Monthly Archives: September 2010
Aaaarrrggghhh!
Learning ‘All About Marketing’. Wow.
Who woulda thunk there was so much to learn about such an innocent seeming topic. But with any publisher now-a-days, E or New York, they’re all asking authors to carry a heavy part of the marketing bucket.
I think my brain’s about to explode.
But I’m learning. And soon (hopefully for the love of sanity) it will become a familiar thing.
I read a great document sent to me by my publisher. The one thing stressed above all others was the time.
As authors, we need to get the most bang for our buck–not just money, but time.
So right now, Marketing is taking up a lot of time. But as I get the hang of it, I’ll find new ways to use the time to set up, then be able to keep the ball rolling with little effort. It’s finding that ‘downhill’ that I’m working on now.
You tell me, what is your favorite way to market?
Blogging overload
With all this new workload between being published and school and everything else, I’ve been slacking on blogs.
I’ve decided a course of action.
My two group blogs, Plot Mamas and the 7 Evil Dwarves, I only have to post once a week.
Between Higley Browne and Amber Kallyn, I can’t possibly blog every day on both. I’m not quite that creative. Nor do I have the time.
I thought about letting my Higley Browne blog go on hiatus.
Maybe I still will.
But for now, I’m going to try this:
I’ll blog on Amber Kallyn M-W-F.
Higley Browne on Tu-Th.
We’ll see if this works out.
But, just so you know, blogs won’t be going up every day on both.
Q4U: How do you find time to blog? What type of schedule works for you?
If you ask me again…
As a writer, we all experience this at least one time in our lives:
“So…” blushes and silence.
“Yes?” we prod.
“So, where do you get your ideas?”
Us-bangs head against the nearest hard surface.
I love Jeff Foxworthy and his ‘You might be a redneck if…’ jokes.
You might be an author if the above question makes you want to rip your hair out, or the hair of the person asking such a question.
But as a reader, I also understand. The amazing things writers come up with is astounding. The written word is as limitless as the imagination.
My novella coming out October 8th, Dragos: Burned, essentially came about because of two things– my love of all things dragon, and the spark of an idea I had.
What would happen if a dragon shapeshifter and a fireman fell in love?
Well, right there told me it was going to be a paranormal romance.
I had been pushing my personal boundaries and trying to write (and be comfortable with writing) sex scenes. So, I decided to include some of those.
Then it became a paranormal erotic romance.
***See how my brain progresses 
So, I sat down to write my 1 sentence per chapter\scene outline.
When I got done, it had turned into a novella, not a novel.
Sure, I could have pushed for a novel, but the shorter length worked for me.
My ideas normally start with a character. For example, my historical paranormal romance came about because–my love for all things big cat (tigers) and my love of kick butt heroines in historicals. So, I made my heroine a princess in a matriarchal clan of tiger shapeshifters. And the hero? Well, she had to track him down and drag him home.
Ideas are everywhere. I remember a time I’d hear that and snort. No they aren’t.
The key is to train your brain to see them. And then, WRITE THEM DOWN. I don’t care if you have a photographic memory. The best ideas will slip through your fingers before they’re fully formed.
If you WRITE THEM DOWN, they’ll linger in your subconscious, growing and adding to themselves until one day, they’re ready for your inspection.
As authors, it’s our job not just to write, but to constantly cultivate ideas.
Just as we learn the craft, we learn how to see nibbles of ideas in everything around us (or, in my case, inside my wild imagination).
Happy writing.
