The Edge of the New Thing

At Bouchercon I saw convincing evidence that the paper book was not dead, as hundreds of fans hauled away rolling cases filled with new acquisitions. But there was also much talk of the popularity of e-books, which got a dramatic boost from the Kindle.

A completely separate ongoing conversation had to do with the threatened death of the short mystery story. The most vocal proponents of this form belong to the Short Mystery Fiction Society which gives out the Derringer Award for the best short mystery of the year.

The challenge with short stories is that there are precious few places to get them published. Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazines have little competition these days. The Strand is a larger, slick magazine that also publishes some fiction among other things.

So the question arises, will people buy short stories the way they buy novels in e-book format? Perhaps the short story form will gain even more popularity if the stories can be purchased individually.

If short fiction sold individually is the leading edge of the new wave of reading options, then Echelon Press is standing at that edge. Their new line of Echelon Shorts allows readers to download quick reads for small money – much like downloading the songs you like to make your own IPod mix instead of buying whole CDs.

I loved the idea I decided to submit a story myself and was pleased to be accepted. So now, for a couple of bucks, new readers can get the flavor of a Hannibal Jones novel in a few thousand words. My short story, “A Little Wildness” has all the basic elements of a Hannibal Jones novel in a bite-sized package.

Naturally, I hope you’ll give the story a try. But more to the point, I hope you and others will step further into the 21st century and sample other short stories on the site. This could be the reading plan of the future and we get to be there today.

What to Do At a Networking Event

Tomorrow I’ll be moderating a panel at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention in Indianapolis. If you can attend, look for me at 1:30 pm. I will moderate a panel on "TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY PRIVATE EYES," discussing current and future trends in the private eye novel with four of the best practitioners of the art: Jack Fredrickson, Greg Herren, Adrian Magson and Michael Wiley.

I am excited about that of course, but it’s only the opening gun of a four-day blast! While I’ll be having great fun meeting and greeting my favorite writers and fans I’ll also be working. For a mystery writer Bouchercon is the ultimate networking opportunity. If you’re an author too, don’t forget the basics of networking.

Rule number one: have enough business cards. I’m amazed at how often writers show up at these events without cards. That agent won’t just remember you, you know.

And have a pen with you. When you talk to someone and get their card, jot a few quick notes on the back so you remember what you talked about. You’ll talk to lots of agents and you won’t just remember which is which, you know.

Reconnect with distant friends. I'll also have lunch with my fellow Echelon Press authors, gather with the other contributors to this year’s Wolfmont Press holiday anthology, “The Gift of Murder,” and attend the Private eye Writers of America Banquet where this year’s Shamus awards will be handed out.

It’s cool to hang with your old pals, but remember that networking is about meeting new folks who might turn out to be important connections later. So at meals and at the bar, sit with people you don't know and introduce yourself.

If you can afford it, it’s good to give something away. At the end of Bouchercon I’ll be sitting in at the Author’s Bazaar, handing out free copies of one of my Hannibal Jones mysteries.

And don’t stop networking after you get home. Send a quick handwritten note after the event to publishers, agents, anybody you think is important. Sure, e-mail is easier, but a handwritten note really makes you stand out.

Find your new connections online and Facebook friend them. Follow them on Twitter. If they have a blog, subscribe to their RSS feed so you can keep track of what they're writing about.

As much as I love events like Bouchercon, I always look forward to getting home and sifting thru those business cards I collected and cementing my new connections.

Hope to see you there!

Finding a Publisher - or Letting One Find You

Here in the 21st Century, anyone who tells you they know how to get you published is either stupid or lying. However, I can tell you for sure that things have changed and continue to change, so we can talk about what appears to be working now.

Not everything has changed, of course. Publishers still want to receive queries. I’ve read stories of authors getting emails from publishers or agents who read their work on line and want to publish them, but I wouldn’t sit around waiting for that to happen. The submission process is a tradition in the industry, so get yourself a copy of Writer’s Market and study how publishers and agents want to be approached.

Networking appears to be very important these days, but jetting off to writer’s conferences is no longer the only way to do it. You can network from home if you find a network that works for you. For you that could turn out to be on Twitter or Facebook or Squidoo. If you write an interesting blog you can network there, or through other people’s blogs that you follow. You just need to stay in contact with people who can help your writing career.

Saturday morning I had the chance to join a panel of true experts in the field: Shashi Bellamkonda, the Social Media Swami at Network Solutions; Jen Consalvo, co-founder of Shiny Heart Ventures; and Jeff Taylor of New Media Strategies. After that conversation I am all fired up about the importance of your online presence.

Social networking is a great way to get noticed but you can’t just use social media sites for personal contacts. You should design your Facebook page to support your writing. Then, make sure your blog is feeding to Facebook and vice versa. Make sure you keep the site updated with your latest events, projects, and writing news. Sites like Facebook LinkedIn can become your professional resume. Keep an eye out for people in the industry, like publishers and agents, who you can “friend” or link to. These connections can pay off big in the long run. And often these folks will find you, if you maintain a good online presence.

So what’s a good online presence? I think it’s whatever helps you build your platform. For many, a web site, a blog and a social networking page can do it, plus perhaps a Twitter account. You should also consider a newsletter sign-up on your home page and an RSS feed to your blog. Publishers like to see authors building their following. When your subscriber list grows, it’s a good thing to mention to publishers.

I want to remind my self-published friends that no matter how much information you put on the internet, it is only an introduction. IF you want a publisher to hire you, don’t forget that your book really is your resume. You would never send a resume to a potential employer that was full of typos, right? In the same sense, you should never send a book out into the world that isn't letter perfect. Only after having a quality product is it important to show you know your market.

If you're connected to it online, that’s a big plus. When a publisher is considering an author, they will often look at the author's "reach" or platform. That’s why you need to build your followers and get some buzz going on your book, even before it's published.

So get a web site, start a blog, and get to know where YOUR community hangs out. Read the blogs they read, and comment on them.

And if you’re a nonfiction author, find out how you can be of service. Find out what your community needs and how to fill that need. There's no better way to become a trusted resource.

My most important take-away from my fellow panelists was how the internet has leveled the playing field for writers looking to make contact with the right people. Take advantage of these free resources.

Charitable Murder

Sometimes a writer will give a story away for free just to get some exposure. Of course, in winter a person could die from exposure, but for the past three years I’ve donated a new short story to the same series of anthologies. It’s great exposure but that’s not the reason for my generosity. It turns out to be an easy and rewarding way to support one of my favorite charities.

For the last three years, Wolfmont Press has published anthologies of short fiction involving crimes around the winter holiday season. Cover art and stories are donated, and all profits go to the Toys for Tots Foundation. To date, Wolfmont has raised more than $6,600 for this worthy cause.

This year’s book, "The Gift of Murder" contains 19 great stories featuring Christmas crime, Chanukah homicide, Kwanzaa killings, and some stories that combine all three! This is truly inspired short fiction from the likes of Agatha and Anthony award nominee Elizabeth Zelvin, Anthony Award winner Bill Crider, and Kris Neri (Agatha, Anthony and Macavity Award nominee.) For the Hannibal Jones completist, my Washington-based private eye is there too.

I have to say I enjoyed every story in the book and am humbled to be among such talented writers. I think the cause alone is enough of a reason to order your copy of "The Gift of Murder," but even in you hate kids you owe it to yourself to check out this truly great read! It would also make a great stocking stuffer for those friends who would love a sampler of some of the best crime writers out there.

So give the Gift of Murder this year – toys for the kids, joy for the readers!

Make the Selling Fun

Bouchercon is the party of the year for mystery fans, and it’s even more important for mystery writers. Aside from the amazing amount of fun to be had in Indianapolis this year, it will be the best possible opportunity for networking. Leading up to Bouchercon (October 15 – 18), I’ll talk a bit about how authors can work the convention to their benefit.

As much fun as writing is, marketing is also important if you’re going to give people outside your family a chance to read your work. In a hotel full of fans it’s wise to promote your books. In a hotel equally full of successful authors, publishers and agents, it’s also wise to pitch your unpublished manuscripts. In both cases you’re selling, and in both cases you’ve got to be persuasive. But Bouchercon is meant to be fun for attendees, so you don’t want to be so persuasive that it seems you're begging for the sale OR sucking up to industry pros. Here are some ideas to keep it fun while making your point.

People like what other people like, so testimonials can be very effective attention-getters. If people are saying good things about your book you should emphasize that. Not all testimonials are equal, so you want to ask writers you admire to read your book and offer their opinions. Check the scroll on my web site and you’ll see what I mean. Bouchercon is a great place to get those testimonials.

And that can lead to name dropping. I know your mother told you not to, but trust me, it’s allowed at events like this. If you have an impressive list of testimonials or blurbs be sure to list them. If you're not sure which ones to list and which to drop, ask somebody who isn’t a writer. Someone you don’t think is important might be a big deal to the general public.

Gather, and tell stories. WHO did you buy a drink for at 2 am in the hotel bar? Cool! Naturally if you have great success stories (that book signing when they ordered 70 copies and I stayed until they were all gone) you’ll want to share them. But fun stories, like that joke J.A. Konrath told or the time you were on a panel with Walter Mosely and David Morrell, should be shared both in public and on your web site. And if you don’t have any good stories yet, hang out in the hall, in the bar and in rooms after panels at Bouchercon.

Trust me, stories will happen.

Published by the firm of Dewy, Printem and Howe

Recently I've been trying to respond to some of the most frequently asked questions, on the theory that if one new author asked, a dozen more want to know the same thing. This one is fairly personal, but it is a question I often hear:

Hi, Austin--I took some time to look at your website, and was "intrigued" by your imprint. How did you do that?

I ask because I self-published my first novel with iUniverse. I'm not sure if I will do that again (self-publish) but it is in the back of my mind. I recently did an Amazon Kindle edition of that first novel to get it out there--and I'm an Echelon download author too.


Self publishing isn’t for everyone, but it it’s your choice there is a good reason for forming a publishing company and creating your own imprint.

iUniverse is probably the biggest Print-On-Demand publisher in the business. I was POD at first myself, with Infinity, but I soon learned that booksellers know who the POD companies are and would rather not do business with them. No matter how many books are in the warehouse and regardless of whether or not your books are fully returnable if they don’t sell, bookstore managers have it in their minds that POD books are trouble.

So my lovely wife Denise established her own publishing company – Intrigue Publishing - with one author – me. In Virginia it’s easy to be a business – just file for the privilege of paying sales taxes. For some reason booksellers like Borders are less skittish about small presses. They will order books from Intrigue Publishing, even though I get my books from Lightning Source and they are printed on demand. Lightning Source is owned by Ingram, the primary distributor on this side of the country, so stores can order easily.

Of course, I have a book with Echelon too, the Hannibal Jones novel Blood and Bone. Echelon has published more than 200 books, short stories, and novellas. They pay royalties and advances, and have international distribution with Ingram, Partners, Brodart, Follett, and others. Even gun-shy booksellers are happy to order from Echelon, and when they order Blood and Bone they often order a few copies of my other titles too.

The Intrigue Publishing imprint is an example of the principle of camouflage that I’m a big believer in. I guess I wouldn’t be much of a marketer if I didn’t at least mention that if you really want to know how I approach the marketing thing, you could always pick up a copy of my book, “Successfully Marketing Your Novel in the 21st Century.”

And one last point – when you name your company, pick something that store managers will take seriously. You may like Happy Leaf Press or Kitchen Table Publishing, but if your company sounds like a hobby, it’s harder to get bookstore managers to order.

Short and Sweet

Although I'm a novelist by nature I've written several short stories featuring Hannibal Jones and his friends. Some were special requests for anthologies, some were for Hannibal's own short-lived blog, and a few were written to help me get to know the character better.

The problem with short stories is that there are few places to sell them. You can count the magazines that carry short stories on your fingers these days. Just when I was trying to figure out what to do with these orphaned writings, Echelon Press came thru with the answer.

Echelon Press Shorts officially opened today. It's a publisher I can trust since they published Blood and Bone and accepted one of my short stories for their anthology "Heat of the Moment." Now Echelon has created a home for short fiction on line.

So what can readers look forward to from Echelon Press Shorts? This month, they have new releases scheduled for the first AND the fifteenth. There is a wonderful list of authors whose stories they are excited about and who they know you will enjoy reading. There are also authors waiting to meet you! Readers will enjoy new blog posts Monday through Friday by the most current authors. Read about their latest ventures, their characters, and get to know them. Both Echelon Press Shorts and the authors would love reader feedback, so feel free to leave comments.

During launch week, there will be new releases and posts from the authors of those stories. Readers will hear from Regan Black, Mark Vun Kannon, Mary Welk, and Michelle Sonnier. To celebrate, they are giving away *free* ebook downloads. Want to know how? Visit them today at http://echelonpressshorts.wordpress.com/