KN Magazine: Articles
Author vs. Reader / C. Hope Clark
Thanks to the Internet, and the proliferation of cliché-caching sites like TVTropes.com, it’s harder than ever to surprise a reader. We’ve become so jaded as story-consumers that even the phrase “I’ve seen it all before” is too predictable to bother uttering. Rather than allowing this to discourage her, however, guest author C. Hope Clark chooses to see genre-savvy readers as an exciting challenge for her creativity to overcome in her quest to trick and trap her readers to their hearts’ delight.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Author vs. Reader
By C. Hope Clark
Mystery is the only genre that pits author against reader. When I state this in classes, attendees’ eyes travel up and to the left, as if searching through their mental files to see if their experiences prove my statement. They always smile in recognition.
At first blush, anything with X versus Y sounds like a bad thing. An adversarial experience. Readers hunting for mistakes, maybe. Finding blue eyes on your protagonist on page 43 and brown on page 76. Or spelling “Jesse” in one conversation and later having it “Jessie”.
But only mystery? What about romance? Sci-fi? Women’s fiction? Suspense? Ah, suspense! Still no. Suspense is about the chase, not the whodunit. Only in mystery does the story open with an unanswered question that, through clues, trip-ups, and numerous wrong turns, leads the reader to a solution he never saw coming.
Author vs. Reader is about more than the whodunit. It’s about the red herrings and twists, and writing them such that the reader can’t tell what’s real and what isn’t. It’s about leading him down one path with all its color, intricacies and three-dimensional style to make him feel that what isn’t real actually is. Then at the end, after the maze of this redirection, the solution rears up in the reader’s face all grinning, sly, and smiling, and whispers, “Got you.”
I get chills mastering that talent as an author, and it is entertainment of the highest order when an author bests my sleuthing skills as a reader.
I absorbed this Author vs. Reader tenet a long, long time ago in a small, uneventful class, but I didn’t realize the intensity of its importance until I got involved in a critique group. I’ve belonged to an online critique group for twelve years. A core within that group has followed and coached me from the first novel to the present. We have become so familiar that we scold each other when material triggers our BS meters.
While I can write without the group, I prefer to hear their questions as to why I chose a certain route. “If that’s a clue, you’ll need to flesh it out better than this, because it isn’t working for me.” Or, “Are you kidding? Sorry, but I can’t see this character doing that even if it is a red herring.” After feedback, sometimes I toss that twist in the trash. Other times I hone it more, so that it is smoking hot smart. It’s finding that subtle edge that makes a mystery brilliant.
No author, however, can know all the potential options to taking a mystery from Point A to Z. I dare say that no author can operate in a vacuum without running twists by someone they trust. As mystery specialists, we read so much and juggle so many options through our heads that we can become callous and flat in understanding what zings. However, beta readers or a strong critique group can help us zig instead of zag so that the zing really sings. The harsher you let them question your motives, the slicker you learn to adjust.
An avid mystery reader enters a story with radar on and eyes scanning for clues, accepting the challenge laid down by an author. The reader opens the book, thinking, “No way this author can best me.” The author writes, thinking, “You’ll never guess who did it before the end.” And the gauntlet is thrown down. Unless your theories and clues have been tested to the nth degree, a mystery aficionado will bust you by chapter ten.
This Me against You mentality makes for some of the best stories. But it makes for some of the biggest hurdles for an author. Every story has to be told well, with great dialogue, remarkable setting, and characters that pop off the page. The highs and lows, the emotional baggage, all must be presented with a deft hand. Each word matters, and in the best books, the reader appreciates this because he never sees the words… only the story.
A mystery author, however, must invest themselves deeper, because the reader enters Chapter One knowing that anyone on any page might be the culprit… or an author’s misrepresentation. Actions, choices, and even snippets of dialogue can snare and divert a reader.
A knife thrown in the bushes jumps out as a clue to watch, while the subtle mention of hot chocolate on the counter means nothing, only to become the real evidence. Or will the knife seem so obvious that the reader discounts it, only to learn that it did matter, a jousting advance and retreat between reader and author.
I’ve altered who died, shifted red herring suspects, and even deleted climaxes to avoid being too predictable. Killed the unexpected good character and saved the cad. My second Carolina Slade Mystery, Tidewater Murder, had an entirely different climax before a beta reader gave it a lukewarm rating as predictable. In the third, Palmetto Poison, a Silver Falchion award winner, I decided in the third draft to insure every single character represented a twist somewhere in the book.
Authors twist and turn, then twist and turn again, then ponder whether to undo one twist and replace it with another. Or twist the twist that came about from the first twist. There’s nothing wrong with stepping back from your work think, “How can I screw with this in another direction one more time?” Remember, your reader has many mysteries under his belt, and feels he’s seen it all. He tingles at the opportunity to experience something he hasn’t. Every paragraph and page must be taken to the point of ridiculousness, because anything less is fair game to the reader.
An author has to wow himself with the clues and answers in a mystery long before he wows the reader. And if a mystery author hasn’t completely amazed himself with his story, he’ll never win the fight.
C. Hope Clark attempts to amaze her mystery readers in her award-winning Carolina Slade Mysteries and Edisto Island Mysteries, both from Bell Bridge Books of Memphis, TN. Two of the Slade mysteries won Silver Falchion awards at Killer Nashville, and her latest release is Edisto Jinx. Her short mystery “Rich Talk” appeared in Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded and has been nominated for an Edgar. When not twisting mysteries, Hope manages FundsforWriters.com, chosen by Writer’s Digest Magazine for its 101 Best Websites for Writers for 15 years. Reach her at www.chopeclark.com. She lives on the banks of Lake Murray in central South Carolina, when she isn’t writing at Edisto Beach.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Author vs. Reader / C. Hope Clark
Thanks to the Internet, and the proliferation of cliché-caching sites like TVTropes.com, it’s harder than ever to surprise a reader. We’ve become so jaded as story-consumers that even the phrase “I’ve seen it all before” is too predictable to bother uttering. Rather than allowing this to discourage her, however, guest author C. Hope Clark chooses to see genre-savvy readers as an exciting challenge for her creativity to overcome in her quest to trick and trap her readers to their hearts’ delight.Happy reading!
Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Author vs. Reader
By C. Hope Clark
Mystery is the only genre that pits author against reader. When I state this in classes, attendees’ eyes travel up and to the left, as if searching through their mental files to see if their experiences prove my statement. They always smile in recognition.
At first blush, anything with X versus Y sounds like a bad thing. An adversarial experience. Readers hunting for mistakes, maybe. Finding blue eyes on your protagonist on page 43 and brown on page 76. Or spelling “Jesse” in one conversation and later having it “Jessie”.
But only mystery? What about romance? Sci-fi? Women’s fiction? Suspense? Ah, suspense! Still no. Suspense is about the chase, not the whodunit. Only in mystery does the story open with an unanswered question that, through clues, trip-ups, and numerous wrong turns, leads the reader to a solution he never saw coming.
Author vs. Reader is about more than the whodunit. It’s about the red herrings and twists, and writing them such that the reader can’t tell what’s real and what isn’t. It’s about leading him down one path with all its color, intricacies and three-dimensional style to make him feel that what isn’t real actually is. Then at the end, after the maze of this redirection, the solution rears up in the reader’s face all grinning, sly, and smiling, and whispers, “Got you.”
I get chills mastering that talent as an author, and it is entertainment of the highest order when an author bests my sleuthing skills as a reader.
I absorbed this Author vs. Reader tenet a long, long time ago in a small, uneventful class, but I didn’t realize the intensity of its importance until I got involved in a critique group. I’ve belonged to an online critique group for twelve years. A core within that group has followed and coached me from the first novel to the present. We have become so familiar that we scold each other when material triggers our BS meters.
While I can write without the group, I prefer to hear their questions as to why I chose a certain route. “If that’s a clue, you’ll need to flesh it out better than this, because it isn’t working for me.” Or, “Are you kidding? Sorry, but I can’t see this character doing that even if it is a red herring.” After feedback, sometimes I toss that twist in the trash. Other times I hone it more, so that it is smoking hot smart. It’s finding that subtle edge that makes a mystery brilliant.
No author, however, can know all the potential options to taking a mystery from Point A to Z. I dare say that no author can operate in a vacuum without running twists by someone they trust. As mystery specialists, we read so much and juggle so many options through our heads that we can become callous and flat in understanding what zings. However, beta readers or a strong critique group can help us zig instead of zag so that the zing really sings. The harsher you let them question your motives, the slicker you learn to adjust.
An avid mystery reader enters a story with radar on and eyes scanning for clues, accepting the challenge laid down by an author. The reader opens the book, thinking, “No way this author can best me.” The author writes, thinking, “You’ll never guess who did it before the end.” And the gauntlet is thrown down. Unless your theories and clues have been tested to the nth degree, a mystery aficionado will bust you by chapter ten.
This Me against You mentality makes for some of the best stories. But it makes for some of the biggest hurdles for an author. Every story has to be told well, with great dialogue, remarkable setting, and characters that pop off the page. The highs and lows, the emotional baggage, all must be presented with a deft hand. Each word matters, and in the best books, the reader appreciates this because he never sees the words… only the story.
A mystery author, however, must invest themselves deeper, because the reader enters Chapter One knowing that anyone on any page might be the culprit… or an author’s misrepresentation. Actions, choices, and even snippets of dialogue can snare and divert a reader.
A knife thrown in the bushes jumps out as a clue to watch, while the subtle mention of hot chocolate on the counter means nothing, only to become the real evidence. Or will the knife seem so obvious that the reader discounts it, only to learn that it did matter, a jousting advance and retreat between reader and author.
I’ve altered who died, shifted red herring suspects, and even deleted climaxes to avoid being too predictable. Killed the unexpected good character and saved the cad. My second Carolina Slade Mystery, Tidewater Murder, had an entirely different climax before a beta reader gave it a lukewarm rating as predictable. In the third, Palmetto Poison, a Silver Falchion award winner, I decided in the third draft to insure every single character represented a twist somewhere in the book.
Authors twist and turn, then twist and turn again, then ponder whether to undo one twist and replace it with another. Or twist the twist that came about from the first twist. There’s nothing wrong with stepping back from your work think, “How can I screw with this in another direction one more time?” Remember, your reader has many mysteries under his belt, and feels he’s seen it all. He tingles at the opportunity to experience something he hasn’t. Every paragraph and page must be taken to the point of ridiculousness, because anything less is fair game to the reader.
An author has to wow himself with the clues and answers in a mystery long before he wows the reader. And if a mystery author hasn’t completely amazed himself with his story, he’ll never win the fight.
C. Hope Clark attempts to amaze her mystery readers in her award-winning Carolina Slade Mysteries and Edisto Island Mysteries, both from Bell Bridge Books of Memphis, TN. Two of the Slade mysteries won Silver Falchion awards at Killer Nashville, and her latest release is Edisto Jinx. Her short mystery “Rich Talk” appeared in Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded and has been nominated for an Edgar. When not twisting mysteries, Hope manages FundsforWriters.com, chosen by Writer’s Digest Magazine for its 101 Best Websites for Writers for 15 years. Reach her at www.chopeclark.com. She lives on the banks of Lake Murray in central South Carolina, when she isn’t writing at Edisto Beach.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Author vs. Reader / C. Hope Clark
Thanks to the Internet, and the proliferation of cliché-caching sites like TVTropes.com, it’s harder than ever to surprise a reader. We’ve become so jaded as story-consumers that even the phrase “I’ve seen it all before” is too predictable to bother uttering. Rather than allowing this to discourage her, however, guest author C. Hope Clark chooses to see genre-savvy readers as an exciting challenge for her creativity to overcome in her quest to trick and trap her readers to their hearts’ delight.Happy reading!
Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Author vs. Reader
By C. Hope Clark
Mystery is the only genre that pits author against reader. When I state this in classes, attendees’ eyes travel up and to the left, as if searching through their mental files to see if their experiences prove my statement. They always smile in recognition.
At first blush, anything with X versus Y sounds like a bad thing. An adversarial experience. Readers hunting for mistakes, maybe. Finding blue eyes on your protagonist on page 43 and brown on page 76. Or spelling “Jesse” in one conversation and later having it “Jessie”.
But only mystery? What about romance? Sci-fi? Women’s fiction? Suspense? Ah, suspense! Still no. Suspense is about the chase, not the whodunit. Only in mystery does the story open with an unanswered question that, through clues, trip-ups, and numerous wrong turns, leads the reader to a solution he never saw coming.
Author vs. Reader is about more than the whodunit. It’s about the red herrings and twists, and writing them such that the reader can’t tell what’s real and what isn’t. It’s about leading him down one path with all its color, intricacies and three-dimensional style to make him feel that what isn’t real actually is. Then at the end, after the maze of this redirection, the solution rears up in the reader’s face all grinning, sly, and smiling, and whispers, “Got you.”
I get chills mastering that talent as an author, and it is entertainment of the highest order when an author bests my sleuthing skills as a reader.
I absorbed this Author vs. Reader tenet a long, long time ago in a small, uneventful class, but I didn’t realize the intensity of its importance until I got involved in a critique group. I’ve belonged to an online critique group for twelve years. A core within that group has followed and coached me from the first novel to the present. We have become so familiar that we scold each other when material triggers our BS meters.
While I can write without the group, I prefer to hear their questions as to why I chose a certain route. “If that’s a clue, you’ll need to flesh it out better than this, because it isn’t working for me.” Or, “Are you kidding? Sorry, but I can’t see this character doing that even if it is a red herring.” After feedback, sometimes I toss that twist in the trash. Other times I hone it more, so that it is smoking hot smart. It’s finding that subtle edge that makes a mystery brilliant.
No author, however, can know all the potential options to taking a mystery from Point A to Z. I dare say that no author can operate in a vacuum without running twists by someone they trust. As mystery specialists, we read so much and juggle so many options through our heads that we can become callous and flat in understanding what zings. However, beta readers or a strong critique group can help us zig instead of zag so that the zing really sings. The harsher you let them question your motives, the slicker you learn to adjust.
An avid mystery reader enters a story with radar on and eyes scanning for clues, accepting the challenge laid down by an author. The reader opens the book, thinking, “No way this author can best me.” The author writes, thinking, “You’ll never guess who did it before the end.” And the gauntlet is thrown down. Unless your theories and clues have been tested to the nth degree, a mystery aficionado will bust you by chapter ten.
This Me against You mentality makes for some of the best stories. But it makes for some of the biggest hurdles for an author. Every story has to be told well, with great dialogue, remarkable setting, and characters that pop off the page. The highs and lows, the emotional baggage, all must be presented with a deft hand. Each word matters, and in the best books, the reader appreciates this because he never sees the words… only the story.
A mystery author, however, must invest themselves deeper, because the reader enters Chapter One knowing that anyone on any page might be the culprit… or an author’s misrepresentation. Actions, choices, and even snippets of dialogue can snare and divert a reader.
A knife thrown in the bushes jumps out as a clue to watch, while the subtle mention of hot chocolate on the counter means nothing, only to become the real evidence. Or will the knife seem so obvious that the reader discounts it, only to learn that it did matter, a jousting advance and retreat between reader and author.
I’ve altered who died, shifted red herring suspects, and even deleted climaxes to avoid being too predictable. Killed the unexpected good character and saved the cad. My second Carolina Slade Mystery, Tidewater Murder, had an entirely different climax before a beta reader gave it a lukewarm rating as predictable. In the third, Palmetto Poison, a Silver Falchion award winner, I decided in the third draft to insure every single character represented a twist somewhere in the book.
Authors twist and turn, then twist and turn again, then ponder whether to undo one twist and replace it with another. Or twist the twist that came about from the first twist. There’s nothing wrong with stepping back from your work think, “How can I screw with this in another direction one more time?” Remember, your reader has many mysteries under his belt, and feels he’s seen it all. He tingles at the opportunity to experience something he hasn’t. Every paragraph and page must be taken to the point of ridiculousness, because anything less is fair game to the reader.
An author has to wow himself with the clues and answers in a mystery long before he wows the reader. And if a mystery author hasn’t completely amazed himself with his story, he’ll never win the fight.
C. Hope Clark attempts to amaze her mystery readers in her award-winning Carolina Slade Mysteries and Edisto Island Mysteries, both from Bell Bridge Books of Memphis, TN. Two of the Slade mysteries won Silver Falchion awards at Killer Nashville, and her latest release is Edisto Jinx. Her short mystery “Rich Talk” appeared in Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded and has been nominated for an Edgar. When not twisting mysteries, Hope manages FundsforWriters.com, chosen by Writer’s Digest Magazine for its 101 Best Websites for Writers for 15 years. Reach her at www.chopeclark.com. She lives on the banks of Lake Murray in central South Carolina, when she isn’t writing at Edisto Beach.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Too Cozy or Not Too Cozy? / Linda Thorne
Although it’s tempting to think of our own works as too special, too ground-breaking, too fill-in-the-blank to fit into any kind of genre, the truth is that every story fits into some kind of box, once you break it down enough. And that’s not a bad thing. Genre designations help us as a community of writers and readers to categorize our preferences, and reach the people interested in our particular niche.
But what about when those definitions change? Can genres stretch to accommodate the needs and tastes of new generations? In this week’s guest blog, author Linda Thorne grapples with the constraints of “cozy”, and the different ways that modern cozies—including her own—diverge from these supposedly hard and fast rules.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Too Cozy or Not Too Cozy?
by Linda Thorne
Anything you hear regarding cozy mysteries will likely slot them into a sub-genre that promises the reader escape from anything objectionable. Profanity is eliminated, or virtually imperceptible. If sex is written into the book, it will always be low-key. The protagonist is never physically harmed or subjected to true violence. I recently read a post online that said crime in a cozy would be “bloodless.”
The setting is a small town where the characters drink tea and have cats or dogs for pets (sometimes other animals). The lead will be a female amateur sleuth, often described as a sincerely nice and endearing person. The definition offered here is what I read in posts and articles. It’s the same when I listen to authors speak on the subject.
Before my debut novel Just Another Termination was contracted for publication, I submitted it to agents, publishers, contests, always referencing it as a mystery. My rejection letters referred to it as a cozy. One year when I entered Just Another Termination in the Colorado Gold Writers Contest, one of the judges wrote notes in the margin beside my description of the first dead body, a crime scene far from “bloodless.” He said I was stepping outside the bounds of cozy.
I made all the other changes both my judges suggested, but held on to the grizzly, real-life description of the dead body, as it seemed important to my story. When I found a publisher, the graphic details of my murder scene survived their edits, yet my book is still considered a cozy.
Are there cozies that are hybrids: mostly mystery with a touch of cozy? I presented the question to a panel of cozy authors at a Killer Nashville Writers’ Conference years ago, using Carolyn Haines’ Sarah Booth Delaney Bones series as an example. I told the group that I’d noticed Sara Booth’s sex life escalating in each new book and her consumption of Jack Daniels increasing. After some pause, one of the panel authors said, “Maybe we could call her books naughty cozies.” The whole room had a good laugh, but then the questions and responses moved back to the traditional elements of cozies.
But my question hadn’t been answered: why do the cozies I read (and write) not meet some or all of the typical cozy criteria? Goldy Schultz, the caterer protagonist in Diane Mott Davidson’s series, has been knocked down, bonked, bruised, and stabbed. She’s been left unconscious and has found herself confronted by many murderers trying to kill her. Any reader of the series should find solid reason to believe she is in true danger of physical harm or death. Often.
As for M.C. Beaton’s series character, Agatha Raisin, I’d hardly describe the character as nice. Certainly not endearing. To me, Agatha is a fun protagonist in her sarcastic, grumpy, cigarette-smoking, self-centered way.
Jennie Bentley has some horrific things happen in her cozy renovation series. The skeleton of a baby is found in a crawl space above an attic, a 98 year-old woman is pushed to her death down steep stairs, and more.
In Sunny Frazier’s second book in her Christy Bristol series, Where Angels Fear, Christy gets involved in a membership-only S&M sex club. I have to say, the subject added spice to the story, but an objectionable topic to some? I would think so.
The books I’ve mentioned are missing a lot of tea drinkers, and in one way or another have taken a brazen step outside the boundary of their subgenre. Regardless, I came away from reading these books with a feeling I’d been on a fun ride. One without gloomy afterthoughts or bad dreams. As these authors’ examples illustrate, books called cozies can move outside their definition and still hold their label, cozy, so long as they leave the reader with their hallmark—a warm and comfy feeling. It works for me.
Linda Thorne began pursuing her true passion, writing, in 2005. Since then, she has published numerous short stories in the genres of mystery, thriller, and romance. Four of her short stories made the selection process for publication in the 2012 anthology, Soundtrack NOT Included. Her debut novel, Just Another Termination, is the first in a planned series of mysteries that tell the story of Judy Kenagy, the first career human resources manager to turn sleuth. She is currently writing the second book in her series, A Promotion to Die For. Thorne resides in a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee with her husband and two border collies. Learn more at http://www.lindathorne.com, and connect with her @lindamthorne on Twitter.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Too Cozy or Not Too Cozy? / Linda Thorne
Although it’s tempting to think of our own works as too special, too ground-breaking, too fill-in-the-blank to fit into any kind of genre, the truth is that every story fits into some kind of box, once you break it down enough. And that’s not a bad thing. Genre designations help us as a community of writers and readers to categorize our preferences, and reach the people interested in our particular niche.But what about when those definitions change? Can genres stretch to accommodate the needs and tastes of new generations? In this week’s guest blog, author Linda Thorne grapples with the constraints of “cozy”, and the different ways that modern cozies—including her own—diverge from these supposedly hard and fast rules.Happy reading!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Too Cozy or Not Too Cozy?
by Linda Thorne
Anything you hear regarding cozy mysteries will likely slot them into a sub-genre that promises the reader escape from anything objectionable. Profanity is eliminated, or virtually imperceptible. If sex is written into the book, it will always be low-key. The protagonist is never physically harmed or subjected to true violence. I recently read a post online that said crime in a cozy would be “bloodless.”
The setting is a small town where the characters drink tea and have cats or dogs for pets (sometimes other animals). The lead will be a female amateur sleuth, often described as a sincerely nice and endearing person. The definition offered here is what I read in posts and articles. It’s the same when I listen to authors speak on the subject.
Before my debut novel Just Another Termination was contracted for publication, I submitted it to agents, publishers, contests, always referencing it as a mystery. My rejection letters referred to it as a cozy. One year when I entered Just Another Termination in the Colorado Gold Writers Contest, one of the judges wrote notes in the margin beside my description of the first dead body, a crime scene far from “bloodless.” He said I was stepping outside the bounds of cozy.
I made all the other changes both my judges suggested, but held on to the grizzly, real-life description of the dead body, as it seemed important to my story. When I found a publisher, the graphic details of my murder scene survived their edits, yet my book is still considered a cozy.
Are there cozies that are hybrids: mostly mystery with a touch of cozy? I presented the question to a panel of cozy authors at a Killer Nashville Writers’ Conference years ago, using Carolyn Haines’ Sarah Booth Delaney Bones series as an example. I told the group that I’d noticed Sara Booth’s sex life escalating in each new book and her consumption of Jack Daniels increasing. After some pause, one of the panel authors said, “Maybe we could call her books naughty cozies.” The whole room had a good laugh, but then the questions and responses moved back to the traditional elements of cozies.
But my question hadn’t been answered: why do the cozies I read (and write) not meet some or all of the typical cozy criteria? Goldy Schultz, the caterer protagonist in Diane Mott Davidson’s series, has been knocked down, bonked, bruised, and stabbed. She’s been left unconscious and has found herself confronted by many murderers trying to kill her. Any reader of the series should find solid reason to believe she is in true danger of physical harm or death. Often.
As for M.C. Beaton’s series character, Agatha Raisin, I’d hardly describe the character as nice. Certainly not endearing. To me, Agatha is a fun protagonist in her sarcastic, grumpy, cigarette-smoking, self-centered way.
Jennie Bentley has some horrific things happen in her cozy renovation series. The skeleton of a baby is found in a crawl space above an attic, a 98 year-old woman is pushed to her death down steep stairs, and more.
In Sunny Frazier’s second book in her Christy Bristol series, Where Angels Fear, Christy gets involved in a membership-only S&M sex club. I have to say, the subject added spice to the story, but an objectionable topic to some? I would think so.
The books I’ve mentioned are missing a lot of tea drinkers, and in one way or another have taken a brazen step outside the boundary of their subgenre. Regardless, I came away from reading these books with a feeling I’d been on a fun ride. One without gloomy afterthoughts or bad dreams. As these authors’ examples illustrate, books called cozies can move outside their definition and still hold their label, cozy, so long as they leave the reader with their hallmark—a warm and comfy feeling. It works for me.
Linda Thorne began pursuing her true passion, writing, in 2005. Since then, she has published numerous short stories in the genres of mystery, thriller, and romance. Four of her short stories made the selection process for publication in the 2012 anthology, Soundtrack NOT Included. Her debut novel, Just Another Termination, is the first in a planned series of mysteries that tell the story of Judy Kenagy, the first career human resources manager to turn sleuth. She is currently writing the second book in her series, A Promotion to Die For. Thorne resides in a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee with her husband and two border collies. Learn more at http://www.lindathorne.com, and connect with her @lindamthorne on Twitter.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Too Cozy or Not Too Cozy? / Linda Thorne
Although it’s tempting to think of our own works as too special, too ground-breaking, too fill-in-the-blank to fit into any kind of genre, the truth is that every story fits into some kind of box, once you break it down enough. And that’s not a bad thing. Genre designations help us as a community of writers and readers to categorize our preferences, and reach the people interested in our particular niche.But what about when those definitions change? Can genres stretch to accommodate the needs and tastes of new generations? In this week’s guest blog, author Linda Thorne grapples with the constraints of “cozy”, and the different ways that modern cozies—including her own—diverge from these supposedly hard and fast rules.Happy reading!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Too Cozy or Not Too Cozy?
by Linda Thorne
Anything you hear regarding cozy mysteries will likely slot them into a sub-genre that promises the reader escape from anything objectionable. Profanity is eliminated, or virtually imperceptible. If sex is written into the book, it will always be low-key. The protagonist is never physically harmed or subjected to true violence. I recently read a post online that said crime in a cozy would be “bloodless.”
The setting is a small town where the characters drink tea and have cats or dogs for pets (sometimes other animals). The lead will be a female amateur sleuth, often described as a sincerely nice and endearing person. The definition offered here is what I read in posts and articles. It’s the same when I listen to authors speak on the subject.
Before my debut novel Just Another Termination was contracted for publication, I submitted it to agents, publishers, contests, always referencing it as a mystery. My rejection letters referred to it as a cozy. One year when I entered Just Another Termination in the Colorado Gold Writers Contest, one of the judges wrote notes in the margin beside my description of the first dead body, a crime scene far from “bloodless.” He said I was stepping outside the bounds of cozy.
I made all the other changes both my judges suggested, but held on to the grizzly, real-life description of the dead body, as it seemed important to my story. When I found a publisher, the graphic details of my murder scene survived their edits, yet my book is still considered a cozy.
Are there cozies that are hybrids: mostly mystery with a touch of cozy? I presented the question to a panel of cozy authors at a Killer Nashville Writers’ Conference years ago, using Carolyn Haines’ Sarah Booth Delaney Bones series as an example. I told the group that I’d noticed Sara Booth’s sex life escalating in each new book and her consumption of Jack Daniels increasing. After some pause, one of the panel authors said, “Maybe we could call her books naughty cozies.” The whole room had a good laugh, but then the questions and responses moved back to the traditional elements of cozies.
But my question hadn’t been answered: why do the cozies I read (and write) not meet some or all of the typical cozy criteria? Goldy Schultz, the caterer protagonist in Diane Mott Davidson’s series, has been knocked down, bonked, bruised, and stabbed. She’s been left unconscious and has found herself confronted by many murderers trying to kill her. Any reader of the series should find solid reason to believe she is in true danger of physical harm or death. Often.
As for M.C. Beaton’s series character, Agatha Raisin, I’d hardly describe the character as nice. Certainly not endearing. To me, Agatha is a fun protagonist in her sarcastic, grumpy, cigarette-smoking, self-centered way.
Jennie Bentley has some horrific things happen in her cozy renovation series. The skeleton of a baby is found in a crawl space above an attic, a 98 year-old woman is pushed to her death down steep stairs, and more.
In Sunny Frazier’s second book in her Christy Bristol series, Where Angels Fear, Christy gets involved in a membership-only S&M sex club. I have to say, the subject added spice to the story, but an objectionable topic to some? I would think so.
The books I’ve mentioned are missing a lot of tea drinkers, and in one way or another have taken a brazen step outside the boundary of their subgenre. Regardless, I came away from reading these books with a feeling I’d been on a fun ride. One without gloomy afterthoughts or bad dreams. As these authors’ examples illustrate, books called cozies can move outside their definition and still hold their label, cozy, so long as they leave the reader with their hallmark—a warm and comfy feeling. It works for me.
Linda Thorne began pursuing her true passion, writing, in 2005. Since then, she has published numerous short stories in the genres of mystery, thriller, and romance. Four of her short stories made the selection process for publication in the 2012 anthology, Soundtrack NOT Included. Her debut novel, Just Another Termination, is the first in a planned series of mysteries that tell the story of Judy Kenagy, the first career human resources manager to turn sleuth. She is currently writing the second book in her series, A Promotion to Die For. Thorne resides in a suburb of Nashville, Tennessee with her husband and two border collies. Learn more at http://www.lindathorne.com, and connect with her @lindamthorne on Twitter.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Stacking Your Positivity Deck: Ten Tips For Finishing Your Mystery / Bryan E. Robinson
We all need a healthy dose of reality. But what happens when the cold, hard facts of disappointment and failure start to overshadow the moments of happiness and victory? Can you make your own silver linings? This week’s guest blogger, author, professor, and psychotherapist Bryan Robinson, has known considerable success, but even his past triumphs and accolades weren’t enough to defeat debilitating self-doubt. He had to develop an entirely new set of tactics to get him through, and he’s here to teach you how to soldier on.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Stacking Your Positivity Deck:
Ten Tips For Finishing Your Mystery
By Bryan E. Robinson
When you started writing on a regular basis, did you think being an author would answer all your prayers, and you’d live happily ever after? Did you dream your book would be on bookstore shelves beside Lee Child, James Patterson, or Heather Graham? That it would hit number one on the bestsellers list and garner all the literary awards? That Steven Spielberg would beat down your door to sign your screenplay?
I did.
Were you perplexed to discover that nightmares come with the territory? Did an agent’s bludgeoning rejection, a publisher’s blast of disparagement, blistering reviews, no-shows at bookstore signings, deadline pressures, agonizing writer’s block, zero award nominations, and your own seismic rumble of self-doubt besiege you? And are you still waiting for Hollywood to call?
I am.
After dashed dreams, do you still love to write? If you have ink in your blood like me, you have to write. That’s what successful writers do. We persevere through literary storms, albeit bruised, bereft, and beleaguered. I’ve seen them: writers frazzled from publishing’s frenetic pace, spirits dead from unfulfilled hopes and stressful career demands. Empty shells, comatose, like zombies moving among the living.
I was one of them.
In the still and lonely hours before dawn, I plopped into the armchair, elbows digging into the knees of my ripped jeans. I dropped my head into my hands, grabbed a fistful of hair, and wept. That’s right. This grown man cried. After finishing my best mystery yet, or so I had thought, an editor I’d hired tore the plot to shreds. Rewrite after rewrite, dead-end after dead-end, confusion and frustration mired me. I wailed at the clock and shook my fist at the heavens, cursing, slamming things. Still, at every turn, I met one roadblock after another. Distraught, I didn’t know what else to do.
But cry.
Keep in mind, this wasn’t my first book. I had written thirty-five nonfiction and fiction books, tons of magazine and journal articles, blogs, and book chapters. I even won a few writing awards along the way. But I had never encountered that degree of writer’s hell. Those of us who are aspiring scribes know the publishing world is brutal—full of meteoric challenges, constant negativity, major setbacks, and devastating letdowns. Agents say the number one key to writing success—even more important than good writing—is perseverance, dogged determination in the face of disappointment.
One cruel fact of becoming a published author is that the mind’s negativity has a longer shelf life than positivity. I’ll bet you remember where you were on 9/11 but not the following week. Scientists say the brain is like Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive ones to keep us out of harm’s way. It takes three positive thoughts to offset one negative thought. No wonder it’s difficult to remain hopeful and persevere in a publishing career bombarded with the same bad-news bias that keeps us safe.
But here’s the good news: Grass grows through concrete. When negativity strikes, you can bounce back by overriding your negative knee-jerk reactions and stacking your positivity deck. You can underestimate writing threats and overestimate writing possibilities with the same tried-and-true tips that have helped me navigate the ups-and-downs of a tumultuous publishing world, break free from the clutches of writing woes, and finish that murder mystery from hell:
1. Focus on the upside of downside situations. “I’ve hit a wall with my novel’s ending” becomes “Other than the ending, I’ve completed my novel and gotten promising feedback.”
2. Pinpoint opportunities contained in negative writing events. Ask, “How can I make this situation work to my advantage? Can I find something positive in it? What can I manage or overcome in this instance?”
3. Frame setbacks as lessons to learn, not failures to endure. Ask what you can learn from difficult writing outcomes and use them as stepping-stones, instead of roadblocks.
4. Broaden your scope. Look beyond rejection, put on your wide-angle lens, and let your love of writing steer you beyond the gloom.
5. Be chancy. Take small risks in new situations instead of predicting negative outcomes before giving them a try. “If I agree to be on a panel at Killer Nashville, I might fall flat on my face” becomes “If I participate on a panel, I might get to network with other writers and promote my murder mystery.”
6. Avoid blowing situations out of proportion. Don’t let one negative experience rule your whole life pattern: “I didn’t sell my novel, so now I’ll never be a published author” becomes “I didn’t sell the novel, but there are many more pathways to getting it published.”
7. Focus on the solution, not the problem. You’ll feel more empowered to cope with writing’s curveballs when you step away from the problem and brainstorm a wide range of possibilities.
8. Practice positive self-talk. After big writing letdowns, underscore your triumphs and high-five your “tallcomings” instead of bludgeoning yourself with your “shortcomings.”
9. Hang out with positive people. Optimism is contagious. When you surround yourself with optimistic people, positivity rubs off.
10. Strive to see the fresh starts contained in your losses. Every time you get up just one more time than you fall, your perseverance increases the likelihood of propelling your mystery to the top of the charts.
Bryan E. Robinson is a novelist, psychotherapist, and Professor Emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He has authored thirty-five nonfiction books that have been translated into thirteen languages. His debut novel, Limestone Gumption: A Brad Pope and Sisterfriends Mystery won multiple awards, and his work has been featured on every major television network. He maintains a private clinical practice in Asheville, North Carolina, and resides in the Blue Ridge Mountains. He has completed the sequel to Limestone Gumption, She’ll Be KILLING Round the Mountain, and is working on the third installment, Michael Row the BODY Ashore. Visit his website: www.bryanrobinsonnovels.com or email him at info@bryanrobinsonnovels.com
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Stacking Your Positivity Deck: Ten Tips For Finishing Your Mystery / Bryan E. Robinson
We all need a healthy dose of reality. But what happens when the cold, hard facts of disappointment and failure start to overshadow the moments of happiness and victory? Can you make your own silver linings? This week’s guest blogger, author, professor, and psychotherapist Bryan Robinson, has known considerable success, but even his past triumphs and accolades weren’t enough to defeat debilitating self-doubt. He had to develop an entirely new set of tactics to get him through, and he’s here to teach you how to soldier on.Happy reading!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Stacking Your Positivity Deck:
Ten Tips For Finishing Your Mystery
By Bryan E. Robinson
When you started writing on a regular basis, did you think being an author would answer all your prayers, and you’d live happily ever after? Did you dream your book would be on bookstore shelves beside Lee Child, James Patterson, or Heather Graham? That it would hit number one on the bestsellers list and garner all the literary awards? That Steven Spielberg would beat down your door to sign your screenplay?
I did.
Were you perplexed to discover that nightmares come with the territory? Did an agent’s bludgeoning rejection, a publisher’s blast of disparagement, blistering reviews, no-shows at bookstore signings, deadline pressures, agonizing writer’s block, zero award nominations, and your own seismic rumble of self-doubt besiege you? And are you still waiting for Hollywood to call?
I am.
After dashed dreams, do you still love to write? If you have ink in your blood like me, you have to write. That’s what successful writers do. We persevere through literary storms, albeit bruised, bereft, and beleaguered. I’ve seen them: writers frazzled from publishing’s frenetic pace, spirits dead from unfulfilled hopes and stressful career demands. Empty shells, comatose, like zombies moving among the living.
I was one of them.
In the still and lonely hours before dawn, I plopped into the armchair, elbows digging into the knees of my ripped jeans. I dropped my head into my hands, grabbed a fistful of hair, and wept. That’s right. This grown man cried. After finishing my best mystery yet, or so I had thought, an editor I’d hired tore the plot to shreds. Rewrite after rewrite, dead-end after dead-end, confusion and frustration mired me. I wailed at the clock and shook my fist at the heavens, cursing, slamming things. Still, at every turn, I met one roadblock after another. Distraught, I didn’t know what else to do.
But cry.
Keep in mind, this wasn’t my first book. I had written thirty-five nonfiction and fiction books, tons of magazine and journal articles, blogs, and book chapters. I even won a few writing awards along the way. But I had never encountered that degree of writer’s hell. Those of us who are aspiring scribes know the publishing world is brutal—full of meteoric challenges, constant negativity, major setbacks, and devastating letdowns. Agents say the number one key to writing success—even more important than good writing—is perseverance, dogged determination in the face of disappointment.
One cruel fact of becoming a published author is that the mind’s negativity has a longer shelf life than positivity. I’ll bet you remember where you were on 9/11 but not the following week. Scientists say the brain is like Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive ones to keep us out of harm’s way. It takes three positive thoughts to offset one negative thought. No wonder it’s difficult to remain hopeful and persevere in a publishing career bombarded with the same bad-news bias that keeps us safe.
But here’s the good news: Grass grows through concrete. When negativity strikes, you can bounce back by overriding your negative knee-jerk reactions and stacking your positivity deck. You can underestimate writing threats and overestimate writing possibilities with the same tried-and-true tips that have helped me navigate the ups-and-downs of a tumultuous publishing world, break free from the clutches of writing woes, and finish that murder mystery from hell:
1. Focus on the upside of downside situations. “I’ve hit a wall with my novel’s ending” becomes “Other than the ending, I’ve completed my novel and gotten promising feedback.”
2. Pinpoint opportunities contained in negative writing events. Ask, “How can I make this situation work to my advantage? Can I find something positive in it? What can I manage or overcome in this instance?”
3. Frame setbacks as lessons to learn, not failures to endure. Ask what you can learn from difficult writing outcomes and use them as stepping-stones, instead of roadblocks.
4. Broaden your scope. Look beyond rejection, put on your wide-angle lens, and let your love of writing steer you beyond the gloom.
5. Be chancy. Take small risks in new situations instead of predicting negative outcomes before giving them a try. “If I agree to be on a panel at Killer Nashville, I might fall flat on my face” becomes “If I participate on a panel, I might get to network with other writers and promote my murder mystery.”
6. Avoid blowing situations out of proportion. Don’t let one negative experience rule your whole life pattern: “I didn’t sell my novel, so now I’ll never be a published author” becomes “I didn’t sell the novel, but there are many more pathways to getting it published.”
7. Focus on the solution, not the problem. You’ll feel more empowered to cope with writing’s curveballs when you step away from the problem and brainstorm a wide range of possibilities.
8. Practice positive self-talk. After big writing letdowns, underscore your triumphs and high-five your “tallcomings” instead of bludgeoning yourself with your “shortcomings.”
9. Hang out with positive people. Optimism is contagious. When you surround yourself with optimistic people, positivity rubs off.
10. Strive to see the fresh starts contained in your losses. Every time you get up just one more time than you fall, your perseverance increases the likelihood of propelling your mystery to the top of the charts.
Bryan E. Robinson is a novelist, psychotherapist, and Professor Emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He has authored thirty-five nonfiction books that have been translated into thirteen languages. His debut novel, Limestone Gumption: A Brad Pope and Sisterfriends Mystery won multiple awards, and his work has been featured on every major television network. He maintains a private clinical practice in Asheville, North Carolina, and resides in the Blue Ridge Mountains. He has completed the sequel to Limestone Gumption, She’ll Be KILLING Round the Mountain, and is working on the third installment, Michael Row the BODY Ashore. Visit his website: www.bryanrobinsonnovels.com or email him at info@bryanrobinsonnovels.com
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Stacking Your Positivity Deck: Ten Tips For Finishing Your Mystery / Bryan E. Robinson
We all need a healthy dose of reality. But what happens when the cold, hard facts of disappointment and failure start to overshadow the moments of happiness and victory? Can you make your own silver linings? This week’s guest blogger, author, professor, and psychotherapist Bryan Robinson, has known considerable success, but even his past triumphs and accolades weren’t enough to defeat debilitating self-doubt. He had to develop an entirely new set of tactics to get him through, and he’s here to teach you how to soldier on.Happy reading!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Stacking Your Positivity Deck:
Ten Tips For Finishing Your Mystery
By Bryan E. Robinson
When you started writing on a regular basis, did you think being an author would answer all your prayers, and you’d live happily ever after? Did you dream your book would be on bookstore shelves beside Lee Child, James Patterson, or Heather Graham? That it would hit number one on the bestsellers list and garner all the literary awards? That Steven Spielberg would beat down your door to sign your screenplay?
I did.
Were you perplexed to discover that nightmares come with the territory? Did an agent’s bludgeoning rejection, a publisher’s blast of disparagement, blistering reviews, no-shows at bookstore signings, deadline pressures, agonizing writer’s block, zero award nominations, and your own seismic rumble of self-doubt besiege you? And are you still waiting for Hollywood to call?
I am.
After dashed dreams, do you still love to write? If you have ink in your blood like me, you have to write. That’s what successful writers do. We persevere through literary storms, albeit bruised, bereft, and beleaguered. I’ve seen them: writers frazzled from publishing’s frenetic pace, spirits dead from unfulfilled hopes and stressful career demands. Empty shells, comatose, like zombies moving among the living.
I was one of them.
In the still and lonely hours before dawn, I plopped into the armchair, elbows digging into the knees of my ripped jeans. I dropped my head into my hands, grabbed a fistful of hair, and wept. That’s right. This grown man cried. After finishing my best mystery yet, or so I had thought, an editor I’d hired tore the plot to shreds. Rewrite after rewrite, dead-end after dead-end, confusion and frustration mired me. I wailed at the clock and shook my fist at the heavens, cursing, slamming things. Still, at every turn, I met one roadblock after another. Distraught, I didn’t know what else to do.
But cry.
Keep in mind, this wasn’t my first book. I had written thirty-five nonfiction and fiction books, tons of magazine and journal articles, blogs, and book chapters. I even won a few writing awards along the way. But I had never encountered that degree of writer’s hell. Those of us who are aspiring scribes know the publishing world is brutal—full of meteoric challenges, constant negativity, major setbacks, and devastating letdowns. Agents say the number one key to writing success—even more important than good writing—is perseverance, dogged determination in the face of disappointment.
One cruel fact of becoming a published author is that the mind’s negativity has a longer shelf life than positivity. I’ll bet you remember where you were on 9/11 but not the following week. Scientists say the brain is like Velcro for negative experiences and Teflon for positive ones to keep us out of harm’s way. It takes three positive thoughts to offset one negative thought. No wonder it’s difficult to remain hopeful and persevere in a publishing career bombarded with the same bad-news bias that keeps us safe.
But here’s the good news: Grass grows through concrete. When negativity strikes, you can bounce back by overriding your negative knee-jerk reactions and stacking your positivity deck. You can underestimate writing threats and overestimate writing possibilities with the same tried-and-true tips that have helped me navigate the ups-and-downs of a tumultuous publishing world, break free from the clutches of writing woes, and finish that murder mystery from hell:
1. Focus on the upside of downside situations. “I’ve hit a wall with my novel’s ending” becomes “Other than the ending, I’ve completed my novel and gotten promising feedback.”
2. Pinpoint opportunities contained in negative writing events. Ask, “How can I make this situation work to my advantage? Can I find something positive in it? What can I manage or overcome in this instance?”
3. Frame setbacks as lessons to learn, not failures to endure. Ask what you can learn from difficult writing outcomes and use them as stepping-stones, instead of roadblocks.
4. Broaden your scope. Look beyond rejection, put on your wide-angle lens, and let your love of writing steer you beyond the gloom.
5. Be chancy. Take small risks in new situations instead of predicting negative outcomes before giving them a try. “If I agree to be on a panel at Killer Nashville, I might fall flat on my face” becomes “If I participate on a panel, I might get to network with other writers and promote my murder mystery.”
6. Avoid blowing situations out of proportion. Don’t let one negative experience rule your whole life pattern: “I didn’t sell my novel, so now I’ll never be a published author” becomes “I didn’t sell the novel, but there are many more pathways to getting it published.”
7. Focus on the solution, not the problem. You’ll feel more empowered to cope with writing’s curveballs when you step away from the problem and brainstorm a wide range of possibilities.
8. Practice positive self-talk. After big writing letdowns, underscore your triumphs and high-five your “tallcomings” instead of bludgeoning yourself with your “shortcomings.”
9. Hang out with positive people. Optimism is contagious. When you surround yourself with optimistic people, positivity rubs off.
10. Strive to see the fresh starts contained in your losses. Every time you get up just one more time than you fall, your perseverance increases the likelihood of propelling your mystery to the top of the charts.
Bryan E. Robinson is a novelist, psychotherapist, and Professor Emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He has authored thirty-five nonfiction books that have been translated into thirteen languages. His debut novel, Limestone Gumption: A Brad Pope and Sisterfriends Mystery won multiple awards, and his work has been featured on every major television network. He maintains a private clinical practice in Asheville, North Carolina, and resides in the Blue Ridge Mountains. He has completed the sequel to Limestone Gumption, She’ll Be KILLING Round the Mountain, and is working on the third installment, Michael Row the BODY Ashore. Visit his website: www.bryanrobinsonnovels.com or email him at info@bryanrobinsonnovels.com
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
The First American Bestseller / Fedora Amis
It’s easy to lose track of our literary heritage in the mad scramble for the next big mystery/thriller genre hit. But if you’re running low on inspiration, and you’re exhausted from scouring Publisher’s Weekly for the latest market trends, then you might want to follow the advice of this week’s guest blogger, mystery author and aficionado Fedora Amis, and turn your attention to the greats of detective fiction past.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
The First American Bestseller
by Fedora Amis
I love to play dress up. I caught the costume bug when I was in first grade. I wore a cowboy hat and a toy gun when I sang “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better” with the cutest little blond cowboy in my school. Naturally, when I heard that Sisters in Crime (I’m president of the Greater St. Louis Chapter) was holding a costume contest, I was all agog to don Victorian duds and play a pivotal character in the history of mystery.
Here’s a quiz for you. Who wrote the first American full-length detective novel?
Betcha don’t know its title—The Leavenworth Case. Betcha didn’t know this 1878 mystery was the first true American bestseller. Betcha didn’t know Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of Sherlock Holmes fame was a devotee of this writer. Betcha think it was a man. But no—the first American detective story novelist was a woman: Anna Katherine Green.
What a pity we’ve forgotten our roots! I took SinC’s costume contest as an opportunity to remind mystery lovers that we owe a debt to the mother of the detective novel. I wore a long black skirt and bodice with just a dollop of gold to appear as the well-to-do nosy spinster from Gramercy Park, Miss Amelia Butterworth.
Amelia is a keen observer who understands why humans do what they do. She can get more answers with tea and cakes than a whole police station full of detectives. She loves disguises and keeps snooping around until she can fit all clues into a satisfying solution. Of course, because she’s an old maid and a female, authorities dismiss her as a pest. In truth, her very lack of gravitas gives her the best kind of cover for undercover work. Does this description sound like Miss Jane Marple, and many others since?
Anna Katherine Green is seldom read today. After all, she had to follow the conventions of Victorian prose. Her writing is geared for an audience with superior education, money for books, and leisure time without the constant access to entertainment we have today. Even so, Green’s plots are clever and she knew how to write chilling dialogue. We can learn a lesson from this little sample from the mad villain in her 1898 novel Lost Man’s Lane.
“Well, my pretty one,”—his voice grown suddenly wheedling, his face a study of mingled passions,—“we will see about that. Come just a step nearer, Lucetta. I want to see if you are really the little girl I used to dandle on my knee.”
What could be creepier than honeyed words laid over a tone of menace?
Edgar Allen Poe wrote the first detective story, but honors for the first full-length detective novel go to a Frenchman, Emile Gaboriau (L’Affaire Lerouge, 1866). Just two years later, Englishman Wilkie Collins published The Moonstone, a work praised by T.S. Eliot as “the first, the longest and the best of modern English detective novels... in a genre invented by Collins and not by Poe.” With her 1878 novel, Anna Katherine Green was not only the first American to write a detective novel; she was the first woman on planet earth.
As mystery writers, I hope we never lose sight of our literary heritage. I urge everyone to follow the example of those who have gone before. They were innovators. They boldly steered storytelling somewhere new. Besides the example they set, our mystery ancestors teach us how to write better.
A writer who spends a little time with Dorothy L. Sayers can’t help learning how to add humor to mystery. Reading Josephine Tey will surely sharpen a writer’s wits. An author inclined to tell too much too soon should study the way Agatha Christie unravels clues and reveals characters little by little. Time with the greats is time well spent.
George Santayana said, “Those who don’t remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” That’s a great warning for mankind, and good advice to writers. Look to those who came before—read and learn.
Fedora Amis has won numerous awards including Outstanding Teacher of Speech in Missouri, membership in three halls of fame—state and national speech organizations and her own high school alma mater. Her non-fiction publications include books on speaking and logic, and articles for educational magazines. She won the Mayhaven Fiction Award for her Victorian whodunit, Jack the Ripper in St. Louis, and performs as real historical people and imagined characters from the 1800s. Fedora loves live theater, travel, plants, and cooking. She has one son, Skimmer, who partners Fedora in writing science fiction, fantasy, and magical realism. “Why do I write? I love words—always have—reading them, writing them. I even like looking them up in the dictionary.”
Don’t miss her new historical mystery, Mayhem at Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, coming from Five Star in February 2016. Visit Fedora’s website at www.Fedoraamis.com and follow her on Facebook at Fedoraamisauthor, and on Twitter @fedorandskimmer.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
The First American Bestseller / Fedora Amis
It’s easy to lose track of our literary heritage in the mad scramble for the next big mystery/thriller genre hit. But if you’re running low on inspiration, and you’re exhausted from scouring Publisher’s Weekly for the latest market trends, then you might want to follow the advice of this week’s guest blogger, mystery author and aficionado Fedora Amis, and turn your attention to the greats of detective fiction past.Happy reading!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
The First American Bestseller
by Fedora Amis
I love to play dress up. I caught the costume bug when I was in first grade. I wore a cowboy hat and a toy gun when I sang “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better” with the cutest little blond cowboy in my school. Naturally, when I heard that Sisters in Crime (I’m president of the Greater St. Louis Chapter) was holding a costume contest, I was all agog to don Victorian duds and play a pivotal character in the history of mystery.
Here’s a quiz for you. Who wrote the first American full-length detective novel?
Betcha don’t know its title—The Leavenworth Case. Betcha didn’t know this 1878 mystery was the first true American bestseller. Betcha didn’t know Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of Sherlock Holmes fame was a devotee of this writer. Betcha think it was a man. But no—the first American detective story novelist was a woman: Anna Katherine Green.
What a pity we’ve forgotten our roots! I took SinC’s costume contest as an opportunity to remind mystery lovers that we owe a debt to the mother of the detective novel. I wore a long black skirt and bodice with just a dollop of gold to appear as the well-to-do nosy spinster from Gramercy Park, Miss Amelia Butterworth.
Amelia is a keen observer who understands why humans do what they do. She can get more answers with tea and cakes than a whole police station full of detectives. She loves disguises and keeps snooping around until she can fit all clues into a satisfying solution. Of course, because she’s an old maid and a female, authorities dismiss her as a pest. In truth, her very lack of gravitas gives her the best kind of cover for undercover work. Does this description sound like Miss Jane Marple, and many others since?
Anna Katherine Green is seldom read today. After all, she had to follow the conventions of Victorian prose. Her writing is geared for an audience with superior education, money for books, and leisure time without the constant access to entertainment we have today. Even so, Green’s plots are clever and she knew how to write chilling dialogue. We can learn a lesson from this little sample from the mad villain in her 1898 novel Lost Man’s Lane.
“Well, my pretty one,”—his voice grown suddenly wheedling, his face a study of mingled passions,—“we will see about that. Come just a step nearer, Lucetta. I want to see if you are really the little girl I used to dandle on my knee.”
What could be creepier than honeyed words laid over a tone of menace?
Edgar Allen Poe wrote the first detective story, but honors for the first full-length detective novel go to a Frenchman, Emile Gaboriau (L’Affaire Lerouge, 1866). Just two years later, Englishman Wilkie Collins published The Moonstone, a work praised by T.S. Eliot as “the first, the longest and the best of modern English detective novels... in a genre invented by Collins and not by Poe.” With her 1878 novel, Anna Katherine Green was not only the first American to write a detective novel; she was the first woman on planet earth.
As mystery writers, I hope we never lose sight of our literary heritage. I urge everyone to follow the example of those who have gone before. They were innovators. They boldly steered storytelling somewhere new. Besides the example they set, our mystery ancestors teach us how to write better.
A writer who spends a little time with Dorothy L. Sayers can’t help learning how to add humor to mystery. Reading Josephine Tey will surely sharpen a writer’s wits. An author inclined to tell too much too soon should study the way Agatha Christie unravels clues and reveals characters little by little. Time with the greats is time well spent.
George Santayana said, “Those who don’t remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” That’s a great warning for mankind, and good advice to writers. Look to those who came before—read and learn.
Fedora Amis has won numerous awards including Outstanding Teacher of Speech in Missouri, membership in three halls of fame—state and national speech organizations and her own high school alma mater. Her non-fiction publications include books on speaking and logic, and articles for educational magazines. She won the Mayhaven Fiction Award for her Victorian whodunit, Jack the Ripper in St. Louis, and performs as real historical people and imagined characters from the 1800s. Fedora loves live theater, travel, plants, and cooking. She has one son, Skimmer, who partners Fedora in writing science fiction, fantasy, and magical realism. “Why do I write? I love words—always have—reading them, writing them. I even like looking them up in the dictionary.”
Don’t miss her new historical mystery, Mayhem at Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, coming from Five Star in February 2016. Visit Fedora’s website at www.Fedoraamis.com and follow her on Facebook at Fedoraamisauthor, and on Twitter @fedorandskimmer.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
The First American Bestseller / Fedora Amis
It’s easy to lose track of our literary heritage in the mad scramble for the next big mystery/thriller genre hit. But if you’re running low on inspiration, and you’re exhausted from scouring Publisher’s Weekly for the latest market trends, then you might want to follow the advice of this week’s guest blogger, mystery author and aficionado Fedora Amis, and turn your attention to the greats of detective fiction past.Happy reading!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
The First American Bestseller
by Fedora Amis
I love to play dress up. I caught the costume bug when I was in first grade. I wore a cowboy hat and a toy gun when I sang “Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better” with the cutest little blond cowboy in my school. Naturally, when I heard that Sisters in Crime (I’m president of the Greater St. Louis Chapter) was holding a costume contest, I was all agog to don Victorian duds and play a pivotal character in the history of mystery.
Here’s a quiz for you. Who wrote the first American full-length detective novel?
Betcha don’t know its title—The Leavenworth Case. Betcha didn’t know this 1878 mystery was the first true American bestseller. Betcha didn’t know Sir Arthur Conan Doyle of Sherlock Holmes fame was a devotee of this writer. Betcha think it was a man. But no—the first American detective story novelist was a woman: Anna Katherine Green.
What a pity we’ve forgotten our roots! I took SinC’s costume contest as an opportunity to remind mystery lovers that we owe a debt to the mother of the detective novel. I wore a long black skirt and bodice with just a dollop of gold to appear as the well-to-do nosy spinster from Gramercy Park, Miss Amelia Butterworth.
Amelia is a keen observer who understands why humans do what they do. She can get more answers with tea and cakes than a whole police station full of detectives. She loves disguises and keeps snooping around until she can fit all clues into a satisfying solution. Of course, because she’s an old maid and a female, authorities dismiss her as a pest. In truth, her very lack of gravitas gives her the best kind of cover for undercover work. Does this description sound like Miss Jane Marple, and many others since?
Anna Katherine Green is seldom read today. After all, she had to follow the conventions of Victorian prose. Her writing is geared for an audience with superior education, money for books, and leisure time without the constant access to entertainment we have today. Even so, Green’s plots are clever and she knew how to write chilling dialogue. We can learn a lesson from this little sample from the mad villain in her 1898 novel Lost Man’s Lane.
“Well, my pretty one,”—his voice grown suddenly wheedling, his face a study of mingled passions,—“we will see about that. Come just a step nearer, Lucetta. I want to see if you are really the little girl I used to dandle on my knee.”
What could be creepier than honeyed words laid over a tone of menace?
Edgar Allen Poe wrote the first detective story, but honors for the first full-length detective novel go to a Frenchman, Emile Gaboriau (L’Affaire Lerouge, 1866). Just two years later, Englishman Wilkie Collins published The Moonstone, a work praised by T.S. Eliot as “the first, the longest and the best of modern English detective novels... in a genre invented by Collins and not by Poe.” With her 1878 novel, Anna Katherine Green was not only the first American to write a detective novel; she was the first woman on planet earth.
As mystery writers, I hope we never lose sight of our literary heritage. I urge everyone to follow the example of those who have gone before. They were innovators. They boldly steered storytelling somewhere new. Besides the example they set, our mystery ancestors teach us how to write better.
A writer who spends a little time with Dorothy L. Sayers can’t help learning how to add humor to mystery. Reading Josephine Tey will surely sharpen a writer’s wits. An author inclined to tell too much too soon should study the way Agatha Christie unravels clues and reveals characters little by little. Time with the greats is time well spent.
George Santayana said, “Those who don’t remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” That’s a great warning for mankind, and good advice to writers. Look to those who came before—read and learn.
Fedora Amis has won numerous awards including Outstanding Teacher of Speech in Missouri, membership in three halls of fame—state and national speech organizations and her own high school alma mater. Her non-fiction publications include books on speaking and logic, and articles for educational magazines. She won the Mayhaven Fiction Award for her Victorian whodunit, Jack the Ripper in St. Louis, and performs as real historical people and imagined characters from the 1800s. Fedora loves live theater, travel, plants, and cooking. She has one son, Skimmer, who partners Fedora in writing science fiction, fantasy, and magical realism. “Why do I write? I love words—always have—reading them, writing them. I even like looking them up in the dictionary.”
Don’t miss her new historical mystery, Mayhem at Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, coming from Five Star in February 2016. Visit Fedora’s website at www.Fedoraamis.com and follow her on Facebook at Fedoraamisauthor, and on Twitter @fedorandskimmer.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
See the Author? BE the Author / D. Alan Lewis
As much as we hate being judged by our covers, unfortunately that’s the name of the game in marketing. Book displays, business cards, and professional attire go a long way in gaining respect from potential customers at signing and selling events. This week’s guest blogger, fantasy author D. Alan Lewis, offers advice on the promotional power of looking the part.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
See the Author? BE the Author
By D. Alan Lewis
At a recent book signing/selling event, a gentleman approached my table and struck up a conversation. There were several authors including myself at the event, all of us lumped together in a section of the room with our wares on display. Each had a small table with a variety of books, running the gamut of genres.
The man walked down the row, looking but not stopping until he stepped up to the last table, mine. He started picking up bookmarks and cards, asking questions, and finally made a purchase. As I handed him his change, I mentioned a book by one of the other authors but he only shrugged, smiled, and informed me that my books were the only ones he’d consider purchasing.
Intrigued, I asked why only my books. His answer was simple but powerful.
“Because you look like a real author. You present your books and market them like a real author.” He went on to point out the bookmarks, cards, and other promotional items, and then added, “The other folks here didn’t think enough of their books to bother.”
At a loss, I looked at the other author’s displays and caught on to what he meant. An absence of basic marketing merchandise became very clear. Some of the authors didn’t have bookmarks, or even business cards. No one else had signage of any type. While I’d spent money early on in my book-selling adventures to purchase display racks and stands, no one else had.
After my first book went to print, I began paying attention to other authors and how they did things. I looked not only at what they were doing but also at the authors themselves.
So, here are a few basic tips that I’ve learned to promote sales at events.
Look professional: No matter where you are selling books, dress well for the occasion. I’m not saying you need a suit and tie, but shorts and a t-shirt shouldn’t be the go-to wardrobe choice.
Business cards: Seriously, invest some money in professionally printed cards. Homemade cards printed on your home computer will look like what they are, homemade and cheap. There are many sources online for inexpensive but good-looking cards. But do something different with your cards that’ll get people’s attention.
In my case, I write mainly science fiction and fantasy stories. I found a website (Zazzle) which has hundreds of styles. Instead of one box of cards, I purchased three. Zazzle offered several styles of sci-fi art that are on the card’s background, so I picked out three distinctly different images. It amazed me how folks will approach the table and look at the three different cards and comment on which one has the best art. If the customer likes the card, they’ll keep looking at, ingraining your name in their head along with the picture.
Bookmarks: Like business cards, there are many online sources for bookmarks. In my case, I found an inexpensive printer that makes double-sided bookmarks. Instead of using both sides to promote one book, I placed ads for different books on each side. This way, the person is exposed to more of my works after they leave the table.
Signs and banners: These can be an issue for some folks because of the expense. There is also an issue at times as to whether you’ll have space at an event for big, freestanding banners. The best advice is to start with what you can afford and go from there.
Tall banners are great for projecting your name and books titles across a room. If well designed, a good banner will generate interest and curiosity in you and your works. If your books are lying flat on a table, then a tabletop banners or signs are a great way to get passersby to notice the book covers.
Racks and stands: Too many authors feel that simply laying their books flat on a table will get them noticed. This is simply not true. Flat books are only seen by folks walking directly in front of your table. Inexpensive bookstands or wire racks will increase the visibility of your books from a distance and draw folks in to take a closer look.
While these are just a handful of suggestions, they are the most basic and usually, the most overlooked. Next time you’re at a book event, look around, see which authors grab your attention, and ask yourself what made you look.
Alan Lewis is an ‘alleged’ native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, who now resides in Nashville with his children. He has been writing technical guides and manuals for various employers for over twenty years but only in recent years has branched out in to writing fiction. In 2006, Alan took the reins of the Nashville Writers Meetup’s Novelist Group, where he works with new and aspiring writers.
Alan’s debut novel, a fantasy murder mystery, The Blood in Snowflake Garden was a finalist for the 2010 Claymore Award and has been optioned for a possible TV series. He has three other books in print, Keely: A Steampunk Story, The Lightning Bolts of Zeus, and The Bishop of Port Victoria. He is the editor of four anthologies for Luna’s Children 1 & 2 and Capes & Clockwork 1 & 2. He also has short stories in a number of anthologies, including Black Pulp, Pulpology, and Midnight Movie Creature Feature Vol.2. And recently released The Celeste Affair, a steampunk adventure as an e-book short. Reach Alan at http://www.snowflakegarden.com/
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
See the Author? BE the Author / D. Alan Lewis
As much as we hate being judged by our covers, unfortunately that’s the name of the game in marketing. Book displays, business cards, and professional attire go a long way in gaining respect from potential customers at signing and selling events. This week’s guest blogger, fantasy author D. Alan Lewis, offers advice on the promotional power of looking the part.Happy reading!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
See the Author? BE the Author
By D. Alan Lewis
At a recent book signing/selling event, a gentleman approached my table and struck up a conversation. There were several authors including myself at the event, all of us lumped together in a section of the room with our wares on display. Each had a small table with a variety of books, running the gamut of genres.
The man walked down the row, looking but not stopping until he stepped up to the last table, mine. He started picking up bookmarks and cards, asking questions, and finally made a purchase. As I handed him his change, I mentioned a book by one of the other authors but he only shrugged, smiled, and informed me that my books were the only ones he’d consider purchasing.
Intrigued, I asked why only my books. His answer was simple but powerful.
“Because you look like a real author. You present your books and market them like a real author.” He went on to point out the bookmarks, cards, and other promotional items, and then added, “The other folks here didn’t think enough of their books to bother.”
At a loss, I looked at the other author’s displays and caught on to what he meant. An absence of basic marketing merchandise became very clear. Some of the authors didn’t have bookmarks, or even business cards. No one else had signage of any type. While I’d spent money early on in my book-selling adventures to purchase display racks and stands, no one else had.
After my first book went to print, I began paying attention to other authors and how they did things. I looked not only at what they were doing but also at the authors themselves.
So, here are a few basic tips that I’ve learned to promote sales at events.
Look professional: No matter where you are selling books, dress well for the occasion. I’m not saying you need a suit and tie, but shorts and a t-shirt shouldn’t be the go-to wardrobe choice.
Business cards: Seriously, invest some money in professionally printed cards. Homemade cards printed on your home computer will look like what they are, homemade and cheap. There are many sources online for inexpensive but good-looking cards. But do something different with your cards that’ll get people’s attention.
In my case, I write mainly science fiction and fantasy stories. I found a website (Zazzle) which has hundreds of styles. Instead of one box of cards, I purchased three. Zazzle offered several styles of sci-fi art that are on the card’s background, so I picked out three distinctly different images. It amazed me how folks will approach the table and look at the three different cards and comment on which one has the best art. If the customer likes the card, they’ll keep looking at, ingraining your name in their head along with the picture.
Bookmarks: Like business cards, there are many online sources for bookmarks. In my case, I found an inexpensive printer that makes double-sided bookmarks. Instead of using both sides to promote one book, I placed ads for different books on each side. This way, the person is exposed to more of my works after they leave the table.
Signs and banners: These can be an issue for some folks because of the expense. There is also an issue at times as to whether you’ll have space at an event for big, freestanding banners. The best advice is to start with what you can afford and go from there.
Tall banners are great for projecting your name and books titles across a room. If well designed, a good banner will generate interest and curiosity in you and your works. If your books are lying flat on a table, then a tabletop banners or signs are a great way to get passersby to notice the book covers.
Racks and stands: Too many authors feel that simply laying their books flat on a table will get them noticed. This is simply not true. Flat books are only seen by folks walking directly in front of your table. Inexpensive bookstands or wire racks will increase the visibility of your books from a distance and draw folks in to take a closer look.
While these are just a handful of suggestions, they are the most basic and usually, the most overlooked. Next time you’re at a book event, look around, see which authors grab your attention, and ask yourself what made you look.
Alan Lewis is an ‘alleged’ native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, who now resides in Nashville with his children. He has been writing technical guides and manuals for various employers for over twenty years but only in recent years has branched out in to writing fiction. In 2006, Alan took the reins of the Nashville Writers Meetup’s Novelist Group, where he works with new and aspiring writers.
Alan’s debut novel, a fantasy murder mystery, The Blood in Snowflake Garden was a finalist for the 2010 Claymore Award and has been optioned for a possible TV series. He has three other books in print, Keely: A Steampunk Story, The Lightning Bolts of Zeus, and The Bishop of Port Victoria. He is the editor of four anthologies for Luna’s Children 1 & 2 and Capes & Clockwork 1 & 2. He also has short stories in a number of anthologies, including Black Pulp, Pulpology, and Midnight Movie Creature Feature Vol.2. And recently released The Celeste Affair, a steampunk adventure as an e-book short. Reach Alan at http://www.snowflakegarden.com/
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
See the Author? BE the Author / D. Alan Lewis
As much as we hate being judged by our covers, unfortunately that’s the name of the game in marketing. Book displays, business cards, and professional attire go a long way in gaining respect from potential customers at signing and selling events. This week’s guest blogger, fantasy author D. Alan Lewis, offers advice on the promotional power of looking the part.Happy reading!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
See the Author? BE the Author
By D. Alan Lewis
At a recent book signing/selling event, a gentleman approached my table and struck up a conversation. There were several authors including myself at the event, all of us lumped together in a section of the room with our wares on display. Each had a small table with a variety of books, running the gamut of genres.
The man walked down the row, looking but not stopping until he stepped up to the last table, mine. He started picking up bookmarks and cards, asking questions, and finally made a purchase. As I handed him his change, I mentioned a book by one of the other authors but he only shrugged, smiled, and informed me that my books were the only ones he’d consider purchasing.
Intrigued, I asked why only my books. His answer was simple but powerful.
“Because you look like a real author. You present your books and market them like a real author.” He went on to point out the bookmarks, cards, and other promotional items, and then added, “The other folks here didn’t think enough of their books to bother.”
At a loss, I looked at the other author’s displays and caught on to what he meant. An absence of basic marketing merchandise became very clear. Some of the authors didn’t have bookmarks, or even business cards. No one else had signage of any type. While I’d spent money early on in my book-selling adventures to purchase display racks and stands, no one else had.
After my first book went to print, I began paying attention to other authors and how they did things. I looked not only at what they were doing but also at the authors themselves.
So, here are a few basic tips that I’ve learned to promote sales at events.
Look professional: No matter where you are selling books, dress well for the occasion. I’m not saying you need a suit and tie, but shorts and a t-shirt shouldn’t be the go-to wardrobe choice.
Business cards: Seriously, invest some money in professionally printed cards. Homemade cards printed on your home computer will look like what they are, homemade and cheap. There are many sources online for inexpensive but good-looking cards. But do something different with your cards that’ll get people’s attention.
In my case, I write mainly science fiction and fantasy stories. I found a website (Zazzle) which has hundreds of styles. Instead of one box of cards, I purchased three. Zazzle offered several styles of sci-fi art that are on the card’s background, so I picked out three distinctly different images. It amazed me how folks will approach the table and look at the three different cards and comment on which one has the best art. If the customer likes the card, they’ll keep looking at, ingraining your name in their head along with the picture.
Bookmarks: Like business cards, there are many online sources for bookmarks. In my case, I found an inexpensive printer that makes double-sided bookmarks. Instead of using both sides to promote one book, I placed ads for different books on each side. This way, the person is exposed to more of my works after they leave the table.
Signs and banners: These can be an issue for some folks because of the expense. There is also an issue at times as to whether you’ll have space at an event for big, freestanding banners. The best advice is to start with what you can afford and go from there.
Tall banners are great for projecting your name and books titles across a room. If well designed, a good banner will generate interest and curiosity in you and your works. If your books are lying flat on a table, then a tabletop banners or signs are a great way to get passersby to notice the book covers.
Racks and stands: Too many authors feel that simply laying their books flat on a table will get them noticed. This is simply not true. Flat books are only seen by folks walking directly in front of your table. Inexpensive bookstands or wire racks will increase the visibility of your books from a distance and draw folks in to take a closer look.
While these are just a handful of suggestions, they are the most basic and usually, the most overlooked. Next time you’re at a book event, look around, see which authors grab your attention, and ask yourself what made you look.
Alan Lewis is an ‘alleged’ native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, who now resides in Nashville with his children. He has been writing technical guides and manuals for various employers for over twenty years but only in recent years has branched out in to writing fiction. In 2006, Alan took the reins of the Nashville Writers Meetup’s Novelist Group, where he works with new and aspiring writers.
Alan’s debut novel, a fantasy murder mystery, The Blood in Snowflake Garden was a finalist for the 2010 Claymore Award and has been optioned for a possible TV series. He has three other books in print, Keely: A Steampunk Story, The Lightning Bolts of Zeus, and The Bishop of Port Victoria. He is the editor of four anthologies for Luna’s Children 1 & 2 and Capes & Clockwork 1 & 2. He also has short stories in a number of anthologies, including Black Pulp, Pulpology, and Midnight Movie Creature Feature Vol.2. And recently released The Celeste Affair, a steampunk adventure as an e-book short. Reach Alan at http://www.snowflakegarden.com/
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Resourcefulness 101: Marketing Your Novelettes / Wayne Zurl
So you’re pretty sure the novelette you’ve got sitting on your hard drive is a phenomenon waiting to happen. Thanks to the Internet, there are more ways than ever to get your mini-masterpiece out there, but you could waste a lot of time wading through search results without a proper guide. That’s where this week’s guest blogger, former cop and successful novelette writer Wayne Zurl, comes in.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Resourcefulness 101: Marketing Your Novelettes
By Wayne Zurl
What the hell can you do with a novelette?
Practically speaking, not much—unless you get creative. Wikipedia and other Internet sources define novelette as a story ranging between 7,500 and 17,500 words. Try and sell one sometime. They’re too long for those who publish short stories, and too short for a publisher who’s looking for a novella or full-length novel.
After I finished my first Sam Jenkins mystery novel, A New Prospect, and while peddling it to agents and publishers, I wrote stories for practice. Each was based on an actual incident I encountered while working as a cop in New York. And each ended up longer than the accepted short story ceiling of 7,500 words. But while the memories were fresh and my creative juices were flowing, I ended up with a bunch. So, I tried to flog them, too.
I hit a few of the mainstream mystery magazines and walked away disappointed. Each got rejected, but one acquisitions editor was kind enough to explain why. Basically, he said, “The story is good, but it’s too long.”
I sighed.
“Look, everybody writes stuff this length,” he continued, “but we can only publish one a year. So, if James Patterson sends me one and you send one, who do you think I’m going to accept?”
Nuts, I thought, aced out by someone who didn’t need the exposure or the money. So, I began to scour the Internet for a publisher who might like longer, more detailed and developed stories—real cop fiction—a series featuring the same cast as in my novel.
I found a relatively new company whose sole mission was to produce one-hour audio books and simultaneously publish them as eBooks. Coincidentally, stories from between 8,000 and 11,000 words (those in the novelette range) translate to fifty-five to seventy minute audios—not unlike the old time one-hour radio dramas to which my mother used to listen while ironing or cooking.
I submitted what I thought was the pick of the litter and crossed my fingers. Then I received an email. I hadn’t opened a piece of correspondence with such trepidation since I found that letter from my local draft board back in 1967. But, ha, success! She (the publisher) wanted the novelette called A Labor Day Murder.
From there, we built a good relationship and she published eighteen more novelettes. I worked with her editors and a professional actor who read my work. I felt like I (almost) had my own TV series. Not exactly on one of the networks, or even on cable, but I had an audience, and they liked the adventures of the boys and girls of Prospect PD.
Then, years later, after she had accepted three more new pieces and I was waiting for the promised contracts, I received an unexpected email. “Sorry,” she said. “For personal reasons, I must stop publishing new material. I won’t be sending the contracts. I’m not going out of business, but just won’t be producing anything new.”
I was back to my old dilemma: What do I do with three really good novelettes (I liked those a lot) plus the two more I had sitting in the hopper ready to send in? Head to the Internet.
After an exhaustive search—for me, because when it comes to computers, I’m only a step above clueless—I found Melange Books, LLC. They would accept submissions of novelettes and consider them for publication as eBooks. Okay, my “show” had been cancelled, but eBooks would be better than nothing.
I sent Melange a serial killer story called Angel of the Lord. The publisher liked it and asked if I had any others. I thought: Wow, a match made in heaven.
“Sure,” said I. “I just happen to have four more that have never seen a publisher’s contract.”
“Great,” said she. “Send them and we’ll see about putting them into an anthology and publish it in print and eBook.”
“Yahoo,” I said.
Well, not really. But I did send them, and in April of 2015 they released From New York to the Smokies.
So, what’s my point? If Alfred Hitchcock, Ellery Queen, or The Strand aren’t interested in your very long stories, they can find a home. I did it the traditional way. But if you’re more computer savvy than I am, and you have the ambition to self-publish, you can create audio books, eBooks, and nifty anthologies from your novelette length stories and people will buy them… thousands of them.
Now, here’s a bit of logistical reality. With audio books, MP3 downloads sell MUCH better than compact discs. I never incurred the expense of producing the CDs, but know it was considerable. So, if you’re producing your own audio books, stick with a downloadable version. You’ll find more distributors to handle it/them.
And always back up your audio with a published eBook. They sell even more copies. You’ve already paid for the cover image, so use it on a second product. Then, after your series takes off, offer package deals or “bundles” of several episodes at a discount price.
Wayne Zurl grew up on Long Island and retired after twenty years with the Suffolk County Police Department, one of the largest municipal law enforcement agencies in New York and the nation. For thirteen of those years he served as a section commander supervising investigators.
He is a graduate of SUNY, Empire State College, and served on active duty in the US Army during the Vietnam War and later in the reserves. Zurl left New York to live in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee with his wife, Barbara—not far from Prospect PD.
Learn more about Wayne at http://www.waynezurlbooks.net/
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Resourcefulness 101: Marketing Your Novelettes / Wayne Zurl
So you’re pretty sure the novelette you’ve got sitting on your hard drive is a phenomenon waiting to happen. Thanks to the Internet, there are more ways than ever to get your mini-masterpiece out there, but you could waste a lot of time wading through search results without a proper guide. That’s where this week’s guest blogger, former cop and successful novelette writer Wayne Zurl, comes in.Happy reading!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Resourcefulness 101: Marketing Your Novelettes
By Wayne Zurl
What the hell can you do with a novelette?
Practically speaking, not much—unless you get creative. Wikipedia and other Internet sources define novelette as a story ranging between 7,500 and 17,500 words. Try and sell one sometime. They’re too long for those who publish short stories, and too short for a publisher who’s looking for a novella or full-length novel.
After I finished my first Sam Jenkins mystery novel, A New Prospect, and while peddling it to agents and publishers, I wrote stories for practice. Each was based on an actual incident I encountered while working as a cop in New York. And each ended up longer than the accepted short story ceiling of 7,500 words. But while the memories were fresh and my creative juices were flowing, I ended up with a bunch. So, I tried to flog them, too.
I hit a few of the mainstream mystery magazines and walked away disappointed. Each got rejected, but one acquisitions editor was kind enough to explain why. Basically, he said, “The story is good, but it’s too long.”
I sighed.
“Look, everybody writes stuff this length,” he continued, “but we can only publish one a year. So, if James Patterson sends me one and you send one, who do you think I’m going to accept?”
Nuts, I thought, aced out by someone who didn’t need the exposure or the money. So, I began to scour the Internet for a publisher who might like longer, more detailed and developed stories—real cop fiction—a series featuring the same cast as in my novel.
I found a relatively new company whose sole mission was to produce one-hour audio books and simultaneously publish them as eBooks. Coincidentally, stories from between 8,000 and 11,000 words (those in the novelette range) translate to fifty-five to seventy minute audios—not unlike the old time one-hour radio dramas to which my mother used to listen while ironing or cooking.
I submitted what I thought was the pick of the litter and crossed my fingers. Then I received an email. I hadn’t opened a piece of correspondence with such trepidation since I found that letter from my local draft board back in 1967. But, ha, success! She (the publisher) wanted the novelette called A Labor Day Murder.
From there, we built a good relationship and she published eighteen more novelettes. I worked with her editors and a professional actor who read my work. I felt like I (almost) had my own TV series. Not exactly on one of the networks, or even on cable, but I had an audience, and they liked the adventures of the boys and girls of Prospect PD.
Then, years later, after she had accepted three more new pieces and I was waiting for the promised contracts, I received an unexpected email. “Sorry,” she said. “For personal reasons, I must stop publishing new material. I won’t be sending the contracts. I’m not going out of business, but just won’t be producing anything new.”
I was back to my old dilemma: What do I do with three really good novelettes (I liked those a lot) plus the two more I had sitting in the hopper ready to send in? Head to the Internet.
After an exhaustive search—for me, because when it comes to computers, I’m only a step above clueless—I found Melange Books, LLC. They would accept submissions of novelettes and consider them for publication as eBooks. Okay, my “show” had been cancelled, but eBooks would be better than nothing.
I sent Melange a serial killer story called Angel of the Lord. The publisher liked it and asked if I had any others. I thought: Wow, a match made in heaven.
“Sure,” said I. “I just happen to have four more that have never seen a publisher’s contract.”
“Great,” said she. “Send them and we’ll see about putting them into an anthology and publish it in print and eBook.”
“Yahoo,” I said.
Well, not really. But I did send them, and in April of 2015 they released From New York to the Smokies.
So, what’s my point? If Alfred Hitchcock, Ellery Queen, or The Strand aren’t interested in your very long stories, they can find a home. I did it the traditional way. But if you’re more computer savvy than I am, and you have the ambition to self-publish, you can create audio books, eBooks, and nifty anthologies from your novelette length stories and people will buy them… thousands of them.
Now, here’s a bit of logistical reality. With audio books, MP3 downloads sell MUCH better than compact discs. I never incurred the expense of producing the CDs, but know it was considerable. So, if you’re producing your own audio books, stick with a downloadable version. You’ll find more distributors to handle it/them.
And always back up your audio with a published eBook. They sell even more copies. You’ve already paid for the cover image, so use it on a second product. Then, after your series takes off, offer package deals or “bundles” of several episodes at a discount price.
Wayne Zurl grew up on Long Island and retired after twenty years with the Suffolk County Police Department, one of the largest municipal law enforcement agencies in New York and the nation. For thirteen of those years he served as a section commander supervising investigators.
He is a graduate of SUNY, Empire State College, and served on active duty in the US Army during the Vietnam War and later in the reserves. Zurl left New York to live in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee with his wife, Barbara—not far from Prospect PD.
Learn more about Wayne at http://www.waynezurlbooks.net/
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Resourcefulness 101: Marketing Your Novelettes / Wayne Zurl
So you’re pretty sure the novelette you’ve got sitting on your hard drive is a phenomenon waiting to happen. Thanks to the Internet, there are more ways than ever to get your mini-masterpiece out there, but you could waste a lot of time wading through search results without a proper guide. That’s where this week’s guest blogger, former cop and successful novelette writer Wayne Zurl, comes in.Happy reading!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Resourcefulness 101: Marketing Your Novelettes
By Wayne Zurl
What the hell can you do with a novelette?
Practically speaking, not much—unless you get creative. Wikipedia and other Internet sources define novelette as a story ranging between 7,500 and 17,500 words. Try and sell one sometime. They’re too long for those who publish short stories, and too short for a publisher who’s looking for a novella or full-length novel.
After I finished my first Sam Jenkins mystery novel, A New Prospect, and while peddling it to agents and publishers, I wrote stories for practice. Each was based on an actual incident I encountered while working as a cop in New York. And each ended up longer than the accepted short story ceiling of 7,500 words. But while the memories were fresh and my creative juices were flowing, I ended up with a bunch. So, I tried to flog them, too.
I hit a few of the mainstream mystery magazines and walked away disappointed. Each got rejected, but one acquisitions editor was kind enough to explain why. Basically, he said, “The story is good, but it’s too long.”
I sighed.
“Look, everybody writes stuff this length,” he continued, “but we can only publish one a year. So, if James Patterson sends me one and you send one, who do you think I’m going to accept?”
Nuts, I thought, aced out by someone who didn’t need the exposure or the money. So, I began to scour the Internet for a publisher who might like longer, more detailed and developed stories—real cop fiction—a series featuring the same cast as in my novel.
I found a relatively new company whose sole mission was to produce one-hour audio books and simultaneously publish them as eBooks. Coincidentally, stories from between 8,000 and 11,000 words (those in the novelette range) translate to fifty-five to seventy minute audios—not unlike the old time one-hour radio dramas to which my mother used to listen while ironing or cooking.
I submitted what I thought was the pick of the litter and crossed my fingers. Then I received an email. I hadn’t opened a piece of correspondence with such trepidation since I found that letter from my local draft board back in 1967. But, ha, success! She (the publisher) wanted the novelette called A Labor Day Murder.
From there, we built a good relationship and she published eighteen more novelettes. I worked with her editors and a professional actor who read my work. I felt like I (almost) had my own TV series. Not exactly on one of the networks, or even on cable, but I had an audience, and they liked the adventures of the boys and girls of Prospect PD.
Then, years later, after she had accepted three more new pieces and I was waiting for the promised contracts, I received an unexpected email. “Sorry,” she said. “For personal reasons, I must stop publishing new material. I won’t be sending the contracts. I’m not going out of business, but just won’t be producing anything new.”
I was back to my old dilemma: What do I do with three really good novelettes (I liked those a lot) plus the two more I had sitting in the hopper ready to send in? Head to the Internet.
After an exhaustive search—for me, because when it comes to computers, I’m only a step above clueless—I found Melange Books, LLC. They would accept submissions of novelettes and consider them for publication as eBooks. Okay, my “show” had been cancelled, but eBooks would be better than nothing.
I sent Melange a serial killer story called Angel of the Lord. The publisher liked it and asked if I had any others. I thought: Wow, a match made in heaven.
“Sure,” said I. “I just happen to have four more that have never seen a publisher’s contract.”
“Great,” said she. “Send them and we’ll see about putting them into an anthology and publish it in print and eBook.”
“Yahoo,” I said.
Well, not really. But I did send them, and in April of 2015 they released From New York to the Smokies.
So, what’s my point? If Alfred Hitchcock, Ellery Queen, or The Strand aren’t interested in your very long stories, they can find a home. I did it the traditional way. But if you’re more computer savvy than I am, and you have the ambition to self-publish, you can create audio books, eBooks, and nifty anthologies from your novelette length stories and people will buy them… thousands of them.
Now, here’s a bit of logistical reality. With audio books, MP3 downloads sell MUCH better than compact discs. I never incurred the expense of producing the CDs, but know it was considerable. So, if you’re producing your own audio books, stick with a downloadable version. You’ll find more distributors to handle it/them.
And always back up your audio with a published eBook. They sell even more copies. You’ve already paid for the cover image, so use it on a second product. Then, after your series takes off, offer package deals or “bundles” of several episodes at a discount price.
Wayne Zurl grew up on Long Island and retired after twenty years with the Suffolk County Police Department, one of the largest municipal law enforcement agencies in New York and the nation. For thirteen of those years he served as a section commander supervising investigators.
He is a graduate of SUNY, Empire State College, and served on active duty in the US Army during the Vietnam War and later in the reserves. Zurl left New York to live in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee with his wife, Barbara—not far from Prospect PD.
Learn more about Wayne at http://www.waynezurlbooks.net/
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Finding Your Voice… As The Opposite Sex / Raymond Benson
How do you get inside your opposite gender protagonist’s head? Clearly, it’s not impossible to write across gender lines—the success of “Harry Potter” alone dismisses that idea. But it’s tricky. Isn’t it? Raymond Benson, of Bond novel fame, lets us in on his process of transforming his authorial voice from male to female.
And I’m with him: I love it when the woman wins.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Finding Your Voice… As The Opposite Sex
By Raymond Benson
Well, if that title doesn’t raise some eyebrows, I don’t know what will.
Seriously, we all do it—every writer at some point creates a protagonist who is one’s opposite gender. Even Ian Fleming did it for his 1962 Bond novel, The Spy Who Loved Me, in which the story is told in first person by a woman... and 007 doesn’t enter the novel until the last third. There are plenty of female authors who write male characters, but how many male authors follow the exploits of female characters? To be fair, there are definitely a few out there. I’m one.
Speaking of James Bond, I was fortunate enough to be hired by the Ian Fleming Estate to write continuation 007 books from 1996-2002. When that gig was finished, I set out to create my own brand of suspense novels, and they were a very different kettle of fish. My original novels tend to be Hitchcockian thrillers, mostly about everyday people in unusual circumstances. And more often than not, the protagonist is female.
Strangely enough, I think I found my elusive authorial “voice” by doing this. I’ve found that I’m pretty good at creating believable female heroines—they range from ordinary suburban housewives who must rise to the occasion to overcome a threat, to kick-ass women who put on masks and fight crime and injustice.
A case in point is my recent five-book serial featuring the character The Black Stiletto. It’s about a young woman in the 1950s who runs away from near-poverty and an abusive stepfather to New York City, where she becomes a legendary vigilante for five years, and then mysteriously disappears. But in the present day, a divorced dad approaching fifty is taking care of his elderly mother—she has Alzheimer’s and is dying—and he discovers that she was the infamous Black Stiletto. Thus, it’s two parallel stories—one in the present that deals with family and Alzheimer’s, and one in the past, which is about the Stiletto’s exploits.
The Stiletto’s portion of each book is in the form of a diary—that is, first person. How did I get the voice right? Good question! How did I get any of my female protagonists’ voices correct? I like to say, facetiously, that I used up all my testosterone writing James Bond, and now I’m forced to rely on whatever estrogen I have in my body.
But to examine this question seriously, I suppose the first answer could be that I really like women. Since they are from Mars, and we men are from Venus—oh, wait, is it the other way around?—it’s obvious they are a different species from my own. However, I have done my research, and that means living, relating, and empathizing with the wonderful creatures.
I have a mother and a sister with whom I’m close (my mother is 94 and still ass-kicking), a history of girlfriends, and one wife of twenty-eight years (and counting). I watch movies by Ingmar Bergman and Woody Allen, and any film buff will tell you that those guys create excellent roles for women. The best answer I can give is that I ultimately find women to be more interesting characters because, in my very male opinion, they’re more complex! Men only think about two things (and I’ll let the reader figure out what they are), but there’s a lot going on inside a woman’s brain. A woman can multi-task better than any man. I find that kind of cool... and sexy, too.
I also believe I’m a feminist; I’ve supported women’s political causes my entire life. I think I understand where a woman is coming from, regarding what is important to the female gender. In fact, when Library Journal described the first Black Stiletto book, they called it a “mashup of the work of Gloria Steinem, Ian Fleming, and Mario Puzo, all under the editorship of Stan Lee.” I was especially proud of the Gloria Steinem part. I want women to win.
The only thing left to master is learning how a woman dresses, applies makeup, and chooses what shoes to wear. For those kinds of things, I ask my wife. She is a reader and is extremely helpful with that stuff. “No, she would never wear that.” That kind of constructive criticism. And the Internet is great for researching period clothing, though thrift shops are also good resources.
My wife is also my first beta reader, so she’s the first to clobber me with, “A woman would never say that.” When I wrote the first Black Stiletto book in the form of a diary, I gave it to another (female) beta reader who told me that had she not known a man had written it, she would have been fooled. So I thought maybe I was on to something.
Now, years later, after over ten titles starring women characters, I’ve completed a new stand-alone literary chiller featuring yet another female protagonist—this one a sixty-year-old romance writer! So apparently I’m pretty comfortable in another gender’s skin.
Temporarily, that is. When I’m finished writing for the day, I do manly things like throwing burgers on the grill, bending lead pipes around my waist, and entering raw egg eating contests. It puts hair on the chest.
Raymond Benson is the author of over 30 published titles, including the first four entries in the Black Stiletto series: The Black Stiletto, The Black Stiletto: Black & White, The Black Stiletto: Stars & Stripes, and The Black Stiletto: Secrets & Lies. He is most well known for being the official James Bond 007 continuation author between 1996 and 2002. In total, he penned and published worldwide six original 007 novels, three film novelizations, and three short stories. An anthology of his 007 work, The Union Trilogy, and a second anthology, Choice of Weapons, followed. His book The James Bond Bedside Companion was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award by Mystery Writers of America. Benson has published several other bestsellers and award-winning books, and has authored the novelization of a number of popular video games. Benson lives in the Chicago area. Reach him at http://www.raymondbenson.com/
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
And for more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
“Murder, mayhem, and mystery! Every story in KILLER NASHVILLE: COLD-BLOODED is filled with suspense, sizzle and startling twists. I loved it!”
- Lisa Jackson, New York Times Bestselling Author
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Finding Your Voice… As The Opposite Sex / Raymond Benson
How do you get inside your opposite gender protagonist’s head? Clearly, it’s not impossible to write across gender lines—the success of “Harry Potter” alone dismisses that idea. But it’s tricky. Isn’t it? Raymond Benson, of Bond novel fame, lets us in on his process of transforming his authorial voice from male to female.And I’m with him: I love it when the woman wins.Happy reading!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Finding Your Voice… As The Opposite Sex
By Raymond Benson
Well, if that title doesn’t raise some eyebrows, I don’t know what will.
Seriously, we all do it—every writer at some point creates a protagonist who is one’s opposite gender. Even Ian Fleming did it for his 1962 Bond novel, The Spy Who Loved Me, in which the story is told in first person by a woman... and 007 doesn’t enter the novel until the last third. There are plenty of female authors who write male characters, but how many male authors follow the exploits of female characters? To be fair, there are definitely a few out there. I’m one.
Speaking of James Bond, I was fortunate enough to be hired by the Ian Fleming Estate to write continuation 007 books from 1996-2002. When that gig was finished, I set out to create my own brand of suspense novels, and they were a very different kettle of fish. My original novels tend to be Hitchcockian thrillers, mostly about everyday people in unusual circumstances. And more often than not, the protagonist is female.
Strangely enough, I think I found my elusive authorial “voice” by doing this. I’ve found that I’m pretty good at creating believable female heroines—they range from ordinary suburban housewives who must rise to the occasion to overcome a threat, to kick-ass women who put on masks and fight crime and injustice.
A case in point is my recent five-book serial featuring the character The Black Stiletto. It’s about a young woman in the 1950s who runs away from near-poverty and an abusive stepfather to New York City, where she becomes a legendary vigilante for five years, and then mysteriously disappears. But in the present day, a divorced dad approaching fifty is taking care of his elderly mother—she has Alzheimer’s and is dying—and he discovers that she was the infamous Black Stiletto. Thus, it’s two parallel stories—one in the present that deals with family and Alzheimer’s, and one in the past, which is about the Stiletto’s exploits.
The Stiletto’s portion of each book is in the form of a diary—that is, first person. How did I get the voice right? Good question! How did I get any of my female protagonists’ voices correct? I like to say, facetiously, that I used up all my testosterone writing James Bond, and now I’m forced to rely on whatever estrogen I have in my body.
But to examine this question seriously, I suppose the first answer could be that I really like women. Since they are from Mars, and we men are from Venus—oh, wait, is it the other way around?—it’s obvious they are a different species from my own. However, I have done my research, and that means living, relating, and empathizing with the wonderful creatures.
I have a mother and a sister with whom I’m close (my mother is 94 and still ass-kicking), a history of girlfriends, and one wife of twenty-eight years (and counting). I watch movies by Ingmar Bergman and Woody Allen, and any film buff will tell you that those guys create excellent roles for women. The best answer I can give is that I ultimately find women to be more interesting characters because, in my very male opinion, they’re more complex! Men only think about two things (and I’ll let the reader figure out what they are), but there’s a lot going on inside a woman’s brain. A woman can multi-task better than any man. I find that kind of cool... and sexy, too.
I also believe I’m a feminist; I’ve supported women’s political causes my entire life. I think I understand where a woman is coming from, regarding what is important to the female gender. In fact, when Library Journal described the first Black Stiletto book, they called it a “mashup of the work of Gloria Steinem, Ian Fleming, and Mario Puzo, all under the editorship of Stan Lee.” I was especially proud of the Gloria Steinem part. I want women to win.
The only thing left to master is learning how a woman dresses, applies makeup, and chooses what shoes to wear. For those kinds of things, I ask my wife. She is a reader and is extremely helpful with that stuff. “No, she would never wear that.” That kind of constructive criticism. And the Internet is great for researching period clothing, though thrift shops are also good resources.
My wife is also my first beta reader, so she’s the first to clobber me with, “A woman would never say that.” When I wrote the first Black Stiletto book in the form of a diary, I gave it to another (female) beta reader who told me that had she not known a man had written it, she would have been fooled. So I thought maybe I was on to something.
Now, years later, after over ten titles starring women characters, I’ve completed a new stand-alone literary chiller featuring yet another female protagonist—this one a sixty-year-old romance writer! So apparently I’m pretty comfortable in another gender’s skin.
Temporarily, that is. When I’m finished writing for the day, I do manly things like throwing burgers on the grill, bending lead pipes around my waist, and entering raw egg eating contests. It puts hair on the chest.
Raymond Benson is the author of over 30 published titles, including the first four entries in the Black Stiletto series: The Black Stiletto, The Black Stiletto: Black & White, The Black Stiletto: Stars & Stripes, and The Black Stiletto: Secrets & Lies. He is most well known for being the official James Bond 007 continuation author between 1996 and 2002. In total, he penned and published worldwide six original 007 novels, three film novelizations, and three short stories. An anthology of his 007 work, The Union Trilogy, and a second anthology, Choice of Weapons, followed. His book The James Bond Bedside Companion was nominated for an Edgar Allan Poe Award by Mystery Writers of America. Benson has published several other bestsellers and award-winning books, and has authored the novelization of a number of popular video games. Benson lives in the Chicago area. Reach him at http://www.raymondbenson.com/
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