Book readings

Okay, you've published your book and set up your first book reading. What should you do to prepare?

*Take a stock of your books to sell. We recommend you don't arrive with less than 100.
*Be prepared to talk about your next book. Often, readers who are familiar with your work will be anticipating your next book. So there are always questions about the next piece that you will have to field.
*Be prepared to be asked personal questions. This is a line every writer has to draw. Make sure you know what you are prepared to share with the world and what is off limits.
*Make sure you have promotional materials (like business cards, bookmarks, posters, etc) with the information to order your book readily available.
*If you are hoping to hold your reading in a bookstore, we STRONGLY recommend you get Book Return Insurance (most bookstores won't even stock your book without this). I have heard of bookstores refusing to allow authors to hold a book-signing because their book was uninsured (we think they don't want to help to create a demand they couldn't satisfy).
*Most important, have fun connecting with your readership. I am always bored to tears when I hear an author who is no longer excited by what they are reading.

Any other suggestions?

What your bookshelf says about your writing

Have you ever taken a good look at your bookshelf? It should not be news that what you read informs and shapes your writing. What are your favourite authors? Do you see their influences in your writing? Why or why not?

The fundamental premise that art influences art definitely applies. Is it only literature that inspires you? Do you hear notes of your favourite music humming through your work? Or do images of the last gallery/movie/poster/graphic novel you saw find themselves in your work?

A great way to stimulate your writing is to step outside your comfort zone artistically. What works for you?

There Must be 50 Ways to Sharpen your Writing

How do you keep your writing fresh and flowing?

Like leaving a lover, there are a variety of ways to keep your pencil sharpened:
*writing groups
*writing contests
*writing exercises
*submitting your work (I have learned more from the rejections that I have had than the acceptance I had)
*reading
*courses
*conferences/writing festivals
*above all, consistent attention to your writing

What twist ties your bread bag?

A little light humour...

You have probably seen this before, but I just chortled my way through it and wanted to share:

http://personanondata.blogspot.com/2010/12/so-you-want-to-write-novel-im-talent.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Personanondata+%28PersonaNonData%29&utm_content=Google+Reader%27

seriously funny! Happy Friday :)

Marketing your book

Promote. Promote. Promote.

Sell. Sell. Sell.

The mantra of traditional and self-publishers alike.

As I mentioned in a previous post, more traditional publishers are off-loading book promotion to authors. Self-published authors are in the same boat.

So how does an author actually go about promoting their book?

Of course we all know about book signings and book readings, but how does one go about actually setting one up? Is that really all there is to promoting your book?

The short answer is no. There are so many options available to traditional and self-published authors today. You will need to develop a book promotion strategy. Do you plan to promote in print, radio or tv? What about social media? Are you known in any particular venues? What connections do you have and are you ready and willing to exploit them?

The first thing to do is know your audience and know your demographic. You need to ask yourself some hard questions:
What does your audience look like? Do they even exist? What are their demographic markers? What kinds of things do they do in their spare time? Would they even attend a reading/signing event? Is your name sufficiently known to attract a crowd to a promotional event without anything else?

Depending on your answers, you might need to adjust your book promotion strategy. Look at examples of what other authors have done to make themselves stand out. Do you want to be one book on a shelf in a bookstore that stocks thousands if not millions of books? One author was able to rent space and start his own bookstore. The brilliant part was he only stocked his book!

Here is another example: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/29/us/29bcbart.html?_r=2

Don't be afraid to think outside of the cube. Think about how to make your book stand out. Good Luck!

Secret Pitfalls of Traditional Publishing

At the London Book Fair, the debate waged around the question: "Will Publishers Soon Be Irrelevant?"

This is fascinates me, as a writer, reader and someone who works for a self-publisher with ties to traditional publishers. I myself was surprised by my own  experience with a traditional publisher. It was quite different from the fairytale I had imagined.

I was signed with an emerging but traditional publisher in 2008 and it was only then that I found out that you sign away your rights. The publisher had final say over the manuscript. I tried everything I could to eliminate or water-down that clause (having been a lawyer in a previous incarnation) but to no avail. I eventually signed, thinking that the likelihood of substantial changes was rare.

Boy was I wrong!

There were changes that were made to my main character that pulled the teeth from the very essence of the story. As persuasive as I am (or believe that I am :), I could not cajole, convince or bully the publisher to restore the character to my satisfaction. So for a month or two, I was in the unenviable position of having a book come out in my name but with whose contents I did not agree.

This publisher also supplied an editor to me that I don't believe had ever previously edited fiction. Upon coming up with my own editor, I was told that the time line did not accommodate whole scale revisions.

In fact, this publisher suggested that I edit the document myself. I have a HUGE problem with that, to which anyone who has read my previous posts can attest.

I was also advised to approach authors that I admire and ask them to review my book and hopefully give me a quote that I could use with the book. I began to wade in the mire of approaching publishers to ask them to ask their clients to read my book. It was unproductive and frustrating in the extreme.

The marketing plan was lacking but to my inexperienced eyes, it promised talk show appearances, radio interviews and numerous book tours. I have now heard that traditionally published authors still have to perform much of their marketing and in fact have heard that some publishers will take part of the author royalty to pool for 'shared marketing'.

Although to many of us, having a piece traditionally published is the signal achievement, look closely at the fine print of the deal: the devil is in the details!

I am now seriously considering self-publishing with my employer. I know the quality of work we produce and I know how our connections to traditional publishers work. If I have learned anything in my time on this gorgeous green rock, it's that you need to work with what you have.


I hope you find the publishing deal that works best for you :)

Best of Indie Authors

Hi Everyone,
The Indie Booksellers list of favourite books of 2010 is out!
These books are chosen by the staff at independent bookstores across America and usually comprise my reading list for the summer. Check it out:
http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2011/05/02/indie-booksellers-choice-awards-finalis

INspiration

As I was writing yesterday, I realized that bringing my laptop along on our picnic might not have been the brightest idea: I found it impossible to type lying on our blanket.

As I rolled over to relax, I found myself staring up into the budding branches of an anonymous tree that tatted the blueing sky. After a few blinking moments, gusts of inspiration blew into my poor, tired brain and I delved into my sitcom idea even further.

It strikes me that my inspiration is nearly always taken from nature.

How do you enter that mysterious zone? What brings you in_spiration?