Fiction Writing and Other Oddities

Most authors know that when they have a new book or other promotion to do, tweeting about it can really help to get the news out. Of course, we are all assuming that you know better than to do nothing BUT tweet "buy this book" constantly. You don't want to annoy people and there is nothing worse than someone whose tweets consist solely of requests to buy their book (or whatever product they are selling). Bleh.

But if you have a new book coming out or are running a contest, you can use Twitter as part of your
promotional arsenal. This entire blog is really about a single tip. A very obvious tip and one I should have thought of YEARS ago, but I didn't. And I suspect that a lot of you have not thought about it either.

The Tip
When you compose your tip, use your website for your link, not the actual buy link at Amazon, B&N, Smashwords, or wherever.

Why would you do that? Easy.

But let me digress for a moment.

Your Website
This sidebar is just to say that on your website, you should have a page for each of your books. On that page, you should have the following information:

• The cover of your book (just 'cause it looks nice)
• A blurb about your book
• A teaser or excerpt, or even a link to the entire first chapter
• Links to all the places where your book can be purchased

The item in red is why I digressed for a moment.

Back to Tweaking your Tweet
So...when you tweet about your book, you use that book's webpage from your website for the link, not a specific vendor.

That way, a single tweet will work for everyone versus having to do a tweet for each vendor's buy link or worse, trying to squeeze all the links into a tweet.

Remember, you don't want to flood the tweetverse with dozens of tweets just to be able to include links for all the places where a reader can find your book. You'll just annoy your audience. Worse, if the reader has a Nook and you are constantly sending out Amazon Kindle links, that reader may just decide not to follow you because s/he doesn't feel like weeding through the morass of tweets you send out, searching for the one that has the link for the Nook.

Your goal is to give folks helpful and fun info, not aggravate them.

That's it. Now go out and work it, baby!

As a mystery writer, I was interested in Rebecca's newsletter, "All Mystery e-Newsletter" so I asked her to return and talk to us about her journey as a writer and the newsletter.


R.P. Dahlke


Six months later, I was finishing my second in the Lalla Bains mystery series, when my forty year-old son died in a tragic accident flying a crop-duster. I thought I’d always write, but, as many of you who’ve also lost children already know, there is a season of purgatory for which there is no going around. It has to be dealt with. And so I did my time, stuffing my world with busy things, putting on a happy face for friends and family, but I could no longer write.


Then, because I needed to educate myself on Social Media for an art league I belong to, I attended a college workshop that included an introduction to Constant Contact which specializes in e-newsletter templates. I used this knowledge to wean the art association off the huge bucks we’d been spending a year for local newspaper ads, and instead, for a fraction of the cost, set them up with an e-newsletter. The organization now boasts a couple of spiffy new websites, a FACEBOOK page and, God help them… Twitter.


Like writing a book, I started with a premise: By now, I knew that websites can sit and gather dust in this fast-paced new world. Blog? Well, maybe. I didn’t want to review or sell books, or review or discuss books, either. I wanted to engage readers with a colorful and interactive page that came to their e-mail in-box offering them new books and new authors and a buy link to the author’s Amazon page where the reader could buy the hardcover or immediately down-load the e-book.

Out of these ideas I developed a fan based, free monthly e-newsletter that has grown from a few authors a month to ten-twelve mystery/suspense authors. I’m pleased to say that the readership is steadily growing and it’s less than a year old.

Now, although All Mystery e-newsletter is free to the authors, I do request that they forward their issue to ten or so of their fans, who can either sign up—or not. If not, they will never get another issue; so there are no worries about spamming. And, yes, this e-newsletter is also my platform developing a readership for my books, which answers the question as to whether my efforts are entirely altruistic.

Setting up All Mystery e-newsletter a year in advance of the publication of my first book has meant that I get a shot at increasing new readership of my books … just as all of the participating authors get to share in the readers that I brought to the newsletter.

A DEAD RED CADILLAC is now up on kindle and should be up on Amazon in trade paperback with that nifty “look inside” feature by the end of April. This book will be one of the featured books in the June issue of All Mystery e-newsletter Murder @ Work… and yes, it was a challenge to squeeze my books into an issue!

A DEAD RED HEART is the second in the Lalla Bains series, and it should be out on Kindle/Amazon by mid-April, then in trade paper back on Amazon with the “look inside” feature by end of May. This book will be one of the featured books in the October issue of All Mystery e-newsletter Murder @ Work

You asked where I got my idea for A DEAD RED HEART. I get my ideas from newspaper stores, and this one was a doozy: A prisoner who got a heart transplant… which led me to the question: What would you do if your loved one lost their chance at a heart transplant because the donor heart went to a convicted felon in a California prison?

There are first chapters on the website: http://www.rpdahlke.com/
And:
You can see samples of All Mystery! e-newsletter and sign up to get more at: http://www.allmysteryenewsletter.com/ or contact me: rp@rpdahlke.com

---Thanks!

2011 Resolutions and News
All writers should be busy right now making their resolutions, so I'm right in the thick of things when I write mine. A word of advice, though, to other writers, as well as folks in general, when you make your list of goals remember to sift them through the filter of what you have control over.

If you're a writer, you can have a goal of submitting your manuscript to fifty publishers, but you can't control getting a contract offer. So keep your goals as actions you can manage. This goes for non-writers, too.

There are two schools of thought about goals. The first school says to set your goals as high as possible with the theory that you'll go beyond what you thought you could do to reach them. The second school says, set reasonable goals as they will encourage you to continue as you check them off your list.

For a writer, since we all know our real goal is that contract over which we have no control, we already have a very high goal to reach for, even if we don't specifically state it (because we have no control over it). And since we're getting rejections almost daily and have very little encouragement other than the occassional nice review, I'd suggest that writers (and anyone similiarly positioned who already faces overwhelming challenges) set goals that are possible for a human to reach. Reaching at least a few will provide much needed encouragement to continue in what can be a very discouraging arena.

So what are my goals for 2011? Here they are, and I'll bet a lot of writers can cut&paste these into their blog, too, because they're probably pretty much the same for most writers.

1. Edit & polish Deadliest Rose to submit to publishers
2. Edit & polish It's a Crime to submit to publishers
3. Maintain blog and post regularly
4. Do weekly promos and search out new promotion opportunities
5. Do weekly crits for crit partners and submit my own stuff, too
6. Walk more for exercise--lose weight!
7. Write a new mystery book--first draft--for NaNoWriMo in November
8. Write first draft of my next paranormal romance about Theresa Blackstone
9. Finish Christmas novella
10. Publish crime short story to use in promotions

So much for goals. And now on to more fun stuff...news!

Upcoming Goodies
I'm celebrating the publication of the first three books in the Archer family historical romantic mystery series!

John Archer, the irrepressible rogue and senior member of the family, is saddled with two problems: a love of adventure and far too many unmarried neices and nephews. As you might expect, John finds ways to indulge his need for adventure by getting his family members in deep trouble while simultaenously playing matchmaker. Unfortunately, his masterful efforts are rarely, if ever, truly appreciated!



So here are the books (in order) that are now available in both print and ebook forms.


The Necklace - a young woman, a scoundrel, and a family heirloom that might possibly be cursed!


When Oriana's uncle John brings home a wounded friend, Chilton Dacy, for her to nurse, she can't help but wonder what sort of scoundrel he might be. Her uncle has a long and sad history of befriending miscreants of the worst sort. Then, she finds a necklace thought lost and her worries only increase. The necklace bears a curse promising a hideous death to anyone who posses it, and it starts coming true when she's blamed for the murder of a stranger when the necklace is found on the body.


It's up to Chilton to prove her innocence and save her from an overly personal encounter with the hangman's noose!


For more info and buy links: http://www.amycorwin.com/Necklace.htm

I Bid One American - an American heiress nobody wants, a duke every woman desires, and a murder no one expects!


When Nathaniel, Duke of Peckham, meets American heiress Charlotte, he's suspicious of her indifference. Too many women have sought--and failed--to catch is attention. But Charlotte seems more interested in dead Pharaohs than English dukes.


Unfortunately, when a debutante seeking to entrap Nathaniel is murdeered, his reputation as a misogynist focuses suspicion on him! On impulse, Charlotte comes to his aide, unaware that her actions place her in harm's way.


Danger mounts when a highwayman interested in rich heiresses turns his attention to Charlotte and another debutante is found dead in Nathaniel's carriage...


For more info and buy links: http://www.amycorwin.com/IBidOneAmerican.htm

The Bricklayer's Helper - a masquerade turns deadly when a murderer discovers one of his victims survived...


After her family perishes in a suspicious fire, Sarah hides her identity by working as a bricklayer's helper. But her disguise can't keep her safe when someone discovers she survived and follows her to London. Alone and terrified, Sarah pins her hopes on William Trenchard, an inquiry agent with Second Sons. William, however, seems far too attractive for Sarah's peace of mind, and she soon fears that involving him may be her final--and fatal--mistake.


For more info and buy links: http://www.amycorwin.com/Bricklayer.htm

Contests

Starting in 2011, I'm running a continual contest through my blog here at http://amycorwin.blogspot.com/ and all you have to do to enter is write comments when the mood strikes you.

Monthly
From the comments, I'll cull a monthly winner to receive one of my books in e-book form and it's reader's choice so she (or he) can select the book they wish from my list (check out http://www.amycorwin.com/books.htm ).

Quarterly
Every three months, in March, June, September, and December, the winner will receive a print set of the first three books in the Archer series, including: The Necklace, I Bid One American, and The Bricklayer's Helper. Or, if they prefer my other books, they may make a selection of any three. (I'm sorry, but due to shipping costs, paperbacks will only be shipped within the continental USA. However, winners in other locations may select three ebooks, instead.)

Promotions for Other Writers
Finally, on the 20th of each month, I'll be asking other writers to drop by and write comments consisting of a blurb about their book(s). I'll post a blog specifying which genre is open for that month. I'm hoping to find some new reading material for myself and other readers, as well as providing writers with another promotional opportunity. A win-win for all!

So happy New Year!

A very famous writer once said that if you are a serious writer, you should be paid for your writing. You do not give your work away for free any more than a doctor would offer free surgery to "advertise" or promote his work. Actors don't work for free unless it's a charity benefit or something similar. If you give away your work for free, you are devaluing it.

I can understand all of that, and it makes sense. If you are a writer, that is your career and your profession and you expect to make a living wage at it. At least you'd like to make a living wage. If you give away your work for free, how can you make a living as a writer?

There's the dilemma.

With my first book coming out in May (yay!) I'm looking at things to offer and tempt my readers. One of the things a lot of authors offer is a newsletter, and one of the things they offer in their newsletter and/or through their web site is "free" reading material. A serialized novel, perhaps, or short story. An excerpt, etc. With the expansion of the Internet, there has been a growing feeling of entitlement to free material, particularly the written word, and the offer of free reading material to hook more readers feeds into this.

Which brings me back to my original source that said: if you give away your writing for free, you are devaluing it and making it harder for you and other writers to actually expect to be paid for their efforts. Obviously, extrapolating this into some science fiction future where no one gets paid for writing and all fiction is either subsidized (a la public radio--you could have public fiction, I guess) or simply given away free by people who just like to write, is taking it too far. I don't see us ever really reaching that point--at least I don't think so. But there is some truth to the assertion that giving away your fiction for free devalues your writing. Either you think the material you are giving away is sub-standard and not publishable anyway (so why not give it away) or you have so much time on your hands that you don't mind working for no pay. If the quality of the work you are offering is sub-standard, will it really get you more readers, or will it ultimately drive readers away because they'll think you're the worst writer who ever lived?

I don't have any answers at this point, except I'm not sure that offering any of my fiction for free is a terrific idea. I work two jobs: my day job and my writing job. I put in a lot of hours. I want to be paid for my work and I don't want to offer people sub-standard stuff just to feed their need for Internet freebies.

On the other hand, I want to give readers something. Some incentive to go to my web site, read my newsletter (that doesn't exist yet) and hopefully, buy my books. Excerpts are okay as newsletter teasers, although I have to say, most of the excerpts I've read have had an effect on me that was not intended by the authors. Most excerpts have made me decide not to purchase the book. They are either boring or overwritten in some way that turns me right off. Very few (I actually can't think of any) made me purchase a book. The thing that always makes me purchase a book is the teaser/blurb on the back of it. So I really don't know that offering an excerpt is such a terrific idea.

This really is quite a dilemma. I'm leaning toward including Regency period non-fiction items in a newsletter, like recipes, bits of historical news, and that sort of thing. I want to offer something to my readers. They deserve something particularly if they spent their hard-earned cash to buy my book and slogged through the entire thing and didn't blow chunks or throw it against the wall. It would be nice if the books itself was sufficient, but these days, well, everybody wants more. Or at least I guess they do.

As a reader, I actually don't want more. I'm perfectly content with buying the books I want to buy and leaving it at that. I frankly don't want to know more about the author, although I will search out additional books if I like a particular author. I don't subscribe to newsletters or anything like that, but then, I have time management problems and I'm afraid to base too much on what I as a reader do or don't do.

Anyway, this bears a lot more thought and I'd be interested to know if other readers and writers like newsletters and have any expectations about free fiction. It's a big question mark.