BryonySeries Word Search

Want to stretch your brain a little (as if Monday didn't do that all by itself).

My family has always loved word searches, so I've played around with a few sites to create a BryonySeries one.

Here's a link to one I created this weekend. 

By refreshing the page, you will generate a different BryonySeries word search that features different combinations of thirty people, places, and pets.

The puzzle will remain on The Word Search site for 30 days (I created it on Saturday).

Have fun!

https://thewordsearch.com/puzzle/4267116/bryonyseries-word-search/

How is a Cat Like a Refrigerator?

That was the question posed to readers this week in a monthly newsletter I receive from a marketing and sales organization.

Of course, I had no idea, so I read on. 

The answer was that they both can hold fish, they both have tails, and they both come in various colors.

Both have tails?

I read this to Rebekah, and she said, "Yes. The refrigerator has a cord."

Ah! Light bulb moment!

The whole point of the riddle was to nudge authors like me to look at the familiar (in this case, our books) and see what it has in common with something that, at first glance, no commonality exists, so we can gain fresh persectives on our marketing and, with those perspectives, new opportunities for sales.

But really, we can apply that type of thinking anywhere, including the situations we encounter in our daily life.

Think about it.

BryonySeries Throwback Thursday: Visage 32-Day Countdown Quotes

When we were getting ready to release Bryony back in 2011, my daughter Sarah (who did a lot of the marketing for me) suggested I pull thirty teaser quotes from the book that she could post on Facebook, one each day.

We did the same for the second book, Visage, which is also part of the BryonySeries.

And here they are:

“As he descended the stairs, subtle signs unsettled him. Nighttime restlessness. Occasional mid-morning sleepiness. Squinting in the brightest sunlight. A bite of raw hamburger when cooking dinner. An annoying discernment of the thoughts and motives of others.” Visage, The Prologue

“Obviously, Jason felt bored, too...or sick. Well, good. That should make for an early evening.” Visage, Chapter 1: College Bound

“She wouldn’t have to search far to unearth him, and Julie had unwittingly bestowed a reason to visit the music department.” Visage, Chapter 2: Vampire or Revamped

“The broad leaves on the thick, gnarled branches of the old trees framing the beautiful architecture of Jenson’s bungalows, Queen Annes, and four squares boasted summer green, but the still, chilly air hinted at autumn’s imminence. Did she really have to knock on those heavy doors and ask the strangers inside to sponsor her for bowling?” Visage, Chapter 3: In the Shadow of Bryony

“’It’s a free county. You can date whom you please, and I can shun you as much as I like.’” Visage, Chapter 4: Outdated

“She heard a rustle on her right and with a start, noticed she was only several feet away from the cemetery in her dreams, where Henry had dubbed her ‘food.’” Visage, Chapter 5: Under the Stars

“The ticking merged with the battering monsoon against the window pane until it thudded into the beating of John Simons’ undead heart.” Visage, Chapter 6: Melissa Takes a Leap of Faith

“John steered with a relaxed left hand; his right hovered between his knee and the gear stick, and he casually monitored the road as if surveying his kingdom.” Visage, Chapter 7: New Horizons

“Miss Garboldi’s silence during the remainder of the semester was not meek abdication of her man. It was methodical, calculated revenge.” Visage, Chapter 8: Forever Yours

“‘I really do wish you all the happiness in the world,’” Brian said. “‘I just don’t think you’ll get it with him.’” Visage, Chapter 9: Becoming One Flesh

“How long she lay there, Melissa had no clue, but eventually exhaustion beat back the tempest. Shivering Melissa crept across the room and crawled into bed, ignoring the flurry thickly falling past the window.” Visage, Chapter 10: And Baby Makes Two

“Every quarter of an hour, Melissa anxiously checked the battery-operated clock on the mantle of the sham fireplace. How long did two men need to buy a couple of sticks?” Visage, Chapter 11: Kicked

“Just enough moonlight filtered through the curtains to reveal John lying on his back, motionless, jaw set, and staring at the ceiling with unblinking, savage eyes.” Visage, Chapter 12: A Fate Worse Than Death.

“Melissa whirled around. ‘Oh, look! You came up for air!’” Visage, Chapter 13: Flashback/Flash Forward

“‘Your role was to behave. Henry’s job was to enforce it.’” Visage, Chapter 14: Blood Donor

“‘Melissa, you’re talking to a man from an era when women hid pregnancies in flowing gowns and retreated at home until after the birth. One month, nine months; it’s all the same to me.’” Visage, Chapter 15: A Gift of Life

“One male fairy in particular mesmerized Melissa. He reclined high up in a tree, curled his toes around a branch, pointed his thin face to the sky, and played a flute-like instrument. His long red hair entwined with the leafy boughs.” Visage, Chapter 16: Beginning Again

“The cereal slowed John-Peter’s appetite, as Dr. Rothgard promised it would, and improved his sleep and his disposition, but the baby did eat two boxes of it, as well as half a case of formula.” Visage, Chapter 17: The Child Prodigy

“Sweet-tempered? Way to go, John, she thought. Must be nice to program your own childhood memories.” Visage, Chapter 18: Under the Cover of Night.

“Paralyzed in the shadowy twilight of lucid dreaming and full alertness, Melissa could only surrender to an engulfing, indestructible force that plunged her below the surface of her will and interminably ravaged any portion of her soul she had not yet relinquished to him.” Visage, Chapter 19: Things Are Not What They Seem

“One warm spring afternoon, Melissa did it. Perhaps the tender greenery sprouting up from the ground beckoned her, or perhaps the warm wisps of wind stirring the air also stirred inside Melissa her buried feelings for the past. Either way, when the final school bell for the day had rung, Melissa headed for the road leading to the former Simons estate.” Visage, Chapter 20: Unraveling the Past.

“‘You might think Cornell’s overly cautious with the locks,’” Katie whispered, “‘but he keeps all of his paraphernalia in there. Some of the ingredients for potions and things are really hard to come by. You can’t be too careful in this business.” Visage, Chapter 21: Enter the Jester

“To Melissa’s amazement, John snatched the glass from Dr. Rothgard’s hands and drained its contents in one gulp. Dr. Rothgard opened another and before he could pour it, John grabbed it and quenched it straight from the bag. He didn’t cringe; he didn’t shudder.” Visage, Chapter 22: Falling Apart

“‘They’re snakes,” the boy said as he picked up another one and gave it the same treatment. He smacked his lips and turned cunning eyes at Melissa. “‘You want me to eat meat. Well, snakes are meat.” Visage, Chapter 23: No Holds Barred

“She closed her eyes and prayed sleep would be swift, but images of John crowded any rest that might have come, and those images were not pleasant.” Visage, Chapter 24: Back to the Womb

“The heat didn’t seem to affect her. She wore white and pink shorts with a pink-flowered shirt; her curly blonde hair was pulled away from her thin face with a pink bow. Her appearance reminded Melissa of strawberry ice cream.” Visage, Chapter 25: Surrendering to Fate

“‘Life. What an elusive entity. We imagine we can create it. We can take it away from someone if we choose. Yet there are individuals who become stuck in that strange land between life and death, where their ability to either live or die becomes complicated.’” Visage, Chapter 26: Of Garlic Wreaths and Holy Water

“‘I’ve got to get back to the kids. John-Peter and I are playing pirate ship, and he’s a much better pirate than I am. I’ve already had to walk the plank twice.’” Visage, Chapter 27: The Great Fast

“Still suspicious, Melissa stood in the doorway and watched him walk down the hall into another room. Within seconds, he returned, carrying two paper cups. He handed her one of them, and she sipped it. It was lukewarm and weak, but it was definitely tea.” Visage, Chapter 28: Strong-Armed

“A thundering of hoof beats, and Melissa turned away from the waiting carriage to John, but John had gone, and in his place stood Henry in his midnight blue suit, looking as shrunken as the last night Melissa had last seen him inside the library at Simons Mansion.” Visage, Chapter 29: A Fairy-Tale Ending

“Melissa grabbed the window sash, but Cornell slunk away before Melissa could slam it on his obnoxious, stubby fingers. She glanced at John’s alarm clock: almost midnight. Damn Cornell!” Visage, Chapter 30: Last Rites

“He slid off the bed and padded on bare feet to the closet, opening the door and studying its mirror. This time, only his reflection greeted him.” Visage, Epilogue

For Anyone Who Is Trying to Build a Brand

If you're an artist or entrepreneur or a nonprofit or anyone who is trying to build a foundation and following, this post is for you.

If you're reading this post, you may be long past believing in "if you build it, he will come."

More than likely, you have already put time and effort and heart into a project you know will impact the world, even in a small way, and then, when it's time to harvest some of that hard work, no one comes.

Unfortunately, I don't have any surefire tips or techniques to guarantee success or speed up the growth.

But I do have words to encourage you.

First of all, you are not alone. I'm sure you knew that.

And before I get to the real encouragement, here are some hard truths.

1) It takes more marketing than you can probably imagine right now to build a reliable, trustworthy brand.

You may know people who can SELL better than you. But to build a following for your product into one where customers seek you out is really, really hard to do, and even major brands (think Walt Disney and soda) had lean years where they lost money and still struggled to complete.

In 2012, when I did a book signing in Darien, the manager told me it was getting harder and harder to get people through the door for events.

Once upon a time, he said, he only needed to buy a small print ad in the local newspaper and hang up a flyer. That was seven years ago, and it's only become more challenging.

But the Darien store is still there. And thriving.

The methods must change with time. But being amazing should not.

Here's one small business that stuck it out during the building years (the first ten) and is now enjoying what the owner feels is success.

One book publisher even showed the pre-marketing efforts to create buzz for a book in this Goodreads case study.

2) It takes more time than you think.

In 2015, Time magazine reported on research that said the average business, no matter what the business, had a life expectancy of ten years.

In the same year, the Washington Post said more businesses die than are born.

Speaking of time, people today have more access to more information and more targeted information, along with less time to consume it.

You have a lot of competition for people's time. What are you doing to rise to the top?

3) Overnight success is a myth.

A few years ago, I read a lengthy post by Amanda Hocking (which I can't find now), which detailed all the marketing she put into her Kindle books at a time when Kindle was new, and books were easier to find.

In the post Hocking mentioned how a relative had provided the money for her to give away A LOT of free books (hundreds of dollars, perhaps $1,000, if memory serves me right), to people who might potentially review them.

Just so know.

Now for some encouragement:

1) Celebrate your achievements, no matter how small they may appear.

But don't stop there. Analyze it to see what worked and build from there.

Here's a recent and personal example.

Last week WriteOn Joliet held a pre-National Novel Writing Month at the request of a local library.

In addition to social media marketing, we sent out a news release (which the local Patch ran) and bought two print ads in The Herald-News.

We had ten authors prepare handouts to share tips for writing in particular genres to attendees.

We had four attendees who left very happy and satisfied. We had a few book sales.

Some people might call it a flop.

But one of the library's managers personally greeted every author present and shared some of the struggles of marketing events, even for the library, which has more resources than we do.

Sometimes, even the library has little to no attendance at an extremely well-publicized event. And to be fair, we were up against a major event at the Rialto Square Theatre, which gobbled up the limited parking in the downtown area, where we held the event.

One author that night shared how she, even though sales are often small at the events she attends, is finally seeing brand recognition. Potential customers now know her name and what she is selling. That is a huge accomplishment.

BTW, her name is Holly Coop. You can find her books here.

2) Play the long game.

This past year, WriteOn Joliet has held an Author of the Month program at The Book Market in Crest Hill. 

We put some marketing behind the effort. Each author received a customer flyer, a local media blast complete with a customized news release, and some ideas for additional targeted marketing.

Every author sold (and some sold extremely well) and one author had The Bugle come out to write a story about him.

Since that link appears to be broken, here is Dale Hansen's Amazon author page.

The owner at The Book Market is very happy with us (partly because we are providing free monthly marketing on a small, but consistent, scale).

For example, the owner, Janet Staley (a very nice woman who believes in books and and reading), recently had an author call her saying, "I hear you do book signings. Can I do one, too?"

If our writers desire it, we may offer the program again in 2020.

A few related "by the ways:"

Our release party for our third anthology is from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Nov. 15 at The Book Market. Stop out, grab a bite of chef-created refreshments, meet the authors, and flip through some books.

WriteOn Joliet also has a new partnership to help with marketing its authors. More on this later.

WriteOn Joliet is hosting James Finn Garner at 6 p.m. Oct. 17 at the Black Road Branch of the Joliet Public Library.

The event is free and open to the public

The overall message to this point is that most people give up way too soon. Don't be one of them.

3) Be confident in your goal.

It really isn't you. It's them. Most people have not heard of you or your brand.

Seriously. As much time and effort as you have put into marketing that brand, most people really have not heard of you. Or if they have, they don't remember you.

This isn't a call to be spammy.

It's a call to be persistent.

Grow in knowledge and truth.

Leave people feeling happy they met you. Let them feel the time they spent with you added value to their day. That feeling will stick with them more than hounding them to buy products.

In fact...

Be like Edison.

How I Ran My first Blog Tour

I've had "blog tours" on my brain even before I published Bryony. 

I loved the concept, a virtual book tour. Instead of driving from bookstore to bookstore, you post on other blogger's blogs. 

I feel both types of tours are useful, but that's for another post.

My research into blog tours turned up lots of places that charge for touring and one that asked for donations only. For my series, I did not find them useful, for two reasons.

One: I don't have the money to spend (and, frankly, I didn't want to spend the money to post on someone's blog).

Two: None of the blogs I found had anything to do with my genre. True, my series crosses genres, and one reader thinks I've invented a whole new genre. It was her comment that led me to create my own tour. A custom genre deserves a custom tour, right?

Writers often hear, "Write what you know." Well, I reasoned, I'll start with WHO I know.

This is how I created a tour in ten easy, but time-consuming, steps. I have not seen another tour quite like it on the internet, so maybe I've created something new here, too.

Note: Don't let "time-consuming" frighten you away. Anything worth doing is worth doing well. Including write your book, marketing your book, and ESPECIALLY asking people to give you real estate on their personal blogs.

And here we go.

1) Decide your tour length. 

A week? A month? Whatever you decided, schedule your tour several months in advance. You'll need the time to properly plan.

I picked May/June because I made a commitment this past year to schedule one marketing event a month. Events in May and June, I figured, would have low turnouts, due to weddings, graduations, Memorial Day, First Communions, etc. But everyone (it seems) is on their phones these days. (I myself am guilty at reading marketing posts through dreary graduation speeches). So be strategic in your timing.

2) Make a list of bloggers you know. 

Don't worry if they are in your genre or not. (This contradicts an earlier paragraph but just follow the rabbit trail, please). Make it a long list, about twice as long as your tour length. Not everyone will say yes. Don't take it personally.

3) Spend some time reading their posts. 

Get a feel for the tone of the blog and what each particular bloggers likes to post. Bookmark the ones you really like. You'll need them later.

4) Brainstorm some topic ideas for each blogger that reflect both the tone of your book and the tone of their blog. 

A blog tour should be mutually beneficial. I don't care if you're pitching your cousin. You should not ask for space on someone's page unless you're offering to give free content that could potentially benefit that blogger. Period. No one owes you anything.

5) Politely contact prospective blogging partners. 

Explain what you're setting up and pitch your ideas.

6) Make a blogging schedule.

And let your blogging partners know the day you're linking back to their pages, so they know what day to post your content.

7) Write your posts in advance and submit to each of your partners for approval.

They may suggest some editing. Don't balk at this. Again, if they're posting submitted content on their pages, they should be thrilled with the content and excited to post and promote it. If not, you're wasting everyone's time (including your own), and you won't meet your tour goals, either.

8) Promote the heck out of your tour, before and during. 

Not in a spammy way, of course. But the average tweet has a 15-minute life. The average Facebook post has a three-hour life. The average reader will recall your post only until he scrolls through his feed to someone else's. Gentle reminders in advance bring the focus back to your tour.

9) No bait and switch. 

Make sure any loyal readers you have don't feel sold out when you redirect them to another's page. Make sure they know well in advance (read No. 8) that the tour is coming. Assure them the content they will read on someone else's site is the type of content they expect to read (and with an unspoken understanding you are redirecting them to a safe and reputable site). Encourage them to explore the other site. Readers are always looking for great new things to read. They may find it in one of your hosting sites, good for one, good for your blogging partners.

10) I added an element to my blog tour I've not seen elsewhere: a TurnAbout Tour. 

This was an extra "free" tour as my "thank you" for all my tour hosts did for me.  I reintroduced the hosts and provided links to three posts I really enjoyed. And I promoted these posts with the same gusto as I did mine. It continued the fun and extended the promotion for my hosts with zero work on their part. That's the "free" part. They received additional promotion by linking back to three blogs they'd already written and posted.

And BTW, if any of your tour hosts wants to run his/her own tour and is looking for hosting sites, please raise your hand.

Now, was such a tour useful?

Ah, the numbers. We always want to know the numbers.

Here's what I gained from the tour:

1) I stretched my creativity in new ways and learned to promote my series in new ways. I wrote my first poem. And I connected vampires to social justice (who'd have thunk, seriously). I wrote a post in baseball terminology (And I know nothing about baseball. Except you need a ball. And a bat).

2) My blog stats for May and June shot up by thousands. I've retained those numbers into July. I averaged nearly 15,000 for each month.

3) My website stats also shot up, over 600 percent in June, according to Google, most of them through readers directly accessing the site (i.e. not through social media). I had 2,600 visitors in June and 2,800 pages viewed. Meaning, a few people stuck around to check out the other pages.

4) I sold five Kindles: two Bryony, one Visage and one Staked!. I have not checked Nook and Smashwords, so I may have a few sales there, too.

5) Last, and certainly not least, not one tour host has expressed displeasure or disillusionment at the experience. That's eight blogging partners and me. One blogger said she intends to re-promote my post at a later date. 

All in all, a successful tour, especially for a first time.

I intend to make this an annual event. In the meantime, I'm going to archive the entire tour onto its own page on my website and promote it from time to time. That's the great thing about a virtual tour. It can be perpetuated long after the tour has ended.

In the meantime, you can "meet" the tour hosts at https://www.bryonyseries.com/promotions

(Do you see what I did here)?

Want to run your own tour? Got questions? Email me at bryonyseries@gmail.com. 

Illustration by Kathleen Rose Van Pelt for "Bryony."

BryonySeries Throwback Thursday: Personalize Your Novel: Motifs and Epigraphs

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Personalize Your Novel: Motifs and Epigraphs

Huh?

A motif is a symbol or collection of symbols and ideas that are repeated throughout your novel that enhances your theme and conjure up your book(s) to readers long after the last page is read. In the BryonySeries, these include:

* mist

* The song, Bryony

* the music box that plays, Bryony

* purple roses

* a flock of crows (otherwise called "a murder")

* the exchange of blood in many forms AND

* the emphasis on food and eating (think about that)

* the mention of fairies and fairy tales

* limericks

* bryony (vine and name), vines, and herbs

* Irish soda bread

* vanilla ice cream

* white cats

* leprechauns

* writing, literature, especially Charles Dickens' Tale of Two Cities

* Henry's love of quotes

* predators of varying kinds

Even my repeated dedication: This book is lovingly dedicated to the reader, whoever you might be


An epigraph is a quote used at the beginning of your book or preceding each of your chapters that ties into its theme. Examples from my books include:

Bryony: Bryony is a rapidly growing invasive perennial vine, with dark green, palmate leaves and a thick, extensive rooting system. Its round berries are poisonous to humans and animals. (epigraphish)

Visage: There are a sort of men whose visages do cream and mantle like a standing pond, and do a willful stillness entertain, with purpose to be dress'd in opinion of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit, as who should say, "I am Sir Oracle, and when I open up my lips no dog bark!" William Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice

Staked!: Think now and then that there is a man who would give his life, to keep a life you love beside you!" Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

Meet the Real Ed Calkins on Feb. 13

If you've read the BryonySeries, you've met Ed Calkins, Steward of Tara, first (and only) Irish vampire, who ruthlessly insults his victims via bad limericks instead of, well, you know, the usual way vampires terrorize victims.

What many people don't know is that Ed Calkins is a real person (although not a real vampire).

He really wrote my pretend Irish genealogy in 2011, which will really be available in a very short nonsensical chapter book on Feb. 13, the real Calkins Day (which is not a real holiday. It's real in Ed's mind. Even in the BryonySeries).

Ed and I will be hanging out from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Book and Bean cafe in Joliet, greeting anyone who stops in to meet him and signing a few books (whether or not anyone buys some).

Confused? Then do come out Feb. 13. You'll be even more confused.

Benefit No. 2 of Giving Away a Book You've Written

This past fall, I participated in three author fairs and WriteOn Joliet's anthology release party.

At each, I set out a vampire mug to hold raffle tickets. I gave away baskets of BryonySeries products and a number of copies of the 2012 holiday edition of Visage, the second book in the series.

I finished calling the last of the winners on Sunday afternoon, and all had one trait in common.

They were surprised and thrilled to have won.

Now, yes, I know authors give books away as a form of marketing, but the response from the giveaways this fall went beyond that. Let me also add I gave away my proof copies of Cornell Dyer and the Missing Tombstone (while supplies lasted) to any child who wandered past my table, and the reactions from those children were the same.

Joy.

Joy at being chosen; joy at unexpectedly receiving something unbidden. And joy on my part for having prompted it.

It's out of my control whether anyone will read those words (words that took many happy, laborious hours stringing together), and it's out of my control whether anyone will enjoy, much less savor, those words

But the way the children's faces lit up when I said, "Would you like a book?" Or the excitement in people's voices when I said, "You've won a book (or raffle basket)."

Priceless, priceless.

A Year of Studying Marketing: What Have You Learned, Dorothy?

I spent part of last Thanksgiving weekend (2016), writing a comprehensive marketing plan for the BryonySeries, to which I've added (and even subtracted) a few ideas.

I have also spent a good portion of this past year studying this elusive thing called marketing, especially marketing for authors and their books.

I wasn't completely clueless. I'd written some marketing plans for the series in the past and had some experiential ideas on what did and did not work and where I did and did not want to go as I fielded my options.

Let's face it. Marketing books today is hard. Reading is down, titles are up, people are spam-suspicious, fake news and slush abounds, and the hot-new marketing trend of today quickly becomes the tired glutted gimmick of yesterday.

How does a guppy author make a noise in a deep ocean of big fish?

I'm still working on that answer.

But I've learned a few things along the way: some basic SEO. Branding. Ways to expand the reach without acting pushy. How marketing is different from sales and different from advertising (while being part of the same pie). Why free is too cheap. What does, does not (and what might) work in collaboration. How to write a better and more effective marketing plan.

I'll expand on these thoughts in the coming weeks.

I already knew writing comes with no guarantees,and I already knew I picked the most difficult type of books to write and self-publish: literary fiction.

However...

Quitting ensures you don't reach the finish line.

Writing, whether the writer publishes in a traditional arena or a self-published one, is an extremely long-tailed business. Perfecting the craft and persistence helps to win the race.