On Marketing

Last night, I had one of those epiphanies that seem to be self-evident, but sometimes are not. I went out for dinner with a group of lively, amazing female friends. 

That was excitement enough, but most of them had recently read my new book, SweetKaroline, and they actually wanted to talk about it! They didn’t have to. We could’ve mentioned the book, perhaps, and moved on. They were genuinely excited about Sweet Karoline. I believe they honestly liked it and think it’s my best work.

Our discussions ranged from “who wrote the diary?” to debates about race and bigotry and child abuse to questions about how a book or its author becomes well known.

As to the latter, I have often slipped into pity mode on this score. I tweet, do paid advertising, plaster myself all over the free sites, and generally try every trick I can think of to promote my books. My novels aren’t easy reads, I have to admit. But I know there are people out there (like me) who love to read challenging books. So I keep slogging and trust me, sometimes I am quite dispirited.

Then along comes that group of intelligent, spirited, interested women (whom I call the Bosco Bunch). They are genuinely excited for me. They get the messages in the book. One of them told me she identified with a huge number of passages. Another said she had garnered a new interest in the life of black and native Canadians. Those moments made every single second of cyber-selling worthwhile. Every doubt that I had about being an author was instantly dispelled. It didn’t matter that most of the world is sailing along without knowing my name or Sweet Karoline or the Emily Taylor mysteries. The readers who have ventured into my novels and are happy that they got their money’s worth are the reasons for publishing. 

Meeting with my readers face-to-face is the best possible scenario. Unfortunately, I can’t always do that. Thus I reach out to them through cyberspace.

As for the marketing grind, which I usually despise,   thanks to http://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.ca/2013/07/do-you-promote-books-like-dexter.html

I at last have a mantra. Here’s what they say about book marketing:

“…accept your uniqueness. You are a writer and a publicist, with your own voice, style, ideas, and experiences.  Be who you are meant to be.”

So I will pursue more face-to-face marketing opportunities, because, although they may be fewer and won’t bring me fame and fortune, they are the kind I love. They are “me”.

At the same time, I vow to embrace the tweeting and good-reading and shelfari-ing and facebooking and googling and well, you know the drill. As a writer I don’t love them, but as a publicist I shall!

 

Go here for my books: www.catherineastolfo.com

The Sweet Karoline launch dinner was

held at our favourite restaurant, Fanzorelli's.

If you live near Brampton, ON, go get some great food!

www.fanzorellis.ca 

LIZ BUGG and THE NEXT BIG THING

 My friend Liz tagged me recently for The Next Big Thing, but I went away and everyone I know seems to be taken! If you read this and are an author and want to participate, let me know.

I really, really like both Liz's and Robin's series, so I have copied (with permission) all of Liz's blog. Check out the authors listed at the end!

 

LIZ BUGG and THE NEXT BIG THING

Every day there seem to be new promotional ideas for authors.  Some aren’t worth the time, effort and money involved. One opportunity, however, recently tapped me on the shoulder, and I felt it was too good to ignore. Robin Spano, author of the Clare Vengel Undercover Novels, asked if she could tag me in The Next Big Thing. I agreed. A reciprocal tag then occurred with writer and artist Uvi Poznansky, http://uviart.blogspot.ca/.

Here’s how it works:  It’s kind of like a chain letter with interview questions. Once you have been tagged by an author, you find five other authors who agree to be tagged by you. Then you write a blog entry in which you answer the questions about your next book and give links to the sites of the people you tagged. It’s that simple.

This is my first opportunity to talk about my new novel, so it should be fun. I wish I had a cover design to show you, but it’s not yet available.

Questions & Answers:

1. What is the working title of your book?
I’m now on my third working title, Yellow Vengeance. Only time will tell if it sticks.

2. Where did the idea come from for the book?
Since the novel is part of a series, the main characters are continuing along with their personal lives, based on what was introduced in previous books. As far as the mystery goes, I’ve always had an interest in the past and in cold cases, and this seemed to be the time to explore those areas in a novel.

3. What genre does your book fall under?
It is technically a mystery, but as always, I hope it goes beyond the solving of the crime to examine particular aspects of the society in which it is set as well as the human condition in more general terms.

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
For me, this is the hardest question.  I have always been able to visualize my characters, but they have ever been based on particular actors or people I know.  I actually had to do research for this – kind of a virtual casting call. In the end,  I managed to narrow it down to a couple of possibilities for each.  I’m still not totally happy with my Calli options; that’s why I’ve included three names.  The casting of June was by far the easiest, and I would be happy with either actor.
Calli:                 Chloe Sivegny, Jodie Foster, Keeley Hawes
Jess:                 Michelle Krusiec, Sandrine Holt
Dewey:             Darryl Stephens, Jeffrey D. Sams
June:                Jessica Capshaw, Amy Carlson
Sashi:               Sarita Choudhury, Veena Sood

5.  What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
When someone steps out of Calli’s past and hires her to solve a cold case that even the police have abandoned, it leads to personal tragedy, just at the moment her life seems to be coming together.

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
My book will be represented by P.S. Literary Agency and published by Insomniac Press in April of 2013.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I wrote the first draft on a part-time basis over about six months.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
As far as the ‘story’ goes, I’m not aware of other books to which I could compare it. Looking at the book as a whole, one could, of course, draw comparisons to the first two novels in the series: Red Rover and Oranges and Lemons. Aside from those, one might find similarities to some of the novels of writers like Ellen Hart, Sara Paretsky or Sandra Scoppettone. I do try, however, to achieve something a little different from other books in the genre through my treatment of current issues, character development and tone.

9. Who or what inspired you to write this book?
The most important inspiration, if you can call it that, was my commitment to write a third novel in the Calli Barnow Series. Other than that, I wanted to explore areas of life to which I have a personal connection on some level. I won’t go into detail, because I don’t want to give away too much.

10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
If you like a mystery story narrated by a very human character, incorporating comedy, danger and personal tragedy, you will probably enjoy Yellow Vengeance.

That’s all I have to say about my upcoming novel, but if you’d like to find out about other future releases, please visit these great writers and see what they have for you:
Glynis Smy Glynis is the author of the historical romance, Ripper My Love,and writes for newspapers in Cyprus and the U.K. She also runs the wonderful New Book Blogger website.
Catherine Astolfo Catherine is the author of the Emily Taylor Series of mystery novels. In 2012 she won the Arthur Ellis Best Crime Short Story and the Derrick Murdoch Award for outstanding contribution to Crime Writers of Canada.
Suzanne Sutherland Suzanne’s short fiction has appeared in magazines such as Descant, Dragnet and Steel Bananas. Her first novel, When We Were Good, will be published by Sumach Press in 2013.
Bev Prescott Bev is an environmental attorney, previously enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. Her debut novel, My Soldier Too, was published by Blue Feather Books in 2011.
Uvi Poznansky Besides being an accomplished architect, Uvi is an artist and a writer with a diverse body of work. Her most recent publication, Home, is a tribute to her father and cannot be adequately described in this limited space.

Unabashed Hussy Blog

Unabashed Hussy Me I looked up hussy and one of the definitions was a “shameless ho”. That seems to fit. I am throwing all my dignity away and selling my children. OK, well, the ones that I wrote, not birthed. Still. All because I want to be John Locke. Not the guy from Lost, the other guy. The one who sold a million ebooks. I haven’t finished reading his book about how he sold a million, because I don’t have time. So I brazenly sent out the following marketing plea to all the people I know. And even some I don’t know. I’ll let you know how it goes, but only if you become one of my customers. I’ll even tell John. Maybe he can add unabashed hussy to the index in his book. Could WE Sell a Million? Well, maybe not, but another writer did it, so why not try? Here’s how you can help make me a best seller and maybe sell…well, lots of books. You’ll also be eligible for prizes – a Kindle ereader or a gift certificate to your favourite restaurant are among the ideas that I’ve come up with. Of course, the higher the sales, the more numerous and better the prizes will be. Go through the steps below and you’ll see how it works. 1. On or after October 25, 2011, go to Amazon, Smashwords, or Kobo, or www.imajinbooks.com and order my book. The first one will be The Bridgeman, second Victim...maybe Legacy before Christmas. If you don’t have an ereader, you can choose a pdf file from Smashwords and read it on your computer until you win the Kindle. If you’ve already read them, pretend it’s a ticket for the prize. Don’t worry about registering for any of these Internet sites. They’re safe and they won’t bug you - if they ever do, tell me! Then let me know that you have bought it and I will put your name into the draw for a prize. If this is as far as you want to go, thank you thank you, and I hope we both win. If you can do a little more, see #2. 2. Get your friends, family, colleagues, people whose secrets you know, and people who owe you to do the same as #1. Ask them to tell you when they buy it. Then let me know, too. Your friends’ names will go into the draw and so will yours – if 10 friends bought, you get ten more chances and they get one each. If they tell their friends, etc – well, you get the idea. If this is as far as you want to go, a million thanks and again, may we both win. If you can do even more, see #3. 3. Give my book some stars and/or a review on Amazon or any of the other websites (such as Smashwords). Put it up on twitter or Facebook or any linkage to which you are connected - your company newsletter, whatever. Let me know that you did this, and you get (an)other chance(s) at the prize(s). If you can do even more, you must be my best friend or family ha ha - see #4. 4. Sign up for my blog at www.katywords.blogspot.com. Again, they’re safe and they won’t bug you and if they ever do, tell me! My blogs will appear in your email on a regular basis, letting you know where I am so you can come see me and who knows? Win ANOTHER prize. Thank you for considering doing any or all of the above. You are the BEST. Cathy