Tag Archive | publishing

Can a Genre Die?

Courtesy of Wikicommons

My little corner of the writer’s world was all in a tizzy last week after an article published at Dear Author that suggested that the Historical Romance genre be allowed to die.

Oh horror!

Of course, when you read the article you see that what the author of Dear Author was getting at is that right now there are just so many Regency novels out there with plots that feel stale and recycled, that it’s time to move on to something else. I believe her argument is that if Historical Romance has nothing more to offer than Regency after Regency, everyone will get bored and go home.

Compounding that problem are the cringe-worthy reports from some of my author friends that the traditional publishing agency is caught between disinterest in signing new authors who write Regency, but being unwilling to take a gamble on non-Regency authors, especially new authors, because Historical Romance in general just isn’t selling right now. Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, but from what I’ve seen this seems to be more true than not. Continue reading →

What Writers Can Learn From Public Radio

Apr26

The local radio station that I listen to every day (WRTI in Philadelphia) is in the midst of its spring membership drive right now. That, of course, means hour after hour of the radio hosts going on and on about how I should pledge, how the station depends on me, and how the only reason they can say on the air is because of the support of listeners like me.

Well, I do pledge to the station. Every month, in fact. And I’ll confess, I tend to find something else to listen to for the ten days or so that it takes for them to reach their goals.

But then I started thinking…. Continue reading →

Sometimes They Just Don’t Get It

Feb22

So I’ve been feeling really bad this week. And not just because I have a touch of a stomach bug, although that doesn’t help. No, I’ve been feeling bad because I had to leave a bad review on someone’s book. I’ve upset someone and insulted their baby.

Here’s the thing. Bad reviews happen. They’ve certainly happened to me! And yes, I was deeply upset for a week when I got my first 1-star review. And let me tell you, it was a thousand times worse than the 2-star review I left on the book this week. That review still irks my taters. It also taught me the valuable lesson of accepting that not everyone is going to love everything I do every time.

Before I go on, I want to share this super awesome article that one of my Twitter friends, Catie Rhodes, shared with me a couple of weeks ago when I whined on Twitter about a mediocre review:

5 Reasons You WANT Negative Reviews

Cool, eh? And so true!

But that’s not exactly what I want to talk about today. Today I want to talk about that wince-worthy problem that authors sometimes run into that generates not-so-great reviews.

Sometimes people just don’t get it.

I love my medieval romance trilogy, The Noble Hearts (points to the right-hand side of the screen). I think of them as swashbuckling romantic adventure … and here’s the important part … a la A Knight’s Tale. Yep, that was exactly the feeling I was going for when I wrote these books.

Have you ever seen A Knight’s Tale? It’s basically a rollicking medieval-pop flick with modern music, modern dialog, and modern mores. THAT’S what I was going for. Deliberately anachronistic, hip, fast-paced.

Several reviewers haven’t understood this. Their reviews are generally positive, but mention that the stories are full of anachronistic dialog and that they didn’t feel the way a medieval novel should.

Yep.

They didn’t get it.

And you know what? That’s okay. I knew I was taking a risk by writing in a unique style. I’ve never been interested in writing just like everyone else or mimicking what people expect to read. I’ve always wanted to be a little off-the-cuff, a little avant garde, a little different. That’s me.

But with risks come … risks. People don’t get it. That’s nothing new to me. I’ve felt as though people don’t get me on many levels and never had. Why? Because I’m different. I’ve always known I was and I always will be. But it’s taken a long time to make peace with that.

Writing is a tough gig. We are never going to hit the bull’s-eye with everyone all the time. And our books are always going to fall into the hands of people who don’t like our style, our characters, our choices, whatever. There will always be someone who doesn’t get it. Guess what? That’s awesome! Think about what that means for the diversity of this world. It’s a wonderful thing.

So no, I don’t jump for joy when I get one of those reviews – and I know I’ll keep getting them – that say my medieval novels were anachronistic and that I obviously don’t know what I’m doing with my history degree. The rest of the content of those reviews is pretty good, overall, and there are some people who definitely got the books all the way.

The moral of the story? That first time that someone posts a negative review and you see that they’ve totally missed the point of what you were going for is a badge of honor! You’ve stretched beyond your own immediate circle! You’ve dared. And that’s what counts.

Writing With “What If?”

Jan30

So last week I read Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card for the first time and loved it. As I mentioned in my review on Sunday, it was one of the best character books I’ve ever read. Card is just so good at creating characters with depth and emotion and breathing life into them. So yes, it is possible for a Romance writer to learn about the craft of characters through reading Science Fiction.

But there was another aspect to Ender’s Game that proved to be invaluable to my writing craft: the introduction. I was lucky in that the version of the book that I read had a long introduction by Card that talked about how he came up with the story and characters of Ender’s Game and the response that he has received to the book.

I love reading writers’ stories of how they engage in their craft, be it Stephen King’s On Writing or C.S. Forester’s book that he wrote about his experience of penning the Horatio Hornblower novels. So of course I devoured Card’s introduction eagerly. And I recommend that any time a writer includes an introduction with their book, anyone calling themselves a writer on any level should read it and take note.

What struck me the most about Card’s explanation of how he came up with the idea for Ender’s Game is his use of the question “What if?”. As Card explains, he was a major fan of Asimov as a youngster and devoured all of his books. He knew all along he wanted to write, but he grew (and apparently grows) increasingly impatient with authors who are only trying to recycle Asimov or Tolkien, retelling the same story with different characters and settings. This is not, he says, the point of writing.

Card came to the idea of Ender’s Game by focusing on tiny aspects of Asimov’s work and asking “What if x, y, or z had happened differently?” This seems so simple, and yet it forms the basis of all really great writing.

We have to start with the assumption that there are no original stories. At the same time, we can’t be like those writers Card loses patience with who tell the same story over and over. The key is to take some well-known aspect of a genre or a particular story and riff on the idea of “What if this happened instead?”

I think that the Romance genre is ripe for this kind of riffing. In Romance we’re working with a known set of parameters. In order to be defined as Romance the story must be about the development of the relationship between the hero and heroine and the hero and heroine must get together at the end with an emotionally satisfying conclusion. Anything else and it’s not Romance.

You might think that those parameters preclude any originality of thought, but I definitely don’t believe that. Romance is criticized because everyone knows going into it that they hero and heroine will end up together in the end. Yes they will. But it’s how they get there that truly matters, and there are a thousand different ways to reach an HEA.

I am particularly fond of this idea of “what if?” because that’s what launched my career as a writer. I’m grateful to Card for talking about it openly, because I’ve received a wee bit of criticism for my what-if-ing. My first novel, The Loyal Heart, has been compared favorably and unfavorably to the Robin Hood legend. That was both deliberate and unintentional.

The Loyal Heart started with two big What If’s. The first was “What if the Robin Hood story were told with the actual history of the time period instead of the propagandized version that most people think they know?” The second What If was “What if the heroine fell in love with the bad guy?” The first question was a direct riff on Robin Hood, the second was a riff on just about every one of the many Romance novels I’ve ever read.

Incidentally, The Faithful Heart started with the What If of “What if the goofy side-kick had to man-up and be a hero?” and The Courageous Heart began with “What if you woke up one day and realized you were an asshole who had ruined everyone’s lives?”

I know of a few people who encourage writers to begin their query letter for a given novel with that What If question. I’m not actually in favor with that, but I am in favor of beginning the whole novel-writing process by asking “What if?” When you hit the ground running, when you start the whole thing with a question that you are burning to find out, you’re going to have an easier writing experience. You’re going to go places that you wouldn’t otherwise have thought to go. Most importantly, you’re going to have a good time doing it.

Asking questions leads you to answers. Asking “What if?” leads you to realms of imagination that will keep you busy for weeks asking and answering even more questions. The beauty of it all is that no two people will come up with the same answers. Card could start with Asimov and ask “what if?” to take him to someplace entirely new.

I personally think that just because you start with a known story, like Robin Hood, “what if” will quickly take you out of the known and into the unknown, into the original and personal. I’ve been asking myself “What if Sarah didn’t remember the words to the poem at the end of Labyrinth and lost the bet with the Goblin King?” since I was a pre-teen. I’ve got a whole fantasy world of spells and tricks that has nothing remotely to do with Labyrinth now. There are a million ways you can answer a single question about a single story.

So thank you, Orson Scott Card, for helping me to see that daydreaming about someone else’s story is not only okay, it can lead to a whole world. Anything is possible when you ask “What if?”

What are your favorite “what if?” ideas? Are there any stories you’ve told or would like to tell that started with “what if?”

Marketing in the Publishing World: An Interview

Jan17

Today I am excited to bring to you an interview with my cousin Phyllis, who works in the marketing department for Tor Books. And why am I so excited? Because as any author, self or traditionally published, knows, marketing can be the most time-consuming, frustrating, perplexing, and downright mystifying aspect of this whole writing gig. I was eager to see if Phyllis could shed any light on the subject. And boy did she!

First, the basics…

How does book marketing work in the traditional book publishing world?

Wow, this is a subject for an entire book! I’ll try to give you a capsule version. As for traditional publishing, I think we need to leave that term behind soon because so much has changed in just the last ten years, and although publishing still employs some “traditional” tactics, we are discovering new approaches all the time. Book marketing is ideally, like most marketing, a multilayered endeavor, largely involving efforts by the author, the publisher, and the bookseller. For the author’s part, the most important thing s/he can do is write a good book. This is not negotiable. The author must also engage online as much as is possible. And I don’t mean only talking about your book. Writers must somehow build a platform for themselves and try to reach out to so-called Power Readers: people who live, breathe, and talk about books to their friends. If you’re writing topical non-fiction or straight genre fiction, it’s only slightly easier to find an audience than if you are writing literary fiction. One way to address this challenge, and this is something publicity folks do often, is find the non-fiction angle in your story. What real-life issue might you attach your story to that may be of interest to journalists and bloggers that write “off the book page.” The publisher’s role is to choose works that have a strong chance in the marketplace, and to produce and distribute the content through as many sales channels and in as many reading formats as possible. Marketing opportunities at the retail level are: paid positioning (also known as co-op) within the store or on the store’s website, and mentions or ads in retail newsletters that go out to their customers. Depending on the title and on the publisher’s expectations, a marketing plan is created including advanced galley distribution, co-op, publicity efforts, and advertising based on those expectations. At publication time, the plan is executed to a level commensurate with retail commitment. In other words, when the publisher’s sales team has sold a title into the retailers, the number of books out in the marketplace determines the level of marketing dollars committed from the original plan. With eBooks making up more and more of the total unit sale, this may change. But right now, printed books still represent the lion’s share of what is being sold. Booksellers, from the large chain stores to the independents, must make choices on what to carry in their stores (printed books), or on their sites (eBooks), and within those “walls” cater to their customer’s needs (books they know they want) and also to discoverability (books they don’t yet know that they want).

What have been some of the more successful campaigns you have worked on?

I’ll highlight one. We published a book called A Dog’s Purpose (fiction) by W. Bruce Cameron. It was a bestseller for many, many weeks in both hardcover and paper, and it sold a ton of copies in electronic format.

What made that campaign so successful?

Many things went into making A Dog’s Purpose a success:

A good story, well-told, and loved by many people at the publisher and eventually by many consumers
A NYT bestselling author, although all his previous books were non-fiction
A non-fiction angle = dog rescue
An extensive advanced galley mailing to booksellers and the media
Major co-op placement at every major bookstore chain, through our library wholesalers, and with our online retailers
Our publicity team scored tons of media attention in the publishing trades, major consumer media, and major pet media
An on-sale advertising campaign including major print and major online, utilizing glowing quotes from Alice Walker, Temple Grandin, and Dr. Marty Becker (Good Morning America)
An author who relentlessly promoted the book on Facebook and on his website, focusing on dogs and dog lovers everywhere. He even hosted a contest where people would win dog-of -the-week prizes like signed books.
Radio interviews with the author
Select author events in his home region
The book went on to be picked as a best book by Goodreads, BookPage readers, Rachel Ray
Alice Walker blogged about the book
Guideposts blogged about the book
The book has racked up 1000+ Amazon reviews, most of them 5 stars

What marketing media do you feel gives a book the best chance of succeeding (print media, social networking, etc.)?

A book’s best chance of succeeding is getting it in the hands of people who have the power to influence other people and hope those influencers say something great about it. In other words: WORD OF MOUTH. This is still the most powerful tool in the box because people trust other people: friends, relatives, celebrities, bloggers, journalists, booksellers, etc. And, you’ve got to start with a good story, well-told. Next is in-store promotion. As mentioned in my first answer, exposure at the retail level is key because, in general, 75% of books are still sold in print format. That said – every book has its own set of parameters that will dictate the media channels that best serve it and the audience to be reached within the budgetary limits that a marketer has available. Many consumers are moving away from traditional media to digital media options, but there is still a large amount of print and broadcast options that reach readers, and as long as these exist, they should not, if possible, be traded for the sexier, cheaper online venues.

What changes have you seen in the way books are marketed?

Some of our marketing dollars are moving out of print and broadcast, and into online options: social networking, search advertising, newsletters, and mobile. This is where the audience is spending a good deal of time and to not be there will limit exposure. Also, authors are a very important element in the marketing mix. They are maintaining comprehensive web sites, engaging with readers on social networks, blogging, and connecting with readers like never before. There are so many online book-club type environments for readers to share their love of reading by listing all of the books they’ve read or will be reading. All of this adds to the rigor of reading and experiencing literature together as a society.

What advice would you give a self-published or small press published author on marketing their work?

Assuming you’ve done the hard work and written the best book you can, now it’s time to devote yourself to marketing. This will feel like a full-time job because it is. While you’re marketing you will (probably) not have time to write. Get the work out to as many people/influencers as possible, ask for reviews and quotes from people with writing cred or who are otherwise respected for their own platforms. Create electronic files of the work to accommodate the various reading platforms. Distribute print galleys if you can afford them and ask booksellers to give you feedback. Post the work to NetGalley (review media is taking advantage of this more and more). Take advantage of relatively inexpensive online ads and online search campaigns. Learn how to conduct a publicity campaign or if you can afford to, hire a publicist or freelance book marketer such as FSB Associates. Stay current on the industry by reading trades such as Publishers Weekly, and bloggers such as Mike Shatzkin. Lastly, engage on as many social platforms as you have time for. Granted, many of the above ideas are easier said than done, but these are some of the essential ways to get a buzz going.

Where do you feel the book publishing world is heading from here?

Wherever the reading public wants to go! From my perspective, we publishing folks are striving to evolve with readers’ tastes and preferences. You may know that Tor recently removed all DRM (Digital Rights Management) from our electronic books so that consumers can decide where/how to read the content they buy from us. I hope that publishing will always be about providing the best possible works of literature to the reading public, in whatever format/platform is preferred.

What are your favorite authors to read for fun?

My tastes are changing all the time. I used to read (and still love) Anne Tyler, Saul Bellow, and John Irving, to name just a few. On the recommendation of a good friend, I recently read Bronte’s Jane Eyre and loved it. Also, just read Ender’s Game (a Tor book first published in 1985) and was amazed at how forward thinking the author, Orson Scott Card, was (and still is!) in the technology he imagined. On my list to read next is Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S.C. Gwynne – highly recommended by my brainy brother who reads everything.

Thanks so much for answering all my questions, Phyllis! Anyone else have questions? I’ll see if I can pass them along and get some answers.