Writer's Spouse-Friendly Conferences!

It has long been my pet peeve that conferences do not do anything to encourage writer’s spouses to attend. We were at a conference yesterday in Maryland. It is one of the best conferences we go to all year, the Bay To Ocean conference in Wye Mills, MD. My hat is off to the coordinator, Diane Marquette, and her phenomenal team. They start the day off right with a smooth registration process, great continental breakfast and the all important smile. All through the day we networked with a number of other authors and speakers. We really had a great time. And it ended with cookies! It was a really great experience for both of us.

But while I was there I talked to my friend Bernie Dlugokeski and mentioned how nice it would be to meet his significant other. He stated that he wished she could come because he has so many friends he meets from conferences and he would like her to be involved too.

His problem, like everyone else is that it is just too much money to bring a spouse and the spouse doesn’t really get anything from the sessions for authors so it isn’t worth the price you would have to pay.

So I have some ideas for all you conference coordinators out there. Now I know there are some conferences that limit the number of people they have and that’s ok. A minimum number of writers are going to want to bring their spouses in the beginning and you can gauge it as you go along to see the value.

Invite the spouses to the lunch. Yes, I know there is a charge for the lunch, so add it to the writer’s registration. This is especially key for conferences that run more than one day and includes a hotel room. The hotel room isn’t going to be any more expensive if the spouse goes and if they just go to the lunch or dinner and don’t attend the sessions then it’s a win-win for the author and the spouse.

Have a couple’s registration price. Say the conference is $120 per person, add $60, make it a package deal and they will feel like they are getting a great deal and you know you are going to make money off of it. Think of the impact it will have on the authors if they can involve their spouses.

Some of these sessions can be geared to the writer’s spouse. I personally have a session I can do that pinpoints just how spouses can help support and assist their writer. You can even get some of these journaling coaches and holistic type seminar presenters to give sessions on keeping writers and their spouses from divorcing over their obsession. There are sessions about marketing and publicity that can be geared to how to support your author.

There are a number of ways to include the spouse and anyone who has any ideas on how to do it please write me and let me know. I am going to start keeping a log of all of these great ideas and who knows, maybe one day I’ll have a conference exclusively for the Writer’s Spouse!


Until next time…don’t let their obsession become your undoing

Denise

MWA: Upgrade Me

One of my writing heroes, Harlan Coben, is the new President of Mystery Writers of America. In the most recent issue of “The 3rd Degree,” the official newsletter of the MWA, Coben says, “We want to reverse the trend of ‘ghettoizing’ our membership. Forget terms like ‘cozies’ or ‘private eyes’ or ‘historicals’ or ‘thrillers.’” Well, Mr. Coben, allow me to suggest we also forget the term “associate member” and stop ghettoizing our membership.

Part of the reason I chose Echelon as a publisher was to become a member of the MWA. There were a number of requirements including a certain minimum advance for the author, which Echelon offered. By publishing with them I had squirmed through all the hoops.

Unfortunately, in the time between signing the contract and my books hitting the shelves the hoops moved. The MWA decided that the only criteria that mattered was that authors be published by one of the publishers on their limited list. And guess what? Echelon was one of the many publishers dropped from the list.

This did not negate my membership. It simply downgraded me to associate status. I still get the newsletter and can use the resources on their web site. Oh, and they still accept the same annual dues that they take from full members. But there are some differences. My new books can’t be listed in the newsletter’s Vital Signs section. And only full members can be nominated for Edgar awards.

So, I am a full dues-paying member of the organization that awards the most prestigious honor a mystery author can receive but no matter how good my work may be I don’t qualify to be nominated for it. And, my personal injustice aside, how many gifted and talented authors are out there who can’t be properly recognized because they made the mistake of being published by the wrong publisher?

Mr. Coben, if you’re listening, I welcome a rebuttal and promise to publish any I receive. But I’d be happier if you’d take your own advice and push the board of directors to do away with second-class memberships in the Mystery Writers of America.

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For those of you who may be tracking: In the last two weeks I completed the final edit of the new how-to, tentatively titled “Successfully Marketing your Novel in the 21st Century.”

The next Hannibal Jones mystery still doesn’t have a working title, but I’m 30,456 words into its first draft - 3,384 more than it had two weeks ago.

The new Northern Virginia chapter of the Virginia Writers Club has 21 official members and Sunday’s meeting will feature a local newspaper editor.

I spoke at a fiction seminar and held signings in two book stores.

And today, I chatted with my agent and learned that she has my manuscripts at Thomas Dunne books and Bantam, with plans to submit to Citadel, Gold Medal and Poisoned Pen Press.

It’s been a good 2 weeks.

Happy Valentine's Day by A Writer's Spouse

I know, I’m supposed to be writing about how to make your spouse the most marketed writer ever, but I’ve decided that since it is Valentines Day this month I’m going to get a little sentimental.

Several years back, before we were in the publishing business, I made up a document for Austin on his birthday that basically promised my help in whatever capacity he needed, to help him achieve his dreams. Nothing very formal mind you, but just a little something to show him I was serious about wanting to help him make his dreams a reality. I believe he still has it floating around somewhere. And someday I hope to fulfill all of those promises.

I hate making phone calls to bookstores that really don’t want to talk to you, smiling and talking at conferences with people who bore you to death or have the morals of a snake, long hours on the computer designing, emailing and researching.

But I wouldn’t change a thing. One day when he’s sitting on Oprah’s stage getting the notoriety he deserves for his NYT bestseller or his blockbuster movie and I’m standing backstage or sitting in the audience unnoticed I’ll here those magical words “my lovely wife Dee” and I’ll be reminded that I’m the luckiest writer’s spouse around.

Over the years he has gone from POD to self-published to published by a small publisher. He has stood by me through the worst of times and all I’ve had to do is make a few calls, smile and shake a few hands and sit at a computer a bit.

Published or not, he’s the best writer a writer’s spouse could ever ask for.

THE LIAR'S DIARY

Today, over 300 bloggers, including bestsellers, Emmy winners, movie makers, and publishing houses have come together to talk about THE LIAR'S DIARY by Patry Francis. I am very proud to be one of them. Why? To give the book the attention it deserves on its release day while Patry takes the time she needs to heal from cancer. So I'm blogging for a good book, AND a good cause, all at once.

There's a marvellous video on Youtube you should check out, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD31Ip3y3Gk

And what you need to know about the book is in the press release:

When new music teacher Ali Mather enters Jeanne Cross’s quiet suburban life, she brings a jolt of energy that Jeanne never expected. Ali has a magnetic personality and looks to match, drawing attention from all quarters. Nonetheless, Jeanne and Ali develop a friendship based on their mutual vulnerabilities THE LIAR’S DIARY (Plume / February 2008 / ISBN 978-0-452-28915-4 / $14.00) is the story of Ali and Jeanne’s friendship, and the secrets they both keep.

Jeanne’s secrets are kept to herself; like her son’s poor report card and husband’s lack of interest in their marriage. Ali’s secrets are kept in her diary, which holds the key to something dark: her fear that someone has been entering her house when she is not at home. While their secrets bring Jeanne and Ali together, it is this secret that will drive them apart. Jeanne finds herself torn between her family and her dear friend in order to protect the people she loves.

A chilling tour of troubled minds, THE LIAR’S DIARY questions just how far you’ll go for your family and what dark truths you’d be willing to admit—even to yourself.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Patry Francis is a three-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize whose work has appeared in the Tampa Review, Colorado Review, Ontario Review, and the American Poetry Review. She is also the author of the popular blogs, simplywait.blogspot.com and waitresspoems.blogspot.com. This is her first novel. Please visit her website at www.patryfrancis.com.

Praise for THE LIAR’S DIARY:

“Twists and turns but never lets go.”—Jacquelyn Mitchard, bestselling author of The Deep End of the Ocean

“A quirky, well-written and well-constructed mystery with an edge.”—Publishers Weekly

“Outright chilling.”—New York Daily News

“Genuinely creepy…The unlikely friendship between a small-town school secretary and a flamboyant teacher proves deadly in this psychological murder mystery.”—Kirkus Reviews

“A twisting ride full of dangerous curves and jaw-dropping surprises. This is one of my favorite reads of the year!”—Tess Gerristen, bestselling author of The Mephisto Club

“Francis draws and tense and moody picture of the perfect home and family being peeled back secret by secret…Four Stars.”—Romantic Times

THE LIAR’S DIARY
By Patry Francis
Plume Paperbacks / February 2008 / $14.00
ISBN: 978-0-452-28915-4
Readers Guide available at www.penguin.com

Patry's website is http://www.patryfrancis.com/ and the amazon link for her book is http://www.amazon.com/Liars-Diary-Patry-Francis/dp/0452289157/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201389693&sr=1-1

DON'T waste your time or hers focusing on her health. Just go to Amazon and order her great book. That's the support we writers really crave. Your kindness now could help save Another Writer's Life.

I’M EVERY WRITER…you’re all in me

When I began this blog I promised to make it personal and talk about what was going on in my writing life. I figure that will involve sharing the actual metrics – how many words written, events attended, submissions made – but that data will require some context. What kind of writer am I? Well actually, I’m all kinds.

I am a Print on Demand author. Two of my novels were first published by a POD publisher and they still have the nonfiction book they asked me to write. It was a how-to on marketing POD fiction. Selling POD books is different, mostly because most booksellers don’t want to stock them. I’ve made no effort to sell this thing, but it has sold steadily and I still get letters from readers about how helpful it has been.

I am also self-published, or rather wife-published which most people take as the same thing. My lovely wife Denise publishes five of my novels under the Intrigue Publishing imprint with greater success than I would have expected. My first project for this year is to update and rewrite my marketing book for all fiction writers, and Denise will publish that new volume.

I am a small press author too. Echelon Press picked up “Blood and Bone,” the flagship of my Hannibal Jones mystery series, and the power of their distribution has made it easy to get all my books into the major chains.

And finally, I’m a mainstream hopeful. My efforts promoting my writing helped me get the attention, and representation, of a New York agent. Susan Gleason is presenting my manuscripts to big-name publishers. A part of me believes it’s only a matter of time before Ballantine or Penguin Books recognizes the value of my work. The rest of me is not willing to wait for that recognition, and really enjoys signing books at various events and receiving those e-mails filled with praise.

So you see, no matter what kind of writer you are, no matter how you choose to be published, I can relate.

Oh, and as for the metrics: I’m 117 pages into the final edit of the 164 page how-to, tentatively titled “Successfully Marketing your Novel in the 21st Century.”

Then next Hannibal Jones mystery doesn’t even have a working title, but I’m 27, 072 words into its first draft.

I’ve started the Northern Virginia chapter of the Virginia Writers Club and today we held our third monthly meeting after receiving our charter. I want to make this chapter grow and make it an engine for promoting the work of all its members.

Now you can track my progress… and I’m committed. To you.

Communication is the key - by Denise Camacho

For those of you that are writer spouses, like me, then you have probably asked yourself if there is anything you can do to help your writer achieve their writing dreams. Of course there are also those of you who could care less and just wish your writer would be a little quieter when they suddenly wake in the middle of the night and make a beeline for the computer to get their latest ideas in ink before they lose them.

I actually think I have some helpful information for both of you.

For those that want to help you should first decide how much help you want to give. Make sure that you don’t try to do too much. You don’t want to cause conflict between the two of you, so whatever you commit to do make sure you can complete the task.

Let’s take phone calls for instance. You can commit to making 3 phone calls to bookstores a week to help book signings. Austin has become very good at not asking me about whether or not I have completed my task throughout the week. He always waits until my deadline is close, then he’ll ask about it. If I haven’t done it yet it usually motivates me to get it done right away so I don’t have to listen to the “if you couldn’t do it why didn’t you just tell me”...I hate letting him down and feel guilty when I haven’t lived up to my end of the bargain.

Like any relationship communication is key. If you get half way through a project and decide that you just can’t do it, don’t wait, tell them so you can plan another way to accomplish the goal together.

Now for those of you who don’t want to actually be involved in the business end of your writer that doesn’t mean you don’t care, just that you have no interest in the business side. You can certainly help just by being supportive. Be a good supporter by allowing them to do what they have to do...write. Give them the space and time to be creative. And don’t be afraid to communicate with them about what you need too.

Writers write. That’s what drives them. It is what makes them who they are. They write because they have to. And it is part of why you love them. If you can’t accept that part of them then you probably shouldn’t be with them in the first place.

First and foremost this is a partnership and unless you just can’t stand your spouse you want them to succeed. Hopefully you can communicate with each other to make this a workable partnership. Like all relationships, it takes commitment and communication.

Good luck and feel free to drop me a line if you have comments or just want to chat about ways to improve the partnership.

dbcamacho@hotmail.com

WHAT KEEPS ME GOING

At book signings, negative people and the idly curious sometimes ask me, “With so many writers out there, what makes you think you’ll be a success?” Positive people and aspiring authors often ask me who my inspirations are in the business. Today I might be able to answer both those questions.

First, we need to define success. To me that doesn’t mean a big name publisher or the New York Times bestseller list or a million dollar advance. It’s a contract with a publisher that earns me enough money to quit my Clark Kent job and requires me to deliver a new book next year. In other words, success for me is a writing career. Oh, and I’d like a wide audience to be familiar with my creation, Hannibal Jones.

So, while I greatly admire Nelson Demille and Clive Cussler, David Morrell and James Patterson, the guys who inspire me are writers like Thomas E. Sniegoski, Jim Butcher and Jeff Lindsay. You may never have heard of any of them, and none of them is regularly camped out on the NY Times bestseller list.

Tom Sniegoski had a cool idea: a young adult series about a teenager who learns he is a Nephilim - the son of a mortal woman and a fallen angel. A publisher called Pulse published “The Fallen” in 2003 to warm enough reviews to give Tom’s series at least 3 more tries. Sales of the novels didn’t make him rich or get him on best seller lists. BUT, somebody saw the beauty in his characters and concept. Last year ABC Family aired a mini-series based on the series that didn’t insult either one.

Jim Butcher had a cool idea: a hardboiled private eye who was also a wizard -sort of Harry Potter grown up, living in a world very much like our own. A publisher called Roc put out “Storm Front” in 2000. Again, no best seller list and no one got rich, but the book found a readership and Roc has kept Butcher working steadily with the 10th book in the series due this year. And SOMEBODY saw the beauty in the concept and the Harry Dresden character because Sci-Fi aired 13 episodes of “The Dresden Files” last year.

Jeff Lindsay had a cool idea: A first person series about a serial killer, from the killer’s point of view. Vintage apparently published “Darkly Dreaming Dexter” in 2001 (although publishing history is murky) to very satisfying reviews but not instant best seller status. Still, everyone agreed it was a great book and two sequels followed. Again someone realized the charm of both the concept and the character. The Showtime drama “Dexter” exploded onto the screen in 2006 and was instantly recognized as some of the best TV of the decade.

In each of these cases, the television shows exposed a much larger audience to the writer’s work than his books ever did, and serve as vindication of both the author’s vision and the faith the publisher had in them. But let’s be clear: These three gifted writers were successes BEFORE their creations hit the screen. And the fact that the world eventually realized how good their work was while they were just journeyman authors holding contracts with smallish publishers and feeding a small cult of an audience, well, that’s what really keeps me going.