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Using Kindle Scout as Part of a Book Launch Campaign

Note from Jane: Today’s guest post is by author K.B. Jensen (@kb_jensen).

Amazon calls Kindle Scout reader-powered publishing. Some have called it “the American Idol” for books. I prefer to think of it as a literary lottery for book lovers. Readers vote on their favorite unpublished titles based on excerpts uploaded to the site by authors, and in return receive free copies of the books they voted for—but only if those books are selected for publication via Kindle Press.

Kindle Scout isn’t just about the possibility of a publishing contract. The program can be a key part of a self-publishing author’s pre-release marketing strategy. You can generate buzz about your new book, the cover, the first chapter—and it’s all laid out in a nice preview online. Winning is a bonus, but even if you don’t win, all the readers who vote for your book will be notified via email when your book is available for sale—a huge boon to any author’s marketing campaign.

An author on track to self-publish has little to lose by giving the program a try, except time. The whole process takes roughly 45 days. In theory, you could lay out the print version of the book and do your final proofing during that timeframe.

So far, Kindle Scout has selected more than 100 books to be published via Kindle Press. While it remains to be seen if any of them end up being bestsellers, one thing is clear: These books will have Amazon’s marketing behind them. The typical indie author doesn’t have the marketing power that Amazon does.

How Kindle Scout Works

It takes about ten minutes to sign up for Kindle Scout. But the reader-powered publishing platform will take 30+ days of your life, so plan carefully before you submit.

My second book, A Storm of Stories, is currently live on the site, so I can offer you a sneak peek into what it’s like. First, Kindle Scout is a lot of wonderful things, but free advertising it is not. You will be responsible for driving traffic to your page. Readers won’t just stumble on it.

One thing that helps readers be more likely to discover your book on Kindle Scout is the hot and trending list. It’s also one factor in whether or not Kindle Scout’s editors select your book for publication via Kindle Press. However, plenty of books on the hot and trending lists have not been selected for publication by Kindle Press. Readers alone do not actually have the final say. So, why does the hot and trending list matter?

Aside from the obvious fact that it may influence Amazon’s selection process, the readers who nominate your book will be among the first to review it, if selected, and you want as many early reviews as possible. Readers who vote for your book will also be notified via email when it becomes available for sale, even if it’s published by someone other than Kindle Press. Everyone who voted for it will know it’s out, assuming they read Amazon’s emails.

Running an Effective Kindle Scout Campaign

One of the biggest challenges is that no one outside of the writing and publishing community knows about Kindle Scout. Right now, it’s a well-kept secret. This means if you don’t do anything to promote your book on Kindle Scout, no one is going to see it. You have to bring traffic to the site to have visibility. Ignore a Kindle Scout campaign for a day and you may end up with a handful of page views that day.

No one outside of Amazon really knows the winning formula. Obviously, it starts with a wonderfully written book, but here are six tips I have learned so far.

You must have a stellar, professionally designed cover. Good isn’t good enough. You will have a strong sense of how eye catching your thumbnail ebook cover is by the end of this competition.
Kindle Scout moves fast. Within two business days of submitting, you will get an email telling you whether your book is going live on the site. Within two days of getting that email, your book is up.
Print out business cards and bookmarks with the Kindle Scout link to help get the word out. Do this immediately and expedite the shipping. Give them to key people to spread the word to their networks, as well as your own.
Hit social media hard, and find key allies who will champion your book’s campaign throughout the month.
Make friends with other Kindle Scout authors online—the ones who have won and the ones who haven’t. You can learn so much from both.
Personally email and message your friends and maybe even your enemies, pretty much everyone you know, asking for a nomination.

The Thank-You Letter: Follow Up Is Critical

After your Kindle Scout campaign ends, Amazon sends everyone who nominated your book a message telling them whether it was selected or not and includes a thank-you message from you that you wrote when initially submitting your book.

Write that thank-you letter well—you don’t get to change it depending on the outcome of your campaign. Craft it so that readers know how to find your book in the best or worst case scenarios. Many people shy away from the public rejection that is Kindle Scout. Embrace it. Tell them how to get their hands on your book and get in touch with you, regardless of how it’s published.

I highly recommend personalizing your thank-you letter as much as you can fit into 500 characters. Here is mine. Note that I encourage readers to stay in touch, regardless of if my book is selected, and I emphasize that it will be published.

Sample Thank You Letter for Kindle Scout

Dear friends,

I can’t thank you enough for your support, regardless of how A Storm of Stories comes into the world, whether it’s published by Kindle Press or Crimson Cloud Media. Please follow me on Facebook, at Twitter as @KB_Jensen, or sign up for my email newsletter at my website. You can email me at kbjensen.author@gmail.com as well. And if you do get your hands on early copies of A Storm of Stories, please consider leaving early reviews.

A thousand thanks,

K.B. Jensen

Review Your Reader Data

One of the coolest things about Kindle Scout is the amount of data it provides on how readers view your book—and the data can be overwhelming at times. You can see the exact links where page views are coming from, the number of page views, and how long you’ve been hot and trending. You can use this data to discover which channels your readers are coming from. According to my campaign’s data, Facebook and my web site have been major drivers for my page views, but Twitter has been less effective.

If Kindle Press Selects Your Book

Selected authors receive a $1,500 advance, a 50 percent ebook royalty rate, and Amazon marketing. Kindle Press has also provided some editing to winners, although this is not guaranteed. Be sure to read their agreement and terms carefully, and make sure you’re comfortable with them.

Above all, remember that Kindle Scout is just another promotional tool. You’ll have to consider how it best fits into your overall promotional strategy for your book.

K.B. Jensen’s A Storm of Stories is about a woman driving down a rural Wisconsin highway during a whiteout storm who hits a hitchhiker. The two of them end up stranded in the car, telling stories to pass the time. The themes are love, craziness and impossibility. The book is competing on Kindle Scout until Feb. 5. To read an excerpt from the book, visit Kindle Scout.

5 On: April Eberhardt

Literary agent and publishing consultant April Eberhardt discusses effective book promotion, what makes writing exceptional from a publishing perspective, her preference for representing women’s fiction, and more in this 5 On interview.

After twenty-five years as a corporate strategist and consultant, April Eberhardt joined the literary world as head reader for Zoetrope: All-Story, a literary magazine, followed by five years as an agent with two San Francisco–based literary agencies. She holds an MBA from Boston University in marketing and finance, a BA from Hamilton (Kirkland) College in anthropology and French, and a CPLF degree from the University of Paris. She represents clients worldwide and divides her time between San Francisco, New York, and Paris.

5 on Writing

CHRIS JANE: As a “literary change agent,” you offer services as either a traditional literary agent (one contract) or a publishing consultant (another contract). Of the 10,000 submissions you receive every year, you’ve said, you find fifteen to twenty to be exceptional. Is “exceptional” a matter of substance, marketing potential, both, or something else?

APRIL EBERHARDT: To me, “exceptional” means an utterly compelling story, one that’s original, beautifully written and tightly told, one that I can’t put down. I see five to ten of these a year.

Marketing potential comes second. While I realize that the traditional market may be looking for something easier to sell (translated, that means similar to other recent successful work), when I find a wonderful manuscript, I’m prepared to champion it until it gets published (which increasingly is via indie means—either partnership publishing or self-publishing.)

What was your most recent acquisition as a literary agent, and what made that book stand out to you?

Right now I’m representing a work of fiction about a young woman facing discrimination and horrific abuse as an African albino. The story is based on an actual cultural phenomenon, one that Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama have personally lent their support to the author’s campaign to help stop. The author’s passion and dedication to the cause, along with the strength of the story itself, persuaded me to offer representation. In addition to being a big book, I can see this becoming a major motion picture.

One of your pieces of advice to self-published authors is, “Read. Know what’s being published.” Do you advise to write to the market more than to the passion, or does that mean, “Know what’s already being published so you can write something original”?

I advise authors to write what they know, what they feel compelled to write, and what they themselves want to read. I don’t think there’s a way to write to the market, nor would I ever suggest that an author do so. Reading others’ work is always informative from a content and stylistic perspective, and can make an author’s own writing stronger. Commercially speaking, knowing what else is being published can be helpful when describing one’s own manuscript, be it to a reader, an agent or an editor. “Comparables” help us put a work in context.

Why do you prefer to represent fiction by and/or for women? Where does the line fall when determining whether a book is for all genders or women specifically? And do you think a cover could widen the audience if its design innocently tricked readers who typically wouldn’t read a “woman’s book” into picking it up?

Women’s lives, especially our relationships and interior beings, are of great interest to many women readers. Hopefully to men, too, but I’m focused on the women’s market because I feel we’re underserved as consumers in the commercial space, with its emphasis on blockbuster bestsellers, which often translates to guns, war, and other violence.

Crash, flash, and splash have their place in the world, but I don’t need them in the books I read, and thousands of women readers I’ve spoken to at conferences and elsewhere agree. Quiet, deep, well-wrought stories are often not the ones that make it through the Big Pub committee process and onto the shelves (and screens). I’m working to change that, one women’s book at a time.

As for covers, I’m a stickler for the most compelling and professional cover for each and every book. If done well, a good cover will attract its rightful readers, whatever their gender or preferences.

“I would love to have every reader go out today and buy a self-published book,” you once said. Many would wail (have wailed), “I tried that. Never again!” What’s the best way for a reader to find a quality self-published book?

The same way you’d find a high-quality traditionally or partner-published book—by reading reviews! Goodreads is a wonderful resource for finding books that will appeal to you based on your tastes. The site is agnostic with respect to how a book or author is published, which is as it should be. Another good source is BookBub, which doesn’t differentiate among publication methods.

5 on Publishing

Self-publishing, especially with help from industry professionals like yourself, does give writers a reason to be excited. What should they undoubtedly be excited about, and what should they be aware of before they get too excited?

Thrillingly, self-publishing is open to all. Theoretically everyone can compete equally. Readers, not gatekeepers, get to decide which books are good. The big differentiator is quality.

To produce a good self-published book, a writer needs to learn the business, and do (or pay someone else to do) a professional job of editing, design, and distribution. Much easier said than done. Be prepared to devote a substantial chunk of time to preparing and promoting your book. Even if you hire a publicist, which I advise, you’ll still need to spend substantial time promoting it yourself (on social media, and perhaps at events).

Set realistic sales goals for yourself—most self-published books sell fewer than 100 copies, although with sustained effort a good book will likely sell more. And even with help, don’t be surprised to see your writing time constrained as you devote time to getting your book noticed.

Why are publishing houses ignoring the same perfectly good writers you’re passionate about helping?

It’s their bestseller/blockbuster orientation. The most common reason cited by editors turning down the manuscripts I submit is, “We can’t break it out big enough,” meaning sell thousands of copies in a period of a few weeks. There are now a million books published annually. It usually takes more than a single swift push to bring a good book to the attention of its readers. Big Pub can’t afford to do more than that for most. They put their money on a relatively few books that are similar to recent successes.

Some of your clients are authors you pitch to traditional publishers, and others are self-published authors who receive your professional support. What kind of specific support do they receive? If their book is “agent vetted,” for example, what doors are unlocked for them, and what other specific services do you provide / have you provided (for example), and how did that impact the authors’ sales?

Initially I work with authors to help them select the best publishing approach for them, evaluating each option (traditional, partner, self) based on their own goals, dreams, timetable, and budget. If they want traditional publication, we’ll begin there, with the understanding that we need a sound Plan B if we don’t break in.

Along the way I refer authors to a trusted, vetted group of professional editors, designers, publicists, and others. It’s hard to say which specific activities spur sales. I call it “the law of 100 little fires”—you need to do a lot of small things well, and get a lot of leads started, before one or more takes off and sales begin to climb. And you usually can’t tell which of the many efforts resulted in your success. You just have to keep trying.

Over time I’ve discovered that hiring a good publicist, one who’s enthusiastic about and experienced in promoting indie authors, is the best way to gain traction in that way. Agent vetting is most useful in the case of partner publishers, which as you know select only those projects they feel have a chance of succeeding. An agent’s endorsement is usually a fast-track way of getting the project accepted by a partner publisher.

I’ve found that my greatest value to a self-published author often is in helping her set out a plan and a budget enabling her to hire and work effectively with a good publicist. Though the PR world is far more open to indie work now than it was even a year ago, a publicist’s relationships are the best way to open those closed doors.

On your website you say you give priority to manuscripts pitched in person at one of several literary conferences. Because indie and self-publishing already favor the writer who has more money (to afford a publicist, a formatter, a cover designer, an editor, etc.), this could be perceived as another (inadvertent) unfortunate blow to a number of good writers who simply can’t make it to any of the conferences but would love to work with you or others who prefer in-person pitches. Why are in-person meetings critical, and what advice would you give authors stuck at home who would like to work with an agent who prefers conference pitches?

I will of course consider authors who pitch me online. I prefer in-person meetings since it gives us a chance to get to know one another, ensure that we share certain values, and feel confident we can work well as a team. As an aside, I’d urge every author to invest in attending a conference at some point, since it gives them the opportunity to meet other authors as well as agents, publishers, and editors, and benefit from the craft discussions along with the presentations on the business of publishing.

What have you seen authors do promotion-wise that’s been effective?

They develop a long-term publicity and promotion strategy, almost always with a professional publicist, and work in tandem with her to promote and publicize the book in every way possible, online and offline, for a very long while. The authors carry copies of their books and show them to people; they speak at libraries and bookstores, to book clubs (in person and via Skype), donate their books to charitable events, and are their very best advocates. No one cares about the success of her book as much as the author herself.

Thank you, April.

Shepherding a Self-Published Picture Book to Success: A Conversation with Literary Agent Brenda Bowen

Note from Jane: Today’s guest post is an interview with literary agent Brenda Bowen (@bbowen949) by Sangeeta Mehta (@sangeeta_editor), a former acquiring editor of children’s books at Little, Brown and Simon & Schuster, who runs her own editorial services company.

Given the high costs of producing picture books and the challenges of distributing them, self-publishing hasn’t yet taken off for picture book writers as it has for writers of other categories. But this past fall, two self-published picture books made headlines for their transition from independent to traditional publishing.

First, Swedish author Carl-Johan Forssén Ehrlin received a seven-figure, two-book deal from Random House US and Penguin Random House UK for The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep. Then, Vermont-based writers and farm owners John and Jennifer Churchman received a six-figure, three-book deal from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (LBYR) for their self-published book, Sweet Pea & Friends: The SheepOver.

I spoke with Brenda Bowen, an agent with Sanford J. Greenburger Associates who offered representation to the Churchmans shortly after reading a review, about how the authors created a book that led to a deal with a major publishing house at auction.

SANGEETA MEHTA: Platform doesn’t generally matter for children’s book authors, but John and Jennifer Churchman have an especially intriguing personal story. How did it play a role in your decision to represent them? Do you think your decision would have been different had you seen a copy of the self-published edition of The SheepOver—which is stunning in itself in terms of the photography—without knowing anything about the authors?

BRENDA BOWEN: Knowing that John and Jennifer were so invested in Sweet Pea’s story [Sweet Pea is the name of the Churchmans’ lamb featured in The SheepOver], and that they had begun sharing that story with a much larger community, did make a difference to me.

But this all happened in just a few seconds—Malcolm Gladwell’s “blink” phenomenon—as I read the original Publishers Weekly blog about the Churchmans, went to their Facebook page, and sent them a message.

Prior to receiving a book deal with LBYR, the Churchmans were planning to start their own press to produce future books about their farm animals. John’s photography background, Jennifer’s editing background, and their combined business savvy would have qualified them to do this, but an established publisher of course brings added value—in this case, publicity on the CBS Evening News.

What else does LBYR—or any large publisher—bring to the table? Aside from higher royalties, how would the Churchmans have benefited by continuing to publish on their own?

Jennifer Churchman was actually about to run an ad to recruit staff for Sweet Pea Press as the PW article ran. She and John very carefully considered what it would mean to run a publishing business, both the pros and the cons, and decided to go a different route. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers brought a lot to the table—expertise, distribution, marketing and publicity, and of course, an advance up front. But the first three items on that list were the most important to the Churchmans. They wanted to free up their own time to tend their farm and create more books about the animals there. The deal with Little, Brown enables them to do that. In addition, LBYR made the book a top priority.

Everything changed for the Churchmans following Elizabeth Bluemle’s review of The SheepOver in Publishers Weekly’s Shelf Talker blog in October. What is the takeaway message for self-published authors? To test the market with industry experts? To begin their marketing efforts locally—at local bookstores, schools, and libraries? To not discount the importance of securing reviews?

The takeaway message to self-published authors is to spend a lot of time and thought putting your book together. The Churchmans looked at formats and chose the largest trim size that could fit comfortably on standard shelves. They printed the book on 100lb paper—heavier stock than most traditional publishers can use—and also used extra heavy board for the hardcover case. They hired an editor to help them shape the text. And they mounted a Kickstarter campaign to fund their upfront costs. They took a lot of care.

Once the book was published, they truly believed in it and felt others would, too. That’s the moment to take the book to booksellers and librarians and teachers—when you have something that stands out in the marketplace and that’s backed by the courage of your own convictions.

According to the Publishers Weekly article that broke the deal news, the contract for The SheepOver was signed on a Thursday, the authors uploaded the files on a Friday, and LBYR started printing the following Monday.

What accounts for this lightning speed to market, which is almost unheard of in traditional publishing—and a big reason many writers eschew traditional publishing? Printer-ready files? What was involved in switching the book’s status from self-published to LBYR-published? Is the first edition of the book produced by the Churchmans still available through their online bookstore?

The Churchmans with agent Brenda Bowen

Over the very short time between when the publishers received the submission and the closing of the deal, momentum for The SheepOver was growing. As soon as LBYR knew they had the book, the publisher asked her team if they thought they could get the book published any sooner than the early-January date they had first planned. They said yes, and they went to work.

Indeed, the files were in good order, and LBYR made changes only to the copyright page and the book’s other imprint information before they went to press. They were careful to send a proof to the authors, though—they know how to treat their authors and artists.

A Hachette ISBN replaced the original Sweet Pea Press ISBN, and the Churchmans took down their own edition of the book so that sales would drive to the Hachette ISBN. (That edition, which had a 4,000-copy print run, is completely sold out!)

LBYR also moved the price from $19.99 to $17.99 to be more in line with kids book prices in the marketplace. They wanted to position it as a possible bestseller, and they did it right—The SheepOver hit the New York Times bestseller list on January 17. It was also number eleven on the national indie bestseller list and number one on the New England indie list.

The moment John and Jennifer and LBYR got the first printing out the door, they went to work on a second printing. The new edition, which will be in stores next month, has a few tweaks to design and will have additional back matter with more information about the Churchmans’ farm. And now we’re all at work on book two, The Brave and Mighty Little Finn, which will release this fall.

LBYR’s hardcover edition of The SheepOver published in early December, but the ebook just released today. What is the rationale behind publishing the two formats separately? Could The SheepOver have worked as an ebook original if, say, it included interactive components? Was an ebook original format considered, or is this still rare for picture books?

The ebook would have been published day and date with the hardcover but for the fact that the hardcover was printed so swiftly. I actually can’t imagine the book as an ebook original. The book is very tactile, and the Churchmans believe in the printed word. Ebook originals are still very rare for picture books, where ebooks account for only about 2 percent of the market, if that. If this had been a middle grade or YA novel, it might easily have been published first as an ebook.

What’s next on your plate for The SheepOver? Selling foreign language rights, since you and the authors have retained these rights? Merchandising opportunities? How does your agency in particular exploit foreign rights, which so many self-published authors are trying on their own? And finally, are Sweet Pea figurines made with Sweet Pea’s actual wool still available?

The Norse were the first to come to the table for The SheepOver: we’ve already made a deal with Pantagruel for Norwegian language rights, and more deals are in the offing. We have a dedicated foreign rights director at Greenburger, and The SheepOver is her top priority for this year’s Bologna Book Fair.

Other agents at Greenburger have been canny enough to sign up self-published authors for translation rights only; having a staff member whose sole job is to sell translation rights puts us in an unusually strong position to exploit sales to foreign markets.

Those darling Sweet Pea figurines made from Sweet Pea’s very own soft wool are no longer available, alas, but I’m happy to say we’ve closed a deal with Merrymakers to create Sweet Pea & Friends plush, which are scheduled to release this spring.

About Brenda Bowen

Photo credit: Tish Webster

Brenda Bowen (@bbowen949) is an agent at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates. She represents award-winning authors and illustrators who are national and international bestsellers, as well writers and artists making their debuts. Before becoming a literary agent in the summer of 2009, Brenda held a variety of positions during her more than twenty-five years in children’s publishing. She has been editorial director of Henry Holt & Books for Young Readers, Scholastic Press, Disney/Hyperion, and Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing.

A past member of the board of directors of the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art and of the Children’s Book Council, Brenda is now an active member of SCBWI and of the Authors Guild and the Association of Authors’ Representatives. Under the pen name Margaret McNamara, she has written a number of award-winning children’s books, and her first novel for adults, Enchanted August, was published by Pamela Dorman Books/Viking in summer 2015. Brenda is herself represented by Greenburger Associates. She lives with her family in New York City.

My Interview With The Kindle Chronicles

The Kindle Chronicles is a podcast focused on—as you might expect from the show title—the Kindle. Host Len Edgerly describes himself as “an enthusiastic early adopter of the Kindle” and has been running the show himself since 2008.

I’m delighted to count myself among one of his guests, on Episode 390. One of the issues we talk about is whether Amazon is good or bad, but our conversation is wide-ranging and at times personal.

Click here to listen.

Writing Advice for Children and Teens

For fifteen years, I’ve been parceling out advice and wisdom on writing and publishing, all squarely directed at the adult writer.

As the years pass, more and more young writers have sought my insight, and I’ve had to face a difficult question. Should the advice I give to children or teenagers differ from the advice I give to adults?

Yes and no.

I’ve written this post specifically for young people. I’ll leave you to decide what advice applies to adults as well.

First things first: keep writing.

A writer is someone who writes. If that describes you, call yourself a writer. You are one.

If you want to be any good, you have to keep writing. Now’s not the time to ask questions about the quality of your work, because I can guarantee it’s not as good as it will be in three years, five years, or ten years.

This shouldn’t be upsetting, but exciting. You have the power to make progress simply by writing more. What you write now is immensely important to your overall development and progress. Don’t consider your early work as wasted time and effort. It’s part of the journey to become the artist you’re meant to be.

There’s something called the Helsinki Bus Station Theory. It goes like this: you pick a career direction and set off (in other words, you get on a particular bus). Within a short period, you produce some work—and it’s very early work. It will look like the work produced by everyone else on that bus. So if you show that early work to someone, they’re going to wave you off; they likely won’t take notice. At this point, you may get discouraged and give up or change paths. But you didn’t realize: everyone who’s ever been great goes through this. Everyone. The answer is to keep doing the work, or to stay on the bus. Most people get off the bus too soon.

Ta-Nehisi Coates says, “The older you get, that path [of writing] is so tough and you get beat up so much that people eventually go to business school and they go and become lawyers. If you find yourself continuing up until the age of thirty-five or so … you will have a skillset … and the competition will have thinned out.”

Ira Glass says, “The thing that I just would like to say to you, with all my heart, is that almost everybody I know who does interesting, creative work, they went through a phase of years where … what they were making wasn’t as good as they wanted it to be. They knew it fell short.”

Don’t ask: Should I keep writing?

That’s the wrong question. Ask instead: Do you enjoy the process? Would you keep doing it whether you got paid or not?

Let’s say I was your mentor, and we worked together for several years, and one day—after I failed to offer you any praise—you asked me, “Is it worth it for me to write, to keep going like this?” And I answered, “No, you should stop.”

If your response is: “Screw you, I’m going to write no matter what you say,” then you have the right mindset to continue.

I remember as a young person being told I was too lazy to go to college. My immediate thought was, “You’re wrong, you don’t know me at all.” That—that’s the gut feeling you’re after.

If someone could discourage you from writing, then perhaps you should be discouraged. The more you’re obsessed with writing and keep returning to it and are excited by it, the better—pay attention to that. It’s important. You’re drawn to something that sparks energy and enthusiasm, and that means you could become great at it.

You should be driven and motivated to do the work without someone watching over your shoulder and telling or encouraging you to do the work. It’s nice when we receive encouragement, but it’s momentary and doesn’t help us produce our best work.

Don’t try to figure out if you have talent. That’s useless. Talent is boringly common; unknown talented people surround us, but few persevere and do the work. Erica Jong says, “Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark place where it leads.”

Along the way, you’ll encounter many traps set by your friends, family, and society. Paul Graham talks about those traps eloquently in his essay “How to Do What You Love”: “You shouldn’t worry about prestige. Prestige is the opinion of the rest of the world.… Prestige is like a powerful magnet that warps even your beliefs about what you enjoy. It causes you to work not on what you like, but what you’d like to like.”

Experiment.

Now is the time to try it all, without risk, without commitment—see what you like and what you don’t like. Try it all before you end up in a situation or program that dictates what you have to create, or the standards you have to write by. Cross as many boundaries as you can; examine and consider all modes of expression.

While you could let writing become your whole world, pursue other interests, too. The story about Steve Jobs studying calligraphy and how it informed his approach to technology and design is now legendary. Having diverse interests, and allowing these interests to inform each other, contributes to stronger work with more vitality. Travels and varied life experiences help a lot, too, but they’re not required. You can allow yourself to be consumed by what you want to know, especially what’s foreign and strange and fascinating to you. Go out of your comfort zone whenever you can. Stay curious. Learn new stuff.

Read.

Read beyond what you’re assigned in school. It really doesn’t matter if you read widely across many genres or deep into a single genre. Go where the path seems to lead; read what adds to your energy and creativity.

Study what catches your attention, underline things you love, decorate your Tumblr or Pinterest or Instagram account with quotes and lines and wonderful words from books and writers you admire.

If you don’t like reading much, ask yourself why that is, and why you want to be a writer. Great artists of all backgrounds start their early careers by imitating the styles and voices of others, until one day they find themselves with a voice that is uniquely their own. Yes, you can copy your way to originality. And if you don’t read, how can you begin the process of doing that? Read Billy Collins on finding your voice.

Mentors speed your growth.

You can accomplish a lot on your own; you can accomplish it more quickly if someone is following your progress, providing critical feedback, and pointing out next steps. It’s hard to accept criticism at first, but you get better at it. You realize it’s not about whether you should be a writer or not, it’s about growing as a writer and sharpening your skills. Good mentors shorten the path to understanding your strengths and weaknesses. They can help cut through the noise and provide clarity when everything feels confusing. They can help introduce you to the right people or opportunities at the right time.

When it comes to a mentor, you don’t want a cheerleader, and you don’t want a parent. You want someone who has accomplished more than you and shares a vision for where you need or want to go.

Don’t ask a famous person to be your mentor or give feedback on your work. You don’t need someone really famous. That said, if you have a chance to meet a well-known author you love, go see them, hear them, ask questions, get them to sign your book, tell them of your admiration. You never know what you might learn from them even if they aren’t your mentor.

There’s no such thing as writer’s block.

Writer’s block is nothing more than fear or lack of confidence. It indicates you don’t feel ready to take the next step with your project. It’s up to you to figure out why. Maybe it’s not the right project to be working on. Or maybe you know there’s a problem that you haven’t resolved, and that problem needs to be fixed before you can continue. Look for the reason—it’s there.

If you feel like the “muse” hasn’t visited you, or you feel uninspired, it’s usually the same problem as writer’s block. You’re afraid of something, or you’re working on the wrong thing for you.

There are some dumb myths about writers.

Some people think writers sit alone all day or spend their lives in isolation. I like to call this the “solitary genius in the garret” myth.

Writing doesn’t have to be like that. Some writers work alone. Some writers collaborate with others, especially when writing movies or TV. Some writers are part of a publishing team. Some writers are performers.

Don’t ever believe anyone who tells you that to be a writer you need to spend time in solitude. Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. That’s up to you.

Recognize your enemy: impatience.

When you start thinking about or focusing on publishing, your creative energy gets channeled differently. You have to package and present your stories in a way that makes them appealing to a publisher. You have to start thinking of your work as a product to sell—because publishing is a business.

Maybe you’ll have a knack for doing that, but some writers have a hard time doing this no matter how old they are, and they feel diminished and discouraged by rejection and the selling process.

The most important thing you need to learn in this regard—and what every writer needs to learn—is patience. Be patient with yourself and the process.

John Green says, “My publishing advice to teens is: Generally, don’t. What is the point of trying to publish now? There is so much to be gained from waiting and so little to be gained from not waiting. I think that not worrying about publishing a novel by the age of 16 will free young writers from the constraints of the literary marketplace. And if you write a novel that’s really wonderful, then you can always revise it and publish it later.”

Instead of publishing: Consider joining an online community where you’ll find other young writers, such as Wattpad or Figment.

If you must think about publishing: It doesn’t matter how old you are—you’ll follow the same steps to publication as everyone else. Here are the basics steps to get a book published. When you contact agents or publishers, it’s not necessary to disclose your age as part of the submissions process—your age doesn’t matter as much as your writing. However, an experienced agent or editor will probably be able to tell you’re a young writer. If you’re under the age of eighteen, your parents or guardian will have to get involved if you’re asked to sign any kind of contract.

Take advantage of your youth.

You have time. You have time to practice and to experiment—without obligation to make writing something that pays. It should be fun, and you probably don’t have any preconceived notions about what you should write, or what the writing life is supposed to be like. You probably don’t carry a silly, arbitrary burden about how much you should write, or when, or where. You haven’t yet fallen into the trap (I hope) of calling yourself an “aspiring writer.” You create because you have ideas you want to express and play with, and it feels satisfying and exciting. Follow that impulse.

Parting advice

When I was in the sixth grade, one of my English class assignments was to produce a twenty-five-page writing portfolio—we could write short pieces, long pieces, or both, in any genre or category. It was one of my favorite assignments, because we had complete freedom. When the portfolio was returned to me, the teacher included the following note.

I have always remembered, “Jane, don’t change.” At the time, I felt (as sixth graders do) that just about everything about me was ill-fitting and wrong. From that point on, I took permission to be myself, permission to write, and ultimately permission to say I was a writer.

Allow me to give you that same permission. Now, get back to your writing.

Long-Term Marketing Models for Self-Published Authors

In my latest column at Publishers Weekly, I address the many indie authors who seek short-term solutions to their book marketing challenges. Ultimately, when you study what fuels the success of established self-published authors, it has nothing to do with buying marketing packages or publicity help—rather, such authors adopt a long-term strategy that pays off over time. I write:

There’s no shortage of marketing and publicity services that promise to help self-published authors secure media attention and book reviews and increase sales. For the unschooled, however, it’s hard to know whom to hire, how much to invest, and what type of marketing and publicity will make a difference.

Furthermore, companies that offer self-publishing services—knowing that there’s more demand than ever for such help—will offer package plans that, in the end, may have little or no effect on sales. (I’m thinking primarily of broad advertising in mass market outlets, paid reviews, and social media campaigns that are never seen by the target readership.)

Authors who try to buy attention or publicity would often do better to focus on the bigger picture of building marketing momentum effectively and meaningfully over a span of months—even years. In my experience, there are five strategic models that lead to effective marketing and publicity campaigns for books.

Read my entire column, Five Marketing Models for Self-Publishing Success.

Digital Publishing and Authorship in 2016: A Discussion with Joanna Penn

I’m delighted to again be a guest on Joanna Penn’s podcast, where this time we discuss digital publishing trends and what authors need to know as they head into 2016. The discussion was partly guided by my earlier post on 2016 trends.

Here’s what we cover. You can listen to the podcast, watch the YouTube video, or read the transcript.

The rise of mobile reading: How authors can get their books for sale on mobile devices, and also discoverability possibilities on mobile devices. We also discuss Google’s role in the market.
Why traditional media and publishers are ignoring the shadow industry of self-published books—and continuing to report dipping ebook sales and rise in print.
Whether authors more empowered than before, and if the power dynamic has shifted along with the indie movement.
Audiobooks and growth of in-car streaming internet through Apple Carplay and Google Auto.
How big data and AI + natural language processing and more will help discoverability as more and more books and content continue to be produced.
Changes in social media usage, pay to play and whether Facebook will get into publishing

To see my earlier discussions with Joanna Penn:

Money, Writing, and Life (2014)
Success in Writing, Publishing, and Marketing Takes Time (2012)

How to Find and Work with Beta Readers to Improve Your Book

by Eileen Delhi | via Flickr

Note from Jane: Today’s guest post on beta readers from Kristen Kieffer (@ShesNovel) is an excerpt from her upcoming e-course on self-editing, Self-Editing Success.

No creative act is a solo endeavor.

Editors, designers, marketers—it takes a team of professionals to help authors bring their novels to life. But lurking behind the contracts and cut checks is a valuable set of hands many authors fail to exploit: beta readers.

Just as film directors benefit from the insight of test audiences, authors can learn much about the state of their novel’s appeal by working with readers willing to critique their story before it hits the market. With these readers often offering their time and feedback free of charge, what’s not to love?

Working with beta readers can provide authors with invaluable insight, helping them see their work through that pesky objective lens. With the feedback digested, authors can use what they’ve learned to better tailor their novel for marketable appeal, increasing their chances of releasing a commercial and critical success.

But not all beta reader experiences are created equal. As with any interaction involving an honest critique, working with beta readers can quickly grow into a regrettable experience if it isn’t designed for the benefit of both parties.

Let’s avoid any mess the first time around. If you’re ready to screen your novel with a test audience for honest and invaluable insight, here are eight steps to follow for an ideal beta-reader experience.

1. Identify Your Ideal Reader

There’s no use in sending your manuscript to an uninterested reader. By taking time to discover your novel’s ideal reader before sending out beta copies, you’ll be able to cultivate a list of betas who most accurately represent your future readers, saving you—and those unenthusiastic partners—a wealth of time and trouble.

How can you identify your ideal reader?

Think about the type of person most interested in your novel, then create a quick profile. Here are a few questions you might answer in your sketch:

What is their age and gender?
Do they read to be entertained or emotionally engaged?
What are their favorite books, television shows, and movies?
What makes them happy, sad, or angry?
What do they fear or regret?
Why do they enjoy reading?

If you’re struggling to form a strong image of your novel’s ideal reader, run a Google search of books related to your own. Begin reading through the reviews for each listing to identify the type of person who most enjoyed the work. Use what you learn to strengthen your answers to the questions above.

2. Cultivate Relationships with Beta Readers

If you’re starting from scratch, you’ll need to identify a group of potential beta readers to whom you’d like to pitch your manuscript. Though the easy route would be to email the first interesting person you find on the internet, I highly encourage you to take a step back.

The work of beta readers should not be taken lightly. To read a novel may be a simple task, but to analyze each element with a critical eye in search of weak areas, errors, and inconsistencies is anything but.

Before contacting strangers to ask for their help, take time to cultivate strong relationships. You can do this by first identifying the group of prospective beta readers you’d like to work with.

If you haven’t yet made any connections, begin by creating an account on the social media site where your ideal readers hang out. Young and new adult crowds are often found on Twitter or Instagram, while more mature readers usually congregate on Facebook.

Once you’ve chosen a platform, it’s time to establish your presence. Begin by adding a headshot for your profile picture and a succinct profile bio. Then, like or follow the feeds of other authors and notable creative figures. This will help potential beta readers gain a quick understanding of you and your interests as you begin to interact.

Speaking of interacting, your next step is to find and follow potential beta readers. Not everyone you eventually contact will accept your proposal, so I suggest following at least thirty potential betas. If you reach out to all and only a quarter accept, you’ll still have a fantastic group of beta readers to critique your novel.

To find potential beta readers, follow popular writing tags like #amwriting and #writercommunity. Make sure to use these tags when you publish your own posts. You can also find prospective betas in online writing groups, such as Writers Helping Writers or Fiction Writers.

Once you’ve found a few potential beta readers, begin interacting with them by liking and commenting on their posts and statuses. Offer friendly conversation, sharing in their daily joys and challenges. After a few weeks of genuine interaction, it’s time to move on to step three.

3. Don’t Ask for Beta Readers—Offer to Be One

Unless you’ve built incredible friendships overnight, your potential beta readers probably won’t be too inclined to read and critique your novel without receiving something in return. As we discussed above, beta-reading is difficult and time-consuming work. Your potential beta readers are entitled to more than just a thank-you for their effort.

This is why I recommend sourcing your beta readers from the writing community. When you finally get in touch, you won’t have to beg or plead for their help; you’ll be able to bring your own offer to the table.

That’s right! When you ask your new acquaintances for help, you should offer to beta read their latest manuscript in return. Not only will this make the experience beneficial for both parties, but you’ll gain more practice in reading with a critical eye. This will help immensely as you continue to edit your own works.

When reaching out to potential beta readers, make sure to be personal and professional. Let them know their services are highly valued by contacting them directly (and individually) through email rather than on a public feed or in a private social media message.

4. Simplify the Process

Once you’ve compiled a group of committed beta readers, it’s time to ship them a copy of your manuscript. Though some authors may choose to send a paperback copy to their beta readers, a digital PDF or EPUB file is the most common option and both are perfectly acceptable. Ask your beta readers which format they’d prefer.

Simplify the critiquing process for your beta readers by including a list of questions you’d like answered. You can inquire about characterization, plot and character arcs, pacing, the quality of your prose, and any errors or inconsistencies your betas may have noticed.

When you contact your beta readers, clarify that these critique questions are an optional guideline for the feedback you’d like to receive. Allow each beta to pick and choose how they present their feedback, and never demand they work according to a specific process.

It’s also helpful to include a preferred time frame for the critique in your initial pitch. If you need feedback before a certain date, ensure your betas know that before they agree to read your book.

Be upfront and honest about the type of critique you’re looking for, but never believe you’re entitled to receive it simply because you’ve offered to beta in return. Writers lead busy lives, and sometimes they simply don’t have the time or desire to meet your needs.

5. Learn to Love Criticism

No matter your age or experience, learning to swallow your pride and accept an honest critique is a difficult endeavor. It’s also necessary. Learning to love criticism will only make you a stronger writer.

That’s why it is important to recognize critiques as advice rather than admonishments. The manuscript you send to your beta readers is not perfect. No story is, not even the most critically acclaimed works.

Rather than viewing your beta readers’ critiques as flaws or nitpicks, recognize them for what they are: the potential for improvement.

If your beta readers have sent you truly constructive criticism—feedback that encourages as much as it critiques—you can trust it to be an inside look at what future readers would think if your novel were published as is.

This means their criticism comes from an honest desire to see your work improve, rather than the chance to tear you down. Seize this opportunity. Recognize your chance to take these critiques and use them to your benefit. Better your novel and you’ll better its chances of success.

With that said, don’t make every change your beta readers suggest. They’re only people. They may not see or understand your vision for the book or have the same desires as the rest of your beta readers.

If you don’t agree with a critique a beta reader has pointed out, take a step back and put that critique in context. A good rule of thumb is to only make a change to your manuscript if it’s something you wholeheartedly agree with or if more than 50 percent of your beta readers made the same critique.

6. Show Your Gratitude to Beta Readers

When you receive feedback from beta readers, make sure to show your gratitude for the time and energy they’ve spent critiquing your novel.

If you previously offered to return the favor, make sure to follow up. Ask your beta readers if they would like you to critique their next project. If they agree, pencil the time to complete the review into your schedule.

If a beta reader doesn’t need you to critique one of their upcoming projects, offer to promote or review a project they have already published. Show them you care by taking time to inquire how you can return the kindness they’ve done you.

And finally, if your beta reader isn’t a writer, offer to send them a few copies of your novel once it is published. Make sure to sign each copy. You may also want to include a personalized note of thanks to show your appreciation.

7. Take an Honest Approach When You Serve as a Beta Reader

If you return the favor by completing a few critiques for your beta readers, these final two steps are for you.

First things first, you want to be honest in your communication. If you simply can’t make the time to critique a beta reader’s manuscript, let them know. Don’t let their hard work go unappreciated, but be honest in what you can and cannot make the time to do. The only thing worse than not reviewing their book is sending a poorly constructed critique because you couldn’t spare the time to do it right.

If your beta reader appreciates your critique as much as you did theirs, let them know you’d like to maintain the relationship. Rather than finding a brand new set of beta readers for your next work, you’ll have a group you know will put in the time and effort to do the job right.

On the other hand, if you don’t want to maintain a relationship with a beta reader, be honest but kind. Let them know you appreciated their work and was happy to return the favor, but be clear about ending the relationship.

8. Give the Value You Desire to Other Writers

If you reached out to beta readers, it was likely with the expectation they would offer you valuable insight you could use to better tailor your novel for success. You should give this same kind of value in return.

Constructive criticism is a flinch-inducing phrase for many writers. They view it as a series of negative remarks rather than as commentary on both the strengths and weaknesses of their manuscripts.

For every element you critique when completing your review—be it characters, plot, setting, etc.—include at least one comment that’s encouraging. Every writer should know what they’re doing right; we build upon our strengths. So where did they excel?

Do you have any other tips for an ideal beta-reader experience? Share your wisdom in the comments below!

For more from Kristen Kieffer, check out her site, ShesNovel, or sign up for her upcoming e-course, Self-Editing Success.

Details Help Writers Overcome Their Fear

by Anita Gould | via Flickr

Note from Jane: In today’s guest post, writer Benjamin Vogt discusses how evoking sensory details in writing can banish a writer’s fears.

Writers are scaredy-cats. We go in fear of lots of stuff, like sharing our true thoughts or wondering how others will think of us. We obsess too often, or too long, over the ethereal matter that curtails our power and potential. With the door closed, the room silent, we’re left not just with our words, but with every last morsel of doubt, apprehension, longing, and hopelessness that in the end can make writing incredibly moving and gut busting.

What we don’t go in fear of enough is abstraction. Vagueness. We need to paint an accurate picture of a moment or place in sensory detail that allows anyone else to be impacted or fully involved, physically and emotionally. What’s more, an almost over-the-top obsession with sensory detail is what will help an early draft overcome the monkeys on our back. Fear, lack of confidence, lack of direction—these all vanish when we pay attention to the sight, smell, taste, touch, and sound of a moment.

Here’s an example from a recent student of mine, Mimm Patterson. This is her initial description of a place central to an essay about her family history:

I think I walked on Hawk Mountain for the first time after my friends Becky and Donna talked me into joining the local 4H club when I was in junior high. We climbed to the North Lookout, before they carved stairs from the Tuscarora sandstone that make it easier to find the quartz and shale outcrop. I remember looking out over the landscape, towards Bake Oven Knob and then down toward the River of Rocks, a geological formation pushed together by bullying glaciers. I felt free and lost. Free and lost. I was let loose by the air on my skin and the solid earth under my feet.

It’s not bad writing. The pace and sentence structure feel right, and we have specific names to help ground us in one moment. But it lacks real evocation of a place, and that lack of sensory detail is what will keep us writers from breaking through to the other side—the deeper subjects we know we’re pointing toward consciously or not.

Here is Mimm’s revision:

This mountain is all too beautiful. I am standing on the right side of a prominence filled with light and shadow and built of earth and boulders made from strong quartz, shale and Tuscarora sandstone. The sun cuts sharp edges between the flat bright surfaces and black molten folds of this ancient rubble. It is fifteen hundred feet above the valley floor. To my left the variegated grey slabs rise for another twenty-one feet and form a second peak which has built around it a corral of wood to protect distracted birders from straying too close to the edge. On a point that juts into the ether and one that no one would dare stand there’s a pole of stripped pine and perched on top of that pole is the stuffed, feathered Great Horned Owl. It is set there each year during fall migration and is so lifelike she takes new climbers by surprise. You can hear them as they approach on the final ascent. First comes the quiet gasp of shock and sometimes the whispered ‘Look! It’s an owl!’, the release of air with the realization they’ve been fooled and then a soft chuckle of delight. Occasionally, if the climbers are young, you’ll hear the added ‘It’s not real, stupid’ and then more laughs. You can almost feel the poke in the ribs.

Hot tamales! Now that’s writing! The author has taken the time to bring us to her physical place, which will soon open the door to the psychological and emotional place. Any one of the details can become a metaphor, a touchstone, to help guide the writing into more open and honest territory. Soon, Mimm will discuss the mountain as refuge and teacher as she confronts a troubled past with her mother and herself in a small town. It’s the details, the patience to describe, that allow writers to gain confidence and momentum. But here’s Mimm in her own words: “Developing the sensory details stirred something in me—woke something up in my heart. My story—the one I am still struggling to tell—gained new life and became more accessible to me. Focusing on the sensory details of a place and time in my past offered the clarity and courage I needed to dive deeper.”

Learn more about Ben’s 10-week course, All in the Family, starting Feb. 1, 2016.

How Writers Can Craft an Effective Setting

Photo via Visual Hunt

Note from Jane: Today’s guest post is adapted from A Writer’s Guide to Active Setting by Mary Buckham (@MaryBuckham), just released this month from Writer’s Digest Books.

How do you initially show the setting in the scene? The reader does need a quick “anchoring,” probably in the first few paragraphs of a new scene or new chapter, or a change in location. Where are we? What time of day is it? Is it quiet or noisy? What is the quality of light?

The reader will be mentally asking these questions, and the longer you keep the information from them, the less they will focus on what you want them to focus on. The reader will become more removed from the story and the characters, and instead be trying to figure out the where, when, who, or why.

Once you’ve established or anchored the reader into the where of your story, using a strong setting description, you do not need to continue to embellish and rehash a setting. Let the characters interact with the setting, move through it, pick things up and brush past them, once the reader knows the character is in a place already described.

How Setting Affects Pacing

If the character is returning to a place that hasn’t been described in depth previously, the reader will not be as open to a slower pacing on the revisit so you can describe setting. The reader has most likely created her own visuals, because a reader needs to see the characters in some context. This is a small but important point, and an error many new writers make.

Beginning writers often:

wait until it’s too late to describe and orient the reader as to place;
or totally forget that the reader has no idea where the character is in the story, because the location has suddenly moved from a known to a new, unknown location.

If I write, Joe left his home and went to the city, the setting is so vague that it leaves you clueless and frustrated. But if I write, Joe left his beachside cottage and drove into Lake Forest City, a northern suburb of Seattle, the addition of a few specifics gives you enough to inhabit the character’s world while keeping the main focus on what’s happening in the story.

How Setting Affects Characterization and Conflict

It’s human nature to notice what’s changed—you might not notice an object on your mantel every day, but you do notice when it’s missing. If an object, like a beloved photograph, was foreshadowed earlier in the story, you can now show that it’s missing. Instead of starting such a scene with the character re-entering the living room, you show the reader that the first thing the character notices when she enters the living room is the gap on the mantel: the space where her mother’s photo was. Bam! We’re in that living room without spending a lot of time re-describing what the reader has already been shown.

Look at how Laura Anne Gilman (Hard Magic) orients the reader as to where the character is physically in space and gives a hint of the protagonist’s backstory, characterization of two different characters, and a hint of potential conflict between characters through her description of a room. All in only one paragraph!

The only way to describe J’s place was “warm.” Rosewood furniture against cream-colored walls, and touches of dark blue and flannel gray everywhere, broken by the occasional bit of foam green from his Chinese pottery collection. You’d have thought I’d have grown up to be Uber Society Girl, not pixie-Goth, in these surroundings. Even my bedroom—now turned back into its original use as a library—had the same feel of calm wealth to it, no matter how many pop-culture posters I put up or how dark I painted the walls.

Now let’s dissect that paragraph to see the power of the individual parts.

The only way to describe J’s place was “warm.”

[Subjective emotion from the POV character that gives a hint of her relationship with the home’s owner. Plus we are able to get a quick sense of the feel of a place; we know when we’ve been in a warm or cool room even if we don’t have too many details yet.]

Rosewood furniture against cream-colored walls, and touches of dark blue and flannel gray everywhere,

[Notice the pieces of furniture are not described because it’s not important to know there’s a couch or two chairs in the room. It’s more important to get a sense of the owner of the room by his choice of subtle and understated colors and the wood—rosewood is a world away from oak or distressed pine. We’re getting a glimpse into the world of the secondary character here.]

broken by the occasional bit of foam green from his Chinese pottery collection.

[Here, because collecting Chinese pottery is not the same as collecting baseball cards or stamps, the reader has another image of the wealth and refinement of the home’s owner.]

You’d have thought I’d have grown up to be Uber Society Girl, not pixie-Goth, in these surroundings.

[Now the reader is focused on the differences between the POV character’s sense of self and the home’s owner by use of contrast. This is (or was) her home, yet it’s clear she does not see herself as belonging.]

Even my bedroom—now turned back into its original use as a library—had the same feel of calm wealth to it, no matter how many pop-culture posters I put up or how dark I painted the walls.

[This hints at conflict and foreshadowing.]

Through her specific word choices and the objects she’s chosen to comment on, Gilman has deepened her world building between these two characters in the series. We are now seeing where the POV character came from and where her mentor still lives. The author’s word choices, pointing out the contrast between “calm wealth,” “pop-culture posters,” and dark-painted walls, reveals to the reader the sense of not belonging in the world in which she was raised, which is a key theme in this story.

Let’s look at another example approaching setting from a rough draft version to the final version.

FIRST DRAFT: The wardens led me to a room and left me there.

Pretty bland description. The reader is not deep into this character’s POV because the character is not experiencing the room.

SECOND DRAFT: I’m conducted to a room and left alone. It’s the richest place I’ve ever been in.

Better because now we’re given a little more insight into what the POV character is feeling based on the response to the room. But we still have no idea why the character feels this way. Nor can we see the room. Plus, instead of being shown the place, we’re only told about it.

Let’s see how Suzanne Collins used the setting to enhance the opening of her story in The Hunger Games:

Once inside, I’m conducted to a room and left alone. It’s the richest place I’ve ever been in, with thick deep carpets and a velvet couch and chairs. I know velvet because my mother has a dress with a collar made of the stuff. When I sit on the couch, I can’t help running my fingers over the fabric repeatedly. It helps to calm me as I try to prepare for the next hour. The time allotted for the tributes to say goodbye to their loved ones.

Here we have more setting details that allow the author to show some characterization of the POV character and reveal emotions based on her interaction with this room, all by adding just a few more details of setting.

How to Use Subtext in Setting

Subtext is the underlying message the reader receives from a passage. Dialogue or action may say one thing: all appears to be fine, but the reader understands from other cues—such as the setting—that the subtext is saying something else.

Have you ever attended an event with a friend or family member and later, in discussing the event, discovered that, based on the friend’s description, you each seemed to have been at a totally different event? Mystery-writer Agatha Christie used this ability to great effect. She allowed her characters to focus in on what matters to them in one of her Hercule Poirot stories, Cards on the Table. The Belgian detective asks half-a-dozen participants of a party to describe the room where the murder took place. All of the characters, because they come from different backgrounds with different interests, describe highlights of the room from totally different perspectives. One notes the very valuable and esoteric collectibles scattered around on the tabletops. Another, a soldier who spent many years in the Middle East, could tell the detective the tribal names of the woven rugs on the floor; another character saw the room in terms of colors; and another could describe the type of period furniture.

Now if the reader had not already “seen” the entire room—in all its detail—through the detective’s eyes, but saw only the small snippets from the individual secondary characters, the reader might see only a room with knick-knacks or just a room with carpets, but no furniture. By letting the audience see the whole room through Poirot’s POV first, and then revisiting the room through each character’s POV, the reader is led to solve the mystery of who killed the victim because only one character “saw” the weapon that was at hand.

What to Avoid with Descriptions of Setting

Some writers will write really long descriptions, such as this one of a tree:

A Utah pine, I suppose. I know it wasn’t an alligator. Remembering, I’d say the trunk was about a foot through, but the reason for the tree’s importance was a lightning strike that burnt out the core. So the tree was alive on the outside and dead in the middle. The lowest limbs got thick as trunks and the branches went out and up. The shape was perfect for a tree house. After the dead middle trunk was cut off level with the live limbs, that is. Scrounged pieces of 2×4 and small off cuts of plywood formed the tree house, which we lined with gunny sacking to make it feel like a real house. Slept in that tree more than once. Now a road goes over where the tree was. I reckon it provided winter fuel for someone’s fireplace. The old jailhouse, though, still stands not a hundred yards away.

This description features a lot of details—too many, as you get easily shifted from focusing on a specific tree to several other issues. There are almost too many issues in one paragraph. A character’s backstory, how the character feels about the absence of the tree, and a secondary building that’s now on the site all can be consistent and compatible images, but there are so many other details about the way the tree looked and what happened to it and in it that the sudden shift to a road and jailhouse seems jarring. The reader’s focus is shifted by the use of one or two sentences describing the tree when used as a tree house, sliding into the fact the tree is now gone and instead there’s a jail next door. In other words, too much information that is not necessary.

Overdescribing can cause story issues that will impact your pacing and frustrate your reader. The most important worldbuilding aspect in the above example is the description of the tree as alive on the outside but dead on the inside. This gives enormous insight to the POV character’s world and his relationship to it—we assume the character, too, is alive on the outside, but dead on the inside. No need for details about how the tree fort was built, or the shift to a jailhouse.

Another common setting detail speed bump:

EXAMPLE: a blue tract home

Here we have too little detail. The author assumes the reader knows what is meant by a tract home, but since tract housing has been around since the seventeenth century, there can be a huge difference between coal-miner homes in an eighteenth-century Cornish town and wooden detached homes created in an American suburb shortly after World War II. Adding a few more specific words will pull your reader deeper into your specific story setting.

REWRITE: A blue tract home in a 1950s suburb.

A copycat row of brick tract bungalows built for the coal miners, some faded red, others painted blue.

Little wooden box tract houses built for single millworkers or families who couldn’t afford more.

Here’s an example of setting that does not need too many details or words because the setting is not being used to show information about the POV character or to orient the reader into a change in the story’s location. The setting is used to show the reader only one thing.

Woods surrounded the clearing in which Merlotte’s stood, and the edges of the parking lot were mostly gravel. Sam kept it well lit, and the surrealistic glare of the high parking lot lights made everything look strange.

—Charlaine Harris, Dead Until Dark

In the above example, the author wanted to keep the reader focused on the feel and the emotion of the setting, nothing more. Look what would have happened if Harris had chosen to overwrite this setting.

OVERWRITTEN EXAMPLE: Piney woods with a few wild magnolia trees surrounded the ninety-foot by ninety-foot clearing in which Merlotte’s stood, and the edges of the square parking lot were mostly gravel of the light-gray variety, clashing with the red of the Georgia soil. Sam kept the lot well lit with at least six vapor-arc lights high overhead and a spotlight near the front door of the bar. The surrealistic glare of the high parking-lot lights made everything look elongated and warped, like looking into one of those mirrors at carnivals.

See? All this detail shifts the focus away from the mood of the setting and can slow the story pacing.

Be aware of your intention with setting details. If the reader needs to know the type of tree, then show it. But if they don’t need that information, if it doesn’t improve your story, then leave it out.

For more from Mary Buckham, visit MaryBuckham.com or check out A Writer’s Guide to Active Setting.