The Attraction… and Fear…. of the New

Those who follow me know that I write a long-standing series about a private eye named Hannibal Jones. My readers and I are very comfortable with Hannibal. There’s also the series featuring Morgan Stark and Felicity O’Brien. Five adventures later those stories roll our fairly easily too.

That’s the beauty of writing series: Familiar characters who are fully formed allow a writer to focus on the plot. And readers know what to expect.

But sometimes a writer wants some surprises. There is an attraction to inventing a new cast of characters and seeing where they take you. Which is why the novel I most recently finished follows a character who is very different from any protagonist I’ve written. She is not a hero in any way. In fact, she’s a professional assassin.

Skye came to me as the focus of a short story for the Smart Rhino collection called “Insidious Assassins.” I’ll admit I was proud of the story, and that Skye wouldn’t leave my mind. She wanted more room to expand. Of course the wonder of short stories is that characters don’t have to have extensive backstories, and you don’t need to know details of their lives (like where they live, who their friends are or what they do in their off time.)

As I launched into the story I had in mind for my new character she began to deepen and develop. She doesn’t have a partner, per se, but she does have a confidente – her psychiatrist. This turned out to be a fun way to reveal character. The story moved quickly, and the action branded it a thriller reminiscent of the paperbacks I used to read in college (The Destroyer series, the Executioner books, etc.)

However, I was also feeling all the downsides of starting over. I had to really think through everything the character did. She was not at all familiar. In fact, I was working with a stranger who frequently did not react as expected. Plot points had to be adjusted to bring our protagonist to the places she needed to be.

And there is that last fear: what if my readers don’t like Skye as much as I do? What if in the 21^st Century a killer-for-hire as the protagonist is too much of a stretch for fans? What if these stories aren’t what my readers want? Well, ultimately the character attracted me. The story drew me. So now I have to accept the fear as well. 

Why Genre Matters

At the first couple of writer’s conferences I attended I asked authors what to call my first book. Mystery? Thriller? Suspense? I was told more than once that “genre” was a publisher’s invention, of value only to the marketing team.

I’ve since learned to view that fact from the other side. Yes, it’s a marketing tool, in that it helps sell books by letting readers know if they want what you write. Genre is a way to help your natural audience find your book.

Each genre has specific conventions that readers expect. If you write genre fiction, it pays to meet those reader expectations.  Sure, the best known authors wander far from those expectations but if you’re starting out it’s a lot easier to build a readership by writing a book that fits exactly into your genre. Hopefully you’re writing what you love to read, which should mean you know what those conventions are.

I write private eye mysteries. I know the kind of character my readers want, a detective who’s dedicated to his client and to finding the truth. These detectives live in a dark, unforgiving world and will get violent when they need to. They’ll get knocked out but seldom show the results of repeated concussions. And in the end, the bad guy will ALWAYS get punished.

On the other hand, Penny Clover Petersen writes cozy mysteries. Readers expect her amateur sleuths to be, and meet, quirky characters. There will be no blood or gore, and little profanity (unless it lends itself to humor.) She stays within those lines but still manages to create unique and unforgettable stories.

Each genre has dedicated fans who read several books every month. Staying in your genre gives you a guaranteed audience, assuming you write good stories with interesting characters.  When I hear a writer say her story has something for everyone, or that it will appeal to every reader, what I hear is “I don’t know who my audience is.” And if a reader who picks up your book isn’t sure if it’s focus is on being a paranormal fantasy or historical romance or a traditional whodunnit, they, will most likely put it back down and look elsewhere.

In my experience, all the plusses of sticking to a clear genre are magnified if you decide to write a series. After the first book, everything is established. Readers are already familiar with the setting, they know your main character, and the secondary characters are expected. And in terms of sales, it’s easier for readers to find your follow-on books because series take up more space online. And once you’ve hooked them, they’ll search out your books.

So remember – fiction genres are your friend! Stick with them.

Where ELSE Do Reviews Come From

Authors know that third party endorsements, otherwise known as reviews, are key to book sales. They represent the word-of-mouth push that is the most important piece of marketing. Last week I talked about many mainstream reviewers but there are other options.

Amazon reviewers might comment on your book at any time. The Amazon Top Reviewers carry quite a bit of clout, so it’s smart to pursue them soon after your book is released. When you approach them, you need to be thoughtful and courteous. You can’t assume you’re owed a review. Just send an introductory email with a little of your background and ask if they would accept a complimentary copy of your book. Ask if they prefer hard copy or an electronic copy. Just remember that you’re asking a big favor of a stranger. So be sure to send a thank you note if you do get a review.  And afterward, vote that the review was helpful.

Another group to start pitching early is bloggers. Most of them list pretty specific guidelines and you need to stick to them closely.

You can find these bloggers on several directories, for example http://www.theindieview.com/indie-reviewers, /http://bookbloggerlist.com/ and https://bookrevieweryellowpages.com/. However, these lists get outdated faster than the owners can update them so it’s a good idea to Google “book bloggers” and do a search on Twitter. 

Don’t send a mass email. Bloggers appreciate emails addressed personally to them. Mention a recent review so they know you have read their blog. Otherwise, everything I said about approaching Amazon reviewers applies.

Of course, reviews from readers are priceless and the more your book has, the better it will sell. But unlike bloggers or Amazon reviewers, you can’t send a note to each person who reads your book asking for a review.

Or can you?

Adding a letter to the back of your book addressed to the reader, inviting them to contact you, brings them right to you. It’s a good place to mention any awards won. And this is where you can ask them politely for a book review. In your letter, remind your reader that you need their help and they would be helping you a great deal if they were to post an honest review. Include the link to your book on Amazon so it’s easy for the reader to get directly to the right place to leave the review.

A wise reader will reach out to people in all the groups I’ve mentioned in this blog and the last. One thing no author has ever had is too many reviews.

Reviews: Do you Really Like Me?

At Intrigue Publishing we send 25 Advance Reader Copies of each new book to a carefully curated list of reviewers. Why? Because ultimately, almost all books sales are the result of a personal recommendation, and reviewers are powerful recommenders. However, some of our books might get one or two reviews while others get 10 or 12. I’d love to know why… but it remains a mystery to me. We were stunned when we got the first couple of Publishers Weekly reviews, and just as stunned when other books were ignored.

One thing we DON’T do is pay for book reviews. I have always been skeptical of the value of praise that you paid someone to give. However, I can’t deny the truth that there are a lot more books coming out than the reputable reviewers could possibly read and paying the reviewer is one way to move to the front of the line.

Of course, authors can pursue reviews without their publisher’s backing, but those who choose to pay for them need to look closely at the sources. There are paid review sources that are held in pretty high esteem. Kirkus Reviews is probably at the top of that list, followed by IndieReader, BlueInk Review and a few others. Readers may not know, or even care, that you paid someone to review your book.

Before paying for a review, consider the quality of reviews you’ve seen from that source, and how many people will see it without your efforts. As an example, IndieReader offers more exposure for better books. They posts reviews on their site and they are shared by Ingram. Books that get a 4 or 5-star rating are included in a “Best Of” round-up on their site every month and are pushed to an email list of about 5,000 readers.

Quality matters, in part, because if Amazon doesn’t think your review is legit they’ll delete it. Short reviews that don’t refer specifically to some aspect of your book  could disappear. “Great read by this exciting author” could apply to any book. This is the kind of thing Amazon may well pull down.

Of course, the most treasured reviews are from professional sources, but they tend to want the book well in advance. When authors ask us why it takes so long to bring their books to market I mention, in part, that if you want a review from Publishers Weekly, the New York Times, the New York Review of Books, the Wall Street Journal and other professional publications you have to get the book to them four months to six months prior to release. It is of course a crap shoot, but it’s well worth the wait for a chance to be reviewed by any of these sources.

We’ll explore getting reviews in more detail next week.