Write Away: 2011

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Digital Publishing

I LOVE books—the feel, the smell, the look of them. So when I put a Kindle on my Christmas list a few years ago, it surprised me as much as anyone. I’m not much of a gadgets guy (well, except for kitchen gadgets), so the desire to own this little electronic reader had to go back to Jean Luc Picard, Captain of the Enterprise. Well, and the memory of lugging two huge satchels of books away with me for the summer.

When I first saw Captain Picard’s electronic reader, this is well before Kindle, Nook, etc., I was impressed that a whole library could be on his hand-held device, and I knew that this was an invention from the future that could be mine. I knew someone would create it for me. And they did. And others did. And more others will take them to the next level.

But for me to publish that way instead of or before a printed book? Well, I just wasn’t so sure I wanted to do that. I had Kris Tualla do a guest blog here at Write Away to help me understand the topic better. I needed to be won over.

But the sessions at the Southern California Writers’ Conference President’s Day weekend and the interactions I had with successful e-published authors got me re-thinking my goals.

First, one has to get past the old vanity press notions that dog us. Digital publishing can be accomplished through legitimate publishers who review your book just as is done for print versions. It can also be done on your own through sites like Lulu and Create Space. When digitally published by a digital publisher, you get a royalty rate, pay no upfront money, and may even see a print copy of your book. They pick the cover, they arrange the copyright (sometimes), and they provide editing services and will format your book for digital release.

When digitally published on your own, one panel at SCWC said you must do two things: pay to have your book professionally edited and pay to have an original cover designed. Both are critical to keeping up the quality of digital books. Don’t rely on the stock covers the site provides. Additionally, you will arrange for copyright on your own, and you will use their templates to format your book for publication. Still, after you pay the fees, you own your book outright with all rights and you get all the royalties after paying some site maintenance fees.

In both cases, as we have been learning over the last few years, marketing is job one for you. Publishers, digital or print, do little. So, the panel argued, why split your money with print publishers.

I am still getting my head around all this, so bear with me as I write my way to understanding on the issues involved. Please comment if you have had good or bad experiences with digital publishing. More, later.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Book Marketing 101—Part II

Remember WANA from Kristen Lamb’s book on social media marketing? We Are Not Alone. Together we can figure out how to market our books and build readership. On February 8, 2011, I published the first half of what were, to me, the best of the sites for building platform and book promotion. Here is Part II of the sites I scoured the Internet for.

“14 Platform-Building Tips” by Daniel Decker

Decker assures us that a platform is a structure consisting of many planks, not just a single big board. He provides 14 ways to build your platform solidly. Some familiar, some not so much so. A specific and concise read.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

"I LIKE the feel of a Book" and Other Reader Myths

Give a warm WriteAway welcome to guest blogger and trilogy author, Kris Tualla, who made us all believe that "Norway is the New Scotland"! Kris is here today to help demystify e-publishing. For every 10 comments, Kris is giving away one free book. I will contact you, if you're a winner, to let you know how to get your copy!

Now lean back, take a sip of that beverage, and learn from one who has done it! Welcome, Kris!

Okay - I have a confession. I'm not a patient person. Uninformed or misguided e-reader comments and complaints make me want to knock heads together. And theses comments are everywhere.

Seriously, if you have never used an e-reader, please please please don't say you don't like them! Give one an honest try. I expect you’ll be surprised. I was!

Because it was immediately clear that the medium is NOT the delivery method. The medium is the WORD. Words are combined into sentences, paragraphs. Dialog. Setting. The crafting of plot and character.

Let me demonstrate. Read this word: bereft

You understand it. You associate those 6 letters with profound loss, sadness and loneliness. You know how it feels. You can empathize with a person who is bereft.

And you read it off a computer screen.

If you read a string of words like, “Scarlett O’Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charm…” you get a picture of a manipulative woman who knows how to work her assets to catch men. Because of the words. Not the delivery method.

Well-crafted stories catch us with their charms.

So, let's say you agree to be open-minded; you'll borrow an e-reader from a friend (if you can wrestle it from their tightly-gripping fingers) and read a book. A good book. One that immerses you in another existence.

And maybe you backtrack a little on those negative comments. Maybe you decide (What froze over?) that you want an e-reader of your own.

What are your options? It's a matter of personal preference, because just about all eBooks are available on all readers.

What all e-reading devices have in common:

· eBooks are generally much less expensive than paper books.

· You do own the books you buy. They are backed-up online.

· Carry your entire library in your briefcase or your purse.

· eBooks can be borrowed and lent in varying ways.

· Libraries DO lend e-books.

· The size of the font is easily adjustable.

· eBooks are purchased online.

· eBooks are delivered wirelessly directly to the device (except Sony).

· Finish that Twilight book and need the next one at 1:15am? No problem.

· You can bookmark, highlight and type in notes in your e-reader.

How e-reading devices differ. There are two e-reader technologies: E-ink, and LED-backlit.

E-ink:

· Looks like an Etch-A-Sketch. Charcoal-colored words appear on a pale gray background. No color.

· You CAN read e-ink in the sunshine.

· E-ink is not backlit so it does NOT cause eye-strain, nor does it disrupt sleep patterns.

· Kindle, one version of Nook, Sony, and Kobo all use E-ink technology.

· They only weigh about 8 ounces.

· CHOOSE E-INK IF: you like to read outside, in the car, or before bed.

· PRICE: $129 - $189

LED-backlit:

· Full color, brightness can be adjusted.

· IS backlit and can cause eyestrain similar to a computer screen.

· Nook Color, iPad/iPhone and Android phone screens all use LED technology.

· CHOOSE NOOK COLOR IF: you read indoors in a lighted room, subscribe to eMagazines, read illustrated books.

· PRICE: $249

· CHOOSE iPad IF: you read indoors in a lighted room, subscribe to eMagazines, read illustrated books and want a mini-computer.

· PRICE: $499 - $699

· Shop in Amazon's Kindle Store. Download the FREE Kindle App on your phone, laptop or desktop computer and read on a device you already own.

· PRICE: $0

The book and print industry have gone largely unchanged since Johannes Guttenberg first pressed for profit back in 1450. While his invention inarguably changed the world, we are probably due for another change. Jump in - the reading's fine!

Speaking of change, is it time you found a new brand of hero while you're at it? Please allow me to help.

For every 10 people who comment here, I will give away one free e-copy of A Woman of Choice - the beginning of the trilogy. And, yes. Commenter #11 warrants 2 copies! Comment #21? I'll give away three.

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!

In February at the end of my blog tour, I'll give away one SIGNED PAPERBACK SET of the trilogy. Here's how you can get in on that deal:

1. Go to http://www.kristualla.com/ and find the "Secret Word" on my home page.

2. Send an email to ktualla@cox.net with "Signed Trilogy Giveaway" in the subject line. Put the secret word in the body.

3. Comment on any blog at any time in the tour to activate your entry. Each day's blog location is listed at http://kristualla.wordpress.com/blog-tour-dates-locations/

A Woman of Choice, A Prince of Norway, and A Matter of Principle are all available at http://www.goodnightpublishing.com/ - and they are only $3.49 each as an eBook!

A Woman of Choice - Missouri Territory, 1819

A woman is viciously betrayed and abandoned by her unfaithful husband. She is rescued by a widower uninterested in love. In desperation, she becomes engaged to his best friend. One woman, three very different men. Life is about choices.

A Prince of Norway - Christiania, Norway, 1820

American-born Nicolas Hansen has been asked to candidate for his great-grandfather's throne. His new wife Sydney isn't about to let him go to Norway and face that possibility alone. The moment they arrive at Akershus Castle, the political intrigue and maneuvering begin. Can Sydney trust anyone? Will Nicolas resist the seduction of power? Or will he claim the throne for himself? Most importantly: will their young marriage survive the malicious mischief of the ambitious royal family?

A Matter of Principle - St. Louis, State of Missouri, 1821

Nicolas Hansen has returned from Norway determined to change the world. But when he runs for State Legislator in the brand-new state of Missouri, the enemies he made over the past two years aren't about to step quietly aside. Sydney has made enemies of her own, both by marrying Nicolas and by practicing midwifery. When a newspaper reporter makes it his goal to destroy them, Nicolas must rethink his path once again. But this time, it's a matter of principle.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Book Marketing 101—Part I

You are the center of my life, Dear Reader, except of course for all my family and real friends. Still, you are important. So in your best interests and mine, of course, I scoured the web for book platform and marketing plan ideas.

There are bazillions of commercial opportunities on the web. Lots of people want to help you achieve your publishing—and marketing—dreams. I have mostly avoided that here in favor of free stuff. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t want to pay someone to do something I should be able to do for myself. Also, there were some articles on e-mail as part of the platform, but I hate spam, so I didn’t include them.

I can learn this stuff. I can do it, too. And I care more about successful marketing than anybody I can pay.

My criterion for inclusion? Did I learn anything? You may already know all this stuff. I didn’t.

Certain terms kept coming up: form a relationship, on-going/long-term, brand/identity, diversified approach. I get it. A marketing plan and author platform is not just about selling this book to the public, but it is about making the public clamor for more from me.

So, here in Part I, I am listing some of these sites I found helpful. Part II will appear in “WriteAway” on Feb. 10. With a guest blogger in between! Read more at the end of this post.

“How to Build a Marketing Platform” by Christina Katz (she of Get Known Before the Book Deal) published in Writer’s Digest, May/June, 2010.

In order to market our books, Katz says we must have an area expertise, find a unique niche, and get a relationship going with the target audience. Her “10 simple steps” are ones we can all take. They are: 1) Find your tribes; 2) Connect, don’t network; 3) Serve to learn; 4) Give public readings; 5) Learn to teach; 6) Speak up; 7) Start something; 8) Pen articles; 9) Offer assistance; and, 10) Create a one-pager.

Read what these all mean at http://bit.ly/QAMhn

“Building a Media Platform for Your New Book—Part I” by Barry Fox

Not so much an article with new stuff as it is a tidy reminder of what you might already have heard but stated succinctly here.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Playwright or Play at Writing Plays?

I got a compliment at a recent critique group meeting. Or at least I am taking it as a compliment. It was couched in a criticism of my descriptions of characters and setting. To use the vernacular, I suck at descriptions. And my critiquer agreed. But the compliment came in the form of what we in the school-discipline business called a “re-direction.”

“I see you as a playwright. You are so plot-driven. You write great dialogue. In your play, that comes out. I can see why it is harder for you to do the descriptions in novels. That is not your focus.” Or something sorta kinda like that.

So, am I a natural playwright, thereby giving me permission to ignore setting except in the case of stage directions, costuming, and set design? Or am I a non-observer who hides behind scenes and acts and minimal stage directions, incapable of taking my reader to where my characters are?

Hmm. Knotty problem, eh?

But does it matter? Well, yes, if I continue to write novels, it matters a great deal. If I just want to write plays, maybe lack of description is less important. I hope Neil Simon reads this post. I’d like him to chime in on this topic.

Oh, here he is now! ***

Sharon: Neil, may I call you Neil? I was almost in your play, Rumors, but you wouldn’t give us permission to clean up the language so we had to ditch it for another play.

Neil: My play, my rules. Too bad, so sad.

Sharon: Well, nice of you to drop by. So what do you think? Is my apparent inability to describe characters and setting a detriment in writing plays as it is in writing novels?

Neil: I don’t write novels.

Sharon: Right. I knew that. What I meant was, do you think it is important to know your setting and character descriptions for plays as well as you do for novels?

Neil: Duh!

Sharon: Could you expand on that a bit?

Neil: The better you can see your characters, the richer the setting is to you, the easier it is to write dialogue that is consistent with your play. Isn’t that true with novels as well?

Sharon: Yeah, I see that, but how can I write better descriptions so my reader sees all I see?

Neil: That’s why I write plays. I can imagine it all, but I don’t have to put it down for the world. Plays are interpreted by directors and actors all the time. You ever wonder why so many people watch the same play multiple times?

Sharon: So, you’re saying . . .

Neil: I’m saying, good luck with that novel stuff. Gotta run.

Sharon: Uh, bye. Thanks for stopping by . . . Well, now what? Advice from anyone else?

*** C’mon! You didn’t really think that was Neil Simon, now did you???

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Stranger Than Fiction

It was, in Yogi Berra’s parlance, déjà vu all over again. What writer among us has not been possessed by the story? Who has not felt you were channeling another? Who hasn’t had that slight glimmer of omnipotence? I am a god—at least when it comes to this story I am writing right now.

To back up and give you some perspective on this tale, we watched a movie last night. We are usually behind on movies as we rarely go to theaters, and even though we are movie rental people, we might have our three-at-a-time movies sitting on the shelf by the TV for a couple of months before watching one. Maybe that’s how it happened.

From our rental movie queue, “Stranger Than Fiction” showed up in our mailbox about a month ago. Last night, with little to do since there was no Suns basketball and we were still waiting for the next installment of “The Office” to arrive in the mail from said rental movie queue, we decided to watch this 2006 film.

This post-modern dramedy struck both my funny bone and my writer’s ego.

Wikipedia defines post-modernism this way: Postmodernism is a movement away from the viewpoint of modernism. More specifically it is a tendency in contemporary culture characterized by the problematization of objective truth and inherent suspicion towards global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. It involves the belief that many, if not all, apparent realities are only social constructs, as they are subject to change inherent to time and place. It emphasizes the role of language, power relations, and motivations; in particular it attacks the use of sharp classifications such as male versus female, straight versus gay, white versus black, and imperial versus colonial. Rather, it holds realities to be plural and relative, and dependant on who the interested parties are and what their interests consist in.

In other words, what you think to be real, may well not be. In “Stranger Than Fiction” reclusive and brilliant Emma Thompson is writing her first novel in 10 years and she has writer’s block because she can’t figure out how to kill her protagonist. In her books, she always kills the protagonist.

Will Ferrell begins hearing his life story narrated as Emma Thompson writes her novel, a novel with a character who is identical to him. No one else can hear the story. Various people tell him hearing voices is a sign of mental illness, until he ends up at a literature critical theorist’s office. This professor is the key to figuring out what is going on. No more. Wouldn’t want to spoil it for you.

But my point in writing this post is that I have experienced the same sort of fugue state, if that is what it is in the movie, where I felt my character’s life was revealing itself to me, that I was merely channeling a life already lived. That I, too, was surprised at the twists and turns of my characters. That I had little if any control over the events unraveling beneath my fingers on the keyboard.

I wondered, just for a moment, maybe more, if Carrie from Streetwalker or Lucinda from Lucinda were real. Had I created them? Or did they really exist somewhere? Was it my imagination or their actual lives playing out on the page? Very post-modern musings.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The Lure of Easy Money

Oh, I know the money isn’t easy or even luring me. (Truth be known, money doesn’t even know I exist.) But I always wanted to use that old line from the “Miami Vice” song, and it kind of fits. There is something in me that keeps trying to make this job of author easier, quicker, less demanding of my time. Is that human nature?

I have my writing rules posted by my desk—I wrote about that earlier. I get up early and set aside hours and hours every day for writing. I have daily weekly, and monthly goals posted on my computer desktop to monitor progress. Still.

Write a book in a week? Write a book on weekends? Write a book in a month? Write 10 chapters in 3 days? I have bought them all. If you have published a book about how to produce the maximum pages in minimum time, I probably have your book. If I don’t, let me know. I’ll buy it. I always do.

One track at the upcoming Southern California Writers’ Conference in San Diego (Feb. 18-21) that got my attention is the debut of their 3/10 PowerPen alternative. The focus for the three days is to produce 10 chapters of a new novel. I’m there! Hubs scoffed. “Do you really think you can write 10 chapters in three days?” My response: “So, say I only write 5 chapters. Is that a failure? I still have more than when I left for the conference.”

But, see, I believe. I believe they will help me write 10 chapters in 3 days. I believe they will scaffold my experience so I have success. At ~20 pp per chapter, that’s 200 pages of a 450 page manuscript (translating to a 300 page book). To finish the whole book in a week, I just need to replicate in Peoria, AZ what they do with me in San Diego. At that rate, writing four books a month, and giving my self some time for edits and revisions, say two weeks for four books, why that is an output of—wait, let me get the calculator—that’s . . . , WOW!

In 2012, I will write 32 books and edit/revise them. (Because I am getting started so late in 2011, I project only finishing 26 books with this method.) Still, to have 58 books done by end of 2012 is an accomplishment, don’t you agree? This must be how Steven King and Richard Patterson do it! At that rate, I will have my story backlog (story ideas file we all have) cleared out mid-year 2017! Whew! That will be quite an accomplishment! Good for me! Job well-done!

Come back in a couple of days. I’m going to start reviewing some of the books on my bookshelf about writing systematically. Just in case. You know what I mean.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Author Platform—Yes, Again!

I know. Here I am again writing about building an author platform. Obsessed, you say? One woman's obsession is another woman’s focus. Call me focused. Really, really, really focused.

I have a sign revealed unto me. Truly. The last two days my “horrorscope” has scared me straight. Straight back to getting more writing done. The whole raison d’etre, eh, for marketing. So, here are they are. What do you think they mean?

“You are in the process of learning, growing, and improving. There’s a limit to how much of this you can do in a day. Go easy.”

Yikes! Did that not sound to you like a warn-off for Twitter/FB/blogging/website-ing? I mean, really, how can there be any other interpretation. “You have learned much about social media networking. Now get back to your writing.” Very clear! Wasn’t it? Or did it mean . . . Never mind, here is #2:

“You might procrastinate. It’s not because you can’t be bothered to take action. It’s because you are busy with important things.”

Okay. Call me crazy. Don’t those two contradict one another?

Tuesday’s horrorscope told me to stop on-lining (a non-drug type of mainlining). Wednesday’s said it’s okay because that stuff is more important than your writing. Or at least as important.

So what do I do with the sign? I mean, the Old Testament is filled with guys who ignored signs. Job was whale food. Noah presided over “the end of the world as we know it.” Eve . . .well, we all know how that turned out. The signs are there for a purpose. So what to do?

I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me Twitter or give me Facebook. Or the other way around.

Excuse me, please. I gotta get stuff posted today so more and more people will be screaming for the book I will write on weekends and during commercial breaks. Author Platform or Bust!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Building Author Platform While Tearing Down Writing (Time)

Members of both my critique groups have asked how I can be spending so much time on building my author platform? “Aren’t you losing writing time?”

Yes, indeed, I am. I try to keep up with two blogs, two Twitter accounts, a website, and two Facebook pages. Social Media Networking, indeed! I hardly ever see real people. Mostly my day is spent with virtual “friends” and “followers”. I am losing big writing time as I prepare blogs, tweet, and FB postings.

I post (mostly) on this, my writing blog, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I post on my foodie blog (www.sharonarthurmoore.blogspot.com). I try to write one or two of these articles a day so I have a storehouse to pick from when it is time to post. Then I must replenish the stock.

Everyday I post on Twitter accounts @RomanceRighter (where I give relationship advice and share links to relationship articles among other things) and @good2tweat (recipes, links to food articles, food quotes, etc.). I keep a tweets page for each account minimized on my desktop so I can post something every hour or so throughout the day. That keeps my name floating around so no matter what time someone signs on, I am there.

On Facebook, I have a personal page and a fan page. Truly, if I could figure out how to do it, I would eliminate the personal page and just do the fan page. That would be more in line with my writing goals, and it would have a sharper focus. Most of my posts there are to drive people to my Twitter accounts or my blogs.

Except for Twitter, I don’t post much, if at all, on weekends. I give myself that time off. Ha! Instead I spend the weekend preparing future postings, trying to get ahead of the daily grind of having meaningful posts.

So why am I spending these hours doing what I never thought I’d be doing? Why don’t I just write, as I saw myself doing when I “transitioned” a few years ago. Because it works! I have seen more traffic at both blogs, and people I don’t follow on Twitter are following me. How they found me, I don’t know or care.

As I have addressed on these pages before, the new reality is that I must market my own materials along with the publisher. When I attend the Southern California Writing Conference in San Diego next month, and meet there with agents and editors one-on-one, I want to be able to say, “I can let 2500 people know instantaneously that I have a book contract. And those 2500 are connected to tens of thousands more people.” So I build my platform, friend by friend, follower by follower.

But the underlying purpose of it all is based in my writing. I’m thinking of buying one of those books on being a weekend novelist, since that seems to be where most of my writing time comes from these days.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

“Get Known Before the Book Deal”—That’s What I’m Trying to Do!

I got a great book for Christmas: Christina Katz’s Get Known Before the Book Deal: Use Your Personal Strengths to Build an Author Platform. You gotta add it to your personal gift-getting-occasions list. If you are a serious author, that is, in search of how to become a published author.

If you already know this stuff (or are Stephen King), apparently you have no need to buy the book. But, I know from conversations with my various critique group members that there are lots of us who are unsure how to navigate the book-marketing waters.

This Brave New World we face is relatively new. Sure, authors have always had to promote their books, thus the 12-cities-in-four-days book tours of the past. But this is different. We must have a clear idea of how to promote our work to selected audiences that we have already developed a connection with/to. These are “fans” who will be delighted to hear that we have something they can buy from us.

So, if like me, you are trying to figure it out, get this book! Christina Katz writes clearly and specifically about what we need to do. She manages to break the whole scary thing down to manageable bites and she does it without talking down to the debut author.

She explains what a platform is and in subsequent sections helps you see yourself doing what she describes. Part One is “Platform Ready” which includes (but is not limited to) chapters on becoming visible, cultivating your expertise, aligning with the audience, thinking productively, and acting from passion. There are more chapters in Part One.

In Part Two, “Platform Set”, she includes chapters on teaching to learn, connecting with others, and offering a service. Again, there are more sections than I have listed.

In Part Three, “Platform Grow”, Katz discusses, among other topics, identity quest, getting testimonials, and broadcasting your blog.

Practical, authentic, realistic. This book holds your hand and leads you through the parts of self-promtion that seem so scary and unfamiliar.

I have bookmarked her website: www.christinakatz.com because she has numerous helpful blog posts, a free monthly newsletter, and workshop offerings. It is a great site to add to your regular rotation of blog sites.

You CAN get known before the book deal. I believe that after reading her book. And you will, too. Welcome, Fellow Debut Author! And a round of applaluse for our guide there, Christina Katz.

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Book Marketing 101

Sending a submission off into the ether known as “The Internet” (imagine sepulchral tone and organ music in the background) is like letting my child spend an overnight at a stranger’s house.

It doesn’t matter that I’ve met the other child (agent/editor). It doesn’t matter that I’ve been to the house (read the submission guidelines). Actually allowing my child (manuscript) to be in that strange place for many hours (months) without me around is scary. What will happen to him (it) there? Will they treat him (it) with respect? Will they be kind? Probably better not to be there.

As a way to finish off my writing year, I submitted Streetwalker, my erotic novel, to Eternal Press. Just one publisher. For now.

I made the decision of which publisher to submit to based upon a divine sign. Kris Tualla, a member of Valley of the Sun Romance Writers, notified our group that she had another book coming out in her trilogy and that she wanted to do a blog tour to celebrate and announce its “birth” simultaneously.

I volunteered to be one of those blogs. I e-mailed my critique partners in two groups to tell them this is a great idea for us to do when we have a book to announce. After a few days, probably from some stewing going on in a part of my brain, I thought, “Hmm. Who publishes Kris?” I re-read her note and found the name, Eternal Press. Something heavenly about that. Sort of a sign.

I looked them up: www.eternalpress.biz They take un-agented submissions. Good. Click on submission guidelines. And that was where the shock was. With the first three chapters, the last chapter, and the synopsis, I had to submit “Your marketing plan should we accept your manuscript for publication.”

There it was. Staring me right in the face. At my workshops, conferences, and on-line classes all the talk was about building your platform and that you were expected to do major promotion for your own work. This was proof those guys knew what they were telling us.

Frantic e-mail to my critique partners: “HELP! I need a book marketing plan.” I sent along the scanty list I had come up with on my own. They came through, of course. So, with their input and my own list, I put the following together. I hope it will help any of you who are in a similar situation. Who knew that the plan would be considered along with the initial read of the manuscript?

[Disclaimer: I have absolutely no idea whether or not this is a good plan, but it is what I submitted. Leave additional suggestions for marketing in the comments below. I will be grateful for your assistance.]

Book Marketing Plan for Streetwalker

Use an entrepreneurial approach as a long-term marketing strategy across the various genres of my writing. I will cross-fertilize by informing different social media (two Twitter accounts, fan page on Facebook, online group memberships, two blogs, and one website) and local in-person groups I connect with that I have a book in press.

Announcements of the release of Streetwalker will appear on all my social media sites, with an excerpt from Streetwalker on the writing blog and website. My Twitter account, @RomanceRighter, was created to promote this book.

Approach local bookstores for signing opportunities. Provide them with a poster, flyers, and an announcement of my appearance they can submit to the newspaper.

Distribute a media kit (press release, pitch letter with author bio, promo brochure, and bookmarks) to the Arizona Republic as well neighborhood newspapers and magazines.

Target local radio and TV stations with the media kit and an offer to be interviewed.

Submit a request to Barnes & Noble (using their B&N marketing plan form) to carry Streetwalker.

Announce to my on-line member groups that I am available to do a blog tour of their sites to celebrate the release of Streetwalker.

Announce to local in-person groups that I am available as a speaker.

Submit an advance copy to the Kirkus Review and request they print a review.

Contact book clubs (such as Book-of-the-Month Club, Doubleday, Quality Paperback Book Club, and The Literary Guild) and request they select Streetwalker.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

What Makes a Critique Group Work? Pens Afire Tri-Blog

Visiting today are the other two members of Pens Afire, one of my critique groups. Annie Weissman writes a blog called The Single Senior (at thesinglesenior.wordpress.com) and Sandy Bremser (at sbremser.com). We have a very successful weekly critique group. So why do we think that is?

ANNIE: I think the most important quality of a critique partner is insight. I used to think someone who was great at writing or a broad reader would make the best critiquer but that's not necessarily so.

SHARON: I'd agree that you want someone who knows what good writing is and whether or not your piece has what it takes. But don't you think it is generally true that a more consistently good critique partner does read a lot?

ANNIE: I agree that people who are well read in good fiction (meaning they read good fiction AND think out it) have a feel for story, character, and all the other literary elements.

SHARON: In my opinion, the single most important part of having an effective critique group is honesty with a heart. If you can’t trust that your partners will tell you the truth where your piece isn’t working, then how can you trust them when they say it is wonderful? By the same token, there are ways to give critiques that are critical and ways that are helpful. Being hurtful doesn’t move the piece forward nor does it engender trust.

SANDY: Honesty and insight are important, I agree. There are also practical aspects.

I’d say group members need to be on the same page when it comes to how often the group meets, how earnest each is about writing/publishing, and how focused they are during meetings. My goal is to publish, so I want to meet 2-4 times a month with a couple of partners who are serious about writing and don’t spend critique time discussing their jobs or their neighbor’s barking dog. The perfect time for that is after the meeting when people can stay and chat or not. Large groups require a larger personal investment of reading and critiquing others’ work.

Someone else might be after totally different things, preferring to meet once a month with several friends who mainly provide emotional support for each other’s writing efforts. Both groups could be effective, but a writer needs to seek out those critique partners who have similar goals.

If members of a critique group aren’t evenly matched but want to form a group, they could all agree on ground rules and go from there. There’s something to be said for having similar temperaments and good chemistry, so people can be honest in sharing their insights.

SHARON: How true that the group members have to share goals and a common vision! But, Sandy, that's a management issue. Say that the group does share goals and vision, still within that group some people give better feedback on your work than others. Why is that? And what makes you value some people's input more than others?

SANDY: Offhand, I want to say, “I just know which people give me the best feedback.” Upon reflection, I think the most useful advisors differ depending on the author’s needs at the time. For instance, I belong to two critique groups and receive a lot of great input. One critique partner might catch every typo, while another suggests I’m having point of view problems. I appreciate those responses, and it does save me time, but I probably would have caught them on my own during rewrites.

I benefit most from probing questions such as, “Is each character in this chapter unique and necessary for the story? Could you collapse a few personalities together so I, as a reader, don’t have to keep track of so many?” or “How does this scene move your story along? What could you add to make it more relevant to the plot?” Dialogues like these that make my book richer and tighter are flashing neon signs for me to listen up and take notes. Gotta love those critique partners!

ANNIE: I’ve been surprised more than once at insightful feedback from someone who hasn’t offered much before. But there are some people who routinely give better feedback. I also need the detail people who catch my typos and tense problems. The frequency of a critique group is very important to me to keep on track with my writing projects. If I know I have to get twenty pages ready every week or every other week, I’m much more likely to keep on track with my writing projects. I also think the moral support is very important. Writing is such a lonely profession and publication is far off and iffy.