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Author of the Bandita / Billy the Kid Series and currently working on and writing a contemporary novel with plans to publish soon. www.nicolemdixonauthor.com Follow Me On Twitter: @NMDixonAuthor Like My Bandita Page @BanditaBonitaandBillytheKid Website: NicoleMDixonAuthor.com
Sunday, August 31, 2014
The Art of Finding a Publicist and the Importance of Enlisting One
As an author there are a lot of things I'm savvy at doing on my own, namely, writing. But writing alone doesn't get one noticed as most authors know.
I have excellent business sense and a wicked sense of efficiency which has always worked in my favor. In addition to managing my own social media mediums, I've tracked down blog radio shows and gotten myself engaged as a guest. I've participated in blog interviews given by other promising authors who maintain a very large following. I've had my story published in my local paper (which is a very large paper, serving three large counties), I've done local speaking engagements, I've been asked to do and accepted local book signings, but there's only so much I can do on my own.
In that respect, I've hired myself a publicist. This is a near must for any artist, especially a writer if that writer wants to a good chance at being noticed through the sea of works out there, not the least of which is the influx of self-published works; traditionally published authors like myself know it, and talented self-published authors know it. So in the past, and especially in these times, it's a great idea to get yourself a publicist to help you navigate that sea of words that we authors have been set adrift upon.
Our goal is to let readers know that our words are worth reading and a publicist can help with that in a big way. The unfortunate downside to being a decent writer is knowing that readers think just because it's in a book means that the writing is good. It's frustrating, but there it is. It's a truth that must be dealt with. Not all books are created equal.
So, my advice to you aspiring authors, hire a publicist if you can get your hands on and afford one. One great way of doing this is to make excellent connections online using social media, and if you've been lucky enough to find a publicist you want to make sure they have a lot of great community connections.
The publicist I have hired, for instance, carries these important assets with her (She assured me that she could do the following things): 1) create a sell sheet with my input; 2) create press releases; 3) schedule signings at local bookstores; 4) keep me in contact with the western community and events (which of course is essential to me as I've written a book in the historical fiction genre about Billy the Kid - the western community would therefor be my main selling demographic; and 5) contact local media, both newspapers and radio.
So at present I am feeling very fortunate, but I also need to remind myself that I worked hard to get to this point; to seek out like-minded people such as myself who could not only give me astonishingly great social media ideas, but put me in touch with people like my publicist simply because I've taken my role as writer and the novel I wrote, as well as the novels I have in the works right now, extremely seriously, just like the friends I've made along the way and have been with me up until this point. So I don't know if I could call myself "fortunate" so much as I could call myself "determined". Things like this rarely fall into your lap--you need to work at it, and let me assure you, it's tough, so you'd better be in love with the art of writing and all the struggles that come with it, because the book doesn't end when you write the last word. Then comes the submissions, rejections, finding a good publisher, and doing your best to make other good choices that will hopefully ensure your precious bound baby of pages winds up in the right hands.
I have excellent business sense and a wicked sense of efficiency which has always worked in my favor. In addition to managing my own social media mediums, I've tracked down blog radio shows and gotten myself engaged as a guest. I've participated in blog interviews given by other promising authors who maintain a very large following. I've had my story published in my local paper (which is a very large paper, serving three large counties), I've done local speaking engagements, I've been asked to do and accepted local book signings, but there's only so much I can do on my own.
In that respect, I've hired myself a publicist. This is a near must for any artist, especially a writer if that writer wants to a good chance at being noticed through the sea of works out there, not the least of which is the influx of self-published works; traditionally published authors like myself know it, and talented self-published authors know it. So in the past, and especially in these times, it's a great idea to get yourself a publicist to help you navigate that sea of words that we authors have been set adrift upon.
Our goal is to let readers know that our words are worth reading and a publicist can help with that in a big way. The unfortunate downside to being a decent writer is knowing that readers think just because it's in a book means that the writing is good. It's frustrating, but there it is. It's a truth that must be dealt with. Not all books are created equal.
So, my advice to you aspiring authors, hire a publicist if you can get your hands on and afford one. One great way of doing this is to make excellent connections online using social media, and if you've been lucky enough to find a publicist you want to make sure they have a lot of great community connections.
The publicist I have hired, for instance, carries these important assets with her (She assured me that she could do the following things): 1) create a sell sheet with my input; 2) create press releases; 3) schedule signings at local bookstores; 4) keep me in contact with the western community and events (which of course is essential to me as I've written a book in the historical fiction genre about Billy the Kid - the western community would therefor be my main selling demographic; and 5) contact local media, both newspapers and radio.
So at present I am feeling very fortunate, but I also need to remind myself that I worked hard to get to this point; to seek out like-minded people such as myself who could not only give me astonishingly great social media ideas, but put me in touch with people like my publicist simply because I've taken my role as writer and the novel I wrote, as well as the novels I have in the works right now, extremely seriously, just like the friends I've made along the way and have been with me up until this point. So I don't know if I could call myself "fortunate" so much as I could call myself "determined". Things like this rarely fall into your lap--you need to work at it, and let me assure you, it's tough, so you'd better be in love with the art of writing and all the struggles that come with it, because the book doesn't end when you write the last word. Then comes the submissions, rejections, finding a good publisher, and doing your best to make other good choices that will hopefully ensure your precious bound baby of pages winds up in the right hands.
The Art of Finding a Publicist and the Importance of Enlisting One
As an author there are a lot of things I'm savvy at doing on my own, namely, writing. But writing alone doesn't get one noticed as most authors know.
I have excellent business sense and a wicked sense of efficiency which has always worked in my favor. In addition to managing my own social media mediums, I've tracked down blog radio shows and gotten myself engaged as a guest. I've participated in blog interviews given by other promising authors who maintain a very large following. I've had my story published in my local paper (which is a very large paper, serving three large counties), I've done local speaking engagements, I've been asked to do and accepted local book signings, but there's only so much I can do on my own.
In that respect, I've hired myself a publicist. This is a near must for any artist, especially a writer if that writer wants to a good chance at being noticed through the sea of works out there, not the least of which is the influx of self-published works; traditionally published authors like myself know it, and talented self-published authors know it. So in the past, and especially in these times, it's a great idea to get yourself a publicist to help you navigate that sea of words that we authors have been set adrift upon.
Our goal is to let readers know that our words are worth reading and a publicist can help with that in a big way. The unfortunate downside to being a decent writer is knowing that readers think just because it's in a book means that the writing is good. It's frustrating, but there it is. It's a truth that must be dealt with. Not all books are created equal.
So, my advice to you aspiring authors, hire a publicist if you can get your hands on and afford one. One great way of doing this is to make excellent connections online using social media, and if you've been lucky enough to find a publicist you want to make sure they have a lot of great community connections.
The publicist I have hired, for instance, carries these important assets with her (She assured me that she could do the following things): 1) create a sell sheet with my input; 2) create press releases; 3) schedule signings at local bookstores; 4) keep me in contact with the western community and events (which of course is essential to me as I've written a book in the historical fiction genre about Billy the Kid - the western community would therefor be my main selling demographic; and 5) contact local media, both newspapers and radio.
So at present I am feeling very fortunate, but I also need to remind myself that I worked hard to get to this point; to seek out like-minded people such as myself who could not only give me astonishingly great social media ideas, but put me in touch with people like my publicist simply because I've taken my role as writer and the novel I wrote, as well as the novels I have in the works right now, extremely seriously, just like the friends I've made along the way and have been with me up until this point. So I don't know if I could call myself "fortunate" so much as I could call myself "determined". Things like this rarely fall into your lap--you need to work at it, and let me assure you, it's tough, so you'd better be in love with the art of writing and all the struggles that come with it, because the book doesn't end when you write the last word. Then comes the submissions, rejections, finding a good publisher, and doing your best to make other good choices that will hopefully ensure your precious bound baby of pages winds up in the right hands.
I have excellent business sense and a wicked sense of efficiency which has always worked in my favor. In addition to managing my own social media mediums, I've tracked down blog radio shows and gotten myself engaged as a guest. I've participated in blog interviews given by other promising authors who maintain a very large following. I've had my story published in my local paper (which is a very large paper, serving three large counties), I've done local speaking engagements, I've been asked to do and accepted local book signings, but there's only so much I can do on my own.
In that respect, I've hired myself a publicist. This is a near must for any artist, especially a writer if that writer wants to a good chance at being noticed through the sea of works out there, not the least of which is the influx of self-published works; traditionally published authors like myself know it, and talented self-published authors know it. So in the past, and especially in these times, it's a great idea to get yourself a publicist to help you navigate that sea of words that we authors have been set adrift upon.
Our goal is to let readers know that our words are worth reading and a publicist can help with that in a big way. The unfortunate downside to being a decent writer is knowing that readers think just because it's in a book means that the writing is good. It's frustrating, but there it is. It's a truth that must be dealt with. Not all books are created equal.
So, my advice to you aspiring authors, hire a publicist if you can get your hands on and afford one. One great way of doing this is to make excellent connections online using social media, and if you've been lucky enough to find a publicist you want to make sure they have a lot of great community connections.
The publicist I have hired, for instance, carries these important assets with her (She assured me that she could do the following things): 1) create a sell sheet with my input; 2) create press releases; 3) schedule signings at local bookstores; 4) keep me in contact with the western community and events (which of course is essential to me as I've written a book in the historical fiction genre about Billy the Kid - the western community would therefor be my main selling demographic; and 5) contact local media, both newspapers and radio.
So at present I am feeling very fortunate, but I also need to remind myself that I worked hard to get to this point; to seek out like-minded people such as myself who could not only give me astonishingly great social media ideas, but put me in touch with people like my publicist simply because I've taken my role as writer and the novel I wrote, as well as the novels I have in the works right now, extremely seriously, just like the friends I've made along the way and have been with me up until this point. So I don't know if I could call myself "fortunate" so much as I could call myself "determined". Things like this rarely fall into your lap--you need to work at it, and let me assure you, it's tough, so you'd better be in love with the art of writing and all the struggles that come with it, because the book doesn't end when you write the last word. Then comes the submissions, rejections, finding a good publisher, and doing your best to make other good choices that will hopefully ensure your precious bound baby of pages winds up in the right hands.
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Bad Reviews and What to do With Them
I got another one for you: Bad Reviews. Many authors get upset if they receive a bad review. They take it personally. Well, okay, your book is your baby, so it's kind of hard not to take it personally. But that bad review isn't meant to hurt your feelings; it's just an honest remark. That bad review, in fact, is an opportunity. An opportunity, you ask? Well, yes, that's correct. It's an opportunity for you as an author to think about what you might be doing wrong in your writing and how you, as an author, can improve.
After all, don't you want to be the best author you can be? Just because someone gives you a bad review doesn't mean you should unleash the hounds. Stop and think about how you can perfect your writing. Believe it or not, you may not be a Tolstoy or a Hemingway, no matter how often your grandmother tells you you're the next lyrical genius.
Take your bad review (which, btw, is based on one person's opinion) and learn from it. Do yourself and your writing a favor and figure out how you can fix your writing style. After all, writing isn't easy--there are a lot of aspects to it and perhaps you may need some lessons in learning how to make those aspects congeal into a great story.
Getting angry and vindictive over a bad review does nothing to help improve your writing (I knew of an author who wanted to return the favor, but in all fairness, this particular author's writing is, well...I'm not gonna say. What I will say is this: She probably deserved that poor review), and in fact, if you kick the dog over that bad review instead of working on your writing, you may have another bad review waiting right around the corner.
After all, don't you want to be the best author you can be? Just because someone gives you a bad review doesn't mean you should unleash the hounds. Stop and think about how you can perfect your writing. Believe it or not, you may not be a Tolstoy or a Hemingway, no matter how often your grandmother tells you you're the next lyrical genius.
Take your bad review (which, btw, is based on one person's opinion) and learn from it. Do yourself and your writing a favor and figure out how you can fix your writing style. After all, writing isn't easy--there are a lot of aspects to it and perhaps you may need some lessons in learning how to make those aspects congeal into a great story.
Getting angry and vindictive over a bad review does nothing to help improve your writing (I knew of an author who wanted to return the favor, but in all fairness, this particular author's writing is, well...I'm not gonna say. What I will say is this: She probably deserved that poor review), and in fact, if you kick the dog over that bad review instead of working on your writing, you may have another bad review waiting right around the corner.
Bad Reviews and What to do With Them
I got another one for you: Bad Reviews. Many authors get upset if they receive a bad review. They take it personally. Well, okay, your book is your baby, so it's kind of hard not to take it personally. But that bad review isn't meant to hurt your feelings; it's just an honest remark. That bad review, in fact, is an opportunity. An opportunity, you ask? Well, yes, that's correct. It's an opportunity for you as an author to think about what you might be doing wrong in your writing and how you, as an author, can improve.
After all, don't you want to be the best author you can be? Just because someone gives you a bad review doesn't mean you should unleash the hounds. Stop and think about how you can perfect your writing. Believe it or not, you may not be a Tolstoy or a Hemingway, no matter how often your grandmother tells you you're the next lyrical genius.
Take your bad review (which, btw, is based on one person's opinion) and learn from it. Do yourself and your writing a favor and figure out how you can fix your writing style. After all, writing isn't easy--there are a lot of aspects to it and perhaps you may need some lessons in learning how to make those aspects congeal into a great story.
Getting angry and vindictive over a bad review does nothing to help improve your writing (I knew of an author who wanted to return the favor, but in all fairness, this particular author's writing is, well...I'm not gonna say. What I will say is this: She probably deserved that poor review), and in fact, if you kick the dog over that bad review instead of working on your writing, you may have another bad review waiting right around the corner.
After all, don't you want to be the best author you can be? Just because someone gives you a bad review doesn't mean you should unleash the hounds. Stop and think about how you can perfect your writing. Believe it or not, you may not be a Tolstoy or a Hemingway, no matter how often your grandmother tells you you're the next lyrical genius.
Take your bad review (which, btw, is based on one person's opinion) and learn from it. Do yourself and your writing a favor and figure out how you can fix your writing style. After all, writing isn't easy--there are a lot of aspects to it and perhaps you may need some lessons in learning how to make those aspects congeal into a great story.
Getting angry and vindictive over a bad review does nothing to help improve your writing (I knew of an author who wanted to return the favor, but in all fairness, this particular author's writing is, well...I'm not gonna say. What I will say is this: She probably deserved that poor review), and in fact, if you kick the dog over that bad review instead of working on your writing, you may have another bad review waiting right around the corner.
Pointless Prologues
Why do authors think prologues are necessary? They're not. I see a few authors using them constantly (one in particular) in every book, and they read as chapters, but that's not what they're for. Prologues are to be used sparingly. A prologue is meant to bridge a gap. Writers shouldn't use them all the time--they're not essential to every single story. Prologues are not meant to be used as chapters--call them Chapter One if you do that, not Prologue! Here, read this: What Is A Prologue?
A prologue is used mainly for two reasons.
To outline the back story quickly and economically, saving the author from having to resort to flashbacks or ruses such as conversations or memories to explain the background to the reader. This is commonly done in science fiction and fantasy to show why a certain quest is being undertaken or what will happen in the future. The prologue is a better option than a first chapter bogged down in detail.
To hook the reader and provide the story question right up front, giving them a reason to keep turning the pages to find out the answer. Quite often the prologue relates to a scene near the end of the story, and the story itself then shows what has led up to this moment. When is this justified? Perhaps when you want to introduce your characters in a more leisurely fashion, and your reader's experience with 'meeting' them will be enhanced by some sort of foreshadowing of what is to come.
A prologue is used mainly for two reasons.
To outline the back story quickly and economically, saving the author from having to resort to flashbacks or ruses such as conversations or memories to explain the background to the reader. This is commonly done in science fiction and fantasy to show why a certain quest is being undertaken or what will happen in the future. The prologue is a better option than a first chapter bogged down in detail.
To hook the reader and provide the story question right up front, giving them a reason to keep turning the pages to find out the answer. Quite often the prologue relates to a scene near the end of the story, and the story itself then shows what has led up to this moment. When is this justified? Perhaps when you want to introduce your characters in a more leisurely fashion, and your reader's experience with 'meeting' them will be enhanced by some sort of foreshadowing of what is to come.
Pointless Prologues
Why do authors think prologues are necessary? They're not. I see a few authors using them constantly (one in particular) in every book, and they read as chapters, but that's not what they're for. Prologues are to be used sparingly. A prologue is meant to bridge a gap. Writers shouldn't use them all the time--they're not essential to every single story. Prologues are not meant to be used as chapters--call them Chapter One if you do that, not Prologue! Here, read this: What Is A Prologue?
A prologue is used mainly for two reasons.
To outline the back story quickly and economically, saving the author from having to resort to flashbacks or ruses such as conversations or memories to explain the background to the reader. This is commonly done in science fiction and fantasy to show why a certain quest is being undertaken or what will happen in the future. The prologue is a better option than a first chapter bogged down in detail.
To hook the reader and provide the story question right up front, giving them a reason to keep turning the pages to find out the answer. Quite often the prologue relates to a scene near the end of the story, and the story itself then shows what has led up to this moment. When is this justified? Perhaps when you want to introduce your characters in a more leisurely fashion, and your reader's experience with 'meeting' them will be enhanced by some sort of foreshadowing of what is to come.
A prologue is used mainly for two reasons.
To outline the back story quickly and economically, saving the author from having to resort to flashbacks or ruses such as conversations or memories to explain the background to the reader. This is commonly done in science fiction and fantasy to show why a certain quest is being undertaken or what will happen in the future. The prologue is a better option than a first chapter bogged down in detail.
To hook the reader and provide the story question right up front, giving them a reason to keep turning the pages to find out the answer. Quite often the prologue relates to a scene near the end of the story, and the story itself then shows what has led up to this moment. When is this justified? Perhaps when you want to introduce your characters in a more leisurely fashion, and your reader's experience with 'meeting' them will be enhanced by some sort of foreshadowing of what is to come.
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