Writer, Editor, Helper

Does Your Novel Need a Table of Contents?

From our own reading, most of us know that some paperback and hardcover novels have a table of contents page in the front and some don’t. Lurking online, I perceive a widespread notion that tables of contents are old-fashioned and pointless for fiction. There’s also fear that a contents page wastes valuable marketing space in online “see inside” previews, preventing readers from getting to the good stuff that will tempt them to buy.

Why then do some best-selling, award-winning novels have a table of contents, sometimes several pages long? As you’ll see, sometimes it makes sense.

Is Blogging for You? Parts 2 and 3

 

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the great time I had brainstorming about blogging with Louise Harnby and Denise Cowle at their joyful Editing Podcast. Parts 2 and 3 are now available.

 

In part 1 (26:23 min) we discussed

 

  Blogging goals

  Coming up with ideas

  Promoting your blog

 

NEW: Link to Part 2  (27:14 min), in which we discuss

 

  Repurposing blog content
  Analytics, and how to avoid the rabbit hole

 

NEW: Link to Part 3 (26:23 min), which covers

 

  Monetizing your blog
  Understanding the sales funnel
  Managing reader engagement
  Blogging trajectory: Deciding who to write for and when to stop

 

 

Is Blogging for You? Part 1

 

Yesterday I had a wonderful time brainstorming about blogging with Louise Harnby and Denise Cowle at their joyful Editing Podcast. In fact, we dug into so many aspects of blogging, they decided to break the chat into 3 parts.

 

In part 1 (26:23 min) we discuss

 

  Blogging goals

  Coming up with ideas

  Promoting your blog

 

The Editing Podcast has lots of other great posts for writers and editors. You’ll love their expertise and enthusiasm.  Listen here (Blogging Tips for Editors and Authors) or through your favorite podcast app. I’ll let you know when parts 2 and 3 appear!

 

UPDATE

 

Link to Part 2  (27:14 min), in which we discuss

 

  Repurposing blog content
  Analytics, and how to avoid the rabbit hole

 

Link to Part 3 (26:23 min), which covers

 

  Monetizing your blog
  Understanding the sales funnel
  Managing reader engagement
  Blogging trajectory: Deciding who to write for and when to stop

______

Correction: My original post mistakenly referred to transcripts of each podcast. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.

 

8 Tips for Creative Writers on Facebook

I often encourage creative writers to join one or more private Facebook groups where they can post questions and share resources with other writers. There are specialized groups for children’s book writers, romance writers, fantasy—you name it. In groups like “Ask a Book Editor,” writers can get help from amateur and professional editors. At “The Business of Being a Writer,” people share information about self-publishing, getting an agent, drafting and revising manuscripts, and financial matters. In groups like “Scrivener Users” or “PerfectIt Users,” writers share technical advice.

Although some groups are by invitation only, typically becoming a member of a private (or closed) group is as simple as clicking on Join and agreeing to the rules. Some discussions are closely moderated, others not. The writing groups I like best prohibit ads and self-promotion and insist that conversations stick to writing and publishing topics. They provide a pet-free zone where you don’t have to see what anyone else is cooking for dinner.

Style and Grammar in Promotional Copy

Anyone familiar with the grammar and style rules and guidelines in CMOS knows they come with a lot of qualifiers: normally, in most cases, in running text, in regular prose, depending on the context—I could go on and on. In life, very few rules are meant to cover every situation. The same is true in CMOS.

This is especially so when it comes to writing and editing marketing copy, something more and more authors are doing for themselves. Indie authors often design their own book covers and ads and write their own press releases. A few weeks ago we looked at the liberties we take when writing or editing blurbs. This week we’ll consider more visual types of promotion.

How to Edit Blurbs

 

Blurbs are quotations of praise that appear on book covers and jackets, in press releases, on author websites, posters, and ads, in social media, and in the unnumbered pages at the beginning of a novel or creative nonfiction book. They may be solicited or excerpted from published reviews. Any writer or publisher who finds it hard to get attention in the traditional review press may be especially motivated to solicit blurbs from influential writers or celebrities.

Can I Put an iPhone in My Novel?

Short answer: Yes.

Now and then, a writer or editor asks our online Q&A whether mentioning a brand name in a work of fiction requires permission or the addition of the trademark (™) or registered (^®) symbol.

Fortunately, in works published in the United States there’s no need to sidetrack readers with unsightly sentences like “Her iPhone^® slipped from her fingers and into the lake.” Anyone who reads fiction regularly already knows this. Mentioning a brand name in a work of fiction is generally considered fair use* unless it goes so far as to infringe on the rights of the owner. (More on that below.)

This freedom of mention in fiction is basically the same as for nonfiction, journalism, blog posts, and other published prose, but there are reasons to take care when using the names of real products in any work.

Preparing an Audiobook for a Narrator Who Isn’t You

Recently I read through a book to make notes for a professional voice actor who would be reading it for an audiobook production. Luckily, she turned out to be a genius at reading my mind and dodging most of the little landmines I had overlooked. The experience was eye-opening; I’m sure I could do a better job now and prevent some of the problems I heard on the recording.

Fiction+ for Creative Writers and Their Editors

Although I officially retired from my work at the Chicago Manual in December, I couldn’t say no to an opportunity to continue hanging around the CMOS Online Shop Talk blog when Russell Harper—the new editor—invited me to share a new corner of the blog with him called Fiction+. There we’ll focus on how to cope when Chicago style rules don’t quite seem to fit the creative context of a novel, story, poem, or play.

Russell kicked things off last week with a post on comma splices; today I interview Janet Burroway, author of the classic textbook Writing Fiction, a staple in creative writing classes that has just been issued in a new 10th edition.

If you’re interested in creative writing or editing, be sure to check out Fiction+. You can sign up for alerts if you want to be sure to catch new posts, and I’ll continue to give you a heads-up here.

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Photo: Woman Writing, by August Macke (1887–1914), courtesy Wikimedia Commons

 

Is It Time to Rethink the Third-Person Author Bio?

I’m blogging today at The Chicago Manual of Style Shop Talk blog:

This morning I was looking at a writer’s website and once again wondered about an anomaly I see all the time in author bios. You know what I mean: those short blurbs that appear on book jackets, at online bookstores and fan sites, on guest posts, conference programs, and other hangouts where writers need to be identified.

It’s traditional in a bio for a third-person narrator to describe your work and qualifications.

(Continue)

 

Photo: Missy and Harley, by Shirlz.

For Writers: Promoting Your Book; Is There Any Point?

(Some chores are more fun than others!)

How many times have you run into someone at a writers’ event who seems freaked out by the task of marketing a new book? It’s always the same: the writer is eager to arrange book signings and public readings and school visits. She knows she needs a website and that she has to do Twitter and Facebook, but she isn’t sure why. She’s a little confused about whether she needs to blog. Some of these tasks interest her and some sound like the worst kind of torment. She usually concludes with “And how am I supposed to find time to write?”

What she might not take into account is that (a) some kinds of marketing are not as useful as others, (b) what’s best for your book is unique to your book, (c) nobody can know for sure what that is, and (d) even when a book is successful, it’s nearly impossible to know which—if any—of your promotion efforts had anything to do with it.

Not only is there no magic formula, it’s possible that some kinds of marketing are pretty much pointless for your book.

Here are a few thoughts about the effectiveness of promotion efforts. Feel free to use the ones that apply to you (if you can figure out which ones they are):

Website

If you hate the idea of maintaining a website, it might be enough to create a one-page site that requires minimal maintenance. It’s not hard, and you can do it for free at WordPress or Blogger. A web page is helpful to potential reviewers, to teachers or librarians who might order your book or ask you to visit, and to readers who want to know more. If your publisher gives you a page, that might suffice. If you are self-published, a web page is more important. Set up a page with information about you and your book, links to venders, and contact information, and you’re set. Discussion questions add good value. Updates in the first months can be limited to quotes from good reviews and a list of awards and honors. Posting the dates and places of personal appearances, guest posts, and interviews is optional. Blogging is another whole question (see next item).

Blogging

If you don’t have content to offer that goes deeper than an ad for your book, there is little point in blogging (that is, writing essays or reviews at regular—or irregular—intervals and posting them at your site). A case in point: sales of my adult nonfiction book are driven by my weekly blog posts of professional advice to writers and editors. In contrast, I have no advice or expertise to offer at the website of my middle-grade novel, so I don’t blog there.

Twitter and Facebook

Twitter and Facebook might very well fall into the “useless” category for your book. In my own experience, Twitter has proven to be a powerful marketing tool for my adult nonfiction book, because with minimal effort I’m able to give my followers advice, job-related humor, and links to useful articles (including my own blog posts). I tweet two or three times a week; my 4,000 followers retweet me to many thousands of their followers; and every week I gain 20 to 40 new followers who are perhaps learning about my book for the first time.

Fiction writers may have less to offer in Twitter and Facebook content. How many ways can you say “Buy my book” and still interest someone who has already read it? I know that superstar novelists have big followings and make use of these platforms to gain more. And if I ever finish my killer paranormal YA crossover novel, I’ll try hard to entertain my new hoards of fans, who will be eager to hear what I ate for breakfast and what I’m wearing to the premier of the movie version. But if you’re unknown and your book is a quiet literary novel or your young audience isn’t online, keeping up any kind of interest in it on Twitter might be a tough sell.

Building a following on Twitter from nothing is difficult. Many writers with big Twitter and Facebook followings are those who already have a lot of attention from media because they won a major award or there’s a movie based on their book or they happen to be celebrities in the first place. My adult nonfiction book was published in connection with a perennial best-seller (The Chicago Manual of Style) that gave me an instant following. I continue to ride its coattails, in that CMOS retweets me and promotes my blog posts. So if you think you might get a sudden media blast that will result in readers seeking you out, be prepared by setting up accounts. But unless your book is the type that collects hoards of screaming little fans and you are the type of writer who loves feeding them, consider skipping this type of promotion. 

Personal Appearances

When a new book comes out, all your friends are going to ask about tours and signings and panels, and this might be the spotlight you’ve always dreamed would shine on you. Go for it! It could be the most fun you ever had. But don’t count on it leading to significant sales. My bet is that most writers spend more money on these events (traveling, printing cards and posters, buying something to wear) than they ever regain as a direct result in royalties. I’ve had bookstore events where not a single person showed up. Even if 20 people come to your signing (a great turnout) and every last one of them buys a book (not likely), multiply that times your royalty and do the math.

School visits have greater potential, not only for great personal satisfaction in doing something wonderful for children, but also for selling copies of your book. Although you will have to invest some money (and a lot of precious time) preparing, if you arrange things right, sales before and at the event can be significant, and you can charge a fee as well. There’s also potential for more appearances and sales as a result of recommendations you’ll get from all the teachers and librarians you charm.

Guest Posting

I have not found it difficult to promote Eddie’s War on various review sites where guest posts are welcome. I simply emailed the host and asked, and about half the time, the answer was yes. However, only once or twice has my post seemed to reach many readers. Considering the amount of time I put into writing the essays, I’ve come to believe that it’s best to be choosy about where you guest post, since it’s potentially the most labor for the least return. When someone contacts me asking me to write a guest post, I don’t hesitate to ask about the size of the audience. If the blogger says she doesn’t know, I politely decline.

Is It Worth It?

In sum, I can think of only two good reasons to market your book through social media.

First, market your book if you have the time to do the work and you believe in the shotgun effect: that reaching as many people as possible has the potential to lead to an interview, a review, and eventually actual sales—even if many of your individual efforts (a tweet, a guest post, a night at your public library author fair where only two people stop at your table) fail to hit any target.

And second, market your book if you enjoy doing it. Writers of children’s books like to write: you might find joy in posting your thoughts in a blog. There’s plenty of fun and education in engaging on Twitter and Facebook, even if your own stats stay flat. (For more on this, read Susan Bearman, “Twitter for Writers,” Prairie Wind, Spring 2012.) And lots of us glory in standing in front of a few customers at a bookstore or book fair, being “The Author,” even if hardly anyone buys the book.

If You Hate Marketing

If you hate pushing your book but feel obliged to, here’s my last, best advice:

—Choose the kind of chore you like best and forget about the rest. You might hate school visits, but love crafting a blog post. Others might find the whole online scene annoying but blossom in the classroom or library in front of a crowd. Go with your strengths and have fun.

—Resolve to quit marketing after a reasonable launching period, say a year. Few professional reviewers will touch a title that’s more than a year old anyway, and by that time it will no longer eligible for awards and “Best” lists. From that point on, if your book has merit it will continue to quietly gain readers by word of mouth and by viral proliferation of online lists and links.

—Use all the time you’re saving to make your next book your best book.

 

Reprinted from SCBWI-Illinois,  Prairie Wind (Fall 2012): 54.