Terry Shames's Blog: 7 Criminal Minds, page 222

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How do you get yourself and your books noticed by the public? We hear that many publishers aren’t doing much PR anymore. How do you stand out from the crowd?

by Paul D. Marks

Set your hair on fire, borrow Lady Gaga’s meat dress, wardrobe malfunction. All of the above. They say there is no such thing as bad publicity.

Everyone earlier this week had so many great things to say, I hope I have some new ones as well as maybe re-hitting some of the previous things in my own inimitable way, especially...

Yes to everything, by Catriona

"How do you get yourself and your books noticed by the public? We hear that publishers aren't doing so much these days. How do make your work stand out from the crowd?"


Disclaimer: I'm late with a book, getting very close to the revised deadline, stressed and grumpy and some social niceties have evaporated. Also I can't top or even match the magisterial splendour of Cathy's post yesterday. But here's what I found in the corners of my brain when I had a scrape round.

My default position is "yes...

Keeping up with the ??? by Cathy Ace

How do you get yourself and your books noticed by the public? We hear that many publishers aren’t doing much PR anymore. How do you stand out from the crowd?
PLEASE BUY MY BOOK! ” …a pleasant mélange with a garnish of death and danger.” Kirkus ReviewsMy first Cait Morgan b...<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>

Finding the limelight...

How do you get yourself and your books noticed by the public? We hear that many publishers aren’t doing much PR anymore. How do you stand out from the crowd?
A great question that I've actually been trying to avoid ... 
In the years before the story in my mind became an object on a bookshelf, there was nothing but the writing. The writing was all there was. Now that it has made it there, a hard copy in stores, in boxes, in the hands of readers, I have a new role I didn't see coming: that o...

Hey! Over here!

How do you get yourself and your books noticed by the public? We hear that many publishers aren’t doing much PR anymore. How do you stand out from the crowd?
- from Susan
This is either the worst time to ask me this, or the best. I have a new book coming out in a few months from a major publisher, my shot at a wider degree of notice and success. All of which means I’m panicking. Am I doing the right things? Old, worn out strategies? Untried gambles? Offensively BSP (blatant self promotion)? Wr...

Oh, How Lovely. More Process.

Do you use a story “bible” to keep track of your characters, locations, etc.? If so, how do you do it, in Word, Scrivener, spreadsheet, scribbles on scraps of paper, etc? What “sections” do you have in your bible?

The first incarnation of my series, The Tales of Elliot Caprice, started as a screenplay for a feature film which would go unproduced. The second draft and my small success with an independent feature I made earned me a few high-level Hollywood meetings. The junior executives a...

The Good Book

by Alan

Do you use a story “bible” to keep track of your characters, locations, etc.? If so, how do you do it, in Word, Scrivener, spreadsheet, scribbles on scraps of paper, etc? What “sections” do you have in your bible?

I do use a series bible. (Correction: I did use a series bible. Back when I wrote a series!)

My first book, DIAMONDS FOR THE DEAD, was a stand-alone. Then my next two books were part of The Last Laff Mystery Series, featuring stand-up comic Channing Hayes. (Can two books be...

Keeping track

by Dietrich Kalteis

I have to go along with Robin, a story bible and spreadsheets sound a bit too organized for me. I don’t write a story outline, but I do create a reference sheet for my characters. I keep track of details like backstory, physicality, age, where and how they live, things like that. At the start of a story, I drop a character in the scene, and at that point they’re still pretty wooden. And as I work through the first draft, the characters get fleshed out and develop. Once I ge...

I need a memory jogger

 By R.J. Harlick
Do you use a story “bible” to keep track of your characters, locations, etc.? If so, how do you do it, in Word, Scrivener, spreadsheet, scribbles on scraps of paper, etc? What “sections” do you have in your bible? 
Heavens, a “bible” sounds far too organized for me, a committed pantser. In fact, this is the first time I’ve heard the term. But I will admit after eight books in the Meg Harris mystery series and a memory that can barely remember what I had for breakfast,...

This week on criminal minds we are answering the question...

This week on criminal minds we are answering the question: Do you use a story “bible” to keep track of characters, location, etc.
My answer in a nutshell? If only!


Every time I start a new book, I remind myself that while I was writing the last book I promised myself that when I was done I would go back through all my books and gather all my character and place names into one file along with short descriptions and what book they appeared in. Doesn’t that sound clever? Of course it does. So org...