Sarah Allen's Blog, page 21

L is for Loyalty

We all working to build our own personal readership. Or as Seth Godin calls it, our "tribe." Every artist relies on their team of loyal followers for support. We couldn't do what we do without them.

So how do we cultivate that loyalty? How do we make investing in our books and stories worth other peoples valuable time--something our readers trust and will come back to time and time again?

Here are a few things we can do:

Be Generous. I like finding blogs of authors I love and seeing that they are just as kind and generous with their advice and comments online as their books are wonderful. Or just watching interviews online and seeing that my favorite authors are also kind people. It's always a little disappointing when they're not. So be generous and kind in your interactions with your readers, whether online or in real life.

Be Active. It helps to cultivate reader loyalty when we remain an active part of our readers lives. By that I mean we are actively providing work of value. I know the trend lately is for writers to pump out as many books a year as physically possible, and I'm not saying we have to do that. Writing a book takes as long as it takes. But we can interact with readers online or put out short stories or collaborate on an anthology or make YouTube videos or publish a picture book. Whatever works for you. I feel like J.K. Rowling has done a great job of this, if you think about it. It was a major moment in basically the everybody's lives when the last Harry Potter book came out, but Rowling has kept the ball...well, rolling. The movies were still coming out, and she put out the companion books like Fantastic Beasts and Beetle the Bard. Then she wrote more books and made Pottermore and an amusement park and is now working on another movie. Basically I just think its wise to keep things going, however you think its best to keep them going.

Be Consistent. It also helps if you can be part of a readers routine. I know, for example, that on Sundays, I can look forward to Anne R. Allen's weekly blog post (I was fortunate enough to be able to crash her blog party last week, if you haven't seen it.) I know that John Green will post a Vlogbrothers video every Tuesday, and that a new episode of Night Vale will post on the first and fifteenth of every month. Because these things are consistent, they become a part of my routine and I visit regularly rather than when I happen to think about it. We can create loyal fans by becoming part of their routine.

These are just a few simple mindsets that I think can be helpful in our efforts to cultivate a loyal readership. What other strategies for cultivating this type of loyalty have you seen work?

Sarah Allen

K is for Kindred Spirits

When I find someone who likes this man as much as I do:

When I find someone who knows every word to every Billy Joel song

When I find someone who can quote every line of The Emperor's New Groove or The Grinch with Jim Carrey

When I find someone who has read the collected works of C. S. Lewis

When I find someone who thinks Colin Firth is hotter than Orlando Bloom

When I find someone with whom I can spend hours analyzing Disney and Pixar movies.

When I find someone who hates dark chocolate and loves bread pudding

When I find someone who owns picture books by Don and Audrey Wood

When I find someone who would pick Alaska over Hawaii

When I find someone who carries Wallace Stegner in one hand and Stephen King in the other (and maybe some Gary Schmidt or Louis Sacchar in their bag for good measure)

When I find someone who watches more Animal Planet than MTV

When I find someone who knows what comes after the words, "And now, the weather..."

When I find someone who misses Rugrats and The Wild Thornberries and Courage the Cowardly Dog and maybe still watches Phineas and Ferb (only sometimes okay?)

When I find someone who appreciates the genius of Stephen Sondheim and knows the words to The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

When I find someone who knows that Meryl Streep could play Batman and not be wrong for the part

When anybody says the words Niles Crane

I know I've found a kindred spirit.

What are sure kindred signs for you?

Sarah Allen

J is for Joining Online Writing Communities

We talk a lot about general social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube. They are very, very valuable because we want to connect with the general population to get our books out there, not just other writers.

However, I think joining certain writing communities can be super, super valuable. They can provide:

1) Writerly support and advice. Especially if we're just starting out, this can be incredibly helpful. We can get tips and advice on the creative process and the biz of being a writer.

2) Motivation. I know I feel a lot more inspired to write after talking with my writer friends.

3) Readers. Yes we need to expand our marketing to include non-writers, but really, writers in many ways make the best readers.

I'm bringing this up today because I just joined a writing community that has just started growing explosively, and I'm liking what I'm seeing. It's been my obsession for the past couple days, and I've been having a lot of fun. I know there are tons of writing communities out there but I wanted to spotlight just this one, and you can tell me about any other ones you really like in the comments.

The writing community I recently joined is Wattpad.

It's recent growth has been remarkable, and the projected future growth is even bigger. Now's the time to get in, and I wish I'd discovered it sooner. Maybe I'm slow on the draw.

Anyway, Wattpad is a website and mobile app that lets writers post their works and follow other writers updates as they continue their works in progress. It's been called "the YouTube for books." I've been surprised at the number of traditionally published authors on there who have posted their entire manuscripts, and as a free introduction and reader enticement, it makes sense to me. If you have a back list or some older self-pubbed works you think might do well as a freebie, this might be a good place to do it.

I have noticed that the audience tends to be on the younger side, which is something I've noticed with other online writing communities as well. They're just good places to foster support and encouragement for the beginning writers out there. But I think it can be hugely beneficial for writers at any stage of their career.

Anyway, check it out, see if its something you are interested in incorporating. If so, or if you're already a Wattpader, check out my profile and the freebies I've got up, and maybe drop a note and say hi!

Write on!

Sarah Allen

I is for Iambic Pentameter

I'm just going to leave you with possibly my favorite iambic pentameter poem. Read by Alan Rickman. That's right.

Sonnet 130William Shakespeare
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips' red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.I have seen roses damasked, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks; And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet well I know That music hath a far more pleasing sound; I grant I never saw a goddess go; My mistress when she walks treads on the ground. And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare As any she belied with false compare.

H is for Jared and Jerusha Hess

Now, I'm going to start off acknowledging that J and J Hess's stuff is not everybody's cup of tea. They are the couple that did Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre. Also Austenland and Gentlemen Broncos, which I submit may be their best work, though lesser known.

Whether or not you liked Napolean Dynamite, here me out. I think there are things all of us writers can learn from Jared and Jerusha Hess.

I personally think they are pretty much comedic geniuses. I watched Gentlemen Broncos the other night and basically spent two straight hours laughing my guts out.

Here's the thing. The two of them know exactly what they're doing. All of their movies have the same slow, gloriously awkward almost mockumentary feel. They work hard to perfect their specific craft, and its found its audience. A wide one.

I also just love their story. I love hearing about independent artists who just did such great work on their own weird little thing and found just enough luck that it exploded out of its niche and became this huge thing, and that's exactly what happened with Napoleon Dynamite. Nobody expected it to become what it became. But because Jared and Jerusha knew what they were going for, kept creative integrity and were business savvy, things worked out brilliantly. And that success allowed them to keep that ball rolling with Nacho Libre, where they were even able to bring in big name actors like Jack Black.

So whether or not the odd feel of their movies sits well with you, their combination of creative integrity and industry know-how is something we can all learn from. We can work hard to make our own weird little things more widely marketable, and still keep them our weird little things. That way we will find out niche, and with a dash of luck, our niche will explode.

I can't leave without one more plug for Gentlemen Broncos. I do think it may be their best movie, and I don't know why nobody's heard of it. And since it's about writers, it may interest some in this crowd. Do yourself a favor and just watch the trailer:


Enjoy!

Sarah Allen

G is for Group Effort

It is a truth universally acknowledged that writing can be a solitary endeavor. The romanticized image of a writer slaving away in a basement for days on end might not be entirely accurate, but we writers aren't exactly social butterflies. We're pretty known for being introverts, in general.

This is a good thing. Introspection and quietude are great qualities for a writer. However, if we lean to much on those qualities we run the risk of thinking we have to do everything ourselves. And that's just not true, and not productive.

So its basically up to us to do the actual writing. That is the solitary effort part of the writing game. However, basically every other aspect of building a writing career can involve other people. Not just that, but things can go more effectively and productively when we make them a group effort.

We an involve other people with:

Writing groups and book groups (obviously)
Cover design
Editing
Social media
Blogging
Website design
Anthologies
Illustrations
Brainstorming
Marketing

And lots of other things! By involving other people we can simultaneously create better work and also make things easier on ourselves.

So don't be afraid to ask for help! Building a successful writing career truly is a group effort.

What about you guys? What collaborations and group efforts have worked particularly well for you?

Sarah Allen

F is for Film Poetry

There are so many ways to publish your work creatively. One of those ways is film poetry, often called video poetry.

There are so many different ways to do it, I thought I'd just show you a few of my favorites (plus one of my own) and see if they inspire you.


Enjoy!!

Sarah Allen

E is for Eponine

Have you ever had that experience where you're watching a movie or reading a book and about half way through you're like, this side character is a lot more interesting and engaging than the main character.

It kind of happens to me a lot.

I have pretty much always been annoyed by Marius and Cozette since I read Les Miserables. They're okay, but Eponine is just so much cooler. She's clever, a little bit funny, and most especially, not wishy-washy and spineless like Marius and Cozette occasionally are.

Look at Lord of the Rings as another example. I would be more than okay submitting that Frodo is pretty much the least interesting character in the series. Aragorn is pretty epic, and Gimli is hilarious, but you know who the best character is? Samwise Gamgee of course! His loyalty, stubborness, optimism and just all-around Hobbitness make him the best of all the things.

Or take Harry Potter. Harry himself is pretty cool, but I personally find characters like Snape and Remus a lot more interesting.

I think I've discovered a similarity in all the stories in which I find secondary characters a lot more interesting than the MC's. All of them are Ensemble stories. They rely on a big cast. Harry Potter, LOTR and Les Miserables all have a host of intricately woven character arcs. In Ensemble stories like that, I think it works to have a more neutral main character, because they sort of act as the nucleus for all the crazies running about around them. Maybe Sam and Gandalf and Aragorn are cooler than Frodo, but their stories and their coolness sort of revolve around Frodo. Same with Harry Potter and Les Miserables.

My roommate and I went to the new Captain America movie last night (SO GOOD!) and without giving away any spoilers, probably my favorite moment was when a very minor and very terrified secondary character chose to stand up to the bad guys even though he literally had a gun to his head. So even though it was a very hero-centric movie, and I absolutely adore Cap, stories can still be enhanced by emotionally engaging secondary and minor characters.

And I can't help but leave you with my favorite song from Les Miserables, in large part due to the soul shakingly good voice of another E character--Enjoras.


What do you think? Are there secondary characters that you like better than their main character counterparts?

Sarah Allen

D is for Dreams (and how to use them)

Here's what happen in my dreams: In the next year or two, I get an agent and a contract with a major publisher, and my book instantly rockets to number one New York Times bestseller. I go on a book tour all over Europe and go on a Nerdfighter tour with John and Hank Green. At the end of the tour I have a stint on Oprah to talk about my book. In the next year I publish another novel, a picture book, and a non-fiction travel/history book that inspires National Geographic to call me up and see if I'll take a trip to Africa and write an article for them. I also give a talk at a TED conference. While all this is happening I finish my next novel and more picture books and also a screenplay that gets quickly optioned by a Hollywood production studio and stars Michael Emerson and Meryl Streep. When these whirlwind years are over I settle down with a Cavalier King Charles spaniel and a guy with a grin like Colin Firth and hair like Gustavo Dudamel. I continue writing bestselling novels and taking trips to places like Alaska, England, and Kenya.

Natalie Whipple and Charlotte Rains Dixon wrote posts yesterday focusing on working towards realistic goals, and working on things we actually have control over. I strongly encourage all y'all to check out the wonderful posts. They have some fantastic and practical advice.

The thing is, we all have our own flying whales--things we dream about but know just aren't part of our little world. There is no way I can expect to go on Oprah or on a tour with John Green or write an article for National Geographic or give a TED talk. They are my flying whales.

So what do we do with them? We absolutely need to be practical and 100% realistic or we're just setting ourselves up for failure. But does that mean we have to kill our flying whales and get rid of them completely?

I don't think so. I acknowledge that I'm a bit of a cock-eyed optimist, but I believe we can use our head in the clouds dreams to guide the feet we have planted on solid ground.

Here's the thing. In my dream world, there are plenty of things I don't have control over, but there are some things I do. Yeah, there's no way I'm going to get published by National Geographic, especially not this year. But. If I accept that flying whale dream, that can provide me some realistic direction. Maybe I can't get into National Geographic tomorrow, but I can research and write articles for other history and travel magazines. I don't have control over my script getting optioned or who gets cast, but I do have control over working on a script every day and how and when I submit it. What I mean is, I can still run as hard as I can toward the dream world, even if I know I'll only get part way there. It gives me a direction. And if we work hard we may get further than we dreamed.

Sarah Allen

C is for Comedians

I just wanted to put it out there that comedians are some of the most underrated genius writers working today. If any of you watch Jimmy Fallon, Steven Colbert or Ellen Degeneres you know what I mean.

So I thought I'd just leave you with three of my favorite comedians.

Brian Regan

Jim Gaffigan


Mitch Hedberg

Enjoy the laughs!!

Sarah Allen