Category Archives: Publishing

The Las Vegas Writers Conference–The Craft and the Business of Writing

I spent this past weekend at the Las Vegas Writers Conference. It was my first conference as either a writer or an editor, and what a thrill to be there as an invited faculty member. I had my presentations about writing historical fiction (no great surprise here) and about e-zines (even less of a surprise there), and I had the opportunity to slip into a few of the other presentations and learn from other industry professionals. I had a number of writers pitch their historical novel ideas to me since Copperfield Press will be accepting submissions again this summer, and I loved hearing what they had to say.

I understand now why writers flock to conferences. Writing is such a solitary activity, and it’s nice to connect with others who love the same thing I do. One of the things that impressed me most was the writers’ willingness to ask questions. They were there to take away whatever information the industry professionals could offer. More than one writer told me they knew they still had a lot to learn and they loved going to conferences because it gave them a chance to learn from those in the know.

So what was the buzz at the conference? Self-publishing and the indie author revolution seemed to be the hot topics, at least among the writers I talked to. Some writers want to know all about indie publishing because they’re considering going that route. There were still many writers who would rather go the traditional route, and they were very interested in meeting and pitching to the agents and publishers who were there. That’s the main idea I took away from the conference: as writers today, we have a choice. We can choose to pursue traditional agents and publishers. We can choose to go the indie author route. It’s all good. How lucky we are to live at a time when we have options. One thing I said to the writers in my e-zine presentation is that we no longer have to wait for permission to do what is in our heart to do. We can take matters into our own hands, and to me that is liberating news.

Social media was also on people’s minds, and the social media presentations were well attended. I would have liked to have gone to that one myself. After a year of learning social media, there’s still so much I don’t know. There were about an equal number of presentations about the business of writing (how to write query letters, how to attract an agent’s or editor’s attention, how to create e-books) as there were presentations on the craft of writing (tips on writing better dialogue, crafting a story, writing historical fiction). In other words, the conference covered all of a writer’s concerns. As writers today, we need to know how to write to the very best of our abilities, and then we need to know what to do with that writing when it’s ready to be read by others.

I had a wonderful time at my first writers conference. I had a chance to reconnect with some old friends, and I made several new friends too. And while I went there as the teacher, I took away some valuable information. As writers, we should keep learning—about the business and about the craft of what we do. A creative calling like ours requires us to replenish ourselves with new ideas, new information, and connecting with like-minded souls is always a good thing.

Social Media, Blogging, and Platforms…Oh My!

It has been an amazing year. Since Her Dear & Loving Husband was released on April 19, 2011, it has found a loyal audience of readers who have been generous in their praise. I know most authors would argue that their readers are the best, but I know my readers really are the best. For those of you who sent e-mails asking about Book Two in the James and Sarah Saga, thank you. Your enthusiasm means the world to me. Now, after a year in the works, Her Loving Husband’s Curse is getting ready for its Tuesday, April 24, 2012 release date. You can read the Prologue here.

I’ve learned a lot over the past year. I learned about social media, author platforms, blogging, e-book formatting and e-book pricing. I’ve become both a blog tour author and a blog tour host, and I’ve discovered a whole fun world of giveaways. I’ve met many wonderful readers and writers I never would have met otherwise. And through it all, I managed to write a 90,000 word novel. Whew! No wonder I’m so tired lately.

Today I read a wonderful interview on the Smashwords blog with Claire Farrell, an Irish indie author who talks about how she doesn’t worry about blogging, social media, or author platforms. She spends her time writing books, and those books have found her an international audience and she’s currently supporting her family as an indie author. I like what she has to say, and the longer I’m in this publishing game the more I agree with her. I’m not saying I’m giving up Twitter, blogging, or the giveaways. I enjoy them too much. But I also need to focus on writing because that’s why I’m here in the first place. I have stories to tell, and I’m not happy with myself when I’m not telling them.

It should be easier this time around. I have a basic understanding of the social media game now. I’m still learning and growing, but at least I have a base to work from this year where last year I was starting from scratch. I know which marketing strategies worked for me and which didn’t. I know what helped me to find new readers and what didn’t. That learning curve was important, but now I’m ready to turn my focus back onto writing. I can live with myself without ever going on Linkedin again, and I’m not anywhere close to attempting Pinterest, but I can’t live with myself without writing. Like everything else in life, being an author is about determining your priorities and acting accordingly.

I’ve been taking a serious look at my priorities as an author. It turns out my priority, like Claire Farrell’s, is to write books I want to read. And that’s where my focus will be as I continue into the next stage of this journey. Though Book Two of the Loving Husband Trilogy is done, I’m not even close to being finished. I still have one more book in the trilogy to write, and my goal is to get it out April 2013. I’m also planning on spending the summer revising and publishing a couple of novels I had previously written but were never released. Victory Garden, which will be published in July, is a historical novel set around the woman suffrage movement and World War I. There’s not a vampire in sight in Victory Garden, but I don’t think the story suffers because of it.

I’m excited about what the past year has brought with Her Dear & Loving Husband, and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes from this new adventure with Her Loving Husband’s Curse and Victory Garden. I have a feeling the best is yet to come.

Finding Your Own Road to Travel

When I first began reading about publishing and marketing, I felt overwhelmed with the sheer abundance of information. Most of it is helpful—some of it extremely helpful—but there were times when I felt like I was disappearing under the weight of searching for some magic answer to all my publishing problems. For one thing, I wasn’t sure whose advice to follow. Everyone’s path to success has been different, and other authors are sharing tips from their personal experiences. Some authors find success doing blog tours, others from key advertising, others from blogging, still others from creating niche websites or interacting with readers on various forums. But what does that mean for someone like me who’s starting from scratch?

Here’s the main thing I learned:  just as I had to find my own road as an author, I have to do the same with publishing. If I hear a marketing tip that sounds reasonable (and doable) I’ll try it. What do I have to lose? I liken my marketing strategy to that old saying, “I’ll try anything once.” I read as much as I can find, and I experiment, and then I see what works for me and what doesn’t. That’s what this is…a grand experiment, and each of us has to find our own recipe for success.

There will never be a one-size-fits-all marketing solution. Everyone is different. We’ve written different books that appeal to different audiences. We have different personalities and different ways we like to connect with people. The best advice I can offer at this point, if I should be offering advice, being relatively new to all this, is to read whatever you can find from other authors who have been there, done that. Weed out the helpful information from the not-as-helpful since all advice isn’t equal. How do you know what’s sound advice and what isn’t? I still like the tried-and-true method of “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” There’s a lot of good, free advice out there. There’s also some bad, free advice.  I’m not a fan of marketing advice that says, “Do it my way or your book will die a slow, violent death.” What works for one author may or may not work for you. You have to experiment to find out.

Once I learned to look at marketing as a grand experiment, I relaxed and even learned to have fun with it. I didn’t need to drive myself to distraction searching for some hidden gem of publishing knowledge. I need to discover and experiment and grow. There’s always something new to learn, and there’s no time limit. That’s one of the great things about publishing now: there’s no longer a shelf life on books. We can continue to find new readers for our work as long as we’re willing to give it our time and attention. And that’s a glorious thing.

Hooray for Indie Authors

During my month on tour with Her Dear & Loving Husband, I realized I enjoyed the process of writing the guest blog posts, answering the interview questions, and getting everything organized and together. After the tour ended, I wanted to do for others what the hosts at Bewitching Book Tours did for me—provide a place where indie authors can showcase their work through guest posts and interviews. I’ve had some practice with interviews. It seems like just yesterday I interviewed John Jakes for The Copperfield Review, though it’s about ten years ago now. I’m still amazed by how that best-selling author took time out of his busy day (he was on a cruise at the time, if I remember correctly) to answer some questions from an editor from a new, unknown literary journal. That’s a class act if you ask me. If you’d like to read the interview, check here. 

As a writer myself, I’m fascinated by what others have to say about how they write, why they write, how they get past the hurdles. Writing, though exhilarating, can be long, sometimes hard, always solitary work. Now, as I’m well into the second draft of Her Loving Husband’s Curse, I look forward to getting back to it every day. I’m at the point where writing the next story in the James and Sarah saga has become fun. But even when the writing is good, it’s helpful to learn from others, and I have no qualms about borrowing a good tip when I find one. That’s what I hope readers get from the guest posts and interviews: useful writing tips and some inspiration too. From my first two guests, we’ve already had some handy-dandy ideas. From Michael J Lee we learn about the importance of research as a tool to guide your story, and from Ann-Marie King we see the importance of sticking to it and finding time to write, even if you have a day job (which I do).

As of right now, I’m signed on as a blog tour host for Bewitching Book Tours. Then, in January 2012, I’ll also be hosting for Nurture Virtual Book Tourz. I’m looking forward to reading the guest posts and interviews, and I can’t wait to see what we learn together.

Books for Sale–Fair Price

One thing I’ve learned is that writers should have a number of works for sale. The more work an author offers, the more opportunities there are to make money. Even a number-fearing simpleton like myself can see the logic in this theory. A reader who finds her way to my Amazon page, for example, may not be so into my vampire story, but she might be interested in something else I have for sale. And if she likes that something else then maybe she’d be willing to give that vampire story a try. Dean Wesley Smith has a wonderful post on this topic. If you’d like to see it, check here.

In addition to Her Dear & Loving Husband, I’ve written a number of short stories and three other novels. Right now I’m putting the finishing touches on Victory Garden, my World War I/woman suffrage novel. Portions of Victory Garden appeared in Muse Apprentice Guild, and “Women at the White House” from the Prologue can be found here under the Fiction category. I’m thrilled to share this novel with readers, and I hope those of you who love Her Dear & Loving Husband will enjoy this one too. Then in the spring the second installment in the James and Sarah saga, Her Loving Husband’s Curse, will hit cyber shelves.

One thing I’ve been struggling with is e-book pricing. There are many arguments about every possible price. I’ve heard that $.99 cents is the best price for an e-book, especially for a new author, so I priced my novel at $.99. Amanda Hocking and John Locke found success selling their books for $.99, and that was compelling evidence. But then I heard that $1.99 and $2.99 are also good–cheap for the reader but they allow the author to make a little more money. Then I heard that new authors should give their work away for free as a way to attract new readers. Dean Wesley Smith believes authors should charge $4.99 for a full-length novel. I’ve also read that indie authors should charge the same as traditional publishers—from the $7.99-$12.99 range—if they want to be taken seriously.

What have I decided to do? For now, at least, I’ll be keeping the price of the novel at $.99 because as a new author I’m more interested in connecting with readers than anything else. And I do think the $.99 price tag helps me find them.