What I Learned from Publicist, Joan Schulhafer

Joan Schulhafer skyped with our Sisters in Crime - Central Virginia chapter recently and provided great information about publicizing yourself as a writer and your book. Here are nine things I learned from her presentation:

1. Authors need to balance their online and in-person presences. You need a mix of both.

2. You can't do everything, but get out and get involved.

3. Attend conferences and network with everyone.

4. Build your email list. It's valuable for authors.

5. Blogging is important. It's a way to keep your website fresh. Blog posts do not have to be deep, witty, or perfect.

6. Pictures are important. Take lots of pictures. Post pictures with your content.

7. Make sure that your biographies and other information are current on all the social media sites where you have accounts.

8. Authors needs to be on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, Instagram, and Pinterest. If your readers are younger, you need to be on Snap Chat.

9. Be polite on social media. Don't forget to thank those who help you.

What's Your Social Media Strategy?

You are your brand. Your author presence on social media should have a strategy, plan, and purpose. You want a unified look.

Drive Traffic to Your Blog or Website - One of your primary goals should be to drive traffic to your blog or website. Tweet links of your blog posts (new and recycled). Schedule them with a tool like TweetDeck or Hootsuite to post during hours you don't normally tweet. I schedule tweets at night or while I'm at work, and I've picked up new readers from different time zones. Schedule sparingly though. If someone follows you on different sites or views lists, you don't want hourly tweets of the same thing.

Analyze Your Content - Look at your posts and tweets. Are you getting likes, favorites, retweets, and shares? If not, consider rewriting your content. Make sure that you include videos or pictures. Also use hashtags (no more than two) to get noticed by like-minded readers.

Diversity is Key - Make sure your social media use focuses on the "social" part. You should join conversations, share others' materials, and thank those who share your stuff. People tend toignore you if all your posts are "buy my book." If you use hashtags regularly, make sure that you share others' postings from that list. You don't want to be a lurker.

Use Analytics - Facebook, Google, your website, and other sites have analytics. There is a lot of good information there about who's coming to your site and when. If you notice you have higher traffic on certain days, plan your posts then. Likes, shares, and retweets expand your reach.

Learn What Your Readers Use - Use the social media sites that your readers frequent. I learned this from Rachel Thompson of Bad Redhead Media. Google social media demographics. There is a lot of free information out there. Target your social media platform to what works for your audience. (The majority of Facebook users are women over forty.)

Be Adventurous - Be willing to try new social media sites and techniques. Try it and check your analytics. If it doesn't give you the results you want, modify it or try something else.

Look carefully at all of your social media sites. The colors, look, and writing style should be the same or similar. Themes are good. Your pictures and name should be the same on all sites. Make sure that you cross-pollinate your sites. List your website and blog in all of your biographies. Make sure that all of your links work.

I never knew how much marketing was involved with writing books. Best wishes for your writing and promotional projects!

Does Your Brand Need Polishing?

As a writer, you are your brand. Every few months, you need to look at your social media presence and make sure that it's polished.

1. Make sure your name is consistent across your sites. If you use pen names, be sure to have a place where you note the other names you use. People need to be able to identify you. It gets confusing if you use different forms of the name (e.g. Tom, Thomas, Tommy, T).

2. Your picture should be similar or the same on your sites. Readers need to be able to recognize that it's you. (I do have different pictures on my personal and author Facebook accounts. It makes it easier to tell which account I'm using to post.) Update your photos every year or two.

3. Your color schemes and artwork should be similar. You need a theme that appears on all of your sites.

4. Check the blurbs that describe you on each site. They should be consistent. Don't overwhelm them with hashtags. Make sure to include your latest book. Update these every few months.

5. Update your email auto-signature to include your social media and web links.

6. Update your content frequently. People don't return to sites where the content never changes. Remove all outdated information. Nobody wants to see a list of your book signings from 2013.

7. Follow the 80/20 rule for content. Eighty percent of your author content should be informational, fun, and conversational. The goal is to build relationships. Only about twenty percent of your content should be "buy my book." Readers tune out noise after a while.

8. When followers comment, retweet, post, or share your content, make sure that you notice and thank them.

9. Check all links on your sites to make sure they're working. If you have a "contact me" section, make sure it works too. You don't want to miss something because of a broken link.

10. Mix up your content. If people follow you on several sites, they don't want to see the same post four times.

9 Things I Learned from Critique Group

I am very fortunate to have a wonderful critique group, made up of a variety of talented writers (editors, proofreaders, and readers).  They write novels, short stories, flash fiction, and blogs, but our common theme is the mystery genre.

Here are my top nine bits of wisdom...

1. I learn as much from the discussion of everyone else's work as I do from the discussions about my submission. It's a great place to brainstorm ideas.

2. Whenever I think I am done with a set of drafts, I find I am not. I am too close to it, and I don't see some of the points that others do.

3. Cut the adverbs. Make a list of the words you use too frequently, and use "search" to target them.

4. Cut the fluff. If it doesn't move the action forward, you don't need it.

5. Cut the back story. Avoid huge dumps of information. Sprinkle in what the reader needs to know.

6. There is a difference between having a lot of activity and action in your story. You want the latter.

7. If you're bored with a section in your work, your reader will be too.

8. Critiques are not personal. They are to help you improve your writing. So suck it up, buttercup, and fix the weak points. If you are too sensitive about having your work reviewed, you are going to have a hard time when your readers start making comments.

9. Writing is hard work, and very few people get it right or polished in the first few drafts.

"It's a Great Time to be a Geek!" - Ideas for Writers

I returned this week from the Gartner IT Operations Strategies and Solutions Summit in Orlando, Florida. It's a "Great Time to be a Geek!" Technology is always changing, and there will be exponentially more devices and applications in the next five years that will access the Internet. It's mind-boggling.

Good writers are always looking for ideas - no matter where they are. I came up with a great plot line for my PI series. Here's some of what I learned:

• There are already smart elevators that use scans to get to your floor, rather than buttons.
• There are mining operations with computer-driven equipment, including trucks.  The biggest problem they had was with the ruts in the road. All of the trucks took the same path back and forth, and caused a lot of damage. The operators had to program a variety of algorithms to save the mining roads.
• Ethical reviews are important with technology. For example, should medical devices be blue-tooth-enabled for monitoring? It's a great way for your physician to monitor you, but what happens if it's hacked? Think about the possibilities for legal and medial thrillers.
• Everything is possible, and nothing is certain. Sounds like a lot of change in the future. As a writer, you do need to be careful when mentioning specific technology unless your work is set in a specific time period. Fax machines and flip phones are out of date.
• By 2020, over 25 BILLION things will be connected to the Internet. In addition to phones, tablets, and laptops, things like printers, copiers, cars, hospital beds, and refrigerators will be reporting data or communicating to other devices and services.
• Work is now an activity and not a place. People can work anywhere, anytime.

What I Learned about Funeral Services from Rhonda Pleasants

Rhonda Pleasants, Funeral Director and Professor, spoke recently to our Sisters in Crime - Central Virginia writers' group.

Ms. Pleasants was a wealth of information about embalming, funeral services, religious and historic traditions, and burial services. She answered questions to help the writers get it right. For more information, she recommended The History of American Funeral Directors.

Here's a sample of what I learned:

• There are "green" burials and "green" cemeteries. The chemicals and burial devices are biodegradable and less chemical.
• All disinternments in Virginia have to have a permit.
• The cremation process is more than just an oven. If they have multiple cremations in a day, they usually start with the largest person.
• Funeral directors need to be familiar with a variety of religions and traditions.
• Mortuary makeup is like thick, theatrical make up. Makeup is often airbrushed on.
• They use wax to fill in holes (stab or gunshot wounds) for viewings.
• Caskets often come with memory drawers and time capsules.

(l-r) Rhonda Pleasants and Rosemary Shomaker

11 Things Writers Need to Know

I was asked recently what advice I would give to someone who wants to writer. Here are my Top 11...

1. Read. Read. Read. Read everything you can get your hands on. Learn about the genre. Learn about techniques and style. See what works and what doesn't.

2. Seek out writers like you. Find a writers' group. I write mysteries, so Sisters in Crime was a perfect fit. I am also in the online community, Guppies. They have tons of resources and advice. And they are so supportive and helpful. If you are a student, check into student rates.

3. There are a lot of books out there on the craft of writing. My favorite is Stephen King's On Writing. Invest in books that help you. Use your library. FREE is good.

4. If you are serious about writing, find  a critique group. It's an investment in your time to read the submissions. Make sure that the feedback is helpful. Critiques need to be constructive and not personal. My critique group specializes in mysteries and crime fiction. And that works for me. I don't want to have to provide feedback on other genres that I don't read or enjoy.

5. Your first draft is never your final manuscript. Very few people get a polished work in the first few drafts.

6. Start thinking about your social media platform. When you work with a publisher, he/she wants to know where you have a presence. I started with Twitter and my blog. Since then, I've added a Facebook author page, website, Pinterest, Goodreads, LinkedIn, Amazon Author page, and Instagram.

7. Make sure that you carve out time for writing. Work, life, and everything else vies for your time. You need to write regularly.

8. There are tons of creative writing courses, workshops, and conferences, and the costs vary. I learn more from writing and working with other writers in my critique group than I do from most workshops.

9. Google and your library are your friends. You would be amazed at the FREE resources available.

10. Learn to use the basics of your word processor. Many agents and publishers reject manuscripts that don't fit their submission requirements. Each agent, publisher, and contest have different preferences. Make sure that you always review the submission requirements and follow them.

11. Don't give up. Rejections are hard, and they hurt. Learn from the criticism, but don't dwell on the rejections or negative reviews. Keep writing.

When Life Cuts into Your Writing Time

Life is busy most days. I had dental surgery last week, and the recovery knocked me out of my normal routine. I work full-time and have family and other obligations. Sometimes, it's hard to stay motivated and find time for writing. (Then I feel guilty for not writing.)

These are my eight ideas for squeezing in more writing time.

1. I joined a monthly critique group. Find one that fits your needs and schedule. Don't over extend yourself with multiples. This gives me a monthly deadline and keeps my writing projects on track. Plus, it's an incredible motivator. I always leave my writing events recharged.

2. I use my lunch hour at work to write, outline, edit, or blog. I get five hours of writing a week this way.

3. Take a good, honest look at the time you're watching TV/movies or cruising the internet. If you give up an hour a day, that's seven extra hours of writing time a week.

4. I do like some TV, but I record the shows, so I can speed through the commercials. I also combine my TV time with my pursuing the internet time. I can multitask.

5. I set a blog schedule. I randomly posted and noticed that my site numbers looked like a rollercoaster. I committed to one new blog post a week, and I now have a routine for reposting links. Again, it gives me a deadline each week, and my statistics are vastly improved (and consistent).

6. I get up early even on my days off. You'll be surprised at how much you can get accomplished. I use the quiet time to write. If the evening or wee hours are better, do what works for you.

7. My company offers an alternative work schedule. I added an extra hour to my work day, but I get every other Friday off. I reserve those for my writing days.

8. I love projects, crafts, traveling, and causes. I loved being involved in events and on the go constantly. I had to look closely at my schedule and where I was spending my time, and I had to jettison a few things to commit to my writing projects.

Life is hectic, and there are days where I wrote only a couple of paragraphs. Don't get discouraged. (That's easier said than done.) Keep writing. Just keep writing.

Find the support and encouragement you need and get rid of the distractions.