It Is So-o-o Hard to Get a Book Reviewed

FLASH: March 27, 2012. Brute Heart finally gets the review listed in right-hand column.

While I was still writing Brute Heart, I would sometimes catch myself imagining the thrill of reading my book reviewed in one of the local newspapers. Sometimes that thrill would turn to dread when I envisioned a review that ripped my book apart, but I still wanted the feedback. My wildest dreams were not wild enough to expect a review in the New York Times or even The Oregonian, however I did believe the Klamath Falls Herald and News and Bend's paper, The Bulletin, would print one since most of the story takes place in Klamath Falls and because I'm a long-time resident of Bend. How naive I was! Local newspapers simply do not have staffs large enough to read and review books by local authors or even established authors as exemplified by the bylines (New York Times News Service, Los Angeles Times, Newsday, etc.) that accompany the few book reviews found in most of today's local newspapers.

Lee Juillerat, Regional Editor for the Herald and News, did publish a wonderful article announcing my book signing at Borders, but no review, even though he read the book. After reading his article I asked him what he thought of Brute Heart and he replied, "I did enjoy the book. Found myself reading longer into the evenings than I intended to find what came next. I appreciated that your story wasn't strictly formula and that you took some risks, which made the story far more involving. Nicely done." And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the closest thing to a professional review I have thus far received.

So, what about book signings or readings? I thought surely local newspapers would write articles announcing such events, but other than the Herald and News, that has not been the case, in fact the Medford Mail Tribune told me their policy excludes book signings but does cover readings as long as the author lives in their area or has a strong national following. Other papers announce readings and signings in teensy blurbs found in community calendars, "This Weekend's Events," etc.--lists that include the bare minimum of facts and appear in obscure sections or supplements.

When the Central Oregonian, Prineville's newspaper, ignored my press release announcing a book signing and reading at Book 'N Bean, I wrote an article titled, "There's a Book in You" for Horsefly, a free monthly with a similar reach. Although the overt purpose of the article was to encourage people to write those stories that had been floating around in their heads for years, I was able to plug Brute Heart several times and include the date, place and time for my Prineville book signing. This technique can also be used with a larger newspaper by writing an op ed (an article that includes your opinions and appears opposite the editorial page) on some topic related to the theme(s) in your book. You can either refer to your book within the article itself or include it in your signage, for example: by Ginger Dehlinger, author of Brute Heart.

In summation, my advice is to have realistic expectations but keep sending those press releases. You might get lucky if your press release includes a well-written synopsis that the paper can print without having to edit it. Submit your own articles or opinion pieces, and don't overlook niche publications that may be more receptive to smart material that fills pages and provides reader interest.

Genres

Whether you are a reader or a writer, at some point you are going to encounter the term, genre. I've often wondered who first borrowed this word from the French, and why it has become the standard replacement for "classification," "type," "family," "category," or some other common word. I figure it must have been the same type of person who pronounces tomato with a flat as opposed to a long A.
Genrification (I love making up words) appears to be a natural tendency. Aristotle believed there should be at least two genres: comedy and tragedy, and Plato further divided literature into drama, poetry, and prose. The number of genres grew hand in hand with the development of more literary forms as well as the technology to support them, especially movies.
It is often difficult to define a book's genre because some books fit more than one and because there are now so many sub-genres. In the world of books, the two most obvious categories are fiction and non-fiction, each containing numerous genres and sub-genres. Some of the more popular non-fiction genres are memoir, how-to, self-help, and biography. The best-selling fiction genres are mystery, romance, sci-fi, horror, suspense, and Western, the latter being in decline since the 1970's. If you are interested in a more complete, although not exhaustive list of genres and sub-genres along with brief descriptions and examples, send an e-mail to gdehlinger@live.com and I will attach my research on this topic with my reply. It is too much information for a blog post. Another helpful list which includes other literary terms can be found at http://www.virtualsalt.com/litterms.htm This compilation was created by Robert A. Harris.
An important thing to keep in mind is that putting books or other creative writing into categories is highly subjective, and it is often the publisher, not the author, who determines a book's genre. I could really use some of this professional advice for Brute Heart, my women's fiction/hardship to recovery/contemporary Western/family drama. :)

The Marketing Plan

I'm glad I waited until I got past my first few bouts in the marketing ring to write this post, because a marketing plan needs to be realistic, and a few punches to the gut give a person better perspective. I also wanted to add a post on the marketing plan for my blog followers and for the people attending my free workshop, "Fundamentals of Self-publishing," February 19 at Paulina Springs Books in Redmond.

The three main reasons self-publishers aren't successful, assuming they have written something worthwhile, are: failing to look at self-publishing as a business, ignoring the internet, especially its social networking components, and not having the time or energy to work harder at selling their work than they spent writing it.

The marketing plan is crucial to treating self-publishing as a business, and you should actually begin putting your plan together even before you finish writing your book. For one thing, identifying your genre and audience early on aims your writing at the very people who will eventually buy your book, and letting people know in advance what you are writing about--on FaceBook, Twitter, in chat rooms, or on your own website or blog--produces a buzz that can result in quick sales after your book is printed.

Every marketing plan is unique, but below are some of the elements that should be included:
(1) genre
(2) target audience(s)
(3) retail outlets and potential book signings
(4) demographics
(5) synopses (long, short, and really short--the "elevator pitch")
(6) why you wrote the book
(7) a short bio of you
(8) a social networking plan
(9) potential reviewers
(10)media resources
(11) a mock press release (for practice)
(12) a good picture of you
(13) a list of direct marketing opportunities such as conventions, trade shows, street fairs, etc.
(14) publicity strategies
(15) opportunities for business networking
(16) a running list of your own ideas and those people suggest to you (People can be so helpful!)
(17) advertising plans, if any

You should also be reading other authors' books in your genre and looking for stories similar to yours or authors whose writing styles are similar to yours.

Don't let this rather awesome list scare you. Not all of it will be applicable to you, and you don't have to put it together in one day. Think of your marketing plan as a flexible tool you can add to or change during your entire journey through the world of self-publishing.

eBooks

Sherman Alexie, during a lecture at COCC in November 2009, stopped in the middle of entertaining the audience with stories about his heritage and his experience as a writer, to praise the intrinsic value of books--real books printed on real paper with real covers. I silently agreed with him, thinking this Kindle thing was just a fad, one more toy people with an abundance of discretionary income could add to their toy boxes. Eighteen months later I was part of the "revolution."

I should have foreseen that books, like hi-fis, electric typewriters, VCRs, and keypads would one day be subject to the relentless advance of technology, especially by the younger generations who start using computers by the age of three. There will still be people who prefer the feel of a book in their hands, but over time this number will dwindle.

So . . . how does the self-published author hop on this bullet train? The first thing I learned was that a manuscript written in Microsoft Word or any word processing program must be converted into a format that can be distributed via the internet. There are several companies that will do this for a fee, and I highly recommend the one I used: http://www.booknook.biz/ for their clear, precise instructions and professionalism.

The second thing I learned was that Amazon and Barnes & Noble, the two main players so far in the eBook market, both use different formats. To upload your book to Amazon, it must be converted to something called "mobi." For Nook books, you convert into "ePub" which works for Barnes & Noble as well as Google Editions, Kobo (Borders), and most other eBook sellers. Note: Borders will not list your eBook unless you give them at least ten titles which excludes most of us self-publishers. Apple for iPad or iPhone requires the same format (mobi) as Kindle, but you have to own a Mac to use it.

To view the electronic version of your book after it has been converted to ePub, you need to download Adobe Digital Edition http://www.adobe.com/products/digitaleditions/ , then go through a series of steps. The Kindle process is easier. After you install Kindle for Mac or Kindle for PC, you simply double click on the file, "4Kindle."

Besides the big three: Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Borders, there are tons of websites that will market your e-book--for a fee, or course. Be sure to check out Google Editions https://books.google.com/partner/ and Smashwords http://www.smashwords.com/. Affiliate marketers such as Click Bank have a whole stable of marketers looking for books or other products to sell, so they can become your auxiliary sales force. http://clickbank.com/. Look for these marketers to come up with even more technological advances such as, don't laugh, a way for authors to sign eBooks electronically.

Why Do We Write?

My writing group, the High Desert Sojourners, is a collection of wannabee writers, some published, that meets monthly to listen to one another's work, give constructive criticism, and provide support. We bring to the meetings what we're working on or something we have written in response to a prompt distributed the month before.

At our September meeting, the writing prompt for the month of October was, "why do we write?" Since I attended a workshop that month led by Paulann Petersen, Oregon's Poet Laureate, I presented a poem I wrote instead. I was intrigued, however, by "why do we write," and decided after the meeting to address this thought-provoking question in my blog.

I started writing Brute Heart to kill time, with no plot or purpose in mind, let alone a novel. After I had written several short pieces, I saw certain similarities in theme and setting that, with some work, had the potential to be a larger undertaking. At that point my writing took on a life of its own as a research project and a puzzle being assembled from many pieces. I could lose myself for hours, experimenting with a word or group of words until I was satisfied with the clarity, meaning, sound, richness or cadence. Being a lover of words and their limitless potential, writing Brute Heart eventually became my shrink, my hidey-hole, my self-satisfaction, and my nag.

Over time I cobbled together a rough story followed by characters to support the story. Occasionally the characters I created changed the story as did happenings in my life or in the news. All of this greatly expanded the number of puzzle pieces, but finally gave me the picture on the box, and as the story took shape, I began wondering if there might be a higher purpose for what I had written. Since my novel centers on alcoholism and abusive relationships, perhaps one or more persons living with an alcoholic or abuser would find help in the story of a young woman who manages to escape both dependencies, so I kept this in mind as I continued to write.

At some point I began to believe I might have written something worthy of being shared with the reading public. I started paying closer attention to how novels were constructed and what my story had in common, if anything, with those that were successful, which led to a total reevaluation of what I had written. Characters were added or changed, chapters were added, changed, or repositioned, and massive doses of wordsmithing took place in rewrite after rewrite. Now I was no longer writing for something to do or the pure pleasure of playing with words, I was writing for the reading public, and it wasn't nearly as much fun.

Brute Heart by G Dehlinger