Q&A with Josh Lanyon discussion
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Writing Questions for Josh
Hi All, I sometimes lurk on this thread and the question of pen names caught me. For some reason I hadn't thought of googling my pen name and when I did it turns out there was a British actor in the 60's and 70's named Terry Scott. The YouTube that comes up shows him getting into (and performing) in drag - although by all accounts he was straight. What do you think? Should I go back to the drawing board? I have some personal reasons for liking the name but....
Mod
There's a yoga instructor and a dance teacher at a performing arts school who no doubt daily curse my name. Or rather their name...or...er...my old name? LOL ;-)
Great names! But please don't change your pictures until we get used to your lovely knew names. Lol. I'm so very confused
Anita, er Blaine, wrote: And thus, Anita Dapperens has now become Blaine D. Arden(though everyone is free to call me Anita, of course). . .Beautiful pen name!
Heather C wrote: "Great names! But please don't change your pictures until we get used to your lovely knew names. Lol. I'm so very confused"Don't worry, I wasn't planning on changing my picture, though I have a lovely greyscaled version (though still with purple hair) that I might use at some point :)
J. Rosemary wrote: " Anita, er Blaine, wrote: And thus, Anita Dapperens has now become Blaine D. Arden(though everyone is free to call me Anita, of course). . .
Beautiful pen name!"
Thank you :)
Here's to hoping my writing lives up to the name *fingers crossed*
Mod
Heather C, don't worry, the pic I'm planning to update with is not available easily and I'm lazy so it might be awhile before I get a chance to update it.
-Jordan S./Anna
Ok don't laugh at me but I'm horrible with names. Anita and Anna, I was always confusing you two in the 1st place. Lol
Mod
I’m not a writer, but I have a question about how series are categorized.There are two types of series. One that follows the same characters from book to book and has an overriding story arc (like your AE Mysteries) and then there are ones that just take place in the same universe but follow different characters (with some crossover) and can really be read as standalones.
Is there a publishing term to distinguish between these two types of series?
Mod
I think there are a couple of considerations. If the actor is a minor and now mostly forgotten actor/musician/painter, I don't think it matters.
I wouldn't think Elizabeth Taylor or Monty Clift would be good choices for many decades to come.
Sometimes people try to use a different spelling or insert a middle initial to make it clear the mystery writer Ludwig Van Beethovan is not the same as that other guy, but generally you want to avoid using the same name as someone else. There's a British Josh Lanyon who writes interior design books or something, but he came after me, so that's his lookout.
Mod
There are two types of series. One that follows the same characters from book to book and has an overriding story arc (l..."
The series name usually indicates whether it's following a set of characters or the place. So you have the Smithfield series which all take place in Smithfield, CN but follow different characters -- versus the Adrien English series, which follows Adrien English.
That's why picking a series name shouldn't just be a random decision. There should be a decision about what elements are going to be focused on. I chose Holmes & Moriarity because a - funny play (hopefully) on Holmes & Moriarty and b- because the emphasis is on these two men trying to forge a lasting relationship while they solve crimes together.
OK, I did a quick search to see if this topic had already been covered, but didn't find it, so here goes:How important is the blurb? I think it's really important, and when I buy a book and the blurb led me to believe it was something it's not, I get annoyed. Not necessarily bad annoyed, but annoyed.
So, my first book is coming out soon, and I need to edit the blurb and have it back ASAP, and it's just not... it. The Husband says I should trust the publisher to know how to sell the book, but I feel like they are trying to sell a different book than the one I wrote. Oh, sure, it has the same plot, but they are selling a very serious, angsty book, and I wrote a lighter, sometimes humorous (I thought) book.
I made some changes, but it's still just not right. Should I just let the issue go? How important is it? Important enough to eat xanax like candy until I get it perfect?
Megan
Blaine D. wrote: "Jordan S. wrote: "Ok. It's official. OMG... eep! lol. I've changed my name on here to reflect my penname: Jordan Sophia Lombard. I'm nowhere near ready to send this book off to get published, but w..."As I approached the last stages of my first completed work I started researching publishers and found they all encourage/expect for authors to promote themselves. I brought this issue up to some members (published writers and editors) of a group I belong to and I was told marketing is important and we need to put ourselves out there: make contacts and let others get to know us. They say at the end we are promoting our persona more than we are the book. Suggestions were made for Facebook page, writer's blog and even twitter and not to wait until after you are published.
I happen to agree with this. What do you guys think?
Mod
How important is the blurb? I think it's really important, and when I buy a book and the ..."
The blurb is definitely important and it needs to be accurate both in content and tone. Readers do get irate when books are mislabeled, and rightfully so.
It's possible your publisher will tag the book so it indicates humor or other genre or thematic contents, but what you definitely don't want is something that promises a commercial element that's missing.
Mod
I agree with the idea that you're promoting an authorial persona and that you want to begin as soon as it makes sense.
I think it makes sense to get started but not to go to extreme lengths. Like establish a facebook page now but hold off on setting up a fan page until you've got a project sold. That kind of thing. Begin to establish the fundamentals of you the author but don't worry about setting up your mailing list, etc till you've got something actually promote.
In my opinion.
Josh wrote: "Taylor wrote: "Blaine D. wrote: "Jordan S. wrote: "Ok. It's official. OMG... eep! lol. I've changed my name on here to reflect my penname: Jordan Sophia Lombard. I'm nowhere near ready to send this..."Hi Josh,
Thanks for putting your two cents in on this subject. I find the whole marketing thing quite intimidating, as by dedicating all my free time to write the book I have managed to disconnect completely from the online world and I am not quite sure where to start.
I read this article on another group earlier, and thought it was really helpful in putting promotion into perspective:http://kriswrites.com/2011/04/06/the-...
Mod
I promised a friend I would take notes and let him know what was suggested. I can do that for you guys too if you want. It promises to be very interesting!
Jordan S. wrote: "Last week I caught a webinar by Writer's Digest about creating an author website. It talked about what to include on it, whether you're officially published or not. Sadly, I only caught the end, an..."Notes! Please! This is something I've been angsting over.
Jordan S. wrote: "Last week I caught a webinar by Writer's Digest about creating an author website. It talked about what to include on it, whether you're officially published or not. Sadly, I only caught the end, an..."Megan wrote: "Notes! Please! This is something I've been angsting over. "
I definitely second that!
I've already created a website, but for now I only use my blog, since I have nothing published yet, and have no idea what to put on it, besides a link to my blog ...
Mod
Since I bought business cards for work from moo.com and got a coupon, I'm going to make cards for my penname, though I don't see myself giving them away for awhile. I've got to have a book ready to publish first, I think. However, I will mention that their cards are cheap ($20 for 100) and a good quality too, so if you're thinking about cards, don't make them yourself, go with moo.com.
Jordan S. wrote: "Ok, I'll put it on my to-do list and I'll make a point of doing it on Sunday when I have the whole day off, or Monday the latest. Since I bought business cards for work from moo.com and got a c..."
I don't have business cards right now, and I have no immediate plans to order them. But I'm giving some serious thought to going to RT next year (it's in Chicago, so it's practically local), and if I do I'll probably have some made up. I don't expect to make major publishing contacts, but it will be an easy way to exchange info with other readers. And I'll be prepared if an editor or agent falls in my lap!
If you're attending a conference, business cards are a MUST whether you're pubbed or pre-pubbed. When I did RWA '09 in DC, I wasn't pubbed yet, but I still had business cards with my logline for the book I was pushing on the back.This go-round, as a published author...Well, if you run into me at RWA11 in NYC, demand goodies, LOL. I'll have stuff in the goodie room, but for people I know or buddy up with: coffee mugs, notebooks, canvas totes, hats & shirts, magnets, etc. Plus, if you like Rachel Haimowitz's work, I'll be sporting her BelongingVerse bracelets & she's sending me some to pass around.
Promoting as an unpub...Facebook, yes. I really don't do a lot on fb, though.) But for God's sake, if you're a farmville fiend or whatever, keep that on your private account, ok? And this is coming from a level 100+ in fv on my personal acct. Seriously. No writerly fv-esque stuff on your author acct.
Twitter, yes, one thousand times yes -- I do a lot of my moving & grooving on twitter. :D Cracking jokes whilst promo'ing at 140 characters or less, what could be more fun? Easy peasy.
Site and/or blog -- definitely. I don't really blog unless I have news to report and it's more of a Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure Dood sort of thing, but nonetheless.
Sync the lot as much as you can and you're good to go.
Otherwise...Just write the book. And then write the next one. It's not mandatory to promote yourself before you sign the contract, but it sure makes life easier once you do.
JMO
Kari wrote: "If you're attending a conference, business cards are a MUST whether you're pubbed or pre-pubbed."So, I'm going to try and make the UK-meet (http://ukmeet.weebly.com/index.html), since that is reasonably close (and I can hopefully combine it with a pleasure trip and visiting friends).
Being unpublished, what do I put on a business card?
Do's and don'ts? anyone?
As for the rest ...
twitter - check
blog - check (going to try and blog once a week on my writing, as in progress and other stuff I come across along the line)
facebook - check (as of today)
website - layout online, but no info yet, because I have no idea what to put on it, besides links to my blog/twitter/facebook accounts
Just dragged out my business card from '09...On mine:Name
Title of Book
Genre of Book
Address
Phone
Plus wicked cool background stock photo of a creepy cemetary. (Book I was pushing was a paranormal.) At the time, I didn't have a site, was not on fb/twitter, etc. Sorry about the lack of graphic, that file died with my old laptop and I'm too lazy to scan it, LOL.
This year...These are mock-ups. I'm waiting to order because I may end up adding I Omega depending on who it goes to, the timetable involved, etc, but as it stands right now:
The front
The back
One of the keys to good marketing is consistency so the background image on the card, I yanked from the header on my website. My logline, tagline, whatever it's called, is my promise to the reader (A World More Extraordinary) so that gets slapped onto everything. I'm paying extra to personalize the card exactly how I want it, but you can use a stock template for the cost of shipping usually. A glossy finish (which I recommend) and the full color of my covers on the back costs extra too. For my cards in '09, on the back, I printed my three-line pitch for the book I was pushing instead -- which shouldn't cost you a dime.
Now, I'm wondering if I should move A World More Extraordinary to the back with the cover images. Hm. LOL.
Anyway, at vistaprint, 250 cards will run me $30. If you go with their stock templates, you ought to be able to get yours for half that price, maybe less.
I highly rec vistaprint, btw. I do 90% of my promo ordering through them. Their photo notebooks and mugs are awesome. :D
Mod
http://kriswrites.com/2011/04/06/the-..."
The only thing I suspected might be off there was I think blurbs and covers still sell a larger percentage of books than she seemed to think. I know they do for me (blurbs in particular) and I certainly hear that from others.
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I think that would be interesting!
Mod
Get business cards, absolutely, but DO NOT PAY FOR THEM. Not at this stage. Go to a freebie site and do it that way.
Until you sell something, you can't take business expenses off your taxes. Also, though there is a lot of handing around of cards at conferences, the vast majority of them go in the trash. If you hand out 100 cards to valid contacts who hang onto them, you're doing fabulously well.
So do these things, yes, but do them by spending as little money as you can.
Mod
For business cards, you're promoting you the author versus a specific title.
Just...don't go overboard on promoting a first book. I spent $12000. promoting one of my first books. I earned a total of $6000. And that is very typical. Every so often a first novel really breaks out, but the vast, vast majority of them do not. For most of us it's going to be a slow, steady build. Don't put yourself in debt. The time to start making a huge push is between books 3 - 5.
12k??? That is like...more than what I make in 2 years. No kidding. But reading that 100 business cards cost 19$, I can see why, I pay less than 3$ for a box of business cards here.
Mod
But reading that 100 business cards cost 19$, I can see why, I pay less than 3$ for a box of business cards here."
I had a good solid day job then. God help me if I'd tried to fund that out of my writing earnings!
Okay, since it's come up -- I don't get the point of twitter. Isn't it just drive-by broadcast texting? Do people really want to listen to some random thought I had in the middle of the day and took the time to type in to my iPhone?Of course, I've never looked at anyone else's tweets, so I'm probably missing the point.
Mod
The number one global social media remains Facebook. If you have to choose one or the other, I'd do Facebook.
That said, Twitter is hugely popular and it's sort of more trendy than Facebook.
What I like about it is it's more intimate in a lot of ways (or at least it feels like it is), and it seems more immediate (although it really isn't any more immediate than Facebook when you're chatting with someone in a thread).
You have access not only to your own friends but to the friends of those you're chatting with, and as Kari pointed out, you can talk in quick little bites, so it isn't as tiring to keep up a conversation.
It's more temporal. People expect it to be more temporaral. Which is nice if you have to duck out in the middle of a conversation.
But best of all is that you have access to all kinds of fascinating threads of information and conversation that wouldn't turn up on your Facebook. I subscribe to all kinds of interesting stuff. I don't generally participate in those threads, but I listen to tweets on gardening, wine, food, etc.
Megan wrote: "Okay, since it's come up -- I don't get the point of twitter. Isn't it just drive-by broadcast texting? Do people really want to listen to some random thought I had in the middle of the day and t..."I don't see the point either. I've been making my living selling stuff on Facebook and my Blackberry for almost a year and I never Tweet at all and sometimes I can't keep up. I don't know how anyone can do so many social networking sites at once.
I agree with Josh that Facebook is still the best way to social network for promotional & marketing purpose.
My advice for beginners who want to promote or sell any products with Facebook: Create a Fan page, AND a personal page with your pen name since your personal account name will appear as the administrator of the page. However, Fan page / business page has many advantages that personal account does not. Create an FBML landing page (I can help if anyone needs it). Don't forget to put "like" button on your website. Consider using Facebook ads but keep an eye on the minimum bid (But the more clicks you get, the lower you have to pay for each click) and choose your target audience very wisely. Set up 1 $/ day budget for a start. They usually give out coupons for the customers who have never used Facebook ads. Choose your short URL as soon as you can. You can send mass message (like mailing list) to all of your fans, but do it sparingly. Post covers of your pictures and tag yourself, your friends, and your fans (with permission of course). Do giveaways & discounts to attract new fans and keep the old fans interested. You can even sell stuff directly on your fan page with Pavyment & Marketplace apps. You can also add Review app on your fan page.
Anyone needs any question regarding Facebook fanpage, please feel free to message me.
Josh wrote: "The only thing I suspected might be off there was I think blurbs and covers still sell a larger percentage of books than she seemed to think. I know they do for me (blurbs in particular) and I certainly hear that from others. "Just because I'm so excited, I'll share (I'm the one with the original blurb issue) -- I finally got it right today! And my publisher is fine with it. It may not be the perfect blurb, but at least no one will lambast me later because they expected high angst and got my book instead.
Thank you, Obi Josh Kenobi. I almost went with The Husband's opinion until you answered my original post.
Josh wrote: "Megan wrote: "Okay, since it's come up -- I don't get the point of twitter. Isn't it just drive-by broadcast texting? Do people really want to listen to some random thought I had in the middle of...Josh wrote: The number one global social media remains Facebook. If you have to choose one or the other, I'd do Facebook.
That said, Twitter is hugely popular and it's sort of more trendy than Facebook...."
*grumble* Okay, I'll at least look into it.
Cleon, you are so hearing from me re:Facebook
Cleon wrote: "Megan wrote: "Okay, since it's come up -- I don't get the point of twitter. Isn't it just drive-by broadcast texting? Do people really want to listen to some random thought I had in the middle of..."Would you recommend FB fan pages to unpublished authors? I created a page under my pen name and I haven't done a thing with it, as I've no clue how to request fellow authors and readers. In any event, I am remaining positive and would like to learn how to... er... yeah... all those things you mentioned the FB fan page needs *g*
Josh wrote: "For business cards, you're promoting you the author versus a specific title."So, Name, Address, Phone, Email, Website, Blog, Facebook and that sort of thing ...
with maybe a tagline/logline (or whatever you want to call it), like the *Our Difference Is Our Strength* that I use on my blog?
and no specific booktitle or genre ...?
Megan, I got your message, will reply soon.Taylor, it is better to create a Fan page AFTER you publish something. Fan page is not a social account, it is for promoting something. How will people fan you if they don't know what you write? The exception is if you offer them free read. However, you can start blogging now.
Cleon wrote: "Megan, I got your message, will reply soon.Taylor, it is better to create a Fan page AFTER you publish something. Fan page is not a social account, it is for promoting something. How will people ..."
Exactly! If I don;'t even have friends under my pen name, what's the purpose of a Fan page? LOL
Josh wrote: "Just...don't go overboard on promoting a first book. I spent $12000. promoting one of my first books. I earned a total of $6000. And that is very typical."$1200 on one title?
O.O
Dag, Josh, I might've spent that much on all 3 of mine plus promo'ing my author brand in toto, LOL. And I was spending like crazy (so I thought) to offset my income with expenses for tax purposes.
I do think it's important to have those business cards for conferences as an unpub, though. Not to pass out to every person breathing air. When I went to RWA in DC, I couldn't blink without someone foisting a business card or bookmark on me--ANNOYING. I waited until the last day or two to hand out mine and only to the people I'd made a connection with. All told, I probably handed out a dozen cards, 2 dz tops. But I'm still in touch with some of those people today. Are they in the m/m niche or involved in what I'm doing now? No. And frankly, I lost several when I made the leap to digital and erotic. ("You're writing WHAT!?!") But when you meet someone who gets what you do, you want to be able to pass them your contact info and include something on that card to remind them who you are. I guarantee they'll come home with a 2" thick pile of business cards too.
Honestly, if you know your way around graphic design or desktop pub software, you can curtail the expense as an unpub and just make up a couple dozen business cards yourself. They don't have to be fancy. As long as they look professional.
Fb...Oh lord, I'm already on there so much on my personal acct, I just can't make myself sign in all over again as an author much. Since probably 90% of the people who've friended me on fb are also on my twitter acct, I do a lot more on twitter instead. I do post to fb occasionally, just not as much as I tweet. My sense of humor seems to play better on twitter. Don't know why that is, but...*shrug*
Mod
That's the way to do it. People throw them around with confetti, and that's how about how they're treated. But if you restrain yourself to people you actually do want to stay in contact with, then the exchange of cards is meaningful and good value for your promotional dollar.
And if the card is about you the author versus a particular book, they won't be out of date by the next conference.
YOu definitely want to invest in your writing career -- I don't want to discourage that idea -- but I just know that it's very easy to overspend before it really counts. I have many many friends in mainstream mystery who (like me) spent beaucoup dollars promoting a particular series and were dropped anyway after 3 -5 books simply because of the way mainstream publishing operates.
You don't need to spend much money to make a splash in our little corner of the universe. I doubt if I've spent more than 3K on all my ebooks put together. 5K at the most.
But I do spend a huge amount of time promoting -- writing articles, chatting, etc. and maybe in the end that's costing me more. Time being a writer's most valuable resource.
I'm not procrastinating, I'm not procrastinatig ... it's Saturday, it's my day off (as far as that concept actually exists)Anyway ... still writing related *nods*
After all the talk of business cards, I've been doodling a little and came up with this design. No idea whether I'll print them myself (Yay for having a colour laserprinter) or have them printed, plenty of time to decide.
It's a simple design, but it fits in with my site(s)
http://blainedarden.com/images/blaine...
Did I leave anything out?
What do you guys think?
Blaine D. wrote: "I'm not procrastinating, I'm not procrastinatig ... it's Saturday, it's my day off (as far as that concept actually exists)Anyway ... still writing related *nods*
After all the talk of business c..."
It's cute & looks modern too, Blaine! :)
Blaine D. wrote: "I'm not procrastinating, I'm not procrastinatig ... it's Saturday, it's my day off (as far as that concept actually exists)Anyway ... still writing related *nods*
After all the talk of business c..."
Did you intentionally spell that "myster"?
Cleon wrote: "It's cute & looks modern too, Blaine! :) "Thanks :)
ns wrote: "Did you intentionally spell that "myster"? "
No, it's not intentional.
I can't believe I didn't see that!
Thanks, ns, for pointing it out to me. :)
*fires up gimp to correct it*
eta: corrected version is now up
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Q&A with Josh Lanyon
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I live my life confuzzled. It's kind of pleasant once you get used to it. Congrats on the new name! I have to say that now, because by the next time I open this thread I'll have forgotten that you ever changed it.