A Rose by Any Other Name…

Do you think authors need to stick with one genre to build readership? Do you think readers will read other works by an author in a different genre? Should authors use pen names if they jump around to different genres?


This is one of those “it depends” questions. There are pros and cons to both sides of the argument.

In the beginning of a career, I think it’s wise to stick with one genre, or perhaps two closely related genres (like suspense/horror; sci-fi/fantasy). It helps build readership. But sometimes authors get bored with that; or they have way too many ideas and want to branch out. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but it needs to be handled carefully. You & your publisher or agent should make the decision on pen names together, after weighing all the pros and cons.

Many authors write in several different genres successfully. However, most of them will have a different pen name for each genre—at least in the beginning. (Ex: Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb; Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Michaels; Janette Rallison /Sierra St. James; Obert Skye/??-is he still keeping this a secret?)

I think this use of pen names is wise because yes, readers will read other genres by their favorite authors. Use of a pen name keeps the successful author’s name “safe” while they’re experimenting in other areas. For example, let’s say an author* is a hugely famous best-seller in sci-fi/fantasy. Then they decide to write a few romances and they stink, at least compared to the sff. So here’s what happens. Rabid fans of the sff read the romance and hate it. Next sff title comes out. The bad taste of the romance is lodged there in their memory. They may still buy that new title, but maybe they won’t wait in line on release day. And from the other direction, readers who like both romance and sff may stumble across the sub-par romance novels first, then be unwilling to give the sff a chance, thinking the quality of the writing will be the same.

Or let’s say someone is a well-known writer of sweet middle grade readers. Kids love them; parents trust them. Then they decide to write a racy YA novel. Past fans read it because of the author’s name. The little kids are shocked. Parents are outraged. Suddenly all books by this author are suspect and sales of the middle grade readers drop.

Now, if the second genre is as big a hit as their first, publishers will let it leak out that the two authors are one and the same, which then boosts sales of both genres as fans of each will try the other.

In the middle grade/racy YA example, I’d probably try to keep that a secret for as long as I could, although it didn’t seem to hurt Shel Silverstein (or is that an urban myth?).

From another marketing point of view, writing under a pen name is like starting out as a brand new author. You don’t have a following yet. The publisher is going to have to invest more in marketing the new book. That can be a pain. The upside is that the new book under the pen name is likely to be better than the author’s original first book, simply because of the experience the author has gained as a published writer. But the downside is some authors think they can write in a second (or third) genre, and they really can’t.

As a publisher, I don’t mind if an author writes in multiple genres, as long as they keep producing books in their stronger genre on a reasonable time frame. As a reader, I hate it when the next novel in a series is slow coming out because an author is off playing under another pen name. (cough-Robert-cough-Jordan)

Does this make sense?

*10 points to the first commenter who knows who I’m talking about.

Christmas in July

I am working on the final edits of a novel that takes place during Christmas time. It is not a “Christmas book” per se, but I’ve begun to wonder, because it’s my first book, if I ought to change the season for marketing reasons. Does the season a book takes place in have any bearing on a publisher accepting a first time novelist?

Not really. We might schedule the release date based on the season of the book, but that wouldn’t make any difference for acceptance.

I’m assuming there was a reason your book takes place during Christmas, so I’d say, no, don’t change it unless a publisher asks you to.

Behind the Scenes Acceptance Process

Can you tell me what happens when you receive my manuscript? Do you have a first reader that sifts through all the manuscripts and then passes on his/her picks to you? When does a manuscript go to outside readers? Do all publishers use committees to decide the fate of a manuscript? Who has the final say? Do you follow the same procedure with all manuscripts?


I have an assistant who does a pre-read and sorts them into piles–ones I will probably want to read and ones that I will probably reject. We’ve worked together for a long time, so she’s pretty accurate at guessing what my response will be. If she really likes something, I put it at the top of the pile.

I go through the rejection pile first because those are pretty obvious and there’s no need to keep those authors waiting. I write my own rejection letters–most of them are form letters, but sometimes I offer suggestions on what to improve.

The manuscript goes to outside readers if the in-house staff likes it enough to consider publishing it. We need to make sure it will appeal to a fairly wide spectrum of readers.

If they’re smart, publishers have some type of committee giving them input. Who is on that committee depends on the size of the company. It may be the readers or it may be a group of employees, or it may be an official committee which includes the finance and marketing departments.

Who has the final say? Depends on the company. It could be the head editor, the president, the marketing VP, or a majority vote of the committee. In my company, it’s usually a unanimous vote of the committee.

We follow the same procedure 99% of the time. Sometimes we’ll publish something that has a majority vote, but not very often.

Blogging 101—Extra questions

I have a blog site, but no one reads it. How do I attract an audience?

Read this post and all the comments.

Do you think it’s better to have a separate blog from your website or blog within your website? Or does it matter?

Whichever is easiest for you. But if your blog is separate from your website, make sure it has links back to your website that are obvious and easy to find.

Is there an advantage to blogging with others (i.e. Writers in Heels, Six LDS Writers and a Frog, etc.)?

Yes! More exposure. Their readers will read you on the group blog. If they like you, they’ll also start visiting your personal blog.

How do I [insert technical stuff here]?

With all the technical questions I’m getting, I’m starting to think maybe I should dump this blog and start one on blogging, etc. Oh, wait. That would make me a geek–a fate that should be avoided no matter what the cost. (sigh) Here are a few of the resource sites that I use:
Blogging Basics 101
Blogger Tips & Tricks
The Real Blogger Status

I’m fascinated that so many people can find time to not only write books/articles/stories, but also find the time to write consistently interesting and helpful blogs.

Priorities. It is Your Job as an author to promote yourself and your work.

I feel like I have nothing of interest to blog about. There are so many talented authors with so much more experience, why would anyone want to read something I’ve written on a blog? How can I offer anything of value to readers?

I’m sort of shocked by this question. The whole point of being a writer is that you have something burning inside, something to say. If you don’t have anything to say, then your novel won’t have much to offer either. If this is truly, truly how you feel, and not just a moment of discouragement, you shouldn’t be looking at writing as a career choice.

That’s all I have about blogs. On to the next question…

Blogging 101—Driving Readers to Your Site

I may not get all the blogging terminology correct here because I’m new to blogging myself. Also, I am not a geek—at least, not on Wednesdays. But you’ll be able to get the general concept behind these ideas.

The most important thing about having a blog is to get your name and writing style noticed. If people recognize your name on the cover of a book, they’re more likely to buy it. Also, because repeat visitors to your blog like you, when you announce your book, they’ll be very likely to run out and buy it. Or at least check it out from the library.

The blogging community is one of your biggest assets when it comes to driving traffic to your own blog site. Here are some ideas:

  1. Find bloggers you like and ask them to trade links with you. You put their link in your sidebar; they’ll put your link in their sidebar.
  2. Comment on blogs. Lots of them. And don’t do it anonymously! When you leave a comment, readers can click on your name to go to your profile and from there, they can click on your blog. That’s too many clicks for me, so I also suggest…
  3. Create a signature with a link to your blog and post it at the bottom of every comment you leave.
  4. Join blogging communities. There are gobs of things out there you can join. Some are referral blogs (what are these things called?) which are basically lists of blogs that focus on a particular topic or area, or whose writers fit a certain profile—like www.ldswomenblogs.blogspot.com which Josi so graciously told us about in her wise use of the comments section on this blog. Some blogs sponsor short term programs, like a book club or something, and will let you sign up and participate. Join as many of these as you can. Post comments to all the other member’s sites. (Please post your favorite blog communities in the comments section.)
  5. Join forums. There are gobs and gobs of online forums. Join them. Post comments. Use your signature with a link back to your blog. (Please post your favorite forums in the comments section.)
  6. Personal e-mail—use your signature here too. Every personal e-mail that you send out should have a link back to your blog. Your friends want to know about your blog. They like you. They’ll support you.

All of these ideas (and many others that I hope readers will suggest in the comments section of this post) will get people to visit your blog. Keeping them as regular readers is another thing altogether.

The most important factor in building a regular readership for your blog is GOOD WRITING! Interesting, unique, entertaining, informative.

Blogging 101—Settings, Part 3

Before I start on today’s list, I forgot a setting from yesterday. It’s under “Publishing.” Send Pings—Yes. This notifies the web crawlers that you’ve added new stuff to your blog. The more often you add stuff, the higher you move in the search engines.

Template: If you are new to blogging, stick with a standard template. Find something you like, something simple and clean. Some templates let you adjust more fonts and colors than others. Edit HTML only if you know what you’re doing. (Save your code first.)

Links: In your sidebar, link to your website and any other blogs you participate in. You can also link to blogs of friends and other authors and often they will agree to link to you as well.

Labels: This feature works like an index. It lets you create topic categories. It invites visitors to read all your posts on a particular topic. If you’re doing a personal/slice of life blog, limit your labels to a dozen; long lists are just…too long. Post them in your sidebar. (My list is too long, but I don’t care. I’m not doing this for promotional reasons but to make it easy for you to read about particular topics.)

Pictures: Use pictures in your posts and in your sidebar as much as you can. Pictures invite people to read your blog. Some people do a “Picture of the Day/Week” which they change daily/weekly. This keeps your site active and invites the web crawlers. (See note on Pings above.)

Other pictures that are a must on your sidebar are:

  • a profile image—an attractive photo of yourself, or at least a cute icon.
  • covers of your books—WITH LINKS to where they can be purchased.
  • icons for any programs/rings/circles/whatever that you are a member of (discussed in more detail tomorrow)

Archive: There are several ways you can set your archive. Some are space savers and you may be tempted to use them. Don’t. Use the hierachical method because it shows your Post Titles in the sidebar, at a glance. Like the title of your book, the titles of your posts are important. They should stimulate curiosity, interest, invite readers.

Hit Counter: There are several free hit counters out there. I recommend adding one early on. This helps you track visits to your site so you can know if what you’re doing is effective. You can have it be invisible or you can display it on your blog (as I do; scroll down to bottom of my sidebar). Set it to count unique visitors, not page loads. Set the interval to 24 hours.

Blogging 101—Settings, Part 2

I’m using Blogger as my resource for the order in which I talk about settings. I am only discussing the ones that directly effect using your blog as a marketing tool for your writing. In Blogger, many of these settings have a question mark beside them that you can click on for more info. If you use a blog host other than Blogger, it probably has similar settings, but they might call them something else.

BASIC
Add your Blog to our listings?
Yes, you want to do this. A reader may find you by browsing Bloggers list.

Show Email Post links? Yes. This allows readers to easily e-mail your blog to their friends, making it more likely for them to come read other posts on your site. (If you’re worried about someone stealing your stuff, put a copyright notice at the top and/or bottom of every post.)

FORMATTING
Show # posts/days:
Set this to at least 7. Visitors to your blog are a lot more likely to scroll down to read additional posts than they are to click a link.

Convert line breaks: Yes. This helps keep your post from running all together. In fact, do a double return at the end of each paragraph. This makes it nice and clean and easy to read.

COMMENTS
Show:
Yes. Invite comments to your blog. People like to share their opinions. In fact, one of the best things that can happen is when your readers start a conversation between themselves in your comments section. That means they’re coming back, over and over again.

Who Can Comment? Unless you’re having a real problem with vicious posters, set this to allow everyone the ability to comment. You want to invite participation on your blog, not exclude people.

Backlinks: This allows people to link back to your blog from their blog. You very definitely want this; it increases your sphere of influence. Readers are much more likely to find your blog through a backlink than they are by simply surfing the Internet.

Show comments in a popup window? Yes. If a reader has to keep clicking to return to the main page, they will stop.

Enable comment moderation? Again, unless you are having trouble with vicious or nasty posters, this is not necessary. People want to see their comments posted immediately, not wait several days for you to check your e-mail, notice there’s a comment waiting, and approve it.

Show word verification for comments? Start your blog with this turned off. It’s annoying to have to type this stuff in and some people will not go to the trouble. If you start having problems with spammers, then you can turn it on.

Show profile images on comments? Yes. It’s fun to see the photos or icons that people use to represent themselves.

ARCHIVING Enable Post Pages? Post Pages give each of your posts their own unique web page, in addition to appearing on your blog’s front page.* YES! This makes it much easier for people to include links to a specific post on your blog within their blog. You want this.
*quoted from Blogger

SITE FEED/RSS FEED
You want people to subscribe to a feed from your site. This makes it much easier for them to see when you’ve added something new and they are much more likely to come back when you do.

Also, it lets people put your site feed on their blog, for example, in the sidebar. That allows visitors to their blog to see the title and/or first sentence of your newest post. This is a good thing.

I have three more posts about blogging and then I’m done. Tomorrow I’ll do Settings, Part 3, and talk about templates. Next I’ll talk about driving readers to your site. Last I’ll answer the questions I’ve received that don’t fall into these categories.

Blogging 101-Settings, Part 1

If you’re blogging for promotional reasons (and if you’re an author or wanna-be, that should be your #1 focus), there are a few settings and other things that will make this easier for you.

Domain name: Choose your domain name carefully because you cannot change it later. Most people will come to your blog through a link. If they like what they see, they will bookmark it and return that way or via RSS feed. But for those few who will be typing in your URL (like a publisher or agent), please pick something that is easy to remember and at least slightly professional—like your name. Or if your blog focuses on a theme, something that reflects that. i-am-a-disney-princess.blogspot.com is not a good idea.

Blog Title: This may or may not be different from your domain name. It’s the same here on my blog. The title is what appears in the header of your blog. You can be much more creative with your title than with your domain name. Still, you want to present a professional image.

Description: This is where you explain what your blog is or why you are doing it. For example: Dedicated to helping LDS authors successfully navigate the LDS publishing world.

Profile: Your profile shares with the world some of the details of who you are. A lot of people are hesitant about including these details and you do need to be careful. But anything that you would include in the author bio of your book would be just as safe here.

I suggest posting your photo because people like to see who they’re “talking” to. It makes you seem friendlier and more approachable—both attributes you want to cultivate as an author. If you really don’t want your photo there, use the cover of your book or an attractive icon or a piece of clip art (like mine).

Take advantage of the “Extended Info” to invite readers most likely to relate to your site. List areas of interest that correlate with the focus of your books. When they visit other blogs, readers will click on the key words that correspond with their personal interests and your blog will show up on the list.

Blogging 101-Getting Started

I’ve been inundated with questions about blogging, so I’ll be doing a short series of posts about where and when and how and all that jazz, with an emphasis on how best to use this to promote your writing career. This will be old hat for some of you who are experienced bloggers but I’m hoping you will jump in with your comments, opinions and tips.

Where to Blog:
If you have not yet started a blog, do a little research. Look at the blogs of people you know. Click on their blog roll (links to other bloggers) and notice what you like, what appeals to your eye.

There are several free or inexpensive blog hosting sites. The most popular are Blogger (this one; it’s free), LiveJournal (free), Word Press (free and subscription versions) and Typepad (starts at $4.95/month). [If you know of others you’d recommend, please post the URL in the comments section.]

Each of these blog hosting platforms have their advantages and disadvantages. I chose Blogger because it was free and easy, and because several friends used it and were willing to help me get going. [Comments on which host you chose and why would be appreciated.]

Start Simple:
Most blog hosts have a variety of templates you can use. Pick one that is clean and attractive. Stick with the basics while you’re learning. You can always fancy it up later on.

Blog Content:
There are many types of blogs, from a simple online diary to a full-fledged promotional focus. Here is a list of some blog types. Choose one that appeals to you or mix and match. It doesn’t really matter what type of blog you choose, as long as you remember that people will be judging you and your writing abilities by your blog. If you want to promote your writing, I’d suggest a slice of life, general interest or a blog about writing and/or books, rather than the online diary or rant style. You might also consider doing book reviews.

Before clicking “Post,” check spelling and grammar. Think about how your reading public and/or potential agents and publishers might react to what you’re saying. Are you projecting the image you want to present to the world? Will a publisher reading your blog see you as professional and careful with your words? Easy to work with? Positive attitude? Interesting? Will your readers find you friendly? Fascinating?

Be very careful not to plagiarize. If you “steal” from someone else’s blog, be sure to give them the credit and plenty of links back to their blog.

Be consistent. Post on a regular basis—daily or weekly. If you go too long between posting, readers will stop checking back.

Blogging for Readers

When do you think it’s important to establish a web presence? Before you ever have hope of being published, after acceptance of your manuscript, or when the book comes out?

Do you think a blog is sufficient for a web presence?

When do I think wanna-be writers should establish a web presence? YESTERDAY.

If your plan is to publish, start marketing yourself now. When I have an author tell me he/she has a blog that’s getting 100+ hits every day (that’s unique visitors, not page loads), and hosts a forum with over 100 members, and has a monthly newsletter that her loyal following subscribes to, I sit up and take notice.

Anyone who reads your blog (and returns to read again) is a potential book buyer. If they have a relationship with you–even a virtual one–they are more likely to buy your book. In fact, I was at the local LDS bookstore today and bought two books, neither of which I would have ever purchased had I not already read and liked the authors’ blogs.

A blog is sufficient up until your book is accepted. At that point, you’ll want to create an official author website.

Publishing on the Internet, Take Two

I was just thinking about authors’ websites and the practice of them posting the first chapter of their books on their sites (or not,) when I remembered the Baen free library. Sci fi publisher Jim Baen has encouraged “his” authors to let him take their out-of-print books(1) and put them up on his website in their entirety for anybody to read. You don’t have to pay anything or even sign up. The premise is that this is free advertising. You can read an author’s older works for free and decide if you like his or her style before buying something that is current. According to author Eric Flint, this actually works great. I was wondering if this would be a viable option in the LDS market.(2) Because I live far away from any LDS bookstores, I rely on the web to give me the information I need to help me choose the books I buy. Is there anything in the dreaded contracts that would prevent authors from putting an entire, out-of-print book up on their personal websites?(3) Better yet, is there anything stopping a publishing company from making their own free library?(4) Or is there anything stopping them from putting up as many as three chapters from each new book on their website, so that readers outside the range of brick and mortar stores can browse and make better-informed decisions?(5) (I just checked a random Baen book, new for April, and there were seven chapters free for perusal!)

Check it out at http://www.baen.com to see how it works. In my opinion, it really is the next best thing to being there.(6)

I’ve already discussed this before, here and here. But this practice is becoming more and more common, so I’m revisiting it. Also, there is a difference between a publisher and/or a published author (with their publisher’s permission) choosing to post excerpts of out-of-print books on the Internet, and non-published authors publishing works on the internet for critique.

1. If a book is out of print, there is nothing wrong with the publisher and/or author (with their publisher’s pemission) posting it in its entirety on the Internet. I think it’s a great idea, for the very reasons you listed. As a publisher, I’d also make it available as a POD title, if someone wanted to order it after reading it in electronic format. The only caveat is, make sure you plaster copyrights all over it. Many people assume that if it’s on the net, it’s public domain and they are free to re-publish and sell or distribute it as they wish. This is not true.

2. Of course it’s viable. And again, a great idea. However, it’s probably a low priority for many publishers because it won’t be a big money-maker and there will be some expense involved in setting it up. (Hmmm, I think I’ll bring this up at our next staff meeting.)

3. Depends on the publisher and their contract. If you’re an author with an out-of-print book, make sure you get permission from your publisher before doing this. And if they’re fine with it, make sure you put links to your in-print titles at the end of each chapter, something along the lines of “If you’re enjoying this book, check out the author’s other titles at…)

4. No. (See answer #2)

5. No. In fact, that’s a very good marketing idea. However, if the publisher has more than just a few titles in print, they’ll probably have their authors do it on their own websites, just because of the time and web space involved. Publishers should provide the files for the author to upload to their sites.

6. I agree.

Review Copies

Realistically, how many copies of a book does a publisher give away for possible reviews? Does the author have any say or input in these decisions?


And the definitive answer is: it depends.

It depends on the type of book (fiction vs non-fiction), the genre, the initial buzz and excitement about the book, the budget, how many copies we printed in the first print run, the number of reviewers we have a positive relationship with, the number and size of papers/local magazines in the authors home town, when the book is released (near Christmas or other related holidays or events), how much energy the author is going to put into promoting the book, what kind of mood the marketing department is in, whether it’s raining outside,…

The author may or may not have a say in it. We make up our list and if the author wants us to add to it, they have to make a good argument for it. For example, let’s say the author lives in Kaysville, UT. We would send review copies to the Salt Lake City papers. If the author wanted us to send a review copy to his/her local Kaysville paper, we’d probably decline, UNLESS a bookstore in Kaysville was going to do a launch party/signing for the author and the paper was agreed to do a timely and positive review in connection with that launch.

Another issue we have with review copies is when authors want us to send them to bloggers. (I’m not talking about online reviewers, such as Jennie Hansen at Meridian. I’m talking about non-professional bloggers.) We only consider this if the blog is targeted to our audience (LDS readers) AND if they get a respectable number of hits per day AND if we get pre-approval/kill vote on the post.

If an author wants to send the book to more reviewers than we’re willing to send to, they’re always free to do so using their own comp copies.