Building Your Writing Platform-How Much is Enough?

  Okay. I admit it. I’m out of control. I started my fourth blog. Whaaat???

I hear you saying, “Sharon, you are not a model for other bloggers on keeping up with the three (whaaat???) blogs you already had. So, what’s the deal?”

The thing is, I’m insecure. Nobody knows me. Nobody reads my books. Nobody . . . You got the idea. So how do I combat the insecurities as I do battle to convince myself I’m a professional writer? Yep. I write more. Not on my novels, of course. I write tweets for my four accounts, I blog on my four accounts, I post on my five Facebook pages, and try to periodically update my website. And ask me to guest post for you, and I’m there.

All of this, okay, sure, I know it . . . all of this is the illusion of a platform. My attempt to point a dozen fingers at myself so that people will find me, notice me, read me. But if people don’t see the hands on which the fingers reside, they never see them pointing.

Ah, the conundrum. No hands with fingers pointing? Then how do people find you? Hands with fingers pointing, but, still, how do people find you?

Platforms are the stuff of conference sessions, on-line classes, and dozens of books. All part of your marketing plan, right? I was pretty green about the jargon of the writing field when I first began to professionalize my writing. In my first writing conference, I saw a session about “developing your author platform.”

Platform, I remember wondering? Platform shoes? Train platform? I was bumfoozled. What in the heck is platform in relation to writing. It sounds silly now, I know, but I honestly didn’t get it.

At the session, I learned that an author’s platform is simply about increasing your visibility and name recognition. That’s it. The corollary being that visibility/name recognition translates to book sales. Okay. I got it. McDonald’s has huge visibility and name recognition. Starving? Get a Big Mac.

But are people “starving” for the kind of books I write? And where Ronald McDonald has maybe a dozen others vying for that burger sale, I am in a sea with millions of authors, thousands of whom write culinary mysteries. One fish in a large sea. How would anyone cast a hook my direction?

Supposedly, the theory goes, I become a household name because I offer substantive content on my Twitter, Facebook, blog, and website accounts. And because I offer substantive content, I will be “discovered”. Oh, and I must write great books, too.

Discovery hasn’t happened yet. And I know I’m not the only author to be wondering what else I can do. So I started another blog. Maybe this one will be the straw that turned to gold (instead of breaking my back). 

Oh, FYI. Whereas, STREETWALKER is still on Amazon, MISSION IMPASTABLE isn’t available right now while I change publishers. One more impediment.

Want to read more? Check out this article

Article from Writer Unboxed on Writer Platforms:

http://writerunboxed.com/2012/10/22/building-a-writer-platform-how-much-is-enough/

Please point a finger at me! Tweet or post on Facebook to get people to read this article. Here’re a couple to copy/paste. Thank you!

Twitter: What #writing platforms are supposed to do and how much is enough. Read @good2tweat’s post http://bit.ly/2vkbQdx

Facebook: Authors, do you ever wonder how much is enough for your writing platform? Does your platform translate to sales? See what Sharon Arthur Moore thinks. http://bit.ly/2vkbQdx

Write Away: T is for Timeline

I considered doing TV cops and TV cop shows for this letter, but I didn’t really have much to say except what I’ve said in earlier posts. Law enforcement officials and judicial officials don’t much like what passes for crime fiction on TV. VERY few shows make the cut for accuracy. A CSI person said “Dexter” got it mostly right. One prison counselor told me that “Oz” was largely accurate for an experimental prison model. A former police officer friend has said his wife hates to watch TV shows with him because he jumps up and yells at the screen when they portray aspects of his career inaccurately.

I’ll say it one more time: DO NOT get your crime scene/court scene/arrest scene and other scenes from television. It’s entertainment, folks, not training vids. Make friends with police officers. Go on ride-alongs your police department sponsors. Ask attorneys for information. People are very generous, in my experience, and they want you to get it right.

What I did decide to cover today (see how sneaky I am!), is timelines. Many a writer of mysteries or other genres has run afoul of the timeline. In that regard, the mystery writer resembles real life detectives.

Timelines are a big piece of nailing down who had opportunity to commit the crime. In real life and in fiction, the timeline must be consistent with the other clues. The best scenario is if the timeline corroborates other facts gathered.

But in real life, the timeline doesn’t move. Okay, it might get fuzzy because of some missing pieces of data. But what happened when is set by the events.

In fiction, however, authors move stuff all around all the time. We tweak here, we move paragraphs or even whole chapters there. You see what I mean.

After a few revisions like that the inattentive author could have the perpetrator buying the weapon after the murder occurred. Not so good.

During my planning, I construct a big picture timeline for each of the potential suspects and other major characters. That gives me a structure to fill in as I plan each scene more deeply.

I have not found an easy way to keep track of who is where when. The hard way I use is a scene-by-scene list of each major character and suspect (whether in that scene or not) and where they are during that time period. I put the day and the time at the beginning of each scene list to keep track against my original timeline. (Which is always subject to revision itself)

I use taped-together paper because I can stretch it out over the floor. The computer doesn’t allow me to see the timeline all at once. By color-coding on paper who is where doing what when, I have a hope of keeping the timeline straight.

But you know, of course, that the best way to catch your errors in timing is to read through the completed manuscript with the timeline as the focus. Will Gina’s alibi that she was at work hold up? When did the clerk at the pawn shop record the purchase of the hunting knife? When did the bus driver stop at Elm and Oak that day?

Build your timeline as a way to reveal your clues and red herrings. You know where the pinch points are. Take that list of clues, false and otherwise, and distribute them along the timeline. Those clues should be the seeds from which your scenes grow.

Authors have total control over their timelines. Detectives in real life could get envious of how easy your detective has it.

Frieda takes steps to control her new reality in “The List”.

            “This is about you, isn’t it?” she smiled thinly. “You’re having a little mid-life crisis, late admittedly, but the principle is the same. For God’s sake,” she barked a laugh, “you’d think I, of all people, would have recognized the signs.”

            Frieda felt better now that she was in control again. Aunt Fran would help Mort work through this. She leaned back, templing her fingers beneath a thrice-lifted chin.

            “Darling, there’s no need to be so drastic. Of course I understand your need to kick up your heels, thumb your nose at the world, and, let’s see, what other anatomical part can I find a trite expression for?” Frieda simpered at him as she continued.

            “What you’re feeling is normal for a man your age! Why, Heavens, even I have had some of those same urges. You just need to ask yourself, as that hack advice columnist in the other paper would say, would you be better off without me?”

Write Away: S is for Sidekick and Subpoena

Welcome back to the April A-Z challenge in which I am posting 26 days of mystery terms for mystery and crime fiction authors.

S is rich with options for today’s post. I rejected sleuth because I already detailed sleuths on D-Day (the other D-Day). I also felt I had covered suspect enough in previous posts.

Suicide-by-cop remained a possibility right up to the writing of this post. There are two kinds of suicide-by-cop: the one you probably think of (a suspect who draws/appears to draw a weapon on the police so they will kill him) and the scenario of the police officer who kills himself. Since I recently wrote this post on suicide-by-cop, I decided not to take it on again so soon.

That left me with the two options in the title.

Sidekicks are really important in certain subgenre mysteries. But even if not intimately involved, almost all mystery and crime fiction has a sidekick, a counterpoint character necessary to the crime solving or involving.

The sidekick character (or sometimes characters) allows the sleuth to discuss the crime, tries to hold the sleuth back from rash actions, and sometimes is the reason the sleuth is involved at all.

We all know our sleuths strengths and limitations. We designed them as specific personalities. When designing sidekicks for my culinary mystery series, I made a list of personality traits and quirks and aspects for my detective. Then, next to each I listed an opposite trait, when possible. That list of opposites is what I mine when creating counterpoint characters, sidekicks, for my heroine, Alli.

The main sidekick for all the books in the series is Gina, best friend since elementary

school and current partner in their personal chef business. Like sisters, these two have an extreme closeness which allows for problems when they are in a significant disagreement or misunderstanding situation. Alli is impulsive; Gina is reflective. Alli is so creative and intuitive she misses steps; Gina is methodical so she sometimes doesn’t see the big picture.

I also use other minor sidekicks to illustrate other aspects, good and bad, of my detective’s personality. Alli has a police officer on-again, off-again boyfriend. She makes friends with an investigative reporter. She colludes with Gina’s mother and best friend behind Gina’s back. Sidekicks allow for the flawed detective to succeed.

I see my sidekicks as completing the detective. They mesh, each satisfying things missing in the other. Together the sidekick and detective are better than each alone.

Subpoena is both a noun and a verb. It is a writ (formal written command) ordering someone/something to court or it summons someone/something to court. You can get a subpoena or be subpoenaed. The term comes from Latin sub poena which means “under penalty.”

The “b” is silent, and the “oe” is pronounced like the long e in “keep”--suhpeenuh. Don’t ask me why as I have no clue. In other sub- words, the “b” is voiced.

A subpoena is used to get someone to court to testify or it is used to compel evidence be produced. The most common types of subpoenas are subpoena ad testificandum and subpoena duces tecum. The first orders a person to testify or be punished. The second requires physical evidence be produced or be punished.

Subpoenas are issued by a clerk of the court (my son is currently clerking, so I know that doesn’t mean a secretary) in the name of the judge. Court rules may also allow attorneys, as officers of the court, to issue subpoenas to compel testimony. You’ve seen the scene dozens of times: A process server posing as a floral delivery guy asks, “Are you Joe Schmoe?” At the yes response, the delivery guy hands him the subpoena, not flowers, and says, “You’ve been served.”

What is Frieda’s response to Mort’s bombshell? 

            She breathed a sigh of relief. There would be no degradation. There was no “other woman”. She hadn’t expected of herself that she would want to hold onto Mort. In fact, she thought of him so rarely that she was frankly surprised she even wanted to figure out what was causing his defection at this late stage. But at least she wouldn’t be humiliated by a replacement woman one-third her age. Still, she had her image to consider. She willed her fingers to relax and cradled one hand in the palm of the other as she considered how to manage the situation. Because she would manage this.

Write Away: K is for Killer and Kidnap

A killer is not necessarily a murderer. They are not synonyms. All murderers are killers, but not all killers are murderers. The law recognizes that and so distinguishes among killers as to intent and violence. Beheading someone is not inadvertent. Shooting someone with a gun might be. A quick death versus one that involves torture also figures into determining the degree to which to prosecute the killer.

One can kill with a car accidentally or purposefully. The burden of proof is on the prosecution to show both intent and viciousness if going for first degree murder of the killer. In fact, killing someone could be classed as voluntary or involuntary manslaughter. The person is still dead, killed in fact, but intent distinguishes manslaughter from murder.

A killer charged with first degree murder is believed to have killed in a premeditated manner, willfully and “with malice aforethought”. Felonius killings/murders are typically first degree. In Mission Impastable, my felon was trying for a charge of involuntary manslaughter. He was charged with first degree murder, but he is trying to overturn that verdict in book two.

Here are the capsule descriptions your killers could be charged with:

First-degree murder, as stated above is premeditated, willful, and malicious.

Second-degree murder is intentional and malicious but is unpremeditated.

Third-degree murder, also called voluntary manslaughter, is intentional but with no prior intent. “Crimes of passion” fall into third-degree murder charges. Circumstances conspired to lead the person to act impulsively, emotionally, and in a mentally disturbed manner that resulted in someone’s death.

Involuntary manslaughter is killing someone without an intention to kill, but involves some negligent or intentional act that resulted in death. Driving while under the influence is one example of involuntary manslaughter. Not securing a gun so that a child kills himself accidentally could result in involuntary manslaughter charges against the gun owner.

Having said all that, individual states have somewhat different definitions. For example, how accomplices are charged can vary. Check the definitions for these killers for your setting.

When plotting your mystery or crime fiction, charge your killer with the correct crime or people in the know should and will call you on it.

Kidnap is an interesting word. The etymology for kidnap dates to the late 17^th century. Kid of course means a young person; nap is slang for nab, meaning to seize or steal.

If the victim is transported across state lines, kidnapping is a federal crime. This change occurred after the Lindbergh kidnapping in the 1930s because it was so high profile. Kidnapping is one of the indictable crimes.

Kidnapping includes both the unlawful taking and removal of a person for felonious purposes (extortion, use as hostage, human trafficking, or in commission of a crime) or by a non-custodial parent wanting his or her child. These two types of kidnapping are sometimes dealt with differently under the law due to circumstances triggering the different motivations for the kidnapping.

Kidnapping is a viable crime for your mystery. There is always the possibility of things going not as planned, and the angst of a child away from familiar surroundings creates good tension in your story. I used a short-term kidnapping scenario in Mission Impastable to escalate the stakes for my amateur sleuth.

Part 11 of “The List” gives Mort’s rationale for a gift.

Kissing her fingers, he replied.  “It do, it do indeed, Miss Frieda. You are looking at your new car—fully loaded and completely paid for. I wanted to make sure you have reliable transportation. That old BMW of yours had to go, so I traded it in for this one.”

            Frieda smiled a tight little smile. “So you just went and picked me out another car without even consulting me? You just decided I needed to dump my perfectly fine car? How thoughtful. As usual!”

Write Away: H is for Heist and Hunch

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I’ll bet you thought homicide would be my H word. And it could have been. After all, in most mysteries and crime fiction, killing someone, or trying to, is the predominant crime. Highest stakes, so greatest reward when solved. But you don’t need more info on that word unless you are talking about kinds of homicide. You can look that up

I already did an extensive post on hybristophilia, so I didn’t see a need to repeat myself.

And then there’s the good old standby of mysteries and crime fiction: hostage, someone who is taken against one’s will and held against some demand, usually, but not always money. The hostage situation in your book might be at a bank or someone’s daughter kidnapped. I used a hostage situation in Mission Impastable to make the stakes higher for Alli, my amateur sleuth.

But today, H is for Heist and Hunch.

Heists are often fun crime fiction. Sometimes they end up being capers. The heist is a typically a non-murder crime. It’s a robbery or burglary. More often heists are burglaries because of the nature of the high-stakes item being stolen, which tend to be in high-security areas. There have been a number of good heist movies, the Oceans 11 movies (1960 and 2001) coming immediately to mind.

The word heist is a mid-19^th century local pronunciation of hoist, meaning to raise up or lift something. That’s your etymology lesson for today.

So to keep the reader reading, the amount heisted has to be substantial (like diamonds) and/or of intrinsic interest. A heist in a museum for instance might steal King Tut’s death mask. Oh, sure, it’s worth more than I earn in a year, but the real value of the desk mask is in its historicity. So, if planning a heist mystery or crime fiction book, make it an irresistible theft.

Heists typically focus more on the planning and execution of the theft than on the attempts to solve the crime by law enforcement personnel. We often like the crooks in a heist (as much as one can like law breakers). There is also typically an ensemble cast of thieves who each bring a unique talent to the team. Of course there are complications. Heists never go as planned.

H is also for a Hunch that amateur sleuths are even more inclined to listen to than a professional would be. A hunch is a guess or feeling not based on facts. Dare one say in cozies, where most sleuth’s a women, that a hunch is women’s intuition? When amateur sleuths get hunches, they follow through on them, if not right away, then they follow up at some point. I can’t think of a single cozy where the amateur’s hunch didn’t pay off.

The hunch might be a feeling that someone isn’t telling the truth, that the death wasn’t accidental, that something is missing from the narrative. The sleuth is convinced that something’s not right and investigates that line from which hunchhood originated. And the sleuth is right. Use hunches for your next mystery as a device to move the plot forward and highlight of mask clues.

Part 8 of “The List” has Fran reluctantly joining Mort on the beach condo deck.

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            Huffing a loud sigh so Mort would know she had given in, Fran turned off the typewriter. She supposed she should go outside since she’d been inside the whole week, but an enthused Mort was not her idea of a good time. His perpetual cheeriness was more than a bit grating. And, he knew she hated to be called Frieda! Didn’t he? He had to know—why else did he think she had everyone else call her Fran or Aunt Fran?

            “All right, already. I’m coming. You won. You better get your keester in gear so that wine is waiting for me!” She slid the screen door open and stepped down onto the deck. The bright sun bouncing off the afternoon waves nearly blinded her. She slid on her oversized sunglasses to watch Mort pour her wine into a glass on the table between the two chairs. He handed it up to her so she could sip before taking her seat beside him. It was perfectly icy. The only way she would drink it. Mort had his flaws, but honoring her wine tastes was not among them.

Write Away: D is for Detective and Due Process

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A detective detects. To detect is to discover, discern, identify, and investigate. A detective deduces, infers, draws conclusions, and pieces together the puzzle pieces revealed while crime solving. The detective detects patterns and anomalies.

Whether with a big D as in Detective Jones, law enforcement personnel, or with a little d as in Alli, my amateur detective in Mission Impastable, the detective is critical to solving the crime as is having a criminal to unmask. They are two sides of the same coin with precisely opposite motives. Yin to the other’s yang.  

I can’t think of a single mystery without either or both a professional and amateur detective. If you can, please list in below in the comments. Detectives are central to the story line. All other characters circle around the detective and the detective’s thinking. Designing your detective’s quirks, peccadilloes, traits, and mannerisms are key to having a personality uniquely qualified to solve your crimes.

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Due Process is a law term meaning that the rights of an individual are protected and honored during the investigation of a crime. Due process was created to provide fair treatment as a citizen progresses through the judicial process and system.

At its root, due process is a safeguard against arbitrarily denying a citizen of life, liberty, and/or property. There is a due process clause in the Fifth Amendment and in the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. The Fifth Amendment due process clause refers only to actions by the federal government. The Fourteenth Amendment due process clause broadened the scope to states.

Stemming from English Common Law, due process is divided into two categories, Substantive Due Process and Procedural Due Process. Substantive Law creates, defines and regulates rights; Procedural Law enforces the rights or seeks redress for violations of rights.

For mystery and crime writers, you’ll likely be dealing more with Procedural Due Process around the arrests and trials of suspects. These include, but are not limited to: unreasonable searches, self-incrimination, cruel and unusual punishment, double jeopardy, the right to have an attorney, and proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Ready for the letter Aunt Fran is going to answer in her column? Read on for part four of the short story: 

 

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Dear Aunt Fran,

I have been trying to decide whether or not to leave my husband of three months.

“Dan” and I had a sort of prenuptial agreement, not official or written down or

anything, that I would quit work as soon as we paid off our credit card bills from

the wedding. He keeps on charging things, which, of course, keeps the bills high.

Admittedly, those things are furnishings for our house, but I kept track of our

wedding expenses, and I know that I am within $1500 of paying them off. The

credit card bill which just came today shows we owe $6792.36! Don’t you think I

am justified in leaving him? “Dan” obviously wants me to keep working to

support his habit!

            Leaving on a Jet Plane to LA

“Should the twit leave Dan?" She shook her Magic 8 Ball.

“Not at this time” floated into view.

Write Away: C is for Clues, Crime, and Custody

It amazed me, as I prepped for this challenge, just how many options I had for most letters, and C was one of those. I chose this big three because they are central to mystery and crime writing. The mystery or crime fiction story begins with the crime, which leaves clues, and ends with custody.

Clues are left after any crime. Some are very subtle and only make sense in conjunction with other clues, such as a timeline of suspects’ actions. Others are bold and obvious and supportive of other evidence, like DNA analysis. But some clues are planted to be distractors or are misinterpreted in light of other evidence.

Susan Spann, in an article on writing mysteries on Chick Wendig’s “Terrible Minds” says there are three kinds of clues: “genuine clues” that point to the criminal; “fake clues” meant to lead the reader and detective in another direction; and “pivotal clues” meant to change or shift the investigation in the story. The mystery writer needs to make a list of each to sprinkle into the story.

Some pivotal clues lead to the breakthrough from yesterday’s post. In story arc terms, they probably occur at the major turning points.

Crime is an unlawful act for which there are penalties if apprehended (a really good A word). In most mysteries and crime fiction, the most common crime is murder. Murder is the ultimate stakes. One can recover from a burglary or robbery or can usually recover from assault and battery. There’s no coming back from murder. The higher the stakes, the more engaged readers tend to be. But there are lots of other crimes, that written well, can also draw in readers. That’s why we use the modifier “murder mystery” to identify the mystery’s crime.

Custody is a synonym for being imprisoned or jailed. The suspect is locked up, does time, or goes inside. An interesting thing about custody relates to due process rules on questioning and Miranda rights. More on those in later entries. Suffice it to say, you may be confused about how interrogation happens legally as I used to be. I can clear that up for you.

Being in custody is the direct result of being arrested, but not all custody comes from arrests. Custody can result from other actions as well, such as the suspect submitting to the authority of a public safety official or being detained for questioning.

An arrest means you were charged with a crime. For serious crimes the suspect can be held in custody for a long time, with a judge determining if the person can be released on bail pending trial.

If not arrested, but only detained (held in custody) for questioning, police can hold a suspect for eight hours, only four of which can be questioning.

Now let’s get to part 3 of our continuing tale:

Categorizing her questions was a brilliant move she’d made decades ago. Now she had a pool of answers she could tap into so the responses seemed genuine, heartfelt, and on the mark. Still each answer required her to personalize it because people had a way of sending the damn things in and later asking for them to be reprinted. She obliged, but it wouldn’t do to have the exact words appearing over and over! She sighed as she picked up a folder of the latest stack of repeated questions and answers she’d given.

Why couldn’t people be more original or, maybe more appropriately, why was there such a limited supply of situations that caused angst? Why didn’t she ever get a letter that said the person was a serial killer and wanted to off her? Why didn’t a thief want to know how to anonymously return the stolen goods? Why didn’t abusive priests seek absolution from her? Now those would be questions to sink her teeth into. These petty issues about cheating husbands and out-of-control children, over and over and over, were boring. She sighed, picked through some of the letters and began to read one.

Write Away: A is for Alias, Alibi, and Arrest

Welcome to my April A-Z Challenge! This year I am dealing with terms mystery and crime fiction writers know and use. Consider this month as a sort of Mystery Writing 101. 

By the same token, I hope that even experienced writers will garner some new information or insights. Some days I will only present one term, but a goodly number of my 26 posts have two or three terms.

With my challenge, you get a two-fer. Not only will the letter of the day be featured in mystery/crime fiction terms, but I have written a short story for you in 26 parts. Each day’s paragraph begins with the letter of the day. Let’s get to it!

A is for Alias, Alibi, and Arrest

Alias can be an adverb, noun, or verb, but in this context, I am sticking with noun. In mysteries, someone typically assumes an alias for a nefarious purpose. In Mission Impastable, my first culinary mystery, a main character’s alias is a big plot point.

However, an alias can also be used as protective cover for someone hiding in plain sight for non-nefarious purposes. In this case, often the intent is to remain camouflaged while gathering data or searching for something. The much-overused, and generally ineffective “missing twin” trope often relies on aliases.

Alibi is a standard component in crime fiction. The mystery writer prepares real and false alibis (that can be revealed as false when new evidence emerges) for each suspect. This is tricky. The author has to use a timeline to make sure where everyone is at the time of the crime.

After knowing where everyone is, a trail of clues to support/dispute each alibi is created. The author sprinkles in clues to dismantle the alibi of the perpetrator. This aspect is one of the reasons I think writing mysteries is harder than other genres I write.

Arrest (a noun and a verb) is the finale in mystery and crime fiction. Readers of all but literary mysteries will not be satisfied if there is no justice, no arrest and prosecution, at the end. An arrest can happen on-stage or off-stage depending on the sub-genre. Often cozies leave off the details of arresting the perpetrator. But if you are writing police procedurals or a cozy where the arrest happens, do your research so you write it accurately. Do not rely on TV or movies for what actually occurs. 

For example, a street arrest requires a full-search before handing off to a transport officer. The transport officer also does a full-search before handing off the prisoner off to the booking officer, who, you guessed it, also does a full-search. Arrest details, like handcuffing or not, and how to handcuff are very important to give your mystery credibility.

The List: A Story in 26 Parts

Aunt Fran, “Palpably Pink” acrylic fingernails stuck on the ends of bony fingers, grasped the orb and shook the Magic 8 Ball once more, willing the ball to give the right answer to her question this time. The “right answer”, of course, being one she agreed with. “Is the dolt’s wife cheating on him?”

            “Without a doubt” floated into view.

            That will do, she decided and began typing the answer to the man’s question on the antique gray IBM Selectric she hauled all over the country with her. It was one of her “charming eccentricities” the interviewers referred to when writing about the advice column maven. That and her penchant for trying every shade of red hair dye the manufacturers produced. Nobody knew that she relied on the Magic 8 Ball for crafting her answers. But she had long ago learned that life’s exigencies could be boiled down to the orb’s few essential phrases.

I'm Baaack! New Topics and An Invitation

Hey, all of you wonderful people. I am re-activating this blog for general writing issues. I'm starting a series on Twitter; what it is and how authors can make it work for them. I hope you find it useful. I also will do more with other business-end topics just as in the past.

Stop back by next Tuesday and see what I am talking about.

Also, authors, if you are looking for a spot to guest post, I have three blogs. Pick the one that matches you best and send me a proposal at LEADMoore@gmail.com for what you'd like to do. Your post will be up for a week, and I promote it on FB and Twitter. I assume you will, too!

You could guest post on an appropriate topic or be interviewed by me. You would send me the well-edited post, a head shot, book cover(s) mentioned, and links for my readers to find you.

Pretty simple, eh? Take a look at my blogs and see which fits you best.

So contact me at LEADMoore@gmail.com if you want to appear on:

Write Away (general writing issues related to producing and marketing fiction)
www.samwriteaway.blogspot.com

Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time (food issues/recipes, mystery writing, women's fiction, historical fiction)
www.sharonarthurmoore.blogspot.com

Romance Righter (relationship and/or romance issues, chicklit, or romance literature; can be adult content)
www.angelicafrench.blogspot.com

Also, I would be most appreciative if you'd buy one (or more!) of my books and leave an Amazon review! Reviews are so important to authors. Thanks in advance!

Promotion or Marketing? What's the Diff?

I am not in anyone’s mind a business person. I have struggled with learning the business end of this writing profession of mine, and sometimes I didn’t do that gladly. I have been known to whine, complain, belly ache and be a general PITA** about business issues.

I am so naïve I used to dump anything that was remotely connected to promotion and marketing into the same unsorted-items folder. Other people’s ideas that I would figure out at some unspecified future date.

Well, the future is here, and I am only marginally better informed than I was. So feel free, all you promotion pros and marketing mavens, to join into the discussion in the comments section below. I am here to learn at your collective knee.

I realized pretty early on that dumping everything into one computer file didn’t make sense. Especially, since the items were unsorted, there was no way to find and use anything even if I knew I needed to. First job: I sorted into two separate computer files: book marketing and book promotion.

Ta Da!

Except … I had to make double copies of some articles because I wasn’t sure which was which! Sigh.

And I’m not alone. Some stuff labeled by business professional as “promotions” are sometimes “marketing”. But while I have an excuse Mad Men do not. I’m not expected to know. And that’s scary in itself.

Here’s what I now understand to be the difference between promotion and marketing--1) the amount of information provided and 2) the intent seem to be the major delineating factors.

Okay. Here’s my understanding:

Promotions announce information about availability, access, and news. “The print version of Mission Impastable was released for sale by Oak Tree Press January 23, 2014.”  “Streetwalker came out from Sizzler Editions as an e-book on Amazon on August 1, 2013.”  “Mission Impastable got a 4.5 rating from Manic Readers.”  “I posted about how I wrote Mission Impastable at Sarah’s Reading Blog today.”

There is no pitch. No direct appeal for sales. Promotion merely tells or reminds the reader that a product is available.

Marketing has a different intent and provides much more information. I want you to buy my book, and sooner is better than later. I am offering you value-added to convince you to buy. “With Mission Impastable you get a two-fer: mystery + cookbook.” “Buy Mission Impastable today at ”  “This weekend only, get Mission Impastable for 99¢”

What confuses me is when promotion are marketing are conflated. I don’t know the term for that. Am I promoting or am I marketing? Announcing reviews with a buy link seems to be both. Things like book trailers with buy information are marketing because they’re trying to hook you into buying. Announcing a great review seems to be marketing.

I will do another post on some of my promotional and marketing ploys next time. This topic is rich with options.

I’m sure a business person could straighten me out, but for now . . . I’ll just keep on truckin’, and whether it is promotion or marketing, in the end, doesn’t really matter. Labeling my activity as promotion or marketing doesn’t sell books. But I hope whatever I’m doing, does!

**PITA: Pain in the Arse

Caught in the Author Web!

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I was snagged to participate in a spider web blog challenge. Janet Greger snagged me; Ilene Schneider snagged her; and I snagged Sandra Bremser. You get to meet some bloggers you might not have encountered as we play this game! Additionally, you find out more about this blogger and her work as an author. Check the bottom for links.

Each of us has the same four questions to answer. Here I go! Tag! I’m it!

WHAT AM I WORKING ON NOW? 

I am deep into two novel sequels, a romance short story for an anthology, and revisions of a mystery short story for a contest submission. The two sequels are Sex for Sale, sequel to Streewalker, my erotic romance series and Prime Rib and Punishment, sequel to Mission Impastable, my culinary mystery series.

In Sex for Sale, my protagonist, Carrie, and her business partner, Harlan still run their Upper East side brothel, but Harlan is distancing himself more and more as he develops his photography interest. Carrie is trying to get out of the brothel business and find more legitimate ways to sell sex as she opens an erotica art gallery and restaurant. Relationship misunderstandings interfere with their developing romance. Stuff happens. Will they part forever?

Prime Rib and Punishment picks up a couple of months after the end of Mission Impastable and finds the newly-minted personal chefs still struggling financially. They take part-time teaching jobs at a new culinary school but the head chef, forced to hire them by his boss, hates Alli and Gina. Unfortunately for them, that makes them prime suspects when he ends up dead. Filled with recipes, this two-fer, mystery and cookbook, will keep readers guessing as they try to solve the mystery alongside Alli.

In addition, I am writing a short story, “Just Say Something” (tentative) for a romance anthology to be published in October.

I am in the process of edits for an historical suspense romance, Lucinda, that I really want to publish later this year.

And for fun this summer, and as a break, I plan to finish my play about a single guy moving into a retirement community. Hot Dishes refers to the food the women show up with and how they view themselves.

WHY DO I WRITE WHAT I DO?

I write in a wide range of genres because I let the story unfold. Sometimes that means paranormal, sometimes romance, and sometimes something else. I have to say I love writing culinary mysteries just as much as historical fiction or as much as erotic romance.

Each genre teaches me something more about the craft of writing as I struggle to master different genre elements. I think writing in a variety of genres is the sign of a healthy imagination rather than a sign of a dilettante who can’t focus! Right?

HOW DOES MY WORK DIFFER FROM OTHERS OF THE SAME GENRE?

My protagonist, Alli, struggles with commitment and suffers from huge personal issues traceable to being abandoned as a youth. She is a hard worker, but Alli questions authority, and that hasn’t sat well with her dozens of employers over the years. She lives in the backyard casita of her friend from 2^nd grade as part of her friend’s extended family.  She is a natural cook who finds measuring anathema. Her business partner in their newly-minted personal chef business knows they have to be more mindful of the details. The women struggle, not with their cooking, but with the business aspects of their chosen line of work.

HOW DOES YOUR WRITING PROCESS WORK?

I can be a pantser, a plotter, or (as one speaker identified in her session), a puzzler. A pantser lets the story roll out on its own. Sort of like mid-wifery. Just helping along a natural process. I am also, with some of my novels, a plotter (and I go into more detail on that). But at times, I am a puzzler. At a workshop recently, Lexi Post/Alexis Walker said that folks who don’t write chronologically, rather they write scenes out of order, are puzzlers. The pieces will fit together somehow.

I always work on more than one piece at a time. That shotgun approach staves off writer’s block. I also find that working on different genres helps me stay fresh with writing as well, as described above.

I start with a situation, question, or character and then play “what if?” to find plot lines to explore. “What if their first client died of food poisoning?” “What if Alli had a police officer boyfriend?” and so on.

I do major character sketches. I have the characters tell me, in first person, who they are, what’s important to them, what scares them, and so on.

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I write the ten key events for the novel. I put the events spaced within a 40-line grid leaving grid spaces on either side to fill in as scenes. What happened before and after each of the ten? Then on either side of those. Each line of the grid includes who is in the scene, where/when is the scene, the point of the scene, and other stuff that needs to be there. This plotting does not restrict me (I veer off on side paths frequently), but it gives me a compass for finishing the novel.

However, as the puzzler, I have also written novels where I capture scenes that I write down and then weave together later. I write scenes from any place in the book. I’m afraid if I don’t get them down while they are pressing on me, I’ll lose them.

The spider who caught me in this web was Janet Greger. See her at www.jlgreger.com  She was caught by Ilene Schneider. See her at rabbiauthor.com. She was caught into the web Sandy Fairfax. See her at sandyfairfaxauthor.com. I snared Sandra Bremser into the web. See her blog at www.sandrabremser.tumblr.com