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I had a hundred million other things to do the other day but then I came upon this piece in the New York Times about "Protecting Your Privacy on the New Facebook".
The NEW Facebook? Again?
Sigh. What with now being a quoted company, FB is adding new meaning to the word INSIDIOUS.
Having said that, as someone who promotes stuff on Facebook, I have found the Facebook page very useful in
11 Comments on Geek List: Paying attention to Facebook Pages, last added: 3/1/2013
Thanks Candy, Great post as ever. I'm about as technically competent as a goldfish, (I do dabble though), so this is very helpful. If you ever want to do a Twitter one with a list of what all the #'s means that would be great. <br /><br />Told you I’m a complete technophobe!<br />
Thanks, Sally. I'll keep this page updated so that we don't ever have to write another one. Actually, i was about to write a Twitter piece and then I lost the will to live. It was easier to do the Facebook one.
Thanks Candy! This is one of those "must reads", I can feel it in my bones! <br />And the links too - must make time to read those links...(but why doesn't Chrome have that nice "to read" slot on the left of the menu bar, like Safari does?)
That would be useful, wouldn't it? That gives me an idea. Maybe I should put a to-read thingy on the left hand side of the website for info that might require revisiting.
I's so complex I am seriously considering jacking it all in.<br />Thanks for the article tho', Candy.
Anonymous said, on 2/27/2013 7:12:00 AM
Sally,<br />I'm confused by all the references to hashtags, too...I know they mean something but what???? Have to publish this as "Anonymous" cuz I don't understand all the stuff about URLs and google accounts...Patti
But if there's anything you should read first it's the link to the New York Times privacy advice - the tools do everything and not just Facebook. I feel so much better now that I've run my profiles through them. Very useful.
Thanks for commenting even if you don't understand which profile to choose - next time, go for Name/URL ... just put 'Patti' in the space for name. You don't have to put anything under URL.
I just read The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan and what an amazing book it is. I am quite overcome. It's not just the magical writing - it's the story of my life!
Near the end one the characters talks about being born in the Year of the Tiger. I paid close attention because I was born in the Year of the Tiger. As was my mother. And my daughter.
...Then she told me why a tiger is gold and black. It has two ways. The gold side leaps with its fierce heart. The black side stands still with cunning, hiding its gold between trees, seeing and not being seen, waiting patiently for things to come.
It is five months till the publication of Tall Story and my gold side is leaping.
So little time, so much marketing to do. Not to mention another novel to write.
At the same time, my black side is cringing in the shadows. Is it too soon to begin trumpeting my book? Isn't it too crushingly embarrassing to tell people yes, it's really good? What if I set up a Facebook page and nobody becomes a fan? What if I come across as vain and annoying? Whatifwhatifwhatifwhatif?
Chatting with my nephew (on my husband's side), an aspiring conductor, about the business of networking - he told me something that really brought home to me what an enormous task I am facing. I paraphrase:
Our instinct is to be self deprecating. We don't want to shout about how good we are because we don't want people to dislike us. But there comes a point when this becomes a real problem. We actually have to get better at telling people that we are good at what we do.
Get over yourself, I tell myself sternly. Just get on with it.
So in the mornings, I write a few hundred words towards my new novel. And in the afternoons I work on a list of Things to Do to promote my book.
Joanna Kenrick: And it's absolutely right that you're getting excited and want to start telling people about it. I want to do that with my new series Sweet Hearts too but I think I shall throw my energies into the publicity stuff two months beforehand, not earlier - that way people won't have forgotten about it again by the time it actually comes out ;-)
Frankie:librarians. get the attention of librarians' groups. they will order and stock your book and recommend it to young readers.
Candice: Book parties! Book signings! Book readings! Is it too soon to start?
Candy: candice, i am told marketing departments are very down on book launches because they don't generate enough publicity. but i'm determined to have one. does an author have to make news to be news?
Philip Ardagh: I find it extremely difficult to talk about my extraordinary talent, so let the stunning beauty of my prose speak for me. (Book list available on request.)
Candy: you are too funny philip. i choked on my laptop!
Philip Ardagh Funny? FUNNY?!? *Wail* Why does no-one ever take me seriously?! *Sob*
Hi Candy! As a book blogger, I can say it is never to early to start telling us about your book. We post out excitement for books yet to be released a year or more in advance sometimes.
I have another suggestion for online marketing. You could join www.goodreads.com if you are not already registered. There is a special bit for authors and fans can follow you. Fans get notified each time to do a new blog post. I'm sure there are other great features that I haven't discovered yet too.
Oh no - don't tell me more ways of marketing myself! I've done most already (note to self - Amazon Author Central)- thank goodness. Then again I started a year ago.
What wise words from your nephew - Good Luck and Happy New Year!
Now it gives me GREAT pleasure to see someone I met on the internet get some mileage! Here's the trailer for John Mayhew's book, coming soon ... and it's wonderful!
Brrrr!
3 Comments on Book Trailer for Mortlock by John Mayhew, last added: 9/24/2009
Not that YA author John Green (Paper Towns, Looking for Alaska) is a cool online personality only because he's trying to sell his books ... but look at what he got from his social network on his birthday -
And here was John's response: If you can't be arsed to view the entire video, here's the most important thing John said:
People didn't make those songs or artwork or pictures and video clips in order to become famous or rich. They did it, to quote William Faulkner, "not for glory and least of all for profit but to create out of the materials of the human spirit something which did not exist before."
Every single day I get emails from aspiring writers asking my advice about how to become a writer. And here is the only advice I can give: Don't make stuff because you want to make money; it will never make you enough money. And don't make stuff because you wanna feel famous because you will never feel famous enough. Make GIFTS for people. And work hard on making those gifts so that people will notice the gift and like the gift. Maybe they will notice how hard you worked and maybe they won't. And if they don't, I know it's frustrating. But ultimately that doesn't matter because your responsibility is not to the people who notice but to the gift itself.
0 Comments on What happens when authors become cool online personalities as of 8/30/2009 6:19:00 AM
Yes you can! Make your own promotional video that is - and you don't need a camera or video skills or sound equipment. All you need is a computer, wit and the text-to-movie website Xtranormal ... as Nicola Morgan (Deathwatch ) demonstrates on her blog, Need2bPublished:
I admit it. I'm becoming increasingly dependent on YouTube videos to keep my blog updated regularly.
But seriously, you guys, I am interested in your FURTHER EDUCATION. Especially you PUBLISHED writer guys, the ones who are no longer on the slushpile, the ones who have a book out, or a book about to come out, the ones who are still asking yourselves everyday, 'should I have a website?' 'should I blog?' 'should I do a video?' 'is it worth the time?'
My answer is ... AAAARGH. Some people don't deserve their success.
Anyway, here is John Green (again!) showing you guys how to keep faith with your young audience:
Moral of the blog post: if you're about to be published, be seen by your audience and your book will be sold. You can't procrastinate over marketing your book (unlike when you're writing it).
0 Comments on Further Education: be published, be seen and be sold. as of 5/24/2009 8:01:00 AM
My friend Fiona Dunbar's new book Tiger-Lily Gold has just come out and to celebrate she made this video (I helped!)
Meanwhile, Nicola Morgan (Deathwatch) is aiming for a world record in school visits.
Anthony Horowitz (The Power of Five: Necropolis) is appearing in a virtual event targetting nine thousand children in 216 schools.
And big name authors are guaranteed roles at a proliferation of children's book festivals to draw the crowds.
The Book Brunch children's column wonders "how much the life of a children’s author has become about personal contact with children as well as contact through books ..."
Have we lost anything since the days when we only knew writers and illustrators through their books? When we weren’t necessarily sure what sex E B White, E Nesbitt, P L Travers, and L M Montgomery were, let alone what they looked like? (Though A A Milne and C S Lewis and J R R Tolkien had got famous enough for us to know.) Was there something to be said for imagining an author through his or her work? P L Travers looked liked Mary Poppins in my head.
Is the standard of performance getting too high for authors who are "merely" good at writing? So it is not enough to write a gripping tale: you also have to be Eoin Colfer in front of an audience. Or do these showmen do the whole profession the favour of giving it glamour, and making kids want to be in it, as they want to be other kinds of celebrities? Read more
Should we resist the demands of our ever-more-swiftly spinning world? Should we insist that writers be allowed to do only that, write?
Someone mentioned Peter J Murray's website on one of the message boards I follow and I casually followed the links to this video which tells how Murray went from being self published to a three book deal. The most impressive thing in this video is Murray performing during at schools. The man is an inspiration!
What an amazing story! And what a nice guy. Of course, it does kinda beg the question - but what if you're not a teacher and have never been and so don't have the kind of links he had... Still, I guess there is more than one way to skin the proverbial cat! Thanks for sharing!
Today is also the launch of Google's Street View, by which anyone can punch a city post code into Google Maps and see the location in 360 degree photographic views.
The launch of anything that smacks of new technology has of course prompted fear and trembling over issues of privacy, with Google acting quickly to remove objectionable photos. When the service was launched in the US, a new past-time of streetspotting was invented.
The literary possibilities of Google Street View are mind-boggling. Do have a listen to tonight's episode of Front Row (20 March, Friday), the radio arts programme, in which Ian Rankin and Graham Hurley discuss the cons (readers can visit fictional locations and the disconnect between story and reality might might get in the way of the story's believability) and the pros (oooh, the story ideas... Street View as murder alibi ... Street View revealing the future).
If you've written a book that has to do with archaeological digs and ancient civilizations like The Mummy Snatchers of Memphis by my friend Natasha Narayan - Google Earth claims to be able to give you access to the past, "With a simple click, take a look at suburban sprawl, melting icecaps, coastal erosion and more". As well as dive under oceans, etc etc.
There is some muttering that Google's ubiquity, so dangerously Microsoft-like, has pushed the corporation over to the Dark Side ... that Google has betrayed its famous motto, Don't Be Evil.
Are we in danger of being exploited by the Google juggernaut marauding into every corner of our lives?
Perhaps.
Meanwhile why not exploit everything that Google has to offer first?
0 Comments on Google, Google Everywhere as of 1/1/1900
I've just finished building Sarwat Chadda's website in anticipation of the May launch of his "goth-lit" thriller, Devil's Kiss. Check it out on sarwatchadda.com.
I'd always wanted to do a website with a dark, dark theme and Sarwat has now fulfilled that wish, thanks for hiring me Sarwat!
I thought I'd blog about a few ideas that came to me while making the website. Here goes:
TIP FOR AUTHORS WAITING FOR FAME AND GLORY NUMBER ONE: Have your author portrait taken as soon as possible, preferably five or ten years ago, before the crow's feet, thinning hair, wattle chin, and other signs of aging have totally set in.
The most dangerous part of this project (for Sarwat) was handing over a CD of studio portraits for me to pick and choose from. Woo hoo! I tried hard not to rub my hands gleefully in front of him. Oh the magic one can do with Photoshop! But then Sarwat of course was wise to my game and threatened me with the kind of violence even his book would blush at if I dared upload anything silly to Facebook.
Luckily we came to a compromise and I got to make these humorous mash-ups for his 'About Me' page.
Sarwat on holiday in the East.
Sarwat realising he was in competition with Buffy.
Sarwat being told he should write for Bette Midler (hey, I love Bette Midler!)
Sarwat winning a place in the Undiscovered Voices anthology.
Oh I didn't go ahead with that last one. I couldn't get a satisfactory blend of Sarwat's neck with Miss America's.
TIP FOR AUTHORS WAITING FOR FAME AND GLORY NUMBER TWO: When you have that pictorial with the professional photographer, make sure while they are shooting off the customary 101 frames, that as well as the formal I am a glamorous author pose, you pose with different expressions. Smiling, looking right, looking left, looking upwards, looking downwards, making silly faces ... this will be useful for future digital compositions by your friendly neighbourhood designer. I suggest this because Sarwat had exactly two expressions on his CD which made it hard to make him look truly ridiculous. Dang.
Part of the job was redecorating Sarwat's blog to match the livery of the website. Sarwat's early blogging has been targetted mainly at fellow writers. With his book out, he will have to change gears, target his readers - without alienating his currrent following.
Apparently some authors have had to endure severe lambasting by fans when they're late with the next book or not living up to their duties as Famous Author!
These days, writers invite personal involvement and intensity from their readers. In direct proportion to the way in which they share their personalities (or for-consumption personalities), their everyday lives, their football teams and word counts, their partners and children and cats, it encourages in readers a sense of personal connection and access, and thus an entitlement to comment, complain, recommend cat food, feel betrayed, shriek invective, issue demands: “George, lose weight, dammit!” More
...“Release the fans!” seems to be the phrase that applies ... Globe and Mail
Hmm. So what is my Tip Three?
TIP FOR AUTHORS WAITING FOR FAME AND GLORY NUMBER THREE: Sure, go ahead and blog. Blog because your editor and your agent said you probably ought to. Blog because you've enjoyed keeping a diary since you were five. Blog because that's what they say authors have to do. But remember: it's a two-way relationship. The fans can dish as much as they take.
0 Comments on Tips for Authors on the Brink of Fame (and even maybe Fortune) as of 1/1/1900
The author Novella Carpenter is in nail-biting mode, awaiting the release of her book Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer in June 2009.
Holiday book sales were abysmal, and most of the major publishing houses have announced job losses in recent months. One publishing behemoth, HarperCollins, lost 75 percent of its operating income during the first six months of 2008. Over all, the publishing industry has struggled as bookstore sales -- and the economy -- have slowed drastically.
My agent told me the other day that things were not as bad as that yet in the UK, but what's going to stop me being miserable anyway?
The point of Carpenter's article is that authors will just have to work that much harder to promote their books (though we can't all be as good at it as John Green). One editor told her:
"The best advice for today, and really in any financial climate, is to be fanatical and motivated to promote your book ... Do as many events as possible. Become a shameless self-promoter."
Note: Carpenter in fact forgot to mention the title of her book in the article. I had to check out her website. And when I checked out her website, her upcoming book wasn't even promoted on the front page. When you clicked on Publications, the book was listed but there was no link to any promotional page or synopsis whatsoever (and the listing on Amazon doesn't tell us anything either). She's obviously a nice person who ain't shameless. I think we should all pre-order her book.
A writer friend asked me yesterday if she should Twitter as well as Facebook to get her name out there.
I found myself giving the same advice I offered to a client for whom I designed a website.
The client wanted to know if they were doing enough to get their site listed by search engines. Someone had told her she should stick a long list of key words into her code to make sure her site could be found.
My advice: when you are trying to market yourself, don't go wide, go deep.
If you are a children's author writing about aliens, you don't want someone searching for "book" to find you. You want someone searching for "children's book about aliens". It's the quality of the traffic that counts, not the number. You don't want to be found by just anyone. You want people who are actually likely to reach into their wallets.
If you are trying to use social networking sites to raise your profile, sure, set up an account with Facebook, Bebo, MySpace and what have you. But it's better to have one social network that really works for you than half a dozen that don't. It's the quality of the network, not the quantity (ie. You don't want to friend 3,000 people who will never buy your book) ...
The caveat is that social networking is not just about marketing. And if you'd like to have a go at Twitter, or blogging, or other kinds of social networking , don't let me stop you. But do it because you want to have some fun not just because you're looking for a database to market to.
And of course, we must not forget, as one bookseller reminded Carpenter in the article: "the most important thing is to write an awesome book. That's the biggest hurdle. Just write an awesome book."
***
Last night I watched Millions again, the story by Frank Cottrell Boyce about a boy who finds a millions of pounds in a holdall by a railway. I had forgotten that it was directed by Danny Boyle, pre-Slumdog. Later, I read this interview of Boyle talking about what sold the script to him —
Basically, page seven where the kid first uses the excuse of his mum's death to gain an advantage - it's a killer moment. You'd think you would examine scripts and weigh them up, but you don't in fact. You read the American ones and they're good and very impressive, but basically when you have a giddy moment like that in a script, that's it.
— it's the scene where the boys tell a shopkeeper, "Me mam's dead" and the shopkeeper immediately hands over some free sweets.
Made me think of rejections. Have you ever received a rejection from an editor or an agent with the words "I liked your book. But I don't love it."
That means your killer moment didn't slay them enough.
Today I resolve to make my killer scene more killer than it is.
0 Comments on My advice to authors in these hard times: don't go wide, GO DEEP as of 1/1/1900
So, if you are an author/soon-to-be author worried about the fact that authors now have to be not only writers but speakers, entertainers, web designers, educators, video editors, voice talents, marketers, etc etc etc and etc ... look away now because this is John Green's latest vlog (as in video blog) and it's relevant, funny, intelligent, touching (and he even manages to quote some ee cummings) and oh how are we to measure up?
I've been giving book trailers some thought recently. I've just realised that I have two rather talented brothers in the film-making business (one does animation the other is a corporate film maker) ... I wonder if they would do a skills exchange and make me some videos?
While thinking, I was scanning the web of course and discovered that someone has already put up a book trailer website! BookScreening.com goes by the catchline 'Know what to read next'. Check out this rather fabulous video for Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, voiced by the author:
He's on to a good thing, using his own voice - he's no.3 now in my list of appealing speaking voices - ones I'll never get bored of. No. 2 is Stephen Fry and No.1 is my number one and radio broadcaster, Max Reinhardt! Know of any good female voices?
yes, stephen fry is fab. and then there's martin jarvis who read all the 'just william' books. i also love the voicing style of stephen tompkinson who read 'cliffhanger' by jacqueline wilson. and adrian dunbar's fabulous accents in his reading of the artemis fowl books.
as for female voices, i love zoe wanamaker's distinctive voice but i don't know if she's ever voiced an audio book. i also love judy bennett who does the karate princess series by jeremy strong.
The Overnight Fame of Steffi McBride Youtube book trailer
I was going to focus today. FOCUS!
But when I heard about the Steffi McBride book, all the little bits of blogging material that I've been trying to ignore in the name of writing my novel came rushing to the fore - so important to share this, especially in the current downturn. So I've got to just quickly tell you about Steffi McBride and all the other stuff that might be meaningful to the Rise and Fall of Us as writers.
I heard about Steffi McBride in today's Guardian RSS feed which highlighted Andrew Croft's new novel The Overnight Fame of Steffi Mcbride - or more precisely, how the author is using Web 2.0 to the hilt to promote the novel:
But what, arguably, makes Steffi more interesting than your average airhead celeb is that she's the figment of an author's imagination and these tantalising - or annoying - insights into her star-studded existence come courtesy of her updates on Twitter, the social media "microblogging" site, and her Facebook page. Read the article
The book trailer is appealing (a bit long but quite appealing - makes authors want to rush out to the nearest drama school in search of cheap but capable talent to star in their book trailers). And suddenly all that wasted time in Facebook turns out to be an investment in my future success as a writer ... I'm off to friend Steffi now (for the record, her friend count is only 33 at the moment, will be interesting to check back in a few weeks). It will also be interesting to see what FB does to the page. FB took down the FB page of Vern, Sarah Macintyre's wonderful comic creation for the DFC comics, on the basis that Vern was not human.
So you’re a few months away from publishing your debut novel. Your publishing house has suggested that you pitch in to help promote your own work, but you don’t have the first clue as to where you should start. Or perhaps you’ve already published your first book without doing any of your own publicity and marketing and now the hard realization has hit that this time around, without a significant change on your part, your career is going to end as quickly as it began. Now you’re willing to try something – anything. But what works? What doesn’t work? What should you be doing? Michelle Moran on Book Marketing Part 1
... don’t be afraid to try new ways of publicity and marketing, even if you’ve never heard of anyone else doing it before. This is what a great publicist will do for you, and what you want to do for yourself. There are so many ways of promoting a book that aren’t widely used, and many of them are free. Michelle Moran on Book Marketing Part 2
Ah well, there goes my Saturday. You know full well, don't you, that you've blogged on my favourite topic - marketing and writing! Yeah! I now realise why I had a previous life in a marketing department! ;-)
i forgot to mention that on the steffi mcbride website, there is a ocmpetition inviting people to submit their own book trailers for the book.
clever, clever. make the reader do your marketing. although this is a ploy now widely used. the nerdfighters do it for john green's books (nerdfighters.ning.com). and the guardian newspaper today announced another similar youtube competition.
i think the steffi mcbrdie social networking ploy though should have been started way earlier than they did - long before the book was launched. it takes a long long time to reach critical mass.
btw book marketing is one of my fave topics too. i have considered turning Notes from the Slushpile into a blog on book marketing. But first I have to get a proper book contract.
I still think it's unfair that nobody told me she was coming.
Moving on, Meg is now in South Africa.
Meg Cabot at Exclusive Books Capetown. Photo by Nicky Schmidt
Lucky for you, Notes from the Slushpile had spies carefully embedded at Exclusive Books in Capetown where Meg made an appearance.
Nicky Schmidt — aka Atyllah (a chicken from outer space ... but that's another loooong story)— packs her report with some cogent thoughts about authors and marketing.
I’m amazed at how much of the marketing is electronic – almost the whole customer relationship management side of her marketing is done via the internet – aside from the book tours and books signings. But the key marketing focus, it strikes me, aside from having a decent product, is customer relationship management. It’s interesting that in an increasingly competitive market authors are having to focus less on their product and far more on customer relationships in order to up and sustain sales figures. It’s no longer solely about how good the book is, but it’s also about how accessible you are to your market and how you woo them. That gives authors two full time jobs rolled into one – writer/entertainer and marketer.
Read Nicky's full report here - it's mandatory reading for anyone who is working on their strategy to dominate the world ... er, market their books.
4 Comments on Meg Cabot's World Tour, last added: 10/1/2008
Cor bugger la, and now I'm part of the Gourlay International Spy Network. Move over, Alex Rider!
Thanks for the links, Candy - and all I can say is thank god I was a marketer in my previous life! The thing about the web is that it makes that key customer relationship management feature, one-to-one marketing, so much easier. And it's that one-to-one marketing that is so effective in helping to build word of mouth - and word of mouth, as we all know, is the very best kind of marketing.
Okay, I'm trying to be a good author and ignore all distractions.
However Shoo Rayner is evil and has started a drawing school over on his website. I can't resist watching illustrators draw so now Shoo's new page has seriously set back my plans for world domination.
Here's Shoo teaching us how to draw his archetypal character, the Ginger Ninja.
3 Comments on Shoo Rayner's Drawing School, last added: 9/29/2008
i suppose we writers could do the same thing. set up a camera and film ourselves working. but then we'd kill all our readers with boredom. we need them alive to buy our books.
a quick note: friends, please visit my Volcano Child blog (yes, yes, I know, obsessive compulsive me etc etc) - help me make a good impression with ahem! The Powers That Be ...
There is a bit of a discussion at the British SCBWI message board about author websites.
Do you need one?
Where do you start?
Can you cope?
When I first started trying to get published, I set up my homepage CandyGourlay.com. It was 2001, and I was only just beginning to get to grips with code. Blogs were not yet in flavour nor were connection speeds terribly good and Web 2.0 was a twinkle in someone's eye. So my website was really, just a leaflet about me, an online CV.
I started up this blog in 2004 after emerging from SCBWI's conference in Madrid with piles of notes and nowhere to publish them. At the time, I thought I would use my journalistic skills and dash off feature length reports on the writing events I attended.
Well, the blog evolved and developed a voice of its own, it's funnier now, more personal, more frequently updated. It probably helps that I've also acquired the skills and tools to work faster online.
Then the world started to spin a little bit faster. Publishing was changing before our very eyes. Technology was changing. Children were changing.
I heard Scott Westerfeld (Uglies) give the keynote at the SCBWI conference in Bologna in 2005 and I was struck at how with-it he was about technology, about his fans and visiting his website, I realised that his blog had engendered a kind of connectedness with his readership that other authors would do well to emulate.
Instead of building a website from scratch, I used Blogger, changed the template using my Photoshop and coding skills, and used Blogger's powerful tagging tool which put posts of a similar theme together on one page.
The ultimate objective of a blog is to create a conversation between the writer and the reader. However, I also saw the website as an easy way to build a website of substance to support my book - if ever and whenever it gets taken on by a publisher ... a bit like the online production diary that director Peter Jackson kept while making King Kong. The website gets noticed now and then, but ultimately, I am building up a strong archive for the IF and WHEN.
I have started another blog on a theme that I intend to explore in a future novel about climate change, I haven't been blogging extensively because I don't want to fill it with off-the-cuff stuff but with pieces that will someday be the beef to my future novel's bone.
Blogs are not just diaries - they are conversations with the outside world, extended essays, online magazines on themes that you would never find on a newstand!
We have at our fingertips these powerful tools to support our craft - and they're FREE.
Here are three bits of unsolicited advice to those who still resist the onward march of the internet:
1) Computers don't explode when you get something wrong.
2) Any mistakes can be undone by pressing Control-Z (for PCs) . You can restore the deletion by pressing Control-Y
3) If your blog looks like crap, delete it and try again.
5 Comments on What's In a Website?, last added: 9/4/2008
'The ultimate objective of a blog is to create a conversation between the writer and the reader'
When I started writing my blog, I didn't think anyone would comment on it - some bloggers get hundreds of replies - they court comment! I'm happy if I can understand what I've written!
Thanks for all the great tips. Who knows, one day I may even have a website!
So are you telling me that I should stop blogging more or less anonymously as Absolute Vanilla and start blogging as the real me??? *shudder* :-)
Actually, I've always thought of blogging as my learning platform, my place to get to grips with being connected and then, when the time is right, a website (with a blog of course) will be the natural progression.
But yes, I totally agree it's online presence or perpetual darkness!
Blogging is certainly a time-bear, but it's been wonderful to connect with other kidlit lovers! It really is out-of-the darkness, just like Nicky said! Congrats on your blogging expansion!
re blogging anonymously - it's a good way to go if you're just starting out and haven't got a book in the wild yet. i decided early on to use my real name mostly because i thought if i was successful in building a network and raising my profile (IF) then i would have saved time.
sometimes, i wish i did blog anonymously ... but mostly, my journalist background comes to the fore - i feel i have to own up to what i've written. it makes me more careful.
the blog as essay is one experiment i'm working on - what's great is it's a finite essay. you don't blog indefinitely but basically finish a thought. at the end you have a website richly stocked with thought-through content.
it takes a long, long time to get the conversation going ... especially if your readership tends to be passive, resistant to engaging with the internet, fearful of the privacy implications.
most of the conversations on my blog are with folks who are engaged with the internet. but i know a lot of my readers are non-engagers. which is cool. on the occasion that one of the non-commenters actually leave a comment, they make me very happy!
This really interests me - the previous time I blogged about the connect between comic books/graphic novels and traditional children's publishing, I had a spike - from my daily readership of 300-500 a day, almost FOUR THOUSAND people read Comic Books Are Not Just For Klingon Speakers - about the rising interest in comic books for kids in the US! What does that mean? Should UK publishers (notoriously resistant to comics) pay attention?
Here's a sample page from Diary of a Wimpy Kid (blurb: "a novel in cartoons":
Lindsey was right! My nine-year-old devoured it like a bag of sweets! And slushpilers should note that Jeff Kinney himself has had an interesting journey to publishing - working on the book for six years before publishing it in daily instalments at Pearson's educational website FunBrain.com (bite-sized blogs targeted at various ages and differentiated between boys and girls are another interesting feature). Thanks for that, Lindsey!
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Speaking of Puffin - Puffin is one of the few children's publishers who actually maintain a readable blog (in the UK, in the US they all blog). Visit the Puffin Blog here ... but do try to avoid any stalker, publish-me-now-or-else behaviour.
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People who've attended one of my talks on authors online may have heard me talk about the potential ofgroup blogs for overworked authors - this way, authors can share the burden, expand their audiences ... you get what I mean. Well, my author pal Fiona Dunbar (Pink Chameleon, The Truth Cookie) kindly forwarded this link over the weekend to the Awfully Big Adventure blog recently started by a group of children's authors.
Do visit, leave comments etc etc. I think it's an awfully terrific thing to do! Way to go!
Fiona also pointed out Sally Nichols' (Ways to Live Forever) post featuring this cartoon from Tales from the Slush Pile over at the Children's Boookshelf at Publisher's Weekly. (Thanks, Fiona).
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And speaking of Fiona, she's just rather hilariously blogged (on her brand spanking new blog) that some big powerful telly people are thinking of basing a sitcom on her Truth Cookie series!
These things usually take tiiiiiiiiiiime. So let's all cross our legs and fingers and wish upon stars that it will happen. Soon!
0 Comments on Notes from Slushpile Readers as of 7/21/2008 5:51:00 AM
John Green (An Abundance of Katherines, Looking for Alaska) is a broadcaster as well as a YA author. Which really helps. You can see how much it helps on his Amazon video. **Yes, authors, this is a good time to reflect on what you'd put on your Amazon video**
I particularly like the way he addresses the readers as Amazonians.
Naturally, Amazon doesn't provide embed information that allows me to put the video on my blog (why should they encourage you to leave the site when the longer you stay, the more likely you are to buy?). So you will have to click on this screen grab to view it. It's really good - so you lazy people who can't be bothered, go on, CLICK.
6 Comments on John Green's Fictive Versions of Himself on Amazon, last added: 6/27/2008
Excellent! Much giggling. Also funny when my four year old climbed on my knee to watch and after a few minutes with confused expression said 'mummy what is that man TRYING to talk about?' I will now check out his books to see if they are as witty.
A few months ago I found your blog and loved it. You were my intro to the blogging world and the reason I started a blog a couple of months ago. Thanks! Your blog is excellent and your posts inspirational. Now I've got the hang of it, I'll stop by more often to say hi!
Clever way to avoid the (annoying) lack of embedding. And Candy, if your daughter likes videos by writers, I have 156 more where that one came from at youtube.com/vlogbrothers.
Thanks for sharing the video, Candy!
Best wishes, John
fiona dunbar said, on 6/27/2008 5:53:00 AM
What a breath of fresh air! I have watched a number of author vids on Amazon, and so far every single one has reinforced my belief that if I were to do it, I would inevitably wind up looking a total prat. It's REALLY HARD to do well; most writers are not at home in front of the camera. This guy is the exception. And his video proves you need not talk about your book; his random musings – much of which I can relate to! – are just as likely to make me want to buy his books!
OMG john green, you left a comment on my blog! (i interrupt my own gushing to say that's almost like being visited by brad pitt) - yup, loved your video and in fact, my daughter (not old enough to read your books btw) does already watch vlogbrothers!
fiona - i'm sure you can do a good job. in fact i've got an idea for a video for you. we must meet.
This is a world away from the vividly imagined worlds of Michael Morpurgo and Jacqueline Wilson. This is not a literary book in any way. But it isn’t terrible. As a factual book, it is crisp, girly, practical and full of good advice about owning ponies ... Indeed, it is so nuts and bolts it doesn’t matter so much that she didn’t write it all.
But wait a minute, the news is just out that the book has now been shortlisted for WH Smith Children's Book of the Year. (Kids vote from a list put up by publishers)
Naturally, there is a lot of upset from anyone who has spent years in garrets typing up manuscripts as opposed to reclining on magazine covers and centrefolds, displaying their assets.
This from Joanne Harris (Chocolat):
If this is an award for people who write books then it should be open only to people who write books, not to somebody who lends their name to a book, or who would have written a book if they had time but didn’t.
You can read all the arguments in the Times Online article — but I was rather interested that the response of Katie Price's publishers was to point out that Katie Price is a very strong "brand" — indeed, Random House has made Katie Price a bestselling author with not one but three memoirs and her third novel due out in July.
When I give my talks about authors and the internet, I always point out that one of the reasons publishers tend to have such crap websites is they are trying to push not just one brand but as many brands as they have authors.
Look at any publisher's website. They are all effectively lists. Lists and lists and lists of books and authors. Kassia Krozser at the Booksquare blog had a little rant about the crapness of publisher sites the other day:
It is no secret that I hate publisher websites. The vast majority of them can be best described as “suffers from multiple personality disorder”. And I’m not just talking about the fact that publishers can’t figure out who the target audience of their site is. Visiting a publisher site means being subjected to bad design, bad search, and — yes — bad content. Not a single one of these is forgivable.
Which is why websites and online promotion are a no-choice thing for authors.
Authors can't rely on a publisher to do their brand-building for them. Publishers already have their hands full trying to make brands out of the thousands of authors on their list, a task so mind-boggling that it's sometimes easier to buy a proven brand that's already out there.
Like Katie Price.
7 Comments on Katie Price Furore: Are Pneumatic Models Allowed to Win Book Prizes?, last added: 3/26/2008
btw i thought the comment of Jordan's publishing director Mark Booth was hilarious! "I don't see what the fuss is about. It's no different to the way the recordings of The Monkees were done."
Absolute Vanilla (& Atyllah) said, on 3/25/2008 9:30:00 AM
I thank goodness I was a marketing and communications and brand manager in my previous life. Now I just have to get past the aversion to marketing myself as a hot hot authorial brand! Hmm, maybe I should go back into marketing - helping authors who don't yet have a brand profile brand themselves. Whatchafink? :-)
"The argument is that celeb books attract 'reluctant readers' who (hopefully) go off and explore the beautiful wide world of literature thereafter (though I'm not convinced someone reading, say, David Beckham's autobiography will then pick up War and Peace)...I like to believe, no matter what, talent will out. Let's just hope someone worthy (or at the very least, has actually written the book)wins, and the prize helps boost THEIR sales rather than the already inflated Jordan."
that's a really good point.
if the book wins, will the true author be recognised?
makes me wonder about authors who write-for-hire on series like the ones spearheaded by working partners. if ever there was a one that won - will they get acknowledgement? or is that kind of book really such a communal work?
Jon M said, on 3/25/2008 2:01:00 PM
As an SEN specialist of some years, my feeling is that reluctant readers will go off and look at the pictures, tell you that they're reading Harry Potter and then go and play a video game or surf the net. Is it this nation in microcosm? The uber-rich, celeb class primp and reward themselves whilst the rest of us pedal a bit faster just to stand still never mind make progress! Cor! That was a bit glum wasn't it? Maybe it doesn't matter! Maybe Sarwat is right and talent will out! I hope so.
Jon M said, on 3/25/2008 2:02:00 PM
Play truth or dare...would you write for a celeb if it got you published?
Candy Gourlay said, on 3/26/2008 4:31:00 AM
ooh that is hard.
i wrote a few scripts (as in lines to say when people asked you questions) for airhead celebs in my starving writer days. but novels?
btw Scott Westerfeld (Uglies, Midnighters) is in London - signing books in ILFORD of all places. I've just rearranged my childcare to try to make the trek. But a helpful neighbour uses the word 'devastating' to describe the journey to Ilford from North London.
Brian Lux said, on 3/26/2008 4:36:00 AM
Like most bonafide writers, I am incensed that pneumatic Jordan, using a ghost writer, should have even been considered for an award.
My recent self-published children's book, with positive comments from fellow published authors, cannot even enter these competitions.
Having learned my craft over the years, and been taken off the slush pile three times by major publishers, sadly to fail at the final hurdle- a contract, I despair. However, I have won the Wales Region for another children's book and will be published this summer.
Sadly, not being a celeb, I shall have to work damn hard to get publicity and success.
Brian Lux
Amanda said, on 3/26/2008 7:57:00 AM
>The arguement is that celeb books attract 'reluctant readers' who(hopefully) go off and explore the beautiful wide world of literature thereafter (though I'm not convinced someone reading, say, David Beckham's autobiography will then pick up War and Peace).
If it is any reassurance to all of you my boyfriend reads many sports biographies (including football) he also reads novels and law journals and anything else he can lay his hands on – he is a partner in a law firm. I'm no sports fan but, out of curiosity, have read some of these books myself.
They can be an interesting insight into what drives a top flight sportsperson or they can be dry as dust and full of stats (yawn).
There are reluctant reader ranges of books specifically designed for people who struggle to read.
Some of these books are simplified versions of sports biographies. Reluctant readers may not go onto other books because of their special needs – War and Peace may be out of reach for many reasons. Reading is fundamental to living an independent life – reluctant reader books serve a purpose by helping people build up the skills necessary to be able to read, say, a letter from a doctor or from a child's school.
I must declare an interest in this. My five year old daughter has communication difficulties which make following storylines difficult. She has been helped by specially designed books (none of which were written by Wayne Rooney!).
She may still struggle as an adult – I would be delighted to see her reading anything at all provided it doesn't promote anything harmful to her or to others.
Sometimes a recognisable face from a TV programme or the world of celebrity provides a hook for someone who will have to work extremely hard to understand written text.
Lookybook is a new marketing idea for picture books - I think it's a great way of getting your PBs seen - if, that is, zillions of people subscribe to its email updates and publishers get behind it etc etc!
Meanwhile, you can sign up your picture books on the Lookybook submit page. But at the moment it's only free for the first year ... I wonder what publishers think of it.
I follow the blog of Dan Santat just because I love his drawing (the other artist I subscribe to is Sarah Macintyre. Love her stuff!) Dan does the Disney cartoon The Replacements (I haven't seen it here in the UK but then I don't get the Disney Channel).
Anyway, this is not just about how wonderful Dan is (which he is) but about School Visits. Now I did a little piece on school visits featuring Doomspell author Cliff McNish a while back - school visits are a big deal for children's authors because it's a cool way of getting in touch with one's readers etc etc. Of course, it doesn't hurt either that you could make a little bit of money to supplement your non JK Rowling advance.
So here's Dan's truly super cool video about a week long visit to a school for gifted children in Virginia. We can all learn a thing or two about marketing ourselves here.
0 Comments on Dan Santat's School Visit as of 1/1/1900
Today was my concentrate-on-writing- and-stay-off-the-internet-day. But I had to blog when I heard about author Patry Francis.
Patry Francis was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer just as her debut novel The Liar's Diary was going out in paperback. Which meant she would not be able to do the publicity work that makes or breaks most novels.
In response, author bloggers have rallied to do Francis' publicity for her, naming January 29 as Patry Francis Blog Day, with more than 300 bloggers mentioning and reviewing The Liar's Diary. The creativity and breadth of this effort is mind-blowing and inspiring. Read about it here — and look at the how well things are going on technorati!
Literary Agent Kristin Nelson comments on her blog:
Don’t ever let anyone convince you that publishing is “an every person for him or herself” industry because it’s not. There is a real community of writers and if you haven’t got connected, ask yourself why not?
Indeed. That's the power of the web for you and it's down to us authors to harness its potential.
The Patry Francis situation brings to mind YA author Siobhan Dowd (photo, left by G. Morgan) who died last year and wasn't able to promote her magnificent A Swift Pure Cry (buy it you guys!) as much as she would have liked because she was so ill. A Siobhan Dowd Trust has been set up to help disadvantaged children with their reading skills (donations are welcome here). Siobhan's next book Bog Child - which I hear is a cracker - will be published posthumously in February.
0 Comments on How authors can help each other on the net as of 1/1/1900
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, 
) is a cool online personality only because he's trying to sell his books ... but look at what he got from his social network on his birthday -
) is appearing in a virtual event targetting nine thousand children in 216 schools.
I've just finished building Sarwat Chadda's website in anticipation of the May launch of his "goth-lit" thriller, 
Last night I watched 
by 
Thanks Candy, Great post as ever. I'm about as technically competent as a goldfish, (I do dabble though), so this is very helpful. If you ever want to do a Twitter one with a list of what all the #'s means that would be great. <br /><br />Told you I’m a complete technophobe!<br />
I'm exhausted already.
There were moments when I wanted to quit writing this post.
Thanks, Sally. I'll keep this page updated so that we don't ever have to write another one. Actually, i was about to write a Twitter piece and then I lost the will to live. It was easier to do the Facebook one.
Thanks Candy! This is one of those "must reads", I can feel it in my bones! <br />And the links too - must make time to read those links...(but why doesn't Chrome have that nice "to read" slot on the left of the menu bar, like Safari does?)
That would be useful, wouldn't it? That gives me an idea. Maybe I should put a to-read thingy on the left hand side of the website for info that might require revisiting.
I's so complex I am seriously considering jacking it all in.<br />Thanks for the article tho', Candy.
Sally,<br />I'm confused by all the references to hashtags, too...I know they mean something but what???? Have to publish this as "Anonymous" cuz I don't understand all the stuff about URLs and google accounts...Patti
But if there's anything you should read first it's the link to the New York Times privacy advice - the tools do everything and not just Facebook. I feel so much better now that I've run my profiles through them. Very useful.
Thanks for commenting even if you don't understand which profile to choose - next time, go for Name/URL ... just put 'Patti' in the space for name. You don't have to put anything under URL.
Such a useful post, Candy<br />which I have stashed to refer to later when have more time.<br />Thank you