Tuesday
Long Game Discoverability by Randy Ingermanson
The buzzword that authors and publishers are using these days is "discoverability."
Is this sensible, or is this just the latest quackery? I'll give you my opinion, but first some context.
An enormous number of books get published every single day of the year. How is any one book supposed to stand out in the crowd when the crowd gets bigger and noisier every year?
That is the problem of "discoverability."
In the old days (say two or three years ago), publishers and authors had a few standard tools for getting a book discovered.
Publishers sent their books to the major reviewers. They paid hefty money to buy placement on the front table at Barnes & Noble and Borders and other booksellers. They paid publicists to get their authors on radio or TV.
Authors held book signings at bookstores. They put up web sites and blogs. They went on speaking tours. They hit the social media networks.
The purpose behind all of these methods was to get word-of-mouth going. Quickly.
The problem is that the old ways aren't working as well as they used to. There are far more books than there used to be.
Truth be told, the old ways never worked very well in the first place. For every success, there were plenty more failures, with no rhyme, no reason to explain the difference between success and failure.
Notice that most of the methods I mentioned above are actions with short-term effects.
The review magazines have an influence for the month they're printed. After that, not so much. Placement on the front table works for as many as days as you keep paying for that front table real estate. After that, not at all. A radio or TV interview is on today, gone tonight.
A booksigning works for the three hours you're in the store. After that, the bookstore people might remember you, maybe. When you give a talk, you can move a lot of copies at the back of the room today. As soon as you leave the venue, you don't move any copies. A tweet has
an effect for a few hours and then it's gone.
Short-term marketing made sense in the old days. Back then, a book had a shelf life of a few weeks. If it hadn't been discovered by then, the bookstore sent it back to the publisher for full credit and the book disappeared.
Publishers and authors had to play a short game because that was the only game in town.
They hoped that somehow, playing the short game hard enough would generate word of mouth.
Sometimes it did, and when it did, great things happened. But the short game has always been hit-or-miss. In the old days, if it didn't hit, the
game was over.
E-books have changed all that, because e-books are forever. There is no three-week ticking clock for e-books. Once an e-book goes on sale, it has an infinite length of time to be discovered.
That means that it now makes sense to put more effort into "long game discoverability."
If you spend all your marketing in short-term efforts, you are going to get all your returns as short-term results. But the instant you turn off the electricity, the marketing machine stops.
I suspect that there will be more winners in the future because there will be more choices. Because there is more time for each book to find its audience. Because more of the actual money goes to authors and less goes to those pesky "middlemen."
If that's true, then publishing is becoming a long game, and much more of your marketing effort should go into things that last. Things that make you discoverable next week, next month, next year, next decade.
You can only be doing so many things each day. If everything you do is for short-term results, then you can never get off the marketing treadmill.
Here are a few of the thousands of things that might make you more discoverable for the long haul. These are not guaranteed to work. A lot depends on how well you execute. But these are things that last:
* Web site articles or blog articles with content good enough to attract traffic from search engines.
Imagine spending an hour to write an article on a topic related to your book. Imagine posting it on your web site. Imagine that it brings in 100 page views every day. (This is not a huge number.) Imagine having a blurb about your book on that page.
In a year, that blurb would be seen by more than 36,000 people. In a decade, 365,000 pairs of eyeballs would see it.
That's not nearly as sexy as spending an hour on a TV show. But which do you think is more effective at selling your book, long-term?
* Guest blogs with an "about the author" blurb that links back to your web site.
I saw a question this morning on an e-mail loop for authors asking whether blog tours work. I have my doubts about the short-term effectiveness of a blog tour.
But I know for certain that a link from a blog to your web site lasts pretty much forever. Incoming links really help your site get noticed by the search engines. Incoming links last a long, long time.
If this is part of your marketing strategy, then do your guest posts on blogs that actually get traffic, because a link from a high-traffic blog is worth more to you.
I suppose doing a guest blog isn't as exciting as speaking to 100 people in a room and selling 25 copies of your book. But guess which one lasts longer?
* Your author page on Goodreads.
Goodreads is a social network for readers. That's the whole point of the site -- to help readers discover books and authors.
Any author can have a profile page on Goodreads. It lists all your books, with links to major retailers. It includes blurbs for each one. It lets readers click a button to become your fan.
There is a lot to like about Goodreads. You can post excerpts of your books. You can get various widgets to embed in your blog or web site. You can link in your blog so that new blog entries show up in Goodreads.
Facebook and Twitter get all the hype right now. But neither of these social networks are exclusively about books. Goodreads is.
If you've got limited time to spend on social media, then Goodreads seems like the smart place to spend it.
* The "Also Bought" list on the online retailers.
On every book page on Amazon, there's a section labeled "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought". There are similar sections on B&N and Smashwords. This is the online equivalent of browsing in a bookstore.
The "Also Bought" list means that each of your books is an advertisement for your other books.
If you have a sizable backlist of books, then your books can cross-promote each other very nicely.
This means that it's entirely possible that your best marketing strategy might be to just write more books. I don't know any way to prove this, but it's possible.
In my opinion, the days of exclusively using short-game marketing are over. If you want to see a quick bump in sales, then yes, use some of the short-term marketing methods.
But a long game now makes sense. Think about marketing tasks you can do today that will still be working for you ten years from now.
And relax.
Marketing isn't a lottery anymore. Now it's a matter of making smart long-term investments that will pay off forever.
This article is reprinted by permission of the author.
Award-winning novelist Randy Ingermanson, "the Snowflake Guy," publishes the free monthly Advanced Fiction Writing E-zine, with more than 31,000 readers. If you want to learn the craft and marketing of fiction, AND make your writing more valuable to editors, AND have FUN doing it, visit http://www.AdvancedFictionWriting.com.
Download your free Special Report on Tiger Marketing and get a free 5-Day Course in How To Publish a Novel.
Monday
Nothing to Hide by Mark Bertrand
MY REVIEW...
I've been intrigued by Bertrand's Roland March series. Bertrand has developed his characters into something that is compelling enough for you to keep turning pages. He also excels in writing in the present tense which is one of the hardest forms of writing prose. It is so difficult to keep the pace within the correct tense, be it something that a character did in the past, or will do in the future or what is happening at the moment. Present tense, for many readers, adds a breathlessness to action because you are running after a suspect; not the character ran after the suspect in the past tense. If not done correctly, the storyline can get convoluted.
In the first two novels, Bertrand accomplished the feat superbly. In this one (all books are stand alone) he doesn't seem to be on top of his game. It almost seems hurried and the quality has suffered. However, only someone who has read all the books would be able to tell. You won't be disappointed. The story line is good, new characters are developed well and you, dear reader, become suspicious the same time March does so you are not reading along and saying to March, "Dummy, you forgot that clue! Think about this! Sheesh, what a stupido." The suspense is very good, and you really feel for March as he once again stands on his conviction all by himself against the stacked odds.
I give it 4 of 5 stars. It's worth the money.
This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Nothing to Hide Bethany House Publishers (July 1, 2012)
by J. Mark Bertrand
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
J. Mark Bertrand lived in Houston, where the series is set, for fifteen years,
earning an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Houston. But after
one hurricane too many he left for South Dakota. Mark has been arrested
for a crime he didn't commit, was the foreman of one hung jury and served
on another that acquitted Vinnie Jones of assault. In 1972, he won an
honorable mention in a child modeling contest, but pursued writing instead.
ABOUT THE BOOK
A grisly homicide. An international threat.
The stakes have never been higher for
Detective Roland March.
The victim's head is missing, but what intrigues Detective Roland March
is the hand. The pointing finger must be a clue--but to what? According
to the FBI, the dead man was an undercover asset tracking the flow of
illegal arms to the Mexican cartels. To protect the operation, they want
March to play along with the cover story. With a little digging, though, he
discovers the Feds are lying. And they're not the only ones.
In an upside-down world of paranoia and conspiracy, March finds himself
dogged by injury and haunted by a tragic failure. Forced to take justice into
his own hands, his twisting investigation leads him into the very heart of
darkness, leaving March with nothing to lose--and nothing to hide.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Nothing to Hide, go HERE.
I've been intrigued by Bertrand's Roland March series. Bertrand has developed his characters into something that is compelling enough for you to keep turning pages. He also excels in writing in the present tense which is one of the hardest forms of writing prose. It is so difficult to keep the pace within the correct tense, be it something that a character did in the past, or will do in the future or what is happening at the moment. Present tense, for many readers, adds a breathlessness to action because you are running after a suspect; not the character ran after the suspect in the past tense. If not done correctly, the storyline can get convoluted.
In the first two novels, Bertrand accomplished the feat superbly. In this one (all books are stand alone) he doesn't seem to be on top of his game. It almost seems hurried and the quality has suffered. However, only someone who has read all the books would be able to tell. You won't be disappointed. The story line is good, new characters are developed well and you, dear reader, become suspicious the same time March does so you are not reading along and saying to March, "Dummy, you forgot that clue! Think about this! Sheesh, what a stupido." The suspense is very good, and you really feel for March as he once again stands on his conviction all by himself against the stacked odds.
I give it 4 of 5 stars. It's worth the money.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
J. Mark Bertrand lived in Houston, where the series is set, for fifteen years,
earning an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Houston. But after
one hurricane too many he left for South Dakota. Mark has been arrested
for a crime he didn't commit, was the foreman of one hung jury and served
on another that acquitted Vinnie Jones of assault. In 1972, he won an
honorable mention in a child modeling contest, but pursued writing instead.
ABOUT THE BOOK
The stakes have never been higher for
Detective Roland March.
The victim's head is missing, but what intrigues Detective Roland March
is the hand. The pointing finger must be a clue--but to what? According
to the FBI, the dead man was an undercover asset tracking the flow of
illegal arms to the Mexican cartels. To protect the operation, they want
March to play along with the cover story. With a little digging, though, he
discovers the Feds are lying. And they're not the only ones.
In an upside-down world of paranoia and conspiracy, March finds himself
dogged by injury and haunted by a tragic failure. Forced to take justice into
his own hands, his twisting investigation leads him into the very heart of
darkness, leaving March with nothing to lose--and nothing to hide.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Nothing to Hide, go HERE.
Friday
Love Does by Bob Goff
MY REVIEW
I kept wondering where I had heard the name Bob Goff. I finally googled his name and discovered that he is the one who founded an international organization to address the atrocities against children called Restore International. I heard quite about this when I was vice president and executive director for CASA-PRC here in Pearl River County. It's a marvelous thing he is doing.
His book, Love Does, is also marvelous. These stories are all true and help you to understand how to shift your own thinking into patterns of can do rather than can't do or I don't know where to start. It's called paradigm shifting. What a wonderful father he was to encourage his children to write world leaders; and then they got invited to go meet those they wrote. Fascinating what a few words from the heart can do.
He now owns his own law firm in partnership with another which is surprising because his grades weren't good enough to even get into law school. To can do the law school thing, he sat on a bench outside the Dean's office until he finally let him enroll. The amazing thing is, he applied himself and graduated proving the Dean's trust in his perseverance was well placed. Things like that can change your world!
Five of five stars! Buy it, you will be pleased.
ABOUT THE BOOK
You don’t need another Christian message or a self-help book. You
need to have your paradigms about the world shifted into truth. That’s
exactly what you get in Love Does. Have you ever noticed that
the real change in your life-the growth that sticks and becomes a part
of you-never happens with a program or the sheer grit of your best
efforts? It happens over time, like a glacier slowly carving valleys
through the mountains.
In this book of compelling stories coupled with eye-opening truths, author Bob Goff shows you a new way to live, a way that’s drenched with the whimsy of God’s love and the spontaneity of following where he leads when he says “Go!” In this book, you learn what it looks like to be secretly incredible and advance God’s kingdom everywhere you are and wherever you’re going.
For anyone who’s wanted to change the world but thought they needed money, a committee, and permission to get started, Love Does shows what can happen when you decide to do instead of plan, act instead of strategize, and fiercely, invisibly fight for the possibility God has gifted you to uniquely see.
Looking to buy Love Does? Click here.
I kept wondering where I had heard the name Bob Goff. I finally googled his name and discovered that he is the one who founded an international organization to address the atrocities against children called Restore International. I heard quite about this when I was vice president and executive director for CASA-PRC here in Pearl River County. It's a marvelous thing he is doing.
His book, Love Does, is also marvelous. These stories are all true and help you to understand how to shift your own thinking into patterns of can do rather than can't do or I don't know where to start. It's called paradigm shifting. What a wonderful father he was to encourage his children to write world leaders; and then they got invited to go meet those they wrote. Fascinating what a few words from the heart can do.
He now owns his own law firm in partnership with another which is surprising because his grades weren't good enough to even get into law school. To can do the law school thing, he sat on a bench outside the Dean's office until he finally let him enroll. The amazing thing is, he applied himself and graduated proving the Dean's trust in his perseverance was well placed. Things like that can change your world!
Five of five stars! Buy it, you will be pleased.
ABOUT THE BOOK
In this book of compelling stories coupled with eye-opening truths, author Bob Goff shows you a new way to live, a way that’s drenched with the whimsy of God’s love and the spontaneity of following where he leads when he says “Go!” In this book, you learn what it looks like to be secretly incredible and advance God’s kingdom everywhere you are and wherever you’re going.
For anyone who’s wanted to change the world but thought they needed money, a committee, and permission to get started, Love Does shows what can happen when you decide to do instead of plan, act instead of strategize, and fiercely, invisibly fight for the possibility God has gifted you to uniquely see.
Looking to buy Love Does? Click here.
Five Miles South of Peculiar by Angela Hunt
MY REVIEW
Angela Hunt never fails to please. This is another notched success and very different from most of her other novels.
The story builds well, and we get a split scene basically viewing all the sisters in the environment they've inhabited for years. I really like setting the scene. Our wide-angle view of all the characters is painted well if a little disjointed. (However, don't expect continuity because the reader jumps from character to character; and I hate that.) Each character has just the right amount of description along with a personality snapshot which gives you a remarkable understanding of character and motivations. So when Caroline comes home, you already expect sparks to fly.
I do not think this is her best novel, but Hunt does fulfill expectations. So enjoy her latest offering.
ABOUT THE BOOK
If these three sisters don’t change direction, they’ll end up where they’re going.
Darlene Caldwell has spent a lifetime tending Sycamores, an estate located five miles south of a small town called Peculiar. She raised a family in the spacious home that was her grandfather’s legacy, and she enjoys being a pillar of the community. Sycamores is the kingdom where she reigns as queen . . . until her limelight-stealing twin sister unexpectedly returns.
Carlene Caldwell, veteran of the Broadway stage, is devastated when she realizes that an unsuccessful throat surgery has spelled the end of her musical career. Searching for a new purpose in life, she retreats to Sycamores, her childhood home. She may not be able to sing, but she hopes to use her knowledge and experience to fashion a new life in Peculiar, the little town she left behind.
Haunted by a tragic romance, Magnolia Caldwell is the youngest of the Caldwell girls. Nolie has never wanted to live anywhere but Sycamores. She spends her days caring for her dogs and the magnificent gardens she’s created on the estate, but when she meets a man haunted by his own tragedy, she must find the courage to either deny her heart or cut the apron strings that tie her to a dear and familiar place.
Can these sisters discover who they are meant to be when life takes an unforeseen detour? In a season of destiny, three unique women reunite and take unexpected journeys of the heart.
For more go to Angela's Website here.http://www.angelahuntbooks.com/
Angela Hunt never fails to please. This is another notched success and very different from most of her other novels.
The story builds well, and we get a split scene basically viewing all the sisters in the environment they've inhabited for years. I really like setting the scene. Our wide-angle view of all the characters is painted well if a little disjointed. (However, don't expect continuity because the reader jumps from character to character; and I hate that.) Each character has just the right amount of description along with a personality snapshot which gives you a remarkable understanding of character and motivations. So when Caroline comes home, you already expect sparks to fly.
I do not think this is her best novel, but Hunt does fulfill expectations. So enjoy her latest offering.
ABOUT THE BOOK
If these three sisters don’t change direction, they’ll end up where they’re going.
Darlene Caldwell has spent a lifetime tending Sycamores, an estate located five miles south of a small town called Peculiar. She raised a family in the spacious home that was her grandfather’s legacy, and she enjoys being a pillar of the community. Sycamores is the kingdom where she reigns as queen . . . until her limelight-stealing twin sister unexpectedly returns.
Carlene Caldwell, veteran of the Broadway stage, is devastated when she realizes that an unsuccessful throat surgery has spelled the end of her musical career. Searching for a new purpose in life, she retreats to Sycamores, her childhood home. She may not be able to sing, but she hopes to use her knowledge and experience to fashion a new life in Peculiar, the little town she left behind.
Haunted by a tragic romance, Magnolia Caldwell is the youngest of the Caldwell girls. Nolie has never wanted to live anywhere but Sycamores. She spends her days caring for her dogs and the magnificent gardens she’s created on the estate, but when she meets a man haunted by his own tragedy, she must find the courage to either deny her heart or cut the apron strings that tie her to a dear and familiar place.
Can these sisters discover who they are meant to be when life takes an unforeseen detour? In a season of destiny, three unique women reunite and take unexpected journeys of the heart.
For more go to Angela's Website here.http://www.angelahuntbooks.com/
Wednesday
Submerged by Dani Perry
There are certain aspects of environment that are expected to appear in a story. If the place is Alaska, even in the summer, the weather is mentioned. It is expected. So often in this storyline there are many missed opportunities to incorporate Alaska as a character. It is big country, it is cold, it is majestic. Even summer afternoons are not that warm (ask Sarah Palin). For me, this was a distraction. I missed the mentions of majestic scenery. I missed the mentions of cold water scuba gear.
So, I found it a combination of great, and anemic. It gets 2 out 5 stars.
Monday
Love in Disguise by Carol Cox
MY REVIEW
This is such a delightful tale with some twists and turns of the plot that make it a page turner. Cox did her homework in checking facts concerning the Pinkertons' hiring women as detectives which makes for a much more plausible plot.
The characters are not as well-defined as in other stories I've read recently, but they are more than two-dimensional figures and a flat world. Descriptions are good with just enough detail to get the taste of dust in your mouth or the heat of the sun on your back, but not so much to drag the story flow to a halt. She has a gift for describing costumes and how they transform appearances that helps the reader to know who is who without getting confused. It is clear and concise, with enough detail to help the imagination run with coloring the scenes for a vivid picture of the 1890s Arizona wild west.
The dialogue is good and practical. Characters act without being contrived so you feel comfortable with them, and you might even want to grab your knitting and have a cuppa with Lavinia on a warm afternoon while she watches from the open window of the hotel. Life in a small town is delicately drawn with close attention to how intricately lives intertwine in small towns.
Good storyline, good story telling. This one gets 4 out of 5 stars.
This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Love in Disguise Bethany House Publishers (June 1, 2012) by Carol Cox
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Native Arizonan Carol Cox has an abiding love for history, mystery, and romance. The author of more than 25 books, she believes in the power of story to convey spiritual truths. Carol lives with her husband and daughter in northern Arizona, where deer and antelope really do play--within view of the family's front porch.
A word from Carol:
As a native of Arizona, I have a longtime interest in the Southwest and its history. My family shares my love of the Old West, as evidenced by this photo taken back in the halcyon days before my son turned to a life of crime and started robbing trains for a living...
ABOUT THE BOOK
When costume-maker Ellie Moore suddenly finds herself out of a job in the middle of a bleak Chicago winter, she uses her knowledge of theatrical disguise to secure a position as an undercover operative with the Pinkerton Detective Agency. Her assignment: find the culprit behind the theft of silver shipped from the mines near Pickford, Arizona.
Disguised as Lavinia Stewart, a middle-aged widow, Ellie begins her investigation. Soon she finds she must also pose as the dazzling young Jessie Monroe, whose vivacious personality encourages people to talk.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Love in Disguise, go HERE.
This is such a delightful tale with some twists and turns of the plot that make it a page turner. Cox did her homework in checking facts concerning the Pinkertons' hiring women as detectives which makes for a much more plausible plot.
The characters are not as well-defined as in other stories I've read recently, but they are more than two-dimensional figures and a flat world. Descriptions are good with just enough detail to get the taste of dust in your mouth or the heat of the sun on your back, but not so much to drag the story flow to a halt. She has a gift for describing costumes and how they transform appearances that helps the reader to know who is who without getting confused. It is clear and concise, with enough detail to help the imagination run with coloring the scenes for a vivid picture of the 1890s Arizona wild west.
The dialogue is good and practical. Characters act without being contrived so you feel comfortable with them, and you might even want to grab your knitting and have a cuppa with Lavinia on a warm afternoon while she watches from the open window of the hotel. Life in a small town is delicately drawn with close attention to how intricately lives intertwine in small towns.
Good storyline, good story telling. This one gets 4 out of 5 stars.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Native Arizonan Carol Cox has an abiding love for history, mystery, and romance. The author of more than 25 books, she believes in the power of story to convey spiritual truths. Carol lives with her husband and daughter in northern Arizona, where deer and antelope really do play--within view of the family's front porch.
A word from Carol:
As a native of Arizona, I have a longtime interest in the Southwest and its history. My family shares my love of the Old West, as evidenced by this photo taken back in the halcyon days before my son turned to a life of crime and started robbing trains for a living...
ABOUT THE BOOK
Disguised as Lavinia Stewart, a middle-aged widow, Ellie begins her investigation. Soon she finds she must also pose as the dazzling young Jessie Monroe, whose vivacious personality encourages people to talk.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Love in Disguise, go HERE.
My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade
MY REVIEW
It has been a very long time since I have enjoyed a book as much as I enjoyed My Stubborn Heart. It is a major study in overcoming grief of a loved one, and finally letting go of guilt, but from the vantage point of years down the line, and from the viewpoint of the woman reaching out.
The story isn't a brand new one. The characters are regular people who have had problems and troubles. It's life. But more than that. The characters actually breathe. They are sloppy in a human sort of way. You can feel the elation, the hurt, the hope, the budding love, the dashed hopes, the decision to push past it all and hold on to that part of the other person that makes life worth living.
There is only one place in the story that seems contrived. The reader doesn't find out that Kate is burned out on work because of something serious that happened. When it comes time to decide to either stay or go, we find out there is something that happened with one of the kids Kate worked with and that is something that seems thrown in. However, that is such a small thing compared to the very real down-to-earth writing. Wade seems to be a master at dialogue and character development. Even the peripheral characters are well-developed and all of them have individual personalities. That's very hard to do for any writer.
Wade had created a most delightful romance that reminds me of those anticipation moments that you expect from veteran authors. This is author is one you should be watching. It's a keeper, and very much worth the money.
Here's a 5 of 5 stars novel. Buy it!
This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing My Stubborn Heart • Bethany House Publishers; Original edition (May 1, 2012)
by Becky Wade
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Becky Wade is a graduate of Baylor University. As a newlywed, she lived for three years in a home overlooking the turquoise waters of the Caribbean, as well as in Australia, before returning to the States. A mom of three young children, Becky and her family now live in Dallas, Texas.
ABOUT THE BOOK
A Sensational CBA Debut in Contemporary Romance!
This summer author Becky Wade makes her CBA debut with a fun -- and funny -- contemporary romance. Amidst the light-hearted banter and laugh-out-loud moments is a compelling spiritual journey of one woman's choice to listen to God and wait on him. Filled with humor and authentic romance, My Stubborn Heart is shaping up to be the hit of the summer.
Kate Donovan is burned out on work, worn down by her dating relationships, and in need of an adventure. When Kate's grandmother asks Kate to accompany her to Redbud, Pennsylvania, to restore the grand old house she grew up in, Kate jumps at the chance.
Yet, she discovers a different kind of project upon meeting the man hired to renovate the house. ;Matt Jarreau is attractive and clearly wounded -- hiding from people, from God, and from his past. Kate can't help but set her stubborn heart on bringing him out of the dark and back into the light... whether he likes it or not.
If you would like to read the first chapter of My Stubborn Heart, go HERE.
It has been a very long time since I have enjoyed a book as much as I enjoyed My Stubborn Heart. It is a major study in overcoming grief of a loved one, and finally letting go of guilt, but from the vantage point of years down the line, and from the viewpoint of the woman reaching out.
The story isn't a brand new one. The characters are regular people who have had problems and troubles. It's life. But more than that. The characters actually breathe. They are sloppy in a human sort of way. You can feel the elation, the hurt, the hope, the budding love, the dashed hopes, the decision to push past it all and hold on to that part of the other person that makes life worth living.
There is only one place in the story that seems contrived. The reader doesn't find out that Kate is burned out on work because of something serious that happened. When it comes time to decide to either stay or go, we find out there is something that happened with one of the kids Kate worked with and that is something that seems thrown in. However, that is such a small thing compared to the very real down-to-earth writing. Wade seems to be a master at dialogue and character development. Even the peripheral characters are well-developed and all of them have individual personalities. That's very hard to do for any writer.
Wade had created a most delightful romance that reminds me of those anticipation moments that you expect from veteran authors. This is author is one you should be watching. It's a keeper, and very much worth the money.
Here's a 5 of 5 stars novel. Buy it!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Becky Wade is a graduate of Baylor University. As a newlywed, she lived for three years in a home overlooking the turquoise waters of the Caribbean, as well as in Australia, before returning to the States. A mom of three young children, Becky and her family now live in Dallas, Texas.
ABOUT THE BOOK
This summer author Becky Wade makes her CBA debut with a fun -- and funny -- contemporary romance. Amidst the light-hearted banter and laugh-out-loud moments is a compelling spiritual journey of one woman's choice to listen to God and wait on him. Filled with humor and authentic romance, My Stubborn Heart is shaping up to be the hit of the summer.
Kate Donovan is burned out on work, worn down by her dating relationships, and in need of an adventure. When Kate's grandmother asks Kate to accompany her to Redbud, Pennsylvania, to restore the grand old house she grew up in, Kate jumps at the chance.
Yet, she discovers a different kind of project upon meeting the man hired to renovate the house. ;Matt Jarreau is attractive and clearly wounded -- hiding from people, from God, and from his past. Kate can't help but set her stubborn heart on bringing him out of the dark and back into the light... whether he likes it or not.
If you would like to read the first chapter of My Stubborn Heart, go HERE.
Thursday
3) Creating: More Magic in The Hunger Games(T by Randy Ingermanson
Third article in Randy Ingermanson's monthly newsletter reprinted with permission.
Every novelist should read THE HUNGER GAMES. It's become one of the standard works of fiction that everybody knows.
When you read a great novel, you should also analyze it to see how it works. To see if you can steal any of its techniques.
Last month I began my analysis of THE HUNGER GAMES by writing a one-sentence summary of the book.
This month, I had intended to analyze the Three-Act Structure of the novel, but I'm thinking that it makes more sense to first talk about the characters.
All great fiction is built on great characters. THE HUNGER GAMES has several superb characters. What makes them work?
We'll begin with Katniss Everdeen, the lead character. Katniss is not a completely likable character. She is sometimes self-centered and occasionally acts without thinking. Katniss has a tough outer shell and she really only loves one other person on the planet.
What makes us love Katniss? Why do we root for her?
We love Katniss because she loves her little sister Prim, one of the very few characters in the novel who is genuinely good. Katniss will do anything to make sure Prim doesn't go hungry and that she lives in some sort of safety.
Katniss hunts in the woods illegally so she can put food on the table for Prim. Katniss won't let Prim put her name in the Hunger Games lottery extra times, which would get her free food from the corrupt government. Katniss even puts up with Prim's surly cat.
So it's a massive disaster for Katniss at the end of chapter one when Prim's name is drawn to represent District 12 in the Hunger Games.
This is a death sentence and the reader knows it. How could this happen? Lots of other kids have their name on dozens of lottery tickets. Katniss has her name on 20. Prim's name is there only once. Yet her name is drawn. It's not fair!
Anyone would be in shock if their sister's name were drawn in the lottery. Anyone would take a few seconds to freak out. But most people wouldn't do anything about it.
Katniss isn't most people. Almost instantly, she goes into action, moving to intercept Prim. Before Prim can go up on the stage, Katniss has reached her. The reader doesn't know it yet, but there's one thing Katniss can do to save Prim.
Katniss can volunteer to go in her place.
You have to love somebody a lot to do that. Katniss loves Prim more than anything. She doesn't even think about it. She just acts.
That's why we love her. That's why we'll forgive her later for her harshness and self-centered behavior.
Now would be a good time to talk about values. Values are important because they drive a character's actions, and therefore they drive the story.
"Values" is a word that gets used in many different ways by different people.
Let me define what I mean by "values."
Values are "core truths" for a character that take this form: "Nothing is more important than __________."
For example, most characters in most novels would agree that, "Nothing is more important than survival."
The survival instinct runs strong. Katniss certainly agrees with this one. Yet she's just taken on her sister's death sentence. Why?
Because Katniss has another value: "Nothing is more important than protecting my sister Prim."
Two values in conflict with each other. They can't both be true. Which of them is "more true?"
If you asked Katniss at the beginning of the story, she'd probably say that they're equally true. Of course survival has the highest priority. And of course Prim has the highest priority. There's no way to know which is a stronger value for Katniss.
Until you put her back to the wall and force her to choose.
Katniss can't have both.
She chooses Prim. Prim is more important to Katniss than survival.
But Katniss has a third value that she believes in, and it's a value that's going to dictate many of her choices throughout the novel. This value is implicit. Katniss never says it anywhere, but she does believe it:
"Nothing is more important than avoiding love, because the more people you love, the more people you have to lose, and losing them is intolerable."
Katniss once loved her father, but she lost him in the mine explosion.
She once loved her mother, but her mother went into a stuporous depression after the death of her husband and Katniss has lost the ability to love her.
The only person Katniss loves now is Prim, and the government has used that to put Katniss in the arena. That is the hazard of love. Katniss is terrified of love.
There's another person Katniss is tempted to love in the novel -- the other tribute from District 12, Peeta Mellark.
Peeta is a decent guy. Honest, hard-working, kind. Peeta once saved Katniss's life, years ago when she was starving to death. He got a beating for it, but he did it anyway, knowing he'd be punished.
Peeta is a wonderful guy, and he's been in love with Katniss ever since he can remember.
If Katniss were free to love him back, maybe she would. But she's not free. Peeta is going to the Hunger Games right along with Katniss, and they can't both survive.
Whether she likes Peeta or not, Katniss doesn't dare love him, because it'll hurt too much to lose him.
So there we have it. Katniss has three core values. Two of those are put in conflict very early in the story, forcing Katniss to make a horrible choice.
Once the choice is made, she has to live with it. What's going to guide her through the rest of the story?
Two things: her ambition and her goal.
It's easy to confuse these two things. By the word "ambition" I mean the abstract thing Katniss wants most. That thing is "to stay alive."
The problem is that "staying alive" can take many forms. Katniss needs a specific, concrete strategy -- a "goal."
Katniss has a simple goal: When the Games begin, she will avoid fighting. She'll run and hide while the others kill each other. If somebody finds her, she'll run if possible. She'll fight as a last resort.
This strategy might keep her alive or it might fail, but it's in line with Katniss's values and it tells her clearly how to behave. It's a good goal going into the Games.
If Katniss were the only character we cared about in the faceless mob, then the story would be a simple survival tale.
But Peeta makes it a lot more complicated. Peeta is a genuinely good person and we care about him because he once saved Katniss from starving.
Peeta has three values:
* Nothing is more important than survival.
* Nothing is more important than keeping Katniss alive.
* Nothing is more important than being true to who you
are.
We never get inside Peeta's head, so it's not so easy to know how he handles the conflicts between these values. Eventually, we realize that he values the survival of Katniss more than his own survival.
So Peeta's ambition is identical to Katniss's. The abstract thing he wants most is to keep her alive.
He translates this into a specific and concrete goal. When the Games begin, he will join forces with the brutal "Career Tributes." He'll help them hunt down the weak. He'll be there when they corner Katniss. And when they swoop in for the kill, he'll take them out -- as many as he can, giving Katniss her best chance against the rest.
This is a hard choice. To execute this plan, Peeta has to violate his principles and kill the weak. He has to sacrifice himself. He has no guarantee that Katniss will survive, but it's the best he can see to do.
Going into the Games, Katniss and Peeta have clear goals. Things ought to go simply, but they never do in combat. The rest of the story shows us Katniss and Peeta shifting their goals a bit as things go horribly wrong.
But always, their goals are guided by their shared ambition -- keeping Katniss alive.
And always, their actions are guided by the best balance they can find between their conflicting values.
What makes THE HUNGER GAMES WORK? At its core, it's the tectonic conflict in values for both Katniss and Peeta.
To survive, Katniss has to pretend to be in love with Peeta. But actions have consequences, and once you've kissed a guy, you've opened the door for that deadly thing called love.
To help Katniss survive, Peeta has to sacrifice his own safety. But his self-sacrifice arouses love in her, and love will get Katniss killed if she isn't careful.
There's more to say about THE HUNGER GAMES, and we'll say more of it next month in this column.
_________________________________________
This article is reprinted by permission of the author.
Award-winning novelist Randy Ingermanson, "the
Snowflake Guy," publishes the free monthly Advanced
Fiction Writing E-zine, with more than 31,000 readers.
If you want to learn the craft and marketing of
fiction, AND make your writing more valuable to
editors, AND have FUN doing it, visit
http://www.AdvancedFictionWriting.com.
Download your free Special Report on Tiger Marketing
and get a free 5-Day Course in How To Publish a Novel.
Every novelist should read THE HUNGER GAMES. It's become one of the standard works of fiction that everybody knows.
When you read a great novel, you should also analyze it to see how it works. To see if you can steal any of its techniques.
Last month I began my analysis of THE HUNGER GAMES by writing a one-sentence summary of the book.
This month, I had intended to analyze the Three-Act Structure of the novel, but I'm thinking that it makes more sense to first talk about the characters.
All great fiction is built on great characters. THE HUNGER GAMES has several superb characters. What makes them work?
We'll begin with Katniss Everdeen, the lead character. Katniss is not a completely likable character. She is sometimes self-centered and occasionally acts without thinking. Katniss has a tough outer shell and she really only loves one other person on the planet.
What makes us love Katniss? Why do we root for her?
We love Katniss because she loves her little sister Prim, one of the very few characters in the novel who is genuinely good. Katniss will do anything to make sure Prim doesn't go hungry and that she lives in some sort of safety.
Katniss hunts in the woods illegally so she can put food on the table for Prim. Katniss won't let Prim put her name in the Hunger Games lottery extra times, which would get her free food from the corrupt government. Katniss even puts up with Prim's surly cat.
So it's a massive disaster for Katniss at the end of chapter one when Prim's name is drawn to represent District 12 in the Hunger Games.
This is a death sentence and the reader knows it. How could this happen? Lots of other kids have their name on dozens of lottery tickets. Katniss has her name on 20. Prim's name is there only once. Yet her name is drawn. It's not fair!
Anyone would be in shock if their sister's name were drawn in the lottery. Anyone would take a few seconds to freak out. But most people wouldn't do anything about it.
Katniss isn't most people. Almost instantly, she goes into action, moving to intercept Prim. Before Prim can go up on the stage, Katniss has reached her. The reader doesn't know it yet, but there's one thing Katniss can do to save Prim.
Katniss can volunteer to go in her place.
You have to love somebody a lot to do that. Katniss loves Prim more than anything. She doesn't even think about it. She just acts.
That's why we love her. That's why we'll forgive her later for her harshness and self-centered behavior.
Now would be a good time to talk about values. Values are important because they drive a character's actions, and therefore they drive the story.
"Values" is a word that gets used in many different ways by different people.
Let me define what I mean by "values."
Values are "core truths" for a character that take this form: "Nothing is more important than __________."
For example, most characters in most novels would agree that, "Nothing is more important than survival."
The survival instinct runs strong. Katniss certainly agrees with this one. Yet she's just taken on her sister's death sentence. Why?
Because Katniss has another value: "Nothing is more important than protecting my sister Prim."
Two values in conflict with each other. They can't both be true. Which of them is "more true?"
If you asked Katniss at the beginning of the story, she'd probably say that they're equally true. Of course survival has the highest priority. And of course Prim has the highest priority. There's no way to know which is a stronger value for Katniss.
Until you put her back to the wall and force her to choose.
Katniss can't have both.
She chooses Prim. Prim is more important to Katniss than survival.
But Katniss has a third value that she believes in, and it's a value that's going to dictate many of her choices throughout the novel. This value is implicit. Katniss never says it anywhere, but she does believe it:
"Nothing is more important than avoiding love, because the more people you love, the more people you have to lose, and losing them is intolerable."
Katniss once loved her father, but she lost him in the mine explosion.
She once loved her mother, but her mother went into a stuporous depression after the death of her husband and Katniss has lost the ability to love her.
The only person Katniss loves now is Prim, and the government has used that to put Katniss in the arena. That is the hazard of love. Katniss is terrified of love.
There's another person Katniss is tempted to love in the novel -- the other tribute from District 12, Peeta Mellark.
Peeta is a decent guy. Honest, hard-working, kind. Peeta once saved Katniss's life, years ago when she was starving to death. He got a beating for it, but he did it anyway, knowing he'd be punished.
Peeta is a wonderful guy, and he's been in love with Katniss ever since he can remember.
If Katniss were free to love him back, maybe she would. But she's not free. Peeta is going to the Hunger Games right along with Katniss, and they can't both survive.
Whether she likes Peeta or not, Katniss doesn't dare love him, because it'll hurt too much to lose him.
So there we have it. Katniss has three core values. Two of those are put in conflict very early in the story, forcing Katniss to make a horrible choice.
Once the choice is made, she has to live with it. What's going to guide her through the rest of the story?
Two things: her ambition and her goal.
It's easy to confuse these two things. By the word "ambition" I mean the abstract thing Katniss wants most. That thing is "to stay alive."
The problem is that "staying alive" can take many forms. Katniss needs a specific, concrete strategy -- a "goal."
Katniss has a simple goal: When the Games begin, she will avoid fighting. She'll run and hide while the others kill each other. If somebody finds her, she'll run if possible. She'll fight as a last resort.
This strategy might keep her alive or it might fail, but it's in line with Katniss's values and it tells her clearly how to behave. It's a good goal going into the Games.
If Katniss were the only character we cared about in the faceless mob, then the story would be a simple survival tale.
But Peeta makes it a lot more complicated. Peeta is a genuinely good person and we care about him because he once saved Katniss from starving.
Peeta has three values:
* Nothing is more important than survival.
* Nothing is more important than keeping Katniss alive.
* Nothing is more important than being true to who you
are.
We never get inside Peeta's head, so it's not so easy to know how he handles the conflicts between these values. Eventually, we realize that he values the survival of Katniss more than his own survival.
So Peeta's ambition is identical to Katniss's. The abstract thing he wants most is to keep her alive.
He translates this into a specific and concrete goal. When the Games begin, he will join forces with the brutal "Career Tributes." He'll help them hunt down the weak. He'll be there when they corner Katniss. And when they swoop in for the kill, he'll take them out -- as many as he can, giving Katniss her best chance against the rest.
This is a hard choice. To execute this plan, Peeta has to violate his principles and kill the weak. He has to sacrifice himself. He has no guarantee that Katniss will survive, but it's the best he can see to do.
Going into the Games, Katniss and Peeta have clear goals. Things ought to go simply, but they never do in combat. The rest of the story shows us Katniss and Peeta shifting their goals a bit as things go horribly wrong.
But always, their goals are guided by their shared ambition -- keeping Katniss alive.
And always, their actions are guided by the best balance they can find between their conflicting values.
What makes THE HUNGER GAMES WORK? At its core, it's the tectonic conflict in values for both Katniss and Peeta.
To survive, Katniss has to pretend to be in love with Peeta. But actions have consequences, and once you've kissed a guy, you've opened the door for that deadly thing called love.
To help Katniss survive, Peeta has to sacrifice his own safety. But his self-sacrifice arouses love in her, and love will get Katniss killed if she isn't careful.
There's more to say about THE HUNGER GAMES, and we'll say more of it next month in this column.
_________________________________________
This article is reprinted by permission of the author.
Award-winning novelist Randy Ingermanson, "the
Snowflake Guy," publishes the free monthly Advanced
Fiction Writing E-zine, with more than 31,000 readers.
If you want to learn the craft and marketing of
fiction, AND make your writing more valuable to
editors, AND have FUN doing it, visit
http://www.AdvancedFictionWriting.com.
Download your free Special Report on Tiger Marketing
and get a free 5-Day Course in How To Publish a Novel.
Tuesday
Special interview with Robert Liparulo - 13th Tribe
Robert Liparulo
I loved The 13th Tribe just released by Thoma Nelson which I reviewed here, and every other novel he's written. So I asked Bob if he had time for another interview. He did, so we did it. So here it is~
Gina: Here are things that I know about
you… you are kind, generous, focused, love God with all your heart, married
with children, and you have a good memory. What else? Tell us about some of
your hopes and dreams, please. Tell us about the real Bob Liparulo…
Bob: Hmmm
. . . what else do you know about me?
Gina: LOL
Bob: No, thanks for those kind thoughts. I
know God wired me to write, so I’m living my dream. I hope that He will allow
me to do it until I die. I like to travel, and would like to take my family to
live for at least three months in each of my favorite places: Tuscany, London,
the Azores Islands, Berchtesgaden (Germany), Maui. Then find some new
favorites.
I’d
like to eventually start a program for new writers, in which a foundation I
create gives them a place to stay and living expenses for a year, so they can
finish a novel and have a little time to find an agent and (I hope) a
publisher. That’s a dream that may be in the far future, but I’ve been thinking
about it for ten year; I hope I’m closer than when I started. I know how
difficult it is to have a full-time job and a family to support, and this
burning desire to get a novel-writing career off the ground. It could
be extremely frustrating.
Gina: That is such a fabulous ambition. I think it would be great to for upcoming authors to be able to completely concentrate on their work, and have time to find a publisher without having to worry about bills or where the next meal comes from.
Gina: That is such a fabulous ambition. I think it would be great to for upcoming authors to be able to completely concentrate on their work, and have time to find a publisher without having to worry about bills or where the next meal comes from.
I can feel your heart for God in your writing. I also can
read your heart for children and young people. You have a running theme with
children in your books for adults. Why do you almost always have a child
character; and how do you get their dialogue so true to life?
Bob: I
write thrillers, which almost always necessitates bringing protagonists to a
near breaking point. For me, the thought of my family being in danger would do
that . . . or really any child. They’re most precious commodity, and I believe
God had given us specific instructions to protect them. So, getting children into
my stories is a way of raising the stakes for the protagonists.
 |
| And 6 Young Adult Novels |
Writing
children realistically I think is a matter of two things: I remember my own
childhood very well. I had an incredibly fantastic childhood. My parents were
wonderful, and my father was an Air Force officer, which allowed us to live and
travel throughout the world. I’m still very much in touch with that inner
child. And it also helps that I have four children of my own. I’m very involved
in their lives; we’re always doing things and hanging out. So I get to observe
them being kids. I don’t consciously absorb their vocabulary and mannerisms for
my stories, but I’m taking it all in just the same.
Gina: What a blessing to be able to view up close and personal your children at play and growing up. That is a sign of a great father. And that does shine in your writing.
Gina: What a blessing to be able to view up close and personal your children at play and growing up. That is a sign of a great father. And that does shine in your writing.
On a little different note, who is your favorite fiction author, Bob? What about that
author inspired you to write? What book are you reading now?
Bob: My
favorite author, the one whose books I most enjoy and who inspired me to be a
novelist, is Richard Matheson. When I was twelve, I read his I Am Legend, and
it moved me to tears. I thought, If books can do that—make a pretty tough kid
cry using only words—I want to do that. Along the way, I fell in love with the
stories of Ray Bradbury, Michael Crichton, Peter Benchley, Thomas
Perry, Orson Scott Card, Stephen King, Dean Koontz . . . it’s a long list.
Right now, I’m reading Switch by
Elmore Leonard (my second-favorite writer) and Eric Wilson’s Two Seconds Late.
Gina: I noticed in the Christian Fiction Magazine interview with Kim Ford that you felt God calling you to write in a different direction pouring more of your faith into the soul of your writing. You poured so much work into research of all kinds, including theology, is there any particular part of that research that made your heart resonate? Would you tell us about it?
Gina: I noticed in the Christian Fiction Magazine interview with Kim Ford that you felt God calling you to write in a different direction pouring more of your faith into the soul of your writing. You poured so much work into research of all kinds, including theology, is there any particular part of that research that made your heart resonate? Would you tell us about it?
Bob: Writing
about vigilantes, about frontier justice, I was particularly interested in
God’s forgiveness and grace. I wanted to make a correlation between how
difficult it is for humans to forgive—especially a heinous crime—or grasp the
difference between justice and retaliation and God’s forgiving nature. I
thought I understood how loving and gracious God is, but even so, I was blown
away be the many, many times He forgives us the most terrible things. We are
unfaithful, blasphemous, cruel—and He still treats us with love and
forgiveness. With Him, grace knows no bounds. I can't even get my head around
it, it’s so beautiful, so not human.
I pray that I may see things with His eyes a little more every day.
Gina: Now that The 13th Tribe is out, and you are working on the sequel, and you are writing a screenplay, tell us how you manage your time. What kind of discipline is required? What does your day look like? Is there anything that you find particularly challenging?
Gina: Now that The 13th Tribe is out, and you are working on the sequel, and you are writing a screenplay, tell us how you manage your time. What kind of discipline is required? What does your day look like? Is there anything that you find particularly challenging?
Bob: Hmmm
. . . you know, maybe I need to work smarter, not harder, but I’ve found that
it’s all about putting in the time. I usually spend my days on administrative
tasks, setting up my schedule, lining up interviews for research, staying
organized. That way I can break away if my wife or kids need me for something.
Then I start writing around nine in the evening and stop at three or four in
the morning, which gives me uninterrupted time to immerse myself in my story.
The discipline to put in those hours took a long time to develop. It’s pretty
routine now, and it seems to work.
Gina: Which characters from The 13th Tribe will appear in the sequel? Jagger???
Gina: Which characters from The 13th Tribe will appear in the sequel? Jagger???
Bob:I
better not say; it might spoil the fun for people who haven’t read The 13th Tribe yet. What I
can say about the sequel: As the story opens, we’re back at St. Catherine’s
Monastery when a group attacks. We find out there is another group of
immortals, called the Clan. These guys are really nasty. They don’t care for
God at all, and their only goal is to grief God by hurting his children. They
get their hands on an artifact that allows them to peel back the curtain
between our world and the spiritual realm. At the same time, the Tribe returns
to the monastery to kidnap someone. Our heroes have to stop both the Clan and
the Tribe. I had a great time writing it.
Gina:Oh man! What a teaser :) There's no wonder you write suspense so well. I can't even imagine how intense that one will be!
Gina:Oh man! What a teaser :) There's no wonder you write suspense so well. I can't even imagine how intense that one will be!
If you were sitting on the back porch on a summer day
drinking ice tea with Grasshopper, who you are mentoring, and your mentor… What
would the conversation be about?
Bob: I’d
ask him what he was doing on the porch talking to me: He needs to be back at
his writing desk finishing his latest
project. Finishing things is the
number discipline all writers must possess. Don’t change your mind mid-story,
don’t revise the first half until there’s a second half, don’t give up. Finish
everything you start, even if no one ever sees it.
(I'm thrilled that Bob took the time to answer some questions. I hope you take the time to either order his new book, or any of his previous works. To find out more about them, go to his website here.)
Thursday
Marketing: 24 Secrets of Ebook Publishing Success by Randy Ingermanson
(Editor's note: This is a reprint of an article by Randy Ingermanson)
I'm currently reading a free e-book by Mark Coker, the CEO of Smashwords. I heard Mark speak last year at the Novelists, Inc. conference, and I was tremendously impressed with him.
Smashwords is an e-book distributor that helps you publish your work and distribute it to most of the major online retailers (all except Amazon).
Mark's new e-book is free. You can get it at Smashwords.com. The title is THE SECRETS TO EBOOK PUBLISHING SUCCESS. You can get it here: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/145431
Here are my thoughts (Randy's) on a few of Mark's secrets:
Secret 1: "Write a great book."
This is the conventional wisdom among publishing professionals, and I agree. One of the linchpins of my own strategy has always been that marketing is easy if you have great craft. So spend your energy developing your craft.
This is why my own teaching focuses so heavily on craft. You might get some short term success by brilliantly marketing a second-rate book. But you'll be forever marked as a "great marketer, lousy writer." Who wants that?
Mark thinks that about 80% of the success of a book is due to its quality. I don't know whether this is true or how one would prove this. It seems plausible, but I'm not married to a number.
The main point is that great marketing starts with a great product. If you want to make your marketing easier, improve your craft.
Secret #5: "Write another great book."
Mark's point here is that every book you write is a marketing platform for every other book you write.
What? Not Facebook? Not Twitter? Not your blog?
Well, no. A post on Facebook or Twitter has a lifetime of about 3 hours and then it's gone. After that, it has no more effect on the world and can't do a blessed thing to help market any of your books.
Whereas a book you wrote ten years ago may very well be the road by which a new reader discovers you today. If you've written another 20 books in those ten years, then that old book now serves as a sample of all 20 of your other books.
And furthermore, each of those 20 serves as marketing for the ten-year-old book. And for each other.
All your books are marketing for all your other books. There is a simple math rule to describe roughly how effectively your books market each other.
Having 2 books published is about 4 times as good as having only 1 book.
Having 3 books published is about 9 times as good.
Having 10 books published is about 100 times as good.
Every book is helping market every other book. (As long as you have followed Secret #1 and written a great book. Bad books don't help each other.)
Yes, it's true that you can get short-term results from Facebook or Twitter. Nobody seems to know how much, but you can get something.
Yes, it's also true that you can get results from your blog. A blog post is forever, and so a blog can give you long-term results.
But e-books are forever too. They never go out of print unless you get embarrassed by them and pull them from the online retailers. The advantage of an e-book is that it's the best indicator of what your other books are like. If a reader likes one of your books, she'll probably like all of them.
So write your best e-book and then write another, and another, and another.
Secret 11: "Give (some of) your books away for free."
I have long been a fan of giving away some things for free. And not your worst stuff, either. I believe in giving away some of your very best stuff. Give away some of your gold.
Just as an example, one of the very best ideas I've ever had was the ten steps for designing a novel that I named the "Snowflake method." I posted an article on the Snowflake on my web site about nine years ago. It has since been viewed over 2.5 million times and it has
made me famous. I constantly hear from people who say that the Snowflake has revolutionized their writing. It's not for everybody, but it's gold for many people.
Giving stuff away free works. Mark Coker does this a lot. You can convert your books to e-books on Smashwords at no cost. You can post them for sale there at no up-front cost. (Smashwords will sell them for you and keep a small percentage as a consignment fee. This
is a great deal for you and it gives Smashwords an incentive to give you great service.)
Mark's e-book is free. Why? It helps authors and it gets the word out about Smashwords. Any writer will benefit from his e-book, and many of them will choose to work with Smashwords, which will then eventually earn him a tidy profit.
I don't think you should give everything away for free. You need to eat and pay your bills. But giving away some of your very best stuff can make good sense.
Mark estimates that free books on Smashwords are downloaded 50 to 100 times more than paid books. This works wonderfully if you have a number of other titles, because the free book acts as marketing for all the others. (Remember Secret #6.)
Secret #17: "Platform building starts yesterday."
Your platform is whatever you have in place that allows you to reach readers. This may be a speaking business, a web site, a blog, a Facebook page or profile, a Twitter presence, an e-mail list, or whatever.
If you don't have a platform today, then you can't use it for marketing your books. But you can use your books to help build your platform. Then tomorrow, your platform may be of some value in promoting your books.
Mark has a simple formula for building a strong platform: Be useful to other people.
By no great coincidence, this is essentially the same as my own formula for building a platform: Say things that are valuable to other people.
You don't actually have to say much about your products when you follow this formula. If you are useful to other people, if you say things they value, then they'll tell other people about you and your platform will grow.
A small fraction of those you reach with your platform will buy your products. It's silly to worry about those who don't buy your stuff. Focus on doing things that make the world a better place and you'll be rewarded financially. Maybe a little; maybe a lot.
I've talked about 4 of Mark's secrets. There are a couple of dozen more. Here are some of the most interesting:
* "Practice metadata magic"
* "Understand the algorithm"
* "How retailers select titles for feature promotion"
* "Architect for virality"
* "Practice the never-ending book launch"
* "Maximize distribution"
* "Think beyond price"
I highly recommend THE SECRETS OF EBOOK PUBLISHING SUCCESS. There is gold in this e-book. And you can't beat the price. Free.
The world would be a better place if all authors took the advice Mark gives in this book. Authors would do better. Readers would have an easier time finding the books they want.
Here's the direct link to Mark's e-book again: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/145431
Have fun!
________________________________
Award-winning novelist Randy Ingermanson, "the
Snowflake Guy," publishes the free monthly Advanced
Fiction Writing E-zine, with more than 30,000 readers.
If you want to learn the craft and marketing of
fiction, AND make your writing more valuable to
editors, AND have FUN doing it, visit
http://www.AdvancedFictionWriting.com.
Download your free Special Report on Tiger Marketing
and get a free 5-Day Course in How To Publish a Novel.
I'm currently reading a free e-book by Mark Coker, the CEO of Smashwords. I heard Mark speak last year at the Novelists, Inc. conference, and I was tremendously impressed with him.
Smashwords is an e-book distributor that helps you publish your work and distribute it to most of the major online retailers (all except Amazon).
Mark's new e-book is free. You can get it at Smashwords.com. The title is THE SECRETS TO EBOOK PUBLISHING SUCCESS. You can get it here: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/145431
Here are my thoughts (Randy's) on a few of Mark's secrets:
Secret 1: "Write a great book."
This is the conventional wisdom among publishing professionals, and I agree. One of the linchpins of my own strategy has always been that marketing is easy if you have great craft. So spend your energy developing your craft.
This is why my own teaching focuses so heavily on craft. You might get some short term success by brilliantly marketing a second-rate book. But you'll be forever marked as a "great marketer, lousy writer." Who wants that?
Mark thinks that about 80% of the success of a book is due to its quality. I don't know whether this is true or how one would prove this. It seems plausible, but I'm not married to a number.
The main point is that great marketing starts with a great product. If you want to make your marketing easier, improve your craft.
Secret #5: "Write another great book."
Mark's point here is that every book you write is a marketing platform for every other book you write.
What? Not Facebook? Not Twitter? Not your blog?
Well, no. A post on Facebook or Twitter has a lifetime of about 3 hours and then it's gone. After that, it has no more effect on the world and can't do a blessed thing to help market any of your books.
Whereas a book you wrote ten years ago may very well be the road by which a new reader discovers you today. If you've written another 20 books in those ten years, then that old book now serves as a sample of all 20 of your other books.
And furthermore, each of those 20 serves as marketing for the ten-year-old book. And for each other.
All your books are marketing for all your other books. There is a simple math rule to describe roughly how effectively your books market each other.
Having 2 books published is about 4 times as good as having only 1 book.
Having 3 books published is about 9 times as good.
Having 10 books published is about 100 times as good.
Every book is helping market every other book. (As long as you have followed Secret #1 and written a great book. Bad books don't help each other.)
Yes, it's true that you can get short-term results from Facebook or Twitter. Nobody seems to know how much, but you can get something.
Yes, it's also true that you can get results from your blog. A blog post is forever, and so a blog can give you long-term results.
But e-books are forever too. They never go out of print unless you get embarrassed by them and pull them from the online retailers. The advantage of an e-book is that it's the best indicator of what your other books are like. If a reader likes one of your books, she'll probably like all of them.
So write your best e-book and then write another, and another, and another.
Secret 11: "Give (some of) your books away for free."
I have long been a fan of giving away some things for free. And not your worst stuff, either. I believe in giving away some of your very best stuff. Give away some of your gold.
Just as an example, one of the very best ideas I've ever had was the ten steps for designing a novel that I named the "Snowflake method." I posted an article on the Snowflake on my web site about nine years ago. It has since been viewed over 2.5 million times and it has
made me famous. I constantly hear from people who say that the Snowflake has revolutionized their writing. It's not for everybody, but it's gold for many people.
Giving stuff away free works. Mark Coker does this a lot. You can convert your books to e-books on Smashwords at no cost. You can post them for sale there at no up-front cost. (Smashwords will sell them for you and keep a small percentage as a consignment fee. This
is a great deal for you and it gives Smashwords an incentive to give you great service.)
Mark's e-book is free. Why? It helps authors and it gets the word out about Smashwords. Any writer will benefit from his e-book, and many of them will choose to work with Smashwords, which will then eventually earn him a tidy profit.
I don't think you should give everything away for free. You need to eat and pay your bills. But giving away some of your very best stuff can make good sense.
Mark estimates that free books on Smashwords are downloaded 50 to 100 times more than paid books. This works wonderfully if you have a number of other titles, because the free book acts as marketing for all the others. (Remember Secret #6.)
Secret #17: "Platform building starts yesterday."
Your platform is whatever you have in place that allows you to reach readers. This may be a speaking business, a web site, a blog, a Facebook page or profile, a Twitter presence, an e-mail list, or whatever.
If you don't have a platform today, then you can't use it for marketing your books. But you can use your books to help build your platform. Then tomorrow, your platform may be of some value in promoting your books.
Mark has a simple formula for building a strong platform: Be useful to other people.
By no great coincidence, this is essentially the same as my own formula for building a platform: Say things that are valuable to other people.
You don't actually have to say much about your products when you follow this formula. If you are useful to other people, if you say things they value, then they'll tell other people about you and your platform will grow.
A small fraction of those you reach with your platform will buy your products. It's silly to worry about those who don't buy your stuff. Focus on doing things that make the world a better place and you'll be rewarded financially. Maybe a little; maybe a lot.
I've talked about 4 of Mark's secrets. There are a couple of dozen more. Here are some of the most interesting:
* "Practice metadata magic"
* "Understand the algorithm"
* "How retailers select titles for feature promotion"
* "Architect for virality"
* "Practice the never-ending book launch"
* "Maximize distribution"
* "Think beyond price"
I highly recommend THE SECRETS OF EBOOK PUBLISHING SUCCESS. There is gold in this e-book. And you can't beat the price. Free.
The world would be a better place if all authors took the advice Mark gives in this book. Authors would do better. Readers would have an easier time finding the books they want.
Here's the direct link to Mark's e-book again: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/145431
Have fun!
________________________________
Award-winning novelist Randy Ingermanson, "the
Snowflake Guy," publishes the free monthly Advanced
Fiction Writing E-zine, with more than 30,000 readers.
If you want to learn the craft and marketing of
fiction, AND make your writing more valuable to
editors, AND have FUN doing it, visit
http://www.AdvancedFictionWriting.com.
Download your free Special Report on Tiger Marketing
and get a free 5-Day Course in How To Publish a Novel.
The 13th Tribe by Robert Liparulo
MY REVIEW
I love the way Liparulo's mind works. It is just as devious and dark as his characters else how could he create such deep, dark characters? But I know he is kind and courteous and loves God with all his heart. The suspense is gripping, just as in his other books. It builds to a frightening crescendo and doesn't let up until the next to last page. Liparulo can build a climax and milk it to an inch.
He also does an excellent job with character construction. Each one has a mind and personality which doesn't happen very often these days. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes suspense and mystery. Another 5 of 5 stars for Liparulo's latest.
Be sure to check out Liparulo's interview.
This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing The 13th Tribe Thomas Nelson (April 3, 2012) by Robert Liparulo
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Best-selling novelist Robert Liparulo is a former journalist, with over a thousand articles and multiple writing awards to his name. His first three critically acclaimed thrillers—Comes a Horseman, Germ, and Deadfall—were optioned by Hollywood producers, as well as his Dreamhouse Kings series for young adults. Bestselling author Ted Dekker calls The 13th Tribe, released in April 2012, “a phenomenal story.” Liparulo is currently working with director Andrew Davis (The Fugitive, The Guardian) on the novel and screenplay of a political thriller. New York Times best-selling author Steve Berry calls Liparulo’s writing “Inventive, suspenseful, and highly entertaining . . . Robert Liparulo is a storyteller, pure and simple.” Liparulo lives in Colorado with his family.
Visit Robert Liparulo's Facebook Fan page: http://www.facebook.com/LiparuloFans, or at Twitter @robertliparulo.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Their story didn't start this year . . . or even this millennium.
It began when Moses was on Mt. Sinai. Tired of waiting on the One True God, the twelve tribes of Israel began worshipping a golden calf through pagan revelry. Many received immediate death for their idolatry, but 40 were handed a far worse punishment-endless life on earth with no chance to see the face of God.
This group of immortals became the 13th Tribe, and they've been trying to earn their way into heaven ever since-by killing sinners. Though their logic is twisted, their brilliance is undeniable. Their wrath is unstoppable. And the technology they possess is beyond anything mere humans have ever seen.
Jagger Baird knows nothing about the Tribe when he's hired as head of security for an archaeological dig on Mt. Sinai. The former Army Ranger is still reeling from an accident that claimed the life of his best friend, his arm, and his faith in God.
If you would like to read the first chapter of The 13th Tribe, go HERE.
I love the way Liparulo's mind works. It is just as devious and dark as his characters else how could he create such deep, dark characters? But I know he is kind and courteous and loves God with all his heart. The suspense is gripping, just as in his other books. It builds to a frightening crescendo and doesn't let up until the next to last page. Liparulo can build a climax and milk it to an inch.
He also does an excellent job with character construction. Each one has a mind and personality which doesn't happen very often these days. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes suspense and mystery. Another 5 of 5 stars for Liparulo's latest.
Be sure to check out Liparulo's interview.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Visit Robert Liparulo's Facebook Fan page: http://www.facebook.com/LiparuloFans, or at Twitter @robertliparulo.
ABOUT THE BOOK
It began when Moses was on Mt. Sinai. Tired of waiting on the One True God, the twelve tribes of Israel began worshipping a golden calf through pagan revelry. Many received immediate death for their idolatry, but 40 were handed a far worse punishment-endless life on earth with no chance to see the face of God.
This group of immortals became the 13th Tribe, and they've been trying to earn their way into heaven ever since-by killing sinners. Though their logic is twisted, their brilliance is undeniable. Their wrath is unstoppable. And the technology they possess is beyond anything mere humans have ever seen.
Jagger Baird knows nothing about the Tribe when he's hired as head of security for an archaeological dig on Mt. Sinai. The former Army Ranger is still reeling from an accident that claimed the life of his best friend, his arm, and his faith in God.
If you would like to read the first chapter of The 13th Tribe, go HERE.
Tuesday
Cooking the Books by Bonnie Calhoun
MY REVIEW
I do not like stories that flip back and forth among characters, especially those stories written in first person by one of the characters. However, Calhoun does a bang-up job with this novel, even if it is written from several different viewpoints.
This begins as a sassy story and sassy heroine who has a huge nervousness with the gun her mother gave her. The bookstore and the building now belong to her, but she'd rather have her mother back alive. The characters are developed well, but the storyline drags just a little. I think if the whole thing was written in first person, that would not be noticed at all. I love the peek into Sloane's thought processses!
The ending is full of tension and nail-biting suspense. I was on the edge of my seat! It is a worthy read :) 4 out of 5 stars!
This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Cooking The Books Abingdon Press (April 2012) by Bonnie S. Calhoun
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
As the Owner/Director of the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance Bonnie has helped use the 220+ blogs of the Alliance to promote many titles on the Christian bestseller list. She also owns and publishes the Christian Fiction Online magazine which is devoted to readers and writers of Christian fiction. She is the Northeast Zone Director for American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW). At ACFW she was named the ‘Mentor of the Year,’ for 2011, and she is the current President of (CAN) Christian Authors Network. Bonnie is also the Appointment Coordinator for both the Colorado Christian Writers Conference and the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference.
In her spare time she is an avid social media junkie, and teaches Facebook, Twitter, Blogging and HTML as recreational occupations. She also has a novel coming out in the Abingdon Quilts of Love series. Her novel Pieces of the Heart will publish August of 2013.
Bonnie and her husband Bob live in a log cabin on 15 acres in upstate area of Binghamton, New York with a dog and cat who consider the humans as wait-staff.
ABOUT THE BOOK
After her mother dies from a heart attack, Sloane Templeton goes from Cyber Crimes Unit to bookstore owner before she can blink. She also "inherits" a half-batty store manager; a strange bunch of little old people from the neighborhood who meet at the store once a week, but never read books, called the Granny Oakleys Book Club; and Aunt Verline, who fancies herself an Iron Chef when in reality you need a cast iron stomach to partake of her culinary disasters. And with a group like this you should never ask, “What else can go wrong?”
A lot! Sloane begins to receive cyber threats. While Sloane uses her computer forensic skills to uncover the source of the threats, it is discovered someone is out to kill her. Can her life get more crazy?
If you would like to read the first chapter of Cooking The Books, go HERE.
Watch the book video:
If you'd like to read interviews with Bonnie, try these:
Everbody Needs A Little Romance
A Christian Writers World
Novel Rocket
ACFW - Fiction Finder
I do not like stories that flip back and forth among characters, especially those stories written in first person by one of the characters. However, Calhoun does a bang-up job with this novel, even if it is written from several different viewpoints.
This begins as a sassy story and sassy heroine who has a huge nervousness with the gun her mother gave her. The bookstore and the building now belong to her, but she'd rather have her mother back alive. The characters are developed well, but the storyline drags just a little. I think if the whole thing was written in first person, that would not be noticed at all. I love the peek into Sloane's thought processses!
The ending is full of tension and nail-biting suspense. I was on the edge of my seat! It is a worthy read :) 4 out of 5 stars!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
In her spare time she is an avid social media junkie, and teaches Facebook, Twitter, Blogging and HTML as recreational occupations. She also has a novel coming out in the Abingdon Quilts of Love series. Her novel Pieces of the Heart will publish August of 2013.
Bonnie and her husband Bob live in a log cabin on 15 acres in upstate area of Binghamton, New York with a dog and cat who consider the humans as wait-staff.
ABOUT THE BOOK
A lot! Sloane begins to receive cyber threats. While Sloane uses her computer forensic skills to uncover the source of the threats, it is discovered someone is out to kill her. Can her life get more crazy?
If you would like to read the first chapter of Cooking The Books, go HERE.
Watch the book video:
If you'd like to read interviews with Bonnie, try these:
Everbody Needs A Little Romance
A Christian Writers World
Novel Rocket
ACFW - Fiction Finder
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