Writing Quandries on Marketing the Non-Commercial

The Northern Colorado Writer's conference is coming up [March 30-31] which means I have to decide if I'm going to pitch or not. Bummer, because I'm not particularly interested in the pressure of commercial publishing. -[No, that doesn't mean I don't promote.]- Have a possible publisher of my MG manuscripts, but that leaves my Half-Elven in the breech without only my weak marketing skills to sell it. To add to the quandary, a fantasy agent is coming to the conference. Decisions. Decisions.

 Don't think I have to worry. I don't think the Half-Elven are really commercial enough. [Do I waste the agent's time or not? That is the question.] Or, to phrase it differently: I'm not commercial enough. Still, the Half-Elven haven't bored fickle-me yet after writing in their world for years.

If you're at the looking-for-an-agent-stage, you might read Rachelle Gardner's article: Is Your Book Good, Great or Hot? It gives writers an insight into how and why agents make decisions. [Yeah, if I pitch, I'll be going in, expecting to be rejected.]

Not commercial or hot enough? Another blog I read on "strong women" emphasized why my stuff isn't commercial ... even though I write strong women characters, I think.  [My son says Mariah doesn't kick enough ass, though.]

Anyway, check out J. C. Andrijeski's blog: "Strong" Female Characters and Why So Many Bug Me. It's one of the best thought out blogs I've read in a long time and continues my previous comments about "strong" women.

The above link is an example of why I like Twitter and visit it a couple times a day. I discover interesting points of view now that my following's inching towards 300. Once I skim though all the promotion stuff [ Yeah,I'm guilty of posting my Half-Elven stories there too.], I stumble upon retweets or links to information I might miss otherwise.

Hanging in the same pack can reduce your exposure to new ideas, however much you enjoy them. Preconceived notions are limiting and sometimes wrong. Had to chuckle when I crossed with a Galley Cat blog, thanks to Tamela Buhrke. It's a great listing of how many one star reviews besting selling authors gathered.  


No. Bad reviews aren't the reason I think I'm not commercial. My worst review was two stars for the free Gorsfeld short story. Complaint? The story was too short ... even though it's free!  Speaking of free. I've permanently made "Cavern Between Worlds" free too. Hopefully, both stories will lure more people to buy Taking Vengeance -- if I can break out of the "writer track".

And, remember. You don't have to have an e-reader to read an e-story. You can download both into your computer at Smashwords.

Finding New Authors to Read and Writing Craft Ideas

Fantasy Book Review:

Need a new author to read? Novella collections make a great way to discover new writers.  Hexed, which includes stories by Yasmine Galenorn, Ilona Andrews, and Allyson James about magic and mayhem, was no exception.  Granted it included two of my favorite authors and reminded me of another whose name I had forgotten [James].  Jeanne C. Stein was new to me.

While I usually don't care much for vampire stories, Stein hooked me with her Anna Strong in Blood Debt.  I've a soft spot for people who stand up to arbitrary authority, especially when they use their brains.  James even came up with an interesting "other" antagonist which hasn't been overused -- at least not in the books I've read.  So, I gave her four stars for creativity.  I think she lost a star from me for the vampire protagonist -- even if Anna Strong fights to keep her humanity and can walk in daylight. -- Hey, the vampire meme needs all the innovation it can attract.

Another reason I like novella collections is they can fill in the back story of important secondary characters in a series. Galenorn first hinted at a tragic past when she first introduced Iris Kuusi, a Finnish house sprite, in her D'Artigo sister's Otherworld series.  Her story Ice Shards fills in the details.  Magic Dreams by Ilona Andrews does much the same for a more minor secondary character in her alternative world of magical Atlanta. Allyson James reminds the reader that a relatively minor character can wreck greater havoc in a story than writers normally assign to them in Double Hexed ... if a writer pushes beyond the obvious.

I was sorry when the book ended.  Fortunately, I had rebuilt my to-read pile so I've a couple juicy reads to look forward to.  And no, I'm not going to comment on the quality of the writing in this collection.  These be master's here. -- Maybe I write half as well.

Grumping about My Lessons:
[Are we learning yet?]

Are you search engine friendly?  Like do you want to make it easy to find what you write whether blog or novel?  Chuck Sambuchino at the Guide to Literary Agents recently had a guest blog by Hollis Gillespie on How to be  Click Magnet. If your a writer, its a skill you must learn to improve your sales and/or the readership of your blog.  I know I printed a copy of the blog to study it.

Lesson:  Out of the ten tips, I picked up on writing titles.  I did notice my longer, more descriptive titles got more visits from search engines, but didn't think much about it.  Now I have a list of handy-dandy ideas to improve my blog readership.

Good thing I printed the article.  My eyes glazed over the first tips on getting most out of your titles.  Did you know Google only lists 65 characters in their search engine titles?  I didn't.  Now I know why so many search engine listings dangle in mid-idea. 

And, while you are writing that title, make it specific. I have to quote Hollis' example.  Newspaper speak:  "Senile Feline Enthusiast Dies".  Web speak: "Dead Crazy Cat Lady of Dayton an Undercover CIA Spy".  -- Rather nice that the old lady had an interesting life ... but, maybe, the red tape drove her crazy.

Did you read the article? Which tip seemed most appealedl to you?

Opening hooks have also been on my mind.  Since I've been curtailing my time on the web, blog opening lines have to hook me.  Then, I find K. M. Weiland's Word Play blog on hooking readers:  Is Your Opening Line Lying to Your Readers?

Found another gold mine, I think, on Twitter. Galley Cat did a blog on Find Reviews on the Book Blogs Search Engine.  This one's not a list of things to do.  It's a link to Fyrefly Books which has compiled a search engine about people who blog about books.  They also feature reviews you can search by genres.   

Trivia:

Remember.  No one ever said writing is easy.  I've notice it's also time consuming.

Bad Haiku Monday & Grumblings

Comment alert:
I seem to have hit a nerve on my comments about shrinking toilet paper last week.

Then Jon Ray at Big Burrito Media who did my trailer for  
Taking Vengeance
keeps telling me the book trailer will do wonders for my ebook
when I questioned the usefulness of trailers.
He thinks I'm too skeptical about the results [ie. sales].
His actual comment is somewhere in the comments,
but I couldn't find it in the two minutes I allotted to the search.
Yeah, I've started to time the amount of time I spend doing stuff online.
 

 My Grumbling:

Oh, the pain of it.  I'm trying to be organized in drafting my new Half-Elven story, like knowing where it's going before I write it.  *hangs head*  At the moment, I'm trying to figure how to work description and motivation into the action.  Maybe I won't have to revise as much when I reach the end. -- Of course, I first have to find time to write something new.

The Half-Elven world bible is slowing me down though.  I know so much more now than when I started it ... both about the world and how to craft a story.

Social Networking Links:

Is your Twitter account useful?  I know I spend more time there than other social networking sites.  The place is especially useful in keeping up with blogs of people I know or interact with frequently.  -- Which reminds me of something I should mention.  I've got a link to my Twitter address here.  So, if you are a follower or I follow your blog ... follow me on Twitter and let me know about it.  That way I can follow you back plus find your blog updates for sure.  My blog roll is getting longer and longer as I find more interesting people.

So, the question: how to get the most out of your Twitter account.  Jason Boog discusses Five Twitter Mistakes you shouldn't make in your Twitter profile on Galley Cat.

Need a pulse on the business side of writing?  Robin Sullivan who blogs at Write to Publish has an article of five blogs you should follow.  She includes Joe Konrath who recently mentioned a service that can help you get reviews for your books.

Oh, on Book Reviews.

Anyone out there know bloggers that review novellas?

WolfSinger Press gave me a pdf file I can give the reviewer for free.

I trying to steel my nerves to ask people to review a short piece rather than a full novel.

Time spent social networking is a worry according to writers I interact with personally. I'm throwing hubris to the winds and writing a guest blog on how I contain the time-slurper.  [a nice word for "such"] 

The Next Chapter of Quest

[More of my Bad Haiku story]

False King Attacks Again

5

King’s men circle trees.

Beaters narrow circle. Burn

Huts. Kill all young boys.

Heir jumps tree to tree,

Watching death’s bite through the leaves.

King’s men don’t look up.

Old king’s guards find boat,

Convince heir to leave the land,

Row across the sea.

Trivia: 

Got tricked at the farmer's market.  Needed "real" tortilla chips made from tortillas rather than paste.  Bought them without looking carefully and discovered they were flour ... harina.  While I don't have celiac [knock on my head], I do limit the amount of wheat I eat because it makes my nose drip.  [How's that for an unappetizing detail?]

Of Writerly Things and Marketing...

Cavern Between Worlds 

is up on Smashwords
You can read the story for free.

"All life has disappeared from an ocean rookery far from shore.  Captain Hattenel, a Half-Elven ranger, joins Voron, a disreputable sea captain, to explore the mystery, only to be catapulted into a dangerous world inhabited by dog-headed magic workers." 
Cover and Formatting by Tiger Author Services.  
 

Web Stuff:

The process of correcting my mistakes on my blog title. 

Kristen Lamb rubbed my nose in my blog mistakes in a recent blog about how writing about writing is wrong ... or at least counter-productive.  Why?  Well, for one thing ... writing a blog is one way to keep your website updated.  Probably the easiest way, in fact.  So, what if you snag a reader, maybe a fan, rather than a writer friend.  ...  Hey, you got two different audiences there.  ...  I see the problem, but don't have any solutions.  Any suggestions?  Does anyone have a solution besides two blogs.  [One blog is hard enough, time-wise, to do.] ... Yeah, I'm still blaming Roni Loren for puncturing my balloon.

So far, I decided to keep the blog title since I've been blogging with it for over two years.  I put "M. K. Theodoratus", "grumbling" in the blurb. 

Readers are coming to the blog from Goggle searches.Maybe, I'll get more searches with the new title ... if Kristen Lamb's right.  Maybe, not.  Whatever, all new followers and commenters are welcome. 

Trailer Teaser:

Just learned that there are awards for book trailers:  the Moby Awards.  Galley Cat has a series of links for the 2011 winners if you care to take a look:  best and worst trailers.  

The Next Bad Haiku Chapter: 

                                     Secret Hero:

Boy roams dark forests,

Not knowing who he is. Ma’s

silent unto death.

The boy’s guard teaches

Sword skills, cunning forest lore,

Battle skills and more.

The rumors don’t die.

Villagers gossip, tell tales.

False king hunts again.