Book Blurbs and Marketing: Putting on Your Big Girl Pants (A2R Marketing)

There comes a time in your book writing life that you have to put on your big girl pants and get out into the world.

There are many stages to getting a book in front of the public. When a launch looms, palms begin to sweat and the second guessing kicks in. A writer must trust that she has made every effort to create the best work possible. Then it comes time to say, "Publish."

While the final draft is readied for public consumption, an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) or other uncorrected proof is distributed for - gulp - blurbs. Early reviews and cover blurbs are an essential step in a successful launch. This is where the rubber hits the road.

A blurb is a one or two sentence endorsement of your work that graces the cover or first pages of your book. The best are from a person with a voice, a name, and an audience. Maybe it's another author in your genre or a professional in an industry your book touches. What horror author would not want a "Gotta read this book!" from Stephen King or a "Love It!" from Blake Shelton if your romance novel touches on life as a country singer.

I am a firm believer in soliciting feedback on a work in progress at many points during the writing stages. Writers groups and beta readers are critical components of creating a good work and the more harsh the criticism the better you will learn. Having your manuscript buffed by a professional editor is essential.

Lots of advice exists for asking for a blurb. There is even advice for writing your own blurb. But, there is very little advice in getting up the nerve to ask for a blurb. This is where big girl pants help.

If you're traditionally published, many publishers have a stable of folks they routinely ask to blurb for a new book. It can be a give-to-get: I'll give your books blurbs if you give my book a blurb. It's the way business works. But what if you don't have that kind of support from your publisher or you're an indie. Then what?

Then you have to do it yourself.

1. Read. Read. Read. Note the authors that resonate with you. Write down their names. Figure out how to contact them. Meet them if you can.
2. Make sure you have the best damned book you can create. Don't skimp on the process. Workshop it. Beta it. Have it professionally edited. 
3. Aspire. Reach. Target peers but also target someone who is beyond where you are now and is where you hope to be. 
4. Know the answer to this question: Why should I blurb for you? 
5. Craft the best possible query letter you can. Then shorten it.

This process starts six to eight weeks before your launch date. Potential blurb writers will need at least three to four weeks to read your ARC. Hope for them to say "Yes." Don't fault them or you if they say "no." Some authors like to blurb only within their genre. That's fine. I believe readers are interested in reading outside of a genre's silo, so I like to solicit authors who write suspense as well as genres my books touch, like women's fiction or political thrillers. 

So remember:

Be gracious. Be appreciative. Do your homework.

...then put on your big girl pants, write that request for a blurb, and press "send."


More on A2R (Author to Reader) Marketing can be found here.

Help for Local Stable

To everyone at Flying High Stables,

I was devastated to learn of the toll this winter took on your farm. People in the horse community look out for one another and the outpouring of support to your stable was heartwarming. To help the farm and to acknowledge the community that supports Flying High, I'd like to dedicate proceeds of signed copies of my book to the farm. 

My book, "The Charity," captures the perseverance and grit that are hallmarks of the equestrian world. Anyone who would love to read a good book and support your farm can go to my blog and purchase a copy by using the click through in the upper right corner. Please have your supporters state "Flying High" in the memo line. 

I wish all the best for Flying High.

Sincerely, 
Connie Johnson Hambley

Amazon Reviews may be read here.

Poughkeepsie Journal Article on the Heinchon Dairy Arson

Thanks go to the Poughkeepsie Journal for helping to mark the fiftieth anniversary of my family's barn fire.

The anniversary allowed us to reach back to that day and reflect on the changes one event had on our family. Cobwebs and dust on old memories were swept away and deep appreciation for what we have in our lives - rather than what was taken from it - emerged.

Heinchon Dairy is no longer in business, but Eastern Hay and Heinchon's Old Farmhouse Ice Cream are thriving.

More pictures may be found on my Facebook page here.

The above picture is what the barn and surrounding neighborhood. Pawling folks will recognize the John Kane house on the right, Dutcher Golf course in the foreground and Route 22. The barn, silos, dairy and my home are in the center.

True Grit and The Art of Productivity

We creative types have a black hole in our lives. In its sweetest form, we call it our "muse."

We stare at a blank canvas or keyboard and sigh. We look out our windows and wait for our muse's arrival all the while believing that our work can only be done deep within this elusive synergistic partnership. Much has been written about finding our muse. Without our muse beside us, we dither with writer's block or fret about a creative dry spell. If this has happened to you, grab a hold of whatever screen you are reading this on and slap yourself over the head with it.

Waiting for your muse in order to produce is utter and complete nonsense. Breathe deeply and square back your shoulders. Grow up. Dig in and use some grit.

"Grit" is defined as having courage and resolve or possessing a certain strength of character. It's a "stick-to-it-ness" and perseverance that neutralizes the alternatives of giving up on or drifting away from a task.

One of the best discussions of the power of grit was given at a TED talk by Angela Lee Duckworth. In it, she discusses how innate intelligence is not enough to guarantee success, but that grit is the better predictor. She describes her successful math students as those who actively and continuously engaged on a task until it was mastered. IQ did not matter. Sticking to it did.

Grit is different from discipline. A recent posting caught my attention with the headline, "Screw motivation, what you need is discipline." My favorite line is, "If you wait until you feel like doing stuff, you’re f*****d." Perfectly stated! Motivation is a mood. Discipline, it states, is a process and the engine to productivity. I agree with the post, but argue more is needed than merely discipline. Discipline makes us say "no" to temptations and time sinks (like water cooler chats or vacuuming under the couch one more time). Discipline parks our butts in the seat while waiting for the muse bus to arrive. 

Grit makes you an active participant engaged with being productive. Grit makes us put one foot in front of the other and forces words into sentences. Grit makes us sideline our fears and supports us in stepping up to the task. Grit helps us realize that we are the only ones who can make it happen and then makes us take those small steps forward in our goal.

I hear examples of grit every day. It's the writer who stays glued in her seat until her daily word count is met. It's the artist who allows herself to begin a piece of art with a crappy idea only to begin molding it into something fresh and new. It's the executive who gathers the team together one more time for an ad hoc brainstorming session. It's the worker who asks for help and insight that one time more. 

Grit is in each of us when we turn our backs on the window and stop waiting for our muse.

Author Event: Noir at the Bar in Boston-POSTPONED

Noir at the Bar 2

The Pour House, Boston, Massachusetts

POSTPONED DUE TO SNOW. NEW DATE TBD.

Boston has a new literary tradition. Back by popular demand, Noir at the Bar features some of the region's best noir authors. Authors hail from Maine, New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and more. From hard boiled crime, mystery and thriller, to the edges of horror, readers will be entertained with original works crafted especially for the evening. Each author will read for about ten minutes.

I'm very pleased to have been invited to be a part of this night. As time gets closer to the launch of The Troubles, The Charity's sequel, I'll be reading something to whet reader's appetites for more of the main character's story.

If you're not from around Boston, make sure you don't peg yourself as an out-of-towner. Locals love their "Noo-WAH at da Bah in BAH-stin." And be careful where you pahk ya cah.

I'll be joining Mike Miner, Angel Colon, Chris Irvin, Alex Segura, Nik Korpon, Patrick Shawn Bagley, Bracken MacLeod, Steve Ulfelder, Dale Phillips and Errick Nunnally.

Look for updates on Twitter with tag #N@B2.

See you there!

A2R Marketing: The Mentor/Mentee Dynamic

We've all been the new kid at some point in our lives or careers. Being guided through the cafeteria line by an expert who then sat next to us was either a reality or a deep wish. Either way, experiencing the need for guidance made us both humble and sensitive. Humble because not having the answers made us insecure, and sensitive because we became aware that others may need our help.

Most writers have someone they can turn to for advice on their writing content, but when it comes to promoting their work, they have no one to turn to. The lack of guidance can leave a new writer feeling like they're holding their lunch tray all alone in a room filled with communities of engaged and purposeful people. They see other writers with active social media or in person events, and wonder what the secret was to getting there.

I can't speak for everyone, but I'll speak for many. The folks who have a presence in the digital world, or have fans in the physical one, had a mentor. 

men·tor  (ˈmenˌtôr,ˈmenˌtər)

someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person.

A mentor who knows you and knows your work can help make sense of a dizzying array of choices. I emphasize the knows you part. A simple Google search on book promotion brought up 346,000,000 hits. There is no shortage of advice or services to help promote. They key is finding what works for you. A mentor who understands your strengths, personal comfort zones, and goals can guide you to the right strategy for effective promotion. This is true no matter what career you are in.

Several years ago, I was lucky enough to have been asked by a member of the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association in Boston to be a mentor for young women in science. The women I mentored were mostly young PhD's working in research and development. I may have known little about their scientific questions, but I knew a lot about office politics and positioning for promotion. My twenty-plus years of experience in male dominated fields of law and finance helped to shape and inform my advice to them, but the key to helping was knowing them. We met at least once per month and traded phone calls and emails frequently. By learning who was comfortable with confrontation, or who ran for the hills at the slightest furrowed brow, helped me tailor my advice. Each month, a very specific task was given. A task may have been having lunch with someone who has the job you want next. Small steps helped build success and having a mentor made the mentee accountable.

I became a good mentor because I knew the need. I never had a mentor early in my career and I really could have used one!

A mentor can be anyone you trust who has enjoyed a level of success in an area you aspire to. But don't think you have to be either a mentor or a mentee. When it comes to author to reader marketing, one size does not fit all. I'm constantly being exposed to best practices and learning tricks of the promotional arts. What may not have worked last year, might be perfect now.

To find a mentor:

1. Look within your writer's group for someone who has done something you'd like to do. Ask how they did it and would they guide you through the process.
2. Organizations, like HBA mentioned above, have formal mentoring programs. If not yet writing full time, find out if your "day job" industry has such a program. The insights gleaned from working closely with someone who gets to know your strengths can be applied to your writing promotion.
3. Reach out on social media and begin a relationship with someone you admire. Most authors are approachable and will be happy to provide guidance even if not in a 'formal' mentoring relationship.

It's the dynamic of always allowing yourself to learn and adapt that makes for the most effective marketing for you.


More on A2R (Author to Reader) Marketing can be found here.

A2R Marketing: REWARD! Jessica Wyeth and the Travel Bug

The best stories leave readers feeling like they have lived inside the pages of a book. When the setting is realistic, readers of fiction are taken deeper into the characters' lives and suspend their beliefs long enough for the writers to weave their tales. Readers of The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, are rewarded with many blogs on locations featured in the book and film locales. Lovers of the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer flock to Forks and La Push, Washington and visit towns of the Quileute tribe. Readers love being surrounded by the physical world their beloved characters inhabited. It extends their enjoyment of the stories and writers love active and engaged fans.

I've heard from readers who feel as if they have walked in my main character's shoes. I've decided to take things one step more...pun somewhat intended. Now I'm offering a reward to do exactly that.

For you muggles out there, listen up. Geocaching combines hiking with treasure hunts. Geocachers hide boxes in different locations accessible by the public. Over two million people worldwide enjoy searching for caches that can be as big as an ammunition box or as small as a pill vile. Once a cache is found, a log is signed and a small item may traded. A twist on the typical seek and find is a travel bug. These 'bugs' are trackable objects that geocachers move from cache to cache. The best bugs have a purpose, like trying to get to China or finding the best dog parks in the U.S.

On New Year's day 2015, I placed a travel bug named "Jessica Wyeth's Travels" somewhere in Jessica's hometown of Hamilton, Massachusetts. If you go onto the Geocache site, you'll read these details:

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You'll have to find the bug to read the tracker numbers!

Mission:

This travel bug is dedicated to Jessica Wyeth of Hamilton, Massachusetts. Help Jessica travel and find the best places horse lovers can go to fuel their passion.

Jessica is an expert equestrian and is passionate about all things horse related. Help this bug travel to equestrian themed locations: Bridle trails? Race tracks? Farms? Homes of famous horse lovers? Places of real or fictional horses or their owners? A statue featuring a horse? Birthday party pony rides?

Or even better, if you've read her books, bring this bug to places from her story around Massachusetts, Kentucky, Wyoming, Utah, Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Description:

Jessica Wyeth was born with traits she couldn't hide: beauty, cunning, an innate ability to survive and the desire to travel.

Jessica is the main character in "The Charity" and (upcoming in 2015) "The Troubles." She's had more than a bit of trouble hiding as an accused murderer. Now she's tangled up with terrorists.

There's a reward for helping her travel bug roam the world in search of all things horse. Post a name in your geocache comment, and you might see that name used in a story. Jessica needs friends and your suggested name might become the person who helps her! That name could also be transformed into a character in a short story.

So, let this bug travel the world in search of an equine experience, and have fun! 

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You read that right! I'm offering a reward. I'll be watching the travels of this bug and the comments very carefully. (I'll also be watching the comments on this blog post, too!) If you find the bug, post your discovery and a name you'd like to see in a story. It can be your name or one you make up, but be warned - the character may have some unsavory traits you might not like associated with your real name. I'm busy developing the third book in Jessica's series, and she really, really needs a friend or two. I write short stories too, so your suggested name could end up in one of those as well. Through the power of social media, I promise to notify you if I use your suggested name.

If you've read this blog before, I had great ambitions to make a puzzle geocache. This travel bug is one step closer to making that happen!

So, exercise your sense of adventure, creativity and body all at the same time! Don't sit on your tush reading! Get outside and enjoy the day! Have some fun!

More on A2R (Author to Reader) Marketing can be found here.