REFOCUS TO REFRESH YOUR MARKETING

Source: Mark Hunter, https://www.flickr.com/photos/toolstop/4546017269/

So, your book is published and out in the world. Congratulations! If it's your first book and you're like many other first-time authors (like I was), you had high hopes that readers would be banging down your door ordering copy after copy after copy. But, instead, you got crickets. Maybe you even sent yourself test emails to make sure your server was up (new school) or checked your dial tone or doorbell to make sure it was working (old school).

Of course, lack of or low book sales can be caused by any of dozens of factors, but one you can start to fix right now is your focus on your target reader. I'm sure your book would be enjoyed by anyone and everyone on the planet, but, unfortunately being so inclusive in this situation can hurt you rather than help you. Instead of thinking about all possible readers, think about your ideal reader - that one person or small group of people for whom your book would be perfect.

If it's a children's book, think about the ideal age range. Is it too wide? On Amazon, board books are listed as good for babies to 2 years old, picture books for ages 3 to 5, and chapter books for ages 6 to 8. Is it truly best suited for both genders or could you focus on one or the other? Think about the book's price and where you've previously focused on trying to promote it. Are you reaching people who are unlikely to be able to afford or see value in the price you're charging? How about geographic area? Is your book place-centered so it might appeal more to people located in a certain city or geographic region? Is there a certain profession, hobby, club, or other group that might feel a particular affinity for your book's subject matter?

Generally, authors think of their target market too broadly and they need to narrow it so they have a clearer direction on where and how to promote their books. But it's possible you started with a very narrow market, sold to all of the people in that group who you could sell to, and now you need to expand your focus (but be careful, make small expansions). The key is figuring out who your ideal readers are, finding them, and figuring out what to say to them to get them interested in your book.

So if your sales have slowed or never took off, take a close, hard look at the qualities of readers you've been promoting and marketing to thus far and narrow or expand it as appropriate. Just don't give up!

MAKE A CHARACTER STORYBOARD

When writing your novel, it's sometimes easy to forget what your characters look like, especially if you're like me and can only make weekly appointments to work on it. My workspace is also relatively small considering all of the other things I write and that take up my time in my working area. After a storyboarding workshop last winter, I decided to create a visual profiles board. I had already written character sketches and found images online of people who I thought looked like my characters, so it was just a matter of copying them and old-school cutting and pasting.

The result is the board you see on the right side in this photo. With pictures of my characters (and other key items like my characters' home) attached to a piece of foam core, I can tuck the board away and pull it out when I'm working on my novel. When I'm done, I can stash them back out of the way, keeping my space tidy and organized.

GETTING READY TO LAUNCH

The door prizes -- by a door!

This Saturday, August 16th (1-3 p.m., 3rd floor, Bucktown, 225 E. 2nd Street, downtown Davenport, Iowa), I'm holding a launch party for my fourth book, Melody Madson - May It Please the Court? This is not my first rodeo - I know that people are not going to be coming out of the woodwork to hear me read and purchase my book; I will most likely know everyone there. I'm not going to sell out of my books and will probably have a lot of food left over. But the launch party is still worth it to me because that's not why I do it.

My launch parties are celebrations of a completed project, years of writing, rewriting, revising, editing, and getting a print book in my hand. It's a graduation of sorts - moving into a new phase in the book's life from production to marketing. Plus, I just like to have a party. I try to make the parties as fun as possible with very little focus on selling books. Since my first naive launch party for Crush and Other Love Poems for Girls, I've learned to have a presentation - a reading and a question and answer period.

I'm also into theme parties so I get creative with food and door prizes. For Other Side of Crazy, I had crazy food and door prizes. For Melody Madson, I'm sticking with a lawyer and from-the-book theme. For food we're having M&Ms (for Melody's initials); gavel cookies I'm fashioning out of hard drying frosting, sandwich cookies, peanut butter cups, and tube cookies; soda; and veggies pizza (because Melody is always eating pizza in the book, though not veggie). In addition to free books, I have four themed door prizes: a basket of items one might find on or in Melody's desk at work; a bag of chocolates because every teen I know likes chocolate; a can of instant vanilla coffee because Melody's develops a taste for it; and dog toys she might use to play with her cocker spaniel, Justice.

It will be fun for me and whoever else shows up - because it's a party!

(To read more about the book, click here to go to the book page on my website.)

I'M BACK...

A shift in priorities has kept me away from posting to this author blog regularly - but my priorities have shifted back - so I'm back, too. I have a new book coming out on August 16th, Melody Madson - May It Please the Court?, so I'm delving back into the literary world.

I've populated my Facebook author page and created a Melody Madson Facebook page. I've also dipped my toes into Instagram. I want to become not only a readers' author, but a writer's author so on my author-focused online presence I plan to post things that appeal readers and writers alike, like my historical fiction reviews blog which I'm gearing up to restart soon, too.

I've also added a whole "For Authors" section to my website. Click here to check it out. It has some other blogs I like fed into it, resources and links, and services.

Finally, I'm working on a new project helping a very special group of writers say what they want to say launching in 2015.

So... keep reading and writing.

I'll be back in two weeks!

SIGNINGS AND READINGS AND LECTURES, OH MY!

I am an introvert. There, I said it. I've always been this way -- quiet, reflective, not social. However, I greatly enjoy talking about writing, books, and being an author; therefore, I don't dread personal appearances as much as some writers.

Now, with three books under my belt, I have a little bit of experience with book signings, readings, and presentations. And I've decided to focus on the latter two of these three types of appearances. Some authors, I know, have had great success at signings and, from what I've observed, this success seems to be proportional to how outgoing they are at their signings. They address people as they enter the store or wander through the store, approaching and engaging potential readers. I find this extremely daunting. When I am shopping -- for books or anything else -- I need my space and time to think. If I would approach a customer, I'd be afraid I would be bothering them. So at my signings, I'm friendly and say hello to people if they look my way and I engage in conversation if they approach me, but I don't go out of my way.

And then there is the whole signature thing. Really, how much is my name in their book really worth? I'm guessing very, very little. So I like to add value to my appearances. Readings and presentations give me a chance to provide my potential readers with value. They are events, enjoyable and worth something in their own rights, even if no books are sold. After listening to me for a few minutes, perhaps the next time they see my book, they'll be more inclined to buy. Plus, I simply enjoy the readings and presentations a lot more than standing around for a couple of hours trying to talk to people I don't know.

My reading or presentation provides a jumping point for engagement. By the time we get to the Q & A, my mind is focused and primed to talk comfortably and somewhat-intelligently about books, writing, and authorship. It's the same thing during mingling after the main event -- a common ground between the audience members and myself is built in.

So it's no more strictly-book-signings for me, but bring on the readings and presentations.

Click here to see where you can catch me next!

GETTING THERE: THE ROLE OF RESEARCH FOR READERS

One of the questions I’m usually asked when I talk about my novel, Missing Emily: Croatian LifeLetters, is “Have you ever been to Croatia?” I have never been to Croatia. But I found photos of the area of the country in which my story took place and used those while writing. I also have a good friend from Croatia who I spent several afternoons with talking about Croatia and her experience during the civil war there in the early 1990s. With her permission, many of the descriptions and storylines from Nada’s story came directly from her.

With a story like Missing Emily, it is probably quite obvious that at least some degree of research was involved. But what some readers may not realize is that there is some degree of research involved in every book, even poetry collections. For example, I wrote the vast majority of poems in Crush and Other Love Poems for Girls while I was a teen or pre-teen (although they went through extensive revision before going into the book). To find the poems, I went back to my writings and journals from that period of my life and harvested the poems I’d written at that time. I also went to the bookstore to see if there were any poetry books for pre-teen and teen girls; finding none, I went ahead with the idea.

I completed similar research for my most recent poetry collection, The Other Side of Crazy. When I journal, I often simply write down whatever comes into my head, sometimes without even realizing the words have any meaning. I also write down snippets – one or two poetic lines. When I was putting together the initial poems for that collection, I reread my journals to look for material. I had some poems that were poems I wanted to include, but I also found poems. Some of them resulted from the random musings I didn’t find any meaning in until I went back and reviewed them. Some of them were spurred by the snippets, either into their own poems or combined into a poem.

My current project, a novel, is another in which the presence of research will be obvious. It is set in 1859 to 1861, Camanche, Iowa. Though I grew up in Camanche, I had to research to take it back in time. I’ve completed extensive historical research through books, newspapers, and the internet, covering Camanche, specifically, but the time period and Iowa generally as well. I also completed character research wherein I searched for and found old photographs of each of my main characters. They are on a magnet board in front of me so as I’m writing, I can always keep their appearances in mind.

I also recently took a “walk the ground” trip. I went to Camanche, parked, and walked nearly five miles over all the areas where my characters would have walked. I had a map of as near to the time period as I could find and superimposed the current street names and landmarks. I took photos and many notes, finding the exact spot of my main character’s home and the places she frequented. This research is invaluable because now, when I write, the setting is crystal clear in my mind.

When you talk to authors, you will likely find that in addition to enjoying words, writing, and stories, they also enjoy research. As you read, try to think of some ways in which research may have been needed to create the book. With a well-crafted book, it may not be obvious because the research will be weaved in with the story so well, it might seem as if the author had been there. But they may not have; it may just be a result of extensive and quality research.

CRAZY IF FREE

My poetry collection, The Other Side of Crazy, is free (regular price: $2.99) as a Kindle ebook through Monday, November 4th. Just click here to get it.

The Other Side of Crazy was published in September of this year by 918studio. It contains poems exploring the craziness of (my) modern-day life. Most of them would be considered free verse; some rhyme and some don't.


Here are a couple of samples:

THE ØTHER SIDE OF CRAZY
Peddle down the street
Past salted pines
And peppered roofs.
Across the grey creek
And web of
Winged warlocks.
Over mountains
Of mayhem
Through the valley
Of vulnerability
​Past the field of
Withered dew
​.…

UNHINGED
Insanity of humanity
Bears down on my livid soul.
Creator of humility
Crowds the hardened battered toll.
Sweetened revenge of lunacy
Steels a sacred living heart,
…

To read more samples, click here.

Enjoy!