Growing a Giant Set of Viking Balls

What’s the next big thing? As authors, we are always trying to figure that out. What do we need to do to get noticed? It’s a big ocean out there, and there are a lot of books swimming in the proverbial published sea. How do we stand out? What can we possibly do that hasn’t been done before, or at least, how do we create a new take on an old trick.

 

Viking Tricks

Marketing is a funky kettle of fish. We authors know how to write (hopefully, lol). Learning how to target and market our work is a whole other story. One that doesn’t always end in a happy ending. There’s a lot of trial, error, and blood, sweat, and tears in that tale. Where to even start? We can advertise traditionally—take out a newspaper ad for an event or a launch—or we can try our luck in the online world of advertising by embarking on campaigns through Twitter, Goodreads, or Facebook, for example.

Let’s look at one cornerstone of the author marketing experience: The Facebook Party.

 

The Facebook party allows fans from anywhere to comfortably pull up a computer and join the fun. We ask author friends to host time slots, or we go it alone. Each event involves tons of giveaways and prizes doled out at frequent intervals. We share funny memes, silly gifs, and great photos. We post teasers, excerpts, and trailers. But do we generate sales? Are our efforts tangible? Is there conversion? Do we break even—sales versus giveaways? How do we measure success—is it sales, or exposure? This is a tricky business. I’ve been to my fair share of launch parties, and I’ve hosted a couple of events myself. In truth, I haven’t seen any other entrepreneurial group giveaway so much, so often. It pays to be someone who follows authors. They giveaway the shirts off their backs in an effort to try and stand out from the crowd, and smart contest hunters know this. I read an interesting article about contest ‘groupies.’ Are they friend or foe? Contest groupies scroll the internet looking for new authors to follow and like. When events happen, they are the first ones there, interacting, playing along with the games, and kudos to them, winning prizes. The thing to keep in mind, is that these people love books too and they talk books up to others on the internet. I don’t question the people who follow the contests, I question whether this is a viable, efficient use of an author’s resources and time. Look around the internet. Try and find another industry where so much is given away for so little measurable feedback.

 

Now, I appreciate, not everything is about profit. Sometimes, we do things for the sheer entertainment value, in and of itself. Recently, I embarked on a marketing campaign that blew everything else I’d done before out of the water. It was ballsy, it was risky, and it was downright fun as hell. I have an event coming up at Blue Heron Books on Saturday, March 5^th from 2:00 – 4:00pm. I wanted to draw attention to it. I wanted it to stand out. I’ve done a lot of book signings in big corporate stores, but Blue Heron is a small, intimate Indy bookstore. I wanted this signing to be special. I needed a plan—an outside the box kind of vibe. 

The Big Event

Many moons ago, I read a book about a writer who showed up to her book launch, carried on a pallet, supported by several hulking sentries. At the time, I thought to myself, how cool would that be? A seed was planted. Recently, I found a way to incorporate that wild and crazy vision. My debut historical romance, Avelynn, is set in 869 Anglo-Saxon England. My heroine is the daughter of a Saxon earl, but the hero of the tale is a Viking. 

Ergo, I needed Vikings! I sent a call out on a few local Facebook groups, seeking stalwart young men, willing to pose shirtless as Vikings for a day. Their job was to hang out with fans and hand out chocolates to anyone who bought a copy of the book.  In a matter of hours, I’d found my three Vikings (body building photos confirmed these were just the type of men I was searching for). As part of the deal, I needed one evening for promotional photo ops prior to the book signing. I wanted a photo shoot where my handsome, tough Vikings posed with swords and cloaks, while, I, the respectable author, stood aloof and professional in my blazer, jeans, and boots.

The Respectable Author and Friends

Flash forward a few glasses of wine into the Durham Photo led photo shoot, and while I held onto my jeans and boots, I had donned a sword and shield of my own, and wore last year’s Halloween costume of a warrior princess. The results were magical. Those promotional photos could be used to hype up the event itself, but also to promote the book in general. 

Found another Viking

I then hired, Inkpen Studios, pros at social media promotional posters, and when I thought things couldn’t possibly get any better, they did! The designs to match the photos were out of this world. 

Me and my Viking

I invited friends to the photo shoot, who blasted their own camera phone selfies and live photos of the behind-the-scenes shenanigans on their own Facebook and Twitter status. I then shared those raw photos as well! 

Behind the Scenes Shenanigans

Will any of this result in more sales? Only time will tell. My event at Blue Heron Books on Saturday happens in two more sleeps. I’ll know if my innovative efforts were received if we have a rollicking good day of book sales and Viking hi-jinks. If the sales don’t come, at least I tried something new. I found a new angle. I played with a never-before-attempted idea. I had to grow a giant set of Viking balls to pull that off, but I’m already trying to figure out an excuse to do it all over again!

Ready for Battle

Happy marketing. Reach for the absolute limits of your imagination and don’t let fear slow you down. Grab hold and put yourself out there. Go boldly where you haven’t gone before.

In gratitude,

Marissa xo

Birthday Sex

I know we just had the big New Year’s countdowns and reflections, but my birthday was two days ago; so for me, this is bigger. It presents a candid opportunity to look at my accomplishments to date and my future goals as a writer. A birthday is a serious crossroads. One minute you’re younger, the next you’re as old as F*&k. 

I appreciate that in reality it’s a slow, gradual build up, but something about that number flipping from one day to the next, like a sadistic, surreal countdown to mortality, is humbling.

I thought since I’m twenty-nine (again) I should come up with a kick-ass twenty-nine list—something really mind-altering and profound—detailing all the things I’ve learned as a writer this year. Problem is, I could only come up with three. So, here instead, is my concise, yet enlightening birthday list. In no particular order:

1.  I really like sex. But more, I really like writing about sex and plan on weaving more of that pleasurable tapestry into my novels. I went to a workshop recently that challenged the audience to find ways of incorporating sex into literary fiction. What I mean to say is, in this workshop, we were exploring deep and penetrating (sorry, couldn’t help myself ;) uses of any sexual act or erotic tension to bring a story to a whole other psychological level. I decided that concept sucked balls (really, this is too easy ;) and will continue to write sex to titillate and entertain.

Sex scenes in any story shouldn’t be gratuitous. It has to mean something to the characters and progress the plot, but it doesn’t need to turn my characters’ worlds upside down and rock them to their core… unless it’s a mind-blowing orgasm—then it should totally do that. There is a time and place for deep questions about sex and sexuality in writing, but there’s also a forum to play with the erotic in a fun and sensuous way. I don’t want to change the world, I just want my characters to be very, very happy. 

2.  I need to write more. I’ve been to a lot of workshops lately that tout the need to write prolifically and super fast. These facilitators were throwing around insane numbers like completing six to seven novels a year. Each of these mystical creatures needed to be between 50,000 – 75,000 words long.

When I first started writing, it took me five years to complete my self-help guide, Life: Living in Fulfillment Every Day. At the time, I was working with my beautiful co-author Annemarie, so I blame the logistics of coordination. My second book, which happened to be my debut historical romance Avelynn, took a year and a half to write, and a year and a half to edit. Three years. Not bad. I was clearly making progress. The second book in the Avelynn series took two years in total. Currently, I’m working on a contemporary romance and have lofty aspirations to finish it well before a year is up. But, seven novels in one year? I know incredible writers who can actually do this. And kudos to you. Seriously. I’m jealous.

For those of you interested in writing more, faster… here’s my take away from those educational workshops: outline, outline, outline. I’m a pantser, so this was a tough pill for me to swallow, but I have to admit, I tried outlining a three act structure using Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat for my newest novel: Hot in Aruba, and it helped. A lot. I have a greater understanding of story structure and where the big moments are and why they are there. Once you get the main bits and pieces down in your outline and are ready to write your novel, take a few moments each and every day to get a feel for what you are going to write before you sit down to write it. Make jot notes; use conscious flow. Do whatever you have to do to understand what needs to happen in the scene you’re about to write and why it needs to happen. Figure out your most prolific time of day. Do you write more in the mornings? Evenings? Commit to writing during that time. Use the rest of the day to catch up on social media, for example. Determine your best place to work, where you are least likely to be distracted. Know your strengths and use them.

3.   Debut novels are not always the great big shiny stars you wished they would be. Once you discover this painful, festering gash of wisdom, you have to learn to cope with it. Avelynn, my beautiful book baby, didn’t get off to a great start. It did very well in Canada, but just couldn’t break into the American market. No matter what I did to promote it, not enough people knew it existed. Despite fantastic reviews, including glowing accolades in Canada’s National Newspaper The Globe and Mail, I just couldn’t garner enough attention. There are millions of books on Amazon alone, trying to make yours stand out is like finding a needle in a haystack. Once you come to this startling conclusion, there might be confusion, grief, despair, incredulity, anger, and frustration, but ultimately there will be relief and acceptance. If you’ve made it this far, a good rule of thumb is to understand that a debut novel is merely a gateway, a stepping stone to bigger and better things. The key is to keep writing.

I’m sure I’ve discovered a great deal more writing wisdom in the 365 days since I last encountered such a stark reminder of my distant birth year, but age blurs the memory. I’ll start working on the other twenty-six points as I go along for next year’s 29^th birthday post. :D

In gratitude,

Marissa xo

Writing A Series: An Inside Look

When I realized today was my day to write for the blog, I looked up in a daze from my latest WIP and thought...but what should I write about?  I asked the other Relentless Writers for suggestions and bemoaned the fact that I suck at blogging.

The conversation went something like this:

Me: I suck at blogging.

RW: You don't suck at blogging. Your posts are generally good. What you suck at is planning what to write. (*this is true)
 
Me: No, I really do suck at blogging. And planning.

(even Sherlock agrees)

RW: Wait, I know. Have you done a post about writing a series yet? (*because I write a lot of series)

Me:  And what would I say about writing a series?

RW:  How did you maintain the continuity between the historical western books? Was it different from how you approached the sequel to Hunter's book? Is contemporary easier than historical? How do you keep track of things? Pinterest boards? Google docs? Have you ever had a reader (beta or otherwise) catch a continuity error? What'll you do to keep that from happening? Are there any sources for "how to write a series" that you've found particularly helpful? From an agent's perspective/your knowledge of the industry, what are the pros and cons of writing books in series? What's your best piece of advice for a newby starting out with a series?

Me:  Oh wow. Okay, so my answer to all that is...I didn't plan that far ahead (big shock, right?). I did it all as I went. Oh, and Google.

RW:  ...

Me:  My post can consist of this: How to Write a Series, by M. Madigan. Come up with a fabulous idea (or you hope it is. It sounds fabulous in your head at least). Make a page of general notes (It's contemporary/western/post-apocalyptic and there are maybe five core characters you'll focus on for the series). Make more specific notes for book one. Start writing. Worship Google. Start the next book by making specific notes. Shoe-horn it into the series to fit with book one. Lots more Google worshipping. Do the same for the rest of the books. The End.

 RW: Um. Don't forget gifs.

That's how the conversation went, but I'm being (mostly) facetious about the process (okay, only partly). Everyone who writes a series will have a different process, so mine is just mine and could probably stand to be improved upon.

However, how do you write a series is a legitimate question because in many genres (romance, mystery, scifi, fantasy), series are hot. Readers want them, agents and editors look for them, so writers need to think about writing them. 

I seem to be a series addict. I've got no fewer than eight in progress at the moment: the Nevada Bounty series (historical romance), the Caine Brothers series (erotic contemporary novellas), the Forever Faerie series (paranormal romance), the Tap Zone series (contemporary MMA romance), the Dragon Club (shifter romances), Never Too Late (second chance at romance/women's fiction), the Timed Out series (space opera), and the Tales from Beyond the End (post-apocalyptic fairy tale retellings).

(that's a lot of series)

Why do I write series? Because I like to set up a world, fill it with people, get to know them and then put them through the wringer. I think that's why readers like them, too. I know that's what I like when I'm reading them, so that's what I aim for as a writer.

But how do you write a series? I can give you some idea of how I do it, but again, all writers are different. I write romance and science fiction so I can get away with some loosey-gooseyness where authors of mystery and fantasy probably can't. Those genres require some pretty tight plotting and planning.

So although I was being snarky when I said this is what my post would look like, in the end, it kind of does:


How to Write a Series, by M. Madigan

1. I'm struck by a fabulous idea for a series.  Often when this happens, I'll brainstorm with another writer friend just to be sure the story idea sounds as good out loud as it does in my head. I also look at some of the stuff that's selling in the industry to see if the idea has merit. If it has potential to sell (for instance, if I came up with an idea for a vampire/angel/demon romance, even if it was amazing, I wouldn't write it because that stuff is dead right now. It'll come back around again eventually, but I don't want to spend time now on something I can't sell), I'll move on to step two.

2. Make a page of notes for the series. What's the genre? Who are the characters? When I came up with the idea for the Caine Brothers series, I immediately sat down and made some general notes for each brother - his name, what he does (billionaire, biker, SEAL, rock star, fighter, shifter), who his heroine is, and a short paragraph blurb for the plot. All these things are subject to change, but the notes give me a vague shape for the series.

3. Make more specific notes for book one. I'm not a detailed plotter, but I do want notes to work from. I don't like writing myself into corners (I did this with the space opera and it took me a long time and some rewriting to get out). I do a character profile for the main characters, a setting worksheet, and write a couple of pages of linear plot summary. Often I will expand these as I'm writing and need more detail. I also make note of important details like dates, quirks, props, secondary characters, relatives, etc...anything that can be used throughout the series to tie them together. I love Pinterest as a visual way to keep track of characters, setting, props, clothes, etc. I have Pinterest boards for each book and/or series. Google is also my friend. I never know what kind of research I'll need until I'm deep into the story, so sometimes there's a lot of stopping-digging-starting going on. Writing a historical western required some pretty interesting research (for instance, 19th century western curse words). One of the great things about being a writer (I think) is that I get to teach myself about a whole bunch of new stuff that I probably never would have learned had I not needed to research it for a book!

Once the first book is done (after I've had my awesome betas read it--and yes, they've caught stuff I didn't see like continuity things, improbabilities, practical problems) and off to an editor, or self-published, it's time to move on to the next one.

4. Start the next book by making specific notes. Repeat the process with the next book. I go back and look at my series notes, figure out who's next, what the general plot is about, then open a document to begin expanding that into a fleshed-out plot. I'll review my notes from book one to see what I need to carry over (themes, tropes, etc), and get to work on the next one following the same general writing process. I kid when I say I have to "shoe-horn it into the series to fit with book one" because although I don't have obsessively detailed series notes, I hope they're good enough I don't have to force anything. And if I come across a problem, I just see that as an opportunity for creative solutions.

5. Repeat the process for as many books as are in the series.


For me, that's it. That's the process. It's part organic, part planning, part linear, part disorder, often frustrating, but always a wonderful, juicy, creative, wild ride!

The point is, if you write series you need to find what process works best for you depending on what genre you write, but also what kind of writer you are. There's no right or wrong as long as you figure out some form of organization and creative process that works to maintain your continuity and inspiration.

(use yours)

Now, go write.

~Margaret