Tag: Business of Writing

Mystery News Update

I am excited to announce that Hanging By A Hair, my 11th Bad Hair Day Mystery, has a tentative release date of April 2014 from Five Star.

Marla’s joyous move to a new house with her husband, Detective Dalton Vail, is marred by their next door neighbor who erects an illegal fence between their properties. When Dalton reminds the man of the local permitting laws, tempers flare—and worse, the neighbor is found dead the following day. Dismayed when Dalton is removed from the case due to a conflict of interest, Marla decides it’s up to her to find the killer. Can the intrepid hairstylist untangle the clues and pin down the culprit before he strikes again?

We all hate dealing with homeowners associations, right? Marla’s neighbor happens to be the HOA president for her neighborhood. This story is easily relatable to anyone who’s had a dispute with their neighbors or a conflict with their HOA Board of Directors. Otherwise, it’s a fun ride on another whodunit express with Marla and Dalton.

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Shear Murder, Bad Hair Day Mystery #10, has sold mass market paperback reprint rights to Harlequin’s Worldwide Mystery Library. I am excited that this title will be available to readers in yet another edition. No word on a pub date or availability, but I’ll keep you posted.

Meanwhile, if you have a Kindle or have downloaded the free Kindle app to your computer/tablet, you can get the ebook copy from Amazon for the reasonable price of $3.19.

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I have a research trip scheduled to Arizona for next Fall, and you’ll have to read the end of Hanging By A Hair to see what this is all about. Please sign up on my website for my quarterly email newsletter if you want to stay informed.

Time Management for Writers

How do you balance writing with online promotion? Marketing efforts take hours on the Internet. How can you keep up with tweets, Facebook posts, Pinterest, and more? It’s not easy to strike a balance. Often the marketing tasks take over. But here are my Four Rules to guide you.

(1) Writing Comes First.

Set yourself a daily writing or revision quota. When I am writing, I must complete 5 pages a day or 25 pages per week. When I’m doing self-edits, I try for a chapter a day but that doesn’t always work out. Either way, I must move forward with my current project.

Finish at least half of your quota before allowing yourself to check email. Or if you must, do a quick email check first to get it off your mind.

Limit your time online or you’ll get sucked into cyberspace. Go offline after the allotted time and return to your writing. Finish your daily quota. Then you can have the rest of the day free for social networking, meeting friends, or whatever suits your fancy.

(2) If things get too hectic, take Time Out.

Planning a blog tour, tweeting about a new release, guest blogging on another website, and running a contest? Does this make you nuts? Does it make your breathing come short and your pulse race? Time to calm down. Do something fun for thirty minutes. Take a walk, polish your nails, read a cooking magazine, play with your pet, listen to music. When you feel calmer, go back to work.

Pet

(3) Set aside time just for marketing.

If things are building to an intolerable level, you may need to take a few days off to focus solely on promotion. Prioritize your projects. What needs to get done first? Tackle one thing at a time. Do you have to get your next email newsletter ready to go? Do it. Need to plan a Rafflecopter contest? Fill out the form. Have two weeks of blogs to write for an upcoming virtual tour? Decide upon your topics and write drafts for each one. Accomplishing a few of the items on your promotional campaign list will help you feel more in control.

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(4) Realize that life interferes. It’s going to happen, so take the time you need to deal with strife, and don’t feel guilty about being away from the computer. It happens to everyone. You’ll get your mojo back when the time comes. If not, you’ll find something else to bring your life meaning. We follow different paths throughout life. Yours may take you in another direction.

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Today is an example of how I work these rules. I did a few pages of revision this morning for about an hour. Then I allowed myself to scan my email. I answered the few items that needed a personal reply, and then shut off my mail program. I took a walk. Did more pages. Went on the exercise bike. Line edited some more. Peeked at email again. Back to the chapter. Finally, I finished my page quota for the day. It’s only 12:30 pm, but I started at 4:30 am. And now I’m writing this blog. Oops, the lawn guy is here and I need to talk to him. Big distraction. Go out, have discussion, back to work on blog. And so on through the afternoon. I could work, or I could go out with friends or my husband and take time off without any guilt. Because the writing comes first. When that’s done, all the rest is gravy.

How do you balance your writing time with promotion?

Shine On Blog Award

Thanks so much to David Fernandez for nominating my blog for the Shine On Award. David discusses writing, sports, movies, and more at his entertaining site, so stop by for a visit. Thank you, David, for the nomination. It’s always nice to know people are reading my posts!

The Shine On Award

shine-award

The Shine On Award Rules

  1. Link back to and thank the blogger who nominated you.
  2. Post the badge on your blog.
  3. Answer the questions posed to you.
  4. Nominate five bloggers who shine a little light in your day and notify them.
  5. Ask five questions for your nominees.

David’s Questions for Me

(1) Are you a Plotter or a Pantser?

I develop my characters first, and then I’ll plot the story. I write a complete synopsis before I begin writing. This acts as my guideline, but that’s not to say the story doesn’t change as I write it. When I finish the book, I’ll go back and revise the synopsis accordingly. So I am definitely a plotter. I need to know where the story is going from the start.

(2) When you’re in a rut, where do you go for inspiration?

I’ll keep working out the plot in my head until something comes through. I might talk it out with my critique partners. Sometimes you just need a sounding board. Ideas may come to me when taking a walk or in the shower. The mind relaxes and allows a new connection to come through. It’s important to acknowledge these roadblocks as part of the writing process and to have faith that you’ll get through them like you do each time.

(3) What writer, living or deceased, would you compare your work to the most?

My work has been compared to Janet Evanovich for her humor. However, the humor in my mysteries is more wry and less slapstick. Also, my books are whodunits while hers are more adventures at heart. Jill Churchill’s humorous series is what first inspired my mysteries so my books could be compared  to her Jane Jeffry stories with the funny titles. There are many other humorous cozy writers out there whose work has a similar tone. As for my romance series, Alyssa Day comes to mind for her Warriors of Poseidon series.

(4) What is your story writing process?

For a mystery, I decide on the victim and then determine the suspects. I’ll do character development sheets at that point to help me figure out each character’s possible motive. Preliminary research is done at this stage too. When I have these elements in my head, I write a synopsis. This acts as my writing guideline although the story might change. For a romance, I develop the main characters and then the plot. After the synopsis is finished, I put myself on a writing schedule of five pages a day. Once the book is done, I do several read-throughs for line editing, consistency, repetitions, and smoothness.

(5) What is your blog writing process?

When I get an idea, I’ll either jot it down or write the entire blog at that time. When I’m working on a book, I may note possible blog topics to use later on when I’m doing a blog tour. I don’t have set dates when I blog except on The Kill Zone, where I am a regular contributor every other Wednesday. I encourage reader feedback on my blogs.

And I nominate

Mudpies and Magnolias for the writing life by Maggie Toussaint: http://mudpiesandmagnolias.blogspot.com/
Terry’s Place for tips and strategies on writing by Terry Odell: http://terryodell.blogspot.com/
Scams & Cons for updates on scams by Terry Ambrose: http://terryambrose.com/category/scams/
Hasty Tasty Meals for easy-to-make recipes by Cheryl Norman: http://chefcheri.wordpress.com/
It’s Not All Gravy for life’s absurdities by Maryann Miller: http://its-not-all-gravy.blogspot.com/

My questions for the nominees are

What genre do you read for fun?
Do you revise as you go along or wait until your first draft is done?
What advice would you give aspiring authors?
Do you have beta readers and who are they?
What’s an interesting item you’ve researched for your current work in progress?

What Readers Want

Florida Romance Writers was lucky to have Columnist Barbara Vey from Publishers Weekly speak to us about What Readers Want. Basically, they want authors to be polite and respectful toward them. They want their expectations to be met. And they want to know if you’ve reissued a book they might already have.

Barbara Vey (800x600)

Readers may be disappointed if an author breaks her promise to readers. For example, the reader expects a certain type of reading experience, and the author takes a favorite series in another direction. This might sour the reader toward buying any more books in this series.

Readers may not like it when an author switches genres and the reader is expecting the same type of book as before. Either use a pseudonym or indicate by the cover that this is a different genre.

Readers aren’t happy when they buy a book only to find they already have it on their shelves, because it’s a reissue. Have it say so somewhere on the cover or inside the front pages.

Readers blame the author for anything and everything: bad covers, bad editing, etc. They don’t understand that publishers may be at fault. All they know are authors.

Readers hold authors in high regard and expect courtesy and respect in return.

Avoid politics online (and religion) or you’ll risk alienating your fans.

Readers who post reviews shouldn’t give away significant plot points.

To gain reader interest, Barbara advises authors to interact online with readers, put out questions, chat as though with a friend, and be yourself.

Readers, what would you add?

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I was pleased to receive Member of the Month award from FRW. Here’s a photo of me with FRW president Rose Lawson, and another one of FRW Board members Heidi Lynn Anderson, Rose Lawson, and Lisa Manuel with lifetime achievement award winners Linda Conrad, Heather Graham, and Joan Hammond.

Nan Award2013     FRW BoardJan13 (800x600)
We went to lunch afterward at the Field, an Irish pub. Here I am with Barbara Vey. And that’s the rest of the gang!

Nan Barbara Vey   FRWLunch Jan2013

Reader Reviews

When you finish reading a book, do you write a brief review and post it online? If your answer is negative, why not? Do you feel you have nothing to say? Are you afraid your opinion won’t count? Is it too much bother?  Bookshelf

Reader reviews count a great deal to potential book buyers. When you’re thinking of ordering a book, do you go to the virtual bookstore and read customer reviews? I know I do. It’s possible that the more customer reviews on an Amazon page, the more chances of Amazon’s algorithms picking up the title and including it in their promotion, “If you like this book, you might like…” This recommendation is of tremendous help to authors. So are five star reviews. But be honest in your opinion and assign however many stars you feel is appropriate. Just please don’t trash someone’s work. If you don’t like the book, leave off your opinion. Nothing hurts worse than seeing someone give my book one star and condemning it. Maybe it just wasn’t their cup of tea and another reader will love it.

So how do you write a review? Start out with a blurb about the story. Pretend you are summarizing the tale for a friend, but omit any critical plot points that may act as spoilers. Then mention what you liked about the book. The exquisite setting details? The engaging characters? The non-stop action, or the quirky sidekick? Surely you can find something good to say. End your review if you can with a quotable line encapsulating your opinion. This may range from “A charming historical mystery that will sweep you away to the Victorian era” to “Starships, space battles, and snarky sidekicks…what’s not to like about this action-packed sci-fi adventure?”

Since the New Year is upon us, hereby resolve to start writing reader reviews and posting them online to support your favorite authors. Where to put them? Here are several sites where your opinion matters.

Amazon
http://www.amazon.com

Go to the book’s page. Scroll down to where is says Most Helpful Customer Reviews. Scroll down some more until it says Write a Customer Review. Then click there and follow the directions. You’ll need to be signed into your account. Preview and Publish your review as the final steps.

If you’ve read any of my books, even backlist titles, I can use more reviews! Go here to access a list of all my titles: http://www.amazon.com/Nancy-J.-Cohen/e/B001HD1ELI/

Barnes and Noble
http://www.barnesandnoble.com

Barnes and Noble is often overlooked, but with so many NOOK owners, this online bookstore still carries weight. On a book’s page, scroll down to where it says Customer Reviews. Then fill in your star rating and write your review in the box provided. Click Submit to finish. Again, you’ll probably need to be signed into your account first.

Here’s my author site on B&N. This online bookstore isn’t as author friendly as Amazon so it’s harder for us to make changes. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/nancy-j.-cohen

Goodreads
http://www.goodreads.com

Goodreads is a popular reader site where readers review books they’ve read, file these reviews on virtual bookshelves and create genre lists. Readers participate in group discussions, offering each other recommendations. A good review here really helps, and so does a recommendation in any of the groups! You can also look for book giveaways under Explore to get a taste of new releases. It’s easy to register for a free account. Then you just go to My Books, click on Add Books, and type in the book title. The book should pop up. Click on it and give it a star rating. Then click on Edit my Review and write in your review, or cut and paste it from your home computer. Be my friend at http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/91508.Nancy_J_Cohen

Library Thing
http://www.librarything.com

Here’s another site for you to post reviews and keep track of your reads. I need to update my bookshelf here. Librarians frequent this site. Find me on Library Thing: http://www.librarything.com/home/NancyJCohen. And, it’s another place for authors to offer giveaways of upcoming new releases.

Your opinion as a reader truly counts now more than ever, with professional reviews almost impossible for authors to get on their own, reviewers swamped with hundreds of titles, and the days of bookstore browsing severely diminished. Word of mouth is critical, and this is where you come in. Offering positive reviews and recommendations online of books you’ve read is one of the best forms of support you can do for authors. Consider yourselves our street team and get involved.

BookBub is another site for you to follow authors and post reviews. The idea is to share your favorite reads and support the authors at the same time.

Outside the Box Marketing

How can you raise your readership and increase your book sales? Today at the MWA-FL Chapter meeting, Joanna Campbell Slan spoke on Promoting Outside of the Box. Joanna is the author of three mystery series, including the Kiki Lowenstein books and her newest Jane Eyre mystery, Death of a Schoolgirl. Joanna offered tips on increasing visibility online as she explained what works for her. Here are some ideas I gleaned from her excellent presentation:

End each book with a hook. You’ll want your story to have a satisfactory ending, but include an element that will make the reader anxious for the sequel.

In between your regular releases, offer short stories or novellas in digital formats and for a low price. Relate the titles clearly to your series.

Include a list of titles in series order in your works whenever possible. Also add links to all your social networking sites, plus consider links to other sites relating to your story.

If you are self-publishing, ask for Beta readers on your Facebook page. Request that these people do not share the file and that they consider putting a review on Amazon when the book is available online.

Give readers suggestions on how to help when you answer their fan mail, i.e. “Please share with your friends” or “This book would make a great gift.”

Five star reviews on Amazon help readers who search for these ratings to find your books. Encourage your fans to spread the word and contribute to positive customer reviews.

Create an account on Pinterest and put up your book covers there.

When you do posts on Facebook, start the update with a headliner type line or an intriguing sentence that will catch attention.

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These are all great suggestions. Now if only I had a clone to implement them! Thanks, Joanna, for a great session.

How Can Readers Help Authors?

If you’re an avid reader, no doubt you’d like to encourage your favorite authors to keep writing. What can you do to help?

Write customer reviews on Amazon, BookBub, and other online reader sites.

Add the author’s book to your Wish List on Amazon and TBR pile on Goodreads.

Search for the author’s website, author name, and book titles periodically to raise their rank in search engines.

Like the author’s Facebook page; Share and comment on her Facebook posts.

Retweet author’s Twitter posts and Like their Instagram posts.

Forward the author’s newsletter to a friend.

Recommend the author’s books to your book club.

Look for good reviews of the author’s book and click Yes to “Was this review helpful to you?”

Follow author’s blog tours and leave comments.

Repin author’s photos on Pinterest.

Offer to hand out bookmarks for the author.

Offer to lead a Street Team of fans to spread the word about the author’s works.

Suggest the author as a speaker at community events and writing workshops.

Buy the author’s latest book or ask your librarian to order it.

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Anything you can do will help, especially in this era of viral content. Word of mouth still has the most effect.

Promotion Checklist

Have you sold a book and now you’re panicking about what to do? Does the thought of book promotion strike terror into your writer’s heart? Here are some guidelines to get you started on the road to self-promotion. Always remember to be courteous, to avoid clogging the loops/tweets with your constant pronouncements, and to comment on other people’s posts in return. Don’t feel obligated to do everything mentioned here. Pick and choose what works best for you.

IMMEDIATELY UPON SIGNING CONTRACT:

Send press release to local newspapers and trade magazines. Copy any feature articles that result to editor and agent.
Send notices to alumni newsletters and professional organizations.
Solicit advance reviews/quotes from other authors.
Get professional photo taken or update photo.
Reserve your domain name or the domain name of your new series.
Announce the news on your website, blog, listserves, and social networks.
Send an email newsletter announcing the sale to all your mailing lists.
Post excerpts to raise interest.

4-6 MONTHS PRIOR TO PUB DATE:

Send galleys/ARCs/pdf copies to reviewers after making personal contact.
Reserve ad space in online or print sites.
Offer to write articles in trade magazines for issues matching pub date.
As soon as you get your book cover art, order business cards, printed promo materials, and swag.
Design video trailer.
Solicit booksignings and speaking engagements at writers groups, community clubs, conferences, and libraries.
Add cover and blurb to your online sites.
Design contests for the next few months leading up to Release Day.
Solicit blog tour hosts and determine topics.
Look for niche marketing opportunities.

2 MONTHS AHEAD:

Send press release with signing dates to local newspapers.
Load video trailer and add links to all your sites.
Update mailing lists. Send email newsletter to booksellers and librarians.
Write all the blogs for your virtual tour and match topics with hosts. Post your schedule online.
Determine upcoming contest prizes and giveaways.
Decide what to do for a book launch party.
Send promo materials to conferences for goody bags or promo tables.

1 MONTH AHEAD:

As soon as the book appears for pre-order online, add the buy link to all your sites.
Add the book to Goodreads and post giveaway.
Create a “Meet the Author” poster for book events.
Set Google alert for title.
Verify dates with booksellers/conference organizers for events and check that books will be in on time.
Send email newsletter to readers, including signing dates.
Send copies of book reviews, feature articles, and promo schedule to editor/publicist. Remember to promote yourself to your publisher.

RELEASE DAY!

Have a party, run contests and giveaways, offer a Q&A session, and celebrate!

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Time, money, and energy are considerations when planning your promotional campaign. Choose what’s reasonable for you to accomplish, and remember that family takes priority, writing comes next, and all else is a bonus. The above suggestions aren’t written in stone. Some items you may be able to do sooner and some may come later. You’ll eventually work out your own rhythm. Do as much or as little as is comfortable at your level, and good luck!

Booksigning Checklist

Are you a new author facing your first booksigning event? Or maybe you’re a seasoned player and you haven’t done one in a while. Here’s a checklist of what to bring. Some authors scatter chocolate kisses or other candy on the table, but I’ve found this practice only attracts children to snatch the candy. It doesn’t entice anyone to buy a book, but it does make your display look snappy. Always offer passersby a bookmark or other item. If they’re too intimated to check out your books now, they might read your material and order them later.  

Autographed by Author Stickers (optional; not all readers want a sticker on their signed book)

Book Cover of Next Release

Bookmarks

Books to Donate (optional; can be used for a library donation, for a door prize, or as a giveaway to audience members who ask questions)

Box of Books (for when you sell your own; otherwise keep in car trunk in case bookseller doesn’t come through)

Bottle of Water

Business Cards

Calculator (if you are selling your own books)

Camera (if you want pix of your event for your website, Facebook page, etc.)

Cash (if you are selling your own books)

Conference/Membership Brochures (to promote your local writing organizations)

Flyers/Brochures/Postcards   

Laptop or iPad (optional; to showcase your book video)

Mailing List Sign-up Sheet

Notice of Upcoming Appearances (in case they want to catch you at another event)

Poster (optional; ask your publisher for one or make your own)

Sharpie ultra fine point black ink permanent markers

Wheels (to carry boxes of books when you bring your own; look in luggage store for folding wheels)

Author Branding

As authors, we’re advised to promote our brand to readers. What does this mean? Think about your favorite writers. You know what kind of story you’re going to get when you pick up one of their books. It could be heartwarming characters, small town settings, or fast-paced thrills and chills. Or maybe it’s a recurring theme that strikes a chord within you. But if we’re the writer, how do we define our own brand?

Sometimes we have to wait until we’ve written a few books to see what reviewers say. We can glean an idea of how our stories affect readers by their responses. Or we might recognize the core story in each of our books, those defining elements that call to us. Or we can ask other people what they see in our work.

You’ll want to showcase your brand in several places:

Signature Line

This would be a tagline that goes under your name every time you send out an email or make a post on a listserve.

Website

You’ll want to deploy metatags that mention your branding elements. So tag yourself in the header and in perhaps a sub-header as well, and then in the body of your text.

Logo

Here’s an opportunity for a pictorial representation of what you write. You can even put your logo, along with your website URL, on T-shirts and such as contest prizes for your fans.

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In my opinion, deciding on a tagline—like a blurb for a book—is harder than writing the story. It’s especially difficult when you write in more than one genre.

So here we come to the point of this post. I need your help.

I’m having an identity crisis. When I post to a romance loop, my signature line says Warrior Prince: A Drift Lords Novel. When I post to a mystery loop, I say Shear Murder: A Bad Hair Day Mystery. But I need something that encompasses both the genres I write. For example, my website says Author of Mystery and Romance. (Should I have a sub-header? And if so, what should it say?)

In other words, I need a new tagline.

Here’s my current signature, when I’m not using an actual book title:

Nancy J. Cohen
Romance and Mystery
Where passion & danger collide

I could change it to:

Author of Paranormal Romance and Humorous Mysteries
This one is good, but what if I write a new mystery that isn’t funny? My agent cautioned me against being too specific. Too narrow of a brand can box you in.

Here are some other suggestions. Quotes come from reviews. Please let me know which ones you like the best!!! I need a zippy tagline that reflects both the genres I write. Or make up your own combination and let’s hear it!

Sassy Sleuths, Sizzling Passion, and Suspense
Tales of Mystery, Romance, & Otherworldly Adventure
Tales of Murder, Love, & Laughter
Fun, fast-paced Florida mysteries and paranormal romance
Fast-paced humorous mysteries and paranormal romance
Hot heroes and sassy heroines mixed with intrigue and murder
Author of Paranormal Romance and Fun, Fast-Paced Mysteries
“Murder, Mayhem, Humor and Romance”
“Humor, Romance and Mystery”
“Humor, Action and Passion”
“Fun, entertaining, out of this world reads”
“Amazing heroines, sexy heroes, lovable sub-characters”
“Great characters, strong storylines…”
“Strong, sexy heroes, ….”
SciFi/Fantasy Romance and Fabulous Florida Mysteries

As for a logo, do you have any suggestions for an image that would combine the types of books I write? Murder mysteries and sci-fi/fantasy romance with paranormal elements (note that my new series takes place on Earth).

What would catch your attention? And feel free to share your tagline here.