Flying by the Seat of my Pants

Deb in London Metro

Whew! It's been quite a whirlwind since the March release of More Beauty, Less Beast: Transforming Your Inner Ogre. Hence the irregular blog posts. My apologies if you've noticed.

But then it's always crazy-busy for a few months when a book first releases. Just during the months of March and April, I've had twelve radio or podcast interviews, two bookstore signings, and nine speaking engagements.

I actually enjoy the events themselves, once I get there and begin to meet all the lovely people. It's the physical traveling that gets to you, and the inability to spend any focused time on the next book. And that deadline looms large just around the corner.

Such is the struggle of all contracted authors: you must actively promote one book while you're working feverishly on the next. Sometimes when people ask you about something you've said, you can't remember what's in which book. Or you can't even remember what on earth they're talking about - I've had to ask a few radio hosts to quote me to me so I'll know what I said.

Anyway, I've often wished for Toast Master experience but for the last few years I've been so busy speaking that I never properly learned how to speak. So I'm going to remedy that next week by attending an in-depth workshop for speakers up in Georgia. (Ha! How many people in this country can say "up" in Georgia?)

I'm looking forward to it but at the same time, am quite nervous that I'll find out I've been doing it wrong all this time. Over 100 speaking gigs over the past three years, and I hadn't a clue what I was doing, just flew by the seat of my pants. I know what I like to hear in a speaker and I try to give that same thing to the audience: a few laughs, some helpful take-away points, and a lot of good stories.

I guess I'm really a storyteller beneath it all, and that's where my heart lies. I could sit and listen to a good storyteller all day, and learned early on that if I ever see an audience begin to drift, I can always bring 'em back with a juicy story.

What's a story you've heard that has had an impact on your life? Something that really stuck with you. I'd love for you to share it with me. 

Well, enough rambling for now. Got to work on speeches for two upcoming events. Sure wish I knew what I was doing.

Self-Publishing Online

Many people are researching self-publishing these days so I thought you'd find this info interesting. 

Here are some check-list items for uploading your manuscript to Amazon, which were shared at a recent workshop I attended by Lisa and Gina Nardini, sisters who recently self-published the children's middle grade book, The Underwear Dare, available both print and e-copies.

The Nardini sisters made over $12,000 the first year their book was released, so I would say whatever they're doing, they're doing it right!\..

1. Edit thoroughly
2. Develop a website for your book
3. Update your Facebook page and start collecting friends
4. Start a Facebook page for fans of your book
5. Set up a Twitter account and a Blog
6. Prepare a Press Release
7. Order business cards and bookmarks
8. Pick a fictitious name for your publishing company
9. File paperwork for this fictitious company
10. Choose your front and back book covers
11. Develop a marketing plan; include giveaways (order at least 50 extra copies)
12. Start thinking about tags (key words that describe your book)
13. Come up with a great hook
14. Think of at least ten friends you can send your book to for a good review
15. Plan a Facebook launch party for your book

Now you're ready to upload to Amazon.

Here are a few more crucial things to do after your book releases

1. Donate copies to your local library.
2. Link to other good (similar) books on your website (this will drive traffic)
3. Put photos and all the books on your Amazon Author page on your bio.
4. When using Twitter, use hashtags frequently, your link, and retweet often
5. Follow connected authors on Twitter by searching hashtags
6. Use Listmania on Amazon for free advertising (get on a list of books similar to yours)
7. List up to 15 tags (key words that describe your book on Amazon); tag words in your title, subject, tie your book to other "big" books, etc.

So how about you? Are you considering self-publishing online?

Best Reason in the World for Hairy Legs

Woo Hoo - it's finally here! More Beauty, Less Beast: Transforming Your Inner Ogre, the second book in Barbour's "Take On Life" series hit bookshelves on March 1.

And its author hit the floor running.

I realize that most folks don't have a clue what goes into a book launch and why for about six weeks following the book release authors look like they just slid off their Harleys after a cross-country jaunt without a helmet or Twinkies (the bare essentials).

So now is the time to explain why I can't meet you for lunch this week, why I won't be running any extra laps around the grocery store, and why I couldn't in a million years help you learn origami this month.

Since publishers closely follow book sales during the first eight weeks after a book comes out, authors must put all their fragile eggs in one basket and throw every bit of their weight into selling as many books as humanly possible during that time period.We know that publishers will take an impressive start into consideration when considering another book contract. And a slow start can work against you in the same way.

What makes an impressive start?

Well, that varies, but most authors agree that sales of 4-5k books during the first two months would do the trick, with the goal of at least 10k sales by the 4th or 5th month. If sales don't exceed 15k by the 7th or 8th month, you really won't have much of a leg to stand on in negotiating your next contract.

How do authors increase sales? By getting out there and generating interest by:

Nook (literally) & cranny,
Kindle a fire under readers
Speak to as many groups that can stand you
Saturate the media, including radio, TV, and newspaper interviews
Blog interviews and book reviews
Plaster your book cover everywhere
Set up book signings and/or readings (See my Event Schedule at www.DeboraCoty.com)
Run cool contests with great prizes (Like my "Name My Next Book" contest at www.DeboraCoty.com)
Have a FaceBook Launch Party (mine's on March 22, 8 pm ET on my Amazon author page - join the fun!)

Yep, making your book visible (and yourself by proximity), is vital. Of course all these things take an enormous amount of time, energy, and foresight. We actually have to start the ball rolling about two months before the release date, sometimes longer. Some bookstores require signings to be scheduled 2-3 months in advance, and many newspapers must be notified at least  8 weeks ahead of book-related events in order to print notices or book release announcements.

To give you some idea of how all this plays out, I have four radio interviews scheduled during just the first two weeks of March (more later), and 13 speaking events during the 7 weeks following the release date of More Beauty, Less Beast. Notices or articles should come out in four different newspapers, and my PR gal is diligently working on several TV interviews as we speak.

Whew! It's a whirlwind all right, but you know it's coming when you sign up for this gig. Or at least you hope it will because that means you're having a book published. You tell yourself you can rest later, and hope that low sales don't dictate that this will be your last book. If things go well, and another book contract rolls down the chute, you'll be doing it all over again in about six months.

So there you have it. The reason why girl authors (even authors of Beauty books!) with new releases have greasy hair, starving families, and hairy legs.

  

Keeping Our Writerly Spirits Up

A cool shot of the sunset on our way to England

I've been bustling around getting ready for the March 1 release of my newest inspirational women's book, More Beauty, Less Beast: Transforming Your Inner Ogre. 

Between arranging speaking gigs, filling out blog interviews, and writing articles, I managed to squeeze in a 3-day trip with Spouse to sign permit papers that our builder needed for a much-anticipated addition to our wee Smoky Mt. cabin.

It was incredibly cool seeing the room and porch that had been mere whimsy in my head for so many years actually coming to fruition. (Check out the photo I posted on FB).

Not unlike writing a book, really. It's absolutely amazing when the plot and characters that have been bouncing around in your head for ages finally take physical form in your story. No more wondrous feeling like that in the whole world!

Must be a little like the Almighty felt when he first created a zebra.

Anyway, since we can't be there to oversee the construction work (we live 9 hours away),  it's kind of like being in one of those reality shows where you come home to find your house has been remodeled while you were away. I just gave the builder my 3rd grade skill level stick drawing of the house in my head and he's taking it and running with it. Talk about blind trust!

But what I really wanted to talk about was what happened in the Franklin, NC bookstore near the hotel in which we camped out (couldn't stay in the cabin with the construction mess). Spouse and I had an hour to kill so we did one of our favorite things and browsed the awesome goods at Dalton's Christian Bookstore. It was a weekday evening and although I had been there before on previous trips, I didn't recognize any of the sales clerks.

While I was selecting the books I wanted to purchase, I looked around (as I always do in bookstores) for my own books and located both Everyday Hope and Mom NEEDS Chocolate. But I couldn't find Too Blessed to be Stressed, my book just released last August :(

I was so bummed.

I couldn't be happy that this wonderful store graciously carried my other two recent books, no. Instead I began obsessing that they'd intentionally passed on the other one because my writing just wasn't good enough. Mine just didn't measure up to the other books on the shelves. (I know, I know - this reasoning makes no sense at all when they carried my other two books, but since when does self-condemnation make sense?)

So I worked myself into a grand funk, digging my I'm-such-a-lousy-writer-everyone-hates-my-book pit deeper and deeper until I stood at the checkout feeling terrible about myself. It's a wonder buzzards weren't circling overhead.

The teen clerk went about her business ringing me up while I stood there feeling like a big fat failure.

It was then that I noticed from the corner of my eye, someone staring at me. It was the store manager, Lisa, whom I'd only met once and that was six months ago. "I LOVE your new book!" she burst out. "We read from Too Blessed to be Stressed every morning in our staff devotional time and we all laugh our heads off. I've recommended it to so many people. Did you see our display?"

Um, no, I hadn't. And so I just jumped to rotten conclusions and started beating up myself.

Why do we writers do this? Is it only me, or do you struggle with constantly flagging writerly self-esteem too? Can you share with me some of the ways you shake the funk?

Ignited to Blog

Snow-dusted flowers at our mountain cabin

I have to admit that I'm one of those people who sometimes dashes off the starting line with topnotch intentions and great expectations, and then somehow gets side-tracked completely off the racetrack onto a rabbit trail.

Blogging's like that. I start out well, faithfully posting weekly on my two blogs (besides this one primarily for writers, I keep a personal blog as well: www.DeboraCoty.blogspot.com).

But then I get immersed in a writing project, most recently my book coming out in March, More Beauty, Less Beast. I begin to blog less and less frequently, and the next thing I know, it's been a month or more.

Sigh. Not good, Deb, not good.

So knowing I needed a little cyber shot in the arm, I attended a blogging workshop last night, conducted by Daphne of Torch Designs (www.torchdesigns.com). and was amazed by the following blogging trivia:

• According to Neilsen, 181 million public blogs are currently in existence.
• During the last 24-hours, 88,000 blogs were created.
• Posts perform best on Thursdays and Fridays; worst on Saturdays.
• The best posting times are in the early mornings, between 5-6 pm (just after work hours), and late nights when people are cruising.
• The worst posting time is during 9-5 daytime work hours, when minds are preoccupied.

I don't know about you, but I find these facts fascinating. And motivating! With all those gazillion blogs floating around in computer world, I want mine to be one worth your time. One that stands out. One that you send your friends to.

So I'm planning to make a few changes, research what would best meet your needs as an aspiring writer, consume more roughage, and return to regularity. Well, maybe not the roughage part.

Can you give me a head start, reader friends? What are some of the things you'd like most to see in a writer's blog? More personal stories? Less? How-to's? Tips? Famous author quotes? Article references? What floats your literary boat?





 

It's a Mystery to Me!

I thought I'd share a few tidbits from the Do/Don't list of Mystery Writing I received from Chantelle Aimee Osman at the Florida Writers Conference in October. I've added a bit of commentary as well.

1. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters. Jerry Jenkins espouses this rule as well; less is more. It engages more of the reader's gray matter to give them the bare essentials of description and let them envision the character as they like. 

2.Make your sleuth unique and use your own interests. The reader can tell when the author is enthusiastic; if you're writing about your own passions, it's sure to show.  

3. Use a means of murder that makes a statement about the character or villain.

4. Set up false leads and red herrings. This is a good idea for mysteries included in all genres. I threw in several red herrings in my historical novels The Distant Shore and Billowing Sails. It's more fun if you keep 'em guessing. 

5. Give two or three really pertinent clues. They can be something that's missing rather than present. You can even go back after you've finished the book and add them to strategic scenes. Kind of like foreshadowing.

6. Play fair with your readers. Give your reader a fair chance to figure out "whodunit". Don't be so transparent that your readers guess the end before Chapter 2.

7. Use only rational and scientific methods to solve the crime. Don't ignore the laws of physics or logic to solve the crime. Readers will be annoyed.

8. Make sure the reader feels justice was served, whether the good guy wins or loses. The good guy doesn't always have to win; sometimes the point is that he learns something he didn't expect and no longer wants/needs what he originally started out to achieve.

9. Don't make the villain obvious. Remember, they don't think of themselves as villains. Many authors these days show both sides of the coin to give their story more realism; they give the good guy a bad streak and the bad guy at least a few likable traits. Very few people are all good or all bad.

10. Don't give all the backstory at once. Drop is like a trail of breadcrumbs to intrigue the reader. A cardinal rule for all fiction: don't dump your load in the first chapter.

A Slice of Heaven

The brown and tan calf caught my eye. I was driving by a field in early morning, sequestered tightly in my own little world of deadlines, duties and disconnects.

And suddenly there he was. A mere toddler in bovine society, I suspect. I braked to watch him. So full of mischief as he romped and cavorted and nose-butted the larger calves.and nipped at the tails of the mama cows who stomped him away in annoyance.

So full of life. So full of joy. He made me smile.  And a tiny seed of longing was planted in my chest.

And then just down the road, I passed a yard where a little blond girl in a blue dress was chasing a purple butterfly. Her innocent face wreathed in smiles, she leapt and sprang, running and laughing and running some more for the sheer joy of it.

Now that seed of longing in my innards was sprouting into a firm stalk of yearning. Yearning to once again do something for the sheer joy of it. Unhurried. Unstructured. Unrequired. Simply because I wanted to.

Yep, I remember feeling just that way a long, long time ago. How do I get that back? Can I get that back in the midst of my ever busy, urgent paced, production-oriented adult existence?

And then this weekend, at a writer's conference of all places, the opportunity presented itself.

I had just finished presenting "Ten Things Every New Writer Should Know" and was not only exhausted but a bit exasperated. Due to technical difficulties with the hotel meeting room, I'd lost ten minutes from my presentation which was already over-packed with trying to cram 90 minutes of information into a 75-minute workshop. I was still irritated that I'd been forced to omit what I considered the most important page of points and skip to a very rushed ending when the moderator stuck her head in the door to announce a two-minute warning.

I had two hours to kill before my next appointment, so I changed into my walking shoes, jumped in my car and drove to a nearby industrial park (which was abandoned on Saturday) and began pounding my frustration out on the oak-lined streets winding around manicured lawns of tall glass buildings and a lovely pond with its peacock-spray fountain.

After an hour I ran out of gas and sank onto a sun-dappled park bench for just a moment to regroup. With only the sounds of fountain spray, chirping birds, and squirrels scampering up broad oak trees to accompany my solitude, I soon found myself sprawled across the bench on my back. As the shade melted my tense muscles, a cool breeze rustled my sweat-soaked hair, and thin shafts of sunlight peeking through oak leaves warmed my skin, I watched wispy white clouds scuttle overhead. Every now and then a lazy hawk would bank left and glide unfettered through my field of vision.

And there it was.. An unexpected slice of heaven. The quenching answer to my thirst for that long-lost whimsical moment of childhood freedom. 

The thought then hit me: Why can't writers do this in their writing? Evoke that feeling of childhood summertime by their words? Do the fast pace, looming deadlines, and urgency of production in our lives and our careers prohibit finding this elusive feeling? And transferring it to others?

If we could but find this place, this slice of heaven, couldn't we reflect that peace through our words?

What are your thoughts?