Monthly Archives: February 2018

Linking Up

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I’ve been at work recently updating a lot of my online info, and getting ready to promote my books (better). Whether you are self-published or traditionally so, BSP – that’s Blatant Self-Promotion, as people like to call it  – is something of a necessary evil. Although you should try to make it not appear blatant. Blatant’s just rude.

But it is necessary, and PR will become a wedge of the pie of how you spend your work time.

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Ooops! I meant  this…

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I was lucky enough to hear writer Sharon Williams (Squirrel Mafia, Jaspar: Amazon Parrot) speak last year about the necessity of self-promotion and social media and ‘cross-platforming.’ She showed  how to set up links between the various sites where you appear, placing Facebook widgets on your blog, and linking your Facebook posts to your Twitter account.  She also spoke about Tweetdeck where you can keep track of multiple Twitter accounts or tweets containing certain characters as well as sites and services where you can post once and have it appear on multiple media. After initial set-up, she had a streamlined system of her own that allowed her to minimize her online time so that she could spend her hours doing what she intended: writing.

One thing more. Another author I knew some years back, Lonnie Cruse (the Metropolis Mystery series and the ’57 Mysteries), was the perfect example of high-energy self-promotion. Any time I saw her she was prepared with business cards, bookmarks showing her book covers (and where to purchase her books), and giveaway-type trinkets that related to her stories. She handed these things out to potential readers, always with a friendly and enthusiastic smile, and only where it was appropriate  to do so. But she never missed an opportunity to let someone know about her books and where to find them, or how much she appreciated her reading public. She was a great example and a class act.

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Giveaway trinkets used to promote my three Mackenzie Wilder/Classic Boat mysteries.

 

 

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Novelty mail-order houses will even imprint your goodies. Here one such company printed the title of book #2 on these guitar picks. SWEET CORN, FIELDS, FOREVER revolves around a country music singer/songwriter.

 

 

Some writers love to talk about themselves, but more actually like to talk about their work. Honing the skills that go into doing this successfully is important. Approach, tone, enthusiasm (think ‘spark’). Selecting passages, having a clear way to describe the book’s own background such as its inspiration, genesis, research. Knowing when and where to talk about your work and how to set up those opportunities (like signings and workshops). Plus the willingness to put yourself ‘out there’, be it online or in person. These are all areas to consider and work on. You can edge your way into it gradually, but the faster you become comfortable doing it, the better and broader your sales will be.

Besides, it can be  fun!

 

 

 

 

 

Writing at the Write-In

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I belong to a writers group – well, two, sort of.

This is the only writing group I’ve ever joined, and I’ve been lucky enough to find a group of people who care about writing, who are reasonable and kind in how they construct their criticism, and who are as eager to hear others’ work as they are to share their own.

I’ll write more about them periodically, but for today I’m writing about an event we have set up – twice, now – that has worked out pretty well for the participants. It’s a Write-In.

A Write-In is pretty much what it sounds like. People who are working on writing projects gather together in a common place and spend the day writing. There’s a fair amount of discussion and eating that goes on as well. Anything you are working on is fair game for the Write-In. It might be original material, revisions, galley proofs, even your blog or a little bit of PR (although that last is a bit of a stretch). The idea is to have all day devoted entirely to writing, with no personal or household distractions.

I sort of brought one household distraction with me. My  son belongs to the same writing group, a result of being a talented writer himself and of being used to hanging about with me while I coached writing in schools as he was growing up. Actually he’s good to have around; he’s an excellent critic and editor, and he has a humorous way of getting to the crux of a writing problem. Fact is, while critiquing is not a central part of a write-in, it’s good to be around people you can discuss your work with and work out particular problems. The sort of talk you can’t find at home or with colleagues from work. And everyone will understand when you cut discussion short, dash over to your keyboard and start typing.

Some write-ins get a little loud and social, especially when the food comes out. Some are held in public places like libraries or coffee shops, and some are held at a fellow writer’s house. It’s a group’s own little writers’ retreat. No matter how famous you are or not or wherever you are on your writing journey, write-ins provide a great opportunity to focus on your work and add to your word count. Try  it, and let me know how it goes.

 

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What’s Your Inspiration?

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It’s a question writers often get, and many don’t know how to answer. Reasonably so, because sometimes we aren’t so much inspired as driven towards writing about particular subjects.

In  this case, however, my inspiration is simple. I’ve always loved the mystery genre, but it wasn’t until I discovered antique boats through my husband and his family that I knew what kind of world I wanted to place my mysteries in (at least some of them.) The boats are beautiful, with deep histories that are sometimes violent. The wood gleams to draw the eye, and they look so natural upon the water.

Book #3 in the Mackenzie Wilder/Classic Boat romantic mystery series has further inspiration in the boat owned by a friend my mother-in-law made at the Annual Antique Boat Show held at Clayton, New York  , now into its 50th-plus year itself. Walter Predmore, Jr. and his wife Aggie made friends with Nea, who was the village librarian and liked to walk the docks with her dog. That long-lived friendship resulted in our getting to know Walt and Aggie as well, and provided us with standing invitations to ride aboard their boat, the Roscommon, whenever we were in Clayton at the same time as them. Today, some 40 years or so later, Walt still owns the Roscommon. He  told me recently that last year, with its extra rain, was the first time in nearly the whole time he’s owned it that the boat didn’t make it into the water. Wooden boats need a lot of attention, and his wonderful Chris Craft cruiser refuses to permanently recover from some of the wood problems it had even when Walt bought her.

Here is the Roscommon, captured by a local paper as it sails in the boat parade as part of the Annual Antique Boat Show years ago. It’s possible to see my husband in the back of the boat (barely), as the photo was actually from a couple years before it appeared.

Boat Parade Roscommon 1991

And here is a trial image that may (or may not) be used as the cover image for the upcoming  book #3, FLYING PURPLE PEOPLE SEATER. Walt was kind enough to grant us permission to work with an old photo of the boat to create the cover.

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The Sonny is the boat Dorsey Wegman sets off to retrieve from Bateauville for her friend and physician, Mackenzie Wilder. But Dorsey phones Mackenzie, and soon they are involved  in trying to track down who was where when, and who might have murdered whom. Against the backdrop of the St. Lawrence River and the Thousand Islands between Canada and upstate New York, drama both personal and historical plays out, changing the courses of many lives in the process.

I’ll post an excerpt from each of the Mackenzie Wilder books soon, including from this book, even preceding publication.

If you have an antique or vintage boat, let me know,  maybe share a photo. We’re always looking for cover possibilities, and we love any excuse to look at wooden boats.

Many thanks to Walt for the rides on the Roscommon, and for allowing us to use her as our model as well.