Showing posts with label RWA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label RWA. Show all posts
Friday, July 27, 2012
UNDERSTANDING THE ROMANCE BUYER IN THE DIGITAL AGE : RWA 2012
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Welcome To The Goodie Room :: RWA 2012 Anaheim
I like to scan the promotional offerings to see who took the time to come up with something fresh. I'm a boring bookmark girl, so these events help inspire me to come up with something better. 
Some of my favorites this year were the back massagers from Writerspace & the pack of lies (Big Red gum).
Goodie room offerings ebb and flow as the conference goes on. I'll post back if I find something blogworthy.
Friday, July 01, 2011
RWA WORKSHOP :: VARIETY & UNPREDICTIBILITY IN CATEGORY ROMANCE
VARIETY & UNPREDICTIBILITY: the key to success in category romance with Joanne Grant & Meg Lewis
We’re seeing a reliance on the same conflicts and themes. Writers are approaching stories by using themes and concepts – I’ll write a Greek hero and marriage of convenience
What is unpredictability? An unpredictable story delivers a compelling happy-ever-after that takesthe reader on an unanticipated cliché-free and emotionally engaging journey
Unpredictability isn’t
• Far fetched plot twists
• Characters acting out of character
• A mash-up of genres for the sake of it
• And excuse to replace conflict for plot devices
What we’ll cover today
• How to bring some unpredictability to your stories and ensure they are fresh and unique
• We’re not changing series guidelines or asking for radical differences
Put characters first!
• We’re looking for character-driven not plot-driven stories
• Start by creating two interesting original characters with a compelling story to tell
• Make sure they have emotional barriers (conflict) to overcome before falling in love with and committing to the other.
Know the characters inside out – real, rounded people with depths and layers. If you plan and execute them well, the conflict and the story should present itself
Conflict :: Emotional character driven conflict is the foundation of a satisfying romance. The most interesting conflicts are the ones which should drive yours story are internal there is also room for external conflict but use with caution!
Internal
• Bad experience of relationships in the past 0 heroine’s ex-boyfriend turned abusive
• Parents had a terrible marriage
External
• Hero and heroine are working together
• See the other hugging member of the opposite sex
• Heroine gets pregnant
What is internal conflict?
• We need the characters to each have emotional obstacles to covercome before they can get together
• Their relationship should feel like a journey in which they both change and grow, it will end happily but how will they get there
• The journey should b full of highs and lows, plenty of tension.
External conflict should only be brought in as additional support o the developing romance and plot. Using obstacles like simple misunderstandings doesn’t work. This is frustrating to the reader and cannot sustain a story.
Top 5 romantic conventions
Marriage of convenience – question whether actions and reactions are believable – what would you do. Check motivations are water tight and believable. Dig deeper, do you need a marriage of convenience?
Marriage on the Rocks – question whether you have a strong enough reason to end the marriage in the first place. Dig deeper and find different twists on this. Look at what is happening in the media for inspiration.
One Night Stand / Secret Baby – not every one night stands ends up in a baby, sometimes contraception works. Is it fully motivated? A well constructed character can entice any reader to follow them. One night stand = plot device to get a baby into the story. Don’t sweep things that don’t work under the rug, confront it head on
Traumatic Past – is the emotional implications and repercussions of the eventthat are fascinating. Emotional exploration – heart-wrenching not depression. Don’t judge, don’t go into the nitty gritty! How does the event affect the characters and how does this affect the relationship
Revenge / Blackmail – motivation must be based on more than misunderstanding. Life is never black and white. The revenge stories often need to be the most complex. Don’t be afraid to give the characters flaws.
Other ways to bring uniqueness ::
Breaking Conventions – sailing close to the wind and getting away with it. Can you tackle a more controversial theme in a series romance. Infidelity, impotence so you’er pregnant, must they marry. Maybe she’s the boss.
First Meets – execute them differently to try something new. Common examples one-night stand is your boss, bump into each other (car crash)
Settings – write about what yuou know or use your imagination, but don’t be afraid to explore new territories
Voice – don’t try to emulate – innovate and be yourself! Infuse your writing with your own author voice and personality. We want originality, not a paint by numbers romance. No amount of workshops can teach you this.
It’s all about the characters. Stretch your imagination and take them on a journey where they grow and change. Compelling conflicts should drive the romance. Internal conflict is the key, external can support Twist the conventions and surprise your reader. Be original!
What keeps you reading when you see submissions in the slush pile? Voice immediately grabs your attention. Next is seeing the story is unique and fresh with compelling characters. Being plunged into a situation where you don’t have to think, You are just there with them. You get a sense of the characters and their conflict and where they are going.
We’re seeing a reliance on the same conflicts and themes. Writers are approaching stories by using themes and concepts – I’ll write a Greek hero and marriage of convenience
What is unpredictability? An unpredictable story delivers a compelling happy-ever-after that takesthe reader on an unanticipated cliché-free and emotionally engaging journey
Unpredictability isn’t
• Far fetched plot twists
• Characters acting out of character
• A mash-up of genres for the sake of it
• And excuse to replace conflict for plot devices
What we’ll cover today
• How to bring some unpredictability to your stories and ensure they are fresh and unique
• We’re not changing series guidelines or asking for radical differences
Put characters first!
• We’re looking for character-driven not plot-driven stories
• Start by creating two interesting original characters with a compelling story to tell
• Make sure they have emotional barriers (conflict) to overcome before falling in love with and committing to the other.
Know the characters inside out – real, rounded people with depths and layers. If you plan and execute them well, the conflict and the story should present itself
Conflict :: Emotional character driven conflict is the foundation of a satisfying romance. The most interesting conflicts are the ones which should drive yours story are internal there is also room for external conflict but use with caution!
Internal
• Bad experience of relationships in the past 0 heroine’s ex-boyfriend turned abusive
• Parents had a terrible marriage
External
• Hero and heroine are working together
• See the other hugging member of the opposite sex
• Heroine gets pregnant
What is internal conflict?
• We need the characters to each have emotional obstacles to covercome before they can get together
• Their relationship should feel like a journey in which they both change and grow, it will end happily but how will they get there
• The journey should b full of highs and lows, plenty of tension.
External conflict should only be brought in as additional support o the developing romance and plot. Using obstacles like simple misunderstandings doesn’t work. This is frustrating to the reader and cannot sustain a story.
Top 5 romantic conventions
Marriage of convenience – question whether actions and reactions are believable – what would you do. Check motivations are water tight and believable. Dig deeper, do you need a marriage of convenience?
Marriage on the Rocks – question whether you have a strong enough reason to end the marriage in the first place. Dig deeper and find different twists on this. Look at what is happening in the media for inspiration.
One Night Stand / Secret Baby – not every one night stands ends up in a baby, sometimes contraception works. Is it fully motivated? A well constructed character can entice any reader to follow them. One night stand = plot device to get a baby into the story. Don’t sweep things that don’t work under the rug, confront it head on
Traumatic Past – is the emotional implications and repercussions of the eventthat are fascinating. Emotional exploration – heart-wrenching not depression. Don’t judge, don’t go into the nitty gritty! How does the event affect the characters and how does this affect the relationship
Revenge / Blackmail – motivation must be based on more than misunderstanding. Life is never black and white. The revenge stories often need to be the most complex. Don’t be afraid to give the characters flaws.
Other ways to bring uniqueness ::
Breaking Conventions – sailing close to the wind and getting away with it. Can you tackle a more controversial theme in a series romance. Infidelity, impotence so you’er pregnant, must they marry. Maybe she’s the boss.
First Meets – execute them differently to try something new. Common examples one-night stand is your boss, bump into each other (car crash)
Settings – write about what yuou know or use your imagination, but don’t be afraid to explore new territories
Voice – don’t try to emulate – innovate and be yourself! Infuse your writing with your own author voice and personality. We want originality, not a paint by numbers romance. No amount of workshops can teach you this.
It’s all about the characters. Stretch your imagination and take them on a journey where they grow and change. Compelling conflicts should drive the romance. Internal conflict is the key, external can support Twist the conventions and surprise your reader. Be original!
What keeps you reading when you see submissions in the slush pile? Voice immediately grabs your attention. Next is seeing the story is unique and fresh with compelling characters. Being plunged into a situation where you don’t have to think, You are just there with them. You get a sense of the characters and their conflict and where they are going.
RWA WORKSHOP :: SEX THROUGHOUT HISTORY
SEX THROUGHOUT HISTORY with Delilah Marvelle
I bet you didn’t see this in history class!EGYPT :: Even Egyptian gods masturbated. Ra masturbated his children into existence. Egyptians believed in sex after life, so mummies have been found with artificial penises and women had large, ornate fake nipples.
GREECE :: Used sexuality to titillate and intimidate. The ultimate punishment for an adult male was to be sexually assaulted. If a man learned his wife was cheating, he had the right to bugger the man committing adultery with her.
KAMA SUTRA :: Young women were taught as part of preparation for marriage. Men were expected to honor and live by them. Includes how to relate to your partner, not just sexually.
1st English version published in 1883 by Sir Richard Burton, when he formed the Kama Sutra society
AMERICA :: Cornflakes were created as a anti-masturbatory tool. John Harvey Kellogg was a doctor specializing in rehabilitating masturbators. Men & boys were circumcised to lessen the sexual experience. He would apply carbic acid to the clitoris so a woman would never be able to experience orgasm.EUROPE :: Hysteria – a woman’s clitoris was massaged by a physician until orgasm, and then given a dildo for further treatment at home.
In the 1600, they started dressing up the condom with ribbons. Condoms were made from linen or intestine, and moistened by soaking in water or milk…and then cleaned and reused! Goodyear invented the rubber condom in 1844.
In the middle ages, women got their first period around 20. In the Victorian era, women were closer to 17. Women are so well nourished now, periods are starting considerably earlier.
Quality control in the Georgian period? They would blow up the condom to check for holes!
Merkin – decorative patch of hair. First reference in 1450. Lice was prevalent, so prostitutes shaved the pubic area, and took mercury for syphilis her pubic hair would fall out. A merkin would cover up the fact that they were diseased. Jack Harris would test out every single lady and write a review (Covent-Garden Ladies). Samuel Derrick expanded on the idea, had the ladies pay to be listed, and published it annually!
Misconceptions of chastity belts – not just for women! Men had them to prevent masturbation. Mentions during the renaissance, not really mideivel. Created for conversation pieces, not actually used. Victorians used the chastity belt.
The practice of hiving – applying honey to your nether regions, bees are released. Sharp stings are thought to receive pleasure while maintaining chastity.
In history, men celebrated for their sexuality. Women were villified.
LORD BYRON :: The Brad Pitt of his day. People were fascinated. Said to have sex with over 300 women, on being his half-sister. Though that because of his sexual prowess, he must be eccentric to the point of insanity.
MARQUIS DE SADE:: Believed in extreme freedom – no censure of sexuality, religion, politics. He did a lot of writing while jailed or in an insane asylum. Justine & Juliette – two sisters, one who did everything right morally but is unhappy, and the one who had torrid escapades and was happy. Napoleon ordered his arrest after reading it. Loved food, was a good husband and father. Many of his escapades were fictionalized.
CASANOVA :: Sex addict. Loved women, but wasn’t adverse to experiences with men. Secretary, soldier, lottery director, chemist, spy, librarian…hung out with Mozart and Voltaire. Not a very good looking guy, but he genuinely listened to women and seemed to want to understand them, which was his main attractive pull. Suffered from dozens of venereal diseases.
HENRY SPENCER ASHBEE :: Author of My Secret Life – a log of his sexual experiences with women.
MARIE ANTOINETTE :: A victim of her era, simply for being a woman. Princess de Lamballe was her best friend. When Marie Antoinette was seized and held captive, Princess de Lamballe came to her aid. Pamphlets were created claiming they were lesbians, going into wild detail about dildos. 9/3/1792 – her home was stormed. She was raped repeatedly, hit with hammers until she passed out, her breasts and pubic regions were sliced off, she was disemboweled and her head was put on a spike. They took the head to Marie Antoinette’s cell and forced her to it.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
RWA WORKSHOP :: THE CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGE
The Contemporary Challenge: How to write 300 pages of romance without demons, death, or world destruction with Julie James and Beth Kery/Bethenny Kane
5 topics that anyone writing a contemporary romance should consider
Characters: How to make ordinary characters likable and immediately compelling. Give your characters characteristics we all can identify with. 2 tricks -- make me feel bad for them or make me like them. Open with a scene that makes characters sympathetic – unable to sleep at 3am because hotel neighbors are having a sex marathon, someone knowing they are about to get fired. Open with a scene that makes them likable – showing them being successful at work it shows they are ambitious, show that other people like them. Readers like people that others like. Show the character doing good things, catching the bad guy, something heroic within the modern world.
The alpha hero in the contemporary romance. Paranomal heroes can be almost beastial, primal. If your hero is very alpha, give him a quirk or vulnerability. Very macho, brusque character can also be an artist and wear glasses. Make him appealable to a larger audience. Make him sick so the heroine has to heal him a little bit. An alpha guy head over heels in love who will do anything for his lover softens his alpha qualities. Make sure if your best girlfriend described his as her new guy, you wouldn’t tell her to run. Give him a best friend who is not an alpha. Humanize them through their friends or pets.
Stakes: complicate a plot, keep the pace building. There is usually a plot and a subplot. Plot is the romance, subplot is whatever else is going on. You need a strong conflict right from the beginning. You have to show how these two people who we know will end up together, will not be getting together on page 50, or 100 or even 200. What keeps them apart once they start liking each other. There can be more than one conflict – initial conflict can be that they annoy each other, and then becomes concerns about getting involved with anyone due to work or something.
Subplot is often the set-up of the book. She witnessed a murder and the FBI agent needs to protect her. Often involves a job. The stronger the characters motivations in the subplot, the stronger the emotions will feel. If the heroine is trying to get a job, show why she needs this particular job in order to make it a motivation. Subplot increases the conflict, tension, motivation.
Adventure in a contemporary romance is falling in love. High emotional stakes. Build and inner world that is believable for why these people aren’t having a happily ever after by page 50.
Pacing should be two steps forward, one step back. In a high emotion scene, cut away to a scene involving other people. Gives readers a relief from being angsty and overly emotional. There has to be some degree of emotional risk.
Romance & relationships: Building sexual tension helps keeps the focus on the relationship. Sexual tension is all about conflict. If things are too easy, there is nothing to drive the story. H/h immediately at odds – like fighting for the same job – sets them at odds and create tension would be external conflict. A past falling out creates internal conflict.
H/h feel conflicted about how they feel about one another. The slow burn, Mr. Darcy / Elizabeth Bennett effect. They do not want to like each other, but they can’t seem to help the attraction.
Body language is very important, the way people look at each other can really ratchet up the tension.
Relationships with your main characters and others. Friends and family. People have friends, siblings, kids, co-workers, old friends, enemies, they don’t exist in a vacuum. Gives a different impression of the character when seen with people she likes, rather than someone she’s conflicted by.
Prior relationships can factor in as well, because it is reality. Exes are very useful in contemporary. Past relationships shape who we are and provide conflict. Walking in on your fiancé sleeping with another woman and she vows to never have anything to do with another womanizer. So of course, the hero in her story would have to be a womanizer. You can’t have cheating, be careful that the reader won’t feel bad if the person the character is currently dating is dumped, but they also can’t be evil because that means your character has bad judgment about people.
Levels of sensuality – sweet and innocent to sexy and erotic. Be comfortable with whatever sexual interaction you are writing. Make sure every sex scene drives the plot, reveals character, is emotionally driven (even if it is driven by anger or desperation) and there for a reason.
Settings/series/extras: Create a rich, textured world. Create a locale that readers want to visit, a place to escape to. Pick a location that matches the tone of your book. Big cities for a fast paced, sarcastic book. A small town for an emotional, family-driven story.
Locations for individual scenes should match your setting – wine bars in a big city. Cities could have hustle and bustle or elegant anonymity.
Extra things you can add to make the plot feel richer – light suspense. If heroine owns a wine store use Napa Valley, giving a wine tasting, going to a wine party. Show them being good and comfortable in their environment. Build intimacy, comfort for your characters and your reader.
Building a series can build readership – family, a group of friends – you can also use locale – a beach resort or a small town. Bringing in characters from a previous book links them, and readers love it.
Choose something that you know and are comfortable with. It will come through and make the story more genuine.
Craft/Research: Ideas come from anywhere and everywhere. Things that happen to you, things you read about, things that happen to people that you know. Take interest and watch people’s behaviors.
You should research a contemporary. People love to talk about themselves. You won’t get in everything you learn – you’re not writing a book on how to be a lawyer – but that you know it creates a tone that carries through in your descriptions.
5 topics that anyone writing a contemporary romance should consider
Characters: How to make ordinary characters likable and immediately compelling. Give your characters characteristics we all can identify with. 2 tricks -- make me feel bad for them or make me like them. Open with a scene that makes characters sympathetic – unable to sleep at 3am because hotel neighbors are having a sex marathon, someone knowing they are about to get fired. Open with a scene that makes them likable – showing them being successful at work it shows they are ambitious, show that other people like them. Readers like people that others like. Show the character doing good things, catching the bad guy, something heroic within the modern world.
The alpha hero in the contemporary romance. Paranomal heroes can be almost beastial, primal. If your hero is very alpha, give him a quirk or vulnerability. Very macho, brusque character can also be an artist and wear glasses. Make him appealable to a larger audience. Make him sick so the heroine has to heal him a little bit. An alpha guy head over heels in love who will do anything for his lover softens his alpha qualities. Make sure if your best girlfriend described his as her new guy, you wouldn’t tell her to run. Give him a best friend who is not an alpha. Humanize them through their friends or pets.
Stakes: complicate a plot, keep the pace building. There is usually a plot and a subplot. Plot is the romance, subplot is whatever else is going on. You need a strong conflict right from the beginning. You have to show how these two people who we know will end up together, will not be getting together on page 50, or 100 or even 200. What keeps them apart once they start liking each other. There can be more than one conflict – initial conflict can be that they annoy each other, and then becomes concerns about getting involved with anyone due to work or something.
Subplot is often the set-up of the book. She witnessed a murder and the FBI agent needs to protect her. Often involves a job. The stronger the characters motivations in the subplot, the stronger the emotions will feel. If the heroine is trying to get a job, show why she needs this particular job in order to make it a motivation. Subplot increases the conflict, tension, motivation.
Adventure in a contemporary romance is falling in love. High emotional stakes. Build and inner world that is believable for why these people aren’t having a happily ever after by page 50.
Pacing should be two steps forward, one step back. In a high emotion scene, cut away to a scene involving other people. Gives readers a relief from being angsty and overly emotional. There has to be some degree of emotional risk.
Romance & relationships: Building sexual tension helps keeps the focus on the relationship. Sexual tension is all about conflict. If things are too easy, there is nothing to drive the story. H/h immediately at odds – like fighting for the same job – sets them at odds and create tension would be external conflict. A past falling out creates internal conflict.
H/h feel conflicted about how they feel about one another. The slow burn, Mr. Darcy / Elizabeth Bennett effect. They do not want to like each other, but they can’t seem to help the attraction.
Body language is very important, the way people look at each other can really ratchet up the tension.
Relationships with your main characters and others. Friends and family. People have friends, siblings, kids, co-workers, old friends, enemies, they don’t exist in a vacuum. Gives a different impression of the character when seen with people she likes, rather than someone she’s conflicted by.
Prior relationships can factor in as well, because it is reality. Exes are very useful in contemporary. Past relationships shape who we are and provide conflict. Walking in on your fiancé sleeping with another woman and she vows to never have anything to do with another womanizer. So of course, the hero in her story would have to be a womanizer. You can’t have cheating, be careful that the reader won’t feel bad if the person the character is currently dating is dumped, but they also can’t be evil because that means your character has bad judgment about people.
Levels of sensuality – sweet and innocent to sexy and erotic. Be comfortable with whatever sexual interaction you are writing. Make sure every sex scene drives the plot, reveals character, is emotionally driven (even if it is driven by anger or desperation) and there for a reason.
Settings/series/extras: Create a rich, textured world. Create a locale that readers want to visit, a place to escape to. Pick a location that matches the tone of your book. Big cities for a fast paced, sarcastic book. A small town for an emotional, family-driven story.
Locations for individual scenes should match your setting – wine bars in a big city. Cities could have hustle and bustle or elegant anonymity.
Extra things you can add to make the plot feel richer – light suspense. If heroine owns a wine store use Napa Valley, giving a wine tasting, going to a wine party. Show them being good and comfortable in their environment. Build intimacy, comfort for your characters and your reader.
Building a series can build readership – family, a group of friends – you can also use locale – a beach resort or a small town. Bringing in characters from a previous book links them, and readers love it.
Choose something that you know and are comfortable with. It will come through and make the story more genuine.
Craft/Research: Ideas come from anywhere and everywhere. Things that happen to you, things you read about, things that happen to people that you know. Take interest and watch people’s behaviors.
You should research a contemporary. People love to talk about themselves. You won’t get in everything you learn – you’re not writing a book on how to be a lawyer – but that you know it creates a tone that carries through in your descriptions.
RWA WORKSHOP :: MONEY TALKS
MONEY TALKS: the best kept secrets of digital authors with Maya Banks(Samhain/Desire/Berkley), Toni Blake/Lacy Alexander , Lindsey Faber (Samhain managing editor) & Heather Osborn (Samhain editorial director)
Samhain is a digital first publisher specializing in romance and now horror.
Samhain’s most recognized authors. Maya Banks, Lauren Dane, Loreleigh James, Vivian Arendt, Dana Marie Bell, Shelli Stevens
Sales come from
1) Amazon Kindle
2) B&N - grows every month
3) Samhain direct bookstore
4) Fictionwise
5) Sony
6) Kobo
7) Apple
8) Other bookstores combined
Vendors are hard to compare because they pay differently with different invoicing – monthy, quarterly, annually. Sales are growing exponentially.
Amazon December 2010 210K copies, 310K copies January 2011
B&N January 2010 8K copies, January 2011 72K copies
Samhain sales numbers in the first 2 years, as of March
Best selling Erotic range…8K-25K copies…a novel-length book on sales on Amazon is about 1.35/copy, Non-erotic…2K and above…over 50K copies
Midlist Erotic range…6K - 15K…achievable for most who write erotic romance for Samhain, Non-erotic…1K-2K
Lowest selling Erotic range 200-2K, Non-erotic Below 1K
The key to making a living as an author is consistent publishing. 2-4 releases a year is the sweet spot for staying on a reader’s radar.
Pricing – based on length, 2.50-6.50. The 99 cent frenzy in self-publishing is flooding the market, but not effecting publishers, just other self-publishers. Books need to be affordable, but readers are willing to pay for quality.
Kindle giveaways – give away 3 titles every month. 1 for the month, 2 for 2 weeks. Great exposure. Like to entice with the first in a series or a backlist book. Lauren Dane’s Giving Chase is free tomorrow for a month.
If you’re going to self-publish, you need to be your own publisher and you don’t want a crappy publisher. Hire the best editor, copy editor, and cover artist you can.
Self-publish or e-publish. Keep your time in consideration, Do you want to write books or publish them? Do you want to deal with editing, formatting, marketing, cover art, dealing with book sellers?
Aside from Kindle giveaways, what kind of promoting do you do for your authors?
Web banners on websites, ad in RT, discounts on preorders and new releases from Samhain’s store, promote Samhain for brand awareness. Co-op with Barnes & Noble. Relationships with review sites, newsletter, blog
How do digital releases feed into the sales of your traditional releases? Each feeds the other. Ebooks come out faster, so you can build and audience while waiting for a traditional book to come out. Better promo than anything else, plus it makes money rather than costing money.
Samhain is a digital first publisher specializing in romance and now horror.
Samhain’s most recognized authors. Maya Banks, Lauren Dane, Loreleigh James, Vivian Arendt, Dana Marie Bell, Shelli Stevens
Sales come from
1) Amazon Kindle
2) B&N - grows every month
3) Samhain direct bookstore
4) Fictionwise
5) Sony
6) Kobo
7) Apple
8) Other bookstores combined
Vendors are hard to compare because they pay differently with different invoicing – monthy, quarterly, annually. Sales are growing exponentially.
Amazon December 2010 210K copies, 310K copies January 2011
B&N January 2010 8K copies, January 2011 72K copies
Samhain sales numbers in the first 2 years, as of March
Best selling Erotic range…8K-25K copies…a novel-length book on sales on Amazon is about 1.35/copy, Non-erotic…2K and above…over 50K copies
Midlist Erotic range…6K - 15K…achievable for most who write erotic romance for Samhain, Non-erotic…1K-2K
Lowest selling Erotic range 200-2K, Non-erotic Below 1K
The key to making a living as an author is consistent publishing. 2-4 releases a year is the sweet spot for staying on a reader’s radar.
Pricing – based on length, 2.50-6.50. The 99 cent frenzy in self-publishing is flooding the market, but not effecting publishers, just other self-publishers. Books need to be affordable, but readers are willing to pay for quality.
Kindle giveaways – give away 3 titles every month. 1 for the month, 2 for 2 weeks. Great exposure. Like to entice with the first in a series or a backlist book. Lauren Dane’s Giving Chase is free tomorrow for a month.
If you’re going to self-publish, you need to be your own publisher and you don’t want a crappy publisher. Hire the best editor, copy editor, and cover artist you can.
Self-publish or e-publish. Keep your time in consideration, Do you want to write books or publish them? Do you want to deal with editing, formatting, marketing, cover art, dealing with book sellers?
Aside from Kindle giveaways, what kind of promoting do you do for your authors?
Web banners on websites, ad in RT, discounts on preorders and new releases from Samhain’s store, promote Samhain for brand awareness. Co-op with Barnes & Noble. Relationships with review sites, newsletter, blog
How do digital releases feed into the sales of your traditional releases? Each feeds the other. Ebooks come out faster, so you can build and audience while waiting for a traditional book to come out. Better promo than anything else, plus it makes money rather than costing money.
RWA WORKSHOP :: GOING VIRAL
How to build your brand using social media and the web – Jayne Ann Krentz, Stella Cameron Sheri Brooks (Purple Papaya), Cissy Hartley (WritersSpace)
Facebook changes in the last year – spam filter, option to convert a personal profile into a professional page, sponsored stories for advertising, streamlined promotion guidelines meant no more contests on Facebook pages.
Frequency of posting on Facebook and Twitter – not more than once a day so people see more from their friends than from you.
What to put on Facebook – share with your readers, but don’t over share. A little bit about yourself, but nothing about family kids, where you live, if you’ll be out of town. The key is getting the interaction.
Mailing list :: You have 50 characters in a subject line to grab attention and get readers to open your newsletter. Determine what you want to communicate, your goal, and build your newsletter around your subject line.
Contests have always been the best way to grow your mailing list. What you want to do is have all of your Facebook fans on your mailing list. The more you can do to cross link them, the better. You need to have those readers cataloged on your mailing list in case anything happens to Facebook.
Use a service or software to send the posting. Phpmail is software you can use if your host allows. Icontact, writerspace, they go up in price as your list grows.
Facebook contests :: Facebook never allowed contests, people just didn’t look for the rules until they were updated in May. People used to have people comment to win, but that is not allowed, and can compromise your status with Facebook. You can have an app created for you (upwards of $10K), or have a form created using a form service with an opt in and privacy policy
Basic legal issues :: Have your privacy policy, and know where your contest will be open – international, US, NA…every company has its own sweepstakes law. To offer a contest in Quebec you have to register with the government 30 days ahead and provide them 10% of the win. Post official rules.
Advertising options
• Facebook – advertise your page, your book…ads link directly back to your page. 30 words and a horizontal picture (vertical is too small)
• Website – banners and chatrooms
• Contests – big prize giveaways (Kindle) grow your mailing list faster, but keeping it to people who love your books make for a cleaner list.
• Goodreads :: growing in popularity, but it gets to the point where you need to decide if the time it takes to work it is worth it for the number of people you reach.
GooglePlus – another social network, will probably be more personal than facebook.
Utilities to customize your facebook page – ihtml – adds tabs to your page – used to make it so you can’t get to the entry form before you like the page.
Is there still any value to myspace? No, it’s the abandoned amusement park of the internet. Value for indie music types, but not really for writers.
Facebook changes in the last year – spam filter, option to convert a personal profile into a professional page, sponsored stories for advertising, streamlined promotion guidelines meant no more contests on Facebook pages.
Frequency of posting on Facebook and Twitter – not more than once a day so people see more from their friends than from you.
What to put on Facebook – share with your readers, but don’t over share. A little bit about yourself, but nothing about family kids, where you live, if you’ll be out of town. The key is getting the interaction.
Mailing list :: You have 50 characters in a subject line to grab attention and get readers to open your newsletter. Determine what you want to communicate, your goal, and build your newsletter around your subject line.
Contests have always been the best way to grow your mailing list. What you want to do is have all of your Facebook fans on your mailing list. The more you can do to cross link them, the better. You need to have those readers cataloged on your mailing list in case anything happens to Facebook.
Use a service or software to send the posting. Phpmail is software you can use if your host allows. Icontact, writerspace, they go up in price as your list grows.
Facebook contests :: Facebook never allowed contests, people just didn’t look for the rules until they were updated in May. People used to have people comment to win, but that is not allowed, and can compromise your status with Facebook. You can have an app created for you (upwards of $10K), or have a form created using a form service with an opt in and privacy policy
Basic legal issues :: Have your privacy policy, and know where your contest will be open – international, US, NA…every company has its own sweepstakes law. To offer a contest in Quebec you have to register with the government 30 days ahead and provide them 10% of the win. Post official rules.
Advertising options
• Facebook – advertise your page, your book…ads link directly back to your page. 30 words and a horizontal picture (vertical is too small)
• Website – banners and chatrooms
• Contests – big prize giveaways (Kindle) grow your mailing list faster, but keeping it to people who love your books make for a cleaner list.
• Goodreads :: growing in popularity, but it gets to the point where you need to decide if the time it takes to work it is worth it for the number of people you reach.
GooglePlus – another social network, will probably be more personal than facebook.
Utilities to customize your facebook page – ihtml – adds tabs to your page – used to make it so you can’t get to the entry form before you like the page.
Is there still any value to myspace? No, it’s the abandoned amusement park of the internet. Value for indie music types, but not really for writers.
What To Expect When You're At Conference :: Goody Room
Ah, the goody room. This year, the stash of author promotional material was supposed to be paper free since the amount of paper trashed after conference is usually cringe-worthy. But, there is a plethora of paperish stuffins. 
Bookmarks, excerpts, pens, nail files & candy are the norm. I love when people get creative. Here's what I found ::
What To Expect When You're At Conference :: Food
It's impossible to make everyone happy all the time, and so conference chicken was invented. It takes many forms, but it's something you can count on. Kind of like frizzy hair in humidity. At a conference there will always be chicken, otherwise, how would we break the ice with the strangers at the table?
With conference chicken as our benchmark, the nosh at parties is either better or worse.
Romance Diva's Cocktail Hour? One barstool up from conference chicken.
Samhain Author Breakfast? A chair up from conference chicken.Passionate Ink Buresque Soiree appetisers? One chair down from conference chicken.
ESPAN Chapter Tea? A wingback chair up from conference chicken.
PASIC Industry Reception's desserts? Two chairs up from conference chicken.Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Secrets From The PAN Retreat
I’ve never figured out why the PAN and PRO exclusive panels are called retreats. When I think retreat, I’m thinking a babbling brook, yoga, and comfy clothes. This was standing room only in a
STEVEN AXELROD, The Axelrod Agency
- 40% of ebook reader owners say they read more now than they did when they read print books.
- A small percentage of self-publishing authors are making a living from it.
- The fiduciary responsibility between a author and an agent gets blurred when the agent tries to be a publisher.
- Publishing has undergone changes and always grown from it. The last big change was the advent of the mall bookstore which led to big, blockbuster sales and series books that never existed before mall bookstores. Now, with the injection of ebooks, people are reading more and trying books that they never would have tried before.
- 75% of our business is still in print books.
- ebooks are the equivalent of what mass market was when it was introduced.
- Looking at how other forms of media made the digital transition and learn from what they did. We need to listen to the consumer and make digital content available to the consumer.
- Free as a business model does not work, free as a marketing strategy does work.
- On TV, we see that people are willing to pay for premium content (HBO) and as an author, quality is what you should be known for.
- Digital shorts to tie in to full-length works
- Bookperk – Groupon model for author experiences
- Avon exclusive content
- Facebook contests
SAMHAIN AUTHOR BREAKFAST
Samhain is giving out free ebook downloads of your choice, so I snagged a few more of those cards. Everyone loves something for free! Plus, it’s a great way to make friends with the folks sitting next to you in workshops and luncheons.
Whats the news at Samhain? All is good, but look for a bit of a website update as the Horror and RetroRomance lines grow. Nothing big, just giving the lines more of a presence. LITERACY SIGNING
But, the placing turned out to be a blessing since it made it easier for readers to get to me. I was tickled to have so many readers seek me out to say they enjoyed Compromising Positions. They really made my conference. As did passing out Samhain’s free downloads cards and telling people they didn’t have to use it for my book, but they should! It’s only Tuesday, and I’ve already decided New York has been good to me
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