Here's a cool new thing for Kindle readers - Kindlegraph. It's a way to get an author's autograph in the digital age. You find a book you want "signed" and click the Request Kindlegraph button. When the author checks their requests, they'll write a personalized message and sign a page with the cover art using DocuSign. Then it's delivered to your Kindle as a PDF. My first Kindlegraph is from Sondrae Bennett, author of Arctic Winds. It looks really cool!
It's fairly easy for an author to add their book. Just log in with your Twitter account and enter the ASIN number of your book from it's Amazon buy link. There are nice clear instructions to walk you through everything, both for authors and readers.
This is a pretty cool service but it is very new and still seems to be working out some bugs. As of now you can only sign in with a Twitter account, both authors and autograph seekers. A lot of books are being added daily. The best way to find books right now is the Authors page. The site is going to need some organizational work done to make it more user-friendly. I'm hoping they'll do that soon, as well as add Facebook logins or some other way to log in and request an autograph. Not everyone is on Twitter. Right now it only works if you have an actual Kindle device, so if you're using Kindle for PC or on your cell phone you can't request an autograph. These are bugs, yes, but I do like seeing a service like this get its feet off the ground. Digital books are here to stay. Its great to see ways for readers and authors of electronic books to connect and I'm sure we'll be seeing more of this type of innovation.
If you have a Kindle and would like my Kindlegraph for Mojo Queen, you can find my page here. I would encourage all authors with digital publishers to add their books. I, for one, intend to start a collection of Kindlegraphs!
Friday, July 29, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Harrogate Crime Festival Roundup
I, too, was at a writing conference this past weekend, so I am following Pamela's lead and blogging about it this week.
This year was the first time I attended the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Writing Conference at Harrogate (so called because it's named after the beer brewed by the sponsoring brewery), and a last-minute decision to attend meant I got a day pass for the Saturday, even though the conference ran from Thursday to Sunday.
The conference is probably the biggest crime festival in the UK, and is held at the Old Swan Hotel - famous for being the hotel where Agatha Christie holed up when she disappeared for 10 days in 1926. Its connections to the Grande Dame of crime writing, therefore make it a highly appropriate venue for the festival.
I probably did not go to quite as many of the panels as I should have done. It was a fine sunny day, and hanging out in the front terrace seemed to be the place to be to meet interesting people. I chatted with Mark Billingham about e-books. He came to speak to the writing group a few years ago and I've met him on a couple of other occasions - I was pleased he remembered me. He's chairing next year's festival and said he wants to have more of an emphasis on e-books. I shamelessly took the opportunity to tell him about mine.
I talked to a lady who was about to buy a Kindle, and wanted to know about some titles she could put on it. Hopefully she'll now go out and buy DEATH SCENE!
But I could not sit in the sun indefinitely, and I did go to some panels. The one I enjoyed the most was called The Outer Limits, and dealt with the rising popularity of paranormal elements in crime - a subject close to my heart.
I'd also bought a ticket for the Criminal Consequences dinner, so I got to go to that too. For the uninitiated (and this might be a uniquely British thing), 'consequences' is a game you generally play at parties when you're about 16. You write a boy's name, then a girl's name, where they met, what he said, what she said, and what happened at the end. After each 'turn' you fold the paper over and pass it on to the next person so they don't know what you wrote when they write their answer. At the end you read out what you've got. The 'criminal consequences' game followed the same lines, except we were writing a crime story. We worked on our 'story' over dinner, and were told the best entry would win a prize.
The dinner was laid out so that each table was hosted by a 'guest author'. Ours was Elena Forbes. I reviewed her book EVIL IN RETURN for Shotsmag not long ago. I did actually really enjoy the book (you can see my review here). Lo and behold copies of said book were piled up on our table, a free gift to everyone sitting at Elena's table. It was the paperback version. I was thrilled to see that my review was included. I asked Elena to sign my copy - she wrote "thanks for the great review". That alone would have made my evening, but as it happened our table won the 'criminal consequences' game, and each person on the table got a bag full of booty. Along with the goody bag that I was given on registration, I came away from the festival with quite an impressive haul of free stuff - bookmarks, a Theakston's festival t-shirt, a mug, a beer coaster, a bottle of Theakston's Old Peculier, and a huge stack of books. One of the best things about attending Cons is the Free Stuff.
Hubby had accompanied me to Yorkshire for the weekend, but was entertaining himself while I was at the festival (he's not a big crime fan). He met me in the bar after dinner, and we sat outside on the terrace for rather a long time afterwards, talking to lots of interesting people. Rather longer than we were intending to, actually. Every time we were about to leave, we got talking to someone else.
I had a fab time, and my only regret is I didn't go for longer. I intend to correct that next year. I have already marked the dates of next year's conference in the diary.
I've already got a rather long list of conferences to attend in 2012. The hard part is going to be deciding which ones to attend, as finances don't stretch to attending them all.
This year was the first time I attended the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Writing Conference at Harrogate (so called because it's named after the beer brewed by the sponsoring brewery), and a last-minute decision to attend meant I got a day pass for the Saturday, even though the conference ran from Thursday to Sunday.
The conference is probably the biggest crime festival in the UK, and is held at the Old Swan Hotel - famous for being the hotel where Agatha Christie holed up when she disappeared for 10 days in 1926. Its connections to the Grande Dame of crime writing, therefore make it a highly appropriate venue for the festival.
I probably did not go to quite as many of the panels as I should have done. It was a fine sunny day, and hanging out in the front terrace seemed to be the place to be to meet interesting people. I chatted with Mark Billingham about e-books. He came to speak to the writing group a few years ago and I've met him on a couple of other occasions - I was pleased he remembered me. He's chairing next year's festival and said he wants to have more of an emphasis on e-books. I shamelessly took the opportunity to tell him about mine.
I talked to a lady who was about to buy a Kindle, and wanted to know about some titles she could put on it. Hopefully she'll now go out and buy DEATH SCENE!
But I could not sit in the sun indefinitely, and I did go to some panels. The one I enjoyed the most was called The Outer Limits, and dealt with the rising popularity of paranormal elements in crime - a subject close to my heart.
I'd also bought a ticket for the Criminal Consequences dinner, so I got to go to that too. For the uninitiated (and this might be a uniquely British thing), 'consequences' is a game you generally play at parties when you're about 16. You write a boy's name, then a girl's name, where they met, what he said, what she said, and what happened at the end. After each 'turn' you fold the paper over and pass it on to the next person so they don't know what you wrote when they write their answer. At the end you read out what you've got. The 'criminal consequences' game followed the same lines, except we were writing a crime story. We worked on our 'story' over dinner, and were told the best entry would win a prize.
The dinner was laid out so that each table was hosted by a 'guest author'. Ours was Elena Forbes. I reviewed her book EVIL IN RETURN for Shotsmag not long ago. I did actually really enjoy the book (you can see my review here). Lo and behold copies of said book were piled up on our table, a free gift to everyone sitting at Elena's table. It was the paperback version. I was thrilled to see that my review was included. I asked Elena to sign my copy - she wrote "thanks for the great review". That alone would have made my evening, but as it happened our table won the 'criminal consequences' game, and each person on the table got a bag full of booty. Along with the goody bag that I was given on registration, I came away from the festival with quite an impressive haul of free stuff - bookmarks, a Theakston's festival t-shirt, a mug, a beer coaster, a bottle of Theakston's Old Peculier, and a huge stack of books. One of the best things about attending Cons is the Free Stuff.
Hubby had accompanied me to Yorkshire for the weekend, but was entertaining himself while I was at the festival (he's not a big crime fan). He met me in the bar after dinner, and we sat outside on the terrace for rather a long time afterwards, talking to lots of interesting people. Rather longer than we were intending to, actually. Every time we were about to leave, we got talking to someone else.
I had a fab time, and my only regret is I didn't go for longer. I intend to correct that next year. I have already marked the dates of next year's conference in the diary.
I've already got a rather long list of conferences to attend in 2012. The hard part is going to be deciding which ones to attend, as finances don't stretch to attending them all.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Putting the "Fan" in Fandom Fest
 |
| The Plot Bunny Cometh |
This past weekend, two types of fans descended on the sci-fi/fantasy/horror con known as Fandom Fest. The first consisted of authors, readers, editors and publishers devoted to speculative fiction. The other kind blew air on perspiring con attendees. Yes, folks, when other bloggers mention the unbearable heat, they speak the truth.
Nevertheless, this con is particularly special because not only did I participate in an Author Reading, I also sat on my first panel: “Urban Fantasy – Can You Define It?” Other authors on the panel included Michael Williams, Denise Verrico, Missa Dixon, and Julie Kagawa. Yes, folks, I sat next to a RITA winner. For those of you who don’t know, Julie Kagawa won the 2011 RITA for best young adult romance with her novel, The Iron King.
The problem with panels, of course, is not being able to attend them all. Fandom Fest offered a diverse selection, ranging from “Academic Credibility for Speculative Fiction” to “Cover Art – A Book is Judged By Its Cover” to “The Paranormal in Fiction.” And no, I can’t tell you my favorite panel. I enjoyed them all.
Also enjoyed hanging out with three other members of Savvy Authors: Amy McCorkle, Marian Allen and Fiona Young-Brown. Except for Amy, I hadn’t met Marian or Fiona in person until then, even though they live in the region.
Of course, cons are for networking. Not only did I collect a number of business cards and bookmarks, I also chatted with authors and publishers, some who I’ve met before at previous cons. Gwen Mayo, a Kentucky mystery writer, gave me some good advice about noting information on the back of someone’s business card for future reference. And Missa Dixon gave me tips on how to prepare for a panel. I’m happy to say my first time went pretty well. Not perfect but better than I expected.
Credit also goes to Gwen and Sarah Glenn of the local chapter of Sisters in Crime for telling me about Fandom Fest and encouraging me to contact Stephen Zimmer, the literary track director. And thanks to Stephen for letting me play in his sandbox.
Fandom Fest Literary Track: http://fandomfest.squarespace.com/literary-track/
Fandom Fest Literary Guests: http://fandomfest.squarespace.com/literary-guests/
Fandom Fest Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fandom-Fest/109559779115312
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
British Vs American
DEATH SCENE has been out only a couple of weeks, and I will have no idea, until July's royalty statement arrives, how many copies it sold in its first month of release. I know I've had a few sales, because the colleagues and family members who have bought it have started to report back.
One of the most consistent comments I've had so far from my British readers is that all the American spellings are annoying. It is true that Brits get annoyed by 'Americanisms' (as this article on the BBC site today demonstrates!). But my publishers are American, so house style dictates American spellings. It does, however, demonstrate that although the UK and the US both officially speak English, anyone who's experienced both knows that American English and British English are, in fact, two entirely separate languages.
DEATH SCENE racked up 31 rejections before being accepted by Lyrical Press. I sent it to agents in America and the UK, and to small press publishers that accepted unsolicted manuscripts on both sides of the Atlantic. Many of the rejections were generic, but some of them had personalised notes. The most common reason from UK agents for turning it down was that contemporary amateur sleuths do not sell in the UK.
Many UK publishers seem to feel that the British reading public want gritty crime thrillers or historical 'whodunnits' featuring amateur sleuths. Whether or not this is true is irrelevant - publishers will buy what they think will sell.
It has dawned on me, however, that Shara might fare better in America than in Britain. Amateur sleuths remain fairly popular there. Whereas the only amateur sleuths in books written by British writers I can think of are all set somewhere in the past.
And there is the added bonus that Shara, as a Canadian living in Britain, offers her perspective on the differences between North America and the UK. Hopefully people who don't live in Britain will connect with that.
At this early stage, I still have no idea how DEATH SCENE will do. But if Shara does prove to be more popular with Americans than Brits, I will see that as a blessing in disguise. It might give hubby and I an excuse to plan that road trip across the States we've always talked about doing.
One of the most consistent comments I've had so far from my British readers is that all the American spellings are annoying. It is true that Brits get annoyed by 'Americanisms' (as this article on the BBC site today demonstrates!). But my publishers are American, so house style dictates American spellings. It does, however, demonstrate that although the UK and the US both officially speak English, anyone who's experienced both knows that American English and British English are, in fact, two entirely separate languages.
DEATH SCENE racked up 31 rejections before being accepted by Lyrical Press. I sent it to agents in America and the UK, and to small press publishers that accepted unsolicted manuscripts on both sides of the Atlantic. Many of the rejections were generic, but some of them had personalised notes. The most common reason from UK agents for turning it down was that contemporary amateur sleuths do not sell in the UK.
Many UK publishers seem to feel that the British reading public want gritty crime thrillers or historical 'whodunnits' featuring amateur sleuths. Whether or not this is true is irrelevant - publishers will buy what they think will sell.
It has dawned on me, however, that Shara might fare better in America than in Britain. Amateur sleuths remain fairly popular there. Whereas the only amateur sleuths in books written by British writers I can think of are all set somewhere in the past.
And there is the added bonus that Shara, as a Canadian living in Britain, offers her perspective on the differences between North America and the UK. Hopefully people who don't live in Britain will connect with that.
At this early stage, I still have no idea how DEATH SCENE will do. But if Shara does prove to be more popular with Americans than Brits, I will see that as a blessing in disguise. It might give hubby and I an excuse to plan that road trip across the States we've always talked about doing.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Memphis Mayhem
One of the first things people will tell you is that its important to network in the publishing industry. Networking helps build a circle of people with similar experiences that you can turn to and get advice when you need it. What I found happening is I corresponded with another author, in this case, said author is Sonya Clark, that we developed a friendship.
Well this past weekend we met for the first time outside of cyber space, in a little town called Memphis---you may have heard of it :-) Anyway, her and her husband met me for lunch at a nice joint called The Blues City Cafe. We talked over catfish and chicken tenders and found that we are much cooler in real life.
Next we headed over to Schwabs, where we picked up hoodoo supplies before heading over to Lucky Tater's (which has the best sign ever) for more hoodoo supplies.
After Lucky Tater, we walked down to the river front before walking back up to Union Ave. Sonya and her hubby said their goodbyes. It was a wonderful experience, and I hope to have another opportunity to hang out with her.
Here's some photo:
Sonya and I were exhausted. Pardon the sweat from the Memphis Heat.
Well this past weekend we met for the first time outside of cyber space, in a little town called Memphis---you may have heard of it :-) Anyway, her and her husband met me for lunch at a nice joint called The Blues City Cafe. We talked over catfish and chicken tenders and found that we are much cooler in real life.
Next we headed over to Schwabs, where we picked up hoodoo supplies before heading over to Lucky Tater's (which has the best sign ever) for more hoodoo supplies.
After Lucky Tater, we walked down to the river front before walking back up to Union Ave. Sonya and her hubby said their goodbyes. It was a wonderful experience, and I hope to have another opportunity to hang out with her.
Here's some photo:
Sonya and I were exhausted. Pardon the sweat from the Memphis Heat.
Friday, July 15, 2011
A five-letter word that should be four letters
I am still getting the hang of handling promotion and I don't always do a great job. It's really hard to figure out what works, and much easier to find out what doesn't work by trial and error. I've done a few guest posts and interviews here and there but nothing very organized. Next month I'll be doing my first real blog tour and I'm nervous about that. I have already learned one valuable lesson I want to share: write a bunch of guest posts ahead of time. Seriously. Like, while you're still in the editing process. No later than the time between finishing edits and the book's release, start writing your promotional guest posts. Even if you have to go back and do some tweaking once you have your guest spots lined up and know the general guidelines of your blog host, it will still be easier than writing a bunch of posts in a hurry. I'll put this into practice on my next go-around. (Is there an emoticon for "OMG I'm an idiot"?)
So as I work to come up with a series of guest posts about Mojo Queen that are so awesome every single person that reads them is compelled to buy my book, it's a good time to remember that while writing may be art, publishing is in fact a job. Sometimes you just have to step up and do what's necessary, even if you don't like it and even if you believe you're not any good at it. That's really my biggest fear - that I am terrible at selling my own books. This is definitely work. And after all work is a four-letter word. Sometimes it feels like promo should be too. ;)
It makes me think of something Susan Sarandon's character said in Bull Durham: Baseball may be a religion full of magic, cosmic truth, and the fundamental ontological riddles of our time, but it's also a job.
That's all I've got this week. I need to get back to work on these posts. I leave you with further inspiration in the form of the single best fan video ever made.
So as I work to come up with a series of guest posts about Mojo Queen that are so awesome every single person that reads them is compelled to buy my book, it's a good time to remember that while writing may be art, publishing is in fact a job. Sometimes you just have to step up and do what's necessary, even if you don't like it and even if you believe you're not any good at it. That's really my biggest fear - that I am terrible at selling my own books. This is definitely work. And after all work is a four-letter word. Sometimes it feels like promo should be too. ;)
It makes me think of something Susan Sarandon's character said in Bull Durham: Baseball may be a religion full of magic, cosmic truth, and the fundamental ontological riddles of our time, but it's also a job.
That's all I've got this week. I need to get back to work on these posts. I leave you with further inspiration in the form of the single best fan video ever made.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)