Monday Musings--OR Why Not Me?
Monday Musing:
After a wonderful whirlwind trip down to Myrtle Beach for the Authors in the City book signing, I'm back at it, slinging promo instead of directly slinging product, while simultaneously continuing my ongoing Master's level study of "how do they do it's?"
With some great fans, Cindy...
...and Leah who gave me this (and subsequently made my entire trip worth it)
Multi-author book signings are one of the best ways to study how other folks who spend time slaving over keyboards also spend money promoting themselves. These events are not cheap, for the organizers or participants. But if I were to give a single smidge of unsolicited advice to newbies on this fine cusp-of-March-Madness Monday it would be: Find 2 of these, spend a few bucks on some carefully considered swag/freebies, get your books printed, buy a few pens and a poster/banner and show up.
Love me some ConventionWhore time with the talented Hildie McQueen!
This is only, technically my second one of these, having attended one that was more "convention" than just massive room full of smiling hopeful authors peddling their wares a couple of years in a row so I sort of knew what to expect. It was a drippy, dreary Saturday in South Carolina but it made no difference to the eager readers lined up outside the venue while we scribblers put the finishing touches on our displays. At events like these I am constantly reminded of a snippet of a sometimes overused little homily called "Desiderata." The bit that has always stuck with me from this is the line:
"If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter, for always
there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself."
There really is no better way to study how you are doing than by comparing how much sitting around and twiddling with your phone's Facebook app while watching readers line up at booths all around you you do. I've been there. Right now I'm kind of in a middle place with this. I sold a few books, yes but more importantly I made some seriously great connections with readers, some of whom are newer than me authors. I was also blessed to met 2 of my "biggest fans" face to face which for any author is a buzz.
The temptation to get down on yourself because you only have a 5-person entourage vs. the 20-person one is great. But this business is just as much a "business" as anything and we should all remember that "book signings" should be treated as opportunities to connect off-line and given the same level of importance you give to any other networking event.
I had a great time and my little "Scavenger Hunt" (the one where I posted "Come find Liz in the bar and she'll give you a free book") netted me a nice long convo with 4 women I was only able to talk briefly to during the signing. Authors in the City is an annual, amazingly well-run event that changes venues every year and I highly recommend it to you, dear author. Next year it's in Florida.
Mary T. got dubbed "Liz's Gayle" but I'm not sure Oprah is as lucky as me 'cause I said "let's find some Bloody Mary's at 11 a.m. and...."
Agent Hunt Update: Well, I tried a different tactic last week, reaching out to an agent who made a plea for submissions on her blog. Since I don't have a completed MS (I'm currently between them having published 3.5 books on my own and submitted another one of my soccer-based novels to a publisher last month) I thought I'd just intro myself, be face-meltingly clever, pimp my chops, my backlist and show her the first 3 pages of a new project I have slated for self publishing. Yeah. So that netted me another boilerplate rejection.
Sigh.
Heavier sigh.
This week's plan includes fleshing out that new project, plus work on Precious Vessel, which is going back to yet another drawing board via a new editor in April. I am going to skip submitting this week. The rejections are just coming in too fast for me to process and remain sane/motivated.
Liz Great News:
LOVE GARAGE, book 1 of The Love Brothers series, my first self publishing adventure/insanity got a killer review from a mid-major media outlet: The San Francisco Book Review.The reviewer said, and I quote: "A fabulous story of family, loyalty, and how much small town life and all of the baggage that is history can become engrained in your character."
And gave it 4 stars! Little ol' Liz book, gets a bit of big market buzz!
This is also the week that LOVE GARAGE is free to everyone one Amazon! Tell your friends to grab this book that is garnering all sorts of buzz for my new series today through Friday for $0.
Upcoming Liz Sighting: I'll be at the Detroit Indie Author Mashup this weekend, which got relocated a bit to the west (which helps me and my commute). It is being held at the Western Wayne Campus of Wayne State University. Friday, I'm on an 11 a.m. panel discussion about "What Not To Do Online" (a.k.a. Social Media for the average author). Saturday, I'm signing books 12-4 p.m. and WILL have the NEWLY COVERED Jack & Sara Trilogy books: Floor Time, Sweat Equity, Closing Costs available for purchase and signing!I, for one, canNOT wait to get my hot little fingers on this killer newly covered books! Info about the event can be found here: Detroit Indie Author Mashup
After a wonderful whirlwind trip down to Myrtle Beach for the Authors in the City book signing, I'm back at it, slinging promo instead of directly slinging product, while simultaneously continuing my ongoing Master's level study of "how do they do it's?"
With some great fans, Cindy...
...and Leah who gave me this (and subsequently made my entire trip worth it)
Multi-author book signings are one of the best ways to study how other folks who spend time slaving over keyboards also spend money promoting themselves. These events are not cheap, for the organizers or participants. But if I were to give a single smidge of unsolicited advice to newbies on this fine cusp-of-March-Madness Monday it would be: Find 2 of these, spend a few bucks on some carefully considered swag/freebies, get your books printed, buy a few pens and a poster/banner and show up.
Love me some ConventionWhore time with the talented Hildie McQueen!This is only, technically my second one of these, having attended one that was more "convention" than just massive room full of smiling hopeful authors peddling their wares a couple of years in a row so I sort of knew what to expect. It was a drippy, dreary Saturday in South Carolina but it made no difference to the eager readers lined up outside the venue while we scribblers put the finishing touches on our displays. At events like these I am constantly reminded of a snippet of a sometimes overused little homily called "Desiderata." The bit that has always stuck with me from this is the line:
"If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter, for always
there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself."
There really is no better way to study how you are doing than by comparing how much sitting around and twiddling with your phone's Facebook app while watching readers line up at booths all around you you do. I've been there. Right now I'm kind of in a middle place with this. I sold a few books, yes but more importantly I made some seriously great connections with readers, some of whom are newer than me authors. I was also blessed to met 2 of my "biggest fans" face to face which for any author is a buzz.
The temptation to get down on yourself because you only have a 5-person entourage vs. the 20-person one is great. But this business is just as much a "business" as anything and we should all remember that "book signings" should be treated as opportunities to connect off-line and given the same level of importance you give to any other networking event.
I had a great time and my little "Scavenger Hunt" (the one where I posted "Come find Liz in the bar and she'll give you a free book") netted me a nice long convo with 4 women I was only able to talk briefly to during the signing. Authors in the City is an annual, amazingly well-run event that changes venues every year and I highly recommend it to you, dear author. Next year it's in Florida.
Mary T. got dubbed "Liz's Gayle" but I'm not sure Oprah is as lucky as me 'cause I said "let's find some Bloody Mary's at 11 a.m. and...."
Agent Hunt Update: Well, I tried a different tactic last week, reaching out to an agent who made a plea for submissions on her blog. Since I don't have a completed MS (I'm currently between them having published 3.5 books on my own and submitted another one of my soccer-based novels to a publisher last month) I thought I'd just intro myself, be face-meltingly clever, pimp my chops, my backlist and show her the first 3 pages of a new project I have slated for self publishing. Yeah. So that netted me another boilerplate rejection.
Sigh.
Heavier sigh.
This week's plan includes fleshing out that new project, plus work on Precious Vessel, which is going back to yet another drawing board via a new editor in April. I am going to skip submitting this week. The rejections are just coming in too fast for me to process and remain sane/motivated.
Liz Great News:
LOVE GARAGE, book 1 of The Love Brothers series, my first self publishing adventure/insanity got a killer review from a mid-major media outlet: The San Francisco Book Review.The reviewer said, and I quote: "A fabulous story of family, loyalty, and how much small town life and all of the baggage that is history can become engrained in your character."
And gave it 4 stars! Little ol' Liz book, gets a bit of big market buzz!
This is also the week that LOVE GARAGE is free to everyone one Amazon! Tell your friends to grab this book that is garnering all sorts of buzz for my new series today through Friday for $0.
Upcoming Liz Sighting: I'll be at the Detroit Indie Author Mashup this weekend, which got relocated a bit to the west (which helps me and my commute). It is being held at the Western Wayne Campus of Wayne State University. Friday, I'm on an 11 a.m. panel discussion about "What Not To Do Online" (a.k.a. Social Media for the average author). Saturday, I'm signing books 12-4 p.m. and WILL have the NEWLY COVERED Jack & Sara Trilogy books: Floor Time, Sweat Equity, Closing Costs available for purchase and signing!I, for one, canNOT wait to get my hot little fingers on this killer newly covered books! Info about the event can be found here: Detroit Indie Author Mashup
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