Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 227

The Problem With Sharing Our Work

I've thought a lot lately about how creative people have it rough sometimes.


We do get so much back from being creative—if we didn't get a lot of joy from it, we wouldn't do it.  And I think most of us get a lot out of our friendships with other creative people, too.

But there's also a bad side.  And usually that comes with sharing our work with others.

My husband and I were at a play a couple of weekends ago at a neighborhood theater with an intimate feel to it.  It was so intimate that my husband and I felt practically like part of the cast in our front row seats.   When the play started, I saw one actor scan the audience, quickly taking it in before starting his lines.

If you think about it, actors have a lot in common with writers.  There's an audition process for them that rivals writers' querying of industry professionals. And, for stage performers, there's that added stress of instant approval or rejection from a live audience—at least a writer's audience is usually remote.  Musicians and visual artists are also in the same boat as far as the stress of putting their work out there for people to hear and see.

Creative people probably don't have the best disposition for handling this kind of stress.  A lot of us are introverted and private…and passionate about what we do, to the point where rejection of our creative work feels personal.

There was a blog post the other day from a writing friend of mine, Marybeth Whalen who I met online, but had lunch with a few weeks ago when we found out we live just a few miles away from each other.

Her post made me wince because it's really the worst-case scenario you're going to have as an author.
Think about how tough we have to be—we've already faced our own fears and insecurities about writing. 

We've sacrificed our personal time.  We've learned about the industry through never-ending research.  We've had critique groups and first readers make suggestions and offer opinions on our writing.  We've had a hundred rejections from agents and publishers. 

Then we finally make it—get an agent, get a publisher.  Still, rough days continue with the occasional bad review. 

So far, though, it's probably all been with a little bit of distance between you and the different little stabs of hurt or rejection.

With Marybeth, she actually was asked by a book club to make a conference call to discuss her book—and she ended up falling into a trap.  Maybe, actually, it was more like a firing squad.  The book club had apparently strongly disagreed with what they thought Marybeth's opinions on divorce were, as represented by a character in her book. 

I felt terrible for Marybeth having to defend her fictional book in real-time, but also felt sorry for creative people in general.  I think, really, we all have to have nerves of absolute steel—and you hate to be that way because sensitivity is a pretty common trait of creative people—we're observant folks who take it all in.  Not really the brash or hard types.

Marybeth ended her post, though, by saying that she took a lot of strength from an email she received from a reader who really got her book.

I hate to say it, but most days I think I'm tough as nails.  Or, maybe there's just a difference between Writing Elizabeth (the daydreamy person who might absentmindedly walk off a cliff while plotting her book) and Promoting Elizabeth (who would like for you to like her book, but won't be hurt if you don't.)

Promoting Elizabeth isn't going away unless I stop writing books, which isn't my plan.  And, honestly, I really do think it helps to have a tough skin in conjunction with a writing career.  I hate having one, but it grew out of necessity over the years.  I think it means that we can put all of the bad stuff out of our mind and focus on the good things (like Marybeth did with her reader's email)—and focus on being creative without worrying what the audience reaction will be.

I think back to the actor I saw in the theater.  His eyes took in the packed house, the air of audience anticipation and the audience's impatience for the show to start.  He took a deep breath—and dove right into acting. 

And ended up with a standing ovation. 

Blog Touring

I was looking at my calendar yesterday and adding a guest blogger for Mystery Writing is Murder to it when I realized I have seven guest bloggers coming up in the next five weeks.


I enjoy having guests on the blog—I love reading  different perspectives on writing. It also gives me a chance to find out about some great new releases.

When I first heard about blog touring, though, I really didn't have a clue what people were talking about.  It was 2008 and I loved the idea of it—the not having to physically tour part—so I spent some time looking it up online. I even signed up for a blog tour class on a Yahoo group that gave some really useful information on blog touring…both hosting one and being a good tour guest.

Reasons to Consider a Blog Tour

It's hard for you to leave job/family/etc. to travel.
Traveling is expensive
A blog tour reaches many more people than a physical tour
Increased Google Hits for your book and a higher Google ranking
It's a great way to increase visibility and buzz

Publishers like blog tours, which is another reason to consider having one.  A few years back, when blog tours were just really getting cranked up, Felicia Sullivan, a senior online marketing manager of a HarperCollins imprint,  was interviewed by the New York Times:

"If I had to choose, I'd rather have an author promote themselves online. You can reach at least a few hundred people on a blog, and save time, money and the fear of being a loser when no one shows up to your reading."

Are you limited to just visiting blogs with a virtual tour?

No, it's probably a good idea to mix it up a little. Podcasts are nice. (I was on Red River Writers once…that's a good one to check out. There's also the Reading and Writing podcast.)   You could also arrange to send your book to online book reviewers so they could review your book—you wouldn't be making an appearance on their site, but your book would.  Also remember to promote or see if friends can tweet or mention your tour or release on Facebook and Twitter or other social media.

When should you start the book tour?

Probably you should kick it off with the release of the book, unless you're shooting for good pre-orders.  And a tour can last as long as you like—and be as intensive as you like.  I've seen some blog tours where authors have every date in a three-week period booked for an online appearance, and I've seen tours (like mine) which were stretched out for a while, but with appearances every couple of days or so.

What kinds of formats should you consider for your appearance?

Reviews—You'd ask book bloggers to consider reviewing your book.

Interviews—The blog host would conduct an interview with you.

Character Interview—These can be fun—the blog host interviews your character.

Guest Post—You write a post for the blog host on a topic of the host's choice…and it usually ties into your new release.

Contests—Holding contests for commenters is a nice way to spur interest in your book.

How do I reach potential hosts?

Finding good hosts is really key. You'll definitely have online friends who'll be happy to host you, but also consider reaching out to other bloggers who write or read your genre….particularly blogs that have a lot of followers (usually there's a widget in the sidebar that shows followers), commenters, and participation.  Obviously, you want to get as many eyeballs as possible—and some potential new readers— to look at your book cover and buy link.

Usually, as a host, I get an email or a Facebook message from authors who are interested in appearing on my blog.  If I don't know them, they introduce themselves, tell me a little about their book, mention the date it's being released, and ask if there's a date during their launch month that's available for them to guest post.

Don't forget to pitch the book.  Make sure that you provide your blog host with a "buy link"—a link to an online retailer where an interested reader can purchase your book.  Sometimes the blog host will hyperlink your book cover to a buy link, too.

List your tour dates on your blog sidebar.   It can help readers keep track of where you'll be and provides nice exposure for the blog tour hosts.

Etiquette- don't be obnoxious.  Not that any of y'all would be!  But some folks get a little too tour-happy and you end up with a bunch of BSP (blatant self-promo) coming out at you from all directions—all the time.  Usually it's enough promo to send readers over to the blog stop du jour from your blog, tweet the stop, and Facebook the stop.

Interested in hosting others' blog tours?  Here's a post on how to be a good blog tour host that Helen Ginger created (scroll down after you click over.)

A lot of you have been on blog tours—have you got any additional tips to share?

Ambiguous Characters

I was shopping at the Costco warehouse—on a Saturday.  I must have lost my mind because there were gobs of people in there.

I quickly grabbed the things I'd come for, then navigated my way toward the cash registers.

Because it was a weekend, the food samples were really out in full force.  Almost every aisle end-cap had someone with a wok or a small grill, cooking samples.

Finally I got a little closer to the registers and was in the cleaning section of the warehouse.  But there was still a lady on an end-cap with some samples.  She had a bottle of cleaner next to her, a cup with the cleaner in it so you could smell how fresh it was, and some free sample packets that you could take home and try.

I'd forgotten garbage bags, so I dodged down that aisle real quick and heard a man come up to the lady behind me.  "Have you got something for me to taste?"

The lady was elderly and she gave a little, tinkling laugh and said, "Well, you wouldn't want to taste it because it's soap.  But I do have some samples for you to take home with you and clean with."

"But everyone else's table has samples you can eat or drink.  Sure I can't eat or drink it? How about if I try to?"

Of course, I'm turning around at this point.  He was a sort of nondescript man about my age with a toddler with him. 

This is where I'd have expected him to wink at her or act like he'd been joking and ask some questions about the cleaning power of the detergent or whatever it was.  But he didn't.
"Oh, I don't think you'd want to, sir," the lady said.

"So…it's not to eat.  A sample that's not for eating.  We can't eat this, Jack," he said to the little boy.
 
The elderly lady gave a funny laugh, but was clearly trying to figure out if the guy was trying to joke with her, or if he was just odd.  He looked over at me for a moment—I was clearly staring at him.  He smiled, but not a I'm-making-a-joke smile.  I smiled back, but I didn't understand him or his smile.

"And it's not for drinking!"  He lifted up the cup she'd put out, acting like he was going to take a sip.

"No sir," she said, with some emphasis on the 'no.' She looked uncomfortable.

Was it a joke that was taken to a tedious length?  Was the man just a little off?  I wasn't going to stick around and try to figure out more clues, though—especially since he was already clued in to the fact that I was watching him.

I've read a few books in the last couple of years that had characters that were hard to read. 


Were they good guys or bad guys?  Friends or enemies of the main character?

Sometimes an author has an unlikeable character do something good, or vice versa.  And as a reader, I was left wondering, "Was this good thing done by this bad character done 0nly because it was self-serving in some way?"

And occasionally, I've had a hard time finding clues to a character's intent in the dialogue.  Sarcasm can be especially hard to figure out (unless a writer is using tags that leave no doubt that he's wanting a sentence to be taken that way –'he said sarcastically.'  Which isn't considered great writing.)

I like ambiguous characters, I think, when I'm getting the feeling that I'm reading a complex character.  I don't like ambiguity when I feel like the writer just doesn't have a handle on the character and the character isn't acting consistently. 

But if the ambiguity goes on for a long time, I think it needs to be really well written.  Rowling's Severus Snape comes to mind—she did a great job showing different sides to him.  He wasn't all good or all bad—and really, are most of us?

But if there were a character like my guy in the Costco?  I think I'd want a little more explanation at some point as to where he's coming from—some background on why he might be behaving erratically.  Some insight on whether he's got a weird sense of humor…or is weird, himself.

Are your characters easy to read?  If you give them some layers of complexity, is their motivation clear?  Or do you leave readers wondering for a while…and how long?

Lists for Inspiration

I'm a huge list maker.

This has a lot to do with my need to outsource my horrible memory.
It also helps me sleep better at night, knowing that I've thought of all the things I need to do the next day…and I haven't dropped the ball anywhere.

So it's only natural that making lists would help me write my book, too.

Somehow, it's easier for me to come up with lots of different ideas if I make them into bullet points and put them in list form.  I can  focus my list and have it be:

My protagonist's catch-phrases.
My protagonist's features.  Different physical traits of my protagonist.
My protagonist's facial expressions.

If you do this with plotting, it can be useful, too.  The idea is to come up with as many different resolutions for the scene you're writing or for the next scene as you can…no matter how outlandish they might be.  Some ideas will be completely ridiculous, but some might end up being useful.

5 possible endings for this book.
5 twists.
5 possible subplots.
5 ways the subplots could tie into the main plot.

Or you could do it for character growth:

5 ways the character could grow.
5 surprising things that we could learn about a character.
Top 10 list of things that bother the protagonist (then 10 things that would drive the character crazy that I could write into the book.)
10 things this character loves more than anything.

You could find other uses for lists, too:

5 ways to add some unexpected elements to the book (humor, suspense, sadness, fear.)

5 ways to describe the setting.

I love making lists because sometimes I'm looking for a way to squeeze in just a little more writing—but I only have ten minutes.  That amount of time is perfect for list-making, and I've found the exercise can really help me brainstorm more ideas.

Sometimes I'll just add list titles in my notebook and keep it in my car or laptop bag for when I end up with a little dead time.  That way I don't even have to figure out what list I want to start…I can just jump right in.

Do you use lists to brainstorm?  Mind maps?  What works for you?

Diverting Attention

My daughter and I were at the Halloween store last weekend, trying to find her a costume.  For some reason, it's never easy finding one for her—she has this perfect mental image of what she's looking for…and the store rarely has it.

We decided to walk around the store a little bit. It was one of those huge Halloween warehouse places that's a temporary store—it opens up wherever there's a vacant big-box store or a vacant strip mall spot, then closes down after Halloween is over.

This store had...

Twitterific

Here are writing links that I've posted to Twitter for the past week. If you're looking for a particular topic, just plug in your keyword into the search box at the top left-hand corner of the blog (on the black header right above my blog name…next to the Blogger symbol…the small search window is next to the magnifying glass) and the roundup with your subject will come up. To narrow your search down on the page, do a CTRL+F, type your subject, and hit enter.

Unfortunately, I've had...

One Big Reason Agents are Hard to Come By--Time

Last week, I posted some resources for finding agents.
It's really tough to find representation.  I think, honestly, there are lots of reasons for this.

One is that agents need to believe they can find a buyer for the manuscript you're pitching.

I have a strong suspicion that another reason is because just one author is a lot of work.

My agent, Ellen Pepus, spends a lot of time just with me.  I know this because of the number of emails that we send back and forth when we're really at fever pitch...

E-Reading Revolution—Finding Good Books

During my August book tour, I visited lots of different bookstores and talked to many different managers.

Several of them mentioned, with some concern, the e-book revolution.  One manager went so far as to say that their bookstore would likely resemble an Apple store or a cell phone retailer in a few years—with e-readers and e-reader accessories on display. 

She added that bookstore staff would be needed to sell and offer customer support for the readers.  They'd have a service department to fi...

5 Questions That Always Surprise Me When I Write a Book

Every time I write a book, I'm surprised by the problems I run into—even though the problems are always the same. And actually, looking at my list of issues, I'm not sure there's a whole lot I can do to prevent them from cropping up, unless I really wanted to change my approach to writing a book. Maybe that's why they keep recurring!

5 Questions that Always Pop Up Once While Writing My Books

1. Where do I go next? I'm guessing this is a problem faced more frequently by folks who don't ...

Favorites

My daughter is nine years old. Like lots of nine year olds, she loves to poll everyone on their favorites.

And you'd better have an answer.

I haven't thought very much about my favorite anything for probably the last thirty years.

Until now. :) After several conversations with my daughter that ended with her saying, "How could you not know what your favorite song/color/food/season/book/movie is?!" then I actually took a few minutes to think about it one night.

I was able to make...