Building a Fan Base by Dianne K. Salerni

Sorry to mislead you with the title. I don’t have any sure-fire tips on building a fan base. I’m going to tell you what you have to endure on the way to having one.

Anyone who’s published a book and scheduled signings/lectures/panels has had the unhappy experience of no one showing up. It’s awkward. Store employees feel sorry for you. Librarians apologize for poor attendance. The spouses of the panelists ask questions, just to give you something to do for the scheduled hour.  I participated in many, many events like this in 2010, the year my first book was published. (As well as in the years afterward, and I’m sure there will be more in the future.)

Then, of course, there’s the excitement of an event that is well-attended -- by your friends, co-workers, and relatives. These events are special, and every author is grateful for the support, especially when your parents and your aunts buy 5 books apiece.

But I will never forget the first time a stranger showed up at one of my events. She’d seen the advertisement and my book, We Hear the Dead, in the store a few days earlier. She recognized that my book was about the Fox sisters, who began their famous séance career in Rochester, New York -- which happened to be this woman’s home town. She came to meet me and talk about the Fox sisters. A fan of the topic—not necessarily me—but a stranger who attended my event nonetheless. My first.

Fast forward a couple years to a book signing at an indie store three hours from home -- always a dicey thing, because I can’t count on my aunts to attend and buy 5 books each. But I was astonished by the turnout of people who were loyal customers of the store. A few of had even been drawn in from nearby Catawissa, Pennsylvania, the setting of my book The Caged Graves. They were fans of the store and of books with a local interest.

Just this past weekend, I had a launch party for my latest release, The Inquisitor’s Mark. I was expecting the usual turnout of friends, relatives, and co-workers -- who did indeed come out to celebrate with me. But to my astonishment, there were a bunch of faces I didn’t recognize.

• Kids who had seen me at school visits and afterward read either The Caged Graves or The Eighth Day.
• A boy who had randomly picked up The Eighth Day in the fall and was dying to read the sequel.
• A girl who bought The Eighth Day at the Baltimore Book Fair and had driven with her mom over an hour to attend this event and get a signed copy of The Inquisitor’s Mark.

Fans of my work. About a dozen of them. Not hundreds, by any means, but I was elated. I had some fans who didn’t know me personally!

What did it take to get there? Five years. Four books. Many failed signings. A few lucky appearances at well-attended events. Some captive audiences at school visits.

Lesson? Very few of us will become instantly famous with our first book and have fans who turn out in droves wherever we go. For most of us, it’s going to take patience, bouncing back from failure and humiliation, and stubbornly continuing to write for years just to get a dozen fans turning up at an event.

It’s not a sprint. It’s a marathon.

WORDS on LITERARY PUBLICTY from JULIA DRAKE (eden unger bowditch)

 As we head into the new year, many of us have books out there or plan to get books out into the world. Perhaps it might be helpful to get some words of wisdom from someone in the publicity business. Whether a writer has published her twentieth novel or he's wondering how to get published, it is good to know how to get your book out there and into the hands of readers.

Today, we have the lovely and talented Julia Drake, CEO of Julia Drake PR in Los Angeles. She has worked with many authors and has a wonderful reputation as an honest, devoted, hardworking, and tireless promoter of the writers she works with and loves. I speak from experience. Julia and her team were hired by my publisher to work on The Ravens of Solemano... and I have only glowing things to report. I thought it might be fun to have her as a guest.

 Welcome, Julia!

What can an author do to help with PR? To maximize publicity for your book, a good publicist will try to leverage your entire author platform to gain media coverage instead of merely focusing on publicizing your book. But often authors are not aware of the many resources that are part of their author platform and that could be vital for the success of a PR campaign. An author platform includes an author’s web presence (website, blog, social networks, etc.), previous public speaking engagements/readings, teaching credentials and awards, published stories and articles and any previous media coverage or media connections––anything that's related to an author’s built-in readership.

In addition, an author’s education and professional background, principal and previous occupations other than writing, travel experiences, inspiration for his/her book, and any hobbies aside from writing might offer a wonderful human interest hook for media coverage.

Last but not least, I highly encourage authors to spend some time to compile an email list for their potential audience, including family, friends, colleagues and co-workers, acquaintances, and anyone they have come in contact with during their professional and private life that might be interested in learning about their book. The more comprehensive and detailed that list is, the more firepower a publicist has to orchestrate a successful launch which will build legs for the author’s book, future books, and overall platform.

What are the three most important things to let the world know about a new MG/YA book?

1.    Mom/Dad Bloggers: Once a book takes hold in this community, it can spread like wildfire, so make sure to incorporate a blog tour or PR outreach to blogs into your PR plan. Make sure to study each blog beforehand to get a sense for their review preferences and website/blog traffic to maximize positive coverage.

2.    School librarians and bookstore event coordinators: School librarians and bookstore event coordinators work in tandem to orchestrate school book fairs, book festivals, and author events and will be your biggest advocate if your book fits into their school demographic and offers viable educational themes. Often, school librarians and bookstore program coordinators also maintain their own blogs.

3.    Pre-publication trades and top middle-grade/YA media:

3.1 Pre-publication trades:

·      School Library Journal

• ALA BookList
• Publishers Weekly
• Foreword Magazine

    3.2 Top Middlegrade/YA Media: There are literally hundreds of publications for YA/middle-grade books, with new ones emerging and old ones folding every day, but here are some of the most important ones:

• The Horn Book Magazine
• The Children’s Book Council
• Shelf Awareness
• YALSA
• NPR Books
• Bookpage
• Girls Life
• KidsGuide
• Scholastic Parent & Child
• Teen Ink
• The Kids News Network
• The Reading Life
• American Girl
• USA Book News

What is different about promoting MG/YA books? The main challenge, especially for middle grade books, is that to get to your target reader, you have to go through their parents. So in essence, you are marketing your book to the parents, and have to convince them first that your book is a good fit for their child. Although times are changing and more young people are using the Internet at home and in school, parents are still the gatekeepers, so keep that in mind when presenting your book and its benefits to your audience and to media contacts writing for that audience. Make sure to point out any themes/features that speak to national school curriculums and any educational benefits and timely themes (bullying, sexuality, violence, diversity, etc.) aside from pure entertainment value. Also be sure to submit your book for consideration for the Accelerated Reader Program. Accelerated Reader (AR) is a computer-based system for tracking reading in schools. Students earn points for reading AR books, so they are motivated to read AR approved titles and forego titles that are not listed in the program. Demand controls supply, so libraries and bookstores also prefer to carry AR listed books.

How important is having a PR person behind you instead of going the road alone? Publicizing your book is a full time job, so if you are a fulltime writer and have another book you are working on, or maintain another full time job or have family to care for, going this road by yourself can quickly become overwhelming. A good publicist can help you develop your message, brand and platform and advise you on how to position yourself with media and consumers. Your publicist can help you define a targeted list of print, online and broadcast media in local, regional and national markets and will be able to leverage his/her relationships with media in these markets to help get your book through the door and have a better chance at coverage, especially when it comes to high tier media. A good publicist will also help you prep for media interviews and build your brand to work toward a sustainable platform that will continue to create future opportunities for your book and future writing endeavors.

Can you share a funny story? Share something that stands out to you as particularly inventive.

The reason I love what I do is because stories are still what brings us together. There is a magic in this connection. And I feel very fortunate that I see this magic happening right before my eyes. One of my clients, Derek Taylor Kent, is the author of The Scary School Series. He celebrated the launch party for his first book at a small indie bookstore in the Pacific Palisades in CA (which soon after closed its doors). The Scary School series is purportedly penned by Derek, a nine-year-old ghost, so Derek, the author, put an empty chair in the middle of the room, and explained to the attending kids and parents that Derek The Ghost was here to answer questions about the book and what it’s like to be a ghost. Derek, the author, then relayed the ghost’s answers to the kids in some funny way. It was such a simple idea, but it caught like wildfire with the kids, and soon, families formed a line all the way along the bookstore’s storefront, waiting to ask Derek The Ghost a question. It was such a wonderful experience to listen to the kids come up with the most specific and imaginative questions, and watch both kids and adults, anticipating the ghost’s answer. A simple idea brought everyone together in an afternoon that left everyone with the feeling that they had just participated in something magic. 

THANK YOU, JULIA!!!

How (and why) to create a Pinterest Board for your Book

 

Last year on Project Mayhem, our own W.H. Beck talked about different ways writers could use Pinterest:

http://project-middle-grade-mayhem.blogspot.com/2012/08/pinning-for-middle-grade.html

Since I am not one of those early adapters of anything new, it's taken me this long to get into it, and I decided if I was going to take the time to learn how to use it, I wanted to create something related to my books.

Pinterest is fun, but can it be worth the time for writers too? The answer is still a big maybe, but given the little amount of effort it takes to create a board about your book, it could well be worth it in terms of drawing in more readers. I know of at least one author who encourages the students she talks to during school visits to check out her book boards. I'm a very visual person, as are many others, so I think the idea of a collage of images about a book is a great idea. And since settings are very important in my stories, a Pinterest board is a way to draw readers into those worlds.

Like any aspect of social media, an author has to weigh the value of the time and cost spent versus the benefit. Pinterest is free, so that’s a benefit. It also doesn’t take much time to create a board, and unlike most Pinterest boards, you don’t add anything to it once it is done. In fact, it’s more practical to add everything all at once and then leave it alone-more about that later. I’ve broken down the steps to create an easy board, and then added a few tips at the end if you want to get a little more advanced. At the bottom of the post I have links to two book pages I've created.

The post is long, but that’s only because I’m writing it for people like me who like detailed instructions when trying to learn something new. You'll end up with something like this:

So here goes:

1. Join Pinterest - go to http://pinterest.com to sign up.

2. You will see a screen that gives you the option to create boards, either public or secret. You may have to scroll down to see the secret board option. You’ll want to start with a secret board, because you don’t want to make it public until it’s complete. Once a board is public, it can’t be set back to secret.  Add in a title of your board- I use the book title, and then a description, like a tag line about the book. I also add in where the book can be purchased, since as far as I can tell, you can't add in buy links within the pins on your board.

3. Make a decision on what is going to be your cover image. In certain views, each board has one large horizontal rectangular image at the top, which will cover the top of the screen, so you want something that highlights your book. I use an image of my book cover, cropped to show your book title.

4. Jot down ideas about what images represent aspects of your book. Where is it set? What do the characters do within the setting? Do any of them have a unique hobby? Do they play a particular sport? Are there pets in the story? Are there important objects in the story? You’ll want to have your entire cover as one of your pins as well, so don’t forget to add that to your list. Not everyone likes to visualize what their characters look like but if you do, you can add those images as well.

5. Once you have a list, you need to find images to represent these ideas. It’s best to find all your images you are going to use before you start pinning, because at the present time, you can’t rearrange images once they are pinned. There are three ways to pin (add) images to your board. Two of them are in the easy section here:

The first is simply to search within Pinterest-there is a search box on the upper left corner for you to type in key words. You'll get up a whole variety of images and as the mouse hovers over them, the pin it button will pop up-don't click it yet! You can repin any image you find on Pinterest to your own board, but for the moment, if you find one you like, just bookmark it until you are ready to arrange your board. I searched for images of wolves, and since Wolf Storm is set in Slovakia, images of that country as well. One scene in the story involves the characters eating Slovak food, so I found an image of plum dumplings. Just for fun, I also added a pin about how to draw a wolf.

You can also add images from your own computer- For example, I had an artist photoshop a movie poster for the movie within WOLF STORM, so I included as well:

This is a good place to bring up the issue of copyright. If you’ve downloaded images from Google images to your own computer, be careful about how you use them. Many are copyrighted, and not supposed to be used without a license from the copyright holder. I regularly purchase images from Istockphoto, and I wondered if I would be allowed to use them on Pinterest. I contacted Istock, and learned that as long as I personalized the image in some way, it was fine to use. I did that when I wanted images for some of my fiction I write for adults under a pen name. I wanted to include images of how I envisioned the characters, so I bought the images and labeled the photos with the characters’ names. Here's a couple I used on one of my boards for some of my adult fiction I publish under a pen name:

 

 

6. Now if you don’t want to move onto the slightly more advanced way to get images from other websites, and you don’t want to add a book trailer or anything else from Youtube, your next step is to decide how you are going to arrange your images. You’ll start with the image you want to be your cover image first, and then pin in order of least important to more important, because Pinterest adds new images above older images. You'll be able to add captions or change existing ones if you choose, so you can put in some details about how each image relates to the book.

7. When you are done pinning all your images, make sure you set your board to Public. To do that, just click on Edit board, and you’ll see the option to toggle off "secret." You're done!

More advanced tips:
The third way to pin images is from other websites. You can enter the url of the website and it will bring up some images to pin. You may not see the exact image you want, so in that case you need to add a Pin It button to your own browser, which you can click on when you are on a website to get access to the images. Go to http://about.pinterest.com/goodies/ and scroll down until you see the Pin It button. You then drag it into the toolbar on your computer. I'm using a very old version of Internet Explorer, so I had to drag it into my favorites. It works just fine.

To add your book trailer or another video clip from Youtube:

While still signed into Pinterest, open another tab, go to Youtube and find the video you want. Copy the url from the top of your browser. Go back to Pinterest and click the “Add +” button on the upper right. From there, select “Add a Pin”. Paste the YouTube video URL you copied in step 1 into the URL field and click the “find images” button. Select the board you want to add the video to and fill in a description the way you normally would when adding pins. Click the “Pin It” button and you’re done. You’ll be able to view the YouTube video right there on Pinterest.

So that's it!

Here are links to two Pinterest boards I've made:

http://www.pinterest.com/deegarretson/wolf-storm/

http://www.pinterest.com/deegarretson/frostfire-inn/

Happy pinning!

 

~ Dee Garretson

CREATE YOUR WRITER PLATFORM by Chuck Sambuchino

Create Your Writer Platform: The Key to Building an Audience, Selling More Books and finding Success as an Author -- Chuck Sambuchino

www.chucksambuchino.com

I’ve read several books on author platform but have to confess never fully grasping the term until reading Chuck Sambuchino’s CREATE YOUR WRITER PLATFORM. At its simplest level, a platform is an author’s visibility and reach -- the framework an author has and continues to build that let’s others know of his or her work.

Sambuchino describes his book as “a guide for all the hardworking writers out there who want a say in their own destinies.” Though there is no one-size-fits-all approach to establishing a platform, Sambuchino says the need for platform cannot be ignored, even for those of us who write fiction. The book is divided into three sections: The Principles of Platform, The Mechanics of Platform, and Author Case Studies. At the end of each chapter, literary agents weigh in on the chapter’s topic, giving readers perspectives outside of the author’s. One of the most helpful aspects of the book is the Case Study section, where twelve different authors from a variety of genres (memoir to self help, fiction to reference) reflect on the choices they made in building their platforms -- what worked, what they wish they’d done differently, what they believe makes them stand out from others in their field.

Sambuchino is also quick to say “this is a resource for those who realize that selling a book is not about blatant self-promotion.” It is more about relationships, the sharing of expertise, and supporting others along the way. Though written for the aspiring author, a lot of things resonated with me, a newly published author, such as the wisdom behind an author newsletter, establishing an “events” page on my blog, and always, that kindness and generosity go a long way.

Other books I can recommend that deal with author platform:
GET KNOWN BEFORE THE BOOK DEAL - Christina Katz
BOOKLIFE: STRATEGIES AND SURVIVAL TIPS FOR THE 21ST-CENTURY WRITER - Jeff Vandermeer

What are your feelings on and/or experiences with author platform?

All the Other Kinds of Writing by Dianne K. Salerni

I think all aspiring writers imagine what it’s like when you finally publish a book:

Digging back into research
for a book I wrote 7 years ago.

deadlines for your editor, biting nails over your reviews, book signings, and etc. But I for one never realized just how much writing I’d have to do that wasn’t manuscript writing.

A lot of us have our own blogs, of course. Personally, I post twice a week at my own blog and once a month here at Project Mayhem. Occasionally I post for my agent’s blog.

Then there’s blog tours around the release of your book. Some authors create one release promo and send it out to everybody participating in the tour – or offer a choice of three. In my opinion, it’s a bit of a cheat to the bloggers and the blog readers when the exact same thing appears on 30 blogs. I’ve stopped accepting those on my personal blog, and I’m definitely not going to take that approach for my own blog tour. Anyone who's kind enough to host me is going to get an original post.

Interviews are easy. You answer the questions. Guest posts are trickier, especially if you’ve just publicly declared (ahem!) that you plan to make each one unique.

But that’s not all. My publicist pitched me and my book to Huffington Post, and they said they’d consider accepting an article on X topic. So, there’s an assigned article for me to write – and hope they like – and hope they post. It’s not guaranteed.

My agent recently asked for a 1 page synopsis on two different books, to be used in pitching for film and foreign rights. So don’t think you’re done with the dreaded synopsis after your querying days are over. I also didn’t realize I’d be the one to write sales announcements. They are harder than they look!

Last week, I wrote an 8-page synopsis of the second EIGHTH DAY book and a 5-page plan for the series story arc.  This weekend, my To-Do list includes: the proposed Huffington Post article, 2 posts for my own blog, this post for Project Mayhem, and two guest posts for THE CAGED GRAVES tour -- one on the inspiration for the story and one on mortsafes.

Then, on Friday night, the producer of the short film based on WE HEAR THE DEAD called me. The producer and director are working on a “series bible” – a proposal for a television series based on the film and the book. The producer wanted to know if I could compile a list of events in the Fox sisters’ lives that didn’t make it into my book, as well as every séance trick I can think of. So exciting! But since I wrote that novel in 2006, this is going to require digging back into my original research. 

I've been writing like a maniac all week and never touched any of my manuscripts. Who knew?

A Special Project, a Great Book

The Secret Underground

by Natalie Bahm

 

Goodreads Blurb:

Twelve-year-old Ally is the only witness to a bank robbery in her small town. Unable to block out the memory of the robbers, a notorious gang known as the Gauze Men, Ally joins her little brother and a bunch of neighborhood boys digging a hole in her backyard.

Only the hole isn't just a hole - it's a massive set of tunnels snaking beneath the neighborhood and heading for an abandoned steel mill. Ally is old enough to know the danger, but she reasons spending time with sixth-grade heartthrob Paul is more fun than sitting at home with her worries. And dangerous it is - none of the kids' parents realize the tunnels exist, but the Gauze Men might.

100% of proceeds from this book will be donated to help a baby boy named Jayden, and contribute toward his family's massive medical expenses. Jayden suffers from a combination of congenital problems including Hirschsprung's disease.

Natalie wrote this book to help Baby Jayden and his family, who have been through untold emotional and financial hardship since his birth. The proceeds for this incredible book will go to Jayden's parents. Wow. I am blown away by Natalie's compassion and generosity. I hope you will all buy a copy, spread the word, whatever you can . . .

GUEST POST:

When I was a kid reading aloud terrified me.  When I read to myself the words on the page made sense, but when I read aloud they got blurry and mixed up.  I stuttered and missed words and read very slowly to compensate.  When a teacher called on me to read in class I’d panic, sure that I would mess up and look silly. 

I was lucky enough to have teachers who realized I was a good reader (thanks to comprehension tests), but other students teased me. I never volunteered to read aloud, and tried to keep my eyes down during class reading times so I wouldn’t be asked to read.

It was bad.

When high school came I knew I needed to get over my fear. I practiced reading aloud to myself at home.  I tried to skim ahead when the class was reading something, so if I got called on I could recite bits from memory.

Then one day, I was in English and my teacher asked me to read a long poem to the class.  I read the entire thing without stumbling once.  I still remember the feeling of triumph in that moment.  I’d conquered my fear.

Two weeks ago, I finished recording the audiobook for The Secret Underground.  It was such an interesting experience.  I learned a ton about narration and recording.  I made all sorts of mistakes and spent HOURS fixing them.  Fifteen years ago I never would have imagined I could read a whole book aloud, much less a book that I’d written. I’m pretty sure middle-grade-me would be proud.

Natalie Bahm’s The Secret Underground will come out September 28^th with all profits going to the family of baby Jayden Huynh.  Jayden is a two-year-old with serious health problems. You can read more about the project here. The eBook version of The Secret Underground is available for preorder on Amazon and Apple/iTunes.  The print and audio versions will be available on release day at all major online booksellers.

Skypetastic

Well, it's official.  I've gotten my feet wet in the publishing process, and now, nearly six months out, I'm toweling them back off again and sorting through exactly which puddles I want to splash through from here on out.  Storybound launched in April 2012, and, true to the testimonies of those who have gone before, releasing the first book is quite the whirlwind of obsessive anxiety, innumerable bookmarks and other sundry self-promoting bits, and blog posts, interviews, and more blog posts.  I'm not complaining, mind.  It was quite the ride.  But now that things have slowed, I'm ready to re-evaluate the process and determine which components were truly helpful, which I actually enjoyed doing, and which sent my stress-meter through the roof.

Not to worry, this will not be an incredibly long post outlining all the "thou shalt nots" for the debut author.  Instead I want to focus on author visits.  In the year preceding my launch, I was fortunate enough to meet up with some other local debut authors, and that group (with the fittingly apocalyptic title of "The Harbingers of Doom") was a fabulous support as well as a great resource for cooperative events.  We did several local appearances together which not only maximized the numbers of attendees but cemented our friendships and the capacity for mutual angst-ing over the entire publishing process.

That being said, I'm not altogether sure the events were "successful".  While most drew on average ten to fifteen people (excepting the dreaded event where we had one - yes ONE - attendee.  Ugh.), it seemed that we primarily reached other local writers, friends of friends, and the occasional very welcome MG or YA reader.  That in itself was lovely, of course, because what author in her right mind doesn't enjoy chatting books and writing with other people who love to talk books and writing?  But the reality of being a midlist debut author is that you haven't yet build a readership.  In fact, word is just seeping out about your book, and the odds of someone who has actually read it coming to a local event in the first months after launch are very slim indeed.

So while author events are fun (there's nothing like being handed a fat stack of your own books to sign) and provide the fabulous opportunity to connect with booksellers and librarians (you wonderful bookish folk, you!), they were not opportunities where I connected with readers of Storybound.  Enter Skype, that heretofore mysterious term I had heard thrown around by my expat friends but had ignored until now.

A few weeks ago, I was invited to do a Skype author visit with the kids' book club at Changing Hands Bookstore in Arizona.  After accepting the invitation, I fumbled my way through the online Skype tutorial, and at just the right moment, had a lovely virtual chat with kids who love books, and, even more thrilling, had read Storybound.  Perhaps I'm several years too late, and those of you who don't dwell in the 1990s where I bide my time in a wifi free and Luddite existence are yawning and tabbing over to the next blog post in your reader.  But for the rest of us, for those who muddle their way through the latest online trends, this is one worth checking out.  The savvy folks over at skypeanauthor have even set up a virtual network to connect interested authors with teachers, librarians, booksellers, and, ultimately, readers.

I, for one, am sold.  Not only is the virtual author visit an easy way to connect with specific readers, but it provides a welcome informality that seems fitting for a middle-grade event.  While I may be stumbling my way through the Skype menu, my middle-grade readers are not.  This is old hat to a generation that keeps in touch with grandpa via a regular Skype date or checks in nightly with mom when she's on a business trip.  I found the energy and enthusiasm of the kids to be a welcome surprise, and the necessary brevity of a virtual event kept my presentation streamlined.  Without question, I'll be adding Skype visits to my newly-revised list of author "Must-dos" before Story's End launches next year.


What about you, Mayhemers?  Authors, what are your favorite ways to connect with readers?  And readers, have you ever participated in a Skype visit?