Well, blogging has not proven to be the best medium for me. I post so rarely. I think I try to make my posts too long and they become intimidating…like writing an article!
So I’m going to try a new strategy. I’ve had a lot of the same conversations over and over with new authors, and each time I think “I need to do a blog post about this!” but then I don’t. So instead of articles or advice columns, I’ve decided to transcribe shortened versions of these conversations I’ve had in person so many times. The format is easier for me to follow because the conversations are so familiar, and hopefully my blog readers might find the answers as useful as my real-life friends and colleagues seem to.
There are some common concerns and experiences for new authors that feel so fresh and so scary and so unique that it can be overwhelming at times. It might be helpful to know that lots of us face the same kinds of questions and awkwardness and challenges, and have come through on the other side.
I’ll start in the next couple of weeks with a few things I’ve been asked frequently in person. But if you have other questions, feel free to post them!
Feel like you’ve tried everything? Rachel guarantees you haven’t. I make no such guarantees, but since this blog is more about getting started anyway, I’m betting some of you will find these suggestions useful.
For the article, in all it’s ranting glory, CLICK HERE.
On Mondays I post at CHICKS ROCK!, the blog of The Women’s Mosaic. Check out my posts there, too! The Women’s Mosaic is a New York City-based non-profit organization that provides education, inspiration, and motivation for women to rise up and rock the world! The Women’s Mosaic unites and empowers women through programs that promote intercultural understanding and personal growth. We are a community of diverse, dynamic women interested in expanding our horizons by creating positive change that can individually and collectively enrich the world.
Today the New York Times published an article entitled “Writer’s Cramp: In the E-Reader Era, a Book a Year Is Slacking.” I read this article with interest. As an author who writes fairly quickly, I’m always looking for new ways to get my books out into the world faster. But it’s not as easy, nor as inevitable, as Julie Bosman’s article makes it sound.
Ever since I began publishing, the fantasy of releasing “a book a year” has dangled over my head, partly as a creative challenge and partly as a measure of ultimate success in publishing. A big part of my adult reading life has been spent eagerly awaiting the release of my favorite authors’ next books. Even though some of these authors (the ones who publish most frequently) are considered “popular” and not “literary,” those distinctions don’t matter to me when I’m looking forward to a good read. When I hear the names James Patterson or Lee Child (both referred to in the Times article), I admittedly get stars in my eyes. I think, “Household name.” I think: “Big money.” And even as a literary author I fantasize about following in their footsteps and scaling the bestseller list with some future blockbuster, and being slated for a book a year for the next ten years. I can’t help dreaming about how amazing that level of job security would be. So, to be told in a prominent news headline that my dream, my ultimate goal, is unworthy of today’s market….it was immediately demoralizing.
But upon reading, I quickly realized that this article is not talking about me, or most of my author friends. The assumptions made in the piece are upsetting on a number of levels:
First, the piece seems to take the attitude that all writers are bestsellers, whose publishers are desperately clawing after us for the next (invariably pristine) manuscript. The reality is, there are only a handful of authors who can publish at this insane rate within the current system. You have to be a REALLY big name–and probably also a series writer–for a publisher to do more than one book a year. For most of us, achieving the rate of “a book a year” is still great!
Second, there is no mention at all of the concept of an editorial process. The implication being that we writers churn away at our desks, hand some pages in and wash our hands of it, rapidly moving on to the next book. The further implication being that the only thing restricting the flow of an author’s books into the marketplace is how fast he or she can actually write them. Nothing could be further from the truth, particularly for literary writers. I can’t imagine that even the biggest, most popular bestsellers get away without at least some editorial input. (Otherwise, I’d guess they wouldn’t stay bestsellers for long.) Not to mention the energy that must be spent on cover design, page layout, proofreading, production of advance copies, etc. within the publishing house.
Third, and perhaps most upsetting of all, is how frankly TRUE it seems. Books by big name authors are becoming more frequent, and they appear to be receiving almost all of the press attention from the major houses. Case in point: you can’t walk into a bookstore without tripping over a James Patterson novel, or six. As a former Patterson fan, I have long since lost track of the Alex Cross series. I’ve fallen too far behind because the books keep coming out so fast. I’ve stopped buying them. GASP! This is exactly what publishers were afraid would happen, years ago, when they settled on the one-book-a-year model. Do they not realize that most people read books by more than one author?
Fourth, the article begs the question: what does this climate of insatiable readership mean for the rest of us? What does it mean for the debut novelists who have yet to really prove themselves to an audience, not to mention the majority of authors, who once felt solid in our relative success with a few publications under our belts, the non-bestsellers who still manage to make a living (or part of a living) writing books? Where do we fit into this picture? When there is always a fresh offering from the likes of James Patterson, when will his most loyal readers ever find the time to branch out to something new?
There’s definitely pressure to produce for authors at all levels, but when such unrealistic expectations are being set by the most bestselling authors, doesn’t that A) steal publications “slots” from newer writers and B) condition our readers to expect something that few of us can follow through on? Why aren’t more publishers looking for ways to market new or unknown writers in relation to bestsellers (“If you like Lee Child, check out So-and-So”) to cross-promote? James Patterson makes a nod toward this by acknowledging his co-writers on the front of his books. At least in that scenario, publishers can make the money off his name, while still getting other authors into the game. And, it acknowledges a deeper truth of the matter–Patterson publishes more per year than is humanly possible for a single man!
It is extraordinarily short-sighted of publishers to hang their hats (and their operating budgets) on just a few names. None of today’s bestselling authors will be publishing books forever, and there is going to have to be new blood coming up to take their places. And if traditional publishers shut them out, then the ebook revolution is ultimately going to shut publishers out as the next generation of bestselling authors takes publication into their own hands. Not because they want to, but because they don’t really have a choice.
For people who are really big readers, the anticipation of your favorite authors’ books coming out once a year used to be enjoyable. It made the actual reading of those books more special. And during those interminable months of waiting, you didn’t just sit around and twiddle your thumbs. You went to the bookstore or the library, browsing around for something with which to fill your time. And, guess what? You found other great books to read!
I’m out in San Francisco and Oakland, doing research for my upcoming nonfiction book about the Black Panthers, tentatively titled PANTHERS!
There’s a lot of material to review, and the research itself is rather intense, but it’s also really neat to get to walk the same streets as the original Panthers, and to actually see these places for myself. When you’re researching a book, it’s really useful to find some way to immerse yourself in the time, or place, or circumstances of the story you are planning to tell. Unexpected details emerge and inspiration abounds.
My new novel, 37 THINGS I LOVE, is due out from Henry Holt/Macmillan on May 22, 2012. In honor of this exciting development, here is a video of me talking about the book:
I cut this video out of extra footage I recorded for a special project. Even after making that one, I had so much neat material left over, that I made a whole separate reel of excess footage from the interview, including fun outtakes from all my “book drop” attempts. Don’t know what I mean by a “book drop?” Watch and learn….and laugh. I know I did.
On Mondays I post at CHICKS ROCK!, the blog of The Women’s Mosaic. Check out my posts there, too! The Women’s Mosaic is a New York City-based non-profit organization that provides education, inspiration, and motivation for women to rise up and rock the world! The Women’s Mosaic unites and empowers women through programs that promote intercultural understanding and personal growth. We are a community of diverse, dynamic women interested in expanding our horizons by creating positive change that can individually and collectively enrich the world.
I once met Toni Morrison in an elevator. This happened during ALA in Washington, DC, in 2010. It was late in the evening. I was exhausted. She was probably exhausted. We were staying in the same hotel, apparently, and we were both on our way back to our rooms. She stepped into the elevator behind me, along with her aides. I turned around and there she was, in all her magnificent glory. And she is a magnificent person to behold. People had told me that she has a presence, but I was unprepared for the intensity of it.
It’s difficult to excuse what happened next. Because I can honestly say I’m good at networking. I’m good at pushing myself to speak up when it feels awkward, and handing out my book cards and business cards and making sure people know who I am. I’d been doing it all day at the conference, and pretty well. As a quiet, sometimes self-conscious person this kind of socializing is difficult, but I challenge myself and I think I perform well overall.
Not in this case. Stepping into my own hotel represented the end of the day, the end of the need to be “on” and networking. I was done. So, to be taken by surprise by one of the great literary figures of modern times, not to mention a beautiful black woman who I admire….well, let’s just say I was taken by surprise.
In the end, all I was able to blurt was “Are you Toni?” She nodded sagely, during which moment I was flooded with shame over having called her by her first name. “Ms. Morrison,” “Dr. Morrison,” even “Toni Morrison” for crying out loud would have been better. (I’m still mortified.) She looked at me expectantly, with tired but generous eyes, her gray locks falling over her shoulder like some sort of epic waterfall. I stared back at her…and utterly stalled.
There are things I always says to new people about my book. I didn’t say them. I had actually (believe it or not) rehearsed conversation points specifically to raise with Toni Morrison if I should run into her at this conference. I lost all track of them. I had postcards galore in my shoulder bag. I fumbled to pull one out. I thrust it at her as the elevator doors opened on her floor. “I’m Kekla Magoon,” I blurted. “I write–it would really mean a lot to me if I could just give you my book card.”
And that was it. She took the card, stepped out of the elevator, and handed it to her aide without really looking at it as she headed down the hall. I’m sure I made no impression at all. If she ever even looked at that card again, I feel lucky.
In the moment, I was crushed. A great opportunity, blown. And all because I stuck my foot in my mouth. Even though it felt like she dismissed me, I didn’t get the sense that she dismisses people automatically. I believe there are things I could have said that would have cut through her tiredness and made her look twice at me as a young author with potential. I can only hope I’ll meet her again someday, because I know I would handle it better.
Every author needs a strong “elevator pitch” when promoting their books. You need to know it cold. Here’s the why and how of it.
The “elevator pitch” concept is based on the exact scenario I just described:
You get into an elevator and press the button for your floor. The elevator doors close. There’s someone else in there already, and when you look closer, you realize it’s–gasp!–a person with great power and influence in your particular industry. In our case, perhaps an agent, editor, reviewer, publisher or fellow author you admire. Knowing this is your big chance to impress the person by talking about your forthcoming novel (or your work in progress) you strike up a conversation. They seem congenial enough, but the floors are ticking by quickly, and soon the doors will open and the person will step away. You have limited time, and you must explain yourself and your project in a brief but compelling manner so they will remember you. You have less than a minute, which means very few sentences uttered. How do you sell them on the concept of your book?
It is so incredibly important to have your elevator pitch close at hand at all times. True, it won’t always be the likes of Toni Morrison whose attention you need to capture. It might just be people at a cocktail party who politely ask what your book is about, but may or may not really care. Your job as a casual self-promoter is to make sure that they care a little bit more after you answer the question than they did when they asked it. And the more you practice this pitch with regular people, the more likely you’ll be to handle the situation correctly when it really matters most, and you’re at your most nervous and awkward.
Elevator Pitch Basics:
Who are you?
What is your book about? More specifically, what makes it unique in the marketplace?
How should someone find out more about it, or contact you?
When your book is high-concept, it’s easier to come up with a striking elevator pitch. The Rock and the River was the first (and at the time only) novel dealing with the Black Panther Party for young readers. My pitch usually went something like: “I’m Kekla Magoon, author of The Rock and the River. My novel is set in 1968 Chicago, about thirteen-year-old Sam, whose father is a civil rights activist. When his older brother joins the Black Panther Party, Sam must decide which path he’s going to follow himself. Here’s my card.”
When the book is about more common subject matter, it is a bit more of a challenge to find phrases to describe the book that are going to make it seem unique. That is why it is so important to spend time thinking about your elevator pitch before you head out into the world to network. My novel Camo Girl is basically about friendship in middle school, and kids having to make diffucult choices. But, hello, that’s what most middle grade novels are about. I know the book is unique, but how is a prospective reader to know that?
I tried to bring a little humor to the pitch: “Camo Girl is about friendship in middle school–in other words, how to choose a lunch table. Ella and her best friend Z are outcasts in sixth grade and they sit alone at lunch every day. Then a new boy in school, Bailey, befriends Ella and gives her the chance to join a more popular crowd, but to do so she’d have to leave Z behind.
I’m still working on the perfect elevator pitch for my upcoming novel, 37 Things I Love. Saying it’s about “friendship in high school” isn’t going to cut it….but what I’ve gone through in coming up with a pitch for that book is enough to fill a follow-up post. Stay tuned.
Always, always, have book cards, business cards, bookmarks or marketing materials with you when you are out. Whether you’re going to a conference or to the grocery store, you just never know who you’re going to run into. Keep a few business cards in your purse or wallet at the very least. Stick a pack of bookmarks in the glove compartment. Whatever you have to do to keep them close, because anytime you deliver your elevator pitch, you MUST give the person the ability to follow up if they are interested. Let’s face it: that was the only salvation of my encounter with Toni Morrison. She heard me say my name, and I placed information about my book in her hand. Sometimes that’s all you can do.
What’s your elevator pitch? Post it in the comments–it never hurts to get a little extra self-promotion in!
On Mondays I post at CHICKS ROCK!, the blog of The Women’s Mosaic. Check out my posts there, too! The Women’s Mosaic is a New York City-based non-profit organization that provides education, inspiration, and motivation for women to rise up and rock the world! The Women’s Mosaic unites and empowers women through programs that promote intercultural understanding and personal growth. We are a community of diverse, dynamic women interested in expanding our horizons by creating positive change that can individually and collectively enrich the world.
I guess I’m coming late to the party: I just found out today about the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) blackout. Where have I been, you might ask? I’ve been everywhere I usually go online lately, I just somehow missed it. But now I’m on board.
Well, I’m not turning my blog or website dark, partly because I don’t know how to do it and partly because I think that sort of statement is much stronger coming from powerhouse sites like Google and Wikipedia. Little writers like me, I think, should just keep on writing, because to stop doing what we do in order to make a point runs counter to the battle cry for anti-censorship. For instance, I’m happy that Twitter has kept on tweeting, because, frankly, that’s how I found out about the planned blackout in the first place. I’m not sure shutting down the internet for a day does anyone any good, and while I get that the whole point of the demostration is to prove that fact, I suspect the people who need to learn the lesson aren’t going to learn it in a day.
Then again, maybe I’m wrong. Maybe they can learn the lesson. I’m excited to see how much buzz and action is being generated online around this issue. I’m sure the blackout helps draw attention to these bills, so I’m glad that more and more sites and individuals are jumping on the bandwagon and voicing their perspectives. I hope it succeeds in getting Congress to block the bills! I also hope this kind of massive action can be replicated in the future around other important issues that affect all of us.
If you’re like me and are just learning about this issue and want to know more about SOPA, PIPA and the blackout, watch this video:
The Women’s Mosaic is a New York City-based non-profit organization that provides education, inspiration, and motivation for women to rise up and rock the world! The Women’s Mosaic unites and empowers women through programs that promote intercultural understanding and personal growth. We are a community of diverse, dynamic women interested in expanding our horizons by creating positive change that can individually and collectively enrich the world.