The Author's Show Podcast Interview - June 30

Please tune in on June 30 to listen to my podcast interview on The Author's Show. Simply click on the link and the interview will stream in.

New Cover Promotion: Kindle Countdown

There have been a LOT of changes going on in the world of The Charity. The new cover is getting a lot of  great attention, my new website is up and rolling, and the launch of the next installment of The Jessica Trilogy will be unveiled soon. 

Since The Charity is the first in a series about a young woman caught in the mechanisms of terrorism, I want to give readers the opportunity of learning why it's earning consistently stellar reviews at a "gotta get it now" price!

The promotion will be for a limited time only. Starting Monday, June 16 and ending at midnight, June 19, the discounted price will be as follows:

June 16 - $ .99

June 17 - $1.99

June 18 - $2.99

June 19 - $3.99

If you haven't done so already, make sure to follow me on Twitter - @conniehambley - and like my Facebook page. As the summer reading approaches, there will be more updates and offerings for Jessica and her fans!

How is Writing a Thriller Like Practicing Law?

Long ago, my cover was blown that I'm a lawyer by training if not by temperament. The connection between my current writing and my past career crystallized on a recent walk with a lawyer friend of mine.

She was in the mad crush of work to complete an appellate brief. The case had been to trial and decision rendered. One of the parties didn't like the outcome. As happens very frequently, the party appealed the ruling, hoping a higher court would see things differently. When a decision is appealed, the world for that appeal is set in the record of the trial. No new facts can be entered on appeal. She was pulling out her hair over the Statement of Facts section of her brief, trying to craft a foundation upon which her whole case would rest on the existing record. She couldn't move on to the Argument section until the foundation was right. One faulty shaping of fact or omission, and her whole case could come crumbling down.

She felt caught in quicksand. The more she tried to craft the facts to best bolster her case, the deeper she sank into the muck. "Lean and mean," she told herself. But she kept getting stuck knowing that any overreaching or mischaracterization would be like giving clover to the opposition. No attorney wants to make picking apart finely honed arguments easy. She stopped midstride and commented how much her writing briefs was similar to me writing books.

In a recent interview on ArtistFirst radio (a CBS affiliate) the host asked me where I learned to write. My answer was law school. Writing a well paced and cogent thriller is very much like writing a well articulated and succinct brief.

1. You have to know where you are going with each word.

From the very beginning of the brief or your book, you need to know where you want to take the reader. Each word is chosen for a purpose. Each sentence is crafted to persuade and manipulate the reader and coerce them into your world.

2. Opposing counsel is your discerning reader.

I value the intelligence of my readers and I construct my plots so everything hangs together in a logical progression. If there is something not quite right, I expect them to find the chink and pry the whole darned plot wide open. A good opposing counsel is just waiting for that one forgotten fact or that one logical extension of an argument that cuts everything off at the knees. Everything is written for a reason and there cannot be any holes or loose threads that, if pulled, unravel the whole work. I write for readers who plow through plots with a fine tooth comb.

3. A well constructed thriller is like a well constructed brief.

A brief starts with a Statement of Facts. It sets the stage and defines the capsule in which the Argument resides. A good thriller starts with setting the stage and world of reader expectations. A writer has to know when to quit and not overload the front end.

A brief continues with the Argument. This section takes the facts and fleshes them out with other cases and perspectives, always with an end in mind. A thriller continues by expanding the initial statement of the plot and weaves in other information, pulling the reader along with a clear purpose in mind.

The final section of the brief is the Summation. All the facts and law are woven into a final and ironclad presentation of the case, leaving no room for doubt that the client's perspective will prevail. The thriller takes all of the facts and threads seeded throughout the book and weaves them together in a believable and airtight climax.  

4. Always keep your audience and direction in mind.

In both a brief and a thriller, always keep what you are writing and who you are writing for in the forefront of your mind. Make sure you keep where you are heading clearly in your vision. Use your reader's world view to shape how you craft a sentence. Are you writing to a criminal lawyer or to a family attorney in divorce court? Very different approaches are used here. Are you writing to a young adult audience or to lovers of erotica? That first kiss will look a lot different depending upon who you think will be reading it.

Law school was my writing boot camp. There, I inhaled information and exhaled legal arguments. I learned to write in a very direct fashion and further honed my skills in writing articles. I learned to stay out of the quicksand.

It's good to know that a strong foundation never lets you down.

Chelmsford Library Author Event: May 31, 2:00-4:00 pm

I am very pleased to have been invited by the Chelmsford Public Library to participate in their annual author's event. Authors of different genre will be there discussing their writing process and recent works. Enjoy some light refreshments, buy a signed book and support your local library!

New Look. Same Heart.

Today marks the launch of the new cover to The Charity and a new look to my site! I'm excited about these changes and want you to know why I went through the trouble.

Making a decision to redesign a cover is not an easy one. A book cover is about capturing potential readers' attention, making them intrigued enough to pick up the book to learn more about it (thereby making back covers very important!) and giving the reader a mental image that will both make them remember your book and give them clues about your book's story. Since most viewing by potential readers is online, a front cover image is extremely important.

My first cover did some jobs incredibly well. It was a striking image and conjured a lot of emotion and comments. At readings and events, it received many compliments and it did what a cover should do - once seen, it was easily remembered and not confused with any other book. It told a lot about the story and about me as an author. Neither the main character nor I play it safe. As one reviewer commented, "It is a compliment to the writer's courage not to take the easy way out..." The Charity also hit number one on Amazon for both Legal Thrillers and Terrorism Thrillers. A significant portion of that success can be attributed to the powerful image of its first cover.

As I got to know my readers, I realized the cover often did not speak to the fervent fans of the story. A recent review on Youtube articulated the seeming disconnect between the two. Many times I had to explain the connection between the first cover and the story. I'll say it here for the last time: Things aren't always what they appear to be and often the worst evil can hide in broad daylight. Check out the hand in the image. It's a real hand!

It's impossible to have firm data on this, but that little 'Spidey-sense' telegraphed that the mark was not a hit. For as many readers who were drawn to the story because of the cover, there may have been those who were turned off. This much I do know and is the hardest to admit: Readers who loved the story said they would not have picked up this book because of the cover. They read it on the strong recommendations of other readers and ended up loving the story and loving Jessica, the main character, but the first cover would have been a deal breaker. Seriously, what author or publisher wants to hear that all of their toil and effort has the opposite effect? The cover actually inhibited potential fans from reading it! It was back to the drawing board, literally!

The new cover is getting great reviews. The link between the story and the image is very clear. There is a barn fire in the book and the figure standing calmly watching it all happen is unsettling. Barn fires are kinda important in my personal story, too. If you read the comments on the review linked to above, the reviewer loves the new look and it addresses all of her concerns. I know she's not alone. 

One last point about the new cover. I want you, the reader, to question what you think you know about terrorism. I want you to question what it is and why it exists. I want you to question how big an act of terrorism has to be in order to be effective. The most unsettling answer is that sometimes it is the smaller acts that have the biggest influence. Hero or terrorist? Sometimes it all depends which side of the match you're on.

Redesigning the site will be an ongoing process as the sequel moves toward publication. Think of this first step as cleansing your palate. The Cliffs of Moher were beautiful and spoke to the Irish themes in the story, but it was time to move on.

So, Jessica Wyeth, Owen Shea, Michael Conant, Gapman and everyone else is moving on, too. They may have a new look, but their hearts and minds are still the same.

I am very interested to hear your thoughts about the risks and rewards of redesigning a cover. Please leave a comment below.

Youtube Review of "The Charity"

I wanted to share a link for a recent review of The Charity posted on youtube.

I'm very excited to have been reviewed by Getbookish and certainly am pleased that the story was very well received. I think cosmic forces are at work because one point made was that the cover didn't seem to connect with the content! I couldn't agree more, Getbookish! In a recent blogpost I talked about some points to consider when designing or redesigning your cover and am in the process of creating one.

Stay tuned! Updates and cover reveal soon!

Designing (and Redesigning!) Your Book's Cover: Five Points to Consider

What does a book cover say?

Capturing the essence of a book in a single image is a daunting task. A quick search on many classic titles shows that one book may have presented different marketing faces to different audiences. This post by Hongkiat.com provides an excellent primer on the basics of good and bad cover design.

Each type of book, whether ebook, paperback or hardcover, will have specifics for its cover needs. An ebook is the simplest and least time consuming cover because the author only has to decide on the front cover's image. There are no spines, back covers or dust flaps to contend with. Most authors use the same image for their ebooks as they do for the paperbacks and hardcovers. When initially launching a book, keeping the same cover is a good idea, especially for a new or indie author.

Finding that one image is a daunting task. There are any number of services to help with cover designs. Check out Elance.com and 99designs.com to post your project and find a designer. Sites like istock.com and Flickr have a trove of reasonably priced images to choose from if you're bold enough to try one of the do-it-yourself cover creators.

Additional points to consider:

1. What will your image look like in thumbnail?

Even sales through a brick and mortar store are often made after a reader has researched a book online. The best covers are recognizable, crisp, and evocative even when less that one inch high. If you have an image you like, test a smaller version of it:

• Bring a view of the image onto your computer screen;
• Minimize the screen by hitting the "_" in the upper right corner (for most computers);
• Cursor over the toolbar. A small image of the screen will appear that closely approximates what a thumbnail of a potential cover will look like.

2. Don't ignore the additional horsepower of the back cover and dust flaps.

Most online sales are ebook sales. No mystery there. Many authors forget or are not aware of the additional marketing power of back covers. Take a look at any paperback book on Amazon and you'll have an option to "flip" the book over to read the back. Even if the sale is going to be a Kindle, many readers take the time to read the back cover of the paperback. Amazon also allows authors and publishers to add content "From the Inside Flap" whether the potential sale is for a Kindle or hardcover. Also, the back cover provides additional emotional cues which hint at the story within. Author pictures are not required.

3. Listen to feedback.

A book may have a great cover, but an author may get feedback that the cover does not fit the book. If you hear there is a disconnect between what the cover says and what the content is, consider redesigning it.

4. Use the redesign as a mini re-launch.

Any reason to talk about your book is a good thing. Use the redesign to generate conversation and buzz. Engage your readers and potential readers in a dialogue. Time the release of the new cover with some event like a reader, interview or blog tour. This way, you can transition the reader's awareness of your book away from the old image to the new image and keep your existing fans with you.

5. New ISBN is not needed.

According to Bowker, a new ISBN is not needed for a new cover and/or minor interior editorial changes. If there is a substantial change to the content that would spark a consumer complaint, then a new ISBN would be needed.

What's your redesign story?

Good luck!