and it’s one of the main reasons I started this Dissecting Reviews series…to push through this personal weakness of mine and help other authors learn from my mistakes at the same time.

Back to business. One- and two-star reviews are usually left by readers who didn’t like your book for one reason or another. You can sometimes learn why they didn’t like it by reading these reviews, but most of the time it just boils down to one of a few possibilities.

 

Possibility #1: They’re Not Your Target Audience

For those of you who don’t know what a “target audience” is, your audience is the group of people you think will best like your book. Don’t you dare say, “everyone will like it.” That’s insane and it will drive you crazy.

If a reader isn’t in your target audience—that is, you don’t think they’ll like your book in the first place for one reason or another—it won’t do you much good to learn from their reviews. The simple fact of the matter is they don’t like the sort of stuff you like to write. So…why stop doing what you like in an effort to write something they want to read? That’s not writing. That’s impassionate and it will fail. A writer needs to be passionate about their novel or readers everywhere will lose interest in it—including the reader the writer was trying to impress in the first place.

You can tell if a reader is in your target audience by looking at the way they rate other books in your genre. If they don’t have any other books in your genre…well, I think that pretty much speaks for itself. However, if they usually give high ratings to books similar to yours, you should take a look at possibility #2 as to why you got a low rating from them.

 

Possibility #2: They Have a Point

There are exceptions to the “target audience” rule of thumb, of course, and here’s the biggest one: if you get mostly low ratings, there is probably a pretty solid reason. Have a look. Sometimes—hell, most of the time—it’s because you didn’t hire an editor and it shows either in spelling and grammatical errors or in sweeping plot holes and unrealistic characters. To fix this, hire an editor. Address the concerns. Do a re-release once you’ve read my indie index, done some other research, taken notes, and applied these changes to your book to make it polished and clean. Start over and do it right.

 

The Game Plan

Yes, you can learn from low ratings. As this Dissecting Reviews series proves, you can learn from negative reviews. Luckily most reviewers are amazing and will give incredible insight as to why they didn’t like the novel. They’ll be professional and give examples in their criticisms—that’s a real review.

However, even a helpful negative review isn’t always the strongest place to learn. They might not be in your target audience, remember? Take a look at their other reviews. How did they rate books in your genre? Consider their advice if they rated other books in your genre higher than they rated yours. Remember that a review is an opinion. They’re 100% entitled to write one, but you’re not obligated to take the advice.

There’s no rule of thumb for this kind of thing. Those in the one- and two-star categories aren’t always going to have a wealth of information for you just because the review has a low rating. In fact, it can actually be harmful to your self-confidence if you don’t approach it with thick skin and a strong mind.

Reviewers and Readers

Let me know what you think about this. What makes you write a 1- or 2-star review, and what do you put in it? Do you post low ratings in all the same places you post high ratings? I ask because I actually see a lot of reviewers save only the positive reviews for their blogs, but always rate all books on all other sites.

 

My fellow authors with thick skin

You can skip the rest of this section and jump down to the comments. You know what you’re doing. You know how to take criticism with an open mind and a grain of salt. Go kick ass or fight crime or something.

 

Authors who need to work on their thick skin

Try this: read through two low-rating reviews the first time. Two. That’s it. Don’t take notes. Just read. If you can get through these two without getting angry or resentful, go back and take notes on these two reviews. Jot down a bullet or two with areas in your writing you might be able to improve based on their comments. Consider their suggestions—it’s their opinion, remember—and stop. No more for today.

Sleep on it. See what you think about it in the morning. You can take their advice if you think it will actually help you. If you think their opinions stemmed from the fact that they aren’t in your target audience, you can move on—but be honest with yourself about it.

Be proud of yourself, especially if you were calm through the whole thing. Repeat on positive reviews, alternating every time between the high and low ratings. Increase the number of reviews you read as you go along.

Some authors suggest ending a negative review session with a glowing 5-star review. Sure, go ahead. Do it if you want. Just remember not to let your confidence stem from your reviews. If you truly did your best—if you put everything you have into producing the best work possible—you should always be proud of yourself, no matter what your average rating is.