7 Things I Learned About Marketing Books

1. Physical tours can still sell a lot of books. I know, I know, lots of people say the book tour is dead. And yes, most authors, even famous authors, don’t draw crowds the way they used to. But at least for the young adult and children’s market, it is still possible to put together an author tour that sells well. How do I know? Here’s a list of the top ten markets for my debut novel, ASHFALL, at the end of November last year as my physical book tour was winding down. The data are from Nielsen Bookscan:

GIVEAWAY: Mike is excited to give away a free copy of his novel to a random commenter. Comment within 2 weeks; winners must live in Canada/US to receive the book by mail. You can win a blog contest even if you’ve won before.

       

Mike Mullin is the author of ASHFALL, about Alex, a teen
struggling to survive and find his family after the cataclysmic
eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. The sequel,
ASHEN WINTER, was released on October 8, 2012. Follow
Mike on Twitter or visit his author website here. Mike is currently
on tour for ASHEN WINTER—if you’d like to see him present,
check the listing of his public tour events here.

The data are from Nielsen Bookscan:

St. Louis, MO*********
Salt Lake City, UT
Cincinnati, OH****
Madison, WI********
Indianapolis. IN***
Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo/Battle Creek, MI*****
Cedar Rapids/Waterloo/Dubuque, IA*********
Columbus, OH**
Boston, MA
Chicago, IL**

The asterisks in the list? The number of events I held at schools, libraries, and bookstores within that market in October and November last year. I visited about a dozen markets, and eight of them wound up in the top ten for ASHFALL sales. When I toured the East Coast in March, Boston and New York shot to the top of the list. Smaller markets I visited like Burlington, VT cracked the top ten, too. Book tours work—in fact, as you read this, I’m on tour to support the sequel to ASHFALL, ASHEN WINTER.

2. What’s the only fool-proof way I’ve found to draw a crowd for a tour stop? Go where there’s a captive audience. I’ve done this literally, visiting juvenile detention centers in Cedar Rapids and Chicago. But mostly this means I do a lot of visits in high schools and junior highs.

This is one area in which writing for children or young adults is a huge advantage. But adult non-fiction authors could use the same tactic. About one in five of the schools I visit request my geology-themed talk, even though my books are fiction (about an eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano). An adult author with a book that meshes with the typical high school curriculum could land a lot of speaking gigs. Eventually, these can develop into a significant source of extra income.

Adult novelists may have to look harder for captive audiences—college classes, conventions, and book clubs come to mind as possibilities. Some books will work for high schools, too—it just depends on the school and the book.

3. Almost every presentation has to serve three distinct purposes. It needs to entertain the audience, serve the needs of the host, and sell books. If you’ve ever tried to entertain even one sleepy teenager at 7:30 a.m., you have a sense of what a challenge this is. Now imagine a gym with 500 of them. I never use a podium and only rarely use slides. Too boring! Instead, I jump around like a rhesus monkey on amphetamines, yelling, running through the audience, and demonstrating taekwondo moves (my books feature a young martial artist). But amid the chaos, I’m talking about reading, writing, and geology—that’s what the teachers and the principal want and what will get me invited back. I normally finish with a reading that ends on a horrible cliffhanger. Want to know what happens next? You’ve got to buy the book!

4. Pack a change of clothing. Yes, even for a show fifteen minutes from your home. I learned this the hard way when I knelt to demonstrate a taekwondo move and my pants ripped open, pretty much from the back of my belt to mid-thigh. In front of an auditorium full of high school students. Not good. On a related note, wear clean underwear.

5. Just say no to all the cupcakes! I gained 30 lbs. during my tour last fall. Everyone will try to feed you cupcakes. I started turning them all down during my spring tour and managed not to gain weight. I’ve taken 10 lbs. off since then, but I’ve got a ways to go to get back to my fighting weight.

6. Carry a stash of your books. Most venues will be well prepared—they’ll have plenty of your books on hand. But occasionally something goes wrong. So I keep a couple boxes of books that I purchased with my author discount in the trunk. If the bookseller runs out, I can fill in. Don’t sell the books yourself if you can help it—by passing your discount on to whoever is doing book sales at the venue, you’ll earn goodwill that’s worth far more than a few extra bucks on each sale.

7. Props are great! I carry my own model volcano, complete with LED lights and fans to make it “erupt.” Above find the image of the window at Kids Ink Children’s Bookstore in Indianapolis.

GIVEAWAY: Mike is excited to give away a free copy of his novel to a random commenter. Comment within 2 weeks; winners must live in Canada/US to receive the book by mail. You can win a blog contest even if you’ve won before.

Writing books for kids? There are
hundreds of publishers, agents and
other markets listed in the latest
Children’s Writer’s & Illustrator’s Market.
Buy it here online at a discount.

3 Reasons Why Thinking Like an Actor Will Help Your Writing

I used to be an actor. Then I became a fiction writer. This transition had very little to do with a spine-injuring production of The Tempest. Neither swords nor backstage ghosts were involved, whatever rumors you might have heard.

In any case, several theatrical skills and lessons turned out to be useful in my new profession. I hereby present three of my favorites:

Guest column by William Alexander, who studied theater and
folklore at Oberlin College and English at the University of Vermont.
His short stories have been nominated twice for the Pushcart Prize
and published in various strange and wonderful places, including
Weird Tales, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, Interfictions 2, and
Fantasy: The Best of the Year 2008. His first novel, GOBLIN SECRETS,
debuted in 2012 for readers ages 8 and up. In a starred review, Kirkus
described the book as “evocative in its oddities.” It’s fun to say
“evocative in its oddities” aloud. The book’s official website is here.

1) You can’t be the actor and the director at the same time.

Let me clarify: You can direct and perform in the same show. But you cannot do so at the same time. You must switch hats. Sometimes it helps to use actual hats. Do not attempt to wear both hats at once.

I think of writing in theatrical terms, and generating raw prose on a blank page is roughly equivalent to performing on a bare stage in rehearsal. Do something. Take up space. Then, afterwards, consider what you’ve done with a critical eye and a directorial (or editorial) hat on your head. Do not attempt to edit prose which does not yet exist. This is paralyzing.

2) Learn what your characters want and fear.

Creative writing courses have appropriated this method from method acting already. The phrase “character objectives” is as common to those classrooms as it is to acting studios. Kurt Vonnegut insisted that “every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.”

Take this a step further. Pick up a copy of Ute Hagen’s A Challenge for the Actor (or at least glance at her Six Steps, listed here). Consider what each of your character wants, and what each one is afraid of–and remember that we aren’t always honest with ourselves about either.

3) Tongue twisters make excellent vocal warmups.

Excessive extroversion is a professional hazard for performers. Excessive introversion is a professional hazard for writers–which can make it difficult to conduct interviews or read your work in public. Tongue twisters will help. Any sort of vocal warmup will help. Actors often recite tongue twisters in unison before a show. This has the benefit of 1) stretching vocal muscles, and 2) forcing the performers to do something ridiculous offstage, which will help them feel less ridiculous onstage.

Here’s a vocal warmup guaranteed to relax the muscles that your voice depends on. Try it now. You will feel ridiculous, and that’s part of the point.

1) Stick out your tongue.

2) Count to ten with your tongue sticking out. Enunciate as much as possible, and start the count over with each added numeral. “One, one two, one two three, one two three four…”

3) Once you get to ten, put your tongue back in. Count to ten once more, straight through. Enunciate.

Now say something aloud. Anything. Feel the difference? You will.

A fan of fiction? The Write Great Fiction Series
has 5 awesome books at one discount price.

Footnotes

Footnotes is a recurring series
on the GLA blog where I pick a subject and provide several interesting
articles on said topic. Two of the most popular writing categories these days are
Young Adult and Middle Grade. They encompass many of the same
characteristics but are shelved in different areas. Here are 5 articles
on their differences.

1. Where is it shelved? One librarian gives her view.
2. Make ‘em real. Children Book insider publisher Laura Backes gives her tips for creating believable Middle Grade and Young Adult characters.
3. Perspective, Perspective, Perspective. The main difference between MG and YA lies within the perspective of the main character, writer Ruthanne Reid explains.
4. Drawing the line. Agent Michael Stearns breaks down the differences between middle grade and young adult. 
5. Get out of the gray area. Agent Mary Kole gives her advice in determining if your story’s MG or YA.
This guest series by writer
Nancy Parish, who runs her
blog, The Sound and Furry.

Tagaytay Highlands aka Stallion Riding Club

Got these goodies from http://cafehelenashive.proboards.com/. This was uploaded by Ate Len (Gyaha! Super thank you Ate Len!!!

I really wanna go to Tagaytay Highlands!!!! I wish I could go there someday. I wanna see the horses, the cottages, the log cabin, and of course, the "other sceneries"!!!! (hehehe) :D

Given the opFORTUNEity, I would really love to go to this place with my love ones. Kyaaaa!!!! SRC Jjang (the best)!!!! :D

credits to: Ate Len the Vice President of http://cafehelenashive.proboards.com/ for the fantastic pictures! :)

At What Point Can You Call Yourself a Writer?

The moment you tell people you’re a writer, they ask the inevitable question, “What have you written?” They have no idea the shame involved in answering this type of question though they are, in a sense, asking you to justify the hours you spend each day scribbling your ideas down on paper. And it’s not likely they’re asking you to describe the many unfinished projects you’re tinkering with on your computer. They want to know the titles of your books.

    

Guest column by Susan Henderson, two-time
Pushcart Prize nominee and the author of
Up from the Blue (HarperCollins, Sept 21, 2010).
She lives in New York and blogs at
LitPark.com, and The Nervous Breakdown.

“Well, I’m working on a novel,” you say. “But mostly I write short stories for magazines.”

Your brief answer is, in part, designed to mislead them. A pause in the conversation might give them time to imagine your byline in The New Yorker and Vanity Fair. The other reason you stay silent is because you’re not about to tell them that your most recent publication is in WeeLittleEzine.com, or that you’ve never been paid for your work.

“So what do you write about?” they ask.

You consider starting a conversation about your interest in human frailties, inadequate love, and the dark side of the human heart. You’ve tried this before at neighborhood barbecues when everyone around you is talking about lawn fertilizer and Little League, and it’s your tendency to talk about these other things that make you stand out as the weirdo.

Maybe you should just keep these thoughts to yourself. Maybe you should just wait until you’ve revised the manuscript you have on your hard drive—that thing you call your “novel” on more confident days—before you go calling yourself a writer.

But the truth, and you know it down deep, is that it’s not the published book that makes you a writer. You’re a writer because of the things you notice in the world, and the joy you feel stringing the right words together so they sound like music. You’re a writer because you can imagine something in such detail that it comes to life. You’re a writer because you’re obsessed with making your ideas clearer, tighter, fiercer. You’re a writer because you have every reason to stop (it takes too much time, pays too little, and the rejection hurts too terribly), but you can’t do it. It’s not that you love to write so much as you need to write.

You’re a writer because you’re weird in the ways you want to continue being weird. And because even as you’re pretending to listen to the conversation that’s now wound its way back to lawn fertilizer and Little League, you’re digging in your purse for a pen (okay, a lipstick will do) so you can jot down the way your neighbor’s mouth sags on one side. And as you try to find just the right words, you realize it’s this quality—this human frailty—that finally allows you to connect.

This post is an online exclusive complement
to a spotlight on Susan in the Oct. 2010
issue of WD. If you don’t have a sub to
Writer’s Digest, what are you waiting for?
Get one now!

Custom Wedding Gown Sketches!

Dress preservation is a great option if you plan on keeping your gown after the wedding, but for women who would like a more visual reminder of their favorite dress, we’d like to suggest an alternative. Designer Megan Hamilton offers custom sketches of your wedding gown that you can display and enjoy forever. She’ll even do your groom’s duds or a bridesmaid dress!

Each sketch is made-to-order, so Megan will focus on your favorite details (like a fancy corset back) and also include accessories (like your bouquet or those killer heels). Wouldn’t this be the greatest shower gift ever?

bridal gown sketches