A2R Marketing: Book Launch Marketing Plan

You know the saying "Good ideas are a dime a dozen?" You're an author. You're filled with good ideas. So why is your bank account so empty?

Simple: It's the execution, dummy.

There are plenty of writers out there who write for the pure love of writing. Their desks and hard drives are filled with their efforts and they take pride and comfort just knowing they've produced essays, short stories, screen plays or any other written output. If you have decided to be an author who writes for others in the hope of finding readers who will pay for the privilege of reading your work, then you know that you are embarking on a different mission.

I'm going to assume here that you have a really superb piece of written work that has been thoroughly vetted by a professional editor or crowd-sourced editing. I'm also going to assume that this post caught your eye because you pressed the magic "Publish" button and nothing happened. Or very little happened and now you want to take your book to the next level.

Simple: You need a plan.

It's easier to make a step-by-step plan when you have certain core concepts down cold.

Key elements for a structured approach are:

1. Know your idea. Take the time and write three specific summaries of your work. By writing these three summaries, you have a "go to" encapsulation of your work when asked about your book for different platforms. Think of them as a tweet, Facebook post and back cover or dust jacket summary.

• One sentence grab. The business world calls this the "elevator pitch." What would you say in the fifteen seconds when serendipity plunked you into the same elevator that Mr./Ms. Moneybucks is riding? What compelling tidbit would you share on why your company (a.k.a. "book") is the best investment of money and time s/he could make? This single sentence should sum up your book with excitement and compel a reader to want more.
• One paragraph summary. Give a little more detail of the setting, characters and tension but insert the emotional ride the reader will experience.
• One page description. That space on the back cover of your book or the inside flaps of the dust jacket is just waiting for the answer to "Why should I care?" This should NOT be a plot-driven summary. Give the readers a better sense of why the setting is important, who these characters are and the over-arching tension of the story. 

2. Know your audience. Know your genre, word count, audience, what makes your work unique (voice, subject matter, setting). Askville has a good summary of a variety of genres. The Atlantic as a very humorous description of different readers. Knowing these two points are essential for all future targeting you will do to your audience.

• Write a one sentence summary of who your target reader is. Learn what their top "emotional words" are. Will "yearn" gain your reader's interest or will "search" work? (Feel the difference of "Jenny yearned for answers." or "Jenny searched for answers.")

3. Know your goal. Are you looking to become a Top 100 author? Targeting your book in a specific genre will help tremendously. You have a better chance of getting into the top if your genre is "French Chic Lit" rather than "Women's Fiction."

• Break your goal into smaller pieces either by a time period or an event. "I will increase my author's rank by 20%." or "This week I will contact five newspapers and tell them about my book."

4. Know your tools. What do you have at your disposal for making it all happen? Signings, readings, give aways, book clubs, social media, review sites. Use them.

• You need to have a "web presence" that will give potential readers the comfort of knowing their investment of money and time will be well made.

5. Know your budget. Go ahead. Search the web under "Book Promotion" or "Book Marketing." There are any number of ways people are looking to part you with your money. Even if you're lucky enough to have a big budget for a book trailer, ad placements, a full time PR person, and all other promotions, eventually the money is going to run out and you're going to be left to your own resourcefulness.

Be disciplined and create your own success.

Book Launch: Part 2
Book Launch: Part 3

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

Strong Women as Main Characters: Do They Need Superpowers?

Once a reader puts his or her nose into a book, one key element that pulls them along with the story is whether or not they like the main character. Without some kind of connection, the reader won't care what happens to them or, worse yet, may look at what that character does with a jaded eye putting the whole plot in jeopardy. After all, buy-in with the main character is essential if the reader is to suspend their belief enough to become immersed in the writer's carefully constructed story.

Skillful writers use the reader's own biases to quickly create a connection. It's not a coincidence that many murder mysteries have intelligent, quirky women as prime sleuths or razor edge thrillers have steely-eyed men  as MCs. These character types come with a wealth of baggage that a writer can quickly unpack to dress a scene with a few key phrases and keep the story moving in the right direction.

When creating a thriller or suspense novel, the MC is going to be placed in situations that a reader would never encounter in real life and then has to extricate him- or herself out of it with cunning and skill. They need to find a special strength to win against the bad guys. Having a woman MC in a thriller is a tougher act to create because the writer is has to balance existing baggage of stereotype with that "special something" which enables them prevail.

Some thriller writers create their women MCs with superhuman powers. Maybe it's an ability to read minds or have lasers shoot from her eyes that provides the extra element that pushes the story over the top. Handled with skill, enhanced powers can trigger a connection with the reader by tapping into an unspoken fantasy. Who hasn't walked into a crowded room and wondered what people were thinking?

A writer doesn't have to imbue special powers in the MC or sacrifice action when a woman is in the center of it. They just have to be keenly aware of what reader biases they are tapping into and how they are manipulating reader emotions. After all, putting superhuman powers into a woman MC is acknowledging a stereotype that a mere human woman isn't strong enough or smart enough on her own to prevail.

The best women MCs are those that play against stereotype in some fashion. By providing another dimension, the writer creates a living, breathing person that the reader cares about. A strong woman can quickly become a two dimensional cardboard cutout if the writer isn't careful - a Rambo in a cami only goes so far.

A believable strong woman main character needs to have the following traits:

1. Warmth. She needs to be able to connect with other characters around her and form a believable relationship. The bond she forms will enable the reader to say to themselves, "Oh. I get her. She would feel like I feel." The bond doesn't have to be with a person. A compelling MC may be a woman with Autism who can't connect with people but forges a bond with an animal. But showing that warmth can also expose an essential weakness that can be a mechanism for driving the plot forward.
2. Intelligence. The woman MC needs to be able to put pieces together in a way the reader might not do. The MC does not have to be a genius, but just has to understand her world enough to figure out the ins and outs of a situation with a fresh perspective that makes a reader think.
3. Passion. Readers understand going the extra mile for a cause that is near and dear to their hearts. Tapping into a passion ignites the drive that raises a regular woman into a tigress. Just threaten a mild-mannered mother's child to see this in action or put into jeopardy someones deeply held political beliefs. 
4. One special skill. The world created in a thriller often revolves around a unique characteristic of the main character. The special skill for a woman needs to both flesh out her world for the reader and her abilities for the story. For example, a brilliant chemist will inhabit a world with test tubes and beakers and may hold the key to prevent a chemical weapon from being created. 
5. Beauty. She needs to possess a beauty that the reader can admire or aspire to. Whether it's inner or outer beauty, the woman MC benefits from a beauty that transcends the reader's everyday world.
6. Resourcefulness. The main character in a thriller is going to be in a sticky situation or two. Figuring out how to survive when she can't morph into a moth or bend a steel bar is going to create compelling scenes for the reader. 
7. Vision. Simply put, she needs to see a better world that can be created from her efforts. 

If the writer is able to create a female main character who avoids the pitfalls of stereotype and provides traits that a reader can relate to, then they have created a way for their stories to move forward on a suspenseful journey.

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FRIDAY FEATURES is a steady presence on Out of the Fog where I explore the concept of "strong women." Who are they? What makes them strong? How do we see them in writing and/or in business? If you're an author, what is their place in the world of thrillers of mysteries? If you're in business, how is the working environment impacted by the presence of a "strong woman" and how are they seen as leaders and team members? If you're an emerging strong woman, tell us about your journey. Have other questions you find compelling? Ask away and I'll post the answers here.  

If you have something to say about the topic of 

strong women, contact me on Twitter: 

@conniehambley. 

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Word Continues to Spread Making Kindle Sales Pop!

Thank you to Michelle Pelletier Marshall, reporter for the Newburyport Daily News, for writing a very nice article about me and The Charity! In the day the article has been published, my sales on Kindle have popped! Positively wonderful!

Book Club Questions/Reader's Guide

With my books readers growing in number, I've had a few reach out to me asking for questions that would be good conversation starters for their book clubs. I've put together a list with some questions that are good for any of my books,The Charity, The Troubles, or The Wake. Yes, they are part of The Jessica Trilogy, but each book stands alone and you don't have to read a prior book to get up to speed. I've had great fun talking with book groups in person and LOVE meeting groups via Skype, Facebook chats, and Google Hangouts.

• The Jessica Trilogy has been applauded for realistic portrayals of behaviors, motivations and consequences behind terrorist acts as well as the history of the Troubles. Do these books challenge your perspective on terrorism? How? 
• Each book's plot hinges on a real event. Specifically, the Manchester shopping mall bombing in June 1996 propels action in The Troubles and the bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympic games in Atlanta, Georgia frames the action in The Wake. How did these books change your perspective of real life events?
• Was there a point in the book when you knew you had to keep reading? What was it?
• Who was your favorite character?
• Do you feel as if your views on the struggle for Northern Ireland's independence or reunification have changed since you read the book?
• Was there a theme you felt that I, as the author, emphasized through the story?What do you think I was trying to say?
• What characters evolved throughout the book? If you read the whole trilogy, who changed the most? 
• Was it the character who changed or your perspective on that character which changed? What were the reasons for that change and was that effective for you as a reader?
• Was there a character that you first thought of as "good" or "bad" and then changed your mind? How did that happen?
• What was it about Jessica that she could not disguise about herself? 
• Readers often think fiction main characters expose an author's life. Did you see any ways in which you feel I was revealed through Jessica? How?
• Were there any passages in the book that made you feel uncomfortable? Why? Does that say more about you or me as the author?

These are questions I most hear from different readers and book clubs. Questions I have for my readers is what do you think happens to Jessica after the book ends? What do you want to see happen to her?

This list should get the conversation rolling for most book groups. Of course, a glass of chardonnay or a Jessica Cocktail or two wouldn't hurt.

Enjoy!

A2R Marketing - Good Outlook for 2013

I wanted to take a minute to share a post from the Alliance of Independent Authors. It confirms all of what I've been seeing and sensing in the marketplace. Independent authors are gaining marketshare because they are paying attention to best practices and, as the attached link expands upon, the infrastructure is adapting to a new business model.



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

Wenham Tea House Author Tea

Special Author Tea at the Wenham Tea House Wednesday, January 23 from 3:00 - 5:00 pm

I'm very excited that the Wenham Tea House has invited me to be featured at a special Author Tea. The excitement around The Charity continues to grow and I look forward to talking to folks in Jessica's hometown about Hamilton, horses, and - of course - heiresses. What better way to celebrate Jessica's tale than to enjoy a hot cup of tea and talk about a hot book!

The Charity tells the story of Hamilton native, Jessica Wyeth. Jessica was born with traits she just couldn’t hide – beauty, cunning, and innate skills in training horses. She is blocked from taking her rightful position in the lucrative family business of high stakes horse racing by her farm’s manager and top trainer, Gus Adams. When Gus is found brutally murdered, all evidence points to Jessica. Terrified, she runs and becomes a master at hiding in plain view.

The process of building a new life around an assumed identity is derailed when she is recognized by the organization that destroyed her family. This time, instead of running away, she heads back to Boston, racing against time to find answers. Her search for the truth uncovers the cold reality that the Charity will stop at nothing to succeed in its mission and that Jessica is not the only one hidden in the daylight.

Please join me at the Wenham Tea House on Wednesday, January 23 for afternoon tea from 3:00 – 5:00 pm. I will share stories behind the book and answer any questions. Copies of The Charity will be available for purchase and a personal inscription! Storm date for the tea is January 30.

Enjoying the Holidays with Jessica!

Hey folks!

Wondering what to serve your friends as a holiday libation? Try serving a Jessica Cocktail!

1 oz. Vodka
2 oz. POM pomegranate juice
Pomegranate/Lime Seltzer

Fill tall glass with ice, followed by vodka and POM. Shake well and leave in glass. Top with seltzer.

I especially like this because I can add more seltzer as I sip.

Enjoy and Happy Holidays!