Short Stories and the Novelist: A Marketing Tool

Most of us probably started off writing short stories, either on our own or as class assignments as kids. Some may still write short stories for our own enjoyment, or maybe to sell to magazines or for contests. But short stories are sort of the red-headed stepchild to the novelist, aren't they? Agents don't generally rep short story collections. They aren't the most lucrative market. (If you are looking for places to publish short stories, Duotrope is a great place to search.) I'm here to tell you that short stories may be more beneficial to you as a novelist than you think.

By now we all know that the digital side of publishing is a huge part of the market and that it's easier now than ever to put together your own eBook. Self-publishing is well within reach for all of us. (Agented authors with book deals may need to check with their publishers and read the fine print of their contracts before self-publishing anything, to avoid any fiasco like this one.) Any of us can self-publish a few singles, or a collection of short stories. This makes the short story a relatively quick and easy tool in your arsenal. Here are a few ways to use short stories to your advantage.

Pre-Launch

Are you an indie or self-publisher about to release your first novel? You've written a great book, have a nice cover, have carefully crafted your short blurb and product description, have been working on your social media presence and building a following, and have decided on a price you feel is both competitive and fair to you as the writer. But you might still be worried about how to better entice readers to buy your book–the one by an author they've never heard of—instead of, or in addition to, the latest release by one of their favorite, well-known authors. Readers can certainly "look inside" on Amazon and sample some of your writing that way. Or you could offer a little something else.

My FTWA buddy Pete Morin took this approach before the release of his novel, Diary of a Small Fish. The month before he published Fish he released a free short story on Smashwords. A free short story or collection of shorts gives potential readers a way to read something of yours, from start to finish, and get a feel for whether they'd like to read more. Hopefully the answer is yes! And once they know you can satisfy their imaginations through an entire story arc, they won't be as hesitant to spend money on your novel. You're no longer an unknown to them. Some authors will offer the first book of a series for free, then charge for the rest, banking on this same theory that the free book will lead to more sales for the others. If you aren't writing a series, consider writing a short story or two to offer for free prior to your book's release.

Between Books in a Series

YA author Elana Johnson's debut novel, Possession, was published in June of 2011. The sequel, Surrender, was released last month. During the year between the two books, Elana released two shorter stories related to the series. The first was an exclusive short story, available as a free download through her website, and the second was what she calls a "bridge story," which is an eBook exclusive. Both of these were her own ideas that she executed with her publisher's support. She explained to me via Twitter

The first one (Insider Information) was my idea. We needed their permission to use butterflies and ice on the cover. They liked what I was doing, and so we (me and agent) pitched the idea of a "bridge story" to them. They ran with that, and produced the second story (REGRET). So one is free (my self-pubbed one) and one is $1.99.It's hard to tell for sure, but she believes "it seems to have worked a bit" in terms of keeping readers interested in the series and keeping up the excitement prior to the release of the second book. 

Elana shows that using short stories to renew and sustain interest in a series isn't for self-publishers alone. You can make it work with traditional publishing as well.

Bonus Material

Do you ever watch the deleted scenes or alternate endings from movies when you get the DVD? I do, when it's a movie I really enjoyed. Have you ever read a book and wanted to read more about the character's lives after the book was finished? Maybe you wanted to know more about some of their back story, stuff that wasn't really related to the novel itself. Or maybe you wondered how it would've turned out if a character had made this choice instead of that one.

You've wondered about it with books you've read. So why don't you write it for your own books?

If you've gotten good feedback that readers love your characters and your story, it's not too far-fetched to think they might enjoy some bonus material. Maybe you had to delete some scenes you liked but that didn't suit the novel for whatever reason. Or perhaps you've been dying to write an alternate ending. Or a short story about one of your characters as a child. There are a lot of possibilities there. If you're self-publishing, there's really no limit to what you can do. If you have a contract with a publisher, you'll need to work out what you can and can't do on your own, and what they would or wouldn't be willing to work with you on.

You may be a novelist, but don't discount the value short stories could add to your career. They can help you entice readers if you're relatively unknown, sustain the enthusiasm for your writing and characters between releases, and help you continue to satisfy readers even after they reach THE END.

Have you used short stories to complement your novels in these, or other, ways? Do you have any tips for others looking to use this technique?

This post originally appeared on From the Write Angle, under the title Your Writing Repertoire: the Long and Short of It.

Observations on Book Marketing: Cheri Lasota

I'm thrilled today to have author Cheri Lasota guest posting at Jello World. I met Cheri some time ago through Authonomy, and she recently released her first novel, Artemis Rising, which I wholeheartedly recommend you all read.

Observations on book marketing from a converted enthusiast.

I used to be shy. Don’t quite know what happened…

I’ve been writing since I was a wee tyke, mainly because I was an introverted outcast that nobody wanted to play with. I lived my life in stories and it is there that I still remain. But along the way, as I grew in the craft and learned more about online and offline marketing, I began to feel comfortable in my own skin and was able to interact with people without becoming exhausted. This was a two-decade long process, but I’m here to tell you that it certainly needn’t take that long for you (even if you are the classic introverted writer).

Everything I’ve learned, I’ve learned the hard way, but perhaps these five insights below will help your journey toward publication success run more smoothly than my own did.

Think of your book as a product.

When I finally figured this out (and yes, the moment was complete with choirs of angels singing and lightbulbs flashing obnoxiously over my head), here’s what happened:

• I learned how to cut fifty pages of extraneous crap from my manuscript. No, no! Not my darlings. Yes, oh yes. Snip, snip, snip… By the end, I was wielding my bloody red pen with terrifying glee.
• Marketing became a joy, not a masochistic form of exhaustive torture.
• Agent rejection letters became a reason to send out three more. Seriously, I was thrilled to receive these. It just meant I no longer had to wait for a reply from that agent.
• Critiques from writing groups, publishers, and friends became exercises in growing my craft. I took the good advice, ignored the bad, and stuck to my guns when it came to keeping my vision for this story intact. I didn’t take the opinions of others personally.
• I started to have the overwhelming desire to learn every aspect of writing: marketing, business development, and craft as well as ebook and website design.

Now doesn’t that all sound wonderful? It is! And you can do it too. But it isn’t an easy mental process. Our novels start out as our babies, our ‘lil dawlins. How to kick them to the curb and make them earn their keep? Make the decision to see your book as merely a product that will soon be for sale. And keep making that decision until you believe it, through and through. Every choice is a decision you make over and over. Until you choose something else, of course. But hey, you’re next novel…let that be your baby and let this one go. Never thought I’d say this but…Be Your Novel’s Pimp!

Take stock of what you love to do.

When it comes to all the things that make up a writing career, what do you love most?

• writing
• editing
• social networking
• book design
• handselling
• socializing (commiserating?) with other writers

If it’s none of the above, you’re seriously in the wrong career. =) If all you chose in this list was writing, I hope you have a lot of cash on hand. Here’s the thing, you can do one of two things—especially as an indie author: learn to do it yourself or pay someone else to do it. Neither option is inherently wrong. But assessing your strengths and weaknesses will help you create a game plan for putting together a quality product (there’s that dirty word again!).

You’ve got to know what you’re good at and also what you love to do. Usually those are synonymous but not always. Once you know, you can focus on putting those strengths and talents to work for you as you go about selling your book.

Pay attention to what you aren’t good at.

As for me, I love everything but that writing bit at the beginning of the list in Section 2. Funny I should say that, right? I know that for me, the writing part is the most difficult and tedious. I’m an editor by trade after all. So here’s how I get around that tiny insignificant issue… I only write during National Novel Writing Month. Yup. It’s true. (I’m working on my second novel right now.) NaNoWriMo keeps me motivated, inspired, and away from my evil editor pen. I know this about myself and took a positive step toward working around it.

Ironically, I’m also not the best blogger. I tend to write very detailed, informative posts which take me a week to put together. Because of that, I procrastinate and don’t write them very often. I am very well aware of this. So I choose to focus more of my time on social networking and other marketing plans. If a blog topic just won’t leave me alone, I’ll carve out some time to get it written, but that might be once every two months or so. I’m fine with that.

Figure out what’s taking too much of your time and energy or what you aren’t currently skilled at. Can you spend less time on that task? Can you pay someone else to do it? Spend the most time on the elements of your career that bring you satisfaction, motivation, joy, and sales, and you’ll find that book marketing isn’t as hard as it first seemed.

Decide what you have the time and desire to learn.

I knew how to write, edit, and market by the time my book was about to be published (though I still continue to educate myself on all three whenever I have time). What I didn’t know and had a deep desire to learn was ebook design. At first, I was afraid to attempt it. But then, I found Lynda.com.

Never heard of it? Oh man, when I discovered it, I went hog-wild. It’s an educational website of online video tutorials for any software you can think of. I learned basic HTML, iMovie, InDesign CS5.5, Photoshop Elements, Photoshop CS5, and Illustrator CS5. And I hope to learn HTML5, Advanced Photoshop, and Flash sometime soon. You get unlimited access for $25 a month (and you can cancel at any time).

I sound like a saleswoman, but we no longer have an excuse for not learning these things if we want to. And I can’t tell you how much this knowledge has aided me in producing my ebook from scratch (with advanced HTML coding to design graphical titles and interactive features), creating and manipulating sales materials and graphics, and upgrading my website with new and improved design elements.

It’s empowering to learn a new skill. Don’t assume you can’t learn new computer skills. Take the time. Cultivate patience. Don’t give in to frustration. Ask questions. Google for the answers!

Assess, assess, assess.

I’m still stuck on this step myself. What exactly am I harping on? Well, all the book marketing time you use up isn’t going to amount to much unless you know which of your marketing avenues are paying off and which aren’t. As published authors, we need to analyze the time we spend on

• communicating on our social networks
• advertising on book lover sites like Goodreads.com
• working the traditional marketing angle (like beating the pavement at conferences and writers faires)
• cultivating ebook vs. paperback sales

Why? To ensure that you’re not wasting time on activities, which aren’t making you any money. It’s like paying thousands of dollars for an ad that’s directed toward an audience that isn’t even part of your target market. Stick with what’s working. In fact, double up on what’s working and spend much less time on what isn’t.

Here are some questions to get you thinking:

• Study your Amazon.com sales figures. Are your ebook sales far outclassing your paperback sales? Is the cost of shipping the paperback outweighing your actual sales?
• How many hours a day are you spending on Facebook and Twitter? Are you actually communicating with your target market on those sites or just your other writer friends?
• Do you know how to effectively use these sites for marketing or are you too lazy to read expert articles and learn from your friends on how to do it better?
• Are you paying attention to sales numbers each time you roll out a new marketing campaign?

Focus on the end result so you can fine-tune the time and money you devote to marketing. The end result of that? More time for writing. Isn’t that what we all want? Good luck!

~~~

SpireHouse Books launched Cheri Lasota’s first novel, Artemis Rising, in Sept 2011. The book is a YA historical fantasy based on mythology and set in the exotic Azores Islands. Currently, Cheri is writing and researching her second novel, a YA set on the Oregon Coast. Over the course of her sixteen-year career, she has edited fiction, nonfiction, screenplays, and short stories for publication. Cheri also has twenty-four years of experience writing poetry and fiction. Learn more about Artemis Rising at http://www.cherilasota.com or buy it at http://bit.ly/ArtemisRisingNovel.

A Writer’s Guide to Successful Blogging, Part 1

Last night on Agent Query Connect, we had a fabulous chat about successful blogging. It was so awesome it inspired me to create a series here to recap the discussion and touch on some of the topics we didn’t get to cover.

We spent a good deal of time talking about branding. Your blog is a way to develop your brand as a writer. It doesn’t so much have to be about you as it does have to say something about you. It should give the audience a sense of your personality (because Voice is not just for manuscripts and queries anymore, it’s for blogs, too!), it should have content that will make people come back again and again, and it should not – I repeat, NOT – be one giant advertisement for your book(s). After all, how many times would you visit a blog where the posts only say things like “Buy my book!” or “Read this review of my book!” or the thinly veiled “Here’s some advice on writing… and see how I put it into practice by BUYING MY BOOK!” I mean, seriously.

Your blog should have some sort of theme, focus or niche that it fills. It doesn’t have to be super-narrow in focus, but you want some cohesion. Utterly confusing randomness is not a good idea. If you blog about your current book one day, rant about your in-laws another day, post a political manifesto yet another day… well, there’s nothing for your audience to rely on. They’ll never know what to expect from your blog. While you might think that’s a good thing (Yeah! I wanna keep ‘em guessing! That’s fun!) it can get old real quick. My time is precious, and I don’t always have a lot of it, so instead of reading your scattered blog, I’ll end up visiting other blogs where I at least have some idea of what I’ll be getting.

So how do you begin to develop your brand via your blog? Newer writers especially may be thinking they have nothing to offer the blogosphere. I’m not a writing expert, I just started! I’m not published. I’m still learning. What the heck would I blog about? For starters, never discount your position on the path to publishing. (Ooh, love that alliteration!) There are plenty of people who are at similar levels, or not even at your level, who would love to hear about what you’re learning, techniques you’ve picked up along the way, etc.

Of course, there’s no rule that says as a writer you have to blog about your journey to publication. Many do, but there are other aspects. What are some social issues you tackle in your stories? (Bullying? Date rape?) Or more concrete events or ideas that you write about. (Does your main character love classic cars?) Also, think about your non-writing life. What are some other passions or hobbies you have? (Music, food, etc.) What’s a unique skill set you have? (Can you solve any crossword puzzle in ten minutes flat? Can you sing?) What’s your day job? (Graphic designer? Teacher? Bartender?) Do you know a lot about a random topic? (Are you fascinated with kitschy art?) Use these answers as a starting point for finding your unique take on what would otherwise be just another writer’s blog.

Still unsure? Would you like a few examples? Of course you would! Shout out to some of my Agent Query Connect peeps: here are three blogs that have voice and a brand that you can count on time and again.

• Ink Rock – This brand-spanking-new blog belongs to Stephen L. Duncan (Twitter: @stephenlduncan), who started last night’s AQC chat down the road of defining your blogging niche when he described Ink Rock for us. In his (paraphrased) words, his plan for Ink Rock is to become the Anthony Bourdain of the literary world. Who wouldn’t love that?
• Writer, Writer, Pants on Fire – Anyone who’s gotten to know Mindy McGinnis (aka bigblackcat97 on AQC, @bigblackcat97 on Twitter) can tell you that she is spunky and a ton of fun, and her blog reflects that personality. She has interesting interviews and great writing advice and insight, and chances are you’ll laugh more than once while reading her blog.
• Greenwoman – Michelle Simkins (Twitter: @Green_Woman) was in our AQC chat last night and was worried that her blog wasn’t focused enough. To which a bunch of us chimed in with “We love your blog!” She is a self-described “writer, knitter, gardener, radical homemaker.” And she’s funny! (Search #queenofhashtags on Twitter for even more fun.) And you’ll find little bits of all those things on her blog. EDIT Jan. 2012: Michelle's new Twitter handle is @MichelleSimkins, and she's now blogging at http://flowersandfbombs.wordpress.com

Pre-Marketing Your Book

I'm still a relative newbie when it comes to marketing and promotion, but it's an important part of being a writer these days. So today's post comes courtesy of a guest blogger,  Cheri Lasota, who is much wiser than I when it comes to.....

Pre-Marketing Your Book

Most writers are beginning to understand that writing is only a small part of the equation when it comes to publishing success. It is no longer enough to be a good writer. One must be a good marketer as well. However, marketing can be learned and practiced. The key is to start early, and use what techniques you know you can master based on your skill set. It is never to early to start forming a marketing plan for your writing career. You may be in the revision stages of draft three or four or already out there submitting your finished manuscript to agents. It doesn’t matter. Every day can be an opportunity to spend five to ten minutes on building a marketing plan. How do you go about it? Read on . . .

Start the wave

According to literary agent Lily Ghahremani, a publishing house will be happy to support and fuel a marketing wave you’ve already started. It is not all that rare for publishers to supply secondary funding pushes based on an author’s own efforts at increasing readership. If you already have a sizable network of possible readers, publishers do take notice, and in the negotiation phase, it can make a difference between signing on or receiving another rejection letter.

Begin with who you know

Buzz begins with a core market and expands. You know more people than you think you do. Take a pen and paper and write down a list of as many friends, family, colleagues, and acquaintences as you can think of. All done? Now think of all the authors, organizations, bookstores, libraries you hope to make contact with when you’ve published your book. Don’t forget to include local newspapers and magazines as well as online e-zines. Keep this list. You’ll need it when you go about marketing before and after publication.

For a few minutes each week, work on researching or recording contact information for these sources. These are the people and groups you will want to reach first when your first book comes out in stores. Easy enough, huh? This is something you can start doing today. As an addendum to this list, think through the major elements that make up your novel or nonfiction book. Does a mother in your novel have to deal with a child who suffers from autism? Then research autism groups on the Net. Here’s another example: my novel is set in the Azores Islands. I have and will continue to research all sites related to the Azores, whether they are travel sites or sites run by Azorean geneology enthusiasts, etc. These are possible avenues for selling books, interviews, and perhaps speaking engagements.

Target your readers

Describe your target reader to yourself, and be as specific as you can. Here is my target audience for my first novel: Women 18-35 who love romance, mythology, and history. Within that target, I will need to create a marketing plan that focuses on each element. Those who love mythology might frequent mythology sites on the Web. Could these be possible avenues for trading links or getting the word out about my novel? Do these groups have links to other groups that could be avenues to explore as well?

Identify competitors

Identify competition, but don’t fear it. Competition indicates there is already a market for you to sell your books to. Read books in the same genre or about the same topic: can you tap those readerships? How do those authors market their work? Read other author Web sites to gather ideas, then see if you can put a new twist on those ideas.

When working on your book marketing, specifically, brainstorm several differentiation statements. These statements are often used in query letters to compare an author’s book to another’s to aid the agent in placing your novel in the marketplace. For example, you could say your horror novel is in the vein of Stephen King’s “Carrie”, or that your mainstream novel is a cross between Michael Crichton and Michael Connelly.

One caveat: don’t make claims you can’t back up. Saying your book would outsell the “Harry Potter” series would merely illicit raised eyebrows and snickers from agents or editors. They’ve heard it all before, ad nauseam. Use the differentiation statement as a quick way to let the agent know what kind of book you are selling, not to make claims of greatness.

You can work on all the above ideas immediately, no matter what stage of writing you are in. Working on your marketing plan, may only take a few minutes of your day or week, but you won’t regret the invaluable lessons you’ll learn, nor the expertise you’ll have once your deep into selling your published book.
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Cheri is a freelance editor specializing in fiction.  She is also an author, and has recently signed with literary agent Bernadette Baker-Baughman of Baker's Mark.  Her YA novel, Artemis Rising, is an excellent read and I can't wait until I can see it in print.  Visit Cheri's author website to read excerpts, learn more, and view her book trailer.