The Other Side of Cons

Last week we talked about Love is Murder, a favorite fan/author gathering.  That's one type of writer's conference, but there is a very different animal that uses the same name.

Yesterday I was part of the faculty of the Bay To Ocean writers conference. This was not a gathering of fans watching their favorite writers present on panels.  This was a couple of hundred aspiring and emerging writers attending classes to improve their craft.

The atmosphere is just as warm and cordial at either kind of event, but whereas one set of cons is all for fun, the other, the Bay to Ocean set, puts the emphasis on learning. My role this year began with 30-minute individual meetings to critique work submitted by new writers.  I am always tense before these meetings, because I have to be honest about work that is often less than professional.  But new writers almost always appreciate being told exactly what they can do to make their work better.  I try to be encouraging with every writer, pointing  out what's good about their work before I get into the flaws and weaknesses.

After a lunch full of networking I sat before an audience with another talented author, Candice Porch, to discuss a challenging subject: bringing diversity to characters in fiction.  For an interactive hour, we spoke with the audience about using minority characters, how to distinguish them from mainstream white characters and what not to do if you want to avoid being hated by the reading public.

Finally I moved to the auditorium and gave a one-hour lecture on the use of conflict and suspense.  I have to admit that I  prefer the direct lecture on craft, and I'm happier at the podium by myself.  The audience was very welcoming and attentive - a good sign.  And I saved 15 minutes at the end for my favorite part of any class, when I open the floor to questions and the audience plays "stump the author," asking anything and everything they can think of.

I can't say that I love one kind of writers Con more than the other.  Both are great fun and both are necessary to a successful writing career.  Because in both cases, it's about being part of a writing community. 

Your Award Winning Novel

My company, Intrigue Publishing, was well represented at the Love is Murder Mystery Conference last weekend.  We took pitches from authors.  I sat on one panel and moderated another. We sponsored the newcomer’s breakfast and I moderated that too.  We worked the con the way I hope other small presses work our  Creatures, Crimes & Creativity con.  And our big win was that one of the books we published, “Girl Z: My Life as a Teenage Zombie” won the Lovey Award for best horror/sci-fi/fantasy novel of the year.  The Lovey, voted on by Love is Murder attendees, is given in several categories.

 

In today’s crowded marketplace winning an award is one way to distinguish a book and make it stand out.  Awards that are voted on by readers can carry a lot of weight with a specific audience. Like Love is Murder’s Lovey, the Agatha award is granted by the fans at the Malice Domestic conference. For authors and publishers who attend writers conferences, this can be a great extra benefit.

 

There are also plenty of awards available to authors and publishers who don’t love Cons, although there is usually a price.  For example, the annual International Beverly Hills Book Awards is open for submissions through Feb. 15.  They consider cover and interior design, promotional text, aesthetic components and other factors that demonstrate outstanding presentation, in addition to the writing. They accept fiction and non-fiction books in a wide range of topics and categories including mystery, romance, business, self-help, memoirs and inspiration.

USA Regional Excellence Book Awards recognizes books that take readers into the heart of a “place.” If your book delivers the distinctive character  of a locale, say the glitz of Hollywood or the hustle and bustle of New York City, it is a perfect candidate for a USA REBA award.  Again, Sept. 15 is this year’s deadline.

And while the International Thriller Writers and Mystery Writers of America restrict their awards to well-established publishers, that doesn’t mean all others are shut  out.  The National Indie Excellence® Awards (NIEA) was created to help establish self-publishing as a legitimate side of the publishing industry. You’ve got until March 31 to submit to them.

 

You could question the promotional value of book awards, but  there’s no denying the joy of such bragging rights.  So go see if your book can become an award winning.

A Blog About Blogs

As much as I hope you’re here every week looking for news I also hope this isn’t the only blog you read.  There are dozens of great ones out there.  Of course that raises a question: how do you decide which ones you should read?

Well just like me you probably scan all your friend’s blogs often.  B. Swangin Webster’s “Books, Shoes & Writing  blog is always insightful, DB Corey has a gift for humor that keeps his blog interesting. Penny Clover Petersen always offers an interesting slice of life on “Making the Time to Write” And Christine Verstraete posts some unique thoughts on the GirlZombieAuthors blog. I like the variety, but sometimes I also want to follow the writings of people immersed in the topic I am most interested in.

If the life of a writer and publisher is of interest to you (and if not, why are you here?) then I can recommend the BookPublishing Insider . Steven Zacharius is not an author like all the folks above, but he is the Chairman, President and CEO of Kensington Publishing Corp.  Kensington is NOT Random House big, but it is I think the biggest publisher that can still claim small press cred. Steven knows what he’s talking about when the subject I publishing whether it’s about the quality of the product or the tricky business of survival in a very challenging business.  He likes to interact with other, smaller publishers and what he says always makes sense.  Of course he is opinionated, but he is open to the opinions of others and up for a lively debate as long as it stays civil.  Most recently he’s been a protracted discussion with J.A. Konrath, the patron saint of self-publishing. Just reading this one long entry is quite an education, but you really should back-track through the blog for earlier, equally valuable posts. 

For a different spin, I direct you to John Scalzi’s light hearted blog, Whatever . It is one of the longest-running blogs on the Web, and is about… well… whatever Scalzi feels like writing on.  Best known as a science fiction author, Scalzi serialized his science fiction novel Old Man’s War on Whatever; it was subsequently published by Tor Books and later nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel.  Scalzi posts constantly, but to get the flavor of why it’s one of my favorites I suggest you drop back 16 posts (!!) to January 26^th for the post called, “Every Award-Winning Book Sucks (For Someone)” in which he proves that negative reviews are part of the territory by listing excerpts of one star Amazon reviews of every single Hugo-winning novel of the last ten years.  Truly an education for the up and coming author.

So find the blogs that say what you need to hear.  These are two of mine. What blogs are must-reads for you?

C3 Conference Countdown

The Creatures, Crimes & Creativity conference is the Mid-Atlantic's literary event of the year.  But the con is almost 10 months away, so I am often asked why any reader or writer of genre fiction should be thinking about it now.  To respond I decided to put together a list of reasons in the form of a countdown, ala David Letterman.  The thing is, I couldn't bring it down to a top ten.  The best I could do was

Reason #17 to register the Creatures, Crimes & Creativityconference today: Attendees can enjoy 36 panels and presentations of interest to readers, fans and writers.

Reason #16 to register now for the Creatures, Crimes &Creativity conference: Every attendee will receive a goodie-bag filled with cool stuff, including our exclusive anthology filled with stories written by attending authors.

Reason #15 to register now for the C3 Conference: one lucky attendee will win a new Kindle Fire in our Twitter contest  - -#MdC3conference.

Reason #14 to register now for C3: one lucky attendee will win an Amazon gift certificate in our fun scavenger hunt.

Reason #13 to register right away: International best-selling thriller/fantasy author Eric VanLustbader will deliver a keynote address at Saturday’s dinner.  Come meet the author of The Ninja and the Jason Bourne series! 

Reason #12 to register now: International bestselling romantic suspense/sci-fi/fantasy author Rebecca York will deliver a keynote address at Friday’s dinner.

Reason #11 to register now: It's a chance to spend a 3-day weekend with fans and authors of mystery, suspense, thriller, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and paranormal fiction. 

Reason #10 to register: The registration fee includes five meals: Friday’s dinner, 3 meals Saturday (Including the banquet dinner) and Sunday breakfast. Readers and writers dine side-by-side in a comfortable, informal atmosphere.

Reason #9 to register: Attendees are all invited to contribute to the C3 blog which posts their comments year round. Promote your books, or ask your fan questions, to all the C3 attendees.

Reason #8 to register: All attending authors are invited to submit a short story to the exclusive C3 Anthology which goes to every attendee.  This exclusive collector's item will never be sold in stores.

Reason #7 to register: Attending authors can sign up for agent pitch sessions.

Reason #6 to register: Mystery author Brad Parks will be interviewed at Saturday’s lunch and will give a master class for authors.

Reason #5 to register: Paranormal/urban fantasy writer C.J. Ellisson will be interviewed at Sunday breakfast and will give a master class for authors.

Reason #4 to register: Published authors get to spend time with their fans, and to expose new readers to their writing by presenting on panels.

Reason #3 to register: Registered authors’ books will be available for sale in the on-site bookstore and there will be two giant book signings.

Reason #2: Attending authors will be pictured in the C3 program book and linked on the C3 web site.

AND the number one reason to register for the Creatures, Crimes &Creativity conference today:

If you register now you save $40 with the Early Bird registration cost.

So... get to the C3 web site and REGISTER TODAY!

Web Site Wisdom

A lot of what this blog will be about is what has worked for me in terms of writing, publishing and selling novels.  Sadly, I don't  have the keys to the universe in any of those areas because the universe of publishing has changed radically in the 14 years I've been living in it.

For instance: I've recently completely rebuilt my web site.  Is it better?  I think so.  It's at least what I want it to be.  But how do you know what a writer's web site should be?

Interviewing web hosting experts and publicists gave me a lot of contradictory advice.  There is a definite voice in the business saying that a good web site is where readers will get everything they want or need to decide to buy your books.  They recommend having samples of your books and posting short stories or articles.  Character descriptions could attract fans.  There should be a media page with author photos, bios of varying lengths, contact information and of course your book covers.  Of course you need a list of upcoming events, your favorite links, reviews and blurbs you've received and links to your social media pages. 

This voice thinks your web site should also be entertaining, with video, audio features, theme music and special effects. The content should be layered, to hold visitors with plenty of "value added" material, eventually leading them to a way to purchase your books.

But there's another voice, just as loud right now, saying that your web site should be as simple as possible.  It's merely a home base for people who Google you to find your titles.  This voice portrays the web site as a billboard, contending that you really communicate with the reading community on Facebook, Goodreads, and Twitter.

With such opposite philosophies expressed by the experts, how is  an author to decide what his web site should look like.  Well, you could hire a professional web site designer and turn them loose, but that will only give you what someone else loves.

My suggestion is that you list your ten favorite authors and go look at their  web sites.  Make note of what you really like on their web sites, and how they're structured.  If you see one that really makes you smile, save the URL and tell your web builder to imitate it. 

As you can see, I went with the second theory for my new web site - http://www.ascamacho.com/  - keeping it simple and direct.  Let me know if I made the right choice, or if there's something you feel I need to add to make it the perfect web site.

Identity Crisis

Most of the authors I know have an alternate source of income.  When asked what they do they will respond by naming that primary job.  “I’m a teacher,” they say, or “I’m a lawyer.” 

I’ve often told writers that until they identify themselves as authors they limit their success.  I think if you’re a writer you need to feel like a writer, to think of yourself as a writer. When asked what you do, you should be comfortable saying, “I’m a novelist.  I also…” 

For me, this all changed nearly two years ago when I helped launch Intrigue Publishing.  In addition to being part owner of the small press I am its editorial director.  That means I help select which manuscripts we will acquire. Once that decision is made I also work directly with our new authors to fine-tune their manuscripts.  Our goal is to select great books.  Afterward my goal is to make great books even better.  It has been very gratifying to work with some superb writers and I enjoy the push-and-pull exchanging ideas that can upgrade a book while pushing aside ideas that would interfere with an author’s vision or style.

My new responsibilities are rewarding, but they also absorb a lot of time.  They divert my attention away from the manuscript I’m developing.  Refining other people’s characters is pushing Hannibal Jones and Stark & O’Brien out of my head.  And I’ve found myself reading incoming books when I would have been writing my own.  I’ve had to ask myself, is this who I am? Am I a publisher who writes or a writer who publishes? 

That question has haunted me for months, but now it seems to be answering itself.  The next Hannibal Jones novel called me to read what I had so far.  About halfway through a working title appeared.  Three quarters of the way through I realized I needed to add a suspect and deepen Hannibal’s relationship with Cindy.  My characters wanted attention.  More to the point, my story was feeling betrayed. 

If that last sentence didn’t make sense to you, then you’re not a writer.  I am.  I have to face that fact now.  I’m a publisher because I want to bring great new books to the public and help new writers become published authors.  But I’m a writer because I need to write.  I write because I have to, because if I didn’t something inside me would die.  

So, while some writers may suffer identity confusion, mine is past.  I’m also a publisher.  That’s something I do.  But first and foremost I’m a novelist. That’s what I am. 

I'm Baaa-aaaack!!!

A new beginning.  Every new year brings a chance to reexamine our lives and make a fresh start. For me, that process has resulted in, among other things, a new title for this blog.

In preparation for 2014 I had to plan my goals and objectives. In doing so I realized that describing this as an author’s life was no longer accurate.  The life of a publisher is also exciting, and hopefully of interest to those of you who aspire to be published authors, or who just want to know what it’s like to be one.  Besides, publishing is as big a part of my life now as writing, and the two roles are often in conflict.  We all have the same number of hours each day and have to choose carefully what we do with them.  But, as a publisher I have responsibilities to others and they often win out over my selfish desire to add words to my next novel. 

So, yes, high on my list of things to do is completion of the next Hannibal Jones mystery.  And I am dedicated to making sure the second Creatures, Crimes & Creativity conference is even better than the first.  But as editorial director of Intrigue Publishing I owe it to my partners and the emerging writers I work with to read and appraise incoming manuscripts with care, and help the authors we sign with to make their manuscripts as good as they can be.  So I add to my goals the release and publishing of at least six exceptional works of fiction.

There is also the matter of promotion to face.  Only now, in addition to marketing my own novels I must dedicate time and energy to promoting my company and helping to establish our place in the publishing community.  So my objectives now include attendance at a certain number of conferences and assisting with events that support our authors.

But I am off to a pretty good start. I’ve set myself some deadlines.  I’ve cleaned out my office so I now have an uncluttered place to work.  I’m scheduled to be on panels at two literary conferences.  I’m 58,000 words into my next novel and realized this week that it needs another suspect. And Intrigue already has three magnificent books in the hopper scheduled for 2014 release.

SO, if you’re interested in how I juggle my different roles and seek balance in my life, or if you just want to know how my books and publishing venture are doing, keep reading this blog.  And if you have something to say about the writing life, or the life of a publisher, please send me your thoughts and opinions at ascamacho@hotmail.com. I am always happy to host guest blogs.

And I’m always happy to see comments on my blogs.  In this case, what are YOUR plans for 2014? And how will you stick to those plans?