When the marketing begins

cj Sez:   Other than the deep, time-constrained editing that happens, one of the hardest parts of the writing process comes when you’ve typed THE END on the last page of your manuscript and sent it off for publishing: the task of marketing your beautiful baby. Going “on the stump”* for sales will almost certainly include some public speaking.

(The 'toons are from Facebook.)

  For me, and a lot of other authors I know, the prospect of public speaking can be a bit scary. Our normal milieu as we create our stories is solitude in front of a computer or with pen pressed to paper. We’re watchers . . . we observe the behaviors of other people and take copious notes for future story/character ideas. Being the watch-ee takes us completely out of our comfort zones.

  Whether traditionally, indie-, or self-published, the task of marketing accrues to all authors. In today’s literary world, big-name publishing houses are requiring their equally big-name author-clients to help market their own brand and creations. (Anyone remember seeing James Patterson on TV in the last few months?) The ultimate goal of marketing is, of course, to garner attention for your work and increase sales.

  Like James Patterson, authors need to connect with their readers. Actually, they must connect with their readers. That means authors do readings at book clubs and libraries. They do book signings and media (TV/press/radio) interviews. All of those tasks require (gasp) public speaking.

   

 That’s where a formulaic “stump speech” can offer a degree of confidence.

   The first thing I did when my first novel, DEADLY STAR, was handed off to the publisher was to outline a flexible stump speech. I start with an anecdote. Then I give a brief bio, including why I use a pen name and how I chose it. I follow up with something about where the idea for the story came from, the research involved, the characters, and I read a couple of short excerpts. I flesh out my speech outline with a few comments below the bullet points then print it out in large, bold, double-spaced type and practice it. That helps me with timing the length of my presentation and makes me familiar enough with the flow that I don’t have keep my head down to read it word-by-word and line-by-line. I can wing most of it, ad lib a bit, and actually make occasional eye contact with someone. The more often I speak, the easier it becomes, so I’m looking forward to an upcoming presentation.

   Caveat for public speaking: It’s important to really know your work, because the Q&A will bring some surprising questions—always. 

  Other than participating in panels at conferences, I’ve never had to speak at an out-of-town gathering. But if that happened, I’d try to stop by the venue and get familiar with the layout. Another trick for newbie speakers is to attend someone else’s presentation if possible…that takes a lot of the mystery out of the event.

   A fellow Sisters-in-Crime/Guppy member came up with seven quick points for dealing with the scary thought of having to speak in public (and she’s so good at it, public speaking seems second nature to her):

1.      Research your audience

2.      Plan

3.      Practice

4.      Know your stuff!

5.      DON’T worry.

6.      Get big.

7.      Love it and embrace it.

  I’ll be including parts of my stump speech in my presentation on opening lines in the next few weeks. How are you doing with yours?

That’s all for now. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

cjpetterson@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor

Choosing Carter  -- Kindle  /  Nook  /  Kobo   /  iTunes/iBook

Deadly Star --  Kindle  / Nook  / Kobo

P.S.: Be sure to stop by Wednesday when mystery author Martha Crites discusses creating that all-important sense of place.   (* “Stump” is another word for “campaign” —like politicians do when they’re trolling for votes. Authors are trolling for sales.)

Flogging the Fear of Failure

cj Sez: Watched a TV interview with James Patterson this morning, and I was encouraged to learn that his first novel was rejected thirty-one times before it was published. Even after publication, it didn’t “do all that well.” Failure didn’t discourage him; it encouraged him. He wanted to write.

So, where did his worldwide success come from, besides having some natural talent for story telling? What he did was set about learning and analyzing the genre he wanted to write, so he could become the best writer he could be. Like most authors (I think the generalization is true), he started out writing part-time because he had a day job. Now, he writes full-time, every day but Sunday. As of January 2016, his books have sold more than 350 million copies worldwide.

From bios I’ve read, many, if not all, successful writers have some fear of failure, especially at the beginning of their careers. Perhaps they get an idea they’re excited to develop. The words flow like magic onto the page, but the farther they get into the writing, the more they start to second-guess their story-telling abilities. Doubts creep in: Someone’s already told this story, better. No one is going to read this drivel. It’ll never sell.

Those possibilities exist for all authors, even James Patterson, Stephen King, Patricia Cornwell, et al., and sometimes, though not often, they have a book that doesn’t sell. Fortunately for their fans, they never stop writing their wonderful stories.

In his memoir, On Writing, Stephen King writes: “I had been playing with the idea of writing a little book about writing for a year or more ///but had held back because I didn’t trust my own motivations—why did I want to write about writing? What made me think I had anything worth saying? The easy answer is that someone who has sold as many books of fiction as I have must have something worthwhile to say about writing it, but the easy answer isn’t always the truth.”

If you want to reduce your chances of failure, study the craft…workshops, conferences, writers’ groups, read-read-read…and publish a professional, well-edited book.

I also suggest that you write for yourself first. When you’re the only one you have to please, it reduces the stress of arranging coherent sentences into a story arc on a blank page.

What was the first thing you wrote? A poem? A memoir? A little piece of fiction? If you’re like me, you kept it and every once in a while, you resurrect it and wonder, “What was I thinking?”

Passing on a note:  2016 Killer Nashville Scholarship Offer . . . The deadline isn't until July 1, so you have time. Hop on over to www.fundsforwriters.com/killernashvillescholarship for more details. 

That’s it for today. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to the same.

cj

cjpetterson@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor

Choosing Carter  -- Kindle  /  Nook  /  Kobo   /  iTunes/iBook

Deadly Star --  Kindle  / Nook  / Kobo

PS:  The toons are from Facebook.

The Paradox



cj Sez:  I typed THE END on my manuscript, submitted it to a publisher, and was accepted. Yay. The novel is done! . . except I'm not done. And I want to talk about that paradox again, because it's not The End, really. Now comes the hard part: Marketing the beautiful baby.

Marketing is a job not just for the newly published who either self-published or managed to attract the attention of a publisher. More and more publishers, including the one who publishes James Patterson's novels, are asking how large your electronic footprint is because they expect you to help market your own creation. Are you on Facebook? Do you have a website? Do you Tweet? Linkedin? The answers to all of these questions, I believe, have come to play a significant part in a publisher’s acceptance of the manuscript.

The ultimate goal of marketing is, of course, to garner and increase sales. However, the other side of the coin is: Successful authors need to personally connect with their readers. Actually, they “must” connect with their readers. That means authors doing readings at book clubs and libraries, book signings, and, if we’re lucky, media interviews. All of those tasks require (gasp) public speaking.

For me, the prospect of public speaking is not all that comfortable … for some writers, it’s terrifying. A writer’s normal milieu is quiet and solitude in front of a computer or with pen pressed to paper. We’re watchers . . . we observe the behaviors of other people and take copious notes for future story/character ideas. Being the watch-ee takes me totally out of my comfort zone.

That’s where a pre-planned (or “canned,” if you prefer) stump speech comes into play. It’s a great tool to reinstate some degree of confidence. Authors on the stump for sales and readers need to spend time developing a speech that can be easily modified for their diverse audiences. What follows are a few processes I use to calm my racing heart when I’m about to go on display in front of strangers.

I wrote a flexible stump speech when Deadly Star launched. I’ll modify that for my new romantic suspense (Big Reveal Here), Choosing Carter, when it’s launched in the next few months.

Here's a synopsis of what I learned in a writer’s speech class: Start with an anecdote geared to that audience…try for something that involves finding myself in an awkward situation. Go into a brief bio, including why I use a pen name and how I chose it. Follow up with something about how the story developed, the characters, and read two or three excerpts. 

I print out my speech in large, bold, double-spaced type and practice reading it. That helps me with timing the length of my presentation and makes me familiar enough with the script that I don’t have keep my head down to read it word-by-word and line-by-line. I can wing some of it, ad lib a bit, and hopefully make occasional eye contact with someone. Caveat for public speaking: It’s important to really know your story and your characters, because the Q&A will turn up some surprising questions.

The other thing I can do to get more comfortable is to stop by the bookstore or library where I’m going to speak and get familiar with the space. Another trick is to attend someone else’s reading…that takes a lot of the mystery out of the event.

I’m working on revising my stump speech for Choosing Carter, but of course, public speaking is subject to nerves sending me off script. How are you doing with yours?

That’s all for now. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.
 



cj

https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor

DEADLY STAR (Publisher: Crimson Romance)  

    http://bit.ly/19QDQq3   (B&N.com)
    http://amzn.to/1LRRwC9  (Amazon.com)

PS: Writers live and writhe on reviews, but this note from a friended author came across my Facebook page today. The moral is: We want them, solicit them, need them, but take your reviews with a grain of salt: 

“You have officially arrived when someone makes a Goodreads account JUST to one-star your book that isn't even out yet. Ha! Do watch for the trolls, ladies. They are everywhere.”

Authorpreneurship Part 2

How many workshops and conferences have you attended solely because of one author who was speaking or teaching? If you are like most people, more than one. But why do we do that? Maybe we read their books. Maybe we know them by reputation. Maybe, and most likely, because we hope some kernel of truth will drop from them and push us through the grates that strain writers to achieve greatness.

Ever ask yourself why writers (many famous and well published) speak at workshops or conferences or teach? Maybe because they need press. Maybe because they enjoy it. Maybe, and most likely, they do it to bolster their income. As I mentioned last week, well known, well-published, well-honored writers have to work a day job to supplement their book writing. With the exception of a few notables, i.e. James Patterson, most authors only produce a book every few years - at least a book worth reading. With contract fees for books at an all time low, writers must turn themselves into a lean, mean writing and speaking machines to “bring home the bacon and fry it up in the pan.”

To some degree, the changes in the publishing industry, coupled with the cost of living and the challenge to find any job these days, has brought a wealth of new ideas, new approaches to writing, new reading resources and gizmos, and thousands of new freelance jobs for writers. When downsizing, business often start with the writing staff - publicity, marketing, education, training - in the erroneous belief that “anybody can write.” The work is parceled out to unsuspecting and too often inarticulate managers.

After almost ten years of this mediocrity and lost revenue, companies have found solid gold. Freelancers don’t require overhead expenses such as an offices and equipment, supplies and insurance, or retirement plans. When this happened, freelance writing requests exploded all over the Internet. If you don’t believe me, type in freelance writers and watch your computer struggle to load the enormous lists. Unfortunately, these same companies, still believing "anybody can write" wanted to pay low rates.

I began working as a freelancer through individual clients, a word-of-mouth type of arrangement. Then I started bidding on jobs through several online freelance companies about ten years ago. Competition was (and still is) high and international. After a few jobs that paid me $1.50 for five 500-word articles for websites, and they wanted ten a day, this dummy woke up. But, I hung in there until I learned how to do research and regurgitate words on the page at an all time high. They weren't looking for quality, they wanted words and keywords that breezed through Copyscape. I built up some credits and that led me to higher paying jobs from the same online source.

It didn’t take me long to realize which companies I didn’t want to work with, but I have to admit that education was painful in all sorts of ways. Some of those companies no longer exist. Nuff said.

And that brings me to today’s lesson. Just as hair styles have changed since the dawn of time, so has the role of a freelance writer. Things have changed DRAMATICALLY in the past three years. It is much easier to find intellectual stimulation and better fees with an influx of professional people and companies vying for our skills and time.

The number of rip-off companies were complained about so frequently, most have been eradicated. I still see companies and individuals seeking to “make a deal” as though hiring a good writer was some type of e-bay activity.

I, too, have changed. I find myself talking to the computer when someone wins the bid; someone who is willing to do the work for 90% less than my I am. I wish the writer well and hope they build their credits quickly. I also wish the client well, because they make what was clearly a cost per hour decision that had nothing to do with logic. We all have to learn from our mistakes.

While online proposals for jobs account for only about 5% of my income, the bidding process is fun and challenges me to sell myself and my work, a trying job for anyone who prefers to hide at the computer or in a book. That process does me more good than anything else I’ve done when it comes to building my business, and I've met some wonderful writers and clients. Oh, the ugly looks I got from other writers when I launched my first marketing campaign. You would have thought I had single-handily pillaged and destroyed the crops for half of the United States.

Here are a few things I learned along the way to become this unusual critter - authorpreneurship.

1.  I do not work below a certain rate. Period. I have stuck to that, which has also been painful at times, but I learned there are more than enough people who understand the value of good writing and appreciate the value of editing to sell their products that I will not prostitute myself for the work.

2.  The difference between assets and liabilities (try not to laugh), and debits and credits (not the Visa or MasterCard kind), negotiation and browbeating, value given and value earned (not ego and id), harassment and feedback, and best of all friends and acquaintances.

3.  The value of contracts and agreements.

4.  The necessity of requiring some payment up front or continue to be cheated by “reputable companies and authors.”

5.  Prepare for the leaner times when you are flush.

6.  I do not work for publications that do not pay. (I have Hope Clarke to thank for harping on this on www.fundsforwriters.com.) Period.

7.  If I want to finish and sell a book, the time has to be scheduled, and if it invades my reading time, I have the power to choose.

8.  Networking is an absolute necessity to survive as an entrepreneur and as a writer. Deal with it.

9.  Prizes such as the Agatha, Pulitzer, Newberry, PEN/Faulkner, Pushcart, Gold Dagger Award, etc. are next to impossible for most writers to win. I will be happy with great reviews on GoodReads and Amazon.

10.  There is a secret to the New York Times bestseller list. It is called advance copy distribution. The NYT list is based on the speed at which a book sells in its first week on the shelf. Pre-orders count towards the first week’s sales rate. No wonder ARCs are all over websites such as GoodReads and the authors are happy to give them away and publicize their upcoming books on Facebook, Twitter, etc.

11.  Careful placement of a book in a category or selling an e-book for 99 cents can skyrocket a book 

to the top of the list, and then the author has bragging rights and sells more books.

If you are interested in being a freelancer and/or an authorpreneur, jump on in. The water’s choppy but what an adventure you will have!

Mahala

My gift to me

cj Sez: It's been a while since I've traveled out-of-state to a writer's conference. It's not that I think I don't need to attend . . . I always, always benefit from some nuggets of helpful advice/information at any conference. Nope, for me, it's a time and money thing. When I have the money, I can't seem to break out the time; and when I have the time, I've already spent my money on something else. (sigh)

That said, I thought making a conference plan for 2015 would help.

I've had my eye on the Mystery Writers of America Florida Chapter's Sleuthfest conference ( www.sleuthfest.com ). I've never been to this conference. It seem to me that February 26 through March 1 would be a great time, weather-wise, to be in Deerfield Beach, FL—that's just north of Fort Lauderdale.

In addition to the chance to meet and pitch your novel to an agent and the opportunity for a 10-page manuscript critique by an agent or editor, the keynote speaker this year is James Patterson. Sounds almost too good to pass up, I say. 

Maybe I can call it my gift to me. My Christmas and birthday presents all rolled up into one marvelous gift. 

Maybe . . . if the stars align just right . . . just maybe. 

On the chance that you go and I don't, please be sure to let me know what a good time I missed. I'll feel really sad, but that's okay. I still would like to know.

You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I'll try to do the same. 

cj 

PS: The toon is from Facebook. 

Tracy Hurley A Star

As Christmas approaches, my thoughts always turn to Tracy, my friend and co-conspirator in writing and having crazy fun.

Tracy influenced so very many people with her purple pen—so fitting that she didn’t use red—to gently edit and guide members of her critique groups. Before she moved, she gave me her 12-foot blow-up Santa, which is currently waving in the gentle breeze in my front year. What joy it has brought to my family!

The Shadow Hunters Book Club for teens is a dedication to her love of YA books, sci-fi, fantasy, and the paranormal. She would have loved James Patterson and Rick Riodan’s series of YA books and been equally surprised that I made it through R. B. Chesterton’s The Darkling even though it scared the bejeezus out of me!

Thank you for enriching my life and influencing my work. Your star burns brightly.

Mahala