Life as a Publisher

You Should have known Better

Karen Syed — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:34:28 +0000

Hi again. In my last blog post I talked about the cool things that happened when I attended the 2012 Love is Murder conference. I didn’t even come close to telling you about all of them, but I wanted to switch gears and share a few points with you. If you’ve ever been to a conference, you know that there are a lot of people and not all of them understand the etiquette involved.

Editors, agents, publicists, and authors attend these events as special guests and we make ourselves available as much as possible, but you must know, as adults, that there are limits. In my travels around the hotel during the conference, I had the opportunity to speak with several of the other guests. We talked a bit, and here are a few of the things I heard from some of those guests. Keep in mind, these are actual statements (not verbatim). If you attend conferences you should pay close attention to these things. And no, I am not going to tell you who said what. I am going to use the word “guest” to mean editor, agent, publicist, author generically.

When a guest is talking to a group of people, DO NOT interrupt their conversation to offer them a copy of your book, proposal packet, or share the premise of your book.
When a guest is participating in a specific type of event, DO NOT attend that event under false pretenses to get their attention. This actually happened to multiple editors who were doing author appointments and people came up during their times so they could talk to them about other things.
When you attend a panel or workshop as an attendee, DO NOT raise our hand to make a point and then promote your book to the audience. Relevant or not, it is NOT your show.
When you ask a guest for information and then don’t agree with it, DO NOT stand in a public hallway with people milling about and discuss how ill-informed you think that guest is. You never know who is standing 2 feet away and listening. I promise that person will never offer you their time or courtesy again.
When a guest is in the bathroom, DO NOT stand between them and a stall or a sink to discuss your work. There is a time and a place.
When you sit with a guest at a meal (large table), DO NOT monopolize the guest’s attention, they are there for the enjoyment of all the attendees.
When you are in a panel or workshop, DO NOT publicly contradict the guest when they are giving a presentation.
When you are an attendee and not a guest, DO NOT remove the guests promo materials to make room for yours. The guests are offered certain perks, and if you want those perks, get yourself invited as a guest.
DO NOT put your promo materials in someone else’s space. This is me, and I am telling you, when I PAY for a space to promote that is MY space. You are alienating me by leaving stacks of your promo material on MY table. You are free to pay for your own space to promote.
When you don[t like a certain guest, DO NOT talk smack about them where their friends can hear you. Word will get back to the guest.

These may seem like common sense things, but each of these things actually happened at Love is Murder. This is one of the best conferences in the industry, and the guest and other attendees deserve to be respected. This is true of every conference, no matter how big or small. We are professionals and should quite honestly know better.

Love is Murder 2012

Karen Syed — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:08:18 +0000

I know, it’s been a while since I posted. It is always hectic just before I go to an event. February’s event was the Love is Murder 2012 Conference. If you have not been to this event, you really are missing out. It is not your typical writers’ conference or readers convention, it is a lovely mix of the two.

First, let me congratulate (and thank) Mary Connerty. During LIM 2012, we offered an entry to win a FREE Kindle for each Echelon eBook guests purchased. Mary has a new Kindle, thanks to her purchase of the eBook Totally Buzzed by Gale Borger.

Second I would like to congratulate Echelon Press Mystery Author Robert Goldsborough for his well-deserved Lovey Award for Best Historical Novel for his mystery Terror at the Fair.

The LIM board, as they are affectionately known (or sometimes, “Hey, you!”) is comprised of one of the most committed group of volunteers I’ve ever met, and I know each of them rather well. I consider this an honor. At any rate, LIM caters to readers and authors of the mystery genre, with a splash of romance thrown in to keep things lively.

The con offers workshops for writers of any level, as well as panels and events to keep the readers (and everyone else) entertained for the entire weekend. One of my favorite things to do is the editor/author appointments. I have been doing them for many years, and I have found a large number of my Echelon authors, past and present, at those appointment tables. If you are an aspiring mystery writer, or even an already published author shopping a new manuscript, the editors and agents at LIM are among the most gracious. And I’m not even including myself in that statement (though I am kinda cool sometimes.)

And if you are a reader, I don’t know of any other conference or convention that offers the opportunity for such intimate interaction with the speakers, guests, or professionals. Whether it’s in the lounge, at one of the meals, or at any of the other social events. The special guests go out of their way to make themselves accessible to the fans. For example: In 2004, I heard David Morrell (creator of Rambo, and the author one of my favorite books, Creepers) talk about the value of marketing for authors. I was at a point in my publishing career where I was perched on a very precarious edge and considering quitting. His keynote that night at LIM changed my life and inspired me to change my thinking and forge ahead. We are celebrating our 11th anniversary for Echelon Press this month. On Saturday night at LIM 2012, David Morrell spoke again and this time he indicated that he was making a correction to his previous keynote. I couldn’t wait to get out of that banquet room so I could pull him aside and let him know that I didn’t consider his keynote a correction, but a wealth of additional input that will hopefully serve both authors and readers. To paraphrase, he reminded authors that the book business isn’t just about marketing, and that they should look deep inside themselves and write the stories they are meant to write. Forget about chasing the “market” when writing, just write from within yourself. It is some of the best advice I’ve heard in a long time. Because when you write the right book the way it is supposed to be written, it will ultimately be the greatest gift you can give readers. I have said this before, but it bears repeating, David Morrell is not only a brilliant writer, but also a brilliantly inspiring person.

Aside from the keynote, there were a number of other awesome events, including one of my favorites, The Chicagoland “Those Were the Days Radio Players,” who perform actual radio shows as they were performed in their glory days. It is an amazing thing to watch and I hope they continue to do the shows each year.

Well, I’ve gone on a bit. I’ll pop out for now, but stop back by later in the week to read my next LIM 2012 post, “Burning Bridges: or 5 things you should have known before attending LIM 2012.”

Until then…

Lightbulb!

Karen Syed — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:29:33 +0000

I am always surprised when people say something won’t work. Been hearing this about Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads for a while. Here are a few key things everyone should remember.

You only get out what you put in.
Nothing is easy.
You get what you pay for.

They are all pretty much the same thing, but roll into one giant idea. All three of those networks sell books. FOR SURE. I can track numerous sales to my activity on all three networks. How? Interaction. I give away books on all three. I have thousands of friends, followers, buddies, whatever, on all of them.

When I first starting networking years ago, I was happy with 100 of my closest friends and family, until I realized I wasn’t selling any books. At some point I had a moment…”Lightbulb!” –Gru

I wasn’t getting anything out of any of those because I wasn’t putting anything into. I decided to give it a three month effort and see what happened. So I began upping my friends, etc. As my followers increased, I started a huge rise in my sales. Now when I say huge, I mean from ZERO sales to 4 or 5. I know, it isn’t much, but 4 or 5 after two years of zip, nothing, nada…I was tickled. So I kept at it. Then I started having months where I was selling dozens of books and stories. Holy crap…could it be?

Now keep in mind, these were my ONLY forms of promotion…period. It could be nothing else. So I ramped it up a bit more. So at this point, about 6 months later, I was hitting triple digits on some of my books/stories. Lesson? IT TAKES EFFORT.

Don’t say nobody on Facebook cares what you had for dinner. I have people ask.

Don’t say the senseless chatter on Twitter is of interest to anyone. I have a couple people who REMIND me when it is time to go get my hair done so I can post the pics of my new dos. Seriously.

And as far as GoodReads goes…it is a site for READERS. Seriously folks, they are LOOKING for books to buy and the key search function on GoodReads is Amazon.com. This must click somewhere for someone. The more people you interact with the better your chances of selling them a book or two.

Last example. Yesterday, I posted a recommendation on GoodReads to go buy our new Steampunk anthology, “Her Majesty’s Mysterious Conveyance.” Within ten minutes we had sold five Kindle downloads. Coinkidink? I think not.

Good promo doesn’t have to be expensive, but it will take time and effort, and often that time is far more valuable than money.

Tagged: author promotion, Facebook, GoodReads, Gru, social networking, Twitter