Tag Archives: author

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When Authors Pull an Anne Rice

Yesterday, the internet was abuzz with news that author Anne Rice posted a link on her Facebook page noting that a blogger had given her novel, Pandora, a bad review and proceeded to rip up the book (literally) for a decoupage project. For those of us who follow Rice on Facebook, she wrote her customary “Comments welcome” above this post, which she often does to promote discussion about various things — usually current events. Although she didn’t encourage anyone to, needless to say, many of Rice’s 740,000+ FB fans barged over to the blogger’s page and let her have it. And some of the comments left for this blogger were pretty hurtful.

Anytime an author interacts with a reviewer, particularly one who has given a bad review, sparks are bound to fly. I agree with the first line of this Mary Sue blog post which discusses the Anne Rice incident: “If there’s one valuable lesson a creator can learn, it’s not to engage with reviewers.” I just feel like there is nothing to be gained by confronting someone who posts a bad review. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion and shouldn’t have to defend it or justify it.

The other day I got a lukewarm review for Baby Grand. Hey, it happens. But what especially bothered me about this review was that there was something written that was factually incorrect — it never happened in my book! A friend suggested, “Why don’t you just write a comment under the review and tell the reviewer what’s incorrect?” I shook my head. I told him that I find it lame when authors do that for the reasons I stated above. As I wrote on Anne Rice’s post: Better to just shrug one’s shoulders, I think, and move on.

The other day, a blogger wrote (for the life of me, I can’t remember where — I read so many blogs!) that his grandfather told him never to look strangers in the eye, particularly when you see them acting erratically. You just keep walking. The blogger said he uses his grandfather’s advice when dealing with internet commenters — who, essentially, are strangers.

I agree. When faced with a poor review, rather than pull an Anne Rice or give into the temptation of confrontation, an author’s best recourse is to steer clear and just keep walking.

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Just Do Your Thing

Lately, it seems like everywhere I turn, there’s disturbing news for authors:

It’s all enough to make a struggling author throw in the towel and become a plumber, although I’m sure the plumbing business has its own bad news and unscrupulous practices.

Listen, bad news happens. People will tell you the only way to get anywhere as a writer is to know someone, lie, cheat, steal, or write torrid sex scenes. They’ll tell you that you’re nuts, crazy, stupid, unrealistic to pursue writing or want to publish a book. They’ll tell you lots of things, things that are being said in every industry, from entertainment to business to politics.

Don’t let it deter you. Believe in yourself, in your book, and make it happen.

Plus, practically every negative and deflating story out there can be countered with a little positive energy, like Penny C. Sansevieri’s Self-Publishing Stigma: Because Revolutions Take Time or just about any post in Nathan Bransford’s blog, which often is a fountain of “you can do it.” There are plenty of bright spots and inspiring people in publishing today. Plenty.

So while getting to your goal may be a difficult road, paved with liars and cheaters and meanies who don’t hold doors open for little old ladies, don’t fret. Just do your thing, and it should be all right.

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Marketing Tips #2 & #3

Promote your author events on social media. Very important. Which leads me to today’s companion tip:

Don’t over-promote your author events on social media. Equally as important.

Today’s marketing tips go hand-in-hand. Those of us who do most of our book promotion online, particularly through social media, know the fine line there is between promoting and over-promoting our work. I’ll bet many of us can point to Tweeters or Facebookers who bombard our home or newsfeeds with nonstop ads for themselves. As supportive as the publishing industry is — and it is! — it can get pretty annoying after a while.

Give and take is what social media is about — and, actually, more giving than taking. The general ratio I strive for — and this differs, depending upon what website you consult — is 7:1. In other words, for every seven tweets or Facebook posts I do, I will do one promotional post, which may mention a new 5-star review Baby Grand has gotten or a contest I’ve entered (did you know that I was nominated for Best Long Island Author?) or a guest post I’ve done. I strive for the vast majority of my posts to be informational (the sharing of interesting blog posts or articles I’ve stumbled across, as well as my own experiences and lessons) and supportive (retweeting good news for fellow authors).

Last Monday, I had my first book signing for Baby Grand — an event I promoted heavily, mostly on Facebook and Twitter. Again, I tried to straddle that fine line between promoting enough and promoting too much. In the end, the event was successful; more than 100 people attended, and I sold a ton of books.

I’ll tell you now… I don’t think anyone would have showed, other than my husband, mom and kids, if I hadn’t promoted this thing for months (periodic reminders, I’ve learned, are good). But I also feel that no one might have showed if I totally alienated all my friends and colleagues with a constant bombardment of promotional posts.

We want people to be happy to see our tweets and posts and blogs. The last thing we want is for people to roll their eyes or, worse, to unfollow or unfriend us because they’re fed up. Although there are those who think that any publicity is good publicity, my feeling is that too much promotion can be worse than none at all.

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Meet Author C.B. Knadle

I met today’s featured debut author Charlene Knadle at the book signing of a mutual friend, Jeb Ladouceur, at the wonderful independent bookstore, Book Revue, in Huntington, New York. I’ll be back at Book Revue this coming Monday, October 15—this time for my own book signing! I’ll be speaking, Q&Aing and signing copies of my debut novel, Baby Grand. Yippee!

Name: C.B. (Charlene) Knadle

Name of book: Paper Lovers

Book genre: Suspense/Mystery/Romance

Date published: June 2005

Publisher: PublishAmerica

What is your day job? I teach at Suffolk County Community College.

What is your book about? Dana Ritz, a.k.a. Charlotte Ruth, who writes romance novels, attends a banquet where writers exchange books. She meets a man who writes romances under a female pseudonym, Roberta Rhodes; she’s been curious about him and has read his earlier books. She goes with him to his car where he has copies of his latest. He throws her into the car and takes off. At his residence are four other women—some of whom she recognizes. Unlike herself, they are happy to be under his domination. Her presence inadvertently disrupts the peace; troubles ensue. With difficulty, she devises a means for escape. There is a trial, at which surprising events and revelations occur.

Why did you want to write this book? I liked the idea of combining the genres of suspense, mystery, and romance, but the trigger for the book was a dream that gripped me.In the book, it is only a half-page scene, but it was the seed for the whole drama.

What would you say is the most challenging part of writing a book? That’s really hard to say; there are so many challenges. For one thing, there’s the old cliché that “life interferes.” But once you begin writing and know in a general sense what your story is and who the characters are, it isn’t hard at all. Each bit of writing suggests the next. Then you have to stop to deal with other responsibilities. It’s important to find on-going time to write.

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Meet AG Fredericks

As I write this, my kids are mourning the end of summer and preparing for their first day of school tomorrow. So before I head off to wipe a few tears and pack a few lunches, here is this week’s featured author in my Debut Author Q&A series: AG Fredericks.

Name: AG Fredericks

Name of book: The Troy Standard

Book genre: Literary fiction

Date published: May 5, 2012

Publisher: CreateSpace

What is your book about? This is always the most difficult question for me, because the book touches on so many themes and topics, and I just want to get into all of them. The proverbial “nutshell” is never adequate enough for an author, and it’s always tempting to give away too much. But I’ll give it a stab.

The book follows the life of Troy Mulligan as he works hard at achieving a perfectly honest and noble life after an awakening of sorts. In his search for fulfillment, he slowly realizes that he has been at the mercy of the world around him, and he desperately wants to be in control of his own life. As part of this search, he donates his time and money toward charitable projects. Over time, he develops a belief that the base form of finance, the U.S. dollar itself, is unstable and could potentially lead to dangerous circumstances that people just haven’t realized because their heads are just too far in the sand.

A billionaire philanthropist/rogue investor approaches Troy with a plan – to establish a new global currency using a solid base of precious metals. Troy is intrigued and feels that this project may very well be his calling in life. But there are a lot of powerful and ruthless people standing in their way who do not want to relinquish their control over the status quo. Hilarity ensues. (Not really, I just love saying that.)

Why did you want to write this book? I am deeply disturbed when I look at our country’s political and economic situation and the way we arrived at where we are – from both sides, left and right. In particular, I am fascinated about the history of money and its current state in world affairs. The “history of money” seems like it would be a very important topic for everyone to understand. Yet not many people do.

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Guest Post: Why I Chose to Self-Publish after Being Published by New York

One of my favorite things is hearing about the publishing experiences of other writers. Today, author Carole Bellacera tells us why she chose to self-publish her novels after having had deals in the past with traditional publishing houses.

I admit it. I was a snob. Back when I finally sold my first novel to a major New York house, I looked down my nose at anyone who’d self-published their books. For thirteen years, I’d struggled to sell a novel, coming close a few times, but always falling short. But even then, after working with three different agents, and suffering years of rejection, I held fast to my belief that if I had to stoop to self-publishing, I wouldn’t be a “real author.”

And now here I am, almost 30 years later, a self-published author. How did that happen? Well, it’s a rather familiar story to many authors. After my fourth book came out by the New York publisher, my editor left for greener pastures, leaving me an unwanted orphan. No one else, apparently, saw in my work what my editor had, and all support dried up. Of course, my sales sucked swamp water, which, I’m sure, accounted for the lack of excitement on Fifth Avenue.

Burned out and discouraged, I took a few years off from the business side to renew my love affair with what was important to me – writing. I wrote two complete novels and then waded back into the quick sands of publishing – only to find that I was starting over from the very beginning. Agent hunting, editor hunting… rejection followed by rejection. Having a track record didn’t seem to make a difference.

That’s when I decided to take back control of my career. I was sick of being told “no, your work is not worthy.” I knew it was worthy. I was the same writer I’d been when I sold four novels which earned raving reviews, if not sales. So I got my rights back from my New York publisher and put my backlist out on Amazon’s Kindle program. But I didn’t stop there. I’m in the process now of reissuing all my backlist in print, too. And then I took the two unsold books I’d been shopping to New York and put them out through Amazon’s CreateSpace.

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Meet Cathy Presland

Today’s featured debut author, Cathy Presland, wants to help you get your business up and running and has written a nonfiction book to show you how to do it.

Name: Cathy Presland

Name of book: Get Momentum Guide to Starting a Business: 30 Days to Turn Your Inspiration to Income

Book genre: Nonfiction/Business & Entrepreneurship

Date published: January 2012

Publisher: Self-published with BookBaby

What is your day job? I run my own business – author, speaker and mentor to inspired entrepreneurs.

What is your book about? How to start a business. I wanted to take what can be a very overwhelming process and break it down into straightforward steps that guide a new entrepreneur through the essentials. My aim was to help readers get their business up and running quickly. And start making income – this bit was important because I found that new business owners who don’t make an income very quickly get very disheartened. I’m sure it’s the same for authors who don’t sell. We lose confidence, and that can stop us from doing the things that matter to get our products out there.

Why did you want to write this book? I had been teaching this material and wanted to get it out to more people in an accessible form. And partly it was simply wanting to write a book. There’s still something magical about it, even if it’s only an e-pub right now.

What would you say is the most challenging part of writing a book? For me, it’s definitely the editing, just the idea that I have to read through those 40,000 words and make them better – although I find that the idea is always worse than the reality. If I chunk it down, it’s not too bad. One section or one chapter. But if I didn’t have to do it at all… that would be perfect!

What kind of research did you conduct in order to write this book? The book was a couple of years in gestation. I’d been mentoring women entrepreneurs, and this came out of my experiences with them. You know that when you find yourself going over the same ground and repeating the same message that there’s something that needs to be said.

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Advance Praise for ‘Baby Grand’

Here’s a sampling of some of the advance praise for Baby Grand. Thank you to all of you who took the time to read my debut novel. I am grateful for your kindness and humbled by your kind words.

  • “A perfect thriller from Dina Santorelli—heart-stomping, emotion-packed and utterly surprising. Readers will be gripped by the tightly woven story and richly layered characters. A terrific read!”
    —Ellen Meister, author of The Other Life
  • “What an enjoyable read! It pulled me in at the beginning and didn’t let go until the last page. Very difficult to put down! I’m already looking forward to the author’s next book.
    —Joseph Mugnai, publisher, Family magazine
  • “A superb debut for Dina Santorelli. A well-crafted novel that’s also a page-turner. Baby Grand’s a winner; you won’t want to put it down.”
    —Julia Markus, critically acclaimed biographer and winner of the Houghton Mifflin Literary Award for her novel Uncle
  • “Dina Santorelli has the gift of a natural storyteller, and Baby Grand sweeps along at a frantic pace, plunging the reader into a tale with wonderfully real characters you care about. It’s very human, very exciting, and absolutely engrossing.”
    —Chris Nickson, author of the Richard Nottingham series of historical mysteries
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Meet Author Denise Schipani

Today’s featured debut author is my friend and colleague Denise Schipani, who has written a nonfiction book about the importance of doing the “hard stuff” when it comes to parenting. Here, Denise also discusses working through the “hard stuff” of writing – how she took on the longest and biggest writing assignment of her career and came out a published author, and the mother of two very proud little boys, on the other side.

Name: Denise Schipani

Name of book: Mean Moms Rule: Why Doing the Hard Stuff Now Creates Good Kids Later

Book genre: Nonfiction/Parenting

Date published: April 1, 2012

Publisher: Sourcebooks

What is your day job? I’m a writer and an editor; I write for magazines and websites, and my own blog. I’ve been fulltime freelance for seven-plus years, and before that was a consumer magazine editor for 16 or so years.

What is your book about? It’s pretty much as the subtitle says: That parents are wise to do the “hard stuff” (teaching values, saying “no” where appropriate, teaching skills, remaining in control) early on, with the end goal of raising good kids later. It’s a reversal of sorts of the more loosey-goosey parenting style that’s been in vogue the last couple of generations, and that to me seems centered on the here and now. That said, though I’m clear on what I think and what I mean, my tone is neither didactic nor dull (I hope!). In fact, I go for the funny as much as I can.

Why did you want to write this book? I started blogging in 2009, because – and I mean this literally – the idea leaped into my head and “spoke” to me. Turned out, I had a lot to say. I wasn’t necessarily thinking “book,” but a couple of agents got in touch and got me thinking, and eventually I turned out a book proposal.

C’mon, you can tell us… Do you really consider yourself a Mean Mom? I do. I knew I would be before I had kids. But I am careful to point out that I’m “mean” not because I’m harsh, unkind, or not affectionate. I’m mean because my style of parenting is out of the mainstream a bit. And because there are times it’s harder (for me to do, and for my kids to receive), but not because it’s not benevolent. I’m a big hugger, and my kids don’t want for anything. The thing is, when I say they don’t want for anything, I’m the one who decides what they need, not them (because they think they need Club Penguin cash and an iPod and a 10 p.m. bedtime, none of which they are getting right now).

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Why I’m Publishing ‘Baby Grand’ Thru Amazon’s KDP Select

Two weeks ago, I announced that I’ll be self-publishing Baby Grand as an ebook through Amazon’s KDP Select. Last week, I blogged about why I decided to self-publish my novel. Today, I’m discussing why I’m using KDP Select.

For those unfamiliar with KDP Select, it’s a new option at Amazon in which, in exchange for exclusivity on your eBook for three months, you get some extra marketing/royalty help. For instance, as part of the program Amazon Prime members who own a Kindle device can “borrow” your eBook from the Kindle Lending Library (even though members read it for free, you still earn $$$$ based on several factors — how many times your book has been “borrowed,” the number of total borrows for all KDP Select books for the period and how much has been invested in the program by Amazon in that given month).

In other words, Baby Grand, for the first three months of its publication, will only be available to Kindle customers, who will be able to buy the ebook for their device or Kindle Apps during the period of exclusivity, or “borrow” it from the Lending Library if they are an Amazon Prime member with a Kindle device.

This means I have had to tell more than a few non-Kindle e-reader users (including my sister-in-law) that, no, they couldn’t buy/read Baby Grand until August, when the exclusivity deal is over, especially now that I don’t plan on making a POD paperback available until later this year. And every time I say that, there’s this undeniable lump in my throat as I hope that these people will indeed stick around and wait the three months and that I can maintain some excitement for the book in the interim.

Why do it this way?

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