Questions for Authors 62

Issue 62

Questions for Authors 

By Lazette Gifford

Copyright © 2011, Lazette Gifford, All Rights Reserved 

 

I was terribly late getting the questions out this month, but several authors came through for us yet again. Thank you for taking the time to answer!

 

1.     What do you do when you have a new book or story come out?

2.     Is there any sort of special celebration? A list of work you need to do?

3.     How much of your promotion is online vs. other methods? Have you been surprised by how well something worked?

 

C. J. Cherryh

 

1. What do you do when you have a new book or story come out?
 

Nothing special.

 
2. Is there any sort of special celebration? A list of work you need to do?
 

I usually find out about it when somebody shows up with a copy at a convention.


3. How much of your promotion is online vs. other methods? Have you been surprised by how well something worked?
 

Our e-book operations are different: we announce it, and announce it on Facebook. Usually by how fouled up it is. Facebook ads proved a waste. We do a lot better just announcing it on our Facebook sites.

 

C. J. Cherryh Website

RSS feed blog

Closed Circle Publications with Lynn Abbey and Jane Fancher

 

Sherwood Smith

 

1. What do you do when you have a new book or story come out?

2. Is there any sort of special celebration? A list of work you need to do?

I announce it on my blog, and put a link on my website bibliography, and I celebrate in private, but that's about it. I am not convinced that lots of horn tooting does any good--in fact, evidence seems to be piling up that unless you are naturally charismatic or already popular, it can be counterproductive. I keep seeing posts about "I stopped reading X's website because all it is is personal ads." and "I blocked Y's Facebook because all it has on it is bragging about the latest rave review of their book. If I want to read reviews, I look them up. I don't care about every crummy review, especially when the person only mentions the good ones."

3. How much of your promotion is online vs. other methods? Have you been surprised by how well something worked?

 

I think word of mouth is the best advertisement, and that is out of the author's hands, just as the book is out of the author's hands as soon as it is published. I think the best use of the author's time is to write the next one--and get good feedback in order to make it better than the last

 

Sherwood Smith Website

 

Jim C. Hines

1. What do you do when you have a new book or story come out?  Is there any sort of special celebration?  A list of work you need to do?

  

It depends.  I generally post on my blog, Facebook, and my other online sites.  Not a full-blown advertising campaign, but enough to let readers know the book's out if they want to check it out.  I set up a few book signings, but not as many as I used to.  I also drive around to the local bookstores to sign stock (and to make sure they actually have the books on hand, because I'm paranoid that way).  As for celebration, ice cream usually works!

 2.  How much of your promotion is online vs. other methods?  Have you been surprised by how well something worked?

 

Promotion is weird.  None of it has led to any drastic or obvious spikes in sales, but I think a lot of things have worked fairly well in the long term.  The majority of what I do is online, primarily through my blog.  Over the years, I've built up a readership of several thousand.  Not all of them are fans of the books, of course, but some of them are.  In the "real world," I've built up a great relationship with the local bookstore, and as a result, they stock and hand-sell my books a lot more than they otherwise might have done.  But anyone who thinks that they can just start up a Twitter account, post about their book, and the money will start rolling in is fooling themselves

.

Jim C. Hines Website

 

Lazette Gifford

 

1.     What do you do when you have a new book or story come out?
I usually announce it on Twitter, at Forward Motion and send an email to my husband.
2.     Is there any sort of special celebration? A list of work you need to do?
I used to get far more excited and have a small celebration of some sort (usually involving chocolate).  And it isn't that I'm any less excited about stories coming out now than I was before, it's just that I have so little time that sometimes I don't even notice when something comes out.  I have a list of things I should do, but I don't get to them often enough.  I hope to improve that this year.

3.     How much of your promotion is online vs. other methods? Have you been surprised by how well something worked?

All of my promotion is online, though I might be expanding into some local advertising in the future.  I was surprised how well a free novella went at Smashwords, but I haven't really had a chance to explore some of the options I need to.

 

Lazette Gifford's Website  

 

Jack Scoltock

 

1.     What do you do when you have a new book or story come out?
2.     Is there any sort of special celebration? A list of work you need to do?
I work on another. I also let my fellow writers know. I also take notes of ideas for a sequel if it's that type of story.

3.     How much of your promotion is online vs. other methods? Have you been surprised by how well something worked?

Most of my promotion is online.

I have not been surprised- yet.

 

Jack Scoltock Website

 

Darwin Garrison

 

1.     What do you do when you have a new book or story come out?
2.     Is there any sort of special celebration? A list of work you need to do?
Any acceptance usually comes with a to-do list of sorts. Contracts to be filled out. Edits to make. Bios to write. I usually deal with those things post-haste as soon as the editor gives me the go-light.

As for personal celebrations, I really don't have much. A gleeful note to friends about sums it up, usually accompanied by a better than average mood for a while. The thing is, by the time a story sells, I've moved on from writing it. The only time that doesn't apply is if I wrote a story for an antho or something, which has an entirely different emotional content than a story you write on speculation. I suppose that means I'm either not too excitable about the actual sales or that I'm just cold-blooded, take your pick.

What really gets my blood pumping, though, is when my stories are read and commented on. That's thrilling and I'll actually get really excited about that.
 

3.     How much of your promotion is online vs. other methods? Have you been surprised by how well something worked?

Most of the publicity work I have done involved going to cons and having an available on-line presence. Part of the issue there is that my pro publications were all in DAW-Greenberg anthologies, so paying for on-line ads didn't seem like a wise thing to do with my advance.

After working Evolutions, though, I've come to the conclusion that budgeting in for on-line advertising along with planning and working blogzines and various other on-line presence opportunities is necessary for generating a broad readership base. The problem, of course, comes down to ready cash and available time. The stark reality is that, in this newly burgeoning world of e-readership, print-on-demand, and the waning stars of brick-and-mortar stores and publishers, the burden for promotion really does fall on the shoulders of those least likely to pursue it: reclusive authors. All the great writing in the world won't get you noticed in a sea of mediocrity.
Careful promotion, though, can help you become visible and start generating your reader base.

 

Darwin's Website

 

Jane Toombs

1.     What do you do when you have a new book or story come out?
 
First of all I send it to my web-master who happens to be my son-in-law so he works for free. He always puts it on my web site immediately. I then post it to the various promo groups I happen to be on and to friends I think might be interested, plus various RWA groups I belong to. If I have blog dates I blog about it. I also add it to my readable CD of excerpts of all my books that I use for promo purposes. Since I don't have my own blog and don't belong to FaceBook or Twitter (if I did I'd never have time to write) I have to find these other ways to let readers know. So blurbs and excerpts get posted as well on groups that allow this. I belong to a closed group of 12 authors who promote each other, which has a website and newsletter, so, of course I notify the group leader as well.
2.     Is there any sort of special celebration? A list of work you need to do?
I never have celebrated any book release except my first.
 

3.     How much of your promotion is online vs. other methods? Have you been surprised by how well something worked?

 

 

All my promo is online, except for my CD excerpts which I send snail mail to various conferences, etc, when a call goes out for promo material. I have no idea how well any of this works.

Jane Toombs Website