Marketing and Promotion Sites by Susan Oleksiw

A recent discussion on the Five Star list prompted me to take a look at what passes in my life for book marketing and promotion online. I hadn't really given it much thought, taking on bits and pieces over the years as part of being a writer. Now was the time, it seemed, to take a look at where I go to sell books or get my name out there. For the last few years I've focused on the Anita Ray series, and with a new book coming out in April 2016, now is a good time to review my approach.

I drew up a list of the sites I think of as part of my online presence, something I would never have imagined in the 1950s, when I first started writing (yes, I was a teenager in the dark ages). This list is longer than I expected. Some of this online business I enjoy and some I don't, so I do what makes sense to me.

I still believe strongly in bookstore and library events, and any other opportunities to meet readers face to face and learn about their interests. That said, here are the sites I have come to frequent unevenly, and find useful. Your experiences may vary, but there are plenty of sites to try.

www.susanoleksiw.com  Yes, I have a webpage, which always needs updating and tweaking.

www.susansblogbits.blogspot.com  Yes, I have a blog, which I try to post to once a week.

Author Central Yes, I have an Amazon author page where I get to gnash my teeth over the occasional snarky review.

Goodreads This site is for readers to connect with books and, if they're interested, with the authors of those books. I post the titles I'm reading along with reviews, and occasionally other readers comment on the reviews. I've also heard from authors who have appreciated what I have posted about their work. I have an author page and occasionally answer questions. If I join a group, I join as a reader. It's considered bad form to push your own books on groups set up to discuss other topics but you can set up a group to talk about your own work. I do giveaways for ARCs, in exchange for reviews, knowing that most people won't review the book but they may pass it on to a friend.

LibraryThing  This site is similar to GR, and can be useful for reviews and giveaways.

The Reading Room This site is a little different from the two above. It began in Australia, in 2010, and claims about 1.4 million members. It also includes the option of giveaways, but I especially enjoy reading the articles collected there.

Wattpad This is a site for posting stories for others to read. Most of them are written by unpublished writers but they attract readers who will then follow the writer and search for other stories or books by the author. Margaret Atwood posted something to the site and got a tremendous response. She wrote about the site also.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/jul/06/margaret-atwood-wattpad-online-writing

Pinterest This site allows you to post images in as many different categories as you want, such as food, flowers, or whatever. Here I post articles I have enjoyed, mostly on writing and publishing, and Indian recipes. I started one on book covers and then neglected it.

Twitter I have used this a handful of times. If I have something pithy to say I usually inflict it on the television while I'm washing dishes.

BookDaily.com This site has a lot of material directed to self-published writers but I enjoy some of the articles.

DorothyL I enjoy this chatlist for the variety of people who post and the book titles I come across. There is sometimes too much conversation about television.

Short Mystery Fiction Society This is a very interesting group of writers of short fiction who offer solid information on publishing including new venues, how-to articles, and general support. Some of the members have published over a thousand short stories and willingly share advice and opportunities.

Facebook  I have a number of friends who live in other parts of the country and overseas, and I am grateful to FB for letting me stay in touch with them. There is little to no chance that I'm going to sit down and write a letter, print out photographs, and head off to the post office at least once a week in order to stay in touch with them. FB has allowed me to remain close to friends I rarely see. FB has its flaws but it also has its strengths. I announce books, blog posts, and events, but I'm otherwise interested in the general conversation among members/friends.

When I first began writing this post I thought it would be quick and easy, with just a few sites listed. I'm surprised at the number, but I know that other writers have far more sites they visit. I check in with certain blogs and occasionally leave comments, and I always appreciate comments on mine (like this one).

Marketing and promoting a book through the Internet is a time-consuming process. But it is for me a lot easier than promoting my book back in 1993. My publisher, Scribner, sent out review copies only to the big guys, and the rest was up to me. If I wanted more reviews or more anything, I had to call each individual newspaper and ask for an interview or the name of someone to send a review copy to, or buy a list of libraries and send out 2,000 postcards. In 1993 I sent a postcard and personal note to every single library in Massachusetts, and another thousand cards to other libraries in the US. I did the same for my next book, in 1994. No one sends postcards anymore.

Writers will always have to take a role in selling their books, and for many of us it will never be easy. But I'm willing to use whatever technology is available, even if I'm not very good at it. I count myself lucky to have the option and the support of a good publisher, Five Star.

What We Can Learn from Miley Cyrus and James Patterson by Jacqueline Seewald

How do writers become bestselling authors? Publicity seems to be one crucial element.

To get fans, writers have to become known in the first place. Miley Cyrus has done outrageous things to draw attention and it’s worked for her. Ironically, she’s been criticized by fellow performers who in their heyday were just as outrageous in courting publicity. Donald Trump has observed that there is no such thing as bad publicity, only publicity--which draws attention to an individual and his or her work. In the case of writers, publicity traditionally would be accomplished through the efforts of a publisher who has a PR staff that solicits significant reviews and promotes an author through numerous channels. But nowadays, this is often not the case. Also, many writers are currently self-publishing their work. This too changes how publicity can be obtained.

In the current issue of AARP Magazine, James Patterson wrote an article entitled “The Book That Changed My Life.” Was he talking about something shocking and contemporary? Perhaps a bible on how to obtain recognition and publicity?  Not exactly. He was actually discussing one of my favorite books: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentlemen, written in1759. Novelists in that era weren’t afraid to be different, original and creative. As Patterson observes, Laurence Sterne broke the rules of fiction writing and created a masterpiece. Maybe we can’t all be that talented, but who’s to say? Patterson says that authors shouldn’t write to any pre-conceived formula. We need to express what is unique to ourselves in our own way. By writing work that stands out from the herd, we can get recognition and acclaim.

As for me, I have a recently published YA novel THE DEVIL AND DANNA WEBSTER  from Astraea Press to publicize which I hope will draw readers--not solely teenagers either.

http://www.amazon.com/Devil-Danna-Webster-Jacqueline-Seewald-ebook/dp/B00JZYXW7K/

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/433530

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-devil-and-danna-webster-jacqueline-seewald/1119365486?ean=2940149550449

  THE BAD WIFE, 4^th in the Kim Reynolds mystery series, is collecting some very good reviews. You can check them out on Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00J6PCKVW

Two historical romances are currently available from SteamEreads:

THE CHEVALIER 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GY95RTU/

Winner in the “Some Like It Hot” writing contest

and

TEA LEAVES AND TAROT CARDS

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JFHMXWW

http://steamereads.com.au/product-category/historical/

Tea Leaves is a Regency novel previously published by Five Star/Gale in hardcover and Thorndike Press in hardcover large print. This novel received a cover blurb/endorsement from Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick. Mary Balogh provided editorial suggestions early on as well.

Forgive the commercial message. Getting back to the subject at hand, Miley Cyrus is a fine performer. She behaves outrageously, but in the end, it will be her talent by which she will be ultimately judged. That is true of all artists including writers.  James Patterson who is a mega bestselling author provides us with the key to success. We must be unique and original, not imitative in our writing. However, promotion and publicity won’t hurt either.

What are your thoughts and opinions on this topic? Is there anything you recommend from the perspective of reader and/or writer?

One More Step in Making a Series Live

I don’t remember the first time I heard the admonition, Don’t judge a book by its cover. I have always felt I was open minded and tried not to be judgmental when evaluating an idea or meeting someone new. But when it comes to books, I think I do judge a book by its cover. And I’m not the only one.

I didn’t come to this conclusion until it was forced on me. There’s nothing like having someone point out the obvious for waking me up. And that’s what a friend did recently, when she pointed out that the covers for the Mellingham books don’t look like they’re part of a series. Really? Maybe that’s because someone who knows nothing about graphic arts designed some of them. Me.

I have had four publishers for the Mellingham series, four publishers with four different design groups designing covers in hard cover, trade paperback, mass market paperback, and large print. Coherence was not anyone’s goal, and it showed. Since I put the books up on Kindle and Nook, I had to produce covers for them, and these are the ones that have been hanging around for a couple of years. But no longer.

Thanks to a good friend and wonderful designer, the Mellingham series, two of which were published by Five Star, now have a set of covers that tell the reader/buyer that these books belong together, and in this order.

I have had to give up the belief that all readers are like me. If I want to read a book on a particular topic, or by a specific author, I don’t care what the cover looks like. But not everyone goes to the bookstore, or library, or on line, with a list of books to corral. But even I don’t do that all the time. I browse just like anyone else; I pull books off the shelves if I like the look of the cover.

A good cover tells the reader the kind of book to expect. No reader will find a buxom 1950s female form sprawled on the cover of a Mellingham book in the style of Mickey Spillane. Nor will a reader find what one editor called “the cookbook cover,” an array of little hints about clues, on one of my books. That isn’t me and that isn’t Mellingham. There is humor but it isn't the defining feature of the book. The stories move from light to dark and sometimes swing back and forth.

The new covers do exactly what a cover should do. The covers tell the reader that this is a traditional mystery story, set in a small New England town, with little blood or gore. It is not a thriller or a violent series. These are stories about place and the kind of people who live in small New England towns.

A good cover is the result of a designer who “gets” the story. My publishers have all had good designers who “got” the story, but after so many books and so many different designers, it was time to make the covers uniform as well as informative. And now they are, with grateful thanks to Kathleen Valentine and her many talents.

Presenting the covers here also brings me near to the end of a process that I've been documenting here on Author Expressions. The Mellingham series has offered me as a writer challenges--how to continue this series while developing a new one and writing other stories that are independent of both? How to keep the series alive without a publisher? How to promote a series in this new publishing world?

There are a few steps left, and I'll be reporting on those also on Author Expressions. But right now I'm enjoying the new look of the series and enjoying the feeling of a fresh start.

Self-Publishing versus Traditional Publishing? Good Question.

Each has it’s pro’s and con’s. With self-publishing: you pay for it all, the set up, the printing, the distribution, the marketing & promotion, you buy all your copies to sell or give away. If you have a non-fiction platform, then self-publishing is probably a good way to go. You can control the content, it’s printed faster than traditional publishing (which can take 18-24 months), and you already have a built in audience.

For fiction, I’m torn. Personally, I prefer traditional publishing. They pay you, you don’t pay them. But to get national or world-wide distribution you need an agent to get into the big publishing houses. That’s easier said than done. Another option, is to use smaller publishers that don’t require agents. The advance is smaller, but they do the printing and distribution. You still have to market and promote regardless if it is fiction or non-fiction, small publisher or large, self published or traditional.

Here is what I experienced when my first novel was ready to sell. I couldn’t find an agent for FEISTY FAMILY VALUES after exhaustive attempts. So, I went with a smaller publisher. My advance was small but they put together a wonderful product and distributed it to all the big booksellers (Barnes and Noble, Borders, Amazon). They also shared the book with big reviewers like Publishers Weekly and Kirkus, etc. Unfortunately, my novel wasn’t reviewed by the biggies, but I did get several good reviews from the smaller reviewers they notified. If you self-publish you have to do the digging for reviewers yourself and pay for the books you send them. My publisher gave me a dozen books free just for that purpose.

Another option would be e-publishing, like Kindle and Nook, etc. If you have a contract with a publisher and they have the electronic rights, they’ll get your e-pub book done for you. My contract was for print only, so I did my own e-publishing, through Kindle and Nook. It’s not hard and I don’t have to share as much of the profits as I would with a traditional publisher. That’s another thing. Self-publishing is on your dime, but all the profits are yours. With a traditional publisher you share with everyone and their dog, getting as little as 8-10% of the retail list.

If you self publish, the editing is also on you (you can always pay a freelance editor), whereas a traditional publisher will have editors who will review it multiple times to make it the cleanest, best product it can be for no additional cost to the author.

MY ADVICE: Do your homework before you make a decision on whether to self-publish or traditionally publish. Your skill level, available time and budget are key.
To read more about B.D. Tharp, her novel and other writing, visit http://bdtharp.com.

Feeding the Muse

On any given day online, there are hundreds of posts, tweets and blogs about the art of marketing your writing. And it seems to me they all reach one conclusion: No one knows what, or even if,anything works.

So if all the hours of promotion have questionable results, what's a writer to do? I beleive that the only thing we can do is to capitalize on the core of success: writing a wonderful story. If that's correct, then the building of a writer's creativity becomes critical.

And yes, I believe creativity can be nurtured.

Below are my suggestions. Some I've tried, some are still on my writer's bucket list.

* Take one session of acting classes a year. It'll teach you the basics of that art and give you insight into your own character portrayal.

* Take one session of visual art classes a year, i.e.: painting, drawing, sculpting etc. Concentrate on the act of creating and how it transfers to writing.
* If you can afford it, pay a counselor or therapist for a series of six sessions, once a month for six months. Your goal is to get help in accessing your buried uniqueness that is uninfluenced by media and curltural expectations.
* Pledge to yourself to have a weekly art date, time alone to experience something new and different. (This is from Julia Cameron) Use your insights for writing.
* One week a year, do your own writer's retreat. Not a conference with networking and seminars. And not a week long get-away where you finish up that novel that's on a tight deadline. What I mean is to retreat from the world and renew. Go to someplace where you are ALONE and you actually use the time to let your mind to explore and foster your creativity. (Did you know there are monasteries that offer this for a very reasonable price? Search online to find one in your area.)
* Learn to meditate and practice it daily. Yoga teaches meditation techniques. Transcendental meditation is good. That quiet time is like letting the well fill from a silent, underground stream.

Who knows what masterpiece will emerge?