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Cowboy Musings
Volume
Two click
to browse Volume One
Sleeping
in Prophet without
honor Cowboy
talk The Sweet
Smell of . . . . ? How
Do It Know? The
Reading Test Special
Gifts It's Ba -
ack Literary
Agent The
First Line The
Rogue Character The Take-a-way Time to add words
Too late to write? Christian
Fiction Players Changing Hoosier Cowboys
It's
only Fiction Programs Writing habits Interesting
Characters? Always wanted to write? Outpouring In Memoriam A Collectible?
Western Book Sales In Perspective Shepherd's Son
Releases Visiting
blogs again Website
and or blog traffic What are good sales numbers? A new generation of
readers? What
do the numbers mean? Christian Content
Old Dogs – New tricks OWLS are great! Programs Getting hung up Ouch! A Cozy Mystery Out and About Answered Prayer Online Presence The Good Old Days Fish gotta swim, Birds
gotta Fly . . . My
Bookstore Self-fulfilling
Prophesy Blog Suggestion
Book
Reviews Where
do stories come from? Mentoring Networking Bad Road New Cover Lone Star Rising Fellowship Peace of Mind Christian
Fiction is Changing I'm International!
It's Personal
Hunting Readers If I Were Put On Trial
For Being A Christian
Patience
I was going to sleep
in. I'm in a motel room in Tulsa Oklahoma after presenting a program to
the Fellowship of Christian Writers, I
don't have to be home early, so why not?
And why would the Lord get me up at a quarter to six by putting things on my
mind? I suppose for God, sleeping in is
something he doesn't do.
Ah well, I've
finished the little chore he put on my mind (today's chore , at least so far)
so I'm checking mail and beginning my day. The meeting went very well getting
to see long time friend Carla Stewart who helped me so much doing a first read
on
It's always good to
get writing affirmations. We send our babies out alone into the world and it's
always good to get feedback on how they are doing. I had an email this morning
from a lady reading
Also in the old
email sack was a notice from Paula Miller that she had read Brothers Keeper and
was putting up a review and interview on her site at http://reviewsbytwo.blogspot.com/ and had reviewed the book on Amazon and B
& N. Paula is part of a set of twins, and was drawn to the book because the
story is drawn around twins, one of which chose the high road and the other the
low. I was pleased with her review and enjoyed the interview. You know, I have
no control over the daily Bible verse on the site, it's there automatically
each day, but today, Luke 15:3 pretty much sums up the story of the third book
in the MW series, Shepherd's Son.
Well,
I'm up early, wrote the notes I woke up with on my mind, ready for my second
cup of coffee, so I suppose I'll get on the road back home. I don't much like
doing these trips without Saundra, kinda like I left the biggest part of me at
home. Shucks, I even had to make my own pot of coffee here in the room this
morning. >>>smile<<<
The Bible talks about "A prophet is
not without honor save in his own
country, and in his own house." If there's anything I'm not it's a
prophet, but I get it. I'm on my way to
A couple of weeks ago my pastor asked me to
talk to the congregation about my writing, how I was called, and how Christian Fiction can reach out to
people, sometimes in ways that Biblical material, pamphlets and tracts, and
other materials sometimes cannot do. The
same way that Jesus often used stories, parables, to help people relate to his
teachings.
Most of the folks had no idea my books
were available through most bookstores if not shelved there, and in libraries
all over the country. How could that be? I was just the guy that sat in services
with them and talked too much in Sunday School Class. Same with my family, one of them stumbled
across one of my books somewhere and at a family reunion asked about it. The
whole family was fascinated to find out how my books were out there.
I
think most writers go through this. If we begin making some headway becoming
known, the last people who will realize it are those closest to us, and even
then they'll always underestimate the extent of our success. Don't get me
wrong, I'm not claiming to be any well known writer, or even to have major
sales, but I guarantee it was more than these people had ever thought.
Now that they have found out I do these
workshops all over, a number of folks at our church want to know why I haven't
done one there. The answer is simple,
I've never been asked.
Looks like I'll be
putting one on for them.
What do cowboy's talk about? You want to
get an online group of western writers that I'm in talking non-stop you just have to talk about horses
or guns. That'll do it every time.
You take a group of cowboys that tend to
talk like a reticent Gary Cooper saying little other than "yup" or
"nope" if you get them in a rodeo meeting will talk non-stop for
hours recounting past glories and talking about how things ought to be done.
Back behind the chutes participants want to talk about their last ride, sorry
judging, the next ride and the animals involved in each.
You take everyday people and a
conversation is over when people quit talking. Not a cowboy. One may say something to another hand as they
ride off to go work a herd. He may add something a couple of hours later as
they ride by one another and the conversation may go on that way for days. If a
cowboy has little to say it may not mean he's sparing with words, it may just
mean he isn't through talking.
A great example of this is shown in a
great movie, Cheyenne Social Club. In that movie they ride for days on their
way to
Learning to talk like a cowboy is not so
much a matter of learning to use words as it is learning to think about what
you want to say, then distilling it down into as few words as possible.
There used to be this very western banker
in a small town I was managing a chamber of commerce in. J.T. was a man of few
words and tended to sit over to the side and listen as people wrestled over a
problem, then was quite likely to put the matter to rest when he finally got
around to having his say. I'll never
forget one such meeting where a problem was discussed at great length. Finally
he got up, put his hat on, and as he turned to go out the door said, "I
think we're trying to put a saddle on something we can't ride."
Meeting
over – idea dropped.
A good friend that I
have tremendous respect for as a writer
is looking over my work in progress.
A comment that keeps coming up is bringing in the smell. I mention
shrimp being butterflied on a hot grill and the smell of heating garlic and butter. How do I express a scent beyond that, give
something it smells like? Nothing smells like hot garlic and butter,
nothing smells like onions grilling or popcorn cooking. When you mention one of
those to me that triggers my memory of what it smells like. The item in question
IS the smell to me.
Whatdaya think?
Now sound is
different. Or is it? I've heard birds that sound like a gate creaking open.
I've heard static that sounded like bacon on a hot grille (or vice versa) but how
about fingernails on a chalkboard. You need a simile there? Just mentioning it
does it for me, thinking of it makes my skin crawl.
Maybe familiarity is
the key. If it's a sound or smell that's universally recognizable, perhaps it
defies comparison, where a sound or smell that people aren't familiar with need
comparison to something people ARE familiar with. Could that be the case?
Just
kinda set me to thinking . . . .
So how does a writer know before sending a
manuscript off if it will appeal to an
editor?
That is the question.
Two men were about to have lunch on a
jobsite.
One, not the
sharpest knife in the drawer looked over
at the other and
said, "What be that?"
The man responded, "It's a
Thermos."
"What do it do?"
"It keeps things hot or keeps them
cold."
"How do it know?"
Les posed a good question yesterday and
the answer is as simple as the answer to this guy's question. Doing it is
tough, and the people that do it well are the ones that publish. Writers want
to write, period. We don't want to research or market or promote or do all the
other things that go into developing a career. We want to write.
But the key to doing a good job with
queries to an editor or a agent is knowing before we ever put it in the mail
that they are a real possibility for the product that we're pitching. Too many
people buy the big market guide and go through it sending off a letter to
everybody that even lists their genre in their listing. That's a guarantee a huge number of rejection
letters will soon be on the way.
The ones that know their business look for
indicators that the person they are querying really has published or handled
some comparable work. They find other books and writers that are targeted at
the same people they figure to be the reader base for their book. The numbers
and products they develop that convince them this is true is the same thing
they need to give to an agent or editor to demonstrate they know who their
reader base is and have really written a book that will reach them.
What are these indicators? That's the hard
part, because it's different for every book and may differ for each editor and
agent we pitch. We search the market and search the bookstore for products that
cause us to believe we'd be right for a certain agency or house and we try that
pitch on them. If we've figured right we've got a good shot at it. If not,
well, there's always the next one.
"How do it know?" That's the
key question all right.
The
I've
handled a few proposals already.
Submitting proposals myself I found early on that it was all about
the readers. Most readers make
buying decisions based on reading a pretty small sample standing there at
the bookrack. They may sample in different ways, but the biggest test is
whether that first page or two draws them into the book enough to carry
it to the checkout stand.
Editors
understand this, and tend to judge a submission the same way. If a book doesn't
pull them in immediately they tend to set it aside and look at something else.
They may look at the synopsis to see if it holds out enough interest for them
to test it further, but probably not. Agents know that readers and editors both
feel this way and tend to apply the same test.
They want something they know will appeal to the editor and for the most
part neither really has the resources to drastically alter or work on a
manuscript when there will be others coming in that are ready to be submitted
up the line.
My
success rate improved once I understood this and knew I had to catch that agent
or editor's attention before they would get down to reading and judging the
actual merits of my writing. Now I find myself on the other side of the table
and it is even more clear to me. If I read a proposal and it doesn't draw me
in, and if the synopsis doesn't bowl me over to suggest it'll really improve
down the road, there's far too much work that will have to be done to interest
anybody in it. The next one on the stack may be ready to go.
So I'm
new on this side of the table. I was asked to be on this side because I
understand how it works and learned how to make that appropriate submission.
Those who get published understand, those who aren't publishing don't get it
yet. But they will . . . or they'll join that large group that gets discouraged
and quits, or just puts something out themselves.
There's
nothing new about this. If I want to play a sport I have to learn the rules and
develop skills. If I want to learn to cook or sew I have to learn how it is
done and develop skills. If I want a job I have to have knowledge that will
enable me to do it and develop skills. Why would we think writing would be any
different?
Comment: I agree that readers buy based in part on the first paragraph to
maybe the first two pages. I do this myself, however, the interest must be kept
up through out the entire story or the reader will lose interest. I used to
read all of a book once I started it, even if I had lost interest. My feeling
was that once I started the book, I was going to finish it. As I got older, it
became apparent to me that there are too many books out there and not enough
time to read them. Many is the book that grabbed my interest in the first few
pages, even the first fifty pages that I lost interest in and put aside for the
next book on my reading stack. I can understand how a writer may read and like
what he or she wrote, but that does not necessarily mean editors or book readers
will feel the same. So how does a writer know before sending a manuscript off
if it will appeal to an editor? That is the question.
Les
The Bible says that
all believers receive at least one special gift, the gift of faith. It also promises in multiple places that we may receive others.
We have a revival going on this week and that brings this to mind for me.
I went to the
Christian Writer's Workshop at Glorietta one year. As I went I was looking for
direction as to including my faith in my writing, and I got it. (See writing testimony on my website) But I've talked about that. As a product of getting there I went through
a course designed to identify special gifts. It was pretty extensive and very
revealing. They concluded I had three in
addition to the one we all have, writing, music, and the gift of encouragement.
I accepted that, and
it has seemed to be the areas I needed to work in. The writing is pretty
evident and I've talked about it enough. The music is pretty much confined to church as we sing
in the choir and Saundra and I are known for doing duets. We're singing in the
revival choir each night now.
Then there's the
gift of encouragement. I do a little teaching at church, but my schedule
doesn't let me do that on a regular basis.
Mostly I've used it in the writing groups I've been in and continue to
be in, trying in my limited way to pay forward
all the help others have given me. I consider the programs and workshops that
I've been doing more and more of another means of trying to use it, and it was
the motivating factor in my deciding to accept Joyce's offer to work as an
agent, to give me a chance to help other's get their words out.
Mostly I hope to do
it through a daily walk that is a mute testimony to my faith. We talked about
that in Sunday School yesterday and there was a quote I really liked about a
Christian that needs to "be in the world but not of the world." The
lesson said that a boat must be in the water to be useful, but the water
shouldn't be in the boat.
I
like that.
Dunno why, but when
I saw those boxes of author copies of Shepherd's Son sitting on the porch
I could just hear Arnold Swartzenegger's
voice in my head. Don't remember the movie it was from, but they quote that
phrase on him all the time. The
missing pages were
back in the books, and they are now on their way back to bookstores and
libraries.
That means I'll be
back on the road. Wait, when did I get off the road? Oh, I remember, Saundra
and I were still going each weekend only it was family rather than writing. Now
I'm looking to schedule more events, only now I get the entertaining sideline
of scheduling appointments to look at
proposals along with doing programs. I've already found a couple that interest
me. I've always thought as we get older that life was supposed to slow
down.
Had a young lady
tell me I was so lucky writing with my kids grown, that I should try to work in
writing time around caring for a family and three kids. I sympathize, I've had
to work around that family time, but I pointed out that kids are replaced by
senior parents and grandkids. I go by
and spend time with mom each day, try to see the grands as often as possible
and still have the demands of making a living.
Writing time is
never 'spare time' it seems to me, but has to be carved out regularly and
jealously protected. There's an old
cliché about "if you want something done, give it to a busy person because
the others don't have time to do it."
I
told her while she was making, gardening and weeding all those lists, I was
just doing the tasks. It's not about keeping track of things, it's about
marking things off those lists. That's
what life is all about, working down our lists.
Comment:
LIFE IS ONE BIG LIST! We only need to prioritize
that list. In my opinion, a good starting point would be...
1)GOD
2)FAMILY.
Everything
else follows.
Les
Here's a little
change in my writing career. I've been recruited by Joyce Hart at Hartline
Literary to work as an agent. Making literary deals is not unlike the way I
represented business making deals for over 25 years as a chamber of commerce
manager. I think I'll enjoy it.
I've already had a
taste of it as I've sold much of my work myself and helped some of my friends
get published. I'm very active online and go to a substantial number of
conventions, workshops and events, so I have a good base of contacts to build
on.
There will be a
learning curve involved, of course, but Joyce has promised to work closely with
me getting up to speed. The submission guidelines, procedures and the like are
in place at http://www.hartlineliterary.com/guidelines.htm and of course more info on the agency itself
is at http://www.hartlineliterary.com
Joyce has twenty
five years in the business and is highly respected. Other agents include Janet
L. Benry, who in addition to working at
Hartline co-writes mysteries with her husband Ron. Tamela Hancock Murray writes inspirational
romance and non-fiction in addition to her duties as an agent., and Andrea Kuhn
Boeshaar has 12 published novels to her
credit and was an agent with Ciske and Dietz in addition to owning her own
agency before joining Hartline.
Yes,
I suppose I'll be the token male, but I'm okay with that.
Comment: God bless, Terry. Sounds like we're
all busy with one thing or another. I've just gotten back from 3 weeks in
Ronda Del Boccio said...
Couldn't happen to a nicer
guy! Terry, I'm so pleased for you. I don't expect your new agency will see
much of me because I'm partial to SF/fantasy and other paranormal works for the
most part.
On another note, remember I told you that I co-authored a book that we had with
a publisher? I'll Push, You Steer: The Definitive Guide to Stumbling Through
Life with Blinders On comes out next month with AWOC books. Bonnie Tesh and I
are SO excited.
I often refer back to the notes I took at your presentation to the OWL meeting
back in August.
Best wishes in your new endeavor.
Ronda Del Boccio
There's a book that
provides the first line and all submissions have to tell a short story
beginning with exactly the same opening sentence. That intrigued me and I tried
it once and my entry was published. If
it interests you more info is at http://www.thefirstline.com/submission.htm
"It was a dark
and stormy night . . ." may be the most famous first line of all, but it
surely hasn't led to Snoopy being able to finish his long-awaited book. The
first line is critical as it has to make the person read down into the first
page which needs to make the person turn the page and hook the reader enough
that they'll carry our offering to the checkout line.
"What I need is
a disguise," opens
To Keep a Promise
starts, "A wagon leaving the safety of a wagon train to strike out on its
own is a lonesome sight."
Trails of the Dime
Novel starts with "My name is no name for an adventure writer."
Do these spark any
interest? Make you want to read on down? I hoped they did when I used
them. I know it didn't make the
impression of "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."
from Dickens Tale of Two Cities. Or how
about "It was a bright cold day in April and all the clocks were striking
thirteen" from Orwell's 1984. Maybe "Amergo Bonasera sat in New York
Criminal Court Number 3 and waited for justice." Mario Puzo's The
Godfather.
How
important is the first line? How much difference has it made in your book
buying decisions?
When I start writing a story I do 2-3
placeholder chapters just to get the story going until my characters become
real and take over the story. It's as if I watch them in a movie in my head.
If the story ceases
to move it's generally because I've tried to make a character do something that
is not in their nature to do, or have handed them a plot device that just
doesn't work.
Then along comes the
rogue character that insists on a larger role than they are intended to have.
It happens all the time. My new one is a mystery built around a missing woman.
They're supposed to find her and restore her, thus solving the mystery. But no,
she shows up by the 4th chapter. The people hunting her don't know
where she is, but the reader does, some mystery.
Okay, the mystery can
be what she's up to. Nope she reveals that a couple of chapters later, muscling
herself higher and higher into the plot structure. Then finally I see, there isn't a mystery
built around her, she IS the mystery.
She's a complicated woman and defies pigeon-holing.
The reader opens the
story with the expectation that the male protagonist will be the focal point of
the story, but it isn't long before a female protagonist and female secondary
character have pushed him aside and seem to be competing to be the focal point
of the story. Or maybe that is the point of the story.
It's always so
interesting when a character absolutely and categorically refuses to stay where
they are written and tries to take over the story.
Every story generally has a take-a-way,
a point, a moral or a message. Why is the story being told? I seldom go into one where I have that
in mind however. They just sorta come out on their own.
I've said before that most of my stories have a
degree of faith in them, but I don't do that intentionally either. At least one
of my characters will be a person of faith, maybe some others are and it is
that action and reaction that brings it to the book.
What is the take-a-way in each books? The River Oak
books all have a writing guide in the back. I've done some discussion groups
with them, and guess what? Different people seem to get something different
from the book. I was fascinated to see the differences in what people got from
each one, often something entirely different from what I would have said
myself.
Symbolism is something else that interests me. I'm a
pretty simple old boy and I don't spend a lot of time on symbolism and deeper
meanings, yet I've sat in these groups and had them talk to me about the way I used
symbolism to represent this or that. Maybe I did, unconsciously, but I
guarantee you it wasn't uppermost on my mind. For me it's just about telling a
good, clean entertaining story, and the rest of it just enters into it in some
manner. I know where it comes from.
The only time I really know about the symbolism is
in the new one, Shepherd's Son, coming out in a couple of weeks. It talks about
the flock of real sheep contained in the book and draws a parallel to a
spiritual flock. Yup, that was symbolism.
Just finished the
first draft of the new WIP (work in progress), a cozy mystery with some nice
twists and turns. But it's about 10k short of what I need.
Bummer, I like the
story. I'd much rather be cutting words, tightening and condensing to get down
to a word count rather than having to add. The trick to that is adding words
without just adding fluff. A couple of thousand is easy by just adding
description and enhancing setting, a few words here, a few words there. It adds
up.
10k requires a whole
new thread through the book, or perhaps a brand new subplot. Right now that addition is not evident to me,
but it'll come. I've got a couple of people looking it over, people whose input
I trust. I'm hoping fresh eyes will make a difference.
I'm
enjoying writing in the new genre. I've
been watching with interest discussion on a couple of writing groups about
"branding," a topic that means something entirely different to a
cowboy. The crux is we need to stay with a genre and get ourselves established.
However, I note quite a number of western writers write in both western and
mystery, so perhaps this is not such a stretch
Have talked to several Senior groups
lately and to some writing organizations that have a lot of senior members. I
run into folks who say, "I'd love to do some writing, but it's really too
late in life for me to take it up."
Nonsense.
These are folks who have time on their
hands and a lot of experiences to relate. We've got a bunch of WWII vets who
have always refused to talk about their wartime experiences, but are now ready
to tell someone. It makes a great low impact hobby, and we have family and
friends who are eager to hear it. My father in law, just before he died wrote a
little book called "As I remember" and one of his daughters produced
a few copies on the computer. I'm sure they will treasure it.
Will these books get traditionally
published and sell in bookstores around the country? If that's why the person
is writing it, that's a different ballgame. The answer can surely be yes, but
the person has to get on a short-track to learn the craft, get in a group, take
courses, just writing words down and taking it to a print on demand house isn't
going to produce the results we have in mind.
There's a difference between hobby
writing and doing it for real. It's a difference we probably can't see in our
own words because we love them, but we can see it in the works of others. We've
all seen the difference in the way books read that are traditionally published
in a big house versus some put out by people self-publishing because they don't
want to go though all that is entailed in the big process.
The common response is "I don't
have the time left to go through all of that." That's a perfectly valid
response and quite correct, but we shouldn't expect the same results as the
people who are putting in the time learning to do it right, to format
correctly, to query, to research markets, years of work not only in the writing
but in the attendant tasks associated with publishing.
Does that mean we shouldn't do it? Of
course not. There is a market for all of our words, people who want to read
them and like my father in law, will treasure them. If we have stories to tell
we have an obligation to tell them. But we should be realistic that the results
we see from those words will be commensurate with the amount of time we put
into the process.
Put those
words on paper, somebody is waiting for them. And read everything you can read
to help you have a feel for the writing.
Christian Fiction Players Changing
In 1980, Christian companies produced just over $1 billion worth of
books and other products a year. Today, annual sales of Christian books and
products exceed $4 billion. It's the
fastest growing segment of the publishing industry and has been for several
years. Christian Fiction is the fastest growing segment of the Christian
market. This fact isn't lost on the publishing world, and a lot of publishing
houses are jumping on board, like the following:
- Cook Communications, large educational and
church publication house bought River Oak a few years ago which signaled
to me that they were going to branch out into Christian Fiction. That’s
when I got involved with them. They have a moratorium on buying fiction
now but I hope that they get back into it.
- Harper-Collins bought Zondervan, launches
- Wicks bought Standard, and Warner Faith sold
off.
- Simon and Schuster bought Howards Publishing,
small Christian house looking to get a foothold into the Christian market.
- Penguin company has announced the creation of
Penguin Praise, a Christian publishing program.
- Thomas Nelson was bought out by a group of
investors who think the Christian market is worth investing in. They are purchasing Integrity
- The Harlequin Steeple Hill imprint is an
- Random House bought Multnomah and they intend to
merge Multnomah with Waterbrook.
There are others, but that's a good
sampling. Amid cries from my friends who are lamenting that it is very hard
right now to sell various kinds of manuscripts, these folks are trying to get a
handle on how they are going to fill out their new lines. I just have to figure
out how to get in line.
For the western genre to grow and
survive we need to be growing a base of young readers. Kenny Yocum, a teacher
up in Indiana is teaching a class on western genre books, and I've helped out a
little. I just got a note on my website this morning on their progress and I
thought I would share it with you:
"Terry, Just wanted to drop you
an update on my American west class here in
I have to say that warms the cockles
of my heart, if I have cockles that is, I don't know what they are so I'm not
sure. I'm in a group of Christian Writers called
I do a few school visits. I did a
writing workshop for the metropolis of Groom,
I'm greatly appreciative to teachers
like Kenny, and Lisa Rosken in Groom, wish I could clone them all over the
country.
Comments: That warms my heart, too, Terry. Especially since I
was born and raised a
Hoosier! We've always had good taste in books and authors. Mary
Terry,
I had to do a lot of soul-searching
when I decided I needed to include a little faith into my writing, (see writing testimony) after all I reasoned, "I only
write fiction." Then one of the faculty members at a Christian writing workshop said, "That's
true, and Jesus told parables."
Well, okay, they got me there, so I
started including it. Not my own faith you understand, that'd be too preachy,
but my characters either have faith or don't have it, and their interaction is
what brings it to the book. My pastor wasn't much on Christian fiction, said he
only read the Bible and books intended to amplify his study and understanding of
it. I understood that. Even when he said it a number of times from the pulpit,
it hurt my feelings, but I understood what he was trying to say.
Then he read one and decided I might
have a chance to reach out to somebody not likely to be reached in other ways.
He became a strong supporter, even saying it from the pulpit. That kinda
embarrassed me too, but in a good way. His support means a lot to me.
I've had the amazing experience of
hearing one of my books has actually made a difference in a few people's lives,
and I treasure those notes. For the most part I know that isn't my function. As
a writer friend said, "My job is the mustard seed, not the plow." If
I can just give a little encouragement, maybe get somebody looking in a new
direction, that's what Christian fiction does. Somebody else gets to close the
sale, but that's all right.
There is a place for Christian
fiction in people's reading habits, in church libraries and even in public libraries.
Even if there isn't a strong message in it, it's good, clean family
entertainment. And if you haven't read it lately, the writing is much stronger
and takes on entirely different topics than the Christian fiction of old.
Read any lately?
I'll be headed down to
I dread these things, but once I get
there and get the public persona turned on, he enjoys working the crowd,
playing off their questions, being on stage. He scares me.
The best sales tool is
word-of-mouth, however, and giving programs are one of the best ways of getting
that. I have a program page on this site http://www.terryburns.net/program_page.htm
that talks about what my friend is currently doing, although I know him, he can
do other type programs as well if they are something he's knowledgeable about.
Other good word-of-mouth tools
include getting shelved in libraries which I'm trying hard to increase, online
exposure which I work hard at, booksignings, which granted are more promotion
than sales, and reviews and influencers. Interviews online, in newspapers and
radio, occasional TV help a lot too, but are easiest to get in connection with
a program.
There are other things involved,
such as this or a couple of other blogs, mailings of former buyers, libraries
and bookstores, and a "Writing Update" newsletter. Writing friends in
various groups that I'm involved with as well as friends and relatives can be a
big help creating word-of-mouth exposure.
Most of the time I
don't get much input as to what is working or not working, just have to do
everything I can and hope for the best. And hope the publisher's sales reps
remember to mention me once in a while.
Seems like the topic of interest
this week is writing habits. That's being discussed several places. I don't get
fixated on X number of pages a day or writing X hours a day, but I do some
writing every day.
For me it doesn't necessarily mean
putting words on paper, however. Writing is a much broader term than that. It
means doing the research necessary to write a scene, it means editing and
re-editing what has already been done, it means doing the marketing and
promotion for books that are already out. It means all of the tasks necessary
to make it happen, though most days I manage some words on paper as well. It
means sitting on the deck staring off into space seemingly doing nothing, but
maybe doing the most important thing I will do, trying to work a scene out in
my head or crystallize an idea so that I can put it down.
I do a lot of that while driving. I
seldom listen to music or the radio because I know if I give my mind that
amount of uninterrupted time that it'll print out something I have been working
on in my subconscious. If I'm by myself I use a voice activated hand held
recorder to keep from killing myself. If Saundra is with me she takes the wheel
and I get out the old laptop. Takes a lot of editing after writing like that
particularly to take out all of the duplicate strokes. You can just have so many
'T's' in a word and particularly if we're going across
I keep a small journal in my pocket
and capture concepts, ideas, potential characters, thoughts I can use, and
that's writing too. If I'm working on one book but have an idea for another or
a thought that I can't use right now, I never let it get away, even if it's the
wee hours of the morning. Our brain may consider it has done its job once it
gives us something we have been working on and it may never give it to us
again. These things are writing too.
Yes, I do some writing
every day. I try not to do it on Sunday, but I admit I have a number of church bulletins
with some point that was made in the service that applies directly to something
I'm writing. God does that to me a lot.
I met Saundra at a
restaurant last night, but I got there early. I spent my time as I often do
jotting one sentence descriptions of people around me into my pocket journal.
Can you get a mental picture of folks from some of these?
The short cropped mustache
and beard gave him more hair on his chin than on his horse-shoe crowned head.
Ebony skin on his bald head
reflected the lantern above him as he sat with one leg on the side rung of the
chair next to him.
He wore a bemused
expression as if working on the clever comeback everyone wishes they had
thought of when the time was right for it.
Her hair limply framed her
round face adding to the unkept appearance of her dumpy body.
His dark hair and pencil
thin mustache gave him a Latin appearance although his facial features said
that wasn't true.
The silver hair and
mustache gave him a distinguished look and the air of casual disinterest marked
him as a man with little time for something as trivial as eating.
No telling when some of
these might show up in something. And to go with them there is a group of
people sitting up nights dreaming up names for me then disguising them in the
form of ads for Viagra, stocks, mortgage loans and various other subterfuges.
I spoke to a
seniors luncheon at the
Funny how so
very many people feel they have a book in them or have always wanted to write,
or maybe have done some writing and want to know how to take it to the next
level. The big key to starting to write is to park it in a chair and start
putting down words. Talking about it doesn't get it done.
However,
having said that, we wouldn't start working on a car without some detailed
assistance, or start sewing a dress without a pattern. So trying to get started
writing without some knowledgeable feedback, without getting involved in
writing groups, or other means of getting assistance about how to do it right
practically guarantees failure, and is the reason that 85% of all book
submissions are summarily rejected.
There's more
to it than meets the eye. There is proper formatting, attention getting
openings, a solid plot line that follows established structure and doesn't go off
chasing rabbits, page-turning hooks at the end of scenes and chapters, a myriad
of things that go beyond just telling a good story.
But the story
is still king. A perfectly formatted manuscript that follows all the rules is
laid out beautifully and follows the classic structure to a 'T' but which has a
story with no heart and no interest probably cannot be fixed. A wonderfully
engaging story that you can't put down, but which has a lot of writing flaws
can be fixed.
Every time somebody says they want to write I say to do it.
What's the worst thing that could happen? We end up with some stories to pass
down to our family? And if we have persistence and patience, learn our craft,
and learn the in's and out's of publishing we can make it happen.
Hundreds of emails, cards,
letters, phone calls and a wall of floral arrangements came in on the death of
Saundra's dad. We are overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and sympathy.
Many of these came from
the various writing groups that I'm connected to. Such groups are an important
support mechanism for our writing. We need places to go to talk about writing
with people who understand.
We tend to forget that
even though we haven't met a large number of these people that we get so close
to in cyberspace, that they are still friends, and still care. The messages
were genuine and very caring and they were greatly appreciated.
There's a character in
one of my stories that doesn't want to go to the visitation following a service
because they don't want to have to endure all of the well-meaning people and
their plastic words. The pastor tells him the "people know they can't say
anything that will really help at a time such as this, but they are just
showing you their heart. They are looking to take just a little part of your
grief on themselves and carry it off. If enough do that you will have much less
to have to deal with, so don't concern yourself with the words, concern
yourself with the love and sympathy."
The character went to the
visitation and found it to be true. he gave each person a small parcel of his
grief to carry away with them, felt the genuine concern, and found it
comforting. The characters in my story knew this, and they taught it to me at a
time when I needed to learn it.
Thank you for being there for us.
We are in
Saundra's dad. I've
known him since we dated in
high school and he
really put me through it. A really
fine man and a good
Christian. The official release is:
POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. - Audrey Earnest “
Burial will be in
Mr. Pennington was born Sept. 16, 1917, at
Mr. Pennington was a U.S. Army veteran, serving during World War II. He married
Lucille Irene Ward on March 1, 1942; she died Aug. 30, 1984. The couple resided
in
He later married Mary Lavina Hager on Aug. 10, 1985.
Survivors include three children, Diana Patterson of Denver City, Texas,
Saundra Burns of Amarillo and
Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home. Online
condolences may be made to www.cotrellfuneralservice.com or through the contact link below..
He will be missed.
Okay, I'm not sure
about this deal at all. You've probably heard by now that Shepherd's Son
released, but with 30 pages missing in the middle. Yikes. They're recalling
them from bookstores and such, but I see by the sales numbers on Amazon that
some sales have already occurred there. I would think some have happened in
bookstores as well. That's a bummer. I know I've already sent a few out myself.
People can take them
back and get them replaced of course. I figured that's exactly what would
happen. Then I got several responses saying I should look for them to start
showing up on e-Bay, that misprints such as this, much like postage stamps that
have flaws in them, become collectors items and worth more than they were
originally.
This concept bounces
funny for an old country boy that wants everything to work if he buys it, the
car start when the key is turned on or the lights if the switch is flipped. The
idea that somebody would intentionally want something missing a major part of
the story, and not only that but pay a premium for it rattles around in my head
but won't settle there.
Yet I've had a dozen
people mention it already, a couple suggesting I offer to autograph them.
That's no problem, I'm tickled to sign any book, even one that's messed up.
Anybody know anything
about this? Does something like this really make a collectible out of one?
Comment: Yep, anything that has a flaw in it, someone will collect. You're only confused (!) because normally, we expect people who buy a book to actually want to READ the thing. <g> But these folks aren't concerned about the story...they're just looking at it as an oddity....but yes, strange as it may seem, people WILL look for things like this on somewhere like eBay and you might be surprised how much someone will bid for them. - Janny, an eBay regular
Comment: Terry: They are gambling that one day you
will be famous and that everything of an earlier nature will be collectible,
but particularly anything that only a few copies were made. A lot of early
Beanie Babies sold by virtue of that idea. But the B&B craze oversold and
now nothing ...it is a dead market. So...go get famous, Terry, and make a few
optimistic souls happy!
Get two or more
western writers together and you can bet they'll talk about book sales. I've
already talked here about the way the western book market cycles
and what it might be
doing right now.
Some numbers are making
their way round the western circles that cause a bit of encouragement. Neilsen
BookScan, which covers about 70% of
In an earlier posting
I said that Christian fiction had been the fastest growing segment of the
publishing industry going from less than a billion to over 4 billion in 2005.
Add those two together and a guy who writes Christian Western should really be
moving some books, huh? Unfortunately it doesn't seem to work that way. I
haven't seen the kind of increase these might suggest.
I constantly hear about the decline in Western book sales, but these
numbers don't seem to support that. Anybody have any thoughts on the subject?
Saundra has been
deeply touched that friends all over the world, from so far as
I did find out that 4
chapters are missing in the copies of Shepherd's Son so it has been recalled
from the bookstores. In the light of the other problem, this is hardly a blip
on the screen. I'm waiting for word what the timetable might be to receive
corrected copies and see what that does to promotion plans I already had in
motion.
Should I ever need to
get such as this in perspective in the future, spending some time in a hospital
emergency room, particularly on a holiday weekend, will surely me how blessed I
really am. The parade of misery that comes through there while we waited, and
as we used that entrance multiple times all weekend going and coming to his
room, definitely brought things into
focus for me.
I fear I will have to cancel on being at the National Cowboy Symposium
in
It's always a rush
when you open that package and see copies of that new book. "Shepherd's Son" arrived yesterday
and I like the cover a lot. Saundra also just brought me a copy of "Heartwarming Christmas Stories"
From River Oak. I have a story in that one, donated to a really worthy cause,
so if you start thinking in terms of Christmas presents . . . . . .
Guess that means I
have to get busy on this end. Labor Day weekend I'll be up in
Starting to schedule
on down the road with a workshop to give to the Fellowship of Christian Writers
in
March, as I said
yesterday, I'm presenting at the Will Rogers Writers workshop in
Always fun to take a new book out to meet the public. When Mysterious Ways and Trails of the Dime Novel came out Saundra and I were somewhere
every weekend of the year but three with additional events close in during the
week. With a new grandbaby and some illness in the family we didn't do as many
for Brother's Keeper, but still
managed to do some each month. We're still having to do a reduced schedule but
will promote all we can. I have a program page on my website promoting those
topics and workshops I can come present. ( direct link is http://www.terryburns.net/program_page.htm )
I'm scheduled to be a presenter
at the Will Rogers Writing Conference in OK City in March. Also on the program
is Bill Tammeus, columnist for the newspaper in
A man took me to task
on the statement saying that Jefferson, Washington and
I kinda wish we still
did that. Can you imagine what would happen if people went up there only
concerned with what needed to be done for the people instead of what they
needed to do in order to get re-elected? And what if they quit exempting
themselves from all the laws they passed? I guarantee if they were on social
security with the rest of us it dang sure wouldn't be in the mess that it's in.
I'm right pleased to be getting a chance to go to this conference, I've
always been an admirer of Will Rogers. He had a left-handed way of holding up
the government or our society and looking at it in a way that made me think,
"How come I didn't see it that way before?" Will, where are you
today? Drop by Bill's blog and take a look, it's a pretty interesting place.
How to build traffic
at a website or blog? I'm trying to do that, with some success, but looking for
more. One of the biggest keys to website traffic is getting listed in the Open
Directory Project (DMOZ) which helps with listing in a large variety of search
engines. This is an all volunteer process so it can be difficult to get listed,
but it is well worth the effort.
Exchanging links is
important to both. Ranking in search engines is impacted by how many people
link to our sites, and how strong the site is that's linking in. Getting
mentioned in other people's blogs can enhance traffic, once again depending on
how much traffic they have. It's good
when they mention or quote us, but we can even do it ourselves by commenting on
their blog with our site in our sig line. I'm mirroring this blog here and at http://cowboymusing.blogspot.com to give people two ways to read or comment, but it's too early to tell
how that works out. Not only mentioning the website and blog in the sig line
when posting to another blog, but in of all my emails is a given.
I see an increase in
hits every time Saundra puts out a new 'writing update' to the subscriber list,
and I mention it on the various lists that I'm on. The voice or content is
important on the site and blog and I have a sort of down home voice that some
have said had something of a Will Rogers quality which led the Will Rogers
Writers Workshop to contact me about being on the program there in March of
2007. As to subject, as the header says, I talk about "life, writing,
faith and other notions that occur to me."
What's working? What's
not working? Dunno, I'm still pretty new at this stuff, but the site has gone
well over a million hits with over 200,000 unique visitors so something is
working. But I'm open to ideas to increase it further if you have any.
Comment:
Recently I had
the pleasure of hearing multi-published author Terry Barns speak at the Ozarks Writers League
meeting. I won't go into detail about his talk
here because this isn't my writing blog, but I will share a couple of things
that will interest you.
Terry Burns is a superb
storyteller. I think most of us fail to realize how powerful our stories
are. And I'm not talking about writing novels or even articles. I'm
talking about understanding that the stories you tell when you talk to others
are powerful. Terry Barns is a teacher at heart. I can tell by how
he speaks and how he puts things in a context of being of value to
others. The night before the meeting he was sitting in the corner of the
"party room," so I went over and talked with him, not knowing he was
one of our speakers at the time. I only knew he was someone I hadn't met
before and that I wanted to meet him for that reason.
Terry is gifted enough that
he is able to speak to the needs of his audience, not just from whatever speech
he had planned. I can appreciate this because I work the same way. He
has done enough talking to groups that he doesn't have to follow a
"canned" presentation. What this really means is that he is a
good listener. I don't only mean he listened to me either. He paid
attention to what he heard at the gathering the night before he spoke to our
group
Terry Burns writes
Christian westerns. His blog has a Will Rogers feel to it. If you
want to visit his blog, go to http://cowboymusing.blogspot.com .His website is http://www.terryburns.net/
Ronda Del Boccio
What should writers be
expecting in the way of book sales? How do we know when we are doing well or
badly? Numbers are almighty hard to come up with.
Here's some numbers from Publishers Weekly that may shed some light on it. They
are for the 2004 year, if they've done the same for 2005 I haven't run across
them:
In 2004, Nielsen Bookscan tracked
sales of 1.2 million books in the
Interesting numbers, but what does it tell us? Only 25,000 books got up above
5,000 copies or 2% of all the books published. Major publishers are not
impressed by a book that does less than 20-25,000 copies from what I'm told,
and on the report the breakdown between 5,000 and 100,000 is what I'd really
like to see. How many of these hit the magic 25,000?
OK, so I made the 2% cut, less than a half a percent got over 100,000 and I'm
not pushing that any. And the one above that? Yeah, right. I talked on another
blog about whether or not sales tend to be self-fulfilling prophesies.
Publishers decide when they go into a books what they think the sales will be.
They budget for that, the sales staff is geared up to reach it, expectations
are set. Great if they decide a book is going to be a best seller and are
determined to make it happen. But what if a book has greater potential than
they think, do they tend to slack off when it gets up where they think it should
be? Depends on the publisher, but I think it might happen more than we know.
What do you think about sales numbers?
Sam Hawken said...
Things like this really do demonstrate how the face of
publishing must change, and will change, based solely on market forces.
The old "print a bunch and we'll see how they sell" methods don't
conform to the reality of how books are sold now.
It doesn't help that the majority of book publishers basically have one arm
that's highly profitable -- publishing Bibles or textbooks or what have you --
allowing big money to be poured down the rathole of their other operations,
searching for that elusive Da Vinci Code-style hit. This isn't something
that can be done forever. It's gambling, and the odds are always against the
gambler.
Terry Burns said...
This is a strange business.
hi Terry,
When I heard that stat at the OWL meeting, it shocked me. I think it says more
about the lack of marketing publishers do and the lack of knowledge most
authors have about self-promotion. What's your take on it?
I do think that a publisher is likely to decide what they think the book will
bring in and act accordingly. Think back to that 1st-timer young girl who got
caught copying from another author. She got one of those rare huge-advance
contracts because - I'm sure - the publisher believed the book would hit it
big.
I have to believe in myself as an author and learn as much as I can about
marketing if I am to succeed. I know I will sell books because I believe I
will.
Interesting thoughts to ponder.
I recently had the pleasure of being
contacted by a teacher in
I was asked for suggestions and my initial thoughts
were: If I were doing a course on western books it'd be cool if they could
actually read The Virginian, by Owen Wister, published in 1902 and widely
considered to have kicked off the genre, but I don't know that you could get
hold of it. If not, I'd start with Zane
Grey so they could see how the old pulp westerns used to be in the early
1900's. I'd for sure mention the old dime novels and penny dreadfuls and the
pulp magazines that were so popular in the early 1900's. I have a book written
for YA's entitled "Trails of the Dime Novel" where each chapter is
modeled after one of these delicious little books.
You might toss in a couple of classics from the 40's
such as Jack Shaefer's Shane or maybe the Ox-box incident by Walter van
Then I'd take a look at Louis L'Amour in the 50's
along with Luke Short. Then in the 70's Louie really took off and you could try
to figure out how he became so very popular and dominates book racks even now
years after his death. Modern day writers you couldn't go wrong with Elmer
Kelton or Larry McMurtry, though there are 50-60 others that are good friends
of mine as well and they write a darn good book. My favorite is Dan Parkinson,
a good friend and the man who got me started writing. He wrote some delicious
tongue-in-cheek westerns that I loved, though he later changed to a series of
tall ships, then to writing fantasy. He's passed on now, and his books are out
of print though they can occasionally be found online or in used book stores.
Great guy.
Westerns have developed sub-genres in modern times.
My books would fall under Christian western or inspirational westerns. You have
the classic, the traditional, historical, adult, western romance, etc. Be interesting to explore what defines them and
sets them apart.
Other thoughts?
I've had people
ask me what the number mean in the site stats below. When a visitor comes to
this site it registers a 'hit.' If they go to another page it registers another
'hit.' It also tracks when a unique visitor arrives. Yesterday 317 people
looked at 3,640 pages, or in other words 11.48 pages apiece. That tells me
there was a lot of browsing going on. The library was getting lot of traffic
probably because I offered it for use at the workshop I just did.
Overall it has
gone over a million hits with over 200,000 unique visitors which means over the
life of the site that people have returned to the site or have visited better
than 6 pages a visit. I have a spreadsheet that tracks all this and produces
the stats once I've fed the numbers from the stat report into it. The first
entry was in September 2002 where I logged 686 hits for the month from a
whopping 82 visitors. Things have changed a mite. Now that wouldn't even be a
good day and those were numbers for the month.
Do the numbers
translate to sales? I wish they did. If they did I'd be joining my friend DiAnn
Mills who just made it into the million seller club. Does this exposure affect
sales? I hope so, I don't have any way of tracking how those readers are making
purchasing decisions. It has to be increasing my visibility.
You're here or
you wouldn't be reading this. What do you get or hope to get by visiting my
site?
Note: Here's something adding to the site hits, I got a note
from a teacher up in
I've been
involved in some discussion on this lately.
How much faith content could or should be in a book? One lady said as soon as she runs into
scriptures in a book she puts it back and picks up something else. The
strongest, of course, is when there is a conversion scene involved in the book
and I've had some say a book just isn't very fulfilling to them unless somebody
who doesn't have faith finds their way. A book can't be all things to all
people or it ends up not being anything to anybody, but what should we be
shooting for if we're writing a book with faith content?
If we
hope to reach somebody who might not be a believer and just plant a seed or two
then the content certainly can't be preachy or it turns them off. If we're
looking to inspire the faithful then a weak message just doesn't get it done.
One way I address it is I never try to write any of my faith into a book, to me
that's preachy right off the bat. Some of my characters do have faith, however,
while others don't and it is this interaction that brings any Christian content
to the book that might be there. Readers seem to relate better to this type of
content.
Another
thing is that I don't allow the content too close to the front of the book, although
I had a disagreement with a Multnomah editor over that. He thought I needed to
get to it quicker, obviously aiming at pulling the faithful into the book. I
rather had in mind getting somebody invested in the story who might need a
little exposure to a some faith content where they had to go ahead and read it
even after it surfaced. He didn't buy the book, of course, but another house
did. Simply a difference in who we were trying to reach.
I'm
interested in how readers and writers alike see this question. How much such
content should/could be in a book?
Comment: I think it just depends on the story. And I also think Christian fiction has come along way. I remember reading it a few years ago and I really wanted to like it, but I just didn't...it was so poorly written. I think Francine Rivers is excellent and of course, Terry Burns does a marvelous job, but there are still alot out there that are too busy cramming scripture down your throat to make the story work. Another pet peeve of mine is making their characters so weak or useless (I assume to show the power of God's love?) I couldn't care less what happens to them. And as a reader, I WANT to care! That's my thinking.
Kate
They say you
can't teach an old dog new tricks – that isn't true. We can learn new tricks .
. . but they have to be easy tricks. I was reminded of this at the Ozark
Writers conference. I was sitting in the back listening to Dusty Richards
explain his "spoke and wheel" concept of developing characters and
plots. A lady asked me if I hadn't seen that before and I admitted I had, maybe
a half dozen times or more. She didn't understand why I'd be sitting through it
again.
First off Dusty
is mighty entertaining to watch, but beyond that, I very often sit through
programs I've heard before. Sometimes it reminds me of things that I've
forgotten, things I should be doing but I'm not. Sometimes because my own
writing needs change I hear something entirely different than I've heard
before. When I'm giving a program I see this, somebody passively listening,
then suddenly I say something and they go scrambling for a pen and paper to
write it down. They've found their "take home." In almost every conference
or program that I've gone to there'll always be that" take home,"
that key item that by itself makes the whole experience worthwhile.
This is true in
other areas of our life as well. I've been reading and studying the Bible for
over 50 years. I've been asked why I continue to go to Sunday School and
continue to study. "Surely," they say, "You know it all by
now." No, I don't. The Bible is a wonderfully diverse work, written in
such a way that much as the "take home" above, as our needs change we
understand things differently. Seldom do I go into a study that I don't
understand something a little clearer, get a new insight. God planned it that
way. Isn't that amazing?
A few folks from
the conference said they planned to drop over here for my blog or at the companion
site (To my
Blogsite below). If you wander by I'd love to hear
your thoughts on your take homes from the conference. Or anyone else, of
course.
Comments: Hey, let me tell you that Terry Burns
is one heckuva speaker--he'
I just wanted to thank you for the inspiring
interaction you gave to all the fledgling authors that were present at the
OWL's conference yesterday. I thoroughly enjoyed and benefited from the
comments that you made.
What
a pleasure it was to meet you. I loved your conversation (presentation), but it
was also great to visit with you casually the night before the big event. Your
tips on the purpose of query letters, book proposals etc. was so helpful. The
stats you mentioned were just amazing. I've already shared what I learned from
you with some other writers, which is THE best way to learn. I'll be a regular on your blog, I'm sure!
Thanks again …………………..Ronda
OWLS are great!
No, I don't mean those beautiful feathered birds. Owls are members of the Ozark
Writers League, and they treated me like royalty and participated
wonderfully in the program I presented.
Without that help it's just a lecture, and I don't like to give (or receive) a
lecture. President Jeanne Horn is an awesome lady and really took fine care of
me. Of course
My friends,
western writers Dusty Richards and Jory Sherman, were there to give support, and
Dusty did a great job of presenting a program to fledging writers as well. Just
met some terrific people. If you'd like more information on the group just
click on http://www.ozarkswritersleague.org/ and you
can find out all you ever wanted to know.
Hat's
off to the OWLS for a great organization and for putting on a fine conference.
I mentioned I'm on my way this weekend to do a
program for the Ozark Writers League in
Writing
"A new way of looking at trying to get
published"
"So you've always wanted to write?"
"Getting started writing fiction" - where
do story ideas come from and writing using the classic story structure.
"When a little is a lot - writing and selling
short fiction."
"Writing for the Christian market."
"Is the western dead?" Includes "What's the difference between
a traditional western and a Christian western."
Faith
"The squirrel and the Eagle" -
inspirational talk
"Using Fiction to Spread God's Word" – 21st
century parables
"What do you want from me, Lord?" -
personal writing testimony.
I can do 20 minute talks, one or two hour program, or
4 hour workshop on most of these. I will sometimes take 2-3 one hour versions
and make a varied workshop out of them.
I generally will have a program in mind but will work the crowd and
allow questions to take it where the interest of the group dictates.
I'm working with a couple of new
writers and was asked about getting hung up writing a story. I think a story
can come from character, from setting, from a plot we want to explore, or from
a moral or something we want to illustrate. I believe when we start writing it
we can start at the beginning, middle, or end and work whatever way we need to
work to flesh out what is in our head.
We have to end up with all the
ingredients in place, use the classic story structure as a framework to hang it
on, but should proceed the way it is coming to us. I see more people stuck with
writer's block because they can't seem to craft the beginning or hang up in the
middle, or the like trying to do it the way they think they are supposed to do
it. If I get hung up at some point I skip it and go on to where I can pick up
the story. Later I can come back and fill in, or I may find what I was trying
to write doesn't belong in the story at all.
For me the beginning is just a
temporary device and I'll come back and rewrite a good beginning after I know
my characters and storyline. Initially it is just to get the writing underway.
Not everybody works like this, it's just what works for me. I don't care how
good a writer is that is telling us how
to write, we shouldn't try to use their method of writing if it isn't natural
to us. If it is, great, we should run with it. If it isn't, what's important is
how our creative flow works. There is no right or wrong way, there's just what
works.
Some of my friends have to outline,
storyboard and plot everything, then they write it out. Others write from the
seat of their pants and let the story fall as it goes, and degrees in between
the two. I lean much more toward the SOTP because my characters change things
on me so often, but like I say, if that isn't the natural way for us, we
shouldn't do it.
I'll be
guest blogging over on http://favoritepastimes.blogspot.com/ the rest
of the week, starting tomorrow, come by and give me a hand – and win a copy of
my new book.
They say there's a silver lining on
every cloud. We aren't supposed to use clichés in our writing, but how does
something become a cliché in the first place? Because it's so true that it
stands the test of time? Shouldn't such a phrase be honored instead of banned?
Oh well, another subject for another time. Is there truth to this one?
I was getting ready to do yard work
Saturday morning. I stepped down from the storage building with a fairly heavy
ladder on my shoulder. Small step, wrong step, big ouch. I got to spend the
rest of the weekend on a heating pad and walking sort of hunched over, unable
to straighten completely up. Big ouch!
So where does the silver lining come
in? I did 70 pages on my work in progress (WIP). I think that would qualify.
When you're a writer, if you can't sleep, you write. As I said in my last blog
I'm enjoying writing something different for a change.
OK, change of subject. Over on the http://best-of-the-west.blogspot.com/ I've been
talking with a western-loving librarian. She was applauding Inter-library-loan because
it was a wakeup call for the acquisitions librarian. She said rules govern that
if a library
I've always known one of the best ways
into a library was by getting a patron to request it. Turns out there's another
strong way. Turns out they consider
I've used the acquisition
recommendation procedure to get books of my friends and writers I like to read
in because I couldn't afford to buy that many books. But they'll just let me do
so many of those. Now I have a new means of getting those books into the
system.
Comment: What Terry says is true. In our library system, each ILL request is first considered for purchase before the request is put through ILL.
Comments: For those who don't know, I am the interlibrary loan "queen" at the local Library. I think the ILL system is a great way to increase the use of books and other materials. Plus, the borrower can obtain materials from hundreds, maybe thousands of miles away - your own library no longer has walls!
Comment:
Just wanted to mention that when I do
What's this? I'm writing and there
isn't a horse, cow or gun in sight? What's up with that? I have several western
inspy manuscripts that are hunting a home, I thought it was time I did a little
something else so I'm trying my hand at, of all things, a cozy mystery. Imagine
that.
What is a cozy? Ron Benrey, who with
his wife Janet has written a bunch of them, says it is "a kinder, gentler
mystery – the sort that used to be written decades ago." That's me, kind
and gentle, just ask anybody. They usually feature an amateur sleuth (think
Agatha Christy) and the market I'm aiming this particular work at even likes to
see a female in the lead role. In fact, they like to see romance be 20-50% of
the storyline.
No problem, I generally have a
pronounced love interest in my books, I mean, what's life without a little
romance, huh? It's supposed to be a light, fast read with no graphic violence.
That too describes all my books.
How's it working out? I'm enjoying the
change, and I'm about half way through the book. It would be hard for me to
sell this book on proposal because I'd have trouble writing the synopsis in
advance. I had it generally plotted out, but the characters keep going
different places than I had in mind for them to go. Am I going to be any good
at this genre? Dunno that either. I think I'll see if I can get a couple of my
writing friends that read and write cozies to look at a little of it and tell
me if I'm on target.
Not
claiming to have a huge fan base, but I do have a number of people who eagerly
read all my stuff. Will this group change genres and read the new stuff too?
Guess I'll have to find out about that. Maybe I'll draw comments from a couple.
It's a great acronym, OWL, Ozark
Writers League. I'm going to be doing a workshop for them August 19th
at College of the Ozarks in
I'm going to be guest-blogging on http://favoritepastimes.blogspot.com/ on Wed-Thur-Fri, and will be giving away
books to those who participate to include a copy of my new September release,
Shepherd's Son, as soon as I get them in my hands. Drop on by.
Sept 8-9 I'll be at the National Cowboy
Symposium in Lubbock with western writing friend Dusty Richards, speaking to a
luncheon at the South Georgia Baptist Church in Amarillo on the 14th,
and doing a workshop for the library in Corsicana TX on the 23rd.
The 30th will be the initial booksigning for Shepherd's Son at my
home store, Lifeway Christian in
I'm sure
we'll be scheduling more soon. Amazing how things heat up when there's a new
book coming out.
I made a remark about an answered prayer and a writing friend (secular)
said he'd never seen any sign of that. He does profess to be a Christian but
just didn't think he'd had any prayer answered.
He wanted to know how I could be so sure that I had had such a response.
Funny, I seem to see that phrase "how can you be so sure" tacked onto
the front of a number of such questions. The fact that the person asking it is
so very unsure tells me a lot.
"First," I told him, "it may not be what we're looking
for." We may be looking to get exactly what we are praying for and instead
God gives us what we need. Garth Brooks has a song thanking God for unanswered
prayer. While I applaud the sentiment he is trying to convey I don't believe
it's correct. On occasion the answer is no, and as in the case he is singing
about, that no is what he needed, rather what he was praying for. But the
prayer did get answered.
Second can be our condition when we are praying. God doesn't listen to
sinners, and the first step to coming to him has to be to ask for forgiveness
of our sins so we might be a clean vessel for the prayer we are offering for
that's when He'll hear us. That's a step a lot of us overlook, particularly if
we are really upset about what we are praying about. The Bible also admonishes
us that the only way to the father is through the son, so if we're skipping
that step our prayers are not going to be heard. We must be praying in the name
of Jesus as we were instructed.
Finally we have to realize God's timing doesn't always agree with our
timing, but His timing is always perfect. Things don't progress as fast as we
want them to and we think our prayers weren't heard. As I just said it is
possible for them to not be heard, but it's also possible that we're trying to
dictate the time frame to the Lord which would be ridiculous for us to think we
could do.
Have I had answers? You bet. I've prayed on
something and within the course of a single day had a response that left no
doubt in my mind. I've also had occasion when I thought even though I had
prayed for something that what was happening might be what I need more so than
what I was asking for. That's a little harder to discern.
I do this website myself. It's a pretty simple one, no bells and
whistles, but it's gone over a million hits with better than 200,000 unique
visitors and as of today has an Alexa rating of being site number 156,820. Not
too bad out of several million sites.
But what does a strong online presence mean? I return at the top of
most of the appropriate search categories in the major search engines. That's a
good thing, right? It doesn't seem to be resulting in corresponding book sales,
I guarantee I haven't sold a million books or even a significant percentage of
the number of hits.
I do think it's an important PR tool though. Everybody agrees the best
sales PR is word of mouth and I think online presence can generate a lot of
that. Who knows what contact generated that sales decision, they don't fill out
a form or anything to pass on that information. That's why I'm in a dozen
online groups, why I do a blog and am involved in several other online blogs.
I've had a number of interviews in papers, radio, TV and online. I do a lot of
workshops and events, and yes booksignings even though most of them are more PR
than they are sales events. I mean, the publisher makes most of the money and I
pay the expenses, that says PR to me.
I work a lot with Amazon, after all, they are the number one bookseller
in the world. I encourage people to buy from their local bookseller, and if they
don't shelve my book to ask for it, but for those who can't or won't do that I
provide Amazon links for all of them as well, and maintain a nice sales page on
Amazon here.
Is all this online presence worth the work?
You tell me.
We talk about them, young folks just look at us and shake their heads.
"There never was such a thing," they say. "Sure, the pace may
have been slower, which means dull. You think there was less trouble, but we
say there was as much going on in the world,
the communications weren't as good as today and you just didn't know
about it. I can't imagine living in a world without a TV, microwave, and
internet. What would be good about an existence like that?"
Valid comments, but what made the good old days good was the family
unit. There was an entire family under one roof and likely as not there was a
mother in the home, nurturing, taking care of the family and bringing the kids
up right. I didn't just mind my parents, I'd mind any adult, and they'd correct
me if I misbehaved. Nowadays you got single parent families and people living
together without the commitment.
There was a TV around in the old days, but just a couple of channels
and if the sun was up we were out playing anyway. We didn't have to have our
fun packaged and in a box with instructions. Video games? No, baseball and
football and riding bikes and activity from dawn to dusk.
Communications, we heard what was going on, but not obsessing over it
minute by minute, we were too busy keeping track of what was happening in our
community. I'm sure there were folks doing things we might not approve of, but
they sure weren't talking about it or advertising it. Families weren't afraid
to have faith and show it. Even those who weren't religious were respectful of
it. We prayed at football games and in public and those who didn't want to do
so didn't mind waiting for it and didn't feel threatened because they knew most
people were serious about it.
Then came political correctness, which is just another way of saying
"I know this ain't right, but …." In the name of trying to grab a few
more votes politicians hold down the vast majority of folks to try to quieten a
small group that we shouldn't even be listening to, much less trying to please.
Don't tell me there were no good old days, I remember times when there
was decency and respect for our fellow man. I remember when pornography wasn't
paraded on TV like it was ok to do. I remember when people understood this
nation was founded by Christian people and our laws were based on Biblical
concepts. They still are, but people have forgotten.
But I remember, and if it's fuzzy for you try taking a look at this: http://oldfortyfives.com/TakeMeBackToTheFifties.htm
Comment: Thanks for the link. I enjoyed reading what you had to say about the good ole days. I could really identify. - - Ann
Comments: WELL SAID terry!
We may have grown up in different parts of the
country, but those values you mention were the same from coast to coast. I
don't envy kids growing up today, nor would I want to grow up in today's
society.
One of the main differences I see in in growing up
in the fifties as compared to today is we as kids, had an IMAGINATION and knew
how to use it. We entertained ourselves and did not need the dependence of
today's video games, I-Pods or what have you. As you said, we also had respect
for not only our parents but all adults.
Our values were shaped by all those things you
mentioned and we as adults now are much better off because of that.
Les
Birds
gotta Fly . . .
And I gotta write 'til the day I die. Something like that, but is
it true? Periodically a writing group WILL discuss why they write,
and when they do a lot of them will say they HAVE to, that
their life would be so much easier if they didn't have that
compulsion. I've said it myself, but I'm not so sure.
I've always written something, that's true. During my chamber of
commerce career it was promotional stuff, weekly newspaper column, newsletter,
professional magazine and articles pushing recreation and travel. It ate up my
words. Now I write fiction and endure the hassles connected with trying to
publish what I write. The agony and ecstasy as it were of enjoying success and
enduring defeats and near misses. Why do I put myself through it?
I enjoy the writing, no denying that. I am a Christian writer and after
a session of intense self-examination ( see writing testimony ) did determine that God wanted me to put
a little faith into my writing. But I'm getting away from the question. Could I
quit writing? No. Could I quit writing the genre or type that I'm doing? Yes.
Could I quit writing fiction? Maybe.
I'm a fifth generation Irish storyteller and a 4th
generation
I feel no compulsion to write words just for me. If I don't have a
means of getting them in front of people and feeling like they're enjoying what
I'm writing, I don't have a need to write just for writing's sake. I've
mentioned I am toying with some other types of writing. My friend James
Reasoner told me the other days the wide variety he routinely writes in, and
talked about the hundreds of books he has in print.
I hear that focusing on one genre and trying to make a name for myself
in it is the key. I'm not so sure about that now either. Maybe I'm restricting
myself too much by trying to do that. I am working in some other areas now,
doing a little experimentation, be interesting to see what comes of it.
No, I don't own one, though that'd probably be a cool thing for a
writer to do in between spasms of writing. Maybe I could open one
and Saundra could put her massage therapy clinic in the back.
Naaahhhh.
Besides I wouldn't want to compete with my friend Richard Mencer. He's
the manager of LifeWay Christian here in
As many as Richard had ordered he still had a goodly stock. I set up to
go in Mother's Day for a signing in his store and we sold a bunch more.
Brother's Keeper came out and we had a launch party for it. He sent an employee
over to the party and they handled the book sales for it, followed by a signing
in the store where he had an awesome display set up. I made sure the initial booksigning
anywhere was in his store.
Shepherd's Son releases the first of next month and I'll be getting
with him to see that the initial signing is again in Lifeway. They keep a two
foot section of bookshelf with my books complete with faceout all the time. In
addition to the shelving he had a display set up in an alcove with a bunch of
western artist Richard Wyatt's wonderful paintings. How could you ask more than
that? I have a standing offer that anytime I have a free weekend and want to
come down and work the crowd a little that they would be pleased to see me do
it. I did Fathers Day recently and it went very well.
The big Barnes and Noble store is across the street and I was in there
hunting something Richard didn't have. The CSR asked if I didn't have a book
coming out and when I said yes asked if I'd do a signing on it. I said sure,
but the initial signing would be across the street. When he wanted to know why
I said they would stock a few of my books for a month or so, but Lifeway
stocked them all the time. You support the people that support you. When people
in the region ask where my books are available I don't list the places, I send
them to LifeWay.
This is a really special bookstore and a whale of a nice, Christian
gentleman running it.
It was my turn to comment on the western blog over at http://best-of-the-west.blogspot.com/ and it was on my mind to talk about the
cycles westerns go through on the bookstore shelves. Lo and behold over on the
Interesting experiment. This makes three places that is being discussed
and I think I'll raise the question over on two other western groups that I'm
on. I asked if westerns (and other genres) cycle because publishers predict
these up and down cycles and budget what they buy and what they promote in
accordance with these predictions. If when they do that booksellers respond
with what they buy and stock, that fulfills those predictions and makes the
publishers correct. Isn't that the definition of self-fulfilling prophesies?
It'll be interesting to see what people think about this.
Comment: I must be one of the fortunate ones. I buy 99% of my
westerns from our local independent book store. They stock two shelves worth
side by side. Many of the authors are not the "household" name
authors you mentioned. Although there are a number of Brand, Gray and L'Amour
titles available. If I request say a western by Ed Gorman, they will order in a
few extra's for their shelves besides one for me. The local B&N also does a
decent job of stocking what you call contemporary authors but not as many as
the independent. The western section's at both stores is not nearly the size of
the mystery section but then I think there are more mystery writers out there
than western writers.
Les
I read your blog, and you are right--new people are reading Louis L'Amour all the time. I think it helps that Louis has, what...100 or more westerns? It takes awhile to collect those, and old timers are continually replacing their books.
Another question worth considering, does it seem like most westerns that are on
the shelf are part of a series, something to keep readers going back and buying
more books from the same authors? If so, it seems that would be the way to go
in writing westerns.
RE: Libraries: our local library is great, especially if you want large print
westerns, I bet half of their large print books are westerns. Those books are
generally made very good and last forever, they also happen to be a bit costly
in large print, so it is excellent that they have those.
Best Wishes.
Karlton
Vineeth
commented:
> Out here in
One of my readers of this blog made a comment: "How often
do you do a new blog entry on your web site?
Secondly, I have a for what it's worth suggestion.
As you may have seen, I responded to your blog
entry about reviews. My suggestion is that if it
were possible, to have the blog being responded to, above the
box where the response is being made. Some sites do this in their forum areas.
Personally, it helps me decide what I am going to say in response to the topic
or blog being discussed. Otherwise, I have to minimize both the response
section and the blog itself and jump back and forth as I write my response. As
I said, this is just a suggestion for what it's worth. And I am making an
effort to read your blogs, hence my question of how often you write a new
one."
I do them every day, sometimes one will stay up 2-3 days if I'm tied
up. On the other, this is something I've been thinking about. I've chosen to do
my blog on the front page of my website because it's really helping my website
numbers (see stats below). However, this means when someone clicks on the
comment it comes to me as a email and I add it myself, usually immediately upon
receipt. I have thought about moving it to a blogspot where the reader could
add the comments themselves. Some who have done that have said they get traffic
from the blogsite to the main website, but I suppose I'm unconvinced that it
would be as much traffic as them coming to the site for the blog.
Even now I have the traffic to do the blog on my Amazon
page or on
the page I have at AuthorsDen. I do participate in a blog with other
writers at http://best-of-the-west.blogspot.com/ or
the Echelon Press Blog at http://echelonpress.blogspot.com/ and
I could put this blog at any of those places. I'd be most interested in what
those who are reading it think about moving it from this page.
Maybe there's a way I can do both, I'll
have to think on that a bit.
I'm told reviews don't really influence readers in the books they purchase.
Yes, I'm told that, but I don't believe it. I've gotten a number of nice notes
that say otherwise. I've picked up a number of books myself because I'd
seen an interesting review or endorsement on it. Reviewers and influencers
and experts who favor us with a book blurb do influence buyers, but more
important they can be the means of generating buzz, the all-important word-of-mouth publicity that we can't buy but that is the most important publicity of all.
No question reviews are the avenue for books getting into libraries, particularly reviews in places such as Booklist, Publishers Weekly or Midwest Book Review that acquisition librarians trust when making book selections to shelve. Big Box buyers say they don't have time to read them, but then they have sales reps coming by to pitch them and they depend on that, but the independents and small Christian stores pay a lot of attention to reviews in selecting what to stock.
I really haven't gotten a bad review, but that's because most of those who have done it simply don't post a review at all if they don't like the book. I have sent a couple of books to people who never reviewed them which is probably the same thing, or maybe it just wasn't interesting enough that they ever got around to it, who knows? Fortunately the ones that made it into print were all positive. Some have even remarked that they don't really like western but had read one of mine and were now reading more. I like that.
One of my publishers, Echelon Press, has several genre oriented blogs going and asked Lincoln Rogers and myself to kinda ride herd on the western (and historical) one. So far we're kinda talking to ourselves. Would love to have you drop by. http://best-of-the-west.blogspot.com/
Comments:
As a some time book reviewer, I was pleased to read your thoughts on
book reviews. This helps me in knowing an author's perspective on book reviews.
Like you, I too have chosen books based on reviews I have read, mostly on web
sites such as Amazon and B&N.
As for bad reviews, I am one of those
reviewers who do not post bad reviews. This is due mostly to the fact that if I
do not like the book I am reading after so many pages, I quit reading the book.
There are just to many books to read and so little time to read them. I won't waste my time on what I consider a bad
book or a book I lose interest in. Having said that, I will look at the bad
reviews other reviewer's have posted as well as the good when using a review as
a guideline for choosing a book to read.
As for blogs, I have been enjoying reading
yours. I have found your blog to be filled with information about writing,
publishing and life in general. You have a lot to offer so I will be stopping
by your blog from time to time.
Les
They're everywhere. A
story can start at any point, a setting that interests us as the town of
character as in one of
my friend Dan Parkinson's books, a minor character that everyone thought they
knew on sight. I asked him, "What would life be like if everyone you met
thought they recognized you?" I told him he had to tell the story of that
guy, but he never did and finally gave the character to me and told me to tell
it. I did in Don't I Know You?
Brother's Keeper began with a simple question, "What if two identical twins took different paths in life? Trail of the Dime Novel came about when two granddaughters were visiting. I would write in the mornings and they got interested. I wrote a short story with them in it just for fun. I changed their ages a bit and gave them a naïve young writer to torment. It turned into a young adult book where each chapter is a short story with this writer going out to not only write the classic dime novels, but experience them.
The new one coming out in September, Shepherd's Son, began when my step-daughter came in fresh from a conference where she had heard a program on The Great Shepherd, comparing a flock believers to a flock of real sheep. I enjoyed her comparison, and found myself taking it further. Such a comparison in the days when cowmen and sheepherders were at each other's throats would take on a whole new meaning.
Those are but a few examples from my own work. Stories can come from an object which catches our attention as with a short story I did prompted by a single shoe lying by the side of the road. We can be waiting in line at the bank or watching people at the airport. We ask ourselves the magic question, "What if . . .?" and just as when we were kids inventing make-believe stories we come up with a setting, or a character, or a plot point, or an ending, or a moral we want to show and the story begins to take shape. We can start at the beginning, middle or end.
For me the first 2-3 chapters are just exploratory, I'm going to end up coming back to write them as they should be after I know the characters and the story. Just get it going, make the characters real to me, and they'll tell me their tale.
Comments:
(This is in reference to your post on where book ideas come from.) I always find it so interesting to see where
other writers get their ideas. Mine so far have always come from either a
real-life even that I or someone I know has lived through, a song, or a
combination of both (which was the case for my first two novels, "Worlds
Collide" and "Violette Between"). I'm always amazed at what
random things (like your example of a shoe lying on the side of the road) will
spark an idea. Sometimes I feel a little silly explaining where that initial
spark came from for my stories because they seem so mundane sometimes. Isn't
the power of imagination fascinating? :)
-Alison
blog.alisonstrobel.com
Mentoring
I answered a note from a writer that I'm mentoring
this morning. He was remarking that it wasn't a matter of not being able to
find help getting started, but of finding so much he couldn't absorb it all. I
decided I'd use part of my response here in my blog this morning.
I do understand being inundated with help in these
writing sites and how to books and we probably need every word of it. But as my
pappy used to say "There's nothing as useless as unsolicited advice."
Writing help wasn't what he was talking about, but it still fits. Writing help
is best used as a reference when we know we need it rather than reading up on a
bunch of things and retaining them. That's why I keep these sites cataloged by
subject in my writing library to look them up when I need them rather than try
to remember it all. That's not going to happen. You're welcome to use the
library as well, and if you find some good links you think should be there let
me know and I'll add them.
Don't worry about hollaring at me too much, you're a
good friend and I don't mind. Besides, there is a tendency for those who have
been writing a while to forget the basics, and mentoring some fledging writers
is the best way to keep that stuff fresh. I have three right now that I am
mentoring including you. One is through a writing course that I instruct in on
occasion. I was working with one of them the other day and after I passed on
some sterling advice she had asked me to explain, I paused and said,
"Hmmm, I had best be taking my own advice in the piece I'm working on
now."
I can't
help those who got me started, those who gave me a hand up at key points in
time, but I can pay it forward. I've been of some help to quite a few writers
over the years, and there are a number of them that still help me.
Writing is a solitary affair. When it boils down to it, it's
just us and a blank page. So often others in our life just don't get it. I'm
blessed with a wife who does understand and is so very supportive not only
giving me writing time and doing the things such as promotion that it demands,
but tries to push me into using that time. But I have a network of friends that
is there as well, at a touch of the button to share triumphs and trials, to
discuss ideas and answer questions, people who really understand. Build and
nurture this network, my friend, a writer needs it.. And thanks for being a
part of mine.
I can't imagine trying to write and even more important publish what we write without help. I've written this or that most of my life, but when I got serious about it one of the first things I did was get in a writing group, then added several online groups. Being able to talk to others that understand made all the difference in the world.
Conferences and workshops are vital too if we're serious about it. I try to do at least one a year, have done as many as five in a year, but that's when I started being asked to be on faculty or to present workshops. I'm looking to build on that.
Conferences are important because of the chances to learn skills to help us improve our craft, but even more important to me is the chance to build relations with other writers who can mentor and be a source of publication leads. Once we've got a little writing under our belt, they become absolutely vital as the place where we meet editors and agents. Almost everything I've published has been a result of one of these meetings at a conference.
One of the most useful groups for me is the American
Christian Fiction Writers. They are having their Annual Conference in
Trying
to write in a vacuum is a study in futility.
Got to do 40 miles of real bad road
driving this wagon and toting this load,
and when I get through I got me a windmill to fix.
Then I gotta lotta fence to mend,
gotta build a pen for the hens,
and fill the firebox with a big armload of sticks.
But you know I met a tourist the other day,
he was on vacation I heard him say,
vacation, my gosh, what kind of thing is that?
The only vacation this cowboy gets
is just when he up and sits
down in the shade to wipe the sweat from his hat.
But you know its not all sweaty and hot,
shucks no, in the winter guess what we've got;
breaking ice, shoveling snow and feeding each and every cow.
I guess it's not that I mind,
just wish I weren't so far behind.
Guess I'd quit if I could figure how.
But then there comes that peaceful day,
sitting my horse and watching calves play,
with a gentle breeze cooling down my face.
Then I remember what I'm here for;
no cars or schedules or running out the door,
and I own every cow, calf and kid on the place.
I don't guess that I WOULD quit,
though now and then I gotta throw a fit,
but overall I guess it just suits me.
So I smile and holler to perk up the team;
had to get it out of my system if you know what I mean.
Forth miles is a lot of nice country to see.
They sent a copy of the cover for Shepherd's Son, coming out in September. Like the two in the series before it, it's a very attractive cover. The comments that are coming in from the writing groups I asked to comment on it are running very showing it to be very well received.
How important is a good cover? I have a friend who is a buyer for a major book chain. He said he, and most of the buyers he talks to, makes book buying decisions on how well they think the cover will display, along with reading the cover blurbs and maybe a few random paragraphs inside. He depends heavily on advertising and manufacturers reps. That's a little disheartening.
But is it unusual? I've spent time sitting in bookstores watching readers make their selections. They have different routines, but by far the most common one is to pull the book out and look at the cover, turn it over and read or glance over the cover notes, open it up and read the first page. From this point on it varies. Some will flip through reading a little here and there. Some will continue reading the first chapter until the decision is made to take it to the front or put it back. Some turn it back and see if it appears to have a satisfying ending. I find this one incomprehensible, personally. I don't want to read books when I know how they end or movies when I know how they come out. Spoils all of the carefully built tension, but if everybody felt the same way we wouldn't need both chocolate and vanilla, one flavor would do fine.
Libraries and it seems small bookstores (who don't get called on by the sales reps) depend primarily on book reviews for purchase decisions. These, of course, favor the big companies with strong distribution and advertising dollars, the same ones who have sales reps out beating the bushes.
One of the best channels for book buying decision making is word-of-mouth, however, and it depends on the way the writer most wants to be judged. Have we told a good story? This is why I like to spend the time trying to get into more and more libraries. This is why I'm in a dozen writing groups, do signings (which are more about PR than sales), have a newsletter, do a blog, attend workshops, present workshops, send out publicity packets, do interviews, and anything else I can think of to build name recognition. I don't have the big advertising budget or major publisher support. I need that word-of-mouth more than anything.
I was doing a booksigning with western writing icon Elmer Kelton a while back and picked up his book "Lone Star Rising." It's a trilogy of Texas Ranger stories featuring a ranger by the name of Rusty Shannon, and an ongoing feud with several generations of Comanche warriors, set against a cast of other fascinating characters that I guarantee will intrigue you. It's a terrific look at the history of the rangers before, during and after the civil war.
The settings are drawn exceedingly well, the characters are real and compelling, and the story moves at a pace that makes it hard to put down. I was pleased to see that it included a faith element to it, though not enough that it would be aimed for the Christian bookstore shelves. There is a mild spattering of language and light violence, but not enough that would put off a more sensitive reader. It preserves the realism, but is done with Elmer's taste and light touch.
People have always been drawn to the myth and legend of the
rangers, but the true story is no less compelling. This force always stood
against great odds protecting
I've mentioned before that
Saundra and I take turns driving in 90 minute increments on a trip and read a
story aloud to one another to make a trip go faster. This book kept both of us
glued into the story and at no point in the trip wanted to put it down. She
enjoyed it as much as I did.
We're back in
his pastor's house to eat last night as we have been on other occasions.
Steve Patterson and his wife Stephanie are delightful people and we
always enjoy it tremendously. Some people bring a bottle of wine
when they are invited to dinner, but we're Baptist. Still others may
bring a dessert, but with the wonderful home-cooked meals including
dessert that Stephanie does, that'd be a farce. I'm a writer, we bring
books. The way we are going, they'll soon have a full set.
We owe them for far more than that. Trying to keep an eye on her dad from so far away they have been invaluable. He goes far beyond what might be expected of a pastor, ministering to her dad on a daily basis, taking him to the doctor, doing what needs to be done. Even when he has some similar problems in his own life. They are very special folks, and Saundra and her sisters have adopted him as the brother they never had.
Then last night we got to meet Margaret.
Margaret? Margaret is an imaginary friend that showed up some time back and Stephanie and her sisters take note of the capricious things she does in their lives, sometimes writing each other and explaining in detail what she is doing. I explained to her that is exactly the way many writers create their stories, and she needed to email me. We need to talk.
I'd like to read some about Margaret. We may have a budding writer surfacing here. I do know she is a voracious and dedicated reader and that's the first step toward wanting to find some words for yourself.
I was talking to a writer friend the other day. He had just finished reading the Left Behind series and was most anxious about the future. I told him I wasn't, that I had read the end of the book and I knew how it all came out. I have the peace of mind that comes from knowing my eternity is so secure. He said he didn't see how I could be so sure.
I said I didn't see how he could call himself a Christian and not be sure.
Oh, I know some religions think that it requires some level of works in order to get into heaven, that we have to do this or that to earn our way in, but that's not what I believe. I believe we could never be good enough or do enough to be worthy, and that our salvation is a gift, a gift of grace that Jesus purchased with his own blood and suffering. We did nothing to earn it, and nothing we could have done would have been sufficient.
That doesn't mean we aren't supposed to have a body of works. We'll stand before the throne some day and answer for what we did with our life and our reward will depend on what's written in the book. But our ticket for admission is bought and paid for.
That's why I'm not afraid of death. I'm afraid of dying, I think we all are. Afraid to suffer, afraid of the unknown, but after I pass through that portal, you can bet I'm good with that part of it. Pastor friends tell me that there is all the difference in the world when they are at the bedside of a believer and a non-believer at the appointed time, and I believe it.
It's called the "peace that passeth all understanding."
Multnomah
is selling and the word on the street is that it's to Random House. Is that
good or bad? I don't know, the jury is still out on that one but my guess will
be some of both. Since the big houses are so hard to access without an agent
it'll make it harder on people just trying to break in and those of us between
agents too for that matter.
But lest we forget, this is not some new, breaking trend. It has been going
this way for some time. In 1980 Christian companies produced just over
$1billion in books and products. That number is now over $4 billion. Pretty
hard to keep that dog under the porch.
I
went with Cook when they bought River Oak, signaling their entry into the
fiction market. They've backed away from it for the time being, the jury is
still out on that too.
Harper Collins bought Zondervan, Time-Warner added Warner Faith which just
changed hands again I believe, sold to Hachette Livre and changing the name to
FaithWords. Simon and Schuster bought Howard's Publishing, Penguin formed
Penguin Praise, Thomas Nelson was bought out by a group of secular investors,
Baker Books hooked up with
Is it good or bad for us? It doesn't matter. In life we might wish something
were other than it is, but what is important is that we understand the reality
of it and deal with it. What concerns me more than anything else would be
if secular houses wanted to start diluting the content. On the other hand, the
resources and distribution of the big houses should continue to increase the
standing of Christian books in the publishing community, which would be good if
they still contain a strong enough message to do any good.
Interesting times for sure..
I got a copy of Mysterious Ways yesterday - in Russian. At first I didn't think I could put the name and title in this blog, but then I had a
brainstorm andfiguredI could
use an online translator to get the Russian characters I needed to do it.
The guy's name that did thetranslation
is larger than mine on the cover, but that's ok, particularly if he's known
over there. I like the idea that the testimony contained in that book is in
front of the Russian people now. I'm going to see about scanning
the cover in tonight and put it in my online bookstore along with an order
link. Don't expect a lot of traffic on it, but it'll be kinda cool to have it
there.
I do have limited sales in
I'm told westerns are big in
Comment: Hey, Terry. Congratulations on the Russian
translation. That is way cool. What an opportunity for them to read about our
wonderful Savior. By the way, my brother really liked your book, and now I'm sending
him more of yours. He says it sure helps pass the time in prison because he
can't get out and exercise like he use to do because of his knees. (He was born
with a bone deformity in his left leg and has had many surgeries on it since he
was one year old.)
Blessings,
Martha
Comment: I think an American-English author
knows he's "arrived" when he's published in Russian.
Unbelievable: congrats!
To God be the glory,
Scott “
It's amazing what a small world
this is becoming. Used to be I would watch the news and it would all seem so
foreign and remote that it was hard to feel personally about it. Oh, I cared,
but in a sort of dispassionate, spectator mode way.
Now I am constantly running
across very personal links to all that is going on in the world that it seems
simply being a spectator is no longer possible. Now I have relatives on the
ground in
Regardless how we might feel
politically or about the war, as Americans we must support our troops, and most
do, except for that lunatic bunch in
It's also becoming very
personal at the gas pump, and whether we support the war or not, were we to
back out of there without preventing the extremists from ending up in power we
haven't seen the tip of the iceberg. If militants gain the upper hand over
there and start holding the world's oil supply hostage, we'd have to mortgage
our house to buy a tank of gas.
I'm not talking politics
here, I don't give a flip who did this or should have done that, I'm talking
about things getting personal. Our modern communications makes it much more
personal as well. In previous wars we heard reports sparsely at best, and they
were about battles and casualties up in the thousands. Now as a nation we
agonize over one or two soldiers in a single incident because we hear about it
as it happens. We mourn losses virtually one at a time. It feels very personal
even when we don't know them.
Very
personal.
It sounds like nothing but semantics, but it isn't.
Agents and editors understand who the reader base is that a author writes for, or that a publishing house prints for and markets to. Knowing that reader base is their bread and butter. One of the best ways for us as writers to sell something to these people is to show we understand that reader base as well.
That means when we are hunting comparable books and authors, we're not doing it to identify people we write like, hopefully we are all unique. Instead we are using them to delineate a reader base that we are writing for. "I don't write LIKE writer X, but I write for the same readers." That also avoids a comparison between us and the writer in question to see if we really do write similar to them. Does the house that publishes King or Clancy need another King or Clancy? No, they already have one. Can they use another writer that can sell to the reader base that these writers have already brought to them? Sure.
The best way to prove a reader base is to do it with sales figures, to show we are already selling to those readers, but some of us don't have a track record, or maybe have published with small houses and those numbers aren't likely to impress anybody. In that case we need to show we do understand the reader base we are writing for through the use of comparables, then we have to be able to make the case strongly that we can in fact sell to that base.
It isn't only important to those we are pitching our work to, it's even more important for us. It's a proven fact in any kind of sales that a person can't do a credible job of selling something they don't believe in. If we don't believe the reader base is really the one we are writing for, how can we convince somebody else that it's true? Once we do believe we've identified the right market, the factors we use to convince ourselves that we're right, are the very same things an editor or agent needs to know to want to buy the project, and the same things they'll need to defend it when they take it upstairs.
So when we say we aren't hunting authors, books and the houses that publish them, but instead hunting readers, then we turn right around and see we are going to define those readers in terms of authors, books, and houses, it sounds like nothing but semantics. But it isn't, and those in the publishing industry know the difference, and we should learn it too.
If I Were Put On Trial
For Being A Christian,
Would
There Be Enough Evidence to Convict Me?
I've heard this saying and thought it was kinda cute. I thought about it this morning and it DID convict me. I try to use my words for the Lord. I try to say yes when I'm asked to do things at church. I try to let the world know I'm a child of the King. But I know I'm rather quiet and shy. I know I'm missing opportunities to witness, not because I'm afraid to, not because I don't want to, I just do.
It isn't like we're going to pay a great penalty for doing so. There are so many places in the world where they literally put their life on the line to stand up for the Lord. With a very few exceptions (like the kids at Columbine) what do we risk, a little ridicule? Maybe a snide comment or two? Oh my, how terrible. And I don't even think that's what steps me from doing more than I do.
In my daily life do I have to tell people that I'm a Christian? Or can they tell without my having to say it. They should be able to tell, and I hope that's true. We are admonished to be in the world, but not of the world. We have to be in the world to witness, to have a connection to those who need to hear the story of Jesus. But it needs to be clear that we're different, too, otherwise our testimony is diminished. If people can't tell me apart from people who haven't come to Him, then what's the difference?
I had a guy tell me after he read some of the Left Behind series that he was really afraid of dying. I told him I wasn't afraid of death, but maybe fearful of the actual act of dying, I think we all are, after all, none of us have any experience at it. As we talked, even though he claimed to be a Christian, he said he couldn't understand how I could be so sure that I knew where I was going to spend eternity. I told him if he was a Christian I didn't understand how he couldn't be sure. Apparently in his religion, significant works are required for him to make it.
Works are important in my belief, too, but are not and could not be enough to earn me a place in heaven. I could never do enough to be worthy. My salvation is a pure gift, one I do not deserve. Jesus paid the price for me and that alone secures my place in the hereafter.
What if I were put on trial for
being a Christian? I doubt that is going to happen here in the
Oh look, I just witnessed to you, that wasn't so hard. Why in the world don't I do more of it than I do?
Lord,
grant me patience . . . and I want it right now!
We've
all heard that old saying, a cliché perhaps, but sayings become cliché by being
so true that they continue to remain make sense over the years. The sad truth
is a lot of writers never publish. Yet I don't know of a single writer that the
publishing world told to go home and quit trying. So what happens?
They give up. They get a few rejection letters, decide
their work is no good, and quit trying. I've said before that publishing is
like assembling a puzzle, and if one piece is missing the puzzle can't be
finished. There are a large number of factors that must be in place at a
publishing house for it to happen, and if one is not there it isn't going to
happen, not at that particular point in time. I won't go into the factors right
now, that's a whole workshop.
Suffice to say that I expect to find a lot of places that
aren't right for a particular work before I find that one place where it's a
fit. Nothing to do with the writing, certainly not me as a person, they don't
know me well enough for it to be personal.
Yet too many people do make it personal, get their
feelings hurt and give up. Or they just don't have the patience to do the
research necessary to find the right place, to wait out the interminable
process to traditionally publish. Some solve the problem by self-publishing and
I have nothing against that option as long as they are doing it because they
know they have a limited market for their work and are willing to take on the
burden of getting all the books sold themselves. I guess I do have a problem
with it when it isn't a business decision but a cop-out for those unwilling to
pay their dues and go through the process all the rest of us had to do to get
traditionally published. Only the individual author knows the internal
motivation.
I was asked on a recent radio show what my one piece of
advice would be for a new writer and it was "Never give up." Not if
you're serious about writing. In a perfect world if we wrote something good
enough the marketplace would find us and reward us for our efforts, but it
isn't a perfect world. Patience and persistence probably has more to do with
publication than talent. I mean, there are some wonderful stories that have
never made their way into publication and some really bad stuff that has made
it into print by people who stayed with it and had the work at the right place,
right time and in front of the right person.